Underneath the bright streetlight, I can't seem to shake a thought possessing me. A dragon who foresaw the fates of others. A blade I obtained from its corpse. And myself… Someone who made an arrow with that very blade, survived certain death thrice-over, chose a path "fraught with the Concept Archer", and incurred the wrath of a far-flung magus of flowers.

"What does it all mean…?" I quietly ask the vacant, dark park I'm seated in.

I won't simply feign ignorance. Something about me has changed. Is it because of the arrow's influence? Or perhaps whatever machinations the fortune teller set in motion that day upon awakening me to the Concept Archer? I know not. All I know is, I have certainly changed. I am yet still changing. What Merlin said, the one request he asked of me, blares in my head.

Kill yourself, Shirou Emiya.

I begin to regret resting in this park to ponder on the matter. The cold park bench and harsh streetlight offer me no solace. I was so motivated to begin piecing together what it all meant, but if I get so shaken up after just taking the first step… do I really want to know?

"…This war, I have to put an end to it. For Irisviel." That's right. That alone is what I'm sure of. Despite everything else, I can say that with full confidence. Despite what happens, I will keep her safe. I will save her… I'll deal with all the other concerns after that.

"Ugh. Even when you're by yourself, all you care about is that old hag."

My hair stands on end and I lurch off the bench into a crouching position a short distance away. The arrow is already unsheathed and in my fastened grip affixed to the direction of the familiar, childish voice. I hear a giggling from the origin of the voice, in a dark corner of the playground.

"Hehehe. Ooh, scary." The child observes while stepping forward into the illumination casted by the streetlight.

Soon, Illyasviel presents herself before me. Her impish smile and scheming, crimson eyes are the same as ever. Dammit. She snuck up right under my nose while I was lost in thought. How did I not catch wind of her?! I nervously dart my eyes around the premises and hone my senses, desperately trying to locate Berserker.

"Wow, so hostile. Come on big brother, ease up. I didn't bring Berserker this time."

Her words cause my eyes to widen in shock. He's not here…? No, that can't be. I doubt this evil child would be caught dead without him. However, try as I might, I don't see any sign of him. The only thing she has accompanying her tonight is a long, mysterious object wrapped up and fastened to her back.

"What do you want, Illyasviel?" My question simply prompts her to chuckle again while skipping forward and sliding onto the park bench.

"I just wanted to hang out and talk!" she cheerfully exclaims. "Come on, come on! Let's sit and chat!"

She punctuates her command by slapping the spot on the bench next to her. I sit on her words for a moment, trying to decide whether I should trust her or not. Eventually, I decide that even if she's lying, I would be able to hold my own against her. With a sigh, I sheathe my arrow and begin slowly approaching her. Talking with this child under a streetlight-lit night… how nostalgic.

"I'm surprised I actually found you tonight. You're not as obvious as Saber and the old hag. There's some tact in the way you move about." I scoff at Illyasviel's comment.

"You've got some moxie to keep calling Irisviel a hag to my face. That's your mother you're talking about." She returns a scoff at me.

"Equally bold of you to give her a title so generous as 'mother'. She was never a mother to me. She took my father away, and abandoned me. All so she could live some peaceful life hidden away, playing house with a stray orphan she picked up." Her words paint a frown on my face.

I knew the girl was twisted, but to think she could so easily spit those venom-laced words.

"I won't pretend to know what happened between your family," I begin while leaning back into the bench and looking up to the starry sky, "but I do know one thing: regardless of what happened in the past, Irisviel still loves you. Even in the dangerous minefield that is this Holy Grail War, even despite your blatant hatred of her, and even after you and your servant turned me into a bloody mess- all she wants is to make amends with you. She's still pursuing you, with all her might."

My words seem to knock Illyasviel down a peg. Her angry eyes and confident smirk vanish, and she looks conflicted for a moment. However, she quickly recovers and flashes me a smile once more.

"Haha, how interesting! Well, we'll see if she's as determined as you think in the days to come… But! Enough of all that boring Irisviel talk. Since you mentioned it, I would like to know how you survived being cleaved by Hercules' blade. I mean, I expect nothing less of my big brother, but you should've still ended up six feet under after that kind of wound."

"It's thanks to the handiwork of Irisviel and Tohsaka. They patched me up- almost good as new. Granted, I still suffered a couple days of snoozing." Illyasviel shakes her head at my explanation.

"No, no. I didn't ask who fixed your body." Her smile broadens as she says this. "I asked how you survived. You give those two far too much credit. Somehow, of your own accord, you held on in the tatters of your ribboned corpse. Your ability to return from the grave pales in comparison only to Hercules' own."

Her words trouble me. Now that I think back on it, she's right. Irisviel explained that her and Tohsaka only healed me after they returned to the house. That means the torn-up state my body was in maintained that form for the entire transit in between.

The last thing I remember prior to Merlin and the sequence of dreams is the appearance of my body. Everything below my ribs was on display for the world to see, and my limbs were thoroughly broken and battered. Without a doubt, I died. It has happened enough times now that I can say it definitively.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to get at." I answer her while shaking my mind of it. "I have no answers as to why I managed to hang on long enough to be healed… I just remember thinking, 'I don't want Irisviel's terrified, crying expression to be the last thing I see'."

Her face sours a bit, again, when I mention Irisviel being my motivation. She seems frustrated at my explanation and looks as though she wants to say something but keeps hesitating. Eventually, she begins unfastening the object strapped to her back.

"If you truly don't know, I'll leave it at that for now. However, make no mistake, clawing back from the grips of death is no mundane accomplishment. The feat is nothing less than superhuman. I wonder what power of yours it is that drives you…"

With that final remark, she rips the cloth wrappings on the long object away with a single, swift pull. I tense where I sit, fearing it may be some tool to dispose of me with. My eyes light up in surprise when, instead, she whisks away the fabric to unveil the missing bow that Archer constructed for me. The bow?! I'd almost forgotten…

"I returned to the cemetery the day after our fight." Illyasviel explains. "I had hoped to perhaps encounter your crew trying to reclaim your weaponry, yet I instead found the bow still carelessly discarded amongst the tombstones."

I'm surprised when Illyasviel offers the bow to me, of which I quickly reclaim. It still looks good as new. There isn't a scratch on it, everything down to the short braid of Hercules' hair is still intact. If I didn't know better, I would say it looks almost as if Illyasviel cleaned it and even greased the limbs. No, surely she wouldn't go through the effort. It's already bizarre enough that she's giving it back to me here tonight.

"What's this all about?" I ask her, baffled. "I was under the assumption that you hate me and Irisviel's guts. Why would you return your enemy's weapon to them?"

She looks a little shaken up by my questioning. An uncharacteristic blush colors her cheeks, and she fidgets a bit where she sits.

"Y-You told me before, remember?" she asks nervously. "You would surely defeat Berserker if you had your armaments. And in turn, I promised I wouldn't crush you unless you had them. I'm just staying true to my word…"

"The way you're talking… Is that what you want? For me to defeat Berserker?"

She groans in frustration and tugs the locks of hair on either side of her head. My further questioning has done little to help her blushing cheeks.

"Grr stop with all these weird questions! Why in the world would I want to lose to you?! It's just… I don't know."

Surprisingly, her face and demeanor rapidly lose their flustered expression. She dons a more serious frown and furrowed brows.

"When you first told me you could defeat Berserker," she continues, in a deflated tone, "I didn't believe you. Despite how serious and confident you seemed, I was fully convinced it was a last, desperate attempt to safeguard your life. But then… in our fight within that graveyard, you actually did confront Berserker.

"You brushed off the blow from his surprise attack. And, I must again reiterate, you miraculously survived his second, fatal strike unto you. Yet even those two accomplishments pale in comparison to your other feat."

"My other… feat?" I repeat back to her, unable to catch what she's referring to.

She heard my words, surely. However, I see no reaction to my request for further elaboration. Her expression strikes me that perhaps she is trying to figure out the answer to it herself. Eventually, she begins fishing underneath her coat for something. Soon, she presents an arrow to me. A blood-stained, dirty arrow.

"Indeed." Illyasviel finally begins. "This. You'd managed to actually hurt my Berserker with these arrows."

After hearing her explanation, I finally recognize the object. Even in its poor state, I manage to identify it as the type of normal arrow I carry in my quivers. It was one of the two I lodged into his eyes.

"At first," she continues, "I assumed the arrows must've been imbued with the strongest of magecrafts. After finding and analyzing them in the cemetery, I was shocked to see this wasn't the case. They are but mundane arrows. Then, I thought your bow must've contained the magic origin- or, perhaps, was a Mystic Code. This wasn't the case. Despite excellent craftsmanship and an untraceable construction, that bow has no mystic qualities to it."

I nod my head at everything she tells me.

"Everything you've surmised is true. They're simple arrows I crafted myself. And the bow, while I was not the one who constructed it, is made entirely of materials I obtained over the years. The most unique thing about it would be from where I obtained the wood, I guess."

She closes her eyes and nods grievously.

"Then my conclusion should be correct. You shouldn't have been able to even scratch Berserker. Such means as you've described are incapable of harming a servant. Furthermore, the nature of my servant would prove even more impossible for you to harm. Only weapons of the utmost highest quality can hope to pierce the body of Hercules. Yet you have the gall to proclaim your 'normal' bow and arrows can affect him so?!"

I recoil a tad away from Illyasviel as she becomes progressively more peeved while talking. I swallow nervously as she stares daggers into me.

"I-If you say so. Tohsaka said something similar to me before, about normal means being unable to damage servants. But I have no answers for you. I merely acted to save Irisviel and did what I had to accomplish such."

"I wish I could convey how ridiculous what you're saying is." Illyasviel mutters while rubbing her temple. "However, I saw with my own eyes. I saw there is more truth to your claim of defeating Berserker than I initially gave credit… I wish I knew just how you did it- what allows you to defy fate in such an aloof manner. Do you even know yourself?"

The thought she poses prompts me to wonder as well. What causes me to defy fate? If I had to guess…

"Irisviel."

She scoffs with a prompt "hmph!" at my answer.

"Spare me your obsession with mother, big brother. If you have no rational answers for me then keep it to yourself!"

"…" Why is she getting so angry? She's acting like a jealous little kid…

"But, enough of all that." Illyasviel suddenly pipes up in a gleeful, chipper tone. "Let's drop all the serious talk and just enjoy the rest of our time here tonight!"

I have trouble coming to terms with the situation I'm in as the young girl scooches across the bench to rub elbows with me. This kid changes her mood and demeanor as if it was clockwork…

"Before we settle into pleasantries," I begin while affixing a stern, serious gaze onto Illyasviel, "I must ask you something. I will only pose this offer once, so listen carefully."

"Whatever could it be, big brother?" she asks while pressing her finger to her bottom lip and maintaining the same, deceitful tone.

"Tch. Very well. I ask you this, Illyasviel: Will you dismiss your allegiance to Berserker and return to Irisviel? At the very least, I beg of you to give her a single chance. Meet her so that you can both logically, plainly discuss all that has happened between you two. No servants, no fighting, no magic, no tricks. Drop all pretenses and confront her with an open mind… please."

"I refuse~!"

She offers me an all-too-pleased grin after shooting down my genuine request of her. Upon rejecting me, she wraps up my right arm in a bear hug and nuzzles her head against my shoulder. The affectionate gesture betrays the wicked machinations spinning within her mind.

"You see, big brother," she continues while blissfully keeping her eyes closed, "I no longer have any interest in that woman. Nor do I owe her anything. The only one I care about in this War, is you. In all honesty, I don't even care if she lives or dies."

I feel disgusted at her words.

"You-!"

"Having said that," she hastily continues while lifting two fingers towards my face in a gesture to silence me, "I have my own offer to pose you."

"What might that be?"

Her eyes open and her head lurches forward all in the same motion. Having her impish smile mere inches from my face now, I feel a chill course up my spine.

"Become mine, big brother. Forget about Irisviel and devote yourself to me instead."

"…" I silently maintain a locked gaze with her expectant, crimson eyes.

"Anything that woman can give you so can I. Happiness, love, wealth, power- whatever poor excuses she provides you, I can match with overflowing abundance. And, in return, I will henceforth ignore the worthless woman. I will spare her the merciful death I'd planned for her and allow her to trudge along with her miserable existence, so long as you serve me. That is the offer I present you, big brother. Quite generous, no?"

I finally break my gaze from Illyasviel's own. I lift my head to the sky above and stare at the star-speckled image. Funnily enough, the multitude of tiny dots up there only serve to piss me off even more.

I rip my arm from Illyasviel and rise off the bench, onto my feet. I snatch up my bow from where it leans against the wooden seating. As I turn to begin exiting the park, I hear a defeated sigh from Illyasviel.

"Hm, did I hit a soft spot?" she asks in a rhetoric tone. "Perhaps I shouldn't tease you so much."

"Why would you even think to pose me such a ridiculous 'offer'. You know full well what my answer is to a proposal like that."

"Haha, it was worth a shot. Surely you understand that, to me, your earlier offer was just as ridiculous. Reconciling with that woman is the last thing I'd do. And if you refuse my offer to join me, and continue acting as the dog of that woman, you'll have no other option but to get through Berserker and take me to Irisviel by force."

"Tch." Her stubbornness knows no bounds. "That was my original plan. Mark my words, Illyasviel: your Berserker, Hercules, will fall by my hands."

"Oho, you seem so confident. Despite you miraculously being able to hurt my servant, you'd do well not to be so cock-"

"I can never be yours Illyasviel." I sternly state while circling where I stand to face her. My words cut through her playful, cheery façade like a knife. Illyasviel's true expression possesses her face as I dawn my critical gaze upon her. Cold, isolated eyes and an emotionless frown.

"What do you mean by that, big brother?" her words are monotone and serious.

"My life was saved by one and one alone. Perhaps even more times than I've realized. So, to that person alone have I dedicated myself. And that person- she has a wish. Until that wish is granted, I will not be defeated. By you, Berserker, or anyone else… You said that you had no interest in Irisviel, only me. Then, as my final act of kindness, I will give you a warning. Count the days, Illyasviel. You're in for a rude awakening, sooner than you know. I will see that you face both Irisviel and your past, no matter what."

Suddenly, I feel a slight pang throughout my entire body. For the briefest of moments, Illyasviel's eyes ominously illuminate before flickering back to normal. What the-? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I shake my head and blink my eyes a couple of times. As I rub my temple and focus my gaze back on Illyasviel, her face has surprisingly filled with emotion once more- surprise.

"You-" she stutters. "Big brother, how did you-"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me." I hastily cut her off with an agitated start after hearing her nickname for me again. "I cannot be your older brother, either. Unlike you, there hasn't been a single day in my life… where I saw Irisviel as my mother."

She retains her aghast expression after I drive the nail even further. I feel a bit of regret at my words. Did I go too hard on her? Despite how evil and twisted she may be, she is still a kid… I feel even worse when I see the corners of her mouth tremble and twitch as though she's about to burst into tears. With a sniffle, she opens her mouth to respond.

"Hahahaha!" Illyasviel bursts into a fit of laughter. Laughter? "Jeez, you really didn't hold back there. Even after I tried to use my Eyes of Binding on you, you simply stood up and shot me down effortlessly. You really are special…"

"Eyes of… Binding?" I ask in confusion after she quickly references the foreign term.

"Never mind that." She answers while shaking her head. "Big bro- um, I mean, Shirou? You certainly just proclaimed all of that quite passionately. However, isn't there somebody else you should tell all of that to?"

I feel my face grow flush at Illyasviel's suggestion.

"W-What do you mean?"

"The person who needs to hear that. The person you want to tell. If I had to guess, she's none the wiser about everything you just told me. About your true feelings towards her."

I can practically feel my face burning as I realize how she's beginning to turn the tables on me. She's aware of this too, as her lips turn into a smug smirk.

"I, no- it's not like that." I quickly try to assure her. "When I say that about her, I just mean… I-I simply look up to Irisviel! She saved my life, and took me in, so I… I…"

"…You should be honest with yourself, Shirou." Illyasviel states calmly. Her cockiness seems to have fled her, and she has an uncharacteristic genuine smile.

"No, I shouldn't…" I stubbornly assert while forcing my blush and embarrassment to subside. "What I want doesn't matter, Illyasviel. Those feelings you think I harbor… Even if they were true, what would you have me do? I decided long ago that I would live for Irisviel. That I would do whatever I could to protect her. To preserve the smile I saw on the day both our lives were destroyed… So, my selfish desires have no room in that future."

"…You would go so far as to forsake your own happiness to meet that end?" she asks in a slightly scolding tone.

After standing in silence for a while, unsure of how to respond to that, I see her sigh before continuing.

"You shouldn't fight your feelings so fervently, Shirou." She jumps off the bench and joins me in standing a few paces away from it. "You sure were quick to cast a stone at me for refusing to face my past with Irisviel, but you're no better. It's important to get these things off your chest whenever you have the opportunity to do so. Because someday… it may no longer be possible for you to say those words to them."

"…" I can't refute what she's saying. Objectively, she's right. However, considering her current situation, she's really the pot calling the kettle black. She puffs out her chest and sighs after seeing I won't concede the point.

"Well, if you won't tell her then that makes things easier for me. I won't have any guilt on my conscious to continue defying a guy as stubborn as you."

"That's funny." I comment plainly. "I was under the assumption you couldn't feel things like guilt or empathy."

"Hmph!"

We spend the rest of our time together discussing pleasantries, surprisingly. Illyasviel's demeanor flipped again, and she decided all she wanted to talk about was things like what kind of food we cook and eat at the house, what school life is like, what my taste in clothing is, and why I love archery so much. After an hour or so passes, she suddenly drops the conversation and hops off of the park bench.

"Berserker will start getting rowdy if I don't return soon." She explains. "I should go."

"I see…" I mumble in response, feeling bittersweet about her departure. "This is probably the last time the offer for you to simply and peacefully come join us will be on the table. Why not just make it easier on all of us and just come back with me tonight?"

She shakes her head and shoots me a defiant smile.

"Even if I wanted to, my duties as the Einzbern master wouldn't allow me to go with you. It isn't entirely due to me being stubborn when I say you'll have to beat Berserker and take me by force. There's also the concrete reason behind it… Also, if you want me that badly, then I'm going to have to make you work for it!"

I frown at her cryptic response and let out a disappointed sigh. Which is it then?! Ugh, it can never be easy, can it?

I rise from the bench myself while gathering my bow and arrows. My eyes stay trained on Illyasviel as she walks away from our seat to leave the park. She only manages to make it about ten steps away before she stops and looks back to me with a conflicted expression.

"…Hey, Shirou?" Illyasviel timidly calls out to me. "Will you really come chase me down after tonight? Are you truly going to defeat Berserker and take me away from the Einzberns and this war?"

I skew my brow in confusion at her question. What a weird thing to ask…

"I thought I've made that answer crystal clear." I begin while looking over my shoulder to her. "Without a doubt, of course I will. You'd better believe it."

I can't quite tell because of the darkness of the park and the distance between us, but it looks like her jaw goes a little slack and her bottom lip quivers at my promise. After a nervous gulp, she grits her teeth and shouts back.

"D-Don't be daft!" she screams. "I swear, all this time! How can you even be so sure you could defeat Hercules?! I-I know! You really are just bluffing! It's all just a lie to buy you and that damn woman as much time as possible! Isn't it?!"

Her voice reverberates across the empty night sky within the park. Normally, I would probably be more shaken up by her sudden outburst. However, I've begun to see the methods behind her behavior. A heavy frown sets itself on my face at her tantrum. Yet again, her disposition changes as fluently as the wind. Yet, this time is different. Like a caged dog, she lashes out at the world around her. The only trust she has is in the life she lived. Her reality is the world she inhabited during that time apart from Irisviel.

So, obviously she wouldn't believe what I'm saying. She said so herself. "Berserker is the strongest servant." That self-imposed reality permeates her being. So long as it is true, she has a degree of understanding into the world surrounding. In other words, she is safe.

I inhale deeply and furrow my brows in preparation for my response.

"I'm getting tired of repeating myself! DON'T BE AN IDIOT!"

Her enraged expression and teary eyes soften when I shout back at her several magnitudes louder than her own.

"I know you've been without proper parental figures for a while now…" I continue while hoisting my bow over my shoulder. "So, I'll cut you a little slack. However, that's all the more reason. Whenever we next meet, and I put that lumbering brute of a servant six feet under, you're going to get an earful! I'm going to reprimand you for all the trouble and heartache you've caused Irisviel, and it's going to be brutal!"

Illyasviel merely blinks a couple of times at my threat of chastising her. She seems surprised by my words, but the sparkle in her eyes hint at something more. Perhaps it's just from the tears' dampness, but it gives her the appearance of being wonderstruck by what I've said. Having seen how well I've captured her attention, I continue.

"I've already told you I can't be your big brother… But if I truly want to live for Irisviel, then you being her last living relative makes you my responsibility, as far as I'm concerned. So, you can cry and protest and have as big a tantrum as you want after I send Berserker to meet his maker. But it won't save you from a harsh talking-to from me! And then, I'm taking you home! And you're going to sit with your mother for a warm meal together and sort out all of your damn problems!"

I have to pause and catch my breath. I'm slightly winded after putting so much force behind my shouts. I hear two clattering noises, following each other shortly in suit, on the ground near my feet. The bloody arrow Illyasviel'd returned to me snapped in the grip of my left hand from how tight I was clenching it. Nevertheless, judging by her expression, she understands how serious I am now. I lift my finger and point directly at her.

"So, dread the next time you see me. Because come then, your days of running around without a family and causing trouble like a hooligan are over… Illya."

I stand pointing at her in silence for a while. It takes her a moment to finally react. With a quiet sniffle and a subtle nod of her head, she turns around and begins making her exit from the park. Just as I assume she has nothing more to say, I hear her begin talking. She doesn't speak up near to the extent of her earlier outburst. In fact, it's almost too quiet to discern as she mutters to me from across the playground.

"Saber only slew ten of his dozen. Hercules yet has two lives. Come three days from now, all the preparations will be done for me to return him to all 12."

I feel my teeth grit at the news she relays to me. My fears have proven true. Despite having a suspicion, I hoped it wouldn't be so.

"So… you really can regenerate them." I say this almost as quietly as her revelation. But why would she divulge this information? Is she trying to challenge or provoke me…?

"S-So," she continues while looking back to me with a flustered face, "if you indeed want a chance in defeating him… then hurry."

Before I can respond, she bolts off in full sprint onto the sidewalk leaving the park. It isn't long before her rapid footsteps are out of earshot, and I'm left alone in the quiet park. …All that's left is to make good on that promise. It can never be simple, can it?

I'm left with a lingering thought as I turn to leave the park in the opposite direction, towards home. I should be honest with myself, huh? I twirl my lucky arrow absentmindedly while reflecting on all the odd mannerisms and things she said.

"*sigh*… You should take a page from your own book, dummy."