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Hansa Cervantes had not expected to run into a Servant in Mitakihara, let alone a Masterless Servant of an unknown Class. The next Holy Grail War wasn't due for another thirty-ish years, which made this quite perplexing for him. He had offered her shelter for the night, which he considered to be the right thing to do. Though he'd definitely get reprimanded for such a thing if a Grail War was truly on, since it could possibly damage the Church's reputation for being a neutral party. Granted, he had never cared about things like that, preferring to mind his own business and kill any Dead Apostles that were causing trouble. The Servant in question was almost certainly a Saint, which would explain the cross on her cloak. Once they got back to the Church he would definitely be asking for her class and the location of her Master. Once he had that, he could plan his next move from there.
The newly created duo of a Priest and a Servant had gone to the department/grocery store late at night. The cashier had given the young clergyman a strange look, since he had a teenage girl tightly wrapped in a stained cloak standing behind him. He gave a strained smile to the cashier, picked up the groceries and a set of clothes for his companion, and turned to leave. He walked out the door, with the Servant hot on his heels, keeping the cloak wrapped around her form, since plate armor isn't exactly normal attire for a Japanese City unless a convention was in town. The pair proceeded to turn right and continued down the dimly lit road towards the Church. Cervantes was surprised by the silence of the Servant. He slowed down his pace slightly so that he was walking beside her as opposed to in front of her.
"Once we get back to the Church, I will put away the groceries and you can get into more normal attire. Once that is done, I would like for you to fill me in on how and why you were summoned." He remarked, keeping his voice low enough that the few bypassers out this time of night would not overhear. She merely nodded in response to his words, trying to quell the turmoil of emotions caused by the new memories that assaulted her mind. It was an odd feeling for her. She had memories that she had in common with her last summoning, but then there were new memories that conflicted with those events. Memories of the Eldritch Horrors attacking the French Armies she led. Of girls who helped her lead and protected her with their own lives. Of the creature that doomed them all to ignominious deaths…
The version of her in those memories didn't begrudge the creature, who she had referred to as "Monsieur Angel", but Ruler had other experiences, which led to different conclusions on the matter. If she encountered it again, she would do her best to eliminate it and the wishes it granted at the cost of the girls who took the bargain. This creature likely still roamed the Earth, ensnaring naive children in its machinations. And given its connection to magic she had noticed in these memories, quite possibly even Akasha itself, then the creature might be responsible for this situation she found herself in. Again. This was the second time she could recall being forced to use a human body as her host in order to manifest for a Grail War. Granted, this body was in significantly worse shape then the last one, but that could be remedied with the correct support. This Executor didn't appear to be interfering in this war for his own benefit, so she might be able to trust him. It all depended on the conversation at the Church. At the very least, she would be able to get a change of clothes and food out of it. She could share some information in return.
The two continued towards the church in silence, and got there after about fifteen minutes of walking. They walked up to the parsonage and stopped at the door. Then the priest turned to Jeanne and handed her one of the bags he was carrying.
"Those are some normal clothes and basic supplies I bought for you. If they are slightly too big for you, I apologize. I figured it would be easier to deal with clothes that are slightly too big than with clothes that are too small. There are private rooms up the stairway on your left. The first one on the right is mine, so I would prefer you pick one of the other ones. Feel free to use the bathroom to clean yourself up. Whenever you get done, just come back down and wait in the sitting area under the stairs. If I finish putting away the groceries before you get done, then I'll be waiting there with coffee. If I don't, then it won't take much longer for me to finish up and meet you there." He said before he unlocked the door, then proceeded to do so. Jeanne was mildly surprised at how he was able to maneuver well enough to perform the task with all those bags on his arms. If anything, his arm seemed to extend ever so slightly while he was doing it, though that could easily be a trick of the light.
"After you." He said, moving back from the door to allow her space to enter. Jeanne hesitated for a split second before she walked through the door. Once she was over the threshold, she let the cloak go as she followed the directions given by the Priest and found the rooms on the second floor. She went into the second room on the right.
Once inside the room, Jeanne closed the door behind her, then paused for another moment and dismissed her armor. The clothing her host had been wearing was in terrible shape. They were covered in grime and sweat with multiple holes in them. She took them off with a sigh and threw them in the room's trash can. Taking the clothes that the Executor had gotten her out of the bag, she found a dark colored shirt, some basketball shorts, a toothbrush, and some toothpaste. She went into the bathroom and took a quick shower to get most of the filth off of her host's body. Stepping out of the shower, she got dressed and unbraided her long hair so that it would dry properly. She got dressed quickly, then proceeded to walk back down the stairs.
Hansa Cervantes had just finished making the coffee when he heard the water running. He had guessed that the Servant would want to take a shower of some kind, though what she was doing covered in garbage was something he wondered. From what he knew, Servants could go into an Astral Form, allowing them to move unseen and unimpeded by physical obstacles. That raised the question as to why she had stayed with him, as opposed to just fading from sight and ghosting off back to her Master, wherever they were located.
He then made his way to the couch and placed a pair of mugs on the table. He made sure they were on top of coasters, because the rings caused by the moisture were rather annoying to try and clean off. Cervantes then lost himself in his phone, taking sips of coffee whenever he felt his eyes droop. Eventually, he heard the stairs creak as the teenage girl came down them, her hair still somewhat damp.
"Ah, so you are done. Please take a seat wherever you like. We have much to discuss." He said casually, not once looking up from his screen.
"What exactly do you want to know, Executor?" She asked, taking a seat in a cream chair with flower print covering it.
"Well, the first thing I would like to know is how you are here without a Holy Grail War. According to my records, you can't be a leftover from the previous one and the next one isn't due to happen for another 30-ish years." He said, scrolling a bit further down his screen.
"I'm not sure what exactly you mean by that. There is a Holy Grail War going on." She said, mildly perplexed by his ignorance of this fact. Usually the Church was very good about keeping track of the timeline between wars.
"How could a war be happening this quickly? And which of the Seven Servants are you?" Cervantes asked, his full attention on the Servant before him, phone disregarded in his lap. His single visible eye was clear and focused on her.
"I am not one of the seven main classes you know of. I am of the Ruler Class, a Masterless Servant summoned by the Grail to oversee the War. The only time this happens to my knowledge is when there is an excess of energy in the Grail, enough for a Great Grail War." She said, then continued to explain her capabilities, responsibilities, and her knowledge of the situation. Cervantes had been rather surprised to find out about her incomplete summoning that prevented her from utilizing the full benefits of Servant physiology, like astralization. The two continued their Q&A all through the night until dawn's fingers slowly crept in through the cracked curtains over the kitchen sink.
"Ruler, I would like to offer my assistance for the duration of this war. I can offer a safe house and fulfill the usual role of the Church, with your assistance, since your abilities make you the ideal candidate to deal with Servants who refuse to abide by the rules despite your current weakness." He said, stretching deeply to get rid of the stiffness in his shoulders and back. He reached for his cup and took another draught of coffee to stay awake. This had gone on longer than expected, his enhancements meant that he could stay awake for far longer than any ordinary human. His reasoning for this generous partnership was that his superiors would be much more on board with him, maintaining observation of the unknown Servant, as well as this sudden Holy Grail War he now had on his hands.
"That would be helpful. It would be difficult to track them all down. This war is far less organized than the last one I oversaw, and that one ended up spiraling out of control anyway." She said as she did her best to determine if the Priest had any ulterior motives for this offer. She couldn't discern any, but decided to warily accept the overture. Even in her weakened state, she should still be far above the level of the strongest Executor, so the threat would be minimal. Plus it would give her time and space to sort out the current mess of memories in her head.
"Excellent. I would recommend getting some rest now, since you mentioned that you need to eat and sleep unlike other Servants. Though, before you go, may I ask your identity? The Church traditionally keeps a record of the Servants summoned in each Grail War." He remarked, hoping that Ruler would share that secret.
"I am Jeanne D'Arc, the Maid of Orleans. If we are going to be co-overseeing this war, I would like to know what to call you as well, Father." She said, giving a beatific smile.
"I am Hansa Cervantes, an Executor of the Holy Church. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." He said, extending a hand in friendship. There was a small part of him that was in awe of having a well known Saint standing right in front of him. The rest of him struggled to suppress that part, tramping it down with his professionalism and training in dealing with the Supernatural. His supervisor was definitely getting called as soon as she went back upstairs to rest.
"A pleasure, Father Cervantes. I look forward to working alongside you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rest." She responded, then headed back up the stairs.
As soon as he ceased hearing movement from the creaky floorboards, the Priest dialed his superior's number, only for the line to go dead before the bishop picked up the phone. That was strange for him, since this phone was considered top of the line as well as being a wireless smartphone. He went to the landline, only to find it dead as well. Immediately afterwards, his mystic code eye picked up a surge of magic just outside the parsonage, located on the wall of the alleyway behind the church. Such a surge would no doubt affect the parishioners and other passerbys. He figured this was a trap of some kind, and wouldn't want to walk into it without any kind of backup. His eyes drifted back up to the ceiling of his floor as he contemplated waking up the now slumbering Servant.
Gilgamesh observed the two mongrels and the vermin discussing something while the Assassin class Servant stood to the side, watching things unfold. He cast a calculating glance towards the King of Heroes every so often, then went back to watching the group talk before him. The King gave a sigh and opened a small portal. He then reached into it and withdrew a jug of wine along with a small cup. He poured a small amount into the golden container and took a sip from it. He was glad for the small things in life, like his fine wines.
Then a creaking sound came from the doors as they opened and he sensed two magic signatures enter the premises. Everyone except Gilgamesh snapped their attention to the door to see who it was. Leading the pair was a blonde teenager with a serene look on her face, with a brunette of a similar age stalking protectively on her right hand side.
Gilgamesh lazily turned his head and locked eyes with their leader, who was scanning the church. The blood drained from her fear-stricken face half a second later and she stumbled, drawing concern from her companions. That was all he needed to see, she was no threat to him. So he turned his attention back to his drink and took a sip of the strong alcohol, trying to forget this whole debacle.
Oriko took a deep breath and pushed the doors open. Kirika was on her right, ready to leap into action if her negotiations had gone sour. It had begun earlier that night, when Oriko had received a premonition. In it, she had heard the Incubator tell of a prize that would be the perfect way to save humanity from the evils of Witches without dooming the Universe to death by Entropy, the Holy Grail. In order to obtain it, she needed to participate in an event called a Greater Holy Grail War, in which she would summon something called a Servant, temporarily team up with six other people with these Servants, then turn on her allies in a final free for all that would then give her and her Servant, as the last pair standing, their wishes. The place where she could begin to participate was a dilapidated Catholic Church she knew was across the city. She would need to arrive there that night, judging by the phase of the moon that was visible. Standing in the room with her during the briefing were Mami Tomoe, the senior Magical Girl of Mitikihara, Kyoko Sakura, her ex-apprentice, and Kirika. After the image began to fade away, the faces of people she didn't recognize on the whole flashed by, with a dark haired girl with purple eyes standing out the most. She did recognize the last face in the vision, though. It was Madoka Kaname, the girl from her first vision upon contracting, the one who must never contract, lest the whole world pay the price.
She immediately told Kirika about her vision and they began heading to the location that Oriko said that Kyubey was gathering the "Masters" of his faction together. It took them the majority of the rest of the night to get there, since they had to travel inconspicuously across the city. Two teenage girls traveling through a big city during the dead of night drew some unsavory attention, but they were easy enough to shake off. After all, Oriko figured it would be rude to bring uninvited guests along to the summoning. They ran into a couple of familiars from the Witches scattered around the city, but dispatched them without much effort. The Witches that spawned the familiars could always be hunted later.
The two walked through the now open doors and saw the girls from Oriko's vision seated in the front row, discussing something, though their gazes snapped to observe the interlopers. Off to the side there was a heavily bandaged man who stared directly at them from beneath the torn hem of his dark red hood, seemingly calculating their next move and how to best counter it. The ever present Kyubey had seated himself on the Altar like it was some sort of throne and stared down at them with his soulless eyes, almost as if he had known they were coming. Then she scanned the rest of the church, searching for any other entities. Her eyes came to rest on a blonde man in golden armor lounging in one of the decaying pews. As she continued walking, he turned his head and looked her dead in the eyes. His gaze was that of a predator who knew it was on top of the food chain and regarded everything else as inconsequential because of that reason. The idle smirk on his face triggered something in her, and her sight changed entirely.
Her current surroundings were in the industrial section of the city late at night, meaning there were no people around except for herself and the others involved in the Grail War. For some reason, she was fighting this Servant despite being on the same side. She saw an armored Chinese man with long black hair, standing between her and the man in gold. The blonde's face was no longer the bored expression she had seen sitting in the pews of the church, instead he bore a terrifying grin with more than a hint of madness touching his features. Behind him were countless golden portals rippling outwards from his body. Protruding from each of those portals was a weapon of some kind. Before she could blink, weapons shot at her, only for them to be deflected by the expert sword of the red cloaked figure. He was moving to block them before they could fire. She knew that he could predict the future, but even with that boon, he was slowly wearing down. He was trying to defend both himself and Oriko from this onslaught, whereas the King of Heroes had no such issues.
"You dared to hold yourself equal to the King, now you pay the price for your arrogance!" He said, laughing while the hail of projectiles intensified. She could feel a determination come forth from him as he gathered up Magical Energy for a desperate last strike.
"Mountainous Strength and Matchless Valor: My Strength plucked up the hills, My Might shadowed the world." The man said, his cloak flaring as he leapt into the air. His armor flashed from the glare of the coalescing Mana beneath his feet. A powerful horse burst into existence, allowing him to charge directly through the rain of weapons, weaving around them with speed and agility you wouldn't expect from a horse of that size. Within a fraction of a second, he was on top of the golden king, who was forced to block with a shield generated from yet another portal. His expression changed to one of surprise as Xiang Yu moved with blinding speed, attacking from every possible angle, pushing himself to his limit, and beyond it. The horse broke apart in the middle of his deadly assault, giving the King of Heroes the small opening needed to fire a red lance through Rider's chest, killing him instantly. Oriko felt a strange sensation of severing as his body disintegrated in a shower of golden particles. She felt a single tear fall down her face and the last thing she saw in the vision was a single portal with a sword pointed towards her Soul Gem.
She snapped back to reality in an instant, not really sure what to make of what she had seen. She temporarily lost control of her poker face, allowing the terror to flash across her features. Then she tripped on her own feet since she had continued moving forward even during the vision. She regained her balance almost instantaneously, due to the enhanced reflexes of Magical Girls, but it was noticeable. She put back up her serene mask as quickly as she had lost it and proceeded to continue to walk down to where Kyubey and the other Magical Girls were.
"What do you want? This is my territory." Kyoko said, summoning her spear and pointing it at the intruders. Oriko saw Kirika begin moving to defend her, so she put a hand in front of the girl, preventing her from continuing in that course of action. Her self-proclaimed bodyguard looked perplexed by this course of action, but stood down, though she still remained ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
"I foresaw this 'Holy Grail War' you will be participating in with my magic, and decided to join you two." Oriko said, twisting the truth just enough to pique the spear wielder's interest. This was a gamble, since Kyoko wasn't known to be trusting of anyone as well as highly territorial. She had a relatively high chance of ending up skewered for her troubles. Fortunately, Mami was there to keep the girl on a short leash.
"Kyoko, we were looking for allies, and someone who can see the future would be invaluable. Why don't we at least talk to them?" She remarked, keeping a passive expression, though there was frustration barely hiding underneath her tone. Kyoko grimaced and did as her ex-kouhai suggested.
"Fine. But if they do anything aggressive, I'm ending them." She responded, as she sent a nasty glare towards the blonde, then sauntered to the nearest pew and flopped down into a vaguely seated position.
"You must forgive her. She seems to have lost all of her manners after we parted ways." Mami said, having conjured a musket that sat by her side, primed and ready to fire.
"I understand fully, it's quite hard to trust someone in this world, given how selfish Magical Girls are in general and the limited amount of Grief Seeds." She said, hiding her true intentions behind the veneer of politeness. From what she knew of Mami's reputation, the girl seemed to be inclined to believe the best in other people, though if you crossed her, the results were not good. Thankfully for her, Mami wasn't that great at subterfuge and wore her heart on her sleeve. This meant that soon enough Oriko could find some psychological weakness to exploit. All she had to do was feign respect for the moment and keep Kirika from jumping the gun.
"Well Oriko, I hadn't predicted your arrival, but your presence is much appreciated. I appreciate your initiative. I see you brought a bodyguard. That was a wise move on your part, just in case things went badly. I can see that you will be an excellent Master." The creature said to Oriko directly, its tail swishing behind it.
"Thank you Kyubey. I am glad that you would allow Kirika and me to join your group. I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to win this." Oriko responded, bowing deeply to show her respect. Kirika remained standing, ready to fight at a moment's notice.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Kirika already acts like she's a Servant. She might as well have both their Servants at her beck and call." Kyoko muttered beneath her breath as she walked away from their 'guests'.
"That would indeed be quite troublesome, Master. It would make them a major threat to our victory." A tired masculine voice resonated throughout Kyoko's skull.
"So you guys can speak using telepathic connections?" She thought back to the red hooded man, who responded with a small nod.
"Affirmative. I came to the conclusion that it would be best to come up with a strategy to deal with the situation as quickly as possible." He continued as he leaned up against a pillar to observe the two new Master Candidates.
"What can you tell me about our supposed allies so far?" The red clad Magical Girl requested of her Servant. She had her own opinions, as well as a strange sense of Deja Vu, but wanted to see what he could come up with.
"As of the moment, we know that the blonde can see the future to some degree, her friend's capabilities are a mystery for the moment. Though the way she holds herself speaks of someone who is used to fighting, as well as a fair amount of mental instability. We can use that to our advantage. As for the Master of Archer, I would assume you have a plan to deal with her, leaving me with the problem of dealing with her Servant. If his aura is anything to go by, I wouldn't be able to win a direct confrontation under any circumstances. You would have to be able to either kill her or force her to have Archer commit suicide before I die. Besides that, I will need more information to come up with a good counter strategy." He answered, scanning the room once more. He didn't like the amount of hiding spots available in this church. It made him feel uneasy, though he was confident in his ability to sense other Servants.
"Yes, our top priority is to avoid losing. You were correct, I do have something that would allow me to win against Mami. For now, we need to work with them to eliminate this rogue Magical Girl." She replied, understanding his strategy. He might have seemed creepy at first, but Kyoko saw how pragmatic he was. If she plays her cards right, then the war was as good as won.
After Kyoko stormed off in a huff, the three remaining girls had set up the ritual circles quickly under the watchful eye of the Incubator. Thankfully they had more than enough silver left over from Archer's "willing" donation to the war effort to fuel both rituals. Kyubey then proceeded to dictate the summoning chant to Mami, who was scribbling it down furiously in her immaculate handwriting.
"Now that the circles are finished, you both need to get in front of them, then hold your dominant hand over it." The Incubator instructed the two Servantless girls. Once again, he had chosen from his available catalysts to bring forth the most powerful Servants he could in order to ensure victory. Before Oriko lay a shard of ancient stone from a temple complex in Egypt, while a roll of pale and wisp-like thread was in Kirika's Summoning circle. Steeling themselves, the two proceeded to begin the incantation in unison.
"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let black be the color I pay tribute to. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate." Both circles began to glow, red arcs of lightning dancing in the air over them. Small red markings were beginning to form on the girls' extended hands. Oriko felt a symbol in the shape of a shield emblazoned with some kind of symbol burn itself onto the back of her hand. She grit her teeth and continued reading. Kirika, on the other hand, merely turned off the pain receptors in her hand and continued without giving it a second thought. She didn't care what kind of pain she had to endure so long as she was useful to Oriko.
"Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth. An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell." They continued, and the two Circles continued to light up, more power being poured out from them, only to be caught up in the other, creating a kind of feedback loop, which was stirring the ambient air into a whirlwind. This was enough to draw the full attention of everyone in the room, including Gilgamesh, who had pulled out some clay tablets from his treasury to read. One thing was certain, powerful Servants were being brought forth from this ritual.
The next line had Oriko fall silent as Kirika added another line to her incantation. In it, she called for a mad beast to destroy her enemies without mercy, much like her role for Oriko was. That was a twist of irony, neither of the two girls doubted that the Incubator did it intentionally. The wind then ceased abruptly after Kirika finished that line, an eerie stillness falling over the church. The circles had dimmed once more, only giving off enough light to give everything near the altar a crimson tinge.
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!" Both finished in unison, which caused their circles to flare with a bright light, blinding everyone observing temporarily. Two opposing waves of power collided, one bearing the sensation of a blazing desert sun and sand, the other held the feeling of a dark, damp cave and the oppressive scent of the ancient stone.
Kirika finished blinking away the spot in her eyes and got a good look at her Servant. The first thought that ran through her mind was that he was absolutely enormous. His tanned skin was completely scarred, as though he had been injured in the heat of battle. His stomach was covered by a spiked black iron girdle with a red waist cape forming a kind of skirt around his legs. Kirika had to crane her neck to look at the face of her Servant. His head was covered in wild white hair that tangled back together in a rough approximation of a fake beard that didn't touch his chin. She idly noticed the dark horns that stuck out of the white mass of hair, but what truly drew her gaze were his dark, inhuman eyes. Flames of madness danced within those crimson eyes, but there was also a profound sadness that she could see lurking behind it all.
"You…. My…. Master?" He asked, stumbling over the words as he said them. It was clear he was frustrated by his inability to speak fluidly, judging by how he looked flustered, turning mildly red in embarrassment.
"Yes. I am your Master." Kirika responded, smirking to herself slightly. She was confident that her new Servant would be of great use to Oriko.
"I ask of you, are you my Master?" A regal voice reached Oriko as her eyes struggled to readjust to the dim lighting. As her vision cleared, she saw a tanned, muscular man staring at her with piercing golden eyes. While there was not much light in the Church, what small amount there was refracted off of his various gilded ornaments, giving the impression of a man clothed in the sun. Draped over his shoulders was a pristine white cloak held in place by an Ankh brooch.
"I am your Master." She replied, not allowing her emotions to bleed through to the outside world. Judging by how he held himself, she got the impression that he did not take well to those who showed any weakness around him. There was not the standard arrogance that she had seen from her father's colleagues, but instead a confidence proclaiming him as the King.
"Tell me then, Master. Has the Holy Grail War become a schoolyard squabble? I see only children trying to control beings beyond them and even then, the vast majority of them are weaklings. Why, the only one in this room worthy of my attention is the Archer over there in the benches." He said, bombastically pointing to the figure in question, who rose from his seat, a look of slight curiosity playing across his face.
"No, as of the moment, we are the Mages of this generation, come together to destroy someone from using the Grail for her own nefarious purposes, thereby saving the world." She said, giving the information she knew a spin so that it would paint their side as a worthy cause.
"I suppose that will have to do for the moment. Know this child, you now have the aid of Ozymandias, King of Kings, in your quest. Do not waste my time." His voice became low and dangerous on that last part.
"As you wish." Oriko said, bowing to him as a sign of respect. He nodded graciously and strode off, but stopped after a few paces.
"I am going to go and speak to Archer, he appears to be an interesting fellow. Though we will be switching venues, as this dreary place is not worthy of either of us. If you need me, contact me through telepathy." Ozymandias said, then continued walking forward before he received a response.
"So 'King of Kings', it is nice to make an acquaintance who is close to my equal." Gilgamesh said to the approaching Rider. He dismissed his tablet and wine back into the Gate, then gave a wide smile.
"Same to you Archer, though I do not have your name. However, you carry yourself as a King worthy of the Pharaoh's attention. What do you say to going somewhere more worthy of our presence?" Ozymandias responded, giving back an equally wide smile. The two burst out in laughter and then disappeared in a shower of sparks.
Mami saw Gilgamesh disappear with the newly summoned Rider and wasn't really sure what to make of that.
"Kyubey, they'll come back, right?" She asked the creature, who had been strangely silent during the entire summoning ritual.
"Yes, they will come back whenever they get bored. I'd give it a couple hours. It's better to allow them to get it out of their systems now. According to my calculations, they are 35% more likely to listen to us" The Incubator commented as he leapt off the altar and proceeded over to Asterios to inspect him.
"Small...fluffy...thing...cute…." He said, dropping his axes as he reached down then picked up and began petting the terminal. Kirika was mildly taken aback, since she was told that the Servant she summoned was a Berserker. She was expecting someone a little more…. Crazy. Not the childlike giant sitting before her.
"Going by the expression on your face, you likely are experiencing some distress at the seeming maturity level of your Servant. You can rest assured that my calculations are correct. He will be most useful if you treat him well." Kyubey said as he turned around to face Kirika, never moving out of reach of the Servant. Her mind shut down as she heard a familiar voice tittering behind her. She spun around, cheeks flushed a brilliant crimson, which only made her idol begin all out laughing. She heard another voice join in, but it didn't even really register in her mind. The girl who she based her entire persona around was laughing at her. She wanted Oriko to see her as her defender, not her comedic relief! She gave out a little scream of anguish and covered her face with her hands, exasperated with the entire situation.
"Well, now that we have four of the seven Servants that you mentioned, shouldn't that be enough to take on this rogue Magical Girl, who only has one?" Kirika said as she eagerly tried to divert attention away from her childish Servant.
"If this was a normal Grail War, I would have only required Mami to complete the task, however in this case, there is a Ruler class Servant that was summoned to enforce the rules. In my records, crossing a Ruler is an efficient way to get yourself killed by your own Servant. It would not do to fail at this task." The Incubator responded, having weaseled his way out from Asterios' grip to go get a proper look at Assassin. As soon as the two locked eyes, they froze. From an outside perspective, it looked like what might occur if you ran into a coworker you didn't like outside of a work setting.
"I was not expecting to see you and your ilk here." Said Assassin, his eyes not betraying any emotion. He had stood entirely upright, and was staring down at the Incubator intensely. The reply was not broadcast to the rest of the group, but it made Kiritsugu's face soften slightly and chuff in response.
"I see, so that is how it is. I will assist you in your endeavors then." He said, before he walked a few paces and vanished in a burst of speed.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kyoko yelled in the direction he had gone. Assassin was long gone by that point though, gone to scout the surrounding area, as a mental check in confirmed several moments later.
"Are you all going to get out of my Church or what?" Kyoko said as she finished receiving the report from Assassin.
"Excuse me?" Mami and Oriko said simultaneously, stopping their conversation on coordinating a meeting later to discuss tactics.
"It's almost dawn, if you girls are going to run along to school, then you better get going. Besides, I have hunting to do and don't feel safe leaving you idiots in my place." Kyoko said in an insulting tone of voice while smirking at the blanched expression she got out of Mami.
"Oh, uh that's a good point. I do need to go for that, though I would like for us to maintain communication for later down the line. Perhaps we all meet up somewhere tonight?" Mami said as she got up to head for the door.
"How about we meet when school ends and go to my place? It's more than spacious enough for all of us and any potential recruits we pick up." Oriko interjected, cutting off the redhead just as she was about to speak.
"I think that sounds like a great idea. Kyoko, you know where our school is, right?" Mami said as she stopped to open the door.
"Yeah. I remember, meetch y'all there. Since we have that settled, get out." Kyoko said, drawing her spear to indicate her impatience. Kirika bristled at the spear woman's tone, then summoned her blades as if to attack her from behind, but was stopped by the feeling of a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Not yet. We still have things we can use them for." Oriko's mental voice echoed through Kirika's mind, warning her bodyguard against doing something stupid. The short girl's weapons vaporized back into magical sparks, placated by the buckethead's presence.
"See you this afternoon then, Kyoko!" Mami said as she disappeared out the door, shortly followed by Oriko, who moved quite fast for someone in her getup.
"Come on Berserker, we're leaving now." The angry midget ordered, before dashing after her idol, getting through the doors before they closed. Asterios looked kind of sad to be leaving, as he had followed the Incubator and begun petting it again while no one was watching. He then turned into his Astral form and followed his Master.
"Well, that's dealt with for now. If you don't mind me asking Kyubey, why did Assassin react that way to you?" Kyoko asked, recalling the incident from shortly before. She had felt a burst of intense dislike and disgust from her Servant when he had locked eyes with Kyubey, but it was tinged with a kind of begrudging respect.
"Well, it's quite simple. I am a being that has had a hand in human development all throughout its history, what makes you think I haven't had interactions with the Heroes of human history? He merely remembered me from the events of his life, and I explained the situation to him. He was a very practical man, and this reason has allowed him to overcome his dislike of me until this task is complete." The cabbit explained, shaking himself like a cat does after you pet it for a while. Once done, he merely sat down on the spot and stared dead into the girl's eyes until he was finished.
"I suppose that makes sense. I mean, if he was a great Hero, I'd assume he'd be rather unhappy about girls like us fighting Witches." She said, making a mental note to speak to her Assassin later, to get his side of the story. One could never be too careful, especially where Kyubey and his Faustian bargains were concerned.
"Excellent. I'm glad I was able to be of assistance. I will see you this afternoon, Kyoko Sakura." He said before he took a running leap out of one of the many holes of the windows. After he left, Kyoko snorted at the empty church before heading over to where she kept her food for some breakfast.
By two in the morning, Archer had finally managed to put together the paperwork necessary to get his Master out of the hospital early. It had taken the entire day, but Servants don't need to sleep and he was able to utilize some illicit dealings to get the paperwork pushed through faster. Now it was merely time to let his Master know about the early release.
He could have easily just let her know through telepathy, but he figured it would be wise to go and be by his Master's side while she slept. Plus he had already parked the car in the parking lot in preparation for the following morning, when she was discharged. He already had some civilian clothes in mind for this job. The look on his Master's face would be priceless when he walked in wearing that outfit.
He took the fastest route through the hospital, phasing through walls like they weren't there due to his Astral form. This truly was a massive hospital and jumping through ceilings was not the most efficient method. Honestly, he figured he might as well take the elevator, so he stopped jumping in the next room. He gave the room a scan, since it was occupied with a surprisingly high amount of Magical Energy. As soon as he saw who was there, his mood turned foul.
Sitting by the side of the bed was his younger self, along with two adults he had never seen before. He would know that dopey face and shock of scarlet hair anywhere. The embers of self hatred were immediately extinguished when he saw other people in the room. In the bed was a teen girl who had the same shade of hair as his younger self, while the two adults also looked rather similar to him as well. The man's hair was the same kind of silver as the Counter Guardian's, though his face was still rather young. The woman was probably in her late thirties, with the same vibrant red hair as the children. A wave of sadness flowed over him for a moment. This was a version of him who still had a family. One likely unshaped by the horror of the Fuyuki fire.
Archer debated the correct course of action for himself for a moment, then his curiosity got the better of him and he materialized. The red cloaked man picked up the folder attached to the foot of the bed and opened it. The girl's name was Kuro Muramasa. He scoffed at that, it appeared his parents were as bad at naming things as his adoptive father. Then he saw the reason that the girl was admitted. Stage 3 Leukemia. He closed the folder with a sigh, regretful that this seemingly happier version of himself had to be plagued by such things. After putting the folder back, he figured there was one thing he could do to at least ease Kuro's pain. He strode silently over to the side of the bed with no one on it and opened the path into his Reality Marble. He was searching for one particular artifact and he found it almost immediately. After all, he had held it in his body for the better part of a decade. The copy of Avalon formed in his hands and he pushed it into her chest. It phased through the tissue and bound itself to her insides, then began to fuel itself off of the energy of her few active Magic Circuits. It was unlikely to fully heal her, but at least her life would be less painful while it remained active.
Once he had finished implanting it, he turned around to leave, but felt a hand grab ahold of his sleeve, stopping him. Immediately, his combat instincts flew into overdrive, and Kanshou was in his hand and raised above his head before he fully registered it. His stony features turned to shock when he realized what had happened. Holding on to his sleeve was the girl, who he supposed would have been his biological sister. Her eyes were full of terror at the sight of the glimmering ivory blade poised to take her hand off, but she held on nonetheless.
"My apologies. My combat instincts are still on high alert. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going." He whispered briskly, so as not to wake the slumbering family beside them.
"What did you do? I felt something being put into me." She asked quietly, doing her best to match the steel in his eyes. Thousands of thoughts raced through the mind of the Counter Guardian, debating whether he should tell her the whole truth or only part of it. After merely a second, the Servant came to a conclusion.
"I have the ability to create copies of ancient artifacts, as well as their effects. I merely implanted one with healing capabilities into you. It won't heal you, but it will lessen your pain considerably for as long as its structure holds. Eventually though, it will break down into energy and fade away. When it does, your sickness will continue to progress until it either kills you or you beat it." He remarked dryly, having decided to not sugarcoat anything. The girl's golden eyes began to tear up slightly, since she had just noticed the pain was mostly gone.
"Why would you do something like this? You don't know me." She said under her breath, speaking so quietly that it barely formed words.
"I hate watching families fall apart because of tragedy and choose to use my abilities to help where I can. And I wouldn't say I don't know you all. Now I would recommend getting some rest. Enjoy what time you have, as you can lose it all without a moment's notice. Believe me, I would know." Archer responded as he closed his eyes and gave the girl a bitter smile. He heard the boy stir and pulled his sleeve from the girl's hand, easily breaking her grip. Through his mind's eye, he saw Kuro still reaching towards him, so he turned back into his Astral Form and headed towards the elevator and his Master. Hopefully, his gift would be able to help this unbroken version of his original family to remain unbroken.
Unfortunately, his mere presence had awakened something in his younger self, as the teen had dreamt of an Artifact that could fully heal his sister and a Silver haired Man atop a Hill of Swords.
I'm not dead! That took a really long time to write, since I had to do a lot of research on Oriko, Kirika, Asterios and Ozymandias to make sure that they were at least somewhat in character. I've also done a fair amount of playing around with the remaining Servants, deciding who gets who and all that. That and I fell down the FGO rabbit hole in an attempt to grind through the final singularity to participate in the Space Wars II event. I'm making decent progress so that's a plus I guess.
The overall plot got a bit of a reworking too, so I've decided to retract my earlier statement about Angra Mainyu not being present. He's in there and will come up at a much later point.
I hope that my writing speed increases for these next few chapters, since I hate having such massive gaps between updates. I make no promises, but I'm definitely going to try to write some chapters ahead of time and make a schedule.
I've created a Discord server if you want to ask me direct questions and get early access to the chapter. Join link is https /discord gg QRMq4cBehB
The periods have been replaced with spaces so that doesn't detect it. I hope to see some of you there.
Now, on to responding to reviews, I have answered these in chronological order. Please for future reference give me a name to respond to, as having multiple ones labeled as "Guest" is rather frustrating.
Guest #1: We did in fact get Kiritsugu Emiya. And that was a rather unsubtle bit of foreshadowing from me.
Guest #2: Gilgamesh technically could do that, but those are unique to the Fate/EXTRA version of the character. And assuming he did have them at his disposal, I doubt he would use them on such a trivial matter that will wear off relatively shortly.
Guest #3: I never said that Assassin EMIYA knew who Gilgamesh was, I wrote that Gilgamesh knew who Kiritsugu was. My apologies for the miscommunication. As for the reason that the Command Seal worked on him, that is something I will be addressing rather shortly.
Guest #4: See latter half of Guest #3 response.
LittleMiniMe21: The reason that he is having trouble resisting the Command Seals from Mami is because of the nature of Magical Girls in this setting. Due to the fact that this is a combined setting, I've basically explained the creation of Magical Girls as an intentionally incomplete version of the Third Magic, which grants them access to True Magic. This enhances their abilities and all the Magic that they wield, but at the price we all know rather well at this point. As for how Kyubey is able to use the Third Magic at all, I've got a one shot in the works explaining the origins of this Universe's "Incubator".
Best Doggo and his Master will have a lasting impact on the plot, I can tell you that much. I'm glad to see that others would like to see more things from the Hound of Ulster.
Stalking Fan: I don't know about that, Assassin has a lot of bullets.
The Rupture: The only one of them who thinks this is a normal Grail War is Archer, since he was summoned in the previous timeline, I intend for this to be a plot point within the next couple chapters.
As for your second point, I doubt it will be that easy, especially with Archer and Rider on the field.
Once again, I would like to thank hakon2feb - Servant of Bedivere, Loa of Penthesilea, Chaos of the Hokusai, World Weaver and Angra Mainyu is now Padoru on the Overlord Fanfiction Server for their assistance with Fate Lore/Beta-reading. As well as Ryouko Shizuki Yggdemillenia, Chadcomposite, Bacon Hair, Soulnight, and Sa'Kage from the ANAI server for more Fate help, as well as most of the Madoka Magica lore. I would also like to mention DeathCrown from the Emerald Library, as his suggestions were extremely helpful.
I look forward to reading reviews from you all and I hope you have a wonderful day/night/whenever you read this!