Chapter 3: The Avatar of Eternity

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Inside the church, Caren Ortensia was playing the organ madly like a virtuoso. When the sky turned red momentarily before regaining its orange hue, she stopped.

"Looks like those two are in the war," a man stepped out from the shadows.

The priestess sighed and ackowledged, "Father."

Kirei Kotomine was dressed in his 'father' robes. Although he was getting on age, he still seemed as young as thirty.

"Hmm? You do not seem pleased to see your father, don't you?" He taunted.

"What are you here for? Get out!" Caren snapped back as she drew out Magdala as a form of defence. Kirei drew out three 'Black Keys'. Tension between father and daughter was raising to an all-high. Finally, after a few moments, Caren relented and withdrew Magdala.

"Tell me, father, what are you here for? Surely it is not to just pick a fight?"

Kirei took a seat at one of the wooden chairs near the organ and replied, "Nothing to do with that. Even if I did that, your servant would have killed me if I laid a finger on you, my child."

Caren twitched her eyebrows angrily in response as Avenger appeared beside her.

Kirei continued, "Well, read about the facts yourself. I have no time to lose," as he tossed Caren a yellow file with only a few sheets in it and walked out of the church. "Good luck. You will need it," he added as he disappeared behind the shadows once again.

"Oh, that was uncool," Avenger muttered, "How did he found out that I was going to punch him?"

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"Souichiro-sama, would you wait a moment for me?"

Medea was closing her cafe for a day. While the quiet History Teacher did not like to waste time, he made exceptions for his love. Medea had been a caring wife for the past ten years and he felt that it was the only way he could return her love.

Souichiro Kuzuki recounted their first encounter in front of his house, the Ryoshouji Temple. She had lost a large reserve of mana since her escape from her previous master and was bound to disappear. He made a pact with her even though he knew that she was likely to be only using him.

"Souichiro-sama, thank you for waiting. Shall we move on?"

"Mm," he muttered as they continued walking towards the Temple.

And yet, as if on cue, it started to rain. The air was filled with the sound of raindrops and the soft roaring of distant thunder.

Souichiro looked up. "Mm? what a time to start raining," he said.

Medea summoned an umbrella and one appeared in her hand instantly. She handed it to Souichiro, smiling.

"Thank you, Medea," he said as they walked down the street in the rain, hand in hand.

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Arturia was walking in the rain, with Eriol walking beside her and her daughter, Mordred, on her back.

To her, rain was a sort of turmoil, where it seemed to affect her feelings even more. She was depressed even further. It seemed as though the people in the skies only treat it as a drama or a comedy. Whenever every battle was fought and she had won, she would gaze down to analyse the current situation of the war. However, every time she did so, it rained. She spotted bodies of both comrades and enemies. Her victorious stand would disappear. Her triumph within would vanish. To her, if lives were lost because she could not save them, she felt no better. Especially in a war, where lives were lost unnecessarily.

But to her, rain was also a sort of hope, where the wish for a brighter day, for a better future, for a better age, awaits. At the same time as she was solemn for the lives lost, she was hopeful. It seemed as though the people in the skies were cooling them down, helping them get over their grief. Water from rain is the source of all life. Whether or not physically or psychologically.

This time, it would be the same.

The melancholy that arose from this situation was unbearably high. Through Mordred's Excalibur, she could feel her daughter's limitless depression. When the rain came, the mood was raised to an even higher peak, and yet at the same time, lowered to a bearable state. It was like a sanctuary; one would seek the answers to his problems there. Similarly, she would, in the rain.

She had only wished that her daughter would do the same. Even though she believed things would come to an end before next year's War of the Holy Grail, she had a feeling it was not the end of her problems.

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Alas, Rin felt Arturia, Mordred and Eriol pass by the boundaries of the forcefield.

As much as she had wanted to congratulate them and receive them in open arms, she had felt the depression in Mordred's powerful Excalibur, and was unable to do so. When they reached the door, she said "Coming!" and with the snap of her fingers, the door opened.

Arturia greeted Rin and asked if she could use the emergency bed. When Rin gave her consent, she rushed her daughter to the nearest bed. Shiro rushed up as well. She sighed as Eriol approached her today and told him with a smile, "You did great today in the Rite. Making a high-risk move. The one that got both of you and both of you in the War."

Eriol pretended that he had not heard that. He did not like the idea that his friend had plunged deep into despair despite the fact that it was fake. Of course, he did not know it then, but he figured out that the mages could have just cast a spell and the boy would be down in an instant. There was no chance the boy could have gotten that far.

And speaking of the boy, who was he? Why did he seem so familiar to him?

But when he saw Aunty Bazett and Uncle Lancer having a conversation with Ilya-oneechan, he felt a tinge of familiarity.

Bazett's son, Edward McRemitz.

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Gilgamesh was walking down the street with an umbrella in hand.

During the last fifteen years, he had become a star in Fuyuki, known as 'The Guy Who Can Charm A Thousand Ladies'. Of course, that was only when he signed up for an application for the media.

To say the least, he was rather pleased with himself that day, as he was supposed to act as a Greek warrior and proved to the director that he could take on any degree of martial arts. Simply put, he told the director, "Martial Art's easy. Get me some blades and I'll show you some skill."

Of course, the director had been the latest victim of his charm, and did not note the demanding tone of his voice.

And yet, he was not pleased with himself for one thing- his inability to date his beloved Saber, and that resulted in a blooming romance with her and the Emiya boy. He wondered what she had seen in him. Yes, he had started to look like the powerful Archer in the 5th War, but nothing else. Gilgamesh amused himself as he thought that whereas he would be able to crush Berserker with a combination of Enkidu and Gates of Babylon, that Emiya still had a long way to go, even with his 'Reality Marble' or so they called it.

In fact, he was too drowned within his own confidence and pride that he failed to notice his shadow turning into a darker version of himself before it was too late. A full arsenal of blades was launched at him.

And yet, Gilgamesh had the agility similar to Saber, so he dodged that, although he did get a scratch on his arm. He looked at the shadow and yelled, "Hey! Who the [expletive hell are you?"

The eyes of the Dark Gilgamesh shone red with murderous contempt. With that said, Gilgamesh summoned Enuma Elish. Still, the Dark Gilgamesh expected it and used Enkidu to chain him up.

Gilgamesh, although entagled in his own weapon, summoned his full armour at this point on and shot Gates at the Dark Gilgamesh, who was forced to release his hold on the former.

Gilgamesh blasted a full Enuma Elish at the cursed imposter, but Dark Gilgamesh had a plan up his mind. An exact copy of Saber's Avalon was summoned and the blast was blasted back at him,with a shocked Gilgamesh taking the full brunt of his own attack, while Dark Gilgamesh risked nothing except a waste of mana. The power of a fully-charged Enuma Elish was certainly enough to knock its user all the way to the Tohsaka mansion.

As Gilgamesh slowly got up, his head bleeding, Rin appeared to have everyone in the whole house rush out to help. Great... the last thing I need is a live demonstration on how I got trashed...

Arturia seemed shocked by the darker version of himself and rushed forward to help. She summoned Excalibur and sent it rippling towards Dark Gilgamesh. However, the latter blasted Enuma Elish, which Arturia had dodge quickly.

Both Arturia and Gilgamesh closed in onto Dark Gilgamesh, but it seemed that the shadow manipulator had another trick up his sleeves. He summoned both Excalibur and Enuma Elish and blasted both of them, which combined itself to be a powerful energy that swept both combatants to the ground in an instant.

While it seemed that Gilgamesh was unable to battle, Arturia stood up uneasily as blood flowed from her forehead into her green eyes, while putting her hand behind to stop Shiro from interferring from the battle.

"Shiro, let me finish the battle."

Finally, he relented and added, "All right, Arturia. But if you are in any life-threatening danger, I'll take over."

Arturia nodded as she disappear in a flash and appeared behind Dark Gilgamesh. She delivered a blow of Invisible Air to him, which he barely blocked, and delivered a powerful flying kick towards him.

However, the kick seemed to land on nothing and Dark Gilgamesh appeared behind her, in a stunning speed, as well to grip onto her ankle.

Arturia cursed. This Gilgamesh is doing the exact same thing towards her. But this time, he left no space for retaliation.

Dark Gilgamesh gave a smirk and his red eyes shone again. He pointed a small dagger from the Gates at her neck, while everyone, including Arturia herself, watched nervously.

And all of a sudden, Gilgamesh stood up, blasted Gates at the darker version of himself, saying "Begone, foul being," before Dark Gilgamesh disappeared and returned to becoming his shadow.

Saber fell down but she managed to stand up with the help of Shiro.

Rin asked him about the shadow.

Then, with a nervous sigh, Gilgamesh recounted the whole progress of his battle with his shadow, while afterwards, Arturia admitted hers.

It was clear to say that the same being attacked them both. No surprises there. However, the surprise came when Caren and Avenger made a visit there themselves, without an escort or anything like that.

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The crowd gathered, facing Caren. It seemed like an important occasion.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make. Just a few moments ago, I have received news from the Burial Agency that a creation of a foul sorceress from a long time ago is roaming wild in these streets. As I believe, two of you have already been attacked."

Arturia and Gilgamesh nodded.

"This being utilises people's shadows and becomes into a darker version of the host. Thus to say, he copies your body and all your abilities. And he has been known to use them too."

The crowd listen attentively to the next bit. It seemed like a rather long suspense and climax to the speech.

"The being that you are facing is known as the Avatar of Eternity. History has it that during a long time ago in Egypt, female pharoah Cleopatra summoned this horrendous being from the depths of the earth to defeat her enemies. There was another summoned by Empress Wu Ze Tian of China, but it was vanquished by a man who managed to defeat it four times in succession.

"Throughout the history of the Avatar of Eternity, we tracked it and managed to set up a few of its rule of power. First of all, as mentioned earlier, he takes the form of a person through his or her shadow, and if there is no shadow there, the person in unable to be inflicted. However, you cannot hide your shadow unless you are in the shade, and this cannot do for long periods. Two, if anyone defeats it four times, it will disappear. Three, it randomly haunts people. Four, it is known to have produce resistance against attacks that worked against it before, simply put, a trick will not work twice. Five, if two people attack it together, it will improve twice its normal rate and the thing adds up for more people. Six, it regenerates with energy in the environment. Simply put, Mordred's powerful Excalibur revived it instantly."

The people were shocked at the power of the Avatar. No one could imagine a being so powerful that it has the ability to adapt to an enemy quickly and change its fighting style. Arturia and Gilgamesh passed uneasy glances at the people around them.

"And that is all. Do you have any questions?"

Silence. It was the first time that everyone were that silent. The uneasily tension between them simply caused Caren to walk away uneasily.

If anything will rise up to the challenge of the group of eight servants in the fifth war, it will be this. Wait, where is the nineth servant?

Caren rushed to the Ryoushouji Temple. Something was not quite right.

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A/N: A cliffy chapter. Nice? Well, just review.