Shirou had accepted Kiritsugu's invitation, strange as it was the manner that it was voiced. Kiritsugu had made efforts in trying to locate individuals resembling Shirou present in Fuyuki during the fire, but a month had passed by and the only clues that turned up were unidentified corpses, victims of the tragedy.
During this period, Shirou had no success in recalling his memories prior to the fire. It seemed that those memories were lost to him forever. Strangely, Shirou found himself losing no sleep over that fact. Perhaps this was due to his personality.
Shirou was effectively a blank slate after the fire without his memories. He suffered from amnesia, retaining knowledge he possessed before the fire but no concrete memories detailing his experiences in life. He viewed reality with a muted perspective, carrying out his actions with a detached sense of purpose.
Shirou was aware with the peculiar manner in which he went about his daily life. It was atypical of a child at his age. He recognized that something was wrong with him, feeling spiritually empty no matter what he did, day after day. It was likely he was different before the fire. But there was nothing to be done about it.
This realization was met with the manifestation of an unwavering intellectual curiosity in Shirou, pursuing discoveries in his daily life, driven by a fascination in exploring the nature of things, rather than through any emotional simulation. He wished to understand the world around him, lacking a recollection of what he already knew.
Shirou had not forgotten about the tidbit of information the Kiritsugu had mentioned when offering to adopt him, but there were more pressing issues that needed attending to. First, Shirou needed to settle into his new home. It struck Shirou that Kiritsugu had most likely recently moved to Fuyuki city given the state of his new home when he first saw it.
The Emiya residence was located in Miyama Town, a suburban area within in Fuyuki city. Fuyuki city was situated within the Oita prefecture on the island of Kyushu, the southernmost major island in Japan. Fuyuki city was split between two main districts, a traditional Japanese styled housing district and a foreign, western styled housing district.
Even by the standards of the traditional Japanese district, the Emiya residence was old. While the other Japanese styled houses tended to be at least a few decades old, the Emiya residence was almost half a millennium old, able to be considered a cultural relic. Time had taken its toll on the compound, leaving it weathered and aged. Furthermore, efforts had to be taken to modernize the home, including modifying the home to allow for the installation of basic utilities such as electricity and improved plumbing.
The renovations had taken a month and Shirou had not the time to question Kiritsugu on his revelation on Magic. They spent most of the time shopping in order to furnish the home once the renovations were done. Shirou still wasn't quite sure whether or not it was a joke made in order to break the ice.
Just two days ago Shirou was officially adopted as Shirou Emiya, son of Kiritsugu Emiya. While Kiritsugu had made the offer at the hospital, they had tried searching for relatives of Shirou first. The process to register his name as part of the Emiya household had been eerily smooth but he was told it was attributed to the connections that Kiritsugu possessed.
Shirou was certain that that Kiritsugu had not gone through the due legal processes in order to confirm his adoption but he felt he wasn't too bothered with it. Though there was an incident that proved the fact that there were indeed some shady dealings going on in order to facilitate his adoption.
Aside from his father, the only other human interaction that Shirou had so far was when Kiritsugu brought him to make a house visit, meeting a man by the name of Raiga Fujimura, an old man in his sixties wearing a traditional Japanese kimono with a Tiger Skin outercoat.
It was immediately apparent that the Emiya family was not the most law-abiding family in Japan. Raiga lived in a heavily guarded compound that was of a similar appearance to the Emiya residence, a traditional Japanese mansion. The difference between the two places of refuge lied in the number of brawny, solidly built men in suits hanging about the Fujimura dwelling. It was no coincidence that within days of the visit, Kirisugu received official papers detailing Shirou as a member of the Emiya family.
It was then the day came where the renovations were completed and the pair settled down into their new home. They moved out of the hotel that Kiritsugu had rented for the past month. After laying down a futon, Shirou began drifting off to sleep as he rested the night in his new home for the first time…
Shirou woke up to the sound of gusty winds and loud crackling, he opened his eyes to see he was already standing up.
Intense, scorching heat enveloped the surroundings, rendering it unbearable for any living being. The air was thick with suffocating pressure, akin to the weight of towering mountains pressing down upon his limbs as he moved forward. Each movement he made unleashed torrents of excruciating pain, every nerve in his body screaming out in agony.
Pain was all the boy knew for all that surrounded him was fire, he was inside the world's hottest furnace, every cell in his body melting, losing their structure every second that passed.
Painpainpainpainpainpainpain…
Shirou jolted upright, his body drenched in sweat, as he awoke for the second time, A piercing scream tore through his throat as he carried the remnants of the haunting memory he had just relived. Kiritsugu was by his side, kneeling down with a hand on Shirou's shoulder, gently shaking him awake from his nightmare. Gasping for breath, Shirou's eyes widened, darting frantically around the dimly lit room.
Kiritsugu brought Shirou into a hug as he gently patted his back. Shirou leaned into the hug, quiet sobs muffled into Kiritsugu's shirt as he still experienced the pain from the nightmare.
"It still… hurts" Shirou choked out the words. "It was just a dream, why does the pain still follow me even now?"
Kiritsugu was silent, a sombre, pensive look on his face. Offering silent comfort to Shirou as he stayed beside him. It took a while before the phantom pains stopped and Shirou calmed down.
Kiritsugu gently took Shirou's hand and led him to the bathroom, helping Shirou take a shower, washing off the sweat from the nightmare. After drying off and putting on a fresh set of clothing, Shirou sipped on a glass of water, sitting down in the living room.
As Shirou calmed himself down, Kiritsugu was at the kitchen connected to the living room preparing an omelette. As they had lived in a hotel for the past month during the renovations, this would be the first opportunity to consume a meal prepared by his father. Kiritsugu was soon done cooking the omelette, sliding it onto a plate before pushing it in front of Shirou.
While Shirou did not have a memory of ever consuming an omelette before, even he could tell that the dish that Kiritsugu prepared was not quite right. While the eggs were cooked, the shape was obviously irregular. Shirou gave it a skeptical look, prompting a remark from Kiritsugu.
"I know its appearance is not the greatest, but Shirou, you should eat up. You'll need food in your stomach for what's coming next."
Shirou gave a questioning look to Kiritsugu before poking at the dish, consuming it in silence.
After Shirou was done, Kiritsugu instructed Shirou to follow him. Shirou was brought to the corner of the yard at the back of the Emiya residence, in front of a door of a small shed. While the shed was built with more modern materials, it had not been part of the renovations, thus the iron door looked old and rusty, nevertheless the shed contrasted in its appearance to the rest of the house built with traditional Japanese wood styling.
Kiritsugu brought out a small key from his pocket. The key was iron cast, similar to the ones used during the medieval age. This was different to the keys that unlocked the locks in the rest of the home, refitted with a modern cylindrical lock as part of the renovations. Placing the key into the lock and turning it 90 degrees, a sharp click rang out. Kiritsugu paused before opening the door, turning to Shirou.
"You recall what I said about me being a Magus...?"
Shirou gave a slight nod, confused but curious about where this was heading.
"Well…" Kiritsugu paused, opening the door with a declaration. "Welcome to my magical workshop."
The doors of the shed dragged open with a loud creak. The shed had two levels, the upper level was opened from the middle, a small walkway lined around all four corners of the building. Both levels were lined with drawers and cabinets. There were half a dozen boxes the height of Shirou placed together at the back of the first level. Shirou felt aside from the strange sensation he felt standing inside the shed, it honestly looked as if the 'Magical workshop' was more of a storeroom than anything.
Ignoring Shirou's sceptical look at his back, Kiritsugu briskly walked towards a drawer, taking fast, swift steps. He slid out one of the layers of the drawer to reveal a compartment filled with empty glass vials of the same size. He took a vial out and slid the drawer closed before opening another compartment of the drawer beside.
Kiritsugu removed what looked to be a feather from an unknown bird, placing it vertically inside the vial, before reaching back inside and sprinkling granules of dirt inside the vial. He closed his eyes, muttering under his breath, meanwhile hovering his right palm over the vial.
The room lit up; a yellow circle of light surrounded Kiritsugu's wrist. Green lines appeared, looking like veins, they followed the path of his arm up to the joints of his fingers. The circle of light rotated once and flashed before snuffing out, alongside the lines of light on Kiritsugu.
"Here…," Kiritsugu stretched his hand towards Shirou. The hand held the vial, now containing a greenish brown liquid.
"Drink up, this is medicine made using alchemy, a type of Magecraft."
Shirou, shocked by the fact that Magic was real, silently drank the strange looking solution.
"Ack!" Shirou coughed and choked out. He had swallowed the disgusting medicine, for a liquid with an appearance that looked so putrid, it went down his throat in an unnaturally smooth manner. He had swallowed before he had the chance to process the revolting, bitter taste of the magical solution.
Kiritsugu let out a snort, amused by Shirou's reaction to the medicine. He then explained in a serious tone.
"The fire that I found you in was not a normal fire. I believe that it may have had other effects, given the description of your dream, the fire might have been cursed in nature."
He continued, "While your wounds from the fire have been healed, there may be other lingering effects on you beyond the physical. In order to make a full recovery, you will need to drink such medicine every so often."
"Wait!" Shirou exclaimed, "Magic is real?"
"Magecraft, not Magic. I am a Magus or Magi, one that performs Magecraft. Magecraft is accomplishing what is possible by science through supernatural means by application of magical energy. While the process may be impossible, the result is mundane."
"Wait, so are there more Magus's? …, err, Magi?" Shirou stuttered out, shocked at the revelation. He did not believe that he had known the existence of Magic before the fire.
"We keep ourselves hidden from the world. Magic is mostly found in myths and legends. This is due to the separation of the Moonlit world."
"Woah…" Shirou uttered, eyes lighting up in unsatisfied curiosity about the fact that there was a whole different hidden world out there.
"Can you tell me more?"
Kiritsugu hesitated. "It is dangerous to be involved in the Moonlit world, besides, it is a part of the past that I do not want to talk about."
Kiritsugu took the now empty vial away from Shirou, placing it on a cabinet. He took Shirou's hand and led him out of the shed. Locking up the door of the shed once more, Kiritsugu, in a grave tone gave a warning. "Do not enter the shed without my permission. To enter a workshop of a Magus without permission is a grave offense."
With a hand on Shirou's shoulder, Kiritsugu continued in a gentler tone. "Now, children at your age need to sleep. I will answer questions at a later time when I am in the mood to do so. It is best for you not to know too much."
Shirou was then walked back to his room where Kiritsugu tucked him into his futon. He closed his eyes and lay on his side where Kiritsugu slowly patted his back as he drifted off to sleep. Despite his curiosity about the fact that magic or magecraft as Kiritsugu called it existed, he was exhausted from the nightmare that he had. He swiftly entered the realm of Morpheus.
Authors notes:
So the magical medicine is canon, and it looked like a good way to insert the scene where Shirou learns of magecraft. As he was raised in a magus family and his subsequent guardians were also part of the Moonlit world, it will be natural for him to tell Shirou of magecraft. However, this is just one month after the fourth holy grail war and the pain of losing his wife and having his life upended is still very raw. He still hasn't felt the effects of the cursed mud of the grail but it will come at some point.