CHAPTER 1
"Please leave my room immediately, a man dressed in red robes said, not letting any emotion come through his voice.
A girl in a grey hoodie curled her hands into a fist, her face becoming warm from both anger and embarrassment. She couldn't believe it. She really should've, but she didn't. She was getting kicked out, no, rather expelled! All because of a stupid accident that involved an apple pie and some magecraft.
Soon, she could not hold the anger in her big mouth any longer, "what. The. Hell Waver! It was an accident and you know it! I didn't mean to- you know, do it! I was brought into this occult shit by pure coincidence. I didn't have a clue what was going on. For god sake, they told me was cooking magecraft!"
He eyed her carefully and then responded, his cold voice cutting through the girl's fire, "That, Ms Winter Fu, that temper of yours makes you even more susceptible to the influences of dark magecraft than already are. Please accept the unyielding fact that you have been dismissed from the Mage's Association. I have been going easy on you."
Winter shut up immediately. She wasn't really angry anymore. That anger was replaced by another emotion. Guilt. A lot of damn guilt.
"And please address as Lord El Melloi II. Now get out of my sight before I report to the Great Magician."
Winter nodded her head and walked out the door, her head down. As she walked out to the yard of the London campus, she kept her white hair over her face, trying to hide it. Unfortunately, her hair was pretty short.
As people saw her face coming out of the building, they started to whisper horrible remarks, "Woah isn't that the girl who used that forbidden magecraft?"
Even so, Winter kept her head down, silently passing the front gate.
An orange-haired man looked over the ruined cooking, sighing as he tried to put out the flames covering his girlfriend's apron.
"Rin, that is why I don't trust you with the cooking."
"I just really, really wanted to test out my new fire jewel. Sorry for the mess."
The black haired girl before him bowed down in apology. And then proceeded to give him the most adorable puppy face. She leaned in closer, and closer and close-
"B-but, I can never stay mad at you forever!" Shirou Emiya exclaimed, his nose threatening to bleed.
The black haired girl, whose name was Rin Tohsaka, grinned at him victoriously. In reality, she actually just wanted to cook a decent meal but was hopeless at using the technology. So without the use of the stove, she resorted to expensive level-five fire jewels.
Not a very good idea.
Shirou sighed one more time and pushed his girlfriend aside, "don't worry, you'll still get a good meal. Just don't expect it to be too fancy."
Rin jumped for joy and ran up to her room (probably to watch another episode of her favorite anime).
As he took out another frying pan (after the last one exploded violently), the twenty-six year old couldn't help but smile at Rin's childish behavior.
When he had first met her, she was cold and distant. Now, after the events that had partaken ten years earlier, she had gotten a lot warmer. Seeing her interact with newbie mages and helping both her underclassmen and upperclassmen was not an uncommon sight. To put it simply, she had become much friendlier as the years went by.
Except for one particular coil haired blonde.
"You bitch! I'm gonna goddamn kill you!" a familiar voice rang through the building.
Suddenly, a huge BANG! erupted on the top floor of the dorm and Shirou could smell the faintest scent of smoke. Turning of the oven and putting down the frying pan, he rushed upstairs to see to the commotion.
When he reached Rin's room, everything was burnt to a crisp. Including his girlfriend's crimson blouse.
While covering his nose to prevent the blood, he managed to see the other person in the room.
It was none other than Luviagelita Edelfelt.
"Luvia, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, Shirou, fancy seeing you here, how are you enjoying your part-time job?" she smiled seductively, earning herself a punch in the jaw.
"Don't get chummy with him!" then she turned her attention to Shirou, "and why didn't you tell me you worked for her?!"
"Well, you never told me that you put my apple pie in the underclassmen dorms." after he dismissed the fact, he went straight back to the point, "Luvia, what are you doing here? And why are you girls fighting."
Rin sighed deeply, "she jumped through my window and ripped the painting we just imported from Fuyuki. Edelfelt here says she has some urgent news."
Shirou noticed the glass shards and ripped canvas on the floor. Before he could respond, the blonde butted in.
"Funny you bring up Fuyuki City," she began, rubbing her injured cheek, "because that is what the message is about. Apparently, one small part of the Holy Grail had escaped the destruction, and has been rebuilding itself over the past ten years. Now that it's fully done it's restoration, it's begun a new 'Holy Grail War', dubbing itself the Holy Chalice."
"WHAT!?" Shirou and Rin screamed in unison.
They were completely loss for words. A new 'Holy Grail'? A new war? They had thought that Saber had destroyed it all those years before. Did that mean... It was all for nothing? All that that hard work to destroy the Grail, only for it to come back?
Luvia continued, completely unaware of the couple's shock, "and as the two of you are the only people who have participated in a Holy Grail War, the Mage's Association has decided that you are fit to destroy the Holy Chalice."
The couple took a quick glance at each other and, again in unison, shouted, "we'll do it!"
"Alright, see you two later!" Luvia laughed as she jumped out the broken window.
Shirou and Rin looked at each other again, trying to communicate their strategy without words.
Shirou spoke first, "we can save cleaning this room for later, we have to find and destroy that new 'Grail' now!" Rin nodded in agreement.
After they packed their necessary belongings (and Rin's extra shirt), checked their mana levels and tested their magecraft, they began their journey to Fuyuki City. Then, Rin looked back at her trunk which had been magically unaffected by the explosion. Something pinkish red - a stick, was resting by it's side. It was a strange stick, with a love heart on the top. After some contemplation, she decided to take it.
Just in case.
Winter was shuffling back to her flat near the local pizzeria. She kicked an empty soda can as she made it to the second floor apartment. Once she turned on the lights inside, it revealed a messy room, owned by a person who wasn't bothered to tidy it up. It was dusty, it was unkempt but it was all she could afford.
After being expelled from the Mage's Association, she managed to use what little money she had earned from her time there to travel to Fuyuki City. It wasn't the best place in the place in the world, but it was easier to live there than the packed streets of London.
The seventeen year old had been wearing the same set of hoodie and shorts for a few weeks now and they were starting wear out. She had managed to land the job as a pizza delivery girl and was constantly praised by the guy running the place, for her speed and efficiency (and it came with a free motor scooter that she got to keep). Still, it was a meager living and she could hardly afford the rent and food. Plus, she couldn't even cook so mainly relied on instant noodles or the nearby Pizza Hat.
Whilst 'cooking' her microwaveable ramen, Winter began to hear strange noises outside. Clang! Bang! It sounded like... music... no... more like... a fight. Either way, she was curious. Taking the ramen cub with her, she stepped outside.
On the balcony she could vaguely make out two figure, fighting. One was wearing black armor and sported what seemed to be a very long pole. The other was more difficult to see, being shrouded in black and flames but had very large sword. Also a horse, definitely a horse. But really intrigued her was their power. Every clash of weapons caused ripples in the sky, and she could feel the extraordinary amount of mana with each strike.
Deciding to investigate further, Winter took out her goggles and jumped on her provided scooter, speeding towards the battle. Once she got there, the tension seemed to drop. Mainly because, well, both fighters happened to spot her. In an instant, the black-clad leaped towards her, impaling Winter with her lance.
Or at least tried.
Winter narrowly managed to grab the weapon, using her vast mana reserves to hold it still.
"You must by a magus. A Master perhaps?" The black-clad person said in low voice.
Now that she got a closer look, Winter could tell that the person before was a woman on account of her feminine voice and large... breastplate. With no time to spare, the white haired girl created a magic body double of herself in her place and slipped out of danger.
That was her specialty, Shadow Step magecraft.
After she managed to find a hiding spot, she started recollecting her thoughts. That woman was extremely powerful and that horseman should be no different. And a Master. What is a Master?
She jumped back on her motor scooter and rode back home, trying to avoid anymore conflict.
The next day, Winter tried make sense of what happened the night before. She had a coffee in hand because she hardly got enough winks with all the drama in her head.
She then made a decision to go to the library. The lady working their there was a magus so maybe she could help Winter.
Winter opened the door to the library. It place was massive, holding every book of every kind, whether it be a children's story or a spell book. She walked around for a while, admiring the shelves that held countless novels. As a small child she was never interested in books about magecraft but loved stories that involved fantastical magic, like the Arthurian legends or the Epic of Gilgamesh.
With her mind wandering off, she snapped back into reality when she bumped into the owner of the library.
"Hello there Winter! Are you searching for a particular book?"
"Actually yes, Ms McRemitz. By the way, how is that wound healing."
Ms McrRemitz had received a mortal wound ten years earlier and to this day, even after extensive surgery, it was still healing.
"Ms McRemitz, do have any books that involve extremely powerful beings and something called Masters?"
The middle-aged woman's face became drained of color and her eyes widened, but she kept up her friendly demeanor, "why do you ask?"
"Well, because I was attacked last night by a woman with a black lance and she mentioned something about Masters."
"You better come with me," the older lady said, concern coursing through her voice.
Winter followed Ms McRemitz to the back of the library, where she could only guess held the most confidential books. The red-haired lady started to speak.
"Ten years ago, I was caught up in something called the Holy Grail War. It was a battle between 7 Masters and Servants for one thing. The Holy Grail. The Grail was a powerful object that could grant anybody any wish. People fight to the death for it. That is actually how I got this injury," she pointed to her stomach, "But the Holy Grail was supposed to be destroyed ten years ago. That's what I heard anyways. So it would be impossible for another Holy Grail War to happen... unless..."
"Unless what!?" Winter pried for more information.
"The Mage's Association said that a Saber-class Servant destroyed the Holy Grail. That must mean..."
"Yeah yeah, I know, a part of the Grail escaped. And rebuilt itself over the past ten years," Winter's impatience was showing, "you keep mentioning Servants. What are they."
McRemitz responded, "Servants are the manifestation of Heroic Spirits - legendary figures that have existed whether in real life or stories. King Arthur was one of the Servants in the last Holy Grail War. They have incredible power, especially their Noble Phantasms."
Winter narrowed her eyebrows, "what the hell are Noble Phantasms? Are they like, ghosts or something?"
"Sometimes yes. Noble Phantasms are the weapons that represent the legend of the Heroic Spirit. Some have many, some only have one but all of them hold a ridiculous amount of power."
Then Winter asked the question she should've asked before, "why do people fight over the Grail?"
"Because it can grant any wish."
Winter's eyes widened. Any wish? She could... she could...
"How do you get a Servant!?" she blurted out.
"Well, you need a catalyst, like a sword or a sheath or something... wait, your not planning to participate in this new War are you?"
Winter didn't answer. She simply bolted out the door.
She was going to find a catalyst.
She was going to win this 'Holy Grail War'!
My god, how much I love Fate and the Nasuverse in general! I've read almost all the visual novels, read almost all of the light novels (save for Fate/Apochrypha Volume 4 and 5), watched all the anime (including that godawful Tsukihime adaptation) and played Fate/Extra, Fate/unlimited codes AND Melty Blood.
And this is still only my first Fate fanfic.
My inspiration for this is Ms. AtomicBomb, you should check her out, she writes really f*cking well. My only qualm with her fanfics is that she is a Diarturia shipper and I am a GilArt shipper.
-A. Rewritten signing out