It was another vision of Assassin's past. This time, Ian saw a river running through a city rather than complete darkness.

But he could still hear the voices from the previous vision, but they were simply whispers this time.

"I'm cold."

"Why didn't you want me, mommy?"

"I want to be warm."

"Why don't you love me?"

The water in the river began to ripple and fog began to spread from the same spot where the ripples originated.

'What is this?' Ian thought.

A shadow began to emerge from the water. But Ian recognized the shadow; Assassin.

'This how she was born, huh? Ironic. Children not allowed to be born naturally were born unnaturally anyway.'

As Assassin climbed onto the ground, Ian could notice that she was shivering. The lack of clothing and cold water wasn't a good combination. Days went by and Ian began to feel deep sadness and pity for Assassin.

One day, Assassin was walking down the streets wearing a black cloak with her knives holstered and attached to the back of her waist. She walked up to a woman and said one word.

"Mommy?"

The sound of the alarm clock woke Ian up.


Fate/new dawn
Chapter 7: Like Parent, Like Child


That day was a school day. Currently, it was what most people considered the best period of the school day; lunch.

Lily sat alone, as was usual for her. It was something she was used to, quite honestly.

Ian just so happened to be walking by and saw Lily sitting by her self.

"Hey." he said as he walked to the seat next to her. "Is this seat taken?"

"No. It isn't." Lily said, softly but loud enough for Ian to hear.

The black-haired boy then sat down.

"So, how's your day been?" he asked.

"It's been fine." Lily answered. "Thanks."

Ian nodded.

"That Paisley girl given you any trouble?" Ian asked.

"No." the blonde shook her head.

Ian paused to examine Lily's body language. 'She's not lying. Probably.'

"That's good."

'But something seems off. Either she's lying about Paisley giving her trouble or it's something else.'


After school, Lily went to one of the local hospitals. She stood at the door of one of the rooms and knocked.

"Come in! It's open." called a voice from the other side of the door.

Lily opened the door and walked into the hospital room. "Hi, mom. How've you been?"

Martha Wright wasn't Lily's actual mother, rather her adoptive mother. She has a Hispanic woman with brown eyes, but her head was shaven bald due to her stage 4 cancer. She spent most of her time in bed, wearing only a hospital gown.

"I've been fine, Lily." Martha said. "How've you been?"

"I've been alright." The shy girl responded. "Things have actually been a bit better at school."

"I've made a new friend. I think."

"That's good." Martha said.

"He's a boy. His name's Ian."

"Oh. Does my little Lily flower have a boyfriend?" Martha smiled.

"N-No! I-It's not like that." her adoptive daughter said, flustered. "I-I've only known him for less than a week. This isn't some sitcom where a boy and girl just get together even though they just met."

"I'm only teasing. I know he's not." Martha chuckled. "But I'd be worried if he was."

"No. He's just a friend."


Nine years ago…

It was a year since the first Holy Grail War. Marcus had come home from work. He unlocked the door and walked into the house.

"Ian! I'm home." he called out.

"Hi, Uncle Marcus!" his nephew called back.

Ian was seven years old at the time. He had been hit pretty hard by the death of his mother, particularly because it was shortly after his birthday, but he been getting better.

Marcus walked towards where he heard Ian's voice, believing that he was doing homework. But when he got to where his nephew was, he saw something completely different.

Ian was crouched down near the mutilated body of a mouse, a bloodied kitchen knife in his head and bits of blood on his face and clothes. Marcus' eyes widened in horror.

"Hey, Uncle Marcus." Ian said, his tone just as cheerful as his smile. "I found a mouse running about and thought I could have some fun with it. So, I caught it and cut it apart!"

Marcus was just silent, horrified at how much Ian was behaving like his mother.

"It was a lot of fun, but it got pretty messy." Ian then noticed Marcus' horrified expression and became worried. "Are you okay, Uncle Marcus?"

The CEO's expression became much more serious and his voice stern. "Ian that was a very bad thing you did."

"But why?" the young boy tilted his head in confusion. "It's just a mouse. It's not like I did it to a human."

"Because as Christians, we are God's children. And God's children do not hurt innocent creatures for fun. Much less enjoy seeing harm done to innocent creatures." Marcus knew what he was going to say next was a lie. "And your mother wouldn't be happy with you."

Ian lowered his head sadly. Marcus hated having to lie to his young nephew but it was better than letting him grow up to be like his mother wound up being.

"Oh…" Ian said sadly.

"Now clean this up. After dinner, you will go to your room and pray to God for forgiveness. And don't speak a word of this to anyone."

"Yes, Uncle Marcus." Ian said sadly.


Dario was in Frederick's mansion and walking towards his office. Assassin of Omega stood guard at the door.

"I'm here to speak to Mr. James." Dario said meekly, intimidated by the Heroic Spirit of Murder's presence.

"You may enter." Assassin said before standing aside.

Dario felt chills go down his spine as he walked past Assassin, feeling his sharp gaze burning into the back of his skull. He opened the one of the double doors to Frederick's office and set foot inside before closing the door behind him.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. James?" he said timidly.

"I did." the leader of the Omega faction replied. "Do you remember anything about your battle with Assassin of Alpha?"

"No, sir." the Italian boy shook his head. "Not one bit. Just that Saber fought Assassin of Alpha, but they got away."

"How troubling." Frederick grumbled. "You are from Italy, correct? I'd like to know what you think of this country."

"Actually, my parents are from Italy, but I was born here. I do like America. My parents are pretty fond of it, even if there is no Vatican here."

"Catholic?" the blonde-haired man asked.

"Yes. My father's a priest. We came here because he was selected to head a new church in the city." Dario nodded.

"What is your wish for the Holy Grail?"

Dario looked down at the floor. "I don't know… God's blessings upon my father perhaps."

"I see."

"If I may ask, sir, what is your wish?" Dario looked up.

Frederick leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful look in his eye. "Prosperity for this country and all who live in it."


Frederick James Interlude: Reflections


I can remember spending the days of my youth living in the slums. My mother was a kind, gentle, good-hearted woman. Sadly, my father was an alcoholic who often spent most of his and Mother's earnings on alcohol. I don't remember much of him. My mother divorced him when he crossed the line and became abusive.

Unfortunately, the troubles didn't end for my mother and I. We were still very poor because of the damage to our finances caused by Father's alcoholism. Mother had to work long and hard every day to support us. She had to handle many jobs and would often come home exhausted. When I turned sixteen, the first thing I did was begin looking for work to help Mother support the two of us.

When I was a boy, I wanted to become rich. Not out of greed, but simply so that Mother wouldn't have to push herself so hard anymore. But after seeing how terrible life around me was for everyone else living in the slums, I didn't simply to help just Mother. I wanted to become a politician so that I could find and create ways for the poor to obtain better, happier lives.

I managed to scrape together enough money for college so that I could study business and law. After college, I began a long road to achieving my goal. As you can see, Visalli, I did indeed become a rich man and a politician. It hasn't been easy, however, because I favor the Republicans more than the Democrats. You know how the public and the media is with favoring the Democrats and their socialism over the Republicans and our capitalism. Looking at history, I just cannot see how socialism can work and therefore do not believe in it.

But ten years ago, Mother died as a result of the disaster that occurred at the end of the previous Holy Grail War. She is with God now, in Heaven. Tell me, Visalli, have you ever had someone that you cherished more than anything else? A person that meant more to you than anything in the world? Perhaps Mother may have been deeply loved by the Lord just as she loved Him. God takes soonest those He loveth best.

But alas, even if Mother has died, I still continue to pursue my goal; to make life better for everyone in America.


So, we have some more development for a good few characters; Ian, Lily, Dario, and Frederick. You can probably see the parallels between Ian and Frederick. I probably could have put in a little more in this chapter, but I wasn't really getting any ideas. I love characterization and character development and feel that while Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero did a pretty good job of it, Apocrypha was lacking in it. If I am going to like a series, at least decent characterization and character development is a must. Still a little fond of Apocrypha, though. So, whatever time isn't spent on big battles between legends for a holy wish-granting cup will be used to develop the characters in the story.

Anyway, on to the reviews.

ZenoZen: Yes, Ian did get his psychotic tendencies from his mother. I appreciate that you like him so far, even if I did like Shirou's character development, especially in Unlimited Blade Works. I've heard that him defeating Gilgamesh was fairly divisive, but can we all just agree that battle was pure awesome? As for Archer of Omega, you have made a misconception; she is not Artemis, but someone who was protected by Artemis. And thanks for your support of the idea of a prequel. I've looked a little bit into Saito Hajime, but to me he seems more like a Saber or Assassin type of guy. I'll have to do more research on him, but thanks for the recommendation.

Ghost rider fan: Thanks. As for the relationship between Nicholas and Archer of Omega, Archer is going to be like an overprotective mother-figure to him.

Devin sands: I'm a little upset about you spoiling the identity of Assassin of Omega. I wanted that to be a (somewhat) big surprise with a good amount of buildup to it. No biggie though, I probably should have been more specific when I tried to keep Assassin of Omega's identity under wraps.

Not much else for this author's note, so you know the drill. Leave a review. Constructive criticism will be accepted. Anyone who Flames will have Spartacus sic'd on them. And I will be especially convincing when I tell him that you are an oppressor.

Spartacus: OPPRESSORS! Where are the oppressors?!

Spartacus, it's rude to interrupt people's Author's Notes. And there are no oppressors here. Right now, at least.

Spartacus: I will not leave a single stone unturned until I find the oppressors!

No, Spartacus! Don't trash my room! (sighs) Yare yare (good grief)... I gotta go...