Fate/Fiction

[Apple]

OOC: Crack idea. A Holy Grail war with servants from all over and all-new masters.

CHAPTER 1: Heaven's Feel 5.5

Geez, I can't believe it. Seriously? What the hell is this thing supposed to be, anyway?

I suppose that I should explain myself. My name is Elizabeth Grant, and I tried summoning the most bloodthirsty servant in the history of mankind. I had books upon books of the most horrifying of things. The grail mediator said that I'd have to be ruthless to win the war, so I thought I'd let my servant do that for me.

The papers, artefacts and documents of all the terrors I'd researched on are still here within the magic circle. Except that... most of them are still here. I can't tell which one the grail took. Some are torn beyond recognition, and I can't see that gaming magazine I was reading before I started the ritual.

The only thing different is this weird red statue. It's rather large, and looks like twin compressed drills coiled around each other in a double helix. It is surprisingly warm to the touch, but I don't feel any heartbeat. I am disappointed. The first thing that I did was use two command seals, saying "I command you not to harm me" and "I command you to look after my physical safety", but it seems wasted now. I think I hit a glitch in the system, or those filthy magi sold me out somehow. This is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do with this thing? I've been trying to communicate with it for the past half an hour, but nothing has worked. I even opened the window, hoping that some air would stimulate a response, but the damn thing just sits there. It sits. And does nothing.

Fuck you.

Kicking the base of the silent red monument, I sit down at my desk and peel open the curtains. There is a strange silence about this part of town today. The streets of Fuyuki are usually noisy with people, but the streets are deserted. Maybe this is some sort of anti-human weapon? If it was, then I probably did the right thing in telling it not to hurt me. Maybe it's killed my pesky landlord and that idiot who lives above me and keeps hammering at the floor every night.

Hah, I wish.

I pull the windows shut, only to hear something bound up the stairs; I turn back in the direction of the monument. Whatever is moving up the stairs sounds like it's injured. It's slow-moving, and I can hear it sludging along the steps like something coming out of water.

But something about the sounds it makes puts a prickling chill on my neck. It's sludgy and sounds like rotting flesh; if I didn't know any better, I would say that... it sounds like a moving sack of decomposing meat. A tingle of delight runs along my spine. Maybe this is the servant I summoned! If it is, I should be prepared to meet it.

Pulling the windows closed, I stride across the murky floorboards and place a hand on the doorknob. But-

"Don't go."

A boy stands in the corner of the room. It looks like- but it can't be-

"Lisa, don't go. It's dangerous"

Everything in the room swirls around me like a slow moving whirlpool. It is as if his presence commands my absolute attention. But why wouldn't it? It's brother.

"What are you doing here, Brent? What happened to your studies in Britain? Wait, how did you get into the room in the first place-"

The haze gets worse. It becomes increasingly difficult to focus on anything but Brent. He looks at me sadly.

"I know you're worried, sis, but now's not the time. There is a monster coming up the stairs, and it will kill you if you don't come to me right now."

Confused, I walk towards him in slow tottering steps. "Monster? I just summoned a- ah, but you don't know about servants, do you?"

"Just come," he says urgently, beckoning.

Slowly, steadily, I move towards him dazedly. The room seems to rock like a ship's cabin on the eve of a storm.

And then the door shatters inward on its frame just as my leg gets out of the way. By God, what--?

But it's not the door that is the issue, it's the thing standing in the doorframe. Stringy bits of sinew and muscle hang down from under its eye, and its decomposing mouth is opened in a terrible snarl. Massive bony arms stretch out of its back, and two extra ones string down its front. It lets out a roar like nothing I've ever heard before- by gods, it sounds like some kind of mutant cheetah- and then it pounces at me.

But it doesn't reach.

In that instant it hurtles towards me, the red statue in the centre of my room seems to explode with an intense light. I feel a tiny trickle of prana leak from inside me- the wave of incendiary light rushes outward radially, sending everything flying in a frenzy of fire and smoke. The beast is swept back on its hind legs, but I am held fast by the wall behind me. The floorboards themselves curl up and crumble into ash. Everything seems to be burning.

"Lisa! Run!"

A voice echoes mildly in the recesses of my brain. I struggle to my feet as the thing in the doorway gets its own bearings. Gods above, it's still alive? It doesn't even have a head anymore!

It lets out an earsplitting howl and pounces again as I dive behind the upturned desk at the furthest end of the room. Another wave of light explodes from the centre of the statue and persists for at least five seconds. I can hear the beast's dreadful agony and the smell of burning wood.

And then everything is over. I raise my head from behind the table and spot the mutilated creature's body sitting before the red statue. Its entire torso is curled back in an indefinable stance, and every ounce of it is charred to a crisp. One twisted arm actually crumbles into soot and drifts away as a draft enters through the broken window behind me. The blood coloured statue just sits there, looking for all the world as if it hadn't exhibited superhuman baking powers.

Brent sits next to me, rubbing my arm. "I won't let them hurt you, sis."

How did he get here...? And wait, what does he mean by- did I just summon my own brother as a servant? All of this is just ridiculous. I think I need a merlot. Seriously.