I've been sick this past week so I couldn't update sooner. Sorry about that. Anyway, the Holy Grail War is starting.

Chapter 4: Summoning

-Misaki city, Japan-

Xonovia look down on the envelope she had just received. The name printed on the envelope is Noire Shijou written in alphabet instead of Japanese kanji and in western naming style. Noire had never sent her anything. If he has something to say, he would use the telephone or come personally. So Xenovia opened the envelope and found a letter and a plane ticket.

Xenovia

It is time.

Are the three sets of words written on the letter. At first Xenovia didn't understand. Then it hit her.

"The War is in three months."

She said to herself. She had been training and hunting with Ciel for so long that she sometimes almost forgot about the Grail War. Actually, she almost forgot that she's an exorcist from another world with how used she is now with living in this world. Xenovia frowns. What will happen when she returns? She must've been declared missing or a deserter by now. Xenovia's frown deepens when she found that she doesn't exactly care. Has she become so used to life here? The answer would be yes. She had found an elder sister figure in Ciel much more than she did with Griselda. Here she is more than just the wielder of Durandal. Despite all the dangers, Xenovia enjoys her stay in this world.

"The plane leaves at three."

Xenovia look at the clock hanging over her bed. It is still ten. She has time to pack and leave. She will not return to Misaki city again. After the summoning, she'll be staying in Clock Tower for two months to test her skill with Noire and Valerie along with their Servants and then they will head to Fuyuki and get to know the city until the start of the War. After that, if she survives, they will return to their homeworld after a month of rest or so Noire planned.

"It feels like it has been a long time."

Xenovia mused. It certainly does feel so. Although she's not directly involved, she did face Nvsqr Chaos once when he came to Misaki and that was the hardest fight she had ever gone through. And then there is the incident with Roa and Wallachia. She only came when Ciel finished off Roa but she did fight Wallachia together with Sion Eltnam Atlasia and Tohno Shiki.

Yes, Misaki city will become a place she won't forget anytime soon.

"Seriously, mystic eyes of death perception? A vampire that became a phenomenon? It's too much."

Xenovia admits that it would've been impossible to kill Wallachia through the use of her world's magic. It is just insane.

"And I'm not even sixteen yet."

Xenovia began to pack her things. She doesn't have much she could call her own. Only some clothes to blend in, her school uniform, her battle costume, and some minor objects, mostly pictures. She has a small album Noire gave her. There are pictures of their first hunt together with Ciel, a picture of her, Noire, and Valerie in front of the Clock Tower, and a few more like her very first hamburger and when they went to buy a phone for her and Valerie. Xenovia smiles as she remembers what had happened in the past year, all the goods and bads. After she finished packing, Xenovia exited her apartment and gave it one last look before walking away.

She will definitely miss her home for one year even if there's only trouble all year round.

-the next day-

Noire decided that they should all go together. It is a decision he made when he heard from Zelretch that the former workshop would be a good place for summoning. Evidently, his mother's friend was a master in the Third Grail War and it was in that war that she lost her life. She did her summoning there.

Now they only have to wait for Xenovia as Valerie is already with them, escorted by Zelretch. Why Zelretch did not pick her up himself is no real mystery to Noire. He's just lazy. Plus Xenovia is a constant victim of some of his minor pranks. He once turned Xenovia's hair neon green and spiky. Said he's testing something he got from a certain prankster twins from another world. He also turned Xenovia's holy sword into a wooden toy and Xenovia won't stop crying until he turn it back. How he managed that is beyond Noire.

Xenovia eventually arrive in Clock Tower where she is greeted by the sight of the group of magi who she (a little reluctantly) calls friends (except Zelretch). Her eyes darted to the only one she doesn't recognize, an older girl in wheelchair.

"You are Miss Xenovia Quarta? I's a pleasure to meet you. Noire mentions you from time to time and I am curious about someone who left an impression on Kaleidoscope's apprentice. My name is Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia and like you, I am a Red faction Master."

Fiore shows her command seal, a red seal shaped like a flower.

"Currently you four are the only confirmed Red faction Masters. The Blue faction also already has four Masters. The two factions can be differentiated by the color of the command seals."

Zelretch added.

"I see. So we will be summoning our Servants, right?"

"That and investigating a certain place."

"Investigating?"

"My mother has a workshop that she shares with another magus. That magus was a master in the Third Grail War. It has been cleared of all important research notes but there are a few items lying around. Fiore thought that my mother could've left me something there but it was abandoned roughly fifty years ago, before even my elder sister's birth. But still, I heard the place is filled with energy and is above a few leylines. It could help us with summoning."

"What do you hope to find? It should be abandoned by now and all important notes taken. There should be nothing left."

"Maybe, but there might just be something left behind. Examining the place will at least give some idea about my mother. I've never been to any of her workshop anyway. Her workshop back home is so perfectly hidden that not even my sister knew where it is."

"She's a magus, isn't it obvious that she hid her workshop?"

"True but well this is one of the few leads I have about our craft. Mom got the bright idea of only giving me a part of our family crest. Nee-san also got only a part of our crest. Now I have to find out how the rest of the Shijou magecraft work by myself."

"So it's just another research."

"The place is coincidentally ideal for summoning so I thought why not? The War will start in a few months and we can familiarize ourselves with our servants."

Xenovia admits that it is not a bad idea and she certainly has no problem with accompanying Noire. She is sometimes curious about what kind of person Noire is and they don't meet much outside of Apostle hunt.

"Very well, let's depart."

-Shijou Momoka's former workshop, somewhere in Scotland-

When hearing about a magus' workshop, Xenovia's first expectation is a dark and damp place that is either in a basement or hidden behind a secret passage, not a cozy-looking cottage surrounded with sunlight and trees. So it is natural that the first question she asks is what everyone else also wondered.

"Are we really in the right place?"

"We are. You see, Shijou Momoka's has a preference for nature along with her friend. Plus this cottage used to have too many defenses that made even me hesitate to teleport inside. Shijou Momoka is a master in territory creation. This cottage alone could kill anything less than an apostle equal to the 27 when it was still an active workshop. Nobody but Momoka and her friend could enter the workshop."

Zelretch explained.

"There are still a few boundary fields."

"The field that prevents normal people from noticing and the field to prevent approach by those not brought by Kaleidoscope. The first one had been here since the creation of the workshop while the second one is…"

Zelretch narrowed his eyes as if he found something strange.

"Ten years ago. I did not know that she came here ten years ago. I haven't visited this place for a very long time."

"Ten years ago? So mother must've been up to something. But why would she put up a new field if the workshop is no longer used?"

Noire wondered.

"Hmm, it seems that there is something else working here."

"Master?"

"You kids have a look around. I believe that Momoka is planning something."

With a contemplative look on his face, Zelretch disappear silently. Deciding that they should leave the complicated matter to Zelretch, the quartet enters the cottage.

Once inside, they have a look around on the first floor. The first floor is empty, just a spacious room that could've been used for anything from dining room to living room to bedroom. There is a stair that leads to the second floor and one that leads to the basement at the corner. There is also a wooden door that leads to another part of the cottage. Here the quartet decided to split up with Noire and Xenovia heading up while Fiore and Valerie search the back.

Noire and Xenovia walk up the stairs to the second floor. Like the first floor, the second one is also empty. Noire was about to go back down when he noticed that the whole floor seems smaller than the floor bellow.

"Noire?"

Xenovia call out to him but he ignores her. He began calculating the room's size and found that it is indeed smaller by quite a margin.

"This floor is smaller than the first."

"Really?"

"Yes. Well, let's try something."

Noire began searching the wall.

"Times like these, you can expect to find a hidden switch or something. Aha!"

There was a clicking sound and part of the wall swung open. The duo carefully peeked inside. There's no such thing as being too careful in a magus' workshop, even if it is abandoned and used to belong to one's own mother. After making sure that everything is clear, the silver and blue pair entered the room.

"There's nothing here."

"Wait. Look at this"

Noire crouch down and dust off the dirt covering the object. He barely noticed that it was there and it is only because the object has a faint trace of prana.

"A… box?"

Thirty minutes after trying to open the box and not being able to even after using all ways they could think of (including hitting it with Durandal) Xenovia and Noire gave up and brought the box down with them. When they got back to the first floor, they found Valerie having just finished drawing a magic circle, the last one of the four drawn on the floor.

"Ahh, Noire and Xenovia. Found anything interesting? We only found an abandoned forge in the back room and an armory of normal weapons bellow. You two spent quite a while up there."

"We found a box but we can't open it. Anyway, we'll be summoning our Servants in this room?"

"Yes. The air is rich with magical power and this room is situated right above the leylines. Tonight will be full moon so it is perfect."

"I see…"

The preparation for the summoning ritual is ready. Noire put the small box in his storage space to figure out later. Now they only have to wait until midnight to summon their Servants.

-Midnight-

Noire, Xenovia, Valerie, and Fiore each stood before a magic circle with hand thrust out. The summoning is about to begin. There is a reason why Valerie drew the four magic circles in perfect formation. Each of the four Masters occupied one corner of the room facing inward. Right at the center of the room where their gaze intersected sat a single chalice. The chalice is one of Valerie's Sepiroth Graal. To maximize the empowerment given to their Servant, Valerie provided one of her three Grails to help with their summoning by acting as a Prana battery much like the Heaven's Feel Grail although much weaker. Not only will this allow them to empower their Servants to the limit, this also provides an alternative power source where they don't have to provide their Servants with their own prana. This allows them to have access to their full reserve in battles without having to worry about the drain from their Servants. During the Fourth War, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi uses the same tactic where his fiancée provides prana for his servant while he holds the command seal.

""""Let silver and steel be the essence

Let Stone and the Archduke of contracts be the foundation

Let red be the color I pay tribute to

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall

Let the four cardinal gates close

Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate""""

The quartet all chanted as one with their magic circuits fully activated. The Sepiroth Graal is powering them and that power flows to the magic circles that began to glow with red light. This is a moment where they will call upon a miracle. All four of them knew this and they will give it their all, especially Valerie as this will be her first feel of the Magic promised to her. Along with the magic circles, Sepiroth Graal also glows with great power.

""""Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again.

Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling.

Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword

Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail

Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth.""""

Out of the four of them, Valerie could feel it the clearest. Their prana are reaching out to the Throne to call out for those Heroes who have carved their name eternally into myths and legends. It is a feeling that Valerie savor.

""""An oath shall be sworn here

I shall attain all virtues of all Heaven

I shall have dominion over all evils of all Hell

From the Seventh Heaven attended to by three great words of power

Come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!""""

As the four finish their chant, the whole cottage was engulfed in blinding light.

-Dimensional Gap-

"What is it that you're planning?"

Zelretch asked the silver-haired sorceress he once called apprentice. It surprises him that Shijou Momoka is actually in the same world and watching from the sidelines. The power she emits though is at an all-time low. She is weakened, so weakened that a competent enough magus could defeat her. This also brought questions to Zelretch on why she's so weak right now.

"Planning? It is simple actually. To finish what I started on the third Heaven's Feel."

Zelretch narrowed his eyes. The third Heaven's Feel is a real disaster in his world, different from any others. This is because of the presence of stronger fighters and unsavory Magi. Half of Fuyuki was destroyed in a massive all-out battle between four Servants, one of them is Shijou Momoka's friend's. That battle is also where her friend died in battle against an enemy Servant, one of the Edelfelt twin's Saber, while also taking the Servant with her.

So what did Shijou Momoka do during that battle? She might not be a Sorceress then but she is still a genius and a very powerful Magus. She did something.

Suddenly Momoka smiled.

"My work is done. It is time for me to rest. I'm still too weak."

Momoka then disappeared. Zelretch wondered what she meant. He decided to check up on the quartet and what he saw made his jaw drop, a feat that can be considered miraculous. Then his surprise turn to a grin and then to a full blown laughter that echoes throughout that sector of the dimensional gap.

"You did something insane, Shijou Momoka. I knew you were something else but you never cease to amaze me."

-Shijou workshop-

Shijou Noire cannot believe what he is seeing. It is worse since he somehow feels that Zelretch is not the reason for this strange situation.

When the light died down and Noire managed to regain his temporarily lost sight, he immediately took in the full form of his Servant. He did not expect to see what he is seeing.

The Servant is a young girl a little older than him. She wore black blazer and skirt with white frills along with black leggings. She also wore a black robe with red phoenix wing pattern and linings. She has red hair tied in a ponytail by a black ribbon and hazel eyes that reflects her gentle nature from a single glance.

It took Noire ten seconds to recognize her.

"No way… How can this be? You're not a Heroic Spirit so how can you be summoned?"

"Ara, didn't you know? Your mother is a true genius. If she puts her mind to it, nothing is beyond her."

"This is madness."

"But it is also real. Nice to meet you, Shijou-kun. I am Servant Caster, the last Magus of the Brave clan, Sophia Brave."

Mwahahaha! Finally it is the Servant summoning ritual! Anyway, since it will be revealed in the next chapter anyway, I will tell you guys who got who as Servant.

Shijou Noire: Sophia Brave (Caster)

Xenovia Quarta: Astolfo (Rider)

Valerie Tepes: Vlad Tepes (Berserker)

Fiore Forvedge: Brunhilde (Lancer)

So something is definitely wrong with Noire's summoning. Well, blame Momoka. You know the rule. Blame a true magician for anything unusual. Sophia's role in the story will extend to the DxD verse but I won't tell what her role will be yet. She is the 4th heroine I have planned for Noire. The box Noire found is also an important item.

Now, about Caster of Red. She is a master from the 3rd Grail War and was killed in battle. Momoka did something and then this happen. More about this will be revealed as we delve into the Third Magic which Momoka utilized along with her then incomplete Kaleidoscope to pull this stunt. Of course, now Noire will be in quite a pinch since his Servant is a Magus from only 50 or so years ago (I didn't count the years) so he needs to work extra hard... or does he? Well just wait.

Anyway, time for Reviews.

Judgement of the Arbiter: gravity is already part of the 2nd in my story. Thanks for trying.

fg7dragon: Illusion huh? The power similar to Great Red. Yes, that could work.

dragonrider66: Irina will no doubt goes to Issei. Yorokobe, shounen.

Guest: I'm totally not using Arturia in this fic.

Knight of the Iron Hammer Vita: The Issei I'm using is neither from anime or LN since this Issei is not a pervert. He's a magus though not a thorough magus who would experiment on anything. He won't appear until the end of the Grail War arc.

Gawain-Knight of the Sun: I did think of using Scathach as Lancer for Fiore but Brunhilde needs more love.

Guest: True Magic are just that ridiculous. Any True Magic users, especially those who have mastered their Magic, are automatically in the top 10 of DxD power ranking in the same rank as Ophis and Great Red.

I think that's all. Next chapter will be their arrival in Fuyuki and the appearance of our favorite Ally of Justice, Emiya Shero! Ohh and Illya too.