A Witch's Tale of the 4th Holy Grail War (Fate Zero/Umineko)

[2Bad]

I've been posting this over on Spacebattles. Since crossposting is common and it's relevant, I figured I'd put it here too. Let me me know what you think I guess.

---
Uryuu Ryuunosuke, it could be said, was a hobbyist at heart. His hobby wasn't exactly standard fare granted, being as it was serial murder, but it was still a hobby. So naturally, like any true hobbyist, when it one day started to get dull, he didn't simply stop doing it. Instead, like the resourceful and dedicated (to murder) young fellow he was, he tried to spice things up a little.

In this case, his method of creating a new flavor of murder was found in his family's old shed, right next to where he hid his first victim. After saying hello to his sister as was proper (she didn't say anything back, how rude), Ruunosuke happened upon one of his family's old tomes, some crazy writing about summoning demons that his ancestor's wrote up. Ryuunosuke found it a largely dry read, finding lots of boring ramblings about servants and magic cups or something, but he had to admit the rituals themselves sounded like great fun. They had all the classic horror elements, ritual murders, circles of blood, offerings of children, the works. It was some some genuinely praiseworthy stuff, or at least he thought so. It was also a lot flashier than his usual fare, he'd probably have to skip town after doing it once or twice. Oh but what fun he'd have before he did.

Material gathering was pretty easy, the young man found. So many people just never lock their windows, or expect to be stabbed in their bed. Admittedly binding and gagging the living sacrifice up was a bit more trouble, because little kids just squirm so much, but killing the boy's sister, mother, and father was quite easy! After that it was a fairly simple matter of dragging the bodies into a nice big room, the living room in this case, and piling them together in a corner. The boy really started freaking out at that point, one could guess being put on top of his family's corpses must have been a new and unappealing experience for him.

Ryuunosuke kicked the boy, "Oh calm down will ya kid? It's not gonna be that long either way." The serial killer waved his family's old book in the boy's face, "I just gotta do a bit of finger painting, chant some mumbo jumbo, and if my ancestor's were right, then abracadabra, instant monster!" Ignoring the kid's now even more frantic screaming, Uryuu turned around and began roughly replicating the summoning circle shown in the spellbook. Occasionally Ryuunosuke would jam his hand in one of the corpses behind him, redipping his metaphorical brush. Eventually, he was satisfied and stood up, surveying his work. "Now let's see... I read the chant they've got in here, but it says that so long as there's a summon that suits you it'll come pretty much no matter what you say." The young man grinned like a kid in a candy store (the actual kid screamed like a boy whose family had been slaughtered by a serial killer and piled up beneath him but who had been muffled by a gag), "ooh I hope there's one that matches me... Well that assumes that this wasn't written by loonies of course, which hey, isn't that likely." Laughing at his own little joke, the serial killer put the book aside and assumed the ritual posture illustrated within the pages, "With this offering of flesh and blood, I, Uryuu Ryuunosuke, artist of flesh, blood, and bone, call you up from the fiery depths. I've no preference for your face or form, I care not for what powers you command, I ask only that you understand my own sense of beauty!"

Ryuunosuke's impromptu goth poetry was met, for a moment, with no response. The killer sighed, thinking what a shame it was that something cool like a wizard from hell didn't pop up. And then the circle suddenly lit up like a lightbulb, blinding both the boy and his captor. Ryuunosuke didn't mind though, since it meant that without question, something interesting was about to happen. Excitedly, the murderer rubbed his eyes, attempting to clear out his vision more quickly. When it finally did return, he was met with a truly mystifying sight. "...Butterflies?"

Yes, that's definitely what he was seeing. Butterflies. Lots of them. Gold ones too, which was probably the oddest thing about them, aside of the fact that they were flocking happily around a gorgeous looking blond woman in a black and gold dress, who was standing in the middle of the circle of blood. For a normal person the woman herself probably would have attracted more attention, but Ryuunosuke was more concerned with how the butterflies clashed so much with his redecoration of the house (blood was the new color of the year every year, in his opinion).

The woman spoke aloud, but was not really addressing one in the room, "My my, to think I'd be invited to a banquet that only the famous should attend. And here I thought I'd sealed the story away forever in the witch's darkness. I guess someone either escaped my tale or managed to get a message out. Well it was an island tale, so I suppose they might have used Justice Wargrave's method... Ah well it doesn't matter." The woman sighed, then addressed Ryuunosuke directly, "You there, I am Servant Caster. Are you the one who summoned me?"

The serial killer was pulled out of his insect induced reverie and responded, "Ah yeah, name's Uryuu Ryuunosuke. I must say lady, I'm surprised. I thought demon's would be uglier, and have less uh..." the murderer waved his hand at the butterflies that filled the room, "...less shiny hangers on. But I guess it doesn't matter in the end. As I said, my name's Uryuu Ryuunosuke, and I'm a serial killer!" The young man declared his chosen walk of life with pride, then indicated the child in the corner. "The book said that you guys eat life force or something, so I got you a snack all ready to go!"

The woman took a small puff from her golden pipe, then sighed, shuffling over to the child. The boy had by this point been terrified beyond further noise, and merely watched with a mixture of horror and resignation as the strange woman knelt over him and... cut him loose.

Ryuunosuke demonstrated his surprise with an air of class befitting his serial killer status. "The FUCK?" That air of class being 'low' class of course.

The child himself could only look up at the woman, confusion in his eyes as she lifted him up to his feet and eyed him sadly. After a brief moment's silence, she sighed sadly. "...I'm sorry that it couldn't go better than this for you," the woman placed a hand on his chest, and gave a mournful smile, "but do not worry. For soon I shall open the way to the golden land and you will be able to smile again." The child didn't respond. After all, the moment the woman finished speaking, life left his body, and he simply slumped over, never to speak again.

"Wait, WHAT?" Ryuunosuke cried out in surprise. "You can kill people by just TOUCHING them? That's awesome! But..." he paused and placed his hand on his chin, pondering the situation. "Is that it? Doesn't seem very demonic, more like a lethal injection, quick and clean."

The woman who called herself Caster stood up and looked her summoner in the eye. "Of course it's clean. Elegance is after all, the most important factor for a witch like myself. And as for you, Mr. Serial Killer, you should have more pride in your work?"

This woman just got more confusing by the minute, or at least Ryuunosuke thought so. Well when all else fails, best to just straight up ask, he supposed. "What do you mean more pride in my work?"

"The tale you write," she gestured at the mess the man had made, the piles of corpses, the smears of blood and gore, "is sloppy. There's no elegance, no methodology. Keep this up and event he most mediocre detective will corner you. A killer owes it to the detective to create a puzzle. Obscure the solution, hide the clues."

"Uh... the killer owes the DETECTIVE? Lady I don't know how it works in hell, but generally the criminal doesn't owe jack scrap to the cops." Ryuunosuke started to laugh at the witch's bizarre logic.

"Oh? Then who will recognize your work, oh 'artist if flesh, blood, and bone?'" countered the woman, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

The killer's laughter was silenced before it could really start. "...Ah."

The witch didn't give the killer time to respond, waving her pipe through the air. "Come my golden butterflies, spread through this humble abode and show this amateur how to create a true murder. After that, we shall aim for the cup, and with it, the path to the Golden Land shall truly open!" At their master's command, the golden familiars swarmed about, cleaning up blood stains, moving bodies and murder weapons, changing wounds, and locking doors. For their master was the Golden Witch who creates closed room mysteries, and they must forge a crime worthy of her name.

And with this murder, the 7th pair is born. Amidst the war of Kings and Heroes, a Witch had crashed the festivities.

---
Part 2
Part 3
Character Sheet Part 1
Character Sheet Part 2
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Summon Profile 1
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11

[2Bad]

The Witch's Tearoom is a place that would drive many otherwise perfectly calm and collected magi completely and utterly mad. This was because the Tearoom is a place "outside" the world, much like none other than the very root of all things, Akasha, is. However despite being a place on the "outside," the origin of its creator, the Golden Witch who had been summoned as a Servant of the 4th Holy Grail War, as a member of Earth's human race, limited it to the rules of Gaia and Alaya to some degree. The Tearoom was, in the end, simply what the name implied: a tearoom used by the Witch. And yet of all the hideouts that the participants of the 4th Grail war had chosen, the Tearoom was without question the greatest. After all, the only way anyone could get in or out was with the Witch's consent. Not even the True Magics could violate THAT rule.

Presently the room was in full use by its owner and her Master, who were seated at the central table in front of a gameboard representing Fuyuki City in real time. "Now pay attention Mr. Amateur," said Caster to her summoner, "because what has begun is a killing game where all our opponents are professionals." She waved her pipe and several spots on the board lit up before Ryuunosuke's eyes. The spots were a Church and hotel in Shinto, two western style mansions in Miyama, and a strange castle in the forest outside of town. "While hunting outside by territory, I confess, is a new experience for me, my position as "Caster" in this war seems to have granted me increased sensitivity. It's not up to par with my abilities back on the island, but I am still able to monitor certain things no matter the distance. For example, these locations are enormous beacons of magical energy. There is no doubt in my mind that these are each fortresses where our enemies have hidden themselves." She waved her hand again and the lights vanished. "However, from here in the tearoom I can only sense that these locations have all been heavily fortified, they're all equipped with anti-scrying charms that prevent me from getting closer looks. To find other Servants, we would first have to either venture out tomorrow night and find their auras, after which I can simply have my butterflies watch them. The exception is if a large number of them gather in one place, in which case they'd show up on my board just as the magic fortresses do. Any questions so far?"

Ryuunosuke took a moment to absorb all this information, then nodded, "So basically what you're saying is that before we actually do any fighting, we're going to be spending a long time staking things out? As a killer I can understand the reasoning but it seems a little... boring."

The witch could only groan at her Master's lack of patience. "As I explained before we came in here, the 7 servants who seek the Holy Grail are all famous people from history. Our identities being revealed can put us at risk, so it's better to watch the others fight for a time until we can figure out their tactics and weaknesses. Ideally we'd even pin our actions on other players, turning them against each other until we can crush them in the final stages."

"Yeah actually that brings up another question I had," Ryuunosuke said, waving off the tactical information in favor of another topic, "this Holy Grail thing you're all fighting for, it's a cup that grants wishes right?" After seeing Caster nod, he continued, "well you mentioned you're going to use it to go to the 'Golden Land' or something. I don't have a particular wish so I don't care if you use it, but I do want to know what it is you're actually doing."

The witch leaned back in her chair, taking a few long drags from her pipe, then finally responded. "The Golden Land is a paradise ruled by the first who reaches it. Currently it has no occupants, no one to command it. It is my role as The Golden Witch to reach the Golden Land and take control of it. With the Holy Grail's power I can fuse the Golden Land with Gaia and turn the world into a paradise."

Ryuunosukem raised an eyebrow, "...So you want to conquer the world?"

The reaction was instantaneous. Caster stood up and slammed her hands on the table, screaming at Ryuunosuke, "NO YOU IMBECILE! I am the proper ruler of the Golden Land, a paradise that can bring happiness to all. Both those such as you who know joy only in killing, and pacifists who only live to aid others can know peace in that place. In transforming Gaia into the Golden Land, I do not 'conquer' anything. I merely grant eternal joy to those who would, by right, be my subordinates as residents of the Golden Land." The witch's tirade ended as suddenly as it started, with her taking her seat once more and continuing to smoke her pipe. After a moment of silence, she asked of Ryuunosuke, "Are we clear?"

The young serial killer hurried nodded his head, seeking to placate his superior in killing. "Oh yeah, crystal clear. So uh... we're waiting for nightfall tomorrow yeah?"

"Correct"

---

The gameboard in the tearoom had changed once more, this time displaying a scene in the warehouse harbor district. "Wow, so THAT'S Alexander the Great? Thought he'd be shorter."

"As usual, you have an eye for the IMPORTANT information Ryuunosuke," quipped the Golden Witch.

"Hey, you're the one who said that knowing who these people are is important. Plus I've been locked in this room with nothing to do but drink black tea or read those lame mystery novels you have so many of for some reason," whined the young killer. "Anything happening at all is a great change of pace."

"And you're going to STAY locked in this room unless you want to end up dead at the hand of a proper mage, one who knows how to use their powers rather than being a lump of mana with a thirst for blood." Her chastisement complete, the witch rose from her seat and headed for the Tea Room's door. Just before exiting however, she paused, "That said, if you're so bored, I'll be sure to make this next part interesting." With a final cackle, the witch turned into a swarm of golden insects and disappeared out the door, sealing Ryuunosuke inside.

[2Bad]

The call of the conquering king rang out through the night air, "The Heroic Spirits invited by the Holy Grail, gather here at this moment! For those cowards that fear to show their faces, spare yourself the humiliation that Alexander, King of Conquerors, would deal to you. Prepare yourself!"

To those already gathered, such a declaration only further solidified the theory that the heroic spirit of the cavalry was an utter lunatic. To say anything of the sort would be unthinkable for the honorable knight of Fiana or the chivalrous girl king of old Briton. Pitiably for the two of them, they were as Alice at the tea party, bastions of sanity called to a banquet of mad people.

Still, whatever one might say about Rider's announcement, one cannot claim it didn't get results. For in front of all gathered there in the warehouse district, a man dressed in armor of radiant gold materialized upon a nearby streetlight. "Hmph, to think there would be fools deluded enough to declare themselves kings in my presence. It truly disgusts me to see the madness that has pervaded the hearts of men across the span of history, that there would be any under the Heaven's to think themselves fit to rule after me death." The golden spirit, presumably Archer based on his armor and his capability of reasoning, held himself with an unmistakable aura of disdain mixed with murderous intent.

However, while such an attitude might put off most, the King of Conquerors was nothing if not an unflappable fellow. "My, such talk would paint you as an ancient hero indeed. Are you perhaps from the Age of the Gods? Or perhaps you are even older than that... Surely a spirit who considers himself of such high caliber would not remain anonymous while the rest of us have laid or names bare?"

The golden spirit considered this a moment, then let out a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose it is the king's duty to show the plebians their place in the world." Archer raised his arms to the sky, ignoring the telepathic pleadings of his Master to stop, "Cower in awe mongrels, for you stand before the mighty Gilgamesh, lord of Uruk. I who am the absolute king of all heroes, I who am the standard to which all myths were held, and I who am the origin of all things beautiful in this world. Tremble before me as you would the gods themselves!"

In the face of such a bold declaration, most were left silent. The exception was, unsurprisingly, Alexander, who burst into laughter in the face of Gilgamesh's theatrics. From a hidden position atop a nearby roof, the mage sniper Emiya Kiritsugu considered shooting the master of Lancer under the cover of the golden King of Heroes inevitable retaliation. However, before Gilgamesh could fire off a rain of Noble Phantasms at the laughing Rider and his sniveling Master, a new voice attracted the attention off all.

"Oh? The King of Uruk? Someone who ruled a mere city-state at the dawn of history thinks to claim absolute superiority? Aren't you just a barbarian who can't adapt to the modern era? Well, one supposes you could say the same of the King of Knights and King of Conquerors, but they at least don't go prancing around declaring the entire rest of history invalid. Ehahaha!"

Without even looking first, Gilgamesh simply fired off a full volley of his treasures from the Gate of Babylon in the direction of the voice. The deadly rain of Noble Phantasms that had silenced assassin flew into the waters of Fuyuki river, but the lazily aimed volley completely missed a small speck of gold which floated there. Closer observation revealed to all present that said speck was actually a gold butterfly. To any aficionados of the murder mystery genre, the insect would practically be the same as a declaration of identity, but alas, aside of Waver Velvet, none gathered had even read any Conan Doyle, never mind any Toya Hachijo.

Regardless of the observer's interpretation, there remained only a single truth. The golden butterfly, unmolested by the attack of Gilgamesh, now began to multiply into a vast swarm, which parted to reveal the floating form of their master. "Greetings to one and all, from I, the Servant Caster. I do hope that nobody minds my taking up the King of Conqueror's invitation?" The witch took a small puff of her pipe and then added, the mocking undertone obvious, "well except for the barbarian king of course. I don't much care what he thinks." Having said such a thing, the Golden Witch soared up higher into the air, avoiding another round of attacks by the Golden Archer. "Oooh, so responsive, almost as fun to tease as my last opponent. Ahaha!" The witch's cackling drowned out the frustrated growl of the ancient Heroic Spirit.

---
As the other gathered Servants (including the supposedly dead Assassin, perched on a nearby crane) and their respective masters observed Archer's failed attempts to skewer the dancing Caster, one other party remained hidden the shadows of a nearby warehouse, debating to himself. The twisted form of Matou Kariya, torn apart by the family magic, had been about to send out the final Servant, Berserker, to attack the golden Servant of his enemy Tokiomi Tohsaka. Caster's appearance had, at the very least, temporarily stayed his hand as he considered the ramifications of releasing the raging black knight in front of literally ALL the other conflicting parties.
---

Gilgamesh, for his part, was getting quite tired of not hitting his target. "WHY DO YOU NOT JUST LAY BACK AND ACCEPT YOUR PUNISHMENT WENCH?"

Shockingly, Caster actually immediately ceased moving at the Golden King's word. For a moment, she held a completely blank expression, confusing both Archer and the audience. Twas only for a moment though, as her face was once again split into a gigantic grin, "But my dear King of Heroes, we've barely known each other for a few minutes, it's far too early for /that/ kind of play."

One could hear the crickets chirping, if one listened hard enough. "...Okay, that's enough." Gilgamesh snapped his fingers, and this time a much larger amount of Noble Phantasm's appeared. To be precise, a rough 400 in number materialized behind the King of Uruk. A shrill scream rang out at the sight of this, though fortunately Alexander knocked out his master before any ears were too badly hurt.

---
In Kariya's hiding place, a decision was made.

"I only get but so many chances to deploy, I can't miss this one. GO BERSERKER!"

---

[2Bad]

Also I wasn't going to do this originally but I know someone's going to eventually ask for it, so here's a character sheet:

Character Sheet Part 1: Abilities


Class: Caster
Master: Uryuu Ryuunosuke
True Name: Endless Witch, Beatrice The Golden
Sex: Without Love It Cannot Be Seen Female
Height/Weight: DAME DA, ZEN ZEN DAME DA

Str: E
End: E
Agi: B
Magic: EX
Luck: A
Noble Phantasm: E-EX (conditional)

Class Abilities:
Territory Creation: A (EX)

Allows creation of an area suitable to one as a magic user. Allows for access to the "Witch's Tea Room," a "Temple" seated outside the world. This skill can be raised to EX under certain conditions.

Tool Creation: D

Normally would allow for the creation of magical items, but due to her personality (primarily her love of pranks and lack of patience), is generally limited to luck charms, most of which are actually detrimental to success.

---

[2Bad]

Character Sheet Part 2: Details

The Golden Witch who was appeared out of the incident on the island of Rokkenjiima in October 1986, when the Ushiromiya family that owned the island, along with all their servants, all died under the cover of a massive storm save for the eldest daughter Eva and youngest granddaughter Ange. When the storm cleared, an enormous section of the island had been destroyed completely, with the two survivors only escaping due to one having been on the other side of the island and the other being absent completely.

All information on the events of Rokkenjiima had been sealed away completely upon Eva's death, leaving the 1986 incident a Schrodinger's Catbox that will never be opened. Inside that box was the witch herself, whose existence was given form based on 2 mysterious message bottles that were sent out from the island and the works of the reclusive mystery writer Toya Hachijo. The incomparable strangeness of the incident, combined with the "Rumors of the Witch" contained in the bottles and Toya's books, turned the Japanese public into a frenzy, giving birth to a being less comparable to an ordinary heroic spirit and more to the 6th Imaginary Element or the 13th of the Dead Apostle Ancestors. Beatrice's existence in the throne is allowed only because there was indeed a woman who used the identity of the witch Beatrice on that island, though who or what that woman was is lost to time.

Normally, an aberration like Beatrice would be impossible in the War of the Holy Grail, but the twisted nature of the serial killer Uryuu Ryuunosuke and the mistakes made in his summoning allowed her to enter the physical realm. Due to both his lack of skill as a magus and her own nature however, she draws her magical energy not from her Master (who only really serves as an anchor), but from blood sacrifice and "Rumors." In this way, the Golden Witch who wields the Endless Magic is an enemy to magi and all other forces that exist in the hidden side of the world, since she's a being that grows in power by creating belief in that hidden side. Related to this, and possibly her strangest quality as a Servant, is that she and those who serve under her are most vulnerable not to the weapons of legend or the power of magic, but to the weapons of the modern world, which carry in them an inherent denial of all things spiritual and magical.

[Alulim]

This interests Al.

[Lycodrake]

...not sure what to think about this. You've obviously written quite a bit on this already...
But it has Uryuu and Beatrice as the Villain Protagonists...so I really have no clue, having seen the manga and anime of what Uryuu likes to do.

[Ruca_Milda]

I am seriously liking your way of writing, despite a few typos here and there. Very good! It easily demonstrates that you know the characters well enough.

Also, am seriously interested in what happens next, as a fan of both F/Z and Umineko. Out of curiosity, will any other Umineko characters make an appearance somehow or only Beato?

and lol Beato sex jokes

My inner fanboy is hoping for the Voyager Witches or Erika, tbh, even though unlikely

[FlameStrike]

This sure promises to be interesting. Beato teasing Gil had me in stitches though. I don't think he's ever encountered anyone quiet so "insolent" as her hahahaha. Beato has some powerful NP's at her disposal, so it will be interesting to see her match powers with Gil. I don't know what Kariya's thinking about when he sent Berserker in the middle (behind?) of a 400 NP strong sword rain though.

Out of all enemies, Beato is probably going to have a hard time with Kiritsugu seeing as he uses modern weapons. Although that's only if he thinks to try guns on a servant. If Beato doesn't instruct Uryuu carefully, he'll end up the same as in cannon though. But seeing as how disgusting he was in canon, that may be a good thing.

[nitewind]

Keeping an eye on this. Agree with the typos but otherwise good. Keep it up!

[Kuradora]

Please do continue this. My attention and anticipation have been very much aroused.

[NanayaMode]

Everything is better with Beato.

[ZeroDemio]

Don't stop, I like it

[ItsaRandomUsername]

This sure promises to be interesting. Beato teasing Gil had me in stitches though. I don't think he's ever encountered anyone quiet so "insolent" as her hahahaha. Beato has some powerful NP's at her disposal, so it will be interesting to see her match powers with Gil. I don't know what Kariya's thinking about when he sent Berserker in the middle (behind?) of a 400 NP strong sword rain though.

Out of all enemies, Beato is probably going to have a hard time with Kiritsugu seeing as he uses modern weapons. Although that's only if he thinks to try guns on a servant. If Beato doesn't instruct Uryuu carefully, he'll end up the same as in cannon though. But seeing as how disgusting he was in canon, that may be a good thing.

EDIT: Herapderp.

Nevermind, carry on good sir who writes this.

[Ergast]

Well, color me interested. The problem with Uryuu was that he was a monster that needed to be put out as fast as they could, and Gilles was even worse. Now, with Beatrice, he is a villain protagonista that needs to be put out, but this time he hasn't the clause "as fast as they can". And that makes all the difference

[amado]

someone got ahead of me in using beatrice as a servant.
ah well, at least we now have a umineko crossover even if its just beatrice. though I do hope bern and lambda show up, at least in tea parties or "hints".

here's some abilities/suggestions:
summoning magic - she can summon the sisters of purgatory, the siestas, the 72 demons and einsern jungfern. there's also the goatmen and those golems...
body-splitting - can split herself into two beings known as kanon and shanon(this ability isnt really needed to be here, just that it can be used for laughs)
divine weapons - there's the shield of hephastus and that lance-of-whatever. probably more in the VN

(possible)noble phantasm/s:
reality marble: golden land - gives her a boost of magic along with more powerful spells yadayada *insert more info*
the golden sword - used to bend reality to a degree. you can add more to the description with whatever might suit.

[Gabriulio]

...

[Sign: THIS IS MORE THAN REVELANT TO MY INTERESTS!

I already thought about including Beato as a Caster in a fic, tough not in Fate/Zero. If you want some ideas, I already made a profile for Beato in the "Create your own Servant using characters from etc...".]

[expertus]

ahaha.wav

EEEETTTSS PAARFEKTO! EEEETTTSS PAARFEKTO! EEEETTTSS PAARFEKTO! EEEETTTSS PAARFEKTO!

very interesting fic... although one might question how this fic will turn out with Beatrice and Uryuu being the Villain Protagonist...

and please everyone, don't shoot colorful text (if there's any here in BL) please... I've already had enough with the Umineko Forums that went to...

[Ruu-tan]

... I was wondering when will someone write this fic already.

There will be a lot of trollings and colorful debates~!

[Mignonette]

Beatrice gonna make her trollface at Gil?