Chapter Two: The Card That Was Dealt

Sitting in the drab, utilitarian garden outside, Kariya found himself wishing that his family were a normal family of nobles and that the place were not just one kept because noble houses are expected to have them. Notably the plants were a bit more lively than they were when Kariya had returned and started his training, the man suspected Sakura had been slipping out and tending to them with more love than they were used to. It pained him. Not that she found a hobby, but that it needed her care to begin with. The girl deserved a nice garden to play in. The Matou garden was as much a sham as the family.

Speaking of Sakura, she was in the garden right then, shyly amused at the tall, armored knight Kariya had summoned. Kariya was a little shocked that Zouken and Byakuya had let them anywhere near her, but he was certain there were familiars on all sides to keep them from just running off with her. Not that Kariya could do that even after being healed. He could walk straight again and many of the deformities the worms had given him were lessened, but the meager magus was still a mess. Regardless, apparently the strange knight had offered to share his knowledge of mage craft with Sakura, and Arthurian magic was not something the Matou family would just throw away.

"Are you really a Knight of the Round Table?" Sakura asked skeptically.

There was a smile in the knight's voice, though it was hidden by the helmet he still hadn't removed, "Indeed. You've read about the Holy Grail right? Well it allowed me to be summoned to this era to help your uncle Kariya win it."

"Why are you walking around in your armor?" Sakura leaned in close, "Is it because grandpa is a bad guy?"

"No, it's because grandpa is a big dummy."

Kariya still enjoyed that.

Sakura wasn't so sure, "Grandpa knows a lot of magic though."

"It's all dumb magic. Remember the worms?"

Sakura shuddered and her face darkened, "I don't wanna go back there."

"I know. You don't have to. I was just bringing them up because your grandpa's magic requires those. Does doing that to cast magic seem smart? Did your father ever do that stuff?"

"Why would father send me to learn magic from a dummy?"

Kariya chimed in, "Because your father is an idiot."

"He is not!" Sakura snapped, "Maybe he didn't know about the bugs?"

Kariya shrugged, humoring the girl, "Either way, you'll be safe from those things after I win the grail. Don't worry."

"You promise? Byakuya says your knight friend is going to teach me some magic. It doesn't need bugs?"

The knight chuckled, "Do I look like an idiot?"

Sakura looked at the armored figure up and down, and was too polite to point out the truth.

"Don't answer that. I'll put on more casual clothes later." he turned to Kariya, "Don't acquire those without me. I have specific needs as far as clothing goes."

"Like what?"

"We'll go over that later." the knight went back to Sakura, "Anyway. Lesson one of magic. I'm going to teach you a really handy healing spell that I am going to use to help your uncle win the war. Sound good?"

"Healing magic? So I can use it to help people?"

"As long as you keep it secret that you know magic. Can you do that?"

"Of course."

"Good. Now. Do you remember the basic mana manipulation that you were taught to interact with the bugs to invoke spells?"

"Yeah."

"Show me." the knight put out his hand, "I am magical so this armor is pretty much part of me. Do that mana manipulation in my armor."

"But putting mana in things is something I don't know."

"I'm made of mana, so just go for it."

"Okay." the girl listened, performing the normally internal process inside the gauntlet of the armor. It took a few minutes to figure out how that was done, but the knight was a good guide.

"Good. Now I will nudge your influence in the area. Try to follow along."

The knight guided the flow of mana very gently in the other direction, an act that would have very much the opposite effect from what Zouken wanted her to be able do. It wasn't a hard spell. Naturally there would be a means to remove them. It was just sheer luck that Kariya had summoned someone who knew it. The pair were at it for only about thirty minutes before the knight declared...

"Good girl, that's exactly right." he leaned in and whispered into the girl's ear before standing, "Understood?"

"R-right!"

Kariya was worried, "Wait, what did you just tell her?"

"She's going to finish healing you for me while I attend to some business. I cannot leave the bad impression I made on Zouken as I did. If anything happens, call me with a command spell. If things go poorly and you feel a mana drain, do not call me until it subsides."

"Do you expect combat?"

"One must always expect the worst, Master. Anyway, I can trust Sakura with tending to you. She is actually profoundly gifted in magic."

Sakura beamed, "I'll help Uncle Kariya and make you proud!"

"Good girl." and on that note, the knight vanished into spiritual form.

Kariya could somehow feel him go further away. After a moment, when Sakura started healing him, Kariya asked, "What did he say to you?"

"He said to tell you to wait and see and it's dangerous if I say what he said."

"Dangerous? Berserker what are you OW!"

"Sorry, he said it would sting."

The worms were all moving at once, the pain of it lessened by the fact they were taking recent paths and not making new ones. That and the healing magic. What was this magic and how did Berserker know healing magic that would make crest worms act this way? What was his intentions in not doing it himself. For someone forced to be noble, Berserker was being awfully covert.

Sakura suddenly looked very scared, and a moment later Kariya noticed why. All the crest worms were coming out of him and taking flight. Soon after they started buzzing around as if drunk and began attacking each other. There was an entire swarm of them, all around the pair.

Sakura stopped and curled into a ball in Kariya's lap, "He said to hug me and run! Hug me and run!"

"FUCK!"

Elsewhere, the knight (being a servant and Zouken not being far away) found the old man lurking on the second floor of the manor. There, he had been watching the exchange and the knight appeared as the swarm abandoned Kariya's body.

"You know crest worm magics?"

The knight nodded, "They have been around a long time. Your family just took to breeding them. You know this, but originally they were used sort of like modern muscle training involves resistance to build power. Now that I've taken the weight off, Kariya will have a pretty decent pool of mana."

"They are running for the gate now. I presume you plan to kill me?"

"You are setting up my master to fail. You must have been counting on that madness enhancement for more than just the part where it would kill him. No normal servant would step into this situation and not kill you and free the girl."

"You underestimate me."

"No. I do not. You are hundreds of years old and made of crest worms. If they could fly you could probably even turn that entire pit on me right now. You were planning on setting up Sakura as your next host."

Zouken was shocked for the first time in centuries, "How do you know all of that?"

"I just noted how foolish this method of raising a magical lineage was and from there tried to make sense of the nonsense. This method only makes stronger and stronger crest worms. The major tip off was your plan to use Sakura in the next Grail War. That is in fifty years and crest worms shorten the human life span, they don't lengthen it. Look at them, life has been sucked out of them. This method only makes sense if the worms are the lineage. Then the next point of logic: who spends centuries developing magic bugs as their family magic? That would be like a doctor going to college to use leeches. Your family magic is not crest worms. It is some method of using their mana eating properties to make them a vessel for your soul."

"Who. Are. You?"

"The worst card that Zouken Matou could have drawn. A sane servant with knowledge of really ancient medical techniques like leeches and crest worms."

"I will destroy you for this insolence you worthless reject knight!" as he declared it, the old magus extended a hand and projected a swarm of crest worms at the knight, "Servants are made of my food!"

The knight made no move to dodge, and did not even flinch as the swarm tore a hole straight through his heart, eating it and caring the mana back to the main body. Zouken throbbed with magical power. The very center of a servants magical power, consumed in an instant. However, the knight stood there, still unflinching. The only change? The hole was no longer a hole. It was whole again except for the armor and visible was a body with a lot more hair than any human would have. White hair with flecks of gray. On that note, the knight removed his helmet.

His face was nothing special. Neither handsome or ugly, though closer to the former. Notably he wasn't as clean shaven as one wold expect of a knight. It was human though. His hair a dark gray color much like that a of feral wolf. His grin was toothy, fanged in fact.

Zouken was shocked for the second time in centuries, "Why are you totally fine?"

"Oh. You just ate my 'clothes'. Handy thing about my method of shape changing. This appearance is basically an item, not me. Pity for you that you are the sort of sadistic fellow that rips out his enemies' hearts and watches them die. You should have just devoured me with everything you had at once. Now I have won."

"This is hardly over!" Zouken intended to do exactly as the night had said, but he could no longer leave his human form, "What... what have you done?"

"Like I said, you ate a part of me and then returned it to the rest of you without killing me. The problem is that I activated one of my abilities before came in. Call it a second Noble Phantasm I hate using."

"Stop gloating and answer me!"

"Fair enough. I will start with your first question from my summoning." Berserker pulled out a curved, double edged blade that (handle included) was tall enough to reach his shoulder even with the steep curve. The thing was more curved than any European blade, "This is the tusk of a demon boar. One slain by King Arthur's hunting party in order to forge a razor for a giant. It is a story that I will spare you. The beast was only cornered when they unleashed Arthur's favorite hound. He cornered – by himself – a beast with this large a tusk."

Zouken shook his head, "You can't be. The Grail doesn't summon..."

"Legendary animals by themselves? Well." he motioned to the exposed fur.

"Werewolf?!" the pieces fit in place in Zouken's mind, "You changed my physiology to a werewolf with a noble phantasm!"

"Handy thing in this exact situation. I bet you are normally very hard to kill when your nature is a swarm of bugs. Now I do not mind the Grail saddling me with a curse I never bore in life. Such is the burden of having little fame."

The knight walked over to the stunned Zouken. Now that his body was legitimately stuck in that of an old man, many of his attacks were gone. His mind reeled trying to think of some spell that could kill a servant, but in his frenzied state he could think of none.

"I told you who I was when you asked. 'Even the king's hound can slay everyone in this house.' I am the first werewolf legend of Medieval Europe. I am Sir Marrok of the Round Table. This blade I have named what I was called for the seven years I could not take the form of a man: Cavall. It is the final rebuttal I have for any that would seek my master's end."

"CURSE YOU! YOU-"

"Pfft, I am immune to curses." a single smug remark for an opponent outmaneuvered was the last thing before the sword forged of a tusk came down unceremoniously on Zouken Matou.

A few hours later, Kariya, Sakura and Marrok were all in an inn. Marrok had healed himself, and Kariya was still recovering but in better health than he ever hoped to be again. Marrok had already assured Sakura that she would never have to worry about the bad men again. He had also assured Kariya that it was better he not know what Marrok had wrought upon the house of Matou. Kariya took that to mean that he really had summoned a berserker. He was surprised he was a little bit remorseful, but not at how fast that passed. He had more things to be worried over. One of which he and Marrok were tucking in for the night.

"Can I go home tomorrow, Uncle Kariya?"

Uncle Kariya smiled, "Your father sent you to that place, and we want to know why and how much he knew first. He is also getting involved in some other dangerous things, so we need to make sure you will be safe there."

Sakura seemed shaken by everything she knew about her father unraveling even more than it already had, but she accepted it, "Alright."

Marrok patted her head very gently, "Listen, I'll tell you a bedtime story to help you fall asleep. It is the tale of how a little known knight of the Round Table came to be."

"Is this about you, Uncle Marrok?"

"Yep. So it is a history lesson too." Marrok pulled up a chair, Kariya sat on the end of the bed, "I was actually born in France and was called Bizuneh."

"That's a weird name."

"Yes. I threw it away a long time ago but if you look me up you might come across me in a French poem called 'The Bisclavret'. That poem's not completely accurate but it says a was a popular nobleman that was cursed to transform into a wolf for three days a week. He turned back and forth by taking off and putting on his clothes. Pretty amazing right?"

"So you can turn into a wolf by taking off your clothes?"

"Technically. How I came to be this way is a another story, but at this point I had married and according to the tale my wife worried about my disappearances and confronted me about it. Now, what do you think I should have done?"

"Tell her the truth!"

"I did that very thing because I loved her and decided to trust her. It turns out I should not have, but usually it is a good idea to not hide things from people you love. My wife was just a bad person."

"What happened?"

"You see, my beloved wife decided she did not want to be my wife anymore and betrayed me. One night when I changed she hid my clothes. Twas dastardly! I needed those to turn into a human!"

Sakura gasped.

"Worse yet, word spread somehow of a man-eating wolf in the woods and the king's hunting party, King Arthur included, soon were on my tail. Literally, Sir Agravain's horse stepped on it and it hurt like the dickens."

Sakura chuckled, "But you survived right?"

"Yes, I went right up to King Arthur and plead my case. You know how you kids sometimes make 'puppy dog eyes' when you want something?"

The girl nodded, "My sister Rin does that a lot."

"Being a wolf at the time, I did it more literally than one normally does. She... I mean he... seemed to understand and tried to pet me. The king was so impressed with my gentleness and noble bearing that I was taken into the king's service as her loyal canine companion. Eventually the nickname Cavall stuck. That word is an old word for horse. I was a very large wolf."

"As big as a horse?"

"Not quite."

"Aw."

"Close enough though."

"Really? Can I have a ride?"

"Maybe? I am not sure if that is wise in the middle of a town; but I will think about it."

"Yay!"

"That aside, I was stuck as a dog for seven more years. It was great time though. I became the king's favorite hound. So fine and noble was my service that it made things a lot simpler when my wife happened to come to the king's court with her new husband."

"Oh!"

Kariya chuckled at how much Sakura was enjoying herself, "What an unexpected coincidence!"

Marrok nodded, "Indeed. I was normally such a good dog that when I... er... chased them clear out of the kingdom they all assumed the pair deserved it and I got plenty of tummy rubs."

Sakura laughed, "How did you turn back into a human though?"

"Oh, um... when I was chasing my ex-wife she threw my clothes at me so I could change back. Boy was the king shocked but soon after I officially joined the Knights of the Round Table. At some point the tale turned up attached properly to Camelot, but before then I never stopped being the King's hound, serving as bodyguard and retainer until... until I was summoned."

"Aw. Sounds like you miss it. When can you go back? And can I come with you?"

"After I help you and Kariya through some rough business I can. Sadly you cannot come with me though. Magical limits and such."

"Aw."

"We'll play plenty while I am here though. Okay?"

The girl smiled and nodded.

Marrok stood up and started to step away, "Good night, little one."

"Uncle Marrok wait."

"What?"

"Earlier you said the poem wasn't accurate. What was wrong?"

Marrok grinned and knelt down close, "I'm actually not a man that turns into a wolf. I'm a wolf that turns into a man."

"Whaaaat?"

"Yes. I am not a werewolf! I am what some call a wolfwere. Do you know why they call it that?"

"Why?"

"Because someone calls out 'WOLF!' and the wolf turns into a man and goes," Marrok looked around with a comically exaggerated look of concern, "'WHERE?'"

Of course the little girl thought this was hysterical and it was an hour more before Marrok and Kariya managed to get her to fall asleep. It was then they took the chance to step into the adjacent room and discuss serious business.

Kariya was the first to speak, "I take it that 'chased them out of the kingdom' was what qualified you for berserker?"

"Yes. I actually crippled him and after I caught her I bit her face off. There was a ruckus, but they did mostly trust me."

"So how does a wolf gain an awakened origin and the ability to wear clothes to turn into a human? Are you a phantasmal beast or something?"

"Well, I got the first from a weird wolf spirit. I never figured that one out, but I think it was another wolf with an awakened origin. The second I got when I saved my future ex wife from a demon. Apparently eating the flesh of a skinwalker gives you that ability. I think my origin kept the poisonous body of the thing from killing me."

"A skinwalker?"

"Oh, a demon sometimes mistaken for a werewolf that can turn into things by wearing their skin. Remember when I said my abilities where only fully unlocked by the assassin class?"

"You... you could turn into other things by wearing their skins?"

"If I were an assassin. In every other class I can only go back and forth between man and wolf. On the bright side, though I'm not a werewolf, my legend got mixed in with them so I got saddled with some traits of them by the Grail. It's troublesome, but during a full moon I'll be as strong as you'd expect from one of the most famous monsters in the world."

"Let me guess... that berserker ability-"

"Is my wolf form. Though the ability was tied to skins in life the legend morphs it to clothes and the lunar cycle in servant form. For reference I wasn't stuck in wolf form because she hid my clothes. She destroyed my first skin that I got from the skinwalker and my origin kept me from either killing an innocent or becoming someone that deserved to die. This appearance is something Merlin made when he figured out what my nature was."

Kariya sat down hard, "This is a lot to take in. How have I never heard of King Arthur's werewolf bodyguard?

"I know. It is perplexing. I know my only recorded feats are being trapped in the form of a wolf for seven years and healing an equally little known knight. Other than that legend remembers other parts of me as a dog and attributes one of my weapons to Lancelot; but what the hell? Wolf the size of a horse that turns into a man not cool enough?"

Master and servant sat in silence for a moment, Kariya letting everything process before changing topics, "A wolf that saved Sakura."

"I said I would."

"Thank you. I didn't think it was even possible to kill the old man."

"I'm a servant and pretty cunning."

"If you're not a particularly strong servant... what the hell have I gotten myself into? And why am I even in it now? You granted my wish already."

"I guess you'll just get a free wish then." Marrok grinned.

Kariya laughed, "He called me a screw-up, but I summoned a magic bullet that fixed everything in one night."

"Truly. I am certain he did not expect you to summon something as crazy as a sane servant with medical skills."

"Where does a wolf learn healing magic?"

"Merlin and knowledge of the land."

"Ah."

"Anything else you want to know?"

Kariya leaned back, drained from so much happening. It took him a few moments to roll back through the topics of the conversation and hit, "Marrok... what is your wish? Servants have one too right?"

Marrok frowned at first, then put on a lonely smile that Kariya recognized from a mirror, "Well, you heard my story. My wish... my wish is for a love that won't betray me."

That hanged in the air from a moment before Kariya replied, "I can relate, but would you want a love granted by a wish? Would that even really be true love?"

Marrok shrugged, "Servants can be fueled by regrets rather than wishes they want right away. I just want a chance and maybe a point at the goal I should be running at."

Kariya nodded, "Yeah... a second chance... that sounds great."

Marrok understood, noting without words that they had common ground, "Get some rest master, we can talk more and get started tomorrow. The Grail War will start soon I'm sure."

"Yeah. Good night, Sir Marrok."

The knight stood and stepped forward a few steps before fading into spirit form, "Good night, Kariya."

Next Chapter: An Impassable Obstacle

Author's Note: Yes. In one telling of Arthurian Legend the good King Arthur did in fact have a werewolf bodyguard and his tale is thought to have been derived from the aforementioned poem. Why is this not a servant in official Fate material? Hell if I know. I merged the two tales and Arthur's dog Cavall into this rendition of the character and added the whole 'actually is a wolf' thing to spice it up a little, hope you enjoy. I know he is sort of a magic bullet that just fixes everything in Kariya's life right away, but seriously any sane servant that could heal and had some means to counter Zouken functioning like Cell from DBZ could just as easily fix it. The awakened origin thing and the mysterious other wolf are going to be fleshed out much later in the canon of this fic (spoiler, the other wolf was the first domesticated wolf that later became something like a Counter Guardian :D, and it will appear as a servant in a later fic. :O!)

Next time, the grail war official gets rolling and Marrok discovers a certain King just happens to also be in it. Please let me know what you think so far of the fic. If it seems a little rush I apologize. I'm kinda writing this super casually after work and on days off. Now, I'm off to farm the Summer event in FGO! :D