Summons in the Dark
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Hmm...it was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. Such a simulacra as it is anyway. Copied out once again to fight yet another unholy Grail War, I can only assume suppose mankind still needs a Master such as me.
Let's take stock. First off, what am I wearing? Ah, it seems to be yet another school uniform; that's not a good sign. I am currently in a church which, according to the Grail (don't trust it overmuch even when there isn't a last boss-type kouhai character hacking it) is on Earth in the past. Approximately a quarter of a century which is odd, since that implies I have appeared on the other side of a Quantum Timelock. To be more specific, this is the Fifth Holy Grail War of Fuyuki, Japan, Earth, 2005.
No choice of companion, given that she's already here, if slacking off by pretending to have fallen asleep while casually leaning on me, "Casko."
"Yes~ what can your devoted wife do for you today?"
I lightly chop her head to emphasize the seriousness of our situation. "Get. To. Work." For some reason, this War has progressed from a simple one Master-one Servant affair into a team battle. My specialty, perhaps. However, rather than rogue or stray Servants wandering about to be recruited, we need Tamamo to actually summon a Servant. Specifically a Saber, and possibly why she's avoiding it.
Looking about, the rather garish use of colors and undersized furnishings suggest the room we are standing in is used by children. Fortunately there's plenty of room for a proper magic circle.
Several hours passed as Tamamo put together the design given by the Grail. The need seemed odd to the two of them, given that they had already been summoned, but this was answered when the last details had been put in place.
The circle lit up, even though neither of them had even begin passing magical energy through the formation. "It must be coming directly from the Grail," Caster whispered, taking out her mirror and a stack of charms. Preparations that were all too prudent given that soon after, the circle faded back into its de-energized state as a Servant signature appeared somewhere else in the church.
"We might have been tricked," her Master replied evenly. "But if there's supposed to be teams, they are hopefully an ally Servant."
"An astute guess," a voice spoke up from the other side of the room's only door. The speaker kept themselves out of view, despite their claim of being a friend rather than foe.
"Forgive my Master's caution, but we weren't informed the Grail intended to use our circle to directly summon other Servants." Though not directly offensive in nature, her mirror floated to stand between her and the door.
"It is the privilege of the forgiven to be able to forgive," he said, showing himself fearlessly. Dressed richly with the clear trappings of a priest, he nevertheless presented a figure armed with a Japanese sword and Black Keys. Not an ordinary priest, was the thought of the two facing him. "Who might you be, Master who looks like a Servant?"
"Me? Francis Xavier, Master. At your service."
He nodded briefly, putting away his weapons. "Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, Rider. Please do not worry about my Master; as he was indisposed, I am currently using his corpse."
"Just a hunch, but he wouldn't happen to have been a priest named Kotomine Kirei? Though your hair and complexion are the opposite of him... maybe that was rude of me."
Amakusa leaned in the doorway, keeping an eye back out towards the church's main entrance. "I didn't know the man, and his body had decomposed somewhat before I was summoned into it, so any similarities to a priest you know elsewhere are likely coincidental."
"Oh it was mostly your choice of weapons," Tamamo motioned towards his left hand, which had held the Black Keys. "That's because this priest had used them. The sword is mine, though. Might I ask your name?"
"Can't you tell by these fox ears, fluffy tail, and cute uniform? I'm the high school Servant Sukuza G-"
"What are you doing?!" We were definitely not in the position to garner any ill-will, so I stepped in. "Caster, Tamamo. I hope you two can work together."
"Indeed, let us unite for a greater goal, the Grail," he replied solemnly as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. Well, as a priest perhaps he would think differently about the Grail. That thing is quite a disappointment often enough, though.
"I was just wondering if, as a Saint, he might have the ability to identify Servants on sight. But it seems like he doesn't, since he didn't react to either of us."
"Perhaps, but it was a risk for you, since I'm not potential threat."
"Have you given a thought to our team composition?" Amakusa prompted us after the silence had dragged on for a while.
"There are a couple of red Sabers that might show up," I shrug. "Honestly, we lack real control over who will answer our call. At least, its guaranteed to be a Servant of the right class."
"I guess there's nothing but to roll for it," Tamamo concluded, turning back to the circle. Some pink petals fell out of her sleeves as she began feeding energy into the circle. "Come forth, our fated guardian of the balance!"
The flash of light the usually accompanied a successful summoning condensed into our group's third Servant, a young woman wearing a pink old-style kimono with a sword.
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(Shinji)
I really thought he was going to kill me!
After I had told that small Servant boy everything I knew about Grandfather's actions in the War, which wasn't much, that priest only waited long enough for him to confirm it before simply ordering, "dispose of him." In retrospect, it shouldn't have been surprising, given that Sakura thought well of the two of them, and look what she did to me...
When Gilgamesh pinned me to the ground and took out that syringe, it was pretty obvious that he was about to put me down like a dog. But-
The room I awakened in some time later seemed to have been the site of a bloody fight, and ransacked besides. There was a magic circle, much like the one used to summon Rider, on the floor, somewhat damaged. Unusual as that was, it wasn't the primary thing that concerned Shinji at that moment. Rather, the clearly-a-Servant woman who had been waiting patiently for him to rouse commanded his attention.
"Kotomine is dead. If you still wish to fight, arrangements have been made in the Fuyuki church." She tapped the end of her long staff on the ground. No, rather it looked like a cross between a crucifix and a weapon.
An unexpected offer. Could it be a trick? Perhaps. On the other hand, it wouldn't make sense to bother with such a game either. He sat up and looked her straight in the eye. "You will need to give me a bit more to go on than that."
"Ruler, Martha. I am currently administering the Holy Grail War as the late Overseer abandoned his post. It is the Grail's invitation to you, as a Master."
Ruler? That jogged his memory somewhat. Grandfather had been worried that one would detect his, interventions, in the War. If even he was worried, I'm not going to hang on his account. "If you know all that, clearly you can find another Master. I'm not a magus, right?"
"I already asked another, but all she said was, 'But I refuse,' and left Fuyuki. I can certainly still make other arrangements, but as you exercised a Command Spell previously, you are still in line. Yes, even if, as I know, the means was less than fully orthodox."
If it is that Martha, and the Holy Grail is real, perhaps that means the magi are wrong about god. Either that or old-fashioned karma. There was no better way to get back at that girl and Rider than having a Servant, properly his own, to take them down. Reversals were common in war, after all.
With that hope in mind, Shinji prepared his next words carefully. "Things have clearly changed, then. What are the terms of battle?"
"This special phase is a team battle. Four Servants on each side. One side wins when all listed opposing Masters and Servants are dead. Survivors make a unanimous list of wishes, granted all at once, or subject to resubmission."
His eyebrows raised at one particular condition. "Even Masters? That's different."
"Not my decision. Even Masters." She repeated with a tone of indifference.
"I'll fight."
Ruler closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "Since you seem slightly 'under the weather', it should be fair to use a healing miracle on you. But you should make your way to the church on your own. However, there is still sufficient time left of ceasefire for that."
As she began the procedure for the miracle, a thought occurred to her patient of the moment. "Can I ask a random question?"
"I might be able to answer."
"You're a Saint, does that mean heaven actually exists?"
"Hoh. I actually was summoned from the Throne of Heroes, though perhaps there's an original Martha in heaven. Who can say?"
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(Francis Xavier, aka Hakuno Kishinami)
Hakuno turned to Tamamo, who was positively glowing with satisfaction at her achievement. "Why couldn't you have summoned a hot guy?"
She pouted. "If that's what you really want, I can take care of it, you know? But wait, no my dream was to be a faithful wife... ah. You're teasing me aren't you?!"
"Yes, if you meant I wasn't being serious. No, if you meant I was trying to flirt with you."
Tamamo glanced at Amakusa, who was watching their exchange expressionlessly. "Thank goodness you're a priest. Anyway, could you introduce yourself please?" she returned to the swordswoman who had just joined them.
"Oh! Shinsengumi's first unit's captain, Okita Souji. Are you my Master? Or are you?"
"Ahem. Properly speaking I am your Master, and she is my Master," Caster explained, looking her over absentmindedly. "You should have a particular banner Noble Phantasm, yes?"
"Eh? My haori? Oh, you mean the (Flag of Sincerity)." The Saber looked about as though it would be somehow lying near her, before it appeared in her hand. "I don't know how many it can summon, though. Due to the magical energy use...?"
Hakuno looked askance at her. "Ok, so Caster summons a Saber, who can summon even more Servants?"
Tamamo took up the explanation, probably because she had read up on it. "They are much weaker than any regularly summoned Servant, without Noble Phantasms, but of course they shouldn't simply be charged in like an expendable Attack Program in the first place."
Okita rested the flag on her shoulder. "Well some of us might want to charge regardless. But I assure you we are a disciplined fighting force. *cough*?!"
"Ah."
"Ah."
Everyone present froze as Saber coughed up a small, but noticeable amount of blood. "It's... that, isn't it?" Hakuno muttered to her Servant quietly.
"I can do something about it," Tamamo frowned. "Though I wanted to save it for us, a charm made with my Fox's Wedding should be able to provide temporary... symptomatic relief."
"How temporary?" Okita asked with great interest.
"Maybe an hour? Enough for a battle."
"A Great Victory!" she pumped a fist in excitement, about the time that Amakusa broke in. "I think the last Master has arrived."
The church doors opened slowly, making just enough sound to be heard by the Servants inside.
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Notes:
Pretty much what happened is Ruler was maintaining the church's wards, while rather crudely summoning Hakuno and Tamamo, so that the latter could do the magecraft work to more efficiently summon the following three Servants.