I have to admit, I had second thoughts about the original version of Expiation, as I thought it allowed for less character conflict than I wanted to. So, this version of the story will have, at least initially, John Wick and Medea opposing Shirou and Illya (who have been told by Kiritsugu about Angra Mainyu). John thinks that Kiritsugu is dead, and doesn't know that Illya (he didn't know about Shirou) didn't move away from Kiritsugu's home. The first part of the chapter will be familiar, but the rest is different...
EXPIATION (REVISED)
CHAPTER 1:
BABA YAGA AND THE WITCH OF BETRAYAL
In an office, a grizzled old man is handed a telephone by a nervous lackey. A little impatiently, he answers it. "Yes?" he asks curtly and imperiously in his native Japanese, and he's a little surprised to hear the reply in English.
"Raiga, my dear fellow, how are you?"
Raiga Fujimura winced. It had been a somewhat trying day, and he had just been short to one of the most powerful men in the world, even if he wasn't publicly acknowledged as such. In English, he replied, "Physically, I'm as well as can be expected, Winston. However, you must forgive my lack of propriety earlier. I have just had to make an example of a couple of fools trying to muscle in on my turf, and it has been a rather sordid chore."
There was a soft chuckle on the other end. "I'm sorry to hear that, old friend. Sadly, I have some news that might not help matters. I rang you as a courtesy. John Wick is coming to Fuyuki."
At that, Raiga felt a chill come over his heart. "I sincerely hope this is not some poor attempt at humour, Winston. I had thought that Baba Yaga had been retired for some time."
"And you thought correctly, old friend. Unfortunately, Jonathan ran afoul of a rather severe case of bad luck. His wife died of a terminal illness, and left Jonathan a dog to keep him company. Unfortunately, the son of Viggo Tarasov noticed Jonathan's car, and, not knowing who Jonathan was, tried to procure it, first by money, and then, by breaking into his house, brutalising Jonathan, and murdering his dog."
Raiga hissed quietly. "…I am guessing that it did not end well for the Tarasov boy."
"Nor for Viggo himself. They are both dead, and their organisation is in tatters. So too is Marcus, by Viggo's hand. And Miss Perkins…well, she foolishly flouted the Continental's rules of no business on the premises by attempting to kill Jonathan, and paid for it with the customary price."
Which meant she was stupid enough to try and assassinate someone on the Continental's premises, and was executed for her troubles. Raiga certainly knew of both assassins. And of the organisation they were part of.
The Continental was the cover for a worldwide network of criminals, mostly those specialising in assassination. They were represented by a franchise of hotels, which could be used as a safehouse for underworld figures (anyone who tried to assassinate someone on the premises of a Continental hotel were executed or else had a contract put out on them), as well as providing resources either on the premises, or else giving contacts. Raiga certainly had his dealings with them, and knew many of the more infamous members, like John Wick, aka Baba Yaga.
Wick had become infamous for many reasons, but what truly cemented his legend was when he retired. He had been working for Viggo Tarasov, a top Russian mob boss, and when Wick wished to retire, Viggo gave him a task widely acknowledged as 'impossible'. The assassinations he achieved were done in a single night, something that made many look upon Wick with awe. Indeed, it was a dark joke that, while named for the witch that was a boogeyman in Russian folklore, he was the one you sent to kill the boogeyman.
Eventually, he said, "So why is John Wick coming here?"
"After Jonathan decimated Viggo's organisation, I suggested he get out of town for some time. I'm glad that fool Santino D'Antonio got himself killed trying to overthrow his sister in a coup d'etat. I thought he might have tried to hire Jonathan. As it is, Jonathan wants another chance to begin anew. Jonathan only wants a quiet life, Raiga. If we're lucky, Fuyuki will give him what New York couldn't, what happened nine years ago aside."
"The Fuyuki Fire…yes, I remember it. Emiya's adoptive son, the one my granddaughter mooches off, he was the only survivor. Shirou…yes, his name is Shirou…"
At the foot of the stairs leading up to Ryuudou Temple, a man stood, looking up the stairs. Dark hair framed handsome, if lugubrious features of uncertain lineage. Certainly, he could have passed for part-Japanese, and he spoke it like a native, amongst many other languages. His dark suit was immaculate.
Where does one go when one wants to expiate one's sins? John Wick decided, at the very least, to visit Ryuudou Temple. While he had no intention of staying there for long in Fuyuki, he wanted to visit there at least briefly. He wasn't sure whether there was a God, and he certainly didn't quite share Viggo's conviction that God stole Helen away as punishment for John's manifold sins.
There was a little more to this visit than that. Winston, while recommending Fuyuki as a place for John to stay, mentioned that another retired assassin was here, even after the death of Kiritsugu Emiya. John had met Emiya a few times, the last time being when John had done him a favour for shortly before the man's death: rescuing his daughter from her family. And decimating most of them in the process, but they were Magi, and particularly cold-hearted ones at that.
John was aware of Magi. Indeed, he was a Magus himself, albeit not a competent one. He only really had the knack for Structural Analysis and Reinforcement, and rarely used it in his line of work. But he had managed to break through the Bounded Fields of the Einzbern Castle.
Anyway, in any case, John wanted to meet the man Winston mentioned, if only to avoid causing trouble later. Soichirou Kuzuki had once worked for an organisation loosely affiliated to the Continental, but eventually quit. He was particularly noted for his mastery of the 'Snake' form of assassination martial arts. Kuzuki was said to reside at Ryuudou Temple, so Winston said, and John wished to pay his respects to his fellow retired assassin.
As it happened, he met his fellow assassin, just as it began to cloud over, at the foot to the steps to Ryuudou Temple. Judging by the way Kuzuki's eyes narrowed, he recognised John, despite the two not having met. "Wick," the man said.
"Kuzuki," John replied.
Kuzuki scrutinised him. John did the same, noting Kuzuki to be a tall, thin, ascetic-looking man with a strict expression. There was a strange emptiness to the man that had John feeling a chill, and he was cursing even thinking of approaching the man. "Why has the Baba Yaga come to Fuyuki? I had thought you retired after that job you did for the Russians in New York," Kuzuki observed, his voice deep and calm.
"I still am, but I brought down some heat on me in New York. The Continental suggested a relocation."
Kuzuki nodded. "You are not here to work, then?"
"No. Winston told me about you, and I just wanted to come to make sure that, if we met each other, there wouldn't be any misunderstandings."
"Very well," Kuzuki said. "But I too am retired from our world. I work as a teacher."
"Well, would you like to discuss life here in Fuyuki, as well as people I should watch out for?"
After a moment, Kuzuki nodded.
They discussed things as they went up the steps, rain pelting down on them. While Kuzuki couldn't ever be described as warm or even relaxed in John's company, there was at least something familiar in the way they spoke. It was while Kuzuki was discussing the mysterious fire nearly a decade ago that that they spotted the figure sprawled on the steps in front of them.
It was a woman, drenched by the rain, and dressed, oddly enough, in blue and purple robes. The hood of said robes had fallen away, revealing lavender hair framing lugubriously beautiful features. Oddly enough, her ears were pointed, giving her the air of an elf. Her breathing was ragged and laborious, and she was, at best, semi-conscious, and slipping fast.
John, after checking the forest and the steps they were climbing for any potential threats, dashed up to her as fast as he could manage in the rain. "Hey! Hey! Are you okay?!" he yelled. His practised eye looked over the woman. No external injuries as far as he could tell.
Her eyes flickered open, revealing sapphire orbs, glistening with tears, peering at him, unfocused, tired, but alive. "…Who…are…" Her eyes flickered shut.
John grimaced. Her time was running out, and they needed to get her out of the elements fast. He looked at Kuzuki, who said, "Come with me. The head priest at Ryuudou holds me in high regard. We'll get their help."
Once they were at the temple, Kuzuki, after explaining the situation to the monks, brought the woman to his room. As they entered, the woman seemed to rally slightly, her eyes flickering open once more. She looked at them curiously, albeit with some wariness, and her expression was still haggard. "…Where am I?" she asked.
"Ryuudou Temple," Kuzuki said simply. "I live here with the permission of the monks here. I am Soichirou Kuzuki. This is John Wick."
"We found you collapsed on the stairs," John explained. "We brought you here. What happened to you?"
The woman looked at them both, as if deciding whether to take them into her confidence. "I doubt you would believe me if I told you."
"You weren't assaulted or anything?" John asked.
"Not sexually, no," the woman said. After a moment, she asked, "…Would the name 'Caster' mean anything to you?"
"Should it?" Kuzuki asked, while John frowned. Why did that sound familiar?
"I see. Well, you two have my gratitude." She made to stand, only to nearly topple back to the floor. John caught her almost instantly.
"You can't leave in your condition," John said quietly.
The woman seemed to realise this, what looked like self-reproach on her face. "…Very well. I will rest here, for now…"
The two men looked after the woman, who only called herself 'Caster', overnight. While her mental acuity seemed to get better, physically, she seemed to get worse. By the next morning, with it still raining, she seemed to lack energy, her skin becoming cold and clammy. When she realised this, she closed her eyes. "I can't tarry any longer," she said, resignedly, even as she ate some soup provided by Kuzuki.
"What do you mean?" John asked, before Caster dropped a bombshell.
"…What do you know about magecraft?" Caster asked in her turn.
"Do you mean magic?" Kuzuki asked. "I know nothing about it. I didn't think it existed."
"…I am a Magus," John admitted quietly, shooting Kuzuki a look that he would explain later.
Caster looked at him sharply. "Then, do you know about the Holy Grail War?"
"…I've heard rumours. Nothing substantial."
"Very well. I need to be brief, for my time in this world is now limited. I am what is known as a Servant, a familiar summoned by a Magus, derived from a Heroic Spirit summoned from the Throne of Heroes by the Grail. Seven Masters summon seven Servants to fight for the Holy Grail. When six of the Servants have been slain, the Grail is primed to grant a wish apiece to the remaining Servant and their Master," Caster explained.
"What happened to your original Master?" John asked.
Caster scoffed bitterly. "He tried to kill me, so I killed him, in self-defence. However, as I need a mana source to remain in this world…I will soon disperse, my essence returning to the Grail. And I do not wish for that to happen. While I do not enjoy being reduced to pleas, Mr Wick, I ask you, no, I beseech you, as one Magus to another, to become my Master." She bowed low in supplication.
John's first instinct was to reject the offer out of hand. He had come here to get away from his old life, from the fallout from the war he had waged against Viggo Tarasov's organisation. He hadn't come here to get enmeshed in another war, a war between Magi. And Caster had just admitted that she had killed her former Master.
And yet, it was tempting. He was wary of the Grail, seeing as it could be a monkey's paw of some sort, but still… "Caster, if you know so much about the Grail, answer me this: can it be used to bring the dead back to life? Beyond this Heroic Spirit thing?"
Caster nodded. "From what knowledge the Grail has given me, that is well within its capabilities. It was an attempt by the von Einzbern family to regain the True Magic known as Heaven's Feel, and reviving the dead is part of it."
The von Einzbern family…the very family he had devastated while helping Kiritsugu Emiya get his daughter back. And if it could be used to bring the dead back to life…then maybe he could use it for Helen and Daisy, revive them in normal bodies.
John debated with himself for a time, but in truth, he had already made the decision. "All right," he said, a little reluctantly. "I'll be your Master…"
CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:
So, John's met Medea. And it looks like he will be a Master in the upcoming Grail War. But will he be friend or foe to the Emiyas?
People who read the original version of the first chapter in Zelretch's Collection of Alternates will doubtless see the differences, especially how I cut out the meeting with Shirou and Illya. This was deliberate: I want there to be some initial conflict between John and the Emiyas, until they finally come together.
No numbered annotations this time.