Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night, Highschool DxD or anything else.

Fate: Devil Night

Chapter6: Grail War I

Human World
Japan: Fuyuki
Emiya Residence

Breakfast passed much the same as it did every morning with the five of them talking amongst themselves and watching the news on the TV. Apparently there had been a number of gas leaks and accidents lately which hospitalized quite a few people over the last week or so, not that it really effected them or anything. After they were finished the five of them cleaned up the dishes and headed off to school after locking the house with the exception of Ravel and Miyu who didn't have school.

"I'll see you later Sempai," Sakura waved to him as she headed off towards her own classroom.

"Bye Sakura," Shirou waved back as he watched her disappear down the corridor. "See you tomorrow."

Shirou sighed as he turned away and walked through the corridor towards his own classroom. A few of the students that he passed were talking loudly about how the school idol Tohsaka Rin had shot down Matou Shinji earlier that morning and had dismissed him. Seriously, what was with the way everyone liked to gossip about that girl? Sure she was the prim and proper honour student but that wasn't any reason to practically follow her every move.

Though that didn't stop him from keeping an eye on her…

She was a Magus after all…

His father had told him about the other Magi that lived in the city, one of which was the Second Owner of the land. They were the Matou and Tohsaka families whom along with the Einzberns had originally founded the Holy Grail Wars, the last of which his father had fought in. There was a reason he'd befriended Shinji despite the guy's obnoxious personality and that was to keep an eye on him. Sakura too actually, though as time went on he'd started to like her more and more. On the other hand Tohsaka Rin was the current Second Owner of Fuyuki city and was someone he'd always been careful around.

She was dangerous…

Shirou looked up and saw none other than Tohsaka Rin herself walking towards him. They passed each other without a glance, bother of them heading for their respective classrooms. As they passed each other however, a sudden spike of pain shot through his right hand. He didn't flinch or make any sudden movements and merely ignored it as he continued on his way. He entered his classroom and sat down at his desk before checking his right hand.

'This is…' Shirou trailed off in thought as he covered his bleeding hand and wrapped it in a bandage. 'A set of Command Sigils.'

That meant he was a Master…

The moment that the end of day bell rang Shirou rushed home, hastily saying goodbye to Taiga and Sakura as he did so. Foregoing the planned trip to the marketplace that he had originally intended for the day, he instead went straight home as fast as he could. The longer he was out in the open like this, the more of a target he was. He had to get home, he had to get inside the safety of his home's Bounded Fields and stay there until he sorted this out. It was only when he finally reached the Emiya Residence that he really took note of his surroundings, specifically the fact that the Bounded Fields around his home were registering two people inside.

"Ravel?!" Shirou shouted as he slid the living room door open and saw her sitting at the table with Miyu. "Miyu?!"

"Shirou?" Ravel responded in surprise.

"Onii-chan?" Miyu blinked confused.

"We need to talk," Shirou told her as he grabbed their arms. "Come with me."

"Wah—Shirou?!" Ravel yelled as he dragged them out of the room.

He slid the living room door closed behind him and dragged them down the corridor. A short trip outside into the courtyard was followed by them entering the lone shed on the property, Shirou's workshop and possibly the most secure place in the household. The amount of Bounded Fields he now had over it—some of which were demonic thanks to Ravel—had turned it into a fortress. The moment they entered the shed, Shirou closed the door behind him and sealed it shut.

"What's going on?" Ravel questioned. "Did something happen?"

"Take a look," Shirou said as he held up the back of his hands so that she could see.

She paled upon seeing them…

"Are those…" Miyu trailed off at the sight.

"Yes," Shirou confirmed. "They're Command Sigils."

"Oh Maou," Ravel swore under her breath.

This was bad, if he had Command Sigils then that meant another Holy Grail War was confirmed to be starting, and that was very bad news for them. The last war had resulted in the collapse of the dimensional barriers between two different worlds and ended up merging them both into one. If another war was starting then that meant something like that could happen again, and that was something none of them wanted. The last time it had been nearly resulted in the birth of the Dark God Angra Mainyu and the end of the world.

"They just appeared about an hour ago," Shirou told them as he looked down at the Command Sigils on the back of his hand.

"Why is this happening?" Ravel asked him. "Isn't the next Grail War not supposed to start for another fifty years or something?"

"I don't know," Shirou gritted out. "This has never happened before."

"If a Grail War is about to start then our only options are to run or fight," Ravel said as she shook her head.

"I'm not leaving," Shirou declared simply. "I was there ten years ago when the last war ended and Fuyuki city was almost burned down. I lost my family and everything I cared about that day. I swore that I'd never let something like that happen to those I care about ever again and I'm not going to leave when everyone I know is in danger."

Long ago his father had pulled him from the fire that spread throughout Fuyuki city and saved him. The man had raised him as his own son and Shirou thanked him every day since then. He had inherited Kiritsugu's ideal of 'Salvation' and his desire to be a hero, however Shirou had no idea how to pursue either one. How can someone be saved? Should he save their lives? Should he save them from their fates? Should he save them from living in a harsh world? What was a hero? One person's hero was another person's villain, so what did it mean to be a hero?

What did it mean to 'save' someone?

He didn't really know but that was okay, because right now no one needed saving, they needed protecting. A Grail War starting up—fifty years early—endangered everyone he cared about, from his kohai, Sakura to his King, Ravel. If this city was to be center of another dimensional collapse then he would fight to save and protect those he cared about. He didn't care about saving the world or the nameless masses, he just wanted to save those he cared about.

That was enough for him…

"I want you both to leave," Shirou spoke clearly.

Wait…

What?

"What are you talking about?" Ravel asked suddenly very pale. She had to be mistaken, she must have misheard him because she could have sworn he'd just told her to leave.

"You heard me," Shirou told her as he looked right at her. "A Grail War is about to start and only Masters are supposed to participate. As long as you stay here then you're in danger-".

"And you think that I can't protect myself?" Ravel cut in with a glare.

"Not against a Servant," Shirou replied swiftly. "The safest place for you right now is as far away from here as possible."

Considering the last Holy Grail War had collapsed two realms into one there was no telling what this war might do so the best thing for him to do right now was get Ravel and Miyu as far away from Fuyuki—and the Human World—as possible. Hell, he was thinking about speaking with Taiga and Sakura in the vain hope of getting them to take a vacation outside the continent until it was all over. He would already be dialling their phones right now if he thought that he could convince them to go along with it.

"Onii-chan?" Miyu asked him. "Why are you telling us to go?"

"To keep you safe," Shirou replied with a sad smile. "I'll be okay so don't worry about me."

"...We have a contract," Ravel said finally. "You're my Queen."

That's right, when he'd first summoned her he had signed her contract and had kept summoning her back from the Underworld until she had decided to simply live at his place during the weekdays. They'd known each other for years now and had grown on each other over time. He was her client magician and she was his contracted devil. Not only that but he was now her Queen, her partner and the one who always had her back when things got tough as he had proven during the Ainsworth crisis.

That's why he wanted her to leave…

He couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt…

"You can't stay here Ravel," Shirou sighed softly. "It's too dangerous."

He couldn't protect her from what was coming, he'd be lucky if he could protect himself never mind someone else too. She wasn't a Master and he was, it was that simple. His only option other than fighting was give up his Command Sigils and flee the city. But he couldn't do that, not as long as Taiga, Sakura and everyone else he knew were in danger of being killed, or worse. He had to save them from the nightmare that he had borne witness to ten years ago, the fire that took everything from him.

Ravel understood that, she knew just how messed up in the head the fire had made him. He wanted to be a hero to those he cared about and he wanted to save them, not caring for his own life at all. He couldn't care less about the rest of the world but as long as those he cared for were in danger he would stand and fight to save them from it. She couldn't dissuade him or even stay and help him because she knew that the moment her parents or brothers heard what was happening, she'd be recalled to the Underworld immediately.

She only had one option left…

"Okay we'll leave," Ravel conceded. "But only if you do something for me."

"What is it?" Shirou asked the question.

"Take these," Ravel told him as she handed him a pair of vials containing Phoenix Tears. "You have my authority to act however you must in order to survive and return to me, do you understand, my Queen?"

"…Yes my King," Shirou bowed his head to her. "Thank you."

"Onii-chan," Miyu spoke with a small smile. "Be safe."

"We'll see each other again, I promise."

Ravel Phenex let out a sigh as she finished packing what remained of her things into her bags and sat down on the floor. Since giving Shirou two vials filled with Phoenix Tears, she had sent a message back to the Underworld informing her family and the Maou of what was about to happen in Fuyuki city. The news of the imminent start of another Grail War resulted in a frenzy with plans being put in place to evacuate all of the devils currently living on Earth in the event that the worst should happen. As she predicted her family had recalled her and wanted her to return home immediately before the Grail War began in earnest.

Part of her didn't want to go but she knew that if she stayed then her eldest brother Ruval Phenex would just come and drag her back to the Underworld. Considering that Fuyuki was not only a Magi-controlled city but also overseen by a former Executor of the Holy Church, the appearance of an Ultimate-class devil like him near the apparent location of the Holy Grail could possibly restart the Great War between the Three Biblical Factions.

She didn't want that…

She didn't want to be responsible for starting another war…

She didn't want the deaths that would follow on her conscious…

"Are you ready?" Shirou asked from the doorway.

"I'm ready Oni-chan," Miyu answered as she put on her backpack filled with what little she had.

"Yes," Ravel nodded as she stood up holding her bag. "I'm ready too."

They walked in silence, not saying anything as they made their way out of the house and back into the shed-workshop. There was nothing left to say, not after all they had been through, not with what they both knew was coming. Finally they entered the shed and Ravel walked over to the magic circle in the center of the room. Ravel put her bag down as she stepped into it and turned around to face the redhead one last time. Miyu stepped up beside her and turned to wave.

"I guess this is it," Shirou said quietly.

"I guess it is," Ravel muttered back.

"…Good luck," Miyu said quietly.

"I'll be alright," Shirou told them with a smile. "You don't have to worry."

Ravel clenched her hands into fists as her side before she walked forward and buried her head in his chest. Miyu was right behind her and hugged his side. None of them said anything, not even when Shirou slipped his arms around them both and pulled them closer to him. They didn't want to go, they didn't want to abandon him here and run to safety while he was forced to fight. But in the end it wasn't their choice, if they stayed then they'd only be putting them all in danger, and that was something they couldn't do.

Eventually they pulled back…

"…Thank you for everything," Shirou smiled at them.

She really cared about him…

"Stay safe," Ravel told him as she stepped back into the magic circle. "Don't you dare die, you hear me? I'll be angry if you do, understand?"

"Yes," Shirou nodded with a smile.

"Bye bye Oni-chan," Miyu waved as she too stepped back into the magic circle.

No other words were said as the magic circle lit up with a crimson red colour which shone brightly throughout the shed, bathing all in its radius. Several seconds passed as the magic circle rose up and the two girls disappeared along with their bags. The light died down a moment later leaving the room darkened and cold, like the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon. It was then that Emiya Shirou stood alone, gazing at the spot where his King and sister had been.

Without a word he turned away…

And walked out into the rain…

She crawled along the ground, trying to pull herself further up the mountain towards the magic leyline that lay beneath it. Not that it mattered, there was no way she would reach it time, and her prana was almost completely gone at this point. She wouldn't last long now, maybe a few minutes at the most, and then she would return back to the Throne of Heroes where she had been summoned from. Was this to be her end? Was she going to die here without accomplishing anything?

Heh…

Fitting for the Witch of Betrayal…

In her first life, Princess Medea of Colchis had her mind destroyed at a young age to save a hero chosen by the Greek gods named Jason. The Goddess Aphrodite made Medea blindly fall in love with Jason and betray everyone she cared about including her father and country. Aphrodite even went a step further and forced her to kill her own brother Apsyrtus when her father King Aeetas sent an army to capture Jason before he could escape the country.

Upon returning to Iolcos, Jason was nearly killed by King Pelias—the man who had usurped the throne—and had to rely on Medea's knowledge of Magecraft in order to survive. She eventually came up with a plan to trick Pelias into coming to her and resulted in his death allowing Jason to become King. His fellow Argonauts weren't happy with what he had done however and openly denounced Medea as a witch for her forced actions.

She and Jason fled to Corinth where the King, a man named Creon took a liking to the hero. He decided to have his daughter Creusa marry Jason whom also wanted to marry her over Medea, something that the 'witch' could not forgive. After everything had been said and done, the King and his daughter were dead along with everyone else that had attended the wedding save for Jason. Medea disappeared after that and wandered the lands, filled with nothing but betrayal and emptiness.

She'd died alone…

Because of her life, her soul transcended to the Throne of Heroes outside of space and time. She was later summoned into what she knew to be the future by a middle-aged Magus from the Mage's Association called Atram Galiast. She'd been summoned under the class of Caster, one of the seven Servant classes designated by the Holy Grail. She was to participate in the Holy Grail War despite not having a wish for herself and had gone along with it, if only to see it through to the end.

But her 'Master' was a worthless man…

Despite being a legitimate Magus with a 'reasonable' lineage behind him, he had no urge to push forward yet still wanted to win the Holy Grail War. His Magecraft was inefficient and resulted in unnecessary deaths. His plan was to wait for the other Masters and Servants to kill each other before finishing off whatever was left. It was a reasonable strategy—for a coward—but in the end she had given up on him and after he used a Command Sigil to stop her from using her Noble Phantasm on him, she turned her Rulebreaker on herself, breaking their contract from her end.

Needless to say she'd killed him and destroyed his workshop before heading towards Mount Enzou where the Greater Grail was located. Normally she could last two days without a Master to supply her with prana but her former Master had hit her with a curse that depleted her reserves faster than she had expected, leaving her on the verge of disappearing back into the void beyond. Now here she was on her last legs making her way up the mountain in search of an access point where she could connect herself to the local magic leyline.

It wasn't enough…

She couldn't go on…

It was raining, the ground was soaked and so were her clothes. She could barely sustain herself at this point, never mind remaining conscious for much longer. Another minute and she would disappear from this world once again. A rustling noise came from ahead of her and she looked up, her vision blurring slightly as she tried to focus on the source. It was midday and the clouds had blotted out the sun so there was very little light but she was able to make out the distinctive red hair on top of his head.

"What are you doing here?" the redhead asked her with surprise in his voice.

She didn't know who it was nor did she care, she only knew that this was her end and there was nothing she could do about it. She had no prana left, she couldn't defend herself, and her robes were covered in rain and blood. He would likely assume that she had killed someone and was hiding in the rain. When he realised that he would flee and probably call the police, not that she cared at this point. Her eyes closed as she felt the last of her strength leave her, and awaited the moment where her new life ended.

Emiya Shirou hadn't been expecting this when he'd left home that morning to investigate the Greater Grail and the local leylines. Finding out it was really active had been bad enough but this was ten times worse, especially since he had no idea what to do in this situation. He'd just exited the small tunnel leading down into the underground cavern and was walking up towards the temple in order to talk with the monks there about any suspicious individuals that might have come by lately to check on the Greater Grail like he had.

And that's when he'd spotted her…

Crawling on the ground amidst the trees was a woman wearing a cloak, drenched by the rain and covered in blood. If he was a normal human then he might have been frightened at the sight and run away. However he wasn't normal, he was a Magus, a devil, and he could tell just by looking at her that there was something else going on. After all this was a Magi-controlled city, and one which hosted the Holy Grail Wars.

He approached her cautiously, taking note of the state she was in and the likelihood that she would attack him. Judging by the smell of her the prana she was leaking, she was clearly not human at all and if he were to make a guess, he'd say that she was one of the Servants that his father had spoken about. But if that was true then where was her Master? Was he or she dead? Was that why she was in this state? He crouched down next to her and checked her over.

"Structural Analysis," Shirou incanted as his Magic Circuits flickered to life.

A quick scan of her body showed that she was indeed not human and was instead a human-shaped container. She was clearly more of a spirit than a person and would likely disappear once her supply of prana completely ran out. He tried to scan for any existing lines of prana that may have connected her with a Master but found none, she was currently operating on what little prana she had left and that was rapidly fading with each passing second.

"Hey, stay with me," Shirou told her as he ran. "You're going to be okay."

Damn it, he couldn't just let her die without at least trying to help her, Servant or not. He didn't care that she was covered in blood and had likely killed someone recently, he just didn't want to see her die needlessly. Looking around he saw that it was still raining and that the temple was still a fair distance away, not that it would do any good for him. For now he needed to stabilize her, but he had no idea how to go about it. He wasn't going to perform a tantric ritual in order to give her some of his prana, especially not here on a mountainside in the middle of the rain.

Wait…

That might work…

"Trace on," Shirou incanted as his Magic Circuits flickered to life.

Since Avalon had been sealed within him for so long he was now linked to it to a certain extent and as such he could push prana into it when he needed to in order to increase its healing factor slightly. It wasn't enough to instantly heal him or make him immortal but it was enough to heal any injuries he sustained within days instead of weeks. Now though he wasn't using it for that, instead he was going to use it in order to transfer some of his prana to the Servant woman before him. It wouldn't heal her because she wasn't compatible with it, however he wasn't using it to heal her. He was going to use it as a receiver for his prana and then transfer that prana directly into her body.

"I hope this works," Shirou muttered as he pushed Avalon down into her chest. "Trace off."

As he pushed it down, it gradually dematerialized and vanished into her body in a golden light. He waited until it had completely vanished before pushing his prana into her where it was quickly pulled into the Noble Phantasm she now had sealed within her body. From there his prana spread out from Avalon and reached every corner of her body, stabilizing her condition within moments. It was a temporary solution at best and would likely only be enough to keep her going for a day or two but that would be enough time for him to get her back to his place.

"Let's get you out of here."

Author's Notes:

Chapter 6 is out and the Fifth Holy Grail War has officially begun. I hope you all liked it and I certainly enjoyed writing it. As you can see Ravel has been recalled to the Underworld along with the rest of the devils and she has also taken Miyu with her. Meanwhile Shirou is now the Emiya Master of the war and heads off to fight. As for Caster, I had planned for Shirou to stumble across her and save her from the very beginning.

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…