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.

40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Flight and Fight

I do not own Fate/Stay Night and stuffs.

o. o. o.

Kotomine Church:

"Thank you and welcome again. I know that many of you have commitments and plans that you desire to address at this time. However, I as Judge of this ritual am obligated to impart to you all concerning news."

Kirei stood casually in front of the altar, back straight and face even. His voice carried over the room easily for all those in the room, human or not, to hear.

"It has come to my attention that the ritual itself is at risk once more, this time due to the interference of one of its participants," he elaborated, seemingly not bothering to pay attention to the six familiars in the room. "Shirou Emiya, Master of Saber, has been confirmed to be taking steps to ensure that the ritual will not be completed since, if not before, all of you had initially gathered here in Fuyuki."

The priest walked across the slightly elevated platform that held a podium. He made sure that he held his audience's attention while sacrificing none of his authority. "Under normal circumstances this would understandably be laughable to most of you. Sooner or later he would be forced to combat the rest of you. He would likely be defeated under combined forces and events would continue on as planned. Unfortunately, I have learned that he has familiarized himself with the mechanics of the Grail's system to such a degree that, should he be left alone long enough, the ritual would not be completed even if a victor is eventually determined. Your hard work, effort, pride, and sacrifices would be for but a meaningless title.

"As such I as Judge am utilizing my given powers to postpone the Grail War until the accused party has been exterminated." His declaration was as good as an execution notice. "All parties are to suspend their activities against one another and prioritize the apprehension or execution of Shirou Emiya. As I announced previously, the Master and Servant who perform the deed shall be awarded an additional Command Seal."

"However, as a show of good faith I will extend a bonus to the Masters of Caster and Assassin who were the ones who informed me of the situation in the first place."

To either side of the priest, the two mentioned Servants stepped out of the shadows quietly. Neither made a move that indicated that they were there outside of their own volition… though that was not saying much as both of them were hidden for the most part behind their cloaks and hoods.

It did not escape his notice that the majority of the familiars in the room focused on the male Servant. "While I am grateful for their patronage and assistance, they have merely informed me of the situation and have done little to address it. Due to the severe nature of the ritual, rewards cannot not be handed out so frivolously. Regardless, should one of them perform the deed, I will award their Masters two Command Seals as a sign of my appreciation."

"My Master expresses her deepest thanks." The Witch bowed graciously. "This War is already a frustrating ordeal as it is. It will be a relief to see unneeded obstacles dealt with accordingly."

Assassin didn't move or say anything.

"Once Emiya and Saber are confirmed dead, the War shall resume as it was," Kirei calmly continued, acting as if the Servant had not said anything. "Any questions are of course welcome."

All the familiars in the room left moments later, leaving Kirei in the room with a Servant on either side.

o. o. o.

Less than ten seconds passed after Luvia severed her connection to her familiar before the phone rang.

"And here I thought you had nerves of steel." Luvia dryly spoke into the receiver as soon as she picked it up. "If that Priest is as smart as you claim he is, then he by all means should have been soiling himself with those two on either side."

"He's going to send Gilgamesh after my group." Shirou didn't waste time getting to the point. "We're already getting ready to relocate to Einsbern castle. There's no way we can fight him efficiently on my property."

The line was silent as his words were comprehended by the other party. The blonde was very tempted to ask how he had come to that conclusion so quickly, but thought better of it. Time was of the essence. "We'll leave as soon as we-"

"No," He cut her off in a tone that didn't leave any room for argument. "Anyone who helps me out right now will be blacklisted not only by Kirei but by the Association as well. As the supervisor to the War he's obligated to keep the Church and the Tower up-to-date when it comes to issues like this. As far as the outside world knows at this very instant, I'm working alone. Illya and Sakura will be discovered soon enough, but you and Rin still have blank slates. Even if everything is cleared up later, the mark on our names won't go away."

"Are you serious?!" Luvia shouted, not believing what she was hearing. "After everything you told us last night and all you claimed to have done manipulating us during the war, you honestly expect us to do nothing?! Don't you dare claim that you had planned this out too!"

Unlike Luvia, Shirou's disposition didn't seem to change in the slightest. "Don't think I'm just trying to keep the both of you out of danger. You and Rin are the only ones that are able to keep Caster in check anymore. I need you to keep her in place or else everything could go out of control regardless of if we beat Gilgamesh or not on my side."

"Ngh." She couldn't argue against reality. Both Caster and Gilgamesh were major threats that couldn't be ignored. The fact that each threat realistically required all of their combined resources in order to be dealt with didn't matter. Both were reaching their peak threat level at the same time, and they would have to react carefully or else they were all dead.

"It was always a possibility that this exact situation might have happened at any point in time. This was the reason other than Zouken why I didn't go out of my way to tell everyone about how messed up the Grail was at the beginning. Don't pretend you didn't think of it too at some point. As bad as it sounds to us, Kirei is just fulfilling his duties as moderator to the letter to anyone that doesn't know the full story. I had hoped to get more out of the way before he found out what I was up to, but then again I had hoped for other things that never happened too."

"You hoped that…" It was blatantly clear that the blonde had to take a few moments to regain composure. "Emiya, right now you've just told me that one of the biggest threats in this mess of a war, a Servant that even YOU are terrified of, is after you right now. Just yesterday we had all gone over why we should help you out despite the fact you had essentially gambled with our lives. And now you want to risk dealing with him without the very help you spent so much effort to accumulate?!"

"Don't think I enjoy this anymore than you do, but right now this is our only option. If we take our eyes off of either one, the other will stab us in the back while we are exhausted. This is the only way where we have a hope of making it out of this."

Luvia sat down and shook her head. "Be honest. Please. Right now, what do you think are your odds of surviving this are?"

The seconds seemed to drag on for an eternity as she waited for an answer.

"I don't know," he admitted slowly. "I've only seen Gilgamesh through memories and through Saber's eyes. He's disgustingly strong. Illya's working with me so far, and we will have Berserker on our side, but even so right now I'd give us… a coin toss. Maybe a bit better if I'm being hopelessly optimistic."

"A coin toss." The European snorted in empty mirth. The term was a bad joke in the mercenary business. Instead of the implied fifty-fifty odds that most people would assume, it was more used to describe a one in ten shot if the speaker was being generous. Basically a devil's gambit. "You want us to stand by while you wager your life on a coin toss."

"I never said our best option was a good one. I'm not exactly ecstatic about it either." Luvia could taste the bitterness in his voice.

"Is that really the best you could manage? You had two years to prepare for him, and even with Berserker on your side you can only manage that much?"

"I'm sorry. Maybe if I worked harder only on my magic I might have been able to master my Reality Marble in that time, but that didn't happen. As it stands, it's better than most people could ever get in this situation so I'm going for it. I'm all ears if you have a better idea to deal with this without opening ourselves horrendously in the process."

The following seconds of damning silence solidified what neither of them wanted, that his plan really was the best one they had at the moment.

"… Do you have any idea what you're doing to us with these perpetually suicidal decisions of yours? To Rin?"

"To Rin?" The change in topic threw him off guard. "What happened to her? Is she hurt?"

"Of course she's hurt you fool! She loves you!" Luvia snapped, losing the filter she normally had. She had just barely started to finally regain some composure from the previous night and then this happened. It was enough to make anyone lose it. "She loves you and here you are playing with everyone's lives, throwing yourself into even more danger than you did us, and she's completely unable to help, let alone keep up with your madness! How do you think she's taking it?! I'm barely managing to hold on, let alone keeping her together through it too for that matter!"

"I… She loves…" For the first time in the conversation Shirou really was on the defensive and struggling to find the right words to say. "She's that bad? It's just, she's lost her temper and composure before, but I've never imagined that she could just…"

The tone of confusion and some disbelief nearly caused Luvia to slam the phone down right then and there, but she managed to somehow refrain from doing so. It wasn't all his fault… technically. Archer was also a big reason for her guest's breakdown earlier, and it was only recently that she had come out of her room. They had yet to talk or argue yet, but that was more due to a silent agreement than anything.

She was tempted, oh so very tempted to tell the boy about Archer's identity… but now wasn't the time. Not when everyone was on high alert for who knows what could happen at any moment. A distraction on that level might very well kill them all.

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before picking her words carefully. "She's concerned for you. She thought she knew how bad you were for years. From what I've seen it looked like she tried to prepare herself for when you did decide to push everyone's limits. Then you not only threw her expectations in her face, you surpassed them exponentially while dragging in everyone else into this mess at the same time. This War was going to be her way of proving to herself and you that she could keep up. Now thanks to everything, she's lost faith in herself and her abilities. It's quite honestly disgusting to see someone with as much potential as myself brought so low as she is right now. And after all that you want to still keep her out of the fire? Just how much are you going to do to her before you are done, Emiya?"

"Damn it." The voice on the other end cracked up for just a moment. "Luvia, I… there was another reason why I kept Rin in particular out of the loop for so long that I didn't mention earlier."

"Oh? Another secret? Well by all means go right ahead! As if we didn't have another reason to hang you for your words." She nearly threw her hands up into the air, decorum and poise long forgotten.

"I'm serious. If everything goes to hell here and we still manage to fix things in the end, which is a very real possibility, what do you think the Association will do afterwards? Rin is the Second Owner of Fuyuki. Think. You know how pig-headed and greedy everyone there can be."

"The Association?" The blonde mentally stumbled at the change in focus and took a few moments to zero in on what he was getting at.

If everything went pear shaped, then the Tower would no doubt initially focus on Shirou for being the instigator of everything happening and try to wring every bit of valuable information and political clout from him, but they wouldn't stop there. They'd go for his accomplices, those that only were related to him that were easy targets, and their resources by extension.

"She'd lose everything." Luvia blinked in realization, a subtle chill traveled down her spine as the horrible reality came down upon her.

Her legacy. Her money. Her research. Her home. Her property. Everything to the Tohsaka name would be collateral for her inability to foresee and prevent what would happen. It would be a fate worse than death for a magus.

The total gutting of her family history and legacy.

As much as she disliked the girl, even Luvia would never wish such an end upon her.

"You knew this." The foreigner pressed with some urgency and disbelief in her voice. "This actually happened in the visions your father saw."

"It almost did. But for some reason, Zelretch of all people appeared from out of nowhere during the staged trial and threw everyone there for a loop," Shirou grumbled. "Zelretch, Luvia. I may have gambled on many things since this started, but there is no way in hell I'd wager any of your lives on the convenient appearance of that man."

The girl shakily agreed. Everyone who knew of the Kaleidoscope were aware of his whimsical personality. It was impossible for someone to be able to predict or manipulate his movements, and that was before taking into account that he was more often than not in another dimension.

But if Rin wouldn't be held accountable for what would happen, then by the way things were going, the most likely outcome would be…

"You're going to take the blame for everything."

She realized his end game with mixed shock and fear. The power and force behind her voice just moments before had been completely snuffed out. "Your influence. Your manipulating. Your moves. The way we acted. You've been leading around everyone in a way that makes everything lead back to you the entire time. Only your actions are suspicious from the start if someone looks hard enough. Even now you're trying to make us play by the rules as far as the outside is concerned."

For the first time she believed that she felt what Rin was going through. That overwhelming and helpless disbelief that seemed to smother every other emotion she had been channeling until then.

He had been protecting all of them even when he had endangered them. In the long run, anyone that would have been directly involved in Shirou's stunt from an early part of the war would get a mark of some kind. Even if in the end they were cleared of charges, the history of what they did would never go away.

Sakura wouldn't mind the bad reputation. She would continue her craft at her own pace, but it was clear that she did not care much for her adopted family, the Association, or their methods.

Illyasviel wouldn't either. She was more a tool than a magus. She didn't need the connections or the resources that the Tower provided. If Shirou managed to separate her from the Einzberns for good, then she could do what she want without issue.

Bazett might be put down by the incident, but she was an enforcer. She was already looked down upon by most of the nobility, and she had all but run away from home in the first place so it wasn't as if she was a solid representation of her family. The fact that Caster had her under some sort of powerful hypnosis from the Age of the Gods was humiliating, but it did give her a way out from the worst of the scandal.

But she and Rin were different. They were magi at their core. They lived and strived for the research that their ancestors began. They would be crippled by such a smear on their names, as would their families. Not to mention if things got really bad, then their names would be associated with the entire event in a manner more involved than just as participants.

He wasn't responsible for the tainted grail. He wasn't responsible for Zouken, Gilgamesh, or Kirei. But he would still be blamed. Simply by knowing everything and not saying anything, he'd be held accountable for things going out of control.

Because he cared about them all too much, he'd be looked down upon for not killing the entirety of the Matou family to save time.

He'd be called foolish for not informing the Second Owner about her traitorous Guardian when he should have teamed up with her and used her Servant to take out Gilgamesh and the priest.

He'd be called ineffective for not killing her and her sister as soon as possible for knowing just how dangerous the Witch could be if left alone for too long.

He'd be called a traitor and insubordinate for not informing Barthomelloi about all of his concerns from the very beginning.

And if they ever found out about his Reality Marble or his Apostle affliction…

"Luvia, we're short on time. I still have to do some things before shit really does hits the fan." Shirou didn't acknowledge her correct conclusion as he tried to wrap things up, his tone apologetic the entire time.

"Shirou… don't. Please," she pleaded as she sunk back down into her chair. She didn't care that she had referred to him by his first name again. "I don't know how much more of this any of us can take."

"… I can't stop now, Luvia. Sorry."

The line was closed before she could manage to get any other words out. All she could do was sag in her chair and hold the receiver next to her head.

"He's doing something suicidal and stupid again, isn't he?" Rin stood behind her host, leaning against the doorway. Whereas Luvia was now emulating what her guest had been last night, the latter was now merely donning an expressionless mask with bags under her eyes.

It took a few long moments for the blonde to regain enough control over herself to respond properly.

"He, he thinks that Gilgamesh is coming after him. He's going to the Einzbern castle to hole up defensively. We're supposed to pretend to be clueless and keep an eye on Caster while outwardly planning how to try and beat Saber and Berserker at the same time." She put the phone back slowly, trying her hardest to put his last words out of her head. Causing more distress was the last thing she needed at the moment.

Rin closed her eyes for several moments before breathing deeply. "… Yeah. That sounds like something he'd suggest. Looks like we're going to be busy."

Luvia turned around warily. "You're not upset?"

"I'm too tired to get upset anymore. Shirou's long proved that he's going to do what he wants regardless of what we think or feel. The smartest thing to do is work with him so everything else doesn't fall down around us. Right now his way is our best option of resolving everything peacefully no matter how stupid we think it is." Rin's answer was empty and pragmatic. It lacked the subtle and confident bite in her tone that was almost always there when she spoke.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Luvia sighed, not exactly sure if she preferred this drained version of Rin or her more egotistical version more. "Caster has us outnumbered four to two. We both know that she has no intention of following the priest's orders."

"Caster. Lancer. Assassin. Rider…" Rin recited the Servants that they had to deal with. Literally half of the Servants that had been summoned for the war, it would not be far to assume that the group comprised of an army in itself.

A frontal assault is the only way to get to the temple with its bounded fields, but they can't do that with just their Caster and Archer. Saber and Berserker could manage it if done right, but they were on the other side of town by now. Still, they had to keep the Witch on guard to prevent her from doing too much.

"For now we'll spend the day scanning and patrolling the city outside of the stairs, maybe have your Caster disable any possible traps that might be set up. During the night we observe and play on the defensive. Archer and Caster are both magi that utilize bounded fields in one way or another, maybe they can make a collaborative mystery to boost our advantage here in case we are attacked." Rin's proposal was on the safe side, but it was the best they could do at the moment. They couldn't afford a massive battle right now with everyone separate.

"What about Assassin?" Luvia frowned. "He doesn't need to fight directly to take us out. Exposing our backs to him in any way is the same as suicide."

"Archer's familiar with his methods, and his absurd structural grasping counters Assassin's tactics and traps better than anything the other Servants could manage. Part of what made Assassin so dangerous was his ambiguity. Nobody knew how he fought, worked, or used his surroundings. Had we known who he was earlier, he would not have been as dangerous as he had been. Now that Archer knows what to look for, it wouldn't be hard to protect us from Assassin in broad daylight so long as we don't separate and there's no infighting." The blonde couldn't help but flinch at how easily Rin spoke of the two Emiya considering how badly they had wrecked her psyche earlier.

"You trust him with something like that?" Her question wasn't unwarranted considering what they learned the previous night.

Rin held her gaze with Luvia for several second before turning away and walking to another part of the building. "Shirou's an idiot, regardless of where or when he's from. The biggest threat he's ever going to be to is himself."

Luvia couldn't help but wonder if her guest had gotten more of her conversation with Shirou than she let on.

o. o. o.

"I hope you are aware of the implications of our actions."

Caster glanced casually at the priest with a small satisfied smile. While it may have appeared as if they were alone, neither one of them pretended to ignore the fact that Assassin was in the shadows just a few meters away from them. Given the chance, the Witch and the Priest had no doubt that the displeased Servant would not hesitate to kill both of them in a single move. "Oh I am very aware, Moderator. With everyone informed of the boy's falsehood, his moves and actions will be quite restricted."

The woman clearly had not been advised by Assassin on the matter if that is what she truly thought. Forcing the boy into the light would only mean he no longer needed to be discrete.

Kotomine had followed rumors regarding the young Emiya since Louve's demise. The child wasn't as habitually destructive as his father in his methods, but their tactics were rather similar. They both used rather grandiose, albeit practical, approaches for the more difficult targets. If they worked, that was the end of that. If not, then the chaos would have been used to mask the subtle and near assured way to down the target which would be the original plan all along. Using a well-placed bomb to hide the existence of the silenced gun or dagger behind their back, so to speak.

The issue was that while Kiritsugu had less reservations about what he would do with the former step, so much so that most of the time he didn't even need to do anything beyond that to take down the target, his son had proven himself to be rather apt at the latter. He was cleaner too. The civilian body count average difference between the pair was like night and day.

"We have forced the boy into a corner, but he is not defenseless with Saber and supposedly Berserker with him. Those two Servants alone are quite the formidable force," the priest instead pointed out. "Now that he has been outed, he will have less reservations about following the rules. He will take actions that he would not have otherwise. Instead of manipulating things from now on, he is going to fight, treating all contestants and myself as potential enemies."

Especially after that display with Caster and Assassin showing up to his side. He had clearly stated whose side he was unofficially supporting which was far more than what his father did during the previous war. Even he would not have done something as foolish as that if it weren't for the fact that Gilgamesh preferred him alive, and that was merely because the King valued his existence over the curiosity of Caster's plans.

"A statement needed to be made." Caster whimsically brushed aside the man's warning. "Was it not you who did just that with the previous interloper?"

"Only after he was dealt with in the first place. With the current accused's assistance I might add." Kirei frowned at her poor example. Impatience and cunning rarely made a good combination. "Zouken Makiri has always been notorious for his methods and his tenacious habits. If he knew he was being hunted, I doubt even you would have been able to finish him off without considerable effort."

The boy was not an idiot, announcing to everyone and their mothers that he would kill Zouken or that he had been planning to do something like some moronic cartoon character. He had kept his hand close, possibly for years, before striking with the exact precision and tools needed to end the monster.

Kirei himself was somewhat grateful and impressed by how easy it was to kill the worm in all honesty. He had entertained the idea of doing it himself for an entire decade, but knew very well that there was a very real possibility that the means to do so were beyond him alone.

With the night's announcement, they may have cut off the boy from further resources, but they also allowed him time to plan if not already enact countermeasures. Given that Shirou had beaten Zouken at his own game, the consequences of giving him time to do so could be disastrous. There was a very real possibility that he had set something just in case this very thing happened.

"Hmm. It seems he's preparing to change locations," Caster mused, ignoring the man's warnings as she observed the Emiya household through a familiar's eyes. "Berserker's and Rider's Masters seem to be of the same mind and putting all sorts of trinkets into the vehicle the maids brought. I suppose that means that they are accomplices in his plans as well."

Einzbern Castle, Kirei concluded as he allowed himself to remiss for but a brief moment. It was the most logical choice if one wanted to fight on the defensive. Had the child still been on the offensive, then moving would be out of the question as he'd be in the ideal spot to attack or support his supposed allies, but that was obviously no longer the case. Once he reached the building it would be nearly impossible to catch him off guard or underprepared from the outside.

How ironic that Emiya would decide to protect Einzbern in that location once more…

He'd allow Caster to figure it out for herself. The woman had made him work more than he desired for her schemes. At least when the boy did it, as rude as he was at times, the process itself was organized and to the point. They knew their respective positions and opinions of one another and didn't pretend otherwise.

There was a mutual respect in their subtle stabs at one another. A recognition between two peculiar existences that could not tolerate one another. Perhaps that was why he liked the boy unlike his father just a few meters away. The senior threw common courtesy away when dealing with others unless it was absolutely necessary to keep them. The junior on the other hand only threw them away if needed, but could still do so without any issue.

It was an interesting inversion of otherwise identical habits.

The Witch merely tried to pretend that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. It was so pathetic that he played along simply out of mockery. Really, it was an embarrassment for a Heroic Spirit to behave so foolishly. A poor attempt at a comedy in Gilgamesh's words.

At least that had been the original motive for going along with it all before she revealed Assassin.

He nearly laughed his head off when he realized that his rival, the man he had hounded for the entirety of the previous war had become a Heroic Spirit. To see the one who murdered him fight against his children to the death amused him to the point that he still had trouble keeping the largest smile in his life off of his face.

Medea of Colchis. The Witch of Betrayal, ordering around Kiritsugu Emiya as if he was a helpless and pathetic dog, all but forcing him against both his beliefs and his family…

And she pretended as if she was just partnered with him instead of clearly being his Master. The priest was the Moderator of the War itself. He could easily tell who was a Master and who was not, even with the woman's tinkering with the system. The poor woman had no idea what she was doing. It had been a miracle that she had lasted as long as she had. The mysteries from the Age of Gods were without a doubt potent, but in the end they were only as good as the one casting them, just like modern mysteries.

Had the boy not been attempting to mess with the ritual to the very core, the Priest would have more than been willing to just sit back and watch this whole fiasco blow up in everyone's faces. He didn't even have to do anything for this to spiral completely out of control.

Hell, he and Gilgamesh had been picking out wines to drink for the upcoming show just the other day. Nothing from the King of Heroes' vault this time, but it had still been an admittedly nice spread.

But that sadly was not the case. Shirou Emiya was focused on undermining the one thing that he himself was dead set on witnessing first hand. He found out the answer to his question a decade ago, but the reasoning, the foundation for what he had been given was still just as elusive as ever.

He would not give up his best opportunity to finally understand the puzzle that his being consisted of for amusement, no matter how enticing it may be.

Once he had gotten over his mirth, he had only needed to make one good hard look at Assassin and vice versa for their mutual conversation to be made. The loathing that they had for one another had not vanished, but the past they shared and experience they had were far greater than most normal humans could ever comprehend.

Both were waiting for something.

Both were biding their time.

Both were holding back.

Both were aware of the threat the other posed.

Both were playing the game in their own way.

Both believed they knew something the other didn't.

Kirei found himself curious. To him it was obvious that Assassin could kill Caster if he so chose, but didn't. Kiritsugu had always been good at finding holes in the logic and defenses of others. His practicality was in itself something of a rarity in their world, and thus extremely difficult to defend against. Something was stopping him from pulling the trigger despite how badly he clearly wanted to. If only he knew why…

… Perhaps he should kill Caster first after all, just to see what would happen. Then again, doing just that may only help the man in the end. Best to play ignorant for now just to be safe.

"Hm. If they are retreating, then they would go to a well-fortified location." He pretended to absently brainstorm. "Should they get away, there is a chance that even you would not be able to locate them until it is too late."

"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe. From what I have witnessed so far, the magi of this era are quite wanting compared to what I am used to." The smile on Caster's face had vanished, no doubt displeased with the lack of faith in her abilities.

"If that is the case, then dealing with the boy should pose no issue now that he is isolated," Kirei comforted her smoothly with his scathing comment, contradicting his advice to be cautious almost instantly. He knew for a fact that the Witch was not the sort that would come to him for help unless she thought it was her best option. She had been cornered, in more ways than one if his glimpse of her right hand was any indication.

"Hmph. If that were so, I would have already," She half grumbled half hissed under her breath.

"Initial expectations are based upon secondhand knowledge most of the time. Mistakes are but a part of human nature." Kirei allowed himself to turn his attention to Kiritsugu for a few minor seconds. If the boy had been anything like his father, then he would have been a nightmare for the rest of this War's contestants to deal with. Servant or not. In that case, his assumptions at least appeared to be spot on in a twisted way.

Really, all in all he could claim that the only reason why he was actively aiding her so much in general was because she gave him the opportunity to torture Kiritsugu Emiya once more. Be it necromancy or the Heroic Spirit, just the nostalgia alone was something to be thankful for. It was a new realm of "pleasure" that he had yet to experience in its entirety and he would not waste it.

Gilgamesh would agree whole heartedly with his decision.

And really, what's a better way to get on the nerves of a professional than to support their criminally novice boss that they clearly hate in a task that they obviously don't want to do with all their being? Right in front of them for that matter?

"But as I said before, if the boy is as prepared as we suspect, then the location he is moving to should be adequately protected already with Servants in mind," he advised as if the thought had just come to him, giving the woman a hint as to where to look for the boy's next base.

Other than a cold glance, Assassin didn't make any particular reactions to the Priest's suggestion.

Oh, it was starting to get far too tempting to try and make a game out of this. His self-control had not been tested this badly in years.

"Of course it would be," Caster grumbled, missing the interaction between the two men. "I gather it that you will take adequate steps to manage the child as well? He is after all threatening the very war itself."

"In time. There is no need for you or your Master to know of the options I have available for situations like this," Kirei deflected the inquiry lazily. Clearly she knew something about him that she was not saying. It would not be a far guess to assume that she knew about Gilgamesh considering she didn't simply try to kill him and take the Command Seals he had in the first place.

A flash of annoyance graced the woman's lips before she bowed apologetically. "Forgive my rudeness. I was merely curious as to what was available to one in your position. To oversee the war must entail power or influence of some sort as a precaution after all, but it makes sense to ensure that the participants would not know of them as well to ensure that they would not be tempted to achieve another advantage."

"Like you?" The priest held back no punches. "If there was any Servant that could benefit from any hidden mystery in the system itself, it would be the Caster class after all."

The Witch knew a threat when she heard one and was very well aware that the wrong words could spell disaster for her if she wasn't careful. "Any mysteries available to you due to your position are of no concern or value to me. I may be from the Age of Gods, but I am still incompatible with mysteries of the faith. If I have insinuated otherwise by mistake, I apologize."

It was beginning to hurt to not smile now. He could practically see the woman throwing up in her mouth during her apology. "Rise, Caster. The Lord is forgiving as am I. The world is a cruel enough place as it is. There is no need to spread unnecessary misery."

Of the four individuals in the building, only Caster didn't know or catch the underlying meaning behind his words. None of them intended to inform her anytime soon.

o. o. o.

The phone was picked up after the fourth ring.

"I expect you to have something worthwhile to speak about," Lorelei Barthomelloi spoke into the receiver.

"… Depends," Shirou responded from the other side, slightly surprised. Normally when he called up the Clocktower he was received by one of the Queen's assistants. The woman despised using modern appliances of any variety. The mere idea of being so easily accessible to others via any means left her just shy of irrationally irritable. "Are you more interested in what the priest didn't tell you, or what he doesn't know himself?"

And like that the game started.

He wasn't mocking her. He was asking how much she already knew.

Even if she hadn't figured anything out yet, she would never have admitted it. Worse, had he attempted to excuse himself in any way she would have ended him without hesitation.

At this moment, as far as everyone was concerned, he was essentially going rogue. It would be seen as a slight on the Barthomelloi name that one of their more notable servants would do so, regardless if he saved the world or not…

But confusion begets confusion. The truth was what the presenter portrayed it to be. The priest's declaration was a perfect example of that, but nothing was set in stone yet. To those that were watching, this turn of events was completely unprecedented. It would not be unimaginable to assume that something else was at work here. Something that the audience didn't know, and wouldn't know until the official reports came out.

So until the final scenario was made public, the truth would still be malleable, flexible to interpretation, and if certain half-truths were added into the mix… well, who could prove otherwise?

In the end history went to the victors to do as they pleased for their own benefits.

Had Shirou not contacted her, then she too would only know of what should and would likely be happening. She would not be able to move and work efficiently. In the end, just another spectator trying to see past the fog of rumors that came in periodically from the Far East.

Unforgiveable.

Eventually the chaos of the War would make its way to her, along with everyone else. She would have been embarrassed. And then she would have executed the boy for humiliating her and his lack of foresight.

But he had contacted her. He had planned on informing her of the situation before the masses. He likely originally did not intend to do so now, but it nonetheless was something he had been prepared for at some point.

For a brief moment she mused the possibility that Lord El Melloi II had been the one that thought ahead before banishing the idea. The answer to her mild curiosity did not benefit her in any way regardless of what it was, so she disregarded it as quickly as it came.

With this call the veil would be lifted for her and her alone. She would be able to move without concern where others could only wait, setting up traps for those that would dare try to attack her with the "truth" that had yet to come.

Even if it was to save his skin in the end, as an apology it was an adequate start by her standards. The "truth" was invaluable for politicians like herself, but still only a start. His debt for sullying the Barthomelloi name, if only slightly, was far more valuable than just that.

The Queen's mouth twitched slightly in amusement. Not enough to smile to those that could have witnesses the slip, but just enough to express her satisfaction.

It appears as though her dog was not some mindless beast after all. It could do more than follow simple commands and expect to get away with things from under his master's nose. Good. Very good. He wasn't as mindless as she had expected.

Now all he had to do was convince her that he was still worth keeping.

"I already know of his actions. Being aware of what he doesn't is of more use to me."

He got straight to the point. "The Witch of Betrayal has stolen control over Servant Rider, has summoned Servant Assassin, and is using some sort of cursed item to control Enforcer Fraga, which she uses to keep Servant Lancer in check. She has also utilized her mysteries to turn her Master, Marjatta Edelfelt, into a pseudo Lesser Grail. Highly unstable. Damage potential at the moment is unknown but roughly estimated to town level and progressively increasing. Worst case scenario is possible Counter Force invocation. Not something we can cover up without sacrifices."

"He missed that much? I had greater expectations for the overseer, especially after his activities in the previous war." The observation was as much a snub at Shirou as it was the truth. She was well aware of his part in the Fourth War and had been mildly curious as to what his actions this time would be.

"His goals differ this time," he elaborated briefly. "He benefits more from staying out of everything than instigating changes for now. Regardless, it would not be difficult for him to see that I have engaged in an alliance with the Einsbern Master, the Tohsaka Master, and the other Edelfelt Master, the latter two of which are still clean as far as the system goes. They are my public hand, so to speak. All are aware of the situation to address the current issue in addition to the cursed grail and the Servant Archer from the previous war. Who currently has a corporal body."

She didn't miss the fact that he had slipped in Gilgamesh's existence as a test to see her reaction. She'd play along for now. Clearly there was something that he and Lord El-Melloi II were hiding from her, but now was obviously not the time to inquire for more clues.

The war was split into two major factions at the moment, with a third party silently watching from the inside. None were following the rules, none would leave her without headaches if they won, but the one that actually was trying to do some good was being outed by the rest of the world. And while everyone was distracted with one side, the other could move more freely.

The boy was essentially fighting on two fronts, with a possible third from her direction if things went poorly.

"Hm. The King of Heroes. What progress has been made?" She was a woman that desired results. Obviously not everything had been accomplished, but the boy was talented enough to not be sitting by doing nothing the entire time.

"Zouken Makiri has been neutralized, minimizing the risk of the Makiri Lesser Grail from becoming an issue. Contact and a truce has been made with the Einsbern Master despite a… less than an ideal start. All Servants and Masters have been identified and located. Caster's Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker, has been witnessed and stored."

Ah yes, she forgot about Rule Breaker. That particular tool would definitely be of significant use in the future should the boy make it out of the situation in one piece. It was definitely something to keep in mind.

It was obvious that he brought up that particular tidbit. He was reminding her of his value to her and the Association. She couldn't kill him, and the more tools he gained the more use he would be in the field than as a designate... that is so long as he didn't show proof that forgeries remained incapable of lasting more than half a day.

"Why have you allowed the situation to degrade so far?" she asked calmly. It was not an accusation as it was an inquiry. As far as she was concerned, he was to control everyone perfectly. It should not have gotten to the point that he was publically outed.

"Due to circumstances, I had to address Zouken Makiri first to minimize overall risk. Unfortunately that required me to undertake Rider's ownership in the process which proved to be a greater strain than anticipated. The presence of an additional Caster in the War further complicated things and led to the stagnation of my activity," Shirou recited the facts without pause. "All of these were manageable. The biggest problem by far however was Servant Assassin, Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu Emiya."

For once Lorelei Barthomelloi had to pause due to uncertainty. Ignoring the sheer impossibility of the man actually being a Heroic Spirit, she instead focused on what the man was.

Everyone knew Kiritsugu was good at what he did, she would not dispute that even if he was a heretic. Instead, she was more focused on one particular fact.

In every conversation regarding the man, her dog would swear up and down that his father, the man he loved and idolized years after his death, terrified him to no end.

To her knowledge, the only other existence that invoked that reaction from the boy was none other herself. Thus, it wouldn't be that far to assume that the boy put his father on a pedestal that equated or possibly even surpassed her.

She honestly didn't know what to think or how to react to that comparison. She only knew that she didn't like it.

"All the more reason to question why there has been so little progress then." Her tone didn't falter despite her surprise. She didn't question why or how Kiritsugu was Assassin. That didn't matter.

"If I didn't have Avalon and Saber two nights ago, there certainly would have been, though not the sort you would have found appealing. You're not the only one that's holding an Emiya on a short leash."

She didn't bother to react to his statement. Apparently the child's claim that his father surpassed him in their game held true after all. It was only because of a literal miracle in his body that they were speaking now.

"I didn't think you'd be so sloppy." She knew the boy well enough that he didn't do something as foolish as to charge into a fight head first, but the fact that he was put in such a state in the first place was enough to warrant some scolding.

"You try to keep an eye on him when trying to hold off another Servant by yourself," he grumbled under his breath.

"Excuses are worthless, dog. The more important question is, are you?" She filed away the fact that he managed to hold off a Servant in the first place for later. Perhaps she would take him with her on her next Apostle Ancestor hunt and see how much he has progressed if he was still in good condition. An evaluation test of sorts.

If he died, so be it. If he lived, he'd have proven his worth to be put on more important tasks. Perhaps he'd prove to be a reliable representative between major families during negotiations eventually if he ever got over that irritatingly timid personality of his.

"Everything's still in place, not counting my new heart," Shirou admitted. While many would assume that she was questioning his value to her, he knew that she was… well, questioning his value to her, but also asking if he was actually ok. "Don't know how long that will last though. I expect to make contact with Gilgamesh soon."

Ah. That explains his actions. The priest's announcement would set everyone on guard. Everyone would and should be wary of her dog after such a claim, forcing all but the most foolish to wait and see what would happen. In the confusion, Kotomine would finally be able to make a move himself if he wished. In the end if the boy died everyone would expect one of the other participants to be the guilty party. "I expect you have prepared adequately."

"As much as I could, but not as much as I would like." He could only put out so many fires at once. He was just a human in a war between heroic spirits after all.

"You've had adequate time to prepare for this event. I'm disappointed."

"Tell that to the Einsbern, Tohsaka, and Makiri. This is the Fifth war after all. It shouldn't have gotten this messed up or made it to the fifth war in the first place. I'm just the guy trying to clean up the three hundred year old mess they made with Kaleidoscope."

"Then why has barely anything been done? You should have long since executed those that would have stood in your way by now. Given the opposition, the War should be near finished by this time had you taken your duties seriously." The woman's tone was unforgiving.

The line was silent for a few moments. "Because I'm trying to keep them alive. They are people that I would not attack even if you ordered me to."

"Oh? And if I decided that they were to be dealt with regardless?" she asked curiously.

"Then you would have a notably difficult time carrying through with it. Complete with an increase in issues with subsequent projects and goals that you may or may not be invested in. I've heard that Aylesbury may be quite an interesting place to visit soon. I might decide to add a white feather to my cap while I'm there if I ever decide to have a bucket list."

The phone cracked in Barthomelloi's hand. Of all the buttons that Shirou had pressed, he had slammed his fist on the biggest one of all.

Trhvmn Ortenrosse. The White Winged Lord. The "King" of the Apostle Ancestors, the oldest of his kind and the one with the most political influence.

There was not a single entity that she despised the existence of more than the Seventeenth Apostle Ancestor. He was her target. His head would be her crowning achievement in life, no matter how long it lasted. There was not a single being that she would allow to interfere with his execution. Even if she should fail in combat against him, she would do so alone. She would rather die than accept charity of any sorts.

And the dog had the gall to threaten to steal her prey just to spite her.

Worse. In her stomach, a small feeling developed. One that she barely managed to recognize.

Fear.

Fear that her prey would be taken from her.

Fear that her greatest goal in life would be denied.

She didn't even know how the boy knew of the ritual. It was a secret that only the most elite of the Association's members were even vaguely aware of. Any mention of Aylesbury in reports was buried under a proverbial mountain of meaningless drabble and then filed under anything other than Apostle related.

The odds were tremendously against the boy should he encounter Ortenrosse… but they were not impossible. She wouldn't have been so interested in the boy if he had been so useless.

That possibility though… she couldn't afford to risk it. She could feel it. It wasn't like all of those other times when she heard some incompetent fool attempting to kill her prey. She didn't even feel the same whenever Altrouge Brunstud made a try. It was real.

He would go after Ortenrosse if his bluff was called. He would go for the kill with everything at his disposal. And knowing the cursed tools the boy had at his disposal, it was very likely that her target would not come out unscathed from the encounter regardless of who was the victor in the end.

He would ruin the hunt that she had dedicated her life towards. It would be cheapened.

Unacceptable.

Shirou's voice calmly severed the silence on the line. "Thankfully, you have not made such a decision or developed whims that could lead to similar outcomes."

But she had learned something. Just as he had crossed over into forbidden territory, she had done so as well. For a long time she had made suspicions as to what the limitations of her pet were, what would set him off against her, what she could use against him, and now she had confirmation.

Even more informative was what he would do to keep her hands off of them. She had heard of many absurd and irrational things since allowing herself to be exposed to the outside world, but threatening the life of one of the most powerful Dead Apostle Ancestors as an ultimatum was certainly something unique.

There was no mistake. Her dog was as mad as they came.

"No. I haven't." She didn't like being threatened, even if it was in response to her own unspoken ultimatum. She could no doubt have him and those he cared about dealt with in time, but whether it was worth it at the moment was yet to be seen. "You certainly have not made the situation appealing. I am not fond of high risk, low reward scenarios."

"I did not know you thought the potential of several Servants under your employ to be low reward." For the first time, there was a hint of amusement in Shirou's voice.

Barthomelloi's mind paused for a moment. Several Servants he said. Under her influence.

Servants had been summoned on occasion in the past before, but never in this amount and usually for very specific and brief purposes. They were extremely costly to maintain without assistance and difficult to control due to their personalities which were the main reasons why few people tried to summon or make use of them these days.

The issue of cost had already halfway been addressed. The Grail's system made it so that even an incompetent could sustain a Servant without too much issue so long as the latter functioned at suboptimal levels. It would take some work, but she could commission people to tweak the system to just maintain the new forces. All the other components could be dismantled or preferably relocated and analyzed for further study once everything calmed down.

But getting the Servants to cooperate…

Of course. If the Masters of Rider and Berserker were indebted to him… the Masters of Lancer and the Casters were already parts of the Association, and Archer's was all but given a free scholarship thanks to the boy… not to mention if Assassin desired to fall in line to protect his children…

He had kept them alive, and still was trying to. Seven Servants that were disillusioned by the Grail War and no longer had a reason to fight one another… but that didn't mean that they didn't have a reason to continue to stay in the mortal realms.

That little mutt. This conversation really had been planned.

She didn't know if this was his idea or something that El Melloi II or the blacksmith came up with over the past few years, but in the end he was the one that played the card. His only way out of this mess was her in the end.

In the event where he would be scrutinized politically from all sides, only someone of overwhelming influence would be able to get him and those he cared about out of it. They both knew it, but to actually manage to entice her to this degree was both impressive and insulting. Even she couldn't look away from such an opportunity. The leaps the Tower could make by studying the familiars and their mysteries in such numbers would accelerate several departments by years if not decades.

This time she did smile. It would have scared the shit out of Shirou had he been there in person.

"It depends on how many and long it would take you to deliver in the end. I can only afford to keep my mind open for so long you know."

"Well, like it or not it looks like everything will be decided in the next three to five days, for better or worse." Shirou sighed. "Best to prepare everyone on your end just in case though. You said it yourself. High risk."

"It's been noted." Her smile was gone now. The rush of how well things could go in her favor had passed. "The question is how prepared are you?"

"Not as much as I would like, but far from a worst case scenario." Much like the woman's smile, the confidence in Shirou's voice also vanished, becoming dead even. "I never got enough time or resources to set up an ideal scenario."

She knew that tone of his. She had heard it every time she spoke to the child before she sent him off to hunt a particularly reckless designate or an Apostle.

"But I do have some other ways for getting through the King of Hero's armory. You know how much I despise putting all my eggs in one basket."

It appears that she was mistaken. She had assumed that no progress had been made and that the war had been kept at a standstill.

In reality, the simple truth was that the war had only just started.

o. o. o.

Sakura could sum up the situation in the luxury car in one word.

Awkward.

While Shirou and Saber took the Hayabusa (resulting in an absurd sight that she would be sure to recall many times for years to come with the significantly taller Shirou riding second to his vertically challenged Servant on that monster of a machine), she was left to ride with Illya and her maids with the rest of their belongings in the trunk.

Suffice to say, once Sella started to drive, there was little conversation to be had for some time.

"He really does look ridiculous like that." Her lips twitched upwards as she looked outside the window to see Shirou and Saber riding a short distance away, the former's arms around the latter in a death grasp and both with biker helmets on.

The situation may have been tense, but after Saber had gotten a bit eager with her riding skill earlier in an event that involved an eighteen wheeler truck, popping a wheelie, and a suspiciously long skid-mark in the middle of a major intersection, nobody doubted that he'd be able to relax in any way until they made it back to the castle.

"Very funny to watch." Leysritt nodded in agreement with a dead even tone. "Maybe Saber does more later."

Illya couldn't hold back a cruel giggle at her brother's misfortune. It was immature of her, but she really couldn't help it. They all could practically see Shirou shaking relentlessly as he held onto his Servant for dear life.

So much for his image as an unshakeable monster on the battlefield.

"In case you forgotten, we are still supposedly running for our lives from a Servant that nobody has witnessed yet." Sella did not hesitate to kill the atmosphere instantly. While she did take pleasure in the boy's discomfort, the fact that they were for some absurd reason allies with him would keep her in a dour mood for a long time.

"Sellaaaaa." Illya puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "It's not like we can do anything about it. We might as well enjoy the show. If something does try to attack, Berserker and Saber will protect us."

"That's no excuse for lack of vigilance," the maid lectured as if she was the girl's mother. "There's still no guarantee after all that he is trustworthy."

Sakura frowned at the maid looking at her through the rear view mirror. She knew a taunt when she heard one, but she wouldn't let a smear against Shirou go unanswered. Surprisingly though, Illya beat her to the punch. "… No. He's telling the truth. If he wanted to take advantage of everyone, there would have been far better ways he could have done it."

"Illyasviel?" Sella glanced at her charge with some confusion. It had been only two days ago that she had witnessed the girl leave the castle with a desire for her brother's blood that nearly rivaled her Servant's insanity, and yet now here she was protecting the boy.

"He has much to answer for and more, but he doesn't mean us any ill will Sella," the smallest one there continued, looking out the window as the city around them started to give way to forestry. "Whether or not I'll forgive him is one thing, but he's not an enemy."

"Forgive me if I find a hard time believing that," the maid huffed. "Simply because he has no intention of harming you does not mean that he won't abandon you or worse in the future."

"He won't," Sakura spoke up as if absently voicing her opinion offhand as she was staring outside the car lazily. "If he was the type to do that, he would have left me alone years ago."

Illya looked at the girl skeptically. She was well aware of Zouken's reputation and of Sakura's situation. She shared the same opinion as Edelfelt where simply abandoning or killing the girl in the first place would have made things far easier for everyone in the long run. However, she couldn't bring herself to hate the Makiri at the same time. It would be hypocritical of her to do so given that she had technically been in the same exact situation.

It was akin to looking in a mirror and remembering everything wrong with you.

Two years. Shirou had stuck by the girl for two years knowing full well of her situation and her condition. Even though it meant being near Zouken and his machinations, he didn't budge.

If he didn't give up after that, then there was no reason why he would do it for the sister he was so fixated on.

Really it was the way Sakura said it that cinched her statement. There wasn't any force behind it. No heat or intent to argue. It was more like she was absently stating facts, as if it was so obvious that arguing against it was like arguing that the sky was blue or that she was in a car filled with homunculi.

"I really can't dispute that." Illya dramatically sighed, declaring the winner of the argument. She had been planning on talking with Sakura about Shirou regarding similar subjects during the ride, but there was no point in going down that path now. Intentionally or not, the Makiri had essentially placated her concerns about Shirou's dedication to this whole mess. "Sella. Please don't make the situation anymore tense. We are already going to have many other things to argue about once we arrive. I'd rather have some opportunity to rest tonight if you don't mind."

"As you wish," the maid relented, though she clearly had more things on mind given her tone.

"She's right," Sakura mused. "Knowing how strung up Shirou is, he's probably going to be running around the castle trying to set up traps for anybody that tries to sneak in. From what I've heard your home is rather large. There's no way the seven of us would be able to properly defend it using normal means."

"No, he won't! I will not have that boy ruin Einsbern property with his ineffective toys!" Sella's voice jumped a few octaves. The mere idea of traps in the castle went against every instinct that she had.

"Sounds dangerous. Will take time to clean," Leysritt agreed with her partner this time.

"Traps?" Illya on the other hand, eagerly turned to Sakura with interest. "You mean like tripwires and poison gas and spiked walls and pitfalls?"

"Uh." Sakura leaned back nervously. She didn't expect the reaction that Illya had. "I really don't know much about how he, you know, 'works'. He doesn't like to use thaumaturgy when setting up traps. Mostly he just uses bombs when he isn't using magic. No guns or poison."

"Bombs?" Sella nervously looked at Leysritt.

"None when packing trunk," her fellow maid assured her. "Checked. Some jewels with prana and other equipment, lots of notes and books, no bombs or items used to make them."

"Really?" Illya blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "That's weird. He seemed to be on top of things when telling us what to pack right before he made those phone calls. He even went over all our stuff nearly a dozen times before we left. If he thought we were going to be attacked, you'd think he'd bring some tools for that as well."

"Maybe not enough room?" Leysritt suggested curiously.

"No, if he thought they were important he'd have us bring it." Sakura pondered the dilemma. "But even if they were normal bombs that didn't affect Servants, I'm sure he'd find a use for them somehow. Your castle is really big and elaborate Illya-san. There could be plenty of places… that a person… could… hide…"

The faces of everyone in the car paled drastically as they slowly realized what Sakura had just suggested.

"He didn't," Sella fearfully voiced her thoughts, more out of disbelief than anything.

"He could have," Leysritt countered her argument.

"Sella, when exactly did grandfather start to refurbish the castle again?" Illya began to tremble.

"… Shortly after Leysritt and I were made, my lady," the two year old maid whimpered.

"And no one bothered to check if there were any bombs?" The smallest one there began to laugh unstably. "I heard that Kiritsugu had rigged the place too during the last war and no one used the Castle after he left. Someone should have found something…"

"Maybe he put it in when everyone was finished?" Sakura suggested, her mood slowly devolving to match that of everyone else's in the car.

The rest of the trip to the castle remained like this, where one of the members tried to theorize how or where Shirou managed to slip a bomb into the Castle without anyone knowing and the rest trying to figure out a way to disprove or flesh out the idea.

o. o. o.

"The Faker has both potential Lesser Grails on his side but is now an outcast, the Witch is trying to use you with a subpar performance, and your dear charge is pretending to stand by and play innocent," Gilgamesh summarized the situation lazily while in his usual position on the only comfortable couch in the Church while drinking some wine. "I wonder what a humble holy man in your position would do in this situation."

"If Caster did not possess so much of the war under her thumb, I would almost consider having someone visit and deal with her now." Kirei idly rocked back and forth on his office chair. The woman clearly is after his Command Seals but didn't act, so either she was wary of his unknown powers as a moderator or she knew about Gilgamesh. Probably the latter since she actually brought the former up in conversation earlier as a way to distract him.

She was likely keeping tabs on him as they spoke, waiting for Gilgamesh or him to leave without the other so she could swoop in for her real goal.

That was probably the other reason why she ratted out the Master of Saber. She knew that Kirei wouldn't be able to ignore the boy with what he knew now, and the only real card he could play to ensure that Shirou didn't manage to complete his plans in the end was Gilgamesh. More so now that Saber and Berserker were teamed up.

"Such an annoying woman. Clinging at straws for false hopes and delusions." The Golden King shook his head in pity. "If granted a second life, she would merely sully it with the same mistakes that stained her first."

"Clearly, but thankfully she is not the star of our show," Kirei pointed out. "She is but a catalyst that ripens the quality of the other actors, if only a subpar one in most aspects."

The former Servant conceded. "Tell me, how did you enjoy your unexpected reunion, Kirei? Was it as satisfying as I expected it to be?"

This time the priest did smirk. "Satisfying is indeed an excellent way to describe it, a very suitable plot twist. It certainly was enough to make me eager to see what will happen next while carefully watching for what else I may have missed."

"Hmhm. Good. It's pleasing that things have turned out so well. For an event consisting of women and children, it is not completely pointless to watch. The script that the retainer has written has proven to be quite interesting. Far from the best works that I have laid eyes upon, but enough that I am rarely bored. A notable feat." The smirk of amusement on the King's face grew. "However that brings us to a quandary does it not, Kirei? We have been rudely removed from our positions as spectators and made part of the show."

"That is only for those that were part of the presentation in the first place," Kirei noted. "As far as the rest of the world is concerned, I am still just a convenient narrator. They will expect no more and no less from my humble self, even if something points to my direction."

"Two shows in one? My how greedy have you become, Kirei." The king chuckled as he put down the glass. "Don't tell me you're feeling left out because everyone's had a head start."

"On the contrary." The priest's expression matched his accomplice's. "To me it feels as if I am merely surpassing the entrance that has already been expected."

o. o. o.

"I said was sorry!" Shirou shouted as he clung five meters up to the decorative framing of the inside main entrance of the castle. His circuits were starting to warm up as his reinforced body climbed and occasionally punched holes in the wall as he climbed up the wall single handedly to get to where he wanted to go.

He wasn't up there out of fear of the females. If they really wanted to kill him for his actions then there were far better and more efficient ways to not die.

No. He was merely there to relocate the explosives he had planted here over a year ago to a more combat efficient position. There was no potential need to down the entire place anymore.

"You rigged, my home, to explode!" Illya yelled back, stressing each word to exemplify just how obvious how bad his screw up was.

"Even I am disappointed in your actions, Shirou." Saber crossed her arms and shook her head solemnly.

Turns out that the young assassin had put roughly four hundred kilos of the explosives all around the foundation of the castle right after the initial contractors cleaned up the building, but before they revamped the bounded fields.

He really just drove a borrowed yakuza flatbed truck loaded with the stuff onto the property when nobody was there, structural grasped the building, set up the bombs in a bunch of key spots in the basement where no one would look, and then walked off. No fighting or sneaking or anything.

The only other remotely special thing he did was that he used some minor preservation spells to keep the explosives and electronics on the explosives in good shape. It was a small trick he learned from Sirius when the old man found out that the boy was going to be doing his dad's work for a living. Even after almost two years all of the charges were ready to go off at the flip of a switch.

"Don't be ridiculous! There is no way that this was enough to blow up the mansion! This place is huge! I'd need like, twenty times as much to pull that off! This is straight up demolition!" Shirou countered, not at all helping his case.

With the hand grasped onto the wall, he used structural grasping to once more get a blueprint of the building via physical contact. He still didn't want to test out his eyes just yet, but thankfully his other method of using his most basic spell worked just fine. It was a shame that doing it this way was near useless when in a combat situation.

"Shirou, you put bombs in her house to destroy it whenever you wanted. End of argument." Sakura sighed, not really wanting to be the voice of reason at the moment. "Anyone would be angry with what you did."

"It was a precaution!" The Emiya was starting to have trouble focusing at the moment, what with climbing a vertical surface with one hand, using two mysteries, and arguing about bombs at the same time. "I didn't know if you'd be coming alone this time or at all for that matter! Not after it was confirmed that I was also a Master and I got my reputation! If some other Einsbern showed up with Berserker ready to murder me from the start, I'd rather have an easy way to get rid of him at hand than not! You make it sound like I was actually planning on using them on you!"

"Again! Bombs! In my house!" Illya clearly wasn't taking the fact very well. "How could you do that to your little sister?!"

"You make it sound like you were the only one I did-wait did you just admit that you're my sister?" Shirou's double take took place just as everyone else registered what the girl had said as well.

"Of all the things he focused on, it had to be that." Sakura allowed her head to drop. While she was happy that the two were somewhat getting along now, she really hoped that Shirou wasn't turning into a sis-con.

"After all the crap you've put me through you're clearly the worst brother ever! Of all time!" Illya's tirade didn't distract everyone from the small embarrassed blush on her face.

"Shirou, what did you mean by this not being the only place you have set up with these devices?" Saber asked slowly and with a dangerous tone.

"Um… well… my house, my workshop, the archway to the temple, the main temple building, the temple building that Caster uses to hold Marjatta more recently, the cavern with the Greater Grail system in it as an absolute last resort, and Fuyuki bridge?" The teen sheepishly avoided eye contact with everyone as he listed off the places he's turned into deathtraps.

"The Greater Grail?!" Illya shouted disbelievingly.

"The bridge?! How did, wait, you rigged your own HOUSE?! Since when?!" Sakura's expression mimicked the albino's.

"I'm paranoid as hell ok?" He snapped back. "It comes with being an assassin as a job and knowing you're going to be in a war with a bunch of legendary figures with Noble Phantasms flying everywhere. You never know when dropping a building on someone might be the right move to make. Believe it or not, I do fight dirty if given the chance. Scratch that, I fight dirty almost all the damn time. And I do have a tendency of killing my targets quite frequently. It just so happens that in this particular case, I actually like most of the people in this thing. As a result, it makes it particularly difficult to kill off the rest of the ones I don't care about, if you haven't noticed by now."

"There is no need to be rude, Shirou." Saber frowned. "You are unusually excited. It's not like you."

"Saber. I'm nearly ten meters up on a vertical wall, climbing with one hand, everyone is yelling at me, focusing on using two mysteries at once, carrying a very large explosive, and we have no idea when Gilgamesh or someone else will come over to essentially murder all of us," the Emiya deadpanned at his Servant. "I have accepted the fact that I am different than other people in some ways, as have most of the other people in this room. However, I'm fairly certain that me being stressed out, under the conditions I have just stated, is in fact not a surprising reaction when compared to that of the standard human being."

Silently everyone marveled that he didn't mention the joyride that he had just taken with Saber. It was blatantly clear to everyone that he was not well adjusted to high speed chases.

"Wait, why don't you just make a sword and stand on it while floating like you did when we first met?" Illya frowned and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Because it's a bastardized mystery that I made up that uses way too much prana to use so casually, much less with a bomb in my hand." Shirou cringed at recalling the event, not because of his close call with Berserker but because of just how recklessly he had used the spell. It was a miracle that he had managed to summon Saber barely an hour and a half after the event with everything intact. Really, most of the time the spell was used at best to make some brief platforms if he needed to cross a gap he couldn't make otherwise or get a quick higher view of everything. Using it as he did last night was probably the worst and most inefficient use he had for it.

On a side note, he didn't stab swords into the walls to make makeshift platforms because most of the main supports for the building were too spread apart to use more than one at once, and stabbing one all the way up would make it too unstable by the time he got to the top, even if it was rather massive.

"I guess that means he's finally broken out of his full circle state." Sakura sighed. "Not exactly sure if that's a good or a bad thing just yet."

"So is this what he's like most of the time?" Illya asked skeptically. "Not quiet and scary when he's fighting, or kind and distant like today?"

"You mean blunt and to the point?" Sakura's lips twitched. "Yes. For the most part though, he is usually more careful with his words unless he's stressed out like now. I blame Rin for that. She wasn't a good influence on others when we were little, and Shirou's always been a bit impressionable."

"I heard that." Looking around for another possible foothold and failing, Shirou managed to spare some focus to alter some solid grooves in the wall for him to make use of before going up another half a meter.

"Shirou, stop your complaining and finish setting up the bombs in my house already!" Illya shouted using words that she never in her life would have ever expected to use prior to half an hour ago.

"I'm trying! We would have been done already if there was ladder!" He was almost at the ceiling. Just a little bit more and he could reach where two of the main supports of the building frame connected.

"I said I'm sorry. It's not my fault that the idiots in the family didn't think one was needed." Illya was scratching at her head in frustration. "It's not like they were expecting me to do maintenance on the castle while I was here."

"They clearly have never waged or weathered a siege before. Maintenance of one's fortifications is paramount." Saber nodded her head as if coming to a solemn conclusion. "How disappointing."

Sakura could only laugh nervously, preferring not to bother to correct the Servant's statement.

"Was right." Leysritt mused out loud as she walked from one of the doorways connecting to the second floor. "Very funny to watch."

"Wait, can't you make a ladder?" Illya frowned and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "You are good at projecting right?"

"Not one this big." Shirou admitted. "Ladders are simple, but if it isn't in my Reality Marble the cost of making something follows a lot of the standard rules. Size to cost ratio is one of them, and your home is massive. I'm already twice the height of my house in here."

"What is it with you and dad liking bombs so much anyways?" the owner of the castle lamented the absurd situation she had found herself in.

"Because there are very few people and mysteries in this world that can actualize faster than the time it takes for shrapnel to tear through a target's body once one goes off, especially when their guard is down." He grunted as he made it to his destination at the fifteen meter mark, just below the ceiling. "And there are even fewer magi in the world that ever bother to check for threats that aren't magical in nature."

"If that was the case, then why were the homes of the other Masters and Kirei not on your list of targets?" Saber inquired skeptically.

"You make it sound like it would be easy." Shirou lifted the massive brick of C4, and with some magic altered the plaster and wood above him to push the device in without issue. "I would have rigged practically everyone's places if I could have managed it, but that wasn't going to happen. Zouken would have caught me the instant I brought the bombs to his place. Same goes for the Church and Kirei. I know for a fact that Luvia frequently inspects her property and cars for subterfuge and sabotage since she moved here and started to really brush up on the tactics that dad used."

"What about the Tohsaka property?" Illya inquired skeptically. "It's one of the three useable evocation points for the Grail. Shouldn't it be considered a viable target?"

Shirou paused this time for a good moment. Clearly something about what Illya said distracted him. It was only for a moment though, as his eyes trailed the various wires and plastics that littered the block embedded into the wall a second later. "It's also the hardest one to defend and keep out of the public eye. The Church and the Temple are far more suitable locations to stage an end game or long term gambit, especially if time is a factor and there's still a good deal of fighting to be done."

"That can't be the only reason why you didn't target Rin's place." Sakura was skeptical. If Shirou was being as paranoid as she thought, then the excuse of the house simply being a bad end game location wouldn't cut it.

He didn't turn back, instead running his hand over the electronics on the bomb to make sure it was all in place. "Blowing up the home of the Second Owner of Fuyuki would cause more problems for everyone in the long run than not as well. There's a reason why the Tohsaka family has owned that exact property for generations. There's certain mysteries tied to the building that directly affect the land's leylines. Not as elaborate as the ones involving the Grail itself, but still something I'd rather not mess with if possible considering it might lead to a chain reaction that would mess with said Grail in the end."

"How do you know that?" Sakura blinked in surprise. She had never heard of Second Owners having such power and influence on their property before. Neither Tokiomi nor Zouken had ever mentioned such mysteries.

"Let's just say that some former Second Owners around the world may or may not have made some enemies in the past. And that some of these said enemies may or may not have asked for some outside help to take care of them in their stead. And that said outside help might have possibly learned a thing or two from the infiltrated properties of said former Second Owners for future reference before completing their assignments."

"Ah." All of the females' faces became blank at the exact same time, understanding exactly what the boy was talking about. Suddenly the reason why being a Second Owner over a plot of land was such a big deal made more sense.

"Wait. But bombs with Greater Grail." Leysritt tilted her head in confusion.

"I said that was an absolute last resort. Dad already messed with the leylines in the area before he started this mess. I have no idea what would happen if they were screwed any more than they already were." This wasn't the first time he had to work in peculiar locations, but it was the first he had done so with an audience. It wasn't all that different from when he was working on some of the school equipment while talking to Issei, but in those cases the objects he was playing with were at most at risk of catching on fire and maybe burning off an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?" Saber tilted her head. "What did Kiritsugu do?"

"Dad made an irregularity in the leylines with a few bombs. They'd cause an earthquake in thirtyish years when it ruptures. It would have stopped this war from happening if it happened on schedule." He leaned back to look at Illya, telling her all that she needed to know why he did such a thing in the first place. "I can show you where he did it too if you want, after this is all over."

The albino stared at her brother for a few moments before shaking her head. "No. You don't need to prove anything to me anymore. I already believe you."

"Shirou… Rin's going to kill you when she finds out about this," Sakura slowly spoke, realizing just how badly her sister would react to what was going to happen to her property.

"Not my fault Sakura. That was all Dad. I had nothing to do with that bit." The tricky part in this situation was to make sure that he didn't cause a spark from static electricity when setting up the wires. A single misfire was enough to turn him to bloody chunks at this range. Even Avalon wouldn't save him from that much damage.

"Do you think she's going to care when she finds out?"

Shirou's hands froze, fully realizing where she was going. His attempts at distracting his mind from his closest and distressed friend failed miserably. "Uhhh. Sakura. Could you by chance…?"

"Oh no. You need to reap some of what you've sown from us. You've done enough to earn that much." The only human female crossed her arms with finality. "I've forgiven you and understand for not telling us about what you were doing all this time, but I'm not getting in the way of the others. The most I'll do is make sure things don't get taken too far. They need as much closure as Illyasviel did."

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't need closure." The accused looked away in denial.

No one dared to argue otherwise. It would have been too easy.

"You're all thinking of reasons and examples to the contrary, aren't you?" Illya grumbled.

"Yes." Leysritt clearly wasn't able to go against her master's inquisition.

"You weren't supposed to answer that!"

"Fine. I'll talk to you about it later so that we can minimize the damages. Hopefully between the two of us we can calm her down before any spells start to fly… done." Shirou sighed as the last charge was primed and secured in place. Glancing to the side, he double checked to see that all of the other bombs he had moved from all over the castle had been placed over the entrance of the building. Should they go off, the entire front of the castle would collapse on itself and in half of the main hall.

Obviously it wasn't something that Illya would be happy with, but it was necessary. Knowing Gilgamesh, he'd probably enter the building one of two ways. Either he'd make a grand entrance and flourish his golden self from the roofs, or he'd come in straight through the front door as if he owned the place.

There was no way he could rig the roofs of the building adequately with what he had, so he had invested everything into the only other location that mattered. He only hoped his gambit paid off.

It wasn't like he expected nearly half a ton of explosives and several hundred tons of debris would kill the King of Heroes, but he was fairly certain that the commotion would at least startle him for a few moments.

A few moments. It sounded like a meaningless thing all things considered, but sometimes that was determined the fate of the world.

He did not miss the irony that those "sometimes" frequently showed up in legends of lore.

"Oi! Make room! I'm coming down!" he called out behind him before taking a breath and jumping off of the wall into the large empty room. Allowing himself to free fall nearly fifteen meters, he positioned his body for impact and reinforced his legs a bit more just before he hit the ground and rolled to distribute the force of impact more evenly before popping back to his feet.

"Showoff," Illya grumbled while looking away. "Trying to look cool. Anyone could do it with the right mystery."

"What? I just didn't want to bother climbing down the entire wall." Shirou rose an eyebrow skeptically, his tone indicating that he really thought that what he did was the most obvious thing.

"What now?" Leysritt tilted her head in curiosity. "More traps?"

He shook his head and let out a long exaggerated sigh. Gilgamesh didn't play cat and mouse. If they tried to run, the golden Servant would just carpet bomb the area they had disappeared to as punishment for trying to waste his time and that would be the end of that. The best they could do was decide where the main fighting would take place and work from there. Which they had just done. There was little point in preparing any other part of the castle.

Painfully glancing at Saber, a message was shared that no doubt was understood if the look of acceptance on her face was any indication.

"Now for the worst part of any siege," the King of Knights relented, allowing herself the closest thing she could to an actual grunt of annoyance she had. "We wait."

"Seriously?" Illya groaned in frustration.

"Yep." Her brother nodded, knowing exactly how she felt. "Get used to it. I once had to stay in the same spot staring at this one building over two kilos away for two days straight before I finally got a shot at a target. My body was cramped like you wouldn't believe afterwards. Really it should be the norm for events like this. Long periods of silence with a few short spans of complete chaos. The Grail War is incredibly fast paced to the point of being ludicrous. So much so that I have trouble calling it an actual War in the first place, but then again there was the Six Day War in 1967…"

"We will be relying on you heavily for this part, Illyasviel." Saber turned to the master of the castle. "You are connected to the bounded fields in this area and thus should be aware of anyone that comes in or out of the area. Your contribution will be crucial for our preparations as we may be attacked by multiple parties at the same time in a worst case scenario."

"So that's the real reason why you decided to move here so quickly." The girl quickly picked up on the strategy. "Even the strongest mysteries today wouldn't do much to stop Caster or Gilgamesh if they wanted to get through. If you needed more room to fight you could have just run to one of the parks nearby. What you really wanted was the security system to know that they were coming in the first place before they actually got here or had an opportunity to do anything."

She should have seen it earlier. Shirou had always moved with information and knowledge as his main focus. He didn't act or make a decision without it. Defense and offence were secondary objectives to him. What was the point of such things if the wrong choice was made in the end?

That was always how he fought. Not against a target or enemy, but to ensure that he always made the best choice possible, and that required information. Even if it put his life in jeopardy, he would never risk making the wrong decision if he could help it.

The wrong choice could kill him. It could destroy Fuyuki. It could set the world on fire. End the human race.

It could kill everyone that he cared about or worse.

Just like the choices he made in his father's dreams.

He couldn't take that chance. The mere idea terrified him more than anything in the world. Assassin's identity, fighting Gilgamesh, and dealing with a pissed off Barthomelloi were easy to deal with in comparison.

"The fact that we are out in the middle of the woods is also a plus." Shirou glanced at his Servant. "There's no civilians around to get in the way if things get chaotic."

The message was heard as clear as could be. They were playing for keeps this time. If there was an opportunity to use Excalibur, take it.

"Shirou, Berserker and I will wait here in the main hall for the enemy." Saber instructed, knowing of the general strategy beforehand. "While this happens, the rest of you will…"

"Kyaaa!" The unusually high pitched scream of Sella from deeper in the building where she had been preparing the guest rooms instantly sent everyone on edge. Before the scream had even ended, Saber and Berserker had materialized fully armed, and Shirou had two swords in hand. Even Leysritt had somehow whipped out her halberd. No one bothered to ask where she had been keeping it in the first place.

"Sella! What happened?!" Illya shouted frantically as everyone bolted to where they heard the scream. "Is it the enemy!?"

They all managed to get into the hallway to see the maid breathing heavily and leaning against a wall with a flushed face. "I, f-forgive me Lady Illyasviel. I overreacted over a minor issue. I shouldn't be so flustered over a simple rat…"

"Annoying." Leysritt lowered her weapon, clearly disappointed. "They don't go away."

"Again?" Illya let out a held breath in relief and frustration. "I thought I told you to deal with them Sella."

"I have tried. They keep on managing to get into the property no matter how many I…"

"Wait." Shirou frowned, cutting her off. From the sound of things, the building has had an unusual rodent problem for a while, which could likely mean… "The rat. Is it still nearby? Did you kill it?"

The homunculus turned to Shirou as if just noticing that he was there. "I, it just ran around the corner. Why do you want to know?"

Instead of responding, the boy lifted two fingers to his mouth and blew hard to make an almost dog whistle like sound. The high pitch made almost everyone near him wince in pain.

"Ow! Shirou! What did you do that for?" Sakura rubbed her ear to lessen the ringing.

"Come on. Come on." Her question didn't seem to reach him as he scanned his surroundings and ignored the fact that everyone was staring at him. "There's no way that you'd be able to pull them back from this place so soon from all the way out here…yes!"

There weren't many, at least in respect to how many there could have been hiding in a castle of that size, but small clusters of rats that eventually appeared from around the corners of the hallway they were in weren't monumental. Within five minutes, at most a good thirty to fifty rats had made themselves known to the humans, obedient but standing close to where they appeared in case they needed to run away.

Well, there weren't that many from Shirou's perspective at least. He had only needed to question the King of Rats' power only once to remember that it was a Divine Species class entity.

"R-r-rats!" Sella's face turned ash white. "So many of them!"

"Did you have to call all of them at once?" Sakura's face was a bit green from the sight. One she could handle just fine apparently, but not in this number. It wasn't the sight that bothered her as much as it was the sounds they made. It reminded her too much of Zouken's pit.

"Shirou, please don't tell me that you've mastered something disgusting such as rat-based mysteries." Illya turned to her brother sweetly.

"They're not mine. They're Merem's. I merely called them like they were trained to." The accused rolled his eyes. They all knew that there was no way he was able to perform something as intricate as species oriented mass behavioral thaumaturgy. "The King of Rats, the vampire's arm, just taught me a trick or two after I did him a favor. Most rats he uses are more aware of the world around them, so they tend to be more obedient to those that know certain things. It's how we communicate privately over long distances over the years without anyone else knowing. These little guys are how he manages to spy on virtually everyone and everything with ease. To be honest, I was looking for one around my house all day since I woke up, but couldn't find any."

"The vampire's?" His sister blinked surprised. "You mean he was watching us the entire time with his familiars?"

"They're not familiars." Shirou inspected the groups of rats carefully. He wasn't an expert (no one would ever let him hear the end of it if he was), but he had been taught how to point out the ones that were better at moving and delivering messages than others. "Familiars can be identified and picked off easily by bounded fields with the running prana in them. These are just your everyday rats that have been given purpose by their king. Awakened to the world, or that's at least how it was explained to me. It's how Merem can manage to find out secrets about nearly anyone. A bit slower in execution than most methods, but overall far more reliable and consistent."

Merem was a self-acknowledging hypocrite in that regard. Despite preferring to stay out of everyone's business in the grand scheme of things, he had almost no reservations when it came to spying on others. It was so bad to the point that he was a near gossip when it came to the daily lives and secrets of the other Ancestors.

To be fair though, a good number of the others were supposedly as bad if not worse than he was in that regard.

"Grandfather had mentioned something about rats suddenly going after his worms all over Fuyuki just as the war started." Sakura's eyes widened in realization. "Did you have something to do with that?"

The assassin did a double take at the girl's words. "Seriously? Damn it, Merem. Make up your mind already. Are you helping me out in this mess or not?" He reached out his hand and pointed out a rather large group of rats. "You lot. Go to the white one and tell him and his master that I request an audience as soon as possible. No games this time. The rest of you continue as you were, but stay out of sight. You know how humans tend to react when you are out in the open."

As if on cue the small crowd of rodents bolted from sight, making an undercurrent of sounds as they did so.

"And no going to the kitchen or any of the rooms where everyone sleeps!" he shouted as if the thought just came to him. "I don't care if you're curious or hungry!"

"Again the kitchen." Illya groaned in exasperation, desperate to find something to distract herself from the small army of rats that were living in her castle or the fact that her brother just demanded an audience with an Apostle Ancestor. "Seriously, what is it with you and cooking?"

"What? I helped make it so of course I'd be concerned about the rats ruining my hard work." His comment was so casual and innocent that it took a few moments for the others there to realize what he had just said.

"Wait… what do you mean by, you 'helped make' the kitchen?" Sella asked slowly.

"Well…" He started off as if gathering his thoughts on some meaningless topic. "Since I had planned on keeping Illya alive and here in Japan for a long time, I thought that she should be set up so that her home could support the mentioned conditions instead of the month long timeframe expected. So when I snuck in to set up the charges I may or may not have stolen a peek at the blueprints for the refurbishing of the castle and… tweaked, a few parts."

"So that's why the kitchen is nearly the size of the one back in Germany, we have an industrial freezer that's bigger than Berserker, and there's state of the art appliances that no one in the family would be caught dead using?" Illya's eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. "We thought that it was just someone in the main family's poor attempt at a cruel joke when we first arrived."

"Larger than Berserker?" Saber's stomach had once again claimed dominance over her mouth. "One could feed a small army for a month with such a storage chamber. Well done, Shirou. I approve of your forethought."

"I just wanted my sister to eat well when I'm not there." Shirou looked to the side embarrassed, finally realizing that he might have gone a bit overboard with his culinary obsessions. "It's not like you're able to go out food shopping easily from out here."

Before anyone from Germany could object to his claim, a hand reached up and seized hold of the redhead's left earlobe and pulled down sharply. "Shirou, while you no doubt had the best intentions with regard to your actions, I really must draw the line at redecorating another person's home without their permission. Demolition and assassination is understandable given your circumstances, but affecting daily lifestyles on a whim is simply uncalled for."

She purposefully forgot the fact that Rin essentially did the exact same thing to his kitchen two years ago. The only real difference was that Rin paid for the renovations while Shirou didn't.

"Ow ow ow ow! S-Sakura! Let go!" Shirou struggled futilely against the girl's firm grip as she dragged him away to chastise him in private.

"This… is the person that's been driving every Master and Servant in the Fifth Grail War insane with paranoia?" Illya felt a little bit of herself die on the inside as she watched the last Matou manhandle her brother.

"Embarrassing." Leysritt nodded in agreement.

o. o. o.

Lancer lazily blinked as Caster and Assassin appeared before him on the stairs before the Temple. "Yo. Sorry, but I've got orders from this crazy bitch to not let anyone inside at night."

"Hilarious." The accused crazy bitch swept past him without paying any attention to him.

"No threats that hinge on my behavior this time? Someone's in a good mood."

"If you must know, I've managed to curb the Emiya boy's movements. We can finally have a peaceful night on this mountain for once."

"Heh. Slow down the enemy's army just a little and you're acting like you just became a god." The Irishman's tongue was as sharp as his spear. "Talk about taking pleasure in the smaller things."

"Oh, yes, how silly of me. I should have remembered that you would be disappointed from such a turn of events. Violence is the only thing a brainless rabid dog like you is good for. Having nothing to do for a night while you are stuck here must be torture," she drawled, talking down upon her fellow demigod.

"You have no idea. Why couldn't you have picked a place by the water? I could have at least done a little fishing while I wasted away." Really, he could see the bay from the top of the stairs taunting him. Full of fish and piers to sit on.

The witch's visible expression soured. Her eyes darted towards the bay with a hint of distain. "There is only one place on this planet that I would tolerate seeing open waters again. This pointless land is not it."

"Hmm. Yeah. I suppose you have a point. Pity. It gets boring fast here, but the view's still nice." He didn't really care about her reasons or her opinions much like she didn't care about his, but it didn't mean he didn't understand them.

Caster huffed in annoyance before turning back to Assassin and momentarily suppressed a shudder. She had been getting under his skin repeatedly over the past few days, but ever since they went to the Church he had essentially shut down everything again, making it impossible to read him. Something had happened there that she was unaware of. She knew that he and the priest had a history, and had intended to exploit it in order to put both of them in their places, to show who was really in charge of things, but she couldn't help but feel that she had made a grave mistake in the process.

"Then be content with it until I no longer have a use for you. I have tasks that require my attention that supersede your mindless barking." She turned back to her territory. "Assassin, prepare what you need to support Lancer. There is no guarantee that we will not be targeted again tonight. Only speak to Lancer if you need his aid in the task of killing my enemies."

The woman disappeared into the darkness a few moments, leaving the two men alone on the hill.

"… Don't think you happen to know of a way to wiggle in a conversation with the loophole she gave, do you?" Lancer glanced at his near mute companion skeptically.

Assassin didn't even bother to give him a look to tell him what he thought.

"Yeah I figured as much." He sat down on the stairs again and sighed. "Really. This goes without saying, but this isn't what I expected when I let myself get summoned. Ya know? I'm not even talking about the whole world at risk bullshit. That's been done to death as far as I'm concerned. I mean, it goes without saying that we legends tend to have messed up families and the like, but since when were so many bad parents in the same place at the same time? I'm from Ireland and I've never seen it this bad before. Hell, only one of us is an alcoholic!"

This time Assassin did react, raising an eyebrow barely in skepticism.

"Oh don't give me that. You. Me. Herc. King Arthur. The bitch." He nodded his head behind him while counting on his fingers. "All of us might as well have made it to the Throne just because we are practically legendary when it came to how badly our kids wound up. Four of us killed our brats with our own hands. You almost joined the damn club yourself last night. Congrats by the way for being the exception, even if he does apparently end up a complete asshole in the end. You're a better dad than I ever was."

Kiritsugu's face once again went completely blank.

"Nah. You're right. Not like that was hard considering I did literally nothing to raise mine. He still nearly killed me when we fought, you know, before I knew who he was. He really was a strong bastard. Had to use this nasty piece to finish him off in the end." Cu Chulaiin nodded in agreement before slightly tapping his spear on the stairs. "That's one the problems with being such a big name in the end I guess. Humans are supposed to be always looking for ways for their kids to surpass them in the end, but we're just so damn big that even our spawn end up just as more stepping stones for us in our stories. Just another overblown contradiction to further exemplify how retarded people can be I guess."

A shallow nod and a long pause was all he got.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't regret what I did. It's just annoying." He seemed to get more from the silence than most would guess. "I enjoy living, drinking, fucking and the like, and I'm not going to make an excuse and say that I would have been a good dad. We both know that's bull. But it still leaves a bad taste in anyone's mouth. Ya know? Being so famous that even when everyone knows that you killed your kid for some stupid reason they still go on about how great you are. I can't stand idiots that pretend that shit doesn't stink all the damn time, and honestly the ones that actually believe the lies that they made up just need to drop dead for everyone's sake."

Assassin didn't do anything this time.

"Oh… yeah, sorry. Anti-hero. You don't get much of the praise and celebration bit." The Irishman laughed sheepishly before calming down. "Still, I gotta hand it to you. Your kid's definitely something else. He just seems to be everywhere in this little stint and causing hell wherever he goes. Blasted out his heart and he still got right back up. I don't know if you were trying to make a Hero or a Monster in the end, but you sure as hell made one. Gotta raise a cup for that."

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as the near mute Servant turned around and walked down the mountain moments later.

"Heh. I went too far, eh? My bad." Lancer shook his head in mild embarrassment. He wouldn't take back what he said though. The boy really was one hell of a Monster. He just wouldn't go down or stop.

It made him curious. Normally he didn't bother with "what if's", but after seeing Assassin's kid in action and screwing with everyone, he couldn't help but wonder. All of these legendary heroes that were shit for parents, focusing more on their duty, their lord, their honor, revenge, redemption, and all that bull… what would have happened if they actually paid attention to their kids? What if they trained the brats? Ran them through hell. Taught them their tricks? Their knowledge? Their experience?

Archer. That annoying guy had been the result of Assassin's actions accidentally. Even originating from a weak age like this, the Servant in Red still managed to hold his own and then some against everyone else there.

Would they have ended up as legends too? Would these kids have surpassed their parents, and what would have been their stories?

A tight and animalistic grin etched its way onto Lancer's face. He could only imagine and guess at the trouble their brats could have gotten into. It really was a terrible waste. He really would have enjoyed listening to their stories with a pint in one hand at the table.

Oh well, at the very least he should enjoy the story he was in now… even if he was currently bored out of his skull at the moment watching the hints of dawn start to show over the distant waters.

Damn it. What he wouldn't do for a cold one. This always happened when he was stuck in the same place for too long without anything to do or alcohol to drink. He was starting to think too much again. It was annoying.

o. o. o.

Illya yawned, her mouth stretched as wide as possible. Proper decorum and manners be damned.

"Idiot. After all that fuss about being possibly attacked, nothing happened. We could have gotten some sleep by now."

Dawn was just about to rise and the castle had not been the setting of any monumental event other than the relocation of some high grade explosives and the movement of a small company of rats.

She yawned again as she trudged through her home with heavy lidded eyes. She was going to bed. If her bounded fields were triggered she would be woken up instantly so there was no need to worry about sleeping through her possible demise.

"Shirou, what's wrong?"

She stopped instantly as she heard Sakura's voice coming from a nearby room. If she remembered correctly, it was one of the dozen or more cherried out guest rooms that they had let Shirou to use for his stay. Another subtle insult from her mother's side of the family given the fact that there was almost no reason for her to have guests over at any point in normal circumstances.

"Was it that obvious?" Her brother's voice, equal parts bitter and amused asked from the same direction.

Illya snuck closer to the doorway. Thankfully it was left slightly open so she could peek a bit inside. It wasn't enough to see them or the bed, but it did let her hear everything clearly. She really hoped that the two weren't in the middle of having sex. Supposed long lost siblings or not, there were certain lines that she would not allow to be crossed and breaking in a room of her house when they were supposed to be bunkered down for the biggest fight yet was one of them.

"You've swapped between three different mindsets within two hours." Sakura's voice interrupted the host's thoughts. "I can understand it when you went full circle and when your sense of urgency forced you to focus again. Even when you finally began to be normal again it made sense, but you never were never relaxed. You're just trying to distract yourself. What happened?"

"Would you believe me if I said a first-hand experience of Saber's driving?"

In all honesty, Illya would have. She and everyone had, after all, witnessed the results of said first-hand experience all over the driveway.

"Shirou, we all know you've been traumatized in many ways over the years. While I do admit that it must have been a unique experience, I highly doubt that riding second to Saber is one of them." Sakura's tone was part motherly chastising and part dry admonishment. "Saber's conduct on the road wouldn't make you falter at the mention of Rin either. What happened?"

Shirou's deep heavy sigh was easily heavy enough for even Illya to hear clearly.

"Sakura, you love me, don't you?"

Had it been in any other tone, the eavesdropper would have blushed instantly and attempted to sneak a closer look at the risk of being caught. Had there been a hint of lust, hope, yearning, innocence, or any other related emotion, the mood of the situation would clearly have been painted differently in her mind.

But his tone was dry. Not emotionless or accusing, but closer to resigned as if he was merely confirming a base fact that he had learned recently. There was no regret in the fact itself, but more like a remorse in what it could and would lead up to.

Since she couldn't see what the two looked like inside, Illya couldn't tell how Sakura reacted to the question or the way it was asked. A few surprised noises were made from the occupant's mouth, but for the most part the teen seemed to have managed to control herself fairly quickly.

"I… yes. I may have said it earlier out of passion and emotion earlier, but I really do love you with all my heart, Shirou. I've loved you for years now. There's no one else that I can honestly see myself truly happy with in the future. You're the only one that managed to make my life bearable, my light in the darkness, and then you freed me on top of that. I don't think that there's anyone that would be able to understand me like you do, and I don't want there to be." She managed to get her words out without fumbling with a certainty that belied her age. "But what does that have to do with what's happening now?"

"Rin loves me too, doesn't she?"

He had used the same tone as before, and more pieces fell into place in Illyasviel's mind… but at the same time she knew that there had to be more to the problem than that. Her brother was at his core a simple person, but constantly surrounded himself with complex issues. It would have been far too easy if the core of the conversation was a mere love triangle with two of the main interests he had in Kiritsugu's visions.

"… Yes. She does, even if she's terrible at admitting it at times," Sakura admitted with a bit of something laced in her tone this time. It wasn't resentment or jealousy. The closest Illya could compare it to was annoyance, but that was not exactly right either. "Given from your questions, I'm guessing that she wasn't the one who told you."

"Luvia didn't take my instructions very well." He admitted. "She didn't like the fact that we're taking Gilgamesh on by ourselves when we clearly need backup. Neither did she like the fact that she has to deal with Caster with just her and Rin…"

"Luvia tends to not like many things in general. Despite how she acts, she's not that comfortable staying here in Japan," Sakura pointed out with an amused tone before dropping it. "You're avoiding the main problem, Shirou. What's wrong?"

Illya tried to sneak in closer to the conversation while making as little noise as possible. She had sent Berserker to the other end of the hallway so he wouldn't be able to expose her. Even in spirit form it was hard to ignore the fact that he radiated insanity and bloodlust by sheer principle. She didn't dare touch the door or move it though. As distracted as the occupants were, she highly doubted that Shirou, assassin that he was, would miss something so obvious.

"Sakura, put yourself in Rin's shoes. She knows me just as well as you do. She's in love with me, but she's stubborn. Prideful. Independent. Never willing to back down." From the tone of his voice, it was clear that he had been putting himself through this very process several times recently. "Then this clusterfuck of a War happens. She summons a Servant, and plans to win probably for the pride of her family if not her own. Show off how much she's grown, probably to make a point to all of us if not herself. All these new factors start popping up one by one, and then she realizes all the things I've been doing and have done. Of what I am and what could happen to me, despite the fact that she has known me for so long and has made it a point to help me…"

"She'd…" Sakura trailed off as she tried to put herself in her prideful sister's shoes. Shirou may have been on the right track when it came to describing how much Rin wanted to prove herself, but he hadn't gone nearly far enough down it. She knew damn well just how badly her sister wanted to ensure that she could keep up if not surpass Shirou and all the nonsense he gets into. The Louvre incident had been a massive wakeup call as to how much of a magnet he was to such events.

The difference was that while Sakura wanted to just be there for Shirou in his times of need, Rin actually wanted to actively protect and manage him. He was as much a measuring stick for the genius as he was someone she yearned and cared for with all her heart.

But with every bomb of a revelation revealed, her resolve and confidence took another hit. With every escalation she saw how things grew further and further out of hand, away from her ability to manage, and just how absurd Shirou was willing to be in order to reach his goals.

Sakura could handle it simply because she simply didn't care much about such things. She had been more focused on surviving and staying sane for most of her life. As far as she was concerned, her very existence belonged to Shirou in its entirety and she was happy with that. So long as he was alive and happy, nothing else mattered.

For Rin, her entire life revolved around her family's craft and, while she would never admit it, Shirou. To see the fate of both effectively ripped from her influence must have been nothing short of crushing.

"Yeah. She's not taking very well last I heard," he admitted remorse.

"That must be true if Luvia told you." Nothing short of a flat out fit would cause the foreigner to admit concern over her rival otherwise. "Is she alright?"

"In Luvia's words, I've destroyed her self-confidence." Illya didn't need to see them to picture Shirou's grimace. "Odds are I'll have to do something major to make her ever forgive me."

"It's not like you had much of a choice in many parts. The less people that knew what you were doing the better. The fact that Grandfather didn't know of anything for so long is nothing short of a miracle in itself."

Illya silently nodded without paying attention to what she was doing. She had heard many things about Zouken in her preparation for the War, but it normally could be summarized in one simple sentence: Don't ever fuck with Zouken. Even the current head of the Einsbern had said as much, though not as bluntly.

"Yeah well, there are people that would argue against that at the moment." Judging from his tone, Shirou clearly had several specific individuals in mind.

"Well they're fools." Sakura stubbornly claimed. "Bigger ones than you at least."

"That's pretty big." A brief chuckle escaped from his throat before it died off almost painfully.

"… I love both of you, you know."

There was a brief and awkward silence. Illya had trouble holding herself back from trying to get a better look inside.

"I was wondering when you'd finally realize it." Her tone was warm and gentle.

"You're not mad?"

"Any reasonable opportunity for me to be mad for that passed years ago." Given from the tone of her voice, it was clear that this fact was fairly obvious to several people.

There was a groan of frustration. "Of course it would be that obvious."

"Well you are pretty oblivious. Still, it's easier to tell for us than others. Luvia for example…"

"Honestly, I don't know with her. She's a good friend, but I've known you two for longer. I trust her though."

"She took a contract to kill you." Illya nodded in agreement. Sakura's counterargument was pretty reasonable. "One that put her under a geas."

"That thing? I wouldn't worry about it." The way he spoke clearly revealed that he knew something that they didn't.

"Shirou, what are you hiding? I thought we agreed to no more secrets." There was a dangerous tone in Sakura's voice that sent shivers down Illya's spine.

"Calm down. Standard Contracts are something of an inside joke for people working as mercenaries. Luvia's nowhere near as locked in her task to kill me as you think." Shirou on the other hand didn't seem to be worried in the slightest. "I'll tell you about the details later. It'll take too long to describe now."

"Standard Contracts?" Both girls vaguely remembered Luvia making a general statement about them last night, but they didn't think that it meant anything significant. Clearly they had been misled. "Fine, but can you at least tell me one thing?"

"Of course. What is it?"

Illya heard some shuffling on the bed in the room, but still couldn't see anything. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you so fixated on Illyasviel? Me, Rin, even Luvia know you well enough that you have some sort of bond with us, but you only knew of Illya from Kiritsugu's notes."

"What do you mean why?" Shirou asked in genuine confusion. "She's my sister. Why wouldn't I try to take care of her?"

Said sister could feel her stomach turn at his proclamation. Even though she had not brought it up, she had wondered the same thing. His behavior to her wasn't normal.

"Shirou," Sakura pressed. "She tried to kill you the first time you met. With Berserker. From what I understand, you only survived thanks to a fluke. I know she's your sister, but there has to be more to it than that."

Illya began to sweat. Shirou may have considered that particular event water under the bridge, but evidently Sakura and some of the more rational people involved thought otherwise. All things considered, she couldn't blame them either.

"… When we first met. Before she sent Berserker after me." He started off slowly, his voice heavy like an old man's more than a teen that had merely seen more of the world than most would ever want to. "When I accepted her as my sister like that, you should have seen her face Sakura. She was scared. Confused. Angry. With a few words I had completely disturbed her image of what the world was and she couldn't take it. It was like watching you that night all over again in Zouken's pit."

Whatever event Shirou had been referring to, it must have been particularly bad considering Sakura seemed to whimper slightly at the reference.

"She's my sister Sakura. What kind of brother would I be if I gave up on her after just one mistake?"

Even after she managed to sneak back to her room unnoticed. Even after the sun had fully risen. Even after she had finally managed to go to sleep and woke up well past noon...

No matter how hard she tried, Illya wouldn't be able to get those words out of her head.

"… Stupid Onii-chan."

o. o. o.

Omake:

What happened when everyone first arrived at Illya's Castle and why the mood of everything was completely ruined:

"Tell us where the bombs are!"

"Hurgh! Buuuuuaaaaggggh!"

"No! Not on the lawn!"

"And he thinks he's above being a Squire. How disappointing."

"At least he got helmet off first."

Maybe they should have waited for Shirou to walk off the shock of riding with Saber before trying to interrogate him.

o. o. o.

A/N:

DONE!

Ugh. There were a million and a half things that were going on while making this chapter. I'm only a couple of days away from moving to the Detroit area to start my job and…

Ok. Skipping the paperwork bull. I visited the area with my dad for half a week about a month ago. My dad, who I had forgotten, snores in a variety of ways at various octaves. I got no sleep in the hotel.

Then our flight back to New York got delayed for five hours for some bullshit reason. While on said plane, we saw a bunch of young guys dressed in tight clothes and looked very dressed up to look pretty and stuff. I wasn't paying much attention to them.

My dad thought they were part of some carnival, renaissance, or circus group. He's an idiot like that.

Turns out it was 5 Seconds of Summer. No, I'm not shitting you guys. I saw at least two busses worth of jailbait outside the terminal waiting for them when we got out. I was laughing at my old man for hours for being a dumbass, and my sister was raging at us for twice as long for not getting her number to them.

So the next day I had to wake up early because all my shit and my car were to be picked up by the movers. That was fun, and now I'm currently living out of a suitcase at home.

So I finished this chapter, and then I sent it to Wayfarer to beta it (thanks man, you really are a saint), but I forgot to save the last 2k words of it and accidentally deleted it when he sent the new stuff in. That made me rage and cry a bit for my own moment of sheer stupidity. I ended up making a rush job covering only a part of what the lost part had. I had to skip a few character dev points in the process unfortunately, but its not going to hurt things terribly if they show up later regardless. Sorry if it is rushed, but honestly I'm too tired to care anymore.

I've already started to work on the next chapter and good GOD I'm looking forward to this one. I've had this fight in my head since near the beginning and it's going to be awesome. You know how sometimes you'd imagine "what if" fights in some stories just because it just sounds something you'd jump up and down to see? Yeah. That's me right now.

So, I'm tired. I'm going to Detroit. And, oh yeah, due to the initiation hazing at Ford, I'm starting off working on the assembly line during the night shift for two weeks straight. And my roommate has the day shift.

Lovely.

Anyways. That's it for now. Expect the next chapter to come out sooner and with chock tons of epic awesomeness!

SO REVIEW! WORSHIP THE LOG! NEVER TAKE SHIROU OUT JOYRIDING UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO WASH YOUR VEHICLE SOON AFTERWARDS! AND REVIEW AGAIN!