As the girl stirred awake, the soft hum of hospital activity filled her ears. She took a deep breath and felt no pain, no tubes, no IV. She looked around the calm, empty room and wondered why she was there. The memories slowly trickled back as she tried to piece together what had happened. As the girl sat in the hospital room, she remembered the experience of being kidnapped by a magic user. The surreal experience of feeling the power of their spells, the fear of not knowing what they wanted from her. While she had vast experience fighting monsters and other demigods, she hadn't encountered many pure magic users outside of interacting with some witches of Hecate.
The brief confrontation ended once the magic user launched a spell that knocked her out. Once she regained consciousness, she found herself bound to a magical item in a cave. A short time after, the magic user walked back into the cave and noticed that she was awake. He then started to monologue about some 'magical ritual' thing and how 'she was going to fuel his servant'. Most of the things he said went over her head as she didn't understand what most of the terms he was using meant.
After his monologue, he then used chalk to draw a detailed circle. Once that was completed, he went back to his belongings and placed what looked like a torn red cloth in the center of the circle. To the young teen, it seemed the spellcaster was preparing some type of summoning ritual akin to some video games that she used to play. The magus stood before a summoning circle, pouring their energy into order to start the ritual. She could feel that the amount of energy radiating from the man started to recite a magical incarnation. Once his chant finished, a flash of light and a burst of energy engulfed the room.
A regal figure appeared in the center of the summoning circle, clad in black armor with purple highlights and a silver cloak on his back. His skin was unhealthy and pale. A mane of white hair covered a part of his face. His sudden appearance put her on edge immediately as she didn't expect the sickly knight to be summoned from the aether. The rest of the events there was a blur to her as the knight freed her from captivity and knocked out her kidnapper. She passed from that point onwards as she used most of her willpower to keep herself awake.
She suddenly returned to reality as she heard a voice call out to her. "Oh, it seems you are awake?". A nurse approached the girl's bed, smiling warmly. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "Any pain or discomfort?" The girl shook her head, feeling a bit disoriented but otherwise fine. The nurse took her vitals and assured her that the doctor would be in soon to explain everything.
After a short while, the door opened, and the doctor entered the room, holding a clipboard. He introduced himself and explained to the girl that she had been found abandoned on the street, without any identification or clues about who she was. The doctor said that luckily, she was found by someone who decided to take her to the hospital after realizing the condition she was in. She deduced that summoned knight 'Saber' must have taken her to the hospital and must have concocted the tale to explain her condition to hospital staff.
She reaffirmed 'Sabers' tale while further elaborating that she was a 'runaway' teen and that her parents had abandoned her when she was young. Her additions to the tale reflected other tales that she heard from other half-bloods that had their parents abandon them once they released their true heritage as monster magnets. As she finished her story, the doctor listened attentively, nodding as she spoke. When she finished, he thanked her for sharing and assured her that she had done the right thing by telling them.
He asked her if she could provide her name and some details about her identity. The girl nodded and provided her name and date of birth, as well as some basic information about her family and background. He then gave her some reassurance that they would make sure that everything was properly taken care of. As he left the room, she suddenly realized that she could end up in the foster care system.
While this consumed her thoughts, the nurse returned and told her that her 'rescuer' wanted to come in to talk to her. She of course agreed to talk to 'Saber' as she wanted answers to previous events. The nurse left and in a couple of minutes, returned with the knight she knew as 'Saber'. He was no longer in his armor and instead was adorned in an indigo dress shirt, black jeans, and a black pair of trainers. His hair still cascaded down his back and covered the right side of his face. As he walked into the room, he focused on her to greet her.
"It seems you're okay". He said neutrally, his face not showing any concern or emotion about her current condition. "It's good that I found you before your condition got any worse".
She decided that it was best to play into the facade while the nurse was still here. "Yes, I was on my last legs when you found me". She made her voice sound weaker to hope to seem more frail and helpless than she really was. After a couple of minutes of keeping up the charade, she kindly asked the nurse to leave, explaining that she needed some privacy to talk to her 'savior'. The nurse nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. She then turned to 'Saber' before returning to her normal self.
"It seems you have a talent for acting, master". Saber grinned while he mocked her. She became embarrassed by Saber's sudden teasing, but before she could respond, Saber's face changed to a more serious demeanor "But, now since we have privacy. Now, we can discuss our current situation, Master".
The demi-god breathed in to calm herself "Yes, I have lots of questions". Saber walked and sat down on an empty chair before responding to her "Well, we don't have an all-day master. Ask whatever questions you have and I will do my best in providing you with the answers you seek".
Her mind suddenly raced as she completed what question she should ask him. "Who are you?".
"I am Saber".
"But, that's not a proper name!".
"That's correct. It's more akin to a title or codename than my birth name."
"What is your real name then?".
"I would rather not tell you right now as I don't know how far our relationship will go."
"How am I supposed to trust you if I don't know your proper name?" She was starting to get increasingly frustrated that he was being evasive about his true identity. "If you implied we are supposed to work together in the future, then how can I trust you to be an honest person if you are not willing to give me your true name? Only truly dishonest people try to hide their name".
"Names have power, therefore, I won't tell you my true name and won't use it unless truly necessary." Saber did make a good point, names do truly have power when it comes to Gods and monsters. "Plus, I do not know your name. Surely, you aren't a dishonest person, are you now?"
"Of course, I'm not". She quickly replied, starting to get annoyed by Sabers teasing like she was a younger sibling. "My name is Ezra".
"Isn't Ezra a man's name?"
"It can be used for girls too!"
"Maybe you're hiding…"
"For olympus' sake Saber, knock it off!" Ezra finally has enough of Sabers teasing.
Saber chuckled in response to Ezra getting flustered at being teased "I apologize for the teasing master, it's just nice to see you less tense ". He quickly composed himself and looked at her with a serious expression. "But, I seriously prefer you call me Saber for now Ezra. I am happy to tell you my full name once you know what is going on".
"Fine, I call you 'Saber' for now." She decided to not push the naming question further at the moment, inhaling a deep breath to calm herself down. "Are you a demigod?"
Saber raised an eyebrow when in response to the question "None of my parents were of divine origin. Do you think I was a demi-god like yourself?".
Upon hearing that, Ezra started to panic "How did you know I am a demi-god?"
"Well, to start, the aura that comes from yourself seems divine in nature. You seem to be aware of this aura as you did not be that shocked by the existence of magic or the supernatural." Saber looked at Ezra with a discerning gaze "I know I have been summoned to an era where Gods still roam around. It is, therefore, to assume from your question that you are a demi-god yourself."
Ezra was surprised that Saber could sense her divine heritage as a demigod. "Yes, I am indeed a half-blood." She nervously raised her head to face Saber "Is there anything wrong with that?".
Saber shook his head in response "There's nothing wrong with your heritage at all master. The only thing that you're confirming your heritage does for me, is provide a probable reason why the magus abducted you".
"Why does being a half-blood have anything to do with why that freak kidnaped me?"
"So half-bloods is a term that you demigods refer to yourselves as, interesting" Saber muttered to himself before replying to Ezra "Well, the Magi probably want to use you as an energy source to maintain my existence. Demigods such as yourself have large amounts of magical energy in them that can be used to pay for the upkeep of a servant. While he would have the command seals and be off fighting in the grail war, you would most likely be a comatose mana battery."
Ezra shuddered at that thought. However, her mind was mulling over the bits of information that Saber had revealed. "What's a servant? Is that what you are? What are command seals? Why wou…"
"Okay, master." Saber interrupted her before she became too engrossed in asking too many questions. " It seems I have overwhelmed you by assuming you were familiar with the nature of the Heavens Feel ritual. I assume you have no idea why there are red seals on the back of your right hand?".
Ezra looked at the back of her hands and was surprised to find 3 red marks in the form of a spear-like shape with two wings beside it. She didn't notice it until now. "I guess you are going to explain what this is?".
"I will, but I must explain what the Holy Grail War is…"
Over half an hour, Saber explained the nature of the Holy grail war was a battle between seven mages, known as Masters, who summon powerful heroic spirits, known as Servants, to fight for them. He further explained what servants, command seals and the Holy grail were. He further clarified that Ezra became a participant in the grail war once Saber was summoned by the prior magus. As Saber finished his explanation, Ezra was stunted by the amount of information that Saber had conveyed to her.
Ezra looked less certain as to her it almost sounded like Saber just told some type of fantastical faerie tale rather than explaining the complicated rules of magical competition between mages. She then took a brief moment of silence to contemplate the information that Saber just gave her.
"So what now?" Ezra was now directly looking at her servant. "If I am your Master as you claim, what is our next course of action?"
"That's dependent on you Master," Sabers replies to her, his voice carrying a high nature of seriousness as her next response will determine the future of their relationship. "Due to the nature of my summoning, it would be unfair of me to force you to participate. But now that I have explained the nature of Heaven's feel to you, the only thing that there is left to ask is if you intend to participate".
"What would happen if I refused?"
"Then, I would ask you to break my contract with you. From there, I would search for another person to form a contract with. If I fail to do so, then I will simply fade from the world as I would lack the mana to sustain my existence."
Ezra's thoughts were a mess at this point, she didn't know what to do. Winning the Holy Grail war seemed like a pipedream, as she only found out about it 30 minutes ago. What chance did she have of winning the thing? Was Saber making the whole thing up? This could be one clever poly by a monster to eat her…
As her mind continued to race, the nurse came back into the room and announced that another two people were there to see her. Saber looked tense at the announcement, as his face zoned into the door without any acceptance from her two people entered the hospital room. One had the priest wearing robes and a crucifix around his neck. The second figure was wearing a black suit and dress trousers and had short crop red hair that looked recent. Before the nurse could respond to their sudden intrusion, the priest spoke up.
"I apologize for rushing in like this, but I really have urgent business with the young lady here." He turned from the nurse to face Ezra "My name is Father Faldues young one. I am here to discuss what you have gotten yourself involved in".