6TYPE-MASK
Prologue: The Nine Masks
written by: ChojinRyu750
revised and corrected by: hyperomegasonic26
Tokyo, Seiko Residence - Beginning of September, 1996
The loud thrumming of the machinery was deafening, but for Takuma Seiko it was the beautiful symphony of science at work. There he stood at the council his deep blue eyes deep in concentration behind the goggles her wore. If everything went according to plan, then this night in his basement lab would birth the greatest scientific breakthrough in his career. In front of him on a small podium was a lime green wooden mask. The mask itself was an old thing Takuma found during a trip to India many years ago. He kept it as a souvenir feeling it was worth at least something. But tonight, he had something else in mind; he was going to replicate the mask. He pressed a few buttons and with a loud jerk the duplication ray descended.
"Hopefully all my work will not be in vain," he mused, "and if this works I'll be on my way to winning the next Nobel Peace Prize."
There came a bright flash and a loud crackle as the ray gun came to full power and started the duplication process. A beam of light shot from the gun and the enveloped the mask, and slowly it began to distort. Takuma grinned and was so enraptured that he failed to notice the increased red warning flashing on the terminal.
"This is great, I can almost taste that prize..." he grinned as a thin line of drool seeped down his mouth. His thoughts were soon interrupted by the loud cries of the alarm and noticed too little too late that the duplication ray was about to blow.
Sparks erupted from the machinery as the ray gun went up in a bright flash sending him flying against the nearby wall. A brief flash of heat followed and all faded to darkness.
"What... could have... gone wrong?"
It must have been an hour or more before Takuma regained consciousness brushing the bits of dust and ash out his light black hair and surveyed the damage. The lab was history the walls and ceiling of the basement were scorched black by the explosion. Everything was gone, all gone and as Takuma stared at the devastation he felt a sinking feeling his gut. All that work, he cried all those years of research…all gone! He pounded his fist on the cold cement floor and was about to despair, when something caught his eye. Instinctively he walked over and there staring back up at him was the mask. He kneeled and picked it up taking in the lack of damage on it and wondered how it could have remained undamaged.
"Strange you are still intact," he muttered, "guess that is the only thing… Holy Crap."
His eyes widened as amongst the rubble were more masks, nine in total all with the same texture and same composition as the original. A crooked smile forms on Takuma's face as he wanted to break out into a fit of hysterical laughter. This is great, he felt though the machine was lost he had gained a new masks each perfectly replicated. But would they remain in this world? The process of replication was a fickle thing and there was no guarantee that the molecular structures of the masks would remain stable. Takuma pondered what to do and then he got an idea. During his time in Tokyo, he had kept in contact with several friends of his and perhaps maybe they could aide him.
"Yes..." mused, "Yes! That just might be what I should do and it should be an interesting continuation of the experiment."
With his mind made up, Takuma gathered the masks and placed them inside a large box that he went upstairs to retrieve. Once the masks were safe inside, Takuma went upstairs to his address book. There were three people he had in mind, two lived in Misaki Town and the other lived in Fuyuki City. Sougen Jinan and Akitaka lived in Misaki Town, while Master as he was called lived in Fuyuki City and ran a rather impressive liquor store business. Sitting at the table in the dining room he began to make some calls.
(Two days later)
Takuma sat eagerly across the coffee table as he saw his three friends had gathered as he had hoped. Across from him were his three friends, Sougen, Akitaka, and Master each staring at him with incredulous looks. He understood their confusion and in truth given that the sudden abruptness of the call it wasn't surprising. He cursed to himself for being vague but in truth it was better they spoke in person than just on the phone. A smile formed on his face as he sat back and formulated what to say next.
"I thank you all my friends for coming," he said, "I appreciate this more than you know."
"It was no problem my friend." said Sougen stroking the long wispy grey end of his mustache and his steely blue eyes reflecting a sagely warmth. "I am glad to see these years in Tokyo have treated you well."
"From the way you were talking over the phone," said Akitaka folding his arms across his chest. "this isn't a social call, right Taku?"
Takuma frowned a little at the nickname but that was not important for the matter of the masks was.
"Akitaka does have a point," said Master as he placed a hand on his chin and looked over to the box that was right next to Takuma. "Say Seiko, what's in there?"
Takuma reached into the box and pulled out all nine masks and layed them in front of his friends. Sougen cocked his head and peered down at them while Akitaka shot Takuma a puzzled look and Master's seemed intrigued.
"These my friends are why I called you here." Takuma let the triumph in his voice show. "As you all know, I was tinkering with a duplication project."
"Yes," Sougen nodded, "you said you were working on some kind of ray machine correct?"
"That's right and here my friends is the result." he said, "I successfully reproduced nine copies of a mask I had in my artifact collection."
"But why copy such an ugly looking piece of wood?" asked Akitaka, "I thought you were duplicating other things."
"Call me fickle." said Takuma, "But anyway, this is the result and the reason I called you guys here is because I need each one of you to take three masks each. You see I want to see if the masks can remain in this world."
Master stretched his head, "Seiko, how long do you want us to keep them?"
"Five years."
Sougen, Akitaka, and Master looked at each other and a deep silence fell over the dining room. Takuma swallowed hard, and wondered if they would do this for him and preyed that they would. After all I helped them many times in the past, he thought feeling a twinge of anger but cast it aside.
"Sure." said Master with a warm smile, "Anything for a friend."
"I agree." Sougen added, "Besides these would definitely make for interesting decorations."
"If it's Taku, then sure," Akitaka smirked, "Besides I've got some space at home that could use filling."
After that Sougen took three masks followed by Akitaka and Master and bid their friend goodbye later that day. Once they were gone and Takuma was alone he sat in his chair at the dining room table holding the original mask in his hands. He stared down at the waxy green surface taking in the plain features of it. The plan was now in motion and with any luck the duplicates would remain in this world and further his research.
(Five Years Later-September 2001)
After the last meeting with Takuma, Sougen, Akitaka and Master all reported that the masks had remained in the world. Takuma was very pleased with these results and in gratitude he decided on a whim to give his old friend Sougen, the original mask out on that whim. He held no attachment to it and if anything it seemed right for him to give it to Sougen. Once that had been done Takuma held it so that he would rebuild what he had lost. It would be a daunting task, but he was up for it. Science should never be delayed and now that the masks have remained it meant that he could do it again. With a big smile, Takuma once again descended the steps to the basement lab with renewed goal. Little realizing of what was to come.
Friday - September 21, 2001 - Day 1
(Misaki Town, Arima Household - 18:30)
Tohno Shiki felt a bit chipper today and for him there were many reasons for him to be. He passed through the front gate approaching the Arima household a place he fondly remembered. The manor was just as he recalled large plane pearl white painted siding that reflected the sunlight making it shimmer like giant clear diamond. How long he had lived here he wondered recalling his times spent in the house. He adjusted his glasses and waited until there was the soft patter of footsteps and the click of the door knob. A little girl came to the door, and upon seeing him she broke out into a big smile. She was small with a lethe body build dressed in ruby red Chinese martial artist uniform with white cuffs that were baggy around the had small matching red ribbons that were positioned on her long shoulder length fudge brown hair. Her eyes were a bright shade of green which really added to level of cuteness that surrounded her. Shiki knew that she was Arima Miyako, one his cousins of the Arima family.
"Onii-chan!" Miyako wrapped her arms around him burying her head into his chest. Shiki allowed himself to laugh as he rubbed her head and shared the same mutual feeling. She broke away from him and the two chatted as he preceded further inside. Soon he entered the living room and was greeted by the pleasant smile of Sougen. The old man's face beamed as he got from the couch and gave him a hug.
Sougen placed his hands on the boys shoulders much the way a father would with his son. Shiki had regarded Sougen as father figure ever sense he lived in the Arima house as a young boy. Despite not being an Arima he had felt more at home here than with the Tohno family. Sougen gestured for him to sit down at which he obliged and took the cup of tea he was offered.
"Ah, it is great that you decided to visit Shiki." Sougen stroked his mustache and sat back. "Tell me how have you been?"
"I've been doing pretty well." he replied taking a sip of the tea taking in the citrusy taste as it washed down his throat. "My health has improved a lot and things are going well with Akiha."
"I'm glad to here it." Sougen smiled. "It has been eight years, hasn't it?"
Shiki understood it was ten years ago, Tohno Makishiya placed him in the care of the Arima family due to him being anemic for eight years. But in truth the act alone had been a ruse to cover up the actions of his actual son, Tohno SHIKI, who turned out to be an incarnation of Michael Roa Valdamjong. He enjoyed the time spent in the Arima house from meeting Miyako, to meeting Sougen and his daughter at the clinic. Until the day that his sister, Tohno Akiha, called him back. He met Arcueid Brunestud and fought against a couple of vampires, ghouls and four of the Dead Apostle Ancestors in the last two years.
"Well, there is something I want to give you my boy." Sougen gestured, "since you are a close friend of my daughter and of Miyako I want to give you these."
Shiki looked down at the maple table and saw there were four masks laying on the table each smooth in appearance and lime green in color. They were unremarkable in appearance with only two eye holes, a mouth hole and a long strap of faded bronze that went down the bridge acting as a nose. He picked it up surprised at how light it was and ran his hand down the smooth surface feeling it. Although he liked masks these things were sort of bizarre not in the sense of appearance but in that they held an air of mystery.
"Why do you want to give me these?" he asked, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I don't really get it."
"Well, think of them as decorations you can give to your friends." Sougen gestured to the masks and to the one Shiki was holding. "Think of em like good luck charms and besides you never know, they might come in handy."
Shiki considered the masks for the moment and flipped it over to examine the inside still in thought. He stared down into it and thought for a moment he caught the odd shimmer of a green glow. A gasp escaped his lips and Sougen looked at the boy and shot him a strange look. Once he cleared his head Shiki decided to accept the gift for maybe Arcueid, Akiha, and Ciel would enjoy them. And the mask he held well it would stay with him. Later after he had said his goodbyes Shiki headed home with the masks in hand. As he passed down the sidewalk a faint green glow shimmered beneath his arm.
(Fuyuki City, Cophenhagen - 21:02)
Shirou had just finished another shift at the small liquor store and was about to go home for the evening. He took off the white apron and placed it on the counter which Otoko took and put away for him. The smell of fine liquor was almost soothing and given what had happened over almost a year ago it was truly welcome. The resurrection of Servants and Masters from the 5th Holy Grail War, the appearance of both Bazett Fraga Mc Remitz and Caren Ortensia and the arrival of Servant Avenger were just some of the things that felt out of wacky. He didn't even want to be reminded of the strange goofy tournament Fuji-nee created using the Kaleidostick Ruby. But he admits that because of the last event, his father Emiya Kiritsugu came back from the dead and with him, his wife Irisviel Von Einzbern, much to the joy of Illyasviel and Saber. But an old enemy of the 4th and 5th Holy Grail War who was hated by Shirou, Irisviel, Saber, Rin, Bazett, Lancer and Kiristugu had returned. Kotomine Kirei also came back from the dead as result of this event. But apart from that, so much had happened yet it was still shocking to think about.
"Emiya, great job," Out of the stock room emerged his boss the Master as he was known as. He was a tall man, with a well-shaped build with well chiseled features. He wore a white button up shirt with a brown vest over it and black pants. Strangely he like his daughter always appeared to have his eyes shut so it was curious as to how he could see. His smile was like that of a father and he patted him on the shoulder returning to the counter. He was always generous to him paying wages worth more the amount of work Shirou did.
"Thank you," Shirou replied, "it was really nothing."
"No, you go through with the trouble of doing everyone elses work." Master took a rag and slowly wiped down the counter giving the already shining surface a greater appeal. "I mean you don't have to but yet you do it anyway."
Master reached under the counter groping for something and as Shirou watched he felt a twinge of curiosity at to what his boss could possibly want to show him. With a small clunk Master placed three identical masks. They appeared to be quite old but something about them seemed anything but normal. Shirou picked one up and looked back at his boss unsure what to make of this development.
"What's with the masks?"
"A friend of mine asked me to hold onto them five years ago." said Master, "he essentially gave them to me to keep, but I really have no use for them."
"Does your friend work in antiques?" Shirou kept his eyes locked on the masks, "because these look more like museum relics."
"Oh he's a scientist; this was the result of a replication experiment he did." Master's demeanor seemed to shift a little but otherwise remained calm. "These are nothing more than copies; still they do resemble the genuine article, huh?"
Shirou thought about it for a moment and decided he would take them for the house needed some decorations. And since there were three masks he could give one to Rin, Sakura, and Illya. Once he said yes, his boss placed them in a plastic bag and handed it too him before passing out the door.
(Misaki Town, Ryougi residence - 22:55)
The dull haze of the autumn afternoon felt nice for Ryougi Shiki as she walked down the hallway with the hollow thump of her footsteps being the only noise she could hear. As she rounded the corner she stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. On the counter were three wooden masks, each were alike in appearance. She glanced once at them and gave a dismissive sigh at the gaudy things.
"Geeze," Shiki says.
Earlier that day, Shiki had been called in by her father, who told her about the masks who were under the care of his servant Akitaka for five years. Akitaka decided to give the masks to her father and he gave them to her. She was dubious of why he did, but when she questioned her father he said they were from a friend of Akitaka. With nothing else, Shiki shook her head and picked up one of the masks.
She ran her fingers against the smooth surface and scowled for there was no reason for her to keep them. Giving one to her husband was a thought, but then again was he even into these kinds of things. Another idea was to dump one on Touko Aozaki, since she seemed to be the type of people to collect these things. Throwing her head back, Shiki ran her hands through her deep brown hair and pondered what to do. After a moment of thought, she decided that one would go to her husband Kokutou, another to Touko while she would keep the last one. Maybe there would be some use for the mask. In any case, the matter would be dealt with tomorrow for right now, night was calling and she wanted to rest.
(Prologue End)