Guess who's back? Sorry for being gone for so long, but I have had little to no creativity striking me. But, I finally got off my butt, and sat down and wrote. Here are the fruits of my... huh... it isn't labor... productivity?
Also! I don't own any of the Servants, as they are all pulled from other creator's works. I want to emphasize that, and that you should go read their sereis, as they are really really good. Enjoy!
Perched above the city, Fuyuki Church rested on its hill. Silent, the old structure sat at peace as the sun slowly moved overhead, marking the time as a little after sunrise. No one was inside it at this time, and the building rested in a bubble of calm that seemed to seep from the walls of the building itself. It looked so peaceful, so serene.
As the sun continued to slowly ascend, one person could be made out, laboring up the hill. Despite the subtle incline, the person was puffing by the time they reached the top. Bracing themselves on the wall, the paused to catch their breath, black hair falling in front of their face, grey jacket hanging open to keep them from overheating on the climb.
After they had recovered, the person glanced up, looking at the front side of the church. 'They' turned out to be a young man, probably in his mid twenties. He had a long face, with lanky black hair that fell past his eyes, which he occasionally reached up to brush back, sweeping it back before it would flop back into place. His grey jacket covered a buttoned up white shirt, and a stripped grey and black tie pulled a little loose during the climb. Black slacks adorned his legs, ending in black dress shoes, slightly scuffed from his walk. Hanging on a thin chain around his neck was a silver cross, which he had a habit of touching absentmindedly as he glanced around.
Seeing that there was no one in sight, the man pushed himself off the wall, and walked under the archways towards the door leading inside. As he approached, the man withdrew a key from his pocket. After inserting the key into the lock, he turned it, but found that the church door was already open. Making an annoyed face, the man quickly returned the key to his pocket and slipped inside the heavy wood doors.
The insides of the church were slightly dim, with some sunlight leaking in through the windows at the sides of the church. This cast long shadows from the backs of the pews and the wooden supports that dotted the room. Motes of dust drifted through the small beams that cut through the gloom, emphasizing just how empty the church was. Or how empty it seemed to be.
Striding towards the far wall of the church, the young man climbed into the confessional booth. After closing the door and seating himself, the small partition in the grill to his right slid open, and the shadow of a man could be made out in the other booth.
"There you are. Where were you last night?" The man's voice was sharp, and had a slight nasally pitch to it, but his eyes stared through the grill, a piercing grey that glared at the shadowy figure, which simply shrugged.
The young man shivered, rubbing his shoulders. "Did you turn the AC on again? Its really cold in here."
He fidgeted, drawing his jacket closer around himself to ward off the invasive chill. After he finished, he continued "Look, I honestly don't care if you go out. Just lock up when you come back. What if someone had broken into the church?"
The shadow shrugged again, making no motion to answer the man's question.
The young man sighed, fiddling with the cross with his right hand. "Alright, look, the final servant was summoned a few days ago. Are you sure you're okay with not doing anything?"
Once again, no response. The man started at the impassive figure on the other side of the grill, before snorting. "Fine, be that way. I'll continue to gather information on the other participants, then we can devise a strategy. And make sure to keep tabs on your 'associate'. I don't want him to cause any trouble just yet." The young man stood, unlocked the door, and quickly left the cold church through the big wooden doors.
The church once again became silent. Then, the other booth opened, and the man inside climbed out. As he shut the door behind him, he moved through one of the beams of sunlight let in by the windows on the walls of the church. The shadow lifted, throwing his form into stark relief. Plain black priests clothes, under a purple cassock, with a golden cross on a chain around his neck. Dark brown locks of hair that flowed around his head and neck, and brown eyes that seemed to hold no emotion whatsoever.
"Very well, 'Master'. I'll be sure to be careful. Unfortunately..." The man passed out of the light, the gloominess of the church enveloping him as he moved towards the far wall, pulling open a door leading deeper into the churches heart.
"My 'associate' does what he wants. He's already headed out for the day."
DAY [2]
'[Rider] - One of the classes that may be chosen for the Grail War. Has the ability to automatically be proficient with the control of any transportation. Sta-'
'[Command Seals] - The mark of a master. Can be used to give your servant an undeniable command, allowing them to temporarily defy real-"
'[Magic Circuits] - The magic system inherent to the Nasuverse. Has been recreated in the phone's constru-'
'[Origin Mode] - Unique feature of the app to allow masters to participate in the fi-'
Damien flicked the screen again, and the page scrolled down as he continued to scan the help page he had downloaded the night before. He was experimenting with the Servant App, seeing as it was what made the whole war possible. He paused to jot some notes in the journal on his lap, before he went back to examining the phone.
"Hey! Put down your phone and help Saber clean up from Breakfast, Damien!"
Sighing, Damien complied, grabbing the plate that was in front of him as his sister glared from where she was standing at the stove, using a wooden spoon to direct Saber as he washed the dishes. The servant had quickly realized that Iza outranked Damien, and wasn't about to disobey her. He was once again dressed in the clothing Damien had lent him, as Iza had managed to get the bloodstains out of it the night before.
"Why are you even messing with your phone? The rule is nothing electronic at the table."
"Or you'll dunk it in my drink. Yes, I know." Damien finished clearing the table as Iza's glare turned into a scowl.
"That was a one time event, and it should have been a lesson regardless!" She fumed as she stomped her foot as Damien grinned. He knew that it irked her, but felt justified after last night. With a 'argh', Iza left the kitchen in frustration, spoon still clutched in her hand.
Turning to Saber, Damien's face grew more serious. "Hey, we need to go back to the park today."
"Why?" Saber paused, a plate in one hand, sponge in the other as he raised an eyebrow. "Did we forget something there?"
"No." Damien dropped off his load of dishes, then grabbed the journal off the table. "Look, while I was doing my research last night, I came across something weird. Remember how I said that there was no great fire in this world?"
"Yeah." Saber resumed washing, but his eyebrow remained raised as he looked at his master, now chewing on the end of a pencil. "You said that the fire was caused by the participants in the 4th grail war."
"Exactly. But, here, there was no fire. And the park was built to commemorate the fire, and the destruction it caused."
"But, if there was no fire..." Saber's eyes narrowed, catching on as Damien continued to nod.
"Exactly. Why is there a park?"
The two fell silent as Saber continued to scrub, and Damien made a few marks on his journal. Then Iza bustled back in. "Hey! If you're going out today, we need some ingredients form the market. Can you stop by and get them?"
The two looked at each other, then nodded. "Sure thing, Ms. Iza. I'll makes sure that we get the groceries."
"Of course, Sis. We'll get them on our way home."
Iza smiled, grabbing both of them around the shoulders, pulling them into an awkward hug. "Thanks. Have fun, and don't fall down anymore cliffs."
"So, remind me: what are we looking for here?"
Damien glanced over at Saber, who was sitting next to him on the fountain in the park. Saber was holding a copy of Shonen Jump, leafing through the pages, the groceries from the market at his feet. Gesturing around the park, Damien replied "Anything out of the ordinary. I mean, this whole place shouldn't exist, based on the work."
"That's whats been bugging me. What if this Nasu guy just based his work on this city? And he chose to make up the fire to explain why there was a park here?" Saber turned to another page. "I mean, yeah, if that work had actually happened, I would understand, but-"
"But nothing. How do you explain this?" Damien pulled out his phone and waved it in-front of Saber's face, the marking on the back glowing slightly as it moved. "How do you explain you? How do you explain any of the weird stuff that started two days ago?"
"I dunno Boss. Nothing makes sense right now." The two of them settled into silence as Damien glanced around the park, and Saber kept reading his copy of Jump.
Out of nowhere, Saber asked, "Hey, does this guy look like me?" Before handing his magazine over to Damien to look at.
Squinting, Damien made out the shape of an older gentleman, wearing a white tank top, with his hair styled in a pompadour. He was holding two small devices that looked like tasers, and was using them to paralyze his opponents muscles. His eyes were scrunched in a multitude of laugh lines, and his face was serene while fighting.
"Eeh, kinda? I think its the hairstyle mostly. You aren't that old."
"I guess." Saber resumed flipping through the magazine. "Huh. There are so many different works in here. And our opponents could be any character from any of them?"
"I don't think its just mangas. The website said ANY animated work. Who knows what somebody might have plugged into their phone." Damien stared gloomily at the empty park, looking dejected. The sun was already going down, and the barren trees made the park seem a lot more empty than it normally would.
"Well, at least it can't get any worse." Damien sighed.
"[You know, that's just the sort of thing the Hero says before the story goes horribly wrong. You probably shouldn't have done that.]"
Saber and Damien both jumped, finding themselves face to face with a young man in a black school uniform. He smiled, and both of them felt the pits drop out of their stomachs as the wind suddenly kicked up, making the tree branches waver eerily. The park got silent suddenly, all the sounds that would normally be in the background ominously silenced.
"[Its a pleasure to meet the two of you. Please treat me gently]"
"Boss, I can't sense his presence at all. Do you think he's...?"
"Yeah." Damien glanced towards the exit of the park, trying to judge the distance from the fountain to them if they needed to run. Suddenly, the dark haired boy was in front of him, a look of concern pulled across his face.
"[Hey, that's rude, to consider running off when someone is trying to have a talk with you]" He waggled a finger in front of Damien's nose, before grinning "[Though I must say, your ability to recognize danger is first class.]"
"Hilarious." Saber growled, his white overcoat flashing into existence. "How about you tell us who you are, and I don't beat you to a pulp?"
The young man raised his hands, shaking his head with a smile. "[I can't do that. The whole point of having a class is to keep our names secret. Though you're free to try and gue-]"
Without warning, Saber launched himself forward, fist outstretched. It connected with a crunch to the young man's face, who then flew backwards, slamming into a tree about twenty feet away, before sliding to the ground.
"No thanks. I don't feel like playing games today. Now spill before I continue to beat your face in." Saber's fist remained clenched as he glared at the crumpled form of the young man, who was now sitting up and dabbing at his nose in amazement.
"[Wow, you hit really hard. Guess all that muscle is good for something after all.]"
"What did you say to me, punk?!" Saber shouted, bearing down on the young man, who looked up and smiled at the enraged red head.
However, before he could proceed with his plan to beat the kid into a pulp, Damien shouted, "Saber! Wait!"
Freezing in place, Saber glanced over his shoulder. "What? Why shouldn't I beat him up?"
"Listen. Why is it so quiet?" Saber paused, realizing neither of them could hear anything other than the three of them breathing. Everything else was dead silent. The wind made no noise as it blew through the leave-less branches, the water in the fountain didn't splash as it trickled down from the upper layer to the pool below, and the noises of the creatures, which had been heard the night before, were nowhere to be found.
"W-what the. Why isn't anything making any noise?" Saber backed up to stand beside Damien as the man in front of them stood up, setting his nose with one hand as he waved to the two of them with the other.
"[Oh, that was me. I thought that the park was a little to noisy, so I erased its ambiance. Much better now.]" As he removed the hand from his face, Damien noticed that the blood that had been streaming down his face was gone, and that his crushed nose was perfectly fine. The man reached back and scratched his head, saying "[I mean, its not really my fault. Its the park's fault for being so noisy in the first place. Don't you agree?]"
Damien felt the skin on his spine crawl. To erase all the noise in the park? Who the hell was this guy?
"Saber, we may have to fight our way out. Get ready." Saber nodded, his eyes never leaving the smiling face in front of them.
"[Oh? Don't bother. The person we're waiting for should be here momentarily.]" The boy waved a hand in front of him, equal parts aggravating and off-settling, considering his prior performance.
"Who should be he-" Damien didn't even finish his sentence before the quiet of the park was interrupted by the sound of a girl yelling.
"LAAANNNCCCEEERRR!"
Saber and Damien jumped again, their heads whipping to the left as someone wearing a hooded sweatshirt ran past them, barely missing knocking Saber over in their hurry. The figure stopped beside the young man in black, panting as she bent over to get her breath. When she straightened, Damien realized that it was a girl who appeared to be in her late teens, early twenties, wearing clothing entirely unsuitable to winter. Her hair was a silvery white, not styled at all, that curled up under her ears. Her skin was very pale, which only served to make her eyes stand out. They were a very deep blue, almost purplish black in color, opened very wide in a way that proclaimed a kind of innocence. Besides the grey Hoodie, she was wearing blue jean cutoffs over black leggings, ending in sneakers. An under the sweatshirt, she was wearing...
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Damien and Saber both shouted as the girl began talking to the boy, apparently called Lancer, who's face had lit up when she had appeared.
"Lancer! There you are. Why did you run off like that? We need to find those two before anything happens." Her voice was rather thick, seeming to hint at an accent, but Damien couldn't place it. Then, turning, she saw him and Saber standing by the fountain, and clapped her hands together. "Oh, you did find them! Wonderful!"
She quickly moved over, reaching out and taking Damien's hand before processing to shake it vigorously. "Hello! It is a pleasure to meet you, Master of Saber! I look forward to working together!" Her head titled to the side, a smile of pure happiness on her features, a perfect counter to Damien's look of pure confusion.
"Wait, wait, wait." He carefully removed his hand from the girls grasp, her smile replaced with a questioning look. "Lets back up. Who are you?"
"Oh, how rude of me. I am Valisha, and this," She pointed one hand behind her to Lancer, who waved "Is my partner, Lancer. We are looking for allies, in the war, and I had him searching for the best possible partner for us."
"[You guys are the weakest besides us, so you'll be the easiest to deal with when we need to back-stab you.]" Lancer had moved up behind his master, and smiled as Saber's face one again contorted with anger.
"Weakest! Why you-" He was cut off as Valisha turned and began to smack Lancer on the head with the flat of her hand.
"Lancer! How many times must I tell you! It is not nice to be rude towards allies. Bad boy!" Lancer retreated into a small ball as Valisha's assault continued, her smacks making a thudding sound as they landed in the middle of his head, one after another. When she finished, Valisha turned back to the two boys, who were looking on in confusion at the bizarre comedy scene in front of them.
"Now, any more questions?" Valisha's smiled, prompting Damien out of his daze.
Clearing his throat, Damien asked "Yes, uh... why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
Vlaisha looked down at the open fronted Hoodie she was wearing, a look of confusion on her face. "Lancer said that this outfit was a powerful battle outfit, and that it would give me strength in our later fights."
Damien and Saber both turned to Lancer, who gave them a thumbs up. "[Indeed! All women should wear open sweaters, as it enhances their natural beauty.]" His eyes misted over, then he began crying. "[It is my dream to see all the women in the world wear nothing but open sweaters and naked aprons. Imagine, that as far as the eye can see!]" Lancer stopped, to choked with emotion to continue.
"Isn't it nice that he has a dream?" Valisha smiled as Saber and Damien exchanged looks that said exactly what they thought of Lancer's dream. Then, Saber stiffened, right hand darting up to press his index and middle fingers to his forehead as he turned to look at the back of the park.
"Boss, we've got two powers inbound. And their huge."
Valisha's smile diapered, and Lancer stood up, eyes tear free. "[They're coming. So, what do you say to our offer of an alliance?]"
Damien stared at the wall, teeth grinding as he poured over all the actions available to him. Side with these strangers, or try to escape them and whoever else was coming? He pressed one hand to his temple as a headache began to form from the stress.
"Boss, one of them has the same power as one of the guys watching us when you summoned me." Damien glanced over to Saber, who was starting to visibly sweat, his fingers still in place. "Except, now I can feel that they're not even trying to hide their presence. They don't care if we know they're coming."
Valisha moved up beside him, extending her hand again. "Like I said, I look forward to working with you. You wont survive this fight if you don't side with us." Damien glanced down at the outstretched hand, then back up to her face. Her eyes were still wide, but her entire face seemed to have sharpened. He could tell that she wasn't lying about their chances.
He hesitated a moment longer before he took the proffered hand. "Damien Grey. I look forward to surviving tonight with you."
All right! The story's heating up! A new servant appeared, the identity of one has been confirmed, and a fight is about to break out. What will happen in the next exciting chapter!
... well, a fight, cause of the... uh... cliffhanger... and the whole set up... so...
ALSO! The reveal of a servants identity! NEXT CHAPTER! (Runs away from keyboard).