Disclaimer: The works of Type-Moon and Jō Taketsuki are their own despite my most fervent wishes. This is a fan work and if anyone does pay me for it the only thing it will accomplish is to get me into trouble. This is being done purely for fun, constructive criticism is welcome, and flames will be ignored. Please be gentle though, this is the first fanfic I've put on the net.

Well hello again, here's the latest chapter and I hope it is as well received as the last one. In all honesty this was originally meant to be a small chapter of only 14,000 words or so, but before I knew it I'd gotten over ten thousand words done and I still wasn't even half way through. Still I hope everyone will agree that it's worth the wait. The problem is that my style of writing is to simply keep writing until I have reached a point at which it feels right to stop. Believe it or not I originally intended for this and the last chapter to be one work, but things just got away from me as more and more ideas that I really liked kept on cropping up. The final result was two pretty big chapters which I am very happy with. Incidentally that's also why I don't put an estimate of how complete a chapter is, because I myself have only the vaguest idea.

My thanks for all the reviews I received on my last chapter (More than ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS on one chapter, AWESOME.)as well as all the suggestions for Noble Phantasms. Please send any other suggestions for them and Authorities to me as they provide marvellous inspiration and ideas. However there were a couple of things that I got quite a few comments on so I'll address them in return.

The first was that Shirou and Illya were rather out of character because of their willingness to give Godou and his girls their life story. I have to agree that that was the case, but they did so because they wanted to ensure that the story would quickly make its way around the school. Because of the difference in both their appearance and names there would have been a lot of questions as to why they were addressing each other as siblings, questions that could lead to other questions. Making their fictional history available to the school's rumour mills was the plan they came up with to snip that problem at the bud before it grew inconvenient. Illya being a bit freer with her past than normal was to reinforce this, after all the most effective lies are the ones that are partly true, that and she got a bit carried away.

Secondly quite a few people said that Shirou was very out of character during his meeting with Kaida and Manaka. My apologies if I didn't make it clear, but that is entirely deliberate. Since Shirou was unsure of how stable his position was he tried to put up a strong front for his guests, and part of that was not acting like himself. The role he played was what he thought was appropriate for a King, a performance influenced by his interactions, in all his memories, with the likes of Saber and Gilgamesh.

SPOILERS

The main thrust of this chapter has been to let the main characters get to know each other a bit better. Shirou has had a chance to witness some of the chaos that seems to follow Godou around and so is beginning to build up his own opinion of the guy, an opinion that certainly doesn't match his expectations.

As those of you who have read the Campione! translations might note much of the dialogue from Shirou's fourth flashback has been directly cut and pasted. Please don't think me lazy, the truth is that that was one of my favourite scenes in that book. I was really annoyed that the somewhat rushed anime completely skipped over it, so I determined that I'd definitely include it in my own story, with a little modification to make it fit of course.

This chapter has also been a chance for Illya to show off a bit. I'm afraid that I'm still a little unclear as to just what she's capable of as a magus, but I have received some useful info from a number of people and think I have it more or less right. If I am off slightly please just accept it as an honest mistake.

I hope everyone like my second meeting between Kaida and Manaka and Shirou. In all truth it was probably the hardest bit of this chapter to write, I even wrote and deleted it a couple of times because it didn't feel right. I was starting to despair of finding a way to introduce them into the Emiya mansion when something just clicked into place. It took me completely by surprise when I wrote it, but once I did I thought it was a great idea, I hope all of my readers agree.

At the bottom of this chapter I have included a little something I did when I was suffering a little writer's block; it's a translation of Shirou's current abilities and Authorities into Servant style stats. Please understand that this is something I threw together over the course of twenty minutes when I was bored, and which I thought might be interesting to my readers, so I freely admit that it might be a little inaccurate. If you feel that is the case feel free to send me a version you feel to be more correct. As with all reviews and suggestions I can't promise I will use it, but I do promise to read it and give it fair consideration.

And last but not least there's a tiny sneak preview of the next chapter.

Last but not least I would like to offer special thanks to my Beta, without whose help this chapter would have a bunch of correctly spelt but incorrectly placed words.


God Slayer Blade Works: Chapter Seven: Getting to Know You

Emiya Shirou stared at the sword on his work table and frowned. It was not a remarkable sword in any way; it wasn't even an F rank Noble Phantasm or a weak mystic code. It was just a copy of a European short sword that he'd seen during a trip to a museum years ago and that had been recorded in his Reality Marble. He'd traced it just after he had started to set up his workshop in this out building so that he could use it to lever a protruding nail out of the wall. It had been such a simple matter at the time; he'd done because he hadn't wanted to go looking for a pair of pliers. After he'd extracted the offending nail, he'd put the sword down on one of his work tops and then absentmindedly covered it when he'd placed a folded up tarpaulin on top of it.

That had been more than three weeks ago, his memories assimilated from EMIYA might be a bit on the foggy side in some areas, but he was quite sure that a traced weapon should not have lasted that long. It was the most basic knowledge taught to anyone studying the mystic arts, the world loathes unnatural changes, and mystic effects are extremely unnatural for the most part. When these changes are put into effect, then the worlds governing spirit would immediately get to work trying to reject them.

A construct like this would have immediately begun to corrode under the world's attempts to correct itself, until its form lost cohesion and it simply dissolved into prana that would in turn dissipate into the ambient mana like a drop of ink into the sea.

That meant that what he was looking at was an impossibility. This sword had been a rush job, something thrown together quickly for the sake of convenience. It wasn't a Noble Phantasm so its 'existence' wasn't a very large one as far as the world was concerned. As a purely mundane item he supposed it was possible for it to have lasted this long, had it been something that he had focused on carefully and traced in slow minute detail. However that was not the case, so how . . . ?

"Trace on."

It was almost nostalgic to use something as simple as Structural Analysis. This had been the very first magic he had learnt, and with all that had happened to him in the last few months, using it was oddly relaxing. The last time he'd used it he'd still been jury rigging his nerves into makeshift Magic Circuits, so performing it without the pain that had always accompanied it in the past was a surprisingly pleasant experience.

Still no time to think about that now, right now he had a mystery to unravel.

With his eyes closed he sent his mystic senses into the weapon before him. He could feel its composition, see its history, taste its accumulated years. All those things that allowed him to go beyond mere Air Gradation and perform his Tracing. His brow furrowed as he noticed something, something that should not have been.

Under normal circumstances the natural 'Rule of the World' should have been metaphysically pulling at the edges of the swords existence. After an amount of time, dependant on the quality of the tracing, the world would 'pull' hard enough on the outer 'shell' of the tracing and it would come apart. However that was not what was happening here. Rather than pulling at those 'edges' it was as though the world was instead pushing at it instead. Rather than being pulled apart it was as though the external environment was exerting an influence to stop the construct from coming apart.

Dropping out of his state of concentration, the eighth Campione glared at the sword in front of him as though it were in some way responsible for the strangeness he was being faced with. This made no sense.

As an experiment he traced another sword, this time a samurai's katana from EMIYA'S memories. As soon as he had completed it he gave it a few experimental swings to test its quality and then used Structural Analysis on it.

There again was the strange effect; the pressure of the world was actually working to keep the construct of prana from coming apart. The odd phenomenon was definitely not making his projections any stronger or more solid; it was simply keeping them from coming apart.

Laying down his new sword next to the old one he stared at them both. Looking at them like this he could feel his connection to them. If he wanted to he could send a mental signal and they would both disintegrate.

"Trace on."

This time it wasn't a nameless sword that he created, it was a minor Noble Phantasm one of the countless numbers that EMIYA had seen in Gilgamesh's treasury. The sword's name could be translated as Sun Flash, a rather ornate name for a weapon whose only real abilities were to release flashes of light that would not blind its wielder. It was a D rank, but it was still a weapon of legend with powers most modern magi would envy. As a result its 'existence' was larger than the other swords.

Placing it down next to them he then covered the trio of arms with a tarp. Satisfied that they were suitably concealed he turned back to the reason for which he had originally entered his workshop.

EMIYA had never been a very good magus, he'd been a fine warrior and had polished the skills he had possessed to the point where he was the peer, if not equal, to the Servants he had seen in his youth. However in terms of advancing the knowledge of thaumaturgy or crafting mystic codes he hadn't done much that most magical organizations would have acknowledged.

Shirou, however, possessed some advantages that his other self had lacked, and it was the culmination of his scant knowledge, some lessons from Illya and his new advantages that was resting on a cloth on the floor.

His first mystic code.

Of course it was a sword, that was the form that would work best for him, and even so it still had flaws. Quite frankly had any of the teachers at the Clock Tower seen it they would have regarded it as an almost criminal waste of power and resources.

When you got right down to it the rank of a mystic code was determined by four basic factors. First was the skill which it had gone into assembling it. Second was the quality of the materials used in its construction. Third was the amount of prana available for it to either use or possess. Last was the quality of its user. If all four factors were of sufficiently high level then in theory you could get a code that could match certain Noble Phantasms.

Shirou's code was a sword made out of several huge gems all joined and fused into a single form. Creating such a blade had been relatively easy using Rule of the Underworld. He'd had to return them a couple of time followed by then pulling them out in a new configuration, but in the end he had managed to get it right.

Granted if Rin ever saw it then she would probably strangle him while screaming about it being a criminal waste of epic proportions. And even if she didn't then she probably would have set him on fire for having created such a bastardization of her families jewel craft.

The sword had been put together using his own minor knowledge of Zelretch's Jewelled Sword, the only slightly better knowledge of Jewel craft he had gained from EMIYA'S memories and a few theories he had personally put together after reviewing the construction methods of several stone Noble Phantasms that now resided in his Reality Marble.

He called it his Gem Sword, and in all fairness it was probably one of the most beautiful mystic codes ever constructed. One metre in length from tip to pommel its entire length sparkled with practically every colour of the rainbow, which was hardly a surprise considering that practically every type of precious stone had been used in its creation. In purely monetary terms the weapon was probably the single most valuable piece of portable property in the world.

However as a mystic code it was only one step short of being a failure.

The original plan had been to recreate the Jewelled Sword. Granted he knew practically nothing about the magical theory behind it, and granted it would be useless to Illya since she lacked Rin's knowledge. Still it had been the only resource available to them with regards to getting home so he had traced a copy and given it to his adopted sister.

It had been after this that thoughts of the sword had led him to recall how in his own lifetime EMIYA had been taught a little of the Tohsaka families Jewel Craft in exchange for some resources he had. Unfortunately his other self had possessed no talent for the style, even when he fashioned the gems into the shapes of tiny swords in order to increase their compatibility the results had just been too inefficient. The eighth Campione had idly wondered if the results would have been better if the jewels had been real sword sized, then he'd come to a stop as he realized he had the resources to test the theory.

And that was how he'd got started. While he might not have been able to glean any of the secrets of the Kaleidoscope from his mental blueprint of the Jewelled Sword he had gained some slight knowledge of how the cuts of a stone would affect its more subtle performance. Jewel craft had further refined this as had his second-hand knowledge.

The end result was what lay before him; an enormous gemstone that looked as though it had been rather crudely hewn into the general shape of a long sword. It actually slightly reminded him of Berserkers enormous axe sword now that he thought about it. As far as its abilities went it was a bit of a disappointment.

Originally Shirou had hoped to use it as a giant version of Rin's Azoth Knife, a weapon able to release a blast of stored prana into an attack. Unfortunately it seemed the weapon could not serve this function due to it only being able to release a small amount at a time. The young Emiya had almost sent it back into the Underworld before he had another idea. Certainly it was inefficient and wasteful, but it was a functional prana battery with a very large capacity.

So it had become his daily habit to come into his workshop and dump roughly half of his enormous reserves into it. Granted its terrible efficiency meant that only about 35% of the power he put in was actually stored, but he had prana to spare and he recovered quickly. Over the course of the week since he had finished it he estimated that he had managed to store about twice his full reserves in there, a level that would normally take an average magus years if not decades to attain. It was crude and unrefined, but there was something to be said for the brute force approach.

As he sat down on the floor and took the glass like hilt in his hands he allowed his memory to drift back a few days. Today was the Saturday after his first week of school, and he had to say that the last four days had been . . . eventful.


-()-


Flashback to Tuesday.

It was lunch time and Shirou was once again heading for the roof. Despite her protests he had made Illya promise to wait on the ground floor near the main exit. Should she sense or hear anything that made her think a fight had broken out she was to get to Yusuke, who should be waiting near the gate to the school in his new car, and head back to the mansion as fast as she could. Honestly he expected her to break her promise if the worst came to the worst, but he had made what arrangements he could.

With a deep breath he stepped out onto the roof top and saw that Godou was standing in the same area where they had all eaten lunch together yesterday. By his side had been Mariya-san and Liliana-san, as well as a tall blonde girl with a beautiful face, gorgeous figure and a look of supreme confidence on her face.

That must be the Erica-san that had been mentioned the day before, idly the eighth Campione wondered if there might be some truth to his sister's assertions that Godou was trying to build a harem, if so he was off to a fine start.

Still this meant that he was out numbered off the get go. If one assumed that one Campione was the equal of another then it would be the supporters that could shift the tide in either direction. Naturally that was a vast simplification, but it almost certainly carried some truth to it. Still Shirou wasn't totally unprepared in regards to followers, in his book bag was a small pouch filled with small items that would allow him to summon up a good two dozen undead warriors at a moment's notice. Also, in the trunk of Yusuke's car were two of his jars containing his curse spawned monsters. He wasn't quite sure if they would heed him from so far away, but if they didn't then he could always move closer if needed. Of course that only worked if Illya broke her promise and stayed, but if that was the case then at least he'd have an extra edge.

But for all his preparations the red haired teen was really really hoping that they would prove unneeded. This meeting was taking place during school hours because it was better to meet in a place of relative quiet rather than bump into each other in the middle of a crowded hall. Also, should a fight break out here, far too many people would be endangered for his taste. He was gambling that since Kusanagi-san had continued here as a student, even after becoming a Campione, then he'd likewise be reluctant to start any conflict here.

Still now wasn't the time to show any hesitation. He had to put on a strong front; if he wanted to avoid conflict then he had to show that he was no easy picking. He disliked having to act in this fashion again, but if it would prevent the kind of conflict that would threaten innocent lives then he was willing to go through with it again.

"Good afternoon Kusanagi-san, I trust you received both the information I asked to be made available to you as well as my message?"

Shirou wasn't quite sure, but he thought he might have noted a slight wince in the younger teen's face as the question was asked. He couldn't be quite sure because the black haired boy's face remained set in a rather steely expression of calmness.

"The Committee did pass it on to me. Did you mean what you said?" There was strength in that voice, the strength that was gained from facing one's death and triumphing over it. It actually reminded him slightly of the Heroic Spirits he had encountered during the Grail war. Not on their level to be sure, but there was something of their manner there.

"I have no reason to want to fight you," the red haired teen declared while spreading his arms to show his unarmed state, "I and my sister have managed to establish ourselves quite comfortably and if you and I were to come into conflict what we have prepared may be lost. If we were to fight I imagine it would only lead to more trouble than it's worth, especially since I believe it to be a safe bet to say that I will not merely be facing you but also all of your women as well."

At the last comment he noticed a definite flush begin to tinge the seventh Campione's cheeks. It seemed for all his steel he still was a bit embarrassed by the loyalty of his apparent harem. Interesting.

"Quite simply you can trust my words because there is no reason why we should fight. I intend no harm to you or yours, I intent to deal fairly with the Committee to which you are an ally, provided of course that they are fair with me. I want nothing that is yours and to the best of my own knowledge you want nothing that is mine. I do not see any reason for conflict between us."

Kusanagi-san had watching him, but his expression was no longer quite so hard. It seemed as though both of the Campione were hoping for more or less the same thing.

"I'd be willing to go with such a situation," The seventh Campione agreed, "You'll take no hostile action against me and I'll do likewise for you. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Shirou nodded his assent as he stepped forwards and offered his hand. There was an instant's hesitation from Godou, but he took the proffered had and gave it a firm shake. The hand that clasped his was strong, but didn't try to apply excessive pressure in some form of assertion for dominance. Shirou decided to take that as a good sign that this agreement would be honoured.

Considering how momentous a decision had taken place the exchange had been remarkably short. In all truth the red haired teen felt like punching the air and releasing a whoop of exultation. No, mustn't break character, he was being a King speaking to a fellow monarch. That role must be maintained.

Doing his best to keep an upright posture and as regal a bearing as he could Shirou nodded once to the small group before turning and walking back down the stairs.

-()-

That had been the Tuesday of his week. A day that had proven to be surprisingly quiet after the meeting between Kings, with only two small issues marring its peace. The first had been Illya becoming quite unhappy that he felt it was inappropriate for them to join Kusanagi-san on the roof for lunch. A peace agreement might have been reached, but he felt that it would not be appropriate to join the other King in such friendly terms just yet. The snowy haired girl had been displeased with giving up the, in her mind at least, prestigious spot, but after he'd promised to get her the latest game in her favourite series she'd relented in her sulking. In all truth he was becoming a trifle worried at the enthusiasm with which she was throwing herself into the modern entertainments that had for so long been forbidden to her.

The second minor disturbance that day had been a message delivered by a man claiming to be a messenger for the History Compilation Committee. The message had been from Renjou-san confirming that the information had been passed onto Kusanagi-san as promised and she was now working with some of the organizations agents to assemble a delivery of the tomes and artefacts that Shirou had requested. According to the letter she would return on Sunday afternoon with a cache of treasure 'worthy of a Campione'.

Wednesday had started off fine, then just after eleven o'clock thing had gone a bit . . . strange.


-()-


Flashback to Wednesday.

Shirou had been in the middle of a maths lesson when he had suddenly heard what could only be described as a 'thunderous roar' from outside. A single glance out of the window had been all that was needed to see a cloud of dust rising up from around the corner.

He hadn't even stopped to consider, as he saw that tell tale cloud and listened to the sound of the crash fade all he could think of was that what he had feared had come to pass. Illya was in combat, Kusanagi-san was being attacked, the Committee had betrayed him and dispatched assassins, the Clock Tower had somehow crossed the dimensions and was here to capture and dissect everyone. Scenario after scenario flashed across his mind, each more preposterous than the last, it was stupid, it was irrational, but at that particular instant he wasn't exactly thinking clearly.

"I'll go check that sensei!" he shouted as he shot out of his chair and headed for the door.

"I-I don't think you should-"

The teachers somewhat stunned reply was cut off by Shirou's shouted reply as the door slid shut behind him.

"Yes you do!"

The poor teacher could only stand in front of his class and blink owlishly in confusion. It had all happened so fast his thoughts were still racing to catch up.

Out in the hall Shirou was taking full advantage of their empty state to increase his speed. Almost without conscious thought prana was fed into his limbs. Muscles were strengthened; bones were reinforced, within moments he was moving faster than most athletes could even dream of. In only the briefest of moments he was hurtling down the stairs and skidding round a corner to get at one of the doors that led outside.

Once he was out of the building it didn't take him too long to get around the sides of the school and arrive at the location of the noise.

As it turned out the roar had actually been the sound of the old abandoned school building, which overlooked the sports centre of the academy, collapsing. However as Shirou came skidding to a halt he found not some titanic battle between mages or gods, but rather Kusanagi-san talking to Erica-san, Mariya-san and Liliana-san. What was odd was that all three girls were wearing windbreaker jackets or bath towels over school uniform swimsuits.

It was also apparent that he had arrived into the middle of a conversation because Liliana-san was saying:

". . . reluctant, I have to agree with Erica. She is absolutely right. Mariya Yuri, our lord is the king among kings in lechery."

Erica-san seemed about to add some further comment of her own, but it was then that she spotted Shirou and her face became calculating as she began to assess the situation. The others noticed the change in her demeanour and quickly became aware of his presence as they followed her gaze. Before any of them could speak the blonde haired foreign knight stepped forward and bowed formally to the eighth Campione.

"A good afternoon to you your highness. Might I be so bold as to ask what has caused you to seek out my lord?"

Both the greeting and the question were delivered with perfect elegance and courtesy, and given that the girl doing so was clad only in a swimsuit, which could have been described as scandalously tight, and a towel that was quite an achievement.

Almost without thinking Shirou slipped back into the role that he now thought of as 'The Fake King'.

"Indeed you may Erica-san, I didn't come looking for Kusanagi-san but rather came to seek the source of the disturbance."

Glancing over at the mass of debris that had once made up the old school building. He noted that the way it had collapsed was rather odd; as though rather than it being a case of supports breaking and planks cracking it was as though large chunks of the building had all rotted into powder at once.

Then, to his surprise, he heard voices from inside the wreckage.

"Don't worry about me, save the hard drive; I have over a hundred little sisters in there!"

"GET YOUR ELBOW OFF MY GROIN!"

"I'm not dead? YESSSS, I still have a chance to collect a miko!"

"HAHAHAHA, I'LL NEVER DIE UNTIL I SEE ERICA-SAN NAKED!"

Listening to the seemingly nonsensical ravings that were emerging from the cloud of dust Shirou deliberately raised one eyebrow questioningly and looked at Erica-san with obvious curiosity on his face.

"Some boys were planning to use that building as a spot to peep on the girls during swimming lessons. I only used a little Pulverization] magic, but it looks like that school building had become quite old. Usually the amount of magic power I used shouldn't have been quite so effective." The girl answered without any hint of guilt or embarrassment, only pride and confidence.

"I . . . see." Shirou quickly used structural grasping to analyse the rubble as well as he could. Though not originally intended for such a task he was still able to get a rough impression of both the wreckage and the boys within. From what he could determine it seemed nobody had suffered anything worse than a serious bruise or two and some scratches.

Still it did provide a certain opportunity to build his image up a bit more in the eyes of Kusanagi and his girls. Turning to the seventh Campione he tried to imitate the bold and charismatic tone that Saber had been able to use without even thinking about it.

"Well Kusanagi-san, this is your school since you have been here longer so I suppose I should ask your permission before setting fire to this lot of miscreants. Would that be alright with you?" As he said this a small dagger appeared in his left hand, followed by the blade bursting into flames.

Of course the offer was completely bogus, Shirou was absolutely sure that Kusanagi-san would turn the offer down immediately. However the fact that he had made the offer would hopefully go towards the further building up of his image as a polite but ruthless king, at least that was what he was aiming for. The dagger was nothing but a prop, a minor mystic code that EMIYA had seen during a trip to the Clock Tower.

"NO, um-no, that'll be quite enough I think." Kusanagi's voice was slightly panicked as he waved at the fallen mound of wreckage and dust. "Besides, in the civilized world it's frowned on to burn up your fellow students."

Shirou gave a semi theatrical sigh and nodded.

"Sadly I fear you're right, it is rather hard to punish such blatant lechery properly in this day and age. Still so long as their activities do not target my sister I suppose I can leave their punishment to your most talented young women." He paused for a moment and then continued. "Incidentally Kusanagi-san, I confess to being a bit out of touch with the current fashions, but don't you think that wearing cobwebs in your hair is a little . . . unsightly?"

Yes, that was a nice touch. Acting as though he were unfamiliar with the modern world could lead to some useful underestimation of him later on their part. It wasn't even that implausible, Illya had told him that Mages like Rin, who lived in the modern world, were less common than those who simply sequestered themselves away from it entirely. Apparently there were still entire clans in the Clock Tower who still thought that telegraph was the fastest method of communication available to the mundane masses.

With a respectful, but not too much so, nod of his head the eighth Campione turned and headed back to his class, this time at a far more sedate pace that his exit of it had been. Behind him he could hear the sounds of frantic motion as his fellow god slayer apparently tried to tidy himself up. There was also Erica's voice.

"Incidentally Yuri-chan, did I ever tell you about the hot night I spent with Godou on Sicily?"

At that point the red haired ten started to move a bit faster. He had no objections to learning more about Kusanagi's character and abilities, but he had little desire to hear about his romantic rendezvous'.


-()-


That had been a fairly interesting day. Thursday had proven to be quite quiet for him, in fact the only thing that had been particularly exciting about it had been the conversation he had had with Illya over supper on that same night.


-()-


Flashback to Thursday evening.

"So how was your first lesson in tea ceremony?" Shirou asked his sister as he served the stir fry he had just finished cooking.

Illya nodded happily in response as she seized a pair of chopsticks and prepared to dig into the food.

That had been one of the more amusing diversions that he had enjoyed at meals over the last couple of months. After seeing him eating rice with the pair of wooden utensils, while she was still using a knife and fork, the young Einzbern had become determined to master the foreign eating ware. It had been rather fascinating, in a rather pitiable way, to see her first attempts, however she had quickly improved and while not an expert she could at least get most of her food from her plate to her mouth without dropping it.

"Weeeeellll," Illya said, drawing as she grinned like a sugar high pixie, "I didn't really get a chance to learn that much, everyone got distracted by the floorshow that developed."

"Oh? And what was that?" Shirou asked in mild curiosity.

"Kusanagi-san has added another girl to his harem." Illya said brightly.

One almost had to admire her timing; she had timed the conversation just right so that she was able to deliver the outrageous news just as her adopted brother was downing a glass of water. As liquid was sprayed across the room by his convulsive exhalation and he went into an extended fit of coughing Shirou could have sworn that out of the corner of his eye he saw Illya take a list out of her pocket and tick something off on it.

As soon as he was capable of cohesive speech once more the Campione set about trying to get an explanation out of the snowy haired girl.

"Okay, now that you've dropped that bombshell on me why don't you flesh it out a bit?"

And so his adopted sister told him of what had gone on at the club after school. It seemed that a new girl had arrived, someone who called herself Seishuuin Ena. Apparently she was a childhood friend of Mariya-san and had come to the school to speak about, as she put it: '. . . the date of Ena and Yuri's marriage into the Kusanagi household.'

From there apparently things had gone down hill rather quickly for his fellow god slayer, due to that new girl carrying on without a care to what anyone else heard. It seemed that she had absolutely no problem with the thought of sharing her man with her friend, and even began to speculate aloud as to how the situation might be explained to any future children. Before long practically every female in the room was glaring at Godou as though he were the lowest scum of the earth. The only exceptions to this were the members of Godou's 'harem' and Illya herself, who was treating the developing drama as her personal entertainment.

Apparently from there things didn't get much better for the black haired teen. Still utterly shameless Seishuuin Ena continued to talk even as Godou's sister declared him the worst and multiple rumours began to spring up. She made suggestions on how they should handle the love making and having children (Yuri taking the lead and her serving as 'backup'), enquired as to what type of girl he preferred the most and then went onto question what types of fetishes he might have kept hidden.

All of this while sitting calmly in the middle of the room and preparing tea.

Eventually, after further escapades and a slight argument with Liliana the new girl had eventually left with Erica and Godou had fled shortly thereafter. However before that Seishuuin Ena had apparently confronted Mariya-san about her feelings for Kusanagi and managed to get an honest answer out of her.

"She's not too sure about her own feelings," Illya opined as she brought her narrative to a close, "I think it's because she's not only a Yamato Nadeshiko but also a kind hearted Tsundere. It's really quite impressive that Godou-san was able to capture such a rare find."

Shirou tried to ignore his adopted sister's increasing tendency to treat reality as though it were an anime and tried to focus on what information could be gleaned from what he had heard. The problem was that he was having an increasingly difficult time treating Kusanagi-san as a potential enemy.

He was just too . . . well normal wasn't the right words to be sure. Not only was he a powerful god slayer he had also managed to amass a harem that was now at least four strong, and he had managed to do it almost by accident as far as he could tell. No, normal was definitely not the word to use to describe him.

The problem was that he was so unimposing, he didn't act in the way that Shirou had feared he would.

AAAAHHH! It was enough to give a guy a headache if he thought about it for too long.

As it turned out that was exactly what happened, so the eighth Campione went to bed early and hoped that tomorrow would prove to be less problematic.


-()-


Yes, that had been quite a shock to the system. But it had been Friday that had proven to be the most . . . interesting.


-()-


Flashback to Friday.

It had been the end of the week and Shirou had elected to stay behind after school for a bit. He still hadn't joined any clubs yet, but one of his classmates had mentioned that the air conditioning in one of the Student Council rooms had broken. Feeling a bit nostalgic about it the red haired teen had volunteered to take a look at it and try to get it fixed, a bit of a return to his days as 'the fake janitor' back in Fuyuki.

He'd spent a rather pleasant few minutes taking the appliance apart, tightening up a few wires that had come loose and then reassembling it. Finding what the problem was had been no trouble at all with Structural Analysis, but the actual task of disassembly, repair and reassembly was actually rather soothing.

It was because of this that he was in quite a decent mood as he finished. He happily hummed an off key tune to himself as he packed away his tools and cleared up after himself. It was just as he was stepping out of the door that Liliana-san practically ran into him.

With excellent reflexes she managed to break at the last instant, however even so Shirou had to take a step back to clear a little room between them.

"Ah, my apologies your highness," Liliana said in a quick but apologetic tone, "Please forgive my clumsiness in my haste."

"Oh? What's the hurry?" Asked the red haired teen, as he hitched his book bag more comfortably over his shoulder. He was only mildly curious, but the silver haired knight reacted as though he had barked a demand.

"I believe some miscreants are harassing my Lord. Since he does not seem wish to personally crush them it falls to me, his knight, to protect his honour."

With that and another bow she strode off down the hall.

It took only an instant for Shirou to make his own decision, and then he was hurrying after her.

He wasn't entirely sure what was motivating him. No, that was a lie; he knew damned well what it was that was driving him to follow. Plain simple curiosity. He wanted to know more about his fellow god killer, wanted to understand why someone with such power seemed to be in such defiance of his expectations.

They didn't have far to go. They only needed to go down one flight of stairs and turn a couple of corners; the young woman seemed to know just where they were going. In short order they had arrived and Liliana-san threw the door open and strode in like a general entering a captured throne room. The eighth Campione didn't enter himself; rather he stood next to the door and observed what was taking place.

From the looks of it Kusanagi-san was sitting on the ground with his legs and wrists bound together by repeated loops of transparent packing tape. Over him were standing a trio of students, their faces concealed by paper bags cut into masks.

"Kusanagi Godou, rest assured, I will take care of them immediately."

Liliana's bold entry and declaration seemed to take the trio of masked students aback, however as Kusanagi expressed his thanks her shy reaction rather detracted from her splendid entrance.

"This is part of my mission, thanks are not necessary. Since I could not find you, I went searching just in case... If you have learned your lesson, then do not leave my side as much as possible. I would be grateful if you try not to increase my workload."

That seemed to regain her lost momentum, but despite their obviously shaken state the three students managed to rally their moral.

"You seem quite confident, but what difference will one more person make? We have three people here, the power of the crowd, hahahahahahahahahaha!"

"Trash like you? I can easily handle three hundred. What a joke."

It was almost comical to see how the girl's knightly demeanour and confidence broke any thoughts of resistance in the three normal teenagers she faced. Shirou allowed a smile to cross his lips as he watched. The silver haired young woman might not be Saber's equal but he got the impression that if they had ever somehow met then the King of Knights would have approved of her.

"Wait, wait, wait! Liliana-san. We are just trying to impeach Kusanagi Godou for his crimes."

One of them tried to turn Liliana aside by explaining their actions. Idly the young Emiya wondered just what their motivation was. At first he had thought this was some sort of hazing or at least something of the like. Now it sounded as though they were taking revenge for some sort of grievance.

"Foolish! Kusanagi Godou is the one with righteous goals, who walks the king's path. Rather than let you idiots impeach him, let me show you what shame is."

"I-I object! You say that Kusanagi has a righteous heart, that idea is very problematic! This man is an evildoer who deceives and plays around with multiple women. Isn't he a sexual predator and public enemy of women!?"

Eh? They claimed what? Oh, wait. Suddenly he remembered all of Illya's jokes about Kusanagi building himself a harem. It would seem that these students were taking exception to the seventh Campione's fortune at being attended by a small company of beautiful girls. That aside wasn't Liliana-san being a bit free with such a phrase as 'the king's path'? Sure it was unlikely that these teenagers would pick up on it but still . . .

"Do you three just plan on using such superficial slander to change my opinion? What pitiful fools . . ."

The silver haired knight immediately leapt to the defence of her lord.

"Yes it is true that he is an unparalleled lecher. He will play around with girls on impulse, and is the harem king who has tainted innumerable women. That is the undeniable truth."

Or not as the case might be. Had this been an anime Shirou was sure that he would have either face faulted or at least have been sporting a ridiculously large sweat drop.

"I have already advised him, he should practice some restraint in playing around with girls. I swore to maintain our relationship for eternity and forever serve him by his side. I wanted to become a woman who offers everything she has to him willingly, and become his partner. However, his rampant fetishes are a part of him, and I have no choice but to accept them."

Liliana turned her face a little awkwardly.

By this point the red haired teen was beginning to feel a slight sense of unreality about the whole situation he had stumbled into. Was Liliana defending or criticizing her sworn lord? It sounded like it was defence, but if Kusanagi's pained expression was anything to go by it was proving to be more cutting to him than the words of those she was trying to defend him from

"One day, he may burn himself through his womanizing... But no matter when, I will always be his support, and I swore I will definitely save him. As long as this sentiment persists, my heart will not be swayed by despicable slander."

Liliana's forceful words strong and sincere, they reflected the full strength of her loyalty to the dark haired Campione.

Unfortunately those same words also sounded like something said by a female victim of some deception or a marriage con. Shirou could only wince as the passionate declaration was so unfortunately worded.

The three students apparently had a similar thought, and loudly protested.

"Deceived women always insist on something like 'he did me no harm'!"

"Hurry up and awaken! Liliana-san!"

"There are still many men in this world much better than him..."

"I hope you all do not misunderstand. Kusanagi Godou and I do not have that kind of superficial male female relationship. I am only his knight, and the companion who promised to stay by his side forever. We have sworn that we will face all trials and tribulations together no matter where or when, that is the relationship that we have."

Without being aware, Liliana had drifted into a dreamlike state almost as if talking to herself. Shirou could swear that he could actually see sparkles around her as her dreamy gaze stared of into the distance.

"Though the way he plays around with women will make it tough for me... Nevertheless, it will strengthen the bonds between the two of us, as long as I become the most special existence in his heart, and no matter what kind of woman he seeks, he will always return to my embrace in the end..."

By the Root! Had one of the gods Kusanagi had slain been a deity of manhood or fertility? That seemed to be the only reason the eighth Campione could think of that Liliana-san would be so devoted to her sworn lord. This kind of development was normally the purview of anime and manga, not real life.

Hearing footsteps coming down the corridor behind him Shirou took a step back and hid beside a book case that stood by the wall. He could still see into the room, but unless someone was actively looking for him he wouldn't obvious to the eye. He wasn't quite sure why he was hiding; it was an instinctual reaction that was utterly pointless. Oh well, might as well continue to enjoy the show.

"Beast! Making a harem and getting approved! Heavens! How could you allow something so unfair?!"

"Is this conditioning? Is this the result of the forbidden act of sexually conditioning a minor below the age of eighteen!?"

"Am I crying...? Are these tears? Damn it, this is so despairing!"

Inside the classroom it seemed that Liliana's impassioned declaration had effectively broken the spirits of the trio to whom she had been speaking.

As the three teenagers seemed to sag in place the source of the footsteps revealed themselves as they came round the corner. It turned out to be two girls, one he immediately recognized as Mariya-san but the other was not someone he had seen before.

She was certainly striking enough that if he had ever seen her she would have stuck in his memory. She was unquestionably beautiful, with long black hair that reached down to her hips and lush curves that would have drawn any male eye that saw them. She was wearing a uniform belonging to another school and was carrying a large bag.

That bag fairly screamed at his senses. There was a sword inside there, a sword that seemed to, for want of a better description, radiate the essence of 'sword', it called to his internal world like a steely siren.

"Ah, found it, Kusanagi-san turned out to be here."

"E-excuse us for intruding."

The words of the girls as they entered the room brought him out of the almost trance he had fallen into. What was that? This new girl definitely had some sort of legendary sword in her possession, one whose mere proximity made his Reality Marble metaphorically jump up and down with excitement. He couldn't recall there ever being such a reaction to a weapon in his otherworldly memories. This was something completely new.

Still now wasn't the time to let it distract him. Regaining his focus Shirou moved closer to the door once more.

"Uh, excuse me. We're in the middle of something. If you have something to tell me, could it wait?"

Kusanagi-san's protests seemed to be almost laughable given his current position of sitting bound up, hand and foot, on the floor.

"Just a few simple words, it'll be over in an instant. I came here to invite Kusanagi-san to our date tomorrow. That is, Kusanagi-san, Yuri, and me, Ena, the three of us together on a date."

"Date!?"

The seventh Campione's response was predictably shocked, while Mariya-san was turning so red it was a wonder her hair hadn't burst into flames. In a slightly trembling voice she tried to rein in her friend.

"Ena-san! To have a date with Godou-san . . . I have not prepared myself for that yet!"

Unfortunately the newly identified Ena-san seemed utterly undeterred and blithely continued on.

"If you haven't prepared yet, then prepare now. It's not easy for us to become Kusanagi Godou's 'women,' so you need to take more initiative."

Hearing these exchanges all three of the masked students seemed to be cracking.

"M-my ears must be having problems. How could I be hearing these alien words? Hahahaha, who could have thought that I, Sorimachi, would be so out of date, to be ignorant of the strategy of the simultaneous pursuit route..."

"I-I must stay awake. That girl must be a fairy or a hallucination. It must be my imagination. Think about it, how could fiancées or beautiful girls volunteering to be a lover appear in a simple male high school. That only happens in fairy tales, we must have been caught up in some sort of massive dream..."

Those two seemed were hard at work denying reality, by the sounds of it they had plenty of experience and were more used to dealing with 2d girls than real ones. It would almost have been amusing to watch if it weren't so pitiful.

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!"

On the other hand it seemed that the third one hadn't succumbed to despair like his friends, or at least if he had he was dealing with it in a different way.

His massive 185cm tall body began to shake all over.

"I absolutely will not accept this! This woeful world, this unreasonable result, I absolutely cannot accept!"

As he roared, he grabbed the bound Godou and threw him over his shoulder.

"Kusanagi, I will end our lives together right now!"

"Wait, wait a minute, why does it have to end like this?"

"Your existence has disrupted natural order. You are the destroyer of the world—an unacceptable existence! Let us start our eternal slumber together!"

Okay . . . it appeared that this one was utterly unable to deal with Kusanagi's bizarre luck with women and had decided to deal with it by removing both himself and the source of his woe from the world of the living.

Clearly this was a fellow in desperate need of a sensible girlfriend or, barring that, a swift and accurate blow to the back of his head.

With his captive over his shoulder the tall student charged out of the room . . . and immediately went crashing down as Shirou stuck a leg out to trip him. As the large teenager went down and Kusanagi let out a yelp of alarm the eighth Campione reached out and caught his fellow god slayer by the back of the shirt before he fell to the ground as well.

As he helped the other regain his balance, despite his bound state Shirou couldn't help but make a comment.

"You know Kusanagi-san, if I keep seeing you in these kinds of situations it's going to get rather hard for me to keep taking you seriously."

"Emiya-san? What're you doing here?"

"Liliana-san almost ran into me trying to get here, I confess I was curious as to what had her in such a rush so I followed after her. Could you tell me just wh- Hey, get back here!"

His question was cut off as the previously prone student suddenly surged to his feet, grabbed his former captive once more and took off at a dead run.

"All the sad men on this planet—those who have never tasted love, and ostracized by all women outside of the 2D world—they have lent me their power!"

As the clearly mad man's cry echoed down the hallway the young Emiya could only stand and stare. Granted he could have easily caught up with the pair, however there was a sort of shocking fascination to seeing the apparently suicidal student use his despair to surpass his normal physical limits. It was like watching a squirrel trying to get at a nut it can't reach.

"E-Emiya-sama?"

Mariya-san's voice brought him out of his stunned state and back to the real world.

"Ah, hello Mariya-san."

Shirou smiled slightly and resisted the urge to rub the back of his head in mild embarrassment.

"Oh? Is this the second King of Japan?" Mariya-san's friend had emerged from the room and was looking at him in curiosity. What was interesting was that her posture denoted no intimidation or submission, merely curiosity and interest. "My apologies your Highness, Ena would normally be much more polite, but right now I have to go save Godou. Yuri and I can't become his women if he gets killed."

The black haired girl gave a quick bow and then shot off after the berserk teen.

"You have . . . interesting friends Mariya-san." Shirou commented as he stood there.

"I know."

The reply was delivered in a voice that sounded ever so slightly broken. Given her friends . . . unusual approach to wooing Kusanagi-san the young Emiya couldn't help but feel sympathetic to the brown haired girl.

"AHHH! Were did they go?"

It seemed that Liliana had finally overcome her shock and was trying to follow her kidnapped lord; unfortunately her hesitation had resulted in her losing the trail.

"Well given that that fellow was babbling about ending his and Kusanagi's lives together I imagine he's heading for the roof, that would be the most convenient suicide spot I can think of."

It was rather shocking just how easily he slipped back into his role as the 'The Fake King'. His words were calm and courteous and spoken as though he were sitting on a throne and addressing supplicants.

"Thank you for your aid your Highness," the silver haired knight stated with a respectful bow. "Come on Yuri-san, we must ensure Godou's safety."

As the two girls hurried off Shirou picked up his own pace to catch up to them.

"I think I shall accompany the two of you," he said, doing his best not to make it sound like a request or an order, but rather simply a statement of fact. "I confess to having some interest in seeing how this all works out."


-()-


In the end they hadn't arrived in time to see most of the drama that took place on the rooftop. It turned out that Mariya-san had rather poor stamina, and as a result hadn't been able to keep up the same pace as her more athletic companions. In the end Liliana-san had grown tired of the delays and had actually picked her up bridal style and taken off running.

The three of them had arrived on the roof to find the large student who'd abducted Kusanagi-san unconscious on the floor, the seventh Campione still bound and Ena-san and Erica-san apparently having an argument over who he would be going out on a date with tomorrow.

Shirou had stuck around just long enough to hear Godou explain that due to some complicated circumstances he'd have to go with Erica-san. After that the red haired teen had slipped away and headed home.

Yes, it had been quite an interesting week to say the least, but not an unprofitable one.

Despite the strangeness of their interactions Shirou felt he was getting a better handle on just what kind of a person Kusanagi Godou was. To his relief it seemed that far from being the tyrannical figure he had feared lurked beneath his public persona the younger teen was surprisingly straight forward.

Actually now that he thought about it the young Emiya actually felt a slight kinship to his fellow Campione. In a way Godou was much like himself in that he seemed to be a relatively ordinary person until he'd been dragged into a world of far greater powers than he had ever dreamed of.

Granted Shirou had been aware of the existence of magic before he had been dragged into the Holy Grail War, but aside from that he'd pretty much been totally ignorant of the mystical world in general before Rin had started explaining things to him. It made him wonder what he would have done if he had managed to survive the destruction of the Grail and had somehow regained a normal body. Would he have gone back to school? Would he have gone on dates with Sakura like a normal couple? Would he have been able to live a normal life, given that he had gained the enviable ability to create copies of Noble Phantasms? Would he have ended up living a life like Kusanagi-san?

So many questions and never enough answers. It was beginning to become something of a trend in his life.

Returning his mind to the task at hand the eighth Campione estimated that he was about two thirds of the way through the transfer of power. It was annoying how slow the transfer was, in his memories he saw times when Rin had dumped almost her entire reserves of Prana into a single gem in less than five seconds, compared to that his own transfer was so sluggish and clumsy.

Still there wasn't much he could do about it at this point, in time he might be able to refine his skills in this a bit, but for the moment the best he could do was show patience and sit here until he got the job done.

Sighing in mild frustration he shifted around slightly and tried to get more comfortable. As he did so he felt a slight twinge in the muscles of his left arm, nothing too serious, just the result of him having been a bit over enthusiastic in his work out yesterday. Still the slight ache was enough to send his thoughts down another path.

This was the arm that had been given to him at EMIYA'S request before he had faded away; it had been a whim on his part, a last act to give the poor idiot that had found himself fatally out of his league some small chance to actually accomplish something.

That arm had been both the source of his hope and his doom; it had given him the power to make a difference and been the cause of his slow death.

But now it wasn't Archer's arm, it was his.

The whole situation was a bit hard to grasp, but he thought he had the basic gist of it. When he had become a Campione every injury and malady he had suffered from had been immediately healed. His body had gone from a ruined mess to the picture of health in an instant, and when it had done so his grafted arm had been fully integrated into his healed form.

It was definitely still the same arm, of that Shirou was sure, but now it's skin tone was the same shade as the rest of his body, the muscles had shrunk to match the rest of his build. There had been other changes as well, before the limb had been far stronger than the rest of his body, hardly a surprise considering it was the arm of a Servant, but now it was no more able than the rest of his body.

To put it more simply everything that had made the arm 'not his' had been changed to match him, and all the knowledge that had once been stored in the limb was now flawlessly integrated into his mind. That was where all the new memories had come from, and it was also why it had taken him so long to fully recognize them on a conscious level. The integration had been so smooth that for a time he had been accessing them without even thinking about it, and when he had deliberately accessed them, such as when he was tracing Noble Phantasms, he had done so as though they were still stored in his arm.

Shaking his head at his own foolishness for not having noticed it earlier Shirou once more pulled himself out of his musings and again focused on the task at hand.

Almost there . . . just a little bit more . . . aaaannnddd . . . done.

Setting down his creation the young Campione carefully wrapped the Gem Sword up in a length of black velvet and then settled it into the long sword case in which he kept it. Illya had been kind enough to place a number of wards upon it, simple things that diverted the attention and made it easy to overlook.

Leaning the sword case in the shed's corner and draping a blanket over it he left it there, now that his chore of charging it was completed he had other things on his mind.

Walking over to his work top he picked up his recently Traced Noble Phantasm and once more used structural analysis on it.

Now that was interesting. Granted he had only brought it into existence about half an hour ago, and granted it was only a D rank, but still it was a Noble Phantasm. Its existence was large enough that the world should have started to chip away at it, if only slightly.

Generally speaking even low rank Noble Phantasm copies didn't last very long, even the lowest ranked tended to dissipate after a day at most. High ranked ones, like Excalibur or Caliburn, tended to have a half life that could be measured in minutes. The existence was just too large for the world to ignore and so they were 'attacked' almost immediately and with great vigour.

Or at least that was how it was back home; here it seems that the rules were a bit different.

The traced Noble Phantasm was completely stable, not a hint of degradation in its form.

This development was both useful and irritating.

On the one hand it seemed that he could now effectively produce permanent copies of anything he could Trace. It was almost as if he had mastered the Denial of Nothingness. Not perfectly of course, but certainly his abilities were close enough to fake it if nothing else.

However this development also meant that his life was going to become somewhat more difficult.

The problem was the fighting style that he had inherited from EMIYA. It was what could be called an insane style, on that defied common sense, but it was perfectly suited for someone with his skills and disposition. However one of the tenants of that style was the use of disposable weaponry. Since Tracing allowed him to instantly discard and replace his swords as needed in large scale battles it wasn't uncommon for him to leave the general landscape littered with discarded arms. Since those weapons would eventually dissipate on their own it wasn't something he generally concerned himself with.

Now though it could be a major problem.

Glancing down at the three swords in front of him he mentally gave the command for his creations to dissipate. Good, no problems there, at his mental cue they obediently dissolved into fragments of light which in turn faded. So they would fade if he ordered it, so he wasn't creating truly permanent copies of legendary weapons.

Now though it looked like he was going to have to clear up after himself once any battles were over, that or make sure he ordered each weapon to dissipate as soon as he was finished with it. There wasn't really any choice, if he didn't there was too much chance of someone coming along and looting a battleground after he had left.

Shirou shuddered at that thought. Just the idea of dozens of new Noble Phantasms being so carelessly introduced into the world was a nightmare.

Noble Phantasms were crystallized mysteries of enormous power that surpassed any modern Mystic Code. Shirou wasn't too sure of how things would play out in this world, but if it had happened in his own reality the resulting chaos of so many such weapons becoming available would have been catastrophic.

More problems, just what he didn't need at this point.

Still it did present a certain number of positive options. Being able to produce legendary weapons like those meant that he'd have a virtually limitless supply of highly valuable trade items. Even better such weapons could never be used against him since if anyone tried he could simply will the item in question to dissipate and thus leave his unfortunate foe unarmed.

And there was another possibility. Lately he'd begun to worry a bit about Illya, she was extremely powerful in her own right and was far more knowledgeable in the mystic arts than he was, however if anyone wanted to strike at him as a Campione she was the logical target. Recently that thought had been preying on his mind and he'd been trying to think of some way to give her an unexpected edge.

Now, with permanent Noble Phantasms available to him an idea was starting to form.

After all he had no intention of letting his adopted sister come to any harm if he could help it.


-()-


Illyasviel Von Einzbern sat in her workshop and glared at the mystic design that she had inscribed on the floor.

This should work, granted she would never have been able to manage it in her home reality, but this worlds rules seemed to be somewhat more flexible. If one combined that with her huge prana reserves, her use of the Dress of Heaven, her Wishcraft and the purity of her reagents then it should be possible.

The snowy haired girl leaned back in her seat and sighed. Maybe she was going about this wrong, sure the basic premise was correct, she was sure of that at least, but the execution would still require refinement and experimentation. And that was going to take time, time and patience.

Off to the side was her other project, resting on a table and covered by a sheet. Now that had been fun to put together, an interesting combination of alchemy, wishcraft and what little geomancy she knew. It had also been the reason why she'd been getting at least two packages a day in the post for the last week. It had been her first original Mystic Code and she could honestly say she was quite proud of it.

The only problem was that she didn't know whether or not the wretched thing worked or not.

That had been a most vexing realization to have. Four hours of intensive work a day for more than a week, amounts of prana that could have demolished the entire mansion, painstaking detail repeated again and again until it was just right. All that effort and it had only been when she'd finished that she'd realized that she had absolutely no way of testing it, indeed it was the very quality of her work that prevented such a test.

Needless to say right now she didn't want to think about it too much.

Glancing up she looked at the clock that hung on the wall, right now it was about quarter to twelve in the morning. Today was a Saturday and she'd already gotten all of her homework finished last night, she had the whole day ahead of her, so why was she closeting herself away in this stuffy room?

Her mind made up Illya slid off her chair and drew a sheet over the circle. She could leave for today, right now she had hit a dead end in her experimentation, and maybe a break would help her think of a new approach.

As she left the sturdy outhouse that served as her workshop she glanced over at the sister building that served as Shirou's own place of research. For a moment she considered knocking on the door and demanding that he come out and play with her. There was that new racing game that had come out, and it was always more fun to beat her adopted brother than it was to outdo the computer characters.

No, that wouldn't do. Truth be told Illya was aware that she had been monopolizing quite a bit of Shirou's time of late. In all truth she knew he was spoiling her, her brother was almost pathetically easy for her to manipulate, all that it needed was for her to look just a bit sad and disappointed and he would always do his best to cheer her up. It was by this method that she'd managed to fill her room with every toy, game and gadget that had caught her attention. She supposed that perhaps she should feel a little guilty about her behaviour, but in all honesty she didn't feel even the slightest twinge.

On the other hand she was mature enough to acknowledge that she had been taking up a lot of his time, today was the first chance he had gotten to spend any decent length of time in his workshop since they started going to school. To disturb him now would be . . . rude.

The question now was; what could she do if she didn't want to bother Shirou? Sure she had load of games and toys in her room, but right now she wasn't really in any mood to stay indoors. She wanted to go out, stretch her legs, and enjoy herself.

She blinked as a thought crossed her mind. Why couldn't she? She wasn't living in the Einzbern castle now, Sella and Leysritt weren't going to come and remind her of her duties or something like that. She was free of all that.

With that thought in mind the young Einzbern headed to her room and quickly changed clothes. The overalls that she had worn to do her research were discarded in favour of a white sundress and a purple short sleeved shirt. Moving over to her desk she picked up her cell phone and dropped it into her purse which she then hung over one shoulder.

It had actually been her idea to get the cell phones, Shirou hadn't even thought of them. That wasn't really too surprising, while the young Emiya was a hell of a lot more technosavy than most magus' were he hadn't really bothered to pay too much attention to the development of mobile phones. After all why should he? Despite his desire to help others Shirou didn't really have a wide circle of friends, and those he did have had little trouble calling him at home. Those to whom he was closest, Sakura and Taiga, were those he saw practically every day, so there'd never been any need to look into the utility of a cell phone.

However since they had effectively travelled eight years into the future the technology behind the convenient little devices had evolved at a ferocious pace. Illya had stumbled across them while browsing on the internet for special gadgets and had been amazed at all the extra functions that the latest models possessed. Before a mobile phone had been a means of communication, one that her father had shown her before he and her mother left for the Fourth war.

Now though they were much more than that. They were note books, cameras, music players, hand held games consoles, video player, so many things. Was it any surprise that the snowy haired girl had immediately dragged her adopted brother off to a mobile phone shop where they had purchased two of the most expensive and advanced models on the market?

Since then she had enjoyed hours of fun playing with all the various function available on it, her favourite being the small library of embarrassing photos she'd taken of Shirou. He still had no idea that she'd seen it when he'd fallen into the koi pond.

However the main advantage to the devises was that they allowed for easy communication. As long as she had this on her Shirou said it was okay for her to go out to town, as long as Yusuke was free to accompany her.

She knew for a fact that the reincarnated soul would be free right now; yesterday she had overheard him praising himself for having got all his workload completely finished. It had been rather unsettling to hear him praising himself and then to hear him thanking himself for his own praise. Illya was aware that it was just a private joke of Yusuke's, he didn't suffer from voices in his head or anything like that, and he was just playing the part for his own entertainment.

All she needed to do was convince him to go with her and she could have a day out in the city, something that would certainly be more interesting than staying at home all day.

Fortunately she knew exactly how to convince Yusuke to accompany her.

The same wicked smile she'd sometimes shown during the Holy Grail War crossed her lips. In the end it was all about knowing how to exploit your targets weaknesses.


-()-


Two hours later.

As Yusuke followed the snowy haired adopted sister of his King he idly wondered how he'd managed to get suckered into this.

Flashback one hour and fifty five minutes ago.

"Sorry Illya-chan," the resurrected soul said with obviously faked sorrow, "I didn't have any plans to go out today, I was actually planning to spend the afternoon organizing my collection. Ever since Shirou-sama was kind enough to let me have it transferred tot the basement I've been meaning to do that but haven't found the time."

The collection that he was referring to was his pride and joy, more than one hundred bottles of wine, each and every one of them at least a well regarded vintage. Indeed some of them were rare and extremely valuable brands that cost extortionate amounts for what they were.

After his death the collection had been placed in a secret location and became the prize in a treasure hunt that Yusuke had arranged to begin after his death. Though as it turned out due to a misspelling in the second clue by its bungling handler, nobody had been able to find the prize.

While he had been slightly disappointed that his plan had failed the resurrected accountant had been pleased to find his collection untouched and waiting for him to reclaim it. It had only been a few days back that he'd finally been able to have it delivered to the manor. Shirou hadn't had any trouble with his vassal using one of the manor's basements to store his beloved wines and had indeed helped the delivery men move the crates of drink into their new homes.

Now that he'd finally managed to get all his work finished he was going to enjoy spending the next few hours sorting the bottles back into his preferred order and adding the new wines that he had purchased in his spare time since his return to the mortal realm. That was his plan and nothing was going to change it.

At least that's what he had thought.

"So you can't take me out?" Illya's voice veritably shuddered under the weight of the disappointment and regret that she was conveying. "I guess there's no helping it then. Such a shame though."

Against his better judgement Yusuke felt compelled to question the girl.

"And just what do you mean by that Illya-chan?"

"I'm just saying that it's such a shame you can't go with me today. I mean there are so many good things that might happen; you might win a prize at one of the competitions. You might see something that you really like. Or . . . "

"Or . . . ?"

"Or someone, I don't know who of course, someone might have overheard you the other day when you were crying over that bottle that got broken. This someone might have thought it would be nice to see if they could help you, and they might have gotten in touch with a very select wine merchant. And maybe, just maybe, they might have been able to reserve a bottle of that wine that got broken. And maybe that reservation was going to expire today and they were hoping that you'd go to that part of the city with them so that you could pick it up."

As she finished speaking the smile on the young Einzbern's face rather reminded Yusuke of a hungry lioness that had just seen something young, fat and limping go by and suddenly knew that lunch wasn't going to be a problem.

"You . . . you found a bottle of THAT wine?"

"Mmmaaaayyyyybe. But if we don't go today it might end up being sold after all."

It really was quite impressive just how fast he was able to go from being ready to spend the day indoors to being right by the door all prepared to go.

"I thought you'd see things my way." Illya commented with a beatific smile on her face as she stepped by him.

End flashback.

Yusuke thought back to that and came to the conclusion that he had been played like a fiddle. He'd been so eager to get the wine that he wanted that he hadn't really noticed all the small promises he was making as they made their way to the small wine store that held his prize. On the other hand his snowy haired charge was paying very close attention, and as soon as he had the precious bottle in his hands he found out just how ruthlessly she was planning to hold him to them.

That was what had led to his current state.

In his left hand he carried a new games console, in his right was a bag full of various manga and games. In addition to that on his back was a back pack filled with clothes, bed sheets, pillow covers and cushion sleeves. He was quite a spry man for his age, but this was starting to feel like just too much, he looked like someone out of a cartoon for heavens sake.

"Alright, I think that might be enough."

Was that the voice of salvation? Did this mean his suffering was at an end?

Before he knew it the resurrected accountant was sitting on a bench and thanking whatever powers were watching over him that his ordeal was over. The purchases were now stashed in the trunk of his car and he was no longer burdened by them.

"Oh? Liliana-san is that you?"

Distantly he heard the voice of Illya moving away from him, he knew that there was something that he should be doing, something important, the only problem was that right now he was too tired to remember what it was.


-()-


Illya was feeling just a tiny bit guilty about the way that she'd treated Yusuke. Sure, she'd mercilessly held to all the promises that she'd managed to get out of him and so had dragged him to all her favourite shops and generally treated him like a pack horse, but she hadn't meant to go quite this far.

As the servant of her adopted brother slumped onto the bench the young Einzbern decided that she'd buy him a soft drink as thanks for his efforts. Turning around she made to move towards a vending machine they'd just passed . . . and then completely forgot about what she was doing as she spotted someone coming round the corner just down the street.

"Oh? Liliana-san is that you?"

The silver haired young woman looked up in surprise at hearing her name being called and saw the white haired young girl coming towards her.

"Ah, good afternoon Einzbern-san. How are you today?" She asked politely.

"I'm fine; I've just finished shopping so I'm all good. Still I wanted to talk with you, is that okay?"

"Certainly."

Illya smiled, then glanced over at Yusuke, seeing that he'd apparently fallen asleep she decided to let him rest while she moved the conversation a little further away. Gesturing to a bench a bit further down the street she threw a questioning look at Liliana. Seeing what the seemingly younger girl meant the silver haired knight nodded and walked over to it. Once they reached it Illya sat herself down and looked over at the girl standing before her.

"I just wanted to know how things are between Shirou and Godou. I've heard what onii-chan says is happening, but I'd like to hear what you have to say." The white haired girl decided to skip subtlety and be plain in her questions.

Liliana blinked in clear surprise. Then she settled herself down on the bench next to her questioner.

"Kusanagi Godou and Emiya Shirou have agreed to not move against each other." She answered. "As long as both of them maintain this stance then there should be no chance of them coming into conflict."

"And what do you and the rest of Godou's harem think?" pressed Illya, her choice of words causing the silver haired witch knight to flush scarlet.

"E-Einzbern-san, I am not one of Godou's women, I am his Knight, please don't lump me together with them so casually."

"But you've sworn your life to him, sworn to be by his side for the rest of your lives, sworn that you'll become his special woman who shall always be there for him." Illya's smile was wicked now as she watched the other girls flush grow deeper and deeper. "It's so daring of you to have proposed in such a forthright manner Liliana-san."

"P-Propose? Me?" the silver haired girl face took on a far away look and the young Einzbern could see her lips moving silently as though she were gong over something in her mind.

"So what do you think about it?" Illya asked trying to get back to the original topic.

"I-I couldn't. I mean it's-it's not proper for a knight to make such a suggestion to her Lord. Th-Though if he were to say 'yes' then maybe . . . or even if he were to ask me then perhaps . . ." Liliana's eyes were still distant and her face was quite the sight to see.

"Ah . . . I meant about the situation between onii-chan and Godou."

"WHAT? No-no, I'm sure that Godou wouldn't ask such a thing of Emiya-sama, why would you even suggest such a thing? I know Godou's a lord of all hedonistic pleasures but I'm quite certain that he doesn't have any interests in such directions" the witch knight's voice was scandalized and she had both hands pressed to her cheeks as though in an attempt to cool her blush.

"Err, I meant about them fighting." Illya's voice was just a tad strained as she backed away ever so slightly from the girl who was apparently having erotic thoughts about her adopted brother and the seventh Campione having an . . . unusually close relationship.

"Ah-err, that's-I mean . . ." the snowy haired girl actually felt a bit sorry for Liliana, the look of confusion and mortification on her face would have wrung the heart of a statue.

"I'll just pretend I didn't what you said, alright? You just tell me what Godou's harem has decided."

If the enthusiastic nodding of her head was anything to go by it seemed that the silver haired knight was quite keen to follow through on the suggestion.

"For the most part we are happy with how the situation has turned out. Emiya-sama seems to be a reasonable individual and having another King nearby increases the chances of being able to defeat a Heretic God if one were to manifest."

"So none of you have any problems with Shirou being here?" Illya asked wanting to be quite clear. When Liliana gave an emphatic shake of her head the snowy haired girl smiled in relief. "That's good, I like you and Yuri-san, it would be a shame if I had to kill you both because you were onii-chan's enemies."


-()-


Liliana felt the heat in her cheeks disappear in an instant at Illya-san's casual comment. It had been delivered in such a calm and matter of fact tone that it had almost slipped right by her.

Now though she was tensed, ready for any hostile action from the girl next to her.

It was so easy to forget, looking at her she was so small and cute that it was easy to forget that she was a magic user of such enormous strength that it was strongly suspected that she was only few generations removed form divinity. If she were to make some hostile move against her and the others then she could be a real threat. She could still remember what had been written in the report that Yuri had been able to acquire from the Committee.

Illyasviel Von Einzbern is the adopted sister and close companion of the eighth Campione. While there is not yet too much information available about her two facts have been confirmed and a third suspected but not yet substantiated.

Firstly Einzbern-san possesses an amount of raw magic within her that by far surpasses any normally attributed to a human other than a Campione. The most accurate assessment available suggests that her reserves are less than those of a Divine Ancestor but higher than any member of the Committee. Some evidence indicates that she may be of divine descent and only three to five generation removed from the source.

Secondly it has been confirmed that Einzbern-san possesses considerable mastery of an as yet unidentified form of magic craft. The exact abilities and limits of this style have yet to be identified, but it has been confirmed that she can produce a ward that is capable of rendering all within undetectable to scrying by any mortal magic tried thus far. In addition Einzbern-san has claimed to neither invoke nor be influenced by any deity, spirit or angel; she has stated that her magic is purely directed by her own will without any outside interference.

It has also been stated by Kuhoutsuka Manaka that Einzbern-san would be psychologically capable of killing those that she has determined as threats or enemies. In the past Kuhoutsuka-san has proven herself to have excellent skills in evaluating individuals at a glance, so it is advisable to take this observation with seriousness.

"Don't worry, as long as Godou and onii-chan don't become enemies I won't have to be yours."

With a happy smile on her face the snow haired girl pushed herself off the bench and bounced onto her feet in a vaguely dance like move.

"I'm going to go home now. Oh, and Liliana-chan, could you please tell Godou to hurry up and make friends with Shirou? I really want to go back to having lunch on top of the roof again, but onii-chan says we can't until we're invited back up. You know it's very rude of you to exclude other main characters from the lunch scene?"

With another bright smile she waved goodbye and began walking back to where her companion had fallen asleep.

Liliana wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the short conversation they had just had. On the one hand it seemed that young Illyasviel didn't seem to mean the seventh Campione or his attendants any harm. On the other hand the sweet and cheerful girl seemed to have no problems with killing them all if they did end up as foes.

A chill went down the witch knight's spine as she wondered about Emiya Shirou. Could it be that he shared the hidden ruthlessness of his adopted sister? If so then what would it mean if he and Godou came into conflict?

Too many questions and not enough answers. With a sigh Liliana got back on her feet and continued to go about her business.

-()-

As far as Emiya Shirou was concerned the day had proven to be pleasantly free of problems so far. The morning had been spent productively, his homework had been done and he'd engaged in another stimulating sparing match with Nagao-sensei.

That was actually one of the ideas he had come up with that he was rather proud of. It had occurred to him during one of his work outs in the dojo that even though he was going through the exercises that EMIYA had developed to keep in shape it wasn't working to exactly sharpen his skills. Certainly with his abilities he could access the skills of those who had previously wielded the weapons he traced, but doing so in no way improved his own skills. Furthermore some of the weapons he could employ had been wielded by those who had little notion of how to use them in a fight.

Rule Breaker was an excellent example. It had an ability that could prove to be exceptionally useful if employed correctly, but if he were to replicate the skills of its owner in combat then his ability to use it as a weapon would actually be lowered. Caster had been a magus unequalled in the modern era; however her skills with a weapon had been practically nonexistent.

And that had been where his idea had come from. He had access to a small army of warriors who would have no trouble in serving as sparing partners if he so asked. They all had a wide range of skills and styles so he would never get set in a certain method of fighting. Quite simply it was perfect.

Now here he was happily busy in his kitchen trying his hand at Chinese style sweet and sour pork while Illya was in her room contentedly playing her new games. A pleasant ache was running through his muscles, the kind of minor pain that let you know that they'd been nicely pushed and were now rebuilding themselves stronger than before.

All in all a most pleasant and uncomplicated day.

There was a knock on the door followed by it sliding open to reveal Yusuke.

"Shirou-sama, the two young ladies from the History Compilation Committee have returned. They're asking if you would be able to see them once more."

With total calmness Shirou turned off the gas for the stove and set about placing all of the perishable ingredients into the fridge.

"Please show them back to the room where we met them before," he asked as he took his apron off. "I'll be with them as soon as I've changed into something a bit more suitable."

Yes, meeting them in sweat stained sports gear probably wouldn't be the best idea. If he was quick it would only take him a few minutes to get himself cleaned up and changed into something a little more formal.

"Could you please see that they have refreshments and could you explain why I'll have to keep them waiting?"

"Of course Shirou-sama, just leave it to me."

As he began to make his way back to his room the young Emiya was reminded that he still hadn't looked into enlisting some more staff in order to lower Yusuke's workload. Right now the resurrected accountant was playing the parts of a financial manager, a chauffer, a butler and a part time maid. Sure he didn't need to sleep anymore due to his status as an incarnated soul, but still it was a bit much to expect of just one person.

Still right now wasn't the time to be thinking about that, what he should be thinking of was getting back into the correct mindset to play his part.

Pausing only briefly, in order to let Illya know about this development so that she could get ready, Shirou rushed to his room.

It seemed that today was going to have some complications after all.


-()-


Kaida sat in the same spot as she had almost a week ago and wondered if the eighth Campione was deliberately making her wait in order to allow the psychological pressure to build. Beside her Manaka was fidgeting slightly, her unease clear in the way she couldn't seem to stay completely still, right now she was fiddling with the long keychain that ran from her belt into her pocket.

Well both of their nerves were to be expected, the last time they'd been in this room they had received a clear demonstration of just how far from being an equal to a King they were.

Reaching down to the desk/table before her with one gloved hand the possessor of the Dragon's Roar picked up one of the biscuits she'd been give and gently nibbled on it. Ah, a sharp ginger cookie covered in delicious chocolate, Kaida closed her eyes as she allowed the sweet flavours to relax her. These were high quality treats, served with the expertly made tea she'd drunk earlier, and their presence served to ease her worries.

Sweets were Kaida's weakness, she absolutely loved them. Indeed it had gotten to the point where her fellow shrine maidens made it a point not to bring their own treats back to the shrine, because if they did then they were liable to disappear before their owners had a chance to eat them. It was only the fact that her use of her magic burnt the calories off quite nicely that kept her from losing her figure in a rather spectacular way.

"Do you think he'll be pleased?"

It seemed that her friend hadn't been able to take the silence any more and had voiced the doubt that was plaguing her. Being careful to keep her own face as serene as a moonlit pond the black haired Hime-Miko nodded.

"He seems to be a reasonable man, I'm sure that our news will not be received poorly."

By all the gods she hoped that was the case. Intellectually she knew that despite the fearsome display he had put on Emiya-sama didn't seem to be particularly tyrannical nor cruel, however her treacherous imagination had no difficulty in supplying her with a multitude of frightful and bloody scenarios as to what could happen to the two of them.

"Don't-"

Any further words were cut off as the door across the room from them slid open and the eighth Campione and his adopted sister entered. The two of them sat down in the same places as they had in the last such meeting, leading to a curious sensation of déjà vu for the shrine maiden.

"I thank you for your patience in waiting for us," Emiya-sama stated with a respectful nod of his head. "I'm afraid neither me nor my sister were expecting any formal company so we weren't best prepared for it."

"I quite understand your Highness," Kaida answered before formally lowering her head in apology, "I thank you for taking the time to see us despite the unannounced nature of our visit."

"I would assume that you have not returned in such a manner without some reply from your Committee," the red haired teen stated, "Please enlighten me as to what message you might be bearing.

The Hime-Miko couldn't quite put her finger on just what it was, but there was something about the other teenager from her that seemed to radiate certain . . . pressure. That was the best way she could think of describing it. In the past she'd been in the presence of elders and more senior Hime-Miko that radiated a sense of authority or importance. What she was experiencing now was similar to that, a projection of his personality, but even though she could feel its weight resting ever so subtly upon her senses she couldn't quite identify it.

"I . . . do bring word back from the heads of the four families." Kaida paused and drew in a deep breath in order to steady herself.

"After some discussion it has been determined that the History Compilation Committee believes that it would be well within our means to provide or acquire the items and resources that you requested."

This seemed to be a good start; he wasn't taking offence at the implication that his explanation of his needs in their previous meeting had been requests rather than outright orders or demands.

"A selection of such works and texts has been assembled and will be delivered to you at your earliest convenience. As a gesture of friendship the Committee has asked me to inform you that both this and the next such delivery can be considered as gifts and as such you should not concern yourself with any worries over payment. Once a more . . . solid relationship has been established we can begin to work out some kind of arrangement for further such acquisitions."

The only reply she received to this was a simple nod of acknowledgement. Internally she wondered if he had any idea as to just how large an honour the Committee was paying him, or whether it was simply a case of him not caring.

She had seen the small collection of tomes and scrolls that were being assembled as a gift to the new King. As he had requested many of them were introductory texts, works that were designed to impart knowledge to a relative newcomer to the mystic world. However among those were also a number of rare and valuable works, tomes and scrolls that had been included because some of the Heads had wanted to make an impression both to their fellows and to the youngest Campione. This had led to other Heads trying to outdo their rivals which had in turn led to others trying to out do them. By the time the last addition had been made Kaida estimated that the cumulative worth of the collection being delivered to Emiya-sama would be comparable to the worth of his entire mansion.

"I have also been asked to request as to when it would be a good time for the chief of the Tokyo branch of our organization to arrange a meeting with you. Sayanomiya Kaoru would like to discuss how best communications and relations between yourself and the Committee might best be arranged so as to possess best efficiency."

Again there seemed to be no negative reaction. Now it was time for the part that had unsettled her the most. Ah well . . .

"Lastly I would ask as to what it is that you've decided in relation to how myself and my friend may serve you. As you might recall at our last meeting you said that you'd require some more time to deliberate on what you would decide with regards to us. Have you come to a decision yet?"

Well, there it was, out in the open now. This had been the one thing she had been most worried about bringing up.

Foe the most part the representatives of the Four Families they had met as part of their report on their meeting with Emiya-sama had been pleased with how things had gone. They had praised her on her handling of the situation, the information she had gathered and the agreement she had brokered with the Campione. There had only been two aspects of the meeting that they had been unsatisfied with. The first had been the lack of information on this seemingly impossible style of Magecraft that the Einzbern girl had demonstrated. The thought that magic could be performed without any involvement of deities, spirits or angels was as foreign as the concept of swimming through sand. The second thing they had not been pleased with had been Emiya-sama's lack of a definitive answer to her and Manaka having offered their services.

She could understand why it was so important that they have an answer, Yuri-sama's own relationship with the seventh Campione was a vital link between the Committee and the devil King. It allowed for a certain sense of security since the Hime-Miko could act as a mollifying influence upon her paramour if so needed. While she hadn't been told so or ordered Kaida knew that they hoped a similar romantic relationship would develop between her and Emiya-sama, that or at least friendship.

However as one could understand she was more than a bit apprehensive of pushing the issue with a man as obviously powerful as the eighth Campione. To say that the last meeting had left an impression was an understatement to say the least.

Before her the young devil King blinked and looked confused for an instant before his face regained its calm steadiness.

"I hope you'll understand why I'm hesitant to give you a direct answer Renjou-san, I do have a number of staff options open, but I'm afraid none of them are particularly appealing. In time I'm sure that your aid will become needed as both my sister and I learn more about mainstream Magecraft, advisors and teachers will be invaluable. However for the time being I don't think I can offer you any positions. Not unless you want to be maids anyway."

Kaida didn't stop to think, she just went with what her instincts told her was an opportunity.

"Very well Emiya-sama that will be fine. When would you like us to start?"

From beside her came a choking noise as Manaka apparently swallowed a piece of biscuit the wrong way due to her shock.

"H-huh?"

Emiya-sama's face was quite the sight to see. That firm calmness of his had dissolved and now only naked bemusement could be seen on his features. If nothing else that was one thing she could take from this meeting, the knowledge that she had managed to take him completely by surprise on something.

"I freely understand that at this point there are unlikely to be any positions in your service that could be considered glamorous or particularly elevated. Please be assured that I completely understand this." In a way it felt as though her mouth and thoughts were either operating independently or were in some kind of weird teamwork that she could barely understand. It was as though she was getting the first glimmerings of a plan, then somehow she was talking and then only after she had already started would the rest of the idea form in her mind. It was a wild, crazed way of operating, but her instincts were screaming at her not to let this chance slip by her, so she continued her near babble.

"You are a new to the position of a Campione, so of course you have not yet had the opportunity to establish any sort of organization in your subordinates, nor have you had the opportunity to recruit that many."

With one hand she gestured towards Yamada-san who was standing patiently by the door.

"Your recruitment of Yamada-san was an inspired move that has served you brilliantly. However he is just one servant and can only do so much. You have shown me that you have both undead and monstrous servants during our last meeting, but their utility is limited by both their appearance and their abilities.

"I confess that I do not know your plans or your future goals, but from your past actions I believe I can deduce some part of them. You wish to possess security and stability, and you also wish to gain both without causing too many great waves within the magical community of the world."

That was merely a logical extrapolation from his previous actions, she just hoped to any divinity that might be watching over her that she was right.

"Naturally it would be possible for you to use the power of your Authorities to enforce this upon the world around you. As a devil King you wield the power of an absolute tyrant and so there is no way we mortals could defy your wishes. However doing so would mean causing more of a stir than I think you would wish. Such actions would draw the attention of the world's other magical associations, as well as your fellow Campione and even Heretic Gods.

"The only logical alternative to gaining what you want with brute force is to build something that will provide you with what you want. In older times this would mean the construction of a fortress or some such defensible structure, in these modern times the best comparable equivalent would be for you to build an organization of your own."

She had no idea where this was all coming from, but it seemed to be at least on the right course since the Campione hadn't interrupted her or even protested.

"Perhaps it isn't your intention yet, but I'm sure that one way or another something of that nature is going to take place. So please, let Manaka and I enter your service now, even if it is only as maids for the time being. In time I'm sure we will have the chance to show our worth and our suitability for a role of greater significance.

"Besides," she finished with a rather weak grin, "I always thought I'd look rather cute in a maid's outfit."

Well, there it was. She'd given it her best effort and now she just had to see whether or not it had been well received. Still, what had she just done? It was as though she had known that if she didn't seize the moment with both hands then something would have passed her by, something that would never come again. She knew that she had practically no talent for Spirit Vision, nor for any other talent that accessed the Memories of the Void. Yet at the same time she simply knew that the certainty had been real, as real as though she had been seeing the future with her own two eyes.

"I . . . Renjou-san, are you certain of this?" The Campione's voice was hesitant, unsure, it looked like she'd been able rattle him. She had to keep up the pressure, seize on this tiny sign of weakness.

"Emiya-sama, I am absolutely certain that this is the correct course for Manaka and me. At this point in time you don't trust us, that is perfectly understandable. Why should you? You don't know us, you know nothing of our pasts, our abilities or even our motivations past what we have already told you, and even those could be a lie.

"That is why I ask for this chance. Let us take these roles at the bottom of the organization that you will come to build and let us prove ourselves. Watch how we work, how we help, judge our worth for yourself; come to learn that which you do not know now. Please, simply give us this chance to earn your trust, that is all we ask." Kaida had no idea where the inspiration for this speech had come from, but she was grateful for it.

Silence descended upon the room as Emiya-sama continued to stare at her across the space between them. Then, to her surprise, it was broken by Manaka.

"Your Highness, I don't pretend to be as far sighted as Kaida-sama so I cannot speak of the future. However I can tell you about the present and one thing I can tell you is that both Kaida-sama and I are honest and honourable in this offer. Both of us are powerful in our own way and yet we are prepared to take these roles that are . . . below what would be expected of us in order to prove ourselves. Please, I entreat you not to spit upon our prides by rejecting us."

Pushing the small table/desk in front of her out of the way the witch warrior placed both her palms on the floor before her and bowed until her forehead was almost touching the mat.

Kaida couldn't stop a small gasp from escaping her throat; this was utterly out of character for Manaka, hell she even refused to bow to more than a moderately respectful degree for the Family Heads. Her wilfulness in that regard was almost a legend among the Committee. For her to bow like this . . .

". . . Very well then," the words were spoken softly but firmly, "After so . . . eloquent an argument I don't think there's any way that I can refuse without becoming the villain of this small drama. Please return here the day after tomorrow with any possessions you wish to bring with you and I shall arrange for rooms to be available along with someone ready to explain your future duties."

There was an odd smile on his face now, one that held emotions she wasn't quite able to identify.

"You were quite correct when you said that I do not know you, however I think that I shall enjoy getting to know both of you better."

Standing up he gestured for them to likewise rise and then turned to his servant.

"Please escort them back to the front gate; I imagine they have a busy day coming tomorrow."

Turning back to the two young women he smiled once more and nodded.

"I think your presence will bring a fair bit more life to this manor."

Kaida nodded in return before walking to the door, however there she stopped and turned to face the devil King once more.

"Please accept our gratitude; we will do our best to ensure you do not regret this choice." As she finished she gave another deep bow before turning and leaving the room.


-()-


Manaka managed to keep herself calm and controlled as they walked through the manor behind the undead servant. She maintained this calm as they once more left through the main gate, and she held it until they turned the corner that brought them out of sight of the Campione's mansion.

Only then did she finally lose control of her temper.

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING KAIDA-SAMA?"

Alright, perhaps that wasn't the most diplomatic way of putting things, but she felt she had plenty of reason to excuse this breach of her normally respectful attitude.

"Oh? Are you upset Manaka?"

The Hime-Miko's voice was infuriatingly light and there was also a mischievous smile on her lips. Realizing that her reply was only meant to further goad her the fighter witch took a deep breath, and then let it out as she reclaimed her hold on her temper.

"Kaida-sama." The simple address was loaded with reproach and pleading at the same time.

"Sorry, sorry," seating herself on the same bench upon which they had collapsed last time they had been here the possessor of the Dragon's Roar smiled up at her bodyguard, "It's just rather unusual for you to scold me, I couldn't help but tease you slightly."

The smile faded from Kaida's face and her expression grew serious.

"We HAVE to secure this position as Emiya-sama's servants. It doesn't matter if we have to start as scullions scrubbing the kitchen floor, if it means that in time we can rise I will do it."

"But . . . but why?" Manaka felt utterly bewildered, "You're a Hime-Miko of the Committee, and one of their strongest as well. I know that the heads were hoping you'd form some sort of relationship with the newest Campione, but if you fail to do so it would mean no loss of honour, no punishment or disappointment. So why? Why accept such a lowly role? It's beneath you Kaida-sama."

The warrior witch's fist clenched in anger at the mere thought of the girl to whom she had sworn her life being reduced to a mere domestic servant.

"Manaka," her voice was soft as flower petals and yet as warm as a summer's day, that one word brought the bodyguards anger up short and held her full attention. "I've been blessed in my life, I've received talent, beauty and power, I can say in total honesty and without hubris that I am a special person. However I cannot think of a single blessing in my whole life that is greater than the friendship and devotion you've given me."

To Manaka's great surprise the Hime-Miko rose from her seat and threw her arms around her bodyguard in a rare show of affection. After a brief hug Kaida released her and sat back down.

"I-I don't really know why I said all that," she confessed looking down at her hands, "I just . . . I just knew that I had to. It was as though every scrap of intuition that I had was shouting at me that if I didn't take this chance it would be a disaster."

The witch warrior opened her mouth to speak, but then something happened that cut her off.

The ornate steel shield that was her Aura Sign had flickered once more. It was a brief thing, gone in an instant, but for a fraction of a second her Aura Sign was replaced by another image.

There were the statues that had so called to her the last time that she'd seen them, only this time the vision was clearer, details that she had missed before could now be clearly seen. Though she could still not tell how many statues there were in total three more of them had come into focus. The first was of a woman in her early twenties or so, tall and with a devastatingly voluptuous figure that was accentuated by the brief and provocative nature of the clothes she wore. Manaka couldn't quite place the style, not eastern or European. Since the statues were made from gold colouration details such as hair or skin colour could not be seen, however she knew that the woman was beautiful in a way no mortal could be.

However as eye catching as the unknown woman was it was the other two that seized her attention. There standing in front and to the right of Kaida's statuette was a perfectly forged recreation of the eighth Campione. He was clad in close fitting armour with a long cloak flaring behind him, in each hand he held a sword and on his head was a crown. To his right and slightly behind him, about level with Kaida-sama, was his sister. She was clad in European style clothes but in her hand she held a beautifully ornate naginata that was almost comically oversized for her.

And as before the entire Aura Sign thundered to her of companionship, of glory, of joy and of an unbreakable bond.

This . . . this didn't make sense. Before this the hidden Aura Sign had only shown itself when the shrine maiden had employed her power. Why would it be showing itself again and with even greater clarity?

Unless . . . unless Kaida-sama was using her powers now and not even realizing it. Yes, that made a certain level of sense. Even if she was a member of the Renjou branch family her line was riddled with Hime-Miko and magi. With such an ancestry it was hardly a surprise that she had been born with two natural gifts. But if she had two then why not a third? This sudden screaming of her intuition sounded like some form of basic precognition, something too undeveloped to provide visions or clear images, but merely operated at the most basic emotional level.

If that was the case then that meant . . .

Oh, damn.

Ah well, she'd privately sworn she would follow the black haired Hime-Miko into the very flames of perdition if needs be.

"Very well then Kaida-sama, I shall follow you if this is the path you so choose." Manaka paused for a moment before continuing, "But if this plan of yours lands us dressed in French maid costumes I swear I'll have my revenge on you, and that revenge will be . . . inventive."

With a simple smile and a grateful nod Kaida signalled her thanks.

There was no need for any further words, the fighter witch simply sat down next to her friend and took a moment to enjoy the peace of the moment. Tomorrow things were going to get very busy, but for now they could at least enjoy this moment of peace.


-()-


Shirou wasn't getting any peace at the moment.

Right now it was almost one o'clock in the morning but he wasn't even able to think of going to bed. He didn't know why but a strange restlessness suffused him, an annoying energy that wouldn't even let him sit still, let alone lie down and sleep.

He supposed part of this odd tension was the aftermath of the meeting he had had with Renjou-san and her bodyguard. That had been nerve wracking enough in its own right, having to play the part of 'the Fake King' had just made things worse.

It wasn't that he hated playing that role, rather it just made him uncomfortable, it left him feeling as though he were lying not just with his words, but with his entire self.

And added to that were the simple worries that he was going to mess up in the act and reveal the uncertainties he was trying his best to hide. True it seemed that this History Compilation Committee was a much less ruthless organization than any of the organizations back home, but that didn't mean he could let his guard down.

Perhaps one of the things that had rattled him the most had been the sheer accuracy with which the shrine maiden had seen through his intentions. The thought of building up his own organization had been something that he'd only been thinking about idly for the most part. With practically limitless funds at his disposal as well as the ability to recruit a core of totally loyal servants from beyond the grave the main portions of such an undertaking were to all intents and purposes already cleared. From there on out it would simply be a matter of recruitment, control and direction.

Was she right? Would building such an organization be the best path to take in order to acquire the security he needed in order to focus on finding a way home?

If he did it would seem that he already had his first pair of recruits.

That had come as quite the shock as well. He'd only mentioned the position of maids being open as a joke; one he could see Gilgamesh using. It was all too easy to imagine, some great priestess or warrior would beg to enter his service and Goldie would say that the only place they could serve in would be the maids. The bastard would probably dress them up in fetish costumes too; it seemed like something he'd enjoy, highlighting his power over them.

With a shake of his head Shirou dismissed the thought. The point was that it had just been a joke, and yet Renjou-san had pounced on it as though it were a lifeline. Why had she been so dogged in entering his service now? Was she under some sort of obligation? Did she perhaps have orders?

Regardless he'd been planning to refuse her, but her argument had been so . . . eloquent, so insightful. And, of course, so sincere.

Both of them had been moving in the amount of pure sincerity that they had put into their pleas, when faced with that he hadn't been able to refuse, doing so would have felt wrong.

And that left him with two new girls that would soon be moving into his mansion. They'd need someone to show them the ropes, someone to train them. Yusuke couldn't do that; talented as he was that wasn't part of his considerable skill set. No, he'd have to recruit someone new. Tomorrow he'd have to start looking through online records for someone who matched what he needed, and then he'd have to pay a visit to their grave to ask if they would be willing to aid him.

So much to do tomorrow, he should be getting a good night's sleep. Maybe if he just went to bed and started counting he might nod-

"SHIROU!"

His thoughts were cut off by the sudden arrival of Illya. Clad in yellow pyjamas with pink stars on them she looked almost painfully cute, an appearance only enhanced by her tousled bed hair and slightly sleep lidded eyes.

"Illya? What are you-hey whoa!"

His questions were cut off as she seized his hand and began dragging him along behind her as she dashed off. He knew that she wasn't a 'combat' homunculus, the Einzberns had altered her to maximize her prana output, even so she was surprisingly strong for such a small girl. In pretty short order he found himself being dragged through the corridors of his new home and out into the garden towards the sheds that served as their workshops.

"I didn't think it would work so well," the white haired girl was trying to explain what was going on, but perhaps due to her only semi awake state or maybe due to her excitement her explanation was becoming more of a ramble. "I did have all the theory right, but I didn't have any new signatures to test, just what I could remember from the two we met. So I thought that I'd be lucky to get any kind of reaction, I thought all I'd get would be a buzzing in the back of my mind or something like that. Instead it was so loud it made jump right out of bed before I even realized what was going on. This is a tremendous success!"

Now they were at the shed that Illya had set up her workshop in. The door was locked of course, but that wasn't something that could stop his adopted sister. Without even letting go of his hand she idly waved at it with her free arm and he heard the lock click open in response to her magic. With a single motion she grabbed the side of the door and swung it open before dragging him into the small building and shutting the door behind them.

Oddly enough it wasn't dark inside the shed, light seemed to be emanating from under a large tarpaulin that seemed to be covering a large table.

"I knew I had to get some sort of warning in place. Human mages we can handle, I'm sure of that, but them, they could be a real threat, so we needed some way to be ready."

As she spoke the white haired girl let go of his hand and pulled the tarp off whatever it had been covering.

What had been hidden underneath was revealed, and for a moment Shirou forgot to breath.

The reinforced steel table supported a large model of part of Tokyo. The recreation was made in heart stoppingly precise detail showing buildings the size of grass blades, trees like toothpicks and cars like ants. Tiny roads and canals ran through the miniature city in crystal detail that served only to further highlight the marvellous work.

However what made it even more amazing was that the entire thing was made out of carved gold. Every building, every road, every tree, all of it was made out of the noble metal. The golden light radiating from every surface granted it a kind of ethereal unreality.

"Illya, what . . . what is this?" Shirou's voice was awed as he stared at the magnificent construct.

"This is my first original Mystic Code, Mini City Guide!"

Illya stood there fists planted on her hips, the golden light of her creation casting her shadow and illuminating a look of satisfied pride on her face.

The eighth Campione was struck by a thought that he immediately knew that he must never speak out loud: 'That . . . is a really dumb name.' Clearly his adopted sister really was picking up bad habits from all the anime she was watching. The question now was how could that influence be curtailed? Perhaps he could manufacture some problem with the electricity? That might keep her away from her anime and games for at least a few hours. But then again she had managed to amass a sizable collection of manga, so that wasn't a viable solution. Maybe a fire in her bedroom? No, that was far too extreme a measure; best keep it as a last resort. Maybe if he . . .

Shirou gave his head a shake as he tried to dismiss the rather absurd train of thought that he gotten stuck on. Clearly he needed a good night's sleep more than he'd thought he did. Still. Illya had obviously put a lot of effort into this construct; he might as well humour her now that he was here.

"And what does it do?"

The young Einzbern blinked in surprise then smiled again.

"Didn't I tell you? It's my system for detecting the presence of Gods."

Any lethargy that might have been plaguing his thoughts vanished instantly.

"It can detect Gods? And you say that it's had a reaction?"

"Mmhmm," confirmed Illya. With one hand she gestured at a certain part of the miniature city. "Whoever it is has manifested here, in . . ." she paused for a second, clearly trying to remember the name, "Chidorigafuchi."

Shirou only needed a second to come to a decision. He knew without any doubt that the god that had manifested was his enemy. There were no doubts, no confusions; the adversity between them was as natural as that between a cobra and a mongoose. They were each others natural enemies.

"Stay here and activate the defences that we've got ready. I'll go and . . . deal with whatever has manifested."

"I won't let you go alone Shirou."

Illya's voice was firm; she really had no intention of letting him go into danger alone. It was both heart-warming and somewhat irritating.

"Illya, you know I can't take you with me. It would be too dangerous." Left unsaid was the simple fact that the snowy haired girl would simply be another weak point for an enemy to strike at. For all her prowess in thaumaturgy she still wasn't a threat to a god.

"Shirou shouldn't have to fight alone." Tears of frustration and worry were beading at the corners of her eyes.

"Don't worry," This time the confidence in his voice was the genuine article, not part of some act. "I'm not alone; I've got reasons to come back."

"Shirou?"

His adopted sister seemed to be taken aback by his simple declaration. He supposed that was understandable, after all he was pretty sure that even if she hadn't mentioned it she had some understanding of his hidden distortions.

And that was the truth, one that he couldn't escape. Emiya Shirou was a distorted existence. In the past the nature of his warping was his inability to place any sort of importance on his own life when comparing it to any others. He would gladly throw his life and soul away if it meant that he could save others.

He was different now though, different from those other Emiya Shirous he had seen in his memories. He had weighed the lives of the greater unknowns against the life of the one he cared for and had cast aside his former ideals.

Now he didn't live to save others, he lived to protect and care for the ones he loved, the ones he had chosen over strangers. It was a simple change of his focus, but one that brought him into a viewpoint that more closely mirrored those of 'normal' people the fact remained that he was as distorted as ever.

"Don't worry." As he spoke he reached out and gently ruffled the top of her head.

Turning he strode out of the shed the words of an Authority already on his lips.

"Hooves that thunder over the earth, wings that soar through the sky, sacred beast born from a monster yet pure as finest silver, hear my call and serve as the mount to a hero once more."

As the sacred spell words were uttered a vast swarm of tiny white lights sprang into existence around him flashing through the air like some impossibly vast swarm of fireflies. In an instant all the tiny lights coalesced and merged into the form of a magnificent white stallion with great wings as white as its fur. This was not a natural creature, no horse of mere flesh and blood could have looked so majestic, this was a divine power given physical form. As though sensing its master's thoughts the pegasus nickered in eagerness, pawing at the earth to show its impatience to spring into action.

Yet for all its pent up energy it waited obediently for its master to mount up.

"Oh, by the way Illya, I've thought of a name for him." Shirou smiled as he rested one hand on the legendary steed's neck while glancing back at his adopted sister. "I think the name 'Snow' fits this white fellow quite well, don't you think?"

Not waiting for a reply he swung himself onto his mount's back and gave it a light nudge to the sides of the torso with his heels. The legendary steed cantered forward a few steps then brought its wings down in a powerful beat. In defiance of logic or physics the action lifted both mount and rider off the ground and into the air. Each successive beat built both height and speed until the eighth Campione was soaring away from his mansion.


-()-


Illya stared up at the night sky as the slightly glowing form of the pegasus flew away from her line of sight.

"Shirou."

Frustration and guilt grew inside her as she watched her adopted brother leave. She hated this, being powerless, not being able to do anything herself, needing to be protected by Shirou. And yet at the same time she loved what it proved, that her onii-chan cared for her, that he was willing to shed blood, both his and others, in order to protect her, that he loved her.

Shirou was the most important person in the world to her, and she didn't want to be his weak point. She wanted to be at his side not sheltering behind him.

The irritation and worry slid from her face as she turned back to her workshop. In their place was now an expression of iron determination.

She was not some damsel in distress. She was arguably the greatest magus that the respected Einzbern clan had produced since Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern. She was a powerful young woman and she was not going to accept this. Her first Mystic Code had apparently worked well beyond her expectation, even though her knowledge of the majority of its underlying principles was minor at best.

If she could get that mish mash to work then she could make her other project succeed as well. If that worked then she'd have what she needed.

Power.

Power enough that not even the gods native to this dimension would be able to dismiss her. She had a rough idea of their measure from the battles that she'd been able to observe. In many ways they were like Servants, though in some ways they were weaker and in others stronger. Had the likes of Perseus or Hades appeared in the Holy Grail War then they wouldn't have been too out of place.

Any normal magus would have been nothing before a Servant, even extraordinary ones like Rin were little more than irritants. But Illya was different; she had the power to support the costliest Servant even before the Holy Grail had fully manifested to help ease her burden. She possessed more prana than any mortal alive and had the capacity to use that prana with ease.

Stepping into the shed and closing the door behind her the young Einzbern nodded sharply to herself. Yes, she could see where she might have been going wrong before, that could be corrected before she went back to bed.

There were still flaws and snags that she had yet to completely puzzle out, but if this idea worked then she'd at least have taken another step in the right direction.


-()-


Kusanagi Godou had not been having the best week.

To start off with he had found out that the newest Campione was apparently attending his school, which made it a very real possibility that his place of education might end up as the ground zero for a battle between Kings. Granted it had turned out that Emiya-san was an unexpectedly reasonable individual, but he still had nightmares of the school being reduced to a burning ruin by a clash between them.

After a tentative non-aggression treaty had been reached between them he'd thought that his life might become less complicated, however he had enjoyed no such luck.

The idiot trio's act of leading several of the boys from his sports class to peep on the girls during their swimming lesson had led to them being buried in the collapsed ruins of the old school building and nearly being set on fire by Emiya-san. Godou could only thank the fates that the overly hormonal morons from his class hadn't tried to do their peeking while the eighth Campione's sister had been having her own swimming class, had that happened Godou wasn't sure he would have been able to keep his fellow god slayer from lighting them all up.

Then Seishuuin Ena had arrived which had led to even further disruptions to his life. The beautiful friend of Mariya wasn't malicious or cruel; she simply had an uncanny ability to sow chaos in his life without really trying. Of course when she did try then that's when thing really spun out of control.

Of course it wasn't just the supernatural aspects of his life that had been giving him grief; it had been just yesterday that the idiot trio had kidnapped him again in order to punish him for his 'crimes' of apparently building himself a harem. Honestly he had no idea as to where they were getting such ridiculous ideas.

Still that had led to his fourth encounter with his fellow devil King, and it had not been under the most dignified of circumstances.

In all truth Godou just didn't know what to make of Emiya-san. He certainly wasn't a tyrant like Voban, someone who concealed their beast-like nature beneath a thin veneer of civility. But at the same time he wasn't like the careless and irresponsible Salvatori Doni. The young Kusanagi had made some discreet enquires about the red haired teenager to some of Emiya-san's classmates, and they described him as a nice and fairly helpful guy who was maybe a bit too much on the quiet side.

His interactions with the normal students didn't seem to match how he acted when speaking to Godou or the girls that surrounded him. So which was the real Emiya-san? Or were neither of those his real faces and his true self was someone completely different?

Still for all his confusing mystery the eighth Campione was not at the forefront of his mind right now.

After the event with the trio of idiots and Erica saving him from a double suicide with Takagi Godou had somehow found himself promising to take the blonde Italian girl out on a date.

The date itself had gone fairly well, at least in his opinion, but Erica's desire to do some investigating had led them into a confrontation with Ena. Before he knew what was going on Godou and both the girls had been dragged into the Netherworld, the upper part of the astral plane where gods and spirits dwelt, by Ena's 'Gramps' who was later revealed to be the former Heretic God Susanoo.

After a brief conversation with the 'retired' god Godou had managed to find the two girls just in time to keep Ena, who had been possessed by the Subordinate god Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi a mystic sword that she wielded, from killing Erica.

From there a chain of events had led to him trying to leave the Netherworld since being there was killing the all too mortal Italian knight. After several failed attempts and with Erica in dire straits he had finally unlocked the last of the ten Authorities he had gained from Verethragna, the Youth. Using it allowed him to grant his divine protection upon the blonde mage and save her from death.

Shortly thereafter Liliana and Mariya had succeeded in sending the Hime-Miko into the astral plane in order to retrieve the missing god slayer and his friend. She'd been able to find them and bring them back to the mortal realm without too much difficulty, however when they'd returned they'd found a troublesome surprise waiting for them.

Ena, still under the control of Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi had followed them and had immediately challenged Godou.

Fearing what the power of his Authorities might do to the all-too-mortal Hime-Miko despite the divine weapon she wielded the seventh Campione had agreed to let Erica and Liliana act in his stead to defeat her. It had been an intense battle and even two on one the possessed girl had almost won. It had only been when Erica had realised she could tap into the divine protection granted to her to increase her combat power that the tide had turned. The blonde mage knight was able to deliver a sound defeat to the divinely possessed Hime-Miko.

Unfortunately even though Ena had regained her senses and had accepted her defeat with good humour it seemed that Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was far less inclined to accept such an outcome.

In the space of an instant the metre long sword had grown in size and changed in form until it was a twenty metre tall giant made of metal. A twenty metre tall giant made of metal with arms like blades, blades that looked to be extremely sharp. And to make matters even worse the sword turned colossus had apparently integrated Ena into its body.

Faced with a manifested Heretic God that effectively had a builtiin hostage, one who seemed to be oddly unconcerned with her situation and was indeed telling him to fight full out and not worry about her since she regarded the current situation as her own fault, Godou did what he saw as the most sensible thing.

He ran.

It wasn't any sort of cowardice that had led to such a decision, it had been a tactical move meant to buy himself a bit more room as well as lead the manifested Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi away from the others. It seemed that it had been a good move since the metal giant's legs were short and its mobility was terrible. However for all its ungainliness the avatar of the Sword deity had worryingly fast arms, arms speedy enough that they'd almost sliced him in two as he had dodged past the deity in his attempt to lead it away.

"No way, king... Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi has no plans for mercy, so please destroy it quickly... Hurry, or else it will catch up to you!"

Ena's voice sounded out again, and it seemed like she was still recommending a course of action that would probably get her killed. But right now there was no time to listen to her.

Godou stopped looking back.

Running full speed ahead, he definitely didn't intend to give the god sword a chance to catch him.

Racing along Chidorigafuchi, the Imperial Palace could be seen opposite. Decorating along the palace moat were the conspicuous trees, the very well-known cherry blossoms.

Since he had increased the distance between them the seventh god slayer finally stopped running.

The blade monster transformed from Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was chasing after him at a clumsy rate. To be honest, it was very slow and it would be easy to just keep running away, but that would only defer the problem without solving it.

"Kusanagi-san, only one . . . eh?"

The voice of Touma Amakasu came from beside him, but was unexpectedly cut off by a most unexpected arrival. Because of his focus on running from the sword giant Godou hadn't been paying too much attention to his surroundings, which was why the arrival of a large pure white winged horse caught him completely by surprise.

"Ah? Is that you Kusanagi-san?" The polite but slightly imperious tone and voice were familiar even if the wings of the pegasus obscured his vision of the rider.

"Emiya-san?"

The wings folded at the steed's side and the easily recognizable figure of the eighth Campione dismounted and walked over to his fellow King.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to find you here already. Tokyo is your city after all, it would only make sense that you'd have fine preparations in place for the event of a Heretic God appearing." The red haired young man gestured in the general direction of the deity in question. "Have you been able to determine its identity yet?"

"It's Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi." Godou answered vaguely.

Tokyo was his city? He had fine preparations in place for the event of a Heretic God appearing? Was that really how Emiya-san saw him? What kind of person did he think Kusanagi Godou was?

"So, another Campione has appeared before me."

The voice, if such it could be called, was about as far from human as it was possible to get. It was rather akin to how music could be made by banging lengths of scrap metal together to create different notes. In this case it was as though some demented genius had worked out just how to scrape metal together to make a sound and had then combined it with dozens of other such noises to simulate human speech.

"Oh? Emiya-sama, are you here as well?" Ena's oddly cheerful call served only to highlight the utter inhumanity of the blade giant's voice.

"Ena-san? What in the Root's name are you doing there?" Emiya-san's own response was anything but calm.

"I'm afraid my own wilfulness led to this troublesome situation. Please don't mind me; feel free to attack with all your strength, Ena has no regrets."

The red haired Campione turned to stare at his fellow King.

"Is she serious? Do you intend to follow her advice?" his tone was one of utter bemusement.

"I think so; still I will only say this. No matter what, I will save Seishuuin first, and then handle the monster. Please don't interfere."

"Very well, I-" whatever else the eighth Campione was going to say was cut off as Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi suddenly lunged forwards with startling flexibility for a being made of metal and swung a gigantic sword like arm at them.

All three humans were able to dodge back with ease and the pegasus flapped its wings rapidly and was able to rise above the slash.

"I care not which of you I face, but I shall battle a Campione, now!" the declaration rang out though the area like bells crashing and scraping against each other.

"Can you save her?" Emiya-san's question was quiet but intense. "My own talents are more suited to fighting foes than to rescuing hostages; do you have any Authorities that could be more suited?"

Well that was a relief; Godou had been worried that the eighth Campione would dismiss Ena's safety and simply attack the Heretic God without concern for her life. That was something he could see Voban doing, simply ignoring her and attacking with abandon. Salvatori Doni would probably have slashed both the giant and Ena into tiny pieces and then been embarrassed that he'd forgotten about the girl in his eagerness to fight.

"Yes, I can save her."

"Then I will leave this to you, but if you or the girl are in danger I shall intervene, irrespective of my desire to honour another Kings claim on a foe."

Good, it seemed that Emiya-san was willing to let him handle this; it seemed that no matter how confusing he was his priorities for the moment matched those of Kusanagi Godou. Now all he needed was for the incarnation of Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi to swing at him and he could use that to activate his Raptor Authority.

But the colossal metal being wasn't attacking; it was instead standing stock still. Even though it had no head or face Godou somehow got the overwhelming impression that it was STARING at something. Glancing to his side he saw that his fellow Devil King was also frozen like a statue and glaring at the black metal giant with such intensity that it was a wonder it wasn't boring a hole through the deity.

"You . . . What are you?" the question echoed between the cherry trees.

"Look and you shall see." Emiya-san's voice was strange, slightly hollow as though it wasn't the teenager himself that was speaking but rather something using his voice box.

"You, you are steel."

"Look deeper."

There was a brief pause, then to Godou's utter amazement, the hulking form of Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi actually took a step back as though in surprise or shock.

"What manner of being are you? Why can I see into your core? And how can a human have such Steel in them?"

There was no fear in those words, but there was something that shouldn't have been there, something the seventh Campione couldn't identify. Concern maybe? Confusion? He couldn't quite lay his finger on it.

"I am not Steel; I am Sword, that is why you can see it. Today I am not your foe, but perhaps one day we can clash and see which of us will grow dull and break first."

"Very well."

The seventh Campione didn't really have any more time to consider the odd exchange that had taken place between the deity and the King. Such thoughts were cut off as a sword arm the size of a tree came slashing towards him at blinding speed. However, it was precisely because of that reason that it could be used. The incarnation he desired was one that was unlocked only when facing a high-speed attack.

As the power of the Raptor activated Godou accelerated.


-()-


Shirou watched with an odd sense of detachment as his fellow Campione charged forward at speeds that even Rider at her best would have respected. The strange feeling had swept over him as soon as he had taken his first good look at the creature that was apparently the sword Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi. Certainly he'd looked at it before, when he had arrived on Snow and when he had indicated it to Kusanagi-san, but that had been the first time he had focussed on it to any considerable level.

When he had it was as though his perception through all his senses, both mundane and supernatural, had funnelled themselves on to a single thing in the entire world, and that had been the sword in front of him.

And it was a sword; every aspect of him had screamed it at him. This twenty metre tall giant of metal was utterly unimportant, a mere shell to be discarded if needs be. This was a sword, and within him he could feel his Reality Marble greedily feasting on its presence in order to recreate it within itself.

However even as it did so Shirou was instinctively aware that whatever recreation of it that Unlimited Blade Works could produce would not be its equal. His Reality Marble and Tracing could reproduce its strength, its materials, its history, its skills and even its powers, but what could not be reproduced would be the divine spirit that made it a god in its own right.

It had been in that strange sense of detachment that he had spoken with the subordinate god. He hadn't been quite aware of what he had been saying to the deity, he had simply spoken what had seemed appropriate, even though he had no idea why.

With a shake of his head the young Emiya dispelled the unusual state into which he had fallen and focussed on watching Kusanagi-san. This was his first time seeing another Campione in action, so paying close attention would be a smart idea.

He certainly was agile, had Shirou not had experience in dealing with the likes of Rider or Berserker it would have been impossible for him to keep a track of the other teenager's movements. However both that experience and Archer's memories had taught him the trick to reinforcing his eyes enough to keep up with such speed.

Kusanagi-san had avoided the slash that had nearly taken his head off and had easily run along the surface of the blade that was acting as an arm until he reached the shoulder location where Ena was buried in the Heretic God's body. Moving quickly the black haired Campione had reached under her arms and dragged her out from where she had been trapped. As soon as she was free, and before Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi could react, he was accelerating again and had jumped off the back of the sword deity.

In a brief fraction of an instant Kusanagi-san and Ena-san were safely away from the great bulk of the subordinate god and were joining up with the rest of the young man's 'harem'.

"I think now might be a good time to move Emiya-sama."

His thoughts were broken into by the respectful words of the man that had been standing next to his fellow God Slayer when he had landed next to them. Since then he had stayed quiet, but now he was apparently breaking that silence to impart advice.

"Why so?" Shirou asked as he turned to the man, "and who are you anyway?"

"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself your Highness; I am Touma Amakasu, a member of the History Compilation Committee. As to why we should move, Godou-sama has rescued the hostage. That means that there is now no longer any reason for him to hold back against Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, when he does launch his attack standing directly behind it might not be the safest place to be."

No further explanation was needed, his memory held far too many memories of just how devastating some Noble Phantasms could be on the general area about their targets. He already knew that Authorities could definitely rank on par with the treasures of the Heroic spirits, so if this man recommended getting clear of Kusanagi-san's attack area he wasn't going to argue.

His own speed using Self Reinforcement might not have been up to par with the Godspeed that the seventh Campione had demonstrated, but it was still enough to get him around the bulk of the Heretic God and behind Kusanagi-san's group.

He arrived just in time to see Mariya-san finish kissing the black haired Campione and lean back. There were a few brief words spoken between her and Ena-san, but he didn't really pay attention as he was more focussed on Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi who had begun the process of turning its ungainly body around.

"Understood! Then King, though Ena doesn't understand completely, I will also assist you. So you must win!"

"E-Ena!? Why, there is no need for you too..."

those two voices, now raised a bit louder than their former hushed murmur, brought his attention back to the group just in time to see the busty black haired girl that Kusanagi-san had just saved press her body against the teenager and press her lips to his in a firm kiss.

In deference to the moment Shirou waited a few seconds before voicing his opinion.

"While I'm sure that your recruitment of another girl into your harem is an important occasion Kusanagi-san, might it not be a better idea to take care of the metal giant with swords for arms that is currently bearing down on us before you engage in any further celebrations? If you leave it much longer I will consider your claim on this god ended and move to deal with it myself."

There was an awkward pause as the seventh Campione and all his women turned to look first at him and then at the slow moving Heretic God that was plodding towards them.

With a slightly embarrassed look on his face Kusanagi-san separated from the girl he had just saved and gave a single sharp nod to Shirou before turning to face the form of Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi once more.

"May his spine be crushed; may his bones be broken, his tendons torn, his hair ripped from his skull; may his blood, spilled over the earth, be churned into a bloody froth. I shall become one who buries fangs into the sinner's flesh, that the will of the Lord be followed: Thou shalt be purged!"

The entire area above them was suddenly obscured by a huge black haze that centred on Kusanagi-san's upraised hands. Before Shirou's amazed eyes the mass of darkness condensed into the form of a huge black boar of such dimensions that it dwarfed even the sword giant at which it now glared.

With a wordless shout the seventh Devil King brought his arms down in a gesture as though he were hurling the beast at his foe. With an answering roar of its own the titanic boar surged forwards in a charge, its huge trotters thundering on empty air and then on concrete hard enough to shatter the asphalt.

Chidorigafuchi had become the stage for the monster battle between the tall giant of blades and the Boar.

The giant used its sharp and heavy blade arms to cut open the thick hide and muscles of the enormous jet-black beast, but it immediately became apparent that it was just futile resistance.

In terms of destructive power, their levels differed too much. Had the incarnation of Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi been more agile it could have played the part of a Spanish matador, dodging and wounding its foe again and again until the damage mounted up, however slow as it was it had no such chance.

As the Boar bled blue-black blood, it roared joyfully and defiantly, thrusting its tusks, which did not lose to its opponent in sharpness and hard as any steel, and using its entire body weight to charge, kick, and trample.

Finally, from its mouth came a roar, a roar of such raw power that its very sonic waves caused damage. Idly Shirou wondered just how many of the windows in the local neighbourhood had been smashed by that roar.

Suffering these violent attacks, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was sent flying repeatedly.

"Who could have thought that the difference in level was so vast between a messenger of god and something controlled directly by a god or a Campione . . . "

The eighth Campione glanced sideways at Kusanagi-san's words; they implied that this was some sort of lesser deity, one not on a par with the likes of a true god. He filed that away for later examination, once he had the entire collection of books and tomes delivered to him he and Illya were going to have to take the time to do some serious research on a number of topics.

Chasing after Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi into Chidorigafuchi, the summoned beast leapt into the palace moat, turning it into a battle in water. The surrounding stone walls of the Imperial Palace crumbled beneath the battering impacts of the monsters' bodies and the slashing attacks of the giant sword. It was now a time for unrestrained destruction since this had ceased to even vaguely resemble a battle between humans.

Chidorigafuchi's landscape was being destroyed completely by the current events.

Glancing to the side Shirou saw that Touma Amakasu had also joined the small group.

"Tell me Touma-san, do all of Kusanagi-san's battles tend to leave quite so much destruction, or is this an unusual occurrence?"

The member of the Committee seemed to pause in thought, then smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I think it's safe to say that every time Godou-san has engaged in combat he has left wreckage and ruin in his wake. Even our famous city landmark, Tokyo Tower, was not safe and was recently demolished in one of his clashes."

Shirou couldn't keep himself from frowning slightly. Did this mean that the black haired King was careless or simply uncaring in the use of his powers? That didn't seem to fit with what he had observed of him.

"Please don't say such misleading thing Touma-san," Kusanagi-san's complaint was oddly pleading, "It's not as though I go out of my way to cause destruction, that's just the way it happens."

That did seem to support what he'd seen of the young man's personality. The more he saw the more Shirou began to believe that what he saw was really more or less what he got. It was something of a surprise considering how much time and effort he had put into his preparations for a clash with his fellow Campione, but it looked like he might well have been worrying over nothing.

"Ending up like this again, anyway, let's just say it was to be expected."

"Yes, even for something created by the gods to fight directly against a Campione, resulting in this dismal state was most natural. There could have been no other outcome."

Turning his attention back to Kusanagi-san's group the red haired Emiya caught the comments of Erica-san and Liliana-san. By the sounds of it they were less than surprised by this turn of events and were accepting it as completely normal and expected.

As the great black boar let loose a triumphant roar of victory Shirou decided that this particular show might well have been worth the trouble of staying up for.


-()-


From a building that overlooked the monstrous battle Athena, Queen of knowledge and darkness, looked on.

In all truth she was quite pleased with what she saw; her prey was sharpening his fangs it would seem. His beast had successfully defeated the subordinate god, and unless her sight was failing her he had now claimed the blade as his own through that victory.

This was good. Her prey was growing in strength, refining his skills with his Authorities as well as gaining new ones. In time his potential would ripen and he would be a foe worthy of the battle she sought with him.

Her eyes turned to the other Campione as his softly glowing white winged horse landed near him and nuzzled at his side like a pony seeking attention.

Her eyes narrowed in anger at the sight. The Pegasus had been born from the neck of the monster Medusa after she had been slain by the hero Perseus. Medusa had been an aspect of Athena's original self, and contrary to what myth said Perseus had been no ally of hers. The winged stallion was a painful reminder of what she had lost in ages past when the revolt of the male gods had left her fragmented and reduced.

Still this was interesting. The red haired Campione was the target of her allies and the key to at least one of them recovering their full power. He was also the one who had slain her enemy Perseus, a fact that left her less inclined to think ill of him. Looking at him she noted with mild surprise that he was almost the same age as her beloved prey. It was enough to make her wonder what it was about this land that produced not one but two such young Devil Kings.

Still for now she knew she had nothing to worry about. According to her allies it would still be some time until they had made all the preparations that were needed for their ritual. Naturally they were keeping the details of their work as secret from her as they could, a fact she could understand. The knowledge of how to restore a Divine Ancestor to their full divinity was a precious jewel of understanding and not one with which to part easily. Had Athena that information then she might have been able to take control of the forces involved and use them to restore herself instead. The thought had occurred to her, but she had dismissed it. To do so would be to break her word, and in all truth she was content to wait a little longer before she regained her full glory.

If she was to come into her full divinity she might be so overjoyed with her state that she would immediately go and challenge Kusanagi Godou to their battle before he had finished maturing. It her enthusiasm she would pluck the fruit she desired before it had finished ripening. Because of this worry she was content to wait. Once her allies were restored their vows would guarantee that they would aid her in return.

So for now all that she needed to do was wait. Wait and watch and learn.


-()-


They came in pairs or groups of three; they came by different boats or planes so that none looking over the records would notice them.

Their luggage would normally have raised some queries from the customs officers, but a combination of bribes and hypnosis had ensured that they had been of minimal trouble. They had safe houses ready and waiting for them here in Tokyo, locations equipped with wards and talismans to ensure their secrecy.

They would not allow anything to stand in their way; they had come to this island in the Far East with only two goals in mind.

Revenge.

Revenge and the hope that they could somehow regain that which they had lost.

Each of them had two photos in their possession, copies of the original which had been gained at great expense from a source in the History Compilation Committee. One was of a young girl with white hair and red eyes. The other was of a tall teenager with red hair and golden brown eyes.

The eighth Campione and his adopted sister.

The targets of the Circle of the Chosen


Emiya Shirou

The Eighth Campione

( ) = Using self reinforcement

[ ] = Initial form of Dragon Slaying Hero

{ } = Dragon Slaying Hero while employed against a foe with draconic attributes

Strength – D (C) [B+] {A+}

Endurance – C+ (N/A) [C+] {C++}

Agility – D (C) [B+] {A+}

(To my knowledge the act of becoming a Campione enhances ones body to the point of possessing superhuman endurance where one's bones are considered stronger than steel and where muscle fibres can resist the mauling of magical constructs. As such I feel that Shirou's base parameters would be above normal human ones even without Reinforcement, especially endurance.)

Mana – A+ (Greater than any mortal magic user)

Luck – B+ (With most Campione I would consider this to range between a normal rank and A+++ or even EX depending on the circumstances. The reasoning behind this is that given that Campione are supposedly capable of twisting chance to the point where they can defy destiny and achieve the impossible act of slaying a deity I would expect them to be able to achieve good fortune normally impossible to mortals for at least brief instants. Shirou doesn't possess quite such an attribute, however since he has survived not only two major disasters that should have killed him but also engaged in his current adventure I rank his luck at just above the mortal maximum.)

Noble Phantasm – A++ (Assuming I substitute his Authorities for Noble Phantasms then I believe this rank to be appropriate. If I had to rank each Authority then they would be roughly as below:

Curses without End

Type – Anti-Unit/Support Rank – E-A++ Range – 1 – EX No of Targets – 1 – 100

Dragon Slaying Hero

Type – Support Rank – A+ Range – 1 No of Targets – 1

Mount of the Hero

Type – Support/Anti-Fortress Rank – A+ Range – 1-50 No of Targets – 200

The Heroes Bride

Type – Support Rank – B Range – 50 No of Targets – 1 – 400

Ruler of the Underworld

Type – Support/Anti-Army Rank – A+ Range – 1 - EX No of Targets – 1 – 200)


Next chapter sneak peak:

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