Fate Stay Night - Medea Caster route

TRUE ENDING- PART 6.

"And now, Fragarach, rewind time for me. Bring me back 10 years into the past, the night when the Fourth Holy Grail War ended!" Medea exclaimed after she had raised the artifact toward the sky.

After she said those words the artifact started to shine, and a moment later it left her hands and floated toward the sky.

After some moment the artifact started to shine so brightly that it blinded Medea. And when she recovered her sight she saw how now the artifact had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen… but then, something way more strange caught her eye.

As she looked up into the sky she saw the sun quickly moving and setting in the east, and in a pair of seconds, it had suddenly become night. She then turned around and saw the moon rise from the west and then quickly set in the east, and as the sun rose behind her it had suddenly become day.

She silently watched this process repeat over and over for almost a minute straight…

"...Time truly is rewinding… I... I did it." She thought aloud as a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

She then looked down to watch the city, and she noted that now it had returned back to its original state, the vegetation around the temple had come back to life, and that Archer was nowhere to be seen.

She then turned around, just to see that the priest too was missing.

After that, she returned to watch the moon and sun that quickly moved. Now, by seeing how relatively 'fast' the days were passing she guessed that it would have taken some hours for her to travel 10 years into the past. And that was fine with her since now she had all the time she needed to think about what to do next.

'So, my first priority is to find Shirou and Avalon that healed him… which at the time Kiritsugu Emiya should possess… But what should I do with the man after I find him?' Medea started to think. 'He could reveal himself to be a problem, so, should I kill him? ...No. He could become useful later on… after all, he is Illya's father... and now that I think of it, from what I remember from Shirou's memories the man was incredibly happy and even thanked Shirou after having saved him... maybe if he doesn't save Shirou I'll be able to exploit or manipulate him in some way or the other…"

Then, as she thought about it, Medea realized that Kiritsugu Emiya would have been the last of her problems.

First, she had to find a way to sustain herself and keep herself materialized. Her reserves of mana were now filled to the fullest, and she could guess that she could last a pair of days without a Master or a source of mana that could sustain her. Luckily there were the Leylines that could help her... and as she thought about it, maybe she could make some of them entirely hers by diverging their directions.

Second, there were those who she had to hide from and then take care of. For her, the only real menace would have been Gilgamesh, who as the priest had told her had obtained a physical body at the end of the war. Surely the man, who she remembered Saber described to be as incredibly prideful and arrogant, would never expect another Servant that wasn't himself or Saber to be present after the destruction of the Grail, so for him, there would be no reason to stay on guard or search if any other Heroic Spirit was still present after the end of the war. So the only thing she had to do was to stay away from him and do nothing that would get his attention.

Other than him, from what she knew, as potential enemies there were also Zouken and Kirei.

Kirei was just an exorcist of the church, while strong against normal mages he stood no chance against a Servant like her. Still, she had to avoid him since he was in league with the remaining Servant.

Then there was Zouken.

Unlike Kirei, the litch could definitely create some problems, but since he too didn't know about her presence and she knew where his soul resided, there would be no problem in quickly taking care of him before anything could happen...

...Wait a moment. Why should she eliminate him? The worm could reveal himself to be far more useful than Kiritsugu ever could. That wraith after all had been the one who was responsible for the creation of the Command Seals and the system Master and Servant... and having him under her control would have been incredibly useful.

The fact that his insect familiars were present in almost any part of the city and could potentially keep an eye on her enemies for her already made him far too useful to kill...

After that moment Medea walked to the stairs of the temple and sat down. And as she watched the cycles of night and day succeed one another she started to wonder about all of her possibilities and the things she could do.

As time passed, Medea watched the years pass, and noted how the seasons changed: Winter, autumn, summer, spring…

As she sat on the stairs she could catch the glimpse of some people who came or left the temple.

...And when she caught the glimpse of a redhead boy she couldn't help but greet her teeth.

She was now about to save him. She would finally be able to repay her debt to him.

Sure, there were many people he had to ask forgiveness from, but Shirou of course had the priority.

After making some different plans of what her next set of actions should have been she just waited.

As she witnessed the unworldly event that was happening in front of her very eyes, Medea couldn't help but lose herself in her own thoughts…

Very soon she would try to fix everything she had ruined and make up for all the people she brought death and disgrace to...

And at one point she looked up into the sky, closed her eyes, and waited.

She waited for an indefinite amount of time, but when the smell of smoke and burnt meat filled her nose, and the sound of fire and terrible screams invaded the air, she opened her eyes, just to see a black sun that was still in the night sky.

After that moment she lowered her head and saw a small city on fire and full of ruined buildings.

...She had finally arrived.

In an instant, she stood up and started to float, and after using a spell to make herself invisible and hide her presence, she took flight.

For almost a month she had studied the Grail System in all of its particulars. Before saving Shirou she now had to connect herself to the Grail and its system and force it to sustain her, since on their own the leylines would have not been able to do it and she would quickly disappear.

It would take some time for her to do so, but since she could still hear all of those screams of agony she guessed that there was still time before the fire ended.

He had been wandering that hell for hours, and yet, he had to still save someone.

He had to do it, even if it killed him to do so.

But in the back of his mind, there was the thought that he would have not been able to save anyone, and it terrified him.

Kiritsugu Emitya wasn't sure if he could face the consequences of his actions in the state he now found himself in, but he'd made a promise before he was lost in this hellscape...

He needed to find someone to save.

And even though his mind told him they were all dead and beyond saving, that he had failed once again, he couldn't shake the thought away.

The thought of saving at least someone was the only thing that pushed him constantly to walk through that hellish land he was responsible for.

It felt like forever, as he trudged over rubble and through the piles of ash and corpses. He saw nothing, and the longer he went on, the more he began to despair.

"Someone... anyone... please..." His voice was barely a whisper, but he spoke loud enough that he hoped maybe some god might hear.

Nothing happened, and no matter how hard he searched or tried to call out, other than the sounds of the flames he heard nothing. That silence was deafening, and it felt like an eternity until he finally fell to his knees on the ground, exhausted.

For an outstanding amount of time, he had been searching for someone to save, but there were not even the signs of a single soul.

He really feared that if anyone had survived that hell, they were long gone by now.

It felt like a waste to stay here any longer, but he just wanted something to stop his thoughts from running rampant inside his head… he needed something to stop them from going in places they shouldn't...

But suddenly a small sound startled him out of his misery, and when he turned, Kiritsugu saw in a distant pile of rubble a little arm that pointed toward the sky.

In that instant, hope surged inside of him.

...Maybe, he had finally found someone to save.

He got up and took three steps forward before realizing he didn't know what to do next. Should he really do it? Should he run to it? What if once again he would find yet another corpse? What if it was just a single severed arm? What if now he was deluding himself and that arm was just an illusion?

...No, he could not hesitate. If there was even the slightest of chances that there was a person to save he could not let it escape.

In less than a second, he started to move toward that arm, as he did he hoped and prayed with all of himself that he was still in time, that he would still be able to save that person.

But just when he was about to start running toward it, he suddenly heard from his back a voice, one that was cold as ice, and it told him: "Can I ask you to stop there?"

For some reason, after hearing that voice Kiritsugu froze in place. After a moment he slowly turned around, and he saw a hooded woman. One that was over ten meters away from him... one that floated above the ground and looked down on him.

"That child is not yours to save." The woman spoke before she started to float toward him.

After a pair of seconds, Kiritsugu started to look at the wicked woman in complete disbelief and horror.

Kiritsugu couldn't believe his eyes. How was that thing there? Did this being come out of this hell just for him? There was no way...

It should have been impossible! A Servant was now standing right in front of him! How?! Why?! Why now?! Why did she have to appear just before he was about to save someone?!

He didn't even care how or why this Servant of which existence he never knew of was there. He just wanted to know why it had to come for him right at that moment...

…No!

Even now as he faced a Servant he knew he could not hesitate!

If he hurried, maybe he would be able to save someone! He could not just give up! Not now that he was so close to saving someone!

He had to fight!

As determination filled his heart in a single instant Kiritsugu opened his coat and took out his Thompson Contender. He then reloaded it with one of his Origin bullets as fast as he could and pointed it toward the approaching Servant.

It took him over 2 seconds to reload it, but the Servant had yet to reach him. In an instant, Kiritsugu aimed toward the woman's chest, where the magic core resided, and pulled the trigger, as he hoped that the bullet would have struck and killed her…

…

…

…

But instead, nothing happened.

Kiritsugu didn't even hear the hammer of the gun going off.

Not only for some reason the bullet didn't fire, Kiritsugu noted that he had also stopped moving completely. At the moment he was trying to move his finger with all of his strengths, but he could not. His entire body was paralyzed.

He didn't know how to describe the sensation he now felt...

It was as if he had been frozen in time… no, he felt as if he was being crushed from all directions.

After that moment Kiritsugu realized that he could barely breathe, and after he had started to panic a pair of seconds passed, and the world started to fade around him…

Because of the pressure and the lack of oxygen, Kiritsugu started to feel like falling into a black hole, as he started to lose all feeling in his body.

But just before he could start to lose his consciousness, the Servant had reached him.

The woman was now in front of him, watching his very soul with her penetrating eyes, but after a pair of seconds, she moved her attention to his gun.

"...Hmm, interesting choice of weapon and ammunition. I guess this is one of the things that made you so efficient and lethal against modern mages." The woman commented before she placed her left hand on his chest and Kiritsugu felt her using magic on him.

Kiritsugu remained still, and he silently observed the Servant as she extracted Avalon from his body and took the sacred Sheath in her arms.

"...Good, there is still some magic energy in it. I think that it will be enough." She said after observing it for a moment. "...And for now, you stay here." She continued.

After the woman spoke those words Kiritsugu felt the pressure that was crushing him disappear, but since he had lost all of his strengths he fell to the ground.

There, he tried to catch his breath as he coughed, but as he did, he noted the woman suddenly disappearing.

A child, one who had his very soul destroyed, one that was buried and crushed by the rubbles of a ruined building that once stood high, somehow still lived.

For some reason, he was clinging to life as hard as he could, and as he did, he was stretching his right hand towards the sky, hoping that someone, anyone, would take it.

Hoping someone will save him.

Yes. He had left everyone he once knew to die. Not once did he even think to help any of them. Not once did he turn to watch them die as they cursed him. Not once did he stop as he ran as fast as he could, uncaring of the fate of those he had left behind and forgotten.

And yet, he still wanted to be saved.

While holding up his arm and hoping for something to happen, he slowly started to lose his strengths, and with it, his hope.

The thought that he too would die like the others terrified him like nothing ever did before.

The child really wanted to refuse to die... not that there was something, anything that he could do about it.

He just knew that if someone was going to save him, and then take him away from there, he would gladly accept it, no matter how much it hurt.

...But would someone really come for him? Would someone really care enough to look for him? After all, was it worth it to save a child who would eventually die anyway? Was it worth it to save a child that had abandoned and forgotten everyone he knew and loved to their doom?

His last thought was that at least one person cared enough to at least try and save him.

And as his vision began to blurry, he wished that this wouldn't end up being his last moment.

He slowly let go of his breath, and as he let go of his hold on the world, a little miracle happened.

A soft glove suddenly grasped his hand before it could fall, and when it did the child snapped out of his thoughts, both scared and shocked by this sudden event.

"Don't worry Shirou, I'm here." A female voice reassuringly told him.

There the child turned his eyes and saw a hooded woman watching him closely, and after he did he started to wonder just who this person was...

"...I'm so sorry Shirou… I'm so sorry for having abandoned you… but now everything is fine, I'm here." The woman said as she took off her hood and watched him with her teary eyes.

The child watched the strange-looking woman who came to save him. He didn't remember who she was… no, he was almost sure that he had never seen her before... but it was strange, she surely knew him.

Shirou.

That was his name.

He had almost forgotten it, and the woman had been the one that just reminded him of his name.

But as he looked at the woman nothing came to his mind… maybe, just like the others, he had forgotten her too. But at the moment he didn't care much about that. He was watching the woman's expression instead.

The expression the woman had was a very sad one, one that for some reason made him feel worse than anything, but in it, he could see hints of happiness, joy, and relief.

"...May the gods be praised, I was finally able to save you…" She then whispered with a genuine smile as she brought his hand to her face.

After hearing those words and seeing her expression Shirou remained speechless. At the moment he didn't even know how to feel.

This person that he didn't even remember came to save him just before he could give up, and after saying that everything was now fine and asking forgiveness for having abandoned him, she spoke of she was happy to have saved him.

…Just how should he feel at the moment?

As he thought about it, the woman, after she took a golden Sheath out of her robes, spoke again.

"Shirou, soon everything will be fine, just hold on a little longer… and please, forgive me."

After hearing those words Shirou started to slowly close his eyes.

There was nothing to worry about now.

He was not alone anymore.

Kiritsugu, after having caught his breath and recovered enough strength, started to look around to see where that woman went... but she was nowhere to be seen. She had just disappeared.

But after that brief moment of dazing Kiritsugu suddenly remembered about the arm he saw in the pile of rubble, and he immediately started to turn.

Now that the Servant was gone he had nothing to worry about. Sure, it had stolen from him some time and the Artifact that could have been useful, but at the moment Kiritsugu felt that the person he wanted to save still lived and could be saved!

...But when he turned around, for him everything collapsed.

On that pile of rubble, he saw that woman, and she was giving him her back. And when she turned around, he saw that in her arms rested a child… who he could guess was the one imprisoned under the rubble.

Kiritsugu raised his eyes to watch the now hoodless woman, and a soft smile was present on her face, like the one of a mother watching over her child.

Even if he was somewhat happy and relieved to see that at least someone had survived that catastrophe, Kiritsugu couldn't help but think: '...Why? ...Why did you steal him away from me?'

In the meantime, Medea was watching the now sleeping Shirou that was in her arms, and as she did a sense of peace she had not felt for a month had invaded her.

Finally, she had started to repay her debt.

She had finally saved him.

After that moment Medea raised her eyes to watch Kiritsugu Emiya, and after she did she remained quite surprised. She had expected the man to be confused by her presence, or still hostile and ready to fight her; Instead, she could see that the man was green with envy as he watched the sleeping Shirou that rested in her arms…

...So, her suspicions were true.

It seemed that the man after taking part and assisting in this catastrophe was desperate to save someone. Even more than she first thought.

Good. It was time to torment this broken man to accommodate her needs.

"You. You want to be useful, don't you?" She asked, as she walked toward the man and looked down on him.

After she spoke Kiristugu snapped out of his thoughts and watched her.

"Y-Yes." He almost immediately answered as he got up.

As she walked toward him Medea turned her head around to her right, just in time to hear the sounds of approaching sirens.

"Take this child to the ambulance. While his life is not endangered anymore, he still requires further medication and controls." She said after she had got in front of him and started to carefully hand Shirou to the man.

Kiritsugu, almost in a desperate, delicate, and hastily manner, took in his arms the child he so wanted to save. He then carefully observed the child's conditions, and while he was covered in blood and dirt, it seems that he was not gravely wounded and that he would live if treated.

At that moment he felt that little sense of comfort and relief he so desperately craved for.

But as he held the child in his arms he somehow felt the familiar sensation of Avalon in him…

Oh, this explained why the woman had taken the Sheath from him, it was to save the child…

Wait.

...How did this woman know about it? ...Also, who was this Servant? And why was she here? Why was she still present after the destruction of the Grail? ...Why did she stole from him the only chance to save someone?

"You have a lot of questions, isn't that right?" The woman suddenly asked, before she put on her hood and started to float.

Kiritsugu said nothing, but he raised his head to watch her.

"After you have done what I've asked, come back to me, and I shall answer all of your questions." The woman said before she suddenly vanished

Kiritsugu for a pair of seconds watched the point where the woman disappeared, after that, he turned around and started to walk toward the approaching ambulances.

As Kiritsugu carefully walked in that hellish land with the child in his arms, he… he realized that in the end, he had not been able to save anyone… but at least, he was being useful and helping this child that the woman had saved in his place.

And this would be enough for him…

…

…

…

Right?

After a pair of minutes, Kiritsugu had reached the ambulances and the other emergency vehicles, and almost immediately the medical staff took the child in the vehicle and started to head to the hospital.

As he watched the ambulance leave Kiritsugu was happy to know that in the end, he had contributed to saving a life…

But for him, this was not enough.

...Just why did that woman have to stop him from saving someone?

After that moment Kiritsugu started to wonder how he would have been able to find her again, but as he thought about it, he asked himself just why he should go back to her.

Sure, he needed some answers, and if the Servant wanted him dead he would've already been, but-

In that instant, a black butterfly passed in front of his eyes. Kiritsugu followed it with his eyes, and he saw that the butterfly was headed toward some ruined building not very far away from where he was now.

...Did he really have a choice now? That was the proof that the woman had kept an eye on him this entire time, so, could he still escape?

…

…

…

No. Just why should he? What else could he lose now?

After a moment Kiritsugu started to walk and followed the butterfly. After a minute he found himself in a dilapidated industrial building.

As he was looking at his surroundings he heard a strange sound from behind himself. He turned around and looked up, and there he saw the woman, who as she slowly descended from the ceiling was looking at him with a smile.

"...Who are you?" He started to ask.

"That's not the right question." The woman calmly said as she landed on the ground, not far away from him.

"So... what do you want? And why should I listen to you?"

Caster looked at the man for a while until saying, "I'm here because I know who you are. You are Kiritsugu Emiya, representative of the Einzbern, and 'winner' of the Fourth Holy Grail War. As for why... There are many reasons."

The man just stared at her. Waiting for her to continue. He could see that she knew more than she let on but decided to hear her out anyway.

"...Well, you could say that I'm here since I want to cut some loose ends and repay some debts that I have accumulated. And I think that we can help each other on certain things." She continued.

"...What do you want from me exactly?" Kiritsugu asked as he sharpened his eyes.

"First, I need to know if now you intend to go back to Germany and save Illya from the Einzbern." The woman bluntly said.

After she spoke that name, Kiritsugu blinked, and then went white.

"...Illya?" He asked, shocked.

"Yes. Your daughter. The fruit of your love and that of Irisviel. Do you remember her? ...Or you have already forgotten the child you abandoned?" The woman asked as she inclined her head a little.

"...How do you know me? How do you know about my daughter?" Kiritsugu asked, now clearly nervous and confused.

"It doesn't matter how or why. The only thing that does is that we both know that you're going to return to Germany and try to save her and take her home. Now tell me... Do you have any plans for when you go back to Germany?"

"...No… I don't." Kiristugu answered, for some strange reason.

"Perfect." The woman then said with satisfaction.

As he looked at her Kiritsugu started to ask himself just who this person was. It was already abnormal that a Servant, whose existence he never knew of, was still present after the destruction of the Grail. And not only that, somehow she knew who he was and that he had Illya...

"...How do you know so many things about me?" He then asked.

"As I said before it doesn't really matter how or why..." The woman said with a half-smile. "...But, speaking about the things I know about you, I must say that I'm a big fan of your works. That Geas Scroll thing you did with Lancer's Master? That was truly wonderful." She said with an amused chuckle.

Kiritsugu said nothing, but he was taken aback.

"...Then I would like to say that I respect you... but unfortunately, I cannot." The woman then said, before she assumed a serious expression and watched him right into his eyes. "How could I ever respect someone who uses his loved one as a tool to reach his objective?" She then asked.

'...Eh?'

"You know, the moment you decided to dedicate everything and everyone you had to your objective, was the moment you doomed yourself to a miserable life of failures and hardships." She said as she started to walk around him.

'...How… how does she know…?' He thought.

"You couldn't love your family more than your dream. You couldn't love your family more than your greedy desire. And look where it brought you." The woman said, as she spread her arms and looked around to point out the ruined building they now found themself in.

Kiritsugu at the moment was completely silent. He didn't know what to say.

"Your allies, dead. The city on fire. And you… alone. You are a disgrace... and unfortunately, these are just some of the many things we have in common." The woman sighed.

Kiristugu just silently turned to watch the woman walking.

"...But I think that I know what your real problem is." The woman then said. "You too, like many others, lived up to your character. You lived up to the person that you had convinced yourself to be: A ruthless man who is willing to do anything for his objective… when in truth, you're not much different than a broken and scared child."

"...You…" Kiristugu started to say, but he stopped since no other word came out of his mouth.

"You see, things always become grim, if not tragic, when people start living as their character. Their obsessions start… their darkness grows… they focus only on their objective… and a person can end up doing some terrible things once they lose their way…" She said before she stopped walking for a second and looked down to watch her hands. "...Terrible things..." She repeated in a way to make those words stand out before she started to walk again.

"..."

"But at least you're different from the others, isn't that right?" The woman asked as she raised her head to watch him. "After all, you are a hero of justice, so obviously in your entire life you have done only things that benefited everyone, right?" She asked with a mocking tone and smile.

"...Just what do you want from me?" Kiristugu asked, with a tired tone.

"I want an answer from you." The woman said with a dry tone. "In your entire life, have you ever truly saved someone?

After she asked that question, an incredibly long silence passed.

"I… I… no... I never did…" Kiristugu admitted, ashamed, as he lowered his head. "...But I was about to!" He then suddenly snapped. "For the first time in my entire life, I was about to finally save someone! But then you stole him away from me!" He said angrily as raised his head and pointed a finger toward the woman. "Why?! Why have you done it?! Why did you take that child all for yourself?! Why couldn't you let me save him?!" He asked both angry and desperately as tears started to fill his eyes.

The woman watched him for a moment before a smile appeared on her face and she started to laugh maliciously.

"...You… You find this funny?! You think that any of this is funny?!" Kiritsugu asked indignantly. "Hundreds if not thousands of people died tonight because of me! And you're laughing! How can you-?!" He started to say before he stopped when the woman suddenly vanished.

After the woman disappeared Kiritsugu took a step back. But after he did he felt a hand rest on his right shoulder, and then, right next to his left ear, he heard those sly and venomous words being spoken.

"How can a man like you save anyone, if you can't even save those you love." The woman slowly said, with a sour tone of voice.

In that instant, Kiritsugu's breath caught in his throat.

"That child never belonged to you in the first place. And as we've seen you have been a failure as a family, and foremost, of a man. In the end, even if you saved him you would have just ruined his life in a way or the other..." The woman said before she leaned even closer to his ear. "...Like you always did."

After hearing those words Kistugu started to breathe heavily, and his legs felt so incredibly heavy to the point they gave up after a moment and he fell on his knees and hands.

As he watched the ground, Kiritsugu suddenly remembered the faces of all of the people that had died because of him.

He remembered all those people he had betrayed, abandoned, murdered, and stabbed in the back… just so that he could achieve his dream… his impossible and selfish dream that could have never been realized in the first place…!

All the damage he had done...

All the deaths he had caused...

...They all had been for nothing!

In the meantime, Medea was carefully watching the man who had suddenly fallen to the ground and was having a mental breakdown.

'...Huh. It was easier than I first expected.' She thought quite surprised.

She had underestimated the mental conditions of the man. She didn't think that stopping him from saving Shirou and telling him some words like those would have such an effect on him, since at the moment she could see how the man was even physically suffering as he breathed heavily.

But now she had to do something before it was too late, if it kept going like this the man could faint or even die of heartbreak.

"...Tell me, Emiya, do you still have something to live for?" She asked, as she watched the man that was at her feet.

"...N-No… someone like me just deserves to die…!" The man said as he greeted his teeth.

"...But your daughter may weep at your death, Emiya, and I do think that you want to make her suffer any more…" Medea reminded him.

"...Illya… Illya…" Kiristugu then called her name, as he lowered his head to the ground. "...I'm so sorry I've abandoned you... I… I never deserved to have you…" The man cried.

"...Yes, a person like you does not deserve to have a daughter… but your daughter does deserve to have her father." The witch said as she got in front of him.

"...For me… even thinking of seeing her again... is too much… too selfish…"

"...Selfish you say?" The woman asked after a moment. "I didn't know that you were so much of a hypocrite. For how many years of your life have you chosen who lived and who died? And just who did you think to be to make those choices in the first place? Are you some kind of god or divinity? Someone who is above everyone else? Or just a selfish person obsessed with their idea of justice?" She asked.

Kiritsugu just flinched at the woman's harsh words.

"...Well, since you've arrived at this point, where is the problem in saying, or even admitting if it is true, that you did all of this just for yourself? ...After all, you did things far worse than this, didn't you?" She asked as she crouched to watch him closely.

Kitistugu said nothing, but he raised his head to watch the woman.

"I mean, after all the things I did I'm in no place to judge you... but you took your wife to a war where you knew she would have died. You abandoned your daughter knowing that she would suffer an unknown fate if you failed. You shipped yourself and your family straight to hell. That sure is something even by my standards..." Medea said, sincerely impressed.

She may have been a horrible mother, one who was guilty of the sin of wrath, and killed her sons for the sake of revenge… but even someone like her would have never left her son's fate to be decided by some strangers.

Kiritsugu after that moment lowered his head even more.

...Why did the woman have to remind him of his every error?

...He knew that he had done and sacrificed everything for nothing…

...He knew that the only things he was now left with were his sins...

"...You know, I just can't help but feel pity for that poor and sweet child you've left alone…" Medea then said as she got up. "Not only has she been abandoned in that cold castle, at the moment she doesn't know that her mother has died and that her father is on the verge of collapsing… if only a true 'hero' showed up to do the right thing and save her from this cruel reality." She sighed while looking aside.

Kiritsugu after he heard those words concurred with the woman.

Illya needed a true hero to save her.

...But where was this hero? ...Who was it? ...And when it would come for her?

Kiristugu asked himself those questions because he surely couldn't be the one.

Even if it was an illusion, with his hands he had killed her... He had killed Iri... he would have killed whoever got in his way.

...And after all the things he had done, how could he be a hero?

How could he still even live?!

"...I like how you look. Like someone who is looking for peace, someone who is looking for forgiveness, but for you, there is neither peace nor forgiveness to find in this world..." The witch reminded him, as she looked down at him.

The woman didn't have to say it. Kiritsugu already knew that there was no way that he could ever atone for all the things he had done...

"...But, did you notice it?" She then asked after a moment.

"...What?" Kiritsugu asked.

"After everything that happened, after everything you have done, only you are still here. Do you know what this means?" She asked.

Once again Kiristugu silently raised his head to watch the woman.

"You now have a debt that must be repaid. You have to repay the people you have wronged and abandoned. And until the day where you get what you deserve, you will have to dedicate body and soul to this debt of yours."

For some reason, after he heard those words, Kiritsugu's heart skipped a beat.

"This, Emiya, is your second chance... and now, you can make things right." The woman declared solemnly before she started to lean toward him.

"...Just for once in your life, save someone... and let me help you with it." She calmly said, before she offered her hand to Kiristugu.

Kiritsugu watched the woman's hand, and he started to think.

There were many answers he wanted to know. Like who the woman was. Why was she there. How she knew so many things about him. Why did she want to help him to save Illya. What would she gain from all this...

But for now, he had only one thing in his mind.

He now had found a new purpose. A new reason to live.

He had to save someone.

He had to save his daughter.

Yes. He had been a complete failure, as a father, as a husband, as a man...

And yet, he now was the only one standing.

He still had a chance.

Since he was a child he always dreamed of becoming a hero that saved others… but the reality of what he had done until now amounted to killing people and abandoning them to their fate.

...If had never chased his dream, no one would have suffered from the consequences of his actions…

…If he had run away with Iri and Illya, nothing of this would have ever happened…

...But none of that ever happened. He went past the point of no return.

He did all the things he did because he firmly believed that it would have been worth the price.

All of this happened because he chased after his selfish desire to become a hero...

And there was no reason to stop now.

He will become a hero, even if only for one person.

At that moment Kiritsugu made up his mind and strongly grabbed Medea's hand, and she helped him stand.

"Now, it's a pleasure to meet you, Magus Killer." The woman said with a smile as she shook his hand. "I know that you have no reasons to trust me, but I can assure you that our collaboration will be incredibly fruitful for the both of us." She continued.

"What should I call you?" Kiritsugu immediately asked as he put a hand in his coat pocket.

"Just call me Caster for now." She answered.

"Caster, huh? ...Well then, you look like you already have a plan, where do we begin?" He asked as he took out a pack of cigarettes.

"Since I can't leave the city for now we should set up a base, and we have to make sure that we hide ourselves and our traces from our enemies. The priest, Kirei, is still alive. And with him, there is Archer, who has now obtained a physical body." Medea informed him.

"...What?" Kiritsugu said as he sharpened his eyes. "How is any of that-… you know what? You can explain to me later." He continued, as he lit up a cigarette.

"Do not worry, I will tell you everything you need to know about our current situation." She said, as she once again handed her hand to the man. "...But not here."

Kiritsugu watched the hand, and after a moment he took it again. After that, both of those two people disappeared.

"...Why did you bring us to this place?" Kiritsugu asked, as he watched the familiar abandoned building.

That was the place where he took Avalon from Irisviel… and where Maiya had died.

After that moment he turned around to watch the woman, who was watching him.

"No specific reason. This place is quite far from the fire, no enemy should be nearby, and some powerful Leylines are passing above this place. It's a good place to make a base." Medea answered before she turned and entered the ruined building.

Kiristugu turned to watch the abandoned tool shed for a moment before he started to follow the woman.

There, after he had entered what he could guess to be the living room, he stood still and waited for around a minute. He could see and feel that Caster was doing some rituals to raise a very powerful bounded field around the room, the kind he had never seen before.

After making her controls, the woman turned to watch him and started to speak.

She started to inform him of all the enemies she was sure were now present in the city. She told him who they were, how dangerous they could reveal themself to be, their possible bases of operation, any possible weakness, and how to evade them.

The more he listened to the woman, the more Kiritsugu started to ask himself just how she owned all that information.

"...Any questions?" Medea asked after she had finished speaking.

"None." Kiritsugu simply answered.

The woman had given him more than enough information on who he had to be careful of.

From what they knew in the city there were Kirei, Gilgamesh, and Zouken, but about this last one Caster said that she was already preparing herself to take care of him since she thought him to be possibly dangerous.

After that moment, Kiristugu, as he smoked, watched the ceiling and started to think about what he should start to do.

"...Since I've failed to obtain the Grail, Jubstacheit will surely never let me see Illya again... So for me now the best course of action is to hide and pretend to be dead... and I should make myself a new identity..." He thought aloud.

"It's not a bad idea, but don't start thinking about how to save your daughter already. It's still too early for that." Medea said.

Kiritsugu turned to watch her and asked: "Why shouldn't I?"

"Well… you may have not noticed, but you are in no condition to fight. You stink of death."

"...What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

Yes, he was now tired and his body hurt everywhere, but this feeling was not uncommon for him, and after everything that had happened that same night it should have been normal. So what did Caster want to say with that last affirmation?

"...I don't even need to analyze you to know what happened. Emiya, you've been exposed to the curse of the Grail. This action has surely destroyed most of your magic circuits… and surely, shorten your lifespan by a lot."

Kiristugu blinked and remained silent at the woman's grim words, but after a moment lowered his head to watch his hands. At one point he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and he started to concentrate on his circuits…

And just like the woman had said, the majority of them were destroyed or outright unusable…

...How was he even alive?

"...You're right… but now? How should I be able to save Illya in these conditions?" Kiritsugu then asked as he frowned.

"Do not worry about it, we will find a way to make you able to fight again, but you'll have to be patient. Emiya, I understand that now you have this strong urge to save your daughter, but first, we have to establish our base, then we have to take care of that parasite of Zouken, and then, when the both of us will be ready and in peak conditions, we will start to think on how to save your daughter."

After she finished speaking Kiritsugu watched her for a very long moment.

"...Why do you want to help me save Illya?" He asked, as he carefully watched her.

"Why? Because it is thanks to her that I'm now here. And I want to thank her for her help." Medea sincerely said.

Kiristugu watched her for another long moment before he frowned even more.

"...You're telling me that Illya, who right now is in Germany, somehow helped you?"

"...I know that it sounds absurd, but yes, she helped me."

"...You're telling the truth, aren't you?" Kiritsugu then asked.

He didn't know how or why, but he felt that the woman was speaking the truth.

"Of course I am. Why should I lie to my new ally? I sure don't want to make a bad impression..."

"…How was my daughter able to help you? What did she do for you?" Kiritsugu asked.

"That I cannot say. You should just be satisfied to know that she helped me, and I want to help her in return."

"...You know, if you just say that you want me to eliminate the Einzbern you would give me a better reason to trust you." Kiritsugu said.

After Kiristugu spoke, the woman frowned.

"Emiya, you're wrong. I'm not asking you to kill anyone, I'm just asking you to take back what's yours. Like me, who took what was already mine." She said with a serious tone, as she turned her head toward the direction of the city.

"...Oh ...now I understand." He then said with a nod. "...Anyway, I should start to ask for some favors. Some people that I know may help me with restoring this place, and maybe they may even help me to make myself a new identity."

"Good, and while you do that, I'll take care of the defenses of this place... oh, but speaking of new identities, could you make one for me too?" She asked.

Kiristugu turned and watched the Servant for a long moment with a puzzled look.

"...Sure, but why would you need one?" He asked.

"Nothing in particular, but let's just say that it will come in handy very soon…" She said before she noticed one of her bird familiars entering the room.

She immediately raised her hand, and the little bird landed on it. After that, the bird opened its beak and it let fall the little shard it had in Medea's other hand.

"Very good, you've already found one…" She said with a satisfied tone as she watched the cursed shard.

"What is that?" Kiritsugu asked as he got in front of her.

"Oh, this? ...This is a Grail shard."

"...There are still some remains of the Grail?" Kiritsugu asked, a bit surprised. He thought that Saber's Noble Phantasm would have erased it from the face of the earth.

"...Why are you making your familiar pick them? You think they will become useful later on?"

"No, I'm just starting to ruin some of our enemies' plans before they can even start." Medea just said.

After that, she put the shard into her robes and turned to watch the man.

"I'll now begin to prepare the bounded field and the traps. If you now have something to do or you want to contact those who can help you, then you should start right now."

"Understood, but what should I do if Zouken or someone else sees me?"

"Hmmm... I would say that until they will not see you as a possible threat they should have no interest in you… and in the conditions you are now in, I will be surprised if anyone gives you any attention at all… But we can never be too sure."

After she had finished speaking, Medea chanted a powerful spell and casted it on Kiritsugu.

"This will make you less notable to people and will make you out-right invisible to enemies' familiars, but it will not last for long. Other than that, until you will not directly meet any of our enemies you should have nothing to worry about, but in case you think of being followed or you encounter someone hostile, go to the temple, and do not worry about how to inform me, I'll know."

Kiritsugu after a moment nodded and left the room.

As he walked through the corridors he started to think.

The wicked Servant who appeared out of nowhere and somehow knew almost everything about him certainly didn't look like someone he could trust… but he had this feeling that not only until now she had only told him only the truth and had been sincere, she had no malevolent intentions against him and really wanted to help him.

And that was quite strange.

Anyway, even if he could not fully trust her, she, for now, was his only ally, so this meant that he had to collaborate with her whether he liked it or not.

He had to save Illya, and he would have done everything in his power to save her, so for now he wouldn't mind collaborating with the Servant for a limited time.

After some moments, Kiritsugu got out of the home, but ae suddenly remembered the tool shed.

...

He decided that after he had done what he had to do, as Caster had told him, he had to repay the people he had abandoned in a way or another…

Medea was now starting to create the foundation of the powerful Bounded field that she would make around the home, and as she did, she was thinking about all of her achievements.

The first and most important of all, she had finally saved Shirou.

All the things she had done, every thread of fate she had bound, the sheer destruction she had brought to this world…

It was worth the price.

Sure, everything for her now had just started, and the number of things she needed to do now was incredibly high, but very soon she would start to fix everything.

First, she had to create her base, and then she would start to eliminate her enemies… or at least, those that she could.

And luckily she was not alone, since with her there was Kiristugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, the winner of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Sure, she had to admit that he was not really the man she expected to be. Saber had described Kiristugu to be a ruthless and effective man, the best assassin the modern age could offer… but when she had first seen him, Medea had remained incredibly disappointed.

A weak and dying man roaming into a hellish land. That was the only thing she saw at first.

Even when she had first met Shirou she didn't have such a bad first impression.

What she was watching was not a ruthless and unyielding man, but a weak man who had a life filled with nothing but failures, a weak man that was desperate for a solution… no matter the cost.

So desperate he was, that he had ended up making one of the greatest mistakes of his life: He had allied with her.

...Well, it had not been a mistake since she would really help him to save Illya, but still, he had allied with her, so that was an error regardless.

Some time passed, and after she made the foundations of the Bounded field Medea sighed.

At the moment she really wanted to rush to the hospital and see Shirou, and she really wanted to wait for him to recover his senses and take him home... But until she could not make this base a safe and hospitable place, and made sure that no one knew about her presence, she had to leave him there. For now, seeing him through her familiars would be enough.

Sure, she would start to prepare the adoption paper as soon as she could, and with the help of a bit of magic, she would immediately assure his custody to her. But whenever he would recover his senses she should go to visit him daily until he could get out of the hospital and ask him if he wanted to live with her.

Since he had lost his memories she would lie to him and tell him that she was a distant relative of his, or the only surviving member of his family, so that he would be more attached to her from the beginning and have no reason to not go with her...

But as she thought about it, when Shirou would start to live with her, just how would he start to call her?

...The mere thought that he would call her mom sent a shiver down her spine and made her feel incredibly sick for an instant…

Yeah, she should just set up to be some kind of big sister, cousin, or aunt.

After that moment she shook her head and closed her left eye. After she did, she started to watch through one of her familiar's eyes, and she could see that Kiristugu at the moment was walking in some dark alleys.

She had some familiars to follow him, both to see if something happened and to keep an eye on him, to make sure he had no funny ideas.

The man now may be with one foot in the grave, but after having arrived at this point Medea had no intention to take any risk at all by underestimating someone, so if the man for whatever reason tried to even think to go against her she would just kill him and find a way to save Illya herself.

No one could stop her now from repaying her debts.

No one.

Author's notes: I have nothing to say about this chapter, but I have something to say about the two protagonists of this chapter: Medea and Kiritsugu.

I'm going to briefly discuss the two characters (especially that of Medea), so if you're not interested in reading what I have to say about them, have a good day, and thank you for reading so far. I hope that I'll be able to publish the next chapter very soon.

So, what I'm going to speak about is Medea's legend, and why I see the murder of her children, however horrible, as a fundamental aspect of her character and story, and why ignoring that aspect spoils her and her legend.

Since some Fate "Scholar" may be reading this and they will write about how wrong I am and how their perfect waifu would never do something so horrible, and something on how Nasu writing also is perfect and I'm ruining everything, I want to ask them this little question:

If from Kiristugu's story I remove the parts where he reaches the will and resolve to kill his father, Natalia, "Illya" and Irisviel, (in other words, killing the people he loves) wouldn't I have destroyed his character and shat on his story?

You see, Kiristugu and Medea in the end are very similar. Both of them, abelit for very different reasons, are willing to kill those they love so that they can reach their objective, even though they know that they will greatly suffer from these actions.

Sure, some of you may point out that Kiristugu's motivations to sacrifice those he loved, in the end, were "good", unlike Medea's, and I have to say that that is the entire point.

Medea at the end of her story, like the majority of people in all the Greek stories, is a bad person. That's it. Even in Fate, her alignment is Neutral Evil (Also said True Evil), and in Lore, she had been summoned under the aspect of the witch, the worst aspect of her legend, so I do not understand how or why there are no mentions of what she had done to her sons.

For those who do not know, Medea in her legend, before she kills her children after they have returned from the royal palace, bursts into tears. She screams and cries as she begs herself to stop, to not kill her children who were innocent, who had never done anything wrong in their life, who she always loved so much from the day they were born…

But then, in a real severe case of psychosis, she just stops.

And in that single and brief instant, the "witch" side of her wins over her maternal love.

She then begins to talk to herself, she says how she must have the courage to do it, since she didn't want to become an object of mockery of her enemies.

She turns to her sons and tells them to enter the house.

Then you know how it ends for them.

As you should know and have realized, at the end of her legend the real victim is not Medea, but her children, who, like in many other cases, ended up paying for their parents' mistakes.

A sad story about injustice and revenge. This is Medea's story. And this is the kind of person Medea is.

To deny her actions is to ruin her character.

Sure, in some notes to Euripides's original play it was stated that Medea's children were traditionally killed by the Corinthians, but if we follow that version of her legend it doesn't make her a better person in any way possible, since Medea abandons her sons to a temple of Hera, where they will later get butchered by some furious Corinthians, before she runs away to Athenes without them. Or in some other versions after she had sent them to give Glauce the poisoned presents, and Glauce dies, her children get butchered on the spot.

In these 'incomplete' or 'earlier' versions not only we see a less developed character of Medea, since we don't see her internal conflict, her struggles, her 'maternal side' desperate fight to stop herself, or how she manages to reach the resolve to 'do what she must', we also lose the particular aspect of the story of how the Gods, despite the horrible things Medea had done to her own offspring, not only were on her side, they even aided her by sending her grandfather's chariot pulled by dragons so that she may flee, since they firmly believed her to be in the right and Jason, (Traitor, adulterer, and oathbreaker) being in the wrong.

That is how many aspects of her character and legend get ruined if you ignore or deny the murder of her children.

Another question, for those who say that Medea loved her sons so much to the point she killed them only to "save them", couldn't she, I don't know, take them with her? You know, after Glauce's death Medea had already made a pact with Aegeus that he would protect her from all of his enemies, so for her there was no real good reason to kill them or abandon them. Also, it was immediately after she had made this pact with Aegeus that she start to plans the murder of her children.

I think that Nasu should have respected her legend and clearly stated what happened to her sons and how vile the act was, and not let their fate be vague and never mentioned because "LoL cute elf house-wife who is bad at cooking and was very unlucky can't be a bad person". She didn't even have a route, so he could have vilified her even more, like I did in this story.

No, I'm not trying to say that I'm a better writer than him… but let's just admit that I have a better TOTALLY AMAZING CREATIVE FLOW!

Just kidding. Do not get angry for this obvious bait.

Anyway, if in this rant I sounded like an asshole I beg your forgiveness, but I had to take this weight from my chest.

Thanks for reading so far, and see you in a few weeks.