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.

20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Pre and Post Maintenance

I do not own Fate/Stay Night and stuffs:

o. o. o.

With Waver:

He sat in a very formal, yet somehow empty looking meeting room. The floors were made of a dark blue stone and the walls were covered with an intricate gold and blue pattern that flaunted the owner's wealth and taste in elaborate decorations. There were several large and expensive looking oil paintings on the walls, showing pictures of people that were all related in some manner and all holding relatively the same presumptuous pose for the painter to take.

Save for a few hardwood chairs, side tables, some minor pieces of decorating furniture around the edge of the room, and the few people inside, the place was fairly empty…

Lord El-Melloi II knew that this was going to happen eventually. Ever since Shirou had been discovered by Lorelei and it was determined that the Magus Killer was going to make an appearance at the Clocktower, the young lord had been preparing for this eventual meeting that would determine his future both occupationally and physically.

Part of these preparations oddly enough did involve the lit cigar in his mouth.

"I believe that you are aware of the reason behind this meeting Lord El-Melloi." The first of the three people in front of him asked coldly, an old man with glasses with the top of his head devoid of hair, making it look like he was wearing a short white furry crown.

"I should hope so." Waver replied politely. "It would be extremely embarrassing and unbecoming of the position you gave me if I misinterpreted the situation and prepared erroneously."

"It would not be the first major mistake you have made." The second person stated. She was a middle aged woman with blonde going grey hair tied up in a bun, dressed in a blue business suit that had less wrinkles than her face. "We must admit, we had assumed that you had learned from your past mistakes and would have the foresight to avoid associating with such undeserving drabble."

"Undeserving perhaps, but I saw potential benefits in maintaining contact with them regardless." Waver admitted. He was now playing the game of politics, where everything spoken was either a half truth or a full blown lie.

The old man of the group snorted. "What sort of benefits could you gain from a crude drunk and the spawn of a Heretic?"

Waver didn't blink. "I avoided potentially ending up like my predecessor and losing my crest for starters."

The reaction was instantaneous as all three individuals glared bullets at him at once. Had Waver been a less experienced dealing with killing intent, he may have flinched, but compared to standing less than a meter away from Gilgamesh and getting nearly killed by the legendary sword Excalibur, these three were as intimidating as flies. "Please keep in mind that the main cause for Lord Kayneth's demise and near loss of our family crest was due to your immature actions, Lord El-Melloi." The woman stated stiffly, as if barely holding herself back from cursing him to oblivion.

"No." Waver corrected. "After spending time with the original Magus Killer and putting that information together with my experiences during the war, I can confidently say that the results would have not changed in the slightest. Your crest would most likely still have been lost and my predecessor would have still lost his life." He took the cigar in his mouth and jolted some of the ashes off onto the tray next to him. "Do not misunderstand though, I am to this day still quite surprised that I managed to survive the ritual. The fact that I am here and Kayneth is not is something I would expect would happen."

"You mean to say that you expected him to live and yourself to die?" The eldest of the group stated almost curiously.

"No." The young lord repeated himself as he put the cigar back into his mouth. "After taking things into consideration, I believe that the most likely scenario would have been that we both perish. I was too inexperienced and oblivious, and the previous Lord El-Melloi was too unaware and ignorant."

"Please watch what you say. You sound as if Kayneth, hailed as a genius even by our family, had overlooked something basic when he entered the War." The business woman frowned.

"I did." Waver confirmed. "My predecessor approached the war as if all the participants would all willingly follow the rules of standard engagement. That the standard guidelines of dueling and nobility would be followed." He breathed in deeply and sighed, letting the cigar smoke fill and exit his lungs. "He vastly underestimated the competition and what they were willing to do in order to win."

"Such a result would not have happened had you not stolen the relic of Alexander the Great in the first place." Argued the elderly man tersely.

"No it wouldn't. Rider stated that he would have disliked working under Lord Kayneth when they first met. Given their personalities, I would not have been surprised if my predecessor would have died even sooner had I not done what I did. While I was lead around by my servant's whims a good portion of the time, Rider and I got along fairly well which I believe is the sole reason why I am alive today. In addition to that, I must remind you that there was a point in the war where Emiya's servant had nearly killed both Rider and I without aid from her master." Waver explained himself professionally. "The Einzbern's servant and representative were both superior and more suited for fighting in the war. No more. No less."

"Why did you not inform us of this when we first arranged your position?" The middle aged woman asked sternly, easily brushing aside Waver's analysis as she could neither argue against it, nor find any profit in doing so. "With you indebted to us, it was only proper that you should have done so. As far as I can tell, there was no reason for you to maintain your relationship with the mage killer. No benefits or position would come out of it."

"It would defeat the purpose of keeping the boy secret in the first place." Waver pointed out casually. "I admit I have grown attached to him as a sort of secret student, however I must indicate that if I wanted to get the best results out of him and his research, the best route to take would have been to just let him grow on his own with as little outside influence as possible. I believe you have heard of the results. Morokov's and Louvre's deaths at his hands are apparently among the biggest news going around as of late."

"Enough. It does not matter now. What is done is done." The third person sitting in front of Waver spoke up for the first time since the meeting began, gaining the attention of everyone else there. "It would have been interesting to have the Magus Killer's son under our influence, however that opportunity has passed us." They turned to look at the young platinum blonde haired girl in a blue dress, barely in her teens and yet holding herself up nobly. While she was technically the lowest ranking member in terms of political power, she was in reality the next in line to inherit the head position of the Archibald family.

She was also the one responsible for making Waver a lord in the first place.

"Regardless, we did not come here to discuss the events of nearly a decade ago. We are here to discuss your fraternization with the Magus Killer, his next of kin, and your decision to not inform us of it." She looked at Waver with calm but stern blue eyes. "Now if you would please explain to us how this association of yours came to pass…"

Waver nodded. "As you wish." The young lord explained how he met Kiritsugu and Sirius roughly five years ago, how he asked them for help while not telling them of the contents of the deal itself, of Shirou and his education while still leaving some key details out, and of what he got in terms of benefits from the situation.

She looked at the Lord. "You have been surprisingly vague about various details regarding the deal you made with the Emiya, their mysteries, and their reasons for wanting your aid. Would you be so kind as to elaborate as to why that is?"

Waver nodded. "It is simple. I am not allowed to."

"By whom?" The eldest male there glared. "Surely you are not placing this deal of yours above your responsibilities to the Archibald family are you?"

"Of course not." The Lord denied. "I am placing the orders of Lady Barthomelloi above said responsibilities."

The three Archibalds stiffened momentarily at this declaration, much to Waver's secret pleasure. The Archibald family was in extremely good relations with the significantly more influential Barthomelloi family. The thought of directly going against orders going against the latter's decisions never gave people good feelings, and that went double for the Archibalds seeing as doing so would drastically reduce their political pull.

"Please… elaborate." The businesswoman asked, though a bit more on edge than she was previously.

"It is no secret that the young Emiya is now under the direct command of Lady Barthomelloi." Waver started off slowly, making sure that he didn't leave any holes in his explanation that could be poked and prodded later. "However before she even laid eyes on him, if you remember, she had taken a small interest in me after my failed attempt to rescue the sealing designate Sirius McGinty, and kill the late Dead Apostle Ancestor Louvre. I was the one who first revealed Emiya's existence to the Association, admittedly due to a slip of the tongue. In addition to that, due to a brief conversation with McGinty during the failed rescue operations, I found that the target, Louvre, was going after the boy in order to get McGinty to make more mystic codes for him."

Waver breathed out some more smoke. "Louvre, while still not as powerful as the others, was still deemed as a Dead Apostle Ancestor. As such Lady Barthomelloi came to me personally to see what had happened. I, of course, did so in addition to informing her of where I believed he would appear next. Seeing an opportunity to kill another vampire, she followed my advice and traveled to where the infamous battle occurred."

He licked his dry lips. "During the trip there, she interrogated me about the boy, and the conversation ended up much like this one, where I refused to divulge information for the same reasons. Before she came to a final decision, she chose to wait until after seeing the boy fight the vampire and talking to him in person in order to see what the best choice to make was. Long story short, she wanted his services, and I was ordered to not divulge any sensitive information on him that might be used to reduce his value."

He looked at the three in front of him while holding his own proud posture. Many would assume that he was being defiant, but anyone that knew the man would know that he was simply stating truths that could not be changed in his mind. "As of right now, only myself, McGinty, the Enforcer Bazett McRemitz, Lady Barthomelloi, Emiya himself, and you three know this much about him. If this is spread out and I am asked by the Vice Director if I told anyone this, I am obviously obligated to tell her the truth."

"It would after all be unbecoming of a Lord of the Archibald family to outright lie to the head of the Barthomelloi family." He concluded with the faintest hint of amusement in his voice.

The room was silent as both sides stared at one another emotionlessly as if measuring their options and the risks involved.

"It seems you still possess that reckless wild streak that prompts you to make foolish decisions Lord El-Melloi." The young girl there stated calmly.

"I like to believe that I have at least learned enough to plan my steps more efficiently when in dangerous grounds my lady." Waver bowed his head briefly.

"Such recklessness can be a burden." The elder male stated coldly. "Fools that are not careful can end up hurting themselves with their own experiments. We have all no doubt witnessed accidents that have resulted in the practitioner's body nowhere to be found…"

Waver sighed aridly, easily ignoring the thinly veiled threat. "Well then I guess I will have to be more careful for both our sakes. It would be extremely unsightly for us if I were to harm myself by accident when I have been recently speaking to the Vice Director about several issues going around the Tower."

"The… I was not aware that your exposure to Lady Barthomelloi had extended past the subject of the Emiya boy." The business woman momentarily fumbled over her words, for once completely caught off guard by Waver's statement.

"I admit I was surprised myself." The Lord shrugged. "However soon after the Emiya incident, I discovered that my work and past was occasionally being examined by the Lady's attendants. After that I had some occasional meetings with her, mostly regarding my work and research of course, however sometimes it focused on the management and structure of the Tower itself. Given that these meetings have yet to stop, I am under the impression that she at the least somewhat considers my input worthwhile."

"I somehow doubt that someone of your stature has managed to capture even the smallest attention of someone as high borne as the head of the Barthomelloi." The eldest one there snorted disbelievingly.

Waver inhaled his cigar and exhaled a large stream of smoke before he looked pointedly at them. "I am ashamed." Waver sighed. "To think that the family that put my abilities to such regards as to give me a Lordship would doubt my word on such a matter. Why if I were to be removed from my position or to disappear suddenly, I would be aghast as to think of how the Lady would interpret not only my competency, but the fact that it may also be reflected upon the noble Archibald family as well." He shrugged lightly. "After I worked so hard to push the Archibald name into several events too…"

"What are you talking about?" The middle aged woman asked stiffly, not liking where this was going.

Waver resisted the urge to chuckle. Now the tables were turned and he was in control. "Well… I may have suggested someone of young Marcus' description slightly before he was asked to participate on that black magic summoning sealing designate trial three months ago… and I also have reason to believe that Lady Sophia may be being considered for a fairly respectable position in the Department of Spiritual Summoning…"

"Are you insinuating that the Vice Director is a gossip?" The youngest one there asked with a hint of distain in her voice.

Waver snorted. "Come now. We all know that she is above such things. I am merely stating that on occasion we discuss the commonly known current issues and events and exchange perspectives on how they would, should, and can be approached." He breathed out some smoke. "If you wish for my honest opinion, I believe that she occasionally asks for my input because I have a different viewpoint regarding these matters compared to most standard nobles, and as such she can use me to obtain new options on future plans… though to be blunt I have rarely witnessed my ideas come into action."

"That I have little trouble believing." Scoffed the oldest one there before leveling his eyes on Waver. "It seems we are at a bit of an impasse Lord El-Melloi. Your relationship with the Emiya blood has more than irritated us, and yet you have proven yourself to be indispensable given your… limited contact with the Vice Director."

"I like to think that my hard work, intelligence, good looks, and sense of wit had a part to play in this as well." Waver added with a hint of amusement.

The other three in the room did not share that amusement given the looks of disdain they were giving him.

Realizing that he may have overstepped himself that time, the outnumbered man coughed sheepishly. Personally he blamed that slip of the tongue on Rider and Sirius. "Moving on. Since obviously we are at an impasse on my future due to my situation and I had predicted that we would arrive at such a position, I had fortunately come up with a compromise that I believe will satisfy all parties involved. Of course there would of course be room for negotiations…"

o. o. o.

With Shirou:

"Is something the matter Emiya?" Luvia asked curiously as she sat across the cafeteria table from her new friend who was once more looking over his copy of Moderate Level Environmental Alteration and Influence Principles. "You seem a bit… unnerved. Do not tell me that your…" She hesitated as she thought of an appropriate word to describe the very crude Irishman that the teen was close to without seeming too rude. "… blunt, teacher is still harassing you."

Shirou paused as he stopped looking around for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past ten minutes. The lunch in front of him was barely touched. "Huh? Oh, um, no I'm not worried about the old man. He normally keeps my training to low populated areas." He looked around again somewhat apprehensively before focusing on the page in front of him again. "I just want to make sure that if some certain individuals arrive I'm not caught off guard." He paused before narrowing his eyes. "Huh… is it really that simple? Why didn't I see this before?"

"Oh?" The blonde teen raised an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me that the deadly Magus Killer is afraid of people here?" Honestly, if Luvia didn't know him already, she could have sworn that the guy was a flower loving pacifist. It wasn't that she really minded the boy's visually apparent paranoia. Because he seemed to be looking at everyone nearby every fifteen seconds, pretty much everyone in the cafeteria had decided that it would be safer to not try to get close enough to listen onto their conversation lest they incur the mythological and apparently nonexistent rage of the Magus Killer.

The ironic thing was that Lorelei wasn't going to announce his position as her "security representative" for another few days so that the proper paperwork went through and Shirou fully recovered. One could only imagine how bad it would be once that fiasco reached full stride…

Shirou gave her a deadpanned look. "First of all, no human is truly fearless. If you ever came across someone like that, then I would not doubt that he or she would be in possession of a reality marble with the most dangerous environment ever conceived, or they are a week away from committing suicide. Second, I will have you know that there are plenty of people here that I am terrified of and would never wish to engage in combat. On the top of that list is obviously the Vice Director." He shivered at the memory of his encounters with the woman.

"Indeed." Luvia nodded understandingly as she drank some tea. "The head of the Barthomelloi family is reputed to be among the most capable and gifted magi in the world today. No doubt that she could kill you easily without as much as a scratch."

Shirou nodded absently, not bothering to tell his newfound friend that contrary to her beliefs, he could permanently cripple a few of her highly valued circuits before dying. If he was desperate enough to use his father's rather unsavory tactics, he was fairly certain that he could boost the outcome to at best a mutual kill. If he was lucky.

Shirou didn't fear death… but that didn't mean that he wanted to die. He still very much enjoyed breathing and eating and cooking thank you very much.

"Moving on." Luvia sighed as she fanned herself and looked at the book in front of her. "I am somewhat curious. That book is for second year students, however it is not normally a field that many would focus on upon entering…"

"Most of the magic I use is unconventional in general." The masked boy replied without looking up from his page. "I came across a class teaching a subject that I needed more knowledge on in order to finish an experiment of mine and managed to slip in without getting noticed. This was the book for said class. I had a look at the beginner's version, however I found that I had done enough research on the particular subject to skip it."

"Oh?" The Edelfelt raised a curious eyebrow and smirked. "Well that's a surprise. Who knew that the Magus Killer had time to experiment and make new miracles in addition to training your combat abilities?"

"Who said they weren't related?" Shirou sighed, once again noting that his intelligence was being underestimated. He turned the page and continued with the subject. "I'm fairly certain that I can finally complete the base steps of my experiments in the next few days. Mastering them of course would take much longer. If my guess is right, I can further branch out from there." He paused. "In fact I think I might have just solved the biggest problem I had with the basics of my latest mystery… and if it's as simple as I think it is…" His eyes narrowed as he read the section intently. "… So that was what I was doing wrong… I had to set an overlaying conversion and then calculate the…" He muttered under his breath to himself.

Finally he would be able to have a solid defensive spell other than Rho Aias. The seven layered bounded field was a fantastic shield, however the fact that he had to stay still to cast it and that its condition was linked to his physical state were liabilities that he didn't want to expose himself to repeatedly or let others become aware of.

"Not to be rude, but I happen to have overheard a conversation you had with McGinty when we first met." The noble commented. "I am surprised that you are capable of such feats with mere projection magic. I doubt that anyone in the Tower that doesn't already know of it has suspected that all your weapons are mere imitations."

Shirou frowned and looked over his book. "I know it's a bit late to ask at this point, but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

Holding a hand to her heart and looking at him hurt, the girl put on a dramatic demeanor. "I am shocked. Do you really think so little of me as to betray your trust?"

The Faker gave her a tired look. "Given my current reputation and how things are normally done here, I'm not ruling out the possibility of it happening."

The noblewoman dropped her dramatic pose and smirked before reaching for her tea. "A wise decision… but unnecessary. My pride as an Edelfelt demands me to defeat you only by means of direct combat while you are at your best given your reputation. Anything less would drag my honor through the mud."

"Pride, huh." Shirou sighed as he scanned the area around him again before looking at his book. "A word of advice if we ever do end up fighting against one another… don't expect me to fight with something excessive like that."

"Is that a threat Emiya?" The teen's eyes flashed warily.

He chuckled lightly. "To be honest I would prefer if I didn't have to fight you at all if I could help it. You're a good person and I don't really see a reason for us to try to kill one another."

"Stop complimenting me." The girl hid her blush by drinking more tea until she regained her composure. "You didn't answer my question."

"I was just stating a fact." Shirou sighed without looking up. "It seems that one of the traits that I share with my father is that we have no pride in ourselves or in what we do. If you expect me to fight by the rules that Magi tend to follow, you'll lose. I don't care about appearances or how others see me."

"… No pride… that is rather depressing." The girl looked at him in an almost pitying manner. For most nobles, having pride in their accomplishments and in their family was nearly the same as having a heartbeat. To not have any pride at all did not only sound unnatural to her, but also depressing. "I'll keep that in mind, but you should be wary of it regardless. Having a good reputation would make things easier for you in the long run."

"True, but having a good rep here would mean doing things that I would rather do without. I am not that fond of Magus culture as a whole. The idea of pursuing research no matter who or what is sacrificed honestly disgusts me."

"Really?" Luvia raised an eyebrow. "If that is so, then why are you here in the first place?"

"Simple." Shirou snorted. "You try saying no to the Vice Director."

The female paled dramatically as she realized what her friend was saying. "… Point made."

"I thought it would." The Emiya grumbled as he glanced at his book once more before raising his free hand to his side. "Let's see… Trace on. Alter status. Analyzing system with global origin. Set geographic coordinate system standard. Overlay with caster origin coordinate system. Produce conversion matrixes. Install and incorporate matrixes. Establish sufficient caster origin based range. Remove caster origin axis' and coordinates from outputs. Incorporate global variables. Set."

His eyes narrowed as he projected a fairly average and unimpressive looking sword in mid air with its point towards the ground and watched it hover in place. "Well its working so far…" He muttered as he looked at the weapon from several angles.

"Is that your new spell?" Luvia questioned, rather unimpressed. "It doesn't seem that different than what you normally do."

"It's technically two thirds of the new spell." Shirou admitted as he poked the weapon testingly, only for it to remain in place. "The last third is the tricky part, but I already technically mastered it a while ago. I made the mistake of focusing on the first and last parts before finding out that I needed to create it in a different coordinate system. I ended up cutting off my arm by accident because of it. If I had been a bit more off I would have lost my head instead." He began to push harder against it and watch as it slowly shifted in mid air. "So far, so good. It's stability is a bit less than what I had intended, but that's just because I'm not completely used to incorporating this new system…"

"Hoh?" The noble mused. "So you do not mind if you nearly die, but you dislike it when others are involved? How noble of you Emiya."

"Magi walk the path of death." The masked teen shrugged as he continued his examination of the floating weapon. "It's their decision to do so and I don't look down on them for choosing that path. I do on the other hand find it sickening and stupid to involve and force the innocent in their experiments. It's an irresponsible and childish thing to do and honestly I somehow wonder how things are managed here if people actually follow the logic that says that such a thing is completely acceptable."

"I agree completely." Luvia nodded approvingly. "There are far too many nobles these days who have become desperate for power, wealth and prestige that they have lost their grace and original drive to exceed in the first place." She puffed her fairly developed chest out in pride. "They waste too much of their time trying to improve their magic when they should be improving themselves, which is far more efficient if you ask me. What the elder masses are doing these days just reeks of desperation in inadequacy."

"Heh." Shirou smiled as he leaned back into his chair. "Finally. That's one of the first things I've heard from anyone since I got here that I can get behind without hesitation. It's technically not how I would put it, but I agree with it all the same." With a silent command, the floating sword next to him shattered silently into dust that did not cut anything.

"I am glad you agree with me." Luvia returned the smile with her own. "However, do you think it is wise to experiment in open view of everyone here?"

"Everything I was doing was fairly basic stuff. If other people did find out what I was doing just now, they probably would have just brushed it off and kept on walking." The Emiya shrugged as he scanned the room once more. "Even the completed version would end up looking very unimpressive to most people unless you knew exactly what it did, and to find that out I would either have to tell you, or you would need to have advanced structural grasping abilities."

"Well that does sound very convenient for someone like yourself." Luvia nodded in understanding, albeit she was also a bit disappointed as well. "You do seem like the type to put application and efficiency over appearance after all."

"I wouldn't be my father's son if I didn't." Shirou casually replied before looking around to his right.

"… I have been quiet so far, but now this is getting rather tiresome with you looking around like that. Are you concerned that you are going to get attacked by the general populace or is there someone here that has you worried for your safety?" The noble finally asked, clearly concerned about the Emiya's uncomfortable situation and seemingly unaware that he was somewhat tuning her out.

"Einzbern." The teen replied absently, finally putting his book down in the process. "Let's just say that my father did not exactly leave them with a good impression and that I wouldn't be surprised if it carried down to how they view me."

"Einzbern?" Luvia raised an eyebrow. "I admit that they are a rather well founded family and they do make rather formidable homunculi, however I don't think that they are so much of a threat that you would have to be on edge during your stay here, at least not compared to some of the other families that your father has angered in the past…"

"I saw two of their members walking with roughly half a dozen fighter based homunculi about a week ago and to my knowledge they haven't left yet." Shirou stated calmly, driving the point across. Einzberns did not qualify as a great threat by themselves, but their homunculi were another story completely. Even the weaker combat focused homunculi were rumored to be as efficient as a hundred standard magi in terms of battle. Granted Shirou could take out a standard Magi with his bare hands and some reinforcement, but the gap in danger was still significant enough to cause some worry. "And to be clear about this, they REALLY hate my father."

"Ah…" The noble blanched, getting the idea that Shirou was stressing. "I see your point. Well then, I shall do you a service and inform you when I see any member of that family or any of their products nearby."

Shirou glanced at Luvia and only just barely caught himself from being a bit blunt with his next correction. "Thank you… but on a side note, can you please not refer to the homunculi as products or objects, or at least not around me? Though they may be artificially created, I happen to know that some are fully capable of having personalities and feelings. It makes me uncomfortable calling something that looks, acts, and thinks like a human an object."

"Oh?" Luvia blinked. "Now that is a surprise. Most would have assumed that someone of your reputation would have just agreed that they were tools and leave it at that. Who knew that you were such a bleeding heart? Do you try to make friends with any being that looks and talks like a human?"

The Magus Killer scanned the room again. "No, though I am on somewhat good terms with an Apostle Ancestor."

Luvia, who was in the middle of drinking some more tea at that statement, appropriately choked on the drink and spent more than a few minutes trying to regain control of her lungs. "Wh-what?" She gasped, not at all caring about proper decorum or appearance for once. "You are actually friends with one of those monstrosities?"

"What? He's actually a pretty nice and reasonable person if you just treat him like a normal guy." Shirou stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I've only talked to him face to face once, but he's pretty pleasant to talk to." He froze for a moment as he saw someone walk by in the distance before relaxing again. "False alarm. Silver hair, but normal colored eyes…"

"A-Amazing…" The noble muttered to herself. "To think that you would be so fearless as to become acquaintances with a Dead Apostle Ancestor…"

"It isn't that big of a deal. Isn't Kaleidoscope supposedly one as well?" Shirou asked confused. He knew the man's reputation was rather… unsavory to many, but the fact still stood that he was a vampire. "It would be weird if he wasn't friends with a couple of people in the Association considering he's a Wizard Marshal."

"Y-yes, but… even you should know that Lord Zelretch is a rather eccentric person that few are fond of here…" Luvia argued, still trying to regain her bearings.

"Old Man Sirius is a good friend of his." The Magus Killer replied offhandedly as he scanned the room again. "He's told me a few stories about a few pranks they've pulled on the nobility here. They haven't talked for a few decades, but from what I can gather the guy just has a bit of a sadistic and cruel sense of humor that leans towards the childish side. Considering the general standard personality of the magical population, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets along better with the non magical community than he does with the magical."

"You… really do live in a completely different world don't you?" The teen girl commented out loud, more to herself than to her friend before pausing and seeing something past his shoulder. "It would be best if you calmed yourself. It appears you are being approached."

Shirou raised a confused eyebrow and briefly turned around to see what Luvia was pointing out before his blood went cold and he turned back. "Thanks for the warning." He muttered with narrowed eyes as his shroud magically wrapped itself around his mouth so that he could hide more of his facial features and expressions.

"So you are supposedly the latest in the line of traitors and disappointments?" A tall blonde man snorted as he strolled past the pair's table and looked down upon Shirou with disgust. Following close behind him were three silver haired, red eyed men that were so similar looking that they almost would have passed off as triplets, each one holding a close ranged weapon made from high density metals that by all means should not be able to be wielded by normal humans...

Shirou determined that Natalia could easily cut through them if needed, but he was fairly certain that he never had weapons that heavy recorded in Unlimited Blade Works before. He would have to do some experiments later to see how efficient and accurate they were when fired off as bullets… but right now he was more concerned about what he learned from the tool's history. If what he was seeing was correct, then it would be best if he didn't pick a fight with any of their current wielders unless he wanted to do a fair bit of damage to the general area.

"Do I know you?" The masked teen asked politely, pretending to not already know that the man in front of him was an Einzbern.

"I should hope not." The man scoffed as he stuck his nose into the air. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties and wore a fairly expensive suit much like most of the other males in the Association. Average height. Average weight. All in all, he was fairly unremarkable looking save for his hair color when compared to everyone else in the Association. "I would be abhorred if I was known by someone as lowborn as yourself."

"If you don't like me… and you think I am beneath you… and I don't know who you are… then why are you talking to me?" Shirou asked confused. He technically knew the reason already, but he still didn't understand the logic. In his mind, it was best to just avoid people you didn't like and you didn't have business with.

The nobleman raised an eyebrow and looked at Shirou with a mix of disgust and insult. "I am of the Einzbern lineage boy. Surely your traitorous father has mentioned to you of how he stabbed us in the back all those years ago."

Shirou kept his cool despite the killing intent and glares that the man and his guards were giving him. "Ah. Right. Dad did warn me about your family should I make myself known to the magic world… but that still didn't answer my question. Plus, why are you here? I heard that the Einzberns normally keep to themselves."

"I will have you know that I am here as an envoy for the Sea of Estray for Alchemic research purposes." The man sneer proudly, announcing his position as an important member for one of the other main branches of the Magus Association to anyone that was within hearing distance.

"A member of the Wandering Tomb?" Luvia raised an eyebrow curiously, mentioning the third branch of the Association's nickname. "It is quite uncommon for someone from there to be here in the Clocktower…"

"It was to both of our misfortunes that my stay here happened to align to one another. How you managed to become approved to apply here is beyond me, however I do not care at this point." The man continued, ignoring Luvia's comment and staring down at the masked male.

"Then for a third time, why are you here interrupting my lunch break with my friend?" Shirou sighed, clearly not impressed or intimidated by the man's ramblings. He wished the man would get to the point already so he would leave. The longer he stayed, the more likely it was that something unfortunate might happen. "If you're here to just try to intimidate me, can you please go away. I'm sorry if I'm being a bit blunt, but I'm getting tired of all the people trying to challenge me just so they can try to find out how my mysteries work or gain fame by "being the one who beat the Magus Killer.""

The corner of the noble's mouth sneered upwards in a grin that was common upon those who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. "I just wanted to know what the poor fool that gained the attention of the traitor looked like. Unfortunately it seems that like your father, you are also a coward that doesn't like to show your face unless left with no other option."

Shirou remained quiet for several seconds before Luvia spoke up. "Couldn't you have done that from a distance? It's pretty rude to interrupt a conversation for something small like that."

The Einzbern glanced at the girl and growled. "It would be best if you didn't talk to people you know nothing about girl. Those of the Emiya name and blood are nothing more than disappointments, traitors, liars, and failures."

"And Fakes." Shirou added offhandedly, getting confused looks from the other two there. "It… It's an inside joke…" He mumbled embarrassed.

"Regardless of what kind of trash you are, I was still curious to see what that traitor's legacy would have produced." The Einzbern grunted, being the first of the two to recover from Shirou's odd joke. "So far I am not impressed. To be blunt, I doubt that those rumors about you are even true."

"Most of them aren't." Shirou shrugged as he leaned back in his chair and glanced at the homunculi that had remained in their positions behind the man since the conversation started. Every one of them had been ready to move the instant a wrong move was made or the slightest raise in prana. "You know how things get. A mysterious person does something big and people suddenly start making assumptions about him."

"I assumed as much." The man nodded coldly. "To think that a child like you was responsible for killing a hive of monstrous beasts, seven heretics, and over a dozen Dead Apostles, one of which was an ancestor is simply preposterous."

"Actually…" Luvia spoke up before Shirou cut her off.

"I completely agree." Shirou nodded, not wanting the girl to make things worse for him. "It is stupid to assume that I have done even half of that."

"At least he is honest." The eldest man there grunted, not knowing that he had been completely misled in his assumptions about Shirou. "It's a shame too." He sighed with a grin on his face again, one that did not leave the other male with good feelings. "Your sister will be so disappointed when I tell her all the stories she has heard about her brother were all made up…"

"Brother?" Luvia blinked in confusion as she turned to Shirou in confusion.

"Sister?" Shirou echoed the man in a raspy voice, not truly trusting it at the moment as his mind ran at a hundred miles a second and his blood turned to ice. His breathing had slowed down to the point that he probably wouldn't realize if he was suffocating or not, and if anyone had been able to see his face at this point in time, they would have noticed that his fairly tan skin had gone pale white.

This was bad. This was what he had been fearing of the moment he had found out that the Einzberns were in the Tower. He did not at any point want for the Einsbern to know that he was not only aware of Illya's existence, but that he deeply cared for her safety and as such they could use it against him in the oncoming war. In hindsight, he probably guessed that this was what the man had planned in the beginning, the bastard. It wasn't unexpected, but it was an extremely dirty move that Shirou would have preferred not happening at any point in time.

Regardless of what Shirou did now, Illya, the one he had sworn to his father to save, would end up losing in the end. The best the younger Emiya could do now was contain the damage to a minimum…

"What… are you talking about?" Shirou spoke, hating himself for what was going to happen next. "I'm an only child as far as I know. If you have nothing relevant to speak of, please leave. I have more important things to do than speak about made up stories."

More circular logic, this time spawned from talking to Sirius and Waver earlier when he informed them of Einzbern's presence. Shirou was adopted and had no memory of his original family. As far as he knew, he really was an only child until the fire. So long as he talked from that perspective when needed, that he was talking about the family members that he could no longer remember, he would be able to fool the man in front of him into believing it… no matter how much he wished to pin him to the walls by his swords instead and use him to rescue the girl right now.

"You mean… surely he must have told you about the abomination he had made with one of our products?" The Einzbern asked, bewildered that the boy in front of him did not know something that the man himself thought was common knowledge. "That he foolishly believed that the tool he had become attached to was…"

"I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about something you are clearly making up in order to slander my father's name." Shirou growled darkly. "I know little about my father's relationship with the Einzbern save for that you hired him to fight in the Grail War, and personally I think you are making up the story about my father having a child with one of your homunculi in an attempt to irritate me and show everyone that you have some power over me. As of right now, I am only the former. Once again, if you have nothing true or significant to speak of, please leave me be."

The man's face turned into one of disappointment and disgust. "You little ignorant brat. How dare you think that I would make something like this up. My dislike for you right now is only matched by my wonder as to your traitorous father's actions in not telling you about the tool... though upon thinking about it, it would make sense." He smirked. "After all those times failing to get her back from our castle, no doubt he thought it would be better to save you the embarrassment of suffering from the same failures."

Shirou took in a deep breath to calm himself down. He knew he shouldn't let this man get the better of him. He knew that getting angry would not help his or Illya's situation in the slightest, however the man in front of him was really starting to get on his nerves. The rational part of his mind knew that if this continued he would completely loose his patience and do something that would ruin everything he had worked for at this point.

On the other hand, his irrational mind pointed out that his rational side also wanted to skewer the Einzbern fairly badly right now.

"Better a family of failures than a family that does not listen to justified and reasonable warnings Einzbern. Now leave. I have no more to speak to you about and as I mentioned before, your family does not have the best history when it comes to listening to others."

"I have yet to hear of any worthwhile warnings boy, but I will grant your request since you asked politely so many times." The man sneered as he turned to walk away before pausing. "Before I leave… may you clarify one thing for me?"

"Depends on what you're asking." Shirou replied with enough irritation in his voice that even the shroud muffling his voice couldn't hide it.

The man's mouth twitched into a faint grin. "Is it true that you currently reside in Fuyuki?"

"Fuyuki?" Luvia echoed with curiosity, obviously having never heard of the Japanese city before. In fact Shirou wouldn't put it past the general Association populace to not be able to name any Japanese towns or cities outside of Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or any place that oddly enough had the same name as an international car company.

The younger male nodded slowly, already guessing what the man was trying to get at by confirming the information.

"I see." The Einzbern's grin grew in a cruel but satisfied way, as if enjoying a joke that only he could understand. "Well then. Thank you very much for your time Emiya."

Without saying another word, the man turned away and left at a confident pace.

Unlike the man however, the three homunculi lingered for a few seconds as they all made eye contact with Shirou. Despite the fact that none of the silver haired men had uttered even a single word during the conversation, much less shown any emotion on their faces, the looks they were all giving him through their blood red eyes were enough for the Emiya to know that he had clearly done them or someone they knew an injustice during the conversation.

"Keep her safe." The Emiya muttered under his breath as the triplets turned away, so softly that he doubted that even Luvia, who was sitting less than a few feet away from him, heard him make a noise. He liked to think that he saw them hesitate for half a second after his faint request was made, but even years after the event, he would not be able to confirm it.

After seeing the man with his entourage leave, Luvia glanced at Shirou warily. "Care to tell me what that was all about?"

Something that could have easily been a lot worse than it was. Closing his eyes tiredly, the male couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "In a nutshell, Einzbern just declared war on me."

"W-war?" The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know that? No, never mind how, WHAT are you going to do about it and how can you be so calm?"

Shirou sighed as he slowly stood up and gathered his things. "Don't worry about me Luvia. I was prepared for something like this to happen for a while now. You don't have to bother yourself with my problems."

Luvia frowned. "I will if it means losing a valuable ally and worthy enemy Emiya. Do not think that you are good enough to handle an entire family on your own, especially one as well established as the Einzbern."

The Magus Killer smiled kindly in such a way that anyone could tell he was doing it despite the shroud around his head. "Thanks for the offer… but this is something that I'm going to have to handle on my own. Besides, I'm better prepared for this than you realize." He strapped his bag over his shoulder. "I have to go talk to some people right now. I'll see you around. Same time Saturday?"

"Humph. I suppose." The female pouted as she looked away. "I was looking forward to learning more about your father's exploits and learn from them, however I guess I can wait a few more days so long as you keep your word." She turned slightly and looked at him through the edge of her eyesight. "If you must know, I am planning on writing a paper based on the exploits of the Magus Killer, his drive, his techniques, and his method of thinking. Despite his average ranking as one of us he still managed to kill those far superior to him. I wish to analyze and uncover that particular mystery… and I need you in order to do it."

Shirou chuckled lightly as he stood up. "I don't know if I should be honored or scared right now." He shook his head. "I look forward to seeing you soon Luvia. Take care."

Turning away, Shirou's eyes narrowed as he thought about the turn of events. He had about a year and a half left to prepare for the grail war. The fact that he was known to the Magus population was going to work heavily against his favor, as was spending large amounts of time working in the Tower when he should be training or studying, however he would have to deal with it. Right now his greatest priorities were to talk to Waver and Sirius about the current turn of events with the Einzbern, and master his newest spell as fast as possible…

He was so deep into his thoughts, he completely missed Luvia say goodbye to him as well with a faint trace of red on her cheeks… and unconsciously rubbing the back of her right hand at the same time…

o. o. o.

Some time later in Germany:

"So the rumors were true." Jubstacheit Einzbern, otherwise known as "Old Man Acht" and head of the Einzbern family mused as he looked at his descendant standing on the other side of his desk. "So Emiya did father another child after all…" He closed his eyes in thought. "Judging from what you claimed his age to be, it seems that the man not only betrayed the Einzbern during the war, but his wife as well soon after she bore his child…"

"The boy didn't even seem to know that the girl existed." The younger German snorted in equal amounts amusement and disgust. "Such lack of loyalty can be found in heretics and foreigners these days. I am astounded that we even considered him to be a part of our family in the first place…"

The white haired old man grunted thoughtfully as he turned to look outside, ignoring the reflection of the man with long white hair and a beard resembling a frozen waterfall imposed on the glass. "Perhaps… though it would not explain then why Emiya repeatedly attempted to retrieve the next grail for those years after his betrayal… and if I may remind you, the man did come much farther in obtaining the grail than any of our previous entrants in the war…"

"Feh. Considering who we arranged for him to summon, I would not be surprised if the Servant did most of the work." The younger of the two waved his hand lazily, brushing off the fact as if it didn't amount to anything. "Speaking of Emiya and the war though, how is the new grail faring?"

Acht's eyes opened slowly. "She is developing as planned. Though she will not last long after the alterations made to her body, she will fulfill her role for the oncoming war before that time comes." He turned around. "Did you mention the war at all or see if the boy was aware of the next one occurring soon?"

"I hinted at it, but I doubt that he knows about it given how he reacted." The younger sighed pityingly. "If I remember correctly, the current Tohsaka head is just a girl, and the Makiri head… well… you know more about him than I do…"

"Yes. Zouken isn't one to involve others unless he has a firm grip on them. I highly doubt that he is related the boy in any way." The head nodded in agreement before he began to move out of the room. "I was hoping that Kiritsugu would live long enough for the next war to occur so that his daughter would kill him with our servant as repentance for his betrayal, however since that obviously can no longer happen, I suppose we will just have to make do with using her to end the Emiya line…"

"Hoh?" The man under the age of two hundred raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you found the artifact?"

"It was not that difficult to locate unlike the previous one. All we needed to do was obtain a significant portion of the temple's foundation and ensure that no evidence was left behind." The old man shook his head. "Come, we will discuss this as we walk. It is time to inspect the next grail's development. Despite being born from the traitor's genes, she has proved to be quite valuable as a grail. Far more than her mother. According to my calculations, her body and mind would not completely break down until all seven heroic spirits would enter her body."

"That is fairly convenient. I believe her mother could only store up to five before her body broke down into the grail itself." The younger shrugged carelessly as he followed his leader out of the room. "The girl is a stubborn one I will give you that." A smirk etched itself on his face. "You know, since we are going to talk to the girl and are speaking of the boy, we might as well tell her of my conversation with him. She will no doubt be quite interested in what was said after all…"

o. o. o.

Sirius chuckled as he looked up. "Ya know, ah tink yer havin a bit too much fun playin around wit yer new spell lad."

The boy returned the grin with one of his own as he stood on his makeshift platform. "Hey don't blame everything on me. You're the one who made me this custom blade so I could do this in the first place."

The old man crossed his arms amused. "Ta tell ya ta truth, ah did it ta kill time. Ah didn't tink ya were really able ta pull tat trick off by ta time ya left." He chuckled and shook his head. "Yah've come a long way lad."

The teen landed deftly in front of the old man and put on a dry smile. "Thanks, but I kinda prefer being called a Faker. It fits me better…"

The old man rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Just take ta damn compliment already. Ya gotta learn ta do tat now tat yer Lorelei's dog." He chuckled. "Funny. Everyone calls ya tat, but in ta end she's more likely ta listen to her dog barking than ta local noble's advice."

Shirou groaned as Sirius brought up the new nickname he had in the Association's population. Despite all the rumors about his achievements from being his father's son and from what he actually did, in the end they had been ignored all of that, the fact that Shirou now held a position that, given the right circumstances, trumped the standard Lord's authority. Instead the general population of nobility (rather uncreatively) combined his revealed status as Lorelei's underling and his noble colored magic and dubbed him the Queen's Silver Dog.

What really unnerved the teen was the fact that people were already comparing him to the Queen of the Dead Apostle Ancestor's, Altrouge Brunestud's, own personal "dog". Said "dog" was supposedly a massive truck sized wolf that had absolute authority over a human's continued existence as a rule of nature. It was also number one of the twenty seven Apostle Ancestors, and known as the Beast of Gaia, The White Beast, Humanity's Murderer, Altrouge's Demonic Dog, and most commonly, Primate Murder.

Comparing him to that thing was like comparing a pellet gun to a fully stocked aircraft carrier filled with tactical nukes. It simply was no contest.

"I preferred it when people didn't care who I was and just passed me by." Shirou sulked. He never did like being the center of attention, whether it was for positive or negative reasons. So far his new position had caused most people to either avoid him like the plague, disrespect him, or look down on him for his rather laborious position.

The latter two group's population dropped significantly after he beat down the first half a dozen overconfident Magi that tried to pick a fight with him at once, (they obviously didn't see him kill Marakov), in front of a fairly healthy portion of the Tower's population.

In Shirou's defense, he was still in a pretty pissed mood from his at the time recent meeting with Einzbern. He didn't kill anyone, but there were a few cases of limbs that needed resetting or being reattached to the body… thankfully Natalia's cuts were very clean and easy to realign…

There was still the occasional curious Magus that came to ask him a brief question during his spare time, but the few that did were always on guard and kept the conversations rather short.

Sirius chuckled heartily, not at all bothered by the fairly bloody memory. "Ah don't get yer panties in a bunch lad. Ah've seen far worse beat downs done here by people far worse tan tose bastards. Trust me, what ya did ta tem was nowhere near ta worst ting done in ta Tower's history of duelin… or six on one fights… though ya couldn't really call tat a fight. More like a… Tasmanian Devil ragin on a bunch o retarded squirrels… only wit magic…"

"I don't like the fact that I cut off both of that one guy's arms and instead of getting punished I got recognition instead. There is seriously something wrong with the way Magi society works." countered irritably, ignoring the old man's disturbingly violent and childish description of what he did to his latest opponents.

The old man snorted. "First of all lad… they were tryin ta kill ya. It's kinda amazing tat you can just brush off tat fact like it didn't matta. Second, ya know tat Magi society is twisted tat way. Stop bein surprised about it already. Eitha ya get recognition fer bein a genius, fer discoverin something new, fer bein in some rich annoyin family, fer bein their highly valued slave, or fer killin someone strong an dangerous." He shrugged. "Just be happy tat ya killed ta right someone and yer ta right someone else's slave."

"Thanks. I feel so much better." Said slave grumbled irritably as the pair walked through the hallways of the Clocktower to the main entrance from the small dueling grounds they had been using. "What time is my ride to the airport again?"

"Anotha hour." The old man shrugged. "Ya sure ya aren't gonna say goodbye to tat Edelfelt lass? She seems ta like spendin time with ya."

That was the understatement of the century. After Shirou's one sided fight with the half a dozen students, the girl had lost her patience when it came to waiting on the sidelines whenever things got violent and unleashed absolute hell on the next, and last, person who tried to pick a fight against him when they were trying to enjoy lunch together.

Needless to say, after the incident Shirou swore to himself that he would never willingly anger Luvia unless it was a really good reason… and he would more importantly never give Rin the idea of rapidly shooting off her Gandr curses with both hands at once at the same target. What he saw that day was not only painful to watch… but it was also absolutely terrifying…

Spines were simply not supposed to bend that way. Fighting style and magic be damned.

Shirou could confidently say after the event that if his reputation didn't stop everyone from approaching him for any form of casual conversation, Luvia's display at the very least dissuaded whoever was left.

"Luvia left for Finland yesterday with her sister." Shirou pointed out. "I said goodbye to them as both "Emiya" and "Shirou" just to make sure they weren't disappointed." He would have continued to message her to keep in contact and sate her thirst for his father's stories, but she unfortunately didn't give him her family's address, and she like many other magi didn't have a cell phone or an email address.

"Ah see. Don't know about you, but ah'm glad tat little shrew of a little sister is gone." The old man cracked his neck. "Standard spoiled noble bitch that lass was. Wouldn't stop giving orders even if her life depended on it. Ya don't know how close ah was ta puntin her down a hallway last week…" He paused as he saw the look of disbelief Shirou was giving him. "Oh don't you give me tat "ya actually would hit a girl" look. Ah've seen ya try ta gut Bazett loads of times when ya spar with one anotha."

"Bazett-nee can punch through steel walls and has beat me senseless more than anyone else!" The teen argued as if it was the most obvious thing to say in his defense.

"And ta Edelfelts shoot curses from teir fingertips an hire themselves to tha highest bidder." Sirius pointed out calmly. "Trust me on tis lad. I wouldn't doubt it if ta lass already has more blood on her hands than you do, apostle or not."

Shirou bit back his tongue, knowing this was probably another argument that he would not win. He constantly had to remind himself that he was dealing with the magical world now, a violent world where standards and safety were only secure so long as the strongest one there deemed it and remained in power. Here he was not the norm, not that he ever was really, but the outsider. He was the person who would have to adapt to the system in order to have a hope to change it in the slightest from within, and prevent more people from endangering themselves for no reason whatsoever. That is, if he bothered to attempt to do so in the future.

"It's still not right…" Was all he managed to let out and glared at the ground as if it was partially responsible for the way things were.

"Tat it ain't. Ah'll give ya tat." Sirius nodded solemnly before instantly brightening up and sporting a far too happy grin on his face. "… But on ta bright side, at least all tat physical activity tey do tryin ta kill tings ensures tat they end up wit great bodies… not tat ah'm young enough ta have a chance wit any of tem anymore, but at least ah get some good eye candy every now and then."

Shirou didn't say anything as he stared at the old man as if he grew a second head.

"Oh don't give me tat look. Ah'm over two hundred years old and have a sealing designation. Cut me a bloody break and let me have mah fun."

"I'm fairly certain that your definition of fun is illegal in most countries of the world." The Emiya stated, still looking at the old man in disgust.

"Most." The old man nodded in agreement and taking the boy's displeasure in the topic of conversation in stride before his expression hardened once more. "Speakin of unsavory tings though lad, ah couldn't help but see yah've been preparin yer meat on ta rare side lately when ya eat… ya used ta be a medium sort a guy…"

Shirou paused before looking back at the old man, his previous state of disgust instantly gone. Deciding that what they were now talking about was just too sensitive to be overheard, he switched to Japanese. "I found that it helps curb the thirst a bit. All in all I haven't experienced any changes since it first happened…"

"But Solomon still wants ya." Sirius finished with a stern look, also switching to the eastern language at the drop of a hat.

"I don't think that's a good idea old man." The teen hesitated. "He is a member of the burial agency in the Church. It would look pretty bad for everyone if we were seen together."

"Then just ask him fer advice and tips." The old man rolled his eyes. "The gnome is a soddin' Ancestor lad. Ah'm fairly certain that he knows a way or two ta get people off his back wheneva he needs ta be alone. Ah might be overthinkin things, but it might be best ta ask him fer help. If for anything else, do it for the day ya might actually lose control over yerself. Betta ta be safe than undead afta all."

"Fine." The younger of the two relented switching back to English, knowing he wouldn't win this argument no matter how much he protested. "I still think it's a waste of everyone's time, but I'll do it…"

"Good. Ah didn't feel like getting in a full blown argument wit ya right before ya left." Sirius smiled as he nudged the teen to walk with him and switched back to the western language as well. "Come on. Lighten up a bit. T'ings aren't tat bad. Sure yer Lorelei's pet an people are scared shitless of ya here. At least they're respectin' yer personal space. Plus there's all ta progress ya made fer yer work, and then there's ta work ya helped me wit." He grinned. "Ah really owe ya. Ah don't tink ah would have made all those orders on time without ya."

The younger of the two shrugged. "It's no problem old man. I was glad to help. Plus it helped me practice my grasping on magical fabrics. I've been spending too much time focusing on metals and crystals lately."

"I noticed." Sirius chuckled. "Ta work ya did on tat staff's jewel enhancement and design was borderline brilliant. Ah doubt ah could do much betta. Tat Rin girl must like ya a lot if yer tat good at jewel magecraft already…" He paused as he noticed a dark cloud hover over the teen. "Uh… Lad?"

"This isn't big enough!" "You call this a jewel good enough to use magic on? Are you TRYING to kill me?" "I told you that I wanted an Emerald not a Topaz!" "Rubies ARE Sapphires you novice!" "Do this over again! The cut is wrong! It will completely ruin the market value I mean the magical conductivity!" "Shirou! I need twelve pink diamonds by Thursday! Seven carrots each and not a milligram less!"

"Don't let me go back…" The prematurely graying boy shivered.

"Lad?" The old man repeated, now a bit more concerned for the boy's mental state.

"Huh?" The Faker blinked, having snapped out of his relapse. "You say something?"

"Er… no. It was nothin." Sirius laughed nervously. "So um. Right. About yer studies. Did ya manage ta get any copies of yer grandfather's notes on ta Emiya family Thaumaturgy?"

Shirou gave a stiff nod. "What was left of them, yeah. I won't or can't use most of what was there seeing as I don't have or see much use for most of the research or methodology, but there are a few things I saw that I can mix with Tracing that I haven't used already. If I'm right, I think I might be able to give you some very interesting research samples in the near future."

Sirius grinned. "Oh? Well don't keep me waitin lad." He patted the teen on the shoulder, causing the boy to wince. "Ah. Right still sore from yer sessions wit Bazett. Sorry."

The sore fighter grit his teeth and rubbed his aching limb. Despite the fact that his skill level, reserves, and weapon library had skyrocketed since his encounter with Louvre, he still constantly lost in his matches against his first female teacher. Part of the reason why was because he refused to use anything more remarkable than his standard elemental weapons out of fear of doing real damage to the woman. No matter what anyone would say to him, he would absolutely refuse to use Natalia, Maiya, or the Mace of Odo against her or anyone else he cared about. Kiritsugu was obviously out of the question as well.

The other part was simply because Bazett was just that good. The woman had enough speed, strength, and experience on her side to overwhelm a vast majority Shirou's versatility and ranged capabilities. The few spells and weapons that Shirou had that could tip things into his favor were too lethal for him to use for mere spars... and even then in a real fight it would possibly just give her a reason to use Fragarach. Shirou had still yet to lay eyes on the infamous Ace Killing Joker noble phantasm, however out of respect of his teacher, he had never asked her to show it in the first place. "It's fine. It's nothing I haven't dealt with already."

"Ain't tat tha truth…" The old man chuckled before stopping. Looking around Shirou noticed that they were in the Tower's secondary hall that lead to the main hall which connected to the main entrance. It was a fairly wide room that connected to multiple corridors. The walls, floors and ceilings were all very decorative and elaborate, however the most notable aspect of the room were the multiple arches that spanned the ceiling like a web. Both of the males had long since noted that they were actually built to enforce the multiple bounded fields inside the underground structure. "Ah can't follow ya farther than here lad. Sealing designation and all tat crap."

"Right." The teen nodded as he turned to hug his grandfather figure. "Be safe and try not to piss off any more nobles."

"Ah'll consider it." The old man smirked mischievously. "Before ya go lad, can ya by chance… ya know, make me a copy of… fer research…"

"Seriously?" Shirou hissed in frustration. "You're still going on about that?" He hesitated, looking at the exit of the room and at the people walking by before relenting. "Fine, but so help us both if Barthomelloi catches you with it…"

"Ah'll shatta ta ting ta second ah think tat somethin's wrong." The old man held three fingers up. "Scout's honor."

"Like you were a scout." The teen grumbled irritably before reaching into his inner world and quickly firing off the gun in his head. An instant later a red and gold mace appeared in his hands.

In the next, the copied weapon had disappeared into one of the old man's deceptively deep pockets. "Pleasure doin business wit ya lad." Sirius grinned happily as if he got a new toy, which, depending on how one interpreted the situation, was exactly the case. "Now get yer bloody arse outta here already before another bloody moron here tries ta kill ya."

"Your concern is touching." Shirou snorted before giving the old man a quick hug. "I'll keep in touch."

"Ah'll make sure ta have more good stuff fer ya next time." The blacksmith promised as he backed away. "Can't leave mah favorite student waitin now can I? Later lad."

"Later old man." The teen nodded as he turned around and walked away, thinking about his time in the tower, and what he needed to do to prepare for his next visit…

o. o. o.

Somewhere in Europe:

Merem found himself sitting relaxed in another church, somewhat amused with the fact that despite being a vampire he spent so much time in them, but was mainly focused on the young and attractive grey haired woman next to him.

"Our superiors aren't that happy that you're not telling us who the new tenth Ancestor is Solomon." She sighed casually as she inspected her nails. "We hired you despite the fact that you are one of our targets because you were willing to work with us to the letter in order to gain your payment. Don't tell me you're having a change of heart."

"Not at all boss." Merem smiled cheerfully despite the perilous condition he was in. The woman next to him was an extraordinarily dangerous and fearsome individual, having single handedly captured three fellow Apostle Ancestors. A woman who loved killing so much that she was aroused by it, she leads the Church's burial agency with power and fear. It wouldn't be far off to claim that she was the Church's version of Barthomelloi in terms of firepower.

Said woman had also been in a fairly irritated mood recently as word of Kiritsugu Emiya's son entering the Association had spread around the magical world like wildfire. She wasn't irritated that the boy was rumored to be as dangerous as his father and saw him as a potential threat or a lost resource. It was more that she had a… slight… adoration for Kiritsugu's rather brutal work when he had still been an assassin, and lost out on her chance on nabbing a very shiny and valuable toy. As a woman who adored the act of killing, the elder Emiya's tactics and efficiency were things that she could really get behind, and anyone who was taught by the man himself must at the very least be someone that could give her some fun as a subordinate.

Thankfully for Merem and Shirou, the Second Magus Killer was not the topic of conversation today… at least as far as Nabareck knew.

"It's just that so far he not only doesn't count as a threat to humanity, but he's technically not even an Ancestor. He's more like a placeholder until someone else takes the position or until he willingly accepts it."

"That still sounds like a pretty weak excuse to me." The chief Executor whimsically sighed, not once turning to look at the child like Ancestor. "Still, it's pretty rare for one of your kind to turn down that sort of thing."

"To be honest he's barely our kind to begin with Nabareck." Merem shrugged. "Even I would have trouble telling if he was one of us or not unless I knew what to look for. Plus he's the kind of person to absolutely refuse attacking the innocent or drink other's blood, even if it means dying in the process."

"You know as well as I do that it doesn't matter much to our superiors." The woman sighed. "Unless you can give us a real reason to leave him alone like with Ciel and that idiot curry obsessed Apostle, then I'm afraid that you will end up as our next target for circumventing our will."

The vampire laughed heartily. "Do not be modest. You would enjoy hunting me down like an animal if you had a reason to boss."

"You wound me Merem." She smirked and looked at him hungrily. "You should know by now that I don't really need a new reason."

"Ah true. You are rather infatuated with murdering." The twentieth nodded in agreement. "However the tenth can be useful if guided in the right way. He has great potential as one of my kind, however he is rather stubborn and doesn't truly recognize himself as one of us. He is also rather adamant about doing the right thing. If you, through me and in due time so he can grow a bit stronger, ask him to take care of some rather troubled areas in Asia and promise not to look into things, I'm fairly certain that he would gladly jump in to help control the damage for the sake of helping out… so long as we pick his targets carefully. He seems to be a bit of a bleeding heart."

Nabareck snorted. "You mean to tell me that the tenth is some sort of defender of justice? How is he still alive?"

The vampire shrugged carelessly. "Like I said before. He has great potential. It also helps that he hasn't really gone out and involved himself with the world much until recently. Actually he originally planned to not do that for a couple more years, but some certain events unfortunately accelerated his plans."

"He should have just stayed inside until he died. It would have been safer that way." Nabareck mused lazily. "Still, if he refuses to drink blood and go after others, I guess he can be overlooked for the other Ancestors for now… so long as he stays that way."

"Indeed." Merem nodded. "Oddly enough, I just got asked to help him out. He hasn't shown any signs of losing control, but he does want to be prepared in case something aggravates his condition."

"How very cautious of him." Nabareck remarked, clearly not believing the story for a second. Merem couldn't blame her. His kind wasn't really known as the most pure hearted and rational species on the planet. "How do you know he isn't lying?"

"He's a surprisingly honest and upfront person." The younger looking of the two admitted. "It's not in him to lie about something like this. He doesn't see the point in it."

The woman looked at Merem skeptically for a few seconds before chuckling lightly.

"What did I say that was so amusing?" The vampire asked, honestly curious as to what was going through the murdering addicted woman's head.

"A naturally honest and upfront Dead Apostle Ancestor." The executor snickered as she got up. "Now I have heard of everything." She looked at Merem with amusement on her face. "You've won me over for now Solomon. Your little Ancestor project will be left alone for now, but if he starts to become a problem then it won't be just his head we'll be mounting on the wall, but yours too."

"I assumed as much. You truly are a terrifying person." Merem sighed. "I wish you luck on your next assignment boss. Do try to leave the bodies in your wake with some dignity this time if possible."

"I doubt I'll be able to remember it in time, but I'll try to remember your request." The murdering addict smiled calmly as she exited the back of the room.

The vampire chuckled and shook his head. While many of his kind would scorn him for joining up with the Church, he doubted that they could say that the company he kept himself around while there was not interesting. After all, a Dead Apostle's greatest enemy was not the Church, the Magus Association, or one another, but the sheer raw boredom that came with immortality.

Though if he were to be honest, he would assume that Shirou would be the least boring of his kind right now. Secretly being Barthomelloi's dog of all things must be as eventful to him as it was amusing to Merem. Then possibly being used by the Church, and being the Magus Killer's son, AND the tenth Ancestor… and then there's that task he mentioned that his father wanted him to do. He was definitely looking forward to going to the Japanese city of Fuyuki again…

Fuyuki…

The vampire paused as the city entered his thoughts again. Ever since he visited the place, the vampire had the feeling that there was something odd about that city. Something familiar. A sense of déjà vu, but he could not remember why that was the case. His visits to the country were so few and far in between that he should have been able to recall if he had been there at some point in the past or not fairly easily, but that was not the case.

The King of Rats, his only conversationally capable limb, offered no help on the matter either as every time he died and was recreated, some of his memory went in the process, meaning his recollections would not be entirely accurate.

Oh well. All the better he supposed. It's not like he was in any rush. The mystery of the city would merely supply him with another way to push away his ever looming boredom between missions…

o. o. o.

Fuyuki:

"Emiya." Issei stated as he sat with his friend for lunch at school during one of their first days back from break. The two had resumed their habit of eating privately in the freshman year's student body meeting room, which was obviously empty save for the two.

"Yes Issei?" Said addressed person asked calmly while focusing on his meal.

The monk in training momentarily glanced at the door to the hallway and pretended to not notice the flutter of black hair in the small window disappear out of view. "Care to tell me why a certain individual has been peeking on us?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Shirou replied innocently, not bothering to turn around to try and see what his friend was referring to, already having a good idea as to what was happening.

"I see…" He muttered, not believing what Shirou was claiming but deciding to leave it be. "Well this may be a bit out of place, but I feel I must remind you to pick your friends wisely. I am concerned that someday soon you might be lured to become involved in some unsavory person's game and end up as her plaything."

"Mhm." Shirou mumbled as he nodded with a mouth full of food, not bothering to dwell on the irony that not only has it happened, but twice. He was just too tired to bother with it, and if he was honest, the Emiya would admit that his eldest male friend had been badgering him about his semi secret relationship with Tohsaka for years.

"I mean it Emiya." Issei continued seriously. "Unless you become more aware of how other gender works and how conniving its members can be, I'm afraid you might be dragged into a world that you can't pull yourself out of."

"Mhm." The other male mumbled with a mouth full of food while wondering if Issei was making fun of him or if he had some sort of sixth sense when it came to how messed up his private life was.

Honestly, he didn't know why the girl had been wanting to be near him so much lately. All he did was give her that scholarship and tell her that he got a part time job at the Tower in his first conversation with her when he got back, and now the proud girl was trying to spend as much time with him as humanely possible while being… dare he say it… nice.

He needed some private time to practice and perfect the recipes that he got in England damn it.

Granted he had somewhat expected her to be fairly pleased with his actions since it could help her out in the long run with her research, but now it was starting to unnerve even him. Last night she had even asked if she could help him out with his research… without once insinuating that he was overly dependent on her guidance. That was as big a warning sign as any to him that something was up.

"Speaking of dark and painful worlds, how has managing the class government been doing?" The Emiya steered the conversation away from himself casually.

The mutual friend looked at him skeptically before politely continuing his meal. "The same as always. Other than a handful of people in our class, there doesn't seem to be anyone reliable so I have to undertake most of the responsibilities myself. Thankfully I have you around to fix most of the school's equipment so the class budget is in nowhere near a bad of a state as it could have been, but it's still not something I look forward to managing whenever it needs attending again."

"You know, you can always ask a teacher for help." Shirou pointed out. "If the teachers find out about your position, I'm sure that they can arrange something to get things running the way they are supposed to be again. To be honest, I think you've been the most rested now right after vacation than you have ever been since we started High school."

Issei snorted. "Humph. Coming from the guy who always seems busy and has that childish new teacher Fujimura…" He shook his head. "You might be right. I had done most of these tasks in order to maintain the image of our class' integrity, but if things progress farther like this, I might accidentally let things get too far out of control."

"At least if it falls apart now you'd be able to pick up the pieces." The magus joked as he finished up his lunch. "If it was anyone else in your position, I'm fairly certain that all anyone would be able to collect would be ashes."

"Ha ha." The monk in training sarcastically laughed. He would have gone on to say something about how if Shirou was left in charge the government would end up looking like a garage, but before he could say it, the door opened to reveal a seemingly emotionless middle aged man in a green suit and wearing glasses. "Kuzuki-sensei?"

"Ryuudou-kun. I've been told to get you. There are some questions that need to be answered regarding the freshman year's part in future school events." The world history teacher stated calmly as he looked at the glasses wearing teen. He did not once make any inclination that Shirou was in the room or that he recognized him.

"Again?" Issei sighed tiredly as he stood up. "Sorry Emiya, but I have to deal with this. We can talk a bit later."

"It's no problem." The redhead shrugged as he gathered his things as well. "Just let me know if you need help with anything and I'll clear up my schedule to help out."

The other teen nodded before tossing out his garbage and walking out the door. "I'll keep that in mind."

Shirou yawned tiredly as the door closed behind him. Not once had he or Kuzuki looked at one another. Not once had they recognized one another's existence…

o. o. o.

That night:

Shirou's lungs were on fire. His arms were heavy and his legs even more so. His vision blurred as he attempted to deal with the multiple blows that he had taken to the head in the past few minutes…

Yet none of that mattered as the teen did not relent in his constant dance against the assassin turned teacher in the middle of Fuyuki memorial park.

The larger man's right arm shot out at near inhuman speeds towards the teen's open right side. It would be a crippling blow for any human if it landed cleanly on their head, however…

The moment the man's arm had struck towards that opening, Shirou had already raised his right arm up to strike at the offending appendage. The opening to the right side of his skull had been one of three he had made in the stance he was in and he had enough experience to know when his opponent was gunning for any one of them from the way they moved. As such he had no need to watch the attack or calculate it's movements to know where it was going and could jump straight to countering it in a way that would cripple his opponent if it landed…

However Kuzuki was not a martial artist. He was a killer, trained from birth and skilled in combat. His style itself, a rare form called Snake, not only capitalized on killing blows, but unpredictable whip like movements that made it nearly impossible to follow for the standard human.

Within less than an instant the man's attacking limb had changed direction and shifted from targeting the Emiya's right temple to his ribs under his right arm, which were now defenseless due to the teens defending maneuver. The movement of his arm was so seamless and flowed so naturally, yet so suddenly that it was little wonder why the technique he used was called Snake…

However before the man could capitalize on this new opening he was forced to shift is weight and dodge the other blade in Shirou's possession, which had shot out the instant the teen had noticed the man's arm had suddenly dipped from its original trajectory underneath his original countering arm.

Once more Shirou's experience and style had showed its true colors to anyone with sharp eyes and experience, had they been watching. Under normal circumstances, the teacher's blow would have landed long before Shriou's counter would have gotten close enough for him to need to dodge. In fact, had this been done normally, Shirou would have been hit hard enough that his counter would have failed to the point that the teacher would not have needed to even block the oncoming weapon… however that was if Shirou had been countering in response to Kuzuki's attacks.

Instead, the boy had moved his other weapon a fraction of a second after he had moved his original to counter the oncoming fist, and even less after that fist had changed directions. His moves, openings, and counters had all been premeditated. Moves that he had practiced constantly by himself and his combat teacher Bazett who also fought using nothing but her fists. The boy was no stranger to fighting people stronger than he was, both armed and unarmed…

However the man in front of him was no fool, and no weakling either. Without any warning or indication in his face, body language, or even his breathing he had reacted with perfection. In one swift movement, the man's right elbow shot down and his right knee spiked up, catching the teen's weapon in between and wedging it between his sharp joints, stunning the defender and keeping him in place at the same time.

Exploiting this new opening, the ex-assassin's free left arm shot forward three times, embedding itself into Shirou's ribs, stomach and face, each with the force of a hammer capable of knocking or incapacitating a normal human, before the last one forced him to let go of his trapped weapon and stumble backwards, but the Emiya did not fall...

Because he still had the sword wedged in his left side, the teacher could not immediately pursue his opponent before he managed to regain his composure again, and as such he had no choice but to put up his guard and quickly jump back in order to defend or evade a wild, but strong two handed slash made by the teen.

Unexpectedly, or rather expectedly considering how the boy fought, the attack was a feint as it caused the man to drop the trapped sword and retreat far enough for the teen to rush forward and pick it up again, just in time to defend against a fresh onslaught of punches from his elder opponent's lethal style.

It was a war using feints, counters, and lethal strikes took place where no one could see, and horrific to watch for anyone that could have had they been able to watch. Neither fighter let up in the slightest save for the small lulls where both prepared for the next skirmish.

The clashing between the two continued uninterrupted for well over ten minutes, something that any moderately trained martial artist would say confidently to be an exceptionally long time for any fight. By the time both had distanced themselves from one another for the final time. The boy was breathing fairly heavily as his body gasped for air.

The man on the other hand, while doing so more visibly, could only be described as breathing perfectly. Every breath he took was seemingly flawless, even in his tired condition, and was a testament to his years of physical conditioning.

It is said that on average, a man fighting with his bare hands needs to be at least three times higher in his field of martial arts than his foe in order to defeat a man fighting with a sword. If this was the case, then one could say that Kuzuki was at least four to five times more skilled than Shirou if one were to judge by the wounds both were sporting. Save for a few minor scratches on the undershirt and light pants he wore, the man's body was for the most part unmarred. The student on the other hand was in far worse shape. Several bruises were forming on various sections of his body and head, and there were some small red stains appearing on his shirt where he took hits so hard that they actually managed to break his skin in addition to wounding his insides.

The two stared one another down before the elder relaxed his stance. "You are still having trouble maintaining yourself after your third chained opening." He stated simply, as if he had not just moments before been engaging himself in a vicious brawl against the teen. There was no words of praise or scorn, nor the hint of either in his tone. Just facts and observations.

The younger of the two in turn collapsed and leaned heavily against one of the wooden swords in his grasp. He sucked greedily at the air as he attempted to calm himself both in body and in mind. No matter how often he fought the man, he was left both humbled and speechless at the man's pure skill and technique. "I've been practicing when I could." He managed to get out after a dozen deep breaths. "It's not like there are a lot of people around who are skilled in martial arts and go for stance openings these days."

He was technically telling the truth. Even though Bazett did a great job shaping him up and getting the basics of his style started, the woman's technique was not the greatest thing to use it against. Her style was focused more on quick jabs and power attacks than it was on exploiting openings in stances.

It wasn't like she needed much technique to knock out most magi when her punches moved at the speed of a car on the highway and hit like one ramming into you. He didn't even need to add in the fact that her clothes and fists were extremely magic resistant.

The emotionless teacher said nothing as he stared at Shirou for a few more seconds before going to pick up his clean set of clothes that were next to a nearby tree. "Be sure to clean yourself up before coming to class tomorrow." He advised as he took off his dirty shirt and replaced it with a clean new one that didn't have any tears or minor bloodstains on it.

Despite the fact that this was clearly not the first time the two had sparred like this, he always seemed to have the urge to remind the boy to do so. It wasn't without reason of course. Shirou's current condition was definitely something that would grab attention if he was seen in public, however he had noticed after the first spar that the boy had some sort of advanced way to hide his injuries almost as if they weren't there in the first place, and heal in time for their next spar. It was almost like magic, however he never brought it up in conversation. It was the boy's secret to keep and he would respect it much in the way the teen had respected the nature of his past.

"I always do." Shirou panted as he regained his breath. It had been shortly after the Louvre incident, and at the beginning of his freshman year of high school that he encountered the assassin turned teacher. His father had mentioned him in his notes, and while the description of what he had done and was capable of doing in his father's visions were a bit unsettling, Shirou had decided to confront the man early in order to not only try to prevent him from getting involved from the oncoming slaughter early, but to get in some extra combat training. It took a little convincing and perhaps a very minor hypnosis spell in order to convince him in the end, but he had eventually managed to get the old man to help him out.

And boy did he get it. Kuzuki was technique and efficiency personified. Every strike was precise yet unpredictable, almost always going for a lethal or crippling blow wherever an opening was found. Fast, exact, calculating, and exactly what Shirou needed in order to push his personal two sword style to the next level.

Where Bazett's training taught him how to fight, react, make judgments, and adapt, Kuzuki's sparring taught him where he would expect his skilled opponent's to strike and where he would want to make openings in the first place. It was slow, painful, and at times senseless as there was less teaching and more raw battle, but slowly Shirou was learning where some of the less well known vital points on the human body were and how each of his stances left himself open. When he first began sparring with Kuzuki, he could at best chain and counter two fake openings being exploited before being overwhelmed. Now he could push that limit up to four, five if he was lucky.

Save for the very minor bounded field that the Emiya had set up around the area where they fought weekly, and the healing that the teen used on himself after every fight, there was absolutely no magic involved. Shirou was far enough below Kuzuki that he rarely delivered a strong enough blow to the teacher that it would impair his work, or last long enough to exist during the next fight.

The teacher had managed to switch his shirt and gather his things before turning back to the recovering boy and stared at him. "… Your movements were a bit forced and desperate. I assume something happened over break."

Shirou paused as he looked at his teacher, who showed what seemed to be the closest thing to genuine concern he had ever since their initial meeting. "Ah…" he paused before finding his voice again. "You could say that. I was just reminded of how much time I have left before a certain thing happens that I have to deal with."

"I see." The man nodded. "How much longer is it?"

The Emiya licked his lips and chose his words carefully. "… Enough that I'm beginning to feel the value of how much is left, but also more than enough that I feel I can still prepare without being rushed."

The elder looked at Shirou with an unreadable gaze before placing his pack over his shoulders. "If you have that much time left, then there is little point to be concerned. So long as you are well informed about your event when it comes and what it entails, and you plan accordingly, there should be little issue."

"Speaking from experience?" Shirou breathed out more calmly, but still taking in deep gulps of air. He could already feel Avalon working its magic on him and if he let things go naturally he probably would be healed within a few days. However since he didn't have a few days, he would simply use a few minor spells to deal with the more serious and visible injuries as soon as Kuzuki left.

"Yes." The man replied bluntly as he turned to leave, before pausing. "Emiya, do you know why I decided to help you with your training?"

The redhead paused and looked at the man skeptically. Kuzuki rarely spoke more than needed and ever rarer did he prolong a conversation. "I thought it was because I wouldn't leave you alone about it." He replied honestly.

Normally the teen wouldn't bother ANYONE for a favor as he personally believed that it would be rude to bother other people with his problems, however in the case of Kuzuki he felt that if he established a strong enough link with the man now, he might be able to prevent him from falling under the possible future Caster's control, or at least listen to his warnings if he did.

"Somewhat." The man relented. "However soon after your initial request I saw something in you that I did not expect to see." He did not blink. "I saw the eyes of someone who has killed, and someone who knew he would have to kill again."

The Emiya froze in surprise. He had known that the man in front of him was good, and that he himself was a bit transparent at times, however he did not once think that Kuzuki could determine such a thing just by looking at him.

The teacher turned around again and began to walk towards the darkness. "It would have been foolish to let you continue doing whatever it is that you were planning without proper guidance, so I decided to give it to you. It is my responsibility as a teacher after all to do so. I am merely doing what I am supposed to be in the first place." His figure was now disappearing in the distance. "Do not concern yourself with how much time is left. Your task will come when it comes. It is as simple as that."

Shirou stared at the man's disappearing frame for several more moments before he disappeared.

Letting the man's words sink into his skull, the Magus Killer's son slowly developed a light chuckle and shook his head. "I know it's mean to Fuji-nee, but I honestly think that that guy might be my favorite teacher here…"

Back at the Fujimura house, a certain teacher sneezed loudly.

o. o. o.

Finland:

Marjatta Edelfelt grunted irritably as she ran through her private obstacle course with grace and precision that belonged only to those of her nobility. Familiar after familiar appeared in front of and around her as they attempted to impede her progress to the end of the course, either with their magically enhanced bodies or their minor spells. Ranging from a swarm of electrically charged insects to a bear with metallic appendages to birds that blew out tempest grade gusts of wind, the girl's opposition by no means was considered a weak force when put up against the standard magus…

None of the creatures even got close to the girl as they were all taken out with a Fin shot to the head or other critical areas. The advanced form of the Gandr curse flew in every direction at a record pace and nailed each creature so hard that they either were killed, knocked out, blasted away, or any combination of the three. Despite their numbers and advanced magical abilities, none of the familiars stood a chance against the girl.

Marjatta Edelfelt was considered by most means standard when compared to the mass magus population. Born with a fire element, the girl had progressed at a moderately advanced rate in her studies, which by most magi standards was nothing special. While she was fairly talented in her family's jewel magecraft, her elder sister had proven herself to be not only vastly superior to her, but also more diversified given her dual fire and ether element.

However despite the fact that her sister had surpassed her in virtually every other field, there was one thing that the younger sibling was proud of being seemingly unsurpassed in.

When it came to the use of the Fin curse, Marjatta had no equal. Period.

The girl was widely known within the Edelfelt family as a prodigy of the curse, being capable of shooting off variation after variation without a moment's pause, attacking at the speed of thought. Curved, scatter, rapid, puncture, disease prioritizing, lethal, non lethal, reversing, even exploding… the girl had learned and perfected them all to an art. She had even managed to figure out a way to shoot the black orbs out of all her fingers at once, something that had until then been thought of as completely impossible.

Of course in the world of Magi where scientific achievement was more valuable than physical achievement, the girl's capabilities were drastically undervalued by most of the population. Still to those who actually utilized their mysteries for more practical purposes, the girl was fairly famous for her abilities.

Which was unfortunate for the familiars that were pitted up against her since after roughly fifteen minutes each one of them had at best been crippled or horrifically injured, and at worst… well, they were alive at least… and who knows, they might actually find a cure for those horrific growths the size of their bodies one day…

"Humph." The fifteen year old girl snorted as she walked back to her elderly butler Sabastian who was waiting dutifully with a towel. "Next time prepare an actual challenge for me butler."

"I will make a note of it my lady." The elderly man bowed politely, ignoring the small smoking craters littering the field in front of him and the numerous disfigured animal bodies that were around it. Such an image had long become a common sight for him. "As always, your performance is exceptional."

"Have there been any job requests?" Marjatta asked as she wiped the small amount of sweat off her head. While the amount of mysteries she had performed would exhaust the average magus, she, born with over thirty circuits and inheriting another sixty from her family crest, combined with her mastery of her favored spell and her physical condition, had barely felt the strain of her session.

"A few, but they were all below the standards that you had set and as such I forwarded them to some of the branch family members to manage." The elderly man acknowledged. "I feel the need to remind you however that the number of jobs you have taken recently has fallen to the point that several of the elder members of the family have been starting to voice rather disappointed observations."

"Ignore them. I will meet the family yearly quota as I have always done." Marjatta snorted, not caring in the slightest of what her elders thought of her performance. They should be impressed and humbled that she only took on the hardest missions assigned to them in order to meet the family's mercenary mission quota.

"What of my sister?" The girl frowned. While she had been renown as the master of the Fin shot, Luvia was still the favored successor of the Edelfelt due to her overall high proficiency of all the fields of study that the family specialized in. Jewlcraft. Fin shot. General Thaumaturgy. Negotiation. Financial management. While she was no exceptional prodigy in any of these fields, she was good enough in everything that everyone treated her as the most promising member of the next generation.

"Lady Luviagelita has resumed working on her recent personal project. She has made it fairly clear that should she be interrupted for anything but the most important reasons she will be most… resolute in her response." The servant replied without any hesitation.

"Humph." The girl scoffed. "She never ceases to confuse me. How can someone so highborn be so attached to the common borne of the unprivileged? I will never understand her…"

"Give her time my lady. Your sister may have some uncommon tastes, but even you cannot deny that she is a very capable individual that is able to understand things more thoroughly than others." The butler replied truthfully. "This project will end up like all of her others. Either she will complete it, or she will deem it no longer worthy of her time and shelve it."

"I doubt it." The younger sibling sighed tiredly as she handed the butler back the towel. "You saw yourself how many documents she has gathered on that man and her reactions to many of its contents. If she does bother to give up on it, it will only be after at least a year."

"You cannot blame your sibling my lady. Even you must admit that the topic of her research is rather intriguing given what she has learned." The elderly man stated calmly, though his master did note a momentary glint in his eyes.

"Something on your mind?" Marjatta asked warily. Sebastian was a loyal servant to the family, however that did not mean that he did not participate in the occupation of mercenary work as well during his younger days. In fact he was supposedly one of the best mercenaries under the Edelfelt empire up until about two decades ago.

The butler hesitated for a moment before replying. "It is just… I have encountered the subject of lady Luvia's interest before back when I was active on several occasions. To be perfectly honest, I have extreme doubts related to the nature of her research. I know I am not to claim this, but to assume that that man's drive was to save as many lives as possible, ESPECIALLY after that incident in Buenos Ares…"

"You are speaking of that Hospital fire that he started." The girl asked warily, recalling the particular incident. "Saavedra, correct?"

"It was a nightmare for everyone involved." The man nodded as he recalled the nineteen eighty five incident. "A powerful magus turned Dead Apostle known as Stradivarius had secretly taken over the psychiatric hospital and had been experimenting on the patients for his research on attempting to perfect the process of altering the human mind through the nervous system. Given the location of his base of operations and the number he was experimenting on when he was found out, the Association and the Church had joined together in order to take him down, and hired several mercenaries in between for insurance."

"And the Magus Killer was one of them." The girl added in even though she didn't need to.

He shook his head tiredly. "It was a deathtrap. We had assumed that all we had to be wary of was the ghouls and magical constructs in the building, however we had not assumed that he had managed to turn the patients there into his familiars without turning them into Ghouls. By the time we had realized what was going on, we were already very far into the building and nearly half of us had been killed in the initial ambush."

He closed his eyes. "We had managed to regroup and were starting to turn the tide of battle when that man spat in everyone's faces. Instead of attempting to go from the top down like everyone else had done, the heretic had sent multiple familiars through the sewer system carrying large amounts of explosives, gas canisters, and incendiaries. Magical and not. By the time the first explosion had occurred, it was already too late. The bottom three levels of the hospital had instantly enveloped themselves in flames, killing the target and a good portion of the assault group. If that wasn't enough, he had somehow at the same time managed to detonate the gasoline backup power supply that the hospital had at the same time, disrupting the main power and caused the building to burn itself from both above and below."

He gripped his hands into fists. "He had used us as a distraction the entire time. It was only by a stroke of luck that I and several others had managed to lock ourselves into a side room when the flames were coming and seal it off so that we neither burned nor suffocated to death."

"Supposedly almost eighty died and two hundred and fifty were injured according to the public." Marjatta recalled absently, not at all concerned about the terrible contents of the story.

Sebastian couldn't help but snort in bitter amusement. "Those were only the numbers we allowed to be known. In reality the real death count was closer to five hundred when you take into account all the patients the Apostle had been experimenting on that were inside, and there were at least three hundred injury reports when I last saw the management cleaning up the situation." He sighed. "It took a massive effort from the Church and the Association in order to cover up the entire event and remove any evidence of Thaumaturgy from the area. The Association was also not that pleased that all of the Apostle's notes and research had been completely destroyed in the event as well."

"A shame." The girl nodded her head seemingly understanding the man's frustration. "All that effort and the only good thing that came out of it was the slaying of the Apostle. That man was far too sloppy to be relied upon."

"Sloppy or not, it was not an army of soldiers or a complicated spell that took out the vampire my lady." The butler frowned. "It was a single man that used mostly standard non magical means to not only wipe out the target, but everything he possessed as well." He wearily took off his glasses and cleaned them with his gloves before putting them back on again.

"The point of my story was that regardless of how we viewed the man, or how inelegant, or mundane, or heretical his means were, it would not change two main facts. The first was that he was remarkably good at what he did, to the point that he rarely even needed to use thaumaturgy in the first place in order to do his job. It would not be far from the truth to describe him as an unsurpassed master in the art of murdering a designated target, regardless of how talented of a magus they were. The second however is the reason why I am so skeptical of your sister's reason for researching him…"

"Oh?" The teen girl raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

The elderly man's gaze narrowed as the air around him thickened with dark emotion. "Because, that man had a habit of killing innocents and those only vaguely related to his targets in order to kill his target in the first place. I am fairly certain that there has not been a single cowardly trick he has not used in the history of being a mercenary. If he deems a tactic would be enough to kill his opponent or lure them into the open, he would use it regardless of how many people would be caught in the crossfire."

He closed his eyes. "I am afraid that if your sister immerses herself too much into that man's exploits while attempting to justify them in the process, it may eventually result in affecting her judgment. His actions are completely controversial to what her claims are and her theory and as such if she tries to look too far into what he has done and reason his actions, she will risk altering her code of morals into something unsavory."

Marjatta remained quiet for several moments as she processed what Sebastian had told her, from the event's details to what her sister was doing. Under most circumstances she understood what the old man was pointing out. Much like how a person ignorant of the magical world was suddenly thrust into it and exposed to its various socially unacceptable standards would have to adapt themselves in order to understand it, people too would have to adapt themselves in order to understand the Magus Killer's supposed methods. However…

The girl frowned as she came to her conclusion on the matter. "I am disappointed in you Sebastian. Do not assume that my sister would fall for such meager mental temptations. She is far too strong and in control over herself to subject herself to such minor influences."

The butler blinked momentarily before donning a small smile. "You may be right my lady. Your sister is a rather steadfast individual. She would not bend so easily… though I am quite surprised. You yourself are not one that frequently compliments others, your sister even less so…"

The blonde teen flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away. "While I am not fond of my elder sibling, I will not ignore the fact that she has a reputation for a reason." Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she dwelled on the subject. "To think that someone reputed to be more capable than myself would fall for something so minor is unacceptable. Luvia will fall in stature in time, however I will make sure that I will be the cause when that day comes. I will not accept any other reason…"

o. o. o.

Omake: Why Sirius should never have too much free time. Ever:

Shirou raised an eyebrow as he watched an exceptionally pale and sweaty Waver lean against the doorway of Sirius' quarters. "Why…?"

"Sirius got his old skin samples back. He made a mannequin and is doing puppet shows. Run, before he shows you too." The Lord stated in a haunted tone.

Shirou didn't need to be told twice as he disappeared around a corner.

o. o. o.

A/N:

Once more, thanks Maximorph1 for betaing.

Damn it. I really tried to get significantly closer to the war here, but there was just too much stuff to make the transition. Judging from how things are right now, it will take another one to two chapters for the war to start… or at least to the point where servants are starting to get summoned.

So then, To recap here in no particular order:

Shirou encountered the Einzberns, and Einzberns will tell Ilya about him.

Marjatta is shown a bit more in depth and what she is capable of.

Shirou is training with Kizuki to enhance his physical abilities.

Shirou is half a step away from finishing the spell that cut off his arm all those chapters ago.

Waver is under more scrutiny from the Archibald family but holds them off to a degree.

Rin is hinted at being very clingy to Shirou upon his return.

Merem's Lorelei level scary boss decides to let Shirou live for now.

Another one of Kiritsugu's past exploits has been revealed that shows him in his full Magus Killer Glory. The event with regards to the Nasuverse is something I made up, but the fire itself did happen in real life.

I admit, I did not expect there to be so little Sakura and Rin in this chapter, however I did not really see the need to stick them in for now. I will make sure to focus on them more in the next one.

As for Bazett… yeah I got no excuse there. I just have no confidence in writing her character as of now, but I will try to cover her as well next time.

So in the next chapter you'll see more things falling into place for the war and more character development and blah blah blah.

For those who want to know why I was so late, here's the deal:

I'm working six days a week and all of them are at least nine hours each if I'm not caught in a meeting. When I get back home, I normally exercise and stuff for the following hour (though technically almost half of it is me doing absolutely nothing in the shower). Then I eat and clean up with the family (cause my dad has a habit of making huge and overly elaborate meals… but good most of the time), then read the latest manga, comics fanfics, and anime that I've been following (which thankfully isn't that much) that have come out so I can finally unwind from my day of working on coding, theoretical jargon, circuit board designing and paperwork. THEN, if the gods are grateful and my folks aren't running me around the house or town, I start to work on the fic, leaving me with about 2ish hours a night (if that) before I fall asleep at a time where I won't have to kill anyone upon waking up the next day and thus get into trouble.

And on Sundays I sleep. A lot.

In short. I gots little time. After August, which is when my company's current project ends, I will get a bit more time back in my weekly schedule, commonly known as Saturday, but until then, don't expect me to pump out chapters at the rate I used to.

So Review! Worship the Log! Pray to all that is holy that Sirius has something to work on! And Review Again!