Alright, let's get this show on the road.

Most of ytou've already seen this chapter, but bear with me alright? Don't spoil it for the others.

Rest assured, I'm still working on my other works. Just clearing some brain space.

This one's a little long, but serves as a backstory to prior events, so run with it. If it borrows from the Fate/Zero prologue this was intentional, but i tried to avoid complete quotes for obvious reasons.

That said, on with the show!


Heaven's Feel.

Herwald von Einzbern sighed as he woke, rubbing the strains of sunlight out of his eyes with a groggy hand, even as he reached for the glasses which adorned his bedside cabinet.

"Happy Birthday, Herwald-kun." A gentle voice called out, the dark haired boy looking up just as the door to the room opened, revealing a plum-haired teenager of Japanese descent, dressed in a pink sweater over a blouse and skirt "How's it feel to be Eleven?"

"Guten Morgen, Sakura-san." The bespectacled youth yawned, covering his mouth politely as he did so, wincing as the plum haired young oman stepped forward to open the curtains of his rooom, letting the morning sunlight in "Is sister awake?"

"Ilya-chan is with Fujimura-sensei right now." The plum haired girl replied, smiling cordially at the youth, even as the sounds of screams filled the air, only partially covered by the revving of a motorcycle engine "They're testing out her new scooter."

"Gott im Himmel…" Herwald muttered, suppressing the urge to groan as he palmed his face, swinging his feet out from under the thick duvet and into the slippers he placed carefully at his bedside, turning to fix the bed sheets while Sakura tided around the room.

At almost Eleven years old, standing just under four foot, and with a lean, wiry build, the young Einsbern was hardly what one would consider an impressive looking specimen of a magus, lacking the hereditary swarthy build of the Einzbern males, or the willow grace of their females, though the latter was generally mediated towards the Homunculi the family were famous for producing.

Then again, the boy really shouldn't have expected either, after all he was, as most of the family were so fond of reminding him, a 'stray' that had been dumped into their lap by his adoptive father, right before the man had gone off to get himself killed.

According to rumour, the man had found him abandoned on the street, and brought him in to be raised along with his own daughter, Illyasviel, who had turned eight that same year. Herwald had no recollection of the man, understandable really, he'd only been a year old when he'd been brought to the Ancestral Einzbern home in the dark forests of Germany, but the few, scattered memories he retained depicted a kind, if saddened face, framed by messy black hair, far worse than even his own, and a prevailing smell of cigarette smoke.

From what little he'd learned, thanks to overhearing the chatter of the less guarded family members, Kiritsugu had betrayed the Einsbern family and run off for fear of his life, an act which usually resulted in execution. This was compounded by the fact the man was NEVER spoken of publically, and that there were no images of him in the castle, save for a sole, family photograph of him that belonged to Illyasviel, which depicted Kiritsugu standing behind her mother, Irisviel, who was seated with an infant Illyasviel in her lap.

Herwald had a marginally better memory of Irisviel, mainly because, prior to her departure and death, he had spent many hours in her company, and there were still portraits of her in Illyasviel's room, despite strong sentiment that they be taken down from the rest of the family. Illyasviel had put her foot down on the matter, an action that was backed up by Grandfather Jubstacheit, the old man making it abundantly clear that NOTHING was to interfere with Illyasviel's development, and that failure to comply would result in banishment…or worse.

And so the motion was dropped, and the young Homunculus was allowed to do as she pleased, though this naturally meant that the resentful members were forced to find a new vent for their frustrations, and so they turned on Herwald.

Perhaps 'turned' is a bit unfair a term, as it wasn't as if the Einzbern's treated him poorly. As one of the premiere Magus families, they had a reputation to uphold, and blaming a child for the actions of his parent, his ADOPTIVE parent no less, was simply not something they were willing to waste time on, time that would be better spent trying to find ways to uncover Akasha, the Root of all things, which many a Magus aspired themselves to.

And so Herwald was tolerated, at best, by the majority of the family, at the very least they ignored him, or refused to offer him support with his studies, citing if he couldn't stand on his own two feet, he didn't deserve any support. The only exceptions to this rule were the Castle's Homunculi, all female, who doted on the boy to the point the considered him one of their own, Grandfather Jubstacheit, who apparently saw some potential in him that the others refused to acknowledge, at least enough to ensure that the boy's training as a Magus wasn't completely disregarded, and of course, his elder step-sibling, Illyasviel.

His earliest memories of the girl was of her staring down at him as he lay in the crib she herself had once occupied, her crimson eyes filled with wonder, a kind smile on her face as she reached down to touch him, only for him to seize her finger with his pudgy little hand. Even after her parents had died, leaving her alone in the cold mansion, surrounded by unsympathetic relatives, the little Homunculus went out of her way to interact with the boy, occasionally helping him with his studies, but generally seeking him out solely for his company. Herwald, in turn, did what he could for her, whether it simply involved brushing her luxurious white hair, playing with her in the garden, cuddling next to her at night whenever neither could stand to be alone, or comforting her whenever her temper would flare at the mention of her abandonment was brought up by some of the younger family members.

Word soon reached them that, prior to dying from whatever wounds had been inflicted upon him during the 4th Grail War, Kiritsugu had adopted a child, a survivor of the resulting disaster that had almost levelled the city where the Wars were established. While Herwald, who had been adopted himself, failed to see the problem with this, Illyasviel had been inconsolable for weeks at the news, believing her father had replaced her, and had barricaded herself in her chambers.

It had taken Herwald weeks of reaching out to her to get his sister to emerge, but when she did she was no longer the innocent snow angel from his memories. She was still there, thankfully, evident in how she would continue to act as she had before, but he could tell there was something fundamentally different about her, a drive, a purpose, that had the terrible majesty of a glacier slowly bearing down on a hapless settlement. She had thrown herself into her studies, intent on preparing herself for the next war, which was scheduled to occur uncharacteristically early this time round. Herwald, not liking the way some of the less tactical members of the Family had reacted to this, had redoubled his OWN efforts as well, even going so far as to BEG Grandfather Jubstacheit to let him help shoulder the burden.

'I really should have seen it coming…' the youth sighed, shaking his head as he pulled his shirt off, staring at his wiry frame in the bedside mirror, not missing the look on Sakura's face, the slight flinch of the older girl's features at the sight of the markings which adorned his back, chest, and both his arms. At first glance, one might confuse the markings for the more traditional Thaumaturgical crests that are typically bestowed upon the heir of a Magus family, this, however, was a deceptive illusion, as Jubstacheit already possessed an heir, one that had survived the countless assassination attempts against them and was already coveting the old man's power.

The markings the boy possessed were, in fact, a complicated combination of the grafting process needed to create a Magus Crest, and a complex alchemical array, a two part system that combined the traditional European theory with the more ascetic methods of their eastern cousins. Admittedly, they worked remarkably similar to a Magus Crest, unsurprising really, since they WERE created from actual Magic Circuits, circuits that had been harvested courtesy of Jubstacheit's heir's 'thinning of the ranks' prior to being named as heir.

Since none of the 'donors' had the time to impart their spell knowledge, all it basically meant was that their untapped circuits were forcibly transferred into Herwald's markings, starting from when he was six, about five years before the 5th grail war, growing increasingly more complex and painful with each passing year, until finally, the markings covered both his arms, back, and the palms of both hands. The pain had been excruciating, like having hot pokers inserted into every nerve in his body. Every day had been a living hell, but Herwald had endured, his own magic, and the knowledge that he was doing this to help Illyasviel, spurring him onwards, until a year later, Jubstacheit had deemed him ready, and began his training.

He'd held no delusions back then, he knew, more than anyone, that Jubstacheit never did anything unless it benefitted him somehow. The old man had NEVER treated him like a member of the family, had only spoken kindly to Illyasviel as a means to control her, to guide her down her path towards winning the next Grail War, a war in which Herwald was to act as her sword and shield, for the Glory of Einzbern.

Herwald could care less about Einzbern, so far as he was concerned, the only 'family' he had within those walls were Illyasviel and the family Homunculi, two of which, Leysritt and Sella, had joined them on that auspicious day when they'd travelled to Fuyuki city to begin the war.

"The water should still be hot." Sakura assured him, smiling comfortingly at the youth, her plum coloured eyes lined with pity and understanding as she held out a towel and a change of clothes "I need to get Sempai up, he fell asleep in the shed again so we can have your party."

Herwald thanked the girl, accepting the proffered clothing and bathing wear before allowing her to leave first, making his way to the bathroom of the Emiya compound, once again marvelling at just how the 5th Grail war had played out.


Flashback, Fuyuki city, several months ago...

'So this is Fuyuki city.' Herwald noted, the adopted Einzbern eyeing the glittering city with a hint of approval that belied the childish wonderment that he couldn't keep from his ten-year-old face 'Bigger than I'd thought.'

He and Illyasviel had arrived earlier that day, using an ancestral portkey to travel to the Einzbern castle estate that lay just outside the city's borders. Let it never be said that the Einzbern forbears never thought ahead, the castle was pretty much a scaled down version of the one they were used to, even the floor layout was the same, though admittedly the rooms were slightly smaller to compensate.

Illyasviel had gone out to see the sights, despite the protests of Leysritt, Sella, and Herwald himself, the former of which insisted there was no need, while Herwald insisted it was too dangerous for her to go alone. Illyasviel had merely smiled, that deceptively childlike smile that never failed to make his heart soar, and assured him that she was fine, that she would be safe, and as much as he'd like to contest the fact, Herwald had to agree that it was highly unlikely that his adoptive sibling would come to an harm, not with HERACLES, of all people, contacted as her Servant.

That didn't stop him from tailing her though, for all his power Heracles was still, through the machinations of Jubstacheit, a Berserker Servant, and he wasn't about to trust his sibling's safety to a mindless animal. "Assassin." He whispered, his emerald eyes never leaving the deceptively small form of his sister as she walked down the street, "Any signs of the other Masters?"

"None, Master." The Servant replied, head bowed in submission as she crouched behind him, in the shadows, as was her preference.

Unlike Illyasviel, who had summoned the Berserker Heracles as her Servant, Herwald had been ordered to summon an Assassin, in order to compliment Heracles lack of Phantasms, as well as limit the selection of the other Masters. Hoever, the incarnation of Hassan-I-Sabbah he had summoned was hardly the 'Old Man of the Mountain' he'd been expecting. Standing at just under six foot, her lithe body coloured an ashen ebony, dressed in skin-tight breeches with a bared midriff, her only other cover being a cloth bikini and her traditional ashen skull mask, Assassin exhibited a deadly grace that would probably have drawn a few looks if her master wasn't a prepubescent.

Herwald had to supress the urge to shiver at the sight of her ashen skull-mask, for some strange reason it just seemed to remind him of something horrible, something EVIL, despite the fact that Assassin had been nothing but obedient to him since day one. "Keep an eye out for now." He ordered, keeping his voice low, lest he draw Berserker's attention, and by proxy Illyasviel's, to his presence, only to pause hesitantly "What about…HIM?"

"Yes," Assassin acknowledged, her head bowing again as she continued to kneel "As you requested, I tracked the boy down and observed him without drawing attention to myself." She looked up, the darkened holes in her mask peering up at him speculatively "He does not appear to be a master, nor much of a Magus if what little I witnessed is any example, though he appears to be associated with the Makiri heir."

Herwald grimaced, an wave f bile rising in the back of his throat that he quickly squashed. The Makiri were one of the Co-founders of the Grail war, along with the Tohsaka Family, who ironically enough OWNED the land Fuyuki was built on, and the Einzberns. It was the work of Makiri that devised the Servant System for the War, who had crafted the Spell Crests needed to control the Epic Heroes, in their bid to help witness the Heaven's Feel. However, the family had fallen in recent years, what with the decline of their ability to produce magical heirs, in fact it was widely speculated that the line would die out within a generation or two.

'Good riddance.' Herwald muttered, shuddering as he recalled what little information Grandfather had bestowed upon him regarding the style of magic currently being employed by the Makiri, who had renamed themselves the 'Matou' in order to alleviate some of their shame at the decline of their bloodline 'Still, the fact he's associated with them is unsettling…perhaps I should let Illyasviel know…'

Even as he said it, he knew that all he would do was incur his sister's anger. Illyasviel had made it clear to everyone that Emiya Shirou was HERS to kill. She would permit no interference, accept no assistance, not even from Herwald, though admittedly, she'd informed him of this in much nicer terms than she had the rest of the family. Having a deranged Demi-God dangle you off the ground while a deceptively young homunculus glared coldly up at you can prove surprisingly effective waylaying further protests.

Still, Ilya's orders or not, while Herwald couldn't TOUCH the boy Kiritsugu had abandoned them for, he could still see what he was like, if only to determine whether or not to leave flowers at his grave when Illyasviel got through with him.

The first thing he'd garnered, from the files that the family had gathered through their spy networks, that the boy was older than him, Seventeen to be exact, a year younger than Illyasviel, though she had stopped aging prematurely and so looked about the same age as Herwald himself. He'd apparently been an orphan Kiritsugu rescued from the fire that had resulted from the man's destruction of the Grail during the previous Grail War.

The second thing he'd garnered, much to his shock, was that the boy had received little or no training as a Magus from Kiritsugu, and despite suspicions, hadn't inherited Kiritsugu's Magus Crest, as the man had apparently been buried with it. Such an act of direct negligence was BLASPHEMOUS in Magus Society, for a Mage to not pass on their knowledge to their offspring was the same as betraying their ancestral line.

In short, Herwald had to wonder if the boy even had it IN him to be selected as a Master, sure he possessed magic circuits, but without the proper training to awaken them, it was like loading a revolver with blanks.

'Better that he DOESN'T become a Master.' The emerald eyed teen muttered, casting a glance towards his sister, who was marvelling at the streetlights as they flickered on 'At least then Illyasviel will have one less reason to hunt him down...'


End Flashback...

But as fate would have it, Emiya Shirou HAD become a Master, the Master of the same Saber servant that had been summoned by their Father Kiritsugu no less. Still, this meant little to Herwald, as despite the fact the teen was now included on the playing field, he was still Illyasviel's 'prey', and far be it for him to get between the hapless, well-meaning failure and their sister's monstrous demigod killing machine. The other masters, on the other hand, were open game, so while Illyasviel went out to 'introduce' herself to their unknowing step-sibling, Herwald began to systematically track down the other Masters along with Assassin, knowing that most of them would be more focussed on his sibling and Heracles.

The first of his targets had been the master of Caster, a common, Magus Association grunt that liked to give himself airs, and apparently had little qualms about using his command seals to force the female Servant into acts of debauchery, Herwald actually stumbling across him in the midst of raping the summoned spirit. The adopted Einzbern hadn't even bothered to conceal his presence at that point, he'd simply stormed in, grabbed the bastard by the face, activated the circuits in his left arm and reduced the man to a lifeless, twitching pile of flesh.

To anyone looking in from the outside, it would have appeared as if the man's body had exploded beneath his skin, in actuality however, Herwald had simply used one of the most fundamental acts of Alchemy, transmutation, to rip the man's body apart from the inside.

Typically, transmutation followed a certain sequence: Comprehension, wherein the user comes to understand the inherent structure and properties of the atomic or molecular makeup of a particular material, including the flow and balance of potential and kinetic energy within; Deconstruction, wherein the user employs their od to break down the physical structure of the identified material into a more malleable state, so as to easily reshape it into a new form through the final stage of Reconstruction.

Normally such a process required the use of complicated transmutation circles, the more complex the intended creation, the more power the runes would need to contain. Herwald's markings, forged from the crafted Circuits of the fallen Einzberns, were some of the most complex in the family's history, a revolutionary alchemy technique that made his entire body, in effect, a portable transmutation circle.

The Markings on his right arm allowed Herwald to initiate the first two steps of the cyclical transmutation process, comprehension and deconstruction, essentially breaking down everything he wished into formless debris. If he wished to reshape the resulting detritus, all he had to do was activate the crest on his LEFT arm, which would complete the cycle, refashioning whatever he touched into whatever he pleased, within limits of course.

Fortunately for the Magus, Human Transmutation was a forbidden art that even the Einzberns refused to touch, outside of medical practice of course, though Herwald could quite frankly care less for the man as he dropped him on the floor, his skin only BARELY holding his ruined body together, the adopted Einzbern turning to face Caser, only to find the Servan had made her escape despite Assassin's best efforts to the contrary.

It had been a stupid, childish mistake, as the primary reason he'd targeted Caster's master first was to either bring her over to their side or finish her off. There was no rule forbidding a master's possessing more than one servant after all, and her scrying abilities would make all the difference if he was to help Illyasviel attain the Grail. With her escape, he would have to be doubly cautious, especially, if her late master's notes were to be believed, considering he was dealing with the Witch of Betrayal, who'd sacrificed her own brother to save her skin.

But what was done was done, he doubted that Caster would be making any big moves on his person anytime soon either, not without a master to back her up. Caster class servants had low mileage when it came to prana, without a master she'd be forced to waste her own reserves just to stay alive, and considering what little he knew of Medea, that didn't amount to much. He'd given her a week at most, and that was being generous, as most Grail wars typically didn't last more than a few days.


Present time, Emiya Household...

'I should have hunted that witch down while I had the chance…' Herwald muttered, scowling to himself at the memory of all the trouble Medea had put them through even as he stepped out of the bathtub, drying himself off and pulling on his trousers quickly, having learned from experience that the occupants of the Emiya house had a bad habit of not checking before barging in 'It would've saved us all so much trouble…'

"Oh, good morning, Herwald-kun." A cool, enticing voice greeted, the younger Einzbern looking up to see a tall, shapely woman standing in the doorway, dressed in blue jeans and a black pullover, her long purple hair trailing down her back, faintly pink eyes visible behind her spectacles "Just finished?"

"Guten Morgen, Rider." Herwald greeted, inclining his head towards Sakura's Servant, used to her presence after staying at the Emiya House for so long "The bath is free."

Rider nodded, smiling slightly as she leaned in, placing a kiss on his cheek, wishing him Happy Birthday before brushing past him towards the bathroom, her teasing smile sending a shiver down his spine despite the warmth of the day.

Herwald's relationship with the purple haired Servant was a little strange, even by most accounts, as the second Master that Herwald had hunted down had been none other than Matou Shinji, the current heir to the Makiri family, who at the time was acting as Rider's Master through the machinations of his Grandfather Zouken and a Book of False Attendant.

While initially surprised that the Makiri had produced an heir capable of Magic, this soon devolved to little more than disdain, as the teen was little more than a philandering, snivelling, cowardly braggart who clearly put more stock in his family's history than his own abilities, which from what Herwald could see, were seriously lacking. The fool couldn't even supply enough prana to sustain his servant, a rather voluptuous looking specimen that could give even Leysritt and Sella a run for their money, evidenced by his ordering her to erect a barrier that would devour the souls from his local school to sustain her.

Herwald had to admit he'd felt SATISFIED splattering the little bastard's brains over the inside of his skull, though the fact Rider had simply stood back and WATCHED, with a smug look on her face, had been mildly disconcerting enough that he hadn't raised much objection when she'd given him the slip.

It had nothing at all to do with the kiss she'd placed on his cheek before disappearing into the ether, though he'd been grateful for the horde of skeletal minions that chose to attack at that moment, as it kept him from thinking about the look of jealousy in Assassin's eyes.

"Verdammt Gorgon." He muttered, not unkindly, even as he pulled on a long-sleeved T-shirt, a hand-me-down from Shirou that Fujimura Taiga had bestowed upon him, depositing his dirty laundry in the washroom before making his way to the main room via the veranda, only to find Tohsaka Rin already sitting at the table.

"Oh? Good morning, Herwald-kun." the Tohsaka heir greeted, looking up at the younger Magus as he walked into the main room, a rice-cracker held to her lips "Early to rise, as usual I see. I'd have slept in if it were MY birthday."

"Guten Morgen, Tohsaka-san." Herwald greeted, inclining his head politely towards his former enemy, and Sakura's elder sister as it turned out, as he took a seat at the table, helping himself to one of the crackers "You slept over again?"

"U-Urusei!" the blue-eyed mage sputtered, sending him a hot glare that didn't quite cover up the flustered blush that adorned her cheeks "Don't think just because you're a year older you can start acting big! You're a fine one to talk either way!"

"Shirou is my Step-brother, Tohsaka-san." Herwald reminded the older Magus "Illyasviel and I have every right to stay in his home as long as he permits."

Rin twitched, before turning her back on the youth, muttering something about 'cocky Germanic brats' and 'soft-hearted idiots' whilst animatedly devouring every cracker she laid her hands on, earning a chuckle from the adopted Einzbern.

Herwald had to admit he'd never expected to be sitting across from the elder girl, sharing polite conversation while awaiting breakfast to be served. He'd first witnessed her during Illyasviel's initial encounter with them outside the Kotomine Church, where the girl's enigmatic Archer Servant had managed to take one of Berserker's lives, along with most of the cemetery, impressing his sister enough that she deigned to let them live for the moment, with Rin proposing an alliance with Shirou and Saber shortly afterwards, in order to stand a better chance against the threat posed by Berserker.

This had posed a problem, as Herwald couldn't eliminate the Tohsaka heir without getting into conflict with Emiya Shirou, an act which would violate his promise to Illyasviel. He decided to leave the matter in his sister's, or rather, Berserker's capable hands. If Illyasviel decided they were to die, there was little Herwald need do but track down Lancer's Master, as well as possibly finishing off Caster and Rider before they could enter into a new contract.

Assassin eventually detected unusual activity at the temple just outside the city limits, which Illyasviel quickly deduced to be the source of the mass Soul-stealing that was afflicting the city. Figuring Caster had started up again, as Rider had only been able to cover a single building, and he doubted a Lancer type could cover a whole city, he'd set out to deal with the Medea once and for all, only to wind up saving Shirou from Tohsaka's treacherous Servant, Archer.

'I can't believe I let him bait me into that fight…' Herwald muttered, palming his face even as Rin looked up to see a bruised and battered Shirou stagger into the house, having apparently been run over by Fujimura-sensei's scooter, AGAIN. 'If it weren't for Assassin I'd have been killed…'

Needless to say, after stalling for several minutes through creative use of Destruction Alchemy, Archer not leaving him enough openings to use Reconstruction, the adoptive Einzbern had used one of his Command Seals to summon is Servant, the two of them managing to catch the red-clad servant off guard long enough to make their escape, though Herwald was almost drained by the time he finally collapsed in his bed at the Einzbern estate.

'And then things REALLY went south…' he muttered, recalling how he'd been roused the following morning, courtesy of Berserker's enraged roars and the sounds of battle being waged in the foyer.


Flashback, Einzbern Castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki Forest...

"Was zur Hölle?" Herwald swore, staggering out of his room without a shirt, grimacing slightly as his wounds, which had been tended to he noticed, stung at the sudden movement "What in Gott's name is going on?"

"Master Herwald!" a voice called out, the adopted Einzbern turning to see a distraught Leysritt, one of the two Hommunculi attendendants that had accompanied them here, racing towards him, her red eyes wide with terror "Master Herwald come quickly!"

"Leysritt?" he stammered, staring at the normally composed maidservant in alarm as she collapsed on her knees before him, kneeling don to help compose the distraught woman "Was ist happening? Was ist that noise?"

"Mistress Illyasviel…" Leysritt gasped, looking desperately up at the youth as she gasped for breath, her hands gripping his upper arms tightly "Mistress Illyasviel ist under attack!"

Herwald's blinked unable to believe the maids words. How could he? Who would DARE attack his sister, knowing they would have to contend with the Berserker Heracles? "How many intruders are there?" he demanded, gripping the distraught homunculus by the shoulders, giving her a good shake to make her focus "Verdammt Leysritt stay with me! How many are there?"

"O-One…" the maid stammered, her crimson eyes lined with tears as she continued to tremble in his arms "There ist but one man…"

"One man?" Herwald repeated, blinking at her in confusion, even as Berserker's roar of fury shook the very foundations of the castle "No man can stand against Servant." He grimaced as his wounds from Archer stung "Not one ALIVE anyways…" His eyes widened "Scheiße, a Servant!"

"He…he just came right up to the front door…" Leysritt sobbed, her features distraught as she trembled in his arms "Sella went to see what he wanted…and he…he…"

Herwald's blood froze, his emerald eyes widening as he realized the reason behind Leysritt' distress. While Sella had not been as close to him as her sister, the stern Homunculus maidservant had still accepted him like all the other Homunculi, the closest thing Herwald had to family within the confines of castle Einzbern. They had treated him as one of their own, and Herwald, in turn, embraced them as his kin. "Wait here, Leysritt." He ordered, his tone commanding as he helped the distraught maidservant to her feet, pushing her inside his room "Stay here and don't come out, that's an order."

Not even bothering to wait for a reply, he pushed her in, slamming the door shut and using his left array to alchemically seal it over, before turning on his heel and racing down the corridor. "Assassin! He barked, the ebony skinned killer appearing at his side, evenly keeping up with him as he raced through the halls "Find Sella! Get her and Leysritt to safety and then come back!"

"As you wish, Master." She acknowledged, finishing into the darkness once more, Herwald not even looking back as he rounded the corner, slamming open the doors at the top of the grand staircase, only to pull up short at the sight before him.

Berserker, the unstoppable killing machine, the almighty son of Zeus himself, stood bound in chains, the iron links digging deep into his bronze skin, his grotesque muscle straining as he endeavoured to break the restraints, an endeavour that proved a far more daunting task than any of his infamous Twelve labours.

Behind him stood Illyasviel, his precious elder sister unable to comprehend the sight of her giant protector's predicament, her eyes wide with disbelief and dawning horror, a horror Herwald couldn't help but feel himself.

"Not even a God can break those chains." A smug, arrogant voice declared, Herwald's eyes lifting to see the speaker sanding before the ensnared giant, one hand on his hip, the other resting almost casually at his side.

He was dressed in a black jacket and trousers over a casual white T-shirt, his blonde hair resting messily over his young, aristocratic features, which wer set with a pair of regal crimson eyes. It was those self-same eyes that gave him away, for no mortal man had ever born eyes that carried such age, such regal presence.

The man was a Heroic Spirit, though something deep within the adoptive Einzbern told him this WASN'T Lancer.

As if to prove it, the blonde man raised a hand in the air, Herwald's eyes widening as a veritable armoury of weapons appeared behind him, their deadly points aimed at the captive giant. With a casual, almost dismissive wave, they launched themselves at their target, Berserker's roars of agony and rage echoing around the ruined foyer, until at last, the giant fell backwards, dissolving back into the ether before he even touched the ground.

"Gott im Himmel..." the youth breathed, unable to think, his knees threatening to give way before the sheer impossibility of what he'd just seen. Heracles was a demi-god, even without the Mad Enhancement amplifying his power, his God Hand Noble Phantasm should have made it impossible for anything below A-rank to even scratch his bronzed hide. The fact the golden haired man had not only done so, but repeatedly, and enough times to actually deplete all ELEVEN of the demi-god's remaining lives, should have been impossible, no Heroic Spirit had THAT many Noble Phantasms.

His thoughts on the matter were soon derailed, however, by Illyasviel's sudden scream, his eyes snapping back into focus in time to see the spirit standing over her. "GET DIE HÖLLE AVAY FROM MEINE SCHWESTER!" he roared, slapping his left palm into the ground, sears of marble and stone erupting from the ground, driving the Heroic spirit back, even as he created a wall of spears around Illyasviel.

"Hoh? Transmutation is it?" the Not-So-Heroic Spirit noted, looking intrigued, amused rather, at his near impalement, his crimson eyes lined with dark humour "So the little mongrel believes himself an Alchemist?"

"Shut your mouth!" Herwald snarled, sending another wave of spears at the Spirit, cursing as the blonde braggart idly dodged them all, slapping his right arm into the nearest one, sending a chain reaction through them all that caused them to explode, violently, pelting the Spirit with shrapnel.

"So you don't need a Transmutation circle?" the Spirit noted, sounding more intrigued by the minute even as he warded off the worst of the debris with a wave of his hand "An impressive display…" he allotted, smirking cruelly as a small, curved dagger appeared in his hands "allow me to return the favour!"

Faster than Herwald could think, yet at the same time as casually as if he were waving a baton, the Spirit swung the dagger, almost lazily, towards the adopted Einzbern, a gust of frozen air trailing in its wake, sending Herwald flying backwards through the air, his limbs covered in frost that shattered the moment he slammed into the stairs, Ilya's screams the last thing he heard before darkness claimed him.


Present, Emiya Dining Room...

'Admittedly, attacking the King of Heroes head on had NOT been the best of ideas.' Herwald muttered, wincing at his foolishness even as the rest of their odd little family gathered around the table, unable to help returning the smile that Shirou sent his way as his elder step-brother sat across from him, Illyasviel clinging to his arm, earning disapproving looks from most of the other females present, particularly Sakura and Fujimura-sensei.

Herwald had come to like the older boy's smiles, as the first one he'd seen had been shortly after he'd regained consciousness from Gilgamesh's attack, only to find the concerned ochre eyes of Emiya Shirou looking down at him in relief, with a neutral Tohsaka Rin standing not too far off. When asked as to why they'd come to Einzbern castle, they'd revealed that Caster, that treacherous witch, had stolen their Command Seals, and by proxy, their Servants, from them, and was currently holed up at the Kotomine church, having murdered the overseer of the Grail wars in the process, though Tohsaka was sceptical as to the validity of that statement.

They'd come, at Shirou's admission, to Illyasviel for protection, a valid stratagem, considering she was strategically the strongest Master in the War, though Herwald wondered if they'd have been so quick to attempt such were they aware that his sister was as likely to kill them simply for being there, though it mattered not, seeing as that fleeting hope had been denied them by Gilgamesh's slaughtering of Berserker, before absconding with Illyasviel.

Herwald had wanted to go after them immediately, injuries be damned, and WOULD have, had Lancer not FINALLY decided to make an appearance, offering his assistance in reclaiming Saber from Caster. Naturally, Herwald had been suspicious of the Irish Hero's offer, having not confirmed just WHO his enigmatic master was, only for Tohsaka to accept off the bat, the elder magus pointing out that, even if the alliance only lasted until Saber was reclaimed, they couldn't do ANYTHING to help Illyasviel without her.

So, after tending to a wounded Sella and a distraught Leysritt, they'd gone to the church, Lancer holding off Archer, while Herwald, Shirou and Rin snuck in to face Caster and her Master, Shirou and Rin's History Teacher no less, in what turned out to be a less one-sided battle than they'd thought. For one thing, while it was clear that Kuzuki Souichiro was no magus, he was by no means defenceless, possessing a formidable martial-art that was capable of weaving under their guard to strike at vital points. Coupled with Caster's magic reinforcing his blows, granting him the ability to punch through STONE, this made for a formidable opponent.

However, reinforced or not, the man's body was STILL that of a man, and all it had taken was Shirou distracting him for a split second for Herwald to grab onto him with his right hand, the destruction array doing its thing, leaving the psychotic educator lying on the floor, little more than a pile of twitching flesh. Caster, enraged at the death of her master, had rounded on him in a rage, giving the perfect target for Assassin to lunge from the shadows, her daggers finding the Witch of Betrayal's unprotected back, Medea not even having time to gasp as her form dissolved back into the ether from whence she came.

Before they could celebrate the victory however, Archer, the cock-blocking bastard that he was, appeared on the scene with a hail of swords, the red-clad servant having apparently been pretending to play along with Caster so as to release himself from his servitude to Rin, and by proxy, her command for him NOT to attack Shirou. Freed of this command, he proceeded to kick the redhead's ass around the chapel basement, prompting Rin to enter into a contract with Saber to deal with her treacherous former Servant, with Herwald and Assassin ending their support.

Even with the odds stacked against him however, Archer weathered the combined assault, fighting off Saber despite her obvious superior strength, before whipping out his OWN Noble Phantasm, a spell so rare it bordered on the True Magics: a Reality Marble, a world that represented the innermost reaches of the caster's soul. The next few minutes had been pure bedlam, blades literally falling from the sky at the Servant's command, hurling themselves at their targets with murderous intent. Herwald could still recall the taste of iron in the air, the smell of burning forges, the sound of distant hammers on the wind. When it was over, Archer had made good his escape with a captive Rin in tow, the Servant challenging Shirou to a duel at the Einzbern castle to get her back.

Now, naturally, Herwald could care less about rescuing an enemy Magus, but with Saber bound to Rin, and Shirou being the bleeding heart he was, the adoptive Einzbern had little choice but to assist his unknowing step-sibling in rescuing the Tohsaka heir, leading them back to the Einzbern estate, sneaking in through the back entrance while Shirou and his former Servant went to Challenge Archer.

He didn't know what exactly had happened during the course of the duel, having volunteered to rescue Rin while Shirou stalled, seeing as he knew the inside of the castle better than anyone, save Leysritt and Sella, who'd been locked in with the magus for company, Leysritt breaking down with tears of relief at his safe return, while Sella made her relief known in more reserved fashion.

When they'd returned to the foyer, it was to find that Shirou, despite all logic, had somehow managed a win, only for Gilgamesh to finish the Red Knight off, and would have done the same to them had Assassin not attacked him head on, his loyal Servant sacrificing herself to buy them the time needed to escape. Herwald had felt their connection fade before they'd even left the property, and in a rage had used his Destruction Array to collapse the castle on top of the King of Heroes.

It had been a childish waste of Prana, doing little more than slow the Golden Archer down, but Herwald could have cared less, seeing it as the perfect requiem for his Servant's loyal sacrifice.

They'd reconvened at Shirou's house, where his sibling had entered into a Prana exchange ritual with Rin in order to better combat Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon. It was an insane plan, with only the slightest margin of victory, but Herwald had to admit that Shirou's 'tracing' ability made him the natural enemy of the King of Heroes, capable of hurling his unlimited arsenal back in his face. While this was going on, he'd approached Saber, asking her to share the TRUE tale behind the previous Grail War, as it was clear the Servant retained her memories of it from her recollection of Gilgamesh, despite the safeguards in place to prevent such a thing from occurring. By the end of the telling, Herwald's resolve to see that the 5th Heaven's Feel never came to pass had never been stronger.

Preparations made and resolve confirmed, they'd stormed Ryuudou temple, intent on finishing things once and for all, only for Lancer to stand in their way, forcing Saber to battle the Irish Legend while Shirou headed off to deal with Gilgamesh. This left Herwald and Rin to deal with the mastermind, none other than Kotomine Kirei, who as the female Magus had suspected, was very much alive and well.

It had been a brutal battle, as equally psychological as it was physical, Kirei augmenting his prodigious magical might with the corrupted essence of the Grail, hurling the blasphemous sludge at them in a bid to drive them to the brink of insanity, only for Herwald's Transmuted defences to get in the way each time, allowing Rin the opening she needed to drive her family's Azoth dagger into the man's chest, unleashing the stored Magics within, sending the corrupted priest into the afterlife with a self-mocking smile on his face.

All that had been left, after that, was for Saber to destroy the Grail, the Holy Sword Excalibur's might eradicating it from the world, the King of Knights fading with it with a content smile on her beautiful face, her emerald eyes meeting with Herwald's own briefly, sending another surge of memory through him, before they too faded into the ether.

'And here we find ourselves.' Herwald chuckled, looking on with helpless amusement as Fujimura Taiga twirled Illyasviel over her head like a pizza chef kneading dough, Sella and Leysritt looking on in shock, Sakura and Shirou attempting to calm the woman down, while Rin and Rider simply looking on in bemusement.

It was only shortly after the events at the temple that Rider had appeared before them again, having stayed clear of the fighting with her TRUE master, Sakura. This, technically, meant that Sakura was the true winner of the 5th Heaven's Feel, but since the Grail itself had been destroyed, meaning there was no prize to claim, the youngest of the Gorgon Sisters was content to simply live out her life with Rin's little sister, an arrangement that suited everyone just fine.

As it were, the Einzbern siblings were quite content with their new lot in life. Shirou, upon learning of their relation, having taken them in with open arms, glad to have some connection to their father beyond the empty house and the man's name. True, he found Illyasviel's advances a little unnerving, as her appearance aside, she WAS technically his ELDER sister, a fact contested most strongly by the overly possessive Fujimura Taiga, who Herwald suspected was just as attracted to his step-brother as the rest of the females were.

And so things could have continued, all of them living the lives of a highly unusual family, were it not for the large owl that suddenly swooped into the room through the open porch doors, startling Taiga, who lost her footing, only Shirou's desperate lunge saving his sister and guardian from serious injury, though he himself was buried beneath them as a result.

Ignoring the spectacle for the moment, Herwald turned his attention to the owl, noting that it was an Eagle Owl, a rarity in itself, though not one indigenous to Japan, as they were indigenous to Europe and the United Kingdom. It held a letter in its beak, and was regarding him the same intensity one would expect from an antiques examiner searching for a forgery.

After a moment's silent contemplation, it hopped awkwardly across the tale towards him, opening its beak to deposit the letter in his lap, before spreading its massive wings and flying out the open porch doors, disappearing into the blue sky with a shriek, the rest of the house staring after it in shock.

Herwald, initially stunned by the encounter, turned his attention to the letter, noting that it was made of parchment, rather than typical paper, turning it over to stare at the address written on the back in emerald-green ink:

Mr. H. Potter,

The Guest Room,

Emiya Estate,

Fuyuki City,

Japan.


Rest assured, Chapter 3 will be up soon. Again, apologies for the length, backstory is hard to summarize.

For those of you out there that missed the preview chapter, yes, Herwald IS Harry, Herwald being the old German translation of Harold, as far be it from the Einzberns to call a child under THEIR roof anything other than a German Name.

Another reason for the renaming is because Jubstacheit, seeing the chance to pull one over on the 'twinkle-eyed schweinhund', as he 'affectionately' refers to Dumbles, he took in the 'boy who lived', brought him up as a means of controlling Illyasviel, and then turned him into a living 'Weapon' in order to seize the 5th Heaven's feel, which, as we all know, didn't quite fall through.

Harry's 'Alchemical Circuits' work identically to Scar's 'Destruction' and 'Creation' Arrays, and are, in fact, the same thing, only refashioned to suit the rules of the Nasu-verse, in that they require Prana, or Od, to activate. Other than that, they follow the same principles of Alchemy as in Fullmetal Alchemist, allowing The Boy Who Lived to make use of quite a range of techniues from the show.

For those of you that can tell, this 'backstory' section is a reworking of the 'Unlimited Blade Works' Scenario, with elements of 'Fate', (in that Ilya is still alive) and 'Heaven's Feel', in that Rider is still Sakura's Servant, worked into the equation.

I'm set on Slytherin for now, if only to mess with Dumbles mind, though also because I just can't picture a Ravenclaw Einzbern, as they have a bit of a reputation of being 'dark' wizards, though not necesarrily EVIL.

Like it? Hate it? Review to let me know!