It had soon become quite clear to Professor Morrison that the situation he had found himself in was anything but ordinary.
He had never expected that when he opened the door to Miss Foucault that the next day he would be in Paris, France, in a truck with a couple of suits and an odd figure in the form of Mr. Gil. Well odd was a bit of a weird term to use. The professor leaned more towards "peculiar" because that was the kind of aura that Gil seemed to give off.
Of course the most peculiar aspect of the man was his prosthetic hand. It looked weird, almost like a clawed glove a warlord of old would have worn. Naturally Morrison hadn't asked him about it. It seemed not like an appropriate question one should ask.
"We're here" Gil said as the truck they were in came to a sudden stop. The doors opened and the suited men and woman stepped outside in the light of day. Morrison followed them and Gil joined soon after. As soon as he stepped out the professor realized exactly where they were.
"The catacombs of Paris?" he said in amazement.
"Very good eye you have there professor," Gil said as he stood beside the man "indeed our research will take us into the famed catacombs of this great city."
Without speaking another word Gil took a step forward and Morrison followed. He watched as the suits dispersed near the entrance to the catacombs. Going in there made him feel slightly uneasy. After all the catacombs were known to be a maze that one could get easily lost in.
"Mr. Gil forgive me but…what exactly are we doing here?" Morrison asked as he and Gil stood in front of the entrance to the catacombs.
Gil turned to him, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Tell me something professor Morrison. Do you believe that magic really exists?"
"Well I….I studied the possibilities and…"
"I'm not asking you what you studied. I asked you whether you believe it exists or not…" Gil said with a slight tone of irritation in his voice.
"Well I…..honestly don't know. I wish it was" Morrison finally said.
Gil seemed almost amused by that answer "you wish it was real huh? And why is that?"
Before Morrison could answer Gil raised his hand as if to say that he should be quiet "on second thought don't answer that, it is not to me to ask you that question. So let me ask you something different. If I were to show you that magic was indeed real, then how would you feel?"
Morrison was stunned into silence. He had never considered this question before. Of the last years of studying stories about magic he had never asked himself how he would feel if it by some miracle it actually existed.
"I…I think I would be….disappointed…"
"Disappointed?" Gil asked incredulously "you would be disappointed to learn that magic actually exists?"
"No not that…it's just…I'd be disappointed I didn't find out about it any sooner…"
Morrison looked down at the ground, unwilling to look Gil in the eye.
"Oh I think I understand" Gil simply said before walking over to Morrison, where the professor was finally forced to look at him. Gil then handed him a document. Morrison looked it over, it seemed like an ancient text and on it seemed to be a drawing of an artifact. It looked like a small obelisk carved with runes.
"What is this?" the professor asked, grabbing his glasses from his pocket and putting them on to get a closer look.
"This is what we are looking for. A very special artifact that was once held by the great Captain Boisselier during the 15th century. The rumors are that his descendants later hit it down here in the catacombs after they were constructed during the 19th century."
"Boisselier? I have never heard that name before? And I have studied French history diligently" Morrison responded.
"Well there is a good reason that you haven't professor. But that doesn't matter. That artifact is what is important" Gil said.
Morrison read over the document and took a long look at the drawing. It was definitely an old document just by looking at it. But he never had seen anything like such an artifact before.
"And why exactly are we searching for this?"
Gil simply shrugged "beats me I have no clue. The boss has tasked me with retrieving it so that's what I'm going to do."
Morrison got a nasty feeling about Gil's comment. Something deep in his gut was telling him to not continue with this operation.
"And you are okay with that?" Morrison asked carefully.
Gil again shrugged "we are all here for our own reasons. The boss doesn't control my actions, nor does she control yours professor Morrison. You came here too for a reason as well didn't you? so why not have a crack at it."
Gil turned and began to walk into the catacombs. Morrison stood behind for a few seconds and gulped down nervously. He looked behind him, seeing the group of suits basically blocking his path. He thought about asking them to let him through. But what would he return to. An empty apartment and a son who was angry at him.
"Well…Bob wanted me to go on a sabbatical. So here we go…" Morrison said resigning himself to his fate and beginning to walk into the catacombs.
Location: Fuyuki
It was a calm night as the now twenty year old Issei Ryuudou walked up the stairs to his home. The finally renovated and brand new Ryuudou Temple. Construction had completed last year and Issei was happy that he could finally return to the safety of the temple. He was ready to learn to eventually take over the position from his father.
As he took one step, Issei saw the ground beneath him suddenly turn red and felt himself overwhelmed with an intense pain. He fell to his knees on the steps and wrapped his arms around himself as the pain went through marrow and bone and he couldn't even hear himself scream, as if his voice was stolen.
He wanted to shout for help but couldn't. Instead he internally prayed someone would come to save him.
At that moment it seemed his prayers were answered as he seemed to see someone walking his way.
"Please…" he softly muttered his voice returning "help me…"
His savior kneeled down. Issei saw it was a neatly dressed person, wearing black suit pants and matching suits. A long black coat extending towards their knees and a red shirt under it. Though he also noticed this person was wearing something out of the ordinary.
It seemed to be lion mask that was covering their face, with only their green eyes visible through it. Looking down at Issei.
"Are you Issei Ryuudou?" the voice, sounding masculine asked him.
"Yes….yes I am…" Issei muttered as he could barely move from the spot he had sunken down too. He saw red light and strange runes on the ground. The stranger extended a hand towards Issei, who in turn desperately tried to reach out his own hand towards it. He tried to fight through the pain to grab the stranger's hand.
But as soon as their hands connected and hope filled Issei's eyes that this painful nightmare would end, he felt even more pain as the stranger jammed a knife right through his outstretched arm.
Issei shouted at the top of his lungs. Unable to move or recoil, the pain and blood erupted all over his arm. The stranger then grabbed Issei by the collar, his glasses dropping to the ground and shattering on the steps. The stranger looked into Issei's eyes and the young man could detect the anger in their eyes.
"Why….why…" he muttered in desperation in disbelief.
"To make him suffer…to make Shirou Emiya suffer…" the stranger responded before another knife suddenly materialized in his hand out of nowhere and with one quick swing he sliced Issei's throat wide open.
Issei's body began to go limb as he gurgled on his own blood and the red circle beneath him disappeared. His vision became blurry as all he could see was the venom green eyes from behind the lion mask looking at him before he slumped down on the steps, becoming completely lifeless as he bled out on the stairs towards his home.
The stranger looked at Issei's lifeless body for a good minute before they walked dispassionately past it and down the stairs, their long coat waving behind them in the wind.