The Unique Summoning

Another month passed. Two more gems on Kirei’s plate lit up, indicating more Servants being summoned. The War was drawing ever nearer.

Kirei waited patiently at the airport, still wearing his traditional priest’s clothes. He knew he stood out, but he felt more comfortable like this. At 3:00, the scheduled time, he saw a redheaded woman appear at the nearest gate, coming off her plane.



When the woman saw Kirei, she smiled and waved, before running over. “Kirei-san!” she greeted him, a notable Irish accent to her voice. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

Kirei smiled back. “Eight years, I believe. It’s good to see you again, Bazett. How is the Association?”

“Boring, as always. It’s good to get out of the country for a change.”

Kirei led her out of the airport to his waiting car and left. On the way through Fuyuki, the two chatted casually about their lives over the past few years.

Back when she was younger, Bazett McRemitz had met Kirei when he was still an active Executor for the Church. The Mage’s Association often employed her as a hunter of those with Sealing Designations, titles given to those that had unique magical abilities, to be brought back to the Association for study. Though the Mage’s Association considered these Designations to be a “great honor,” for those that were designated, they were little more than prison sentences.

Naturally, such work often aligned with Kirei’s work of hunting dangerous mages and vampires. The two became fast friends, and were comrades in battle on more than one occasion. So, when Kirei invited her to take part in the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki, she was secretly elated to be working with him again. She leaned back and admired the Command Spells on the back of her left hand.



Kirei drove them south out of town, and down a side road to a rarely-travelled wooded area a mile out of town. They stepped out of the car, both of them carrying heavy bags, though Bazzet looked confused.

“Why did we come all the way out here?”

“The city is too dangerous with several Servants already summoned,” Kirei calmly explained. “We need a place where we can avoid the prying eyes of familiars.”

They walked some distance into the woods, and soon came to a clearing, where a summoning circle had already been inscribed upon the ground. Bazett’s heart began to pound in excitement. Soon, she would be taking part in the contest of a lifetime.

“You have the catalyst?” Kirei asked.

Bazett nodded energetically and drew a folded-up cloth out of her bag, then opened it to reveal a large, old and weathered tusk.

“I didn’t think the Calydonian Boar was actually real,” Bazett mused as she looked it over.

“You would be surprised how much truth there is to the legends of old. You memorized the summoning incantation, I presume?”

“Of course,” Bazett answered, glowing.

“I have made a few alterations to it.”

Kirei drew a folded-up piece of paper and handed it to Bazett. Curious, she opened it and briefly scanned his changes, furrowing her brows in confusion. These changes seemed kind of strange. What was this for?

“Also, I would like you to use alongside the catalyst.”

Kirei drew a small glass orb from his bag and handed it to the young mage. Inside was a strange, dark brown murky substance. It didn’t look like much, other than the fact that it seemed to swirly around inside its container of its own volition.

“This is a powerful magical substance,” Kirei explained. “It will give your Servant additional strength upon summoning. You will need it; with any luck, this will be the final Holy Grail War.”

“Odd…” Bazett commented, turning the orb over in her hand. “But, I suppose that makes sense.”

Kirei put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “It will be fine. You are one of the most talented mages I know, and I have full confidence in your abilities. Remember, however, that as mediator, I am obliged to remain neutral. After this point, I cannot give you any further assistance.”

“I understand. Thank you for everything, Kirei.”

She laid the boar tusk at her feet, just outside the magic circle. In her right hand, she held the glass orb that Kirei had given her. She extended the other, the hand with the Command Spells, outstretched before her. It was now or never.

“Let silver and iron be the origin.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.
The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg.
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 felt the mana in the area converging in front of her. A faint white light began to shine from the magic circle.

“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.
I swear my oath here.
I shall attain All the World’s Virtues; I shall have dominion over All the World’s Evils.”

Kirei smiled as wind picked up in the clearing, rotating above the center of the magic circle.

“From the Seventh Heaven, clad in the three great words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraint, keeper of the holy balance!”

The glass orb shattered. Bazett bent over in pain as the mud inside flowed out over her hand. “Aggh!” she screamed. “It burns! What is this?!”

Before she could make sense of it, the mud was suddenly being drawn away from her. It was pulled off of her hand, until not a drip was left, merging with the cyclone of magic before her. Her hand was somewhat reddened and burnt, but not serious damage had been done.

The light of the circle darkened into a deep black as the magic coalesced, then burst outward, nearly knocking Kirei and Bazett over. The young mage held her breath as she looked upon her newly summoned Servant, still holding one hand in pain.

Atalanta's eyes opened and she looked quickly around her. She felt...odd...where was she? The odd feeling wasn't necessarily bad, but just...different. Ah! She had been summoned for the grail war. She saw two people before her. One, a man, in a uniform of some sort, and a red headed woman. "Which of you is my master?" she asked.

Bazett's eyes started shining as she looked upon her new Servant, even forgetting the pain in her hand. A huge smile spread on her face.

"Archer! I'm--" "Just a moment."

Kirei cut the young mage off. Bazett looked at him in confusion as he pulled a folder from his bag, filled with several documents; Atalanta's memories from the previous war. He stepped forward and handed the folder to Atalanta. On top was a note.

"My name is Kirei Kotomine," the note read. "I was your Master in the previous Grail War, though you have no memories of it. As mediator of the current War, I was ineligible to receive new Command Spells, so I have been forced to take unusual steps."

The servant frowned and cast a skeptical glance at the man before opening the folder. My goodness there were indeed quite a few pages. After scanning only the first page she knew she had written these. She was clearly a bit unsettled, and looked up at the priest in confusion.

Kirei waited until Atalanta looked up, then bowed shortly. "Please do not be alarmed."

"Kire--?"

Kirei turned and severed Bazett's left arm at the shoulder with a Black Key.

The stunned mage rocked back, mouth hanging open, then collapsed on the floor, gasping and writhing in pain. Kirei ignored her whimpers and quickly placed his hand atop the Command Spells on her severed arm. With a quick flick of his palm, the Spells peeled away in a shimmering, thin red film. He placed his hand to his shoulder, the Spells sinking through his clothing and disappearing from sight.

Atalanta stepped back a bit, surveying the scene with raised eyebrows. It seemed that the woman had originally been her master, but she wasn't horribly attatched to her. Definitely not enough to avenge her. The servant relaxed, one hand dropping to her side and the other resting on her hip. "Well that's a typical man, isn't it?" she asked the woman, still bleeding from her torn open shoulder.

Bazett grasped her bleeding shoulder with one hand, tears running down her face. "Kirei... why..." She tried to scoot away, but lost control of her legs as the color drained from her face. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell totally limp, her life draining out of her torn shoulder.

Kirei didn't even look back down at her. He merely smiled and extended a hand to shake. "A pleasure to be working with you again. You have a lot to catch up on, I'm sure, before we go too much further."

Atalanta shook his hand, though somewhat hesitantly. "I can see that I wrote these," she remarked holding up the folder. "but you're correct, I have a lot to read through. In any case, I'm not upset to be under control of a superior master than the one I had." the familiar smirk crossed her face before she sat down on the ground to read through all she had previously written. She blushed just a bit at a couple of the parts.

"I'm glad to hear it." Kirei waited patiently while Atalanta read up on her previous activities during the War, all the while still casually ignoring the dying mage next to him. He pulled down his collar somewhat to double check that the Command Spells had settled well on his shoulder. Having them on a place other than a hand was unusual, but it would avert suspicion, in any case.

Eventually she closed the folder and stood. "Well..it seems we have quite a history. You'll forgive me if it takes me a little time to work back up to that, I hope."

"Of course," Kirei answered readily. "I would feel the same in your position. Shall we return to the city?"

" I suppose we shall. Have you rebuilt the church then?" she walked with him to the car. Despite the fact that she truly had no solid memories of the man, she did feel strangely at ease with him.

"Yes. Thankfully, the Church was happy to donate to the cause. They still have a vested interest in the War, after all." He stepped in the car with her and started off back toward the city. "Speaking of which, I am of course breaking the rules by taking on a Servant. Thus I'm planning on taking a more passive role in this War than the last one."

The woman shrugged, "Considering what I read, that's alright with me. The grail couldn't do anything for me anyhow, apparently. But if you need help keeping the peace, I'm happy to assist." she stared off into the distance, letting silence pass between them for a time before remarking, "I feel a little different. More powerful. Did you have something to do with that?"

Kirei smirked slightly. "Yes. For the last ten years Lazarus and Yui have been researching mud from the Grail. With their help, I determined that I could use some of it to give you extra powers. How does it feel?"

"Oh, how sweet of you," she teased, patting his shoulder. "It feels nice. I can't imagine having more power not feeling pleasant."

Kirei chuckled. "I was hoping you'd say that." They hadn't been far from the church, so a few moments later, they pulled up to it and got out of the car. "I did my best to set up a comfortable living space in the basement on short notice. None of us were expecting another War to happen so soon."

"It's not a problem. I've slept on the ground most of my life. I'm sure whatever you've prepared will be more than acceptable." she exited the car, looking up at the church. It was almost exactly as she had described it previously. "You did well. Nothing looks different from what I noted." she let him lead the way inside and to wherever her quarters might be.

The basement didn't look too different from before either, except much of the equipment had been cleared away. In adjacent far corners of the room were two beds, and between them was a comfortable sofa and some chairs and tables.

Kirei looked around thoughfully. "Though I would like you to stay in the church, it would be a problem if any Masters or Servants detected you here..."

Atalanta shrugged, "It's up to you. You could say the other master was killed already and you took me in or something like that. I'm fine with any option." she noticed the statue of herself and smiled.

"I suppose I could," Kirei mused. "I'll think on it. There should be a way to balance both options." Kirei followed her eyes to the Atalanta statue, and suddenly had to hide a small amount of embarrassment. He didn't realize he'd left it sitting out. "It was a gift from Astolfo."

"That seems like something he would do." she took a seat on the couch. "Well, if you want I can help you with reconnaisance. I can see if I can find any of the other servants that might have come to town."

Kirei sat on a chair opposite her. "Yes, I wanted to at least start by getting locations on all the Masters and Servants I could. With how far you can see, you should be able to look about town without attracting too much attention."

"I know that Yui and Lazarus are planning on bringing in a relative of the Quinlans to participate. They're planning on summoning Alexander the Great. And, I'm sure the Einzbern master has already set up shop in the castle nearby. That's all I know at the moment."

"Well in that case, let me go out and get you some more information," she stood and left, ruffling his hair as she passed him. Soon she was checking all around Fuyuki and it's surrounding area, gathering information from afar.