1 The Watcher & Death

~Death, life, a never ending cycle. A cycle full of Joy, Love, and Happiness. Yet also containing Anger, Betrayal, and Sadness. We are defined not by our lives themselves or our deaths. For they are but the beginning and the end of the cycle. Rather we are defined by what lies in between. How we lived and what we did before we died…but…what if what defined us was what happened after we died instead? What shall become of the Cycle, once it has broken? What if we broke the cycle, and made our own? For Death be our sword, and life be our shield, in the world of the damned.~

"Wh…what happened?"

Opening my eyes proved to be difficult, its as if they have been closed for a very long time. Finally managing to open them the first thing I did was to take in my surroundings, only to be greeted by endless darkness.

Suddenly an ancient voice, that seemingly came from directly inside my head, sounded.

"So you have awoken." (???)

"What?! Whos there?!"

Hurrying to my feet I quickly scanned in every direction, only to still find nothing but the same darkness as before.

"Do not bother, I am speaking directly to your soul. Now listen closely for I will only say things once. You have died…" (???)

As the voice spoke those last words memories began to flood my brain.

A child, crying, alone, neglected, weak….the memories shifted….a teenager, shut off from the world, alone, no one to care for or about.

His only salvation being games, anime, manga and such things often looked down on by society. The boy did not care though for they give him joy, and happiness. Something which society never gave him.

However, it all ended one day when he was on his way to the store to buy a new game. While walking past a construction site there was a serious earthquake, on the scale of which had never been seen before. He stood blankly as the ground split open, buildings crashing, people screaming, animals howling. He was scared…terrified. Then he noticed two kids not far from him. They looked young, maybe four or five years old, there was a good chance they had just came from the playground around the corner. As if by instinct he moved, grabbing them each with one arm and tried to bring them out of ever expanding cracks in the earth that seemed to want nothing more then to devour them….

Remembering up to here his memories began to fade…the last thing he could recall…was two kids on a ledge crying looking at him as he fell into the endless abyss.

"That was…my life..?"

"Yes child, those two kids you saved were no ordinary children. They were in fact my sons, which I had with a mortal women some years back…as the 'Watcher' in charge of this sector of the multiverse, I'm similar to how you would view 'God' in your home world. It can get boring some times only dealing with souls…even I like to descend to the mortal world for some fun every now and then. Though if I have children I'm unable to raise them due to the restrictions set in place by those greater then myself. That being the case though I'm capable of watching over their growth. Even though I had noticed the collapse of the crust, I was unable to prevent their harm. You, however, saved their lives and I'm grateful. To repay you, for this deed it is in my right to grant you some wishes you may have in your next life." (Watcher)

"I see…wait where will I be reincarnated to might I ask? Will I retain my memories?"

"You can choose any world to reincarnate into, mythological worlds, full of fantasy creatures, worlds from those manga's and novels you've read, mortal worlds with only humans, anywhere! Even your old world if you desire. If you go with the latter, however, you will be forced to lose all your memories of your past life. Any option other then your old world and you can keep your memories." (Watcher)

"Wait??? Even worlds from manga's are available?? What about the Nasuverse??"

"Give me a moment…..yes I see the universe which you call the 'Nasuverse', focused on an event known as the Holy Grail War that involve masters, and accomplished magi, summoning Servants, or better known as Heroic Spirits, and battling each other until the last remaining pair can claim the Holy Grail, right?" (Watcher)

"Yes that's it!! Can I really go there? I used to often dream of myself being one of the servants and fighting for the grail!"

"Hahaha I see, I see, if that is your wish young one then I will make you a servant in the grail wars. After all that world falls under my watch, and the lesser gods who watch over the world wouldn't cause you any problems if they knew I was involved." (Watcher)

"I can become a servant?! And are there rankings amongst gods?"

"Hmm 'rankings' might not be the proper term, however there are 'ranks' of power yes. A lesser god, is usually in charge of individual worlds. Depending on the size, and power level of its inhabitants, multiple gods may be sent to watch over a singular world. Mid ranked gods, watch over them and so on and so forth. Until there are the Watchers such as I, we rule over designated sections of the multiverse, insuring things are kept in working order. Yet even beings such as us need a vacation, it's a pain watching over others for an eternity. That's why I adore and envy mortals as they, although possessing short lives, live them to the fullest, regardless if their desires are viewed as 'wrong' or 'right' by society." (Watcher)

"I see…that's amazing none the less. I knew things had to be larger than they seemed yet its still hard to process."

"Yes, it would be, however, we should move on to the next topic. Aside from being reborn as a Servant, have you any other wishes? After all saving the child of a Watcher grants one a large amount of positive karma. You may ask for anything as long as it is within my power." (Watcher)

After listening to what the seemingly omniscient and all powerful being in front of him said, he was shocked once more. Thinking he would be lucky just to be reborn, he had no desires to gain more. Yet thinking about it now he realized that this was a chance. A chance for him to gain the strength he needed to reach greater heights in life. He needed to seize it properly, and although he would have been content just being a servant. Whats the point of that? Why should his asperations stop there? He was alone most his life, and more then anything he desired companionship, yet it's the holy grail war we are talking about. If the 'companionship' he desires does manifest will he have the strength to protect it?

Thinking until here, he once more looked into the darkness around him. A decision had been made, one which would change not only his destiny, but the destiny of all those around him.

"You said I may ask for anything but what is the upper limit of 'anything' might I ask?"

"Hehe, I see, you are quite an interesting one…hmm, the upper limits in which I'm allowed to give you is quite difficult to explain without giving information away which you don't have access to quite yet. The strongest I could make you would be equivalent to that of a lesser god, however, if you were a lesser god you wouldn't be able to participate in the grail war unless your power was sealed, you wouldn't lose anything, just you wouldn't be able to make use of some of your abilities unique to a lesser god and up. You could also be granted the Akashic Records? It will take some adjusting on my end so your mind and soul can handle the information and power the Akashic Records would grant you, it's a pretty good option. You could also pick your own servant class, appearance, noble phantasm, ex. The list honestly goes on, so take your time, as time doesn't exist here."

Honestly it was a lot to take in, however hearing that he could be granted something as powerful as the Akashic Records, the source of all events and phenomena in the universe, the library which contains all the knowledge in the world, caused him to grow excited. He had a feeling that 'his version' wouldn't be quite as powerful as the original, but it would still allow him to act as he pleased.

"I choose the Akashic Records, as well as the chance to modify how I look and what my skills would be, and last but not least I wish to be reincarnated as a servant during the fourth holy grail war."

"Mmm so be it, here is a character sheet you can use as a base line for modifying yourself."

Soon letters and numbers began to flood my vision, forming into a screen that had information about a character but also an outline of a person whom was currently blank. Getting to work he began to slowly create his new life.

[Character]

Name: Ryker Akash

Race: God, Servant, Human, Dragon

Class: [N/A]

Rank: Lesser God

Gender: Male

Height: 185cm

Weight: 80kg

Blood Type: Unknown

[Servant Stat]

True Name: Ryker Akash

Type: Lesser God

Source: [N/A]

Region: [N/A]

Alignment: [Unknown]

Attributes: All

Armaments: Weapon of Myriad Changes, Armor of Myriad Forms

[Parameters]

Strength: [???]

Endurance: [???]

Agility: [???]

Mana: [???]

Luck: [???]

Noble Phantasm: [???]

(Full sheet on auxiliary page)

After finalizing his appearance and abilities the man, now known as Ryker, looked once more into the darkness and spoke. "I cant thank you enough for allowing me another chance at life and giving to me the strength needed to thrive, truly thank you." Spoke Ryker as he swore in his mind that if he ever had the chance to repay the Watcher, he would do so.

As if understanding his thoughts the Watcher chuckled before beginning the reincarnation process, watching as the young soul slowly disappeared. Releasing a sigh, he thought to himself, 'you will become a great being one day, after all you are 'his' son. I look forward to the day we meet again.' Slowly the darkness once more grew silent.