Fate Chapter 2: Hope

A groggy feeling rose in my head. Wait, I’m alive? My eyes flew open to a pristine white ceiling.

Where the fuck I am?

I pushed myself up and surveyed the surroundings. A pure white room with nothing but a bed exclusive for me.

“You idiot. How can a dragon almost die in a truck crash? You’re… such a hopeless kid.”

A woman’s voice echoed, saying some not-so-nice things about a dragon almost dying in a truck crash.

Catching something at the corner of my eyes, I turned to my right, and couldn’t believe my eyes.

A woman sat cross-legged on a red couch with a pipe in her hand. Her ruby hair cascaded down to her raven dress, which barely covered her long legs. Her most eye-catching feature was the black horns curving behind her head, making her seem like some kind of demon from a fantasy manga.

She was hands down the most beautiful woman I ever met. That’s a lot coming from someone who lived in two different worlds.

Her lips curled up in a bright grin, as her crystal-clear golden eyes narrowed to slits. “You won’t be getting out of this with compliments. Tell me. Why did you not use the system?”

Did she just read my mind? What System?

“Yes. I did.”

Mind reading is the worst kind of privacy invasion, you know?

“Who’re you? What is this ‘System’ and ‘Dragon’ you talking about?”

“Huh? You don’t remember me?”

“I don’t think I met you before.”

As if someone could forget a piece of art like her. Is she the goddess who reincarnated me?

A whirlpool swirled inside her eyes before her pupils widened in shock. “I-It can’t be.”

“What happened, love?”

“I… I forgot to activate your system.”

“...”

Just wow. This goddess was on another level. No, she was on another plane of existence. She reincarnated me but forgot to give me a cheat. 

Such blasphemy!

“I’m sorry.”

“First of all, who are you?”

“Arch, the mother goddess of all dragons and luck.”

The goddess of dragon and luck reincarnated me. This is shady. Too shady for my taste. I was one of the guys who read every sentence of Terms & Conditions so it didn't come to bite me in the ass later.

“I can understand your suspicions. The reason I chose you is something personal.”

Personal? Could it be that she is charmed by me?

“Keep dreaming.” she rolled her eyes.

What a bummer.

“So, any reason you have hauled my dead ass here?”

“It was to save you, which was unnecessary. Someone else had already helped you.”

“Who is it?”

“See it yourself after I send you back. What were you doing chasing women around the city when your mother worked her ass off every day? Don’t you have a conscience?”

I chased women to find someone else other than my mom. I didn’t want to creep my only family away because of my feelings. With a handsome face and decent body, my luck with girls wasn’t that bad. I received love letters now and then. But the girls in my school didn't turn me on. Only the mature women did, and none of them wanted a long-term relationship with a student like me. I soon realized the feelings just won’t go away, so I just accepted them.

“Were watching me this whole time?”

“I was,” she answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “I also remember you jacking off to incest hentai. It was a little… weird.”

To think she even watched that part of my life—where is my fucking privacy!

“You, do you really love your mother… as a woman?”

“Of course, I do. Now you’re being an idiot for asking an obvious question,” I ignored her deep frown and continued, “What did you want me to do in Fateverse?”

I refuse to believe a mean woman like her sent me there just to get another chance at life.

“Conquer the world.”

“You wanted a normal human to conquer a world full of gods and spirits. Not to talk about the Ultimate Ones of other planets.”

“I did say I turned you into a dragon,” she said, pouting her cheeks. “I just forgot to activate your abilities. It would still be a bit difficult, but you could have managed just fine with the System.”

My abilities… I got more and more curious about this System she kept mentioning.

“Still, are you so bored that you’d send a random guy to conquer a fictional world?”

“I have personal reasons. Let’s leave it at that. I’m about to send you back with your new abilities. Try not to die before conquering the world.”

“Yes, Ma’am! Can I ask another question?”

“If it’s about your mother,” she said with a sigh. “I cannot help you in any way. My powers will break the fragile fictional world held together by imagination. The only way I can interact with it all is through you. The Holy Grail, even if corrupted, can resurrect your mother.”

There was some hope. Turning that into reality would require a shit ton of effort. I’ll still need a servant to participate in the war. The war had long started, and the servants should’ve been summoned. Sakura informed me two weeks earlier. I’ll have to settle with contract one of the seven servants. Who do I choose though? The strongest and the most arrogant blonde jackass and Heracles are out of the question. They will never cooperate. Archer is probably fated to be summoned by Tsundere Tohsaka. That left me with Lancer, Saber, Rider, and Caster.

Lancer is a cool dude, someone I can imagine getting along with. Artoria is the ticket to an easy victory, and Rider is strong enough to give the legendary King Arthur a run for her money. Caster is the weakest servant as every other servant has something that could resist or counter her magecraft. However, she was also the one I liked the most. She was one of the most tragic characters in Greek mythology. Besides, who doesn’t love and cheer for an underdog?

“Actually, you will find a servant near you when you wake up.”

“Who is it?”

“Find it yourself,” she said and stretched her hand. She caressed my cheeks with her warm hand. I found it oddly familiar. Before I could solve the mystery, my eyes started to droop.

This goddess and her fetish for knocking me out. No matter what she did, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face.

Fuyuki Holy Grail War, here I come!