Here's the first Chapter of Fate Threads of Destiny!
NOTE: The Knights of the Round and Arthur himself may have different personalities since this isn't Saber's (Artoria's) Britain from Fate/Stay Night and from what I've seen and read, Fate/Prototype King Arthur is a bit more expressive and upbeat.
Also, I may change the Chapter title, I was trying to take from Wizard of Oz but I don't think it worked out.
Please review!
ANNOUNCEMENT! FATE FRAGMENTS OF DESTINY HAS JUST BEEN UPLOADED AND THE PROLOGUE IS UP! IF YOU'VE READ PARTS OF FATE UNLIMITED DESTINIES THEN I SUGGEST READING FRAGMENTS SINCE IT'S ALREADY VERY DIFFERENT! ENJOY!
Chapter 1- Not In Kansas (Chaldea) Anymore
Location: Court of King Arthur
Arthur POV
Arthur looked at the people mingling in his court, a content smile on his face. This was a rare moment of peace and he was going to cherish it as much as he could. It was a break in the daily life in court, and as he looked at the nobles and some of his knights mingle he couldn't help but worry.
From what they had discovered about the summoning circles, what came out of them would be truly powerful. He was afraid that their time of peace was no longer going to last... there was one more thing that troubles him... the magic circle that Merlin had made for him and his knights to look at before, it would not come off the ground. How had he allowed Merlin to talk him into allowing such a dangerous thing to be made in the middle of his throne room?
"My King..." Arthur looked up to see Gawain kneeling in front of him.
"Gawain, what is it?" Arthur asked, meeting the eyes of his loyal knight. In all intents and purposes, Gawain was his second. He looked like the ideal Knight with gleaming Armour that covered his blue tunic, wavy sandy blonde hair and brilliant sky blue eye. Gawain also filled in for him if need be.
"There are troubling reports coming in My King." Gawain began, his eyes troubled. "There are three small towns, not far from Camelot, and a large number of people in those towns have fallen ill with sudden fatigue."
Arthur's eyes widened. So close to Camelot? "Do the Physicians know the cause of why it is happening?"
Gawain shook his head, "There are no outward signs of illness. And the people who have fallen ill are some of the healthiest in the villages."
Arthur frowned as he took in this news. "Merlin." He rose his voice to call to the white haired woman, who was lounging near the windows of the castle. It was as if she had no care in the world.
"Yes, Arthur?" Merlin asked, playfulness in her eyes as she heard some court-goers gasp. She loved ruffling the feathers of the court and she knew many didn't find it appropriate that she called the King by his name.
Even Arthur frowned slightly, she caused him and Camelot trouble with her antics. Couldn't she at least address him with his title in public? Or was that too much to hope for? "Can magic be the cause of the fatigue in the villages?"
"Hmm..." Merlin put her finger to her lip and gently tapped at it. 'I'd have to look at the people myself to be certain. But if there are no ailments going around, I can't think of any cause besides magic."
Arthur felt his fingers clench. More magic. What was happening in Camelot? Whoever was behind this would regret that they chose to mess with his kingdom.
"My King..." Gawain said, seeing the tension build in Arthur's shoulders. He was worried too.
"My King," A softer voice filled the throne room, causing everyone to look at Guinevere as she entered with a Knight dressed in purple Armour, the Knight of the Lake, Lancelot. "What is it that worries you?"
"Nothing you should worry about, My Queen." Arthur said, regaining his composure. Guinevere was too soft to hear such news. He watched as Gawain rose from his kneeling position in front of him, bowing before turning to leave.
Gawain had just started to walk away from the throne when a flash of light appeared on top of him. There was a short, high feminine scream as something fell directly on top of Gawain as he looked up, sending them both crashing to the floor.
"Gawain!" Arthur shot up from his throne, Excalibur held tightly in his grip. He saw Knights from all around the room gather around Gawain and the unknown source of the commotion, he also saw Lancelot try to lead Guinevere out of the throne room, but she refused, clearly wanting to see the commotion with her own eyes.
Arthur started down towards Gawain, if this was the source of the trouble in his kingdom, he would cut it down swiftly.
Cleo POV
Cleo didn't know what was happening. One moment, she was floating in light and the next, she was hovering in the air, in a room full of people that seemed to be dressed in a very early medieval way and some people even looked like they were in Armour. She was suspended in air for a moment before gravity took effect, causing her body to fall and make her crash into something incredibly hard.
For a moment, she was dazed, uncertain in what had just happened. She stayed in her position for a moment before pain shot through her hand. Owww. She clutched her hand to her chest as she opened her eyes. The sight that immediately caught her eyes was the intricate silver metal. Had she fallen face first into a metal statue? Was that why everything hurt?
Cautiously Cleo gently tapped at the metal, shrinking away when it rose against her finger and she felt something shift between her legs. With mounting dread Cleo slowly looked down and met guarded brilliant blue eyes.
She immediately felt her face redden as she took in his strong features, wavy sandy blonde hair and then she looked everywhere else as her face continued to become the color of a tomato; arms, legs... waist... oh God! She was straddling his waist!
Her hands flew to her mouth as she scrambled off of him in a frantic manner. Maybe too frantic because her foot slipped on the sleek floor and she was sent careening backwards, her head smacking into the floor. Ow. Again. She quickly pushed herself back into a sitting position and pressed her back against a pillar, feeling the smooth, cool stone against her skin. What the hell was happening?!
Cleo took a few breaths, trying not to completely panic as she fully took in her surroundings. From what she could tell, she was in a sort of throne room and surrounded by a bunch of Knights who had their swords aimed at her. On instinct, Cleo pulled her arms closer to her chest and felt something warm on her left forearm. She looked down and stifled a gasp when saw the vambrace she had been holding covering her upper forearm.
"Who are you?" Cleo flinched back against the pillar when the point of a sword was directly held in front of her face. Slowly looking up, Cleo felt her breath hitch as she took in a dazzling sight.
The man who held the sword bright golden blonde hair, the front barely brushing against his brows, brilliant emerald green eyes and flawless fair skin. He was also dressed in a rich blue tunic that was under shining silver Armour.
"C-C-Cl..." Cleo swallowed as she looked away from him back to the sword, her whole body was shaking. "Cleo." She finally breathed out.
"Cleo." He repeated, his voice cool and full of authority. "Do you know how you got here?"
She immediately shook her head, she suspected it might have something to do with the vambrace, but she immediately discarded that idea. The people who sent her here were probably the two who had talked to her in that light, but she had no solid proof of that either. What if they were just distracting her while the real caster of the spell was working?
The blonde sighed, his green eyes meeting the blue eyes off the man she had fallen on as he stood back up. "Do you know where you are?"
"Is this a reenactment of some kind?" Cleo asked after a moment, "Because this may be going a bit too far."
She saw confusion cross both blondes faces before their guarded expressions reappeared. The blonde with green eyes looked like he was going to ask another question when a softer, gentler voice interrupted him.
"My King. I believe that you are frightening the girl." Cleo watched as a woman with rich, honey colored hair and gentle lake blue eyes made her way to the front, ignoring all the protest from the surrounding knights.
Yes. The girl is frightened. Cleo agreed silently as her eyes went to the Knight clad in purple Armour behind the blonde woman. Why did everyone look so dangerous?
She tried to look pass the crowd of hostile knights and onlookers and way out when her green eyes landed on the outline of something she had only seen in the FATE chamber in Chaldea and some very specific books. "A summoning circle?" She mumbled to herself in confusion.
That caught every ones attention and sooner than she would have liked, the blade of the green-eyed blond's was once again at her throat. "How did you know what that is? Are you the one who put those circles all over Britain?" All of a sudden he seemed even more hostile than before. "Are you trying to destroy Camelot?"
"What?!" Cleo snapped back, her frustration and fear at her situation starting to bubble out of her. "Why would I want to- did you say Camelot?! As in the Camelot from the Legends of King Arthur?!"
Cleo felt as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest... these people didn't seem like they were acting... was it possible? Had she been sent back in time?
"Don't take that tone with our King!" The blonde with the blue-eyes snapped, his own sword drawn. "Of course this is Camelot and the man you are speaking with is our one and only King!"
"Gawain." The green-eyed man said, silencing him with a stern look as Cleo's eyes once again went to him.
Cleo felt her jaw drop... the people in front of her were King Arthur and his Knights? Why was she sent here? From their reaction, they weren't the ones who brought her there. So then, who did?
"Arthur." A mirthful female voice spoke up as a women with flowing white hair with matching white robes strode forward to stand at his other side. "This girl means no harm."
"How do you know that Merlin?" The Purple Armored Knight finally spoke up from the blonde woman's side.
Merlin, looked over at him with a smile, "Easy, Lancelot. She's practically shaking with terror and she's a mage... but not one I've ever met. She also seems to know more about the summoning circle than any of us, so perhaps we should let her explain? Without a sword to her throat?"
Cleo watched as King Arthur hesitated before he reluctantly lowered his sword. He held out his hand and motioned for her to stand up. She took a deep breath and obeyed as much as possible; her legs were still shaking and she was finding it hard to stand since she knew her legs could give out at any moment. Would they kill her for that.
Everyone moved out of the way so she could make her way to the summoning circle and she looked at it closely; so she wasn't wrong... but... "This doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't?" Merlin asked, she was at her side now and looking at the circle as well.
"The summoning circle." Cleo explained, her curiosity growing as she looked at the anomaly. At least it was distracting her from the men with swords at her back. "I know this summoning circle, but if we're truly in Camelot then the year should be around the late fifth century or late sixth century... this type of summoning circle shouldn't appear for another thousand years or so."
"What do you mean?" Merlin's voice grew tense as her eyes sharpened.
Cleo looked up and met the legendary Magician's eyes. I mean, that while this is based on a normal summoning circle, there are a few differences, the words written and the design is different too. This is what you use to summon Heroic Spirits into the world as Servants."
"And why would someone want to do that?" The blonde woman asked, clearly asking the most important question.
"For the Holy Grail War of course." Cleo answered carelessly, noticing several of the people in the Throne room stiffen. Especially Arthur, Lancelot and Gawain.
"The Holy Grail?" King Arthur asked in disbelief. "There's a war for the Holy Grail?"
"Oh." Cleo realized why everyone was so surprised. "I remember hearing that you and your Knights searched for the Holy Grail for years... this isn't the same one."
"Explain." Gawain ordered, his hand tightening on the grip of his sword.
Cleo shrunk away from him but did as told, "Well, about a thousand years from now, three mage families come together and create the Holy Grail for their own uses, but they needed seven mages to complete the ritual so the three mages let in four outsides and all seven went to war for the Grail. Thus, the Holy Grail War and that's the cliff-notes version."
"But like I said, this should be impossible. A Holy Grail War shouldn't be happening in Britain when it hasn't even been created yet." Cleo ended.
"Oh," A new cold voice spoke up in the crowd, causing King Arthur and his Knights to stiffen as their eyes went to the entrance. "But it has been."
Cleo followed their gazes and saw a young woman with crimson red hair put into a ponytail and sharp amber eyes. She was dressed in the clothing of the time period but Cleo was certain that she had seen her before. "A Holy Grail War has started in King Arthur's Britain."
End of chapter one! Hope you enjoyed it!
Review please, all feedback is welcome!