A/N: Blame Fusou and Deviljho. Extra scenes will be pretty obviously cut out and pasted on a certain other site.
Step One
The Velreicht family… wasn't. Or more accurate to say that my mother and father were both hedge wizards that met in a Dungeons and Dragons group, got drunk, and had me. Overall it was a hilarious accident that ended in a surprisingly happy couple with a young daughter.
Then my mother accidentally summoned the shade of a demon and bound it without any drawbacks, which ended with her getting crucified with a Sealing Designation, and my Father being dragged kicking and screaming into the depths of the organization. I was "lucky" enough to be bought by the Galliasta family and turned into the gopher of one Atrum Galliasta. It was about as sucky as it sounds. The guy was as horrible as he was portrayed in the Anime and hinted at in the Light Novel. Namely, he had a superiority complex with no grounding in reality, a lust for women he satisfied with mind control, and a desperate desire to prove his family was the greatest thing to happen to the Association since the printing press.
I showed him up on accident in under a week and found myself beaten to a pulp and my rights to a workshop revoked. He also came to some weird conclusion I wasn't proper mating material or something. I never got a straight answer on that, but it did come with the fact he never touched me. At least while I was aware.
Either way, that was my life for… three years. I was fourteen when my mother broke our family via success and my Father suicided trying to get her back. Something to remember though is that Seventeen years is a long time. So you should stop and think about that before calling me out on being surprised when one day I entered my 'Master's' Association workshop to this exchange:
"Then I shall pass on your acceptance as the Association's second representative for the Fifth Holy Grail War. When can we expect you?"
"I shall leave at the end of the week. That way I will be able to arrive in Fuyuki with enough time to construct a Workshop inside the City then summon a Servant… Allea, where have you been? You should have arrived ten minutes ago!"
I jump, startled from my sudden inclusion into the conversation. The years of practice at not panicking though help me keep my composure. I still wipe my sweaty hands on the skirt of my maid outfit though. "Sorry Lord. I did arrive several minutes ago, but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation."
For a minute it looked like Atrum didn't know if he wanted to praise me or slap me. And considering an actual Lord was watching through the screen that he was standing before, it's pretty much a given that he doesn't slap me. Doesn't mean he praises me either though.
"Fine, you stupid woman. Start some tea while I finish speaking with Lord Rulfurus… as you were saying, Sir?"
I moved to do as I was told, allowing the conversation to fade into the background. Instead I found myself thinking furiously about what I had just learned. In theory, I would eventually be able to buy my freedom from the Galliasta family and that of any future descendants… but in practice if i didn't do something drastic I'd have to serve them for the rest of my life, and my children likely would as well. And if my grandkids didn't find a way to break free themselves, then a kind of generational stockholm syndrome would eventually set in and then the Velriecht Family would end up serving the Galliasta until someone triggered a fucking rebellion or something.
If it wasn't obvious? That was likely the goal Atrum's parents were after when they 'saved' me from whatever happened to my father. Because having another family of Magi serving yours -willing or not- is a sign of prestige that's hard to knock when it comes to the political power plays in the Association. Which… I'm not 100% against. Honestly it'd reduce my own workload my a metric fuck ton and secure the future of my family so long as the Galliasta don't do something stupid like piss off a Wizard Marshall or the Director.
My problem is Atrum himself. Walking in on him raping another girl for the umpteenth time and realizing if he fancied my daughter if I had one there'd be nothing I could do to stop him? Yeah. I was getting out from under his thumb as soon as I could, preferably while his corpse was busy cooling.
Enter the Grail War. I didn't remember much -Shirou was Memetic Sex God, Arthur was a cute girl, Sakura needed headpats and her family deserved a gruesome death, Rin was hot in a leotard, and Herekles scared the unholy fuck out of me at the thought of fighting- but what I was sure about was the fact a lot of the Masters died in horrific fashion. Which presented me an opportunity!
Namely, wait for Atrum to summon a servant and piss it off, then while he's being dismembered by the results of his inherent stupidity make a break for the exit. It was fool proof!
… Yeah, didn't expect you to believe that either. The fucked up part is it was literally the best idea I could come up with. Especially considering the fact chances were he'd summon someone actually compatible with him and I'd find myself reduced to either some kind of sex slave or experimental material. Unless I got lucky (Ha!) and his Servant dismissed me as well despite my own sorcery traits and I could trick them into letting an enemy Servant in so I could escape during the chaos.
"Oi, Woman! After you finish the Tea, go get Hector to start packing for a two month stay in Japan. I have to make arrangements to have my Workshop constructed before I arrive."
"Yes sir." I mutter the response just high enough for him to hear it, focusing on completing the Tea he had me start. Afterwards though I do sneak a cup for myself out as I leave: as shitty a person as Atrum is, at least his taste in tea is good.
~~
The flight to Fuyuki Japan was amazingly comfortable. Or at least, it was after I managed to beg out to a different compartment from my "Lord" and his newest brainwashed slave he had collected to get a free flight across the world. I know Magic is supposed to be a Magi's go-to for literally everything, but this is ridiculous.
Good news though is I managed to curl up in the flight attendant area and pass the fuck out. Better news is Atrum didn't bother me at all the entire flight, probably tied up with his most recent acquisition. Whether or not that's correct, I don't really care because I was asleep for the entire eight hour flight and only woke up because one of the pilots was kind enough to poke his head out of the cockpit to ask me to buckle up for the landing.
"We're early… I honestly expected these backwater morons to hold us up. Woman, how long until you have my luggage ready to go?"
"Already done, Sir." I huffed out as I slammed the trunk of the limo closed. "Ready to leave whenever you are." He said nothing as he climbed into the back of said limo, leaving me to make my own way to the front. I wasn't the driver, thank god, but Atrum didn't want me in the back with him and his… acquisitions. Hector and I don't really speak either, so the ride to Atrum's new temporary workshop passed in silence.
Said Workshop though was in a surprisingly tactical location. Namely, it sat on the very outer edges of Fuyuki along one of the highways leading out of the city. A squat building, maybe two stories tall at most, it looked closer to a small school than anything.
"Woman, once you have my luggage in my quarters, get to the processing room. I'll summon my servant there. After that your job will be to get them settled while I start planning the War."
"Yes sir." I watched as Atrum immediately went from giving me orders to ignoring my continued existence in favor of Hector. Shrugging, I simply popped the trunk open to move his things inside. "If I was sure I could get him in one shot, i'd be an amazing assassin at this point…" Sexist fuck didn't have a clue about equality.
After I got the last suitcase out of the limo and closed the trunk, Hector simply climbed back in and drove away. From there, I hefted Atrum's pointlessly oversized suitcase into my arms and waddled my way into his new 'house'. "Couldn't you have gotten any with wheels or something? Dammit."
It's hard to ignore the corpses hanging on meat hooks. Even after three years of this shit. The core of the Galliasta Family's magecraft is creating a pseudo-perpetual motion system for magecraft. By drawing in outside power to fuel an 'engine' that produces more power. The idea is if they can make a system that overcomes the entropic principle and begins creating more energy than what is used to create said energy they could then generate an theoretically infinite amount of energy they can then use to open a path to the Root.
Atrum's specific take on this system was to sacrifice humans in a ritual that condenses their energy down into tiny crystals that he can then use to fuel his magecraft. It's horrifically inefficient and wasteful to the point even other Association Mages collectively agreed it was stupid. The problem is that when I started as his servant I hadn't known he was of the belief everyone else was wrong… so being my normal helpful self I tried to, you know, help.
I accidentally figured out how to make better crystals naturally by drawing energy from the leylines beneath the Clocktower and then using them instead. Atrium didn't take it well, and next thing I knew, the only thing I was allowed to wear was a French Maid uniform. Actually, the specific command was I could only wear the provided clothing as given to me, and the only thing he ever gave me was said maid uniform.
He also never gave me any undergarments to go with, but with a skirt this short I refuse going commando and have bought my own ever since. Slaps be damned.
"Took you long enough woman." I bit back my immediate retort as I shuffled to the side and put down his stupidly over sized piece of luggage. "Get my catalyst from the suitcase so we can begin." Sighing, I bent over to unzip the massive thing… and felt my expression flatten as the only thing in it was a box of papers. That didn't even take up half of the suitcase. I looked up at him. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get the notes and move them to the ritual circle."
I looked back down at the box of papers… and noted they were all in greek and were yellowed with age. Slightly more understandable but not enough to justify such a large suitcase. Still, I sighed once more and grabbed the box, carefully lifting it to avoid damaging the contents before carrying it into the middle of the circle.
I kneeled down to- "A little further." I paused at my 'master's' voice. For a moment, I actually debated ignoring him and putting it down but decided it wouldn't be worth the punishment. So I simply adjusted my legs and pushed upwards, bending almost in half so I could place the box just outside the central oval where I assumed the servant was to appear. "Good." I tried very hard to ignore the note of satisfaction in the asshole's voice as I silently straightened up and marched out of the circle to stand to the side of the room.
Now, I could describe the ritual Atrum used to summon his servant. I could wax poetic about the feel of the magic as it filled the room. I could even spend a few hundred words describing the lights as they danced.
But I won't… mostly because I don't actually remember that much of it.
What I do remember though is spotting a stain on Atrum's pants. Specifically on his buttocks. It was green, and I found myself staring at it throughout the entire process. I don't remember why I was so focused on it, just that I was to the point I could tell you without a doubt it was roughly the shape of a duck and just small enough the palm of my hand could cover it completely. I think I was trying to make it disappear through my sheer incredulity.
"... amazing. Just amazing. Then shall I show you my workshop then? Oi, woman! Fetch us some refreshments!" I jerked as Atrum's voice snapped me out of my stain-induced fugue. Blinking, I reflexively bowed in acknowledgement before fleeing the scene. But not before I saw the Servant glance down at his pants, probably noticing the stain themselves.
Fifteen minutes and a single thoroughly incensed 'Master' later, I found myself leading the hooded Servant to the glorified broom closet of 'Backup Workshop C'. Considering when he was planning the War out back in Europe Backup Workshop B had been the one set aside for his planned Servant… "So, what exactly did you do to piss off His Over Compensation?"
A soft snerk came from the servant, confirming them to be female. To be fair though she was wearing feminin clothing. It's just I was hyper-aware of how many supposed historical figures loved to cross dress on one side of the spectrum or the other. "I'm not sure if I should answer that question…"
"If you're worried about him mind controlling me for answers or something like those whores in his 'workshop' then don't be. He's horrible at it. So horrible in fact that proper Magi don't even notice his attempts, and he can't even keep normal humans under his thrall for long. Most of the women you've probably seen so far are only playing along in the hopes of staying alive." I shrugged and waved a hand through the air. "And even then I'm a better mage then him regardless."
"If you're a better mage, then why serve him?" The Servant asked me.
"Don't really have a choice." Was my immediate reply. "Mom's a sealing designate and dad… I hope he's dead. It'd be a kinder fate then whatever they're probably doing to him if he's alive. The Bastard's family bought me before one of the Lords stuck my corpse in their workshop. Now I'm his maid."
"I see." We stop in front of Workshop C. "One more question though… Why the bell?"
"He added it to my uniform after I supposedly 'snuck up' on him three times in a row while he was talking to his father, causing him to humiliate himself." We grin at my air quotes, "Joke's on him though. These damn heels make the required bounce in my step to jingle it impossible unless I want to break my ankles."
"I see. Thank you for the answers." I waved glibly as she opened the door to her new 'workshop'. Once the door closed, I turned to go find a drink.
It's ten 'till midnight and I was in bed trying to sleep when I realized she never answered my question on what she did to anger his dickish-ness.
~~
"Wait, he used a Command Seal to what?"
"To make me utilize his method of creating mana crystals."
I stared at Caster, most of me actually hoping this whole conversation was set up to an elaborate joke. Considering her sneer didn't change and she melted another meat-hook victim into a low quality mana gem, that hope died with a silent whimper. "I request that when you finally decide to rid the human gene pool of his stupidity that you make my death quick and painless. I don't want to be lumped in with that moron."
Caster simply grinned deprecatingly at me as she turned to leave and I found myself sighing in mortification alone in Atrum's main workshop. That made two. I have no idea what he spent the first one on, but wasting two command seals in a week and a half? The War wasn't even started yet! I had a low opinion of my 'Master's' mental capabilities to start with, but this was a new low. What I wanted to know was how Caster was managing to convince him wasting them on frivolous things like this made any kind of sense.
Though in my defense, I'd probably burn them all myself simply so I didn't have to sit and worry about the morality of taking someone's free will from them. Regardless of arguments.
I think the only saving grace in this mess was the fact it didn't seem like Caster particularly disliked me… But then again when the two of us talk it was usually for commiserating about Atrums' stupidity, so whether or not she actually liked me was up in the air.
"I hope that when I die, it'll be relatively painless. This moron has fucked up my life enough, I don't want to let him fuck up my death."
~~
He fucked up my death.
Well, kind of. To be honest part of it was my own damn fault for not taking the chance to break and run when everything was obviously going to hell.
I was in the kitchen getting myself a snack when the fire alarms started going off, and smoke started filling the compound. So, being the absolute moron that I was and still am, I ran for the central section that held everything actually living in a rather poor attempt at saving as many of the lives of Atrum's "science" experiments as I could.
Something exploded just as I forced the door open and hypersonic debris filled my torso full of holes. Seventeen to be exact. (Magecraft is amazing at prolonging your death to an unreasonable degree.) But discovering he at some point added some kind of fucking suicide seal to my body when I was somehow unaware was the least pleasant part. Especially when it exploded and took most of my stomach and intestines with it.
Being hyper aware thanks to my own magic when a chunk of my body was torn apart, I got the amazing experience of not only being aware as I bled out, but also have the time to just sit and count my injuries while the clock on the wall above me etched out just how long it was taking me to die.
Also before you ask, I started hallucinating thirty seconds in from the blood loss.
… But it also meant I was fully aware when Caster found me. Her face locked into a rictus of horror as she kneeled next to me. Thanks to my own hallucinations, I wasn't sure exactly what she said (miniature Michael Jackson singing thriller with a harem of Frans in bandages was kind of drowning everything out) but I do remember managing to mutter something along the lines of 'Sure, why not?'. Just a lot more slurred and incomprehensible.
As soon as I said whatever it was though, my magic finally ran its course and I passed out from the pain. Five hours afterwards, I woke up to my own shock, to discover what I agreed to was to be Caster's new Master.
Her name was Medea.
She was even more surprised than I was when I turned into a Magical Girl right in front of her during my waking panic.
