The Holy Grail War: A magic ritual created by three outstanding magus families to create a Holy Grail, a conceptualized miracle. Each of the founding families has their own wish:
The German Von Einzbern family was busy researching the true reincarnation of the soul, and wanted to use the grail to reclaim their once-perfect ability to resurrect. Their part in the creation of the Grail was the creation of a vessel capable of materializing the miracle into the real world.
The Japanese Tohsaka family was trying to recreate the second magic, Kaleidoscope, which basically comes down to being able to troll with other existing universes. They would provide the land from which the Grail can syphon energy until it has enough power to create a miracle.
The Russian Makiri family was doing… something. It's never really explained that well in the books of history, but we believe it was something in the same direction, considering all three families studied under the same teacher, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. The mainly did a few basic calculations and propositions to make sure that the Grail worked without sacrificing too much, which is very fitting for a house whose main magical ability is the control of worms and leeches.
These three wishes are believed to create the ability to reach Akasha, root of all knowledge, the goal of every magi. There is, however, a critical problem with their Grail: It can only grant one wish at a time, and it takes sixty years for the Grail to gather enough power from the lands before it can be used, meaning that one family has to wait more than a century before they can succeed in their wish!
This might sound bad, but we should add that this process can be repeated infinitely given enough time. So a logical solution for this problem is that the three families decide with lottery who gets to fulfill their wish now, who has to wait 60 years and who has to wait 120 years. Sure, the founders might die before they could get their wish, but the Einzbern would regain true resurrection, effectively summoning them back from the dead like it never happened, making that counterargument moot. The even better option was to have the Tohsaka's wish fulfilled: They could use Kaleidoscope to syphon near-infinite energy from alternate dimensions to repower the Grail in seconds, allowing everyone to gain their wish only seconds after one another!
Instead the Makiri opted that this dispute would be settled by WAR! A very small-scale war of 14 persons, but yeah, still a war. They proposed that each magus would use a part of the Grail's strength and summon it as a famous legendary hero. Then they would fight each other to the death, with the winner getting the ability to get their wish.
Of course, this had some complications as well: Since a third of the Grail's power was too much for a hero to handle, they had to split it in 7 pieces. Instead of doing the sensible thing, making it a 2v2v2 battle with the last hero summoned as a mediator (perhaps a ruler class?), they decided to advertise their grail to the other magi, claiming that they could make their wildest dreams come true as long as they were willing to kill six others for it; thus the three founding families lowered their chances of getting the miracle from a third to a seventh.
The only thing more stupid than this proposal the Makiri gave was that the other founding families went along with it.
And so every sixty years the heads of these three families would come together for a bloody battle to the death, joined by four other families and the seven servants fighting for them. This started in the early 1800s, and it continued ever since.
Back to the present, the beginning of the nineties, more than 180 years after the start of these Holy Grail Wars. Three wars have been performed, and it is almost time for the forth. The reason for the need of a fourth war was because they somehow failed to get a winner in every single war…
And now, the current heads are preparing for the fourth war:
The Einzbern had stayed a secluded family and performed their functions normally, their wish to obtain true reincarnation unchanged. There was one big change though: Becoming so desperate from losing thrice they got the legendary magus killer Kiritsugu Emiya married into their family, who was then supposed to act as their upcoming representative.
The Makiri had moved to Japan, to the same city as the Tohsaka, adopting the Matou surname. Here they met with a rapid decline in their magic ability that lasted continuously, becoming so bad that their future heir completely lacks the ability to perform magecraft and the only member still capable of magecraft left the family. Luckily they could borrow a successor from their good buddies the Tohsaka, who was blessed with twins even though they only wanted one successor. The Tohsaka gave their youngest child to the Matou, who are training her to become the next capable heir of the family. The Matou currently want to use the Grail to regain their glory of the olden days.
The last founding family continued to live on their lands, which prospered into a big city named Fuyuki. Their goals had stayed the same too, although they were even more focused on reaching Akasha instead of the second magic.
To make sure that they would win this war the current Tohsaka head, Tokiomi Tohsaka, pulled a few strings:
The first was to bribe the mediator of the war. The idea of a mediator was created after the second war, which was a bloodbath with no survivors due to a lack of rules. To make sure that this will not happen again the families proposed that the church would provide a mediator to make sure everyone adheres to the rules. Tokiomi used his relations to the church and friendship with the Kotomine family to make sure that the newest mediator, Kotomine Risei, is on his side.
His second string was a convenience that he was planning to exploit. Three years before the start of the fourth Grail War he found out that Kotomine Risei's son, Kotomine Kirei, is going to be a master in the upcoming fight. Since Kirei has no wish to make Tokiomi decided to take him under his hood as a "pupil", while in reality he is going to be his pawn.
His last and most powerful advantage is the hero he is planning to summon: Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, the oldest legend on earth. Supposed to be powerful enough to kill the rest of the competition in a single night, one wonders how Tokiomi could lose this battle if these three things all went according to plan.
And so all was well… until around two weeks before the start of the war, when both he and Kirei got a magically induced letter from a source that felt a little bit too much like that of Zelretch.
They both read their letters, and Kirei nihilistically went over all the words inside:
Hey there Kirei, upcoming master in the Holy Grail war!
I was planning to leave you guys all alone and watch how this grail war would play out while watching it with my old buddies popcorn and cola, but a certain me from another dimension trolled me by spoiling the end of the Upcoming Grail War. Because I got trolled, so do you:
Kirei Kotomine will get his wish fulfilled after a hectic battle with Kiritsugu Emiya, who threw his victory away at the last second. Together with Waver Velvet these three would be the only survivors of the war, Although both Kirei and Kiritsugu die within the upcoming ten years.
Now you know who exactly will win and who not, so continuing this war like usual would be boring right?
Now no need to worry, for I have a special offer for you! Remember those cool artifacts to summon legendary heroes like King Arthur and Alexander the Great? Yeah, those don't work anymore. Everyone will get a new hero, each servant matching the awesomeness of their master!
But hey, I'm not that mean. I guess that I can keep one or two of the original servants in… I guess.
Have fun!
Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
P.S. Kirei, If you are reading this at the same time as Tokiomi then I expect that he is currently trying to burn his letter out of anger. Please stop him, he might be burning his own mansion down in the futile attempt to burn a fire-proof letter.
Kirei looked up from his letter and noticed that it was exactly as Zelretch said. Quickly stopping his teacher, he tried to make him listen and return to rationally planning out their new course of action.
Tokiomi calmed down and did as Kirei wanted. He walked to his study, and ordered Kirei to follow him.
Kirei did as ordered, but not before letting his curiosity get the better of him by checking if Tokiomi got the same letter.
It's mostly the same thing, except for the name and the postscript:
P.S. Seriously, Tokiomi? You summon Gilgamesh of all people and you still manage to lose? Hahahahahaha! Oh, if this wasn't a letter, I would sent you a picture of me rolling on the ground from laughter.
…
Oh wait, I can sent you a video with MAGIC! Click here to watch me laughing!
P.S.S. You suck.
Kirei tried it out and clicked here, resulting in the mana in the air to materialize as a small video of Zelretch laughing.
Throwing the letter on the old paper heap he left for the study.
And now, only a few days later, Kirei is ready for his summoning. Tokiomi told him that he should still use the artifact on the off chance that he would summon the Assassin they planned for.
Kirei is somewhat unsure about whether this summoning will succeed, but he can only try. Stepping inside the location of his summoning, an empty warehouse belonging to one of Tokiomi's corporations, he notices that most of the work for the summoning had already been prepared:
The summoning circle had been perfectly copied, probably by Tokiomi; the artifact, the mask of one of the legendary Hashashin, had been placed upon an altar on the edge of the circle; and the location is also perfect, laying upon one of Fuyuki's ley lines, the thread of magic running under the city.
All Kirei has to do is the last step: performing the summoning rite perfectly, and so he does. Chanting each line with great precision, he wants to make sure to perfectly fulfill the task given to him.
But it was not meant to be.
Instead of an Assassin he summons something completely different:
The hashashin are supposed to be bald black-skinned men with white masks covering their faces. This servant has a clearly visible blank face, with blue eyes, a large nose and a black mustache. The only thing that is hidden is his hair, with only the sideburns sticking out from underneath a cap, revealing his brown hair color. The cap is red, expect for a white oval on the front that contains a red M.
An hashashin is clothed in nothing more that some simple rags, enough to cover the bare minimum while keeping maximum mobility. This servant wears blue overalls with two yellow buttons over a red shirt, and covering the ends of his limbs are white gloves and brown boots. All in all, it made him look like more of a plumber than a hero.
"Upon-a your summoning, I have come forth! Nice to work-a with you, master!" The final nail in the coffin is his Italian accent, proving once and for all that this is not Assassin. But Kirei wants to be fully sure, so he asks for his servants class: "You have-a summoned me as Rider!" Another question solved. It is absolutely not what Tokiomi wanted, but no time weeping over lost possibilities. Although… there was once last question he has:
"You are not the servant I initially planned to summon. Could you enlighten me to your true name, Rider?"
Rider suspiciously looks at his master, disbelieving the words spoken to him. "You-a don't know who I am?" Rider thinks the whole situation over: It is likely that not everyone knows him, and if the data given to him by the Grail is true then a servant like him isn't instantly recognized. "Oh well, it-a can't be helped." Rider twirls around his vertical axis, taking off his cap and stylishly holds it behind him.
"It's-a me, Mario!"
The Tohsaka aren't the only ones who are less than pleased with Zeltrech's intervention, but it's one of the outside families, the El-Melloi, that took it the worst.
Their response to the letter was to tear it to pieces before rampaging through their own fortress, demolishing two whole floors of the flat they were lodging in.
Eventually Kayneth calmed down and continued the planned summoning, hoping that he would be the one to summon his original servant.
Since the circle he had originally drawn was destroyed in the rampage he had to make a new one. Finishing the repeated preparations he starts the mantra to summon his servant.;
It all went exactly as planned… but at the end of his chanting there was no servant in sight.
"What in Akasha's name went wrong here?!" Kayneth is prepared to rampage once more, but then he hears a loud thumping noise coming from the floor above. Quickly moving to the location of the sound he found his servant at the root of the source:
Sitting upon a makeshift bench from the leftover rubble is a white-haired man, one leg lazily crossed over the other and his arms resting on what once was a cabinet.
His upper body is covered in black and a red overcoat is covering his sleeves and part of his back. His legs are covered by trousers and black boots cover his feet.
"Yo." The man casually greets his master, not even bothered with forming any sort of formal contract.
There are many questions that came to Kayneth's mind, but above all there is one fact that stands out the most: This is not the servant he wanted to summon for this war. Somewhere in his mind he already knew that Zelretch would screw him over, which returned his rage and aggression to controllable levels.
"So, servant; what exactly are you?"
The servant continues to cockily lean back as he explains his identity as servant Archer. "But the real question is, who are you?"
"W-What?!" Kayneth almost fell back from shock upon hearing those words. Quickly recovering himself, he claims his mastership over Archer, showing the command seals under his glove: "These are my right of being a master, servant. You will not doubt me!"
"Sorry, but I do. While this hasn't been the first time I have been called this roughly, there was no master present at my summoning location, and I can't even feel the slightest trickle of prana flowing between us." Archer stands up, and walks past his master to the woman behind him. "Instead, I feel that I'm in this world thanks to you, miss…"
"S-Sola-Ui." She is flustered by Archer's sudden moves, somehow not capable of looking in Archer's eyes.
"Ah, well, it is a real pleasure to meet you, Sola-Ui." Archer kneels down before her, and softly kisses her hand.
"ARRRRCHERRRR…" Archer succeeded in breaking Kayneth's composure, who is now fuming from his mouth. Prana is emitted from his body in evil, powerful waves, cracking furniture through sheer power alone. "How dare you?! How dare you play with my fiancé!"
Archer looks once more at Sola-Ui before throwing his hands in the air and letting out a dissatisfied grunt. "I was right: I really do have bad luck with women…"
"Now that you learned not to mess with me or my love, I would like you to quietly accept me as my master." Upon a single snap of Kayneth's fingers a metallic slime-like mass appears next to him. "If you don't, then I won't let you escape unscathed."
"So, you would even fight a servant to protect the woman you love, huh? And you even claim to hurt me, knowing the difference in our power?" Archer lets out a small smile, now standing straight before his master. "Heh. I guess I am starting to kinda like you." He moves back to his makeshift bench, but now regally standing in front of it. "Since you strike me as the type who does these kind of things the formal way: I have come forth upon your summoning. Now, are you the master leading me into this war?"
"I am Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, your master in this Grail War; and as you noticed, this is my fiancé, Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, provding you with prana in this Grail War as long as you don't try any of your charms on her. Now let us win this Holy Grail, Archer."
"Alright, Let's Rock!"
When Tokiomi had to summon his servant he already kind of expected that he wouldn't get Gilgamesh. He already had doubts before the intervention of Zelretch, and it only got worse after his letter.
So Tokiomi already made new plans after learning that he was now allied with a Rider class servant. He had over a hundred plans available: Some for if he manages to summon Gilgamesh with some luck. Others for all the possible leftover classes, in which he could act as vanguard, support, medic, or whatever other role the servant can fulfill. He even has plans for some of those really strange and wacky servants.
But not a single plan, not a single thought, went out to this possibility:
"What… what in Akasha's name is this abomination?!"
Why on earth, heaven, Root and whatever places else in existence is the servant standing right there a small pink puffball?!
"Poyo~"
He (It?) is pink and round, not even a foot tall, has two small arms/hands/benign tumors on the sides of his body, two eyes, a mouth, and red shoes underneath to top it off.
This is certainly not Gilgamesh, and if it wasn't for the ritual Tokiomi would be sure that this thing is not even close of being called a Heroic Spirit.
A few possibilities are rising in Tokiomi's head, mainly centered around a single question: Who is this? There aren't many heroes of that size; the only famous hero of that size is the Issun-Boshi, the one inch samurai. But the lack of needle, food bowl and chopsticks (sword, boat and oars) disproves that theory immediately.
Oh, and to make matters worse, the status screen Tokiomi sees whenever he thinks of his servant says that this servant is a mad Berserker! Sure, he only has C-rank Mad Enhancement, but his intelligence is still equal to that of a baby!
Screaming, raging, frustrating… Tokiomi wanted and still wants to do all that… if not for the interference of Kirei:
"Tokiomi, how has the summoning gone? Did you get the servant you wanted?" Kirei's words don't contain any sort of emotion, it was merely a conformation. But somewhere in there is something that calmed Tokiomi down, letting him think calmly once more.
"It is not the servant I wanted, nor a servant I recognize. Perhaps you can shed some light on this situation?"
Kirei steps in front of servant Berserker and looks at him intensely, trying to find out his true name; but mere thinking isn't enough.
"I don't know his name. Perhaps we should let him use his Noble Phantasm to get a clue at his identity."
Tokiomi had to think several seconds of this possibility. Sure, it would help him become more knowledgeable, but if any spying familiars from other masters are watching, and they probably are, they might figure out the identity of the servant too.
The deciding factor is that Berserker's looks are… abnormal. The enemy servants will probably figure out his identity quickly from that alone, so learning it themselves only improves the chances of winning.
"Berserker, use your least space-filling Noble Phantasm." It's not a command on the level of a command seal, this one more akin to ordering your dog to do a trick before getting a cookie, just enough to make him do as you want without wasting precious seals.
A small wind blew up, cooling the air to a more comfortable level that Tokiomi can enjoy. Slowly but surely the wind changes into a storm, forcing Tokiomi to take steps in the direction of his servant, being pulled in by a powerful vortex… that was coming out of Berserker's mouth? Some small stuff like pens and paper are sucked into his mouth, and it would seem that Tokiomi is next!
"Berserker, stop thiiiiiiii-" The command seal was too late: Somehow that small monster sucked Tokiomi whole. But that isn't even the weirdest thing. No, that is that the servant now has Tokiomi's hairstyle, goatee and a miniature of his staff. On his right hand-arm-thing are now three red seals… command seals?
"Hmm, what happened here?" This voice! Yes, this voice definitely belongs to Tokiomi! And it comes from… that pink servant?
Yes, that servant not only vaguely resembles him, now it also speaks like Tokiomi! What… this… did Tokiomi take over his mind?
"I don-a think so." Rider still stands beside his master, and found that this is the best time to intervene. Little Kirby over there takes the powers of what-a-ever he eats. In-a this case, he got your friend's knowledge and magic. Trust me, he-a does this all the time." Kirei wanted to scold his servant for not helping to avert this situation if not for Berserker's newfound knowledge:
"Ah, Kirei, Rider, it is good to see you. I seem to suffer from a light amnesia, perhaps because of some magecraft. Oh well, I guess it is time to summon my servant." Kirei looks at his teacher with disbelief. Another servant? Is that even possible? And before all that, it even thinks and acts like it is Tokiomi Tohsaka?
Kirei found it for the best to just quietly stand on the sidelines as Tokiomi/Berserker tries to summon another servant. If it succeeds then they would have a decisive victory, having almost half of the servants at their side, and if not, well, then they still have one servant more than the average master.
As if a miracle the summoning works. A dark gap appears opposed from Tokiomi, and a warriors stumbles out:
It is a large man, with very elaborate armor: A red robe covers his body, with a grey breastplate and shoulder pads providing the needed armor. His arm guards are a combination of orange, gold and black, just like his boots, except for the that his hands are covered in white gloves. A grey and red spotted hakama covers his legs, and a long red scarf covers most of his head after being loosely wrapped around his neck and torso, covering the breastplate slightly. The face is covered by some sort of grey-red kabuki mask, and two horns and a single plume are sticking out of the top of his hood.
"Accursed void! Where did you bring me this tim-wait wait, I'm getting some memories in! Hold on a moment!" The weird servant just stands there for a few seconds, before coming to an understanding of the situation.
"So, I have been summoned in a war under some weird Lancer title. Together with some Master, I must beat six other teams, and if I do I… I will be released from the void forever? Sweet! Now only to find my master!" Lancer looks around the room, and settles his eyes on Kirei.
"You!" He points at the master of Rider, who stoically looked in return. "You look powerful! Yes, I can see powerful eyes in you. So we are supposed to team up, right? Well then, don't worry, you are joining up with the legendary Gilgamesh! No way that we can lose!" He started to laugh, a friendly laugh shared between partners.
"Gilgamesh, king of heroes, you have the wrong person. I am your master. The one you are talking to is our ally." Lancer looks to the source of the voice, and after an overly long time searching he found the tiny Berserker.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. You're, well, a bit tiny. But you feel even more powerful than that ally guy over there! So if we fight together, than nobody will stand in our way!"
Tokiomi let out a large grin, claiming his superiority to all to hear. "Kirei, we have Gilgamesh! We have won the war!"
Kirei cannot help but really, really doubt that.
The Holy Grail War is a war between magi. Of course, one would and should expect that these seven have trained and researched their whole life to become better in magic, or at the very least are first-rate magi. Tokiomi Tohsaka is this. Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald is this. Even Kotomine Kirei is this.
But this fourth master in the Holy Grail War is absolutely not this.
Disgusted with the horrific way a Matou magus lives Kariya Matou ran away from his home and his duties as heir, leaving the family without the only person who can naturally use magic. He enjoyed a good time in the city as a normal everyday man until he learned that the daughter of the woman he loved was now used by the Matou as the replacement heir.
And they inflicted all the terrors that belonged to the Matou magecraft on her: She's constantly raped by the family's familiars, crest worms that took her virginity and inflicted high levels of pain whenever she was thrown into the aptly named worm pit.
Kariya was too late to stop it. With no other choices left he tried to bargain with them: The girl, now named Matou Sakura, would be set free if Kariya could win the Holy Grail. His uncle, Matou Zouken, agreed to take him up on his offer if he can summon a servant to fight.
But Kariya's magic circuits are rusty, incapable of sustaining a mythical warrior. So to improve his magic capacity he was also subjected to the family's crest worms. After a year of suffering he lost sight in his left eye, got a paralyzed left leg, and is left with a life expectancy of 1 month. But it is enough. It is just enough for Kariya to save Sakura, spend a few days having happy memories with her, and then give her back to her family before scolding her father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, for letting him inflict all this upon little Sakura. Then he could die peacefully.
Now the time has come for the summoning. Zouken was originally planning for Kariya to summon the Heroic spirit Lancelot as a Berserker. But the Grand Wishard Marshall put a spanner in the works, greatly lowering the chance of any master getting their desired servant.
And since Zouken deemed it unnecessary to waste a catalyst in such a situation, he thought of the fun idea to let Kariya summon the servant without catalyst. Of course, Kariya still had to summon a Berserker: He didn't want some nosy servant trying to invoke things it shouldn't do. A loyal mutt would suffice for Kariya.
But what was left after the summoning did not look like a Berserker. No, this was more something in the direction of a regal princess:
A girl at the end of her teens, standing five and a half feet tall. She wears an elaborate white overdress with golden decorations and underneath she carries a semitransparent pink dress. Black pants cover her legs, together with a set of white-golden boots. Her cute head is unprotected, with no helmet upon her pink bob cut.
She stares with her azure eyes at Kariya, before going through the steps of introduction. "Nice to meet you." She politely bows before the person she thinks of as her master, showing the respect she holds for him. "We have come forth upon your summoning. We ask of you, are you our master?"
"Yes I am, servant. I will lead us to victo…ry… Wait a minute," Kariya notices it quite quickly, and Zouken follows it up immediately:
"You called yourself we, servant?"
"Of course she's talking about we. Can't you see that there's more than three people in the room?" This voice is a masculine voice, slightly cold yet also containing the warmth of friendship. Kariya looks at the direction of the sound, and sees… a fourth person standing in the room?
This… this is clearly another servant, but very different from the pink-haired one. A young man with long black hair and black eyes is leaning against one of the room's walls, a mocking gaze being shot at Kariya. His outfit, a shirt and some pants, is mostly black, the only alternating colors being his brown belt, golden bracelet and grey boots. And if that sword on his side is anything to go by, then it would seem that this is a Saber? "You didn't summon a servant; you summoned the entirety of Brave Vesparia!"
"Yuri, I don't think that I belong to your guild." A third voice? Looking even further Kariya notices a third servant: This one envisioning the paladin wielding sword and shield to protect his allies, the purest example of the Saber class. Clad in white armor, with striped cloth alternating white and light blue showing where his allegiance lies. A red-yellow, twin-tailed cape covers his back, and his blonde hair and blue eyes give off purity and nobleness. "And nor is Lady Estellise. To be precise, less than half of those involved are official members of your group."
"Then from now on they are honorary guild members. Including you, Flynn. Isn't that right, Repede?"
*Woof!* And that sound… is that a dog?
Apparently, yes it is. Between the black vigilante and the white knight sits a dog with blue and white fur. He carries a metal chain around his neck, a belt containing a holster for a dagger around his back and a pipe in his mouth. And like all the others this one feels like a servant too.
What servant is next? Is the grail going to say that "A cat is fine too?"
"A-Anyways, you… four are all my servants, right? Are there more? And what class are you? And-"
"Not so fast, old man. Well answer your questions one at a time."
A slight anger wells up inside of the master. "Who are you calling an old man?! I'm not even thirty!"
The four servants look with shock at Kariya, who was limping over to their side.
"Not even thirty?!"
"Isn't that younger than Raven?"
"I take back what I said about Raven, this guy has it much worse."
*Whine…*
Kariya grumbled some more and ordered his servants to answer his questions.
"Well," The Black-haired one began, "We are all your servants, or servant, considering we are all counted as the servant Brave Vesparia. We are with nine in total, but only four can be summoned at the same time. Overall we belong to the Caster class, probably thanks to our blastia. However, we all have different qualities for different parts of the battlefields. If you want a good Caster, you should try Estelle over there, while me and Flynn would function better acting like Sabers."
As Kariya is processing this new info Zouken was busy slightly mocking the servants: "Caster, huh? Of course, leave it to you to summon the weakest servant Kariya. I can't say I expected better than Berserker, but I also didn't expect anything worse." Zouken shrugged before making his way back up to the stairs. "This might become troublesome for you, Kariya. Better take good care of everything. Heheheh…" With some last chuckles, Zouken has left the building.
The servants are now alone with their master, ready for the upcoming fight. "Shall we go, master?"
Kariya looks at the odd quartet. Sure, each one looks like some odd and zany character from those "anime" whatsamahoozits, but together they should be the most powerful servant, right?
No, this isn't the time to think semi-negative thoughts. This is the time to save Sakura and win the Grail! "Everyone, let's win the Grail!"
"Yeah!"/*Ahooo!*
When Kiritsugu Emiya got the letter from Zelretch proclaiming the introduction of new, original servants he wasn't even mad; no, not even slightly angered. Instead he hoped for the opportunity to summon a more "compatible" servant, one less bound on honor and justice and those unneeded feelings.
Yet out of all the servants that were summonable, out of all the people that lost their original servant, why was he the one who could keep his Saber, why was he allowed to keep that Arthur?!
To make matters worse, Kiritsugu had to waste one command seal on Saber to prevent his identity and weakness from being found out, leaving him with just two absolute orders.
At least the servant is relatively obedient, and he gets along well with Irisviel.
"Daddy! Let's go search for walnut buds!"
Kiritsugu looks in the direction of the voice and sees his daughter, excitedly jumping up and down, hoping to spend a good time with Kiritsugu before he goes to war.
"Yes, yes, Illya, I'm coming. Let's go search for them, okay?"
"Yay!"
Kirisugu lets out a smile, a happiness that he should not allow himself to feel. For now, these few great moments, he can allow himself to be happy. Just enough happiness that he can shatter it all in gruesome war…
From behind one of the castle's windows is Saber watching all of this unfold. "Heh, I knew that behind his moody and grumpy attitude is a swell guy!"
This Saber is a boy in the midst of his teens, with neck-length cobalt hair and matching eye color. His current attire is a black and white suit, courtesy of the Einzberns to make him look like a proper gentleman. The only thing standing out is the metal glove on his right hand, that would normally belong to a knight.
He turns back inwards to his master's wife and proxy master, who is enjoying a relaxing cup of herbal tea. Upon Saber's remark she became curious too and joins his view, seeing the happy parent-child combo plying in the snow. "Yes, those are his true emotions. But in his eyes happiness only hurts him. He cannot save people without sacrificing others. For each life he saves another goes down. He learned that it is impossible to make everyone happy."
"Ridiculous." Saber's face is tranquil, but the anger flaring behind it is thick enough that all can notice it. "A hero saves the just, and redeems the evil. He doesn't kill others, merely foiling their plans, and offering them a chance to fight for good. And if they don't listen, then I'll beat them again and again! I won't stop this until my legs cannot run anymore. If he stands with his ideals, then I will overcome them with mine!"
"Well said, sir Saber." From one of the chairs came a sword floating over, it owning its own consciousness and knowledge. This sword is the Noble Phantasm of Saber. "This proves once more that while your actions might be somewhat foolish at times, you have the heart of a true knight." Its metal blade shines brilliantly in the sun, just like the golden crossguard. This crossguard contains a white area inside of its gold, from which two green eyes look upon the world. "You really are worthy to be summoned as the greatest of the knight classes!"
"Oh you, stop flattering me. Let's just keep going Caliburn!"
"Honestly Saber," The swords starts pouting, chivalrous nature clashing with Saber's carefree nature. "You may be knight, even the legendary king, but you still don't act like one."
"Well, you're an oversized letter opener, but I don't see you acting like one. It's only fair that I return the favor, right?"
"Fool! I am a sword! Don't compare me with some everyday tool! And your comparison is very biased!"
Irisviel simply stands by the ongoing quarrel between sword and wielder, enjoying their bonding. In the time these two throw arguments and comments back and forth Irisviel used this time to drink up her tea.
Eventually even she had enough from the quarrel, forcing her to alter the subject of speaking. "By the way Saber, I'm looking forward to seeing you enjoying your plane ride. I wonder how you will react?"
"Oh, a plane ride? How long is it going to be?"
"Just fourteen hours; and that is excluding the car rides, check-in and –out, and… Saber?"
Something inside of Saber just snapped. Sweat pour from all his glands, and fear is evident in his eyes. "S-So… we have to spend an entire day trapped in a tiny tube full with other people?"
"Indeed."
"No. Just no. Impossible. Not in a million years!" He slowly backs away to the door, ready to flee.
"Do you, a knight, leave a helpless lady alone?"
"You're right, Caliburn." Saber takes out a beautiful Rapier from… somewhere, and carefully threw it to Irisviel. It's a holy rapier, with a thin double-edged silver blade, intricate golden hilt, and golden knuckle bow. "Take this. It's the holy sword Laevatein, which gets stronger the holier and chivalrous its wielder is. Considering that you're, well, you, then that sword will be very powerful in your hands." Wind circles around Saber, and his clothes begin to change:
Gone is his suit, now wearing a blue and white trimmed shirt with dark colored shorts, and around his hands, wrists, legs and feet he wears bandages, enough to cover all but the fingers and toes. A pair of comfy red-white sneakers support his feet, increasing his incredible speed even further.
"Also, if you need some help with fencing, just ask Caliburn over there. He's a legend that goes back to the twelfth century!"
"FOOL!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just don't start singing in the plane, okay? We don't need people drawing faces of disgust." He turns to the door, ready to leave.
"But Saber, are you all right being alone? Servants need their master in close range, or else they will disappear from a lack of prana." A servant needs to be on the same battlefield as his master to receive prana. The only class who can temporarily survive is Archer
"Irisviel, don't worry about it. I'm free enough that I have Independent Action as a personal skill! I can survive a week or so without any prana input!" Saying his last goodbyes Saber flashes out of the building. Within two seconds he's outside, running away at speed beyond human capabilities.
The sword and the proxy look outside, watching the blue blur become tinier and tinier until they couldn't see him anymore.
"Hah… I might have been a bit too early to elevate him from his title of knave…" The sword turns to Irisviel, and urges her to follow Saber's advice. "I will do what Saber doesn't want to, and give you a quick course in fencing, enough to beat any human opponent. Since you're an homunculus, I should be able to do that in… about one day. Do you accept?"
"Yes." The duo went off, training for the upcoming war.
Only one servant is left. Just one more before the war starts in full. And the last master chosen by the Grail is Waver Velvet, third generation magus and student of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.
His magic ability is unremarkable, not great but enough to study at magus schools. No, what is unique about him is his way of thinking.
Most magi strictly stay with what is known and build upon it. Magecraft is the same for all, and the same spell in the same conditions will always create the same results. Waver tarts the very basics to create a revolution under current-day magi:
If the old knowledge is that the potential of a magus is decided from birth then Waver rejects it by claiming that one can improve with knowledge, experience and effort.
It's revolutionary, and the old ruling class dismissed it without second thought, going beyond letting the student fail and having his teacher ridiculing him in front of all his colleagues.
Waver was angry and sought revenge. But to take that against a magus with more power, influence and experience is not easy. But as if the gods stood at his side he was given the perfect opportunity:
When he ran out of his class, furious at his teacher, he bumped into one of the workers who by chance had to deliver a package to El-Melloi. After some excuses he managed to get hold of it, stealing from his teacher as a "just lesson".
But that wasn't all: no, he figured out that El-Melloi is going to participate in a magic tournament in the east, a battle of pure ability. Here titles and influence mean nothing. Here he can prove himself!
Traveling after his teacher to the east he prepared for the war.
The first objective was to the catalyst he stole from his teacher. Who would he summon if he used it? Sure, it would probably be something strong, fitting for his teacher, but he still wants to know who.
Using his common knowledge and alchemic prowess he could only specify it somewhat: 2000-2500 years old, stemming from Greece, famous… all three not really decisive proof. But hey, someone like Perseus or Odysseus or whoever else came from there should be good enough.
Too bad that Zelretch intervened. Now Waver was a lot less sure, his trump card dismissed as if it was nothing. With nothing left to lose he went and prepared his summoning.
Perfection was needed for this summoning. It's a simple enough ritual, and Waver should be capable enough of succeeding the summoning, and so he did.
A small grin appeared on his face when a figure stepped out of the summoning circle, but it quickly turned into horror and fear when he heard his servant speak.
"I have been summoned as servant Assassin. I do not like to serve under anybody, but this Grail war forced me under a master. Are you him?"
There are so many problems within this single sentence. First of all, it's servant Assassin. That's supposed to be the weakest servant of all, only useful for taking down enemy servants. Waver has basically been dealt the worst set of cards. But wait, there's more:
With just 8 words the servant made clear that he is far from obedient. And Waver can only make Assassin absolutely listen three times before he loses his mastership. He hopes that they get along well, or there might be a problem.
And we're still not done. There's also his looks: A man in his forties with slicked-back brown hair and short beard and mustache, and enough scars to make him look like a war veteran: on the forehead, left eye, nose, lower lip; and if his eye patch is something to go by probably then his right eye is equally damaged.
But this is not the bad part. No, that is his clothes: Modern-day armor. Black armor that you see on modern soldiers, and several green belts spread over his body holding necessary tools for a soldier's survival, like a pistol, flacon, night goggles, etc.
One of the servant's major sources of power is the mystery and reference they accumulated over many years of history, and this one looks like he might even be alive today! Combined with an Assassin's base stats and Waver's magic capacity leaves a badly underpowered servant, one of the weakest in all Grail wars!
But now is not the time for complaining. Now he had to create a strong and powerful bond with his servant. "Y-Yes, I-I am your m-master."
Crap, Waver noticed that he stuttered, showing fear of his own servant. It's a pathetic part of himself that he won't admit nor accept.
Waver's servant looks disappointed ,seeing what kind of man he has to take care of. He sighed, unhappy with his master. "As an Assassin I have some level of Independent Action. You go hide in a safe spot while I hunt the enemy."
"What do you mean Assassi-"
"I don't want to have people who cannot defend themselves get killed in war. I will use my presence concealment to hide myself when I revisit you for prana regeneration to prevent others from finding your location. Check the nearby buildings and search for one with a basement. Don't use whatever magic reserves you have for barriers or the likes, it will only make it easier for the opponents to find you while lowering the amount of prana I can gather from you. Got that?"
Waver's anger got fueled from this sentence. "How…" Should he use a command seal? "How do you even see me?!" He's seriously considering to make this stupid servant listen to him. "What am I to you?! Some sort of useless meatbag that you cannot afford to let die? Or am I wrong here?"
Assassin doesn't even bother to hide it.
"Oh I see! How sad you must be, to have such a worthless master as myself! Well, screw you! I'm going to use you to win this war, gain respect from all who opposed me, and become a legend!" The ideas of using a command seal vanished. He really, really, doesn't want to waste a powerful weapon. And maybe if Assassin respects his will to fight they might even get along!
"The people who say that usually die at the beginning of combat." Waver takes it all back. This guy's a jerk.
"Well… but… I…"
"Face it. You're not made out for fighting, be it physical or magical. I wonder why you even thought of entering this war. Why didn't you stay home and continue your studies?"
That stuck a nerve in Waver. "I cannot." The image of his stupid teacher came up once more, that disgusting, annoying, arrogant face! Waver cannot stand him! "There is a certain teacher who ridiculed my reports. His name is Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, and one of our opponents in this war. If I cannot show him that one's destiny isn't determined from birth, If I can prove that humans can improve with effort, then continuing has no use for me!"
Assassin looks at his master, understanding him slightly better. "You're not wrong, but not right either. What you can do is determined by three things: Potential, effort and luck. All three are equally important, and you cannot reach the top with only two of those. If this teacher has all three, then you cannot overcome him."
"Assassin!" Waver understood where Assassin is coming from, but he doesn't want to admit it. Never. He will stop Kayneth.
"But you're not fighting here. I do. I will kill him, but I need all information I can get on him, the other masters and the other servants. If you want to help me then you collect that data. You may not be a fighter but you can at least do this, right?"
"Y-Yes!" Waver smiled. It may not be the relationship he expected, but as long as he could win, he would accept this behavior. "Let me know what you need so we can win this war!"
Assassin stood there, only thinking of how to secure victory. "Next to what I already asked of you I need knowledge of this area, possible safe areas, a stock of supplies… that's it. Focus on these things first, then we can fight. Do you understand, master?" The last word was spoken in such a way that it means the exact opposite, a mocking call of a superior to his lesser fellows. That is how Assassin views this relationship.
"Y-Yes, Assassin." And he successfully dragged Waver in it. The pair went off, searching for information on the enemy.
All seven servants have been summoned, now the war can start in earnest!
…
What do you mean, we forgot someone? There's a Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and a Berserker! Seven in total! It's totally not like there's some crazy serial killer I'm forgetting, right? Right?!
…
Ehm… if you do have any questions left you can leave them in the reviews or PM me about it. I'll make sure to answer them. Otherwise, see ya in chapter 2!
