It had been a day since every prospective Master had arrived, and Zelretch was currently sitting at a desk in his room, silently shuffling through the profiles of each one of them. Though a few more experienced magi had answered the call (thankfully), most of the cast seemed to be around the age where youth was both a blessing and a curse. He was certain they'd find a way through each mishap, yes, but at the same time, that youth might cost them if they were too haughty.
...
As all magi tended to be, of course.

Glancing over towards the clock hung on the opposite side of the room, the Wizard Marshal nodded and cleared his throat before turning towards the side of his desk. There, a small microphone sat connected to some arcane tangle of wires below, and with it, a small button sat there.

It was about time to gather them all, and probably have them eat before their first excursion. There would be no time for training now, which was a shame, but something like this couldn't be helped.

With a press of the button, Zelretch began to speak, his voice now broadcast through the rooms of each of the participants.

"To all Masters: please gather in the hall on the third floor. I shall meet you there momentarily. I repeat: please gather in the hall on the third floor. Thank you."

Releasing the button, Zelretch smiled as he stood up from his chair, stretching the muscles in his back before taking his coat off the back of it and putting it on.

"Let us see what these people have to offer today."

---

Keisuke had been flipping through a small book of notes as the call to gather came in from the loudspeaker above his head. The timing for this was slightly annoying, but given how it had already been an hour or so since he had woken up (it was roughly 8 on the clock now), this much was fine. The last few days had been used to get over the jet lag from the trip, and so he had been able to settle into his regular sleep patterns again.

Or, well, 'regular' as far as things went for an Enforcer who went globe-hopping like the rest of them.

Touching the ring fitted around his left ring finger to make sure it was still in place, Keisuke quickly moved to change out of his pajamas and into something a bit more fitting for his line of work.
Like one of the suits that he wore on the job. Those always worked for formal occasions.

Leaving the book he had been reading on his desk, Keisuke silently slipped into his outfit and left his room. All the dorms in the facility were on the fourth floor, so he was at least thankful for the location being not too far off. Opting to take the stairs instead of one of the various elevators scattered around, the Enforcer walked to the hall in question and pulled out his ID card--one which had been handed to him the day he arrived--and tapped it against the panel on the wall. The door opened soon after, letting him walk in to see...

A giant room filled with magic circles.

"...I assume we're summoning today, huh?" he muttered under his breath as he moved a few steps in, taking care to not tread on any of the circles laid on the ground.

"That would be correct."

The sudden voice caused Keisuke to turn around abruptly, only to see that Zelretch was the one who had just spoken. The Wizard Marshal spoke no more as he walked to the opposite end of the room before turning around to stare at the doorway to wait for the others to arrive.

Biting his lip, Keisuke walked along the edge of the room, eventually stopping at one of the circles that had nothing inside of them. The lack of seats was understandable, but waiting was tiring, and so the Enforcer simply decided to lean against the wall and wait for the others to arrive.

It was only a matter of time before things began now.

"Even so, for a magus facility, this place is surprisingly high tech..."

The ritual involved in the procurement of a Heroic Spirit... until recently, it wasn't something Althienna had put too much thought into. Oh, certainly, the Grail War was nothing to be simply ignored... but Althienna had decided it was simply not her duty, unless she was selected as a representative, to concern herself with it. To be quite frank, she found herself happier that way. It was easier to immerse herself in things she enjoyed without worrying about planning for something so... hazardous. But now that she had been selected for such a matter, well... To be truthful, she found herself rather excited really. At the moment she was uncertain, she had to confess. But at the same time, well... Althienna had some hopes!

One of them was admittedly rather silly, the silver-haired magus had to admit, as she studied the book for the fourth time that day.

Althienna wanted, whatever hero she summoned, to be cute. Oh, and powerful too, but if they were cute wouldn't that be a lovely bonus? Of course it would be! Ah, but this was a serious duty, that she had to take seriously. Worrying about the potential cuteness of whatever Servant she summoned was almost entirely irrelevant. And so, as the announcement came, she took her suitcase and got to her feet, shutting the book and setting it aside. This place was strange, really... so much technology that she was hardly familiar with and had little need for. After all, she was a magus.

Still, she proceeded along to the meeting room... and as she arrived, was rather surprised to see that the room was full of magic circles. So they had already prepared for summoning Servants?

Smiling to herself, quietly, Althienna took a place beside a circle with... ah, what was that? A few scraps of curled, golden hair, perhaps...?

"To all Masters: please gather in the hall on the third floor. I shall meet you there momentarily. I repeat: please gather in the hall on the third floor. Thank you."

After a few days of doing nothing, Amedea was rather glad for some form of direction. With the high tech nature of her building having put her at ease after a flight consisting of wondering what kind of 12th century mansion would have been awaiting her, she had been silently considering the prospect that maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad for her.

Pocketing the keys to her motorcycle as she walked out of the room, she walked down the hall. While she was more than apprehensive about participating in this entire ritual/event/war/whatever it was going to be, she knew she would have to deal with it if she wanted to go back to a relatively normal life again. As such, there was no point in whining or complaining about it now. To take her mind off of her predicament, she reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper...

"What's this?" she glared at her family as she sat on one end of the dining table for the first time in over 10 years, "After all this time you're finally reaching out to me?"

"Don't be so cold," the man who unfortunately was Amedea's father said with a pleasant smile hiding a layer of venom. "You are my daughter; it would be remiss of me to just abandon you like that."

"You were - and still are - perfectly fine with me not even existing in your eyes if it wasn't for that damn marshal's invitation and you know it."

"Yes, the Wizard Marshal Zeltrech... my dear, I have a gift for you."

Reaching out in his breast pocket, her father slid a piece of paper across the table. Taking the piece of paper, Amedea opened it and read. "What's this?"

"The Marshal will no doubt ask you to partake in this ritual, the beginning of which involves a smaller ritual of its own." the father explained. "As a part of this ritual, you will make this chant. However, you are a neglectful magus - a nonexistent one at that, if one might say." he smirked in response to her glare. "As such, I forsee... difficulty in your capability to meet the Marshal's demands, and in return I wanted to give you a gift, so to speak. Something to make it easier for someone who is as less skilled in the ways of the magus than your cohorts undoubtedly will. Just follow the instructions on the paper and read the incantation when instructed, and all will be well.

Consider it my gift to my daughter who I have not seen in over a decade before she goes off to battle."

Entering the room, Amedea took a look at the two other magus who had already arrived before nodding respectfully in Zeltrech's direction and walking towards a normal, empty circle. She had no idea what the objects that were in some of the circles were, and she had no intention of finding out.

Unlike most else, Svetleaze knew what they were going to be doing today before coming down to the room. Someone had to assist and double-check with drawing so many magic circles (and making sure it didn't draw on the Fuyuki Great Grail instead) and who better to assist with that than the Einzbern homunculus? It was their design in the first place. It was a nice distraction from this overly-technological facility, besides. So much redundant and unnecessary technology with the number of magi here...

Her plans for the summoning remained unchanged from arrival: refrain from using a catalyst. Whilst she could undoubtedly summon a far stronger Servant than anyone here by putting her weapon to a secondary use, it would derail the plans for the Fifth War even further. Not summoning someone so powerful as Berserker could lead to a repeat of the disastrous Fourth due to a lack of control... and to force a summon as Berserker would reveal a secret known only to those that originally founded the Grail Wars.

Not having to accept the enormous mana drain from Heracles was also pressing on her mind. Though she might be able to manage it, unlike the unfortunately human mages here, such a thing without being specifically designed for it would arrest her combat ability for certain. With no idea what was coming next, her ability to safeguard herself even with a Servant to do the same was paramount.

In the end, as the other Masters filtered into the room, Svetleaze stood by an empty circle and waited with a cold expression on her face. She would just put in as much power as reasonable and hope to summon a hero sufficiently potent.

---

Staying in such a high-tech facility was almost uncomfortable, as her home had nothing more complicated than a wood-fired stove in it, but having taken multiple first-aid courses in various environments not completely out of her familiarity. Having arrived over a week in advance--it was the cheapest trip available--she had found time to try and (unsuccessfully) make inroads with befriending some of the other Masters, and worked on something for her Servant. It might have seemed frivolous to prepare a gift for a warrior but... she had to ensure a good relationship from the start, no?

It could get quite cold, in the middle of such a huge ocean, and Ghyslaine had decided to knit a scarf. It didn't help that reports about the older grail wars had indicated something of a... lack of warm clothing on the Servants behalf, so preparation was prudent. Since she hadn't thought to prepare for days of little else to do in advance, the end result was a patchwork of bright and cheery colours; Ghyslaine hadn't got enough of any one colour for a consistent pattern.

After her arrival, she took up a position by a vacant and empty circle. The scarf was put aside for the minute as she looked closely at the design... and very deliberately unwrapped a bandage from around her hand. The mana for a summoning had to be quite a drain and, to offset it, a thin line of blood fed from her hand to the circle, magically infused and tracing out the pattern.

This would make it easier. And maybe the Servant would appreciate a scarf if summoned with her blood as a component?

Greeting the day with a yawn, Richard later found the day greeting him in turn with the Wizard Marshall's summons. He had been lounging in his room with not much else to do, twirling an unlit cigarette between his fingers when the loudspeakers called. Richard rose from the bed having long since dressed for the day head and tucked the unlit stick back into a bronze case with a dozen others matching it.

It would not have done well to ignore their host when beckoned, basic manners and all, especially when the lord of mansion was the Wizard Marshall. Richard hadn't asked why he had been asked to attend this gathering, and after catching glimpses of some other magi now guests on the island, he was no closer to finding any commonality. There was obvious purpose to gather them, being they were required to summon the Servants for a grand endeavor that was rather hush-hush, but why a relative nobody like himself could be wanted for was beyond the depths he could safely fathom in the time he was allotted.

These ruminations were as fruitless as they were pointless, the time dedicated to them never to return, though he would admit they helped alleviate any nerves in regards to summoning forth a heroic spirit. Richard couldn't very well see himself in the company of legendary figures such as Beowulf, Odysseus, or Perseus, and it was bedeviling to imagine how such a working relationship would work considering the differences in status and stature.

Entering into the hall decorated with a plethora of summoning circles, Richard choose to avoid any that looked to be holding what could have been a weapon or piece of armor. Instead, he alighted beside a circle contained an empty vial. He thought it may have been some magical, perhaps chemical, concoction that would indicate the handiwork of a potential Caster or Assassin, and hoped this would prove a more fitting match.

---

Margarita was in the process of enjoying a light snack of scones with Darjeeling tea when the announcement rang through every room. The aged Enforcer, getting on in her years and rather enjoying what was available to imbibe, could only release a soft sigh and set down the cup. After taking a moment to wrap a chocolate chip scone in a napkin and stuff it away for later, she gathered up the rest of her things and made for the door.

Her feet carried her down spacious halls and up winding stairs, traversing the island mansion with a straight face and eyes that did not wander from the path before her. Invited they may have been, but this was still for all intents and purposes the lair of magus and all of Margarita's experience told her not to pry beneath the façade of whatever she was shown or risk incurring unwarranted danger.

And if she were to be honest, and she often was, then it really was poor manners to go snooping around someone's residence without good reason. Margarita had already felt a bit out place when she went looking for someone to send a snack up to her room, and she wasn't looking to stumble into a workshop by straying from the path.

This concluded in an expedited trip to hall upon the third floor, where other prospective Masters were already gathering before whatever circle struck their fancy. Just as they must have, the Enforcer contemplated what would be drawn forth from her own incantation, and spent the better part of the night and morning in quiet contemplation of the outcome for their coming ritual.

Standing before an empty circle, she put her faith in the system to find the Servant that would best compliment her, and hope that the two of them could work together well.

Another day, another chance for the individual known as “Ravel Lavoria D’Arby” to prove her own existence as well as prove her family could once again obtain strength through her own power.

Though that was a bit of a mouthful.

Let’s start at the beginning. An offer one could hardly turn down. A request from a “certain individual” who recognized her magical prowess and had acked her to participate within the confines of some sort of “war”, but to the ramifications of why “he” needed such prominent mage was not known to Ravel. Nevertheless it was more than an honor to be selected, and it wasn’t as if Ravel believed herself incapable to participate in this war. In fact, she wished to once against show the world the combined understanding of the D’Arby brand of magecraft.

However, at the same time such contests tended to have a “price”, and that tended to be the price of blood. One could simply be killed, ending a lineage of Magi.

This would be the case for Ravel. The D’Arby family had once produced some great magi. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, and not unlike a certain worm family, the recent Magi of the lineage were, simply put, really bad. It seemed that the D’Arby magi line would simply die out, or get absorbed by another family wishing to improve their own standings.

A miracle seemed to bless their home. And that was the younger daughter known as “Ravel”. Though not the perfect magus, Ravel was much superior to anything that the D’Arby’s had produced in many generations. Therefore it made sense that she would become the next family head and lead their family in the right direction, out of the ruin the former generations had forced upon it.A weighted responsibility that someone like Ravel took great pride in wishing to accomplish.

She had to be able to summon the strongest Servant.

She would summon the strongest class of Servant, Saber. At least, that is what she understood from her research. The Servants of the Saber Class Seemed superior in many ways to those of the other classes, from base parameters to legends involving swords, the one of the Sword were always the strongest.

Perhaps with her English blood, she could pull the strongest card, the Saber, like the Legendary Knights of the Round. Yes, she would be able to summon a powerful legend, even without a catalyst on her hand, like Gawain, Lancelot or King Arthur. At least, she hoped she could draw out a Servant of this calibre. Though Masters were important to keeping their Servant in the war, a Master like herself could hardly hope to match a Servant in combat. If she were to draw a “dud”, then perhaps it was simply something that was “not meant to be”. If this was the case, Ravel would accept her fate and continue her pursuit for the Holy Grail, but summoning Stronger Servants tended to yield better results.

From what she could see around here, there were a few other potential Masters that were also summoned, though each of them looked a tad bit difficult to speak with. Or at the very least, Ravel was a bit afraid to speak with them. Though she was the sort to idealize the world around her as something a bit more fantastical than it should be considered as, her ability to discuss things with others was rather lacking.

@PKMNB0Y

That, and the fact Ravel did believe the others could be considered genuinely scary. There was a pretty frightening japanese man who’s sharp, sanpaku eyes seemed to display a rather cold and defiant aura to those around him. Perhaps it was a bit rude to constantly make passing glances to him, but Ravel was intoxicated by the sharpness of his eyes. They were the eyes of a man who looked like he didn’t have time for anyone’s stories. Perhaps in a regular setting, this seemed to be the sort of man that if Ravel had seen on the streets she would choose to cross over as to not make contact with him. Despite this, he seemed to have a certain “feel” to him. Perhaps he wasn’t the bad man that his appearance made him out to be? Superficially though, Ravel felt the need to avoid eye contact with him best she could. However, despite his scary appearance to Ravel, she did recognize a bit of "boyish charm" within his other features.

@VitaVitaAR

There was also a girl who seemed to have a rather gentle disposition. She seemed really sweet, and perhaps if Ravel had the mental fortitude she would wish to converse with this individual, her silver hair almost memorizing to add to her degree of aetherial beauty. Perhaps they could be friends? At least, Ravel hoped to make friends of some sort here.

@ShadowKingman

There was also another girl, however, unlike the more friendly atmosphere of the silver-haired lady, this girl seemed less than likely to start a conversation. To Ravel, she the girl seemed rather confused as to what she was doing here. Then again, it wasn’t as if Ravel was as skillful of a detective as she thought herself to be. It was also likely she was looking for something, but seemed genuinely offput by the room they were in.

@Raineh Daze

There was also what appeared to be a pretty woman. However, “woman” here could be used with some liberties. It was clear by her appearance that she was not “human”, or at the very least appeared more of a fabrication of life rather than something truly real. Ravel had heard that the Einzbern homunculi were some of the best in the field, but even for a moment it seemed to trick Ravel into the validity of their “existence”. Rather than the term "woman", perhaps Ravel would prefer to use the word "fairy" or even "something unearthly". Despite this, at the same time the fabrication of life seemed human as well. It was an odd feeling, and perhaps one that Ravel couldn't explain, but the duality of this entity was unnerving.

@Raineh Daze

There was someone who appeared to be a bit older than most anyone in the room. Perhaps a more aged magi, and one with better understanding of magics. After all, age was a rather large factor in understanding how one could perform well within the art of magecraft, but it wasn’t an absolute law. Raw talent and inhuman understandings trumped the decadent. However, this individual seemed much more friendly than any of the previously mentioned masters appeared to Ravel. Once again like the silver-haired girl who was not the Einzbern homunculus, she believed it would be possible to perhaps make contact if currently Ravel felt a bit uncomfortable with the collected people within the area. However, her awkward glances towards her seemed to convey she wanted to approach her, but did not understand how to.

@Lonewolf685

There was a strange looking man, likely in his midlife. Perhaps it was merely his appearance, but to Ravel he seemed to be dressed rather well. His attire was not dissimilar to a business man, but his obvious scarings seemed to display to others that his position was not simply “business”. If he was here, then he was a magus, and it is a desire of all magi to push past what is accepted as “capable”.

@Lonewolf685

Lastly, there was a really old lady. Perhaps the most off putting than even the children in the area, as there were little in her age class around. However, her beauty didn’t wither away like the rose or a candle burning at both ends. Her aging seemed almost graceful compared to what is normally expected of the “elderly”. But despite the juxtaposition of “old to young” , at the very least her somewhat bubbly-seeming smile gave a bit of warmth to Ravel in her observations.

Though these were likely not the only people here, these were the people who posted Ravel currently found interest within.

Well, either way, Ravel looked forward to one of the summoning circles, hoping that she could, as stated earlier, pull the “card” she wanted.

Athena skipped a couple of steps as she dashed through the corridor, in a surprising burst of energy. Not too long ago, she had been hiding in a mouldy basement, trying to scoop up some mouldy books of some ancestor when everything happened. She wasn't too fine on the details, but all in a sudden, her own mother insistence on stopping magic had ceased, and some guys had come to teach her some magic! Or do some summer ning. She had no clue what a summer ning was actually. Maybe they referred to "summoning".

She was hungry. She could use some food, as she rubbed her tummy thoughtfully. But this place was so cool! There were other magus! And food! And other magi eating food!

They sometimes shared, when they weren't so busy scrunching up their faces. But Athena understood that study was a very important part of this. Also manners. She had dressed herself with her best pink dress and ballerina shoes, and had taken her hair ribbon was in place. All in all, she was a cute princess! Maybe. She only needed a knight. Or a doggie. Or a doggie knight! She stopped her thoughts for a second, her eyes resting in a very important person. The one who had helped in bringing her here.

"HEEEY!" She exclaimed at top of her lungs, while waving her hand energetically. There were other people. More serious people. "Old man Zebratech! I'm here as you asked! I'm a good girl, aren't I?"

A good hungry girl, she noted. Oh, and there were circles scribbled on the ground. But the hunger was more important. It was then when she had this genius idea. Being a magus was always about using magic circuits, so that made people hungry. All magi should have sweets. She was a genius! Joining her hands at her back and putting her most effective expression when asking for things, she took a few daintly steps towards a rather nice (or nice looking) woman and made her request in her most shy tone.

"Miss, do...you have any chocolate?" Athena said, her eyes wide and staring at Althienna.

There was no escape.

Shinobu Shiratori was not a force to be trifled with. Someone who would constantly act upon their desires to obtain their desired results. Someone who would disregard others on her climb to the top, regardless of their position. A kindred spirit who only acted in a way that would better suit herself or give herself an advantage. Perhaps you could not consider such a “good” person. Even so, Shinobu was not “immortal”. She still understood there was a sentience of morality within the confines of existence, but at times even that line could be skewed to fit her current position or disposition.

In addition to this, the Japanese magus was also rather haughty, often considering herself better in some way to even those who are no doubt her superiors in a field, but at the same time her ego tends to place itself on greater importance to those around her. Even if there would be no reason for Shinobu to believe herself to have an advantage over her opponent, she will still act in a way that seems condescending.

A broken mind from a complex fulfilled?

Likely.

But Shinobu isn’t the self-analyzing type. Whatever is able to keep her ahead of the game is what she considers in her actions. Planned course of events that would lead her to victory. At least, if she is able to think rationally given an instance. She would continue forward on her designed path regardless of what others stated.

This bull was not the sort one could easily tame.

There was also the fact that she had taken her time to consider what she wanted from a Servant and had procured what she believed to be the item that would be able to

Her original bag was one that had a pink strip on it’s side. This bag didn’t have a pink strip of color on it’s side.. The only likely scenario that had occurred is that somewhere within her travels, she had mistaken this bag for her own and had lost her catalyst.

This was impossible.

This was unlikely.

How could her esteemed self have misplaced her bag? This was a trial! Something fate had given her to test her ability, no doubt! But even so, one could likely see the so-called “esteemed self” with a degree of anxiety within her person. Deep down, she was frightened. Frightened that her hard work had gone to waste. She could still summon, sure, but now she wasn’t able to get the Servant she had desired. Plans were crumbling.

Checking the tag of the person who she had the bag of, Shinobu read aloud a name she didn’t recognize . Mulling over in her head how to pronounce the name, she eventually came to her own idea on how the name was said. How could she mistake her pronunciations? She wasn’t dumb.

“Fericks Whyd?”

… Perhaps it was not a good idea to skip those English classes.

"It is time already? Time sure flies."

Murdoch snubbed out the cigarette he was smoking as he heard Zeltretch's voice echoing on the place where he was waiting on. He rose up from where he sat and took a bit of time to stretch his sore muscles a little before going along with the rest of the magi that were there alongside him. It was a honor for him to be invited into this by the Wizard Marshal himself, but Murdoch couldn't help but feel something was amiss with how most of the invited magi were young. Prodigies as these magi were, one would think that the reason why they were here would be something that would benefit from older magi that had more experience. However, Murdoch laughed it off. Of course, it'd be silly if Zeltretch chose these people only from their capabilities. These rash, ambitious youths would surely be a better choice than those stuck-up elites that were too focused on themselves to care about anything else. Or at least, these kids could still be mold into something better, perhaps.

It's just speculation, but Murdoch loved speculation. That's kind of a part of his job description as an archaeologist.

Inside of his pocket was something he immediately prepared as soon as he knew he got invited here. An old wooden shard that didn't look special on first glance, however, it used to be part of something grander. It was a shard of the Round Table itself, and even after hundreds or perhaps thousand of years had passed, it still carried the traces of Mystery from the knights. In his office Murdoch had many objects of similar nature, but this shard of Round Table he managed to get off a black market was the best catalyst he had. Ah, though the end result shouldn't really matter.

Once he reached the room with the summoning circles, Murdoch situated himself on one of the still empty ones. As he walked there, he took note of the people that were already there. Ah, none of his colleagues were there, quite a shame. Although, these were an interesting bunch too, and it would be fun to see how they perform. He also noticed the Einzbern homunculus, and he frowned a bit. That could be quite problematic. But ah, no use to worry about his comrades, right? He continued his merry way past her, and chose a circle that were just right near hers. He placed his catalyst on there, and now, the only thing he need to do was wait.

Ah, it would be a silly thought, but what if he summoned a fair lady? Being accompanied by one should be nice for this.

Amari read over her orders one more time as she walked hurriedly towards her destination, mumbling to herself.
"We were right on the brink of a breakthrough, and I get called away to participate in this game. Why do they even need an alchemist anyway?" she grumbled, repeating roughly the same thing all the way until she reached the stairway to the third floor. It wasn't that this whole idea, vaguely explained as it had been to her, didn't sound like a good experience, or even a bit of fun. She was just irked about being separated from her research. Still, as she reached the doorway and heard the sounds of conversation on the other side, she shut her mouth and palmed her ID, sliding it across the reader.

As the door slid open, she was unsurprised to see what appeared to be a large auditorium, segmented into different circles for summoning servants. Distracted by studying the faces around her, and even vaguely recognizing a couple, Amari picked a circle at random near the middle of the room. Once she had stopped moving, she glanced at the object in the middle of her circle, then did a double take. She had been expecting a weapon shard of some kind, or maybe a piece of a banner. Instead, sitting squat in the center of her circle, was a rather modern space heater with the power cord wrapped around the base. She was about to ask if this was some kind of joke, but decided that she should stay quiet for now and see what happened.

Seyrun had arrived a few days ago just like most of the other Masters called for this "project" headed by none other than the Wizard Marshal. She spent the majority of her time doing advanced preparations.

It was hard to work without setting up a workshop, thus her progress was limited, she barely managed to conclude the blueprints for a set of familiar biding rings that she could use, once they were complete, to turn normal animals into impromptu familiars. Seyrun had designed schematic for four of them, but at the moment, hadn't managed to finish even the first one.

When the call from Zelretch came, Seyrun had just woken up and was feeding her pet with a rat. Seyrun had a smile in her face as she petted the reptile, receiving a cold lick from the serpent's forked tongue as payback for her affection. That was a rare sight, Seyrun being this carefree, but that's just one more of the benefits of taking a time away from her tyrannical family.

"Wait for me here, love, I'll be back as soon as I can." Seyrun put the snake back on it's acrylic cage and left a note for the staff look over it in case she took more than she expected to come back, before venturing in the corridors of the facility they were currently calling home.

It wouldn't take long for Seyrun to arrive, just about the same time as the collective of other magi that were to take part on this ritual as well. That certainly was a varied group with many faces and styles for Seyrun to take in. However, above them all, a duo of individuals surpassed the others on Seyrun's view.

The first one was the Einzbern homunculus. Seyrun had heard about them before, but the chance to meet one in person and check the quality of their craftsmanship was another boon of this situation. However, Seyrun decided that it was best not to disturb the homunculus right now, given the seriousness of her face.

The second individual was more of an approachable sort. A young girl, perhaps too young to be a part of such a bloody game, dressed almost as if she had come straight out of a ballet presentation. She was asking someone else for chocolate, thus Seyrun also refrained from interfering, but she made a note to get a better look on this girl later.

For the time being, Seyrun just moved to a magic circle and waited for the summoning to begin. Seyrun was sure that she was going to draw the best card, regardless of whether she used a catalyst or not.

A few grenades, some ammo, and his trusty handgun lined the inside of Felix's jacket, sprawled out onto the bed of his temporary place of residence. For most people it would have been near impossible to smuggle his equipment through airport security without being labeled as a terrorist, but with his resources and planning it may as well not have even been a problem in the first place, and before he knew it he was armed and ready for what was to come. Sure he had his magic, but if you asked him only a fool wouldn't use all the resources available to them. Was this being dishonorable to the code of magic? Possibly, but that didn't exactly matter when those who disagreed had a bullet lodged in their skulls, did it? If he wanted to have the best chance of success possible, Felix knew he needed to break a few rules and get his hands a bit dirty. Using weapons other than magic was child's play compared to what he'd done in the past.

"There it is." Felix mumbled to himself as he pulled a gas mask from his closet. Placing the gas mask on the inside of his jacket and pulling it on, the magus quickly exited his room and began quickly making his way back to the lobby on the second floor. The call over the speakers had caught him off guard as he was busy reading a book on Irish mythology both for research and his own amusement, so he had to quickly prepare himself with his gear. After all, this was the first gathering since he'd arrived at this high-tech facility, so at the very least something was going down. Worst case scenario he'd be over prepared, but that'd never gotten anyone killed before, unlike what walking into a trap unprepared would do. However, in his rush he'd left both his book and the bag containing his all-important catalyst all alone, so upon arriving and spotting his book still resting on the table he was able to let out a sigh of relief. However,while he did spot a bag that he was sure was his, it's position seemed to have been far from where he'd left it.

No time to think about it. He was already running a bit late, so without thinking or inspecting the bags contents Felix quickly hoisted it over his shoulder and made his way towards the aforementioned meeting spot, opting to take the stairs in order to speed things up. At the door Felix pressed his ID card against, and once the door opened he couldn't help but smirk at the sight before him. There were magic circles scattered all throughout the room, some appearing to already be fitted with a catalyst while others were left empty. It wasn't this sight that made him smile though, but instead the one of a few of the masters seemingly having come unprepared.

"I'm surprised they even let you show up without knowing how summoning even worked." Felix said aloud for the whole room to hear. "Doing a bit of research isn't hard you know." His confident tone made it clear he thought he was better than everyone else in the room, and according to Felix he had every right to be a bit cocky. He'd busted his ass his entire life and fought against the odds to get to where he was. He'd never had anything gift wrapped for him, and every little victory was made purely because of his own sweat and blood. Receiving the invitation to become a master for a Servant made perfect sense to him as he felt he was more than qualified, so seeing those who appeared to be hoping for a good draw ticked him off more than a little bit.

Well, he'd deal with that later. For now, he needed to set up his summoning circle. Yes, he'd used his contacts he'd gained from his line of work to find a quality catalyst, and thus he was guaranteed a high quality servant. All he needed to do was open his bag and pull out...

... A pair of panties.

What the hell!?!? Yes, instead of the metal box he'd expected to see Felix had found himself faced with a bag full of women's clothing. "No no no, where is it?" Panicked all of his hard work and planning had been sent down the drain, Felix rummaged through the clothing in a panic, tossing dress's and bras to the floor in the hopes his catalyst would magically materialize itself. "GOD DAMN IT!" Felix yelled in frustration as he threw the bag to the ground. This wasn't his bag. Where the hell was his bag!? Did somebody steal it to sabotage it? Was it confiscated for some reason? Where did-

There it was. A girl he did not recognize had his bag. It was then he'd realized what had happened, though it didn't make the magus any happier. Still frustrated, Felix picked up the clothes he'd tossed onto the floor along with the bag and dropped it in front of who he guessed was its owner. "Maybe keep track of your laundry next time, alright kid?" He said, still visibly annoyed. "Now, would you mind giving my bag to someone who actually knows what they're doing?"

@ADamnFiddle

Cecil Lavernth

The summons needed no repeating for Cecil to heed it, and he found himself moving through the facility towards the area where they were to gather. It was an interesting place, that much he had gleamed since his arrival with the others. And there were quite a few others in fact. A testament to the one who had called this all together, that so many could be brought here without squabbling or this dissolving into some sort of conference. Not that there was anything wrong with that in the slightest. It was just a lot for whatever this project was.

Even the facility itself was impressive, as if any place run by Zelretch could be anything but. He had done what exploring they would let him do in the time that he had, but he was left with the feeling that he had only scratched the surface of what there was to find here. Unfortunately there wasn't the time to look into it, and he heeded the call as he noticed others, some whom he had seen before, heading in the same direction.

Really, he found it hard to believe that he was here in the first place. A second son, less talented and less trained than his brother? There had to be someone out there more able to perform whatever it was that needed doing. But now that he was here he wouldn't doubt his own ability or lack thereof. Even if it proved challenging, he would just have to try to the best of his ability and muddle through somehow if it wasn't enough to get all the way.

Stepping into the room that waited beyond, a look of interest took over as he saw the myriad of summoning circles laid out on the floor, the other Masters present, as well as Zelretch himself waiting and watching them all nearby. "Must be quite a crisis," he noted as he stepped further inside, getting out of the way of anyone who might be coming in after them. The sorts of things Zelretch took an interest in wasn't exactly uncommon knowledge, at least from what he had been able to determine by talking to others.

"Ladies, gentlemen," he added with a nod as he looked around, regardless of whether they paid him heed or not. He probably seemed fairly unassuming either way in a dress shirt and jeans, enjoying the comfort yet still trying to at least present a good first impression. He took a spot at one of the empty circles, and after a quick glance to make sure that it wouldn't blow up or something, he tossed a fragment of metal down into the circle itself. If this was what they were going to be doing then he definitely wasn't going to leave it up to chance. Who knew what he'd get otherwise.

He glanced around idly as he waited for them to get started. "I suppose this is the part where we all pray really hard that no one summons some insane Cthulhu priest, isn't it." Well, it was definitely going to be interesting.

Well, there were a lot more people than she thought there'd be, that's for sure.

Katenka couldn't help but feel nervous. To think that she'd been called for something like this, despite the fact that... Well, she wasn't exactly all that exceptional, or at least she didn't think she was. Was she only here because of her great-great... She forgot how many greats there were... Grandfather setting up the original system at work here? Not that she was going to go around admitting she was related to that... Thing. She hadn't even told anyone her name yet, just in case they made the connection.

Really, she'd just been trying to keep to herself for the time being, and so it was a bit awkward as she shuffled into the room, clutching a shard of wood to her chest as she headed towards a free circle. It was something her great-grandfather had taken with him when he fled to America, something stolen from that abomination they both shared the blood of, supposedly a splinter of some artifact found in Britain. Maybe it would help her get a decent Servant, although she doubted that. She just knew there was no way she'd get anything other than the worst Servant, but she had to try anyway. Taking a deep breath, she laid the wood shard in the center of the circle...

@Cojemo

Shinobu seemed a bit taken aback by the whole situation. In a single moment it appeared that one of the guests had decided to start a huge scene over some sort of misunderstanding. Sure, it was likely that Shinobu was going to go off on the man anyway, this “ Fericks Whyd individual, as he had clearly been the one at fault.

Shinobu had begun her “stance”. Though a skilled fighter in hand-to-hand combat, this was not the “stance”. The “stance” was her dropping her body in a fashion that seemed to almost paralle a mother scolding their child, but unlike the degree of kindness that could be found within a Mother’s tone, Shinobu was not a “kind” person. She was someone who acted to further herself. From the way she spoke to the posture she had, it was clear she was someone who couldn’t be trifled with easily.

“Kid? Who the hell do you think you are, throwing my stuff in your rage. Are you one of those “Neanderthals” I heard about? Maybe if you put half the effort you placed into throwing my bag and instead used it to make sure you didn’t take someone else’s things, maybe you would not be able to actually collect your right bag, idiot.”

How could someone like Shinobu Shiratori be responsible for someone else’s misdoings? Even if they were both sharing a portion of the blame, Shinobu was more likely to believe it was not her fault in the situation. A cold-blooded, hot blooded lady who cared not for dispositions of her allies and enemies alike, so long as she was given an ability to do as she wished and could have a bit of fun doing it. Of course, “winning” was definitely fun for someone competitive like Shinobu.

“Just why should I give you this bag? You are a stupid pervert. You haven’t even put down my panties yet, asshole! Not only that, but your dumbass threw my bag like an animal in rage. Are you even able to come up with coherent thoughts or do your genes have more in common with orangutans than humans? Maybe you are the one that doesn’t belong here, bastard.“

Shinobu began to realize where she was again, after coming out of her rant of anger against this man she had recently met. Perhaps this was not the best showing of herself to others, but it wasn’t like she believed her actions weren’t in the right.

To her, a man had taken her bag, proceeded to touch her underwear with his dirty fingers, threw her clothing around the room like an ape, then yelled at her. How dare a man have such audacity. How dare he yell at her for no wrongdoings of her own when he was clearly in the wrong. Shinobu was a girl. Shouldn’t a man treat women better? Women should be placed on pedestals, no?

Either way, straightening up her posture and placing her index finger against the side of her lips in a seductive manner, Shhinobu began once more, clearing out her throat with a slight cough before continuing in a lower tone than before.

“Whatever. I don’t see the need to get so worked up over this. I’ll accept your apology now, pervert. Take responsibility. Clean up my things from the floor, and I'll consider forgiving you. After all, this is your fault, no? You don’t just go around and yell at girls. You’ll never get a girlfriend like that, cherry boy.”

... Ah, a little girl? Oh, she was so cute, too! ... Her age was rather young for being involved in such an endeavor, however. Still, Althienna was quick to push that out of her mind. If the Wizard Marshall had called her here, there must have been some reason for it. There was no reason to doubt him. Smiling pleasantly, Althienna reached out and gently patted the little girl on her head.

"I'm afraid I don't have any chocolate," she began, gently stroking her hair as she did. "However, I'll be sure to let you know if I get any, so don't be concerned."

Althienna could easily guess that it wasn't likely any of the other magi in the room had chocolate on them... and that many of them would likely be less then polite to a little girl, as her eyes traveled around the room... Ah, what was this? A nervous-looking girl, apparently a few years her junior, placing a shard of aged wood in her circle. A catalyst, then? One provided by herself? Curious... ah, and on top of that, the girl was rather cute as well. In a fashion she considered the child whom had asked her for chocolate too young for, of course. The little girl was more like a puppy. However, there were a number of girls who fell under the definition of cute she had applied to the nervous girl in the room... Oh, yes, quite a few of them appeared most interesting. Ah, but where was her mind wandering? This was hardly the time, she could contemplate such matters later.

Cheeks slightly colored in embarrassment at her own train of thought, the silver-haired magus straightened, removing her hand from the little girl's head.

"In fact, I'll be certain to have chocolate next time we speak."

It took all of a few minutes in order for the scene to dissolve into a series of individual discussions and, in one case, an argument. Glaring at the arrogant mage who made snide insinuations about preparations - was having something in that circle really all that big of a deal? - she opened her mouth to say something when he pulled out a pair of panties from his bag. That incident alone was enough to get a chortle out of her and she turned her head to hide the incredulous face and strange sounds threatening to come out.

Turning her head back towards the center of the room, she looked around as the arrogant mage who most reminded her of why she left the life of a magus to begin with began a verbal confrontation with the girl whose panties he had held in his hand. Sighing in exasperation - something she could do now that she had taken a moment to recompose herself.

Reaching into her pocket and fiddling with her motorcycle key to hide her nerves, she glanced at Zeltrech, asking, begging, imploring him to step in and say something. How did all of these mages find the composure to act so carefree right under his watch, anyways?

Victoria Vandive Velosi

"To all Masters: please gather in the hall on the third floor. I shall meet you there momentarily. I repeat: please gather in the hall on the third floor. Thank you."

Victoria threw her last punch at an invisible opponent, and picked up her towel, sweating profusely. It was something one of the books she had called shadowboxing, but she wasn't sure if fighting an invisible opponent was actually doing something for her.

This was the furthest she had ever been from home. Her father was dumbfounded that she had received a letter asking for her attendance here, much less a letter containing Zelretch's name in it. So much so that he believed her a liar, and accused her of wanting to go off enjoying some sandy beach without him. It took the actual letter slapped across his face for him to believe her, and even then he only believed that she had received a letter, not that Zelretch had sent a letter to her. Unable to dissuade her, he reluctantly surrendered to her demands, but piled onto her several instructions as well as a cell phone that connected to him and only him in a few button presses. It was very obvious he thought it was a sham.

Wiping off the last of her sweat, she made herself presentable and walked towards the hall.

Victoria paused before the door to the hall, taking in a deep breath to calm herself. She was pretty sure she was the only one there without a fancy background with a fancy family and a fancy magic crest. Not that she was ashamed of what she had, but she had a feeling they were going to get... hostile should she mention she had no crest, no real wealth, or even any real magecraft training. There was an increasing feeling that Zelretch, for all his wisdom, had made a mistake somewhere and sent an invitation to her. Plucking up her courage, she opened the door, grinning widely.

"Good morning!"

Most of them seemed engrossed with whatever they were doing, and those over there seemed like they were arguing over something, so she didn't exactly wait for a reply. She moved over to an empty circle, staring blankly at it before realizing what it was. It was probably a conjuring cirle, the kind that summons an entity and binds them to the caster. How did summoning work again? Victoria had only fragments and shadows of how the ceremony was supposed to work. Oddly enough, her circle was reacting to her, glowing so faintly that one might think it was just one's imagination. Squatting down to take a closer look, Victoria decided she should wait for the others to summon something first, before improvising a ritual based on theirs and summoning one herself.

Speaking of which, this circle sure was interesting. She couldn't help but be intrigued, holding out her hand to touch it as the circle grows slightly brighter the closer her hand was.

He was the one to blame? Oh boy, it hadn't even been a minute and Felix already knew this girl would be a pain to deal with. Throwing a temper tantrum and hurling insults like a spoiled child, all because she couldn't accept she was wrong? It was obvious that, like many others at this facility, she did not deserve to even be in the presence of a summoning circle. Like, who acted like that over something as trivial as mistakenly taking someone else's bag? Well, Felix obviously, but he was already upset at himself for losing his temper like he did. Besides, he had an excuse, unlike this...person. He normally was exceptional at keeping his composure and remaining calms, but having all the stress of the situation culminate with his hard work possibly being lost made him lose his cool for a bit. It wasn't a mistake that would happen again, unlike with this person. At least, he assumed that was the case.

So, with how idiotic Felix deemed his current situation, he'd surely just apologize and move on, right? If someone actually thought that was the case, then they did not know Felix in the slightest. As far as he was concerned his pride had been directly challenged, and even though his logical mind was smart enough to realize the correct course of action, his ego would not allow him to back down and let some dull headed moron feel superior. Looking at the underwear he held in his hand then back at its owner, Felix smirked, then proceeded to toss them back to their owner.

"Well, if you think I'm the type of person who'd even want to waste their time on something as trivial and illogical as a girlfriend then maybe you are as dim-witted as you look. I prefer to focus my efforts on more important things like, oh I dunno, actually doing something of importance. I have a long list of accomplishments and evidence that puts my worth well and above whatever yours may be, so if you wanted to argue who deserves to be here more then I'd be more than happy to prove you wrong."

Felix had molded his entire existence to being a person of pure logic, so having someone question this obviously meant a nerve or two would be struck. As far as he was concerned, there was no logical way that he could be in the wrong here. It's not like picking fights was something he enjoyed doing, but in certain cases it was simply unavoidable. Keeping as many possible allies and managing his partners like chess pieces would only increase his chances of success, but when he had a pawn that seemed to stupid to make the correct move, discarding it didn't really bother him too much. Still smirking, he continued.

"But, let's not get too off topic here. Wouldn't want you to get confused, right? You stole my bag, and yet you think I'm the one to blame? Well, I'm going to guide you through this so you can realize why I'm actually the smartest person here while you just aren't even close to me. My bag was left in the second floor lobby next to a table. A table, mind you, with this book on it, also belonging to me." He pulled out the mythology book he'd been reading earlier and waved it in front of the girls face, purposefully treating her like a child in order to prove a point. "When I'd returned, there was no bag there, and instead I had found yours on the complete opposite side of the room. So, combining that with the fact that you arrived here before me, and we have a situation where you somehow mistook my bag for yours, even though there was enough evidence to help you to not make such a mistake."

"So how about you admit you're wrong, and instead of speaking like a spoiled brat who'd gotten their internet privileges revoked you just hand me my bag. As I said before I really don't like wasting my time with things that are inherently illogical, so the sooner I can get this conversation over with the better."
As far as he was concerned, his little performance there had just made up for his previous outburst. Boy did that make him sound cool. Not like he wasn't, but still. Either way, he'd hoped that his partners would be a bit smarter than this, but in the end it didn't matter. Felix was used to working through a handicap, and if he needed to carry whatever operation they were assigned to on his back all by himself then that's exactly what he'd do. After all, it was his responsibility to do so, and there wasn't a chance in hell he'd let a loudmouthed idiot like this girl screw with that.

"Oh, and you might want to clean up this mess of yours. After all, it may be a bit embarrassing to have everyone staring at your underwear."

@ADamnFiddle

Post#1

---

Down the long sterile corridors of the island's central tower the old woebegone magus Walgrave came, picking his way with slow halting steps through the unfamiliar halls.

The wizened Thaumaturgist's usual melancholy had given way to sullen anger, an indignation brought on by misery that built with every step he took closer to his goal. He should have come with more fanfare, drawn to his destination by handsome stagecoach, or a palanquin pulled by slavering homunculi. Instead he had been forced to crawl from his home, something that had become as much a part of him as his skin over the years, and make his way to a flight that would take him halfway around the world to this hideous construct of glass and chrome.

Walgrave had never flown before and it was something he had nearly refused to do, only the promise of the Grail eventually coaxing him up the slender walkway onto the bizarre flying machine. How he had managed it all in the end he was not sure. It had been nearly a century since he had traveled further than a days train ride from his dark house in Chelmsford, and now he found long distance travel to be torturous. The trip had been a slow moving nightmare, one that had only intensified when the doors had finally opened and he has stepped out into the ghastly tropical air.

He had long ago grown inured to the cold, but the wet heat that had met him on the island had been a shock to his system beyond what he had been prepared for.

As bad as that had been it had been an even greater disappointment to see the other Magi that had been assembled for this undertaking. He had isolated himself from them as much as possible, retreating to a private room instead of dallying in the waiting hall untill the call to gather was finally given. The crowd was full of young people, apprentices, few of which looked to be over 30. Was this really the event hosted by the great Schweinorg?

He shuddered, his skeletal arms trembling as he finally approached the summoning room that he and the others had been called to. With a brief round of minor reinforcment he banished the worst of his frailty, drawing himself up to his full, rather impressive height before he strode into the room.

The first thing that drew his eye was the tall central figure of the Great, the One and Only Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, Wizard of the Second Magic. He paused for a long moment, staring despite himself. He had seen the Wizard a few times before at the Clock Tower, but only from a great distance and only briefly. Now he stood before him, one of the strongest most influential humans to ever live.

Unbidden the thought came to him, riding on a wave of unmuted feeling he hadn't experienced for many many decades.

When all this is over, I will be like you.

In that moment he knew the hellish trip had been worth it.

Silently he turned towards one of the many magical circles that had been drawn out on the floor and made his way stiffly over to it, pointedly ignoring the other Magi and their petty babble. Here they were on the verge of a Miracle, a Mystery of Magecraft and True Magic the likes of which had only been seen a few times on this sad dusty ball, and they were arguing. He would crush these fools in the end, if only his strength did not forsake him so far from home.

Kneeling he bent and placed a the slender shard of an ancient crown in the center of the circle he had chosen. This was all the wrong environment for casting he judged, but he was not about to voice such an opinion in the presence of a Sorcerer of such fearsome mien as Zelretch himself.

Wishing the chamber was not nearly so bright, or nearly so clean, Walgrave surveyed the rest of the room with disdain, awaiting the moment when their leader would signal the time to begin.