At some level I know I am making way to many stories. Also, on some level I know a good deal of my own author followers hate me for various reasons. Or they would but whatever. Here is my turn walking into hell.

Disclaimer: Let's be real the owner is Typemoon. I own nothing.

"Where am I?"

Darkness. There was seemingly nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see. Suddenly flashes past by. Of the flames and the pain of slowly dying. The smile on his new adoptive father's face. Yet, there was something else. Flashes of a home that were unfamiliar. It was brief but as soon as it formed another flash came over him. "You're here."

He pulled himself up as what greeted him was a redhead boy with amber eyes. The familiar sight of himself looked back at him. It was surreal for anyone to experience. "What's going on here?"

The counterpart pointed behind him with a glare. "It needs to be removed," Turning around to the thing that his other self was pointing at, he saw a scabbard edged into a small hill. "That thing is invading our very existence."

"Wait," Confusion was evident all over his face at this. Stopping to think about what had been happening he had to ask his counterpart or was it reflection, something that was nagging on his mind. "What is this place?!"

Weirdly enough just asking that made him feel like he knew the answer to it. Like it was something that was a part of his very being but also distant to the feeling. For him there was nothing to actually compare this too. It was actually confusing to put it mildly. "I don't know," The answer from the other him did not help in the slightest. "Can you please remove it."

A pause came over the both of them before he turned and walked up the hill towards the scabbard. As he got closer he felt a faint calm coming from it. With each step the calm got stronger and stronger. "Why," The feeling that came over him was now at its strongest as the scabbard was just within his grasp. "Does this feel wrong?!"

Some part of him just didn't like this feeling. In fact, if he could describe what it was it would be discomfort. Like a part of him was in pain. A conflicting feeling given the calm, almost healing, feeling that he could feel from it. Grabbing on to it images flashed through the barren l as landscape. History flashed of an armored blonde haired woman, a sword in her hands, a bunch of other people in armor. These were then met with his newly adoptive dad and a white haired, red eyed, pale skin woman followed by the blonde armored woman from before.

Images of what the woman from before flowed into his mind. Of her knowing his father, no from the images, the feelings, and from their own words the woman was his wife. Irisviel was her name. "Why am I feeling pain?" Another image passed through his mind along with a term. "Grail War."

The last image to play was him watching his new adopted dad ordering the destruction of a golden cup. With that image he removed the scabbard and in a flash it disappeared. A name escaped his mouth. "Avalon."

"Thank you," He turned around and was greeted with great pain. The counterpart of himself was nowhere to be seen but his voice echoed throughout the world. "That was preventing us from being complete," a scream was let out from his mouth as the world slowly became blurry and faded away. "The false dream ends."

Shirou awoke with a gasp as a burning feeling came over his body. On instinct he shot up and gasped for air as the almost realistic dream. The pain of burning alive and the voice lingered for a moment within his mind. A glow from several lines formed around his body and disappeared as fast as it had unknown to him. "It was only a dream…"

Out the corner of his eye he saw something familiar. The scabbard that he had removed from that hill. It was real and right there next to him. Picking up the thing the boy could smell the energy on it. Yes, he could smell it and the energy on it seemed strange. 'Is that blood?'

How he knew what blood smelled like he couldn't say. What he did know was that whatever it was, the smell wasn't from the scabbard. In fact, why was it here and within his dream. 'Maybe the old man knows something about this?'

Looking around he noticed that it was quite late. Yet, despite it all he was able to see like not much had happened. It was night and yet as far as he could tell it didn't even look all that dark like he expected. Taking the scabbard in hand he walked out of his room.

Surprising he found the old man sitting at the table within the kitchen looking over something. He heard mutterings of words that he could surprising make out if only barely. "If I can't get passed the bounded field then I may never see Illya ever again."

"Who's Illya?"

Kiritsugu paused at such a question as he turned around to see Shirou. His eyes almost immediately caught sight of the thing resting within his hands. 'How did he remove Avalon?'

To be honest he had expected it to remain within the boy for the rest of his life. Not as either a detriment or as something that could help him. It was now technically useless without King Arthur and was likely going to remain so. The only way that Avalon could be out of him like it is was if Shirou himself had done it. Which would be impossible unless he knew anything about Magecraft.

Regardless it looked like he had overheard him talking to himself. About his current plan to go and see if he could get his daughter. "How much did you hear?"

"That you might not see her again," He caught the end of that it seemed. Though Kiritsugu wondered just how he had done so. His mutterings were not that loud last he checked.

A sigh escaped his mouth as Shirou could see what looked like genuine pain in his eyes. Kiritsugu knew that without the Grail in hand the chances of the Einzberns letting him in was impossible. "She's my daughter."

Shirou was given a brief summary of what was going on. Illya was Kiritsugu daughter, his actual daughter and not adopted, as well as his new adopted sister. However, she was back with his late wife's family. Strangely enough he felt like he knew something of what he was talking about.

"Well, why don't they give her back to you?"

'Because they are going to use her as the Lesser Grail,' Kiritsugu knew that homunculus didn't last long enough for the that but Illya was special. Being born met that with some minor alterations she would be able to live more or less a normal human lifespan. It was what was what was agreed on to receive his daughter. He give the Einzberns the Grail and in returned she would be allowed to live a full life.

Without it though they would go through the process of making her into the Grail. A process that would doom her to an early grave. If it was possible he could feel a certain being who wear his wife's face laughing and repeating his thoughts and doubts. 'You should have ran away with Iri and Illya.'

A tear rolled down his face as he realized that the voice, whether it was his doubt or indeed the entity within the Grail, was correct. If he had run away with the both of them it would have probably been better. His ideals, ones he wasted so much of his life on, had basically been for nothing. His wish was pointless, his life was nothing but hollowed pain, and only now did he realize that he throw away a chance at real happiness. To top it all off he was cursed and likely going to die because there was no way anyone could help him with it assuming anyone could. 'Here I am thinking I can be a father…'

"Then we'll just get her back!"

To say that Shirou exclamation would had brought a smile to his face would not be much a lie. If anything Kiritsugu had found it a bit foolish but that wasn't what surprised him. It wasn't even the determination that had filled his eyes. No it was the fact that his eye color had completely changed. 'Red?'

Kiritsugu looked around the remains of what had been the building's caught in the fire. The fire that he himself had caused. Long had the recovery crews given up on finding any lives, a month had passed after all, but now it was still in the process of being picked apart. Those looking for the things they lost, or for loved ones who had been missing. The former Mage Killer was instead looking for something else. 'Two nights ago his eyes appeared red.'

Not only that he started saying that he could hear and smell things going on. Even admitted to being able to see in the dark without much issue as if it was daytime. In his many years he had heard stories about how some families were descended from a non-human ancestor. Most were likely fabrications that a Magus family had made up. Though in his time he had seen that at least one of them was real. 'If that is indeed the case with Shirou,' The memory of that one encounter from more than a decade ago replied in his mind. 'Then was it why he was able to survive while others couldn't?'

It was a long shot but there had to be something around here that could tell him just who Shirou's family was and hopefully what was going on. He already had some idea as to what it could be but it was actually kind of absurd. Especially given if that was what was going on it shouldn't be this delayed. As he wandered through the slowly being cleaned rubble he didn't notice that a bird was watching him.

After a good two hours of remembering the tragedy, one he had helped caused by accident, and looking around it was clear that he was never going to find any answers.

Kiritsugu watched the bird land on the shoulders of a cloaked figure. Almost immediately his instincts told him that this was bad. "I wondered why you looked somewhat familiar," The figure walked up to him with a smirk under his hood. Red eyes stared at him. "The Magus Killer I presume."

Immediately Kiritsugu reached into his coat and pulled out his Thompson Contender. His expression emotionless as he thought about his options. He knew just what was standing in front of him and the threat it posed. Said threat being one he knew all too well. Inwardly he was cursing his luck given the curse on him. "Don't move."

"I didn't come to cause any issue I assure you," The Dead Apostle didn't even make a move forward as he looked at the well known killer. For a moment Kiritsugu almost believed he saw what looked like glee on the Dead Apostle face as he spoke with him. "Actually, I am a bit of a fan of your work to be honest."

By the tone it was clear the Dead Apostle was genuine. Such a thing sounded a bit foriegn coming from the vampire. Dead Apostles tended to be more on the trying to kill him side especially given he didn't have any love for them. As he looked, at his fan if it was his mind ran through several scenarios of how this would go. Nearly all of them ended badly. 'I don't know if I can use my crest or not.'

"If you're going to shoot please do," There wasn't any mockery or anything coming out the voice of the Dead Apostle. If anything there was a bit of a quiet resignation to the fate of the gun pointed at it. Well, usually one doesn't find a Dead Apostle who was this resigned to death. Something was off about this situation and it likely meant that there was more to this. "Well?"

A pause came over both of them. Not once did the Dead Apostle make a move. All that was needed was for Kiritsugu to pull the trigger and he would be done with him. However, seeing the Dead Apostle and remembering the change in his newly adopted son, the former Magus Killer was starting to suspect that this was connected. "What are you talking about?"

The Dead Apostle looked at the gun pointed right at him. After a second of thinking he figured it didn't matter in the end. "I was sent to locate a boy."

I am not revealing everything but I think this does it for a prologue. Also, you know the difference between an OC and a plot device is one is usually named. Well, not always but you get the point. As for my other stories and why I am not updating them well I am sitting on a half finished chapter for one.

Anyway, cya all next time.