Fate/Zero cross... BEWARE THE FLUFF!
Where had it all gone wrong? He was just coming home from school by himself when he had been grabbed, and the scary men had threatened his mama if he didn't cooperate. Then he found himself thrown in a smelly sack and taken someplace away from Namimori, but still in Japan if the language was anything to go by.
For a day or two, things were scary but tolerable. Then it went off the deep end of the bad spectrum.
Tsuna had no idea what was going on, only that the big eyed man in the funny clothes was even worse news than the bad guys who had grabbed him and threatened his mama. He saw several other kids around his age all crying or looking outright terrified of the two men, and knew that these were the sort of people that the teachers warned them about in school.
Seeing the other children die in horrifying and gruesome ways, one by one, Tsuna knew that the odds of him surviving were next to zero. No one knew where he was, and he doubted his Mama would know where to look since he had been taken so far away. If she was even alive, considering some of the things the bad men said.
Inside Tsuna, the power that had been forcibly sealed away began to pulse erratically in response to his terror and the danger he was in.
Realizing the fact that he was next, that power surged forward and shattered the seal holding it back to bits. The damage done to his soul was not insignificant, but in the face of death that mattered little in the long run.
The creepy man with the knife who looked almost normal was smiling in a way that would forever give Tsuna nightmares whenever the subject was brought up.
His fragile heart began to plead, even as he tried to back away from that man for someone, anyone to save him. To stop the man from completing whatever depraved act he planned to do.
Unlike the children before him, all of whom were dead, his wish was answered.
A circle appeared beneath him formed from his power and the power of the ritual that was currently taking place. His back began to heat up as a symbol formed across it in the form of six wings.
Tsuna closed his eyes and prayed to whatever god was listening that someone would come. He didn't care who it was, so long as it wasn't anyone like the duo before him.
"My name is Servant Avenger. I ask of you, are you my Master?" asked a voice that was far too sane to be from the two before him.
Tsuna opened his eyes.
There was a figure in a rather odd outfit, with long green hair and teal colored eyes. Eyes that were decidedly sane in comparison to the terrifying man and the bug-eyed one in the funny clothes.
Tsuna didn't know what was going on, but if saying yes meant that this person would save him then he didn't care about lying. He nodded quickly.
The green haired man scooped him up and blasted a hole in the ceiling. Tsuna held on for dear life, uncaring of the state of his clothes or what was going on. He had a funny feeling in his chest, and every part of him was telling him to trust the green haired man. That he would protect him and keep him safe.
The sheer stress of what had almost happened and shattering the seal on his power took a toll on his tiny six year old body. He passed out cold in the green haired man's arms.
Third POV
Avenger, or rather Enkidu, looked at his tiny Master with some fondness. The child was a true innocent, having summoned the Servant with absolutely no idea of what was going on and merely being a victim caught up in a war far beyond his understanding. The boy was young, too young to be a proper participant and had summoned him purely out of survival.
He had untamed caramel colored locks that spiked around him almost like a mane, clothes dirty from the environment he had been kept in with the other unfortunate children and a far too small figure. If anything, the child almost looked like a little lion cub. His tiny hands were scrunched up, holding his outfit in a death grip as if terrified that Enkidu would leave him.
The sheer innocence that the little one gave off was only matched by the power lying in wait in his tiny body. For someone so small, he certainly had a lot of power behind him...even if it was untrained and felt like a blaze that had almost been smothered by something or someone else. It burned merrily to his senses, and produced an odd sense of calm, of home to him.
Enkidu chuckled. Out of all the Masters that could have summoned him, it was an adorable little cub who should never have been involved in the first place. Not that he was complaining.
He gentle ran his hands through the little one's hair, and was a bit disappointed that the little one didn't purr or make any other cat noise.
The child stirred, and looked at him with the most adorable big brown eyes that almost glowed amber in the limited light.
"Hello little one. How are you feeling?" he asked gently.
The boy's lip trembled, before he latched himself so firmly around Enkidu's neck that it would be nearly impossible to remove him. The child began to cry, both in relief at the rescue and from the fear-laced adrenaline still firmly in him. Enkidu gently rubbed his back, letting him get it out.
When the tears dwindled into sniffles, the little one relaxed his grip a bit.
"Onii-san, who are you?" he asked, with all the curiosity of a small kitten.
"You may call me Enkidu, little kitten," he replied.
"I'm not a kitten! I'm a Tsuna!" he said pouting rather adorably.
Enkidu twitched. How exactly did he get a little Master who was was the embodiment of cute and adorable with the appearance of a little lion cub, especially with those big eyes? It made saying no to his face almost impossible!
The mental image of Gilgamesh trying to resist this little one in full adorable mode made Enkidu grin wickedly. He was sure the look on the King's face would have been hilarious as he tried (and failed) to resist the charms this little kitten had.
"Well Tsuna, can you tell me how you ended up in such a bad place?"
Tsuna flinched, but managed to get it out.
"Tsuna was returning home from school like a good boy when bad men grabbed me. They said they'd hurt mama if I didn't behave, so I didn't try to run...then they stuffed Tsuna in a sack and took him really far away. Then the bug-eyed man appeared and had a really weird smile on his face...there was a lot of red and he took Tsuna to the bad place where the other kids were, except everyone was crying and scared," said Tsuna. "The other mean man did something really bad to the other kids, and they screamed really loud and scary."
Enkidu let the boy hug his neck. From the sound of things Caster had kidnapped the child a second time and his Master had done horrible things to the children they had taken.
Tsuna was far too young to be in this ritual, and from what little Enkidu knew of the Heaven's Feel, those who wished to relinquish their seals would go to the Church which was supposed to be neutral territory.
Enkidu stood up and made sure to hold his little Master securely.
First he needed to be sure that the Church was safe for his little Master.
Risei Kotomine had 'seen' many things, but a Servant waltzing into the Church bold as brass with a child in his arms in filthy clothing was not one of them. He could tell Kirei was already waiting in the side area just in case, fully prepared to act.
"This is neutral territory," he said evenly.
"I am aware of that," said the mystery Servant calmly. "However I refuse to allow my little Master to be caught up in a small scale war because of Caster's actions."
Risei froze at that.
"Your...master?" he repeated slowly.
The Servant tried to put the child down, but he refused to budge and only held onto his neck tighter.
Kirei came out from the side room cautiously.
"Are you saying that child is your Master?" he inquired slowly.
"I am Servant Avenger and I have little interest in the Grail. My only interest is to insure my little Master survives to the end of it," he said flatly. "I know the Church is where those who wish to abstain from the war are supposed to go, or should I find another place to take him?"
Because Enkidu could sense Gilgamesh was active in this war, and if the Church refused to allow him to guard the child then he would seek out his friend.
Risei slowly walked up to the boy in the Servant's arms. The closer he got, the easier it was to sense that the child did in fact have active Command Seals.
"I see. I will allow the boy to stay, but I will not allow violence towards any who come here," he said finally. It was clear the boy would refuse to allow the Servant to leave, and it meant that he wouldn't have to watch the child during the more active times of the war if the Servant behaved.
Kirei walked up to the child, and the boy looked at him curiously.
"Mister, your eyes are funny."
Kirei blinked at that.
"Funny how, my son?" he asked calmly.
"Funny. Not bad funny though," said the little one.
"Come on Tsuna, I'm sure you'd like to get out of those clothes," coaxed Avenger gently.
Tsuna, if that was the boy's name, wrinkled his nose at that but slowly released his hold around Avenger's neck. He looked at Kirei curiously, as if trying to figure something out.
Kirei calmly lead the two deeper into the church where the bathing area was. He would have to find some clothes for the boy as his outfit was covered in something rather foul and almost certainly needed to be either washed, or better yet burned.
Risei however kept Avenger back for a moment.
"You said that you rescued the child from Caster, and that he is responsible for your summons."
"I have no idea what Caster or his master were up to in that tunnel, but it was abundantly clear that whatever they were doing is something foul and unholy by any god's definition save the most depraved. Tsuna specifically mentioned there being other children with him, but by the time I was summoned they were almost certainly dead if what he said is true. I have no idea if he witnessed their final moments, but I can only hope that he had been spared that much. I was more interested in getting my little Master far from that place and away from Caster than doing more than a brief look to assess the situation," said Avenger.
Risei's mouth was in a frown. This was grim tidings, especially since the increased scrutiny due to the large number of murders and missing children. If Avenger was being truthful, and he sadly suspected he was, then Caster and his Master needed to be dealt with immediately. Not only was it a risk of the hidden world of Magi, but as a man of the cloth he could not condone such acts. Just the mere thought of his granddaughter Caren being one of the victims would have been enough to get him to act.
Avenger went to keep an eye on his Master. With any luck once the war was over, the child would be able to recover from such a traumatic experience.
There was something else though. Something about the boy made the older priest suspect that he would have to hand the child over to the Cosa Nostra, if the feeling he got off the boy was what he thought it was.
An unfortunate fate, but the rules were clear. Anyone with Active Flames were theirs.
Kirei was not good with children. Even he acknowledged that. So it was with some relief that he allowed Avenger to take over in watching the little boy clean up after his terrible experience. He kept half an ear out, though he didn't think there was any risk of Avenger trying something. If he truly were inclined to do so, odds were he wouldn't have brought the boy here in the first place.
He rummaged through the spare clothes until he found something roughly the appropriate size for a child as small as the little boy. Task complete, he left the offered clothes on the small stool in the bathroom, and went to the kitchens to make some food...only to find his father had beat him to it.
"You always make it too spicy," he complained.
Kirei frowned. Was it his fault he found food too bland without adding copious amounts of spice?
Tsuna came out looking rather sleepy, but perked up at the sight of the food. He managed to finish half his plate and most of the milk before crashing completely.
Avenger carried Tsuna to a small room in the back with a couch. As a Servant he didn't need to sleep and the boy was clear on his view of the matter if the death grip he had on the Servant's clothing was any indication.
With the unexpected additions sorted out for the night, Kirei went to report this incident to his teacher.
Gilgamesh had listened to the unexpected report from the interesting fool Kirei when the description of the odd Servant calling himself Avenger caught his full attention.
The child was of no concern to him, but the Servant fit the description of Enkidu almost to a 'T'.
If he reached out with his senses, he could just barely feel the faintest hints of Enkidu. The fact they were present at all when he had felt nothing before was enough for him.
He would find out for himself if this little child was worthy of his attention. For now he would wait until Enkidu appeared before him.