Shirou Emiya slowly opened his eyes. The room he was in was dark, being illuminated solely by the moonlight creeping in from the window. The first thing his mind registered was the bed he lay in: soft and cozy, covered with the most comfortable blankets he'd ever felt in his life. He was tempted to fall back asleep. Presently, he felt exhausted, mentally and physically, as if he'd run a marathon earlier after taking a school placement test. But his mind was brought back to the bed. Clearly he wasn't at his own home; his sleeping mat was nowhere near as cushy as this bed.
"Ugh…" he groaned, setting himself upright. He brought a hand to his temple, trying to will away the grogginess one is afflicted with when first waking up. But he shouldn't stay here, sleeping in someone else's bed. That's bad manners. "Speaking of which…" he removed the blankets and stood up, taking a moment for his initial dizziness to clear. "Where am I?" He looked down at himself, noting that he was wearing a set of pajamas. He looked around, lighting a lamp on the nightstand next to him. The room, now filled with artificial light, was sparsely decorated: there was a picture of the ocean hanging above the bed, a nightstand and the aforementioned lamp, and a chair in front of a wooden desk. He surmised that he was in a guest room of some sort. Hanging on the door frame were his clothes, freshly washed. He changed back into them, then made up the bed and folded the pajamas. He didn't want to impose upon the people that lived here, so he figured he'd thank them for the bed and be on his way. He left the room and headed down the hall to the staircase.
"...While that is true, it wanted him for a reason," Shirou heard as he began walking down the flight of stairs. He saw that the voice belonged to a tall, oddly dressed man with a hat who was talking to his classmate Rin Tohsaka. "I don't really know who it is," the man continued. "But I've felt something similar before. They called it-"
"Archer," Rin said, cutting him off. She gestured to Shirou who was standing in the middle of the staircase behind them.
"Sorry," Shirou said sheepishly, a little guilty that he overheard their conversation.
"Are you feeling okay?" Rin asked.
"Yeah," Shirou said, coming down the stairs all the way. "Nothing a little rest won't cure. Just feel kind of tired is all."
"Kind of tired?" The strange man asked incredulously, a smirk plastered on his face. "Do you remember what happened to you?"
"Uh…" Shirou gave a thoughtful look. Now that he was actively thinking about it, he couldn't recall exactly how he got here. "No, I guess not," he said with a chuckle. "But I shouldn't stay long, I have to go home and prepare dinner, so I should get going."
"Hold on!" Rin yelled. "You wake up in the middle of the night at a stranger's house with no memory of how you got here, and all you say is 'I need to go make dinner'?"
"...Yeah?"
"Jeez, how stupid are you?"
"Play nice, Master." Chester chortled.
"Listen…" Rin continued. "Emiya, right?" He nodded. "It's dangerous out there right now. It'd be best if you stayed here for now."
"Stayed here?" Shirou asked. "At… your house."
"...H-hey!" Rin yelled. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"I should probably call Fuji-nee, but then again..." Shirou muttered, oblivious to the furiously blushing Rin. "Nah, I can't stay here. I appreciate your concern, Tohsaka-san, but it really would be best if I just went home."
"Listen, Mr. Emiya" Chester said. "I'm going to speak candidly. You were attacked at your school earlier today; we were witness to this and took your unconscious self back here. I have reason to believe that your assailants are still at large and are targeting you specifically. We feel it is in your best interest to remain here where we can keep you safe."
"...Is this some kind of joke?"
"I can assure you it isn't," Chester said.
"Right…" Shirou said, unsettled by Chester's unwavering grin. "I think I'll take my chances."
"Didn't you hear what he said? If you go out there, you'll-"
"Let him go, Master," Chester said, placing a hand on her shoulder. After giving them a questioning look, Shirou made his way out.
"Why would you just let him go?" Rin yelled.
"With a guy like that, there's almost no changing his mind. It would just be easier to follow him and take out any threats as they appear."
"You mean like bait?" Chester nodded.
"In my line of work, that sort of thing is rather common."
"You're appalling," Rin grimaced.
"More so than you realize. Be that as it may, It would I'll behoove us to dally. It just wouldn't do to have your new beau pass from this life due to an act of careless procrastination."
"Don't even joke about that!" Rin chided.
"Then let's be on our way," Chester said with a faint chuckle.
"One last thing," Rin said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You never finished what you were saying about that Servant earlier. Better to tell me what you know now rather than later."
"...Very well," Chester said, his voice tickled with a trace of light annoyance. "It was the last thing I remember before I was summoned here. The place I was in had this… feeling of ever-present dread. Like no matter where you were, there was something lurking in the shadows, moments away from devouring you whole…" Chester paused, a cold sweat beginning to break just from the memory. "Anyway, apparently it was caused by something the locals referred to as the Abyss: this… concentration of darkness, for lack of a better term. I don't understand it much myself, but that Servant we fought gave me a feeling almost exactly like what I felt then.
"Supposedly the Abyss was the creation of a single individual, as the darkness would just radiate from them and corrupt everything in their path. I'm not sure if this Caster is the Abyss' creator or not; either way we have to be careful. One of the King's knights, the most powerful of them all if I am not mistaken, tried to destroy the Abyss and its progenitor, but found himself corrupted by it instead. I just fear that could happen to us. And that's all I have to say on the matter."
"I see…" Rin said with a nod. "Well, now I have a better idea of what we're up against." She gave Chester a reassuring grin. " We'll be fine since I'll be working you." Chester chuckled in response.
"You truly are sure of yourself, Master." Rin's grin gave way to a pout. "Triumphant pride precipitates a dizzying fall, but your confidence is contagious. Regardless, we better get going then."
Shirou hurried back to his home. It had taken him quite a bit to find his way back, as he had never been to Tohsaka's house before. Which reminded him that he had no idea how he got there. He didn't think that Tohsaka and her companion had anything bad in mind, but the way that guy kept smiling definitely crept him out. It took him until around one in the morning before he found himself on the familiar road back to his home. He found the place eerily quiet with the lack of people due to the time of day.
"Fuji-nee is gonna be pretty mad when I have to explain this…" he muttered. Coming home absurdly late with no forewarning or proper explanation is a recipe for disaster. "Maybe she won't freak out too much…" he sighed. Wishful thinking never really got him anywhere. He stopped for a moment and looked up at the moon. Nights weren't usually this clear, where you can see the moon and the stars. It made him think of his father and the last conversation they had before his death.
"...I couldn't wait…" A voice whispered from behind. Before he could react, Shirou felt a rough hand strangle his throat and lift him off the ground. "...I could feel a power radiating out of you like a beacon… I need that power…" The voice sounded like it was echoing from everywhere as his assailant spoke. Shirou desperately tried to break free; air was denied him and if he didn't escape soon, he would lose consciousness. He could already feel the world going blank. Try as he might, his efforts proved fruitless against the vice grip of his captor.
"It is no use to struggle," it said. "Your strength has been recognized, and I will have it. Now… become one with the Dark." In an instant, several spear like objects impaled through his chest.
Shirou let out a strained groan as he instinctively tried to look down; his vision blurred and his ears rang, but he managed to make out the image of several black spikes protruding from his chest, dripping blood. He tried to scream, but the creature's strangulation proved too powerful, against him, and before long, Shirou could flail no more. The tendrils were worming their way around him, engulfing and smothering him in an inky blackness.
"What the hell…" Shirou attempted to say, but he could no longer manage to make a sound. "Is this… Really the end…?"
"They got to him already?"
"We can still save him! Hurry up!"
Consciousness was rapidly fading from him, but he thought he saw Rin Tohsaka and her smiling companion come into his sight before he completely lost it. As his vision completely darkened, he could see his life flashing before him. It played like a movie, showing flashes of events from his life, starting with the more recent like fixing things for his classmates or hanging out with his friend Issei. His life was shown to him until the day he was rescued by Kiritsugu Emiya, after which he saw nothing but darkness.
Then he heard, clear as day, the utterances of one belonging to an era lost to time, one chained to an unwanted purpose and existence.
Soul of the mind: Key to life's Ether
Soul of the Lost: withdrawn from its Vessel
Let Strength be granted, so the world might be mended…
So the world might be mended…
A bright light shone forth from Shirou, it's intensity forcing the darkness, and his assailant to retreat from his newfound radiance. He fell to the ground, gasping for desperately needed oxygen.
"Emiya!" Rin yelled as she ran to his side. She helped him up as he turned himself around to see exactly what kind of person could lift him up and strangle him so easily. However, instead of the large, muscle-bound serial killer he expected, he was greeted with the visage of a young blonde woman, clad in a blue, dress-like armor, facing off against a skeletal monstrosity his mind couldn't fully comprehend. The young woman turned her head and gazed at Shirou with piercing green eyes.
"I ask you: are you my Master?"
Shirou balked at the question and stared at her. The abomination that attacked Shirou summoned a scythe as tendrils manifested from under it.
"And so your strength has brought forth another…" The creature said. It's tendrils danced around around it, and with a blinding speed, the charged the newcomer. Without looking away from Shirou, she swung a clenched fist; the tendrils collided with the air and were deflected. Chester took this moment while it was distracted to fire several arrows at Caster. The tendrils quickly recovered and defended, snapping the arrows in two before they could their mark.
"I know we just met and everything," Chester said, addressing the blonde woman. "But would you mind helping me out with this?" She regarded the enemy before them, its tendrils circling protectively around it. She nodded and dashed forward. Her speed scarcely gave Caster time to react: it brought up its scythe in a defensive stance and was quickly assaulted by the blonde woman. It used the scythe to defend against the woman's onslaught, all performed by the swift hand movements she was making. The offense was aggressive enough that Caster had to use its tendrils to aid in defending.
"Perfect…" Chester said as he watched the confrontation. With a steady hand, he readied his crossbow and trained his sights on Caster's head. With a click, the bolt was released. It tore through the air like a bullet, followed by a trail of a dark red liquid. In a blink, the arrow pierced through Caster's head, stunning the creature and leaving it open. Seizing the opportunity, the blonde woman thrusted her hand into Caster's chest, opening a wound that oozed a black fluid.
"Yes…" Caster said, it's voice holding a sort of childlike glee. "This one also possesses true strength… I will have it, but now is not the time…" The woman removed her fist and was ready to strike again, but before she could make contact, Caster's form faded into the night.
"Where did it go?" Rin exclaimed, frantically looking around.
"I can't sense it anymore, so I think it left," Chester said, putting his weapon away.
"What… was that?" Shirou asked through trembling breaths.
"That was the thing we were warning you about earlier!" Rin yelled. "You really need to learn to listen to others."
"And who's that?" Shirou asked, regarding the blonde woman.
"Saber. I ask again: are you my Master?"
I'm still doing this. I was really busy over the last couple months, and then I was real lazy the rest of it. I started writing what I am convinced is my absolute worst idea ever that I doubt will ever see the light of day, but that's not important right now. Pokémon Sun was great. I really loved the Vulpix. Can't wait to hatch a shiny one of those. School is fine too, thanks for asking. Now I just gotta wait to see who responds to all of my applications to places of higher learning. Lastly, feel free to insult or belittle this story. I deserve it.