I do not own Fate/Stay Night nor any other Servants depicted here.
Unexpected Start
She waited patiently at the top of the stone steps. Her companion, a man, was busy bringing up their luggage... his luggage. Instead of the expensive hotel he had booked, upon her plans, they moved to the out of the way mountain temple. They booked a room and had everything sent there. When everything had been settled in, the monks that attended to them bid good night and left. They were all alone in the room.
"You are a most troublesome Master," the woman said as she slowly sauntered up to him. The man's face was impassive, but his eyes told a different story; angry but also fearful. "Still, the items you have brought along for this War is quite impressive. I look forward to making use of it myself. Sad that you would not be around to see it," she told him before she started chanting while aiming a hand at him. The man's eyes widened in fright; he did not recognize the language she was using, but he somehow knew he did not want to be around when it happened. As she uttered the final word, the man promptly burst into flames.
She sighed in annoyance. As much as she didn't really want to do this, that man got under her skin a bit too much. Do this. Do that. The nerve of him. Sure he wanted the other Servants to eliminate each other, but he didn't have to treat her as a literal servant! Why couldn't he bring his own servants instead of using her? Then again, what else could she expect from him? He had most of his time buried in his books like one of those stupid wizards at the Academy. Well, at least now, she didn't have to hear that grating voice. Good riddance to him. But now, she had a problem of keeping herself here. Using those magical items can only go so far...
A knock on the door brought her out of her train of thought and she remained silent. The door then slid open, revealing a bespectacled man in blue robes those monks wore. But this man had a full mop of hair on his head. But, she then remembered the dying embers of her former Master and silently prepared a Fireball spell. If she had to do something about this, then might as well go in a blaze of glory. She was quite surprised when the man took one look at the smouldering embers and asked, "Do you wish to move to another room, miss? At least until I clean the room."
This brought a smile to her face. It intrigued her, this man and his behavior. He must have had experience in such matters if he did not flinch at the sight of a dying body. This man could be of help to her. "But of course," she replied gracefully, "How thoughtful of you to notice. If you do not mind, may I have your name?"
"Kuzuki Souichirou."
"Well, it is nice to meet you," she said with a smile, "You can just refer to me as... Caster."
She did not want to go to Japan. She had heard much of the Japanese there from her family, most of them bad. However, when the Edelfelt's were invited to participate once more in the Holy Grail War, they couldn't say no despite their dislike for the country itself. And so Luviagelita Edelfelt found herself being sent there a year early under guise of an exchange student. She had no problems blending with the society there. Housing was not a problem, having already arranged to have a rather large estate to herself, as well as a few trusted members of staff from her home. Pretty much the only stumbling block came in the form of Rin Tohsaka. At first disliking her just because she was a Tohsaka, Luvia started finding in her a kindred spirit and she did come enjoy the private spats she had with her as well as the constant one upping on each other in public. With her popularity starting to compare to Rin's, Luvia had no doubt she had become her rival in those terms. Which is why she took great pleasure in summoning her Servant earlier than she did. At least she was quite sure she did it earlier than Rin.
As the smoke of the summoning dissipated, her expectations were thrown out the window. As someone expecting one of the knight classes of the Servants, she did not expect someone wearing of all things, a formal all black suit. He had straight, layered, shoulder length hair and a short beard. Black gloves and black boots complete his attire. Very visible around his neck was an intricately made pendant; it looked quite beautifully crafted. He gave himself a look over. "Hmm, it's gonna be like this? I guess it'll do... though I wish I had more of my abilities," he was heard muttering. Then he noticed her.
The new Servant seemed to look at her with a careful eye. "Well, I don't like the fact that I need to fight in a war," he finally said after a moment of silence, "But since I was brought here anyway, might as well make the best of it. I am Rider for this war. You must be my Master."
With as much poise and confidence she could muster for this unprecedented Servant, she answered, "Yes, that I am."
A moment of silence went by before she stifled a yawn and said, "I think this has gone on long enough. We will formulate plans later. I need to sleep for school tomorrow."
"Heh, then by your leave, I'll go exploring for a bit," Rider informed her with a slight smile.
"Fine, fine," she said as she waved him off, already on her way to her bedroom. In the morning, she had to notify the mediator... and the rest of the day gloating in front of Tohsaka.
Bazett Fraga McRemitz took a few steps back as the smoke billowed about.
"Surely you aren't afraid of a bit of smoke, Bazett," chided Kirei as he kept his concentration on the magic circle on the ground.
"It just took me aback, that's all," she retorted, lightly glaring at him, "You never said anything about the summoning having this much smoke."
"I barely had any," he calmly stated.
"Hmph," she sounded out as she stepped back next to him. Secretly, she was quite excited. She was taking part in the Fifth Holy Grail War and she was now summoning her hero, the great Cú Chulainn. She could hardly contain herself. Yet, as the Servant was revealed, she could only stare in shock.
The Servant was encased in full body armor. Well, that's what the upper body looked like. Below that was a long closed skirt. Four ridged spires seem to come from the back,two going vertical and two horizontal, as well as a full body cloak. The helm was elongated and was as tall as the horizontal spires. And by far the most fascinating aspect was that littered on places on the armor and on the skirt were runes. At least, they looked like runes. But, they were nothing like she had seen before. They glowed a ghost-like blue color and she could sense a barely restrained power radiating from them.
Yet, as magnificent as the Servant was, she did not intend to summon him... or her. She summoned the Hound of Ulster, damn it! "Wait a minute! I thought I summoned Cú Chulainn!" she cried out in protest.
"It would seem it has happened again," the priest muttered. As if she couldn't hear him.
"Just what are you talking about, Kirei?" she asked, still staring in disbelief at the Servant.
"A few oddities were summoned as Servants in the previous War," he explained, "It makes one wonder why."
"Right..." Then, addressing the Servant in front of her, she asked, "Who are you?"
The Servant spoke in a semi-melodious voice, "Lancer." It sounded feminine. And then, she faded out, shifting to spirit form.
"You may not have gotten the hero you wanted, but you still gained a Lancer," the priest stated impassively, "I shall make note of this."
Bazett groaned and cursed under her voice. True, she did not get Cú Chulainn, but she seemed to have gotten a strong Servant. Although, only time will tell if this was worth it.
Sakura watched as the smoke coalesced within the magic circle, her step brother monitoring her progress behind her. Her days with the family were bearable; Byakuya was no Kariya oji-san, but he did not treat her any worse than Zouken. She was eternally grateful when the old man suddenly disappeared. But then, neither did she shed any tears for Byakuya when he passed on, since he was just... there. Shinji was a different thing entirely. Just because his father had declared her the heir on the day he died, he started to show his resentment for a while, but she quickly put him in place. He would not be laying his hands on her anymore, not after using her newly trained powers.
That was another thing. She was entirely grateful to the strange shadow being that came to her in her dreams. It taught her much; how to mold and shape the shadows like a plaything, like a piece of clay. At first she did not want to learn. While she was from a line of superior magi, knowing that most of her childhood was stripped away from her just because of what she was, it was safe to say that she did not like magecraft. Yet the being was adamant in honing her talent, at least just for self defense. Needless to say, it did pay off after all. After Shinji, she was diligent in learning, if only to show her gratitude to the shadowy being. Yesterday was to be a final session before the war.
"You have improved greatly, young one," the shadow said to her.
"Thank you, master," she replied gratefully. They trained in a plain looking world, white sky and black ground. The darkness cast on the ground was endless and very good for the manipulation of shadows that she learned from it.
"I have heard that you have been chosen."
It sounded like a query more than a statement. "Yes, I have. I do have a wish..." she started.
"It is no matter. You do not have to tell me what it is," the being said as it held up a hand for a moment, "I only wish to tell you that... this War will be your proving ground. This will be the time to see if my training has borne fruit. So today shall be our final session before it begins. If you are successful, this means that I have no more to teach you."
"I... I will not let you down," she vowed before him. She did not feel sure if there would be a chance for her to showcase what she could do, but when it comes to that point, she will give it all she has.
"That is all I need."
What stepped out of the smoke, she could never have guessed. The Servant she summoned had worn something fairly reminiscent of an officer's uniform a few centuries ago. He was probably a captain of some ship, though there did not seem to be any medals or any insignias on his shoulders that signified rank. He had messy dark brown hair, brown eyes and a short shaven beard.
"I am Assassin. Which of you is my Master?" the Servant asked as he brought his left arm across his chest, like a salute of some sort. Sakura noticed a rather peculiar tattoo on his hand; it looked like a eye to her.
"I am your Master, Assassin," she spoke up. Assassin nodded towards her, to show his understanding.
"You do not look like an Assassin," Shinji suddenly spoke up rather haughtily, "Where is your mask?"
"My mask is for my enemies and by extension, my Master's enemies," the Servant answered rather stoically, "If you wish to see it... well, it shall be the last thing you see..." He left his sentence hanging; the Servant didn't sound like he liked being questioned that way.
The boy harrumphed rather shakily and said hesitantly, "Well... I... I'll leave this to you, Sakura." He turned and walked to the exit, but she did notice his shaky steps as he walked upstairs.
She turned back to her Servant and said, "Please, try to take what he says to heart. My stepbrother does mean well, even though he has a bad way of showing it."
"By your orders then, Master," Assassin told her as he stood there, a flicker of emotion passing through before settling into his stoic mask once again.
Sakura then took a deep breath and said, "Alright. You may go ahead and scout around. I still have one more thing to do before turning in."
The gramophone crackled and hummed a bit before once again falling silent. Truthfully, Sakura hadn't the faintest idea on how it worked, only that it was tuned to another, sister gramophone via magecraft. She assumed her... 'father'... had something to do with it. She was quite surprised when the local priest had stopped by unannounced and offered it to her. At first she had refused, but when it was told to her that he was her sister's guardian and that it was for her as a form of communication, did she accept in the end. Now it lay on a side table on one side of her Kariya-ojisan's room... well... now it was her room. At the very least, it doesn't run on electricity, so it does not factor into the monthly bill. Not that it mattered anyway. She doesn't eat at home, and since he doesn't like cooking, Shinji dines out every night. She preferred to dine with Fujimura-sensei and... her Senpai. The only times she ever felt complete.
"Sakura?" asked a voice all of a sudden. A familiar voice.
"Hello, Rin," she greeted a little tiredly, "I just finished my summoning. How was yours?"
"Hn... there was a bit of trouble... I was successful but I... now have a hole in my roof... stupid Servant..."
She held back a giggle, feeling that her sister went through enough for one night. "I guess this means you can get over what Edelfelt said to you?" she asked in return.
"... I wish you didn't bring that up..." her sister grumbled over the 'phone'. And then she came back with a vengeance with, "And what about you? Why are you still going over to that Emiya boy's house? Didn't he recover from his injuries?"
"Wh... Rin...!" she stuttered, embarrassment sending her cheeks red as she molded her face into a pout, "... that's mean..." She could hear a bit of muffled chuckling on the other end.
"By the way, you didn't mention what Servant you got."
"... Assassin. Why?" she asked curiously, the red face now fading away.
Her sister sighed and said, "I got an Archer... I was hoping for a Saber but I suppose I have to work with what I am given. Strategy-wise, I could always ask you to spy on the other Masters and then have Archer attack at the most opportune time..."
Now it was Sakura's turn to sigh; Rin always got serious like this when magecraft was concern, though she would be highly aggravated if Edelfelt was involved.
"Rin, we could always talk about these things later," she began to reason with her, "We have school tomorrow. And I was hoping..."
"Yes, yes, I know. I will let that idiot priest know about you too," the other girl said, sounding a bit dismissive, "It will be the first thing I do before I go to school. You on the other hand, will be going to see that boy of yours before school."
"B- wha- Rin...!" the violet haired girl groaned out after a stutter, "He is not my boy..." After a moment, she whispered out with a blush, "Yet..."
"....Good night, Sakura..." She could almost picture a smirk on her sister's face when she heard that.
"Good night, Rin."
Rin smirked in amusement as the connection closed. Truthfully, she needed that; ten years working hard at her craft as well as elective lessons from her guardian, she was sure she would be able to summon a Saber class Servant. Alas, it was not to be. Still, when she heard Sakura had gotten an Assassin, she could not help but to think of what the priest told her. That her father used the Assassin he summoned to spy on the other Masters. She could take it one step further as to get Assassin to reveal the locations of the other Masters and Servants, and then have Archer take them out from afar. No doubt they would be able to win the War in record time if all goes according to plan.
"It seems that I was summoned by a farsighted Master," said Archer behind her, apparently having stopped his cleaning duty to eavesdrop on her, "To think there was already an alliance in place before the War even began." But then, he also said, "I do not know if I trust her just yet. This may all be a ploy to stab you in the back, Master, seeing that she summoned Assassin."
Her face twitched; with her back to him, she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or genuine. All the same, she didn't like what he was going with this.
"She and I have been... friends since we were children," she began as she disabled the gramophone, "We are as close as sisters." Having done so, she turned to face him, looking a bit stern, "Yes, she is a magus. Yes, she is also a Master. I also know for a fact that, yes, she will do what it takes to win. That, I have no doubt of. What I do not like is that you think she will not honor her promise to me." She took a few steps and folded her arms in front of her, stating her facts resolutely, "The both of us will work together until we are the only one's left. Then, it will be down to a battle between Servant's. This, I am sure I will win, for I am sure that the Assassin class cannot compare to the Archer class."
She took in another breath before finishing, "Thus, I will win the War, bringing more recognition to the Tohsaka name and you will get your wish."
"My, what a terrifying Master I have," the Servant admitted as he closed his eyes, nodding in understanding.
"Well, now that we understand each other," she said as she turned her back in the white haired Servant, "Please continue working downstairs. I want to see it cleaned up by the time I wake up."
"A terrifying Master, indeed."
Noel sighed in relief as she wheeled her bicycle away from the kōban. A good walk around the neighborhood was sorely needed after being cooped up in there for most of the evening. While she walked, she looked back at the reports she had just read through, feeling quite disturbed by the strange deaths happening around Miyama the past week. Other than a few that seemed to have mysteriously ingested acid, almost all the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Autopsies confirmed it. The higher ups seemed to be quite upset that a 'vigilante' was going around killing what they consider 'excitable people'. While there were a few snatch thieves and robbers among that number, many of them were part of the local yakuza and many were worried that this might end up like a witch hunt if the Fujimura group became too riled up. Meaning they might take matters into their own hands and potentially harm the public.
And then there was the issue of the familiar feeling of other Servant's going around. Funnily enough, she started sensing them when the bodies started turning up. She had a feeling that the two were linked in some way.
"Either one of the Masters is ordering their Servant to consume their souls or its the Servant's own doing," she mused as she wheeled her bike along, "If anything, I have to try and put a stop to this. Maybe if I can find the Master of that Servant, then..." She stopped in her tracks, that familiar feeling suddenly popping up again. It seemed to be... heading towards her. She felt tense, but tried to calm herself down. If anything, she had to look unassuming. Then, she continued on her way. She almost stopped and stared when a young, white haired girl dressed in purple walked past her. But her nerves held on and she went on her way.
"That was close. I really don't want to go looking for fights," she thought to herself, "Still, that girl looked awfully familiar..."
It was then she encountered him. Emiya Shirou, adopted son of Emiya Kiritsugu. From what she could overhear from passing students during her morning patrols, this person goes out of his way to help out, to the extent of also being known as the 'fake janitor' of the school. Also, she had also suspected that Saber's former Master had been teaching the boy magecraft, though she was grateful that they had kept that part of their lives well hidden.
"Emiya? What are you doing out so late?" she called out as she noticed the young man with short, messy red hair. She leaned the bike against the wall before stepping up to him.
"Eh, Officer Mackenzie?" the young man blurted out in surprise, "I was on my way back when... well, did you see the little girl passing by earlier?"
Noel raised a brow. "Did that girl say something to him?" she did wonder. But then again, while she did suspect that girl was a Master, it was probably for Emiya's sake that she did not drag him into this. He would probably try his best to worm his way into her investigation to 'help out'. "A little girl, Emiya?" she repeated, sounding a little concerned, before starting to tease him, "Why, I would have thought you liked girls your age."
"Wh- what?! No, I did not mean it that way!" he vehemently protested, "I just... ah, never mind. I have to get back home. I'm sort of late as it is." With that, he quickly made a hasty retreat.
She sighed as she took off her bowler hat and ran her hand through her hair. "It is not a mistake," she contemplated as she replaced her hat, "The less people involved in this, the better. If anything, I have to find out who is participating and try to convince them there is something wrong with the War. I should probably make contact with the mediator..." She took in a worried breath and exhaled, retrieving her bike, "Then again, if that man survived... I think some surveillance is in order before I make my next move."
Commentary:-
There we go! All Servants summoned except Saber. All are welcome to go crazy guessing who is who. Still, I forgive me if I make any mistakes in Masters personalities. Luvia, not sure if I match her original personality, so forgive me any fans of her. Also, hopefully Rin and Sakura are up to standard, also taking consideration what they got from the 4th War. And, for those feeling confused about the timeline for the summonings, all this was done over a span of a week. Caster was a full seven days before Saber's summoning(bSs), so a good amount of time before she gets fed up with her Master and takes matters into her own hands. Rider, 4 days bSs. Lancer, 3 days bSs. Archer and Assassin, 2 days bSs. Finally, Noel's scene was a day bSs. You know what? Next chapter is Saber... and everyone cheers... well, mostly everyone, I guess.
Also, it seems luck has favored me, since I actually stumbled upon a Youtuber named Zer Blade who documented the entire VN. All. Three. Paths. Including bad endings and Tiger Dojo's. I love this person so much. Now I have another source to pull info from. So Awesome! Yahoo!
Another thing. Thank you kind sirs for thine reviews. Just about everyone successfully guessed Berserker's identity. No MadFrog, I'm not having Eldrad Ulthran as Lancer. I do not recall his soul stone being captured by Chaos. Then again, I don't follow WH40K that much after I stopped playing DOW, so...
I also have two important questions. One, what do you think of the preview chapter before this?I wanted to do something similar like the anime episodes of Fate/Zero where they flash the Command Seals while they have the characters talking. Take it as another way of knowing when a chapter is coming out. The preview just tells that the chapter is finished and its being beta-ed right now. Then, Preview will be deleted and a day later the full chapter should appear.
Two, should Shirou still have his near death experience next chapter? Based on the Servants that I put here, it is well within my power to not have him experience it. Yet, this also means Rin will not be able to use her mana filled heirloom. So... what sort of alternative do you want, readers? Please leave it in your review, would you kindly?