(AN) Well, I am glad that people liked the prologue. I can only hope that you guys like this chapter as well. I'll have to get around to make time for my other fic... well, I'll have to wait and see.
Anyway, continuing on with this chapter...
(((Finding oneself)))
In a span of ten seconds, a lot had happened to Sasuke.
He stared at the three tomoe shaped tattoo in the back of his hand, ignoring the throbbing pain and the heightened vision he suddenly obtained. He was so busy panicking on what was happening to him, that he didn't notice how everything suddenly felt so… clear to him.
He could pick up the tiniest details of the markings that had appeared on his hand, how the hair follicles stood out on his arm. How his blood was chorusing violently through his vein, all rushing to the marked tattoos as if it were the epicenter.
Or, was it something else?
Blood wasn't supposed to be in blue color, nor was everything supposed to be inverted in color…
Then, he made the mistake of looking up and saw his reflection in the mirror. He saw a dishevelled and heavily breathing image of himself staring back at him, with blood shot eyes as if some devil had decided to possess his body and was showing the signs of possession through the tomoe and the red plasma. As if he were a vampire or a devil who only roamed at this hour of the night…
His breathing quickened, his pupils dilated and sweat started forming on his pale skin. He struggled to breathe as a his hands went to support him to sit still; he wasn't able to comprehend and think rationally anymore. The series of gruesome images from his recent nightmares also started showing up as if to worsen the situation, and he started feeling an unbearable pain in his chest.
Breathing raggedly, he clutched his black jacket just above his heart and for a moment or two, pain started gushing through his entire body and then, everything went still. He felt his eyelids close against his will, as his body descended freely and fell flat. His face lay right at the center of the markings under him, and he let out one last shaky breath before passing out.
(((Finding oneself)))
At the same time Sasuke was having a minor (massive) breakdown upon seeing the command spells, another master was actually preparing for the war upon seeing them. Though, she was just bound to some shitty luck as all her clocks had again changed, and reset to an hour late this time.
After a lot of effort in clearing up the area in the basement, Rin wiped the sweat and dust of her brow. A grin showed itself on her face, feeling proud of all the effort she had put up. Resting her left hand on her hip, she stared down at the already prepared summoning circle that her father had used in the previous war.
"Preparations, ready."
She glanced at the faulty clock on the table, which were supporting few of the old documents of her father.
"Time, good."
She then checked the pulse of the magic circuits in her arms, ticking it off as well.
"Wavelength, ideal." She, then started walking towards the center of the circle, "By performing the summoning at 2 AM, when my mana's at its peak, I'll get Saber even without a catalyst."
Getting Saber was the best chance of winning in a grail war, since Saber was the believed to be the strongest class. Of course, there were records where servants from other classes have won the Holy Grail war, but for most of the cases, Saber class servants have prevailed. Whether they actually managed to have their wishes granted was another thing.
She clenched various colored crystals in her fist that she gathered over the years exactly for this purpose. Pouring some of her magic energy into her fist, caused the crystals to melt and she started pouring it into the summoning circle.
She then began the chant for the Holy Grail with the setup almost flawlessly complete, "For the essence, silver and steel. For the foundation, gems and archduke of contracts. For the ancestor, my great master, Schweinorg…" The circle underneath her began glowing in emerald color. "Close the cardinal gates, be bound to the circle and follow the three columns of the Sephirot to descend from the Crown to the Kingship. Fill and lock, fill and lock, fill and lock, fill and lock, fill and lock…"
The light only brightened with each repeat of the last verse, brightening the dark and old basement.
"Repeat five times. But those moments should be ceased to be once passed." The color changed to reddish orange glow. "Set. Hereby propose. Your fealty shall be mine, and my fate shall be yours. If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me. I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall repress all the evil in the world."
Pulses of red magic started to dance from the floor, matching her own red sweater she sported. "One of the seven heavenly beings bearing the three great words of power, come forth from the cycle that shackles you… Guardian of scales!"
The result she expected wasn't pretty, because as soon as she opened her eyes, the red energy that was dancing above her head went crazy and shot through the entire basement going berserk.
She was seen panting on her knees, as the smoke cleared. After catching her breath, she caught her wrist, and stared at the command spells with delight and glee.
"That was flawless! I certainly drew the most powerful card!" She, then immediately turned her head to be greeted with the sight of her loyal servant, a Saber class servant. But, to her confusion, there wasn't anyone down with her in the basement, let alone a servant. "Huh?"
Suddenly, her whole house rocketed, shaking with tremors as if something crashed into her building. She immediately ran upstairs, cursing her luck.
"Why does it always happen to me?!"
She realized she cursed herself too soon as she found her door to be jammed. "Why?!" Despite looking like a hime, a noble girl from a rich family, she sure packed a wallop as she kicked down the door but not without some effort.
"Damn it!" Breaking the door, she arrived into her hall and was met with the sight of a white haired man, clad in red dress sitting in a makeshift throne made from her mashed furniture.
He simply opened his eyes, and looked at her impassively. Then, a grin appeared on his face as he closed his one eye.
Rin just looked at him with narrowed and suspicious eyes, before glancing at the central clock in her house behind him.
"Wait, all the clocks in the house were an hour fast! Today of all days!? That means that it is 1 am now, not 2 am… Damn, I messed up again!" She gripped her hair and sat down, turning away from the man.
All her planning, all her preparation… was wasted. Damn it!
Well, no use crying over spilt milk, she decided. But, why did her father have to leave this to her?
Sighing in defeat, she turned towards the man, "Well, what are you supposed to be?"
"That's the first thing you say to me?" The man seemed surprised, which quickly turned into a look of amusement. "Good grief… seems like I have been drawn by an outrageous master indeed." He lazily waved his arm in air to show his so called 'grief'. "Or, was it I who drew the short stick?"
Tohsaka clicked her tongue. This servant didn't look like a Saber, but it was difficult to say which class he belonged to since his weapon wasn't in sight. And, he had a despicable attitude, she decided. One who wasn't going to simply follow her, unless subdued by force.
She sighed again. This was going to be a long night.
(((Finding oneself)))
After burning through a command spell and getting an earful from her servant, Rin and Archer had managed to reach a truce. The important thing was that he acknowledged her as his master—and even threw a few lines of praise her way.
Not that she was flustered by that! Of course not.
Since she'd decided to skip school after oversleeping, Rin was using the day to show Archer around the city. After all, as her Archer, he needed to familiarize himself with the area—though she told herself it was only strategic scouting.
As they passed through the city, Rin caught sight of a familiar face sitting alone on a park bench, looking as though life had drained from him. Sasuke Uchiha. Even with a hat and dark glasses, he stood out in his long black coat. If anything, he looked like he was trying way too hard to hide.
She approached, a sly smile forming. She hadn't interacted with him much, but his reputation preceded him. Girls in her class were always talking about him, and it was unusual to find the famed honors student in a place like this during school hours. She cleared her throat to catch his attention.
"Ahem. Uchiha-san?"
Sasuke blinked, pulling his gaze from his hand to look up at her. His face, though partially hidden, was as unreadable as ever.
"Tohsaka."
Rin crossed her arms. "It's rare for you to skip classes, Uchiha-san. What, did something happen?"
Yeah, sure. Just "nothing," while dressed like a gloomy detective on a top-secret mission.
"Right," she said, her smile tightening. "I might believe that if you weren't sitting here in the middle of the park, looking like Sherlock Holmes in hiding. What happened, running from your adoring fans?"
She couldn't see his eyes behind his glasses, but his jaw tensed. "Shut up."
Rin tilted her head, undeterred. "Aw, poor them, though. Your fans must be devastated, their prince skipping school."
Sasuke muttered something under his breath, turning his head away. "What about you? Afraid of running into Shinji again?"
Her eyebrow twitched at the mention of Shinji. "Better than playing ninja in broad daylight, dressed in enough black to melt into a shadow. It's not that scary, you know."
"Hn, you don't know the half of it. You have clearly never been in a metro, have you?"
Rin just shook her head at the Uchiha who had gone pale, not believing him. "You must be kidding," People weren't that uncivilised. Sure, she knew most of the girls in her school went bat shit crazy over the Uchiha, but surely it couldn't be this bad.
He scoffed at her and rolled up the sleeves of his right arm, revealing a scratch mark that looked like it was from long nails. "I guess this makes up for more than just my statement. I received this yesterday on the subway when I was trying to get down on the platform. One of passengers reached out to me, in an attempt to follow me. She perhaps mistook me for someone else."
His lips slightly curved up upon seeing her pale expression. Perhaps, conversing with her might provide much needed distraction from what has been happening to him lately. He even had to sport sun glasses, afraid of his eyes turning red in public. Staying coped up in his house also didn't help much either.
He needed fresh air.
"Um…Uchiha-san, is that what I think it is?"
Sasuke turned back to look at her and she was slightly shaking. No, not shaking. She was tensed, in a defensive stance. Like she was afraid of something. He could see a bead of sweat dropping down her smooth cheek and down into her neckline before it got absorbed by the sweat shirt inside. Which probably meant that his damned eyes activated again if he was able to see a sweat bead to this degree. She was also mumbling something under her breath, like she was talking to someone.
"Is something wrong?"
Why was she getting tensed over a scratch mark? She was one of the few girls in the school who left him alone, for which he was grateful. Then, what was her current expression supposed to mean?
He saw her shaking her head, her eyes narrowed slightly. "No, not the scratch. I saw that, but that wasn't what I was asking about. I was asking about that red tattoo over your hand."
Sasuke stared at the tomoe shaped mark on his hand with slight uneasiness since yesterday's night still didn't sit well with him. He tried to think of an answer before he noticed a similar tattoo on her hand, with some kind of blue circuits converging over that spot. That meant she knew what it was… So, he could probably be honest with her, right?
"I am wondering about that myself." He said, his gaze fixed on the mark of her hand. "My guess is you know what this is." He said, pointing to the symbol on her hand.
Rin seemed to relax, releasing a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding. "So, you don't know what that is?" Which meant that he still hasn't summoned a servant. That explained why the Uchiha was skipping the school. He was probably freaked out by the appearance of that weird symbol out of nowhere.
But, for the Grail to select him as a master meant that he was from a mage family. But, she never heard about the Uchiha name before. That meant his ancestors probably weren't that famous, or went into hiding due to some reasons and changed their family name.
Or, his family was one of the newer generations. It could be anything, but the Uchiha looked like he didn't have a clue about what it was.
That meant that he was probably getting dragged into this by the Grail, despite his unwillingness. The grail often tries to choose incompetent masters, or weak masters to fill up the last slots. It wasn't surprising to her, given his disposition.
"I do." She answered, and saw that the Uchiha immediately stiffen at this. "But, I suggest asking the church to give you the required info. As a rule of fair conduct, I think it is best if they explain rather than me."
Sasuke didn't understand what fair conduct she was talking about, but understood well that she knew what was happening to him. "What is this about?"
"It means that you are being dragged into something dangerous that can threaten your life." She said in a stern tone. "I can inform him of your arrival if you want. Go to the Shinto church, Uchiha-san. You'll meet a priest named Kotomine. Show him your command spells and ask your doubts regarding the Holy Grail war."
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, "Church? I am not going to be exorcised, am I?"
Rin blinked, incredulous at the thought. "No, why would you think so?!"
But, then she even said to ask about Holy Grail war. Even specified his tattoo as command spells. Maybe they know what was happening to him… "I'll be heading there right away."
He immediately started walking away, leaving her alone in the park. But, as he was about to leave the park, she shouted to him, deciding to give him one final advice.
"I suggest staying as far as you can away from the Grail war! It is for your own good!"
The teen looked like he scoffed at her words. "I'll leave that decision for a later time, after I hear what is happening to me and what's this whole nonsense about."
And, with that, he was gone. Though he didn't shout, she still heard him. After he was completely out of sight, Archer materialized beside her.
"Rin, what was that about?"
She did not move her head, rather her sight still remained fixed on the spot he stood before he left. "Just warning someone getting dragged into this mess."
Archer raised his brow at this, "Do you know him? Is he one of your friend?"
Rin shook her head. "I wouldn't say we are friends… I'd say acquaintances at best."
Archer smirked, his expression slightly amused. "Well, your conversation didn't seem like two acquaintances talking with one another. You seemed awfully obsessed with riling him up. That would have been normal if you weren't actively trying to bring up his fangirls and his sexual assaults in public."
Her cheeks slightly flushed at what Archer was suggesting, "S-Shut up!"
Archer shook his head in amusement at the reaction of his master. But, that amusement faded away after a moment. "We had a nice chance to slay him while he still hadn't summoned his servant," The Archer got serious again. "You let an opportunity miss, Rin."
Rin met his gaze, before her gaze returning to that spot, "It wouldn't be right to attack him before the Grail war actually begins. Surely you understand, right Archer?"
Archer in return, only sighed. "There you go making things complicated. It will come back one day to bite you, I say."
"Even if it comes to bite me back, you'll be there to take care of it when that happens." She said turning towards Archer. "Right, Archer?" She asked with a smile, causing Archer to sigh once again.
(((Finding oneself)))
The church in Shinto was located just beside a graveyard. Pushing the rusty gates open, Sasuke began feeling all kinds of vibes about this place. He walked forward, hands in his pocket and a black hoodie pulled over his hair along with his sunglasses intact.
Pushing open the huge doors, the sunlight followed him into the place which was oddly dark for a place known to be closest to the God. With the sunlight behind him blinding his identity, he saw a man standing right below the cross, previously talking to a blonde who was seated in the front row, beside him.
"Who is it?" The man's voice was heavy, and as Sasuke reached him, he began noticing the features of the man.
He looked muscular for a priest, with hair reaching up to his shoulders. Of course, he wore the usual dark robes that the priests and the fathers wore, and he had a necklace hanging around his neck.
The blonde also seemed to have stopped talking, and turned around to look at him as Sasuke continued to walk until he reached a few feet away from the priest.
"You must be Kotomine Kirei." Sasuke said, causing the man to slightly raise his brow.
The priest then slightly chuckled instead of getting offended, surprising both Sasuke and even the blonde haired guy. "My, my… the youth these days have lost all the respect for the elderly. What is your name, young man?"
Sasuke was growing impatient so he didn't pay attention to Kirei's comment. He took the hoodie off his head and showed the red symbol on his hand. "Just tell me what the hell is going on?! What are these and what the hell is this Holy Grail war that Rin babbled about?!"
The priest looked a bit surprised, before his calm façade took over again. "I see. Rin has sent you, didn't she?" He asked, but when he realized that the boy in front of him wasn't going to reply, he added. "I take it that Rin hasn't said much regarding those spells."
"She hasn't said anything useful." Sasuke said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "That is why I have come to see you. She told me that you knew what these were."
"I see." The priest nodded, before looking at him again. "Those weird symbols, as you put it, testify your right as a master in this Fifth Holy Grail war."
Sasuke blinked. "Master…?"
"There are total seven masters selected to participate in each Holy Grail war, and you are the sixth one in this war." The priest explained. "Once the seven masters are selected, then the war begins."
The lost Uchiha just narrowed his eyes in response to Kirei's words, "And what do you mean exactly by this war?"
"It is just as it sounds, young man. You'll have to battle and kill the other six masters to survive." The priest said, not bothered even a little when he talked about killing others. "Of course, you'll have to keep this war a secret from public. That goes without saying."
Sasuke didn't sound convinced, "And, for what purpose? Assuming that I believe you, why should I try to kill someone I don't even know just because I was selected to contest in a war named after some cheap relic?"
"Well, for one, it is to obtain the grail, which is said to be an omnipotent device capable of granting any power or wish," Kotomine explained with slight amusement, before his impassiveness took over again in a moment. "You won't be fighting alone in this war, of course. You'll be given a servant to fight alongside." He saw the confusion in Sasuke's face as he allowed the boy to process the information. "By servant, I mean a familiar. They are generally a legendary historical figure who are summoned to fight alongside you in this grail war and when only one master remains, the grail appears."
"…!"
Sasuke raised his hand, and stared at the engraved symbols for a few moments with mild interest. Not lifting his head, "Why do you think I was selected for this war when there are so many people in this town?"
"I don't know the exact criteria. The grail usually does the summoning, but mostly selects people of mage bloodline who have some kind of wish they want to be granted."
Sasuke still had some difficulty comprehending what he was told, "Can changing the appearance of an eye be considered some form of magic, then?" he asked, lifting his head.
Kotomine acted like he thought for a bit. "Well, it is possible by few families, though it is a rare ability." A certain gleam filled his eyes as he saw the young man ponder over his answer seriously, but that gleam went away when the boy returned his attention to him.
"You sure have answers for everything, don't you?" Sasuke smirked a bit, finally feeling convinced about this holy war. It seemed like he was in the right place after all. As his anxiety and confusion began to dispel, he started to sense a sharp gaze that had been on him this whole time, and his onyx eyes met equally blood shot eyes like his cursed ones, like the eyes of a predator that was carefully analyzing its prey's move.
"Is this supposed to be public knowledge?" he asked, obviously irritated and pointed to the blonde who sat silently the whole time through this Q and A. "Are you ok with him being here and listening to… all this? You said yourself that this war was supposed to be kept a secret from the public."
"Pardon him. He is an associate of mine," Kirei said quickly, before shooting a warried look at the said blonde. "And, the reason I know so much about this is because this isn't my first war acting as an overseer. Now that you have learnt what there is all to it, what do you say, young man? Are you going to participate in this war?"
Sasuke blinked in response, "I can withdraw?"
"Of course, once the war begins." The man smiled. "You'll be in the protection of the sanctuary until the war ends. That is one of the top duties I have as an overseer."
Sasuke simply scoffed. The way the man spoke, even though the priest tried to be subtle, it looked like he was looking down on him and was mocking him. What was the priest expecting him to be? A coward? If he was really scared for his life, he would have not been in reckless in Tokyo without any regard to his life.
The priest said he had a wish that he wanted to be fulfilled. That was why he was selected. Maybe, he can finally find himself.
"How do I summon this servant and what kinds are there?"
Kotomine didn't answer, but simply turned and walked away. He, then returned with a book and handed it to Sasuke. "This contains all you need to know about servants and how to summon them. Though, you require relics to act as a catalyst to summon a powerful servant. Hence, I have an offer for you."
Sasuke took the book in his hand and flipped few pages. "What is the offer?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the book.
"We already have a servant summoned at hand. If you wish, you can form a contract with him. He is quite strong, if I must say."
Sasuke stopped going through the pages and met Kirei's eyes and his expression was unreadable. His mouth tightened, "Thanks, but I must refuse your kindness." Anything this priest was going to offer him was bound to be faulty. For all he knew, the priest might offer someone under the pretext of offering a servant, who would only backstab him later. "I'll do this whole thing on my own."
The golden haired man scoffed, causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow.
"You got something to say, blondie?"
"Hmph, not really," the blonde spoke for the first time and closed his eyes, choosing to ignore the audacity that the raven haired mongrel just displayed in front of him. "But, if you want to survive in this, boy, I suggest you take this seriously. It is not some parlor game that you fools are endorsed in these days."
Kotomine stepped forward before the Uchiha could respond, "Well, I can say I respect your decision." The priest intervened, making Sasuke turn towards him before things took a turn for worse. "Like my associate just said, if you want to survive in this war, I suggest using a catalyst to summon a strong servant."
Another look of confusion sprouted on Sasuke's face, as he hesitantly opened his mouth, debating whether or not to ask this priest, "…where can I get this catalyst to summon a heroic spirit?"
Kotomine simply chuckled, causing Sasuke to frown. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," the man shook his head. "It's just that I have never met someone who showed such confidence, if I must say despite being a novice in this sacred ritual." There was something really wrong with this priest. "I am not sure if anyone is going to offer you a catalyst just like that without any sort of compensation. Mages, by general are cold and calculated individuals."
He said as Sasuke sighed in disappointment. This lad... he recognized him now. His previous assignment. The brat was brimming confidence and yet, he also reminded him a bit of his past rival, Emiya Kiritsugu if he were honest. Knowing that the decision he took long ago somehow manifested in this bloody war, he could only anticipate what's to come in glee. "If you must know, the only family around here that possess these catalysts are Matou. If you wish, you can approach them and form a contract."
The Tohsaka was out of question and the Einzberns resided in Germany.
"The Matou are a mage family too?" Damn it. That meant Shinji was from a mage family too. That meant there was a high chance that he was going to battle one of his family member, or even Shinji himself. And, if he decided to sought the assistance of the Matou family, that would mean owing a debt to that loudmouth.
That thought itself wanted him to puke. "Thanks for the info, but I would like to take my chances."
"Well then. Meet me once you summon your servant, Sasuke." The priest said. Sasuke tensed as his name was said, the priest chuckling, "Don't look so distraught. I have my means. I am the overseer after all, so I know when a servant is summoned and when a master is selected. Including your name, Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke's lips thinned as he reached to the obvious conclusion, "So, you knew who I was all along?"
"No," The priest shook his head. "It was difficult to make out your appearance due to your… attire, but as the conversation proceeded, I came to know."
"Hn."
Yup, the priest was very shady. That was why he left out the details regarding his eyes. He, then simply walked away not bothering with the priest anymore and left the church through the door. If he had bothered to linger around, he would have noticed the twisted smile and glee that the priest sported shortly after he left.
"There is a sneer on your lips, Kotomine."
Kotomine had almost forgot about the king of heroes as he was busy musing in his thoughts. His face immediately went grim as he turned towards the king, "Is that how it looks?"
"Yes," The blonde said, hanging one of his arm across the chair. "It almost looks unsightly. A smile befitting a really twisted and shameless rogue like yourself."
"…"
"Did you really enjoy the encounter you just had with that brat, Kirei?" The blonde himself had a twisted smile. "You even went as far as to advice that insolent brat and even offered me as his servant."
"Yes, I did," Kotomine took a few steps to his front and set his book aside. "I feel as though I have met with an old acquaintance. One who has such confidence, fire and hope in his eyes when I mentioned about the grail. Did you not see how elated he felt despite trying to mask his emotions. How could I not be happy?"
"It seems your ways of obtaining pleasure still haven't changed." The blonde hung his head low, with a sneer of his own. "I assume you have plans for this kid like you did with Kariya."
"You know me," The priest said, turning around with a serious look. "As you said, the grail war has begun anew only after a mere ten years. As the overseer, I can only hope that the grail manifests completely this time."
"Even if this land turns into hell in the process?"
"That is out of my hands," The priest answered, as the blonde met his gaze. "After all, it is the master's role to struggle, endure and to crush those who would stop them."
A sadistic sneer captured his lips, as the blonde also shared his feeling. "Our lord in heaven forgives all the sins of the world. Hmph, but first we must wait for the appearance of the final master."
(AN) That's it for the chapter. I haven't read the chapter, so there maybe few mistakes here and there. By the way, a lot has happened in the last episode of Fate/Apocrypha. I got GOT chills from it at one point, even after having read the light novel.