Liz sighed and slammed her forehead on the keyboard. “I finally finished at the deadline,” she muttered. “Now it’s time to submit.”

Her cat meowed from behind her.

Liz looked over her shoulder at her ginger brown cat. “Come here, Johnny. Mommy’s finished,” she cooed. Her cat purred as he walked over and rubbed his head against her leg. “I’m sorry for not giving you enough attention these past 14 days. Mommy’s just been working so hard to get this project done. I’ll make it up with a bunch of cuddles and food!” Liz exclaimed. She picked up Johnny and nuzzled his nose with her own.

The cat meowed and licked her nose. Liz giggled and cuddled him more. “Okay, I understand. I’ll get some food for you and me! What do you want Johnny? Chinese food? Seafood?”

The cat purred when it heard “seafood.”

“Seafood it is!” She placed the cat down and walked over to her coat hanger. She nearly tripped over the clothes that were scattered around her room.

Liz was living in a messy apartment with empty cup noodles, empty water bottles, and unwashed clothes lying everywhere. She was working as a game designer with a low pay. Gaining basic needs and necessities was just as hard for her as for an average man trying to buy a Tesla car.

Liz took down her brown jacket and slipped it on while reaching for her purse. “I’ll be back Johnny, so don’t be a bad boy,” she requested. “Goody bye Johnny!” She exited her apartment and closed the door behind her. “I wonder if I should get tuna?” she muttered to herself as she locked the door. “No, that’s too expensive. I only have… 40 dollars? Maybe he’ll settle for salmon.”

Liz walked down to the first floor, still in her house slippers. She wasn’t paying attention when she exited with them. When she got to the bottom, something felt off. The owner wasn’t there. Hamorand usually hung out in the lobby, smoking his cigar and spouting out excuses to why there wasn’t a smoke alarm where he sat. He always claimed that it was perfectly fine, but today, he wasn’t there.

Liz looked at the empty counter for a second, but continued on her journey. “I wonder if he’s getting fish too,” she whispered as she looked up at the camera in the top left corner and waved at it before exiting into the cold outside.

The wind was harsh that day and it was snowing. Her feet dragged against the two-inch deep snow. She shivered and pulled her coat tighter against her body. “It’s cold,” she said to herself out loud.

Even the streets were covered in snow. There wasn’t anyone in sight. Most of the buildings didn’t have their lights on except for a few. “I knew that they were closed for a holiday, but I didn’t know it was this many buildings,” Liz muttered as she walked over to the open seafood restaurant. It was one of the only building with the lights on and open.

She tugged on the door and opened it up. The warm heat and welcoming scent of cooked fish smacked her as she entered. She gave a warm sighed as she stepped in. “It’s so nice in here,” she exclaimed.

She stomped on the black welcome mat before walking on the newly dusted white tiles. The tables were lined up nicely in front of her. There were three rows of three tables, each with the usual condiments.

The cashier popped up from behind the counter at the front. “Welcome!” he shouted out loud, startling Liz a bit. He wore the most chaotic color-schemed Christmas sweater anyone has ever seen. The front was slightly covered by a nearly see-through apron that was stained with dark red spots. He had messy glistening tan hair covered in sweat and a big bright smile. His arms were huge, muscular, and covered in scars.

“Would you like anything today miss?” he asked with a booming voice.

“Hello,” Liz said shyly. She wasn’t good with talking to people she didn’t know. “Yeah, I would like to order some salmon please.”

“Fried, steamed, or baked?” he yelled.

“Uh, steamed please.”

“Sie ist hier!”

“Could you repeat that?”

“Coming right up!” The young man gave a thumbs up and walked into the kitchen to prepare her food. “Please, have a seat!”

Liz nodded and sat down in the seat closest to the exit. She fiddled with her fingers while trying to come up with a topic to engage with. She hates socializing, but she hates silence even more.

“Um… so… I see that you’re new here,” she spoke to the empty counter.

The young man poked his head from behind the kitchen door. “Watcha say?!” he shouted. “Can you speak up a bit?!”

“I see that you're new here!” she softly shouted back.

“Oh! Yeah! I am!” he replied.

“What’s your name?”

“Name’s John! John Tohsaka!”

Liz started to fiddle with the salt shaker, pretending that the salt shaker was some kind of knight and having it fight against the pepper, which she treated as the evil knight. She wasn’t really paying attention to what she was doing though. She just wanted her hands to do something.

“What a unique name,” she commented. “I’m Liz Ezinbern. It’s nice to meet you.”

The white and black knight were clashing against each other, “sparks” flying everywhere. The white knight hopped up into the air and slammed their foot into the other knight’s head, making his innards scatter onto the ground.

“It’s nice to meet you too!” The satisfying sound of the water being boiled and the fish being prepared made Liz’s mouth water.

“Um, so where’s Julien, that old man that usually runs this shop?”

“Hmm? Him? He took a little ‘break’ today, hahahahaha!” John laughed out loud.

Liz felt a little awkward from that joke. She just wanted to go home and snuggle with her cat.

“Alright! Here’s your order!” John called as he walked over to her with a plastic bag. “Have a nice day- oh! Be careful about tipping the bag, it might spill out some juice!”

“Oh, thank you for the advice,” she said as she took the bag from his hand. “Well I’ll be going now, I’ll see you later.” She got up and made her way to the door.

“You definitely will.”

Liz turned around. “What?”

“I’ll see you too!” John yelled with a big smile while waving his hand.

“You too,” Liz muttered as she walked outside. Once the door closed, she sighed and loosened her body. “What a strange guy,” she whispered. She shivered from the cold. “I should get back now.” She turned around and looked at the plain landscape in front of her.

There were no buildings in front of her. She turned back around and saw that the shop she just entered disappeared along with the other shops that were next to it. She was in the middle of nowhere with snow as far as the eye could see.

“W-where am I?” she asked rhetorically as she looked around. She took a few steps forward through the snow and bumped into an invisible barrier. “Huh? What is this?” She felt around the smooth “glass” when she looked for an exit. “What’s going on?!”

A low rumbling from the ground shook her around. She could feel the violent vibrations shake her entire skeleton. The shaking was so powerful that she fell on the floor.

The snow around her melted and revealed a large red pentagram on the ground that was made out of some kind of red paint. Five black-hooded figures rose up from the ground where the points of the stars were. They all hummed a chant as they got taller and taller. The sixth point of the pentagram was empty.

Hundreds of red chains wrapped around her body and pulled her to the middle. She screamed as she bounced up and down above the pentagram.

The five humanoid figures stopped humming and looked up at her. The fierce cold wind blew her around the pentagram, making her smash into the invisible barriers occasionally.

Liz coughed and struggled to get out. “Where am I?! Who are you?! What are you doing to me?!” she screamed as she wiggled around.

One of the five waved his hand and one more chain shot at her. It wrapped around her neck and tightened its grip. She gagged and struggled to breathe.

“Is this her?” one of them asked. “The failed offspring on the Ezinbern family?”

“Yes, Hujin,” another replied. “Her name is Elizabeth Ezinbern. She was born from the false love of a prostitute and a failed businessman who was cheating on his wife.”

The one to the right of them chuckled. “How sad, Sacarnes. It would’ve been better if she wasn’t born at all.”

“Don’t say that Uranus,” the next one spoke. Her voice was clearly female. She seemed to be the only sane and sensible one. “She was born exactly for this: to get the Holy Grail for us. Don’t you agree with me, Barnerus?” she asked the first one who spoke.

Barnerus sighed. “I guess so, but do you think she’s a worthy sacrifice, Gillian? Even though her blood may be of a great mage’s family, she herself does not have any experience.”

“I’m sure that it’ll work, Barnerus,” Sacarnes said. He was holding multiple objects in his hand. He held a rusted chain, an old ragged towel, and a jar filled with thousands of tiny particles. He lifted it up into the air and it floated into the pentagram.

“Do you think these will summon him?” Uranus asked.

“‘He’ said that it would summon the strongest servant class: Saber,” Sacarnes answered. He took out another object from his robe. It was the very tip of a blade. It grouped up with the other objects. “Now,” Sacarnes looked up at Liz, “prepare the sacrifice.”

The moment Sacarnes spoke those words, Liz felt a painful split form on her stomach. She tried to scream in pain, but her throat was still being crushed. Blood poured onto the floor and even some of her internal organs were starting to slip out. She was starting to faint from the pain. Her head drooped down and her breaths became quick and sharp.

“Drop her, there’s no need of her body any more,” Barnerus said. Gillian shivered from the sight. She snapped her fingers and the chains broke and let her fall to the floor.

“Now the chant,” Uranus said as he raised his hands. The other four followed.

“Let silver and steel be the essence.

Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.

Let blood red the color I pay tribute to. Let my great Master Matou be the ancestor.

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.

Let the four cardinal gates close.

Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.

I hereby declare.

Your body shall serve under me.

My fate shall be your sword.

Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail .

If you will submit to this will and this reason…

Then answer!”