It was exactly nineteen minutes and seventeen seconds after ten post meridiem the next day when the young genius finally finished the required, for the summoning, preparations and started the chant.
"For the elements of silver and steel.
Let stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the foundation." He has repeated the words in his head so many times that there was probably a grail shaped lump on his brain by now.
"Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill. Repeat five times, and with each fill, destroy the previous.
Close the four gates and come forth from the realm that seems to entrap you.
Seven warriors of legend, hear my call and obey me.", the magus finally opened his eyes, knowing that by this time his concentration wasn't fully needed and saw the brilliant spheres of light appearing around the circle. Waver wasn't entirely sure that it was supposed to happen but it was definitely too late to stop by now.
"Heed my words: my will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me." The spheres changed their colour and turned a golden hue, and that definitely wasn't supposed to happen. In the books, the spell was definitely described as a blue pillar of light, emphasis on blue. The young genius would stop the spell this instant if not for the high possibility of a giant explosion and even higher possibility of his own death.
"I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall make your wish come true and let you return from the dead." The lights began to spin rapidly, almost blinding him, yet he couldn't take his eyes off of the fascinating phenomena. He knew by now that the research paper he will write about the war will be studied for years to come.
"Seventh Heaven, clad in the Great Words of Power." The lights spun so fast by now that they connected into a golden ring of pure magical energy, dividing into three and then, just as fast as they were spinning, conformed into a beacon of mana.
"From the Binding Circle, rise, Guardian of the Scales!"
The force of the summoning knocked the young magus away, the blinding light slowly subsiding as he gazed at the, standing on the circle, figure.
Two figures, actually.
One was a knight he could swear he saw somewhere before. The giant blade strapped to his back, the small rusted shortsword at his side.
The armor-clad figure had also a small shield strapped to his left hand, the pattern unmistakable; it was the exact pattern of his own command spells.
And the red scarf slowly fluttered in the absence of wind.
Waver scratched his head violently while squinting his eyes at the familiar knight.
Why couldn't he remember where he saw the figure!
The genius' mind raced, and as he neared the answer, had it at the tip of his fingers, a loud neigh startled him out of his thoughts.
It was the second figure standing in the circle. A majestic horse.
Its colour a deep shade of blue, it stood right next to the knight with its head held high. The animal seemed to almost look down on him, scoffing after a while and turning its head away.
Waver was stunned. This horse- no, this animal dared to look down at him?! He couldn't believe it as he turned to face the knight with a deep scowl.
The armor-clad figure only shook his head, as if to indicate they too were brassed off with (perhaps) their steed's actions.
They stood like that in silence for what felt like a few minutes, with the horse sending the young magus accusatory glances from time to time, as if to indicate its annoyance even more.
Waver clutched his right hand and contemplated if using his command spell to put the animal in its place was a good utilization of the absolute command.
Finally, the silence broke as the knight took a step forward, finally leaving the circle, and crouching down, "I ask of you - young magus - Are you my master?", his- her voice was melodious, filled with care as well as mature, yet above all; unmistakably female.
The voice was the last push, exactly what he needed to unlock the memory of where he had seen the figure before. It was, without a doubt, the knight from his dream, one whose left arm was severed while fighting on the hill.
Now the dream made perfect sense, he has read about it in the "Journal of Musik", the man was a master during the second war and, due to a strange bond he developed with his servant, had a strange dream, a memory more exactly, of his servant. The magus didn't go into the specifics and never drew a theory about the strange occurrence, yet it definitely took place after his servant rescued him and their bond deepened.
The young genius took a mental note to document the occurrence later in his own journal, and maybe even draw a thesis. It would definitely increase his standing in the summoning department. If participation in the war itself didn't do the trick of course.
Waver quickly stood up and dusted himself off, and -after shooting a hateful glare to the horse- puffed his chest out, proudly displaying the command spells on his hand.
"Yes!" - that came out a little too overexcited - "Yes, I am." nailed it, "My name is Waver Velvet, a magus of the third generation of the Velvet family. Now tell me your true name."
The knight slowly stood up and took down her helmet, moonlight reflecting on the polished, silver surface, and revealed a youthful face.
The striking white hair glistened in the dim light as two golden and warm as honey eyes gazed at him from… above? Why was his servant higher than he was! And by at least ten centimeters at that! Was he really that short?
When they locked eyes a small smile appeared on her face, "My name is-", unfortunately her introduction was interrupted with a loud neigh.
Last thing Waver could remember was a pain in his chest and a sight of these two warm amber eyes, panicking as he blacked out.