Fate/Another Hallow
Chapter 1: Conflicting Memories
"Do you want me to snatch Mana's soul from that hateful God and bring him back ?"
A clownish caricature of a Victorian Era man appeared behind a gravestone, tempting a young boy to make a devilish deal with him.
"Just call upon Mana's name and you shall see your father again "
Desperate and alone, the boy beheld a black mechanical skeleton in front of him. He gathered up his courage and complied, screaming his father's name.
"Mana!"
Suddenly, a purple lightning struck at the skeleton. The name 'Mana' was then engraved upon its forehead.
"Allen..."
The skeleton began to speak and move. The boy was delighted, but his joy was cut short when the skeleton started to scream with rage.
"Allen, what have you done!? You turned me into an AKUMA!"
"Mana..."
Suddenly, the skeletal being slashed the boy's left eye as the child was not able to react in any way.
"I'll curse you, Allen! I'll curse you!"
The child anticipated the end of miserable life but something happened unexpectedly. For some reason, his deformed red arm morphed into a seemingly mechanical white limb. Armed with razor sharp claws, the boy's arm acted on its owned accord and viciously ripped the black skeleton in half.
The child tried to wrest control of his arm but without relent, the limb dragged him instead as it actively sought to finish off the AKUMA.
"Mana! Don't do this to Mana! Run, Dad! Run!" the boy panicked as he realized the peril the arm posed on his ill-revived adoptive father.
The AKUMA turned towards the boy and spoke in a more subdued tone, "Allen... I love you."
"Mana!"
"Please destroy me!"
The deformed arm annihilated the skeletal being without any reservation, ending his miserable existence as an AKUMA. Seeing his purpose defeated, the mysterious being whom the boy made a deal with vanished into the shadows as the boy was left alone traumatized. Upon his forehead, a pentagram was formed while his hair was turned white. Now alone, the boy 'died' inside. Only a shell of his former self was left and yet he continued to walk forward towards an unseen end...
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Rider realized that he somehow dozed off while he was sitting at a dark corner of Matou Residence. He found it strange that a Servant like him would need to eat and sleep despite of being a Heroic Spirit... Or is he? However, his strange existence did not bother him as much as his dream. Deeply baffled by such distant memory, he could not understand why that in his dream, a familiar boy with a scar similar to his would have existed. All he knew was that he was the devil known as the Earl of Millennium, and yet he also felt that he was the boy whom the Earl tried to turn into an AKUMA and failed.
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Suddenly, Rider sensed a presence silently watching him from the shadows. He slowly stood up as he called up the entity looking at him.
"Show yourself. I know you're there," Rider spoke in a malicious yet lazy manner.
"I see you are the Servant Sakura summoned," an old man's voice echoed trough the dimly lighted corridors.
"And perhaps you are the Matou Household's Tooth Fairy?" Rider amusedly responded.
"Hahahaha... You have such arrogance for an unknown Heroic Spirit. Do you believe you can win the Holy Grail War?"
"Facing an unknown opponent is a peril by itself. The less they know, the better it is for me. Wouldn't you agree, Erojiji-sama?"
"Erojiji?" For a moment the old man felt insulted but he was amused by the Servant's remarks, "Hahahahahaha... I see that you are referring to my crest worms. You are very observant indeed. Perhaps, you can indeed win the War..."
The old man then passed in front of Rider as he went his own way. Rider just kept quiet, waiting for a moment to initiate his own plans...
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Sakura woke up a little bit groggy in the morning. The summoning exhausted her to some extent and yet, she chose to attend classes. Dressed up in her school uniform, she opened the door and left her room. Upon turning to her side, she saw a person she did not expect to meet early in the morning — it was the Servant she summoned last night. The girl realized that Rider was looking sharply into her eyes, as if peeping to her very soul. She looked away from him and slowly walked past him. However, a voice called her attention.
"Your name... May I know it?"
Sakura paused a bit and answered the Servant, "Sakura... Sakura Matou"
"Sa...ku...ra... Reminds me of the cherry blossoms in Edo... It suits you."
"Thank you..." Sakura smiled a bit as she slowly walked away from Rider.
Rider, on the other hand, knew that she is a being filled with sorrow and pain. If only he could spend more time with her, he could have eased her pain a bit. However, he cannot for now do it due to his duties to his Master, Shinji. He must focus to win the Grail as every Servant must.
Sakura left the Matou residence early in the morning. The soft breeze blew upon her face as she was lost in her own thoughts.
"I'm watching a dream. I'm in the midst of small happiness. In the midst of beautiful, warm and gentle days. A dream that will surely not last long... Senpai... Will he wake up early today?"
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Update: Servant Stats
Servant: Rider
True Name: Allen Walker
Strength: A+
Endurance: C+
Agility: C+
Mana: C
Luck: D
Noble Phantasm: EX
Personal Skills:
Battle Continuation: A+
Can continue fighting even
with wounds that place them on the verge
of death. An ability representing the strong
will to stay alive on the battlefield. (Crown Clown making Allen its puppet does help).
Independent Action: A+
The Servant can operate without a Master.
With a rank of A+ that exceeds even A, the
support of a Master is unnecessary even
while unleashing a large amount of magical
energy . It is an ability that bends the rules
and allows for the continued materialisation
of Servants even after the conclusion of the
Holy Grail War. (YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH!)
Riding: D
One can flawlessly ride animals and vehicles
that received a proper training and
adjustment.
Mad Enhancement: E-
Allen does not receive the benefits of Mad Enhancement nor does he lose any of their reasoning abilities. However, it pushes Allen to "push his limits" in order to win a battle or save a life. It also makes him wanna show his poker skills... (TUITION? SUCH PUNY EXPENSE! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH DEBT I HAD TO PAY!)
Item Creation: B+
specializes solely in crafting
AKUMA weapons and Golems to some extent, so it's impossible for him to
craft anything else.
Eye of the Mind (True): B
Capable of calm analysis of battle
conditions even when in danger and
deduce an appropriate course of action
after considering all possibilities to escape
from a predicament.
Charisma: C-
He cannot lead a nation, but he has a strong connection to his comrades who shares his will to fight or save lives... Until his Noah personality gets into the picture. (May or may not be the involved in his ability to successfully make even a robot fall in love with him.)
Noah's "Memory": B
The driving force behind the will that all Noah feel, it creates their thirst for blood, and, when a Noah is in a life threatening situation, it awakens their full potential, increasing their power and stamina dramatically. This also grants Rider the ability to command Akuma to do whatever they want, both verbally and telepathically. The extent of this influence is so complete that Noah can command Akuma to self-destruct, even if it is against the Akuma's will.
This ability partially corrupts him, giving him a personality closer to the 14th Noah, an existence similar to blackened Servant.
Status Recovery: B
Due to the symbiont nature of his Noble Phantasm, Rider can slow down and recover quickly from status effects and certain curses. However, the ability does not grant him magic resistance.
Noble Phantasms:
Crown Clown: God's Clown
Rank: B Anti-evil
A cloak made of a Holy Substance not originating from the world (Innocence), it serves as Rider's Armor capable of resisting powerful physical and magical attacks. It is also capable of creating hardened spikes capable of piercing walls and metal armor as well as web-like material that hinders enemy movement and/or assist Rider in maneuvering in battle. It inflicts bonus damage to those who have "demon", "corrupted", "blackened", or "alter" as status or description.
God's Left Hand: Bringer of Salvation to the Damned
Rank: B+ Anti-Army, Anti-Evil
Not to be confused with Berserker Heracles' God Hand. Rider's left arm is made up of the same material as Crown Clown but takes form of a discolored human arm when inactive and a metallic limb with razor sharp claws capable of shredding almost every material on Earth as well as blocking powerful attacks. It can create projectiles of exorcising energy and holy energy shields at Rider's whim. Like Crown Clown, it deals bonus damage to those corrupted by evil.
Methuselah: The Sword of Exorcism
Rank: E (A+) Anti-Army, Anti-Evil
The crystalization of Rider's conviction of saving souls. It is the hidden form by which the Left Hand of God morphs into when the need arise. While it can interact with non-living objects like metal or wood, it is incapable of harming humans or mundane creatures. Against normal Servants, the blade is incapable of lasting harm but repeated strikes to the core would start to affect their anchor to the world, invitingly coax them to return to the Throne of Heroes as visions of Paradise begin to overwhelm them. This is due to the fact that Servants are not natural existences, and their summoning is very similar to how AKUMAs are created. Against "blackened" Servants or beings corrupted by Angra Mainyu, the Sword of Exorcism becomes a dangerous bane that utterly destroys the concept of "Evil" and purifies the soul with heavenly light. However, those who can resist outright purification (such as Angra Mainyu) experience great discomfort, as if God Himself glares ang points upon their deepest sins and exposes them to the world. They shall feel great wrath against the Sword and desire to destroy it if possible. Nonetheless, it is capable of purifying the soul of a corrupted being or even demonic creatures themselves. However, Rider cannot use its full potential due to being summoned as Rider instead of Saber.
Noah's Ark: Ark of Deliverance
Rank: EX Anti-World
The Ark that preserved all life on Earth, it has the power to survive even an EX rank Noble Phantasm such as the Surge of Utnapishtim. However due to the absurd amount of Prana required to summon its full power, Rider usually utilizes it for teleportation, secret hide out or storage for his AKUMA weapons. It is also capable of recreating Phantasmal Beasts, but doing so require more prana than just employing an army of AKUMA.
Cursed Eye: The Eye That Gazes The Soul
Rank: B
Takes a form of a strange monocle warping Rider's left eye upon activation, it allows him to detect spirits and can extend his presence detection ability to allies within 10 meter radius. It cannot nullify Presence Concealment of Rank A and above, but instead decreases the ability by one rank.