From Fake Dreams

by Third Fang

Emiya Kiritsugu was happy living the rest of his short days. He had put his past behind him... until he began to dream of futures that had yet to be. Let it be known that the Magus Killer was not dangerous simply because he was dying and had no plans to fight. Slowly being put on Royal Road over time.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The hand of the king

I do not own Fate/Stay Night and stuffs:

o. o. o.

There were multiple reasons why Kiritsugu never went to the clock tower, one of the main centers of magus activity in the world. Despite the fact that the organization was extremely rich in thaumaturgy resources, research, personnel, and inspiration, he could never be at ease in the area. Part of it had to do with the fact that Asians for the most part were not warmly welcomed there. Part of it had to do with the fact that he had been for the most part a freelancer and as such was considered an outsider. Part of it had to do with the fact that he viewed the use of magic differently than the bulk of the people there. Part of it had to do with the fact that there were more than a few magi there that were relatives of those he had killed over the years…

But for the most part he didn't go simply because he just didn't like London. He was fairly used to European food and cities, however the England capital just didn't mesh well with him. The city was old and large, as such it was fairly difficult to navigate anywhere unless you had a damned good map or if you were a local. It made the city perfect for an assassin like himself to stage an accident or some other event and get off clean... which is why he tended to stay away from places like this. Even a pro could fall to a novice here if he let his guard down for a moment. It was probably part of the reason why the clock tower probably was located there in the first place. Kiritsugu was fairly certain that there were at least half a hundred bounded fields surrounding the city itself just to make it more confusing…

Still, even though the cursed man barely had any access to his magic circuits anymore and thus made him weaker than any apprentice, he still perfectly navigated himself to a small alleyway that for the most part seemed not to exist to the locals there, at least a few dozen blocks away from one of the water ways that run through the city. It was a location that he had traveled to only a hand full of times well over a decade and a half ago, however it was one of the places in this maze that he could find without any hesitation regardless.

Stepping up to the 4th door to his right, Kiritsugu paused and rolled his shoulders. His body had not taken well to the long plane ride here and it was taking a while to recover from the stiffness, also no thanks to the curse of the grail. Sighing to himself, the man casually knocked on the door in front of him 5 times and simply waited.

A minute later a woman in her middle ages with red hair opened the door. "Can I help you?" She asked with a thick Irish accent, revealing her slightly darkened teeth, a disgusting but common trait among the locals here.

"I'm here to see Sirius." Kiritsugu got to the point, speaking in fluent English. It was one of the first things that his mentor and mother figure had taught him when training him to be a freelancer. You could be the best in the world, but if you want any decent chance to get hired for a big job, learn English. To keep it simple in his words, "Money speaks English." After that, the next best languages for getting work were Mandarin, Arabic, and Spanish. He was only fairly conversational in Arabic and barely that in Mandarin. He had never had a need to touch Spanish.

"Tell him that Natalia's boy is back for one last favor." He said. The woman looked at Kiritsugu skeptically for a moment before nodding and closed the door again quietly. The man waited patiently in front of the dirty building despite his aching body and tired mind. The air was stale here and it did not help in the slightest, however his mental training during those long hard years as a freelancer had long since enabled him to surpass such meager ailments. This sensation was still nothing compared to that of his body being ripped to shreds and regenerating from moving at 4 times natural speed and Avalon being implanted in his body during his final fight against Kirei…

His musings were interrupted as he noticed the thumps of something large stomping to the front before the door flew open to reveal a massive old man with thick arms and long flaming red hair tied up in a ponytail. The monster of a human glared down at Kiritsugu with a skeptical grey eye surrounded by wrinkles and leather like skin. The two looked at one another in silence before the old man snorted. "Ya look like yer aboot ta keel over lad. It's been whut… 15 years since ya left with me work? Not a damned word from ya until 3 years ago when ya wanted info for tat blasted war in Japan, 'nd then when I thougt ya were dead, ya show up at me door with moor work?" He crossed his arms defiantly. "Ya better have a good tale for me and me kin ta make up for dis…"

Sirius McGinty. A magus of the clock tower, but a highly unusual one. The man focused his work and research on the applications of thaumaturgy into modern day objects, both used by magi and not. This impaired his image to many of the older clans since research into studies not deemed "significant" by the magus world was normally frowned upon as inefficient or downright useless. Rumor had it he was actually from the Fraga clan but no one knew for sure outside of his direct family. He was looked at skeptically by both the academic and practical practitioners of thaumaturgy, and as such had somewhat difficulty finding sufficient funding at times. To Kiritsugu's knowledge, Sirius was actually around 120 years old and had somehow achieved some sort of longevity by use of an advanced form of modified reinforcement magic combined with runes, which was also something the beast of a man was quite skilled at, also supporting the rumors of his Fraga lineage…

However the man was most well known for what came out of his research. Mystic codes. Objects that supported, added, or amplified a magus' magic to support their needs, often violent ones. Any magus that did not have the ability, magic circuits, resources, or history to make one of their own came to him. Many clans actually were quite irritated with the man since his work on average were of significantly higher quality, efficiency, and effectiveness than their own "noble" and traditional codes.

It was Sirius that had made Kiritsugu's Thompson Contender and the mystic bullets that it fired.

"Well what are ya waitin' for lad?" Sirius grunted as he stepped aside. "Come on in. Ya look like shit."

Oh yeah… another reason why Sirius wasn't that well accepted in the clock tower was the fact that for the most part he was rude to absolutely everyone. Noble or not. Part of the reason why he seemed to be able to be around for so long without getting kicked out was because he seemed to be on fairly good terms with Zelretch, the sorcerer of the 2nd true magic, Kaleidoscope, though no one really knows how the hell said friendship actually started…

Kiritsugu snorted. "No kidding." He shook his head as he grabbed his bag and walked into the building. The moment he got in, he immediately knew that the man had altered the space inside with a bounded field. The size of the rather colorful waiting room and the height of the stairs going up and down were clearly not within the range of the original apartment's parameters. "I haven't found a place to stay at yet…"

"Is that that last favor that you told Shela?" The red headed man smirked with a raised eyebrow.

"Depends." Kiritsugu shrugged. "How much are you charging per night?"

"Heh." Sirius chuckled as he closed the door and shook his head. He looked at Kiritsugu with a pitying gaze. "Ya really are dyin' soon aren't ya? Never heard of ya small talkin' so casually b'fore."

"My prize from the grail war." The assassin sighed. "Could we talk somewhere more secure? I owe you a long story…"

"Sure… consider it your payment for yer stay… so long as ya don't mess wit me stuff or stay too long…" The elder nodded as he guided the man through the large building, going down several flights of stairs and a maze of confusing hallways. No doubt at least a few of these hallways linked to the center of the clock tower in one way or another since the organization for the most part was underground. Kiritsugu spied many rooms filled with odd appliances, both magical and not. Shirou probably would have been able to shave off a year or two in his analyzing training if he was locked inside of one of those rooms for a week. Soon enough the two stopped at a rather simple looking office room which completely contrasted the large man's home and figure.

"So then…" Sirius sighed as he rested his large figure into his rather comfortable looking chair and causing it to creak underneath his weight. "Before ya tell me what ya want… yer gonna tell me what I want lad." His aged eyes narrowed at Kiritsugu who had just sat down on the other side of the dark wooden desk. "Last time we 'xchanged words, ya told me dat the next time we met ya would tell me what happened ta Natalia."

The magus killer nodded, knowing that his mother figure and Sirius were close. "I killed her." He said bluntly. He was already going to die. There was no point wasting time to play mind games. Besides, Sirius was emotional not stupid.

The large man closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, grunting slowly in the process. The room was silent for what seemed like hours before he spoke up. "Ah had a feelin that would be ta case…" He sighed. "How?"

"We were after a dead apostle that was traveling to New York by plane." Kiritsugu continued. "I went on ahead, and she was on the plane he was on. She killed him… however she was too late and the familiars he had corrupted all of the other passengers turning them into undeads. She tried to land the plane in an attempt to survive and deal with the threat afterwards… but I couldn't take that chance. It was too risky…" He had relived that memory so many times that recalling the story didn't really affect him anymore. "She knew that too even though we told me otherwise on the phone. Just as she was over the Hudson river I shot the plane down with a rocket launcher."

The elder snorted. "Heh. All that studying ta fight with magic and against monsters… and she goes out by a bloody launcher of all things." He shook his head. "Well at least it was with a damned big bang. The girl deserved as much." He opened a drawer and opened a can of beer. "Ah well… better than some o' these fools here that waste their lives away doin jack ta learn jack." He drank heavily from the can. "Reinforced beer… still tastes like piss… though it probably is best if it does at ta moment…"

The room was silent for several more minutes other than the large man's drinking.

"So then…" Sirius belched as he crushed the can in his hand and tossed it into a bin next to him. "I t'ought ya were dead in Japan afta wee Waver Velvet came back here alive n breethin ta mah shock. Of course no one really knew he fought in ta war other than meself and a few others who bothered ta look in ta east, but for ta most part no one really bothered ta do anything about ta lad. Ya aren't normally the kind that leaves loose ends." His gaze hardened. "Ta bloody fuck happened there?"

"Waver Velvet… huh…" Kiritsugu mused, remembering the name of the 4th war's master to Rider, Alexander the Great, one of the main forces in the war. Putting that information away for later, the man sagged into his chair. "Mind if you toss me a beer? This is going to take a while and I'll have to leave some things out…" He sighed. "Odds are I'll have to ask you my favor and another small one tomorrow…"

Sirius nodded and tossed the man a drink. "Aye. I've heard some things about that Grail war… embodied heroic spirits… noble phantasms… if it weren't fer the fact that ah don't wanna die, I wouldn't mind tryin' me hand at it just to have a look at one of their weapons… would be a real boon to me work it would…"

"Yeah…" Kiritsugu nodded with a grim smile. "Well… I'm going to have to dissuade you a bit more old friend…"

o. o. o.

The next day:

Waver Velvet had changed since his experience in the Holy Grail war. Many people had noticed the change in his personality almost immediately upon his return to the clock tower. No one knew he participated in the war in Fuyuki city, and no one really bothered to find out the reasons behind his disappearance since magi leave all the time. Life changing events were also just as common… as were deaths.

Still Waver's change was noticeable and significant to people who knew him. His natural brilliance had remained as well as his natural stubbornness that all magus had, however his pride had changed. His almost instinctive desire to prove himself to others and achieve greatness had been tempered to something more calm, collected and humble… yet his need to become something great seemed to be magnified. His work reflected this as he had over the past few years blown past those in his age group and fields of research. Rumor had it that he was being considered by several significant individuals for a high seat in the tower should his progress continue at its current rate.

At the same time however he had become more charismatic to a small degree. He seemed to understand others better and gave them advice on occasion. This even applied to some Noble families, enabling him to gain more funds and resources for his research. He seemed to push forward with his work with a fervor of a man going to war. Once one hill of research was cleared, he pressed onward to a related subject as if it was not the end he was looking for…

Waver was in the middle of his research into a small realm of water element manipulation, attempting to create a spell that would automatically analyze the amount and composition of residual magic in existing bodies of water… something he had done manually with a pseudo chemistry set during the 4th war to look for the insane Caster and had actually worked surprisingly well. The spell itself would in theory be fairly basic, however the fabrication of the execution was a rather tedious task. Once he was able to finish this particular spell, he would attempt to make similar spells with the other basic elements… sans fire for obvious reasons.

He was returning to his workshop with several more books on water manipulation and sensory spells from one of the libraries inside the clock tower when he had bumped into something large while turning a corner and dropped his books.

"Ah! Sorry laddie." The giant thing apologized as it bent over to help the teen pick his books up. "Ahm a bit on ta big side so ah sometimes miss ta wee ones…"

Waver grit his teeth. He had been on the short side for the most part of his life, however his growth spurt had kicked in the past few years, making it so that he was at least of average height now."That's fine." He sighed as he took the books. "You aren't the first to…" He looked up at the man and momentarily faltered. The man's red hair and huge girth had instantly reminded him of his servant of 2 weeks, the great king of conquers, and his unofficial liege, Alexander the Great. He shook his head. "I'm used to it."

"I bet ya would." Chuckled the large man, patting the teen on the shoulder, bringing back some more memories of the teen's times in Japan. "Anyways, ahm lookin fer someone. Ya wouldn't know where… erm…" He scratched his chin. "Oh right, Waver Velvet is? Ah got sometin' fer him."

Waver rose an eyebrow. He had clearly never met the man before, although that was to be expected since the clock tower's population was rather large… however he was fairly certain that he would remember someone so blatantly different from the standard mould that walked around the halls here. "I'm Waver." The teen replied skeptically. "Who are you? What do you need to give me?"

"Ah! Finally!" The man grinned with a sigh. "Ah don't go inta the main tower dat much so whenever ah gotta look for someone ah sometimes get lost or come across some prick who doesn't give me ta right time o'day." He stuck out his hand. "Sirius McGinty lad. Pleased ta meet ya."

Waver's eyes widened. "The mystic code crafter? I've heard many things about you and your work, but I've never seen you in person before." He shook the man's hand, not wincing as his hand was slightly crushed under the strong grip. "Your research is well known and respected among my peers."

"O'course it is." Sirius grinned childishly. "What lad doesn't want some kinda gadget ta blow things up with? They demand and I supply! Ta more unique ta code is, ta more mah research is developed and ta more fun ah have breakin' things!"

Waver laughed sheepishly in conjunction with Sirius' blunt statement. The man was resembling Alexander more and more by the second and it was honestly unnerving him to no end. "… So about that thing you wanted to give me?"

"Ah! Right!" The big man nodded as he started to pat himself down to check his pockets. Once again Waver mused at how odd this man was for a magus, wearing a muscle shirt and casual cargo pants with a long sleeved shirt wrapped around his waist. There was no sense of pride or nobility in his attire at all. "Found it!" Sirius cheered as he took out a letter from one of his pockets. "Here ya are lad."

Waver raised an eyebrow as he put his books down and took the letter. "A letter? How odd. Why not just send me the message with magic?" He mused. He could already tell that there wasn't any prana flowing through the paper as he had casted a quick spell that checked such things. Sabotage was fairly common among some magi after all and his ascension in the ranks of the clock tower had irritated a few of the more ancient clan's youngest members…

Waver opened the letter curiously and scanned the contents, which was actually very sparse. At the top was a time, a date, and an address, all of which were relatively close by…

But his face paled dramatically as he read the 8 words written beneath that information.

No… He mentally repeated to himself, praying that each time he read the sentence the words or the meaning would change. No no no no… this can't be… it can't be possible. It's been so long… years in fact… even if the man had an A+ ranked independent action… he should be gone by now!

Yet the words on the paper did not change, nor did their meaning, nor the ice cold hand of fear that had gripped the teen's heart with a firm grip that prevented him from moving in the slightest.

The golden king still drinks among mortal men.

Waver quickly looked up to where Sirius had stood just moments before, only to see no one nearby at all. Looking around to see that no one was around, the teen quickly attempted to calm himself down and think things through. Obviously the writer of the message was aware of not only his participation in the war… but of the identities of the servants as well. He had doubted the possibility that he was the only master to survive the battles since he didn't win it in the first place… the only mortalities that he was aware of were of Caster's master, some non magical murdering sociopath, his bastard of a teacher, noble prodigy, and master of Lancer, Kayneth Archibald… and several months later he had heard that Tokiomi Tohsaka had passed during the fighting as well… who was the golden king's master…

Speaking of the other masters, Waver had barely been able to gain any other information on them since the war ended. Kirei Kotomine had belonged to the holy church and was an executor at that, so he heard rumors about the old master of Assassin every once in a while. The identity of the black and terrifying Berserker had never been disclosed to him… not that he wanted to meet anyone that could summon something so distorted…

However possibly the most dangerous master of all had for lack of a better term disappeared off the face of the planet. Kitsirugu Emiya, the rumored Magus Killer. A man who was still whispered about from time to time as one of the greatest and fearsome freelancers to ever exist even if the older clans, the Einzberns in particular, ridiculed him for being a hired dog that apparently made a habit of betraying his employers at the last moment. Waver was not a fool. The master of Saber was by all means the most likely to win even if the man had shown himself almost as frequently as Berserker's master…

He looked at the letter again. The golden king still drinks among mortal men. His eyes widened at the second hidden meaning in the message. During the war, there had been oddly enough a night when the three servants who had been kings in their past lives… drink among themselves and simply talk about times long past at the castle where Saber and her master had set up shop… until Assassin came and his Rider showed off his reality marble, killing the dark servant almost easily with his mighty army behind him. The message obviously came from someone who knew of that event…

Still that did not help much. It had been 3 years since the war and masters and servants were not the only ones involved in the war. Stories could have been told and passed many lips during that time… even if secrecy was one of the first things a magus practiced…

But the main message remained the same… Gilgamesh was still alive... and it terrified the teen to no end for good reason. The man after all possessed an anti-world noble phantasm… and he had seen it live up to the rank to the fullest in his servant's final fight…

Getting his head back on, the teen focused his mana to his eyes and brain as he once more read the entirety of the letter in front of him, committing it to memory so firmly that he could remember it as easily as he could his birthday before wordlessly burning the note in his hands. Fire was not his element, however something small on that level was none the less simple for him. It was something he attempted to learn as quickly as possible in order for his future research and studies to become more efficient.

He would have to at least finish some of his smaller projects in the next few days. After all, there was a good chance that he was going to die in this meeting. Might as well do something productive in his remaining time alive…

If meeting the one who wrote the message didn't kill him… he had no doubt that the events following the meeting would.

o. o. o.

Three days later:

Kiritsugu sighed almost contently as he rested in the comfortable chair in Sirius' office, drinking one of the beers the man had stashed under the desk. Reinforcing beer… why the hell didn't anyone ever market that before? It still tasted like piss but the buzz… oh the buzz...

It almost made him forget the ache of the curse that constantly plagued his body…

His relaxed state was interrupted as the door in front of him opened to give way to Sirius and Waver walking inside. "Oi!" The bigger of the two grunted. "Tat's me chair yer arse is in lad!"

"And it can tell that you've broken it in fairly well Sirius." Kiritsugu briefly smirked.

The owner of the house grumbled irritably as he walked to one of the guest chairs about being disrespected. Waver went for a seat as well, however he did not take his eyes off of Kiritsugu.

"You know who I am." The cursed man stated.

"Kiritsugu Emiya. The magus killer." Waver stated emotionlessly. "I was wondering where you went."

"Someplace quiet to slowly die." The man shrugged casually. "The grail was corrupted and me being the cold hearted man that I am angered it enough to curse me personally. I only have a couple of years left and I can barely do any magic anymore."

Both of the listener's eyes widened. "Ya fergot ta tell me tat part last night lad." Sirius frowned. "Ah thought ya just got grazed by some cursed noble phantasm."

"Must have slipped my mind." Kiritsugu nonchalantly shrugged.

The youngest of the three's eyes narrowed. Being cursed was a serious condition. Their effects varied between each one and for the most part they could be removed with enough time… however one that stemmed from the grail itself… "What do you mean by the grail was corrupted?"

Kiritsugu sighed. "Something's inside of it. Been there since the previous war if what I know is correct… waiting to be born. Angra Mainyu..."

"Tat's an ol' legend…" Sirius scratched his head. "Ta source of all ta evil in ta world… the bloody hell did he get in ta grail?"

"No clue." Kiritsugu shook his head. "What I do know is that for the sake of the world it can't be released and I used up 2 command spells to destroy the grail… and accidentally caused the Fuyuki fire. Because of that thing, my wife and well over 500 people have died for nothing, and I'm soon to follow…"

The room was quiet for some time. "Is it true?" Waver got to the point. "Is he really…"

He nodded. "Yes. Archer… no… Gilgamesh is still in our plane of existence." The assassin closed his eyes. "Worse… he seems to have an actual body now somehow thanks to the grail's contents spilling over him…"

"What!" The blacksmith stood up. "A bloody rogue and egotistical heroic spirit is walkin' around without a leash! The fuck are ya doin lad! Ya gotta tell da tower or da church or…"

"That won't work…" Waver grunted. "He owns literally almost every single noble phantasm to ever exist an some that only he can use. One of them is a root forsaken anti-world phantasm." He shook his head. "They wouldn't stand a chance…"

"I know." Kiritsugu nodded. "Plus the church won't help since he seems satisfied with partnering up with Kirei Kotomine… a dangerous executioner from the church that I doubt would mind deviating from his organizations' wishes…"

"Bloody hell…" Sirius slumped into his chair. "Ya really know how ta suck ta life outa me day lad…" He rubbed his forehead. "Ya betta get ta rest of ta bad new out of ta way befo ya show us ta light in this shit hole…"

"There's several things that could qualify as bad news for us right now…" Kiritsugu admitted. "However the only thing that we should focus on right now… is that the next war is in about 7 years… not 57."

Waver's eyes narrowed instantly. "What?" He stated bluntly. "How is that possible? The grail needs those 60 years in order to absorb the prana from the leylines in the area to have enough energy to summon the heroic spirits in the first place."

"I can only think it has something to do with when I forced Saber to destroy the grail." Kiritsugu surmised. "I had already set up explosives in the area that would cause earthquakes and disrupt the leylines in 40 years… but obviously that wasn't soon enough…"

"How do ya even kno tat ta war is even happenin so soon lad?" Sirius frowned. "Ya said yo'self… ya can barely do squat wit yo circuits now…"

The assassin sighed before closing his eyes. "… Roughly 3 months ago… I started to have dreams about the 5th war." He started off slowly. "There were 4 possible routes that I had watched. Through each one I managed to gain information on all of the servants, masters, noble phantasms, and abilities… minus a couple of original masters who were killed early on by either their servants or other sources." He looked at Waver. "I did not know of Archer's identity at the end of our war, nor of that monstrous weapon of his, Ea until I saw the dreams…" Waver's eyes narrowed, having committed the name of the terrifying and bizarre weapon to memory despite having it witnessing it only once.

"Hold on now!" Sirius growled. "Dreams ya say? Oter tan names, what proof do ya have tat they are not just yer mind fuckin wit ya?"

Kiritsugu closed his eyes. "… I adopted a boy almost immediately after the war." He started off slowly. "He was the only one I could save from the fire. I told him I was a magus… and after months of him bugging me I decided to teach him. He had no clan background, but despite that he has 27 magic circuits in his body, all of them are fairly high quality…" He let the two absorb the information, smirking briefly at Sirius' whistle of being impressed. "His progress before the dreams was nonexistent. He had trouble doing the simplest of spells, he seemed to have no element, and the best he could do was half assed projections and surprisingly thorough structural grasping spells…" He sighed. "It wasn't until the dreams that I found out what I was doing wrong and how bad of a teacher I was. The boy had abandoned his magic circuit for his nerves, turning them into makeshift circuits every time he used magic completely by accident…" He didn't react to the shocked looks the other two were giving him. It was understandable since the boy's method was borderline suicide. One wrong step and you pretty much fry yourself from the inside out. "… not only that, but he couldn't do elemental magic because his element wasn't of the standard 5… in fact it is the same as his origin." He looked up with narrowed eyes. "They were both… sword."

"Sword?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Neva heard o someone wit tat before… actually ah've neva heard o someone wit ta same origin an' element before either…"

"What's the point of telling us this?" Waver frowned. "What's so special about this boy?"

Kiritsugu's head sagged, making him far more tired looking than he did before. "Shirou… my son… he was not simply just a master in the upcoming war…" He said slowly. "… He was also a servant…"

The room was quiet.

"Come again?" Sirius grunted, any form of mirth gone from his body.

"This is becoming just as bizarre as you telling me that Gilgamesh is still alive." Waver seethed. "How, dare I ask is this possible?"

"The night I died… I told Shirou my dream… to be a hero of justice… to save any and everyone I could see…" Kiritsugu looked emptily at the table. "In one of the routes… in Archer's route… he stuck to that dream completely… and ended up becoming a counter guardian in order to save the lives of a hundred people…" He sighed. "The grail takes heroes from all across the timeline. Due to a series of events, an object he had all that life was used in the rituals of one of the masters, causing him to be inadvertently summoned…"

"A heroic spirit in tis day an age…" Sirius whispered. "Ah tought tat couldn't be done…" He glanced at the speaker. "What was ta lad's noble phantasm though? Its supposed ta be a symbol of his power… but no one can make one tese days… other than ta Fraga of course, but I doubt tat would be ta case…"

Kiritsugu looked up… looking at Waver straight in the eyes. "… The archer of that 5th holy grail war… had no true noble phantasm… he had only 1 real spell that he had earned throughout all his hardships, not asking for anything in return of those who he had rescued. It was an aria… 10 counts, in the form of a poem about his life. A spell that was borderline sorcery…"

There was a deep pause as Waver's eyes widened, realizing what the man was insinuating. "… Impossible…" The teen whispered.

Kiritsugu nodded. "Shirou has the potential to perform a reality marble. Unlimited Blade Works. A world that represents his beliefs and contains the blueprint of any melee weapon he has ever seen. With it he can project even noble phantasms to borderline perfection almost easily… though it will be down a rank… even the abilities of the weapons old masters will be retained and enable him to fight as if they were his own…" He closed his eyes and recalled his dreams. "I've seen him do amazing things in the dreams… and it is the perfect counter to fight against Gilgamesh…"

"A reality marble…" Sirius whispered. "… Based on weapons…" He began to chuckle slowly before roaring in amusement and holding his sides. "Ahahahaha! Ah lad! Ya have given me one hell of a gift here! Ah have half a mind ta take the lad from ya and make him ma apprentice! Hahahaha! Ah the work he could help me out wit in ma research!"

"Are you insane?" Waver yelled, clearly not nearly as amused as Sirius. "Reality marbles are forbidden to research! Even if you are telling the truth and he somehow manages to pull it off, everyone who has been confirmed to have helped him would have a sealing designation slapped on them in an instant!"

"I am saying this because I don't know how my actions have already impacted the future." Kiritsugu stated, not showing any change in emotion other than the state that was exhaustion. "The archer of this oncoming war may have been changed by my actions already. Other than the use of Unlimited Blade Works, there are 2 other potential ways I have determined that Gilgamesh can be efficiently defeated… and they involve nothing but pure luck… and forces that are just as dangerous as he is if not more." His eyes narrowed. "Even if he is defeated, there are still potential major threats that can emerge from this oncoming war to the world. Even if either one of you receives a sealing designation by the end of the war, I doubt either one of you would actually be used in experiments. You both have too much standing to be wasted. As for Shirou… well he can't have a designation if he isn't a member of the clock tower in the first place…"

"He has a point." Sirius nodded. "Lad could be a freelancer like his old man. Long as he don't do stupid shit and cause ta association or ta church ta hunt him down… he'd be in ta clear… 'sides… it's not like we're ta ones doin ta magic in ta first place. Even if we did take notes on ta brat's magic, we aren't dumb enough ta leave them out for people ta see…" He scratched his chin. "Now tat I think about it… It's been a while since ah've had someone inside mah real workshop…"

Waver grit his teeth. He was once again stuck in a preposterous situation because of a blasted war and an annoying giant of a red headed man. The problem was that this one made even more logical sense than the previous one… although that was not really difficult all things considered.

A reality marble… just like the one Rider had… just like the one that Gilgamesh had absolutely destroyed with Ea…

"Why is this reality marble stand a chance against Gilgamesh when Rider's didn't?" Waver asked. "It's abilities are a good counter for his Gate of Babylon, but it would still be destroyed against Ea…"

"Gilgamesh is egotistical." Kiritugu explained. "He would most likely try to beat Shirou with his gate first… no doubt wanting to destroy the "fakes" with the "originals". Should Shirou have enough skill and prana, he can not only cancel out this power, but overwhelm it. UBW is faster in its weapon creation than the gate is in unleashing its contents. This can enable for Shirou to get in close and fight him at close range. Despite having all these noble phantasms, Gilgamesh is simply an owner. He doesn't truly know how to wield them. Shirou on the other hand can use one of the swords he has copied from one of the other servants to utilize their styles and finish him off quickly with technique, having pinned down the gate with his reality marble. So long as he does not take out Ea before the reality marble is deployed, Shirou has a solid chance of winning." He smirked. "That was how Gilgamesh was defeated in one of the routes I've seen…"

"A teen beating a heroic spirit…" Sirius shook his head and snorted. "Now ah've heard of everything…" He let out a slow breath. "So where ta bloody hell do we come in lad? Ah know tat yer gonna train yer boy ta not suck tis time round… but what ta hell are we supposed ta do on tis side of ta planet?"

Kiritsugu closed his eyes. "… I've told you both already that I'm going to die soon. Nothing I say or do will change that. I won't see the war, and odds are likely that I won't see my daughter either…" He sighed, ignoring the caught off guard looks the listeners gave him, no doubt never expecting him to have a daughter in the first place. "… However I will use even that to our advantage…" His eyes opened and narrowed. Very slowly and elaborately, the magus killer explained his plan to the others, watching with mild interest as their expressions paled and lost all foundation with their eyes never blinking or looking away from him. "… After you deliver the items to Shirou Waver, I want you to occasionally visit him and train him in my stead to ensure that his training is going smoothly. Make sure to enchant the container of my messages doesn't open until at least a few days into the war and that you are not in the city during the months around the war to ensure that the grail doesn't accidentally choose you as a master."

"By ta fucking root lad…" Sirius whispered. "You're truly serious about tis…"

Waver was shivering. Screw the reality marble… if the association ever got word of the boy was capable of doing to any mage he comes across in battle…

"I take it this means you both believe me now." The man sighed in an even tone. "Shirou's a good kid. He goes out of his way to help people… in a way it's his way of dealing with his survivor's guilt from being the only one to live through the fire. To be honest… he doesn't really have a sense of self preservation when it comes to helping others. He's the type to jump in head first to help someone even if it meant he'd get hurt or killed in the process without even thinking about those particular consequences before, during or after the event…." His eyes dimmed. "… I don't want him to end up like me…" He muttered, his voice finally breaking. "Look at me… I sacrificed my father… my adopted mother… my wife… my partner… my daughter… even myself to my foolish dreams to save people. This boy truly is the only thing that has enabled me to keep my mind after I've lost everything to "save the world". He's the only thing I have actually truly saved… and I'm the one that nearly killed him in the first place…" He laughed bitterly as tears actually began to fall down his face. "… Yet even still I want to help save the world. The grail may have cursed me and ended my life early… but I've truly been dying the moment the war started again... probably even longer." He dropped his head so that it almost touched the table, but it did nothing to stop the sounds of his now heavy crying. "Please… help me protect my son… and everything else I used to care about that still somehow still exists… my daughter is going to be a master in this war too… she's going to be the container of the next grail and will die if I don't do anything. She'll just be another meaningless sacrifice. I'm trying my hardest to plan for everything, to save everyone, but I know that it won't be enough. Not by myself. Please…"

Sirius and Waver were silent as they took in the sight of the broken man in front of them, begging for their aid. Despite their previous encounters and knowledge about him, neither one of them ever expected that they would ever live to see the day that the famous Magus Killer would break down in tears right in front of them like a small child.

Sirius was the first to recover, grunting tiredly and scratching the back of his head. "Damn it lad… and here I thought Natalia was a handful." He sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine… count me in. Ah could at least use yer plan ta further mah research a bit in ta process… just don't think ah'll be quiet about it…"

Waver on the other hand was quiet, going over the situation over and over in his mind, taking in the risks of every action he could do before reaching a conclusion and closing his eyes. "This…" He growled. "… has got to be one of the dumbest and irrational thing I have ever gotten myself into in my life…" He waited for several seconds before relaxing his body, opening his eyes, and putting on a feeble grin. "… Still… the first would always be when I stole Kayneth's artifact, ran off to Japan of all places, and participated in the previous war. I doubt I'll be in any more danger than I was hanging around Rider back then…"

The two elder men paused for a moment before chuckling to one another in mirth.

"Really?" Kiritsugu began to laugh more, the tears still streaming down his eyes. "Does that mean you knew that I had a sniper rifle pointed to the entrance to that home you stayed at for almost half a day near the end of the war?"

Waver's grin fell almost as quickly as the color in his face as the two full grown men laughed even harder.

o. o. o.

A/N:

Heheh. Oh no, I'm not telling anyone what I have in store for Shirou until the time is right, so everyone is still going to have to wait for his special gift is revealed.

So to anyone who knows my work, they will know that I am actually good at making believable and well made OCs. Sirius is mine and mine alone and I am glad the way he turned out, even though I had intended to use him eventually for YAWALEH though with a few key differences. I had based his character off of the scottsman from Samurai Jack… because that guy is just the man. Oh yeah, there's supposedly a Samurai Jack movie coming out next year made by, get this, J. J. Abrams. Fuck. YES.

So Waver Velvet is my link from the previous war to the next war. Despite being a somewhat competent whiny little brat in Fate/Zero, he'll prove himself to be significantly more competent, patient, understanding, and skilled in the upcoming chapters.

As for Bazett… you'll see… heheheh.

Ok. In terms of Fate/HA… Someone please help me out here. I know the general story of it, and I know it isn't fully translated yet, but obviously some people have A LOT better sources than others from it. Can someone help me in terms of that. I would LOVE to have an incomplete copy of the game since… well… pretty much everyone's been waiting for it.

Now for other news. I have a job now. Its and engineering job. It's a fairly good job. It's a job that pays well. It's a job that is slightly over my head but I'm still doing it for as long as I can. Most importantly, it's a job that takes TIME. As such, chapter updates for this and my other story YAWALEH will take longer to do since I don't have as much time to goof off anymore. Please understand this my fans. I will still be writing, however I won't be able to pump out the insane chapters of retarded sizes once every couple of weeks that I am almost famous for. Thank you for understanding this.

In terms of YAWALEH though, I'm just still waiting for a bit longer though. I have a decent portion of the next chapter written already, but I just want to take my time this time around and pace myself. Thanks.

Until then. Review! Worship the log! Get on the asses of anyone that's translating Fate/Hollow Ataraxia! And review again!