Of Blades and Devils [Fate/Highschool DxD]

Of blades and devils chapter one

I am the bone of my sword.

Issei opened his eyes and once again looked upon the dream that had followed him his entire life. He stood at the base of a hill surrounded by a flat and never-ending landscape. The entire place was covered in a layer of smog that tinted the land red. Embers flickering on some unseen and unfelt breeze.

This world was not so simple though, no, one would simply to look around or glance towards the heavens to reaffirm that fact.

For in the sky turned colossal and ancient gears. Rusted with age but still spinning, fulfilling some grand unknown purpose. They hung there in their thousands, being supported by nothing and offering only the sound of their rotations as an explanation to their presence.

Steel is my body and fire is my blood.

Truly those gears were imposing things. Hovering and watching over the hill. But they were the background to this world. In the same way that no matter how impressive a frame is, it will always be overshadowed by the picture it holds. These giant masses of steel were outshone by the swords that decorated both the hill and the flat plains that lay beyond.

Giant claymores rested in the earth. Rapiers and longswords lay scattered by the millions. Katanas, daggers, dirks and any other type of sword you could care to name. There were not only swords though. Axes and spears, maces and halberds also joined the sprawling mass. Each weapon standing out from the ground, the tips of the blades biting into the earth and allowing them to stand. They seemed almost like graves. Marking yet another battle, another foe vanquished and another person dead.

I have created over a thousand blades.

Issei took a step forwards and placed his hand around the hilt of a blade. There was nothing special about it as far as appearance went. But within rested a power that defied the natural order of the world.
It was the same for many of the weapons here. They had power beyond what a simple sword should possess. They may be plain looking like the blade he held in his hand, or perhaps they were extravagant and ornate. Some blades held no power other than an edge that could cut flesh. It mattered little. They simply stood there. Weapons that went beyond the power of mortals resting next to mundane blades.

Unknown to death, nor known to life.

This world terrified him. It haunted his every waking moment, always at the back of his mind. While he was awake he could ignore it. But when he slept every night, without fail, he would once again stand here. The hill and the plains and the gears and the swords all begging him to ascend the hill, to take up these blades and wield them as he desired.

He knew he could if he wanted to. Even when awake he realized that all he had to do was call upon the power of this world, of these blades. He had done it before, years ago when he was younger, before he realized the danger. This was his power. This was his world, his reality marble.

Have withstood pain to create many weapons.

But he could not call upon this power without a price. The last time he had done so, almost three years ago, it had landed him in hospital, it had almost killed him. A feeble excuse he knew. He had pushed himself too far, past his limits. If he did it again he would not fall into the same trap. But that still left questions unanswered.

Were had this power come from, and what was it?

He knew names of course, this place was his reality marble, but he didn’t have the knowledge to go with those names. What was a reality marble? How was it made, how did it work?

A variety of questions but no answers. And no foreseeable way of getting them. It was safer to simply ignore this place and get on with his life. Cowardly perhaps, but undeniably the safer option.

Yet, those hand will never hold anything.

He had better things to do than think about this hill and these swords. He had a life to live, one where he did not have to worry about the supernatural. Perhaps it was foolish, after all he himself was proof that such things did exist.

Why spend his time worrying about things like that he could be peeping on the kendo club with Matsuda and Motohama. The wonders of oppai were everywhere after all and it would not do for him to miss them while he was worrying about the unexplainable.

He could not bear to think about what had happened when he had pushed himself too far. The swords erupting from his body, tearing him apart from the inside. The pain he felt as his was shredded and cut a hundred thousand times over. The blades that replaced his fingertips, his arms and legs reduced to mangled lumps of flesh, bone and steel.

This world did allow him to recover. What would have killed a normal human simply left him on deaths door. The blades that had at one point torn his body asunder began to repair it. Slowly and surly fixing the damage, healing him.

He would not go through it again.

That agonising pain that had almost destroyed him. Almost wiped him from existence. He refused to suffer like that again. So what if it was cowardly, so what if it was simply running away with his tail between his legs. Those who would insult him for trying to forget about his powers had not had to suffer the agonising torment that he had.

So, as I pray

Now he would enjoy the pleasures of life. To find love and to love. He would gather himself a harem full of those with big oppai. Like that old man had said, the wonders of oppai were eternal.

And if that dream had gathered him a less than perfect reputation, then what of it? He would achieve his dream, and it wasn’t like he was really hurting anybody. After all, all the kendo club received was a bruised pride while he and his two friends saw a glimpse of paradise.

He had even gotten a girlfriend yesterday. A girl named Yuuma had confessed to him on the bridge on the way home from school. He was going on a date with her tomorrow.

Truly his luck was changing.

And so as he began to wake from the dream, he stared at the world that haunted him. How he wished he could leave it behind, to escape from the shadow that hung over him. To escape this place that gave him so much power, but also so much fear and pain. And as he awoke from his sleep to face another day he uttered its name.

“Unlimited Blade Works”


Authors note:
I put this up on FF a week or so ago so I thought I should put it up here. This is my first piece of fanfiction so be gentle (Ha this is QQ not bloomin likely).

 

Of blades and devils chapter two
Issei stared up at the sky. Sunny and clear, it was almost like the world itself wanted this day to be perfect. It was at last happening after all, he was actually going on a date. Smiling slightly to himself he went over his plans for the day.

He had brought a fair bit of his money with him so he would be able to go along with whatever Yuuma wanted. He had stayed up all night planning this, nothing would go wrong, and it was going to be perfect. He had even turned up almost two hours early just to make sure he wouldn’t keep her waiting.

“Excuse me would you please have a flyer.”

A feminine voice sounded behind him and a sheet of paper was thrust into his hand. The sentence that he heard wasn’t so much as a request but a statement of fact.

Turning towards the voice he saw a girl wearing a bat themed dress, with a laughably short frilly skirt. Smiling at him she turned and walked away before he could so much as say anything.
Looking at the flyer in his hand Issei noticed the occult like circle drawn on the paper. Underneath they was a small banner with the message of the flyer typed up on.

“Have you wish granted, yeah right.”

Before he had time to throw the thing away a voice called out to him. Turning he saw Yuuma walking in his direction. Slipping the paper into his pocket he smiled as she stopped in front of him.
“I'm so sorry,” She said in an upbeat and cheerful voice “did I keep you waiting?”

“No it’s fine, I just got here.”

He gave an internal smile of triumph, he had wanted to say that for so long to a girl.

“So” she smiled, “what do you want to do?”

He started grinning as well, her upbeat attitude was infectious.

“It’s your choice, whatever you want we will do.”

Her eyes widened in an almost comic happiness. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Well alright then, would it be O.K if we went shopping?”

After that the day past buy in a blur. He ended up buying Yuuma a wrist band that she wanted and they had eaten at an ice cream parlour. Now they were just taking a walk through the park. It was late by now, the sun close to setting. It was the perfect romantic moment made even better by the fact that they were even holding hands.

As they reached a large stone fountain Yuuma suddenly bounded on ahead. Then she quickly turned to look at him. She cut a striking figure when accented by the setting sun. Learning forwards she said.

“Hey Issei can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He replied, swallowing slightly. Could this be it?

“Can you do something for me?”

“Do something? Sure anything that you want.”

This really was it, she was going to ask him to kiss her. Hah, Matsuda and Motahama were going to be so jealous.
She smiled shyly and took a step towards him.

“Will”

Another step.

“You”

A third.

“Die for me?”

He stopped for a second. “Pardon, sorry there must be something up with my ears, I didn’t hear you.”

She smiled again, but this time it wasn’t the shy smile of a school girl, it was instead a dark and dangerous thing.

“I said, will you die for me?” Her voice had suddenly become deeper and more seductive, but there were other tones mixed in as well, ones that hinted at pain.

Suddenly a pair of jet black wings burst from her back, tearing long slits in her clothes and trailing shreds of fabric. Her face twisted into a cruel smirk and her body language changed. What was once your average school girl became a dangerous and unmatched predator.

“I actually had some fun on this little farce, so thanks for that.” She bought her hand up and looked at the wristband that he had bought her, “But you’re a threat, and you need to die.”

Suddenly blood red light began to extend from her hand and form into a long straight spear. Despite being crafted out of light the weapon looked just as soiled as anything else. Then in one quick motion she drew her arm back and then both it and the spear shot forwards.

The crimson spear was thrust towards his stomach, and time seemed to slow. He could see it all, the sadistic grin on Yuuma’s face, the streams of water from the fountain crashing into the stone basin. The setting sun casting a red hue over the world.

A red that reminded him of that hill.

He realised that he had a choice, to give up and die. She was moving too fast for him to evade as a normal human. That spear of light would run him through, killing him.

Or he could bring forth the power that terrified him so much. There would be weapons aplenty that could help him in this situation. Swords that would even the battle ground, if not outright tip it in his favour. All he had to do was call them. He had a choice. To die, or to face the thing that had haunted him for so long.

For some the choice would have been obvious. On one path lead salvation, but the path of inaction would lead only to the end. Fear was what plagued his thoughts. A constant fear that he may, once again, go too far. To suffer through that agony a second time.

But he was out of time, he had to make a decision. So he made it. For better or for worse he made his choice.

“Trace on.”
The words came to his lips. Guided by instinct rather than knowledge. Immediately he could fell lines of power struck to life and run around his body. Circuits, yet another name he knew and once again it was a name without a definition. There was no time to delay however, so he simply grasped the first sword that came to his mind.

A simple weapon, with no special properties. The sword was simply well crafted, with a metre long blade and a hand and a half hilt it was a sword designed to sliced through flesh and shear the bone. Issei brought it to bear against the spear of light.

The spear shattered the sword like it wasn’t even there. Finely crafted steel being reduced to nothing but fragments until they dissolved into motes of light. But its objective had been achieved. The spears path of attack had been diverted, giving him just enough time to throw himself to the side.

Rolling he barely managed to evade the shining spear. The deadly weapon sailed past him, flying within centre metres of his shoulder. Landing on his feet he stood and immediately brought forth another pair of swords. One was an elegant scimitar, edged with golden swirls and an ornate guard and hilt, he held it in his right hand comfortably. The scimitar was far sharper than a sword had any right to be, weak compared to many other blades that resided in that place, but still far greater than a mundane sword. The other was an almost ridiculously wide and thick short sword, far heavier than it looked. Forged out of a black iron that could withstand forces that would shatter a lesser blade, it was designed to block and repel an enemy’s attack. This did not sit so nicely in his left hand. This was not meant to be used with another sword, instead it favoured fighting with a shield. He had little choice in this matter though, from what he had seen of Yuuma’s spear a mundane blade would shatter against it and while he was sure he had plenty of blades that would easily stand against it and many more that would best it, he could not find them at such short notice.

Before he had stopped using his powers he had reached a point where he could find the needed blade so quickly that it was almost instinct. Instantly knowing the properties, the name and its history. But now he was out of practice. He had to manually search through the available weapon and observe them to find out their capabilities. To put it simply he had better options than these weapons, he just didn’t have the time to find them.

Yumma stared at him, the cocky smirk disappearing from her face, to be replace by a serious expression.

“So, you have awakened your sacred gear already, no your gear is draconic in nature, those swords are something else. Then you are far more dangerous than I gave you credit for.”
Sacred gear. Was that the name of his power? Yuuma had said his sacred gear, whatever that was, was like a dragon in nature and the hill had very little to do with dragons. Still, this only added another set of questions, but right here he may able to get answers for at least a few of them.

Suddenly Yuuma let out a low chuckle. It soon turned to full out laughter, it wasn’t a happy sound though and there was no humour in it. There was only a cruel undertone. It was a laugh of someone who had just discovered that the food that they were about to eat had decided to fight back. It was a laugh of someone that knew that they were superior and the thing that stood against them simply hadn’t realized it yet.

“Look at you, a pathetic human raising swords against me, one of the Grigori.”

Then the laugh turned angry. A rage that was born from the fact that a human would dare stand against her. She spun the spear of light in her hands, the glowing red construct illuminating the rapidly darkening park.

“A pathetic human like you doesn’t deserve to even live in my presence!”

And with that she lunged forwards again, this time even faster. She was simply a blur as she crossed the distance between them, moving so fast that no mere human would ever be able to keep up.

Yet somehow he was able to. His circuits pulsed and when he exhaled he blew out moisture. His body had become so hot that it was like breathing out on a cold day.

But now he too was moving faster than a normal human could ever hope to. Now he and Yuuma were acting, or at least reacting at similar speeds. And it was because of that he was able to bring the black iron sword up to block the attack.

The spear of light met the darkened steel blade and was stopped by it. The blade was not left undamaged though. The impact from the spear had left a network of hairline fractures running along the edge. The iron creaked as it withstood a supernatural weapon wielded by a supernatural being. But it held. And now he could begin his counter attack.

Pushing against the spear with the short sword he led Yuuma’s spear to the ground and trapped it there, then he swung the scimitar downwards in a horizontal arc. The target wasn’t the head or the torso, no it was to sever her right arm. If he did that then he would have an almost unbeatable advantage. His victory would be almost assured. Then he would be able to get some answers out of her.

Yuuma however was having none of it. She simply let the spear of light dissipate in her hands. Then, leaning to the side to dodge the curved blade she created another spear and thrust forward.
Stumbling backwards he just managed to avoid taking the weapon through his chest, instead he received a long thin gash just under his right arm. He couldn’t slow down though, if he did he would die.

The thrust of the spear had sent him spinning, so he used that momentum to empower a slash with his right hand towards Yuuma. She just managed to get the spear up in time. The scimitar bounced of the defensive strike and the she lunged forwards. Issei managed to just sidestep the blow, and as she retreated he scored a long cut going along her left arm.

He didn’t give her time to recover, catching her lunge on the black sword he swiped out with his right hand. Yuuma ducked underneath the swing and span the spear round, whacking him in the side of the chest with the staff.

He was knocked back a few paces but managed to recover in time to parry another assault with his short sword. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The iron blade shattered as the stress it was under proved too much.

Grinning madly Yuuma took the opening and masterfully realigned her spear and thrust forwards. The scimitar was too fragile to directly block a blow from that weapon and even if it could he wouldn’t be able to use it to block in time. So instead he simply remade the black sword and halted the offensive.

Yuuma gasped in shock as the blade reappeared in his hand. But she did not allow him to take advantage of her surprise. Rotating the spear she spun knocking him back and giving her enough time to recover.

It continued like that for what seemed like an eternity. Both of them constantly switching between the attack and defence. Always giving the other a matching wound whenever they themselves were harmed. She had shattered his short sword almost twenty times and the scimitar three. They were both on their last legs, panting and covered with dozens of minor wounds. A deadlock that would result in both of their deaths unless it was broken. He broke it.

This time as Yuuma lunged forwards he did not block with the short sword, but instead deflected the blow with the scimitar. The blade shattered under the strain but it had served its purpose. Yuuma was ill position to evade the counterattack. If that attack had come from the scimitar she would have been able to evade or block it. But she had not expected him to suddenly swap the roles of his swords. The entire fight he had been using the scimitar to attack and the short sword to defend, but here he had reversed their roles. So while a sweeping cut would have been within her ability to avoid, a thrust aimed at her chest was the opposite.

To her credit she did manage to almost escape, for the first time she had used her wings and taken flight. But it was a moment too late. The black blade lodged itself into her right leg and as she flew upwards it remained there.

Shrieking in pain she reached down and tore out the blade, hurling it away from her. She stared down at him from her place in the sky. Hatred and pain filling her eyes. Then another spear formed in her hands and she hurled it at him. Rolling to the side he evaded the spear, but that was followed by dozens more.

He couldn't reach her when she was up there. Then that meant he would have to change his strategy.

He was able to quickly draw forth a bow and some arrows, but even wounded as she was Yuuma easily evaded his sloppy archery. He needed to ground her, if he could the fight was his.
And so they played a game of cat and mouse. Her raining spears of light upon him and him trying to find something to best her. He found it.

In his hand appeared an arrow of pure silver. From the tip to the fletching there was only the shiny and precious metal. Knocking it to his bow he felt the power that ran through it. But that power wasn’t used in some all-out attack, not it was turned upon the wielder.

That power corrected his stance. No it made it perfect. For the brief moment he held this arrow he gained all the skill of one of history’s most famous outlaws.

England’s most skilled archer, Robin Hood.

The he loosed it. The arrow seemed to become a stream of silver instead of a mere pointy mass of metal. And it was fired with the skill of a master archer. It would not miss. It didn’t.
It pinned one of Yuuma’s wing to her side and without it she dropped like a stone.

She crashed into the park and was still. The only sign that she was alive the steady rise and fall of her chest.

Issei collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. No not just exhaustion. That arrow allowed the wielder to fire a single shot with skill that embodied perfection. But it had a drawback. Just as Robin Hood was captured due to that arrow its wielder to would be struck by a crippling, if short lived, weakness.

But that was fine, he had won. He had actually won against that thing that had disguised itself as a human in order to get to him. He had beaten back her attack and actually outclassed it.
Then there was the pounding of wings and an older man landed besides Yuuma. He two sported a pair of black wings.
Shit.
“Raynare, are you all right?” He managed to sound worried without being two concerned. Like someone you particularly disliked was dying, but if they did you would be in trouble as well.
Then he turned to him and he could see the anger in his eyes
.
“How dare you. You’re just human, how dare you wound our leader like this!”

There it was. He wasn’t upset because Yuuma was hurt, but rather the fact that a human had been the one to do it.

The man stood, a spear of light not unlike Yuuma’s manifested in his hand.

“I will slay you child, I will not make it quick. After all you need to learn not to stand against your betters.”

The man stood over him now, spear raised. This was it he was going to die. There was no way he would be able to do anything. This was the end.

“Dammit.”

He had just faced death not a moment ago and he had bested it. This was just unfair.

And as the spear lowed Issei prepared himself to die. The killing blow never came.

“What are you doing here priest?”

Holding the man’s arm and preventing it from falling was another man. He wore the standard outfit of a priest in a Christian church, but it looked almost wrong on him. His eyes were blank but a small smile adorned his face. Messy brown hair formed a mullet of all things.

The priest set Issei on edge. There was something of about him, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“My apologies but I have business with this young man and as of now I cannot allow you to kill him.”

The older man growled at the priest.

“Why should I liste-”

Whatever the man was about to say was cut off as the priest spoke.

“I am allowing you and your followers sanctuary in my house, is it that far-fetched to expect some form of minor repayment?”

The priest pushed slightly and the man was forced to take a step back. Smiling the priest continued.

“After I have had a word with him then all will be fair. I will not stop you a second time. But until the tomorrow of next week you are not to touch him.”

The older man frowned, seemingly contemplating the issue.

“Very well, a week and a day, that is all.”

Then he turned pulled Yuuma over his shoulder and took off.

The priest smiled. Bending down to help Issei to his feet. He reached into a concealed pocket and pulled out a card. It was the business card for a rather popular restaurant, famous in the city for its spicy food.

“Meet me there, this time, in one week.”

Then he turned and began to walk away. But not before saying one last thing.

“A war is coming to this city, a war those three great faction know nothing of. You will be at the centre of that war.”

The smile that adorned his face then was that of a monster.

“Rejoice, for your wish shall be granted.”


Authors note:

Noble phantasms used:

The silver arrow
Rank: D
This noble phantasm allows the user to shoot the arrow with all the skill of Robin Hood added to their own skill. However after this has done so the user is left weakened for a matter of minutes. The arrow also only strikes with a force that is comparable to a normal arrow. While the silver arrow has no power to track its targets, the sheer amount of skill that is utilized when it is fired means that an enemy must be massively faster or insanely skilled to dodge or block it.

 

Of blades and devils chapter three

Issei blinked his eyes open as his alarm-clock dragged him back to the waking world. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he sat up and stumbled out of the warm confines of his sheets. Yawning he allowed his mind to wonder. Naturally it took a left at repressed memories and headed straight on till it reached the events of last night.

“Did that really happen?” He whispered to himself.

Yuuma had tried to kill him. Granted she hadn’t managed to succeed, but it was a close run thing. He would have died afterwards as well if that priest hadn’t shown up to save him. He shuddered, that man was going to kill him simply because he had bested Yuuma. That kind of casual indifference towards death was terrifying.

He shook his head. There was no point thinking about it now. Any answers he wanted he would have to gain from his meeting with the priest. At the thought of that man Issei gave another shudder. For some reason he scared him more than Yuuma and the older man combined.

Issei grabbed a towel. Walking into the bathroom he left it hanging on the hook on the back of the door. Stepping into the shower he let out a sigh as the hot water rushed over him. He brought a hand up to his face.
“Trace on”

In his hand formed an arrow of the purest silver. It was the same one that had allowed him to bring down Yuuma last night.

The silver arrow. Won by Robin Hood in an archery contest hosted by the sheriff of Nottingham. A contest that was designed to draw him out of hiding. Hood handily won the contest. Splitting five arrows down the middle, never getting anything less than a perfect bullseye. But his unmatched display of skill revealed his true identity, and led to his capture.

In the hands of Robert of Locksley this arrow would allow him to perform a single shot at the height of his skill, no matter his physical or mental condition. In Issei’s hands it simply allowed him to replicate the skill of one of history’s most notorious archers. But there was one drawback. After the shot was fired the user would find themselves temporally vulnerable. This noble phantasm was not without its flaws.

And what was a noble phantasm? His abilities did not tell him that. They just informed him that the arrow was one and left it at that.

Letting out a groan he groped for the dial of the shower and switched it off. He was tired, exhausted even. But felt like he still needed to go to school. If only to inject some normalcy into his day. Give him something he could actually predict.

He quickly grabbed some breakfast and walked out the door chewing on some toast. He grinned as he swallowed some. A decent breakfast never failed to cheer him up. Maybe the week would go okay. He would talk to the priest, get some answers and figure out how to get out of the mess he was currently mixed up in. The priest may have said he was involved in some sort of war, bit it was certainly not by choice.

Then he walked into the guy carrying the giant claymore.

Falling to the ground he glanced up at the guy standing above him. It was hard to tell from his place on the ground but he figured the guy was a good head taller than him. He had a shock of ginger hair and a muscular physique. But his features were too soft to be that of an adult, Issei pegged him as being around his age. A pair of soft and friendly green eyes peered back at him. He wore a worn leather Jacket and a crumpled white dress shirt, as well as a pair of tattered denim jeans. But perhaps the most distinguishing feature was the massive claymore that was strapped to his back.

The guy looked down at him with a panicked expression on his face.

“Dammit.” he muttered in a Scottish accent, a hint of panic evidence in his voice. Then he spoke up, “Hey, sorry about that, are you okay?”

Issei laughed, the guy seemed so scared that he hurt someone. “It’s okay. It was my fault anyway I should have looked where I was going.”

The guys features relaxed and then broke into a massive smile. “Well thank the lord for that. Still I feel obliged to apologise. The names Samuel.” He lent down slightly offering a hand.

Issei felt himself smile. “I’m Issei. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Reaching out he took Samuel’s hand. A massive shock went down his arm, both of them yelped in pain and Samuel quickly took a couple of steps backwards, and Issei just as quickly jumped to his feet.

Then Samuel let out a massive laugh. “Ha, I never thought I would run into someone else so quickly.” Then he frowned “Wait, dammit, that means I haven’t been observing the proper etiquette. Sorry let me start again”
With that he pulled the claymore from the sheathe on his back. “I am the one who has been chosen to hold the mantle of Saber in this war. I am my own master and servant. Upon the rules of this war I have named myself, now I ask you to do the same.”

Issei faltered. “Parden?”

Samuel blinked. “If you don’t want to introduce yourself you don’t have to, I mean it’s in the rules. But it is polite to tell your enemy your name.”
“umm, I don’t think I understand you”

Samuel scowled slightly. “Hey it’s not like I am asking you to reveal your identity, just your class. I thought you Japanese were supposed to be big on manners.”

“Look” Issei replied “I have no ide-“

His sentence was interrupted by Samuel crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye and then swinging the claymore at his head. Issei barely mangled to duck under it, he took several steps back and then triggered his power. The circuits of energy within his body reignited and he uttered the words that allowed him to focus his will into creating his weapons.

“Trace on.”

In his hands a long spear now rested. It was made entirely out of a pale grey metal. The sections of the shaft that he was most likely to hold were wrapped in a soft white cloth. Issei realised he didn’t really like spears. He could still use it to a decent level of skill but he preferred swords. Besides, it reminded him of Yuuma.
Samuel grinned. “Lancer eh. Was that really so hard?”

With that he once again covered the distance and swung the sword down. Issei brought the spear round and parried the blow, then he threw himself forwards and drove the spear towards the Scot’s feet. Samuel jumped over the blow, and without hitting the intended target the tip of the spear buried itself within the pavement, Samuel landed on the shaft of the spear with a deftness that wasn’t fitting for someone of his size and swung his sword around at Issei’s chest.

Issei let the spear fall from his hands and rapidly retreated before Samuel’s blow connected. He couldn’t allow Samuel to trap him in close quarters, from what he had seen the Scottish boy was faster, stronger and more skilled than him.

Samuel blinked. “Did you just drop your weapon?”

Issei grinned and brought forth a new version of the spear, right now the weapons reach was his greatest advantage. Samuel stared at the spear that had formed in issei’s hands, and then he glanced down at the one he was standing on. That was when Issei attacked.

He allowed the spear that Samuel was perched on to dissolve into motes of light. The redhead yet out surprisingly high pitched yelp and began to topple to the ground. Issei took the opportunity to lunge forwards. Samuel rolled in mid-air and avoided the worst of the injury, but he still received a thin gash to his left side.

Samuel hit the ground at an awkward angle, but quickly recovered his footing. He grasped his sword with both hands and swung it at the spear. Issei felt the impact of the sword against the metal shaft, and then the sword sheaved straight through it and continued on towards his head.

Issei swore under his breath, and flung himself backwards, narrowly avoiding the claymore as it passed over his head. He thudded to the ground and whacked his head on the pavement. His vision began to swirl and he only just had the presence of mind to call up two of the black iron blades he had used against Yuuma yesterday. He crossed the pair of swords over him and was rewarded with a heavy impact against the blades. He heard the uppermost sword begin to crack under the continued pressure of the Samuel’s blade. Then the claymore crashed through the uppermost sword and came crashing down onto the second. Issei grasped the second blade with both hands, despite the short length of the hilt, and angled the sword down, redirecting Samuel’s attack to the side of him.

Rolling in the opposite direction Issei stumbled to his feet and just ducked under another slash from Samuel. He closed his hand around another black sword. But Samuel kicked the sword directly into his chest, he thought he heard a rib crack. Issei crumpled to the ground.

Samuel stared at him. “I thought lancer was supposed to be the fastest. Hell are you even a lancer, you used swords just now.”

Issei groaned. “I have no idea what’s going on. What the hell is Lancer.”

Samuel spluttered slightly. “Wait” he said, panic infecting his voice “has the priest not given you the talk yet?”

Issei stared up at the tall boy. Did he mean the priest from last night? Was this the war he was talking about. He decided to go out on a limb and say it was. “No I am meeting him next week. I don’t know anything about this.”
At that Samuel’s eyes widened. “Dammit, shit. I am so sorry, I thought you had been clued in. Are you okay?”

Issei’s eyes bulged, this guy had nearly killed him and now he was asking if he was alright. “You almost took my bloody head of.”

Samuel grinned slightly “Tis but a scratch.”

“Pardon?”

“Right sorry, you don’t have Monty Python over here.” Samuel offered a hand to Issei.

“I am so sorry, the rules say we can’t fight unless both sides are aware of the war and the rules. And before you ask I can’t tell you about it, the priest is the only one allowed to do that. I don’t have many details anyway, I was just interested in getting the basics. ”

Issei reluctantly took the hand and was pulled to his feet, and then promptly almost fell flat on his face as a lance of pain shot through his chest. Samuel caught him and held him upright, along with a barrage of “sorry.”
Issei glared at the Scottish boy, “What can you tell me?”

“Right now, very little. The war has a load of rules that we have to follow, seriously there are a lot. Apparently they are fairly new, something about the three factions, whatever they are, interfering in the previous war.”
Samuel paused, and seemed to realise the condition Issei was in. He looped one of Issei’s arms around his shoulder, which caused Issei to be lifted up as he stood.

“Tell you what, why don’t you come back to my place. I can fix you up and tell you whatever I can, an apology for jumping you when you have no idea what’s going on.”

Issei considered the option, on one hand he would be able to get some answers about what was going on. On the other this guy had just tried to kill him at the drop of a hat. Was he really the kind of person he would want to go with. Also if he went with him he was probably going to be late for school. He did not need any detentions right now.

But Samuel could have killed him already if he wanted to and, while he wasn’t completely convinced by his explanation, he seemed like the kind of person who didn’t bother with lying. Also finding out about what was going on was probably worth a detention.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

Samuel grinned at him, and then nodded. “Alright, and sorry again. Come on its not far, just a couple of minutes, I just stepped out to buy some groceries, seriously all of Madison’s stuff is so rich it makes me feel sick.”

Samuel was right, because within five minutes they were standing outside a very expensive looking hotel. Samuel nodded at the doorman and led Issei to the elevator, both of them getting suspicious looks from the receptionist. As the elevators doors closed Issei noticed that Samuel had pressed the button for the penthouse before swiping a keycard through a scanner and inputting a six digit code. Some cheesy music started to play.

“You can afford this place?” Issei questioned, Samuel didn’t look like the sort of person who had this much money, or if he did, the kind of person who would show it off.

Samuel shook his head lightly, “No, this is my partner. We have allied ourselves for this war. She’s a bit of an aristocrat though, and she insisted we stayed here.”

Then Samuel seemed to realise something. He glanced at Issei, and seemed to master his thoughts before speaking. “Hey Issei, I know it’s not something I am really in much of a position to ask, but will you be willing to join our alliance? I can’t say much right now, but with you on our side we would have almost half of everyone taking part in this war.”

Issei considered the proposal. To begin with he really didn’t want to take part in this so called war. But on the same token if he had to take part then it would be good to have some people to back him up. Samuel had said that if he joined the alliance then almost half of the contestants would be in it. Assuming that there was only Samuel and this aristocrat in the alliance then it would mean that this war had only a very small amount of people taking part. He would put it at ten at the most seven at the least.

The fact that having some people to help him against Yuuma’s goons when the week ended could possibly be a life savour was also a good incentive. He was willing to assume that Yuuma was about average in terms of power, and he had been about evenly matched with her, granted she hadn’t been taking him seriously till the end, and Samuel had crushed him. Sure he had managed to get a lucky hit in, but that was due to him getting Samuel by surprise. Having some help could allow him to deal with these ‘Grigori’ fairly easily unless they had a lot more goons than he thought they did.

Still, he would have to see what the other member of this alliance was like before he signed up.
“I’ll think about.”

Samuel grinned at him. “To be honest it would be a good thing for all of us. I can’t reveal what this war is about. But the prize has some serious power, and it’s not the sort of thing that I can allow to get into the wrong hands. You seem like a decent guy, and I checked out Madison before I committed into an alliance with her. Besides having more people just increases the chance of us surviving.”

Issei took a deep breath. “So this war, maybe this is a stupid question, but is this war to the death.”

Samuel sighed. “It doesn’t have to be, but I think we were all chosen because we would all want the prize. And the only other way of getting what is needed from the other participants can only be done with their consent. I don’t like it either, but…”

He trailed of before continuing. “I’ve seen what some of the other contestants are like. There is no way in hell I can let them get a hold of the prize. Some of the people in this war are monsters, plain and simple.”

Issei studied him intently. There was a quiet conviction in his words. He wasn’t boasting about it, but it was a simple and clear undertone. Whatever this prize was, Samuel wouldn’t allow someone to get it who would use it for malevolent means.

The doors opened to one of the most luxurious sights Issei had ever seen. There were pillars of marble with exotic plants growing along them. A fountain of all things was at the centre of the room, with a golden statue of a cherub shooting water from its bow perched atop it. Expensive looking sofas and chairs dotted the room as well as equally expensive lamps and coffee tables. Ornate ice statues stood over carefully concealed grates and a large fish filled tank was set into one of the walls. There were numerous fur rugs covering the floor and the entire north side of the room was one massive window, with what looked like a cinema screen stored in a rolling compartment above. There were dozens of other doors, each one likely leading to other equally expensive and luxurious rooms.

Sitting in one of the chairs was a girl. She looked around the same age as him and Samuel and she had long black hair that fell down to just below her shoulders. She wore an immaculate pure white business suit with a black tie and a handkerchief of the same colour folded into the front pocket. On her hands was a pair of black gloves with white symbols and glyphs sown into them. She looked like if she was standing she would be slightly smaller than him and her piercing blue eyes stared at him with a dangerous intellect.

“So Samuel, who is this?” She said in the most stereotypical English aristocrat accent he had ever heard.

Seriously, people actually talk like that?



NOTE: Been a while. Sorry this took so long to come out but I was focusing on my exams and I needed to get some of my other quests I am writing on SV up to date. I also had a bit of writers block with this.

Anyway, in true Fate fashion I guess its time for you to try and guess Samuels heroic spirit. And I guess you could try to figure out Madison’s spirit or class, but I haven’t given any hints to the class, and you will not get the spirit. I am not kidding if you actually figure it out before I reveal it you are most likely omniscient.

 

Of Blades and Devils chapter four

Samuel grinned at the girl, “This is Issei, part of the war.”

The girl sighed, “Well obviously, if he wasn’t you wouldn’t have brought him here. Besides my runes detected his presence and his nature as a contestant the moment he stepped into the building. I merely wanted a name.”

The girl turned her gaze towards Issei “So, I assume that you have extended an invitation to him about our alliance.”

Samuel nodded “Yep, but originally I invited him over to help fix him up. We got into a bit of a fight when we first bumped into each other.”

The girl scowled at Samuel “So you engaged him without any idea of his capabilities or motives?”

The Scottish boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Look I’m sorry alright, but we might get a new ally out of it. Besides Issei seems like a pretty decent guy, just the kind of person we want in our alliance.”

“Our alliance is not about finding the ‘decent guys’ in this war. I is about preventing the wrong sort of ‘guys’ from winning. Honestly Samuel, he could just be pretending in order to get within striking distance of both of us in order to eliminate us now.”

Samuel shook his head “Nah, my gut says we can trust him. Maybe your just paranoid Madison.”

“For the last time, your stomach is not a reliable source of information. And I am not paranoid, I simply observe the situation and act accordingly in order to achieve our goals, and keep both of us alive. “

She turned to Issei “Still Samuel is rarely wrong about things like this.” She studied him carefully, her eyes taking in every detail of his face and posture.

The she raised her hands and crossed he arms over her chest. The symbols on her gloves started to glow with an iridescent light. Then she thrust her hands forward, and began to tilt her hand and manoeuvre her figures like a puppeteer.

The ornate statues of ice around the room shot forwards at an incredible speed. Their arms lengthening and sharpening into jagged blades.

“Tra-”

He tried to activate his circuits and bring forth a weapon, but before he was able to complete his trigger phrase Madison had slammed a fist into his stomach. Before he was able to recover the statues had surrounded him, their bladed arms trapping him. If he tried to move he would just be throwing himself onto one of those blades.

Madison apply raised a gloved hand to his neck, and began to apply pressure. It was light and didn’t really effect his breathing, but the message was clear.

Samuel stated forwards “Madison! For God’s sake he doesn’t know anything!”

Madison glanced back at Samuel over her shoulder. “How can you be certain of that. Besides, this won’t hurt him. I am just going to ask him some questions, I will be able to tell if he lies.
“Madison, when I say he doesn’t know anything, he really doesn’t know anything. He hasn’t even talked with the priest yet.”

Madison span round to face Samuel. “You mean you got into a fight with someone who hasn’t been informed yet! Breaking one of the first rules of the war!”

“Oh sure, it’s not like you’re doing the same thing.”

She sniffed, somehow looking down at Samuel despite him towering over her, “I was ensuring that we had not been infiltrated by an enemy, you on the other hand simply started a fight.”

“Umm, can you please let go of my nec-”

“Shut up!”

“Okay.”

Samuel shook his head. “Look, what’s done is done. We can only look towards the future and hope that Issei can forgive us.”

“You mean forgive you?”

“In fairness you are the one with your hand around my neck. ”

Madison scowled before taking a step backwards. She gave a quick flick of her hands and the ice statues returned to their original places. Although Issei noticed that they now all seemed to be looking at him.

“Would you like a seat?”

“I would prefer to stand thanks.”

The girl glared at him. “When someone offers you a seat it is usually polite to sit down.”

Raising a hand in resignation he sat down on one of the sofas. They felt as expensive as they looked.

The girl nodded. “Did Samuel inflict any major injuries?”

Issei looked at her for a second before nodding. “Yeah, I think he cracked a rib and smashed my head on the street. Do you have a first aid kit or something?”

Madison laughed for a moment before shaking her head. “Samuel could you fetch me Grønn Duk.”

The Scotish boy nodded. “Sure.” He opened one of the doors and stepped through.

“Grønn Duk?”

“The first mystic code I ever made, basicly a magical object. Although I have updated it as I have grown. Essentially it’s just a blanket with healing runes stitched into it.” She smiled. “I was barely eleven when I made the prototype for it. I wasn’t very good at naming things either. But I suppose we should get onto more important topics.”

She seemed to study him in greater detail for a moment.

“So,” Madison began. “Is it true that you have no knowledge of the war?”

“I know there is one, but other than that nothing.”

Madison nodded before sitting down in her chair, leaning back she seemed to study the ceiling for a second or two. “Well where to start, tell me Issei how much do you know of the various magical parts of the world?”

He shrugged, “I guessed there were organisations, or at the very least people with magic when I was a kid. After all I couldn’t be the only person with magic. The only group I know anything about is the Grigori, and even then I only know the name.”

The girl blinked at him “You know of the Grigori, one of the three biblical faction. As in know they exist and not from your religion.”
Issei winced slightly. I may have gotten into a fight with one of their members.”

Madison nodded slowly. “And may I inquire how long ago this fight took place?”

Issei was about to reply but cut himself short. If he gave her a true reply then he would be placing a rather large amount of trust in a pair of people who had both assaulted him. Granted Samuel seemed to think that he would be fine with it and Madison was trying to make sure he wasn’t a spy or an assassin. Still if they wanted him dead then all they would need to do would be to give him to Yuuma and the older man. He only just won against Yuuma, against two opponents he wouldn’t stand a chance. After all there was a difference between a fight that happened a couple of years ago and one that happened yesterday.

But he doubted Samuel and Madison would need the Grigori to do their dirty work for them. Hell Samuel could of killed him earlier if he wanted to. The same with Madison and her ice statues. And in the end what would they have to gain from giving him to Yuuma? Nothing. So why was he being so hesitant?

Deniability he realized. As long as he didn’t get involved with these two he could almost pretend that he wasn’t involved with this stupid war, what happened with Yuuma could of just been a bad dream. He could just carry on with his life and keep his magic at arm’s length. It was stupid and irrational. But it was really damn attractive. You see it in anime or books, when the protagonist gets their superpower they immediately fall in love with it and use it as much as they can.

Most people don’t react like that, sure there would be some who accept it immediately. Most get scared of their power. Terrified even. They wonder where it came from, what will people do if they find out? Will they be captured by the military or scientists and experimented on? Will the people they care about think of them as a freak? Could their power hurt them in some way?

Issei took a deep breath. “I suppose I’m in the second group.” He thought. “My power almost killed me, and now I’m running from my own shadow.” So he had a choice, to try to pretend that he could ignore his power for ever and die, or face his fears and take a step into a world he had tried his hardest to avoid. “And it all comes down to me deciding to trust them.” Suicide or a chance for survival. But survival in a world that probably held more dangers than he thought possible.

“It happened last night. Hell the only reason I am still alive is that the priest stopped one of them from finishing me of.”

Madison gaped at him for a moment, before recovering her composure. “I see. I was aware that some of the Grigori were in town. Would it be to forward of me to ask about the circumstances of the engagement? Did they seem aware of your powers?”

He shook his head. “She seemed really surprised when I used my magic. And as for the why we were fighting. We were, um, well we were kind of on a date.”

He saw a sly smirk spread across Madison’s face. “Oh. Did you truly break her heart that badly Issei?”

“Please, it was a perfect date. Well, up until she tried to kill me.”

“I take it you were not aware of the fact that she was not human before then?”

“The first hint I got was when she grew wings and tried to stab me.”

She cocked her head to the side slightly. “So, why would she lure you into going on a date with her, then trying to kill you? From what you have said she didn’t seem to know about the war, or the magic granted to you by it. Did she mention anything else?”

Issei nodded. “She said I had something called a Sacred Gear. She said it had something to do with dragons. At first she thought it was something to do with my magic, but, well I make swords. That doesn't exactly scream dragon to anyone.”

Madison nodded. “She was right. While you may have a Sacred Gear it has nothing to do with the war. Still that explains why she attacked you. The Grigori are well known for their leader fascination with Sacred Gears.”

“Also when the priest showed up he said that he was letting them stay with him. If he is part of the war, and I assume he wants to keep it a secret as well, why is he letting them stay with him?”
Madison frowned slightly, her eyes narrowed. “Most likely to make sure that he doesn’t die. As the adjudicator if he died then the entire war would have no supervision. He is most likely playing it safe and making himself out to be sympathetic to them.” Still having those damn crows occupying the Grail Wars neutral territory is worrying to say the least.”

Issei may of not known much about what was going on, but he was smart enough to figure out that was a bad thing. Samuel had mentioned that a lot of rules had been introduced to the war to prevent the Three factions from finding out about it. Madison had called the Grigori one of the three Biblical factions. He was willing to bet that they meant the same thing. If so then having one of the people you are trying to keep your war secret from living in what sounded like an important location was not great news.

He was broken out of his train of thought by the green bundle of cloth that was thrown at his face.

“You hear all of that Samuel?” Questioned Madison.

“Yep.” Came the reply. “Crows in the church, Issei has a Sacred Gear and needs some advice on how to treat a girl on a date, that about everything?”

Issei looked at him for a moment. “Enhanced senses?”

“We all have them.” Came the reply.

Madison waved a hand at them. “That’s Grønn Duk. Just wrap it around you and it will feed on the mana in the air to power it.”

Wrapping the blanket around himself he noticed the green cloth had dozens of runes stitched into it, each a similar shade of green as the cloth itself. The runes seemed to glow slightly before fading. His body began to feel weightless and his chest and the back of his head began to go numb.

“Give it an hour or two and you should be perfectly fine.”

He nodded at her before falling silent. Content to simply fell the healing process do its work. Samuel perched himself on the arm of a chair and nodded at Madison. She leaned back for a moment.
“So where to start. Is suppose since you are involved the Grigori the three factions would be the best place to start.”

Issei cocked his head. “You said that they were the three Biblical factions. And Yuuma and the other guy had black wings, so were they fallen angels or something?”

“That’s exactly right. While I don’t know all the details, I can tell you the gist of it. The three factions refers to the three major factions of supernatural being within Christianity. They are the Angels and the God of the Bible, Devils, and the Fallen or the Grigori, angles that have fallen from grace. These three factions were at war with one another for a very long time. However as causalities began to rack up all three factions found themselves at risk of extinctions. After the death of Lucifer a treaty was formed between the factions. A pact of non-aggression or a cease fire so that they could replenish their numbers. That has continued to this day.”

“Okay, but what’s a Sacred Gear? That was the reason that Yuuma tried to kill me.”

This time it was Samuel who spoke up “A sacred Gear is apparently an object that was implanted into humans by God. I think it was meant to give them a way to balance the scales or something.”
Madison nodded. “Indeed, and the leader of the Grigori is well known for his fascination with them. Although ordering something like this is unheard of for him.”

Issei sorted the information. “Okay that makes sense. But what about this war, why are you so desperate to keep it a secret from them. And why are we fighting in the first place?”

The girl sighed slightly. “The purpose of this war is simple. It is essentially a battle for the Holy Grail.”

That gave him pause for a moment. He may of not been raised as a Christian, but even he still knew what the Grail was. Still…
“The Holy Grail. Like the cup used in the last supper?”

At that Madison shook her head. “No, it was only named after it. It is actually a massive vessel to contain Prana.” She glanced at Issei and he opened his mouth, but before he could she continued. “Prana is the combined form of Mana in the air, and Od that is produced within the body. Essentially it is just a massive clump of magical energy. However when it has been filled it creates a connection to the Greater Grail.”

Issei tried to open his mouth gain, but Madison seeing his confusion cut him off. The Holy Grail is essentially just gathering enough power to punch a hole to the Root. The Root is the wellspring of all existence. The Grail is built on a ley line, natural rivers of magic that flow within the earth. When the a connection has been formed the Greater Grail uses the massive amount of Prana collected to perform wishcraft. Wishcraft is essentially a form of magic where you throw Prana at a problem until you get a solution. In Laymans term, the war is something that is fought over a single miracle that the Grail will grant to the victor”

That was terrifying. Samuel had said that the wish was a big deal, and he meant it. If it truly was a miracle, the amount of good or evil that someone could do would be massive on a scale that he could barely comprehend. And it all seemed so simple, build it on a ley line and wait for a while and then you have an instant miracle. But then It wasn't that simple was it?
“If it gathers magic through the ley lines then why is there a war?”

Madison smiled at him with acknowledgement. “There are two reasons. The first is that setting it up is not as simple as it sounds. Several powerful families of magi, or magic uses, worked together to create the Grail ritual. And since its on one wish… well magi aren’t the most charitable of people.”

Issei nodded, people had gone to war for a lot less after all.

“The second reason is that the Grail has to be within the Root to perform the miracle, and normally it wouldn't be possible to reach it.”

“I take it there is some way, otherwise we wouldn't be talking about it?”

“Yes, and this reason is also the source of our abilities, and the reason that the Biblical factions got involved in the first place. You see the Root, or the Akasha records as one of its other names also contains all of human knowledge, history and experience. Normally it is completely removed for time and is impossible to reach, making reaching it the main focus of all magic users. However there is an exception in regards to making contact with the records.”

Madison paused for a moment to give Issei some time to process the information, she was condensing some rather large parts of magical theory and giving it to a novice and It was unlikely that he would be able to pick it all up immediately.

“Within the Akasha records there exists the throne of heroes. It is essentially a recording system for those who have ascended to become spirits of legend, or heroic spirits.”

He raised a hand at that. “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that if someone has been remembered in legend, whether they are real or not, the Akasha records will create copy of them upon their deaths and store the copy within itself. This part of the records is called the Throne of Heroes and contains the legendary figures of humanity.”

Issei frowned before nodding. “Okay, it stores the people from the legends. But how does that change anything? I mean you still can’t accesses them, right?

“That may be true, but that doesn't mean that the heroes within the throne do not interact with us.”

That made him stop. “Do you mean that they can effect things outside of the records?”

“Yes. While we may not be able to access the Root normally the spirits within the throne can affect us. It is a rare event, but not unheard of. They will usually assist someone who they are sympathetic to. For example a heroic spirit of a general that stopped an invasion of their homeland may support someone trying to perform a similar action.”

“So these heroic spirits can travel outside of the records?”

She shook her head. “No, instead they create copies that leave the Root and when their task has been completed they create a pathway and return to the original.”

“Wait a moment.” Issei spoke up, realising where she was going. “So they create a pathway to get back. Does the war try to do something similar?”

Madison nodded, a smile playing across her face. “Yes. The way the ritual works is by offering the spirits within the throne the chance of a miracle. The copy of the spirit would exit the throne and when it returns the mass of Prana that is the Grail would follow it, using its path to reach the Root. Unfortunately it was found that the mass of Prana was too large to travel along the pathway made by a single spirit, multiple spirits would have to be used. Each one would be summoned by a magus and when the spirits left for the Root the pathway created by multiple heroic spirits would be large enough to transport the Grail. But still left a problem, there would only be enough for a miracle for one magus and spirit.”

And with that he understood. “And that’s why there is a war.”

“Correct. It was decided the magi and the spirits, which were dubbed Servants would fight until only one pair remained. There were seven servants that were summoned in total, and each was given a class. Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Berserker. That pair would receive the single wish granted by the Grail.”

“But that’s not the whole story is it.” He questioned. “There is still the three factions.”

“Correct. You see this is the third war. The first was the original time the Grail system was used. The Servants were summoned and the war began. But that’s when the factions interfered. They were able to detect the fact that the Servants had managed to gain a stable form. This is usually impossible, they are usually only able to manifest in forms similar to ghosts or wraiths. After finding out about the Grail, they killed all of the magi that were competing and almost completely dismantled the Grail system. The remaining magi eventually managed to set up a second war and took precautions so that the factions wouldn't be able to sense the Servants. But someone made a mistake and the same thing happened again, everyone died and no one got to make a wish. This time around however, someone decided to change the system.”

“Is this why we have the abilities?”

“Exactly. Instead of summoning the Servants directly the new system works using the same principles of how heroic spirits normally function. In this case when the new system was completed the Servants found hosts and empowered them in order to complete the ritual.”

That was it, the origin of his powers. He was hosting one of these servants and it was giving him its power. That meant he was tied to this war. He already knew he was on an intellectual level, but this just brought it home. Like it or not he was a part of this war now. No, he had been a part of it for a massive period of his life. He just hadn't known. The first time he remembered using magic was when he was around eight years old. Ever since then he had been involved.

“Hey Madison.” Samuel questioned. “I thought the priest said that only he was allowed to fill people in.”

Madison glanced at the Scottish boy “A lot of the rules are unnecessary.” Turning back to Issei she continued. “While the problem of the factions immediately detecting the Servants has been dealt with, it was decided that new rules should be put in place to further insure the secrecy of the war. The priest being the only one allowed to inform participants about the war is one of them.”

Issei nodded. “Samuel also introduced himself in a really formal way when we met, is that another rule?”

“Sort of. While you don’t have to state your class it is usually a good idea to.”

“Why’s that?”

It was Samuel who answered his question. “Think of it like this. All of us are sorted into one of seven classes. I am Saber, whereas Madison is Berserker. A fight between me and another class like Lancer that focus on straight up weapon fighting wouldn’t cause that much collateral damage. But a class like Caster could.”

Issei nodded. While it may not be exactly the same, in any game or in any anime or book he had watched or read, mages usually seemed to go for an area of effect sort of combat. In other words lots of explosions.

“Basically” Samuel continued, “it’s a way to see if where you are is a good place for you to fight. If I am careful and was fighting another bog standard fighting class then we could get away with fighting in a fairly public area, Caster on the other hand would need to fight somewhere deserted or set up something that would keep people away.”

Madison spoke up. “There is also the fact that the Grigori currently stationed at the church are not the only representatives of the three factions in the city. The younger sister of the current Lucifer himself has claimed this land as her own. Although this was most likely deliberately set up by her brother so that he could be aware if the Grail War di start up again. He also forcibly ousted the rightful owner of the lands, the Tosaka heir.”

Issei nodded. “Alright, now that I think I understand things, can you explain why you are even helping me in the first place?”

It was a rude question. And to be honest he didn’t like asking it, but this was a war, something he felt he was only just even beginning to understand the implications of. Hell that had been made abundantly clear when Samuel had almost killed him. There was a reason, and he needed to find it.

Madison smiled approvingly. “I mentioned earlier that me and Samuel formed an alliance in order to prevent the wrong kind of people from obtaining the prize. I'm sure you could imagine the kind of havoc that could be brought if someone gets their hands on the grail.”

“That’s why I brought you here.” Samuel said, interrupting Madison before she could continue. “I trust Madison that if she gets the Grail she won’t use it to commit mas genocide or anything like that. She’s a decent person, natural mind-set of a magus notwithstanding. And you seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't use it for something massively insane or evil.”

Madison shot Samuel an annoyed glare before returning her attention to Issei. “That is essentially it. We have allied ourselves in order to ensure that the Grail is not used to fulfil a desire that would be better left unrealised. So may I ask if you would accept the offer?”

He leaned back. So this was it, his first step in the war. And realistically his safest one. Having the two of them backing him up could be, quite literally a life saver. And the entire reason for working with them in the first place was more than agreeable. Stop dangerous people from getting their hands on something that could make every sick desire they had come true. Sure it would be dangerous, but it wasn't like he wouldn't be in danger anyway.

And perhaps this would be almost like fulfilling that dream he had so long ago, before he had become terrified of his own powers.

“I want to save people.”

He smiled it was childish sure. But when he first got his powers he was convinced he would become some kind of super hero, an ally of justice, as weird as that sounded. He felt a grin etch itself across his face. It was weird, he was in more danger than he had ever been in in his life, but he hadn’t felt this good in years. He had a goal, something to aim for. Something that he knew was right, and that it needed to be done. He had spent so long just being a pervert, trying to forget about his powers that he wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do any more. Well now he did.

And there it was. A switch in his mind. Like his powers themselves were in agreement with him. He knew what he wanted, and what he had to do. He was the Archer of the third war for the Holy Grail. And maybe he could do something about that old childish dream.

“Sure, I'm in.”





The sad part is I still probably got some of the nasu mechanics wrong.