Fate: Hammer Time

by TedTheRabbit

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

62. Inhuman Wretch

Inhuman Wretch

---

Breaking into the Department of Policies was a lot easier than it should have been.

It had the reputation of being a veritable fortress, a place protected by Ancient Enchantments and modern Bounded Fields, virtually impenetrable even to the likes of Dead Apostle Ancestors. Created by generations upon generations of Barthomeloi and their allies, it had intricate and impossibly mighty spells, curses, and hexes sunken into its very foundation. It was said, though not confirmed, that every single brick and stone had its own Magic Circle or Rune carved into it. It was supposed to be a place that was virtually unassailable.

Yet despite that fearsome reputation, Shirou and Arcueid could just walk inside without a care, undeterred and unobstructed by the defences that were supposed to stop them.

It was almost embarrassing how easy it was to get inside.

Granted, they were creatures of Arcane power, wielders of actual Divinity who were capable of reshaping the world around them through their mere presence alone, which made Bounded Fields and other such defensive measures rather useless against them, but even so, the redhead found the security to be unforgivably lacking in too many ways.

Bounded Fields were nice and all, but it shouldn't have been that much work to install a few motion sensors as well, or to set up a schedule of human guards, or to install a few more gates and doors with heavy locks, or even to remove all direction signs at night, making sure any intruder would have a devil of a time finding their way in the department's maze-like structure.

His point was, there was a lot that could be improved, and he should definitely take it up with both Lorelei and lady Montmorency. Their safety, and now also that of Ophelia and especially Rin, was at risk, and he could not accept that. It could not be condoned that he and Arcueid could just simply stroll inside like this.

Especially since they also had a disgruntled human Magus in tow.

"I admire your courage, Shirou." Waver grunted when they passed yet another security checkpoint with nary a care, looking extremely tense and getting tenser the deeper they went. "But there is such a thing as being too courageous. 'Foolhardy', they call it."

"I know." Shirou grunted back, none too happy with the current situation either. "I am perfectly aware of the difference between the two."

"Are you? I thought you were, but you're giving me a lot of reasons to doubt it right now." Waver's voice was now little more than a venomous hiss, his displeasure on clear display, and Shirou could not blame him. "It was bad enough when you crashed into my room at this ungodly hour to basically abduct me, but then you dragged me into the Department of Policies on top of that, without lady Barthomeloi's permission!? Are you sure you didn't finally crack from the weight of all your responsibilities?"

"Quite sure-"

"Can you be quiet?" Arcueid interrupted them, shooting a disgruntled look of her own at Waver, who immediately quailed under it. "We're trying to be sneaky here."

Unlike Waver and Shirou, she seemed to be having a lot of fun, hopping and skipping from one hiding place to the next, as if she were in some kind of spy-film. Her efforts were utterly useless of course, as hiding behind a vase only worked in cartoons, but since no one was around to see her, Shirou politely ignored it.

Like he said, she was having fun, and she looked oddly endearing too.

"Ahem." Waver seemed to be of the same opinion, and he clearly had no idea how to react to the fact that the Moon Princess herself could be so strangely adorable. "A-Are you certain this couldn't have waited until the morning, Shirou? It would be a much more reasonable time, and you wouldn't have had to break into the Vice Director's home either. She won't be happy with this, you know."

"I'll be sure to apologise." Shirou sighed, knowing he'd have to get down on his knees for a dogeza after all this. He might not be a proper British gentleman, or even a proper Japanese citizen, but he did know that sneaking into a lady's room at night, without an invitation, was utterly beyond the pale.

Lorelei would be completely within her rights to have him crawl through the dust before she got anywhere close to forgiving him, and that was if she didn't cut off a few limbs first.

Frankly, he too would have preferred to wait until morning to have this discussion, but since he had Arcueid with him, that wasn't an option. Not only was the blonde immensely impatient, though that was definitely enough of a reason on its own, but she was also technically an enemy of the Magus Association, and thus absolutely not someone whom the Vice Director should be seen associating with.

If he brought the White Princess herself into Lorelei's office during the day, someone would almost definitely see them, and that meant Lorelei would have to fight Arcueid to the death or lose face completely. It was her own edict that all who consorted with the Crimson Moon's descendants were to be put to death, and she could not be seen shirking it herself.

Compared to that potential disaster, breaking into Lorelei's department at two in the morning was still the marginally better option. At least now, he only risked Lorelei stomping him into the dirt, rather than another societal upheaval.

And yes, Waver would likely be cross with him too for a while, for kidnapping him from his bedroom without warning or permission, but that at least, he could handle.

Once inside the Department of Policies, he almost made his way up to Lorelei's office by habit, but Arcueid grabbed his shoulder to stop him, shaking her head, before she led him down a flight of stairs instead.

They weren't going to her office after all, but rather to her private quarters.

It was a separate chamber even deeper inside the department than the office, a place where Shirou had never been before, which they could only find by tracking Lorelei's scent. Even Waver, one of the most important members of the Aristocratic Faction, seemed to have no idea where they were going. He too had never been invited to the Queen's private quarters before.

In fact, based on what Shirou could smell, almost no one ever came to those quarters, aside from Lorelei herself of course, as well as lady Montmorency, who was her right hand-woman, and doctor Kix, her personal physician.

From this point onwards, the defences became marginally better, but still not nearly enough to keep them out. It was within mere minutes that they reached their destination, only barred by an ornate door inscribed with countless Seals and Runes. The door to Lorelei's room.

Undoubtedly, it had been secured with Deep Magicks, the sort that would reduce even Dead Apostle Ancestors to ashes. A door made to withstand sieges from armies of Magi, containing Mysteries beyond the imagination of any modern man. Nigh impossible to get past without explicit permission.

Arcueid just pushed it open without a care.

Blissfully unaware of what she'd just done, how many past-Barthomeloi egos she'd just trodden upon, the blonde stepped inside, looking around curiously at the Vice Director's possessions. Lorelei had quite the collection of trinkets and artefacts after all, and while their power might pale in comparison to Arcueid's own, they were still very interesting to look at.

Shirou wasn't at all amused however when she started poking around like a kid in a candy store. It might not be dangerous to her, but it certainly was rude.

"Don't touch that." He hissed, grabbing her wrist just before she could poke an ominous-looking music box. "Don't touch anything. It's not ours and we don't have permission."

"I was just curious." She protested softly, before quickly backing down when he shot her a scathing look. "Oh, alright. I won't touch anything."

"Good." Shirou knew that drawing clear lines in the sand was important when dealing with the Moon Princess, stubborn as she could be, so that was exactly what he did. "Come on, let's find Lorelei."

Finding the Vice Director turned out to be, like so many other things today, surprisingly easy. They only needed to cross a small hallway to find themselves in the drawing room, and it took but a sniff to ascertain that they could find Lorelei behind the third door from the left. In all likelihood, it led straight to her bedroom.

Once again, the magical defences, though powerful, were subpar, barely worth noticing, and Shirou was now actually starting to get concerned. While they were sufficient to hold back enemy Magi and Dead Apostles, the two most pertinent threats in the Moonlit World today, they would do very little against high-rank Phantasmal Beasts, not to mention Servants. Both of those were going to be showing up a lot more in the near future though, which meant these defences were in dire need of a serious upgrade.

If things remained as they were, Lorelei was at real risk of being ambushed in her sleep, which was of course utterly unacceptable.

But then he and Arcueid stuck their heads inside, and Shirou discovered that he might have been worrying a bit too much.

What they found themselves looking at was not a sleeping and defenceless form, vulnerable to ambushes and sudden attacks, but rather a pair of beautiful blue eyes looking straight back at them.

Familiar blue eyes.

It was Lorelei!

She was lying on a queen-sized bed, with her head on a fluffy pillow and her body half-covered by her blanket. She'd clearly been asleep until now, but had awakened when she sensed the presence of intruders in her room.

Shirou was absolutely certain that no alarms had been triggered, and that they hadn't made a single sound, but that didn't matter. No matter how silent he and Arcueid had been, or how much Divinity they possessed, they could not win against Lorelei's instincts, honed over years of hunting down the most terrible prey that the world had to offer. Had they been Dead Apostles or Phantasmal Beasts, they would have died here and now, regardless of how cleverly they'd made their way past the defences. Even Servants would have been in for a considerable battle, one that would alert everything and everyone of their presence here.

Yes, Shirou just knew that if he'd been anyone else, he would have been eviscerated on the spot, and that at least slightly eased his worries over Lorelei's immediate safety.

Though it very much increased his concerns over his own, which could very well be in imminent danger right now. He was still an intruder, an interloper without an invitation, and if there was anything he knew about the brunette, it was her tendency to mete out swift punishment for transgressions.

"Shirou." Lorelei's voice was surprisingly calm though, and he realised she didn't look angry either, not even frustrated. "What brings you here tonight?"

"…?!" Her very reasonable question, unexpected as it was, took him aback, and it took him a number of seconds to formulate a halfway decent reply. "…I wanted to talk to you."

"That is evident." One corner of her mouth curled up into a very slight half-smile, one that only confused Shirou more.

Why wasn't he being blasted with Arcane Magics? Or being thrown out by his ear? Shouldn't he at the very least be getting scolded?

This wasn't going according to plan at all!

"Can I… Can I come in?" He eventually managed to force his mouth to start producing words again, doing his very best to roll with his unexpected fortune. "Or do you need a moment?"

"Why would I need a moment? Come." Continuing to behave in a way completely unlike his expectations, Lorelei allowed him inside right away, and Shirou obeyed at once, stepping inside while gesturing for Waver and Arcueid to wait for a moment.

Fortunately, they listened to him for once.

Meanwhile, Lorelei sat up in bed, casting aside her blanket to get to her feet.

Shirou was almost afraid to look at her. Knowing her preference for… certain types of underwear, he honestly worried she might have been sleeping in sheer lingerie, or perhaps even in her birthday suit. It wouldn't be surprising at all, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to look himself in the eyes again if he inadvertently got an eyeful now.

He resolutely fixed his eyes on a point above her head, and from there, slowly lowered his gaze, preparing to close his eyes immediately should he catch even a glimpse of bare skin below her neck.

He needn't have worried, mercifully.

She was dressed, and what's more, it turned out Lorelei was one of those types who liked to wear a large, loose-fitting shirt to bed. It covered her from her neck to her upper thighs, doing an excellent job of concealing her figure. It might still leave her legs bare, and damn if it wasn't hard to avoid looking at them, but otherwise, it was perfectly proper for a woman of her standing to wear to bed.

Then Shirou noticed what was printed on the shirt, and his heart just melted.

It was a teddy bear. A teddy bear with a wonderful, closed-eye smile and a sleepy look on its adorable face, holding a cup of hot milk in one hand and a blanket in the other, with below it a line of text, saying 'good night, sleep tight' in elegant, flowing letters.

It was too cute for words, and Shirou immediately Traced it, in order to copy it and make his girlfriends wear it too.

Once that was done, he focused on the current situation again.

"I deeply apologise for the intrusion. I swear I wouldn't have come here if I felt I had any other choice."

He started off with a heartfelt apology. He wanted to make sure that she knew he was aware of the sheer impropriety of him intruding upon her personal quarters, to say nothing of its illegality. It had to be made clear that he felt honestly bad about violating her privacy like this.

"Do not let it concern you. You are always welcome here, invited or not."

Which made it a huge shock to hear her laconic reaction, a reaction that flew in the face of everything he'd expected beforehand and suddenly made him question exactly what kind of connection he had with her.

As he'd said before, he was no proper gentleman, but even he knew that intruding upon a lady's bedroom was not the sort of thing that could be brushed off like that, not unless the lady and the gentleman had a certain and special type of relationship.

Only a few weeks ago, he would have chalked it up to their deep friendship, and he would have been honoured by her trust in him, but now, with the warnings of Rin, Sakura, and Ayako in the back of his head, he couldn't help but suspect there might be something here he wasn't seeing. Doubly so because he and Lorelei apparently were close enough for the Burial Agency to honestly believe they were married.

Trusting him was one thing, but actually welcoming him into her bedroom when he barged in unannounced, at night even, was quite another.

…Perhaps the girls were on to something?

"I cannot say I care much for your companion however." The displeasure in Lorelei's voice as she shifted her gaze to Arcueid knocked Shirou out of his thoughts of romance and fraternisation, and he pre-emptively placed himself between the two women, in case they might decide to jump at each other's throats. "Why have you brought that creature here?"

"I'm here because we need to talk, Lei-Lei."

It was the second time that Shirou heard someone refer to the Vice Director by that nickname, and once again, Lorelei barely reacted to it at all. There might have been a minor twitch in her left eye, but that was gone before its existence could be properly confirmed.

"What could a creature like you possibly have to talk about with me?" Lorelei's tone came close to outright scathing, and if it still hadn't been clear enough what she thought about Arcueid after that, the look of pure revulsion on her face would have made it obvious at once.

"Me? Oh, I don't have anything to discuss, especially not with you." The dislike seemed to be mutual, for Arcueid gave Lorelei a harsh look of her own. "It's Shirou who wants to talk to us both."

"Shirou?" The Vice Director's eyes focused on the redhead with a laser-like intensity, demanding he explain why he had brought the Moon Princess to her room. "Is this true?"

There was evidently no love lost between them, though frankly, things were still going a lot better than Shirou had dared to hope. He expected he'd have had to break up a fight by now, so really, a bit of glaring and some insults were hardly a cause for concern.

"I do want to speak to the three of you." He confirmed, before gesturing at Waver to come inside already, feeling faintly relieved when Lorelei only gave the nervous lord a cursory glance before accepting his presence. "It concerns the Return of Mystery."

That properly got their attention, from all three of them, as they turned towards him at once, seemingly forgetting all about their animosity and, in Waver's case, anxiety, on the spot.

"You know more about the Return of Mystery?" Lorelei asked sharply.

"That's what he said, Lei-Lei, you do have to listen." Arcueid didn't miss the opportunity to chide the brunette, and it spoke to the seriousness of the situation that Lorelei completely ignored her.

"I suspected that might be the case." Apparently, Waver had sussed out that Shirou was holding back at least a bit of knowledge, nodding to himself with that signature look of his that showed he had seen this coming. "As a Sorcerer, you must have greater insight into the situation than us Magi-"

"No."

This was actually a bit of a special moment for Shirou. After months of gritting his teeth and nodding whenever someone called him a Sorcerer, he was now at long, long last free to correct that annoying misconception. He could finally stop lying, at least to these three.

And that was a relief, more than he had expected.

"No?" Lorelei stilled, giving him an odd look. "What do you mean?"

"He is not a Sorcerer." Arcueid looked far too smug as she 'helpfully' elaborated on Shirou's reply, crossing her arms and turning up her nose at her perceived superiority over the two Magi in the room. "I saw that immediately when we first met."

"Nonsense." Waver summarily rejected her claim, though interestingly, he didn't sound entirely sure of himself anymore. "What Shirou has done over the past months cannot be achieved by any form of ordinary Magecraft."

"Ordinary Magecraft?" Shirou couldn't help but ask, lifting an amused eyebrow at the idea that any kind of Thaumaturgy could ever be ordinary in any way, shape, or form.

"For a given value of ordinary." Waver adjusted his statement, giving him a short glare of annoyance, before returning to the matter at hand. "My point is, your feats are well beyond what Magecraft can achieve. What else can they be but True Magic?"

"Yes, what else?" Lorelei mused, giving Shirou a contemplative look of her own. "I have seen you change a Dead Apostle back into a human, and you have demonstrated the ability to travel instantly from one side of the world to another. As lord El-Melloi said, what can that be but True Magic?"

Suddenly, Shirou noticed that neither Lorelei nor Waver seemed truly surprised by his claim, at least not as much as he'd anticipated. Yes, they'd given him a token protest, but they didn't dismiss his claims out of hand as the ravings of a mad Sorcerer, as other Magi would have, nor did they suspect for a moment that he was joking or lying.

Instead, they seemed pensive, awaiting his explanation with great interest. When they asked what kind of power he'd used to substitute True Magic, it wasn't a rhetorical question, but a sincere one.

Evidently, they had already suspected something was amiss with the idea of him being a proper Sorcerer long before he initiated this conversation.

These two… Did anything he did ever truly surprise them?

"Arcueid is right. I am not a Sorcerer." He pulled off the band aid in one go, deciding not to mince words. He had explained the truth of his nature several times already, to his family, so one more time for his friends was not a big deal.

Even if his current audience was a great deal more intimidating than his family.

"Indeed. You are not a Sorcerer." Lorelei seemed almost satisfied with his admission, as if she now had an answer to a question she'd been asking herself for a long time. "Then how do you explain your achievements instead?"

"And how does it tie into the Return of Mystery?" Waver hadn't forgotten Shirou's earlier statement that this discussion also pertained to the increase in the world's Magical Energy, leaning forward in interest. "No, wait one moment, let me think. Are you… Are you a Phantasmal Beast yourself?"

"W-What? No." Shirou nearly laughed at the ridiculous idea, but sobered up quickly when he remembered that the truth was even more ridiculous. "No, I am not a Phantasmal Beast."

"But you aren't human either." Arcueid pointed out, which caused Lorelei to stiffen in alarm. "What exactly are you then?"

Rather than replying in words, Shirou did what he had always done when someone asked that very question. He manifested Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, a weapon that, if not completely and utterly sealed and inert, radiated unearthliness and divinity like a bonfire radiated heat.

Arcueid, Waver, and Lorelei had all seen the hammer before, during the many battles that Shirou had waged alongside each of them, but only in its sealed, limited form. This time, the redhead boldly unleashed a tiny part of its true aura, showing off just what he held in his hand, and what that made him.

"Ah! I understand!" Arcueid's eyes shone in excitement as she looked at Mjolnir, while Waver and Lorelei gaped at the hammer, sensing yet not understanding the immense alien power that rolled off it in waves.

"You do?" Shirou would not be surprised if she did. She was very knowledgeable despite her flighty attitude, and although she could be a tad naïve sometimes, she was not dumb. "What am I then?"

"You are a god."

She got it in one, though from the expressions on Waver's and Lorelei's faces, both frozen in abject shock, Shirou could see that he nevertheless had a lot of explaining to do.

But first, he should probably serve a few hot beverages, to calm the mood before someone did something they might regret.

---

"A god." Even as he lifted the cup of extra-strong tea that Shirou had prepared for him to his lips, Waver's hand was noticeably shaking in distress and disbelief. "I knew the world still held many secrets, but this…"

"I know that it is shocking." Shirou nodded, waiting patiently for his friend to compose himself again. "Frankly, I am surprised that you believe me at all."

"I'm not sure I do. I mean no offense, Shirou, but the very idea of you being a god, of anyone in the Modern Age being a god, is ludicrous. I don't want to doubt your words, as I have never known you to be a liar, but right now, I'm waiting for more proof before I can decide one way or the other."

"That is entirely reasonable."

Unknowingly, Waver pretty much parroted what Rin had said when she heard the truth about him for the first time. An unwillingness to dismiss his words as lies or fantasies, yet also an inability to just take him at his word.

Waver and Rin actually had a lot in common with each other in general, now that he thought about it. They were both direct, no-nonsense people, with a healthy scepticism towards any new information, especially something as fantastical as this, yet also a willingness to change their minds and perhaps even apologise should enough evidence be presented to them.

Fortunately, Shirou had plenty of evidence to show.

"Is my word not enough for you, Magus?" Arcueid asked Waver, having already vouched for Shirou's divinity before.

"No, it is not." Waver replied bluntly, which seemed to honestly take her aback, before she pouted at the lord, visibly sulking at his response.

It was an amusing byplay, but Shirou was mainly focused on the only person who hadn't said anything yet.

Since the moment he had revealed his true nature, Lorelei had remained silent, not saying a word as she studied him with cold eyes. She had accepted the cup of tea he'd offered her, which was something at least, but she'd done or said no more. Her demeanour, which had previously been so relaxed around him, was now guarded and cautious, and her expression was bereft of any warmth or fondness.

It wasn't hard to guess what had displeased her so.

His inhumanity.

Lorelei's hatred for the inhuman was both famous and infamous all over the Moonlit World, and now, he had revealed himself to be a nascent god, which was about as far removed from humanity as one could get within the boundaries of the logical world. He was an alien existence, an outsider in the truest sense of the word, painfully similar to a certain moon god they all hated.

In light of that, her reaction was no surprise. He'd known that the reveal would come as an unpleasant shock to her, and he was prepared to deal with her wrath.

Now, he didn't actually expect her to attack him, considering he was no Dead Apostle or other form of bloodsucker, but he would likely get the cold shoulder for quite a while after this.

Which was fair enough.

In any case, now that he'd made sure he wasn't about to be decapitated, he should probably present his evidence and make his case, starting with the first piece.

With a mental command, he lit a fire in the hearth, not using Magical Energy, but his Authority instead. Something he knew that Waver and Lorelei would notice.

Indeed, both the lord and the lady turned towards the fire at once, their eyes hard and analytical, before turning back to him.

"Explain." It was the first thing Lorelei had said to him in a while, and Shirou hurried to obey.

"I made the world bend to my will."

"Authority." Waver needed no more explanation to understand, his hands no longer trembling as he shifted into his researcher-persona. "A power that is based on the privilege of a god to do as they please. The power to realize a result simply because the user has the right to do so, without needing Magical Energy, Ether, or any other kind of medium."

"Indeed. Also, this."

Shirou drew a Rune in the air, forcing the air-molecules to take the shape he desired, and by doing so, expanded the room's size until it was larger than any football field on Earth, without affecting anything outside the room.

Such a thing was impossible to achieve with normal Runes, but Shirou wasn't using normal Runes. This was a Primordial Rune.

Primordial Runes were literal expressions of Divine Might, discovered by Odin after he sacrificed his eye for wisdom. They could influence Reality itself, down to the deepest layers, easily achieving anything that True Magic could. They could bend time and space, force the very concept of death upon a creature or object, reverse the laws of causality, and much, much more.

The Primordial Runes had long since been lost however, and even if they hadn't, no human, modern or ancient, could ever hope to wield them. That Shirou now casually used one to expand the size of Lorelei's bedroom showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was something beyond humanity.

"A Primordial Rune." Waver huffed, smiling at the ridiculousness of it all. "Alright, you've convinced me. You have some Divine Blood at the very least, enough of it to make you more god than human."

Some might say that he capitulated rather easily, but those people didn't understand just what Shirou had shown him. Authority and Primordial Runes did not belong to the realm of man. They were the domains of the Divine, of the beings who ruled from above, and to use them was to show one's divinity beyond doubt or question.

To continue having reservations would no longer be healthy scepticism, but stubborn obstinance instead.

"I do still consider myself to be a part of humanity though." Shirou felt the need to clarify before they got the wrong idea. "I usually don't feel particularly godly or anything like that. I was a human for most of my life."

"You 'were human'?" Lorelei spoke up, once again to demand clarification, her gaze still ice-cold yet with a little bit of interest mixed in now. "You weren't born a god?"

"No, I wasn't. I used to be a normal human, or as human as a Magecraft-user can be, until I found this."

'This' being Mjolnir, his faithful hammer and companion.

"A Divine Construct." Waver had never studied the gods of old in particular detail, preferring to focus on the present and the future, but he knew enough to be able to use the correct terms and names.

He was wrong of course, or at least not completely correct, but aside from Shirou's family, there was no one who knew that.

"No. This is not just a Divine Construct, but an Alien Construct."

Correction, Arcueid knew it too.

""Alien?!""

When Waver and Lorelei spoke simultaneously, things were getting serious, and Shirou rushed to explain before they got the wrong idea, again.

"It belonged to the Thor from another universe. Not just a parallel dimension within the Kaleidoscope, but a universe where the very laws of nature and Magic are different from ours. A universe where the Norse gods, the Asgardians, are alien creatures from another planet, where certain humans wield the True Magics as a matter of course, where technology is so far ahead of ours that it boggles the mind, and where outer space is full of other sapient species that developed along similar lines as humanity."

Shirou named several big differences, whilst leaving out entities such as Galactus and the Watchers, the Celestials, the mutants, and the gods from other pantheons, simply because of a lack of time.

"This is getting more ludicrous by the second." Waver shook his head in denial, but stopped when he remembered that parallel dimensions were a proven concept, which meant the existence of other universes wasn't such a ridiculous idea either. "P-Proof! Do you have proof?"

In response, Shirou took from the Vault a simple wooden board and a certain, alien device. With a quick movement, he broke the board in half, before holding the device near it and activating it.

It was a machine that was meant for repairing things. It emitted wavelengths of energy at certain frequencies that caused the atoms and molecules in the broken ends of the pieces of board to enter an excited state, which allowed him to push the pieces back together and melt them into a single whole again.

Just like that, without using any Magecraft, Magic or Authority, he had one wooden board once more. As if it had never been broken at all.

The device was as beyond the current humanity as the True Magics were, and Waver staggered at the sight, while Lorelei moved forward, looking not at the board, but at the device instead.

She took it from him, using Structural Analysis to thoroughly investigate every aspect of the unknown machine, before almost dropping it in shock when she realised it was entirely and completely alien. Made from materials that weren't from Earth, by individuals that had never even heard of Earth, it was as alien as ORT, perhaps even more so.

But even though that was the case, it did not drive them mad. It did not rob them of their sanity or lives, it did not turn anything into unearthly crystals, and most certainly did not suddenly sprout all kinds of tentacles.

It was a machine like any other on Earth, aside from not actually being from Earth.

"That's so awesome!" Arcueid gushed, not a hint of doubt anywhere on her countenance anymore. "So you got this other Thor's hammer? Did that give you his powers or something?"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Shirou nodded eagerly, before showing them Mjolnir again, this time pointing at the inscription on its side. "I was judged worthy, so I now possess the power of Thor. I am his successor, so to speak."

"That… That is the first time I've heard of a Divine Construct being used as a Crest." Waver laughed, but it was a hollow sound, his eyes staring at Shirou with such intensity that it almost felt like pins were pricking his skin. "When did you find this hammer?"

"Over a year ago now. So well before we ever met." Shirou lowered his gaze, well aware that this phase of the conversation could get messy. "I am sorry for not telling you for so long, all of you. It was not something I could share lightly, even with my friends."

"Completely understandable." Waver assured him promptly.

"I don't mind at all." Arcueid easily waved the matter away.

"It was probably for the best." Even Lorelei forgave him, mostly. "Though we shall have words all the same."

"…Thank you, truly." Their responses were nothing short of astounding, demonstrating a goodwill and understanding that showed that their characters were wholly beyond reproach. "I want to do better though. I will answer any questions you might have now."

"Are you an actual god?" Waver didn't have to be told twice, immediately asking a very good question.

"No. I didn't become a god immediately when I picked up Mjolnir. Instead, I am slowly turning into one. Even now, I am more of a demigod than anything else. It'll probably take a few years more before I can really be called anything close to a proper god."

"And when that happens, what kind of god will you be?" Lorelei asked sharply, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. "Will you be like the Greek gods, capricious and fickle, or more like your predecessor, boisterous and foolish? Will you be aloof and distant, like the Abrahamic God, or will you meddle in anything that catches your interest, like this idiot here."

"Oi!" Arcueid protested, realising very well whom Lorelei was talking about.

"What do you want?" Lorelei ignored the blonde however, pressing Shirou for answers. "What do you want to be?"

"I want to be a Hero of Justice." Shirou didn't even have to think about his reply. Ever since his father had died, he'd carried the same dream, and not even becoming a god would ever change that.

"That is an unexpectedly pleasant answer." Lorelei was entirely frank in her reply, suddenly gracing him with an approving smile. "I like it."

"It's good to know that you don't change, no matter what happens to you." Waver laughed breathlessly, and this time, it sounded genuine, though a bit too amused at Shirou's expense for the redhead's liking. "And I must say, having a god working to make the world a slightly better place is a pretty nice idea."

"I will endeavour to live up to your expectations." Shirou snarked, though he could not deny his happiness with their comments. He'd feared that the truth of who he was might ruin or irrevocably change his relations with them, that his godhood would create an insurmountable wall between them, but Lorelei and Waver proved pretty conclusively that they still saw him the same way as before. He was still their friend, who they could tease and make fun of, and that took the weight of the world off his shoulders, leaving him unable to suppress a huge smile. He sobered up quickly however when he realised there was more to talk about. "Ah, but I fear it's not all good news. Me becoming a god also has significant downsides."

"The Phantasmal Beasts." Arcueid nodded, having figured the connection between those beasts and Shirou out herself. "And the ever-increasing concentration of Magical Energy in the air that will become toxic to modern humans in about six months from now."

"Ah, yes." Waver also sobered up, rapidly connecting the dots. "The emergence of a god would indeed be more than enough to cause a Return of Mystery, with all the problems that entails."

"It is entirely my fault." Shirou admitted it without compunction, not about to make excuses or pass the buck. "And I will take full responsibility. Please, allow me to do everything I can to solve this mess."

"If you are offering your services, I will gladly accept of course." Lorelei smiled approvingly again, and although it was a thing of beauty, it also set off every alarm bell in Shirou's head. "Rest assured that I will work you to the bone."

"Ah, thank you?"

"You are most welcome."

Well, he'd asked for it, so Shirou accepted his fate. It was nothing less than he deserved anyway.

"Might I suggest then that we start with the Carillon-Observatory?"

"That is an excellent suggestion, lord El-Melloi. Lord Carillon and the Enforcers find themselves pushed to the brink even as we speak. They could certainly use our help."

"What? Why? What's going on?" Shirou was clearly missing a lot of information here, but it certainly sounded important.

He was given a quick rundown of the situation, of the Clocktower's First Classroom, deep below the surface of the Earth, and the persisting assaults by the Phantasmal Beasts there, now that Mystery was increasing down below.

"By our best estimates, lord Carillon will be able to hold the line for another two to three months before he is overwhelmed." Lorelei informed him, with Waver nodding along gravely. "Unless something is done, the Phantasmal Beasts will continue to ascend through the Tomb of Albion until they reach the Clocktower itself. That cannot be allowed to happen."

"Understood. I will do what I can." Shirou took a moment to carefully consider his options, not being much of an expert on siege warfare, which is what this very much sounded like. "It sounds like sealing the tunnels would be our best bet, but since they haven't done so yet, I assume it isn't that easy?"

"We have tried to seal the tunnels in a variety of ways, magical and mundane, but the strength of the Phantasmal Beasts makes gates and fortifications of little use, while the immense amounts of Magical Energy in the air makes it impossible for Bounded Fields to be anchored near the entrances." Waver's pained grimace showed personal experience, implying that he had been at the forefront of many of the attempts to seal the tunnels. "We cannot collapse them either. As I said, Magecraft barely works, and even high-grade explosives failed to so much as chip the rocks. We are, as they say, at our wits' end."

"Don't worry. Shirou can collapse them." Arcueid wasn't the slightest bit concerned however, giving Waver a reassuring pat on the back, missing or ignoring how her touch caused him to stiffen in alarm.

"Oh? How do you figure?" It wasn't that Shirou was displeased by her trust in him, but he did want to know where that trust was coming from.

"The reason they can't collapse the tunnels is because Albion's Authority protects and maintains them. As a True Dragon, his power is far greater than that of any modern Mage, even in death. However, if you truly are Thor's successor, you are a god of the Earth, like me, which means your Authority supersedes his. If you want those tunnels to collapse, they will." Arcueid's eyes seemed to sparkle in joy when she mentioned him being a god of the Earth, and she drew nearer. "You might even say that you are my little brother."

"Because Thor was the son of Jörd, the Norse goddess of the Earth?" Shirou asked, not sure how to feel about being considered the younger sibling when it was Arcueid who always acted so much like a little sister.

"Jörd is just another name for Gaia, so yes." The White Princess looked like a young girl given a present she'd been after for years, stepping even closer. "I've always wanted a brother."

"A brother?" Lorelei watched the scene in front of her with an expression that practically radiated doubt, but she soon straightened her expression again. "I would tell you that family lines and blood-relations do not function in such a manner, but since you consider the Kaleidoscope your grandfather as well, I expect my words to fall on deaf ears."

"Hm, did you say something, Lei-Lei?" Arcueid smiled viciously at the brunette, practically baring her teeth in challenge. "Do you want to say it to my face?"

"Perhaps I should, if that will make you listen for once."

The sharp rise in animosity was concerning, and Shirou prepared to step between them, but when neither woman followed up on their threats, he dared to relax again. It was just more sniping and jabbing, nothing too serious.

"I should probably hold off on collapsing the tunnels though until I've descended into the Tomb and found what I am looking for, right?" He asked, mainly to distract Arcueid and get her to stop glaring at Lorelei already. "You did tell me I had to find something that is buried down there. A weapon of sorts."

Back in Misaki Town, she'd practically ordered him to descend deep into the tunnels, 'into crack and crevice', she'd said, to find someone who'd give him further instruction for his quest to save the world.

"Yes." Turning away from Lorelei, Arcueid nodded again, pursing her lips as the joy disappeared from her face. "In order to save the world, you have to find your next guide, preferably within the coming nine days. Certainly no later than that."

"Excuse me? Save the world?" Waver, who'd discreetly remained in the background for the past minute, piped up, hearing something rather distressing. "Save the world from what?"

"I don't know exactly." Shirou admitted, figuring he might as well come clean about that too. "All I know is that I have heard, from a very reliable source, that the world is going to be destroyed at some point in the near future, and that I have to follow a set of very specific instructions to prevent it."

"Does this have anything to do with the Grail War?" Lorelei asked, remembering that he'd told her about that maddened slaughter fest that was due to start again in Fuyuki soon.

"It could, but it might just as well be something else." Shirou would very much like to blame it all on the Grail War, but that would be dishonest, both to himself and to her. "It could also be that a True Dragon might appear, to name an example, or that ORT will wake up."

"The Vault in Atlas might break, releasing their seven doomsday weapons." Waver supplied another option, deciding to just go along with the discussion. "Each is said to be capable of destroying the Earth."

"Maybe the remnant of an ancient Magus-king will grow disillusioned with mankind, so he'll gather all your accumulated history and burn it in order to generate enough energy to travel back in time and create a better human race." Arcueid suggested, pulling a face. "It would really be a bother if that happened here too."

"Quite." It was a testament to Lorelei's mental resilience that she barely batted an eye at the outrageously specific scenario, even as Shirou and Waver deadpanned at Arcueid. "You are certain that you trust this source implicitly, Shirou?"

"I am." Letting the matter of ancient Magus-kings and burning history lie for now, the redhead nodded firmly. He did not believe that Nasu would lie to him.

"Then it would be best if you did as you're told."

"Indeed. I'll descend into the Tomb of Albion. With some luck, I won't be down there for longer than a single day."

"You'll need at least three." Arcueid corrected him casually, as if it were no big deal.

"…I won't be down there longer than three days." Shirou adjusted his expectations. "Afterwards, I'll collapse the tunnels."

"If you survive." Though Lorelei's voice was mostly flat, Shirou did manage to pick up faint traces of concern for him. Traces that gladdened him very much to hear. "I don't doubt that the lethal concentrations of Magical Energy in the Tomb are not so lethal to you, but Magical Energy is far from the only threat down there."

"The Tomb of Albion has always held countless monsters and abominations, and their ranks have only swelled since your ascension. It's not going to be easy to make your way past them, not even for you, Shirou. It's very well possible that you won't survive the journey." Surprisingly, Arcueid unabashedly took Lorelei's side on this, looking extremely serious, every trace of levity having disappeared from her expression and demeanour. "You cannot afford to hold anything back. When you start your journey, you must resolve yourself to kill everything that moves, and then kill everything that does not move too. Show no mercy, for you will receive none."

"I… I understand."

Pre-emptively killing everything in sight was not Shirou's usual method of exploration, and in fact completely contrary to his goal of becoming a Hero of Justice, but he could not deny that lofty morals and norms were probably non-existent down there in the Tomb. Any attempt to conduct himself as he would with other humans was most likely doomed to fail utterly when tried with Phantasmal Beasts. One could not parley with a Demon Boar, or negotiate safe passage with Dragonkin.

He'd hoped at first though that his nascent godhood would be enough to scare most enemies away, and that he could chase off or avoid the rest. Evidently however, he had massively underestimated the actual level of danger.

Lorelei Barthomeloi and Arcueid Brunestud were no cowards. They were both hardened warriors who'd faced down the likes of Dead Apostle Ancestors without hesitation and won every time. They were immensely powerful, fighters by nature and instinct. The word 'fear' did not seem to be in their dictionaries.

For them to be as unnerved as they were now, warning him that nothing less than his full power and effort would see him to victory, meant that the creatures lurking in the Tomb of Albion were terrifying indeed.

Not the greatest of prospects when he had no choice but to descend.

"If the tunnels cannot be sealed until you have visited the Tomb yourself, you should not delay." Lorelei still didn't look entirely comfortable with the idea of Shirou putting himself at risk like that, but she didn't argue against it, realising that sometimes, it was necessary to take such risks. "Considering the current situation in the Carillon Observatory, sooner would be better than later."

"Also, the longer you wait, the stronger the Magical Energy will become down there." Waver added another reason to make haste. "Naturally, the monsters will become stronger too. Waiting would be detrimental to your purpose."

"I will go in the morning, at nine." Shirou took a glance at the clock hanging on Lorelei's wall, deciding that there was no reason to delay. "So in about six hours."

"I will make the necessary arrangements with lord Carillon. I do not imagine they'll have any objections." Lorelei hummed, looking a bit ponderous. "There is however a considerable chance that they will insist on accompanying you from the front door of their Classroom to the entrance of the tunnels, if only to ensure you won't steal anything."

"That's fine." Shirou wasn't a thief, but he wasn't going to deny a Magus the right to guard their home and life's work. "Will you come with me into the Tomb, Arcueid?"

"Absolutely not." The Moon Princess summarily rejected the very idea. "If I came along with you, we'd be swarmed by every single monster in a thousand kilometre radius before we'd taken three steps. I'm not exactly popular down there."

Yet again, Shirou was surprised. Just like he'd assumed that his nascent godhood would have scared off most predators, he'd also imagined that Arcueid's true nature would have endeared her with Phantasmal Beasts. She was almost literally the Earth itself after all, the very thing that gave the Phantasmal Beasts their existence and power. By all accounts, they should worship her.

Except they didn't, apparently.

The world was clearly a great deal more complicated than he'd expected, even now.

"I believe that concludes our discussion." Lorelei very nearly ordered. "There is much to be done and we have little time to waste. We shall reconvene in the morning, at the Carillon Observatory. Make sure to prepare yourself for your respective tasks."

"Me too?" Arcueid asked hopefully, looking like she wouldn't mind joining in at all.

"No." Lorelei shot her down though, which probably was for the best. "Your presence would only create chaos and violence. Come morning, I want you out of the Clocktower."

"Hmpf. Stupid Magi." Grumbling to herself, Arcueid capitulated, knowing that the brunette was right. If she showed herself in public anywhere in the Clocktower, it would only result in pandemonium.

Ignoring the sulking goddess, Lorelei turned to Waver next.

"Since you do not play a vital part in the proceedings, I shall leave it to your discretion whether you will join us at the Carillon Observatory or not."

"With all due respect, there is no way I am going to miss something like this." Waver smiled wanly, having lost the battle with his own curiosity despite his best efforts to suppress it. "Even if I can only wait at the entrance of the tunnels, I imagine there is much I can learn."

"You are always welcome of course." Shirou would appreciate another friend at his side while he embarked on a dangerous mission, though he soon remembered that wasn't up to him. "Provided that lord… Carillon? Lord Carillon agrees."

"There is no reason they would not. They are a member of the Aristocratic Faction, and quite close to lord El-Melloi." Lorelei assured him. "They have always let him in before when he wanted to visit. They will again come morning."

"I don't know if I would call us close." Waver hedged, though he did not deny the rest of Lorelei's claim.

"I suppose I'll have to start preparing as well then." Shirou had expected that his descent into the Tomb of Albion would be a perilous endeavour, but it was apparently going to be even more dangerous than he could possibly have foreseen. Dangerous to the point that Lorelei and Arcueid genuinely weren't sure whether he'd survive or not. Knowing that, he wanted to be as ready as he could be, in multiple ways.

Also, he would have to decide what he was going to do about Rin and Ophelia. Right now, they were safe at his house, in Fuyuki, none the wiser about what was going on here. Ideally, it would stay that way, minus the ignorance of course, until he returned from the Tomb. That wasn't realistic though. Both Rin and Ophelia had duties they had to attend to, tasks to fulfil, and he could not ask them to put that on hold merely because he was away.

He'd have to make sure they were as safe as possible at the Clocktower then. With some luck, Lorelei would be willing to help with that. Provided that he managed to salvage their friendship at least partially in the coming six hours.

He might as well get on that immediately.

"Before I go, could I have a moment to speak with you in private?"

"…" Lorelei didn't reply for a moment after his request, visibly mulling it over, before she acquiesced. "Lord El-Melloi, Moon Princess. Leave us."

"What? But I do not want to-"

"Lady Brunestud." Surprisingly, it was Waver who interrupted the blonde. "We should give them a moment alone. Please, mind the social cues."

Social cues were definitely not Arcueid's forte, but fortunately, she was aware of that. As such, she soon realised that this was a sensitive situation, one that she wasn't remotely equipped to handle, and decided to make herself scarce.

"Goodbye then. I'll be going to South Africa now. I have more Dead Apostle Ancestors to hunt." She bade them farewell, before scurrying off, only pausing to playfully punch Shirou's shoulder as a final greeting. She was followed quickly behind by Waver, who was still extremely uncomfortable with being inside the Vice Director's bedroom, to the point where his only greeting was a small nod before he practically fled the scene.

Greetings and farewells were the furthest thing from Shirou's mind however, seeing that he was quite possibly heading for the most difficult conversation in his life. Lorelei had sat down on her bed, elegantly crossing her legs, and the look she gave him was… not necessarily angry or malicious, but it also lacked the warmth it had previously held. If anything, it looked impressively neutral.

She was reserving judgement, he soon realised. She was giving him a chance to explain himself before she made a decision about their shared future. What he would say next would determine the fate of their friendship.

He better not waste that chance.

"Lady Barthome-" He started out almost excessively polite, but an exasperated glare saw an end to that, just like the previous times he'd tried to use her title and last name. Apparently, she wasn't so angry that they were no longer on a first-name basis. "Lorelei, I am sorry."

"For what?"

"For sneaking into your bedroom." Shirou still thought it had been wrong of him to do that, even if Lorelei had dismissed the whole matter without a second thought and even if she yet again rolled her eyes at his words. "And for not telling you about my true nature for so long."

That apology was more pertinent, and for a long while, Lorelei said nothing.

It was not a pleasant silence, feeling rather oppressive and stifling, and Shirou had to fight the urge to keep talking, if only to fill the painful void. He'd taken the first step, expressing remorse, and now the ball was in her court. All he could do now was wait patiently for her reply.

"Men have secrets. That has long been known to me." It took almost a full minute for the brunette to speak up again, and even then, she spoke slowly and ponderously, indicating that she was still mulling his apology over. "I never imagined that you had told me your every secret, nor did I ever expect you to. I certainly never revealed all of mine. Secrets are secrets for a reason, and yours are particularly dangerous. Knowing my reputation and hatred for the inhuman, you would have been mad to reveal your true nature to me any sooner than this."

"But?" Recognising she wasn't done yet, Shirou gently prompted her to continue. Her words had been almost understanding so far, but it was too early to hold out hope. Her judgement had yet to be made.

"I am mainly confused." Lorelei admitted, speaking words that no one else would ever hear from her without dying immediately after. No other man would survive seeing her make herself vulnerable like that, and Shirou realised very well how privileged a position he was in. "You are a god, as inhuman as inhuman can be, yet you do not behave accordingly in the slightest. From you, I sense no treachery, no cruelty, no lethal capriciousness, or deadly arrogance. Instead, you have always shown yourself reliable, dependable, kind to a fault, and possessing of a character beyond reproach. A man I am happy to have at my side."

"O-Oh, I don't know about that." Whatever Shirou had been expecting, it certainly hadn't been to be praised like that all of a sudden, and it left him blushing and tongue-tied.

"You are inhuman, yet also a better person than anyone else I have ever met. Hence, you confuse me, more than anything else I have encountered thus far." Lorelei frowned, looking at him as if he were a frustrating puzzle she just couldn't solve. "I know I am supposed to hate you, yet I cannot bring myself to. Simultaneously however, I cannot forgive or forget the fact that you are the antithesis of everything the Barthomeloi stand for. I expect you wish to know what our relationship will be like from here on, but try as I might, I cannot give you a proper answer to that inquiry. Try as I might, I cannot devise a suitable response."

So, in other words, she was undecided. In hindsight, Shirou should have expected something like that. Lorelei wasn't a machine, or a flawless existence. It was only logical that she did not have the answers to everything.

Really, he should just be happy that she was contemplating a proper response rather than condemning him immediately. It meant that there was still a chance, however remote, that they could mend their friendship.

She might be a tad unbending and zealous, but Lorelei was still his friend. She was a kind and trustworthy woman, whom he did not want to lose. Especially not over something that, in his opinion, should make no difference.

"Human or god, I am still the same Shirou." He told her, and he was happy to see how she inclined her head in slight acceptance. Nevertheless, she clearly remained unsure, and in need of more convincing. "Is there anything I can do to persuade you of that?"

"Not with words." Lorelei shook her head. There was only so much that apologies could do, no matter what he said.

"How about with battle then?"

He made the offer on an impulse, prompted by her choice of words. If his arguments and claims would not sway her, then perhaps his fists would. It seemed a strange thing to propose, but they were both warriors, and that meant that sometimes, they could communicate more clearly with actions than with words.

"…Are you challenging me, Shirou?" Lorelei stilled once he threw down the metaphorical glove, all uncertainty and doubt bleeding out of her expression to make room for determination and a hint of shocked excitement.

"I sure am." He confirmed, heartened by that excitement, clenching his fist. "Once I return from the Tomb of Albion, we shall do battle. I will show you my sincerity by beating you fair and square."

"You will try." The tiny yet highly amused smirk that appeared on Lorelei's face suited her far better than the uncertainty from before. It made her look dangerous, confident, and distressingly attractive. "It would certainly allow me to take your measure. I claimed your character beyond reproach before, and after our battle, I would know for certain."

"Then you accept?"

"I do. Before the eyes of the Magus Association, we shall duel in the arena. We shall compare our power and skill for all to see."

"And if I win, you will forgive me?" Shirou asked, just to be sure.

"Fulfil your promise by engaging me with all your courage and strength. If you do so, and fight until your last breath, then win or lose, I shall forgive your every transgression, real or imagined, and name you my friend forever after." Lorelei promised, her voice sincere and her eyes filled with the shine of delight. "Show me the extent of your courage, valour, and heart, and prove them sufficient to be counted amongst humans still."

"And if I do win? Do I get something extra?"

"…Ahem." His question suddenly made her look away, her demeanour becoming almost… bashful? "Should you manage to defeat me, I will… give you another reward."

"What kind of reward?"

"If you win, I will tell you."

"Really? You want to play it like that?" Shirou huffed at her vague response, but he recognised he wasn't going to get anything more out of her. "Fine. I'll find out when I beat you."

His unabashed confidence managed to do what his apologies couldn't. It put Lorelei in an excellent mood, to the point where she rose from her bed and gave him a delighted smile.

Just like that, he'd almost regained her friendship and normalised their relations.

Now all that was left was to face her in the duel, to prove himself better than the cowardly Dead Apostle Ancestors, the savage Phantasmal Beasts, and the honourless Wraiths, and then all would be well again, even if he lost.

And if he won, all the better. Honestly, he really wanted to know what that special reward would be.

---

"Hello there!" A very cheery man called out in a very cheery voice, his mood and demeanour entirely unfit for the gloomy and damp surroundings he'd just found himself in. Indifferent to the mud that now stained his shoes, he beamed brightly at the woman before him, seemingly uncaring that his smile was not reciprocated. "Ah, must you make this place into a bog every time I visit? I like the meadow so much more."

"You are very brave to come here. Did I not tell you that I would unman you if you showed your face to me again?" The response he received was a tired sigh, coupled with a threat that was uttered in a tone so passive that it lacked any sort of actual danger.

"That warning would scare me a lot more if you didn't keep saying the exact same thing every time we meet." The cheery man pointed out. "If you reserved it for special occasions, and at least pretended sometimes that you mean it, I think it would be a lot more intimidating."

"I do not care what you think." The reply sounded automatic, as if it had been said a thousand times before. "Why are you here? I have nothing new to say. I cannot alleviate your boredom any more than I can alleviate mine."

Both the man and the woman had been trapped in their respective prisons for centuries now, with no one for company except whatever Phantasmal Beasts sometimes scurried by. Technically, they hadn't even been trapped in the same place, but the man had certain tricks at his disposal that allowed him to project himself elsewhere, even as his body remained in his prison.

"I have some news for you."

Because of that ability, the man was usually better informed about current events in the World of Man than the woman, even though she possessed Clairvoyance herself, and he sometimes stopped by to fill her in.

The woman's opinion about those visits was decidedly ambivalent. On one hand, she grievously disliked the man and didn't want him around, but on the other, she was bored out of her mind, and he did always manage to make that boredom go away for a while.

Usually by angering her, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Is it anything I should care about?" The woman ventured carefully, unable to entirely suppress a note of interest, which increased tenfold when his smile widened even more. Not that she showed it on her face. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"You will get a visitor soon. Of the human variety."

"What?" Some inflection inadvertently returned to her voice, betraying her surprise. "How? Why?"

"One question at a time, dear, I have told you that many times before." The man laughed, before skilfully dodging the minor curse she threw at him in response. "I can't say exactly what is going on up there, but apparently, someone needs your help, desperately enough to brave the Tomb of Albion to get here. Someone we both know very well."

"Who?"

"Emiya Shirou."

"Arturia's man?"

"The very same, in the flesh."

"How can that be? Humans cannot hope to survive here, and last I heard, he was human still. An impressive one, but human all the same." Her eyebrows scrunched up slightly in suspicion as a thought occurred to her. "Have you been meddling again?"

"I have not! I swear it on my dead mother's soul!"

That was a meaningful oath, sufficiently so for the woman to ease her suspicious glare.

The man was not a reliable sort. He lied easily and often, using deceit as a tool to further his goals. Sometimes, to seem more trustworthy to humans, he swore by his father's name or his children's lives, conveniently leaving out that he hated his father and that he had no children.

He did love and respect his mother however, as much as it was possible for him to love and respect anyone at least, so when he invoked her, it was serious.

"But if you have not been meddling, how is it possible that any human could get anywhere near here without dying?" She asked.

"Perhaps this is related to the disturbance we felt in the Inner World recently." The man suggested, using his staff to rub the back of his head.

"What do you mean 'perhaps'? Are you not sure?"

"It's not my fault!" He protested against the implied accusation, pouting as if she'd just scolded him. "There's so many strange things going on lately that I can no longer see clearly what is happening. My sight is being obfuscated!"

"Obfuscated? By whom?"

"Well, if I knew that, I wouldn't be standing here with so many questions, now would I?"

"You must have some idea. You are a fool, but you are not that easy to trick."

It was hardly the first time that the man had overlooked something. It wasn't unusual for him to miss a few details in the heat of the moment, and it was actually not all that hard to mislead him if you knew what you were doing. The woman herself had done so on multiple occasions.

However, tricking him in the same way twice, or misleading him for a longer period of time, was extraordinarily difficult. Those damned eyes of his saw much, and he was infuriatingly clever. To permanently hide oneself from his gaze required great power, the kind of power not usually reserved for humans.

"Your backhanded compliments are always a delight, my dear." He smiled at her in return, before turning serious again without prompting. "It is true that there aren't many who are capable of hoodwinking me. Few are powerful enough, and most of those with said power do not possess the required patience or subtlety. I have already eliminated all possibilities from my list, which can only mean that we are dealing with something I have never encountered before."

"You have absolutely no idea?"

"All I know is that this whole matter seems to be centred around Emiya Shirou, which puts you, my dear, in an excellent position to find out more."

"When he visits me, you mean?" She asked, receiving a small nod in reply. "You do not wish to be here yourself when he arrives?"

"…Tempting. So very tempting. My alternate versions have met his older counterpart many times, not to mention that blacksmith-possessed fellow, but only rarely have I had the pleasure of meeting Emiya Shirou in the prime of his life." A few moments passed then, as the man thought deeply, weighing his desires against practicality and wisdom. "Maybe I'll pop in at the end for a bit. You will have to do most of the talking though. After all, he is after a weapon you possess."

"…That weapon is not meant for him." The woman needed no more than a moment to figure out what the man was talking about. "Arturia's man he may be, but that does not grant him the right to wield her sword."

"But he can hold on to it, until she is brought back to Earth and he can return it to her. I might not be able to see much of the future anymore, but I can take a guess that Arturia will need her actual sword for the dangers to come, not just that pale shadow of a copy that the Grail provides her with."

"…"

"Come on. You know he's reliable to a fault. If you tell him to never use the sword himself and only give it to Arturia, he will do exactly that."

"…Very well. If what you say is true and Emiya Shirou makes his way here, I shall bestow the sword upon him, so that he might pass it on to Arturia. It is still hers to wield as she pleases after all." The woman decided. "Had she been a mere Servant, born from the Grail only to serve in a single Grail War, I would not have, but she is not."

"Quite." The man nodded happily, pleased that the woman was not being obtuse just to spite him. Some women had a tendency to do that. "Oh, and speaking of Grails and Grail Wars, if you are going to give Shirou the sword, you may be able to request something in return."

"Yes." Once again, the woman knew immediately what he was talking about, and a flash of anger, for once not aimed at the man before her, crossed her beautiful face. "I will make sure he knows how to repay us."

"Good." A flash of similar anger crossed the man's ethereally handsome visage. "I do not think he'll have any issues with doing as we say."

For the shortest of moments, their sheer inhumanity was put on full display, showcasing a rage that would have sent the bravest of men running for the hills and would have made even heroes weak at the knees.

Then it was gone again, and all that was left were two gorgeous figures acting like a divorced couple that still tried to somewhat get along for their beloved daughter's sake.

Which, honestly, was pretty much what they were.

---

"So that's how I will contribute to the Grail War." Sakura finished her passionate speech, beaming brightly at Shirou, her eyes literally shining with delight. "Please feel free to rely on me, Senpai. I will do all I can to lighten your burdens."

When Shirou had returned home in preparation for his descent into the Tomb of Albion, not an hour after leaving Lorelei's bedroom, he'd promptly been ambushed by Sakura, who wanted to share with him her newfound abilities and talents. Abilities and talents that would allow her to make a real difference in the coming Grail War.

Quite frankly, Shirou had never really considered the possibility of the plum-haired girl stepping onto the battlefield with him before, but now, he saw that taking her along would be a considerable help.

She might not be able to fight, but her talents were uniquely suited for capturing enemy Servants, which solved a conundrum he'd been struggling with ever since Gilgamesh had told him the Grail War would start in a mere three years at most.

He might be able to defeat a Servant, definitely so if he had the help of a decent Servant of his own, but he could not kill them without feeding Angra Mainyu. He had to capture and restrain them, for potentially weeks if not months, which was easier said than done when it came to great heroes of the past.

But now, they had an actual chance to do just that.

"This is amazing, Sakura." As such, he had no compunction praising his girlfriend, who had just been promoted to the rank of secret weapon.

"Isn't it just?!" She eagerly lapped up the praise, preening under his admiring eyes. "Aren't you happy to have me on your side?"

"Immensely so. I truly am the most fortunate man in the world. You're like my secret weapon. Ah, can I say it like that? I suppose most girls wouldn't like being called a secret weapon."

"Nonsense, Senpai. I think most girls would love being called such by their boyfriends." Sakura corrected him, being the very picture of spirit and zeal right now. "And even if not, it's still infinitely better than being useless."

"You were never useless, Sakura." Shirou's tone became entirely matter-of-fact as he said so. He didn't shout, or protest, or reassure. He merely stated something that was the truth and nothing but the truth.

"Thank you, Senpai." Sakura gave him a beautiful smile, before leaning in until their foreheads touched and she could rub their noses together.

It was an affectionate gesture that wasn't used often in Japan, but both Sakura and Rin used it whenever they were particularly happy. It was positively adorable, and a sure sign that the sisters were in an excellent mood.

As if to confirm that even further, Sakura then dropped down on top of him and hugged him tightly, nearly purring in sheer delight, which made Shirou's heart melt into a puddle at once.

That a single girl could be so cute almost couldn't be legal. There had to be some kind of universal law against it, surely.

Illegal or not though, he very much wanted to hug her back, to squeeze her for all she was worth, but that was currently impossible.

After all, he was trapped, held in place and suspended by a spider web made of pure light and Magical Energy.

Its many threads ensnared his limbs and kept him bound. They didn't leave even a tiny bit of wiggle room, and thus inhibited his every movement. Worse, they were every bit as sticky as real spider threads, perhaps even more so, meaning every attempt to struggle only ensnared him tighter.

Sakura on the other hand walked across the web without issue, doing whatever she pleased and thereby evoking imagery of a spider and a fly. Her being the spider and he being the fly of course.

It was a new trick in her repertoire. A web that could capture Servants and people alike. It was nearly invisible and undetectable when not activated, to Magi, Servants, and even Shirou, but when someone walked into it, the threads latched on immediately, inhibiting both movement and the use of Magical Energy.

Of course, it couldn't inhibit Divine Power, and it would be useless against A-rank strength or a reasonably strong Noble Phantasm, not to mention that any halfway decent Caster could probably come up with a thousand counter-spells on the fly, but if enough of these webs were spun, they could cause some serious delay nonetheless.

"I hope you like the demonstration I prepared." Sakura did her best to continue sounding innocent and happy, but she could not hide the lascivious pleasure in her eyes as she let go of him again, perching on one of the web's threads, which easily supported her weight despite being as thin as a hair. "It's not nearly finished yet, but Illya and Sella couldn't escape when I trapped them with it."

It hadn't been enough for the plum-haired girl to just tell him about her newfound abilities. Actions spoke louder than words after all, which was why she'd prepared this demonstration as well.

"It's very impressive." Shirou told her honestly, pulling on the threads and finding that they were immensely resistant against physical strength at least. "I think most Magi would be completely helpless when trapped by it."

"Not you though." She stated, cocking her head to the side as she studied both him and the web. "I can feel it. You have strength and power to spare. Even without your Divinity, you could easily escape."

"I could." Shirou admitted, before he gave her a lascivious grin of his own. "But I don't want to."

Sakura was wearing a ridiculously sexy dominatrix outfit after all, one that displayed and emphasised her amazing curves and delectable skin, not to mention that her constant ministrations were supremely pleasant as well.

"Hehe." She let out a very naughty giggle, before she motioned with her hand, causing the threads to lower him until he was almost on the ground. Then, she lifted one of her feet and stepped onto his chest, with her toes almost on his throat. "Naughty, naughty Senpai. Is a beautiful girl like me truly all it takes to bring you down?"

"So it would seem." Shirou had always been an honest person, and he had no compunction admitting to his weaknesses.

"How very… heroic, of you." Sakura's expression became slightly troubled, doubtlessly remembering how many past heroes had been brought low by beautiful yet treacherous women. "And how fortunate that I only have your best interests in mind."

"I never doubted that for a second."

"…" Sakura knelt, still with one foot on his chest and the other on her web. Then, she grabbed the hem of his shirt.

Since she'd ambushed him the moment he returned from the Clocktower, he still wore all his clothes, but now, she pulled up his shirt until his abdomen and lower chest were exposed.

Then, she placed a hand on his abdomen, stroking and caressing the skin with excruciatingly soft touches.

From the left to the right, and then upwards, before she went so low as to almost touch his manhood, though she teasingly turned back at the last moment.

Shirou wasn't ticklish, but it almost felt like he was right now, and he couldn't stop himself from squirming under Sakura's touch.

Her lips then claimed his, and as they were locked in a passionate kiss, Sakura intensified her ministrations.

"W-What's this for?" Shirou gasped when he had a moment of freedom after Sakura needed some air, gritting his teeth to stop himself from whining like a struck puppy.

"Just making sure you know that you belong with us, Senpai." Sakura replied, her hooded eyes making his heart beat a thousand beats a minute. "Don't go canoodling with any women we don't approve of, okay?"

"T-That… That goes without s-saying." To do so would be to cheat, and Shirou wasn't about to ever cheat on his girls.

"Good boy." The plum-haired girl rubbed their noses together again, before she and Shirou turned their heads to the side as one.

"Enjoying the show, Nee-san?"

"…Maybe I am, a little." Rin, who had been standing off to the side for a while now, admitted after a moment, flushing a slight red, before quickly shuffling backwards. "I'll, uh, just take my leave now. We can talk in the morning, Shirou. I don't mean to interrupt your fun- Woah?!"

She didn't manage to get away.

Threads of light rapidly ensnared her ankles, swiftly pulling her up into the air, upside down. In a flash, she was brought over to Sakura, raised up almost to the ceiling, bringing their faces at about equal height.

"Oh, come on! There's no need for- Mhpf?"

Sakura deftly cut off Rin's protestations with a deep kiss, grabbing the back of her head to keep her in place and using more threads to trap her flailing arms.

Within moments, Rin was completely trussed up, which Sakura took full advantage of, doing her best to suck Rin's soul out of her mouth.

Meanwhile, poor, beleaguered Shirou could only watch, unable to move a muscle, even though every fibre of his being demanded he take action and join in.

Fortunately, Sakura soon noticed his predicament, and even more fortunately, she seemed to be in a generous mood at the moment.

With another wave of her hand, she repositioned Rin to hang horizontally right above Shirou, their faces so close that their noses almost touched.

"Hey there." Shirou grinned at his blushing girlfriend. "How's it hanging?"

"Really?" Rin deadpanned at him, thoroughly unimpressed by the awful pun, but she couldn't say anything else before her head suddenly went down, her lips crashing onto his.

"Now kiss." Sakura grinned, her hand on the back of Rin's head, pushing her down.

Shirou was only too happy to oblige of course, raising his head as far as possible to kiss Rin, but the black-haired girl seemed to have found some defiance, pulling her head away in a refusal to do as Sakura said.

'SMACK'

"EEP?!"

Sakura's free hand came down on Rin's bottom with a beautiful slapping sound the next moment however, and the way that the black-haired girl's lips shaped themselves into a shocked 'o' in response made Shirou as hard as he'd ever been.

"Kiss." Sakura repeated, pushing Rin's head down again, and this time, she obliged, quickly claiming Shirou's lips. "Good girl."

The redhead couldn't see it, but from the way Rin was twitching and squirming, he could deduce that Sakura was likely stroking the black-haired girl's butt now, which she quite seemed to like.

And yes, that only made him even more erect.

Sakura saw it, she had to, but her generosity had reached its limit for today, for she pretended not to see anything, continuing to stroke and pet Rin while completely ignoring him.

The evil glint in her eyes told him enough however. She was purposefully bullying him now.

When had she turned into such a wicked woman?!

---

In the city of Bath, not too far from Stonehenge, a mysterious ritual was being carried out by two fugitive criminals in the basement of an old manor.

One of them was clearly in his element, grinning widely as he drew the required symbols and circles, while the other was standing near on shaking legs, holding the Catalyst at the ready, even as she wished she could be anywhere but here.

"There we are, Haruri. Are you ready to begin?"

"N-No."

"Splendid! Let's get cracking then, shall we?"

"D-Doctor Heartless, I don't think-"

"Just call me Doc. All my friends do. Or they would, if I had any."

"D-D-Doc, a-are you sure that this is s-safe?"

"No idea."

"W-What?!"

"Don't worry, girl! It'll all be fine, I promise you!"

Doctor Heartless thumped Haruri Borzak on the shoulder, seemingly oblivious to her fear and apprehension. The prospect of executing the ritual before him made him too giddy to pay much attention to the feelings of others.

Haruri swallowed thickly, eyeing the door of the basement for a moment, before closing her eyes in resignation. She could make a break for it, and the doctor would likely let her escape without stopping her, but that would be extraordinarily foolish. She was a wanted woman, having betrayed the Clocktower to the Dead Apostle Ancestors, and the only reason she wasn't dead yet was because Doctor Heartless had spirited her away just before her treachery had been unearthed.

She had nowhere else to go. The doctor was the only thing keeping her safe from the reprisal of her former masters. She was completely at his mercy, like she'd been completely at the mercy of Inorai Atroholm Valualeta before.

Hence, she had little choice but to go along with his crazy schemes and weird plots.

On normal days, that wasn't too bad, preferable even over being Inorai's slave, but today, the impending Ritual made her tremble in apprehension and fright.

A Servant Summoning.

It was a spell that Haruri had only ever heard of in rumours and whispers. A spell that allowed someone to summon a Heroic Spirit and cast them into a container, essentially forcing them into servitude. Something that was normally only done with a Holy Grail to help out.

She was no expert on Summoning, but she could easily imagine the myriad of things that could go terribly wrong with such a large and complicated process, and that meant she didn't want to be anywhere near when the Ritual was initiated.

"I have taken every safety precaution imaginable." Doctor Heartless was not blind to her apprehension, and although that would never be enough to make him stop the ritual, he did try to set her at ease a little. "Even if this goes completely wrong, if I make every mistake in the book and then some, it still won't explode. At worst, I, not you, will get a bit of backlash in the form of a big old punch to the face. That's all. Trust me, I am a genius."

"I do not find your words reassuring." Haruri huffed, keenly aware that no such guarantees could be made when it came to Magecraft. "But if this is what you want, I will cooperate."

It wasn't like she was in a position to refuse his orders after all.

"Thanks." Doctor Heartless playfully thumped her on the shoulder once more, before turning to the Magic Circle again. "Then place the Catalyst in the centre."

She did as she was told, placing the sword she was holding right in the middle of the Circle.

"I have to say, old Stanrobe really came through for us." The doctor remarked, looking with both wonder and appreciation at the weapon. "Iskandar's very own sword, obtained in mere days. Tell me, Haruri, are you ready to meet the King of Conquerors himself?"

"No." She replied bluntly.

"Me neither." He grinned, before holding out a hand anyway. "But ready or not, we're going to begin."

The stars were in the right configuration, the Leyline from Stonehenge provided all the Magical Energy that was required, the Summoning Circle was flawless, and there was even something special about Bath, something immaterial and unexplainable, that made Summoning Servants a bit easier.

The circumstances were precisely right. This was the ideal moment.

"Let silver and steel be the essence."

Doctor Heartless began the Incantation, starting out with the line that almost every summoner had used before him.

"Let stubborn stone and unyielding contract be the foundation."

He demanded a contract that was more permanent than the normal one however. He didn't want a Servant for just two weeks or so to win a Grail War. He wanted a partner, to watch his back for months if not years. It was best to make that known immediately, so he wouldn't have a disgruntled Servant on his hands who expected a short stint but got a long-term responsibility instead.

"Let the authority of kings be the power that I pay tribute to."

He already had the catalyst in place, but there was no harm in making it extra clear that he expected a great king to answer his summons.

"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The cardinal gates close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulates."

Magical Energy burst forth from the Magic Circle, spilling over as it amassed in preparation for the arrival of a high-grade familiar.

"Shut, fill. Shut, fill. Shut, fill. Shut, fill. Shut, fill. Repeat every five times. Simply, shatter once filled."

He wanted more Magical Energy, more and more, to the point where it almost became visible from how densely it was packed.

"Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of your Master."

Doctor Heartless had never really understood that part. Essentially, it demanded nothing less than complete submission and obedience from the Servant. Of course, as Servants, it was their role to serve, but he couldn't imagine that great heroes would be content with such complete subjugation. They still had their pride, even as familiars.

"Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth. An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."

These high-minded words caused the Summoning Circle to emit a bright light, but while Haruri looked away, Doctor Heartless refused to even narrow his eyes, unwilling to impede his vision even slightly during this crucial moment.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"

The Circle exploded with light, an oppressive atmosphere descended on the basement, the cloud of Magical Energy ruptured and took solid form, and within mere moments, what had once been empty space was now occupied by a mysterious figure.

That they were a Servant was obvious at once, if only by their sheer presence and aura. They were clearly a being far beyond humanity, an echo from the past given form, and knowing that he was standing before a true hero, someone judged worthy by the Throne of Heroes itself, sent shivers down the doctor's spine.

The Summoning had been a success!

"You are not Iskandar!"

But then Haruri let out a cry of surprise, and Doctor Heartless' enthusiasm was doused like a match thrown into a bucket of ice-water. His new assistant was correct. The figure before them was definitely not the legendary King of Conquerors who had served Waver Velvet in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Instead, they were a beautiful young woman with a distinctly royal and haughty appearance, long black hair, an outfit consisting of a dark-brown top and skirt as well as a red cloak, and heterochromatic eyes, with one appearing to be a very pale grey with a slight goldish tint, while the other was blue.

Mystic Eyes, obviously.

"Heh. Wrong." The unknown Servant let out a huff of amusement at Haruri's cry, and when she rose from her kneeling position, she revealed a smug grin that fit perfectly on her haughty face. "Of course I am Iskandar. Iskandar's Shadow, to be precise."

Her voice was like her appearance, haughty, beautiful, and elegant, but the two Magi were more interested in her words than her voice.

"Iskandar's Shadow? As in, body-double?" Doctor Heartless asked, cocking his head to the side. "But you look nothing like the man described by Waver Velvet. Or do you perhaps mean that you are his Magical Shadow, bearing his name to absorb Curses aimed at him?"

"You are a bright one, Master." The woman kept her smug grin in place, even as her amusement waned slightly. "Yes, I am his Magical Shadow, bearing his name so to be his shield against Curses."

"Then what is your own name, if you possess one?"

"I was never given a name of my own. Some called me Hephaestion, though that was my brother's name, others called me Shadow, but I prefer to be called Faker."

"Faker?"

"Servant Faker. I have come in accordance to your call, Master. Command me well, and I will see you to victory."

She coupled her oath with a shallow bow, her eyes fixed on his right hand, where three glowing Command Seals had now appeared. The Command Seals that signified their bond and allowed him to issue her three absolute commands.

"Servant Faker." Doctor Heartless had never even heard of that Class before, but he certainly wasn't disappointed. It offered interesting prospects, and it also wasn't unpleasant to know it was possible to go above and beyond the playbook that the Einzbern had developed. "Welcome. I take it you listened carefully to my Summoning Chant?"

"There's no Grail here. You just need someone to guard and shadow you." She summarised, correctly. "I have plenty of experience with that sort of thing. I will serve you, Master, exactly as you specified."

"And your reasons for answering my call?" Doctor Heartless knew there were plenty of Heroic Spirits in the Throne who would answer a Summoning like his out of curiosity, battle lust, or sheer boredom, but this woman seemed to above such petty matters.

"You seem like someone worth following." Her reply was vague and unsatisfactory, but the doctor left it at that, having not expected a proper answer anyway. He didn't want to push her so early in their partnership.

"This is Haruri Borzak, by the way." He then introduced his assistant, who'd mostly just been staring at the Servant with wonder and amazement. "She's my ally. She'll be accompanying us too. Say hello, Haruri."

"H-Haruri Borzak. A-A pleasure to meet you." She stuttered, though her curtsy was flawless.

"The pleasure is all mine." Once more displaying excellent manners that belied a noble or royal upbringing, Faker returned the curtsy. "I look forward to working with you."

"R-Right. Me too."

"But Master, there are two things I must discuss with you before we can continue." Faker turned back to Doctor Heartless, a frown parked between her eyebrows. "First, my upkeep."

"I can give you three square meals a day, and an allowance for snacks." He had money aplenty, so offering her sustenance was no issue. When her frown deepened however, he realised he was perhaps misunderstanding her. "Ah, but perhaps you speak of Magical Energy? For the moment, I am supplying you with nearly all I have. Is it not sufficient?"

"It is less than ideal." She replied bluntly, showing no compunction about trampling all over his pride as a Magus. "It is more than enough to keep me materialised, and I can use my skills, sparingly, but I cannot use my Noble Phantasm like this."

"Skills? Noble Phantasm?" Haruri muttered questioningly, having no idea what those terms were supposed to mean.

"Skills are the embodiment of a Servant's various abilities and characteristics." Doctor Heartless muttered back, keenly aware that Faker could hear them perfectly well. Fortunately, she seemed content to wait for the moment. "While Noble Phantasms are "crystallized Mysteries" that form the weapons or abilities owned by Heroic Spirits, embodying the ultimate accomplishments of a hero as symbols of their existence through historical fact and anecdotes."

"…Huh?"

"I'll explain in more detail later." For now, he had no time to give a lecture, not with his Servant waiting for him. "I have more sources of Magical Energy prepared, Faker. Enough to give you all the power you could ever need."

"That is quite the boast. I hope you can live up to it." Faker clearly didn't believe him yet, but that was fine. She would, once she saw his preparations for herself. "Fine, that concludes the first matter. Now for the second, which, depending on your perspective, might be even more important than the first."

"More important than your upkeep?" That sounded either exciting or ominous, and Doctor Heartless just knew this was going to be good. "What could that be?"

"The fact that someone is hiding up the staircase, spying on us." Faker replied matter-of-factly, gesturing at said staircase, leading up to the door to the main floor of the manor. "They've been there since I've been Summoned, probably before too."

Doctor Heartless maintained his calm, affable smile even as his heart skipped a beat and adrenaline was pumped straight into his system. He turned towards the intruder with a slow turn, expertly hiding the fact that he was frantically trying to work out why his alarms hadn't notified him.

"I should have known that a Servant would not be as easy to fool as a Magus." The door opened, and the intruder stepped inside, showing not a hint of embarrassment or fear over being caught. He was a tall man, clad in church-robes and carrying a cross around his neck, leaving no doubt about his affiliation. "I have more experience with Heroic Spirits than almost any other person alive, and yet you do keep on surprising me. I am humbled."

Though he had been discovered and now found himself alone in a room with two Magi and their Servant, the priest did not seem concerned. His lips were shaped in a lazy smile, and his stride as he descended the stairs was calm and assured.

"What is the Burial Agency doing here?!" Haruri asked shrilly, having gone pale in shock and alarm. "H-How did you find us?"

"I am at the present time not a representative of the Burial Agency. I am here of my own accord, because I was curious. I have quite a bit of experience with the Summoning Ritual, so I noticed that someone was preparing it nearby."

"So you claim to have experience with both Servants and the Summoning Ritual?" Doctor Heartless asked, calming down as he took control over the situation again. "Then you must be Kirei Kotomine, the Master of Assassin in the previous Grail War."

"Correct, or at least, I used to be the Master of Assassin." The priest, Kotomine, confirmed, almost looking a tad nostalgic for a moment, before it disappeared under professionalism that both suited him very well and yet seemed completely at odds with him. "For the next Grail War, the Fifth, I am the overseer, charged with punishing the rulebreakers. I may have had to leave Fuyuki for certain, irrelevant reasons, but even so, I am bound to carry out my duties anyway, even here in Bath."

"We have broken no rules. I Summoned a Servant for reasons unrelated to the Grail War."

"I beg to differ. Regardless of your reasons, you have broken the rules. It falls to me to rectify this."

"Nonsense." Faker suddenly cut in, smirking with dark amusement as she gave the priest a challenging stare. "You couldn't care less about the rules. You just want to have some fun."

"…Indeed." Kotomine confirmed, and his fake professionalism made way for a far truer smirk. "I confess that I am quite eager to measure myself against a Grailless Servant. Depleted as you are of Magical Energy, I might even stand a chance at winning."

"No, you don't."

That was all Faker had to say before she rushed at the priest so quickly that neither Doctor Heartless nor Haruri could follow her, her sword at the ready as she moved in for the kill.

Kotomine had been prepared however, and the basement was filled with the sound of metal grating on metal as he intercepted the sword with his Black Keys.

Faker disengaged in the blink of an eye, and then charged again, aiming to run the priest through.

He dodged, side-stepping the attack, and attempted an attack of his own, but he had to abort to defend himself as Faker lashed out with a kick.

All that happened in the space of a single moment, and then they sped up even more, to the point where Doctor Heartless and Haruri could only see blurs rushing across the room, moving faster than the eye could see.

The effect of the battle was extremely visible however, as the basement was torn apart from the force. The ground cracked, the walls broke, and the two Magi had to run for cover not to get caught in the crossfire.

"W-Who is winning?!" Haruri shouted over the noise.

"No idea!" Doctor Heartless shouted back, thrilled by this new development. Who would have thought he could test his Servant only moments after Summoning her?

Straining and Reinforcing his eyes as much as he dared, he managed to catch a few glimpses here and there.

Faker slashed at the priest's neck, before chaining it into a slash down on his head, and then a stab into the gut.

Then they were blurs again.

The next moment, the priest lashed out with his Black Keys as if they were claws, not batting an eye as they were smashed to bits by Faker.

Blurs again.

They stopped, blades locked again, sword against new Black Keys, as they tried to overpower each other.

The outcome was never in doubt though. The priest was pushing with all his might and weight, straining for all he was worth, while Faker used only one hand, looking faintly amused and perhaps the slightest bit impressed.

Then she pushed harder, to break the lock, but stumbled when the priest suddenly gave way, denying her the resistance she'd expected.

It was a tiny opening, an extremely short moment of weakness, and Kotomine capitalised on it, striking the Servant on the jaw with a right hook.

It was a mighty punch indeed, powerful enough to not just knock a man out, but blow the lower jaw clean off. It was clearly a move the priest had used more often, and Doctor Heartless felt a stab of pity for whoever had been on the receiving end.

Faker just took it though, not even moving her jaw in response.

The next moment, she kicked the priest in the chest, with enough force that his ribs would have been crushed to a pulp had it not been for his protections and defensive gear.

It still launched him into the wall behind him, and though he yet lived, he did not get up unscathed, clutching his chest as he spat up a wad of blood.

He was wounded, but his injury did nothing to diminish his battle lust, and he lifted his Black Keys again…

"That is enough."

Faker seemed to have lost her enthusiasm for the battle however. Her eyes glowed orange, signifying the activation of her Mystic Eyes, and the priest's body seized up.

"M-Mystic Eyes of C-Compulsion." Kotomine did manage to force a few words out of his throat however, still looking unbearably smug despite his perilous situation. "You truly are dangerous, Faker. Perhaps engaging you myself was not the wisest of ideas."

"You should not have come here alone." Faker agreed, her eyes going down to his neck, undoubtedly envisioning how she would snap it. "For a capable warrior like yourself, that was a very foolish decision."

"It would have been, yes, had I truly come alone." The smug smile widened a tiny bit. "But I am merely the humble vanguard."

There was a moment of silence as the two Magi and the Servant processed those words, before that silence was interrupted.

By a slow clapping.

Coming from the top of the stairs.

Where yet another figure had just entered the basement.

"A most impressive showing." The newcomer laughed, dark amusement dripping from every word as he continued clapping for a few moments. "But your skills are clearly still lacking, priest. See that you improve."

"As you say, your majesty." Kotomine's voice shifted away from smugness to submission, and Doctor Heartless swallowed thickly as he realised just what manner of creature had just appeared on the scene.

It was another Servant, and a very powerful one at that.

The new Servant's red eyes glinted, as if the meagre light in the basement refracted from it, and suddenly, Kotomine was free. A cup was deposited in the priest's hand the next moment from a golden portal, and he drank greedily from it, his wounds healing rapidly afterwards.

Definitely a Servant then, and one that seemed to be operating at full power despite the lack of a Grail. At the very least, he wasn't impressed in the slightest by Faker's Mystic Eyes.

"I was unaware that any Servants had been Summoned since the last Grail War, let alone any as majestic as yourself." Doctor Heartless ventured carefully, probing for information, but mainly hoping to distract and divert. It was evident that neither he nor Faker stood a chance against this opponent, so he stalled, hoping that an opportunity to escape would present itself within the next minute.

"They haven't." The priest replied cryptically, looking unbearably smug again. "As I said before, this has nothing to do with any Grail War."

"Then why are you here?"

"I foresaw that the King of Conquerors would be Summoned here tonight, so I came to see him for myself." The golden Servant narrowed his eyes, studying Faker like she was a disappointing specimen. "I see now that I drew conclusions too hastily though. You are not Iskandar, you are merely his shadow."

"His shadow is all I ever wanted to be." Faker ground out, her beautiful face contorted in an expression of impotent rage. Freshly Summoned and weakened, she stood no chance against a Servant who was somehow at full power, so she controlled herself, though that didn't stop her from trying to punch a hole through his skull with her eyes alone.

"Ha! Oaf he may be, but he certainly inspires loyalty. You and that boy would hate each other at first sight, I can already tell." The other Servant laughed shamelessly.

"…Do not call my king an oaf."

"You deny that he was one? Or do you think that you are the only one allowed to call him such?"

Judging from Faker's expression, it was the second one. Literally everyone in the basement could see that.

"How adorable." The priest smiled.

"Shut up!" She hissed at him in response. "Do not mention my king again. Your foul tongues only sully his honour."

"Foul tongues?" The golden-haired Servant lifted a brow, looking more bemused than angry, but knowing that could change on a dime if Faker kept on insulting him, Doctor Heartless quickly stepped in to buy some more time.

The stalling was going very well, but he needed a few minutes more to arrange their escape. Minutes he wouldn't get unless he silenced Faker for the moment and changed the topic before the other Servant or the priest could take real insult.

"We are not participants in the war for the Holy Grail, so there is no need for the honoured overseer or such a mighty Servant to interfere." He said, attempting to look as submissive and sycophantic as humanly possible, before bending the truth a little. "And there are no laws against Summoning Servants outside of a Grail War."

"There are." Kotomine didn't buy it for a second. "And even if it weren't illegal, both of you, Doctor Heartless and Haruri Borzak, have committed more than enough other crimes to see you executed thrice over."

"Drat." Doctor Heartless cursed, though without much spirit. He hadn't expected the priest to buy his lies to begin with. They were, once more, just a method of buying more time.

"My king?" Kotomine then turned to the golden Servant, asking for assistance.

"I normally wouldn't bother with something so tedious, but I suppose you have given me an excellent show, Kirei." The Servant stepped forward, and his aura of power intensified tenfold. "I have seen all I wanted to see. For the crime of harming my playwright, I will execute you."

"I am Faker, Servant of Doctor Heartless and subject of Iskandar." Faker brandished her sword without fear, steadfast despite the immense disparity in power. "For the insults to my king and my master, I will make you pay."

"You may call me Archer, and this conversation is over."

Golden portals materialised all around the now-identified Archer, and from them, honest-to-God Noble Phantasms emerged.

Swords, spears, arrows, tridents, hammers, maces, and more, each of them bursting with power and ready to be fired. This would be a barrage that would end Faker on the spot as she was now, and Doctor Heartless didn't hold out much hope for himself and Haruri either.

Fortunately, their escape had now been prepared. The getaway-spell was ready.

He grabbed Haruri's wrist and pulled her along as he sprinted forward, desperate to make it in time.

The Noble Phantasms were aimed, primed to be fired, and Faker let out a hoarse cry, ready to throw herself upon them.

Just before she rushed off however, Doctor Heartless threw his arm around her middle.

"Ha?!" She squeaked at his forwardness, casting a baffled look at him.

"Let's go."

He activated his spell, the one he'd prepared long before ever starting on the Summoning ritual and which had been fully charged at last.

The Noble Phantasms were fired, shooting at them at the speed of sound and then some, but just before they could punch a hole through Faker's chest, the trio was engulfed in an explosion of white light.

Then there was nothing.

"They are gone." Kirei observed, seeing the sword and two spears that had been fired now lodged in the opposite wall rather than a Servant's body. "You let them go, didn't you?"

"Not quite. I aimed to kill. Had the Master been a moment slower, they would have all perished together. However, you are correct that I also did not bother stopping their escape. Do not ask why, Kirei, for you will not receive a satisfactory answer. It was merely a whim."

"How truly mercurial of you, your majesty."

"Yes." Gilgamesh grinned as if he'd been given a compliment, before he turned marginally serious again. "I trust you have now had your fun playing with Servants? This one was the weakest she was ever going to be, and future Servants will never be as weak as that. If you try to fight one again, you will die."

"I have had my fill, your majesty." Kirei assured him, placing a hand on his ribs to rub away a bit of phantom pain. "I will leave fighting Servants to other Servants. No living being today could hope to defeat them."

"Quite." Gilgamesh nodded, though that was not actually the truth.

There were in fact several beings out there who could match and possibly defeat a weaker Servant. Kirei himself could actually be one of them, if he truly applied himself and didn't mind dying afterwards.

There was even one, infuriating as it was to admit, that could defeat Gilgamesh himself. A Faker, though not the one who had just escaped.

But that was a matter for another time.

---

Fire.

Scorching fire stretched out around him as far as the eye could see.

Everywhere he looked, he saw cursed flames consuming everything that crossed their path, reducing buildings, trees, and people to ashes in mere moments.

Blackened corpses lay everywhere, scattered about as if a giant had randomly poured them out onto the streets.

The heat was nearly unbearable, the sounds even more so, and the smoke nearly made it impossible to see what was going on, all while choking the life out of anyone who'd managed to avoid the flames themselves.

It was a city on fire, being razed to the ground as if struck by a god's rage. Inflicted with a thousand years of ancient justice that burned it to its core.

A nightmarish scene by any measure, just beholding it would be enough to drive anyone mad with fear and despair.

"Huh."

Shirou wasn't very impressed though, only noting that it'd been a while since he'd last had this particular dream.

Strangely lucid, he clearly recalled taking a quick nap before it was time to head for the Carillon-Observatory. A nap he was probably right in the middle of, making this no more than a nightmare he'd had a thousand times before. A recollection of past events, which could be changed no more, even with Divine Might.

Knowing that this was all taking place in his mind, with no actual people being hurt, made it possible to ignore the sights and sounds of the gruesome deaths. Shirou simply cast his gaze skywards, remaining blind and deaf to what was happening around him.

This dream had stopped truly bothering him years ago. Ever since he'd set out on the path to become a hero, it no longer filled him with guilt, nor did it induce in him that desperate hunger for happiness that had dominated his early childhood. A hunger born from the look in Kiritsugu's eyes just after he'd rescued Shirou, a hunger that had brought him to convert his own nerves into makeshift Magical Circuits with a smile, just for the chance of being useful to someone.

He was no longer that scarred boy, burdened by survivor's guilt. He had grown, escaping the malignant influence of Angra Manyu, who seemed intent on bringing down the sole survivor of its rage. He was a happy man now, who had learned to let go of past trauma.

Which made it odd that he'd be dreaming of the Great Fire again at a time like this. He didn't think he'd ever be completely free of its influence, as it had shaped his life and made him into who he was, but he thought that he'd escaped the worst of its hold by now.

Except he hadn't, apparently.

The misery surrounding him was exactly the same as it had always been. A cruel reminder of the night he'd been reborn. The night that had killed his father, and so many others, for no reason whatsoever. The night that had destroyed the person who he used to be, and left a hollow shell behind that had only grown into a man again because of the tireless work of those around him.

The crackling of cruel flames, the sizzling of bodyfat, and the screams of the damned were no more than memories, but memories held a power of their own, and Shirou felt no compunction about deciding to leave. Staying would only bring his mood down at a time when he needed to remain focused.

He closed his eyes, really pressing them shut with every bit of power his facial muscles could muster, before opening them in a snap. His way of waking up from lucid dreams.

What greeted him next was not his room however, still cast in the darkness of night, with his girls' soft breathing being the only audible sound, but another familiar sight which he hadn't seen in a while now.

An endless expanse of red plains, only interrupted by a single hill and hundreds of different weapons scattered about, all of it cast in the light of the rising sun.

"Hm."

He'd been here many times before, in his dreams and even while only meditating, but he still didn't really know what it was supposed to be. He'd theorised before that it was perhaps his mind space, but that didn't seem entirely right. A mind space was supposed to be figurative, not an actual place in his head.

Regardless of what it was though, this was a much more welcome sight than the Great Fire. The large collection of weapons, all of them intimately familiar to him, never failed to make him smile, though he had to admit that the bare, desert-like plains were a bit boring to look at, as was the empty sky, bereft of clouds or stars.

Except… it was no longer empty.

It took him a moment to see it, engrossed as he was in the weapons that surrounded him, but this place had changed since the last time he'd inadvertently visited it.

For the better.

Small plants, barely more than tiny weeds really, were sprouting up between the many blades, adding some green to the endless red. They were miniscule and far apart, which was why he hadn't seen them until now, but they were definitely there.

Furthermore, a young Sakura tree, barely half Shirou's size, was now growing next to the lone hill, clearly possessing quite a bit of ambition to grow bigger, its pink and purple blossoms melting surprisingly well into the red background.

The sky was not empty anymore either, as hundreds of multi-coloured dots littered the heavens, just barely visible despite the light of dawn. A good look revealed that they were not stars, as he had half-expected, but gigantic gems instead, sparkling merrily as if freshly washed.

The connotations were not lost on him. It wasn't hard to understand what it meant for a Sakura tree and gems to be present here. Yes, it was about as subtle as a brick to the face.

His world, once empty and barren, was slowly gaining colour again, and all because of his girls.

He couldn't immediately see a symbol representing Ayako however, which was more than a bit puzzling. Soon, he found himself wandering his dream space, searching for a bow, or perhaps a video game console.

He climbed the lone hill, both to search it and for a better vantage point, and he huffed in laughter when he saw a light covering of snow near the top. Almost as if the hill had mountain-aspirations. In any other situation, he might have wondered about it, but since this was a dream, he took it in stride, trudging on through the crisp snow.

There was no snow at the very top of the hill however, as that spot was currently occupied by Mjolnir and by Avalon. The hammer and the sheath were overlooking the surrounding area as if they were its king and queen, yet the redhead also noticed there was a small space between them.

And in that small space, there was a single plant, tiny and easily overlooked had it not been for the fact that it was flanked by two of the world's most powerful artefacts, almost like they were guarding it.

It was a four-leaf clover.

A symbol of luck, and the weapon of Ayako's official martial arts club.

He was three for three then. His girls were all here, and despite the fact he still did not know where 'here' was supposed to be, or what this all meant, he was nevertheless happy that he wasn't alone anymore.

For now blissfully unaware of the truth of this world, Shirou sat down next to the four-leaf clover, looking around and seeing more details with every passing moment.

Unbeknownst to him though, he wasn't just seeing more details, but the world was actually getting more detailed by the moment. With every second he spent contemplating it and its secrets, he was granting more substance and definition to his surroundings. That was simply how this worked.

For now, the barren world remained but a concept inside of him, a promise of possibilities, but it was developing rapidly. It wouldn't be long now before its presence became notable, and then even someone as dense as Shirou would be able to figure out what exactly he carried within him.

He'd done much research into gods since Mjolnir had arrived after all, and this world was something that had previously been beholden nearly exclusively to the Divine. Something that was strongly associated with them, to the point where every Magus knew of the connection.

For the moment however, this world remained nameless, and all that Shirou knew about it was what he could see with his own eyes.

It was both a barren landscape, now finally gaining some colour, and a gigantic workshop, filled with unlimited blades.

---

"Welcome, mister Fujimaru. The Clocktower's First Classroom is honoured to receive a guest of your standing."

During his time at the Clocktower, Shirou had met his fair share of mysterious individuals of all shapes and sizes. People who declined to give their name, people who never mentioned their past, people who avoided any and all suggestions that they had relatives, and even people who categorically refused to show their true appearance.

None had been quite so mysterious however as the cloaked and hooded figure that now stood before him. A figure of whom not even the gender could be seen, let alone their age, complexion, or general features.

This was Millieune Carillon, one of the ruling lords of the Clocktower, said to have been in charge of the First Classroom for the past few centuries at least, though of course, with the ever-present cloak, no one could corroborate that. It might just as well be that the position was passed on every few decades, with no one any the wiser.

Whatever the truth though, there was no denying that Lord Carillon was a Magus of international renown and infamy. In part because of their great contributions to various fields of Magecraft, but mainly because of their authority to bestow Sealing Designations upon people of interest.

If there was a Magus out there with incredible qualities that had to be preserved and studied, lord Carillon was the one who would place upon them a Sealing Designation. No one else had that authority. Not any of the other Ruling Lords or even Lorelei herself.

Though if Lorelei or lady Montmorency were to order that someone was to be Sealed, lord Carillon wasn't going to refuse of course. Not without a very good reason.

"Thank you, lord Carillon. It's an honour to be here."

Shirou bowed slightly in greeting, showing the proper respect towards the lord before him. Not just because they were a Ruling Lord of the Clocktower, or because they were Lorelei's staunch ally, or even because they had the final say on whether Shirou should be Sealed or not, but also because they were the master of the Carillon-Observatory.

The Carillon-Observatory was the oldest part of the Clocktower as well as the Classroom that lay deepest below the surface. It was there that the Magus Association had been founded all those centuries ago, making it a crucial part of the history of the Moonlit World. Being its lord was an immensely important position, one that even Shirou respected.

More currently relevant however was the fact that the Carillon-Observatory was the only known place in the entire world from where the Tomb of Albion could be reliably entered, which just so happened to be Shirou's goal today.

There were other entrances to the Tomb, but they were hidden well or sealed quite thoroughly. If Shirou wanted to follow Arcueid's instructions and descend as soon as possible, he definitely needed to go through the Carillon-Observatory. It was his only option, so to speak.

Hence, buttering up its lord was a good first step to take.

Of course, under normal circumstances, he'd never be allowed entry no matter how much he flattered lord Carillon. The Observatory was the lord's Workshop, their Sancta Sanctorum, and entrance was only permitted to their subordinates and apprentices, certainly not to a mysterious Sorcerer.

Today however, Shirou had the dubious fortune that his help was sorely needed down there. Sufficiently so for lord Carillon to make a massive exception to the rules and open up their Workshop to him.

It certainly worked out well for the redhead, but it had to grate something fierce for lord Carillon. To be unable to defend their Workshop themselves and be forced to call upon a stranger was nothing short of total humiliation to a Magus, and in light of that, Shirou made doubly sure to act deferentially and respectfully at all times.

There was no point in rubbing salt into the wounds and making an enemy for life here.

"The honour is all mine, lord Fujimaru. I am most grateful that you answered our call for aid." Lord Carillon recognised Shirou's bow for what it was, an attempt at an apology for the difficult situation they'd found themselves in, and they returned it, as was proper. Sorcerers were equal in rank to lords after all, and it was in the best interest of them both to remain unfalteringly polite with each other. "And you, lord El-Melloi."

"Don't mention it." Waver, who'd also accompanied Shirou, spoke in a most pleasant tone, joining their piece of theatre. He didn't grunt or complain, as he normally would have, but kept his expression pleasant and relaxed. It was telling though that a relaxed expression seemed to tax him more than his normal scowl. "I merely hope we are not too late?"

"There is still some time. So far, we have been able to halt every offensive and force the Phantasmal Beasts into retreat." There was a note of pride in lord Carillon's voice as they said so, a note of pride that was well-earned. "We cannot continue doing so for much longer however. We are in need of a more permanent solution. A solution you might be able to provide, lord Fujimaru."

"I cannot promise anything until I see the scene for myself." Shirou told them firmly, unwilling to guarantee anything that he wasn't sure about himself. At the moment, they were standing near the entrance of the Carillon-Observatory, well outside, meaning he couldn't see anything inside yet, let alone the tunnels leading into the Tomb of Albion.

Or well, he could, if he applied himself and used his Clairvoyance, but that would be rude.

"…Yes, of course." There was only a very slight pause in lord Carillon's speech, slight enough that no one else would have heard it, but it was there all the same. "I will… escort you to the Observatory. By high exception, you have been given special permission and clearance to enter, so you need not fear any Bounded Fields or other defences on our way. I do request however that you do not touch anything, and that you avoid looking at our projects as well."

Knowing that Shirou had some kind of Mystic Eyes, lord Carillon was quick to request his discretion. Even in a situation like this, a Magus wanted to protect their secrets, a desire that Shirou was not inclined to dismiss.

With no reason to refuse and every reason to continue being affable and polite, he closed his eyes, wordlessly assuring the hooded lord that he was not planning to steal any secrets. For some reason, his eyes could see through walls and Magic easily enough, but not through his own eyelids, meaning he was rendering himself blind.

Fortunately, Waver took him by the arm, steering him into the right direction and making sure he didn't bump into anything as they started on their journey, descending a long flight of stairs into the Earth.

They had to make for quite the odd group like this. Millieune Carillon at the head, in all their hooded glory, followed by a few gruff-looking Enforcers, who were in turn followed by Shirou and Waver, with Grey closing the ranks at the back. Naturally, the girl had come along, loyally guarding her mentor from threats seen and unseen.

For a few minutes, they walked on in silence, the only sounds being their footsteps and their breathing. They descended staircase after staircase, going deeper and deeper into the Earth, and with every step down, Shirou could physically feel the concentration of Magical Energy in the air rising higher and higher. He'd heard before that Mystery continued to survive deep below the Earth, but it was strange to experience that for himself. The difference truly was immense.

Just when the levels of Magical Energy were getting so high that it was almost starting to become dangerous for ordinary humans however, they stopped.

"We are here. You can open your eyes again, lord Fujimaru."

Shirou needed no more prompting, indeed opening his eyes again, seeing before him his goal.

The tunnels leading down into the Tomb of Albion.

There were three of them, all dark as the night despite the great quantities of light present in the Observatory, clearly sloping downwards very quickly, nearly making for a straight drop into the seemingly bottomless abyss.

Magical Energy was leaking out of them in quantities that would make a man's head spin, and the redhead could clearly see multiple bodies lying just beyond all three entrances. Bodies of people who'd mistakenly thought themselves capable of withstanding the immense pressure of a concentration of Magical Energy that hadn't been seen on the surface since the disappearance of the last remaining gods.

This was a boundary between the World of Man and the World of Mystery, potentially a gateway into the Reverse Side of the World even, and Shirou's respect for lord Carillon grew with leaps and bounds for managing to survive down here for so long with most of their sanity remaining intact.

"This is where the Phantasmal Beasts keep coming from." Lord Carillon explained, gesturing at the tunnels. "So far, we have tried to seal them in a hundred different ways, up to and including by trying to collapse them, but we've had no luck. All methods, both Magical and mundane, have proven fruitless against such immense amounts of Magical Energy."

"I can see that." The tunnels still bore the scarring from those attempts that the hooded lord had mentioned, but no more than that, and Shirou took a moment to get a proper picture of the situation. Once that was done, he nodded in both determination and satisfaction. "I can collapse them for you."

As Arcueid had said, Albion's lingering Authority was mighty, but not so mighty as to be able to withstand the power of a nascent god, let alone a blow from Mjolnir.

"I am relieved to hear you say that." Lord Carillon didn't doubt Shirou for a moment. They merely let out a pleased sigh. "There's no guarantee that the Phantasmal Beasts won't find another way to the surface after you're done, but it will at least remove the simplest path. If they wish to attack us again, they're going to have to work for it."

"Before I will collapse them though, I need to enter one of the tunnels myself." Shirou had held off on telling anyone aside from Waver and Lorelei about this, and he could only hope lord Carillon wouldn't take his sudden request too badly. "There is something down there that I have been instructed to find."

"Instructed?" Displaying the immense self-control that Clocktower lords were renowned for, lord Carillon easily went with the flow, displaying no sign of shock that Shirou was going to potentially join the pile of bodies in the tunnels. "By whom?"

"…Arcueid Brunestud." The hooded lord had opened their Classroom to Shirou despite that being a massive taboo in the Moonlit World, and Shirou reckoned the least he could do in return was tell them the truth. "I am to find a weapon down there that will be instrumental in saving the world."

"That is quite the quest." It wasn't immediately clear whether lord Carillon believed him, probably because they themselves weren't sure if they did, but they didn't protest or otherwise argue against the plan. "Very well. If you believe yourself capable of descending into these tunnels, I will not stop you. I do hope though that the Moon Princess gave you more than a vague command, because I have no doubt that the Tomb is labyrinthic in nature. There are already three separate tunnels here, and I presume many more forks and intersections down below. Finding your way might prove to be a considerable challenge."

"Not to mention all the dangers on the way." One of the Enforcers spoke up unprompted, giving Shirou a look that suggested he both admired the redhead's bravery and pitied his naïve stupidity. "Every Phantasmal Beast we chased off will probably be lurking down there, not to mention the roaring creature."

"Roaring creature?" Shirou hadn't heard that term before, but it had to be significant, considering everyone seemed to flinch at its mere mention, up to and including Waver and Grey.

"A sort of presence that emits louds roars at regular intervals." Lord Carillon explained, a twitch of their gloves fingers showing their apprehension. "So far, it has not come to the surface yet, likely because the concentration of Magical Energy is still too low. Instead, it remains in wait, terrorising both us and the other Phantasmal Beasts, who fear it even more than we do."

"…Lovely." This was getting better and better, and Shirou decided he should depart now, before he lost his nerve.

He walked over to the tunnels, studied the great stone walls for a moment, and nodded when he determined their weak spot.

He balled his fist, aimed carefully, and struck.

With a great crashing sound, the stone broke under the force of his blow, and the tunnels, all three of them, creaked ominously.

"Lord Fujimaru?!"

"Shirou?!"

Both lords behind him let out alarmed shouts, but he turned around and held up a hand, to reassure them.

"Since there is a chance I won't return, I weakened the structural integrity of the tunnels." He explained, leaving out for now that he had used his own Authority to crush Albion's. "Should I not return, you can now collapse them yourselves. Ah, I would appreciate it though if you could wait for a few days with that. I'd prefer not to be trapped down there."

"That… It should…" The unflappable lord Carillon finally seemed to be off-balance for once, unable to formulate a reply after seeing something so ridiculous. An ancient rock formation, infused with Magical Energy and Authority from the Age of the Gods, sturdy enough to easily withstand countless attempts at collapsing it, now nearly undone by a single punch.

It was too crazy for words.

"Three days, right?" Waver was more than used to Shirou's antics however, quickly proposing a timetable. "Should you fail to return within that allotted time frame, we shall collapse the tunnels ourselves."

"…Yes, three days should be enough." Arcueid had said so, and although Shirou wasn't sure he completely trusted her on that, since she could be a bit of a ditz, he realised that he couldn't ask for more. Phantasmal Beasts were still rushing to the surface after all, and he couldn't ask the lords and Enforcers to put their lives at risk for him.

That wouldn't be heroic at all.

"Do you have any idea where to start?" Waver asked, glancing meaningfully at the three tunnels, that each led somewhere else. "Lord Carillon said this already, but chances are that it'll be a veritable maze down there."

"Yes, I know where to start." Shirou had to follow his nose, trace the scent of fresh air, and although he'd been a little worried that the scent would be so faint as to almost be unnoticeable, those worries had now been laid to rest.

The middle tunnel was the one he had to enter. That was the one smelling like fresh air.

Actually, that was an understatement. Calling it fresh air might suggest it smelled like the forest next to Fuyuki, or perhaps the Swedish Alps, but it was so much more than that.

The scent was positively crisp. Utterly without blemish or flaw. Overpowering yet gentle, it smelled like a meadow in a primeval forest, where not a single human had ever set foot. It was sublime, purifying, perfect even.

And above all, it was hauntingly familiar, though he could not yet place it.

Letting out a deep breath, the redhead steeled himself, waved goodbye to the people who'd accompanied him this far, and then stepped into the tunnel, unaffected by the lethal concentrations of Magical Energy even when he arrived at the bodies.

Which he then promptly threw out of the tunnel, back to the Observatory. They were dead, there was nothing he could do about that, but they did deserve a proper burial. Not to be displayed here forever.

Then he moved on. He was a man on a mission, heading towards his destination as he followed the scent.

The Tomb of Albion awaited.

---

Okay, by now, it should be no surprise where Shirou is going and what weapon he is going to obtain. I tried at first to be subtle about it, but I soon realised there is no way you all won't notice the clues and hints. Quite a lot of you already guessed correctly after all.

And no, there will be no Dragon-born Fairy based on Lancelot involved. She's elsewhere, or perhaps just non-existent, depending on what I might decide later on. Merely Shirou and the two individuals whom you already saw in this chapter. No points for guessing who they are.

Meanwhile, Doctor Heartless successfully Summoned Faker. In canon, he meant to Summon a Faker-class Servant (I think), but since recent events in my fic moved up his timetable considerably, he was surprised this time around.

Fortunately, they still get along quite well, or at least, they aren't at each other's throats. He understands that you have to treat heroes with respect, even if they are 'mere' familiars now. He might be a murderous, treacherous, opportunistic bastard, but he's got manners.

He chose Bath as the city to do the Summoning in because there was something about the place that made the process easier. Unfortunately for him, that something turned out to be Kirei, a former Master and future Overseer of the Grail War. As for Kirei himself, he was certainly surprised, make no mistake about that, by the sudden Summoning, but he saw an opportunity to measure himself and blow off some steam (poor man is bored to death), and he took it.

And proceeded to lose completely and utterly. If it hadn't been for Gilgamesh playing backup, that would have been the end of him.

Faker, Heartless and Haruri live on to fight another day. They'll enter the picture again soon enough. Take that from me.

Lastly, the truth about Shirou is now known to Arcueid, Waver, and Lorelei. Arcueid is barely surprised, aside from the whole other universe-thing. Waver is a little more taken aback, absolutely bewildered even, but once he's processed the matter, he's cool with it. Lorelei however is decidedly not happy with Shirou's inhumanity.

There was just no escaping it. She hates the inhuman, and that is exactly what Shirou is. There had to be some kind of reckoning, and frankly, I say she took it extremely well by not attacking him where he stood. Heck, she even agreed to hear him out. Quite forgiving, that Lorelei.

Words were not enough to convince her of Shirou's benevolence however, so the only option left is a fight. A fight that holds a very special price should the redhead manage to come out the victor. A price known to you readers, and something you've been pressing me about for quite a while now.

All that's for the future though. For now, I say cheerio.