Fate/Stay Night: Umbra Bello
Well, hello people of Fanfiction!
First, I'd like to welcome you all to this new fanfic, and hope you all enjoy the ride with me.
This will be a Self-Insert. So if you don't like that sort of thing, and the tropes that tend to go with them, this is your chance to check out. Just clearing that up from the start.
My Self-Insert self will not be as familiar with the Nasu-verse as I am. At that point I'm choosing to pull him apart from me, he'll only really know about UBW. At that point in my life, he'll have never watched any other series, never played Grand Order, and never delved too deep into the lore. So he's only got the basics to call on in terms of meta knowledge.
If I get anything completely wrong, feel free to point it out. Even now, my knowledge of the Nasuverse only extends to the Fate/Stay night part of the verse. So no Tsukihime references unless an anime of it happens to come up on netflix. I've seen most of the anime's (except magical girl Illya because I really don't care for loli's) , some of Hollow Ataraxia, all of Apocrypha, all of Carnival Phantasm, and played about halfway through Grand Order before the gameplay got annoyingly repetitive. I know that a good majority of the series I've mentioned technically don't exist in the same world, which I hope will be enough to explain the biggest inconsistencies.
Anyway, if you're still with me, let's watch, and enjoy!
Emphasis
"Different tone based on context"
"Speaking aloud"
"Thought"
"(Whisper/quiet)"
"((Foreign Language))"
"~Singing/Singsong voice~"
"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."
― Sun-Tzu,
Theme Song- Chosen Ones/ Mountains vs machines
Chapter I- One Door Closes, Another Opens...
September 21st, 2015
Time 3:15 pm
Mays Landing, New Jersey
"~Do do, do di dit do, di di da da de dup dop~"
Oh, sorry, didn't notice you there. Got a little distracted with a beat in my head. See, I realized a while ago an upbeat song for me was just as effective as coffee.
Who am I you may ask? Well, the name's Robert Orso.
…
…
…
What? You want more than that? Why? Cause you're reading a story about me?
Why on earth would you be interested in that? I'm not really that fascinating at all. As much as I might want to be some badass well deserving of an audience, I'm afraid I'm as boring as they come.
Well, we are at the beginning, aren't we? Maybe it'll get better. Maybe I have some secret background where I'm the survivor of a great tragedy, or some top secret government experiment that got away, or I'm some great and powerful heir to a great dynasty.
Well… I doubt that. I don't really have a reason to believe I'm special at all. If I was, I'd have more things going on in my life. But since I do have an audience to talk to, maybe things will get bette-
Huh? I'm rambling about random bullshit? Sorry. Let's start over shall we?
My name is Robert Orso. I'm seventeen years old, a B- student, I go to a cooking club after school, I hate watching sports, occasionally like playing them casually, I'm a videogame nerd, I love music from the 50s, and if I'm boring you so far, I'm sorry.
Throoooom…
Ah, that would be the bus's finally here. Coming to bring me home, so I can go to sleep for an hour, just so they can whisk me off again to another day of complete, and utter monotony…
And this is why I need the upbeat song. Without songs like "Always someone cooler than you.", I don't think I'd have the energy to start the day without falling into a pseudo depression, and generally becoming a nuisance to everyone around me.
Teenager problems.
Screeeech!
"'sigh'"
The Bus comes to a stop, and I step on. Bracing myself for more day to day crap. Luckily, everybody is even more tired than me today. So I didn't have to put up with the other students.
Though last year, and this year have been good so far, I've had to put up with a lot of real assholes on the bus over the years. On the bus… and at school. But, y'know, who doesn't. Guess it's all part of the experience really. Still… a good spot is available in the front where some decent people sit in front, and behind me, so I decide to take it, and try relaxing a bit. Letting Ben Folds carry my day back to a higher point.
~Smile like you've got nothing to prove
No matter what you might do
There's always someone out there cooler than you~
vrooom
~I know it's hard to believe
But there are people you meet
They're into something that is too big to be~
Expressed~ through their clothes
And they'll put up with all the poses you thro~
Vrooaam
~But there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
Oh, there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, there's always someone cooler than y~
VRRRROOOOOOOM!
SHAKE! SHAKE!
Ok, what the fuck was that!?
Looking around I see the other students panicking.
SHAKE! SHAKE!
I tear the headphones out pretty quickly after that.
"What's going on!?" I demand to know before-
SCRREEEEEEECHH!
The bus came to a sudden, and complete stop nearly throwing me out of my seat into the isles of the bus. Others weren't so lucky, as apparently seatbelts on a school bus are just some silly myth, and got tossed around the vehicle. Along with loose books, and crap.
Not getting answers, I decided to look for myself, and-
The sky is on fire.
…maybe that is the reason I have an audience.
BAM!
CRRRAAACKKK!
And now the ground is opening up.
Ok, we gotta drive the hell outta here-
And the driver is gone.
And the students are trampling over one another to get out.
...now might be a good time for me to move too. Waiting for everyone else to pile out, because I'm totally not panicking (and not because I'm scared shitless), I move out of the bus, and get a better view of the world.
This isn't right. New Jersey doesn't get earthquakes! Or sky fires for that matter.
People are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, none of them seem to know where they are going.
Ok… what the hell am I supposed to do!?
They don't teach us about what you're supposed to do in earthquakes around here.
Fire drills? At least once a month. Intruder drills? A regular thing (Though if someone genuinely tried to break into the school, I haven't the slightest idea how what we were taught is supposed to help). Earthquake drills? Zip. Nada.
Maybe it's safer back in the bus?
I turn back to the vehicle, and try to get back in to take cover. If I'm gonna die, I'm not gonna do it outta breath. Stepping inside, the windows on the other side showed the street was on fire too.
Oh, and also there was a shadow wolf.
…
…
…
Whaaaa!?
Were we being invaded by the RWBYverse!?
The shadow wolf was tearing people to shreds. Ah intestines, and other human bits. How… quaint.
Does that sound a bit off? Sorry, just trying not to panic-
They're also eating people.
Hehehehe… I'm in danger.
Choosing now as a good time to bolt, I commanded my body to move but-
"'Ergh' 'Ergh'…" I couldn't move. I couldn't look away. Totally not panicking at all.
"C'mom-c'mon-c'mon-c'mon-c'mon-c'mon-c'mon 'Wham' C'MON-MOVE DAMN İT!" I nearly knocked myself out getting me to snap out of whatever fear induced trance I was in.
Noping my way the fuck out of there, I took off faster than I thought was possible for me.
I really have no idea where I'm supposed to go, but like hell was I dying now! Swerving between panicking people, and stuck vehicles, I keep trying to think about somewhere I can go.
I can't run forever… or very far.
…
Or very lon- I'm outta shape alrigh-!?
VRRRRRRAAAAAARRRRCGHHHHH!
"SHIT!" I just narrowly dodged death in the form of an out of control truck.
CRRRRRRHBAAAAMMM!
I ducked to avoid the debris from the crash.
"Holy shit…" moving behind a parked car for cover, I take a second to think.
"Okay...okay… we're under attack… people are dying… it might be the apocalypse… safest place to be would be… aw damn." The closest place I can think of is a local church. It's set up as a place of shelter during emergencies, so maybe it's secure enough to last against… all of this. Problem being, it's on the complete opposite side of town from here. So I probably-
"'Grrrrrrrrrrrrr...'"
I stopped my panicked breathing. Ducking behind cover, I can hear that thing prowling through the debris.
"Wh-what are- God- OH GOD NOOOAARAGGHHHH!" The driver was being torn apart by the thing. Blood was flying everywhere.
C-Can I do something!? I-I can't just leave or-
"m-mom...? Mommy!? Mo-aaaaaiiiiiiii!"
I...I can't stay here. I can't do anything. I can't, I don't... what do I do? What do I do!? I… I can't listen to this!
Not gonna spend another fucking second here.
I bolted out of cover, not giving a damn where I was going, just so long as it wasn't here.
"'GrrrrRrrRRRRRAAAAARRRHHH!'"
Oh shit. They saw me! "FUCK!" I don't think I've ever ran this fast in my life.
Hey... why does this give me the oddest sense of deja-vu?
Not looking back, I've nearly make it to a small neighborhood, I might be able to lose it there-
SHAKE! SHAKE!
CRRRRRRRAAAACKKKK!
"FUCK!"
A massive fissure opened up in front of me, knocking me over. And started spilling out this... black muk.
One of those monsters is almost right on top of me!
Yup! I'm panicking!
"No-no-no-no-no-no-No-No-No-NO-NO-NO!"
"GRRRRRRAAAARRRHHHH-!"
SCREEEEEEEECCCHHHH!
Both me, and the monster turned in time to see an out of control cop car that was on fire-
-SLAM!
pain
Pain
PAIN
PAIN
PAIN-PAIN-PAIN
Wh… What's…
"'H-Haack'!"
Blood. My blood.
It's… my blood.
PAIN
What… what happened?
PAIN-PAIN
Fire…
Right. That car.
PAIN
Something... doesn't feel right.
I feel…
There's something…
Oh. there's something sticking out of me.
PAIN
Are.. are those my-
Pain
oh… that's not good.
pain
i... i'm fading…
I can't keep my eye's open...
Oh? Is that all?
…
If you are all we got… I might as well have gotten directly involved.
...N-nooo...! I... I won-
…oh? Perhaps there is some hope for you. For us all.
Then again… none of us have much choice in this darkest hour.
No choice, but to try, and to hope.
Prepare yourself.
…
…
…
H-huh? The pain… is it-
pain
Ergh!
Well… it's not as bad as before...
My body feels like it got hit by-
Oh… right.
I carefully opened my eyes.
The first thing I see is that it's dark out. Like it's early in the morning.
Am I still just waiting for the bus?
Did I just imagine all of that!?
Am I insane!?
Wait. No. This isn't the bus stop. Actually… I have no idea where I am.
I'm standing alone on an empty street. It's either late into the night, or early morning. I seem to be in the suburbs of… somewhere. Moving down the street a bit, I saw a street sign that wasn't using phonetic letters… where the hell am I!? For that matter, how did I get here? Maybe I'm dead? Can't be heaven though. Heaven wouldn't hurt to be in. In that case… am I in hell? Kinda figured hell would a little more on… y'know… on fire?
Ok, since the street signs are a bust, I'mma keep walking until I find someone. Odds are someone is around that speaks English. Only question is if they are willing to help a lost foreigner.
After about ten minutes of walking, I still couldn't find anyone. Apparently, there weren't many people occupying the streets this time of night. On an unrelated note, I found a still puddle of water.
Yup. That's me. In all my pathetic glory. Black hair, brown eyes, 5ft 11in, husky build. I'm told if it weren't for my eyes, and lack of facial hair, I'd be a clone of my father. I can see it, but there are a number of small differences beyond that.
Taking a look at my reflection, I could tell I looked as bad as I felt. Dried blood covered me in patches, although it looked like the bleeding had stopped. My sweatshirt/jacket was ripped to shreds, and the T-shirt beneath had a tear right where I had... somethingthatwillnotbenamedintheinterestofnotvomiting sticking out of me.
Come to think of it… I think that as soon as I got here all lethal wounds seem to have closed up, but for some reason there were still non-life threatening injuries left behind. Odd, curious, and annoying. I think I had some bones recently reset. I could feel that they weren't fully healed.. And were almost fragile at this point, and prone to breaking if I didn't let them properly heal. I had to be careful. Beyond that, I was covered in scratches. If I had to guess, it was from being roughed up by that car.
Oh… I was still carrying my backpack! It was hanging on to my by one strap. Quickly rummaging through the contents, I found everything still there. Besides books, I also kept my glasses here. I'm kinda nearsighted. But I don't always keep them on because paradoxically, they make things that are close to me harder to read. Still, it was comfortable knowing I had them. Besides my glasses, I also had about three bucks I usually have on hand to buy snacks.
Now you might be thinking, "Why doesn't he just use his phone to contact someone?". Funny thing actually. I don't have a cellphone. Much less a smartphone. Can only afford one phone for the family. I was listening to that song earlier on an i-pod. Thankfully at least that was still with me. Although, unless there was a free wi-fi spot available I couldn't really contact anybody.
Glasses now on, I carried on my trek for the night. It seemed like it had been nearly an hour of walking, and I couldn't really find anyone outside. I think there were still some people in their houses, but I couldn't bring myself to walk up to one of them and disturb someone so late at night.
Ah. Social anxiety. Was wondering when you'd show up again.
Seems even in a situation like this my social ineptitude would fight to stop me from talking to someone.
Anyway, It seemed like I might be reaching the outskirts of town. On another note, it seemed like this town had a paradoxical architecture. The houses seemed Western in design. Especially the big probably wouldn't look out of place in an affluent European country. Yet the street signs implied that this was an asian city. It raised hopes that someone here spoke english, and questions about where the hell I was.
Maybe like there's korea/chinatowns in most big american cities, there could be western towns in certain asian cities? Like… Japan, and Korea?
Guess I don't know as much about the rest of the world as I thought I did. Documentaries can only teach so much I suppose. That and most American media I've seen tends to be Amero-centric. Actually, despite really wanting to know more about the rest of the world, the most down to earth exposure to distant lands I've seen so far has been watching this show with a guy called Bourdain.
So, in other words, I really don't know too much about operating in another country with a different culture, and different mannerisms. I mean, I've heard certain things about Japan, mostly due to being an anime nerd. I think the word for it is... otaku? I can only hope I can try explaining my situation sounding like a sane per-
BZZZZZZZZZTBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTZBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
H-huh?
I just felt like… there was static in my head?
I just turn around. I don't know why, I just... feel a pull.
There's a mansion. Strange… there wasn't one there a second ago. Maybe… maybe I just missed it?
It looked worn down. Like it hadn't been lived in for decades. But when I look at it I… I feel like-
BZZZZZZZZZTBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTZBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"N-No! Wh-What is this!?"
I fight the urge to start walking towards it. Something's not right. Something is pulling my body towards that place.
One foot moved entirely on its own, despite my protests
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
And so on until I'm standing in front of the place. Indeed, this old house seems like it's been through hell. Actually, kinda looks like the place was a warzone at some point. But still, I can't help but feel that I'm not alone. That there's… something, or someone here that wants me gone.
Come to think of it… all the sounds of the night. All the bugs, birds, and everything else that calls out in the night. They were silent. As if this suggestive force compelled them to leave as well. And this late at night, so far from the city, there was true silence.
It seemed both peaceful, and ominus. Back home there was always some sound or another. Even through the walls of our home, the wind, and the calls of night creatures could still be heard even the odd car passing by. This quiet… it just didn't feel right.
The force compelling me forward was gone. So I just stood there for a minute. The suggestive force telling me I wasn't wanted here. Telling me I need to leave this place.
Strange thing is, under normal circumstances, I'd agree wholeheartedly. Not out of fear. But because of the whisper. This force… I just know that before I'd simply leave without thinking about it. Without questioning the feeling. But that other force… the one compelling me forward, it made me pause to think about this feeling.
I stepped up to the worn-down door.
If I open that door, I'll be challenging what I know. It's an… itch. Like something that's been clawing at me for years. Like… a repressed memory threatening to surface. This moment… it will change me. I can't explain it. Deep down, some instinct is telling me that this is to be the beginning of something.
I raise my hand to the doorknob.
The suggestive force telling me that if I cross this boundary, I will enter a world that could destroy me. No. That will destroy Robert Orso as I know him. Yet… there was something beyond that. That if I entered this world, there could be something greater. This is the gate of mystery. The compelling force that brought me here. It is what's giving me this choice. It let go of forcing me, because what comes next, must be my choice. That it was to be my choice. And that if I was too afraid, there was nothing more I need do.
Heh… after everything that's happened within the last, what, two hours I finally get a choice here, and now?
So here it is. Red pill, or blue pill, eh? So much for another day of monotony.
I shake myself into focus.
I need to make this choice. I don't know what this has to do with everything so far… but I know it's important.
I could walk away. I could leave this crazy place behind. Pretend it never existed. Find help. Try to find a way home. And try to live a life knowing I left an opportunity like this behind. It would be safe. Probably the smart thing to do.
Is that what you want? A hollow life? Knowing you could have sought what you wanted? You've always hated the idea of living a life of a nothing. It would be an inconsequential existence, but a normal, stable, unchanging one.
Or… I could go inside. And find what I want… what I need to know.
Are you sure? The path you see before you is the path of death, and sacrifice. For with great victories, for with however many joy's, there will be nearly as many, maybe even more failures, and sorrows. It will be a full life. A satisfying life if you can make it one. But one marred with as much pain, and death as there will be excitement and purpose. Many live fulfilling lives without such things. Many feel as you do from time to time. This need to seek adventure, and excitement. It could pass. And if it does, you will come to regret, to hate this foolishness. The pain you could bring yourself and others. This choice will free you. It will enlighten you. But it will also destroy you in one way, or another.
Choose wisely
…
…
…
"I… I choose…"
End Theme: Fate/Grand Order: Nisha Senitsu (二者穿一) by Rokka (六花)
CrreeeeBAM!
I jump as the old door collapses upon my touch. My heart leaping out of my chest.
Welcome, Robert Orso, to the world of Magi. Time will tell if you've made the right choice.
Aaaand, that's a rap for chapter one! I'd like to thank each, and every one of you for giving this a chance.