24 Minamoto-no-Yorimitsu
Fuyuki, Japan,
The Sun slowly rose from behind the clouds, it's rays waking up the city of Fuyuki, Japan. Recently, following an unexplained chain of gas leak explosions in multiple places across the city had the populace somewhat dismayed but, still they went about their lives. Afraid but diligent all the same, even if suspicious, they'd just been an unfortunate coincidence right?
Behind the 'calm' and the 'peace' of this modern Japanese city, a deadly war ensued. A War between both prominent and unskilled magi fought through the use of the spirits of heroes from an age long past. Overseen by the Holy Church, the Holy Grail War was well underway. The original 7 Masters had now become 6 and the rest vied for victory. The one victor would have a wish granted to them... That was what they knew at least.
-
Fuyuki, Japan,
Edelfelt Mansion,
In the mansion being used as a base of operations by the united Masters of Caster and Rider, the morning was rather hectic, as it had been for the past few days. Shouting could be heard from all over the place, though the person that was shouting remained hidden.
Roman Trambelio, the Master of Caster, sat on his bed, his black hair unruly and his breathing dismayed. The magu-no, as had been identified only recently, the magician's gaze was a thoughtful one, a hand held over his mouth, "I knew this was a shit verse." He commented with a small sigh, humans in here were kind of fucked up.... Well, not like he could say he wasn't.... Roman decided to be slightly nicer to the fox eared servant.
Still, he knew about this better than many would and despite his dismay at witnessing just how Tamamo no Mae had passed, Roman grabbed his cane, standing up with slight difficulty. Making his way to the dresser, he put white suit pants and a black shirt before picking up a similarly white coat and putting it over one hand.
Next, he walked back to his bed and placed the coat on it, grabbing the eyepatch that lay by his side before putting on his coat. Roman then put on his coat, having 'freshened up' just a bit earlier, put on a very practised smile and walked out of his room.
Making his way through the corridors, he noticed that Iskander was still stuck in his gaming phase,
"Get him! Yeah!"
"..." The Magician wondered how a conqueror could be like that but ended up laughing it off and heading towards the dining hall arriving there not a few minutes after...or so he would like to claim but.....
"My eternal nemesis."
Stairs..... Roman had a hard time going down or up stairs because of his weaker leg.
It was at this moment that Sakura, who seemed as if she'd just woken up as well, walked in from the side. The purple haired girl paused for a moment, wondering why Roman was biting his finger as he looked at the stairs with hollow eyes.... Could..... Could he not go down them?
She looked at her hands for a few seconds before clenching them, "...." In complete silence, she made her way to him and tugged on his sleeve.
"Oh?" Roman looked down with a small smile, "Do you need something?"
"..." Sakura nudged her head towards the stairs, attempting to convey that she wanted to help him down them.
"Oh that... I'm afraid I might be a little too heavy." Roman chuckled and snapped his fingers, a humanoid rock golem formed out of thin air slightly startling the child near him. Sakura could only admire the skill of the 'magus' as the Golem helped him down the stairs before once again disappearing as if it had never been there in the first place.
Understanding that his physical 'debilitations' weren't truly much of a bother, Sakura silently followed behind him.
-
"This arrived in the mail, Master."
With a thump, a long stick-like object wrapped up in bandages fell on the table. Thea closed her eyes, looking down on the object in slight curiosity, wondering what it was.
"We get mail?" Roman tilted his head surprised, but then realised that it was a stupid question considering this was a registered property.
"What is it?" Waver questioned, sitting on one end of the table with pancakes and coffee sitting in front of him. The pancakes were half eaten indicating that he'd been having breakfast.
"Oh? A local sword? Intriguing." Iskander rubbed his chin, observing the object with a small grin on his face. He had indeed always been a curious person, something that drove him to great heights in his life and do things impossible for the normal man.
"It appears to be from Lord Melvin." Thea held a letter in her hand, one she presented to her Master with a bow. At the same time, the maid seemed to slightly squirm, as if waiting for something.
Sakura, sat near Roman, the corners of her lips slightly upturned, the bright atmosphere of this place made her previous residence look like it was a hellhole. She even wondered whether these people were truly magus. Sure Waver was an irritable individual but still, this was unexpected.
"I've gotta thank him personally." Roman noted with a hand tapping on the table, his own plate lay empty indicating that he was already finished with his breakfast. The bottle of wine by him however suggested that his diet was a rather unhealthy one.
Making up his mind, the magician stood up and ran a hand over the covered sword, opening the letter at the same time,
"I was told they found this at the Tada Shrine over at Kawanishi in Hyogo. Still, I think it might be a replica considering those Onmyouji are a pretty stingy bunch. I hope this works for you. On another note, one of your sisters is heading to you too.... Don't ask how I know that.... I'm not stalking you..... I'm not..."
Laughing at the eccentricity of one of his oldest friends, Roman unwrapped the blade. A long blade, similar to a katana but more lengthier and less curved than one, "I think this is what they call a tachi." Thea reported dutifully, "The label says, Onikirimaru... A sword belonging to Minamoto no Yorimitsu? Master?" The homunculus maid was quite knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects, she'd been built that way after all.
-
"Roman, are you sure about this?" Waver looked at Roman with a confused and somewhat worried gaze, what the man was about to attempt was something insane even for the most skilled of magi and his skill wasn't exactly the cream of the crop, "You know even a prodigy would have trouble maintaining two servants at max power right?"
"Ja, but, counterpoint, you do know about the quality of my circuits right?"
".....Be hard not to." Waver half whispered, information about the Trambelio was something readily available. Still, as per Roman's request, Waver finished up the last of the summoning circle he'd been drawing for the past hour or so in the mansion's yard.
"Look at that, you can actually do something right."
"...." Waver clicked his tongue, backing away with a small sigh, already used to Roman's 'unique' language.
Lightly chuckling, Roman raised a hand towards the crimson circle on the ground, magical energy whirled about as the foundation behind the engravings was augmented and tampered with.
This 'ritual' worked by summoning a spirit for which a vessel was provided. Now this 'vessel' was made according to a preset already in the circle itself, one made long ago by the Einzbern family who'd played a major role in the whole Grail War shtick from the start.
This 'vessel' was a flawed one meaning it couldn't truly hold the full extent of a servant's power, messing with their prowess because of it's own limitations.
Using his magic, it was easy for Roman to augment this circle to provide an adequate vessel for whatever he summoned. Of course because the exact workings weren't something he was actually privy to (what with them being highly guarded secrets of the Einzbern), the 'augmenting' sapped a considerable amount of prana from the air and nearly a quarter of his own Od reserves..
Before Waver could question the sudden disappearance of prana, the circle flared on, torrents of winds rolling off it, far more incredible than the ones from when he'd summoned Rider and then, in an explosion of light.
A servant appeared, a Berserker Class servant. The catalyst for whom was a blade called the Onikirimaru, a weapon of the legendary Minamoto no Yorimitsu.
"This war's ours." Roman smiled, greatly pleased with the sight that greeted his eyes.
Waver felt his cheeks flush at the servant's appearance.
A tall, beautiful, most certainly well-endowed, woman that seemed to exude a motherly aura.
She had long smooth hair tied at the end and wore a sort of latex bodysuit, purple in colour. A cloth hung over her crotch area, tied by a thin rope, multiple similar ropes were tied over her body in knots. Tight gauntlets and grieves, elbow and knee length respectively, and shoulder pads were the only armour she wore. Ornaments resembling unfolded fans were worn on both sides of her head
She held a long katana in her right hand and a tall bow in the left, the sheathe for the sword hung behind her, tied to her body with a thin rope and the quiver and arrows for the bow was tied to her right hip, again by rope.
Sheathing the sword, the berserker placed a hand on her right cheek, her gaze less observing the surroundings and more the one eyed man that was her Master.
"Good day, dear Magus~. Servant, Saber....Oh...wait, what? I am not a Saber?" Her previously confident gaze turned into a more confused one, her hand moving a bit to the side, "My.... Umm, I am Minamoto no Raikou." A smile formed across her face as she let her prior worries go and focused on her Master instead, "While I am far too flawed to act as a commander, I hope you will still treat me well."
She did a small bow to Roman before once more returning to her curious and slightly excited observations.
"....I'm getting mixed signals here." Roman smiled and so did she, both even closing their eyes at the same time though certainly for very different reasons.
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