First things first... Author self-loat- I mean... Author's note.
Hello Newman Projection here. This isn't my first story... I just forgot my username of my previous account and I have to make a new one so yeah. This is my first fate series fanfic though and I don't really have a deep knowledge on the series. I might offend some fans because of this. I apologize. And I'm generally like this. Again, I apologize. Anyways...
Reasons NOT to read this:
-This fic mostly consists of OCs. The number of canon fate characters here can be counted by one hand and two of them aren't even their canon selves.
-As stated above, I do not have a deep knowledge of the fate series and it might offend some. The first game I played is Fate/Extra and I'm still starting on Fate/Zero so yeah. This story is set after Fate/Extra so you can see the resemblance. And no, I haven't played CCC still waiting for translations. (NERO BRIDE)
-Bad writing. I'm more on a tradiational media drawer (heh. Clothes drawer) than a writer. Also, this was written in a tablet so there will be frequent typos and format shenanigans but I'll try to lessen them so I won't get in trouble with the ethics community. Also, if you spot any intolerable typos or grammar errors, please leave a review. Reviews exists for those reasons, and it also makes me happy to receive them... of course flame reviews do not but its part of life.
-Updates are irregular. Aside from frequently running into writer's block, I'm also really busy irl due to university. Seriously, chemistry.
-There WILL be borderline M rated actions. Umm... this is more of an unconscious sublimation so please bear with it. I'm so sorry, please dont kinkshame me.
-This was originally made for a private group of friends so there will be slight references to our experiences. Again, I apologize but please ignore them. I might explain them if the audience asks for it.
That's it for self-loathing. Since this is mostly consisting of OCs especially Servants, you can try guessing who is who just like your first playthrough of Fate/Extra. Don't worry, they're easy to guess. I'll put their profile cards after each elimination battle so everyone can read it afterwards!
With that said, please enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters here except one. All characters belong to their respective owners especially the Fate series. Thank you Nasu for bringing us a great series. May you be blessed.
Prologue
-January 27 20XX 5:00-
A blue sky... A bright sun... The clear weather struck his eyes.
Lost by the continuity of time, he awakens. Bizarred, confused and distraught.
Who am I? He shouted.
Where am I? He pleaded
Yet none answered his questions.
Silence filled the room with the lonely boy. No comfort nor despair given to him. Quiet hours ticked by as his heart continued to shout questions. Questions that will never be answered.
However, the boy wanted answers. If none shall answer my questions, I shall search for them myself. Step by step, little by little, did his mind urged him to walk. Walk and gather strength, move and search for his desires.
His arms stretched outward to that window of clear, blue sky. Thin, fragile arms pressed themselves to the glass plane overviewing the whole world. His mind took in vast information from the world below, every profile, every history, every cases filled his knowledge with smooth degree.
9
Data flowed freely into his mind and he closed his eyes, feeling the soft whirring of wisdom into him.
7 Masters
7 Servants
Fight for the Power
Fight for the Grail
1 Pair left.
Scanning past era...Negative
Scanning future era. ...Negative
Scanning current era.
...Positive
Searching potential Master location.
Coordinates confirmed
Searching suited Servant class.
[Saber]
All preparations complete
Engaging. Fate/ReLapse.
"Okay everyone! We have a new transfer student, make sure to greet her warmly alright?"
"Okaaay!"
The orange haired teacher waved her hand to the red haired girl, smiling to come in and get to know with the rest of the class. The girl walked to the stage with uncontainable excitement, her face sparkling up bright and her eyes shone with a huge glint of hope. Her hair bounced up and down at her movements, softly weaving through the air behind her and smoothly settles at her back as she turned to her new classmates.
"I'm Rachelle Ray Borham! I just transferred here in Tsukumihara academy last week so my entrance today is a bit off scheduled. That said, pleased to meet y'all!"
The audience clapped their hands with the same energy after she ended. With a finishing stroke, the teacher behind Rachelle finished writing her full name at the board and turned to the class.
"Rachelle here came from abroad that's why she was delayed in her education and had to be transferred here. Nevertheless, isn't it great that you have new classmate everyone?"
Loud, simultaneous affirmations came out from the voices of the class, increasing its energy level to a high degree.
"Pleased to meet you all too!"
"I'm Taiga Fujimura, you can call me Taiga anytime if that is too long. I'm your homeroom teacher, science teacher, writing teacher, math teacher, comprehension teacher, economics teacher and your physical education instructor!"
Rachelle's face contorted into a bizarre expression. Wasn't that all of her subjects? Why was Ms. Fujiwara the only teacher of all her classes? Now that she think about it, she didn't see any other teachers in the campus aside from her. How peculiar... Rachelle started speculating on why was the system like this from a strange vacation to an undercover secret deal. However, she remembered one vital quote that she had always done whenever she does not know anything.
Do not assume, ask.
With the agreement in mind, Rachelle prepared her words and opened her mouth. As she was about to voice out her inquiries...
"Hey."
When the large clacking of the sliding door caught everyone's attention.
"Don't let it get to you transfer student. You'll only get more confused than ever."
"Hey Tohsaka! You're late again!"
The teacher bursted out in anger towards to the late girl who only huffed annoyingly in response. Rachelle's bizarred mind immediately overrided every inquiry she has to say to the teacher and turned towards the door and looked at the late comer's features.
Black, wavy pigtails hanged from the sides of her head, tied with two jet black ribbons that seemed to be done from cloth manually. Her eyes shared the same shade of black with her hair and a white, unscarred face with a slight blush clearly showed her roots within the oriental country and its charming aspects. Thin waist and fit muscles that was obviously trained in exercise furthers that perfect image of a haughty Japanese princess in fiction, unblemished and uncontested.
However, something bothers the transfer student. If someone were to look at this young girl with the exception of sexual perversion, one would firstly comment on her clothes. That over-all red, courageous impression of her covers. A white cross runs across the whole middle of her long detached sleeved garment ending right above her navel, reminding Rachelle vaguely of a peculiar shrine maiden clothes as a first impression. Her black skirt had two holes at its side, its purpose unknown aside from aesthetic means of dressing up yet it does look breezy if one would wear it. The same holes exists at the two ends of her top garment, again Rachelle does not know what its purpose om the cloth aside from aesthetic needs and letting in wind to touch her skin at hot times.
Why red? Why was this girl wearing something other than the required uniform? Normally this would be attributed to teenage delinquency but Rachelle felt it was something else. Something unexplainable to her.
"U-Umm... Pleased to meet you, Ms. Tohsaka." Courteously, Rachelle greeted the red-clad classmate. However...
Cold glare and icy disdain met the new girl's warm greeting that made her step a cautious step back. One sided hostility filled the air between them, the temperature dropped along with Tohsaka's piercing stare towards Rachelle.
Silence.
Unbreakable silence.
A few seconds settled with that air of animosity before a loud 'hmph' coming from the black haired girl broke the silence, and turn her back against the room.
"Don't get chummy with me newcomer. You'll never know when we might be enemies."
"Hey, Tohsaka Rin!"
Leaving a vague statement behind, Tohsaka closed the door and walked off to somewhere within the campus. The class remained in that broken glass silence. What just happened? Rachelle could not comprehend why someone would be that hostile against her. Was it something she said? Her clothes? Her face? Did she offend her somehow?
It was all too peculiar.
"A-Anyways..! Rachelle, your seat is at the the 3rd row near the windows. Y-You're fine with that right?"
Taiga's voice snapped the new transfer girl out of her thoughts. Immediately, Rachelle nodded in a slighty hasty manner and gave an awkward laugh to the question. With that settled, the transfer girl picked up her handbag and rushed towards her assigned seat.
She did not want to make enemies within her first day. More like... She wanted to befriend everybody. .
...Looks like she has a lot to do just to accomplish that.
Two days has passed...
School life has progressed well for the new transfer student. The transfer student quickly adapted to the light hearted nature of the school and its occasional quirks and downs. The general happy atmosphere of a general high schooler.
"Are you going home yet, RRB?"
Rachelle's classmates asked in which the transfer student replied with a gentle shake of the head and stated legit reasons for her actions. Exploring the school after classes is one of her favorite hobbies, even if it means she forgets to check the time and sees the sun set when she comes out. For the past 2 days, she has successfully acquired first-hand information of the nurse office, the library and the garden without getting caught by Ms. Taiga who is adamant on sending the students back home on time.
It wasn't an easy sneaky mission. Taiga had the eyes and nose of a hunting tiger when it comes to her students, she had to hide a couple of times just to avoid her sight. Couple of times felt like life and death situations to her if she would comment on it.
With polite affirmations and slightly disappointed looks, the group of classmates left the premises leaving the red haired girl alone.
Peaceful silence,
Comfortable tranquility settled within the room along with the soft shuffling of the girl's bag as she prepared her academic materials for the next day. Days in this school are nice... Everyone is nice with a few exceptions here and there, the teacher is welcoming and the overall aesthetic views of the school are pleasing... Yet for some reason there's a nagging feeling in her.
Something she feels she should know intimately.
This won't do anything good. Rachelle thought as she jumped out from her seat and did a couple of stretches.
"Where should I go today?"
Running, tapping steps along with the jingling of a small bell echoed throughout the hallway. It's my lucky day! Taiga isn't anywhere! Is what Rachelle thought as she paced hastily hroughout the whole school, finding a place to settle and relax. She already explored the garden and its beautiful flowers yesterday, the library was peaceful but she'd rather go somewhere she won't easily fall asleep, and the nurse office is out of the question since the school nurse, Sakura Matou, was inside.
Somewhere... She wants to find somewhere.
Suddenly, her lithe footsteps halted and her gaze turned to a small building outside the school.
The archery range...? Her old school doesn't have that kind of facility, how interesting.
With a carefree smile and a pumped energy, Rachelle dashed towards unto her new destination for the day. The archery range.
"Excuse me..."
Rachelle said in a low, whispering tone. Although she says her excuses, the girl knew that no one could have possibly stayed behind in school except for her. After all, a tiger's ferocious anger is one of the most scariest thing for students like her. She shudders to think on how would anyone be willing to invoke the anger of the deadly teacher.
Someone with large masochistic tendencies probably.
With a small, light push, the door creaked open revealing a small portion of the wooden built traditional room. The woody, refreshing smell of cypress and oak wood wafts out of the room and instantly hits the senses of Rachelle, enticing and charming her to go further in the room to investigate.
Careful steps did the transfer student take. No sounds, no tremors resounded, as silent as the dead of the night.
Or atleast that's how she wanted.
"Who goes there?"
Rachelle's shoulders jolted upwards in utter surprise. She was sure she was quiet, how did someone find her?
"If you're thinking on how I found you then that's easy. I was facing the door when you opened it, I would be brain dead if I did not see that thing move, you idiot."
Rachelle peeked at the other side of the door, half-embarrased and half curious to who owns that smooth, masculine voice. Her eyes laid upon the unknown male's eyes, blood red gaze met jet black irises. Her heart skipped a beat by the beauty and charisma radiated by this Adonis in front of her.
Slick, long black hair that runs perfectly around his diamond-shaped face, his bangs parted skillfully with an elegant style avoiding , his glasses covered irises. His build runs between the border of average and thin yet his skinny arms show enough strength that could crush an apple with one hand. His clothes to consist of the usual archery uniform but Rachelle wonders what he would look like if he wore his everyday clothes
...Or maybe a birthday suit.
"Hmph... Is my body that marvelous to see? What a strange perverted intruder
"W-What?"
Playful grin paints the face of the male as Rachelle's grew an intense blush reddening her whole face. A pervert?! How dare he! It wasn't my fault he's beautiful! Truth to be told, she was staring pretty hard at him without speaking so it was not that far from the truth.
"Heh. Anyways, if you don't have any business here I suggest you leave. This is Taiga's homebase and its impossible for you to hide from her if you stay here. Huh, then again that NPC could be easily hacked and rewritten, big deal."
Huh? NPC? Hacked? Rewritten?
"...I guess from that look of ignorance you still don't know it yet huh? Well, it's none of my business."
Flipping his hair backwards, he walked past the bewildered Rachelle with a suspiciously downing expression. He quickly grabbed the coat from the hangers and draped it over his shoulders, uncaring yet extremely charismatic of his movements.
"Another unworthy... How pitiable."
And he left, whispering an ominous statement to the air as his steps faded from the wooden grounds.
Two people. Two people already said ominous statements within their back. Rachelle's curiousity grew even stronger, what did Tohsaka mean by "You'll never know when we might be enemies"? What did that male whisper about being 'unworthy' and 'pitiable'?
Questions, questions without answers. But Rachelle felt she knows the answer within her, she just can't remember.
I want answers.
She clenched her fist against her chest.
But how?
The sun sets as the curtains for the stage slowly rises.
Three days has passed...
Tsumikahara's library boasts its vast collection of information from simple literature pieces, complicated science formulas to highly advance physical mathematics all while compiled into a small section of the building's second floor. Along with the major subjects are extremely detailed atlases, history books, maps and other various reading materials brought for either miscellaneous researches or just plain leisure reading.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that every information you need is in the library.
Which is exactly why a red-headed girl is currently shuffling through the shelves with a piercing concentration, in search of something vague and unspecific, even for her. Rachelle has been a customer of the library ever since her meeting with the unknown male at the archery range.
Ominous, highly suspicious words replays every day at her mind only to raise more questions and none of the answers. We might be enemies... Unworthy... Pitiable... She knew it was something deep, even deeper than what it looks like without the conspiracy theories.
However, how will she know what they mean if she can't even see the head of it in the abyss?
Am I perhaps overthinking it?
Rachelle shook her head off that thought. While the chances she's overthinking it is true, something inside her keeps on chewing her mind that tells the opposite. A deeper meaning, some sort of clue, something that she should know intimately yet she cannot.
Relapse... War... Destroy...
"Huh?"
The girl turned around suddenly, facing her back with nothing but air. She could have swore there was a voice just now, did she imagine it?
No, it was loud and clear in her ears. Three words that holds no current meaning.
"Relapse... War... Destroy...?"
"Umm..."
A voice called Rachelle's attention, snapping her out of her mono thoughts and turning her attention to its owner.
"I'm sorry... C-Could you please move? I-I need to return this book."
A young brown haired boy with a short stature of not more than 5"5 meekly peeked through his long bangs while clutching a pile of old, white, books against his chest. His fingers fidgeted anxiously, his knees turned to each other as he cowered within Rachelle's non-hostile but endearing stare.
"Oh! I'm sorry, please go ahead!"
The transfer girl immediately stepped back, letting the young boy pass by her while muttering a soft 'thank you' to the red head. Rachelle watched the young boy as he carefully placed each one of the books carefully and precisely.
His fingers are long and thin, obviously stuck to the processed paper keeping it from flying everytime his eyes wander into the fiction of his reads. His black, oversized sweater, covered most of his body from his white neck down to the bottom of his buttocks. Large sleeves extends from his shoulders up to the first joint of his fingers, as if covering and hiding from the eyes and glares of the world around him. Rugged, hem-folded jeans extends down to his legs and stops at his black and white sneakers, with its laces neatly tied and tucked in the strings of the shoes.
This shy boy dresses so thickly and so covertly. She wonders why he is so reserved when most of the people around his age are extroverted, sociable individuals, some to the point of obnoxiously noises.
"Umm... Sis, y-you're staring at me pretty hard. I-It's embarassing."
"Uwah...?! Was I...? Did that make you uncomfortable?"
A small nod. Suddenly, Rachelle felt all guilty and embarassed against this child.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm Rachelle Ray Borham or RRB for short. Some pronounce it as Ruby or Robby, but the choice is up to you. Nice to meet you... Umm...?"
Awkward silence settles for a couple of minutes with the young boy fidgeting shyly like a cornered rabbit against a tiger. Suddenly the guilt and embarassment weighed heavier on Rachelle's shoulders. Did she make a wrong impression somehow?
"N-Noir..."
"Hm?"
"N-Noir Eclair... Is my name... Nice to meet you too... RRB sis..."
Sparkle! Rachelle's eyes sparkled with glee and happiness. She got accepted! Now she doesn't have to feel a whole weight of guilt for stressing this young boy out!
She smiled a wide grin to the young boy who replied with his signature mouse-like shyness and meekly nodded. The air between them still feels a bit awkward. A topic... Maybe a topic fond to him will do?
Rachelle glanced at the line of neatly placed, white books. Books...? He did put them there, I wonder what they are.
"What were you reading a while ago, Noir? It looks plenty for someone of your age."
With a swift motion, the red-haired girl pulled out one of the white books and flipped its pages randomly.
"W-Wait! Sis!"
She stopped at one page and with a smile at her face, she read a passage.
Drip...
At that time, at that place, when the ever shining sun continue to shine its face... That red lava of blood erupted from Rachelle's nostrils along with the shattering sound of her glass innocence.
"Lilies bloomed wildly in that dark night, gasping,
Moaning their lust and passion into the moon
Bodies glistened with sweat under the moonlight
Royaled by Luna
The Queen resumed to lick her lover's cavern
With her long and skillful tongue, soft and mellow
They sang their love and passion throughout the night
A song by Eros."
"T...This is...! Isn't this a bit too mature for your age?!"
"S-Sis! Wipe your nose first!"
Never in her life would Rachelle thought that a boy younger than her, would be taking care of her, wiping her disgraceful nosebleed with his own hankerchief, due to reading homoerotica work at a school library. Still for a young boy like him to read this...
"And I'm at the same age as you sis."
Wait what?
"...What?"
"I'm just shorter compared to others but I'm legitly the same age as you, RRB sis."
...
"Sis?"
"W-Wait this is hard for me to take in. So... E-Even so... Aren't this a bit too mature for someone of our age?! B-Besides, what are these doing in a school library?!"
With a sharp expression and a stiff pointer finger, Rachelle struck an emphasized pose like a certain bizarre animation series beginning to lecture the young Noir with her inexperienced mind. The young... No... The teenage boy only replied with a reaction face, his shyness and meekness all blown away from the current events.
"I brought them in of course! This library can bring in all kinds of books with just a single talk with the administrator or a student council member!"
"Nani the fuck?! That's clearly indecent!"
"It's not! Sappho's works are the epitome of pure, unadulterated, blazing love. Distilled from the hardships of life and the despair of death, the Queen and her female servant struck down the barriers of gendered relationships and freely expressed their love for each other by heart and by body! It's a deep work of art that an inexperienced child like you wouldn't understand!"
"Wha- I'm the child right now?!"
"Yes you are!"
"Like hell it is!"
"Yes it is!"
Sparks of rage flew betweem the two as their eyes locked together in a fierce competition of glaring. Eyebrows knitted together, teeth gnashed with each other, blood red competed with brown irises. Their aura flamed around them, turning the temperature into its highest degrees with the boils of blood clearly resounded at the background behind the two. A natural calamity and disaster await!
"Pfft... Ahaha..."
"...?"
Suddenly, the red-haired girl laughed. A carefree laughter, no sign of the earlier hostility nor the rage of blood that seemed to explode. Her cheeks swelled up to a grin , light blush colors her face, as tears formed around her eyes in that heartful chuckle.
Noir tilted his head questioningly at first until he followed Rachelle's lead and laughed heartily with her. Two teenagers fighting over the indecentness of a book in a library, how typically stupid over a trivial thing yet...
That's what makes teenagers, teenagers. Stupidity over the smallest things.
Soon, the laughter died down and Rachelle wiped her eyes gently with her fingers. She grinned at the short teenager who also smiled back in a friendly and unreserved manner to her. Friendship born from awkward moments and an explosive event. Human relationships are more spontaneous than one could ever expect.
"Whoo... It's been a while since I laughed like that! Refreshing!"
She stretched her body, showing off the "refreshed" feeling she's having.
"Yeah... By the way RRB sis..."
"Hm?"
"What were you looking for a while ago? I might help in finding it since I have read every book in this library. I've been here since day 1 after all."
Day 1? He never attended class? Somehow that struck as weird to Rachelle but for now she didn't mind it as a particular statement captured her attention more.
Although, what she wants to find was something really vague even for her. What made those two say such mysterious words to her? What is that something that keeps on nagging her to remember them? What do those 3 words that she heard actually mean?
It's all too peculiar, too bizarre, too illogical, how would she even start searching for something she doesn't even know exactly? This is even beyond stabbing in the dark, it was like diving deep down the abyss with no light or sun to return her back to the known. However...
Even a mortal human can feel his way in the abyss to guide itself against the blunted rocks,
Perhaps... Noir could tell her something about 'Relapse' 'War' 'Destroy'?
"I don't know myself... Do you know something about 'relapse' 'war' and 'destroy'?"
"Hmmm..."
The short boy closed his eyes and thought deeply, humming a sound to help him concentrate on remembering his photographic memories.
"I can't say I know a book that has a topic around all 3 of those but... If its just "war" then we could narrow it to something very specific."
A lead! Rachelle's attention turned to Noir in a full throttle. Her first lead to finally figuring out what the hell is going on! She needs to listen to this carefully.
"3 things come into my mind. First, you might be talking about history books retelling the summaries and events of previous and various wars around the world. Just like, the Trojan War or the World War II."
A historical event? No, she was pretty sure that was not it. She gets the feeling it was something current, something happening right now.
"Second, you might be talking about a literary piece which revolves around a war or at least the concept of war. I know some pieces about those but I can't say I'm too fond of it, if its what you're looking for then I can suggest you some titles or pieces."
A literary piece... No, she is sure she wasn't fond of war genre just like Noir and she wouldn't have this much nagging feeling if its just a want for something to pass time. It was something realistic, something she needs to know for her life,
"Third... Well..."
A pause. Noir paused for a long time before continuing on. Continuing on something really bizarre and unrealistic even for most of the fiction that Rachelle had heard.
"The Holy Grail War. The event we are currently on and the ultimate battle that, we as talented people, has the privilege to participate and fight for the all-granting Holy Grail. Several Holy Grail Wars happened in the past and the current number of its occurence is unknown due to the appearance of deviant timelines along with the revival of the Moon Cell. RRB sis... Are you perhaps...?"
"...W-What?"
Wait...
Wait! What did Noir just said? A Holy Grail War? A war for some all-granting grail? There's no way that exists right? It sounds like it came straight from an anime or a light novel. Either way, it's too unrealistic, too surreal! That shouldn't be the answer Rachelle was looking for! But...
Why is her mind screaming at her to remember that info? Remember about... The Holy Grail war?
"I see... By that face, you still don't know huh?"
"What... What should I know? Hey... Tell me..."
The previous healthy, cheeky color of Rachelle's face turned into a deathly, white chalky pale color in an instant. Cold sweat rolled down her forehead and neck, her hands won't stop shaking nervously, and her legs struggled to keep her upright and prevent her from collapsing to the floor.
Why am I shaking?
I feel sick.
What is happening?
Is this perhaps...?
"RRB sis..."
The previous air dampened into a gloomy, ominous atmosphere. Noir looked down to his feet and bit his lower lip in frustration. What should I do? What could I do? Uncomfortable silence settled between the two, not a word, not a breath to be said.
The school bell rang, signalling the end of the day for the higher classes. Large voices started to come out into the hallways, pouring their random, chattering noises into the school's space. Footsteps pattered their way into the listening ears and lightening the air with the joys of dismissal.
Except for one part of the library.
Rachelle stood completely silent before raising her head slightly to speak. Noir did the same, catching his attention with the transfer girl's movements.
"O-Oh... It's dismissal... I have to go... Home..."
"Sis..."
"Thanks Noir, I'll see you tomorrow."
Rachelle turns to the side and started to take steps towards the library door. Every trudge felt so heavy, it's as if her legs felt like lead. Her energy is completely drained and her head is constantly pounding.
Perhaps it was wrong for me to question it.
I should go home... Home...
...Where..?
"Sis wait!"
The red haired girl felt a tug at her blouse as she was about to exit the library. She turned around, facing the source of the voice and saw Noir, holding a white, spring coiled logbook at his arms. The teenage boy took a deep breath and held the book in front of Rachelle, much to the confusion of the girl.
"Here... This is what helped me understand what is going on. Maybe... Just maybe, RRB sis could find something about her there!"
Find something about her?
"I wish... You get your memories back as soon as possible! Then... Goodbye!"
And the teenage boy rushed out of the library, forcing the logbook at Rachelle's hands. The transfer student followed his vanishing trail with her eyes for a few moments before turning to the logbook she was just given.
Find... Something about her huh?
She opened the first page of the logbook. Tsumikahara Academy Student Registry.
Of course, why didn't she think about that? If she wanted to know what those two students meant, shouldn't she search about their profiles in the first place? For the first time in her life, Rachelle has never felt so stupid than this time.
She opened to the page of Tohsaka Rin. A picture, basic biography info, typical stuff you would find in a student registry. However, what surprised Rachelle was the pages after that mundane information.
Most student registries file a short background profile on the student, usually general information like family, home place or some previous personal experiences. But at this time, when Rachelle was supposed to find Tohsaka's Rin profile...
Nothing. Pure blank whiteness. Absolutely no information about her.
Her hands tightened a bit. What did this mean? Perhaps Tsumikahara did not want to pry into student background and left it? No, if that was the case why did they leave blank pages that seemed for the intention of recording student profiles?
"How suspicious..."
Rachelle muttered to herself as she flipped to more of the pages. Every student, every person was the same. Only their names and mundane info was written down but nothing of their profiles nor a mention of their birthplace.
The same went by when she flipped to her own registry. Rachelle Ray Borham. Age 17. Transferred to Tsumikahara Academy on January 20XX. That was all the information.
Nothing, absolutely nothing on the next pages. She turned the pages in a frantic manner, almost appearing like she was tearing them off one by one until...
"...Something fell out."
Rachelle whispered as she bended down and picked up the small piece of paper at the floor. Her eyes examined the piece of parchment that honestly looks like some sort of trash in hindsight.
Numerous patterned lines are inked at the paper, hardly random yet the patterns doesn't make any sense at all. She looked at it more carefully and saw a tiny red circle contrasting the different black lines crossing the whole paper with parallels and perpendiculars yet never intersecting.
Perhaps this is a map? But to where?
She examined the whole school and knew that no place within the campus looks like the map she is currently holding. Maybe she was mistaken? No... It came from a suspicious source so it might have some meaning.
The sun sets outside the windows, filling the room with a vibrant reddish-orange color. Rachelle tucked the small paper safely in her pocket and gazed at the setting sun before her eyes.
Such a beauty holds so many mysteries. She wonders if she could find the answers before the sun never rises again.
The sun falls, the curtain rises. Let the stage of the play begin.
A day has passed...
"W...What..."
Static, loud static filled her senses and flooded her mind. The whole room looked black and white in her eyes, the ear shattering feedback made it impossible for her to know anything, her mind suffered in agony as time passes slowly with the bizarre television static plastered into her.
Her heartbeat is quick, her breathing is ragged, her head feels light headed, her body is in pain. What is happening? This shouldn't be happening in a plane called reality.
"I feel... Sick... I need... To get out..."
Rachelle walked limply towards the door of the room. Not even a single eye bat at the pained posture of the transfer girl, merely empty eyes and empty shells chattering to themselves filled the classroom and space like some sort of static program. With a forced push, Rachelle slid the door out of the way and was immediately greeted by a gruesome scream.
"AAAAAAAH SOMEBODY HELP!"
"Gghk..! Graaaaaaahhhhh!"
"No... NOOO!"
A terrible scene played out in front of Rachelle's eyes. A giant blue haired man, clad in a golden bordered armor and a burnt cape grabbed the screaming young male student by his limbs and ripped his body apart like a child's broken doll. Joints loudly popped in the air, blood sprinkled throughout the floor, the multitude of terrified screams multiplied in volume as the blue haired man continued to howl and laughed madly at its work.
"That's fine Berserker... Just do what you want... Hm?"
A young woman, almost like a child, with long silver hair tied in pigtails and cloth in purple clothes and white shoes looked at Rachelle's petrified look while standing beneath the shadow of the mad behemoth.
"You..."
In an instant Rachelle's instincts kicked up and her body started to move at her unknown will. She has to get out, she has to get somewhere safe, or else she'll be killed like that boy!
She jumped above the railings of the stairs and rushed past through the steep stairs. Numerous screaming and bizarre scenes played out in front of Rachelle's static filled mind. A black haired guy with a shining, long bow and arrow... A dark skinned guy with the same aura yet is holding a staff and seemed to procure fire from it to burn the remaining students at the floor for unknown reasons.
What is happening?! Somebody tell me what's going on!
Rachelle shouted and pleaded at her mind. Her soul screams of the desire to live, her mind screams for the desire of answer, her body screams for the desire of safety, she wants the knowledge to understand the events around her, oh how will she find the answer?
Fire exit...
Huh?
First floor... Fire exit... That's the first room... You should go... Rachelle...
A strange voice echoes at her mind, giving her weirdly clear instructions on where she should go. Saying she has no doubts on what the voice is saying is a large mistake in itself however...
"I... I have no choice but to follow it!"
With a quick turn and a fast brake, Rachelle faced the direction of the left wing of the building and started dashing mad for the fire exit. Noise filled her head, the howls screamed all together in this chaotic environment, the static grew stronger and heavier as she neared the door. The red headed girl closed her eyes and gave a final push.
She jumped for the door, hoping she would hit the metal and wake herself up from this dream...
Yet it did not came.
"Huh?"
Suddenly her mind felt clear and totally refreshed. Rachelle looked up and saw an otherworldly blue room with various stacks of flasks, books, artifacts and a glowing blue circle at the corner of it.
"I never saw this room before... Wait... Was it even here before?"
Rachelle muttered to herself as she explored the room. The walls of room looks abnormal by itself, digital blue lines ran across its length, parallel and perpendicular but never intersecting. The books on the shelf looks like it was from ancient times, rotted and decayed through the passage of time yet still holds its value of worth when read. It was like a whole new world suddenly appeared before her.
"Are this... Original?"
Rachelle picked up a dusty book and flipped through its pages. The book is full with highly detailed cursive lines and english words she could not comprehend but she had a feeling in her mind that she knows what that book is but not of its use to her.
"The catalyst that is able to turn copper into gold... The Philospher's Stone."
The girl recited the lines in her unconscious mind as she looked upon a shining gem floating in a flask made of glass. She doesn't know why she knew that information nor will she know why she knows those words. Everything around her seemed so familiar yet so different, what exactly is this room? Why does she know its secret?
Rachelle scanned the whole of the room and its tables with pure concentration and focus. She brought up a hand to her chest and closed her eyes momentarily.
The sheets of Requiem, a yew arrow, the chipped sword of a great foot soldier, a blueprint of the perfect human being, a red, ominous spear of Irish craftmanship.
Everything in this room was in her stock knowledge, every bit of detail and information about an object seems familiarly stored within her. She has a lot of questions regarding this knowledge, questions which she knew there won't be an immediate answer.
"Hm? What is this..."
Her eyes laid upon a white shard laying upon a red cloth. Curiousity fills her mind and Rachelle's hand reached out to pick up the object.
"Ow!"
Rachelle let out a voice as she felt her skin being pricked. The shard was sharp in one edge and slowly, Rachelle's blood seeped in at the piece of material. It felt like chalk, some kind of fossil? Was it something's bone? Or was it someone's?
"..."
With a careful movement, she wrapped the small shard with its red cloth and quietly tucked it in her pocket. Why did she take it? She doesn't understand herself but she had a feeling... An instinct that she had to take that shard no matter what.
"Well... It can't hurt right?"
Rachelle whispered to herself and scanned the room. Nothing currently useful to her, she can't take any random items so she'll leave for now. The red haired girl turned away from the table and walked towards the glowing circle at the corner of the room.
Go... Accept... Fate...
...
With a hesitant step, Rachelle moved forward to the circle and felt an overpowering sensation. She closed her eyes in reflex and let her body move out through the very concept of time and space. Every fiber of her being, decomposed and recomposed all over in an endless cycle, her mind flowed through the unending warp of the wormhole, until everything stops all of a sudden.
Rachelle opened her eyes and saw the distorted sky above an urban area. Dark blue night, detoriated into gradual black specks of data, the moon shone so eerily bright along with the dark stars of the night and the unsettling silence of the atmosphere.
Cracked asphalt laid at her feet with weeds growing in it, its roots taken place at the heart of the soil, unwavering and unleaving. Traditional looking houses lined at the side of the still road. Quiet and creepy sat those double layered wooden houses with grid patterned paper windows and square shaped long doorways. Plant ornaments littered the whole of the residences but even its vibrant color was faded into grey by the surreal atmosphere of this world.
Rachelle walked cautiously, scanning the whole of the road and the little alleys hidden at its dark shadows. Everything looks so real yet unreal. Darkness looms at every corner and the eerie atmosphere made it worse as it chills her down to the bone. She shivered and held her coat closer to her skin in a desperate attempt to stay warm.
"Where should I go?"
She whispered silently into nothingness and clutched the pockets of her coat.
*krish*
Hm? Rachelle heard a sound at her pocket for a brief moment and stuck her hand into it, grabbing a piece of paper within it.
The map.
She unfolded the paper and looked at the little piece of detailed map. Still the same as ever, a huge space near the end of the edge, with little lines running to its side blackened with thick ink and finally ending in a huge circle with a red x at its center.
Parallels and perpendiculars, but never intersecting.
"Wait... Isn't this?"
Rachelle turned to her right and held the piece of paper at her eye level. She aligned the huge space with the end of the road and traced the small branches of it with the alleys of the road. It fits perfectly.
So that's why she did not recognize that layout in any part of the school. It was a map for that otherwordly dimension she was thrown to.
"Hmm... Guess I have no choice."
She doesn't know where the map would take, she doesn't know if its even safe for her to follow that damned piece of paper. However...
At wits' end, even a man would push power to take that remaining spider thread.
With a slightly brisked pace, Rachelle trudged on that broken asphalt road going nowhere, finding somewhere. Tall, walls of bricks and wood towered all around her average build. Murky, dark fog obscured more of her sight, making it almost impossible to traverse. However she did not stop, Rachelle continued to walk until she reached a clearing of a dense forest.
An urban area then a forest, huh.
The red haired girl continued to walk within the dense forest. For dense forest, it has a pretty clear set of road on where to walk. Trees stood aside the path, looming and looking menacing yet also provides a strange sense of protection to her. Rachelle looked up to the trees as her feet moved on. She had always liked marveling at nature, even in a distorted world beauty still remains in some of its parts.
"Woah..."
Her steps halted suddenly, her mouth gaped dryly and her eyes reflected the aqua blue light glowing from the intricately designed circle at the ground in front of her feet. A large, patternized circle of squares and lines sat quietly within the center of the forest as if waiting for something or someone to activate it with some sort of bizarre spell.
Rachelle clutched her chest tightly as she stared at the magic circle. Her heartbeat quickens and increases its volume, her palms started to sweat and shake from an unknown reason, her feet becomes unsteady at its sight, struggling to stay still and not rush in the center of it in impulse.
Why do I feel like... I know of this before?
With a careful step, Rachelle walked towards it, curious and wanting of the knowledge hidden beneath that swirling energy of magic. She crouched down at the center of the circle and placed a hand at the middle of it. Runic language started to circle around Rachelle in a blurring speed, impossible to follow with a normal human eyes and will trump most of the linguists existing around the world.
However, the red haired girl watched every word passed through her eye like clockwork. No, she doesn't know why she can read those nor how she can follow those blurring speed of lines. Her whole week was full of mysteries about her and the events... And this is the only the first step.
"Your flesh... Is under me... My fate... shall be in your sword..."
The runic language started to glow even stronger, the swirling mass of energy started to expand even more that the trees around them waved in a highly erratic manner.
"...Submit to the beckoning... Of the Holy Grail.."
The energy bursted into flames with Rachelle at the center. A small piece of cloth removed itself from her pocket, without her noticing due to the concentration she has on reading.
"Answer,... If you would submit to this will and-"
*growl*
"Eh?"
Rachelle whipped her head quickly to the sound, stopping her careful reading and paled in fear. Red, glowing, canine eyes glared at her from the shadows of the forest. Growling, hostile, feral wolves stepped our from the darkness one by one, their mouths dripping with thick saliva and their sound clearly showing no intent of being tamed.
The red haired girl stood up and stared fearfully at the wolves. What should I do? I don't think I can run away from them.
Suddenly, the energy surrounding Rachelle bursted into a pillar of light. The wolves stepped back a bit, some of them howled loudly, the trees waved their leaves away from the light source and Rachelle screamed in surprise as she crouched down and guarded herself.
The light continued to shine up through the heavens and the sky. The pillar merged, condensed, and packed into more, blinding the wolves and Rachelle from their sight, leaving them stunned and paralyzed at whatever is going on around them.
"What... This is the first time I've been summoned and its already like this? The preliminaries are much more deadly than what I thought."
The soft sound of stepping on grass catches the attention of the red haired girl and she turns to the source of the sound with her arm shielding her eyes from the painful glare of the light. She could only discern the person's feet from the current conditions. Woven, flat sandals adorned the person's feet as his or her whole leg was wrapped in tight, rugged bandages except for the joints' part. The person tapped the toes of his or her feet towards the ground in an annoyed manner as an impatient thinking sound comes from his or her throat.
"So... You there with the red hair."
"Y-Yes...?"
"Are you the one who summoned me? Are you my Master?"
Uhh... What? Rachelle tilted her head to the side in reply to the question. However, she didn't have time to think about it as a black blur of fur swiped down from her side, scratching her clothes and torn off the hem of her sleeve in an instant.
"Kyaaaaa!"
"Hmm... Those wolves are getting impatient, and the summoning light is dying down. I'll ask once again, are you my Master?"
Master? What the hell is this person talking about?! As Rachelle screamed that in her mind, more of the wolves started lunging towards her in a frightening manner. Rabid, salivating wolves, this day can't get any worse!
"I... I..."
Rachelle clenched her fist in a tight ball and shouted at the person.
"I don't know what the hell are you talking about but if you can save me from these wolves then fine! I will be your Master!"
"Well said... Contract confirmed, forming Command Seal. Nice to meet you, Master. "
The light has died down enough for the red haired girl to fully see the person from head to toe. The person was wearing tattered, brown trousers with a huge sheath belt along its waistband. A white, aged shirt with short sleeves covered the entirety of his lean torso while the lower part of the cloth was tucked snugly in the band of the trousers he wears. A red neckerchief adorned around the base of his neck like necklace, showing off a sense of courage and valor within the person's aura.
Rachelle moved her eyes from his clothes and looked at the person's body itself. His arms are also covered in the same rugged bandages as with his legs, defining and showing off the lean muscles worked up in his biceps and triceps effectively. While she can't see his face as it is obscured by a triangular, helmet made with straw, some strands of hair peek out underneath the hat revealing a bleached type of blonde hair riding smoothly along the winds.
"Well then, perish before my sword you dirty wolves!"
The person materialized a huge, machete sword at his hand and lunged forward to one of the wolves in a blink of an eye. The machete gleamed frighteningly in the dead of the night, the person's movement as eloquent as the wind in smoothness. With a sharp, cutting sound, the person sliced one of the wolves in a clean motion as if he was cutting the air with nothing impeding his blade in the space.
The wolves snarled and started to jump onto the person in a pack of ferality. Unfazed, the person turned his body to face the wolves and cut them all into halves with no sense of effort nor work at all. More of the wolves ran after the person but to no avail. He merely tapped his helmet to lower it and diced the remaining creatures into nothingness like clockwork. His arms and movements became a blur to his Master's eyes, it's as if she was watching a flurry of death done by a single blade.
*growl*
Rachelle turned her head to the growling in surprise. Suddenly, a wolf jumped towards her, its mouth open and salivating rabidly openly saying its intention to devour the red headed girl. Rachelle brought her arms up to her face ina futile attempt of guarding her. It's over. I'm dead! She mentally prepared for the big bite to come to her as she closed her eyes in sheerless fear.
Yet... The expected did not came.
"Man, you wolves are real cheaters."
Rachelle peeked open one of her eyes and saw the wolf being suspended mid air by a wavy blade connected to a cord, ran through its throat. The wolf whined helplessly as it twitched and disintegrated by the mysterious person's blade launched into him. With a zipping sound, the person dashed to Rachelle's side, pulled the blade off the wolf through the side and kicked its disintegrating body towards the shadows of the forest.
"Huh, never thought they would aim for Master while I'm here. Good thing I got my kris here."
"U-Umm..."
Rachelle tried to thank the person but was cut off as she heard another sharp cutting sound near her ear.
"Sorry about that Master. You don't have to thank me... But..."
The shuffling within the shadows grew to a hundred more. Numerous pairs of red, glaring eyes showed from the darkness, twice... No... Thrice or more than the amount back then. Rachelle clutched her right hand half in fear and half in pain. The chilling aura brought by the wolves was in great contrast with the searing heat tearing apart at her hand. Her vision swimmed and her consciousness risked of fainting, only the voice of the person standing near her kept her awake and sane from the sensations and the events happening around her.
"We're in quite a predicament here Master. I'll have to go on to a great length for a preliminary exam."
Too hot... Can't... Breathe...
"Don't worry, please leave everything to me. Let this Saber be the sword that would raise the red flag of victory until the very end."
Sa...ber...? With that final thought, Saber swung the cord-connected kris above their heads and gradually increased it in velocity and size. Heat and pain grew stronger as the wind spun along with the blade, Saber is spinning. Rachelle's vision blurred and fell as she heard the final string of words from the person at her side.
Her very own Servant.
"[Battle Hymn of the Bravest]"
And quickly she fainted into the darkness.
Oh and please read and review. They make me happy!