Chapter 7 - Kallian

A plane touched down in London. Among its many passengers, a short silver haired woman stepped off. She sent a simple text addressed to Alfred. 'Here' was all that was written. The girl had landed in the evening, the airport much quieter than its daytime hours. Yet in a blink and you miss it moment, she disappeared from view. Hidden from much of public eye, a shadow darted from area to area, leaving the airport entirely.

Kallian Dark, an assassin from Canada. Very little was known about her at all even amongst mages. Her family was found dead in their estate with their crest not passed on at all. The killer had yet to be found, and it is surmised that Kallian was working to find the killer herself ever since. Regardless, she was extremely proficient with her craft. Manipulation of shadows.

Her craft was irregular and unknown by any other than those that directly worked with her. And even if they knew her methods, they didn't know exactly how it worked. Yet she moved shadow to shadow as though it were natural. Normal people couldn't notice the blur that was her shadow, and a Mage wouldn't notice either as long as they weren't looking for her.

-

After dashing through the city for a few minutes she reached the forest on the city's edge. And from there, she went further to reach Zan Castle. There, she came out of the fence's shadow and waited. A maid opened the gate and bowed, and with no words exchanged she entered. Kallian was as blank a slate as the maids. Alfred, who was of the lazier variety, was at a loss when she entered. "Welcome, welcome. Apologies for the mess," he greeted her, not exactly the most distinguished family head. And it was indeed a mess. Supply boxes were scattered around and many scribbles were on the ground of the grand reception room.

"This is a summoning circle. But you haven't finished yet. Maybe if you didn't make it with a twenty five meter radius-"

"Yeah yeah I know but hey maybe I will summon a bigger servant if I use a bigger circle, right?"

"You are an idiot, right." Kallian was very offhand with roasting him.

"At least pull punches a little bit…"

"You didn't call to ask me to assist you, did you?" She asked. Her tone was unmoving, as was her facial expression. It was as though she was incapable of emotion, though she clearly had some level of a mood based upon how she was so quick to verbally abuse Alfred.

"Well that would be what I preferred. But I figured there would be a better way to assist me. You want to participate, do you not?" He asked in return.

"You would die if I did. Not the worst loss."

"I asked you to pull your punches a little bit. And that isn't guaranteed. I have a proposal." He stated and paced up to Kallian. He was much taller. He was only slightly taller than average but Kallian was much shorter than average. "Participate in the war. And rather than aid me, we simply do not attack each other. Simple enough?"

"And what if we are the last two?"

"It is a war. Do what you must if it comes to that, you know I will." Alfred shrugged.

"Very well. Let us avoid seeing each other until then."

"Confident that you will make it until then?"

"If someone like you is participating I have little to fear." She withdrew into her own shadow and left, all her sass going with her.

-

Kallian would resurface in the Clock Tower's library. There, she would see a man in a red coat with lengthy black hair, and a hooded woman with silver hair reading next to him. Her eyes flashed with a curiosity. He was reading the books she was looking for. And they had to do with the Holy Grail War. Not staying any longer than she needed to, she disappeared once more.

Reappearing outside the tower, she began lurking around the city. London was not her home turf, and she had every bit of drive to win inside of her even if it did not register outside. Learning the terrain and her opponents was going to be critical later on. There was just the odd factor she truly couldn't account for. Servants. Luckily, she had some level of help that she was sure others did not. She found a safe place hidden from view. And then, she used her eyes. Within them was not a magical power, but a psychic one.

There was a fundamental difference between Magecraft and Psychic powers. For one, her circuits were not taxed in the slightest. Secondly, tracing its use to her was far more difficult using magecraft. And third, it could not be learned no matter how much effort was put in. She was born with this ability, and many others. And with her eyes, she was able to see into the future, towards any result she wanted to achieve. The more vague she was looking into, the more vague the answer her eyes would give her.

Calculating the future and moves she would need to make to get there, she looked for the servant that could bring her victory. And to that end, she found herself at a museum, where an empty exhibit had a card tucked away. That would be her catalyst. And luckily, breaking and entering was simply entering to her. The ability to become an intangible shadow made such movements rather easy.

Her vision completed, she went about receiving her prize, still unsure what such a card could summon.