1 Prologue/Concept Chapter

The feeling of the cool breeze of the night blew through her legs. Upon the rooftop, the city she had come to call home looked so insignificant. How many times had she passed that street, ate at that restaurant, and shopped at that store? Only to realize that all the way up here it looked so...unnecessary. "Sometimes, my thoughts scare me…"

"WHAT do you think you're doing…?" the voice of an unhinged woman walked from behind her. The sound of her giggles, her laughter, was colder than the chill of the night air. "Are you going to jump?" she whispered under her breath as she began to step closer, slowly. "Hehe...has it finally sunk into that thick skull of yours? You, my darling, are useless. You're nothing more than a puppet, an insignificant piece of garbage that was made to be thrown away". Her words were laced with honey, but they did little to soothe the bitter taste left in the girl's mouth as she began to stroke her hair from behind. She reached up from behind the girl's ear and whispered as quietly as she could: "Your very existence is a sin in of itself! A freak of nature. The chances of your filthy hands touching the cup of God is zero!" a sick chuckle escaped her lips. "So wouldn't it just be easier for all of us if you just…" she gently leaned the girl forward and grinned "jumped?".

"I don't belong here…" the girl agreed, getting as close to the edge as she could. "Not in this cruel world...not even in this war. My birth was a mistake, I've always known that. That's the very reason why I was abandoned, I'm a disgrace to my mother's womb…". Tears began to roll down the women's cheeks as she closely listened, tightening her grip on the girl's shoulder. "Yes! Yes, you finally understand!" she wrapped her arms around the girl's waist "Now, are you ready to do the world a favor? Are you ready to jump?". The girl stayed silent. "Hm?" the woman reached her hand up and caressed the girl's cheek "well? What are you waiting for?"

Together they stood, barely an inch away from impending doom. "I'm gonna jump…" the girl finally spoke up. A sickening smile spread across the woman's features as she began to step back to give the girl some room, but before she could get away the girl had already begun to lean forward and grabbed the woman's waist; pulling her into her chest "and I'm taking you with me". The glimmer of triumph in her cobalt blue eyes made the woman furious.

"No!" the woman struggled, but they had already begun their descent. She grabbed the girl's neck and pressed as hard as she could "you can't kill me!" she cried. "The Grail is mine! Mine! Mine! MineMineMineMineMINE! ILL KILL YOU! ILL KILL YOU FOR TRYING TO TOUCH IT! ILL-" but before she could finish, familiar speared chains ran through her body. Killing her instantly.

Her blood flew everywhere, the metallic taste somehow managed to enter the girl's mouth. "Ew…" she groaned, making a futile attempt to spit out as much as she could. Thankfully, the force of the rushing air running past her falling body managed to push away some of the blood that stuck on her skin. She pushed away from the limp body that still had its now cold hands wrapped around her neck. The body reached the ground faster than she did, and the gory scene that came after the skin reached the concrete below is better left to the imagination. The girl stared emotionless below her, there was no way fo her break her fall now. The only thing left for her to do is accept her fate, her job was done anyways. A smile crept to her face as her eyes locked with the ground only mere inches away from her…

The ring of a phone lingered in the air. Rhythmically playing its obnoxious tone over and over, and over again. After one call was missed, another immediately came after. Stuck in some kind of purgatory that lasts only thirty seconds, repeatedly, the familiar tone of every household.

An audible, annoyed groan came from a lump of blankets on a nearby bed "No...Noooo! Five more minutes!" but the phone did not comply with the creatures' pleas. It refused to silence itself until it's owner answered.

"Ugh. I'm up, I'M UP!" the same voice yelled from under the sheets. It took only a moment for a messy black and white blob attacked the poor phone. The ringing immediately stopped when the hand of a human reached out from the monster to grab it and pull it close to what could only be assumed as an ear.

The silence lasted for only a moment before the amused chuckle of a man could be heard from the other line "Good Morning, Daika!". The creature only grunted and turned its head towards the blinding light of a monitor from across the room "It's four in the afternoon…". The man let out another chuckle "well, that's morning for you, right? I can never tell with you young people. Go on then! Put me on speakerphone and doll yourself up! I know you don't look human right now!" Again, the creature grunted in annoyance but obliged to the command. Pushing a button on the device and placing the phone down, the black and white floof reached its human hand towards a desk and grabbed a hairbrush.

"What do you want Takahashi? This better be important…" a hand once again reached down and placed the hairbrush down. Grabbing a green ribbon and an abundance of Bobby pins. The man whined in disappointment "Awww! After all these years you STILL refuse to call me by my first name! Always acting so mature, my Daika. I raised you, you know! I'm practically your father, I think I deserve a little credit!" His playful tone only added to his annoying whining and the blue cobalt eyes of a young woman glaring daggers into the machine seemed to agree. "Hehehe…" the man, Takahashi, tried his best to suppress his laughter. "I can practically feel the glare from here, I'm sorry Daika! But the chance to tease you was just too good to pass up!".

The woman only scoffed at him as she finished tying the green ribbon to support her bun and adjusted the little tufts that poked out the side. "I already told you to stop calling me that, you're my boss now. At least TRY to act professional and call me by my last name" but her request fell on deaf ears; because the man had already moved on to the next topic. "I bet you're wondering why I called during your vacation!" the woman snorted. In this line of work, her entire life was dedicated to whatever task was assigned to her. Regardless if it put her life in danger, it was her duty to fulfill it to the end. She was simply lucky that her boss, aka her old mentor, went easy on her when it went to missions. Whether she was appreciative of him for long rests in-between taxing missions or pissed off at him for keeping her from doing her job, she had yet to decide. "I'm always ready for new assignments, assuming you didn't call me for some stupid reason. What is it those clock tower shut-ins need now?"

After the third and fourth Grail Wars, the clock tower mages from the mage's association formed a new faction that dealt with illegal magic use and would become a sort of unofficial supervision team for any future Grail Wars. How on earth could they manage to find mages that could easily subdue other, most-likely stronger mages if and whenever a situation occurred? Simple, they didn't. Instead, they went looking for the strongest mage HUNTERS they could find and somehow managed strike up a deal. Thus, the MKRS association was created. Pronounced "Makers", the acronym stands for "Mage Killers foR Stabilization" The faction works closely with the leaders of the magi in order to stabilize humanity and the balance between the magical living and the non-magical, along with everything in between. That being said, in exchange for appropriate compensation the MKRS follows whatever orders they are given and agree to harm no mage outside of the contracted agreement. Thankfully, the only thing they've been needed for was a few stray mages and the occasional magical creatures that escaped their owners. Though the association can't take all the credit, after all, it was only after the death of Kirei Kotomine that they even thought about working with one of the hundreds that wish for their demise.

Takahashi hummed in amusement, despite his agreement with the organization, he despised mages for his own reasons. "Yes, well you see. There seems to be a new Holy Grail that's to form very soon…". Daika stopped adjusting her already messy hair, her eyes widening ever so slightly as the words repeated themselves in her mind "new...grail...war…?" Takahashi's smile could be felt through the phone "That's right! And the association has asked me, to ask you, to be the official-unofficial supervisor!" The woman stepped back from her mirror and looked down at the phone, a single one of brows rose in suspicion "What's the catch?". Another chuckle could be heard from the line "As observant as ever! Yes, the war of which you have been assigned is a bit...different. To say the least"

The woman sat down on a nearby chair and stared at the phone expectantly, intrigued by her former masters' words "how so?".

"Well…" he began "Recently there have been a few discoveries of what the ministry is calling...subcategory wars. These, in essence, "mini-wars", have been frequently appearing all around the world lately at very concerning speeds. They believe these could be a result of rouge mages seeking more power, others seem to think it is the doing of the Lesser Grail trying to reform itself. No matter what it is, it's clearly bothering the association enough to call for an intervention. The job they are requesting of you is simple: become a master in the upcoming Sub-Grail War and investigate how and why these anomalies have suddenly appeared. Do you understand?"

The room stayed silent for an uncomfortable amount of time, but Daika was too busy processing his assessment to notice. "Makes sense...but why me? My skills in magecraft or any kind of magic are nothing compared to higher-ranking officers like you. Why pick me for this specific assignment?" Her question lingered for both of them in the air, almost left unanswered if it wasn't for Takahashi's interruption of her decision "That I am unaware of, I can only assume it's because of your...specialty skills. Most humans have at least a hint of magic circuits. It's impossible to make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, as they say. You, however, have no such thing. If anything, the ones who participate in the war will assume you a regular person that got mixed up in the ritual and mark you as an easy target."

Daika hummed in understanding "Got it, they think if the participants don't take me seriously it'll be easier to obtain info. Makes sense, gotta hand it to them. They are at least a little self-aware". Both chuckled to themselves before the woman stood up and placed her finger just above the 'end call' button. "What the hell, sounds like fun. I'm in." Takahashi began typing something from his side "All right, your in. Any more questions?". She stood for a few moments, thinking. Sure, she had plenty of questions left, but they were most likely on a tight schedule. "So what's the basis of this war? Is it any different than the original?". "Nope!" the man answered immediately "Seven servants, seven masters, three command seals, one giant battle royal". The woman pushed the button "Got it, I'm assuming you'll figure it out with the landlord? I'll start packing the essentials, text me the details later. Talk to you later" and with that, she released the button and ended the call. She looked back at the couch covered in guns, knives, and every weapon in between. She turned her body to look at it all and held her hip, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. "Yeah...the essentials…"