Prologue / A Misty Night Brings About Feelings Left in The Past

Down the misty streets of the night, a woman yawned as she strolled right down. Having a summer job at the hospital sometimes caused her to stay back a bit later than usual, but the overtime pay was extremely tempting. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do when she got home, since she lived by herself. However, these long hours will eventually come to a close when the school year starts again and she goes back to her actual job there.

It might have been easier than what the hospital offered, but she didn't like dealing with the students there. Twirling her brown bangs, a habit she kept since she was a student herself, she wondered if she already hit the dead-end of lifestyle. At the very least, she could drink it away and forget about it until it actually comes along.

Actually, now that she thought about it, the brown-haired woman really wanted a drink. She wondered if she had the energy to walk back over into the direction of the bar she frequented, but perhaps she should simply settle on the bottles she had at home. Feeling lazy tonight, she merely trudged onwards.

"I have to remember not to drink too much. I've got an early shift tomorrow too…"

The woman however noticed that the mist of the night was starting to get thicker. It was odd to see this, considering how the weather report mentioned nothing of such a thing. She didn't pay much attention to it, but as she came deeper into it, she realized that there might have been something wrong here. The mist somehow didn't feel natural.

"Hmm? This is…"

She heard footsteps coming from behind her as she looked over her shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a small child standing right there. With white hair and a black cloak, the child gazed at the woman with piercing green eyes. Her hand slowly lifted up as a knife revealed itself. And before the woman said anything, the child closed the gap and thrusted her knife into the woman. Blood splattered all over the streets, leaving nothing of life behind.

… At least, that would have happened if it went as the child desired.

Instead, the woman dodged out of the way and grabbed the child's hand, unrelentingly flipping her over and smashing the child onto the ground. The child bounced off, trying to lunge for another attack, but she noticed the woman's arms were glowing a brief outline of green marking. Even against a knife, she showed no hesitation and striking forward, aiming for the wrist to get the child to drop her weapon. With her other hand, the child pulled out another knife, trying to swipe at her abdomen, but a reinforced kick knocked the second knife out from the child's hand.

As the child staggered, the woman quickly closed the gap and grabbed the child by the wrist and slammed her into the ground once more. The green markings on her limbs were disappearing as she glanced down to the subdued culprit. There hadn't been much of a struggle to break down, but it would appear that it stemmed from the fact that the child looked like she was already out of energy.

It was as if she was already on the verge of disappearing.

"Wait, you're… a Servant, aren't you?" The woman raised her eyebrow. "Shouldn't you have better things to do than attacking random people on the streets…?"

"..."

"No response, huh? Your Master must have already kicked the bucket if you're fading away like this." Once the woman got a closer look at the child, she did appear to have recently come out from a fight. She wondered if the child was still being pursued, but given the circumstances, it was probably likely that the opponent was content with simply killing the Master, knowing that the Servant did not have much time left. "You must have tried attacking me to feast on magical energy to prevent that."

"..."

The woman sighed, releasing her grip on the child.

"Never mind. There's no need to answer me."

She was already getting too far back into this whole magecraft business in simply interacting with a Servant, something that she wanted to leave behind for good. There were too many bad memories she didn't want to surface. However, she didn't expect the Tokuwa District to be the site of a Holy Grail War. Maybe it might have explained the disappearances that have been going on lately, but as one thought led to another, she glanced back over to the child.

If this was a Servant, a Holy Grail War is active in the town where she thought she could escape from it all. Was it a curse for mages to not be able to leave their past behind or something? If things kept up like this, this peaceful town that she cherished wasn't going to be peaceful for much longer.

But then again, was that really her problem? If the Tokuwa District really did end up becoming a site for the Holy Grail War, all she would have to do is keep her head low and avoid any places that might seem like it would attract battles. She didn't really care about what they did, as long as they stayed out from her sights.

"Have fun disappearing," the woman said, walking away as she calmly rolled her shoulder. "I've got a beer with my name on it, waiting for me at home."

"... M-Mommy… it hurts… it's cold…"

The woman's footsteps stopped once she heard the small murmurs of the child.

"P-Please… don't leave… us…"

"Ugh, damn it…" The woman groaned, having her head fall right into her hand. Guilt started to run through her veins once more. "You can't be serious, right…?"

She found herself unable to take another step, grimacing a bit as she glanced back.

"... I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

…

…

There once was trouble, stirring abrew within the streets of a certain city. Women who come out at night may find themselves within the graves before the sun could shine once more. This was the fear that came about when a mysterious killer roamed the streets, unable to be identified by the police. Lives would disappear every so often, never leaving even a clue as to who the culprit had been. The police were at their wits' end, but perhaps the person they were looking for was not even a proper human.

That was one interpretation of the mystery.

A collection of wraiths born from the unborn children of the city, looking to kill women among the streets of the city. A mess of memories, so vague and so irrational, endlessly hunting until she was discovered and extinguished, putting all those unborn lives to an end.

However, their desires were never understood by anyone else.

What was their goal? What were their intentions?

An eternal mystery within an eternal darkness, shrouded behind a past that the city does not wish to look back upon, but sometimes, escape is not possible. The past can latch back on, reshaping the future as it saw fit. No matter how much they run, the past will always be right behind.

A spirit that may not have seen what love is, perhaps desired it in their own way, the only way that they really knew. A return to where it was warm, where they could feel that sense of safety and protection, but their understanding was very little. Even up to the end, they still did not understand what it felt like to be loved, still wishing to feel that emotion bestowed upon them one day.

That was the identity of the killer of those fateful streets.

Someone who simply wanted to be loved.

…

…

The woman glanced at her hand, revealing a new set of Command Seals, before making a heavy sigh. She bit down on her lips, instantly regretting what she was doing, simply based on an emotional whim that possessed her in the moment.

She glanced over to her new Servant, being refilled with the magical energy that she needed to survive. With a warm smile, the Servant grabbed onto her hand, not noticing the grimace on her face.

"I guess there's no backing out now…"

The woman returned the gesture, tightening the grip.

"My name is Asami. I suppose I'll be your new Master."

"We are Assassin. It's nice to meet you, Mommy."

"Mommy, huh?"

As the mist cleared up, a slight brooding came over Asami.

"I haven't heard that in a while…"

ACT II :
No End or Beginning, A Meaningless Repetition

[Author's Note]

When I went back to think about what type of themes I wanted this story to have, I thought about something funny. Kurogane became a Master through an accident and doesn't truly want to partake in it. Eriko became a Master to mess with her Father with a misunderstanding on her hands and doesn't truly want to partake in it; Eriko's father wants their help in solving the disappearance cases using their Servants and really does not care much about the Holy Grail itself.

It made me consider a Holy Grail War where, for one reason or another, most of the participants don't actually care too much about the actual war or even the all-encompassing wish itself.

Of course, there will be some folks that do care (*hint hint*), but this ends up pushing the idea of "normality" within a Holy Grail War. When getting stuck inside of a mythical war, normal people… just kind of want to get back to their normal lives. And I'll be taking this idea and running with it

There is no concrete plan though. I'm basically going to try and wing it. I didn't even expect myself to be able to finish the first act, if I'll be honest, so the fact I'm coming around with part two is… a bit of a miracle.