One Heart (Victor Intro)

London: 12:38 AM

Moonlight streamed silently through the clouds, casting its silver rays onto the sleeping city. Two men could be seen on the summit of a high clock tower: the first clad in a jet-black suit reminiscent of some agent of clandestine dealings – for that was his actual responsibility – and the second in a lightweight trenchcoat the color of darkest blue, being silver-haired but young in appearance and age.

The man in the suit spoke first.

“There has been a mistake. The authorities have changed their minds about the entire matter.”

For a moment, the silver-haired man wrinkled his brow before responding. “This isn’t about me, is it? From what I was told, my assignment in Belarus was a complete success.”

The first man replied: “No. This matter concerns Kirei Kotomine.”

“I haven’t been informed about this before,” said the second man guardedly.

“There was no need to. Any unnecessary particulars would have distracted you from your goal.”

“All right, so I had an important task. But… what about him? Kotomine’s a good man. He helped me train ever since I was an acolyte, and from what I heard, he perfectly suited his position…” His voice trailed off. “Oh, no.”

“I’m afraid you’re correct. Our mediator has betrayed us – and has paid the price with his life. To make a long story short, the fate of the Sixth Grail War stands in danger of falling into the wrong hands.”

The silver-haired man was no fool. “Why are you telling me this?” he quietly asked.

“Suffice it to say that your sister's talents are insufficient for the task. We'll need your assistance to handle this properly with her arrival. If she arrives," added the agent cryptically.

“But none of this is official! How would you even know that she’ll be able to handle it?!”

“To tell you the truth,” the first man coldly replied, “We don’t. But this time we’ll be much more careful than before. Our contacts have seen to that. And,” he added, “The risks will be substantially lowered if you participate.”

“What?!?”

“I’m sorry, but you really have no choice in the matter. These decisions are official. The highest authorities have decided that the best option is for you to support your younger sister.”

The second man’s voice trembled with emotion. “They did, didn’t they? If – if anything happens to her, I swear I’ll –”

“–You’re intelligent enough to know when what you say is irrelevant. Win the Grail and make short work of them, if you must. However, you cannot allow this artifact to fall into the wrong hands. Every second you spend here talking to me is an unnecessary risk. Shouldn’t you be on your way now?”

The silver-haired man glared at his companion and briskly turned away, slamming the door as he stormed down the stairs.

It’s impossible! Kotomine would never do such a thing, and I know it!

The unknown agent quite impassively watched the second man leave. Then, in a voice so quiet that it neared inaudibility, he murmured:

“Godspeed, Victor Ortensia. Heaven knows you’ll need it.”

Four days later...

It was nighttime. Victor had rented out one of the high-rise apartments overlooking Tomiya city. In the shopping districts, it was an ideal location to start out. There were few obstructions in the way, and as he had claimed one of the more expensive rooms on the top floor, his location allowed a perfect view of the city. Furthermore, anyone who wanted to follow him would have to struggle up the entire length of the building, giving him more than enough time for suitable preparations.

"Yes - the ultimate preparation..." Victor mused to himself thoughtfully. He still wasn't sure he was entirely sold out on the Grail War proposition, but it was true that he didn't really have a choice. Besides, if he didn't complete this soon, it would be on the same degree as signing his own death wish.

He would only be renting out one room for the rest of his stay, but for this night, Victor had claimed the entire upper floor. There could be no mistakes on this night. Firstly, he opened the windows to let the air flow freely through his entire room. Victor then proceeded to put away all fragile objects in the room, taking special care that the artifacts he had brought from England wouldn't affect, or be affected by, his summoning. Many imprudent mages never took the time to do things correctly, but Victor wasn't one of them. He would be completely reimbursed, of course, but that didn't mean he liked to waste money.

Victor hated sigils. There was something that always made his flesh crawl even when facing the most basic magical signs, and as he never attempted to train himself, he was a terrible practitioner. His masters called it his single weak point - not that he cared, since he excelled at all other disciplines. But he wasn't about to be using that method tonight. No, he would choose a different route...

He took out a silver-tipped arrowhead from his pocket. After that, he retrieved a card from his coat jacket. It looked like:


Victor tugged at the metallic vial worn around his neck. It appeared to be a pendant, but that was only because it was made to look like one. He unfastened it, opened the stopper, and took a sip.

Mana surged painfully into his veins. That small amount of elixir was a powerful catalyst worth over a thousand times its weight in gold. It had the capacity of heightening his potential, but also contained the unfortunate effect of putting him in a daze for the next several minutes. He worried briefly about what would happen once the Servant came, but dismissed the notion. It wasn't important.

Victor gazed at the card he was holding. He formed the image of the Servant in his mind, giving it substance and form. Beckoning across space and time, he called out:

"Treue. Standhaft. Reinheit."
True. Steadfast. Pure.

"Diese sind die qualitäten drei ich mag winken,"
These are the qualities three I wish to beckon,

"Durch Licht des Tages,"
Through Light of Day,

"Und Dunkelste Nacht,"
And Darkest Night,

"Dringen durch die wände der ewigkeit."
Piercing through the walls of eternity.

"Deshalb rufe ich... Zahnüng!"
So I summon... Perforation!

He grasped the arrowhead in his right fist and held it high, his eyes closed tightly shut.

The resulting explosion rocked the entire room with a flash of violent light. Victor was thrown back by the shockwave, hitting the side of the room with a crash. Afterimages of the light burned hotly into his eyes, but mercifully, the pain from the elixir was gone. He slumped down wearily against the wall, exhausted.

"Kuh... maybe I overstepped myself. What was I thinking, performing a summoning without any symbols?"

And then... a voice spoke up. Victor was expecting it to be sound noble and imposing, but it wasn't.

"Hi! I'm Archer. Are you supposed to be my Master?"

Victor inclined his head towards the voice and gazed transfixed at the face that spoke. Suddenly he felt an awkward twinge. The elixir was still working! His mind was paralyzed by its effects.

"I'm sorry, but I'm speechless right now because I'm gaping at your lovely face. Please remain silent while I recover."

Oh... crap...

There was indeed a shocked silence as the Servant stared into Victor's eyes. Her face turned a bright red, which was, incidentally, also the color of her hair.

"Wait... Wha- WHAT?"

Victor sat opposite to Archer, the coffee table between them. Tomiya had become rather cold during the night, so two steaming mugs sat on the table as well, in front of their respective owners. Archer had declined the coffee in preference to a brew of tea.

"Let's start with our names. I'm Victor Ortensia. Though you can just call me Victor. I'd argue that it's the most efficient way to refer to me in a battle, but it really just makes things easier for me." He smiled, bravely attempting to forget the previous moment's embarrassment. If she noticed, she gave no sign. Victor hoped he was only under the impression that Archer had been eyeing him warily since that incident.

"Victor," repeated Archer uncertainly. "That's an odd name. You already know mine, right? I'd also prefer it if you called me Archer."

"All right, deal. So... where do you want me to begin?"

"I was hoping you would explain that yourself," Archer replied with a slight smile. She raised one eyebrow quizzically.

"Of course. Let's start with what you know. You're familiar with the system already - aside from the first Grail War, have you participated in any other ones?"

"Third. I didn't win either one, though I lasted a long time. That's about it," she said simply.

"Still good. Versatility is your main strength, though I probably didn't have to tell you that," smiled Victor.

"As you know, the early Grail Wars were the most savage ones. Shortly after you left they installed a mediator system to monitor everything going on. That didn't work in the last war, however. My main point is this: I expect a return to that early chaos."

"Ah... I see." Archer took sip from her mug.

"You weren't able to win these two wars because too much was going on for one Servant to handle effectively. But we've advanced in technology since then. Communications, transportation, weaponry - you name it. And one particular ranged Servant that can adapt extremely well to this change -"

"- Turned out to be me," she interrupted. "Hmm. You sound pretty smart yourself!" She grinned. "Now I have some questions for you."

"Ah - that's fine. What are they?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to say at first... firstly, you haven't made any strange mistakes with the summoning, have you?" She looked a bit uneasy.

Victor carefully checked the connection of prana tied between them. He gently tugged on the flows with his mind, feeling a slight resistance on the other end before he stopped. "No, I can't say that I have. Why?"

Archer looked surprised. "No? You're not going to invent some weird way of replenishing my mana? Wait - do you have all your command spells?"

He raised his palm so that Archer could see. "They're right here... but what does this have to do with anything?" His coffee was starting to get cold, so Victor began to finish it off.

Archer pointed a finger at Victor. "Ah hah! Are you going to threaten me with these because you want to do something?"

What? "Do... something? Of - of course not!" Victor sputtered through his mug. He had nearly dropped it in suprise."No, I absolutely will not threaten you with my command spells because I want to 'do something!'"

"Oooh, so you admit that you do want to 'do something!' " Archer folded her arms and leaned back in triumph. "So that's how it is? Hmmm?"

He stared at her in complete surprise. For the second time, he was at a loss for anything to say.

She leaned forward slyly, peering into his face with emerald eyes. "Sorry, Victor. I just had to check what kind of person you were before I decided to help you. I don't know why you want the Grail, but anyone with values like yours won't be bringing the world to harm. You pass. Yes... I think we'll make a great team this time!" She gave him another grin.

Well... even... even if you say that... I think a part of me just died...

Archer suddenly took on a graver expression. She suddenly stood up, slowly walking over to the window to look out over the city. "Seriously, though. I'm glad you were successful. I won't ask what you need to do, because... I think I already know how you feel. I have something important to finish as well..."

Victor followed, pausing a few paces behind her. "Then we have to give it all we've got, don't we? Let's shake on it." He extended out his palm.

Wait... what was this? Archer was staring at his hand with a look of horror. "Sh... shake what?" she asked in confusion.

Eh? Oh, no...

"My hand, Archer. It's a modern custom. We shake hands as a gesture of agreement. No, wait, I'm serious!"

"Get away, you pervert!"