Afterwards we waited at the living with Rin glaring intensely at me sitting across from me. I let out a small sigh, hey come on I did say I was sorry. "Don't just sit there you can start explaining everything."
"Hmh. How doth thee order the Praetor!" Red Saber who is sitting next to me retorts back at Rin.
"Uh it's ok Saber let's just, explain how we got here. Even if we don't exactly know why or how it happened, but we'll try our best to what we been through." I tried to calm down Red Saber so we can tell everyone from the beginning. "Well I don't know much myself, but this how it how went through me and how it was explained." I clear my throat with a slight cough. "A long time ago I was a victim of terrorist biological attack that, it infects people brains. From memory loss to death but than, I was put into cryogenic stasis; due to the fact that the doctor had died in the attack. So they put survivors who had been infected into cryogenic storage until another doctor is capable of curing them. But unfortunately…the world had faced a technological stagnation, so no progress was made and while I was in the SERAPH…I apparently had been sleeping for over thirty years. I probably still am sleeping."
Everyone put on a surprised, yet serious face as they fallow along with my story. I can't say that I blame them, because I would have reacted to the same way. "I don't know when or how, but The Moon Cell, called the Holy Grail and Eye of God, the Divine Automatic Recording Device, is a collection of photon crystals located within the moon. It is a giant mineral vein located within a extremely large hole, comparable to a crack that bore through the moon itself, with a depth of a few kilometers. The diameter of the crystals appears to be up to thirty kilometers, and it seems that apart from its surface portions, the moon itself is made up of a giant photon crystal. It was discovered by the Western European Conglomerate, calling it the Holy Grail and than sealed off the moon. The Moon Cell can read, record, scan, calculate, and recalculate all of Earth's information. From the oldest history to the newest future, even all the world's digital media could not match its capabilities. It's also pseudo-intelligent being that it has the supreme ability to affect the outside world with its internal scintillations." As I went on I can see most of everyone was getting lost to what I was saying, but it looks like the tanned-skin man seem to understand, just surprised how I went on.
"Basicly, what David Bosnak is saying is that it's like a massive super computer, but it's more complex and powerful than what we have." The man simplified my explanation, thank you tell the truth I've felt a little lost myself considering I'm telling from what I heard.
"Yes, thank you mister…uh…sorry what's your name?"
"Hm? Oh you can call me Archer but we can worry about that later, continue on with your story." He gave me a straight answer.
"Right, well the Conglomerate had somehow able to hack in the Moon Cell, and made it accessible if you have internet. The SERAPH is a short-term for Serial Phantasm System, it created the virtual environments of the Arenas and Coliseum, as well as the servants like Saber here." I point to Red Saber as nods and agreed. "That's where we fight for the Holy Grail War…now this where I came in. The Holy Grail War holds these preliminaries to those see who worthy enough to advance though the actual battles. I managed to pass mine thanks to Saber's help, so I can't thank her enough for accepting someone weak as me at the time."
Red Saber puffs out her chest and says with pride, "Worry not Praetor! It was worth seeing how you grow, and did thou not tell you, that it is more beautiful to see one grow in strength with great struggle?"
"Yes, yes you did. Well I had passed mine and met with Saber the first time, and I passed out as found myself waking up in the schools nurses office. There as the schools nurse was Sakura Matou an NPC…the virtual area where the war was held, took place as the school set up." Everyone somehow imagined how Sakura would fit perfectly as a schools nurse, except for Sakura who was blushing. I think she might be embarrassed, well moving on. "After getting out of the room as I felt better I went around looking and met up with a priest named Kotomine. Suspicious or not, which I hate to admit but he did help me out quite a few times, even though it was probably for his own amusement." For some reason I expected it, everyone nodded as they agreed. "After being explained about my situation considering I had memory loss, I had also met with Rin and Rani. They became the closest thing as friends could be in that place."
After hearing the names Shirou spoke up. "By Rin…do you mean by Tohsaka?"
I nodded at his question, "Yes Rin Tohsaka was there, though our first meeting was…a bit awkward, but if it wasn't for her help I don't think I could have won. She helped me out in my first my match with Shinji Matou."
"Shinji!?" Rin was surprised to hear Shinji's name. "Um…was he self-centered, cocky, and egotisical?" She was dead on correct.
"Uh, he was something like that yeah…." I'm gonna assume that there's a Shinji here that acts the exact same way. "He was a Master with the Servant Rider."
At that instant I saw Rider kneeling on all fours looking depressed. "I guess it's pointless to get away from him…even in an alternate dimension…" It looks like she's sulking.
"Well I'm not sure if your different a Rider or just look different, But his Rider's true identity was the famous pirate Francis Drake."
"El Draque? He was also once a renounced knight for England, but than strayed from his path of knighthood to explore more. He would have been a worthy opponent to cross swords with." Blue Saber confirms as she sips her tea.
"Hmh! She was a strong opponent, but was no match for me and the Praetor!" Red Saber shouted out as she made the triumph statement.
"Yeah, but…that's when the thing I tried hard to make sure it was a lie…came true. When the Servant had been defeated or you lose the match, you die in reality not just virtually. That's when I realized that this whole tournament was not a game, but to the death. Even though I was told this I tried to ignore the reality. In the second match I faced an old veteran named Dan Blackmore, a complete opposite of Shinji. He's the Master of the Servant Archer, and Archer's identity was Robin Hood."
"Hooo… Robin Hood huh? It would be nice to test out my bow skills against one of histories most famous archer." Archer puts on a smirk as he listens.
"Yeah, Archer was more of a hunter than an archer, since he relies on traps and amushes from the shadows. Dan the opposite, he was more chivalry, chrismatic, and a father figure. He wanted to fight fair and square, he also taught me what it means to have resolve and what to believe even it meant to fight only to survive."
"Hmh, he was noble for a man of his great age. All he wanted was to bring life back to his deceased wife…" Red Saber lets out a depressing sigh as everyone else sympathize with her. "But, whether the fight leads to glory or despair, we must always press onward!"
I nodded at Red Saber's statement. "Next it was a little girl named Alice…I don't think she ever knew that she was a Master to begin with, being thrown into a death match. All she wanted to do was to play with someone, and not feel lonely…she died before entering the Moon Cells, yet it registered her magic circuits, and became a Master of the Servant Caster. Her Servant was Alice from the Nursery Rhyme. Than, there was this battle between my two friends Rani and Rin. After Rani realized that she was gonna lose against Rin, she set herself to self-detonate. So I had to make the choice of either to save Rin or Rani, if could I would of have saved them both, but I couldn't I had to save one and sacrifice the other. In the end, I decided to save Rin." Rin widen her eyes a bit as her blushed a bit. "After that incident…well let's just say that Rin made it a little too hard reappoarch." Everyone glance at Rin for a bit as they understood of what I meant.
"H-hey! Wait, why you all are staring at me for! I was not there and this is another Rin we're talking about."
"Well next was this mentally unstable female clown; I didn't get a chance to understand her. I'm not really too regretful beating her, because she was trying to…eat my friends, yeah she eats humans apparently. Her Servant was a Lancer, who was Vlad Tepes." Blue Saber felt a chill down through her spine.
"Vlad Tepes…that mad man …I would never accept or acknowledge him as a knight!"
"Yes I agree! That Dracula was a fearsome opponent! Yet, it was both Praetor and I who slay the beast!"
I nod in agreement to the both of them. "Next was the fight that almost brought me to the edge of death…and Rin's too. I had almost lost Saber, which was the most terrible thing that happened, all I did was blaming myself…."
"Praetor you mustn't blame yourself for that. It was I who made the decision to jump in, and would do it a million more times to protect you!" Red Saber reaches out with her hands and held onto my hands as she comforts me.
"Thanks Saber, but I prefer you don't do that, because I don't want to see getting hurt like that." As I said that Red Saber face blushed.
"I-If that's…h-how you feel t-than I won't, but! I would still protect you no matter what!"
I nodded as it seem like she'll be stubborn about it, well I'll just leave it as that and get back to topic. "Anyway the one that made me came close to losing everything was a well trained assassin named, Julius B. Harway. He was a ruthless, deadly, and not mention strong as well. He was on the mission to help his little brother Leonard B. Harway to win the Holy Grail War from behind the scenes. Julius Servant was Assassin, Li Shuwen a famous Chinese martial artiest."
"Hmm…the famed Demon Fist Master, that said he need no second strike to kill his opponents. Defiantly not someone whom you would want to have a fight in close combat." Archer says as he kept an open mind and pays close attatention.
"Right, but what really got us was invisibility technique. But thanks to Rin we were able to stop him and defeat him. The fight after that one was a troublesome one. Not because the opponent was strong, but the fact she kept her identity a secret throughout that week. The one I had to fight was my close friend…Rani. Like Rin, Rani also helped me out in number of times. In the fight against Archer, and the fight against Caster; even though she wanted to help me to feel human, which was an order from the professor, to find someone to help her. Rani is a homunculus created by the Mage Association's Atlas division."
"Atlas division!? But that's a division of magus's that studies Alchemy." Rin confirms about the Atlas division.
"Yeah, and her Servant Berserker was strong and powerful as well. Berserker's identity was Lu Bu, he had abilities of a Lancer, Archer, and a Rider."
"That does sound like a terrible enemy to face against." Rider, who was paying much attention, responded to my comment about my friend's Berserker.
"That is true; Berserker was defiantly one of the most formidable opponents we had to face against. But never the less! We still triumph against that mad warrior!" Again Red Saber continues to gloat about her victories over at the Holy Grail War.
"Right…in the end, we were able to come out on top, but…we also lost a very precious friend." Even now I still feel horrible for killing Rani. I mean, all she wanted was to know what it means to be human and have emotions. Yet, I destroyed that…but never the less I had to keep going in order to shut down the moon cells, and to end the Holy Grail War once and for all. I can see the frustration in Shirou's eyes, and I just know exactly how he feels too, but what else I could of done? "Afterwards when we were about to fight Leo and his Servant, an unexpected someone came back and tried to get rid of me. Julius had came back and avoided death somehow by using one of the masters hand he had killed. Not only that, his Assassin became a Berserker making him stronger than ever." Everyone showed their shocked faces on hearing what I just told them, and I don't blame them either. I was just as shocked when they showed up and jumped at me in front of my eyes.
"Stronger or not we had already knew about our opponents, tactics and how they operated. So it was only a matter of time for the Praetor and I to win against them." I nodded to Red Saber's comment, because even if he had Assassin turned into a Berserker it was still the same Servant. It had would have been different if he had used a different Servant.
"As we defeated him again, that's when I truly started to understood him…if only we had met and talked things out earlier. I think we would have been friends. Now finally, we could fight against Leo and his Servant Saber."
Then Shirou spoke up as he looked pretty hesitated to say what he wanted to ask. "Uh this might sound a bit silly…but um did his Servant happen to look like ours?" Sakura and Archer giggled on he had said as Saber seemed to be a bit irritated. Rin on the other hand only sighed, and Rider just sat there listening and waiting.
"Well, no he didn't…though now that I think about it they do look quite similar, but not a like." As I answered Shirou, everyone looked puzzled as they took it a bit more interest on his question.
"What was the Servant's name?" Blue Saber finally spoke out curiosity and asked about the Servant's name.
"His name was one of the most famous knights in history, the name was Gawain." When I announced the name, Blue Saber face became completely shocked and horrified. Then Shirou quickly realized on who was Gawain in an instant as he turned to Blue Saber.
"Saber, isn't he one of your-…" Shirou's question was cut off as Blue Saber quickly responded.
Blue Saber expression grew grim as she starts to speak. "Yes, He was the most honorable and loyalist knight in my kingdom….Gawain he was my nephew as he was considered to be my equal in terms of skill of swordsmanship." She starts make a small light smile on her face. "I was truly proud of him in everyway, even with or without his Excalibur Galantine."
Then I couldn't believe my eyes as they widen up, as I realized who Blue Saber is that's sitting just across from me. "It…can't be. You're the legendary King of Knights!? King Arthur Pendragon!"
Red Saber jumps up in surprise, "No way! This must be fate that the Gods have blessed us with! The King of Knights! The Great King of Britannia herself! I'm just as surprised as you are Praetor!" Blue Saber nods at us responding our deduction.
"Well the Saber's identities aside, tell me more about this Leo guy." Rin cuts in as she changes the topic.
"Oh right, sorry that kind of took me by surprise; well anyway Leo was the type of guy that you can get along with, with no problem but…the thing is that the way his emotions are seems a bit…off. I guess you could call it overconfident not like Shinji, but more as if everything comes in natural to him. It's as if when he gains or wins something, it's like he expected of it happening he has no concept of what it means to strive for it. Yet, in the end that became his weakness. I didn't want to fight him, but at the same time I had too, and I don't mean like I was forced to fight. Well I was, but this time was different because I had the intensions of beating him. Not because he was overconfident, it was because that I had to stop him stagnating the world again. Otherwise the world wouldn't move forward, and the people's freedom would be controlled. I know what was saying that made sense about everything will be at peace and no wars would rise up. So I made my choice, and choose to stop him and won the fight. Afterwards, all that's left was to obtain the Holy Grail, so me, Saber and Rin head off to the Holy Grail. But what waited us there was something that nobody would have suspected. A man named Twice H. Pieceman who was an NPC that turned into a master. Before Twice became part of the SERAPH, he was a doctor who hated war and would rush into to save those who became victims in wars. Unfortunately, he died at the terrorist attack gave me that brain disease, and he was the one that would be capable curing those who had suffered like I did. After his death he became an NPC that would assist the Masters who would fight each other in the Holy Grail War. Afterwards he had became a Master though unknown reasons and fought in the tournament, as he did and he slowly came to realize one thing…war…an endless war where people fight in order evolve. I can't say what he had told me exactly, but…based on my experience and his theory of evolving, he was right. Fighting had made us stronger, the more we fought, the more powerful and stronger we had become."
As I kept going Shirou snapped, "That's crazy! Wars always brought on destruction not some crazy idea of evolution or moving forward!" I understood what Shirou was saying, even I went against, but you can't also deny the possibilities of it.
"Emiya Shirou, you cannot be this naïve. Don't tell me that you had never given the thought of "I had got stronger," after a fight at least once? Not only that, but also increases the econmicly of war funds. After each war, the people begins to create newer and advancer weapons, isn't that right?" Archer glances at Shirou as he pushed the philosophy of the concept onto him. I can even see Shirou begin to feel troubled about it and givens into it.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap like that it's just…I can't agree on something like that." Shirou bows his head to me apologetically.
"Shirou…." Blue Saber tries to comfort Shirou who still feels troubled about Twice's philosophy.
"Uh…its ok, I didn't exactly agree to it either, since I went against him and his ideals."
"By the way, Bosnak-kun there is a few things that don't seem right. First off, If was a Master even though he was an NPC, he had won the Holy Grail. Why not just take it for himself and made his wish?" Rin tries to point out something that the Rin I knew pointed out as well.
"Even though he was a Master, he was still an NPC, and the NPCs aren't allowed to get too close to the Moon Cells or they will be deleted on the spot. So he needed someone else to win the other Holy Grail Wars and grant his wish."
"Forgive me for asking but, what is an NPC?"
"Non-Playable Characters, just like in any other video games." Everyone nods at my answer.
"Than, what about you?" Everyone looked me feeling curious of what Rin was trying to ask. "Since you told us that your real body is sleeping in a frozen cryogenic stasis."
"Well I'm not…entirely sure right now, but in the SERAPH I was also an NPC that turned into a Master. But that was only because I had my memory loss, until I was able eligible to take place in the war, well at least that's how I think it goes."
"Hmm…." Rin starts to look in closely at me curiously. "Well whatever the case continue on." She backs up as sits and listens for the rest.
"Well after defeating Twice, I began to worry that I would deleted too since at the time I thought I was an NPC, but Saber and Rin encouraged me to move on and claim my prize. And so I did, I walked up into the Holy Grail as I imputed my wish of shutting the whole thing down. That's when Saber found out that my body was still out there in the real world, and told me that I'm in cryogenic stasis. I sent Rin an E-mail in the real world where to find my body. Then, I just waited there in Moon Cell to fully shut down with Saber, and all of sudden…here I am with you guys." After my story everyone had fell silent for a long while, as I see Rin in a thinking position trying figure things out.
Rin lets out a sigh as she had given it up for now, "Well I can't think up of what might have happen, but for now I'm guessing that by chance a portal had opened and let you through into our reality that also has a Holy Grail. I still can't say for curtain, but we'll just have to look more into it later on."
