Happy halloween everyone! I normally do a halloween story in one of the fandoms I'm writing in and my friend Shiro and I had this idea a long while back. I had to do it. We'll meet some new people, some of them haven't appeared quite yet in the Story but we will get to them!
13 Stories of Halloween
Fandom: Fate: Grand Order
Summary: Halloween is always a fun time of year. Full of scares, stories and sweets. In Chaldea, this is no exception. Especially amongst Cira and her Servants. Set between London and E Pluribus Unum in "Victory My Sword, Fate My Shield".
To say that Cira was excited was a bit of an understatement. Something that Mash didn't account for was the sudden disappearance of her best friend the second the other girl realized what day it was. The Demi-Servant had been searching all day for Humanity's Last Master and had come up empty no matter where she'd gone.
She wasn't in the simulator, wasn't in the cafeteria or even in the command room. Everything was weirdly festive though Mash knew it was still a few months away from Christmas. Gourds from the Americas and Europe dotted the hallways while garlands decorated with bats and candy hung across the ceiling.
Mash was so caught up in her thoughts concerning the whereabouts of her friend that didn't see the person before her until she had ended up on the floor.
"Whoa, easy Shieldy!" came the grin from none other than Mordred as she reached down to help Mash up, "What's the hurry?"
"Mordred, sorry," Mash apologized, "Have you seen Cira?"
The knight raised an eyebrow before crossing her arms.
"Aren't you supposed to be the one looking after her?" she asked, "Yeah, no, I've not seen Master. I've been a bit busy trying to chase Jekyll down. Beansprout's gonna get it for trying to scare Fran earlier…"
"Hyde?"
"Duh," Mordred rolled her eyes, "He's been a pain and I'm going to make him realize why it's a bad idea to piss me off,"
"Just…don't hurt him too badly," Mash sighed, knowing there was no way that the poor Assassin was going to get out without at least a thump to the head.
Mordred let out a laugh as she whacked Mash across the back affectionately…though the force nearly put the poor Shielder on the ground again.
"Don't worry, Shieldy, I ain't gonna hurt him…much,"
The Saber Servant gave a frown suddenly as her emerald eyes flicked upwards for a moment.
"Oh uh…don't look up," she warned.
Of course, the first thing Mash did was look up…
Right as a massive black thing dropped down on her face.
Mash shrieked, immediately bringing out her shield and slamming the creature into the ground, cracking the tile floor.
"You killed him!" whined a familiar voice, making Mash whirl around to face none other than Cira.
The young Master pouted as she knelt down and scraped what used to be a toy spider off the floor. Mash stared dumbfounded at her friend while Mordred nearly pitched to the floor laughing.
"Oh that was great, Master!" the young Pendragon howled, "Nice job! Was wondering when you'd get in here!"
"You were in on this?!" Mash demanded, looking at Mordred, eyes flaring golden for a long moment before fading back to amethyst.
Mordred leaned forward, her combat boots squeaking on the tile as she put her hands on her hips.
"Who ya think came up with the idea?" she grinned, a savage and near feral thing, "Master wasn't gonna prank you at first…I convinced her to at least try,"
"You realize Jackie's going to eviscerate you," Cira pointed out, poking the Briton in the shoulder, "She let me borrow the thing just for today."
"The kid's gonna have to learn to say no sometime," Mordred shrugged, "Besides, she likes me,"
"You say that, yet I know for a fact she's tried to kill you and vice versa," Cira deadpanned, her storm colored eyes narrowing slightly before turning towards her friend, "Mash I'm sorry…I was gonna prank Doctor Roman today, not you. But someone did threaten to do worse to me if I didn't at least try to get you,"
Mash sputtered as she stared at Mordred and then at Cira.
"I…I don't…" she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before reopening them…a bright and brilliant gold that seemed to cut both Servant and Master to the core, "I will remember this."
And she walked off.
Mordred and Cira were quiet for a moment, staring after the Demi-Servant who stormed off with a mix of horror and much concern.
"...I forgot he got that angry," Mordred croaked, visibly shuddering.
"Wait what?" Cira asked, "What was that?"
"Uh, nothing," Mordred shook her head and immediately disappeared into spirit form.
Cira stared at where the Round Table Knight had disappeared, sensing her bolting down the corridor as fast as her feet could carry her. She shook her head and bent down to scoop the squished spider into her arms.
"Oh Jack's gonna kill me…" she groaned.
Meanwhile, across the facility, Lily was standing before the Child Servants with a big grin on her face. The room was dark, lit only by a few candles that Jeanne Lily had been able to procure. Jack nearly bounced on her feet, a massive grin on her face as her scarred eyes flicked around the spooky setup. Nursery Rhyme was currently curled up on the floor with her book in her lap, not looking amused in the slightest as the Saber Servant sat on the top of the couch.
"Lily, are you sure that you know a story that I don't?" she demanded.
"Of course!" the princess knight grinned, "Well, I'm pretty sure I do. It's Samhain, the night where all the ghosts and fae folk come to our world from the Otherworld, there's bound to be some stories that I know that you don't,"
"It'll be scary, right?" Jack asked, her green eyes bright and catlike in the candlelight.
"Oh I hope not," Jeanne Lily murmured.
"Come on, Santa! It'll be fun!" Jack snorted, "It's Halloween, not Christmas!"
"I dunno…." Jeanne Lily started, her golden eyes narrowing slightly.
"I want to know what story Lily's going to tell," Nursery Rhyme said.
"Whatever it is, it should be good," a different voice said, making Lily beam as she turned towards a young boy with blond hair and startlingly scarlet eyes.
"Thank you Gil," the princess smiled, stepping up on the couch and clearing her throat, "Nursery, have you heard of the Wild Hunt?"
The Caster Servant's magenta gaze narrowed slightly as she scrunched her face up trying to remember. After a few seconds she shook her head.
"No, that one I don't recall,"
"To be fair, it was never written down," Lily reassured her, "Most of the stories were told to keep people in during storms but…"
She lowered her voice.
"Some say that the storms weren't really what people were warned away from," her green eyes glittered in the candlelight as a grin crossed her face, "They say that it's led by the King of Ghosts, the King of Storms. They ride a fairy steed leading the army of the dead on the hunt to purge evil or to drag souls to the underworld…depends on which one you look at,"
"Ghosts!?" Jeanne Lily squeaked.
"Cool!" Jack cackled, "What else!?"
"So, Nursery, Jack, you'll understand most of this," Lily admitted, "Gil…Jeanne, I'm sorry, this takes place in England."
"No worries," Gil smiled, lifting his hand as a golden portal opened up and an absolutely massive bowl of popcorn and sweets fell into his waiting hand, "Here, no good story is without refreshment!"
The three other Servants' eyes lit up and they immediately started shoveling candy and popcorn into their mouths. Lily gave a polite laugh as she shook her head.
"I might get some later," she said as he offered her the bowl, "I can't rightly choke while I'm telling the story now can I?"
"Fair enough," Gil chuckled as the portal disappeared.
"Now, where was I?" Lily hummed, tapping a slender finger on her cheek, "Oh! Right!"
She sat back on the couch ledge and cleared her throat.
"So, this takes place around Peterborough…mainly in the woods between it and Stamford," she started, "An Abbot named Henry d'Angely was on his way to Stamford to perform a Mass with his entourage when they heard the wind pick up. In the dark of the night they heard hunting horns blasting through the quiet…but no one would ever be hunting at this hour, so what could it possibly be? That's when the mist seemed to gather closer…and closer…"
She leaned forward, her voice going quieter.
"And that's when Abbot Henry saw it," she whispered, "Out of the mist came a great host of hunters, monstrous and tall…some merely bones held together by some strange magic. All armed to the teeth with halberds, spears, swords…anything you could think of. At their feet swarmed these hounds nearly as big as they were, black in color with eyes the color of glowing embers while chains clanked from their collars. The Abbot and his men were struck with terror…but that was nothing for what they were about to witness."
The Child Servants fell silent, leaning forwards as the candles flickered lower and lower, barely leaving Lily's eyes gleaming in the light.
"For what came out of the woods next chilled their very souls," Lily continued, "It was a rider, taller and more terrible than the rest of the Hunt. The horse was in itself a monster, black as death with eyes that made the depths of Hell look cold and grey, it's bit and bridle were made of the long dead bones of a creature forgotten to time, it's barding was a lighter shade of sable, but stained crimson and tattered, dripping blood and leaving a trail of smoking sparks behind it. It's mane and tail seemed as if swaths of mist wavering in the moonlight. It's rider however…oh it's rider was terrifying still. A long, deadly lance in hand, thirteen thorns crackling with violet and crimson lightning as their steed plodded forwards. Armor black as sin and engraved with the souls of the damned…twisted into the visage of a dragon."
Unbeknownst to Lily, the darkness behind her seemed to shift. Jack noticed it first, her eyes flicking towards the disturbance as she elbowed Gil. His face went pale.
"Through the darkness of the Rider's helm, two lights as gold as flame and yet cold as ice flared to life," Lily continued, not noticing the disturbance.
This time, Nursery and Jeanne Lily noticed, the latter giving a squeal of fear.
"Lily…" Nursery started, her voice catching in her throat, but Lily was too caught up in the story, grinning as she continued.
"And that's when the Rider spoke," Lily raised her arms in a 'scary' motion, not noticing the white and pale faces of her friends weren't looking at her…but rather behind her, "Wh-"
"Who dare summons the King of the Wild Hunt." a low, raspy voice growled as an icy hand laid itself on the Saber Servant's shoulder.
Lily whipped around to face the very vision she had been describing and shrieked in terror. All five young Servants bolted from the room and out in the hall…right into Cira.
"Whoa, whoa!" the Master sputtered as Jack seemed to climb up her and settled on her shoulders like a cat, "What the heck!?"
"Master don't go in there!" Jeanne Lily squealed, "There's a demon!"
"...A what now?" Cira blinked, "Oh come on guys, it can't be that bad!"
She put her hand on the door and opened it much to the childrens' protest…
Just to see a figure in black armor doubled over laughing as they leaned on the table.
"Alter!" Cira scolded.
The figure straightened up, the glowing golden 'lights' in the helm dimming as they removed said armor piece…revealing a far too pale version of Lily's own face aged up about ten years.
"Oh forgive me, Master," the Altered Artoria Pendragon chuckled, "I could not resist the chance for some fun. I have not laughed that long nor that loud in centuries!"
Lily sputtered for a good long while before storming up to her older self and giving her a half-hearted punch on the arm.
"You scared the living daylights out of me!" she yelled, "How could you!?"
"Oh it was quite easy," the Lancer chuckled, "Call that payback for not visiting Llamrei like you promised, little Lily,"
Lily's mouth fell open in shock for a good five seconds before her shoulders relaxed.
"Alright, alright I'll concede on that,"
"That," Alter poked her younger self in the forehead, "And the fact that you should know better than to scare young children! For shame!"
"It was just a bit of fun!" Lily whined.
"Still," Alter smiled, "You should know that what goes around…does come back around in the end, little Lily,"
And that was when Cira got a horrible feeling down her spine.
"...Oh God I'm screwed…" she whimpered.
Master: Cira Albion
Servants Mentioned:
Shielder-Mash Kyrielight
Saber-Mordred Pendragon
Assassin/Berserker-Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde
Berserker-Frankenstein's Monster
Saber- Saber Lily
Assassin-Jack the Ripper
Lancer- Jeanne D'Arc Alter Santa Lily (Jeanne Lily for sake of my fingers...)
Caster-Nursery Rhyme
Archer-Gilgamesh (Child)
Lancer- Artoria Pendragon (Alter)
Apologies for my radio silence as of late. I am currently dealing with life and I wanted to get at least something out. I am working on the next chapter of Okeanos in Victory my Sword, Fate my Shield, but it is taking a bit longer than expected due to me having to write different and (hopefully) better scenarios. I honestly cannot tell you how excited I am to show you what I have planned...especially for London and Camelot. Unfortunately, I have to get there first and me wanting to write them does not help me writing the other chapters. I will try to get something out in November, I am so sorry everyone. Stay safe, have a lovely Halloween and may your gacha rolls be blessed in the days to come!
Grim Grinning Ghosts (FNAF/Soul tetrology)
Tricks and Treats (Transformers/Cybres)
Witches, Ghosts and Monsters (Tron/Son of Tron)
Masquerade (Pacific Rim)
All Hallows Eve (The Lord of the Rings)
Ghostbuster (FNAF X Tron/ Soul and Son of Tron crossover)
Ashes on Wool, Soot on Shadows (League of Legends)
Shadows on the Wall (League of Legends a We Are Warriors story)
Lorelei (League of Legends a We Are Warriors story)
Ghost Tales (Fate Grand Order a Victory My Sword, Fate My Shield story)
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know!
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.
