After getting something for Waver, Gray returned to the Clock Tower. She was going to give this item to Sir then she had to inform the new students about a few other things. With Sir being busy she was asked to them and she happily agreed. When she reached the entrance there were supposed to be no civilians as there was a barrier that made them basically uninterested and implanted a thought of 'I shouldn't go there' but there stood a man in front of the entrance.

She at first didn't think much of it and thought of him as a magus that was also entering Clock Tower but he was taking too long to do that. He was just going back and forth like trying to figure out sometime.

She found it.. amusing. There were many people that went in and out but nobody seemed to notice the man at all. All of them went past him, not glancing at him a single time. She stood there and watched if there was going to be something else but no, the man kept going and going. What was he even trying so hard on? she did not know. Her curiosity won in the end and she approached him.

"Sorry but may I ask what you are doing?" The man heard her words and turned around. Looking closer she saw that he was old but still had a lively face on him.

"Ah yes, you see I was trying to figure out how this barrier sort of thing works." Barrier what? she wondered. The man was patting the air and she did not know any barrier was there. She neither could sense one nor see one. Was this man even senile?

"But I'm not seeing one" He looked confused. He turned his head back and looked at the air again. She wondered why, was he really seeing something there?

"You don't? I see, quite amazing I must say. I think that is the reason it looked extremely different from the other barriers like things i saw, this one must be different. If even a magus can't see or sense it I wonder what it is. Maybe it is the reason the space inside is big? but that makes no sense. It would be known then" What was this man even talking about? His words portrayed him like he did know about what being a magus is but nothing any further.

"I see that coming to the Clock Tower was worthwhile. It is pretty interesting but for now I should stop" He then turned towards her slowly. He had a smile on his face, was he happy? then for what? He didn't even understand what he was seeing so why did he have a smile on his face?

"While you're here little girl, could you help me with something?" she accepted it forgetting that she was on her way to Sir. What was the cause, maybe because the man looked pitiful or maybe he looked happy. Whatever it was it caused Gray to stay far more than she should be.

" ."

"Wonderful. Is there a place here that I can read about King Arthur?" King Arthur? Why was he asking that? Was this a coincidence or did he plan this from the start? She was feeling restless but didn't take any action.

"Can I ask why you are searching for it?" This time the man looked a little upwards, like remembering something. His smile grew bigger as he answered her questions.

"There is a place, a beautiful one. I don't know what its name is but I know that it has connections with King Arthur. Arriving there, seeing what I have to offer…" his face turned towards her again.. a little to her bottom right "that is the reason" his eyes turned back to hers.

Why did he look there for a moment? she realized that the place he looked at was where Add was exactly at. Her mind was working so much, asking tons of questions non-stop. She doesn't remember doing this before, but then why now?

"Girl are you alright?" she shakes her head. Her head got clear and she realized her situation. Getting a little embarrassed she rushed off after saying

"Sorry" and she was gone from the man's vision.

"What an odd girl." The man then took a step after her, towards the Clock Tower. He would now see what was there to see.

Already entering inside before this time he went further. He doubted he could even understand what was going on with the spell's of these maguses but he still looked at them, trying to understand anything. He of course failed miserably.

He went around trying to find a library. Trying to ask the people around him also met with an failure as they either did not even acknowledge him or just passed him saying "Bother someone else"

He was slowly getting frustrated. Walking through the halls he tried to find anything that catches his eyes but everything was so secretive. He couldn't really see anything that was shown. This whole thing looked more scientific which he was never good at. Right when he was going back he saw a few words that cathed his eyes, 'Dorms'. Was there a school for spellcasting he wondered. If he could go to the dorms then maybe he could also arrive at this school. So he went for a search, taking not much time until he reached it.

He did not really want to go inside the dorms but there was a verbal fight at the entrance and it included someone he knew.

"No wonder, what can you expect from a Tohsaka after all" the blond drill haired girl turned her face away with the back of her hand next to her left cheek. It's like she was disgusted at the sight she was seeing and trying to block it.

"Huh, You!" The black haired girl looked like she was going to do something but was stopped by a red haired boy.

"Rin let's not do it"

"It seems even a commoner can understand things better" The blonde haired girl again provoked Rin but the red haired boy just got in her way and blocked her line of sight. Calming Rin turned back and went away.

The people around also started to go their ways and there was just the blonde haired girl and Shirou remaining.

—

Successfully making Rin retreat, Shirou sighed. He forgot that these two were always in a fight when they were near. Turning towards Edelfelt he saw that she was looking at him like she was assessing him.

"Good build, acceptable face.." she then looked to his left and a little frown appeared on her face "prosthetic can maybe save it" Was she evaluating him on how good of a servant he would be?

"You, do you have any experience as a servant?" She pointed towards him and waited for an answer. Well he did have experience, a lot actually

"Ye-"

"Okay that's a little too much. Sorry miss but isn't that quite rude?" an older voice entered the conversation

Looking at the voice Shirou instantly realized who he was. What was he doing here?

"Rude? Please, I just asked a simple question. Also, aren't you the rude one? entering suddenly and not even sparing your name"

"*Hah*, miss. Fine, I'm William Maxwell Carter. I'm sorry i butted in suddenly but after hearing that it was quite obvious where it was going to go."

"Sir, I was actually fine with it"

"Sir? So you two know each other" Maxwell just stood there so Shirou was one to answer her instead of him

"Ah yes, he is… was my guardian for a while" Maxwell then turned towards him and looked at him. Shirou gave a smile so Maxwell did not say anything more

"So he was your guardian. I see, I understand it now. Forgive me Mister Carter, you were just trying to protect the boy but you were his guardian so that means you are not anymore. Don't you think he can't answer for himself?"

"Miss Edefelt please also Sir let's stop why don't we. Now back to the question, I'm sorry but I won't be able to accept your offer Miss Edefelt. As you can see I don't have an arm and I don't want to replace it with a prosthetic arm so it will prevent me greatly." Edefelt was disappointed with the refusal of Shirou but did not push any further.

"I see, it is regrettable but it was still a pleasure to meet with you.."

"Shirou, Shirou Emiya" hearing the surname Edelfelt was shocked but didn't show it

"It was a pleasure to meet you Mister Emiya." and she walked off after that. With making sure she was gone he turned back to Maxwell

"Sir, what are you doing here? wait, let's go to my room for now." Maxwell just smiled and followed after him.

'Shirou, who is he?' While they were talking, his little guest asked him a question.

'You don't know?'

'Should I? I don't remember seeing him'

'He was the master of Caster for a while… i believe he did not face you so it kinda make sense'

'Master of Caster? What are you talking about, Caster did not have any master. Her Master died at the start and she was just barely staying alive.'

'What? No. I'm sure he was the master of Caster. They went to places together and the…. he did not command spell'

"Boy something happened?" Shirou body shaked ever so slightly with Maxwell touching him. Seeing that they have already arrived he coughed a little out of embarrassment and entered inside. Maxwell followed after him and inside he saw that the room was quite big. There was everyday needs but also there was someone else sleeping on bed.

"You have a roommate?" understanding what he was talking about Shirou explained it to him

"Ah no sir, you remember my sister?"

"Yes, the little girl with albino"

"Albino? No sir you got it wrong. She is actually a homunculus"

"Homunculus?"

"Yes Sir, it's a long story so let's not enter it right now. In short she is dying and we transferred her to another body. Currently she is adapting to her body and unconscious" Unknown to Shirou Maxwell was lost on transferring to another body so he just acted like he understood it.

"I see, well boy aren't we going to sit"

"Ah yes here Sir" Shirou pulled out two chairs, one for Maxwell and one for him. Sitting on them Maxwell happily looked towards Shirou.

"Now Sir, can you tell me why you are here?"

"Can't I be here?"

"No its no-"

"Hahaha no I know but i too actually wanted to ask you. I came here with pure luck and in search for something but why are you here? From what I see this palace is sort of a gathering place for magus like you right? I thought you were first going to finish school first"

"About that, something came up right after you left so we had to come here as fast as possible. We arrived an hour ago actually."

"I see, I see." Maxwell did not ask anymore.

"Sir, you said you came here in search of something, can I know what it is?"

"Sure boy. It actually has to do with something I've seen while you guys were in the cave" Shirou was now interested in what he was searching for. What could it have been to make him come here in search of it?

"I thought I would be able to find something about it but till now I got nothing. Most people don't even answer me, really that Edelfelt girl was the third most nicest and talkable person in this whole place. I thought magus would be willing to talk but it seems not. Really my every expectation till now is slowly falling apart. There is a huge barrier around the entrance and not one seems to notice it and even when I asked someone they didn't seem to know anything about it. The people also look straight out of old times, is this similar to Harry Potter? Why would you be stuck in a time like that? Sure the clothes look cool but now most of them are just ridiculous. There was also a scientist like guy I've met. What was his name… it should be Hideyasu Ajima. The guy was nice but I didn't have much to talk with him about…"

"Sir I think we are getting off topic"

"Ah yes, hahaha sorry boy. It was honestly a frustrating experience. Now what did you ask for again?"

"I wanted to know about what you were searching for"

"Yes, that. You see when you guys were doing whatever you guys were doing inside the cave I met with someone. We talked a little, nice guy. Before the conversation started my eyes were drawn by the scabbard he had on his hip. It was something golden but something else interested me."

'Is he talking about that?' Shirou was also thinking the same thing with his little guest

"Looking at the scabbard I did not just see a simple golden scabbard but a whole different place. It was honestly breathtaking and I wanted to go there and when I talked with the man he said that one was but an imitation. So I changed it to finding the real place and going there. To make it a little easier I thought it would make sense to search for the man's story. The tale itself doesn't really talk about a scabbard that was like the one I saw. Assuming the story known to the masses was an edited version I wanted to find the original history and what place better than the place magus met up right?"

'He is definitely talking about that'

'Yes I know'

'What are you going to do?'

'...'

"Sir, is the story you are talking about King Arthur?"

"Oh you know?"

"About that sir… I may know where the real scabbard is."

'No way, are you going to tell him?'

"Really? That is wonderful, boy."

"Yeah but it may be a little hard to access it"

'Are you suicidal?!'

"Ah it is being protected in a case or something like that?"

"Not really… you see sir, I actually have it with me" Maxwell was getting really curios

"Where are you going with that, boy?"

"The scabbard is…. inside me" A silence appeared between them, Maxwell just looked at him while Shirou was getting incredibly anxious.

'You fucked up now, he is definitly going to kill you. Ah and here I thought I would be able to see and experience a few things before I die again.'

"Heh.. Hahahahaha!" Maxwell started to laugh loudly. His laugh continued for a whole minute which then slowed down. With a huge smile on his face he just didn't believe what Shirou was saying and looked at him. Seeing that Shirou just stood there and seriously looked at him the smile faded

"You are not joking?"

"No, sir"

"..." Maxwell was stupefied.

"But it's a scabbard.. why would it be inside you?"

"Erm sir, to understand that I will have to tell you the whole story but basically this scabbard has a healing ability so when I was dying it was implanted inside me."

Maxwell just questioned it. He tried to imagine how it looked like but his mind just could process it. How would it even fit in his body?

"So sir, it may be hard to give it to you" Maxwell sat there thinking what could be done. It was not really necessary for him but it was just sitting in front of him just behind the mortal flesh of the Shirou, they boy he was fond of. He absolutely didn't want to hurt him so there was only a single answer tha tcame to his mind.

"Can I touch it?"

"...what?"

'...what?'

"Boy I actually have a way but I need you to not get scared and move. It also could feel a little weird but there should not be any problems with it" Shirou did not understand it.

"...okay" He did not believe Maxwell was going to hurt him so he accepted his request. He may not know what was going to happen but he took that risk with courage.

'Ah, why am I together with a suicidal boy?!'

"I see. Here I'm coming then" Maxwell moved closer to Shirou and lifted his hand. Slowly his hand approached his torso, it moved closer and closer. One would expect it to be stopped when it made contact with his body but something amazing happened. Like there was nothing in its way the hand continued to move. It passed through everything on its way and continued without stopping. A shocked face appeared on Shirou but he did not move as per what Maxwell said.

"Okay this is not enough. Boy remembers to not move" Maxwell came closer and his face phased through Shirous body. Maxwell was searching for anything that resembled a scabbard and he found it. It was there standing. The flesh around it looked like it was protecting it and there was a weird aura around it. The flesh didn't look normal either, it was way darker and had a red glow to it. He looked at the scabbard for a few seconds and processed the thing he saw. The place he was searching for. He quickly distanced himself from Shirou and watched his reaction. Shirou touched his body and checked himself. There didn't seem to be any problems.

"..Sir"

"Yes, don't worry about it. Think of it like I was a ghost for a moment there"

'Hey, do you know what Sir did?' Shirou did not get any answers. The guest was staying awfully quiet.

"Thank you boy, thanks to you I will reach that place faster than i participated. Goodluck boy, if you ever need something go to my place and leave a note. When I come back I will gladly do it for you."

"Avalon"

"..?"

"The place name.. it's Avalon, sir. Also Sir when you go there can you look for something" Shirou did not know how that man was going to go there but he trusted Maxwell.

"Sure thing boy"

"Sir you remember Saber right? Can you look for her there. I doubt she is there but if you see her can you just tell me?" Maxwell was a little confused, why would she be there but accepted anyways.

"That's simple, boy. If I found her I will tell you about it and how about this, I will also send you there" Shirou was happy at what Maxwell had offered.

"Thank you, sir. Goodbye once again"

"Goodbye" Maxwell for one last time smiled and teleported away.

…

'Is he gone?' Look at that who decided to finally speak

'Yes, you went quiet suddenly. What happened'

'Shirou! Do you even know what that man is?! I can't believe you are calling someone as dangerous as him, sir' Shirou did not know what he was talking about at all. What was so dangerous about Maxwell? He trusted the man, he was kind and helped Shirou and to others.

'You really don't, i can't believe it. Shirou, look, that man is incredibly dangerous.'

'I don't get what you mean'

'Shirou, I will explain it okay. Do you know about Beasts?'

'Not really' He knew so little that it was fair to say he didn't know anything at all.

'As expected. Basically Beasts are calamities that threaten human history. There are incredibly dangerous beings and if you want an example I was but a candidate. Beasts are beings that represent 'Evil'. I will not explain too much but know that this evil is born from humanity basically. I don't know the exact explanation either so don't ask me.'

'So basically they are born calamities?'

'Yes. When that man entered inside you I felt it. The feeling like you were meeting your parents or someone that you inspire to be. You understand where I'm getting at right?'

Shirou stood there and let everything Angra said to him sink. Just who was Maxwell? Shirou knew that he was not a human but he did not expect something like that either. For now anyways his vision of Maxwell wouldn't change.

*Knock Knock*

"Hello… Shirou Emiya, Sir Waver sent me, can I get in?"

—

Maxwell left Shirou suddenly as he was really excited. Who knew the answer was always near him.

Arriving at Avalon he saw that it looked kind of empty. There was no doubt that it was beautiful but he also couldn't really say it felt really lively.

"Who are you?" something spoke and as he turned he faced a little green being. He couldn't figure out its gender but it looked more feminine, he was not sure but he went with it. It just looked like a small humanoid figure that was flying with green light all around it. There were no pupils it seemed and it also lacked any facial hair.

"Hello, I'm a little visitor but you can call me Maxwell" The beings seemed intrigued as it went around him, checking him.

"Are you one of those humans? But you don't smell like one and you also know the fairy language"

"Not exactly one but believing is the first step isn't it?" The fairy did not say anything and went away. He did not understand but maybe this was something normal for fairies.

He also turned around and kept walking. The place was full of flowers of color but at one point it all turned pink. Was there something there? he wondered. Right when he was about to take a step towards it he was stopped.

"Please don't go there." It was the green fairy again

"That place is a prison and we are forbidden to go there" interesting.

"A prison?"

"Yes. I'm a youngling so I don't know but from what I heard Lady Vivian locked someone there. There is also another one she locked but i don't know who they are"

"Oh I see, thank you.."

"You can call me Grein" She smiled and flew next to him. Slowly she sat on one of his shoulders. Maxwell didn't mind it as he couldn't even feel the weight of her.

"Do you know where i should go little Grein" she moved her legs and pointed her hand towards the opposite of the pink flowers.

"We can go that way! This place is generally not used by many fairies so there is not much expect younglings like me but Lady Vivian is still here. We can meet with her"

"That is a fine plan. Here we go then" moving towards the way Grein pointed towards he saw that the area around them has started to change. The place that was filled with flowers were now filled with water everywhere.

"There" she pointed towards a hut in the middle of an ocean. The ocean seemed problematic as it seemed quite deep but Maxwell just walked on it.

"You really are not an human"

"And where did that came from"

"The stories tell that if any human ever managed to come here they would still sink in this ocean. Only the ones with goodest of hearts can pass it but you are just walking on it." This place was really interesting. Compared to the Clock Tower, this place felt more magical. Maxwell quickly passed though the thi test that looked like an ocean and reached the hut

"Who is there?"a relaxing female sound came from the inside.

"Lady Vivian its me, Grein!"

"Ah Grein how nice of you to visit but who is the one next to you?"

"I'm William Maxwell Carter, Lady Vivian. I'm a visitor and met Miss Grain over here after my arrival. After asking where i should go she thought it was a good idea to visit you" a answer did not come immediately but the door opened. Understanding that she was letting them in he did not waste any time and did as she wanted.

Inside it looked like a normal European house. There were quite a lot of uses of the color blue but the thing that was most distinctive was the woman that was sitting on a chair. She looked similar to how humans looked but her hair was like a moving ocean.

"Hello outside, What brings you here? You can talk freely and also please sit" she pointed towards the chair next to her. Maxwell went and sat down.

"Grien, can you leave us alone for a moment?" Grien at first didn't seem like she wanted to agree but she also couldn't go against the elemental so she quietly got out.

"So why have you come here?"

"I believe I said that I came for a visit"

"You think you can fool me? This place is inaccessible to almost everyone. You can't just come here to visit." Water around them started move as she kept talking

"I really came here just for a visit. Do I look like someone who would like?" Vivian looked at Maxwell. She did in fact accuse him but she didn't have any proof. She just did not trust him.

"We will see about that. I will allow you to walk around Avalon only if you spend a certain time with a prisoner of here"

"That is pretty unfair my lady"

"Unfair? and what are you going to do about it?"

"This" Maxwell just got up and went for the door. The water all around them started to rise and go for Maxwell with an incredible speed but none of them managed to hit him. Vivian did not understand what happened but kept trying to hit him. A lance formed on her hand and she threw it towards him. With the speed she threw the spear the hut couldn't handle it and started to break down. A part of the house that break apart blocked the spear that was aiming for Maxwell while falling. The hut started to shake stronger and when Maxwell opened the door and got out the hut started to sink.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Maxwell now outside turned back to Vivian

"Me? nothing. You destroyed your own house and now it's starting to sink."

Vivian tried to get out but she was getting thrown backwards with each wave caused by the falling parts of the hut

"NOOO!" The hut was now completely under the ocean. The once little hut was now nowhere like it never existed from the start.

"Vivian. You're the lady of lake Viviane right? Remember that I did not do anything, it all happened because of you"

From the ocean the woman appeared once again but was now kneeling. The hut that she lived for the longest time, the hut that she raised Lancelot in was now gone.

"I don't know why you even tried to do something like that, Lady Vivian. That was the consequences of your actions and now let me forgive myself by doing what you wanted me to do. Which prisoner you wanted me to go to and how long" Vivian turned to look at Maxwell. He came here, caused her to destroy her house and now he was saying he was going to comply?

"..the witch. 8 years" Maxwell then walked away. He got his answer and like he said he would do it. 8 years was quite a long time but it was feasible. After 8 years the boy and the other would also grow up too so it would be better. They would have plenty to talk about. There was also the promise he gave to the man about taking care of her granddaughter. Since there was still 10 years after getting out there would be only 2 years left. Hmm now that he thinks about it, was that man also a magus? well it didn't matter.

Maxwell was now out of the ocean. Turning back he couldn't see it anymore so he continued. Sudden changes should probably indicate something but it would be better to ask someone too. Looking around the plain grass in front of him he sighed

Maybe it was going to be a challenge to find someone too.

—

Vivian rushed back to the tower Merlin was sealed in. At the top she was the white haired succubus.

"Hohoho, say what happened for the lady to come here see her pitiful prisoner"

"Merlin, who is that man"

"This little prisoner has no idea what the lady is speaking of"

"It's not the time for Merlin. Tell me who is that man who destroyed my home and how did he enter Avalon?" Merlin this time looked serious.

"Someone did?" Almost nobody remembered Avalon even existed and someone just came in and destroyed an Elementals house? How did they even arrive here?

"Tell me Merlin!"

"I don't know, okay?"

"Don't lie to me Merlin. How come someone can arrive here without you seeing them!?"

"Look, I really don't know."

"Then look at it right now! What is he doing tell me!"

"Okayi okay. Calm down a little. Now tell me what am I searching for?"

"A man.. he looks like a human but isn't one. Quite old, he was wearing a brown red coat with a hat. He called himself Maxwell, William Maxwell Carter" Merlin hearing the name understood it finally.

"...That man is here?"

"So you know who he is!"

"No, okay I don't know much. I just know his name because I saw him interacting with Arthur but.."

"But what, Merlin! Tell ME! Someone is walking around Avalon and I couldn't even touch him. What Merlin, WHAT!"

"Look I couldn't see him, I only heard what he said and nothing else. Afterwards I got curious and couldn't find him at all."

"..what?"

"Like I said, I can't find him. Even when he was talking to Arthur I couldn't see him at all. There was just a black mess sitting there for me so I can't help you."

"..." Vivian was just speechless.

"Only thing I can say is don't push him any further. That man is not someone you should bother with" with nothing else to say or hear Vivian just went back.

Merlin watched as she got out of the garden and after seeing she was called out. He didn't fully tell her the truth. He could sometimes see the man but only when he was talking to others, not just to Arthur. There were many theories in his head like why could this happen but in the end he just couldn't figure it out. Only reasonable answer he found was that he wasn't on the timeline at all. His clairvoyance was not something like seeing the future, he could see the current instant. This meant that the man normally was not currently there but only appeared as there when he was talking. Timeline itself couldn't figure out who he was so he was just seen as black emptiness.

–

In a steamy hot area someone was hitting an iron. The temperature was extremely hot but the person inside didn't seem affected by it. Each of his hits were resulted with a spark flying of. Later he picked up the iron and put it inside water.

"Failure again"

Shirou pulled out the sword and looked at it. Indeed it looked like an average sword, that means it was a failure. He threw it a bundle of similar looking swords. Some were worse, some were close to this but among them there was one excellent looking one. This was something he crafted using another's skill but he did not want to rely on it so he was training based on that.

He went back and sat down. He was not physically tired but was mentally. Going all day just blacksmithing caused him to rest for a few minutes.

'Hey Angra'

'Yeah?'

'Can't you just make a temporary arm for me?'

'..I can but'

'but?'

'It has to be in your reality marble. If I use it here there are many things that could go wrong. The arm will be temporary, everything you touch with it will slowly get cursed and let's not talk about the fact that you're in the den of most maguses. I doubt they won't be able to detect if something is wrong.'

'How would my reality marble help?'

'It would probably help. I don't know what is going on with your reality marble but everyday it feels even more welcoming. The sand all around is gone for example and the ground is plain black right now.'

'I see' Shirou was currently unable to use his reality marble. This has been the case since he got the memories, every version he knew could use it but he couldn't. He was also going to a completely different place. At first before the memories it was still a plain place but when he got the memories he started to see a few different versions. One just like Archer's the other similar to Archer's but every sword was upside down, another everything was on fire. He couldn't even enter it anymore. Angra ever since he came was telling him the conditions. At first the swords started to have reflections and the sky completely changed to a white one. The gears all around the world was moving incredibly fast. and now the ground has been changed. He did not know what was happening and the only thing he could currently do was to wait.

'There is also another way'

'..?'

'If you can make Avalon, the thing inside you activate it will probably be enough to negate every bad part me creating an arm for you would create, aside from it being temporary. That one is inevitable but it will be way, way stronger.'

That means…

'Yes, the girl you met, Gray can probably help you activate it. This thing only activates when certain conditions are met and that condition is King Arthur blood you said. The girl looks exactly like her. She must have her blood.'

'Probably'

'Then why don't you ask her for a little bit of blood?'

'...'

'..Well if you don't want to I don't care. Currently there is no choice though.'

Shirou did not even know the girl. He just met with her a few days ago and had no solid proof of anything either. The question 'can i get a little bit of your blood' was just making him uneasy too. Maybe he would when he gets to know her but right now he wouldn't. Maybe Rin could think of something?

Looking at the time he saw that it was around midnight. He got up and went out to bed, tomorrow there were classes and he needed some sleep.