Satsuki sat on the couch in the rented hotel. Her job with Sumire paid well enough that she could easily afford to splurge a bit and pay for one with a bit of class. She had deliberately picked a different one to Arcueid due to Shirou's hypothesized cross catalyst contamination and thus the ascetic of the room was that of a traditional Japanese hotel and not the western one on the opposite end of town. She had hoped by now to have already summoned her servant but she had held off until later when the call from her mentor came through. Her left hand itched with the feel of command seals upon them and she longed to officially enter the grail war.
She was painfully aware that by entering the war that she deliberately put herself up against Shirou and Arcueid, two beings that could probably fight an entire army and come out not much worse for wear. The logical thing to do in this situation was to stand aside and let them both eliminate the rest of the competition before duking it out but she refused to sit on the sidelines cowering away from those who may be stronger than her.
She had trained with Sumire over the past year ever since her woeful performance during the Tatari incident. In the times that she had off work she had honed both her fighting skill and the power of her reality marble fighting against the much older woman. Even as her defence was crushed and her mana depletion field was overwhelmed, she persevered growing stronger by the day and learning strengthening magic and perfecting her ability to teleport. She even managed to increase the power of her reality marble so that it can drain a person's Od directly.
She grimaced at a sudden memory. Sumire had praised the development of the ability and then stated that it was still immature and wouldn't harm anybody with an above average lifeforce. Shirou was surprisingly harsher, calling it a half-priced knock off of Akiha Tohno's abilities that lacked any great potential. He had said it with absolute certainty and without any cruelty which only made it worse. It had been a depressed Satsuki who had reluctantly turned away from the ability.
A sudden knock from the door resounded in the empty room and in the next instant the chamber was occupied by another. Sumire had entered the room in a bold red bikini and carrying a glass of Champagne in her arm. In an instant she had laid the champagne out on the nearby table, produced two glasses and filled both of them to the brim.
"Come sit down Satsuki," she called to her apprentice flashing a smile at her shocked look. "I have good news."
Satsuki knelt down on the other side of the table facing Sumire. She was slightly flummoxed by the actions of her teacher. Initially she thought that she would have shown up with a catalyst for the war or at least with a gameplan. Yet it seemed as if her mentor just wanted to reminisce with her. She felt a pang of annoyance that she stifled. This was meant to be her moment to shine, to step out from the shadow of those stronger than her. She could have summoned her servant by now and got to know them.
But still she just couldn't remain irritated at Sumire. The woman had done an immeasurable amount for her. Ever since she had gotten bitten, Shirou had operated on her and she had become something else she had found a wall between her others. She barely called her parents anymore and the few times she had met up with her friends since had been awkward as the things that they had treated with such importance had become so inconsequential. She found she could no longer relate to them. She had then gone to her new friends slightly panicked and heard their response.
Shirou had informed Satsuki that secrets destroy relationships and a secret of that size would cause small cracks in the day-to-day. He then stated that he would be glad to be her friend.
Arcueid had cheerfully concurred stating that she would be continue to be Satsuki's friend even if other people stopped liking her.
Sumire had gone above and beyond, finding her a job when she had felt listless, teaching her about the nature of the world when she felt clueless and training her when she felt helpless. So she remained patient as the water vampire drained her glass.
"Here," Sumire said handing her a dagger that was wrapped in a bow. "This is your graduation present."
.
.
.
"What," Satsuki said. "What do you mean by graduation?"
"Congratulations," Sumire said smiling. "No longer are you my apprentice. I deem you fit to go out into the wide world."
"Why, why now of all times?" Satsuki spluttered accusingly. "I'm about to start the Holy Grail War and now I'm on my own."
Sumire eyed her up for the moment and then smiled wide. "Yup," she said. "I can no longer teach you anything more."
At this she got up to leave only to have her arm grabbed by Satsuki.
"Why teacher," she said with just a note of despair in her voice. "I need you. Arcueid and Shirou are too strong for me to face yet. I'll just lose and it will be humiliating."
"No," said Sumire and her voice contained a harsh note so unlike the usual cheer that it briefly caused her former apprentice to recoil. "Satsuki Yumizuka the schoolchild would have lost without a fight. Satsuki Yumizuka the newborn prodigy vampire would have been destroyed. You, my Satsu are not those people anymore."
Sumire turned to face her young friend raising her hands in the air. "Your speed and strength could compare to the weaker ancestors despite being far younger. Your magic power is strong even among the ancestors, your use of magic is efficient and your teleportation is something that gives you an advantage over all but four beings in the world."
Sumire lowered her arms. "Do you know your weakness Satsu." At the younger vampire's shaking head Sumire sighed. "Stop this," she commanded and a bolt of purple light shot from a pointing finger towards Satsuki.
Satsuki immediately summoned her reality marble draining the mana away in front of her causing the purple bolt to unravel. Before it could finish she was forced to dodge letting the remainder of the purple bolt fly past and impact the wall. She turned back to see Sumire shaking her head. "That simple spell would have been blocked unconsciously by the version of you just four years ago," Sumire said plainly shocking her young companion. "Your reality marble has actually grown weaker over time. It has become like an ill-suited shirt. Sometimes it's just better to ditch it and put on a bikini," Sumire said stretching showing off her assets.
"What are you saying," Satsuki said disbelievingly. "I shouldn't use it."
"I've retired from being your master," Sumire said. "You've all grown up Satsu. Time to figure it out yourself." At these last words Sumire teleported from the room.
Satsuki flopped down on the couch suddenly feeling less confident than she was beforehand. Feeling the weight in her hand she examined the dagger she had received. Besides the red ribbon that was tied to the dagger there was also a note attached. Opening the note she began to read to herself.
To Satsu
No doubt I have already expounded on your problems with your reality marble by now. The dagger is meant to act as a stopgap. It focuses the power of the users into the blade causing it to drain mana, od and prana into anything the blade hits.
Shirou helped a bit but I mostly made it.
Love you Satsu
Sumire
Putting down the letter she noticed the blade. It was dark black with wavy characters done in navy script in a very distinctive style. "Shirou helped a bit my butt," she said. "I need to clear my head.
At that thought she grabbed her jacket and headed into the cold night air.
xxx
There was a chill wind that Satsuki did not notice as she walked down the streets of Miyama. Thoughts bubbled inside her head and the command seals on her hand prickled as if to tell her to get on with this. She was honestly thinking of giving up on being a Master. The one consolation would be that neither Arcueid nor Shirou would kill her but neither would they treat her with kid's gloves.
Not for the first time she contemplated the reasons both of them had participated in this battle. Shirou was going at it focused on his long-awaited battle with Gilgamesh and Arcueid most likely thought that whatever they were doing was fun. Even if they didn't have that reason she knew that they could both come out of it without any repercussions as they were both extremely strong.
"I wish I could be strong like that," Satsuki said to herself in frustration.
"Are you sure you desire that kind of strength," a feminine voice spoke up from behind Satsuki. Whirling around she was confronted by the figure of a beautiful woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a tailored man's business suit which did absolutely nothing to distract from the perfection that was her figure. On her face was a beautiful smile as she examined Satsuki.
"There are many types of strength," the woman continued. "There is strength of will, of character, of mind and of body. Maybe you are looking for the wrong strength."
Satsuki just continued to stare at the woman for a moment before she snapped out of her daze. "Sorry," she said shamefacedly due to her staring. "My name is Satsuki."
"My name is Leone," the gorgeous woman said still smiling. "And what is such a beautiful woman doing looking for strength."
"Aha, you heard that," Satsuki said blushing.
"Of course," Leone said. "Feel free to unload your problems on me. Let me see if I could offer any advice."
Satsuki opened her mouth to talk to decline the offer and then she shut it. She would likely never see the woman again and she had come to no conclusions on her own.
"I'm entering a competition," she said heavily censoring the events. "And the competition is better than me. I'm considering just quitting. I don't know how I would cope if after all my hard work I just lost humiliatingly."
The woman just nodded at her, "What are you trying to prove," she said. "And who are you trying to prove it to."
"What do you mean?" Satsuki asked curiously, surprised at the unusual answer.
"Your words gave no indication that you sought to win this competition for a prize. They imply that your self-esteem and pride is your reason for entering." At seeing Satsuki's confused look she clarified. "Your reason for not entering is that you believe it will only humiliate you. That is the language of somebody who has something to prove. The only question is to whom you have to prove it."
Satsuki was momentarily silent as she digested the words. For a moment she ignored the woman who just sat in silence and watched with that persistent smile on her face. Truth is that she didn't know the answer. Despite being her mentor Sumire had already as good as stated that she already was aware of Satsuki's potential and that her student had already proven that her apprenticeship was well worth the investment in time.
She thought back to her other friends Shirou and Arcueid. Just once she would like to surprise both of them and wow them with her power, but that was more of a side bonus than the true reason.
She contemplated the question for a few more seconds before she came up with a sudden indisputable answer.
"Myself," she said. "I want to prove to myself that I am extraordinary and that I deserve to be up there with my friends." That was the truth. In the end Satsuki was a magical prodigy but compared to a Magician and the Last True Ancestor she was ordinary. For once in her life she was completely honest with herself. She didn't want to reach her potential; she wanted to surpass her potential. There was no inherently noble goal. She had simply come to disdain her past incomplete self and she desperately wanted to reach her glorious complete future self.
"My goal is simply to be the best I can be," she said completely honestly causing Leone to look at her and quirk and eyebrow. "Thank you for the advice, I need to go enter a competition now." With one last smile towards her confidant she turned and headed back to the hotel.
xxx
The room was set up with the proper procedures for summoning a servant. The simple circle was drawn on the floor in chalk. The ritual was remarkably simple if no modifications were done to it and Satsuki desired to add only one large variation.
The command seals acted as a key to access the power of the grail. The circle acted as a beacon to draw and bind the servant. The catalyst acted as a method by which to select from the vast library of heroic spirits.
Stepping forward Satsuki walked until she was at the edge of the circle. Then she stuck her hand with the command seals in. Forgoing the usual chant she simply pumped all her prana into the first command seal.
"My perfect servant," she intoned. "Come from the throne of heroes and team up with me."
A flash of light caused her to briefly cover her eyes and take a step back. Blinking to clear her eyes, she saw a figure that was lacking in height.
"What a pathetic child to have summoned me," the words tumbled out and Satsuki was able to get her first glimpse at her servant. "A worm that flings itself into the mouth of birds praying futilely to turn into a butterfly."
The servant that stood in front of her was a child with blue hair and wearing old fashioned clothing. He had an aristocratic look and sharp eyes.
"Are you my servant," Satsuki asked.
"You truly lack the brains of even the slowest ass," the servant huffed. "I am the ally you have called. My name is Hans Christian Anderson. I am basically useless in combat simply a third rank servant suitable for a weak Master."
"I am not weak," Satsuki replied back vehemently.
"Your mind and soul fester like pus," the servant answered back. "Any tenacity you gather is like broken glass. Like a fool that decides to undertake a journey but is too petrified to even leave the house. What a waste of potential."
Satsuki looked as if she was about to retort, and then stopped. Taking a breath she smiled. "Thank you," she said. "You have my thanks for bolstering my resolve. Feel free to criticize this humble fool any time you want. But as some motivation," she said raising her hand.
"Hans Christian Anderson, record my story accurately down to every last scrap of detail," she said as the second command seal on her hand faded away. "That should be some motivation for you to assist me. You wouldn't want to write a poor story, would you?"
Her servant looked at her again with such intensity from her piercing eyes and then smiled. "Alright," he said holding his hand out to shake. "I can work with this." As she took his hand and shook it her servant spoke up again. "Master, let's make your story one that will retold until the end of the world."
Author Note: This chapter was hard to get out. Anderson is a bitch to write.
Fathira Not really. Gilgamesh is still incarnated.
Celestial Brush Wow I haven't thought about Lupine Horror's story for a while. Actually now that I think about it both Inke and Black Wing are the same in some ways and the complete opposites in the others. Both magicians and regularily create mystic codes, enjoy experimenting with magic and surrounded by woman, both have Len as a familiar.
But Inke is active and masculine. Black Wing is passive and feminine. Inke would actually be Neutral Good. Black Wing would be True Neutral. Inke is extroverted. Black Wing is introverted. Inke regularly seeks out confrontation and Black Wing likes to be left alone. Huh what are the odds.