Chapter 1: So It Begins... or Where Shirou Reminisces, Bazette Gets Creeped Out, Kirei Is Foiled and Rin Suffers An Aneurysm
Shirou Kovacs took in his surroundings as he walked to school. The past five years have been different, to say the least. Five years ago, his father mysteriously disappeared, leaving nothing behind but his journal, something that Shirou knew was something that his father kept on his person all of the time. That alone told Shirou that his father had doubts about coming back and after reading the journal, he understood. The journal spoke of the cancers of society and Rorschach's self imposed duty to cut them off completely. It also detailed his father's suspicion that Ozymandias and Manhattan were plotting something to bring forced peace throughout the world. Five eyars later, Rorschach still hasn't come back and Shirou believed that his father had finally gotten himself into trouble that was too deep for him to climb out of.
Shirou shook his head. Rorschach died pursuing his ideals and Shirou could respect that. Rorschach may not be the perfect parent, coming home every night covered in blood, which Shirou doubted belonged to his father. As the school bell tolled, Shirou pulled out a small leather bound book from his pocket.
Shirou's Journal, 7: 23 A.M.
Another day of spending time in a so-called place of learning. The sight of Matou Shinji proves to me, as usual, that the creeping moral decay of today's society is still rampant...
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Bazette slumped down on the sofa of the seemingly abandoned house. It all began a couple of days ago, when she performed the summoning ritual. It was supposed to be flawless. She checked, rechecked and rechecked again the magic circle. She memorized the chant perfectly and she had the perfect artefact to summon her hero. But...
She sighed. How was she to know that one of the books scattered on the table was a certain journal that could be considered a relic of a Heroic Spirit? And how was she to know that the house she performed the ritual in was the house that a Heroic Spirit lived in for half a decade? How was she to know that someone who could, and already have, ascend to Heroic Spirit status still lived, or had lived, in this era?
The Enforcer sighed again. There was no use crying over spilled milk and Assassin seemed professional enough, if a little pessimistic. And morbid. And had a twisted sense of justice. Okay, so her Servant was a bit unstable but as unimpressive as he may look, he must be capable of doing great things if he actually became a Heroic Spirit, right? Not that Bazette knew what her Servant was capable of. Assassin pocketed the journal as soon as he confirmed that Bazette was his Master and the Enforcer felt that it would negatively impact team dynamics should she force him to hand it over. The creepy mask with it's ever shifting ink blot design didn't help at all.
But Bazette's problems didn't stop there. Despite not being the one she wanted to summon, Assassin's presence still means that she was officially part of the Holy Grail War. Now that was all well and good but the biggest problem came when she went to the church to register her participation to the War's supervisor. Bazette clenched her fist. If that damned priest knew what was good for him, he'd be laying low for a while. Bazette has already sent a familiar to the Clock Tower about Kotomine's actions and while the Association may look down on Enforcers in general, even they wouldn't look the other way if they learned that someone, especially a member of the church, was trying to sabotage the War.
In a way, she got lucky. Assassin was a paranoid bastard and he refused to let Bazette into the church alone. Bazette didn't really listen to what he was saying but she picked up something like "not even their religion could cure the disease of mankind" or something like that. Assassin's Presence Concealment also ranked high enough that Kirei didn't notice he was there until the mad priest tried to pull a sword on Bazette. Her Servant's choice of armaments was quite unique as well, in a morbid kind of way. She wouldn't be able to look at household tools the same way ever again.
It was at that point when the door to the house swung open and a red haired teen pointed a gun at her.
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"Thou shalt come under my command and thy sword shall control my fate."
The magic circle glowed red as the teenaged girl held a large jewel in front of her while chanting.
"Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost acced to this will and reason, answer me."
The jewel glowed while Tohsaka Rin continued her incantation. She didn't have relic belonging to a Heroic Spirit but she planned to summon a Servant by using a jewel that contained ten years worth of prana.
"I hereby swear. I am all that is good in the eternal world. I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world. Thou, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of restraint."
And with those words, she dropped the jewel into the circle. One explosion later, Rin found herself face to face with a robed figure. The black haired Servant looked around until he spotted Rin.
"Well, this is strange. To think that I, of all people, would get summoned by the Holy Grail when I'm not even a Heroic Spirit in the first place. And to think that the old geezer said that I was the least promising of his studens. Ha!"
Rin frowned at her Servant's words. How could she summon a Servant that wasn't a Heroic Spirit?
"Servant, if we are to work together then I need to know your capabilities. What is your class?"
The Servant turned his attention to Rin, before peering at her more closely.
"Hmmm... you look familiar. You feel familiar too. Very well, Master, it would seem that I was summoned as a Caster. And I, for one, am so proud that the Holy Grail actually works. Especially since that Makiri bas- person kept trying to grope Einzbern and the old geezer just laughed his ass off. "
"W-What?"
Caster continued as if Rin wasn't even there.
"Then again, maybe this is a different world? Knowing the old geezer, this is probably one of his pranks. Damn you, old geezer! Can't even let the dead rest in peace!"
Rin dragged her palm over her face as her Servant, whose identity is something that Rin didn't want to think about since her theory is a bit farfetched, began cursing manipulative old geezers and perverted Makiri worms.