Fate/Grief   von Korison
================================================================================
                        Prolog: Prologue: The Summoning
                        -------------------------------


2 years ago:

The red circle glowed, filling the room with light. Exposing the man's face. The
ritual, he had prepared for such a long time, finally started. He had practiced
for many years, to get this chance. The man started moving his lips. Reciting
the old lines. Calling the one that should fight besides him. The three signs on
his hand began to glow, just as the circle did.
“I make my Oath here!“, he chanted. “I am that person who is to become the
virtue of Heaven. I am that person who is covered with the evil of all
Hades.“
The summoners magic circuits started working. Lending the man strength to
accomplish what he had worked for so hard. What he had planned for such a long
time.
“Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words,“ he continued. The circle
exploded in light. It was that bright, that the summoner had problems to remain
concentrated. Yet he went on. Forcing himself not to stop.
“come they restraining rings and be thou the hands that protect the balance
-!“
The summoner quit the chant and the light became even brighter. He had to
completely close his eyes to not be dazzled and as he could open them again, a
deep voice echoed from the stone walls of the little hall.
“I ask thee, art thou the master that called me?“
The man smiled. “Yes!“, he answered trying to sound as strong as possible.
“Then for this Heaven's Feel, I, Archer, shall be your Servant!“



                      Kapitel 1: Chapter 1: The Executor
                      ----------------------------------


Heat. Everywhere around him. Flames that seemed to devour the Walls. But the
sweat didn't come from the fire around. It was excitement. Excitement to
encounter the man he should meet here. Excitement to fulfill the wish of god.
He took the gun, he had hidden in his pocket. Felt his finger touching the
trigger. Ready for everything. He knew he had to be prepared. The man he needed
to kill was a Magus after all. A traitor to the rules of this world.
He sighed. That man couldn't possibly be dead already. Could he? Just a single
fire never had been able to finish the job by itself. “Hey”, he shouted.
“You still alive?”
He didn't expect to get a response. Just wanted to let his enemy know that he
was here. The Magus couldn't flee anyway. The burning apartment was surrounded
by a barrier. Not letting the Magus pass. There was no way out, but killing the
executor that had set up the barrier, or forcing him to cancel it. The latter
was impossible with this man currently walking through the apartments rooms.
Jörg Christensen.
The executor could've just waited for the Magus to get impatient and attack him.
Far too boring in his opinion. He liked the “Hide and Seek”, before the
fight. Yes indeed. He felt joy in killing his enemies. Joy while punishing them.
Jörg didn't know if that was normal. He didn't even want to know.
He looked around. Still searching for the Magus. He knew the man should be
showing the creatures he toyed with soon. Should be trying to kill him. For the
sake of his own survival. Magi were egoistic creatures. The things of their
desire, never were anything that could've helped humanity itself. Humans never
had mattered to them. Only the Magi's wishes were important. Nothing else. Cut
from the people they called “ordinary”, they researched and researched and
never stopped researching, until the day of their death.
That was the picture Jörg had of Magi.
And some of these egoistic wishes even were criminal! Some researches were
illegal. Those were the type of people the Executors had to kill.
Still no sign of illegal activities in the apartment Jörg had already looked
into every room he could find. Nothing too suspicious. Only a few runic papers
about Alchemy. No more. Had the Magus known he would come? Did he evacuate? Or
was he just hiding? The executor sighed again. He had hoped not to need to do it
this time. He activated the power he hated. It wasn't forbidden for him. However
it was painful, to let himself down to the level of his enemies, using their
simple tricks. He closed his eyes. Scanning the area around him. Searching for
traces of Prana. For the footsteps of the Magi. That was the power he had
trained. This and the barrier were the only magic he used. The only magic he
accepted. He didn't really see it before his eyes. It was more like a feeling he
had, where the Prana, the Magus had used for his magic was. The Cellar! It
dawned him. He didn't even know this apartment had one.
The flames started to annoy him. He liked to make the scenery a bit more
dramatic than it needed to be. The fire wasn't really necessary to kill the man.
But it was easier to burn the whole building than finding every single bit of
forbidden magic and burn it alone.
Jörg himself didn't really feel the heat. The use of Thermo-Regulators in his
body changed the heat into a kind warmness. It was a piece only bought for him
as an executor. While most Magi and Executors never liked to use technology,
Jörg used it more than magic. It was more familiar to him. He definitely liked
it more.
Technical innovations had been rare recently though and it became hard to think
of something, that actually might be useful to humanity.
Searching for the stairs to reach the Cellar, the Executor shouted again.
„Hey! Show yourself already!“
No answer. As expected. The Magus would be dumb if he would just invite him to
kill him.
Jörg was still one of the younger Executors. But he had passion, that others
never showed. His count of Magus kills exceeded 30 already, even though he only
joined 2 years ago.
He slowly moved on. Looking for the stairs to get downstairs.
Jörg scanned again. This time focusing on the buildings structure. He couldn't
find any stairs. The executor sighed. Grabbed his bag and rifled through it.
Took a little red needle out of it and grinned. He missed using this one more
often. Nowadays Magi didn't end up hiding in chambers anymore, but often enough
tried to fight the executors.
One more scan and Jörg knew the weak point of the building. He quickly went
there. Searching for a place to stick the needle into. He found one and did it.
It didn't need much force and as soon it almost couldn't be seen anymore, a red
light started blinking. The executor analyzed it and pressed a little button.
Immediately the color changed into a clear green. Jörg backed quickly.
A sudden eruption shook the ground around the needle. A sound. Almost noiseless
for the ears of the Executor.
Then the ground broke in. Leaving a giant hole. Jörg who had been standing out
of range now came closer again. He looked down. Seeing nothing but darkness.
The Executor jumped. Knowing that the ground wasn't too deep.
He landed. Stabilized. Took a lighter out of his pocket. One of the old
fashioned ones, that people had in the early 21st century. Most people had none
of these nowadays. Everything could be done with a single Smart phone now.
Unfortunately Jörg couldn't expect to get those from the church.	
The room the executor landed in was rather small. Only big enough for some
tables and a shelf standing around. Books could be found everywhere. And a man
standing between the tables.
„Found ya!“, Jörg smiled.
Not even turning around his enemy sighed.
„I knew they'd send you!“
The smile vanished from Jörg's face. This voice...he knew it.
Fearing to see what he didn't want to see, the executor came closer. Until he
could distinguish the back of his opponent. He wore a long dark coat. The same
one Jörg wore. The traditional coat of an executor. Long dark hair.
„Say! Have you ever lost anything?“, the voice asked gently. No sign of the
hatred, others Magi had towards executors.
Jörg didn't answer. Just waited for this awful moment to end. It didn't.
„I knew it. You never experienced how much pain it causes, did you?“
Jörg's mouth stood open. He didn't know what to say. What to think. How to
handle this accusation. His former sarcastic self was gone. Ran away. Only left
the empty hull, that once was it's body. No more excitement. No more fear. He
just stared at the man standing in front of him.
„I guess you'll find out now.“
It sounded satisfied. As if his goal would be reached tonight. It sounded sad.
Because he knew he couldn't run. He knew he couldn't hide. He knew he couldn't
fight. He knew he could only die. Die by the hands of the executor. Die by the
hands of a friend.
„Do it!“, he whispered.
Jörg slowly shook his head. Still confused. Still shocked.
„It's your job, right?“
Right.
The job...
Three Blades appeared in the Magus' right hand. Not really long. But sharp.
Jörg knew them. Had learned to fight with them. Black Keys. The traditional
weapon of every executor.
The Magus turned around. Tried to hit with the Blades.
Jörg instinctively raised his left arm. Blocking them with his bare hand.
At this point he normally smiled. Looking into the expression of an enemy when
he realizes, that he already lost, was a pleasure for the executor. He felt the
Prana his opponent had used to summon the Blades getting sucked into his
fingers. No. Not the fingers. The rings he wore. Jörg didn't have any Magic
Circuits, that supplied him with Prana himself. The little bit of Prana he used,
was the Prana he had saved in his two rings.
That was it what made Jörg a killing machine. He eliminated Magi with ease.
Never thought about killing them. But here...right now...he hesitated. Looked in
the eyes of his opponent. No, the eyes of an old friend. He slowly raised a gun.
Felt the trigger comfort his finger. Felt how he slowly pulled.
It cracked.
He had fulfilled it. The wish his friend had.
„Do it!“, he had said. „It's your job.“
What was it that made him like this? What was it that drove him into despair?
Those were the first questions, that Jörg had ever asked about an enemy.
It was the first time he asked about his Job.
And it was the first time, he felt what a loss really meant.




Answers, Jörg had realized, never had been the thing he lacked. Asking him
about anything he should've learned somehow, he could answer it. But the
questions never had come to his mind. Not a single „Why“. Not a single
„How“. Only „Yes“!
And now, he asked the questions and had no idea about the answers. Why did the
Magus research? Why did they chose illegal topics? Why did they need to be
killed? Those were the questions that came him to mind. Those were questions he
didn't know the answer to.
He hadn't been in service since then. Had been ignored by the church, when he
had asked for something to do. But now that he thought about it, it might be
better for him to not have a job for a few days. Thinking about how to find
answers. He had found a way.

Jörg opened the door. The church had done quite a good job in tiding the mess
Jörg had caused. It looked like a normal fire.
A Short-Circuit. That was the official explanation.
No victims.
That's what they said.
Reality was different. One victim. A Magus. An executor. And a friend. Killed by
a bullet. A bullet Jörg knew well. He had held it in his hands. Fired it.
Killed with it.
Jörg looked around. Finally realizing how ugly the apartment was. The light
that came from the neon-lamps was cold. Didn't make it a lot brighter than it
was earlier. But Jörg didn't come here for the building. The walls that once
had been green had turned black because of the fire. It still smelled burnt.
The executor walked around on the first floor. Starting to search for some
material of the Magus, the church had left behind.
The result wasn't really satisfying. A few notes, coded in a way Jörg didn't
know. He still took them. Maybe he could find out something anyway. Maybe he
could find a way to decode them.

When he came back home, a man already waited for him. He wore a long black coat.
Just as Jörg usually did. It was easy to determine he was someone the church
had send. That either meant the church tried to kill him or they needed him to
kill someone. As the executor came closer, he realized the face of the man. It
was the messenger the church had sent to him for over a year now. Over the
course of time the two had become something like friends. Not the definition
that others had of friends. That wasn't possible for an executor. But a executor
that had someone that was he talked to outside of the church was rare.
„Mister Christensen?“, he still called him by his last name.
Jörg grinned. „Come in!“, he said. „I've been waiting for you to come
over. I really need something to do, you know?“
the messenger didn't answer. Just sat down on the couch.
„Have you heard of your target already?“
„Of course not! The church doesn't send anyone but you to me.“
As if he didn't hear the last comment the man just went on.
„Her name is Alisa Severin. She is from a family that has brought 7
generations of Magi to this world. They're specialty is resurrection, but they
are strong in fighting. They're Prana is massive. We'll counter it with your
rings. There still aren't many that know about them. You should be a little more
careful though this time. It'll be hard to conceal everything in the center of
Stockholm.“
Jörg nodded.
„Understood.“
He quickly thought about it.
„You know the apartment?“
„Not yet.“, the messenger answered. „And I doubt she'll let us get
information easily.“
A short break.
„Are you sure you can still take it?“
What was that suddenly?
„What do you mean?“, Jörg asked.
„You hesitated!“
„Isn't that only natural?“	
„Not for you.“
„You know who I killed. You know what our relationship was don't you?“
The messenger nodded.
With that the talk was over. Direct as always. The executor was relieved when
the messenger had left. He liked him, but what he was about to do, was nothing
anyone from the church should see.
Jörg took his bag and started the trial of decoding.



                     Kapitel 2: Chapter 2: Ice Cold Castle
                     -------------------------------------


Snow fell from the sky. The whole Scenario looked like a Fairy tail. A big old
castle, standing in the middle of nowhere, being surrounded only by snow. It
would have fit perfectly in such a medieval scenario. With one exception. The
black car stopping in front of it's gates.
“She's finally here.”, an old man said, observing the arrival from a window
in one of the upper floors. The woman next to him just nodded.
“What is it Iri?”, the man asked worried.
“Nothing.”, she answered quickly, the eyes fixed on the setting outside. It
was obvious she was nervous. Guests weren't common here after all.
They went on looking down at the car. A young woman exited. She had long black
hair, bound together in a ponytail and wore a standard black suit. Her face was
beautiful, but mangled by a scar crossing her left eye. She had a serious
expression.
The old man's gaze followed her walking down the way to the gates. Entering the
castle. Then he lost sight of her.
“Iri, could you please go get her?“, he asked the woman standing next to
him.
Without saying a word she left the room. He sighed. He knew that this would be
the last time for him. This would be the last chance. He had to bet everything
on one card. There was no way around it.	

Susan was overwhelmed. She never had been to a place as big as the castle she
had just entered. She tried to keep calm while passing the giant pillars bearing
the ceiling. Most parts of them were white with a slight touch of gold. The
floor was just as white, as everything around it. Susan started wondering how
many cleaners must work for the family residing here to keep everything nice. Of
course she had heard that the Einzbern were incredibly rich, but she never
would've dreamed of something this size. Especially not their home. It was just
too much of a contrast to the environment she had lived in for over 25 years.
She followed the servants guiding her upstairs. Passing blank white statues that
showed former family leaders. Following the stairs, that had the same color as
everything surrounding it. Trying to keep a straight face and not show the
admiration for the mere size of the building. She would have time to look around
the whole castle later. For now she needed to meet the man that had called her
in the first place.
When they reached the third floor, a young woman stood in front of them. She
wore a long white dress, with several golden stripes, that matched it's
environment perfectly. Her hair was silver. In total she seemed a bit like a
puppet, but the thing that really made her look inhuman, were her red eyes. Of
course Susan had heard of her. The man she had been mailing with, had told her
about the woman she should be working with.
“The old man is waiting for you!”, the puppet like lady said, signaling
Susan to follow her.
It was the first part of the castle, that Susan saw, that wasn't entirely white.
The carpet was colored in a dark red tone and on the walls hung pictures of
several people.
When they finally got to the door, that had been her destination, the
silver-haired woman took a deep breath and opened it.
“She's here!”,she said.
An old man stood at the window, staring outside at the car, that had still
parked in front of the gates.	
“Leave us alone Iri!”, he said in a commanding tone.
The woman next to Susan nodded and left the room without saying a word. Was she
really the one the old man had written about in his letters? It didn't seem as
if they had any kind of close relationship at all. It didn't even seem as if
they really liked each other.
“Aren't you being a bit harsh on your daughter?”, Susan asked carefully. She
knew it was impolite to ask about family matters this direct, but these were the
people she should live with for the next few years after all.
“She is not my daughter!”
The answer surprised Susan. Wasn't he always praising her in his letters?
“Wha-?”, she started, but got interrupted immediately.
“She is not human, so she cannot be my daughter either! I stopped thinking of
the Homunculi as my family since the second one died.”
Utterly confused Susan looked at her counterpart. She had completely lost the
straight face she had been keeping until now. That had been unexpected.
The Man turned around to his guest and smiled at her. As if the declaration of
the homunculus not belonging to the family was normal to him. He held out his
hand. Susan grabbed it and shook it.	
“Jubstacheit von Einzbern”, he introduced himself. “But I guess you know
that already. You are Susan Roberts, aren't you?”
She nodded.
The man turned his back to her again and looked out of the window.
“You know the terms, right?”
She nodded again.
It was easy. She would seek the Holy Grail for the family of Einzbern and they
would pay her family as much as they needed. A standard mercenary job, just a
little more dangerous. The type of job Susan would do.
Of course she had researched other mercenaries this family had hired for
previous tasks, wanting to know if she could trust them, but it was hard to
really get some useful information. The only thing she knew was that they had
hired some known Magus Killers earlier. The infamous Emiya Kiritsugu, that was
known for relying more on his tactical strength and the power of ambush, than on
his magical power.
Tanaka Itsuki, who had been on of the first to master invisibility.
And now her. Susan Roberts.
Where was the connection? She didn't have a real education. Neither as Magus,
nor as Magus Killer.
“I will teach you myself. You shall get the same equipment, as any other
mercenary got before you. Learn their magic and study their tactics. We might
not make you as much of a strong Magus as the others, but you should at least be
a good tactician. I will teach you the magic of Einzbern too, though it might
not be as useful in fight, but if you need it you should be prepared.”
Susan had expected this. There was no way she'd get the Holy Grail without even
knowing anything about magic. But it was especially unusual for someone who
didn't know a bit of magic, to get chosen by one of the three big families.
“Is there anything else you would like to ask?”
The visitor shook her head. She would find out later why she had been chosen.
Even if not, this was her chance to get her family more than just a single
bread. Why she got chosen didn't matter.
“Iri will show you your room.”
Jubstacheit slowly turned around again and started walking towards the door. You
clearly could see his age in his movements. He carefully put one step after
another. Always seeming to fear he could fall every second. His white beard had
grown as long as his hair of the same color.
The old man opened the door, stuck his head out and shouted for the Homunculus.
One of the wooden doors next to the room Susan had been in opened and the
silver-haired woman appeared.
“She's ready.”, Jubstacheit told her.
Without saying anything she turned around and signaled Susan to follow her
again, walking fast as if she wanted to get away from the old man. She kept
quite for most of the way, only opening her mouth when explaining something
while leading her guest through the whole castle. She didn't explain anything in
detail though.
The whole tour took about half an hour. At the beginning Susan had expected to
get brought to her sleeping room directly, but Iri had insisted on showing her
around the whole castle. She had seen the dining room, the huge practice room
for magic and this kind of stuff, the dorms of the personal and so on. When they
arrived at the visitor's room, the guest was even more overwhelmed than when she
had arrived. She couldn't keep herself from opening her mouth and just stand in
the entrance.
Several Shelves stood in the room. Space for everything she needed. A black
wood-table to work at and a giant bed, that would've been worth for a queen to
sleep in. Even a Notebook was here. It seemed to be older already, but it was
far more than she would have expected from a conservative Magus family.
“This has been the room of every former mercenary the Einzbern family
hired.”, Iri commented. “I hope it is to your likings!”
“It definitely does!”, Susan answered happily, smiling at the homunculus.
“Should I help you getting your bags?”, Iri asked politely. She didn't seem
to be anything different from a normal servant, even though many called her the
Lady of Einzbern castle.
“it's okay!”, the guest answered, still smiling at her.
The silver-haired woman nodded quickly and headed for the door. As she reached
the door she paused.
“You will kill me, won't you?”
The question was sudden. Susan's smile vanished for a second.
“At some point it will be necessary”
Than the Homunculus left.


“What do you think about her?”
“Her Prana is incredible. She has a lot of potential, but doesn't seem to know
how to use it at all. She would have detected my examining spells, if she even
was a third class Magus. It will be hard to make her first class. She obviously
didn't get any kind of training up to now. We'll need to practice a lot! But
it's still 12 more years until we need to be in Fuyuki.”
Jubstacheit von Einzbern finished his report about the meeting with his new
ally. He sat in a small room, surrounded by grim gray walls, the only door
sealed with magic. This must have been by far the ugliest room in this whole
castle, but it was useful for the purpose of secret talk.
The Einzbern head had sealed everything. Nothing could get in and nothing could
get out. Not even sound. Not a single word was hearable outside of those four
walls.
The old man stared into a cup of water on the table in front of him. He was
leading his Prana into it. The mirror image he saw, was not his own, but the one
of a young man, having long black hair and a kind face. This man was a master of
the Elements. One of the most difficult parts of magic to control, but this
man's ancestors had mastered it and given it on to him. He was now working
towards perfection, searching for more magic. That was the goal of many Magi.
The ultimate knowledge. Perfection.
This kind of conversation was only possible through the elements. By connecting
their Prana over a thousand kilometers, they could send each other the
reflections, that the water mirrored. It was a perfect harmony between those two
Magi. Jubstacheit, who had mastered the transfer and connection of power and
Prana, could connect those two and the element Magus could send the Vibrations
in the air and the mirroring images through this connection, so that they could
easily communicate this way. By doing this kind of call, it was a lot easier
than really meeting each other. Of course they could have called each other per
phone, but neither of them really used that. They were Magi after all and Magi
almost never used anything newer than 19th century.
“Will you tell her of us being allies?”
“Not yet. She might find out later, but that's a risk I am willing to take
until I know that I can really trust her. She reminds me a bit of Kiritsugu, you
know?”
“Oh why is that?”
“She's just as caring as he was. And still she is cold. That makes me worried.
You what kind of experience I had with him.”
A short silence followed. The Einzbern head only stared in the can. Looking at
the other Magus rearranging his hair.
“I guess that's it then, right? I need to take care of my father again.”,
the mirror image said.
“Oh is he getting worse again?”
The young man nodded.
“Tell him he should get well soon okay?”
“I will! Well, I'll see you then!”
Jubstacheit waved as goodbye, than he cut the Prana connection. In that moment
someone knocked at the door. Even though he knew whoever was outside couldn't
hear it, he grunted a “Wait!” and slowly rose to open the door. It was Iri.
“Dinner is ready.”, she said. “You should be eating with us at least
today, since we have a guest!”, she insisted. It was rare for her to really
make any wishes, but this time she was right. It would be impolite to have a
guest and leave her wait for dinner. So Jubstacheit followed the silver-haired
woman to the dining hall, to take some bites. But in his head he was already
setting everything up for the training of his mercenary.
She really does have one heck of a potential, he thought impressed as he
remembered the result of his examination. If I get to make her a first class
Magus and get a good relic, the Holy Grail is ours!



                    Kapitel 3: Chapter 3: Disease and Cure
                    --------------------------------------


Sometimes, dreams can be given up.
Sometimes, hopes can be crushed.
The crowd rushed. Seeming to be in a hurry to get their next train. What was all
this? Why was it even necessary? Why did he even come here? Didn't he know that
it was impossible?
Xu Feng looked up, trying to stop the tears leaving his eyes. There was no way
he could do it. No way he could save her.
Rejected! Rejected! Rejected...he unbelieving repeated in his thoughts. Again
and again he tried to tell himself, that it wasn't over yet, but he had no idea
how it should work. No idea how curing would be possible.
He looked at the picture in his hand. It showed a little girl smiling happily in
the camera. Her dark long hair lay open on her shoulders. How lively she had
been. How incredibly cute she had been, before it was taken away. The liveliness
had been replaced with loneliness and the happy smile with a grimace distorted
by the disease and pain.
Rejected! Rejected! How could they? She was still a child. How could they just
leave her on her own. Leaving her to die.
This world sure was cruel, but Feng had known that. Survival of the fittest.
That was what this world was about. There was no place for those who were weak.
That was what he had learned just a few minutes ago. Now he sat here, not
knowing what to do. He just couldn't look into her eyes like this.
So he sat here. In the middle of the crowd running from one rail to another. Not
missing their chances. In the middle of the rush he quietly waited for something
to cheer him up, knowing that nothing would come. But what should he do? Where
should he go?
He slowly rose. Kept his head down, trying to not look in the eyes of the people
walking around him, not willing to show them his weakness. He put away the
picture of his daughter and started walking towards the exit of the station. He
heard the trains arriving and departing. Heard the people talking, the children
crying. He knew it happened around him, but he didn't care. Didn't look out.
Didn't look around. Just walked straight to the big doors leading outside.


Life in City had been tiring. The people, the noise, the pollution. Cramped in a
tiny apartment, living in the same house as over hundred other people, all
unknown to each other. It never had been an enjoyable life. Being a nobody to
everyone, Xu Feng had moved away, half a year after his wife died. Suddenly
people had come to express their sympathy. People he had never noticed, that he
never had talked to. When it happened, he suddenly was known to everyone, but
the fame didn't last long. He had been forgotten within a few weeks, returning
to be a nobody. Until he left in silence. He no more lived alone with his
daughter, had moved in with someone living in the village he went to.
Now he stood in front of the door, hesitating to open it.
He took a deep breath and came in.
“I'm back!”, he shouted, waiting to get a response. Slow footsteps were to
be heard from the kitchen. Feng took off his shoes and waited for his daughter
to come around the corner. As he saw her, he almost couldn't keep back his
tears.
She looked worse than when he left. The girl was incredibly thin and had to
always keep one hand at the wall not to fall over. She slowly took one step
after another and even though she smiled at him. Feng knew that it was a pain
for her to walk around like this. Her eyes were almost closed, as if she was
really tired. The long black hair that fell over her shoulder contrasted her
pale skin.
The girl slowly came nearer, trying tor reach out for him with the hand not
being placed at the wall. She stumbled. Fell onto her knees.
Feng quickly ran to her, hugging the thin body.
“Are you okay?”, he asked caring.
“I'm fine Dad.”, his daughter's weak voice answered.
She looked at him. Forced her muscles to form a smile again.
Rejected, his thoughts returned.
He closed his arms around her, fearing to break the little body. Buried his head
in her chest and started to cry. Silently his daughter patted his head, then
lied her own onto his shoulder. Feng could feel her long hair touching his bare
neck.
“They won't help me, will they?”, she asked without the slightest bit of
sadness.
He shook his head, unable to say anything.
“Am I going to die now?”
He shook his head again.
“That is nice.”
He looked into her eyes. They seemed empty. Feng knew she understood that he
lied.
The tears had stopped by now.
“You should rest a little more”, he advised her, rose and carried her into
the living room, where she had been lying for the last few months.
“Where's your aunt?”, he asked.
“Garden”, his daughter muttered.
“And your uncle?”
“Shopping”
Feng nodded. “Rest well!” He looked down at her and kissed her head. Then he
left the room.
He went outside and looked for the woman he was staying with.
He passed something, that looked more like a jungle, than a garden. The few
plants that existed in here had grown huge, due to the space they had. The aunt
loved flowers , but didn't really have much time to work in the garden. Most of
the time she had, she spend housekeeping and look after his daughter, while Feng
was at work.
“Yuki?”, he called for her.
“Over here.”, the answer came from the field of flowers in the back of the
garden. He followed the stone way, that led there and found her sitting in front
of a small tree, cutting it's branches. Her gray hair was bound together in a
ponytail. She was over 70 already, but still seemed to be as active as if she
was only 40. In her hands, she held a little knife, which didn't seem to be made
for cutting the wood of the tree.
“Wanna help me a bit?”, Yuki asked grabbing another knife and held it in his
direction. Feng took it and pressed a little button located at the grip. The
blade started to rotate and slowly got faster and faster until it was fast
enough to cut the branches into the right form with ease.
 “What should I cut?”, he asked before beginning.
“Just cut those that are longer than the others. That will do for now.”
He nodded and raised the knife to one of the branches that stood out. He touched
it with the rotating blade and the knife cut right through it. The part that had
overlapped, fell into the grass. Feng went on with the next out sticking part he
found.
“Say”, Yuki started hesitantly. “How was your trip?”
“Well let's say the drive wasn't too bad.”
He didn't really want to talk about it right now.
“They rejected. I knew it.”, she continued without bothering him. “They
still have no idea what it is right?”
Feng nodded, cutting one more branch and followed it's way down to the bottom
with his gaze. Then he raised his hands again to trim more parts of the little
tree.
“They said they have seen symptoms like hers before, but still have no idea
how to categorize it. It's difficult for them to give her some kind of treatment
too since she lives quite far away.”, Feng paused briefly. “I have no idea
what I should do.” He looked down at the cut branches, lying on the ground.
“I guess if I'd lose her it would be even worse than with Lin.”
Yuki stayed quite. She carefully listened to what he told her.
More branches fell. Some of them still carrying green leaves.
A brief silence, only disrupted by the rustling of the tree when the wind came
by and the gentle buzzing of the rotating blades.
“What do you think is going to happen now?”, the aunt asked.
She knew it already. Of course she did. She had taken care of Mei for the last
few months. There was no way, she didn't realize it.
“I don't think she will do much longer.”, Feng answered.  “She looked a
lot thinner than when I went away.”
“Oh, so you saw her already?”
He nodded, barely managed to keep his tears back again, but still he went on
cutting the branches.
“I'm sorry I can't do anything!”
Feng managed to show off a brief smile. Japanese politeness.
Yuki and her husband originally both lived in Tokyo. They moved to China when
the company they had led for about 8 years went bankrupt due to the Asian
economic crisis around 2040. They lived in China for almost 30 years now. The
village they had stayed in for all this time, was neither big nor rich. The back
of China was poor in total, even though they said it was a lot better than some
decades ago, many people still barely had enough money to take care of
themselves.
“How's uncle doing?”, Feng interrupted the silence, trying to build a
conversation.
“He's fine as always. He should be coming home soon.”, she didn't seem to be
too interested in a conversation, so they both just went on doing there work in
silence. They tried to make the tree look as close to a ball as possible, but it
was too hard to get to the branches at the top, so they ended up just modeling
the lower part. 
“Any more work?”
Yuki nodded. “Plenty!”, she grinned at him. “We need to twitch the pest
plants. I didn't have a lot of time recently, since I had to take care of
Mei.”
Feng sighed. “I guess I'll help you. At least I'm getting a bit distraction
from her state.”
The aunt smiled. Then they walked over to the flowerbed. All kinds and colors of
plants were placed in the ground, some looked gorgeous and some just weird. Feng
looked for the green pest plants and started to rip them out of the soil. Then
he looked for the next one.

They were almost done, when a man came out of the house.
“Ah, you're back already?”, he greeted.
Feng looked up and saw Yuki's husband Kaito standing in front of him. He smiled
at him.
“Should I help you guys out a bit?”
“Do so if you want”, the aunt piped up without looking at him.
The man sat down and started to look around for pest plants. There weren't many
anymore.
“How was your trip?”, the uncle asked seemingly out of nowhere.
Feng didn't say anything. That should be enough to show him he didn't want to
talk about it. Kaito understood and just kept quite. That's how they kept
working, unable to build a real conversation.
After a while, Feng rose. He down at the other two sitting next to him and
yawned. “I'm gonna leave the rest to you, I need to take a nap, still tired of
the trip.”
He turned around and slowly walked towards the house again, he just heard the
uncle's voice shouting for him.
“Hey boy! Can you come over to my room later when you wake up? I need to talk
a bit to you!”
Feng raised his hand to signal that he understood and slowly got in into his
room.

Kaito looked at the large screen in front of him. It showed three girls drawn in
an old-school Anime Style. One of them dressed in a ridiculous costume, her
blonde hair tied back in twin-tails. She fought a somewhat hillarious looking
puppet. Two other girls stood in the back, both dressed in school uniforms, that
were used back then in Japan. One of them had pink her, bound together by two
ribbons having the same color, the other having her shorter blue hair open. Next
to them a little cat-like creature was sitting, smiling as if it was
anticipating something. Even though the Anime had been released before Kaito was
born, this still was one of his favourites. Of course he knew what was going to
happen next, he had watched it often enough earlier.
The uncle though, wasn't entirely dedicated to the show but rather wondered how
the boy would react to what he was about to tell him. It wasn't easy to accept
after all. He didn't know if Feng had ever heard about the things Kaito would
talk to him about.
In the Anime the cute little creature seemed to speak to the two girls in the
back now, advising them. “Hurry, you need to...”
“No need!”, another girl interrupted roughly. She had incredibly long hair
and wore a costume too, though it wasn't as colorful as the blonde's one.
The door next to the little couch Kaito sat on opened and Yuki sneaked in.
“You'll never change about these things.”, she commented.
“Of course not. You knew you were going to marry an Otaku, don't say you
thought it would be getting better one day.”
“I didn't even dream of it. You mind if I join a bit?”
“Why should I?”
Yuki sat down now starting to look at the screen too. An explosion just
concluded the fight between the dark haired girl and something that was
reminiscent of a worm. The world faded around the girls and left two of them
sitting depressed on the ground.
“I wonder what he will say”, the aunt interrupted the dialog of the Anime
characters.
“We will see.”
“What are you going to tell him?”
“Everything. I don't know if he knows something already though. I hope he
does, it would make things a lot easier.”
“What if he doesn't believe you? The whole thing about the Holy Grail War and
magic will sound pretty ridiculous to him.”
“He will believe me. I have ways to make him do that.” He smiled at her and
with this the conversation ended and both concentrated on the show again.



                       Kapitel 4: Chapter 4: Competition
                       ---------------------------------


Chapter 4: Competition

Susan jumped around, dodging the little balls flying towards her. She stepped
from one foot on the other, balancing her weight on her legs, moving her
athletic body as soon as she noticed something closing in on her. The training
was tiring, wore her out and after a certain time, it became impossible for her
to concentrate on dodging. She got hit more and more often.
“What are you doing Roberts?”, the old man standing next to her admonished.
“You know this isn't the way I want you to do it.”
He raised his hand and signaled Iri, who threw the balls with an immense force,
to stop. “Why don't you use the power given to you?”
Susan nodded. She only studied being a Magus for two days now and still the
training already was this hard, but she had known, that she had to practice a
lot, that was why she was prepared to give everything for the sake of winning.
Jubstacheit von Einsbern made another gesture and Iri went on to throw at her
counterpart. This time Susan didn't even try to dodge, but just stood there
concentrating on what was inside her body, tried to feel the Prana and lead it's
way out of her body, guiding it to the balls, not even knowing what was going to
happen.
One hit her knee. Another one her head. She felt a slight pain coming from the
points Iri had thrown at. She concentrated even more on the balls, imagined them
to change their course. Susan opened her eyes to get an idea of their current
positions, forced her body not to react to them coming near faster and lead her
Prana towards them.
The balls continued hitting her.
The old man signaled the Homunculus to stop again. He looked at his student
standing still in front of him.
“What did you imagine?”, he asked her bluntly. “You know what I told you
yesterday?”
Susan nodded. “To make something real using my magic, I need to clearly see it
before my eyes.”, she repeated Jubstacheit's words. “I imagined the balls
going another way. That's all.”
“Why did they do that?”, the old man added another one to his archive of odd
questions.
“Huh?” Susan was confused
“Do you know why they changed course? Everything needs to have a reason. You
can change forms of something, but you can't just make something without knowing
why it changes. You can't just move an object, but you can change it that much,
that it starts to roll. It's the same with those balls. That's how our magic
works. Try it again!”
Susan nodded and concentrated on her Prana again, grasping it and regulating
it's flow. As she opened her eyes the first balls were already on their way.
Susan imagined the air to thicken and using it to slow down the balls and
finally make the ozone heavier, pressing them on the ground.
They hit her. Her knee. Her leg. Her arms.
“It didn't work?”, Susan put her surprise in a dull question. She looked at
the old man. He grinned at her.
“I think I felt some of your magic touching the air around me, didn't I? Let
me tell me one more thing. Don't try to change anything that is not solid for
now. As you might have realized, it isn't that easy to get Prana to leave your
body right? That is because of the fact, that your body is solid and the air
around you is not. Prana alwa	ys prefers to be in those things that are heavy
than those who are light. We Magi still have no idea why that is so. That's why
things that are fluid or a gas are harder to use magic on. Elemental Magi have a
way to do so, but it's a well guarded secret that even I have no idea of.”
“You knew it wouldn't work?” Susan was visibly annoyed.
“It never did. You would be a true genius if you would have done it three days
after starting to study. Magic is not a piece of cake. I hope you know that.”
Jubstacheit looked amused as he turned around and walked to one of the shelves
standing in the corners of the giant training hall.
“Let's go on”, he said. “Iri would you come over for a second?”
The silver haired woman let the balls left in her hand fall on the ground and
followed the order, hurrying over to what could have been her grandfather.
The Homunculus rarely said a word, mostly being the quite observer. She was a
kind person as far as Susan had experienced, but it was hard to have a proper
conversation with her. Most of the time the two women met was in training and
while eating, which were times when talking was hard. The Homunculus studied a
lot. She knew the holy grail and she knew she would be dying young, that her
body was only built for the purpose of dying. A Homunculus, a human created by
magic rarely was build for another reason but death. That had been the first
thing Iri had ever known. It was no happy life. Nothing beautiful that she had
ever seen, only the white walls of this castle that was like a prison to her.
But she didn't know any better. She didn't want to escape because she didn't
know the world outside and she would barely learn to know and appreciate it.
Certainly...This was no happy life, but she would be of great use to Susan.
Homunculi were incredible in using magic, their Magic Circuits were immense and
that would be a help for the mercenary that couldn't be denied.
“Hey Roberts! Stop dreaming!”, the voice of the family head echoed through
the room. Even though he was that old, he still managed to shout this loud.
Magic perhaps.
Susan looked up and quickly apologized before hurrying over to the same place
the two others were in.

~

Susan lied down in her bed. She still wasn't used to the giant room, that was
hers now. It was neither beautiful nor anything special if you looked at the
other rooms in the castle, but it seemed wrong to her, having seen how her
family had lived for so many years. They belonged to the poor part of America's
low society, living in only one tiny room together with her four siblings and
her parents. It was a complete contrast to the world she would live in four
almost the next 10 years. It was a good life she would live in Einsbern castle,
never having to worry about anything trivial. Even though she knew it was
unfair, she knew that she didn't stay here without a reason, in contrary the
reason was big enough to kill or guarantee her life, she couldn't help but enjoy
it. The German she spoke with the others that lived in here still was hard for
her. It was no language she really liked, but it was necessary for her to learn
it and talk to the others like she did.
Susan sighed, stood up. She should use her free time more efficient. The
mercenary walked over to the desk, started her laptop and retrieved some sheets
of paper, stored in a desk right of her. Those were the tactic reports of other
killers, it was a necessity to know the tactics, that others before had used.
She might be able to escape traps or use some of them herself. She didn't know
yet if she would be able to learn enough in the time given to her, to be able to
directly confront a Magus. That's why she needed to train this hard. Every day
around five hours of magical training and an hour or two to keep herself fit.
The fitness wouldn't be as important to her as it was before she learned to
control her Prana, but still it was crucial to be able to fight melee if someone
attacked her, or at least be able to flee fast enough.
Only nine more years...She would be going to Fuyuki city and participate in the
competition called the Holy Grail War. She wondered who would be her enemies,
who she would have to fight against. They already had the names of the other big
families, but not a single of the familiars, artificial animals created to
observe a certain place or gather knowledge about something. In principle it was
no difference to the Homunculi the Einsbern family brought into being, the
disparity was their living time. While creatures such as Iri were able to live
as normal humans, familiars only had a few hours or days if they were strong to
live. They had sent them to observe the Matou and Tohsaka houses. While the
latter's house didn't seem to be under a lot of protection, the other one didn't
let anyone come near their home. Of course it was crucial to keep the secrets
from the other participants. The day she had arrived here the family had
magically searched for any trace of Prana and eliminated every single familiar
nearby. Susan wouldn't be able to leave this castle until they flew to Fuyuki
and even while waiting to do so it wasn't given that they wouldn't find out
about her. People had their connections and even the church that had taken over
organization of the Holy Grail War was venal. At least parts of it.
The Holy Grail War...Susan still couldn't believe she really had been chosen as
one of the masters for the great families. It was nothing she had ever dreamed
of, if she would have it most certainly would've been an awful nightmare...A
Battle Royal fought by seven Magi competing for an old relic called the Holy
Grail, an omnipotent treasure, granting the one winning the war one wish he
could do anything with. Every single Magus fighting for the sake of this wish,
was provided with three command Seals who had the power to summon an incredibly
strong familiar known as servants. The extraordinary about those is, that they
weren't just any familiars without a will themselves, but the spirits of heroes
that died long ago, called Heroic Spirits. They manifested in the modern world,
helping out the Magi they got summoned by, but they didn't have to be hundred
percent obedient and that was what worried Susan. She knew she would have three
command seals, with which she would be able to give one ultimate command per
seal, but she didn't know if that was enough. If a master received a disobedient
servant the Grail War was almost over for him already. The competition was cruel
and a single mistake could cost a life. That was the competition Susan would
take part in, not for the sake of the Einsbern family, but for the sake of the
money she should get for her family. That was the Holy Grail War.




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