Prologue II: "…Hero"

Disclaimer: I own neither properties

A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for the comments/interest in the story! Furthermore, I'd appreciate any criticism you can give.

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- Maxim -

'Heh…the sky looks so peaceful...just like that night.'

The full moon shined high, as a calming thrum hangs in the air. It's as if all is seemingly right with the world.

He closed his eyes shut as memories of his father began to flash in his mind. The man who had delivered his birth by flame but saved him with such a radiant smile, nonetheless.

Back in those first few months, his empty heart was gradually filled with fondness; from the moments spent cooking for his father to even the silly bonding attempts by Fuji-nee. Even the last night with his father was filled with bittersweet joy. For he had freed the man of his past regrets and resurrected his beautiful dream. That fulfillment and heartfelt thanks his father gave was all he had ever wished.

However, even those cherished beginnings were becoming corrupted and entangled by the dark tendrils choking his soul.

From the deepest recesses of his heart, a hollow gaze peered from pools of burning mud. Whispers of regret and failure piercing his mind and questioning his actions.

'Are you truly so sure of its beauty? That borrowed ideal should mean nothing to you. It's caused you nothing but grief, sorrow, and half hearted fulfillment.'

Was it really just a naive promise he had made to him? One made to selfishly see that genuine smile on his father's face again?

'You mean the same man who'd caused all those deaths?…who'd forced us to be reborn in that hell? He didn't deserve any of the happiness or fulfillment blessed on him! HE WAS JUST A FOOL WHO REJECTED AND ABANDONED US!'

'NO!' He roared in his mind. 'Shut up! These aren't my thoughts and memories!'

He clutched at his skull in pain as the inner voice screeched at him in turn.

Seemingly in response to his inner turmoil, the world darkened around him. The stars were swallowed by the dark void, and the moon was slowly drained of its luminosity.

Thankfully, it was the gentle squeeze of his hand that returned the world to its original state.

To his right, the beatific smile of his wife began to soothe his uneasy heart. She raised his trembling hand to her face, caressing it lovingly against her cheek.

"Please, don't lose heart, Shirou." She closed her eyes before giving his hand a chaste kiss. Her prana soon washed over him like water, cooling his heated nerves and stemming the rising darkness.

"…Illya."

She sidled closer to him, embracing his arm to her chest. "You can't keep blaming yourself, that wasn't you."

'That may be true…but, a father should always appear strong, no matter the circumstance. His family needs to know that everything will be safe when he's there. He can curl up and weep in private, but in front of his children, he needs to remain stalwart.

He turned his gaze back to the moon as the color of his eyes began to flicker. Even with his wife's calming touch, memories of earlier this week continued to haunt him.

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Much of the day was spent in peaceful normality, as it had been for the last few years. His daily medicine had been taken, and he was contentedly preparing dinner with his son.

Yet, in an instant, his idyllic life soon came crashing down.

He abruptly relapsed, the effects stronger than they had ever been before. A chilling numbness branched across his body, from his face down to his arms and legs. His vision began to fade as he was seemingly pulled into his own mind.

"Papa! Papa, are you okay?!"

He could faintly feel Bell frantically pull on his apron as his body slumped against the counter.

However, an excruciating headache prevented him from saying more than just a garbled mix of sounds.

The pain only increased when he felt something had threaded strings through his limbs. Then, his shadow began to pulsate as his bones creaked from an unknown pressure.

He could do nothing but scream into the void as control was ripped from him.

"Ah, it feels good to stretch in a real body again!"

He watched helplessly from within his mind as Bell stumbled backward to the floor in fear of him.

His once steel-gray eyes turned a murderous yellow, and the white streak on his auburn hair became an ebony black. His body soon snapped its focus to his horrified son.

"Well, what do we have here?" A manic grin gleamed through the shadow that now obscured his face.

"Hey there, little rabbit. Whatcha looking so scared for?" His body loomed over Bell, arms wide open with a kitchen knife twirling in hand.

To his relief, his body was suddenly tackled to the ground. It soon caused his shadow to return to normal after he was. However, that didn't stop the pain of what he'd almost done.

He watched in despair as his son ran from him in terror. Even when control was finally returned to his body, he continued to lay motionless. The sounds of his son's cries became distant within the house as his wife further restrained him.

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He gritted his teeth in anger, an intense feeling of self-loathing rising within him.

"…Even so…I don't want…no, I can't let him see me like this."

He was suddenly pinned on the flower bed when she pounced on top of him. "Shirou, you dummy! Where is the man that I fell hopelessly in love with?" Her angry gaze connected with his widened eyes, seemingly attempting to unveil answers from them.

"I can understand your fear, but you can't keep shutting yourself away from him!" Her grip weakened as she took on a more desperate tone, "Bell needs you-"

He met her eyes with equal intensity, his hands clenched tightly as he practically roared at her. "Don't you think I know that?! Can't you see that I want nothing more than to just hug our son tight?! To read him stories till he falls asleep…cook with him, and…to tell him that everything will be okay…."

Realizing he was losing control again, his brief stint of rage quickly simmered. Yet, the quiet, constant whispers of violence and depravity continued to bombard him.

Nevertheless, his barely audible voice had eventually broken through, cracking just a bit. "I'm…I'm sorry, Illya. I just can't trust myself in front of him…and in front of you."

There was a brief silence before heard an embittered sigh.

"…Fine." She said with quiet disappointment. The illusory image of a broken man in a black suit and trench coat reflecting off her eyes.

Her hand paused at his heart as she gave him a parting comment before leaving.

"I just pray that you'll change your mind when we give him our last goodbye."

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- Meteria -

She left the sea of pink behind, now simply wandering on the path of Sakura trees. Her mind preoccupied as her thoughts drifted to cursing out a certain man.

"Honestly, Kiritsugu, how cruel you are to bind your curse to us. Even in death, you somehow continue to ruin our lives..."

Although, she paused mid-step as she directed her attention towards the shadows of the treeline.

"Ero-Gomi, stop skulking around the shadows like some dirty rat. You can come out now."

A haggard, old man slowly walked out from behind one of the trees in embarrassment. "Ah…Illya…I-"

She held up her hand to stop him. "You're absolutely awful at hiding your presence. We caught onto your divinity before you even stepped out of my house."

She then looked at him as her expression became softer. "Thank you, though, for tucking in Bell. Even with my presence, he was getting too distressed. Of course, he's always had a closer bond with Shirou anyways…."

Shaking her head, she cleared her mind of her inner musings. Her tone then became slightly humorous as she scrutinized the old man. "I'm also glad you're actually somewhat clean and punctual for a change as well."

Giving the garden behind her a brief glance. Her haughty facade dropping as an expression of complete anguish replaced it.

"Please go and talk to him. I-I don't know what else I can do."

He patted her shoulder in reassurance as he simply nodded. "Go ahead and tend to Bell. I'll handle it."

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- Zeus -

An awkward silence hung between the two men, neither willing to be the first to break it. So, Zeus broached the impending subject in the way he knew best, through anger and impassioned foolhardiness.

"Argh! Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the ground, singeing some of the lilies black with a surge of electricity.

He flashed to Shirou, roughly grabbing him by his jacket as he raised him in the air.

"This isn't like you to be so suicidal! Where's the stubborn boy that I love as my own son? He would have never given up! He would have persevered to find a better solution! Especially for the family that he loves!"

His grip slightly slackened as he dropped Shirou to the ground. "…There has to be a better alternative than entombing yourself in that dungeon."

"Please…just…just give me some more time. I'm sure that with more resources, I can at least convince one of the dark gods to-..."

"Lord Zeus, stop." Shirou finally spoke. "Even I've heard rumors of a growing organization of evil gods. We can't afford to risk advertising exactly what they're seeking."

A hollow laugh escaped his child's lips, "Besides, I'm already hearing a different bell call for my name."

Shirou weakly continued, "The bastard was disgustingly clever. He bided his time in silence since I arrived in this world. He's been intrinsically entwining himself to my inner world. Even with Illya's Magic, she's barely kept him from escaping through this damn arm."

Before he could stop him, Shirou uncovered a small portion of his holy shroud. The tanned skin beneath covered in a chaotic stream of tattooed glyphs.

Immediately, a piercing madness pulsed through the air. A veritable explosion of sickly, evil divinity shredded up winds of darkness. The fallen Sakura petals were roughly billowed into the air and stained an inky black.

Shirou quickly resealed his exposed arm when the aura became too chaotic to contain.

In that brief time, the crimson eyes of a jackal-like beast bore down on him. The power emanating from it seemingly rivaling a god's full arcanum.

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"Bell." Shirou quietly directed as he took a knee in front of his son. "…papa and mama are going to go away for a while, okay?"

Bell's eyes widened as heavy tears threatened to stream down his cheeks. "What! Why papa?! Is this my fault? Did I do something wrong…?"

"No! …no, of course not."

Shirou shakily withheld his hand before deciding to firmly grip Bell's shoulders in comfort. "We love you so much, Bell. So much that it hurts."

A gentle, relieved smile tugged at Shirou's lips as he tightly embraced his son."After all, you are the saving light of my world."

Illya crouched beside him, nuzzling her nose into Bell's hair and giving his forehead a soft kiss. "And the beloved music of mine."

She then buried her face into the crook of Bell's neck. "Your papa has to go take care of something important."

Taking a deep breath, she mumbled into Bell's ear, "So while we're gone, will you behave for your stupid ero-jii?"

Bell, still slightly teary-eyed, cutely shook his head into his mother's shoulder. "Mn, never, mama!"

She raised her head, hiding her sniffles by affectionately rubbing her cheeks against his. "Atta boy."

Shirou stood up, softly chuckling. He then humorously added, "But don't cause too much trouble for your grandmother, understand?"

Bell raised his head and adorably saluted, "Yes, I promise, papa!"

With that, they gave their son a final, bittersweet goodbye as they turned towards the setting horizon.

However, his heart was ruptured by a hole of regret. For he knew that he had utterly failed once more.

A soft tugging on his finger by a tiny hand brought his guilty eyes downwards. He almost recoiled as he bore the brunt of the growing worry on Bell's innocent face.

"Grandpa? Is everything really going to be okay? They're gonna come back for me soon, right?"

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"One more thing…." With his face downcast, Shirou dropped into that deathly cold, a low tone he'd reserved for exceedingly rare occasions. "Lord Zeus, If my oath and service had truly meant something to you…then I want you to make a promise to me."

"Shirou..."

When I tried to reach out a hand to his shoulder, I was frozen in place. He had raised his head at me, revealing a face that many prideful men refuse to show. An expression of grief and hopelessness as tears endlessly streamed down his face.

So, what father's first instinct wouldn't be to hug their own grieving child? If words aren't enough to assuage their fears, then give them a simple warm embrace, as if to say that you'll always have their back.

"Please, I'll ask you again. Can you make a promise to this worthless hero?

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He forced his focus away from the sound of those last, fleeting footfalls. The marble pillars within him crumbled like ash with every parting step.

Instead, he returned his gaze to his grandson, who was still waiting for reassurance.

He'd broken many oaths and lost many children, but this time…He will not fail.

He placed a trembling hand on Bell's head, ruffling his hair and obscuring his sight. For the corners of his own lips trembled, and his eyes crinkled shut to hide the families of blue that threatened to escape.

With a faux confident tone, he replied, "Of course."

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The words were short, but they didn't betray their intentions. It was both a promise and a lie. Ones that will also lead to far-reaching consequences.

The script has changed, roles have been added, and a new shatter point has formed.

A boy's journey on the ocean has begun.

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…

He fretted wiser folk—small blame!

Such futile, feeble brains were his.

Now we doff hats to hear his name,

Ask pardon where his spirit is,

Because we never guessed him for

A hero in disguise, he wore.

.

It matters how little we live.

So long as we may greatly die.

Fashioned for great things, O forgive

Our dullness in the days gone by!

Now glory wraps you like a cloak

From us, and all such common folk.

.

Katharine Tynan

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Authors Note:

Once again, thank you to everyone who's been interested in the premise so far.

Until next time, Peace Out.