Fate: Player Online (FSN Gamer!Fic)

Chapter 16: Magic (3)

Did he just enter the dungeons of the castle?

A chill went through Shirou’s spine as he continued to search around the area of the fortress he had found himself into, eyes sharp and careful as he went to check every single corner for any sign of ambush.

While he was being lucky in finding this lack of resistance from the wome-puppets, the young Gamer was not as eager in dealing with the ominous tone of the old and forsaken underground zone he was racing through its halls.

There are going to be enemies.

But what if I manage to pass unnoticed-

They can see you through the walls, boy. Their eyes are modified to make you detectable even through barriers.

B-But how?

Your Circuits leave an imprint on your current position every time you use them. Thus the more you use those to fight-

The more they will… see me?

Yes. And no more interruptions from you, brat.

U-Understood!

Before we proceed, do you know what you are supposed to do there?

I- I am-

He paused, thinking how exactly he was supposed to find Illya without having ever seen her before in his entire life.

I-I am trying to find someone!

There was a sigh, then Archer spoke again in his mind.

Your objective has to be a child if she is Kiritsugu’s daughter. Maybe even looks like one of those dolls.

That s-sounds right- W-Wait, how do you know about K-Kiritsugu-

-DUCK!

What?

Eyes widening at the sound of a loud footstep nearby, the Emiya ducked just in time to dodge the unexpected attack coming from one of the closed doors on the sides.

Wood splinters went flying as the battle-maid readjusted her aim and tried to go for another attempt, this time the redhead forming a small sword to deflect the hit.

Guilty for destroying the homunculus few moments earlier was slowly drowned by the fact he was dealing with someone… a tad bit dangerous to face with this kind of thoughts troubling his mind.

Battle Maid LVL.55
1250/1250HP
Class: Lancer
Rank: Gold​

“Intruder.” Her voice was as blank and emotionless as the one he had to eliminate, her face being the same too.

Was this what Archer meant with Dolls? They did resemble like some complex puppets with realistic features like human-like faces and all but-

CLANG

Shirou gritted his teeth as he was pushed by the halberd, slamming on the on the ground of the room the Battle Maid had come from. A quick blink of his surroundings was what the boy could get before being engaged once more by the restless enemy.

He was in a large room, several materials being laid visible in the large wood table at the center of it. There were also two strange containers on the farthest part of the room, feminine bodies floating in those.

A strange sight if he had to be honest, but the Gamer returned his attention completely on the first and foremost threat against him.

Duck, roll away, dash to the side and finally an attempt on her defense!

-368HP!

Sharp was the edge of the small sword as it tore part of the homunculus’ side, blood dripping from the wounds as it started to seep deep in the cloth surviving the attack. No reactions, she didn’t even flinch as her long weapon returned to a guarding stance.

Shirou expected to be rushed again, but surprisingly enough some light started to form in her free, open palm.

You need to move now!

The order was quickly complied, Shirou jumping back as a pristine white ball was launched by the Maid and crashed on the floor right where he once was standing onto. A small explosion rumbled and smoke covered half of the room, creating a sight barrier between him and the homunculus.

Quiet and focus on with your ears.

W-What!?

Listen up and closely…

Gulping nervously, Shirou tried to keep himself quiet as he tried to hear anything through the dark smoke. It looked foolish, someone like him wouldn’t be able to identify a small sound in that nerve-wracking moment.

And yet…

It was a soft step, almost impossible to perceive as it was just a brief moment-

CLANG

-398HP!

Blades crossed again but this time Shirou had the advantage, another sword in his free hand stabbed deep in the maid’s stomach, blood spilling in a quick burst as some surprise finally found its way in her face.

Don’t hesitate!

Not again, he repeated in his mind, not again he was getting distracted. He had to finish her!

-398HP!

-389HP!

Pulling the sword out of her body, Shirou brought both weapons to hit the maid as she tried and fail to retreat and recover.

+2800 EXP​

*Ding*​

Congratulations, you have LVLd Up!​

[Status]​

Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 15 – Exp: 28,48%
Health Points (HP) : 700/700 (+50)
Mana Points (MP) : 984/1400 (+100) (55 (+5)MP per Min)​

Attributes​

POW: 31+1
INT: 29+1
AGI: 35+1
WIS: 29+1
VIT: 36+1
CHA: 24+1
LUK: 25+1

That was a meek fight. You need to give more of yourself.

I-I am trying!

Not enough. Never enough…

Sighing tiredly, Shirou started to look around once more, this time giving some proper looking at the curious tanks in the room.

Cheeks flushing red, the Emiya was quick to move his sight to the homunculi’s faces and he noticed… that something was off with them.

One of them had short hair and seemed more developed body-wise, the other looking slimmer, younger and with long-hair.

Interesting… bring your hands on the tank.

...Eh?

We can’t waste time wandering aimlessly. We need some proper directions and I just have the best idea possible about those two.

For some reason, the boy found the tone regarding Archer’s plan to be weird, yet he complied like usual as his hands softly touched the glass texture of both tanks.

Close your eyes and try to find the ‘strings’.

...What?

Just do it.

Sighing, Shirou tried to find whatever thing the voice in his head wanted him to find and, even through he was skeptical about this whole thing, he indeed found something that was strange to feel.

It wasn’t strings though, he could see soft-blue lines faintly connected to… other blue lines. He felt scrunching his face as he felt a sense of discomfort as he tried to reach for those. Ignoring the sudden strain, the redhead went to grab both strings and… everything burned.

So sudden but also so intense that his legs wobbled and he fell on his butt, groaning as his body felt like he had gone through twelve marathons without a single pause. Eyelids half-closed he thought that whatever Archer wanted him to do had failed as he felt too much tired to stand up.

You didn’t. You actually succeeded.

Uh?

Glasses smashed as both ladies, now awake and understanding where they were, broke through the limitations of the tanks. As he tried to look up, he felt something soft smash on his face and force him even more on the floor.

Groaning at the being turned into a pillow, he heard a gasp as the shorter of the two women moved quickly by his side and tried to help him up.

“S-Shirou-sama!”

What?

“L-Leysritt, move! You are hurting, Shirou-sama!”

“I’m… hugging.”

It would seem like certain things never change…

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Illyasviel von Einzbern was starting to dislike her current situation.

With two maids by her sides escorting her to the rituals’ chamber in the dungeons, her bravery and confidence was starting to slowly wane the more she spent time in that dark and gloomy section of the castle.

Until now her life in the massive home had been limited to her room, the courtyards with gardens and the lounge by the entrance. Never she had ventured this deep in the place and she was glad she didn’t.

A shiver or two later, innocent red eyes stared widely at the terrifying instruments near the ‘surgery table’. She didn’t know what surgery meant, but if those objects were necessary for the task, then it was something the child didn’t want to do anything about it.

As the two maids advanced forward, Illya stopped and thought how to deal with this predicament. Her mind reminded her of a time where her Papa told her about mean people that would hurt adorable girls like her and that wasn’t nice at all!

She remembered how exactly deal with this kind of situations. Staring up to a dark corner, the little Einzbern mustered up the closest thing to a faux shocked expression and gasped loudly, ignoring as both servants turned at the same time in her directions.

“D-Da drin ist ein böser Mann!” T-There is a bad man there!

While the foolishly-planned attempt would have failed to garner the attention of both homunculi in a normal situation, knowing that someone was going to attack soon the castle was enough to make any silly remarks worthy to be investigate properly and dutifully.

Illya bit down a happy and gleeful squeal as both women turned away from her and moved towards the dark spot of the room, giving her the time to rush outside of the door and start to ran through the unknown and cold hallways of the underground area.

Softly giggling, she turned the first corner, then the second and finally the latter. It reminded her of hide and seek, the fun game her Papa would always lose because she was so good in hiding away from him and finding him when he had to hide.

Still this wasn’t the simple and silly game where she would lose nothing by getting caught. Whatever scary things the maids wanted to do to her as per Grandpa’s orders, Illyasviel von Einzbern wasn’t going to stand for it!

Amused and determined, the little girl managed to create much distance between herself and her minders, yet she was sure that merely running wasn’t going to be enough. She had to find the best hiding spot in this creepy place while also think how to deal with the ‘post-game’ situation.

Grandpa is going to be mad, but that is hardly different from the usual set of emotions he would show to her, thus the chances of getting in a worse situation were nigh-impossible. Maybe escape the castle?

Did she have a chance to find a way out of this massive building without getting seen by the incredible number of servants loyal to her mean grandpa? Maybe.

She repeated the word several times, each time gaining a little sliver of bravery in the process.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe~!

Another giggle, this time abruptly ended as she felt strong footsteps approaching towards her. ‘Eeping’, Illya turned another corner, this time her eyes starting to seriously scan around for any room she could use to hide away from the ‘bad guys’.

Eyes widening, she started at the half-closed door that led to a dark room, her mind storming with the two alternatives as the footsteps were starting to catch up to her.

Enter the scary, dark room or deal with the scary, creepy things of the ‘Ritual Room’?

There wasn’t much to fear for any scary monster inside the castle, her grandpa flaunting how the castle was incredibly safe from any enemy of the Einzbern and savage animals.

It was enough to dispel any fear of finding some dangerous beast within the room and, without further ado, Illya dived inside the room and rushed behind the wall of boxed in front of it.

Stopping and crouching in a tight corner, her small hands reached for her mouth and pressed her lips closed, eyes carefully looking around as her ears tried to track down the noise of the footsteps.

She felt those getting closer and closer, her breathing intensifying as her heart started to beat a little faster, a little fear starting to create out of that game-not-game and the girl hoped that the ‘meanies’ didn’t catch up with her.

Closer, closer and…

And then further and further away.

Several moments of silence passed and Illya started to slowly calm down. The worst was over, her mind repeated loudly for her to fully understand and soon she was once more calm but… tired by this whole effort.

Her short legs were now aching a little, the little run not something she had done for a long time and her determination was waning at the prospect of being caught before she could even formulate a plan to leave this place.

Sighing softly, the little Einzbern tip-toed towards the door and looked left and right out of the room, quietly humming as she evaluated what she should do now. Maybe if she went on the opposite side from where her chasers had come from, they will never caught up with her?

Nodding to herself, she decided to sneak out of the room and walk away from the direction the footsteps had gone. She started to hum some notes as she looked left and right, enjoying that little moment of relief away from the chase to explore this part of the castle.

Who knows what kind of treasure her grandpa was hiding here. What if there was some pretty dress? Or what if she found some real crown hidden in there.

Prinzesin Illyasviel von Einzbern, enemy of stinky grandpa and daughter of Konig Kiritsugu.

She giggled at how odd her Papa’s name would sound with the title and yet she found that this little fun thought lacked a very fine detail that only a pretty princess like her should have.

And that is a cute prince. Her Mama was clear when telling the fairy tales that a princess has to have a prince, always.

Illya wasn’t going to be the exception and thus, she decided that maybe – possibly – she could find a prince lying around for her to take with her.

Looking left and looking right, the little Einzbern was less focused on where she was going but she still kept on guard for any suspicious noise coming in her direction. It wouldn’t be nice if some of the ‘bad guys’ managed to find her before she got the chance to… never be found.

Maybe she should do like her Papa had told her to do in case she went ‘missing’ from home and from him and Mama. She did remember the phone number, so it should be easy to call him and be taken away from the mean grandpa.

Yes, now escaping the castle made more sense and-

BUMP

“Owie!”

“Ouch!”

Illya felt some tears fall for a moment as the sudden painful moment reached her brain. Falling on her back, she massaged her sore forehead and tried to stare at the meanie that had been responsible for this.

She had been turning the corner when she had bumped in… a young boy?

Her red eyes widened in surprise in finding someone her age, trying to massage his own sore forehead at the impact and then… he opened his eyes.

Red met yellow and Illya felt something quivering in her chest at the sight of the golden-like color. She didn’t find the crown she initially wanted, but…

She stood up and ignoring the two maids behind the redhead, she launched herself at him, tackling him on the floor like a lion does with an antelope. The boy yelped but he was unprepared when her arms wrapped around his chest without hesitation, literally latching the little girl at the panicking fellow child.

Like Mama would always say to her about boy:

“If you find the little prinz you want only for yourself, you have to make sure he doesn’t ever escape from you.”

She could also remember her Mama smiling while saying this, while her Papa would start to polish his guns when he heard about ‘boys’.

Still, her mind was locked on a simple objective and that was-

“L-Lady Illyasviel! W-What are you doing to, Shirou-sama.”

...sama?

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AN

You underestimated the power of Chibi Illya. Her cuteness defy space and time, literally becoming the adorable version of soviet physics.

If you are searching Illya, then she will be the one finding you.

Little assurance: Sella will be the lovely tsundere we all know and love, but it will happen once she will begin to contend the kitchen with Shirou and the rest will be with poor Kerry. Why tho? Well, I am trying to make justice for Prillyaverse!Shirou (Illya’s brother) as he was left to deal with a large amount of women in the household all alone (But also because Kerry can take the punishment like a champ!). XD

 

Chapter 17: Magic (4)

Explaining who they were and what was going on to the little girl that had decided to tackle him to the ground for no apparent reason yielded some interesting results in the form of an objective complete.

Illyasviel von Einzbern looked like quite livelier compared to the maids that had decided to follow him around. Her hands were warm, much warmer than those of the Homunculi and the curious glint of adaptive intelligence visible in her eyes were proof of that.

Differently from Sella and Leysritt, the one of the duo specialized in knowing about the complex bits of the Einzbern Magecraft explained, Illya was ‘molded’ after the ‘Justeaze-model’ model homunculus.

The model was named after the legendary head of the Einzbern clan, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, and was one of the most modern and functional models available to the family.

A model that was obsolete and incomplete as many of the projects regarding this type of ‘puppet’ were keen to show flaws in their design, sometimes even discarded upon a first test.

Illya, and her mother Irisviel, were ‘acceptable’ successes of the two more recent attempts to promptly take the role of Lesser Grail for a… Holy Grail War?

Something that you shouldn’t ask about.

B-But it seems important-

It is. It’s just that you shouldn’t be asking about it.

Archer was an odd… ‘talker’. Something about his voice and his tone sounded familiar while also… not.

He was secretive, keeping much away from the redhead but… maybe there was a good reasons?

Archer wasn’t a bad person, that was a factual thing… but Shirou would be lying if he said he didn’t want to know more about this… war.

Turning his attention back to Illya, the boy was actually surprised by the data offered by The Game.

Name: Illyasviel Von Einzbern
Title: Kleinen Prinzesin
Age: 8
Level: 7
Health Points (HP): 300
Mana Points (MP): 3200​

Of course, this explanation was delivered in Japanese, keeping the little girl yet unaware of her real origins while also giving Shirou some extra information about the individual he was actually facing and what he should be expecting to deal with anytime now.

Until that moment, he had expected that there wasn’t truly a proper pattern in the design process focused on the main appearance of the homunculi but, as stated by Sella herself, they were all created by the image and function of previous Battle Maids.

It was around the time that the little Einzbern started to huff in annoyance that Leysritt decided to curtly describe the situation, or at least with what her vocal system allowed her to say.

A strange issue that was related to the predicament that had occurred to the two ‘women’, both being put and prepared to be ‘dismantled’ for new models after failing to best represent their roles.

Which they wouldn’t speak much about, only saying that the roles were ‘important’ for a special event.

After telling Illya that her Papa was inside the castle and trying to find her, the girl’s eyes widened and her mood soared with a happy squeal.

Quick demands of being taken to the man were unnecessary as it was their very intention and thus the child decided to stay put and be escorted where her ‘Papa’ was.

The cute accent was lessened the ‘demanding’ tone the girl took towards the two maids and the young Emiya found himself rushing through the dungeons and towards the main staircase that would lead them to the first floor of the Castle, where the ‘Throne Room’ was situated.

Voicing his surprise and confusion over the two maids’ certainty of Kiritsugu’s current whereabouts, Sella was the one to reply once more, this time stating that if the older Emiya wanted to have a chance of beating the currently active security system in the castle, he would have to fight and destroy the Golem-Terminal of the fortress.

Which was a very sturdy and old Homunculus.

With the end goal set, the four commenced their quick rush towards the closest staircase, with both Maids equipping with their halberds as the vanguard of the group while Shirou found himself busy with the giggling thing called ‘Illyasviel von Einzbern’.

While the girl seemed to not be complain about the current situation and merely giggled every once in a while, the redhead’s issue presented in the form of having his hands literally busy with her.

The little Einzbern was bridal-carried through the whole path, hindering Shirou’s capacity to help around the two maids and eliciting some chuckles from Archer. The man was eager to give some sassy remark but alas keeping the teasing to an acceptable minimum.

It would seem like you got your hand full of heroism. I wonder how she will develop in a few years from now… maybe she will ask to marry you.

W-We are brother and sister!

But not by blood and… she is cute right now, isn’t she?

The protest collapsed the moment Shirou’s amber eyes looked into Illya’s mirthful red ones, his whole head covered in red as a full-blush hit him like a truck.

S-Shut up!

Cue another giggle from the girl, possibly connecting her proximity to the sudden embarrassment of the boy holding her.

For Illya, this was like a dream.

Being carried around by an exotic looking young boy that was almost her age (Just a year of difference, curses!) that was her prinz. Meanwhile mean people were being dealt with by the maids loyal to them.

It was odd to see the quirkiness of those two individuals, a stark contrast compared to the rest of the servitude, while they all led the way to her Papa.

Her Papa was here!

And the more they walked, the more this boy, Shiro(?), continued to describe what had happened to her Papa and why he did come earlier.

He actually did try to save her! But her grandpa had the barriers around the castle set so that he couldn’t be able to access through and that forced her Papa to go and get something to pass through it.

Her grandpa had lied to her! Again!

This time she wasn’t going to forgive that old grumbling thing and, from what she could discern from the other descriptions given by the two trustworthy maids, her Papa was personally dealing with him right now.

This meant that she was going to leave the castle once for all and maybe see the world!

She blinked, brief hesitation flashing in her mind as she remembered of the summarized lessons her Mama would give her about the world that waited just outside the big fortress.

A world that was pretty, immense and amazing!

But also a world that could be scary and… that is why she will leave with her Papa!

Kiritsugu will deal with any threat without hesitation and without issue as it was his duty as her Papa and he was super-strong!

They finally reached the door that led right to the humongous room that her lying Grandpa would spend most of his time in and… they entered inside.

Illya’s red eyes widened at the scene she was staring at, the same reaction shared by the other members of the group with her.

Shirou felt panic rising as Kiritsugu was crawling away from the slowly advancing… behemoth of fake skin and gears, a true abomination between a doll and a machine.

So this was the ‘Golem’ Homunculus?

Jubstacheit von Einzbern LVL.78
6800/25000HP
Class: Berserker
Rank: Gold​

W-What?

He had expected the ‘boss’ to be stronger than the common Homunculus but… why was he that strong!?

Craters were spread all around the room, ruining the delicate and styled marble. By the kind of damage both the monster and the place were sporting, Shirou knew that his guardian didn’t hesitate in showing his brutal arsenal against the hybrid creature.

It wasn’t a secret that he did peek at some of the bags the man had in the car, it was also not a secret that the boy had seen just enough from the TV to know that the equipment wasn’t meant to be used by a civilian.

“Y-Your little a-attempt ends here, Emiya Kir-Kiritsugu.” The distorted voice sent chills down the boy’s spine, while the girl in his arms jumped off and rushed towards the wounded man.

“P-Papa!” Illya rushed towards Kiritsugu, her eyes widen in fear for her remaining parent’s life.

The shout stopped the fight, causing ‘Acht’ to turn around and… notice the new intruders.

His eyes, one still resembling a human one while the other seeming… cold, cynical and terribly uncaring.

“So… y-you weren’t alone?” There was a shocked expression plastered on that hideous face. “And is that a… another child? And two maids- no, you two are- but how-”

He stopped, his eyes narrowing on the redhead. “You!”

MOVE!

Shirou felt panic surging as he felt something snaking around his legs and wrapping both strongly, strings made by blue-glowing metal started to lift him up and brought him near the terrible monster.

He tried to wriggle out, but the strings were resilient to any of the swords he could ‘Trace’. His flailing was useless and- he looked around, trying to see if Sella and Leysritt were trying to rescue him… only for his hopes to be crushed by the fact both maids were fending off a new wave of Battle Maids, their attention taken by the seemingly endless group of attackers.

“I-I can understand i-if it’s a-an treacherous assassin tr-trying to attack the Clan- But a child! Preposterous!” The strings moved, the hold tightening as more of those rushed to immobilize him completely. “I shan’t allow a simple street rat, a filthy commoner to-”

A-Archer! H-Help!

Silence greeted him back, the Gamer’s skin paling even more as he felt the results of such a painful sensation that was being crushed.

-48HP!

HP: 652/700

“A mongrel, a little bastard that shouldn’t-”

-52HP!

HP: 606/700

“Be-!”

-54HP!

HP: 552/700

“ALLOWED-”

-60HP!

HP: 492/700

“TO-”

-100HP!

HP: 392/700

“LIVE!”

-300HP!

HP: 92/700

His lungs were painfully trying to grasp at any air now, his sight blurring as he the numbers of his HP started to appear unfocused and-

~To think that you would end up hurting a child just for the unreachable glory you speak about...~

That… voice. It sounded so much... familiar.

Unknown to Shirou, the feminine voice wasn’t detected only by him, Jubstacheit’s eyes widened once more as he felt his mind warped elsewhere.

As the boy started to fall in unconsciousness, the Golem-Homunculus was pulled in the worst nightmare he could have ever imagined.

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Acht blinked in shock as he found himself staring at the strangest anomaly he had ever seen.

Up in the sky was a… dark orb. A purplish hue exuding from it as from the deformed construct the very orb was floating up above a strange mud-like substance fell once or twice in a while.

The moment the liquid entered in contact with the ground, fire sparked brutally, hungry for destruction as it spread through the abandoned buildings of this unfamiliar city. Hollow shrieks of fear, of death, followed and drove the Golem to tense up at the dreadful sight he was experiencing.

But then he remembered that… he wasn’t supposed to be there. The ancient Homunculus was once more back to his ‘humane’ form, something that helped him to disguise his true nature.

A feature that was innovative back when his creator was still alive and…

He stopped thinking the moment his eyes landed to an even more surreal sight.

Humming quietly, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern continued to carefully comfort the young boy- the same child he had tried to kill until now. She was sitting, kneeling as she let the unconscious brat rest on her lap.

Eyes open as he silently stared up in the dark-clouded sky, the young human looked close to truly perish.

Good riddance. The Homunculus thought darkly, expecting to be granted some explanation from the insane hallucination he was being subjected to.

“We messed up. The Holy Grail, the War and… the wrongly-used wishcraft.” The soft tone that protruded from Justeaze’s pale-pink lips caused him to pause in surprise at how… similar to her this representation was. Not only the appearance, but also the tone and emotion.

“But I’m mostly disappointed in your conduct, Jubstacheit. I’m sickened by your lack of intellect when dealing with an important detail as creating an entirely new class in an already-delicate system.” Her harsh words were met with a light scowl. The elder could feel something strange from this individual, something familiar but changed… improved.

“Your words are empty, you foolish illusion.” The old man remarked. “You speak of actions carefully planned, actions that would be approved by the real Justeaze, not some ghost that-”

“A ghost?” The interruption would have normally infuriated the man, the impudence of the fake woman forgotten the moment his mind registered the chilling tone coming from her. “I can’t be a ghost if I actually never died.”

“Your attempt to buy time for this filthy street rat is interesting. How do you plan to continue this? Do you wish to bore me with this pathetic imitation-”

“I still remember when you tried to steal some man’s hat back when I first brought you to London for an important fair within Clock Tower. I remember chiding you severely for that act.”

...What? That detail- that embarrassing bit of his past-

“W-Who are you, impostor?!”

His heartbeat increased, the woman’s smile increased.

“My name is… Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, I’ve served as the third Einzbern Clan Head and offered a Regent in the form of Jubstacheit von Einzbern, my first successful attempt at developing a living hive in the form of a humanoid homunculus that could masterfully administer the family’s affair while keeping peace with the other members.”

Acht gawked at the extended claim, jaws trembling as his eyes locked onto his creator.

“B-But you- You are supposed to be-”

“Sealed within the Grail? Technically-speaking, this is still the current situation… to a certain degree.” The woman explained calmly. “But the situation is far more advanced than I have taught you about before my… passing.”

“M-My lady, you are… in this child’s mind?” The elder tried to guess once more, and once more getting an understanding sigh.

“My presence is allowed by something I’ve left within the child.” Justeaze replied quietly, eyelids going half-closed for a moment. “A special magecraft I had developed days before unleashing the first end of the Holy Grail War.”

“It’s a powerful tool, created as… a new ambitious project related to the betterment of mankind.” She finally admitted, drawing a saddened sigh.

“B-But that was the role of the Homunculi, my lady.” Acht pressed on, shocked beyond logic before this revelation. “It was by your own command that the Homunculi were to be considered the prime magecraft to improve the Clan’s lifestyle.”

“An incorrect statement from my part.” The woman curtly replied. “I should have been a little less… arrogant about the instability of the programming, the harsh duties straining the mnemonic units available to the models...”

She stared down to the child and smiled. “When I joined the First Holy Grail War, I thought that I would have enjoyed the advantages of the riches and the advanced magecraft we were once renowned for and… I was proven wrong by someone I never managed to beat, something that could be considered my better even now.”

“S-Someone better than you, my lady?” Acht looked like he had just heard something insane. “Who would be granted such an impressive title by you?”

“Why, I am referring to the curious man that I never got a chance to even understand… a little bit.” She showed an annoyed scowl before sighing… dreamily. “Tohsaka Nagato was… an interesting fellow. Easily underestimated by both Zolgen and me, the truest disciple of Zelretch that proved to always be… two steps beyond my plans.”

Justeaze huffed. “A worthy opponent, his prodigious capacity in magecraft, his keen intelligence and… his mysterious personality.” Her face was red much to the Golem’s confusion and worry.

W-Was his lady getting sick? Did she need any help?

“But alas I shall be blunt and quick with my words regarding this new system,” She moved some hair away from the boy’s youthful face. “It’s something that serves to ‘trick’ Gaia. Something that I would have wanted to give to Nagato himself but… sadly the War ended way too quickly and I was stuck with this system within the Grail… until the Fourth War came around.”

“M-My lady, if you truly are within the Grail right now, then you can easily confirm that there was no damage inflicted upon the construct by the Einzbern Family-”

“You haven’t seen around?” She interrupted in empty mirthfulness. “Have you seen the horror happening right now? The people dying, the city burning… this is the clear example of uncontrolled tainting, caused by something you should have long thought about before summoning Avenger.”

“A-A weakling caused this? H-He was the one that cost us the-”

“He might be weak as a Servant, but his consciousness, the malicious mind created out from your desperate attempt to win this endless warring was more than enough to not only subvert my control over the Greater Grail, but also alter the rules in the whole process.” There was a dry expression on her face, one that showed utter sorrow and irritation. “The worst part was that I was constantly belittled, mocked and annoyed by a sassy brat with some inner, world-hating issues between the third and fourth war.”

“I-I didn’t know that-” The elder tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing could come up and then… Justeaze gave him a serious look.

“And that’s the reason why you are here, Acht. You didn’t think this through and got us to a point where everyone has to regret something and… I think it’s time to end this facade.” She announced, her Heaven Feel dress glowing a little. “It’s time to cease the unrequited attention to this family, I gave them the chance of becoming the greatest and they wasted it by wallowing with my riches and my achievements. Enough is enough.”

“M-My lady, I can fix this-!”

“No, you can’t.” She interrupted coldly. “Now it’s time for someone that lacks greed and egoism to bring forth my wish. A wish that I’m happy he would be willing to share if he embraces reality as it is.”

Another plea, another beg- but Acht was cut short as-

-999999HP!

His life’s system was deactivated by the sole responsible for the deactivation device except himself. The woman stared in silent remorse as her most trusted servant perished before her eyes, his mind extinguished just like his body was.

She glanced once more down and smiled guiltily at the unconscious Shirou Emiya.

“You are really going to be an interesting and risky investment.” She slowly reached down and planted a kiss on his forehead. “But I trust you to make the right choices when the true darkness arise… my little Hero.”

The mindscape broke like glass as the paralyzed consciousness was let out free from that unnatural condition, Justeaze vanishing like a cold breeze in mid-summer, a genuine smile echoing through the Gamer’s mind, leaving a mark upon it.

For the world needed real peace and Shirou Emiya was her best candidate for the task.

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AN

Did you seriously crushed on Nagato?

He wasn’t Zolgen. I guess it was how I felt relieved by much of my frustration when he was willing to share some words about his projects. Always hard-working and… I think it’s Author Note time.

Oh- Oh! You are right!

I AM BA-ACK!

New schedule, the updated are now bi-weekly like with Crawl like a Worm and…

I bring to you some minor grammar improvement and chapter’s length being not as disappointing as before.

Ended up deciding to give you a clear sight over the ‘who’ behind the Gamer and the ‘why’. The ‘how’ will be finnicky to explain right now and thus I will give the explanation… when it will be really important for the plot.

Also, I felt some frustration from how I developed some fights and I bet this chapter will get some eye-rolls and head-scratching but the reason behind this ‘boss’ strange demise is actually fairly simple.

Shirou isn’t strong enough. He is but just at the beginning of his adventure, he has to develop and improve from his mistake and, while I can do some minor ‘Archer Helping’, I think even a wounded Acht would be too much of a threat for him.

The aftermath of this large section of the Arc will be next chapter and… then there will be just a handful of chapters before the end of Arc 1! The Tutorial Arc is almost over and… then I will add some unexpected twists to the plot.

 

Chapter 18: Chariot (1)

Amber eyes opened to gaze a bright blue sky.

Shirou blinked as he felt his entire body unwilling to move, only his head being active as he started to look around in mild panic. His recollection of the last moments when he was still awake weren’t pleasant at all and… his breathing normalized once he was given proof that he was away from danger… in the form of Fou jumping onto his to give his cheek a little lick.

A small smile formed in his tired face, yet the calm was broken by the loud footsteps owned to the one and only Merlin.

The white-haired magician was ranting to himself, walking back and forth as he seemed to be stuck in his own thoughts. The boy couldn’t recognize very little of the words leaving the man’s mouths, the only few things jumping to his attention being ‘that woman’ and ‘messing with the pace’.

The child blinked, trying to force himself to at least sit rather than lie down on the wet leaves and the small rocks littering the ground. He almost succeed on his first attempt, his body screeching to his mind that he was hurting himself doing so and… his willpower was quickly vanquished by the pain, pushing him back to his initial position.

Still, the effort caused some noise, just enough to have the mage stop with his loud musing and glance his way with an… annoyed scowl plastered on his face.

“Young Emiya, it’s good to see you.” His words were positive, yet the tone hardly fitted with these. “And before you ask, no I’m not angry at you. Just irritated that someone couldn’t just keep her hands from meddling… on my meddling.” He explained with a sigh, his features softened while his staff quietly hit the floor, blue-white energy coursing within his body and… making the fatigue go away.

The redhead stood up, staring in awe at the situation just for a few moments before returning to look at the magician. Merlin blinked back, a tiny smile finally appearing on his face.

“You see, Shirou, when you went to rescue your step-sister, you were supposed to fight the Golem with the support of the two Maids, something that I made sure to ask Archer to do something about before giving him to you.” The man continued to speak, his fingers snapping as a strange white orb left Shirou’s chest and disappeared in the mage’s hand.

“I thought that I could have gotten something from having someone with his intelligence, experience and… interest around you would have been a good way to safely have you train, to prepare you for the future and… she had to mess things up with her nostalgia and attachment to that blasted construct.” He huffed, turning around and staring at the nearby clearing, the sun illuminating the extensive piece of land filled with hills.

“W-Wait, you mean that Archer-”

“Can’t work with you anymore.” The magician interrupted a little snappish. “If he remained with you, the dangers that are going to happen very soon, sooner than initially expected, are going to be even worse to deal.” He paused, glancing back. “I wanted him to be your teacher, but in this timeline… he would have been your detractor and your greatest enemy, someone that would have known how you move and act.” He concluded with another tap from his staff, this time no magic happening.

“S-So the future has changed? You said-”

“That an infuriating woman decided to play around with what she can do right now. Your current state of unconsciousness being the first result of the butterfly’s effect.” The man paused again, noticing Shirou’s utter confusion visible on his youthful face. “It means that by changing one of the events that was supposed to happen, other things will have to change in response of that. One of those things being that a few of your next issues will get harder to deal with and one will actually happen sooner than others.”

“So… this lady did something that changed fate itself?” His mind was having a difficult time to grasp about the incredibly extensive subject the white-haired magician was alluding to.

“Something like that, yes. But she didn’t do it because she wanted to change things, but rather she wanted to test her freedom if I have to be honest with you.” He replied with a sigh, violet eyes boring onto the child’s face. “She will possibly avoid making first contact right now, especially with the whole shenanigans with the Golem- Also yes, the golem has been shut down by that brat and her passion for family’s matters.” He finished, letting Shirou think about it by keeping quiet for some time.

“This woman- who is she? And family’s matters?” His words betrayed the vast and intense confusion riddling his thoughts.

What had really happened? The golem was defeated but… what happened to Kiritsugu, Illya and the others? Were they all fine? Did they make it back to their temporary house?

“Someone that could be considered an ally of yours to a fair degree, but I wouldn’t be cautious enough to say that she will meddle once more when her eyes will find something interesting enough to… meddle about.” He replied with a mysterious tone. “But ‘she’ shouldn’t be your interest right now. Once you are back to your hometown, things will turn ethic very quickly and… beware of the priest.” Merlin warned, his voice mustering a completely new level of seriousness.

Shirou felt shivers go down his spine at it and… the boy blinked as he found himself staring at a completely different location.

No longer the Gamer was standing inside a quiet forest. A tall hill, he was on top of it and… in front of him was a sword stabbed in a rock. It’s blue hilt and golden details going through its body bringing him a sense of… familiarity to the blade.

He took a step forward, shortening the distance as his eyes were allured by the metal-work, by the design and… by its ideal. His heartbeat started to pick up and… his orbs widened in silent glee at the sight before him.

It was so enticing, his hands twitching at the thought of even going to touch the delicate weapon and… he took another step forward.

Blink.

His eyes slowly turning away from the sword as he noticed someone standing right on the opposite side of the stone. The young woman had bright blond hair, her cerulean eyes reminding of the sky. She was standing a few inches above his height, yet she was young and quite familiar.

She looked just like gray but… stronger. Her body was tested by time and experience, her soul proudly wore on her very face. A smile gracefully enchanted the impressive sight, making him blush just a little.

She was wearing a simple white shirt with long sleeves that stretched just a little beyond her wrists, baggy blue pants that were interrupted by armored boots and she looked ready to… approach the sword herself.

Her smile widened at his frown and then… the young woman spoke.

“You seem to be lost, boy.” Her tone hinted curiosity, kindness and… sadness. “Do you perhaps need some help?” She asked, dragging him out from his daydreaming much to his inner disappointment and outward embarrassment.

“I-I was talking to- I mean-”

“A foreigner? Your voice is… stressed.” The girl paused and nodded. “I suppose you are here to try and take the challenge. A sword that is meant to… reveal the truest King.” Her voice turned dreamy just for a moment, then the sadness washed over the wonderful expression. “Yet none had proven to be capable of mustering the burden.”

She tilted her head, curiosity glinted in her blue eyes. “Do you wish to try it yourself? Do you think you can take the burden, boy?” There was something in that last question that resonated wrongly within his chest. It ached for a moment and he found it difficult to breath.

“W-What burden?” He blurted in the midst of this strange knot forming in his throat.

The girl smiled again. “Why, the burden of making people happy, to make them safe, to give them real hope and grant them their wish.” She replied in a happy voice. “It’s justice, it’s the truest form of love one could have for the world as a whole.” Her final smile was… terribly placed. It was just… so wrong.

Why did it felt so wrong?

“W-Why?” He could only say, his head hurting the more this interaction continued. “Why you-”

“Why do I want to put my life on the line? Why do I wish to bring joy to my people?” Her smile widened more and more. “I want to try and… fix things. To try and return rightful light to the darkness, to defeat the evil and… be a Hero.”

Hero. The word was repeated so much, drilled in his skull and… yet its definition wasn’t always the same, changing from person to person. Merlin, Kiritsugu, Taiga, Gray and… himself.

What was his own definition? It felt clear but… also unknown to his tongue.

“What is a hero?” Shirou asked again, this time the stuttering gone as his mind completely woke up from that stupor and… he needed to know now. He needed a hint, a clue and… the boy knew that learning the young woman’s ideal hero was going to help him in this dilemma.

She blinked. “What is a hero?” The blonde asked again, humming as she found a nod as a response from the boy. “Well, I think it’s… someone that takes up the greatest of pain, the greatest of hardships just for the sake of even a simple smile.” She replied with a quick nod to emphasize her unique definition.

There was a brief pause, the Gamer’s eyes widening as he contemplated her words and… he felt clarity pull him out from that gloom state, out of his diluted sense of perception of things.

He felt revived.

“A smile.” He repeated with a curious look in his face. “That sounds… quite silly.”

The girl huffed and frowned at him. “You said that you wanted to know what I thought about it, if you want to be an idiot then-”

“But I like it.” He interrupted with a bright smile. “I can… feel it meaning so much more. A smile.”

The blonde gawked for a moment at the sudden compliment but… still smiled at the words. “Truly? Then I suppose you don’t have any reason to delay and try to-” She tried to say, only to be interrupted once more.

“No.” Shirou stated with determination. “I don’t need that sword. I… I think that I’m fine just with what I’ve.” He finished with a tiny smile.

“Even though this sword is meant to protect the world? You would just… throw away the chance?” She asked with a surprise look plastered on her face. “Are you sure-”

“I think I will pass this time.” He nodded again. “This sword… it could be the greatest thing in the world but… I don’t think it should become a symbol. It should be the… user that brings change, not a… stupid sword.”

A mirthful smile appeared on the girl’s face and soon she started to laugh at what she just ended up hearing much to the boy’s renewed confusion.

The laughter subsided a few moments later, yet the smile persisted even after that.

“T-This is the first time that I’ve heard such a blunt reason to not try to get Caliburn… but I guess you are correct, no one really needs some magical sword to be a hero to everyone. I just… had to use it, not to become a hero… but because the burden had to be taken by someone.”

She took several more steps towards the Gamer and… she passed through the stone and the sword.

Both objects disappeared moment later and the entire place shifted once more. No longer the hill was fertile and green, the sky blue and devoid of clouds.

He was in a ravaged hill, swords stabbing the pained earth all around. The clouds were hiding the twilight of the sky, the end of a terrible day that saw the death of numerous men, fighting for two opposing armies.

Shirou’s eyes widened as before him… was a completely different person.

She looked mostly the same appearance-wise, but her clothes were different, her eyes looked different.

Wearing a battle dress with armored pieces integrated to it, the blonde was smiling a hopeless smile while dragging her sword away from the battlefield and… towards him. She was bleeding, cuts and bloodied holes present on her body.

“T-This was the worst moment in what I could describe as… suffering. The realization that… I couldn’t do it. That I didn’t have it within my soul to… continue down this path...” The sword fell from her hands and… she fell on her knees, her head settling tiredly on the boy’s shoulder, the redhead tensing at the sudden weakness.

He pushed, trying to keep her up but her armor was incredibly heavy.

“I remember wanting to cry… wanting to return to be a… simple ‘lowborn’ child enjoying the life around me- but I-I knew that I would have hated myself for not giving it a try.” She coughed blood while chuckling. “F-For not… trying to make sure my p-people was safe from the v-villains ruining their lives.”

There was silence, the wind carrying all around him in a deafening manner the weight of the battle, the blood that had been spilled for… nothing.

“S-Shirou.” His eyes widened as she used his name. “D-Do you think I-I am a fool for… having tried?”

Her arms wrapped weakly around his body. “D-Do you think that-”

“B-Be quiet.” He interrupted, the madness unfolding before his eyes being… so raw and detestable. He felt the hate, he felt the spite… all of it directed to the woman herself. Mocking words, ridiculous pretenses from opportunists and… the betrayal of family.

She was alone, wallowing in the darkness that was slowly consuming the entire battlefield. He should have been worried about this, maybe try to run away from it but…

He was stuck with the woman as she slowly let go of the last attachments to this ungrateful life.

The boy smiled sadly, feeling the same weight he would feel while fighting for someone, to save them. “Y-You meant well.” He replied with a trembling tone, a tear or two forming in his eyes. “You… you wanted to bring hope to them and… you were burned by it. But to… to call this silly? Stupid? I think that would be wrong.” He concluded, a sob drowned by a nervous gulp.

She chuckled another bloody cough, her hold tightening just a moment before faltering once. “Y-You are a-always there to bring me out from… this loop, aren’t you Shirou?” The girl asked feverishly. “E-Even when you are so young and… afraid. Y-You make my p-penance lesser by… by proving me wrong with your actions.”

A bright light started to coat the dying woman. “Y-You care for them. You- You would even c-challenge Gaia and Alaya, j-just to never back down from… your promises.”

Her body glowed brightly as she moved away, just enough to show her crying expression, a trembling smile in her face as she started to vanish.

“Thank you, hero.”

A blinding light engulfed everything, forcing the boy to close his eyes and… feel everything change around him.

His eyes snapped open right in that exact instant, his heartbeat going crazy for a moment as he felt the emotional charge of that confusing scene making him hyperventilate.

His sight slowly softened as he realized that the ceiling he was staring at was the wooden one of the room inside the house he was supposed to stay with the others.

Mind quickly pushing away the scenes he had been witness of in his slumber, Shirou realized that he could turn around, the covers tightly stuck for some reason-

His eyes widened as his sight caught notice of two girls snoring by his sides.

Caren was tightly holding his left arm, while Illya was holding his right one. He blinked, blushing in embarrassment and surprise at the disposition but… soon his attention was taken away by a familiar, loud snoring happening a little further in the right side of the bed.

Gray looked to be having trouble sleeping on her chair, twitching once or twice in a while at the saw noises coming from the one and only Taiga Fujimura. The brunette seemed to be actually enjoying her nap.

The Gamer frowned in minor surprise at the young woman, surprised to see her managing to sleep so well in that visibly uncomfortable chair she was using.

Just as he tried to bring up the menu up to see how bad was his current state, he noticed that his surrogate older sister had started to stir and… soon she blinked awake.

At first, a lazy look was present on her face as she started to look around for any change in the room but… soon her eyes snapped fixed on Shirou’s blinking orbs and… she froze.

Confusion bubbled in within the redhead as the girl started to vibrate and then… she jumped off from her chair.

“YOU ARE AWAKE!” Her voice boomed all over the house, the loud yell waking up everyone in the room and… soon the lone Emiya found himself dog-piled by the girls all at once.

There was no mercy and in that unexpected ‘assault’, the boy’s mind could only think of a few words.

This… This is not becoming a thing.

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AN

Sadly, it will become a thing, boyo!

Here is the update and I can tell you a little thing. While this is 500 words shy compared to the previous one, there will be an interlude that will be uploaded tomorrow! The character and the setting? It will not be Kiritsugu, but someone… that will show how many things are going to change very soon!

 

Interlude 2 – Waver

Fuyuki was truly a strange city to live in after having lived for a long time in a quick-paced place like Clock Tower. The Japanese town was incredibly slow-paced, hardly giving him something to be worried about as he continued to think about what he should do now that the Holy Grail War was over.

The first days after the conflagration- after Rider’s death – Waver would be lying if he said that he didn’t spend those shut in his room back at the Mackenzie’s house. He had thought that he would have been able to truly uphold the promise he gave to his deceased Servant, that he would have lived his life to the fullest… but it was difficult.

Walking was difficult, talking was difficult, eating was difficult…

The silence was just unbearable.

He sighed, his tired eyes having been fixed for too long to the catchy sight sported by the TV installed in his room. The video-game that Iskandar had bought… it was the only thing that remained of him.

The mechanics of such device were complicated at first, a challenge somehow distracting but also… pleasing. The game was a way to escape the continuous suffering he had been subjected ever since the conclusion of the deadly competition.

It was a way to preserve his integrity before Glen and Martha, the two kind elders having been so understanding but also… lacking of the capacity to understand his inner struggle as he went along with his life.

Nothing was like back before he was wronged by Kayneth, his former teacher having been the spark that led to two different situations. The first being that now he had a focus, albeit a weak but slowly-growing one, and the latter was that he… lost someone important.

It was wrong, it was odd that a Master would care for a Servant, a Heroic Spirit from the past, and yet Waver did. Terribly so.

The boisterous laughs, the giddy outlook over life and… the unconquerable sense of dominance over fate itself. It had been like a drug, a rush of emotions that had at first gotten him nervous, panicking as he was unsure of what to do.

Then the Magus learned that not everything was dictated by Magecraft. Life didn’t need theories and mysteries, it needed selflessness and… selfishness. To be correct my making a mistake, to become wiser by being reckless.

Consequences? Those felt null to the glamour of having done something worthwhile and… Rider knew very well that it was the case for his Master.

The boy became man, the Magus became a human once more and… it was hurting him.

The process wasn’t as painless as he had initially thought, accepting the fact that he was once more alone with his thoughts, once more without… a real family.

It was ironic how his mother had told him that… the life of a Magus was a terrible one. Slanderous words, his younger self thought after having been conditioned for so long by his grandmother’s tales of power, wisdom and knowledge.

His maturity was rendered void the moment he decided to selfishly attach himself to a world that was painful and unforgiving. A world that forced him to push himself beyond what a normal mortal should be allowed to deal with and… it wasn’t worth it.

Living with the Mackenzie changed that… to a certain degree. There wasn’t a pressure to stand on par with his peers, there wasn’t a need to hold against the prejudice lingering in Clock Tower… but there was nothing else but the game that helped him cope with the loss of his friend.

An orphan once more, he mused gloomily, something that stirred deep in his mind as he finished his quick trip to the grocery store.

Fitting in with the lifestyle of a non-magus young adult proved to be initially difficult for someone as sedentary as Waver… but soon he found it refreshing to deal with the materialistic dilemmas of his temporary life in Japan.

Pocket money from the kind grandparents wasn’t going to cut well for him if he really wanted to travel around the world and… a job hunt ensued.

A proper job was impossible to find, especially since his papers from Clock Tower were hardly going to be recognized by normal institutions and the young man was forced to accept a rather simple post in a liquor bar sited in the central district of the city.

Copenhagen, a simple establishment owned by Isamu Hotaruzuka, was actually a place where he wasn’t as stressed as he would while studying some arcane subject. He was supposed to clean when they closed up, help around by bringing a box or two of wine bottles when there was a lack from the one available at the counter and… avoid getting mauled by the owner himself.

The man was kind, respectful and genuinely a good man. The horrible thing that cursed Waver to endure his boss’s mini-wrath was all because of… his daughter.

Otoko Hotaruzuka, better known to everyone as ‘Neko’, was a young student that frequented Homurahara Academy. The brunette was friendly, incredibly helpful and supportive when the young man was forced to deal with the first difficulties of the work and… very affectionate.

Unexpected hugs, strange stares from afar and a strong interest in asking him out once or twice in a while. The last bit was rendered impossible by her father, Isamu being ‘kind’ enough to remind Waver that this place was his only chance to get his needed money.

He wasn’t displeased by the threat, he could leave without… the pressure of having to deal with a cute girl trying to get his attention. It was embarrassing and flattering, but he couldn’t muster within himself the willingness of pursuing a serious relationship.

Otoko supposedly knew this but… she still persisted with her attempts. Nothing too overboard, there was a limit set by the brunette herself about keeping things ‘normal’ rather than descent in something a little too unpleasant for him to deal with.

Something that the young man was happy to know but that also put him in a rather tight spot with the girl. They were friends, she would narrate him the days spent at the local high school and… he would be intrigued by those.

He had known that Clock Tower was different from any non-magus school but… the fact that students weren’t put in odd situations where important children were favored to the ‘nobodies’? That teachers couldn’t ridicule students without proper reasons and… that he wouldn’t explode if he messed up something in his homework?

The more he was intrigued, the more he wanted to bash his head onto some wall. Seriously, Waver could have lived in ‘luxury’ if he hadn’t been hell-bent in learning Magecraft and…

He blinked, his attention returning back to the mopping. His eyes frowned as he was suddenly brought back to reality without… a proper reason.

Otoko was talking again, her sight directed at the ceiling as she rested on one of the several vacant chairs of the establishment.

“-And Taiga even said that she was going to send me some photos… and she didn’t even do that! It’s been days and… ugh, that girl can be a dummy.” She huffed in annoyance, her tale reviving part of her irritation at the fact one of her classmates had gone for a trip in Europe and would return in a few days from now.

“Your friend has to have… quite a lot of money to afford a trip of that kind.” Waver commented, much to the girl’s sudden surprise. She almost fell off the chair, eyes wide open as she stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

“So you finally take part of my glorious tales of Neko’s daily life, Waver-kun?” The brunette looked awed, something that made the young man frown in discomfort. “Returning to your words. Taiga actually didn’t pay for anything. It’s a trip financed by her private English tutor.” She facepalmed and groaned. “To think that hotheaded moron would be able to get someone as good as that man.”

“I thought you were good in English.” Waver pointed out, making the girl scoff back at him.

“I am, but I wouldn’t mind excelling the subject.” She threw her hands up. “To think that someone like Kiritsugu Emiya would have existed in a normal town like Fuyuki.”

In that very moment, the foreigner’s body tensed up in shock and dread at the name that he just heard.

Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, the Master of Saber and… the winner of the War since he survived.

It was odd to believe that… he was still Fuyuki- or rather, he was there before going for this trip in Europe.

Could it be a mission? Or maybe it had to do with… the Einzbern.

He knew about the isolated family from the research he had made back in Clock Tower before leaving for the War. A prideful clan which only peculiar member was the former leader, Justeaze, the woman responsible, with the presence of Nagato Tohsaka and Zolgen Makiri, of creating the Holy Grail.

The pale-haired woman, that strangely… humane- and motherly-looking lady had been an Homunculus.

It wasn’t a secret to the world that the Einzbern weren’t true living beings anymore, having ditched ‘mortality’ for a form of… resistance to death. Something that was frowned up back in London, but none of the members in the hierarchy would ever discuss it further than how one would address a rumor or gossip.

The family might be… weird, but they were powerful, influential and… terribly rich.

The other two ‘founding’ families weren’t as different in status like the German clan, with the Makiri existing only in the Japanese branch, the Matou, while the Tohsaka had been crippled by the war.

Tokiomi Tohsaka had been a serious competitor that had ended up being killed by someone, Waver was partly suspecting it had been Archer. The Servant was too prideful, it wouldn’t have surprised him too much if Gilgamesh had decided to cut loose ends and just return to the Throne as… his Master was an inept.

Waver knew a little of the mundane world, something that gave him a small advantage back in the Holy Grail War against both Tokiomi and Kayneth as both respectfully strong and powerful Magus were easily beaten by the modern cruelty displayed by the Magus Killer.

Turning his attention back to Kiritsugu Emiya, the young man felt his stomach turning at the mere idea that the murderer was still around and… possibly working. But then again, why bothering bringing a simple girl with him? Sure, he was her tutor but-

“-It’s also a pity that Taiga decided to never send me a picture Shirou-kun! I wonder if he looks like his Papa… nah, I bet he would be cuter than-”

...What?

What the actual fuck?

Kiritsugu Emiya, Magus Killer, the man that single-handedly screwed the competition for everyone… was a father.

…

The news sunk quickly in Waver’s mind, bringing new alternatives to the present ones while forcing him to erase some of the old ones.

What if… no. Maybe he shouldn’t even consider it but…

What if he tried to… approach the Magus Killer?

Phrased like that, it did sound like the worst idea possible but… what if he ended up encountering him around and… he decided to clean up the ‘remains of his former job’?

Nope, not taking that damn risk.

He sighed to himself, noticing a little late the giggle coming from Otoko as she was pointing her index at his feet… or rather at the darkening spot near his shoes. The mop, he thought dryly.

He had done the exact same thing back when he started to work here, the wet and drenched mop ending up to completely stain the lower section of his pants and… forcing him to take a tighter pair for the following day. Of course, the girl approved of this choice by how amused her giggles were back then.

And if he had to be honest, he was sure she was going to overly-enjoy his peculiar set of pants… again.

What a dreadful way to end my shift...

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AN

If I can bring Taiga, then why not Otoko. Neko-senpai is here!

Also, Happy Thanksgiving Day!

P.S. Fun Story, the upload of this Interlude took a while for SV... because I uploaded it in the wrong thread. Things have been now fixed and... dang, that thread wasn't even connected to the Nasuverse... (I blame the fact I uploaded it rather late than usual)

 

Chapter 19: Chariot (2)

If there was something that Shirou was finding rather nerve-wracking, it was how Kiritsugu was purposely avoiding to make even the simplest of interactions with him.

Having awaken from his slumber and dealt with the sudden dog-pile attack from the girls, the red-haired boy had turned his attention to some quick questions that had sparked from his still-sleepy mind.

If Illya was here with the others, were Leysritt and Sella in the house too?

The answer was given by the arrival of the two maids, now wearing more casual clothes, after the ‘cuddle session’ had been interrupted. The short-haired woman had a simple dark-red jacket and tight jeans on herself, while her ‘sister’ was donning a brown blouse and a lighter-brown long skirt.

They had rushed to the bed, but instead of following the girls’ past ‘attempt at his life’, they decided to merely club him with numerous concerned questions about his current state. It was mostly Sella that went with the precise inquiries, ‘Liz’ preferring to keep her own queries relatively generic but about the more important issues regarding his situation.

The second inquiry being how much time had passed since he was awake and that was a reply offered by the dutiful ‘servants’. Almost a full day spent resting from what had happened at the castle, Kiritsugu requiring them all to be safe and stable enough to take the flight.

It was only after having survived the hounding of the all-female group that the young Emiya remembered that there was also someone else to think about.

Kiritsugu had looked calm, far too calm, as he prepared some coffee for himself. Shirou had reached the small kitchen to see him during the process, staying silent as he expected the man to finally spurn in action the moment he saw the child entering in the room and…

He merely stared at him.

Silent, surprised even, but not giving much of a mere nod to greet him a ‘good morning’. The redhead was quick to notice that he was now sporting some bandages as visible from his now open dark-gray shirt.

That encounter was incredibly brief as the room was soon invaded by the rest of the group and… food was prepared for the hungry girls thanks to the two maids’ (Sella’s) efforts.

Breakfast proceeded as loudly as expected, the girls being swift to shift their attention to try and explain how things had gone during his unconsciousness, Taiga being the most vocal of the cadre as she narrated the story in quick Japanese.

After he had fainted mid-fight, Kiritsugu had managed to get him and Illya, with the aid of the two remaining maids, out of the Einzbern Castle. The moment the Golem had died, the entire hive-mind system that controlled the majority of the Einzbern’s homunculi had followed it to the afterlife.

They had all fallen to the ground like string-less puppets, going still as their ‘life’ vanished from their husks. Sella and Leysritt being swift to reach for the unharmed Illya and the two injured Emiyas, helping them to walk to where the mercenary had left his car.

The route to reach the car had been a slow but hasty one as both him and his adoptive father required medical assistance the quickest possible.

Once they had all arrived to the vehicle, the older Emiya had managed to drive back to the house where the others still were, the three girls having been panicking for the ‘missing’ Shirou for hours at that point.

In that exact moment, the boy was subjected to receive a single slap from the ‘worried ladies’ and soon his poor right cheek was turned a pained bright red at the strength of this ‘reward’ for worrying them so much.

Taking a crescendo of damage, from a -2HP from Caren, to a -3HP from Gray’s meek one, and an aching -5HP from an irritated Tiger’s retribution.

With the dark-haired man close to fall unconscious himself as the wounds had left him far too weakened to get him to stay conscious enough to patch himself up, it was Sella herself that decided to carry him to the house and ask for assistance in Japanese.

Since Taiga was the only one speaking and understanding the language, she was the one that rushed to help and assist the application of the bandages and medicines for both father and son.

Having a basic training as a nurse, something that her grandfather had demanded from her to conclude before completing her fourth year at Homurahara, the brunette knew what she was doing and the patching-up process was actually incredibly well done from the way maids praised her.

The girl basked in a little bit of glory, smiling eye to eye at the fact she was the one that did ‘the most’ in those moments, much to the chagrin and silent fury from the rest of the females.

Yet the Gamer’s concerns lied within a singular problem.

The girls now knew about Magecraft by the mere fact that the Fujimura was showing no hesitation in describing the castle and they seemed fairly knowing of what was going on in the backstage of the events there.

Wasn’t it a bad thing if other people knew about this secret?

But if Kiritsugu didn’t show any issue with it… was it truly bad?

As a ‘Magus’, Shirou had much to learn about the world but the boy knew one thing for sure. There had to be a reason as of why the Association didn’t want other people to reveal their ‘tricks’ to the world.

...Still, the man was fine with it so… maybe he could too?

The attention then shifted to the fact regarding Illya’s integration to the group, something that Shirou noticed had been terribly quick. Not only had the white-haired, red-eyed girl picked up quickly some of the Japanese words from Taiga, the little Einzbern had also decided to address him with a strange and somewhat incorrect honorific.

“Oniichan.”

And while her pronunciation was correct, there was still… her accent. It gave a soft but edged corner to the word in particular, something that incredibly left him speechless every time he heard say that.

Of course, his reaction to this didn’t pass unnoticed to the rest of the bunch and soon Gray and Caren tried to give ‘pursuit’ over the matter, with the English-girl having still some issues about his first name while calling him ‘Shirou-san’ and the Italian child calling him ‘Shiro-kun’.

The conversation expanded from that to the most important of issues, being ‘when’ they were supposed to return back to Fuyuki.

“Soon.” Kiritsugu replied curtly and giving little else to the discussion as Taiga once more took the lead. With Leysritt, Sella and Illya now joining the group, the older Emiya had to go and order three new tickets for the flight they were supposed to take and the delay was by just a single day, that day.

And so by tomorrow they would be out of Germany and on the path to be back to his… hometown.

With the first meal of the day finished and the four girls rushing for the bathroom (Leysritt and Sella aiding little Illya and Caren in the ‘competition’), Shirou found himself in the room alone with Kiritsugu.

The mercenary was aware of this too, but instead of displaying this with some change in his calm demeanor, he just remained quiet, waiting for something to happen.

The silence was quite unnerving, the redhead having trouble to actually stare at the man as he felt that something was truly going to happen. Something that he wasn’t going to like since by now it wasn’t impossible for his secret to be put in jeopardy by the suspicions of his guardian.

Kiritsugu stood up and stared at the table for a moment, then his eyes shifted back to the boy.

“Shirou.” His voice was clear, but lacking any semblance of emotions to it. “How are you feeling?

The question seemed weightless, void of any warmth that should usually be accustomed to the ‘concerned’ query.

Still, the Gamer nodded slowly. “I’m fine. Just a little sore.” His reply was curt, his tone rather tight at the unknown predicament. There was little he could do right now to avoid this talk now and… he braced for the real question to happen.

…

The dark-haired adult sighed as he stared away from the child and to the sink filled with plates that had yet to be cleaned. Sella had planned to go through those once she was done with helping with Liz the two younger girls but… soon Shirou was once more under Kiritsugu’s stare.

“The Einzbern clan is one of the oldest families in the Moonlit World.” He said, index tapping at the table as he let himself fall back on his chair. “Influential, powerful… but also obscure.” The mercenary stopped the tapping as he noticed Shirou’s staring at his fingers’ activity.

“Do you know why I’m telling you this, Shirou?” Kiritsugu asked quietly. “Or do you also know this already?”

There was more silence, seconds of quiet passed and the Gamer felt incredibly terrified by what was going on. His attention was fixed on his adoptive father’s actions, keen to keep up his guard for any dangerous stance from him.

Yet until now he had done nothing worthy of any powerful reactions. He felt caged, confused and scared of what the next move would be.

“You managed to somehow gain Gray’s trust and bring her to yourself, away from the small village where she lived.”

Shirou tensed at the pressure but the man wasn’t done with his little talk.

“It didn’t take me much to gain some little info from Add, the spirit of Sir Kay himself. Just a few strokes at his ego and he blurted out what I needed to paint the whole situation that got the girl to join us.”

There was a pause, the tapping resumed and this time the boy’s eyes followed the action instantly, as if expecting something out of it. Yet nothing happened and his mind strained even more.

The tapping stopped.

“Then you, for some unexplained reason, decided to follow me as I went to free my daughter and-” He sighed heavily and nodded. “I’m grateful that you were here. I wasn’t prepared enough to deal with Acht… but while I can be such, I’m also intrigued by the fact you knew where you were and what you were doing.”

...

“I-” Shirou tried to speak, but the main lifted his index up and stopped him.

“No,” Kiritsugu interrupted quietly. “I think you have secrets, Shirou. Big secrets.” As he finished speaking, he pulled up from his coat’s pocket a small piece of paper. A strange seal drawn into it.

He blinked, Observe instantly giving him some clarity over the mysterious document on the table and he frowned.

[Object: Self-Geis Scroll]

Powerful curse engraved in a piece of paper. A binding contract used by the Magus Association to have absolute commitments regarding high-level secrets kept by major officials of the organization. Once the Caster signs its name upon it and thus accept the demands imposed by the paper, they will have their Magical Crest bound by the curse. If the Caster commit to break even one of the points imposed, the User’s Magical Crest will cease to function and cause the death of the Caster.

-Warning, Insufficient Requirements: [Magic Crest]

Shirou paled at what he had just read and he felt terribly nervous about what Kiritsugu was trying to suggest- no, force him to do. He gulped nervously as he finally noticed the last detail about it, the saving grace from this horrifying situation.

“I-I can’t.” The boy finally spoke, his lips trembling just a little as he was still recovering from the nerve-wracking predicament that had concluded moments ago and the lecture of the object the man was trying to have him to sign.

The adult lifted a confused eyebrow, the first time he showed any emotion since he had started to speak. “What do you mean, Shirou?” His voice trailed the confusion, but he managed to keep it smooth enough to render it clear for the boy.

“I… I don’t have a Magic Crest.” He admitted with genuine honesty. “It wouldn’t… work.”

…

“You can use Magecraft, Shirou.” Kiritsugu seemed to be chiding him with his calm tone, pressing on him to say otherwise rather than… lie? “If you can use Magecraft, then you have a Magic Crest.”

The redhead frowned at the table and… blinked in confusion. “But I- I don’t-”

“How about we prove this already? Please reveal your arm.” He demanded strongly, pointing at the boy’s left arm. He stood up and walked by the side of the scared Gamer as he took the limb, turning it slightly around and carefully enough to not hurt while moving out of the way the sleeve masking the skin.

Shirou blinked in surprise as his Circuits flared as Kiritsugu’s fingers touched his arm. Bright-blue lines stretched visibly on his arm, some ending by his fingertips only to curve and return back… to the origin of the Prana.

His Magical Core was… warming up too and in mere moments the glowing sight spread right to his chest. The man blinked, his eyes widening just a fraction as he followed the lines right to the brighter spot hindered by his shirt and bandages.

The Emiya paused, his eyes fixed on the area but… then he let go of Shirou’s arm and walked back to his seat.

The tension seemed to disappear moments later as Kiritsugu went to pick one of his smokes to lit it up.

The Gamer blinked in utter confusion. “T-That’s it?”

The man shrugged as he adjusted his lit smoke.

“Yep.” He replied without hesitation.

“A-And what about-”

“It can’t work on a target without Magic Crest.” The mercenary admitted with a sigh. “I don’t have anything on me that can actually work with that.” He pointed at the boy’s chest, suggesting at the Core.

“So that’s it? You don’t plan to… ask for more?”

“Are you going to tell me anyway if I asked?” The man inquired, only to have silence back from Shirou. “Yep, that is why I’m not asking.”

“B-But you made it clear that you thought me a danger!”

Now this was ridiculous, why stopping now!

He had been this close to crack and he just… let it go like this?!

“But what about-” He tried to speak but-

“Nope.” Kiritsugu interjected lazily. “I’m not interested.”

“But what about the-”

“No.”

“But-”

“I was thinking about buying some-”

“Okay, why?!” Shirou finally slammed his fists on the table, his face sporting the angriest scowl the boy had ever shown to anyone. “Why putting me in that situation of all things if you are not interested in-”

“Oniichan?”

Shirou froze as he recognize the voice calling him and he slowly turned to see Illya… and Taiga. And the rest of the girls and the maids.

He felt embarrassment rising, his blush persisting but now without the previous anger it had fueled it to stay.

The Gamer blinked and he sat down on his chair, glaring at Kiritsugu. “You knew.” He said with a tight tone.

The adoptive parent didn’t reply to that accusation, merely looking away as his lips twitched upward just for a moment.

“Otouto.” Taiga was now bending, bringing her face dangerously close to his. “What were you saying to Kiritsugu? Something about us perhaps?”

The suggestion was lost to the boy, a frown now adorning his face. “What?”

“You know,” The brunette continued with an odd tone. “Something about us girls. Maybe something important, very important.”

...What?

His immense confusion was broken the moment he felt a weight settle on his lap, Illya kneeling on his legs as she gave him a close hug. “Oniichan mine!” The girl exclaimed loudly, pouting at Taiga.

The rest of the girls soon approached him too and something similar to a tug of war began with him being the center of the attention. He was being pulled, yanked, hugged, cuddled and snuggled in that insane mess of people.

N-Not again!

But just as he succumbed at the play of the four girls, Kiritsugu stared at the scene blankly.

Shirou had been correct, he had been very close to have him reveal what truly was ‘wrong’ with him. There was just so much to ask and little he knew that would be answered at the moment, the boy having showed as much mystery as much genuine interest in protecting the people he considered friends and family.

Confusing, worrying and quite perplexing. It was interesting to see how someone could garner so much attention… despite the young age.

The Emiya mused darkly over the presence of a ‘Magical Core’ of all things, something that truly denied him the chance of making use of something to further limit the possibilities for the child to show even the least worrying development towards Illya or any of the other girls.

They were all important, both for strategical purposes but also an emotional connection. Caren was just like Illya to a certain degree, while Gray was just a girl with Artoria’s appearance and a powerful instrument sealed behind some highly-restricting rules.

Part of him still wanted the answers, yet his mind was weighed by the words Add had given to him before he left the caged object to his usual whining.

“You seek the logical answer to things, but sometime the real solution to questions lies in the world around us. You have already met one of the possibilities, Shirou now represents a clean slate, a chance of truly bringing hope to the world. He is an odd kid, very shy and reserved, but so was she before turning in the greatest Knight of them all. Don’t try to question it, it will still happen.”

So unnerving and incomprehensible, there was no clue in that cipher, the only thing he could think up being Artoria herself at the mere mentioning of a female ‘Knight’.

But why would Saber be connected to Shirou? Avalon?

There was just so much left to the unknown and… only time will tell if this ‘hope’ will be good or bad.

------------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d--------d-d-d-d-

AN

Wanna hear a funny story? Kiritsugu learned about the true potential of peer pressure by… none other than Irisviel herself. How? Ice cream might be involved.

 

Chapter 20: Chariot (3)


Birds were chirping eagerly and a calm breeze was in the cool air as it filled the urban scenery when Shirou Emiya first left the car Kiritsugu had rented in Tokyo, his attention directed at the familiar sight of home’s entrance gates.


He took a small intake of air, eyes wide open and brightly glowing as a smile was perched on his face revealed his genuinely happy mood.


His reaction could easily be confused as mere nostalgia, but the fact that he was back in Fuyuki meant that… things were going to be safer now.


Or at least that was ignoring the threat created by that priest, Kirei Kotomine, and what was going on with the dangerous construct known as the ‘Holy Grail’.


Still, the reason behind is relief was that now he was back to his home, a little haven from the issues that had plighted him in what had initially been planned as a simple trip around Europe.


The girls were quick to disembark too, everyone was there except for Taiga. The brunette had been left back to her grandfather’s compound because Raiga had requested her to return there.


Pouting and sporting an annoyed grimace, the Fujimura was quick to rush within the set of buildings after waving at the retreating car driven by the older Emiya.


The girl promised that she would then visit a little later, once she was done ‘defusing’ the absurd mess of used clothes and magazines contained within her baggage.


A feat that was sure going to take her some time since the redhead had taken just a glance at the problem itself and knew of the full extent of such task, which would even take possibly hours to accomplish and by that time it would have been dinner time, thus denying the brunette any chance of coming to visit.


That is if one considered the Tiger of Fuyuki a normal human being to waste that much time on the difficult deed, surely pulling some impressive feat by safely getting this situation… even worse for herself once she had to return once again home.


And while this amusing situation unfolded and he joined the collective effort of pulling the bags and the rest of the luggage off from the car’s trunk while Kiritsugu prepared to properly park the vehicle for the time being.


The man was oddly quiet, even quieter than the day before and Shirou wouldn’t be lying in saying that he was more than unnerved by the former mercenary’s attitude.


The flight that took them to Tokyo was equally silent and uneventful, with the Gamer deciding to check upon his stats after what had happened back in the Castle.


He had to wait for the entire entourage to fall asleep, with Illya being the one sitting on the seat beside his and falling asleep with a hand squeezing at one of his.


The girl had been quite nervous of experiencing flying for the first time and, while Kiritsugu had more that happily offered to be there for him, the man was denied as his daughter decided to ‘stay by her little prince’.


Ignoring the brief but incredibly murderous glance appearing on his step-father’s face, an expression that promised a slow and painful death for depriving him of the long-wanted father-daughter moment with Illya, the minutes prior the take off were spent getting the Einzbern to calm down over the noises coming from the large plane.


Her uneasiness was then vaporized when the flight began and the noises lessened to a comfortable pitch. The girl had been surprised at the sudden development, but soon her surprise became calm when she was told it was the plane finally going in the air.


She glimpsed from her little window, her short stature offering just a limited look through the glass and her red eyes had widened in awe at what she was looking at.


Moments passed and her awe increased at the presence of fluffy clouds passing by the plane, mesmerizing the child for several minutes… until the first yawn came by.


Tiredness was acceptable as sleep was preferable considering the long flight before them. The girls stayed awake for some time but then, one by one they all went to catch some ‘little naps’ to keep up their strengths.


Being afar from where Kiritsugu was sitting, the redhead was finally offered his chance to finally check on his Stat Menu and… he was shocked of the resulting noise coming from some boxes.


The boy could still remember when he heard the unusual bell sound that had popped out after he had thought of the command, drawing numerous windows at once and giving him quite the surprise and shock.


DING! ‘Grand Quest: Tutorial Arc’ has been bypassed!

DING! ‘Quest: The Lost Girl’ has been completed!

Rewards:
-25000 Yen;
- New Routes Opened: Caren, Taiga, Gray, Illya Routes unlocked;
- Improved Closeness with Kiritsugu Emiya (Step-son);
- Improved Closeness with Taiga Fujimura (Surrogate Otouto);
- Improved Closeness with Gray Pendragon (Little, Noble Guardian);
- Improved Closeness with Caren Hortensia (Childhood Friend);
- Improved Closeness with Illyasviel with Einzbern (Step-brother);
- Improved Closeness with Leysritt von Einzbern (Young Master and Friend);
- Improved Closeness with Sella von Einzbern (Young Master);

[Status]

Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 15 – Exp: 56,78%
Health Points (HP) : 750/750
Mana Points (MP) : 1500/1500 (60 MP per Min)​

Attributes

POW: 32
INT: 30
AGI: 36
WIS: 30
VIT: 37
CHA: 25
LUK: 26

Skills

Gamer Body (LVL Max.) - Congratulations, your body had been turned into one influenced by the rules of the Game Module. This Skill is present in all Users from the very beginning.

Unbreakable Willpower (LVL Max.) - The hardships of your life had been making you stronger than the average human being. Risk of Possession and Mind Control are reduced by the 75%.

Noble Soul (LVL Max.) - Having experienced the worst trauma, you know the pain and sufferings of others. Your Soul is brave and determined enough to let you become whatever you wish.

Charged Attack (LVL. 8/10) - Deliver a powerful strike against your opponent! The ATK is determined by STR*5! (Cost: 40MP)

Fake Concept of the First Magic (Sword 1 of 4) - The ability to recreate from nothing but the mere memory a Sword-Type blade, your Origin and Element aid you to the task of perfectly copying the essence of the object. Creation cost is 40MP for each blade, 4MP/s the maintaining cost. (Currently limited to non-legendary objects.)

Traits

Natural Prodigy (Cooking) - You are incredibly proficient in cooking, it is in your blood. Food prepared by your hands receive a 25% Boost to their HP recovery rate.

Sword Proficiency (Rookie) - You have grasped the basic notions of swordmanship and can use it in a fight. Your stats receive a 15% Boost when using a Sword-Type weapon.

Bow Proficiency (Rookie) - You have grasped the basic notions of Bowmanship and can use it in a fight. Your stats receive a 15% Boost when using a Bow-Type weapon.


Things have… improved a lot since he had left Fuyuki.


With the presence of some Quests, the fight at the Castle and the temporary stay of Archer, he gained more power and experience over the world around him.


He was more aware of the dangers, the means to counter them and… the growing need to continue down this road for the sake of protecting others.


While before he had but just a brief understanding of the threats he would have to eventually deal with, Kotomine being far tamer compared to anything he had seen until now, his perception of things was more methodical, more… cynical.


Shirou wouldn’t go as far as to consider himself emotionless, far from it.


It was just the way he would ‘greet’ beings and objects around him that was different, from trustful to uncertain and careful.


His paranoia was evident, but so was his sense of control over it from not going overboard.


With Merlin’s words still ringing in his ears and with the terribly-confusing aftermath of his ‘fight’ against the Golem, the young Emiya was brought before the fact that superior powers were indeed involved with whatever was going on.


Something was changing from the past easygoing pace of life, gone was the calm before the approaching storm and…


The boy was unsure how to react to it all and that left him at unease over everything.


He was cautious enough to not show any of this restlessness, taking the happy moments with the brightest of reactions and-


“Shirou,” Kiritsugu spoke quietly as he walked inside the front door.


The child’s eyes blinked twice, his mind returning right at the task at hand and… he had just finished to drop one of the bags back to the living room.


A little humming developing from his throat as he continued with the mechanic work of bringing out bags and settling them by the living room, only for the two former Einzbern maids to come and help the girls to set those in the respective rooms prepared for the new inhabitants of the Emiya household.


The dark-haired man closed the door behind him and nodded. “We need to talk.”


Eyes widening and body tensing, Shirou had then expected a Round Two of what had happened during their last day in Germany but, surprisingly enough, the adult merely took a seat by the table and gestured the child to follow his example.


The redhead complied at the request, uneasiness replaced by confusion as there was none of the strange cold stares the man had shown in that ugly situation.


Instead of being the subject of that conversation, the boy ended up discovering that the topic was still important and essential to discuss.


It was natural for Kiritsugu to ask now that the girls were busy with preparing their new rooms, offering them the time to speak about future plans about their mutual target.


“Kirei Kotomine, you have seen him,” He pointed out, giving color to what was going to be the main theme of the conversation. “The priest, what do you think of him?”


The question was simple but the boy could see the not-so subtle implication about it.


How much dangerous is he?


“He is very calm,” Shirou admitted with a slow pace. “But…”


He paused, what was he supposed to tell the man? That he knew that Kotomine was dangerous and to avoid at all costs?


“But?” The older Emiya pressed him to continue.


“I think he is… hiding something,” The boy replied cautiously. “He seems to behave strangely around Aoi-san.”


“Aoi Tohsaka?” The man asked quickly, before shaking his head. “The woman still lives? What about her daughter?”


He knew about Rin? How much did Kiritsugu knew about the Tohsaka family and why would-


The Holy Grail War.


The connection was slowly forming up, the conflict taking place in Fuyuki and the last event had taken place several weeks ago… right by the time Rin’s father had died and her mother had become like that.


Kiritsugu had been part of the competition as the Einzbern Master and… then things turned blurry.


The Gamer wasn’t fully documented over what had happened in the days during the War, but he was sure that by seeing the dark-haired man’s face steeling at the mere mentioning of Kirei Kotomine, the priest wasn’t supposed to be alive after what had happened.


A multitude of theories drowned down on his mind but without any major hints the young Emiya couldn’t certainly draw any certainty over this shady situation.


Soon the discussion resumed, with Kiritsugu questioning Shirou about the details he knew of the still-alive Kotomine. Nothing worrying at first as the adult was keeping things low-toned as to not gain the attention of anyone still busy with the rooms-preparation.


Then the bomb was dropped and… the boy was unprepared for what his ears were to be subjected.


“Shirou, I wish you do something for me, something about your… friend,” The man began with a simple tone, catching the redhead’s attention with the sudden request. “Next time you see Rin, I wish that you offer her to spend some time at hour home. And you may also extend an invitation to dinner and for a sleepover too.”


It seemed quite normal from a simple point of view, but knowing how complicated Kiritsugu was, Shirou slowly realized what was going on and-

-One life for Another-

Time Limit: Unlimited

Kirei Kotomine is too dangerous to be left alive. Still, you aren’t ready to face someone as dangerous and powerful as the priest and… sometimes sacrifices are a must.

<Reward>

-Rin is Saved-

-Title: Hero of Justice-

-Aoi’s Route is Permanently Closed-

-50.000 EXP-

<Failure> or <Refused>

-Your Fate is Sealed-

Accept?

Y/N​

What? N-No! This can’t be it!


The boy’s face flashed a worried look, his mind picking the smiling face of the green-haired lady, the one that was the one suffering the most and, if he had to assume from Kiritsugu’s subtlety and the new quest info…


He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it!


Without hesitation, the Gamer refused the Quest, setting himself a limit for himself.


The Game was powerful and it was indeed offering him the chance of growing to become a true hero but…


What kind of Hero would just sacrifice someone so easily?


He then remembered the words of the curious blonde back in that dream, the one that accepted the hardships of her path to become a hero and paid heavy consequences.


Would he suffer too? Of course, he almost facepalmed at the uncertainty and he came to a solid realization from the look present in Kiritsugu’s face.


While Shirou was unwilling to sacrifice the frail life of Aoi Tohsaka…


Kiritsugu Emiya wasn’t going to take chances with Kirei Kotomine, even if it meant orphaning someone close to his step-son.


---------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d------------


Meanwhile, near to where the Emiya Household is…


From the dim-light coming from his old but trusty lamp, another boy sighed as he continued with his homework in partial silence.


Tiredness was evident in his face and his glasses were starting to drop low by his nose as the child continued with the most draining task possible.


The papers in his desk weren’t something related to school, that kind of preparation homework had been dealt with mere hours earlier.


No, his attention was drawn by the peculiar lecture that his father had left him to finish, a follow-up to the previous tome he had been supplied for his secondary studies over the arts of his family.


The book was old, written by one of the earliest ancestors and founders of the family he was part of, a parting gift to his children before he ventured through Death.


English letters were forming somewhat familiar words, some being still used in the current disposition of the language while a minority being fairly archaic and difficult to understand without some dictionary of Old English.


His father had been kind enough to also give this to him with the tome, instructing him to continue with a pace that best suited with his age and didn’t hinder on his pursue of happiness.


Strange words considering the primary role of their family, this attitude being rather… odd compared to the other groups he had known of from Britain.


Yet the boy couldn’t just spend time mindlessly think about the past, his present being far too important and demanding to be pushed aside for some remembrance.


With his siblings either napping or playing around the living room, the dark-haired youth was left to conclude another session of careful translations and analysis of the spellcraft described by the papers.


As the only male child of the Ainsworth Family, Julian wasn’t truly forced to follow some of the strict rules imposed by the London-based society, he wasn’t even the official heir to the house.


That role was well-taken by the eldest of the children sired by Zachary and Artemisia Ainsworth, Angelica Ainsworth.


He sighed at the mere mentioning of his older sibling, considering the fact that she wasn’t currently in Japan like their father had wanted.


Deciding to spend some time in France to compete in some regional fencing spars, the blonde had preferred to keep staying there for the time being with their mother, Artemisia being more than supportive of the ambitions of her daughter.


Still, the temporary separation had left quite the disgruntled bunch around to bemoan the situation, Beatrice being the one having taken the worst out of that unexpected decision.


The adopted girl had been more close to Angelica rather than with Julian, the reasoning being that the first few days within the family were spent under the care and lead of the blonde.


The redhead was attached to the boy too, but between the two oldest children the always-smiling girl would pick Angelica.


Erika was influenced too but her mood was mostly stabilized by the fact her big brother was still play around to her heart’s content.


The energetic rambunctious child was fiercely attached to Julian, testament of such connection being how the little girl had openly refused going to France with her mother and big sister.


The surprising choice gave relief to Zachary, the man enjoying spending more time with his family rather than dealing with the ‘pesky’ paperwork regarding the family status within the Clockwork society.


The Magus Association might be divided in three grand factions, but even the Barthomeloi-led group was the worst-organized. Numerous noble families squabbling for the feeblest advantage they could gather from espionage, powerplays and duels.


And that jarring setting was a strong enough reason for Julian’s father to decide to move out of Europe and settle in… Japan.


The large distance had been shocking for the boy, especially considering the culture shock he was still dealing with the other members of the family, but Zachary’s plan wasn’t truly simple as he made it seem.


The plan itself lived by two conditions.


The first one is that their relocation to the place where the three grand families that created the Holy Grail would provide some shelter away from the vultures back by their former home while also allowing some chances to broaden the knowledge of the family itself.


The second condition was quite… doubt-inducing.


Julian had just recently tapped into his father’s recent past, the man describing some of his youthful adventures to Erika as night-tales and sometimes he would digress to add some details that not even the boy had been aware of.


The detail in question, the one that brought him no little uneasiness over the current setting of their new home, was that Zachary wanted to score a favor with someone he had saved years ago.


It had been purely casual, even the patriarch of the clan had to admit that the dumb luck involved in scoring a debt to the infamous character living just down the road was more than a small fragment of the story.


Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, the monster that chased and killed some of the most powerful Magus all over the world.


So much blood dripped off the little tales his father would give away about the gritty man, but Julian was smart enough to see where some sugar-coating had been applied.


It was difficult to stomach the fact that this former mercenary, now retired right in this city, was supposed to guarantee for their safety during their stay in Japan.


The stay wasn’t given a limit of time, Zachary being unsure if it would be convenient to even consider a return to London.


Too much politics, too little time with the family…


It was annoying, but now that his father was here to help, his studies had seen an immediate growth in pace thanks to the presence of the experienced Magus.


Julian was fairly close to grasp the theoretical extent of the Flash Air, the magecraft being the one the family was mostly specialized in, but there was also a minority which Zachary was part of that believed in the well-being of the body and promoted physical enchantments for the sake of creating the pure stability and balance required by their unique specialization.


But while his mind and will were directed at the papers in front of him, a small distraction that has been going in his head for a while now was starting to gain more importance the more he thought about it.


The Magus Killer had been absent while they had settled down in Fuyuki, giving his father time to think how to best interact with the Emiya without being harmed in the process, but Zachary had informed the entire family that the man had returned… with his own family.


To imagine someone as gruesome as Kiritsugu Emiya dragging around some heavy bags back to his home while a pack of young girls rushed to do the same… Julian couldn’t help but snort at the sight.


The Boogeyman of the Magus Association was rendered a simple family-man and the sight was granted when his father had called him to look at the scene unfolding.


He had seen the situation happening before his eyes and the amusing mood was then replaced by genuine curiosity and interest.


In that multitude of girls, a young boy that looked to be as old as Julian was calmly walking with his own bags back to the large house.


Surprise had stirred at the idea that the fellow child was the son of the Magus Killer, intrigue and interest mixing at the conclusion that he might end up having to meet him somehow while living there.


With Julian enrolled to the local school, Homurahara Academy, it was bound for him to happen to encounter the red-haired boy in one of the classes, even though they couldn’t be sharing the same.


Numerous were the thoughts about this curious development, but still what truly jumped to his attention was the expression present in the youth’s face.


He was thinking about something… deep. Something important, something that burdened him and…


That was intriguing to the core much to his surprise.


Maybe it was the fact that he had been holed up in the new house for some days now, or that he merely craved some more social contacts with people his age that weren’t his siblings.


Erika and Beatrice were good companions to talk, have fun and play, but then again he wouldn’t mind having some friends of his own to spend his time with.


It was a childish demand, but he was a child so…


Maybe he could try to approach the fellow boy. Who knows, maybe he would prove to be an interesting companion to have around.


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AN


Here is the update, my giddy mood has dried out today for personal reason and… Do you believe in Gravity?


Some info about the Ainsworth: They are all normal Magus, no Dolls. Beatrice was orphaned by an earthquake and was adopted in the family at the age of five; Erika is not Pandora, but a little girl the same age as Caren. Julian is going to be important and… Angelica will have a fun part in the future arcs.


A major difference compared to the first draft: In the first version of the story, Miyu was supposed to have been adopted too in the Ainsworth family, but now her role has been shifted and her importance has been elevated. Expect some minor Kaleid Liner vibes of the Dark Souls kind (I’m referring to the Movie kind of creeps).

 

Chapter 21: Chariot (4)

Waver Velvet was starting to feel cold as he turned the corner of that desolate street, his eyes slightly-wide open as he ventured deep in what looked to be one of the worst situations he could have ever been forced to do.

It’s been so little since the Holy Grail War, yet the tension he was feeling was rightfully the same as back then.

After all he was directed to the house owned by one of his former enemies and… infamous killer of Magus families.

Of all Masters that had been taking part to the competition, the young man considered the Master of Saber to be one of the worst nightmares to face during the War, one of the many men that he didn’t even dare to approach out of legitimate fear.

While Saber herself proved to be a reasonable fighter that preferred something ‘fair’ compared to ‘efficient’, Kiritsugu Emiya had been responsible for utterly demolishing his former teacher; Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald had been considered one of the greatest prodigies in Clock tower, his prowess in fighting making him a perfect candidate as a Master… but a poor strategist because of two horrible weaknesses.

The first flaw was that the infuriating idiot had been over-confident, thinking that this was a duel rather than a battlefield.

That genuine comment was something that Waver could dare to say days after the competition was over; After everything had come together in his mind about the real existence behind someone like the high nobleman, his initial assessment having Kayneth more of a foolish and arrogant man than a truly dangerous opponent…

But that was a mere opinion, he was sure of it.

An opinion influenced by months of frustrations born from constantly headbutting with this individual for conflicting thoughts over Magecraft itself, birthrights and other politics that made the Magus Association a horrible place where to live and try to succeed in life.

Now that he was free from the responsibilities behind War and the happenings in London, Waver was granted the clarity of seeing how the arrogance was mostly dignified by an impressive arsenal and preparation.

Kayneth didn’t come in Fuyuki without some contingencies over the possible unfairness of the Holy Grail War, rather he was so sure that ‘honor’ would have been kept by both the Tohsaka Clan and that the Magus Killer wouldn’t go as far as to demolish the hotel he was staying in with his fiancé.

Pride was a curse, but one conceived by nurture than by birth itself. The Archibald family was a prideful bunch, having all settled with important roles within Clock Tower, Kayneth being the culmination of their ambitions…

And now the man was dead, losing dignity, body and soul because of his short-thinking, of his ‘trust’ toward Kiritsugu Emiya’s expected limits as a Master.

Now that the former Lord of the Mineralogy Department was deceased, the family was supposedly decapitated and left without a ‘figurehead’ to work as a leader.

It was a morbid thought, one that saw Waver musing over the comparison of the renowned group as a body, still trying to figure out that it was now headless and wandering into a terrible pit of doom.

Partly amusing, but the political effects once the news was given to them would be… massive.

The repercussions of seeing an entire illustrious family go down so suddenly and without a clear explanation would surely see a weakening of the Bartholemoi Faction within the Association, a minor setback and lessening of influence.

And yet the family and the Association were unaware of what had happened here.

The Holy Grail War wasn’t a competition that was well-displayed back in London, only the survivors can tell of the events transpiring from those horrible days and…

Waver was one of them.

Tokiomi had died, his decease having been reported for days after the War by numerous local news outlets.

Uryu Ryuunosuke was dead, the serial killer having perished just a little before the end of the competition and his Servant having tried to do… something with the Grail.

Not even the young man was sure of it.

Kariya Matou, the dying husk wandering Fuyuki with the terrifying Berserker had died… or something.

His current whereabouts uncertain to the Magus, but the Matou had not given news about their victory.

The Master of Assassin was reportedly killed by Kiritsugu Emiya and…

That left only him and the Magus Killer.

The older man had survived to the end and surely gotten his wish from the Grail.

Or maybe not?

There was just so much about the Grail, why the Fire even happened and how could a wish cause this damage to the city itself.

Surely, it hadn’t been the wish itself, but something happened back then, when the Emiya was so close to the complex construct, that ended up sparking that massive disaster.

Gulping nervously, Waver slowly paced inside the courtyard that led to the traditional Japanese house. The young man had been careful enough to pick this particular day and hour to try and establish contact with the Emiya.

The red-haired child, the alleged son to the Magus Killer, had left the premises of the district with a curious number of girls at his tow, their final step being the nearby park and… that meant that Kiritsugu was left without many individuals staying at the home.

Another step and Waver was now standing the porch, he was right in front of the main door and his hands were trembling just a little.

It was just so… so close to that kind of dread.

Back when the War was still ongoing, back when Rider was here to cheer him up and get him going through the hellfire around him.

But now the burly giant wasn’t here and… this wasn’t the monumental castle that the now-former Master of Saber had been hiding for most of the competition.

He took a simple breath of air, trying to find at least some balance before going forward with his plans.

His hand lifted from its initial position, away from the safety of his pants’ pockets and into the doorbell by the door’s side.

The index pressed for a moment the button, just enough for the common bell to ring and alert those still inside that someone was visiting.

As his ears caught the sound, his hand retreated back to the pocket and his eyes widened at the distinct noise of someone approaching, the wooden floor behind the door creaking and giving further signs that someone had indeed heard the bell.

He gulped again and, before the final moment for this nervousness, the climax of his bad feelings, Waver felt his brain yelling at him to run away, to try something else and-

The door opened.

It was already too late for second thoughts, the young Magus thought and his eyes were bestowed with quite the unusual sight.

Instead of the all-black formal-wearing clothes that the tall man was known to don all the time, Kiritsugu Emiya was now wearing a simple kimono and his back was slightly slouched and relaxed.

It was the Magus Killer, the man still appearing just like he did in the War but… he seemed also incredibly tired.

It was fatigue, but it wasn’t a physical activity that saw the professional mercenary this much weakened compared to before; it was something much complicated.

The Emiya’s eyes widened in shock as he recognized the young man, almost ready to back-pedal inside and close quickly the door but…

Waver bowed respectfully, something he had heard his quirky colleague talk about as a gesture of utter respect.

His eyes were half-closed, panic rising even from the deepest corner of his heart as his lips moved and-

“I-I don’t wish to cause trouble, Kiritsugu Emiya-san;” The English foreigner stated, praying that the honorifics wouldn’t be a touch to much. “I- I wish to- I want to understand what happened in the War.”

It sounded like an outburst, a childish demand from a foolish moron trying to make sense of something that was supposed to be easy and-

“What?” The weary man said with a confused tone. “Why… why are you still here?”

A legitimate question, he should have left Fuyuki days ago, maybe even through a raft but… money was important and he had spent everything to just come here in Japan.

It was all loaned, of course, his miser account hardly capable of withstanding the price of traveling to such a distant place as the Land of the Rising Sun.

“I-I can’t leave Fuyuki,” He admitted out of panic. “M-My current economic situation is-”

“Quiet,” The man ordered so suddenly, the Magus Killer’s eyes narrowing dangerously and causing the former Master of Rider to flinch and tense up. “Enter inside, now.”

The order was so forceful and, knowing of the reputation behind the mercenary’s bluntness in terms of demands, Waver didn’t have much of a choice.

Sure, Kiritsugu looked weak but… maybe it was a trick? Maybe this was all an ambush to kill more of his enemies.

It wouldn’t e a terrible suggestion, after all the Emiya did make an entire hotel collapse for the sake of killing just a man.

The English youth entered quickly, following the Emiya inside the initial corridor and right into… a medium-sized living room.

He had seen one of these back when Otoko had gone out of her way to make him see pictures of her house while he was busy helping around at the liquor bar, as to prepare him for eventual invitations.

Maybe it was a helpful advice as, if the young Magus was ever to be invited in that household, he would have to deal with an over-protective father and… he would need all possible means to leave the place if things happened in that possible situation.

He took a seat nearby the short table, right on the opposite side where the Emiya was sitting and he waited for… something to happen.

Nervousness was a powerful deterrent from trying to get a conversation going, especially if it could end up with the young man clumsily pointing out things he wished to have nothing about.

“You were the Master of Rider, Waver Velvet,” The professional murderer stated, eyes fixed on the foreigner. “You were last seen sending your Servant to fight Archer. He lost.”

The last comment left him furious as… the situation here given was mostly wrong.

If he had the chance to genuinely stop an unstoppable force like Iskandar, the young Master would have done that.

Command Seals? Rider would have hated him, even caused him to lose and suffer for forcing the exuberant giant to stand down from a monumental fight like the one presented by the golden fool himself.

So, instead of ignoring the obvious bait, the young man merely nodded and let the Magus Killer continue.

“You have yet to leave the city… you mention economic problems,” Kiritsugu mused quietly, his hand slowly lifting to the wood of the table, tapping twice. “How much would you need to get out of Japan?”

...What?

Maybe he had entered a different dimension, maybe this was… just a dream or even the worst nightmare.

But he still heard what the man just said.

It was an offer to give him money required to leave this part of the world.

And the reason? It was blatant that the assassin wanted him to leave the proximity of his cover… or was that his real family?

He did remember seeing a young girl with pale hair and red eyes, Einzbern traits and Saber had mentioned something about the Emiya being married to that… kind woman.

I wonder where she is now…

“I-I don’t need money,” The Magus replied cautiously, eyes away from meeting with Kiritsugu’s stern orbs. “I’m planning to get enough to leave soon and… this is not the reason behind this visit-”

“Then speak your request,” The Emiya interjected coldly, tapping again. “My patience didn’t chance from the War and I will not tolerate any annoyances-”

“I want answers.” Waver jumped in, his voice gaining some more bravery much to his own surprise. “I want to know what happened when-”

“The Grail is corrupted.”

The four words were quickly proposed, the statement initially feeling as lightly as words were meant to be but… then the meaning added an unfair amount of weight to it.

Eyes going wide open and jaw gaping at the sudden blunt comment, Waver couldn’t help but speak.

“W-What?”

The Magus Killer held the silence for a few more moments… and then he replied.

“The Grail is corrupted, contaminated, polluted by the presence of a being that has twisted its wish-granting magecraft to a deceitful and destructive degree.”

The explanation was logical, reasonably so, but then again Waver couldn’t help but see it skeptically.

He had studied intensively the known details of the grand structure, the basis of information Zelretch had been keen to divulge about the grand object without giving enough instructions to make a new Grail from nothing.

Everyone would jump at the occasion of replicating the incredible deed committed by the Makiri, Tohsaka and Einzbern clans, the Three Founding Families having still a relevant spot in Clock Tower even after recent isolation and weakening committed by most of them.

The Makiri was mostly killed and only the Matou branch continued to hold the torch of their reputation, a group that had developed in Japan and away from the Russian homeland their founder, Zolgen Makiri came from.

Yet, despite the essential information missing about the overall functioning of the Greater Grail, the books in Clock Tower clearly allowed some insight over the foundations that made the Grail work so well after almost two centuries of existing.

The system was forcefully made to abide to specific prerogatives that made it impossible for something to corrupt and cause a general destabilization of the main function.

So why should he believe to-

“What happens to the souls of the Servants that die during the competition, Waver?” His mind was forced to shift its focus back to reality as he felt two more taps from the Emiya’s finger on the wooden surface; the question entering so quickly and unexpectedly that now he was thinking about it and Waver promptly answered.

“They would be sent back to the Throne of Heroes, their souls are still tied to it and, without a proper connection to the real world they-”

“What if it’s not a Hero to die during the Holy Grail War?” He was interrupted once again, the query surprisingly garnering immediate thought as he evaluated it with a perplexed belief.

The Grail couldn’t theoretically be able to grant the summoning of a non-heroic being, the main purpose of the Servant-Summoning process based on the fact that the souls of heroes came from the Throne.

There wouldn’t be any mean for a non-Hero to be summoned, the process had to be rigged and that wouldn’t be an easy feat to commit.

The young man felt ready to reply at that question too, but stopped as he realized that it wasn’t the answer Kiritsugu wanted out from him.

It wasn’t ‘if the process is possible’, it was ‘what if this happened’.

And that kind of inquisitive look would be an absurd scenario, especially since the Grail wasn’t made to have non-heroic spirit.

The issue itself would manifest in two tangents, with the first one being the representation of said individual.

Whoever was summoned, their new bodies would be ‘buffed’ or ‘depowered’ considering three factors, which were the ‘Original Body’ of the hero, the ‘Legend’ of said hero and the following behind the figure.

These three factors were primary queries that the Grail would ‘ask’ to the Throne, to try and get a proper and balanced being out for the competition.

If the individual summoned isn’t a Hero and lacks a presence within the Throne, the ‘reply’ would be none.

The Grail would be forced to create a ‘default’ body for this being and thus… make the Servant as weak as a regular human being.

It would be incredibly impractical and horribly difficult to manage this Servant without it dying against the ‘far too strong’ super-humans summoned by the Grail.

The second issue that would surely create catastrophic events would be… the soul of this non-heroic Servant.

If the non-hero perishes, their soul would be directed back to the Grail but it wouldn’t leave for the Throne because it’s not a hero.

It was confusing, terribly so, but the simplicity of the matter was one and only one.

The soul would be sent to the Grail but wouldn’t never leave it. It would be stuck inside of it and-

Waver paled a little, thinking back at the presence of beings like Caster, Berserker and Assassin.

“W-Who was the Servant?”

He didn’t reply, the young man was sure that the Magus Killer was perfectly aware of the matter or he wouldn’t have given him this question.

The man smiled for a brief moment and nodded. “Angra Mainyu, the Zoroastrian God of all Evil. He was summoned as Avenger, a new class conceptualized by the Einzbern Clan as a mean to replace the Berserker card during the Third Holy Grail War.”

There was a brief pause, enough silence to give Waver the time to understand the full ramifications of such development, his eyes widening even more and his skin paling further.

Not only the being itself was a completely different class, this development already causing issues with the Grail’s matrix, but the fact it was the goddamn God of all Evil should have been a giant red flag to consider.

And to think it had all been caused by the Einzbern, the family that proposed the Holy Grail War as a mean to provide a somewhat fair competition to everyone interested to it.

Now the system was obviously damaged, ‘polluted’ as the Emiya had just called it and… and then the Magus realized something far bigger.

“I-Is that why the Grail started to spill fire and mud?” Waver asked, his mind almost burning at the dreadful situation he had just avoided.

Something that reeked of world-ending scenarios and… that would warrant a seal designation.

Heck, the Holy Grail War should have warranted one decades- if not centuries ago!

The process itself was too risky, people were dying for some invisible pleasure and honor from those witnessing partially and from the safest distance possible.

Such a terrible concept of the past still considered modern enough to be kept alive.

All for greed, there was no doubt about it, but-

“Yes, the Grail was trying to ‘realize’ my wish and it created a destructive version of it,” Kiritsugu answered with a tired sigh. “I made sure to neutralize another War by destabilizing the Leylines, there will not be a Fifth Holy Grail War.”

There was determination and some steel in this proclamation, enough to almost have the young man to believe him.

Almost, as Waver knew that destabilizing the Leylines wouldn’t have been enough to prevent an eventual Fifth War from erupting.

It would skip a cycle, the Grail being rendered unable to fully connect to the proper energy lines, but that wouldn’t mean that the Leylines would never return back to their original setup.

Kiritsugu only ended up buying time… or maybe he didn’t.

While the means to cause the destabilization were unknown to Waver, skipping a full cycle would cause the Association to make numerous assumptions at the lack of the Grail’s resurface.

Many would question visiting and study the construct for the sake of confirming its integrity, but the process would definitively die through the bureaucratic process; the hassle to bring an investigation in Japan to study the grand situation would be an expensive route that would be certainly dismissed for budget issues.

Rumors would rise and fall, but only the easiest guess would persist as the ‘truest’ fact:

The Grail had ceased to function and there wouldn’t have been anymore Grail Wars.

The deception working only if there wasn’t any Magus living in Japan in about 120 years, something that was doable considering the dwindling number of people associated to the Moonlit World still living in this specific spot of Asia, many already moving out to China or returning to the United States to join the US-sanctioned Association’s counterpart.

That would explain why Kiritsugu was so certain of having stopped the threat created by the Grail once and for all with this attempt but… why would he be still cautious with a Master still wandering around? Why wouldn’t he just… let him go away and don’t mind his presence?

Sure, Waver was a Magus but, like the Emiya had proven until now, the young man was still spineless enough to submit to this terrifying predicaments.

A Geis would have worked too but… maybe it was for the best that no magical contracts were involved in that moment.

Waver had already enough issues to deal with and a soul-binding development would only see him screwed to an unfunny degree.

“What is your current means to survive here?” Kiritsugu finally asked, tapping again at the table and getting the young man off from his thoughts. “Hypnosis or-”

“I-I’ve a part-time job as a handyman for… a liquor bar.” The Magus held back from giving out the true names that could endanger the small family owning the establishment, knowing full well of what the Magus Killer was capable of.

“No tricks or illusions? You were assumed without Magecraft?”

Waver nodded, his skin regaining some color at the lack of horrible topics to think and talk about to the still-calm mercenary.

The Emiya leaned on the table and blinked. “What kind of shifts are you meant to do there?”

“From lunch until dinner,” The rest of the early morning was spent helping around the elderly couple still housing him in their house. “Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

Kiritsugu nodded. “And what would you think of another part-time job?”

…

Waver blinked, confusion rising once more as he thought of the current predicament and he felt ready to pale again.

The Magus Killer had a job for him. A professionally-trained murderer had a task for him.

“I-It depends on the requirements and… the task itself.”

The Emiya sighed and nodded again. “I have… a family here,” The mercenary started to say. “Some are children of mine, Shirou and Illya, while other are a group of youths that are mostly under my responsibility. I need someone to take care of them while they are outdoors.”

The young Magus blinked. “As a babysitter?”

“As a guardian,” Kiritsugu replied quickly, sparing no doubt in giving this much information out.

“B-But why me?” Waver blurted in utter confusion. “I-I’m just a stranger-”

“That wishes to live for a long time,” The Magus Killer muttered back. “Especially since there are some interesting individuals still lurking around in Fuyuki.”

The Magus paused just a moment, eyes widening at the comment and mysterious note at the end, his mind burning again as to understand the underlying context of those ‘interesting individuals’.

And what was this about his survival? Was the mercenary giving him an ultimatum of sort?

“W-What? A-Are you threatening me?”

“No,” Kiritsugu replied smoothly. “But you should be aware that Fuyuki is far from safe even though the War is now over.”

Waver blinked, his confusion increasing at the suggestion pushed forward by the tired man.

He had been around the town to know that the place was now a little haven, there was nothing lingering from the previous Holy Grail War and-

“Kirei Kotomine was the Master of Assassin, he was allied with Tokiomi Tohsaka and was the ‘heir’ to the ownership of Fuyuki’s church.” He leaned back and sighed. “Have you noticed that the Church hadn’t sent any representatives after the conclusion of the War?”

...No.

There was no way that… that another Master was still alive. Especially one as elusive as Assassin’s.

“I was the one to place a bullet straight into his heart and...” The mercenary paused just a moment and then continued. “The Mud, the substance that leaked from the Grail and sparked the Fire was the corruption within the construct and it did more than create flames.”

That was just ridiculous! H-How would a man that was dead be able to be- No, there has to be another reason to-

“And he wasn’t the only one surviving the War.”

Waver blinked, before the worst guess came to his mind. “I-Is it Uryuu-”

“No, the child killer is long dead,” The Emiya interrupted with a slightly-irritated tone directed at that name. “Just like Kariya Matou, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald and Tokiomi Tohsaka are.”

Those are all the Masters, further dismissing the trouble of facing his former teacher once more after his gruesome death and-

No.

Nonononononono.

NO!

“I-It can’t be a Servant… right?” Waver asked with some desperation. “It can’t be that-”

“A golden-haired, red-eyed individual has been spotted lurking around the Church’s premises.”

And with that mere comment, the young Magus felt the world come crashing down as Iskandar’s sacrifice had meant nothing as that bastard was still walking well and healthy.

Anger rushed through his chest and onto his face, his entire expression displaying the inner fury but seemingly leaving the Emiya unfazed at the display.

“Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, is affiliated with Kirei Kotomine. That is why, I need your service, Waver Velvet.”

There was a pause, a moment of inner turmoil rising within the Magus as he thought deeply about the offer now presented at him.

It wasn’t a mere job now, it was personal business he had to make sure to conclude.

The plans offered to Iskandar, the promise had to be delayed once more.

Just enough to see the end of the Golden Fool.

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AN

Long Waver-led intermission that is actually a chapter.

Why I did this much of a big interjection… well, next chapter will see some tense but surprisingly bittersweet moments.

Expect some surprise feelings from the worst people and… yeah, Waver is now official!

P.S. Chapter 3 and 4 have been revisited and polished of any mistakes, and expanded upon.

P.S.S. Many are expecting horrible things from the ‘Fate is Sealed’ thing about the mission and… the kind of Fate that is mentioned it’s not the Canon Archer one, nor any of the other Canon Routes.

So what is this ‘Fate’ that is now sealed? (Yes, this isn’t meant to be a dreadful outcome, rather a completely different Route… about Shirou’s life rather than HGW routes.)

 

Chapter 22: Dagger (1)


Between Illya’s attempts to bolt and rush deeper in the park to explore such a new novelty of a place and Caren’s unwillingness to stray too much from the group while clinging on a certain redhead, Shirou was feeling quite conflicted about the normalcy behind such a simple thing as a mere walk in the park.


Surprisingly enough, Taiga was the calmest among the girls and the Gamer was rightfully impressed by how the situation was handled.


Shock filled the young Emiya’s mind when the brunette started to rein in the two strong-minded children from creating havoc during this first visit, while she also gave some accurate words about the natural haven within this Japanese city.


Gray followed the slightly older girl around, keeping herself from asking too many questions out of politeness and shyness, yet the dark-silver-haired teen proved to be the only one in the group to give that much dedication in learning about this section of their new home.


Maybe it was because the trees, the plants and even the structure of the park was different from anything she had seen back in England.


Shirou couldn’t certainly pinpoint the exact reason behind her thoughts in those moments, yet the genuine sense of interest displayed by her awed expressions as she was given some descriptions about the trees all around was enough to confirm she was enjoying this walk.


Sella and Leysritt were giving a slow chase behind, the former actually looked a little relaxed over the simplicity of such activity, something that didn’t certainly require any major worries or responsibilities.


Meanwhile, Liz was merely humming to herself as giving some attention to the words coming from Taiga, showing minor interest in this incredibly quiet place.


It was still early in the morning and not many individuals were already there wandering within the place and so the park was mostly theirs to enjoy in relative peace.


It took about twenty minutes for Illya to stop being this fussy over being restricted from wandering alone through the area, her bored self soon piqued as she began some loose conversation with Caren and soon the two were engaging in a simple but pleasant discussion.


Both were clinging by Shirou’s arms, much to the redhead’s minor discomfort, and the language barrier was mostly broken by the presence of the two maids; With Sella working as the main interpret for both and Leysritt jumping once or twice in a while with ironically shorter versions of the sentences uttered by the two girls.


It was slow-paced at first, the young Emiya keeping quiet during the whole ordeal out of curiosity and little interest over the attempt at bonding, as both pale-haired children began sharing some interesting tales from their respective upbringings.


It wasn’t anything concerning and thus the Gamer let the two continue with this discussion without intervening much, only when one of the two would require his input over some of the topics mentioned.


Quite curious as a development, he hadn’t expected things to change so radically once they had all returned to Fuyuki and… he felt somewhat conflicting over this grand change.


While he was glad that he brought so many people together back to some safety here to his home, the boy had legitimate reason to be concerned over some pending issues about… his own uniqueness.


Until that point, training had been something essential in developing more of the Game, to unlock more of the potential allowed by such an abnormality and…


Now that there were so many individuals around and all of them were attached to him so closely… when would he get the time to refine the abilities he currently had and explore the new routes allowed by the recent days’ events?


Issues that weighted quite a lot in his head, enough to warrant some distractions mid-walk here and there as he thought about this dreadful predicament.


It had been something that had kept him from finding full rest, from getting any genuine relax from the past happenings as…


He knew very well now that Illya was here, things would have to be dealt here at home.


Fuyuki had monsters too, Kirei Kotomine being the one he knew at the moment and yet… he wasn’t the worst individual just yet.


Instead Shirou couldn’t help but think again about Kiritsugu’s order, the chilling attempt to have him kidnap Rin troubling him to no end.


Why did the older Emiya even consider something like this? And why he mentioned Aoi having to die?


WHY?!


It just didn’t make any sense from a simple perspective as of why would the green-haired woman’s death be an unquestionable detail within whatever the former mercenary had planned to do with the fake priest.


The woman was frail, unable to act and defend herself. She couldn’t form opinions, she couldn’t become an obstacle to him…


Unless said ill individual was used as a barrier. Or better, as a hostage.


If there was something that Rin had mentioned to him before he went for the trip out of Japan, it was that Kirei had been starting to ‘hover a little closer’ to her mother, almost protectively and… distrustfully.


Many servants that had been hired to take care of her had been unassigned from their previous tasks, the regent of the family taking more and more roles within the mindful helping given to the disabled woman.


It had worried the young girl and for good reasons as she had been given lesser time to spend with her remaining parent and… fear had been a strong note within the young Tohsaka’s tone.


Could it be that the Kotomine had been planning to use Aoi as a shield against Kiritsugu?


As abominable as it sounded to his mind, Shirou knew that… it had to be a strong possibility and there was enough proof to back it up to a genuine eventuality.


But while such confirmation gave him a gloomy realization over the predicament itself, about Kiritsugu’s reason to already ignore Aoi’s survival with whatever he had planned to do with the priest.


Was he going to trust his ‘father’ in doing the right thing?


Would it be right to let it happen without giving it a true effort?


The Gamer was aimless without any indication from the Game itself, the lack of a mission about this matter (excluding the attempt of having him pursue Kiritsugu’s approach) was bringing him even more hesitation.


And while part of him advised for him to wait and see, there was also a strongly vocal fragment of himself that urged him to do much more.


It wanted him to investigate more about the situation instead of spending time by just pondering over his next actions, to dismiss such hesitation and remember something that the dream with that strange woman had given to him in the form of consciousness.


There were numerous shades of being a hero, from being as hopeless as Kiritsugu with its amoral sense of justice and… the overly-hopeful stance that threw that mysterious blonde woman right into the worst scenario possible.


Two extremities made the duty of a hero easy to despise and detest, the one made by disillusioned claimants and… the unforgivable end of those that tried too hard only to get burned to a crisp by their own sense of honor.


Both sides of the same coin were the grand dividers within his mind, the raw and unveiled need to serve in something important while also enjoying the work around himself.


A horrible conceptualization of the idea, something that truly needed a true reform unless-


“H-Hey! Wait up!”


The sudden call got the entire group to stop in their walk, their attention directing back right where the voice had come from and… they all looked at the approaching, tired-looking young boy.


Shirou merely blinked as a familiar notice popped in front of him.

Name: Julian Ainsworth
Title: Mirror Mirror
Age: 7
Level: 9
Health Points (HP): 450
Mana Points (MP): 2000​

Slightly surprised by this arrival, the Gamer looked more curious than tense as he noticed that this ‘Julian’ had working circuits within his body and-


“Halt!” Sella exclaimed while Leysritt deployed her axe-halberd in a guarding position as to bar the child from coming even closer to them.


The surreal element behind such deployment was that Liz didn’t have… no space within her clothes to hide such a cumbersome weapon and yet she managed to bring it around somehow.


Despite the strong opposition, the boy didn’t seem deterred from continuing to speak.


“I-I don’t mean any harm!” He stated while giving a formal bow towards them. “I just wish to discuss politely with Shirou-san and the others since… I’m your newest neighbor!”


There was a minor pause after this sudden proclamation as the redhead tried to make sense of such development.


Their new… neighbor?


“My name is Julian Ainsworth and I wish to introduce my family before my father mess things up with your father, Shirou-san.” His posture steeled even more after saying this.


“Your father… messing things up?”


“He is too easygoing as a man and… he tends to mess things up in delicate opportunities,” Julian explained with a sigh. “He is a good guy but-”


“Wait, your name is Ainsworth, right?” Taiga suddenly piped in with a curious look, drawing quickly the attention of the bespectacled boy.


“I-I- Yes?” He said with a hint of uncertainty, unsure as of why this young woman seemed to know about his family.


Something that even Shirou was confused about himself as they hadn’t been there before leaving Fuyuki for the trip and this was the first time he had seen someone like the young Ainsworth.


“You are Erika-chan’s oniichan? The one she talks a lot about!” The brunette almost squealed while saying this, increasing the group’s overall confusion even more as she jumped over Leysritt’s weapon and… rushed to pick the panicking boy up much to the shock of the two maids.


“F-Fujimura-san?” Sella said with a stunned tone, then she steeled up again. “Fujimaru-san, that child is part of the Ainsworth Clan, a renowned part of the Bartholemoi Faction in Clock Tower-”


“And his little sister is my little apprentice since yesterday,” The teen rebuked with a bright smile as she hugged closer the nervous-looking boy. “Raiga-jiji decided to have me tutor someone about Japanese, as a preparation for my future career as a teacher.”


…


“Didn’t we just return from our trip-” Shirou tried to ask, but the girl huffed.


“I know! Raiga-jiji just surprised me with this yesterday while I was putting everything in my room, he said that he had invited someone interested in learning some Japanese and I found Erika-chan,” Taiga huffed about the suddenness of her predicament, then she smiled brightly.


“She is such a sweet student, by being so polite and always-listening. Think that tomorrow, which is when I will have our next session, I planned to make use of the kitchen since we will talk about food and-”


The brunette continued to chat swiftly about her positive reaction to her newest ‘student’ about her provisional plan of teaching and everything else about ‘how cute Erika-chan is’.


But despite the simple happiness exuding from the young Tiger of Fuyuki, Shirou couldn’t help but have his stare land on Julian and… his lack of squirming.


He was still breathing, his face was given plenty of space to draw air from, but the young Ainsworth didn’t truly seem that much ‘terrified’ by this hold.


Actually, the presence of the blatant blush on his face and the slightly-nervous but elated expression there giving more than enough reason to project a glare upon this little folt.


He felt fairly closed by his reaction and… he didn’t consider that he was tensing up with both Caren and Illya by his sides.


Both girls noticed this sudden shift in mood and, after giving a quick look at the irritation on Shirou’s face, they both shared a smirk and turned to look at Gray.


The dark-silver-haired girl blinked back at them and then frowned at the brunet as she realized what they were alluding too while they pointed at the distracted Shirou, her blue eyes spotting the little ‘comfort’ this Julian was gaining and… she nodded back.


“T-Taiga-sensei, could you please finish the explanation you were saying until a few moments ago?” The English young woman asked in a polite and calm tone, adding the little stutter to make her act convincing in this occasion. “I was interested by-”


Gray didn’t even need to conclude her request that the fellow teen rushed by her side with a wide smile, the usage of the ‘Sensei’ honorific being more than enough to gain the full attention of the young brunette as she flung across the distance and resumed her previous discussion.


Julian yelped as he found himself hitting the ground, suddenly standing up with a red face and lots of complicated thoughts but he sobered up pretty quickly as he faked a cough.


“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to… to not react to that,” He apologized profusely, bowing several times before Shirou sighed.


“Look, can you just tell me what you really want?” The redhead asked with a calm tone, getting a nervous smile from Julian.


“I-I wish to befriend you, Shirou-san,” The bespectacled boy replied quietly. “Since we are going to be neighbors, I don’t wish to bring animosity between each other and-”


“Okay.”


…


“W-What?”


“I said ‘Okay’,” The Gamer replied with a nod, Caren and Illya letting go as he started to approach the now-surprised Ainsworth.


Leysritt lifted her axe-halberd up to allow passage, both maids looking still tense but permitting the young boy to approach Julian and… Shirou smiled as he was now in front of the young Magus.


“I’m Shirou Emiya, nice to meet you, Julian,” The redhead said calmly, extending his right palm to him, to which the dark-haired boy nodded at as he reached out of it.


“Nice to meet you too… Shirou,”


They both shared a handshake and… Julian couldn’t help but be confused by the strange smile on Shirou.


It looked happy, yet sad, tired and… disappointed by something.


What a mystery, what was going on with his peer?


But before anything else could happen from this, the young Ainsworth felt someone rushing towards them and there was only a brief notice before the unidentified object struck towards the,.


“Emiya-kun!”


A twin-tailed missile with bright blue eyes slammed on both boys, tackling them down to the floor.


Groans of pains were ignored by a quick huff by the feminine figure standing onto the two.


“Emiya-kun, you returned to Fuyuki and didn’t tell me!” A slightly-irritated Rin Tohsaka mused as she continued to stay put in that dual pillow made by both children. “You should have told me! We have to talk about a lot and-”


The girl stopped, eyes narrowing at unknown element in that close encounter. “And who are you?”


The young Magus frowned at the sudden request, but his mouth replied without brain’s input.


“J-Julian Ainsworth.”


The twin-tailed girl huffed. “Rin Tohsaka.”


‘Rin Tohsaka? What a peculiar name for a hurricane?’ Julian would have wanted to say, but before he could he heard someone else speak.


“Rin, you shouldn’t assault people so blatantly and so recklessly,” A smooth but blank tone commented. “You could end up creating more trouble than else.”


Shirou didn’t even need to turn to know whom had just arrived, his ears catching a soft noise coming from a working wheelchair and… his eyes were now fixed at the approaching Kirei Kotomine, the man pushing the wheelchair with a smiling Aoi Tohsaka on it.


N-Not now!


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When Gilgamesh had suggested to Kirei to visit the park for that day while accompanied with Aoi and Rin, the priest had been confused by such an order as… he didn’t felt much interested over the place.


The park here in Fuyuki was a little attraction for locals and tourists alike, a pretty sight for those that needed calm and relax from the dreadful machinations of normal life.


It wasn’t much important for someone like Kirei Kotomine, the place only giving him a sight over any possible future preys to kidnap, to torture for the sake of satisfying his inner twisted desires and use to fuel Gilgamesh’s vast but limited reserves.


Even though the Archer-Class Servant had managed to survive the system imposed by the Grail, he wasn’t truly alive, but a husk created by the pollution within the Greater Grail that housed the soul of the legendary hero.


A little hope for him to never have to deal with a quick betrayal from the powerful being, especially since the priest was the only individual that would be so willing to find ‘batteries’ to bring new energy to the King of Heroes.


So, while he could have merely scoffed at the ‘suggestion’ forwarded by Gilgamesh, his interest was piqued when the King decided to add a little detail within his phrasing; something that urged him to try and study the matter personally.


‘There is something of yours wandering this city, something that can kill you with a mere sight.’


What a foolish idea, to think that there was some object that was his to have but that could kill him with a mere… look?


Truly confusing but also endearing from a certain perspective, his heart aching to explore the means to dull the boredom that had taken a toll over him in the last few weeks.


It’s been so long since he had hunted down something or someone, his bloodlust now craving for some reward after being kept distracted for so much time.


It was a must, he felt greedily and selfishly, to bring satisfaction to his draining duties as a regent for the Tohsaka clan, to bathe his metaphorical teeth in the blood of his next targets.


So when he decided to follow through with the ‘suggestion’ from the King of Heroes, Kirei had expected to find some object lying around for him to recover and use for his own uses but the scene he was bestowed was far greater than any materialistic gift he could have asked for.


Shirou Emiya, the red-haired foolish youth was lying on the floor with another boy before he started to get up from the grass as Rin backed away from him and allowed them both to stand up.


He was there, another symbol of defiance that had appeared from the ashes of a broken dream. To think that Kiritsugu was now back and with him… his last bit of happiness in the form of his little child.


Sheltered by the Einzbern’s defensive walls and Boundary fields, the former Master of Assassin could remember the failed attempts of the killers sent by Tokiomi to kidnap the little child.


A juicy hostage that would have put a serious wrench in the plans of his arch-nemesis, the Magus Killer possibly folding under such pressure and even surrender with the proper terms.


A pity that things weren’t as easy as the former head of the Tohsaka Clan had planned, nor they were as stable as he tried to make them appear.


Like his dysfunctional family, now even more broken with his wife now a little shell of herself and little Rin so deliciously unaware of the horrifying truth behind her father’s demise.


A pity that Tokiomi had been just so quick to kill compared than he had planned. It had taken a dagger plunged deep in his core, so swift and unforgiving, to get the man to exhale his last breaths.


Every life is so frail and easy to take with the proper strength, intellect and capacity.


That was something that Kirei had started to understand back when he began his training as an Executor for the Church.


His morality was already bleak back then, but now that its true nature was unveiled and his shackles were broken, the words he had long listened from some ‘questionable’ individuals back in his youth now meant something to him.


It was all so clear and… beautiful.


He could remember back when his father would mention the true essence of beauty, how a younger Kotomine, so childish and pitiful had failed to notice the reality of things and…


Now he can see it clearly. He can see beauty in the form of the blood spectacle incarnated by his creative mind.


What a playful display of things and what a jubilee to see the eventual horror rising from those sinless faces.


Children were easier preys, but also the more expressive with their unraveling of the magnitude of something terrifying to anyone put in a frightening situation.


His attachment to the suffering was still meaningful, not as ‘aesthetic’ as the one proclaimed by the long-deceased Master of Caster, sinful Uryu Ryuunosuke having ‘decided’ to become like this instead of being born in the role of the monster.


Kirei sighed as he stopped the wheelchair, just so that Rin could approach back to them.


What a beautiful day to bring some fear to the heart of his little new obstacle, the child known as Shirou showing some strong front before him and… it made him elated.


Someone as young as him being able to withstand part of the gruesome fate it awaited him? Why, it was quite the most elating thing he could have begged for!


He was so close, it would have taken just a few well-placed words and some gesturing with the little silly doll under his control, Shirou Emiya would have crumbled like a puppet for him to manipulate around for the priest to satisfy his sick desires of torture.


So easy and so close…


But also so estranged and unimportant with just a stare.


He had to blink again as he noticed a little detail he had spotted not too long ago, a little pair of yellow orbs glancing at him with some intensity and… familiarity.


His interest sky-rocketed abruptly and his attention was shifted right onto the owner of such pretty ambers.


The little girl… looked just like her mother, Claudia, yet the lack of bandages and the intrigued expression plastered on her face much more appetizing compared to her long gone parent.


Caren Hortensia was a little beauty, more than he could have ever dreamed of and… he was content.


His corrupted heart quivered with suggestions, whispering sweet things over his mind about ending the life of such lovely child.


From the simplest, which entailed the twist of her little neck, to the most complex torture he could think in that very moment, a danse macabre of blood, bone and screams.


What a treat! But sadly it didn’t appeal much to his need to intervene.


No, even with the presence of so many witnesses, his cruel temptation of bringing as much suffering to his daughter just like it had been back when dear Claudia was still alive and in stable conditions.


How much far he would go just to hear a little scream, to see her scared and sent to panic for the sake of the ‘comedic purpose’ of such act.


Yet… it didn’t appeal once again.


How odd, Kirei mused silently as he tried to make sense of this little hesitation.


Maybe it was the lack of creativity, of uniqueness in the already-used techniques of torture he wanted to make use of, or maybe his sense of self-preservation had unconsciously picked something from the scene.


Something that was getting him a little tense but also fairly quiet over the immense sense of opportunity given by the current predicament at hand.


What a waste, his naughty heart pouted so rightfully.


And what a fair point he brought up by proclaiming his lack of initiative over the succulent scene in front of him.


Indeed, what a waste, he confessed somberly and quite sadly to his whiny organ.


But he couldn’t fight this unwillingness to act, his frustration to even consider any new chance of drawing some fright out of the young public before him.


A massive pity, but one that got him started to get him think once more onto little Shirou Emiya.


The boy had started to whisper curious think to little Rin, Tokiomi’s daughter looking so certain of true pain, yet so naive and innocent to the true extent of the fall that his family was suffering.


It was in that very moment that he decided to focus on the third element of that discussion, the bespectacled boy that was giving quick glances towards him and… Kirei felt curious about the familiarity of his face.


The features were just uncanny, those were the same unique traits only a peculiar man had and… that made the whole situation even more endearing and joyful.


The little one had to be a child to the Ainsworth family, dignifying that the ‘missing clan’ had decided to move here in Japan of all places.


The more numerous families joined this happy community, the merrier for him to then decimate with flawless plans of assassination and massacre.


Today Kirei felt his brain overworking for how many delicacies and treats he could sample in the form of funny tortures but then again… it would have been far too easy.


Tainting the grass from green to red, to bathe the little and innocuous flowers with blood and flesh.


Such a pity that his hunger to give pain was selective today and… he was shocked when his stare ended up unconsciously back to the little golden-eyed angel waiting there to be butchered.


So defiant, so unaware and… so lovely to stare at.


He blinked, confusion rising from his corrupted heart as he felt a little ache at the unexpected emotion.


But what emotion was it? It wasn’t driven by murderous needs or twisted resolutions.


It was strong, painfully so, but it didn’t make him want to back away from the staring contest, actually pushing him to continue it.


And the more he looked deep in those honey-like orbs that once were only of his beautifully-dead wife, the more he felt a story unfold before him.


The loneliness, the lack of genuine close family and the requirements imposed by birthrights.


What an uncouth remembrance, and yet those weren’t just his memories.


Kirei almost flinched at the realization, his chest hurting even more as the now-irritated organ was pushing him back to reconsider his current escalation.


What an odd sense of fear was washing over himself, the chance of dying for just a stare and-


There is something of yours wandering this city, something that can kill you with a mere sight.


...Oh Lord, this explains so much.


Thankfully for the priest, the visit didn’t prolong too much as he didn’t try to extend such a frightening situation for too long as he was quick to dismiss the words coming from the growing group led by the Magus Killer so that he could return both Tohsaka females back to their new home.


Once he was done with this little task, with his heart still pounding so harshly onto his chest, the Kotomine went back to his church and right to the basement where the victim of his last torture session was waiting.


He didn’t restrain himself, anger and pain domineering his thoughts as he dismantled the young orphan without hesitation and forgetting the real purpose of this little life now crumbling before him.


He was so desperate in reacquiring that familiar sense of moral depravity, something that in the end returned after five hours of crude ministrations, that he was blissfully unaware of the pair of red eyes looking from afar as he descended into a brief bout of insanity.


Gilgamesh smiled as his vision had been correct just as he had been sure of. Shirou Emiya will bring the end of his puppet, either mentally or physically.


But no matter the means to reach such a delicate climax, the end shall be the same and his new plan would enter in action.


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AN


I think I’ve been quite brutal with Kirei’s POV. To be honest, I was distracted while writing, thinking only about ‘what would Kirei think in his twisted brain’ and put it on paper.


A little graphic? That’s Kirei for you.


And I did mention this chapter would have ended up a little bittersweet, didn’t I?

 

Chapter 13: Lance (4)

Rome, Italy

Rain was falling ever so slow as she continued to stare quietly from the small window near to her little desk. Yellow eyes blinked once, then twice as the little girl tried to find something interesting to do as the dull man continued teach for the umpteenth time about the Sacraments and the Cardinal Virtues of the Holy Church.

If she had been as old as the rest of her classmates, Caren Hortensia could have gained some interest in the highly-detailed depiction of the important rules that made the entire organization of the Holy See work without issues. But the young girl was five years younger than any of the other children, heirs and heiresses of noble families close to the Church for a reason or another, and the complex level of this ‘catechism’ was… boring.

It wasn’t her fault that some of the words used could hardly make sense in her young mind, which was still lacking some dictionary’s basis to help understanding the lessons themselves. She was stuck here, obliged to take the dull words (some familiar, some unknown) while being unable to properly learn anything from those.

Caren held back from sighing, unwilling to give to the strict teacher by the farthest back an excuse to actually punish her. Being forced to spend alone an entire hour out of the classroom was something ten years old students might be able to endure, but for someone her age and with her vivid imagination it was quite a dreadful experience.

She could remember getting this punishment only once, by the third day in that class as she was trying to still understand the lessons about the Cardinal Sins and the two reigns of the afterlife. Her mouth had twitched accidentally as she softly yawned, not because of the lesson itself, but because she had slept very little the day before.

Her grandparents were the kind of people that persistently tried to enforce more teachings upon her, extending her knowledge beyond the Church’s very foundation and into the much more interesting world of Magecraft.

The interest in teaching her such arts wasn’t something driven by the possibility of her being able to use any ability as her body lacked the Circuits to allow her to do anything with those. It was a preparation in case, if she wanted to work on the ‘frontline’, she ever had to face a Magus and… deal with him.

The Magus Association held questionable relations with the Holy See, working together with it during dire times while also keeping itself from entertaining warmer relationships. It was something that was motivated, something that came mostly from the backlash the Church was responsible centuries ago, when men and women, children and elders, were tortured and burned because they used… dark magic.

Magic was also something that had been part of her after-school lessons, the very definition of it very different from Magecraft itself. While the latter was used to replicate in a limited degree the effects of Magic itself by keeping a close attachment to the World’s rules, the former had very few practitioners around and most of those were hardly individuals with a full grasp of their potentials.

Even Zelretch, the Wizard Marshal which was labeled as a dangerous monster by most of the Holy See, seemed to barely use the powerful Second Magic, the capacity to attain power and traveling in other dimensions. At least that was as far as the ‘world’ knew about as the vampire seemed to hold quite the secrecy over his actions in the last few decades and her grandparents were quite sure that some huge calamity had already been prevented thanks to the ‘Ancestor’.

The term was actually a very lose reference to an old label the Church had once used to describe the strongest of the Kaleidoscope’s kind, failing to take hold as it lacked some weight regarding the whole classification. Strong vampires were incredibly rare, the balance of the World more stable when some of those ‘disappeared’ from world-wide sight, leaving just eight or so ‘Ancestors’ alive.

Some of them were employed by the Magus Association, others were integrating in human society like Val-Fem.

Caren stopped thinking about this all, her head now hurting as those complex descriptions were still something she was unable to remember without getting some headaches by the end of those. She might be ‘a prodigy’ but as a five years old she could hardly do ‘miracles’ with her developing mind.

It didn’t help her case when her father, Kirei Kotomine, was still held with grand prestige by the higher council of the Holy See. The man had gone in Japan to fight in some important competition and had become the new Church representative for any future challenges like this one.

The girl would be lying if she stated that she didn’t have an ounce of curiosity regarding her biological father, the priest being described with such candor and respect that her interest hardly wavered when he was the subject of some discussion. She wanted to met him and had requested to at least see him, to know how he looks like now.

The reply was and will always be a negative one from her grandparents, the two elders repeating to her that she was either too young to be bothering or that her father was too busy to actually return to Italy to see her.

Every time she would get this kind of responses, something would feel weird. Her chest would tighten up and… she would feel tiny, unimportant and…

And it hurt. It was nothing physical, nothing even close to that. But it still left her bitter for a while, unable to keep a composed mask for several minutes and she detested it. She was a little girl and yet she was expected to be older, to be more polite and to bring glory to the family.

But which one of the two? The Hortensia or the Kotomine?

She blinked back to the lesson and dread surged from within her core as she noticed that the teacher wasn’t talking and wasn’t sitting by his desk anymore. Eyes widening slightly as her eyes crossed the stern frown the man was giving her while standing in front of her, a light blush appeared out of embarrassment as the teacher muttered few words.

“Vada fuori, signorina Hortensia.” (1)
Ms. Hortensia, please leave the room.

Nodding dejectedly, the little girl left her chair and slowly walked by the door, ready to experience the second punishment in two months and… she sighed once the door closed, feeling less constricted by the limiting decorum that staying in a classroom demanded from students.

Hopefully her grandparents will understand once more how this wasn’t her fault just like last time.

Hopefully.

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Gray Pendragon was unsure about the development of the situation around her. While she had been glad to be ‘saved’ out from the village by Shirou, the whole change of scenery and the discovery of what a plane was, while also being asked to board one, led to some confusion and nervousness from her part.

Flying was… strange. She preferred to keep herself neutral from defining the experience either good or bad, but the sensation it brought- the idea of being inside something that is up above in the sky – was something that left the simple village girl… floored.

Ignoring some silly notions of fear about the possibility of the plane falling and crashing that wouldn’t have never happened in Taiga’s very words, the girl had enjoyed the surprisingly smooth voyage, feeling incredibly endeared by the calm it brought to her during the long flight.

She decided to spend a mere hour reading some more of the elementary grade Japanese textbook the man, Kiritsugu, had brought to her before they left for the airport, then choose to follow everyone else’s example and fall asleep, the place and situation ideal to enjoy some rest.

Once the plane reached for its destination, Gray found herself awed by the different sensations Rome brought her. It wasn’t London, but the former capital of the long-deceased Roman Empire had a luster that the English city hardly could achieve. The monuments, the museums with important paintings and… the corruption.

The small hotel room had a TV and, using her minimum knowledge of the language and Taiga’s creative thinking, the two girls came to the conclusion that something big was going on in the boot of Europe. Several News channels were detailing the fall of the current government and several investigations for illicit funding all directed to the most important politicians.(2)

When Kiritsugu entered the room after dealing with their luggage, without even scoffing at the images shown by the device, shut it down and merely said it was something too complex to explain. Gray accepted the curt ‘explanation’, while Taiga decided to pester the man a little more.

Aquamarine eyes turned away from the funny scene and onto Shirou, the boy emerging from the bathroom while yawning. He was still dressed with normal clothes, having already said that he and Kiritsugu were going to do something before returning back to sleep. A strange predicament, but she hardly felt entitled to probe for more information from the tired-looking boy.

She merely smiled and nodded his way, catching his attention and getting a big smile in return. For some reason that eased most of her worries and… she liked seeing that.

“Ne, are you going to tell us where are you two going? You still didn’t tell, Shirou-kun.”

The redhead sighed and shook his head. “Sadly it’s a private matter, Taiga-nee. I promise everything will be clear once we got back.”

Everything will be clear… once they got back? What could ‘explain’ something this mysterious once they returned? Were they going to bring in something or someone else?

While the idea would be far-fetched in a normal situation, Gray had been part of a very similar case and she wouldn’t be that much silly to ignore the possibility of some other individuals joining in before they all returned to… Fuyuki.

She hummed quietly as she relaxed on the soft bed that was hers to use during their stay in Italy. Japan was going to be much different, if the Fujimura’s statements were holding true about the Asian nation then she will have to be ready to see many ‘strange’ things. Culture shock, that was how the energetic Japanese girl had condensed the whole set of emotions in encountering a whole different culture.

But while the aforementioned female continued to pester the young boy, Gray started to contemplate a ‘minor issue’ related to something that will have to happen later that day. How was she supposed to sleep alone and without Shirou?

Not that she utterly needed his presence around, but it would have been nice to cuddle up just like it had happened back in London. He didn’t move while sleeping and was pleasantly warm to have around to rest with.

Maybe if she ‘bribed’ Taiga with the promise of sharing the bed with her too she would actually help her with the small plan she had just finished to draw down on her mind. The beds were small alone, but they could be moved and put together…

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Caren yawned as she continued to walk alone back home, her mind drained from any capacity of doing much more but fall asleep at this point. Her schoolbag weighting on her back, the little girl felt her movement reduced by it and had to push more strength in every step she took. It was lunch time and her stomach demanded some nourishment after dealing with such a tiring day.

Deciding to not waste much time around the city, especially with the foul happenings in the political world, Caren took several shortcuts she had learned about after months of walking around through Rome. Her home, a small mansion just outside the city, was protected by several boundary fields erected by her great-great-grandfather after making some unpleasant rivalries with some wealthy men in the aristocratic circles around the Church.

Taking a corner and then another, the walk lasted about half an hour, the usual time for someone with her pace and will to reach home quickly and she was surprised by two things once she sighted home: The gates were open and… there was a young boy sitting by one of the benches along the dirt path that traced through the small hill between the external entrance and the main building.

Her steps slowed down, eyes directed at the redhead as she tried to comprehend why he was there and why she felt like-

…

…

She finally reached close enough for him to notice her presence, amber eyes turned to stare at her and he tilted his head curious as Caren seemed to be staring at… something else. Her eyes were directed just above his head, words hovering there that made no sense at all.

Shirou Emiya
LVL. 11
Age: 7
HP: 550
MP: 1200​

Was this a dream? She blinked once, then twice before the boy finally started to speak.

“A-Are you alright?”

Caren could recognize English as she had heard her grandparents making use of the language to speak with some of their employers from other nations. She knew enough to politely introduce herself and she shouldn’t have been able to understand the question being asked to her… and yet she could.

Thanks to the floating words below his head.

“S-Si.” She replied shyly and nodding. “I-Il tuo nome è Shirou?”
Yes. Is your name Shirou?

At this the boy froze in surprise as he was not expecting her to know about his name. It was odd, the capacity to see his name there with this… level? What were HP and MP? Yet the pressing issue was manifested when she stared up and she saw words above her head.

Caren Hortensia
LVL. 2
Age: 5
HP: 140
MP: Blocked​

...Oh?

“Y-You can see it?” The boy muttered in shock. “You can see the-”

“Le parole sopra le nostre teste?” She suggested and he nodded at her.
The words above our heads?

The girl decided to take a seat in the free space on the bench.

“Li vedi pure tu?”
Do you see those too?

“Y-Yes.” He fidgeted in his spot. “B-But you shouldn’t be able to.”

“Perché?”
Why?

“W-Well, the explanation is a very difficult and I don’t think I have the time to-”

“Spiegamelo o ti butto fuori da qui!” She stated determined.
Tell me or I will throw you out of here!

Shirou blanched at the situation and sighed. “B-But I shouldn’t be telling.”

“Dimmelo!”
Tell me!

He sighed as he knew he was fighting a losing war with the stubborn girl called Caren Hortensia and thus, getting her to swear that she wouldn’t be telling to anyone else, he told her everything.

Magecraft, the Game and… his life mission.

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Breaching the gates and the boundary fields around the mansion had been a very easy job for the Magus Killer. While the defenses were formidable, those were old systems that were now easy to breach with the proper equipment. ‘Storming’ this place was one of the simplest job he had ever had the chance to do.

While the Hortensia were a noble family in Rome, their wilting wealth and the lack of proper heirs had led to their prestige to decrease to the point not a single important family in the Urbs wanted to either ally or attack them. They would have made for an easy target if he had contracted to kill them but… today he wasn’t there to ‘clean’ the place.

The small tea room was occupied by him, the two elders of the family and two butlers there to help in case of need. Eugenio and Maria Hortensia were nothing special if compared with the usual Magus counterparts for someone their current standing. Proud, but not for the right reasons, and prideful, begging for some attention once in a while by whining to the Church.

‘Asking’ for an audience with the two had been fairly quick as both individuals lacked the kind of protection to hold back someone his caliber and thus they were there, waiting for him to speak. The man waited for the two to get their own cups of tea before talking and, when that happened, he decided to start simple.

“I am not here to kill you.” He stated bluntly, gaining a scoff from the old woman.

“Of course you are not.” She agreed with some poison in her tone. “You wouldn’t have wasted our time by requesting to talk with us if that had been the case.”

“While my wife had shared our common thought over this matter.” Eugenio interrupted calmly. “I fail to see what would someone of your standing be doing here of all places, Emiya Kiritsugu.”

The Emiya nodded and stared coldly at the older man. “I want the custody of Caren Hortensia.”

And with those words chaos erupted in the room, Maria taking the led to try and punch the ‘arrogant fool’ only to be restrained by her husband, which managed to see the danger even with the boiling anger within his chest.

“That is not up to discussion, assassin. If this is what you wished to have, then you have made a futile journey-”

“I have proof that Kirei Kotomine is responsible for killing your daughter.” The sudden interruption broke the two elders out of their anger, bringing to both of them a state of confusion and shock at the allegations.

“W-What? What are you talking about-” “After the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, I managed to infiltrate the Church’s building and take Risei Kotomine’s files on the matter.”

A dossier of files was dropped on the small wood table between him and them. “This contains all the documents that were withheld during the investigation about the suicide of your daughter.”

While Eugenio looked skeptical about this, it was his wife that opened the paper and spotted a small crumpled letter. She opened it and the mother recognized her child’s calligraphy.

His husband glanced her way as she silent read the content of the letter, tears starting to roll off her face. “M-My God. M-My little Claudia- S-She tried to- to- to satisfy that horrible monster!”

The sudden bout of anger surprised Eugenio which tried to hold down his old lover from committing something ill-advised. The woman turned the paper for him to see. The words that were so hopelessly failing to convey the love, but where actually showing how toxic the relationship had been between the two.

“T-That bastard- he ruined our daughter!”

The man blinked. “D-Dear, that is not possible a-and-” But he read, the words of Claudia Hortensia ringing some old bells of warning he had felt back when he had first seen the young Kotomine. He looked so much emotionless for someone his age, so much disheartened by everything.

The hopes of making him feel something from her daughters culminated with her own suicide and-

“Why?” He let out a weary croak. “Why you bother now, Emiya?- And spare me fake intentions, I am not in the mood for any of that.”

The Magus Killer sighed. “I wish to keep a close eye on Caren. I have seen what kind of ‘being’ Kotomine is and…”

“You don’t want another one around.” Maria interjected curtly, looking as distraught as before. “But why not finish the job and kill her directly? Why even bothering to spare her?”

“I-” He stopped, pausing a moment as he felt the words failing him for a moment. “Because I have a daughter too.”

Nothing too much was given and the motivation was strong enough to surprise them out of their melancholy. “A child? You had sired one and-” “You would take care of Caren, that is what you are telling us, right?” Eugenio blinked at his wife for interrupting him but she was focused on the Magus Killer and Kiritsugu nodded.

“I will take care of her.” The matriarch stared a little more and then sighed wearily.

“Then you may as well take her.” She turned to her husband. “She require safety and someone that can nurture her without comparing her with her father. Especially with the stigma we just learned about today.”

“But it would get the attention of some-” “Not if we just say that we preferred for Caren to study abroad. They know to not trifle with us if we don’t want to divulge further.”

Seeing the woman agreeing this much, Eugenio couldn’t but end up accepting the offer and, being provided by the Emiya with the proper paperwork to switch the guardianship of the child, he signed everything that was given to him.

A pit formed in his chest, feeling like there could have been something else that he could have done but… but now it was too late. Documents were signed and Kiritsugu Emiya was now the new guardian of their granddaughter.

May the soul of Claudia find some peace now…

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Shirou sighed as he replied to the umpteenth question from the pestering Caren was giving him about the full explanation of the Game. She was sheltered and very young, making her inexperienced regarding Games and RPGs and thus the basis were the first thing he had to explain.

What were HP and MP, what is LVL and what were Skills.

He was dreading the fact he had been forced to deal with this predicament because for some interesting reason the girl was capable of only seeing the available data the Game furnished him already.

A quick Observe revealed what had made Caren capable of seeing this too and… he was confused for several reasons.

Masochistic Pneumatic Automatism Diathesis - If there is a person nearby who has been possessed by a daemon or a foreign entity, your body will mimic the end effects that the possession will eventually have on the possessed human.

A genetic Trait that the girl had received from her mother, something that would usually be effective in finding Daemons but was capable of perceiving the Game as a… foreign entity? That was the current theory that would explain how she was capable of seeing his data but not being able to use anything else of the Game.

Half an hour of explanation later and Shirou noticed someone approaching. Kiritsugu looked quiet but he didn’t seem to be gloomy about anything, meaning that whatever he had to do with the Hortensia had ended positively. He finally reached them and Caren instinctively drew close to Shirou.

The man did look menacing to whoever saw him the first time and Shirou was… someone that looked trustworthy at first sight. Maybe it was because he was a child and he looked quite innocent.

But Kiritsugu didn’t address him first, but the girl trying to not draw his attention. “Caren Hortensia. Io sono Kiritsugu Emiya e sono il tuo nuovo custode legale.”
Caren Hortensia. I am Kiritsugu Emiya and I am your new legal guardian.

...What?

“Dopo domani prenderemo un volo per andare un giorno o due in Germania prima di andare alla tua nuova casa. I tuoi oggetti personali ti saranno portati domani mattina.”
The day after tomorrow we will take a flight for a brief stay of a day or two in Germany before going to your new home. Your personal belongings will be sent properly tomorrow morning.

“Q-Quindi- Riguardo alla scuola-”
S-So- about the school-

“I tuoi nonni hanno già notificato l’annullamento della tua iscrizione.”
Your grandfathers have already notified your removal from the institute.

She nodded nervously, legs shifting before she asked again.

“S-Signor Emiya. Lei conosce mio padre?”
M-Mr. Emiya. Do you know my father?

The man tensed but sighed calmly as he nodded his head.

“Si, ma ti è vietato incontrarlo.”
Yes, but you are forbidden to meet him.

“M-Ma perchè?”
B-But why?

“Kotomine Kirei non è una persona affidabile.” Kiritsugu replied quickly, the group already leaving by the gates now. “Non è una persona da avvicinare per nessun motivo. Capito?”
Kotomine Kirei is not a trustworthy individual. He is not someone to approach in any case. Do you understand?

Caren nodded and kept quiet for the whole trip, staying close to Shirou as they traced their steps back to the hotel where they were currently staying, the walk taking another half-an-hour and ending up around dinnertime.

Once they reached for the door that led to the room, they found quite the insanity unfolding as it was opened The room seemed to have been completely flipped, clothes of various kind scattered on the floor as the two culprits that caused this chaotic mess were glaring daggers at each other from two different spots of the room.

Gray was the first one to notice the new spectators to this strange war, but ended up blushing and not answering the silent questions painted on the trio’s face. Seeing her enemy’s blushing as she looked by the door, Taiga’s followed the stare back to the light scowl in Kiritsugu’s face, paling as she felt her sins crawling on her back.

“Uh- I can explain?”

Right as she said that, the lamp on the ceiling fell and crashed on the small wood table that had survived the onslaught, ending its lucky streak.

“You will explain.” The Emiya stated curtly as he contacted the hotel reception and explained the situations, offering to pay to repair the damage as soon as the workers had finished. So while they were by the hotel’s large dining room, Taiga and Gray started to explain what had happened after the two males had left the Hotel.

The latter had tried to entice the former about the plan of uniting the three beds, the Fujimura had refused on the basis that she was Shirou’s big sister and only she should sleep with him. The conflict erupted short after and lasted for until they all returned back to the room.

Caren was smiling during the whole tale, for some reason finding the pure violent nature of this situation oddly fun to hear, especially with the subtitles giving a sense to this overall situation. It was like one of those movies she had the change of seeing few months ago before starting school… ‘Fantocci’?(3)

Anyway, as dinner finished with a strong lecture from Kiritsugu in Japanese and English for both girls to understand, the old Emiya surprised them with an unexpected change sleeping arrangement.

Since the little Hortensia lacked a bed where to sleep, the man decided that she would have to sleep with Shirou. Both were small enough to fit in the same bed and the two showed no issue with the matter.

The protests came from both teenage girls, saying that they could try and make some different arrangements that would fit with their needs, but Kiritsugu denied any reconsideration, especially with what the two had caused almost an hour earlier.

Gloomy and defeated, the two girls ended up accepting the stubborn resistance of the Magus Killer. Meanwhile Caren found this whole ‘beatdown’ as endearing as eating ice cream, cool and delicious, plus she was going to sleep with the curious individual that was Shirou Emiya.

He was a nice person(?) and he seemed to be good enough... to be friends with? She never had a friend but, if she recalled correctly, being this much respectful and open to open to each other was meant to represent some good friendship material.

That night the girl found sleep easily as she cuddled closer to the boy’s chest, finding it warmer and softer than any pillow she had the chance to try. It was also nice that said pillow could defend her from scary monsters and…

Yes, Shirou Emiya was definitively her first and best friend.

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AN

Caren joins in, my heads hurt after spending five full hours writing this and I might leave write some interlude too (dunno).

I am still trying to get accustomed to lengthier chapters and I find the process… difficult. I generally need two-three days but for this time I had to cramp up this in a single day- actually in five hours just as stated up above.

Feedback is appreciated as always!

Minor Glossary for some references:
1) This kind of punishment is very well known in Italian schools (from elementary to high-school). The student that is caught by the teacher doing something bad is ordered to stay outside the classroom while also keeping by the door for a full hour. In Caren’s case, even through she is young, she has been enrolled to a class with first years middle-high schoolers and the teacher is that kind of strict in Church-based schools;
2) It’s early Summer 1994, the entire Italian political scene has collapsed because of the Interpool’s Operation ‘Mani Pulite’ (Clean Hands) which saw several major parties closed down and many politicians either arrested or sent escaping in other nations;
3) Funny reference to Paolo Villaggio’s Fantozzi character, a comedy-satirical movie protagonist that is… incredibly funny in my opinion. (The reception has mixed emotions but… I love these movies)

 

I've mistakenly forgotten to upload one of the old chapters and messed up the line a little of chapters a little. I suggest using the Threadmark section to go through the chapters as I made sure the listing there is chronologically correct.
I wish to apologize for this inconvenience.

 

Chapter 23: Dagger (2)


There was barely some sunlight coming from the windows of the currently quiet household, most of its inhabitants still trying to get the last few hours of sleep before the beginning of a new day here in her new home.


Illya’s red eyes were still drawn to the peculiar style of this ‘Japanese’ building, her mind finding awe and fascination at the experience that was walking quietly through the silent hallways of this ‘house’, much different from the style she was mostly accustomed too.


The wooden floor felt warm at her bare feet, the little Einzbern was still donning her light purple and white night-wear while she continued with her early-day wandering.


The little trip at the local park, something that reminded her of the few pictures book her Mama would show her about these nice places all over the world, trying to capture the beauty of nature while also keeping it close for those living in the big cities.


Fuyuki Town was big. Not as big as some of the cities Illya had heard about, but big enough to get her wondering if the size of the parks was determined by the size of the cities themselves.


And what a wonderful realization was the one the girl was given about the fact that she was now free of visiting the pretty place with some little escorting, the dreadful rule of keeping stuck within the ‘home’ that was the former Einzbern castle seemingly rescinded by Kiritsugu’s own volition.


But what truly got her giggly every time she would think about it was that she was no longer alone in this new state of things.


Illya had always thought about the interesting scenario of having a younger sibling, always giving a little prayer for her Mama to gift her with a little sister or even an adorable brother to hug when she wanted to.


To have a playmate, someone that would shatter the lonely moments with their mere presence.


Despite the unfortunate passing of her Mama, it was her Papa that decided to grant her this wish in the form of the red-haired young boy that she so fiercely considered her prince.


He was cute, there was no denying about that, but what truly got Shirou to stand above her early expectations of siblings was the refreshing personality of his.


Of course some of the interactions were not as complete as she wanted those to be, with her ‘Oniichan’ being unable to share her own language, German being fairly ‘difficult’ from what Sella was kind enough to describe.


But why was it difficult if Illya, someone so young and little, was capable of speaking it so fluently?


Said question almost fell answerless, but it was Leysritt’s own reply that gave her a proper idea of the language barrier she had with Shirou.


“Japanese is different,” The short-haired maid had briefly mentioned, letting the rest form within the little Einzbern’s mind.


Not only was Japanese much more complicated that German, even with Taiga-nee help in conjunction to the two maids’ translations only a handful of words managed to get through the ‘invisible bubble’ about the exotic words.


Oniichan was one of the few terms that stuck around, possibly the first one considering that it was an ‘honorific’ directed at her little brother.


Albeit wrong as it traduced as ‘Big Brother’ in the way it’s used because Illya was the oldest of Kiritsugu’s children, the red-eyed girl couldn’t help but feel endeared by the fact that the meaning behind its use went a little beyond the simple ‘age connotation’.


It was about… initiative and determination. It was about bravery and maturity.


She could have preferred to cling onto the redhead more because he was adorable and her little brother, but the young Einzbern was perfectly capable of noticing that something just felt odd about her ‘younger’ sibling.


Something that she couldn’t explain at first, but then it started to build up right from when they had met each other.


He was there to help their Papa, Kiritsugu had came to try and save her from her dummy grandfather’s cluthes, almost getting hurt in the process.


Silly Papa, forcing himself to do more because he wanted to save his little Illya.


A giggle tried to leave her lips at the mere thought that he had been so worried and so genuinely interested in having her saved from that horrible castle, but her mind was quick enough to remind her that this wasn’t the place nor the time to let out any unnecessary noises as she continued with her patrol around her new home.


Soon her mind resumed the thoughts about the visit at the park, bringing up three elements to her new life that she was still unsure how to properly label.


Rin was certainly a nice friend and it was also awing how her appearance somehow appeared to be ‘the opposite of hers’ in terms of eyes and hair-color.


Still, the two managed to find common ground as they both were fond of the easily-teased Shirou, the boy almost groaning at the triple assault he was receiving and… the second boy in that group seemed to be unsure how to deal with it all.


Julian was… normal. Average sounded so wrong to properly address the shy nature of the dark-haired child as Illya could see some moments of potential springing here and there during the few interactions initiated by the boy.


He was… confused at best. Possibly overwhelmed just like she had been at being close to so many nice individuals at once.


Yet, the boy made a good impression. He was funny and curiously keen to accept hugs from the ever-so-cheerful Taiga for some unknown reason.


Finally, it was the turn of the last inclusion to her life and the little Einzbern didn’t know how to properly describe the confusion born from this friend of Kiritsugu.


Waver Velvet looked incredibly scrawny and quite the sad person, but he seemed reactive enough to deal with the initial contact coming from the Taiga.


The brunette had been so sure of having met him before, so much that she started to mention a curious tale about a burly red-haired man driving around the meek-looking young man with some quirky errands.


An odd story which at first felt like a mistaken translation and… proved to be actually as crazy as it sounded like.


A quiet relieved sigh left her lips as she continued tip-toeing around, using the wall by the side to not fall because of her general sense of unstable footing.


Then something changed in that silence, her red eyes widing open as she cautiously continued with her little activity and soon stopped at the curious change of peace.


A single sound, a noise coming from one of the rooms on the other side of the corridor she was walking around got her to pause, her sight moving right onto the mostly-closed door.


She approached it, pressing her left ear onto the soft texture, blinking as she waited for another hint of something happening inside.


Illya knew that the room in question was the one owned by Caren, the girl that spoke another different language from German and Japanese.


Italian was odd, maybe because it just sounded… amusing to hear coming from the fellow girl or maybe because of the reactions born from the usage of the language.


Despite the overall attempt to get to share the room with Shirou, Kiritsugu had been quite strict in restricting those ‘sleepovers’ to only a few occasions and to not turn those in frequent situations.


But of course, sneaking to snuggle up the body wasn’t something he had ‘certainly’ said anything about.


Another noise was heard by her, this time it was a little more refined than before and… somehow familiar.


Feeling a little worried, especially with what happened back in the park when the strange blank-looking man approached them to bring little Rin to the fold for some moments…


There was just something odd about him, something that her Papa agreed by saying that this man wasn’t a nice one. And that he was connected to Caren herself.


Which was more than enough to bring even more concern over the possibility of this mean man trying to hurt her friend and… the Einzbern finally peeked through the little opening that gave sight over the room.


It was mostly silent, there was no visible intruder there and the window on the far corner was closed shut, leaving only a single element in that state of calm to disrupt a peaceful scenario.


The trembling that was happening within the lone, little futon, the cause hidden by the sheets covering the girl’s frame, seemed to be the original point from where the noise was coming from and, as Illya moved her head through the door, she finally heard it clear enough to see what was going on.


A whimper, then two and…


Red eyes blinked, the older girl stepping silently inside the room as she started to walk closer to the trembling futon, a flinch leaving only a few hints on her face as she quickly recognized what looked to be a nightmare.


She had nightmares back in the castle, right a few days after her parents had gone to compete in the Holy Grail War.


None of the maids would stay to keep her company, not even when she requested her grandfather to leave someone to keep watch over her sleep she managed to get an answer about.


And now that the Einzbern stared at the shivering Caren, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the dreadful experience once more.


She blinked, then glanced to the slightly uncovered section of the futon and… hummed quietly as she moved in.


As her right foot carefully spearheaded her entrance in the little fun-bed, her red eyes sported a surprised look at how warm it was and… the fellow child stopped shivering, tensing up as Illya concluded her little intervention.


Golden eyes locked onto her rubies as Caren turned her head to look at her, seemingly shocked by the unexpected presence.


There was no translator to help in case of lengthy sentences and so the two merely stared at each other, unsure how to start that odd predicament.


At least, it was odd for the youngest of the two but… Illya knew exactly what to do after having seen Taiga-nee doing something similar with Shirou.


Without notice nor warning, the Einzbern pulled the Hortensia in for an embrace, the already-tense golden-eyed girl growing even more nervous over the escalation but she decided against moving out of that hug.


Instead she found herself drawn to explore it, her head nuzzling close at the warmth as her eyes felt tired once again.


It was still fairly early in the morning and she would be lying in saying that she had gotten any chance to rest after the session of bad dreams she had to deal with.


Illya was humming an unfamiliar lullaby while she consoled her, eyes closed as both tried to catch some little sleep before having to get up for breakfast.


There was quiet, there was silence and…


She couldn’t hear it anymore.


It had been a strange night, one that saw her mind react to the most confusing of nightmares as… it lacked of anything that she could genuinely find scary to deal with.


Yet she could remember it. Perfectly so.


There was no sight, everything had been dark and lacking of any other individuals other than herself and… then she started to hear that constant noise.


It was like a drum, a slow but painstakingly demanding one.


A perpetual sound that stuck to her head, like a painful memory trying to burn itself in her mind.


Ba-dump. Ba-dump.


Two quick heartbeats, one similar to the other… but one of those just felt wrong.


The second beat was fiercely horrible, stained with something so foul that she could felt shivers building up even beyond her sleep.


A dark song that got her terrified, some tears building up at the edges of her eyes as she was forced to wake up from that insane display of noises and sounds.


Tiredness eventually got her to return to sleep, her mind sure to have banished whatever terrible thought had managed to get her this much uneasy after giving a few prayers and hoping for God to grant her some more hours of rest.


Her hopes were crushed by the time the hearbeats resumed.


In this second session, the second heart seemed to increase its pace, unhappy with how things had concluded last time and almost trying to chide her.


It was just too wrong.


Why would a heart be capable of lecture people? Why could she hear some malicious whispers from it?


So many foul words, insults and other horrible ordeals.


Illya’s arrival had brought an end to this strange situation, her third time trying to seek rest actually concluding with her finding the peace she was seeking in the form of a single heartbeat.


This one was less oppressive and much more caring, it was somehow familiar but in a faint way.


The lullaby itself, even though unknown to her, seemed to bring some fragmented memories of her childhood.


So when Caren succumbed to the unexpected but warm intervention of the fellow girl as they were now snuggling close to each other and enjoying the silent morning.


Ba-dump~


She felt herself nodding at the calming heartbeat, her mind shutting down as she finally received the much-needed rest.


Taiga ended up being the one finding an unconscious Kiritsugu having fallen by the floor in front of the room where the two girls were happily sleeping by. Numerous pictures were snapped with her cellphone, her face twisted in a mirthful and giddy manner as she beckoned the sight with quite the pleased expression.


What a wonderful day this one was going to be~!


----------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-------


~???’s POV~


Her first sensation that filled her entire core was… confusion.


She blinked slowly, carefully as her eyes tried their best in adapting at the immense light washing over her body.


The world just felt surprisingly brighter compared to the dark sight her slumber had provided her during her patient waiting.


Her memories were slowly returning to her and she soon was enveloped by a sense of non-negligible nausea.


Scenes of battle and blood, of hunger and… of sadness.


People that she knew about either dying or becoming victims of their own needs, family becoming enemy and…


She blinked, tears already swelling in her eyes as she realized what had happened mere moments after conceding to some rightful sleep.


Her body had needed it after fighting for so long back then, the strength it was known to have from the very conception difficult to properly measure and channel through her youthful and inexperienced self.


She was still too young, she contemplated with a sigh, her perception finally granting her the detail that she was lying on some ground and she quickly stood up from it, unwilling to dirt her pristine-white dress.


Her red eyes painted the light away, the bright nature of the sun seemed to slowly diminish much to her minor happiness as it offered her a better chance of understanding where exactly she had woken up into.


Some tall grass was now reaching the limits of her shoes, where the pale skin that reached up to her upper feet and… she felt ticklish but not ready to be amused by the world.


At least not until she got a proper answer about her queries.


She was in a green and blooming field of green; grass and flowers coloring the natural beauty of this part of Earth in such a delightful manner.


Her heart was soothed by the pretty sight, her mind feeling less burdened by the panic born from the unplanned awakening.


It was just mere moments later that she noticed the shadow that was now looming over her, right from behind.


It was also ironic how the last time they had met happened in a very similar situation to this one.


She looked around, slowly turning her head back to greet whoever had decided to interrupt her rest and she was greeted with quite the familiar individual.


He was taller than her, so much that he seemed more of a giant that a mere being, but his strength came within the choice of his expressions.


He was smiling, with the same amount of tiredness and mirthfulness as back then, but now it looked like there was much more hiding that petty pretenses of peace.


“Good morning, little princess,” The elder bowed his head just a little, creating a sense of mockery out of normal courtesy. “I see that you haven’t changed much since I last saw you wandering around.”


There was a tense pause, her red orbs narrowing onto the red eyes of his, those joking spheres of blood giving her the worst of annoyances.


“Why did you wake me up, Zelretch?” There was some irritation in her tone, but surprise was the bit that domineered over the situation.


Despite the minor dislike she had over the extremely rude fool, there were concerns far more pressing than just engaging in some petty conversation.


And that was something that the Ancestor was fell aware about as he took a sigh and decided to not pursue more teasing.


“The thing is, little lady,” He commented with a quiet hum. “That I wasn’t the one to wake you up from your lovely slumber.”


...What?


“You are the only one that knows where I was resting,” She reminded fiercely, her tone dropping low in a cold but furious degree.


But while her face was twisted in an angry scowl, one that should have gotten some nervousness out of the irritating fool, the man merely shook his head.


“Not exactly,” He admitted with a grim look on his face. “There are some strong people that could wake you up without my own knowledge… but I don’t think any of them is responsible for this little unexpected event.”


A confused expression replaced her hateful one, urging her to tilt her head to the side as she contemplated those words.


She wasn’t… brought back to the real world by someone?


“Your words make no sense, Zelretch,” The girl mentioned with a suspicious tone. “Are you trying to lie about-”


“Not in this case, no,” The Wizard Marshal swiftly interrupted, his serious voice and manners looked far too genuine to be ignored for now.


Yet she couldn’t help but wonder what he was referring to by mentioning the lack of external help.


There were instances where her own kin could force themselves out of their rest, mostly to deal with anything that could be considered worrying or dangerous to their people but…


She couldn’t perceive anything worth of her attention.


“And before you ask, no, I don’t know why you decided to wake up-”


“I-I didn’t wake myself up!” She replied with an enraged tone. “There is no reason for me to… to be awake? Everything is fine, I can’t sense anything foul and I know that Gaia-”


“Is a prissy but good peace-keeper with Alaya,” The elder concluded for her in quite the deplorable display of disrespect.


Instead of continuing this blatant trap offered by the Kaleidoscope, she merely huffed.


“Since there is no reason for me to be awake, then I guess I will resume my rest,” She proclaimed calmly as she turned her attention back to her seals, the one that… didn’t seem to have been forced by anyone from the outside.


Actually, she could see some of her own intervention in those piece of magecraft.


A mystery that will be solved on a latter date, maybe when something serious would pop up for her to need to be awake.


Zelretch shook his head, a small smile forming on his face.


“Kind of sad, I would’ve loved to have you play around at Disneyland,” He said with a saddened thought, shrugging as he turned around and started to walk away from her little domain. “I guess it was a misfire considering your truthfulness.”


Of course she was correct! Why would she deny herself that… wait, what is Disneyland?


Before she could ask about this curious topic to the older vampire, she noticed that he had already vanished from her sight, leaving her alone in that bed of grass and flowers she had left for her soon-to-resume slumber.


Another huff and… she fell back on her soft ‘bed’, her eyes already closing as the seals started to carefully lull her back to her long rest and… she yawned.


What an odd circumstance, she thought dispassionate.


It would have made sense if someone had tried to wake her up, and yet Zelretch had been correct in saying that there were no traces of hindering with her work.


Her eyes closed as her mind slowly returned to a state of silence and nothingness, away from the living state that forced her to stay connected to the world.


She felt her body lightening as she let go of reality itself, surrendering to the peaceful grasp of her own mind.


She could already see a bright castle of white, so pure and quiet, but also so sad and lonely.


…


…


…


Arcueid blinked awake, her annoyance resurfacing mere hours later as she woke up later that day with an incredibly annoyed sensation.


What is going on?


She would ask mindlessly and, much to her minor chagrin, Zelretch wasn’t there to greet her awakening, having possibly caught the gist behind her unwillingness to deal with him so early on.


Thus, despite her best wishes, the young vampire stood up once more from her resting ground and… looking around the beautiful bed she had made in this part of the world.


What made me wake up?


-----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d--------


AN


I bet someone is already writing about Arcueid being not Canon to the Fateverse (‘only exceptions being her Berserker class’), but I find myself breaking some hopes and dreams by saying that she is actually canon to the Fateverse. The only thing that is different between FSN and Tsukihime is that there are no ‘Dead Apostle Ancestors’, but it is never stated what happened to the True Ancestors and… yes, Arc is indeed her long-haired, cute-looking chibi form.


No, I’m not referring to the Neco-Arc form, that is cute too, but true chibi form is kind of cuter.


She is not going to appear anytime soon after this, I just wanted to give a glimpse over some of the details of this changing world and… I think someone will be surprised when I will bring up whom is the Shiki of this universe (said question will probably be answered after the end of this first arc/segment).


P.S. The reason this update is happening now and not yesterday is because I got a migraine so bad yesterday that I mistook Wednesday for Tuesday, so I thought it wasn’t the day for the upload. My ‘big’ bad, my comrades.


Also, I've started a Dio!Self-Insert. Wry!

 

Chapter 24: Dagger (3)


Shirou should have suspected that frequenting so regularly the park would have ended up becoming a problem for him.


He had been so unsuspecting, so easily convinced by Illya’s and Caren’s shared request to visit the park once again for that day that he had forgotten about the very issue that made wandering without a large group quite a dangerous feat.


It had been mostly Illya with a very curious and adorable manner to approach him early that morning with this request.


The girl had shown quite the surprising grasp of the basic Japanese language and it was Kiritsugu that ultimately admitted the reason behind such a quick learning process.


He mentioned that his late wife had studied some Japanese before they had to leave for Fuyuki and it might have happened that either his silver-haired child picked it up during those sessions or the woman merely gave some lectures to her in private.


So while both girls were quick to around the park and be children, Shirou’s little hope of trying to do the same was dashed away when he found his amber eyes locking onto Kotomine’s distant stare.


He was there, unarmed and without neither Rin nor Aoi.


The priest had a dull expression, his eyes lacking any emotions that could generally help and hint to the intentions behind his current presence.


It was as undecipherable as usual… yet there was something that offered him a major glimpse over the man that before had been so limited.

Name: Kirei Kotomine (???)

Title: Priest of Despair (???)

Age: 29 (???)

Level: 70 (???)

HP : 1321/1400 (???)

MP : 1700 (???)​

The boy could finally see his limits now, at least the regular side of it all. There was still the ‘anomalous’ section that felt to him was hiding much more than these basic stats.


But why couldn’t he still see it? Could it be that it is something… the Game just couldn’t understand?


And why did his HP suffered a damage when he looked fairly unscathed?


There was no wound, no injury or even a little bruise visible in his body, but the little chance to contemplate over the matter was forcefully shattered when he made a little gesture at him.


Come closer.


He felt a shiver down his spine, his stare darting briefly to the distracted Illya and-


No, Caren had noticed too.


The girl’s attention had been silently moved to the man staying by the shade of the trees, away from others’ sight and then her golden eyes slowly caught up to his orbs.


What should she do about this?


A voiceless question that weighted a lot in his mind as he was put in the worst of circumstances.


While Kirei seemed to be the kind of monster that would prefer to conclude his opposition at once and without risking to make just a victim within the Emiya Household, he could as well plan to make some intimidation as to deter Kiritsugu from continuing with his aggressive effort against him.


It was a worrying case for sure, but one that Shirou had to carefully solve with a tactful approach.


He gave a subtle nod towards Caren, the girl’s eyes showing a little disappointment that this encounter couldn’t be avoided and then she moved to distract Illya while the Gamer made his way towards the patiently standing man.


The silence broke just as he finally was close enough to the priest, Kirei blinking with barely-veiled fascination over the lone presence.


“Shirou Emiya,” He greeted curtly, his eyes threatening to drill holes into the redhead’s face.


“Kotomine.”


There was no respect towards the man, his name valid only barely compared to the maliciousness held inside his soul.


He smiled at the lack of manners.


“I think we’ve never truly enjoyed a conversation between just the two of us,” He pointed out with a certain restrain. “There was always someone else bringing up a certain sense of… disruption to this intriguing chance.”


“What do you want?” The boy softly asked, careful enough to not press his luck any further than just his informal approach.


“People wants many things from life, Shirou-kun,” The man replied with some mirthfulness dripping from his voice. “Some wants happiness, some wants to be selfishly have everything to themselves and… I want to experience the glorious instances of joy at… causing pain to people.”


There was some silence, he hummed quietly as his hands reached for his hair, stroking briefly his hair before retracting.


“Has anyone ever told you that your hair just look like blood?” He asked with a giddy tone. “It’s almost poetic how your very essence is tempered by death, that your ideals clash so well with your rebirth.”


The Gamer backed away, irritation and nervousness mixing in his expression while he looked up to see Kotomine’s small smile on his face.


“I’m not like you!” The boy snarled with conviction, tensing as the priest merely shrugged off his outburst with a chuckle.


“Oh, but that statement couldn’t be… so much right and wrong at the same time,” He calmly pointed out. “I always thought that Kiritsugu would have been the one to open my eyes to the truth of my existence, to grant me a glimpse of what could have been my life if I had tried a little more...”


He sighed, straightening his posture as he moved away, his sight directed at… Illya and Caren, both girls playing around the nearby playground.


“He failed. There was no true connection between us but the fallacious notion of similar pain,” The priest admitted with a grimace. “He was so narrow-minded, so eager to blind himself with ideals to even realize that even now he is more broken than I am.”


“H-He doesn’t relish with violence-”


“But he does try to justify it. Always,” Kirei interjected with some disappointment. “A mere human would be so horrified to take an innocent life for any reason, yet your father was quick to teach himself how to blame his ideals to uselessly hide the stains corroding his consciousness, his humanity.”


“And you… don’t.”


His smile widened.


“Of course!” The man exclaimed with glee. “Why would I deny myself the pleasure of having my nature freed? To hold myself from actually trying to find my own happiness instead of building one for the sake of others’ joy and ambitions?”


The redhead blinked, sporting a saddened look and… bringing confusion into Kotomine’s mask.


“Because it would be the right thing-”


“But how much should I give up before I can actually feast in the boon of my hard-work?” Kirei interrupted again. “Should I perhaps perish? Or maybe there is a breaking point about it all?”


Shirou tensed up a little, an answer starting to fail there but-


“You know, I find myself envious of your origins,” The priest continued with a mirthful tone. “To be granted the chance of listening to the delightful chanting of dying screams, the flames consuming slowly and gruesomely the corpses of the victims of such a disaster and-”


“S-Shut up!” The Gamer exclaimed with a certain fury. “You think you can act as if you have never experienced joy without causing pain, yet it wouldn’t be humane for it to be true!”


“But what if it was?”


…


“What if I, Kirei Kotomine, represent what humans are deeply inside, some mindless monsters that just wait the right moment to ‘flip the switch’ and show our true natures to the world?” He pressed on with a chuckle. “What- What if I was never granted this switch because… I’m meant to show the travesty of morality.”


“You are insane-”


“Or maybe I’m the one that prefers to see the truest face of reality without getting squeamish about it,” He crouched down and still smiled. “Maybe, just maybe, you know this too… or else you wouldn’t be having doubts about your rhetoric point.”


There was just so much belief behind these words, the trust displayed towards this rotten idea.


Shirou was feeling sick at merely looking at the disgusting low that Kotomine had reached.


In his own depravity, the priest had failed to notice that he himself was trying to paint a reason behind his twisted mind and… maybe he also knew that too.


“You are wrong,” The boy sighed with a tired note. “About everything. The world isn’t just a pile of pain and sorrow, I-I refused to even believe that it would even exist like that.”


Kirei didn’t spoke, blankly allowing the redhead to continue with his speech.


“Every time I think back at the fire… every time I feel their screams filling my ears,” Shirou continued to say. “I can hear only a strong instinct to make sure that this would never happen again. It was so… so unfair and unforgivable, but I couldn’t have done nothing about it back then.”


His eyes looked down at his hands. “But the more I think about it, the more I feel urged to grow and improve because I don’t want to see it happen ever again.”


“Yet you still didn’t explain why-”


“I wasn’t done,” The boy interjected fiercely. “But I can already tell you that you have said and done more than enough to highlight how wrong you truly are.”


Kirei lifted a curious eyebrow. “And that is?”


“You might be correct about the unfairness of the world, but that doesn’t mean that you are right in saying that this is the only truth of mankind,” The Gamer commented with determination dripping from his tone. “Men can live with love and admiration...”


His mind brought back the last smile present on that bleeding blonde as she was beaten by her wounds in that hill of swords.


“But also with bitterness and hate-”


The haunted stare from Kiritsugu after he had long denounced the hopes of a peaceful world.


“There is no heaven on Earth when they are first born or in their beginning years,” The boy concluded with a sigh. “But everyone is entitled to create one for themselves the best way to satisfy their own wishes… until that process see the birth of sorrow and despair for others.”


“But what if there is no alternative to the violence?” Kirei seemed to vibrate with his half-still posture, but Shirou was no longer afraid of the man.


Something just… told him that there was just curiosity driving him for this unexpected visit.


“Then you have not searched well enough,” The young Emiya replied without hesitation. “But I think your chance to find real happiness has long been denied by yourself because… you were afraid.”


…


“You were looking at Caren with hesitation back when you first saw her,” The Gamer continued. “And just a few moments ago, you were staring at her as if you were somewhat threatened by her.”


“Ah!” The priest almost snorted at the comment he felt as mocking of him. “As if I would be afraid of a child.”


“That’s why I don’t believe it was fear of her that gets you this unnerved,” Shirou interjected with his eyes narrowed at the man. “You are afraid… of what you could do to her.”


Kotomine went still just in that very moment, his eyes going wide open at the words from the boy and… he took a step back.


“I’m just waiting a proper moment to strike,” He hummed in annoyance. “To think I would have seen some enlightenment from this discussion-”


“What would be the ‘breaking point’ then?” The redhead pressed on, stopping the priest on his tracks. “You might try to delve in that monstrous side of yourself, but to embrace it as your only face would be lying to yourself-”


“Enough!”


The outburst silenced Shirou and the boy’s eyes widened as he stared at the livid expression on Kirei’s face.


“I think that this is… Enough.”


The man turned around and started to walk away. “Truly a disappointing effort.”


His words were denying the suggestion advanced by the boy, but Shirou could see his right hand reaching for his chest… as if he was having some pain from within.

HP : 1244/1400 (???)​

------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-------


~Waver’s POV~


To think that he would have been forced to deal with this kind of predicaments this soon in the recent agreement and… with such a confusing assistant to that, a certain young Magus would have thought it better rather than approach the Magus Killer.


Kiritsugu had been quite sudden to ask to have a private chat with after Shirou had left with the young girls that were living in this house, but the reason behind such an immediate request was quickly unveiled as his first important mission was there for him to successfully complete.


Or to horribly fail if he messed up the particularly difficult steps ahead of the plan.


Having set numerous minor boundary fields, these spells so weak to be noticed by a novice Magus, Kiritsugu had prepared himself to act right as Kotomine decided to leave the current whereabouts of what was left of the Tohsaka Clan.


Once the priest was away from the woman and her daughter, most of the obstacles were removed for them to try and capture the remaining members of the family away from Kirei’s clutches.


A risky operation that would see him take the leading spot, followed by the unexpected support made by the currently nervous-looking girl slowly following him around.


Gray was… an oddity.


Her face was the same as Saber’s and yet her personality dominated by a shy thought compared to the brave and serious-sounding woman that fought as a Servant during the last Holy Grail War.


The only quality that he could right now appreciate was that she was very fluent in English as she had been living for most of her life in the United Kingdom.


It offered him the means to let go of the stress that he would get by speaking strictly Japanese and make use of his main language after so long.


There was some understanding with the young woman, her helpfulness being fairly limited but still something noticeable as she agreed to carry one of the two bags with the tools required in this ‘totally-legal’ kidnapping.


They were doing something good after all. Trying to get two individuals away from the devious plans set by the insane priest that was Kirei Kotomine and… maybe get them to avoid dealing with a bored… golden bastard.


It was a possibility, a slim chance that the Archer Servant would be wandering around and doing the job of guarding dog- but of course the golden prick wouldn’t be trying to lower himself to that degree.


He was the one leading and Kotomine was his puppet, just like it had been back during the War.


The former Master of Assassin had completely submitted to the King of Heroes, accepting his authority out of fear rather than true loyalty.


Something that Iskandar had mentioned and-


No, no more thinking about that insufferable, always-smiling… fool of a king.


Waver took a sigh to restrain his breathing from accelerating, yet the action caused the girl following him close behind to frown.


“I-Is everything alright, sir?” Gray asked politely, holding with one of her hands the bag containing some emergency ‘explosive spells’ that Kiritsugu had left for them to use in case stuff went downhill, while the other was busy holding the strange staff which ended with a strange cage with a… small box inside.


Said box could speak and… it was best to not address the comments coming from it.


“Only thinking about… nothing,” He smoothly replied, glancing back at the embarrassed look on her face. “You should focus on the mission.”


She gave a quick nod while the box let out a chuckle at this scene. “Ah, to think you are trying to bottle up your issues here, boy. I wonder what kind of- UhahahaAHAH, S-S-STOP!”


The silver-haired girl gave a few more shakes of the cage before calming down.


“Y-you shouldn’t disrespect Mr. Velvet, Add.”


The dark-haired Magus sighed, his attention still directed at the close building which the Tohsaka’s family, or what was left of it, was currently staying by.


The place was moderately guarded by the few servants still working for the family and that were kept around by Kirei to ‘assist’ the widowed wife of the late Tokiomi Tohsaka.


Entering through the gates proved to be the easiest of tasks with the use of careful magecraft to simulate a lockpick and the next one, which was entering inside the house, proved to be possibly one of the more difficult ones.


There were barely any windows to reach through and the main door was the only way to enter inside… while also getting the attention of all those working within the building.


The umpteenth sigh was a must, but Waver was not going to dismiss the chances of opening the door softly by… resorting to normal lockpicks.


The Magus Killer had packed some of the regular ones in one of the bags in case there was a need to force some lock in a more silent approach than the louder magecraft way.


It was just like the spy movies Otoko had spoken about, those were some British spy would manage to tactfully and smoothly infiltrate the evil lair of the main villain.


But while depiction of such a practice wasn’t something brought up by her retelling, it wasn’t surely going to be a feat more difficult that the spell he had just used.


And as he proceeded to try his hand out with his first attempt at lockpicking, the young Magus failed to notice Gray’s shy efforts to try and help over the matter.


“Uh… Sir?”


Okay, I push this inside and I slowly rotate it until- Crack -damn.


Retreating the small bar, the broken piece fell on the ground in a silent thud.


Waver stared with narrow eyes at the broken thing, pondering over what could have gone wrong before picking one of the multiple remaining lockpicks and continuing with this task.


“I- I think that I-”


Crack.


He huffed briefly as he fetched the third lockpick and-


“S-Sir!”


He tensed up and paused, the young man glancing back at the red-faced girl behind him.


“What?”


“I-I think I can do it.”


He frowned skeptically at her response but… considering the number of lockpicks available to them, it was possibly better to leave the silly girl try and fail on her own instead of halting the process for too much and-


Knock.


Uh?


The young man snapped his attention at Gray as she happily retrieved the unscathed lockpick from the lock of the now-open.


Her attempt had been quick, silent and, mostly-important, a damaging effort to his pride as a ‘good spy’.


“Done and-” Her giddiness evapored as she remembered where she was and squirmed a little. “I-I mean-”


“Good job,” Waver replied curtly, unwilling to let the younger countrywoman bask in too much praise as the time was indeed limited for them to act.


He carefully pushed the door open, taking once more the lead as he started to look around the narrow corridor that led right to… the living room?


Taking the first step inside, the young Magus slowly made his way towards the end of the hallways, meticulously glancing around every spot and corner for any ambushes.


His ears were fully attentive, trying to catch any dangerous noises that could entail some issues for their subtle approach.


But there was not a single noise.


Utter silence was domineering over the oddly cold corridor and just a glimpse of warm seemed to come from the room at the end of it.


The door was half-shut, and Waver didn’t wait too long in carefully opening it and glance inside the new place.


His eyes widened when he noticed the various bodies littering the floor, every single one of those being the ones of the various servants still working for the household.


He froze up, panic rising in his chest at the thought he had just walked in the scene of a mass-murder… but then blinked and relaxed as he realized that they were all breathing as their chests and backs were moving.


Yet he wasn’t completely calm, not at all.


The scene itself was still worth of some major concerns, especially since he could now see the wheelchair used by the old Tohsaka was also boarded by a sleeping dark-haired child resting her head on her mother’s chest.


Finally, he noticed the glass of wine that was being held by someone occupying one of the two couches in front of the still-going fireplace.


The glass reflected just the eyes of the hand’s owner and Waver felt his hatred emerging in a furious snarl on his face.


“Y-you!”


A smirk flashed from the reflection, the King of Heroes didn’t even bother to turn and face the two intruders as he gloated over the circumstance.


“Waver Velvet,” He muttered quietly, taking a moment to sip at his glass. “I see that you have decided to remain here for the time being.”


“Y-You- Why would you-”


“Kirei is starting to lose himself to the oddly-shaped paradox within his chest,” Gilgamesh commented with a degree of disdain, ignoring the words of the young Magus. “He is a ticking bomb that will best explode far away from my chances of drawing further entertainment from this curious situation.”


The golden-haired Servant’s smile froze a little as his red eyes turned to look at the young girl trying to hide behind the angry-looking young man.


“And I’m incredibly fascinated by the presence of one of her descendants so close to where she fought her last war,” The Archer mused with some intriguing words. “Makes me wonder what would have happened if I had a descendant.”


“The worlds lives best with just a simple prick of your caliber.”


Gray gasped in surprise at the heated response of the Magus, quite surprised by this outburst after seeing him so much… restrained with his manners in all situations.


“But they wouldn’t have been close to my greatness,” He hummed quietly, once again ignoring the insult. “It would have been… interesting, but not as endearing as to see the scene of her meeting with the young shy girl behind you, mongrel.”


There was a pause that lasted several seconds before ultimately the King of Heroes sighed.


“You may take the woman and the child away from this place,” Gilgamesh said with a bored tone. “Kirei is on his way back to the house and his irritated self might have him make some rash actions that I don’t find… acceptable.”


“Why don’t you just kill him if he is of no use for you?” Waver asked with a stern voice. “If Kotomine is going to become a liability, then why not-”


“Would you have stopped your Servant from rushing to his rightful demise against me?”


…


“While you consider yourself to stand in that pitiful moral high ground, you are still the little mongrel that was afraid of even going after one of the Masters during the War,” The golden-haired young man pointed out. “Rider perished doing whatever foolish ideal he had about life, and I decided for Kirei to follow a close but more acceptable death compared to your former Servant.”


Was he planning of getting rid of Kotomine?- no, there has to be something else going on.


“What do you mean with-”


“Kirei will be back in ten minutes from now,” Gilgamesh said while sighing again. “If you continue with this petulant questioning, I will be more than happy to bring both you, the girl and the fools in this rooms to a quick demise instead of accepting this annoyance.”


The priest… was coming? That was incredibly bad, but at least they could move both Tohsaka members without dealing with restraining them.


“Gray, stand by the main entrance,” Waver ordered with a certain dread in his words. “I will take the wheelchair and… we are leaving.”


Blue eyes widened at the order and the girl initially stood still to let the statement sink in before actually complying and moving to stand by the main door at the other end of the corridor.


The young Magus was still cautious as he carefully moved around the various unconscious servants to pick the wheelchair, turning around and making his way back to the door while minding once more the presence of the people sleeping on the floor.


Gilgamesh was silent, completely immersed in glancing the flames coming from the fireplace while sipping from his half-empty glass but still thinking about what was going to happen from now on.


To think that the little subtle attempt to see Kotomine’s true self would end up creating this odd circumstance…


What an odd thing to see a man fight the duality of his rare nature, to see him clash against the approaching end and to… see him fail before the unfairness of his painful life.


He took another sip, a small smile appearing on his face.


How fascinating that Shirou Emiya will have to lose something of himself in that very battle.


---------d-d-d-d---------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d----------


AN


Kirei is starting to break apart and Gilgamesh’s prophecy is… ominous.


What I can say about it all? Prepare for a shocker that not even Gil is prepared for!

 

Interlude 3 – Kirei


It would soon start to rain.


Normally, this wouldn’t be much of an issue for Kirei Kotomine.


The man didn’t care about the weather, he didn’t care for the inconsequential.


Yet now he was pondering over something so insignificant but calming.


Rain was simple to understand, it was a logical phenomenon that his mind could easily decipher from the mere happening.


It was distracting, it was soothing.


And he needed to take some proper rest now that he was back at his hideout.


The little mansion that was primarily used to keep around the two last members of the Tohsaka Clan.


A crippled woman and an infuriatingly-annoying but amusingly-naive little girl.


In a common instance, interacting with them would have been enough to keep at bay the urge of studying what was happening inside his chest.


The pain was confusing, unique to the vast range of harm the priest had come in contact with during his activity as an Executor.


It was inner, it was beyond the physical, and the abstract nature of this predicament did nothing to cease the growing migraine that latched onto his aching heart.


He would be lying in saying even to himself that this was acceptable as a predicament, just as it has been in the last few years.


Kirei had been ‘blessed’ when the corrupted mud had reached for his dying body, providing him with a second chance to wander in the realm of the living once again.


It wasn’t a resurrection, no. It was worse than that.


His twisted creativity was given free rein over the world around him, his hand given the chances of meddling in every open chance he had in this city as an agent of Chaos.


The first time he met with the mysterious being that lingered within the Grail, he had thought of him as a cursed creature.


A crooked figure, a fiend that many could easily connect to the Devil or any other Hell-spawns with the same evil inside their hearts.


Angra Mainyu, one of the forgotten ‘Gods’ of antiquity.


It would be wrong to define the being as a deity, as his realm far stretched beyond the limitations imposed to those who were once leading the past religions.


In fact, the dream in which the demon decided to manifest in proved the incredible power hidden behind the fragility of humanity.


That’s how he had ultimately ‘won’ the Third Holy Grail War.


He didn’t care for the Grail itself, for he knew that it wouldn’t have granted him the truest wish he craved for.


But that didn’t deter Avenger to still play around, acting like an easy-to-kill fool to the eyes of the other Servants.


A trick within the useless puppet. A trap that had been so quickly sprung without hesitation by those that got the ‘best of him’.


The key was the limitation he had been suffering as a Servant, the restriction that kept him from making use of his fullest capacity to act and meddle in mortals’ lives.


The fiend was known as the eternal enemy to Spenta Maninyu, the Holy Spirit of the Zoroastrian religion.


…


It was ironic.


The priest had almost chuckled as he had delved quietly over this topic, discovering how amusing the unbalanced state of things was.


For a man of faith, to be forsaken by his God… only to be mercifully restored to life by what was once his prime enemy.


And in that dream, the creature had spoke to him the prettiest of words.


It was a mess of animal-parts, a monstrous combination of human and inhuman that morphed continuously in the priest’s mind because of how complex the spirit truly was.


Four words were pronounced, a curt sentence that opened a strange world to his worldly perception.


Go forth, my puppet.


It was so exhaustive of the real nature of the gift given to Kirei, the drawback of being returned to life.


Despite it was his wish to maim people, the maliciousness within his new heart heightened his craving to a degree that he himself considered self-destructive.


His careful planning, his patient waiting. Those were all meant to give him the chance of enjoying some delightful torture without having to face consequences as big as he was now dealing with.


Shirou Emiya was a fascinating individual, there was no doubt about it, but to go as far as expose himself so suddenly and without restrain?


It was indecorous for an experienced Executor to act this recklessly before a new element in the zone they worked by.


To be this much inattentive and brash over the importance of studying their enemies…


This trail of thoughts was slowly turning into something that Kirei knew full well.


The condescending voice of his father when he first experienced some issues back in Rome, trying to study the complicated structure of the strict school he had been sent to deal with.


A young Japanese-born student facing the dreadful problem that was the language barrier.


Bullies were a rarity in catechisms, but there were some interesting fellows that were keen to mock his accent, to diminish his prodigious intelligence over things that they were limited to accomplish.


Envy was a terrible sin for someone as young and impressionable as the young children targeting him, but one that wasn’t easy to recognize for the teachers or the other members of the church.


Sadly enough, this very experience happened years before he started to understand the importance of displaying some proper ‘persuasions’ to avoid dealing with annoyances.


And Risei Kotomine hadn’t cared much for his plight.


Promises had been made, but nothing had been truly done about that specific subject.


Instead, Kirei was forced to endure the brunt of those attacks, only a handful of those turning physical.


But maybe now he was digressing, as his focus was meant to be about the plight afflicting him even now that made the last steps to reach his closest safe-zone.


Or perhaps he wasn’t.


It was a hunch, a small one, but still enough to get him to pause away from his pain and right at the cause of this sudden panic that had crippled his means to properly think.


He had long thought that Kiritsugu Emiya would have softened up after finding out that his ideals didn’t fit with the way the world truly worked.


Shattering his dreams had been the least that Kirei’s Pyrrhic Victory had achieved, as the death of Irisviel von Einzbern and the failure of Saber’s Master to properly secure the Einzbern’s wish both had left the Magus Killer in a sorry state.


He had been so sloppy in his recent activities, especially when he damaged the leylines connected to the Greater Grail all in the high hope of disrupting any opportunity for the competition to return once more.


A fool’s play, one that Kotomine had noticed with a gleeful but curious eyes.


The setback proved to be a boon for Kiritsugu’s plans had backfired in quite the horrible manner.


The Grail was operative, and the attempted destruction of the leylines had activated some emergency reserved that had swiftly fasten up the process of recharge for the artifact.


If his estimations were correct, the Fifth Holy Grail War was going to happen in around a decade from now.


Not that the detail truly helped him, considering how everything was starting to shake around with the setting he had tried to maintain after the Fourth War now starting to crumble before him.


The Magus Killer had gone as far as return the favor for what Kirei had done in the last hours of the War.


The words shared with Irisviel von Einzbern, the Fourth Einzbern Lesser Grail proving to give him some interesting ideas over the mysterious mind owned by her husband.


Maybe she had known much more about him, maybe it would have been worth enough to wait through her venomous comments instead of rushing to snap her neck.


Patience had eluded him in that state of depravity, the bravado leading him right to a formal defeat against his ‘enemy’.


And now he was forced to think how to truly deal with Caren Hortensia.


He just refused to address her as his daughter, thinking her more as the pitiful result of a tragic relationship he had shared with Claudia Hortensia.


The woman that had gone as far as kill herself to try and bring out his inner self, succeeding only partially with her extreme action.


But Claudia wasn’t Caren… and Caren wasn’t Kirei.


This last bit had been repeating in his head so vehemently ever since he had spot her around, his thoughts clashing over to deal with such a fascinating little girl.


Should he try to raise her hopes with the chance of a proper family before killing her with a sickening decapitation?


Or maybe a more direct but slower death by torture would have been the best choice.


So confused, yet also so reluctant to go through with it.


Shirou Emiya’s words resonated a bitter taste in his tongue, his brain lamenting the disgusting interaction he had been subjected to.


What a stupid joke, to even think that he was actually minding for his da-Caren’s well-being.


At first sight he thought it had been her resemblance to his late wife that caused his murderous resolve to falter to stillness.


The child was a younger version of the woman, but instead of the sweet stares she would earnestly bestow to him even before their official commitment to marriage, the young girl was prone to display him scowls and dissatisfaction.


There was fear, but nothing was about self-preservation.


It had been when the young Emiya had been in his general proximity, close enough for the priest to act and slaughter the impertinent redhead as he foolishly sprouted about the false about the reasoning behind his reluctance.


Because while there was no true emotional connection between the two, the Kotomine’s issue stemmed from the eyes that had for so long kept him unnerved about the girl.


While the eye-color was the same as her mother, Caren’s haunting stare was… Kirei’s.


It was the same he used to show around when he was but a young child, left alone to face the troublesome life of having his ambitious father.


There was that malicious glint, there was no doubt about it in his mind.


But it was diluted, more than halved by the lack of unfair experiences that the girl had to experience since she was too young.


...And Kirei was almost relieved by that.


To have a copy of himself, albeit a younger and naiver one would have been problematic to him in the long-run.


The priest continued to muse about these topics even as he entered the mansion, his mind slowly pulling away from his thoughts as he noticed that something was… wrong about the entrance.


The door was almost closed shut, but it wasn’t locked as a mere push of his left hand got it to make way to the inside of the home.


His eyes narrowed and his posture tensed in minor dread about the matter.


The pain he was still feeling even now gave him the strong push he needed to be careful as he delved through the lone corridor that led to the main living room.


The fireplace was still working as licks of fire consumed the wood recently placed there, giving a sense of warmth that was almost enchanted by the present of numerous sleeping servants littering the floor.


He blinked, his mind buzzing with activity as he thought about the curious instance he had just stumbled in.


A kidnapping from Kiritsugu Emiya? Highly improbable since the servants weren’t dead.


The Magus Killer had a rigorous and pragmatic approach to this specific kind of action, knowing perfectly that leaving witnesses was tantamount to a complete failure for any mission.


Which meant that the responsible ones had to be someone he had missed, people that had knowledge of magecraft and about the Tohsaka Clan.


It was difficult to see mercenaries being sent to retrieve what remained of the family, especially with how confused the entire Association was about what happened with the Holy Grail War.


And uncertainty meant inaction from them, at least in such a direct manner.


While the priest continued to study the scene of the crime, his attention was taken by a certain blond-haired young man humming as he walked to one of the couches staring right at the fireside with a glass of wine in his hand.


Gilgamesh barely stopped to notice the new presence, his red eyes glinting something… amusing about the scene he was walking into.


The Servant didn’t deign him any word, but the calm silence was enough to provide Kirei with the answer he was seeking.


His lips twitched in a brief scowl as he paced away from the sight, reaching for the closest bathroom as the pain within his chest was rising together with his own anger.


He couldn’t afford it, he just couldn’t.


His breath turned raspy, his lungs itching infuriatingly as he reached for the medical box set to the door’s side.


His hands were trembling, yet the priest quickly found the small bottle with painkillers and was swift to down four small pills before finally being granted some lucidity from that outburst.


Gasping for air, his mouth opened to let in all of that oxygen that waited to fill his lungs, and his hands pressed on his chest as he tried to normalize his aching heartbeat.


Things were rushing out of control and he should have expected Gilgamesh to move now that things were well set for the Kotomine’s defeat.


It wasn’t truly proclaimed, but did the King of Heroes even need to proclaim the cessation of their contract?


Not truly, no. In fact, it was odd as to why he had waited for so long since he had discovered Shirou Emiya.


Despite the body granted by Angra Mainyu, the Archer was far more resilient to the influence of the corruption, his soul donning a state of pseudo-divinity that long transcended any mortals walking in this world.


The blond could afford to oppose the Malignant Spirit, but to accomplish true freedom he required the energy from someone to sustain himself in the realm of reality.


It was no secret that Gaia was actively on the pursuit of erasing Servants from Earth, labeling them as errors and glitches that needed to be fixed.


And thus why Servants needed Masters to live, even though there was no Holy Grail War happening.


Kirei blinked, his attention turning away from the little detail and back on the pressing issue.


He had lost his last two pieces, and as far as he was concerned there was no way for him to avoid the harm that was planned to come his way.


…


But what if he could just… delay the inevitable?


Right now the situation was bad, but maybe by giving it time and context, a solution was reachable.


A solution that didn’t saw him killed, of course.


And he needed a distraction to accomplish this feat.


Fuyuki wasn’t certainly a place devoid of horrible fiends that could be thrown at the Magus Killer, and Kirei didn’t waste time to consider Zouken as the prime individual to use as a me-worms-shield.


The old man had already caught the Emiya’s interest in the past as Kiritsugu had studied the files about Kariya Matou when he revealed himself during the Holy Grail War.


But the files were of course limited since the man had long avoided making contacts with his ancestral home and preferring the mundane nature of the world to the magical knowledge bestowed by the former Makiri.


It wouldn’t be that difficult to create the Casus Belli, to push Zouken to make a ‘tiny mistake’ and show himself to the one that would push the Magus Killer to turn his attention away from the priest.


Yes, Shirou Emiya will be the key for his survival!


-------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d--


AN


So, this is an interlude. Albeit not a full chapter, it pushes the story right into a good problem.


Zouken is still around and that ain’t good for anyone.


Kirei knows this, Kiritsugu knows this… and Shirou is going to learn about this very soon.


The Gamer himself will not ignore the plight from someone younger than him stuck in the worst situation possible… while also dealing with quite the bratty boy living in the same house.


Why Kirei thinks this will work? There is something that makes him important enough to be kept alive, enough to make him essential for what is supposed to happen fairly soon.


Lastly, I decided to start reworking on another old Fate story. Fate/Last Heaven (Redux for FFN) is now out and boy, oh boy, the sass is tripled, the explosive factor has been augmented exponentially and there is a high chance of having some cracking fun with some of the most beloved (and not) characters from this franchise. And… Illya Route?

 

Chapter 25: Dagger (4)


There was just so much that was happening all at once as lunch came to a chaotic end.


With his nerves already steeled after the encounter he had incurred with Kotomine, Shirou was legitimately attentive to anything that could easily turn out to be any sign of an eventual ambush or attack from the priest.


Despite the eerily calm perception of the situation with the priest, there was that itchy thought that made him consider the eventuality that the man might end up deciding without any notice.


It could happen, he had seen it in his eyes how desperate the creepy individual was starting to get just from a mere discussion. He didn’t frighten him, the young Emiya was perfectly aware that it was the very nature of the dangerous man that got his own person scared of what was happening.


But fear was a powerful instrument when offered to some people, with the redhead being incredibly conscious of what fear tasted like and the kind of absurd deed that could be done with just a taste of it.


...Yet the issue he was facing as of now wasn’t related to Kotomine, but rather it was connected to his adoptive guardian.


The Gamer had felt that something was off the moment he noticed how tense Kiritsugu was while sitting by the table, the man’s posture just hinting that there was something off about the simple-looking lunch while he quietly took bites with his forks out of the cooked steak.


That very simple detail, coupled with the fact that both Waver and Gray hadn’t been there in the household when the redhead had returned home with Illya and Caren, was more than enough to put the Gamer in a state of unprecedented unease.


Until it had been only himself to risk some pain or horrible fate, things had been somehow easy to face. He had the means to overcome many dreadful obstacles along his path, and the Game offered just plenty of opportunities to survive all of those without suffering too much from those.


But Gray didn’t have that ability, and the same was for Waver.


The silver-haired girl was still training up to get better in using the weapon form allowed by Add, the strange box having offered plenty of advice with his annoying quips, but she was far from even getting close to achieve a sufficient state of fighting capability.


Speaking of the English-born visitor that had been taken in by Kiritsugu, Shirou couldn’t help but see that there was just something off about this individual.


Not only the young man was incredibly reclusive when speaking with people, restraining himself from showing too much interest in discussions that weren’t together with the older Emiya and…


That was incredibly odd.


Especially with how nervous Waver seemed to become once he was forced in a conversation by the former mercenary.


Their understanding was as mysterious as ‘wrong’, there was just so much strangeness in their relationship that Shirou couldn’t help but just look cautiously at this new situation unfolding.


Observe had offered him just a little info that helped explaining the full extent of the correlation between the two, yet there was one thing that the Gamer had learned out of that predicament as he was aware of a very peculiar detail he had missed early on.


Waver was a Magus and… he had been there in Fuyuki Town for some time now.


While this detail shouldn’t truly open up to much suspicion towards his person as there were plenty of foreign people coming to visit the city to have some nice holidays away from their homes, the issue was more connected to the reason behind his presence in town.


The Holy Grail War had been a competition that was meant to be partaken by Magi, and it wouldn’t be completely far-fetched to see this being the prime reason for the young man having come here in this part of Japan.


Yet it didn’t explain why Kiritsugu would have been so keen to keep the foreign Magus if they had been somehow competing one against the other.


Why?


The simple but repeating question that kept the boy on edge for the entire duration of the lunch, despite all the funny efforts created by many of the individuals living in the house.


Illya was adorable, especially with the playful bickering she seemed to be endeared by when talking with Caren.


With the Einzbern being the oldest, it was always comical to see both girls butt heads over a topic or another, especially with how mature the Italian girl was over some of the subjects brought up.


Some of the stern teaching from the catechism had stuck around in Caren’s perspective of amusing things, urging her to sometime deflate the red-eyed child with dry retorts and from there the two would begin exchanging some interesting replies, never exceeding towards anything of a big insult to the other.


The little bickering was adorable, but there was a surprising lack of loud voices right now as… Taiga wasn’t there.


The young woman had been forced to the event because her grandfather had required her presence back home, something about an important talk he wanted to have with the brunette. Which was as surprising as unexpected considering how much of a pushover Raiga was about his granddaughter.


But the madness was far from being over with just the two pale-haired girls, as there was quite the quarrel between the two ‘twin’ maids.


With Leysritt continuing to behave as lazily as usual, her flat comments about the food were quick to stir a fiery reaction from Sella about the matter, the serious woman pointing out how that should have been the result of their combined efforts and, just like usual, it was all only her labor.


As the reprimanding intensified, Liz decided to appear as much distracted as she could, with her eyes looking away from what was happening.


But as entertaining this all was proving to be and how unusually normal this was all starting to become in his life, Shirou’s mind was still set on the troublesome thoughts over Gray’s and Waver’s well-being.


No matter the distractions, concern had now settled deeply in his mind and he couldn’t just ignore it so easily


It would take about half an hour to finally see the two finally make a safe return home… with two more individuals on tow.


It had been the loud noises accompanying their footsteps. The familiar sound of the wheels of a wheelchair moving around the soft texture of the wood that ultimately gave away the fact that the two had brought two familiar faces out of their homes.


Kiritsugu had been fairly distant from where the red-haired child had been sitting by the table, thus rendered unable to prevent the boy from reaching out for the door of the living room that was connected to the entrance and from seeing that there was truly an odd scene unfolding on the other side of that barrier.


Gray almost jumped in sudden fright at the noise of the door opening right beside her, and her eyes went wide open in shock at the scare before those settled their sight onto Shirou’s form and relax a little bit from her stance.


Waver merely tensed up at the sound, but the serious look still plastered on his face was still there as he did his best to keep up well enough with the current task, making sure that he didn’t mess up with his current actions which was related to the wheelchair he was pushing around.


Aoi’s sleeping face was the first thing that made the Gamer understand the kind of situation that was unfolding, his entire body tensing up in a mix of surprise and utter confusion at her current presence her and… he thought back about Kiritsugu’s ominous words about the matter.


Before he could press for more information about this circumstance by asking Gray, his attention was fully captured when he felt a pair of small arms suddenly wrap around his neck and a weight pushed straight onto his chest.


Shirou tripped backward, surprise hinted by his panicky eyes as he finally landed on the ground and realized what caused this sudden development.


“Emiya-kun!”


Long, dark hair coming from one of Rin’s twin-tailed comb momentarily covered his face, hindering his capacity to reply.


The girl was shivering, her face drown in his shoulder as she tried to make sense of what was going on considering that she had just woken up mere moments ago.


At the sight of the first familiar face, the terrified child did the best thing she could afford to do in that moment of uncertainty and confusion.


Shirou groaned a little, suffering some damage from tripping, but nothing even so remotely dangerous.


Yet it was just as he stood up slowly, trying to pull himself up with the girl still grasping at him so desperately, that the entire room behind him exploded in loud voices and noises.


“Rin-chan?” Illya was the first one to call out what was happening, with the Gamer falling back in the living room and revealing what was going on.


What followed could be described as something that Shirou had long started to grow accustomed to.


While it wasn’t a full-fledged dogpile, the rest of the girls had rushed to see what was going and soon he was stormed with numerous worried questions about what was going on.


This kind of distraction was then increased with the young Tohsaka latching so stubbornly by his chest at the sudden increase of noises all around her.


The situation was indeed escalating beyond normal diplomacy, and soon the young Emiya was overwhelmed by the sheer noisiness of the people all around him, trying to either help him or get to talk with Rin.


And with the young Gamer distracted by the horde of worried individuals, Kiritsugu stood up from his seat and looked up at Waver. The two shared a serious look, then the Magus Killer settled his stare back at the sleeping Aoi as she was still resting on her chair.


His mind burned a little at the fact that he was lookijng at the wife of one of the former contenders of the Fourth Holy Grail War that he had to fought, remembering Tokiomi Tohsaka as the incompetent Master that let Gilgamesh easily manipulate Kotomine to betray his own teacher and father.


The fact that there were no signs of any major fighting on both the young Magus and the Saber-alike girl was also a reason to be incredibly concerned about how things had gone by.


The man had expected at least some cuts, perhaps some shredded bits of clothes considering whom they might have encountered in that visit. And yet there was nothing of that sort in display.


A deal of sort? Only a direct conversation, away from the ears of those that weren’t ready for this kind of conflict, would solve most of his queries.


And that what he was going to get as quickly as possible.


---------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------


~Rin’s POV~


If there was something that the young Tohsaka had long learned to despise the most, it was the incredible dread that followed awakening in a new place.


This kind of fear hadn’t been there for too long as it was conceived when she ended up kidnapped by a very horrible person that was hurting children.


She could remember the horrible smell, the stained sheets and the tension that had riddled her determination as she took her friend out of that terrible room in the sewers.


It had been an experienced that had seen her open her eyes over the unfair developments of life, how it was easy for someone to be abducted without any major reason… other than being young.


It hadn’t been an action motivated by some vengeful Magus, nor it had been some political-created situation like the stories her father had started to describe to her when she started to work on her magecraft.


Exceeding the known, the dark-haired girl was given glimpse of what Magi were supposed to work on a daily basis.


The unknown was scary, there was no way to soften up the traumatic predicament that saw her accept eagerly the need of staying close of her mother when the Holy Grail War came to an end.


Despite the troublesome disposition of her remaining parent, Rin had earnestly kept around the woman instead of offering any trust to the strange-looking Kirei Kotomine.


She remembered first seeing him, the lack of compassion appearing to be just some adult-based annoyance towards children…


How wrong she had been.


Shirou had been as honest as he could get once things had settled down and they all had moved to his room, with only her mother being left to the care of ‘Waver’ and the boy’s father, and the tale he had given her leaving quite the bitterness over some of her past memories.


The realization had been chilling, her shivers had resumed despite the warmth coming from the blankets offered by the girls as the redhead had explained what he knew about the fake priest.


And how fake the priest was.


There was no niceness, there was no real regret in the loss of her father. Kirei Kotomine… was a monster, and the more she learned about the extent of his malicious intents the more her stomach churned in disgust.


How dreadful, how scandalous- HOW UNFAIR!


Anger had mixed well with her fear, a strange concoction of motivated fury with one conceived out of ignorance over the crescendo of revelations she was subjected with.


There was some mindfulness in giving out the details, yet the honesty rendered it all a sour bite to chew down.


She had for so long blamed some mysterious figure for killing her father, when the real responsible for her family’s downfall had been so close to them for so long.


‘Helping’ them while sowing the seeds of brief trust and genuineness.


It was aggravating, it was something that got her anger to stir to an incensed level.


And Rin couldn’t just lash out so suddenly and without a proper target.


Everyone here was nice, even that creepy father that Shirou had and… that was hurting her.


It was aching, it was a hollow pain that kept her from even crying at everything that was crumbling upon her previous understanding of things.


Anger turned into hurt, hurt turned into more anger.


It was an unpleasant cycle, yet it continued to linger about for the rest of the day even when she found solace in the company of so many nice people.


She was finally allowed to see her mother and the woman looked to be fine now that she was awake. There wasn’t much of an improvement since the last few days, yet Shirou’s presence and words seemed to further bring out some new vitality out of her previously-lethargic state.


A strange phenomenon, something that was as endearing as confusing, but it was still good progress that would hopefully see her mother revert back to her normal self.


And when that would end up happening, the first time Rin would ask from her will be a hug. A long one.


She needed it. They both needed it, especially since her father was no longer there to give her some guidance.


Now the dynamics of the world around the girl had changed, no longer she could trust adults like Kirei and… that meant relying much more on the very person that had been there to offer her someone to hug without whining too much about it.


Shirou was a boy, but not one of the ones she had met in the past.


Boys normally had cooties, Kotone had told her that, yet that notion seemed to not be connected with the redhead.


He was nice, he listened, and talked back to her. He wasn’t overly attached to any boyish activities, and he did care for her issues.


Same for the other girls, especially Caren and Gray. Illya was a little bit difficult to understand with how eccentric the older child was, but compared to Fujimura-san, the German girl was at least bearable in every situation.


It was a fresher life, but one that hopefully lacked any of the gloom and unpleasantness that had been since the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War.


There was space to rest, time to think, and the means to achieve some peaceful quietness without having to imagine some sudden scare from the priest.


She was freer, but at what cost?


Kirei wouldn’t just let go without biting back, like a dog that was deprived of his chewtoy.


A cruel man, a horrible individual that deserved the worst for his responsibility of killing her father, of having crippled her family’s economy and… for having tried to hurt her mother.


To even consider that the priest had planned to do something to her mom, perhaps even to herself, for the reason of having some compliant hostages for an eventual clash between him and Shirou’s father- her mind was bubbling in hatred.


The ‘Magus Killer’ title had been repeated on numerous occasion by her father in an unpleasant voice, disdain dripping from the words correlated with such an individual, but then again her dad had also trusted Kirei to be a good apprentice.


Perhaps there was some flaw in her father’s understanding of the world.


It was still a theory she had made for herself only to know, but it would take time to either prove it or debunk it.


Still, the mysterious individual that was Kiritsugu Emiya proved to be much more than he appeared to be.


Shirou’s words hadn’t spared even him from being revealed as someone that was potentially dangerous to have around considering his proficiency with guns and his strange sense of justice.


It was odd, it felt childish, but Rin didn’t feel prepared to quickly oppose this line of thought… as she could see some sense in it.


It was logical, a horrible deviation of it, but it wasn’t anything as terribly insane as the plan of the priest.


Afternoon proceeded smoothly, and the young Tohsaka couldn’t certainly complain despite the lack of servants flocking at her whims.


With the girl dividing her time by spending it with her mother and getting to know more about the girls while a new room was set for her and her only parent.


Things took a little strange turn when Fujimura-san ended up arriving at the house, learning pretty quickly what happened, and instantly rushing to the girl’s side.


It was nice, but being hugged this closely and this intensively proved to be as much as lovely as irritating.


Rin didn’t dislike the brunette, in fact she appreciated the genuine sense of sadness directed at her own situation, but her chirpy nature made it the most difficult to relate with.


It was also odd that a non-Magus was allowed to know about magecraft, especially with her father mentioning that the diffusion of the knowledge about the mystery of Magecraft was something the Association forbade in many occasions.


It was Waver that ultimately admitted that the notion was shadier than it sounded like, the English-born young man explaining that there were a couple of occasions where Gaia would actually ignore the new generations of Magus that would learn about the mystery of the Root.


This was a theory that had received much acclaim by many students at Clocktower, but it was easily dismissed by the grand families ruling the politics in London. The reasoning was also quite… awkward.


‘It lacked any major evidence to confirm it’… despite the numerous proof advanced by various students and professors backing this to be a possibility.


And it wasn’t even a novelty, it was something that had existed for a century or two now.


It was surprising to learn something new about the Moonlit World from someone that was adept about it, yet Waver failed to stand up close to how well-versed her father had been.


It wasn’t the best source, but it was good enough to satisfy her fascination over real magecraft.


But what truly made this discovery the best possible was the chance of having him mentor over her first years of training in simple spells. It was a sad development that he didn’t have much knowledge in Jewelcraft, but it was still magecraft and… that was what truly mattered for now.


Cover the basis, then move up to her family’s unique specialization.


Dinnertime proved to be fairly entertaining and… loud. Incredibly loud.


It was at that point that the reality that this was going to become a normal thing for her new life, that everything she had thought as granted was now changed into something that left her… incredibly happy.


Dinner turned out to be the complete opposite of the unnervingly silent ceremony that would see her eat just some food before being sent to sleep early.


The food prepared at the Emiya household tasted much better than anything she had ever had the chance of trying, her eyes glimmering eagerly as Rin carefully wolfed down the content of her plate.


Illya giggled at the scene, causing some blush to spread on her face, but it wasn’t a sign of embarrassment. No, she was actually feeling happy that this was actually happening, that there was at least some interaction.


Caren was quick to jump in to chide the young Einzbern, a quarrel ensuing between the two much to the Tohsaka’s surprise while Taiga started to tease Waver a little about some ‘big guy’ and some ‘part-time job’ he was aware about.


Gray was surprisingly keeping an eye to the dark-haired girl’s mother, carefully offering some help with the food much to the green-haired lady’s visible delight.


Kiritsugu was quietly sipping from his water while reading some book, completely detached from the instance, while his son was… looking around with a small smile on his face.


She blinked, her blue eyes fixing on Shirou’s face for a couple of seconds, a renewed blush returning on her face.


“Em-” Rin stopped herself, the noise appearing more like a chewing one and avoiding being caught as the girl started to debate quietly over the little dilemma that had appeared on her mind.


The redhead had been calling her by her first name for sometime now, and she had been so invested in keeping some silly resemblance of formality between the two.


Until now, he had been a stranger to her. A friend, there was no reason to deny that, but still someone that wasn’t as close to her to call out by his first name.


But now that things had changed? Now that she was going to live in this house for the time being?


There was a reason to uphold that degree of noble elegance that her father had always so keen to remind her about?


There were so many flaws with her father’s idea of the world, some that were confirmed while others were just… unfairly strange.


Rin gulped down the last bite of food on her plate, her attention diverging away from the young Emiya and back to the table as she thought quietly about someone that was now lost because of the family’s situation before the War.


Sakura, I wonder if she is alright.


But just as her mind tuned away from reality, a hand settled on her shoulder, bringing her back out to the real world.


“Is everything alright, Rin?” Shirou inquired quietly, his face displaying some concern directed at her.


The girl blinked at the sudden words, but didn’t tense up at the touch.


She sighed and… she shook her head.


“Nothing,” The young Tohsaka replied with a small smile. “But thank you for asking… Shirou.”


The boy’s eyes widened in surprise, lips parting in what became for Rin the most amusing sight she could get out of that silly friend of hers.


A giggle left her lips at the scene, causing the redhead to sport a blush as bright as his hair.


And while these two enjoyed some pleasant conversations, a certain green-haired woman continued to glance at the scene with a certain hint of fascination that was sadly restrained by her current conditions.


------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------


AN


Man, I had planned to do stuff for April Fools but I got distracted in helping around home.


Mom has learned to make bread (Yes, it’s edible and fuck yes, it’s delicious~!) and stuff is fine here considering the mess the government is making about the Covid19 (I will not tell what exactly is being messed up as I don’t want to make political crap today… or never in my stories).


P.S. The theory about the ‘Preservation of the Mystery isn’t completely necessary’ is about this story. It’s based on the fact that Waver supported the thesis that new Magi from first-generation families can actually be important to the Association.


Quick announcements:
1) I’ve published a TwoKinds story (it’s not a SI). I’m particularly interested in developing quite the fun story and I hope people do give it a look if they like the genre.
2) Gacha Gods were merciful with Lostbelt 1, I got Anastasia, Atalanta Alter and… Wu Zetian?? (I’m hella confused how I got her and not Salieri. LeShrug!)

 

Chapter 26: Madness (1)


A loud noises shook the darkness of the night, waking many of the occupants within the Emiya household.


And despite the distance of this familiar sounds, Shirou’s amber eyes opened in a brief moment of fright, cold sweat covering his face.


It didn’t take him too much to recognize the distinct issue, and his thoughts sported a mixed amount of panic and alert over the unexpected wake up call.


It was a gun shooting, there was no doubt about it, and the fury of bullets being sprayed around and against something or someone meant that the situation wasn’t a normal one, especially with the fact that the only one owning guns was Kiritsugu.


There was no reason to waste further time in his warm bed, the young boy shuffling out of it by swiftly pushing its covers away.


Soon his right hand reached out to find where his shoes were, remembering that he had set those by the side of the small bed-!!


He found something, and his grasp tightened a little over the unseen object, but just as he did so, he didn’t feel the texture that he knew being of his shoes.


It was wriggling madly, unnervingly so as multiple small things were now tickling at his palm and his attention snapped at the odd development… only for his face to show an aghast expression at the horrifying sight just mere moments to jump onto him.


The small critter chittered fiercely, trying to rush towards him and prompting the Emiya to drop it on the floor before the boy moved away from its reach.


It wasn’t alone.


Four- no, five more of those small bug-like creatures were trying to make their way towards him, with what felt like a hunger-induced interest.


What- What is going on?!


His eyes blinked wide open, shock filling those orbs as he called out for Observe.

Burrowing Worm LVL.5
35/35HP
Class: Berserker
Rank: Bronze​

Worms?


These just didn’t look like the mostly-harmless kind of insects one could find at the local park.


From their appearance to their current attitude, the green-colored fiends looked as malicious as a monstrous bug could get.


And… they continued to rush towards him. They were only crawling, seemingly unable to do much else other than that.


He flinched, lifting his right feet up as he prepared to try something against the closest of the bunch.


It continued to wriggle excitedly, seemingly unable to spot the approaching bare feet from the upwards and-


Squish!


It was squashed without much resistance, yet the noise originating from the sudden demise of the bug sending chills down the young Emiya’s spine as he just wasn’t sure what was going on.

+1200 EXP!​

Shirou blinked with a surprised glint in his eyes, confused by the modest amount of Experience he had just received by such a little action.


Soon, he took this development as a sign to proceed with the killing of those pests, his mind well reminding him that there was still some battle going on while he was losing time there.


The rest of the Burrowing Worms were easily crushed, while the boy’s disgust increased at the crescendo of flinch-worthy noises being conceived by the critters’ deaths.

+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!


DING!


+1200 EXP!​

The Gamer sighed once he had completely exterminated the small fiends, his heart regaining some of its regular pacing as he found himself distracted by the appearance of a familiar box in front of his face.

*Ding*


Congratulations, you have LVLd Up!


[Status]


Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 16 – Exp: 21,56%
Health Points (HP) : 750/750 (+50)
Mana Points (MP) : 1500/1500 (+100) (60 (+5)MP per Min)


Attributes​

POW: 32+1
INT: 30+1
AGI: 36+1
WIS: 30+1
VIT: 37+1
CHA: 25+1
LUK: 26+1


He had leveled up? It was just so… sudden for it to be happening and-


His trail of thoughts died down when he felt the distinct noise of something violently fluttering mid-air right behind him.


The boy ducked down on instinct as he perceived the new intrusion making a move towards him, with pressure building up and pressing onto him, and soon he found his stare was fixed on the appearance of what looked to be a… wasp?


The insect was buzzing furiously, as it slowly turned around to ‘greet’ him, and its white blade-like stinger was quick to gain the redhead’s gaze.


Two more appeared in front of the Emiya and by the main wasp’s size, further tensing up the boy’s body at what looked to be something more difficult than merely stepping on some worms.

Bladed Wing Insect LVL.11 X 3
100/100HP
Class: Rider
Rank: Silver​

The Observe page flickered away as the central fiend rushed once more towards him, the other two wasp-like creatures following its example.


Shirou didn’t freeze, with his adrenaline pushing his body to easily roll to the side before chanting the spell he hadn’t been using for so long.


“Trace… on.”


A suave blue light stretched out of his palms as two small daggers appeared in his hands.

-Home Invasion-

Time Limit: 1 Day

Worm-like creatures have attacked your home and is trying to kill you and the rest of your family. Kill the Fiends along the way and then find and rescue the other occupants of the house.

<Objectives>

-Kill Bladed Wing Insects (0/3)
-Find Gray
-Find Rin
-Find Caren
-Find Illya
-Find Waver
-Find Kiritsugu

Optional – Kill 100 Burrowed Worms (0/100)

<Hints>

Those monsters are as ugly as I remember those being...

<Reward>

-Identity of the Attacker-

-Your family is saved-

-(Optional) You receive title ‘Worm Slayer’-​

Shirou gulped nervously at the objectives established, feeling already stressed by the fact that he had to kill those flying creatures. But 100 Worms? That just sounded like a terrible idea right now that there were more important things to do.


Still, his attention shifted back at the three present issues, his hands’ hold tightening over the hilt of his new daggers.


The Wasp-like fiends buzzed even more in response, as if trying to match up with the challenge he had put against them.


The first one to move was the one to his left, the stinger arching a little downward as it prepared to lunge at the boy.


Shirou’s guard tensed in a careful watch as he waited for the bug to come closer to where he was. Just as it was about to plunge its stinger towards him, the Gamer moved quickly by rushing his left dagger to the monstrous thing, now in range for the melee.


-412HP!

+1800 EXP!​

The knife managed to easily cut through it, killing the insect instantly as black blood spurted out of the halved carcass.


With the first of the fiends down, Shirou then had his eyes moving to spot the two approaching enemies.


Both were advancing together, their buzzing driving the young Emiya to let out a tired sigh as he moved to the side to avoid the joint assault.


The insects missed just barely, and the redhead capitalized over the vicinity of the two to take another swing at them, hoping to at least clip one of the two’s wings.


-394HP!

+1800 EXP!​

The attack managed to reach properly at the closest of the two flying critters, but instead of merely damaging it, it ended up killing the bug.


The remaining creature flied up by the ceiling, and away from the boy’s reach, as it slowly started to hover around the room.


At first it looked like an annoying attempt to distract the Gamer, but soon Shirou realized that the flying insect was slowly starting to gain more and more speed through that simple movement.


He too a step or two towards the middle of the room, carefully studying the pattern while waiting for it to strike.


Seconds of quiet listening passed, with the bug taking its time to muster up as much speed as its sharp wings were able to bring to the situation.


Then, it sprung in action by rushing furiously towards him, its buzzing almost reaching its highest peek in what seemed to be a battle-cry of sort.


In a normal situation, with a normal child his age, the bug would have easily landed a deadly blow with such an action, its speed being far beyond what someone that young should’ve been able to match up.


But this circumstance was far from normal, and Shirou merely rolled away just in time when the creature reached close enough to be unable to stop in its path.


In fact, while the speed might have been useful to gain an advantage over its enemy, the bug’s body didn’t have enough strength to veer away and avoid crashing into the floor.


The stinger stabbed into the soft wood, drawing the capacity for the critter to move to nothingness as the wings weren’t capable of pulling the deeply-plunged blade out of the precarious instance it had just been subjected into.


Shirou didn’t hesitate with the opportunity before him, merely sighing in relief at the fact that his 38 points in Agility were good enough to keep up with the insane pace of these fiends.


-401HP!

+1800 EXP!


DING!​

The small sword in his right hand lunged towards the paralyzed bug, ending its existence in a small display of black, muddy blood.

*Ding*


[Status]


Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 17 – Exp: 17,79%
Health Points (HP) : 800/800 (+50)
Mana Points (MP) : 1445/1600 (+100) (65 (+5)MP per Min)


Attributes​

POW: 33+1
INT: 31+1
AGI: 37+1
WIS: 31+1
VIT: 38+1
CHA: 26+1
LUK: 27+1


There was a brief pause that Shirou used to give a look around for any other issues within his own room before the young boy rushed to the door.


Pausing for just a brief moment by the door’s handle, the redhead prepared to make his way through something far worse than what he had woken up into, knowing that an infestation of those critters wasn’t impossible.


The door was opened to the side and… more Worms were crawling around by the floor and the walls.


Taking a quick breath, Shirou started to rush towards the room beside his, using his blades to cut down a couple of insects between him and the place.

+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!​

Illya’s room opened to him and he was granted sight over a dreadful scene.


He had almost forgotten that the little Einzbern had decided to have a little sleepover with Caren and Rin to celebrate the latter’s arrival, and now the three girls were standing over by the little white desk, shivering in visible fright at the small group of worms having concentrated by the chair in front of it.


The Gamer didn’t hesitate to rush towards the conglomerate of insects, swiftly killing all four of those.

+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!


DING!


+1200 EXP!


+1200 EXP!​

The room was cleared from any threats pretty quickly, and relief lessened his steely stance over the horrible circumstance that was happening within what thought to be the safest place in the world.

*Ding*


[Status]


Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 18 – Exp: 32,15%
Health Points (HP) : 850/850 (+50)
Mana Points (MP) : 1510/1700 (+100) (70 (+5)MP per Min)


Attributes​

POW: 34+1
INT: 35+1
AGI: 38+1
WIS: 32+1
VIT: 39+1
CHA: 27+1
LUK: 28+1


“Shirou!”


Illya proceeded to launch herself towards the redhead, the young Emiya panicking as he couldn’t catch the girl mid-air with his hands still busied by his projections and-


Thud!


The fall to the floor was unneeded, but the trembling coming from the white-haired child stopped him from whining about the current instance.


He spared a glance back to the other two girls, both slowly descending to come closer to the two other children.


“Sh-Shirou, what is going on? What are these ugly things?” Rin’s question was filled with incredible worry but also legitimate fear over this unexpected predicament.


“A-And why I feel like there is something-” Caren paused in her words, her eyes strangely enough wide open in a state of constant shock. “So impure- so- so wrong.”


What is going on?


That very query he himself wanted to have an answer about, and much to the girls’ dismay, he couldn’t offer any clarity over the matter.


“I… I don’t know,” He admitted nervously as he slowly got up, with Illya still latching onto him for some emotional support. “But something is leading these worms. And whoever it is, I think it’s best that we focus on finding the others and leave.”


The young Tohsaka nodded at the common sense behind his words, while Caren slowly took hold of his right hand as they all started to make their way through the infested hallways of the Emiya household.


Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do much while keeping an eye over the girls, Shirou’s priority was to reach the closest exit. Either the main entrance or the unused gates by the courtyard.


Just as he passed over his room, the Gamer carefully looked around for any sign of the worms, finding none by the part of the corridor that led towards the main entrance.


There was a sliver of hope, one that could as well be just a trap laid out for them to go through.


It would just be… too easy.


And in fact, his suspicions proved to be correct when he looked around the corner and saw a sea of dark-green worms and numerous Bladed Wing Insects blocking the path right towards where the front door was.


Gritting his teeth in annoyance, the Emiya decided to change his plans to the second available exit, with the rest of the girls keeping close as he ventured a little more deeper through the dim-lit rooms of the mostly quiet building.


There were no worms patrolling the inner sections of the household, offering just some relief in the fact that this endeavor seemed to be their best chance in that very moment.


Still, some nervousness remained as the redhead noticed that the noise of shooting was still ongoing and that the more they walked towards the safest of the two exits, the more the noises grew louder and louder.


Continuing with his wandering, Shirou finally managed to reach the area where the courtyard was, slowly sliding the door that led to it to the side before he ventured outside and… right into quite the confusing scene.


Kiritsugu was moving quickly, some prominent veins visible within his face as he dodged swarms of insects trying to reach out for him. His only weapon being what seemed to be a simple machine-gun, with the gun being unable to properly dismiss the waves of fiends trying to reach out for me.


A little behind the worms was what looked to be some elderly figure. He was hunched, with his bald head continuing to stare eerily at the struggle the older Emiya was going through because of small monsters attacking him.


The worms weren’t swarming at him, they actually seemed to be reaching out from the creepy figure.


And while the man seemed distracted at first in glaring at Kiritsugu, he would soon tense up and direct his gaze right upon… Shirou.


The malicious and crooked smile on his face expanded, his wrinkles emphasizing quite the hideous complex while his dark and devious eyes showed the greedy delight from within at noticing the four children.

Name: Zouken Matou

Title: Head of the Matou Family

Age: ???

Level: 50

HP : 400/400

MP : ???​

His lips twitched and soon a cackle left his mouth. “To think that the situation would turn to my favor so suddenly and so unexpectedly,” The mysterious old figure said while tilting his head to the side in a display of quiet interest. “But I’m surprised it would be the novel son of the Magus Killer to bring the downfall of his foolish parent.”


Four flying insects appeared out of the elderly being and up to the air before rushing towards the small group.


“Kill the boy, and bring me the heiresses,” The old man commanded dully, and it seemed like the fiends were listening to those as they continued to advance with the redhead as their target.

MISSION UPDATED!


-Home Invasion-


Time Limit: 1 Day


Here is the culprit for the attack, the one that has ordered for such an unwarranted assault. Kill Zouken Matou!


<Objectives>


Kill Zouken!


Kill Zouken!


Kill Zouken!


Kill Zouken!


Kill Zouken!


Kill Zouken!


Kill Zouken!


Optional – Kill Zouken with Fire!!


<Hints>


Kill Zouken!


<Reward>


-Survival-


-Your family is saved-


-Relationship with ??? is elevated to ‘Favorite Step-descendant’-​

Taking a few steps in front of the girls and jumping off the edge of the wooden platform over the courtyard, Shirou rushed towards the true cause for this massive mess.


He was unsure as of why the Game would urge him to kill the old man, perhaps there was a degree of danger to him that… forced the system to find him deplorable.


And considering that this creepy figure was making use of disgusting worms and seemed to be wanting to kidnap Illya, Rin, and Caren, the young Emiya wasn’t going to complain with this sudden request.


With his newfound Agility and Vitality, the young boy managed to move quickly through the approaching Bladed Wing Insects, his reformed daggers slashing through those without hesitation and without difficulty.

+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


DING!


+1800 EXP!


*Ding*


[Status]


Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 19 – Exp: 10,09%
Health Points (HP) : 900/900 (+50)
Mana Points (MP) : 1650/1800 (+100) (75 (+5)MP per Min)


Attributes​

POW: 35+1
INT: 36+1
AGI: 39+1
WIS: 33+1
VIT: 40+1
CHA: 28+1
LUK: 29+1


“That’s… interesting,” The old man commented quietly, with his face showing a fascinated and lucid expression compared to the insane one he had previously shown.


But Shirou wasn’t minding the odd mood swing, both of his daggers already rushing towards the undefended old man to end this situation once for all and…


-454HP!


The damage was inflicted, and it was one that went a little beyond the HP bar of the mastermind behind this attack, but… there was no notifications about experience coming out from that action.


In fact, despite cutting through the figure in quite the killing fashion, the old man continued to display a degree of calm that turned out to be quite… unsettling.


“What are you?”


It wasn’t Shirou to ask such a query, but the very elder as he started to slowly morph back to normal as worms from within his body started to mend everything to a proper state.


There was a moment of silence, with the Gamer trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed.


He had killed the man… yet this one hadn’t died?


“I’m curious,” Zouken hummed calmly as more flying insects formed around him and swarmed towards Shirou.


This time, the group was made by ten of those and these all seemed to be… more docile than the previous ones.


It was an odd revelation, yet he noticed that it wasn’t just that his speed had increased again at his sudden level-up, but also that their wings weren’t moving as furiously as the others he had fought against.


With his mind still driven by the adrenaline to continue with the clash, Shirou had an easy time decimating the approaching creatures.

+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


DING!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


+1800 EXP!


DING!


+1800 EXP!


*Ding*


[Status]


Name: Shirou Emiya
Title: The Gamer
Age: 7
Level 21 – Exp: 5,81%
Health Points (HP) : 950/950 (+100)
Mana Points (MP) : 1612/1900 (+200) (80 (+10)MP per Min)


Attributes​

POW: 36+2
INT: 37+2
AGI: 40+2
WIS: 34+2
VIT: 41+2
CHA: 29+2
LUK: 30+2


“Truly marvelous!” The old Matou proclaimed with a frustrating amount of glee over the situation. “I can’t believe that her theory was correct- and yet… I wonder. I really wonder.”


Nothing of what he was saying made sense to him, yet Shirou persisted by once more attacking the seemingly harmless elder.


This time, he stabbed right into his chest, hoping to bring him to die like that.


-445HP!


Yet, like the first time, the deadly blow didn’t end up killing the elder.


As the figure continued to regenerate, Shirou then desperately tried to rush more attacks at him, hoping that there was a limit to this surreal case before him.


-432HP!


-448HP!


-435HP!


-458HP!


-437HP!


It’s… it’s not working.


With his breathing growing more strained by the lack of success with this endeavor, the Gamer soon gasped in surprise as he found himself tripping backward and right onto the ground.


His dagger clanged at the floor, but still firmly held by his hands as the boy gave a fierce look at the seemingly-undamaged elder.


“Your efforts are… admirable. But terribly annoying,” Zouken muttered tiredly. “Your mere existence is fascinating, something that gives me plenty of ideas of what to do with you but… I think I will let you fester a little more, little fish.”


Shirou panicked as worms swarmed all over him, yet instead of devouring him, they all started to meld together in a large, humongous surface.


“I want you to fatten, to become bigger, to be able to actually sustain my disappointing predicament,” He continued with an amused tone. “And this is why… I will see you ‘treated correctly’ from now on.”


Before the boy had the chance of rebutting these comments, the entirety of his body was coated by the wriggling mass of worms, and soon enought the swarm of fiends rushed him towards the barely open gates.


Loud screams coming from the girls kept him fully aware of the situation as he tried to push away the multiple insects piling up all around him, squishing him in that reduced space.


He didn’t have the means to reform his blades, the space allowed just enough for his form and… he was starting to get tired.


It was a strange sensation, one that shouldn’t be troubling him right now as he hadn’t suffered any damage until…


Now.


STATUS: Crest Worm Absorption (x50): Reduction of HP and MP by -50 per Min; Sleepiness.


Health Points (HP) : 900/950 (-50HP per Min)
Mana Points (MP) : 1850/2100 (+200) (40MP per Min)


The worms. They were slowly draining him of his energy and… the second effect was slowly defeating his will to fight back the hideous instance he had been put through.


He struggled, he put all of what was left within his body to push away even just a couple of the worms trying to paralyze him completely and yet…


It was too late.


His eyes started to lose focus, and his breathing started to slow down to a minimum as he felt slowly succumbing to the conditions imposed by the unexpected development.


The sensation itself was familiar, and…


It reminded him of the Fire.


---------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-----------


There was an annoying silence reigning over that little street of Fuyuki City.


With most of its people still enjoying a couple of hours of sleeping before truly beginning their early morning, the entire town was mostly devoid of any human presence.


Birds were already chirping and enjoying the easy winds of these hours and… a disgusting mass of Crest Worms was hastily retreating away by their master’s commands.


The worms themselves didn’t have much of a choice, their inferior minds all connected to the great hivemind that was Zouken’s own soul.


They were indebted to him, they leeched off energy from him, but most of it all, they were his most loyal familiars.


There was nothing wrong with their brutality, nothing wrong about imposing the rule of the strongest commanded over the weaklings… and yet there was already something that the simple-minded fiends were mostly unaware about.


Orders sometime could be unclear and… lacking of any extra instructions.


Zouken had rightfully wanted the now-unconscious red-haired boy to be sent back to the Matou Mansion, having established some important plans over him, but… there had been no conditions about what to do before a blonde-haired red-eyed man giving obstacle to their path.


The mass stopped momentarily, their initial instinct being to overwhelm the smug-smiling ‘simple human’ at once and so they did.


Every worm that had been assigned to the boy disengaged from their early task and rushed towards the patiently-waiting young man, seeing nothing wrong in devouring this foolish idiot before resuming with their journey.


The large group was well-distant from the redhead when the first signs of trouble emerged.


Numerous yellow lights emerged from above and from those portal-like phenomena appeared numerous golden-colored instruments.


Long and well-refined, the strange tools started to light up and… started to blast down into the unaware mass of Crest Worms.


There was no mean to avoid incineration at first contact, the burning effects within the energy barrage destroying all of the familiars, and every single one of those critters was eliminated from the streets.


Silence resumed at the quiet extermination, with only the footsteps of the blond-haired man now approaching the sleeping boy with a curious look.


Gilgamesh stood over the child, pondering over the plans he had set for him, the plans that would see him succeed against both Kotomine and the disgusting fool trying to cheat death.


He didn’t speak at first, his attention taken by the improvements that had happened since their first meeting.


He was stronger, there was no denying it as his bloody stare could notice it so blatantly and so truthfully, but this ‘Shirou’ was still too far from actually gaining a proper standing against him.


The little mongrel was young, and his potential was immense, but there was no reason to hide the fact that Gilgamesh was impatient.


To have a good chance to not only restore the Age of Gods as he saw fit, but to also have someone that could become his equal in a matter of short time?


While the second option would have irked him immensely, it was also true that the desire of finding a competent match in terms of combat prowess was still there to urge him to study the case in front of him.


Saber had fought him in an almost equal footing, if it hadn’t been for the fact that both had been limited by their annoying Masters, yet the lovely woman had been born in a time and with certain conditions that had pushed her to rise up above… before coming tumbling down because of her disappointing emotional struggle.


Shirou Emiya was born in an unfair era, without much to start with because of the limits imposed by Gaia and… with a power that well excelled to see him strive up to reach divinity and become a worthy opponent to the King of Heroes.


Magic barely existed now, and humans were mostly boring to even hear about. Even his flickering interest in seeing Kotomine’s subjugation under his own insanity had already lost its hold over his mind.


There wasn’t much amusement around and this boy would surely provide it to him. It would be entertainment beyond the simple one provided by stupid jesters strutting around and mocking his name with their flamboyant and deceitful titles.


But… he wasn’t going to intervene just yet in this escalation within the Kotomine-Emiya’s feud. It was too early, it was unnecessary and… he had already styled some plans to make everything go for an idyllic route for him.


“You may come out from your hiding, mongrels,” The former Archer ordered sternly and dully, drawing the attention of two spectators that had been witnessing this sublime scene up until now.


They scrambled out from the bushes where they have been ordered to wait and see the grandiose display of his power, further cementing the loyalty of the leading figure of this unexpected duo.


Shinji Matou was elated- no, he was honored to have been bestowed with such a sight, and to have received confirmation that trading his place as the heir of the clan had been a mostly correct choice.


It was a temporary move, one that served mostly to shatter the hold his grandfather had over the entire family and… to see himself propelled to the leadership of the family.


It was ambitious, it was naive… but there was no true flaw to it. And that came with the chance of getting rid of Sakura from the position of ‘rightful heiress’.


The girl beside him was surely unaware of his thoughts despite the exceptional observant nature of the younger child.


Sakura Matou didn’t mind leaving another family if it also meant being finally freed from the agony that Zouken had been so ecstatically putting her through for almost a year now.


She was tired of the fact that she had to deal with the horrors of having a family. To be ditched, to be used, to be manipulated, to be scorned and to be saddened by broken promises.


But it wasn’t the kind of tiredness that was currently keeping the cute redhead still asleep. No, it was something far deeper and more difficult for her to be capable to express in a couple of words.


And that is why Sakura loved the silence, for the silence meant the lack of any general interactions that could easily end up badly for her.


Still, the intimidating blond man that had offered her the pretty necklace that she was currently wearing.


The curious object was somehow restraining the worms from informing Zouken of her current betrayal and from giving her any discomfort, thus helping her with this naughty endeavor.


...Naughty. How odd, she shouldn’t be a bad girl… and yet she liked to not be hurt too.


“Do you remember my words about what will you two have to do, mongrels?”


Shinji nodded without hesitation and Sakura hummed quietly.


“Good, then I will leave you the safety of this young boy. You will bring him at the place I’ve mentioned you about without being spotted by anyone,” The King of Heroes concluded with a sigh. “And I hope you will also remember that any discomfort brought to him will warrant some serious punishments from me. Beyond the mere parental chiding,” The dark-blue-haired Matou flinched, “Or even anything that a couple of disgusting worms can do.” Sakura merely tensed up at the comment, but didn’t show any further displeasure at this new condition.


It wasn’t anything that she had to worry about, but perhaps she should still keep an eye to her Oniisan to not do anything wrong during that simple errand.


Still, the little girl couldn’t help but wonder why would the King want them to reach the city’s outskirts. Why would he want them to do that?


But while it was good to muse about her new tasks, Sakura still complied with her brother and slowly helped him to lift up the curiously-lovely redhead through the various streets of Fuyuki, her stare freezing more than once at that interesting face of his.


‘Perhaps he isn’t a bad person’. That hope was the only thing that Sakura had yet to lose.


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AN


Ahhhhh! Who is in need of savings? What is Gilgamesh planning? Are the girls (Caren, Illya, and Rin) safe? What about Kiritsugu? And will Shirou recover from the fact that people can actually live despite getting killed?!


So many questions… and lot of madness next chapter. Like the final arc of this tutorial Super-Arc.


After this? A new escalation!