In a room full of shadows and the echoes of ancient whispers, he kneels before a throne and the king sat upon it. His blade is held before him, its point failing to bite into the complex mosaics that cover the floor. In this most hallowed of chambers, screams and prayers coil around knight and king alike, and he can see them with eyes that have long since stopped seeing only matter. Yet even those eyes can be blind in some ways …
For the king, the great and mighty monarch to whom he owes fealty, is wounded. Blood drips slowly from a great rent in his armor and the flesh-that-is-not-flesh beneath. He sees this, but at the same time does not see it. His eyes perceive it, but his mind fails to register the meaning of the sight, fails to process the truth of it and its implications. There is something within him that refuses to accept it.
The king speaks in a voice that is not a voice, just like his flesh is not merely flesh and the throne isn't just a throne. He does not give orders to the knight, for that is not the king's way anymore. Instead, the king speaks of many things – of the troubles of his realm, of enemies unnamed but not unknown.
He speaks of traitors, hiding in the shadows of the empire, who must be brought to judgement. He speaks of a prideful dragon, who in its greed covets the king's treasures. Of a warlord in his garden, cultivating the end of all things with rusted hands. Of a deceiver with a thousand faces, weaving lies and intrigue to a purpose beyond the king's reckoning. Of a tomb within which rests the traitor who rejected the divine Word. Of a thief who stole a noble daughter from her halfling brothers.
The king speaks and speaks, and every word becomes another link in the chain around the knight's neck. Finally, it ends, and the king says :
"You know what to do."
And he does.

July 4th, 2003 AD – Emiya residence

Shirou's eyes snapped open.

This … this had been different. It hadn't been a true dream, of that he was certain. There was a marked difference between those and the strange visions that had continued to haunt his sleep from time to time since he had used that unknown power to save Sakura seven months ago. He no longer dreamt only of the mist-filled forest and the monsters that stalked it. Instead, he saw other things – visions of a fortress of stone, of armors and weapons of strange designs, of oaths spoken in an unknown language echoing in vast chambers.

The truly annoying part of these visions was that, just like normal dreams, they made perfect sense while he was having them. But while he remembered them perfectly when waking, the context was utterly lost, and without it they made precious little sense. He knew what the forest was when he dreamt of it, he was sure of it, just like he knew the fortress' name and the meaning of the oaths.

And yet, while he was confident this dream had been one such vision, there was no denying that it had been unlike any that had come before. In a way, it had been more like an actual dream – like what had happened hadn't been entirely anchored in reality. The only way he could really describe it would be … disturbing. Even if investigating the source of that mysterious power was important to him, he felt he wouldn't mind if he never had another vision like that one.

He felt the warmth of Sakura next to him as she snuggled closer to him, still sleeping peacefully. Slowly, her presence drew his thoughts away from the gloom his vision had brought on him. It always did, whenever he woke up frustrated by the strange dreams and his lack of understanding.

Since the two of them had started living together five months ago, they had spent almost every night together. They did not always have sex, of course. Neither of them were ready to be parents yet, and discreet medical exams had revealed that Sakura's womb, which she had told Shirou had been ruined by the Crest Worms, had been fully regenerated by the traced copy of Avalon Shirou had put inside of her after rescuing her.

They had made sure to erase the memories of the medical professionals who had performed the exams, as well as to destroy all blood and tissue samples that had been taken. Both of them knew that leaving such things where an enemy magus could easily obtain them would be the height of foolishness. It was the same reasoning of "better safe than sorry" that had led to them hiding Shirou's Tracing of Avalon from Rin.

The other abilities Shirou had used when rescuing Sakura remained beyond him, but after a few weeks of trial and error, he had managed to trace Avalon again. The copies didn't last long before fading away, but they still worked to heal injuries as long as Shirou poured enough prana inside them.

While they didn't believe Rin would betray them for their secrets like many magi would, it was better to limit any chance of that information spreading. Sakura had confirmed what Shirou's dad had told him : magi as a whole were not moral people, and if the Clocktower learned that Shirou was capable of creating copies of a Noble Phantasm – even imperfect and temporary ones – he would end up on a dissection table faster than he could blink.

And it wasn't as if Rin was sharing all of her own Magecraft with them, after all.

With a cute yawn, Sakura stirred awake. She looked at him with half-open eyes and smiled, the sight of it never failing to make him smile back.

"Good morning, Sakura."

"Good morning, Senpai."

Later, as the two of them ate breakfast in comfortable silence – for once, Fuji-nee hadn't shown up to mooch off, being busy with an early staff meeting – Shirou spoke up :

"It's Friday. Fuji-nee is expecting my answer today."

It was slight. Anyone else might have missed it. But Shirou saw Sakura's hands tremble. Putting down what he had been doing, he moved next to her and took her hands into his.

"It would only be for a few days, Sakura. The tournament is in Kumamoto, so the team will leave on Monday and come back on Thursday."

"I know," she whispered. "Is … is that archery tournament so important to you ?"

"No," replied Shirou without hesitation. "If you don't feel up to it – if you don't want me to – then I won't go, Sakura. I don't care much about the tournament beyond the opportunity to observe the technique of others. But it has been seven months, Sakura. I swore I would never abandon you, but I don't want you to be shackled to me either. I feel that this is an opportunity for you to see how far you have come." He smiled at her. "You are stronger than you think you are, Sakura. But in the end, it's your choice."

"I … I will be fine. Maybe Nee-san could come visit while you aren't here ? The two of us could even have a sleepover," she smiled again at the idea, and Shirou felt the weight of guilt lifting off his shoulders. Every word he had spoken to Sakura was true – since revealing to her that he was a Magecraft user, he had never lied to her, not once, even by omission. But seeing her in distress, even if it was for her own good … That was something far worse than any nightmare.

"That's a good idea. I will talk to her about it when I see her today. I trust you won't tease her too much while I am away ?"

"Come on, Senpai," Sakura laughed softly, starting to eat again. Shirou joined her, keeping an eye on her throughout the meal.

He would probably have to warn Rin, though. Just in case. Sakura's teasing of her sister had grown increasingly more daring since the two of them had reconciled. Part of him dreaded what he would find when coming back from the competition.

After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, Shirou and Sakura went to school together, parting only when they had arrived at the gate of Homurahara Academy, with Sakura going to the middle-school building and Shirou to the high-school one. While Shirou was expected at the Archery Dojo, it was Sakura's turn to prepare the classroom for the day. Not that she didn't accompany Shirou to school when it wasn't : on those occasions, she simply followed Shirou to the Archery Dojo, watching him practice while providing assistance to the other members. Everyone in the club knew and liked the young girl, who was determined to join the club herself next year.

After changing into his practice uniform and greeting his clubmates, Shirou approached the only adult in the room, who stood in a corner of the archery range, checking its inventory.

In many ways, Souichirou Kuzuki resembled the monks among whom he lived in the temple on Mount Enzou. Except for his face, which, try as he might, Shirou couldn't help but think would have been more fitting of a Yakuza than a teacher. The man's detached attitude had worried Shirou at first – he had wondered if Kuzuki-sensei wasn't a magus, given the level of self-control he displayed at all times. But a few discreet scans with his eyes, combined with a couple of visits to Issei's home to check that there wasn't anything strange going on in Ryuudou Temple, had put that suspicion to rest. Kuzuki-sensei was someone with a strong body and mind, but wasn't related to the Moonlit World in any way.

"Good morning, Kuzuki-sensei," Shirou called out. The teacher lifted his gaze from the list he had been reading. "Is the staff meeting over ?"

"Good morning, Emiya-kun. No, but I wasn't needed for it and thought I would check the club has everything it needs for the competition. Tell me, have you come to a decision yet ?"

"Yes, sensei. I will tell Fujimura-sensei when I see her. I intend to participate in the Kumamoto high school archery competition."

The teacher didn't smile – Shirou didn't think he had ever seenthe man smile. He simply nodded slightly.

"Good. It would be a shame for someone of your talent to miss out on an opportunity like that. You and Mitsuzuri-kun will be our representatives for the first year." Kuzuki frowned. "Will Matou-kun be fine in your absence ?"

The Bounded Field Rin had put around the school to prevent people from noticing any oddity in Sakura's change of behavior and living with Shirou were still in place. Even so, while no one thought it strange that Sakura and Shirou lived together, they still knew it was the case, and only someone blind could miss that the two of them were very close.

"She says so," replied Shirou. "We are going to ask Tohsaka-san to visit her while I am gone. The two of them are good friends, and since Tohsaka-san also lives alone …"

"That would be for the best. Matou-kun has recovered well from the tragedy that struck her family, but you are right to make sure she isn't left on her own."

Shirou nodded his agreement, then parted with the teacher to go to the shooting range. As he drew his bow, someone came to stand next to him.

"So you finally decided, huh ?"

The girl to his right was wearing the same uniform as he, and holding an identical bow as she aimed at her own target. Light brown hair fell to her neck, cut so as not to hinder her vision without needing to tie it back.

"I did," replied Shirou, taking in her presence in his peripheral vision, his eyes kept locked onto the target. "Looks like we will both be representing the first years in the tournament, Mitsuzuri."

"Good. It wouldn't make sense for someone else to accompany me. But I will be the one to bring the trophy home, Emiya."

Shirou smiled silently. He had been told by Issei that his relationship with Ayako Mitsuzuri could be best summed up as "one-sided rivalry". He was better than her with the bow – he knew it, she knew it, the entire club knew it. In truth, he was better than anyone, even the members in the upper years. He did not take pride in that : his practice of Magecraft, while not technically cheating, still gave him a great advantage when it came to focus and motor control.

But while the rest of the club members had given up on surpassing him, Ayako had not. She was determined to be better than him one day, and her skill had increased by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the school year. Whereas Shirou's own skills had stagnated – there was only so much that could be done to improve once you reached one-hundred per cent accuracy.

It was still worth going to the club, if only for the exercise and the company. After their first few weeks of living together, Sakura had started to badger him about spending more time with other people, just as he had tried to get her to interact more with her own classmates. Pushed by mutual worry for one another, the two of them had forced each other to socialize more. Sakura was a lot better at it than him, but that was fine.

All of this was fine, thought Shirou as he let loose his arrow, watching as it flew and hit the bullseye – exactly as he had intended. This life wasn't the one he had envisioned for himself one year ago, but it was … better. Yes. Definitively better.

"Heya, kiddo."

Shirou would have liked to say that Kamido looked out of place in the Copenhagen, but that would have been a lie. The bar may have been somewhat high-end, but it still drew individuals from all ways of life, their sole commonality the fact that they enjoyed good snacks and having a drink in peace. Not that Shirou had anything to do with the place's alcohol reserves, of course. That was his story and he was sticking to it, come high water or Fuji-nee's wrath.

No, the Yakuza fitted right in with his trademark impeccable white suit as he walked through the front door and went straight for the bar, where Shirou was cleaning the last round of glasses Neko-san had brought back from the tables.

"Hello, Kamido-san," he greeted the man, hands not stopping their cleaning motions.

"Gotta say, I am surprised you are still working here. What does the missus think of you being here ?"

"Sakura is fine," replied Shirou, not even bothering to comment on the older man's choice of words. "She cooks dinner for the two of us on the evenings I work here."

"So when you go home, your wife will be waiting with her cooking ready," smirked the Yakuza. "I am jealous."

Shirou sighed. The Bounded Field to prevent people from questioning Sakura's circumstances was only around the school : Kamido had been told the truth of the situation by Raiga, or at least as much of the truth as the Oyabun himself knew. "Will you order something, or are you just here to tease me ?"

"I will have a beer, thank you. And no, I am not here for that. Well, not just for that."

His tone changed, becoming quieter and more serious. "I hear that you are leaving town in a few days, kiddo. Going to the Prefecture capital for a sports competition, right ?"

"Archery," agreed Shirou. "The school is sending me and a few others to participate."

"I pity the poor fools who are gonna end up facing off against you, then. But the boss was wondering if, while you are there, you could do us a favour."

"That would depend on what kind of favour it is," cautiously answered Shirou.

"Nothing bad or too serious," quickly reassured Kamido. "We have a friend in Kumamoto who hasn't been answering our calls or letters in a while. I checked on your tournament, and it turns out it takes place in the same area he lives in. Could you check on him, make sure he is okay ?"

Shirou thought on it while preparing Kamido's beer and serving it to the Yakuza. On the one hand, he had hoped that the tension with Sakura would be all the drama associated with the competition – minus actually participating in it, of course. But on the other hand, it did sound quite simple, and someone might be in danger – one did not stop answering to the Fujimura Group's contacts without a good reason.

"… Fine. I will check. Where should I go, and who should I look for ?"

"Good !" smiled Kamido, before handing Shirou a folded photography on the back of which were written a name and address, as well as a sealed, unmarked envelope. "Oh, and if you find him, please give him that letter."

"Kamido-san. I hope this isn't a trick to use me as a glorified carrier ?"

"Of course not ! That envelope only contains paper, I promise. There is a chance he hasn't replied to our letters because they got 'lost' in the post, so this will help get him up to speed on recent events."

The Yakuza drank his beer, emptying the tall glass in a single prolonged gulp before putting it down along with some change and leaving the bar with a last wave toward Shirou. With another sigh, Shirou put the cash in the register and began to clean the glass.

"Shirou-kun," said Hotaruzuka-san, the Copenhagen's owner and Neko-san's father. "What did that gentleman want with you ?"

The man's tone made it clear that he knew, or at least suspected, Kamido's criminal activities. Whether that was because of his own connections to the underworld or because Kamido was, well, Kamido – and thus not trying very hard to blend in – Shirou did not know.

"He is a friend of my guardian's family," said Shirou truthfully, "and came to say hello."

Hotaruzuka-san raised an eyebrow and looked at the pocket where Shirou had stuffed the address and envelope Kamido had given him. Shirou kept his poker face up, and eventually the owner relented.

"Fine, fine, be that way. Still, a hard-working young man like you should be careful who he associates with, Shirou-kun."

"Ahah ..." Shirou laughed nervously. "I will take that into consideration, Hotaruzuka-san."

It looked like his trip to Kumamoto was going to be more eventful than expected. Wonderful.

In her room, Rin was sat at her desk, reading and frowning thoughtfully. To anyone else, the stack of papers spread out across her desk would have looked like an outright mess, but she knew exactly where everything was and how each piece related to the others.

One pile was dedicated to her finances, listing the various bank accounts, both in Japan and off-shore. While she did pay taxes to the Japanese government, unlike most magi who hid their wealth from mundane authorities, Rin had to make sure no one in the fiscal administration got too curious as to the origin of her family's income. Admittedly, that hadn't been much of an issue until recently, what with Kirei having brought the Tohsaka family close to complete ruin.

That pile was dealt with, at least for now. Seven months weren't nearly enough to restore her family fortunes, even with the influx of capital from Emiya's accumulated rent. But the suitcase of cash had been enough to buy back a few of the properties Kirei had sold during his disastrous management of the Tohsaka finances, and with the regular income provided by her family's patents in the Moonlit World, eventually their former wealth would return. Which meant that sooner or later she would have to make a trip to the headquarters of the National Tax Agency in the prefecture and hypnotize one or two public servants to make sure no awkward questions were raised.

She would see about doing that during the summer vacation. The second set of papers, the one she was currently working on, was her correspondence with the Clocktower.

Though the Tohsaka were as isolated from the rest of the Association as was to be expected for an Oriental family, their monopoly on the Jewelcraft patents they had produced meant that they still had some contacts in the European magus circles. It was upon those contacts that Rin had drawn, offering discounts on the use of her family's patents in exchange for information about the Fourth Grail War.

She had framed her questions as curiosity about the exact circumstances of the conflict that had resulted in her father's demise – she didn't want Emiya's existence to be revealed to the noble families of the West yet, lest one of them decide to take revenge on him for something his adoptive father had done. The results had been … interesting, to say the least.

For one thing, she had confirmed what Kirei had told her : Kiritsugu Emiya had been the Master for the Einzbern family during the Fourth Grail War. The Magus Killer had been hired by the magi to serve as their representative, win the War for them, and bring them the Grail so that the family could reclaim the lost Third Magic, the Heaven's Feel. Instead, he had betrayed them in circumstances unclear, and had destroyed the Grail, unleashing its wild, uncontrolled energies that had caused the Fuyuki Fire.

Rin hadn't breached that subject with Emiya. She knew the boy had been adopted by the Magus Killer after losing his family in the Fuyuki Fire. Emiya had also told her, during that first discussion seven months ago, that his father had told him "everything" about it. Did that include why a mercenary who, by all accounts, had won the Grail War and gained an unlimited wish had decided to abandon it at the last minute, causing the very devastation that had turned him into an orphan in the first place ?

She doubted it. It was clear Emiya had loved his father dearly, and still held the memory of the man in high esteem. Or perhaps Kiritsugu had a reason for his actions that was good enough in his son's eyes ? She had difficulties imagining what that may be, but perhaps if another contestant had been about to win the Grail and use its power for some kind of evil wish …

Regardless of Kiritsugu's motives, the fury of the Einzbern family had been terrible, to the point that it hadn't been hard at all for her contact to find witnesses in the Clocktower who had seen the tantrums of the Einzbern magi with their own eyes. There had been a lot of screaming, cursing, and throwing around very expensive ancient artefacts in fits of rage, along with a sudden surge in the number of homunculi who had been butchered by their masters for the slightest mistake – even sometimes for no apparent reason at all.

Things had gotten so bad that the dreaded Vice-Director, Lorelei Barthomeloi – who back then had still been a newcomer to her title – had been forced to intervene directly. The Queen of the Clocktower had all but threatened the Einzbern with expulsion from the Association and being declared Heretics if they didn't calm down, and slapped them with a fine whose alleged amount had nearly caused Rin to faint. And yet, considering that the Einzbern were also responsible for footing the bill for the clean-up of the Holy Grail Wars, it was likely that sum hadn't even put a dent in their coffers. The wealth of the alchemist family was legendarily obscene.

Soon after that, the entire Einzbern family had withdrawn to their castle in Germany, and sent only homunculi to attend to their business outside their territory. The Association was rife with rumors as to why that was the case – the general consensus was that after the humiliation the family had suffered in the Fourth Grail War, they had decided to focus all of their efforts and resources on securing victory in the next one. There were rumors that a lot of money was flowing out of the Einzbern coffers and being invested into various archaeological projects and antique collections across the globe.

No doubt the Einzbern wanted to secure a catalyst for the next Grail War that could summon a Heroic Spirit powerful enough that their victory would be assured. That annoyed Rin, given that there was every chance she or her children would be selected as participants when the next Grail War started in a few decades.

… She just hoped Sakura's and Emiya's didn't also end up chosen as Masters. She didn't doubt for an instant that the two of them would end up having kids one day, and the mere thought of these children ending up fighting her own made her sick to her stomach.

Her contact had searched for more information on the Fourth Grail War, but had hit a surprising dead end. There just wasn't that much known about the Heaven's Feel Ritual in the Clocktower, despite it potentially being a path to directly access the Root, and despite one of the most promising young Lords the Clocktower had seen in years, Kayneth El-Melloi of the Archibald family, dying in it, taking his family's priceless Magic Crest along into the grave. It was as if someone were suppressing information about it, which Rin supposed made sense : no one wanted the noble families of the West to tear each other apart over which would get to send a participant when the next Grail War came around.

She would tell Emiya what she had learned about the Einzbern, as she had promised – so long as he compensated her for the discounts she had given in exchange. Business was business, after all. She wouldn't overcharge him, though : she hadn't completely lied to her contact when she had told that she was curious about the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Her father had died in it, her mother had been driven insane, and even a few of her friends from elementary school had vanished – those she hadn't been there to rescue from Caster's monstrous excuse for a Master.

She hadn't found out who had killed her father, but she did have a more comprehensive list of the participants. Kiritsugu Emiya, Tokiomi Tohsaka, Kariya Matou, Kirei Kotomine, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, Waver Welvet and the serial killer who had been Caster's Master. Looking at the records of that time period – even the censured version of events the mundane world had been given had some clues in it – she had been able to reduce the list of suspects in her father's murder. Her deductions were written on one other sheet of paper, in the encoded, rune-based script her family used for important documents.

When her father had come to visit her and her mother for the last time, Caster and his Master had been killed in the battle of Fuyuki River, and Kayneth had also been slain by the Magus Killer – that was common knowledge in the Clocktower, despite the Archibalds' attempts to hide the truth of their Lord's shameful defeat at the hands of a common mercenary. Kirei's own Servant, Assassin, had been the first casualty in the War, and the fake priest had already withdrawn from the War by that point.

Of the remaining Masters, Kariya Matou certainly had a motive for going after Tokiomi. According to Sakura, her uncle had joined the Grail War for the sole purpose of freeing her from Zouken : in exchange for the Grail, the old monster had promised to release Sakura from his grasp. Knowing what Sakura had been subjected to and the ravages that Zouken's "training" would have inflicted on Kariya's psyche in order for him – someone who had turned away from Magecraft years ago – to be able to participate in the Grail War, Rin couldn't even blame the man for trying to kill her father. She vaguely remembered what Kariya had looked like when he had rescued her from Caster's familiars : a haggard, hollowed out figure barely resembling the kind-looking man who had used to give her and Sakura gifts, before everything had gone wrong.

Kariya's hatred of Tokiomi for giving up his daughter to Zouken would explain why he could have gone after him, but not how he had managed to overcome him. Unlike Kariya, Tokiomi had been a proper magus, who had spent years preparing to fight in the Grail War. Surely not even Zouken's monstrous "training" could be enough to bridge the difference between them.

Waver Welvet was even less likely a culprit. The successor of Lord El-Melloi had been a teenager at the time of the Fourth Grail War, who had used a relic he had stolen from his mentor to summon the King of Conquests, Iskandar – more commonly known as Alexander the Great. Somehow, Rin couldn't imagine her father succumbing to a child as old then as she was now, and if Rider had been the one to kill him then surely the confrontation between him and Tokiomi's own Servant would have left the Tohsaka residence in ruins. Instead, it had been intact when she had returned after the War, with only the outer layer of the Bounded Fields around it having collapsed due to the death of their creator.

Which left the last option : Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer. Someone who specialized in taking down magi, even when they hid in the most secure of Workshops. Someone who had blown up an entire hotel building to take down Kayneth. Someone who had been contracted to Saber, recognized as the strongest Class of all seven.

… one day, she would gather up the courage to ask Emiya if he knew if his father had killed hers.

The last third of her papers were the notes she was using to train Emiya and Sakura in basic Magecraft. The latter's education in that regard was even more lacklustre than Emiya's : Sakura knew some of the basic concepts of Magecraft, but she had never received even the most basic training, instead being subjected to the vile tortures that passed for induction into the Matou Mysteries.

After the first month of painfully teaching Emiya the basics of Magecraft, he had asked her to focus on teaching Sakura, which made her suspect that the boy wasn't anywhere near as useless at Magecraft as he seemed during their lessons.

Maybe she could ask Sakura about Emiya's Mysteries when the two of them were together at the Emiya household, with Emiya himself off to Kumamoto. She wouldn't press her sister, of course. Her main reason for going was to ensure Sakura was fine in her savior's absence, just like he had asked her when they had talked about it earlier today.

"So you are participating in the archery competition after all, Emiya-kun ?"

"Yes. Sakura is going to be alone in the house for two nights, and I would rather she had someone she can trust nearby when that happens. Could you stay with her while I am gone ? She is recovering, but she still has a long way to go."

"If you know your absence is going to hurt her," she had replied, angered, "then why are you going to that stupid tournament in the first place ?!"

"Because I don't want her to be completely dependant on me to function all her life, Tohsaka. I don't intend to ever abandon her, but it's better for her to be able to stand on her own."

She had accepted – of course she had. She had long ago promised herself that she wouldn't miss any occasion to spend time with her sister unless it was for a really, really good reason. Emiya was right, though : Sakura was completely attached to him. Oh, she could be apart from him : it would have made going to school awkward otherwise. But she loved him to an unhealthy degree. It made sense : he had saved her from unspeakable torment, after all, and done so for no other apparent reason that because it was the right thing to do.

Certainly it hadn't been to get his hands on the Matou Mysteries. The secrets of the Founding Family had been lost in the blaze that had consumed the Matou estate, and Sakura had known very little of her adoptive "family's" magics. If that had been his goal, then he would at least have plundered the house on his way out, but as far as Rin knew he really had made a beeline for his own home in order to treat Sakura. It really seemed that Shirou Emiya was exactly what he appeared to be : a kind-hearted young man who, after learning his dear friend was being abused by her family, had gone to extreme lengths to rescue her. Except that that story, beautiful as it was, didn't really make sense.

Of Rin's two unofficial apprentices, Sakura appeared to be by far the more talented. Emiya had strong od reserves and good quality Circuits for a first-generation magus, but there was a reason Sakura had been handed off to the Matous instead of a mundane family. Rin's younger sister was every bit as much a prodigy at Magecraft as she herself was, if in a different direction. She had already surpassed Rin in Bounded Fields, adapting her trait of Imaginary Numbers to this type of Magecraft to great effect. It was her who had reinforced the Bounded Field around the Emiya residence, adding actual defenses to the alarm and noise suppression ones that Emiya had inherited from his father.

Even after seven months of regular visits to the Emiya residence, Rin still had very little knowledge on Emiya's Mysteries. He claimed to be essentially a first generation magus, taught only the very basics of Reinforcement and Structural Grasping from his father – and if all that Rin had to go on were his performance when she taught him and Sakura, she would have believed him. But no third-rate magus would ever have been able to break into the Matou household, kill Zouken and heal what had been done to Sakura.

… Rin still had nightmares from the description Emiya had given her of her sister's treatment at the hands of the Matou family. That the girl was still sane, let alone so far on the path of recovery, was a testament to how strong she was. Rin didn't think she would have survived as long as Sakura had.

That Emiya had managed to heal Sakura – and Rin had performed her own examination of the girl once she had been comfortable enough with her presence, just to double-check – instead spoke of a level of Mysteries that would rival even the Church's own healers. Maybe it was a Mystic Code he had inherited from his father ? Certainly, it would explain how both he and the Magus Killer had been able to take down powerful magi within their Workshop if they had something that let them slip through Bounded Fields.

Thinking back on what she had witnessed the day she had confronted Emiya, it was obvious that he had Mystic Eyes of some sort that let him observe magical phenomena in a manner similar to Structural Analysis, only without the need to touch the target. In hindsight, she shouldn't have interrupted him when he had listed all that his eyes could see when looking at her : that would have given her a more complete idea of just how far those beautiful golden eyes of his could see …

Wait, "beautiful" ? she thought, startled. Where did that come from ?!

Oh Root, I am alone in my room thinking about how pretty a boy's eyes are, she suddenly realized, her cheeks heating up.

Well, she did have a duty to continue the Tohsaka bloodline as its last recognized member. And Emiya was certainly a good party in that regard : he had strong Magic Circuits and …

Okay, that was enough time spent staring at bank accounts and reports. It was time to get down and get herself something to eat for dinner. This was all Sakura's fault.

Her younger sister kept showing off her closeness with Emiya whenever Rin visited them, draping herself over him, hugging him and kissing him right in front of her, always with a smile on her face when she looked at her after. Rin felt conflicted about that. On one hand, it was always nice to see Sakura smile more. On the other hand, it embarrassed the hell out of her, especially when Sakura then commented on how much she enjoyed her Senpai's affections, following by insinuating that Rin was after them too. Which wasn't wrong – Rin was self-aware enough to realize that she had a crush on the red-haired boy – but certainly wasn't helping her dignity as a magus and an elder sister.

A quick look at the clock showed that it was too late to go to Emiya and eat dinner there – something she was unashamed to admit she had done many times in the last seven months. It was part of the arrangement they had reached concerning Emiya's rent to her as the Second Owner and as his and Sakura's teacher in the more basic aspects of Magecraft. As long as she could eat his cooking a few times a week – okay, sometimes it was more than "a few" times – then any other payment could be waived. Other magi may have scoffed at how small a price that was, but screw them. They hadn't tasted Emiya's cooking after years of living on her own.

Not only he is nice to look at, but his cooking is great, too, she thought before catching herself. Yep, definitely time to stop working for the evening.

It wasn't as if there was anything urgent requiring her attention, after all.

"… I understand. Please come meet me in the church once you arrive. I have information that I believe you need to know before making your move. No, it's better if I tell you in person rather than over the phone … There are things I need to verify before telling you – I would not want you to operate under false assumptions if I am mistaken. Yes. Have a good trip, then. Goodbye."

Kirei hung up the phone, a smirk on his face. It seemed that the Clocktower had finally caught on to the existence of the Emiya boy. And he hadn't even needed to do anything. Rin's attempts at gathering information had been subtle, but, it seemed, not subtle enough. That was hardly surprising : the girl was smart, but the Clocktower was a nest of serpents for whom intrigue was as natural as breathing.

And now the Archibalds, who had lost their Lord and Magic Crest to the hands of Kiritsugu Emiya during the Fourth Holy Grail War, sought to take their revenge on the Magus Killer's adopted son. They had found out about the destruction of the Matou family, and had used it to convince one of the Association's feared Enforcers to act as their hand in this matter. It amused Kirei that, for all their pride, the Archibalds weren't sending one of their own to avenge the slight to their honor.

Were the Archibalds afraid of losing more of their own to the Emiya, or did they want to minimize the risk of their unauthorized attack on an individual outside the Association coming to light ? It hardly mattered, in the end. The fact that the Archibalds were willing to take revenge on someone who had only been an unrelated child at the time of Kayneth's demise already showed their pride overweighted logic. What mattered was how much entertainment Kirei could derive from the whole affair.

Within a few days, the Archibalds' cats-paw would leave England and begin the journey to Japan. It would not be a quick journey : apparently, someone in the Archibald family had done their research, and now they were paranoiacally afraid that the boy would somehow know if their envoy took a plane, and shoot it down from the skies just as Kiritsugu himself had years ago.

Taking the train across two continents before crossing the sea between Japan and the mainland would be much longer, but it wasn't as if the boy was going anywhere. He had remained in Fuyuki for over a decade, after all. Kirei himself had recommended that course of action after being contacted by the Enforcer. He doubted the Emiya boy had the resources to find out someone was coming to take him down, let alone to destroy an entire plane – but the more hostile the Enforcer was to the boy, the easier his part would be.

This would be a good test of the boy's capabilities. Destroying Zouken had proven that he had the highly specialized skills required to perform such a deed, but him fighting against one of the Association's dogs would give Kirei the opportunity to check that his combat abilities were up to par. Kirei couldn't involve himself directly, of course – on the surface, this was strictly a matter for the Association, and his authority as Fuyuki's overseer didn't extend further than the Grail War. He had done everything he could to inherit the position after the Fourth War, hiding his father's breach of the Church's neutrality and alliance with the Tohsaka Master.

In a way, Kirei mused, his betrayal of Tohsaka, and murder of both his teacher and father could be seen as his taking action to punish those who had broken the sacred rules of the Holy Grail War. Would it not be ironic if this had been the true reason why the Grail had chosen him later on ?

If the Emiya boy died, then obviously he hadn't been worth the attention of the Grail in the first place, and would have made a poor Master when the next Holy Grail War began. That time was approaching soon, he could feel it in the space where his heart used to be. Within a year, two at most, enough mana would be accumulated within the Greater Grail, and the Command Seals would start being bestowed upon the Masters.

In the previous Holy Grail Wars, Masters had received their Command Seals much earlier – he himself had received his own three years before the beginning of the Fourth – but things were different now. The destruction of the Grail at the end of the Fourth War had shortened the time before the next Grail War, and so the period over which Masters were selected would be shortened as well.

Kirei wondered who would be chosen this time. His own participation was inevitable, since he technically was still Gilgamesh's Master. One Master would also be chosen from each of the three families that had created the Greater Grail system : the Matou, Tohsaka and Einzbern. The first two families only had one surviving member, so Rin and her sister would each receive a set of Command Seals. As for the Einzbern … who knew.

The alchemists would need to produce a Lesser Grail, and unless they were stupid enough to forget such an individual would eventually be subsumed by the power of the Greater Grail and turned into the Holy Grail itself, that custom-made homunculi could hardly be a Master themselves. The Einzbern would probably have grown one specifically for the purpose of fighting in the Grail War, which should be interesting at the very least.

If the Emiya boy survived the Archibalds' petty revenge, then Kirei didn't doubt he would be selected too. The Grail had marked him, and it would not have done so without a reason. Which still left two Masters for his God to select. Traditionally, the Mage Association had sent representatives of its own to the Holy Grail War, but Caster's Master in the last War had proven that the Greater Grail could choose Masters of its own will.

Had the three families known their creation could do such things, Kirei wondered ? Certainly he doubted that even the three magi who had created the Greater Grail had realized what it had the potential to achieve.

The Grail's influence had been so powerful, so insidious, it had triggered the defenses of the Throne of Heroes itself, forcing it to remove the Spirit Origin of Gilgamesh of Uruk from its ranks. The King of Heroes, first human to ever ascend to the Throne, no longer graced it with his august presence. Even now, years after he had pieced together what had happened at the end of the Fourth Grail War, the thought was enough to send shivers of awe down his spine.

It was ironic that, while it was Gilgamesh who had set him on the path that had led to his throwing off the shackles of morality that had strangled him all his life, the King himself had only been catapulted down that path himself by what could only be called a miracle. It was Gilgamesh who had first introduced Kirei to the notion that his own perception of the world, his own taste for the suffering of others, might not be something inherently sinful, but something to pursue in the name of his own happiness. At the time, the Servant had only done so because he had been bored with his own Master and had sought entertainment by helping Kirei realize his own nature. But now …

It was obvious to Kirei that the King of Heroes, for all that his arrogance had remained the same, had changed a great deal since the Fourth Holy Grail War. The Servant with whom he had conversed while still in Tokiomi's employ would not have ever considered the goal they were now both pursuing. Unleashing an apocalypse upon the world might have been amusing to him – Gilgamesh had made no secret of his contempt for modern Humanity – but the King of Heroes would have intended it as a test of the species' worth, a challenge meant to be overcome and cull the weak.

His pride would not have allowed him to subject himself to a greater purpose – his purpose would have been the only thing worth pursuing, even if it had never been more than whims in all the time of their acquaintance. Even in the Fourth War, his only reason for pursuing the Grail had been because he had considered it to be already his by mere virtue of existing, and his pride would not countenance someone stealing what he perceived as his own treasure.

But the blessings of the Grail, partially unleashed by Kiritsugu Emiya's foolish actions, had transformed King Gilgamesh. Whatever he had seen when the black mud had enveloped him, even Kirei did not know, but it had transmuted his ego into something more ... rarefied.

Shallow egotism had been replaced by blazing conviction, and disgust with the state of the modern world with the vision of restoring and even surpassing the glory of the King of Heroes' living days. Where in life King Gilgamesh had rebelled against his own divine ancestors and ushered in the Dividing that had brought forth the end of the Age of the Gods, his current incarnation would help usher the new age of revelations.

The Gilgamesh Kirei had come to know during the Grail War would have been enraged by the attitude of his reborn self, and would have sought to destroy him at any cost. That knowledge pleased Kirei immensely, though he was very careful not to let it show in the Servant's presence – Gilgamesh's temper had survived his transformation unchanged. The King may have encouraged Kirei to indulge in the joy he took from the suffering and degradation of others, but the priest very much doubted Gilgamesh would appreciate Kirei enjoying hisown degradation.

Kirei was jealous, in a way. He would have done many things to see what the King of Heroes had seen as the Grail's contents washed around and in him. He had done many things, to ensure that he would see it one day. Things that would earn him damnation a thousand times over in the eyes of his colleagues in the Church, should they ever learn of them. But he did not care about their judgement.

He knew now that he was not a freak of nature, a broken soul born in a world that would never accept him. The Grail War had shown him that his was the true, proper state of mind of Humanity, the perfected form of the human soul. Unburdened by the false ethics that shackled so many, he was truly free. Free to see the world for what it was, a pit of suffering and tragedy, and not just survive, but revel in it. And with that freedom, he had willingly made himself the tool of that great power, becoming the humble servant of the true God that gestated within the Grail even now. He had broken his every vow, but in doing, he had found true faith.

... Look at him, getting all philosophical. He really needed to find a hobby to occupy his free time, one that wouldn't get him in trouble. Perhaps it was time to take up cooking again. He had stopped after Rin had no longer depended on him for most of her meals during her training, but unexpectedly, he had developed a taste for the spiced food he had first made as just another way to make her suffer.

… Maybe he shouldn't criticize Gilgamesh for being petty. It wasn't as if he were above such things himself.

AN : Hello, everyone ! This story is having a lot of success, with a lot of you leaving glowing reviews - which is always a good way to motivate me to keep writing. I am not proud of that, but it is the truth.

Here we are, seven months after the death of Zouken and Shinji and Sakura and Shirou starting to live together. Wheels are beginning to turn, dominoes to fall, and other suitably ominous metaphors. Also, by that point, I think a lot of you should start to figure out what is up with Shirou. If you don't, then the next few chapters should make it painfully clear - at least for us, the poor bastard is going to be troubled for quite some time yet.

Kirei's inner monologue at the end is my last-ditch attempt to explain the strange reveals at the end of the last chapter. Once again : this is an AU, with a lot of the Fate elements changed to accomodate the crossover. Things that are impossible according to the mechanics of the verse created by Type-Moon are very much possible in this story.

After all, the motto of this fic, it's one purpose, can be summed up thusly : to defy the tyranny of the Moon, and the grim darkness of the stars. And given the settings I am up against, I am going to have to cheat my ass off if I want to succeed.

I mean, I re-watched Fate/Zero in order to make sure I had every detail of the Fourth War correct in my mind, and, well, you know. Hopefully this should be the last time I need to do that - not that the story isn't well-written or animated or voiced, it's just that I like stories that have a happy ending.

By the way, if you see a giant tentacle monster slowly advancing toward you while fighting a bunch of super-powered individuals, RUN ! Don't dumbly stand there waiting to be eaten !
(Seriously, that scene actually pissed me off. You would think Japanese people would know not to stay to watch the Kaiju battle.)

On another note, if you think you know who Rin's contact in the Association and who the Enforcer being sent by the Archibalds are, you are probably right. Coming up with those wasn't difficult, which is always nice.

Next up will be a chapter of Warband of the Forsaken Sons (a bit shorter than usual for that fic, but that's how the next few ones are going to be), which should be finished either today or tomorrow. Like many of you (at least half if my reading stats are correct), I am currently in isolation, and am making the best of the situation by trying to write as much as possible.

As I have said before, I have the entire current arc planned out - and now, thanks to some people on Spacebattles and their suggestions, I even have a name I had been wondering about for weeks. I also had a flash of inspiration that resulted in me finally finishing the list of Masters and Servants for the Fifth Grail War, after spending months wondering who I should use as Assassin.

Hopefully, the next chapter of this story will be up before the start of next week, but I make no promises. I have learned my lesson on that.

As always, if you have a question or something to say, please leave a review or send me a PM. Wherever you are, stay safe, and I hope this chapter provided you some amusement.

Zahariel out.