Disclaimer: I own nothing in this Fanfiction.
Chapter II: Stories of Fuyuki City
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A night in Fuyuki City has a lot of secrets, some of them are myths, others are reality, and this one was a mix of both. The castle on the outskirts was isolated, not many know of its existence and even less people venture near its walls. The Einzberns built that castle to be their base of operations during the Holy Grail Wars, but little did they know it would become the site of their demise.
After their shameful loss in the Fourth Holy Grail War, and their debacle with the Mage Killer which costed them their main base of operations in Germany, the Einzberns became a shadow of their former selves. Jubstacheit von Einzbern initiated emergency survival protocols, turning off most of the remaining homunculi, then he had those who remained transport him to an unmarked location to ensure the survival of the family name. The emergency protocols, however, did not override the main goal the Artificial Intelligence had been programmed to fulfill, so when the scouts reported that another Holy Grail War was about to begin, he immediately sent what remained of the homunculi and the few he managed to replicate in his new base to Fuyuki, leaving him completely unguarded.
In the Einzbern castle, the security was cranked up to the max. The forest was filled with magical traps and the Bounded Field was fortified tenfold. The Homunculi Army was summoned to the main courtyard as Jubstacheit was to give a speech.
The hologram of the old man appeared wide clear for all to see, then his decrepit voice rang in the castle. "Hear me, remnants of the Einzbern. We are the last hope for the family, failure is not an option. Follow the orders of Hertzsprung and stay alert at all times. Reach the root and bring the Einzbern name glory once more."
Once the speech was finished, the unified voice of all the homunculi echoed in the castle, "Sir! Yes Sir!" they all collectively said, as they were programmed to.
Hertzsprung was the last remaining Master Candidate Homunculus. He was preserved for this war and only today the Command Seals appeared on his forearm. When the warcry of the Homunculi finally came to a halt, it was his voice which spoke afterwards.
"Jubstacheit-sama, Status update; all preparations are complete. Notice; No Artifact provided for the summoning. Do you wish to continue regardless?" he said with a frozen expression.
With most of their wealth gone and all of their connections severed, the remnants had no way to acquire an artifact. So the next logical course of action to narrow down the possibilities of the servants they can summon. Jubstacheit decided they should modify the chant to obtain a Berserker servant, which would not defy their orders or question their motives.
"Hm..." the old man gave an positive hum, then he ordered "Proceed."
"Order Confirmed, Initiating summoning procedures." Hertzsprung mechanically announced, the army in the courtyard dispersed leaving two maid-class Homunculi who carried brushes and bottles of a red liquid in the middle. The two begun drawing a magical summoning circle on the white flooring and it wasn't long then that it was complete. The Master Homunculi approached the circle and activated his magical circuits, which lit up all around his body.
"Commencing Summoning Sequence..." he said, "Chanting... One... Two... Three..."
Nothing happened, the Homunculus was supposed to start chanting but it collapsed to the floor unmoving. Everyone else just kept staring at him without a word, and suddenly...
"Let Chaos and Darkness be the essence." the collapsed Master spoke with a corrupt, unnerving voice, still on the floor, "Let blood and tears be the foundation."
The old man in the Hologram watched in horror as darkness began to rise from the ground around Hertzsprung's unmoving body, "System Command! Abort Operation!" he ordered with a desperate expression, but none of the homunculi responded.
"May your enemies crumble at your feet" the corrupted voice of the master continued, "may your prey know true fear"
The darkness which surrounded the homunculi grew larger and thicker, like a cloud of black smoke.
"Let the only way to salvation be sealed."
Jubstacheit watched on as the rest of the homunculi coughed and coughed until all passed out and disappeared into the black mist.
"Let all who defy bleed, and become part of your feast."
The darkness engulfed everyone and everything, nothing remained except the hologram of the shocked old man, he stayed there without a word as the ritual continued itself.
"Let it be declared now; You shall reign terror and no one will take your leash."
"The holy grail's calling you will relish".
"Answer, but you will not submit."
"An oath shall be sworn here."
"You shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven;"
"You shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."
"Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by chaos."
"For you would be one caged in madness."
"But none shall wield your chains."
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,"
"Arrive forth from the ring of restraint, destroyer of the holy balance."
The darkness gathered in the middle of the hall, leaving nothing behind of the homunculi that were scattered across the area or the master. It shaped itself like a cocoon, and then like the bud of a black flower which suddenly bloomed, revealing the servant which just summoned itself. A large white skinned man with silver hair and pale bloodshot eyes, he walked out of the darkness which formed itself around him as a black coat.
"Ahh... It is good to be back again..." The servant quietly said before he noticed the giant hologram. He gave it a disdainful look, then, before the old man can say a word, the communication was cut.
Later that night, hordes of rabid animals flooded the forest, while some made it all the way to the city.
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It was that day again. The young boy opened his eyes as he came to his senses after a night's worth of sleep. He looked at the cloth hanging above his face and was reminded that he had spent the night in a tent, not in his usual croft in Fuyuki Church. Yes, he was out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands with his father. That was a great honor for anyone, but also a really rare opportunity for a child his age.
Kotomine Kirei... His father gave him that name because he wished for him to be pure and beautiful. Yet, he had never noticed that, not until today.
The young boy raised his hands above his face, examining them closely.
«What does beauty exactly mean?»
That was the question that would ultimately put him on a path which would make him into who he would eventually become.
Kotomine Kirei was a human, no doubt about that. Yet, the child would eventually discover that he was broken, that he was never happy or sad when situations would call for either feeling.
Suddenly, the child was a man, and found himself standing opposite his bedridden wife. Claudia was her name, she was supposedly "Beautiful". Throughout his time with her, Kirei felt nothing towards her no matter how hard he tried. Even when she gave birth to his daughter who they named Caren. In fact, this try at 'becoming normal' only made him more certain that he was unrepairable, as while his attempt was made to draw happiness from a normal life with a family. It backfired. He drew happiness from his wife's suffering and his child's despair.
Kotomine Kirei did give Claudia one thing though, she was a true saint to him. Her faithfulness and how deeply she understood his anger towards himself were unquestionable. The degree with which she understood him and tried to heal him was beyond anyone else. Alas, she could still not fill the void within him. That made him conclude that his birth and existence were a mistake, so it was best for him not to exist anymore.
This led him to that moment where he stood facing her, staring into her pale sickly eyes, "I could not love you." he said, fully expecting her to give up on him and simply let him go. However, to his surprise, she pulled out a knife from under the sheets covering her frail body; "No. You do love me." She whispered as the knife stabbed through her chest.
A tear ran down his cheek. She saw it and smiled as the life left her body. From her perspective, she had succeeded. He was sad to see her die. However, it was not for the reason she had hoped he would cry for. She hoped that her passing will bring him sadness because she was dear to him, but he only felt sadness because her passing meant that he had missed the chance to kill her himself.
Furthermore, her final attempt at 'fixing' Kirei made him back down from his choice of committing suicide, effectively making him believe that there was no salvation for him. Instead, he decided to focus on his training as an executor of the church.
Time passed and there he stood in front of his father's dead corpse in the middle of the fourth Holy Grail war, reading a letter which he wrote. He discovered that his father thought about him until the end. Which made him shed a tear for the wrong reason again, he did not feel sadness for his father's passing, but felt sadness because he did not cause it.
He conflicted with Emiya Kiritsugu thinking that they may have had something in common, that a man who had nothing and wished to obtain everything might learn something from a man who had everything and wished to discard all of it. But Kotomine learned that the mage killer was merely posing and could not let go of anything.
All of these people, not one of them was able to cause a dent in his theory that he was broken. Some of them even made him more certain that nothing can cause him to feel joy other than inflicting despair on others. Yet, there was one other person who instilled a new feeling into him.
Emiya Shirou was merely a child. He had no way of knowing anything about him nor did he have any right to judge him for any of his decisions. But on that cursed night, when he stared at him with his unsightly ambre eyes, Kotomine felt a primal sense of dread. He felt exposed, judged and made responsible for his lack of human emotion even though he was born without them.
"Ananias, Ananias, ANANIAS!" voices of those whom he had included in his search of salvation, he recognized his father's, his wife and daughter's and his rival whom he considered unworthy. They repeated around the man, as a figure representing Emiya Shirou manifested itself in front of him.
"You dare call me by the name of the liar. Boy, yet you have no knowledge of me." Kirei whispered for the child to hear.
"No. But HE knows." the voices coalesced into a single one, "HE knows what you did and what you'll do. HE knows your inside and your outside. HE knows and says that you're simply another sinner, easily tempted by HIM."
"Who do you speak of, child?" the priest inquired with a hesitant voice. The expressionless child with orange hair and amber pupils moved his lips to speak, but everything seemed to fade to black all of a sudden.
...
Kotomine Kirei woke up in a cold sweat, and the first thing he took notice of was the presence of king Gilgamesh in his room. The blond servant with piercing red eyes seemed amused by the unusual state of the priest.
"What's wrong, Kirei?" The king of heroes addressed mockingly, "You look like you've just seen a ghost. Don't tell me that all of your heinous acts have finally caught up and started haunting you."
The priest adjusted his position on the bed, sitting up properly and facing the servant. "Not at all your majesty." he quietly replied, "It simply seems there are going to be greater powers at play in the upcoming Holy Grail War."
The King of Heroes raised an eyebrow at the statement, "Hoh, I don't suppose you imply that there is someone with a greater power than me." he said cockily, "otherwise I might have to remind you of my abilities."
Kotomine shook his head negatively, "Of course not, your majesty's might knows no bounds." The priest assured, "However, I..." For the first time, he did not know what to say. How to express the feeling which plagued his heart ever since that night. Kotomine Kirei revealed his hands in front of him to examine once more. Then after some silence, he formed them into fists and stood up.
"I do not know, King of Heroes." he spoke with clear hesitation, "I might be overreacting, but something about a certain child I've met years ago... It clouds my judgement."
"What do you mean, Kotomine?" the servant inquired without much concern in his tone, "Are you saying that a mere child is affecting your mentality? Don't make me laugh." Gilgamesh stood from his chair and looked directly into the priest's eyes, "You're a murderer Kirei, a monster who kills for his own enjoyment." he calmly stated, "Surely, you knew that since the beginning. Yet here you are, looking frail, weak and hesitant."
It was at that moment Kirei realized... The servant's piercing gaze was accompanied by a scowl of repulsiveness, "Weakness, fragility and indecisiveness disgust me, Kirei. Whatever it is that's causing this... You would do well to fix it before I get bored." The king of Heroes stated with an annoyed tone before simply turning around and walking away.
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Homurahara Academy was bustling with students this time of the day. The running track had the running team practicing, the soccer field was hosting a match and the classrooms were filled with students. Inside one of those classrooms on the second level of the building sat Emiya Shirou by the window, waiting for homeroom to start. Ever since he entered primary school, he was regarded as a phenomenal student, he never failed a test, never skipped a class and never caused trouble with anyone. In fact, just his presence in the classroom or in a hallway caused everyone to feel a strange sense of relaxation, which served him as a great tool to diffuse some situations with school bullies or troublemakers, adding to his already excellent reputation.
One person who seemed to be unaffected by his charm however, was Kuzuki Souichirou. The strict teacher which almost everyone else in school seemed to hold in high regards. It felt that, no matter how hard Shirou attempted to gain his favor and be on his good side, Kuzuki remained largely unimpressed with him and dismissed him like any other student. That prompted the phenomenal student to investigate him further, and what he found was suspicious but did not ring any dangerous bells. Kuzuki Souichirou was a trained individual, his breathing technique was optimized, his demeanor and behaviour was refined to simply perform without wasted movement. Yet, Shirou could not sense any magical energy whatsoever from him, supporting the fact that he was not a mage.
The bell suddenly rang and homeroom started, but the teacher was not there yet. It was then when Shirou caught something out of the corner of his eye, something which caused him to frown visibly.
Over next to the running tracks, he saw Illya talking to a problematic person. He immediately rose from his chair and left the class in a hurry, causing raised eyebrows from all his classmates. One of them, Issei Ryuudo even called out to him as he left, "Oi Emiya! The bell already rang!" he shouted out into the hallway.
"Sorry Issei. Tell the teacher it was an emergency if she asks!" Shirou responded without even turning his head as he continued sprinting towards and eventually down the stairs.
Shirou made his way towards the location where he last saw his sister, and surely enough, she was still there arguing with that problematic person.
"I've told you many times! I don't know what you're talking about! Whatever this Einzbel stuff I have nothing to do with it!" an irritated albino child with red eyes wearing a tracksuit fired at the taller girl standing next to her, a pigtailed black haired student who didn't wear the usual academy uniform. She was Rin Tohsaka, the other well-known, honor student in school.
"Lying won't save you Einzbern! I've studied your kind, you're programmed to act like a human but you're not!" Accused Rin as she pointed at the white-haired girl, "What business do you have in Fuyuki? Don't tell me they've sent you to represent—"
"That's enough!" a third voice interrupted the exchange, "What do you think you're doing, talking to my sister like that, are you insane Tohsaka!"
The two girls were surprised at the appearance of Shirou, Rin gasping in shock while Illya immediately raced to his side, "Shirou! Have you heard what this barbarian is saying?" the albino said pointing at the honor student, "I think she's gone a bit bananas!"
Rin was speechless, this Einzbern homunculus was Emiya Shirou's sister? No that wouldn't stand. She must be using some sort of spell on the poor bastard causing him to believe her lies.
"Ahh, E—E—Emiya-kun! What are you doing here at this time?" said Rin, clearly caught off-guard, "Don't you have class right now?"
Shirou stepped towards her causing her to panic even more, "Yes, indeed. But I came in a hurry when I saw you bothering my sister." he proclaimed with an angry look on his face, "Explain yourself, what is this nonsense you're accusing my sister of?"
Rin was in trouble, she can't tell him directly that he was under the influence of a spell or he would think that she was, for the lack of a better word, bananas. Her eyes darted around haphazardly, trying to find anything she could use as an excuse. But to her surprise, she noticed another person staring at them.
"Emiya-kun..." she said with a serious tone, her facial expression changed accordingly, "Let's talk somewhere else. Here is not the place for a discussion like this."
Shirou noticed the change in her behaviour, and considering he did not want to start a fight with her there and then, he agreed to her request.
"Illya, go back to your training. I'll handle this." he told his sister. The latter didn't want to at first, but she took one look at his face and the tenacity of his expression caused her to obey.
"Wonderful." Commented Rin with a relieved voice, "Let's go. Follow me."
The two started walking around the academy and towards the emergency stairs. Shirou felt like he was being watched, so he kept on his toes. "Hey Tohsaka, what's going on?" he asked, not expecting an honest reply.
"Since when did that girl live with you?" she answered with another question, not even bothering to stop.
"For as long as I can remember! She's my adoptive sister!" he said, pretending to be weirded out at the whole situation.
"Adoptive sister you say..." repeated Rin with a hint of interest, as she opened the door to the roof, "When did your father adopt her?"
"Well that's... complicated..." Shirou mentioned resisting the urge to act offended. He followed her into the open area of the roof.
Rin placed a hand on his shoulder and made eye contact, «Wrong approach» he thought to himself, as he stared right back with just as much if not more determination to break her attempt at suggestion.
The girl realized something was wrong, "What are you— EEK" her words remained incomplete as an unnaturally big crow swooped down on the two, she managed to duck at the last moment avoiding its sharp claws. Shirou immediately helped her back up and inside the building as the giant bird flew circles around in the sky.
"W—What the hell was that!?" she exclaimed with an annoyed expression, "Did it hurt you? Are you alright?"
Shirou seemed largely unfazed by what just happened, he noticed the bird keeping an eye on the three of them since earlier this morning. At first, he thought it was just a familiar which was sent out to scout by Tohsaka or some other mage, but after what just happened, Tohsaka was excluded.
"I'm fine." he said, "That was close. I never thought crows could be so aggressive, maybe it has a nest on that side of the roof."
Rin stared him down, she couldn't think straight after that.
"Master, I suggest you leave this idiot alone and focus on the urgent matter at hand." whispered a voice in Rin's ear, "That definitely was not a normal crow, it's a familiar of some sort."
Shirou noticed her silence and decided to use this chance to flee from her grasp, "I'll be going now, the second session is about to start. Next time, you'd better tell me what the hell was this all about." he announced beating the dirt off his uniform and turning away towards the stairs.
Rin Tohsaka bit her lips, she wanted to learn more about the Einzbern Homunculus disguised as Shirou's sister, but due to the situation at hand... She decided to back off for now, "Alright." She said with a sigh, "Watch yourself, Emiya-kun."
The phenomenal student didn't bother to reply or look back. He simply continued descending the stairs and walking the corridors until he reached his classroom just in time for the second session to start.
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The evening sun was upon the suburbs of Fuyuki City, lighting up the large trees of the forests and open grass fields with a dim orange light. Far in the distance, the sound of a sports car's engine was roaring on the highway, plants and bushes that were close to the street almost got swept away when the red convertible passed by them.
The driver was having a blast while the passenger... not so much... Shiki was barely holding on. It was a long arduous road trip, and with Aoko's reckless driving, he felt like his stomach was about to rebel on multiple occasions.
"Almost there now!" Aoko screamed out reassuringly, "Entering the national road to Fuyuki anytime now..."
Shiki's previously lifeless face lit up, finally, this nightmare was about to end, "Oh that's just wonderful— URP" announced Shiki but his stomach protested against it. Though he managed to keep it under control, if only barely.
The red sports car zoomed through the last bit of the highway, and into civilization. Eventually, it stopped inside a garage. The redhead stretched her limbs as she exited the car, Shiki followed suit dizzily.
"Where are we exactly?" Shiki asked as he shook his head trying to get rid of the dizziness. The Magician clicked her key, sealing the doors and enclosing the roof. She circled around the car gesturing at Shiki to follow her deeper inside the garage, "This is a house I rented for the day." she said with a serious expression, "The housing market is very expansive these days in Fuyuki for some reason, so this won't help you in the long run. However, it is a good place for your training to begin."
A flick was heard and then the room suddenly lit up, it was a surprisingly large garage. Aoko opened the door leading to the main building, and walked in with Shiki in tow. The two then proceeded into the living room, where Aoko collapsed on the couch with a tired sigh. Shiki also excused himself to drop on the opposite couch completely drained. After a short while... "Sensei..." Shiki called out with a curious tone, "What exactly am I supposed to do in Fuyuki?"
The question prompted Aoko to properly sit down, which alerted him to do the same. She cleared her throat, "Shiki, I suppose that after everything you've been through, you're well familiar with mystics." she said, raising an arm as if explaining and earning a nod from the overly attentive young man sitting across the room, "Good! That will save me some explanation then. In Fuyuki City, there something going on... An event, called the Holy Grail War."
Silence followed for a bit, then she continued; "The Holy Grail is an artifact which essentially grants wishes to the winner of the War."
"I suppose we are here to win the war so we can save Arcueid with the Wish?" Shiki commented without hesitation.
"Well..." the redhead replied, "Yes and no, YOU are here to win the war, so that no one else gets the wish. I won't be able to help you once the war starts proper."
Shiki blinked in surprise, "Why is that?" he asked, "Don't you have a wish too?"
"Two reasons, one is less complicated than the other." Aoko explained making the number two gesture with her hand, "Reason number one is that there can only be one winner and thus only one wish can be granted. Reason number two is harder to explain..." The magician placed a hand on her chin as if pondering something, "Are you familiar with the Parallel Universes Theory?"
Shiki kept silent for a bit, "Isn't that the hypothesis which suggests the existence of a multiverse?" he asked innocently.
"Yeah, that one." Aoko confirmed with a smile, "It's sorta true, sorta... There are like, many alternative realities, but there are regulations which decide whether a universe is able to continue forward, or be deleted."
Shiki took a moment to figure out whether she was just joking or not, "Wait a minute..." he questioned naturally, "You're saying that the theory is actually true?"
"Mhm!" Aoko repeated, "Though not one hundred percent, like I said, there are points in history which every universe must pass through or be removed from the multiverse. And it just so happened that this universe has to go through this Holy Grail War, and be destroyed as a result. What we're trying to do is create a new result for the war other than the destruction of this world."
Aoko stood up and conjured her bag from thin air once more. She slapped it over the table and opened it, taking out some papers before it disappeared into golden hems.
Shiki was amazed at the display of the spell, but decided not to question it at the moment. Instead, he focused on the papers which Aoko handed him.
"And these are...?" he asked grabbing the small stack of papers that were handed to him.
"They contain basic informations on the Holy Grail wars and about the details of the previous one ten years ago." she quietly addressed, "But listen to me right now, the reason why I cannot help you out in the war is because of those checkpoints in history I told you about. A great interference by a Magician such as myself being present would surely cause this universe to be deleted, or in other words, pruned."
Shiki listened carefully as she explained further, "Now I know you must be confused as what's the difference between mages who are the usual participants in the Holy Grail War, or a Magician such as myself." she stated with a wide smile, earning a nod from her student. "I will simply tell you that I am far more powerful than a regular mage! Well, that and I have already reached the goal of every mage. Which is the root! You'll find a simplified explanation in those papers."
She then raised a finger to point at the boy, "Now! it's time to activate your circuits for the first time!"
Author's Note:
This chapter is definitely the pinnacle of my writing skills at the moment, I want everyone to know that english is not my first language not was it taught to me in school. I merely learned it from games and reading other stories and visual novels. Now for this chapters' notes, I hope that this way of slowly exposing the main plot to the readers works well in the long run, since I do NOT want to rewrite these chapters again lol, I want to get to the good stuff just as much as the readers probably want. But hey, we need to get there in style too. Thank you all for reading and I'll see you on the next one!