An Opportunity of Fate

by PML7

Counter Guardian Emiya is given an offer he cannot refuse. He must somehow save Fuyuki City from the ravages of the Fifth Grail War without being allowed to participate himself! Can he influence his younger self and his friends from his youth enough to save the world before Emiya has to use a Counter Force against the Grail, destroying Fuyuki City and the surrounding area?

35. Chapter 35

An Opportunity of Fate part 35

Rin Tohsaka-

Rin was sitting in the room that Kiritsugu had made into an office of sorts. There were a couple of desks and a computer. She honestly had not expected she would get as much use out of it as she did. It was actually fairly useful in school work and gathering news.

Shirou used it much more than she did.

In a way it was a pity that it couldn't be harnessed for magecraft, as a digital library could be useful. But it was too dangerous with too great a chance that the wrong information could get out. The Magic Association would not be happy about the reality of magic being leaked on the Internet.

Luckily Shirou was good enough to track down general information for her.

No for her real work in the den she used either the pile of notebooks Shirou had sorted by subject or the chalkboard she was drawing on now. She didn't do much mage craft here, this wasn't her workshop. No this room was for thought experiments. For planning out what she might do later downstairs.

Tonight her plans were different. Outside of discharging some of her prana into a gem later she had no plan to conduct any experimentation. She was planning for tomorrow.

They had tomorrow and early Friday to come up with a plan to win this war. But the truth was they lacked information. Not only about the enemies capabilities, but their own.

Luvia and Cassandra were going to show up tomorrow to help pool information for their alliance. But before then Rin wanted an assessment of her friend's capabilities. Rin knew what she could do, but apparently Shirou had more tricks up his sleeve than Rin had imagined. And after herself, she knew him best.

That had to change. To be able to seriously plan everyone would have to be honest about their capabilities. Rin didn't need to understand the underlying mysteries, although that would be useful. No she needed to know what they could do.

And for that, knowing the right questions would be almost important as the answers.

There was a knock at the door. Rin continued to survey her planned experiments tomorrow. "Come in."

Sakura walked in, "Sister, I was just coming in to tell you that I was about to leave."

Sakura had her attention, "Leave? Where?"

"To the Matou estate."

"What? Why would you ever want to go back there?" Rin shivered, "Particularly so late at night."

Sakura's smile was serene, "I hold no fear of the Dark. And as for why…" Her eyes suddenly became purplish as if lit from within by a red light, "It is MINE, paid for by my pain and fear and dignity."

"Sakura…"

Sakura's smile was still serene, but peace was not what she radiated. Dark Sakura. Rin had hoped that her sister's darker side would fade with the death of Zouken.

Sakura closed her eyes, her voice calm. "Sister, you always talk how Magi hold to Equivalent Exchange. Should I not claim what I have paid for?"

"But why now? Surely after the War…"

Sakura opened her eyes and examined Rin closely, "I have told you how extensive the Matou library is, haven't I?"

"Yes."

Sakura looked away, "Zouken was instrumental in devising the Grail War. Not the Makiri family, Zouken himself. He was old, Sister, hundreds of years old even at that time. Humans can't live that long without it having an effect on them, not just physically but to the level of the soul itself. That was part of his problem in the end, his soul had corroded to the point it spoiled his bodies almost faster than he could replace them."

"How, how do you know this?"

Sakura sneered at Rin, "You have a Crest right? You do know how they work? You are the one with a real education in magic." She rolled her eyes, "While you and my other selves were having fun and playing with Shirou, I was prying at the corners of my Crest, to see what I had gained from that old bastard."

"Of course I know what a Crest is! It was the whole stupid reason Father gave you to the Matou and…." Rin thought for a moment, "What did you figure out?"

The red backlight in her eyes began to fade, leaving them a brilliant blue. "My fate would have been worse than I thought. Assuming Grandfather had been able to carry it out. All his work was to beat me down, to destroy the essence of my individuality to the point that he could use me to either coopt the Grail, or failing that, to subsume me."

Rin closed her eyes, to think she might lose her sister so completely. If the War had done anything positive, the death of Zouken was surely it. She sighed, "Similar to what happened to Ayako?"

"Nothing so kind and compassionate. I am not entirely sure how he planned on doing it, but it would have required my self-identity to be sundered, and then, and then." Sakura took a shuddering breath, "He would have me utilize my own powers to rip apart my soul. He would then rebuild himself with the fragments, pushing the corroded parts of his soul into what remained of me and jettisoning what was left. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would give him time."

"He's dead, Sakura." Rin hugged her sister, "He is gone and he won't be back."

Sakura held her close, "That's just it, Sister. He's not totally gone." She pushed Rin back so their eyes met, "He couldn't be sure how much of himself would transfer, how much would be lost permanently due to corruption. Rin your Crest occupies part of your arm. Mine is almost my entire nervous system, pretty much everything outside of my Magic Circuit. I can't access it all; I don't know enough to recall most of it. But it is there. It is there, and I am frightened Rin. What if I become like him?"

"I won't let you." She blew a stray hair from her face, "And neither would Shirou."

Sakura twisted the ring on her finger. She sighed and nodded, "That may be, but we still don't have a plan to destroy the Grail. Zouken was one of the designers of the system." She looked up at Rin, "That is why I have to go back. Maybe he wrote something; maybe something will activate another part of my Crest…."

Rin nodded, "I've been thinking how we can coordinate better, but a plan would be good. Ilya might know something too."

"I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"Take one of the Servants. You and Arturia seem to get along well."

Sakura smiled softly, "Medusa has already offered. It's strange being with her now. She is like Ayako, and yet not."

"Be very careful of her. I believe she is on our side, but what she considers good for us may be completely different from what we might want."

Sakura's eyes tightened in pain. "Our Ayako is different."

"Yeah."

"No, Rin. I mean really, really different." Sakura walked past Rin and opened one of the drapes. She pointed out to the darkness.

Rin glanced out and saw Ayako sitting cross-legged in the snow. The girl was faintly lit by the garden lights. "Huh."

Sakura glared at her, "Sister, she is barefoot, wearing just one of Issei's shirts sitting in the snow while it is below zero talking to a fountain."

Rin absently said, "That isn't just a fountain." She looked over at Sakura. If she could trust her sister with Shirou, trust her with access to her home, this little bit of knowledge wouldn't hurt. "That fountain contains the central gem that powers the Tohsaka Boundary Fields. It draws directly from the ley line and is almost impossible to breach." Rin smiled, "Kiritsugu had a few tricks to breaking the barriers, and I have instituted new security measures." The fountain was one of them.

Sakura continued to stare at her friend sitting in the snow. "That doesn't explain why she is talking to it. Or for that matter… Rin, both of us are mages, it would take a decent amount of reinforcement to bear up under those conditions. Even then we wouldn't be comfortable, only resistant to the cold. Ayako looks at home there."

"She's probably talking to the Elemental in the fountain. It's not powerful or violent, but it's another layer of protection."

"That isn't Tohsaka magic."

Rin smiled, "Once I knew I could trust him, I followed some of Kiritsugu's suggestions regarding the Estate. That was one." Her smile broadened, "Among others."

Sakura shrugged, "Okay. But what are we going to do about her. Even if she can hold back her nature and shield her eyes, Ayako is going to seem a little strange after this."

Rin closed her eyes. 'Won't we all?' She sighed and continued, "We'll help her."

Sakura merely sighed. A moment later she said, "I should get going. I'll call if I run into anything."

Rin watched her sister leave and then sat heavily in one of the desk chairs. So many problems. After the War they would….

Rin took a deep breath. Priorities. They had to win the War first. Everything else could wait. She stood up and got back to work.

-End Scene—

Luvia Edelfelt-

Luvia quietly began to dismantle the communication array. While a telephone call would have been easier to place, it would also be less secure.

Her family was not happy with her at the moment. Trouble was brewing back home and she was here in backwater Japan. It did not help that the Edefeldt had good ties with both the Clocktower and the Sea of Estray. The only reason why the family had spent most of its time working with the Clocktower over the last few generations was due to it being changed to the Magic Association's headquarters. But unlike so many others, they had not neglected to work with the Sea of Estray.

That was a problem. It wasn't so much that war had been declared, it hadn't. But elements and factions in both organizations hadn't gotten along for some time. The greater concentration of resources that the Clocktower now held was resented by the Sea of Estray. (No one was quite sure what Atlas thought.)

It wasn't a war yet, but people had died. A few workshops had been vandalized. Things were tense.

And Luvia was here and not in Finland, where she would be in control. And safe.

The last time an Edelfelt had participated in the Grail War the family had lost part of their Crest. Eight generations of knowledge and power, all at risk because of her.

There was a knock at the door. It could only be Cassandra. Ajax would have just walked in.

"Come in." Luvia finished dismantling the complicated jewel array.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I, well I." Cassandra looked down, "Is it okay if I sleep in here? I'll take the couch, but I don't want to be alone." She was holding a blanket and pillows to her chest.

"Were you able to get a hold of El Melloi?"

Cassandra was silent as she walked over to the couch. She closed her eyes and hugged the pillows tightly. "It is all falling apart."

"Is El Melloi...?"

"He is fine. There was an attack on the El Melloi estate outside of London. If Waver hadn't been there they would've all been killed. He, he had been asking permission to join me."

"Cassandra…"

"No one knows for sure who it was. The pool of mercenaries used to dealing with magic is small. We use them, the Church uses them, and even the savvier Dead Apostles use them. Waver thinks it's a ruse by our enemies to sow dissension. And they are doing a damn good job of it. Three of the Lords of the Clocktower have had members of their retinue assassinated, by means both magical and mundane."

"And they think the Sea of Estray is involved? I can say that the Edelfelt are not."

"That is just it. No one knows! But it is a political firestorm back in the Clocktower. Many of the Northern European Families are leaving. Rumor has the Sea of Estray headquarters sighted in the North Sea. There is serious talk of war, Luvia." Cassandra sighed, "Whoever is doing it is hitting both sides. The headquarters of the Prague Association was bombed. Publically it's a terrorist attack, but…"

Luvia examined Cassandra closely, "My family wants me to withdraw from Fuyuki."

Cassandra looked down, "Maybe that would be for the best. I've never brought luck to those around me. You don't have to be close to anchor Ajax." She looked up, "You should. At least one of us should be able to survive this nightmare."

"You don't trust the others?" Luvia continued to observe Cassandra.

Cassandra examined her wrist and the Command Spells still prominent. "I have to. They have three Servants, an Elemental, and several magi. What choice do I really have? Besides they're right. This Ceremony needs to be stopped."

Luvia nodded. "My family is known for many things. Our wealth and prestige. Our fearless service to those who hire our assistance. But we have always stood against the forces that seek to dominate or destroy mankind.

helmi este

A small boundary field formed above her finger. She closed her eyes and remembered the alterations she had made to her family's traditional attack.

Gandr

A blot of darkness hovered in the boundary field. Luvia could feel the evil contained in the Gandr bolt, she could feel it try to taint her through the prana she fed it. Every reason she had to hate the other girl flashed through her, the bolt begging and demanding its use.

Cassandra gasped, crawling along the back of the couch in a desperate effort to put distance between her and the tiny bit of black light.

Luvia sighed as she starved the spell of prana, dismissing it. She let the barrier fade once she was sure the gandr bolt was gone.

"What was that?"

Luvia smiled sadly, "That is what we seek to stop. That is the essence of the curse on the Grail."

Cassandra's face was still horrified, "And you weaponized it? My God, you Edelfelts…."

"Are warriors, yes. My people were still fighting phantasmal creatures into the Sixteenth Century! The reason we fight isn't for monetary gain, you silly goose, it is so that some of us are prepared should we need to defend our people again!" She was glad she'd extinguished the bolt, or she probably would have killed Cassandra right there.

"Always with the past!" She was about to continue when she sighed, "Let's just forget it, okay? I am not a hero like you, okay? I am just a researcher who wanted the impossible. Now that I am here, I don't even know what I would truly wish for."

Luvia chuckled, "Good thing you won't be making one."

"Heh." She looked down, "I am scared and I want to go home. Only now…."

Luvia walked over and hugged Cassandra, "Only now our homes aren't safe either. We just need to focus on how we can bring this ritual down. And it will take more than just heroes to do it."

Cassandra whispered, "Thanks." And she stood up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't think I can sleep now. And maybe, maybe if I look over the data one more time…"

Luvia returned to her bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling. She was like that for a couple more minutes. "Maybe another set of eyes would help." And she followed Cassandra.

End Scene-

Ilya 'von Einzbern'

Ilya sat at the table and observed her sleeping brother. He had held her until she had stopped crying. And then when she asked they viewed the memory again.

It was a strange thing to not really know who or what you are. There were reasons Gretchen had buried those memories, some of which were still distorted. Touko Aozaki might have waxed eloquently about the pointless metaphysics of what Ilya had done, but Ilya wasn't so sure.

Even at the time she hadn't been sure.

She took another sip of the wine she had aquired. She swirled the delicate wine glass Shirou had made for her, watching as the light played through the wine. So many bitter memories. Her family had made sure she had known about Shirou. They had told her quite early, pictures of a happy life with Shirou, Kiritsugu, and Taiga. Kiritsugu was portrayed as a man who had betrayed his wife and daughter, one who having abandoned one family, quickly forgot about them, and replaced them.

When she had been younger, before she had realized that she was dying, she had bought it completely. In learning how to survive, she learned just how complex her life really was. She had studied the alchemy that had made her, learned the refinements that had made her birth possible.

She wasn't human. She had long known that, but she had always been treated with respect, as a member of the family. But she wasn't. She was a homunculus. A thing. At least that is what the Family thought.

Ilya wasn't so sure. Sure, she knew she contained the Grail Core. She knew she had a purpose. But did that make who she was any less real? Did it really matter if she truly was Ilya von Einsbern, born of Irisviel von Einsbern, if she was in truth an identical copy? One with all the memories, for she had them all now.

She took another sip. If one looked at it from the right angle, Touko was right. It was all just worthless metaphysics. She was who she was, regardless if she was the original or an exact duplicate. And everything she had done over the last few years spoke that she was as good a candidate as the original Ilya had been.

Better in fact. Now that her memories had returned, now that she could assess what she had been verses what she was now. Her current body was stronger. Not just physically, but magically as well. And her reserves were much deeper.

There was the sound of footsteps, "Hello? Shirou? Ilya?" Rin's voice filled the basement.

"Over here," Ilya called out.

Rin walked over, "I was getting worried and…" She rushed over to Shirou.

"He's fine, Rin. He's not good at resisting Enchantment."

"What did you do to him?" Rin turned, glaring at Ilya.

"I put him to sleep. I needed some time to think, and I didn't want you pestering me." Ilya took another drink.

"Roland, can you take Shirou up to his, I mean mine." Rin closed her eyes and blushed, "Our room. Take him to our room."

The Servant stared at Ilya, "Are you sure it is safe?"

"She is Kiritsugu's daughter?"

Roland kept staring at Ilya, "I know how much that man meant to you. But this girl is very powerful and very dangerous. And while he may have been a father figure to you, you do not know her that well yet." Roland's eyes tightened, "I overheard what Kuzuki told you before he left earlier."

Ilya finished her glass. "I see. Well then." She reached out and refilled her glass and raised it towards him in honor before taking another sip, "I can see why you would want to protect your Master."

Rin glanced between the Servant and the homunculus, "What? Did something happen?"

Ilya cheerily said, "I destroyed an airport."

Rin's eyes shot open, "What?"

Roland's gaze did not leave Ilya. "By summoning, what were his words? She summoned a storm of ice and snow brought to life. A living blizzard."

Ilya took another sip, "A Frost Giant actually. And no, I didn't know I could do that." She looked up at the pale faced Rin. Ilya held out an open hand and willed another wine glass into being. She frowned at it, "Even with all my power, it is still not as real as his."

Rin sat quietly at the table, "Shirou's abilities at Projection are well, it's complicated." Her voice lowered, "But I think I have some speculations."

Ilya poured some wine into the glass she had just made and handed it to Rin.

Rin looked at the glass. "You do plan on repaying me for this, right?"

Ilya just waved her hand airily, "Of course."

Rin took a sip and frowned, "How do you people drink this?"

Ilya smirked, "It is an easily acquired taste. Most drink it for its secondary effects." She poured a little more into her own glass.

"You destroyed an airport, we destroyed a medical complex. The school I go to was attacked by magical means." Rin set the glass down, "How are we ever going to conceal this?"

Ilya shrugged, "The Magic Association hides bigger things all the time. There was a vampire outbreak in Northern Germany, an entire town turned into the Dead. Was that on the news broadcasts? No. It was blamed on a chemical spill. At a guess, it will be blamed on terrorists. The airport blamed on some strange atmospheric phenomena. People don't want to believe. The few that do will either be coopted, broken or killed."

Rin just glared at Ilya, "Still we are supposed to keep it all a secret. I can't exactly wipe Fuyuki off the map!"

Ilya waved her hand at RIn, "Yes, yes, I will do what I can. Besides, I don't think I can do that much. But the memories I carry inside of me, those ancient ancestral memories from Justeaze, well if I get backed into a corner, she might pop out again."

Rin placed her head on the table. She then gently tapped it against the surface repeatedly.

Ilya shrugged and willed another glass into being. She filled it and handed it to Saber. Saber looked at it for a moment before glancing at his master.

Rin said, her head still on the table, "Go ahead Roland. Take the drink from the person of mass destruction. If I could stand the taste, I would probably down a bottle or two." Rin continued to mutter, "Okay, so that makes two now. No, If I am right, Ayako would probably count too. And of course, there's Shirou. Not to mention the Servants." There was a slight sob, "Why me? What did I do wrong this time?"

Ilya put her wine glass down. "Aren't you going to ask?"

Rin looked over at her, "Ask what?"

"To see what Gretchen left me?"

"I am curious, sure. But we all have secrets. Anything I absolutely need to know, Shirou will tell me."

Ilya stared at Rin, before looking over at Shirou, "You trust him a great deal."

Rin sat up, "When it comes to my safety and the well-being of others? Absolutely. When it comes to his own safety or well-being? Not at all." Rin closed her eyes, "Shirou cares for you Ilya. I don't know if you understand what that means." She wiped a few tears away before glaring at Ilya.

Ilya glanced at Shirou, "I know. I was raised to hate him, and yet everything he has done since he's met me has shown a total commitment to my safety. When I was captured I knew he would come for me. And he did. The only reason Souichirou found me first was because of his trained instincts overcoming where my magic had told him I would be."

Rin shook her head for a moment and stopped, "Of course, I should have seen it ."

"What? And what does it have to do with Shirou?"

Rin just smiled and walked toward the room with the memory emulator.

-End Scene—

Issei Ryudou-

Issei was still confused by the dream he'd had. He knew that Ako had wanted something from him, and he wasn't exactly sure he knew what it was. He wasn't sure he could truly know what something like her wanted, not fully.

He took a deep breath of the brisk night air as he regarded the garden in the back of the Mitsuzuri house. To the left of him was the tiny shrine he had been certain would be there, next to a tiny waterfall.

It was soothing and calm. It helped Eiko keep focused, allowing her to be more human. It was something he wanted for Ayako someday. But it would be years before he could afford something like this.

Luckily he had other options.

He looked at the complicated charm he had produced. He truly wished he could work metal, as the sound of the wind chime would be more pronounced.

Still he was proud of what he had made. Eiko had let him gather the wood from the garden. It had taken him most of the night to fashion it, and engrave it with the correct symbols. To conduct the rituals that would purify it and link it to his beautiful Ayako, so that she might find comfort in it.

He had bathed it in ritually purified water, and dried it with a sacred flame. It waited now only for the first breeze from the rising sun.

Issei smiled at the brightening horizon. It was only a matter of time….

End Scene-

Interlude One

Taiga Fujimura paused in the last set of kata. For just a moment she had heard something land on the roof. She looked over to where she usually stashed Honor when she practiced in Emiya's dojo.

And it was gone. For just a brief moment Taiga wondered what had happened to it, where it could have gone. Had she left it in her room? She spent so much time at Emiya's to avoid her mother's shrill questions.

When was she getting married? Did she want to be a Christmas Cake? Was she a pervert that preferred women? Her cousin was a year younger and already pregnant with her second child and….

Taiga cried out, "Leave me alone!"

No one answered. There was no one there.

Her prized Honor of Duty was gone as well, lost when facing that eldritch child Ayako Mitsuzuri. Taiga shuddered at the memory of mocking laughter and golden eyes. The girl hadn't even tried to fight fair. She'd just made a fool of Taiga.

Over and over again.

Finally on a hill overlooking the school they had talked. Gone was the magical compulsion to kill the girl. In its place was a massive sense of injured pride. Ayako had offered to lead Taiga to safety.

Taiga had accepted. But her need to avenge herself had been so strong. So when Ayako had turned her back Taiga lashed out with Honor, aiming to cut the girl open from shoulder to thigh.

Taiga had known it was wrong even before she attacked, before she attempted to murder one of her own students. But she attacked anyway. Hadn't Honor been made to kill such things as Ayako?

Taiga had felt Honor go dead in her hands. Felt as it became heavy and unbalanced. It had been such an easy strike.

Taiga had missed.

The next few moments passed in a pained blur as Ayako had pummeled her and taken Honor.

And drove her precious Honor of Duty nearly hilt deep into a rock.

It was hard to avoid her mother's nagging now. Now that she was without Honor.

It didn't help that of the two men she'd ever felt attracted to, one was dead and the other wanted to fritter his life away as a monk.

Taiga didn't know what she was going to do with herself now. She prepare herself for another series of exercises.

The door opened and a golden-eyed girl walked in.

Taiga kept a close watch of Ayako. Youkai were often polite, but just as often unpredictable. "Good morning, Mitsuzuri. If you are here to claim Purity, you will have to wait for my grandfather to wake."

Ayako smirked at her, "Good morning, Teacher." She walked across the room and swung a shinai, "That was only part of my bargain with Mr. Fujimura."

Taiga stood there watching Ayako pick a shinai. "This is impossible! I can't do it."

"I don't see why not. You are already teaching Shirou. Besides you've beat me around a few times."

"You are Youkai."

Ayako elegantly began a few warm up exercises, "Yes. There is no point in denying I have supernatural speed and strength. That just means I need someone good to train me. I learned the hard way that speed and strength are not enough."

"I tried to kill you!"

Ayako smiled and met her eyes.

There was something odd about Ayako's eyes. They were not yellow like an animal's, they were metallic. And there was an odd sense of movement in them. It was so….

Ayako moved. She was so fast!

But while Ayako had some training, Taiga had lots more. Ayako, despite her speed was telegraphing her attacks. Despite her strength and speed the girl was making wasteful movements, wasting her advantage.

After a hectic several minutes, Taiga was being helped off the floor by a grumbling Ayako. "Good fight. Not regulation, we'd probably both have been disqualified."

Ayako muttered, "Best two out of three?"

"I'd have said it was a tie."

Ayako frowned, "Sure you'd be hurt, maybe badly. That attack of yours would have killed me."

Taiga smiled and held a thumb up, "Loser buys breakfast."

Ayako growled, "Deal."

End Interlude-

Ilya von Einzbern-

Ilya paused as Saber carried the sleeping Shirou and the tired but happy Rin off upstairs. Could she truly face this alone?

Once more she activated the memory emulator.

Rin watched as Shirou left. Had the older man really meant to poison her?

Kiritsugu spoke out, "You can open your eyes, girl. I know you are awake."

Rin tried to sit up but was too weak. She turned her head to take in the elder man. "Were you not just trying to kill me a few moments ago?"

And the memories continued. Ilya soaked them all up. Part of her wanted to hate her future sister-in-law, because even more than Shirou, Rin had taken her place.

Kiritsugu had been like a father to Rin. Part of her seethed with jealousy.

But mostly she wanted to hug the girl and thank her. For Rin had done the impossible.

For a time, Ilya got to spend time with her father.

End Part-

A/N- A transition chapter, the next will likely be one as well as all of our heroes finally band together and search for a way to stop the Grail. Let me know what you folks think.

ps- That memory bit is from chapter 4. Assume that Rin shared most of her memories of Kiritsugu. Not being able to let him see his daughter really hurt Rin. This was a way for her to make amends.