June 24th, Old State House
Giuseppe MessanaHoly Grail War? Now that was one way to be extravagant with your titling. Giuseppe Messana was never one to be involved with giant happenings with other magus, most of the time he stuck to his family and their associated magus, but now some higher power had decided he was worthy for this...war? If anything he found it hilarious and convenient. His mentor always said, the mystery comes to you. And here was this mysterious, intriguing grail war, delivered right to him, the markings on his hand more of a message of, “Here’s a job”.
Having arrived that night before, he was settling into this State House quite easily. He’d used some mild magical persuasion to convince the city council of Boston that he needed to close down the State House for reports of bad construction and asbestos and they just ate it up. Having drawn all the curtains and securing the area, he knew that he would have to get to work.
Downstairs in the basement, he walked down to his arrangement. The circle of blood he’d made with pigs blood and a brick he had been given by a relative. Picking up the brick, he gave it a once over, smirking a little as he enjoyed the vague nature of his “catalyst”. From what he knew of this brick, it was said to come from some ancient aztec or inca temple, and that meant almost any of those legends could be summoned.
The basement was lined with jars of materials the detective had brought along, the room mainly lit by candles since he hadn’t sorted out the light down here and he took a breath in and sighed. “Lets get this ball rollin' I guess” With that he began the incantation. From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!”
He watched as the glowing enhanced itself and the room was overcome with light and smoke. And so it began.
Light shimmered. Light beamed. Light struck the walls till the whole room was like standing in front of the naked sun. The red light crackled, and pulled itself together, forming and colliding into a shape. A human shape. Hands and fingers materialized, and the light seemed to peel away before…
There stood a man with a golden staff in his hand. A smile, his eyes narrowed as if he had just spotted a particularly tasty donut on a table. His lip pulled back into a smile, and he took a step closer, standing on the very edge of the circle. As if ready to step over. Then… He spoke.
“What’s up my homie?”
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Present Day…“Thank you, John F Kennedy.”
This was the scene Giuseppe returned to when he stepped in the workshop of his servant. Manco was there, hard at work on polishing a statue. It was a beautiful statue of marble, standing nearly twelve feet tall, and covered in jewelry, like one would see on any photo of an inca warrior. A sword, or rather a club lined with obsidian like the people of Meso-America would have used, was held in the statue hand. Manco though was putting all his attention on the face, brushing it down, sanding away at the nose until it was… Perfect. If it wasn’t completely still, one might have thought it was alive.
To Manco’s side though, there was a statue of John F Kennedy, animated nearly the first day he’d been summoned as a kind of… Maid. The thank you was a result of a cup of lemonade the statue had brought to Manco, who amidst carving statues, forging a powerful bounded field, crafting various mystic codes, and crafting his own batch of familiars, had found time to cook and create a pot of lemonade that John F Kennedy would occasionally bring refreshments from.
Manco paused to admire his work, and brushed a little dust from his statue’s brow. Taking a step back, Giuseppe might finally notice the nearly ten others sitting in the room. “Tell me homie, what do you think?” The Caster servant said, his hands raised in that classic photo way, as if framing the sight in his mind.
The detective in question had also been busy that day. Having woken up early, he had been out running a few errands for him and Caster, as well as talking to some people about the murders that had taken place recently. In one hand a hamburger he had picked up and in the other a dog carrier with a dog he had picked up from the pound. Before making these purchases, the detective had taken a look in the graveyard, paying respects, capturing some spirits of the tortured dead and now here he was.
A low groan escaped his mouth as he took a bite out of his burger and the dog began growling at the statues. The detective magus finished his burger and took off his bagpack, placing the dog carrier down and taking out a wrapped up burger. “I mean...you work fast Caster, that’s for sure” he answered as he rubbed his brow, placing the burger on whatever flat surface he could find. “My boys still upstairs? I ain’t sure if they’re ready for combat yet” He said eyeing up the statues, referring to his much bulkier golems upstairs. So far, his shoddy bounded field hadn’t detected anything beside himself and Caster, but so far, they seemed to be safe.
Taking out three jars, he placed them as well. “Here’s some spirits if ya need some to work with, I’ll need one for another golem, hey, is that..” he eyed up the JFK statue and smirked. “I mean, ya certainly put a lotta detail in, that’s for sure” He smirked and held his hand out. “Ya got a cup for me?”
“Ask Mary Dyer, she’s closest.” Manco said, as within a moment, a statue of Boston's favorite martyr stepped over, and offered the detective a refreshing glass.
But Manco’s attention had already turned to the dog, a hairless mexican breed. Putting down his sander and chisel, the blue haired caster crouched down, his eyes focused on the canine. The canine looked back, and the growling ceased. A comforting smile was shared between the two, and he reached out. Manco’s fingers trailed against that smooth skin, brushing about and running against the dog’s cheeks, and then the ears.
“You know, I asked for the Peruvian Hairless breed.” Manco said, before scratching softly against the canine’s chin. “Though I forgive you. They are a lot alike.” He laughed softly, as by now the connection between himself and the dog had been complete. “But from now on… You shall be called…” He paused, as if pondering a name. Naming a pet was a special moment. It was the cementing of a concept, an idea. Once he gave a name, it would define the being of his new companion. “Sander. It’s a special name. It mean ‘Protector of Man’ in my country’s language. With it, you shall protect mankind, and be a guardian in their darkest hours.” That was a lot of weight for a dog, but Sander could handle it. Manco knew, because he saw the glint in his eyes.
“Now that you are here though, detective, I have to take your attention. I can’t have you running off before I show you my works.” Manco laughed, because for this man the world was all smiles. He gestured to the statues, and brushed a hand against each. “You see, I am about to provide each of these, with Sami.” He didn’t explain what that meant, but instead rose to each of the statues, and leaned in close. One by one, he hovered his lips inches away from their own, and let out a breath. A deep, warm breath that drifted through the room, and then he moved on to the next. As he left each statue, they began to move. Slowly at first, as they blinked, and then slowly rose. Each standing to their full height, like massive stone sentinels.
“There we go.” Manco said, finally taking a seat after the last statue had begun to rise. Sander already leaping up onto his lap, and sitting there as the Caster brushed his fingers against Sander’s back. “With our bounded fields, and these sentinels, I think I can take a short break. After all, Sami takes a great deal out of a person.”
Giuseppe watched with mild interest as Caster observed and admired his dog, he himself being able to recognise that bond they had quickly formed between each other. He had read somewhere about the significance of dogs to the Incas but he didn’t know it was so powerful. He watched in silent admiration at Caster’s request, watching him breathe life into the statues, with wide eyes and a low whistle at how they all stood up like that. At first, he had been worried about summoning the Caster class, but seeing Manco at work, really put the faith into him.
“Holy shit...Sami must be some ancient power eh? Well I gotta say, I got hope for us in this disaster zone, do you think you could hold down the fort whilst I check out some stuff? I’ve heard about a string of murders, something tells me it could be linked to this war, y’know?” he gave Manco a smile and shrugged.
“If ya need anything let me know, this place is fortified as it is, I’ve put a kinda cloaking presence over it so we shouldn’t be too obvious, sound good?” The italian detective nodded to his Inca servant and looked around at the statues again. Yup, this certainly was the weird mystery this war had promised him.
“Wait, detective, before you go.” Manco said, sitting up just a bit more. He’d move more, but with his new pet on his leg, it was impossible to move without disturbing him. “I have not finished work on all the things you asked for, but I did finish a set of amulets to protect you from other masters, and their servants. I have little doubt that by now one master has summoned the assassin class servant.” He added, aware that his summoner couldn’t be convinced to stay home, but rather he could make sure he remained safe long enough for Manco to arrive and save him.
Sitting on a table by the door, there sat a small collection of silver amulets. Some designed as barriers to provide his master some degree of protection from physical forces. Others designed to protect the mind.
“But, you have places to be, and I’ll tell you more later.” Manco added, and waved before the door closed.
