Fate: Hammer Time

by TedTheRabbit

Shirou Emiya wanted to become a hero. That was clear to all who truly know him. For a long time though, he lacked the power to actually achieve that goal. No longer. No longer will he lack the power, now that the Hammer of the Odinson has chosen him as new wielder. Prepare for Thunder. ShirouxMultiple, Thor-Shirou.

17. Misunderstandings

Misunderstandings

---

Shirou was currently on a mission, walking over the streets with a clear purpose in mind, but he was distracted by a flash of purple hair he saw from the corner of his eye. Shirou immediately stepped right, swiftly cutting off the girl's path before she could get away again.

"Hey Sakura. Good to see you here. How are you doing tod-"

"AH, Senpai! H-H-Hey." Sakura exclaimed, looking at him with horror in her eyes. "Uhm, I really don't have time to talk right now. I'll see you later, I have to go home. Bye."

"Wha? W-Wait…"

But Sakura didn't wait, just like she hadn't the previous times. She slipped past him and started running, sprinting even, to get away from him.

Shirou almost ran after her, but at the last second, he held himself back. If she didn't want to talk, he wouldn't force her.

When he had woken up the morning after he'd taken down the Magi, now two days ago, it had been in high spirits. Those had disappeared fast though when Sakura failed to show up for breakfast, and Shirou got outright worried when she didn't show up for dinner that day either.

The next morning, he had intercepted her on the way to school, intending to ask her about her absence. The moment she'd laid eyes on him though, she'd turned around and ran away, completely ignoring his cries for her to wait.

Shirou had been astounded, worried, and even a little hurt by her blunt rejection, especially since he didn't even know what he'd done wrong.

Had he angered her somehow? If he had, he would have to make amends immediately, but how could he do that when he didn't even know what he'd done wrong?

Doing nothing wasn't an option though. The mere thought of losing Sakura made his stomach coil and filled him with one of the most unpleasant feelings he'd ever felt.

It was clear he needed to have another conversation with Shinji, and fast. He could no longer allow himself to be blown off by insults and denials. Something was clearly wrong, and he needed to fix it.

Unfortunately however, the older Matou-sibling was also dodging him at every turn. Shirou was absolutely certain he had seen Shinji from afar several times, but just like Sakura, the other teen always fled before Shirou could speak to him.

By now, both siblings were probably already inside the Matou-estate, well beyond his reach, leaving him with no way to talk to them. Gritting his teeth, Shirou decided to cut his losses and try again tomorrow. For now, he had to prepare dinner for Fuji-nee.

Not with Sakura, but alone. Something that hadn't happened in a long time but had been the situation for two days in a row now. Which was two days too many.

Before he would go home though, he still needed to visit Tohsaka's house first, to deliver his apology-gift.

When he had raided the Magi's castle, he had not taken a lot with him. It had all been so vile and evil that he had burned just about everything present there, including all of their research.

That had been an objectively foolish move, Shirou freely admitted that. He could always use more knowledge after all and destroying the research might make the sacrifice of the people who died for it seem in vain.

Those people hadn't chosen to suffer for the sake of research though; They had been abducted and torn apart for things they didn't even care about. Every bit that resulted from that was vile to the core, and a hero should want nothing to do with it.

Shirou wanted to be a hero, and that sometimes meant doing what was stupid, instead of what was convenient.

Not the most pragmatic choice, but then again, being a Hero of Justice was far from pragmatic in itself.

That was not to say he hadn't taken anything at all from the castle though.

Still in his Vault were Burgon and Balefor, the two Magi he had managed to capture alive, as well as the dead bodies of the other three Magi.

He had wanted to deliver them all to Kirei right away, but the priest was now watching the church's surroundings much better than before, making it difficult for him to get close. He would either have to find another way to get those Magi to the Clocktower or wait until Kirei lowered his guard again.

He'd also found plenty of information in the castle. There had been a lot of agendas and paperwork lying around in Burgon's Workshop, all filled with locations of Sealing Designees, trade deals Burgon had made with them, blackmail material on several important lords, and so on.

If those papers were the best find in terms of information though, then the gems he had found under Burgon's bed were definitely the most valuable when it came to money.

Shirou himself had no talent in Gem-craft. Nothing, not a snippet, and neither did Thor, according to Mjolnir. As such, the gems were useless to him, except perhaps as batteries. He certainly couldn't use them for spells or fancy effects, not like Tohsaka could.

When deciding what to do with the gems, he had done a bit of research in his father's tomes, and had discovered that there were in fact different 'classes' for gems.

These classes were low-, mid-, and high-quality, depending on the purity of the gem in question.

The higher the purity of a gem, the more power could be stored in it and the more efficient the transfer would be.

A low-quality gem for instance would be able to hold maybe ten thousand units of Magical Energy at most, while the efficiency of transfer would be horrible. If you tried to add more Magical Energy, only around 15% of that Magical Energy would actually be stored in the gem, while the rest would be lost.

In comparison, a high-quality gem could hold up to a hundred thousand units of Magical Energy, with the efficiency being over 90%, so with less than 10% wasted.

The mid-quality gems were somewhere in between the low and high. Around thirty to forty thousand units of Magical Energy at the maximum with an efficiency of about 50%, at the very most 60%.

Of course, those ratings could be skewed a little if a gem would contain a large amount of Magical Energy already. If a Magus would have the choice between a low-quality gem already containing twenty thousand units of Magical Energy and a mid-quality gem containing nothing, most would choose the low-quality gem.

One also had to keep in mind that not every gem in existence was fit for Magecraft. There were necessary requirements during the formation of the gem that could only be met under certain circumstances. Without those, the gems were nothing but shiny rocks.

Burgon's stash contained nineteen gems in total. Of those nineteen, there were only five of low-quality. They already held around two thousand units of Magical Energy each.

There were also ten mid-quality gems, each of those containing around ten thousand units on average, while the four high-quality gems contained about twenty thousand units each.

Shirou was pretty sure that the Magical Energy wasn't all Burgon's. It was altogether way too much to have come from one elderly Magus.

Anyway, he was getting side-tracked. He had been deciding on what to give to Tohsaka.

Gems fit for Magecraft were insanely expensive. That was only logical, as using a Gem for any kind of serious Magecraft would destroy that Gem. That meant that gifting Tohsaka a lot of them at once would make her very suspicious.

This was supposed to be an apology-gift, to repay her a bit for making her spend so much time and effort on hunting down the rogue Magus, that being Shirou, in her territory. He had probably caused her no end of grief with his storms and everything.

However, he had to give her the impression that he was a normal Magus, who was bribing her to leave him be. As such, he could not give her too much, lest it become suspicious. Normal Magi would not just readily hand over nineteen gems after all.

Eventually, he had decided to give her three low-quality gems and two mid-quality ones. It didn't seem like a lot, but he had calculated that the total price of those few Gems would equal the year-budget of the average Magus-family.

The average Magus-family was quite a bit richer than a normal average family, so that wasn't an inconsiderable sum of money. Perfectly fit for a bribery-attempt.

He had put the Gems in a small cardboard box, with a little note attached for her to read. He would just hand the box to her in person and pretend he was merely asked to deliver it. She might suspect him for a while, but he could deal with that.

In his haste, Shirou never thought of just leaving it in front of her door. Funny, how the simplest solutions could sometimes escape a person.

Reaching Tohsaka's house, Shirou pressed the doorbell and waited in front of the gates.

The door was opened about half-a-minute later by an irate Tohsaka, who had clearly just gotten out of bed if her unkept hair and tired expression were anything to go by.

"I was just taking my afternoon nap. What do you wan-… Emiya-kun?"

She started out strong, but tapered off once she recognised him, looking shocked that he was standing there. Then her gaze shifted to the package he was holding out to her, and her eyes started twitching.

"Wh-What are y-you doing h-here? Y-You can't just show up unannounced, I wasn't prepared at all." She hissed, frantically combing her hair with her hands, before closing the door almost completely and hiding behind it, only half of her face still visible.

"I'm sorry, Tohsaka-san." He said, bowing his head slightly while scratching the back of his head. "But I was approached by someone who asked me to deliver this to you."

This being the package containing the Gems.

Tohsaka peered suspiciously at him with half-closed eyes, but accepted the package after a moment of thought. She promptly opened it, though she did take care to hide the contents from him.

Once she got a good look inside however, she gasped in shock, nearly dropping the box.

"Tohsaka-san?" Shirou asked, looking as concerned as he could manage. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing." She instantly denied, closing the box and taking a step backwards. "Just a little surprised. Nothing is wrong at all. But ah, say, Emiya-kun; who did you say you had gotten this from?"

"Just some guy with a raincoat, scarf, and hat." Shirou said with a shrug. "He told me he wanted to gift you something but wasn't quite sure how to do it. I just thought I'd help him out."

"Yes, your famous propensity for helping people. How could I forget." Tohsaka said with a small smirk that quickly changed into a slight grimace. "Hey, Emiya-kun? This might seem like a strange thing to ask, but… if you ever see this person again, could please tell me?"

"I didn't really see any discerning features, but sure, if you want me to." Shirou promised, well aware that he wasn't going to tell her a thing.

"Thank you. By the way, just… you know what, if you ever see anything that seems even a little strange to you, please tell me at once."

"…Huh?"

Shirou didn't have to fake his surprise this time. She wanted him to keep an eye out in the city for strange things? Him?

It was understandable that she would want to keep watch over her territory, but to trust him to help her with it? That was surprising, and it made him feel a bit guilty for deceiving her like this.

"Well of course." Tohsaka snapped impatiently. "It's not exactly normal for masked guys to be handing packages to teenage boys to be delivered to teenage girls living alone. Don't tell me that doesn't seem at least a little creepy to you."

"When you put it like that, it certainly seems so." Shirou admitted sheepishly. "I will do as you ask, Tohsaka-san."

That got him a beautiful smile, before she excused herself and closed the door again.

All in all, not entirely according to plan, but a success nonetheless.

Now, time to go back home and make dinner.

…Without Sakura.

---

"Sakura-chan! Stay here and talk to me!"

Ayako had finally managed to corner the girl inside one of the halls of their school. After having her slip through her fingers time and again for the past few days, the brunette now had her friend in her grasp.

Giving a cheeky grin, the exuberant girl lightly prodded her friend in the side, though Sakura still had her back turned to her. "You certainly made it difficult for me to catch you, hm. Any reason you were so slippery-?"

Then Sakura turned around, and Ayako froze, her words stuck in her throat.

Tears were streaming down Sakura's cheeks, her whole body was shaking as if in pain, and her eyes were full of terror.

"M-Mitsuzuri-san. P-P-Please leave me be." Sakura almost begged. "I-I m-must g-g-go h-home. I c-can't talk t-to you, or- or..."

"Or what?" Ayako demanded, well aware she was being very insensitive but not able to hold herself back. " What is going on, Sakura? Why are you avoiding us? Everyone has been worried about you."

"I- ehm, I was just thinking about that actually." Sakura mumbled, looking down to the ground as she wiped her tears away. "…Could you tell Senpai that I will not be coming to his house anymore? I don't have the time left to do so, grandfather… w-wants me t-to do more ch-chores."

"What?!" Ayako exclaimed, not believing her ears. "B-But you love going there. Why are you- what do you mean you won't be going over again?!"

"There- there is no place for me there." Sakura grounded out, still looking down at the ground. "Grandfather does not want me to go to Senpai's house anymore, while you and Senpai don't need me."

"Excuse me?! What kind of nonsense is that? Why should you have to listen to that old fossil? Is this about me still not having accepted or denied your offer? The one concerning Shirou? T-The one w-where we sha-"

"You can have him. Please, feel free to make your move." Sakura said, turning her head away. "I-I must go now. Goodbye, Mitsuzuri-san."

Before Ayako could react to the frankly nonsensical statements, before she could slap the nonsense out of Sakura's head, the plum-haired girl ran past her in an incredible burst of speed.

Of course, the brunette tried pursuing her, to stop her and tell her that she did have a place with her and Shirou, that they all loved her, but Sakura was, somehow, too fast for her, and disappeared after several turns.

By the time Ayako would catch up to her, she would have long since entered her house, well beyond the brunette's reach.

"No! God! Damn that old man!" Ayako spat, cursing her own slowness and the fact she had apparently made Sakura feel as if she had no place with her friends anymore. Now she was gone and there was nothing Ayako could do.

She hadn't even noticed that Sakura had apparently felt excluded from their group. What kind of friend was Ayako that she hadn't noticed?! How could she have been so blind?

She had to talk with Shirou right now. They had to disabuse Sakura of those asinine notions as soon as possible.

While running towards Shirou's house however, she encountered another friend on her way, this one of the black-haired variety.

"Mitsuzuri-san." Tohsaka called out, waving her hand to draw Ayako's attention as she ran to catch up to her. "Wait for me."

It was very rare for the proper and well-behaved school-idol to try and initiate a conversation like that, so, despite her haste, Ayako slowed down enough for the other girl to catch up.

"What is it, Tohsaka-san? I don't mean to be rude, but I'm a little busy right now…"

"This will only take a moment. Have you heard from Emiya-kun that he brought me a package yesterday?"

"The one he got from some stranger on the street? Yes, he told me about that. A little weird if you ask me, but it's not like you don't get gifts every other day from your admirers. What was in it anyway?"

"Gemstones."

Ayako stopped dead.

"Gemstones?" She asked in absolute disbelief, getting a nod back from the other girl. "Who the fuck would send you gemstones?"

"I find it strange as well." Tohsaka agreed grimly. "Which is why I'm here. Could you- well, could you please help me keep an eye out for other incidents like that?"

"Huh?" Ayako cocked her head to the side in surprise. "I mean, sure, I guess it makes sense that you want to be cautious, but why are you asking me?"

"W-Well, like you said, I want to be cautious. If there's some creep out there sending me expensive gifts, who knows what they'll try to demand in return." Tohsaka replied, before looking at the ground in a surprisingly bashful motion. "B-Besides, y-you are my friend, so I thought I'd ask you for help."

A friend? Tohsaka was acknowledging Ayako as her friend?

Amazing! The brunette would have celebrated if she wasn't busy dealing with a dire problem. Still, she couldn't just let this pass by.

"Don't worry, Tohsaka-chan, I'll gladly help you." Ayako proclaimed, giving a victory-sign. "You can count on me. Was that everything though? I really need to go now…"

"Yes. Please, don't let me keep you." Tohsaka said, smiling brightly at her agreement. "Thank you very much."

"Cool. Bye, Rin-chan." Ayako said, before quickly leaning in and kissing the girl's cheek.

Very bold of her, and perhaps a little misplaced in this situation, not to mention quite inappropriate, but she couldn't help it. Rin was just too much fun to mess with.

Ayako ran on, with the spluttered protests of the black-haired girl chasing her as she went.

Despite Rin being a school-idol, it was surprisingly easy to tease her once you knew how. A little word of fondness or a gesture of affection and the girl was in a frenzy…

Wait. That was actually pretty depressing…

Damn, Tohsaka had her demons as well it seemed, and Ayako had again missed it. She really needed to pay closer attention to her friends. At this rate, it wouldn't be surprising if Shirou had some kind of problem as well.

No, scratch that. He definitely had some kind of problem.

She really knew how to pick her friends, didn't she?

Still, she wouldn't trade them for the world.

---

It had been over half-an-hour ago now that Mitsuzuri had run off, yet Rin's cheeks still felt a little more heated than normal. The nerve of that girl to act like she did!

The brunette was a friendly acquaintance, but she wasn't a friend or anything.

She might be very nice, and fun to be around and she always managed to lift her spirits, but Rin wasn't just going to let her get closer. Who did that girl think she was anyway, k-k-k-kissing her like that?

Rin violently shook her head, trying to dispel those thoughts.

Ugh, why did Mitsuzuri have to be so exuberant all the time? It was so annoying, just like that tendency of her to act like they were friends. They weren't!

It wasn't like she appreciated the other girl or something, just because she didn't constantly walk after Rin like a headless chicken-

Anyway, she had more important things to deal with, like that stupid package with that horribly vague note attached to it.

When Emiya-kun had suddenly stood in front of her door, holding out a package for her, she had thought for a moment that he was giving her the package. She had been struck silent, not knowing at all how to react to receiving a gift from him of all people.

Which was really annoying too. It was hardly the first time she had received a present from someone, her admirers gave her stuff all the time, and she had never had any trouble refusing those gifts in elegant and socially acceptable ways before.

So why had she stood there stuttering like an idiot when it had been Emiya offering her something?

Probably because he was a friendly acquaintance and she didn't want to reject him out of hand. Yes, that was the definitely the reason.

It had turned out though that he was merely passing it along for someone else. She had assumed for one of the aforementioned admirers, and had been prepared to tell him to take it back.

She had wondered though why someone would use Emiya-kun for such a thing. Wouldn't it defeat the purpose of a seduction-gift if you had someone else deliver it?

When she had looked into the box however, and had seen the obviously magically charged gems, she understood. Her frien- friendly acquaintance, had been used as errant boy by another Magus.

Also spotting a note among the gems, Rin had finished the conversation with Emiya as soon as she could, though not before ordering him to report anything strange that he might notice in town to her.

Fortunately, Emiya hadn't argued at all, and neither had he questioned her, instead just promising to do as he was asked.

Rin appreciated that a lot.

Moving on. Once she had managed to chase the redhead away, she had read the note, which was both enlightening, and frustrating.

Dear Tohsaka-dono,

I contact you in your occupation of Magus and the official Second Owner of Fuyuki-City.

I shall be blunt with you. I have been running rampant in your territory for quite a while now, and for this, I apologise.

Unfortunately for us both, I cannot approach you at the moment, as I am attempting to keep myself hidden from prying eyes. To at least try to make amends, I have sent you a gift.

You may use the gems as you see fit. I have not added any spells or Enchantments to them, but you are free to check for yourself.

Hopefully, they can convince you to forgive my audacity.

Was signed,

A fellow practitioner of Magecraft.

This was the guy who had been causing the disturbances of the past months. The one who had been throwing around such large amounts of power and had delivered the mercenary to Kirei.

Well, that last point was forgivable. Delivering a criminal to an official representative of the Burial Agency was allowed by the law of both the Clocktower and the Church itself, and Rin really had been able to put that reward money to good use.

Running rampant through her territory was not allowed though, nor was it appreciated, and she would not let an outright bribe prevent her from tracking this person down and making her displeasure known.

That said, she would keep the gems. From what she could determine, the normal price she would have to pay for them would bankrupt her five times over with her finances being as they were now, so getting them as a present was nice. She deserved it after all the trouble this Magus had caused her.

She would, of course, first check them over thoroughly for tampering before she would use them for anything, she wasn't born yesterday.

As she went inside, Rin did hesitate for a moment. Both Emiya and Mitsuzuri were now aware, to an extent, that something weird was happening in the city and had received the order to report such things directly to her, but was that safe?

What would that mean for her frien- friendly acquaintances? Were they in danger now that they were looking for suspicious activity? Had Rin sent them to their deaths?

She would have to think this through, and fast.

Rin would never forgive herself if her haste and careless behaviour got her two favourite people harmed or even killed.

---

About eight hours earlier

Waver Velvet was normally a very patient man. Everyone he knew would gladly attest to that, from his students and friends to his employees and fellow lords. They all knew him as someone who wasn't quick to anger and could actually think things through, even under significant duress.

That said, he had to admit that the wait was slowly getting on his nerves now, as he sat on his chair, waiting for the plane to arrive in Japan.

It had only been the previous day that the recently captured mercenary had told them the location of Waver's long time enemy and target, Vincent Balefor, but Waver was already fresh out of patience.

He was able to sooth himself slightly though with the prospect of finally arresting the man for his crimes. He would not be getting away this time, nor could be expect any mercy when he had been arrested.

Killing his uncle and nephew, who had been the lord and the heir respectively of the Balefor-family, as well as stealing the family-Crest were already terrible crimes, sure to get the perpetrator a slow and painful death, but it seemed Balefor hadn't stopped there. According to the mercenary, he and his associates had also set up a scheme to abduct hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people from all over Japan, to be used as subjects for their inhuman experiments.

While Waver could acknowledge the idea was rather clever, he also had to express his sheer disgust at the concept. So much loss of life, for research that probably wasn't even worth it.

Unfortunately, such behaviour wasn't forbidden by the laws of the Clocktower. He hated it, but he couldn't punish anyone for that.

The Sealing Designees had made a crucial mistake however, when they had tried to abduct an official Second Owner.

Not only had their hired mercenary been caught in the act, most likely by an associate of said Second Owner, but that associate had also delivered the mercenary, an already wanted man, to the local priest, and thus eventually to the Clocktower, where he had sung like a bird.

Now Waver was on his way to put an end to their abominable operations and arrest all five of the Magi. Especially Balefor, but the rest of them wouldn't get away with their actions either.

After that, he would pay a visit to Fuyuki-City, to speak with the Second Owner and their associate there, and he would try to see Glen and Martha again.

He wasn't really supposed to visit the latter two, he knew that, but it wasn't like anyone would notice or care all that much anyway. His king would never look favourably upon him ignoring the people who had willingly given them shelter during the War either.

If only the plane would go a little faster.

"What are you thinking about, my lord?" The woman next to him suddenly asked, looking up from her magazine, which was opened at an advertisement for suits. "You're looking very focused there."

Happy with the distraction, Waver answered her readily enough.

"Nothing much, just bemoaning the slowness of this entire journey. Being so close, yet still so far is frustrating, to say the least."

Bazett Fraga McRemitz, member of the legendary Fraga-clan, exceptional Enforcer, and his current partner for this mission, hummed in response.

"I suppose Japan is pretty far away from London." She agreed. "Still, I'm quite sure that when things inevitably go wrong for us, you'll look back on these peaceful hours and wish you had appreciated them more."

"Probably, but for now, I just want to be there. This journey just takes too long altogether, just like back then."

"Any reason you're so antsy, my lord, if you're comparing it to the Grail War?"

"I would've thought the cause of my behaviour was obvious. You weren't briefed on the mission beforehand?"

"Just the basics. They were asking around for extra people, and the pay was so good that I couldn't resist joining up. I suppose I was so happy with being picked that I didn't ask too many questions."

A dry look from Waver had Bazett raise her hands in defence. "I'm not greedy, really not, I just recently lost a lot of money to some scammers, again, and two of my suits were destroyed, so I can use some lucrative jobs right now."

Waver kept up his look for a few more moments, before he sighed deeply.

"One of the Magi we are hunting, Vincent Balefor, killed one of my old friends." He explained shortly. "After that, he fled to Japan, where he has apparently been living for all this time. I suppose I just want to ruin his day and life as soon as I can."

"Understandable. But ah, lord El-Melloi, I've been meaning to ask. What are the rules exactly on finding valuable objects and money in their hide-out? Can I keep them, or…?"

"Feel free to keep them. As long as their research is either confiscated or destroyed, I care not for what happens to their belongings." Waver said with a careless shrug. "Be careful though, I wouldn't put it past these people to have cursed and boobytrapped everything in there, just to spite us."

"I will be careful." Bazett agreed with a small smile, returning her gaze to her suit advertisement, probably to take notes for when she had some money again. "Now, Lord El-Melloi, why don't you just take a nap if you have nothing else to do?"

Waver grunted once, before deciding to do exactly that.

---

Seven hours later, both Bazett and he were walking through a quaint little town called Hiraizumi, currently on their way to obtain information about the castle on the hill.

Of course, Waver had taken his squad of Enforcers with him from London, to back them up if needed, but he had deemed it wiser if only two people went out to gather information, as a group like theirs would attract a lot of attention.

Their first stop was the mayor of the town.

Apparently, the man had just had his former secretary arrested for corruption, so pretending that they actually had an appointment with him was a little easier than it would normally be.

Of course, once they were inside his office, Bazett immediately Hypnotised the man, both to interrogate him and to avoid awkward situations when the man would inevitably realise that they did not in fact have an appointment or even a valid reason to be in his office.

Their questioning didn't produce any results however. The mayor professed to know nothing of the castle or its inhabitants. Bazett tried looking for memory locks in the man's mind but was unable to find any. She wasn't the best at such things, but she wasn't exactly unskilled either. Unless the perpetrator had some serious skill at Hypnotising people and placing very discrete blocks, Bazett's judgement could likely be trusted here.

It wasn't as if Waver could have done better himself.

Though asking the Mayor for information had turned out to be a bust, trying to ask the locals gave them a bit more to work with.

The accumulated rumours of heavy traffic, periodic screaming, and armed people certainly seemed cause enough to take a closer look at the castle. Even if the inhabitants weren't actually the Magi they were looking for, Waver reasoned, the two of them could still put a stop to some clearly very morally wrong activities.

The moment the castle came in sight however, Waver froze. From the corner of his eye, he saw Bazett shrug off her jacket and activate some of the Runes on her gloves and shoes, preparing for combat, doubtlessly seeing the same as he did.

Broken Bounded Fields surrounding a castle that had been laid to waste.

---

It was strange to consider. He had just finished beating his nemeses, putting an end to a months-long mission, yet instead of the expected peace and calm, it seemed as if he was only getting more problems piled onto him.

Shirou was just in the middle of pondering over his last conversation with Ayako, where they had discussed Sakura's recent behaviour, frantically trying to think of a way to get through to Sakura before it was too late, when a sheet of paper, folded into the shape of a swallow, a European one to be specific, came down from upstairs.

It was coloured a deep dark red, and the moment it spotted Shirou it started making alarm-sounds of all kinds.

Shirou did not have to be told twice, and immediately manifested both Mjolnir and his armour.

His alarms on the Magi's castle had been triggered. All of them.

Someone had entered the castle, someone possessing active Magic Circuits.

While Shirou was loath to lose time right now, time he needed to think of something to help Sakura with, this was not something that could be put off. As such, he would go.

So it was with both reluctance and acceptance that Shirou walked into his backyard and launched himself into the sky, on his way to Hiraizumi, pushing himself to the absolute limit to reach the town as fast as he could.

---

Waver, along with Bazett, entered the castle through the already-breached gate, keeping an eye out for any threats or traps that might be present in the hallway.

Back in the garden, the only things they had been able to find were more broken Bounded Fields, many Magical traps that had been triggered or destroyed, and a veritable warzone.

Ash was spread out everywhere, entire swats of Earth were upended, enormous scorch marks were spread around, and some of the sand had even been turned into glass.

This all, combined with the immense residue of Magical Energy in the air, told them of an enormous battle having taken place there. The attackers must have been quite powerful, or quite numerous, to have done so much damage.

Inside, the situation turned out to be barely any better.

"Looks like quite the fight took place here." Waver mentioned to his partner, who frowned at the sight of the ruined hall, before kneeling next to one of the walls.

"This wasn't a fight, Lord El-Melloi." She eventually concluded as she got up. "This was a trap. There are a lot of traces here of spells that were remotely activated after having been here for quite a long time. They waited until the attackers were here before springing it."

"I see." Waver hummed, looking at the hallway in a new light. It couldn't be determined anymore now, but he was morbidly curious as to how many of the attackers had died in this trap during the siege. Hopefully not too many.

Following the hallway past the many chambers filled with furniture, books, food, kitchenware, and in some cases, cages, they eventually arrived at the largest room so far, with a door that had been smashed off its hinges and a large amount of ash inside.

After a few minutes, both Bazett and Waver could only conclude it had been a Workshop of one of the Magi, the magical residue and the placing and style of the room making it just about the only possibility.

"So this is where one of them did their research." Bazett mused, looking slightly forlorn. "I wonder how many people died here."

"It is probably for the best if we don't think about that." Waver replied, pursing his lips. "Everything has been destroyed anyway."

"We should probably continue then." The redhead sighed, already turning to the door, Waver following close behind her. "There should be other Workshops around. Maybe they'll hold something of interest."

Bazett turned out to be only half-right. Yes, there were other Workshops, three to be precise, yet none of them were any different from the first. They were all filled with ash, and nothing else.

It could only point to one conclusion.

"We really were too late altogether." Bazett grumbled, saying out loud what they had both already known. "The Magi are gone, and so are their research and their Workshops. The fate of their victims, we can only guess at. Someone beat us and did a thorough job of it too."

Waver agreed with her conclusion, his brow creased in contemplation. He would have approved wholeheartedly of the actions of the attackers, if it wasn't for the little fact that he wanted to take these people down himself, or, failing that, at least be a part of the attacking force.

Well, he could get past being too late to the party. It wouldn't be easy, but he could.

That didn't address the largest problem however.

As they walked through the central halls of the castle, torches unlit and the light of the setting sun through the open windows the only thing illuminating their way, it was Bazett who spoke up first.

"Sir. Where do you think the Sealing Designees themselves are?" She asked. "We didn't find any corpses, and something tells me they are not part of the ash either."

"I don't know." Waver admitted as they continued, looking into every room on their way, yet finding absolutely nothing worth their attention. "And I don't like that at all. I do not mind it if they have been killed already, but it is of great importance that we get the Balefor-Crest back and ensure that none of the Sealing Designees are still free."

"So now we have to search for the ones who attacked the castle? Without a single lead?" Bazett groaned, clearly not happy. "The attackers could be anywhere by now."

Waver closed his eyes for a moment, having to face the truth of those words.

"We'll have to track them down regardless." He sighed, feeling a headache come up. "We should probably return to our base and inform the others. If we want to have any chance at finding the attackers, we'll need to move fast, before the trail goes cold."

"Goes cold?" His partner huffed. "That's presuming there is a trail to begin with, and that is by no means certain, lord El-Melloi."

"No, it isn't." Waver agreed. "I suppose we are back where we started. We don't know who attacked the castle, we don't know where those attackers are, and we don't even know if the Magi were truly stopped or still somewhere out there. In other words, it looks like I'll need your services for an extended amount of time."

"Fine by me. I'll have to charge you more though."

"That is only fair, we'll hash out the new deal when we get back to our base. Then I'll tell the others too and let them dictate their new terms as well."

Bazett nodded from beside him, a small, relieved smile on her face, before she suddenly grabbed his arm and forced him to a stop.

"Bazett?"

"I wasn't entirely sure before." The red-haired woman began, holding on to his arm, but dropping her jacket on the ground. "I thought it was just my imagination at first, but having this feeling for over ten minutes is no longer a coincidence. Sir, we are not alone here."

Not alone…

'WHOOSH'

Waver felt himself be pulled along violently by Bazett, who threw herself to the side, only a fraction of a second after he heard something large moving through the air, straight towards them.

His partner came down on her feet, while Waver landed on his ass. Landing on his behind did not impede him though, and he promptly looked back.

The first thing he noticed was that the object he heard flying through the air was in fact their opponent themselves, who landed in a slight crouch several metres away from where Bazett and he had been standing.

It didn't seem like an overly aggressive move, in fact, it didn't seem like it was an attack at all, yet Waver would assume they were an enemy until the opposite was proven.

The fact that the figure wore very impressive and obviously Magical armour didn't help either. They were clearly prepared for a fight.

"Greetin-" Their opponent, a rather young man by the sound of his voice, began, before Bazett launched herself forward in an attack, not intending to give the figure a chance to get a spell or Curse out.

Using her family's proficiency with Runes to great effect, the woman was able to take her opponent by surprise with her sheer speed, allowing her to get close and punch at his face with a gloved fist, the Rune on her glove glowing with power.

It seemed like it would land at first, but the boy moved his head out of the way at the last possible moment, almost stumbling backwards as the fist flew past his face. The following left hook from Bazett was blocked with a raised arm, but the knee she launched at his stomach was a perfect hit.

The armoured figure was lifted a few inches from the ground, yet despite the pain he had to be feeling, still managed to pull both his legs up and double-kick Bazett away from him, gaining himself some breathing room as she gasped for air, her hands leaning on her knees.

Not too much room though, as the Fraga recovered fast and launched a flurry of punches at her opponent, clearly intending to take him down fast. Many more Runes all over her clothes starting glowing, of which 'Ehwaz', the Rune of Hardening, was the only one Waver recognised.

No longer taken by surprise, the figure managed to block most of Bazett's strikes, and tank the ones he couldn't block or dodge, as well as throw a few punches of his own, of which one or two actually managed to land.

Waver had difficulty following the battle, but it was clear that Bazett was dishing out a lot more than she was taking. Unfortunately however, her opponent didn't seem all that impressed by her blows. Not even a scratch appeared on his armour, and he didn't seem to be impeded either.

Bazett continued her assault, again dealing several blows to her opponent, but they again failed to faze the figure, who promptly punched Bazett's shoulder. The redheaded woman hissed at the blow, but otherwise showed no sign of being hurt.

The figure, clearly done with the scuffle, then suddenly tried to grab Bazett in a bear-hug, forcing the redhead to jump backwards, which opened her guard enough for a sudden shoulder check into her midriff, which threw her back to Waver's side with a grunt.

The entire confrontation had taken place in the time Waver had needed to get to his feet. He almost had flashbacks to the Servant-battles of the Grail War, if a severely toned-down version of them.

He didn't bother with talking, but immediately cast several spells at the figure, swiftly copied by Bazett, who threw a Rune Stone at the ceiling.

The ensuing explosions hid the figure from sight, as a part of the roof collapsed and came down upon him, dust and smoke spreading through the hallway.

Seeing this, both Waver and Bazett turned around and ran away in a strategic retreat. Staying at a battlefield chosen by another Magus was foolish to the extreme, and both were experienced enough to know it.

"So, what do you think of that guy?" Waver asked in a mild tone while running over the uneven stones. "Anything impressive?"

"Quite." Bazett hissed, rubbing the place on her shoulder where the figure had landed one of his blows. "He doesn't have much in the way of technique, but he's fast, strong, and very durable. That armour definitely isn't just for show either."

"Do you think you could win?"

"Perhaps. It depends on the possible tricks he has hidden up his sleeve. Not to mention that, at the very end of our scuffle, he suddenly seemed to speed up, which means he has probably been holding back so far."

"So have you."

"True, but still. We don't know how much he is holding back, not to mention he could have many spells and Curses and other nasty things in reserve. Also, I have to think about protecting you. No insult intended."

"None taken. Do you think he is the one responsible for the mess around here?"

"It is almost certain at this point, though I don't know how many friends he had with him during the attack, or how many now."

"Do you think he would be willing to talk?" Waver asked hopefully, though he didn't really expect a positive answer. Before Bazett could answer him though, someone else spoke up first.

"Certainly, if you would stop attacking me."

Waver turned his head around just in time to see the armoured figure flying after them, before he received a gale of wind to the back that sent him face-first to the ground, Bazett suffering a similar fate.

Unlike Bazett though, who managed to roll with the force and land on her feet, Waver had to catch himself on his hands.

"Lord El-Melloi." His partner hissed. "Get up and get out of here, I'll fight him."

True to her words, she jumped up from her position, cracking the stones under her, and swept her leg towards her opponent's head, who promptly raised his arm to block the kick.

When he tried grabbing her ankle however, Bazett twisted in mid-air, before using her other leg to execute a drop-kick.

The powerful, Rune-aided kick landed perfectly on top of his head, causing the figure's legs to buckle as he let out a pained groan. Bazett didn't escape unscathed either however, her face contorting in pain, a scream clearly only just held back as pain shot up the leg that had landed on the figure's head.

A quick backflip widened the distance between them, but as the woman came down, she was now clearly favouring one leg over the other. That helmet had to be quite something.

Waver, weary about abandoning a partner again, was already standing next to her however, and threw more spells at the figure, who flawlessly dodged them or even batted them away with his hands.

"How about we all calm down here?" The figure proposed, dodging the last of Waver's spells. "I am sorry for pushing you over just now, that was an impulse. Can't we talk this over peacefully, like you just suggested?"

A tempting offer, but not one Waver and Bazett could afford to take. Who knew how many others there could be in the castle, just waiting to ambush them while they were distracted by the one in front of them?

Waver despised how paranoid and unreasonable he had to be, but a glance at his partner told him she agreed with his reasoning. It really was necessary in the treacherous pit that was the Moonlit World.

The option of a peaceful talk was only open if the figure would surrender, and Waver was certain that wasn't an option.

"If your offer is genuine, I apologise for continuing the fight." Bazett said grimly, echoing Waver's thoughts. "But we simply cannot trust you not to lead us into a trap."

"I see." The man said, sounding disappointed, yet not surprised.

"We can talk after we've taken you to our base." Waver said, to which the figure shook his head.

"Not going to happen." He said simply, before holding out a hand, a small hammer suddenly appearing in his grip. "And I suppose that I am sorry too."

Then the mother of all lightning bolts was fired their way.

Waver was sure for a moment that he was a dead man, but Bazett, that wonderful woman, stepped forward and punched at the lightning bolt, deflecting most of it to the side, where it splattered against the wall, though she clearly got a minor electrocution from it too.

Waver was amazed at her skill, but also wondered about the lightning bolt not even destroying at least a small portion of the wall. It clearly wasn't very powerful, and perhaps not even all that lethal or debilitating either.

He had only looked at the wall for a second or two, not any longer, he was sure of it, yet when he looked back at his partner, she was already in mid-combat with the figure again.

Bazett had now activated most of her enhancement Runes, but the figure was still capable of matching her blow for blow. At least, Waver thought so. He couldn't follow the battle, it was all going too fast for him.

"Lord El-Melloi!" Bazett called after landing a solid kick on the opponent's chest and gaining herself a short moment of respite. "Get away from here and call back-up!"

"Right!" He agreed, getting up to make a run for it, though not before casting a few more spells at the figure.

He had to hold back a curse upon seeing the figure effortlessly dodge them and engage his partner again, the fight seemingly speeding up even more as the ground under their feet cracked. Waver shortly contemplated casting a few more spells to aid Bazett, but when they started throwing around spells and lightning bolts, tearing the walls to pieces and coming dangerously close to hitting Waver himself, he decided that discretion was the better part of valour.

"Fucking Japan." He hissed through his teeth as he fled like a coward, again. "Fucking overpowered figures with their strange weapons."

Continuing his dark mutterings the entire way, Waver stopped four corners further, where he couldn't even hear the fight anymore.

Only then did he dare to reach for his communication device, only to discover that it was fried, most likely because of the proximity to the lightning bolt.

"Damn." He grunted, regretting not taking a spare, though he suspected that one wouldn't have survived either. "What do I do now?"

He thought it over, relying on his experience to stay calm. He had barely had a minute to think though, before he was rudely interrupted.

The two combatants suddenly came bursting through a wall, the armoured figure coming through first, followed by Bazett, the rubble almost hitting Waver had he not thrown himself to the ground immediately.

"You maniacs!" He roared, momentarily forgetting the situation in his consternation. "I am standing here!"

"Stand somewhere else then." The figure advised not unkindly, while Bazett shouted out an apology.

Waver, remembering where he was and what was going on, quickly composed himself, before realising the figure's back was turned to him.

He immediately prepared several spells, all aimed at the back of the armoured man. The moment he seemed off balance, Waver would unleash the barrage, hopefully distracting him long enough for Bazett to take him down.

The moment came when the figure swung the hammer blindingly fast, almost hitting Waver's partner had she not dodged out of the way at the last moment.

Bazett followed it up with a brutal sweeping kick to the inside of the figure's leg, making him stumble and go down to one knee for a moment. Immediately after, he had to block another kick from Bazett by crossing his arms in front of him, still on one knee.

That was when Waver unleashed his wrath, having spotted the best chance he was going to get for a long while.

The multi-coloured bundles of light crossed the distance in a heartbeat, striking the armoured back full on, completely catching the figure by surprise...

And they did absolutely nothing, uselessly splashing against the figure and spluttering out.

That was when Waver realised he was in trouble.

The figure pushed forward with his arms, causing Bazett to skid a few metres backwards, leaving him free to turn to Waver.

Acting by pure instinct, Waver dived to his right, narrowly avoiding a punch from the figure, but unfortunately remaining well within striking distance of the hammer.

That hammer, that inconspicuous, little hammer, was raised above the figure's head, before it was brought down straight at Waver.

The lord only had a fraction of a second to realise the blow was aimed at the ground in front of him rather than at his body, when his redheaded partner suddenly jumped between them, arms crossed in front of her and her body braced for impact.

It was no use. Her guard was broken as if it wasn't even there, the hammer striking her stomach with full force, brutally slamming her down to the ground, where she bounced like a rubber ball before coming to a stop against a nearby wall, gasping for air.

The figure, again completely ignoring Waver, seized the opportunity with both hands, jumping forward and swinging his fist at Bazett, who was struggling to get to her feet, using the wall as support.

The fact that she was able to block the strike with her arm was a credit to her training and ability. That she was able to grab his wrist afterwards even more so.

Her opponent also swung the other fist, but Bazett managed to trap that wrist as well, clearly using her enhancements and her physical capabilities to their absolute peak, something that was definitely going to have adverse effects on her body later.

For a moment, Waver believed she had miraculously gained the upper hand again, before the figure suddenly and brutally headbutted her, slamming his head into hers from the front and making it slam into the wall behind her too.

Bazett's arms slacked, her grip on the attacker's wrists falling away as she swayed in place, her eyes turning glassy and unfocussed.

"T-That's no fair." She slurred, fighting to stay conscious, yet visibly losing the battle. "T-That w-was a l-l-low blow…"

The Fraga collapsed, the figure catching her before she could drop to the ground, carefully placing her with her back against the wall, before checking her pulse. The woman was out cold, a trickle of blood going down her forehead.

'Well damn.' Waver thought, feeling his stomach sink into his shoes.

'We lost.'

---

This was a total and utter screw-up on his part.

Shirou had followed the two Magi around for a while before confronting them, learning that they were apparently also enemies from the Magi, and affiliated with the Clocktower. Having heard that, Shirou had been all set for negotiation.

Unfortunately, before he could reveal himself, the woman had found him. From there on, it had spiralled out of control very fast, as all of his attempts to talk were rebuffed, and he was forced to fight the redheaded woman.

Now he had won the fight, and it was time for damage-control.

Shirou watched as the red-haired woman sunk to the ground after his headbutt, which, admittedly, had been a low blow from him. In his defence however, he just wanted this pointless battle to be over, and he would patch her up soon as this was resolved.

He caught the woman before she could hit the ground, placing her with her back against the wall instead. From what he could see, she wasn't hurt too badly, but he still checked her pulse before doing anything else.

After that, he had to talk with the one who was obviously her employer, if her deferring to his orders and protecting him was anything to go by.

The man had gotten to his feet in the meantime, admirably keeping a cool head. He seemed more concerned with the state of his… employee? Servant? Maid? than of Shirou approaching him now.

Shirou had to admire the man's courage. He didn't falter or tremble, standing upright instead, looking Shirou straight in the eyes with a challenging glare.

Well, if he expected the fight to continue, he was going to be disappointed.

"My offer to talk is still open." Shirou offered, seeing the man's eyes widen in surprise. "I would rather not make an enemy out of you, and I think we can help each other out. So, what do you say?"

"Not make an enemy out of us?" The Magus questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Bit late for that, isn't it?"

"Better late than never." Shirou countered, hoping the Magus wouldn't be too petty. "Now that I have you dead to rights, will you believe I merely want to talk peacefully?"

"…Very well, I'll believe you, but before we talk, I must tend to my partner." The Magus said, his tone conveying that it was not a question. "It seems like you did a number on her."

"She did a lot more to me." Shirou countered somewhat indignantly. Seriously, that woman was something else. If she hadn't allowed herself to be hit by Mjolnir, she might have beaten him in time.

The only things Shirou had going for him in that confrontation were his greater strength, abundance of Magical Energy, the mysterious power, and his durability and high-level regeneration.

Okay, when he put it like that, he had some serious advantages, but her level of skill had been far higher than his, and skill was usually enough to make up for very large differences in power.

"You don't look like it." The Magus scoffed.

"I simply heal fast." Shirou explained. "Otherwise, I'd be one big bruise by now."

The answer got him a contemplative hum, before the Magus knelt next to his partner.

"I can heal her as well if you'd like." Shirou offered, hoping the offer wouldn't come back to bite him in the form of a red-headed woman ready for round two.

"If you can, please." The Magus said, after carefully thinking his offer over first. He did not step aside however, instead keeping his gaze fixed on her.

Not bothered by the show of distrust, Shirou knelt as well, before using his Healing-ability. Fortunately, he had practiced the skill a lot over the past months on criminals he had damaged to badly and victims that had been harmed, so healing the woman's wounds was well within his capabilities now.

Oh, it wouldn't be perfect by any means, but he could heal the worst of it. Her own body's constitution would be able to deal with the rest.

Shirou's hands were encompassed by a golden light, which spread over the woman's body, visibly healing her wounds. The black-haired Magus looked on with something akin to awe during the entire process, until the redheaded woman opened her eyes again.

She blinked a few times first, probably trying to get rid of the blurriness, before making eye contact with Shirou himself.

For a fraction of a second, she seemed almost confused.

Then she tried to jump to her feet, clearly intent on continuing the fight, but disorientation got to her before she got halfway up, making her fall back to the ground.

"Easy there." The other Magus said, quickly taking one of the woman's arms over his shoulder, supporting her as they climbed to their feet. "We reached an understanding. There is no need to continue the fight."

"An understanding?" The woman questioned, sounding hoarse, giving Shirou a suspicious glare. "How?"

Shirou shrugged in response. "I won our confrontation and told your employer here that I wanted to talk. He agreed, as long as we patched you up first, so I helped with that. Shall we sit down?"

The woman still seemed doubtful at first, but a nod from the black-haired Magus made her relent.

A table and some chairs were quickly found, Shirou sat down on one side while the Magi took the other, the woman giving an appreciative groan as she sat down, clearly still not in top-condition.

Shirou then took three cups of tea from his Vault. He had put them in there just to see what would happen, and to his surprise and delight, they were not only still good, they were even still hot.

"Thank you." The black-haired Magus nodded as he accepted the cup Shirou held out to him, not even blinking an eye at their sudden appearance. "Let's us begin. How many of you are there exactly?"

"How many of us?" Shirou asked, confused by the question. "I am alone here."

"Yes, I get that." The Magus nodded. "I presume they would have helped you in our battle just now otherwise. What I mean is, with how many did you storm the castle?"

"I stormed the castle alone as well."

If the Magus was surprised Shirou had done it all alone, he didn't show it in any way. The woman next to him did widen her eyes for a second, before she looked away again, sipping her tea.

"… Interesting. Ah, but we haven't even introduced ourselves yet." The Magus continued after a few seconds. "I am Lord El-Melloi the Second, from the Archibald family."

"My name is Bazett Fraga McRemitz." The woman, McRemitz, grunted. "You've got a hard head."

"Ah, thank you." Shirou began, still processing the fact that the guy in front of him was an actual lord, and not just any lord, but the lord of the family of which the previous head, Kayneth El-Melloi, had been killed by Shirou's very own father, Emiya Kiritsugu, during the Fourth Grail War.

Best not to let him know that.

"Might we know your name in return?" Lord El-Melloi asked, looking expectantly at Shirou, who resolutely shook his head.

"No. I apologise, but I cannot reveal my identity. There is a reason I wear a mask after all. Perhaps if we reach an understanding, I will give you my name, but not before."

"Yes, about that." The lord seized the opportunity with both hands. "You wanted to talk from the very beginning, and now you speak of an understanding, but what is it exactly that you want to discuss?"

"I heard you talking about wanting to arrest the Magi that lived here." Shirou explained. "I happen to have those Magi in my custody."

"You do?" The lord asked, a glimmer of interest in his eyes. "Would you be willing to turn them over to us?"

"Perhaps. It really depends on what you are planning to do with them."

Lord El-Melloi regarded Shirou for a few seconds, before explaining that the situation was as Shirou had suspected. The five Magi had been Sealing Designees, wanted by the Clocktower for crimes of all kinds and apparently, the lord was here to arrest them and take them back.

"We apologise of course for taking so long to find them." Lord El-Melloi said regretfully. "I understand that they caused quite a lot of trouble for you here, and I don't blame you at all for taking matters into your own hands. No one will find fault in your actions, I will see to that."

"That is appreciated." Shirou nodded, well-aware that his actions could be seen as law-breaking by the Clocktower. "Now, I think turning the Magi over to you is indeed the best option, but…"

"Yes, yes." The lord interrupted him with a smile. "What's in it for you? Well, for one, their bounties will be yours."

This elicited a questioning noise from the woman beside him.

"Yes, you will be paid too, Bazett, don't worry." The lord dismissed the woman's concerns. "But as I was saying, their bounties. It is a not-inconsiderable sum of money."

Shirou wasn't in dire need of money, but as his father had said, money was an extremely useful resource, so he wouldn't refuse it if offered like this.

"Additionally, I am willing to offer you a sponsorship should you ever wish to enter the Clocktower, as well as a favour. Keep in mind though that the favour won't extend to law-breaking or actions that may put my employees, students, or position at risk. Is this agreeable?"

"It is, lord El-Melloi." Shirou said with a nod. It was a lot more than he had expected to gain from all of this anyway. "Before we close the deal though, I must tell you that of the Magi, only Vincent Balefor and Richard Burgon remain alive. I do have the bodies of the other three however."

"Vincent Balefor you say?" The lord asked, his eyes gleaming. "I assure you, that is no problem at all. At least, as long as you haven't tempered with their bodies?"

"I knocked them out and locked them up. I did nothing else."

"Excellent. Now, we will make our deal. Would you agree to a Geass?" The lord asked, already retrieving the necessary paperwork from… somewhere in his suit.

"Of course. I believe it is one of the few options we have at the moment." Shirou agreed. "By the way, do you always carry those papers with you?"

"Yes. You never know when you have to make a deal after all." The black-haired Magus said with a completely impassive face, eliciting a laugh from McRemitz.

Noticing him looking at her, the woman shrugged.

"I don't have anything to add." She told him. "As long as I get paid, and you two aren't planning on killing babies to drink their blood or something, I will just go along with what you decide."

Shirou gave her a short nod, before engaging the discussion about the finer parts of the deal with lord El-Melloi.

It didn't take all that long. Shirou was signing his part of the paperwork, in his own blood of course, as one was supposed to with a Geass, after barely half-an-hour of negotiation.

It seemed he would receive fifty million yen for the Magi. That was about four hundred thousand euros, or four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That seemed plenty for half-a-night of work.

After lord El-Melloi signed his part, Shirou felt the Geass try to take hold of him, but before it could finalise the deal, both Mjolnir and the Mysterious Power started acting up, ready to dispel the Geass should he desire so.

This was however a deal he agreed to, so he let it take hold.

It was barely a shock anymore for him though that he could apparently break the deal whenever he wanted now, without any sort of negative consequences to him.

It made him feel… well, he didn't really know how it made him feel. Treacherous? Dishonest?

Unclean?

"Alright then." The lord spoke up again. "Now that we are in agreement, I must admit that I do not currently have the money with me. Would it be possible for me to retrieve it while you retrieve the Magi? How long would that take you?"

Shirou very shortly contemplated on simply taking the Magi out of the Vault, but ultimately rejected that option. He could get away with suddenly serving hot tea out of nowhere, but pulling five full-grown people seemingly out of his pocket would lead to questions, and he was pretty sure he didn't want anyone knowing he had a pocket dimension. They might think he had the Second True Magic or something.

However, he couldn't pretend to take too long either. He still had the matter of Sakura to deal with, something that was at least of equal importance to this.

"Give me an hour." He ended up saying, to which the Magus nodded. "Same place?"

"Same place. Oh, and since we are probably going to have more dealings in the future anyway, I will introduce myself anew. I am Waver Velvet, also known as Lord El-Melloi the Second, of the Archibald family."

…

Shirou had to forcibly prevent himself from freezing up. Waver Velvet? The Master of Rider during the Fourth War? That Waver Velvet?

Kiritsugu had told him about each of the participants of the previous War, so Shirou was at least somewhat aware of who Waver Velvet was.

He didn't really remember anything but his name however, he would have to check his father's notes back home for more information, though it was almost certainly outdated by now.

The man's introduction put the ball in Shirou's court however, who now had to decide whether to introduce himself or not, and if he did, with his real name or a false one. Should he show his face as well?

Eventually, he decided on a course of action.

"A pleasure to meet you." Shirou said, before slowly taking off his helmet and mask. "My name is Fujimaru Shirou. Might I compliment you on your Japanese by the way."

He decided to call himself Fujimaru.

It was a name that meant nothing to Shirou. It was just something that had popped up in his mind when he had been contemplating possible aliases, and he had decided to go for it. His first name remained the same though, it was hardly incriminating or unique after all.

"Well met and thank you. Considering you apparently overheard us earlier, I assume your English is good as well." Velvet replied, not batting an eye at Shirou's very young appearance.

"It is passable at least."

"Good. You will find that most people at the Clocktower don't bother speaking anything but English. Not being able to do the same will place you at an immediate disadvantage with them, especially since you are Asian. Do you understand what I am talking about?"

"The racial bias against Asians? I am aware of that happening, but it is of no real concern at the moment."

Kiritsugu had told him about that as well, but for people like Shirou and Kiritsugu himself, who conducted no research to speak of and did not play the political game, it mattered very little on the grand scale of things.

"That is good to hear." The lord nodded. "Well then, shall we depart to retrieve our respective negotiation material?"

Shirou nodded, putting his helmet and mask back on, before leaving through the opened door, the other two following him.

Once they were out the castle, their ways separated. The lord and the Enforcer went into town, while Shirou walked into the forest behind the castle. There, he sat down on a tree trunk, and looked back on the past hour.

That ended up a lot better than he thought it would. Yes, he'd been forced to fight Miss McRemitz, but ultimately, everything had ended rather well, especially since he'd started the night thinking that he'd have to fight allies of the Magi.

Now all that was left for him to do was deliver the Magi to the lord, and then he'd be done, with a lot of profit to show for it too.

And while the money was nice, it was the sponsorship that really mattered.

Shirou had always known he would have to enter the Clocktower eventually, so a sponsorship from a lord was certainly convenient. The precise details of what he would do exactly at the Clocktower could be arranged later, though lord El-Melloi did mention something about him being a teacher and that he was always willing to take on new students.

'I wonder what Tohsaka would think of this.' Shirou thought to himself. He didn't know if the girl had aspirations to join the Clocktower, but if she did, it was perhaps best if she never heard of him getting the chance now already.

Also, being at the Clocktower would place him much closer to the Einzbern-castle, which would be very advantageous to his mission to save Illya.

But enough about all that for now, he had to get back to the matter of Sakura.

Shirou had already talked extensively with Ayako about possible things they could do to help Sakura, but ultimately, it all came down to the plum-haired girl herself. If she remained unwilling to talk to them, they couldn't force her. Unlike what some people might think, tying up an abuse victim and forbidding them from going home didn't help them at all, no matter the intentions.

Ayako had spoken about contacting the authorities to remove the Matou-siblings from their grandfather's hold, but Shirou knew that wouldn't help against a Magus. Unless Shirou was willing to step in himself with very heavy measures, which would inevitably lead to a deadly confrontation between him and Zouken, they wouldn't be able to get Sakura and Shinji out.

Shirou had in fact given thought to threatening Zouken with such a confrontation. He estimated he was powerful enough now to be a real danger to the old man, so it was likely his threat would be taken seriously.

It wasn't guaranteed at all however that it would help. Who knew what Zouken would do when pushed into a corner?

Not to mention that both Sakura and Shinji had declared they didn't want Shirou interfering with the matter, probably because they thought an outsider shouldn't meddle in family-business.

It was strange though. Instead of being angry, which would have been the logical reaction, those two mainly seemed worried whenever he wanted to talk about their home situation. Worried not for themselves, but, seemingly, for Shirou instead.

Why would they feel worried about him…?

'Wait a second!'

Shirou sat up straight as something occurred to him, something he couldn't believe he didn't think of sooner.

He knew that he was more powerful than Zouken, that he had almost nothing to fear from the old man, but did Shinji and Sakura know that?

No, Shirou realised, no, they did not. They weren't aware he was a Magus, so they couldn't possibly know that Zouken was barely a threat to him.

Was Zouken threatening to harm him? Was he telling Shinji and Sakura that he would harm or kill Shirou, or Ayako perhaps, to scare them into submission?

Was that the reason?!

It fit perfectly, perfectly with how the siblings had been behaving. It would definitely explain why they were so adamant about keeping him out of the loop.

He couldn't believe he had not even considered that as a possibility before. What a terrible oversight on his part!

Why hadn't he anticipated that? Of course a Magus would gladly lie to and threaten even their own grandchildren like that if they saw a benefit in it.

Well, he was not going to let that continue.

After a few minutes of furious pondering however, Shirou had to acknowledge that he didn't exactly have a lot of options in this situation.

The simplest solution would be revealing to the siblings that he was a Magus, and a powerful one to boot, and had little to fear from their grandfather. All it would take was one conversation with them both, and he could have effectively solved the problem.

However, that could potentially destroy their relationship, as it would completely take away all trust they had in him. Shirou suddenly telling them the truth, or a part of it at least, was bound to upend things on all sides.

Shirou would be able to accept that however. It wouldn't be nice or fun, but for Shinji's and Sakura's health and well-being, he could accept it.

Doing so would not take away the underlying issue however, namely that Zouken was apparently perfectly willing to threaten his grandchildren with violence and who knew what else.

Merely revealing he was a Magus would only remove them completely from Shirou's presence, and would cause Zouken to start watching them even more. It would in no way actually stop Zouken from abusing them.

Forcibly taking them away was also not an option. Not only would it create all kinds of problems with the law, both magical and mundane, but Zouken wouldn't ever accept it either.

Perhaps, before Shirou decided on anything, he should talk with the people involved some more. Perhaps Shinji and Sakura had something to say, something that wasn't 'stay out of our business' at least.

Could he try to talk to Zouken? Bribe him maybe? Would he want the gems from Burgon?

Shirou didn't know, but he wasn't just going to let this be. The moment he was back in Fuyuki, he was getting to the bottom of this, he swore that here and now.

A small sign from Mjolnir then told him the hour had almost passed, and that it was time to return for the completion of the deal.

Shirou quickly flew back to the castle, where he landed outside of a hole in the walls, and quickly returned to the room where the deal had been struck.

Once there, he pulled the Magi out of his Vault and placed them on the table.

The other two arrived a few minutes later. McRemitz immediately slouched comfortably on her chair as she smirked at Shirou, while lord El-Melloi placed a large bag and some paperwork on the table.

"So this is them." McRemitz mused, looking contemplatively from the Magi to Shirou, before giving an apologetic smile. "I must admit I have no idea who these people are."

"I recognise Balefor perfectly well." Lord El-Melloi said, his gaze on the aforementioned criminal, before it shifted to the others. "I too must admit though that I don't know the rest of them."

Thanks to Waudenstad's letter, Shirou did in fact know all their identities, so he shortly introduced them by name, occupation, and crimes they committed.

"I see." Lord El-Melloi mused. "These are indeed the people we have been looking for. Thank you for your hard work and cooperation."

"My pleasure." Shirou replied with a small bow, using the proper words that were fit for a hired employee who had just been praised by his boss.

"As agreed, your rewards." Lord El-Melloi continued, gesturing at the bags and the paperwork. "Your money, in yens, and the paperwork for both my sponsorship and the favour that I owe you.

"Thank you." Shirou said, taking his rewards from the table, before pretending to put them somewhere on his body, though they actually went into the Vault. "Do you have a way of taking these people along with you?"

"We do." The lord assured him, waving at McRemitz, who then rose from her chair and went past the Magi, one by one, injecting them with something she pulled from one of her pockets.

"Eh, what are you doing?" Shirou asked apprehensively. "Are those drugs?"

"Yeah, Midazolam." McRemitz nodded, not pausing in her actions. "It's a strong anaesthetic, that works really well when transporting dangerous criminals. It's also a lot cheaper than any Magical alternatives."

"I also have a full squad of Enforcers with me." Lord El-Melloi added. "I assure you that we can get them to the Clocktower without a hitch."

"That is good to hear." Shirou nodded, looking apprehensively at the needle McRemitz was wielding. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you find these people? They went unfound for years before now, so something must have changed recently."

"…I suppose there is little harm in telling you. We recently received a captured bounty-hunter at the Clocktower, who had been caught attempting to abduct a Second Owner at the orders of these criminals." Lord El-Melloi told him, completely missing how Shirou almost froze in his seat. "He was captured and sent to the Clocktower however, where he told us everything we wanted to know."

"Aha." Shirou got out, feeling stupid that he hadn't accounted for that when he had delivered the guy to Kotomine. "That is certainly fortunate."

"Indeed. Now, it was a pleasure doing business with you, but I am afraid I am very short on time." The lord went on. "I shall take my leave now, but Bazett here wants to have a word with you in private."

"Ah yes, thank you, lord El-Melloi." McRemitz nodded, smiling at Shirou. "I don't want a rematch or anything, I just want to talk."

Shirou nodded in acceptance, and as soon as the lord was out of earshot, the woman turned to him, a strange curiosity burning in her eyes.

"Those Runes you used." She began. "You used them really well during our fight, even though they were incredibly basic. Seeing that makes me wonder who your teacher was."

"I cannot tell you that." Shirou instantly denied her. No way he could tell her that his hammer had taught him most of it. "Is that everything you wanted to talk about, McRemitz-san? If so, then I'll be leaving now-"

"W-Wait, I'm sorry for asking." McRemitz quickly spoke, holding out a hand to stop him from leaving. "I was only curious if she… No, never mind. It was a stupid question. Of course it wasn't her."

Shirou didn't know what she was talking about, but he nodded all the same.

"You were pretty impressive during our battle." McRemitz went on. "It isn't often that I meet people as young as you who are able to match me in a fight, so, other than asking for your teacher, I wanted to extend an invitation too."

"An invitation?" Shirou asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yup. To come by at the headquarters of the Enforcers sometime, should you accept lord El-Melloi's offer. I'm sure both sides can profit from it if you do. We would be glad to have you."

Shirou had to think that over for a moment. Joining the Enforcers would severely limit his freedom, but he would have access to training, resources, and information. It would really depend on what he considered more important.

He already knew the answer to that question though. His freedom to do what was right was far more important to him than whatever the Enforcers could grant him.

"I cannot join the Enforcers, McRemitz-san." Shirou thus said, to the obvious disappointment of the woman herself. "I am not against working with them on a case-by-case basis, but I cannot compromise my freedom. I have a lot that I still need to do."

"You want to become a freelancer?" The woman asked, her disappointed expression turning contemplative. "That is also fine I suppose. Well, if you ever find yourself in need of help during a mission, remember me."

"I will, McRemitz-san."

"Ah, call me Bazett."

"Goodbye, Bazett-san."

---

George Wesley was an Enforcer of average talent.

That was basically everything of note about him. Average talent, in a few average fields. He knew a few Runes, he knew the basic spells, he knew some spiritual evocations, but that was pretty much it.

Ultimately, he was nothing impressive, and he knew it.

Which was why he had become an Enforcer. It wasn't as if he had many other options after all, and this job at least paid the bills, even if the risk was fairly high at times.

It was almost three years ago now that he had joined the investigation under lord El-Melloi to track down and arrest or kill Vincent Balefor. It had been a mostly boring case, without a lot of progress. The guy certainly was good at erasing his tracks, to the point where Wesley had doubted they would ever find him.

Then, one morning, lord El-Melloi had suddenly called, with a very good and concrete lead that had to be pursued immediately.

Wesley had considered it a strange story, with a bounty hunter attempting to abduct a Second Owner on the orders of some group, of which Balefor was a member apparently. That bounty hunter had then been caught and had now told them everything about his employers.

Wesley had honestly expected it to be a total bust, a prank played on lord El-Melloi. A sentiment that was shared among all of them, save for that newcomer McRemitz. She seemed perfectly willing to believe it, the gullible broad.

She was a pretty thing too, with a great ass, and Wesley might have contemplated to try and seduce her for a night, if she hadn't been the type to take such things way too seriously. Maybe if she ever loosened up a bit.

Once they had arrived in Hiraizumi, lord El-Melloi and McRemitz had left for reconnaissance, which was perfectly fine with Wesley and the others. None of them felt like wasting energy on a bust after all.

Then they came back, both of them looking slightly beat up, yet also incredibly triumphant.

As it turned out, the intel of the bounty hunter was not only completely correct, but the entire base had been raided already before they had even arrived.

Wesley had wondered why they looked so triumphant about that, but apparently, the one who had done the raiding had arrived during the search and had agreed to turn over the Magi after only a short scuffle.

Wesley's employer had not said much more, only grabbing a bag of cash and some paperwork, before leaving again with McRemitz in tow, leaving them all slackjawed at the sudden ease with which everything was progressing now.

He had wondered at first if it was merely a prank, played by the lord this time, in return for the prank played on him, but all such thoughts had evaporated when lord El-Melloi had returned with all five Sealing Designees.

They never got to meet the one who did them in though, as the identity of that figure was none of their business, according to lord El-Melloi.

The man certainly was honourable, keeping his word like that. Most Magi would have gladly told them all about the one who had manged to beat them to their goal.

Wesley supposed it was one of the benefits of working for lord El-Melloi, he always kept his word.

Even Lorelei Bathomeloi herself didn't always do that, but then again, she was actually pleasant to look at, so it all evened out in the end.

---

Shirou was on his way back to Fuyuki-City, no longer holding five Magi in his Vault, but a lot of money and some paperwork instead.

It had been a fairly productive night altogether, at least where that matter was concerned.

Now though, he had to move on to the next problem, that being Sakura and Shinji, and their grandfather's treatment of them.

Really, the first thing he should do was talk this over with Ayako. She was his accomplice in this after all, and should know what Shirou had just realised, that Zouken was actively threatening his grandchildren with violence towards Ayako and himself.

She would probably be outraged, furious even. She had always been very expressive, especially when it concerned the people close to her.

It was one of the many things he liked about her.

It was too late to visit however, so he would inform her tomorrow. For now, he should go home.

A sudden smell entering his nostrils made him stop dead in mid-air however, as he realised he wasn't the only one still out and about.

He immediately deviated from his path, coming down in an empty street, before breaking out into a sprint, rapidly gaining ground as he approached the slow-walking figure.

Said figure did not notice him until Shirou tapped him on the shoulder, making him cry out in shock and turn around, before a look of recognition appeared on his face.

"Emiya?"

"Good evening, Shinji." Shirou said conversationally, grabbing the boy by his arm and dragging him off to a nearby park. "We need to talk. Now."

---

Shinji had just been walking over the streets, minding his own business, when Emiya suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started dragging him along.

"What the hell, Emiya?! I don't want to talk, is that still not clear enough for you? What must I do to get it in your head that you should leave us alone?"

Emiya did not answer, remaining silent until they arrived at the Fuyuki-Memorial park, which was bereft of other people, where he pushed Shinji against an old, big oak tree and stepped in close, his position preventing the blue-haired boy from going anywhere.

"Did Zouken threaten us, Shinji?" He asked, out of nowhere.

Shinji blinked in complete confusion.

"Eh?" Was the only thing he could say, completely thrown by the sudden, seemingly random question.

"Did Zouken threaten Ayako and me?" Emiya clarified, and Shinji felt his stomach sink into his shoes as he realised what the redhead meant. "Did he threaten to harm or kill us if you didn't do as he said? Is that why you always look so worried when you insist that I should stay out of your business? Is it, Shinji?"

"What are you on about, Emiya?" Shinji asked, frantically denying everything again. "Zouken doesn't threaten you. What could that old man do to you anyway?"

"A lot, if he sets his mind to it." Emiya said, to which Shinji had to agree. But how on Earth did Emiya know that? "But does he, Shinji? And if so, why would he see the need to? What is he doing to the two of you?"

"That is none of your business." Shinji snapped, once more repeating the old line, the one that had always worked in the past to get Emiya to back off. "And if you're smart, you stay out of it."

"I cannot stay out of it." The redhead declared, apparently no longer deterred. "Not when you are clearly suffering."

"W-We aren't suffering, you idiot." Shinji snarled, now going to complete denial, as all of his other tactics were clearly not working. "That's all in your mind. You need to let that hero-complex of yours go; you're only going to get yourself hurt."

"Then why do Sakura and you always look so sad?" Shirou asked, to which Shinji could only flinch. "Why do you never allow us to meet Zouken under any circumstances? Why are you afraid of him being close to us?"

"I don't have to listen to this nonsense." Shinji said, trying to walk away, but Emiya grabbed his shirt, pulling him back.

"Why are you avoiding us all of a sudden?!" Emiya continued, raising his voice now. "Why does Sakura always look afraid when she has to go home?! Why do you feel the rage that you can barely hide whenever your grandfather is mentioned?!"

Shinji could feel himself starting to breathe hard, the old memories, all of them, coming to surface. His worthless father, his absent mother, his adoptive sister that he had hated for circumstances far beyond her control, the memories just kept coming, one after the other.

Sakura silently crying whenever Zouken wasn't close enough to see it. Sakura slowly breaking bit by bit. Sakura looking close to harming herself to escape her torment, actually holding a knife to her wrist.

"Where has her happiness gone?! Why is she never smiling anymore?! …Was she ever happy in the first place?"

It had gotten better when Emiya appeared, hadn't it? Sakura had actually laughed, smiled, she had been happy at times, no longer having only suffering in her life. Her smiles had been as real as could be.

"Why is Sakura only ever crying since a few days ago?!"

But then Zouken had taken that from her in the most heinous way possible, forcing her to stay away from the sources of her happiness by threatening to destroy it in front of her.

"Why do you look like you're seconds away from murder when you walk over the streets alone? Why do you and Sakura fear Zouken as much as you do?"

It made Shinji angry, it made him so, so angry.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Shinji knew things were going wrong, that the situation was spiralling out of control fast.

He was angry, and Emiya was working himself up in a frenzy as well, no doubt having memories of his own flash before his eyes. If they went on like this, Shinji might reveal too much, but he couldn't stop it.

No matter their differences, they both cared deeply for Sakura.

His little sister, who was now suffering because of Zouken, while her friends blamed themselves and could only watch powerlessly as she was slowly destroyed before their eyes.

It made him so angry.

Emiya pulled Shinji close to him, their noses almost touching as he roared the last question. "WHY DOES SAKURA ALWAYS THINK SHE IS WORTH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!?"

Something in Shinji snapped at those words.

"BECAUSE OF THOSE DAMNED CREST-WORMS!" He roared back, no longer bothering to filter his words, no longer having the self-control to think his answers over before he spoke. He finally revealed the truth to someone, and something inside him relaxed at it.

Shinji regained his senses almost immediately however, realising he had made a very big mistake.

He slapped Emiya's suddenly strengthless arm to the side, hastily walking a few steps away, frantically working on a plan for damage control.

This was going to be difficult to explain, but since Emiya should have no knowledge of Magecraft, it was still feasible he could-

…

'Rumble'

…

"Hrk."

…..static…static…staticstaticstatic….staticstaticstatic…..staticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstatic…staticstaticstaticstaticstaticstatic…..staticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstaticstatic…static!

"…"

"Ugh!"

Shinji suddenly felt as if his body was a hundred times as heavy as before, as if an incredible pressure was suddenly coming down upon him, as if the air above him had suddenly increased a thousand-fold in density.

He stumbled forward, his knees buckling under the immense weight, only just catching himself on a tree, leaning heavily on it to prevent his fall.

Faintly, his ears picked up a thunderclap in the distance. No, multiple thunderclaps, many thunderclaps, countless thunderclaps, coming from all directions.

The wind picked up too, heavy gales suddenly blowing through the park, hard enough to tears branches and shake even the oldest trees. In the distance, he could see the flashes of an incredible number of lightning bolts, all striking down at the ground.

"Yo, E-E-Emiya. T-There is a s-s-storm c-coming." He got out, trying to warn his friend, though the pressure made speaking difficult. "W-We are in a p-p-park. I-It's not s-safe h-here, w-we s-s-should…"

He didn't get any further than that.

Before he could finish his sentence, something slammed into him from the side, something with immense strength behind it, lifting Shinji of his feet with ease.

Shinji didn't go flying though, as the thing continued its forward movement, pushing Shinji ahead of it until they impacted against another tree.

"Ouch-"

Was all he got out, before a hand grabbed his throat and he was lifted from his feet, his air-supply being cut off and his feet dangling uselessly beneath him.

Shinji had no idea what was going on. He had suddenly been attacked!?

"Ugh, Arg." He managed to get out, as he lowered his gaze to his attacker…

Only for his heart to stop beating for a second.

It was Emiya...

...but not the Emiya whom Shinji had known for all those years.

That Emiya did not wear blue-glowing armour. That Emiya did not have a look of rage so frightening that Shinji almost pissed himself. That Emiya did not have sparks of lightning running up and down his body. That Emiya did not have cracks randomly appearing on his skin that had drops of blood flowing from them.

And above all, that Emiya did not have eyes that were completely electric blue, with lightning springing to and from them as barely restrained fury and anger seemed to radiate from them.

That Emiya was not such a monster…

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

---

Enough of this. I've already given you too much.

Okay cool, Shirou knows, I suppose we can get to pest-control now.

A lot happened in this chapter, but I'm not going to recap it all. In short, Shirou fixes one problem and stumbles right into the next.

Also, keep in mind that the rules I made for the gems are purely made by me and the ones helping me with the story, that being CrazyLich79 and liamrodhudson331.

Additionally, Waver is going to talk with Rin. No, he won't find out that Shirou lives there too and it won't be for some chapters. The next few are going to be focused on Shirou, Sakura and Shinji.

I do not hate George Weasley or any of the other Weasleys, not even Percy. It was only a pun, not a hidden opinion or anything.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, stay tuned for the next one, though it might take a while for it to get out. It has to be as perfect as I can make it after all, and my time will become limited from next week on.

Also, discord. Here's the link: discord . gg / YaZvJJj

Don't forget to remove the spaces.

---

Omake:

"I can't believe this" Said the young man nicknamed Joaco019 while stealthily following CrazyLich79, or just Lich for those who knew him.

He had just witnessed Lich go into a mysterious building, looking even more suspicious than normal while he did so, appearing downright abnormal.

But to be fair, a walking skeleton was already pretty abnormal for any normal person. Unless one was a necromancer, then walking skeletons were just more walking sacks of bones.

Back to the point, Lich had been upset when Ted had rebuked his ambition to start writing, claiming he still wasn't ready to do so. In Joaco's opinion, even if he had a complicated relationship with Lich (Not in that way you pervs) he respected his drive to improve himself and his ability to endure beta-ing the story, even when Ted got a bout of inspiration and give Lich 30K words of homework.

Those feelings of reluctant admiration were drowned upon seeing Lich so willingly take up the knife offered by that accursed cup and decide to bite the hand that fed him, looking even more shady than before, with glowing red eyes and all.

After hiding from Lich to make sure he didn't suffer the 'Authormaker's' tender mercies, Joaco's first thought was to try to warn Ted, only to stop upon realizing Lich might see him run to Ted. And even if he made it to Ted's house unseen, Lich was... well, a Lich. A being of bones animated and reinforced with magic. Nothing short of a Magical or Holy Weapon would stop him, and Joaco didn't have one with him.

Unless... he too would made a deal with the devil in the other room. The one that set Lich on such an evil path. That cute yet creepy wish-granting being who was certainly more reliable around children than a wish granting alien.

Grail-Kun.

"Grail-Kun, please, I need your help." I said while kneeling in front of Grail-Kun and trying not to anger the fickle being in front of me.

"What's wrong Joaco-Kun?" Grail-Kun asked with a straight face. I made a face of disgust upon realising how truly awful my name sounded with Japanese honorifics, but this was not the time for such matters.

"Lich is about to do something he'll regret. He must be stopped before he kills Ted. Please help me, Grail-Kun" I begged the Corrupted Grail in front of me, not realising what was about to happen as a consequence of my begging.

"You're so hopeless, Joaco-Kun" Declared the Grail, before offering it's solution with a smile on it's face.

"THUD"!

A knife landed in front of my lap, shining ominously in the light radiated by Grail-Kun.

"Anti-Lich Kit" proclaimed Grail-Kun, as if it was the perfect solution to my problem, before whispering to me: "By the way, It counts like a Magic Weapon, so show him who's boss."

I couldn't completely hear it though, because, while looking at the knife, all I could perceive were a rush of memories, reminding me of my first meeting with Lich. How in my attempts at making a joke, I got branded by Lich, with a foul name.

It's not the worst title to be known by, but it's still pretty bad. Many times I thought of it as my fault, yet he's the one that decided to brand me as…

A Lolicon.

So it was that memory that caused me to grab the knife, my mind clouding and my resentment starting to surface. I grabbed the knife, while uttering some strangely familiar words, not seeing how my brown eyes turned pink, and how madness became apparent in them. Nor noticing how distorted my speech became, or the evil smile on my face.

"FiNe. I'Ll DO iT MysElF".

---

Thanks to Joaco019 for the omake.

Ted has finished.