Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/ Stay Night or any other related properties. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Please Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Blake

Getting back to Germany had been a journey in itself. Blake first had to drive all the way to the east coast of the United States, which took nearly five days in itself. He had to constantly stop for gas for the car he had taken from an empty dealership, and his stamina remained the same way it had been in the real world, so he had to sleep while he could.

The good news was that since there was no one else on this recreation of earth, there was no traffic and he could basically take what he wanted. So food, gas, and camping supplies were free, but everything felt strange and alien, being as abandoned as it was. The diviner still felt like there were eyes watching him, but he could never discern from where. Even so, he still opted to camp out instead of stay in towns. The emptiness of the world still unsettled him.

When he finally made it to the coastline in North Carolina, he met his next roadblock. How would he get across the Atlantic? There was no one to sail a ship, or fly a plane for him. There was no way he would figure out how to fly a plane in a reasonable amount of time, so he decided to go the boat route. Sailing a boat should be easier than flying a plane.

Finding a boat wasn't too hard. There were plenty. So he went with a fishing boat big enough to withstand the tides. It wasn't overly big, but it was one that usually required more than one person to help sail it.

For this, it took him a few hours to work out how he was going to sail it by himself. He decided to use his sword and pentacle cards to tend to all the tasks that he couldn't physically reach while doing his own.

It was shaky, but in about a week's time, he made it across the Atlantic and to the coast of Spain. From there, he took another car and drove all the way to Germany. This trip took him about another day, but he soon found himself pulling into the city where it had all begun...and ended.

The city of Berlin.

Wooden bear statues were all over the place and he felt like an idiot for not remembering that this place was famous for them.

The diviner drove down the narrow streets and finally pulled up to a familiar looking apartment building. The man got out and then traveled up the stairs, all the way to the roof where he had spent so much time with Rin...and where he inevitably disappeared.

The end...

When he opened the door, he caught sight of a familiar figure. Though it was odd to be looking at this figure's back for once, he instantly recognized who it was.

"Ah, White," the figure sighed in relief. "You made it."

"Hey," Blake smiled a bit. "Black."

——

Black turned and faced Blake with the same face that Blake himself was making.

"It's been a while," the dark version of himself said. "I thought I'd never see you again, but here you are. I assume you've come to master me."

Blake looked on at his other half in shock. "You're The World spirit?!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, yes I believe I am," Black chuckled. "For the ultimate spirit of your tarot deck could be none other than yourself. I represent the full embodiment of your willpower and intent. But I'm afraid I'm not actually in this location. I am elsewhere in the city."

"Where are you, then", Blake asked.

"At the end," Black responded. "Not your altered end where you emerged victorious, but your original end. The end that would have occurred if you had not changed things."

Blake thought for a moment until realization hit him.

"You're at her mansion," Blake said, feeling anxiety rise in him.

Einsbern's words sounded in his head.

"I'll see you soon, my pet."

"Yes," Black nodded with an emotionless face. "That is your mission. To release me from her hold."

"Her hold?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Yes, after you defeated her, a piece of her still remained," Black explained. "It was the part of her that had been controlling me, and by extent, you. You must eliminate this remaining part of her and free us both, once and for all."

Blake felt doubt grip at his heart. The thought of facing Einsbern terrified him. She had tortured and tormented him in ways he could hardly fathom. And on top of that, she had been responsible for Rin and Ben's deaths in the original timeline. She had been destined to win, but Blake had turned back time and turned the tables in their favor.

"I know she scares you," Black put his hand on Blake's shoulder. It would have been reassuring if Blake had actually felt a hand, but instead he felt nothing, as if Black had no physical form at the moment. "She scares me too. But we have to face our fears at some point. And facing those fears is the only way we'll ever truly be rid of her."

Blake knew he was right, but he still couldn't help but shake at the thought of facing her again.

"And if she wins?" Blake asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

"You're smart," Black sighed. "I'm sure you can figure it out."

And he could. If he lost, Einsbern would take control of his body and all of his power.

"Fine," Blake sighed. "Let's do this thing."

———

Ben finally called a week after Sakura and Emiya had arrived, to offer help with the gate project.

"It's about time I heard from you!" Rin shouted in the phone. "What have you been doing?!"

"I've been busy with research," Ben sighed. "That's what we were supposed to be doing right?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Sakura and Shirou were coming?" Rin huffed.

"Because I was busy, and didn't think I needed to," Ben responded flatly.

"Well why didn't you arrive with them?" Rin continued her interrogation. "We could really use you over here."

Ben gave a loud sigh. "You see, I would be there, but I'm flat broke, and my rich magus friend didn't think to buy me a plane ticket to London. Also, the Clock Tower kind of really hates me, so there's that."

Rin took a breath. "Ok, that's fair," She admitted.

"Just remember to give Emiya mana crystals," Ben finally said. "He's doing a very high level projection, so I don't know how many gates he'll be able to produce per day."

"Got it," Rin responded.

"Good," Ben responded. "Now I'm kinda busy right now, so I'll talk to you later- yes yes! I'm getting off now Serrah! Hold on! Gotta go! Bye!"

The phone went dead.

So they pushed with project.

The mana infused crystal Rin and Sakura made, helped maintain Emiya's stamina while the projection magus attempted to recreate the gate. But even with the assistance, Emiya could only produce two gates at a maximum per day.

Recreating the gate was risky business. Every time Emiya attempted to project it, Rin had to cast a barrier around it. If she didn't, they found that there wouldn't be much left of her apartment after the first one exploded. An unexpected side-effect. It seemed that if they didn't recreate it perfectly, the amount of mana it took to make the gate would become unstable.

They had tried every day since Emiya and Sakura had arrived, but each gate inevitably exploded in blinding white light. Yet, there was hope. Every time it was created, the lag between the creation of the gate and its explosion became longer and longer. They were getting closer.

Rin studied the memory magic she had taken notes on to attempt to draw out a completely accurate blueprint of the gate, but it was slow going. It seemed every time she revisited the memory, there was another detail she hadn't realized about it. Things as small as the curvature of the infinity sign or the exact dimensions of the door kept delaying them more and more days.

By the end of the second week, all three magi were exhausted. They hadn't been able to pass past a lag time of ten seconds, and even when they were quick enough to get a familiar through the gate to test it out, the familiar was instantly disintegrated into nothingness.

They were at a roadblock. Rin didn't know what else they could do to make it more like the gate that the hooded man had created. The latest recreations seemed to be perfect copies of the original. She felt her spirits lowering each and every day.

"Maybe it's the properties of the gate," Emiya offered. "It could be that physically, it is an exact copy, but property wise, it's not. Like making an iron sword look exactly the same as a steel one. The appearance is the same, but the quality and effectiveness is not."

Rin's shoulders sank. "So you're saying that it could be impossible?" she sighed. "That we've been wasting our time..."

She started to shake. These past few weeks had been frustrating, but they had filled her with hope. Maybe she could finally get to the bottom of who Blake Ryan was. Not just that, but who he was to her. She had been pushing herself so hard for the past few months, and now they were just going to reach a dead end?

"Tohsaka..." Emiya began.

She saw it, she saw the pity on his face! She looked around to see that Sakura also had the same look. Utter pity. The faces of people who didn't know how to break the bad news.

"No...NO!" Rin began to shout. "Don't you dare say it! I won't hear it! I'm not going to give up on this!"

"Rin, we've been at this for days," Emiya sighed. "Creating a gateway to another realm...it's high level stuff."

"Then that means it just takes time!" Rin argued. "It's like you said! It's only been days! We can still do it! We can bring him-"

Her eyes went wide as arms wrapped around her and her face was pulled into a soft shoulder.

"Rin," the Sakura sniffled. "Please stop this. The real reason we came here was to stop you. I didn't realize how bad it was until now. We knew from the start that we wouldn't be able to create a proper gate. What Shirou just mentioned, was something he already knew in his heart. He hoped he was wrong, but he always knew. Now please, stop this. Mourn, and let us be here for you. But please just stop."

Rin's body went limp, and numbness took over. A numbness she hadn't felt for years. Even her own friends and family thought she was crazy. She had been the result of Charlotte Ryan's death. She had been the reason that they were attacked on the pier. And now, she was trying to create a gate that exploded every time they made it. Maybe she was crazy.

The magus pulled away from her sister, not looking anyone in the eye.

"I need to be alone right now," she whispered. And walked off.

A/N: One step forward and two steps back. Will they ever figure out the key to making the gate work? Blake approaches the place of his greatest nightmare. Will he be able to face it? Find out soon! Like always, please drop a review and let me know what you think. I do read them and your reviews matter to me. Happy thanksgiving to those of my readers who celebrate it! Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a great day!

-B