I do not own Fate: Zero or any of the fandoms from which the characters in the story come from. This story was largely inspired by Fate: Zero Sense, which you should read. Now.
To address the reviews (which I am very, very grateful for):
Gashadokuro Amanojaku
I will explain why there are different servants in this Holy Grail War, but though hints will be dropped, the biggest part will be told during the dream sequence. It has to do with Puella Magi Madoka Magica, though. The reason for Rider being the only normal hero summoned is related to that. The first chapter was a bit short, so I'm attempting to expand the storyline here, though it's difficult when Caster just has gotten summoned. In terms of servants, your guesses for Lancer and Berserker are correct. The girl with Iskander is a servant mentioned in the first lines. I didn't really expect anyone to find out who Archer, Assassin, or Caster are.
DarkBeast42
Your guess about Saber is also correct.
guestreviewer
I have no idea why most stories are about Fate/Zero and not Fate/Acropycha, but I would assume one reason would be having to create new masters (unless, of course, the masters are the same as from the Fate/Acropycha light novel.) Also, Fate/Zero is possibly more popular, though I may merely be speculating about this. My reasons were simply that I don't know enough manga/anime to do that.
Author's Note: I planned to upload Lancer's skill sheet at the end, but my computer gave up on me and deleted it, so I will probably add it next chapter. I will probably update frequently, as this is my break, so be prepared for another chapter.
(At the Tosaka mansion…)
Tokomi was certain that his servant was a idiot.
Who else would go outside, with a mana trace on her, and ask a master for directions? (Though at least the master had been Kotomine, so no harm was done.)
Who else would disguise herself and approach Rider in public? (No harm had been done here either, as she had not been identified as a servant. However, something bad could have happened. Tokomi was also ashamed to say he had been amused by their reactions.)
If Archer was not an idiot, then she was a genius, and she was messing with his head on purpose. And if Archer was a genius, the world was screwed.
"Master?" Archer's voice interrupted him from his musings. "Are you okay?" Tokomi gritted his teeth. Damn that girl and her power to sound like his daughter! It was difficult to use what was essentialy a child soldier, no matter her heroic deeds, and even more so when she acted like his children- child. After all, Sakura was no longer his daughter. She was safe and sound with the Mato's. "Do you need something?" Pulling himself together, Tokomi met his servant's eyes and replied.
"I am alright, Archer, though thank you. Would you not like to talk with Assassin?" Perhaps because Assassin was only a bit older than Archer, or maybe because Assassin reminded Archer of one of her friends, the two were close. Either way, it would be welcome if Archer left his side, no matter for what reason.
"What's our plan?" Archer ignored her Master's suggestion, and instead brightly smiled at him. Tokomi was considering using a command spell.
(I order thee to leave me in peace, Archer!)
No, that was a bad idea, even if it did made Tokomi chuckle. The only option he really had was to tell Archer their plans, ad hope she left shortly after.
"When Caster is summoned," Tokomi told his servant, "we will fake Assassin's death. You will 'kill' her after she attempts to assassinate me."
'Why not make her attack now?" Archer looked over Tokomi's shoulder at his desk. "If Kirei really betrayed you, it would make more sense for him to attack now and break another rule."
"True," admitted Tokomi. "Do you suggest we change the plan?" Perhaps Archer was not an idiot after all.
"Also," added Archer, "Let's not make it a wipeout. It's better that others think I am weak rather than strong, right? The enemy underestimating you could help more than overestimating you." Tokomi nodded, realizing that his servant was right. He made a few marks on the plan, which he would inform Kotomine about. Kotomine's servant could withstand almost any attack, after all.
"Thank you for your input, Archer. Now, could you tell Kotomine about the changes to the plan?" The red haired girl nodded and ran off.
Archer weaved through the crowd without any problem, due to her small figure. Though she could always turn into spirit form, this method was preferred by the servant, and Tokomi made no objection. She wore earmuffs to hide the hole on the left side of her head, but otherwise, she looked normal.
A sense of prana overwhelmed Archer, and she noticed a man with his sweater zipped up and his hood covering the face.
Kariya Mato.
Archer wished she didn't have to kill him, but she had no choice. His wish would be one she would be happy with granting, however, she had a wish too.
The servant abandoned her task and began following the Master, talking loudly to make sure he heard her.
"I already know what I'm going to wish for when Tokomi and I win the Grail war! I bet no other servant can match my power!" Sure, it might have been a bit over-the-top, but what other way was better to grab Kariya's attention and make him notice her? (Also, of course, this idiotic action would make him underestimate her and influence his views.)
She noticed how, when Kariya entered a crowd, he exited with the addition of a black haired girl wearing a simple school uniform. This girl must be Berserker.
"I'm so glad I was summoned!" Archer continued talking loudly as Berserker and Kariya cautiously watched her. "Well, I should turn into spirit form. I don't want to drain too much from Tokomi!" That was a dead giveaway to her servant hood.
She was safe, after all, since Caster had not yet been summoned, and Kariya probably didn't have enouh mana to waste on this attack. The Holy Grail war had not yet officially started, and an attack would break the rules. Archer spun around, headed for Kotomine. It wouldn't do any good to linger around Kariya and Berserker, despite the above reasons.
Berserker returned to spirit form and hovered next to her master. Kariya grimly walked forward, worry written all over his face.
Master. Kariya looked up, his face morphing into a gentle smile when he realized who was talking. Don't worry about Archer. She can't attack us.
Kariya slightly nodded, and Berserker noticed that he seemed more relieved. She, too, smiled now.
I'm more worried about her exclamations of power. I'm not underestimating you, but your attacks will be limited anyway, due to the crest worms.
True, admitted Berserker. Still, there's no use brooding. Let's find a place to stay.
Using Berserker's high charisma, they managed to get a hotel room for not too much money. As the pair walked upstairs, Kariya reflected on his servant.
The most important event in his memory was Berserker's interactions with Sakura.
"Miss?" Berserker turned to see the young Sakura staring at her as the girl clutched herself. Berserker smiled gently, seeing the girl.
"Call me Sumi." Kariya was unsure whether this was a fake name, but it was nice, seeing the two speak.
"Miss. Sumi… Please don't let Uncle Kariya die." Sakura looked downcast for a second, but looked up again. "Please." Sumi(?) smiled and hugged the girl.
"Don't worry. I will protect him, and together, we'll save you." Sumi(?) hugged tighter. "I promise."
In Kariya's mind, to act cruelly towards Sakura would be the greatest crime committed. However, Berserker had acted kindly and had comforted the purple haired girl. He knew not what other indication he needed in order to trust Berserker.
Berserker, on the other hand, trusted Kariya. She knew his wish, and fully supported it. A young girl should not live in such depravity. She also had a wish she wanted granting, but this one took priority.
"So that was Archer, huh?" Kariya laid down in the room's bed, exhausted. "She was… odd."
"Yes. I am not sure if she's an idiot, or very, very clever."
"What do you mean?" Kariya couldn't see how such actions made Archer clever.
"This could be a ruse, after all. Archer's actions could be purposeful, and merely a ruse.
"True," acknowledged Kariya. Berserker entered the kitchen.
"It looks as though there is some food," called out the girl as she scanned the cupboards. "I can make a snack, if you would like." Kariya began to weigh the pros and cons of such an action, before realizing this was simply his servant's way of being kind.
"Yes, please," he replied and sat down at the table.
In the kitchen, Berserker began to bustle about.
"How unfortunate," Berserker muttered as she worked. "Looks like I won't see you again after all. Of course, what's really ironic is how I'm Berserker. I would think someone else would take that role." Berserker paused for a second in the middle of chopping carrots. "Of course, I was the only one from my world chosen by the Devil..."
"Berserker? Are you okay?"
"Sorry, master!" Berserker turned towards the stove, only to see that the kettle of tea she had started was whistling loudly.
Wow, I spent a lot of time talking to myself.
The servant entered the main room again, carrying a cup of tea and snacks. Kariya gratefully accepted the food, and the two sat opposite each other, eating in silence.
"So, Berserker, what was your past like? I've never heard of a sane Berserker either."
"Well…" Berserker stared at her plate. "I guess I'll just say that I'm a Hero."
"A Hero?" To Kariya, that word had no significance, especially since all of the servants were heroic spirits.
"We protected our world. I have absolutely no regrets!"
"I see." Kariya softly smiled. "Then, together, I hope we can help Sakura." Berserker smiled too.
"I'll give it my all, master."
(With Waver and Rider...)
Waver picked at his McDonald's burger glumly. This was for two reasons. First of all, he hated McDonalds. The second reason had to do with the man sitting in front of him.
The summoning had gone well, of course. However, Waver had been expecting a serious, dedicated man. At the very least, he expected something different than this.
"Ha ha ha!" Waver gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to facepalm. "Why so glum, master?"
At least he recognizes that I'm the master. Waver sighed. Who am I kidding? We both know who the master is here.
"This burger is really good! This invention of ketchup is wonderful!"
Breathe in, Waver. In and out. In and out.
"Ha ha ha! Try your burger, Waver! Man really has progressed!"
In the end, Waver was at fault for getting the two kicked out.
"Let us go back to our base, boy!" Waver gritted his teeth and wondered, once again, how he got stuck with such a servant.
Waver silently led the way, thinking about last night. His servant had shown him a taste of his power, which was definitely amazing. Waver was fairly certain no servant could match up to his.
"Rider," he spoke up, "shouldn't we prepare for the war?"
"In what way, boy?"
Please don't call me boy. Instead of that, Waver said:
"Finding out the identities of other servants, maybe?" Rider laughed and hit Waver on the back.
"No need to take such underhanded strategies! We will face the other servants proudly!"
"Ow," muttered Waver, but he thought about what Rider had said.
"All right," he conceded. "Either way, Caster has not yet been summoned. All I really know is that Kayneth is a master, and the Mato, Eizbern, and Tosaka family has a representative. Besides that, we have no idea of what to expect."
"Then we will charge into this battle together!" Rider roared and turned to his master. Despite his frustration, Waver couldn't help but smile.
He said we, not I. Maybe he believes that I'm not useless…?
Kayneth could find no real fault with his servant. Lancer was well behaved, kind, and strong. To be fair, he found no records of who this mysterious boy was, but that was mostly fine, albeit a bit worrying.
The only thing he did mind was Lancer's weapon.
One day, when Lancer was sitting around (there seemed to be nothing else to do, since he was awful at spying, and Caster had not yet been summoned) his lance began to talk.
"Lancer." Lancer answered quite normally, as though there was nothing odd about this:
"Yes?"
"How long do you plan to sit around doing nothing?" Lancer grinned.
"You are right! Now is the time for the lighting king to shine!" After that, the lance had sighed, and transformed into a boy. The boy wore a visor to cover his eyes, and his hair was tied up in a spiky ponytail.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lancer's weapon."
"Umm…" Sola-Ui's eyes shifted between Lancer and his weapon. "How-"
"Just how long did you plan on keeping this a secret!" Kayneth glared at the two. "This is very important!" The weapon shrugged. At least Lancer had the decency to be a bit bashful.
"Sorry, master. We promise we're not hiding anything else." The weapon nodded. "No more secrets from us, okay?"
"So, what should we call you?" Sola-Ui seemed to have decided to settle on looking at the handsome weapon, who didn't reply with a smile, but didn't complain either.
"You can call me Lance."
'Lance' was an unknown, and Kayneth didn't like not being in control.
"Damnit," he muttered. "I just can't seem to find any records of these two!" Sola-Ui came up behind him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I can't find a record of someone named Ox anywhere. It's almost as though he doesn't exist in this universe."
(In a random house…)
"Fill, fill, fill 'er up. Repeat… four times…" Uryuu Ryuunosuke splattered blood on the floor in the shape of a weird symbol. Apparently, it was used for summoning demons. He would do it over and over again, until something happened! He would definitely do that.
Actually, he would summon multiple demons if it worked! That would be most fun.
"Wait, was it four or five? Destroy each when it's filled…" Ryuunosuke looked at the circle in confusion for a moment, then looked back at the book. "Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill… yes! Okay, it's five."
The television was on, and the newscast blared through the room:
"In other news, there has been a string of murders recently. The murders have all been families whom were murdered in their own homes. It's purpose remains unclear at the moment. A renowned professor of criminal psychology has appeared to speak-"
"Well, maybe I did have a little too much fun…" Ryuunosuke switched off the television and turned to the son of his most recent victims. The little boy was bound and gagged, and tear stains ran down his cheeks. The boy frantically wriggled his body, but to know avail.
"Hey, kid, do you think demons actually exist?" Ryuunosuke slowly began to walk towards the frightened child. "I mean, the media keeps calling me one, but don't you think that would be rude to do that if demons actually did exist?"
Ryuunosuke crouched next to the boy, grinning. "Yo! The name's Ryuunosuke Uryuu, and I'm a demon! But I'm not sure that's the proper way to go about it…" He waved the book in the boy's face. "But look at this! Apparently, my ancestors were trying to summon demons! But how boring would it be if I summoned it and just chatted! So that's why I'm going to ask…" Ryuunosuke leaned in closer to the boy, smiling.
"Would you mind if I let it eat you?"
"MMRRRRPPPPHHH!" The boy's muffled yell echoed through the room. Ryuunosuke laughed as he watched the boy squirmed.
"I wonder what it's like, getting killed by a demon. I bet it would be pretty cool!" All of a sudden, three marks burned themselves onto his hand. Ryuunosuke grimaced and turned towards the summoning circle, which was letting out smoke.
A young girl with billowing lilac hair and pink slit eyes. She wore a long sleeved white dress and white stocking. Blood gushed out of her pupils onto her cheeks.
"Are you my master?" She said this disdainfully, as though Ryuunosuke wasn't worth her time.
"Well, yeah." Ryuunosuke found his voice. "I'm currently unemployed, and-"
"I have no need to hear the ideas of a human." The girl- Caster- held out a hand. Ryuunosuke twisted and turned before becoming a sperm which joined into Caster.
Next, she turned to the screaming and crying boy. She repeated the technique on him. She still would benefit from the mana of Ryuunosuke, but she still planned to collect as many humans in order to eventually use her Noble Phantasm.
Within her soul, she heard the last cries of Ryuunosuke Uryuu, now a part of her;
That was so cool...
Kirei Kotomine stood before his father, Assassin hidden within the shadows. Archer had come by recently and detailed the changes to the plan, and Kirei had drilled his servant on the revised idea.
"Caster has been summoned." Kirei nodded.
"Does that mean we will now begin the plan?"
"Yes. I trust Assassin knows what to do?"
"Do not worry." The brunette girl appeared. "Your orders have been to eliminate your mentor. I am perfectly capable of remembering that." Unsure of whether that was a poor attempt at humor or simply her way of relaying facts, Kirei turned back to his father.
"It is time to set the plan in motion. Go forth, Assassin." The girl was there for a brief second, then disappeared into the shadows.
The servant appeared again in front of the Tosaka manor. She ducked and dodged through the security when an arrow pierced her back.
A red haired girl with green eyes appeared on top of the building. In her hands was a bow. Archer had changed her clothes from a white uniform to black long pants and shirt. Over that she had a white coat. On her neck, the number '63194' was prominent.
Assassin disappeared into the shadows once again, and popped up behind Archer. The latter servant turned and shot an arrow point blank into Assassin's eye, piercing the brain.
The normal procedure following the death of a servant happened; the brunette faded into smoke, and Archer watched triumphantly. However, something unusual happened. However, the occurrence was so slight it was likely nobody would notice.
The yellow gem on Assassin's sleeve stayed behind, glittering in the light. As Archer left the scene, she scooped up the gem in one quick motion, hiding it from view.
The Holy Grail War has officially begun. Who will be the victors, and who will be crushed?