Prologue — Day 1: Rin — White Lancer Girl
Rin spent most of the day showing her two Servants around Fuyuki City.
Her Archers were insolent, insubordinate, and had rather twisted senses of humor. Yet somehow, the more she talked to them, the more Rin found herself liking them. Though she had initially planned to spend the time planning her strategy for fighting the other Masters and Servants, they somehow ended up talking about all sorts of other topics. And though she often found herself arguing or trading insults with her Servants, the experience was strangely enjoyable.
Perhaps she hadn't messed up the summoning as badly as she'd initially thought. She might not have gotten Saber like she wanted, but it seemed she'd received Servants who were well-suited to her personality.
In fact, Rin ended up having such a good time that she completely lost track of the time. It wasn't until her Servants pointed it out to her that she noticed it was already evening. With the sun beginning to sink low in the sky, it was starting to become dangerous. Rin was still getting used to bearing the prana burden of her two Servants; she didn't want to get into a fight just yet. But if other Masters had already been chosen, nighttime was when they would start seeking each other out for battles.
One of the rules of the Holy Grail War was that the participants were not allowed to let any ordinary humans witness it. This was normally enforced by killing any civilians who happened to see the War. However, killing large numbers of civilians would in itself attract attention, so there was an informal understanding among Masters that battles should take place at night. Thus, while Rin had felt relatively safe walking in the open with her Servants during the day, the darkening sky served as a signal that she should retreat back to the safety of her house.
Of course, fights between Servants did sometimes happen during the day; but in those cases the Masters tried to at least choose an isolated location for the confrontation. A few civilian deaths here and there was probably inevitable, but the Masters would tread carefully lest they cause too big of a mess. The last War had turned into an absolute disaster in the end: on the final day, the conflict had resulted in a massive fire sweeping through the city and killing hundreds of people. A couple of Masters had survived; but with their Servants gone, they'd been unable to claim the Grail.
Rin's father hadn't been one of the Masters who caused the fire. He'd been eliminated from the War before that day. That, at least, was something Rin could take a small measure of comfort in.
After the catastrophic Fourth War, it seemed certain that the Fifth would be supervised far more strictly. Any Master who seemed to be causing too many problems would doubtless incur the wrath of Kirie Kotomine. As the overseer of the War, the bastard of a priest had certain means for enforcing his rulings. At best, he might decide to hand out some free Command Spells to the other Masters to give them an advantage over the offending party. At worst... well, Kotomine was a former Executor for the Church's Burial Agency. He had some experience at killing magi. And if he deemed one of the Masters unfit to possess the Grail, he would no doubt take any necessary measures to enforce his judgement.
Recently, a serial killer had claimed a number of victims in Fuyuki. It had now been at least two months since the beginning of the killing spree, and the police still had no leads in the investigation. While this was certainly unfortunate for the community, it might actually be a good thing as far as the War went. Since many people were now afraid to go out at night, the chances of there being any witnesses to a battle between Masters was much lower. The streets Rin now walked were completely deserted.
Rin bit her lip, wishing that she'd been more aware of the time. She wasn't afraid of any mere serial killer — any ordinary human, no matter how dangerous, would be utterly helpless against the strength of a Servant — but the lack of any witnesses meant that if she did encounter another Master, there would be nothing to prevent them from attacking.
"Someone's approaching." Red Archer said.
Rin tensed. Since not many ordinary people were out, the chance of it being an enemy Master was high. But if Rin revealed her Servants and it did turn out to be an innocent civilian, Rin would have to kill them to maintain the secrecy of the War. Better to be certain first.
"Remain in spiritual form unless I'm attacked or I give you an order." Rin instructed.
Her eyesight was much weaker than that of an Archer-class Servant, but as she walked beneath a street lamp, the approaching person was finally coming into sight.
The person was a teenage girl, about Rin's age. She wore a refined and elegant long blue dress. Her hair was a golden blonde, and had been styled into magnificent coils that stretched almost to her waist.
To her surprise, Rin realized that she recognized the girl.
"Luvia!?" Rin blurted out.
Luviagelita Edelfelt was a student at the London Clock Tower, headquarters of the Magus Association. When Rin had last visited the Clock Tower, to prepare to enrollment there upon her graduation from high school, the two had met and become instant enemies. Part of the reason was historical: during the Third Grail War, the Edelfelts had managed to summon Saber, the most powerful Servant. And yet, despite this advantage, they'd been defeated by the Tohsaka Master. They'd then failed to be selected to participate at all in the Fourth Grail War. The Edelfelts had never forgiven the Tohsaka family for this humiliation.
The rest of the reasons for Rin's dislike of her were personal. Luvia was incredibly rich and loved to flaunt her wealth. While the Tohsaka family was wealthy in theory, Rin's magic required the use of many precious gemstones, meaning she often had little spending money actually on hand. Then there was her personality. Luvia acted aristocratic and graceful towards other people, but when Rin was around she showed her true colors: a competitive, perfectionist, cold-hearted bitch.
"My, my." Luvia said. "If it isn't Rin Tohsaka."
"What are you doing here, Luvia?" Rin demanded. "The Fuyuki territory is under Tohsaka administration!"
"As it so happens, I am here on the direct orders of none other than Lord El-Melloi II himself!" Luvia announced haughtily.
She raised a scroll which bore the El-Melloi seal. Lord El-Melloi II was a highly distinguished professor at the Clock Tower; more significantly, he was one of only two surviving Masters who remained from the Fourth War. His Servant had been defeated just hours before the fire, and he had thus barely escaped the flames. Since then, he had become both extremely popular and highly respected. His word carried a lot of weight; if it was on his orders, then even an Edelfelt intrusion into Tohsaka territory could be tolerated.
"And what's so important that he had to send you all the way from London?" Rin asked.
"Well, since you're walking around at night, you might not be aware; but there's a serial killer in Fuyuki." Luvia began.
"I'm aware." Rin scowled.
"After some investigation, it appears that the murders were committed using magecraft." Luvia continued. "With the Grail War having come again so soon, the presence of a serial-killer magus in Fuyuki is naturally of great concern to him."
Rin understood. Famously, one of the opposing Masters who fought in the Fourth War had been a serial killer. As a child, Rin had actually met the insane Master face-to-face, though mercifully only briefly. The thought of a someone so sick and twisted gaining the unlimited power of the Grail was a nightmare. Of course Lord El-Melloi II, who had actually faced the Master and his Servant in battle, would want to investigate any possibility that such a circumstance might repeat itself.
"So, he sent me to find the culprit." Luvia concluded.
"I administrate this land." Rin said. "Why wasn't I asked to perform the investigation?"
"If you'd been keeping up with the news, you'd know that all of the victims were foreigners — to be specific, foreigners with blonde hair and blue eyes." Luvia fingered one of her golden curls. "The Association figures that I'd make the perfect bait to draw the killer's attention. And when he does show his face — wham! I'll give him a taste of Lancashire-style martial combat!"
"Well, good for you." Rin sighed. "I'm actually a bit relieved. When I saw you, my first thought was that you'd come as a participant in the Grail War."
Luvia's mouth stretched into a wicked smile.
"Why, it's funny you should mention that, Rin." Luvia said gleefully. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."
Luvia took a step to the side, and a female figure materialized behind her. She wore a form-fitting, single-piece white body suit with the number "00" written above her sternum. Her skin was so pale it was almost as white as her suit, and her red eyes gave her an albino-like appearance. Her short hair was an unusual light blue color.
What drew Rin's attention the most, however, was the weapon she held.
It was a massive lance, blood red in color, which split into two tines at one end. Despite it being as long as she was tall, the girl seemed to hold the lance without difficulty, as though it weighed nothing in her hands. Such a weapon could only be a Noble Phantasm. Which meant...
"A Servant!?" Rin said.
"That's right!" Luvia said. "Rin, allow me to introduce you to Servant Lancer. Lancer, Rin."
The slender Servant gave no response, but simply stared at Rin.
"You were chosen by the Grail?" Rin asked. "You!?"
"There's no need to sound so surprised." Luvia said. "The Edelfelt family has participated in the Grail War in the past, so my selection shouldn't be too unbelievable."
"But you just told me you were sent here by Lord El-Melloi II!" Rin protested. "You didn't mention anything about receiving Command Spells!"
"Well... as to that." Luvia said. "Actually, I wasn't a Master when I left London. But I had only just arrived here in Fuyuki when I ran into her."
Luvia gestured at her Lancer.
"Lancer told me that something had gone wrong with her summoning and that she had failed to make a contract with the Master who had called her." Luvia continued. "Seeing that I was an eligible magus, she asked me to become her Master instead. I entered into a contract with her, and the Grail acknowledged me as a Master and granted me Command Spells."
She smiled with smug satisfaction.
"You mean you wandered into town for completely unrelated reasons and a Servant just happened to fall into your lap!?" Rin raged. "That is so completely unfair! It's ridiculous! I should report you to the supervisor for this!"
Luvia ignored her well-reasoned and completely legitimate objections.
"Since you're a Tohsaka magus, that means you've been chosen as a Master, right?" Luvia said. "So you can hardly complain when I give you a good beating. Better call your Servant if you want to live!"
"Oh, I'll do you one better than that." Rin said. "Archers! Show yourselves!"
Red Archer and Black Archer shifted into their physical forms, materializing on either side of Rin. Luvia's eyes widened as she realized the implications.
"That's right." Rin said gleefully. "Not one, but two Archers — and they're both mine."
"You mean you somehow cheated the Grail and managed to summon not one but two Servants!?" Luvia raged. "That is so completely unfair! It's ridiculous! I should report you to the supervisor for this!"
Rin ignored her senseless tirade.
"If you want to fight me, go ahead." Rin said. "But don't think I'll go easy on you — quite the opposite, in fact."
Luvia struggled to compose herself.
"Well, if you want to be technical about it, my first duty here in Fuyuki is to track down the serial killer." Luvia said. "My obligation to Lord El-Melloi II comes first; it's only after I've completed that assignment that I'll be free to pursue the Grail for myself."
"So, basically, you're saying that despite contracting a Servant, you have no intention of participating in the War yet?" Rin asked.
"I'll fight." Luvia said. "And I'll win. It is my responsibility as the successor to the Edelfelt family to fulfill my obligations, so I'm going to finish the job I was given and hunt down this serial killer magus. But make no mistake: once that is done, I'll see to it that the Edelfelts' loss to the Tohsakas seventy years ago is avenged."
Luvia turned on her heel and strode stiffly away. Her Servant followed after her, keeping one eye on Rin in case she tried launching a surprise attack from behind. But Rin had no intention of fighting at the moment; the surprise confrontation with Luvia had left her feeling drained emotionally as well as physically, and her only desire now was to get back to the safety of her own house and wait out the night.
Her two Archers by her side, Rin continued on her way home, wondering if this Holy Grail War could get any stranger.