A Card Dealt (Neal's intro)

Neal arrived home from work, it had been a rather long day. He didn't really need the income as the death of his parents had left him with a rather large sum of money. Despite this, he had yet to so much as withdraw a single penny from the account. Neal wasn't all that interested in living in the lap of luxury. He chose instead, to move out of his inherited home, and make his own way. His guardian, some aunt he had never even met before, thought the young man to be a little too excentric for being so young. But when Neal announced that he would be moving to Japan, alone, in less then a week, dear Aunt Liz had decided that her nephew was out of his mind, even more so when she was informed that he wasn't taking any of his inheritance with him.

When Neal arrived in Japan he had the money he had earned at his former job back in Europe, and three sets of clothes. He wasn't concerned however, he was well aware that he had a safety net if it was absolutely needed. He put the money he had into renting a small apartment and immediately got a job driving a courier truck. It hadn't been all that difficult for him to adapt. In fact it seemed as though adaptation was one of Neal's strong suits. His ability to be frugal with his money meant that he was never really tight for cash. he worked hard and never missed a day of work.

Now however his vehicle was about to die on him and it was time to take on a little extra work to help save up for the impending cost of buying a new vehicle. He dropped onto a chair in the living room with a faint sigh. he had been thinking about how he could go about bringing in a bit of extra cash and had decided that offering English tutoring services at the local school would probably be the best way to go.

Neal gazed at the ceiling of the apartment in silence for a long moment before he started to get this strange feeling. Like something....something big...was going to happen soon. He furrowed his brow slightly, and in that same instant the phone rang, causing him to jump to his feet, startled, before making his way over to the phone and picking it up. "Neal Davian speaking" There was a long pause before a familiar voice was heard at the other end. "Neal, it is that time." It was one of Neal's teachers from back home.

The young man frowned slightly. "Already?...Very well. I'll prepare." Was all he said before he hung up. In truth he had been preparing his whole life, what he had really meant to say was that he would do the -final- preparations. There wasn't much left for him to do, aside from the summoning. he didn't even really have a suitable place to perform the summoning, it would be foolish to attempt it in the confines of a small apartment.

Quietly Neal moved to his room and got changed out of his courier uniform and into a simple pair of black pants and a black turtleneck shirt before making his way out to his old dying car. He knew of a perfect place to take care of things. It was late and it was unlikely that anyone would be out on the hiking trails of the nearby mountain range at his hour. Putting the car into drive, he pulled out of the driveway and drove off into the night.

***

The only light there was to guide Neal through the dark woods was the silvery light of the moon above, which was less then constant due to the drifting clouds that constantly passed overhead. A chilly wind rustled the leaves on the trees as Neal stood there in the middle of a small clearing, unmoving, like a statue. He was well aware that most mages would covet the Saber. It was more then likely that that particular servant had already chosen their Master. Neal couldn't honestly say that he wanted any Servant in particular, however.

In his mind, whatever Servant you ended up with, would be the one best suited to you. So there was no reason to aim for a specific one, as people rarely knew what would be best for themselves. Neal silently closed his eyes as another cloud drifted over the moon, he began to mutter quietly. It could barely be consider more then mouthing the words. He lifted his right hand out infront of him as he muttered, palm facing down as a complex symbol drew itself on the ground in a blue light. The moment that the symbol had completed forming on the ground around him, there was a bright flash of light, that Neal could see, even through his closed eyelids, and the concussive force tossed him clear to the ground as a figure appeared within the confines of the symbol. Just as fast as the light had appeared, it promptly vanished, leaving a young man standing before Neal.

Neal grimaced as he felt a brief jolt of pain run up his arm as he climbed to his feet and dusted some dead leaves from himself, eyeing the figure before him. Neal couldn't even decide how to react to the man that stood before him. There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary about him, aside from being in top physical condition. The modern clothes were also bewildering. "So, you're my Master...Looks like I lucked out. Nice clean summoning with no complications...and you seem to be a little mana factory. Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners. I'm Lancer, at your service."

Neal nodded faintly "I'm honored to meet you...I am Neal Davian. Your Master. I...must say, you seem a little....unconventional for a Servant. I don't suppose you are willing to tell me who you are?" The man with the unbuttoned shirt just smirked in a roguish manner. "And spoil the surprise? I'd rather keep my actual name under wraps for now, it is better this way. However if you really want to know, I could tell you. But tactically it is better that you just know me as Lancer." Neal nodded acceptingly "Very well. We have some work to do. Come with me." With that Neal turned and headed back toward his car, followed by a man that looked as though it could be his brother.