Three weeks ago…
Nicholas didn't know what happened. He was playing will a soccer ball near the playground and accidentally kicked it into an old shed. When he went to get it, he found a strange drawing on the floor. Then, there was a random flash of light and a woman, Archer of Omega, was kneeling in the middle of the summoning circle.
"Art thou my Master?" she asked. "Best regards."
"Uh, what?" Nicholas blinked in confusion.
Archer then had to explain the basics of the Holy Grail War to Nicholas in a way that he could understand.
"Do you understand, Master?" Archer asked.
"Yeah." Nicholas nodded. "So, we're fighting over a magical, wish-granting cup, and you're a hero from some sort of legend."
"That is correct." Archer said.
"And no one who's not involved with the Grail War can know about this?"
"None."
"Not even mom and dad?"
"Not even thy mother and father."
"But how am I going to hide you?" Nicholas asked.
"A Servant can assume a spirit form."
"So, you can become a ghost?"
"Of sorts."
The next thing that Archer knew, she blinked and the young boy in front of her was petting her tail.
"Master, could thou not?"
"But it's so fluffy." the natural redhead said before Archer moved her tail away from him.
'Well, he's certainly full of energy.'
"Hey, can I pet your ears too, Miss Archer?"
Fate/new dawn
Chapter 13
Serena stepped out of the elevator and began walking to the hospital room her sister was confined to.
Valerie Gracelyn was Serena's younger sister by five years. She had a similar appearance to Serena, but her hair had grown to be fairly long while she was comatose.
"Hey. How are you?" Serena said.
Of course, there was no response.
"I might just be closer to waking you up. So, just hang in there a little bit longer. Okay, Val?
A somber moment began in the colosseum. A fanatical crowd let out a mixture of cheers, boos, and shrill screams.
Spartacus ignored them by focusing on his 'brethren' before his eyes; a hungry lion with worn fangs. He heard that the lion, ferocious with hunger, had already killed and eaten three people. Should Spartacus not kill the lion, he would be killed and meet the same fate as those before him.
And thus, the death of the beast was finalized.
Spartacus let out a mighty roar before he charged at the beast. The lion charged at the gladiator before rising to swipe with its paw. It got Spartacus across the chest before receiving a strong punch to its chin. The gladiator's sword was quickly swung and slashed the lion across the chest. Spartacus then followed up by slashing the lion's leg, causing it to limp. The lion was then kicked down, but it got up and put all its strength into a lunge. But Spartacus was not intimidated and stabbed the beast in the heart.
That blow slew the beast and it fell to the floor of the arena. A mass of cheers erupted from the spectators.
'How pathetic.' Spartacus thought. 'The oppressors play with the lives of both man and beast.'
Yet Wesley couldn't help but be impressed. Starved or not, killing a real lion was a feat that not many could accomplish. Oftentimes, it would take a group and/or an ambush to kill one.
Wesley was woken up by the sound of banging on his door. He growled in anger at this. It was probably those punks from the Pythons, a gang that terrorized the neighborhood that the apartment was in. Wesley had gotten into a good many fights with the Pythons since he fought off a group of its members decided to jump him one day. Two of them were shot in the head, one got a bullet to the hip, and three more received concussions. One managed to get away successfully and the one who was shot in the leg didn't get far before being knocked out.
Wesley grabbed a pocket knife and a pistol before going to address the disturbance. He opened the door to see some punks, likely from the Pythons, gathered in front of the door.
"Whaddaya want?" he yelled.
One rushed him with a knife, but the thuggish man sidestepped and kneed him in the gut before elbowing his jaw. Another tried rushing him, but was shot in the head. A third ran at him with baseball bat but received a knife to the gut before being kicked down. Yet another got a lucky swing and hit Wesley in the head with a bat, but got shot in the balls before he could take another swing.
"I'm sorry about that one." Wesley winced, feeling genuinely apologetic about accidentally shooting the punk in his family jewels.
That didn't stop him from giving a knock-out punch.
The last punk decided that attacking Wesley wasn't worth the trouble and ran away.
"D*** punks." Wesley scoffed.
"We should find the base of these oppressors and destroy them!" Spartacus yelled.
"We'll have to do it some other time." Wesley sighed before calling the police.
That night, Ian was walking towards a Shinto temple constructed near the river. He was at first confused at how no one seemed to have noticed it, but then figured that this was a Caster's base.
"Hey, Uncle Marcus." Ian said into the radio. "I think I found Caster of Omega's base."
"Really?"
"Seems to have been right under our noses. How we didn't notice a Shinto temple by the river in a place where Shintoism isn't even practiced is beyond me."
"You have the wrong Caster, Ian. I think."
"Wait, what."
"Caster of Alpha seems to be some sort of Japanese legend. Figures that her base would be a Shinto temple." Marcus said. "Plus, I've been looking for Caster of Omega ever since Wesley informed us that she's been hiding somewhere."
"Caster of Omega probably made her base outside the city. I can't find her anyway inside of it. I've sent drones out to scan the area outside Philburg. Hopefully she hasn't gotten too far."
"Okay. Thanks."
Ian was still curious and continued towards the temple. He eventually stopped after reaching the temple gate to take a look.
For whatever reason, there was a large pool between the gate and the fence of the shrine. There were walls constructed around the perimeter of the area, likely to make sure that enemies would have to come through the front door. But why as there a large pool?
'Caster probably has an ability to manipulate water. That would explain the large pool. Or she just loves swimming.'
Ian was starting to walk about the pool when he heard the doors of the temple swing open, revealing Caster of Alpha.
"Are you Caster of Alpha?" Ian asked, mentally signaling Assassin to materialize.
"Yes. I am." Caster answered. "Which faction are you with?"
"Alpha." Ian said as he relaxed.
"I'm assuming that is Assassin, yes?" Caster inquired.
"She is." the black-haired boy nodded.
"I assumed that you were Assassin of Alpha's Master." the dragon woman stated. "Ever since my Master first encountered you, in fact. I saw the Command Seals on your hand. And then the fact you claim to be Wilson's nephew made it unlikely that you would be an enemy."
"I have to thank you, honestly. Out of almost all her peers, you're the only one to treat her with respect." Caster's words hit Ian like a brick.
"Wait. Is your Master…Lily? Lily Wright?" Ian asked, surprised.
"Indeed." the Heroic Spirit of Spells and Sorcery nodded.
"Can I see her?"
"Of course." Caster nodded.
Caster turned around and walked into the shrine, with Ian running and Assassin to catch up to her.
The inside of the shrine was quite large and had rectangular pools of water spread neatly throughout the floor. It was all the more obvious that Caster had the ability to manipulate water. Lily sat all the way in the back of the room and Ian started making his way to her.
"Hey, Lily." Ian said.
"Hi." Lily said before looking at Assassin. "So, that's Assassin of Alpha, huh?"
It was apparent that Lily was trying not to bring up the fact that Assassin was underdressed.
"You are honestly one of the last people I expected to be a Master." Ian said.
The black-haired boy sat down next to the blonde. "So, you just sit here and read?"
"Yeah." Lily nodded lightly. "Mr. Wilkins, your uncle, occasionally stops by every once in a while, but so far, none of the Omega Masters know this place exists."
"It's a pretty out of the way spot." the boy stated.
Meanwhile, Ada was laying on a bed and smiled.
"Only a few more hours and whatever Caster's been cooking up will be finished.
So, with Nicholas, the Grail had to engineer events so that Nicholas would be in a position to summon a Servant and then do the ritual for him. But what do you expect? He's a normal kid in a normal world; he has no idea what a Holy Grail War is.
So, the next chapters will be based around the siege of Omega Caster's base. Hopefully, I won't be extremely preoccupied with other stuff to work on it in a timely manner. I update when I have time to update.
Leave a review. Constructive criticism will be accepted. Flames will be used to make s'mores. See ya!