They called it the Northern Lands of chilling winds. Where the ice and snow fell endlessly in soft flakes, or hard hail that could reach the size of a man's fist.

There were no roads out in the mountains.

And there was no infrastructure except for the remote villages that thrived adjacent to the thin ice of frozen great lakes.

Arctic fish were the commodity. Trapped deep within the frozen lakes, there was no shortage of them as the particular species reproduced multiple times in a year. Purple backs, they were called. Resembling cod, they lived by feeding off the small crustaceans found near the lake's bottom.

Despite the harsh conditions, people lived in the north.

With hardly any communications with the rest of the world, the habitants lived a trying, but happy life. That is, until the day the Demon came.

Deliora of the Ice Fields. A dark-blue behemoth larger than the twelve-foot homes of the Northern Lands. With large arms that end in scaly hands, bird like feet, and a series of spikes around his neck and shoulders, he stood ominously above all who would oppose him.

He came from within the deep snow of the plains. Rising from the blanket of white, he spread destruction wherever he went. His steps shook the mountains, his unrelenting gaze boring down on all who would oppose him, he was truly the Terror of the North.

And it seems as if he's destroyed another one.

A woman clicked her tongue as she watched her newest resident sleeping peacefully from beneath thick and heavy quilts: A red-haired boy with a round face and a narrowed chin who was perhaps a year or so older than her own students.

Which village did he come from?

She didn't know, nor did she want to imagine how many people had died, trampled, their bodies left frozen beneath the ice. A strand of her dark-purple bangs fell between her eyes. She quickly brushed it back behind her ear, but simply gave up when it refused to remain there. She breathed out slowly and relaxed herself into her chair. It didn't matter, her hair was normally unkempt anyway, cascading down her face and covering her ears with only a few strands falling down from her temple.

Her name was Ur, a mage of the creation magic of ice. As such, she wore light clothing in the cold weather: A short tan-jacket with a dark brown collar and cuff, and two breast pockets, along with a maroon tube top, a metal buckled belt, and black jeans.

Anyways, she stood up and once again went over to a pail of warm water where she quickly dipped a dry cloth. Straining the water out, she pulled the quilts away from the boy and began to wipe down his body. She hadn't noticed when she had first found him near-frozen in the snow, but his injuries were truly severe. In fact, if the cold hadn't frozen his wounds and stopped the bleeding, he may have had died from blood loss alone.

Deliora.

The name echoed within her head. How many more children will you leave stranded? How many more people's lives will you ruin?

She swallowed as she pressed gently around a particularly nasty wound on the boy's chest. A scar of sorts that didn't have the chance to fester into something horrid. The boy would have to be thankful for his luck.

Finished cleaning, she brought the quilts back over the boy's body, and once again sat on her chair to keep watch. It was all she could really do for him, that and hope the boy had the will to wake up.

Clasping her hands, she pursed her lips as she recalled a bitter and distant memory.

It was of another child wrapped warmly in blankets, but suffering nonetheless, and a useless mother who could do nothing but watch.

The ticking wall clock was the only noise in the room.

The stillness, reflecting self pity and regret.

"Ur," Lyon Bastia, one of Ur's students stood awkwardly by a half-opened door. He had spiked silver hair with a couple long strands that ran down from his forehead. On his body, he wore a light blue jacket and dark jeans. "I'm sorry to bother you, but Gray's-" he paused, eyes slightly widening.

Ur took a moment to realize what Lyon was looking at before sighing and releasing the tenseness of her muscles. "It's alright Lyon, I was just thinking." Her knuckles that had grown pale from gripping tightly on her chair's arm-rests relaxed as Ur adopted a pleasant smile. "Now what is Gray up to this time."

"Ugh yes! He's spouting nonsense about searching for Deliora again," Lyon spoke.

Ur narrowed her eyes as she stood up and made her way towards the door. O Gray, she couldn't allow his hatred to take him over. She couldn't allow his pain and fear to cloud his judgement. "The little brat needs another lesson, does he?" She cracked her knuckles and grinned. "I'll be more than happy to hammer some sense into his brain." Ruffling Lyon's hair as she passed, she quickly asked Lyon to watch over their injured guest.

Watching Ur leave, Lyon took her place on the chair, and stared absently at the boy they found frozen in the snow.

The boy was lucky that Ur was able to save him. Lyon had no doubts of Ur's ability. She was the strongest. And he was her student.

Still, he really wished he could continue practicing, but first he would have to wait for this boy to wake up as Ur's time was being preoccupied.

He crossed his arms and resigned himself to waiting.

Meanwhile,

Ur made her way to the front of her house and watched as Gray Fullbuster, her second student, continued his training outside in the frigid cold. An Ice Mage's paradise.

Gray, the young brat with black and spikey unkempt hair, and an unending desire to defeat Deliora. He wore a thick white-winter coat with fur linings around the hood, and a pair of jeans Ur remembered buying off from a friend whose son had out grown them.

His form was wrong.

His breathing was uneven.

His creation magic still lacking in creativity.

And he was spouting nonsense about defeating Deliora at his level?

Revenge was blinding him, the death of his parents, and the destruction of his village his sole motivation. It was wrong for a brat, her student, to have such empty eyes.

Her legs took the initiative, walking her out the front door of her house, and marching her to stand straight right behind Gray.

He was earnest at least. His work and dedication far outshining even Lyon's natural talents.

She hadn't been noticed yet, Ur observed. Taking the time to observe more of Gray's flaws, she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes before opening them in determination. Stepping out, she stood beside him, and took her stance: her legs parted shoulder width, and her arms drawn back with a single fist over one palm.

"Ice-Make," she could feel Gray's gaze on her, watching her form fiercely and adjusting his own. Good, just as intended. A blue magic circle appeared clasped between her hands, a cold frosted mist emanating from her center. "Shield!"

She thrust out, ice spewing from the center of her circle, transmitting into the air, and willing the ice beneath her feet to propel itself forward in large interlocked spires. A simple, but durable shield of ice formed before her. She turned towards Gray. "If you can't even do this, what hope do you have to defeat Deliora?" She goaded.

A change occurred within Gray's eyes, his defiance showing.

Ur smiled before kneeling and placing a hand over Gray's shoulder. "You can't rush these things, Gray. They will come to you in time."

"I don't have time!" Gray refused to admit defeat.

Fiery willed brat. Ur ruffled Gray's hair before she stood up and walked a short distance away from him. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, she grinned. "Then show me," she challenged.

"J-Just wait and you'll see!" Gray rushed into his forms. He wasn't Lyon who had the talent, but he had the promise he had made to his father. He would be a man to be proud of.

Ur shook her head as she watched Gray performing.

His magic was fluctuating, his body's protest to his hours of training.

There was no doubt within Ur's mind, Gray was definitely forcing things.

"Ice-Make," Gray spoke with purpose, his hands ready to thrust forward. He was ready to prove Ur wrong. He had the ability. He could defeat Deliora, and avenge his parents. "Shield!"

His arms parted to his side as he released his magic.

Ur's eyes widened as she spotted a shield forming in front of Gray. To be able to form one in his state of exhaustion, it was already impressive, but-

A crack appeared within the shield, followed by another.

-It would never hold in the face of a lack of magic supply.

The shield burst, sending Gray flying back.

She didn't speak a word even as her gaze met Gray's. She didn't need to. He would understand what she would have wanted.

Suddenly, Lyon burst out from the house. "He's waking up!" He called urgently, causing both Gray and Ur to blink in surprise.

Meanwhile with Shirou.

He didn't know where he was, just that he was thankful that it wasn't so cold anymore.

Blinking his eyes open, he realized that he was lying on a bed, heavy quilts over his body.

Taking a good look at the sparsely decorated room, he deduced that he was in a guest room. The only furniture inside other than the bed, were a few chairs, a bedside table, and a sliding drawer to store clothing.

Grunting as he pulled off the thick quilts, he sat up just as Ur, Gray, and Lyon entered through the door.

"I didn't expect that you'd be up so soon," Ur spoke as she brought a warm glass of hot chocolate. "To heat yourself up," she rationalized as she extended it towards Shirou.

"Thank you," Shirou spoke, accepting Ur's generosity. Bringing the glass to his lips, he relished the feeling of warmth that travelled throughout his body. "I'm Shirou," he introduced himself after gently setting the cup of hot chocolate down on a bedside table.

"Ur, Ice mage of the North."

"Lyon, Ur's student."

"Gray, also Ur's student."

The three made their introductions one after the other. It was Ur however, who asked the question that was within all their minds. "What happened to you?"

Shirou frowned in contemplation. They didn't need to know about what had happened in the Tower, all it would do was add another weight on their shoulders. So instead, he decided to go with a half truth. "I got lost after barely getting away from a disaster," he spoke.

Ur nodded. She didn't have to ask to know that it was probably the work of Deliora. "For now," she spoke, motioning towards the room. "Make yourself at home."

"Thank you," Shirou spoke back gratefully, letting his body lie back down onto the bed. "I just might take you up on that offer."

And now there's another brat to look after. Ur lead Gray and Lyon out of the room and decided that it was time to finally start training again. "Lyon," she pointed towards him. "Get dressed and get outside."

Eye's brightening, Lyon quickly followed instructions.

"Now Gray," her eyes carried a hint of amusement. "Back to your room."

"But-"

Ur shook her head. "No buts. This is what happens when you train recklessly by yourself."

Gray glared, his arms subconsciously crossing in defiance.

Ur's mood lightened. "If you go now, I promise that when you're rested we can both go train together."

Gray pondered, eyes closing in thought, before he nodded his head. "It's a promise," he spoke. "And you better keep it."

"Cheeky brat, when have you known me to back out of a promise? Now go." Ur shewed Gray away.

Ur stood with her arms leaning against her hips, watching as Gray disappeared behind the corner to his room. Good. If anything, he still had a good set of ears on his head. Now for Lyon. She smiled as she stripped down to her training gear, a green bra coupled with a pair of green underpants. Now, it was time for some practice.

After once again sinking up to his waist in snow, Shirou could finally admit to getting used to the frigid cold of the Northern environment. "A little help?" he sighed dejectedly before ice began to form beneath his feet and pushed him to level ground.

Ur smiled as she absently swung the sack of arctic cod she had fished from the hole created in the nearby frozen lake behind her back.

Tapping her foot twice on the ground, all the light snow around Shirou hardened to prevent a repeat of the earlier circumstance.

"Thank you," Shirou said. "Ice magic is pretty handy," he stated, watching as Ur simply glided on the ice without any visible strain.

"It takes practice," Ur said before snickering as the snow beneath Gray's feet gave out on him. "You have to concentrate your magic on the snow in contact with your feet," she lectured to Gray. "Look at Lyon."

Gray just huffed as he stabilized himself.

Ice magic was a caster type magic, meaning that the magic was expelled from the body to be utilized through various means. In Ur's case, it was to manipulate ice and form it into numerous creations fueled by her own imagination: Ice-Make magic.

"Now come on," Ur urged. "Although these fish won't spoil quickly in the cold, I'd much rather eat them at their freshest."

The entire group had spent half the day walking to restock their supply of fish, and to train Lyon and Gray further in their magic. Which would explain why they were forced to wear just their boxers in the cold conditions as they were learning to be Ice Mages like Ur.

The snow packing underfoot, the group soon found their way back to the remote cabin by the base of a mountain called Hellen. It was where Shirou had been resting for the past few days to recover his energy, and was also located a couple miles out from the nearest village of Dale.

The village of Dale was small with various buildings made from wood cut down from trees that revealed themselves in the hotter seasons when the snow melted. Other parts were more industrialized, made from stone and metal. Its people were light-spirited, not letting the cold hamper their everyday lives, and as such, Shirou couldn't understand why Ur lived away from them. She had friends there, he had seen her interacting with the people when they went shopping for basic necessities like the clothes he found himself wearing: a thick fur coat lined with sea lion hide, and a pair of insulated pants.

On one such trip, when he had accompanied her while Gray and Lyon stayed behind to practice, he heard the villagers talking amongst themselves. Whispering discreetly, but not enough to avoid the sound entering his trained ears.

They were pitying her.

Talking about how unfortunate she was to undergo such a horrid circumstance? He was clearly missing something, yet he didn't have enough time to ponder as Ur had lead him back to the cabin.

She had been silent, eyes adamantly pointed forward, and not once taking a look back.

If there was anything Shirou had learned by living with the woman, it was that she was strong. Not just physically, but mentally.

As the group arrived at the door of the cabin, Ur fiddled around in her pockets and produced a small key which she then used to promptly click open the lock.

She stared at Lyon and Gray before placing down the sack of fish. "No more training for now. We have to make sure to gut the fish first so that we can safely preserve the rest."

Shirou raised his hand sheepishly. "Uhm," he began tentatively. "If you'd let me, I could handle that," he spoke. It didn't feel right to continually impose on them without doing anything back in return. At least with cooking, and matters concerning food, he had the utmost confidence.

"You know how to gut fish?" Ur asked surprised. She didn't think it was something most people raised in villages knew how to do as most of their food came provided through the markets by hunters.

"I know more than just gutting," his voice was gaining its confidence. "Let me take care of the meal today. Besides, it would give you more time to train with Gray and Lyon."

Gray nodded his head, appreciative of Shirou's sentiments just as much as Lyon was. They both treasured the time they spent learning with Ur.

Ur leveled a discerning eye on Shirou before tossing him a fish and a small cutting knife. "Let's see what you got," she grinned.

Not to disappoint, Shirou quickly cut into the fish's mid-section, and utilizing his culinary skills and the history he had glimpsed from the knife, promptly gutted the fish's innards, leaving behind the edible meat. "Happy?" He asked.

Ur grunted. "Just pleasantly surprised," she said. Scratching her head, she looked between Shirou and her two students before coming to a decision. "I guess we can take you up on that offer."

"It will be my pleasure. I'll call you when I have everything done."

Shirou felt a pat on his shoulder.

"Thanks," Lyon spoke earnestly, and even Gray gave him a reluctant nod.

For Gray, the more training he got, the better. Deliora had killed his parents, and destroyed his home and village. Nothing occupied his mind more than avenging them. But perhaps even more pressing than his need to grow stronger, was the fear that Deliora would come and once again take everything away from him: Ur, Lyon, and the life he had built around them. He couldn't let it happen, never again.

Gray quickly followed after Ur and Lyon as they went to practice outside the house, leaving Shirou alone.

Humming, Shirou got to work with his task.

He didn't know how long he was planning on staying in the Northern lands, but he knew there was only one reason why he chose to remain. He had his promise to meet up with Erza, Jellal, and the rest at Fairy Tail, but even more than that, he was concerned about the circumstance of his saviours.

Deliora, the Terror of the North. A demon terrorizing the local villages in the area.

He had seen the fire in Gray's eyes, and the apprehension in Ur's. From word of mouth, it wasn't difficult for him to determine that Deliora had the potential to appear in the nearby vicinity, and that itself was what was troubling.

Gray hated Deliora, but it didn't take much to notice that he feared him just as much. Regardless, he had no illusions about what would happen should Deliora appear, Gray would charge in like a moth to a flame.

He had heard stories of Deliora's power, of how unsurpassable it was. Either way, he had to see if there was anything he could do, otherwise he'd have to leave with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Idly, he placed the gutted fish off to the corner of the kitchen where a small freezer was kept surrounded by packed snow and ice to maintain the cold temperature.

He smiled as he was now in his element, his forte. A frying pan soon found its way into his hands, followed by an apron, herbs, and spices as Shirou got battle ready to cook.

An hour or so later, Ur, Lyon, and Gray sat around a small table as Shirou laid out the dishes before them. He hadn't been able to make anything fancy with the fish and the food they had on hand, but he was confident that it tasted good.

Ur rose a brow as she fiddled absently with the food on her plate using a fork. "You," she eyed him thoughtfully, "made this?" She asked, eyes roaming across the table-top.

Shirou simply nodded, watching how Ur's eyes kept drifting to Gray, or Lyon, waiting for them to take the first bite.

Gray was first, his stomach growling. He cut off a thin slice of fish with his knife, and brought it to his mouth with his fork.

Lyon and Ur discreetly waited for his input, but got nothing in response as Gray only continued eating at a faster pace.

The master and remaining student shared a look before they both brought a spoonful of food to their lips.

Ur chewed slowly, letting the flavour spread throughout her mouth before she swallowed, ending the experience.

She stared bewildered at her empty spoon as Lyon swatted away Gray's reaching hands. No doubt Gray wanted more after finishing his portions. A warning was imperative at this point as the senior in the room. "No one touches my plate," she warned.

She gave Shirou a simple thumb's up before she dug into her food, not noticing how Shirou served more portions to Gray and Lyon. But she did notice when he began to do the same for her. How thoughtful.

She laughed as Lyon froze Gray's feet to the floor to get the last serving of food before she realized: Lyon was taking the last portion of food. Grinning, she then froze Lyon to his chair and promptly swiped the food from his hands. Besides, she was the oldest. She needed the most food.

It didn't matter if both of them were giving her defeated looks. She was the King of the table.

"If you guys liked it that much, I can cook again tomorrow?" Shirou said hesitantly. He had seen people eat his cooking before, but he had never had such a reaction. Maybe it was because he only ever remembered cooking the majority of his past life for a lion-like woman and her unsatiable stomach.

He received a round of nods, at least he would be busy in the morning.

Cleaning off the various dishes after a lively dinner, Shirou soon found himself wandering within the halls of the warm cabin. Gray and Lyon had turned in for the night, exhausted after the day's activities, and Ur had gone to watch after them as they fell asleep. Despite her hard and strong willed exterior, she was a doting teacher who had grown to view her students as her own children. However, Shirou didn't miss how her eyes would wander towards a single empty room within the house, and that was where Shirou was going.

Ur had never forbid him from entering any room, nor had she explicitly laid down any rules of any kind for him. She was his benefactor, the one who had pulled him away from freezing buried beneath the snow. The least he could do for her was to understand what it was that was troubling her so much that she refused to acknowledge it.

He knew he was prying, and he was being highly insensitive and untrustworthy, but there were times when one must act. Take for example if you had a friend that you knew needed help, but continually refused to deny it for the sake of those around them, they would never be saved. Ur was one of those people. For Lyon, and for Gray, she had placed aside her own troubles and took solace in her efforts to raise and teach them.

She was a stubborn individual who acted more like a man at times than a woman. Just as most men would never go out of their way to express their feelings and troubles to others, Ur was the same. Why should another have to carry the burden meant solely for the individual? Why should one's problems involve others who have had no part in the mistake?

The answer was obvious to people like Ur, and even himself. They shouldn't.

He supposed he and Ur had similarities. In fact, just the thought of others getting hurt, or troubled because of him caused an intense feeling of loathing to form at the pit of his stomach. Yet they were still different. Ur was a person, while he was simply a sword. A tool meant to be used for the purpose of saving others for an ideal he knew could never be accomplished. Nonetheless, it was his dream, and one that he'd never give up on so long as he breathed.

Therefore, between Ur and himself, regardless of Ur's thoughts, he would much rather lend his aid.

He strode forward towards the room at the end of the hall with purpose. It was dim, the only light coming from a window allowing the setting sun's rays to brighten the surroundings in a dull orange.

Unfalteringly, he stopped at the entrance of the room, and slowly twisted the nob open. The wood groaned in response, the creaking of the hinges echoing throughout the empty hallway.

He stepped inside the room.

If he could put any words into what he saw, it would be Love. A deep compassion filled love that warmed the heart. The room was filled with a child's belongings. Stuffed toys, picture books, drawing utensils, and even a whole wall decorated in mixed colours of paint splotches.

It was undoubtedly a young girl's room.

He could even imagine the child playing happily, hands wet with paint as she decorated her own walls.

And Ur, she was the kind of mother who would allow such activities. But then, what had happened to the owner of the room?

He felt a chill run down his back, comprehension dawning on his features.

The reason why the villagers would pity her.

The reason why Ur was told more than once that she could still pursue her own happiness.

It was beginning to make sense.

Yet Ur wasn't one to take another's pity. Rather, she would push through with her own determination, and not show one shred of doubt in her actions.

He wet his suddenly dry lips and continued wandering within the room. Off to the side, there was a small crib laid out with pink blankets and a revolving toy hanging from the crib's shelf.

From the amount of dust scattered throughout the room, on the small dresser, on the over head table, and on the rows of stuffed toys and children's books, it was clear that no one had cleaned the chamber in a long time.

It was then that the soft creaking of the door he had closed behind him alerted him of another presence.

"You shouldn't have gone into this room," Ur spoke as she sighed, then promptly closed the door behind her. "It," she hesitated. "It contains some very important memories."

"I can tell," Shirou spoke, staring at the only photo in the room. A picture of Ur and a small baby wrapped in a white thick-bundle of soft cloth. "She must have meant the world to you."

Ur didn't respond, her eyes closed with her fists trembling from how hard she was squeezing them.

Shirou didn't take notice and instead focused his attention on the piles of documents scattered throughout the room. Prescriptions, recommendations, all of them spoke of how desperate Ur had been. "She was sick, and you had tried everything," he spoke softly, running on his own assumptions proven right by Ur's next actions.

Pursing her lips, Ur slackened her grip and walked around to pick up the old photo. "The doctors had never seen anything like it. A child sick because of her own magical power."

It was like a balloon. It could only be filled by so much air until it stretched beyond its capabilities and exploded.

"I-If it wasn't treated, it would have killed her as she grew older," Ur continued, running a trembling hand over the image of the baby in the photo.

Shirou frowned in response. In a sense, he could understand as he knew someone with a similar circumstance, but that was through the machinations and tampering of a third party. Naturally, the body should adapt to the power born within it, growing stronger with age. That, and the constitution of Mages was different from that of a regular magus due to the nature of their magic vessels.

He walked around the room, staring at all the drawings in crayon stuck onto the walls with tape. They were stick figures drawn with the clumsiness of adolescent hands, and many of them had a single 'Momma's the Greatest!' bubbled in near the top. Others had a simple 'I love you' written beneath sketches of two smiling stick figures holding hands.

Ur swallowed the lump forming in her throat, and turned her sights away from Shirou.

"Makes you want to laugh, doesn't it," she spoke pitifully. "A woman who couldn't even protect her only child."

"No, it doesn't." Shirou sighed, picking up a small locket and placing it within Ur's hands. "All I see is a woman still blaming herself, and lost in her own grief."

"You wouldn't understand." Ur cradled the locket, clicking it open to reveal a photo of a family of three: Her deceased husband, her deceased daughter, and her the only one still left alive. "They had meant everything to me."

Her eyes were downcast, her shoulders slumped.

Shirou swallowed before pressing on. "And you mean everything to Lyon and Gray. They depend on you," he said.

Little brats. A wry smile came over Ur's face. She hadn't thought that Shirou was old enough to be giving advise, but if anything, he was smart for his age.

Picking up a loose document, Shirou raised a brow. The document was a recommendation of sorts by a physician claiming to know of a cure within a certain institute in a far away land. Based on how crinkled and stained the paper was, the particular topic must have been something Ur had continually fell back on. "Did they end up finding a cure?" He asked curiously.

"No, but magic doctors would come by from a renowned institution to conduct tests and maintenance to ease her pain."

"Is that so?" Shirou spoke uncertainly, eyes catching a glimpse of something.

Drawing near to the back wall, it was there propped up beside a drawer, that he found his answer.

"Is that?" He drew closer to the blade-like object before he picked it up, his eyes widening.

"That's what they used to measure her rampant magical power," Ur informed bitterly. "Said that by resting the blade's tip over her skin that it would drain away the excess, yet there was too much and they had no choice but to take her to find a cure."

"No," Shirou spoke harshly, glancing fiercely at Ur. "That's not what this does."

The accusation caused a cold feeling to swell from within Ur's heart, like a snake constricting its coils. What? "H-How would you know that?!" Her voice was rising, a tinge of panic lacing its higher notes; the agitation beginning to affect her.

No words would be fast enough to make her understand. Instead Shirou simply raised a palm, and an exact copy of the blade like object manifested into existence. "I'm a mage," he revealed grimly. "My magic allows me to understand the function of this tool, no weapon." Allowing complete understanding of a weapon's history: Each and every owner through Structural Analysis, an ability to instantly perceive objects.

It was by this time that Lyon and Gray burst into the room, woken up by the sense of urgency in Ur's voice.

"You said that your daughter was sick because of her magical power," Shirou continued, this time drawing everyone's attention. "This blade is an amplifier."

No, Ur denied, her strength leaving her body. No, it can't be!

Shirou tossed the blade over to Lyon after releasing the hidden safety within the blade's hilt through alteration, a skill that allowed him to change the properties of any object. "Send a flow of magic within the blade and see what happens," he spoke.

Lyon nodded, and quickly did as instructed, mouth gaping as a blade of ice double his height quickly emerged.

His mouth dried, his worried gaze turning slowly towards Ur. Gray was much the same, even the glare in his eyes had softened.

Ur, she had fallen on her knees, her bangs covering her eyes. They didn't know what to say. She had always been a strong-willed woman, and to see such a change within her, they were at a complete loss.

"On top of that, are you familiar with a man named Brain?" Shirou continued. He needed to get the point across, and could think of nothing else but to disclose the history he had found within the blade. Particularly of Brain, its creator, and the atrocities he had learned about the man. His gaze hardened as he realized what truly happened to Ur's daughter.

Ur swallowed, and nodded her head. He had been the leader of the Bureau of Magical Development, the world's forerunner in magical dealings and abnormalities, and the one who told her of her daughter's death.

"A body too ravaged to look at," Shirou whispered.

Ur froze, a memory flashing across her mind. Of a woman in turmoil unable to bring herself to doubt the words of a man in charge of one of the world's largest institutes despite many months of pleading for a body.

Ur couldn't breath, her face going blank before it all erupted in a storm of self-loathing. "Damn it!" She punched the ground. "Damn it!" Again, and again, and again, tears were forming within her eyes. "DAAMN IT!" She began to sob as any mother would.

She wasn't a fool. She could understand what Shirou was implying, and she hated it. Those bastards. Why didn't she notice it? She blamed herself. It didn't matter if she had been in an emotional state of disarray. She should have noticed that something was wrong.

There was no way Shirou could be lying to her either. Every word he said made sense, and they were only things that she would know.

Could she already be dead? Its already been over two years since she had entrusted her to the institute to find a cure.

Her conclusions were obvious, as they were heart wrenching. There was just no way.

She wanted to scream, the panic at the pit of her stomach evolving into something much much more as she fell deeper and deeper into despair with a single most prevalent thought.

She'd failed as a mother.

"Ur," Gray tentatively stepped forward, but faltered when no other words came out of his mouth. What was he supposed to say? He had known how Ur had felt about her daughter, going as far as yelling at Lyon when he asked if he was enough to replace her. There was just nothing he could do.

A bitter taste was forming within Shirou's mouth as he watched the woman who had saved him realizing the extent of how far she was deceived. He couldn't take it anymore. "You shouldn't give up yet," he spoke out, making sure Ur had heard him.

What? Ur looked up to reveal a pale face and eyes that frankly looked dead to the world.

Lyon and Gray forced down their unease, and instead looked to Shirou as Ur had, waiting for whatever it was he had to say.

To Ur, his words were like a beacon of light, a line of hope. Even if she had her doubts about the authenticity of Shirou's claims they were too accurate to merely brush aside.

Before she realized it, she was holding Shirou in a vice-like grip, cold mist emanating off her skin. She didn't speak, no words were necessary to understand the pain beneath her dilated black pupils. An answer, anything was all she needed.

A moment passed.

And then another, the sounds of wind beating against the cabin echoing within the room.

Shirou hardened his resolve. Wincing as he felt his shoulders groaning in protest, he spoke one bold answer in the silence.

"Because your daughter may be alive."

Thanks for Reading and Thank You to my newest patrons: Scott Evan, and Lance Hessbrook!

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

Next Update: Fate-In Time

-A side note: The last portion of this chapter was written while listening to Tsuioku Mezameru Tamashii, and Kanashiki Kako