"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Mental link"

"Noble Phantasms"

POV

Chapter 1: Out of Frying Pan

Unnamed undead POV, End of the cycle of Fire

"Ashen one…" the voice, gentle and kind as the moment I first heard it cuts through the growing darkness "hearest thou my voice still?" I can, but I elect not to respond.

I am ash, my sole purpose in creation was to sacrifice myself to the flame and prolong the age of fire.

I have betrayed that single purpose, I slew the Lords of Cinder for the very crime I have committed and yet…

And yet. I have no regrets in this outcome, the influence of the Gods has faded and the age of dark will finally have the moment it was denied time and time again.

My link to the fire fades, I can no longer feel it powering me, without a purpose I suspect that I will hollow soon. I'll be sure to end things before that.

'It will be refreshing I suppose, to die and never rise again'

The sound of applause has my head immediately shooting behind me.

"Who is-" I cut myself off as I widen my eyes under my helmet. I'm no longer in the at the Kiln of the First flame, this place around me has more in common with the archives of Lothric Castle given the amount of books everywhere but unlike the archives this place is clean. Fresh, not a spec of dust, filth or blood anywhere.

The clapping stops and I now focus on the strange man before me, he's old his got matted grey hair and a short beard. His clothes however are the striking part.

They're new, no signs of degradation or rips in them, and they're of high class.

"Who art thou?" I shake myself off and question him again, my right hand going for the great-sword on my back and my left hand preparing a pyromancy.

"Wonderful performance!" his voice makes me freeze, not in the tone which is remarkable friendly but Patches has made me cautious of those with large smiles, but in its content.

"Performance?"

"Why yes!" He smiles and laughs again "Its Ironic! An undead creature born from ash whose sole goal in his short life is to throw himself on a fire and burn forever is the very one who extinguishes the fire! How can I not applaud such a feat?"

"I...gladdened you enjoyed it…" I say slowly, this man is...Unusual.

"Oh I did, very much so!"

I shake away the idle banter and harden my voice "Thou still has not answered my query. Name thyself old man."

"Huh?" he appears confused for a moment before his eyes widen in realisation "Of course where are my manners…" he stands up a little straighter and its at this point I realise he's only just taller than I am "I am the Wizard Marshall, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg but if that's too long, you may simply refer to me as Wizard Marshall."

"Wizard Marshall? A sorcerer then, I might have guessed…" I mumble that last part under my breath, such people are always to extravagant if the tales of Big Hat Logan are any indication, I lower my hand away from my sword and cancel out my spell "In that case 'Wizard Marshall may I inquire as to where I am."

"You are in my observatory, I brought you here." The old man confirms my suspicions and I nod to him "For what purpose?"

His eyes dart away from me for a split second "In truth...I find myself in need of some...assistance."

"Assistance?"

"Yes...One of my latest experiments…went slightly wrong."

"What manner of experiment?" I cross my arms at the man, I may be a practitioner of Pyromancy but I'm certainly not a caster in the same leagues as Orbeck.

"It would take too long to explain, suffice my magic is related to the operation of different worlds and this experiment involves yours."

"Different worlds? You are a painter then?"

"Painter?" He looks at me with a face of confusion for a few moments before his eyes widen "Oh Painter! You mean the small girl who could make realities with with a paintbrush and canvas? Ha, I always found that little talent amusing" he chuckles about that last part before his face turns serious again "No, I mean the operation of pre-existing worlds like yours."

"Quite the...talent you have sorcerer but that doesn't explain why you have come to me for assistance."

"Well, You will need some background knowledge first. You have tales of famous heroes do you not?"

"You mean like Artorias, The Abyss Walker?"

"Yes, now imagine that when those heroes died their deeds were so great that their souls were recorded forever in an...afterlife of sorts?"

"You propose that immortality is granted through being remembered for committing great deeds?"

The man waves his hand at me "No, no, not immortality but a collection of spirits. All of which were individuals of great recognition."

"You speak as if you know this place exists as a fact."

"It does." The man answers me immediately without pause and I'm still pondering the consequences of what he just said. A collection of Spirits all of whom were granted entry to this place through notoriety. "It's known as the Throne of Heroes" the man continues on in his explanation "I was already aware of the existence of one my original world but I was curious as to whether a version of it existed anywhere else."

"Did you discover this 'Throne of Heroes'?"

"I did." The man nods "I was also curious to see if I could summon one such individual in a similar manner that I could summon a hero from my own world."

His words give me pause and I question him about his last sentence "Summon? You mean like the summoning signs?"

The man holds up a finger and opens up his mouth to speak before closing it and adopting a thoughtful expression for a few moments "Well...actually yes I suppose that is a good comparison. However rather than the summoning only lasting a few minutes the summoned spirit will physically materialise for as long as the summoner supplies them with magical energy."

"I see." I nod at his explanation "You said you were attempting to summon these spirits from my world?"

"Ah yes, the ritual worked...somewhat…"

"Somewhat?"

"Yes...the summoned spirits didn't actually materialise where I wanted them too. They went somewhere else entirely."

"Can you not simply retrieve them?"

"No." the man adopts a more serious expression stares at me with laser focus "They have materialised in seven different instances, drawn to a source of tremendous magical energy, I cannot retrieve them nor can I simply will them away. They are not sustaining themselves on these sources of mana."

"This is why you have called upon myself then? To deal with these spirits?"

"No, If it were just the spirits I summoned then you alone would be capable of dealing with them. However it is not just the Heroic spirits from your Throne of Heroes that have manifested in these instances, others from a version of my own are present there too and these 'Singularities' they have obtained manifestation in are geared towards the complete eradication of Humanity. If I were to send you there alone you would most certainly die."

I tilt my head in confusion "Then why have you brought me here if not to fight these spirits?"

He looks at me as if I just said something stupid "I said If I you went alone that you would die, fortunately there are those working towards combating these singularities. I will be sending you to aid them and they will aid you although…" he adopts a thoughtful expression as he looks me up and down.

"I'll have to have you summoned right in front of a Master-"

"Master?" I cut him off, I have no interest in being a slave.

"It's what we call the mage who supplies mana to the Heroic spirit." He answers and then narrows his eyes at me "Don't interrupt me. As I was saying I'll have to summon you right in front of a Master so that you don't immediately dematerialise."

"Why do I need a master?" I question him "Are you not capable of sending me as I am?"

"You mean on your last legs?" he raises an eyebrow at me "Without that Flame powering you I'd say you have an hour before you collapse into dust. Fortunately your deeds are just memorable enough to have your own place in the Throne, so I'll be able to summon you at the first singularity."

I turn away from him and consider my options. I've already completed my purpose in life but…

'I wonder what it's like to get to make a choice?'

"Very well…" I turn back to the man "I'll aid you and these humans."

The old man smiles as if he already knew I was going to say that "Excellent. Now lets get started."

Fuyuki City, 2004 Holy Grail War (3rd Person POV)

"Honestly!" Olga exclaimed at a sheepish looking Ritsuka "How could you even come to a Singularity without having any idea what it was or what you were supposed to do!?"

Ritsuka awkwardly rubbed the back of his did his best to avoid the glare that the Director was sending his way, if looks could kill then he would have been vaporised.

Olga let out an explosive sigh before slamming a palm into her face "I'm going to have to you again." she grumbled before removing her hand and narrowing her eyes at the novice master "Listen up! We at Chaldea-"

She was interrupted however by the scream of more dragon tooth warriors charging them.

"Director!" Mash shouted out while placing herself infront of the two Magi "We can worry about that later!" Ritsuka, eager to postpone his obvious lynching at the hands of Olga jumped at the opportunity provided and internally thanked the skeleton, before replying to his servant "Lets Go Mash!" he got a shout of acknowledgement just as Romani called in again.

"Director! Fujimaru! We're reading mana levels from your location consistent with a servant being summoned!

Everyone released varying shouts of alarm, dealing with mindless fodder was one thing but another Servant was something else entirely. They didn't have long to worry about the possible arrival of another enemy before a flash of light occurred before them revealing a new figure.

A knight, standing at least 180cm tall. They was kitted out in a full suit of rather heavy looking armour, their silver chest piece was rather bulky looking with a light blue undercloth and a small white furry cloak around his shoulders, further up they were wearing a fully enclosed helmet with a 'T' shaped visor and a small ridge ornament atop their head. In one of their large steel gauntlets they were holding a rather intricate looking black great-sword with diamond shaped gapes in the blade which got smaller the further along the blade. He was wearing black trousers with dark brown knee high leather boots and around his waist was a blue cape which extended down to his ankles.

The Knight turned to them for a moment and then focused solely of Ritsuka, who wilted under the intense stare the servant was giving him, Mash jumped in front of her Master and raised her shield while glaring at the new arrival.

The Knight went to speak before skeleton warriors caught his attention, he turned to them as they virtually scrambled over each other to the be the first one to strike him. In an instant his sword burst with black fire before he made a swiping motion at the oncoming constructs. They barely got within a few feet of him before the wave of black flames incinerated them.

Fully satisfied that the danger was gone the Knight his attention back to the trio. He lowered his sword and bowed his head slightly at them and speaking in a deep rusty voice "Servant, Saber. I have answered to thy call for aid. I shall serve as thy Sword and strike down those who would seek thee harm and protect those thee deems worthy." He raised his head and stepped closer to Ritsuka. At this point both Mash and Olga were in a state of confusion.

Ignoring their questioning looks the Knight moved closer until he was directly in front Ritsuka with him looking up into the visor of the tall servant who spoke again.

"I inquire of you...Are thou my Master?"

AN: We start off with a pretty small chapter. But it's just to get the ball rolling. I've been toying with this idea for a while and decided, screw it why not?

Tell you what though what is it with Undead and fires?

But for those of you wondering how the Knight Stacks up in the Fate Universe here are his stats below.

Ashen One

Servant: Saber

Strength: C+

Endurance: C

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: Onyx Blade Rank B+

"Elfreide" Releases a torrent of Flame towards an opponent Anti-Unit (Max Target 20) Range 20-25

Class Skills

Riding: E

Magic Resistance: B

Personal Skills:

Pyromancy: B

Battle Continuation: B

Dragon Slayer: A

Giant Beast Hunt: A

Disengage: B

God Slayer: A

Mana Burst (Flame): B