Fandom Fate/Bloodfall

[R U S T]

Night 1

The snow slowly fell to the ground, the night was silent but it was sure to be louder soon, for yet another holy grail war is soon to happen, a battle between seven mages and their servants, each a historical figure in their time, legends and stories told about them to this very day.

John Veincent was assigned to be master of the ruler servant, who will be neutral in the war and make sure nothing is being broken in the war, and father Ivin was assigned by the church as an overseer of the great holy grail war.

John was currently driving a vehicle and stopped and parked the vehicle once he arrived to the holy sanctuary, soon father ivin stepped out of the building to join him.

“Greetings father, I obtain my sacrifice item for the summoning ritual.”

“Great, Veincent, we should be on schedule by now, and still in motion of the plan that the church has come up with.”

The heavy Russian accent was a task for John to understand, though he knew what the father meant. He then steeped out the car closing the door silently, then walking to the trunk and opening it, he then grabbed the ancient artifact and then closed the trunk, and locking his car before walking up the small stair case, the priest opening the door for him.

As he walked into the church he immediately went to work setting up the summoning ritual, and began chanting.

After he was finished the room went silent for a moment. Then a red glow appeared, the candle lights surrounding the church from all sides went out as the outside appeared to glow red too, though he sure he was just seeing things.

Then an ominous figure started to crawl out the ground and get on its feet, it wore red armor almost looking similar to a bat, the figure let out a loud scream and quickly looked away from Veincent.

“I have been summoned by the holy grail as a ruler servant, I am here to oversee the war….”

“Correct, my name is-“

“SILENCE! I WILL NOT RUDENESS SILENCE ME!”

John was silent.

“Considering that you appear to be my master I assume that we will be stuck together for the remaining part of this war, therefore we are devoted to stay neutral and oversee the war only taking action when it is needed. Therefore, because of that, I shall reveal my name to you. Throughout the years of my lifetime, people have feared me and my nation, hearing the crys of thoose who are brave enough to invade me and my nation, throughout the centuries people have spoke of the horrors I have committed and spoke my name, even wrote books about me….I am Vlad the impaler……I am…… COUNT DRACULA!”

As he was speaking the shadow of the servant movied on its own, depicting shadowy figures and screams of pain echoed through johns ears, seeing brutal pictures of hundreds and thousands of soldiers impaled by spears, stuck on the weapons that he used to defend his nation.

Then the servant turned to look at John the holy cross behind him. As he stepped out of the shadows revealing himsef to be in red, blood like armor, ears peeing out similar to a bat.

John simply nodded, not saying anything as he simply watched the servant continue to speak, father ivin watched from a distance at the entrance of the church with wide eyes.




​

 

[CatJones]

Ustyuzhny
Russia
Xiao Gunying


​

As far as hotel rooms went, Xiao couldn't complain about her current arrangements. Her bosses had already instructed her to lay low while in a foreign nation, so renting out the penthouse was a no-go. She knew of several younger Red Poles who saw laying low as simply not being in direct line of sight of their bosses. Still, it wasn't a ground floor room that was used everyday by the average businessman passing through the Russian countryside. A fully stocked bar, room service on call and an extra large bathtub. Plus, it had an actual toilet, not one of those slits in the floor you had to squat over. It was almost luxurious. The only negative being that she couldn't smoke in the room. It was against the hotels policy. Still, just the smell of the cigarette that hung limply in her mouth was enough to calm her nerves some. She didn't get nervous often, but being a representative from her Triad for a Grail War was outside of her wheelhouse.

Still, she appearances to keep. She stood up from her seat, one of the foot stools in her room, and proceeded to the front door, into the hall and towards the buildings roof access hatch. She was sure that most normal guests would be told to never use it but she already had intentions for it. Climbing up to the roof, she was surprised by the sudden snow falling. She was sure that someone had told her that it was portent of some sort but couldn't recall. The roof was still mostly bare from the white flakes slowly jittering through the air. Xiao's only companion on the trip the sole other occupant of the roof. Another woman, shorter and scrawnier than Xiao, with an ill-fitting black suit. They contrasted greatly, with Xiao's taller and sleeker build, plain face and long black hair. The other woman had freckles, wide rimmed glasses and short brown hair.

The other woman had been hard at work preparing a magical circle on the roof, something the hotel staff were unaware of. Ju, the other woman, was the first of the two to speak. Her voice was uncharacteristically deep, not so much as to be strange but deeper then expected of the week woman.

"Here." She reached into her suit pocket and pulled out a lighter, holding it up for Xiao to use. "You're just in time, I just finished it. All you have to do is say the words while feeding the circle some mana." Ju explained while putting her lighter away, watching the crisp red ember of Xiao's cigarette light up her face as she took a long drag from it. "You remember the words, right? The incantation I taught you on the way here?"

Xiao gave Ju a cold stare, screwing up her face to remind the younger woman who she was speaking to. Though, she couldn't pretend like she remembered every word verbatim.

"I remember them, Ju." Xiao lied while looking down at her wrist, squinting at the watch she was wearing and trying to decipher the characters on it. Growing up with almost no education had its downsides. She guessed the time, seeing as how the sun had already set, it must have been at least 8. "You need to get going or you'll miss your flight. Don't want the bosses calling me to haul your ass in for being absent."

Ju huffed but nodded, quietly leaving. Xiao hated goodbyes, Ju was aware of that much. With her gone, Xiao gave a long and cold sneer at the magical circle on the ground. Summoning a Servant wasn't something outside her wheelhouse. She wasn't even completely sure that she could do it. She reached a hand into her pocket, pulling out the desiccated corpse of a snake, originally white in color though mostly faded to gray now. She placed it delicately in the center of the summoning circle before backing out of it with reverence. She knew the general idea of what it was and that it deserved respect. Now, she just had to quote the words.

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let red be the color I pay tribute to. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate." She spoke, hand outstretched over the rim of the circle, letting mana disperse through her hand, her magical circuits, weak as they were, flared to life as the circle greedily drained the air around her of Od.

"Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling." It was an older incantation according to Ju but she was assured it work just like any other incantation done for the Grail War. For a brief moment, Xiao wondered if it would work, her mana was being displaced in the air, the circle no longer consuming it. Before she could take a step forward, the snake began to glow a weak blue, rapidly growing brighter and brighter until the entire circle began to glow along with it. Xiao covered her eyes from the light. Dust and the sound of a heavy impact startled her, causing her to take a step back. A voice stopped her from going any further.

"Well, well, well, I take it you must be my Master." The dust cleared to reveal the speaker. A tall woman with a striking figure. She continued, "I am Rider, your servant and partner for this Grail War." She gave a wide smile, her thin lips seeming as if they would part at any moment for a forked tongue to test the air. For once in her life, Xiao was surprised by what she was seeing. She had expected her summoning to fail, for her worth to be to little to appease the Holy Grail. Instead, she had summoned her very own servant.

​

"I am Xiao Gunying, your master." She placed a hand on her chest, her own smile matching her servants.

 

[Cierra]

​

Winter in Japanese culture was seen as the end of the cycle of life; a seasonal adaptation of death. For necromancers it was the prime season for their dark arts, bodies were less prone to rot in the cold and souls seemed to linger, as if waiting for warmer weather before taking a trip. It could be easily construed as being the opposite as well. Necromancers being more active in the colder months could lead to their downfall. It was an art that had to be kept secret lest one find themselves on the receiving end of holy punishment. Even in the modern age, necromancers were seen as the lowest rung of magical society; if they were even on the societal ladder at all.

This was what Fujiwara Rintaro was brooding over as his delicately thin fingers etched out the final lines of his summoning circle. He wasn't one to truly fret over his place in society after all when he counted his blessings he realized he was rather lucky: he had enough money to live comfortably, a wife who loved him, his parents were still healthy and young, he was one of the more decorated necromancers in Japanese society even if that equated to being the best small town civil servant. And now he was in the Russian countryside outside some town who's name he could barely pronounce, risking his life for his parents ambitions. No, not ambitions! Their greed. They made plenty of money, they simply wanted more! He huffed a little as he leaned back, resting on his haunches, the cold of the concrete making him shiver a little.

"Well, that's as good as we're get. Thanks for your help." He muttered, turning to face his assistant. The gaunt face of the farmer who had once owned the root cellar he was in made no noticeable changes, vacant eyes staring off at one of the wall. A small silver bowl filled with the farmers own blood rested in his hands as he stood motionless, almost a statue of a corpse. Rintaro had, as any necromancer would, read the local paper and listened to police reports to find a recently deceased person. He had little to fear from local authorities, his finger prints weren't in the Russian judicial system so he couldn't be tracked by them. A small pang of guilt ran through him at the fact he was basically using a corpse as a gopher. He stood and helped the corpse to a solitary chair in the cellar before releasing it from his command.

Content that he at least put the corpse in a comfortable resting place, he pulled a small blue book from his jacket. His parents had been worried that he would have screwed up the summoning ritual and so prepared him both a catalyst and incantation. Of course, being cheap, their catalyst was simply a hand full of iron clumps which were already situated in the center of the summoning circle. Rintaro opened the book, flipping to an ear marked page and standing at the precipice of the circle. He opened his magical circuits, noting the dissipation as the summoning circle began to heed his calling. It was a strange feeling, he could usually feel the innate pull of whatever corpse he had reanimated draining mana from him. But in those instances it felt like a trickle of water running down his arm and off his fingers.

This felt more life he a river of water was running down the length of his arm. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold it for long at the rate it was draining him. He had a way to replenish his mana quickly but he couldn't use either hand until he was done with the ritual. He focused instead on reading the incantation as quickly as he could. He took a deep breath and began to recite:

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let black be the color I pay tribute to. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.
Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth.
An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell.
From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,
come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"

All the while the summoning circle began to displace air and excess Od. Between the mana rapidly depleting from his body and the air pushing at him, it was quickly becoming uncomfortable. All at once, the air rushed past even stronger, throwing up dirt and producing smoke. He covered his mouth with his jacket sleeve, using it as a filter to keep from coughing. He had nearly run out of mana entirely, his body feeling light and on the verge of collapse. Still, he could feel another presence in the room, something slowly taking mana from him and watching through the smoke.

"Well, I can't say I'm familiar with this situation. I've never been summoned to partake in a Grail War before." voice, soft but regal, spoke out as the smoke cleared. A gaunt man in a kimono. Rintaro was somewhat glad to see that his servant was of the same nationality as he was. His eyes were already narrowed as he observed Rintaro. "Lancer class servant, though I request as your ally that you not call me a 'servant'."

​

"Y-yeah, I wasn't really planning on it. I'd feel more comfortable if you called me Rintaro instead of master, too." Rintaro squeaked out, surprised at how cordial this all was. Then he remembered that servants would sometimes summon if they were similar to their master. This must be such a case. Rintaro stumbled forward a step as he realized how drained he was. Lancer didn't move, instead he seemed focused on the corpse in the chair. Rintaro didn't have time to explain, instead motioning for Lancer to follow him with a small motion of his hand. He rushed up the steps leading outside, Lancer slowly following. The brisk winter air was refreshing but not what Rintaro needed.

Situated by the door of the root cellar was Rintaro's travel bag. He began to rummage through the small sack as Lancer looked around. The farm they were on had been the scene of a murder, yellow police tape on the main farmhouse's front door being the most obvious sign of that. Lancer turned his attention back to Rintaro. Before he could speak, the young man pulled a small vial from his bag with a dull white liquid inside. He quickly uncorked it and began to drink it.

"Is that....from another mage?" Lancer asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. Rintaro sheepishly nodded before correcting Lancer.

"It's from my wife. A quick pick me up." He almost whispered as his face turned red.

"Wonderful. A necromancer and a degenerate." Lancer quipped back.

 

[AiDEE-c0]

'Aurelia'​

"You're aware of what you're getting yourself into? If word of this slips out, you'll be tossing in cigarette ash."

Ribbons of dancing smoke wafted up towards the ceiling, clinging on to a dusty wooden frame. A few strands passed by the burning lamp sitting on the windowsill, casting hypnotic shadows on the carpet-laden floor. Outside was total darkness, with only the sound of howling wind and the hiss of a cigarette piercing the night. The whole room had about it the air of a dingy fortune-teller's shop, though sitting behind the table was certainly no charlatan.

"Yes! By... By all accounts, yes! I know what you are. My friend told me, right when I entrusted him with my troubles! No one else will do anything about this, I know it. But you're different. I'll even take out my pension fund, so..."

Her presence chilled the room. She sat; her visage hidden by a veil of smoke; an imposing and immovable force of personality. Hearing the plea of the man prostrating himself in front of her, she sucked in the last puff of her cigarette and tossed it aside.

"Don't be ridiculous."

The woman stood, walking over to the illuminated window. Her steps were heavy, the flutter of her overcoat giving her an almost regal bearing. Gazing out into the night, she occasionally stared down the man's reflection as she spoke.

"Leave it to your older sister. Soon, your worries will melt away like the snow at your doorstep. Save the fund for your daughter's surgery."

She smiled, turning her head to face him. Though she smiled like the coldest statue, her eyes were kept warm by an inviting hearth. Its embers were reassuring, eased the soul of worry. Just one look was enough to build an instant bond of trust.

Indeed; this woman would ravage Hell itself to restore the honour of his daughter.

"Thank you, thank you! I have no idea how I can ever express my gratitude! If you need anything—anything at all—I will give it to you! I know you will do what must be done. He will never forget the pain, the anxiety he caused me! Scum like him must be taught a lesson, else he'll never stop indulging in his fantasy."

The man lifted himself from the floor, patting his trousers down for dust. Even on his feet, he still hunched over and struck the semblance of a beetle, perhaps an effect of his bureaucratic profession. Though his attire failed to mark either wealth or poverty, the townsfolk had said that his savings were admirable, and that he had been planning a trip overseas together with his children. There were no special qualities about him, but a net could only be completed by tying every little knot.

"Ah. There is one thing you can do for me." The woman folded her arms, bending over to meet the eyes of her client. "About your daughter, you said she used to be a nun, correct?"

"Why... Why, yes. For a year, she let herself be locked up in a nunnery. It wasn't long until she realised the women there are actually demons in disguise."

The self-declared 'older sister' burst into a laugh at his remark, raising an entertained eyebrow.

"Haha. That's not nice at all. One such woman is staring you dead in the face."

Contrastingly unentertained, the man gulped heavily. The fear of his mistake had caused him to instantly break eye contact—so deathly was he afraid of snuffing out the pleasant warmth inside her eyes. Beads of sweat began sliding down his brow.

"I-I didn't know! I'm sorry, I promise I meant nothing by—"

Pat. Pat.

"H-huh?" Before he could finish, he felt a grasp around his shoulder. The woman's expression retained a sort of pity-laced amusement, as she took her hand off his shoulder and ran it through his greying hair. Her touch was surprisingly gentle; playful, even. Surely she could snap his neck without much effort, yet there she was, caressing his head and soothing him with such a soft, comforing voice.

"I'll need to borrow her habit, I trust that's fine? She's most likely not as wide or tall as me, so just the headwear is alright. You promise me that and I'll be on my way, okay?"

"Yes... That's—that's fine." The man's arms had fallen limp. His own folly had left him feeling humiliated—or perhaps he had been touched—for no other reason could explain the tear slipping from his eye. He sighed; everything would be fine. So long as she was here, justice would be served. All would be taken care of. It was excruciatingly shameful to have doubted her. His worries would melt away, his older sister would make sure of it.

"I'm glad. Then, have it ready by tomorrow."