With only a quarter hour left to midnight, when his body's mana would be at its peak, Charles had decided overkill was the best policy when it came to preparing to summoning Saber.
In one of London's many wooded areas, he had elected to forgo magecraft and used a shovel to scrape out a basic summoning circle..
Beside him, the maid-golem-Mystic Code waited silently, on the alert for passers-by.
"Don't worry," Charles said, resting on the shovel.
"The entirety of London is under the Clock Tower's Bounded Field now- civilians are incapable of leaving or looking outside their homes after 11pm. Flat said something like.. er.. Mass-hypnosis? Something like that."
Cali still didn't stand down.
"Get ready, Cali. Ritual's starting in 10 minutes."
Cali gave him an odd look. "Objection. Records indicate your mana levels will be at their peak in 13 minutes, not 10."
"I know, but so will James'. That's why I took us down to this leyline. We're gonna brute-force this thing."
"Brute-force..? Terminology unknown."
"We're standing on one of the largest leylines in the world," Charles said, pointing straight down. "Every Master will be drawing from this at one point or another. It even goes down to the Clock Tower. Moreover, the wood we're in used to be called Middlesex. They say this was one of the last refuges of the fairies before they all died out. As far as magical sites go, this is as good as it gets."
"Knowledge added to database. Very well, master. Fair warning, I may be inert for up to sixty minutes due to the high intensity of the ritual. There is a high possibility that I will be destroyed in the process."
"Possibilities, possibilities! I've had enough!" Charles made a sweeping motion with his hand. "Cali, return to base form! Fill out the summoning circle! We start now!"
Cali wordlessly nodded. Melting into the crevices of the summoning circle, the Mystic Code Volumen Hydrargyrum started to pulsate with mana. In the middle of the summoning circle, a faded blueprint was absorbed into the liquid mercury. The adjustment had been quite easy, really. Even a skilled enough mortal could graft an additional piece of blueprint, detailing the method of construction for a sword mighty enough to slay a God.
'Well, not a God. But maybe one of his Servants.'
The Command Seals on Charles' back throbbed, as if in anticipation. For a moment, Charles hesitated.
'This could kill you, you know? Even if the Ritual goes well Frankenstein's monster killed her creator, and you're frankensteining things into Frankenstein. She might not take kindly to that. Hell, this whole thing might go sideways and you won't get Saber at all.'
Charles shook his head, dispelling his doubts.
'No. I am the proud first son of the Fourth Yarenes clan. If anyone can do this- If anyone would be insane enough to do this, it would be me. I'll show Mother. I'll show Father! I'll show them all!'
"On the Command Seals of Charles Atonia Yarenes III!" he declared.
"Copper and lightning are your origin. Chained elements form the foundation of your being.
The maligned menace born of man, by man, for man. The never-ending deluge of inferiority never surpasses!
Shut. (Fill). Shut. (Fill.) Shut. (Fill).
Only three times, never more or less.
When filled, disperse like a crack of thunder.
Now, I call!
Your will is my own, my fate is yours to share.
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer my call!
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.
Thee, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O Keeper of the Balance!"
'Now the ballsy part, Charlie.'
"Furthermore! You will reject thine natural calling of madness and break free your shackles. If your will is as pure as mine own, take up the great sword of the lionhearted and 'llow me to wield you!"
His mana was dropping rapidly. He could feel the tips of his fingers grow numb with necrosis, but he couldn't stop now.
"Come!
Saber!"
The summoning circle erupted in a pillar of light, and Charles could feel the ground shake beneath his feet. The flow of energy needed for the summon alternated between him and the leyline, and in this moment, he was grateful he had bothered to do so. If he hadn't, he would've been dead in seconds from the initial mana cost alone.
The Command Seals on his back burned now, almost painfully. Was something wrong?
He could feel a presence- no, multiple presences? Looking around him, the forest had started to light up. There were multiple presences inside the summoning circle as well. Just what had he done? Then came the question. The question he'd been waiting all of his life to hear.
Two voices, speaking at once, he realized. One was a young girl, the other a cold-sounding woman.
"We are your Servants of the Sword, Saber. Now, we pose you this question- Are you our Master?"
He shouted back into the pillar of light, laughing maniacally. He'd done it. He'd finally done it!
"I am! I am your Master! Show yourself, Saber!"
Something was off, though. A bad feeling in his gut. He definitely sensed a presence, and he could vaguely make out a figure through the beam of light.
'The summon is complete.. Why is it still consuming my mana?'
"I see you, Saber! Stop! Stop!" he yelled, more out of desperation than anything.
As listening to his command, the light reversed direction, descending into the ground as fast as it had come. When the light reached the ground, the resulting shockwave nearly blew Charles back and popped his eardrums.
"Mawp.. mawp.. Mawp.." he murmured, his fingers in his ears. His hearing had been temporarily blown out, he realized, but that didn't stop him from hearing the question that soon came after.
Charles clambered to his feet, and as his vision recovered, a young woman in a flowing white dress stood in the middle of the circle. A golden horn grew out form the middle of her forehead, parting her pink hair, and two fins of a similar make jutted out from the sides of her head. They spun slightly.
'Just like the blueprints said. That's part of her Bridal Chest. They're absorbing the leftover mana from the summoning to power her body. But… where is it..? Frankenstein's Monster needs it to survive.'
The girl gestured towards him. "I ask you again. Are you my Master?"
Charles cleared his throat. He willed a projection of his Command Seals to appear behind him. "Of course. My name is Charles Yarenes III, and if you respond to my Command Seals, then you are my Servant. Identify yourself, Saber."
The girl curtseyed. "I acknowledge you as my Master. My True Name is.. Is…" The Servant fell silent for a moment. She seemed troubled- or, perhaps indecisive?"
"Saber…?" Charles asked tentatively. She was looking beneath her feet, at the blueprints detailing the workings of Victor Frankenstein.
"Ah. So I was summoned intentionally. You'd know, then, that I was a means to an end- I was never meant to have a name. I was to be the Eve to the Adam that my Master truly desired, but.. My identity is not that of the mother of mankind.."
The girl shook her head. "No. All that I am is 'Frankenstein's Monster.' The trappings of Madness Enhancement would've been preferable to this."
Charles was silent for a moment. "I'll call you Saber, then, if that name displeases you."
The creation of Victor Frankenstein curtseyed. "Thank you very much.. Master."
"One question, though, Saber, if your class is indeed Saber… Where is your weapon?"
"Ah, that." Saber suddenly seemed embarrassed. "You seem ambitious, Master. You forced me into the Class Container of Saber, but the monster of Victor Frankenstein never wielded such a weapon. So.."
Charles took a step back. "You can't be saying.."
Saber nodded. "I am a Saber with no Noble Phantasm. All the life-support functions of the Bridal Chest have been absorbed into my main body."
Charles felt sick to his stomach. A Saber with no sword. A Servant with no Noble Phantasm.
"Ha.. ha ha… Ha…" Charles held his head in his hands. "That's it, then. I wasted the Saber Class Container on myself and don't even have anything to show for it."
He quickly forced a positive face. 'Channel that fool, Flat. If he can do it, you can, too.'
"Well, that's that, then. Guess I gotta take responsibility for my meddling and make this work as best as I can, then!" he laughed.
Saber smiled in turn. "I'm glad to hear, Master. I'll do my best to win the Grail for you."
Charles looked around. "With all that out of the way, just leaves one last question. You were summoned alone, right?"
Saber gave him a confused look. The way she did it reminded Charles of a large dog and- Wow, she definitely was at least a couple of centimeters taller than him, wasn't she?
"Of course I was, Master. I am me, and no-one else."
"Hm. I suppose so. I don't sense any presences around us, but... still.."
Was it a trick of his senses? Did he somehow misinterpret the meaning of what had been said during the summoning ritual? He'd never participated in a Grail War, so for all he knew, it could be completely normal.
"Nevermind," he said, approaching the summoning circle and kneeling.
Saber backed up immediately, her tone suddenly frantic. "M-Master? What are you doing?"
Charles looked up, confused. "Huh? Oh, this." He jerked his chin towards the vial he was holding, that was absorbing the mercury that made up Volumen Hydrargyrum. "Summoning was never my vocation, so she came prepacked with the incantation and the high-quality raw material needed to get you to notice my call, Saber."
"I.. See.." Saber said slowly.
"Though, I've never kneeled in front of a girl dressed as a bride. It'll be good practise for later in my life," Charles chuckled. He stood up, cracking his knuckles.
"Well, now all we have to do is wait. The Grail War isn't scheduled to start for another two days from now, so in the meantime, I'll catch you up to speed on the layout of London and our base of operations."
"London?" Saber asked, her eyes wide.
"Yeah. Though I expect you'll know the place better than me."
Saber frowned. "Sadly. How long has it been, Master? Since I was.. First alive."
Charles raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you know the overall current state of the world? The Grail is supposed to give you at least that knowledge."
Saber shook her head. "My knowledge is.. Incomplete. I am not a proper reflection of the Heroic Spirit 'Frankenstein's Monster', so the Grail isn't giving me everything I need to win the War. It may be stacking the deck against me so I'm eliminated as quickly as possible."
"The Grail sounds like a vindictive piece of shit," Charles smirked. "Don't count yourself out just yet, Saber. If I can lose you a Noble Phantasm, I can get you one. Or.. something like that. Besides!"
Charles put a hand on her shoulder. "We've got time, don't worry. The Grail War isn't scheduled to start for another two days, and as far as I could get out of one of my friends at the Clock Tower, no-one else has summoned their Servants yet. We're lucky number one, Saber."
All of a sudden, Charles was overcome with a sense of extreme dread. "Hey.. Saber.. do you.. feel that?" he asked in a low voice.
Saber moved closer to him, almost protectively. Her fists, dainty as they were, were raised to defend against a potential assailant. "An enemy Servant? Your orders, Master."
Then came the physical pain. His heart hammered in his chest, as if it was trying to escape his ribs, and there was a vice-like claw squeezing on his mind.
"Master? Master?!"
"Saber.. I can't.. breathe.."
'Ah.. That's what my body feels like when it shuts down. And that feel would be.. The ground. Yes, it's the ground.'
As his vision swam, Charles barely registered his Servant's concerned face above him. What was she saying?
'I've come this far and I'm going to die before my first proper battle? If I didn't see their face, it could be.. Assassin? Caster? And Saber is defenseless.. It can't end like this...'
'Can it?'
(Chapter 3 complete! Next Time: To Build a Noble Phantasm!)