Thanks for your kind words everyone, it has upped my spirit to get to chapter 2! Also it didn't strike my lazy brain but I forgot to put paragraph breaks in here! I am sorry for that.
Chapter 2: Heroes of Justice (and Conquerors)!
Chapter Summary: Flat Escardos is a curious young mage who learns about the existence of Holy Grail. Now the story unravels as he begins to find out about the Holy Grail.
A/N: To those who don't know, Lord El Melloi II is Waver Velvet.
Fuyuki City, 6:00 A.M
In an apartment somewhere in the urban region of Shinto, the swearing of a middle-aged man broke the peace of a pleasant morning. The words were harsh, loud and unsavory to those who just happened to start their day. Normally, one would expect the people in the vicinity to check what the commotion was, but to those who live in the 'Serene Apartments', Lord El Melloi II's untimely curses was a daily occurrence.
"Professor, can you teach me how to summon a horse? Or better a dragon!"
The blond youth standing at the door looked excited, as evident in his sparkling blue eyes. But the older man in his thirties, standing behind the half-opened door did not seem to carry the same enthusiasm. One could deduce by the drooping eyelids that he was barely awake. "If it's too much, you could just teach me how to summon a Godzilla!"
"No…" His tone seemed like a low growl. He opened the door, letting his student inside.
Flat was elated. His professor wasn't usually hospitable and had driven him out of the apartment complex on the last three occasions he visited him. But from time to time, the professor let him inside and entertained the student for a while. The blond always wondered what kind of secrets hid inside his teacher's house, but he returned every time after having found almost nothing, the exception being a foot-long rat. Flat had never seen such a big rat before and asked the professor if it was his familiar, to which he responded with a grumble.
It goes without saying that the blond teen and his teacher don't belong to an ordinary high school. Flat Escardos was a student at the Homurahara Academy's secret magic course, born out of an undisclosed contract between the Mage's Association and the school's administration. Strange it might be but the academy hosted both regular and magic courses in the same building, even though magic was supposed to be a secret art. The requisite for being in this "Advanced Course" was simple. If one were to display any amount of affinity to magic they would be recruited in the course without any question.
That being said, recruiting an 'outsider' into the "Advanced Courses" rarely happened since most people who practice magecraft come from families where magic is passed down from one generation to the other. The bigger a family's history, the stronger their magecraft would be, though exceptions exist.
Presently, the professor reclined on his sofa, yawning loudly. He scratched his head as he looked at the state of his room before turning to Flat again, the scowl on his face never changing.
"So what are you doing here early in the morning?" He asked, running his hand through his long hair to fix the mess it had become. "If you came all the way here, then you better have something up your sleeve."
The boy's excitement lit up the otherwise gloomy atmosphere. "You're awesome as always, Prof! You read me like a book!"
"A book riddled with grammatical errors, poor punctuation, confusing sentences and a bad plot," the Professor muttered in a low voice, though Flat could perfectly hear what his teacher said. He felt proud. "So, what is it?" The teacher asked.
"Can you tell me how to summon a holy grail?"
Flat watched his teacher's face go pale and then red in just an instant, making him wonder if the professor knew some trick that would make his skin change like a chameleon's. The blond decided to keep that question in the back burner till he got another opportunity.
"What the fuck did you just say?" His teacher asked, his voice loud.
Flat raised his voice equally and said aloud, "The Holy Grail!"
The professor lunged at him in an instant and covered the boy's mouth with his palm. "Sssh! Don't casually yell about something so sensitive as if it's a festive offer, you imbecile! Do you want to get us both killed?" He looked at the empty room on the opposite side of his and sighed in relief. "Good thing he isn't here."
"Who, Master V?" He asked, bursting with curiosity. Did the professor live with someone else? Perhaps, a mermaid. Or better, an elf! Elves had cat-like ears and looked really cute, at least in the movies he watched.
The professor was blank for a second. He stood up and scratched his chin before he spoke, "People have ears everywhere." He frowned. "First of all, how did you even get such confidential information, you idiot."
Flat had to take a second to recollect. "I heard Professor Rocco and Professor Bram talk about it in one of the inner meeting halls! I heard that you were one of the lucky ones to see it up close!" He jumped up and stood on the sofa in excitement. "Master V, I want to see it too!"
The Professor caught him by his head and lifted him into the air with one hand. "You eavesdropped on a secret meeting between two lords? Do you realize they might be having some kind of bounded field to keep idiots like you outside?"
"About that," Flat said, trying to wiggle his dangling legs. "I found out they had a bounded field set outside."
"And?" His teacher's was a mix of anger and anxiousness.
"I hacked into it!" He said, raising his fist in victory.
The professor then dropped him suddenly, causing the blond to crash on the floor. "Honestly, I don't know what the hell to say to you, you mindless whippersnapper. You could have gotten yourself killed. I don't want you to talk or even think about the Holy Grail again!"
"But can I see it?!"
"No!" He yelled. "No seeing, thinking, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting about the Holy Grail."
But if the Holy Grail was something that can grant his wishes, he could wish for a lot of chocolate. How could he not taste if the Grail were overflowing with something like chocolate? He lowered his head in disappointment, his lips closed in a pouting expression.
"It's getting late, go to school and don't talk about this with anyone else."
Flat nodded and dragged his feet towards the door as the teacher sat back on the sofa and turned the television on. He turned back to look at the professor, who raised an eyebrow at him. Turning back he continued to slowly walk out when the news started playing.
"On today's headlines. The masked heroes have appeared yet again, this time at an open land in Shinto. These mysterious heroes managed to stop an illegal contract going between a major faction here and a jewel smuggling dealer. Once again, none of the witnesses failed to identify these masked heroes…."
The blond, who was still sad walked out of the apartment and closed the door. "Man, Master V was really mad. I should try some other way to find about it…" He muttered to himself. A thought stuck his head. "I could ask the other names I heard!"
As if like a spring, his mood was up again. He was going to find about the Holy Grail somehow…and then he would make friends with everyone in the world and conquer it!
----
The morning weather was warm and bright, the breeze was gentle and fresh. It was the perfect time for a stroll in the park. After coming out of the Professor's house, Flat realized he had a lot of time till school started. Although he was a part of the video game club, they only operated in the evenings and went up till late in the night. The professor was the most hardcore of them all, though given his luck he never won the multiplayers.
Resting on the soft bed of grass, Flat looked at the serene sky with a bright smile on his face. He couldn't find anything else in life that felt so good. The nature gave a sort of pleasure that could be never compared with the likes of air conditioners and soft cushions. If one were to ask him the essence of life and the secret of happiness, Flat would gladly tell them to lie down with him and just silently gaze at the orange sun under the blue sky.
The blond's peaceful rest didn't last for long. A burly cop, in his mid-thirties, walked towards the young man. Flat gave the police officer a curious glance before jumping to his feet. "Good morning, officer!" He greeted, a bit of nervousness can be seen in his face. It was understandable because the said officer had a mean expression that could scare little kids away.
"What are you doing here at a time like this?"
Flat looked puzzled. Surely, this was a good time to be in a park? "I came to enjoy the sun!" He answered, regardless.
The officer raised an eyebrow. "You seem like a lively guy. So I am going to say this is the last place you'd want to be in, kid. Why don't you go get going? Isn't it about time you guys and gals rush to school?"
"I still have some time left," Flat said, peering behind the police and found a small crowd at a distance. "What's happening over there, officer? Did you discover a treasure?"
The officer turned back and shook his head. "You're too curious, boy. Well, they didn't find a treasure but they sure found something more interesting."
"Oh, what is it?"
"A dead body. It was a murder."
Flat felt a shiver run down his spine. "A murder?!"
"Yeah, one of the purple faction members was murdered last night," the officer said. He turned to a shivering Flat. "This might be too much for you. Why don't you go to your school or something?"
Flat shook his head and looked at the crowd, once again. He had a chance to meet the purple faction the other day. Although he wanted to make friends with them, the situation didn't give much room for that. He felt bad because one of his potential friends died. He looked around to see if there were any familiar faces, and found something interesting.
A woman dressed in purple robes stood at a distance from the mob, her eyebrows drawn in an expression of anger. But the most interesting feature about the said woman was her ears. They were a bit longer than normal, almost cat-like. Flat's face lit up when he made the connection.
She must be an elf!
Although Flat read about them only in fairy tales, he strongly believed that they existed just like Godzilla. Forgetting the shock the mention of the murder gave him, he scampered his way towards her. He noticed a couple of purple faction members standing around her. Were they her friends? Would she be friends with him too?
The men surrounding her moved close to her upon seeing Flat approaching, but the woman signaled them to move out of her way. The blond stood before her, looking at her ears curiously. He blushed a little, realizing all of them had their eyes on him. "Excuse me, Miss, can I ask a question?"
"What is it, boy?" She asked, the seriousness in her face not leaving.
"Are you an elf?! Or a cat?"
The woman's face turned red, and so did her long ears. The blond's eyes shone with excitement as he bent to his right and observed her ears. "You insolent kid…" she paused for a second. "Oh, you must be a mage considering the traces of mana I can feel from you. What are you doing here? Shouldn't a proper mage avoid going to places that attract attention?" She asked.
He laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I was just curious about your ears."
The woman bit her lips at this, anger taking over her previous calm façade. The blond held his breath at the sudden surge of mana surrounding the woman. Flat could detect from the immense flow of the magic that she was not only a mage, but an incredibly good one at that. It was like looking at a race car going at its maximum speed. Such a description perhaps made sense only to him.
"I don't particularly like people asking me questions about my features."
Much to his luck, two more members of the Purple Faction approached the woman. "Medea-sama, we have a lead on the one who killed our brother."
Medea glanced at them. "Good. See to it that I or Soichirou don't have to intervene in this nonsense." Her voice was cold as she spoke the words. She turned around to leave the scene before she gave Flat a glance. "Make sure the boy knows his place."
Flat didn't quite get what the woman meant, but he realized that she spelled danger when the Purple Faction members closed around him. One of them, a guy with flashy orange hair and a scar under his eye spoke, "You know, they call me Bolt because I am dangerous as one. So kid, what is that you called Medea-sama? A Leaf?"
"An Elf!" Flat corrected even as he stepped back with a bewildered expression. "They're really great!" He bumped into someone standing behind him. Even through the suit he could feel that the said man was ripped. His expression suddenly turned into a smile. "Man, you guys are really awesome. You all seem super strong. But I think you should wear red instead of pink." At his remark, the men around him frowned. "Can we be friends?" He extended a hand to the puzzled men.
"Is this a joke to you, kid?" The guy named Bolt asked again.
"Not at all, Mister Bolt!" He said, his expression bright as the sun. "I can tell you something cool if you want!" He beckoned with his finger, asking them to come close. The four burly men stooped to Flat's level as he said in a low voice. "I'm one of the masked heroes."
---
Few minutes later…
"I'm honest!" Flat exclaimed, bending down as something heavy flew above his head and crashed into a window. He was running down the street, only to be followed by a group of men with purple scarves flashing on their arms. "I swear it on my Professor's life!"
Realizing that the said people weren't slowing down, he took a turn into the main road and darted amongst the crowd, looking back from time to time in hope that he had lost his pursuers. But the said people never left his trail, pushing away everyone that came their away.
Flat raced towards a bus parked at the bus station and jumped into it just as it began to move. Holding onto the door, he bent forward at the entrance to find that his pursuers were catching up with the accelerating bus. If he didn't do anything, they'd catch up before they reach top speed.
"Man, I really wanted to be friends with them!" He didn't like the idea but he had no choice. He began mumbling something, activating his magic circuits.
"There's no need for that," a voice behind him said. A man with long black-hair stood up from his seat. "Step back," he said, his tone sounded formal. Flat stepped inside, just as one of the Purple Faction member tried to jump into the bus. The long-haired man pressed a button at the same time, causing the door to close right on his face.
Flat looked outside as the rest of the gang stopped after their comrade fell back on the road. "I hope he's okay," he mumbled before turning to the man who saved him. "Thank you so much, sir!"
The man nodded, "Save your magic for something meaningful." He walked back to his seat and took up the newspaper lying on his seat.
Flat followed behind him, somewhat surprised that the man knew that he was about to use magecraft. "I didn't think you knew what I was about to use. You're so cool! My name is Flat." He extended his hand, his face lit like a light bulb.
The man lifted his head and looked at the boy, glanced at his outstretched hand and got back to his newspaper. "Lancelot," he said, without raising as much as a finger.
------
Flat got down at the nearest stop to the school, following which he had to cross two lanes until he reached the academy. He was relieved that he had lost the people chasing him but it left him with slight disappointment as he wanted to make friends with them. The conflicting emotions were only natural to Flat.
"Do you think you escaped us, kid?"
However, the relief did not stay for long as a group of men slowly walked out from their hiding spots, surrounding him suddenly. Flat shifted his head from one side to the other. "You guys are so persistent, I like that!"
"Once we beat your pretty face up, I am sure you'd like us even more." Bolt said, smacking his fists.
At once, they lunged at the boy but the blond ducked under the burly man and dashed towards the next lane, the Purple Faction hot in heels. It was around then his phone had begun buzzing. "Oh it's Shero!" Seeing his friend's face on the screen made him happy.
"Flat-san, are you okay?" That was his friend's first question when he lifted the phone.
"Yes, I am!" He replied, as he continued to flee from his pursuers. How could he not be fine when he was perfectly fit and running? "The morning is so refreshing, isn't it!"
"Yeah it is," Shirou said, his voice softening. "I heard that you were chased by the Purple Faction."
Some of the other students at the bus-stop might have reached the information to the school somehow.
"Oh about that," he said, and turned back to see that the gangsters were right behind him. "They're still chasing me as we speak!"
If he were to cross another lane, he would be near the school gates, where he could climb the tree and stay out of reach from their harmful weapons.
"What?" His friend yelled, almost as if it was the end of the world. "Flat-san, tell me where you are, right now! You're in danger!"
Just as Shirou said that, Flat saw a couple more men that stood near the school gate. "I am about to head towards the school but I think they might circle me before I get there~ It's an exciting day, isn't it?"
"Flat-san, you're in danger!" Shirou repeated himself. "I'm coming there," He said, before the line disconnected.
Flat looked at the six men surrounding him, observing their faces. "Man, you seem like cool guys! Can we be friends! We can do cool things! Have you ever seen a Godzilla?!"
The said men looked at him, not amused. "Sure, we can be friends," the guy named Bolt stepped closer to Flat, smacking his fists. "After we give you a friendly smack, of course."
Flat stepped back as the gangster towered upon him, intimidating him with his big stature and a menacing glare. But then—
"Do you numskulls have nothing better to do than bully a high school kid?" A familiar voice came from behind.
"Prof!" Flat exclaimed, upon noticing the man dressed in red with long black hair. The students began to slowly gather around the scene.
"What's going on over here?" Pushing the students away, a brown-haired woman came into the center. "Oh…" Her expression changed upon looking at him, rounded by the Purple Faction.
Judging by the expression on both the teachers, Flat had reasons to believe that they were indeed angry.
-----
The fight ended before it even began. The Purple Faction was quickly dispatched away from the school by Master V and Miss Tiger. After the fight, Shirou dragged Flat away for some reason and asked him what happened. They decided to meet after school for some fun adventures, much to Flat's excitement.
The night outings with Shirou were always so fun, though Flat personally wished they could move around in the day time. He quickly pushed away these thoughts as he reached the fourth floor of the academic building.
At once, the atmosphere around him changed from that of a typical high school into a gloomier one. Although the rows of classrooms were filled with students in the same uniforms as the others, they seemed much different. He detected different kinds of mana coursing through each of them, though they were nothing like the mana from the Miss with cat-ears earlier.
Flat didn't like the fact that most mages were always gloomy or snappy, they were the most difficult to be friends with. Despite his attempts to recruit them as his friends, Flat never had much luck with them. However, there were people he considered his friends even in the "Mage's Association", known as "Advanced Courses" to the outsiders.
It would be a mistake if one were to think the association was just a row of classrooms. Although Flat himself didn't knew many details, the association was a big place fit into one floor, a miracle possible only because of magic. Honestly, he had fiddled with the magical field once to understand how it worked but the association's guards got him before he had much success.
The blond's face brightened when he found one of his 'friends' standing outside in the corridor, staring at the playground with a blank expression. "Luvia~" Flat waved to the regal looking woman, with curly hair locks. "Good morning!"
The blonde turned to him, her eyebrows drawing close. She looked away and continued to look outside, "Good morning, Mr. Escardos. Seems like you just escaped a major scene."
Flat laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah haha that was close! There is something cool I wanted to tell you!"
"I hope it's not about Godzilla again, Mr. Escardos. I honestly don't understand your fascination with such fairy tales." She spoke in an elegant tone that carried an air of superiority.
Flat however, didn't seem to worry about it. "It's not a fairy tale! It's real, just like an elf. I saw one today!"
Luvia threw classmate a ridiculous look. "And you expect me to believe in such nonsense, Mr. Escardos? I'm afraid even Miss Tohsaka can't humor the likes of you."
"But you said you believed in me last time," Flat said, looking at her with confusion. "You told me if I can get pictures of Shi—"
Luvia's expression suddenly changed, the calm façade on her face was replaced with a brief panic. She let out her signature loud laugh. "You are so funny, Mr. Escardos." She spoke in a loud voice, as if she wanted everyone around to hear. She bent forward and whispered in his ears, "You've agreed to keep the pictures a secret as a gentleman."
"Okay," he whispered back, "But can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?" Luvia asked.
"Do you know how to summon the Holy Grail?"
The blonde's expression changed colors, much like the Professor's. But before she could answer Flat's question, a new person appeared in the scene. "Well if it isn't Luvia, good morning." The voice belonged to one Tohsaka Rin, another person he considered as his friend. However, Rin didn't seem to acknowledge his presence.
"Miss Tohsaka," Luvia's façade was replaced by a teasing smirk as she spoke. "You seem to be as punctual as always, it's quite an achievement for someone who isn't a morning person."
"You want to start this right before our first class?" Rin asked, pushing her black hair aside. "I thought you were involved in some deep conversation with flat board here."
Flat decided it was his cue to make his way into the conversation. "Rin, do you know how to summon the Holy Grail?!"
The Tohsaka magus held her breath at the question and gave Luvia a brief glance, to which the Edelfelt responded with a head shake. "I don't know anything about the grail." She said.
Flat wondered why everyone he mentioned the grail with put strange expressions but never spoke about it. "I really want to help out as you're my classmate but Flat," Rin said. "I have no clue what you are talking about. Perhaps, it is wiser to redirect your questions to Lord El Melloi II?"
"I did!" he said, his expression frantic. "He almost killed me after that, haha…"
"Is that so?" Rin looked a bit surprised, blinking. "I suppose it's not a surprise the Professor might know something about it…." A strange smile took place on her face.
Luvia spoke, "Lord El Melloi II has extensive knowledge on various aspects of magecraft, he did help me once before with something else." She gave Rin a suspicious look, and a silent conversation continued between them.
Flat didn't take much notice of it. "So I'll have to pester Master V till he tells me about it?"
"I believe so, Flat." Rin's tone was suddenly kinder than usual, much to Flat's surprise. "If you need any help with that, you can always contact me of course. But we'll have to keep this a secret."
"I have so many secrets to keep…" Flat pouted, but he smiled right after that. "Alright, it's a deal!"
"You're such a crafty person, Miss Tohsaka." Luvia commented. "I guess I could give you some credit there. You're good at manipulating innocent people."
"You do not approve?" Rin asked, in a teasing tone. "You can always choose not to involve, Luvia. You said you don't know anything about the Holy Grail, after all."
Flat shifted from Luvia to Rin, not quite getting the conversation they were having. "Luvia~ You can join us too!" He said.
The Edelfelt magi didn't seem amused but then said, "Yes, but as Miss Tohsaka said our names must be a secret."
After that, Flat did made another attempt to ask the Professor about the grail. The Professor punished him with homework in return and told he'd see to it that his penalties increase if he kept trying. Flat took that as an invitation because the Professor liked giving him homework.
----
That evening…
"Sajou Ayaka"
Shirou muttered the familiar name.
Although Flat couldn't recognize her properly for a distance, his friend's words confirmed that the black-haired woman standing at a distance was indeed one of his classmates. Shirou had good eyesight and could even find a squirrel hiding inside a tree from a distance.
"Flat-san, get ready," he said, wearing his mask. Along with the black suit they were wearing, the mask let them be hidden in dark without suspicion. Flat liked the idea because he was a fan of men with mysteries. He loved the spy-action movies.
Shirou had his weapons ready, a set of bow and arrows. Flat's choice of weapon was a small knife, the only purpose of the weapon was to convince Shirou that he can fight along with him. The blond had honestly no interest in fighting, but he was nimble and quick enough to qualify as a 'super hero'.
On the other hand, Shirou had an extraordinary talent with the bow. He never missed a single target during the school competitions. Realizing that it was unfair to all other participants, Shirou dropped out of the school's archery club.
"I'm ready!" Flat was pumped up and excitement. "Let's do our ritual, Shero~"
Shirou gave Flat an apprehensive look. "I'm only doing this because I want to convince the world we're really superheroes, who will save them no matter what."
"It's fun! I like being a superhero because we look so cool!"
Shirou chuckled. "Alright. Then here we go—"
At once both the boys jumped down from the top onto another stack of containers at a lower height, before rolling away in opposite directions. Then they proceeded to run along in parallel to surround the gang from either side.
The sudden noise of footsteps alerted the gangsters in the center, who looked around probingly. Although they were alert for intruders the Purple Faction didn't seem to have expected them to appear at the otherwise desolated area. "Who's that?" One of them shouted, the man's voice echoed with the surroundings but was replied with silence.
Standing in the shadows of the containers, Flat's senses tingled with excitement. He identified many of the men on the ground who had chased him earlier that morning. Keeping his identity a secret did have some fun to it, after all. The blond waited for his friend's signal.
And then it came—
"Purple Faction, we meet again," Shirou's voice boomed from a distance in the darkness. "We've come here to stop you from doing any harm to that girl."
The said men in subject were suddenly restless, unable to find the source of the voice thanks to the echoes.
At once, a shadow jumped out of the darkness and landed before them. "We are…!"
Following the lead of his disguised friend, Flat jumped forward and landed next to him. "The Heroes of..!"
"Justice!" Shirou made a dramatic pose.
"And Conquerors!" Flat exclaimed, mirroring Shirou's pose.
Shirou sighed and said to the blond, "Like I said, the conquerors part isn't true!"
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Originally Posted by Seika
