Alright, here's chapter 2. Lemme know if there's anything you want me to do for the next chapters! Enjoy!
The night was now in full swing, and the moon hung high over the top of the high school building, like some distant overseer observing the events of the world below. Pale light shot in through the windows of its corridors and classrooms, illuminating the building as if it were the moon itself. The school yard was quiet and peaceful, as if far away from the hustle and bustle of another school day.
But this peace was about to be shattered…..
The sound of flying arrows whistled through the night sky, breaking the silence as if it were nothing more than a twig. One after another they whistled by, as if chasing something.
What they were chasing was a massive spear wielding warrior. His massive beard trailed behind him as he retreated through the school yard, arrows whizzing past his head and into the ground around him. His long, jade robe suggested he was Chinese in origin, as did the guan dao he carried in his hands.
After retreating to the center of the schools track, he turned and swung his spear with force, smashing arrows that would have otherwise been dead on. The pieces of the arrows fell forgotten to the floor, before vanishing into thin air.
The man in green spun the spear a few times in his hands before thrusting one end into the floor. He scanned the roof of the school for his assailant, it was the only place one could be shooting from this angle. Surely enough, there stood his enemy, impossible to make out in the darkness.
"Archer!" The spear wielder called out to the figure on the roof. "I know you're there! Stop being such a coward and fight me like a true warrior!" He was trying to taunt his enemy, there was no way an archer would be any good in close range combat.
Unexpectedly, the archer succumbed to his taunt, and the black figure on the roof jumped to the floor. The fall would have killed any normal person, but that person was a servant. A servant would never succumb to a fall like that.
After several moments of waiting, the archer came into the spear wielder's view. The archer was shorter than he was, clad in only simple white garb that covered her body. On her back, a quiver hung securely, full to the brim with arrows. Her hands held a beautiful bow, plastered with ornate golden decorations. The winged helmet on her head was more of a symbol than a protective piece of equipment.
"As you wish, Lancer" She responded to him after a few moments of silence. From the darkness, another figure stepped forward and took archer's side.
The man was dressed in a black suit, complete with tie and glasses to match. On his middle finger of his right hand rested a ring with a shining ruby in its center. This person was Archer's master, Teucer Tell.
Teucer took a second to adjust the glasses on his face before scoffing at Lancer.
"Hypocrite, aren't we Lancer?" He inquired. "Where is your master?"
Lancer didn't respond to the question, but instead gave a disapproving grunt. His master irritated him, she was someone he didn't want to have anywhere near this battle, or any for that matter.
"Heeeeyyyyyy! Waaaiiiiittt!" Came a voice shouting across the way. The voice was young and feminine, and perhaps came from someone who was a bit fragile. In the darkness, the owner of the voice was running closer towards them. It was a girl, no taller then archer. Her long blue hair fluttered and bounced as she ran awkwardly across the school yard. She was still dressed in her school uniform, a rather bland white blouse, and a skirt.
She stopped herself in front of Lancer and stood there panting for a minute, trying to regain her breath. She then spoke to Lancer.
"What's going on….. Lancer…. or whatever your name is! I demand….. an explanation. " She held onto Lancer's robe as she wheezed her way through the sentences, trying to keep herself upright.
Teucer and Archer both quirked a brow at the new arrival. This had to be some sort of a joke, was this really Lancer's Master?
"I will tell you everything in good time, Gayle." Lancer replied to his Master before turning his attention back to the duo in front of him. With one hand, he nudged Gayle out of the way and stepped forward.
"Now then, where were we?" He picked his spear out of the ground and took a stance. Archer, returning his intensity, readied multiple arrows into her bow and took aim. Teucer stood back and behind his servant. Lancer knew that he would have a free hit if he could get through Archer's barrage of arrows. But she was standing sideways, what could she be up to?
After a few moments of complete stillness, Archer released the arrows from her bow. They roared forward as if each were a bolt of lightning, all aimed to pierce the green robed man. Lancer responded with a charge forward, deflecting the arrows in his way by spinning his spear in front of him.
Knowing Lancer was about to close the distance, Archer began to run as fast as she could away from the advancing servant. Luckily she was quite swift on her feet, so she could maintain a good distance between her and Lancer. Lancer was hot on her heels, smashing away any arrows that came between him and his target.
Teucer had disappeared from sight and had hidden himself back in the darkness, leaving Gayle Crista sitting, more dumbfounded than horrified, in the middle of the schools track. The silhouettes of Archer and Lancer had disappeared into the school building. She picked herself up and dusted herself off, then nervously headed in the direction the servants had gone. She moved very gingerly as she went, evidently shaking and looking around as if she were paranoid something would come out of the darkness to get her.
Archer was still a good length away from Lancer, and was shooting arrows down the school halls at her pursuer. The arrows that were spot on were deflected by Lancer's spear, and the others pierced the school walls, leaving small craters in their wake. Lancer grunted and put all his effort into running in an attempt to close the gap between him and Archer. Archer stopped shooting for a second to ascend the many sets of stairs, only stopping once she reached the top of a flight to shoot a few arrows to subue Lancer.
After several minutes of chase, the door to the schools roof flew clean off of its hinges and onto the floor. From the hall came the golden Archer, followed closely by the green spear wielder. Archer realised she had nowhere else to run, and had gotten herself stuck in a corner. As if accepting defeat, Archer let her bow hang at her side. Lancer stopped running and began to advance slowly on her, as if expecting her to pull another trick out of her sleeves.
Archer looked down off the edge of the roof, as if judging the fall from here. There was plenty of vegetation to provide cover. It seemed like the best idea for now was a retreat. There was no point in trying to fight Lancer in such a disadvantageous situation.
After closing the gap between him and Archer, Lancer stepped forward and thrust his Guan dao towards his opponent. The spear thundered forward towards Archer's abdomen, eager to pierce through flesh.
Archer stepped backwards and let herself fall from the roof of the school and into the trees and bushes below. With a small rustle of the leaves, she was hidden beneath the vegetation. She looked once again at the top of the school, where Lancer was glaring down at her, before taking off into the night.
Lancer eased off after a moment and sighed. He had let his opponent get away from him. But he didn't expect anyone to fight to the death, it was only the first night.
Behind him, his master had emerged from the stairs, her face puffed up with annoyance.
"Stop running away from me!" She huffed, hitting her fists softly on her servant, trying to vent her rage. Lancer humoured her and let her continue, before she grew tired of it and look around.
"Where did the other one go?" She said, puzzled. Lancer pointed down off the edge of the roof, but didn't say anything. Gayle glanced over the edge and nodded to herself before looking back at Lancer.
"Now" She said calmly. "I think you owe me an explanation. What's going on?"
Lancer gave a loud and obvious sigh. Did she really have no idea what was going on?
"Very well, Master." He began formally. "You have summoned me, a servant, to fight for you in the holy grail war."
"Holy grail war?" She looked confused still.
"The holy grail war is a battle between seven magi for the holy grail, a chalice that grants the wish of its holder. Each of the magi summons a servant who fights for them."
"Ohhhhhh…" Gayle was beginning to understand now. Truthfully, she had never meant to summon a servant, but was merely experimenting with magic circles at home before accidentally summoning Lancer.
"So… why do you call yourself Lancer then?" She asked, as if wanting to know every fine detail. Lancer gestured to his spear, before following the question up.
"The servants are spirits of heroes and such from the ages, and are split into seven classes." He put out his hands and raised a finger with each class he listed. "Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Assassin, Caster and Berserker. If our identity gets out, our opponents will know our strengths and weaknesses, so we call ourselves by our class names to stay anonymous."
Gayle didn't say anything, but rather nodded enthusiastically, taking in every word. "Alright, I think I get it now." She finally came out with.
Lancer sighed, how had he got such an incompetent master? He was going to need a lot of patience in regards to his master
"Oh well" He thought out loud. "I guess we'll have to make do with what we have." He extended his giant arm out to the girl. "Let us do our best to bring home the holy grail, Master."
Gayle nodded back at him, and put her hand in his. With that, their pact was sealed, but Gayle had no idea what she had got herself into…..