Disclaimer: I own nothing in this Fanfiction.
Prologue 2-2 : Killer, Demon and Child.
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It was nighttime in Fuyuki city. Most of the residents were asleep, completely unaware that they were almost incinerated in their slumber. The mage killer placed a hand in his coat's pocket, taking out a beeping mobile phone. He answered the incoming call by clicking the green button and shortly after, a failing mechanical voice came through the speaker. "This is a pre-recorded message relayed to you from... —Static— Von Einzbern…" There was a high-pitched beep following, then... "Emiya Kiritsugu. We have been informed that your mission to recover the Holy Grail ended in failure. If that is true then it is impossible for you to honor your end of the contract and by extension, you are no longer our partner. Your rights to anything within Einzbern territory are forfeit and any attempts to approach us ever again will be punished harshly. Farewell and may we never cross paths again." old and tired, a new voice spoke these words with distinguishable disdain. Words which Kiritsugu had already expected to hear. There was a long pause afterwards only interrupted by the automated mechanism explaining when the message was recorded and asking whether Kiritsugu wanted to replay or delete it.
The man simply hung up the line, then turned towards the child who was staring at him expectantly, "In any case, let's go home now." Kiritsugu said, faking a smile.
Shirou simply nodded in response, the voice within him giving him a hum as green light. The child took the man's hand, then they started walking towards a nearby parking lot, Kiritsugu kept one of his spare vehicles there.
"By the way, Kiritsugu-san…" Shirou muttered, but stopped halfway through his sentence as he noticed the man's eyebrow twitch, "I m-mean Kiritsugu... You mentioned to me before that all kinds of bad people are after you... Why is that?" the child asked, the voice within his head humming in acknowledgement to his curiosity, "Does it have anything to do with you being a mage?"
Kiritsugu was caught off-guard by this question; a perfectly natural question if you think about it. "W-Well... That's..." he wavered. Of course, it was not easy to tell a child that you kill people for a living.
"Shirou... Mages are bad people." The mage killer said, his eyes dipping down towards the ground, "A traditional mage's goal is to reach the Root, a magical location in which a force resides. That force can grant them anything they want."
The child listened attentively as the man continued, "And to achieve that goal, they would do anything regardless of how inhuman or unethical it is." a bit of silence followed, then he continued, "I am a mage too. But they don't accept me as part of their 'kind'. I do not share their mindset nor do I seek what they seek. Our paths are fundamentally different, and so we conflicted many times..."
They were nearing the entrance to the underground parking lot. A large building with a glowing neon sign titled 'Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel' was visible in front of the man and his adopted son.
"So because you don't share their goals of reaching that place... They are after you?" Shirou asked, "F-Forgive me if I missed something important in your explanation but that's what I understood..."
Kiritsugu smiled bitterly, "Not at all, you follow well. That is indeed part of the reason... The other part is that I don't work the same way that they do..." he said, "I use everything at my disposal to accomplish my goal, which may sound exactly the same as them, but there are major differences. For example, I use modern technology to my advantage, other mages hate that..."
The magus killer tried his hardest to give an explanation which both satisfied the child's inquiry without taking the risk of losing him in the process.
"I think I understand... It's like the difference between a modern and traditional farmer. One uses modern technology and is open to the changes it offers, while the other would not do such a thing. Modern farmers usually have more efficient methods and thus are more successful and benefit more from selling their products, yet you always find traditional farmers boasting that theirs are the best, even though they struggle to keep up in the market." Shirou commented on Kiritsugu's explanation, "Or so I understood..."
Kiritsugu sighed, "You're somewhat correct. We'll discuss this a bit more in detail at a later time."
The child's eyes beamed and with a wide smile, he nodded positively: "Great! I can't wait to learn more!"
The conversation ended when they reached the parking lot behind the hotel. It was well after midnight by this point, just a couple of hours before sunrise.
Once in the car, the man silently drove while the child stared out of the glass window.
Shirou was about to space out, but was awakened by the sound of the entity inside his head, "Thy road will be paved with trials, many may resent thee. But that shall be a sacrifice thou shalt make." It said, "Thy mission at the moment is to learn. And as destiny would have it, thou hast found the perfect master."
"He has been through a lot." Shirou thought for the entity to hear, "Somehow, I can sense his despair."
"Indeed… The Mage Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, no matter which world, is bound to fall to misery." The entity responded, "Even in death, his soul will never find rest."
The boy did not know what to make of what he heard, but he did not ask for clarification. Instead, he hummed a melody for the rest of the road. A melody he did not know where he heard before, but could swear he lived with it.
The entity inside retracted into its own space. It needed recovery, being the Demon God pillar of Death and Rebirth, it evaded death many times before without issue. However, after that incident at Agartha… The Chaldeans and those despicable servants made him bear agony beyond imagination, effectively killing him dozens of times. His energy was almost completely sapped. But in his final moments, he remembered his fallen brethren, his slain master... He was not about to let their sacrifices go to waste. Humanity will perish, if not in that timeline, then in this one.
At the moment, he had to regain his energy, and with the host he crafted for himself, the Demon God Pillar won't need to watch over him at all times. The child, although young and still foolish, will grow up to be the perfect vessel for his complete revival.
The ride only took about an hour. An hour of pure and utter chaos inside Kiritsugu's mind. What was he going to do now? Settle down and live with this boy? No. What of Illya? How will he get her back? What about his travels? His search for humanity's salvation? Was it truly useless?
The car stopped next to an antique and somewhat rundown Japanese style mansion. Kiritsugu turned off the engine, which woke up the sleepy child in the backseat. Shirou rubbed his eyes just as Kiritsugu was leaving the car. The child then undid the seatbelt and followed his adoptive father.
"This is our new home. Shirou." Kiritsugu said as he opened the sliding outer gate, "It's not in great shape as you can see, but don't worry. We will get it repaired as soon as possible."
Shirou took a moment to take in the view, it was a big mansion, with a shed and a dojo too, "It looks great!" the child exclaimed.
"I'm glad you like it." Kiritsugu replied, "Come. Let's get inside."
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"Illya... Can you hear me? Hello? Illya?" Kiritsugu might be an idealist, but he was not stupid. He knew there was a high chance of failure the moment he agreed to participate in the Holy Grail War. So you could imagine his relief when he heard his daughter's voice on the other side of the complex communication device which operated on radio waves, otherwise referred to as a "mobile phone".
"...Papa? Is that really you?" The young girl hid herself under the bed every night, she'd remove the secret wooden plank on the flooring, take out the small electrical device then wait for it to ring until she no longer could stay awake. But one of those nights... It finally happened.
"... Illya... It is me... Your dad..." Kiritsugu spoke with unimaginable happiness, tears forming in his eyes, "... Listen... Listen to me... Are you alright? They did not harm you did they?"
The little girl noticed the emotion behind her father's words, she never heard his voice crack before, "No papa I am fine. Grandpa told me you escaped... That you would not come back for me... But I did not believe a word he said!"
"No I would never leave you Illya, I will definitely come for you, but I need your help... Here's what you have to do..." The man then proceeded to explain his plan to the child, she listened attentively and answered his questions when he asked, "Your mom told me of a secret phrase the Einzbern Homunculi use to override some of their program. You can use it to make the new maids help you momentarily. As long as you don't ask them to do something which blatantly goes against that old man they should help you. The sentence is Remember Jubasteaze's Love, simply imbue the words with a little suggestion spell and it should work. Can you do that, Illya?"
Illya hummed positively, "Yes! You can count on me Papa. Sella and Leysritt are both very nice to me and if Mommy's spell works they will definitely help me. I will do what you told me." she said.
"Illya... Please be careful, if everything goes according to plan I will come and get you in two weeks, okay?" Kiritsugu replied, "Please stay safe until then, don't do anything dangerous."
"Don't worry, I will be O.K." Illya reassured.
The Mage killer couldn't be any more worried, and the worst part is that he will have to endure this feeling for at least two weeks, but for now, he had his daughter's word to take. "That's my girl..." he praised her.
"Papa... Can I make a request?" The little girl asked, worry clear in her voice.
"What is it?" He inquired, "Is there something scaring you?"
The little girl shook her head as if he could see her, "No, no... It's just... Can you call me again tomorrow? I miss you."
And there it was, his heart, already cracked and filled with regret, was completely crushed by those three words, "I... I... I'm sorry dear... Of course I will call you, I will call you every chance I get, but we must not overdo it or the phone's battery will run out or worse... Someone might notice our communication... I miss you too but you must understand..."
"It's okay, I understand... In that case, I should go to bed now." Illya said, "Goodnight, Papa."
"Goodnight, Illya..."
Kiritsugu hung up the line shortly after, there was no time for sadness, even though he felt like he was about to go insane from the sheer pressure on his mental. If he learned anything from his long time as a ruthless killer, it was restricting emotions. The mage killer turned to leave the shed and head back to the main building, but was caught off-guard by the sudden presence of Shirou standing next to the door.
"Kiritsugu... Are you leaving?" the boy said with a puzzled expression, "Where are you going?"
The man stared at the boy in disbelief for a good moment. He did not notice Shirou at all during his entire time on the call and could've sworn he left the boy dead asleep, closed the door to the shed when he first entered there. So the thought that Shirou managed to slip out of the main building, found him and opened the door as well without him noticing really surprised the mage killer.
"No... No... You are not supposed to be here..." he whispered in a very quiet tone that only he could hear as he walked past the boy and into the backyard.
"Sorry... I didn't hear what you said." was the boy's response, immediately following after Kiritsugu.
The man stumbled dizzily towards the back entrance to the main building. However, instead of entering, he sat down under the porch as if collapsing, then gestured at Shirou to sit next to him. The boy complied and sat down behind him, back to back.
"Shirou... I had a family just a few days ago. I lost my wife in that incident which cost you your parents, and my daughter is now held captive by a family of mages..." Kiritsugu said, strong emotion noticeable in his words. "What I will do is attempt to get her back. I will leave you in the hands of a girl I know, she will take care of you until I come back... If I am able to make it back alive."
The mage killer pronounced every word with extreme emphasis, trying to make the boy understand how serious he was. "I understand." Shirou said without batting an eyelash, "Sometimes, a person has to do what they got to do, right?"
It would be a lie to say Kiritsugu was surprised. This night, the boy experienced the loss of both his parents, a near death situation and discovered the existence of mystics. Yet, he showed no childishness in his reactions. It both frightened the mage killer and strangely comforted him.
Kiritsugu's eyes dipped down to the wooden planks of the flooring. Feeling the weight of the child's back pressed against his, a feeling of helplessness took over him.
"Listen Dad..." Shirou interrupted the deep silence, "I don't know many things. I don't think I can do much... But I won't stand in your way." the child switched his position to face his father, then stood up and walked around him to face him, "You must stand now."
Shirou extended a hand to the man who stared at him with disbelief. What was this child saying?
"You must stand again, Father." he repeated. The mage killer's eyes fixated on his hand, he did not understand. What was that feeling? Was it Hope? Willpower? Drive? No... That was something different entirely. He felt compelled to stand and take the child's hand, not because he wanted to, but because he HAD to.
His hand reached to the child's slowly, only for Shirou to grasp it immediately. He helped his father up as best as he could and finally, Kiritsugu stood back up with a new resolve, one that was not his but it did not matter.
"Thank you, Shirou." he said with an unreadable expression, "I promise you. I will get your sister back and then we can live happily together."
The child simply smiled, prompting the man to smile as well. The two then walked back inside the main building, hand in hand like a true father and son.
However, the moment Shirou was left alone to sleep. The voice within him revealed itself all of a sudden, causing his eyebrow to twitch, "Thou hast created a new path." it said, "It appears mine tweaking of thy person and body gave thee a powerful ability... One that alloweth thee to influence others..."
The child, again, did not know what to make of the voice's words, but this time... "What do you mean?" he inquired, "I don't understand."
The voice hummed, then it started explaining, "Thou... Thou hast instilled a new wish within that man's heart... Thou hast altered his mental." A simple explanation by the Demon God Pillar, "'Tis likely a result of mine tampering with thee."
There was a few seconds' worth of silence following, then... "Perhaps it is better for my presence within thee to dissipate for a while." The voice said in a hesitant but authoritative tone.
"Why not?" The child asked, "Wouldn't that make the future easier to handle?"
"No child. It would, but it would also cause a singularity or worse..." Phenex replied quickly... well... As quickly as its slow distorted voice would pronounce words while keeping them understandable, "It would cause this timeline to be pruned."
The child kept silent for a while before he questioned again, "What is a singularity?"
The answer came under the form of information, directly flowing towards the boy's mind, "It would be less inconvenient for us... To simply share my knowledge with thee is better than explaining with words..." it muttered, "But I cannot allow thee all mine knowledge, for that would terminate your feeble human brain. Instead, I made it so, when I'm gone... Knowledge would reveal itself to you bit by bit."
Shirou's mind processed the information relayed to it, then he mechanically answered; "Understood."
"Then it is settled. I shall recover and come back when it is time. Farewell, Child of the Flame." The Demon God pillar said, "I expect fantastic results from thee, do not disappoint."
"Farewell, Master. I will await your return." Shirou mechanically bid the voice within him goodbye as he felt its presence fade away slowly, but never truly left.
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Author's note:
Hello! It has been a while again... Life kinda just takes you away y'know? Tries to make you think you're over a stage in your life but then slaps you right back into it.
This is the rest of the Shirou Prologue, I have decided that I will write everything that happens to Kiritsugu after this in a separate Interlude. Of course, many plot problems will rise if you just read everything from this point forwards since I didn't write this to fit into the story, but I wrote this to make the story fit into it when I'm done rewriting it. Thanks for your continuous support and making this trashy fic reach 66k views even though it wasn't touched for months. I will try to continue reworking it, and maybe one day, it will become somewhat good.
P.S. The last bit explains why the DGP isn't present for the first half of the actual fic, and well, for most of Shirou's time growing up.
Peace~