Tachie could only watch, powerless to help as her only ally in her quest was carried away by a swarm of giant insects. She turned to the man that commanded them, to take on the abomination known as Zouken, but he was already gone. Not a sign he was ever there was left behind.

With a cry of frustration, she punched the street, cracking it with sheer force. Now what was she supposed to do? Her one lead, her one help, gone. She stood up, shaking the dust off her hand as she considered her next move.

Going and trying to save the boy would be a waste of time, wouldn't it? She didn't know what his situation was, and she frankly didn't really care. She felt warmth in her chest at those thoughts, which she decided to interpret as Galahad agreeing with her.

Galahad… now that she stopped to think about it, she didn't know a lot about him. The two didn't speak to each other, and when he took over her body, her memory became… hazy. She knew broad strokes of what happened any time he took over, but the finer details always escaped her.

Come to think about it, that boy seemed to know that Galahad was inside of her. He thought he was slick, quickly covering his slips of the tongue, but she knew better. What was his connection to Galahad? Maybe he was related to the whole reason the two were even fused in the first place.

That didn't really matter though.

The 'how' she was here in this cursed city didn't matter. All that mattered was finding that red haired boy, the one that abandoned her on that day, and forcing him to pay. She wasn't sure how she knew he lived, but she could feel it, deep inside.

With a tired sigh, she turned to leave. However, a soft pathetic cry stopped her in her tracks. Slowly turning her head, she saw the boy's Servant. The child was on her stomach, doing her best to drag herself in the direction the bugs went.

"Mommy… Mommy!" Jack cried out. Her leg was still healing from Perceus's attack, the wound left behind large enough to stop Jack from walking. Still, she was determined to try to reach her Mommy.

Tachie watched this, and for the first time in a long time, a pit formed in her stomach. She should just leave. She knew she should. Getting entangled with this any further would not help her. And yet… and yet… if she left this child behind, would that make her any better than that boy that abandoned her all those years ago?

No, no it wouldn't.

She quietly walked over, carefully picking up Jack and placing her on her back. Jack looked down at Tachie, but before the child could say anything, Tachie spoke up.

"I'm not going to help you." She stated. "I have more important matters to attend to. But…" She paused, mulling the words over in her head. "Your Master mentioned he had friends. I'll take you to them, so you all can save him. Just point me to where I should go."

"Please… help…" Jack muttered as she laid her head on Tachie's shoulder. When the Shielder refused to answer or even look her in the face, Jack knew it was futile to keep asking for help. With a tired arm, Jack pointed to the one place she could find help.

The Emiya Estate.

Zouken wasn't one to be cheerful. The many years he lived rotted away his soul, leaving him without empathy or most emotions. He could almost be considered a husk of his former self, a shell that forgot its reason for even living.

So the feeling he felt as he watched Ritsuka's unconscious body wasn't joy, but he was sure it was close to it.

The worms slithered around the floor as Zouken watched his old friend check over Ritsuka. One got too close to the magus's hand, causing him to swat it away. "Sorry." The man apologized to Zouken. He was pretty sure Zolgen wasn't a fan of abuse to his familiars.

The man knew he shouldn't judge, but he didn't remember Zolgen having all these worms back in the day. Were they new, or did he always have them?

Shaking his head, the man went back to work examining Fujimaru's body. His eyes narrowed the more he observed. The more time passed, the smaller and smaller the vile smile on Zouken's face became.

"What is taking so long, Hohenheim?" Zouken finally asked. The other mage sighed, standing up and dusting off his knees.

"We made a major miscalculation." the man finally admitted, causing Zouken to raise a non-existent eyebrow. "We assumed he was sent to this world in his own body, but this?" The mage pointed down to Ritsuka's body. "This isn't the real body." Zouken's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the body.

"Not the body?" He muttered.

"My current theory is that whatever sent this boy to this world only sent his Mind and his Soul. This 'Body' we see before us is a collection of Spiritron Particles… not something our little project was calibrated for." He patted the large, thick jar. "Your benefactor sent away his Mind and Soul to wherever it sent them too, leaving behind only this useless husk. Your best bet–"

"-Is to ask my benefactor to steal his Body from his timeline?" Zouken finished. The other mage nodded. "Very well… I shall do that… but this may cost us a few more women."

"I'll prepare your worms…"

Things weren't going so well for Shirou Emiya.

He had tried many times last night to figure out what was wrong with his summoning. He called out, he reached out, he cried out for help.

And yet no one answered his call.

It was a problem that baffled Rin. She tried all sorts of things to force a summon. No matter what solution she tried, no matter what words or what circle was drawn, a Servant would not answer Shirou's call.

Dawn was breaking over the horizon as the two sat inside of the shed. Rin was hunched over the magic circle, looking for some sort of error she could correct, something that could make this work. Sighing, she came to the only conclusion she could.

This was a waste of time.

So now what? She could just walk away, go home, and let Shirou deal with this alone. Hell, Shirou wasn't even really alone, Ritsuka was sticking to the boy like glue. In fact, she really had no way to confirm that Illya would actually come tonight. This wasn't her problem. She had a Holy Grail War to win, and Shirou was no longer a part of it.

No… no, she was just making excuses now. Even if she didn't know if Illya was coming tonight, she knew that Illya attacked Shirou. On their very first day of training, she asked Shirou about it, and he confirmed he was attacked by the Einzbern. So either way, Illya did use her Servant to attack a civilian. But why?

Her eyes looked over to Shirou, who was just watching her expectantly. She let out a sigh.

"Well, summoning a Servant for you just… isn't working out." Rin began, causing Shirou to sit up. "Our best bet right now is to prepare for tonight." She stood up, dusting off her legs. "I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me up at noon, and I'll start sprucing up this place for tonight. Hopefully by then, Ritsuka will return from his own summoning." Between her, and Ritsuka's two Servants, they should have a decent chance at fighting back Illya.

"Is there anything else you need me to do?" Shirou asked as he stood up. Rin looked over him, her mind trying to find something. To be honest, she didn't have an answer. As tempting as it was to just say "Make me breakfast" like he was her personal maid, that wasn't the answer he was looking for and she knew it.

"For now, let's just… rest." Rin finally decided. "We'll find what you can do once I get some sleep." Shirou nodded in response, watching Rin pick herself up and head back to the house. The red headed boy didn't move to follow, instead leaning his head back against the wall, staring at the ceiling.

The last couple of days were insane.

He knew more than the average person for sure. He knew magecraft existed, he knew that people could do things that seemed like it was right out of a manga.

But these last few days showed him just how little he knew as well.

All he knew for sure was that people's lives were in danger, and he needed to save them. The knowledge made it hard for him to sleep. He was too anxious. He sighed to himself as he picked up one of the iron pipes laying on the ground. All he could think about doing was last minute practice on his Reinforcement.

He closed his eyes and focused. The blurry image of a sword appeared in his head. Pushing that image aside, he analyzed the pipe. He remembered what Rin taught him. About his Magic Circuit and his trigger. In his mind, the gun's hammer was pulled back. At this point, he almost knew the pipe's composition by heart, but he analyzed it anyway.

The gun in his mind fired. The pipe glowed, a circuit board like pattern etching itself on the pipe's surface before finally fading away.

Shirou opened his eyes, seeing the pipe itself flatten a little, as if it was trying to form a sword. He took an experimental swing with the weapon. The air whistled around it as he swung. That was much better than usual. It worked, and he wasn't sweating buckets. It felt like his first major step forward in years. He was actually improving.

Unbeknownst to Shirou, Archer silently watched the boy practice his Reinforcement, hovering around him in spirit form. The boy was doing better now that his magic circuits were opened, and he properly channeled his mana. Really, it was a small miracle that they ever lived long enough to make a deal with the Counter Force. No, not even that. It was a series of small miracles, one after the other.

And one of the biggest ones wasn't here right now.

Archer could never forget her. The night he summoned Artoria was burned deep into his very soul. And somehow, she wasn't here. Shirou didn't have a Servant he could depend on, and didn't seem able to summon one.

Maybe it was better this way. Shirou Emiya could die here, and his damned ideal would finally die out like the flickering flame it was.

Would that be ideal? No, not particularly. No matter what happened to this Shirou Emiya, Archer would be trapped in hell, one of his own making.

And besides that, something was wrong.

People he never met, an extra Assassin, and those mud women… this certainly wasn't the timeline he came from. No, it was completely different from his, and something sinister was happening, something he couldn't discern.

With that in mind, he decided, just this once, he would give Shirou Emiya a free piece of advice.

He shifted back into his visible form, right in front of Shirou just as the boy was swinging once again. Without a word, without any effort, he held up one hand. Kanshou appeared in his grip. In order to both help and to be petty, Archer reinforced the blade. The black blade easily sliced the pipe like warm butter as Shirou swung it.

Shirou's eyes widened, both at how cleanly the sword cut his iron bar, and how beautiful the black blade was. He glanced up at Rin's Servant, and a wave of irritation washed over him.

Something about Archer rubbed him completely the wrong way. The two never exchanged a single word, nor came to blows at any point. Despite this, Shirou could feel it. He couldn't approve of him.

And he was sure Archer felt the exact same.

"What are you doing here?" Shirou finally asked. "Doesn't Rin have something for you to do?"

"I have many more important things to do right now. But my eyes saw something truly horrid in this shed, and I couldn't help but to watch it. Like a train wreck in progress." Archer's grin only irritated Shirou even more.

"Watch all you want. I have nothing to say to you." Shirou fired.

"As much as I'd love to, there's something I can't overlook." Archer stated. "Your awful use of Magecraft." Shirou stared at the Servant, clenching his fists.

"I know I wasn't doing it right, but now—" Shirou stated, before Archer interrupted.

"I'm not talking about the use of your nerves. Stupid as it was, the problem was pointed out to you and you stopped doing it." Archer stated. "No, I'm talking about this." He motioned to the pipes and machines on the floor. Shirou was confused as he looked over his stuff. What was wrong with that? "Strengthening something that's already there? You're aiming way too high. You're not skilled enough to do something like that."

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The way you're going about your magecraft is fundamentally wrong at the foundation. You're wrong about your own ideal."

"Okay, now it sounds like you just want to pick a fight." Shirou gritted his teeth as he accused the Servant. EMIYA only scoffed.

"That's a mistake too." EMIYA stated as an absolute fact. "Emiya Shirou is not fit for fighting. Your fight is a mental one, one that is waged against yourself."

"What? You're saying a fight between magi is a mental fight?" Shirou asked. "I know that… but still, a fight has to come to blows eventually."

EMIYA could only let out a sigh. In his eyes, Shirou could see… dejection and anger. Maybe a hint of frustration?

"I'll say this once. So listen very closely." EMIYA stated. "When the chips are down, if you have to fight… Emiya Shirou has no chance of winning. None of your skills will be of any use against a Servant." Shirou stiffened up at that. He looked down at the sliced pipe on the floor, the sight of it only strengthening Archer's argument.

Before Shirou could recover and fire a snappy comment, EMIYA continued.

"So then… at least imagine it. If the opponent is something you can't match in real life, then beat it in your own imagination. If you can't beat it yourself, imagine something that you could beat it with." Archer explained. He turned around, his coat flourishing dramatically as he walked out of the shed.

"I… that doesn't…" Shirou tried to wrap his head around what he was told, but he just couldn't. Archer spoke up one final time.

"I don't expect you to understand right away. Just keep these words in mind. When the time is right, you'll understand." Shirou could only watch Archer vanish into thin air, unable to come up with a comeback.

So he sat in silence for a while. He tried to decipher this puzzle left in front of him. But no matter how much he thought to himself, the answer eluded him.

Sighing, he finally headed outside, the sunlight nearly blinding him. Groaning, he held a hand up to cover his eyes. The light was so bright. He felt like a goblin crawling out of his cave for the first time in years.

His eyes soon adjusted. His yard was peaceful, like the ticking time limit wasn't looming over his head. It was enough to make a man smile.

Shirou didn't smile.

Looking around, he saw Bazett standing in his yard, staring wistfully at the sky. She was dressed back in her suit, Ritsuka's yutaka hanging on the clothesline to dry. Something seemed to be bothering the Enforcer… not that he had any clue what it was. Bazett was a stranger that someone else picked up. He didn't have the foggiest clue about her.

Not that he minded.

He was always happy to help, it didn't matter how well he knew the person. He walked over, standing quietly next to her. She didn't acknowledge his presence, her mind lost deep in thought. He could see her left arm, the arm that was stitched back on, shaking slightly.

He didn't really know how to approach this.

He cleared his throat slightly, causing her to jump back into reality. She turned, fist drawn back ready to strike the thing that scared her. Shirou flinched as her fist stopped right in front of his face. The sheer force of her halted punch blew his hair back slightly.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Shirou asked without missing a beat, causing Bazett to stiffen.

"... Yeah, yeah, that sounds good." She finally said, lowering her fist. Shirou nodded, headed back inside. He remembered that they needed to keep Bazett on a light diet. He hoped it wasn't for too much longer though.

It somehow felt like a crushing defeat every time he served her soup and she finished it in one massive gulp. But there was no way she could do something like that with solid foods.

Right?

Right.

He was quiet as he walked into the kitchen, thinking about what kind of soup he wanted to make today. In the end, he decided some miso soup would be the easiest to make.

He looked at his kitchen, grabbing a cutting board and some vegetables. He grabbed a knife, and with the experience of nearly 10 years behind his movements, he quickly chopped up the vegetables. When they were probably diced, he went to the next step.

Walking over to his fridge, he opened it up. His eyes narrowed as he realized he already went through his stock of dashi.

He looked through his supplies, sighing in relief as he found the kombu. Quietly, he took the black kelp, putting it inside of a bowl filled with water. He placed it on the stove, boiling the water with a medium heat. He stared at the bowl, waiting for the bubbles to rise.

As he waited, his mind continued to drift to what Archer told him.

Imagine a way he could win. Something about that bothered him. There were many ways he could imagine winning. Being a Kamen Rider, having the powers of a spider, being actually invincible… that was easy. But that obviously wasn't what Archer was trying to tell him.

So what could he mean? Did he need to imagine the fight? To see what his opponent would do? Like shadow boxing? Visualize his opponent, and counter it?

No. That wasn't it either. That was just how a fight worked.

He looked down at his hand, thinking hard to himself. What could he—

The water bubbling caught his attention. He quickly scooped out the kombu, setting them to the side. He quickly grabbed some katsuobushi, dumping the tuna flakes into the water. The heat was turned off, and a timer was set, allowing Shirou to put the kombu away for another day.

He stared out the window, allowing his mind to wander. Where were Shinji and Ritsuka? Both of them didn't come home last night. Of course, Shinji had a home to go to and sleep at. Maybe he was staying there so his grandfather wouldn't get suspicions? It would seem weird if Shinji just vanished for a few days straight. It wasn't like he and Shirou did sleepovers.

But Ritsuka didn't have a place like that.

It raised a lot of questions. He only left to take Jack out to play for a bit. Did something happen? Medusa was supposed to be here too, but Shirou didn't see hide or hair of the beautiful woman ever since Ritsuka left. Most people would believe that he had been abandoned, but Shirou knew that couldn't be the case. If it was, then why did he leave Bazett behind?

Shirou only hoped that whoever 'Medea' was didn't get his friend while he was out.

The timer went off, bringing Shirou back to reality. He headed back to the pan, grabbing it and a fine mesh strainer. He gently poured the contents of the pan into a bowl, filtering its contents through the strainer.

Now left with soup in a pan, the boy grabbed his supply of miso. He took a spoonful of miso and placed it in the soup. He gently stirred with the spoon, causing the miso to break down and mix with the soup.

When the miso was mixed in, Shirou took a block of tofu, laying it flat in one hand as he cut it up with the other. He gently added it to the soup, and added the chopped vegetables and some dried seaweed right after.

And with that, breakfast was ready.

Shirou took two bowls to the table, one for him, and one for Bazett. He placed a bowl in front of her. The end result of his hard work, almost 40 minutes of cooking, was placed before Bazett. A wonderful smell wafted from the soup. It was a work of art, a delicious combination of ingredients and skills. Like homemade cooking from a mother, his love of the craft was an extra spice to the food.

And Bazett ate it with one giant gulp.

Shirou sighed to himself, that sense of defeat creeping up in him. How was she able to do that? He sat down, eating his own food. The atmosphere was awkward as Shirou ate. Bazett was at least kind enough to pick up her plate and take it to the sink, but it did little to soothe the sting of defeat from Shirou.

"Do you have any plans today?" Bazett asked. She was getting restless. She wasn't one to just sit here and do nothing. Beyond that, she still needed to get back Fragarach.

If only it didn't take a month to create new ones.

Shirou blinked at the question, and then suddenly realized. No one told Bazett about today. He looked at her and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you see… we're going to be under attack by a Master today. Rin really wants to 'prepare' for it… although I'm not sure what that really means."

Bazett took in that info, nodding to herself. "Well…" She leaned against the counter as she thought. "If you know where your enemy will come, then you'll want to rig the battlefield to your advantage." It was something she saw countless magi do. Their workshops could be small fortresses if the magus was skilled enough.

Shirou nodded. That made sense. They would probably create defenses and reinforce the house. That was perfect really! That could let him practice his own reinforcement some! "Are you going to help us as well, Bazett?" He asked. With Rin, himself, and Bazett working together, he was sure that their chances of survival would be much higher. Then when Shinji and Ritsuka returned, they'd be all set.

They could make it to see tomorrow for sure.

Bazett sat there, thinking to herself. She did owe them for taking her in. And fighting mages was her job. It would be fine to help them for now, and then she could go find Fragarach. Silently, she nodded at Shirou. She then walked off, looking for ways to strengthen their defenses.

Shirou followed her quietly, curious to see what she would do. The purple haired Enforcer headed over to the hallway, looking at the floor and the wall next to it. "How good are you at channeling your mana?" Bazett decided to ask. Shirou tilted his head, thinking to himself.

"I'm still new to it. Why do you ask?" He answered. Bazett bent down, beginning to trace on the floor with her finger.

"I just needed to figure out how I should go about this…" She muttered. Since Shirou couldn't be counted on to hit his target reliably, she had to make the rune big enough so the boy had a margin of error, but not so big it was obvious to anyone passing by that it was there.

Once she finished tracing it, she motioned for Shirou to come to her. Shirou quietly followed her silent order. She grabbed his hand and pressed it against the wall. Shirou blinked, but it soon became obvious what she was doing.

At the height his hand landed on, she began to trace a new rune, one different from the one on the floor. "If you're chased by an enemy down this hallway…" Bazett explained. "Focus your mana into these runes. The one on the floor will increase your speed for a few seconds. The one on the wall will explode."

Shirou nodded. That was easy enough to follow. Still, exploding? That felt like it would damage his house. Maybe he should try reinforcing the wall.

Bazett stood up, walking down the hall and looking for other ways to secure the house while Shirou did his best to work on his reinforcement yet again. The walls certainly felt tougher after he treated them, but were they really?

He didn't really have a way to test that, nor did he really think he should. He walked around his house, attempting to reinforce every important wall he could think of. He didn't want the whole house caving in on top of them after all. Granted, his shoddy attempts may not do much against a Servant, but he rather try and fail then to not try at all.

Around noon, Rin woke up. The three had a quiet lunch, Shirou once again feeling the sting of defeat as Bazett inhaled his food like a vacuum cleaner. He would find a way to get her to enjoy food, or he would die trying.

Rin and Bazett then began to collaborate on reinforcing the house. Or, as close as collaborating as the two could. Shirou watched quietly as Bazett showed Rin the runes she already set up, so that they wouldn't have overlapping traps.

When Rin started to attach gems to the ceiling, he really wanted to ask her why she was doing that, but he had a feeling he wouldn't get an answer.

The hours ticked away. After the three's blood, sweat, and tears, his house was now beefier. In it laid many traps, and it was reinforced to the max. All that was missing was two people. Where were they? At this rate, they were going to be too late. Even Shirou was beginning to doubt things.

The living room was quiet as Shirou sat there alone. Both girls were busy putting in the final touches on the preparations, which involved them setting things up at the backend of the house. Shirou's eyes drifted to the nearby clock. It was almost time…

A sudden knock on his front door drew Shirou's attention. The sun was setting, but it wasn't night yet. That meant it couldn't be Illya. Who could it— oh duh! Shirou shook his head. His nerves really had him on edge. It was probably Ritsuka or Shinji.

He walked over to the door, opening it up to let his friends in.

But neither boy was there.

Instead there was a girl, with hair as black as night, wearing a black jumpsuit with red markings all over it.

He didn't recognize her.

But the girl's eyes widened at the sight of him.

"YOU!" She roared. With a scream from hell, she swung a giant shield that suddenly manifested in her hand. The shield struck its target, causing him to go flying down the hall like a bullet. He felt his body crash through a wall.

He gasped for air as he tried to stand up. Getting hit by the shield knocked the wind out of him, making it hard to move. He could see the girl approaching him. Her eyes blazed with hatred, hatred as hot as hell itself. However, as she went to run at him, Jack moved from her spot on the girl's back.

Her small arms wrapped around the girl's neck, doing her best to choke Tachie out. "What are you doing? Don't hurt Mommy's friends!" Jack cried out. Tachie growled and reached up, trying to pry the small girl off her back.

Shirou finally managed to catch his breath, standing up in time to see Tachie tossing Jack off her back, sending the child through the table in his living room. The table broke in half from the sheer force of Jack landing. Seeing this, Shirou's eyes widened.

Without thinking, his legs moved. The woman attacking him wasn't in his sights any more. HIs vision narrowed, seeing only the small child that needed his help.

He could see her. He could almost reach her. He had to reach her!

A giant shield slammed into his side, sending him flying into his kitchen. He looked up, seeing Tachie approaching him. She dragged her shield against his floor, leaving a deep groove in the ground. Shirou stood up. He needed a way to defend himself… a way to fight back!

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a white blade.

It was just a kitchen knife, the one Ritsuka used to cook the other day.

It was better than nothing.

Shirou grabbed it, holding it in his right hand. A strange feeling came over him. The knife felt… right in his hand. He didn't know why, but he felt comfortable holding the knife.

And yet it felt wrong.

He didn't know why and he didn't have time to think about it. The girl charged at him, her shield blocking all his escape routes. The knife, although well made, wouldn't be able to stop that shield.

That didn't stop him from trying.

He swung the knife as if it was a sword, the blade clashing with the shield. The two stood, locked in place as they tried to overpower the other. Shirou gritted his teeth. This knife wasn't enough. He couldn't beat her like this. He needed… he needed…

Archer's words popped in his head. The beautiful black blade Archer wielded appeared in Shirou's mind.

In his mind, a gun cocked. A burst of static filled Shirou's mind. For a split second, Shirou couldn't tell where he was or what he was doing. He just knew he needed a weapon. The words spilled out of his mouth.

"Trace… On!"

And the knife he held transformed.

It was no longer a knife, but a sword. A beautiful white blade that seemed to be the equal to the black blade Archer had. The Yin-sword Bakuya. The name filled Shirou's mind.

That knife… was a projection of it… and he turned it back into a blade.

What was his magecraft, really?

How did Ritsuka have this…?

He was called back to reality by a blood curdling scream and the deadlock being broken. He could see that Jack leaped onto Tachie's back, plunging a knife into her right shoulder. Tachie attempted to reach up to grab Jack. Her fingers inched closer.

Suddenly the wall behind the Shielder exploded.

A purple battering ram charged at Tachie. Using her right hand, she grabbed the Shielder by the head. Her arm cocked back. The ground shook as Bazett took a step forward, twisting her entire upper body. Her arm fired. Like a bullet, Tachie flew into the hallway.

She stood up weakly, her shield wobbling now that it was being held by only one hand.

Bazett and Shirou stood ready. Both of them were considering the same thing.

Should they lead the girl into the traps they had prepared? Was it worth having less things to use against Berserker?

There was no more time to think.

Bazett took a step forward.

Tachie matched that step.

They stared at each other. One was cool and detached, the other fiery and hateful.

Another step.

The air was tense. All out war was about to break out.

The two took another matching step!

And then suddenly there was an earth shattering boom.

Shirou could feel his heart rate skyrocketing. Tachie froze, the sound temporarily ripping her out of her own rage. Bazett and Jack turned, looking to see what the noise was.

The front of Shirou's home was destroyed.

In the rubble stood a giant. It looked as if it was carved from stone by the very gods themselves. To call it human seemed impossible. No, it was obvious what it was. It was a monster, one beyond human limits.

To Shirou, his entire being reacted the same way it did three days ago. Not just his body, but his mind froze too. Tachie was frozen as well. It felt as if a knife was pressed against her heart.

The two could feel it. An overwhelming sense of death. It bore down on them, like the entire weight of the world on their shoulders. The two survivors felt something they never knew existed.

A sense of death greater than that of the fire ten years ago.

And in front of that monster stood an innocent looking little girl.

"You didn't answer your door, Onii-chan, so I decided to… let ourselves in." Illya stated in an innocent tone. Despite how innocent she seemed, Tachie and Shirou could only feel a cold chill travel down their spines at the sound of her voice. "Hmm… She doesn't look like your Servant." The white haired girl looked around. "Nor does that woman…" She added, looking at Bazett. "And I don't see Ritsuka anywhere. If they're not your Servant… and he's not here…" She clicked her tongue. "I guess he ran off. Put his own life before that of his friend's. I should have known… you've been abandoned, Onii-chan."

Shirou didn't answer. He couldn't. All he could do was curse his own weakness. It was just like three days ago. And this time, there was no escape. This time, there were no miracles.

His fate was sealed by Illya's next three words.

"Berserker. Get him."