imperial_stage | Neuanfang

Neuanfang

Who: Hayate Yagami and Signum
Where: The Yagami household
When: Very shortly after Winter Court
What: Summoning the Servant Archer

While she had been extremely thankful to Mitsunari for inviting her, and Light for keeping her company in the city, the whole trip had left her quite tired. There had been so much to take in, that that week felt like a lifetime of experiences. She had seen things that she never thought that she would see, heard things she never dreamed of hearing, and she loved nearly every moment of it. But after so many days of stimulation, she was glad to be back home.

Light, of course, had business to attend to as soon as the court was over. She knew that that would have been the case; he would likely be busy for the next week, recounting different things that the two men had heard and spoke of. There was also the matter of Mitsunari's vision. It seemed to worry Light and Mitsunari a bit, and perhaps she should have given it a bit of thought as well, but it was best to keep frightening ideas like that out of mind. After all, there was nothing special about her. She had a destiny crystal, sure, but that was likely some mistake or misinterpretation on her Lord's part.

Reading through the book that she got from her trip, little did she know that something was afoot. One of the books, nestled neatly in its bookshelf in the girl's room, pulsed with power.

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The shelved book, a heavy leatherbound tome that's normally easy to overlook but for its size and heft, begins to shake and vibrate, chains rattling. Were there chains on it before?

It certainly was not floating before, the book hovering toward Hayate.

Looking up from her book when she heard a strange rattling, she quickly pulled herself back with her arms, legs obviously not able to move themselves. Once her back was pressed against the wall, she started to cower.

Suddenly what her Lord had said rang in her mind, and she trembled a little in fear.

A woman's voice, metallic and echoing, sounds in the room.

"Anfang."

With that, the chains on the book burst open, and the room is filled with a glowing circle of magic, black and purple energy forming the circle-and-hexagram that the mystically educated would recognize as a summoning circle. The Book itself spreads wide, glowing brighter and floating higher in the air...

Hayate quickly recoiled, throwing her arms over her face and still trembling terribly. This was how it was going to end, wasn't it? Mitsunari had said something about sacrifice. This must have been it...

The Book glows brighter and suddenly, in a flash of blinding light, it vanishes.

The summoning circle remains, however. Standing in it, where the Book was previously floating, is a woman. Tall, aloof, pink hair bound behind her head, she looks directly at Hayate.

"I am the guardian knight, the protective steel bound to the will of she who summons me," she announces formally. "Called to this world by your power and contract, I ask of you..."

"Are you my Master?"

Slowly letting her arms fall as the light fades, she simply stares at the woman standing before her, as well as the summoning circle at her feet. It took her a moment before she was finally able to find her voice, and when she did it was more of a croak than an actual question.

"Master?"

The knight...blinks. That was definitely not the response she was expecting.

"I am called here by the Book of Darkness for the gathering of spirits. You are the possessor of the Book of Darkness, and it has awakened to bring me forth to this world once more," she explains, remaining in a respectful tone lest her new Master smite her for stating the obvious. Perhaps she had intended to bind a different Heroic Spirit, and was reconsidering? Signum did not relish the thought of disappearing immediately because her Master did not want to complete the contract.

"I ask you again - are you my Master?"

This was too much. Book of Darkness. Spirits. Someone asking her if she was her Master? She was just a child! Still, somehow this woman was summoned here--or that was what she had gathered--and she was the owner of some tome which she was connected to. But to call her Master...

Taking a moment to compose herself, she put a hand to her chest. "My name is Hayate Yagami. I... I don't know if I'm your Master or not, but I'd like it if you called me by my name." She almost added a timid 'please?', but if she was a spirit, showing any kind of hesitance may have meant her undoing.

Signum thinks about it. She could ask a third time, but that was getting into dangerous magical territory...

"Then the contract is bound in your name, Hayate Yagami," Signum pronounces. Immediately, the light show starts to fade from the room, gradually returning it to its normal appearance, except for the pink-haired woman who is now kneeling before Hayate.

"I shall be yours to command as you see fit, my Master," she says, offering up her arms (empty, as her sword is something she needs to summon forth) in the ancient gesture of homage.

The majority of the ceremony seeming to be over, she pulls herself over with her arms. She does not get too close however, still extremely unsure about the situation as a whole. She tests the waters a little. "Um. Excuse me. Do you mind if I ask a question?"

Signum nods and looks up, dropping the pose, although still kneeling before her Master.

"Ah, not at all, Master Hayate," she says, thinking her Master most likely wants to inquire about her Class first, or perhaps her true name, though she was ambivalent about handing that out immediately.

"Just Hayate is fine." She corrected her. Something about being called 'Master' felt a bit odd. She pulled her legs to her so that she was in a sitting position. "You said that you were called from the Book of Darkness..."

"Yes..." Signum says a bit slowly. "Was that not your intention as the Master of the artifact? Were you perhaps attempting to summon one of the other Wolkenritter, or engaging in some other ritual altogether?"

Signum is growing steadily more concerned for her new Master, as she's noticing that at least one of them seems to be missing something in this conversation. Not to mention that a more careful look at her movements shows Signum that something is clearly wrong with her legs, and she doesn't know how to ask about it without being impudent.

Hayate shook her head plainly. "I wasn't trying to summon anyone. The book summoned you on its own."

"That's not normally something that happens...I think," Signum says, hesitantly now. She's noticed the gaps in her memory, but she does remember enough to know that that's happened before as the result of a summoning. That doesn't concern her nearly as much as the Book acting in an uncontrolled manner.

"If the Book of Darkness acted of its own volition, it probably means that the Holy Grail War is starting very soon, and since you hadn't summoned your Servant yet, it took action to protect you and ensure your participation," Signum concludes after a few moments' thought.

She was becoming increasingly more confused the longer this conversation went. "Holy Grail War? Servant?" She shook her head slowly. Had all of this been a mistake? This woman said that she needed to summon a Servant for protection. Was that what Mitsunari had seen in his vision?

"Er..." Signum has gone from confused to totally nonplussed.

"You didn't know about..." she begins, before stopping, taking a deep breath, and starting again. "Clearly this is an unusual situation. Let me begin at the beginning. Are you a mage, M--Hayate? Or at least, are you aware of the arcane arts?

If Hayate had enough mana to activate the Book of Darkness on accident, Signum certainly hopes she's a trained mage.

Hayate shifted her shoulders a bit awkwardly. She could tell from the woman's reaction that this was a somewhat unusual case to say the very least. They were finally starting to get on the same wavelength, but something concerned her.

"I'm aware of them. But I'm not a mage." She paused, "At least, I don't think I am..." Hesitant in admitting this, she tried to keep looking up at the woman in front of her. Had she just made a mistake in saying that? She would not have been able to defend herself regardless, or run away for that matter. She did remember something, however.

"I do have a destiny crystal, though. It's on the desk over there." She pointed across the room.

Signum takes a deep breath, and with some effort rearranges her conception of the current situation. The Book's awakening and her own summoning were accidental - probably a result of an overdue Grail War ceremony or some strange magical coincidence. Her Master was not a trained magus of any sort, although she could at least avoid the annoyance of being tied to a stake or exorcised by an uneducated peasant. This was going to take a great deal of explanation...

"Alright. Before I tell you what I know of the Grail War, I have one question," she says. "What's a Destiny Crystal?"

"My brother says that they only appear for someone important," She started. Truthfully, Light had told her very little about her own destiny crystal; only that she was not to use it or talk about it. So much for that. "I don't know if it's anything like the crystals around our home or around the cities, but usually they have a lot of mana within them. I think you can also talk to people through a destiny crystal, but I've never tried it."

She frowned a little. "I'm sorry, I don't know much more than that."

"They must be a recent invention," Signum says, a little worried that her memory had lost more pieces than usual with this summoning. "It stands to reason that someone fated to be a Holy Grail War Master would receive one, though. Would you mind if I stood and had a look?"

Assuming her Master doesn't indicate to the contrary, she stands and goes to the desk Hayate indicated, which currently bears the inert Book of Darkness and...

"Er...Hayate, there are two crystals here."

"Huh?" Hayate straightened up a bit in an attempt to see. "But there was only one of them there earlier..." She paused, the thought dawning upon her. "Maybe the other one is yours? Are there any cards next to it?"

Signum looks further, and nods. The Chariot, the Magician, and Death were there, albeit with different images on them than she recalled from her experience with the occult in her first life. "...I had a strange vision before I was summoned, that had tarot cards. Hm."

She looks up, picking up the cards and Crystal. "These seem like a useful tool, although your brother was right to suggest you exercise caution with magical communications."

"That all out of the way, I suppose it's time for me to explain the Holy Grail War as I have seen it. This might take a while, so if you need refreshments or anything, please feel free to interrupt me. I'm not above domestic duties, even if I'm mainly a warrior."

The same thing that had happened to her as well as her brother. Then this woman was somehow involved with the fate of the land as well. "But if I have one, then that means that I should use it, doesn't it? You said that you were summoned here because of a war, right? Maybe someone else would know why, since the book acted on its own."

She shook her head, slowly moving her body toward the edge of her bed, easing into the wheeled chair beside it. If her situation had not been obvious to the woman before, it likely was now. "I'm all right, but what about you? I don't know anything about summoning, but I'd think that it would take a lot out of someone. Did you want something to eat or drink?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." It occurs to Signum that she doesn't remember ever being asked that before. She shakes her head, though.

"In a bit. It's important that you know this, as it's very possible your life may be in danger."

She takes a deep breath, and begins. "The Holy Grail War is a highly complex magical ceremony by which Heroic Spirits, avatars of legendary figures, are brought into the world. There are seven of us Servants in total, and we and our Masters engage in combat for the right to summon and make a wish upon the Holy Grail, a vessel of infinite energy that can grant any desire."

"That's the general overview. Is this making sense so far, Hayate?"

This was a dangerous situation, that much she had gathered. For the most part, up until this point she had tried her best to keep a calm head. However, as the woman spoke, she became more and more worried, and just a bit afraid. She was expected to fight? She did not know any kind of magic, and in her state...

Nevertheless, she nodded, albeit slowly and with just a bit of hesitation. Still, there was a knot in her stomach. A rather large one.

"Each Servant is kept in this world by a sympathetic link to his or her Master," Signum proceeds. "Masters also often provide supporting magic, though if you cannot, I will not be offended. As Archer, I am completely capable of acting on my own - ah, that's right."

Chastising herself briefly for skipping an important part, she adds, "Each Heroic Spirit summoned for the war is one of seven classes - Archer, Berserker, Caster, Saber, Lancer, Rider, and Assassin. I believe the names are self-explanatory. In every Grail War, there is one of each, each summoned by his or her own Master."

"Back to the subject of fighting, I will protect my life with yours - in fact, with some exceptions, Servants cannot exist without their Masters. This makes killing the other Masters a viable strategy for victory, and it makes your protection the very most important part of my present existence, even without my honor and oaths at stake."

Signum looks at Hayate, worried and small-looking in that wheeled chair of hers - her legs were most certainly crippled entirely - and decides to withhold the full benefits of her Independent Action ability. If this innocent little girl was killed because of the Grail War...well, there was hardly any point in succeeding without her even though she very well could. A world where that could happen wasn't worth wishing on.

She had introduced herself as Archer, eluding to not much after that that was her class. Was that her name as well? Perhaps not. She felt a little too embarrassed to ask otherwise. "Archer," She started, a bit of a frown on her face, "You said that you can act on your own, right? Then I'm not needed, right? I don't know any kind of magic, I can't support you. And I don't know anyone who can. Protecting me might even hold you back..."

Archer's best strategy would be taking care of herself, right? This was war, after all. Looking out for others was important, yes, but with someone like her who would not be able to assist her 'servant', it seemed more like a hindrance than anything else.

"I can act on my own, but my life is yours. Even aside from the Grail War, I swore it, and the Book's Master is my Master," Signum says solemnly. She wasn't normally that taken with children, but upsetting one - especially her Master - was something she would have preferred to avoid doing.

"For my part...I'm sorry to have dragged you into a war against your will. You truly knew nothing of this, did you...?" Signum wonders, saddened that her Book would have chosen an unwilling wielder.

"However, what's done is done. I will destroy our enemies as quickly as possible so that no harm comes to you, and then you may have your wish from the Holy Grail," Signum affirms, already putting together the basics of strategy in her mind. Obviously she would need to scout and see if any other Servants had been summoned yet, first...

She shook her head and, for the first time in this conversation, held some conviction in her eyes. "I don't want you to kill anyone."

That brings Signum up short once more, her expression snapping straight from serious to shocked.

"Er...you don't want what, Hayate?"

Hayate's expression, however, does not change. She repeats herself, a bit more steadily "I don't want you to kill anyone. There are already enough terrible people in this world, I don't want you to become one of them too, Archer!"

Signum is significantly taken aback by that. Hayate had no idea...and she was serious, too. How could this innocent have possibly summoned her of all people?

She takes a deep breath and releases it, lest she be moved to tears by Hayate's sincerity, or her own confusion. "But...don't you want a wish, Hayate? Think of what you could do with the prize of a miracle - for yourself or for anyone else."

The words come out of Signum's mouth before she has time to consider them, and she regrets them almost immediately. Contradicting her Master - even a staggeringly gentle one - was something she'd never even consider doing on purpose. She's just so flabbergasted by the idea of someone refusing to use her as a weapon that she's lost her normal sense of decorum, or so she reasons.

"But if I had to hurt other people to get that..." She clenched her hands tightly, shaking her head and leaning forward. "I don't want that! If other people have to suffer for something that I want, it isn't worth it!"

Signum pauses, shakes her head, and falls to her knee again by way of apology, head bowed.

"Of...of course, Hayate," she says, ashamed of herself now. To this girl, she probably sounded like some kind of summoned tempter-demon just now - well, she is a demon, but not quite so literally. "I will do as you command. My sword shall be used only to protect your life."

"You're--"

She cuts herself off, unsure about whether to make excuses, but presses ahead anyway. "You're very different from what I expected...Hayate."

That was a load off her mind. Perhaps if they both kept their heads down, they would be able to survive this war. While she did not like the idea of others fighting like they were, she certainly did not want to perpetuate those actions.

Still, Signum's behavior surprised her, and she blinked a few times. "I am?"

Signum pauses to think for a moment, and decides this girl can be trusted with a little more information about her past.

"I...well, my ascension to the status of 'Heroic Spirit' was a bit unique. I can remember previous summonings with the Book of Darkness, and the summoners were significantly less...moral than you," she says, skipping any and all possible details to support that conclusion.

"You're...a good person, Hayate," she adds, based on 100% of the available evidence.

"So you've fought like this before?" She had experience with this sort of thing, perhaps already had blood on her hands from how she spoke. However, if Hayate could help it, that would not happen this time. She would do everything she could to keep that from happening. As Signum's Master, it was the least she could do.

She shook her head to Signum's comment, however. "I don't like to see people fight, especially if it's on my behalf."

"That's a difficult idea to adjust to. I suppose the world must be more peaceful than what I've seen of it before," Signum comments, a bit of wryness coming into her voice. She changes from her position of obeisance to a less formal kneeling seat on the floor, finding herself just about at eye level with her sitting Master. "Or you simply have a different experience with reality than I have. As I mentioned, I've been a soldier for many lifetimes now. I'm not entirely sure how many."

She lowers her head a little. "It isn't very peaceful, actually..."

Signum nods. At least one thing in this situation wasn't completely off from her previous experiences. "Then consider me your protector. We'll put the Grail War aside if that's your desire, but I won't let you come to harm from that or any other source. Does that sound like a better deal, Hayate?"

She nodded. Having a sudden realization, however, she stopped. "But my brother..."

"It is safest if you don't tell him anything I just told you," Signum says. "The more people know about your involvement, however unwilling, in the Grail War, the more dangerous it will be for you. This includes your family."

She frowned. "But he'll want to know why you're here suddenly, and who you are. And I can't lie to him."

"Then tell him the truth. I'm a new servant. Judging from your room here, you're well-off enough that that isn't suspicious, right?" Signum suggests.

"But he might get suspicious since he didn't hire you himself..." This was getting a bit too complicated.

"Call me a down-on-her-luck knight-errant you took pity on, perhaps," Signum says. "I get the impression you'd offer someone like that a roof over her head regardless of your brother, am I right?"

She frowns a little, thinking it. Suddenly an idea comes to mind and she brightens up. "I think I know what will work. Can you hand me one of those crystals over there?"

"Of course," Signum says, standing and retrieving Hayate's Destiny Crystal, not entirely sure how she can tell the difference, but certain of it regardless.

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Neuanfang

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