AN- here you go! I have more Trash for the masses! Take one round, pass it around! Three trash pieces upon the story we go~

Chapter 3

It was the dead of night. The city was on the cusp of slumber, but I was still awake and active, and finally ready to act.

Before me was a chalk circle, copied cautiously from the open tome to the left of the array. Runes and arcane lettering flowed across the surface of the floor- the majority of it still as meaningless to me as it had been the first time I tried to draw it. I knelt before the circle, hands placed upon the edge.

Boudica sat on the bed, sword drawn and waiting for whatever was going to happen. Because I was going to try and summon a Servant now.

Most of the afternoon had been spent preparing for this one moment. Kotomine had given me two books in the end- one that detailed how to active my Circuits and other 'Magecraft for Dummies' tips, and the second was on Summoning- exactly what I had asked for.

The first four hours had been spent bashing my head against the wall until I'd managed to open up the floodgates which were the Magic Core I possessed, while the rest of the time was spent reading and gathering the basic regents' necessary for the ritual.

Chalk, incense, and candles- I had no artefacts to bring out any specific Servants, so I just had to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

"Good luck." Boudica told me, cheerfully with a little encouraging fistbump for motivational purposes. It was heartening to hear that from her. Boudica was just too dang nice really- she had faith that I would pull this off, even though I was the most inexperienced of inexperienced Magi.

Still, enough talk. Time to get started.

"Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg." I began, speaking slowly and clearly. The words I were speaking were the same incantation that Tohsaka Rin had used to summon her own Servant- an expected outcome since Kotomine had been Rin's teacher, and likely supplied the same type of books to her as he did me.

In my mind, I began the next step, activating the trigger necessary for me to open up my Magic Core and pour out the required energy. I imagined an electric fan- the type of fan you might see in the office place. No- a wind turbine. Larger, more powerful and with momentum. Then, I switched it on, and imagined the mechanism begin to spin and spin, and the rest of the field of turbines in turn began to turn. From them, a massive gale of wind began to blow within me- sending vast currents of Prana through my body and out into the circle.

"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate."

The circle began to glow- a crimson shade identical to that of the tattoo upon my arm.

"Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill).
Repeat every five times.
Simply, shatter once filled."

The wind from within reflected outwards in the circle- a gale emerging from the circle as mystic energies flowed through the room, causing the curtains to flutter and the documents on the desk to scatter. Despite myself, I grinned wide and strong. I was using magic. Despite the circumstances, that had to put a smile on my face, since deep down we all wish we were wizards with pointed hats.

"――――I announce!" I roared, my voice being lost in the gale.

"Your self is under me, my fate(doom) is in your sword.
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer!"

The wind intensified, and the shine of the circle became so grand that I could barely see- though that might have also been partly due to the gale blowing directly into my face. Despite this distraction, I carried on, ignorant of all the chaos my ritual was inflicting. I had to finish the ritual. I had to speak the final lines I had memorised.

"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead!
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance ―――!"

The ritual hits a crescendo, the highest point, and then I felt a large tug in my gut as something was consumed. The second Seal on my arm, the one closest to my hand, glowed in time with that of the ritual.

Then- the lightshow ended, and the room was plunged back into normality, with nothing to show of the intense ritual but the addition of one more person in the room than before.

She was short- that was my first thought. Then I saw her pointed ears and her long lavender hair, and the staff clutched in her hands.

"I am Servant Caster, are you my Master?" She asked me, her voice melodious and sweet as songbirds.

"I suppose I am." I replied, a satisfied smile upon my face. I'd succeeded- it sure had tired me out though. That ritual had been intense.

"And I am Servant Rider." Boudicia stepped forwards, introducing herself in turn. "We will be working together to protect our Master, so I hope we get along."

"Okay!" Caster agreed, nodding happily. "I admit I'm a little confused, but if we're both working together, then I'm happy!"

"Wow." I noted. "You really are naïve, aren't you? I mean, I was kinda expecting to have to use a Command Seal or something to make you get along."

"Why would you need to do that?" She asked curiously. "I can tell that she's your Servant, afterall. We're linked." At this, she pointed to my arm, where her Command Seal stood out proudly- a flowerbud with three distinct petals. "Besides which, I trust you."

"Fufu. Aren't you adorably trusting?" Boudica teased.

Caster flushed. "Yup. I suppose I am. That's okay though. I'd much rather try to trust than constantly expect to be betrayed."

I clapped my hands together. "Well, I'm just glad that we're getting along, I suppose. I assume you would like some answers."

"Yes please." The young looking Heroic Spirit asked.

"Well, there's already a Holy Grail War taking place, but we're extra combatants." I began, pointing out the seven sets of Seals on my body. "We're outliers. I have no idea why we're in the war, or how we're going to deal with any of this, or if there will be consequences for us taking part in a ritual meant for only seven Servants, but here we are. So… I figured that I'd better summon first and think later."

"Better to have the fighting forces available than to not." The Rider agreed.

"Hmmm…" Caster looked deep in thought, before she nodded her head innocently and balled her fists- psyching herself up. "Okay. I still don't know what's happening, but I'll help you! My staff and my spells are yours, Master~"

"Thank you, Caster." It certainly made me feel more comfortable knowing that she was on board. While not necessarily strong in close combat, Caster's were amazing support characters. Between Rider and Caster, I was sure that even Arturia Pendragon would be halted- if only for awhile.

"Anyway, introduction time. I'm James. Rider, are you happy to introduce yourself?"

"Of course. I'm Boudica, the Queen of Victory."

"Remind me to ask about your legend sometime." I offhandedly remarked. "Greek mythology tends to be my bread and butter. I'm afraid that I've not heard of your name before, Boudica."

"Well, if you know the Greeks, then you know of me." Caster began, nervously, her foot grinding into the floor in an adorable manner. "My name is Medea."

"Ohhhh." I said, in realisation. Her outfit and staff reminded me of someone, not to mention the hair and ears. Then again, she looked very different to the Witch of Betrayal I was familiar with. Younger, more innocent. There wasn't blood on her hands- not yet. "I'm guessing you're from before when Jason showed up?"

"Yes." She nodded her head. "I am the princess of Colchis, and nobody else."

"Fair enough." I said, and that was that.

She blinked in confusion. "Don't you have anything to say to that? My… my legend isn't exactly pleasant. I expected…"

"You expected what? 'Grab your torch and pitchforks', or something? No offense, but I don't care too much for the Witch of Betrayal. But you aren't her… yet. It would be petty of me for my reaction to take into account all of the sins you haven't even committed yet. Hell, even then, the tale of Medea has always been more tragic than anything."

That was the plain and simple truth- I didn't care about what Medea had done. Honestly, I kinda empathised with the lady. You could see why she did what she did. Caster, the Witch of Betrayal, was a bitchy bitch, but she was a product of what the gods did to her. Across Fate Stay Night, all she really wanted was a second chance at happiness… and I couldn't exactly fault her for that.

And this wasn't even that Medea. So, I would treat her like I would anyone else. Because we couldn't afford to not get along, considering the mess we were stuck knee-deep in.

"Thank you." Was all Medea said, and we left it that, while Boudica was just happy to sit back and see that we were getting along. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, for now we need to get to sleep." I told the elf-like girl. "I'm still looking for information, so tomorrow I am going to go… to school again." Shudder. "A few Masters are there, so maybe I can buy a non-aggression treaty or something. We aren't a normal part of the war, after all."

Plus, it would be oh so simple to find Shirou Emiya and make an alliance with him. We were going to need him later on for Gilgamesh and so such, so I think getting him on board the 'let's stop the apocalypse!' bandwagon was a good idea.

"Hmmm, but there is only one bed, Master." Boudica said, with a teasing smile on her face. "Are we going to have to share?"

I rolled my eyes. She was just flirting for the sake of teasing, really. "You can enter into Astral mode, you know?"

"But staying like that all night is booooring." Medea pouted.

Again, those eyes of mine continued to roll. "You're the ones doing the fighting, I suppose. If you're really going to make a fuss then you can take the bed and I'll steal some pillows for the floor." I was a gamer- it's not like this carpet was the worst thing I've ever slept on.

"Oh no you don't!" Boudica said threateningly. "We were just joking before, weren't we?"

"I wasn't. I like my beauty sleep." Medea frowned, her arms crossed. Rider rapped her on the head, and she quickly changed her tune. "Fine- I was joking."

"There we go. So, you get a good night's rest on the bed, Master."

Now I began to frown. "Yeah- but now I feel guilty. Admittedly you are spiritual manifestations of heroic legends capable of turning into ghosts, but still. What sort of jackass tells a lady to sleep on the floor?"

Boudica threw up her hands- as if going 'fuck it'. "Then why don't we share? Its big enough for us all."

"Totally platonic?" I asked.

"Of course." Boudica stated, resolutely. Then, that teasing look returned to her eye. "I was married before my death, you know…"

"Fine. Let's just sleep then. I'm honestly knackered after that summoning."

XXXXXXXXXX

The Witching Hour was almost over, and deep within the bowels of a mountain, the Holy Grail began to stir. It could sense something was amiss- had felt it all day.

For so long now, the Grail had been broken- tainted in a manner that couldn't be explained. Like an incubator, something black began to grow within an otherwise pure ritual. However, the darkness was gone now. Inexplicably, the corruption had vanished, and the Grail had never been more aware… nor had so much freedom.

The absence of the dark was one thing, but there were other factors too that caused the pseudo-sentience of the ritual to awaken.

There were too many Servants, for one thing. Two Servants so far- active within its boundaries, lightly linked to it for the purposes of the ritual, and yet they were Servants that the Grail had not approved the Summoning of.

The Holy Grail War features seven Servants, and only seven. Yet, now the seventh Servant, Saber, had been summoned. And with the seven, there were an additional two. This was unacceptable- primarily because the Grail had not been responsible for them.

If anything, they were true outliers. Aberrations. The Grail wasn't even the power source maintaining their manifestation- a very different Magic was supporting them.

It considered the problem with the largest amount of processing power and thought it had been allocated- looking for answers. Based upon its calculations, seven of these outliers in total were going to be summoned by the Aberration at the heart of the matter. United under a single Master, this placed the Grail in a very difficult position. The War- the sanctity of the ritual itself- was threatened! With such an overwhelming advantage in numbers, none of the Master and Servant pairs could possibly hope to stand against them.

Not yet, anyway. It would be nigh impossible for the original Masters to unite against the threat. No- the Grail needed to use its newfound freedom of action to do exactly that- take action.

Deep within the bowels of the ritual, one particular option stood out. It was risky and dangerous, and a massive gamble. It would take every drop of power the Grail still had, and would cripple any chance of the Holy Grail War ever occurring again if this one failed like the former four.

It was all or nothing, if the Grail went forwards.

Even so- the threat was there, and needed to be addressed. The calculations were clear- this option had the highest odds of success.

The Grail began its work. The ritual pulled hard on the leylines of Fuyuki, draining every drop of Prana it could. Like a sponge in a bucket, or a dehydrated man at an oasis, the Grail consumed. It would need everything the leylines could give- and would permanently cripple the mana production of the leylines in the process.

Even so- this sudden, rush job was successful. The Grail had gained enough energy to potentially call upon eight more pairs of Masters and Servants.

That was the solution the Grail reached.

An Apocrypha. A final solution to a hijacked Grail War- the creation of seven more Master/Servant pairs, whom could theoretically combat the entire might of all seven original Servants were they to turn against the goals of the War.

Yes- they would serve their purpose in dealing with the Aberration, and in turn the originally selected Masters would band together to combat them.

The Grail searched- its senses stretching outwards, to find more valid Masters with a wish to be granted.

One by one, the Command Seals were allocated and manifested. Soon, these new Masters would begin summoning.

Meanwhile, it gathered the first chunk of Prana it would need to personally summon a Servant.

With its duties addressed, the Grail returned to a state akin to hibernation, as its automatic procedures continued. Here, the Grail would wait until it was time to manifest. It would appear… when a Wish would be granted…

XXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, seven individuals became aware of a pain upon their hands. Slowly but surely, red marks began to spread across the flesh, until the Command Seals became clearly visible. Confusion turned to expectation, to desire.

All of them made the resolution to take part in the Holy Grail War they had been offered opportunities to enter.

XXXXXXXXXX

Finally, in a burst of light visible to none (For nobody was present to observe it), a figure clad in silver and steel emerged. Her long blonde hair blew in the breeze of the night, and she looked upwards to the moon.

She had been given a duty, and she would fulfil it.

For Servant Ruler had been summoned.