Fate/Clusterfuck (Fate/Stay Night)

Vote locked.

Have a happy Medea I had commed.


View: https://i.imgur.com/lCaGePu.jpg

Art courtesy of Savadava on twitter.


View: https://i.imgur.com/GSCJNCe.jpg

A twist of fate, perhaps.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-obPL9WW6Q

[Wake Sakura]
Drop it, Caster has been quiet about this more than once, and you could tell she was leaving
something out back at the shed. If she is uncomfortable about it… you'll find out in other ways.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

It has been an odd… day, you guess. Twenty four hours, things had started weird and had only gotten weirder and more strange the longer and longer time had been allowed to pass. Masters, servants, a bleeding woman in the park, a strange dream that left you with a tingling tongue. Ancient magicians, a new teacher, a screaming Sakura… and Caster was keeping information from you. Why? You had no idea, you had no idea about a lot of things at the moment.

That was rather something you didn't like. But you also have no reason to press her, the woman is powerful, that much you can tell by scent alone… and by how much she drained from you last night. But it was more than that, you never made it much of a habit to dig into people's secrets, and she seemed bound and determined to keep it hidden from you. And so, until she was ready, she won't have to tell you, you were never that kind of person. If she wants to tell you, she will, and if not, well, you have a feeling you'll be learning a lot in the upcoming days regardless. Still, masters and servants, the precious little Kiritsugu taught you didn't mention them at all. You understood the concept, but why? And why was Sakura so scared.

You hadn't thought to ask Circe, and she had been mostly focused on foundational magic theory. You just… don't know, and no matter how much you bounce it around in your head you are coming up blank on a dozen different questions and more. But at the end of the day it doesn't change the present circumstance at all. You aren't going to drag Caster for information, and you won't harm Sakura. "Wake Sakura back up," you say, looking up at Caster once again.

Caster tilts her head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." You reply. "I'll deal with the consequences, it was my fault."

Caster stares at you for a moment, then nods. She extends a hand, her digits slowly glowing purple, then taps it against the side of Sakura's skull. Sakura groans, her eyelids scrunching together as she comes back to wakefulness, and somewhere distant out of your focus you note Caster disappearing from view once more. You shift Sakura so that she is laying down against the floor, one hand still behind her head to support it as she slowly opens her eyes.

"Shi… Shirou?" Sakura says slowly, blinking in delirium. "I had an awful dream."

You frown, wondering how to best put this. "It wasn't a dream." You say slowly, then raise your hand to flash the symbol on the back of it.

Sakura says nothing, her face goes through an interesting series of emotions before she eventually settles on what you would call 'blind panic', her breathing rapid and her eyes wide.

"I'm not going to hurt you," you say. "My… right, look, I don't know everything that's going on here, but that woman, Caster. I found her injured in the park near here and I took her in. She was dying, it only happened last night."

Sakura looks back to where Caster was standing, only to find herself looking at the small collection of shoes you kept near the door. She then looks back, her eyes searching your face for several long moments. "You're… a magus?"

You nod. "My father… my adoptive father, was one, and he taught me a little. I'm third rate, if anything. I don't know much about magecraft, I just saw someone that needed help so I did so."

Sakura continues staring at you, then closes her eyes and lets out a sigh. "That… Shirou." Sakura then squirms a little in your arms, and you move your hands away so that she can sit up herself.

She still seems rather out of it, kind of jumpy and more than a little nervous and worried. "I…" Sakura draws in a breath, like she isn't sure of what she was about to say. It wasn't an unfamiliar mood from your friend to say the least, though the present circumstances make it marginally more awkward than it normally is. As you watch she extends a hand, and a small blue light flashes of it to paint the room. It isn't anything fancy, just a light, but it is magic.

It's also enough to take your breath away and set your heart to hammer in your chest. Sakura… She had never given any sign, any hint that she was a magus, but… was that important? No, it didn't really change anything. So what? Magic was supposed to help people, and Sakura helped people whenever she could. You draw in a breath, watching as the blue light fades from view, then focus on Sakura's face, the girl is searching your expression, looking not awkward or embarrassed, she looks scared.

"... Alright," you say slowly. "So, we're both magi." You then lift up your hand again. "I don't know what this means, were you panicking because I was a magus? Or because of something else. She mentioned that I was her master. Kiritsugu taught me about Familiars, but I shouldn't have the magic circuits needed to control one shaped like a human."

Sakura blinks, this time in apparent surprise. Before she straightens herself where she was sitting. Pulling herself around so that she was sitting on her knees, she takes in a halting breath then speaks. "It's… the Holy Grail War." She looks down towards my hand, and the mark there. "Command spells, they allow you to give your servant an irrefutable order." She then shakes her head. "I don't know all the details, but it's more than a familiar, it's more… a spirit, of a past being. Summoned here to fight for the Holy Grail. It provides the magical energy needed for us to summon servants."

The… Holy Grail? Surely it can't be. But beyond that, she said 'us'. "Do you,.. Have a servant Sakura?"

Sakura shakes her head. "I… will be participating, but I have not summoned my servant yet."

You frown. "You said earlier that it was the Holy Grail 'war', is that why you were so frightened about it?"

Sakura bites her lip, then nods her head. "Seven masters, seven servants, the war will not end until all the servants are… killed."

"In return for what?" you ask.

"The Holy Grail," Sakura replies. "Once the war is over… I was told it would grant a wish, any wish."

A… wish? You'll come back to that. "You said earlier they were like spirits, the servants. Of people that once lived, I thought magic like that was impossible."

Sakura frowns. "I… don't know how, but the Grail makes it possible."

It must be a magical artifact of some sort, you had never seen one in person, but from what little you understood they could be amazingly powerful. Especially something like the Holy Grail. "So it's a contest, why were you so frightened then?"

Sakura freezes, like I had brought her back to the very beginning of this conversation. "Because… masters kill masters Shirou. And it will not end until there is just one left."

… Oh. It's a blood game. Seven masters, seven servants, possibly one pair surviving over all, Sakura never liked seeing you get injured to begin with, the possibility of you dying… or the possibility of you having to come to blows must have been a shock to her. But, "I have no plans on taking part." You admit.

"W-what?"

You shake your head firmly. "I rescued Caster because she was injured. I didn't summon her, if she needs me mana I'll supply it, but I don't plan on hurting anyone for a wish."

Sakura looks away, her hands wrenching together. "Shirou that's… not how it works, even if you don't fight, you have a servant now. Other masters will target you. I would…" She cuts herself off there, unable to finish her statement.

"No you wouldn't," you finish for her. "I'd never hurt you Sakura, and you'd never hurt me."

Sakura stares at you, her hand clutched before her chest, then she hiccups, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. "Shirou!"

You barely catch her before she collides with your chest, crying in… you hope relief, you fear worry. Your hands move around her back, pressing her against you as she sobs, one hand slowly moves through her hair as you let her vent, your eyes however, stay focused on the corner Caster disappeared into.

—

"I think it's too late to head to school," you say, now sitting comfortably next to Sakura. She had been shaking and crying for the better part of a half hour, terrified, if you had to guess, that you had been about to maul her, or be mauled yourself.

Sakura looks at the clock, her eyes widening in surprise at the big red 1:00PM printed there. Before she lets out a giggle. "I think so."

You smile at the sound, glad she was feeling better. "Want me to make a lunch?"

Sakura's head snaps to look at you so fast you think you hear a whip crack. "Oh, I'll help!"

You smile a touch wider, then lead her through the house towards the kitchen. Your eyes dart about, looking for any sign of Caster, but you don't see her anywhere. Ever since she woke Sakura up she has disappeared, the only thing remaining of her being a faint magical trace that just barely tickled your nose… she'll miss lunch. "Caster, do you want to eat?"

As Caster pokes up from your shadow like a wraith, half of her body still phased through the floor. You do not scream, but the thundering in your chest shows your surprise regardless. The woman hangs there, looking up at you. "I do not require food with your mana supply."

You blink. "I… wasn't offering you mana, I was offering you food. Would you like to eat?"

Caster's head tilts, her blue hair shifting underneath her hood. Then as you and Sakura both watch she floats out of the floor, her body hovering a good two to three inches off of the ground before she lands onto the wood gently. "Yes."

Smiling, you turn back to the kitchen and take stock of your supplies. You don't have much, you had planned to go grocery shopping after school today… but that opportunity was robbed from you. "After lunch we'll need to go out, I need to get groceries." You pause then, looking back at Caster. "Do you… have other clothes?"

The woman was dressed in the same robes you had first met her wearing, and beyond the bit of male clothes you had bothered her, you doubt she had anything else to wear. You'd ask Sakura, but Caster was a good half a foot taller than her, her and Taiga were about the same size… but you didn't rightly know what was up with Taiga at the moment. Or, ever, honestly. But now especially.

Caster says nothing for several seconds. Then answers simply. "No. I do not. Nor do I require them. If I have need to leave I can hide my form."

You frown, ignoring the sound behind you of Sakura getting some pots and pans out. "Well, I am going out after lunch if you want to… go out and get some clothes, or anything else you need."

Caster tilts her head again, a rather favorite pastime of hers. "I do not require anything, but I shall follow in your shadow to monitor."

… Good enough. Turning back to Sakura you shrug your shoulders and start to cook.

—

"Hey Sakura?" you speak up, sitting next to the woman at the table. Sakura had elected to take a seat just to your right, while Caster sat across from you both eating in relative silence.

"Yes?"

"When you saw the… command seals earlier, you immediately surmised that I was a Magus, why?" you ask, genuinely curious. The markings were draining your Od, you suppose if your guess was correct, and even non magus had those, so just about anyone should be able to support a servant if the grail was handling the finer details.

"Oh," Sakura says, looking down at her plate and frowning. "Uhm… well," her hand moves to fiddle with her hair, something she always does when nervous. "You sometimes left stuff laying around in the shed, and I found you out of it there more than once. I just… hoped I was wrong."

Frowning you turn your head to focus fully on her. "My father said that magic should be kept secret, is that why?"

Sakura fidgets. "Something… like that, yes. I'm not really comfortable talking about it if that's alright Shirou."

You stare at her for a few moments longer, before dropping the subject. Instead you turn your focus onto Caster, the woman still silently eating, at a far slower pace than yesterday thankfully. "Enjoying lunch?"

The woman, sans hood so that you can see her eyes, nods minutely. "It is good, thank you Master."

"You… can just call me Shirou." You reply.

Her eyes flit up to lock with your own, then she nods again. "Understood, are we leaving shortly?"

You glance down at your bowl… you had emptied it without even really paying attention. "Yes, groceries and clothing."

"I stated I did not require clothing." Caster says evenly, no emotion in her tone.

"It would still get tiring being in those robes all the time wouldn't it?" you ask, "at least some stuff to wear around the house, or that you could move around outside without needing to hide yourself. Of course, her ears are pointed which would still be a problem, but there she could at least say it was body modification… or hide it with magic or something.

"... If my agreement would cause you to cease suggesting it, then I shall do as you wish Shirou."

You smile. "Thank you. Sakura, you ready?"

The girl makes a noise of surprise, having been apparently lost in thought regarding another subject. Jerking her head towards you she blinks, then nods rapidly. "Oh, uhm, yes!"

Grabbing the bowls you drop them into the sink, pouring a good amount of soap and water into them to let them soak, then the three of you head out together, Caster slipping into your shadow as you cross the threshold.

…

If you knew it would be one of the more eventful days of your life, you may have never left.

—

Shirou, Caster, and Sakura are out shopping for clothing and food. But other incidents are occurring elsewhere, the question is, who do you want to focus on?

[] [Rin]
In which a girl's dream comes true.

[] [Illya]
In which the hunt is on.

[] [Kirei]
In which a pact is formed.