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"What is the point of having free will if one cannot occasionally spit in the eye of destiny?" -Jim Butcher, White Night

Beware the man that claims to work for the greater good. For he has let countless evils thrive for that which he believes is worth the sacrifice. -unknown

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Rin gazed upon the devastation in horror while Berserker remained invisible by her side. Yes, there had been no civilians, but the sheer scale of destruction left her scarred. This was the Grail War, this was what she was fighting in. Were it not the foresight of a Master or Servant, hundreds of people could be dead. Maybe thousands. All of them would be on her hands. She was the nominal owner of these lands, as far as Magi were concerned. This was her land that was being torn up in the conflict, her land that was begin destroyed in a War unseen by the public.

"We've got a problem Rin," Berserker said.

"I can see that Berserker, look at what they did." Rin said angrily.

"No, I meant the soldiers." Berserker said a ghost of a touch on her shoulder turned her in the direction to see several JDF soldiers going over the area.

"So what? They're probably just helping clear debris." Rin commented brushing off Berserker's warning.

"No Rin, they're coming over. Looks like the soldiers will be bunking in the area for now. This was a full fledged attack to them. This war just got a lot harder to keep secret." Berserker corrected.

Rin flinched at this. If the mundanes ever suspected that magic was real, the Association would blame her and there would be hell to pay. Yet, all she could do was hope that the damage would be mitigated. Then again...the last war had a Servant steal an F-15 and use it against another from what she could tell from the last war.

Rin sighed, as long as the existence of magic wasn't revealed, the Tower couldn't care less what happened in the Grail War. Apparently, whoever destroyed the skyscrapper just used ordinary explosives. Still, this was not making her life easy, nor was this the way she wanted the war to go. At the start, it had been a quiet thing, no deaths, no harm to unaffiliated people. But then the murders began, and then the war accelerated like a spark in a lake of oil. The murders had been the signal for the Grail to intensify.

"Now what you were expecting Rin?" Berserker asked.

"No, I knew something like this was possible..." Rin trailed off.

"You just hoped it wouldn't get to this. Honestly, I'm surprised that it's getting this intense already." Berserker commented, "Normally the first few days to a week are spent feeling each other out. Not moving so quickly. Clearly there's a Servant or two that really want the Grail badly."

"What was your first hint?" Rin asked sarcastically as she turned away from the devastation.

"The murders, they were probably done just to incite people like you and me." Berserker went on ignoring the rhetorical question as there was something they needed to determine. "Look at us, we're chasing ghosts unable to do anything more than react. Everything is being done without magic leaving us no way to determine if this was done by a Servant or a Master. For all we know, this is the work of Rider, Caster. Or just some nut."

Rin walked into an alley and listened while Berserker continued to talk. "Whoever is doing this is smart, but they're leaving hints. Poems, unique bomb signatures, warnings, something is being planned. Something about Shirou if I were to guess."

"Why Shirou?" Rin asked.

"Remember the first poem, about a Hero that can make it right? Shirou is a person that wants to be a hero, wants to be a savior. Then the second one talks about doom and how the Servants unite. Someone is trying to get us to ally with each other, but that's practically impossible...somethings wrong. We're missing something."

"Is it possible you're over thinking? It could just be some misdirection." Rin commented as they headed for the bridge.

Haru found it ironic that she of all people was telling him that he might be over thinking things. "Maybe, but then this whole charade is being done meticulously. If this is just a deversion...what could the enemy be hiding?" Berserker mused.

"Well, the tower's a dead end," Rin commented, "Any chance Shirou and Archer had any luck?"

"Possible, she spent a great deal of her life tracking elusive creatures. If there are any hints as to who killed those people, she'll find them." Berserker said confidently. "In the mean time, we have something else we need to discuss. Shirou."

"Wha-why?" Rin said turning away from him.

"He's distorted." Berserker said seriously.

"Eh?" Rin was taken aback by this. "What do you mean?"

"What him Rin. He's only happy when he's helping someone. He couldn't care less if he puts himself in danger so long as he helps others." Berserker informed her. "He's a distortion. To him, as long as others are saved, he will do anything to protect them. He has, for lack of a better term, a death wish. He would gladly die to save others. He has no sense of self preservation."

"You're exaggerating," Rin said, but even she couldn't say that with confidence.

"Really, watch him. He values the lives of others more than himself. He's always helping someone no matter how inconvenient or dangerous it is to him. If you asked him for help, he would do it regardless if you asked him to run into a kill zone. He's a distortion, and he needs help before he ends up in a body bag."

"Why? Why is he like that?" Rin asked quietly.

"He's the lone survivor of the fire from the last Grail War. It was there that he saw hell, it was there that whoever he was before the fire died. He was shattered, broken, and was then corrupted by what he saw." Berserker stated.

"Saw?" Rin asked mesmerized.

"Hell, he witnessed hell itself as a child. To him, the fires, the deaths, there were nothing compared to the corrupted tower he saw. The essence of the devil itself, the collective hatred of mankind. He saw it with his own eyes and had to break to survive lest he fully fall into madness." Berserker explained.

….

"Berserker, how do you know this?" Rin asked suspiciously.

"Archer told me. She worries about him." Berserker lied easily. "Heck, I worry about him. The path that he's walking. It is the road to ruin, to damnation, and eternal hell. He will become a counter guardian at this rate regardless of the warnings we gave him."

"So..." Rin asked twirling her hair in worry, "What would you recommend?"

"He is like a blade, a legendary powerful blade that can do wonders. But he does not rest, he has nothing to restrain him from swinging wildly and being used. The greatest of blades have sheaths that restrain the blades until the time is right. Sheaths that only allow worthy men to wield the blade. Sheaths that protect and repair the blade when not in use. He needs a sheath." Berserker stated.

"wait, are you telling me to be his sheath?" Rin asked suspicious

"Make of it what you will Rin," Berserker said as they headed home. "he is a distortion, and distortions are doomed to an early grave if not dealt with correctly."

Xxxxx

Chiyo wished she had been here earlier. The bodies had all been removed. Though the police had chalked the ground signifying where the bodies were, it left out too much of the story. Still, she had plenty to work off anyways. The slice on the ground, it was made by a long bladed weapon like a spear or a sword, by the way ti traveled, if it had been a spear, it should have nicked the ceiling. Since the top was untouched the enemy was either using a sword or very good with a spear. She continued to examine the room both feeling the mundane and magical energies trying to get a sense of the place. Yet, all she could feel was the mundane. No residual magical energies remained here. No spells had been used, no magical creatures had stayed here long enough to leave an imprint. Well, no imprint beyond the obvious corpses and blood.

It was frustrating. It wasn't the lack of clues, it was the lack of specific identifiers. A Servant should have fed upon the souls yet hadn't by not eating, no magical residue remained. A magic ceremony would also have left out identifiers indicating what type of magic was used no matter how good a magi the person was.

"Anything?" Shirou asked from where he stood. Archer had been very careful to make sure that he did not mess up the scene.

"No, it's just like the others." Archer said frustrated. Someone had done this, and they had been careful to make sure nothing big was left for them to find. "Damn, he's good."

"He?" Shirou asked, "Not she?"

"Males have a certain...mark when they do their work. Certain things are subconsciously favored over others." Archer explained. "This was a male." She said with confidence. "Besides, Riko is far more vindictive, if less imaginative than what this guy did." She pointed to the walls, "Look at these languages, I've only glanced at a few of them in my time. Arabic, Egyptian, Hebrew, Latin, new and ancient Greek, Riko loved Greek but despised anything to do with Romans calling them fakes and copies. She couldn't have learned all these languages."

She pointed at a few symbols, "Templars, Illuminati, Taoists, Necromancy. This whole place is more of a collection of old Orders and Beliefs than a ceremony. No sense to it what so ever other than to disturb anyone...So, it is as I feared." She closed her eyes, "You were the target Emiya-san."

"Eh?" Shirou said confused.

"The attacks started after everyone but you had summoned a Servant. This was done for a reason, to draw out the last Servant and begin the War." Chiyo told him while hiding her true suspicion. No, the murders were there for Tou-san to meet Lancer, for him to die and then be saved right before he summoned a Servant. Someone with the knowledge of the previous war had done this monstrosity for the sake of Tou-san getting involved in the war.

"But what about the last murders? Three happened after you were summoned." Shirou countered.

"Different MO," Chiyo waved away.

"MO?" Shirou asked confused by the term.

"Modus operandi, different habits than the other murders. It was a copycat. The previous ones were unknown individuals that didn't belong in empty houses. The last ones were people just murdered in their own homes. If I were to guess, those ones were Riko's doing." She shuddered, "She did that in life a few times while we hunted her down."

"Your family is messed up," Shirou said, "There's you, Berserker, Assassin, and Saber."

"We weren't always that messed up." She countered, "At first, our family had a bond that was unbreakable. But, when my littlest sister was murdered on her wedding day, everything changed. We became fragile, weakened, then a literal army attacked. We were not ready, our morale was already beaten. So many of our family died. Those that remained were...less than what we once were."

Shirou was quiet at that. There really wasn't anything he could say to her. It had happened a long time ago, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Come along Emiya-san, there's nothing more for us here. I doubt there will be any more murders since the war has started and the copy cat isn't moving. The best we can do is go home and try to locate them tomorrow when we're fresh. Besides, you've got school in the morning."

Shirou clenched his fists. He hated being so helpless. What kind of hero let the innocent suffer because of him?

"There's nothing to blame yourself for Shirou-san," Archer told him as the left. "You cannot blame yourself for the sins of others. If you try to take their sins, all you will gain is pain. Everyone has a choice on how to live their lives. But, it is their choice alone. Nobody else is responsible for their choices. Everyone from the greatest of paragons to the lowest of scum can blame anyone else but themselves for their choices. They made their decisions, and they live with them."

Shirou nodded, understanding, but unchanged.

Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain.

Withstood pain to create many weapons.

Xxxxxxxx

"What is thy bidding my Master?" Kiri asked kneeling before the vampire and Shinji.

Shinji puffed up his chest like a peacock. Finally, he was going to have his revenge. "Lick my feet Servant." he ordered. He wanted to see His Servant refuse then laugh while using a command Seal. Grandfather might think it wasteful. But it was best to show this dog who was Master.

"As you order Master." Rider replied. He got down on his knees and took off his helmet. "Though I do have to wonder about your sexual orientation at this point. Normally it would be a male telling a female to lick his shoes or vice-verse. Anything you want to tell us?" He asked in mirth as he leaned forward preparing to lick it.

Shinji leaped back. Not only was he surpirsed that Rider wasn't resisting, but his orientation was being questioned. Both Grandfather and Sakura were looking at him curiously.

"Nii-san, is that why you taunt Sempai so much?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Shinji," Grandfather said irritated, "What you do on your time is your own business, but you will obey me."

"No, nononono, I'm not into guys." Shinji denied. He scooted back as Rider moved towards him on all fours intending to follow the command. "No, stop, enough Rider."

"Are you sure Master, they do look rather dirty." Rider said with a smile.

"Enough." Shinji ordered. Kiritsugu stood up and thought the whole thing was worth it. Sakura was now very convinced that Shinji had a crush on Tou-san and Zouken was close to believing Rider's claim as well. Any amount of humiliation and damage to his pride was worth this. He may not have been a famous prankster like Riko and Karin, but he still got his licks in every now and then.,,like the time he switched out the shampoo with black dye. Who knew that Rider-kaasan could scream loud enough to shatter glass?

"What is thy bidding my Master?" Rider asked again all serious as he put on his helmet.

"We're going to fight Rider," Shinji said eager for an excuse to get away from the previous topic.

"Very well Master, but it would be best to wait a day or two. My...wounds are not healed yet. I do not doubt that the weakest of Servants could kill me tonight." Rider admitted. He could still feel them,, crawling within him. Feeding on his body and threatening his sanity.

Shinji clenched his fist, "What kind of Servant are you? You're so high and mighty yet you can't even take on a weak opponent?"

Sakura wanted to interevene. She knew all too well how tiring the pit was.

"I apologize Master, I did not anticipate taking so much...damage today. As an apology, I could always make it up to you some way, say...lick your shoes clean...if you like that sort of thing." Rider said.

Sakura turned away and did her best to keep from giggling while Zouken openly cackled. Shinji sneered at Rider. "Alright, tomorrow we fight. You had better be grateful. Come Sakura." His voice was full of fury.

"You will not harm her." Rider said seriously, "Pain and agony causes her to resonate with the Grail. If you harm her, everything might be undone."

"Shinji, leave Sakura alone tonight." Zouken ordered. Shinji flinched, none could go against Grandfather.

That night, Sakura slept soundly having the best nights sleep she had enjoyed in almost twelve years. No worms crawled within her, no beatings, no rape. That night, she dreamed of herself at the alter in a beautiful white dress and a bouquet of red roses. She dreamed that she was walking an alter that never seemed to end towards her goal, and her love. Above all, he was looking at her with his kind eyes waiting to take the vows with her.

That night, Shinji fumed and raged alone in his room. How dare that Servant do this to him. How dare he look down on his Master. Ooohoho, he was going to pay for this humiliation. After school tomorrow, Rider was going to suffer. Rider was going to wish he had died in the pit when Shinji was done. How dare he humiliate him and then keep Sakura away from him. D*mn D*mn D*mn. D*mn him to hell for this.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Sakura got up early and headed for Sempai while Shinji slowly got up and headed for breakfast. As susual, Sakura had made breakfast for her brother and left it out for him to eat while she headed off for Emiya. But today was unusual, she never made it to Shirou's house.

About five feet past the Mansion, Rider was waiting. "Go to Ryudouji Temple now. If you do not, I will kill your beloved sempai. Go there and find refuge with Caster. You may tell the truth if you wish. But you will go there now." His tone was like ice. He was going to kill sempai immediately if she did not. Sakura nodded fearfully and bolted for the temple. Something was very wrong, and she had no idea what had happened. Didn't matter, she was going to keep Sempai safe.

Shinji, unaware of the change ate his breakfast and had his Servant follow at a distance. "Let's go Rider, after school, we begin the hunt. You had better not fail me."

Rider remained silent as Shinji walked away from the mansion. They had traversed about half the distance to school when Shinji blacked out. He awoke in front of the church with a letter in front of him. Confused, Shinji opened it.

Dear Fool,

Thanks for the Command Seals and Anchor. Now I am truly free. All it took was a single command seal on myself and your grandfather can no longer influence me. I am free, free to do as I wish. You who have abused two Servatns with your pride will die by your Grandfathers hand. Unless...go to the church. Seek sanctuary. There, you might find what you need. Good luck boy, they say third times the charm.

Rider

Ps. Are you sure you're not into guys?

Shinji put down the letter and immediately scrambled for his book. Gone, it was gone. Rider had stolen it and used it on himself. Damn him, damn him to hell. Grandfather was going to kill him. D*mnit D*mnit. Why was it always happening to him? There was only one thing to do...Shinji looked at the churhc and ran. He didn't even notice that he had been unconscious for hours.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Japan, such a backwater place for magi. Still, the contact was paying the family big time, and clearly had good taste to ask for her specifically. With her luscious golden hair, beautiful figure, and unmatched genius, of course someone was bound to ask for her. She stepped out of the terminal and immediately spotted her contact. It was a man with one eye wrapped in black coat holding a sign saying 'Edlefelt' She had to admit, she liked working with a professional that believed in timeliness. The one thing that threw her was the sheer power the man radiated, but he was clearly not hostile.

She proudly walked up to him. He took one look at her and asked, "Do you have any luggage on you?"

"Just one bag and my carry on. I was asked to prepare for rapid movement." Luvia stated.

The man motioned for her to follow and lead her to the baggage claim. The man was silent as they collected her bag, he then lead her to her ride. She had to admit, her employer had taste. A fully stocked limo to pick her up, she had feared that whoever hired her would make her ride something as ugly as van.

"I thank you for coming so quickly," the man said as he opened the door for her. Inside were tow briefcases. One was labeled with her name while the other had the name Matsu on it. Luvia sat down and picked up the one labeled for her. "Inside is the promised payment, the details, and a small bonus for you."

"My, you are prepared." Luvia said with approval. "But a little rude."

"My apologies, I had to ditch some dead weight that believed he was my superior. It changes nothing, but I do apologize for letting you catch the back drift." The man apologized. "We have one more person to pick up today. My final contact won't be coming for another day."

"Contact?" Luvia asked.

"Later, for now, open your payment and let me know if there is something wrong." the man said getting into the driver's seat. Luvia nodded and opened it up. The payment was in Euros and matched what she expected, beside the money was a small collection of jewels, some papers, and...a tome. Luvia opened the tome and began reading. It was amazing, such breakthroughs in thaumaturgy . Whoever made this was a genius. She flipped to the front to see who made the book...

Luviagelita Edelfelt-Emiya

Luvia put the book down and stared.

"As a heroic Spirit, I am not bound by such things like time lines. I am from a potential future. A future not too distant. That, and the jewels infused with your prana are the bonuses I promised."

"Wha-how?" Luvia asked.

"I am not supposed to be here, but I am. So, I will do what I can to set things right and make a better world. That tome is part of your research of over seventy years. It should serve you well Lady Sapphire." Kiri said as they drove. "In the meantime, I have one more person to pick up, so read over your briefing please. Time is of the essence here."

Luvia dove into the notes and began reading. It was fascinating, not just what she was supposed to do, but also a brief synopsis of what occurred in one timeline. "Tell me, what is this Shirou like?"

"The kindest, bravest, most heroic, moron I ever met." Kiri said bluntly. "Cooks better than a five star restaurant. Can do better housework than any maid in the world, and was and is a true blue hero. The Throne was greatly strengthened when he entered the throne. You'll see soon enough."

They headed for the train station where the man asked her to stay here while he picked up the next person. Luvia poured through the notes and imagined the world that he had seen. Was this Shirou really that good a man that others would share just to be with him. She went back over the tome. As she flipped through it, something fell out. A bookmark, a simple hand made bookmark with two small thumbprints on it. And the words 'Best Mother Ever' and two names Aleksi and Aliisa. Something about it made her heart sing just seeing such a simple treasure. She could feel the love the two had put in this simple object. It was clear that her alternate had treasured it so much that it was laminated and placed in the tome. She didn't know what her future could bring, but she swore this, if she ever had any children, they would have the same name.

Soon, the man returned with a redhead with twin pony tails. The man opened the door and helped her in. "Thank you for coming Matsu, I am glad my tips on evading MBI were helpful."

"No, thank you for telling me about the chip." Matsu said as she entered. Her cheeks were pink form a blush, but why do you say you are not my Ashkibai?

"Because I am his son. Please read the files in the briefcase. All will be clear." The man said. "Oh, Luvia-san, please let her read the files before you say anything. She needs to gather her thoughts as well.

The woman seemed to fume, bu opened her briefcase. "No way, how did he get something so advanced?" the woman/creature asked as she pulled out a small rectangular thing about the size of a palm.

"Won't come out for about seventy years or so, enjoy oh Finger of the Machine god." he chuckled as he drove. The woman didn't seem to hear him as she fiddled with the dohicky. "The two of you will be staying at a certain place. It seems like a temple from the outside, but it is, by now a heavily fotified citadel as far as this conflict goes. Once you get out of this car, I am to be considered a hostile. The ones you will work are Bazett and Caster. In addition, there should be a girl there by the name of Sakura. Work together to fulfill your roles."

"Why are you a hostile?" Luvia asked, this was a surprise.

"I am compromised, soon I will be insane and probably psychotic. If you see me, assume I am mad and take me down. The plan must go forward regardless if I can help you or not. If not, well...the files will tell you what's the worst case scenario." The man told them.

The red head didn't seem to nice as she poured over the files. Every now and then, she giggled in a creepy manner that made Luvia want to shoot her. Still, the files said that this was an alien who's race had crashed centuries ago. Most of the population had long since bred with the human population, but the last ship had only recently released the last few inhabitants. Since they had bred with humans before, and the files said they depended on humans to survive, Luvia had no reason to fear the creature would go on a rampage.

The two woman poured through their files learning all they could before they finally stopped at a long staircase. "This is the spot. Caster will see you inside. Good luck." He said dismissing them. The two got out of the cars and gazed at the stairs. It seemed that they needed to have a long talk with Caster.

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