Chapter 2: Clock Tower Response
Rin Tohsaka walked briskly towards the old church, although she appeared calm on the surface underneath she was on a knife's edge of tension. The church loomed before her bringing bad memories flooding back. It was the very same church from 17 years ago and seeing it gave her the chills, especially under the circumstances. As it was she hesitated briefly in front of the doors, hit by a strong sense of foreboding. If I go in now there might be no turning back, she thought. After barely a moment of deliberation she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
In 17 years the place had barely changed from the time Kirei Kotomine ran it. The church was lit only by a few small candles placed on the alter at the far end and by the moon light streaming through the stained glass window. Standing next to the alter were two people. One was a man dressed like a priest, he was of average height with short brown hair and and a rather hard looking face looking to be in his mid 40s. Next to him was a rather short blond haired woman dressed in casual clothes.
"Ah welcome Ms Rin, we are glad to see that you have come." Said the priest once Rin had closed the door.
After standing at the door for a moment and shaking off the chill that ran down her spine Rin walked forward towards the two. "Well I am not glad to be back here! You had better not be here to tell me what I think is happening is happening!" she barked out as she strode forward into the church. As she reached the alter she eyed the two suspiciously, they were almost certainly from the Mages Association but something about their air and the situation put her on edge. She had received rumor that something strange had happened in the London branch, something that involved the Grail, but it was very under wraps. Then she had been called out to the old church abruptly with only a 1 day notice, she was to come at night alone all with very little explanation. Needless to say she had come armed.
"You are correct." The woman said. "A situation involving the Grail has once again arisen before expected. And you have been selected to participate. However..."
Not another Grail War! Rin thought, we destroyed it. I know we did.
"That's impossible!" Rin shouted cutting the woman off. "The last war was only 17 years ago, the one before that was only 10 years prior! The next Grail War cannot be happening now!"
"I'm afraid that the situation is a bit more complicated than that." Said the priest.
"What are you saying complicated for? Is the next war on or is it not?"
The woman peeped up "Maybe you you would like to sit down Ms. Rin, this will take some explaining, but it is not quite what you think."
"I will stand thank you." Rin said curtly. "Now tell me exactly why you called me out to this wrenched little warehouse at this time of night."
"Very well." the Priest said, "In that case I will make introductions quick, I am Harry Fergon a representative of the Church and this is Samantha Green from the Mage's Association. Nine days ago in one of the Clock Tower facility's, an... oracle of sorts... informed the Association of a very disturbing development." He paused a moment before continuing. "It seems that the Holy Grail has been stolen."
Rins eyes, which had been narrow flew open in shock while one of her eyebrows shot up a full 2/3s inch on her brow. "Stolen. STOLEN." She repeated slowly as if trying the word for the first time. "This is the Holy Grail we are talking about right? How is that even possible? The thing isn't even corporeal!" She had started out talking but soon found herself nearly shouting at the two. For 17 years she had thought that it was destroyed and now it was somehow stolen. That didn't even make sense.
"It is true I am afraid." said Harry "Miss, have you ever heard of the TSAB?"
"The TSAB?" Rin had heard of them of course, being a 3rd rank Magus in the Association and an honored researcher in the department of Mineralogy made her privy to several things that most Magus were uninformed of. Such as the existence of the TSAB. When the Association had learned of the organization around 23 years ago they had found themselves looking at a organization much larger than themselves that used a completely foreign system of Magecraft and was armed with spaceships and robots, something of a minor panic had ensued among the ruling Lords. In their typical paranoid fashion the Association had deemed it prudent to remain hidden, since then they had monitored Magecraft on earth even closer to avoid detection. Their efforts had paid off, as far as the TSAB knew Earth was a completely non-magical chunk of rock.
"Yes I know of them. Have we been discovered?"
"No but that may change soon. As you know, during the last War the Grail was destroyed or damaged severely, it seems that in order to rebuild or repair itself the Grail assumed physical form in a safe place and has been rebuilding itself these last 17 years."
Rin felt a blank coldness descending on her as the man spoke, so it was true, the Grail was back. For 17 years she had slept content with the knowledge that the Grail was gone. Only in the last few weeks had her assurance ever really faltered and hearing it now was like an old nightmare suddenly coming back to life.
Harry continued unaware of Rin's face going rather pale. "Three weeks ago a TSAB ship came and began an unknown operation, we believe that they landed on our moon. Then one week ago an ancient farseeing stone artifact kept at the London institute received a message. The message was in the universal language and came from someone of something calling itself the 'Watcher of the Grail' it claimed that the grail had been taken by strange Magi and in order to maintain the sanctity of the Grail it must be recovered and returned to its resting place."
"So the TSAB took the Grail and now the Grail wants the Mage association to take it back?"
"Yes."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Rin intoned. "Attack the TSAB? We hardly know anything about them and we still know that they are at least five times our match. Why even go after the Grail, let those space aliens choke on it!"
"You are completely right, the Association will not be reclaiming the Grail." Harry Said.
"Then what...?"
"According to the 'Watcher of the Grail' the Grail was made with a defense system of sorts that would activate in the case that something like this ever happened. And that is where you come in. When the system went into effect we believe that it taped into a massive reserve of Prana usually dormant and began an event that the 'Watcher' called a "Holy Grail Crusade". Like the war, Masters will attempt to summon a Servant and will be chosen by the Grail, however instead of fighting each other right away you will first seek out the Grail and attempt to return it to its resting place. As a former Master, a member of one of the founding families and a brilliant Magus with high favor in the Association we want you to join this Holy Grail Crusade as the Master who will represent the Association." Harry said looking at Rin pointedly.
Rin absorbed all this with an expression that was somehow half angry, half confused and half shocked all at the same time. Inside she thought that she was taking it rather well.
This is nuts she thought, if I went I would be protecting the Grail, something that should probably be destroyed.
But even though she was now 34 some part of Rin was still the girl who entered the Grail for no other reason than the glory.
"And the winner?"
"The victorious Master and Servant will each receive a minor wish created from whatever remains of the Prana reserves used to fuel the crusade as well as a guarantied position in the next Grail War if you so choose."
Rin clenched her fists at her sides. "I will... consider this." She said and turned to go.
"Before you leave you should know this, although it is similar this is not a Grail War the Grail will summon only those spirits who it remembers, because of this the only Servants who can be summoned are those who have previously participated in one of the Grail Wars, we believe that those who died latest have the best probability of being re summoned, it is highly likely that all the participants of the last war will be recalled."
Rin stopped mid step, Archer! And Saber! She felt a flash of joy mixed with surprise, then she grimaced
Caster. And Berserker.
"Also because this is not a true Grail War there is no limit to how many Masters can be chosen."
"WHAT!" Rin screeched, wheeling around on one foot to turn and face him nearly choking on her own spit, "Are you telling me that there could be WHO KNOWS HOW MANY Masters jumping in and calling out WHO KNOWS HOW MANY Servants to go and run amok with?"
"No, the Grail still chooses the Masters, it just isn't limited to Seven in this event."
"Unbelievable, this is going to be a nightmare! More than Seven Masters and Servants all running head first into unknown territory to fight an unknown enemy for the Grail. Whoever the TSAB really is I almost feel sorry for them."
"Yes I think it will be quite bad for whoever gets in their way. That's why we want you to participate, you are one of the last surviving people who has been a Master before, and we trust that you will keep the Association's interests at heart and find out as much as possible about this TSAB in the process of your contact with them." Samantha said giving her a meaningful look.
"I see. I will... think about it." she said as turned to go for the second time.
"Very good Miss Tohsaka if you accept then return here in five days."
Rin walked out into the night thinking like she hadn't thought in years. If she did it she would have to face Servants that she never ever wanted to see again, but if she did it she had a chance for glory. She could fulfill the lost ambition she had 17 years ago and prove herself as the one worthy of the Grail! Shirou was gone, disappeared in South America six years ago, aside from Waver Velvet and Bazett, who it turned out by some bizarre stroke of fortune had survived the war, she was the only former Master still in a position to compete and could thus use her superior experience to dominate the battle. It could work out... It could be foolishness.
Rin did not sleep at all that night, only stirring from her internal debate when the sun began to rise.
*Scene*
Far away on the massive space station that was the TSAB Headquarters Yuuno Scrya floated among the shelves of the Infinity Library dipping in and out of the veritable maze of shelves that he knew so well. Occasionally he would stop, open book and peer through it before putting it down or adding it to the small fleet of books that were now orbiting him.
Despite his usual enthusiasm for his work Yuuno's patience was running thin at the moment, never before had the Infinite Library failed him, navigating it was a job that required skill and patience no doubt but it was rare to ever find absolutely nothing after a prolonged search. Especially for someone who was as good at his job as he was. He looked back at the swarm of books that were floating behind him and sighed, it would take a while to search through these even with magic. In a flash of light he disappeared along with the books, reappearing in his work station. Sitting down he began to scroll through the books en mass, pages flipping away and text running down the insides of his glasses at speeds usually reserved for computers.
He had been at this for four days now, searching up and down the halls for any information regarding the lost Logia that had been recently found near Non-administered world #97. Considering how little he was given to go by it was easy to tell that the team of scientists and Mages who were studying the mysterious artifact were not getting much out of it. So far all he had been given was that it was very powerful, was found on Non admin world #97s Moon, gave off a unique magical signature that did not conform to any known magic system so far and didn't like to be touched. Reportedly a Mage who was working with the excavators had put his hand on it while attempting to seal it, this was generally considered bad form by most archaeologists as violate or actively hostile Lost Logia were not unheard of. In this case the unfortunate man had paid the highest price for his small slip of protocol, as soon as his hand touched it he was engulfed in flames and completely incinerated, the medical team had been unable to even find his teeth.
As fascinating and mysterious as all that was it did not give Yuuno a lot to work with and he had so far found nothing that matched. At the moment he was looking through some truly ancient records of Belkan conquest from the Warring Ages. Among other things the ancient Belkans had meticulously documented the technology and magic systems of the worlds that they conquered. Yuuno was looking through them for anything that reassembled the magic readings that were put off by lost Logia # 9461 Aka The Red Moon Gem as it had been named. So far he had had found nothing that even remotely resembled it.
Two hours later Yuuno sat up and stretched, the books had been fascinating in their own right but had brought him no closer two his goal. The clock on the wall read 4:15, he had been working since 8:00 and it was definitely time to stop before he went nuts.
The idea that the library had nothing on Lost Logia #9461 was looking more and more possible. It was an idea that intimidated him a little. If it was true then whatever they were dealing with was either very VERY old or from an extremity far removed dimension. It also angered him a little, discounting his current frustration this was the first time that he had ever really faced the possibility that something was not in the Infinity Library's archives. Whatever this thing he nearly hoped it was dangerous by this point, so long as he was not wasting his time.
*scene *
Rin stood in the basement of her house over an intricate circle drawn out in red over the floor. In one hand she held a book, her other was outstretched to her left weaving patterns in the air as she chanted. As the incantation went on pressure inside the room seemed to increase, her hair began to move and then writhe backwards oh her head as if blown by a wind. After a short time things began to speed up, a actual wind began to blow through the room rapidly turning the pages of the other books in the room and causing a chalkboard full of archaic symbols to fall over in the corner. Through all of this her chanting stayed steady, unwavering as everything else sped up. D'eja' vu she thought for a split second before she finished the final words of the summoning. This time there was no explosion, instead the wind in the room all seemed to suddenly rush inwards towards the center of the circle. There was a bright flash and the room was bathed in red light.
When the light cleared a tall and familiar figure stood in the center of the room. It stood perfectly still for a second before looking around and murmuring "Well I must say this is unexpected."
Rin allowed herself the briefest of smiles before putting on her best scowl "Archer!" she waited for him to turn around and see her before continuing "We have work to do."
Archer looked at her in evenly before recognition suddenly flashed across his face "Rin?"
*scene *
Will Galvin was standing over his own simple circle. Drawn in white house paint on the boards of an old tool shed it was a far cry from the intricate circles usually used for spells. It was all he had though and it would have to do.
William was the Magus equivalent of a vagabond, 24 years old and from America, a country with few notable magus families or traditions, and with little money to his name. He went wherever he pleased and wherever he could get by and practice his petty arts. A hedge mage was the common term.
He was slightly taller than most with blond hair, hazel eyes and a rather plain looking face. A cast off from a long diluted magical genealogy it could have been called pure chance that he had ever come to rediscover his thaumaturgical roots and take up the occult practition once again. As it was he could have been considered nothing more than a thief by the Mages Association as a whole, if it were not for his good instincts when it came to avoiding attention.
It could have been considered an even greater surprise then when someone such as him had been selected for service by the the Grail.
Well he thought here I am. Time to see where this will go. It was his motto for life.
He opened his spiral notebook that he kept his written requirements for magic on and flipped through his many bookmarks till he found the one he was looking for. He had payed quite a bit and more than just money to find what was copied in his notebook, a summoning incantation like the ones used in the grail wars was written in pencil right next to his rough drawing of the summoning circle that was now painted on the floor. Now for the catalyst. He put the notebook down on the floor in open position and dug around in his backpack for a little before puling out a hardcover of Le Morte d'Arthur and laying it down in the middle of the circle open halfway. Before coming to Japan he had given some thought to who he wanted to summon, he decided that he didn't really care as long as they were powerful. After a little more deliberation he had settled on King Arthur. Not that he actually thought he would succeed in summoning one of the most famous heroes of all time, but logically speaking if you aimed high enough then even falling short was bound to bring someone strong.
"Well here goes" he said aloud. Standing up with the spiral notebook in hand he began the incantation. Unlike with Rin's Summoning there was no intense wind or buildup of invisible pressure. Rather as the incantation went on there was a soft breeze that began to blow, it was cool and smelled of the sea even though it was blowing from the wrong way to carry such a smell. When he reached the halfway point in the spell he noticed that his circle was changing. It had been painted rather simply in white house paint, now it was blue a deep royal blue and was shifting ad curling subtly to become more exquisite. As he read on the breeze became ever so slightly stronger and began to carry different smells, the smell of oiled steel and wet grass became dominate. The previously plain circle was now a beautiful design on the floor that began to glow blue and give off a presence. Will was struck with the impression that something very majestic and... well... Royal was coming. As the last words tumbled out of his lips there was a swell of bright blue and gold light that nearly blinded him and caused him to shield his eyes and look away, dropping the note book.
Before he could look up again he felt that there was someone standing in front of him.
"I ask of you, are you my Master?" spoke a firm but feminine voice. Will Galvin looked up and beheld a short figure decked out in blue armor standing in front of him. The figures clothing were breathtaking, a skirt of deep blue like the color that the circle had become set over with a silver breastplate, its hands and lower arms were covered in large gauntlets. When his eyes strayed to its face however Will was jerked out of his trance, the face was just a little to... he suddenly realized the figure was definitely a girl. "Aw man." He said out loud his shoulders slumping. "I was hoping for King Arthur."
