Fabula Nova Fatorum Magica

by Penny Smiles

And so Good-For-Nothing, in her quest for the kind and caring goddess she held so dear, dived deep into the depths of the eternal abyss of time once more. But what awaited her was not the eternal abyss, but the fires of a hell unimaginable. For the Great Holy Grail War had come to Mitakihara. In all its glories. And all its horrors.

1. Chapter 1 - Old Fashioned Fairy Tale

Somewhere far far away, beyond the furthest vast seas yet so close to just be within arm's reach, there existed a paradise beyond world's end.

Ah, but… 'Paradise' isn't exactly the full nor correct expression.

Let's try that again one more time...

Somewhere far far away, in a place deep down where the human heart yearns, was a land where the plains were smooth and covered by blossoms of every color. Where the view of the horizon brought forth the colors of earth and sky in a harmonious melody. Where morning's light brought bright rays of spring and the flavors of summer air, and the sky of night's fall was swept by autumn winds and dotted by bright stars of winter. Where the forests and lakes welcomed home all the graceful beings and fae of childhood dreams. Where the myths and legends of the world roamed the vast vibrant plains bliss and free.

Man's concept of 'paradise' was but an imitation of this garden of wonder. An ever-distant utopia that they and all wiser beasts from the world or beyond would forever be forbidden from setting foot upon. For here stood no fences nor homes made by human hands; no walls, redoubts, or lines in the land man called borders. A land untouched by the rise and fall of empires. A land that would never cross paths with man yet walked hand-in-hand alongside the length of human memories.

In that flowery garden existed a beautiful pillar of the finest marble beyond mortal-make. A great white tower grander than the tallest mountains that could be seen from all reaches of the land. If one were to look up, it would seem to extend vertically forever, infinite without end into the spring-summer sky.

Near the top of that infinitely extending tower, within a room without a roof that stretched only a mere ten meters in all directions, sat something in the shape of a person. That of a man dressed in a white robe woven from the finest fabrics. The sun's rays shone through his long pearl-like hair, igniting a rainbow of colors.

On his lap, a small white and fluffy creature laid curled up with its eye closed. One would be reminded of a squirrel, but with fluffy white fur and long ears like a rabbit and paws like a puppy. Around its neck like a cross between a collar and a doggy cape was a colorful white and blue handkerchief tied by a dark pink knot at the front. Long rabbit-like ears perked upward as it listened to the tale its master read from a blue book with golden borders in his right hand.

Within that book was the tale of one who was once just a young orphan girl content with the world and all its simplicities. A farm girl who one day sacrificed that life of simplicity and pulled the Sword in the Stone to protect her homeland from the invaders who would do her people harm. A knight who's tale of courage and bravery in a small island nation echoed throughout the world across all ages, bringing hope to all those who heard or spoke her name.

"A girl who, at the end of her long and arduous journey, met a tragic end, hated by her people as a perfect yet inhuman king who could not understand the hearts of her people," said the man. Although he smiled, it was of bitter nostalgia and regret. "But that is a tale for another time."

"Fouuuuuuuu," sighed the small squirrel-like creature close to what a human would perceive as sympathetic sadness. The man smiled wider at the creature on his lap, stroking the back of its soft white fur.

"Do not worry, Cath Palug. There are more stories to come. Our little King's story is not quite over yet," the man reassured to his familiar. Cath Palug sat upright and looked up at his master. Setting aside the blue book, the man continued, "We will return to our tale of the Round Table later. But first, our tale of the present beckons once more."

From within his robes, the man pulled out a dark glass orb with colors of the deepest blue oceans. The mists within swirled about in a circular fashion, hiding behind its fog mysteries of the world that only he could see. The man closed his eyes and focused his mind on the orb. Slowly but surely, the mist parted ways to the image of a young girl.

The girl stood firm in an amalgamation of a blue medieval dress and the silver armor of a gallant and shining knight. Her fine blonde hair was bundled behind her head into a large flat bun and wrapped in a single braid around its circumference. Within both her hands was a sword wrapped in wisps of air, enchanted with invisibility long ago by the very man observing her from afar.

Behind her, collapsed on a field of grass, was a teenage boy. Dressed in a white jacket with long black sleeves and blue jeans, his auburn red hair was blown back by a sudden gust of wind and his golden-brown eyes looked up wide in surprise and terror.

In front of the girl, standing almost twice her height and size, was a dark giant with wild black hair and crimson eyes of madness that bored into her sharp eyes of emerald. Clothed in only a dark skirt of Greek origin, he stood hunched against the girl in a blade-locked stalemate, unbothered by the cold night air and grassy soil under his large bare feet. His perfectly toned and muscled body with unnatural dark brown skin belonged more to a large statue than that of a man. The size of just his arms was almost the size of her torso, and the slab of rock held within his right hand grinding against her invisible sword was itself larger than a full-grown man.

The girl quickly disengaged her blade downwards before spinning with momentum and striking with a blow of her own. The dark giant moved his rocky axe-sword up in defense, but with surprising and impossible strength, the girl knocked back the giant several meters into the air. The ensuing shockwave caused any onlooking spectators to cover their eyes and brace their footing from the sudden rush of sound and wind.

"It's only been a couple hours since her last battle, but it seems our King has once again found herself against quite the opponent. And this one is quite formidable indeed, for her foe is none other than Heracles, the greatest Champion of Olympus!" spoke the man bombastically like one would impress a small child.

On cue, the figure of Heracles within the orb let out a loud roar. Cath Palug watched the orb held within his master's hand with wide eyes and great anticipation, letting out an awed 'fouuu' in wonder.

Once more, the two legends exchanged blows in a battle to the death. The Greek hero's frightening berserk strength and speed was on par with the King's disciplined swordsmanship and agility. Shockwaves and loud gusts of wind came from every blocked blow and counter-attack. Every strike and parry brought vibrant sparks and magical residue of orange and blue.

Gradually, their battle continued upward as the girl lured the mad giant into a graveyard further up the side of the mountain. Fog and mist filled the air, obscuring Heracles' vision while he went after in chase. The King had set a trap for him and took advantage with a swift and powerful strike.

"Fou! Fou!" Cath Palug cried out in surprise as the image of Heracles suddenly swiped at seemingly nothing with his large stone sword, slicing several tombstones in two. A large red gash that went deep across the front of his chest remained, making him sneer in irritation at the girl standing several meters off to the side unharmed, sword up ready for another strike. The man with the orb in hand simply smiled.

More tense minutes passed as the two legends clashed within the graveyard, leaving ruined tombstones, several holes and gashes within the stone pavement, and toppled trees in their wake. Eventually, their battle came to a standstill, and the two stood still across either side of the long stone road that ran through the middle of the graveyard.

The King raised her sword arm and pointed it at Heracles. Her mouth moved, but no words could be heard from the orb. Whatever dialogue the two shared was brief, as only a few seconds after, the girl grabbed her sword with both her hands and held it upright, long wisps of magical energies gathering around both her and her sword. With a large torrent of energy, the girl burst forward in speeds far surpassing sound towards her foe as he roared and raised his axe-sword high into the air.

And then she disappeared. Gone in a bright flash of pink light.

The man's eyes snapped open.

"Fou? Fofou!" said Cath Palug with his head tilted in confusion. Within the orb, both the King and Champion of Olympus had disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the destruction of the landscape the two had wrought. Two teenagers who were watching the spectacle, the boy from the beginning whom the King had protected and a twin-pigtailed girl dressed in a fine red coat, looked around the scene just as bewildered and confused as the poor squirrel-like creature.

The man's eyebrows furrowed as his once ever-present smile turned into a frown. Once more, the man's eyes closed as he concentrated on the orb. Cath Palug watched in curiosity as the images within the orb snapped from place to place quickly with only a half-second between each image. Some images he managed to catch was a church, a temple at the base of a mountain, a red crane in the middle of a city, and a massive empty cavern filled with nothing but darkness.

"Kyu?" questioned Cath Palug as he turned his head towards his master. When he received no response, he looked back towards the orb and watched. Images of places entirely different from the setting before replaced the earlier images. Scenes of a grand desert, underwater trenches within the deepest oceans, a city next to a mountain with the English words 'Holly Wood' plastered in white into its side, and a frigid snowy landscape were just a few of the images it managed to glimpse in the quick torrent of it all. And then the images stopped at a clear and crystal view of the world in all its splendor, with its deep blue oceans and green and brown continents covered in white clouds scattered randomly across its sphere.

"Fouu…" Cath Palug murmured, entranced by the beautiful image of the world in its entirety.

The worldly image lasted for just a few moments more before snapping back to the beginning where the two warriors had initially clashed. The two teens from before had their hands to the sides of their mouths while they called someone's name, searching around and about the graveyard.

The colors of the orb began to change, swapping between different palettes of a variety of vibrant shades. The image of the battered graveyard within remained the same, yet every second brought about a different mixture of blues, yellows, reds, and even colors that could not be perceived with the cone cells of human eyes. The two humans within remained oblivious to it all, for they saw nothing of the sort and continued their fruitless search.

And then the man found it. Cath Palug watched as the orb replicated what only the man's clairvoyant eyes could see. It was the same image once again, with all the same shades and colors of the natural world. However, in the middle of the graveyard along the very same stone pavement where the two legends had clashed were two odd distortions in the air. Lights of shades unperceivable to the natural human eye blended and twisted around the two circular distortions. It was like looking at an artist depiction of a wormhole, only with colors that did not exist so it appeared as if it wasn't there in the first place.

A third distortion further away from the two at the very back of the graveyard could also be seen, though it was smaller and dimmer than the first two. Now that Cath Palug thought about it, there was a third spectator during the battle between legends. A little girl in a foreign purple coat and hat with bright red eyes, albino skin, and long white hair that captured the brilliance of the moonlight. She too had vanished, replaced by that odd distortion.

"I see… So that's how it is," spoke the man. Cath Palug looked back at his master as he slowly opened his eyes of amethyst.

"Kyu?" questioned Cath Palug.

"Is this how it feels to be human?" the man spoke to himself, eyes distant and unfocused. "To be unable to watch and know the unobservable? To worry what the events of yesterday's night would bring in morning's day? Truly, humans are blessed with such an odd and exciting emotion," the man said with an expression akin to a child tasting something new that they neither liked nor hated for the first time.

"Fou?" Cath Palug asked again.

The man smiled sheepishly at the familiar on his lap. "Ah, I apologize, Cath Palug. I was deep in thought about something," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Fou." Cath Palug deadpanned.

The man gave a hearty chuckle. "I'm quite alright, my friend. Though I appreciate the offer."

The man picked up his staff, a large crooked branch of a black tree wrapped with ribbons of pink, blue and ivory to an ornate golden metal rod, and pushed himself off the ground. With his odd staff in his left hand, he walked over towards one of the many large open windows that surrounded the room. Twice he was tall and three times he was wide, one could easily imagine him climbing out and sitting on the window sill. Alas, he simply stood behind, gazing out at the majestic oceans beyond the land's beautiful flowery plains that extended forever into the horizon like an infinite line from east to west.

"The same, however, cannot be said for our dear King. It seems she has once again found herself on another journey. One, however, that I oddly cannot see," the man said.

He looked up at the eternal spring skies, a frown on his lips and eyes narrowed in concern. "Something has happened to her in that small scuffle in the Far East. Something minor maybe. Eight missing persons and an overrated cup gone in the blink of an eye hardly matters in the grand scheme of human history.

"Yet, for the first time, I know not what the future brings. Events have been set into motion that I am unable to observe nor perceive. For I, gifted with eyes of the world, that is most worrying indeed."

He turned towards his familiar, smiling once more. "I hate to ask this of you, Cath Palug, but could you do me one more favor? I'd love to investigate this myself, but as you can see of my current predicament, I am incapable of leaving this place on my own free will," he said with mirthful humor, motioning to the lack of any form of ladders or stairs within their small atrium. He leaned with one hand on the open space of the large window he stood next to, spring air brushing his palm as it rested perfectly on an invisible surface tilting neither outward or inward.

The man continued, "Our King has been spirited away to place I know not where. If I cannot see her here, naturally that must mean she has returned to the Throne of Heroes. Yet, I cannot sense her there either. If she cannot be found in this world nor can her main body be found in that horrid place beyond time or space, where could she have been taken?"

Slowly, the man approached Cath Palug, his odd staff lightly tapping the marble floor with a quiet 'tink' with each step forward. He took a knee to his familiar and friend, looking seriously into Cath Palug's eyes in a way he had never seen his master before.

"So I ask of you, Cath Palug, will you assist me in one more adventure, be my eyes and ears in this new tale, and become the King's guardian in her time of need?"

After a moment of thought and deliberation, Cath Palug quickly shook his head and curled up into ball.

The man smiled. "Thank you once again, my friend," he said with a soft and gentle tone.

And then quickly grabbed Cath Palug by the back of his collar.

"Fou?! Kyu?!" the small and fluffy creature cried out in surprise.

"There will be many obstacles and trials on your path," the man said, ignoring his familiar. He slowly started walking back to the window, Cath Palug in hand. "You will come across heroes of legend, trek through lands untouched by any mortal before, and face horrors I cannot even begin to imagine."

Cath Palug wiggled and thrashed as best he could but to no avail, for the man's grip was stronger than it looked.

The man continued, "Dark days are ahead, my friend. But I have no doubt however that you will reach the end of your long and treacherous road with victory in tow. And who knows, maybe you will find the answer to your lifelong question as well. Even bear witness to an actual miracle. Think of it also as a personal journey for yourself."

The man was now at the edge of the window, a squirming Cath Palug in hand.

"Kyu?" Cath Palug whimpered pleadingly, still as a stone. The man brought them up to eye level and looked them in the eye with his ever-present smile.

"Good luck, Cath Palug. I can say with certainty that whatever may come to pass will be a trial unlike any other. But with your freedom, you shall play into something truly beautiful."

And then the man tossed the poor rabbit-like creature off the ledge and out the window.

"Fou!? FOFOOUUUUUUUUUUUU!?" screamed Cath Palug, as he tumbled in the air down and down with his legs flailing about. His voice grew quieter and more distant the longer he fell through the infinite air, till finally, the man could hear his dear friend no more.

The man looked down at the tiny dot of Cath Palug with a blank expression like he forgot something particularly important. His expression then lit up with recollection. "Ah, that's right! I forgot to give him the enchantment. Ah well, he'll only fall for a little bit longer than normal. I'm sure he'll recover," he said, although with an uneasy grimace.

Even though his clairvoyant eyes could not observe his King, he could most certainly foresee that he would be subject to a beating the next time he and his familiar met.

The man walked back to the middle of the room and took a seat. With a snap of a finger, a simple brown leather-covered book with yellowish pages of parchment and a pen from the feather of a phoenix appeared in his hands.

And, with his head perched on the palm of his right hand, the man closed his eyes and watched.

And watched.

And watched.

And watched.

And watched.

And watched.

And after the seventh time the spring sun gave way to stars of winter and the summer air had turned into the gentle breeze of autumn winds, the man spoke the first words of the tale that he beheld into the book as the feather of a phoenix followed his every thought.

A new chapter in the life of King Arthur Pendragon. A small town fable yet a legendary tale. A grand epic of the Earth and the World. A song of heroes and the wishes they all held dear.

And so the Magus of Flowers began, "Once upon a time…"

---

Fabula Nova Fatorum Magica

Act I

Chapter 1: Old-Fashioned Fairy Tale

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oOoOo

Once upon a time, in a land bound within the wheels of karma, a girl with eyes of wonder gazed upon a beautiful Earth for the first time.

Born to a man and woman who ruled the Earth through wealth and power, the girl would have been nothing short of a princess in a land of riches and industry.

But they, who valued money and prestige above all else, had no need for a daughter. Worse yet, the girl was born ugly and frail, with a heart so weak the doctors predicted she wouldn't live into adulthood. She croaked and whined in their arms, yet her newborn cries remained but quiet whispers. When the nurses and doctors asked the man and woman what was to be their princess' name, they looked at each other in irritated silence and then the creature within their arms.

And so they named the girl, 'Good-For-Nothing'.

When they finally brought Good-For-Nothing home, the maids of the mansion spoke and whispered behind closed doors how unsightly and hideous their daughter was. How with each room the daughter was brought in left a sickening putrid smell that made their eyes tear up at its strength. About how even the various exotic pets and bugs, kept to impress and entertain visiting lords and ladies, shied away from her gangly aura.

Good-For-Nothing heard their whispers but paid them no mind. Every day, too weak to climb out of her crib, she would watch through the window in her room and gaze out at the beautiful land outside. At the city filled with its various peoples and their vibrant cultures. At the green forests and deep blue seas at the city's edge. At the sky that shifted between bright sunny days and blissful starry nights. For as long as the Earth was beautiful, she would be okay.

Disgusted by her unsightly body and worried what the other lords and ladies might think of them for harboring such a creature, the man and woman wanted nothing more than to do away with their cursed spawn. But they could not simply leave her in the streets or in an orphanage. "That would be inhumane," the people would cry out. So for eight long years, the man and woman begrudgingly cared for Good-For-Nothing till she was of age. Eight long years without warmth and comfort, without gifts of tender kindness or words of encouragement. Only sweet sweet lies to placate their daughter and to keep appearances.

Good-For-Nothing was not fooled by their false love but excused them nonetheless. She understood how much she made life difficult for them, so it was only natural. In the end, she didn't mind. After all, the Earth was beautiful. And the Earth loved her. That was all that mattered.

When Good-For-Nothing finally came to be of age, they sent her away to an island nation on the other side of the Earth. The man and woman told their friends and family that she was being sent to a prestigious Catholic boarding school for her betterment. The man and woman only told her the same lies they said every time.

Good-For-Nothing didn't mind. It was okay, she understood. A change of scenery sounded nice anyhow. The Earth was beautiful after all. The more she got to see, the better it would be.

When she finally arrived at the school after a long and confusing journey through an unfamiliar land all by herself, for her parents did not want to spend money on a guide on her of all things, she once more heard the whispers behind closed doors. "How ugly. Look how old and ragged her clothes are," the teachers said. "How smelly, look how big and dorky her glasses are," the other students snickered. "How could anyone love a wicked and evil witch like her?" they all teased.

Good-For-Nothing walked to her dorm in silence with her head bowed down and shoulders tucked in. It was all true after all. And mother always said it was okay and wasn't mean as long as what they said was true. So what was she to complain? In truth, it really didn't matter. The Earth was beautiful after all. With legs to explore and hands to touch, with ears to hear the sound of the wind and eyes to gaze upon the earth's wonders, it would all be okay.

Life continued. Every day, Good-For-Nothing would get up and dressed and attend her classes. The students would tease and throw paper at her when the teachers weren't looking. Pull at her thick French braids and pull tricks on her around every corner in the hall. Point at her and criticize her during lunch when they caught her looking at their joyous friendship and laughter with sinful looks of jealousy.

At night, the students would steal the wicked witch's things and turn her shower water cold. They would wake her up in the middle of the night with a horn and playfully tell her it was just a prank. One morning even, she found her uniform missing and attended class that day in her pajamas. She tried to sleep in her uniform from then on, but that did not stop the new slew of insults they threw at her.

But Good-For-Nothing held strong. For the Earth was still beautiful. She would leave that awful place one day, leave her cold home, and carve her life anew as the Earth welcomed her.

One day, on a hot afternoon out in the track field, Good-For-Nothing collapsed. Her breathing ragged, she clutched painfully at her heart like it would rip apart at the seams. That did not stop the children's jeers as she was carted away. She did not hear their calls of weakness and uselessness. She was just that after all, and had lost all consciousness.

When she next came too, she stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. In a white bed not her own. In a plain robe that weekly tugged at her skin and left her feeling cold in the sterile room.

The doctors and nurses came in with their clipboards and masks of sorrow, keeping their distance from her hideous body. They told her heart was diseased, too fragile and weak to leave the hospitals walls and see the outside Earth, and only had a couple years left to live. That her parents, kings and queens in a nation of riches and industry, did not expect her to live long, and forgone the payment for the operation that could cure her heart. That she would live out the rest of her life here, alone and unloved.

And then the doctors and nurses left, leaving her alone in the cold white room.

She called for anybody. Her classmates, the doctors, the maids in the mansion, the people of various cultures, and the man and woman who once held her in their arms so long ago. Begged and begged. Promised to do anything. Just not be left alone. When none came to her call, she at last called for the Earth. For the Earth was beautiful, and would surely give her the love she so selfishly longed for.

But the Earth had no room for wretched things like Good-For-Nothing, and rightfully told her so. For although beautiful, the Earth was finite. It could not afford to waste time or energy on weak and lazy runts like her. For only the fit may survive and partake in the Earth's wonders.

And she was, since the very day she was born, good for nothing.

Eyes of wonder cried like never before on that day. An unloved heart, already wounded from neglect and longing, shattered into a million pieces, never to be whole once again.

Time passed. Each day like a year. Each year like yesterday. Every moment dull and lifeless as Good-For-Nothing lay there, eyes glazed as she waited for the end.

But her stubborn and broken heart was stronger than the doctors thought, and she continued to live for several more years. A burden on the hospital and her parents across the ocean.

Eventually, after tired of the annual bills and suspicious questions from their peers, her parents agreed to have the doctors perform the operation on her heart. The operation was a success, though only partially. Her heart was fixed for the time being, but they could not cure its weakness.

And so Good-For-Nothing walked again. A broken unsightly thing once more tainting a beautiful Earth.

One day, a goddess took notice of Good-For-Nothing as she sat on a bench atop a very tall bridge. Descending from the heavens, the goddess asked Good-For-Nothing, "What's wrong? Why are you so sad?"

Good-For-Nothing, broken beyond repair, didn't even so much as look at her divine image as she bothered the goddess with a reply. "I am unwanted and unloved. Without friends or family. I am a witch that curses all that she touches. Prideful. Pessimistic. Deceiving. Cold hearted. Selfish. Slanderous. Blockheaded. Jealous. Lazy. Vain. Cowardly. Stupid-looking. Inferior. Stubborn. I am all the Earth's Evils. I am a burden to all, a plaque to society. I have no right to live."

The girl motioned to her chest, a fist over her heart. "This stubborn and cold heart of mine once broke into a million pieces. Yet, it selfishly refuses to die, and would rather have me continue to be a blight on this beautiful Earth. I wish to die, but I am much too cowardly and lazy to end my worthless life."

Vacant but evil eyes turned towards the goddess, threatening to corrupt her and be a burden to her just like she had been a burden upon everyone else. She opened her mouth, her words tinged with deceit and hatred. "Could you help me-"

Suddenly, Good-For-Nothing found herself within the embrace of the goddess. Warmth and kindness radiating like the light of the sun, the goddess held Good-For-Nothing's like none had before. "That's terrible! Don't say things like that!" the goddess said as she cried into her shoulder. "You're so young. You should be loved and cared for, spoiled by parents who adore you, and surrounded by friends who are happy just by being with you!"

Already, Good-For-Nothing had done an awful and wicked thing. Who else but a devil would bring tears to a goddess' eyes? "You should leave me," she told the goddess coldly. "I am but an unsightly witch, and would only be a burden upon you as well."

The Goddess looked deep into her eyes for a time Good-For-Nothing could not measure, for she had long stopped keeping record of the years. Finally, the goddess sighed and said, "Mmm, fine. If that's what you really want, I'll leave. You'll never ever hear from me again. But first…"

The goddess stepped back from the girl and cheerfully held out a hand, her gentle smile filled with such love the broken girl had never seen grace another before. "You have to promise to be my friend for at least one month, otherwise I'll keep pestering you. Deal?"

She should have said no. She should have turned away. She had already tainted enough people with her presence. But she was selfish after all, so she would play the goddess' game, even if it tainted her too. It seemed she didn't have much choice anyway.

And so she hesitantly took the goddess' hand.

The goddess only gave a joyous giggle.

Good-For-Nothing never had a friend before and did not know or understand what it entailed. She would remain as quiet as a stone, not a joke or a word. But the goddess did not mind, and still took her together with her on her travels. Always laughing. Always smiling. Always telling her how wonderful this moment was. Always holding her close and showering her with admiration and love.

The two went on many adventures. Together with a musical mermaid, a dress-up maiden, and a matchstick warrior, they saw wonders Good-For-Nothing only ever dreamed of seeing. They tasted the Earth's best dinaries, stood atop the highest mountains, frolicked in the wildest parks, and watched the most romantic of movies.

Slowly, the goddess performed her miracles. Day by day and piece by piece, she stitched Good-For-Nothing's heart back together. What was once shattered and to never be whole again slowly became one once more. Some pieces remained gone forever, taken and ground up by the Earth. But the goddess simply shrugged and replaced them with golden pieces of her own.

When the final day of the month came and the promise came to an end, when Good-For-Nothing's heart beated in her chest whole and complete, the goddess looked upon her with confusion as the girl learned to weep again once more.

"I do not want this to end," she cried into her arm, holding the goddess' hand as tight as her weak strength would allow, afraid that the goddess would leave her if she let go. "Now that I've felt its warmth, I have grown addicted to it. I cannot imagine a life without it. I want to live. I want to stay by your side. But the final day has come, and our contract is coming to a close. I dread our final moments together and I know not what to do."

The goddess only giggled and pulled Good-For-Nothing once more into her familiar and warm embrace. "Silly, the promise was to be friends for at least one month, not just only one," the Goddess said as she gently wiped the tears away from Good-For-Nothing's eyes. The girl looked at her with hopeful eyes. The goddess, with her hands around the girl's hands, brought them between their chests. "Hmm, how about this… Promise me, that even when all the stars of the sky fade, no matter where we are or how far apart, you'll always be my friend. And in exchange, I'll promise to be your friend too, forever and ever. How's that? Deal?"

There was no other answer. Only one thing the girl could say.

And for the first time in Good-For-Nothing's life, she felt truly happy.

However, that happiness was not to last. Not long after, tragedy struck. A great catastrophe had arrived from the depths of the abyss. The lives of a million people hanged on the balance. The musical mermaid, the dress-up maiden, and the matchstick warrior had already fallen, leaving only the goddess alone against the great catastrophe.

Good-For-Nothing begged and begged. Promised to do anything. She selfishly clung to her new friend's hand, pleading for her not to go. To run away with her and leave the people behind.

But the goddess was too kind and too caring. She could not ignore the plight of a million lives, no matter they be strangers or the wicked. For she loved all, just as she loved her.

So, as Good-For-Nothing cried out her name while she gave her last goodbye, the goddess gave her single life in exchange for the many lives of others and vanished into the depths of the abyss.

Distraught, Good-For-Nothing made a wish upon the wheels of karma itself and asked for the power to meet with the goddess one more time, for the strength to protect and save that goddess just as the goddess saved her.

An insignificant promise buried within the sands of time. But to her, a promise that mattered more to her than the beautiful Earth itself.

The wheels of karma obliged, and so granted her the forbidden Magic of time.

Good-For-Nothing, with her newfound miracle, traveled back to where it all began and ventured deep into the depths of the eternal abyss to save the goddess she held oh so dear. Even when the abyss swallowed the goddess's wings and memories, Good-For-Nothing vowed to never forget her promise. She would save her, even if it took an eternity traveling through the abyss.

And so she ran. Timeline after timeline. Until the day she could see her radiant smile and hold her hand once more.

oOoOo

Once upon a time, in a world entwined in the mystical threads of fate, there lived three great families.

The first hid in secret from within the cold dark, the second prayed in worship from the lands of the far east, and the third created wonders from their cradle of stone.

Each family, with their wisdom, wealth, honor, and power, had attained that what man would always desire and dream. All that what man would always wish, and something else beyond man's wildest fantasies.

For the three families held a carefully guarded secret, shared only by those who also lived within the moonlit realm hidden away from the realm of man. For those of the moonlit realm possessed the art of Magecraft, the science of Mystery. The skill to control the magical energies from within the soul to transform the land. The art to reenact the ancient rituals from the Age of Gods. And the three families stood head and shoulders above all the rest.

Yet for all their great wealth and power, the three families desired something more. More than what the realm of man could ever understand, more than what the moonlit realm could ever provide. For magecraft had limits and could only function within the rules of what the World allowed. For what the realm of man could achieve with their science of physics, the realm of moonlight could only achieve just the same. Such was one of the absolute rules of the World, that what bound all mortal realms to the earth beneath the realm of the divine gods above.

And so the three families desired the power of true Magic. The great miracle beyond the seventh heaven. The power to break the absolute rules of the World and control the great fabric of reality to their whims. To replace the old gods of antiquity lost within the Reverse Side of the World.

Such a grand and selfish desire, man thought. All that what man would always desire and wish for already lay within the mortal world. Who else but the most devious and hungry would desire such a thing.

Yet unbeknownst to all even from the great families themselves, too prideful to voice or acknowledge that radiant desire and beautiful dream deep within their hearts, lied a wish for a peaceful and pure world. A wish for a utopia without hatred or suffering, a world where man could frolic and play without worry of the unknowns of tomorrow. To create a world where the old had failed and refused to do so.

Together, the three families gathered in secret. With the help of a wandering wizard, the three families devised a plan to bring forth a grand miracle.

The first family provided the materials and magecraft so that the miracle could be realized.

The second family gifted their lands for where the miracle may take place.

The third family crafted the body and gave their heart to the miracle so that it could be made whole.

And so a great miracle outside divine providence was created. An omnipotent device forged with the single purpose and ability to bend the rules of the World to reach 「 」, the root of all creation within the universe, to bring forth any single wish. A Holy Grail to grant any and all desires.

But the Holy Grail had a price. And so decreed as such, "Seven wishes I require from seven masters I serve. Seven heroes I seek to open the seven heavens above. To the one worthy to hold my body I grant to thee my power, whatever your desires and dreams may be."

Three seals of absolute authority were granted by the Holy Grail to each of the three families and three more to four strangers. Each seal crystallized proof of their right as a master of destiny to summon and command one of the seven servants of power, heroic spirits of legend from ages long since past.

The seven guardian of scales stood tall as such;

Saber, Servant of the Sword.

Archer, Servant of the Bow.

Lancer, Servant of the Spear.

Rider, Servant of the Mount.

Caster, Servant of Sorcery.

Assassin, Servant of Shadows.

And Berserker, Servant of Madness.

Seven masters and seven servants. Seven desires and seven dreams.

One wish for the one worthy to grasp its holy chalice.

So began the Holy Grail Wars.

The first war ended in failure. A small quarrel of sorts. In the eyes of the third, it had failed before it had even begun.

The second war ended in tragedy. The first 'war', even though officially the second. Seven masters and seven servants became fifty-seven bodies cold and without life. None remained to tell that horrid tale.

The third war ended in stalemate. In the ensuing battles, the Grail's body was shattered, rendering the wish void. Something was said to have happened to the Grail's heart as well, but what had become of it none could tell.

The fourth war ended in catastrophe. An unworthy fool was said to have held the Grail in his hands. None present could hear the words of his wish. All but one burned in the fires of a hell unimaginable as far as the eye could see.

Four times did seven masters and seven servants gather. Four times was the Holy Grail denied its task. A simple wish bestowed upon it long ago to grant the wish of another. A simple wish left unfulfilled.

And as the ages passed without a victor to their great war, one by one, the three families lost sight of their once radiant and beautiful dream. Shells of their former selves, all that remained was the grail and nothing more.

Time passed. Two hundred years since the first but only ten years since the fourth.

And so came the fifth war. Seven servants gifted to seven masters once more.

The first, Berserker, a paragon to all men shackled by madness. Gifted to a princess who lost her cradle of stone.

The second, Caster, a witch of betrayal betrayed by her beloved prince. Entrusted to a prince in worship of vanity.

The third, Rider, a woman cursed by the gods for her beauty and adoration. Thrust to a meek girl seeped in the cold dark.

The fourth, Lancer, a demonic hound born a child of light. Beckoned by a woman in adoration of that light.

The fifth, Assassin, hidden and out of sight.

The sixth, Archer, a broken guardian of scales filled with nothing but regret. Summoned by the guardian of the second lands, a girl filled with everything but regret.

The seventh, Saber, a disgraced king who failed her kingdom in search of redemption. Brought by fate to a boy saved years ago by a fool from a hell unimaginable. A boy with only a single desire, for he desired nothing else. A boy with a radiant and beautiful wish to save them all.

And so the Holy Grail watched, eagerly awaiting one worthy enough to claim its grand prize.

oOoOo

Once upon a time, the wheels of karma snagged a string from the threads of fate.

And so Good-For-Nothing, in her quest for the kind and caring goddess she held so dear, dived deep into the depths of the eternal abyss of time once more. But what awaited her was not the eternal abyss, but the fires of a hell unimaginable. For the Great Holy Grail War had come to Mitakihara.

In all its glories.

And all its horrors.

oOoOo

/Well then, try out your magic./

Oriko Mikuni, an extraordinary girl born from a powerful politician that had fallen from grace, stood amidst the light of her transformation.

Just moments before wearing the uniform of Shirome Junior High School, she now stood garbed in a unique white dress with a large and similarly white top hat, crafted in a fashion as if a world-class designer was tasked to create the most regal and flashy nun's outfit. On her collar, a silver-colored circular gem glistened in the light.

Once human, the girl had become something much more, something only found in the strangest and most unbelievable of fictions. In exchange for her soul and a lifetime of servitude of defending the Earth from Witches, Lovecraftian creatures that fed on human misery and despair, Oriko was to be granted a single wish. Any wish that she could imagine. Any wish to fulfill her heart's desire.

And exchanged her soul she did. And her words were as such, "I wish for a reason for me to live."

The messenger of magic, Kyubey, obliged. And so the human girl known as Oriko Mikuni was no more. In her place, a brand new magical girl stood, poised to defend the Earth from the forces of evil.

Oriko Mikuni opened her eyes, and beheld her gift.

Beheld her eyes to a field of sand.

"What… What is this? Is this… Mitakihara? Or is this… somewhere else?

Looking to her left and right, all she could see was a vast desert with dunes of fine sand and scattered remains of various fallen buildings. Not a single thing in the landscape struck her as recognizable. Yet, she knew she still stood within the very city her father had once involved himself in.

Another vision passed her eyes. Or rather, her mortal eyes gazed at the field of sand while the mind's eye opened to another sight.

She saw the process. The great conspiracy spanning eons laid out before her clairvoyant sight. The fate that would befall her and all magical girls at the end of their days.

"I see… If this is what they call my fate, then…" Her eyes hardened as she steeled her resolve. "No matter what it takes, I'll see about bringing an end to this-"

Suddenly, from behind her stormed a magical girl, right through her own translucent phantasmal body towards the center of the field of sand.

She didn't catch her appearance aside from her short blue hair and blue looking outfit. She didn't have time to get a better look, for soon another one passed through her. And then another. And then another.

Oriko turned around. And her eyes widened like never before.

Before her marched an army. Not of man nor of beasts, but of magical girls. Tens of thousands of young girls dressed in colorful attire but nonetheless ready for battle. From her hometown of Mitakihara, from the neighboring cities of Kazamino and Asunaro, and even from far-off cities like Kamihama, magical girls from all over the world could be seen all in one place. It was a gathering never-before-seen on this Earth, even larger than the battles during the First and Second World Wars. They ran in hurry, with various looks of determination, fear, and hope spread across their faces.

Suddenly the land turned around dark, yet the sky remained its same dark and twilight hue. A great shadow had passed over her, drawing her eyes upward.

Across on the other side of the desert, an enormous fortress that hung in the air flew through the sky, once again towards the center. Its size was immeasurable, and she couldn't even begin to fathom where it came from or how it came to be. Its construction was a unification of unsightly disorder and luxurious beauty, with stone balconies, marble pillars, and plant life of all kind entangled and intertwined over its body.

Below the flying fortress stood another army. Invaders from a land not her own. Their shapes were blurred, and she could not make out if they were human or not. They marched onward, heading straight towards her sisters in arms with spears and swords raised.

She heard a loud crack, a loud sound like a tear was being torn into the fabric of space. At the very center of the desert, high above in the air, what she could only describe as a great red hole opened. Malice and evil poured out from within its maw, a black thick mud that gushed out and turned the very sand into glass as it reached the ground, threatening to return the very Earth into the hellish landscape of primordial days.

As the two armies collided under the great hole, their feet running through the dark mud as it corrupted their very souls, a man garbed in gold suddenly shone high above in the sky. Radiating royalty and raw power, he looked down upon it all and scoffed. From within his hand came a labyrinth of red that sprout outward and up into the heavens. Not a moment after, it all retreated and returned to a single point in space.

Within his hand existed something that never should have existed on this Earth. Something so inconceivable that to just gaze upon it burned her mind and brought forth images of the truth of the land.

He raised the single point in space high above himself as the entire desert was swept by a sudden sandstorm. The space around him seemed to twist and turn until she could no longer see the man. Then the space moved, down and down, until it came twisting towards the Earth.

She could only watch as the Golden King tore the dream asunder.

Oriko Mikuni awoke from the dream, safe within her home, and dropped to her hands.

/Did your wish come true?/

Too out of breath to answer the small cat-like creature named Kyubey, she brought her hands to her face.

How on earth was she supposed to stop that? How on earth was anyone?

/What's the matter, Oriko? You seem pale, are you not feeling well?/

"Doomed…"

/What was that?/

She turned to Kyubey, hands shaking as tears fell from frantic eyes. "We're all doomed. And there isn't anything anyone can do to stop it."

And then Oriko Mikuni fainted.

/Oriko? Hey Oriko? Oriko!/

oOoOo

Eight locations. Eight anomalies. Seven Servants of the World and a young girl appeared on the Earth.

The first, Berserker, a paragon to all men shackled by madness. Found himself deep within a forest at the very outskirts of a city. Sensing his master, he moved towards the lights, with no other thought or desire in his mind.

The second, Caster, a witch of betrayal betrayed by her beloved prince. Wept tears of despair as she screamed yelling an unknown man's name.

The third, Rider, a woman cursed by the gods for her beauty and adoration. Lept high into the skies amidst the skyscrapers of the night and disappeared into the darkness.

The fourth, Lancer, a demonic hound born a child of light. Blinked in surprise in the middle of a highway before being knocked unconscious by a speeding truck.

The fifth, Assassin, hidden and out of sight.

The sixth, Archer, a broken guardian of scales filled with nothing but regret. Stood high atop the highest building in the city and sighed before vanishing like a ghost.

The seventh, daughter of the third cradle, a little girl with bright red eyes, albino skin, and long white hair that captured the brilliance of the moonlight, gasped in surprise as she suddenly found herself in a dark alleyway illuminated only by the light of the moon and dim street lights beyond the alley.

She heard a noise from behind her and quickly turned around. From within the darkness came two men. One with a tall lanky build and the other slightly shorter but with his sleeves pulled up to reveal tattooed and muscular arms. Both wore baggy and scruffy looking clothing. Both had a knife in their hands with sinister and predatory grins.

"Hehe, little ten-year-old girls shouldn't be in dark alleyways all by themselves you know. Don't know what kind of monsters could be lurking there," said the tall one.

"Why don't you come with us? We'll keep you niiiice and safe," said the other, beckoning with a hand and raising his knife a little higher until the girl could see her distorted reflection upon its rusty surface.

She raised an eyebrow. Then her misplaced trepidation gave way to a giggle.

"You're right. There're all sorts of dangerous monsters in dark alleyways," she said with the high pitched and soft voice of a child but with the nurtured elegance of a regal lady. The two men looked at each other, wondering if the other also misheard the humor in her voice.

She moved her hand through her long white hair and pulled a single strand between two fingers. Holding the silvery strand on the palm of her hand, she smiled as her red eyes opened wide.

"Say, misters, would you two like to see a magic trick?"

And the last, Saber, a disgraced king in search of redemption...

oOoOo

Found herself at a loss.

One moment, she had been engaged in a duel to the death protecting her master from the mad servant, Berserker. The next, she was here, with neither her master or Berserker to be seen anywhere.

She didn't even know where here was.

Saber took in her surroundings. It was the middle of the night. She stood in the middle of park lit by elegant lamps and several fountains of water with light running along their edges. Surrounding her on all sides were skyscrapers dotted with lights of yellow and a small assortment of other colors.

Her first guess was that she was in Fuyuki City's financial district. But something seemed off. She didn't recognize the current arrangement of buildings surrounding her. The architecture was too clean and seemed to have a silvery sheen no matter where she looked. The skyscrapers were too tall, with the ones directly beside her almost twice as tall as the ones she remembered. Even the technology seemed different. Small things like the lights around the park and the ergonomic appearance of the benches.

She also noticed how there didn't seem to be anyone else besides her here. Although, it was deep in the middle of the night when she first left her master's house, which was an hour or two ago. She guessed it was probably 1-3:00 AM right about now.

Saber closed her eyes and expanded her senses, searching for the servant-master bond that she shared with her partner in the Holy Grail War.

Nothing.

Or rather, the contract was still there, but the master was not. No matter how hard or how far she searched, she could not find that foolish boy anywhere.

She only then noticed that she was no longer receiving mana from her master either.

Panic gripped her, but only for the briefest of moments before rationality took over. She hadn't begun to disappear yet and she still seemed to be receiving a lit bit of mana from the Holy Grail itself, which meant that wherever here was, so too was the Grail. She also didn't feel the World's constant and overwhelming pressure to erase her unnatural presence from its domain, the whole point why she needed the mana to continue existing from her master to begin with.

This whole situation was far too strange for her liking.

Saber willed her heavy armor away, leaving her in a blue medieval dress. It was not the best disguise, but she had no other clothes, and it was far better than walking around with her armor on.

With many questions and no answers in sight, Saber began to explore the city.

oOoOo

After an hour or so of searching, Saber concluded she was definitely not in Fuyuki anymore. She was still in Japan if the various signs and shops were any indication. Though if not Fuyuki, where had she been taken too? And how?

Saber was slightly worried her current medieval dress would attract too much attention. She had tossed away her yellow rain jacket in the battle prior and now had no means of disguise. But the streets were empty, and she could not find a single soul.

This she found a bit odd. In a big bustling city such as this one, even as late as it was into the night, there was bound to be an occasional person or group wandering around, one reason or another. But even after an hour of walking through several streets and alleyways, not a single person could be found.

After two hours, she finally found somebody. Off in the distance, a block away was a woman with short lavender hair and dressed in a business woman's outfit. She walked across a pedestrian crossing with a slight slouch to her back, arms dangling lazily in front of her with her eyes vacant and empty.

Saber jogged over to her position, reaching her just before she turned the corner.

"Pardon me, ma'am," Saber said to the woman as she slowed to a walking pace. "I am quite a fair bit lost and can't seem to remember how I got here. Could you perhaps tell me which city and prefecture I'm in currently and… if…"

Saber had noted before that the woman was acting strange but did not want to assume. Now though, being much closer, she noticed how pale the woman's skin was and how her movements were a little shambly and unnatural. The woman had not even acknowledged her presence, not a turn of the eyes or a slight jump of surprise.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Saber asked with concern and grabbed her shoulder to try and get her attention.

Her hand dragged the woman's suit down just a bit, revealing at the base of her neck a bright red tattoo with the appearance of a single tear-shaped ember. Its appearance shifted in the light, a couple frames a second burning like a cartoonish fire.

That was most definitely not natural.

Then the woman turned towards her. Her smile was wide, but just like her eyes, empty.

"Oh, hello there little lady. Are you here for the ceremony as well?" the woman asked.

Saber bristled slightly at being thought as a 'little lady' but she didn't show it. There was no way for the woman to know anyway. "Ceremony?"

"Yes, the sacred ceremony. Where all of us will be reborn in flames like a phoenix and ascend together to a new and wonderful world," the woman said with her hands raised up high into the air.

Saber's brows furrowed at the choice of words. "I see. No, this is the first time I've heard of this ceremony. But I am a bit lost and-"

"Oh, you simply must come! The ceremony will be most wonderful, truly an amazing thing!" The woman interrupted and grabbed Saber's hand off her shoulder with both hands. She began pulling Saber towards the direction she had been walking prior. "Quickly, the ceremony will begin shortly and we mustn't be late."

Saber silently followed, or rather, allowed herself to be pulled along. Though it was at a snail's pace with how slow and sluggish the woman was walking. There was something definitely wrong with the woman, perhaps the work of one of the other Servants of the Holy Grail War. Nonetheless, she decided to not sit idly by while this woman was being led somewhere most assuredly her own doom. Hopefully wherever the woman was leading her would lead her to the source of her ailment.

And maybe some answers to her predicament. She wasn't having any luck finding some on her own anyway.

oOoOo

Another hour had passed. Saber had lost sight of the woman who was once dragging her through the streets. Replaced by her was a large crowd of people. Men and women of all ages and sizes surrounded her walking towards a destination she had yet to identify.

No longer were they in light-covered streets. The road was narrow and dark, lit sparsely by the occasional lamp. Large metal pipes ran to and fro both to her sides and above her. The only sound to her ears were the dozens of footsteps shambling in the darkness.

As she walked slowly amongst the crowd, Saber thought silently to herself the events that brought her to this situation. Of all the people she let down. Of all her failures.

In her youth, during her days as a foolish yet hardworking farm girl, Saber was the closest to what humans would call 'happy'. Though she was not one of them, nor could she ever be a part of them, she found joy in the smiles of her neighbors. She relished the sounds of their hearty laughter and watched with unbridled wonder as they went about their daily lives in all their struggles and triumphs. She vowed to protect them, and with a firm and resolute hand pulled the fated blade from the stone. Not out of admiration or love, but because it resonated deep within her as something right and beautiful. She believed that at the end of her long journey, as long as she strived for that golden road, the path she chose wouldn't be the wrong one.

As King, she continuously strived for that vision. She sealed away her heart and emotions away to become the perfect and just king as declared in prophecy. When the invading Saxons, Romans, and even dragons threatened her kingdom, she repelled them with all her wit and the manpower afforded to her by her people. Together with her Knights of the Round Table, she established something akin to what she believed to be a utopia.

A perfect land led by one groomed since birth to be the perfect king. Though she was not arrogant or prideful, she thought her rule to be at least good and true. And to that she was content.

But all was not as it seemed. Strife and bitter resentment grew within her kingdom, though she could not fathom why. Even her trusted Knights began to grow wary of her, some even leaving her service. But she held firm and her rule continued as such. Such was the natural process of government with a perfect king, after all. One who was emotionless and without grief, who judged all her subjects equally and punished those who broke her laws without mistake. Even as her people cried that their beloved King did not understand human feelings, she believed that as long as she stayed true to her golden road, her kingdom would prosper.

That dream ended on the Battle of Camlann, with her holy spear Rhongomyniad thrust through the chest of the leader of a rebellion that split her kingdom in two, her once fellow knight and 'son' Mordred. Though she had emerged victorious, she could only watch from afar with fatal wounds as her kingdom tore itself apart.

When she was thrust forward towards the end of the 20th century, summoned as a Saber-class Servant in the fourth Holy Grail War, she thought it a miracle from God. A second chance to redeem herself and save all the people she had let fall to their demise during her own failed rule. Six Servants and six Masters, a single chance at the Holy Grail. Though it would've been a hard-fought battle, possibly her hardest yet, her foes would fall, just like the Saxons, the Romans, and the dreaded Vortigern himself. For she was the invincible king who knew only victory.

That too ended in failure as well. For she truly was the perfect King who could never understand human hearts. Though she had emerged as the second of the final two Servants, the Grail eluded her grasp. With three command seals, her own master, Kiritsugu Emiya, commanded her to destroy the very object that would've erased her very existence from the annals of time and granted her kingdom a second chance at utopia.

She was summoned once again ten years later into the fifth Holy Grail War to a young boy with the same last name as her last master, Shirou Emiya. She did not know the relation between the two if there were any at all. He seemed pleasant enough, unlike Kiritsugu, albeit foolish. But in the end, it did not matter. She was his Servant for less than a night when she suddenly found herself in this godforsaken city, many miles away from her master leaving him unprotected and vulnerable to other preying Servants and Masters. Some Heroic Spirit she was.

Useless useless useless. Anything she did ended in folly. All her attempts at righteousness ended in despair. Not a single moment in her life was met with success. Her once golden road was nothing but a false illusion. Was she truly that pitiful Why hadn't she listened to Merlin all those years ago? Why had she believed she would have what it took to become King? She wasn't even a boy, yet she had the gall to believe a simple farm girl like herself could wear the crown just as well. Maybe if she were born male, her friend and wife Guinevere would not have fled with Lancelot. Maybe if had listened to her advisors and not pushed away her very knights, her kingdom wouldn't have burned. Maybe if she were just a better Heroic Spirit, she would've wiped that arrogant smirk off that pretty boy's face before her master arrived and won the war.

Maybe if she just died right here, everything would turn out for the best.

Saber's mind ground to a halt. Where had that thought come from? It was most unlike her to think of death so lightly. True, she had many regrets, but she was not one to lie down and give up her country over her own mistakes. She had a wish to fulfill, and could not fulfill that vow if she was no longer of this world.

In addition, she herself was no longer truly alive either. She was a Servant, a Heroic Spirit summoned from the Throne of Heroes outside the universe, granted a second chance by the World to obtain the wish-granting device known as the Holy Grail to undo her rule over Britain in exchange for an existence of servitude as a tool for the Counter-Force. Although never having experienced death herself quite yet as all the other Servants had within the Grail War, as she was contracted by the World when her dying mortal body still clung to life, death as a Servant would not nullify her contract so easily. It would only grant her a brief reprieve until she was summoned once again, sometime into the distant future or an alternate world-line. Death had no meaning for her any longer, for she was now an existence outside the great cycle of life.

Which meant that these thoughts were not her own.

Eye's narrowing, Saber finally looked around and took in her surroundings, before her eyes widened in bewilderment.

"What on Earth?" she whispered, as she found herself in a realm not unlike a nightmare.

It was a large factory, dark and lit only by the multitude of furnaces and graphite crucibles filled with molten-iron that were carried by overhead conveyors along the ceiling. However, the textures, shapes, and lighting of the atmosphere were all wrong. Objects continuously shrunk or stretched in odd proportions and colors were either too bright or too dark. Strange symbols would pop in and out of the air while the sound of a young child's laughter would echo through the walls. It was like she was in actualization of a nightmarish painting.

She also noticed that she was not the only one.

In front of her a couple paces away, the people she had been walking alongside with shambled in a sloppy line towards a ramp that led into the jaws of a large furnace that took up the whole side of the room, its mouth shaped with sharp teeth and covered in that strange nightmarish version of blood. Strange holes and pipes that seemed to serve no function other than to look menacing adorned the black furnace. The fire within looked like multiple sheets of cut paper colored to look like such like out of a school play. Despite its looks, however, Saber had no doubt that the strange fire was real, for she could smell the soot and feel the heat that permeated throughout the air.

About 50 meters away at the front of the group, the business woman from before with short lavender hair, was only just a step away from falling into the fires of the strange furnace.

"No!" Saber yelled out. With a quick burst of prana at her feet, Saber covered the distance in under half a second. With a light but firm chop to the back of her neck, Saber knocked the woman unconscious before grabbing her and jumping a large distance away from the ramp, gently laying the poor woman against the ground on her back.

Saber let out a relieved sigh and stood up. As she turned around, however, that relief turned into apprehension as the crowd of people had suddenly begun shambling towards her, teeth barred and arms up like zombies from a classic horror movie.

A loud metallic whine pulled her attention away from the group and back towards the strange looking furnace. The jaws of the furnace trembled and shook before snapping shut and letting out a loud high-pitched shriek. The strange looking holes that adorned the furnace shifted and turned towards her like eyes while the pipes which served no purpose lost their ridged form and wildly waved about like tentacles. The soft childlike laughter that echoed earlier within the walls had turned into violent sobbing, adding to the cacophony of sounds that echoed throughout the room.

It was truly a nightmare like no other.

Saber grit her teeth and suppressed the chill that went down her spine. It was only natural. Heroic spirit or not, she was still human, and that included all the fears of the absurdly strange and bizarre. But she was a knight. And she would not let simple horrors of the unknown prevent her duty to protect and serve the innocent. Raising her right hand to the side, she prepared to call out Excalibur, her trusted partner and holy sword that she endured many hardships with had in life, only to have her arm grabbed and pulled back by several hands.

"What!?" Saber exclaimed in surprise as she turned her head to the side. The group of people shambling towards her before had now surrounded her and were reaching and grabbing at any part of her that they could hold. She quickly tried to wrench her arm free from their grasp, but their grip was tighter than their footing and all she did was pull them off their feet and made herself a little off balance. The others grabbed her other arm, legs, torso, and neck, and with a grunt fell backward onto the ground in a tangled heap of bodies. More piled right on top of her soon after until only her face was left untouched.

How had she not noticed, she thought to herself. And how did they approach so quickly without a sound?

Saber tried to pull her arm free once again, but the way they were all holding so tightly made Saber hesitant. Saber had the strength to knockback all those on top of her, no doubt. But their minds were not their own if her own short and brief experience was any evidence to their condition, and they clearly in their current state of mind held holding her here more valuable than their own health. If she used all her strength with the way they were on top of her now, she risked breaking more than a couple fingers or arms, and possibly more life-threatening injuries to the ones directly next to her.

The sound of metallic whining echoed throughout the large factory once again. Saber turned her attention back towards the strange furnace. Her eyes widened in actual horror as the pipes off to its side twisted around each other and combined into a very large and heavy arm right over.

It was going to smash both herself and all the innocents with her.

Doubt and indecision filled Saber's mind. If she did nothing, the arms would slam into her and all the people trapping her. She might survive, but the people around her would most likely become paste on the floor. Surely then it would be better to simply free herself from the group with her strength, possibly causing several injuries and maybe a few fatalities, but the lives of the many were worth the exchange of just a couple, right?

But that line of thinking was what originally brought her country to ruin, wasn't it? And what caused even her Knights of the Round to one by one lose their once unshakable faith in her, just as her people had.

Scrambling for a third option, Saber desperately combed through her mind for a way out of this predicament. When she could not and panic overwhelmed her heart, she resorted to begging. "Please… Please wake up!" Saber pleaded. "You're all in danger! If you don't run now, you'll all be crushed!"

But it was for naught. For the people were marked with the kiss of a Witch, and could not nor would not abide by her pleas. For they were entranced within a dream of their own, one where there was no hunger, pain, or sadness. Only everlasting bliss.

The sound of twisting and turning metal marked the end. Time was up.

The mass of metal came down.

Saber closed her eyes.

I'm sorry. I've failed you all again.

"Tiro-" shouted a young and fair girl's voice. Saber's eyes snapped open. The metal arm above her was suddenly wrapped in bright yellow ribbons that seemed to come from all corners of the room.

"Finale!" the voice shouted once more, as a bright beam of yellow came from behind her and engulfed the metal arm. The beam continued traveling forward until it blew a hole through the side of the strange furnace, eliciting child-like screams from the surrounding.

The sound of a pair of high heels echoed throughout the room, approaching her position from behind. Saber arched her head upwards and gazed with wide eyes at the upside-down figure of a young girl.

What… What on Earth was she wearing?

Her golden blond hair, topped by a small brown hat with a tail of white fur, curled on each side of her in long and large ringlets. A bright orange-gold gem sat in the middle of a large floral-shaped hair clip on the left side of her head. Her white and yellow long sleeved shirt puffed around her upper arms and was held tightly against her body by a brown corset that pushed up against her rather large and soft-looking chest. Around her waist was a beige skirt with black tips, and covering her legs were grey and white striped leggings. The pair of high heels that drew her attention was actually boots that went up to her knees and like the rest of her outfit was yellow and black.

Everything about her frankly made Saber think of the color yellow.

"That was close wasn't it? Don't worry, you're safe now," the girl said with a reassuring smile and soft golden eyes.

She held out both her hands to the sides and grabbed two flintlock rifles that appeared out of her long sleeves. Without so much as a glance, she pointed and shot at another smaller pipe-arm that the monstrous furnace had sent their way before tossing the rifle away like a used disposable item.

"My name is Mami Tomoe, and I'm here to rescue you!"

Saber could only look on in bewilderment.

oOoOo

Madoka Kaname wasn't having a very good day.

The pigtailed pinkette middle-school girl walked through a large empty neighborhood all on her lonesome back towards her home with her blue schoolbag in hand, a sick and miserable expression on her face. The orange sky above her transitioned slowly into a dark hue as the sun of dawn slowly gave way to twilight night.

She had awoken that day from a terrible dream. The details of the nightmare were a bit hazy, but the parts that remained felt so real. Like a lucid nightmare.

She spun and spun upside-down in her tattered blue dress with cacophonous laughter as the husks of skyscrapers orbited slowly around her enormous doll-like body. Twin giant gears stacked one atop the other where should have been legs opened and slammed together, causing blasts of wind from her body and bullets of hail from the clouds to strike the earth. All those beneath her could only watch in helpless terror as she ripped all from their homes and lives.

Below, if one looked closely and knew where to look, laid three particular girls dressed in the uniform of Mitakihara Junior High School. One eviscerated across her stomach, another missing an arm with gaping hole through her sternum, and the last a sizable portion of the upper part of her head missing with destroyed grey matter slumped onto the ground. Open and vacant eyes gazed lifelessly at the hell around them.

A girl with long raven hair and a simple white and purple magical girl outfit laid on her back on hard and dirty cement. Everything below her waist was crushed into paste under the rubble of a fallen skyscraper, effectively leaving only her upper torso intact. Blood pooled from the wound and multiple lacerations around her arms and chest. Her chest rose and fell slowly with each slow deep breath.

"N-no, Madoka… Why?" she croaked out. "Y-you said… You promised…"

Madoka shook her head as she felt an oncoming migraine, trying her best to clear the myriad of blurry images from her head.

Too late.

"Oww…" Madoka groaned as she knelt down and gripped her head.

After about half a minute, the migraine passed. Madoka sighed to herself, mentally kicking herself for trying that again. She couldn't help it. It was only just a dream, but there was something about that nightmare. Something different, something special, that deep down she wanted to remember. Like something important that one would feel like they're forgetting but couldn't recall when leaving to or from their home.

Something about the nameless girl with long beautiful raven hair, half her body crushed under rubble as she looked up at her with violet tearful eyes filled with betrayal and despair.

Needless to say, she didn't get much sleep.

During the day, she was plagued by a serious case of déjà vu. Not the sort where one experiences only one or two particular moments in their day as feeling familiar. It was if she had already lived through that very day of March 16th before. Her mother picked her pink ribbons over her yellow ones, Sayaka grabbing her from behind and playfully claiming her as her wife, her teacher's relationship troubles over the proper style of... cooked… eggs.

Madoka blinked.

That wasn't what happened today… Today? Yesterday?

"What's wrong with me? I'm slowly losing my mind…" Madoka muttered to herself before letting out a depressed sigh. She wasn't even wearing ribbons to being with!

Although she couldn't remember her school day very well, she clearly remembered the images of a life she had already lived and the migraines that came with them every so often in the day. Luckily though, those migraines weren't as bad as the ones that involved her nightmare.

Sayaka Miki, her first and best friend since childhood, offered to take her to the music store and arcade at the local mall to try and clear her mind. The images and migraines never ceased, however, and at certain points even became more vivid and painful.

She actually called Sayaka 'Sakura-san' by accident out of the blue in the arcade. She didn't even know anyone by that name!

In the end, Madoka decided to tell her that she was just going to go back home by herself. She hoped Sayaka wasn't worrying too much about her. Knowing her and how loyal to a friend Sayaka was though, she was probably worried sick.

Madoka briefly considered pulling out her phone and telling her she was really alright when something caught her eye on the other side of the road.

It was-

-a small black cat walking across the road towards her. It was Amy, an ownerless cat that wandered around the area often. Maybe at one point, the cat had been owned by someone here, adopted or raised. The confines of one set of walls weren't enough for Amy however, and now it seemed she belonged to the whole neighborhood. Or perhaps, the neighborhood belonged to Amy.

Madoka knelt down with an enthusiastic smile, arms open to pick up and pet Amy like many times before. Suddenly, a loud noise like screeching tires came from down the road, accompanied by loud blaring music filled with human roaring. A large black truck had just made a very tight turn at high speeds and was now rushing down the road very far past the speed limit.

Heading right towards the startled cat staring at its death like a deer on the road.

Madoka moved, but she was too slow, and the truck too fast.

She could only watch as the large vehicle left behind Amy's limp body.

"Nononononono-" Madoka repeated as she ran over, tears streaming down her cheeks.

/So tell me, Madoka Kaname. What is the one wish you have that will make your soul gem shine?/

-a small white and fluffy animal curled up and sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk across the road. It reminded her of a squirrel, but with fluffy white fur and long ears like a rabbit and paws like a puppy. Around its neck like a cross between a collar and a doggy cape was a colorful white and blue handkerchief tied by a dark pink knot at the front.

Long rabbit-like ears perked upward as it slowly opened pale lavender eyes and turned towards her, slightly tilting its head.

"Foouuu?" it said.

Madoka would've squealed with delight if she weren't holding her aching head.

The odd but cute animal slowly stood up and shook off any dirt on its body like a dog. It looked around and around, circling itself and turning its head to the skies and the houses all around him. Like a newly adopted cat taking in its surroundings after being brought into a new home from within an enclosed box. Madoka's heart melted at the display.

Then it began crossing the road towards her, leisurely trotting with a bounce to each step.

Madoka gasped and held her arm out hand open in protest. She turned her head towards the oncoming truck, ready to scream with tears already coming to the corners of her eyes.

But there was no such vehicle. No onlooking strangers. No dead corpses or promises of wishes. Just her under the setting sun.

Madoka felt something move between her legs and circle around her left ankle. She looked down at the small animal looking up at her, slowly swaying its fluffy tailback and forth.

"Fou," it greeted.

"O-oh, hey little guy," Madoka said a little taken aback, though she quickly recovered. She knelt down and petted the odd animal's head, brushing its fluffy scalp backward towards the base of its neck a couple times and then scratching it behind its ears. It purred in delight, eliciting a giggle from her.

She set down her school bag and gently rose the animal's handkerchief with both hands, twisting and turning it while looking for a name or an address. Frowning a little, she slid a finger between it and the animal's neck and searched for perhaps another collar. The animal tilted its head to the side.

"I don't recognize you from around here, are you lost?" Madoka asked with concern, though mostly to herself. She didn't expect any kind of answer.

The animal didn't respond for a brief second but then gave her two nods.

Madoka's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Ah, you can understand me?"

The animal nodded again. "Fou."

That was rare.

"Wooow, that's so cool!" Madoka exclaimed. "Can you also talk too?"

The animal shook its head.

Madoka deflated. "Oh. Well, understanding Japanese is still pretty impressive. Your owner trained you very well! Ah, speaking of your owner, can you show me on a map where you live? Your owner must be worried sick."

The small squirrel-like animal furiously shook its head. It almost looked… upset?

"You don't know how to show me where you live? Or… your owner is not worried sick?"

It sat there for a moment with a tilted head. Then it nodded, paused, then nodded again.

Madoka frowned. Well, that didn't sound very good...

"I see… Well, would you to come and stay at my place for awhile? I don't know if my mom will let me keep you, but I'm sure she'll let me give you some food and shelter for a night."

The animal gave a happy "Fou!" before it jumped on Madoka's hands atop her kneecaps and then climbed on her shoulder. "Woah!" she said a little startled before laughing. "Nimble little fella aren't you?"

Madoka slowly stood up, trying to balance it on her left shoulder. Luckily for her, the animal seemed to do most of the balancing work itself. With her new friend in tow, she picked up her school bag and started walking back home again.

"Do you have a name?" she asked.

It gave a brief nod but paused, tilting its head for a brief moment. Then it shook its head.

"You have a name, but you don't know how to tell me it?"

It nodded. Madoka inwardly cheered to herself for guessing the animal's meaning at least.

"Well, I have to call you something. I'm not very smart, so I can't even begin to guess what your name would be." She brought a finger to her chin in deep thought. "Hmm… How about… Fou-kun?" she suggested.

Its ears perked up. "Kyu! Fouuuu!" it exclaimed happily.

Madoka's smile grew wider as she giggled a quiet 'wehihihi' to herself, finding her friend's reply to be absolutely adorable. "Alright, Fou-kun it is then!"

"Fou!" the newly named Fou-kun replied.

As she walked back to her home with Fou-kun nestled comfortably on her shoulders, she couldn't stop the growing glee in her chest. Like her life had just entered into a new and exciting chapter.

A new and exciting chapter in the life of one ordinary Madoka Kaname. A small town fable of two star-crossed souls and five intrepid hearts. A legendary tale of seven servants of power and seven masters of destiny. A grand epic of the Earth and the World. A song of heroes and the wishes they all held dear.

And so began a new magical tale of fate.

---

Queue "Believe" by Kalafina/Yuki Kajiura~

(Or whichever ending song you find fitting)

AN: I came up with this idea several months ago last October in 2017 after going on a MadoHomu shipping spree. I have no idea how it started, one minute I was content with my normal-ish life and then the next I craved to see Homura-chan being happy. It wasn't like I just discovered Madoka Magica either, I originally watched the show when it first came out.

Originally I intended this chapter to be only a wee 2000 or so words long. But then I kinda… just kept adding more and more. Like a lot more. I think this is the longest thing I've ever written all in one go. Like that first part with the Magus of Flowers wasn't even there in the first place, but then ended up being a whole fifth of the chapter. Whoops.

Either way, I hope this story inspires aspiring authors out there at least or even those who are writing a story right now. One of the reasons I wrote this chapter, after all, seeing as there weren't too many Madoka Magica and Fate crossovers. If you think you have a good idea, go ahead and write it! I'd love to read it!

Anyhow, I hoped you all enjoyed my work. I put a lot of time into this one, but I'm glad I was able to finish it and show all of you. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out by February.

Please read (though I guess you already did that) and review! I'm not shy and I'll take any form of criticisms you've got for me. Spot a grammar or spelling mistake, wrong canon, someone acting out of character, too much angst, I want to know. Praise or flames, anything and everything is helpful for me right now.

Thank you for taking the time to read my author's note, and Happy New Years Everyone!

Original Publish Date: 1/1/2018

Last Updated: 2/1/2018