[color=6ecff6][center][h2]Cleo Forsberg[/h2][/center][/color]
[color=6ecff6][center][h3]Summoning her Servant; Preparing for war[/h3][/center][/color]

Few people would consider a view overlooking a graveyard to be an amenity, even one with such a storied history as Yanaka cemetery, but for a mage with Cleo’s particular set of skills having a workshop in close proximity to such a large source of spirits was a great boon. Grey eyes swept over the grounds as they peered out of the window of an apartment across the street from the cemetery’s outer wall, taking note of the pedestrians still milling about between the graves this close to sun down. It was a sombre sight, though it was said to be quite beautiful in spring when the cherry blossoms covered the many paths and main shrine road in delicate pink petals; with winter in full swing however the trees were bare and the cold seeped in to make the grief feel heavier.

Cleo turned away from the window, letting the curtains fall back into place as she surveyed her work. The cheap, rented apartment was small but sufficient for her purposes; the lack of furnishings only making it easier for her to clear space for her rituals. The summoning circle was somewhat crude, rituals of this nature being unfamiliar to her, and hastily drawn; time had been lacking once she had finished establishing her bounded field, setting her defensive wards and her guardians, and with nightfall fast approaching there had been the need for haste. Hopefully it would not impact the summoning too much.

In the centre she had placed her catalyst, an overly large femur taken from a burial site near the rumoured site of ancient Troy. Accounts varied on whether Ajax the Greater was buried in disgrace or allowed the usual honour of being burned on a pyre after his death, but a bone of this size, a human bone, found at that place in particular? It could only belong to one man. Procuring it had cost more than she had imagined, but magecraft could make wondrous things happen and money could cover the rest.

A catalyst for a hero from her own part of the world would have been easier to find perhaps, it might even have been a better fit for her, but she had her mind set on this one.

[color=6ecff6]“Let the spirits be the essence; Let bone and flesh and the contract of blood be the foundation
Let raise a shield to protect against the wind that shall fall; Let the four cardinal gates close”[/color]

The bulwark of the Achaeans. Not as skilled as Achilles, nor as cunning as Odysseus, nor as fierce as Diomedes; a hero who persevered, who defended his companions to the last, who stood strong in the face of his enemies and never faltered. Surely if anyone could win this war and keep her alive at the same time it would be him.

[color=6ecff6]“See now the branching road; Let fate guide your path, from the Throne to now
Let it be filled, filled, filled, filled and filled again; Five times at each passing
Come forth, Servant. Hear my call and answer; If you will submit to this will and this reason…… then answer!”[/color]

[@Crusader Lord]

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[color=82ca9d][center][h2]Archer Actaeon[/h2][/center][/color]
[color=82ca9d][center][h3]First meetings are sometimes awkward[/h3][/center][/color]

Archer appeared in front of Mercedes, his eyes meeting hers briefly before the hunter began to look the executioner up and down as if appraising her. He looked at her eyes once more, a curious expression on his face, before turning away to examine the room they stood in instead.

The lack of a catalyst meant that the summoning should have provided her with the most suitable and compatible Servant it could, yes? Then why did her look at her with eyes full of such wariness? Why did he not speak, to ask her name or to confirm that she was his master?

[@Yankee]