Foreword (PLZ READ)
Ah, beginnings, how I just adore writing them. introducing main characters, describing them and the environment that they tread my world upon. Nevertheless with my love for beginnings comes a terrible cost: I can never again recapture and replicate the care and attention to detail as I did in those said starting points, that is why I jus can never complete writing up any of my ideas. That said, I will endeavour to have my stories fully armed and operational by the time your friends arrive. Oh dear... I'm making references in an almost unrelated franchise...
Now, story background: our tale takes place more than a decade and a half since the events of Fate/ Stay Night has transpired, more specifically the Unlimited Blade Works path of the storyline. Although there has been many Holy Grail related events after the Fate/ Stay Night such as Fate/ Hollow Atraxia and Grand Order amongst many more alternate futures in the Nasuverse, I will be disregarding them so to make room for my own storyline (though I will add references to other Fate series in homage to the actual Fate storylines). This war will be a normal war, unlike Apocrypha, Extra or the aforementioned Grand Order, so it's just old school seven masters and servants fighting each other to win the wish granting Holy Grail. Although I was rather fond of the Saber x Shirou pairing in the Fate path, I'd much prefer the Rin x Shirou in the Unlimited Blade Works path which is hinted in this chapter; but unlike the stereotypical fanfic author, I favour writing OCs and putting my own spin in that stories' plot over writing pairing stories or lemons that sometimes (OK, all the time) bring the characters out of character. That said, it's just my selfish opinion which doesn't really matter because as human writers we are entitled to the responsibility of free will and to be able to express the imagination that we all have.
Anyway, the main characters of this story is going to obviously be Saber and their master and the storytelling will be similar to Fate Zero's as I quite like Fate/ Zero's way of storytelling where all the servants and masters have their own storyline that is well endowed with delicious detail and one that matters; Apocrypha just has way too much characters but is more plot driven so only a few characters get some actual development (the black and red Casters were my favourite servants, with Ruler, Archer and Assassin of Red and Lancer of Black tying second); Grand Order was sort of the same but took on more of a comedy route which was alright but having a long standing game with a masterpiece level grim storyline of Zero would get boring eventually, at least a comedy route keeps the players stuck to their screens mesmerised by the humorous dialogue and their beautiful 2-D waifus (or husbandos). By the by, it turns out that Hexanos is Spanish for Hexane...
If you made it through the foreword without skipping, I congratulate you, however, the rest of the story has barely begun...
Fate/ Hex of Hexanos
Chapter 1: A Sixth Holy grail war?
The man ran with all his might both magical and physical. Using his magic circuits to enhance his running speed, he gasped and panted as he focused his will and mana to maintain this superhuman speed. He had already achieved double the speed of a cheetah in it's prime, but still, this ability to cover large distances in a short period of time was barely enough to get him to the other side of the Mage association headquarters of London. Wearing black rimmed glasses and the equally black, long cape of the Mage association, Caules Yggdmilennia's robes were tattered and battered, his face scratched, his exposed left arm bleeding and covered with glowing green circuit like patterns which indicate his magic circuits were at work. His face was adorned with a moustache that curled on the end, upon his head were long locks of untidy dark brown-blond hair that grew disorderly due to negligence like overgrown weeds upon an unattended garden, the pair of blue pupilled eyes were bloodshot and opened wide like some narcotic intoxicated pauper. At the end of the torch-lit, stone corridor was a heavy oaken door, Caules was in a rush to relay the message to his superior to deal with the door, though at the same time he didn't want to have to pay the bills for property damage. Muttering something under his breath that caused the glowing green circuits on his limbs to dim ever so slightly and his speed to diminish, a strong blast of wind erupted from his outstretched right hand, forcing the door open. Once the spell had finished, the circuits reverted to their bright glowing state.
Not bothering to close the door behind him, Yggdmilennia entered a narrower corridor with arches overlooking the frosty grassed courtyard below and the moonlit night sky above. He felt the cold autumn British breeze upon his face, piercing through his wounded skin. He sighed, at least it was night-time, otherwise he'd be engulfed in a crowd of Mages- students and masters alike- unable to get to the place he needed to get to urgently, seeing as he had no aptitude in teleportation magic; such a technique was way beyond his magical capabilities and knowledge of the art was reserved for the most powerful of Mages. Turning into a corridor, the Mage skidded to a halt in front of a door labelled 'Lord El-Melloi II'. He opened the door without bothering to knock, then deactivating his physical enhancement spell which made him fall to the floor on all fours, gasping for breath and the glowing green circuits faded from his skin, leaving nothing behind. The room was filled with multiple bookshelves with ancient, leather bound books, their spines engraved with the scripts of multiple languages. At centre of the maroon carpeted room was a large dark, polished wood desk which had piles of paper with writing on them and several leather bound books that may have been taken out of the bookshelves in the room. Moreover, there was a curiously small, wooden box which had the same colour as the desk, almost as if camouflaged from view, though the golden coloured lock gave away it's position. Behind the desk was Lord El- Melloi the Second (otherwise known as Waver Velvet to some), a thin, bespectacled gentleman wearing a black suit and red tie, his long, black hair cascaded down his front, reaching his chest, the hair parted by his narrow, pale face. In his hand he held a white feather quill which he wrote on an A4 piece of paper riddled with paragraphs of handwritten work to which he ticked, crossed and commented on in blood red ink.
Lord El-Melloi the Second looked up from his marking at Caules, who was gasping for breath on all fours.
"Wouldn't it hurt to knock, Yggdmilennia?" said El-Melloi in a tone of indifference to Caules' state, then setting his quill into the ink pot to his right, "I take it the apprehending of House Einzbern's elder was unsuccessful?"
Caules got up and composed himself despite his wounded state in front of El-Melloi.
"It's worse sir, the elder has escaped with an entourage of armed homunculi," explained Caules gravely once he got his breath back, pushing his cracked glasses up his nose, he spoke in an Eastern European accent, "I'm afraid he has also declared his intention to restart the Fuyuki Holy Grail war"
"That... is disturbing news, most disturbing indeed..." replied Lord El-Melloi thoughtfully, his voice holds a hint of anxiety. Standing up from his chair, the lord walked to the window behind the chair which overlooked the river Thames, he then turned to face Caules, "what of your team? Any casualties?"
"Yes sir, only half of us made it back alive, two are in bad shape and may need several months in hospital," answered Caules.
"I'd thought the fifth Holy Grail had been the last one," mused Lord El-Melloi, gazing out of the window, "the chances of another occurring is the same as the chance of me becoming a demi-servant... are you willing to volunteer as a Master in this war?"
"I don't know... my grandfather participated in the third..."
"That'll be a no then," Lord El-Melloi cut in, then he turned to face the desk and looked at the small box on his desk, "let me see... Emiya has gone to Afghanistan to deal with a group of magical arms dealers and Tohsaka is in South America recovering an artefact..."
"Perhaps an overwhelming attack by summoning servants from Chaldeas?" suggested Caules.
"No, no, it hasn't come to that, we needn't bother director Animusphere," disagreed El-Melloi, "wait, I guess there is one more option..."
Then he summoned a file from one of his steel cabinets. Following that, he pulled out a profile card with the name 'Emrys Nomenus'. Caules' eyes widened in surprise.
"But... he's a wildcard..."
"Do you have a better idea?" snapped back El-Melloi to which Caules responded with a shake of his head. El Melloi redirected his gaze at the small box and narrowed his eyes, "but I do have a back up to ensure that the grail doesn't fall to the wrong person..."
Break
"I'm home!" called a Japanese boy, Emiya Minoru, his aqua eyes gleamed with weary joy and his short red hair spiked like a sea urchin, "hello? Mother?"
Taking off his black shoes, he stepped onto the light coloured wooden floor with his white socks. The hallway was quite narrow but was wide enough to have three people standing next to each other, shoulders touching. A wide wall clock decorated the left hand side of the room from where Minoru was positioned. To Minoru's right was a Shoji door that led to the living room. Sliding open the Shoji door, he went into the living room, a large enough place with a rectangular table at it's centre along with several square shaped cushions for the occupants and guests of the residence to kneel and eat their meals. A flower pot placed here and there, which his mother had replaced recently. A sharp, stinging pain graced the back of his left hand; Minoru inspected the damage, there where the pain originated was a black-purple bruise with small streaks of red. The boy grimaced at the damage. Funny, he thought, that wasn't there this morning. Minoru decided to venture further and probe the abrasion with his right index finger. As soon as the finger touched the bruised skin, Minoru felt no pain whatsoever. Then he decided to touch the red parts, only to find that it wasn't blood. Shrugging, Minoru dismissed the wound as some dirt he must've picked up from tripping over during his physical education class. His mother clearly wasn't in the living room.
Minoru searched, in the study, his parents' bedroom and the Dojo. She was nowhere to be found. There was but one more place. Opening the glass sliding door to the backyard, there was the grey, withered storehouse. He picked up the wooden slippers and put them on before setting foot onto the soil. The rusty steel doors of the building proved a difficult enough challenge for Minoru to open, however, the stubborn, ancient thing eventually yielded to him without it's hinges breaking off and opened with a metallic scrape that would make one wince. Minoru was gasping by the time he opened the blasted door, he wiped his forehead of the sweat and proceeded into the dark building. Inside the storehouse were piles of pipes discarded and strewn about the floor, stacks of cardboard boxes wrapped in cloths skulked in the shadows. Minoru hadn't gone inside the store in his life, it usually was his father that occasionally entered the place, in the case of his mother... now that he thought about it, he'd never recalled ever seeing or hearing of his mother enter the place. Still... she could have come in here to do a favour for his father, who was now away in the Middle East with his work. He looked amongst the pillars of boxes, still no sign of his mother. He decided to give up on his search.
Maybe she's coming home late from work again, he thought, then sighed, "I guess I'll go make dinner, then"
As he went to the exit of the storehouse, he saw a circular structure being drawn on the ground. It resembled a pentagram or some magical symbol, it was about one and half metres in diameter. Minoru frowned and moved closer to investigate. Nevertheless, as he approached the symbol, the pain from the 'bruise' on his left hand intensified, causing Minoru to back off from the symbol and hurry off out of the building without bothering to close the door.
In the kitchen, Minoru washed his hands, only to find that the 'patch of dirt' wouldn't come off. He wrapped white bandages around his left hand before putting on a faded red apron to start making a bubbling boiling stew. Slicing up meat and dicing down vegetables then placing them in the saucepan of scalding flavoured tasty water. The broth's steam filled the room with mouth wateringly savoury aroma. Minoru inhaled the tantalising smell and sighed, a simple stew... what could go wrong? Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Emiya Minoru narrowed his eyes and growled with irritated impatience.
Darn it, I've almost finished! Thought Minoru.
"Please wait!" Minoru shouted at the knocker with as little annoyance as he could keep tempered and with as much urgency in his voice. However, the knocker persisted and to his realisation, the boy saw that the living room door was closed so his shouted message may have gone unheard. Minoru threw down the metal ladle in frustration and headed out of the kitchen in a hurry, prioritising the insistent intruder over his incensed cooking. Sliding the sliding Shoji door open to allow him into the hall way, he saw a silhouetted shadow behind the door (it was already late in the afternoon by now). Could it be one of his friends or perhaps a total stranger with an unclear motive? He had to be sure. Picking up his father's umbrella with his right hand- wielding the item by the handle like some one handed longsword he'd seen in historical western movies and fantasy anime- afterwards swinging open the main door to reveal... a dark purple haired girl wearing the same beige school uniform as the one he had. Her eyes wide with shock at Minoru's father umbrella held at such a threatening pose.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Minoru lowered his father's umbrella and his aggressively defensive act. He smiled warmly at the newcomer.
"Hi, Miyuki," greeted Minoru, his smile twisting awkwardly, "sorry about that, I get jumpy when I'm home alone"
"Umm... Emiya-senpai...?" replied the girl nervously, before bowing low, Minoru noticed her giving his bandaged left hand a brief glance, "y-you left your sports kit back in your science classroom"
"How very kind of you... I suppose you volunteered to bring it back to me personally?" asked Minoru, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"W-well, actually yes I did," admitted Miyuki, stuttering and straightening herself up whilst her gaze remained at the ground, "it seemed convenient seeing as I go past your house to get to my bus"
"Oh..." nodded Minoru, dropping his suspicious demeanour and accepting his bag of sports kit from her hands, then he looked at the clock on his right, "when's your bus?"
Looking down at her watch, Miyuki's grey eyes widened, "oh no! I've just missed it!"
"When's the next one?" asked Minoru, gazing at the clock again.
"Not until two hours," confirmed Miyuki, then she looked up at Minoru pleadingly, "may I stay at your house until then?"
"Sure, come in, lock he door behind you," shrugged Minoru, waving her over and turning his back to her as he made his way back to the living room, "I was just making some stew..."
Minoru Emiya halted in his tracks as his eyes widened in horror as he heard a whistle like noise coming from the kitchen, "Oh no! The Stew!"
A couple of minutes later Minoru, came into the living room with a thick, red heat protection glove that matched his apron holding a blackened bottomed sauce pan. Opening the glass lid, he poured servings of the stew into the ceramic bowls with the ladle. Miyuki looked on as her upperclassman served her share of the stew. She noticed that there was a third bowl on her table.
"There we go, Miyuki," Minoru said to her, after finishing filling her bowl with a sufficient volume of stew, "sorry, it's a bit bad, I think I sort of overcooked it"
Miyuki put her hands together, closed her eyes and muttered the prayer "Thanks for the food!" before slurping a bit with her spoon, "I don't think it's bad at all, the flavour and texture is just right, although there's something that's a bit off, other than that... it's pretty good over all"
Minoru knelt down to both knees on one of the cushions, took up his hands and put them together and closing his eyes before muttering the prayer: "thank you for the food"
"Umm... Emiya-senpai?" enquired Miyuki.
"Miyuki, you don't have to call me by that title outside of school," reasoned Minoru, not looking up from his food, "call me by my given name, I don't go around calling you Matou, now do I? Besides we've known each other since preschool anyway so it's alright"
"Okay M...Minoru," replied Miyuki nervously.
"There, Isn't that all better?" said Emiya patronisingly looking up from his food, smiling at Miyuki, "Now, was there something you wanted ask me?"
"Oh, yes, were you expecting someone?" asked Miyuki nodding at the third bowl, whilst picking up her chopsticks.
"My mother, I think she's coming home late from work," shrugged Minoru, picking up his own chopsticks, then pointed at Miyuki's left hand with his own bandaged left hand, "I have a question for you, what's that on your left hand?"
Miyuki, set down her chopsticks and hurriedly closed her right hand over her left, "I...it's nothing, really! Just a bruise from when I accidentally hit a door on my way to school"
Minoru frowned and at the same time a clap of thunder was heard from the outside, followed by the tapping of rain drops. Then he shrugged and went back to his stew, spying Miyuki sigh with relief from his peripheral.
Once they had finished their meal, Minoru gathered up the bowls and the saucepan (which was cold enough by now to be picked up by his bare hands) to put them in the basin to be washed. As he washed, Minoru observed Miyuki staring at the bruise on her left hand with a mix of fascination and terror. The rain continued it's pitter-patter on the roof of the Emiya residence and the ground outside, Minoru wondered when the rain would stop.
"M-Minoru, I've got to go," notified Miyuki, standing up from her cushion. Minoru stopped his dish washing to come and see his childhood friend off. When he caught up with Miyuki Matou, she had already finished putting on her left shoe. The rain persisted its bombardment outside...
"Hey, Miyuki, d'you wanna borrow my father's umbrella?" offered Minoru, gesturing at the item he'd used earlier, before picking it up, "I'm sure he won't mind"
"Yes, thanks for the offer," bowed Miyuki, accepting the umbrella from Minoru's hand, "I'll give it back tomorrow"
Suddenly there was a knock on the door followed by a violently audible clap of thunder. Behind the door, there was another silhouetted figure; this time they were much larger and had an umbrella. This person's come prepared, thought Minoru, who then shrugged and opened the door, the boy sensed his friend motion to stop him, however, she was too late. There standing in the rain, was a tall man, wearing a dark raincoat over his suit looking dark robes. The stranger bowed his head.
"Am I at the Emiya residence?" the newcomer asked, his Japanese was fluent enough to be easily understood, however, the manner gave his speech like that of some theatrical play gave away the fact that he was a foreigner. Moving into the light, revealing his face: a beige skinned man with a dark and almost villainous moustache.
"Yes, you are, can I help you, sir?" asked Minoru, his voice monotonous and casual.
"Then I take it you are Emiya Minoru?" he queried once more. Minoru nodded, trying hard not to fidget uncomfortably; the stranger directed his gaze at Miyuki, who edged backwards ever so slightly and covering her left hand's back with her right palm swiftly. Afterwards, the man returned to look at Minoru, "I have some sensitive information for you only, Emiya-kun, I am afraid this young lady should take her leave despite the weather"
"She was leaving anyway," shot back Minoru, a little too defensively. Then moving to the side to let Miyuki past out of the doorway, the stranger mirrored his movement. Just when Miyuki barely finished passing the stranger, the newcomer spoke in a loud enough voice.
"Perhaps the young lady would require transportation?" offered the stranger, gesturing at the taxi in front of the house with an open hand, whilst making it look like he was bowing at Miyuki, "the last bus broke down, I no longer need transport as the driver had pointed out that my destination is but a short walk from here, you needn't pay for the taxi as technically the destination hasn't been reached and could still be changed"
Miyuki just looked at the stranger, unsure of what to say. Minoru kept his silence.
"T-thank you, sir" Miyuki finally replied, bowing and rushing off to enter the taxi. Minoru and the stranger stared at the departing vehicle before returning their gazes at each other.
"I don't mean to be rude, but what sort of weird twisted game are you playing?" enquired Minoru, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, his voice low but evenly calm and his eyebrows furrowed into a frown.
"The Holy Grail War, that's what," answered the stranger whose respectful formal speech switched so suddenly into something that seemed so casual and confident, Minoru was taken aback at the sudden change in tone and the mention of the 'Holy Grail war', then the stranger switched back to his first speaking style, "now if you'll allow me to enter, I will answer your questions"
After putting his raincoat and umbrella in their respective places in the hallway, the stranger followed Minoru into the house's living room. Taking a cross legged seat on a cushion, the stranger kept his eyes fixed upon the table's surface whilst patiently waiting for Minoru to finish washing the bowls that were used. Once Minoru had completed his dish washing, he knelt on a cushion opposite the stranger, who now was wearing a navy blue Edwardian style velvet jacket accompanied by a dark brown and gold waistcoat, and a matching navy blue cravat.
"Emiya Minoru, allow me to introduce myself, I am Emrys Nomenus, representative of the Mage association in this Grail War," the man bowed his head at Minoru, This stranger really does have a way with words, thought Minoru, "I'm sure your parents have mentioned the holy grail and magic to you at least once?"
Minoru nodded.
"By the way your mother won't be coming home in a long time, so can I have that?" the man said again in his casual tone, pointing at the extra bowl of stew, Minoru nodded again which prompted the stranger to reach and grab the bowl. Muttering to himself in a language unrecognisable to Minoru's ears, the stranger mage's eyes glowed gold for a fleeting moment before reverting to it's normal state, he looked up at Minoru as if having read his mind, "I'm on a vegetarian diet to let me perform a ritual"
"But, both my parents told me the Grail War was over" Minoru protested.
"So did everyone else, but one of the heirs of the founders of the grail war, Jubstacheit von Einzbern, elder of the Einzbern mage family, restarted the holy grail war somehow, that's all the association told me about that" explained the Mage, then he pointed at Minoru, "Minoru-kun, do you know any magecraft?"
"Well, my father taught me the basics of strengthening and projection magic, and my mother taught me some crystal magic and a little bit of Gandr," elaborated Minoru modestly, then shrugged, "but then again, still, just the basics, I don't see how I've anything to do with this 'war' of yours"
"May I see what's under the bandage on your left hand?" enquired Emrys Nomenus, Minoru obliged by unwrapping his bandaged left hand like some preserved mummy being unfurled by archaeologists. There on the skin of the hand's back was a red marking, clearly made of three strokes (like a pencil or thin brush stroke) and looked like a straight line with two bolts of uniquely shaped lightning bolts coming off it, however the lightning bolt- whilst clearly a lightning bolt- curved slightly inwards towards the tip of the straight line so that it looked like a laurel wreath an emperor would wear as a crown. Minoru's eyes widened, startled at the change since there was no other evidence of the bruise that had been there previously.
"W-what...?"
"As you can see, slightly just a third of this grisly war business has everything to do with you," continued Emrys Nomenus, whilst Minoru stared in awe at the back of his left hand, "the other slightly less than two thirds belong to the Einzberns and the Matous... or was it Makiri? Anyway, the Holy Grail Wars were started by those two aforementioned families and the Tohsakas, which you, Minoru-kun, represent as you are a descendant from that Magus family line"
Minoru Emiya looked up at the older man, his face twisted into a frown again, "aren't there seven mage participants?"
"Yes, but those masters take up the rest of the space unfilled by the first three," explained Emrys Nomenus, "filling the role of allies, distractions and tools to help one of the three succeed their goals in being granted a wish by the grail"
"Then would Miyuki, my childhood friend, be a master too?" ventured Minoru, his voice filled with a cocktail of fear and pity, Emrys Nomenus nodded gravely prompting Minoru to sigh, "you're a mage Nomenus-san-"
"No please, I insist on being addressed by my full name," interrupted Emrys Nomenus smiling with amusement? Embarrassment? "It's only two words long, though at least, perhaps I can do without the honorific"
"Okay, Emrys Nomenus," began Minoru again, Emrys Nomenus nodded and continued eating the magically meddled stew, "you're a mage, but I don't see one of those red markings on either of your hands, may I ask why?"
The mage slurped the last contents of the stew, then wiped his mouth with a tissue before resuming the conversation, "Minoru-kun, not all mages are selected by the Holy Grail to fight for it, I was technically sent here by the association to deal with the situation and to have masters co-operate with me to achieve the total end of this twisted ritual. I doubt the master selection process of the war is complete, but if there's the slightest chance I would be chosen by the Grail, I would be your ally- that is if you have a goal that corresponds with mine"
"And if I don't?" asked Minoru, a little too harshly perhaps. Emrys Nomenus smiled again.
"When you said your parents told you that the war was over, I was confident that you'd be a co-operative master," explained Emrys Nomenus calmly, gesturing broadly, "with that statement I assumed that you do not have the Tohsakas' ambitiously selfish, unreachable goal of attaining the 'root of all magic'"
"Maybe... maybe not," smirked Minoru, "for all you know I could have another goal that doesn't correspond with your own, I'll have you know that I have my own wish"
No one spoke after that, the living room was quiet and only the ticking of the hallway clock was heard. Then, Emrys Nomenus smiled.
"Well, then I suppose I'll be going, I'll be at the old Tohsaka manor if you need to speak with me," Emrys Nomenus told the boy, slowly getting up and walking towards the hallway, "although I think you should visit the church and talk to the priestess there if you want some actual advice regarding the war, my knowledge is limited to that of legends and rumours, I'm afraid"
The mage stopped and turned to face Minoru, his hand going inside his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a small cuboid package, "you'll be needing this, inside is the catalyst and the summoning chant"
Minoru took the package with mutter of gratitude.
Putting on his shoes and raincoat, Emrys Nomenus readied himself to return to the rainy outdoors. Minoru followed the mage to see him off. Once the mage picked up his black umbrella with a red question mark shaped handle, Minoru unlocked the door and stepped aside to allow the man to exit the house.
"Oh dear, it's still pouring down," remarked Emrys Nomenus with his calm casual voice, then he turned to face Minoru and bowed, "thanks for having me around Minoru-kun"
The boy had swung the door shut and locked it, leaving Emrys Nomenus standing alone in the rain outside. Walking out of the Emiya residence, the mage exhaled heavily and a shimmering energy field around his left hand seemed to unfold like some fine, silk cloth, exposing his hand... it's back decorated by a red marking that looked like a snake with two wings. His eyes silhouetted by his hood's shadow, he smirked slyly.
"The gambit has been played," muttered Emrys Nomenus under his breath, chuckling.
Inside the house, Minoru stared in fascination at the package the stranger had given him. Unwrapping the brown paper, there was a small metal box with a piece of parchment. He turned it over to see in the reverse side a couple of line of writing written in a cursive script using the Latin alphabet system. Minoru sighed, foreign languages wasn't exactly his most favourite subject and the uniquely personalized cursive script didn't help either. Then at the bottom, as if to mock him, written in kanji was: 'All will become clear when the summoning circle is activated'. A summoning circle... the strange circular drawing in the shed he had found earlier, could that be it? Minoru opened the box, inside was a shard of silvery coloured metal. The mage did say inside was the catalyst, how did it work? Something that could make him summon something specific or something that would speed up a reaction? Closing the box and placing the parchment in his pocket, Minoru put on his raincoat and headed to the exit that led to the backyard where the storehouse was.
The rain poured even more intensely now, pummelling his hood and tapering it to the crown of his head. Minoru nudged the door open, though with excessive force which caused him to stumble into the building. Grunting, the boy got up and walked up to the circular drawing, then taking out the catalyst to be placed on an upside down cardboard box in front of the circle. From his pocket, he fished out the parchment; now the writing was understandable in his mind and easily memorised as if it were second nature, somehow even if it wasn't in Japanese.
"From the essence of silver and iron," began Emiya Minoru, his facial expression as solemn as his tone, "let the stone and the Archduke of Pacts be the foundation, and by my ancestor, the great master, Schweinorg"
Wind began to whistle outside and swinging the door, banging it against he stone wall, "Raise a wall against the oncoming wind and close the gates of the cardinal directions"
From inside his raincoat pocket, he brought out three spiky, rainbow coloured crystals which he had for safekeeping, his mother had taught him crystal magic, how to store his mana into those crystals and how to extract them in a specific way when the time came.
"Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom," the boy said, his voice trembling inexplicably, though Minoru suspected it was due to the excitement. He clutched his hand tightly around the three crystals, crushing them and at the same time their sharp edges cut through his skin, drawing blood. A fluorescent green liquid-esque substance flecked with red blood dripped onto the summoning circle, the lines of the drawing imitated the green glow of the substance and surpassing the light intensity of the fluorescent liquid like substance.
"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill," Minoru continued chanting, reading off the parchment on his unused hand whilst the hand that crushed the crystals outstretched a if trying to grab something, "repeat five times, but destroy each time it is filled. Set. Heed my words: My will creates your body and your sword creates my destiny"
The light green glow of the summoning circle flickered as if struggling to maintain it's brightness like some ageing torch. The circle began to crackle like short circuiting static electricity and changed to a glimmering ruby colour, "If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me: I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world, you of the seven heavens clad in the great words of of power, come forth from the ring of constraint, Protector of the balance!"
With that, the building was engulfed with red light and a powerful blast of warm wind blew Minoru off his feet, landing on his back. The room was then filled with dust from the neglected objects in the room, causing Minoru to cough and his eyes to water. He felt as if he were drowning in a sea of spice and pepper. A loud slamming of metal to stone was heard, prompting the dust to clear due to another blast of warm air. Emiya Minoru couldn't believe his eyes: in front of him was a long red and black, jagged sword and behind it golden greaves and boots topped by a wide red dress that had it's lower front almost translucent, showing the gleaming leg armour. Further up the red dress with gold finish were golden epaulettes on both shoulders; the red sleeves were long and were frilled at the end with the same translucent material as the one used lower down the dress. The wearer was a young Caucasian woman with straight, blonde hair tied in a braid bun by a red silk ribbon, the front of her hair was fringed and two bangs of hair equally distanced cascaded down to her shoulders. Her pale, regal face was smooth and perfectly proportioned, her nose was petite but pointy and her large emerald green eyes glinted in the light of night. He didn't know what it was about this young woman, was it her dazzling beauty or her authoritative air that mesmerised him like a bear to honey?
"I ask you," spoke the red dressed young woman in a voice that sounded so high pitched it may as well have belonged to a child, but there was always that tell-tale background noise that signifies one's age, "Are you worthy to be... my master?
Afterword (PLZ READ)
Thank you for reading my Fate fanfic, your reading time is most appreciated and comments are welcome (within reason).
I thought I should just end the chapter with the iconic saber line that they always deliver after a summon which is always spine tinglingly cool. Then there's the summoning ritual which has the masters chant that really cool chant which I've always thought started with 'fill, fill, fill, fill, fill' but it actually doesn't. I don't know whether I should include a Fujimaru mage or an Edelfelt mage, though I would put in the latter, it wouldn't be Luvia but they'd probably be female and have that funny 'ohohohoho' laugh that Luvia has which I find both cute and hilarious. Speaking of cute, hopefully I will make Red Saber say at least one "Umu!" in her dialogue next chapter. Also, I will try to avoid making Miyuki Matou a rip-off of Sakura, who was also a great character in Heaven's Feel. And a final note: I will unfortunately not have Tamammo-no-Mae as the Caster because that would basically just turn this story into a Fate Extaella retell in Fuyuki, therefore another servant will be the Caster class.
Stay tuned for more Fate/ Hex of Hexanos chapters, I look forward to writing the next instalment!