DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.

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Prologue: λαβύρινθος (1of2)

When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is stand up from your bed and try to see if shit had happened the previous day.

Maybe a simple adventure where alcohol mostly screwed your integrity over poor life choices or maybe dealing with some soul-shattering hangover.

I admit I was expecting all of the above and certainly not getting thrown in some stone-made structure like a sack of potatoes.

My first thought was turning around to whoever had put me in that situation and kick him the groin, really, but I found quite quickly a more concerning issue.

Tight ropes were restricting my body, even my butt wasn't spared from the surprisingly exceptional job in tying me down like some sacrifical lamb!

I'm sorry that I sound like a mean jerk but- actually, now that I re-read this bit, I recognise that I'm actually not sorry, especially since I was a right arse from the very beginning and the predicament was but just intensifying my incapacity to feel kindness towards my captors.

Thankfully I will prevail by the end of the... is it night or day? That was another question to add to my little book describing how crampy my current position was.

Feeling this little need to bore people with inner monologuing, my eyes started to focus on what I could see in that dark place.

The building was made of cubic stones, not quite refined by some machine as many of those new places with the same old style horror were but still the whole lack of proper illumination made the whole thrilling experience of death approaching even more exciting!

Can you feel the sarcasm in the air, my dude?!

My whining was interrupted by a whimper that I couldn't locate in the darkness.

Soon the single sound became a cacophony of childish whining and all and- Goddamn, can I have my own room to be free to whine alone or am I forced to stay at the children's zone?

So much to be left to enjoy a proper end without my ears getting tortured by those INCREDIBLY ANNOYING BRATS!

Finally the massive door where we were laying there and waiting opened and I noticed the tall figure approaching the mass of whining kiddies and I rolled my eyes as it obviously moved closer to the epicenter of the annoying sounds.

I was expecting some blood-curling screams anytime soon and I braced my recovering ears for another session of suicide-inducing sound therapy.

Moments passed and... I was silenced by what just happened.

Slowly children got up from the ground and I was dumbfounded when the figure moved towards my direction and freed me.

"Uh?"

My little exclamation made the being pause and I managed to finally get a clear look of the.. human?

Being it was a mistake defining him a full human, he was incredibly tall, had white fur and two black horns.

"Uh."

I blinked as his eyes stared right at mine as he crouched down to study my face.

"Hello?"

His eyes were red with black scleras but there was a distinct lack of murder and bloodlust in his expression.

There was only.. childish curiousity.

"Hel-Hello?"

I would have found discover this curious humanoid quite exciting if I wasn't still trying to understand how, what, when and IF!

Slowly I placed my hand over my chest and pressed on it. "Matthias."

He blinked again but nodded as he pointed is finger at himself. "I-I a-am Aste-Asterios."

Asterios? Curious name that didn't connect with anything that could help any moment.

"Where.. where are we, Asterios?"

It was a massive bet to ask something this complex to someone struggling with words but... I needed answer to avoid hyperventilation.

He looked behind himself and I saw that the children had left the area to venture the structure Asterios had came from.

"Labyrinth."

Labyrinth? That is-

This is a joke.. there is no fricking way this is actually true..

There had been five boys and five girls, Asterios was half-human, half-bull and... they were in a labyrinth...

HOW DID I EVEN GET THERE?!

A mystery for later, that was sure as I tried to let my mind fully understand that I somehow ended up in Ancient Greece (Crete, if I had to be precise) and in what was recorded as a mythological story...

Oh God, Greek Gods existed and- damn, my morning sure is sucky-sucky.

I sighed as I saw the Minotaur sat quietly in front of me and.. stare in curiousity akin to a kid watching a new discovery.

"I know this might be.. difficult but, can I ask you some questions, Asterios? It will be the 'yes or no' kind of questions, okay?"

The small giant seemed to think about it, then he nodded and I felt a bit pleased that I didn't have to literally go alone in that little crazy maze made by Daedalus.

"Uhm.. Do you know how to leave the labyrinth?" Hasty? Quite, but this was the tamest question in my mind.

The Minotaur's eyes widened a little, considering if he should truly answer that question, then.. "Y-Yes."

Good! That means that I only needed to convince him to led me out of here!

"Can you leave the maze?"

This time the answer came quickly. "No."

...What?! Why wouldn't he leave if he can-ohhhh, I almost forgot about that bit of the story.

"But you would like to even if it is against your father's wishes, wouldn't you?"

He seemed surprised at my precise question but replied with a tiny bit of wonder. "Yes?"

I smiled, feeling victory just around the corner of this monumental mind game.

"What if your father lied to you?"

"H-He?" His voice felt fading as confusion flooded his mind and I continued. "What if he had not been quite honest with you, about why you are here?"

I stood up and, ignoring his flinch, patted his big kneecap. "I know you have no reasons to trust me or believe my words but.. I can assure you that, if you help me out of the maze and follow me to a temple in particular I answer some of your little doubts about your stay."

"W-Why?"

"Cause liars are bad, Asterios. And we are both individuals that like the blunt truth, aren't we?"

Big shot in the dark, yet the little conflict going in the tall humanoid gave me quite the hopes of actually getting Asterios on my side.

Then he smiled. "I- I want t-truth."

Congratulations! You unlocked a new party member, Douchebag.

Man, I truly miss playing at South Park... but now it was not time to whine about what has been loss but about what is now there to be taken!

And now I miss my strategy games, GODDAMMIT!

With my mind dealing with the aftermath of my failing attempts to fend off the games' withdrawal, I started to follow the curiously excited Minotaur as he jogged into the maze's entrance and towards the road to its exit.

My very life depended by the fact that Poseidon picked up the 'phone-call' and didn't us as advertise marketing.

Wait, now that brings up some funny ideas how to troll some people if this all works and I'm the opposite of dead by the end of the day.

AN

After the unexpected success of A Tale of Two Kings, I've been playing around the idea of doing the same with the Ancient Greece setting but I've refrained myself from going straight at it for two important reasons:
1) This is going to be huge as I will have to have a massive cast of heroes from the Nasuverse, most of those have yet to appear in the franchise or have been merely mentioned and never illustrated;
2) Kind lose its luster if I produces just pseudo-isekai fanfics about Fate. Didn't want to make it feel like I didn't care about what I wrote and I hope everyone understand why I held back from releasing this.

Schedule is set weekly and the day will be.. every friday! (Not tomorrow as I uploaded this now, but next week will be every friday.)

First stop in this 'Holiday' is Crete and dealing with a dangerous kind and a hero with a 'wrong' mission!