Interlude One: The Other Emiya

"No. Way."

In an ordinary Fuyuki household, that was Shirou's definite response to the only other male to ever reside there. He had been preparing what to do for summer vacation; magecraft lessons, more intense spars, visit Issei's temple but what he just heard cut those plans to fine shreds. It was unbelievable in the extreme and so Shirou felt quite confident with his denial.

"Yes…way."

So shocked was he that Shirou did not notice the tone that the old man used. He also didn't notice the cries from Illya in the living room when she heard that Shirou would be going with Kerry while Irisviel stayed at home for a few weeks. Kiritsugu did however and for a moment realized that this would be the first time that he and his son would go on a trip together and yet it felt completely natural.

Well he was definitely a changed man and it didn't even take something ridiculous like a curse from a final boss type character to do it.

Any of his former associates would have experienced complete shock at the sight of the relaxed, slightly amused and most of all peaceful look on his face as he ruffled his son's copper hair. They would have definitely gone into collective apoplexy if they had seen him arrive and immediately put Illya on his shoulders to carry her around.

The man didn't even smoke anymore after Iri picked up some health magazines and decided that he was too old to try and look cool with a cigarette in his mouth. He tried to fight it but foolishly relied on logic and how as an alchemist she could probably fix any damage to his lungs with ease. Iri quite simply did not agree and started to tearfully mourn how he only loved her for her amazingly powerful magecraft.

The ending came with a rather predictable result with Kiritsugu going to his room while she threw away his cartons and lighter. Thankfully she had no fashion opinions on the black trench coats filling his closet or else he would have done even more sulk-manly brooding.

He even changed to the point where he realized how hard his son was working with magecraft and for a truly admirable purpose; protecting their family. That change was the reason why he decided to do something that was normally a tradition for magi.

His normal methodology with magus traditions was to see how he could take advantage of its flaws and use it to terminate his Target.

As the Target was his son, 'terminate' was altered to 'reward' and since the tradition was something not only meaningful but also fairly practical the magus killer saw no reason not to.

"Seriously!?"

Kiritsugu gave a good natured sigh. Was it so hard to imagine that he would do something like this? Then he thought about the collection of mercenaries, heretic magi and dead apostles (most all coincidentally dead…extra dead in the apostles' case) that would maybe say 'umm…yes'.

Ok so maybe Iri implied that Shirou should get something as encouragement for his efforts. And maybe she had shoved a case of cash and told him to use those mercenary contacts for something useful.

"Yes, You mother and I have been talking about your progress. I know you've been working hard with your…studies and you should find an Azoth Sword useful."

That was no exaggeration. Not only had Shirou been practicing magecraft and even started developing his own spells, he had also started going to a rather strange local dojo and even tried out some judo at school to train his body. That granddaughter of Raiga even took a shine to him and invited to try out some kendo but like the others sports he never seemed drawn to it despite putting his all into training.

Still the result from Sella's reports was someone who would spar evenly with the Dojo's heirs and Kiritsugu could even see his son start to develop a unconscious stance similarly to martial artists he had known.

Practitioners like the man they would be going to pick up some more crafting materials from once Shirou stopped bouncing around in excitement.

Well he could wait for a while after all…Kiritsugu Emiya was a family man now.


"Do you have everything ready?"

A small smile came to his face at Iri's joyful expression as he nodded in affirmation. She had been pushing for something like this for a while, saying that males needed to go on bonding adventures and talk about manly things. Initially she had been adamant on a fishing trip where apparently nothing would be caught but instead realized the similarities that they shared and how despite being from different generations they really weren't so far apart after all. Then they were supposed to hug but in a totally manly way.

It turns out that teaching Iri about the outside world through a mix of Disney movies, sitcoms and romantic comedies was a bad idea.

Still he could say that the choices he made to get here, even if meant abandoning his plans and preparations, was not one he could regret. It was after all one that he was still fighting for with his wife at his side and children safe at home.

"Here you can use these in the crafting."

He caught the small thrown bag by reflex and quickly realized what it contained.

"Really? now?"

She gave a small shrug.

"Just as some insurance. He's still too young to know something like that...I don't think anyone is really old enough but that doesn't mean he can't benefit from it. It'll cost a bit more to make a multifunctional mystic code but it should be useful in the future."

She was likely correct. The result would likely be less specialized than his own but the materials would be definitely useful for crafting and shouldn't interfere with the original functions. In fact it might even enhance it but still…

"You know in my day it wasn't so easy to make one of those, I had to take out my own ribs and grind them into dust. Took a lot of work but I never wasted the results."

"Yes honey, I've heard it before. You were very tough and didn't cry even once."

Kiritsugu enjoyed the back and forth but it was time for him to leave and hopefully get something that his son could be proud of. Something that could represent Shirou Emiya as a magus.


"So Shirou I heard that Sella let you study a genuine conceptual weapon."

Kirisugu had to hold back a chuckle as Shirou started glaring in annoyance out the window of the SUV.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Yep Shirou was definitely upset but why? It was after all a magic item without compare that any magi would give their legacy to study. He told his son as much, though the amused tone may have a bit obvious.

"I spent a month without studying magecraft. A month focusing on clubs and studies that I now have to keep up or else the teachers will start to complain. I did it for something that I was promised to get and do you know what Sella told me at the end of it all?"

'Shirou you've done so well, excelling in both school and activities. Friendship, experience, skills…You've gained so much but the real prize was inside you all along.'

The car was silent as Shirou pout-brooded like a man and Kiritsugu remembered when Sella had called to ask for permission to use the 'prize' as motivation. Iri's only request was to record the look on Shirou's face at the end of it all.

"Well….it was."

And now Shirou was glaring at him with teenage rebellion in those eyes. Oh where did his loyal, polite son go? Ah well at least he had Illya.

"Not the point…and it wasn't funny."

Sella would disagree, heck Liz would disagree.

"Well did you find out anything from it?"

Kiritsugu was never really a researcher, though more from preference than aptitude, but even he has some professional interest in what spells a person could get from studying a noble phantasm.

"…not really I mean how am I supposed to understand something made by the Fae? Just analysing it gives me a headache since the materials, concept and crafting skills are all basically alien to Humans. If it wasn't made to be used by one, I doubt I would be able to get anything at all."

Used by one.

"You mean Arthur Pendragon."

Kiritsugu spoke the name without questioning but there was a hint of curiosity about the legendary King of Knights.

"Yeah her."

Kiritsugu would never admit to being caught off guard by a teenager but that didn't stop the persistent smirk on Shirou's face at his father's reaction. The Emiya scion would get his revenge against those who mocked him one way or the other.

"I was able to get some pieces of the history from it since that's not dependant on the item, it's more like the impressions left on it by the World. It's hard to process the images but the clearest were of King Arthur who was definitely a girl and never seemed to get old like you."

He ignored that kick at his age as he thought about the damage that Shirou would be able to do to centuries of well-persevered and beloved Arthurian legends. Well Avalon was said to grant immortality so likely the King never aged though what kind of immortality the Fae could grant was a Mystery. Still even if nothing else could be learnt, he was impressed that Shirou's grasp was able to get even that much about events from over a millennium and a half ago.

That spell was something that he had polished until a basic piece of magecraft became something rather unique. Which reminded him….

"So Shirou, Sella mentioned that you were trying to make your own spells now?"

"Yeah!...Well right now I'm just working on two of them to figure out how to use my ether element and one isn't even really a new one. I still can't do most spells that create physical changes in the World except for things like reinforcement and alteration. It still has limits but it works best on my body and if I use structural grasp to analysis my body beforehand I can even do it to parts like my eyes."

For the second time in a day, a teenager got the upper hand on the Magus Killer. Parenthood was quickly turning out to be the mercenary's wiliest foe.

"Why would you do something like that? Reinforcement is tricky enough on the body's muscles, using it on the organs is…"

Insane, stupid and a variety of other things that Sella had already told Shirou.

"I know but if I use mental alchemy then I can monitor the results without going over the reinforcement limit. I'm still working on it with Sella's help but even if it might be helpful, that's not one of the spells I'm developing. The one I figured out myself was by combining my ether element with structural grasp to better see the flow of prana and spiritual influences. That's what let me obtain the images from Avalon and I even managed to see that it worked by absorbing small amount of stray prana from King Arthur. It won't work now because it's set to activate only with King Arthur's energy, I don't think even the Fae could use it without her."

If the item wouldn't react to any prana or presence but Arthur's, then even the Clocktower's researchers would have limited success with it. Especially since they couldn't physically interfere with its workings and risk the Faire craft being damaged.

"Hmmm…and what was the second spell?"

That Spiritual Grasp was interesting and would likely be suited to studying spiritual bodies and other influences of Gaia from what Kiritsugu could surmised by his own understanding of elemental relations. Still to develop something like that showed that even hampered by the ether element, Shirou was a resourceful child.

"Well this's not really mine but when I started studying Avalon, I grasped that it had a basic function that only King Arthur and the faire creators could use but which didn't require prana to activate. It only reduces the presence of the Item on Gaia by shifting its Existence to a purely spiritual state. Sella said that it's called 'astralization' and that it's an effect that only works with things with a strong spiritual presence or component."

That was something he also knew from what beginners knowledge he had on ghosts, wraiths and other spiritual bodies of Gaia. While transferring from the material plane to the astral one was a natural process for those beings, he didn't think any magi families specialized in doing it to physical items. Likely because it would be a very limited art without much room for improvement and discovery. But from what he knew about the highest forms of magical existences, such a mystery was innate to their nature.

"So you think that you can…learn how to astralize things from Avalon? Because Ether forms the basis of spiritual phenomena?"

It would require a large amount of information on the desired item and an ether element to integrate the mystery all while not interfering with the item's intended function. With some more knowledge on spiritual bodies, he could see a person being able to construct an astralization enchantment and seeing how engaged Shirou was made Kiritsugu hold back his thoughts on the spell's possible applications and instead tried to see how he could help.

"The Azoth Sword will likely take a while so maybe while we're there you can get some Code Crafting lessons and learn how to apply that kind of spell to physical items."

Shirou's mind soon began to whirl with what he could learn from someone who specifically focused in crafting before when something struck him about what was said.

"What do you mean? I thought that we were just picking up some material to make it?"

Kiritsugu blinked as his mind realized that he didn't make things clear. Well making arrangement not just with the supplier but also the defacto-Second Owner of the city took a while. It had been years since he had seen either of them, back when he was moving here with Irisviel and an infant Illya. Apparently informing Shirou had slipped his mind. Maybe he was getting old…

"Ah…well making a good mystic code requires a bit of professional advice and I know a craftsman that lives in the same town as the man I ordered the metal from. He'll have the required tool for crafting there."

Normally magi families would forge Azoth Swords by themselves since the tool would be based on their family's specialization but Shirou had no interest in taking the Emiya crest and going into the field of time manipulation which was probably for the best as he lacked the fire element which had run in the Emiya line. As a result, he would get an azoth sword more suited to his ether element and spiritual phenomena.

"That's…convenient?"

Shirou didn't know much about the Japanese moonlit society but most magi families tend to give each other a berth unless their families had a strong connection.

"Well the place we're going to happens to be on a ley line, one even stronger than the one in Fuyuki so some of people from our side tend to congregate or pass through there. Not really magi but definitely out of the norm in one way or the other."

Shirou nodded stiffly as his mind began to realize that this trip was not only so that he could get his first code but also to introduce him to people from the same world that his parents had been traversing every time they left the safety of home.

"What's the place like again?

Kiritsugu thought about the land that was known for the birth of the Fifth Magician, where people with tainted blood now possessed the highest control and things always felt a bit more primal than normal.

"Well because of the strong ley line the Association normally keeps an eye on here, but the official Second Guardian is absent now. There's still an overseer watching but he shouldn't be a problem. The town was built around the mountains with a connection to the city and from what I remember; the town is more modernized than Fuyuki so finding a hotel will be easy."

Yep there shouldn't be any problems in sleepy Misaki….


AN: I'm not completely happy with this since Kiritsugu's voice is hard to find and mixing humour into it is even harder. In Zero he is very mission focused but with Illya he's shown to be playful and in FSN he's almost zen. But his presence in Prisma is just one appearance where he's just chilling and taking a smoke, something I've deprived my Kiritsugu of, as punishment for being so vague in canon. Also we're in Misaki but don't go expecting an arc, or even an Arc. This is just a first attempt to see if I can write a wider prisma universe and maybe a bit of setup for a return down the road. Also remember that the theme of HKPS is family.

On another note. I'm calling for any interested people to apply for a beta position. Not so much for general plotting but to help me keep the characters' voices inline.