CHAPTER 4:
THE PRIEST
It took a couple of weeks, but Harry's presence proved to be salutary on the relationship between Sakura and Rin. Admittedly, the two were reduced to communicating by passing notes, or else by using Harry as a mediator, but the fact that they were willing to do anything like this at all was a marked improvement on what their relationship had been like. While not as strong as it had been while they were younger, it was repairing, gradually, but surely.
It was in a quiet moment when he was in the school library that Harry managed to corner Shirou and confirmed that he was, if not a Magus, then he had magecraft training. While tempted to bring Rin in to help him, Harry decided to persuade Sakura instead, as the demure young girl was closer to Shirou (and Rin was still very much temperamental). They helped clear up some misconceptions Shirou had about magic circuits, that he needed to create new ones every time using his nerves. Either Kiritsugu had taught him this painful procedure deliberately to discourage him from learning magecraft, or Kiritsugu hadn't explained properly.
They learned Shirou was only really adept at Structural Analysis and Reinforcement, though he had been dabbling in Projection. Other forms of magecraft eluded him. And while he was young, and hadn't inherited a Magic Crest from Kiritsugu, that still seemed odd, especially as his magic circuits were pretty numerous and powerful, once activated properly.
Structural Analysis was the ability to fully comprehend the structure of an object. Shirou put this skill to practical use: he was known as an unofficial handyman around the school, using Structural Analysis to figure out what was wrong with things like heaters and DVD players and repair them, or at least maintain them. Rin, upon learning this, had groaned in exasperation at magecraft being put to such a mundane use, though Harry thought it rather enterprising of Shirou.
Reinforcement allowed one to strengthen objects, make them more durable or sharper. It could also be applied to human bodies, allowing people to temporarily boost their speed, strength, and durability. Projection was creating objects from raw magic power, though these objects would eventually dissipate due to the influence of the World.
Harry and Sakura, then, decided to educate Shirou about other points of interest about magecraft. They revealed to him the truth about the Fuyuki Fire, telling him about the Holy Grail War. He seemed astonished, horrified and fascinated in equal measure, though Harry and Sakura decided to avoid telling Shirou about his father's reputation. Yet…
It was a Saturday, and Harry and Rin were seated, discussing Shirou. "And he allowed you and Sakura into his Workshop," she said flatly. "On top of everything else." After a moment's thought, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I already had the impression he was a clueless dunce, but the Magus Killer obviously didn't teach him much about our culture and mores."
"I don't think that's a bad thing. He knows better than to expose it to outsiders, which is the main thing, right? Though he said his father told him he couldn't inherit the Magic Crest when I asked. Something about the illness he had rendering it unusable."
"Hmm. I'll agree, certain diseases would make it tricky to transplant a Magic Crest, and so would certain high-end curses," Rin mused. "Still, the fact that the Magus Killer, of all people, prioritised fatherhood over magecraft training pisses me off."
"Rin, get over that," Harry retorted. "Between being a good father and being a strong Magus, I know what I'd choose. Or are you forgetting about Sakura?" he added, his eyes narrowing. "I'm worried about her. She looks so haunted, so sad, so broken. I don't think it's just at being adopted out."
"Well, don't go trying anything stupid!" Rin said. "We have an alliance between our families. Breaking it could cause all sorts of trouble! As much as I don't like the Matous, I have obligations to think about!"
"What about the one to Sakura?" Harry asked dangerously.
Rin sighed, her earlier anger dissipating a little. "Harry, we're trying. Do you know how hard it is to get over a decade-long rift between us? You're the only reason we've even started, and she won't ever talk about her problems. And her family…Uncle Kariya was the reason my father died, and my mother was…" Rin's voice caught in her throat. "It was so painful watching her waste away to nothing, barely able to remember anything. I heard rumours about Zouken Matou, that he is really Zolgen Makiri, one of the founders of the Holy Grail War, but regardless, that decrepit old mummy is powerful within the Magus Association. Even if he was doing something bad to Sakura, we can do little."
"What about the police? Or the Enforcers?"
Rin chuckled mirthlessly. "Zouken would tamper with their memories, maybe even turn the police against us. And given his influence within the Magus Association, we can't trust the Enforcers. And we can't trust the Church either, if only because they wouldn't want to risk warring with Clock Tower. Which is a shame. Kirei doesn't like Zouken, and the feeling's mutual."
"Well, if need be, I'm pulling out the big guns," Harry said. "If she's sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs, or worse, I'm talking to Zelretch. He's got to be a bigger trump card than Zouken and his connections." Then, one of Rin's statements caught up with him. "Wait, did you say Zouken was Zolgen Makiri?"
"I don't know for sure, but rumour has it that Zouken is immortal. Not a Dead Apostle, though," she said, using the Magus term for a vampire in this world.
"Oh great, a Voldemort wannabe with pretensions to immortality," Harry snarked. "I refuse to tempt the cosmos by asking how this could possibly get any worse…"
That being said, in a way, they did. Because it was later that day that Harry met Kirei Kotomine for the first time.
Kirei didn't often visit Rin, usually communicating by phone, for which Rin was grateful for. The two didn't think highly of each other. But the man did come around, a few weeks after Harry first met Rin.
Harry was looking over a book on the history of the Grail War, covering the first three, when Rin, who had gone to answer the door, came back with a man in tow. "Well, so this is the man who is your twin brother," mused a deep, resonant voice. "Rather odd, considering he is older and not Japanese, but I have seen stranger things in my time as an Executor."
Harry looked up. The man was tall, dressed in the robes of a Catholic priest, his dark brown hair in a mullet, framing handsome, but vaguely unnerving features. Harry's instincts were screaming. This man, even if he hadn't done so recently, was very much a killer, or at least had a killer instinct. His dark eyes peered at Harry with interest. "Sorry, but who are you?"
"I'm hurt," the man said, albeit with a blatantly false hurt tone. "I would have thought Rin would have mentioned me. I am Kirei Kotomine, her guardian and, after her father perished, her teacher in magecraft."
"Harry Tohsaka," Harry said, getting up and shaking the man's hand, if only for politeness' sake. "And yes, she has mentioned you. Accompanied by expletives on occasion. As for my appearance, there was a kidnapping from another universe and a blood adoption. Very long story."
"Another universe? Then are you acquainted with the Wizard Marshall?"
"To a degree," Harry said.
"Harry has no interest in the Tohsaka Crest, Kirei," Rin said. "His interest is in reconnecting with his family."
"I see. You certainly have Rin's fire," Kirei said. "And you remind me of two others I have met. You have the eyes of a woman I knew…well, saw from a distance. The same shade of green. It's so strange to see the same eyes in a different person. And yet, you also have something of a tired fool of a man I met."
"And who were they?" Harry asked, wondering if Kirei had referred to a parallel version of his mother.
"Saber, and her Master, Kiritsugu Emiya," Kirei said. "How curious that you share the same eyes as Arturia Pendragon, better known as King Arthur."
Now this was a shock. Though the thing that came to Harry's lips wasn't that he shared the same eyes as the famous King of the Britons, but… "King Arthur was a woman?"
"Indeed. She hid her gender, portraying herself as a young man who retained eternal youth. She still remained unaged, thanks to her Noble Phantasm, Avalon," Kirei said. "I understand your confusion. I myself was surprised when I found out. I ran reconnaissance for your father during the previous Grail War, and overheard Saber and Lancer revealing their identities to each other out of some chivalric urge. I spoke to your father afterwards, and he shared with me what he knew."
"So…Mordred…and didn't Arthur have sons…?" Harry asked.
"For his legitimate offspring, Merlin turned Arturia into a man temporarily, complete with working equipment," Kirei said. "Morgana harvested the resulting semen and used that to create a Homunculus she named Mordred…who was also female, though she refused to see herself as such. Aren't legends a grand tapestry?"
"They're brilliant," Harry said in a deadpan tone. He was still a little shaken at Kirei's assertion that he shared the same eyes as King Arthur. Who was a woman, apparently. "And the comparison to the Magus Killer?"
"It's not a strong one. The man was a fool, though his ability in fighting his fellow Magi was certainly beyond reproach, at least in terms of ability. Many Magi would not see it the same way. Your father despised how the Magus Killer used guns and explosives as weapons, as opposed to magecraft, while the first Lord El-Melloi thought him a disgrace to Magi everywhere…and ended up being crippled by one of Emiya's Origin Bullets, a bullet that, when it interacts with magecraft, causes a massive short-circuit in the victim's magic circuits. I see much of the tiredness and weariness he possessed within you, the contempt at the way the world is, from harsh and bitter experience. But you do not possess his ability to harden the heart, I don't think. Still, you have seen the fires of hell. Even before the Grail War, I saw it in many eyes when I worked for the Burial Agency."
"That's the part of the Church that deals with rogue Magi and vampires, right?" Harry asked.
"Indeed, though we use the term 'Dead Apostle' instead of vampire, for various reasons."
"Yeah, that was weird. That, and finding out that they're descended from an alien from the Moon. Arc's nice, though."
"Arc?" Kirei asked.
Rin winced, remembering what her reaction was when she heard this. "Apparently Zelretch introduced Harry to the White Princess of the True Ancestors. And apparently they got along famously."
"Arcueid Brunestud?" Kirei clarified. "Hmm. Well, admittedly, she is apparently one of the more friendly vampires. There are few so well-inclined towards humanity. Well, unless you happen to be the reincarnation of her nemesis, Roa. You know some interesting people, Harry. Interesting in the cursed sense of the term, anyway. What next? Altrouge Brunestud? Merem Solomon?"
"Well, Rin's English teacher is a kendo champion with a hair-trigger temper whenever you say her first name, and her gramps is apparently a Yakuza leader, but I guess compared to the world's strongest and oldest vampires, they kind of pale by comparison."
Kirei's lips twisted into something like a smile. Not that he didn't often smile: he had been smiling for most of the time. But the smile had twisted ever so subtly into something…dangerous. Something Harry didn't like. "Well, I have met some rather interesting people in my time. There is a man of my acquaintance who believes he is the king of all he surveys with such conviction, you can't help but be awed by it. He doesn't take kindly to insults, though. He has a temper in inverse proportion to his ego, and he is a skilled combatant. I would arrange a meeting, but I fear you would fare badly."
Harry decided not to rise to the bait. "Probably for the best. I've had enough of dealing with megalomaniacs."
"Kirei, are you here for any reason than curiosity about my brother?" Rin demanded.
"More or less. I've been hearing rumours of interest in other areas, but I want to substantiate them first before I bring them to you," Kirei said. "I look forward to you making great strides as a Magus, Harry. Rin has a competitive streak, and she could do with a helper and sounding board, or a rival to spur her to greater heights. So much the better if it's a family member who doesn't want her dead for her Magic Crest: Magi do have a different way of looking at things to normal society, or at least they acknowledge the darker side of human nature far better, even than many of my peers in the Church. Though my former colleagues in the Burial Agency do not have such a naïve view of the world. Still, should you require any guidance in matters mundane, magical, or spiritual, feel free to speak to me. I don't have much of a congregation, so I tend to get bored, and unfortunately, I am not allowed to go on missions for the Burial Agency anymore."
"I'll consider it," Harry said, knowing full well he didn't really want to go anywhere near him. Pleasant though Kirei was, there was something unnerving about the priest…
Kirei Kotomine thought to himself as he walked quietly back to his church. Harry Tohsaka…a twin of Rin. It was something Tokiomi had mentioned but once, when he drank one glass of wine too many, a rare occurrence for the man. They had been discussing the inheritance procedures of Magi families, and this was shortly before Tokiomi had received the offer from that vile worm Zouken Matou, so the thought of what to do with his daughters was preying heavily on his mind.
Tokiomi mentioned Aoi giving birth to twins, the boy named for Kirei's father (and as much as Kirei had wanted to kill his own father, there was a part of him that respected, missed and mourned Risei Kotomine). However, one night, after they got home from the hospital, they were woken by something going through the Bounded Fields. There was the strange, ethereal song of some bird, the flare of magical flame beneath the door frame…and then nothing. Risei Tohsaka had vanished, somehow kidnapped.
Tokiomi and Aoi spared little expense in trying to find him, but after a few months had passed, with no sign of who did it, no ransom note, they had resigned themselves to his permanent disappearance. Tokiomi had forced himself to see the bright side. He had lost his original heir, but he still had Rin, and at the time, he was worried about what Rin was going to do, a situation he found replicated after Sakura was born. He did cover up Risei's existence, going so far as to erase the doctors and nurses' memories, but still, Tokiomi confessed that there was a small part of him that wished Risei would return one day.
Kirei had a notion that, before long, the Fifth Holy Grail War would begin. The last time Gilgamesh visited, he had been getting more restless than usual, dropping hints, and the von Einzberns had been a veritable hive of activity lately. It seemed that Kiritsugu Emiya's hasty actions in destroying the Grail before Angra Mainyu could be made fully manifest had borne fruit. If only the Magus Killer had lived long enough to see it. Kirei even smirked a little at the thought of the Magus Killer summoning Saber again…only for her to run him through after forcing her to destroy the Grail. A pity it wouldn't have been a drawn-out demise, but Arturia had a thing for chivalry. Turning on her Master would go against that, true, but she would baulk at torturing him.
Still, Emiya's spawn lived. He knew that Kiritsugu and that Homunculus woman Irisviel, the Lesser Grail of that Grail War, had offspring, a daughter. And there was the boy Kiritsugu adopted after the Fuyuki Fire. They would be at odds, considering how the Magus Killer betrayed the von Einzberns. Such a wonderful tragedy brought a smirk to Kirei's lips and a song to his heart…well, the one given to him by Angra Mainyu after Kiritsugu shot his old one out. Kirei was actually surprised he had a heart that could be shot out. Who knew?
And what of Rin Tohsaka and her siblings? Would Harry, this interloper, manage to reunite the sisters to any great degree, only to have them torn apart by the Grail War? Hmm, maybe he should have told Harry and Rin about the Crest Worms. Tokiomi didn't even know about them, the deluded imbecile, but Kirei found out later. Kirei wondered what sort of mess that Harry would make if he learned about the Crest Worms. It'd be an interesting mess, he was sure.
No. Better to nudge events along than give them a firm push, at least until the Grail War came around once more. Then, the fun would begin, a perverse melodrama in the time-honoured tradition of Grand Guignol, with an unhappy ending on the way. Well, save for the few lunatics like Kirei himself that thought unleashing the genocidal curses of an ancient evil was a happy ending.
Still, the addition of Harry Tohsaka, formerly Risei Tohsaka, was an interesting new development. Yes, he could be very interesting indeed. And while Kirei didn't have facial hair to twirl, he was laughing madly. On the inside, of course. He didn't want people to think that a psychopath walked amongst them, no matter what the truth of the matter was…
CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:
So, Harry's met Kirei, and Harry and Rin are debating what to do with Sakura. And we've just had a look into the twisted depths of Kirei Kotomine's mind. Not a fun experience, is it?
Review-answering time! Astrobot1745: I did notice relatively recently (albeit some time before you posted this review) about how Dark Sakura does, very vaguely, resemble a von Einzbern Homunculus. Thanks for putting that image into my head, though. Then again, remember that Shirou isn't directly related to poor Iri.
HolyKnight5: Yeah, no, I don't subscribe to what seems to be fanon that Harry's still got Basilisk venom running through his veins. I occasionally refer to remnants, but nothing like what fanon seems to indicate.
hnh058513: Pay attention please. He won't be summoning any Servant. Instead, he will be having Medea as one. The prologue, my foreword, and the pairing tag makes that pretty damned explicit.
Tobias97: I'm glad you like it this way. I usually write post-Hogwarts Harry as cynical and embittered by his experiences, but he still has his saving people thing. In fact, I think his character theme in many of my post-Hogwarts stories should be Mike Oldfield's Nuclear. It feels like a weary, and yet epic piece of music (and while I haven't played the game, I did first hear this music on a trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain).
Guest (regarding Harry's 'saving people thing' being as bad as Shirou's nature): Maybe, but Harry is no longer as self-sacrificing. Well, more to the point, while he is still somewhat selfless, and won't stand by while someone suffers, he's not as forgiving. If someone is a threat, he'd find a way to deal with them. While nowhere near as cynical as Archer/EMIYA, his experiences have tarnished him. On the other hand, he's also willing to give people a chance, even if they have dark pasts (like Medea), but only if he thinks they are willing to redeem themselves. I actually view the difference between the Harry of the books, particularly the earlier ones, and the one here, as being similar to how the Eighth Doctor progresses from an energetic traveller to a cynical, weary, but ultimately heroic character throughout the Doctor Who Big Finish audios (though you see some of that in The Night of the Doctor).
SonicAnime2010: Ah, yes, Assassin. Medea won't be summoning Assassin this time. They will be summoned by Zouken Matou. As for who it is…well, let's just say I have an idea I am discussing with Gabriel Herrol, and leave it at that…
miguelguilianoco: *sigh* Please use English for review replies, as I do not speak Spanish, and I had to run your review through Google Translate. And do not tell me what to write and what to do with pairings. I do intend to do either a Fate/Apocrypha story, or an Apocrypha-style Grail War. In the latest chapter (as of writing) of my Thor crossover Light the Blue Touch Paper and Run Like Hell, I basically stated that the sequel (if and when it comes out) would be a Fate/Apocrypha-style Grail War run by the Grandmaster and which would draw in the Avengers, amongst others into a three-way Apocrypha-style tournament.
Mister Rei: Not going to happen, but we will have a Sunny Day-style ending.
No numbered annotations this time.