Blood. She was drowning in a pool of blood. Dark, corrupted, evil, blood.

She could feel it all around her, eating away at her like an acid as it seeped into her body. She wanted to get away, wanted to struggle, but they had strapped her down with heavy steel clasps. She pulled and pulled, trying to break free, but it was no good.

She strained to hold her breath, not wanting to open her mouth. She felt deep inside that the moment the thick dark substance entered her mouth, it was all over. That it would burn away her vary soul. But no matter how hard she tried, it was only a matter of time. Sooner or later, she would gasp for air and then…

'Please God, help me.'

Whispers. The blood was whispering into her ears. Telling her things. Telling her truths. God would not save her, for God was dead. She didn't know how the blood knew this, or how she could hear the blood, but deep inside, she couldn't help but feel that its words were true.

But if it was true, then what was it all for? Why was this happening to her? Why did she even exist?

The blood whispered to her. 'Drink, and everything will be made clear.'

She clenched her mouth closed with all her might. She wouldn't drink. She had to keep it out. She started to tremble, her body so desperately wanting air. She couldn't last. Her own blood was pounding in her ears, trying to squeeze out what little oxygen was left in her lungs. She couldn't do it. She couldn't resist any longer. She was going to…

Swan came awake with a jerk, her eyes darting around the room, taking in the familiar surroundings with a clarity in the dark that surpassed even other Devils. The small pawn gasped for breath, her hands gripping her sheets so hard as to leave small rips in the fabric.

"Damn, shitty dreams." She hissed to herself as she released her death grip. She had been trying to give up the habit of swearing all the time, since Shirou and Saber didn't approve of a girl her age using such language, but when emotions got high, she fell back into the bad habit. Eight years living in the Sigurd Institution had left her with a lot of those.

"Swan, you wake in there?" Haku called out as she knocked on the door to Swan's room. Inari Haku was Rin's second pawn, and one of two pieces that she had kept secret from the rest of the Devils due to her interesting parentage and the skills it allowed her.

Haku was the granddaughter of both the Shinto Kami, Inari Okami, and the Nurarihyon, a rather infamous Youkai. And just like the Nurarihyon, Haku possessed the uncanny ability to simply go wherever she pleased without anyone thinking that it was odd for her to be there, more often than not mooching off of whatever food and drink there was in the house.

The Nurarihyon also happened to run the Youkai equivalent of the Yakuza, on top of the entire Eastern Faction of Japan.

Rin had invited the old Youkai over for dinner once in order to talk about a project she had been working on. The meeting had gone over well except for the fact that Haku, who had been accompanying her grandfather, refused to leave, saying that she had fallen in love with Shirou's cooking (though not the boy himself) and that she would be eating it from then on. The girl went as far as joining Rin's peerage in order to get it. She literally sold her soul for his cooking.

Apparently, this is just want people are like when they are descended from two Kamis who govern food.

"Shirou and Le Fay are nearly done with breakfast, so you might want to get a move on." Haku said.

"Alright, I'll be right down." Swan said, putting thoughts of dreams behind her and she prepared to face the day.

"Haaa!" Arthur Pendragon shouted as he rushed forward with all the speed and strength he could muster, his wooden practice sword blurring as he tried to land a single quick strike against his opponent. The result was a sudden reintroduction with gravity as he was knocked off balance before being slammed against the ground. He bounced four times as his momentum carried him half way across the practice room to crash into the wall.

"Arthur, how many times have I told you to measure your strides. All your speed won't help you if you don't have a proper stance." Arturia said calmly as Arthur started to push himself back up.

"I know that!" Arthur said, more sharply than he meant to. The way she spoke to him, like a mother chastising her child stung the man's pride, especially since he was three years older than she was.

How badly he wanted to beat her. How badly he wanted to prove to this girl that he was truly the heir to the title of Strongest Holy Swordsman. But in the five years since he had first met Arturia von Einzbern, he had never once even come close to beating her. He couldn't even blame the woman's demonic strength for his inability to beat her, since he knew she wasn't using it. She had always only came at him with skill, and she had always outclassed him.

He stared over at her as she waited for him to collect himself. While his own blond hair was a mess and his morning training clothes were stained with sweat, she was still as collected as when they had first started.

Arthur and his little sister, Le Fay Pendragon, had been introduced to Yuri Astaroth and her peerage five years prior through Mephisto Pheles an old Devil who leads one of the Magician Associations and an old ally of the Pendragon family since the time of Merlin. Little Le Fay was only nine years old, and even with the family name, she was an unproven magician with only a basic understanding of the mystic arts. A situation that would make it difficult for her to make a pact with even a low-ranking devil.

So it had come as a shock when Yuri Astaroth, a young high-class devil who had become somewhat infamous, didn't just offer to form a pact with Le Fay, but also invited the child to become her apprentice. Not only that, but she had the girl form contracts with her Queen and Rook, so that she would be able to summon either of them to her side if she was ever in need of protection.

It was something that seemed 'too good to be true' and had left the older brother suspicious. The Astaroth clan was not known for their generosity. If anything, they had a history of scheming, and of taking advantage of the other races. If it hadn't been for the fact that Mephisto Pheles himself had made the introductions, Arthur would have insisted that Le Fay turn the offer down.

Still, Arthur spent much time accompanying his little sister to make sure that everything was on the straight and narrow, which is how he eventually found out that the Astaroth girl had taken on Le Fay at the request of Arturia von Einzbern, and that the Queen was actually Lily Gesualdo the girl who had disappeared from the Church the year prior. The same girl who was believed by many to be the heir to the name of Lancelot.

Arthur believed it. It was way it ate him up inside to lose to her, and to see that she already had a King.

Still, there was one problem left; Bran the Motherfucking Blessed.

It wasn't that Arthur had anything against the Bran the Blessed of Legends, even if some in the Pendragon Clan would argue that it was his accursed caldron that had led to the fall of King Arthur and Mordred, Arthur would argue that it was God's fault for ordering King Arthur to desecrate Bran Fendigaidd's grave and dig up the thing.

Bran the Blessed had been the King of a united England in a time before King Arthur, and unlike the more famous King, Bran had united the warring factions of isles through peaceful means. The kingdom was only united for two or three years before conspirators started another war and got him killed, but he had united it none-the-less.

Though Bran hadn't been a normal human. He had been a Nephilim, one of the children born from an angel and a witch who served as God's soldiers during the Great War. Who, like many others like him found the entire situation unfair and just went back to their mother's homeland, ignoring God's call to arms. Though like so many of his kind, history recorded him rather differently. When it came time for the story of Bran the Blessed to be translated, they miss took the title Nephilim for the word nephilim, being Hebrew for giant. Resulting in a story about a man who was supposed to be a giant that didn't seem to match up to well with the actual events in the story.

However, the thing that Bran was most famous for was not his power in battle, but rather his skill with the creation of magical artifacts, the most famous of which was the Caldron of Bran, a large pot that could be used to bring the dead back to life. Though the fool used it as a wedding gift for his sister's husband, who then later used it against Bran when the war broke out.

In the end, the caldron was destroyed, and later buried along with Bran the Blessed in London where it was used to form a barrier that protected the city for hundreds of years. That is, until God ordered King Arthur to dig up the man's grave and retrieve the broken pieces of the caldron. God then used the fragments in order to create one of his Sacred Gears, the ever-famous Holy Grail, which he then gave to the King.

Through the power of the Grail, King Arthur gain eternal young and had become almost completely invincible, able to survive even the worst of injures. He became God's unstoppable warrior. However, he hadn't been told about the side effects of using the Holy Grail in such a manner. The Holy Grail slowly drained away the King's emotions, turning him cold to the world, until he was so heartless that he would sacrifice the innocent without batting an eye.

Seeing this, the King's son Mordred went to God, begging the Lord to help return King Arthur back to his old self. However, God's response turned the Knight's blood cold and planted the seeds of rebellion. 'No.' What use was there for the Sword of God to have a heart? King Arthur was too valuable a tool.

This was the story that all those in the House of Pendragon were told as children. The moral of the story, never trust the gods.

Though like he said, this was not Arthur's problem with the newer incarnation of Bran the Blessed.

"Hey Arthur!" Siegfried shouted from the doorway, getting the two blondes' attention. The white-haired swordsman had a bit of a hungry look in his red eyes, as if he half wished to pull out one of his swords and join the fray, but he restrained himself. "As fun as it is to see you getting your ass handed to you, Bran and the little fairy told me to get the two of you. Breakfast is ready."

Arturia smiled, putting down her practice sword. "Of course, we will be right there." She said, seeming unaware of the look on Arthur's face.

Bran Fendigaidd, or Emiya Shirou, was an insatiable lady's man, and one who spent far too much time with his little sister for the Pendragon brother's liking. He didn't know how, but he swore he would one day put a stop to Bran's evil conquests. Even if it cost him his life.

Posting something because I want to get back into writing. I've been kind of in a slump for the last month and haven't been doing much of it.

Did a bit to show that the history in DxD and in Fate are different, implying that in DxD's universe, it is the Holy Grail that gave King Arthur his youth and not Avalon.

Arturia's relationship with the Pendragon siblings is going to be based on guilt on how she had prioritized her kingdom and basically abandoning her family in her past life, and how she wants to make up for it by taking care of the descendants of Mordred and Morgan Le Fay in this world.

I personally feel that everyone has God being too... idealized when they write High School DxD fanfics. (Probably because most of you are Christian) I'll admit he isn't evil, but in the High School DxD universe, he isn't all powerful either, so he has to make tough choices.

Saber - Arturia Pendragon

Archer - Emiya Shirou

Berserker - Svanhild Sellzen

Assassin - Inari Haku

Caster - Kuroka

Lancer - Bikou?

Rider - Vali Lucifer/Bikou?