Prologue — Day 1: Rin — Aberrations
Rin overslept.
She had difficulty waking up in the morning on the best of days, let alone when she'd stayed up to 2 AM performing complex magical rituals. On top of that, her prana supply being sapped to power her two Servants made her feel like she was wearing lead weights. Thus, by the time she finally rolled out of bed, she was already late for school.
After giving the matter a moment's thought, Rin decided that she'd skip classes for the day. Preparing for the Holy Grail War was more important. Archer was a much more tactical class than Saber, relying on making use of terrain advantage and striking the enemy from a distance. It would therefore probably be a good idea for her Servants to get a sense of the city's layout before engaging in battle.
Come to think of it, where were her Archers?
She found Red Archer in the kitchen making tea. It tasted surprisingly good; Red Archer must have had a talent for it when he was alive. It seemed that, despite having lost his memory, he still retained his practical skills.
Black Archer showed up a short time later. When Rin asked where she'd been, she responded flippantly.
"Procuring supplies." Homura said. "You don't have a problem with that, right?"
Rin had to stifle a sigh. Archer-class Servants tended to be highly independent and were notoriously difficult for their Masters to control. However, still somewhat chastened from the time early that morning when she'd lost control of her temper and effectively wasted one of her three precious Command Spells, Rin decided not to make an issue out of it.
"What would you need supplies for?" Rin asked. "Servants don't need to eat; and I thought they were summoned with any equipment they needed."
Rin paused, and gave the matter some thought.
"Well, except maybe Caster, if it specializes in a type of magic that requires material components that it needs to gather after being summoned. But since you're Archer, you should already have your bow, arrows, and any other Noble Phantasms you might happen to possess — everything you need to fight."
"I've always believed in making use of whatever is available." Homura said. "For instance, you should take this."
A small, circular shield appeared on Homura's left forearm. Reaching behind it, she withdrew a slender 9 mm handgun, which she placed on the table in front of Rin.
"Where did you get that?" Rin asked.
"A police station." Homura said. "You should probably practice with it until you're comfortable with the recoil before attempting to use it in actual combat."
"Hold on." Rin said. "Servants are spiritual beings, right? I didn't think a material weapon like a gun would do anything against them."
"It wouldn't." Homura agreed. "However, it should prove effective enough against their Masters."
Rin's stomach turned at the thought. Of course, as a magus, she understood that there were times when it was necessary to take the life of her enemy. However, duels between magi were carried out with magecraft. They were honorable contests of strength and skill between people who had devoted their lives to the study, refinement, and mastery of advanced and artful techniques. To simply pull out a firearm and gun your opponent down like a common criminal...
"You want me to... shoot enemy Masters?" she repeated uncertainly.
"I find the use of conventional firearms often takes magi off-guard." Homura said. "Magi eschew technology, and expect any magus called by the Grail to hold a similar stance. They are therefore unprepared to defend against a magus willing to employ modern weapons against them."
Rin shook her head. She was fighting in this War to redeem the Tohsaka family name, not sully it further. She was not some third-rate magus of a no-name family who had to resort to dirty tricks in order to win. She was the heir of the Tohsakas, and she would conduct herself with the appropriate dignity.
"You keep it." she said. "I'm not going to use it."
Homura frowned at her.
"I did not expect my Master to be squeamish about killing." the Black Archer said. "This is the Holy Grail War. Surely you know it might become necessary at some point to eliminate an enemy Master with your own hands.
"I know." Rin said. "And I am prepared. But not in a way like this. If I do have to engage in direct combat with an enemy Master, I'll use a weapon I'm comfortable with — like this."
Rin placed a short-bladed dagger on the table.
"This is my Azoth Dagger." Rin explained. "I inherited it from my father after his death during the previous War. A dagger like this is a sign that one has graduated from apprenticeship and become a true magus. It's something precious to me — and something far more proper for use in a contest between Masters."
"A weapon with sentimental value, then." Homura said. "I can understand your attachment to it. However, realistically speaking, a knife is no substitute for a gun."
"It's not just a knife." Rin said indignantly. "It's also a wand for amplifying magic energy. I've spent the past ten years charging it up with prana, so it should be plenty strong enough to use against any Master who opposes me. In fact, I bet it could do some serious damage to even a Servant, if it somehow came down to that."
"Nevertheless." Homura said. "Something like an Azoth Dagger is exactly the manner of weapon an enemy magus will expect you to engage them with. It is precisely because magi do not typically use firearms that having one could prove to be a decisive advantage should you be forced to engage in battle."
"Magi live their lives by follow a certain code of behavior." Rin said. "We have our own way of doing things. If I have to kill a Master, I will do so on my own terms. This discussion is over."
"Very well." Homura said, bowing her head. "I can't say I'm truly surprised. The very reticence and adherence to tradition that I hoped to take advantage of in the other magi is something you, as a magi yourself, would naturally also possess. I believe you're being foolish; but as you are my Master, I will respect your wishes."
She picked the gun back up. It seemed to vanish as she slid it back into the space behind her shield.
"Wishes..." Rin murmured. "That reminds me something I've been meaning to ask. Black Archer... and Red Archer, too... what are the wishes you desire the Holy Grail to fulfill?"
The two Servants glanced at each other in surprise.
"That is... a somewhat personal question." Homura finally said. "Because of your Command Spell, I will answer if you ask me to; however, does it really matter whether or not you know."
"It does." Rin said. "If I'm going to be fighting with you, I need to know what you're fighting for. As much as I want to win the Grail, I definitely won't allow an evil or improper wish to made upon it. So, before we begin our fight, I'd like you two to tell me what you'd use its power to wish for."
"Hmm." Red Archer said whimsically. "If I had to pick, I guess I'd say 'world peace'. That's a worthy goal, don't you think?"
"Be serious!" Rin said. "We're supposed to be a team. If I can't know your names, I should at least know what you're fighting for."
"In all honesty, then." Red Archer said, his tone abruptly serious. "The truth is, I don't have any wish for the Grail. While there is a wish I would like granted, it is one that I will bring about with my own hands. I'll achieve without the Grail's help."
"What about you, Black Archer?" Rin asked.
"I don't have any need for the Grail, either." Black Archer said. "I have only a single wish, and it has already been promised that it will eventually come true. In any case, I don't trust anything as suspicious-sounding as an omnipotent wish-granting device. Anything that promises it can make any wish come true is almost certainly deceiving you."
"That's... rather strange." Rin said. "You're fighting as my Servants, and yet neither of you want the Grail?"
"When a Master performs a summoning without an artifact tied to a particular Servant, they often end up with one who matches their personality." Red Archer said. "Could it be that you don't have any real desire for the Grail either?"
"It's true that there's no particular wish I want granted." Rin said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not interested in getting the Grail, okay? I need it to restore the Tohsaka family name. My father was one of the Masters in the previous war, but he was defeated. I'm his successor, the only one who can redeem the Tohsaka family honor. So I'll definitely win this war."
"In other words, you're just fighting out of hollow egotism." Black Archer said. "How unseemly."
"Shut up!" Rin said. "That's not it at all — and it's beside the point! The Grail has rules for selecting the Masters and Servants. Since the three families of Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Makiri were responsible for the creation of the Grail, it will always select magi from them to participate in the war if any are available. I'm a magus of the Tohsaka family, so it's only natural that I'd be chosen as a Master, even if I don't have a specific wish in mind. But with regards to the Servants, something is definitely wrong. Servants are supposed to fight in order to have their wishes granted — so why is the Grail summoning Servants who have no desire for it? And why has it summoned two Archers and two Lancers when there's only supposed to be one Servant of each class?"
The two Archers looked at each other, then shrugged.
"I wouldn't know." Black Archer said.
"Beats me." Red Archer said.
Rin let out a long groan.
"I guess there's no other choice." she said. "I'm going to have to tell that shitty fake priest."
The Church had an unusual relationship with the Holy Grail War. They had no interest in obtaining the Holy Grail for themselves — despite its name, the object at the center of the ritual was not the cup that had received the blood of the Christ; and because they were concerned with spiritual rather than worldly matters, the potential of having a wish granted held no allure for them. However, given the ancient and deep-seated antagonism between the Church and magi, the possibility that the Grail might be attained by a magus hostile to them and its power turned against them was a concern. They were therefore keen to observe the Masters who participated in the war. And as for the magi, they had need for an arbitrator who would ensure that all participants obeyed the rules. Since the Church was equally hostile towards all magi and didn't have ties to any of the families, it could be relied upon to be unbiased in its enforcement. Therefore, it had been decided that a priest from the Church would be the supervisor of the Grail War.
The current supervisor was a man named Kirie Kotomine. She should really report to the irregularities she'd observed to him. Actually, to be technical, she should have contacted him anyway once she'd completed the summoning ritual to let him know that she would be one of the Masters participating in this war. The problem was...
"I really hate that guy." Rin said, mostly to herself.
Kotomine had once been apprenticed to her father. After the last War, it had been he who had informed Rin of her father's death, and who had presented her with the Azoth Dagger that he had willed to her. He had also acted as her guardian over the intervening ten years. Nevertheless, Rin had no doubt that he was completely impartial; if her life was endangered during the war, he'd let her die without a second thought. That was the kind of man Kirie Kotomine was.
"Well, I'd really rather put that off as long as possible." Rin confessed to her Servants. "For now, I'd like to show you around the city so you can get a feel for the landscape."
"Of course." Red Archer said. "Make no mistake; though I do not desire a wish from the Holy Grail, I will honor my vow to fight as your Servant for the duration of this War."
"I might as well fight, seeing as I did answer your summons." Black Archer agreed. "Well, since there's nothing in it for me even if I win, I can't promise I'll give it my full effort. Maybe 60 percent. 75, if you're lucky."
"Unbelievable." Rin said. "And you call yourself a hero."
"If I might humbly remind you, you are the one who summoned me." Black Archer said. "Therefore, it stands to reason that I am, if not as much of a hero as you want, as much of a hero as you deserve."
"You..." Rin began, then stopped. "Well, as long as you're willing to fight for me. You are willing to do at least that much, right?"
"I don't have any particular desire to win the Grail... but I do not like to lose." Black Archer admitted. "There's that motivating me, at least."
"And I'm not here to fight for the Grail, but I do have my own reasons for fighting." Red Archer said. "So don't count me out of this War just yet."
"Glad to hear it." Rin said. "Now, there's a bridge nearby that gives a good vantage point over the city. I think it might be useful for spotting any other Servants that might be around. If I recall correctly, Archers don't have the ability to sense enemies at a distance like Caster, but you do have excellent eyesight — so if two Servants got into a battle, it would be easy for you to see the light show and identify their location..."
Rin walked out of her house and onto the streets of Fuyuki, her Servants following behind her.