Heir to the Blacksmith

by Plasma Assassin

Shirou Emiya, born to a Clan following the name they had not officially been called in centuries, chasing after a dream created by their ancestor as relentlessly as any other Magi family reaches for the Root. This is the boy that Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern find in the rubble and mud of the Fuyuki Fire, and this is the boy that they adopted.

31. A world unbound

"Another day…?" Luvia muttered in worry, sitting at the table of the Emiya residence alongside Rin, Sakura, Illya, her maids, and Bazett.

"This is the third day. He can't be ok." Bazett spoke, her gaze slowly sliding between the Fuyuki locals.

"You'd be surprised." Rin chuckled sardonically, taking a sip of milk-diluted coffee.

"Onii-chan has done some monk training. Three days is pretty doable for him." Illya nodded sagely, getting a raised eyebrow from the Enforcer.

"Monk training? Shirou?" she asked in disbelief.

"One of Senpai's friends at our high school is a training monk of the nearby monastery. Senpai ended up learning some Buddhist teachings by spending time with him. Months or years of meditation or going without food and water is still beyond his ability, but Senpai has learned enough to be able to go longer than your average Magi, let alone your average human, without nutrients or rest." Sakura explained helpfully, thanking Sella when she placed some food down in front of her.

"Even still, that can't be healthy." Bazett argued, her expression growing stronger as all of the girls seemed to refuse to reply to that specific statement.

"No one ever said that." Rin muttered dryly, staring blankly ahead of her before sighing deeply once more.

"Then why not put a stop to it?" Bazett asked with a curious expression.

"It's….Shirou's way of paying respects." Rin continued, a complicated expression crossing her face.

"In the Clock Tower, whenever we need to get Shirou out of the forge, we get Gray to handle it." Luvia informed, trying to be helpful.

"For a regular blade that could work, I've heard the stories from Senpai." Sakura nodded, "But this isn't a regular blade. The blade that Senpai is creating, it- It has a hold on him that none of you could ever understand." She shook her head this time.

"And you do?" Luvia asked, not accusatorily but more inquisitively.

Sakura merely just nodded, her thumbs rubbing the side of her cup idly.

"I won't say it's the same, I can't. But we are both obsessive and single-minded people by nature, Senpai and I. Over the years we have both learned how to be more 'human' from the blank states we existed in. Senpai learned to accept having to leave some blades unfinished for others' sake. I learned to let others fight Senpai and let himself and others do things for him. But at the end of the day, his obsession lies in blades and mine lies in him. If my standing back had led to Senpai sustaining a grave mutilation, or mortal injury, nothing and no one could stop me from the actions that I would take. Similarly, Senpai lost someone close to him. He is paying the highest respect he can give to King Gilgamesh by acknowledging his final request and turning his body into the greatest blade he can make. And in doing so, his obsession has narrowed in on making certain this blade is the greatest that he can possibly make it." Sakura explained, her voice seeming to drag in the attention of everyone around her.

"You two are weird." Illya deadpanned, biting into an apple slice.

"You have one of the worst curses in the modern age locked inside your heart, Illya." Sakura responded, her expression pleasant and her voice exceedingly innocent.

The white-haired girl still felt as if there were knives pressing against all of her joints all at once.

"…Touché." The demi-homunculus conceded with a small nod, cracking a smile and giggling right after.

The conversation died out as there was a ringing of the doorbell.

"I'll get it." Sella stood up and made her way to the door, opening it with all the poise expected of a maid of her caliber.

XXXxxxXXX

Muramasa Estate, Basement Forge

Artoria watched silently, dressed in casual clothes given to her kindly by her Master's younger-older sister, as her Master worked on the blade he had been crafting for the past three days and counting. By now, the sheer Mystery and energy condensed in this singular room were enough to bring an average Magi to their knees. It was rejuvenating to the King of Knights, but she worried about just what kind of blade her Master was making with the remains of her once hated enemy-turned-confusing-ally, and how he could craft it in the first place.

Nothing about her Master made sense to Artoria, not in the slightest. But with each passing day, she found that it didn't bother her as much as the first. However, it did still leave her with questions that she really, desperately, wanted answers to.

"Master?"

"Yeah?" Shirou didn't turn to face her, he didn't so much as tilt his head to face an ear more in her direction.

His attention was on his blade and only his blade. On heating it, crafting it, shaping it, aligning it, heating it, crafting-

"Why are you doing this? I can't wrap my head around it."

"Because you hated him, right?"

"…Yes. He was so…different to the first time I met him."

"He went through a lot to grow to that point." Shirou muttered, his eyes seeming to glow as he worked on his blade, holding it up to eye level and checking the edge alignment.

"I can't imagine what would turn the 'him' of before into the 'him' of now." Artoria responded, the gap between the two versions of Gilgamesh in her mind unable to be filled.

"A few years spent talking to me, seeking me out for entertainment. Seeking Sakura and Rin for the same purposes. Aiding us to create a Holy Grail War 'greater than any other'. Over time he slowly started to change. The ego was still there. The prickliness was still apparent. But he became more amicable. More tolerable." Shirou grabbed a rough whetstone and poured some water over it before beginning to work on the edges of the blade.

"That was truly all?" Artoria asked, surprise evident in her tone.

Had Shirou been fully paying attention to the conversation he might not have been able to blame her for such a reaction, but he wasn't. His mind barely registered the conversation enough to respond as memories started to flutter to the surface of his mind.

"Course not." He scoffed, running the whetstone over the currently dull edge of the blade. "That helped, but he was still egotistical. Still thought himself top of the world with nothing that could touch him. And then Altrouge happened."

"Altrouge? The little girl from your….memory?" Artoria asked, shivering a little at the reminder of Primate Murder tearing him apart like a full-grown adult fighting a baby to the death.

"Yeah. Dead Apostle Ancestor number 9. Gilgamesh fought her at her castle. The fight ended in a draw, though he considered it a crushing defeat."

Artoria was glad she was leaning against a wall because she nearly felt like falling over at that news. She fought Gilgamesh to a draw? It had taken a monster like Enkidu to finish him off. Just how bad was this Altrouge?

"He came back from that fight humbled. He truly started to care. Not just about me but about my family and friends as well. He started to care about Fuyuki and our future. He was still arrogant, but it was tempered. It made him more than just tolerable, it-…Somehow, someway, Gilgamesh had managed to grow into the wise King that the legends speak of. Just wish his sense of humor hadn't stayed as sadistic as it had." Shirou paused in his whetstoning to let out a sardonic bark of laughter before continuing.

"You cared for him, not just as a friend." Artoria spoke, it wasn't a question, they both knew that it wasn't.

"No, if there was any singular person I'd say was my 'King', it would be Gil. He asked this of me with his last few breaths and deserves all the respect that I can give him, and this is just that." Shirou started to do the opposite side of the same edge, his every movement perfect, his every breath taken at the perfect time.

Artoria stared in silence for a moment longer, her gaze moving down to the blade that Shirou had so tirelessly worked on for the last half of a week. And as she did, her gaze softened ever so slightly. A new appreciation was gained for both Shirou and Gilgamesh after what she had just heard. A soft smile made its way across her features as she stared at Shirou for a moment longer before beginning to walk towards the ladder leading up to the ground.

"I'll leave you in peace for the moment, Master, but I'll return later tonight."

"Uh huh."

Anything more she said would probably be flat-out ignored, so there was no point in staying any longer, she should head to the Emiya Estate and see how her Master's family, friends, and partners were doing. Artoria was sure that they were worried about Shirou, so a check-in from her might do some good.

XXXxxxXXX

Emiya Estate

Artoria knocked on the door, as was customary, and waited for someone to answer. Unsurprisingly one of the family's maids, Sella, answered the door for her and invited her in, getting a thankful nod and smile from the King of Knights.

She was in a surprisingly good mood after leaving Shirou alone to his devices, and it felt rather strange to be saying that. She hadn't expected spending hours in an underground forge with a teen that was confusing at the best of times to be an enjoyable experience but evidently it had been because she walked into the loungeroom of the Emiya Estate with a pleasant smile on her face and seconds away from humming quietly to herself.

"Saber!?"

Artoria Pendragon, Legendary King of Knights and 1st class Saber froze mid-step as the unmistakable voice of Irisviel von Einzbern reached her ears. Her every muscle froze to the point that a distant part of her mind wondered if her heart was even still beating.

Because she knew that both Irisviel and Kiritsugu were overseas dealing with 'specific business' for the past few weeks and she knew that if Irisviel had returned then that very likely meant that Kiritsugu had returned as well. And she really didn't know how she'd handle seeing him after everything that had happened.

On the one hand, he had refused to explain anything to her at the end of the last Holy Grail War and had left her quite literally screaming and crying while forcing her to destroy her dreams with her own two hands. But on the other hand, she now knew the dark, gritty truth of why he had done that and knew that any wish she had made on the Grail would have undoubtedly led to an even worse outcome than the one she was trying to avoid. Not to mention that things had been so busy and chaotic since she had been summoned that she really hadn't had time to slow down and examine her own feelings on the matter.

'Not that I'd be very good at that…' Artoria thought sardonically to herself as the milliseconds ticked by physically.

"Saber, are you ok?" Rin asked.

Wonderful! A familiar and not at all emotionally conflicting voice, thank god!

Slowly, Artoria's bright green eyes opened, even as the rest of her body stood frozen mid-step, a pleasant smile still on her face.

"That was really creepy, Saber." Illya pointed out after swallowing a small bite of food.

"Saber." The quiet, low voice of Kiritsugu finally snapped the King of Knights out of her frozen state.

All of her muscles finally unlocked, and a rather conflicted expression came to her face as she turned to look at the man in question.

He was certainly older than he had been when he had summoned her, which was an obvious assumption to make but it was one thing to know it and one thing to see it. The ever so slight change in his posture and the few grey hairs she spotted in his hair and stubble went a surprisingly long way to changing her perception of him from the hardened monster that she had known ten years prior.

He was currently sitting beside Irisviel, the two of them dressed in black and white casual kimono respectively as they sat at the table with all of her master's supernatural friends and sister. There was something so peaceful, so…suburban, about the scene that it nearly gave the King of Knights mental whiplash as she slowly raised a hand and gave a small, awkward wave.

"Hello…Kiritsugu, Irisviel."

"Oh, Saber it is you!" Irisviel immediately hopped to her feet with all the energy that Illya usually held and ran over, hugging her tightly.

And just like many years prior, Artoria's face flared red as she tried to escape the woman's grasp without harming her or being overly rough.

A surprisingly difficult objective.

"It's-" Saber managed to escape Irisviel's grasp and immediately backed up to put a corner of the table between them, "good to see you too, Irisviel."

"Just call me Iri, Saber!" Irisviel smiled and clapped her hands together, "And is it…good to see Kiritsugu too?"

There was a complicated shine in Irisviel's eyes as she asked that question. As if she already knew that Saber's answer would be 'no', but still optimistically hoped that it would be 'yes' instead.

"I…Cannot say whether it is good or bad, but for what it's worth. It is nice to see Kiritsugu again in these conditions." Saber stressed, trying to be as polite and diplomatic as she could amidst her very jumbled and murky feelings on the man.

"I can say the same. You were in a good mood when you entered." Kiritsugu noted, nodding alongside Saber's words as he started speaking.

"Because she was spending alone time with Onii-chan~ hehe." Illya piped in immediately, her face lit up by an impish grin as Kiritsugu facepalmed, Artoria turned bright red and Irisviel looked at Artoria as if she had hung the moon in the sky.

"You were!? Doing what! No, you won't tell me. Illya what have they been doing!?" Irisviel asked quickly, whipping her head back and forth between her daughter and Artoria.

"Illyasviel!" Artoria yelped, her face burning even brighter red at the insinuation brought about by the girl's tone and expression.

"Well, Kaa-chan! Saber and Onii-chan have-"

"Been doing nothing and she's just messing with Saber." Rin cut in, hiding her self-satisfied grin behind her cup as both Emiya women turned to give the twin-tailed girl devastated looks.

"That was mean, Rin. Saber has such a cute look on her face when she's flustered." Sakura leaned in, to whisper in Rin's ear.

"I know she does but the looks on their faces are worth it." Rin whispered back, both of them smiling innocently as the Emiya women gave them smoldering looks of pouted annoyance.

"Thank you, Rin." Artoria muttered, nodding to the twin-tailed girl while trying to will her face to cool down after the teasing she had just suffered from.

"I'm glad that you and Shirou are getting along." Kiritsugu nodded, looking down at the cup held between his hands and taking a small sip of it.

"Master is…certainly unique. But I'm beginning to grow used to his peculiarities." Saber spoke cordially, finding a seat for herself and sitting down gracefully.

"Shirou has always been like that ever since the fire." Irisviel giggled, sitting back down beside her husband. "Sometimes I think he's only become stranger as time has gone by."

"What makes you say that, Irisviel?" Saber asked, curious.

Evidently, Luvia was the same because she was leaning towards the Emiya matriarch with a curious look on her face.

"I don't really know." Both blondes nearly slammed their heads into the table at her words.

With a hum, Irisviel tapped a finger against her chin and began to rock from side to side, her eyes drifting unconsciously to the ceiling.

"I can't really put an explanation on it. Shirou is just my little baby boy, like he's always been~" She smiled brightly at the gathered crowd, getting quite a few smiles in response.

"If I may ask, Mr and Mrs Emiya. May I hear more about Sherou outside of the Clock Tower?" Luvia asked, pretending to ignore the sharp gaze of Rin at the enthusiasm that crept into her tone.

"Oh of course you can! Ooooh I can show everyone my scrapbook! Kiri you stay here and entertain them! I'll be right baaaaack!" Irisviel tapped her husband twice on the shoulder and sped off down the hallway, getting a few giggles as everyone turned to see what Kiritsugu would do.

And most of them were rather disappointed when all he did was take another sip out of his cup, only for him to place the cup down with a loud, singular, clack of fired clay on wood. His eyes opened and seemed to pin the assorted girls in their seats.

Not with the sheer power and magnitude of his Od or aura, like Gil or other Servants were able to do. But rather, with the sheer razor-sharp focus of his attention on seemingly all of them at once.

Saber, and the other de-materialized Servants, had to give Kiritsugu credit. Not many people were able to create such an atmosphere with just a few minute changes to their physical stance and breathing patterns like he just had.

"What has happened while we were gone." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

Whether they told him or not, he would find out what happened.

"The Holy Grail War." Rin deadpanned, tapping a finger on the table. "We summoned our Servants. Luvia and her sister summoned two separate aspects of Morgan le Fay, and the Einzberns summoned the rival and friend of Gilgamesh, Enkidu."

"That's a dangerous combination. One of the most dangerous, most famous witches in history and a monster on the level of Gilgamesh, if the myths are to be believed." Kiritsugu hummed, rubbing his chin with his right hand, his eyes sliding smoothly over to the back of Illya as the chiseled form of Heracles made itself visible.

"Greetings, Servant Archer." Heracles introduced himself kindly before his face smoothed out into something far more stoney. "And they were. I don't know how much the class container played a role in it, based on the legend I'd say quite heavily, but the Enkidu that we fought was overpowering Gilgamesh."

"I see. Worrying, but clearly, they either lost or retreated if everyone is still sitting here." Kiritsugu looked around at everyone sitting at the table for emphasis before looking back at Heracles.

"Enkidu and Gilgamesh, with assistance from myself and Servant Lancer, dealt the final blows to each other."

"So that's Berserker and the equivalent to at least an Archer now inside the Grail." Kiritsugu spoke, his eyes catching specifically Heracles and Artoria's before flicking up, towards the ceiling, for only the briefest of moments.

Both Servants let their sight drift upwards, seeing and sensing the minute presence of metal thread stretched across the ceiling. An unnatural lack of drooping was present in it even though, logically, gravity should have created at least some kind of curve.

'Clever, the vibrations of our conversation will shake the wire and let Irisviel listen in on the conversation even from another room.' Heracles thought to himself, pleasantly surprised by the ingenuity of the parents of his Master.

"But that's not all, Kiritsugu-san." Sakura spoke up, her poise almost identical to that of Sella, "There has been an update with the Greater Grail."

"Explain." For the first time since the conversation had started, Kiritsugu looked visibly shaken out of his calm demeanor, his fists tightening minutely.

"Someone was able to get past the protective Bounded Field that Caster set up around the perimeter and set off one of the Grail's fail-safes. Illya-chan told us that specifically the 'Apocrypha' fail-safe had been activated."

"Apocrypha….I'm unaware of what that exact fail-safe pertains to. Illyasviel, do you know?" Kiritsugu asked.

"I do, Tou-san. It was originally how the Holy Grail War was meant to activate when it was first conceived but the power requirements were too high for it to ever be viable and so it was scrapped halfway through and locked as a 'fail-safe' within the Greater Grail's sub-systems. It pertains to the summoning of fourteen total servants and a judicial Servant of a specialized class known as a 'Ruler'." Illya lectured, a pair of Projected glasses resting over the bridge of her nose as she tapped a pointer against an also Projected blackboard with stick figure diagrams drawn over it.

"She's totally trying to copy Shirou…" Rin whispered to Saber, getting the slightest twitch of the woman's lips as she tried to suppress the bubble of laughter threatening to escape.

"If you could be that diligent with your schoolwork, I would have to deal with far less whining from your mother, you know that right?"

"TOU-SAN!"

"Though another seven Servants alongside this 'Ruler'… We got lucky with the beginning round since the majority of the masters were already allies and were willing to see reason about the corruption of the Greater Grail and its sub-systems. I don't see another miracle happening for the second round. That means another eight enemies on top of the problems we already have to deal with." Kiritsugu spoke aloud, purely to share everyone else in on his thought process, more than actually explain it to them.

"We can't rule out the possibility of alliances between the other Masters as well." Bazett spoke, her gaze sharp and her voice stoney, "Best case scenario; entirely separate groups and factions all summon their own Servants, and our united front can weather whatever assaults come our way."

"Worst case scenario; all seven of them are united and the secondary aspect of Morgan and Ruler join their cause. An all-out true war." Kiritsugu finished, getting a gulp from both Rin and Luvia at the idea of such a terrifying concept.

"I don't know how far along the systems for Ruler got but based on what I do know. The idea for the class was a neutral Servant that did not have a Master, only fulfilling the purpose of the Holy Grail and facilitating the continuation of the Holy Grail War until its conclus- oh."

"Considering that we've done nothing except try to circumvent the continuation of the Holy Grail War, I think it's safe to say that Ruler will be our enemy." Rin groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's undeniable, Miss Gorilla. The odds are against us. The only thing worth mentioning is how to deal with the worst-case scenarios." Luvia scoffed at Rin, smiling smugly at the annoyed glare she got in response.

"I FOUND THE SCRAPBOOK!" Irisviel squealed, sliding back into the room, the metal wire mysteriously missing from the ceiling.

XXXxxxXXX

Meanwhile, Fuyuki Outskirts

"Well well well well!" A young-sounding female voice giggled, her light-lavender-coloured hair swaying in the breeze behind her.

A frilly and well-made parasol rested against her shoulder as she shivered in what could only be described as 'delight' to any who happened to be watching.

"No more bugs roaming around~" The girl took a step inside the city limits.

"No more big scary priest prowling around~" The girl took a second step inside the city limits.

"And no more Mystic Eyes watching the leylines like a hawk~" The girl took a third, very large, step inside the city limits.

"Say, It would ruin the fun to show ourselves too early and be ganged up on. But I want to go around and meet all the other Masters!" The girl clutched her parasol with both hands and began to wildly sway left and right as she seemed to struggle over her internal dilemma.

"How about going by yourself and I'll de-materialize, Master?" A heavily scarred, fairly tall blonde-haired male spoke at the girl's side.

"No no no! What am I supposed to do then, Berserker? Servants will be able to sense you walking around." The girl tutted, waggling a finger in the very large gap between their eye levels.

"…Then I will wait right here." The man folded his legs and sat on the ground cross-legged, resting an elbow on his knee and his chin on his palm.

"Oh, really Berserker!? Oh, you're so kind! I should do something, oh I'll bring something back! What do you want Berserker?~ Alcohol? Women? You can use me if you really want one of them~" The girl grinned impishly and lifted the edge of her skirt until just the edge of decency.

Yet the blonde Servant merely hummed and let his gaze drift from his Master to the city before them. His pupils dilated ever so slightly as his lips pulled in a small grin.

"You don't need to bring me anything, Master. Just make sure that when the fighting starts, I get the best opponent possible."

"Hm~ that can be arranged, dear Berserker. Now I'm going to go find all the Masters that I can. I'll come to visit and bring some treats later tonight!"

And unlike most Servants, who would probably be aggravated or incensed at such words from their Master. Berserker merely let out an amused huff as his smirk turned from one of battle-lust to amusement.

"Get me something that tastes like Dragon."

"Aaaaand what does Dragon taste like?"

"Tough, muscle-filled, and with a vaguely smokey aftertaste."

"Okie dokie! I'll do my best. Buh byeeeee~"

XXXxxxXXX

Meanwhile, The foot of Mount Enzou

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed, girl slid to a stop. Wearing a slightly dirty and marred navy-blue battle dress. Protective metal plating around her stomach, her arms, hands, and a metal headband atop her head.

"Is it still here…?" She spoke to herself hesitantly, her gaze sliding left and right hesitantly as she prepared to move at a moment's notice.

And a second later, dodged with fractions of a second to spare, a chunk of thick, black, sludge flew out of the shadows at her. Missing the woman in their entirety as they struck a tree and instantly necrotized and corroded what it touched.

'I can't stay here and let it corrupt me. I need to keep moving. But where?' The girl thought, dodging another bullet of black mud and cartwheeling back a good few meters to avoid the ghostly white hand of whatever was chasing her.

Oh, sure it looked human, it acted human. But in her heart of hearts, she knew that it wasn't human, not anymore at least.

A small gust of wind danced between the branches and leaves in a specific direction. And somehow, someway she knew that it was a sign from her Lord. So, with an explosion of dust and dirt, the blonde-haired woman launched herself in the direction that the wind had been going in, feeling the dark, sinister, corruption of whatever that creature was lagging further and further behind the more that she followed after the sign of her Lord.

She would take the time to properly pray and thank her Lord after she was certain that it had stopped following her. The girl was positive that if not for the gifts of her Lord, she would have been captured and corrupted immediately upon her summoning.

First, her Lord had saved her from immediate corruption, and now her Lord led her in the direction of even momentary safety. She didn't know why she, of all people, got so much love from her Lord but she would make sure to properly thank him once she reached her destination. That, she promised herself.

XXXxxxXXX

Meanwhile, the outskirts of Fuyuki

"Where are you going, Angelica?" The woman in question barely reacted to the stone-cold question of her brother.

Predicting his mood swings was not fun, nor easy, but she knew that doing something 'outside his plan' would always push him into anger like this, so she was able to properly prepare herself for this.

"To scout Fuyuki, brother." She spoke respectfully, turning to face him as she talked.

"And why by yourself, instead of a familiar?"

"Familiars are too easy to detect, brother. I wanted something more effective."

Julian's eyes seemed to rake over her entire body as if deciding whether to accept her reasoning or commit some act of atrocity against her. She had no doubts, after the past few days of research and tests she had done, paired with the results of their Servant summoning, that if he didn't find her reasoning acceptable, he'd lash out.

If it came to an outright fight, she knew she could hold her own or win. But when taking into account the likelihood of her holding herself back due to him being her brother, she knew that her best bet at survival was to run.

"Fine, you won't ruin the plan by doing that." He scoffed, turning on the ball of his foot and waving her away, walking further into the house they were using as their base for however long this 'war' would last.

"Thank you, brother. I'll return."

"You better."

With a slightly conflicted expression, Angelica made her way out of the house, beginning to walk through the winding streets that made up suburban Fuyuki. Her head was stuck on all of her theories about what happened to her brother before she was interrupted.

"Master, I truly do not believe it is safe to continue staying around that man any longer."

'I know that you believe that, Saber, but I cannot afford to leave him.'

"He holds no love for you, Master. Even to me, that is clear to see."

'I know that he does not, but so long as my brother lives on, even as a Doll, I will continue to stand by his side. I swore that as a child and I will stand true to that for as long as I live.'

"I see. I do not know much about these things, they confuse me."

'Did you not have that kind of bond with the Shinsengumi?'

"The shinsen..gumi? That name is familiar, but I cannot place why…"

'So, the extent of Saber's deterioration reaches even something like that. Can they even be called the same Heroic Spirit anymore…?' Angelica thought to herself. She then sighed and shook her head and continued to walk.

She could take her time after all. She knew where she wanted to go and rushing would only bring more attention to herself. There was no reason to ruin their advantage and make Julian mad at her, after all.

XXXxxxXXX

Muramasa Family Forge, A few hours later

Shirou looked at the blade clutched in his grasp with an unreadable gaze, both of his eyes seeming to glow a dull gold and blue as he held the blade up and checked its edge alignment one last time. A small hum left his lips as he could find no physical faults in it. A quick use of Structural Grasp left him similarly satisfied with its internal components and structure as well. There were only two tests left to conduct before the blade could be properly 'finished' in his mind.

The Sharpness Test. And the Combat Test.

Turning on his heel, Shirou looked around his forge until he saw a piece of paper resting on a bench nearby, the teen grabbing it and holding it just above the edge of his new blade. There was barely a centimeter between the blade's edge and the paper, which was probably too much space in Shirou's opinion, but if it couldn't slice clean through the paper from here then he could never claim it as a blade worthy of himself or Gilgamesh.

As quick as he could, Shirou let go of the piece of paper, allowing gravity to gain a hold on it and bring it down to the honed edge of the blade. And as if the blade was never there, the paper continued to float down, except now in two different directions. The cut of the edge having been so clean and swift that no noise was created in the endeavor, or if there was then he wasn't able to pick it up over the fluttering of the paper itself.

"One test left…" Shirou muttered to himself, the blue fairy letters in his left eye seeming to shine a brighter blue as his mind continued that statement over and over.

Knock!
Knock!

Knock!

Slowly, Shirou sheathed the blade in his hand, his gaze swiveling to the ceiling of his forge, directly towards where the doorway of his house was. A singular, slow, breath left his lips.

XXXxxxXXX
Meanwhile, Fuyuki Markets

Sakura hummed a small tune to herself as she walked through the markets. A basket held by the handles trapped in the crook of her elbow filled with a few miscellaneous food items.

'What do you think about this one, Rider? I think that Senpai will need some protein after so long without food.' Sakura asked her Servant mentally while looking over what few fish were left so late in the afternoon.

"If you're going to ask, then I'd say the second, third, and sixth fish. They're the ones with the most edible content compared to their size."

"I'll grab these three fish please, sir." Sakura smiled pleasantly and pointed out at the fish that Rider had suggested, placing the wrapped-up fish in her basket and continuing to walk around.

"You're very dedicated to Shirou, it's admirable." Medusa hummed, following after her Master while de-materialized.

'I explained it this morning, but Senpai truly is my everything. He's the one that let me create a path for myself and break free of my Grandfather. But even without that, I believe that I always would have been drawn towards his steadfast determination.'

"I've met or heard of very few people that can so single-mindedly work on a task as he has been doing with that blade of his."

'You're drawn in by that too, aren't you Rider?' Sakura asked, her smile innocent but the insinuation hidden behind her tone darker than tar.

"I am. Though you've guessed that for a while, I assume."

'Pretty much, if you ever want to join in I'm sure that I could convince Senpai.' Sakura turned down one of the market streets, completely devoid of people since it was so late.

"I do not want to force him to do something he would be uncomfortable with."

'But if the opportunity came up?'

"…..Without hesitation."

'And Rin was worried about us not getting along before the war.' Sakura giggled internally.

"Hi hi hi hi hiiiiii~" Sakura paused mid-step and leaned back at the rather petite-looking woman that was leaning on the balls of her feet. Her face pressed as close to Sakura's as possible.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

"Oh, you totally can cutie~" The girl winked flirtatiously at Sakura before popping back out of her personal space and beginning to flit all around Sakura, looking her over.

"Master…this woman…"

'I know. I can feel her Prana too…'

"Pardon me, I'm merely confused over your sudden interest." Sakura politely clarified; her expression perfectly crafted.

"You should be, you'd never understand. But I just find you so interesting and innocent. Perfect for defiling~"

"I…see. My name is Sakura Makiri, may I have yours?"

The girl stilled entirely mid-bounce as Sakura spoke her name. The girl slowly lowered herself to be flat-footed as she began to giggle, spinning her parasol on her shoulder and wiggling her knees a little.

"The descendant of that worm Zouken, hm?"

"You knew my grandfather?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.

"Well, I wouldn't quite say that. He stopped me from meeting my old friend after all. Oh, but he's dead now, isn't he? His wards are gone and I'm free to have full reign over this city and the Grail~" The girl started to breathe heavily and clutched her face, her cheeks flushing bright red as she seemed to get 'excited' at the very idea.

"Thank you for confirming my theory. Please vacate the city before Senpai or the Second Owner find out about your presence." Sakura gestured a hand in a random direction, only getting a mocking smile from the girl across from her as she seemed to calm down from her earlier excitement.

"Now why would I do that? When I have the chance to get both the descendant of Zouken and a chance at Jeanne D'Arc right here and now?~"

"Because I have asked, please vacate the city."

"Hmmm, no~ In fact I think I'll defile you before I even think of it."

And quicker than the blink of an eye, the girl could feel a knife point against her neck and her liver. The cold, unyielding aura of Medusa pressed down on the girl as she turned her head just enough to stare at the impenetrable blindfold of the legendary monster.

"Oh, you poor thing. That's not going to do anything you know. I'll always be back~"

"Good to know." And the moment that she moved one of her knives to reach for her blindfold, the girl in front of her grinned mockingly and dashed.

Both knives of Medusa slashed straight through her, not even leaving any blood or an injury behind as the woman kept moving away from the blindfolded Servant. A purple wire from Sakura's pointer finger went straight through the woman's arm; the wire seemed to delete the section of her forearm to the point that it disappeared from reality entirely.

"An illusion." Rider muttered, looking at the running woman who faded to nothingness now that she had been compromised through Sakura's unique wires.

"She likely switched herself sometime during her conversation with me."

"Likely after you mentioned your name, or when I materialized." Rider agreed, nodding her head as she faded away to particles herself.

"Well, the others won't be happy about this. I'll have to ask Senpai to cook to help calm things down…" Sakura muttered to herself, continuing to walk through the Fuyuki Markets to complete her original objectives.

And as she walked, a nearby streetlight flickered on and off, briefly showing a hundred needle-thin wires stretching out of her body and to the nearby surroundings.

Because their safety net was gone, and the danger of the upcoming war was only going to get worse. Getting complacent now of all times could not be allowed.

XXXxxxXXX

Side Story: The Clocktower Chronicles IV

"Hmmm, no I wouldn't say so. Doing that would require that I nearly shoot you." Shirou denied with a shake of his head.

"Oh, so you have no problem with that while we're sparring but don't want to do it when we're cooperating?" Gray challenged with a raise of her eyebrows and a crossing of her arms.

Both sixteen year olds were currently sitting in the back of Waver's classroom as everyone worked on the problem that he had given out to the class. By now, Gray and Shirou's eccentricities were well known by the class and a wide birth was no longer given to them, but that didn't mean that other students were exactly frothing at the mouth to sit adjacent to them either; other than Luvia that is.

"Because that's sparring Gray, shooting you while we're meant to be working together will only hurt our performance." Shirou argued, though he could tell that this was going to be a long, drawn-out argument.

"Only if you hit me. And regardless the enemy would never suspect it." Gray argued.

"You have quite a lot of trust in Sherou's aim, Gray." Luvia added in with a shaky smile.

Just listening to Gray's idea made Luvia a little jittery. Running towards an enemy while using your body to hide the trajectory of Shirou's arrows? Luvia was beginning to believe that, more than just Shirou being a bad influence, Gray was just a little 'off-kilter' mentally. Not by much, admittedly, but her idea of dangerous clearly didn't line up with Luvia's own.

"Why wouldn't I? Shirou has the best aim with a bow out of all of us." Gray responded neutrally.

"You're not wrong…" Shirou muttered, and Luvia almost felt 20 years drop off her lifespan.

"Sherou…"

"Alright we'll give it a shot after I finish working on the current blade in my commission."

"Sherou no!" Luvia yelped, drawing the whole classes attention to the three of them.

"Yes!" Gray cheered in a display of emotion usually only seen when Shirou and, to a lesser extent, Luvia were around.

And at the front of the classroom, Waver just sighed and rested his head in his palm. These kids were going to be the death of him.

XXXxxxXXX

'Ello 'Ello!

Welcome back to this wonderful story. Nothing bad happened in the last chapter, not at all. Though speaking of which I actually went through the reviews and counted them out. Roughly 1/8 people that reviewed admitted to crying. I probably shouldn't but I feel a little proud of that number XD

As for this chapter, sorry it's a bit shorter than the usual 7K average/minimum that I try to reach. But this was most certainly a down-time chapter even if I was building up to a great many things within it, and my downtime chapters are usually always shorter than my other chapters. But despite the shorter length I think that it's a good introductory chapter into the Great Holy Grail War arc (GHGW arc for short) and the clusterfuck that that's going to end up being.

I don't think I have much else to say about this chapter so I guess I'll give you guys a little update on my life.

I've booked my trip in late September, I'll be visiting Japan for 7 days, which means that with flights its like a 9 day trip XD That also means that next months chapter won't be coming out on the 28th (for me) as is usual since that's the day that I get home and I know that I'm going to be very tired.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions for what I can do/can go while in Japan I'd love to hear them as well, this is my first time going overseas by myself so it's a little nerve-wracking.

Also I haven't been able to get Armoured Core 6 yet because I'm saving money for my trip ;-;

But enough of that! Lets get to the wonderful reviews you all left, and the shilling too!

Discord code: ctMzhq3 or plasmaassassin

REVIEW REPLIES:

AxlrexKingu: Honestly the face that I imagine would fit pretty snugly on Esdeath's face.

Empetiness: Fate Strange Fake haunts me. I can't escape it.

NotSpecialDude: Yeah, Gil definitely had to die from a meta-sense for those exact reasons and I'm glad that so many people recognized that fact. Also the servants I have planned for the GHGW will definitely be interesting that's for sure. (It started so many arguments amongst the beta's and myself).

AvianFowl: I'm glad that I could hurt you, and that you're so excited for the FGO sequel.

JumpingToaster: That was my idea with httb Gil. I wanted to take Archer Gil and through a loooot of time, bring him closer to his Caster variant. And evidently I managed to do so XD

Shairetdin: Perhaps, who knows?~

DragonB0b: He went kicking and screaming into maturity that's for certain.

Bokunoherogamer: There's many things that he could have done, but you'll be left guessing for a little while x3

Dimihd: I think that's one of the most poetic descriptions of Gil's death that I've seen through all like 150+ comments on both ao3 and , so well done good sir/madam/them.

ZooFan: thank you!

Nagato Angelo: Its because of Sha Naqba Imuru. And also that is very high praise, thank you!

AngelicWisdom: Did it help you workout more? I hear that it tends to do that. AND DON'T REMIND ME OF WHAT I CAN'T HAVE T^T

Kamori I'm The Infinity: One thing that I'll correct, Shirou will be a Master in Chaldea not a Servant, but I greatly appreciate your praise.

Midoriryu: It's highly likely, though it also depends on if you mean things that Gil has that Emiya didn't see through him or things that Emiya flat out hasn't seen ever.

StayBlessed: Thank you and I'm glad that they're going fairly well too x3

Draegoon: Ehe.

PersonaNinja Lux: "THIS IS WRONG! NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE!"

Deepthoughts42: Honestly its probably my favourite take on Gil too XD

Onsidefall: Honestly I'm glad to hear that. I was a bit worried when writing chapter 29 that it would still be overshadowed by Gil vs Altrouge.

Akashiroshi1: They will disappear like Projections.

Conner Kumiai: Oh definitely. Gil's influence will be felt for a long, long time.

Mythic Imagination: Wow. Damn I never expected to be placed next to Paracasious's works. I somehow forget exactly how popular this story is quite often XD

Codywhite162: You got your wish, kinda?

Jhosmhir26: 2025, 2026 if things delay XD

Temsen: Walter for TYPE-Earth? XD and yeah nah, sorry but no rematches for Gil now.

Ariadne Venegas: Yes, Scathach killed Walter. And yeah, Morgan and the Angry Mango are big problems.

Thedreadfull2021: Kek.

Sickboy398: As I said to Adro-sama, you can claw Kuro-chan's ability out of my cold dead corpse.

Adro-Sama: Honestly so do i. I need to see ittttttt.

Rc48177: Its ridiculous to think that Gil and Enkidu still aren't the strongest things on Earth tbh. Like the bar is so high that even monsters like them aren't at the very top.

Fujin of shadows: Oh, happy belated birthday XD

TalonScythe: Now hopefully I can keep the quality of writing up. Also thank you for much for the praise.

Raging Drake: Yeah. I'm a little sad that so many characters had to get sidelined in this arc but hopefully I should be able to rectify that in the GHGW arc.

Pop manga mondeluz 1945: How could I get rid of him? By pressing backspace XD Also yeah, Shirou getting so many new weapons is just an omen of things to come and I cannot wait to show it unfurl.

Zukafew119: Hello once more! Hearing your thoughts and theories on the chapters are always great with the detail that you go into them with. And do not worry, the maximum wait for my passport was 6 weeks but I got mine in like 2-3 weeks. Also yes, it is a running gag that Shirou won't get to explain the ability of Kuro-chan, mostly because I think its funny for the one thing he's proud enough of to boast about and he never gets to. And as for the JJK drama… (JJK SPOILERS DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED) The battle between Gojo and Sukuna and watching the fanbase go fucking feral and clown on Sukuna has been so fucking funny. Anyways, see you next month!

END OF REVIEW REPLIES!

Farewell everyone and know that Episode 8 of Bleach TYBW Cour 2 has given me inspiration.