Note: I own nothing in this fanfiction.
Chapter IV: Awakening
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The reflection of the moon on the moving water of the river wasn't disturbed by the slaughter about to be committed mere meters away from it. The black, panther-like creatures surrounded the Servant from all sides. Yet, she wasn't fazed in the slightest.
The Queen of Shadows leaned forward. Her eyes emitted a red glow as she launched herself at one of the animals, kicking it in the back of the head with a force capable of wrecking a house.
Its skull was crushed under the overwhelming pressure, before the entire head was peeled off and was sent flying away into the river. These were not a challenge to Lancer, she was far stronger and way more faster.
"One."
The count had begun, and with it, the fates of her enemies were sealed.
Lancer diverted her attention to the two remaining foes. One was charging at her while the other growled hungrily, before following after its kin.
The black animal pounced onto the air with claws as big as knives aimed at the target's head and neck, only to be impaled by a crimson red spear, then a second, and a third.
Body completely mangled by the barrage of spears Lancer summoned, the monstrous panther died instantly, melting into a black muddy substance which eventually evaporated.
"Two."
The third, having witnessed the demise of two of its kind, was understandably reluctant to fight. It halted its approach and stared down the servant, then slowly, it started backing away.
The animal eventually broke into a full on sprint towards the woods nearby, trying to escape with its life. However, something was wrong. The animal was kicking the ground underneath it as hard as it could but for the life of it, its body didn't seem to be getting away. Slowly, it realized that it was being pulled back into something. It clawed and reached for anything it could reach for, but nothing could stop the force pulling onto its body.
A dimensional fissure. A gateway to the Land of Shadows opened and started absorbing the air around it hungrily. Being transported to the Isle of Skye is akin to being transported to hell itself. True Death awaited whoever entered the gate, or anything unlucky enough to be caught in its gluttonous grasp. That was the Gate of Skye, one of Lancer's Noble Phantasms.
"Three."
The count was over. The hunt was complete. The last red-eyed panther was pulled into the Land of Shadows, with the fissure closing right after.
The Queen looked around, trying to find any trace of her original target, but to no avail. She felt rather ashamed, as she was only just summoned, and yet, she failed to complete her first task. She bit her lip under her mask, but no matter. She must tend to her Master at the moment.
Eventually, her Master caught up to her. The magenta haired lady approached her Servant, wearing a bitter expression.
"They got away." Lancer said, addressing her Master. One look was all it took for her to realize that Bazett was no pushover. This lady, whoever she was, could handle herself pretty well. "I can hunt after them if it so you desire, but I advise against it. Foul beasts lurk in these areas, and while they pose no danger to me, they may overpower you with their numbers."
"It's alright." Bazett proclaimed, revealing a small cross-shaped, black handled throwing-blade from her under her overcoat. The weapon that was only used by Executors of the Church. "Only one person in Fuyuki has access to these blades."
And she proved to be an able detective as well. Her Master was certainly a competent one indeed. "Then all is well. We must be alert from now on." Lancer with an impressed tone.
Bazett adjusted her tie as she tightened her fist around the evidence with enough force it shattered. "Kotomine Kirei..." Bazett had to admit, she did not expect this betrayal. It was perfectly executed too, had it not been for Lancer, she would've been had for sure.
Silence followed for a bit. But the Master did not think for long. Just another enemy added to her list, nothing more. "But enough about that." she re-initiated the conversation with a visible change in mood, "I suppose introductions are in order, my name is Bazett Fraga McRemitz. I am to be your Master in this Holy Grail War."
The Queen of Shadows smiled under her mask, even laughed softly when she noticed the earrings on the formally-dressed lady. "I suppose you were trying to summon Setanta, or who you might know as Cú Chulainn." Those silver ovaloid earrings were engraved by one of the runes she had taught him herself.
Bazett's eyes widened in realization, as the servant that stood before her adjusted her stance and conjured up her red spear. "Setanta? Wait… Are you by any chance…" Everything suddenly clicked, the chant, the spear... It was all leading to this instead of that. How could she have messed it up so badly? She knew Gae Bolg was bestowed upon Cú Chulainn by his Teacher, but she had never thought that... She might summon the Teacher herself...
"Servant Lancer, true name Scáthach." The Queen of Shadows mentioned straightforwardly, a bloodthirsty flame flickering in her eyes, "Let the hunt begin, Master."
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In all her days as a prisoner of Zouken, Sakura had never felt so relaxed and comfortable as she did today. Even after she was forced into the pit again, once she came out, all of those negative feelings just faded away.
It felt so strange to the point of making her question herself.
In her room, she sat on her bed. Quietly thinking about what could've possibly caused this sudden change. But this state of peace was bound to be disturbed.
The door swung open loudly, revealing a frustrated Shinji. The look on his face terrified her, but again, the feeling just magically faded away.
She stood up silently, slowly approaching him. "What's wrong?" she asked with a worried tone, "Are you okay?"
He immediately stomped his way towards her, "What's wrong…?!" he spurted out angrily, "YOU're asking ME what's wrong?!"
Sakura was weirded out by herself. Despite his threatening approach, she wasn't fazed in the slightest. In fact, she felt comfortable enough to talk back. And talk back she did.
"YES. I'm asking you. What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" She calmly but strongly replied, causing Shinji to freeze in his tracks.
"Oh my…" exclaimed Shinji, "I didn't realize people like you can grow a spine overnight. What kind of stupid idea came across your mind which made you think it's a good idea to talk back to me?"
Sakura felt scared to the bones, but not one bit of that fear remained for more than a split second. She started walking towards the door slowly, as if Shinji wasn't even there.
He, of course, wouldn't take that as a response. Shinji lifted his hand and attempted to attack the girl as she passed by him, but was surprised to find his attack blocked by Sakura's own hand.
"You little—!"
"Enough!"
A new voice echoed in the doorway, where an old, decrepit figure of a man appeared. He walked in, leaning on his stick as the two separated.
"Get out of here Shinji." He ordered with a crackling cough plaguing his throat immediately after.
"But Grandfather—!"
"NOW I SAID!"
The violent voice of the man drilled shivers through both Sakura and Shinji's spines, but only the latter was affected for long. He had no choice but to obey and leave, closing the door on his way out.
"Now…" the old man muttered as his gaze focused on the girl in the room, "I suspect you know why I'm here."
Sakura who stared at the ground speechlessly nodded and revealed a red tattoo on the back of her hand.
"Excellent." Zouken commented with a malicious smile drawn across his face, "Follow me."
Sakura had no other option, she followed the man back into the basement where a newly drawn magical circle captured her attention.
"You must activate your circuits" he instructed, pulling out a bloodstained piece of paper from his coat's pocket, "Then, you must read the incantation written in here."
Sakura took the note and did as he said, blue stripes appearing all around her body.
"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Let each be turned over five times, simply breaking asunder the fulfilled time.
Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let my master Zolgen Makiri be the ancestor.
The light shining from the summoning circle was not a regular light. It began to harm the old man's eyes, causing him to stagger backwards, letting out a screech of pain as Sakura continued chanting the incantation.
The aligned wishes become a wall, against the wind that shall fall.
Close the four cardinal gates.
Come out from the crown.
Rotate the three-branched road reaching the Kingdom.
The pain became unbearable to Zouken, he felt his skin melt from the burning light, having no idea what's causing the damage to his body, he dematerialized into a pile of insects which crawled away fearfully.
– I shall declare here. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason… then answer!
An oath shall be sworn here;
I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell!
From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Balance!"
The blinding light was accompanied by a pulse of purifying magical energy, which cleansed all the dirt and foul substances from the area. Then, as it dissipated, the figure of a woman was revealed.
Blue eyes shining, long purple hair reaching below her waist. Her skin was delicately white with no visible taints. A silver, golden-frilled, short veil tightened around her head. She wore a pair of blue earrings on each ear. A short, blue cloak draped over her shoulders, connected to a red, loose collar which wrapped across her throat.
A peculiar yet majestic dress covered her most of her curveous body, with the exception of her slender legs and a portion above her chest. She also held a cross-shaped, jeweled staff which radiated divinity.
The Servant stepped forward with confidence, kneeling and introducing herself.
"Servant Rider, True Name Martha."
Then, she opened her eyes, examining the girl who stood in front of her.
"I ask of you, are you my Master?"
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"GAH! DAMMIT!" The pained voice was accompanied by the sound of glass impacting the ground and shattering. The floor around him was littered with small crystals, and on one side, the remains of those crystals which were unfortunate enough to be used for his training.
A supportive Aoko sat on the couch opposite him, giving instructions. "Come on, Shiki. You can do it! Remember, imagine an action which turns you on, makes you go serious. It can be a sound, a memory, or even a person. Try harder and keep going."
He had to do this. He had to activate his circuits. He needed to do this, or the world will end. His loved ones were in danger. Innocents everywhere were in danger. He himself was in danger.
He thought and thought about the trigger, was it Arcueid? Her voice? He tried again, no effect. Another wasted crystal.
Again. He had to try again. He opened his eyes and looked around; his eyes landed on his knife, the relic of his past. A heartbeat echoed in his ear. A shocked expression flaring up across his face.
'BA—DUM'
Another heartbeat.
He remembered the feeling, the flames of ambitious killing intent consuming him as he followed the blond lady he saw randomly on the street.
'BA—DUM'
It flashed across his eyes against his will. How he located her room due to sheer, deranged obsession and hunting instincts.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
Don't remind me.
Don't show it to me.
'BA—DUM'
How he pressed the doorbell and licked his lips in anticipation. How he removed his glasses and imagined the look on her face when he was going to •••••
Enough.
Enough.
Enough.
I know. I already know. Why are you showing it to me again.
'BA—DUM'
How the door was forced open and the girl stood inside. How he sliced and tore through her body without hesitation or remorse. Through the neck, back of the head, from the right eye to the lips, upper right arm, lower right arm, right ring finger, left elbow, left thumb, left middle finger, left breast, from the rib to the heart, from the stomach to the abdomen in two places, left groin, left thigh, left leg, and the left toe.
The sound of flesh getting cut, and blood spilling out.
—It turned him on.
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ENOUGH ALREADY!
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..
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Shiki opened his eyes, and the first thing he sees is Aoko's worried face. It seemed like he dozed off and she woke him up when she noticed his uncomfort. The redhead sighed in relief, letting go of the teenager's shoulders. "I thought I lost you there."
No answer left Shiki's mouth. Instead, he lifted the crystal which was in his shaky hands and showed it to Aoko with a bitter smile.
"Yeah. You did it alright. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Triggers are unique to each person. You've been through a lot and that might've changed your Trigger accordingly." she explained, standing back up and helping him up as well.
Shiki shook his head negatively, "It was my choice." he admitted with a bitter smile, "I made a mistake, and now I will pay the price."
"Y'know, Shiki..." Aoko mentioned calmly, "Your mistakes became part of your past. The past cannot be changed, the present is rapidly becoming past as well, what you should think about and busy yourself with is the future. You, Shiki Tohno, are the only one who can change that."
He knew that. He already knew that. He cannot allow his past to distract him from the future of the world. And yet... He couldn't help but hate himself for being that way.
"I understand." reinforced Shiki, his hand forming a firm fist, "I won't give up."
"That's the spirit!" energetically announced Aoko, "Now that you know how to activate your circuits on command and generate magical energy, you must learn how to use that magical energy to cast a spell."
The Magician pointed her finger towards a decorative plate which sat on a cupboard nearby and smiled. "Like this—! BANG!" A blue ball of energy formed in front of her index then launched towards the target, pulverizing it completely.
"Sweet!" Shiki exclaimed in amazement upon witnessing the display, "Can I do that too?!"
"Of course you can! But, again, you need a lot of practice, and we don't have that much time." she explained cheerfully, her hand bobbing up and down as she spoke. "So, you must only learn Spells which would be most useful to you. And I have just the right idea where to start!"
Shiki stared blankly for a second then looked around through the nearby window. It was nighttime, barely an hour after sunset. But it had been sunset when they got here, and he was sure that he practiced for hours, so how?
"Aha! I was wondering when you'll notice!" The Magician commented with a wide smile on her face.
"Yeah... What is this about?" he questioned with a puzzled expression, "How is it still half-past eight even though we got here hours ago?"
Aoko smiled proudly, puffing out her chest. "Time in this house is isolated!" She explained, lifting her index. "No matter how many hours we spend here, it will always be half-past eight when we leave."
"Woah... That's awesome!" he exclaimed amusedly. "As expected from Sensei!"
Aoko turned red from the praise, then started rubbing the back of her head. "Ah well... It's simple really! But it costs a ton of magical energy. I can only keep it up for the inside time of three days before I run out."
"Oh..." the teenager paused in realization, "I better get to work then...!"
"Yep! Oh and... Like I said, I have a good idea which spells you should learn first..." The Magician pulled out a large book from her seemingly bottomless bag, then she dropped it on the table, causing a loud impact sound to echo in the room. "This is a Spell Tome. It's a manual on how to cast some basic Spells like Reinforcement for example."
Shiki examined the book slightly, browsing through its pages. Everything seemed neatly organised and... Academic... This made him raise an eyebrow.
"Sensei, is there like... A magical university or something of the sort?" he naturally questioned, "This all seems very organised and somewhat official."
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you." Aoko slapped herself on the forehead, then she put on a very serious expression, alerting the teenager to pay attention. "There are several powers at play in the Moonlit World." Sitting herself on the couch, she began explaining, "The ones that are at play here are the Mages Association and the Church, the Mages Association is composed of several sub-factions such as the Clocktower in London and the Atlas Institute. Mages which belong to the Association are normally jerks, some of them might even report you and cause you to get a Sealing Designation."
Shiki raised a hand in question, "What's a Sealing Designation?"
A fair question. Aoko thought. "A Sealing Designation is akin to a bounty. It's either you come to them willingly and hand over your body to allow them to research you and your abilities, or you get hunted down and dragged back." she explained to the attentive teen across the table.
"So uh, I must not reveal my abilities to anyone who might have ties to the Mages Association. Got it." Said Shiki after a gulp of worry.
Aoko smiled in amusement, "Oh no... Don't get me wrong." She crossed her hands around her middle. "I said, most of them are jerks, but there are good people out there! Like me!"
"You belong to the Mages Association too?" Shiki asked as he scratched his cheek embarrassedly.
"Yes... " Aoko replied in an affirmative tone, "But I've been away for a long time, y'know, wandering the world and all... But let's not get sidetracked!"
The teenager nodded in understanding as his teacher continued, "The second faction, the Church, is supposed to have an agenda against all unnaturals, but for some reason, probably because of the concept of the Grail being 'Holy', the Church has a representative who serves as the Overseer of the Holy Grail War. But other than that, anyone who works for the church is not be trusted under any circumstances." she said with a stern expression, and before he could interrupt, she followed with another exception. "I know about your associate from the Burial Agency, but trust me when I say, she's an exception among exceptions."
Shiki whose mouth was open, closed it and nodded once more. Deep inside his heart, he had one objection, but thought it was unnecessary to mention it at the moment. "Alright, I understand."
The redhead smiled proudly, "Fantastic. Now, to begin the training. I would like you to learn Reinforcement as a beginning, and then we can work our way from there..."
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Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel was destroyed several years ago by a terrorist attack, thankfully, there were not that many casualties. The owner dismissed the event as a slip up in security, and had a lot of people fired for it. Yet it seemed like he could never catch a break. This new customer who arrived from lord-knows where, paid to rent the top three floors of the building. The last time something similar happened, he had to rebuild the entire place all over again.
Atrum Galliasta sat on his throne on the roof level of the hotel. In front of him was the swimming pool, bustling with beautiful women from all races and colours. The man was living a life of absolute, corrupting, filthy richness, and he made sure to spend as much money as he could on his own, personal desires. The scenery spoke for itself.
His ideology was also exquisitely self-centered. If you want something, take it. If your hand holds a blade, swing it. That's what drove him to come to Fuyuki seeking the Holy Grail War. The relic itself was a mere pleasentary. He wanted to prove that Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald was a weakling who failed to take the War seriously, he wanted to make Lord El-Melloi II swallow his words, and most importantly... He wanted to WIN.
"Are all preparations ready?" he asked a woman who stood on his right, wearing a black and white maid outfit.
"Yes, Galliasta-sama." she answered with a mechanical voice, suggesting that she was, in fact, a homunculus. "We can start the summoning whenever you want."
Atrum was pleased. He stood up with a grin drawn across his face, "Then let it begin. Initiate summoning procedures."
"Understood." And just as the maid replied, a pulse of Magical energy left her body. It manifested as a green circle which expanded until it passed over everyone on the rooftop. The sounds of water splashing and joyful female laughs stopped abruptly as everyone except himself and the maid assumed a blank stare and started walking towards the stairs. A few moments passed and the only remaining people on the roof were himself and the maid, who conjured a bottle of red liquid and began to draw the Magical summoning circle on the floor nearby.
Atrum thought of a few years back, when he lost the Catalyst to summon Siegfried. It was not his fault of course, that despicable Byron decided it was a good idea to give it to some other mage calling herself Touko Aozaki, and what did Touko do with it? She burned it! He wouldn't stand for that disrespect.
The maid finished drawing the circle, the bottle and brush she used disappeared into magical dust which scattered in the air. She, then, turned towards a wooden box which sat in the corner, she walked towards it with hurried footsteps. Inside was the fabled Argon Coin, the Golden Fleece. It was a magical item sought after by Jason and his band of Argonauts. The relic itself was useless outside being used as a catalyst for a summon, but it had one special property, it was rumored that if Medea of Colchis was to be summoned, she could use it to summon a Dragon. Which caressed Atrum's ego greatly, if he could not summon a Dragonslayer, then he would win the War using a Dragon.
The item was placed in the middle of the circle and with the maid dismissed, it was time for him to summon a servant. Taking out a paper containing the instructions sent to him by the Overseer.
"Okay... So first..."
Magic Circuits activated, lighting up across his body. He extended his arm with the Command Spells forward and began chanting the incantation.
"Uhm... Let's see... Silver and Steel to the essence... Stone and Archduke of Contract as the foundation..." he stopped, this made no sense. Every other incantation had meaning behind its words, but this looks like nonsense written by a drunk poet. But suddenly, he felt a pull around his waist.
"Huh?"
His belt was glowing? No, something in his holster? His newly acquired gun? He unlocked the leather belt and just as he did, the gun flew off towards the magical circle which suddenly began to glow fiercely. "What the hell is going on!? Abort! A—Abbrechen!" Nothing, the Circle continued glowing with the weapon floating over in the middle. "This is madness! Why is this happ—!"
A pillar of light erupted from the circle to the heavens above, greenish, Magical light. Atrum opened his eyes shortly after, and what he saw made him furious.
Long white hair and a fringe covering icy blue eyes. An ornate white gown and a white fur cape with gold designs and blue linings. A victorian silver dress and a straw doll in hand. These were NOT the characteristics of the woman he expected to summon.
The servant's eyes stared forward in shock as she witnessed the barrel of the weapon which killed her once, pointed at her again. Frozen in fear, she suddenly let out a terrible scream and everything went white... and COLD.
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Author's Note:
I feel alright about this chapter. So far, I think I did good progress with fixing the newbie mistakes I made when I first was writing this Fic. Don't get me wrong I know I'm nowhere near perfect. Everyday I spot a new spelling mistake or some random missing letter or word here and there, and that's okay! Eventually, all will be well.
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