[center][h1][b]Ricardo and [color=lightcoral]Assassin[/color][/b][/h1][/center]
[i]Piedra y el archiduque de contratos como cimientos.
Ante el Ancestro Salvador,
Levante un muro contra la caída del viento,
Cerrando las cuatro puertas cardinales.[/i]

As he chanted, Ricardo allowed his magical energy to flow within himself and the space he had created.

[i]Que el camino de tres bifurcaciones que se extiende hasta la Corona gire.
Llena. Llena. Llena. Llena. Llena.
Llénate cinco veces hasta hacerte añicos.[/i]

It was not a complex ritual. Far from it, in fact. It was simple enough that it could be reproduced by complete amateurs, if they just so happened to be called upon. 

[i]Yo declaro,
Tu cuerpo me servirá.
Mi destino será tu espada.
Sométete al llamado del Santo Grial.
Si te sometes a esta voluntad y esta razón…[/i]

The true summoning was brought about by the grail itself, while the magus simply provided an anchor for the spirit to materialize in this day and age. Such had been the system set in place by the three founding families of the Grail Wars in the Far East, and though it was still unclear how this ritual had found its way to Rome, there had been reason to believe the process remained the same for this iteration. 

When some of the energy that had been circulating was syphoned away from his space, he knew he had his proof.

[i]¡Responde!
¡Un juramento será hecho aquí!
Alcanzaré todas las virtudes del Paraíso.
Y dominaré todos los males del Infierno.
Séptimo cielo acogido por tres palabras de poder,
Preséntate ante mí desde el anillo de cadenas,
¡Protector del balance![/i]

Just as he reached the incantation’s end, a gale erupted from the center of the circle, blowing out the candles and plunging the room into darkness.

Save for a faint glow in front of him.

Ricardo gave a cough as he breathed in the kicked up dust, but forced himself to lower the arm he had raised to reflexively cover his eyes.

His gaze immediately fell on the room’s other occupant. His breath fled him.

The young woman who stood over the summoning circle was suffused by a fading, otherworldly glow, as if to emphasize the special nature of her existence. A melancholic expression flitted across her features as she examined something in her hand — the catalyst that had been used to summon her. So focused was he in his scrutiny that her soft words barely reached him.

And then, as he had envisioned at the beginning of the ritual, the spirit swung a pale gaze at him. It was under the weight of steely eyes that he realized that the woman before him was every bit as dangerous as she was beautiful. Like a long knife wrapped in fine silks, perhaps she was made even more striking by the implied threat.

[i]So this is how it feels to stand before a hero of mankind.[/i]

The woman—Assassin—spoke the words of contract, and that was enough to break him out of his reverie.

“Yes,” he proclaimed boldly. “My name is Ricardo Alcazar, and I am your Master for this War.”

[color=lightcoral]“Then it is finalized, my Master...”[/color] Assassin said, feeling the contract between them solidify and bind them together as the surging energy crystalised the relationship between a Master and a Servant. Ricardo felt heat over his right hand, as though the words had awakened the Command Seals etched over it. He could feel that a path had now opened between them, and that his energy was flowing into her.

[color=lightcoral]“Lets see to it that we do our best, shall we?”[/color] Giving a smile over to him, it was a small one that understated her graceful presence yet had its own delightful statements about her nature.

And then, as though giving close to a scene in the theater, the glow finally died, leaving the two in the dark. Yet that small gesture remained in his mind like the afterimage of a lightning bolt.

In spite of himself, Ricardo grinned as he began to step back down the path that lead to the circle. The sound of his shoes kicking the occasional knick knack out of the way made his position clear even in the poor lighting. In another situation, he may have considered it remarkable that in the midst of that wind, the candle fire had not caught onto the nearby cloth, but as it stood, he could think of little else but the other presence in the room. 

“Nonetheless, I’m afraid this was a mistake after all. Perhaps if you had worn a skull mask or dark robes, but as it stands…” The switch clicked, and light filled the room. “A dark basement is much too dreary a place to converse with a Heroic Spirit, never mind a [i]joven doncella.[/i] Please, follow me upstairs.”

She gave a small laugh in response to her master’s remarks. [color=lightcoral]“Yes, perhaps this would have been the correct scenery if I had been one under the typical selection of my class. However, this should be suitable for a variety of other purposes if need be,”[/color] she said, casually giving a slight nod of her head in response to his invitation. 

“Perhaps so, but for the time being… ah. It nearly slipped my mind.” He had barely taken two steps before he paused, swiveling to face her with a charming smile, encouraged by her amiability. “May I be so bold as to ask your name?”

With a cadence matching Ricardo’s, she was unsurprised by his sudden movement, holding a comfortable distance of a step or two between their individual climbs as if moving at the same pace of each other. She held her attention on him as she continued herself. [color=lightcoral]“No need to worry Master, it wouldn’t be right to just introduce yourself without offering the same from myself,”[/color] she said with an equally charming and pleasant gaze.

[color=lightcoral]“As you may have assumed, you can call me ‘Assassin’ in front of others, but my true name is—”[/color]