This is a tale that I'm doing for NaNiWriMo. I will be at least at 50k words by the end of November.
A Not so Quiet Life: Part 1
I found myself in a conundrum.
I'm looking at this woman, she's naked and pretty much doll-like feature wise in how pretty she is, but looks pretty much albino. The way she's staring at me also doesn't help much as it's kind of freaky if I'm being honest. Looking around it's just the two of us, If I'm being completely honest that just makes it more awkward for me. She's also smiling...okay deep breath and now reply like a normal person.
"Who the hell are you?" Yes, I nailed it.
"Oh? I am surprised. Most people would've stared more or even reacted in fright at the sudden transition from being in there home one moment and then suddenly being transported to somewhere else without even a moment to think about it." The woman replies with a small smile on her lips. She sounds amused.
"Well, I've had crazier dreams if I'm being honest. Being in a situation in which I had a dream vaguely linked to my Mom trying to kill me because I forgot to lock the door, so I woke up and put the second lock on the door because I did that at the end of the dream. I've also been almost killed by various monsters and suffered sleep paralysis before so some random albino woman floating in a white void ain't that bad." I said stuffing a hand into one of my pockets, I still had my clothes on at least. This'd be a lot more embarrassing if I didn't. She'd probably be staring at me in a much lewder way. I can't help but wonder if the me then would find that to be a good thing or a bad thing.
"Indeed," She giggles, "I suppose something like this wouldn't unnerve you much. I'm just used to humans reacting in a panic once they realized they've been whisked away from there home world for not only someone else's amusement but also the chance they may have to do something that may or may not be dangerous."
My brain stopped for a moment. Not literally because I'd be dead or something, but as I processed the woman's words I came to a realization as I finally remember who she reminded me of.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to be Irisviel?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Bingo!" She says happily as light shifts around her, and she suddenly becomes draped in this elegant looking white and red dress that shows off her mid-riff. On her hand is some sort of white cloth crown with a gold trim. "You're not the first to get that right, but not many jump to that conclusion right away so I must commend you for that."
"Thanks I guess, though I still don't really get what type of dream this is. I know for a fact you've never been in an elaborate dress like that except for the version of you that was essentially a kind of purified Grail in the Grand Order game, and I doubt you'd be the type of person to send people on dangerous missions or quests."
"Normally you'd be right." With a wave of her arms I see the world behind her twist and distort, a city forming behind her as if it had always been there. "However, I just like you soon shall be too, am subject to someone even higher than me. A ROB if you wish for a term to accompany their status."
Fuck.
"All they make me do is grant wishes, subconscious most of the time, but those wishes tend to be granted in such a way that the wisher has to grow through some grand trial to fully recognize their wish. As a near Divine being with access to the full power of the Grail there's very little I can't do, thus I make for a perfect way to get people to where they need to be for it's amusement."
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fucking fuck.
"Nope. I refuse. I refuse to believe that out of an infinite amount of universes and an infinite amount of people and probably an infinite of me's that I'd be the one to be ROB'ed. It's bullshit. Despite you being a nice person, you're bullshit. Whoever's trying to do this to me is bullshit too."
A sad smile flits across her face, even as I try vigorously to force myself awake. While I've always imagined going to other worlds and getting superpowers to be some sort of hero, I definitely didn't want it to happen like this. Completely out of my control, no say over where I go nor what powers I end up with was not something I wanted. Not at all.
"I'm sorry, however know that you will not be leaving unprotected." As she spoke I felt a pull on my very being, seven cards floated lazily around her. "With the power granted to you, as long as your will remains steadfast you will make it through all of the strife that comes your way. I believe in you." With a kind smile on her face she floated towards me, and as the seven cards went into my rapidly stiffening body and filled me with an overwhelming amount of pain, she wrapped her arms around me.
Even though I'm in unimaginable pain, I can't help but think that the fact that it's pretty awesome that an anime character is hugging me. She whispers something that I can't make out, and then just as the pain I'm feeling becomes almost too much, she lets me go. I find myself on an unfamiliar street all of a sudden, the pain nothing but a fleeting feeling even though I'm left kneeling.
It seems like this wasn't a dream after all. Fuck. Now I'm in butt fuck nowhere, though my first guess would be Fuyuki City cause fuck my life, with apparently some sort of way to protect myself that I'll need to figure out. However, more immediate problems such as what the hell my goal is, what was the wish granted, and how the fuck am I going to get anywhere without knowing any real amount of Japanese? Standing up slowly, I look around. It's night time, and apparently I'm on Shigeo Street. ...Wait a moment, I can read Japanese. Oh shit! I can read Japanese! Awesome. Seeing as that's one potential problem solved, I went over to a window of a shop and gave myself a once over.
Hair's still messy and black, I'm still 5'10" or so, I don't look heavier so no extra weight which means I'm still lean, my stubble's still there which means I have to shave soon, I don't look much younger than 21 or so and I'm still wearing the dark blue suit I'd put on for the interview I had today along with the black loafers. My skin seems a touch lighter, closer to mocha than caramel, but I'm still distinctly African-American. Overall, nothing's out of place, that's another possible crisis averted. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't still me.
A rustling noise, drew my attention away from the window only for a piece of paper to smack me in the face. Grabbing it off my face a tad annoyed, I notice that there's some writing on it.
"Hello, [insertnamehere]. You must be the new enterta- I mean hopeful wisher looking to have a wish fufilled. Maybe you were brought here willingly, probably not, but you're here now. Wherever here is. You'll be here for a set amount of time and then you'll be forced to move on until you achieve whatever your wish was or you find out how to get home. To help with this you've been gifted with a unique power, the power to Class Install and become a psuedo-Servant along with some very basic magic in your base form. You can only activate one at a time and the servants you get are random, along with not making this too easy for you you only have access to 3 cards to start. You can unlock more of them as you gain experience with the ones you have, so good luck and try not to die~."
Folding the paper multiple times I stuff into my suit pocket. While this is incredibly obnoxious, at least with such a power I should be able to not die at the very least. Seeing as I still don't know what type of dangers await me, I won't be confident until I have at least some knowledge of what the hell I might have to face. However…
"Hehehehe...hmmhmmhmm...HAHAHAHAHA!" I can't help but laugh. The power of seven Servants was in my hand, unless I was forced to fight some ridiculous foe the chances of me losing were incredibly slim. With this, maybe I could live a quiet life until I get back home.
"Oh, so you're the cause of that massive amount of prana suddenly appearing from nowhere Mister." A voice that sounded much too nice came from a just a sort distance away from me. Turning my head towards where the voice came from, I saw the little girl standing there on the street.
The pale skin, long white hair, and crimson eyes were the first things that I noticed. These things identified her as a homunculus from the Einzbern, but the fact she was wearing the long purple coat, white scarf, and purple hat was what let me know that it that was Illya. The smile on her face wasn't what made me sweat however.
What made me sweat however was the fact that behind her stood what was arguably the strongest servant in the 5th War. The monster, because that thing was far from being human, stood behind her like a giant soldier of death. It's grey, almost blackened skin, and it's leering red eyes that stared at me with a madness that made it seem like it was only a moment from killing me. In one of its hand's was the giant slab of stone that was carved into something resembling a sword.
As a bead of sweat rolled down my forehead I knew I was more than likely fucked. However, another part of me told me to not present myself like that. If I showed weakness she'd probably kill me even faster than normal, not something I wanted. Okay, think what can I do to stall or run away?
"Say, Mister, you wouldn't happen to be a Master would you? With the amount of prana that was coming from you it wouldn't be strange if you had just summoned your servant. Though, I can't sense any Servant which means you could be waiting to try and kill me."
"No, you must have the wrong idea. I am not involved with the Holy Grail War and-"
"But, you do know about it which means it's not quite far-fetched for you to be helping someone else." She chimed in happily.
"I suppose that's a possibility." Readjusting the tie I wore I tried to keep a hold on the instinct to run while trying my hardest to keep the nervousness in my voice to a minimum, I was in control. I could bullshit my way out of this. "However, I assure you that I would not participate in such a competition. I wish to live a
[quiet life]."
She stood there for a moment, a chin on her finger in thought. Had I successfully gotten her to back down? I angled my feet in such a way that it would be easy for me to run away at a moment's notice, I wasn't too sure on how to do the Class Install thing but if it worked as it should it would take me a couple seconds to get transformed. I just needed to make sure that I got that time. Looking around, I saw the street divided behind me into two paths along with a couple small alley ways. The alley ways would be my avenue of escape.
"I believe you Mister."
Yes!
"But, there's always the chance that another Master is currently watching us and could decide that someone like you could be coerced to work for them. Therefore, Berserker's going to have to kill you. Ok?" With a polite smile on her face she tells me to die.
Fuck no.
"Hmm, I suppose I'm not left with much choice then, am I?" Gripping my tie tightly, I snap my fingers and point towards the giant monster known as Berserker that stepped forward. "I have to overcome this high-level danger, no matter what!"
"Oh, you're going to fight Berserker head on? You're either really brave or idiotic Mister. In fact before you die, how about giving me your name?"
"Taiki. Akimoto Taiki." I hope that actually translates to something and that my luck was as good as it normally was, otherwise I'll look like a dumb ass.
"I'll try to remember that name after Berserker kills you."
"Secret Technique," I pointed my palm towards Berserker as I smirked. "RUN AWAY!" Turning around I promptly dashed into an alley-way that was small enough that I was certain Berserker wouldn't run through it unless he wanted to cause a large amount of property damage trying to get me. I needed to figure out how to draw the power that I had apparently. It probably wasn't as easy as me simply saying Class Install, so how was it done?
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
The primal scream of madness behind me was almost enough to make stop and simply die there, but the much more rational side of me that wanted to not die and get through this entire fucked up situation made me keep moving. If I stopped it was over, if Illya got bored chasing me it was over too. And I've run out of alley way to run through, shit! Okay, okay, okay, you're smarter than this. You won't die in the first, my watch says it's 12:30 AM, 10 minutes or so you appeared in a new world. I refuse. I've got to try something, anything at all at this point. I could try running towards the Emiya Household but I don't know where it is so that's a bust.
Turning around, I'm just in time to see a practically gigantic gray fist coming towards me. Putting my arms up in an instinctive guard, I have to physically stop myself from screaming out in pain as I felt the bones in my right arm shatter on impact as I'm sent flying. Crashing into a brick wall at high-speed and most likely bruising my back the very least, I taste blood in my mouth. I've always had an aversion to blood, not something like hemophobia where I was scared of blood, but more like I hated seeing my own blood.
"What a day," Picking myself up out of the crater I made in the wall, blood slid down my face as I force myself to my feet. My legs trembled, my arm hung limply, and it hurt to breath, yet I was still alive. Guess I was a really lucky guy. "I've never had a day as horrible as this."
"Wow! You're still alive Mister? I'm surprised. Even a strong magus probably would've died from a direct hit from Berserker, and yet here you are. You might not look it, but you're really strong Mister. It's too bad you have to die here. Berserker, finish him."
As Berserker trudged forward menacingly, I felt a rage bubble in me as I saw my blood. Call it an irrational thing, but I hated bleeding. It annoyed me on a level I couldn't describe.
"No chance I'm dying here without giving it a fair try," Grinning viciously I stood up. I had been forcibly transferred to a new world without any say or even a choice in the matter, it was all horribly unfair. However, I was supposed to have powers as well and even if I was surely going to die I couldn't go out without trying am I right? "Class Install! Lancer!"
A dark blue circle formed around me as a veritable sea of energy poured off of my body. I could feel my wounds healing themselves, and not only that but my clothes were changing as well. Where once I was wearing a nice suit, on my body was a very tight purple bodysuit with the same design as Lancer's. On my shoulders were pauldrons that kept the violet cape on my back in place. My hair felt longer, but I wasn't much worried about that. In my hands were two red lances. They were both Gae Bolg, but just a step older.
Normally they wouldn't be enough, God Hand couldn't be pierced by anything that wasn't A-Ranked after all, but the runes that made the two crimson spears of death glow brightly made them more than strong enough.
So, of course as the monster in front of me decided to attack me, probably recognizing how much of a threat I had just become, I decided to do the most logical thing. I wanted to kill the monster and live so stabbed it where it's heart should be and parried the swing of the gigantic stone sword with my other spear.
"I hate seeing my own blood. I hate the fact that I was put into this shitty situation and the fact that of all the people in this fucking city that could've ran into me on this night, it had to be you. You're a messed up kid Illya, but still a kid in the end, and I hate hurting kids. But, I'm not going to die like this! I refuse!" I nearly shouted as the monster in front of me seemed to recover from it's first death.
"Gae Bolg Alternative!"
I dashed forward, though it was more of a formality as the "Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death" had already taken effect sewing through space and immobilizing Berserker as another of his lives depleted, and launched him into the air with the first spear. Leaping backwards, I gathered all of the strength and prana I could spare and pushed into the second spear. With a mighty throw, it streaked through the air and in an instant it was upon Berserker like a drill. Steadily and steadily grinding away his life. My victory was practically assur-
Oh, shit...I'm feeling woozy all of a sudden. My body's burning up, and somehow the world's almost spinning around me. Shit, I have to...have to stay on my feet or...or I'll die. I lean up against the wall, why is my breath misty? Shit, is this how I die? Not because of some enemy, but because I couldn't handle all the stress from my own power? Fuck.
As my thoughts started to given way to oblivion, I saw a teary Illya running towards me. I wonder if I actually managed to take all of Berserker's lives or if she was mad that I had managed to do any damage at all and was planning on killing me herself. Wow that was morbid as fuck wasn't it? I guess feeling like you were about to die at any moment. I could think about it later, if I woke up.