Emiya Shirou frowned as he looked over the reports in front of him.

"Why are people so stupid," he muttered to himself. Ten years. It had been ten years since the last Holy Grail war. Since the Magus Association had refused to believe the Grail was corrupted and refused to dismantle the Greater Grail, the war was starting again. Strangely, the stories of corruption that had filtered out had seemed to rekindle interest in the cup. Three different families were currently showing interest in joining the festivities.

"Because people have always been stupid. You know that, Emiya-kun," Rin said carelessly and Shirou lifted his head to smile at her. She was lounging on the sofa, wearing a black turtleneck and tight blue jeans.

Tohsaka Rin was as beautiful as she was deadly. Ten years had added maturity to her already remarkable beauty. After leaving the Clock Tower they had travelled the world together, selling their services, not just for money, but for justice. Along the way Rin had honed her mystical art into a lethal killing dance. Shirou knew that wasn't the best thing for her, really, but he couldn't regret any moment of it.

Then his cell phone buzzed and Shirou picked it up.

The assassin homunculus is leaving the house, alone, Shirou's friend and associate, a man named Daniel, said. Shirou nodded.

"Take him out." If the assassin homunculus was stupid enough to leave from the front door they weren't going to turn down the opportunity. The Lupei clan was the hardest of hard targets and a lot of it had to do with the little monster they'd spawned. How they had managed to create something so intrinsically deadly mystified Shirou – the Lupei weren't really noted for making the best homunculi, usually settling for mere dolls – but that thing was brutal.

Sure thing. The laconic reply came back and Shirou smiled as he went back to the reports, studying the ones on the Yggdmillenials. They were basically an overarching group and the individual members were rather independent, so while the main organization was deciding to sit it out, it looked likely some of the younger set might become involved in the Grail War. Shirou had several contacts there – not spies, closer to friends – and they'd given him the names of the ones they thought were likeliest to get involved.

"This one is troublesome," Shirou muttered as he looked over one particular dossier. Belle Laveau Yggdmillenial. The middle name wasn't hers, she'd taken it from a noted voodoo practitioner. Belle was actually a first-generation magus who favored a bastardized form of African magic. The Clock Tower would look down on that, but Shirou knew better. That kind of magic tended to operate on a 'whatever works' basis and could be brutally effective. A wintery smile crossed his lips as he thought about it. The Clock Tower's reach did not extend to Africa and people there still believed in magic, because they knew damned well it was real. The Clock Tower had successfully portrayed them to the rest of the world as superstitious fools, though.

Shaking away the thought, Shirou looked hard at the dossier again. He was reluctant to assassinate Belle before it was even known if she intended to join the Holy Grail war. Apparently she was completely mum on the subject, which struck his contact as suspicious. Still… Shirou shook his head and set the dossier aside. Not yet. Of course, Rin noticed what he was doing.

"She's not worth your compassion, Shirou. The kind of magic she uses almost guarantees human sacrifices," Rin said and Shirou grimaced. He knew that but…

"It's possible she's only using animals, Rin. Leaving that aside, she's not the best target anyway. We should go after some of the confirmed players like the Lupei." And they were a hard target. Rin suddenly frowned, sitting up from where she'd been lounging on the sofa.

"Shirou. Shouldn't Daniel have called back by now?" Rin said and Shirou paused. He should have. A simple sniping from a high-powered rifle, it should have gone off without a hitch. The little homunculus wasn't a magus, just a tool of murder. Picking up his phone, Shirou pulled the number out of his contact list. No answer. Shirou frowned and fired off a quick text. "Give him five minutes." Maybe something had come up.

Five minutes seemed like an eternity.

"Shit," Shirou said before pocketing his cell phone. Rin was already standing, a frown on her face. "Let's go." Something had gone wrong, Shirou was absolutely sure of it.

Leaving their base of operations, a small boarding house, Shirou weaved his motorcycle through London's traffic, Rin clinging to his back. Shirou pushed his speed well past the legal, Rin assisting him with a few enchantments to make sure they weren't stopped. It was still a solid half-hour before they arrived close enough to the Lupei's to check on their sniper.

When they found him, they both knew there was nothing they could do.

"Daniel…" Shirou felt a deep pain in his heart as he looked at the body. "God damnit." Why had he given that order? If he hadn't… and Daniel had a wife. What was he going to tell her? Taking a deep breath, Shirou put that concern aside for a moment as he bent over the body. Then he frowned. This was a strange wound, almost like a thin dagger? Or an arrow? But if it was an arrow, it should still have been lodged in the wound.

"Shirou, the bounded field on the Lupei residence is gone," Rin said and Shirou blinked, lifting his head to gaze at the two-story building that housed the Lupei's. "I think they've moved."

"Shit," Shirou muttered. That would explain why the homunculus was going out the front door. "Let's check it out but be on guard for traps." They were old hands at this, Shirou wasn't worried.

Rin and Shirou broke into the Lupei residence with the aplomb of seasoned burglars. However, their stealth proved to be unnecessary.

"My god, what happened here?" Shirou felt stunned as he looked over the blood splatters. Rin was kneeling beside the body, an older man, and Shirou bent over it with her. The wounds were not the same as the ones on Daniel's body. This seemed to have been inflicted with a shorter, thicker blade, close to a short sword. Rin moved to her feet.

"Let's check the rest of the house," she said and Shirou nodded. They moved through the Lupei residence without resistance and soon found all the other bodies. "All killed the same way," Rin said and Shirou nodded, frowning. "But what could have bypassed the wards so easily?"

"The homunculus…" Even as he said that, though, Shirou knew it was wrong. The Lupei homunculus couldn't possibly have killed his creators, it had to be against his programming. Although. "Could someone else have gained control over it and made it do this?" That might make sense. Rin looked pensive.

"It could be. That would be like slipping a bomb in under the Lupei's noses. But we haven't checked the basement yet," Rin said and Shirou nodded. They needed to thoroughly investigate the home. As they walked through the house again, though, Shirou noticed something unsettling.

"Rin, it looks like someone used the fireplace very recently." Shirou paused and hovered a hand over the coals. "They're still hot." And there was a lot of ashes. Shirou grimaced as he looked at them. Something important had gone in here, he was absolutely certain of it. Rin sighed softly.

"There's nothing we can do about that. The basement?" she reminded him and Shirou nodded. They went to the basement door and walked downstairs.

As soon as they did, they both saw the same thing. An full summoning circle, drawn in blood and still thrumming with power.

"Shit!" Shirou's perspective of the situation suddenly changed. "Rin, the homunculus. Do you think…?" That thing had been created as a tool of murder. Could it have completed a summoning? Rin examined the circle for a long moment before nodding.

"This is real and it's been used. Yes, the homunculus has summoned a Servant." Shirou swallowed at the thought. "He must have Mage Circuits. I don't understand though. That shouldn't be possible for a flesh doll and the Lupei's can't make homunculi like the Einzberns." Rin was thinking aloud. "Unless they used a fetus? That's very old style and a bit time consuming, but very reliable." Shirou felt another chill.

"If they did that, they likely used their own bloodlines," Shirou said and Rin looked at him with a frown. "Did the homunculus take the Lupei Mage Crest for itself?" The Mage Crests had been taken, the condition of the bodies made that obvious. It was no surprise though, they were worth literally millions in ransom to the remaining family. "Shit Rin, that thing has Mage Circuits, a Servant and now a Crest, along with whatever else the Lupei's did with it. And it burnt all the records about itself." Shirou didn't know that but it was an extremely good guess. "It's a menace." They already knew the homunculus was an able assassin with skills equivalent to an Executor.

"Yes, we need to have it taken care of first thing," Rin said decisively and Shirou nodded, utterly resolved. "We need to get everyone we have onto locating it."

"Right." Although Shirou didn't think it would be easy. The homunculus had most likely covered its tracks well. Ideally, the would find it and eliminate it before it reached Fuyuki. But if not, they would kill it there.

The Holy Grail War had to be stopped.


First mission. Easy missions. Killing humans. Heretics that cannot be allowed to live, but nothing too difficult. Early missions.

These are not my memories.

Harder missions. The feel of a rifle, the comforting weight. Not all the enemies are human now. Black keys work well on vampires but too difficult to use. A holy weapon, a short sword, a gift from his father. Ending unholy lives.

I do not want this.

Endless missions, lifetime of experience, embedding itself in muscle memory. Adapting to a smaller body. Flesh and bone, bone and blood.

Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it!

Test after test after test. Running through obstacles courses. Fighting against an old man, so old yet still so strong. The man whose memories were running through his mind and imprinting on his soul.

I hate you. I hate you.

But the man is kind to him, in his way. He is just getting paid. Paid to share the wealth of knowledge his mind holds. He's an old man, his pension isn't enough. Hate shifts to other targets. The ones who paid for this.

I hate you. I hate you.

They are not kind. Training hurts. Punishments, tortures. He is a tool, not a person. Homunculus. Forced to grow, forced to fight, forced to learn. Mage Circuits forced open until they burn. Gold imprinted into his body, burning more as it melds with the Circuits. It feels like his bones are melting. Excruciating.

I hate you. I hate you.

Hate.

Hate.

I HaTE YoU!


Arjuna awoke from his reverie with a start, hate still burning in his mind like a cancer. It fizzled out as it found no target and Arjuna blinked.

Master? Seeking for a moment told him the boy was still asleep. Arjuna materialized beside him, looking at his Master in concern. He was shifting restlessly, like he was in the grip of a fever dream and Arjuna could feel the burning hatred still radiating from him. Frowning, he bent down and gently gripped the child's shoulder.

The reaction was sudden and violent. Arjuna's eyes went wide as his wrist was grasped with bone breaking strength and his Master surged up, aquamarine eyes wide and empty. If he'd been a normal human, Arjuna would certainly have broken a wrist and likely ended with a dislocated shoulder, as the boy tried to yank his arm behind him. But Arjuna was a Servant and despite his little Master's abnormal strength, he was able to twist free. Arjuna grasped thin shoulders and shook the boy violently.

"Master!" he said sharply and aquamarine eyes blinked, losing that frightening blankness.

"Arjuna…?" the boy said groggily before his eyes sharpened. Then he suddenly hissed, bending over, a hand on his belly. "The Crest… I used it…" his Master muttered and Arjuna's lips tightened. He knew very little of magecraft but he could see how much pain his Master was in. He gently put an arm around the boy and guided him back to the bed. "I attacked you. I'm sorry," his Master said thickly.

"It is my fault for waking you too abruptly," Arjuna said as soothingly as he could manage. It was something of a lie, what he had done had been a normal action. Yet, the boy's reaction had been involuntary, he could see that. "How should I waken you in the future?" he asked and aquamarine eyes flickered up to him. Arjuna was struck again by the weariness in them.

"…Yell in my ear or use your mental connection. I react badly to sudden, unexpected touches," he said and Arjuna grimaced internally. He could guess why.

"I am sorry. I should have thought," Arjuna said and the boy shook his head before giving him a wan smile.

"Not your fault. Why did you wake me?" the child asked and Arjuna hesitated, unsure how to answer. Then his Master frowned, aquamarine eyes fixing on his face. "Wait, were you seeing my dream?"

"I…" How to answer that? "Yes, Master, I am afraid I was," Arjuna admitted and the child looked stricken for a moment before shaking his head.

"To make me what I am in two years – that's how long it took – it was a harsh training," the boy muttered and Arjuna certainly believed it. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I'm awake now. Is there anything to drink?"

"I will get you something." His Master shouldn't be moving more, he'd already overstrained himself. The Mage Crest was still integrating, he should not be using it. Arjuna went to the kitchen and poured his Master a cup of water. As he carried it back, he wondered. What should he call the boy? If his Master was serious about giving him permission to name him, Arjuna wanted to think of the best possible name. Karna was obvious but unpalatable. What else would be suitable?

When he got back to the room, Arjuna paused for a moment in the doorway. His young Master was lying in the bed, his eyes closed and he looked terribly young and frail. The weakness was an illusion, Arjuna knew that, but it still tugged on his heart.

"Master, I have your water," Arjuna said with a soft smile. The child opened his eyes and smiled back, before sitting up and taking the glass. As he did the blanket fell down, revealing white skin, golden runes and heavy bandages. "How are you feeling?" Arjuna asked as his Master drank.

"I've been worse," he said, wiping his lips with his hand before setting the glass on the nightstand. "Can you tell me more about your history now?" His Master looked up, white hair flopping over one eye and Arjuna couldn't help but smile. He was so much like a small child begging for a story.

"Certainly. Let me tell you about how I first met my greatest rival," Arjuna said easily, ignoring the faint pang he felt as he thought about Karna. Even if his Master was a reincarnation, it didn't matter. So instead of dwelling on it, he began telling the child about the archery competition and his first – very poor – introduction to his 'brother'. His young Master listened intently, aquamarine eyes wide and interested. Arjuna could not help but feel like he had a son again.

He knew it was mostly an illusion but it was still a good feeling.