With only a quarter hour left to midnight, when the mana levels in his body would be at their peak, Charles determined overkill was the best policy when preparing to summon Saber.
From the research he'd undertaken on the plane, Charles knew a few things - for starters, his closest connection to the monster of Frankenstein was closer than he initially thought. Though the magus Victor Frankenstein undertook his experiments in homunculus creation in Ingolstadt, Germany, the woman who came into contact with him towards the end of his life and made sure his name was known throughout the world, Mary Shelley, lived in Kentish Town, just in the Northern shires of London. Very convenient. It was here that he was so suspiciously skulking around a graveyard at the dead of night, preparing for an evocation of his own.
Though most mages would have automated the process away, Charles had resorted to the 'old-fashioned' method of carving out a template for a summoning circle. Beside him, the maid-golem-Mystic Code Calpurnia waited silently, on the alert for passers-by.
"Don't worry," Charles said, wiping the sweat off his brow after he threw the treebranch he'd been using to carve the ground out away. "The entirety of London is under the Clock Tower's Bounded Field now- civilians are incapable of leaving or even perceiving the world outside of their homes after 11pm."
Cali still didn't stand down.
"Get ready, Cali. Ritual's starting in five minutes."
Cali gave him an odd look. "Objection. Records indicate your mana levels will be at their peak in fifteen minutes, not five."
"I know, but so will James'. That's why we're starting now."
"Brute-force..? Terminology unknown."
"We're standing on one of the deepest leylines in the world," Charles said, pointing straight down. "Every Master will be drawing from this at one point or another. It even goes down to the Clock Ttower. As far as magical sites go, this is as good as it gets."
"Knowledge added to database. Very well, master. Fair warning, I may be inert for up to sixty minutes. There is a high possibility that I will be destroyed in the process."
"Possibilities, possibilities, possibilities! I've had enough!" Charles made a sweeping motion with his hand.
"Cali, return to base form! Fill out the summoning circle! We start now!"
Cali wordlessly nodded. Melting into the crevices of the summoning circle, the Mystic Code Volumen Hydrargyrum started to pulsate with magical energy. In the middle of the summoning circle, a faded blueprint was absorbed into the liquid mercury. The adjustment had been difficult. Synthesising the exact same type of parchment was only possible due to the sheer breadth of materials the Yaranes had on hand, and Charles always fancied himself a chemist over a craftsman. Regardless, the deed was done - driven deep into the earth of the summoning circle was a sword Charles had pilfered from the Clock Tower's Department of Archaeology.
It wasn't the long, flowing hair, the top hat coloured an outrageous shade of green, or even the wide, welcoming smile that set the man who welcomed him to the Department of Archaeology apart from the rest of the Clock Tower staff.
It was that he was a ghost.
In actuality a Mystic Code imbued with the personality of a prestigious researcher who had died in a magecraft incident only a short few years prior. With not many actual staff in the Department, the Lord Meluastea decided it would be good for the Department's image to keep around the one friendly face they had as long as he could.
The Mystic Code that only referred to itself as FLAUROS was all too eager to take Charles on a full tour of the facilities, but the young mage had no time to chat.
"I'm on a mission, sadly," Charles said with a thin smile. "I've been asked by Lord El-Melloi II to retrieve an… example piece from one of our classes. A sword, if you have it. The older the better." Inwardly, the boy wondered if he should be okay with the fact that lying was as easy as breathing for him.
"A sword?" FLAUROS asked, seemingly puzzled. "Just a sword? Not an Undead-slayer, or a Phantasmal Blade? Just a sword?"
"Just an ordinary blade," Charles confirmed. "From this continent in origin, preferably 14th century or older."
"Something with a certain degree of Mystery, then. Something that can be interesting in its mundanity. I see, I see. Under most circumstances, I would refer you to our contact at the British Museum. However…"
FLAUROS' stare grew vacant, as if he were staring a thousand miles ahead. While Calpurnia was a 'nice to have' for the Yaranes family, the seemingly endless shelves of the Department of Archaeology made Charles appreciate a humanoid terminal. It would be a nightmare finding anything in this place, so having someone on hand who was always keeping track of everything that went on inside its walls would make retrieval a thousand times easier for absent-minded mages.
Then he floated through the wall.
Maybe it was a disadvantage for the terminal to be as absent-minded as its creator.
When Charles eventually found it, it was pulling tubs out of the wall, seemingly at random, until it let out a triumphant 'Aha!'
"Eleventh century broadsword, recovered from the ground of Middlesex. According to the database, this has been here for…. Thirty years? Number six hundred and twenty eight on the 'to be sorted' list. Your maximum loan period is… ten years, on the provisional student licence. Is that acceptable?"
Charles pulled the sword out of the tub, careful not to cut himself on any of the other rusty weapons stuffed into the storage container. He inspected it - true to the terminal's word, it was almost completely unremarkable, with only a faded insignia etched into the base of the blade.
"Thank you, FLAUROS," Charles said softly. "This'll be perfect."
The Command Seals on Charles' back throbbed, as if in anticipation. For a moment, Charles hesitated.
'This could kill you, you know? Even if the Ritual goes well, Frankenstein's monster killed her creator, and you're frankensteining things INTO Frankenstein. She might not take kindly to that. Hell, this whole ritual might go sideways and it'll just kill you!'
Charles shook his head, dispelling his doubts.
'No. I am the proud first son of the Yarenes clan. If anyone can do this- If anyone would be as insanely ambitious to do this, it would be me. I'll show Mother. I'll show Father! I'll show them all!'
"By the Command Seals of Charles Atonia Yarenes III!" he declared.
"Copper and lightning are your origin. Chained elements form the foundation of your being.
The maligned menace born of man, by man, for man. The never-ending deluge of inferiority never surpasses!
Shut. (Fill). Shut. (Fill.) Shut. (Fill).
Only three times, never more or less.
When filled, disperse like a crack of thunder.
Now, I call!
Your will is my own, my fate is yours to share.
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer my call!
Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead. I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.
Thee, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O Keeper of the Balance!"
Charles licked his lips. He couldn't stumble over his words now.
"Furthermore! You will reject thine natural calling of madness and break free your shackles. If your will is as pure as mine own, take up the great sword of a hero and 'llow me to wield you!"
His mana was dropping rapidly. He could feel the tips of his fingers growing numb with necrosis, but he couldn't stop now.
"Come!"
"Saber!"
The summoning circle erupted in a pillar of blue light, and Charles could feel the ground shake beneath his feet. The flow of energy needed for the summon alternated between him and the leyline.
The Command Seals on his back burned now, almost painfully. Was something wrong?
He could feel a presence- no, multiple presences? Around him, the forest had started to light up. There were multiple presences inside the summoning circle as well. Just what had he done?
As suddenly as it had erupted, the light reversed direction, descending into the ground as fast as it had come. When the light sank into the ground, the resulting shockwave nearly blew Charles back and popped his eardrums. His hearing had been temporarily blown out, he realised, but that didn't stop him from hearing the question that soon came after.
Two voices, speaking at once, he realised. One was a young girl, the other a cold-sounding woman.
"We are your Servants of the Sword, Saber. We now pose you this question- Are you our Master?"
As his vision recovered, Charles saw a young woman in a flowing bridal dress stood in the middle of the circle. A golden horn jutted the middle of her forehead, parting her reddish-pink hair, and two fins of a similar make jutted out from the sides of her head. They spun excitedly, absorbing the leftover mana vapours.
'Just like the blueprints said. That's part of her Bridal Chest.' The analytical part of his mind couldn't help but be amazed.
The girl gestured towards him. "I ask you again. Are you my Master?"
Charles cleared his throat. He willed a projection of his Command Seals to appear behind him
"Of course. My name is Charles Yarenes III, and if you respond to my Command Seals, then you are my Servant. If that's the case, your True Name, if you please, so I know who'll be fighting alongside me."
The girl curtseyed. "I acknowledge you as my Master. My True Name is.. Is…" The Servant fell silent for a moment. She seemed troubled- or, perhaps indecisive?
"Saber…?" Charles asked tentatively. He realised she was looking beneath her feet, at the blueprints detailing the workings of Victor Frankenstein.
"Ah. So I was summoned intentionally. I am… Eve. My creator said that I was supposed to be… the mother of the first of his perfect species… But that isn't my True Name."
The girl shook her head. "No. All that I am is 'Frankenstein's Monster."
Charles was silent for a moment. "I'll call you Saber, then."
The monster of Victor Frankenstein curtseyed. "Thank you very much.. Master."
"One question, though, Saber, if your class is indeed Saber… Where is your weapon?"
"Ah, that." Saber looked around. "You seem ambitious, Master. I see you modified my creator's papers.. But… you lacked true creative inspiration when drawing the blueprints for that sword. All form, no feeling. You directed my design to have its Noble Phantasm as a sword, but the Monster of Victor Frankenstein never wielded such an item."
Charles took a step back. "You can't be saying.."
Saber nodded. "I am a Saber with no Noble Phantasm. All the life-support functions of the Bridal Chest have been absorbed into my main body."
Charles felt sick to his stomach. A Saber with no sword. A Servant with no Noble Phantasm.
"Ha.. ha ha… Ha…" Charles held his head in his hands. "That's it, then. I wasted the Saber class container on myself and don't even have anything to show for it."
He quickly forced a positive face. 'Channel that fool, Flat. If he can do it, you can, too.'
"Well, that's that, then. Guess I gotta take responsibility for my meddling and make this work as best as I can, then!" he laughed.
Saber returned the smile hesitantly. "I'm glad to hear, Master. I'll do my best to win the Grail for you."
Charles looked around. "With all that out of the way, that just leaves one last question. You were summoned alone, right?"
The way that Saber tilted her head confusedly reminded Charles of a large dog and- Wow, she definitely was at least a couple of inches taller than him, wasn't she?
"Of course I was, Master. I am me, and no-one else."
"Hm. I suppose so. I don't sense any presences around us, but... still.."
Was it a trick of his senses? Did he somehow misinterpret the meaning of what had been said during the summoning ritual? He'd never participated in a Grail War, so for all he knew, it could be completely normal.
"Nevermind," he said, approaching the summoning circle and kneeling.
Saber backed up immediately, her tone frantic. "M-Master? What are you doing?"
Charles looked up, confused. "Huh? Oh, this." He jerked his chin towards the vial he was holding, that was absorbing the mercury that made up Volumen Hydrargyrum. "Summoning was never my vocation, so she came prepacked with the incantation and the high-quality raw material needed to get you to notice my call, Saber. I suppose even now, my mother's looking out for me."
"I.. See.." Saber said slowly. "A mother should support her children..."
"Well, now all we have to do is wait. The conflicts of the Grail War aren't scheduled to start for another two days from now, so in the meantime, I'll catch you up to speed on the layout of London and our base of operations."
"London?" Saber asked, her eyes wide.
"Yeah. Though I expect you'll know the place better than me."
Saber frowned. "Sadly. How long has it been, Master? Since I was.. First alive."
Charles raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you know the overall current state of the world? According to my records, the Holy Grail is supposed to give you at least that knowledge."
Saber shook her head. "My knowledge is.. Incomplete. I am not a proper reflection of the Heroic Spirit 'Frankenstein's Monster', so the Holy Grail isn't giving me everything I need to win the War. If I were a more cynical Heroic Spirit, I would say that it may be stacking the deck against me so I'm eliminated as quickly as possible."
Charles put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We've got time, don't worry. The Londinium Grail War isn't scheduled to start for another two days, and as far as I could get out of one of my friends at the Clock Tower, no-one else has summoned their Servants yet. We're lucky number one, Saber."
In the distance, the bells of Big Ben heralded midnight, and Charles was overcome with a sudden sense of dread. "Saber.. I.. can't breath!" he managed to choke out.
His heart hammered in his chest, as if it was trying to escape his ribs, and there was a vice-like claw squeezing on his mind.
"Master? Master?!"
'Ah.. That's what my body feels like when it shuts down. And that feel would be.. The ground. Yes, it's the ground.'
As his vision swam, Charles barely registered his Servant's concerned face above him. What was she saying?
It could wait for later.