There was a man who said goodbye to his daughter in the crowd. The girl watched him fade into nothingness until he disappeared. And far away from her, near the place where the man disappeared, a boy with black hair and an emotionless face looked at her silently.
The boy sighed and took a step away, said goodbye to another girl who was nearby, and went to where Kotomine Kirei was waiting for him.
After that, everyone disappeared and left her alone. The girl, Tohsaka Rin, held a book in her arms, a gift from her father, and closed her eyes.
"Take care, otou-san. Goodbye... Sakura. Come back soon, Toru..."
***
Rin opened her eyes when she heard the alarm clock. The noise of that infernal device was annoying every morning, but it was the only thing that could really wake her from her sleep.
"Shut up! You're annoying me," she said, grabbing the alarm clock and trying to throw it, but she stopped and just turned it off.
Sleepy, Rin sat up in bed and stretched her arms. She had little tears in the corners of her eyes from sleep, and her hair was all messy.
With her mind blank, she got out of bed and prepared to take a bath and get dressed in her school uniform. A second-year girl at Homurahara must be responsible, or at least Rin is.
After bathing and getting dressed, she found herself at the exit of the mansion. It was too early in the morning, an hour earlier than usual, but Rin didn't remember. Last night, when she opened the trunk with the few remaining secrets of the Tohsaka family, all the clocks in the house broke and ended up showing an hour earlier than it actually was.
"There are no people on the street... How strange."
It wouldn't be strange if she took the time into account.
Anyway. She walked through the empty, restored streets of Fuyuki City until she reached the school. When she stopped at the gate, she ran into Mitsuzuri Ayako, the captain of the Archery Club. Mitsuzuri simply stated the obvious.
What was the infamous Tohsaka Rin doing at school so early? Not even Rin knew. The conversation didn't last long, as Mitsuzuri was on her way to the club, so she had to say goodbye to Rin.
Continuing on her way, she didn't find much. The student council president, Ryuudou Issei, was arguing with Emiya Shirou about repairs to the school's heating system. As always, Emiya was helping someone at school with something. This time, Emiya was helping the president.
In fact, Emiya greeted her, saying it was very early, but Rin paid no attention and continued on her way.
Rin doesn't know much about Emiya. She only knows that he is an orphan and that he helps everyone as if he were some kind of slave. That wasn't going to get him anywhere, but Rin didn't really care, because it wasn't her problem.
At lunch, Rin took the time to reflect and remember things from the past. She sighed wearily as she looked up at the sky. She was on the roof of the school, and the view was good.
Her sister, Sakura, disappeared ten years ago and reappeared as the adopted daughter of one of the Lords of the Clock Tower. No one knew how much Rin wanted to go find her younger sister, but it was too late.
Rin lost her sister the moment she didn't even hesitate to stop her from leaving with the Matou family. She didn't feel worthy of going to find her. That's why she never tried to go...
At least it seemed like Sakura had a good life as a prodigy of modern magecraft.
"Why do things have to get so complicated?" A broken relationship that would be very difficult to repair.
Rin lamented, biting into a piece of bread and drinking some milk from a carton. "Sometimes I think my father was some kind of anarchist..."
The main culprit, of course, was Tokiomi. He sold his youngest daughter to another family and now entrusted his eldest daughter with the most difficult of tasks. Although it is a task that all magi have, it was really impossible.
When she finished eating, she got up from her seat near the wire mesh and put away everything she had used to eat. After thinking about tonight's training, she felt she should be prepared for any calls from her teacher.
***
That same afternoon, when she returned home, Rin found a voice message on the answering machine. It was Kirei, her magus combat teacher.
[Rin, you should already know this, but tomorrow is the deadline.]
Kirei was referring to the deadline for summoning the servant.
[Unless you don't want to fight and fear for your life, come to the church—]
Rin cut the message short. She didn't care about anything that cheeky man said. She had had enough after the hardships she endured two years ago as a student of that crazy clergyman. She, at least now, knew the art that the church had for facing magus in hand-to-hand combat.
"I already know, you don't have to repeat it."
After that, she changed her clothes and went out to the courtyard of the house. Since the place had its own Bounded Field that hid everything that happened inside the mansion, there was no need to worry about ordinary people or spies.
Comfortable clothes for moving around. A tight-fitting suit with a thick vest and light, stretchy leggings. Mobility in hand-to-hand combat was an invaluable advantage.
When she was ready, she practiced all the moves she had learned from Kirei. Of course, she couldn't use knives like that man did, but she could use a pair of daggers to imitate a certain Assassin she had met in her childhood.
Finally, she returned to the mansion, took a bath, and got ready. It was already quite late, almost 2:00 a.m. At this hour, Rin's mana was more fluid and dense, perfect for summoning a servant.
With difficulty, she moved the table covering the basement's summoning circle and placed all the necessary items. As a catalyst, she took out the ring she had received ten years ago. She wore it as a necklace because the ring was very beautiful, and it was also a memento left to her by Assassin.
"With this and your name, I'm sure you'll appear. You'll be the strongest..." Rin said. She clutched the necklace with determination and placed it on the table.
Next, she used a pile of stones and the pendant she found in the trunk. All those precious stones were filled with mana from years of cultivation. If there was ever a time to use them, it was now.
"My mana is perfect. My summoning will be too."
A strong Master summons a strong Servant. Rin was aware of this and of Assassin's lack of skills, but from what she had heard about the outcome of the war ten years ago, Assassin's Noble Phantasm compensated for all his weaknesses.
Now, with all this mana, Asahi Toru Assassin should appear with great power.
But at some point she wondered if Asahi Toru could appear under another class. The answer was yes, but the World itself forces Toru to appear under the Assassin class. She could well bring Toru as a Rider or a Berserker, even as a Caster, but she did not know about this limitation.
If Toru were summoned as a Berserker, the balance of the war would be broken, as that would be the most powerful version of Asahi Toru, with no restrictions on his abilities and a Noble Phantasm different from the one seen ten years ago.
"You will come back, Toru. I will bring you back."
She closed her eyes and held out her hand with the jewels.
The magic circle in front of her began to glow, and mana fluctuated strongly, causing a slight breeze that moved her hair.
She is an extraordinary magus, so a long chant would be completely unnecessary. Rin trusts her own abilities and wanted to use a simplified version of the common chant.
So...
"Declaration..."
She began... Drops of mana sprinkled over the circle, and it increased in intensity. The wind danced and dust rose.
"Thou, who art born of the heavens, by my summons, come forth."
She clenched her fist, and the memory of Toru and Sakura appeared in her mind. The catalyst, the ring on the table, the mana flowing like a river. The memories and feelings that await. All of that came together as one to summon the servant.
With her voice, she called him from the bottom of her heart.
"Guardian of the Scales! Asahi Toru!"
A curtain of smoke exploded. Rin coughed and looked around.
"It was perfect!" she said to herself. She celebrated prematurely, as there was no one in the basement with her.
"Huh? What happened? Where's Assassin?"
Confused, she looked in all the dark places in the basement, even under the table, but there was nothing.
Suddenly, a loud bang shook the ceiling, and Rin looked up. She immediately ran toward the source of the noise. In the lobby of the house, she tried to open the door, but it was stuck.
"Why won't this thing open? It's broken!"
From pushing the door so hard, it fell off and Rin was able to enter the room. However, she stopped at the entrance, confused, because the person waiting for her there was not Assassin, much less an easily recognizable historical figure.
It was a tall man with dark skin and white hair. The man had his eyes closed and was waiting on top of the debris from the ceiling and some broken furniture. In fact, that wasn't the only thing broken in the room. The entire room was destroyed, with torn curtains, broken furniture, and damaged walls.
Noticing Rin's presence, the man opened his eyes and looked at her. For a moment he looked surprised, as if he recognized the girl, but then he smiled confidently.
Rin, suspicious, narrowed her eyes and took a step to the side. She remembered something when she saw the broken clocks.
"That's right... The clocks were an hour fast..."
That meant it wasn't two in the morning, but one in the morning.
"Oh... It can't be," she grabbed her head in regret. "I messed up... I wanted to summon Assassin."
"Pfff..." the man laughed. "Assassin? Are you serious? What a strange Master has summoned me."
Rin frowned. She was furious at having failed, but she had already summoned the servant and there were no second summons at this point. Her expression showed a little sadness.
"It doesn't matter now... Who are you?" she asked. If she didn't summon the mystic Asahi Toru, then she must have summoned something similar.
"Is that what you want to know? I should be asking that question," the man laughed. He seemed quite confident, showing that side of himself from the start.
Rin didn't get upset and breathed calmly.
"You're not a chick who thinks the first thing it sees is its mother. You should already know that it was me who summoned you... Even though it backfired on me..." She narrowed her eyes, waiting for the man's response.
"Huh. You weren't here when I was summoned, but I'll forget about that for now. Do you have any proof that you're my Master?"
"Here's the proof." Rin showed him her Command Spells.
"I don't mean that. I want to know if you're worthy of my loyalty. It seemed like you were looking for an Assassin. Maybe you're not worthy enough to choose another class of servant. That would be disappointing."
"Aah... Are you saying I'm not worthy of being a Master?"
The man rose from the rubble and looked Rin up and down. "It doesn't matter. Although I don't like the idea, I will accept you as my Master. But I have conditions. I will do whatever I want and fight however I want. You can hide anywhere while I win."
"What?"
"You heard me. That's all I wanted to say."
For some reason, this guy turned out to be extremely annoying. Rin couldn't contain her anger at this servant's insolence. Not only did she fail to summon Toru, but she ended up with a rude servant who doesn't follow orders. Was this the worst day of her life?
But once again, she calmed down.
"So you're going to do whatever you want, huh..." Rin smiled. "In that case, I wouldn't bother using a Command Spell to make you commit suicide. Maybe I could kill another Master and steal their Servant. Yeah... I should probably do that."
The man frowned. "You wouldn't dare."
Rin looked at the man seriously. She was very angry and found it difficult to control herself. If using a Command Spell irresponsibly was an option, she would do it. Although she also thought that this would be a fair threat.
But wasting one of the spells was foolish, she knew, but she had had bad luck with her summoning. Luckily, the man resigned himself instantly and sat back down in the rubble.
"I give up," he said. "You're a horrible person."
Rin smiled with a vein throbbing in her forehead, but it seemed she had won against this tall, muscular guy who dressed like a clown in red and black, at least she thought so.
***
Elsewhere, a young boy was crawling through the darkness of the alleys. His eyes were almost dead, and his hair was completely white. His skin was just as white, with veins throbbing painfully on his body; it was as if something was moving under his skin.
He could barely stand. He was holding onto a cane, and a mysterious man in the darkness laughed at that.
"The war has barely begun and you already want to go out and fight. I like you, boy. Let's keep looking, but we'll do it my way."
The man stepped out of the darkness and turned out to be a bearded old man with a hat. He looked like a pirate, albeit with slight differences. He was more elegant than a real pirate, but that was obvious considering his Spanish origin. Moreover, his eyes looked evil at first glance.
Without hesitation, the old man grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and took him into the darkness, disappearing from the sight of anyone who might have seen anything.
The war was already underway. The Masters hide in the darkness of the night to begin the confrontation.
***
Back with Rin, she was now in her father's old office. She looked out the window as Toru once did in the past. Behind her, the servant she had summoned looked at her with his arms crossed.
"I think I was wrong about you, Master," said the man. "At least you had the intelligence not to use Command Spells on something foolish."
"Are you calling me foolish?" Rin turned around and frowned.
The man, surprised, opened his eyes a little, but then sighed. This Master is difficult to deal with.
"No. Not at all. I'm just assuming your ability to make decisions. That's why I said I was wrong about you, because I underestimated you due to your youth. Even if you're not completely worthy, your strength and ability to decide are quite decent, and that's all I need."
"What? So, you're saying that I..."
The man bowed respectfully to Rin.
"I have accepted you as my Master," but a small drop of sweat slid down his forehead. "But that you can threaten someone with death while having the ability to kill them... I'm surprised, but it seems you are willing to make that kind of decision."
That a Master was ready and willing to kill was a good sign. It meant that the magus was willing to fight.
Rin smiled at those words. Now this servant was speaking her language.
She then asked the man about his class as a Servant, and he replied that he was Archer. She regretted not having summoned Assassin, but she had no other options. Now she must fight alongside Archer in this war.
—Two days later—
Having agreed on her motivations and objectives with Archer, and for some reason not having discovered his identity, Rin was ready to begin her fight.
Archer says he doesn't remember anything about his past because the summoning went wrong. Rin decided to believe him and carry on as usual. Archer also repaired everything he had broken that night and even knows how to cook. Without a doubt, Archer is a servant.
Now they were on their way to school. Rin couldn't afford to miss more than two days of school. Since she and Archer had been patrolling at night to see if they could find any defenseless Masters, time flew by.
But something bad happened. The moment they both set foot in the school, they felt a sinister Bounded Field enclosing the school in a dome. It was a magecraft whose presence made Rin's blood run cold.
"Archer..."
[Yes. It seems there is a stupid magus among us. Only a novice would dare to do something that would reveal the existence of magecraft. What will you do about it, Master?] Archer replied from his ghostly form.
"For now, I'll take care of figuring out what this is. You keep an eye out for any suspicious activity."
That same afternoon, after school, Rin took it upon herself to ruin the configuration of every Bounded Field anchor she could find. Until now, there were seven magic circles scattered throughout the school, but by nightfall, she had already managed to break into the configuration of all seven seals.
There was only one left, which she was ruining right now.
"The configuration of this thing is too complex and messy. I've never seen a language like this before. And the nature of this barrier... If it's activated, it would destroy the body of anyone inside..."
[A barrier that eats souls. It's a good idea, really.]
"What do you mean?"
[Even though a Servant can live solely on the mana supplied by their Master, it never hurts to have an extra reserve.]
"Something like that is..." Rin clenched her fists in disgust. If someone was capable of using such methods, it was truly distasteful.
Archer seemed to agree.
[I think the same. If you did something like that, I wouldn't be worthy of my loyalty."
At least there was something they both agreed on. Anyway, the seal on the floor was too complex to break, but Rin could deconfigure it like she did with the other six seals. If she couldn't eliminate the cause, at least it would become a headache for the guy who came up with this.
When the circle changed its configuration, a male voice echoed.
"You eliminated that thing? What a waste..."
Standing on the wire mesh, a man dressed in blue carried a red spear.