Chapter 2: The local color to rival the three great houses.

With the first summoning by the Tohsaka, the war was imminent. Magus after magus arrived in the city, each trying to get their own servant, each hoping that they had arrived in time, and that they would get their chance to participate in this great ritual, that they had been selected by the grail itself to be a master of a heroic servant, that they could perform the rituals necessary and join the event. Already a magically strong city, the arrival of so many skilled magicians wreaked havoc on the magical leylines arcing through the city. The gossips and news criers all spoke of the aurora borealis appearing in the sky, far further south than it would normally be observed. The locals experienced strange distortions in time and space as the fabric of reality, affected by the immense power of the grail and the proximity of so many magic users.

There were even several ancients among those present in the city - possessing sorcery the likes of which the world had not known for ages. Bypassing the usual limitations on magic, these powerful beings transcended expectations, and could perform feats on par with the gods. Even they sought the Holy Grail.

But it was not just the powerful that attempted to summon servants. And only seven of the gathered magi would be selected. One of these was the second magus to summon a servant, Mikihiko Shibata. A local mage from Fuyuki, the last of his line, Mikihiko saw the Holy Grail ritual as his chance to join the ranks of the great magi of the land, and bring the Shibata family on par with the three great families, the Matou, the Einzbern, and the Tohsaka. It was his last, most desperate gamble.

Mikihiko was an average man in all respects. Average height, average weight, average appearance, and average magical ability. Nothing about him stood out. He wore average, dull, earth tone clothes that made his only stand-out quality the very fact that nothing about him stood out. In his mid-twenties, he knew this about himself, and sought to use it to his advantage. Lacking the resources of the larger houses, he could not find a relic to be the catalyst to summon a Servant. However, if the rumors were true, one Servant could be summoned without the use of any relics. Standing in a small ritual chamber in his home on the riverbank, he intoned a single word as he poured his magic into the summoning circle. "Assassin."

The room lit up, and then, suddenly, the candles lining the walls were extinguished. The soft glow of Mikihiko's magic faded to nothing. The room was pitch black. Mikihiko brushed some hair from his shoulder as he waited for his eyes to adjust. Then he brushed again. And again. Then he looked down. It was not his hair. Long black strands crawled up his body, capturing him, like a snake constricting its prey.

"There you are, servant. I am your master, Mikihiko Shibata. You must be Hassan-i-Sabbah." Mikihiko spoke boldly, though small drops of sweat appeared on his brow, and he swallowed as the long black hair continued to entwine him. It grazed his cheek, and where it did the skin broke, and a small trickle of blood oozed out.

The feminine voice came out of the darkness. "Shibata, is it? Very well. You have proven that, if nothing else, you face your fears. Perhaps we can work together." The woman stepped out of the shadows as the candles' glow slowly returned to the ritual room. She was a striking woman, with a curved yet athletic figure covered completely in form-fitting black cloth. Her face was completely obscured by a skull face mask. From the top of her head, a writhing mass of black hair fell down her back, snaked across the floor, and was wrapped around Mikihiko. As she accepted him, the hair began to recede, until it finally stopped becoming shorter. At its shortest, it still reached her calves.

"What are your plans to win this Grail, Master Shibata?" The sultry voice asked, her hair swaying seductively as she spoke. "Let us determine our strategy."