No Prayers, No Fate, No Reason to Live, Pt 3
Disclaimers I don't own the Fate series, and if you're from the states and know who owns them and are able to go above and beyond in supporting them, you my friend are truly one of the bigger super fans that I do admire and must praise you for doing whatever it is you do.
Also to those who might be curious during my usual sign offs, I am actually an official published author and writer to my own book series 'How I Saved Satan's Daughter in Another World', and as we speak book 2 is already more than halfway written, and no I won't apologize for shamelessly advertizing this.
With that being said and done let's get on with this story already.
It was a calm night, in spite of all the mayhem and action that transpired these last few hours, and unfortunately for Shirou the night is young with so many questions that are yet to be answered still.
Right now, he and Saber were currently following Rin far out of town, for reasons yet to be known.
"So yeah, basically that's what servants are in a nutshell" said Rin as she had finished explaining to Shirou the master servant relationship, the 7 types of servants, and how Saber came to be in under his care, or better said the other way around.
"But wait, that doesn't explain how Saber came into my position to begin with, I mean I don't have some sort of catalyst medium, nor did I made a summoning ritual of any kind" said Shirou.
"Really you don't say" said Rin as she was surprised to hear this revelation, before she began to pout.
"Um, Rin" said Shirou as he was rather confused as to why she's looking at him as if he's insulted her.
"You're right it doesn't make sense, nor is it fair that you manage to summon Saber in spite of me trying to summon her a few days ago" said Rin as this surprised both Shirou and Saber.
"Oh um, sorry" said Shirou said innocently, "Hmpf, you're just gonna have to find a way to make it up to me later on" pouted Rin as she turned her head away.
"If you're insinuating that Shirou exchanges me for your servant forget it" said Saber, "Please a Tohsaka would never lower themselves to guilt trip another master like that" said Rin as they continued to walk.
"So question where are we going" asked Shirou as they've been walking for a while and rather aimlessly it seems at this point.
"We're not far from the man who's acting as the coordinator for this Holy Grail War, and frankly speaking he's even asked for my presence as well" explained Rin.
"I'm sorry, who" asked Shirou, "You'll see soon enough, besides we're not that far now" said Rin as they all caught sight of a church up ahead of the road.
"A church" said Shirou, "Yup" answered Rin plainly as they got more closer, but the duo stopped the moment Saber did.
"Saber is everything alright" asked Shirou, "Don't worry about her, servants aren't allowed to enter here beyond this point, including my Archer, speaking of, Archer!" called Rin as Archer suddenly appeared once more.
"What's up master" said Archer cooly, "Me and Shirou are going inside alright, while we're there I want you to remain vigilant and keep your eyes peeled in case someone suspicious decides to arrive" said Rin.
"Understood" said Archer, "Also this goes without saying, but no funny business between you and Saber alright" said Rin, "Right, right I heard you the first time around".
"Saber, that goes for you too alright" said Shirou, "You can trust me master" said Saber before both servants saw their masters enter inside this church the left them both with a rather dreary feeling.
Walking past the iron gates and through the church door, both Shirou and Rin were greeted by none other the Kirei Kotomine as he waited patiently for them to arrive.
"…And so it was said that the lamb heed the call of the shepherd, as he promised to care for it till it was not only mature, but knowledged in a means of the way of its very existence" said Kirei before putting on a warm smile.
"Rin so good to see you, and I see you brought in a friend, a fellow master no less, that is what I assume" said Kirei.
"Kirei, I only came here because you had something important to tell me regarding the current Holy Grail War and I figured since this guy is absolutely clueless and needs to be well informed about it, I figured why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone" said Rin.
"Ha, still full of moxie, though that shouldn't surprise me considering I was the one to raise you" said Kirei as this got Rin to blush in embarrassment that he'd so bluntly reveal something so personal like that without a second thought.
"Shut- shut up, that's not important, what's important right now is you informing us what's going with this Holy Grail War" said a very flustered Rin as Shirou was trying to hide his smile.
"That would actually fall upon to me, Miss Tohsaka" said Murdock as he came into the picture at long last.
"Hm, I can understand why this man serves as your families representative, given how quite young you are" said Murdock as he began to examine both her and Shirou.
"And you, I take it you must be another master, in spite of how clueless you look" said Murdock as Shirou felt confused once more.
"I'm sorry, but who are you" asked Shirou, "My, am I really that unknown to the Magus Association now" said Murdock as he feigned feeling offended.
"Shirou that man there is…" whispered Tohsaka, "Please Miss Tohsaka, no need to explain for I'm more than happy to introduce myself, but hey it's at least good to know that someone so young is able to recognize me unlike others" said Murdock as he looked at Kirei who began to whistle an innocent tune.
"Right, my name is Murdock LaVey, and from here on out I'll be the coordinator for this Holy Grail War from now on, though frankly speaking the name of this current war seems rather ironic" said Murdock.
"And you are" asked Murdock, "My name is Shirou Emiya" said Shirou, "Emiya eh, you wouldn't happen to be related towards one Kiritsugu Emiya now, would you" asked LaVey.
"Yes I am, he's my adoptive father after I survived from a fire that killed everyone from my neighborhood, including my parents about 10 years ago" said Shirou.
"My this got rather interesting" said Murdock before he turned to frown and look at Kirei, "You're hereby free to go Kotomine".
"Thank you kindly sir" said Kirei with a smile, "Kirei" called Rin, "Don't worry about me Rin, I'll be alright, just make me proud and win this war alright" said Kirei before acknowledging Shirou.
"Rejoice Boy, for you've been granted this rare opportunity to participate in a battle between other mages and servants, for the sole chance of being able to make your dreams come true, and no matter who the winner is, I assure you that this war will come to an end and peace will be brought upon us" said Kirei with enough dramatic flair you'd thought he'd addition to be a front man for a rock band.
"Are you done yet" said Murdock as he was rather unamused by the priests antics, "Quite so" said Kirei before turning to exit through one of the doors in the back.
"I swear" said Murdock before returning to face Rin and Shirou.
"Anyways, I'm sure you both have a lot of questions in regards to this Holy Grail War" said Murdock.
"Yes, clearly there's a bunch of inside information that's yet to be shared or informed and I think an explanation is definitely in order" said Rin in a haughty tone.
"Fair enough, I shall start by explaining that first of all this Holy Grail War, isn't exactly a Holy Grail War, that is there's no Holy Grail to be offered" said Murdock.
"What do you mean, there's no Holy Grail to be offered" asked Rin, "Please Miss Tohsaka hold any to all questions you have, as it be a lot faster if you'd allow me to explain and listen as there's a lot of information that needs to be shared as of now" said Murdock.
"You see, about 10 years ago, there was a Holy Grail War here in Fuyuki City, where the victor of that battle was none other than a man named Kiritsugu Emiya" said Murdock as he turned to smile at Shirou.
"Wait, you're saying my dad was a participant and the winner of a Holy Grail War" asked Shirou, "Indeed, though however when it came down to attaining the Holy Grail as it was literally in his hands, he had instead chosen to destroy" said Murdock.
"Destroying the Holy Grail, is such an act even possible" asked Rin as this was complete news to her, "Indeed so, thought I'm surprised you weren't aware given how your legal guardian Kotomine was present to witness the whole thing happening before his eyes" said Murdock.
"Kirei you jerk" said Rin, "Yes we could admit the man is indeed a bit of a jerk ass, just like how we could blame him for not killing Kiritsugu when he had the chance, both before and after the destruction of the Holy Grail" said Murdock as this struck a nerve with Shirou.
"Hey, what exactly warrants my father to be killed as a means of a justified act" demanded Shirou.
"Fair enough, I guess damning him for a much sooner death is indeed a very delicate, very controversial subject on account further research conducted by yours truly has proven that the Holy Grail is nothing more than a volatile dooms day weapon, that Kiritsugu had realized and was able to destroy it permanently" said Murdock.
"However, it doesn't excuse the fact his reckless actions caused the deaths of many innocent civilians within the scarred Shinto region of Fuyuki City" said Murdock as this shocked Shirou.
"Come again" asked Shirou in utter disbelief, "Well surely you know about the fires from 10 years ago, I mean you said a few minutes ago that you survived those very fires, though I'm starting to get the impression that you weren't aware of that important bit of detail" said Murdock.
"No, no I didn't know about that" said Shirou as he was definitely having himself a head ache after everything he's been enduring this night.
"Hey if it's worth anything, your fathers actions were unintentional, you know causing those fires, but he did had good reasons and was successful" said Murdock as Shirou was making faces of conflicted emotions.
"Look I get that Shirou here is probably confused on so many levels, but can we try turning things back as to how there can be a Holy Grail, if there's no Holy Grail to begin with" said Rin.
"Right, sorry about that, but to answer your question, this 'Holy Grail War' will be fought over this" said Murdock as he turned the stadium puce around, before removing the cloth on top of it to reveal Lucifer's Halo.
"Wait a minute, isn't that…" said Rin as she was surprised to see what's been argued in recent times as the most mysteriously unknown treasures to be granted to a magus family in history.
"That's right, Lucifer's Halo, this here will be the prize you'll be competing for the next month" said Murdock, before he had to conjure up some hell fire as a barrier between him and Shirou who made a mad grab for it.
"What the hell trying to pull" said Murdock as he wasn't pleased with Shirou's antics, "For something like Lucifer's Halo to not only exist, but be used as an offering, it must be destroyed" explained Shirou.
"Calm down, I assure you that my family who has used the thing in but only a handful of times, isn't as dangerous or destructive as you might think" said Murdock.
"Oh yeah, then prove it" demanded Shirou, "Trust me, the only way to activate it's powers is if there to remain but only one servant and master or if I or someone in my family were to die, and I personally have no intentions of killing myself just to show an example" said Murdock before snuffing out his flames.
"Shirou, let's calm down, for all we know this could be our only chance to finally uncover the secrets of not only Lucifer's Halo but the secret to the most mysterious family since the Crowley's" said Rin.
"I don't care any of this stuff, all I care about is being able to go home, and do good not only in my neighborhood, but to the world and become a hero of justice like I promised to not only myself, but to my father" said Shirou as his defiant act got Rin to glare at him for being an idiot, but Murdock to smile in satisfaction.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear" said Murdock interrupting their argument.
"You see, I only decided to offer Lucifer's Halo under a major condition to any and all for those who plan on participating in this Holy Grail War, and that is that one of these 4 wishes must be used in putting an end to this conflicting war" said Murdock.
"And hearing you making such a bold claim, I must say that fact you have the man practically sponsoring this whole thing routing for you can only mean good fortune to be fall for you Shirou" said Murdock.
"Wait did you say 4 wishes" asked Rin, "Indeed so Miss Tohsaka" said Murdock before Rin began to rest her hands on her cheek and began to day dream of the possibilities she could acquire with 4 wishes.
"Though reminder, you must swear that one of them were to end the war" said Murdock, "Oh um, of course" said Rin trying to ground herself, but still 3 wishes were pretty awesome.
"This is exactly what I mean when I say I'll be rooting for you kid, while many have sworn to uphold that commitment, nothing is entirely forcing them to, which is rather unfortunate" said Murdock as Shirou remained neutral faced as he faced the man.
"Even after everything you just said, what makes you think I'd even want to participate in this Holy Grail War anymore" said Shirou as Murdock was taken aback.
"Fair enough, you do have the choice to not participate, though who's to say that maybe your servant wouldn't object, in which your only choice is to order them to kill themselves, and of course we all run the risk that someone with more selfish intentions might not decide to screw it and become a tyrannical god" said Murdock as his attempts trying to pressure Shirou into changing his mind and thinking of these possibilities weren't without merit.
"Look, for now why not sleep it over, and think about it, cause frankly out of everyone I had to introduce, only from you am I getting any good vibes that we can put an end to this war, including this Holy Grail War" said Murdock.
"Wait, are you saying that this is to be the last Holy Grail War" asked Rin as this snapped her back to reality, "Indeed, for after this I plan to seal away Lucifer's Halo from the public knowledge of the Magus Association, for I have no intention of wanting to see another one so long as my family existence stands" said Murdock.
Hearing that not only got Rin's but Shirou's attention as both stared at the man.
"Right with that being said, I'll add in some last bit of information to share with you both, starting with how as I mentioned that this Holy Grail War will last for no longer than a month, rules apply in previous Holy Grail Wars that in order to win a fight, either by killing both the master and servant or one of them, any master who sets foot here are granted immunity and sanctuary from the war" said Murdock as this was already basic information to Rin.
"Oh and I should mention that on top of the current 7 servants, there are to be 4 new servants and master participating in this final war" said Murdock.
"What!" exclaimed Rin as Murdock could only smile from her reaction, "You see, throughout these Holy Grail Wars, while it's given not only a chance to allow heroes and legends a second chance of life and a chance to fight, it also gave us a glimpse, nay a reminder as to how wars and battles were fought in a bygone era" said Murdock.
"And as time goes by, so does war, in how not only the battle tactics change, but the types of soldiers we put out on the battle field" said Murdock.
"Hold on, if there are to be 4 new servants and masters participating, we should at least be told the 4 servant classes at least to not be entirely surprised" said Rin.
"But of course, as it be unfair not to share that, though don't think that means I'll be sharing any of the masters names or locations" said Murdock as this got Rin to ease up, "Alright sounds fair" said Rin.
"Great, now the 4 classes are as followed, you have your Pilot, then you have your Sniper, then you have your Solider, and finally your Medic" explained Murdock.
"But hold on, these are ranks within military soldiers, and soldiers aren't heroes as many of them say" said Rin.
"Be that as that may, throughout history, there have been many soldiers who indeed have gone down in the history books as legends and heroes, who's names shall not be forgotten, and that in tells a valid enough reason and excuse for the presence for them to participate in the Holy Grail" said Murdock.
"Now should you have any other questions throughout this Holy Grail War, that doesn't involving me sharing any to all delicate information or cheating, please don't be a stranger" said Murdock as he wanted to finally usher them out and be alone.
"Um, Shirou if you could stay for a minute, I'd like to have a word with you in private" said Murdock as Rin took the hint to step out and leave them alone.
"Look, I know what I said, but consider this an act of good fate and as my proof to be your number 1 supporter in this war" said Murdock.
"Be weary from now on whenever you cross paths with Kotomine, in spite of his act, something tells me the man holds some resentment towards your father, and I've no doubt he might take the events of this war to eventually confront you and settle some unfinished business he had with your father" said Murdock.
Seeing as there was no reason to not trust him, Shirou took the information in before thanking him.
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind" said Shirou, "Very good, we'll be in touch" said Murdock before Shirou let himself out to finally catch up with Rin and Saber.
"So what did he say" asked Rin as she was patiently waiting for him outside, "He said to be weary of Kotomine" said Shirou as Rin nodded.
"Hmm, figures though I can't blame him as I now have suspicions of ever interacting with that man ever again" said Rin before both walked out to join back with Saber, before Archer appeared.
"Archer, anything to report" asked Rin, "Nope, the coast seems clear" said Archer.
"Good, shall we all head home now" said Rin, "Yeah, I'm pretty beat that I might call in to take the day off" said Shirou.
"Rest is indeed the upmost importance master, for a well rested mind and body can only ensure that your survival is but guaranteed" said Saber.
"I'm honestly more worried about you and your injuries" said Shirou, "Fear not, give me some time to rest and I'll be good as new" said Saber as they all continued to walk back to their respective homes to call it a day.
As we pan out from this group of aligned masters and servants, we take a look at all those who'll be participating or be taking some sort of part.
In the Matou household, we see Sakura cleaning up some broken plates and cleaning up a mess on the floor after her brother not only demanded to force her servant to be under his control, but also toss aside the dinner she had made for her, as Shinji began to plot his move in order to cease victory as Rider had no choice but to listen and obey this incompetent fool.
Elsewhere we see Illya walking down the dark vacant streets of Fuyuki City, with no need to worry as Berserker was never that far behind her and was ready to protect her by all means.
Back in the Ryuudou temple, Souichirou is sleeping in peace for he still has a job as a teacher, while Caster is keeping track of all the servants, including the 4 new ones, except for one, while Assassin remained the vigilant guard outside the temples door.
While he sent Lancer off to do whatever to kill time, Kotomine decided to reconnect with an old ally as both man sat down and ate top tier wine and steak dinner only ever fit for a king.
Coming in through the skies in their very own plane, we see a pilot wearing WWI era aviator goggles and helm, as he wore a red scarf wrapped around his neck, while the passenger behind him was a man roughly about Murdock's age as he had short brunette hair and a thick push broom mustache, as he wore suspenders over long sleeved white button up.
Just entering the city, we see 2 older men, with one wearing Union General outfit as he carried a cavalry saber on his left side, and a revolver on his right hip, while the other wore a modern day formal business attire carrying a suitcase in his hand as he began to adjust his glasses.
On one of the more taller rooftops of Fuyuki City, we see 2 men taking in and enjoying the view of the city, with one wearing an imperialistic uniform, that screamed peacocking, as he had his rifle on his back, while the other wore a wool sweater and small cap as he took a swig of whiskey from a flask inside his coat pocket.
Finally the farthest coming in by sea, we see a man wearing a WWII era uniform, with that special cadet cap, as he carried 2 bags worth of medical supplies and a bible in his hand, while standing next to her was a woman with long brunette hair, blue eyes, wearing a green denim trench coat as she leaned on the ships railing.
Alright, just going to end things from here, as always leave me your thoughts as to what you guys think so far, what you like, what you didn't, what can be improved and so forth.
Also I should mention this now, but I've never actually read the bible once in my life, so sorry if I offended anyone for improvising that small speech Kirei said in the previous chapter, so yeah sorry.
Otherwise I'm going to put this story on hold for the time being as I have other commitments that need my attention, regarding other fic's, my 2nd novel, and other crap in my personal life.
This has been your Humble Narrator and official author Tobi Yaza. =3