Fate Stay Night - Medea Caster route

by AquilaBosniaca

You've read the title, this is Caster route. What would have happened if that night the one to save Caster had not been Kuzuki, but Shirou Emiya? Just how would Shirou change at the discovery of the Holy Grail War? How would Shirou change Caster? And how much would someone like Caster change Shirou? (Good End- Finished. True End- Work in progress)

31. Chapter 31

*A month later*

It was early in the morning, Medea was now in the dojo, and she was carefully watching Kiritsugu as he was about to finish his daily training.

"C'mon Emiya, you can do it. One last time." She encouraged the man.

Kiritsugu grunted as he tried to do one last push-up, but despite his great effort by that point he had strained his muscles far too much, and he just ended up falling to the ground, exhausted.

"...And with this I think that it will be more than enough for today. Good work." Medea then commented with a satisfied tone.

Kiritsugu said nothing and just breathed heavily as he lay on the floor covered in sweat, but after some moments, he sighed before slowly getting up.

"...You don't have to feel down just because you couldn't do a final push-up. You've come a long way since the operation, Emiya." Medea said, "A while ago you needed a walking stick to get around, while now you can train like this with no problems. I mean, you've been training for 5 hours and you've just done over 500 push-ups without stopping once. You should be more than happy with your accomplishments."

After hearing her, Kiritsugu had to admit that Medea had told the truth. He was now in good, if not excellent, physical condition… but still, it was not yet enough for him.

Yes, a month before he had problems even from getting up from the bed after waking up, while now he had no problems with doing extreme physical training whatsoever, but now that he had the chance he had to become even stronger for when he would have to save Illya.

The secret behind his incredible and sudden recovery had been Medea herself. She was the one who had aided his natural regeneration by using magic on him, and on his request, administered him potions, drugs, and even some 'magical' steroids, which according to her if taken in great quantities may have some severe effect on his health… of which he did not care.

Kiristugu knew that he didn't have much left to live, so he had already prepared himself to exchange his death with the necessary power to save his daughter.

Since Medea had started to stuff him with those medicines Kiristugu had felt their effect on his body almost immediately, and as each week passed he couldn't help but be surprised at how quickly he was becoming increasingly stronger and faster, while he also noted a clear and noticeable increase in his muscle mass.

That new change of his was also kind of strange. He had never been an extremely muscular person, and he still remembered just how frail and weak he was after he got cursed at the end of the war and after the transplant of magic circuits...

But after he started to take the drugs as he trained? Not only did he regain his strength and started to become even stronger than before, but his body changed drastically, in fact, he looked like a different person with how the muscles of his body had become thick and dense, as if they were holding compressed rubber.

Kiritsugu at that point lowered his eyes and watched his right hand, as at that moment he concentrated on his magic circuits. Now, unlike the first weeks, they didn't feel so foreign anymore. He could tell that those powerful circuits had truly started to become his...

"...When do you think I'll be able to start to use my circuits?" He then asked as he turned to face Medea.

"At least another week or two of rest and integration are necessary. But remember Emiya, only after you will master them, we will see what you will be able to do with that Magic Crest of yours." Medea said.

'...Right, I have to be patient…' Kiritsugu then thought.

The reason why he had started to train was not only because when the time to save Illya would come he would need to be capable of fighting, there was a good chance that he would have to directly attack the castle of the Einzbern, and for this, he would be the frontline, the vanguard, while Medea would support him from the back and made sure that everything went flawlessly.

But to be more precise on her role, what Medea would do would be more than simple support, since she would also enchant his physical abilities.

They had started to officially prepare themself around 4 weeks before. At the time Medea had administered him her first mix of medicines and drugs for the first time, and he had started to do some light training to start getting fit.

After the end of his training, Medea approached him not only to observe his physical conditions, but also to ask him different questions about his Magic Crest.

She said that the Magic Crest had caught her attention for quite a while, but she never had the chance nor the time to analyze it carefully since she had better things to do. So this was the perfect time for her to know its capabilities.

After Kiritsugu had explained its properties in all of their details and every other kind of information that could reveal to be useful, Medea classified his Magic Crest as a High-Thaumaturgy in the form of a Bounded Field, that, in a certain way, could be regarded as a type of Reality Marble. But she said that it was not something extraordinarily difficult to utilize like other time-related magecraft or something on the level of the True Magic, since it allowed him to 'simply' stagnate and accelerate time just for himself.

After saying all of that and thinking about it for a bit, Medea then started to wonder just how well he would be able to perform with her reinforcement.

At the time Kiristugu asked her what she meant, and Medea told him how she, with her High-Level magecraft, could magically reinforce human beings to the point they could almost become strong, fast, and durable as Servants.

As Kiritsugu started to realize how useful such an ability could be for him, Medea then wondered if her reinforcement could 'remove' his Magic Crest drawback. Before Kiristugu could once again ask her for what she meant, the answer immediately struck him.

He had told her how normally skills like Double Accel were enough to push his body past its limits with brief use. Prolonged use of it would tear his muscles, destroy his ligaments, break his bones, burst his capillaries, cause internal bleeding... But during the war, with Avalon providing almost imminent regeneration, Kiristugu had been capable of using the triple and the quadruple-accelerated time of Time alter for an extended period of time.

And now, if Medea could magically reinforce his body to the point it could become durable to that of a Servant, would he still suffer from the extreme pressure of the time acceleration or stagnation?

...Or he could now go beyond his limits without any kind of repercussion?

Kiritsugu at the moment just knew that he would have his answer soon.

For now, he had to improve even more his physical conditions and train to be once again in conditions of fighting, so that he could also increase even more the efficiency of Medea's magic reinforcement on himself.

The day where he would save Illya had finally started to get closer.

"Stop daydreaming Emiya, it's almost time for lunch. But before that go get a shower, you're drenched in sweat." Medea suddenly said as she got out of the dojo, making Kiristugu snap out of his thoughts.

"...Yes..." Kiritsugu calmly replied as he watched the woman leave.

Since he had started to cohabit with the woman she had always bossed him around, but he didn't mind at all. In the end, Medea was preparing him so that he could save Illya, and for this reason, he always did everything the woman asked...

...But about Medea, Kiristugu still had some kind of doubts on the reasons why she wanted to help him save his daughter, and maybe, he may have discovered her real intentions.

By observing her actions he had come to the quite possible conclusion that her real objective was to eliminate, or to have under her control, the founding families. And helping him to save his daughter was just a way to indirectly achieve what she wanted.

He was not exactly sure why she would want to do that, since the possible motives for her to do so were plenty, but still, it was the only reasonable theory he came up with.

…And yet, he didn't think too much about it since he didn't care about the fate of the founding families, and because he knew that for some reason Medea would really help him save Illya.

If the woman had wanted to just use him for her objectives she could have easily overpowered him, brainwashed him, and made him into her puppet in a similar way she had done with Zouken... but for a reason he was still not able to understand, she hadn't.

He didn't know why she wanted to help him, but there were no reasons for her to do things like trusting him and revealing to him her identity if she intended to betray and kill him at one point in the future.

After snapping out of his thoughts Kiritsugu got out of the dojo and went to the main building.

There, after going to the bathroom, having a shower, and dressing up, Kirstugu walked to the living room, and after he opened the door he saw once again something he had started to get used to…

"Just look how cute you are!" Medea said with an enthusiastic tone, while she was continuously taking photos with the camera in her hands.

Kiristugu watched her for a moment before he turned his head to his left, just to see Shirou who was now beside Sakura, and how with a napkin he was cleaning her left cheek.

From what he was now seeing he immediately deduced that while eating her meal Sakura had got dirty, and Shirou noticed and decided to use a napkin to clean her. After that Kiritsugu returned to watch Medea, and he could see the genuine smile she had on her face as she photographed the two of them.

He could not say that he knew much about the woman, but by seeing her interaction with the two children in this last month he had come to the quite obvious conclusion that she… really loved whatever was cute?

"Sakura, could you turn this way a little? Yes. Perfect. Just like this." Medea said as she kept taking photos.

At that point, Kristugu turned to watch the young girl, and once again he couldn't help but feel bothered at seeing her being so much… diverse, compared to the many memories he had inherited.

The reason why the daughter of Tokiomi was still with them was that according to Medea she could reveal to be quite useful for her, and also because she didn't want her to be under Zouken's 'custody' anymore.

Medea had told him what the girl had gone through, and she also told him that she had the intention to reunite Sakura with her family. But she also said that until Aoi would recover from her grave conditions, the child would remain with them.

Anyway, to justify Sakura's presence to Shirou they had told him that until the police would find Sakura's family she had to stay with them, and since Shirou was little he neither knew how things worked nor he knew what was going on, and so he simply believed them.

"...oh, you have arrived." Medea said after noticing him. "Your plate is there, but you have to warm it up since it has probably cooled down." She continued, as she pointed to his plate that was on the kitchen counter.

Kiritsugu nodded and went to take his plate, while Medea returned her attention to Shirou and Sakura, who now had both returned eating.

'...Tch, what a shame. I would have liked to take some other photos.' Medea thought before she posed the camera in her skirt pocket and sat back at the table.

She always had the camera with herself to make sure to capture moments like those. As she had promised to Shirou she would have helped him make many new memories, and she would make sure to capture and conserve all of them for him.

Since she had already finished eating her plate and at the moment she had nothing to do, Medea put her left elbow on the table, rested her face on her hand, and started to think while she watched Shirou.

In this month, Medea had started to get familiar with him, and she had started to understand his conditions.

Like she had expected, Shirou at the moment didn't have a purpose, a drive as simple as just 'live', that gave him a reason to keep living. But that didn't mean that Shirou was now living a hollow existence, since he, even if it was yet unconscious to him, had a desire.

The way he always took care of Sakura was proof of it.

Medea, by observing Shirou's daily interaction with her in this past month, had come to the quite obvious conclusion that after being saved by her he had obtained the desire to help others. But this time it was different from his 'old' desire since what Shirou now wanted was not to 'simply' save others, but to not let them suffer.

She had come to that conclusion by observing a particular episode not too long ago.

After Sakura had started to live with them it became clear even to Kiristugu, who barely interacted with her, that there was something very wrong with the young girl. And in those first weeks, Medea had seen many times how bothered Shirou was whenever he tried to cheer up the girl but it amounted to nothing.

After everything that happened to her, Medea knew that it would be difficult to return to a 'normal' behavior without altering her mind...

But the episode that she was thinking about happened around two weeks after Sakura had arrived. One day while she was walking around the house Medea had caught Shirou closely observing Sakura, who at the time was sitting in the backyard looking up to the sky with a blank look.

She saw how Shirou was thinking intently as he watched her.

It was clear that he was thinking about what to do to cheer her up, and it seemed that after his very long reflection that had lasted for some minutes, somehow he had decided that it would be a good idea to hug the other child.

Sure, at the time Medea cursed herself for not having the camera with herself, but as she observed that little scene she suddenly remembered how Shirou had done the same thing with her when she had first met him at the hospital.

He didn't know what to do to deal with Sakura, therefore he hugged her, hoping that it would comfort her.

Medea then observed Sakura as she was being hugged by Shirou, and she noted how the girl was a bit shocked and scared by his sudden action. It was clear why she acted like that, since never before Shirou had been so direct with his approaches to cheer her up.

"You don't have to worry Sakura, very soon you will return to your family." Shirou then said at the time to reassure the girl, before he started to pat her on her head, which Medea noted was in a similar way she did to him when she had to calm him down.

Sakura remained frozen still as Shirou did all of that, but after a while, she shifted both her posture and expression. The change was almost unnoticeable, but it was clear that she had calmed down and relaxed. She knew that the worst had passed and that she wouldn't suffer anymore.

Upon seeing Sakura calming down and finding some kind of comfort in his hug, Shirou's expression changed as well, and from his emotionless state he… smiled.

As she saw him smiling for the first time from when she had reclaimed him, right then and there Medea realized that her theory was right. Shirou didn't want to see other people being sad. He didn't want to see other people being in difficulty. He didn't want to see other people suffer.

He wanted them to be happy

Like he did 'before', he drew joy from others' happiness.

And now that she knew what his innate desire was, she could start to work on his sense of self-preservation and make sure that he would never develop a suicidal fanaticism. And with that Medea really wanted to say that everything was going well regarding Shirou… but unfortunately, in this period she had also made a terrible discovery.

In the past weeks Medea had started to note how, from time to time, Shirou would observe her and try to replicate her expressions. At first, she found him trying to imitate her being incredibly cute, but the more she saw him doing it, the more she had taken the impression that he had many difficulties with doing such a simple thing, since he did it over and over again, as if it was an exercise.

After a while, she did start to get a bit concerned about this strange behavior, and for this reason, she decided to study him and do some innocent tests to discover why he was acting that way...

After a long analysis of his psyche, it turned out that Shirou was capable of perceiving a smaller range of emotions because of what he went through. What he had been trying to do when he imitated her was to replicate her emotions, something that he wasn't able to do.

The fire had destroyed him physically, spiritually, and mentally, even more than she had first thought.

At first, that discovery broke her heart… but then, it made her reflect quite a bit.

Only now that she had discovered that Shirou had a limited range of emotions, she had realized that Shirou, back then, before she ruined everything to save him, faked them to appear normal to others.

She hadn't fully realized just how broken Shirou was until now.

At the time of the discovery, almost panicked, she started to wonder just how sincere many of their interactions had been… how many of them were real.

But as she started to think about it, Medea did remember how in certain moments, thanks to the little connection she had with him, she had felt some of his genuine emotions for how intense they were…

When he discovered the truth about the incident; When he attacked the magus from the Clock Tower; When he discovered what had happened to Sakura; When he killed Shinji; When he killed Zouken; When he fought Bazett and Lancer; When he discovered that Illya was involved in the war; When he killed Archer; When he fought Berserker; When he fatally wounded Gilgamesh before dying

…

…

...

Right. She had only ever felt his anger. Waves of anger that had developed into a deep hatred.

…

…

...

'...Are these my only memories of him?' Medea wondered.

She knew that before her influence and the war he was a sweet boy who never wanted to hurt anyone… but in the end, she had never come to truly know that part of him since she had influenced him from the very beginning.

...After a while, Medea decided that it would be better that she didn't think about it anymore.

It didn't mean that she would just forget the 'past', her sins, and her debts, but that for now, she had better things to do, like focusing on her new future.

Focusing on her new chance to make things right.

"...Shirou, Sakura, would you like to go to the park later?" She then asked.

---

*Late evening of that same day*

"Mother, are you feeling well?" Rin asked, a little preoccupied as she watched her mother.

Aoi was quiet for a few moments before turning and answering.

"I… I think I'm doing ok now. I'm sorry Rin, it's just that when I start to get sleepy I really can't do anything at all." Aoi said with an apologetic tone.

"You don't have to worry, mother. Today you've helped me a lot, so it's normal for you to feel so tired." Rin said to reassure her.

Aoi watched her daughter with a sad look for a long moment before she sighed.

"...Rin… I'm… I'm so sorry that you have to do almost everything by yourself now, but I swear that as soon as I get better... everything will be back to normal." Aoi said before she forced a little smile to appear on her face.

"Yes, I know. Soon everything will be alright." Rin said before she smiled as well.

"Yes, you're right… but now, could you kindly help me to get into bed?" Aoi then asked.

"Sure." Rin said with a nod.

After that Rin helped her mother get up from the wheelchair and then move to the bed.

It was still a bit exhausting for a child like her to help an adult to move around, but now that her mother had started to improve her motor skills everything had started to become easier.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Rin then asked as she put the bed blanket on her mother.

"No Rin, you've already helped me enough for today, and it's getting quite late anyway. It is time for you to go to sleep."

"Ok then, good night mother." Rin said before she turned and started to leave.

"Good night Rin… oh, and remember to brush your teeth before going to bed." Aoi said.

"Understood. Good night." Rin said again, before closing the door.

After she closed the door, Rin sighed in relief before she smiled a little.

It had been almost a month since her mother had started to recover from her brain-damaged state.

Rin, around a month before, had started to note how her mother's behavior had somehow started to change a little. In fact, she had noted that Aoi had stopped speaking to people who weren't there, and Rin had also noted how she had started to ramble less and less as the days passed.

During the second week from when she had started to note the first changes, Rin noticed how Aoi had started to become more aware of her surroundings, of what was going on, and becoming more responsive. It had started to become clear to her that something had started to change in her mother's mind.

And then, at the end of the third week, Aoi had become fully conscious once again.

That particular morning, when Rin entered her mother's bedroom and Aoi greeted her with a smile and teary eyes, at the sight Rin immediately realized that her mother had regained her sanity.

...Her mother had finally come back to her!

She immediately went to hug her mother, and as she cried in her arms of how much she had missed her, deep down in herself Rin praised the Root and any kind of God that existed in the world to thank them for that miracle.

And now that she had her mother back, things weren't that difficult anymore.

Aoi had recovered from her previous state, and while for now she was still bound to her wheelchair, she could help her with the housework chores and did some of the cooking for them.

At first, Rin thought that Aoi, after having miraculously recovered from her state, would have needed a great deal of therapy and medical care for her to return to act like she did before she was involved in the strange incident that Kirei told her about, but surprisingly she had no need for any of it.

After Aoi had regained her sanity they went to the hospital so that they could see what her conditions were and how much she had improved in that last period, and it turned out that somehow Aoi had a complete mental recovery. And not only that, despite the lack of any kind of therapy in the period where she had been blocked on the wheelchair, the doctors had observed how both her spinal column and her nervous system in the lower part of her body had no problems whatsoever. They even said that with a bit of exercise and physiotherapy she could start to walk again very soon.

As she thought about all of this, Rin realized that even though they had gone through some hard times, their future looked very promising.

Sure, it was just the two of them now, but they still had each other. None of them would be alone.

After snapping out of her thoughts Rin turned and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and then she went into her bedroom. There, after she went under her blanket, she smiled a little before she closed her eyes and started to sleep.

Aoi was now on her side of the double bed, and with a sad look, she was looking at the other side, where Tokiomi used to sleep.

Hundreds of thoughts and memories were now invading her head, and as they did at the moment Aoi just wanted to lament how everything had been unjust and difficult… but she didn't have nor the strengths, nor the will to do it.

There was no need to say that this last year had been so terrible for her…

Sakura had been given away, Tokiomi died, Rin remained alone, and somehow she ended up in those terrible conditions.

And the thought that for over a month Rin had remained alone, to suffer in complete solitude as she looked after her demented mother, broke Aoi's heart in a way that could not be described.

But just like Rin, Aoi didn't know how it had happened, but she had to say that she was more than joyous for that miracle that made her recover from her brain-damaged state. She could hardly recall those periods when everything was so… confusing, but she still shivered whenever she thought about it.

She could recall how she felt trapped in her body, as her mind continued to slowly deteriorate over time. Everything felt like a daydream, and she could no longer distinguish reality from her fantasies. But even if she was hardly aware of what was going on, she somehow felt that things were not right, that there was something wrong... but there was nothing that she could do in those conditions.

She could only recall how many times she tried to remember some things, but her memories could no longer form properly. And after a while, she would even forget what she was trying to remember before she started to think about some 'coherent' memories, which respectively, started to slowly become less clear and foggy…

As she snapped out of her thoughts Aoi sighed, before she turned around to face the drawer that was near her side of the bed, and took the glass of water that was on it, and drank it.

After that, she placed the glass near the bottle and returned to watch the other side of the bed.

Even though Tokiomi on his own had decided to give Sakura away, and their relationship had started to worsen, Aoi at the moment wished with all of herself that he was still there.

She did so not because she loved him that much since her feelings for him had started to change from that particular episode, but because she wanted Rin, who now had remained alone as a single child, to at least grow up with a father.

...Aoi just wished for things to become normal once again.

She wished for Sakura to return to them.

She wished for Tokiomi to be alive.

And she wished to see Rin smiling as she played with her sister or while learning magecraft with her father, and not watching her almost infirm mother with a concerned look whenever she needed help...

...But as she thought about it, an absurd idea started to take form in her head. Aoi started to think that now that Tokiomi was gone, maybe she could go and ask Zouken if he could give them Sakura back…

Sure, she knew that the old man would have just laughed at her demand… but she could at least try…

Slowly, Aoi closed her eyes, and she started to sleep, unaware of the fact that now someone was standing near her side of the bed, watching her.

Now it was night, and for some reason, Aoi suddenly woke up with a terrible headache.

She started to slowly look around as she started to recover her senses, but at one point, she suddenly realized that her throat was incredibly dry. At the moment she had an incredible thirst. A thirst she had never felt before for how intense it was.

At that point, she turned around to face the drawer, so that she could take the bottle of water and drink, but after she did she noted how instead of being near the bed, the drawer was now standing on the other side of the room.

...How strange.

She got off the bed and walked to the drawer. There, she took the bottle of water, and instead of filling the glass, she drank directly from the bottle.

Only then, after she emptied the bottle and the water started to quench her thirst, did Aoi finally realize that she could stand.

"...What?" Aoi said with a faint and confused tone of voice, as she looked down at her feet.

Until now she had been able to barely move her legs around and push herself off the wheelchair, so how was it possible for her to stand?

After a bit, Aoi came up to the conclusion that this could not be real. She was still sleeping, and this was all a dream.

"What is it Aoi, are you confused?" A voice asked from behind her.

After hearing that question Aoi jumped a bit and immediately turned around… Just to see no one.

'What was that?! ...Did I just imagine it?' Aoi then thought as she looked around.

"No Aoi, I am very real." The same voice whispered, now right into her left ear.

At that moment Aoi screamed as she suddenly turned, stumbled, and fell with her butt on the ground. And only after she fell, she finally saw the person… no, the being that was standing in front of her.

"Have I scared you that much Aoi?" A hooded woman asked with a little smile.

"W-W-Who a-are you?! W-Why are you he-here?!" Aoi said aloud as she stuttered, scared of the strange woman.

"...Aoi, you have to calm down." The woman almost whispered with a calm tone of voice as she leaned toward her. "You don't want to wake up Rin, don't you?" She then asked with a smile.

Aoi watched her for a long moment in complete silence, before she took a deep breath.

"...Calmed down?" Medea asked.

"RIN! WAKE UP AND RUN AWAY! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO RUN AWAY RIN!" Aoi started to scream, as she turned and started to run toward the door of the room.

"...well, that was kind of expected…" Medea commented.

Aoi reached the door and grabbed the doorknob, but no matter what she tried to do and how much force she tried to use, the door wouldn't open.

"RIN! WAKE UP AND RUN! I BEG YOU RIN! WAKE UP!" Aoi then started to scream as she started to hit the door to make as much noise as possible.

But she stopped all of that when at one point the woman placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No matter what you do Aoi, Rin can't hear you anymore." The woman said with a sinister tone.

After she heard those words Aoi's breath stopped, and she then slowly started to turn her head toward the woman.

"...W-What have you done to her?" She asked with a terrified tone.

"...Nothing? I've just put a spell on this room that isolated it from the rest of the house. As a mage, you should know what bounded fields are, right?" The woman asked.

Aoi for a moment watched her with a confused expression before asking: "...Who… Who are you?"

"You can consider me as a friend. One that wants to... help you."

Some minutes had passed since she had first awakened, and Aoi, who had finally calmed down, was now sitting on her bed, while the strange woman was sitting on a chair in a corner of the room.

At the moment silence was filling the room, and time seemed to never pass.

As she carefully observed the woman, Aoi had finally noted that she didn't seem what she appeared to be. She was not just a mage that for some reason had infiltrated in her home, but something much worse: a Servant.

At the moment Aoi had no idea of what was happening, let alone why such a being was there, but now it was clear why she had been scared that much, and that there was nothing that she could do now.

…

…

…

The time kept passing on, and Aoi couldn't help but feel a great uneasiness.

For some reason, the hooded woman from when she told her to sit and calm down, hadn't pronounced a single word. She was now just looking at her with an expression that was hard to describe and to understand. Not to count that half of her face was being hidden by the hood she had, so Aoi didn't even know what kind of look she was giving her.

"...So Aoi, before I start, do you have any questions for me?" The woman then suddenly asked.

Aoi snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face the woman.

"...May I ask why are you here?" She asked with a careful tone.

"Haven't you heard what I said before? I've told you that I'm a friend and that I'm here to help you. In fact, I have already helped you."

"You have helped me?" Aoi asked.

"Indeed. How do you think that you've been able to suddenly recover from that brain-damaged state of yours?" The woman asked.

"...Wait… it was you?" Aoi asked, incredulous.

"Yes. It was thanks to me that you have regained your sanity."

"...I…" Aoi just said since she didn't know what to say.

Now things have started to make sense to her. Her sudden recovery from that state was now explained...

...But now she had even more questions than before. Who was this woman? Why did she save her from that horrible fate? What was the reason behind this action? ...And what did she want from her now?

"Confused, are you?" The woman asked before she got up from the chair and walked to the dresser that was present in the room.

"...Yes, I am," Aoi admitted as she watched her move. "But… Why have you helped me? And what do you want from me now? ...Do you want some kind of payment?" She then asked.

But the woman just ignored her questions as she now had found something that had caught her attention: A family photo.

"...Hmmm. Just look how many people are here in this photo." The woman said aloud before she turned around and then got close to Aoi.

Aoi said nothing, but a bitter taste came to her mouth as she saw the photo that was in the woman's hand. But as she watched it, she remembered hiding the photo.

"This is you." The woman said as she pointed at her in the photo. "The man near you is Tokiomi. This little girl is Rin. And this… who is this other child?" She then asked as she looked at her, while she tapped with her index finger on the image of Sakura.

"...Well… she is…" Aoi then started to say.

At the moment she was not sure if to answer or not. She had no idea what the woman's intentions were, but she had to admit that if the woman wanted to know something from her she could just force her to give the answer she wanted in one way or the other.

"There is no need to tell me. I know Sakura." The woman immediately said, stopping Aoi from continuing. "But I have to say that she has changed a lot since this photo has been taken. She looks so cute in this photo… it's such a shame that she doesn't smile like this anymore..." The woman sighed before she started to carefully watch the photo.

"...Wait, what?" Aoi said as he looked up to watch the woman.

"Well, it's not that she doesn't want to, she just can't." The woman continued.

"Just what are you talking about? And… Do you know Sakura? How?" Aoi asked, both surprised and confused.

"Of course, I know her." The woman said. "But to be more precise, you could say that 'once' I knew her since I met her a long time ago." The woman said.

"What do you mean with 'once you knew her'?" Aoi asked as she started to get preoccupied.

The woman remained silent for a long moment before the air in the room suddenly started to become cold and Aoi felt the pressure upon her become heavy. At one point, the woman slowly turned to watch Aoi in the eyes and said:

"You see Aoi, I took her out."

…

…

...

"...eh?" Aoi just muttered after some long moments as she paled white.

"Yes Aoi, I did, and believe me, no matter where she went: the slide, the swing, the roundabout… it didn't seem that she was having any fun at all. You should have seen how sad Shirou was because of it…" The woman said before she sighed again.

…

…

…

"Eh?!"

"...What is it, Aoi? I just took her to the park." The woman said with a smile.

"...J-J-Just what are you talking about?!" Aoi snapped as she suddenly got up from the bed.

"...What a sudden reaction. Aoi, could you tell me why you are acting this way?" The woman asked as she backed up a little.

"How do you know about Sakura?! What do you mean you took her to the park?! J-Just what are you talking about?! I'm not understanding anything at all!" She exclaimed.

"Well, you have to know that at least for the moment, Sakura is under my custody since I've taken her away from Zouken."

"Y-You have Sakura?!" Aoi exclaimed.

"I do, but just for now since I want her to reunite with her family."

After Medea said those words, a long silence passed.

"...you want her to reunite with her family." Aoi slowly repeated as she frowned, confused.

"Yes I do, but I think that it is yet too soon to do it. Some other weeks may be necessary."

"...Wait. If what you're saying is true, why have you taken her? Why do you want to keep her for some other weeks? ...And before you said something… yes, just what did you mean with 'she doesn't smile anymore'?" Aoi asked.

"Oooh, you don't have to worry Aoi, that is something that you will see very soon by yourself." She said with a smile.

"...Why are you doing this? ...Why are you doing any of this?" Aoi then asked.

"Well… let's just say it is my duty." The woman said vaguely.

"That's not a clear answer." Aoi replied.

"Maybe, perhaps, it is not, but if you must know Aoi, it is because I have some debts to repay." The woman with a strange emphasis.

"...Debts?"

"Well, paying someone back isn't something you would call a duty... but I guess it is something you should consider it to be."

"...You are saying that you have done everything you did because of some debts toward… us?"

"...Kind of, but there is still a price to pay. A very high one, actually. One that I think I will never be able to properly repay." The woman said before she suddenly fell silent.

Aoi didn't say anything. She just stared at the hooded woman in silence and confusion, since she had not even a single idea of what she was babbling about.

"...Oh well, I do think that it is enough for our first meeting. We'll see each other next week from now, and I'll update you on my intentions." She then suddenly said, before she started to slowly fade.

"W-W-Wait! What about Sakura? Where is she?! Why do you-?!" Aoi started to ask as she walked toward her.

"Bye~." The woman said before disappearing.

After the woman had left, Aoi kept standing in the middle of the room, confused by what had just happened, but after a moment she started to quickly think.

A Servant, that was clearly a mage, therefore of the Caster class, was still present even though the Holy Grail War had ended over a month before. And not only that, for some reason the Servant had saved her from her brain-damaged state, and if she believed her words then she had taken Sakura away from Zouken and had the intention of giving her back to her for some unknown reasons...

...Just what the hell was going on?!

It was clear that she was in desperate need of someone's help, but just who could help her at the moment?

But after thinking about it for a bit, the person who could help her came to her mind: Kirei Kotomine.

He had been both Tokiomi's disciple and an executor of the church that had some experiences regarding Servants. And yes, Rin had told her that the priest had left Japan, but maybe she could find a way to contact him and ask him for help or for some advice on how to act.

At that point, Aoi turned around to look at the telephone on one of the drawers, and for an instant, she considered trying to call him…

But then for some reason she just stopped and, as if she felt a force drawing her, she turned to look out the window of her room, just to note a crow outside. One that was clearly watching her.

After seeing that bird... no, the familiar, it became clear to Aoi that the Servant was keeping an eye on her, and she doubted that there was anything she could do now. Even if she somehow managed to contact someone and inform them about her current situation, the Servant would immediately do something...

Once again, Aoi couldn't do anything but feel powerless as she was unable to do anything at all.

Not even knowing that the whole situation would soon lead to her discovering something much worse than anything she could ever imagine.

---

*Two weeks later*

"Ok Kiritsugu, start slowly and make sure to take your time. You know how it works, focus on one of the targets, and whenever you're ready, shoot." Medea said with a calm tone from the corner of the dojo.

Kiritsugu simply nodded, and after putting on his anti-noise headphones he got in front of the skeletons that Medea had summoned for his training.

It was now morning, and once again Kiritsugu was the dojo to train. But that day, instead of doing his usual physical training, Kiritsugu was about to see if his aim and speed with his guns were still as they used to be.

Medea had said that since he had fully recovered physically to train furthermore would have been just useless for him, and while Kiritsugu was a bit reluctant to drop his training at first since the results were very clear and noticeable, he knew that the woman was saying the truth.

But there was also another reason why Medea had made Kiritsugu drop his training. All the circuits present in his body had almost fully integrated and stabilized in the last weeks, and this meant that soon he would have to use all the time at his disposal to master them as soon as possible.

But until then, he would exercise with his guns for a bit.

After putting himself in position and estimating the distance between him and his targets that were on the other side of the dojo, Kiritsuigu posed his right hand on his gun belt, near his trusted Thompson Contender.

Out of the seven skeletons that were present in front of him, he got his target, the one in the middle of the row, and he stared at it. He squinted his eyes, locking his sight on it, trying to take out any peripheral vision in his shooting.

Almost a long minute of silence passed before Kiristugu made the first move.

His draw was quick, almost instantaneous, and just like his stance, it was clean.

His body didn't do much movement, but his arm was now extended and both his wrist and aim were firm.

After a pair of seconds, he lowered his arm and posed the gun back in the holder.

He then proceeded to repeat that same movement for over 5 minutes.

He was not yet shooting because now he had to get familiar with his new strength and speed, since he had noted a big difference in his drawing speed compared to the past.

As she observed him Medea said nothing, but she had noted how as Kiritsugu kept practicing to draw his gun his movements had started to become even faster and more precise.

At one point Kiristugu, after holstering the gun for the umpteenth time, took a single bullet from one of his ammunition pouches.

Once again he stared at his target, and after a moment, he drew his gun.

After he drew the gun he immediately removed the hollow bullet case that was present in it, insert the new bullet, cocked it, pointed it to the skeleton, and shot it right in the 'head'.

The bullet struck the skeleton, but since it was a normal bullet that was not enchanted and didn't have any mystery, it just made the skeleton stumble back a bit.

After seeing the result of his shot Kiristugu holstered the gun and started to move around his right shoulder and arm so that he could see if he had some problems or suffered some kind of pain after shooting, but he had none. The limb moved with no problem whatsoever and none of his joints seemed to hurt. And just like he had expected, despite shooting the Thompson, which was using a 405 grain .45-75 govt. bullet, with only one hand after 2 months since the last time he had used it, Kiristugu did not feel the recoil of the shot at all.

He was now strong, and especially fast.

Loading it and shooting the gun took approximately half a second.

Not even in his prime had he ever been so fast, and the fact that at the moment he was still warming up and not even using any kind of magic, it almost caused him to be restless for the things he would be able to do in the future.

After that moment Kiritsugu got himself in position once again, but this time he felt ready, and instead of just drawing his gun or just shooting once, he would try to take out all the skeletons as fast as he could.

He got into his stance and brought his right hand to his gun grip, while he brought the left hand to the pouch which contained some magic bullets, which Medea had enchanted especially for this training session.

After another long moment, he started to move.

He drew the gun, reloaded it, shot it, and repeated this action another six times. He stopped only when all the seven skeletons had been destroyed.

It took approximately less than 4 seconds to shoot all of them down.

"...Incredible." Kiritsugu whispered as he watched the last of the skeleton falling to the ground and turning into dust before he turned to watch Medea.

"There is nothing to be surprised about, Emiya. These were the expected results." Medea, who had her arms folded and with the back leaning against the wall, commented.

Kiristugu said nothing, but at that moment he lowered his eyes and watched the Thompson Contender in his right hand. He was not sure of how fast he could become with Medea's reinforcement, and even if said enchanting on his body could work in congruence with his Magic Crest, but he now knew that soon he would be more than ready to fight, no matter what.

'Illya, soon I'll be coming.' He then thought as he clenched his fists.

"...Emiya, before you continue, listen to me for a moment." Medea then suddenly said.

"What is it?" Kiristugu asked as he took off his earmuffs.

"I have some things that I need to take care of, and for this reason, I can't remain here to observe your progress. But, you can remain here to practice as long as you want." Medea said before she snapped her fingers and another row of Dragon warriors appeared in front of the man.

"Ok then. See you later." Kiritsugu just said.

Medea turned around and left the building without saying anything else.

As he put the earmuff back on and focused on his new targets, Kiritsugu started to think.

Earlier in the morning before he had started with the practice, after seeing his weapon Medea had told him that in the future, regardless of how well he would perform now, with her reinforcement, and with his Magic Crest, he would need some better weapons that permitted him to shoot at a faster rate. Obviously, he couldn't go save Illya with only his Thompson contender.

At first, Kiristugu thought that his Calico or his Steyr AUG A1, or weapons similar to them, could be sufficient for the task, but now, as he really thought about it he was not sure how effective or useful they could be.

As he thought about his fight with Kirei, he remembered how the Calico had not been very useful against the priest since Kirei's kevlar reinforced vest had been enough to block the bullets. And despite the high rate of fire of the weapon the priest on his own was fast enough to deflect them.

Those weapons had been useful on countless occasions against mages that were not used and prepared to fight, even as a simple distraction, but Kiristugu doubted that they would work in any way against the powerful homunculus of the Einzbern that had been specially created, armed, and armored for battle. For them, he would have needed something stronger, and if Medea could make it possible, enchanted.

But what kind of weapon could he use when the time to attack the castle would come?

Since he had to enter the castle, regardless of whether he had to infiltrate or raid it, he would surely need some weapons for close-quarter combat.

Sure, the Einzbern would not be prepared for an attack, and for this reason, their defenses would not be on their highest, but still, he did remember that the building possessed excellent defenses and guards. But luckily he would have the advantage thanks to the element of surprise. And he needed a perfect weapon for the occasion and his circumstances.

The element of surprise ford him the upper hand against his opponent that was unaware, and therefore unprepared for the future attack.

But, in this future attack, he also had to move and act quickly since speed complimented surprise nicely. If he would achieve the effective surprise, speed would have ensured that the enemy would have never recovered from the element of surprise. He had to seize the initiative and keep the pressure on.

But the weapons he would use also needed to be powerful and… violent.

Complimenting the other two, violence of action would further continue to destabilize the enemy's posture, robbing them of the chance to ever effectively overcome the juggernaut of surprise and speed.

In that case, an AA12 or a USAS-12 would have been perfect for the job, they fulfilled the majority of the requirements since they were powerful shotguns that had a good rate of fire, but they could reveal themself to be quite cumbersome since their size could limit his movement. But the bigger problem with the weapons would be their ammo drums, which were quite voluminous and possibly heavy.

He would have preferred an Smg, but they lacked the firepower that he needed…

He needed something small and light that permitted him to be agile and immediately react at very close quarter combat, but it also had to be powerful enough to kill individuals who were well-armored.

But after a moment, as he watched his Thompson Contender, the kind of weapon that fitted the bill appeared in his mind: handguns.

Certain types of handguns used high-caliber bullets, but most of the really powerful handgun cartridges were usually housed in revolvers.

As he thought about it, Kiritsugu even remembered how the single-action design was useful for bigger and more powerful calibers since the simpler design was more durable, plus they did not risk the double shots that happen under intense recoil like with a double action. Not to mention the ability to have every shot as precisely placed as possible, because of the finely tuned trigger.

A single-action revolver has a light and smooth trigger pull, as it only needs to drop the hammer.

A single precise shot. More than enough to kill anything that moved.

At that moment some experimental weapons that he had heard about came up in his mind, and Kiritsugu knew that to put his hands on them he would have needed Raiga's help and to get some favors repaid...

Medea quietly left the dojo, and as she did she started to think about some of the things she had to do that day.

It was still early in the morning, Shirou and Sakura still had to wake up, but she thought that it would have been better if she would have started preparing breakfast now so that later she could better focus on some other things. She hadn't done it before because she had been busy setting up a Bounded field around the dojo so that no kind of noise could be heard from it since she didn't want to make Shirou hear guns noises every day for the next few weeks or months.

After she entered the main building and was about to enter the living room, Medea, in the corner of her eye, suddenly saw a still sleepy-looking Shirou coming out on the other side of the corridor. And as she turned and watched him while he walked toward her and rubbed his little eyes, she couldn't help but smile a little.

At one point, after he finished rubbing his eyes Shirou looked up, and when he saw Medea his eyes lit up a bit.

"Good morning Shirou. Have you slept well tonight?" Medea greeted with a kind tone as she walked right in front of him.

Shirou nodded in response. He hadn't had nightmares that night either, and he had been able to sleep in peace without disturbing Sakura.

"Isn't that splendid?" Medea then asked with a smile, before she kneeled and started to fix his messy hair. "It's been just some months since that incident happened, and yet those ugly nightmares have been starting to be less and less frequent. Another couple of months and I'm sure you'll stop having them at all."

Shirou remained silent and nodded again, but Medea could see that deep down he was looking forward to sleeping tranquil nights.

"Anyway, is Sakura still sleeping?" She then asked as she got up.

"Yes." Shirou simply said. He had managed to get out of the room without making any noise and waking her.

"I see. But before she awakes, why don't you help me set up the table as I prepare breakfast, so that she can find everything ready?"

Once again Shirou just nodded in response.

"Good boy." Medea said before she turned and started to walk toward the living room, with Shirou behind, following her.

As they walked, Medea started to think about Sakura and Shirou.

To make sure that the two of them would get even closer in this period after Sakura arrived she had made them sleep in the same room with the excuse that Sakuta did not like to sleep alone, since she too suffered from nightmares. And Shirou, of course, made sure to be as welcoming and supportive as possible since he didn't want Sakura to feel any kind of discomfort.

But to Medea's surprise, it turned out that her excuse was in reality true. Sakura too suffered from terrible nightmares. After everything she had gone through she too seemed to have some difficulty sleeping at night… she should have expected that too.

And, at some points during the past month, Medea ended up comforting both Sakura and Shirou after they had their respective nightmares.

After discovering that Sakura too really suffered from nightmares, Medea knew that at one point she would have to comfort both of them in their sleep, but at first, she thought that doing something like that would have been just very cute, if not adorable. And the thought that she would have been able to take some photos of the two of them snuggling together just melted her heart at the time…

But instead, whenever those two terrorized children clung to her as they slept, Medea couldn't help but curse herself, while she was overwhelmed by terrible memories and an intense malaise.

Sure, treating Shirou like a son had revealed itself to be a bit difficult since unpleasant memories would often come up when she would get too close and familiar with him... but it was nothing impossible. She had to simply put her feelings aside and act like there was nothing wrong...

But taking care of two children in those conditions? That was too much even for someone like her.

In those nights where she had to calm and comfort both of them after they had their nightmares after they fell asleep, she would just stare at the ceiling as she greeted her teeth since she was unable to do anything else.

The worst thing about this whole deal was that she couldn't even say 'no' to them, since they desperately needed her and some kind of comfort… and she just could not leave them alone.

And how could she ever refuse such a simple request coming by some scared children? All they wanted was just for someone to simply calm and reassure them… and she could not refuse them just because she had some problems with it.

"Is Kiritsugu training this morning too?" Shirou then suddenly asked, making Medea snap out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yes. But from now on I forbid you from going to the dojo to observe him." She then said as she entered the living room.

"May I ask why?" He asked curiously

"...You see Shirou, Kiritsugu is now training with his weapons, and it can be dangerous for you to be around him."

Shirou at that moment immediately stopped walking and with a strange tone said: "...Weapons?"

"...Yes, weapons." Medea said, as she too stopped walking and turned to face him.

"...Why weapons? ...Aren't weapons made to… hurt people?"

"Yes Shirou, weapons are dangerous tools, but Kiritsugu needs them." Medea said with a calm and careful tone.

This was not something she wanted to talk about with him… yet. She knew how delicate the subject could be, and she knew how careful she had to be when speaking about it with Shirou.

"...Why?" He asked with a confused and perplexed tone.

"Do you know why he is training?" Medea then asked.

"...So that he can become stronger?" Shirou guessed since he had never asked Kiritsugu the reason he had been training.

"You're right Shirou, but to be more precise Kiritsugu wants to become stronger so that he will be able to save his daughter."

"...Save his daughter? Is she in danger?" Shirou asked with a surprised and preoccupied tone.

Kiritsugu was a man who spoke little, and the same was with Shirou. Even though the two of them have been living together for almost 2 months Shirou knew next to nothing about the man, in fact, he didn't even know he had a daughter.

"Yes, she is. Some bad people who have a grudge against Kiritsugu have… kidnapped her, and Kiritsugu has to save her from them, no matter how." Medea said.

"She has been kidnapped? Why? ...And… can't he… talk things out with them?" He asked after a long moment, with an uncertain and somehow timid tone.

Medea watched him for a long moment before she sighed.

"...No Shirou, he can't. Those people would not listen to him. They would not reason with him. They… they are just bad people. People who do what they want, uncaring of what would happen to others. People who only care about their selfish desires, no matter if innocent lives are put in danger." Medea said.

After that, another long silence passed.

"...Does this mean that he will have to fight them?" Shirou asked as he lowered his head.

"Yes. It's the only thing he can do to save his daughter."

"...I see." Shirou then simply said.

But even though Shirou was saying nothing, it was clear that he did not like it. He did not like it even a single bit.

He was still a child, but he knew what would happen when Kiritsugu would go to save his daughter. People would get... hurt… and there was nothing he could do about it.

He did not know why those people had kidnaped Kiritsugu's daughter, but there had to be a way to resolve things peacefully... right?

…

But how could things be resolved peacefully, when those people had taken Kiritsugu's daughter away from him? And why should Kiristugu try to reason with them when they had taken away from him a person that he loved?

"C'mon Shirou, do not be so sad. Everything will be fine." Medea said as she got close and caressed his head.

"...I… I just wish that things like this would not happen..." Shirou murmured as he kept looking at the ground.

Medea watched him for a moment before she smiled a little.

"It's still too early for you to do anything, but maybe in the future, when you will be older, there will be something you'll be able to do about things like this."

"...Really?" He asked, a bit surprised, as he raised his head to watch her.

"Really." Medea said with a reassuring tone.

It was way too early for Shirou to obtain his desire to become a hero, but at the moment Medea thought that starting to slowly direct toward the right path was a good thing. Maybe, on his own, Shirou would have made that decision by himself.

After reassuring him for another bit, Medea went into the kitchen and started to cook, while Shirou started to set up the table.

For about ten minutes everything was quiet and peaceful as the two of them did their respective task, but unfortunately, that peace did not last for long.

"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" A young Taiga shouted with an energetic tone as she burst into the room.

"Hi Taiga." Shirou, who was now sitting at the table, said as he turned to face her.

"Energetic as always…" Medea just commented as she kept cooking.

"Mmmmm, what are we eating today?" Taiga asked as she got close to the kitchen counter, while she tried to take some peeks on the food Medea was making.

"Oh? Don't you first want to know where Kiritsugu is?" Medea asked with a surprised tone.

"...You're right. Where is he? He is in the dojo, isn't that right?" Taiga asked after a moment as she started to look around.

Medea laughed a little. The way Taiga was not even trying to hide her interest in the man anymore was incredibly amusing.

The first few days after Taiga had started to come here she was always around Kiritsugu since it seemed that the girl found him quite interesting. And after he had undergone the transplant whenever she would come Taiga would always help him with anything he needed, since at the time he had some problems in moving around.

But after Kiritsugu had started to train… oh boy, where could she begin?

Taiga never seemed to care about Kiritsugu's sudden and miraculous recovery, but surely, she had started to become very fond of the way he had started to look.

From time to time, when Kiritsugu would train, Taiga would be there as well to observe his progress with her, but while she was there to make sure that Kiritsugu was effectively becoming stronger and faster, Taiga was there to just look at him as he got all sweaty.

And after he would finish his training Taiga would immediately go to him and start to 'test' his muscles to 'see if he had made any progress'. And for her, the funniest thing of this whole thing was that Kiritsugu, instead of realizing that the girl had taken an interest in him, was too focused on looking for any kind of progress he had made, although in a different sense.

"Yes he is at the dojo, but it is better if you don't go there from now on." Medea then said.

"Why?"

"Just listen to me Taiga. It is safer this way."

"...Safer? What do you..." Taiga then started to ask, before she suddenly fell silent

At that moment Taiga had suddenly remembered that Kiritsugu and her grandfather had made some 'business' together. Even though she did not know what kind of trade they had made, few were the kind of business someone could make with the head of a yakuza clan. And after seeing the kind of strict, if not extreme, training Kiritsugu had undergone in the past month and its result, Taiga knew that Kiristugu had been preparing himself for something.

Since she had first seen him Taiga could tell that there was something strange in Kiritsugu. The man had always intrigued her, and for this reason, she always wandered around him.

She was not sure why he had caught her attention that much. Maybe it was because she knew almost nothing about him, and her curiosity was getting the better of her since she wanted to know more about her new neighbor.

Maybe it was because she wanted to know why Kiritsugu always had a sad and thoughtful expression whenever he had nothing to do. Maybe she just wanted to know why in the last month he had been training so intensely... so desperately.

And lately, she had also started to wonder why his behavior had been changing.

Ever since she was a child she had always been surrounded by… not the nicest of people. She didn't want to say that the members of the clan were bad people, they had always been gentle and nice with her, and under the administration of Raiga their crime rate had lessened and they had started to be less violent, but they were still criminals who could prove themselves to be very dangerous when needed…

And she had noted that as time kept passing on, Kiritsugu had started to assume a look similar to them… if not... worse.

Taiga at that moment returned her attention to Medea, and she started to think about her. In simple words, the woman, for her, was a complete mystery.

Taiga could not understand her. She did not know the kind of person she was. And she knew next to nothing about her.

Along Kiritsugu she had suddenly appeared in Fuyuki out of nowhere, and for some unknown reason her grandfather not only had made her and Shirou honorary members of the family, but he also financed the construction of their mansion. Strangely, no one of the upper members of the clan seemed to have any objection against it.

At first, Taiga asked around for some information about Medea since she wanted to know more about her, but no one seemed to know anything at all.

Obviously, she had also asked Medea to tell her about herself, and Medea had told her she had come from Greece, but other than that she didn't want to speak about her past or herself at all.

Not only were her origins unknown, but the way Kiritsugu behaved around the woman was also strange. He should know her, and yet she had noted that he always seemed wary and careful whenever he interacted with her, even though he only talked or asked about some simple and mundane stuff… as if she was dangerous.

Taiga had concluded that Kiritsugu too was part of the underworld… But Medea? She had no idea if she too was involved with things like this. And at the moment the woman seemed to be too focused on taking care of Shirou and Sakura, the other lost child she had found, so she could not be a bad person… right?

"Tell me Taiga, do you think that the meat has been cooked enough?" Medea then asked before she turned around and handed her a thin piece of meat on a chopstick.

Taiga snapped out of her thoughts and in a single moment and with a single bite she immediately ate the piece of meat. But only after she chewed and carefully savored the meat, she gave Medea a thumbs up.

"Yes. It's quite good." She then said with an approving nod.

"Excellent." Medea said with a satisfied tone before she returned to cook.

Medea in this past month had discovered that the young Taiga had a very developed sense of taste, and therefore whenever the girl said something about her food or gave her some advice, Medea always made sure to keep it in mind.

And also, she was quite happy whenever the girl came to visit them. Taiga's cheerful behavior was more than perfect for both Shirou and Sakura. Since she interacted often with them she was 'forcing' the two children to get out of their shells and socialize. It was not that big of a problem for Shirou to do so, but for Sakura, who was very gloomy, silent, and tended to isolate herself, it was. But luckily the little girl had started to get a little bit more open and responsive thanks to Shirou's and Taiga's efforts.

As always, Taiga was kind and truthful with everyone… It was such a shame that at the time the woman probably got killed by Archer when he tried to kill her with his first attack but ended up destroying the city.

Anyway...

"Shirou, could you go to see if Sakura has woken up?" Medea then asked.

Shirou simply nodded and started to turn around to get out of the room, but just at that moment the door of the living room slowly opened up, and after a moment everyone saw Sakura on the other side of the door.

"Good morning." Sakura said with her somewhat quiet tone of voice.

"Good Morning." Everyone answered.

"Hey Sakura, how are you feeling today?" Taiga then asked as she got right in front of her.

"...Fine." Sakura answered simply.

Taiga smiled a little bit. As long as the girl was okay that's all that mattered. From when she had first met her Taiga had noted that Sakura was… quite strange, but in the past month's she had started to slowly change a little. In fact, she had begun to talk more regularly and with less fear and shyness. It was very cute to see her change.

"Good. But if you want to feel even better, you'll have to eat! You can't be completely fine until you have breakfast!" Taiga said as she suddenly grabbed Sakura's shoulders and started to drag her to the table.

"...Alright…" Sakura quietly commented as she posed no resistance.

Some minutes passed and Medea served breakfast to all three of them, and after she did she remained behind the kitchen counter, and from there, she could see Taiga, Sakura, and Shirou eating together.

She watched the first two for a moment before she moved her attention to Shirou, and looked at him for a while, as she started to lose herself in her inner thoughts.

It had been almost 2 months since she had saved him, and everything had been going great.

Even though she had discovered that Shirou had more problems than she first thought, he had been behaving quite normally and was not showing any clear signs of other possible issues.

He was now sitting at the table, and he was calmly eating the breakfast she had made as he watched Taiga talking2 with Sakura.

Whenever Medea saw him eating everything she made she always found herself smiling. Seeing that cute and innocent face enjoying her meals just made her want to take care of him.

...Well, she knew that he needed her.

The way his face would light up when he saw her was something she treasured. The way his eyes lit up whenever she appeared in front of him had to mean something. He just didn't seem like he felt this way about anyone else. She could feel it in every inch of her body; in the way he always seemed to relax a little more around her, and how his expression would change a little when he saw her.

He loved her. He loved that she always helped him when he had his nightmares; He loved the fact that she supported him at all times. He really liked her, more than anything.

And Medea loved this since by doing that Shirou made her feel needed, much more than she had ever imagined. The feeling of belonging that this gave to her was something she never thought she'd be able to have again.

It had started off as little things, like doing the house chores with him, helping him with the homework she gave him, or letting him rest in her arms after he had a nightmare.

But as time passed, it quickly grew into everything else. Like small, innocent gestures that meant more to her than she had ever expected to receive. They were simple, but somehow they spoke volumes. The way he looked at her, in awe and admiration whenever she explained something to him; the way he beamed softly whenever she caressed his head; the way she could note some genuine happiness whenever she complimented or praised him...

She knew she wasn't the type to do these kinds of things, since she had definitely proved that she didn't need anybody or anything else but herself… But this, it was the side of her that she had been suppressing until now. One she wanted so desperately to prove to herself - to prove that yes, she did belong somewhere…

But at that moment, after considering all of that, Medea couldn't help but wonder…

…Just how much time had passed since she had ever felt that way?

---

After having finished breakfast Taiga went away since she had some things to do, while Shirou and Sakura remained in the living room and together cleaned up the table.

In the meantime, Medea was now washing the plates that Shirou and Sakura were bringing her, but when she noticed that Sakura had started to bring her the last plate, she suddenly spoke.

"Shirou, could you kindly go to see if the clothes hanging outside have dried?" She asked.

"Sure." Shirou answered with a nod before he turned around and left the room.

After posing the last plate Sakura turned around and started to walk toward the door of the living room since she wanted to help Shirou with his task, but at that moment Medea spoke again.

"Sakura, before you go come here for a moment, I have good news to tell you." The woman said.

Sakura turned around and watched her, wondering just what the good news that Medea wanted to tell her could be.

"Sakura, today you are going to finally reunite with your family."

Sakura remained still and silent after hearing those words.

"Last week I spoke with Aoi, and from what I've seen I can say that she has completely recovered from her previous state. Now that she is able to take care of you, I think that there is no need for you to wait any longer to reunite with your mother and sister." Medea said before she turned to face Sakura. "...Are you happy?" She asked with a smile.

Sakura watched her for a long moment before she just nodded.

"...Look Sakura, I know what you are thinking, but you don't need to have any kind of doubts. I assure you that Aoi and Rin can't wait to see you again. They missed you a lot." Medea said as she walked to her.

Sakura remained silent as she watched Medea.

Even though she wasn't showing it, at the moment she still couldn't believe it. After everything that had happened, after everything that she had gone through, it was finally truly over. She was now safe, and now she could go back to her family.

And for this miracle, she had to thank Medea.

Other than knowing that she was a friend of the family, Sakura still didn't exactly know who the woman was and why she had saved her, but in the past month she had spent in that house, she had come to trust her.

She had discovered how the woman was kind, patient, and benevolent with everyone around her… even though she could be quite strict sometimes.

At first, Sakura feared her since she first thought she was as malevolent as Zouken, but in this month she had passed with her she had not hurt her, instead, Medea had helped her; she had cured her and saved her from everything that ailed her; whenever she had a nightmare Medea would be there to calm and reassure her too; And whenever she caressed her head Sakura could not help but feel the strange warmth behind that gesture.

In her eyes the woman had almost taken on the form of a mother and cared for her like a daughter, taking care of her whenever she needed.

After all the time she had spent with the Matou, Sakura had forgotten what it felt like to be taken care of, and even though Medea was basically a stranger that had appeared out of nowhere to save her, she was more than grateful to have met her.

In fact, as time went by she grew closer to the woman who treated her well, and it was for this reason that Sakura was not surprised of why Shirou looked up to her that much. In this month of time the boy who she always spent time with had often spoken of how after being left alone without any memory under the ruins of a building, just before he could give up and die, Medea had appeared out of nowhere and somehow saved him from certain death. He had even stated more times how he saw her as his heroine. And since Sakura too had been saved by her, she couldn't help but agree with him.

"...Thank you." Sakura then said in a soft voice.

Medea watched her for a moment before she smiled a little. She knew there was a stronger and deeper meaning behind that simple thank you.

"Sakura, you don't have to thank me, that is what I have to do." Medea said as she placed a hand on her head, "But now that you know that you're going home, you should begin preparing your things, and after that, we'll pack them."

Sakura just nodded, and she began to leave the kitchen to go and help Shirou and to tell him the good news, but when she reached the doorway she turned around one last time and looked at Medea. She hesitated briefly, but when she realized that Medea didn't seem to be going anywhere she turned and continued to walk away from the kitchen… for some reason she had started to feel uneasy.

Once Sakura was out of sight of the kitchen, Medea began to think.

The time with the girl was over, and the day where she would have brought the girl back home had finally arrived. There was no longer a need for her to remain there since had already seen and obtained any kind of possible information from her and her interactions with Shirou.

Sure, she had liked to spend some time with her, she had loved buying some cute clothes for her with the help of the young Taiga, and she liked the fact that the girl had formed a friendship with Shirou. But again, her time with them was over, and she had to reunite with her family for her own... good.

She had spoken with Aoi about this subject the week before, but unlike the first time they had met she had not appeared out of anywhere in the middle of the night terrorizing the woman, she simply went to her home and knocked on the door.

After a little Rin opened the door and asked how she could help her, Medea with a friendly tone kindly presented herself with her real name and asked the little girl if her mother was at home.

Rin called her mom, but when Aoi arrived and saw Medea she immediately recognized her and froze in fear. But Medea, to make sure that the young Rin would have found nothing strange with her mother's reaction, greeted Aoi as an old friend, saying something on how it had been almost five years since they last saw each other.

Aoi, understanding what Medea was trying to do, snapped out of her fear and greeted her with a friendly tone, inviting her to enter. After that Aoi asked her why she had decided to suddenly visit them without calling first, just so that she could have been prepared to welcome her adequately.

Medea apologized and said that something urgent had suddenly come up, which was why she had suddenly come there uninvited.

After all of them sat at a table, Medea started to talk with both Aoi and Rin.

For starters, she calmly lied to Rin about how in the past she had been a good friend of both Aoi and Tokiomi, and how after this last one sudden death some accounts of the family had been left unfinished. She then added how since in the last period there had been no one that could take care of them, she had decided to make that task fall on her since the Tohsaka family had aided her in the past.

She said of how in the name of their family she had solved everything that had remained pending, and that she didn't want to be repaid in any way, but, something new had come up, which was the reason for her sudden visit.

She said of how lately she had come to the knowledge of Sakura's adoption by the Matou family, and that to make sure that everything there was alright too, she went to inquire about the affair and about the other family… but ended up discovering something quite negative.

By that point, she had become very serious, both in expression and tone of voice, a thing that clearly made Aoi very preoccupied.

Medea kept speaking and said that she had discovered that the Matou had violated, and ignored, various parts of the contract that had been established between the two heads of the two families, and that those violations had gone to 'harm' Sakura.

To the news, even Rin, who until now was unsure of what exactly was happening, started to preoccupy, and for this reason, she asked her for what she meant and what had happened to Sakura, which was something Aoi did too.

But Medea did not answer their question, she just stared at Aoi for a long moment before she said that it was not something she could talk about since she was still 'unsure' of what exactly had happened to Sakura.

But to reassure them Medea then said that she had already 'confiscated' Sakura from the Matou, 'taken care' of Zouken and his family and that the girl was now in a secure place under her cures. She then even added how, if they wanted, she could bring Sakura back to them within a week.

At the news, Aoi did not know how to act. Sure, the Servant a week earlier had told her that she would have given them Sakura back, but she still had no idea of what the woman wanted from them, and the news that the Matou had somehow harmed Sakura, whatever it was true or not, made her preoccupied for what may have happened to her daughter.

At that point Aoi turned to watch Rin… and the expression of joy and hope she had was obvious.

The way Rin was watching the woman was clear, and Aoi knew why she was like that. After all that had happened to their family, Rin now hoped to see her sister again and to have her once again as a part of the family. But seeing her daughter being so happy made Aoi's heart almost skip a beat since it had been months since she had last seen her like that.

At that moment Aoi realized that there was not much she could do or say in that situation. Refusing the woman's 'proposal' not only would have brought nothing but trouble, it would have been stupid since she really wished to have her daughter again, so for that reason, she just asked Medea to take care of Sakura and to bring her back as soon as possible.

Medea swore that she would have taken care of her the best she could and that she would bring her to them in a week.

And that was exactly what was about to happen.

---

"Have you seen? You're finally going home." Shirou said with a positive tone. "I've told you that you did not have to worry. It was just a matter of time." He continued, as she passed Sakura her last pair of clothes.

Sakura simply nodded as she finished filling the last suitcase with Shirou's help.

It was now the afternoon of that same day, and soon Medea would take Sakura back to her family.

Even though Sakura was somewhat happy to finally go back home, she was a bit shaken by the abrupt news. After being saved by Medea she knew that one day she would have gone back to them... but at the moment she was not ready to see her family, since she was unsure of what their reaction would have been once they would see her again.

Sure, Medea had told her that they had missed a lot, and that had relieved her in a way that could not be described… but she doubted that they would have not noticed her… changes.

Sakura now finally understood why earlier she was feeling so uneasy, it was because at the moment she really feared that the way she had changed would have greatly bothered her mother and sister. After all, they had greatly missed her, and they would be expecting her to be the same Sakura that they knew… but she knew very well that she could not be like that ever again.

Even though over a month had passed since she had been freed by that hell and by the parasites that had invaded her body, whenever she slept at night Sakura could still feel the worms crawl and slither in her flesh, as if they were still there, always reminding her of what they did to her.

And her mother and sister surely would never like something like her, a useless carcass, worthy only to be thrown aside… a disgusting thing.

If anything, they probably would rather have her not even exist at all. It was true that she was thankful for what Medea had done and for telling her that her parents never gave her away, but Sakura was more than terrorized at the thought that her family would never accept her again for what she had become. It would be better if she saw them never again than being rejected by them.

But right at that moment Shirou, like always, saw through Sakura's troubled thoughts. The doubt and fear on the girl's face were clear as day, and for this reason, he went to hug her.

"Sakura, you don't have to worry, as soon as you will go back home everything will be fine." He said, even though he was not sure of the reason Sakura was like that.

Sakura remained silent and still, but she calmed down a bit.

Shirou always had that effect on her. She saw how from the first day they had met he always wanted to cheer her up, and even though she did not understand why he was always so bothered whenever she was sad or scared, deep down she had always appreciated his numerous efforts.

She remembered how before being taken by the Matou she was a lively girl, while now, she had become stoic and impassive. It had become incredibly difficult to simply talk, let alone express herself and what she felt...

...But being with Shirou was pleasant. He never forced her to do anything she never wanted to do, and he himself was someone who spoke little. Being with him was quiet and peaceful. And as long as she was not sad or preoccupied Shirou would not constantly try to cheer her up, and he would act normally with her, something that she liked very much.

And even though she had never said it to anyone since she found it a bit embarrassing, lately she had started to consider Shirou as her... friend.

"I leave the two of you for a moment, and you get like this. You know Shirou, sometimes you can get too clingy." Medea commented amused as she entered the room.

Shirou for a moment looked startled before he quickly released his hug from Sakura.

"Sorry." He said genuinely displeased. He knew that he had yet to learn to not invade others' personal space, but whenever he saw Sakura being worried he couldn't help but to act.

"C'mon Shirou, don't worry about it, I'm just making fun of you." Medea said as she laughed a little. "And I do think that Sakura likes it when you act like this." She added as she looked at the girl.

Shirou looked at her for a moment before turning to watch Sakura.

"...it's not true." Sakura said before she looked aside.

Shirou remained silent since he was confused about what was the right thing to do, while Medea smiled at the little girl's reaction.

"Okay then, since I see that everything here is done, we can start to leave now." Medea said before she grabbed one of the suitcases.

After saying that all of them got out of the room, and Shirou helped Medea and Sakura to carry the few suitcases to the car that was parked in front of the house.

"Shirou, I'll be out just for a couple of hours, so you do not have to worry," Medea said as she turned to face him. "I should come home before dinner time, but if you get hungry just ask Kiritsugu to cook for you."

Shirou simply nodded in response, before he turned to watch Sakura that was next to Medea.

It had been over a month since he had first met the strange girl and she had started to live with him, and even though he now was a bit sad for the fact that she had to suddenly go away, he was more than happy for her since she was about to finally go back to her family.

He had liked the time he had spent with her, and even though he wished that she had been a little bit happier during her stay, he knew that once he would reunite with her family she would definitely be better.

By that point, Medea had noticed Shirou's expression, and she could see that he was a bit sad for Sakura's departure.

"Shirou, you do not have to worry, it's not that you will not see her ever again. Truth is that Sakura lives not that far from us, so if you want we can go there to visit her from time to time." She then said with a smile.

Shirou widened his eyes a little as he watched Medea, before returning his attention to Sakura.

"Well... It's been very nice to meet you Sakura. I hope that we'll see each other soon." Shirou said as he smiled at Sakura.

Sakura nodded and after a moment she replied: "...You too, Shirou."

"Well then, I think that we're ready to go…" Medea said.

---

Five minutes had passed from when she had said her goodbyes to Shirou, and Sakura was now sitting in the car that was bringing her back home, and she was quietly watching outside the window as her heart pounded wildly.

Even though she was trying to hide it the doubt and fear was still present in her, and the more she got closer to home, the stronger they were becoming. There was nothing she could do about it.

Without any doubt, she was not ready to meet her family, at least not yet, because she was still too diverse from when she had first left around a year before. In fact, at the moment Sakura wanted to protest, she hoped that the car would stop, she wanted to beg Medea not to take her home... but she didn't have the strength to do so since she was too scared to do anything at all.

In the meantime, Medea was now calmly driving the car that the Fujimura clan had 'gifted' her, and from time to time she would look at Sakura through the rearview mirror.

She had been able to see how Sakura was breathing quickly, how she had her fists clenched on her legs, how some droplets of sweat had formed on her forehead, and if she focused enough, she could even hear how strong that little heart of hers pounded...

The girl was completely terrified. Things were going better than she was expecting.

The reason why Medea had not told Sakura the exact day when she would have gone home was to make sure that when she would arrive there she would have been emotionally unprepared, and if possible, completely alienated.

It had to be clear that something horrible had happened to the girl that very moment Aoi and Rin would pose their eyes on her. This had to happen for her plans to work.

Sure, after seeing her memories Medea knew that to 'protect' herself from all the horrible things Zouken did to her Sakura used to detach herself from reality, but just like she had guessed, this defense mechanism of her was not completely impenetrable. When she was thrown in the worm pits this defense of her was quite effective since she did not feel much when she was there… but the situation she now found herself in was completely different.

Not only was the news of her returning home quite abrupt, and she had not been able to prepare herself, she could not even use her defense mechanism in any way possible since it was completely useless for her situation. This was not something she could simply try to ignore.

Soon she would be facing her family, that same family she so much loved; That same family she had missed; That same family she really feared would reject her.

After some minutes Sakura noticed that the car had started to slow down and suddenly halted, and at that point, she turned around to watch outside, and she finally saw her old home.

"Sakura, we have arrived." Medea said before she turned to watch her.

---

"Mom! Mom! Look! Sakura has finally arrived!" Rin exclaimed as she saw a car stopping in front of the mansion gates.

Upon hearing those words Aoi suddenly got up from the chair she was sitting on as she waited for their arrival, and she went to the window where Rin was. From there she could see Medea getting out of the car and going to the other side to open the car door to Sakura.

'...She really kept her word.' Aoi then thought.

Hundreds of thoughts were now flowing in her mind as she watched that scene, but Aoi knew that the only thing that she could do for the moment was to simply go with the flow of things and hope for the best. After all from what she was seeing the Servant had really kept her word and had brought Sakura back to her… and she could only hope that nothing bad had truly happened to her daughter.

"Well Rin, what are we waiting for? Let's go downstairs." Aoi then said with a smile as she turned to watch Rin.

"Yes!" Rin exclaimed before she turned and started to run.

"Wait Rin, go slower! You'll trip if you run like that!" Aoi exclaimed as she watched Rin go.

But Rin did not hear her, instead, she was too focused to see her sister again.

To say that Rin had missed Sakura would have been an understatement. The sheer solitude she had felt at the time when she had first left had been almost unbearable, luckily there had been her father and her mother for her, but still, from when Sakura had gone away the silence in her house had always been oppressive. And she still had no one to talk with when she was by herself, even during school she felt lonely…

But none of that mattered anymore, because everything was about change and to become just like before, and this was filling Rin with joy and out-right euphoria. Sure, nothing would have brought her father back to them, but at least she, her mother, and her sister were about to finally reunite as a family, and she was sure that father would have been more than happy for them.

And that was all Rin wanted. All that she needed.

After she went down the stairs and got in front of the entrance Rin took a deep breath and decided to calm down.

Yes, she was more than excited to see Sakura, but she still remembered that she had to act her age. Not only was she not a kid anymore, but now she was also the future head of the Tohsaka, and even though she couldn't fully contain her excitement which was causing that unremovable smile that was present on her face, she had to keep her cool. And after all, of the two of them, she was also the bigger sister, and this meant that she had to make a good example so that Sakura could learn from her how to be mature and act properly for her age.

The number of responsibilities she held just kept growing, but that just made Rin happier.

As she watched the door Rin just could not wait to hug-... speak with Sakura again, and at the moment she also wanted to know so many things from her. Like if she had been treated well; If something bad had ever happened; If she had learned something interesting from the Matou...

And also, she couldn't help but wonder if her sister had changed during this period of time they had been separated.

At that point, Aoi came down the stairs, and with herself, she had also brought a severe lecture to Rin on how she should not run when going down the stairs, but before she could even start with it, she suddenly heard a knock on the door.

Sakura and Medea were now on the other side of the door…

"Can I open the door?" Rin then immediately asked.

Aoi turned to watch her, and after a moment she smiled a little at the sight. She could see how Rin was trying to hide her excitement, and she just could not help but find her incredibly cute as she clearly failed in doing so.

But on seeing her daughter being so happy a sense of calmness and hope had suddenly invaded Aoi's chest. She now knew that even though they had gone through some terrible thing, all of them were still alive and fine, and now Aoi couldn't help but smile at the future, and all the possibilities that this brought.

"Yes Rin, you can." Aoi said with a nod before she turned to face the door.

Rin turned and opened the door, and after she did, she saw Medea standing in front of them.

"Good afternoon Rin. Good afternoon Aoi." Medea greeted them.

"Hi." Rin said before she started to look around to see where Sakura was, and then she noticed that someone was standing behind Medea.

'Huh, what happened? Sakura, have you suddenly grown timid? Or do you want to surprise me?' Rin thought.

"Hi… Medea," Aoi greeted her, "May I ask you where Sakura is?" She then asked, before she too noticed a little figure standing behind Medea.

"Sakura is right here, behind me." Medea said with a calm tone before she just stepped aside.

As she moved both Aoi and Rin were smiling since they were about to finally see Sakura again after a long time… but when they saw her… it felt wrong to do so.

Sakura was now standing in front of them, but both of them, even though they felt ashamed of it, had some difficulties at recognizing her at first.

With just a simple glance they understood that she was not the same girl who had left a year ago. In fact, the first and most obvious thing that they noticed was how the color of her hair and eyes had changed… But when they focused on her eyes, they noticed how empty, and dead, they were.

With just a simple glance they could even tell that the way she acted felt wrong. Instead of greeting, or going to hug them, she was standing still as she looked down on the ground.

They did not know how to describe her… other than depressing to look at.

Both Rin and Aoi wanted to say something, but the fact that Sakura did not dare to look at them, but instead was looking down on the ground with a scared expression as she slightly trembled, made it impossible to do so.

At one point both of them silently backed down, allowing Medea and Sakura to enter the house. After that, they stood in the entrance for a minute or so since they had no idea how to act or what to do.

Rin was almost dazed as she watched Sakura with disbelief and concern. She just had no idea of what to say or what to ask, and the fact that her mother was confused like her scared her even more.

Just what had happened to her sister? Rin needed to know!

"...Rin" Aoi suddenly said, "Take Sakura to the sitting room and wait for us there. I… I have to talk with Medea a little."

At that moment Rin turned to watch her mother, and she noticed the woeful expression she had.

"...Yes." Rin said with an insecure tone before she turned and walked to Sakura.

As she slowly walked to her with hesitation, Rin noticed how Sakura started to tremble more as she got closer.

"...Sakura…" Rin said with sadness as she saw her sister's state.

"Sakura, don't be so scared, do as your mother said, and go with your sister. I'm sure that the two of you have a lot to talk about." Medea then said as she gently pushed her forward.

After hearing her words Sakura finally mustered the courage to move, and with Rin, she went to the sitting room.

"So Aoi, what did you want to speak about?" Medea asked as she turned to face her after Rin and Sakura left.

But as soon as Medea asked that question Aoi turned around and started to walk toward the stairs.

"Let's not speak here, but in my room." Aoi said.

"...As you wish." Medea said as she noticed her strange behavior before she started to follow her.

After the two of them got into the room Medea closed the door and raised a bounded field around the room.

"Now, what-" Medea started to ask.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?!" Aoi screamed infuriated.

"...Oh, it is your daughter now?" Medea calmly asked with a little smile as she turned around to face the other woman, which was clearly enraged.

"ANSWER ME! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!" She screamed again, even angrier than before.

"...What did I do to her? Hah, how can you dare to assume that I've harmed her? I've done nothing to her, Aoi." Medea said, "Zouken did it. Tokiomi did it. You did it."

"YOU HAVE TO ANSWER ME!" Aoi said as she started to walk toward her.

"...Oh? it seems that you're quite nervous Aoi, why don't you sit down so that you can calm yourself?" Medea proposed with a complacent smile.

"I -!" Aoi started to say before she suddenly froze in place.

She did not know how or why, but something had happened to her, and she could not move anymore. For a moment Aoi thought that time itself had stopped, but when she started to feel an unknown pressure increasing all around her, which made it impossible for her to move and breathe, she realized that what was happening was Medea's doing.

"...First, I don't like your tone Aoi, know your place." Medea said as she walked right in front of Aoi. "And second, stop immediately this stupid drama of yours, shouting and screaming like that will change nothing. The worst has already happened." Medea said before she turned and sat on one of the chairs of a little table that was nearby.

"...And approaching a Servant with that tone and attitude is not the wisest of choices, don't you think?" She then asked.

At that moment Aoi couldn't do anything but wriggle desperately as she was also not able to move and to breathe. And as she futilely tried to free herself, the lack of air started to make some horrible memories that she had repressed suddenly resurface.

Almost half a minute passed, and right before Aoi could faint from the lack of oxygen, Medea decided to undo her magic, and once freed by the spell Aoi fell to her knees, gasped for air, and started to cough.

"Calmed down?" Medea asked as she looked down at Aoi.

Aoi did not answer, she just tried to catch her breath as she held a hand to her throat.

"...Well Aoi, just like you 'gently' asked me, I'll now tell you everything that happened to Sakura... But you'll have to hear each and every one of the fearful words that I will utter." Medea said with a serious tone.

Aoi did not know exactly why, but after hearing her words she gulped as a shiver went down her spine. And after a minute or so, weakly and trembling, Aoi found the strength to stand up, and to sit in front of Medea.

"So, before we start to talk about how Sakura has changed, we have to understand what has happened to her in this period of time…" Medea started to say as she put her left hand on the table. "...And we have to meet the 'ones' that did her all those wrongs." She continued as she removed her hand.

Aoi lowered her eyes to see what Medea had left on the table, and she remained utterly disgusted by the sight.

"This is a recreation of Matou Zouken's Crest worm. One of the thousands he had used on Sakura." Medea said as she watched her worm familiar, which aspect she had modified to make it even more horrendous than the original. "...And even though it may not seem so, these worms are very dangerous. They can easily devour human meat, and their fangs are sharp enough to cut and shred human's bone..."

"...W-What do they have to do with Sakura?" Aoi asked as she started to tremble, and noticed the worm's phallic shape, which until now she had refused to notice.

"Well, as you may possibly know, the Matou family magecraft is based around familiars, and Zouken, to make Sakura the heir of the family, had to make her become close and… 'familiar' with them, if you understand what I mean…"

At that moment Aoi's mind stopped, and a horrid expression started to form on her face as she paled.

"...Yes Aoi, unfortunately, it is as you fear." Medea said as she leaned closer to her. "Sakura, your youngest daughter, that cute and little spring who is barely six years old, has been… stained with mud. These worms were the ones to take away her spotless chastity… and eat away what made her a woman. They were the ones who violated and tortured her incessantly, every single day, for the last year." Medea continued before she sat back in her chair. "...And you have to know that to make sure that she could become a worthy heir of the Matou, and a possible vessel for his phylactery, that literal monster of Zouken had even made those worms fuse and melt with her nerves so that he could control her every move. These horrible things had become a very part of her…" She said as she watched the worm. "And each of those torture sessions, where Sakura was thrown in a grave to be violated and defiled by these abominations, where she hoped and prayed for her parents to come and save her, could last for hours, if not almost entire days…"

Before Aoi could say anything at all, she felt an unknown force in her throat, and when she tried to speak, she discovered that she could not utter even a single word.

"Aoi, I understand the kind of shock and pain you are now suffering. I understand that now you want to scream, or to cry, or to desperately try to deny everything I said and accuse me of being a liar… but I have a question for you: Why should I lie?" Medea asked. "I've already told you that I'm doing what I'm doing to pay a debt, and that's really it. I saved you, I saved Sakura, cured her as best as I could, and brought her home. If I wanted to harm you or your family, I would've already done it." Medea said with a shrug before she undid the magic that prevented Aoi from speaking.

Aoi watched Medea for a moment, and before she could say anything, the pain and the horror overwhelmed her, and she covered her face with her hands.

Medea then remained still as she silently watched Aoi squirm and fidget. She remained impassive as she watched Aoi pulling her hair and screaming. And she could not help but feel a tiny bit of pity for Aoi when she fell to the ground as she started to cry, expressing all of her pain.

And while she watched her, Medea suddenly decided to describe in great detail what she had to do to save Sakura, and she focused on describing in great detail all the damages that the worms had done to her body. After that, she saw Aoi going through shock, denial, anger, bargain, depression, testing, and acceptance… But she smiled a little, knowing that Aoi's heartbreaking sorrow was only about to start.

Almost 30 minutes went by before Aoi calmed down and returned to reason.

It took a while for her to calm herself down, but once she did her heart still ached from the pain, her face was flushed red, her eyes were still filled with tears, her hairs were disheveled, and just like her heart, her soul was broken apart. And even though Aoi was still wishing for any of this to not be real, she knew that it wasn't over yet.

She had noticed the way Medea was watching her as she had been assaulted by pain… she was waiting for her to finish. There was still more she had to tell her.

Yes, Aoi knew she couldn't bear another word, but she also knew there were more things she needed to know.

She turned to watch Medea, and she started to carefully think about her words. She didn't want what happened earlier to happen again.

"...Medea, before you continue, I… I have a question to ask you…" Aoi said on her knees since she did not have the strength to get up and sit on the chair once again.

"Tell me, what is it?" She asked.

"...Zouken… did you make him pay for what he did to Sakura?" Aoi asked eagerly.

Medea watched her for a moment before she answered: "Yes, kind of."

"...What do you mean?" Aoi asked, confused.

"You see Aoi, just like you, I'm utterly disgusted by the things that Zouken did to Sakura… but his time has not yet come."

"What?"

"Don't worry, I made Zouken suffer unbearable pain for what he did to your daughter, but unfortunately for you, he still lives for now."

"…Why?"

"I've told you, his time has yet to come… and, it's not his turn to pay." Medea said as she sharpened her eyes.

"His turn? …I… I don't understand what you're saying…" Aoi said.

"Zouken will pay for all the things he did, but now the ones who have to pay for what has happened to Sakura are those who gave her to Zouken in the first place." Medea said before she frowned and got up from her chair.

At that moment as she realized what the woman meant Aoi started to sweat cold, while Medea walked right in front of her.

"...B-But Tokiomi i-is dead…" Aoi said as she looked up at her.

"...And what? You are still here."

"...It… it had been… Tokiomi's choice to give Sakura to Zouken…" Aoi said as she lowered her head.

"...Huh, now that's an interesting way for you to put it." Medea said before she started to think.

She was now trying to remember everything she had seen in Aoi's memories from when she had been healing her mind, and after some long moments of silence, she returned to watch Aoi.

"…So, you're saying that you're not in any way responsible for what happened to Sakura, because you were not the one to give her away. Am I right?" Medea asked.

Aoi remained silent for a long moment before stuttering with an unsure and scared tone: "Y-Y-Yes."

"...Really? Is that what you really think?" Medea asked.

Aoi remained silent and kept looking at the ground, but Medea could see the traces of doubt and remorse on her face.

"...From my point of view, Aoi, I think that everything that has happened is also your fault… if not, completely yours." Medea then calmly said.

"...What?" Aoi asked with a perplexed tone as she raised her head to watch her.

"Aoi, when you and Tokiomi married, what did you swear to each other?" Medea asked as she crouched to look Aoi in the eyes.

"...What?"

"…*Sigh*… I mean, when the two of you married, you swore to each other to live the rest of your lives together, right?"

"...Yes." Aoi said.

"The two of you had fallen in love, and you decided to unite under the sacred bond of marriage to live together the rest of your life as wife and husband, with no one ruling over the other, right?"

"...Yes."

"Then the two of you decided to have children, and surely, you swore to each other to love and to raise them together, isn't that right?"

"...Yes." Aoi quietly said.

"Did the two of you keep any of those promises?" Medea then asked.

Aoi remained silent as melancholy memories suddenly flooded her mind.

"...What happened? How did things get like this?" Medea asked again.

Aoi opened her mouth to speak, but not even a word came out since she did not know what to say.

"...I've always said that there is no more faith in oaths." Medea sighed. "Perhaps the gods of the past no longer exist for you… or you think that new laws reign among men today… I don't know, but you know very well that both you, and Tokiomi, have sworn falsehoods to each other." Medea said before she frowned even more. "...And your daughters ended up paying for it."

By this point, Aoi had assumed a dazed and depressed look as she remained silent.

"Tell me Aoi, for what reason did Tokiomi take away from you one of your daughters?" Medea then asked. "Was it because you were dangerous? Was it because you were mad? Because you wanted to kill her?! ...No. It was none of that." She said, "He took Sakura away from you because he wanted her to be… educated rightly as a mage, wasn't it? He dared to separate a daughter from her mother simply because he wanted her to be a mage in a way or the other! And tell me, what happened?! What were the results?!" Medea asked. "Your daughter, a child, has been stained and violated for years, and brought down to the lowest of points where she now sees herself as an object instead of a person."

"...I…"

"Tell me Aoi, couldn't all of this have been avoided if you had been less pathetic and petty?!" Medea asked.

Aoi remained silent for a long moment before saying: "...How… how can you of all people judge us?"

"...What?" Medea asked, quite surprised.

"...I… I know who you are, Medea… and I know the things you've done." Aoi said as she faced her.

Medea remained silent, but she sharpened her eyes as she carefully listened to Aoi's words.

"...After you told me your name I went to read your legend… and I discovered what you've done… how in your insane rage, you've murdered your innocent sons." Aoi said with a tone of disgust. "When they returned from the royal palace after they had unknowingly given the poisoned presents you made for the princess, in cold blood you made the decision to murder them too to punish Jason even further, so you sent them to their room before killing them in their sleep! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?! And how can you dare to reprimand me?!" Aoi exclaimed.

Medea looked at her for a moment before she said: "You know Aoi, I told you my name to make you understand who I was and with whom you were dealing with, and yet, now that you have knowledge of my identity and the things I was able to do, you dare to reproach to me the things I've done? Aoi, it is pitiful how you're still trying to defend your pride… if you can call it like that." Medea said before getting up.

Aoi remained on her knees, but she was getting ready to defend herself from what the woman had in store for her.

"...And also, you flatter me." Medea then said smiling, surprising Aoi a bit. "You really think that I've been merciful enough to kill my sons in their sleep? Let me tell you, you're wrong. Very wrong. Unfortunately for you, I've been summoned under the worst aspect of my legend, and myself. I'm the version of me that without any kind of hesitation cut her son's throat right in front of her husband, just so that he could see his dynasty end right in front of his eyes. Do you understand what I'm saying? Even my own sons could not escape my wrath! I love destructively, I live in an all-encompassing way, and my every action is extremely exasperated. That is who I am." Medea coldly remarked.

At her words, Aoi frowned and finally found the strength to slowly stand up.

"...Speeches aside, Aoi, I know that you have yet to fully calm yourself and to return to reason, but tell me, why you didn't show this courage of yours to Tokiomi before he gave your daughter to a monster who would rape her? And tell me, how does it make you feel to know that compared to me, you are not that much better as a mother?" Medea asked with an amused tone.

Aoi just frowned more at her provocation, but she did not respond.

"The fact that you do not even answer me just further proves my point. Everything that has happened could have been prevented if you simply stood up to your husband, but no, you had to be the perfect trophy wife, isn't that right?"

"…What should I have done? He was the head of the house, and he-!" Aoi started to say.

"You should have killed him. Easy." Medea bluntly answered.

"Tch, it is easy for you to say it." Aoi said.

"Why? You should have murdered him on principle for even thinking to take away your daughter from you, to divide and ruin your family. But no, you had to be a complete imbecile and let him do what he wanted. You wanted to be the 'perfect wife', but you ended up being a simple trophy."

"...I…"

"Aoi, what you fail to understand is that the so-called 'perfect wife' should take care of the entire family, not just of her husband or his desires. And not only the 'perfect wife' priorities would have been that to preserve the family and its well-being, but she would also have used everything at her disposal to make sure of that. But you were not the perfect wife, and most important of all, you and Tokiomi were a couple. The two of you had to make decisions together. You should have spoken with your husband and made him understand, even by force, that giving away your daughter and denying her from your lives just because he wanted to follow some senseless tradition, was a terrible decision! And maybe, on that occasion, you should have also reminded him that he not only had responsibilities as a mage, but also as a father! He shouldn't have taken part in one of the most dangerous magic conflicts and put both himself and his family in grave danger!" Medea exclaimed.

"…Say what you want, but I wouldn't have been able to change his mind." Aoi said. "The tradition wants the family to have a single heir, and Tokiomi had to-."

"Then I firmly believe that if your husband insisted on dividing and destroying your family, you should have destroyed him in retaliation."

"H-How could I ever do it anyway? He-"

"Do you really think that you could not kill your husband just because he may have been better than you as a mage? I mean, is it that difficult to kill a person in their sleep?" Medea asked her.

"...Even if I tried, I wouldn't have been able to do it." Aoi said.

Medea just smiled at Aoi's naivety before she said: "Do you really think that your husband was infallible? Trust me Aoi, he was not as clever as you think, because if he was he wouldn't have died stabbed in the back."

"...How did he die?" Aoi asked after a long moment of silence.

Aoi still had some difficulties at remembering the events that happened during the period of the war, but if there was a thing that she certainly remembered, it was when she entered the church and found Kariya near Tokiomi's corpse. Sure, the memories were still a bit foggy, but she still remembered the whole encounter.

"He died backstabbed." Medea answered. "And surely, he had been deceived and betrayed by a person he trusted. The expression of shock his corpse had was very clear." Medea answered.

Aoi remained silent, and at that moment she started to consider Medea's words.

If what the woman was telling her was true, that Tokiomi had been betrayed and killed, it couldn't be Kariya the one who murdered him. Since he too was a Master, he and Tokiomi were enemies, so unless they had to fight there was no reason for them to interact with each other… unless they wanted to form an alliance.

But as she thought about it, Aoi suddenly remembered that it had been Kirei, Tokiomi's ally, the one who told her to come to the church, and there, she found Kariya near Tokiomi's corpse. Aoi then even remembered how Kariya tried to tell her that she hadn't killed him before he snapped and ended up attacking her…

And only at that moment did Aoi finally realize who was the real responsible for her husband's death.

"What is it Aoi?" Medea asked as she noticed Aoi realizing something.

Aoi snapped out of her thoughts and returned to watch the witch.

"...Even… Even if I had killed him, tell me, how could I ever watch again my daughters in their eyes for having murdered their father?" Aoi then asked.

"...No!" Medea suddenly snapped, making Aoi jump a little. "Now you have to tell how you can now dare to look at Sakura in the eyes, knowing what had happened to her because of your inability to stand up to Tokiomi?! Tell me!" Medea exclaimed.

Aoi wanted to say something, but she just greeted her teeth as she looked aside.

"Tell me Aoi, tell me, how can you ever go to Rin and tell her just what her dear sister has suffered, and how she, by pure luck, had been spared by that terrible fate?! Tell me!" Medea exclaimed again as she walked in front of her.

By that point, the shame had grown to a level where it hurt Aoi, for she knew that what Medea was saying was true. And it was for this reason that she closed her eyes and tried to ignore both Medea and her feelings.

"...You're still not answering me? Oh well, we will pass your punishment right now." Medea then said.

At those words, Aoi immediately opened her eyes, took a step back, and got ready to defend herself, but Medea just watched her for a moment before she simply turned around and started to walk toward the door.

"...Where are you going?" Aoi asked.

"To Sakura and Rin." Medea said. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt them... I will just tell them everything."

Medea calmly walked to the door and grabbed the doorknob, but after she did so, she felt Aoi's hand suddenly grab her shoulder. Medea then turned to watch the woman, and she could see the panicked expression she had as she had started to sweat profusely.

They looked each other in the eyes for some long moments without saying a word.

"What are you trying to do?" Medea asked her.

"...D-...Don't." Aoi muttered.

"...Hmm?"

"I… I know that I can't stop you… but please, don't do it." Aoi said.

"Why?" Medea asked.

"...Because if they knew what I did… they would hate me." Aoi said with a terrified tone.

"I know, but they deserve to know the truth." Medea said.

"But they are everything I have left! Please! Don't do it!" Aoi begged her again.

"...Ah, now you care for them?" Medea asked.

"...You're right. I was wrong. I've been stupid and selfish. Everything I have done was nothing but mistakes that could have been avoided. Everything had been my fault! But please, do not ruin my family even further! Have mercy on us! I beg you!"

Medea watched Aoi for a moment, thinking, and after a bit, she said: "Fine, if you insist like this I will only tell the truth to Rin. After all, it is better if Sakura does not come to know the truth."

"P-Please, no! Not even Rin!" Aoi exclaimed.

Once again Medea remained silent as she thought for a moment before she said: "…Ok then, you will be the one to tell Rin everything."

"...What? No, I beg-!"

"I've bargained with you far too much Aoi. That is my final decision. Your eldest daughter, Rin, will have to know what really happened to her family. And you will be the one to tell her everything."

After Medea finished speaking Aoi remained silent, but she started to think about what she could do next. The Servant had made her decision, and she was sure that if she didn't go to tell Rin the truth, Medea would say everything both to Rin and Sakura… now she didn't have much of a choice.

But after a while from when Aoi had fallen silent, Medea spoke again.

"...Look Aoi, I know that I've put you in a very difficult spot, so I wouldn't blame you if you… let's just say, shifted all the blame on only one person." Medea then said vaguely.

Aoi remained silent for a moment before she realized what she wanted to say.

"...You want me to blame Tokiomi?"Aoi asked.

"I mean, it's just an advice. That is what I would do in your situation." Medea said.

"...You… You're not making any sense." Aoi said as she frowned. "Why do you want me to tell the truth to Rin? Why do you want me to blame Tokiomi? What really is your objective?!"

"...I have no goal." Medea calmly lied. "I just want Rin to know what happened to her sister and to her family, so that she will not make the same mistakes of her father as the future head of the family."

"...But saying that it was just Tokiomi's fault would be a lie..." Aoi said.

"You are not telling a lie… just half of the truth."

"But that would still be terrible." Aoi said as she looked aside.

"Really? Tell me, why would that be a bad thing?"

"Because I despise the idea that even one of my daughters would grow up hating their father."

"...But they have all the rights to do so. In fact, by telling them that half-truth, we're sparing your daughters from hating their mother too." Medea said with a smile.

Aoi once again gritted her teeth at Medea's words, before she turned to look at her.

"Medea, look, Tokiomi was a good man…. he was just… misguided by his responsibilities as a mage. He doesn't deserve to have his good name slandered after his death. Please, let him rest in peace, and let him be remembered as the good man that he was." Aoi said.

But after she said all of that, Aoi got a bit confused as Medea assumed a somewhat shocked expression.

"I… I thought that you had realized it by now… but it seems that I have to clearly tell you." Medea said.

"...Realized what?" Aoi asked.

"Aoi, tell me, Tokiomi was an excellent mage, wasn't he?"

"...Hmm, yes." She answered.

"And as an excellent mage, he had a very vast knowledge of all the forms of magecraft, including that of familiars. Therefore, he knew what he was doing when he gave Sakura away…"

"...What are you trying to say?"

"Tell me, do you think he knew what would have happened to Sakura after he gave her to Zouken?"

Aoi did not respond, instead, she just looked at Medea without answering.

"...Aoi?" Medea called her.

"...no. Tokiomi didn't know. Because if he did he would have never given her to those monsters." Aoi then immediately answered.

"...So, you're saying that he was never really interested in what would happen to Sakura, and he just gave her to the Matou without making sure that she would be safe?" Medea then asked.

"N-N-No! He knew what he was doing when he gave her to them! You said it yourself that the Matou had violated the agreements and harmed Sakura!"

"...Oh, that. You see Aoi, the majority of the things I said that day were lies." Medea said. "I said those things because at the time Rin was with us, and I did not want to let her know what had truly happened to Sakura… and how her parents had a hand in it."

Aoi remained silent, but Medea could see the traces of doubt, terror, and conflict on her face.

"...You must be lying…" Aoi muttered. "Tokiomi would never do such a thing… Yes. Everything you said until now must have been just lies."

"Are you in denial? Again?" Medea asked her.

"I'm not in denial!" Aoi exclaimed as she put a hand through her hair. A terrible headache had started to form in her head.

"...You're right. You're not in denial." Medea said. "Cognitive dissonance is a… terrible thing."

"...What?"

"You firmly believe that Tokiomi loved and cared for his daughters, and yet, he still gave away one of them, as if she was just an object, to a monster who committed unspeakable acts on her."

"...He… he did so because he thought…" Aoi tried to justify.

"I'll ask you the question once again. Did Tokiomi know what Zouken was going to do to Sakura?" Medea asked. "Before you answer, think. If he didn't know it means that he didn't really care what that monster of Zouken would have done to his daughter..."

"...No…"

"...If, on the other hand, he knew... Well, it makes us understand the kind of man he really was." Medea said.

"...That can't be…"

"He never loved Sakura and Rin as his 'daughters', but he only saw them as 'heirs'. He only cared for them to keep alive his dynasty. That's it. And from what I know in the world of modern magi, such a mentality is quite common too, isn't that right?" Medea asked.

"...No… He would never do such things… he was not like that…" Aoi kept muttering.

"Think whatever you want Aoi, you just need to tell 'your point of view' to Rin..."

"...I… I… I just need some time to think…" Aoi said with a tired tone.

"...I'm sorry Aoi, time is the one thing you don't have." Medea said before she suddenly turned and opened the door.

Before Aoi could say or do anything at all Medea got out of the room, and after she did she brought her left hand to her throat and said aloud: "Rin, come here for a bit. I… there is something I have to talk to you about."

Aoi remained completely silent as she heard that Medea called Rin with 'her' voice, and after she finished speaking Medea returned into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Copying other people's voices is not that easy of a task, you know?" Medea said.

"...W-W-What have you done?! Why have you called Rin?!" Aoi exclaimed and panicked.

"I called her so that you could tell her 'everything'." Medea said as if it was something obvious.

"B-B-B-B-But-"

"C'mon, it will not be that hard for you to do it. After all, you let Tokiomi give Sakura away to be tortured. You let Tokiomi take part in the war and die. You let yourself get almost killed by that other man and left Rin completely alone. Now all you have to do is simply lie about what really happened, and compared to what you did in the past, this is something easy." Medea said before she smiled again. "C'mon Aoi, I know that you can do it. Paint Tokiomi as the ruthless mage that never cared for his family! Paint yourself as the powerless victim! And reunite your family under the pain that 'the monstrous' Tokiomi caused!"

"What? No? I can't…?" Aoi started to say as the pain in her head got even more intense.

"What is it, Aoi? Don't tell me that you don't want to slander Tokiomi after all the terrible things he definitely did?"

"...I…I…"

"Remember Aoi, you have to. It is better this way. Better to assure right now that your daughter will forever think that everything that happened was Tokiomi's fault, and will never ever think that you were involved in anything at all. Slandering Tokiomi is the price to pay for your family's sake, isn't that right?"

Aoi remained silent as she couldn't think straight anymore, the headache had become too strong for her to bear, but at that moment, before Medea could say anything else, they heard knocking at the door.

Aoi raised her head as she widened her eyes as she realized that Rin was already there, while Medea watched her and said: "...She is here. I hope that you've made up your mind." Before she walked to the door.

Aoi backed down and ended up sitting on the bed, while Medea went to open the door to Rin.

"...Did mother call me?" Rin asked as she saw Medea.

"Yes, Rin. She has to… to tell you something." Medea said with a serious tone as she made her enter.

Rin entered the room, and she started to immediately preoccupy as she saw her mother. For some reason, Aoi was now sitting on the bed, and she was covering her face with both of her hands while she breathed heavily, as if she was scared.

"Look Rin," Medea said as she posed a hand on her shoulder and kneeled to look the child in the eyes. "Now your mother will speak with you, and she will tell you some things that… will shock you. Yes, you're still a child, and you have yet to fully understand many things, but we have come to the conclusion that you have the right to know what happened to your family… you have the right to know what happened to your sister. I'm sure that Aoi will refrain from going into the details since you're still young and you don't deserve to know such things, but the things she will tell you you won't like at all." Medea said before she remained silent for a moment and sighed. "...I'm sorry. You should not deserve to know those things… but you have to… and from now on, you'll have to be strong for your family's sake."

Rin watched Medea for a moment before she returned to watch her mother. She did not know what was happening, and this scared her incredibly. From when Sakura had come back Rin did not know what happened to her and why she had become so diverse… and the fact that her mother was now like that after speaking with Medea, preoccupied her even more. At that moment Rin felt incredibly powerless.

'…Tokiomi… I'm sorry Tokiomi…' Aoi thought as she was on the verge of breaking down. 'I have no choice now… I… I have no other options, do you understand? If I do not do what that woman wishes, she will tell everything to Rin… and even to Sakura… and I can't let them know… I can't let them hate me! I hope you will understand… no… y-you have to. Just look at me, what can I do? Nothing. I'm powerless, like always… and… if… if you were here… if you never left me alone… if you never gave Sakura away… nothing of this would be happening. Yes… it is because of you that everything happened… so you can't blame me for what I'm about to do, right? …Right?'

"...Mom?" Rin called her, making Aoi snap out of her thoughts.

"...Rin…" Aoi just said as she looked at her daughter in the eyes.

"...Well, I think that I will leave the two of you alone." Medea said before she got out of the room.

Aoi kept watching Rin before she simply made a gesture that told her to sit next to her. Rin did as her mother said, and after she did, her mother kindly took her hands and started to gently kiss them.

"Mom?" Rin said as she watched her mother start to cry.

"...Rin… I'm so sorry Rin…" Aoi said as she sobbed. "...I… I should have been stronger… I should have been stronger for yours and Sakura's sake…" Aoi then started to say as guilt started to already consume her.

Some time had passed from when Aoi had started to speak with Rin, and Medea was now on the other side of the door as she was carefully listening to their conversation.

From what she had heard until now Aoi had told Rin that some terrible things had happened to her sister, and even though she did not dare to specify what, she made it pretty clear how terrible they were as she could not stop crying as she spoke about it.

Rin asked numerous times what had happened, but each time, Aoi refused to explain to her. When Rin then asked her why all of those bad things happened to Sakura, Aoi said that it had been the fault of the Matou's since they were all bad people. And when Rin asked her why she and Tokiomi did not go there to save their daughter, her sister, Aoi fell silent for some long moments, as she had to muster the courage to lie and came up with something that would leave her with no faults.

To Medea's surprise, after some pair of seconds or so Aoi immediately started to slander Tokiomi, and blame everything on him.

She started by saying that she never had a choice regarding Sakura leaving their family since Tokiomi forced her to give her daughter away. She said that the Matou did all of those terrible things to Sakura only because Tokiomi wanted Sakura to be the best possible heir for the other family, no matter how. And she then even 'revealed' that each time she tried to reason with him to not take part in the Holy Grail war whenever Rin was not at home, Tokiomi would turn violent, have fits of rage, treat to hurt her, and 'remind' her that he could do whatever he wanted since he was the head of the family.

Medea had heard the way Aoi said all of those things, and it was pretty clear that she was inventing them on the spot… but would a child like Rin understand that her mother was lying?

But after she finished saying all of those things, Aoi could do nothing but cry as she begged Rin to forgive her.

At the moment Medea did not even need to look at Rin to understand just what was going on in the child's head.

She had been 'revealed' that her father, the person she had always looked up to, was, in reality, a terrible person who did not care about his wife and his daughters. Just how terrible it could be for her for a child like her to have this knowledge? And even if she did not believe at first what her mother was telling her, why did her mother have to lie about those things in the first place? What was the reason that would push her mother to talk badly of her father after his death?

After some minutes the door of the room opened, and Rin came out of it, looking quite shocked.

As Medea watched the girl, she suddenly remembered the day when she went to the Tohsaka mansion for the first time to meet Shirou. She could remember how while speaking with him about all the pieces of information he had discovered about Rin, Shirou mentioned how the girl had always looked up to her father, and how she wanted to become a great magus and reestablish her family name to make her father proud...

To have the image of the person you admire the most be shattered and stained, especially if it was one of a parent, could be quite traumatic for a child…

"...Rin, I'm so sorry that you had come to know some of the truth… but we needed you to know." Medea said as she approached her and kneeled. "As you understand, many terrible things happened behind your back, and unfortunately, you have to be strong and face them. Even though your family has been finally reunited, in front of you all there is still a hard path that you have to cross, one that you have to cross together. I know that you may have hundreds of questions, but I have to ask you to put aside this desire to understand everything and focus on your family. Both your mother and your sister are in desperate need of help. Your help. The only one who can help them is you, Rin. Do you understand?"

After a long moment of silence, Rin said: "...Yes, I understand."

"...Good. Very good." Medea said. "Now that we made things a bit more clear, I have to ask you to go back to your sister. Soon your mother and I will reach you."

Rin just nodded in response and started to go downstairs, and Medea watched her go.

She knew how a single 'truth' could hit harder than a life of suffering. Rin was now forced to live with the 'knowledge' of what her father 'really' was and what he had done to her family. How in the pursuit of his selfish desire, he had almost condemned those he supposedly loved and lost his life.

And now Medea couldn't help but wonder how this knowledge would form the girl in the future.

But after thinking that Medea re-entered Aoi's room, and saw her still sitting on the bed, crying.

"...Aoi, Rin has already left, you can stop now." Medea said with a low tone of voice.

Aoi did not answer her, instead, she just kept crying.

"...Ohhh, what is it? Are you feeling bad, Aoi? Are you suddenly full of guilt? Could it be that you have realized the gravity of all of your actions? ...Or you just want to blame everything on me?" Medea asked, mocking her.

Aoi kept ignoring her and just kept crying.

"Don't worry Aoi, I understand your agony, I know what it feels like, and I assure you that the guilt you're feeling for the things you did will never go away."

Upon hearing those words Aoi stopped crying and looked up to watch Medea.

"The truth is that you were 'happy' all the time because you did not realize the things you did. Think hard. Who are you really? You're not the victim. Just like your husband, you're the perpetrator. It is not the world's fault that your family has been ruined, but only yours."

"..."

"I hope that you're strong enough to live with the things you've done Aoi… because it would be a shame if Rin and Sakura remained orphans if you took the easy way out..." Medea said before she took some steps back and started to slowly close the door. "...And I don't think that you're that selfish… am I right?"

---

Rin was now walking back to the sitting room where Sakura was, and even though her head was spinning, she was thinking.

She could still not believe what her mother had told her, and even though she wished that the things she had heard to be just lies, it would not make things any better. Her family has been torn apart, for one reason or the other, and now she has to help her mother and her sister.

She has to help her family.

When Rin walked into the sitting room, there she saw Sakura still sitting in one of the couches. From when she had first sat down, she had not moved, said, or done anything at all… she just kept looking down with that hollow stare.

Rin was not entirely sure why, but seeing her sister in those conditions, now that she knew that some terrible things had happened to her, made her feel incredibly guilty.

'…Why did it have to be Sakura?' Rin then started to wonder. 'Why could it not be me? Why father had to make his youngest daughter suffer?' She asked herself.

...Could it be that he never loved her? And why was it? …Was it because he saw her as less useful? …Was it because she was fitter to be the head of the Tohsaka, and therefore Sakura's presence was useless?

…And if that last thing was truth… then… was it her fault that all of those things happened to her sister in the first place?

Rin did not know, but she walked to Sakura, and she saw that she still refused to look at her. At that point, Rin immediately went to hug her and to say: "I'm sorry…. I'm sorry…"

She did not know what happened to her, but now she could only make sure that nothing would have happened to her sister ever again.

In fact, at that moment Rin swore to herself that never again Sakura would suffer, and that as the future head of the Tohsaka, she would make up for all the mistakes of her… predecessor.

Rin now could only hope that Sakura would never reach a point where she would hate her and her mother… and she could only hope that in the future she would be able to earn even a scrap of her forgiveness.

Some minutes later Medea arrived, and when she saw Rin hugging Sakura, she could not help but smile.

After that, she sat on one of the couches, and she started to speak with Rin about Sakura. She told her that after everything she went through Sakura had been greatly traumatized and had undergone some 'notable' physical changes, and it was for this reason that she would need some medicines to help her recover and change back to how she was before. At that point from the purse she had, Medea took out some vials, and she started to describe the purpose of each one.

After some other minutes Aoi too came down, and when Rin started to hear her footsteps coming closer, she decided to finally let Sakura go from her hug.

At one point Aoi entered the room, and when she did she stopped to look at Sakura. After watching her for some moments she opened her mouth to speak, but after some seconds she closed it again. It was clear that she wanted to say something, but if it was to beg forgiveness or admit her guilt, Medea did not know.

Still, without saying anything Aoi walked right in front of Sakura, took her in her arms, sat on the couch, posed Sakura on her lap, and held her close to her chest as she kissed her head. As she did all of that, Medea noticed how hard she was trying to not cry.

After a while from when Aoi had sat down, Medea proceeded to repeat everything she had said to Rin to her too, and after that, she got up from her seat and said that she had to go. But before she started to leave she said that if they ever were in need of help, to not hesitate to call her, and that she would help them the best she could before she gave them her telephone number written on a piece of paper.

After that, she wished them a good evening, before she started to leave.

Medea then arrived in front of the entrance of the house, but just before she could open the door to get out, she heard some little footsteps behind her. For this reason, she turned around and saw Rin standing on the other side of the corridor.

"...Excuse me Medea… you are a mage, right?" Rin asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Why do you ask?" Medea asked genuinely curious.

"...If I remember right, the first time you came here you said that you have eliminated the Matou after all the things they did to Sakura, right?"

"Yes."

"...If by yourself you were able to defeat all of them… then this means that you're very strong as a mage." Rin said as she thought.

"Yes. You could say that I'm an excellent mage." Medea said as she tried to understand just where the little girl was going.

"...Then …Could you teach me magecraft?" Rin then asked.

"...What?"

"I… I want to be a great magus. I want to become strong to protect my family. And if you were able to defeat one of the founding families by yourself, you can make me strong!"

"...Heh." Medea smiled a little after a moment. "Rin, I find this desire of yours to be very noble and cute, but unfortunately the kind of magecraft I use is… different from yours."

"Different?"

"Yes. Not only do I use a magic system that comes from another land, you could say that my spells are way more powerful than the normal ones since they are a bit older and more complex, but also, you could say that they are... somewhat limited under our current circumstances."

"...Is that a no?" Rin asked.

"No, it is not. I'm just saying that it would be better if you stuck to the more 'modern magecraft' since my knowledge is incompatible with the... more modern ones."

"...If I should reject and forget everything I've learned, would you teach me?" Rin then asked.

At hearing those words, Medea sharpened her eyes. She had heard her tone, she could almost feel it, she could tell that the girl was serious… But just how serious did she have to be to reject her father's teachings, which were possibly one of the few memories she had of him?

A very strong will, that was something that she really liked, and now Medea really started to consider her request. First of all, she had to see if the girl had the capabilities to actually learn something from her.

Now, she had obtained many pieces of information about Rin from both Shirou and Aoi's memories, and from what she knew not only the girl has an affinity with all the five elements, but her Origin was also surely one of the imaginary elements, an Origin very rare even by her times.

There was also to mention the naturally high quality and number of the magic circuits the girl had, which could make it possible for her to have enough mana to actually use the spells she would teach her.

Sure, the number of spells that she could teach to the girl was very limited since the majority of the spells she knew required just too much mana, but she was sure that under her teachings she would be able to master the few of them with little problems.

Why would she ever need to know dozens of weak and inferior spells, when with only a relatively good one she could achieve far greater results than modern magi could ever imagine?

Naturally possessing a single spell coming from the Age Of The Gods would put the girl on an entirely different level compared to that of the modern mages, but such knowledge could also function as an improved deterrent by increasing her pre-emptive strike capability against possible enemy elements. Rin could just use a single spell in any fight, and her superior firepower would put the brakes on enemy attacks.

And eventually, if she would be able to make the girl stronger than she was in the 'past', Rin would be able to become a true menace for all the mages of this generation.

...Sure, as much as her magecraft could make Rin powerful, it could also put her in grave danger. The modern magi would literally do anything they could to come to know even a single fraction of what Rin may learn from her... but the only thing that Medea could do to counter this was to assure that Rin would keep everything secret.

If the modern magecraft that modern magi used had to be kept secret from the human world, then the magecraft she would teach Rin had to be kept secret even to the Magi world. She would make sure to put a strong emphasis on how powerful the knowledge she would bestow her was, and how dangerous it was for her to have such knowledge.

Under normal circumstances, she would never even take into consideration teaching the girl, but, the possible pros outweighed the cons. For Shirou, to have someone like Rin as an ally in the future Holy Grail War, would be priceless… To not mention Sakura, who could become just as talented and strong as Rin…

The Tohsaka family could once again reveal itself to be incredibly useful for the future.

"...Yes. Fine by me." Medea then said.

"Really?!" Rin asked excitedly.

"Yes, but before I start to teach you anything at all I have to take care of some business… and, I'm serious, you have to swear to me to not ever mention me to anyone."

Rin said nothing, but she watched Medea with a confused expression.

"Rin, there are some people you are very close to you who you should be very careful of. For example, Kirei Kotomine is to not be trusted. I know that he was a friend of your father, but please, for your own safety, stay away from that man as much as possible."

"...O-Okay." Rin said with a serious tone.

"Good. I trust you Rin. See to not fail me." Medea said before she started to turn around.

"I will not, but before you go, could you tell me when we will start our lessons?"

"Well… I think that in around 2 months we will start." Medea answered.

"Two months? That long?" Rin asked.

Medea turned to watch her and said: "...Rin, I understand that you want to immediately become able to protect your family, but first, it will take a very long time for you to become strong, and second, I think that it is better to use these months of time to assist your mother and your sister."

"I… You're right… I'm sorry…" Rin then said as she lowered her head a bit.

"Rin, you do not have to apologize, instead, take this as our first little lesson. From now on, before you act, you have to properly think about what your options are and what your priorities should be. And only when you have wisely taken your decision, will you start to move."

"Yes!" Rin then said as she nodded while she started to apprehend her first lesson.

"Good. Now Rin, I have to go. Have a good evening." Medea said before she turned and got out.

"Bye." Rin said before she turned and walked back to where her mother and sister were.

As Medea walked back to the car, she could definitely say that things had gone better than expected.

---

Author's note: Wow, more than 4 months since the last update. Now that's a record.

I would like to apologize for the long wait, but it will be pointless since I have no idea when the next chapter will come out. Yeah, sorry, the time I have to write is very limited.

Now, apologies apart, let's talk about the chapter.

1)For the moment I don't see any problem in Kiritsugu becoming somewhat of a monster to save Illya, but if you find it stupid, let me know.

2)Someone may say something about Medea's plans to teach Rin and Sakura magecraft coming from her time period, because according to the Nasuverse Lore humans from back then, compared to now, are somewhat different and modern humans "should" not be able to handle ancient magecraft for a reason or the other. And since I do not plan to ever show Medea teaching them magecraft (I'll only ever mention it) in the future I'll make Medea say something about how she "broke the rules" (haha) and made it possible for them to learn. And no guys, I'm not taking any liberties while ignoring Fate rules, I'm just following the 'rule of cool'. Wouldn't it be cool for Rin and Sakura to go along while also being OP? Of course it would.

3)About Medea and Aoi, there are far too many things we could say about them, like them having some similarities. For example both of them are quite terrible mothers, even though for very different reasons, and both of them have selfish partners who never really cared for them and their children. But while we can say that they had found themself in some similar situation, they could not be more diverse. When Jason decided to betray Medea and simply let the king of Corinth exile her and his sons, she 'surprisingly' stands up against her husband's decisions, and tries to make him understand just how much he was wrong and how he was ruining everything. While, on the other hand, Aoi never went against Tokiomi, not even once, and she let him do whatever he wanted, which, as we all know, ended up being the ruin of their family. But we will not talk about that. Instead, as you may have noticed during their dialogue, I used this opportunity to somewhat start Medea's "redemption" as a parent, which had already started with Byakuya, by somewhat helping Aoi at realizing her mistakes and making her "repent".

Sure, you will rightly say that she will never be able to make up for the things she did, and I have to say that you're absolutely right. But just because they are not able to make up for the things they did, does not stop a person from reflecting on their actions, and if possible, to repent.

That is the kind of character development I want Medea to have. If she was just a victim of things far greater than her, and never did anything wrong, her so-called redemption would be meaningless since she is not truly guilty of anything at all. But, since I'm using the worst incarnation of her, the witch side of her that was able to do unspeakable things, I have the opportunity to give her the proper redemption that a character like her should deserve.

Now, there are some little spoilers ahead regarding the future of the story, but I invite you to read them.

I can say that to complete this story I'll have to write 5 more chapters. Yes, in the last chapter I did say that this one was probably the penultimate, but please, forget it. At the time I too had no idea of how this story would have ended. Anyway, now I'll very briefly tell you what the future chapter will consist of since I'm not sure of when they will come out. I don't want to let you down too much.

Charter 32: Medea and Kerry go to save Illya.

Charter 33: 5 years time skip, in where something special happens.

Charter 34: Another 5 year skip, all the characters have their conclusion.

Charter 35/36: Different endings, and commentary of what may happen after each end.

Now, before you leave, as you may have already figured it out, this story is very limited by my lack of writing skills and understanding of what the hell I am doing.

For this reason, I fear that I will never find a proper way to show how Aoi, Rin, and Sakura will develop as characters in the future since I do not plan to focus on them too much and have them as background characters for the majority of the time, but I have already thought on how they will develop, so here are their 'thoughts' toward the end of this story.

Aoi: Because of my inability to stand up to my husband and my desire to be a 'good wife', I let Tokiomi do whatever he wanted, but in doing so, I've ruined our family. I let him give away our daughter to a literal monster, and then I even made him proceed towards his death by letting him take part in the holy grail war. To excuse everything and to make myself appear innocent in the eyes of my daughter, I blatantly lied to Rin about how everything that had happened had been only her father's fault, while I painted myself as a victim… my god… what have I done? It's been years, and yet, for each day that passes, it becomes more and more difficult to look my daughters in the eyes as the shame grows. I don't know how long I can keep this act...

…Rin…Sakura… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…

Rin: After all the things I've discovered that day, I was incredibly saddened by the discovery Tokiomi never truly loved us. But as years passed, the sadness that I had inside of me turned into anger and bitterness. As I pass each day with my mother and sister, my love for them just keeps growing, and it becomes even more difficult for me to understand how that man could do such things to his own family. For this reason, I've decided that I want to become a strong magus. For this reason, I asked Medea to teach me her magecraft. And in fact, now I'm strong enough to protect those who I love from those who would ever want to harm them. And even though I want to become even more powerful, I know when to stop. For I will not become the ruthless, cold-hearted magus that is willing to do anything… I will not become the type of mage that almost everyone in that savage mage society looks up to!

I will be different. I will be better than all of them! And I will put an end to this useless conflict that the Holy Grail War is!

Sakura: Even though I vaguely remember that I went through some terrible things when I was a child, I'm joyous that in the end, I was able to reunite with my family. Everything now is fine. I enjoy every single day of my life thanks to my family and my friends. Life smiles at me and it could not be any better. But… There are some things that deeply bother me. Whenever I talk about our father and how much I miss him, both my mother and my sister always seem to look away. Even only the mention of him makes them somewhat uncomfortable. Until now they never told me why they act like this, and I never asked them since I faked to not notice… but I really fear that there is something that they are hiding from me…

What should I do? ...I want to know the truth… but for some reason, I'm scared of what I would discover…

Is this enough to make you understand their development? I hope so. Let me know.

Anyway, that's it my dudes and dudettes. I hope that we'll see each other very soon. Thanks for your patience, thanks for reading, and stay safe!