Camelot Security Prologue
A/N: So I figured I might as well put up prologues for these stories on this idea page to give you something to look at. This is Camelot Security. I intend to put up the prologue of Puppet King (Though I'm also considering an alternate title: Reigning Queen)
The Grail wars, a seemingly never ending conflict between mages, all seeking to use the ritual of the grail war to their own ends. Some seek lost magic, others the root of all things, some even simply seek death and destruction. Four times the grail has been sought and four times it has ended with no winner. The Fifth Grail war is perhaps the most interesting, for it is the focus of many intersecting events. Those who should not interfere have, and still others have manipulated time itself to change the outcome. An event shattered by time into infinite shards it has replayed itself a thousand and more times, producing almost every conceivable result, from great to ill. Saving mankind and dooming it to destruction. This latest iteration however is a bit… special. It is different.
A bored voice calls out "This is wrong"
A roar resounds across the battlefield, as the Berserker Hercules, greatest of Greek Heroes, charges across the battlefield at a golden figure. Suddenly unbreakable chains wrap around his form.
"Powerful to be sure, but no finesse, no skill. Lancelot was far more of a threat, for not even madness could rob him of his skill. You are but a beast and if you have nine lives I will simply kill you nine times."
A barrage of noble phantoms erupts from the Gate of Babylon, cutting down Berserker as though it was nothing. A young white haired girl cries out in anguish.
"How could you!"
"I am the King, you should have known this would be the result when you challenged me, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes."
Suddenly, a voice of pure power resounds across the battlefield, as the white haired Archer enters the fray.
I am the bone of my sword
A barrage of blades flies at The king of Heroes, seeking his death. There true counterparts emerge from the Gate of Babylon and swat them from the air like a fly.
Steel is my body and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Gilgamesh sighs "This is wrong."
Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
"I had high hopes for you, EMYIA. While I am the first Hero, son of a goddess and three quarters divine, you are nothing but the adopted son of a broken killer. You have no sublime talent, no divine heritage, no legendary teachers."
Yet, those hands will never hold anything
"Yet despite that you became a hero in an age when heroes where long gone, through nothing but sheer determination and will. I may be the first, but you, you were the last"
So as I pray, unlimited blade works.
Fire engulfs the battlefield and when it clears the combatants are no longer on the battlefield, but in a world of steel. Countless blades, legends all, are raised, ready to rain down upon the king of heroes.
"It is such a pity."
The Gate of Babylon opens fully, and true blade fights copy. Quantity clashes with quantity and legends shatter like glass all around the combatants.
"You've abandoned your convictions and even now I can feel you heart wavering. Your unbreakable will, your illogical drive to protect, was what made you a hero. Without it, you are nothing. And infinity times nothing"
With a single swing of the blade Ea, the world of steel shatters, and EMYIA collapses like a puppet with cut strings.
"Is still nothing. Out of respect for what you once were, I'll allow you to die by Ea's hands."
The King of Heroes glances at the girl who was Archer's master "It hurts doesn't it, seeing one you love die? Even if only a corrupted shadow?"
Rin collapses with a sob, not even noticing Gilgamesh's insinuation.
A Pegasus comes charging down from the sky, Rider astride it.
"This is wrong."
A casually raised hand unleashes Rho Aias to block her charge, and more blades pour from the gate, swiftly piercing the wings of the Pegasus, bringing it to the earth.
"Medusa. You have the will to win, and the brains to think up strategies to defeat me. Still, without your sisters by your side your legend is incomplete, and my victory hollow."
Gilgamesh laughs "I doubt it would make even the slightest difference in the outcome of course, you lack what it takes to even think of challenging me."
For the first time in the entire fight, Gilgamesh moved, swiftly dodging a sword thrust coming at him from behind. Ea comes to his hand, and blocks the Sword of Promised Victory's blow.
"Ah, Saber. I'd thank you for saving the best for last, but we both know that's not the real reason why you've waited this long."
Saber snarls "Don't overestimate yourself, Gilgamesh. This will not be like the last time."
Gilgamesh sighs tiredly "I agree. Last time was the most challenging fight I've been in since my battle with Enkidu. I sadly doubt this fight will be anywhere near as interesting."
With a shove, Gilgamesh sends Saber flying backwards.
"Our first fight was brilliant, two kings clashing together for supremacy and though I was victorious, my victory tasted a little sour. This though?"
A barrage of blades erupts from the Gate of Babylon and drives Saber even further back.
"This is wrong."
With a casual wave he summons Gae Bolg and tosses it through Medusa's heart, causing Sakura to cry out in anguish. Gilgamesh snarls in rage.
"THIS IS WRONG!"
The barrage of blades stops, and the remaining figures on the battlefield pause to look at Gilgamesh in shock.
"My victory tastes like ASH. When we last met I believed that you were worthy to be my wife, Saber, no Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights. After the damage to the grail caused by our last encounter I spent time reading your legends and I was even more impressed and realized the reason for the disquiet I felt during our fight. For while the Archer class allowed me to draw out nearly my full strength thanks to the Gate of Babylon, your Saber class was far more limiting, denying you access to most of your arsenal like Avalon, Rhongomyniad and Carnwennan. Where my impressive abilities may be called in near totality by the Archer class, your talents are spread amongst them all, preventing you from fighting with all of your might. How could I call myself the King of Heroes if I needed such a handicap to defeat you? I had hoped that this new summoning would give you the chance to draw out your true abilities, and what did I find?"
Gilgamesh grinds his teeth, utterly enraged "YOU ARE A CRIPPLE. Your worthless, arrogant whelp of a summoner-"
"Do not insult my master!" Saber yells, bursting into motion once more.
Gilgamesh directs another volley of blades towards Saber, but suddenly copies appear to deflect them. The copies shatter on contact with the originals, but delay them just enough to allow Saber to slip past the attack and engage Gilgamesh in melee once more. They begin to exchange blows with Ea and Excalibur furiously.
"You are quite dedicated to that boy, aren't you? Its quite different from your attitude towards the boy's father. What is it I wonder."
Gilgamesh suddenly dodges a sword diving towards him from behind. He glances to the side to see the identity of his attacker and his eyes widen in shock. Before him stands Saber's master Shirou Emiya wielding the blade Caliburn.
"That is no mere fake, mongrel. To summon a replica so perfect that even I can't tell the difference isn't something that can be done with mere magic. So that is your choice, Artoria."
Uncharacteristically for such a serious situation, Saber blushes bright red.
Shirou Emiya cocks his head in confusion "Yeah, I'm pretty good with swords"
Suddenly four birds swarm in to attack and gems rain down on Gilgamesh's position. He skewers the birds with low ranked phantasms and casually deflects the Gems. Gilgamesh shakes his head.
"Children. I'm surrounded by children. Is this truly the best the world can send to oppose me? A raging berserker a shadow of his former self, a wayward shell of a hero, a monster without her sisters, and a crippled fragment of the lands second greatest king? All commanded by four talented children?"
With almost sickening ease, three low ranked phantasms shoot out, knocking Illya, Rin and Sakura unconscious.
"Those three are uninteresting. Talented when it comes to traditional magecraft to be sure, but I have seen plenty of talented magus before. Even fully trained, they would never be a threat. You, mongrel, are far more interesting to me."
Another barrage of blades is unleashed from the Gate of Babylon, and both Saber and Shirou deflect or dodge the strikes.
"Despite your peasant origins you have drive and commitment. Your ability to muster this coalition to oppose me and to kill Kirei Kotomine, Caster and Assassin was quite impressive."
Shirou looks at him seriously "A Hero is one who inspires others. Who fills others with the courage that they did not know they had, and together they accomplish that which a hero alone could never do."
Gilgamesh nods "If not for my nature as a living being instead of a servant, this war would have been your victory despite your lack of magical talent. As it is, however you do not face the Servant Archer, but Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes in all of his glory!"
With this, Gilgamesh charges forth with Ea forcing the pair on the defensive, each covering the other in a brilliant display of sword work. Unfortunately, despite their brilliance in swordsmanship and teamwork, their defense cannot last forever, eventually someone makes a mistake. Naturally it is Shirou, for all his skill with a blade, for all his determination, he is still but a human boy, one who although trained in the sword never truly expected to have to use it, without the superhuman reflexes and decades of combat experience of the two servants. Caliburn hesitates minutely in a parry, a mistake any ordinary opponent wouldn't even notice, much less be able to exploit. Giglamesh is no ordinary opponent, and his blade slams into Shirou's left shoulder driving him to his knees.
"Master!"
Saber shoves Gilgamesh back and rushes to Shirou's side in worry.
"He isn't dead Artoria, I made sure of it."
She turns to him "Why would you do that, Gilgamesh?"
He grins, the first expression of happiness he has displayed during the entire battle "Because I've made my decision. Originally, the only reason why I had stayed around for this grail war was to have a rematch with you and claim you as my wife. And while I could certainly use the threat of killing the boy with Ea's true power, that is hardly the way a king should do things. I could simply kill the pair of you and wish upon the grail for your hand, but I have no need for help in romance. No, once I saw your current condition I planned to use the grail to have the true fight with you I always wanted, a fight not just between heroes, but between kings."
Saber looks at him in curiosity "Between kings?"
Gilgamesh nods firmly "Yes, I was going to wish for the opportunity for my kingdom of Babylon at its height to wage war with your Camelot at its height for your hand in marriage. No unsatisfying limitations on our power"
She looks at him in horror "The people-"
"Would have died for their kings, as is their way. Now with that sword in your master's hands I've decided that my plan needs a bit of modification."
Shirou looks at him in confusion "Modification?"
The grail appears in Gilgamesh's hands "Yes, modification. See mongrel, we're going to hold a contest between the two of us. I will use the grail to send everyone here to another world, one where the age of gods never ended. There the two of us will establish our kingdoms in whatever fashion we desire while attempting to mold the world in our image and to defeat the other. The winner gets the prize."
Shirou cocks his head "What prize?"
Gilgamesh deadpans "I have no idea what you see in him, Artoria."
Saber blushes and hotly retorts "Shut up Gilgamesh."
He laughs "Well, at least I managed to bring a blush to your beautiful face, I'll win your heart yet! Anyway I'll use the energy in the grail to send the lot of us on a one way trip to this new world of ours. Your group will arrive together, and I'll arrive somewhere else. We'll give each other time to set up our kingdoms, then we'll begin our contest."
Shirou looks at him cautiously "And if we don't want to participate in this contest?"
"Too bad, I'm the king, and my word goes."
There is a flash of light, and as the grail shatters the figures in the clearing vanish before fire covers the area. The second great fire fortunately had far fewer casualties than the first, but the magi association was left to pick up the pieces unaware of what happened.
Gilgamesh appeared in a new built city in China glancing around. "I suppose I should have known better than to expect that malicious grail to fulfill my wish without twisting it. Still, I expect that mongrel will manage to undo what it's done. I suppose I'll have to wait until he has done so, I gave my word after all."
Shirou Emyia looks around at the clearing he finds himself. "Well, that's hardly how I wanted things to end up, but I suppose its better than dying outright, right Saber? Saber?"
As he looks around he realizes that Saber is missing and his command seals are flickering.
A/N: So Gilgamesh was about to win the war, but his pride got in the way. Will it come to bite him in the ass? Of course. As for Saber, the grail decided to screw her over by transporting her to this new world, then immediately severing the contract between her and Shirou. She, as well as several other servants, will enter the fight later. Although she won't be returning as Saber, but as Artoria Pendragon.
Regarding Shirou: Fans of Fate have probably noticed that his capabilities and attitude don't really match up to any of the traditional ways he develops in canon. The reason is because his father, fearing that his enemies would target Shirou, spilled his guts to him sometime before he died. The knowledge that his father tried and failed to rescue his sister alone inspired him to believe in the value of teamwork rather than trying to solve everything by himself. Additionally, the knowledge of Avalon being implanted into his body caused him to abuse its healing powers in an inhuman exercise routine, which when combined with his increased skill with reinforcement makes him remarkably capable in a physical sense. He also favors western style blades due to stories about Saber, and with an actual goal to rescue his sister his studies were more diligent and his projection was also greatly improved at the start of the war. He also has a much better theoretical understanding of magecraft, with a focus on using his skill with structural analysis to allow an ally to counter or reverse engineer magical abilities he can understand but not use. On the other hand, the differences between him and Archer reduced the effectiveness of the "bleed through" so he doesn't have Archer's entire arsenal and skill. Basically: stronger fundamentals, no unlimited blade works (for now anyway), and is actually a team player.
Regarding Caliburn: As Gilgamesh alluded to, the sword Shirou used wasn't a mere copy, but a "true projection." It is completely identical to the original, from history, to combat, to the requirements for wielding it. Why Shirou is can use it is something I won't explicitly spell out, but I think it's pretty obvious.
Regarding Pairings: I hope that's not the only reason you are reading this, though I will say that I intend to give Saber and Shirou a happy ending, it happens rarely enough. Whether she'll be the only person Shirou gets hooked up with is something I'm simply not going to tell you at this time, though he will NOT be seducing the entire female cast.
