The snow was always like this. Kiritsugu Emiya thought that everytime he glanced out the window, seeing the frozen landscape outside barely visible through the screen of snow falling. It wasn't long till it was time. For years he'd been left in waiting for this day to come and it was almost here. Before him lay a selection of pictures and information on the others who were to participate in the war. He sighed looking over it again, still he could only account for five masters. This made matters complicated, made it harder to have an outright strategy on how to at least combat all six other masters.

There wasn't the sound of foot steps, but he could feel her walking in the room. Irisviel believed in him and with that she had also given him magical resources and the support of the Einzbern family. Most of all, she had given him a daughter. That was what he would be fighting for. His wish didn't matter as much as making sure he could win the grail and return to Illya. Let her live a somewhat normal life and make sure no harm ever came to her. The last thing he wanted was to not be there for her when her heart was ripped from her body by some boy who didn't care for her feelings only his. God she was barely five and already he was worried about boys. He would know of course, relationships could end badly for everyone, he didn't want Illya to experience that first hand till she was ready.

"And so the other four mages have entered Fuyuki?" His wife asked in a tone that calmed yet made him alert almost instantaneously.

"Kariya Matou, the old man's decided to bring the outcast in for this one, from what I heard Kariya had put mage craft behind him, which is an interesting choice. Kayneth El Melloi Archibald, the master from the Clock Tower. He's apparently acquired a new relic, which means he lost one, so another member of the Clock Tower is now in possession of whatever relic he procured. Then Tokiomi Tohsaka, head of the Tohsaka family. He's a master of flame magecraft and from what I've heard has recently been teaching an apprentice," He stopped as he glanced at the other picture laid out before him. "Kirei Kotamine, son of Rise Kotamine, the church's overseer for the war." Iriesviel put a hand on his shoulder.

"And Kiritsugu Emiya, the smartest mage that I've ever met and the man I love" this caused a small smile to appear on Kiritsugu's face; he wasn't sure how to respond to that yet. There was something creeping in his mind though. A warning light weakly glowing warning him of an unknown uneasiness. At first walking into this situation he had been feeling how he had expected to have felt. Then with the revelation that this man Kirei Kotamine was participating. But yet further when there had been an odd aura in the last month. Building up to the summoning. He was set to summon King Arthur of Britain, in what he hoped would be the Saber class.

"Kiritsugu it's time"

Before long, him and Iris were before the church, the circle formed fully and everything was prepared. Including the instrument that would ensure their success, the relic that the Einzbern's had passed down to him. Excalibur's sheath. With such an object, it would summon King Arthur of Britain, bringing them almost guaranteed vicory, him being one of the fiercest and talented swordsman in history.

With his wife by his side, he concluded the ritual, and the smoke began to clear. Before him, a light shone, a light he had not noticed until this moment, as if it had accompanied his gallant servant.

"Are you the one who dare calls himself my master?" Came a yell, authority and bluntness oozing from the yell.

The smoke cleared before a wide eyed Kiritsugu and Iris, both of them taken aback by what their eyes beheld. This was not the heroic King Arthur, this was a girl, a girl who looked barely older than 17. Her black hair ran down her back, adorning her military-esque uniform which looked like it would be suitable in some sort of school. Upon the chest of the uniform, two eye like patterns stared out as if watching the pair who had summoned this girl, both her hands clasped over her sword which was placed firmly on the ground before them, still sheathed but her furrowed brows accompanied the pressing of the hilt to reinforce her question.

"Are you King Arthur?" Came Kiritsugu's response, grasping for sense again as he recomposed himself, unlike Iris who's hands were clasped over her mouth.

"I'm afraid not, but I must assure you, I am a courageous swords woman and with my sword I will cut all who oppose me, I'm not just a child with a sharp stick," the girl replied, the frown still on her face.

"Then yes I'm your master, together we shall achieve our wishes," he replied without hesitation, wanting to get this over with so he could work on his strategy, and figure out who the hell this was.

"Then the contract is sealed? Good," She nodded and barged past both of them, as if she owned the place as she made for the door, Iris in close pursuit.

Kiritsugu could only watch in confusion.

Two Weeks Later, Tohsaka Manor

It was almost time to descend to the basement to meet with his mentor. Kirei Kotomine knew it was close to the beginning of the Grail War. Kirei still was lost when it came to viewing his end point. He knew what Tohsaka was seeking, he knew why his father supported him. He knew why he was being used by Tohsaka to help win the Grail. But why did the grail choose him? There was nothing in particular in his mind he could think that he wished for. He did not even wish for her. His future was a blank page to him, there was nowhere he wanted to advance to. Yet his past had brought him to this point so he saw it like this.

If the chance to grab the grail came, and no one else could claim it. his wish would come to him; his wish would choose him, he did not have to choose it. Still, it amused him Tohsaka chose him of all people. Yes he was a member of the church, but the relationship between him and mages was always sour. It was true, in his past he had killed mages. But so too had the opposing side. Kiritsugu Emiya. A man he couldn't read. A man who kept shwoing up where there was war, where there was a chance he would die. It seemed to him that just like him, Kiritsugu Emiya had no wish. He was simply in this war to fight for someone else.

Something about that infuriated the apprentice mage.

Through Tokiomi's plan, Kirei had been the first to summon his servant and now here they were in Fuyuki at the Tohsaka manor. Tokiomi awaited him downstairs but before he went down he wanted to get answers from Assassin about the perimeter and how the situation was. Assassin was an interesting choice for him, one who strikes from the shadows. Not only was it an odd choice for Kirei, his servant thought the same.

"Assassin, you may show yourself," he called out to the empty room and with a puff of smoke his Assassin appeared before him. Appearance wise, the man looked nothing like an assassin, but in Kirei's eyes that was the key to an expert assassin, one who couldn't be picked out from the crowd. Yet it appeared Tokiomi wasn't too sure of the servant's abilities to be an Assassin, and neither was Assassin.

Watching his servant there, Kirei wondered if he actually had a chance in the coming war. It also occurred to him that this could be his last battle he would ever fight. Not the grail war, but the war against his own mind, trying to fight his own self doubt and loss of direction. And from what he had said, Assassin was willing to help.

Before him stood a man with a sincere smile who was drinking a soda, fiddling with the straw so there wasn't too much of an annoying noise. He had shaggy brown hair, like a brush had been ran through it in haste, and a slightly ill fitting red tie on a black suit and white shirt. From where he was, Kirei could see his wallet in his inside jacket pocket and his gun, slightly tucked away. From his wallet there glinted a police badge, one that Kirei was sure could come in handy.

"Sorry Kirei, didn't know when you needed me, but after a small wander I didn't see anything!" The servant laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "It looks like we're good to go in summoning Archer right! God this whole thing is so cool, like I get to work with some other Servant!"

Assassin's enthusiasm gave Kirei hope. "That's good, you did well, I have no idea why you'd think yourself unfit to be a hero." The very fact he seemed uneasy in telling Kirei his past worried him but he would be a hypocrite if he pushed any further. Assassin laughed, rubbing the back of his head again. As he did so, Kirei was sure he spotted his eyes change to yellow for a brief second, just like the visions in the dreams he'd been having. He shook his head. More important matters were at hand.

Tokiomi Tohsaka was awaiting his arrival, standing before the circle with a light smile that exuded pride and confidence. "Kirei, you're just in time, the incantation is over!" He spread his arms with a magnificent flair, the lines laid out in the formation shining as the pair of men and the servant watched a bright light flash. Tokiomi's eyes gleamed bright. There was a chance the great hero Gilgamesh would not be summoned, as Kirei's false Servant had proven. But, Kirei was inexperienced, the Tohsaka's would never make such a fatal mistake in summoning!

As the lights flashed and the fog cleared, the sound of metal jangling could be heard. Could it be? The sound of metal boots clanging against the floor that announced the arrival of the King of Heroes? There was a chuckle emanating from the fog and suddenly, Tokiomi's face fell. A smirk concealed well on his apprentice's face didn't stop Tokiomi from stepping forward. That hair...the straw like colour. The man's whole outfit.

"Is this some sort of joke! You are not Gilgamesh of the Archer class!" He shouted at the servant with an accusing finger. This stopped the figure in his tracks who cocked his head with a confused look.

"Pardon me, uh master," the man started, looking around as the fog cleared completely, adjusting his hat on his head, taking another step in his boots causing the spurs to jangle once more. "I ain't that Gilgamesh guy, never heard of him, name's Hol Horse of the Archer Class, at your service!" A dumb grin and a thumbs up hand signal stopped Tokiomi, his head falling to his feet.

This was just great. At least this man...this cowboy. He'd have just as much power, pride, confidence, skill and intelligence as Gilgamesh, right?

Kirei chuckled lightly watching this newly summoned servant trying and failing to light a cigarette.

Park, Fuyuki

The chickens were useful after all, even after causing all that commotion back at the house. Waver sighed as he finished the preparations for the ritual and observed the blood circle. Okay that was a bad way to think about it Waver c'mon get your head in the game. The student checked for anyone nearby and was pleased no one had seen him during the whole process. Worst case scenario was someone else partaking in the war watching him do all this. Then he'd be easy pickings. He didn't know who else was involved, how could he? It was by chance he had the artefact.

Kayneth was arrogant and self-righteous! That idiot didn't deserve to even participate in this Holy grail War. After all that research he had conducted in the library, Waver had made the decision to fly to Fuyuki and participate and try his best to win! After all, even he would be able to summon a powerful servant with an artefact like this. He was weak and not as skilled as the other mages in this war, but he wanted to prove himself. Show all those assholes at the clocktower that he wasn't just a nerdy pushover, he was a mage too! He was going to make them see him as that!

The incantation began to spill from his lips, something he'd memorised almost perfectly so there wouldn't be any mistakes. he couldn't afford any stupid mistakes like he made back at the Clock Tower. Waver velvet clenched his fists tight, the symbol of a master on his Hand. As the words ceased, her opened his eyes that he had closed at some point during the casting, staring out at the preparations as he watched the spell begin to take affect. He stumbled back, his hair getting blown wildly by the sudden unnatural wind. A bright flash hit his eyes as he brought his arm up to shield his eyes and it was over.

Smoke billowed from the scene as he spluttered, looking up to see a figure step from the smoke. The first thing Waver spotted was the figure's face, a sharp face with a feature that really took him aback. This wasn't a hero from the past of Macedonia...no way. The orange eye cover, that wasn't from the past, no way! The figure's white jacket and regal attire were way too well designed to be that of the King of Conquerors!

The blue tail-end of the jacket flowed smoothly, like the man was accustomed to it, almost enjoying the feeling of being summoned as he walked a smug look on his face, suddenly dropping to one knee and his hand on his heart. "Greetings master, I am the servant of the Rider class, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Waver stumbled again before composing himself. This guy...was he really going to be a powerful rider? But, he did seem like a loyal fighter, a gentleman some would say but none of that mattered if Waver couldn't show his own servant that he was capable.

Somewhere in Fuyuki

Ryuunosuke Uryu, a man with red hair, purple jacket and a malicious grin on his face was pacing a room. Just casual pacing, he wasn't going really fast or really slow, nothing sinister about it at all. The gagged child would disagree with him, the corpses of his family on the sofa and himself unable to get up. Ryuunosuke didn't care, he thought they were all having a grand old time, the book in his hands was something passed from his ancestors and after finishing reading the page out loud he tossed it aside and sighed. Nothing happened, no demons or anything. Maybe there was a delay? Yeah that would be it, now to deal with the sacrifice.

"Hey kid!" He announced, turning around to the kid on the verge of tears on the floor. Again, just ordinary stuff, no reason to make it weird. Yeah the cops would disagree but it wasn't like he was some sort of sex creep. "I hope you're ready, there's a demon coming for you! And when he comes, you are going to be my sacrifice, you'll actually help the world! You're going to help my killing!"

The kid's screams were blocked out by his captor's laughter and the gag of course. But neither of them expected what happened next. A figure concealed by shadows emerged from a pool of blood, bright light shining from the blood Uryu had cast aside. Eyes wide and giddy with excitement, Uryu watched as his demon was summoned, the demon opened its eyes and the shadows dispersed, revealing itself.

It's blue hair hung loosely, her feminine facial features clearly showing she wasn't a demon and her dainty blue and white dress also showed that. She wasn't a classical demon, but Ryuunosuke didn't care, as long as it worked, he wasn't a sexist or anything, you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover. The girl blinked as she looked around and eyes locked on him, narrowing them slightly.

"Hey uh, nice to meet you demon, I'm Ryuunosuke Uryu, pleased to meet you, my hobbies include murder, eating, watching movies. I'm happy to do whatever you want just ask!" He grinned wide and bowed to her. "I've got a sacrifice for you, it should keep you ehre longer right?"

The girl cocked her head and smiled wide too, laughing lightly and hopping over to the small boy and touching him on the forehead. "Oooh you seem fun to play with! You know this is a game right? The Holy grail War sounds like such a fun game! Now I can play with humans like frogs!"

The boys screams were cut off as he became suddenly cold, from where she touched, a blue mark spread, his skin turning to ice as he shook with the cold before going suddenly stiff and without movement, the kid frozen solid. Uryu watched with intrigue, this was so fucking cool it was like Batman and Robin but good.

"Now unthaw!" The girl commanded, as the kid suddenly shattered into hundreds of pieces, the pieces of what used to be warm flesh, now shards of ice as they hit the floor where the kid once was. Ryuunosuke's face was that of wonder and awe like a child on Christmas morning. His cheers were in the back of her mind as she sighed and turned to him with a bright smile. "Is there anywhere we can go? I'm hungry and I don't eat flesh."

Ryuunosuke was lost for words as he nodded quickly and started prancing out, his Caster in tow as she looked at the mess and made a gagging noise. Man this was one weird world.

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