Sagara didn't even need a lot of mana; the servant would be primarily powered by the nearby leyline when they got to Trifas so it wouldn't stress his body as much and the servant would remain fairly strong. Not enough to remain without a proper master for long without some liberties being taken but still he was well prepared and the only straining part of the process was summoning a servant.
Sagara tried to summon Jack the Ripper. He even tried to sacrifice Reika. That was a mistake though. The assassin ended up not even being his servant. Instead the mark went to Reika and the assassin killed him, and ripped out his heart to eat. It shouldn't have even been possible because Reika was a normal person with no magical abilities at all.
After getting his heart ripped out and eaten in front of him Sagara falls on his back into the middle of the summoning circle and the pendant hanging from his neck falls into the hole in his chest. Reika and Jack leave, and the gemstone glows and slowly the wound seals itself up and Sagara. Waking up with a gasp, Sagara stands up slowly.
He's stunned and looks at where the metal chain disappears into the flesh of his chest where a soft light emanates from where his heart used to be. Sagara thanks whatever is in it that helped save him and asks for one more miracle as he backs away to the edge of the summoning circle.
Sagara can feel the magic energy coursing through the small object and the low tier magi closes his eyes before starting his chant and doing the incantation. If this doesn't work then he has nothing.
"A creation of fire and death
Made of steel
Withered away from countless battles
Only a soldier of the world remains"
Your body will be my weapon
My fate rests on you and you alone
A slave to my will and the call of the holy grail
You will submit and lead me to the greatest of treasures
Come forth and fight!"
Wind blows and a light flashes before a tall man garbed in dark grey and maroon red appears in the center of the circle. The man stands up slowly his tanned skin and his snow white hair are what stand out about him most his steel gray eyes stare deep into the eyes of Sagara
"Are you my Master?"
"Have you heard the news?"
"The basics." A bounty hunter by the name of Kairi Shishigou sits across from an older man, Rocco Belfeban the dean of the summoning department at the Clocktower "only that a lot of mages are dead and that I am being asked to do a job."
"You want the details I assume?"
"That is usually the standard for a job no man, especially in my profession, is willing to go into anything completely blind. That's how you end up dead."
The Yggdmillennia have broken off relations with the mages association and set up base in the fortress of Millennia in Trifas a town at the outskirts of the Transylvania region of Romania. We sent fifty magi to stop their rebellion but were unsuccessful. They used a servant and slaughtered all but one of the fifty-"
"-A servant? They have a grail?"
"Not a grail Shishigou. They have the greater grail." Kairi looks at the man with shock.
"So can't we just summon a servant and fight?"
"No they already have seven master candidates in place their would be no point."
"Are you asking me to go head to head with a servant or servants? Because if you are then the answer is a hard no."
" you rudely interrupted me I was saying something. The servant skewered each magi with stakes."
"Hmph. Stakes in Romania who would've guessed."
"The last magus managed to locate the grail and activate its emergency feature. We are now able to summon seven servants of our own and fight against them."
"So it's really a war now huh. One side against another."
"You're partially correct. Whoever the side that wins is has to fight amongst themselves for the process to be over and everything. Do you have any questions?"
"A few. Is that the corpse of an infant hydra in that display case over there?" Shishigou gestures over to a tall display case full of odd items, one of which near front and center is that of a small dead creature with several heads.
"It is a fake" Rocco answers quickly and Kairi looks back with a strange glint in his eye before getting to his next question.
What is my job?"
"You are to summon a servant and fight on our side."
"Alright next question. Why me?"
"Because you're the best and most experienced and you are skilled enough and willing to kill a master if need be. Unfortunately Kiritsugu Emiya is unavailable and you are the next best thing."
"I heard about his disappearance. It's been nearly 10 years now, right? I've never been able to wrap my head around how someone like the Magus Killer can just vanish off the face of the earth with no trace."
"It is interesting indeed."
"What is your theory? Everyone has one. I have heard some wild ones but I'd like to know what an esteemed member of the clocktower thinks happened."
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I think he silently retired, settled down, had a family and is living his best life-"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Kairi bursts out into laughter. "That's the best one I've ever heard." The bounty hunter wipes his eyes and calms himself down and his grin immediately drops when he sees Belfeban staring back at him with the same straight face he had before. "You're serious?"
"Yes. I'd at least like to think that even Kiritsugu Emiya himself could have a happy ending, even if it is most likely that he has died."
"You talk like you know him."
"Know him? No, I don't think I can say I do know him. I have met him before and have even requested his services." Kairis eyebrows raise and the older man smirks.
"What was he like?"
"From first glance and even the first real meeting you would think he was a killing machine with no ability to feel but I have been around a long time and I can tell when a man is wearing a mask." Kairi and Rocco lock eyes and unspoken words fly between them. "He was a polite man and got straight to the point but there was a story in those eyes that I wanted to know. A heavy weight on his shoulders sagged him down and maybe I was just reading to deep into the eyes of a heartless mercenary but I can't help but hope that he ended up happy."
Kairi stares at the man, his eyes wide like a child whose bedtime story was just left on a cliffhanger. "You think that the Magus Killer had a chance at having a normal life?"
"A normal life for a regular person, yes. For someone fairly adept at 'magic' he integrated into society very well which is what helped make him so dangerous. From my experiences other mages stick out like sore thumbs in public but if you weren't looking for him and even if you were you wouldn't find him unless he wanted you to know where he was. But now let us get back onto the original subject of the matter. You are to summon a servant and work on our side."
"I don't have a catalyst or any idea how to summon a servant."
"A catalyst will be provided and as long as you have one then you will be able to summon a servant"
"Provided?"
"Yes, in fact I have yours right here." The older man reaches into a drawer beside him and pulls out a briefcase and sets it on the desk between the two and opens it, inside is an old piece of wood broken off from something curved. The piece of wood is obviously part of something powerful as Shishigou can feel the energy radiating off it.
"What is this?"
"It's a piece of the round table."
"King Arthur's Round table?"
"Yes. It won't guarantee you any specific servant you are searching for but I trust that any servant you summon shall be more than sufficient no matter who that servant might be. Gawain, Lancelot, Galahad, Gareth, Mordred, King Arthur himself. There's a lot of serviceable options it all depends which servant fits with your nature, that wouldn't be a problem I hope"
"Any knight from the round table would be more than satisfactory for me to summon."
"I take that as a confirmation that you intend to join us and the war?"
"Yes, but I would like to ask a few more questions, and I would also like to request half of my pay up front."
"Let's start with the questions first and we can discuss your payment after." Rocco closes the briefcase and slides it towards Kairi
"Thank you. Where and who are the other masters?"
"To answer the first part of your question, the six other masters are already in Trifas. As for the second part. The five that we sent are our very own instructor Feend vor Sembren Rottweil Berzinsky, Gene Rum and the 'Gum Brothers from the Pentel family"
"I have no problems with that, but I did here you say only five others. Is the sixth not part of the mages association?"
"No they are not the last one who has been sent by the holy church and is both a master and overseer of this grail war."
"Does this war even need an overseer?"
"The original war in Fuyuki had an overseer from the church and this one while it doesn't need an overseer, a member from the church and the church's cooperation itself is always useful in events like this."
"I can accept that. Now on to my payment… I would like half of it right now."
"Shouldn't the contingency fee be enough?"
"Holy Grail Wars usually have a very high mortality rate, and I'd prefer to get what I can right now."
"The way you worded that statement makes me think you already have something in mind that you want."
"Yes I think I do." Shishigou walks over to a display case and grabs the jar with the dead hydra infant in it. "I would like this.
"Even though it's a fake?" The older man says with his best poker face which doesn't hold long when Kairi nods yes. Both of them know that the hydra was very much the real thing. A very very expensive item worth much much more than every asset owned by the Shishigou family twofold.
"It is about time for you to get on your way to Romania then. I will talk to the other masters and overseers and they should contact you as soon as you make it across the border." Kairi grabs the briefcase and pushes the chair in with the hand that holds the briefcase seeing as half of his pay was in the other.
Kairi walks to the door and pauses right before he grabs the handle and looks back to the dean. "What is the name of this overseer?" Kairi was curious because this type of event could draw in someone very well known from the church.
"Nobody I've met personally from what I was told was a young priest going by the name of Shirou. I unfortunately didn't get his last name."
Shishigou can't say he knows of anyone from the church with that name "Hm. Alright, thank you again Mr. Belfeban. I will contact you when I arrive in Romania" With his final goodbye Kairi Shishigou gets ready to start on his way to by far his most important job.
A castle looms above the city of Trifas. The fortress of Millennia, a massive building owned by the Yggdmillennia clan ever since the middle ages. It's survived the better half of a thousand years. Throughout the many disasters and wars that the country has survived the castle still stands and even though for years upon years it has been vacant three months ago the castle lit up and became home for the Yggdmillennia clan once again to the fear of the people living in Trifas.
Next to a window a man stands watching over the city, his eyes roaming the empty streets. The man gazes upon the city through the eyes of an old man yet if you happened to see him you would only guess that he was in his late twenties at the oldest. The man is actually close to 100 years old and was a participant in The third Holy Grail war and the current owner of the greater grail.
Over the past 60 years Darnic had been slowly altering the grail so it would fit better with Trifas and so he could summon servants that didn't have to be all that 'heroic'. Darnic was certain that his plan had been working on it for two thirds of his life so far. One of his biggest blunders though so far was allowing information of the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki to spread which meant that some of the best catalysts ended up vanishing and it was harder to find ones that would summon good servants.
The minor setback didn't impede his progress too much and he was still able to acquire several catalysts that could summon more than sufficient servants. The five that will be summoned tonight means that they will have collected 6 of the 7 in one place with the assassin coming soon from Japan hopefully.
His other setback was the surviving magus that activated the reserve system. His lancer managed to kill all but one of the fifty nearly instantly but one survived. He can't say he is too peeved though because he knew that the Mages Association were going to find a way to intervene somehow and a seven on seven battle sounds pretty fair much fairer of a battle than he was expecting seeing as he was fighting against the Mages Association
Luckily for him no servant would have the home field advantage quite like his lancer. The most famous Romanian heroic spirit he could summon-
"Grandfather?" Darnic turns around with a warm smile on his face. He didn't expect her to be able to sneak up on him but he was lost in thought. Looking down at the wheelchair bound girl. "It's almost time."
"Are you doing okay Fiore?" Darnic asks
"I'm fine, but the rest seem to be getting a bit restless waiting."
"It's only natural." Darnic responds. Fiore was the only talented Magi in the clan and for that was chosen to be his successor as the future elder of the Yggdmillennia. She may seem weak in her physical state right now but she is anything but. Her skills at human engineering and evocation rival or surpass that of even some of the best magi in the field. Her coupled reinforcement codes could allow even a third rate magus to take down a top tier one.
"Grandfather. I heard that the Association has sent their last magus, and that hes on his way here now. That means that the war is starting now right?"
"Correct. With the summoning of the rest of our servants tonight this great holy grail war will begin and the Yggdmillennia will hold all the mysteries and miracles of the world."
Fiore can't help but frown a little. Making an enemy of everyone outside of your family would dampen one's mood after all. Darnic notices Fiore's frown and leads her to the bottom of the greater grail. Fiore can feel the immense power, and the divinity of the grail surround her, along with the sheer amount of prana in it of
"This is for your eyes only." Darnic whispers "With this your greatest desire can be granted at the drop of a hat."
Fiore couldn't resist her own wish and seeing the object able to grant her wish right in front of her took any doubt she had away.
"Now it's time for the summoning. Are you ready?"
"Yes grandfather."
The two get to the summoning room where the other 4 masters wait patiently and several homunculi buzz about helping set up the summoning.
A complex magic ward already rested on the floor, the ward specifically designed to summon multiple servants at once. Before it stood 4 masters.
Fiore, the future of the Yggdmillennia clan whose specialty is spiritual evocation and human engineering holds an ancient arrow, its tip blackened possibly by blood.
Caules, Fiore's younger brother,
Each member of the Yggdmillennia stands in front of their catalysts. A bloodied linden leaf, blueprints for an artificial man, an arrow with black blood staining it, a bottle of reason, and the original Fons Vitae. The five catalysts are placed on their respective altars and the masters stand in front of their summoning circles.
"Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation
Let black be the color I pay tribute to
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.
I hereby declare.
Your body shall serve under me.
My fate shall be 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!"
Caules, who's summoning berserker has his own piece that he has to add to make sure he summons the right class.
"Yet, though serves with thine eyes clouded in chaos
Thou, bound in the cage of madness.
I am he who command these chaos"
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three greet words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraints,
Protector of the Holy Balance!"
In a flash five servants appear and with their arrivals the masters and servants of black are ready for the great holy grail war.
"Are you my master?" The white haired man asks again, still staring at Sagara.
"Y-yes." The man gives Sagara an unamused look and the smaller man straightens his stance and speaks up. "Yes I am your master. What heroic spirit are you?"
The man cocks his head to the side slightly and opens his mouth before pausing and shutting it quickly. He then puts a hand on his chin in thought before answering "I don't remember."
"WHAT!?" The man looks up at the magus in front of him a look of displeasure at the mans shouting. Seeing this Sagara calms himself down not wanting to get on the servants bad side. "What do you mean you don't remember?"
"I don't remember." The man answers simply. Sagara groans and the man's eyes drop to his chest "Master? What is that thing doing in your chest?"
The magus looks down at the spot on his now healed chest. A faint glow coming from it. "It saved me. I believe its your catalyst. It must be pretty special if it can bring someone back from the dead and replace my heart."
"You would be right." Sagara immediately feels uncomfortable at the strange hint of emotion that creeped into his servants voice. "It is special." The servant closes the short distance quicker than a blink Sagara can process. The mage gasps as he feels liquid running down his back and chest. Looking down, Sagara spots his servant's arm reaching through his chest. Sagara coughs blood onto his servant, spattering the taller man's face with blood and saliva.
The darker skinned man pulls his arm back through the mages chest and the smaller man drops like a puppet with its strings cut as the only thing keeping him alive now has been taken away just as quick as its predecessor.
The nameless man wipes the blood and spit off of his face and wipes it on the pants of the now truly dead Sagara. After he cleans himself slightly he starts to search through the mans belongings for regular clothes or at the very least a jacket to cover up his armor a bit.
Searching for a while led him to finding absolutely nothing to wear, but it did lead him to two plane tickets to Romania. The servant quickly deduces that it must be where the grail war is being held, and takes both of them. Opening the window the nameless servant looks down at the glowing red gemstone in his hand and he goes into spirit form and jumps up to the roof.
For a while the servant just stands on the roof the full moon lighting up the night and bathing everything in odd shadows. The warrior looks up at the moon. Questions go through his head as he stares. He brushes them to the side and starts to move and jumps from roof to roof disappearing in the darkness.
Shishigou's plane lands. He's here now and he needs to start on finding the right place to summon. Shishigou walks through the airport his mind lost in thought about everything he has to do, and the people he has to meet up with.
Shishigou spots an interesting looking man. The man is taller than most people, but what makes him stick out, and stops him from really blending in is the stark white hair and tanned skin. A unique combination especially considering the man looked like he was at his oldest in his late twenties. His clothes were nice, but didn't have anything that would make him stick out.
The man turns and his eyes lock with Shishigou. It feels like time freezes for the second that they look at eachother. The man raises an eyebrow, and breaks their momentary staring contest. The man turns and walks away eventually vanishing from Shishigou's sight as he turns a corner. The look that he gave him, and the flash in his eyes told the magus that this man knew what he was here for.
Shishigou lets out a breath he didn't realize he was even holding, and continues on as nonchalantly as possible. After walking through the airport for a solid 10 minutes he's found himself in the exact same spot. Did the man really get him off his game that much that he walked in a circle without realizing?
'Maybe it was one of the other masters of red?' Shishigou thinks before he walks towards the same exit that the mysterious man did.
After doing his best to clear his head of the man. The bounty hunter focuses on leaving and finally finds his way out of the airport, and into the car the association provided. Now all he had to do was summon his servant and find the leader of the red faction.
Authors Note: A new fic with another shitty test chapter to start it. This one involving my least favorite fate project, and my favorite fate character in an odd situation and a class that he's not summoned in usually.
I've always thought it would be a fun, and interesting twist to apocrypha if EMIYA was there. There might also be another interesting twist to the story of apocrypha if I decide to keep going with this. I've worked off and on with this chapter for over a year, and finally just busted out this test chapter in a few nights as a test (Who would've thought). The big reason this is just a test chapter is because I had no clue how to start it, and I still didn't seeing as I wasn't confident enough to make anything but a 4k word test chapter. The other reason it's a test chapter is because while I did put effort into it I also wrote it very quickly only having one rough draft and one final, both written over the course of two fairly short nights of writing.
I hope anyone who does stumble upon this manages to enjoy, but if not then that's completely understandable. I hope you all are doing well, and feel free to leave a review telling me how you feel about the concept.
As always thank you for reading, and I'll see you all in either the next chapter of RSSH, or maybe something else depending on if I decide to write something else new. If I do then it wont just be a rushed test chapter it will be a full one.
Once again I wish the best for you all. I hope you all enjoyed or at least were able to make it to the end of this chapter, and good morning, afternoon, evening, or goodnight. :)
