Aro Isemi

**Aro Isemi** (伊勢三 杏路, *Isemi Aro*?) is the first Master of Rider in the Second Holy Grail War of *Fate/chaos divergence*. After his bid of self-sacrifice for his Servant, new Command Spells were given to Reines Sutlynn Archisorte who would then become the new Master of his Servant.

## Profile

### Background

Born into the Isemi family to unknown parents due to Aro having been raised as a guinea pig for as long as he could remember, he was originally a Master candidate for the First Holy Grail War but was inevitably skipped over in favor of Shizuri Isemi. During Manaka Sajyou's siege of the Isemi household, she planted a sort of curse on Aro, which should've killed him but he was forcibly kept alive by a fanatical faction of the Isemi house who managed to survive and escape the siege with Aro in tow.

The fanatical Isemi faction wasn't able to figure out how to undo Manaka's well-designed curse. As such, it took all they had just to keep Aro alive in the hopes that he is selected as a Master in a future Holy Grail War. However, the selection would need to occur fast as Aro barely had any time left. One section after another, Aro's body slowly collapsed as it rotted away due to the effects of Manaka's curse and by the time he was miraculously selected as a Master, only the area above his chest survived the rotting.

### Appearance

As of the Second Holy Grail War, Aro is fourteen years old, however, none knows his true birth year due to any records of him being either jumbled or destroyed. Despite being fourteen, he still has the looks of a child of ten years. Due to the numerous experiments done on him, both his hands and feet have rotted away and all of his organs are mechanical. He is basically a living corpse whose only living portion is his chest and head.

### Personality

Aro has always been alone. He never made friends and constantly suffered from the experiments he was forced into. However, unlike his physical sufferings, he is a teenager of faith, never expressing hatred at the injustice forced onto him. He expressly places his faith in the goodness of people, truly believing that everyone has a good side. In fact, he can be considered to be a saint from how selfless he is, despite living a life without reward.

However, despite living like a saint, even Aro has the urge to commit at least one whimsical act in his short life. This was when he called upon his Servant, he explicitly decides to summon a "*lucky hero*" when by all means, he should've called upon a hero who similar to himself, had suffered a tragic fate. Wishing for a happy hero instead of a tragic one, Aro truly believes that the wish of a satisfied man will be a happy one that will warm people's hearts.

### Relationship

Rider
"*I'm glad you were the final one to be by my side. However, Rider, I don't want to burden you on your quest to obtain the Holy Grail. That is why I shall sacrifice myself to give you life. Live and achieve your dreams! I shall accompany you, if only in spirit.*"
## Role

### *Fate/chaos divergence*

Seven days prior to July 10, Aro summons Rider using a piece of the discus said to be have been thrown by Rider that caused the death of his mortal father, Acrisius. Appearing by his side, Rider is, at first, disappointed at the state of his Master but soon becomes best friends with him. Aro is later told by the scientists that due to summoning Rider, Aro's already short life was further shortened and that he only had one week left to live.

#### Day 0

Knowing that he has finally reached his limit, Aro resolves himself to have a final conversation with Rider. After explaining his circumstances, Aro smiles one final time before the Command Spells on his mechanical left palm glowed red. Using all three of his Command Spells, Aro orders Rider to live and obtain the Holy Grail on his own strength; he shall watch Rider on his journey, if only in spirit. Due to the nature of the absolute magecraft, the Command Spells are enough to give Rider an incarnated body (however, he still needs nourishment, that is, magical energy, to keep himself going). Aro himself dies shortly afterward, a smile on his face, resulting in Rider resolving to defy his Master just once, killing everyone in the laboratory to harvest their magical energy before donning a mask, swearing that he will obtain the Holy Grail for that is the wish of his Master.

## Abilities

It is unknown what Aro's true capabilities as a magus are, as he was never trained in magecraft whatsoever. It is also unknown the true capabilities of his Magic Circuits as they had been altered beyond comprehension due to the numerous experiments performed on him. The only concrete number is that of his Circuit Quantity which was noted to be below average of that of normal magi. As a side effect of the experiments, Aro is what is known as a "*Living Dead*" as his body had been thoroughly destroyed. This is further seen in the fact that the only biological aspects of Aro's body as of his selection as a Master is just his chest and head. Every heartbeat causes him pain and every breath is like swallowing needles, resulting in Aro constantly drowning in pain without a proper sense of truly "living". Summoning a Servant strains his already short life to the point that he would die exactly seven days later.

## References

1. ↑ *Fate/chaos divergence*: Volume 1, Prologue, Part 6, *Of Friendly Foes and Fighting Fellows*