Castlevania: Minuet of a Cursed Fate
Chapter one: The Sleeping Dragon
Cover image: Soma standing over a Magic Seal with Saber right beside him.
It was the year 2035, 36 years after the final death of Lord Dracula at the hands of Julius Belmont, the Dark Lord's death signified the end of humanity's long struggle against the forces of evil, or so it seemed, for those whose hearts have been seduced by evil seek to replace the late Vampire King, and with the Holy Grail War fast approaching, the desires for the second coming of darkness may be fulfilled. Seven magi will gather at the sight of the war and each will summon a servant from seven different classes, Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker, Caster and Assassin each fighter being a legendary hero of old. But, due to Dracula's dark influence, Chaos has now possessed the Grail, creating a new class, the Avenger class. The war begins as the seven mages gather at Fuyuki City.
At a large mansion on the outskirts of Fuyuki City a teenaged girl with black hair tied in twin tails with green eyes, wearing a red shirt and a black skirt, was reciting the incantation to summon her servant, the room was bathed in a crimson light that emanated from the magic seal on the floor.
"Hear my call. Place thy flesh under my command, and my fate I place in thy sword. With the authority of the Holy Grail… and your desire to comply, answer my call. I possess the virtue of all creation, along with the power to release evil into that creation. And I offer before you my pledge, now thou cloaked in the three great word spirits, hailing from the Seven Heavens." The black haired girl recited the spell before cutting her palm, allowing her blood to drip down unto the magic seal, as the summer's blood resonated with the red circle; the runes rose from the ground and passed through the female magi. "Come forth to me!" The arcane symbol bathed the whole mansion in a strong crimson glow, and the young sorceress was quite pleased with the spell, confident in the power of her servant. "I have to have drawn the most powerful card… I know it!"
"Who are you…? Why did you call me?" As the light cleared, the summoned servant, a mysterious looking man with white shoulder length hair and piercing golden eyes dressed in a regal dark blue-green coat adorned with a silver trim and an ivory mask that obscured his features, called out to his master, clearly unimpressed by his own circumstance.
The black haired girl was about voice out her opinions on her summoned servant, when she sensed his strong dark aura. The masked man glowed with a crimson coloured malevolent energy and his piercing golden eyes glowed like a creature of the night, needless to say, the young sorceress was frightened.
The next day at the Fuyuki City high school, a young white haired man with grey eyes, dressed in a brown school uniform, was on his way to class, thinking of his past experiences.
"My name is Soma Cruz" The white haired youth thought to himself, "I'm eighteen years old and I'm a student at Fuyuki High, due to some cut off issues, I'm currently one of the oldest in my class." The mysterious student sighed, though his situation did not cause him any problems, he still felt unnerved. "Anyways, I'm living a peaceful life, things are quiet here and bad things rarely happen… that was until… the murders, but I still love this city, although… sometimes I feel that something is off with me… like there's something I should be doing."
"Soma, are you spacing out again?" A young man with auburn hair and brown eyes called out to the white haired youth, finding it strange how the mysterious student was just staring into blank space.
"Sorry about that, Shirou." Soma smiled nervously at his auburn haired friend, clearly embarrassed that he was caught spacing out again.
As Soma and Shirou walked into the school building and made their way up to the classroom, the black haired girl from the ritual approached the white haired youth, wearing an annoyed scowl on her face.
"Umm… did you need something, Rin?" Soma smiled nervously at the annoyed girl in front of him, the white haired youth had no idea what he did to anger the black haired girl.
"Soma, you haven't called me in three whole days." Rin glared at Soma, very annoyed at his lack of contact, the annoyed girl then pressed on with an accusation. "Who is she?!"
"Wh-what?!" Soma stepped back, caught off guard by Rin's question. "Where did that come from?" The white haired youth stepped back, blushing nervously at the annoyed girl's accusation. "I've just been busy!"
"We're childhood friends… I won't forgive you if you end up seeing another girl." Rin kept her gaze fixed on Soma, this time with a hint of jealousy in her eyes. "Remember that!"
"I don't get it, Rin's usually so calm and composed, but when it comes to you, she really flies off the handle." Shirou was surprised by the black haired girl's uncharacteristic outburst, used to the young sorceress's stoic attitude.
"The hell if I know why… " Soma sighed, feeling that Rin's sudden outburst was unnecessary, especially so early in the morning. "Are childhood friends supposed to be this angry?"
"That doesn't exactly help the rumours about you two…" Shirou said, remembering all the talk in school about Soma and Rin's relationship, some less than flattering.
"Rumours…?" Soma stared intently at Shirou, wondering what his auburn haired friend was going to say next; the fact that there were rumours piqued the whit haired youth's interest.
"Yeah, that you and Rin are dating…." Shirou chuckled, amused at what kind of reaction Soma would have to such a personal rumour about his relationship with his childhood friend.
"Th-that couldn't be further from the truth!" Soma blushed like a tomato, very embarrassed by the nature of the rumours surrounding his relationship with Rin, the white haired youth had no idea how the thought even crossed the minds of his many classmates. "Like I would ever go out with someone like her, relationships are just a pain!" The embarrassed student laughed nervously as he scratched his head.
"Care to repeat that?" Rin, who was still near enough to hear Soma and Shirou's conversation, overheard what the white haired youth was saying, the young sorceress now absolutely livid.
"Just great…" Soma let out a stressed sigh, knowing full well how the usually calm Rin was when made angry, not knowing the insensitivity of his own remark or the obvious feelings his childhood friend harboured for him.
The rest of the day went by like any other school day, students gossiped on their free time, teachers exchanged stories on how rowdy some of their pupils got, and the clubs went on with their activities. Night fell over Fuyuki City and Soma was walking to his apartment alone, just then, the white haired youth saw a gruesome sight, a crime scene and in the middle of it, the body of a middle aged man that looked like he was slashed in half, but what stood out from the scene was the apparent lack of blood, as if the corpse was completely drained.
"Could a human being really do this?" Soma was both shocked and saddened by the grisly scene before him, wondering about the nature of the killer. "Are we humans this… no I refuse to believe it!" The white haired youth pushed the misanthropic thought out of his head. "If kind people like Rin, Shirou, Sakura and Miss Fujimura exist… then humanity can't be all bad… right?"
Soma then returned to his apartment, though he did not look it, the white haired youth was descended from a long line of mages thought to have disappeared around the 11th century, the Cronqvist family, that specialized in both alchemy and the dark arts, his abode showed it, the shelves littered with magic tomes and alchemic reagents provided by the Magus Association, in hopes that the mysterious student can replicate his famous ancestor's achievements.
"Why do they expect so much of me?" Soma sighed as he half-heartedly read from his alchemic text; the white haired youth saw his given task as a chore rather than an assignment. "Summoning a familiar spirit sounds like hard work…" The Cronqvist Heir questioned the complexity of what should be a simple task.
Elsewhere in the city, Rin and her summoned servant were standing on the roof of a tall building; the young sorceress was still upset at how dense Soma was regarding her affections for him.
"So, what do you think of the view?" Rin stared at the city, enjoying all the lights and just how much of the city can be seen. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"
"I find it quite unpleasant…" The masked servant replied, unimpressed by all the lights and buildings. "All this light pollution ruins the beautiful night sky…"
"Can you sense any other servants in the city?" Rin asked her servant, ignoring his clear distaste for the view she liked.
"I'm an Avenger class servant; you can't expect a Caster class's abilities out of me." The masked servant shook his head, though he did not seem to care about Rin's concerns, the blue coated man acknowledged that he had to remain useful to his master. "But, I can have my familiars scout the city."
"Familiars…?" Rin questioned her servant's words, though Avenger claimed that he wasn't a Caster, the young sorceress sensed strong magical abilities from the masked man.
"Come forth." Avenger raised his hand and summoned several demonic bats, the familiars then flocked around their master, and the sight of the masked servant surrounded by the creatures of the night under the pale moonlight gave the blue coated man a dark elegance to his appearance. "Look for anyone with strong magic and report back to me."
Soma, now dressed in a black shirt, blue pants and a white long coat with a fur collar left his apartment and walked towards the abandoned park that was burned during the last Holy Grail War ten years ago, such a sight made the white haired youth wonder why the Magus Association gambled on repeating the disaster, which made him even more reluctant to follow through with their expectations.
"I want nothing to do with this…" Soma remembered all the stories he had heard from the people that lost their families, including his best friend, Shirou. "I know that I can neither end nor prevent this war… so all I can do is help ease all the suffering this war causes."
As Soma finished talking to himself, he recited the incantation to summon his familiar spirit, as the white haired youth continued; a light blue seal appeared below his feet.
"Oh strings that tie all souls to the Tree of Life follow my voice and entwine my soul to that of the many whose fate you govern, let the memories of my soul guide the lost spirit to my service." Soma then cut his palm and allowed his blood to drip onto the seal. "With this offering of blood and magic, I beseech thee; awaken to the world of the living!"
As Soma concluded the incantation, a torrent of magical energy surrounded the magic seal as a blinding light emanated from the arcane runes and several blue strings appeared from the seal and pierced straight into the white haired youth's soul, scanning its memories before materializing the familiar spirit, but what the Cronqvist Heir saw was not what he expected, the summoned being was a blonde woman in silver and blue coloured dress that was clad in armour, the mysterious student then felt a burning pain on his right hand as three red seals that took the form of a cross and two demonic wings burned themselves onto the summoner's skin.
"Are you my master?" The blonde woman asked Soma, the magic seal and the energy that emanated from the white haired youth caught the summoned being's attention.
"Wh-who are you?!" Soma stepped back, he thought that the ritual was far too complex to be a mere summoning rite for a familiar spirit, but the white haired youth did not expect to summon a beautiful woman. "Command seals?" The Cronqvist Heir looked at his hand and saw the newly formed runes.
"I am Saber, your servant for the Holy Grail war." The blonde woman looked at Soma, but as soon as she did, the servant was shocked at the white haired youth's facial features; the visage of the Cronqvist Heir shocked the summoned being, as if her master was a figure from her past. "Why… why do you look just like him…?! Mathias…"
"Wait… servant? Does that mean…?" Soma was shocked, but more than that, he was afraid that he was dragged into the Holy Grail War, something the white haired youth wanted no part in. "I knew this ritual was too complex… those bastards tricked me!"
Unknown to Soma, one of Avenger's bat familiars observed the entire summoning ritual, the creature of the night then flew away to report to its master.
"So, you've summoned your servant, Soma" Through his familiar's eyes, Avenger witnessed the white haired youth's successful summoning ritual. "I pray that fate is kinder to you than it was to me…" The masked servant spoke with a hint of sympathy in his voice.
"My, my, what do we have here?" Pink haired girl blue eyes, horns and a tail spotted Avenger, wearing a smirk on her face. "Another servant…?"
"You must be Lancer…" Avenger stared at the pink haired servant, unfazed by her sudden appearance. "Looks like you, too are here without your master."
"Then I can play with you to my heart's content." Lancer smirked at Avenger, the pink haired servant then took out her spear, readying herself for a battle against the masked servant. "Be grateful that someone as beautiful as me will end your life."
"I hold no grudge against you… so forgive me for sending you to the abyss." Avenger took out a dark metal cross with a bat motif and a spike where the pommel should be and a dagger at its tip, the masked servant then swung the dark weapon and a crimson chain that crackled with malefic energy extended from the tip.
Author's notes: The sequel for Fate of The Dragon is up! This story is set in an alternate world, so I made some changes to the masters and servants and added some details to Soma's past, his bloodline is a result of a bastard child in the Cronqvist family, this was done to avoid this story becoming Soma lazily copypasted into Shirou's role. Shirou will receive a new servant and love interest, who is a major character in one Castlevania, I won't say who, but she's very well known. For Lancer, I decided to use Strange Tail Girl/Elizabeth Bathory, she will have a past connection to Soma and she was an important figure to Dracula, which will be written in Castlevania: Night of the Dark Prince. As for Avenger's identity, those of you who've read Rosario of Sorrow and Cross of Sorrow should be able to guess who he is, as for his design; he is based off Mirror of Fate Alucard. Rin and Soma's past will be explained in future chapters, this story is a collaboration between me and Zero-Nightmare, so many of the concepts used are a product of discussions. Expect the story to deepen as it goes on and some humour and slight harem antics on the side, much like Rosario of Sorrow.