Caster III

I drew the magical circle in the center of Ryuudou temple. It was simple, nothing major or powerful about it. It's single purpose to pick up the magical energy nearby.

The monks at the temple were happy to see me. I put them at ease. They carried on their business without asking questions. I didn't have to do much to persuade them to help me in my tasks. Reikan Ryuudou was the most helpful of all. Perhaps he humored me, but he suggested the spot where I drew the symbol. I didn't need the help, but welcomed it.

Something was off. The monks were too placid, too accepting. I was a simple traveller, but they never asked questions or wondered what religion I practiced. It was like they were my servants. My minions. It was like I-

The veins in my head pulsed. Blood surged through my skull, threatening to burst. I gasped, grabbing the back of my beck with my hand.

Stop pretending, said the voices.

I ignored it and kept working. The pain in my skull never ceased. The voices kept whispering.

Keep going, some urged me on.

The plan is too important. I couldn't give up on them. Some said.

My hand shook, which thoughts were mine? They all sounded the same, the sounds mixing with my own. The voice narrated for me.

I turned back to my work. The circle was complete.

An etched marking of black and blue in the shape of a two headed bear. I stared at it, fixated on the scratches in the rock that made out its shape. I tested it. A small bit of prana jumped from my hands and dove into the symbol. The markings flared for a second, a blue light ran the perimeter at three hundred revolutions per second before fading away.

"Are we done yet, Caster?" said my Master. He stood besides the donation box, a few notes of yen grasped between his greasy fat hands. The sustainment of this temple was far from his mind. A box of money was just a giant "steal me" sign.

I ignored him.

Kill him.

No, I thought. I need the contract to remain in this world. I could not live without him.

That is not true.

You are a sorcerer. You know the true power.

"In due time, Master," I said. My voice did not betray the war raging in my mind. I spoke with calm, with an eerie echo. "My familiars have made contact with some of the other Servants last night. While they lived, my creations were able to wound their master." Even if he would be up and about in a few hours.

"Yeah, I'm not really following this whole Grail war thing anymore," he said.

I cocked my head. What?

Kill him.

No.

Maybe.

No.

"I figured this thing will blow over soon enough." He stuffed the easy cash into oversized pockets of his triple XL pants. "In the mean time, I say we kick back and steal shit."

Maybe.

"You are short sighted, Master." I turned away from him. The monks cared not as to what my Master was doing. Either they couldn't see him, or they didn't register his presence.

"And every time I try to do something you keep saying that!"

"We must keep a low profile," I said. "Casters have the weakest combat capabilities. If even one of the enemy Servants were to find us we would barely be able to escape with our lives."

To his credit my Master did not respond with some stupid retort. Instead he held up his hands. Two command spells.

Kill him.

Seriously. Fuck this guy.

My head throbbed again. "Argh!" I screamed. The pain was immense and I nearly doubled over.

Thier faces came to the forefront. Taiga, Rin, Sakura, Saber, and many others. Every detail, every wrinkle, freckle clear and present on their face. They looked at me, disappointment in their eyes. Why? I would join them soon.

Kill him, they chanted.

I can't.

Kill him.

I looked up at my Master.

Kill him. That voice was mine. I heard narrated by myself.

"Master," I pleaded, a tiny crack in the calm of my voice. "Do not be rash."

"Help me rob a bank." A flash washed over me. The compulsion pushed me. It drove me forward. I bid goodbye to the monks and walked down the stairs of the temple without conscious thought. I was a passenger in my own body.

Weren't you always? Another voice rang out in my head. All the others ceased for a moment. Silence carried the day. It was some comfort.

We headed down to the shopping district. The streets quiet during the weekday morning. But the atmosphere told another story. Despite the time of day it should be busier. A single man crept along the streets, huddled in his coat and head on a swivel. He snuck glances around as he passed, fearful and alert.

Senshu Bank was crumbling from disrepair. The years unkind as people left the city over the decade. Consequently they were unable to secure enough capital to stay afloat. Unfortunate that we would be the final nail in the coffin.

A plain dressed woman sat behind the window. Her salary not enough to justify spending lavishly on work clothes. She smiled as I approached her, her eyes darted towards my missing arm, but returned to my eyes. "How can I help you?" she asked, remaining professional.

I waved my arm in front of her. A slight twich of prana lept from the tips of my fingers. It was simple, no enchantments nor words. A slight suggestion. She watched my fingers transfixed, following them as I drew half a triangle in the air. With a nod she opened the safe beneath her feet. She stacked the bills on the counter and slipped them through the window.

It was a pitiful amount, no more than a hundred thousand yen.

Yet my Master grabbed the money with his grubby hands and stuffed them beneath the rolls of fat with glee. He laughed, yelling obscenities and rattling off the names of people who have supposedly wrong him in the past. For some odd reason it never occurred to him to be thorough in his crimes and the compulsion evaporated.

Control of my body fully returned. My Master busy ogling the woman between stuffing the wads of cash away.

Kill him. The voices returned. I could not tell what was worst. The voices or the compulsion brought forth by the command spells. The choices were all bad.

"Are you satisfied, Master?" I said.

He nodded with vigor, cradling the bills that could not fit into his pockets.

"Very well," I said.

Kill him.

"Let us return to the hospital."

I turned towards the door and strolled out of the building. Something felt wrong. Another compulsion took me over. The prana in my body felt low. Odd, I never had want for it.

You know what you must do.

I shook my head. The hard bricked walls scratched the stump on my arms as I leaned onto it. The pain throbbed again. Had my Master used another Command spell?

But he was too busy waddling down the street like an overstuffed pinata. In fact I doubted he even noticed my pain at all. The jerk.

My breathing slowed and I pushed myself off. The odd balance of my torso tipped me over, but I managed to remain upright.

Let's go.

I stook a single step towards my Master and paused. Why should I? The thoughts of murder flashed through my mind.

Not yet. I shook my head and walked back to the hospital, following my Master with reluctance.

We sat in the basement. The piles of cash sitting on the coffee table underneath the single flickering light. The moonlight shone through the window.

How odd. I racked my brains, trying to recompile my memories. The hospital was only a few minutes from the bank. But we walked straight back from there, right? No. Something happened. I did not just forget.

I headed for the elevator. Trying to think of an explanation. I stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. My Master would be most likely be engorging himself on the free cookies and biscuits left out for the children of patients. In some cases the children were the patients.

Ding!

The doors slid open with a woosh. I struggled through the mass of doctors as I pushed into the lobby. What the hell? They crowded the lobby and flooded the hallways. Nurses pushed the sick and the wounded, some two or three at a time, on trolleys.

I examined the patients. Young, in their mid to late teens, wearing the tan uniforms of Homurahara Academy. They sat infirm, listless, with their heads hung low. No signs of life on them save for a pulse. Unresponsive.

"I'm sorry Mr. Monk," Doctor Tenma materialized at my side, "but we are very busy right now." He pushed past me as he ran between patients, diagnosing them with as much care as possible.

I looked over all of the patients. Noting to my surprise that my Master was amongst them. He laid in the corner, the beds occupied by more important people. I checked his breathing. He was alive, but in a coma. I grabbed his hand and turned it over. No commands spells. But the contract remained.

Something happened, and no doubt it involved the third command spell.

You didn't kill him.

That much was evident.

I shook my head. The thoughts rattled around my skull like marbles. No, the students, the patients needed care.

Rumors spread of a demon creeping down from the mountains and possessing the students. But within moments they were suppressed. Without any effort the story turned mundane. A gas leak. They were just light headed. Despite the clammy skin and the low blood pressure.

But I knew the truth. They've just been drained of prana. Most of them would not be long for this world. I stalked the hospital. Not much could be done for them. All I could do was give them the peace of death.