I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Magic and Shadow

Prologue

"Well…" Caster said as she materialized in the middle of the summoning circle. "…this is embarrassing, to be summoned by a child of all people."

It certainly explained why the link between Master and Servant was so weak, the little girl with the bleeding hand cowering on the rough stone floor barely capable of providing the prana to summon her. Sustaining her and allowing her to fight…would probably not be possible.

She'd need to find a secondary source – or sources – of prana as soon as possible.

Caster looked around her, and her expression soured. Just the stench of death filling the place made it clear that this was not a good place to be, a sentiment reinforced by the iron cage hanging over the pit…a pit that was filled with abominations. Her eyes turned back to her Master, who was looking up at her with a mix of fear and desperate hope.

And then she looked at the hunched old man who was looking on incredulously. "That answers that I suppose." She said coolly before turning back to her Master. "What's your name child?"

"I-I-I'm Sakura." She replied, and Caster nodded slowly as her staff appeared in her hand. This was going to cost her dearly in terms of prana, but she wasn't going to stand aside and watch a child be fed into some weakling magus' idea of familiars. She'd killed her children, but that was only to spare them from a darker fate.

"I see…" she said while leaning down and grabbing Sakura's arm before pulling her to her side. The old man's eyes widened and he took a step back. "…do you want to stay here?"

"No!" the girl shouted in fear and with a glance at the pit. "I-I-I'll do anything! Just take me away!"

Caster smiled…and then flashes of light lashed out, and Sakura screamed in fright. One beam blew right through Zouken's torso, the magus crumpling to his knees even as a second beam blew a hole up right through the mansion and opening a path through to the sky. Holding Sakura close, Caster soared up, her black cloak fluttering around her. "Hold on tight…" she said as they alighted on the roof. "…this might be a bit uncomfortable."

Sakura assented, clutching at her tightly in fear, and with a whispered word Caster collapsed space and vanished from the Matou property.

Beneath them, in the ruined mansion, Byakuya Matou rushed to check on his father. He found Zouken calling on his worms to repair his damaged body. Fear of a Servant's wrath – a Servant impossibly summoned by a child – was replaced by anger at being thwarted. And Byakuya would bear the brunt of that anger.

Her Master had fallen asleep during the spatial translocation – or more likely had fallen unconscious due to a combination of shock, fear, and prana exhaustion – and leading Caster to survey the city on her own while carrying the slumbering child on her back. "Mother Gaea…" she had thought to herself at the time. "…if anyone I knew would see me right now…Medus would never let me live it down."

As it was, she had been running on fumes after escaping with her Master and she had needed a fresh source of prana. Fortunately the land was well-endowed with ley-lines – as might be expected from a city chosen as the site for the grand ritual to summon the Holy Grail – and it was child's play to find the convergences of those ley-lines.

One was a church…definitely not a place for her to go to, much less set up shop in, considering that it was the stronghold of the Overseer of the contest.

The second was an incomplete building located in the heart of the city. Also out of the question, given its vulnerability and utter exposure.

The third was a temple located on top of a mountain at the outskirts of the city. Something about it had felt suspicious too her, but she didn't think of it at the time, deciding to investigate it for later. More importantly, it was far enough out of the way to avoid drawing excessive attention, and it was more defensible too. As with her investigation though, that would have to wait until after they'd settled in.

Caster hummed softly but thoughtfully as she examined her Master's command spells, the girl sleeping and partly-tucked into a futon provided by the monks. Oriental gods were generally-speaking gentler compared to their western counterparts, and their devotees reflected this. It had been child's play for Medea to play the part of an abused spouse and child, and to impose on their hospitality by means of their sympathy despite the lateness of the hour.

"I see…" she thought as she ran a finger over the command spells, the Servant of the Spell sitting with her hood down beside her Master. "…despair and terror make for powerful catalysts, and the Grail took notice of it and granted her command spells and me, deeming her worthy to participate in the contest. But considering her limitations, it's also a joke in poor taste."

Caster sighed and leaned back. Prana absorption was slow, and she'd have to work on that as well when she had the time. She also had to take control of the ley-lines, and speed up prana collection before the contest could properly begin and other Servants began to appear. Once that happened she had to cut back on her operations to avoid drawing attention.

"I'm not so foolish as to fight an open battle without a distinct advantage." She said with a slight smile. "There's no point in fighting a battle if it doesn't end in victory."

Frowning thoughtfully, she reached out and stroked Sakura's face. The girl murmured in her sleep, turning towards her and pushing her cheek against Caster's hand. Caster's eyes widened, and her face turned sad. "Where are your parents, child?" she asked. "Why were you there? Why did I have to save you?"

Morning light streamed in through the windows, and Sakura slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times, her mind trying to catch up to her situation. And then the memories struck, of a black-eyed old man dragging her unwillingly to a pit filled with worms…of her fighting back…of her falling to the floor and cutting her hand…and then the voice in her head.

The voice had asked her how far she was willing to go to be saved.

She remembered answering that she would give everything to be saved.

She remembered the woman in black and purple appearing in silver light as she gave her answer.

With a gasp Sakura Matou sat up, and Caster materialized beside her, and causing her to flinch. "Good morning." Caster greeted her, and Sakura relaxed.

"G-Good morning." She hesitantly replied, and regarded her savior. She was a beautiful woman, maybe even more beautiful than her mother, with long purple hair and pointed, elf-like ears poking through her hair. And while Sakura was a child, she did grow up in a magus household. She knew enough to recognize what was mundane and what was not, and the dangers involved with the latter.

That's not normal. She's probably a magus. But…she saved me, didn't she?

"Now then child…" Caster began. "…your name is Sakura, am I right?"

Sakura nodded, and Caster smiled softly. "It's a nice name." she said. "It suits a little girl."

"Thank you." Sakura replied. "W-what's going to happen now?"

"Well that depends on you." Caster said. "Personally I'd like for us to stay together until things quiet down, since that should be safer and better for us both in the long run. But if you want to go home…"

Sakura shook her head, tears beginning to flow from her eyes as she clutched herself. "Mama…" she whispered. "…papa…they didn't want me."

"Mother Gaea…" Caster whispered as she pulled Sakura into a comforting hug. "…I had hoped and thought that you'd been abducted against your will…but are you saying that your parents sent you to that place deliberately?"

Sakura nodded against her chest, and Caster felt wrath erupt deep within. She was a murderer and a traitor there was no doubt about it, but even she had lines she would not cross. "What could possibly drive parents to send their child to that place?" she silently asked herself aghast. "Feudal obligation…? How could they? That's no different from letting my children die in torment by the mob's hands! Death would be and was a blessing in disguise! Could they have been ignorant of the true extent of the situation? Even so, that's no excuse!"

"Please let me stay…" Sakura whispered. "…I…I don't know you, but you took me from that place. You'll keep me safe, won't you?"

Caster nodded, rubbing Sakura's back. She intended to use her Master as a bargaining chip with regards to negotiating for the conduct of the war, but now…

It seems that I'll have to fight this war on my own.

"I will." Caster whispered. "I'll keep you safe, and together we'll win this war. We'll get everything we want, and more."

Sakura continued to cry, but clutching at Caster even tighter now. Caster continued to comfort the distraught child, but already her mind was at work. Not just on how to fight and win – which she'd been doing all night while drawing in prana from the ley-lines converging under the temple – but now also on how to teach Sakura's parents a lesson about responsibility.

And it would be a lesson that they would never forget.

A/N

I've got author's block for my works already up, as well as for on-the-table works like Jaehaerys III and Magister of Zero (see my profile for the details of these stories), so I've decided to go with this.

Originally I was going to go and make a rewrite of Legacy of the Ancients by Count Valerian, but I ultimately went for Guardian of Zero. Now don't get me wrong, the idea is great, and the writing is good too, but the progression, characterization (in particular character derailment of certain people) is problematic at times. Hopefully my version will be able to avoid those issues.

With that said, I look forward to reactions and constructive criticism.