In a land far, far away

In a bygone era.

Atop a kiln of countless ash, of countless sacrifices made to keep an Era of Fire still burning.

Under a black sun outlined by a ring of fire, a symbol of how a king would throw the natural order of secession from a straight line to a never-ending cycle of rebirth.

There the Ashen One guarded the First Flame, letting its flame kindle unimpeded. But this was not the First Flame by which a fearful king had made to keep his Era of Gods and Fire alive. No this was now a flame by which humanity lived on. For as long as the flame flickered then humanity could move on to the future.

He had no concept of time. Ever since he had first decided to end the Age of Fire he had not left his guard over the flame of humanity. He willingly slumbered here to ensure that another Gwyn would not circumvent another endless Age of Fire. A sacrifice he was willing to make to ensure that the world moved in its natural order.

Yet he could feel something call to him, a tiny whisper beckoning him forth. A Millennia of eternal slumber had made him very receptive to the tiniest of noises. Awakening for the first time in decades, the Ashen One peered into what had awoken him.

There in the country of Romania, in a little city called Trifas, deep beneath a castle occupied by a clan called Yggdemillennia, he found the Greater Grail.

As he stood in spirit form in front of the massive wishing construct with intrigue. How long had humanity had to be able to create a system able to grant wishes. He ran his fingers across the massive sphere that housed the Greater Grail, feeling the power emanating from it.

But he had not come to gawk at this marvel but to see what was calling him from within. He was still human that had wishes so it was no surprise that the Grail was trying to beckon him forward but his intrigue was with what else it was trying to beckon.

As the Soul of Cinder, he had accumulated the souls of many beings. Gods, humans, dragons, champions, even those that spawned out of the abyss. Their souls had bolstered him to become what he was today and in turn those very souls lived within him. Their souls reached out to the Greater Grail, trying to answer its call.

But then that begged another question. Why was the Grail calling them now? It had been a day already since both factions had summoned their servants so there was no need to have additional servants.

"Then something is not right," He theorized before floating upward and entered the inner workings of the Greater Grail. Inside he begun looking around and seeing what had been calling them. A quick observation of the systems had revealed that everything was okay, so where was the problem?

"Maybe the core," He thought before delving deeper into the system. There he had found what was wrong.

During the third holy grail war, a very special situation had occurred. What had exactly occurred he had no clue but what was apparent that there was no clear victor. Only the Ruler servant survived and they could not make a wish due to their special status as the mediator of the war so the accumulated energy from the other servants remained, waiting for a victor that was never crowned to make a wish. Time passed by as eventually the Greater Grail placed the excess prana in itself, waiting to be used.

The same Ruler servant now intervening in this Holy Grail War to make a wish for his own. Shirou Tokisada Amakusa had been waiting and preparing for this Grail War to enact his salvation. He had thoroughly prepared by the summoning of the Assassin, Semiramis, The Wise Queen of Assyria. Her Noble Phantasm would allow the Faction of Red to hold the Greater Grail while Shirou used the Grail to accomplish his goals. He even enslaved the other masters of Red, excluding Saber's, without the other servants knowing.

He believed that he knew what salvation was, that by getting rid of humanity's desires and necessities humanity would be saved. However, a person devoid of desires is nothing but a Hollow.

The righteous thing to do was let the energy be free, to return back normally into the Grail rather than wait for a wish that will not happen. He had sworn to not break the rules that he had placed on himself, but he must admit that it was rather boring to stay watch of the First Flame while humanity moved forward. He was sure that he had all been forgotten and he did not think that no one would object to him having a little fun for himself.

Shirou's wish involved the fate of humanity and when humanity was in danger, he would be the one to judge his wish.

After all a certain Hunter of the Dream had used a Grail War to materialize back into the waking world, so why couldn't he.

So, it was the Ashen One that answered the calls of the Grail, his main body staying back to keep watch over the First Flame while he would join this Greater Grail.

Before there were the Factions of Red and Black.

Now the Faction of Ash would join the fray.

Somewhere in the countryside of Romania, in a dilapidated castle whose walls have long since been lost to the ravages of time.

The Saber of Ash arrived in a plume of fire.

The Ashen One surveyed his surroundings. He saw the ruined castle which brought forth memories of his memories but what had his attention was the setting sun, how it cast a glow across the grassy plains of Romania.

"Beautiful," He marveled. He had only seen such a beautiful sight in paintings, the world he knew was so scarred that beauty could never grow like this. The only beauty he had witnessed often had horrors lurking in the shadows.

But he could not marvel at nature any longer, he had something else to do. He brought up his hand to look at his command seals that were shaped in the dark seal that once marked humanity, three marks forming a circle. He needed to summon his faction before any noticed the extra prana the grail was going to produce. Neither side knew if other had summoned all of their servants so by doing it now they would just make them assume that the other side were summoning their last servants.

"Then let us begin," He took a deep breath in before outstretching a hand, readying his prana to summon his servants. He did not have to worry about prana reserves to feed his servants as his connection with his body back at the Kiln already provided him with an almost endless quantity of prana.

"Silver and Steel, the essence,"

"Stone and the archduke of contracts, the foundation,"

"Ash, the color I pay tribute to," A massive magic circle made of ash appeared before him, glowing as the summoning begun.

"A wall, to harbor against the raging winds,"

"Let the four cardinal gates be sealed,"

"And Thread the three-forked road from the Crown,"

"Reaching unto the Kingdom."

"I hereby propose," He reached into his massive soul, asking who would answer the call. Six powerful souls had accepted immediately.

"Swear your fealty to me, and my life shall be your sword,"

"If you abide the Grail summons, and follow the laws, heed my call!"

"I hereby swear," The magic circle of ash begun to pick up power, its connection to the Greater Grail made official.

"I shall be all that is good in the world,"

"I shall ward off all that is evil in the world."

"From the Seventh Heaven, wielding Three Words of Power," The circle was now billowing strong gusts of wind as the circle began materializing the six servants of Ash

"Come forth from the ring of control, Guardians of the First Flame!" A bright light engulfed the circle as the six servants materialized into the waking world. The six servants were kneeling as they begun introducing themselves.

"You summons have been answered," The lead servant answered as he looked up at his master. The golden clad Lancer with the face of a lion and a red plume. Ornstein the Dragon Slayer.

"I am a servant of Ash," Archer raised his head. The giant whose aim never faltered, even when blinded. Hawkeye Gough.

"And my fate is one with my lord," Rider spoke. A god of war that once slew dragons only to befriend and tame them. This action had him disowned by his father and his name annulled from the pages of history. The Nameless King.

"My sword is your sword," Assassin promised. Garbed in an armor of thorns that made him a renown darkwraith. Kirk the Knight of Thorns.

"My shield is your shield," Berserker spoke. He donned an armor of solid rock that was impervious to most attacks. He never flinched from battle which many considered him mad for. Havel the Rock.

"My spells shall be your spells," And finally Caster spoke. She was once the eldest sister of the Church of Londor but her failure as an Unkindled had led her to the painted world of Ariandel. There she found a people to defend. Lady Friede of the Blackflame.

"We servants of Ash are here to answer our lord's call," They said in unison.

"Rise my fellow servants, for millennia we have slumbered but now we reawaken to fight for humanity's salvation," With a wave of his hand his servants rose, each servant a powerful champion in their own right.

And as the sun settled and the moon took its place, the Faction of Ash were preparing to intervene in a war in which both sides were unaware of their presence.

Meanwhile back in a student dormitory in France, Ruler was making the final preparations to leave for Trifas, Romania. Something had gone wrong with her summoning so Jeanne d'Arc had needed a vessel to which she could use to materialize into the world.

She found a girl called Laeticia that was a perfect match for her. She cared not if the girl did not possess magical circuits but only for her kind-hearted nature and a religious piety that surpassed others. Seeing the girl had reminded Ruler of her life as a young village girl but pushed away such thoughts. She was a Ruler servant now and she needed to supervise the Grail War in Romania right now.

As she was packing her clothes, she received a revelation from the Greater Grail. The info that the grail was supplementing her with had revealed new critical information about the upcoming war.

A new faction.

A new set of rules to go with this addition.

It appeared that Greater Grail had summoned a faction of powerful servants just now. Additionally, there were a new a set of...rewards for the factions of Black and Red to offset the arrival of the newest servants.

With a new sense of urgency, Jeanne left the dormitory before making her way to the airport. She needed to get to Romania now, before the previous two factions went to war with each other without noticing the new faction in their midst.

However due to her strange summoning she was weaker than usual, for as she walked towards the airport, up high on one of the buildings...

The red phantom of Kirk observed her trajectory. For a darkwraith, crossing vast amounts of land were very easy for them. With one last glance, the knight of thorns walked away as they vanished back to Romania.

Things were starting to pick up.

In a good way.

First chapter of this new fanfiction complete! Really wanted to do this one for a while and now it's finally here. Not much to say, maybe that this is a short chapter but this is the first chapter, but I'll just leave it here.

That's all for now and as always...

May the Cosmos Shine in Your Favor This Day!

Faction of Ash Servants

Saber: Ashen One

Lancer: Ornstein the Dragon Slayer

Archer: Hawkeye Gough

Rider: The Nameless King

Assassin: Kirk, The Knight of Thorns

Caster: Lady Friede of the Blackflame

Berserker: Havel the Rock