Wrought Iron Cross

A tale written by Bubbajack, sustained by the mad ramblings of Nix's Warden, Eternal Nothingness, and the fine people on the Court of the Devil Kings forum; and proofread by WhiteFang15 and Diller.

Disclaimer: I don't own FSN or Campione last time I checked...nope still I don't, damn...Also I don't own any weapons you'll see in this fic unless I say I do. Any weapons you see belong to someone else.

The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it - Anonymous

Ch.8: Imagine what can...

Aoko let out a satisfying sigh as she wiped some sweat from her brow, it took her nearly ten hours of work, some of which was convincing her guardians to allow her to examine her, but she managed to fix whatever it was that the Einzbern had done to the poor girl. Lying on a large four-poster bed amidst a tangle of sheets and naked as the day she was born, was a nineteen year old girl with a cherubic face, long flowing silver hair that reached down to her shapely rear as her bangs covered her bust that was only a size smaller than Aoko's own. Aoko covered the girl with the bed comforter before silently padding out of the room.

'Now, to get her some clothes.' The Magician thought, not wanting her to freak out too much by having to wake up not only her proper age for the first time ever, but naked to boot.

On her way down the hall she ran into who she considered the nicer of Illya's two maids, Leysritt, in her maid uniform. Stopping she greeted her with a polite nod of her head.

Returning the gesture with a worried glance behind Aoko Leysritt asked "Miss Emiya is Illya...?"

Aoko gave the maid a reassuring smile, saying soothingly "She'll be fine Leysritt. I managed to correct all the damage done by the Einzberns' meddling, so Illya should be able to live a long and happy life now."

This caused the Homunculus maid put her hand to her chest as she let out a sigh of relief, before she gave Aoko a childlike smile that was brimming with happiness as if she had just been told her mother was going to survive cancer.

"Thank you so much Miss Emiya, I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost little Illya." She said giving her a respectful bow.

Aoko rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously not really knowing how to respond as usually people shiver at the mere mention of her name not bow in respect.

"Umm, you don't have to do that you know Leysritt."

The maid straightened up, displaying a puzzled expression, her head was tilted to the side, her right eyebrow cocked up slightly, and her lips were slightly pursed.

"Do what, Miss Emiya?" she asked confusedly.

Aoko made a motion with her hands before saying "You know, bow to me. I helped Illya because she needed to be helped, and..." Aoko trailed off, hesitant to continue.

Leysritt cocked her eyebrow again, this time in concern "And...?" She echoed.

Aoko let out a sigh, before she said "I'll explain it to you later, I promise. As for right now, are there any leftover clothes of Illya's mother laying around here somewhere? I ask because her old clothing is no longer going to fit."

Leysritt put one of her index fingers on her chin and hummed for a moment, all the while glancing skywards before saying "Some clothes belonging to Miss Irisviel? Why yes, I do believe we have a closet full of them nearby."

Aoko nodded.

"Good, bring a few outfits that aren't too worn in there for her to try on for when she wakes up. After she calms down, and comes to grips with these changes let me know, I need to finish speaking with her. I'll be in the kitchen raiding your fridge ok?" The redhead said before walking off, leaving the maid to carry out her new task.

Illya slowly made her way back to consciousness. She woke up slowly, her mind groggy and clouded. The first thought that entered her head as she stretched was 'Wow, I had the strangest dream. I met the Blue and she told me she was married to some boy my Papa adopted and then made me an offer of some kind...'

Illya then sat up and after letting out an adorable yawn, trotted off towards the bathroom, stumbling occasionally as she felt top heavy for some reason. As walked past a full length mirror glancing at her reflection in the corner of her eye she mumbled "What a crazy dream. I can't wait...to tell...Leysritt..."

Illya's eyes widened and she quickly backpedaled to the mirror and took in her reflection. In front of her, where her reflection should be, was not a ten year old girl, but a mature woman in her late teens to early twenties with a curvaceous slightly buxom figure, long white hair, and shocked crimson eyes. She walked unsteadily forward and placed her hand on the mirror, and the image within did the same showing without a doubt that it was indeed herself and, as she gazed at herself in the mirror a stray thought crossed her mind 'Why am I naked?'

This thought however was quickly over shadowed by more important thoughts like 'How did this happen, did the Blue do this, and if so why?'

But the biggest question in her head at the moment was 'How the hell am I supposed to walk around with these things attached to my chest?!' Illya thought as she brushed her elongated bangs away and stared at her new rather large bust.

Never having a chest to speak of before and being a Magus, Illya was naturally curious. Even being from the Einzbern Family and as such knowing much about the human anatomy to create Homunculi still left her curious about certain things, mainly what breasts feel like.

'I don't know why, but Sella and Leysritt never let me touch theirs not even in the name of research...oh well, I have my own now.' Illya thought with a shrug before she proceeded to examine them more closely by propping them up underneath her arms.

They were large and round, each roughly the size of a cantaloupe, pale and pink in the middle with each having a small nub. Illya then took one of her hands and squeezed the left breast to feel its consistency. This caused her to let out a surprised "EEP!"

"Well, that felt strangely...good. Still best be careful this time." she said as she reached out again and more gently squeezed her breast.

"Huh, it's like pudding, soft, squishable, yet still firm." She observed.

Any further observations were cut off by the sound of her bedroom door being knocked upon.

Without looking away from the mirror she called "Come in, Leysritt."

The maid did just that, which is probably why stopped talking midsentence, dropped pile of clothing she was carrying in shock, and exclaimed incoherently "Lady Illya, you...you've...you're..."

Chuckling at her maids' reaction, Illya supplied "All grown up and incredibly sexy now?"

This seemed to snap Leysritt back to her senses as she simply said "Well, yes."

Illya giggled before saying "Thanks for noticing, now what is all that?" she asked pointing to the pile at Leysritt's feet.

Said maid glanced down in confusion for a moment before she remembered why she came in here in the first place.

"Ah!" Leysritt exclaimed, picking up the clothes and laying them out on Illya's bed before continuing "Mrs. Emiya said you would need a new wardrobe, and asked that I go fetch any of your mothers old clothes if any were still in the castle. This is what I managed to find."

"I see, so these were mother's clothes..." Illya said quietly coming over to the bed and looking them over.

There were many elegant outfits to choose from, showing that her mother had very good taste when it came to clothing. Illya slowly ran her hand along the rich silk fabrics, looking at them reverently. Leysritt watched silently for a moment before saying "Is there one you would like me to help you try on Illya?"

The Einzbern master looked up as if in a daze and said "Hmm, did you say something Leysritt?"

"The clothes Illya, do you see something that you think would suit you?" Leysritt asked.

Illya's mouth formed a surprised "O" shape as her crimson eyes widened, before she went over the arrayed items again, this time looking for something to wear. Five minutes later, she found a purple blouse and white skirt combo much like what she normally wore and Leysritt provided a pair of brown flats to complete the look...there was just one small make, that large, problem...

"Leysritt..." Illya asked in a confused tone.

"Yes Illya?" the maid responded sweetly.

"How exactly do I put one of these on, and furthermore, how do we even know it's going to fit?" Illya said holding up a white lacy bra the matching panties of which she was already wearing.

Leysritt cocked her head to the side in confusion before saying "And why shouldn't it fit? Lady Illya, you may not realize this yet but you are a carbon copy of your mother Irisviel von Einzbern now, as such all of her clothes should fit you perfectly."

This little tidbit of information caused Illya to blink owlishly in surprise.

"I look just like mama?" she said quietly.

Leysritt nodded. "Oh yes, you look just like Miss Irisviel did all that time ago according to the pictures in the Einzbern Archives."

This comment caused Illya to walk over to her nightstand as quickly as she could and pick up a framed photograph. In the picture frame was a family photo of her together with both of her parents, the only one ever taken and the only thing she had besides her mother's car to remember her by. Illya looked at the picture, focusing on her mother's face before turning back to the mirror and seeing an identical one staring back at her. Smiling faintly, Illya made her way back to the bed and said "Thank you Leysritt."

Looking puzzled, the maid asked "For what Illya?"

Illya just chuckled in response and shook her head before asking "How do I get this bra thing on again?"

Aoko had just finished wrecking the Einzberns formerly spotless kitchen in the midst of making a hero sandwich easily three feet long when and topped with everything she could find in the fridge, as well as a pitcher full of punch, when she heard the door to the kitchen swing open and someone let out a strangled noise of shock. Turning around, Aoko found the source of the noise to be the sterner of the two maids Sella, looking around the kitchen with a look of abstract horror stuck to her face.

"What...what...What did you do to my kitchen?!" the shocked maid finally managed to get out at last.

"Hmm?" Aoko glanced at her surroundings "Oh, it looks like a made a little mess."

Sella's face became fishlike as her mind processed what the Magician just said, before fearfully asking "Mrs. Emiya, what exactly is a big mess to you?"

Aoko took a thinking pose for a moment with her left index finger on her chin, eyes skyward, as her right foot tapped the ground before answering "Well usually a big mess to me is when I set the kitchen on fire or blow up an appliance; which is why Emiya-kun usually doesn't allow me in the kitchen."

Sella felt her knees weaken, and she felt faint as she heard that. Aoko must've noticed, because she said "Sella-san, you don't look too good. Maybe you should go sit down while I bring the food out ok?"

The strict homunculus maid just nodded and quickly left the warzone that once was her spotless kitchen. She made her way out the kitchen and managed to sit down at the dining room table which was an elaborate creation of solid oak surrounded by no less than fifty high-backed regal chairs. Taking the first seat on the left at the head of the immense table, Sella put her head in her hands and swore to herself that she would not be the one to clean up the mess her kitchen had become.

"Sella is everything alright?" the all too familiar voice of Illya asked from her right.

Sella raised her began responding before raising her head "Yes everything's fine...Mistress?"

Sella was shocked not to see a young ten year old girl, but a woman who was in her early twenties wearing much the same outfit that Illya normally would albeit much larger. Sella blinked owlishly for a few moments, until Illya's giggle broke her out of her stupor.

"It's quite a lot to take in all at once isn't it Sella?" she asked.

Stella, for her part, just let out a sigh before saying "You did that to me on purpose didn't you Mistress?"

Illya's impish grin along with Leysritt's faint smirk in the background was all she needed for an answer.

Sella managed to sigh one more time before the kitchen door opened and Aoko came out, carrying a tray on which sat the three foot long behemoth she called a sandwich as she carried the pitcher of punch along with four glasses in her other hand on a tray. Setting both down on the table in front of her, she then took a seat on right side of the head of the table before saying "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of making lunch for all of us while we discuss things Illyasviel."

Illya nodded politely "That sounds agreeable Mrs. Emiya."

Aoko chuckled her eyes dancing with amusement before she said "Just call me Aoko kiddo, I hate being all formal and junk."

Illya smiled sweetly in response, adding "Well in that place, please call me Illya; and first and foremost, you have my deepest thanks for-"

A pause as Illya's face soured before she continued "For not only opening my eyes to my families twisted corruption, but for also fixing my body and not doing anything harmful to it while I was unconscious." She finished with her cherubic smile returning to her face at the end.

"No problem, but for the record; even if I had wanted to hurt you while operating on you-which I didn't scouts honor, I promise!" Aoko swore hastily putting her hand over her heart and the other palm up in the air before nodding towards Sella and Leysritt and continuing "These two made me sign a geis scroll preventing me from doing anything other than healing you."

Illya giggled at the actions of what was likely one of the most destructive magi on the planet before saying "Don't worry, I believe you, but I do have some questions though."

Using a simple bit of magecraft, Aoko cut the colossal sandwich she brought out into several smaller more manageable pieces, taking one before saying "Ask away."

Taking a smaller piece of sandwich for herself, Illya asked the question most prevalent in her mind; that being "Why did you help me at all?"

Aoko was quiet for several minutes, poring herself a glass of punch and slowly sipping it as she contemplated how to answer the girl next to her until she finally nodded seemingly coming to a decision before saying "In order to answer your question Illya, I'm going to tell you a story, ok?"

Seeing the girl nod, Aoko began "There once was a boy who was saved from a tragic disaster by a Hero, but not before the flames consumed his past, his present, and his very sense of self. The Hero, now feeble and greatly weakened by his last fight with evil, decided to raise the Boy as his own, as he was too weak from his last fight to rescue his beloved daughter. It was because of this that the Boy grew up wanting to be a hero, and he begged the Old Hero to teach him his ways. For a long time the Old Hero refused saying that to be a hero is a long hard and thankless road, but the Boy never gave up until finally the Old Hero taught him all he could before passing on. Before doing so, the Boy promised to take up the Old Hero's mantle and become a Hero of Justice capable of saving everyone without killing anyone...and it was these very ideals that he held so dearly that would be the Boy's downfall. Eventually, the Boy was drawn into a secret war over an immensely powerful magical artifact. During this war the Boy did many things, and he even fell in love with a King only for her to return home as she had a duty to fulfill to her people. He even met with the Old Hero's Daughter and after the conflict; he raised her like a little sister, and loved her dearly. It was a year after this conflict that the Daughter of the Old Hero passed away; her death having a profound effect on the Boy. It was then, after studying under a dear friend for many years, that he decided to become the Hero of Justice he swore to the Old Hero he would become."

At this point, Aoko needed to stop and take a drink gauging Illya's reaction from over the rim of her glass. Illya's eyes were wide and shifting frantically in their sockets, her pupils the size of pinpricks, and her mouth agape, as her skin lost all pretense of color. Her maids also bore equally shocked looks.

'Well, looks like they caught on rather quickly.' Aoko thought, setting down her glass and clearing her throat before asking "Are you ready for me to continue or do you need a minute?"

Illya's mouth moved but no sound came out for the longest time. Until finally she reached for the pitcher and an glass and poured herself a tall glass before taking a large gulp...and nearly choking on it as she sputtered on the contents. After a minor coughing fit, Illya managed to get out in between breaths "Why...is there...alcohol...in the punch?"

"Well, it's not really punch without some punch to it now is it?" Aoko responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Illya gave the Magician of the fifth a deadpan look but decided to go along with her reasoning, before clearing her throat and saying "Please, continue."

Aoko smiled sweetly thinking how much fun it will be to introduce her to the more "adult" side of the world when she gets the chance. Shaking her head of the thought but stowing it away for later, Aoko continued "Well then, as I said the Boy did his best to become a hero. He had a particular dislike for the Undead and slew them when and wherever he found them. Eventually, word of him reached the Church and he was taught the ways of the Executors' by one of their best for a time before being gifted with a shroud of a saint and sent back out into the world, that much stronger, and that much wiser. The Boy, now a man in his mid-Thirties was swiftly heading towards his downfall though he did not realize it at the time, as he sold his soul to Arayashiki, more commonly referred to as Alaya or the Counter Force to bring back lest than one hundred people that died right in front of him. It was one of these very people he saved that would then accuse him of promoting war and have him beheaded for war crimes...And yet, he died with a smile on his face, as he managed to uphold his ideal till the very end thinking that, even in death, he would be able to save even more lives as a Counter Guardian...if only he knew how wrong he was..."

Illya looked like someone had just killed her pet dog as she said "Oh, no!"

Aoko sighed sadly, but nodded all the same taking another swig of her drink before continuing "Oh yes, I'm afraid so. You see, he thought that by making a deal with Alaya he would continue to protect humanity, even after death; and to a point that was correct as he was to now protect humanity from extinction...even if the threat is humanity itself."

Illya was now rapidly shaking her head in denial, refusing to accept what was being told to her. Regardless, or perhaps because of this, Aoko continued "Yes, he killed tens to save hundreds, hundreds to save thousands, hundreds of thousands to save millions, and billions to save trillions. In the end, it was his own ideals that betrayed him, time and time again, century after century, until by a twist of fate I dragged him out of that hell and did all I could to help him...and even that was not enough, as it appears when the opportunity presented itself he erased himself from existence. Or he tried to anyway, and now he's in another dimension somewhere and probably flirting with anything that moves." Aoko finished acidly.

Illya swallowed the rest of her punch then poured herself another glass and drank it too before she finally calmed enough to ask "Why did you tell me all of that? What exactly do you want from me?"

The Magic Machine Gunner looked down, her crimson bangs covering her sky-blue eyes as she fidgeted for a moment before speaking in just barely above a whisper forcing the other three to strain their ears to hear her "It really sucks you know? Being there for someone for the past eleven years of your life and being married for the past six but knowing that no matter how long you're with this person, nothing you do will ever make their pain fully go away...You ask me why I'm telling you all this Illya, well the truth is" Aoko now looked up with unshed tears in her eyes as she continued "The truth is, I desperately need your help, as I think you're the only one who can save my husband, not from any particular evil; but from himself. Out of all the many regrets he carries, the fact that he couldn't save you, his beloved sister weighs on his heart and mind the most. So please, please save my husband, I beg you!"

Aoko finished by standing up and bowing at the waist to the German homunculus as her tears finally fell from her eyes. Just because she was not from Japan, does not mean she did not understand the significance of the gesture. Illya was in fact moved, very deeply in fact, by the lengths this woman before her would go not only to find her husband, but to see his hurt lessened.

Which is why, she got up from her chair, embraced the heir to the Aozaki Clan, and said "Of course I'll help you, how could I not help you after all you've done for me? Saving first my brother and now me how could I refuse? When do we leave?"

Sella however decided to voice her thoughts "Mistress are you sure this is wise? We do not even know this so called brother of yours exists."

Illya looked over at her in slight annoyance before responding "What reason would the Blue of all people have to lie to us? If she wanted us dead she could've simply killed us upon our first meeting. Besides, she's known for being straightforward and being practically unable to lie, and even if she could she'd have to have had years of practice to fake something that convincing. Now then, I have a job for the two of you." She finished as fire entered her eyes.

Leysritt cocked her head to the side before asking "What would that be Illya?"

The young woman answered in sort order "You are to pack as much clothing and books into as few suitcases as possible, we're leaving Fuyuki City as soon as possible."

Illya then glared at both of her maids, daring them to argue with her, neither of them did and both quickly went about their tasks.

Shortly after they left, Aoko managed to pull herself together before she apologized for her breakdown.

"Sorry about that, I guess all the stress of Emiya being gone finally got to me." She said as she embarrassedly rubbed the back of her head.

Illya just smiled sweetly and nodded in understanding. Both were silent for a moment before Illya asked "You call him Emiya, why?"

Aoko blinked in confusion before she went "Oh, well you see, he rather dislikes his first name, Shirou as it reminds him of when he was a foolish idealist when he was younger, something he can't stand."

Becoming glum at the news for a moment, Illya soon brightened. "It'll be ok, we just need to find Onii-chan, and I'll do the rest."

Deciding to humor her and also because she was curious she asked "Just what do you intend to him once we find him?"

Illya "Hmm'd" for a minute before she said "Well, page one hundred thirty-four in my book should do the trick."

Seeing the confused look on Aoko's face, Illya reached into her blouse and pulled out a slim paperback volume before turning it to the aforementioned page before handing it to the older woman...and watching with great amusement as her face became as red as her hair before she sputtered "I-we-this-you-you can't do this to him!"

"Why not, I'm pretty sure I'm tall enough and flexible enough to pull that off now that I'm my proper age." Illya said as she looked at the "Blue" innocently.

Aoko took several deep breaths before she said in a calm a voice as she could manage "Let me rephrase that, it's not that you can't-"She looked at the book "Have his hands and feet tied behind him while his midsection is forcibly thrust outwards like a bridge as he is ravaged by two beautiful women." She then looked back up and continued "It's that I won't let you knowingly have sex with my husband."

Illya looked at her deadpan before saying "Well of course not."

Aoko sighed in relief "Thank goodness you under-"Illya's next sentence stopped her cold "I'd expect you to be helping me with this scene, you're his wife afterall."

Silence before "...EH~!"

Now it was Illya's turn to look annoyed. "Well what did you expect, for me to fix him all by myself? You need to help too you know!"

Before Aoko could retort the two maids returned, each laden with several heavy suitcases and. Deciding there discussion could wait till another time, Aoko looked at both the maids who were each carrying a pair of suitcases in each hand as well as a military style backpack on their backs. Giving an impressed whistle she said "Wow; you two work fast, I'm impressed. Do you have everything, clothes, books, grimioires, and alchemy reagents? I only ask because we might not be coming back here for quite a while and I don't know what the place we're headed to is like, so better safe than sorry to pack everything important."

Sella was impressed, the reputation of the Sorceress known as "The Blue" painted her as an idiot who enjoyed blowing things up and causing headaches for others with no thought to the consequences of her actions. Yet so far, she had acted in a mostly professional manner with a decent amount of forethought towards her actions. Sella could respect that, which is why Sella smiled faintly before responding "Yes Mrs. Emiya; we have all important and necessary items with us and are ready to proceed when you are."

Aoko nodded "Good, good, alright then, we need to make our way towards Homurahara School our ride will be waiting for us there."

With that the group of four left the mansion but not before Aoko reversed the time flow on the kitchen returning it to its former glory, much to Sella's approval. They then made good time to the almost invisible portal in front of Homurahara School, and following Aoko's lead quickly passed through it...to come across a very odd sight.

Both Vergil and Zelretch seemed to be in the middle of a drinking contest, as at least a dozen bottles of Grey Goose and several hundred shot glasses lay scattered all about the Wizard Marshals office and both Zelretch and Vergil wobbled precariously on their chairs on either side of the Dead Apostle Ancestors desk, each raising a small shot glass to their lips before downing it, before the older of the two slurred out "Giv-give it up boyo, you...you can't hope ta out drink a Dead Apostle Ancestor let alone one whose been 'round as long as I have."

Virgil merely smirked in response and said "Fuck you, you rotting sack of flesh, and pour me another shot."

The two suddenly and painfully had their heads smashed together before they crashed to the floor and looked up into the smiling angelic face of one Aoko Emiya who stood over them

'If she's smiling then why do I feel as if I'm staring at the face of a devil?' Vergil thought drunkenly.

"I trust you found my husband before you decided to get drunk off your ass Old Man?" Aoko said sweetly...far too sweetly.

"Huh, oh right the idiot. Sure did." Zelretch commented offhandedly. This caused his head to be blown into little pieces by the blue only for it to reform seconds later with the Wizard Marshal saying "Ouch do you have any idea how much that stings?"

Aoko shot him a scathing glare in response "You deserved it, now as soon as Dante and the girls show up we can leave."

"Yo, someone call for us?" Dante said in greeting as he walked through the portal carrying a numerous parcels and bags on his arms. He was followed in short order by both Sakura and Rin along with a shapely woman with long purple hair wearing a dominatrix suit and a visor.

Aoko walked up to the skimpily dressed woman, looking her up and down with a critical eye before turning to the other three and asking "What happened to Shinji?"

"I took care of it, don't worry. What's wrong with you? " Dante asked Rin who was currently staring open mouthed at a white haired woman in a purple blouse and white skirt who was staring back at Rin with childlike curiosity as he placed the last of the parcels on the Wizard Marshals desk.

"Is your name Illyasviel by any chance?" she finally asked. This caused the woman to smile warmly and nod "Why yes and of course I know who you are Heir of Tohsaka, but how do you know my name?"

Rin blinked in confusion prompting Aoko to explain "I had to sign a geis in order to fix whatever the hell the Einzbern did to her. I couldn't do anything but heal her. But I did explain to her about her brother." She explained.

"Ah." Rin said in realization before she turned back to Illya and said "Well Illya this may sound hard to believe but we were good friends at one point, but the very reason we all met was lost when your brother decided to restructure history by wiping out his own existence thus rewriting time to the point that it is like he never existed at all. Thus we never met and you don't remember because the geis put on Aoko prevents her from returning your previous memories."

Illya blinked twice her mouth forming an "O" before she said "OK."

Rin looked dumbfounded "That's it, just ok? No disbelief no nothing just ok?"

"Yes as if what Aoko told me is correct, erasing himself from existence sounds probable as does the explanation you've provided, so yes, just ok." Illya said with a sweet smile at the end.

"Are all of you ready to go then?" Aoko asked, her tone having the annotation of "Now's the last chance to back out if you want to."

The two magi sisters looked at each other and nodded once. "We're ready when you are sempai." Sakura responded.

"Where Sakura goes, I go." the voluptuous Rider simply said.

"I'm ready to meet this "Onii-chan" of mine." Illya said a hint of eagerness in her tone while Sella and Leysritt just nodded in response.

Vergil and Dante just tightly gripped their swords

"I think we're all ready Aoko, so let us depart. Master Zelretch if you would?" Sparda asked materializing beside his Master.

Without further prompting the Wizard Marshal opened the mini-portal wide enough for a person to walk through and the group proceeded inside...

ORT was annoyed. Not only does another one of those two-legged-things that currently infest Gaia like an ever growing tumor have the nerve to pull him from his nest, but then others of its kind begin to run around screaming disturbing his slumber! So naturally, he silenced them with his bladed claws and, as the red liquid that made up their insides dripped along the floor, he happily absorbed it, as it contained nutrients usually only found on his homeworld of Mercury. His thirst sated and silence restored, the Ultimate One of Mercury began to spread its natural habitat. A crystal-like substance that stretched and branched out, forming crystalline spires and pathways that made it much easier for him to get around on his natural terrain. Climbing up one of the larger spires, ORT breaks through the structure the he was summoned within only to notice two more of the two-legged-things running hastily away from him.

One stops, upon noticing something in the distance, and he struck it through the back of its head, silencing it and stopping its movement. He was about to devour the little morsel when several... something's, struck the tendril that silenced the little morsel before picking it up and dashing away in a blur of red. The red blur was another of Gaia's many parasites, and yet... ORT felt something different from this one in particular. He gave the other bug his recently killed meal, before he started flinging some kind of red bolts of light at him. After about twelve of these, the little bug said some gibberish which caused his shadow on the ground to lengthen and bulge up in several long rows before each bulge formed a chintinous quadrupedal creature, creating a small puddle of them.

The quadrupedal beasts let out a yell, before they charged as one at him; hacking, slashing and stabbing with various weapons to no effect. Wondering how they tasted, ORT decided to eat one of them, only to find they taste awful! So bad in fact, that he killed all the rest of them just because he had to taste something so terrible. Next; came some slightly bigger bugs made of metal indigenous to Gaia which in his opinion, tasted much better than the mass of black things from earlier. Sadly, there were only twelve of them to feed on. Seeing no more free meals forthcoming from the odd little parasite, ORT decided it was time to squash it and drain it of its fluids, and he did just that...only for the bug to phase right through his tendril.

It was then ORT knew this bug could run, but it couldn't hide from him forever...and so, a cat-and-mouse game of epic proportions began.

'I am in deep shit.' Archer thought as he hid inside a makeshift tunnel made out of debris.

The currently coatless Campione was at a loss. None of his weapons could harm the Ultimate One of Mercury, and both [Army of Darkness] and his [Metal Golem] Authorities were both decimated within seconds of deployment. The only reason he was still alive was thanks to the [Border Crossing] Authority he was granted by Pandora moments before he came here, which allowed him to become incorporeal at the cost of five percent of his total Prana reserves every time he used it. It was because of all of these factors that he was reduced to running and hiding from the Fifth of the Dead Apostle Ancestors.

"It's times like these I wish I could be sensible and run away like a normal person..." Emiya muttered to himself and he climbed over some rubble and made his way cautiously towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

'However, I can't do that for several reasons, the first being that the Ultimate One caused me to break my word, just not just once, but twice in fact. Secondly, I promised Sadako and Hiro I'd bring their daughter back to them, seeing as that is no longer an option; the least I can do is put them at ease by informing them of her killers' death. Finally, if Ort isn't stopped and soon his common sense will overtake not only this mountain but will likely keep spreading until it can't anymore and kill several hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in the process. I can't let that happen.' He thought as he made his way closer towards the tunnels exit.

As he neared the exit to his shelter he muttered "I just wish I had some decent backup right now."

It was then heard the braying howl of a pack of wolves, never before had such a sound made his blood boil in anger as that sound did just then, as such a noise meant only one thing.

"Voban?! That wasn't exactly who I had in mind. In fact, I thought for sure ORT would've killed him right off the bat. Oh well, that's fine by me. That means I may still get to kill him." Archer said coldly as his eyes narrowed when a pack of wolves as large as horses barreled past his hiding place, being led by one that was easily sixty five feet in length, twice as big as the others, and talking in a human voice. It was because of these facts that he assumed Voban possessed the ability to not only summon wolves, but turn into one also.

'I think I'm going to let those two go at it for a bit. Afterall, the more I know about Voban, the easier he'll be to kill later on, and he may just stumble onto a weakness I can use against ORT although it's unlikely. I wonder what's taking her. I'm sure I'm pretty far away; but I thought she would've got the old man to track me down by now. What's taking you Aoko? Have you decided to jut move on with your life, or did I guess wrong about why you never aged a day since we met and you've completely forgotten about me?' Archer thought as he watched hundreds of thousands of wolves throw themselves to their deaths against what was basically an alien god to no effect.

Still, he held out hope that he was correct and that sooner or later preferably sooner, his former wife would show up and like she had many times before, too many to count really; save his ass.

"It's day's like these I almost miss being an idiot blinded by his ideals..." Archer let out an almost wistful sigh before continuing.

"Everything seemed so simple back then, Sakura would come over and wake me up for school, I would fix breakfast for a hungry Taiga, constantly fix things and help Issei with as much as I could...But then the Grail War came, and with it, the glass ball that made up my perfect little world was shattered; with the so called hammer that broke it being the death of an adorable little Grim Reaper called Illya..." He mused to himself as he thought back on his "little sister's" death.

Archer stared off into the distance, remembering sadly his sister's last moments.

'She was so frail and weak near the end, like a cancer patient. Sometimes I wonder if things would've turned out differently if you had survived?' he thought as he continued to watch as wave after wave of wolves threw themselves at the Ultimate One of Mercury and, like a cliff against the sea, ORT stood strong, unfazed, and unmoving.

As he watched this display of senseless slaughter the former Knight of the Bow couldn't help but compare Voban's struggle against ORT against his past fruitless struggle to find some way, anyway, to save his sister.

'I hope that, where ever you are Illya, you can now lead a long and happy life.' Archer thought as he continued to watch both of his foes, learning all he could. He turned suddenly as he heard an odd ripping noise.

Behind him a portal had opened and he armed himself with Kanshou and Bakuya bracing himself for whatever was next. He only relaxed slightly when his wife of eight years stepped out; followed by his two childhood friends, Zelretch the Wizard Marshal, three Einzbern homunculi, and three people he's never seen before in his life.

Aoko and Emiya just stare at each other tensely for several moments, before she walks forward before stopping just in front of her husband and glaring at him "Emiya."

"Aoko, it's about time you showed up." and with this remark she promptly kicks him square in the balls before she began shouting at him. "About time I showed up?! Just what in the hell were you thinking you dumbass son of bitch! Do you think it's funny to worry me half to death? Do you think it's funny to just throw away eight years of marriage like it's nothing you damned prick?! Do you think it's-"

Aoko's rant was prematurely stopped when Emiya who had finally managed to stand up threw his arms around his estranged wife and held her close even as she pounded on his chest to get him to let her go and he whispered "No, nothing like that dear."

"Then what is it?" She choked out through the tears and the anger as she held onto him and began to cry.

"I promise I'll tell you but now isn't the right time as I'm afraid we have a bigger problem at the moment?" He said sounding annoyed that current events are getting in the way of him making up with his wife.

"And what might that be Shirou?" She asked angrily as she pulled back and crossed her arms over her ample chest before glaring at her husband.

Archer sighed in annoyance before he pointed outside the tunnel he was currently camped in and simply said "That honey."

The 'That' in question being the massive form of the Fifth Dead Apostle Ancestor and Ultimate one of Mercury ORT.

"Yep, that'll do it alright." Zelretch commented offhandedly, seemingly not at all concerned.

"Umm, pardon me for asking what could be an obvious question but what the fuck is that thing?" A man with white hair and clad in an outfit similar to archer's own asked.

"And more importantly, how do we kill it?" a more reserved individual who could only be the red ones twin, clothed in blue asked.

"We can't. That is an Ultimate One an Aristotles which is the will of a planet manifested and given physical form. Nothing short of one of the first two True Magics or something with the ability to erase something of foreign origin from existence could hope to kill it." Zelretch informed the group.

Archer was at a loss. He as he had hoped, Aoko's magic had protected her from the restructuring of the timeline. However, even she wasn't strong enough to defeat an Ultimate One much to his chagrin.

'It looks like I'll have to use that then.' The 'youngest' Campione thought sourly.

"Alright everyone listen up. I need you to distract that thing for a bit and then I'll finish it off." He announced.

"You sure you can kill this thing Emiya?" Aoko asked skeptically.

"I think so yeah." He responded.

"You'd better be sure before you send us all to get killed to 'buy you time' dummy!" Rin snapped.

"Oh, how I missed hearing that kind sweet voice of yours Rin." Archer responded with an eyeroll as the magus huffed in annoyance before he continued "But I need you guys to cover me while I charge this thing up, and look at it this way. If this fails we all get to go down in a blaze of glory."

"That is hardly comforting sempai." Sakura chastised.

"Sorry, but that's all I've got at the moment."

"That's fine, but I expect some answers from you should we somehow manage to survive Onii-chan." one of the homunculi that was wearing a purple blouse and white skirt said seductively.

Archer looked at her, blinked rubbed his eyes blinked again before saying "Fuck me, Illya is that you?"

This caused said girl to chuckle "Maybe after we out of this mess and only if you take me out to dinner first Onii-chan." She said with a wink before turning to her maids "Sella, Leysritt, c'mon we have a bug to squash!" She announced before she began to march forward the two nuns following.

"Oi, what did I say about talking to my husband like that?" Aoko shouted.

"You never said anything about talking dirty to him; you just said I couldn't fuck him! Now get your ass out here and help me Aoko!" Illya shot back over her shoulder as massive black skinned behemoth known as Berserker appeared behind her and roared in challenge.

Aoko sighed in response "That child...but anyway she has a point, let's move!" Aoko said as a thrumming filled the air signifying her magic circuits had activated, before she charged out into the open, both her arms and legs ablaze with power.

"We c'mon Sakura, we'd better make sure those idiots don't get themselves killed." Rin said with a sigh before she glared over at the man in red saying "Don't think I've forgotten about you either Emiya when this is over you're going to wish you had managed to erase your existence by the time I'm through with you!" She said before she too charged out of the tunnel, her purple haired sibling not far behind.

"Guess we better move huh bro? Seeing as it's not really a party without us." The red coated man asked his more stoic brother.

"Just shut up and attack the giant crystal spider Dante!" he retorted as he charged forward drawing a white hilted katana as he did so.

The now named Dante only shook his head in amusement before turning to Archer and saying "Don't mind Vergil he's always too damn serious. He just needs to get laid if you ask me." He said before drawing two pistols one white, the other black out of his coat and opening fire on the DAA as he rushed forward.

That left archer alone with the Wizard Marshal. Raising an eyebrow Archer quipped "What, you're not going to help?"

This caused Zelretch to laugh "You're kidding me right boy? Last time I fought a Type it almost killed me and in the end prematurely aged me. There's no way I can take on another one in my current state, especially not Type-Mercury."

Archer hummed for a moment before he asked you may not be able to attack Type-Mercury directly but what about helping me attack it indirectly?"

Zelretch looked at him shrewdly for a moment before asking "What exactly did you have in mind boy?"

The smile on Zelretch's face stretched from ear to ear as Archer explained what he needed done...

Voban had no idea what happened. One moment he was leading the charge against, his prey, the next he found himself in front of two cloaked men, back in human form, and unable to move. Voban glared at the men for a moment before saying in an impetuous tone "Release me at once you pathetic worms and perhaps I shall make your deaths swift."

In response, on of Voban's captors, who was wearing a red coat stepped forward and kicked him in the gut silencing him. "Shut up you arrogant prick, you could've just possibly damned the entire planet because of your arrogance, and now I have to clean up your fucking mess!"

"And just who are you to talk to me, a Campione this way?" Voban demanded haughtily.

The man stepped forward revealing his tanned skin, slicked back white hair, and steel colored eyes that Voban could tell were full of nothing but hate for him.

Archer grinned maliciously before he said "My name is Kusanagi Godou, and you got my Vassal killed. And now? Now, it's time to pay the piper."

Archer paused for a moment before he spoke the aria for his most powerful and most time consuming Authority "I strike now while the iron is hot, and as the twenty bellows blow. With the flames and the metal of Earth, Tempering Wind of the sky, And the pure Water of the ocean, this forge is created anew. I prepare now to make great wonders; I seek the perfection of my craft, here in the God Forge."

There was a bright flash and Archer, the Wizard Marshal, and the bound Devil King were suddenly standing in the middle of a vast hall made entirely out of white marble; at the other end of which, upon a dais, stood an immaculate forge.

On either side of it plus behind it stood three statues, with his enhanced vision Archer could tell what they were from here. On the right stood a traditional Japanese dragon its body bent in an "S" shape as water spewed from its open mouth. In the middle was a phoenix, a symbol of fire and molten lava poured from its open beak. Archer could've sworn he heard a beautiful shrilling as they drew closer. Finally on the left was the fierce roaring form of a tiger, with sand coming in a steady stream from its open maw.

As Archer made his way up the dais, a giant anvil; seemingly as ancient as the planet itself, black as the void, and easily big enough to lay a man across came into view as well as the two item that were currently laying on its surface. A wicked curved and serrated if crudely carved dagger, and a simple smith's hammer. He was able to take in the history and purpose of both at a glance and he immediately knew what needed to be done. Taking up both the dagger and hammer, Archer turned to Zelretch and said "Place him on the anvil."

Zelretch did so, and then stepped back knowing this was Archer's moment and he had no place to interfere. Archer stared down at his fellow Campione as he lay there helpless powerless and unable to do anything to defend himself from what was about to happen.

"Tell me something Voban, are you afraid? Do you feel even an ounce of fear right now?" Archer asked coolly as he stared at his captive as if he were no more than an insignificant bug.

The Marquise even in his bound state had the audacity to scoff. "Fear, I am a Campione! A Godslayer! A King! I know no fear!" he responded arrogantly.

"Then you truly have lost all sense of self-preservation because-"He then stabbed the dagger into Voban's stomach without warning "-If you did, you would be begging for your miserable life right about now!" Archer finished with venom.

"How-how dare you." Voban managed to get out through the pain.

"How dare I, How dare you?!" Archer retorted angrily. "How dare you come to my country, to my very home, and think you can take one of my friends from me without any form of retaliation! Not only that, but because of your foolish pride now the entire world is at risk and my friend is dead! So do me a favor Voban, and die like the rabid dog you are."

Archer then leaned down and whispered into the ear of the eldest Campione "This is for Yuri." before he slit the man's throat Campione from ear to ear watched as he lay dying from choking on his own blood.

The two remaining men watched as the now deceased campiones' blood dripped down the anvil, and made it way towards the three pools of magma, water, and sand through crevices gouged into the anvil leading to each pool. The effect was instantaneous, as the blood touched each respective pool, each of the three element rose up and engulfed the offered corpse. When the cocoon of elemental forces receded only a cherry red hunk of molten metal was left behind.

'Now comes the hard part.' Archer thought to himself as he took up the hammer and brought it down upon the steel in what would be the first of many blows 'Forging the actual blade.'

While Archer was busy preparing the coup de grace, the others were doing their best not to get their shit kicked in by a pissed off alien god thing. Or at least that's what Dante Sparda thought as he sent another barrage of bullets at the damn thing hoping to do some kind of damage. Sadly he was disappointed as Ebony and Ivory were unable to do anything, not even so much as put a scratch on the creature.

He glanced around at the others and saw the fiery redhead Aoko he remembered, had energy flaring from her arms and legs as she attacked the spider-thing with just crude martial arts, and managed to knock it around a little with that alone. The three white haired chicks meanwhile stood by impassively as a twelve foot tall black skinned behemoth roared like a savage animal and continuously attacked another of the spiders legs fruitlessly with a jagged weapon seemingly made from stone.

'This isn't working, I wonder how Vergil is...WHAT THE HELL?!' Dante thought as he watched his brother effortlessly slice through the crystalline tendrils only for them to regrow moments later.

'Hmm, I wonder..?' he thought as he summoned pair of twin swords, one of which a deep red while the other was cobalt blue. The blades were heavily serrated on each and looked like teeth while both sported fanged orbs for pommels. These were Agni and Rudra.

Before the two could even get their motor mouths running Dante smacked them together and said "Listen up you two, we've got a serious problem here. We've got to hold off a giant crystal spider...thing until an older brother who I didn't even know I had shows' up and hopefully kills the thing."

"Oh wow, he's big." Agni commented.

"But you know what they say, the bigger they are..." Rudra responded.

"The harder they fall." Dante finished as he took a swipe a one of the extraterrestrials massive legs with Angi.

He was quite surprised when the blade sliced into the leg like a hot knife through butter.

"Alright now we're talkin', hey Red!" He called getting Aoko's attention which resulted in her getting smashed into the ground by a crystal tendril she was trying to avoid, causing the youngest son of Sparda to wince in sympathy and was nearly crushed under the spiders leg from being distracted.

He managed to get out of the fight for a moment only to wince in pain when Red blasted the tendril off of her stalked over to him and kicked him in his manhood so hard, his feet left the earth for a moment, before he collapsed in the fetal position on the ground.

"What? Is it? Dante?!" she ground out as he slowly managed to pick himself up off the ground.

Hissing in pain he said "Ok I deserved that, and it's not like I ever wanted to have kids anyway so this solves that problem...eh anyway..." He said upon seeing the far from kind look on Aoko's face "I think I know how we can hurt this thing, maybe not kill it but..."

This got the Magician's attention as she immediately forgot about almost being crushed and asked "Well, what is it?"

"You'll need to wear these." Dante said in response, conjuring up an intricate set of wolf themed gauntlets and greaves.

Aoko looked at them curiously for a moment before raising an eyebrow and asking "And what exactly, will this do to help in the fight?"

Dante sighed before he gave her a quick crash course in Devil Arms 101. "Basically this is the soul of a Demon, specifically a Devil the highest class of Demon, manifested in a weaponized form. For reasons I don't know, they can actually hurt that spider thing, which is why I'm giving you Beowulf. So you can put the hurtin' on its ass."

Aoko narrowed her eyes at the objects in question and then asked "What's the catch?"

"Well, if you don't have a strong enough will, the demon will possess you, and then we'll have to deal with you and the spider." Dante wise cracked.

Aoko just nodded in response before she put both the gauntlets and the greaves on. She then heard a bestial voice inside her head ask "Who are you, to don the Devil Arm form of the mighty Beowulf?"

'I'm Aoko Emiya, Magician and wife of Shirou Emiya older brother to your current master who loaned you to me for the time being.' She thought back.

"What's this?! The next person who would dare claim me as their own is not even a Devil, but a measly mortal...Wait, you claimed to be the mate to the older brother of my vanquisher is that correct?" Beowulf asked.

'Yes, but now's not really the time for that, as it is a very long story for one thing, and for another we have a giant extraterrestrial crystal spider trying to kill us! So for the time being will you help me out?' she asked.

Beowulf 'hmm'd' in her head for a few moments before saying "I will assist you...on two conditions"

'Which are?' she mentally asked.

"One, if you somehow survive this fight you must tell me about the eldest son of Sparda, and two, if you must become my new wielder; as I find the fact that I am being used by my vanquisher humiliating." Beowulf seethed.

Aoko nodded even though the Devil Arm lacked a sense of visual perception. 'Done and done.' Aoko answered.

"Then we have an accord Aoko Emiya mate of the Eldest of Sparda." Beowulf growled out before becoming silent.

The world around the Fifth Magician suddenly came back into focus when she saw Dante get pierced by multiple crystal spikes that shot up from the ground. Becoming enraged at her brother-in-laws apparent death, Aoko lashed out violently at the spikes stuck though the smart mouthed Devil Hunter and carried his body back to the relative safety of the tunnel, where she put his body down on gently on the dirt strewn floor.

"I'm sorry Dante I couldn't save you, and right now, I don't have time to use the Fifth on you. The others need me I hope you understand." He apologized to his corpse.

"I'm not dead ya know, though I do get what you're saying." Dante said as he sat up, and promptly chuckled at Aoko's stunned expression.

"I'm half-devil, remember Aoko? That means I'm damn hard to kill...ah man!" he yelled as he looked down at himself.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly.

Dante now wore a look of annoyance "That damn space spider totally wrecked my coat! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get red leather long coats?!"

Aoko rolled her eyes at his display of childishness in this situation before saying "If we aren't killed I promise to get you a new coat ok?"

This caused Sparda's youngest to grin "Deal. Now let's crank this party to eleven!"

Archer had been pounding away at the heated metal for god knows how long, but it had been well worth it. The one weapon he could think of which could possibly defeat a Type was now taking shape under the blows of his hammer, and soon, very soon, it would be finished.

'Just hang on a little longer Aoko, everyone.' He thought as he pounded the weapon again and watched as the last bit of detail needed took shape on the weapon, before it instantly cooled and all the parts took their necessary color and tone.

Archer stared at the finished product for a moment analyzing its structure. He was surprised to find that this was no mere copy like he usually created via the Blade Works but an actual one hundred percent physical replica of the weapon he was trying to recreate. In other words, it was a perfect copy with all the powers of the original at its disposal.

"Holy shit." Archer muttered in hushed tones as the implications of this sunk in.

He was broken out of his reverie by the voice of the Wizard Marshal asking from behind him "Is that it then?"

Archer turned and faced the four millennia old vampire and briefly looking down at the weapon said "Yes, this will either save us, or damn us all to an unspeakable torment."

Zelretch just smiled. "Sounds like fun. Let's throw the dice and see what destiny has in store for us shall we?"

Archer nodded and then the two were deposited back inside the tunnel. Zelretch hung back and as Archer walked forward. The Crimson Cloaked Hero glanced back only briefly to say "No matter what happens don't let the other's interfere."

Zelretch nodded "Of course, can't have their deaths on your conscience now can you?"

Archer didn't respond, he just kept moving forward. It's what he had always done; it's what he will always do, to move ever forward... without looking back.

The fight was going better now that they could wound, if not kill Type Mercury in Aoko's opinion. As soon as she and Dante reentered the fray, Dante saw fit to equip Berserker with a three headed nunchaku which was capable of freezing anything it came into contact with, including the tough as diamond exterior of ORT.

'We may be holding our own for now, but I wish my reckless idiot of a husband of mine would hurry up with whatever it is he's planning.' Aoko thought crossly.

Then, as if just thinking of her husband had summoned him, Archer slowly and calmly walked past her, and as he did she saw something he had only described her from his memories of the Fifth Grail War in his hand. Something he shouldn't be capable of Tracing.

"Emiya?" She asked warily "What are you doing with that thing?" she asked pointing to the weapon in his hand.

He turned his head to his wife and smiled warmly like he used to back when they were married and said "I'm going to do what I need to Aoko, but I want you to remember that no matter what, I never stopped loving you."

Aoko suddenly became fearful "Emiya, why does it sound like your saying goodbye?"

Archer chuckled mirthlessly "That's because I am sweetheart, I'm giving you the proper goodbye you should've had before I went away last time." He told her gently.

Aoko shook her head in denial, her crimson hair flying around her in a cascade. "No, you are not leaving me again Shirou! Not after it took me this long to find you again!" She said her voice tinged with desperation and anger.

"I'm sorry dear but...So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!" he intoned finishing the last line of his personal aria.

The last thing Aoko saw before the flames consumed all was her husband's smiling face as he at her.

Upon Mt. Olympus a god of fire and steel watched as his chosen successor decided to freely make the ultimate sacrifice and leave his loved ones out of the final confrontation. It was a decision that, while noble, would surely lead to his heirs' downfall.

'That boy, he's a true hero no doubt about it.' Hephaestus thought as he stroked his massive beard and watched as the boy spread his perception of what he considered the world to be out across the battlefield and trapped both his foe and himself in his version of reality.

"This is wrong, the boy deserves better than this!" the God of the Forge shouted standing up from his throne before stomping off to find both his wife and adopted daughter.

He found his wife in the Olympian Gardens a place of nigh unparalleled beauty and fragrance, where every flower in the world grew and all were in full bloom regardless of season. However its beauty was lost upon the god smith at the moment as he had more important things on his mind as he strode up to his wife who was lounging on a stone bench like a cat.

She sat up quickly when she noticed her husbands' approach as well as the grim look on his face.

"Husband, what troubles you?" she asked concerned.

Hephaestus sighed "It's the boy; he's done something liable to get himself killed."

Aphrodite merely quirked an eyebrow in response and said "So, he's a Campione death comes with the territory and it's not our problem if he dies or not, you know that." She gently chastised.

"It's not right, the boy deserves better; and how do you expect to console Pandora if he were to die?!" He boomed in anger before becoming solemn "You know as well as I she's never been this serious about anyone since him and we both know how that turned out." He finished in disgust.

The goddess of loves eyes narrowed in hate as she remembered just who her husband was talking about "Ah yes, I had almost forgotten about him and how he treated our daughter, thank you for reminding me." Aphrodite said, a bit of heat entering her voice.

"I did not mean to drag up painful memories wife, I am merely trying to point out that she genuinely cares for this man, like she cared for him in the beginning."

Aphrodite sighed in defeat "It's alright; I understand what you're trying to say, and your right. She does indeed love him...you're going to intervene aren't you?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"...Aye." Hephaestus said at length.

"Well then, I guess it's been fun hasn't it?" Aphrodite asked.

The Forge God chuckled "Yes, fun is certainly one way to look at it, I suppose."

She suddenly looked down as if embarrassed "You know, despite everything, all the scandals and the affairs and the cheating, I want you to know that...that I actually did...what I mean to say is that I really do-" She was cut off by Hephaestus putting his lips onto hers silencing her

Breaking the liplock he said "I know, I love you too, wife." before pulling her into an embrace and holding her tightly.

The two divines stayed like that for a moment, using the physical contact to express what words could not over the millennia. After a minute or two Hephaestus reluctantly parted saying "I should go, that boy likely won't save himself and I still need to bed farewell to Pandora." He said before disappearing.

"Goodbye husband." Spoke to the now empty space where her husband of several millennia once stood. She then sat back down on the stone bench, placed her head into her hands and wept.

Hephaestus stood now in a great endless grey void. He looked around for his daughter but couldn't find her anywhere. Scratching his head in confusion Hephaestus mumbled "Now where could that girl have run off to?"

"I'm right behind you papa." A slightly strained cheerful voice said.

Hephaestus spun on his heel and came face to face with his surrogate daughter. It almost broke his giant heart to see the pained look in her eyes emerald green eyes, but he knew he had to do this.

"You know why I'm here?" he asked rhetorically.

Pandora, nodded, subdued. "Of course I do, I'm me afterall." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which to those two, it was.

The two stared at each other silently for a long moment before Hephaestus knelt down and opened up his arms, allowing hi daughter to come running into his embrace.

"I'm going to miss you papa. Who will I go to now when I need good advice?" She said as she sniffled into his toga.

"Never fret my dear, even when I'm not here, I'll always be with you, always. Please remember that. As for advice, you'll find that words of wisdom will often reveal themselves in times of need, so never fear my child." He said reassuringly as he stroked her purple colored hair gently with one of his massive hands.

"I need you to be strong now my dear, strong like you were before you met him. I need you to become that strong person you were again, as I fear the world and possibly others will soon have need of you, but most importantly Emiya will have need of you. Do you understand?" he said leaning over further so he could stare his surrogate daughter in the eyes.

She was shocked he would bring him up of all people, but she understood why he did it. "I don't know if I can become that person again papa, not after what he did to me." She said as hatred, malice, resentment and bitterness entered her voice.

Hephaestus rubbed her back soothingly "I know it will be difficult dear, but I know you can do it, I have faith in you." He said encouragingly.

She stepped out of her father's embrace a small smile now adoring her face even as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Hephaestus saw it in her eyes however; the fire had been rekindled in her eyes that hadn't been there since he snuffed it out. He saw the spark begin to return when her curiosity about Emiya was aroused, and it became a flame as she became betrothed to, and grew closer to Emiya over the past year. Now, with his little speech it was a raging inferno!

Satisfied with his pep talk, Hephaestus stepped back and gave his daughter one final nod before vanishing intent on saving the closest thing he ever had to a son...

Archer was having a rough time. Strike that, he was getting his ass kicked. He rained an endless torrent of legendary swords down upon the Aristotles, but they might as well have been needles for all the effect they had on the alien entity. Ort charged forward from across the vast plain of the Blade Works, attempting to squash him flat in his charge. Archer however managed to avoid the attack. His attacker however decided to try a different approach as when Archer turned to face the creature he found it wasn't there!

'What in the Root? Something that big just can't disappear can it? Then again it is an alien construct lacking even a concept of death.' Archer thought to himself as he swiftly turned in all directions, in preparation to defend from a surprise attack.

He almost didn't see the attack coming, as it didn't come from any direction he was used to. Not from behind or the sides, his flank or above, no this attack came from below. The only warning he was a slight vibration in the earth before beyond diamond hard spikes shot up from the ground seeking to impale him. Luckily, that was all he needed as a warning and he managed to roll out of the way in time but not without taking a deep gash to his left arm.

"Damn!" he growled out in irritation as he felt the burning pain of the cut lance through his arm before the entire appendage went numb and became limp and unresponsive.

He was now on the defensive as everytime he touched down on the ground, more and more spike or tendrils in some cases would burst forth and attempt to capture or kill him. This was problematic as he needed to concentrate long enough to use his trump card and finish the fight, which he couldn't do if he was constantly on the move and on the lookout for spikes of death.

'I need a miracle.' Archer thought to himself before he realized that with the way his luck usually ran, this would be the part where he died horribly and painfully.

That was until a very familiar mountain of a man appeared out of nowhere and started grappling with the multitude of tendrils and spikes.

"Hephaestus?! What are you-"He was cut off by his potential father-in-law shouting "Isn't it obvious?! I'm giving you an opportunity, now don't waste it and do what needs to be done!" Hephaestus finished with a growl as several spike pierced his legs and arms, yet still he held on forcing the alien creature to contend with him.

Emiya just stood there and stared at the struggling smith of Olympus for a moment, before his eyes became resolute and he nodded and held up his remaining working arm which held a lance-like longsword which was covered in crimson cuneiform. The Sword of Rupture began to spin counterclockwise, clockwise, and counterclockwise again as the three sections of its drill-like blade began to gyrate it produced an eerie keening and a crimson energy began to gather along the blade. As the sections spun faster and faster the keening grew louder and higher pitched and the crimson energy swelled to epic proportions' becoming a twister of chaotic spiraling energy. Finally, Archer felt the power of the blade reach its zenith, and he looked over to Hephaestus who was now heavily bleeding from several wounds, the worst of which were three pricings wounds to his abdomen.

Both God and Godslayer locked eyes and as one the two men nodded. This was it, do or die, live free or die hard, the last shot. No more words needed to be said between the two; but, just before he announced the name of the attack that would either save this world or damn it to hell he said on impulse "Yippie-Ki-Yay motherfucker!"

Outside Unlimited Blade Works, Aoko was doing her damndest to breach the Reality Marble, the one thing getting in her way and stopping her from doing so? That would be Zelretch the Wizard Marshal, Master of the Second Magic.

"Get the hell out of my way Old Man!" Aoko screamed as she tore towards the bounded field that constituted the parameters of Unlimited Blade Works, intent on destroying it.

...Only to be spat out a portal heading away from it whenever she or any of her attacks came within five feet of damaging the field.

Zelretch stood there with a look of grim resolve on his face which looked out of place compared to his usual look of a smirk or smile. This was Zelretch when he got serious, usually people died when he got serious.

"I'm sorry Aoko; but I gave him my word, none of you shall interfere from here on out." Zelretch said resolutely.

Aoko let out a scream of anger before she punched the ground with her fist, completely shattering the ground around her within a good twenty yards before she screamed "DAMN YOU OLD MAN! DAMN YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

Aoko then broke down and cried in the wreckage she created, knowing she could do nothing to save her husband...

Archer merely said two words "Enuma Elish" and released Ea's crimson whirlwind of power. It tore through the Reality Marble before hitting the Type. The whole world was still for a moment before Time and Space screamed. A red light flooded the area as Ea's destructive force ripped through both the reality marble and the surrounding dimensions. All around Campione Earth, crimson light blotted out the sun for a short while. In that light everyone on the planet saw it. The Truth, that memory of the primordial earth all living beings carry within as a latent genetic memory. Most ignored it as a figment of their imagination but the more aware people knew this was very important.

In another dimension on a different earth, a teenage looking girl recoiled and nearly collapsed. "Milady!" The two men next to her yelled in shock before they came to her aid and picked her. Her dog also looked in concern for its master. The girl had an absolutely shocked expression.

"No way." she could only mutter in a soft voice.

"What happened was it a vision? A black dressed man on the right asked.

"Yes, the image, it was the aftereffect of the death an ancestor." She replied still shocked.

"Which one was it?" The one in white on her left asked. Knowing his Lady normally didn't react to a death of one of their kind like so and wondered whose it could have been to have given her such a reaction. Her shaken answer shocked everything in the room as even the dog froze at her worlds. "The Fifth, I just saw the death of the 5th Dead Apostle Ancestor."

In Campione-verse Several Gods got a shock as they remembered the last time they felt such a power. In Japan, The Princess with Glass Eyes gasped. "Impossible this feels like!"

"Heh Looks like the kid might be what we're looking for after all." Susanoo muttered as he had flashbacks to the last person who wielded such power.

In a Castle in England, A knight and a young girl stared also stared at the light. "Sir Knight, that power is just like his! The girl muttered in absolute shock and awe. "Indeed." The knight replied. It looks like there's someone else who can wield a variant of our master's sword."

All over the world, Netherworld, and Domain of immortality Several God's were stirred. They could all feel it. Someone wielding a power nearly identical to their former master was currently in the world and they were all dying to find out who it was.

On a floating island over Tokyo Japan, a rusty iron sword glowed golden for a brief second resonating with the power it felt. Beneath it laid the sword's master a figure clad in Golden armor. The Beginning of the End of the era as the Strongest Steel for the first time in centuries stirred as a single pinky finger twitched.

And, as the wave washed over everyone in existence, in the Reality Marble the Ankh given to Archer by Alice Goddodin just hours previously began glowing before the red light washed over him...consuming all...

Somewhere else

"It is done! The seal has been cracked, weakened, and soon, soon the Herald shall awaken and we shall all be free! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" A voice utterly tinged with madness cackled manically.

End of Chapter

Chapter Length: 13,200

AN: IT. IS. DONE! This would usually be the part where I bring in the others who help me on this fic and let them say a few words, but no, not this time. This time it's me, Bubbjack; the writer of this fic ladies and gentlemen. Do you know what a BITCH this chapter was to write? Not because of writers block per say but because shit kept happening beyond my control to do anything about. My eldest niece got married, which while a good thing, meant I had to go out and buy a $500 tux for her wedding, shortly after which my word processor suddenly decided I needed to pay money for a free program that I had been using for years but I didn't have any money as I had spent it all on my nieces wedding at that point. Then, after I got that sorted out, my computer battery needed to be replaced! Which I still haven't done! I have stayed up for the past WEEK till four in the morning to get this chap finished so I hope you all like it cause it had caused me no end of frustration. Till next time (Which is probably whenever I wake up from my coma induced by sleep deprivation.) Bubbajack out!