Radiant----
You were honest, prideful, and affectionate.
Your smile was as gentle and brilliant as the morning sun.
You were compassionate. You loved all that is good and believed in Justice.
Even though you despised conflict, you were unmatched when you wielded a sword.
The shining blade, which righted all wrongs in the world and purged all evil.
----A faeirytale prince.
Such a prince did not exist.
It was meaningless to seek him.
The real world was rather cold and ruthless.
We were raised under these doctrine, by our loved ones, by our teachers.
Or in other words, by the world.
The world was cold and merciless.
It was drenched in black, at best it was grey.
Princes or white stallions, those did not exist.
Dazzling dreams and illusions would not exist anywhere.
But we knew.
The prince existed somewhere.
That's right, we knew.
For him to have existed in fairytales, he must lived somewhere.
Yes----
We knew.
Brilliance (You) existed in this world.
Fate (You) existed in this world.
Parted at times, united at others, but one day we would be united.
Even if we were torn by the darkness of the world.
Shrouded in grey and silver, wielding a blade more radiant than everything
------ You, have arrived.
Fate/Prototype Argent Fragments
The dead cannot return.
That which hath passed is forever lost.
No matter how great a miracle,
It may only affect those who still exist.
The dying world shall be saved once again.
Heavenly Jerusalem shall appear once more.
The Kingdom shall judge all.
And from the hither shore of the roaring waves, seven heads and ten crowns shall emerge.
O’ you which hath sunken deep into sin.
Thy name is the Enemy.
Thy pursuits are of gluttony.
Thy praises shall morph into blasphemy and sweep across the land.
The miracle that nourishes this land shall be the foundation.
Henceforth I invoke the law of reversed logic, and show all the lost love of our Lord.
Holy Grail War.
That was the slaughter on which the magi gambled their wishes.
There were seven magi who gained the Angelic Ranks, and seven Servants.
The Heroes of the past who died of "unnatural causes" acquired the spiritual vessels known as Servants and were able to briefly materialize in the modern world. These Heroes then gathered with their Master magi and waged fierce battles that were beyond human comprehension, until there was but one left.
The time was 1999 AD.
The end of the past millennium.
At the promised land in the Far East ---- the latest Holy Grail War began in Tokyo.
Now----
There was a Servant standing before me.
Grey eyes.
Argent armour.
The strongest Servant stood beside me, the 7th-Angel of Rule, the lowest ranking Master, and vowed to fight in this war together.
The knight who vowed to protect me.
Sabre.
You towered over me at that time.
I gazed upon you, the same you from eight years ago.
Eight years ago, you stood by my sister, fighting at places I did not even know.
There was so much I did not know.
What happened to you?
What happened to father?
This Holy Grail War, what was its purpose?
What happened to my sister?
Sister---
Manaka.
The one who was more dazzling than everyone.
The one who fought by your side in that Holy Grail War 8 years ago.
I was young at that time, so I could not recall much now. However, I could remember some things.
For example, I------
Dazzling sunlight filtered through the gaps in the closely shut curtain.
Birds chirped on the branches near the window as if to report the time.
The feeling of morning. The darkness and coolness of the night disappeared like magic. Last night's "tomorrow" finally arrived as "today".
"MmmMmmm---"
Rubbing her heavy eye lid, Sajyou Ayaka awakened from her soft bed.
Sunlight. Bird song.
Although the morning atmosphere should be refreshing and comforting, Ayaka found it hard to love it since it came at such an unfortunate time.
(It's already morning.)
She could not deny that she really loved the feeling of the bed that had her body temperature. If asked she liked or disliked such a warm bed suited for napping, of course she would like it.
(The alarm clock had not rung yet.)
With a sense of anticipation, she stretched out a hand and reached for the alarm clock beside her pillow. Her head was still buried in blankets.
She liked the sensation of cold air around her right hand.
The clock was cold as expected. She pulled into the blanket.
The clock displayed year, month, and day. It was quite a high end clock. She received it as a birthday present last year. Although she wanted something cuter, she could not be bothered to complain to his bother. She had been using it for more than a year.
[1991]
After looking at the rarely checked calendar, she shifted her eyes to the time.
[6:14AM]
For girls her age, this would be a time to go back to sleep. Ayaka's life style was a bit different from normal elementary school girls. She looked at the displayed time with a somewhat bothered expression.
"... just about the right time."
She muttered to herself, while shutting the alarm of the clock.
The set alarm time was 6:15 AM.
It was certainly just about right. Ayaka felt she could not snooze any longer.
She slowly climbed out of her bed, and sluggishly removed her pajamas.
The morning air was real cold. Chilly. She reached for the clothes she put on the chair last night before bed, and quickly put them on.
When did she learn to change by herself?
At least since she was in elementary school. Then again, she could not recall anyone helping her change. Was it father, or was it mother who helped her? She could not really remember.
It was probably not father.
Even though she could not remember, surprisingly this she was certain.
"OK".
After changing, she stood in front of the mirror beside her wardrobe.
Everything was in place, looking good.
This top with bright red was Ayaka's favorite. The green buttons were certainly cute.
Looking at the time on the clock, she quickly combed her hair.
Since her hair was not that long, she quickly finished. Good, there was enough time. However, she was still in a bit of hurry because it was close.
(.... if I were to cook, I had to be earlier.)
Although she could change by herself, cooking was still an issue. It had been handled by father.
Many household chores were handled by father alone. Although helpers did come occasionally, for the Sajyou household with many forbidden rooms, father still ended up taking care of everything. Ayaka only helped with chores when permitted by father.
"Father should be awake now."
Father was still up late last night. Ayaka usually did not help in preparing breakfast. At the most, she would arrange the utensils.
She had other duties to attend to in the morning.
The scheduled daily morning exercises.
In other words ---- black magic training, both studying and practice.
The air in the hallway was much colder than the rooms. Ayaka's breaths were white.
She huffed at her hands to warm them, and walked to the washing area. She stepped on top of the platform father built for Ayaka and washed her face with icy water that was colder than the air.
The lightheadedness of morning disappeared instantly.
Her sleepiness vanished, and her senses cleared.
Ayaka wiped the moisture from her face with her towel. Mmnn, she nodded. She looked in the mirror, a lot of hair on her forehead was wet. It would have helped if she helped it up with a clip. Her reflection showed a sense of frustration.
"Don't make weird faces, Ayaka."
She nodded again, and returned to the hallway.
Then, something happened.
"Eh?"
A tasty aroma, was it from a neighbor's breakfast? Although bacon and egg were no stranger to the Sajyou breakfast menu, the aroma was like bacon, but also like some other type of cuisine. Since Ayaka was unfamiliar with cooking, she really had no idea.
What was it? Ayaka pondered as she walked down the hallway.
She turned after she reached the end.
Ayaka walked towards the garden.
After exiting the washing area, one needed to open the door to the hallway outside, walk along the hallway, and finally open the glass door before reaching the garden.
"Ayaka's house's huge", her classmates would say. Perhaps because she always lived here, she never felt anything special except when she visited the garden.
It was not just big, it was vast.
However, it was not obnoxious.
Even if she walked very far for school everyday, even if she had a lot of homework, she never hated coming here.
----- It was not a yard. It was not a park.
------It was a garden.
Thriving trees. Flowers. Dozens species of plants. And innumerable doves.
Recognizing Ayaka's silhouette, some of the doves flied towards her and congregated at her feet.
There were too many plants in it to call it a yard, but it was not sizable enough to be called a park. Ayaka thought calling it a garden was appropriate.
A long time ago Ayaka asked "why was it called a garden", father did not really provide an answer except nodding vaguely. Ayaka thus thought father did not name this place.
It must be mother.
If one were to classify it, the garden would definitely be a greenhouse.
The wall and the ceiling were made of glass to maximize light exposure. During home visits, teachers used to comment that the garden was a countermeasure against the acid rain and making such a garden was a reflection of father's greatness. In reality, it was not even certain that any of that were the reason for creating the garden. It was not even clear if father was involved in making the decision.
"Good morning."
Not "morning", but "good morning".
Ayaka did not pay attention to the gathering doves. This was Ayaka's morning practice area. It was similar to father's workshop, with medicine bottles and mountains of tomes. Ayaka found her greetings reaching no one but the wooden wall.
"Eh?"
She tilted her head.
Father was usually here at this time.
Between six thirty and seven thirty, an hour before breakfast, Ayaka usually learned black magic from father.
This was Ayaka's morning lesson.
However, there was no one