[Shirou and Rin enter the church.
"You never accepted my repeated invitations, and now here you are with an odd guest."]
Ritsuka's curiosity has always been one of her most visible attributes. Ever since she was a little girl, she's always loved presents, but over time she found that her favorite part was the anticipation of opening them, not really discovering what they had inside — something that usually disappointed her.
Finding who was inside the church was no different.
"Master?"
Someone called the girl when she and Mash stopped at the entrance.
"R-Rasputin!?" Mash exclaimed.
And the servants almost threw the girls in the middle of the church by causing a ruckus to get in faster.
["I take it this means that he is the seventh?" The priest seemed to study his guests for a few seconds. "I am Kirei Kotomine."]
"Pause!"
"The hell this bastard doin' here!?" Mordred pointed at Kirei's face.
The servants entered the church avoiding Shirou and Rin who stood like statues at the entrance.
"How is it possible?" Ritsuka looked more frustrated than surprised. "How many pseudo-servants come from Fuyuki with him?"
"Five, Senpai."
Emiya shrugged joining the rest who were sitting on the pews to watch the next scenes; few servants chose to stand and others prefered to lean against the pillars.
Parvati stayed quiet about Sakura being her vessel because she didn't want to draw attention to her. Kama stayed quiet because she was choosing the right moment to see their shock.
["I am in charge of this church."]
Kirei? This was the third time that Kirei Kotomine's existence surprised Shirou Amakusa.
The first time was when Shirou reincarnated and became his brother, identifying a darkness in that man that made him decide it would be better not to create a deep relationship with him.
The second surprise came when he was summoned again to fight in the Lostbelts and discovered that Kirei had been one of the invaders who destroyed the old Chaldea. His "brother" was Rasputin's vessel and one of the Alien God's disciples. To be honest, Amakusa had no idea how to begin to understand such absurd.
And, now, Kirei was there smiling in a way that revealed that the darkness had already swallowed him. So, you're going to be one of the antagonists of this fragment, Kirei... Amakusa chuckled and some servants looked at him strangely.
He just found it funny how fate works. Shirou Kotomine was the villain of the previous fragment and Kirei Kotomine would be the villain of this current fragment. It seems they didn't need to share the same blood to created a similar family's legacy.
["Shirou Emiya, huh? I take it, then, that you are Saber's Master?"]
Seeing that man again was at the bottom of Irisviel's priority list. Finding out he was one of her enemies was not pleasant, but at least she knew she wouldn't be on the team who would fight him in the future.
Irisviel genuinely believed they would never meet again and now she felt stupid for forgetting that he should exist in that Fuyuki. The smile on his face hearing Shirou's complete name made her shivered. Kiritsugu was not enough, are you going to torment his son too?
[Shirou replied that Saber saved his life, but if he had understood that war right, a third-rate mage like him shouldn't take the place of someone with real talent.]
Mordred snorted.
"Coward." Stheno chuckled. "What a hero."
["Then you also have no interest in the events of ten years ago?"]
"Are you okay, Master?" Mash asked when she saw Ritsuka dizzy for a few moments.
"Yeah. Yeah. Don't worry."
"This man stinks, me." Euryale had a serious expression.
"And he's a bit scary too," Stheno completed. "Sadly, we can't touch the characters in this fragment. I would ask Medusa to bring his head for me right now. On a plate."
[Kirei Kotomine decided to explain a little more about the Holy Grail War while also focusing on telling how the victor of the last war brought about a catastrophe.
As soon as that catastrophe was cited, the world around them returned to the ruins in flames and full of curses.]
El Melloi II noticed that Ritsuka and Reines were affected again, but not to the same degree as before.
["Five hundred casualties. As many as 134 structures burned down. That fire whose cause remains unknown to this day is the aftermath of the Holy Grail War."
The world returned to being the church and Shirou fell to his knees, trying not to throw up. Rin rushed to his side, worried.]
Although they had already appeared in those ruins before, hearing Kirei detailing the losses in statistics made it all the more real.
Mash couldn't hide her sadness when she looked at Emiya and realized that he had gone through all that when he was just a child. And she wasn't the only one. Most looked at the man with, at least, a little empathy, especially the ones closest to him.
Artoria felt guilt about the catastrophe. She knew Emiya would say she was being silly, and she knew that her participation was indirect, but it was a burden she couldn't get off her shoulders. Shirou Emiya was that important to her.
"I'm glad that you got out of this war in time, shishou..." Gray whispered next to him, trying not to speak loudly and be insensitive.
"To think that such terrible thing would came as result from the war I fought so vigorously." Iskandar sighed in disappointment.
["Kirei, I told you to explain the rules to him! I didn't tell you to open his wounds!"
The priest continued smiling, satisfied with the reaction.]
"This guy is disgusting!" Ishtar flew around the man, irritated, sharing her vessel's sentiments. "He did it on purpose to hurt Shirou. Look at that disgusting smile!"
[The scene changed and everyone was on the streets of Fuyuki. There, Illyasviel hopped and hummed, taking her sweet time towards the church.]
Astolfo and Gareth groaned in pain. When the place changed to a street, most of the servants that were sitting were quick not to fall to the ground when the pews disappeared, but the girls were too distracted for that.
"Illya..." Irisviel felt her heart racing. She knew that the direction her daughter was heading could only mean one thing.
["I fought for the Holy Grail last time as one of the Masters. I did fight until about halfway."]
"Bullshit!" Irisviel snapped.
Illya, Kuro and Miyu were surprised by the unusual anger coming from the woman.
[Before Rin started asking questions, Kirei interrupted her by letting they know that they had one more visitor waiting outside.
Illya finally arrived at the church, finding Saber.
"Hey, do you know of the name 'Einzbern'?"
Upon not receiving a response from Saber, Illyasviel sighed in disappointment.
"Well, I shouldn't have expected that a servant would remember."]
Artoria had accepted her mistakes as a king, but the period she fought those wars as a Heroic Spirit still had some things that were still in the process of being accepted.
She had failed with Irisviel and with Illyasviel. Letting mother and daughter die when she was so close to them troubled her mind every time she saw them walking together in Chaldea.
But despite that feeling of sadness, her mind was focused on something completely different.
"This is not our war, Emiya." She finally caught up. "Our first meeting with Illya was not here. And she never asked me that."
"Yes."
"Is that why you're so quiet?" Artoria asked. Even with me.
"Pretty much. There are some nitpicks I wish I'd answered since we started and some questions too, but until I can confirm we're seeing something new, I find better to be quiet," Archer explained, camly.
"Very well. I'll keep my silence until then."
["Emiya!" Rin called already in her way to the church exit.
Shirou and Kirei were facing each other.
"There is no time. Let's hear your decision." Kirei looked a little more serious now.
"If the Holy Grail War was what caused the fire ten years ago. Then..."]
A memory from Shirou covered the servants' vision once more. However, instead of being swallowed by despair and terror like the last few times, this time they were filled with hope and admiration. Amidst the rubble, in front of a small and dying Shirou was Kiritsugu Emiya with eyes full of tears and a smile of pure gratitude.
["I'll fight. I'll fight as a Master!"]
Illya wiped the tears that ran on her face when she saw Kiritsugu saving Shirou.
The boy surviving that inferno, coping alone, her father already dead... all that hurted more than anything Illya felt before. But at least now she was feeling something good.
"Stop crying already, Illya." Kuro frowned. Internally, she felt the same.
"Kiritsugu..." Irisviel wanted to step into that movie and hug both man and boy, the two sharing the feeling of despair and gratitude with each other. "It's not fair for someone to suffer like this."
Atalanta was conflicted. She was happy about feeling some relief since the damn fragment started showing Emiya's past, but at the same time she felt jealous of Shirou as well. Atalanta's dream for many years was to receive a smile like that from her own father, but the man not only abandoned her when she was just a child, when he wanted her back it was just to use her. Stop thinking about this, Atalanta! What's wrong with you!?
"I don't know how a human managed to survive in that hell, but even so, he saved Shirou. Is he really the same master you seemed to dislike so much, my king?" Bedivere asked, confused.
"It seems the outcome of that war changed him," Artoria replied.
"It is what happens to many men," Tristan said.
Muramasa was learning many things about his vessel during that fragment. He had once fought alongside Archer and witnessed his Reality Marble, and now he understood why the flames when activating it.
["Yorokobe, shonen. Your wish will at last come true. A hero of justice must have a villain to defeat."]
"This guy..." Ritsuka trembled.
Emiya remembered that quote from his Kirei Kotomine almost instantly. He had no idea that it had stuck in his mind like that... but it made sense. Kirei had evil intentions behind everything he said, but he wasn't lying in those words. That was the source of the greatest hypocrisy in the existence of someone like Shirou Emiya: to live a life of saving people, they first need to be in danger.
["Are you done with your chitchat?" Illyasviel said once they were all out of the church. "Good evening, Big Brother. I'm Illya. Illyasviel von Einzbern."
And with her wires the gates are closed.
"Thanks for being so courteous," Rin mocked. Her smile died as soon she saw Illya's servant.
"Okay, I'm gonna kill you now. Get them, Berserker!"]
"Finally! It's about to begin!" Mordred almost jumped in joy.
Others were anxious too. The war would finally start.
Artoria decided to watch the fragment to see Shirou and Rin again, but now apparently things would be much more interesting. She had a bad feeling about that battle though.
"Seeing a great hero like Heracles this way is..." Stheno sighed. It was no different as he was in Chaldea, but being under the command of someone other than Ritsuka made it worse for her.
[Saber cuts the distance between them in a matter of seconds, leaving her yellow raincoat behind. Berserker was extremely strong.
Saber managed to place her sword between the enemy's weapon and her own body, but the impact of the blow was too strong and threw her away, creating a trail of destruction and smoke.]
"Errr..." Mordred was expecting another kind of development.
["Run."
Saber continued fighting Berserker, managing to block his attacks, but not finding time to counterattack.
"Please run!" Shirou echoed this plea in his head.
"For all the times to Archer be hurt!" Rin complained.
"Very good, Berserker. She regenerates, so behead her first and violate after!"]
"Scary Illya is something else!" Ruby spoke in surprise.
Kuro and Miyu gulped, praying they would never bring their Illya to that point.
Illya took it more seriously, not being able to see herself in a situation that would make her speak or act like that... What did she live to act like that...?
[Saber finally found a chance to attack Berserker, but his reaction was too fast and he changed his stance to attack her with fists. One punch was enough to made Saber loses her breath, flying away.]
"Something's wrong..." Mash said.
Everyone thought the same thing. Even those who never got to fight alongside her knew how strong the King of Knights was. That performance made no sense. Heracles was certainly a figure to be feared, but the difference was too much.
"Shirou Emiya didn't have the ability to summon Saber with normal parameters. You're watching a Saber suffering the consequences of an incapable master." Emiya decided to finally open his mouth to help them understand something that the movie clearly wouldn't talk about. "Furthermore..."
[Shirou looked at where Lancer's wound was in Saber.]
"That's right. I hit her with my Noble Phantasm not long ago. It didn't kill her, but it did enough damage to leave her in bad shape."
"And Shirou don't know any magecraft outside his specialty," Scáthach completed. "Another disappointing battle then."
"Meh, I have to agree. So far there's been nothing exciting," Musashi sighed.
Artoria smiled at Emiya, thanking him for clarifying that. But she felt angry that people were reacting that way, if she was full power Artoria would show to all them what a real battle is.
[Shirou got more and more frustrated until he finally ran towards Saber.
Rin's eyes widened. Illya's mouth fell open. And Saber barely managed to react as she was pushed away.]
This little scene before the tragedy drove everyone insane.
"Is that idiot doing what I think he is?"
"Is that idiot doing what I think he is?"
Jeanne Alter and Artoria Alter said at the same time much to their displeasure.
Artoria's eyes widened, fearing what would come next. And so did Ritsuka and Mash beside her, in disbelief as well. The Master of Chaldea had seen herself in many dangerous situations, but rushing into the center of combat like that was suicidal.
The only one who "smiled" was Emiya. A painful smile. He noticed that, ironically, his presence in the fight made Shirou Emiya less suicidal.
[With no other possible outcome, Shirou's body flew into the air after being hit by Berserker's stone sword.]
Fate was really cruel. Illya had really enjoyed that new experience of "watching a movie", the whole idea of a virtual reality and participating in the "fictional" world was really to her liking. That changed with the ruins, but seeing her father saving Shirou made the girl mood better... one could said she was getting better until Shirou's body passed beside her throwing blood on her face, while some of his organs was left behind.
Irisviel pulled Illya to her at the same instant the girl screamed in horror. Kuro took a few steps back, stunned, feeling her legs slowly losing strength. Miyu was paralyzed, she didn't cry nor showed any other reaction, the girl just stood there staring at the grotesque vision of her brother's death.
Atalanta did the same thing with Jack and Nursery, blocking them from the terrifying sight. None of them were ignorant of violence, but they had gone there wanting to see what Emiya was like as a young man, and they were loving the boy so far. They didn't need to see him die.
"It's different, but..." Artoria didn't even had the strength to finish speaking. The war is different, but it shouldn't be like this.
The rest were so stunned that nobody spoke.
[Shirou's body just stopped rolling when he reached Illyasviel's feet. He writhed in his own blood.
"No way. Why? This is so boring."
Shirou's consciousness started to fade as Rin and Saber's frustrated and worried screams got closer.]
"Pause!" Ritsuka screamed.
"IDIOT!" Ishtar yelled in frustration. "WHO THROWS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF A SERVANT!?"
"Damn bastard!" Jeanne Alter said. "I hope he suffered. Useless idiot. I changed my mind, he's worse than Sieg a thousand times!"
Artoria Alter frowned, feeling completely disappointed by that. Everything indicated that Shirou was weak, but a decision like that went beyond weakness, it was the highest of foolishness. She didn't share the same hostility towards the boy as Jeanne Alter, but now she felt disgusted.
"What happened? Why!?" Illya cried in Irisviel's arms.
"Emiya. Artoria. What's going on?" Jeanne asked, concerned.
The church's entrance became a chaos of insults, confusion, and frustration. And Emiya waited until they calmed down to start talking.
"The three films aren't going to tell the story of the war that we fought."
"W-what do you mean?" Mash was confused just like the rest of them.
"First, the focus on Sakura sort of revealed that early on. In our war, Sakura's relevance was zero. So much so that she was never seen in battle, nor as a Master. But this movie apparently placed her as one of the protagonists."
They listened to him attentively.
"The confirmation came when Saber almost killed me. In our war she never hurt me. Not at that moment at least. That fight with Berserker, she didn't fight alone either. I was here. And Shirou Emiya never needed to do that. "
"He tells the truth," Artoria confirmed, still stunned.
"That means we're seeing a fragment telling a story that none of us know. So it's going to be a new experience not just for you but for us who participated as well."
"But..." Boudica couldn't believe it. "Does that mean we're going to continue this fragment and see a story where you died?" She was so shocked that she didn't even bother to think about the fact that Shirou and Archer were two different people.
"That's not what we came here to see, Uncle!" Jack and Nursery complained trying to get out of Atalanta's arms and see if "young Emiya" was alive.
Emiya had a smirk in his face worthy of his days serving Rin.
"How about you guys stop crying and watch the movie? You'll quickly find out that it's not that easy to kill Shirou Emiya."