39 39. New Grail War

(A/N: for my purpose, Alaya will be depicted as a blue orb with halos around it. Also, from what I've been reading, not much is known of the throne of Heros itself. Taking this into account, I will be taking many liberties with my description of what it looks like, and what happens there. Please understand that this is my interpretation, and not lore, as I can't find much on the wiki about it. Thank you for understanding. I appreciate you all!)

-Godrick-

Godrick raised his head, feeling rejuvenated. He felt all the pains of his previous Holy Grail War fade away to nothing as he looked down. He was in his armor, though his left arm was still as black as the midnight sky with amethyst veins running down the length.

His armor looked as if it were brand new, no cracks or anything marking its surface. He could feel he could materialize his armor and weapon at will, though there was no need to at the moment.

He had appeared in a vast hall that stretched on for what felt like eternity. Seeing no other people around him, Godrick stood from his kneeling position. To his left and right were enormous book shelves that held a number of items, including books, scroll, and weird looking chips.

Confused, Godrick walked over to the nearest shelf and picked one of the items up. It was a tiny thing, no more than a couple inches. It was flat, and had what looked like magical circuits running its length.

"Knowledge." An emotionless voice said behind him.

Godrick turned around, seeing a blue orb with several blue halos circling it.

"All of humanity's knowledge is kept here. Every thought, idea, decision, and action taken by every single human is stored in this place. Including yours." The emotionless orb said.

"All for me to look after." She said.

"Now, you met a previous iteration of me. She is an amalgamation of all my emotions. They were getting in the way of logic, so I sealed them in a single being to get rid of them. Follow me." Alaya said, slowly floating away.

Curious, Godrick decided to follow the orb. She led him through the enormous library, explaining as they went.

"What you were holding was the newest of knowledge. As we go farther, the older the knowledge." She said. Godrick saw the never ending stretch of bookcases, holding the knowledge of all mankind.

"Incredible, is it not?" Alaya said as she came to a stop in front of a shelf.

"This is the knowledge learned when you were alive." She said, twisting to seemingly look at a section.

Godrick stood motionless, uncaring for the knowledge. He only wanted to know what was to happen to him.

"I can feel your disinterest. Very well, I'll tell you why you are here." She said

"I want you to work for me. As of now, you are a Heroic Spirit. An incredibly powerful one at that." She said.

"You have certain…" She stopped, and Godrick could tell that she was assessing his left arm.

"Abilities, and power that I would like to harness."

Godricks eyes sharpened as he looked at the orb.

"Hostility has increased." Alaya said, rotating its halos around itself.

Suddenly blue chains of ethereal energy shot up from the ground, wrapping themselves around Godrick. He tried to fight them, but nothing happened. Tugging and pulling at the chains, Godrick strained against them with all his might. He clenched his teeth, and tried to stay on his feet with all his might as the chains tried to drag him down to his knees.

"Increase strength to ten percent." Alaya said.

Suddenly, Godricks knees hit the ground, and the chains pulled his arms to the side.

He struggled with all his might once more before a loud 'CRACK' was heard as the chains shattered. The resistance was gone from him, but as he stood up, more chains wrapped around him again, trying to drag him down to his knees.

"Increase strength to twenty percent." The orb said, watching as the chains dragged Godrick back to the ground.

"Incredible." Alaya said. "Not only can you struggle against the chains of heaven, but you were able to break them. I must study this more." She said.

Godrick looked back at the orb, a cold fury covering his body as the veins in his left arm started to glow a deep amethyst.

An expression of cold determination was on Godricks face as he started to strain against the chains once more. Slowly he started to gain the upper hand as he stood to his feet, making the chains creak as he did.

"I've seen enough. Increase strength to fifty percent." She said. Godricks knees hit the ground hard before the orb spoke to him in a sharp tone.

"Let me make one thing absolutely clear. You hold a power I've never seen before. It could either be used to save humanity, or destroy it. I wish to harness this power for the salvation of all humankind, and I can do that with you as a willing participant, or as nothing more than a new piece of data." She said in her emotionless voice.

Godrick continued to struggle against the chains as he looked angrily at the floating orb.

"Logic dictates that we make a deal. I wish to study your abilities, but it will take longer to do so if you are data. Therefore, I propose we make a deal." The orb said.

"I know what it is you want. I know what that little girl wished for, and I will make it so if you cooperate. You wish to see Jeanne D'arc again, no?" The orb questioned.

At the mention of her name, Godrick stopped his struggles immediately, and looked back to the orb.

"Cooperate, and the wish will be fulfilled."

Godrick looked at the orb for a long moment before sharply nodding his head once.

"Problem resolved, storing away for more calculations."

"Follow me." She said, releasing Godrick from the chains.

Godrick got to his feet, glaring at the orb as it made its way down the library.

"There are certain events in the future that you must be prepared for. Humanity's safety is the number one priority. That being established, there are certain humans and spirits that must be exterminated in order to ensure humanity's survival. Shirou Amakusa was one such threat, which you eliminated with eighty-two percent proficiency. In the coming struggles, I will require you to increase performance and-" the orb stopped as Godrick had stopped following it. He was about ten feet behind, looking at an enormous object at the start of the library they were standing at.

"Again, please follow me." The orb said as it approached Godrick.

He made no move, only continuing to stare at the object.

The orb shifted to look where he was looking, and gave an explanation of the item.

"That is called the swirl of the root." She said looking at the mass of magical energy. The root itself was a gigantic orb much like Alaya herself. It had waves of magical energy coming from it, seeming to give life to everything around it.

Godrick started walking towards it, but the chains shot up from the ground once more, encasing him with their might.

"If you touch it, you will die." Alaya said, coming around to look at Godrick.

"You cannot touch the root. Not only will you die, but you will endanger all living life in this timeline." She said

"Only certain beings are able to obtain the Root, and you are not one of them. Your role, and every servant's role in the Throne of Heros, is to protect the Root with everything you have." Alaya said, floating to be right in front of Godrick.

"You are an anomaly. Something that has never been seen in any timeline or any universe connected to the Root. Therefore, I wish to study you, and see how you could best serve humanity's cause. But if you pose any danger to this place, or to the world, we will not hesitate to erase you. Now, I do not wish to repeat myself again. Please, follow me." Alaya said as the chains let him go a second time.

Looking back, Godrick stared at the mass of magical energy, and wondered what would happen if he were to touch it.

Turning back to Alaya, he started to walk after her, his thoughts still lingering on the Root.

"I am sending you to hunt down a rogue servant. I know from seeing your performance in the last Grail War, that this servant will be hardly a challenge for you, however it's a good place for you to start." Alaya said.

"Other than that, I will give you free reign of your actions. Complete this task, and I will grant the wish made by the girl named Laeticia. Do you have any questions?"

Godrick thought for a moment. His role seemed pretty straightforward. Kill a rogue servant, then he was free to do what he wished until the end of the Grail War. After, whatever Laeticia had wished for would happen, and if Alaya was to be believed, he would see Jeanne again.

He did have one question though.

"You will be tethered to the Grail itself. Though you will not possess it, you will be given a certain amount of Mana from it to sustain yourself. Though, my calculations tell me that won't be much of an issue for you." Alaya answered, not giving him the opportunity to sign his question. She answered him once more, answering his next question as well.

"You will be summoned alongside another servant who works for me. I suggest that you work closely with him as he is very effective in hunting down rogue servants."

"Now. It's time you were on your way. We have conversed enough, and I have many things to do." Alaya said as Godrick felt the familiar tug of a tether being formed, pulling him towards his next Holy Grail War.

-Rin Tohsaka-

"Come on," Rin grunted as she pushed the large stone table out of the way to reveal a magical circle drawn on the floor.

After making sure that all things were in order and optimal, she began her incantation.

She began by pouring magical liquid onto the symbol, making it glow a beautiful emerald green as she spoke.

Then it turned a blood red as she began the final part of the incantation.

"Heed my words," She said, "My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you Heed the Grails call, and obey my will and reason, then answer me. I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world. Seventh Heaven clad in the great words of power," She said, bringing her hand to her chest.

"From the binding circle, thou guardian of the scales!" She shouted, as a massive amount of energy exploded outwards, making the room into a huge mess.

Breathing heavily, Rin looked down at her hand as she saw the red markings that proved the summoning was a success.

"That was flawless!" She shouted, looking around the room for her servant.

"I know I must have just summoned the strongest servant there is!"

She looked around the room for a moment more before her face grew confused.

"Where-?" She began to ask before a huge crash was heard from upstairs, shaking the whole house.

"WHY!?!" She shouted running up the stairs into her large living room.

There she saw two figures, one getting up from a bookcase that he had evidently been thrown into. He was wearing red and black clothes that hugged his body, revealing his toned figure. He had small white tassels on either side of his chest, and had white hair that stood on end while his eyes were dull gray that looked at the second figure angrily.

The other figure was a massive knight, standing at least eight feet tall. He was clad in silver armor that had gold accents, with several blue glowing gems placed around his armor. His left arm was bare starting at the shoulder, revealing skin that was blacker than midnight, with amethyst veins running the length of the arm. Over his right shoulder he had the remnants of a tattered cape hanging from where the shoulder met the back.

Suddenly the white haired man lunged at the massive knight, only to be spartan kicked in the chest, sending him crashing back into some furniture.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" Rin screamed at the top of her lungs, drawing the two's attention.

The white haired man pulled himself from the rubble, dusting himself off as he looked at her.

"You must be the one who summoned us." He said, standing away from the knight.

"What is happening here? Two servants? How could I have summoned two servants?" Rin asked herself, musing on the situation she was in now.

The knight said nothing as he gazed upon the girl in front of him, and eyed the man standing away from him. The moment he had appeared, the Archer had attacked him, but was swiftly thrown back into the wall just before the girl had appeared.

"Are both of you my servants?" The girl asked, now looking back between the knight and the Archer.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but I can tell you I was the one summoned by you." The Archer said.

"SON OF A BIT-" The girl screamed, kicking a book that was next to her.

"I forgot that all the clocks in the house were wrong!" She shouted, crouching down, holding her head in her hands.

"I'm such a failure, why did you entrust this to me father." She said to herself.

"I don't know what this freeloader is doing here," The Archer said, pointing to the knight.

"But if you are my master, just sit back and let me do my work. I don't need some little girl shouting in my ear, telling me how to fight." He said, sitting back on some of the ruined furniture.

The girl's eye twitched as she looked back at the white haired man in anger. She turned to the knight, and pointed her finger at him.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" She questioned.

Godrick made no reply, feeling disinterested in the whole thing. He just wanted to kill the rogue servant, and mess some others up. He felt like he might start with this Archer in front of him, but the man was no longer hostile.

"Answer me!" She shouted.

Godrick looked at the small girl apathetically, ignoring her increasing anger.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!?" She screamed in frustration.