FATE/DOWN THE CRIMSON PATH

P/N (SPR): Hello there, everyone~ Damn.. this writer sure do write fast. Well, one of her many unique traits anyway. Nevertheless, the amazing Tohsaka Rin or should I say... fatearcher (do check out her profile!) has done it again! Let's get the show going, shan't we?

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FATE. FATE BELONGS TO TYPE-MOON AND NASU KINOKO. I OWN ONLY MY OC. ANY RESEMBLENCE TO REAL PERSON OR PEOPLE ARE MERE COINCIDENCE. NO FINANCIAL PROFIT IS MADE FROM THIS. THIS IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

CHAPTER 1

Saudi Arab

Emiya Shirou wiped away the sweat at his brow and sighed. His backpack felt heavier than it was an hour ago. Not that he was complaining or anything. Inside it were some things he hoped would cheer the children up a little. He was heading to a little village where they had little contact with the outside world, and was suffering both physically and mentally due to the harsh condition they were living.

True, he was no longer striving towards a Hero of Justice who wanted to save everyone. People from ten years ago had awaken him from his ideals. His ideals were flawed. It was not wrong for him for wanting to be a Hero of Justice. However, there was no way he could save everyone. All he needed to do was to help as much as he could, but without hurting him in the process. He understood now, that only by being alive himself, could he save more people, to actually help more of those who needed him. That was his way of becoming a hero now.

He stood up straight and squinted into the horizon. Amid the blazing heat, he could make out the shape of a village. Just a few more hours of hike away... He took another step forward, and something dropped from his pocket. He bent down, and saw a very familiar red pendant. Shirou picked it up, and carefully dusted the sand off it. There was still some mana in it, but it was clearly insufficient to even perform a simple spell.

Tohsaka...

His mind automatically wandered to the girl who saved his life. He never understood why someone like Tohsaka would waste such a powerful piece of jewellery to save him, who was a complete nobody at the time. If she had left him to his fate, then wouldn't it save her the trouble of killing him later in the war? To her, a Magus seeking the so called omnipotent wishing tool, didn't it mean leaving another Magus in the area dead reduces the chances of having to meet him or her in a life and death battle after saving the person's life? He never asked, and neither will he ever get the answer. But he did know that Sakura knew the question to the answer, because she had asked him about the pendant once.

He had offered to return the pendant to her as a memento of her deceased sister, but she had refused, saying that she had received something much more previous than that. That he, who was saved, should be the one to carry the pendant to remind himself not to waste the life he was once again given. She had said that Rin's sacrifice in the war should be remembered by all those who knew about the existence of it, and that her sacrifice would not be in vain.

The young boy had immediately understood the meaning of his junior. She was about to embark on a journey of revenge. He had tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined to have her sister's death avenged.

Tohsaka Rin was no more. Except for Illya, who was killed by Gilgamesh, she was the only other victim of the war. Nobody knew whether she was still alive, or was she really dead, as they find no corpse nor a living body at the battle grounds. It was as if she had never existed. But her younger sister, who came as a surprise to him when he knew, was sure that her sister was no more, and with reasons she refused to share.

"Ouch..." He groaned in pain as he felt a familiar searing pain on the back of his hand. He looked at it, already knowing what was going to appear. Sure enough, the three Command Seals appeared there, marking him once more as a participant in a ritual in the far east of the world. "Well, here we go again..."

Paris Catacombs

With another sweep of her hand, Luviagelita Edelfelt sent another pack of ghouls down. The familiars howled before finally turning to dust, and settled down around her. The blonde snorted, and threw away the used gems, taking out a new batch from her pocket. Almost immediately, another pack pounced on her out of nowhere, and she casted a spell in German before throwing the gems at the pack.

Without any hint of fear, the ghouls charged straight on, and got a full hit in the face as the gems exploded in various colours according to the type of precious stones they were. The ghouls immediately disintegrated into dust before they could make a sound. A few of them survived, as they were slow when the pack made the rash decision of challenging her straight on.

Not that they have any brains in them anyway...

Behind her, the atmosphere changed as she felt the presence of a powerful being. She turned around, and came face to face with a handsome young man, no more than twenty years old. But one look at his eyes told the trained mercenary he wasn't any ordinary Human. Those crimson red eyes were malevolent and blood thirsty and she could feel him dragging and digging at her soul even at a distance.

He bowed, his dark blue robes rustling as he did so. When he spoke, he had a very charming voice, one that every woman would've fall for, including her. Only her level of Magic Resistance allowed her to stay awake.

"My name is Easlan." He said, and she could see his sharp canine teeth protruding from his upper lips. "I am sorry for the trouble my Servants have caused you. They are quite undisciplined at times."

Luvia smirked, and took her stance. She wasn't going to take any chances. This guy's good, I'll give him that at least. "Oh? Are you trying to say that there is absolutely nothing to do with you?"

Easlan shook his head in denial. "That wasn't what I meant, young miss. What I mean it that they should give you a proper welcoming. After all, it's impolite to leave the guest standing on the ground when they are just bugs which should be pinned down, correct?"

When his last words fell, packs came in from the front and back. This time, she even spotted a few higher ranked vampires among them. Shit, he's going all out! Luvia cursed in German and cast her only five count aria, and a bounded field formed around her. The lower ranked ghouls immediately disintegrated with a howl, while the vampires retreated with injured limbs. Once the bounded field lose their power, they immediately charged once more. Her crest and magic circuits light up as she reinforced her body for physical combat.

"Don't have the idea that Magus know how to cast spells only. Nowadays, even martial art is important!" With an incoherent battle cry, she punched the vampire nearest to her and sent it crumbling into dust. Another kick from her, and two more went down like rag dolls.

"Interesting..." Easlan murmured as he watched on. With a wave from one hand, more of his familiars showed up.

Without any fear, she charged into the middle of the pack, punching and kicking her way through them as she pulled several gems from her pockets, chanting a spell. A sword buzzed over her head, missing her by an inch, and she turned to see a higher ranking vampire swinging a bone sword around like some sort of toy. More of its kind emerged, and she aimed the gems at them, blowing them into bits and pieces before they finally settled down as dusts. Her attack took out several of the lower ranked familiars too, and now their pack was snarling, ready to sink their bloodthirsty fangs into her.

Luvia cursed in German, as the man summoned up more ghouls. Though she was confident in her own abilities as a Magus, that was a little bit over her head. She was ready to give up, and fight the best she could until she die when she saw lights at the end of the tunnel. She smiled at him, and with a startled expression, turned to see more Magus closing in, cleansing flames which were blue in colour ready to be thrown.

He turned to the blonde and hiss. "I WILL MAKE SURE YOU ALL SUFFER BEFORE YOU DIE!"

"Make sure it's fun then." With another cry, she charged towards the nearest pack of ghouls, and the rest of the team joined her.

Clock Tower

Bazett Fraga McRemitz watched in mix awe and surprised at her childhood hero in front of her who gobbled steak down faster than she could cast a spell. Just like how the legends had claimed he would be, Ireland's Son of Light was a bestial man in his own way. His blue hair, crimson red eyes, to his finely toned body, Bazett found no flaw in the man before her. In fact, she found him quite adorable.

"Nice..." He commented, as he wolfed down another steak, the sauce dribbling down his chin. He wiped it away from a hand and gulped down the wine. "Never thought that future would have something like this."

Bazett leaned back in her chair and sighed, silently regarding Lancer who was acting like a tourist instead of a warrior. She couldn't blame him though. After all, the Grail War had yet to begin, and even if it had already begun, they were thousands of miles away from Fuyuki.

"You know, Lancer, you're here to fight." She remarked rather lamely.

He opted to put down his fork and took things seriously. "Yeah, I'm aware of that. That's the reason I answered your summoning, remember?"

She blushed, and look away. "Flatterer..."

Lancer laughed good humourously. "Well, people normally say that I'm a womanizer, and I concede the point. Putting that aside, how's your arm?"

"Oh, this?" She waved her stump. "Never mind it. I can fight even with one hand, so don't you worry about it. What about you, Lancer? Any confidence? Or anything worth you looking forward to?"

He thought about the question, and finally answered with a toothy grin. "Yeah, there was this one girl whom I asked to come back to me once she had a few more years on her. Wonder how's she's doing now."

Bazett stuttered, and blushed. "Lancer!" She said quite sharply, and the Servant of the Spear laughed at the sight. After a moment of calming herself down, she asked. "I'm curious to know the name of the young lady who seemed to catch your attention. She might become a potential threat to our pact."

"Well, don't be. I'm quite loyal to my lord once my pact is sealed. If not for the existence of the Command Seals, I would've killed that rabid dog back then." He said with a growl, but his expression immediately softened. "As for the little missy I talked about, I think she goes by the name Tohsaka Rin."

Bazettt's eyes widened at the name. "Tohsaka you say?" She asked in confirmation.

"Yeah, quite a charming little girl. Pig-tailed black hair, glimmering aquamarine eyes. My type idea where she is now?"

She averted his gaze. "Rin...she passed on ten years ago."

"What?!" Lancer exclaimed, shocked to his feet. "How? When? Where? Why? Who?"

"It's...it's a long story." She answered.

Lancer sat down again, and shrugged. "Well, fortunately for us, time is the only thing we have before the stupid war begin."

Ryuudou Temple

Again, Ryuudou Temple was her choice of base. The mountain was situated on top of one of the major leylines in the city. And as a Caster, she's only formidable if she was able to set up a really good base. Though there were other places like the mountain, the locations weren't as secluded as this one. One was the Tohsaka manor, which of course she would keep her distance away from. The other was the church, but she had some... bad encounters back there, so she was quite unwilling to return to the place. And the final place was a park.

What kind of Magus set up her workshop somewhere that open? She thought to herself as she swept through the corridors in the temple. Monks eyed her with a weird look, but mental interference did the trick, and the monks went on with their daily routines. Sensing mana signatures from a nearby room, she headed towards the direction, and sure enough, she found her young Master, trying to persuade a monk to let him out from the temple grounds.

"Master, I thought I told you to stay in your room?" Caster asked softly.

The boy turned to look at her and crossed his arms. Dark black hair, swept over one eye. His eyes were dark brown. Though he was young, barely thirteen, his body was well trained and he had fairly good muscles. Currently, he was dressed in a black T-shirt and over it a black jacket, along with a pair of black pants and black sport shoes. Caster had thought his taste in clothes to be rather, weird.

Black all over. What's wrong with this boy and black?

"Stay out of my business, woman." He said acidly.

Caster on the other hand, didn't seem to be offended. She asked to the monk to leave them, and immediately after the monk left, her face turned black. "I can't actually stay out of it, if things concern you. Because if you die, I disappear too."

Akabane Shinichi merely snorted. "I don't give a damn over the cup you spirits are fighting for. If you want to fight, don't drag me into it, though I don't mind supplying you with mana to keep you going."

She bowed. "Thank you for your generosity, Master. However, I must insist that you stay within the temple grounds for the time being, for it is easier for me to guard you here."

Shinichi waved, dismissing the idea, and turned away. "No, I'm not staying in this junk yard without any Wi-Fi access."

Inwardly, Caster groaned. Since when are Magus so obsessed with modern technology? Have magus in the Age of Human sunken so low they had to rely on those mundane toys?

"Master, it's just two weeks..." She began to say, but the boy turned around and shouted in her face.

"TWO WEEKS?!" He shouted angrily. "You expect me to stay here for two weeks? Not a chance. I need to go to school, I need to hang out with my friends, and most importantly, I can't survive without my phone being connected to the Internet!"

Caster sighed. "But Master, your safety is my top priority."

"Still, I refuse to stay here. Unless you do something about me being able to go on with my normal life while I'm stuck to you, then my answer will remain as no."

The Servant of the Spell sighed again. This is going to be a long night...

"Servant Assassin, at your service." Sasaki Kojirou greeted in a monotone as he coolly regarded the man who managed to summon him aside from the witch.

His Master was tall and lean in stature, his features seemed to be chiselled out from stone, his face cleanly shaven, his eyes glowed sea blue, his golden hair stood up like a blazing flame, much like that man, Gilgamesh. The only significant difference was that this one had no crimson eyes or a thorny attitude which could rub people in the wrong way.

"Assassin huh? I was hoping for a Saber." When he spoke, his voice was deep and commanding.

What's with Magus and their obsession with the Saber class? I know that technically the Saber class is the strongest; however, there might be exceptions to it.

Assassin bowed in respect once more. "Do hear me out, my Master. I may have been summoned in the Assassin class, but my swordsmanship is on par with a Saber class Servant."

His Master, whom he had yet to know his name, sat down on a nearby chair and crossed in legs. "Oh? Do not jest me, you mongrel. Who do you think you are? Even if you claim to be on par with a Saber, stat wise you have already lost. Do you seriously think that a mere Servant of the Shadow can be on par of real swordsman?"

Assassin gritted his teeth in anger. And now he is seriously behaving like that golden boy. "Master, have you no faith in me? The man whom you summoned to get the Holy Grail for you? Must you disgrace with such words before you have even seen my strength?"

He laughed. "What did you just say? That I don't know of your strength? It is because I know about the full potential of the fictional man named Sasaki Kojirou, that I wish for such a man to be summoned into the Saber class? There's no other class more fitting to a swordsman like you."

He smiled this time. "What? You thought I was trying to offend you? Do not think of such a thing, my Servant. My choice of words may hurt at times, but please be assured that I want the best for you. Besides, it was just a test for me to know whether your loyalty will lie with me. After all, I enter this war to fight other people, not to be killed by my own summoned ally."

He bowed again. "Your name, my lord?"

"Nobunaga Karma. I look forward to working with you."

Jubstacheit von Einzbern sat at the head of the table, chairing the family meeting. The elders gathered around the table all spoke in hushed tones and worried expressions, as they had never seen so many combat homunculi gathered in the meeting room with full battle gear on.

"Silence."Jubstacheit's deep voice sounded, and everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the head of the family. "As you all know, the next Heaven's Feel will be starting soon. In the previous war, we lost one of our best homunculus, and yet the war was a complete lost. From all the information we had been gathering, it concludes that the cause of our defeat is due to our lack of ability in the combat field. Therefore, things must take a serious change from now."

One of the elders raised his hand. "Lord Acht, have we no tried out the option? In the fourth war, we hired a man who was adept in killing Magus, much to our dislike, and even letting him become part of the family. Yet he failed to bring us the Holy Grail, even destroying more than half of the city in his quest."

He nodded. "I concede the point. That's why, we Einzberns will only depend on Einzberns. We will attain Third Magic with our own hand, with our own strength. There is no need for us to rely on outsiders."

"Lord Acht, I'm sorry, but what I will say is a fact. Differing from the other two Founding Family, our family is adept only in alchemy, that is the reason we chose to involve ourselves in Atlas rather than the Clock Tower. Besides, there's no time to train or make more combat homunculi."

Jubstacheit nodded once more at the point. "You are right in a way. There is no time to build up more combat power. But what if we already have one that is on par with proficient Magus?"

Hushed whisperings broke out, and he allowed it to stop before he continued. "From the information we have gathered from the past Grail Wars, we have sufficient intelligence to make a high resistant homunculus, one that is able to withstand many injuries, and with auto-regenerating ability so long as mana still circulates in the body. Furthermore, from the losses of countless combat homunculi over the centuries, we too have been able to gather much data on combat, and plant all these into the mind of our best homunculus made yet."

The great oaken door opened without a sound and a striking young man stepped into the room. Tall, young, titanium-blond hair, ruby red eyes. He was not dressed in formal regalia of an Einzbern, or the full armour of a combat homunculus. He was dressed in simple black attire, just like how the assassin they had hired. But the power the elders felt was much more than any combat homunculi they had made.

"Ferdinand von Einzbern, our best creation yet. Together with the combat homunculi, he will bring us victory."

The homunculus bowed in respect to the assembled elders.

Emiya Shirou double checked the magic circle he had drawn earlier, and satisfied that there was no mistake in it. He stepped into the magic circle and began his chant, the hand boring the Command Seal outstretched.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat it five times. And as each is fulfilled, it must be destroyed."

In Germany, under the watchful eyes of the family elders, Ferdinand performed the summoning. The catalyst was a piece of stone slab, the same catalyst used by Illyasviel von Einzbern ten years ago.

"A foundation of silver and iron. Above it rests the cornerstone and the great Archduke of Contracts. Above them, my ancestor, the great Master Schweinorg. Become the wall that repels the gale. The four gates close tightly. Now burst forth from the crown. And follow the winding path that leads the three forked kingdom."

Meanwhile, Luvia began her summoning as well. Without a catalyst, she hoped to summon a Servant aligned to her.

"I call to thee. Thy body, borne of my will. My fate, resting on your sword. If thou will bend to my will, my justice, heed the Grail's call and give your answer."

Shirou's magic circle lighted up. "I swear before you. I will become all the good of this world, and I will eradicate all the evil in the world."

Ferdinand narrowed his eyes at the light. "Seven Heavens, clad in the three holy souls, cast your shackles aside and come forth, Guardian of the Scales."

The magic circle flared up in a brilliant light, and Heroic Spirits who answered the call stood before their respective Masters.

A massive giant, with bulging muscles, holding a giant sword axe, which looked more like a piece of stone slab, and emanating a blood-thirsty lust stood before Ferdinand. The Servant's roared sent ripples of energy into the air. Hercules, the divine hero, summoned into the Berserker class.

A certain Heroic Spirit with tanned skin, silver eyes and white hair, with red and black armour stood in the middle of a summoning circle, looking very much shocked by the one who summoned him. A blonde, with a little resemblance to Tohsaka Rin.

Emerging from the summoning circle was a young blonde with emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a blue war dress, and clad in silver armour. In her right hand, the wind swirled, hiding away the sword which would give away her identity. The air of royalty that surrounded her was different from what he had felt ten years ago. King Arthur had found her truth path in her kingship. "I ask of you, are you my Master?"

BTS...

Rin: I missed this series.

Caster: Oh ho? You missed the series or you missed the guy in the series?

Rin: *blushed* Why you..., Caster!

Lancer: Oh God, why must you tease her so, Caster dear?

Caster: *grins* I love seeing her blush.

Rin: Wh-what?

Saber: Indeed, Tohsaka's blushing.

Caster: Saber-chan!

Shirou: Hey, hey.

Rin: Shirou?

Lancer: *sigh* Here we go again. Another reunion.

A/N:

Hi guys! So here we are again, at the end of another chapter. So, first of all, another thanks to my publisher, SPR, for taking her time out for publishing and updating this fic. I love you, cousin. Second, my dear friend Caster for her BTS. Thank you both for taking time off to help me. Next, a token of gratitude to those who reviewed, followed and favourited this. Thank you very much for the motivation, I'll do my best on this fic.

On to the main point, so this is basically about the background of those who are joining the war, so you all have a insight to their personalities first. Next chapter will feature some action, probably with Lancer in it. He always take the lead, and I intend to keep that up.

Last but not least, please R&R. Thanks, and see you all next time!

- Tohsaka Rin.