Prologue
279 AC
Being reincarnated was not as tedious as Shirou had always thought. He had never believed in such, until now that he'd experienced it himself. When he first opened his eyes in this strange unknown world, his body was that of a new-born infant. With eyes dazed and unfocused, he saw the woman who gave birth to him. She was beautiful; hair seeming incandescent red in the glow of the lit torches. She smiled joyfully at him, her eyes radiating warmth as she held the baby tenderly in her arms.
Beside the bed she laid stood a man with a severe face, his eyes only softening as he watched the woman and child.
"He is so precious, my lord," the woman said happily. "Our little Theon."
The man did not say anything but he did accept to hold the child when his wife offered. The newly-christened "Theon" observed the man just as he gazed at him. His hair that was perhaps once as dark as his eyes were now peppered with graying strands, and although he looked quite old, his hold was firm and steady. His face was perpetually locked in a strict and stoic expression, but the warmth and acknowledgement in his eyes cannot be denied. Indeed, who was once Emiya Shirou—the Wrought Iron Magus, was now the son of the Lord Reaper of Pyke, Theon Greyjoy.
