Conception/Zero (Fate/Zero x Shin Megami Tensei Crossover)

[Xamusel]

If that wasn't Cypher... then was it Naoya?

[Grant]

There are more than a few manipulators in the various Atlus games.

[Xamusel]

I only know of Cypher and Naoya as manipulators in this case.

Who else fits the bill?

[Shinogu]

It seems a bit quick and to be honest I'd think Waver would be more suspicious. It might be presumptuous but can I suggest someone playing at being a sympathetic student?

It's funny you say that, last year in an earlier writing of this part of the story, it would have been someone playing at being a sympathetic student that would have tied Waver and Kayneth's story arc together and been a big player in the story. Now it's not a student or somebody pretending to be a student, and it's not even the same character as it was gonna be. I guess that's one good thing about the hiatus, in retrospect it would have been a bad idea to go with because there was an attempt at a romantic element for Waver with this semi-OC and their angst with what the story had in store for them, not a good idea considering my level as a writer. It would have been shit. Of course, what have we got now?

With that said, time for a perspective change...

~

Well, step one complete. There goes the unlucky sod with the relic for the King of Conquerors. Poor kid doesn’t know what he’s getting into. I venture he’ll survive a week at the most, if the Servant doesn’t kill him first.

Bah, sentiment. The boy actually asked for my name. No, you fool, we won’t be meeting again, not in this form at least. This mask is all that I can manage for now, and when we meet once again, I will be utterly unrecognizable. But just imagine, a flicker of the smallest recognition in the eyes of my enemy as the life leaves their body...

It’ll require some time to think up a good line to stir such a reaction, but for now I continue onward to step two. If the Archibald Magus really is anything to write home about, then his use as a Master in the Holy Grail War would be wasted on a Servant such as the King of Conquerors. No, he will suffice plenty for my plan. Two more lefts, and... here we are. The Archibald Magus’ housing complex.

“What ails you tonight, Sola-Ui, my dear? You aren’t imparting any of the recent gossip like usual.”

Yes, that voice that drips with pride and overconfidence, the voice of the Archibald Magus. Who might he be addressing?

“I’ve heard plenty myself already, Kayneth... Specifically, I heard about what you did today during your teaching session.”

Ah, a domestic dispute? Well, I haven’t got anything else to do tonight, a little entertainment might be in order...

“Ah, my dear Sola-Ui. If you’re referring to the incident with that delusional student, I was doing what any Magus in their right mind would do. Such thoughts of shortcuts and magic tricks to reach Akasha within a single lifetime, we nip these in the bud at childhood to instill a diligent work ethic. If they persist, then they were a lost cause from the start, and thus we exterminate that delusion and purify the pool-”

“Please, enough of your excuses.”

Well, that shut him up right away.

“As a matter of fact, I remember watching you last night as you pored over the essay that boy wrote. Watching you wring your hands and gnash your teeth as you delved deeper and deeper into his theories... Even you understood what he was talking about, didn’t you? The system is a fossil in sore need of innovation, and you had it right in your fingertips. Instead, you bent to the will of those far stronger than you and you snuffed out that boy for fear of reprisal from your superiors.”

“Didn’t you stop to think about why you were the one to receive this writing instead of those in higher standing than you within the Clock Tower? Of course you didn’t. You parroted what those old fools would have done instead, rather than taking any risks and breaking new ground in this world! I’m ashamed to be betrothed with such a close-minded fool as you.”

And what does the Great Lord El-Melloi have to say in response?

“I... I didn’t... I’m sorry, Sola-Ui.”

...What do they call this phenomenon again? Ah yes, the “Whipped Husband.”

Well, I suppose I should throw a lifeline of sorts for the pathetic soul. A spineless fool can only endure so much ridicule before they melt into slime. Two knocks on the door and...

“Who on this good Earth could possibly have business at this late hour?! Yes, who is it, what do you want?!”

Of course, when it’s not to do with his wife, all the bravado and pride comes rushing back. Time for step two...

“Delivery for Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald?”

“... It’s awfully late for a mail delivery. Come back tomorrow!”

“My apologies, sir. It’s just, this is a next-day delivery from Norway and-”

And the door finally opens. Bingo.

“Norway?! Who the hell is this package from?!”

Let’s have a look at the place as far as I can see from the doorway while the fool’s distracted by my package. Hmm, expensive furniture, family heirlooms here and there, and-

Good lord, is THAT the fiancée? You wouldn’t think such an avatar of Cute could whip a male human into submission. What a fascinating realm.

“Excuse me, young man. I could have sworn that they said my summoning relic would be coming in from Macedonia.”

“Ah, that old thing? It turns out we were able to unearth a far greater relic for you, as a favor to the Archibald family. You won’t be getting a mere Human legend, but you shall wield a veritable God in the Holy Grail War!!”

“... Very well.”

Aaaaand he slams the door in my face. Well, thank you very much! That’s step two completed, now to bide my time before step three.

Yes, thank you indeed... Master.

[Destinyzero]

...Oh dear. Mask, form and a veritable god? Just a guess, but is mailguy's... The Crawling Chaos?

[Xamusel]

I was gonna guess Loki this time around.

[Shinogu]

I don't think Nyarlathotep would be content being a mere Servant in any Holy Grail War. From what little second-hand knowledge that I've gotten regarding this particular big bad, it prefers to operate behind the scenes, using other people as puppets to screw around with the scenario. This is more of a mainline Shin Megami Tensei crossover, so we've already got Cypher and Messians as the major opposing sides. Nyarlathotep would probably prefer to be master of one side of a game.
Who knows about whether he'd like to screw around though...
Loki... Now where did that come from? Loki does have a history in the Megaten series, going way way back to the 2 Famicom (NES) games that were based on the two novels that actually inspired SMT. He's the final boss, essentially, of the first novel and OVA. Loki's also one of the demons that one can summon in SMT and Persona titles, but as either a mook or a higher level demon (Maybe the highest level arcana Persona in some cases, though I may be misremembering). Aside from being a speedbump on a standard RPG fetch quest early in SMT Nocturne, I don't recall him having an actual significant story role in an SMT game.

There's a long update coming, noticeably longer than the last three. For the most part, Waver and Kayneth's sides are over until we roll around to addressing all of the masters on the run-up to the next big HGW, so we've got one more Master left. There's some difficulty in editing this update because I just got off checking out some of Réalta Nua and, funny enough, it colored my writing style for a bit to where it was like I was typing up a visual novel. The writing ballooned fairly fast, so now I'm trying to work out what to cut and how much to include in this before the second part. Actually, I might consider this a 2-in-1 update, and post a giant one with a separater for pacing or whatnot. Hmm...

Best case scenario, this is uploaded by Saturday. If not, then soon after that. Thanks for reading, everybody.

[Mystery Number]

Loki also played a more active role in Devil Survivor, though since he shared the spotlight with both the Bel Demons and Naoya it's easier to forget him.

[Shinogu]

Ahh, that's my bad then. Having never played a game from the Devil Survivor series, I only knew of the biggest bads from that story like the aforementioned Naoya.

And I miscounted earlier. In-story, the known Masters are Kiritsugu, Kotomine Kirei, Waver, Kayneth and Tokiomi Tohsaka.

[Xamusel]

Uh-huh. Interesting.

Also, you might want to correct the Master list, as you have the English version of Tokiomi's name and the Japanese version of Kirei's name. Please, for the sake of consistency, MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!

[Grant]

Even with that power sharing trick, maintaining a deity isn't easy. And then there's the fact that it's that deity.

[Shinogu]

Well then. Plans change, thankfully for the best. Looking back at what was typed up last time, it seemed an awful lot like I was turning a character from canon into something they weren't, which is not cool. So they're on the back-burner for a bit, waiting for their time to enter the War and shine and all that stuff. As it's in that time period, we'll be revisiting two Masters for the last 2 updates of Chapter 3, starting with this family:

~

Rin was carrying her own luggage.

Of course she was! After surviving an attack by a Fiend and relearning the basics of Magecraft for the better part of a year where most of the time was wasted in recovery, Rin wasn’t going to leave her luggage to be carried by an adult! She would have done it even if it was just a suitcase with a bowling ball! Heck, ten bowling balls!! Rin was the daughter of Tokiomi Tohsaka, and she wasn’t a weakling!!

She wasn’t a weakling... so why was her Papa still sending her away with Mama?

“Hello, Rin.”

The distinctive voice of Kirei Kotomine brought Rin out of her thoughts. She never liked that voice, full of strength yet always finding a way to sound like he was stating the obvious to a simpleton that couldn’t get the memo. She threw a half-hearted “Hello, Kirei” at him in response and tried to move on with dragging the luggage behind her before he asked, “That’s quite a large suitcase. Are you going somewhere?”

Geez, he was doing this on purpose, wasn’t he? Rin turned right around and impatiently replied, “Of course I am! Mama and I are going away for our safety while you and Papa fight! Didn’t Papa tell you?” The look on Kirei’s face didn’t change as he answered, “No. Despite being my teacher, Tohsaka-san doesn’t necessarily tell me everything. For instance, matters regarding the Messian Order with which I have no clearance.”

Oops.

That’s right, Kirei always cleared out whenever Mr. Thorman visited to talk to Papa about stuff. Mr. Thorman was tall but also big, with black hair and a white suit and scary blue eyes. A long time ago, he taught her Papa everything that he knew about fighting demons while he learned his Magecraft. Kirei came from the Church, while Mr. Thorman was from another church, so they probably didn’t get along. It was probably like how a family of magi might make enemies with another family.

“Do not worry, Rin. As you seem to be departing today, I’m certain that Tohsaka-san would be telling me regardless, so you are doing a small favor for your father.” Kirei’s face was as stoic as always, which was a complete mismatch to whatever reassurance he was trying to provide her. Rin’s complete non-reaction showed on her face, so Kirei asked, “Shall I help with your luggage, Rin?”

Rin shook her head vehemently in refusal and carted it along behind her. “I’m fine here, Kirei. If you want to help... Could you promise to look out for my Papa, and make sure that he’s safe during the Holy Grail War?”

Kirei stopped the luggage with his foot (which it turned out was no small feat, whatever Rin was lugging around in that case was packed quite tightly) and shook his head as he replied, “Were it so simple as to dispatch some of my Assassins to be his eyes and ears where he has none, we would not have to send you off with your mother, hmm? Furthermore, to suggest that a student to Tohsaka-san could do a better job of protecting him than he himself is foolish.”

Kirei’s face and voice were the same as ever, but something seemed to change as he continued to talk. “This Holy Grail War is a sort of Cold War, Rin. It is not an epic battle of explosions as you may have seen on television. It is fought with information and espionage, as well as the inherent talents of the competing Masters and Servants. They and they alone must fight to the death, and as Supervisor to Fuyuki City, Tohsaka-san will not allow innocent casualties, especially not of his wife and only daughter.”

The sounds of jovial clapping emanated from the nearby hallway, and Rin jumped up in shock while Kirei merely turned his head. Mr. Thorman came into the room with his hands clasped together and an amused expression, while Tokiomi Tohsaka followed behind in his elegant calm. “Well said, Kirei! Well said, indeed. You certainly taught him well, Tokiomi.”

“It is true. As repentance for the events of last year, the Messian Order has taken on a delicate operation regarding the safety of Aoi and little Rin here,” Thorman spoke as he bowed his head to Rin. “We will have a Messian outpost with around-the-clock security, and a special bodyguard for the two of you as you go about your daily lives. Is that favorable?” Rin nodded, wondering what kind of bodyguard she would be getting. Would they be like a Servant?

“As for your Papa, worry not your dear heart, Rin,” Mr. Thorman said as he slapped her Papa on his back, almost knocking him over. “I have spoken with the overseer of the Holy Grail War, Kirei’s own father Risei Kotomine, and I have been granted permission to intercept any attacks on Tokiomi’s person that do not lie outside of the Grail War’s happenings!” He looked over to Kirei as he finished, “I originally asked to fight alongside him, but your father said that would be a violation of the Grail War’s proceedings! Something about ‘preserving the sanctity of the ritual...’”

Rin looked at her Papa as Mr. Thorman went on and on. She felt a little better now, knowing that Papa would have his demon-fighting teacher watching over him as well as the protection and power of his own Servant. For the first time in a while, she felt like the end of her world wasn’t just around the corner. Rin’s Papa looked back at her and seemed to think about something, then he spoke up, “Lord Thorman, Kirei-kun, please excuse me. I wish to speak to Rin about something before she departs.”

Mr. Thorman broke out of his rambling state and gave his O.K. while Kirei went, “Very well. I will bring her luggage outside in the meantime.” Rin almost protested that she’d do it herself later still, but her Papa nodded as he hurried her along with him. They walked back from where Papa had come, towards the kitchen and... Why were they going back down to the cellar? Rin couldn’t help herself as it seemed like ice was building up in her stomach, she started to panic and lose her breath-

“Rin, it’s okay. I’m here.”

She looked up at her Papa, and he scooped her up into his arms and hugged her tight. Rin hugged him back in response, and she immediately calmed down in his reassuring aura. Tokiomi kept one arm around her as he used his free arm to open the cellar door and hold onto the stairway railing. “You’ll have to help Papa here, Rin. I can’t hold you as well with one arm,” he said as he carefully walked down the stairs to the workshop. Rin tried to shift her weight off of his arm around her by pulling herself closer, and she shut her eyes tight until her Papa said, “You can open your eyes now, Rin. We’re here.”

When Rin opened her eyes, she took in the sight of the workshop. This was gonna be her last time here for a long time, so she made sure to memorize every detail. It wasn’t much like it was last year, both before and after the incident. Lots of new equipment and storage cabinets were there to replace what was damaged. At Mama’s insistence, the candelabrum sets were replaced with electronic light installations to combat the darkness that used to be a characteristic part of the workshop. Any signs that last year had happened were otherwise gone.

Rin leapt down from her Papa’s arms and turned around to face him as he started off, “Rin, first I want to say how proud I am as your father that you chose to continue practicing Magecraft after what happened.” There was a smile on his face, one full of love and pride, that Rin had never seen before. “Your mother and I tried to reassure you that there was no need to do this, but then you said back to us:”

“Papa, I won’t run away from this! To be a Magus is to walk with death! You told me that, and I-”

“I won’t stop, Mama! I have to do this, for all of us, and for Sakura!!”

Rin’s face turned bright red and her Papa hummed in amusement for a bit. “We feared that we would lose you again if you came back to this path, but before our eyes you had changed. Rin, you became stronger and braver than you were before, rather than shut yourself out from the world. We could not have stopped you, even if we had tried our hardest.” Then her Papa looked aside and- Was that a sheepish look on Papa’s face? “Still, your mother had quite a bone to pick with me when she found out what I had told you back when I started training you.”

He walked over to a desk in the room and beckoned Rin over to follow him. “The past year’s training has been far greater than I would have taught you on normal circumstances. I will not deny that part of it was from a mindset brought on as a father acting to protect one’s daughter. But as one Magus to his apprentice, you have far exceeded my expectations of your abilities over this short regiment, and for that I am also proud of you, Rin.” The smile that Rin saw this time was back to being Professional and Elegant Papa, but it was no less genuine in his joy.

Rin bowed and started to say her thanks before her Papa interrupted her. “Don’t thank me yet, Rin. Not before you receive... this.” He opened up a secret compartment of the desk and pulled out a glorious golden object on a chain. It resembled a pocket watch, and on one side it was indeed a mechanical watch. On the flipside of the device, however, there was what looked like the face of a compass but without the four cardinal directions. The single hand on the compass-like side ended with a jewel, and it constantly shivered as if in reaction to something. In all her rummaging through the family archives, Rin never saw this before.

“This is a unique pocket watch, one of the prized heirlooms of our family that miraculously survived last year’s incident,” her Papa’s voice had a nostalgic fondness to it as he described the watch. “The compass on the flipside is a Mana locator. Should it detect any challenge to your being, the compass’ jewel hand will point towards it.” To demonstrate, he held a tiny jewel in his left hand and charged it, and with a loud “CLANK,” the pocket watch’s compass point dramatically shifted from pointing at Rin to the small jewel. "If the compass should have such a violent reaction to the Mana's source, it means that the foe is beyond your skill level. If that should be the case and you do not see a way out, do not hesitate to summon your Messian Guardian to your side. Understand?" Rin quickly nodded to her Papa's question.

“When my own father still lived, he took me on missions to protect this great city called Fuyuki, with this compass as our guide. I pass this on to you, my dear daughter, as a promise that we shall do the same,” Rin’s Papa said as he slowly handed the pocket watch over to Rin’s trembling hands. “I will emerge from the Holy Grail War as the lone victor, and no longer shall demons and curses plague the Tohsaka family name. We will be cleansed, and the world shall remember the Great Magi that we once were, that we still are... and that we have yet to become.”

With tears in her eyes, Rin hastily pocketed the watch before she leapt up and hugged her Papa. “Thank you so much, Papa! I swear I’ll take care of this watch and keep studying my Magecraft and keep Mama safe and-” Her Papa laughed as he hugged her back and basked in her pure happiness. “You’re welcome, Rin. Now, let’s head on out, shall we? We shouldn’t keep your mother waiting.” Hand in hand, father and daughter both full of happiness and hope for the days to come, Rin and Tokiomi Tohsaka left the family workshop.

[mAc Chaos]

I randomly clicked this thread, scrolled down to the last post, saw that line "Hello, Rin" without reading anything else and instantly knew it was Kotomine.

The characterization must be good for this fic. I will consider reading it even though I don't know anything about Shin Megami Tensei.

[Grant]

Well Tokiomi's a bit warmer a parent this time. And Rin already has an angel in her party?

[Shinogu]

Well Tokiomi's a bit warmer a parent this time. And Rin already has an angel in her party?

Tokiomi's under the impression that Sakura is dead, and Rin died before his very eyes. He had a chance to revive her and took it, but that was a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Literally, revives aren't happening outside of that moment!

Ah yes, might change that note about Messian guardians to a single one, given Aoi has no way to summon one as she isn't a Magus. So yeah, Rin's got a guardian angel, so to speak. Wonder who it'll be...

I'm considering consolidating the chapter parts into singular posts for the convenience of new readers and re-readers. If I end up doing that, I'll make sure BGM tracks are up to date and probably add them into the newer content as of late. How does that sound?

Anyway, here's the end of Chapter 3!

~

Demons, born of the wishes and thoughts of humanity, and given form when a strong will with the right affinity for it called them forth. Sakura Matou had it easy, as a child without bitter years of life bearing down on her perception of the world, and with an innate nature that Cypher once called “Imaginary Numbers.” It was as simple as clapping her hands and thinking (She would have snapped her fingers if she could), and a demon would be formed before her eyes.

Kariya Matou would supervise Sakura as much as he could while she homeschooled alongside Thoth or played hide-and-seek with the Jack Brothers. Supervision was more as a guardian than a senior looking after their junior, though. As much as Kariya tried, he couldn't hope to catch up to Sakura's innate talent for demon summoning, but that wasn't too much of a concern for him. For the sake of her safety and keeping their lessons a secret, Sakura never summoned too many demons at once. However, it was during this year’s Bon Festival when they were preparing to discreetly visit the Matou family burial grounds that Cypher had a seemingly random idea.

“Sakura-chan, your learning has been coming along marvelously. If you may indulge your dear uncle and your teacher with a demonstration?”

Kariya almost objected to this excessive display, but in his mind he reasoned that given the atmosphere of the season, it wouldn’t be abnormal for supernatural activity to spike, would it? Besides, who could say no to her shining smile and that adorable pink yukata that she was wearing? Beaming at the two of them, she ran to the empty middle spot of their suite’s living room and clapped as she shouted:

“I-ZA-NA-GI NO O-O-KA-MI TSU-KU-RE!!”

With each syllable, a different demon was summoned by her command. First a man in ancient Japanese garb with a pike in his arms (though at the end it looked more like a knife blade), next a small red man with a crescent moon for a head, then a Chinese-looking youth with lotus petals around his neck, a cycloptic elephant with a massive belly, angelic statues around a clock, and so on and so forth until twelve demons surrounded Sakura. Cypher led the applause, and Kariya noticed that each one of the twelve demons were also clapping for her (for the demons without hands like Orthrus and Legion, they roared in celebration). “Excellent,” Cypher congratulated Sakura, “twelve demons in succession! A full roster! Well done!!”

Kariya, on the other hand, could barely count the amount of demons that he had ever managed to summon on one hand. Of course, he didn’t let his own deficiencies get him down while he watched his ward shyly smile at her job well done. She covered her face and giggled as he gave a thumbs up.

...

The Matou family grave was almost entirely for appearances. Zouken had a habit of devouring the bodies of ailing family members in order to preserve his own, so not even ashes of the many doomed members of the Matou family occupied the family grave. Still, Kariya paid his respects as much as he could. He hoped that the souls of his ancestors and parents were at peace, now that the old patriarch had finally left this world. Sakura tagged along because she also wanted to visit the grave, now that she was identifying as a Matou rather than a Tohsaka. Kariya didn’t know what she could possibly learn from a bunch of names on a stone, but who knew? Maybe with her power, she could resurrect one of his old, favorite aunts and-

“Well well well. Fancy seeing you here, brother!”

Kariya snapped out of his fantasy and turned to the source of the familiar voice. Clad in a Japanese Self-Defense Force uniform, and with wavy blue hair and mischievous gray-blue eyes, Byakuya Matou walked up to his younger brother and enveloped him in a hug before Kariya could stop him. Awkwardly chuckling, he patted his older brother’s back as he hugged him back and said, “Byakuya... long time no see... Is that Shinji?”

Byakuya nodded as he beckoned his only son (and thus Kariya’s only nephew) to them. Shinji looked just like Byakuya, with the same hairstyle and eyes, but just pint-sized. Kariya noticed that Shinji was utterly dazed at the sight of Sakura, as if this was the first time that he had seen a girl in his life. The little boy stumbled over his own name during introductions, and the group went to a playground some distance away. Sakura and Shinji went off to play while the two brothers caught up on the events since Zouken’s death.

“Well, Byakuya? Did you finally dump the booze?”

The older Matou nodded, quite proud of himself. “Of course. I gave myself another month after the fossil kicked the bucket, but I’ve been cold turkey since. I’ve gotta set a good example for my son, you know.” Kariya was happy to hear it. Being forced into the Matou family figurehead for Zouken was poison for Byakuya’s health back in the day, so he had turned to the bottle for sympathy. The worst of it was when he was forced to send his own wife to be food for the accursed Crest Worms. As for the Byakuya that Kariya was looking at now, there were no bags under his eyes or a horrible stench of alcohol to notice, and he was healthier and happier than he had ever seen him. It was truly like he had been cured of a horrible curse.

Kariya clapped his older brother on his back and nodded, “Glad to hear it, brother. I noticed your new uniform too. Did you get a promotion?” At that, Byakuya stood up straight and replied, “Second lieutenant of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, and don’t you forget it! General Gotou saw to it personally, might I add.” Kariya whistled in half-hearted approval, not that his older brother could tell. Kariya didn't really know much about military happenings, but he did recall various reports on this General Gotou and his controversial statements in the news about Japan’s current climate...

Byakuya playfully nudged his brother in the shoulder and said, “Alright, enough about me! How about you, huh? What’ve you been up to lately? Who’s the mom?” At Kariya’s puzzled look, he continued, “Who’s Sakura’s mom? Who’s the lucky lady that you were hiding from the old man?” Upon hearing that, Kariya quickly said “Oh, it’s Aoi-” before realizing the implications, and was suddenly tackled-hugged by Byakuya. “Holy crap, you actually did it? You took her away from that Tohsaka prick? Way to go, bro!”

“Nononononono!” Kariya hastily tried to correct himself and his brother while he also tried to catch his breath. “No, it was- Zouken had gotten her through an old pact that he had with the Tohsaka family, to use as a future mother of the family or something.” Byakuya let go of his brother, with a horrified look on his face. “She- She didn’t- She wasn’t- WAS SHE?!”

Kariya shook his head and said, “She was lucky. The old guy died right before she was forced into the chamber. At least, that’s what she told me. I’ve been looking after her since.” Byakuya breathed a sigh of relief at that, but the expression on his face was more of a puzzled one than anything else now. “Well, she certainly looks normal, though really cute too, of course. How did the old guy die, anyway?”

“A heart attack.” Even Kariya noticed that he responded too quick, and Byakuya chuckled at that. “Kariya, even if Zouken had a heart, I still wouldn’t believe you. Well? Do you know something about his cause of death?” Byakuya couldn’t have been more than curious, but Kariya didn’t know if he could be trusted with the knowledge of Cypher’s existence. He was weighing the pros and cons in his head when-

“Ow!”

“I didn’t do anything, I swear!!”

“SHINJI!!!” Byakuya called to his son as the two of them walked over to the kids. Shinji was standing a couple feet away from Sakura, while Sakura was bent down on the ground. Kariya ran over to her while Byakuya kept his steady pace (and "menacing father" aura) on his walk over to Shinji. Kariya knelt down beside Sakura to inspect any damage, but outside of cradling her left hand in her right, she looked fine. “Are you okay, Sakura?”

“It hurts... It itches and it doesn’t stop when I scratch it.”

Kariya picked Sakura up in his arms and walked over to his older brother and nephew. “Sakura-chan looks fine. I’ve been homeschooling her and she hasn’t been out much, so it’s just an allergic reaction or something.” Byakuya got the hint and calmed down while Shinji still looked guilty, as if he was the reason she was hurt. “It was great seeing you again, brother. And you too Shinji, it’s okay. It wasn’t your fault, you two can play again next time, okay?” Shinji nodded back, though his expression didn’t change much.

“Kariya, I know how hard it is to raise a kid on your own,” Byakuya said. “If you ever need help, you know how to reach me, right?” Kariya nodded, and everybody said their goodbyes as Kariya took Sakura back home.

Some time later...

Kariya Matou was so tired.

All the comforts and amenities on offer couldn’t do anything to help with his situation. He really regretted not even trying to get some basic non-rapeworm Magecraft training done under the old man’s nose before he left way back when. Maybe it could have done some comfort in alleviating the stress he was going through at the moment. Then again, maybe not. Demon summoning wasn’t like normal Magecraft, after all.

“Well then, Kariya. Let us see the fruits of your labor as of late. Hold out your right hand.”

Kariya regained his composure and knelt down in front of Cypher, with his right arm outstretched to the other man. When Cypher inspected his right hand, Kariya could feel it jolt, burn and chill with every passing moment and touch. Suddenly, the pain spread out from his hand into the rest of his body, and he couldn’t hold back a cry of agony. Cypher held onto his hand and kept looking it over, and when he let go, the pain immediately subsided.

“Fate has smiled upon you on this day, Kariya.”

Kariya let his arm drop to the floor after Cypher let it go, and he fell over onto his sides. He moved his right arm the best that he could, which wasn’t easy given that it felt like his arm had fallen asleep on him a moment after feeling like it was on fire, ice and lightning. Panting and sweating, he had enough cognizance left on him to watch as something peculiar happened to the back of his right hand.

Three lines were cutting into the back of his right hand, as if by invisible claws. He tensed in pain but the lines didn’t react to him, continuing to cut three intricate lines in an ornate symbol. When they were finally done, it looked like three jagged lines emerging from a central point. With a dark thought in his head, Kariya couldn’t help but think that they looked like spiky crest worms.

“Kariya Matou... you are now ready to fight in the Holy Grail War.”

Chapter 3 End

Preview lines (Of course, subject to change)

I don't believe that Kiritsugu sees me as a true ally.

I'll help you this much, but I want nothing else to do with this War.

This is your first time witnessing a Servant summoning, isn't it?

By our Mother Earth, shall we cleanse this world!!

...This war is already won.

[Destinyzero]

...You know, I'm actually surprised that Izanagi Ookami Tsukure was used (not complaining), but reallly, Sakura's really strong. ...And did she just became a master and Kariya took her command spells so she won't suffer? Might be reading too juch here.

Also nice seeing Shinji here, I've been wondering where he went.

[Shinogu]

...You know, I'm actually surprised that Izanagi Ookami Tsukure was used (not complaining), but reallly, Sakura's really strong. ...And did she just became a master and Kariya took her command spells so she won't suffer? Might be reading too juch here.

Also nice seeing Shinji here, I've been wondering where he went.

My friend who beta-reads before I post (and lurks here even though he registered, he needs to comment around these parts already!!) noted that using the double hexagon fusion formula was very OP, but it's not like she's doing demon fusion here. In the SMT games, one always Fuses demons through a mediator like the Cathedral of Shadows or the Velvet Room. Only in the Persona 4 anime have we seen an anomaly where the protagonist is able to fuse Personas by his own will. So yeah, Sakura is fairly strong as a demon summoner, especially at her age, but not massively powerful like a boss-tier or anything.

Hotel Charon... isn't exactly a normal establishment, so Sakura might have missed a few shots from the doctor or something. If the Holy Grail was choosing Masters, I don't think it would count her in because she isn't exactly a powerful Magus, especially because Magecraft isn't the same thing necessarily as Demon Summoning the way Cypher teaches it.

Kariya, on the other hand (and a little literally)...

It was on a rewatch of Fate/Zero (which ended up being a completion run halfway through the 2nd season because I never finished watching during broadcast) that I remembered about Byakuya, Kariya's brother and Shinji's father. I figured without Zouken making his life miserable by his mere presence, Byakuya could use a break, and Shinji probably won't be such a jerk down the line, huh?

[FlameStrike]

Oh crap this won't end well for Kariya. I guess someone had to be the Matou representative, and it was either him or Sakura. Unless they both became masters? O.o
It's really interesting to see how the personalities of the characters change as the result of events deviating. Although if Sakura's already safe I don't think Kariya has any reason to participate in the holy grail war. Wouldn't he just attempt to withdraw asap? That aside, does he even have enough mana to do anything? The rapeworms were their for a reason after all.

[Grant]

If he is Chaos Champion then there's that drive for power. Of course it works best when you're afraid that what little you have will be lost forever (see Fate/Zero).

[Shinogu]

Ryuunosuke Uryuu never thought that he would get caught.

Who could blame the guy? How often did the cops get the jump on a serial killer that made it a point to leave absolutely no traces after every kill? All he expected upon coming home (Not that it was his home, it was his latest target’s house) was to chow down on a TV dinner, get bored by whatever was on the TV, then slit a throat or two and work on a bloody Jackson Pollock before turning in for the night.

Everything was set, the parents were tied up and hung out to dry in the backyard and the latest victim was bound and gagged, ready for the throat-slicing. Then all of a sudden, the kid was gone, freakin’ VANISHED INTO THIN AIR, and some crazy dudes in robes burst in and knocked him out! They did some weird voodoo shit, waving their hands around in front of him, and he was out cold like THAT.

The next thing he knew, Ryuunosuke was locked up in some room with a giant mirror. As Ryuunosuke checked himself out (Outside of a bump on his forehead, probably from the knock-out blow, he was still the good-looking red-headed devil he always was), the image of those interrogation rooms at a police station came to mind. No desk to sit by here, but this was probably a one-way mirror for the cops to look at him as he dusted himself off. Same clothes that he always wore, purple jacket over a white shirt, and dark purple jeans with leopard-print shoes.

Who the heck was behind his capture? Maybe it was some relative of one of the folks that he killed recently, and they were secretly an ex-Black Ops pro who had all sorts of ninja skills and deadly torture tools on hand. Maybe it was an elaborate revenge scheme against him for all the horrible things he did in life!

….Nah.

The dim lighting of the room suddenly burst into full brightness, and Ryuunosuke fell backward from shock. All the hours spent as a night owl in utter darkness except for an occasional fluorescent light source were paying dearly, it was like a flashbang went off right in his face. His brain felt like it was overloaded with white noise, he could barely hear the echoing footsteps from the outside that were piping in through the speakers. Heavy shoes, very official-sounding, like an authority figure of some kind.

As his vision slowly started coming back, Ryuunosuke looked up towards the giant mirror that started to flicker and distort like a television with a bad signal. The mirror effect seemed to burn away and transform into a mere glass window, revealing a Japanese man in a military uniform on the other side. His uniform was quite decorated, definitely somebody who ran the place if not immediately reporting to the top brass in this base. His skin was fairly pale, his hair cut in a crew-cut style, and his default facial expression seemed to be locked in a heated battle between “I Don’t Care What You Think” and “ I Hate Everything”.

Naturally, Ryuunosuke recognized him instantly.

“Oh hey! You’re that General Gotou from the news!! I totally saw you on the tube last night or whenever it was right before your goons locked me down here!!” Ryuunosuke scrambled up to his feet and mock-saluted the General as he gleefully spoke. Heck, he didn’t even know if there were mics in the room for him to be heard on the other side. “So, what am I in for? No, I mean, I didn’t do it-” Ryuunosuke immediately shut up as soon as he heard the General clear his throat (Though it was not an action born of fear, rather one of curiosity as to what the General would say).

“Ryuunosuke Uryuu, you have been judged to be an unrepentant serial killer. In the eyes of the families of your victims, you are a heartless monster who kills for the joy of it, and a threat to our way of life as a civilized culture.” General Gotou paused for a moment to observe Ryuunosuke, whose face only lit up more and more with each descriptor that he heard. “The church has seen fit to compare you to nothing less than one of the high demons under Satan’s employ, and the Japanese government has declared that you be immediately executed upon capture.”

“Unfortunately for those fools, the Cult of Gaea has another plan entirely for you, Ryuunosuke Uryuu.”

Finally, the cherubic grin on Ryuunosuke’s face changed to a completely puzzled expression. “Um... General dude? What the heck is the Cult of Gaea?” At that question, General Gotou snapped his fingers and the room around him lit up to reveal a menagerie of diagrams. Photos of UMA sightings, articles about urban legends from rumor-mongering newsletters like “Ayakashi Monthly”, decades-old historical paraphernalia were all over the walls. They were all pinned in differing spots to a giant map that showed the whole world twice over, with one side being the world that Ryuunosuke knew, and the other almost double the size.

The general started pacing around the room as he spoke, “For countless decades, the Cult of Gaea has dabbled in the Dark Arts for the sake of bettering the world that we inhabit. You see it everyday, Uryuu. The world governments squabble over finite natural resources, men kill each other for petty possessions, and all the while our Mother Earth calls out to us.” All of a sudden, the general produced a katana from out of nowhere and sliced the space around him, aiming at Ryuunosuke. He couldn’t help but flinch, and was immediately impressed when the wall separating the two of them crumbled, the window breaking apart into clean pieces.

General Gotou looked into Ryuunosuke’s eyes as he walked towards him, sword drawn out, and continued, “We, the Gaeans, are the only ones who hear our Mother Earth. We alone abide by her law: ‘Wind Blows, Rain Falls, and The Strong Prey Upon The Weak.’ We marshall her demon forces in her stead to cleanse this world of the unworthy, and it has all led to the Great War that is to come... Look at your right hand, Uryuu.”

Ryuunosuke looked down at it, and finally noticed the strange red insignia that looked like a maelstrom. General Gotou sheathed his sword and saluted to the ceiling (That was Ryuunosuke’s best guess, anyway) as he bellowed, “Ryuunosuke Uryuu, you have been marked as one of the Seven Masters of the Holy Grail War that shall decide the fate of this world, and you shall fight on behalf of our Mother Earth, to cleanse this world of evil and guide humanity back to its original path!”

Ryuunosuke looked around and cautiously walked over the sliced-up wall, through the opening towards General Gotou and cleared his throat. “So, let me get this straight. You want me, Ryuunosuke Uryuu, free-spirited serial killer and Public Enemy Number 1 in all of Japan, to join your crazy demon-hippie cult and wipe out modern civilization as we know it?”

General Gotou cocked up an eyebrow at him as he replied, “It’s either that or lethal injection and next week’s headline news for you.”

Ryuunosuke didn’t blink for a good half minute as he processed this, and he had one last thing to say:

“Dude, you’re insane... and you’re freakin’ COOL! I’M IN!!”

~

Hey guys! "Sorry for the months-long delay" doesn't really cut it to me as something to say after so long, so I thought I'd chatter a bit on what was holding me up from writing this update.

For a while there I had this idea where Ryuunosuke would be sorta like the main guy from Saya no Uta where he'd be a brilliant medical student who survived a car accident through innovative brain surgery but would see the world as a nightmare place. He'd be guided by a demon like Saya into joining the Holy Grail War and so on, but the more I thought on it the more it just wasn't Ryuunosuke anymore. It was just a twist on Dude-from-Saya-no-Uta, and with my low skill-level in writing, the outcome would have been unCOOL.

Why change what wasn't broken, you know?

So here's Ryuunosuke joining the Cult of Gaea, and who knows what'll happen from here?

I'm fully expecting this chapter to be the last one before we get into the HGW proper, so folks be flying to Fuyuki and Servants be summonin' soon. Excite.