Fate/Tamers
Middle of summer.
With no clouds in the sky and a merciless sun in its assault, any unfortunate soul standing underneath it would be cooked in no time. But even so, the laughter and agitated voices coming from the playground were difficult to ignore. They showed that even in the scorching heat, there was fun to be had.
The curious eyes of a young girl hovered over what was unfolding between a friend of hers and an acquaintance of his. A card game. Or to be more accurate, a match of a Trading Card Game.
"Using Kscope, my Sigurd gets enough charge to use her NP, and with Merlin's Dreamlike Charisma, she's got enough attack to kill your last remaining Servant. Which means it's my win again, hehe."
The unfortunate soul couldn't help but complain. "Aw, come on that's not fair. You always use these META decks."
Passing a finger under his nose, the triumphant boy celebrated "A win is a win, so you will have to buy the ice cream."
"Fiiine, Joseph. What flavour do you want?"
The teenager didn't even wait for a response. He had already started moving towards the ice cream truck
"Vanilla please", shouted the boy, who then shifted his gaze to the girl, who'd been standing next to him during the game.
Everyone could agree on one thing: she looked quite strange. She definitely wasn't wearing appropriate clothing for the weather. A long-sleeved shirt that was all buttoned up and underneath her purple skirt, a pair of white stockings that reached past her knees.
"So? What do you think? Looks pretty fun, right?", he asked while collecting his cards back together, putting them away right afterwards.
The girl, adjusting her glasses, glanced at him with a tired face before answering, "I do have to admit, that the cards look quite nice. But you just beat him in, like, 4 turns. How is that any fun?" The game was over so fast in fact, that she couldn't even get a grasp of what had actually happened.
"Ah, that was because he challenged me for a prize. You see, there are a lot of different tactics, which can create a nice back and forth between the players. But when something's at stake, you might as well go for the most effective one available."
"I don't know…"
"Come on Minnie, you like strategy games, don't you? Give it a try. I've already prepared some cards for you and everything.", he pulled out a small box from his bag while talking and handed it over to her.
She eyed the box that was presented to her. On the one hand, she didn't really know much about it, except for what Joseph had told her last week about it. And to be honest, it didn't sound that exciting of a game. On the other thought, it was a game he was clearly passionate about, and it wouldn't really hurt her to indulge him on this.
Minnie was mulling over it for a second but finally took the box anyway. "You've been pestering me about it for a while now, might as well give it a shot."
"Noice!"
Nearly instinctively, Minnie glanced at the street clock in the park. It was nearly 4pm. "Looks like it's time for me to go."
"Damn. Already?"
"Yeah, sorry. I'm the one cooking tonight and I'd rather not go shopping when the stores are too crowded."
"Oh yeah, that sucks." Her friend could relate. "Reminds me of when I forgot to buy a Deck Box until the last minute. Some old lady trampled me in the process."
Minnie giggled at the mental image he'd given her. "Wish I'd seen that. Anyway, I'll be leaving you guys to your ice creams. See you tomorrow." She put the box in her bag and walked away, only to then suddenly stop and turn her head back. "Oh yeah, I forgot to bring it with me today, but you left one of your controllers at my place. Come pick it up some time, alright?"
His eyes lit up. "Oh, so that's where it was! Thanks for letting me know." He admits with a sigh of relief. "Won't have time today, but I'll be sure to come and get it. Well, see you tomorrow, byyyee." Having said his goodbyes, the teenage boy shifted his attention, back to his cards and the ice cream he was about to get.
With that, the girl went on her way.
Since I'm going to the store anyway, maybe I should also get some ice cream myself. Thought the girl but decided against it. Nah, pudding is the better choice. Iced coffee for Ceresi might be a good idea thought.
"I'M HOME" shouted the girl into the apartment after walking through the door. The only thing greeting her back, however, was the cat that slowly walked towards her and meowing as if it was the most unfortunate creature in the world. "Oh, come on, you're just being dramatic again. You weren't alone for that long." She petted the cat after picking it up. Walking towards the living room, she noticed a note on the table. She let go of the cat that was slowly getting uncomfortable the longer it was held and quickly read the note. Oh yeah, she did say she had a meeting today. It's going to take a few hours until she gets back, so I guess I'll take a shower while I can.
Minnie quickly hopped into the cold shower. After her body had been heating up during the day, it was pleasing to cool it down so rapidly. She rinsed herself off the sweat, that had accumulated throughout the day. She didn't bother applying conditioner, after having washed her hair and got out of the shower. Unlike most people, she didn't enjoy taking long showers.
After the shower, she put on a striped pullover and a pair of grey shorts. With still some time before 'market rush hour', Minnie decided to take a look at the cards her friend gave her. Sitting at the small desk in her bedroom, she took out the box from her bag and opened it. Inside it was what seemed to be around forty to fifty cards.
The name of the card game was Fate/Lost Order. While it wasn't nearly as popular Y*g*oh or M*G, it still had its dedicated fanbase around the world. Within the context of the game, the Players were called 'Masters' and a deck consisted of around twenty cards. On top of that, each player also had three side cards, which were the 'Servants'. The goal of the game was to either kill the Servants controlled by the opposing Player, or land three direct hits on them.
To help accomplish this, Servants had each a Skill and a Noble Phantasm (Shortened to NP in most cases). Each Servant belonged to one of seven classes. Each class offered different benefits and shortcomings. Casters for example, often had skills that supported the other Servants but doing little damage to opposing ones. Berserkers meanwhile dealt high damage but couldn't offer much besides this. Of course, there were always exceptions. Popular Servants also got multiple cards with different effects.
The cards in a Player's deck called "Craft Essences" were used to provide support. They ranged from quickly accessing a Servants NP, helping them survive a round of attacks or even just simply increasing their stats.
She was going through the cards, appreciating artwork in the process. Huh, isn't that the one Joseph used during the match. I think he called it Kscope? Wait, it's actually called Kaleidoscope. Guess it's some sort of nickname. Continuing to go through the cards, she noticed that one of them was different from all the others.
While prior ones had a brownish backside, this one was gold. And not only that, it also didn't have a picture on it. Both the front and the back just had the design resembling an armoured Knight holding a sword. Those are cards for saber servants if I'm not mistaken. Guess it's like a collectable or something and he gave it to me by mistake? Should probably give it back. As she was about to put the cards away, the golden card suddenly started to shine. "What the-"
The light grew stronger by the moment. Minnie couldn't even keep her eyes open anymore. The whole room was covered in a bluish pale light and after a few seconds it began to diminish again. When finally able to open her eyes again, a thing stood on her desk. "Welcome to the Enma-Tei. Please make yourself at home, my esteemed guest. Oh, my apologies, I just said that out of habit. Servant, Saber. The tongue-cut sparrow, Beni-Enma. I am at your service."
"Wha…, uhm…, wait…, huh…" The thing that was in front of her just started talking. It was barley 15cm tall. It had red-brown hair that was tied in a sort of ponytail. A weird hat like thing sat on her head, resembling a sparrow. It seemed to be wearing some Asian clothing, but strangely enough, it also had a white apron over it. Minnie's brain was still trying to process what was happening, and when it finally came to a conclusion, all she could say was yell. "AHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" She tried to get up from her chair, but she tripped over it as she was trying to take some steps back and fell backwards.
"Well, that is quite the rude reaction chirp chirp. Like I said, my name is Beni-Enma. I am your Servant, and you are my Master."
The teenage girl managed to get back up again but couldn't take her eyes off the creature calling itself her Servant. "And what is that supposed to mean exactly?"
"Hmm, could it be that you summoned me by accident?" The 'tongue-cut sparrow' observed the teen with a quizzical look in her eyes, which changed to one of pity and worry. "If that would be the case, then it doesn't surprise me why you acted that way. The summoning did feel quite different than it should be." The Servant started to mutter to herself. "But that can't be the only reason. The information the Grail gave me seems to be quite different from how the War should proceed."
The confusion was temporarily replaced by a hint of indignation. "Hey, uhm, could you not just start talking to yourself?"
"Oh my, I am terribly sorry for my behaviour, chirp chirp."
Did she just chirp? Oh, I guess she's a bird. A bird that chirps while talking. … Did I hit my head?
"You must be quite confused about the whole situation right now. How about you make yourself comfortable while I do my best to explain what just transpired?" Minnie squinted at the creature in front of her. I don't know if I can trust it, but it doesn't seem that it wants to harm me. I should probably hear her out, to at least get an idea of what the hell is happening. Minnie placed back her chair correctly and sat down. "I would be more than happy, if you could explain it to me."
"So let me get this straight. You are something called a Servant. A Heroic sprit form the past and normally you would either be summoned by the world to protect it, or a mage to fight against other heroes. But this summoning was different, because it didn't tell you about the reason for it?"
"Not quite, I'm afraid. The grail told me that it wasn't for one of the mentioned reasons and the only other information it told me was that numerous other Servants have been summoned before me."
The girl took off her glasses and started to rub the spot between her eyes. "I'm sorry, but that is quite a lot to take in." She stood up and started walking towards outside her room.
"Where are going Master?"
"I think I need some fresh air, so I'm going for a walk."
"In that case, let me accompany you." The teenager hesitated for a moment but decided it would be best if the Saber wasn't left alone in the apartment. "Also, I think it would be a good idea if we took some of these with us, chirp" She pointed at the cards that Joseph had given to Minnie during the afternoon.
Quite some time had passed by since Minnie went shopping. The sun was slowly setting. A gentle breeze passed through the city. A nice change of pace, she thought. From the unbearable heat during the day, to a pleasant breath of fresh air. It cooled down so much apparently, that some light fog had appeared. She couldn't really take in the atmosphere, however, since her mind was preoccupied by the whole Servant business. One silver lining was that Servants could turn into a spirit form. With that she at least didn't need to worry, that people would give her strange looks for walking around with what would seem to be a plushie.
Now that I think about it, it's awfully quiet, isn't it? Looking at her surroundings, she noticed that there wasn't a single person around. Didn't I just pass this crossroad? She hadn't wandered far off from her home, so she couldn't have gotten lost so easily.
Master, watch out. There is something strange about this area. It seems as if the fog had some magical properties.
Thanks to the connection the two shared, they could talk to each other telepathically. Wait, so are you telling me we are in some kind of magic fiel-. As she was talking with Beni-Enma, her thoughts immediately came to a halt when she noticed that someone was coming out of the fog on the other side of the crosswalk. She didn't feel relief seeing another person though. Quite the contrary, her instincts were screaming that she should run away as fast as possible. Her body didn't obey, however. It stood still in place, frozen by fear.
The figure became clearer as it approached her. It was nearly 2 meters tall and shrouded in some kind of black-purplish haze. It had quite the bulk to it, and in one of its hands held a spear that was twice as tall. The being stopped in the middle of the crossroad, and with an excited voice, it shouted. "UWAHAHAHA! Finally, somebody to FIGHT!" It charged directly towards Minnie in a rush. In just a couple of seconds, it had almost reached her. The girl closed her eyes out of fear.
Father, Mother it seems I will be joining you sooner than I thought. As she was waiting for the spear that would split her in half, she realized that it was taking longer than expected. Slowly and hesitantly, she opened her eyes.
The monster had been pushed back. In front of Minnie stood a small girl, not even a meter and a half tall. In the split second she materialized herself, she didn't just fend off the spear strike, but also countered and pushed the mysterious being back.
With a small voice, all Minnie could muster was "Beni…, thank you so much."
She was one of the judges of hell and she was about to show that her title as a swords master wasn't just for show. "Do not worry Master. I will protect you chirp."
Hey hey, thanks for giving this Fic a try and hope you enjoy it.
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