Three days ago…
Caster of Omega was walking through the hallways of her castle, her Master by her side and some homunculi servants surrounding them.
Caster's Master was a young woman by the name of Ada Winchester. An eighteen-year-old girl with dirty blonde hair and green eyes, she wore a light blue blouse with a black skirt and red shoes. She was usually very quiet and rarely ever made a sound.
"I am going to be preparing my second Noble Phantasm; my greatest achievement and the very project that resulted in the downfall of my 'brother'." Caster said. "However, I will need to seclude myself until it is finished. It will take roughly nine days at the most."
"Okay." Ada nodded. "I'm assuming that's what your 'prana batteries' are for, isn't it?"
The 'prana batteries' were the people who had gone missing almost a week ago. Caster was putting much preparation for this second Noble Phantasm, but knew her Master wouldn't be able to stay in the castle every moment of every day. Around fifty people should be enough to keep Caster stable and allow her to work on her second Noble Phantasm while Ada was away.
"Are you sure that you'll be safe until it's finished?"
"Worry not, Master. I'm certain that the Alpha faction hasn't a clue where we are." Caster said. "And by the time they do, they will most likely be too late."
"Rest assured, Master, we will most certainly attain victory. The enemy will have no choice but to confront us in my domain."
Three days went by unexpectedly quickly for Ada.
Fate/new dawn
Chapter 10: First Blood
"You again, kid?" a woman said.
It was another vision of Assassin's life. The girl had a tendency to mistake random women for her mother. Random might not have been the best term, though; all of Assassin's 'mothers' seemed to be prostitutes. Ian silently wondered why in the world that pattern took shape.
"Mommy…?" Assassin muttered innocently.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I am NOT your mother?" the woman snapped. "Now scram before I get angry!"
The woman turned away from the child before taking her leave.
"Mommy… I want to return to your warmth…" the poor soul whispered with killing instinct, drawing her knives. "I'm sorry…"
She vanished with incredible speed, the kind that shouldn't have been possible for her malnourished body.
The woman was barely a meter away before her throat was slashed. She stumbled before falling on her back, gasping in agony while clutching her deep wound and her body went into shock. Assassin skillfully cut the lower part of the woman's dress open before gutting her. As the blades of Assassin's knives sunk repeatedly into the woman's abdomen, Ian couldn't help but think of part of the chorus from a certain American paratrooper song from World War II; gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die.
This was what always happened when Assassin found someone that she considered her 'mother'. The women would always reject her, oftentimes harsher than necessary, and Assassin would ambush them and cut them open. She would the harvest the organs and retreat to the darkest part of Whitechapel with them, back to that waste-filled den that didn't even qualify for a home. Yet that was all she had to call a home. The organs were often used as a pillow and the troubled girl would dream of a better tomorrow and her mother's warmth.
These visions would always give Ian conflicted feelings. He would feel happy when Assassin brutally murdered the women. He would hate himself for enjoy the agonizing deaths. He would feel utter pity and sadness for the poor soul that Assassin was. He would want to feel utterly disgusted, but he could never bring himself to condemn Assassin because of how pitiful her life was.
It was a Saturday afternoon now. Rider of Omega sat on the sofa, watching television. He had found American television to be enjoyable, though he would denounce American culture itself. And besides, there wasn't much else to do until night fell and the battles waged in the Grail War began.
"Tell me, du Bois, what is your wish for the Grail?" Rider said.
Rider never referred to Alexandre as 'Master', for he refused to acknowledge anyone but God as his master. That and he was King of the Franks in life.
"Prosperity for France." Alexandre said. "I have grown fond of America, but France will always be my home. Yet I fear that Louis and I will be killed in a terrorist attack if we had stayed or we return now."
Alexandre and Rider's wishes overlapped somewhat. Alexandre simply wanted prosperity for France while Rider wanted to be anchored to the world as a human so that he could remove the (what he deemed) incompetent leaders of France and bring peace to France under his rule. While Alexandre didn't really agree with Rider's extreme disdain towards the Muslims, he didn't object to it. There was no point in arguing with a man who fought a Muslim invasion of western Europe combined with the king's stubbornness on the subject.
But quite honestly, the French immigrant would prefer for all people to be able to live peacefully and equally.
Marcus sat in the backseat of a limousine while Serena sat next to him.
"Berserker of Omega and his Master have been eerily silent after the battle a few days ago." Serena said.
"That worries me." Marcus replied. "The Master of Berserker from the last War was incredibly active."
"Omega Berserker's Master being so inactive could mean either two things; he's a coward or he's smart and would rather not recklessly waste God Hand."
"I want to quickly get him out of the way." Serena said. "He's the biggest obstacle. The sooner he can be defeated, the sooner I can be able to get the Grail and wake my sister from her coma."
Serena's sister, Valerie, was in a car accident a year ago and wound up going comatose because of it. Marcus generously opted to cover the medical expenses, but that would never guarantee Valerie would wake up quickly.
"I know your sister means a lot to you, Serena, but we have to take things as they come." Marcus then thought on something. 'She said the Master of Berserker of Omega is a guy named Jeffery Stanford. Could he- No, that's impossible. He died. It must be someone who just so happens to have the same name.'
Night had come and Rider of Alpha had once again approached Rider of Omega.
"I wish to continue our duel." he declared.
"So be it, Saint George." Rider of Omega said.
The Heroic Spirits of the Mount summoned their steeds and charged towards each other to begin the joust. Rider of Alpha cut Rider of Omega across the chest but was smacked in the back by his opponent's war hammer. They continued on to the opposite ends of the streets before charging again, exchanging strikes. Hammer would meet sword and sword would meet hammer. Eventually, Rider of Alpha pulled out one of his trump cards, a Noble Phantasm, as his surcoat began glowing.
"Thou art a dragon, a sinful beast! Abyssus Draconis!"
A symbol shaped like a dragon's head flew towards Rider of Omega before transfiguring him into a draconic being. Though his appearance didn't change, he still counted as a dragon, leaving him vulnerable for one of the Dragon-Slaying Saint's other Noble Phantasms.
As he charged forward once again, Rider of Alpha's sword began glowing. "Interfectum Dracones!"
The sword was swung and released a lance-like projectile made of light towards Rider of Omega. His war hammer was swung at the perfect moment and the lance was deflected. However, this left him open for his opponent to strike.
"Ascalon!"
The sword was swung in patterns that left streaks of light shaped like a cross before being thrusted forward, piercing Rider of Omega's chest.
The joust continued nonetheless. It was a battle fought with no mercy for one's opponent and one that would only end until one was slain. Weapons were swung fiercely and the wielders sustained many injuries.
Rider of Alpha moved his sword to block a downward swing from his opponent's hammer. He then pushed the hammer away before stabbing Rider of Omega in the chest. The King of the Franks retaliated by smacking Rider of Alpha in the head with his hammer.
Alexandre was sitting on a bench somewhere nearby the battle but realized that he was out in the open and unable to defend himself should an enemy Servant find him. So, he walked to his house, which happened to be nearby the scene of the battle.
He opened the door and stepped in. Unfortunately, Assassin of Alpha was right behind him and stabbed him in the back.
"Merde (s***)…" he cursed as he fell down before using a Command Seal. "To me… Rider…"
Rider of Omega felt pain shoot through his connection to Alexandre. "D***it! A Servant must have used this opportunity to kill my Master."
"To me… Rider…"
The King of the Franks was surrounded by red light before warping to his Master. Rider of Alpha frowned at this sudden interruption.
Assassin of Alpha stood over Alexandre ready to deliver the finishing blow before Rider of Omega was summoned to his Master, still mounted on his horse for some reason. He quickly dismissed the horse before swinging his war hammer at Assassin, who leapt back and activated her Presence Concealment to retreat.
"Fighting Rider will be pointless. His Master is dead and he will follow soon." Ian said.
"Louis!" the Frenchman yelled as Rider shut the door.
" (Father)!" Louis yelled as he rushed to his mortally wounded father.
"Fils, prenez mes sceaux de commandement (Son, take my Command Seals)."
Louis hesitated slightly before kneeling down and fulfilling his father's request.
"Prenez soin de vous (Take care of yourself), Louis." Alexandre smiled. "Vive la France."
Louis stood up, tears in his eyes as he examined the Command Seals now on his hand.
"I swear, father. I will avenge you and carry out your wish." Louis muttered. "Vive la France."
So, how's that? I did say that first blood was going to be drawn in the next few chapters and I thought that this scenario would be interesting. So, Rider of Omega has a new Master now. Plus, we now have some major hints at Caster of Omega's identity. And in case you didn't catch it, the main events of the chapter take place three days after Caster goes into seclusion to work on her second Noble Phantasm.
Now for the reviews.
ZenoZen: As you can see Alexandre and Rider's wishes overlapped a little. But they have some differences; Rider believes that the Muslims only bring trouble while Alexandre wanted a France where all people can live peacefully. As for your question about the prequel, yes, it will only use Servants originally from FGO, OCs notwithstanding. But I might include some Servants from Fate/prototype as well.
Devin sands: Mordred is from Apocrypha, not Grand Order. Prototype Saber/Arthur Pendragon is from Prototype, but I might include him because it seems that Prototype doesn't get a whole lot of focus in fanfics.
LunaRose2468: Thanks.
KnightOfZaku: Thank you. As you can see, we definitely are about to get into the meat of this fic, so to speak.
As for OC submissions for Fate/Dusk, I want to want until later on in this fanfic before I start taking submissions. But that gives you plenty of time to put something together and work out the kinks. Check the Author's Note at the end of Chapter 4 for the rules because those same rules still apply.
Anyway, another major event is coming up in the next chapter or two. The siege of Caster of Omega's domain will be occurring soon and the chapters covering it will be larger than normal.
Leave a review. Constructive criticism will be accepted. Flames will used to make s'mores. See ya next time!
