DrowsyPangolin

Fate/Empty Providence

@Holy Grail Sure thing. I'll get the post up here in a bit. I meant to do it earlier, but I'm in the process of moving, so things have been a little hectic.

Edit: Is using the undead to cook a health code violation?

Fate/Empty Providence

@Holy Grail No worries, I know the feeling lol.

Fate/Empty Providence

Ernest LaCreux

Church Exterior

As the glow of the circle died away, Ernest looked upon his new Servant. It had worked. He had managed to summon another Servant. Once again, the Holy Grail was within his grasp. A small smile crossed the grave man's face as he lowered his hand, but only for a moment. He could definitely feel the exhaustion of the day within him now, but that didn't matter. He had a new Servant, and what a Servant she was! Before she even spoke, Ernest could feel a sense of royalty about her, a royalty bordering on divinity. As soon as she spoke, this impression was only fortified. Furthermore, she was powerful, far more powerful than Ernest had expected from his rushed, unorthodox summoning. It seemed perhaps his streak of poor fortune was ending.

The new Servant's charismatic introduction further cemented her lofty position. She called herself Chi-You, king of war, creator of weapons, divine. Though Ernest was unfamiliar with the legend of Chi-You, he was certain at this point that she was someone quite important. The magus nodded politely at Chi-You's question before bending forward in a deep bow. “Welcome, King of War. Yes, I am your Master.” Rising from the bow, Ernest's eyes met those of his Servant. “My name is Ernest. Ernest LaCreux, and with your help I intend to claim the Holy Grail.” Ernest's words were surprisingly presumptuous, given his current appearance. The stress of the day, the exertion of summoning two Servants within hours of one another, and numerous uses of magecraft had left Ernest looking a bit disheveled. His rolled up sleeves and loosened tie certainly didn't add any class to his appearance, and yet he still presented himself like the aristocrat he was. Perhaps even more than before, as Chi-You's summoning had provided him with a surge of hope, when he thought all had been lost.

The magus adjusted his tie before addressing his Servant again. “We shall speak more, there is a great deal I wish talk with you about, but for now, I think it best we leave this place and head to my base of operations in the city.” He motioned down toward the road, where the limousine still waited. There were many things Ernest wanted to inquire about Chi-You. As before, he could gauge her power fairly well, but he was still unable to discern her class for whatever reason. The halberd she held might have suggested Lancer, but that was far from a guarantee. At least he knew her name, a name he desperately hoped he was the only one to hear. Chi-You's identity becoming public knowledge was an alarming thought.

@Holy Grail

Fate/Empty Providence

Ernest LaCreux

Church Interior/Exterior

Ernest nodded. “Of course, I expected no more.” The magus slung his jacket over his shoulder and began walking toward the door of the Church, stopping just shy of the exit. “Again, thank you, Ruler.” With that, Ernest pushed through the doors. Telepathically, he ordered the Thrall, which was still waiting near the Church, to bring a few of the scarce supplies left in the limo. He had not prepared for something of this nature, but perhaps he could manage to scrape by. Following his orders to the Thrall, Ernest rolled up his sleeves and began work on setting up the Bounded Field. It was not a terribly complicated thing, but he had already used a fair amount of magical energy that day, and he was becoming more and more aware of that fact as the night drug on. He hoped the rest of the night would conclude without incident.

After quite some time, everything had been prepared. Ernest had set up a satisfactory Bounded Field just outside the Church, and with the help of the Thrall's supplies, the magus had managed to create another Summoning Circle. Unfortunately, the circle was not quite as perfect as before, but then the first one had been produced under very different circumstances. Ernest let out a deep breath, wiping his brow, looking at the circle, and then at the marks on the back of his hand. It didn't matter what Servant he summoned. He had to win this War. If he were to conquer the absolute, to overcome fate, to reverse the very reality of the flow of time... he would certainly need a miracle, and miracles were hard to come by.

Ernest raised his hand above the circle and began the same chant he had recited earlier. “Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill...” As the words fell from his lips, what felt like fire flared up within his chest once again. The marks on his hand, along with the circle, began to glow dimly. The light was fainter than before, likely due to the unorthodox nature of the Summoning. Even as the magus reached the chant's end, the light remained dim. He took a deep breath, clenching the fist that bore his Command Seals.

“I offer one of my Command Seals to give the spark of life! Heed my call!”

The marks on Ernest's hand awoke with a surge of light, and the magus felt a white-hot burning sensation as one of them faded from his hand. At the same time, the Summoning Circle roared to life, gleaming with a blinding red light and producing a surge of warm air in all directions. Ernest squinted his eyes, the hot wind lapping at his face. The hand that bore the Command Seals was still raised, the other hung at his side, tightly gripping his cane. It had to work.

@Holy Grail @Moonlit Sonata

Fate/Empty Providence

Ernest LaCreux

Church Interior

Ernest listened intently as Ruler described the strange nature of the current Grail War. The potential chaos that could ensue from such a breach pf tradition slightly concerned the magus, but such changes were precisely the reason he would be reentering the War, and he had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Still, the reasoning for the “Second Owners” that Ruler spoke of changing the Grail War intrigued him. Perhaps he would find that answer at some point down the road. For now, he would have to move swiftly.

“I see.” The magus looked at the grey Command Seals on his hand. Using one was a rather significant price to pay, but so long as he was careful in his pursuit of the Grail, he could perhaps get by with two. Regardless, it was his only definite way back in, and at the moment no price seemed too high. “Very well then. If it will allow me to reenter the Grail war, then I will try it.” The magus paused for a moment, as though pondering something.

“I assume, given the Church's neutral position, that summoning here would be... frowned upon?” He gave Ruler a questioning look. “I would hesitate to violate etiquette, but as Overseer you could give permission for such a thing, yes?” Ernest glanced toward the door. “If not, I can certainly return to the spot where I summoned Lancer, though if I am attacked between here and there I wager I stand very little chance of surviving.” The magus put no forced persuasion into the request. It was a simple, honest question. Ernest had many flaws, but breaching etiquette was something he tended to avoid if at all possible. Even so, perhaps an exception could be made in this case.

“Regardless, I sincerely thank you for your help.” Ernest bowed slightly. “I am grateful that the Grail decided upon such a suitable Ruler.” Again, Ernest's words seemed sincere, if heavily practiced.
@Moonlit Sonata

Fate/Empty Providence

Ernest LaCreux

Church Interior

Ernest listened to the possibilities that Ruler gave. Certainly, they all seemed somewhat probable... and yet they seemed wrong. None of the options seemed appropriate for that empty being. Thus, Ernest mentally decided Ruler's explanation of a third-party seemed by-and-large the most likely. Not that it really mattered what the thing was at this point. After all, Lancer was gone, along with any hope of att-

Ernest's eyes widened as Ruler gave him the possibility of rejoining the War. Could it really be? Was there really another chance. An uncharacteristic smile spread across Ernest's face for a moment, and he almost chuckled. The look seemed horribly out of place on the grim man. He nodded, rising to his feet. “Do I still desire the Grail?” He looked at Ruler for a moment. Rejoining the Grail War meant throwing himself back into danger. There was the possibility that he would just run into that horrible, empty thing again... but there was nothing for him if he refused. He needed the Grail. It was his only hope, and he wasn't going to throw this second chance, this unheard of stroke, away. No, there was only one option left open. “Of course I do.”

There was no real decision to be made. Winning the Grail was a necessity to Ernest. Still, the strange situation he now found himself in begged many questions. “If that is the case, how would I go about the summoning?” The realization hit him that he no longer had any sort of catalyst or relic to manipulate the summoning process. Whatever Servant he summoned would likely be random, and given that other Servants had already been summoned, there was a possibility that his chances of summoning a strong Servant had been severely hampered. Still, luck seemed unpredictable for once. “And given the fact that the other Servants have almost certainly been summoned... Are there any restrictions I should be aware of?”

Fate/Empty Providence

Ernest LaCreux

Church Interior

Ernest took a long drag from his cigar as Ruler opened the door. Immediately, it became clear that Ruler, too, knew something was wrong. Ernest looked at the heroic figure for a moment, a fair amount of the night's shock still hanging over his eyes. Exhaling smoke, he nodded, following Ruler into the Church. Ordinarily, he would've realized the breech of etiquette he had committed by bringing a lit cigar into the building, but at the moment his mind was far too distracted to consider such things. As they entered the Church, Ernest nearly collapsed on a nearby pew. Removing his jacket, and taking another drag from his cigar, he looked up at Ruler and began.

“I summoned my Servant, Lancer, earlier today. We decided to familiarize ourselves with this city more thoroughly. I thought that would be an advantage...” The magus stared at the floor with blank eyes for a moment. “Things were uneventful until we drew near the forest on the western side of the city. At that point, Lancer darted off into the trees... he was following something, as far as I could tell.” Ernest shook his head. “There was a problem, though. It was difficult to tell exactly where he went, and our connection seemed distorted. I couldn't tell where he was going, so I sent a familiar after him into the forest, too try and discern what was going on.” Ernest looked up at Ruler. “When the familiar reached him, Lancer had brought out his spear... not that it did him much good. I don't know if they fought beforehand or if it was an instantaneous attack, but a... man with black hair had put his fist through Lancer's heart.” Ernest took a breath. “No, 'man' isn't the right word. I don't know what he was. He didn't seem like a Servant, but yet he struck Lancer down in a single blow.” Ernest paused for a moment, disgust twisting his lip. “I looked at him for a moment, this 'thing'. I can't describe it exactly, but something was deeply wrong about him. He was... empty.”

Ernest shook his head, taking another deep inhalation of smoke into his lungs. “That's all I saw. After that he destroyed my familiar... and then I came here.” The reality of the events that had just transpired became heavier by the moment. Despite obviously being quite shaken, Ernest's voice retained the same air of grim aristocracy that it always carried, evidently a trait that was difficult to shake. The man adjusted his tie, looking at Ruler again. “From the way you greeted me I suppose it's safe to assume this is far from ordinary.” 'Ordinary' was a rather poor choice of a word for anything involving the Holy Grail War, but even so, something was even more amiss than usual. “Can you tell me what that... thing was, Ruler?”

Fate/Empty Providence

I love Fun Grail War Nasuverse Saint/old raffle series!

Fate/Empty Providence

Ernest LaCreux

Western Fuyuki Roadside, Near the Forest

It had all happened so fast. The bird fluttered within view of Nimrod just in time for Ernest's deepest fears to be realized. The magus' vision, shared with his familiar, fell upon Lancer and the strange, dark-haired man, and as Ernest saw the man's hand pierce his Servant's heart, he felt a bolt of anguish spike through his own chest. As the eyes of the dove met the cold, empty eyes of the mysterious, terrifying figure before it, Ernest felt his veins freeze. Then came a blinding flash.

As his vision returned to his own eyes, Ernest felt the pit of despair in his stomach expand to consume his whole being. There was no mistaking what had happened. His Servant was gone, all his hopes had been decimated in the first night of the war. The blank gaze of the black-haired man was burned into the magus' mind. That wasn't a Servant... truth be told he had no idea what that man was. Not that it mattered. What mattered was Lancer was gone. Ernest sat, frozen for a moment, his eyes peering blankly into the forest, the gravity of what had just occurred ricocheting through his body. In what seemed to be a stupor, he turned away from the forest, closing the door of the limousine. He was a Master with no Servant now, and whatever it was that had killed Nimrod, he had no chance against it. He was in danger, but no adrenaline coursed through his veins. No, he was still in shock. His reactions now were automatic, mechanical, his mind was far, far away. The words slipped loosely from his mouth. “T-the Church... To the Church.” The wheels of the limousine began to roll.

Ernest sat in baffled silence in the back seat of the vehicle. A shaking hand slid into the breast pocket of his jacket, withdrawing a gold-plated lighter and a single cigar. Trembling, he brought the cigar to his mouth and lit it, taking a deep inhale of the pungent smoke. He seemed remarkably calm, considering what he had just witnessed, but in truth his mind was far away. He remembered something someone had once told him...

“I tol' ya when I first metcha boy, ya set to lose, always have been. It's someting you've got to understan', child. To be you is to lose, it's part of who ya are. The mos' 'portant part. Your 'sociation would call it ya Origin child, and ya Origin is Loss. No sense in cryin' over it, or fightin' 'gainst it. It won't change.”

Ernest shivered. No. It couldn't be over so easily. But it was. It was all over, just as quickly as it had begun. His Servant was gone. His hopes of claiming the Grail were gone. His only way of bringing her back, of being happy again, of being the man he used to be: all gone. The mage slammed his cane against the floor of the limousine. “Damn it...” The lit cigar smoked in his tremoring hand. “Is this really all that's meant for me? To fail?” The tremor grew stronger.

“IS THIS ALL THERE IS?!” He slammed the cane into the floorboard again. “To lose?” He slumped against the window, watching the lights of the city pass by. “Marie...”

Outside the Church

The rest of the ride was spent in crushed silence. The limousine finally came to a slow stop, and Ernest half-stumbled out of the vehicle, steadying himself with his cane. He slowly began his trek up toward the Church, eyes unfocused, occasionally taking a long drag from his cigar. The limousine's engine died behind him. The Thrall still sat inside. That was fine, it didn't need new commands now.

Ernest came to a stop near the front doors of the Church and grit his teeth before taking a deep breath. “I've lost my Servant. I've come here seeking... sanctuary.” The word felt wrong. What sanctuary was there now? Had it all been for naught? Was he truly bound to this fate? He waited for reply at the door of the Church.

@Moonlit Sonata

Fate/Empty Providence

I mean, at least they acknowledged it. They actually linked back here and everything.

@ConstantlyComic

You right. Didn't see that before.