Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.
Legacy of the Ancients
Chapter 1
Zouken Matou dragged Sakura behind him down the stairs leading down towards the basement of Matou Manor, the little girl struggling to keep up and cringing at the old man's grip on her arm. His grip wasn't particularly tight per se, but his hand was cold and clammy, almost as though there was no life blood in him at all. Worse yet were his eyes, black and inhuman, leering at her from the moment she had arrived with a sinister light.
The basement of the Matou Manor was simply put, forbidding. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made from unfinished stone, coated in dirt and grime as though steeped in the evil of the master of this place. The walls all had niches in them, large enough to hold a man, and Sakura shivered as much from the shrouding shadows as well as the sinister crawling motions hidden by those same shadows.
Zouken didn't notice her shivering, or probably didn't care as he dragged her across the room towards a pit in the middle of the floor. A pit that Sakura realized to her horror was filled with countless worms and insects, prompting her to struggle hard in an attempt to escape. Zouken tightened his grip, growling in annoyance as Sakura fought against her fate. Realizing that escape was otherwise impossible, the girl opened her circuits in desperation, causing Zouken to let go and take a half-step back in surprise.
In most iterations of the timeline, Sakura had never learned any form of magecraft prior to this point. In this iteration however, before she had left, her sister had taught her a small amount, opening her circuits and teaching her how to use projection. Opening her circuits for the first time had been excruciatingly painful, although successive activations were much less so. Projection, while a generally useless spell, had been taught by Rin as an exercise in controlling and fine-tuning one's own prana.
Zouken had clearly not expected the girl to know how to use magecraft, and had instinctively recoiled the moment he had felt prana flare through the girl's circuits. A moment later, reason reasserted itself, and he quickly surmised that while the girl might know a few basic spells, none of them should pose a threat to him. Smirking smugly, he stepped and stooped forward, arm extended to grab the girl where she had fallen on the ground and was now fumbling desperately in a pocket.
Sakura had no elemental affinities, and as such would not normally be capable of using elemental magecraft. But while she couldn't directly use it, she could use it indirectly through the use of mystic codes. And once again Zouken was caught by surprise when Sakura pulled out a gem her sister had given her (just in case Rin had said) and flung it at Zouken with a shouted "…release!"
The gem exploded with enough force to pulverize Zouken's current body, and Sakura immediately got up and ran towards the stairs. She had almost reached them when to her horror swarms of insects flew towards the stairs and melted together into a parody of a Human body: Zouken Matou. "Well, that was certainly surprising…" the old man conceded. "…and undoubtedly rude too; we'll have to break you out of that habit."
Sakura staggered back, face contorted in terror, when she slipped and fell hard on her back, cutting her hand on the rough floor in the process. As she cradled her bleeding hand, she looked up the stairs and watched with tearful eyes as the magus slowly descended down the stairs. "It's pointless child…" Zouken gloated. "…no one's going to save you. You might as well just give up and jump in the pit by yourself."
Neither of the two noticed the blood dripping onto the floor, as Sakura silently and frantically begged for someone to save her. And in the darkness, something answered. It had waited for over fifty years, and while it could not be truly released unless the container was filled and then opened, it could indirectly influence the external world. The child's silent pleas reached its ears, and it noted the desperate desire in the child's voice. This could work.
"…do you wish to be saved, or do you not wish to be saved?" a voice asked Sakura in the depths of her mind, time slowing to a crawl like warm honey.
"...what?"
"…do you wish to be saved, or do you not wish to be saved?"
"...who are you?"
"…do you wish to be saved, or do you not wish to be saved?"
"...anyone…anything…just get me away from here!"
"…then accept the contract…"
"…contract?"
"...you shall be the good of all creation…"
"…I am the good of all creation…"
"...you shall be the evil of all creation…"
"...I shall be the evil of all creation…"
"...by the power of the Holy Grail, may your wish…be granted…"
After centuries of life and evil, few things could now surprise Zouken Matou. One of those was the appearance of a brilliantly glowing summoning circle around the girl, who grimaced as an unseen force carved command spells onto her hand. Desperately, Zouken sent swarms of insects to suck out her prana before she could summon her Servant…too late. With a burst of light and wind, the latter of which shredded all the incoming insects, a feminine figure cloaked and hooded in black materialized before Sakura.
Sakura looked up at the woman's shadowed face with a mixed expression of surprise and apprehension on her face, desperate to find reassurance at the woman's surprised smile. "Well now…" she said with an amused tone. "…to be summoned by a child of all people"
Kneeling down to where the girl was lying on the ground, the Servant removed her hood and causing Sakura's eyes to widen in shock and awe at her beautiful face and elfin ears. "I am the Princess of Colchis Medea and the Servant Caster…" she introduced herself. "…what's your name little one?"
"…Sakura…"
Caster smiled wider and patted her reassuringly on the head. And then she swept her eyes across the dank chamber, her expression growing grim and displeased before she stood and looked judgingly upon the magus blocking the stairs with his foul presence.
"…impossible…impossible…" Zouken babbled out in shock; Sakura had not only summoned a Servant, but an utterly first class one at that, and without a catalyst or a prepared summoning circle to boot.
"You rotting corpse…" Caster hissed, drawing a dagger with a jagged and iridescent blade. "…I don't know what you were trying to do with my Master, but don't think you'll get away with it." And before Zouken could respond, Caster dropped back to her knees while stabbing her Noble Phantasm into the ground. "Rule Breaker…!" she shouted, the Noble Phantasm shattering all the bounded fields within the Matou Estate in an instant. Immediately afterwards, a gloved hand tucked Rule Breaker back into her robes while the other was raised palm facing a shocked Zouken. Prana released from the destruction of the Matou bounded fields gathered in her palm to form a glowing sphere of magical power.
Roaring in fear and fury, Zouken attempted to counter-absorb the dissipated prana, forgetting in his rage that Caster – Medea herself – far outclassed him as a magus. "…fool!" Caster sneered, firing her bolt and obliterated not just Zouken and the stairs, but also the entire front third of the Matou Manor. The explosion also collapsed part of the ceiling, forcing a terrified and screaming Sakura to take shelter in Caster's shadow. As debris fell around them, Caster theatrically swept out an arm and pulled Sakura in close. And with a swirl of collapsing space, she and her Master vanished from that place. As Zouken Matou reformed, seething with anger, it laughed in the darkness.
A few days later would see Caster disguised as an ordinary woman and walking towards Kotomine Church accompanied by an illusionary woman masquerading as her Master. It would not do to parade her child of a Master around, as she might then be made a target of other Masters already present in the city, to say nothing of that pestilent dog she'd apparently been whored out to.
The past few days had been busy though. Sakura had fainted from the shock of providing Caster with prana during her escape, and Caster had expended even more of her reserves searching for a possible hideout. She'd eventually chosen Ryuudo Temple as her territory, both for its ley-lines and natural potential as a magic fortress. Convincing the monks to let them stay was no hard task – even without using mental interference – and from then on she had breathing space.
Naturally enough while Sakura had enough prana to keep her in the world so long as she was well-rested and didn't strain herself, Caster needed more if she had to function in the world. The past three nights were all spent performing blood sacrifices at certain areas of the city to gain control of the ley-lines and while it would be some time before her prana reserves were at optimum levels the situation was stable enough for her to turn her attentions to the war.
"Welcome to Kotomine Church." Risei Kotomine said as the Servant and her 'Master' entered his church, and narrowed his eyes at both of them. One of them was clearly a Servant, and the probable Master felt strange. The priest dismissed the latter though; some magi were borderline Human, and only a step away from being sealed by their fellows or executed by the Church. "I assume you've come to register for the Fourth Holy Grail War?"
"You assume correctly." Caster said through her illusion. "My Servant – Caster – and I wish to register our entry into the contest."
"Rather early, wouldn't you say?"
"No, I would think not." Caster said in person while narrowing her eyes. "It would seem that I am the first Servant to be summoned and well ahead of the appointed time, however I would think that my Master should be commended for her prompt response to be granted the honour of command spells. After all, it allows her some freedom of movement and choice to strengthen her position prior to the war's beginning."
"A fair point..." Risei conceded with a nod.
"At any rate…" Caster continued this time through her illusion once more. "…if there is nothing more to discuss then we shall take our leave."
"…but of course…" Risei responded with a polite bow. "…I recognize your entry into the Fourth Holy Grail War, and wish you peace until such time as the contest opens in full." Caster and her 'Master' bowed in return and promptly left the church. Once the doors were closed behind them, the aging priest discreetly walked over to the front windows and quietly watched as the pair left.
"The so-called Master was an illusion." Kirei observed as he left the shadows. "Caster's Master or both of them are being cautious."
"The Caster-class has always been troublesome." Risei said darkly. "It was a mistake to include such a class of Servants. There is also the possibility that Caster may already have subverted her Master. That woman is dangerous; just by looking at her I can tell that she's a prime example of why the Caster-class is a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"However…" Kirei observed with his usual expressionless face. "…is there anything we can do?"
Risei just sighed and turned to face his son. "Contact Tokiomi and inform him that we need to discuss some matters in person. For a Servant to be summoned this early and a Caster-class to top it all off…this could seriously mess up our plans." Kirei nodded before stalking off to fulfil his father's orders, while Risei walked back towards his private sanctum all the while wondering what the Servant of the Spell's next move was.
The answer to that was simple. Once she'd left the church's bounded fields, Caster had dispensed with her illusion and promptly teleported back to Ryuudo Temple. She'd exposed herself to the Overseer – if he hadn't already detected her summoning – and as such it was time to beef up the defences of her mountain sanctuary. The mountain was already covered with a bounded field that weakened spiritual beings which approached the holy precincts by any course other than the temple stairs and gate. Enclosing the entire mountain would have been impractical at any rate, seeing as it would cut off the ley-lines. Oh well, it's not like life was fair anyway.
As she set up a secondary bounded field over the original one that would counter any offensive, ranged, magical attacks, she considered summoning a Servant to protect the temple gate. It would be wise to do so later to avoid drawing unwanted attentions, but not so late such that there would undue limitations among the choices of other Servants.
She smiled; she had to think this matter through for maximum advantage.
"I see…" Tokiomi said with a nod while speaking to Risei in Kotomine Church. "…so the Caster has been summoned. Have you any idea of the Servant's true identity?"
"Unfortunately not at this point…" Risei said. "…the same goes for her Master. There is also the possibility that the Caster may have subverted her Master. Watch your back; that one is dangerous."
"I understand…" Tokiomi responded with a respectful nod, mindful of the elder Kotomine's greater experience. "…her identity will have to wait for some time before being exposed…have we any indications as to where she is hiding?"
"None also…" Risei answered. "…although that might change in the future. However I do not believe we should start turning stones just yet. Without Servants of our own provoking another Servant would be suicide."
"Agreed…" Kirei added from the side. "…while there is indeed a long-term risk in allowing Caster to dig in as it were, at this point it would only be prudent to allow her to do so. We'll just have to deal with her as needed in the future."
"Prudence…" Tokiomi said while shaking his head. "…as much as I detest the idea of giving the initiative to our enemy it seems that we truly have no choice at this point in time."
The priests nodded, and silence ensued. After a moment Tokiomi asked "Have you any idea of Sakura's whereabouts?"
"No." Kirei answered, and Risei shook his head as well. "We're looking as hard as we can, but we have found no indications as to where she is, as well as who could possibly have taken her."
"Matou Manor was destroyed from the inside though." Tokiomi mused. "Could it have been an inside job?"
"Unlikely…" Risei countered. "…Zouken would never have allowed anyone in his family to grow that strong."
Tokiomi sighed at the implied rebuke. "I only want what is best for my daughter." He laconically reasoned out.
"If you've made your final decision, then there's no point in further discussion." Risei said dismissively. "At any rate we should continue our search at least until the war begins. Once then it might be dangerous to divide our resources between fighting the others and searching for the girl."
The other two nodded in agreement, and after several more moments of inconsequential discussion the group went their own ways.
Caster tucked her Master into bed before turning off the lights. She immediately went into astral form, and patiently waited for Sakura and the other Humans in the temple to fall asleep. Once they were, Caster made her to the temple courtyard and scattered dragon teeth on the ground before her.
The magus smiled as soil and rock formed up around the scattered teeth and brought forth large numbers of Dragon Tooth Warriors. Combat ability-wise they weren't worth much, but they had their uses. She held out several vials and several of the familiars stepped forwards and took a vial each. She nodded and the warriors stalked off into the night, to collect additional prana for their mistress. It was something of a risk since as the only Servant summoned thus far she would be the obvious culprit, but it was a calculated risk. Without Servants of their own – yet – and so long as she didn't actually kill anyone then she believed that the Overseer would let the matter go.
Caster began walking back to her shared room with Sakura, only to find the little girl awake and looking up at the stars. "Caster…" the little girl greeted her as she approached.
"Were you looking at the stars?"
Sakura nodded. "…the stars are nice. They never stop shining." She said, and then her expression fell. "They're not like people."
"Don't fret my dear." Caster said, patting her on the shoulder before sitting down next to her. "It's not your fault that your parents could care less about you."
"Will you kill them?"
"Do you still care about them?"
Sakura looked torn, but she eventually managed to give an answer. "If my parents die, then my sister will be sad."
Personally Caster was tempted just to kill the other girl to indirectly hurt her Master's worthless parents, but something warned her that doing so would sabotage her long-term plans. "Very well…" she said with a theatrical smile. "…I won't kill them. But that doesn't mean I won't fight them if they stand against me. Your father is practically guaranteed to do so."
Sakura just nodded at her thankfully before looking back at the stars. "I want to learn magic too." She said after a moment, and Caster nodded slowly. She'd expected something like this eventually.
"I can teach you a little I suppose."
"Only a little…?"
"My magic isn't something that modern Humans can use." She said with a smile at the little girl beside her. "If you want to learn it, then you're going to have to change something."
Sakura just blinked her eyes while looking questioningly at her. "If you want to learn my magic…" Caster continued. "…then you're going to need to learn how to speak Divine Words."
"Can you teach me that?"
"It's not something that can be taught." Caster said, and the little girl immediately looked saddened. "It's something you're born with, and unfortunately modern Humans can't be born with it."
"Oh…"
"Ah, let me finish." Caster said comfortingly. "I said you'll need to change something. There is a way for you to be able to speak the words of the gods."
"…really…?" Sakura said while brightening up. "What is it?"
"You have to become my child." Caster said. "It's a simple ritual, though some of the effects might take a while to become evident."
"Will it hurt?" Sakura asked, and Caster blinked.
"No it won't." she answered. "But think about it Sakura. There's no turning back from this. Once the ritual is done, then it will be as if I bore you, and you will share my blood."
Sakura looked downcast. "I don't want to leave my sister alone." She whispered.
"Ah such sisterly love…" Caster thought with mixed admiration, respect, and exasperation. "…an admirable sentiment, but also very childish…if what you told me about her is true, it's clear that she's very loyal to your father. She might sell you out in the future. But then again a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I suppose I can filter such sentiments out of you at my leisure."
"Don't worry, you won't leave her alone." She assured the girl. "You'll still share the same father. But your mother…"
"I…I understand father had…things he had to do…" Sakura stammered out as her eyes watered, her voice filled with grief and anger. "…but mother…she didn't say anything…sister…she didn't say anything…but mother…why…?"
"Some people are just like that." Caster said, her mind already working on how to turn Sakura against her parents. "The appearance and the truth don't always match."
Sakura looked at her. "It really won't hurt?" she asked.
Caster smiled triumphantly. "Child…" she began. "…I'm from the Age of the Gods. We had excellence back then. Even the greatest triumphs of this age are as nothing compared to our triumphs. Believe me when I say that I can do things to the Human body which magi of this age would envy out of the painless and artful way I do them."
Sakura looked back to the stars and nodded after a long moment. "Okay…I'll do it."
A/N
Yes, I re-wrote Second Chance. Problem…?
