Fate Stay Night - Medea Caster route

*5 years later*

Year 1999. Fuyuki City.

It was a quiet summer morning, and at the moment Medea was tending to her small garden in the courtyard outside the house.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, illuminating everything in its rays, and Medea basked in its warmth as she worked. Her hair was tied back in a simple braid, and her bangs were pushed out of the way as she pruned her plants.

A content smile then adorned her features as she looked up to watch the beautiful blue sky.

Shecouldtellbylooking. It was going to be another beautiful day.

She then moved her focus back to her plants, which she has always been very proud of, after observing the sky.

She had taken excellent care of this small garden since she built it about a year after she moved to this area and made it her new home. She would grow regular vegetables in one half of the garden and flowers and plants that she would use as alchemical components in the other.

Her garden's vegetables were great for cooking, and the ingredients for her potions had helped her with the creation of countless powerful concoctions over the years. And, of course, she had to also thank Shirou for the plants' good health.

He had been persistent in assisting her in the construction and maintenance of this small garden since the very beginning.

Medea had always been pleased with his enthusiasm and willingness to help, but because she didn't want him getting too close to some of the poisonous plants that the garden would house, she warned him earlier on of the plants' dangerous nature and entrusted him with the task of watering them in the future.

Shirou took the task seriously as he understood the danger the plant posed, and even though watering them was in itself a safe and simple task, it was enough to make him happy and make him contribute to the garden's health.

At one point Medea removed her gloves and cleaned her clothes from the dirt after she finished pruning her plants. She then got up and proceeded to pose all of her gardening tools in the tool shed.

Taking care of the garden had become one of her morning rituals for her, and whenever she did it, she felt at peace and quiet.

Satisfied with her work, Medea thought how it was time for her to start making breakfast now that the garden had been taken care of.

She went back to her house and entered the bathroom to wash her hands before proceeding to the kitchen. From there she turned on the television, put on her apron, and began preparing all of the ingredients she would need for breakfast.

Then, just as she was about to finish preparing the ingredients, she heard the living room door open.

"Good morning!" Shirou said with a cheerful tone as soon as he entered.

When she heard him, Medea smiled slightly and turned to face him. Meanwhile, Shirou rushed over to her, giving her a brief glance before hugging her.

"Good morning Shirou." Medea then told him with a caring tone as she caressed his head.

This too was part of her daily ritual, the 'morning greeting', but it was more special as it was the cornerstone of her day.

In the past years, Shirou somehow had gotten into the habit of coming to hug her as soon as he woke up, and whenever he did she would hug him in return, and Shirou would always get quiet and happy.

But from when he had become twelve years old Medea had stopped doing so as she wanted to stop spoiling him that much. She needed to stop treating him like a child as he would soon become a teenager and need to distance himself from her, have more personal space, and be more self-sufficient.

Sure, she was displeased that she couldn't spoil him as much as she used to, but it was all in his best interests in the end.

After Shirou stopped hugging her he started to look around the room for his little footstool, and when he found it he went to take it. He then placed the footstool beside Medea and, once he got on it, began to assist her in making breakfast.

By this point, Medea had become quite adept at cooking the local dishes and at cooking in general, and so in the last years, she had been teaching Shirou how to cook.

Watching over Shirou and having him always looking at her for any kind of reaction whenever he did or tried something new was another thing that she had become very fond of.

They made breakfast together and then talked about how busy their day would be as they ate.

At one point while eating Medea started to think of how she had gotten completely used to her new lifestyle as a normal person.

In her original life, even after she had escaped with Jason from her country, she still lived her life as an aristocrat in Corinth.

She had no shortage of money or material goods since the Fujimura clan "generously" provided everything she ever asked. But the lack of servants' to do all of her biddings, on the other hand, had been a relatively big change. A positive one.

Not having slaves to take care of all of her needs had been a welcome change for a variety of reasons. The most important was that the lack of a pedagogue or servant to care for Shirou meant that she was his sole responsibility for everything.

She didn't want anyone else around Shirou since she wanted to be his only reference figure as well as the one in charge of his education.

Before the municipality of Fuyuki City rebuilt its school after the city's destruction at the end of the fourth Holy Grail War, Medea had even considered homeschooling Shirou instead of sending him there, but then she decided against it. She had realized that by doing so she would have harmed Shirou by denying him the opportunity to live an everyday life and socialize with other kids of his age.

Sure, by this point Sakura, Rin, and Illya had become close friends with him, but obviously, they were not enough to permit Shirou to develop sufficient competence and social skills.

At that Medea turned to watch Shirou as she thought about his changes.

She had prepared herself after adopting him to deal with any problematic behavior he might exhibit as he grew up, but, as a part of herself had predicted, he showed none.

In the past five years Shirou had always been a good kid who did everything that was asked of him. He never complained, never wished for anything, and was always very impassive… if not out-right emotionless.

But, thanks to her care and support over the years, Shirou had made significant progress.

He went from being a quiet child that was tormented by everything he had seen and lost, to a lively kid who did not let himself be tormented by his past.

And thanks to her insistence on pushing Shirou toward other kids he also ended up becoming more social and making some friends outside his usual social circle.

Regarding the nightmares that used to torment Shirou every night, they had almost completely stopped appearing. In the last three years, those nightmares had reappeared only seven times. By now they had become extremely rare occurrences, and even when he had those nightmares Shirou would not cry or scream, but he would still need a little bit of comfort.

However, as Medea continued to observe him as she thought, Shirou noticed that she was staring at him, so he turned and smiled at her for a moment before returning to his cartoons on the Tv.

…

…

…

Seeing Shirou smiling at her had abruptly brought all of her thoughts to a halt.

'…Again…' Medea then thought, irritated, as she scowled while watching the child in front of herself.

Some time had passed since Medea and Shirou had breakfast, and now it was almost nine o'clock. Soon enough Sakura and Rin should arrive at their home.

Since it was the period of summer when they did not have to go to school, the two sisters came here in the morning for their magic lessons, to do their homework, and to play.

At one point, as Medea waited for Rin and Sakura to come at the entryway, she started to hear the sound of the two of them chuckling as they ran in from the street.

'Huh, it seems that they are of good humor today.' Medea then thought once she felt them going through the bounded field that surrounded the property, before she headed toward the door.

"Good morning girls." Medea then told them after she opened the door and saw the two black-haired sisters arriving.

"Good morning!" They both cheered as they rushed to the door.

Medea stepped aside to allow them to enter, and once the girls got inside, they immediately began to remove their shoes. However, Sakura ended up taking her shoes off first, and as soon as she did, she ran into the middle of the hallway and turned to watch Rin with a smug look.

"...Damn you!" Rin muttered before she finally removed her shoes and started to chase down Sakura, who ran away laughing a moment later.

Medea could not help but to smile a little at the scene.

She had no idea what type of competition they were in today, but she always found it adorable when the two sisters acted their age.

At that Medea closed the entrance door, and without any hurry, she calmly walked toward her workshop, where everyone was now waiting for her to start the lesson.

When she arrived at the room's entrance, Medea found Rin bickering with Sakura and complaining about how she had been unfair about something, while Shirou stood off to the side, watching the two of them with an amused expression.

She made them stop arguing and got their attention by entering the room and asking them how Aoi was doing, as it had been almost a week since she had last seen the girl's mother.

After Rin and Sakura answered her question by telling her that Aoi was doing fine, Medea closed the door behind her and said: "Ok kids, let's start today's lesson."

-

Four hours had passed since the lesson began, and Medea was scrupulously supervising her three students, ready to correct any kind of error or mistake.

Her gaze shifted from Rin to Sakura to Shirou, then back again. She didn't need to focus on any of them because she could spot any type of mistake that they could make in an instant. She was more than capable of keeping an eye on all of them at once.

Medea had always been loving and caring to those children, but when it came to the study of magic under her supervision, she could become stern like no other, and her students had grown to know it well over the years.

One of the reasons they were so focused and attentive was because of this.

At one point Medea began to think about them after she noticed that everything was fine and that none of them required assistance with their respective tasks.

She turned to look at Rin, who was sitting at her desk, reading one of the many books that were piled up on the table.

Rin, as much as she disliked it at first, was the most brilliant of her students.

Medea had remained quite stunned when Rin began to learn everything she taught her at a much faster pace than she had ever expected when she began to teach the girl magic, just as she had promised her the first time they met. But Rin, unlike Sakura and Shirou, learned everything she taught her, from the simplest of fundamental magic concepts to some of the more difficult spells for a child of her age.

Medea initially thought Rin was far ahead of Shirou and Sakura because she already had a general understanding of how magecraft worked, but even though she ensured that the gap between Rin and the other two narrowed over time, Rin had proven to be always one step ahead of them.

Medea had concluded that other than being more brilliant than them, compared to Shirou and Sakura who both had a kind of unique talents, Rin's special Affinity gave her a much greater control and comprehension of all the five great elements and all of the respective magic spells based on them, making her a 'better' magus than them. But she didn't want to diminish the girl's sheer talent and skill by saying that.

Since Rin started learning magic from her, Medea has come to respect her for rejecting all of her former knowledge and relearning everything she knew to a far higher level, while maintaining an unrelenting desire for power without ever expressing any kind of regret.

To be honest, the girl's actions resembled great avarice and want, and Medea liked it. A lot.

The girl knew exactly what kind of power she wanted and needed to protect those she loved, and she was not going to let anything stand in her way.

And Medea would surely not get in the way either, no, knowing what she would be capable of in the future, she would assist her in any way possible she could.

Other than teaching her traditional magic, she had even taught the girl a craft on how to make her own artificial high-quality gems, after discovering that the Tohsaka family specializes in the Flow Transferal of Power and Jewel Magecraft.

Not only was it economically advantageous from a certain point of view, but some of those gems that Rin would be able to create in the future also had the special ability to store and cast spells that she was not physically able to use.

Because some of the more advanced spells that Medea had planned to teach the girl were far too powerful and complex for her to actually use, the gems would be an ideal substitute for her.

Jewel magecraft was a form of thaumaturgy in which magical energy is transferred into jewels for use as Mystic Codes with a finite useful life. However, Medea was able to produce magical gems that not only were no longer one-time use items, they were almost comparable to Magic Crests because of her high-level item creation skill and extensive knowledge of ancient magecraft.

As a result Rin would be able to cast the single powerful spell contained in the gems just like one would do with their Magic Crest. She would simply need to run magical energy through the gem to activate it, along with the appropriate incantation and thaumaturgical procedure, each time she intended to use it.

That would make it possible for Rin to use even some of the more advanced spells from the Age of the Gods.

At that, Medea turned to look at Sakura.

She, too, was sitting at her desk, but it was mostly empty except for a pair of books. And instead of reading like Rin, Sakura was focused on creating little shadow familiars that began playing with each other as soon as they were created.

Compared to Rin, Sakura was a bit of a complex case.

First and foremost, Medea had to return her element affinity from water to the original element of imaginary numbers, as Zolgen had altered it to allow Sakura to use his clan's spell. Sakura could, in fact, once again use her full powers now that she had reobtained her original element.

Imaginary Numbers, or Hollow, was Sakura's unique elemental affinity and also her sorcery trait. This was a power highly effective against spiritual beings, but it was not so potent against those whose bodies are not made out of Ether.

Sakura, just like her sister, was born with great potential, rare natural talent, and even the same mana level as her. This meant that just like her sister, she too outperforms the norm of natural talent or inborn skill possessed by others. But, while she was teaching Rin almost everything she could since the girl had demonstrated a high level of comprehension of every subject she taught her, Medea had made Sakura focus in particular on mastering her Sorcery Trait and creating, controlling, and manipulating her special familiars.

Speaking of them, Medea had been taken aback the first time Sakura summoned her familiars. Even in her time, familiars made entirely of the Hollow element were quite rare, and because they were of a type she had never seen before, she studied them whenever she could, both out of curiosity and to understand what they were capable of…

But the more she studied Sakura's familiars, the clearer it became to Medea what they were. Manifestations, or more accurately, shadows, of a dark past. One who, no matter what, will never truly vanish...

…Anyway, even though they appeared weak, those familiars had the potential to become extremely powerful. The more energy Sakura used to create them, the greater their dimension and power would be. Not only that, but Medea had discovered that only a level of energy equal to that which made up the shadows could be used to destroy them.

She had made such a discovery when, during a little experiment, she had given Sakura a gem containing roughly three-hundred units of mana and instructed her to construct a familiar using all of the power contained in the stone. As a result, Sakura ended up developing a familiar that was nearly three meters tall, and that was impervious to any spells that utilized less than three-hundred mana units.

In theory, Sakura could spent years of energy on a single shadow, making it terrifyingly powerful, if not outright invincible to conventional magic. And that alone made her a terrifying summoner.

But the girl's abilities didn't stop there.

The 'Imaginary Number Space' is a form of alternate space that exists outside of reality and normal space. Thanks to her abilities Sakura was able to construct a yet indefinite number of Imaginary number Space pockets, which she could use as time capsules to store whatever she pleased, such as a vast number of powerful familiars that she could unleash at any time.

Not long ago, Medea had also asked Zolgen about his original plans for the girl, and he told her that according to his research when his clan's restraining spells were combined with Sakura's power, it was possible to imprison and skewer a target into a separate dimension composed entirely of shadows. That gave Medea some ideas for how to strengthen Sakura.

If the girl's magic was combined with the powerful ancient knowledge she would give her, Sakura would be able to use her abilities against anyone and anything. And not only that, Sakura would even be able to use her power to travel through the Imaginary Number Space... or send her enemies there and let whatever horror lurked in that space take care of the unfortunate individual.

Of course, she would teach and provide the girl with all the necessary tools. She was not going to waste any of Sakura's talents just because she possessed some unusual abilities.

Then Medea turned to watch Shirou.

Unlike Sakura and Rin, he was sitting on the ground in his usual corner of the room. And he was surrounded by normal and magical objects that he had traced, as that was one of the few things he was good at.

Medea sighed internally at the sight.

For who knows how long she had tried almost everything she could to teach Shirou her magic ever since she revealed that the two of them were mages, but other than some of the most simple of spells, Shirou was simply... inept, or incapable, at learning magic.

Unfortunately for him, his Origin and Affinity made even the most basic spells far too difficult to learn. Shirou had demonstrated to have no issues with magical theory whatsoever, but when it came to casting any of those spells he had studied so hard for, he simply failed with almost everything.

Sure, he was a Savant in his craft, to the point where even she couldn't project with the precision and consistency he did, but he was mediocre at best in everything else.

It took her nearly a year to give up on trying to teach him her magic and focus solely on developing his abilities.

After she gave up, Medea realized she had to assist Shirou in developing his unique magecraft, but because it was so unique, she didn't exactly know where to begin, so she conducted some experiments and studied him for some months before getting properly started.

The most significant result occurred when during a lesson where she was making Shirou practice with projection. Seeing that he had already made some good progress in the craft, at one point Medea showed him Rule Breaker and told him to make a 'Projection' of it. But, for obvious reasons, before she did that she had cast a spell on his mind that prevented him from learning anything about the history of the blade and of its owner.

The results of that little experiment had been quite revealing.

Despite his young age, and his use of an imperfect and incomplete 'Tracing' technique, Shirou had been able to create a hollow copy devoid of power of her Noble Phantasm, just by seeing it. That had demonstrated to Medea that she couldn't 'improve' him all that much.

Just like she had come to theorize after her studies, his Reality Marble was what was creating the Noble Phantasm, so she needed to assist him in improving his Tracing technique so he could bring forth better and more precise projections from his Reality Marble.

But some moments after seeing the initial result Medea then did remember how, when she first met Shirou, he had explained to her about the procedure he went through any time he had to analyze something and 'Tracing' it. And, while she had struggled to remember all of the passages, she had been able to 'Reverse engineer' his method over the past 5 years with the help of her Shirou.

Even though Medea was still a little disappointed that she could not make him a powerful traditional mage, she knew that she would be able to make him a terrifying battle mage.

However, instead of making him train by fighting her Dragon Warriors or putting him through any kind of physical training like she did when she had first met him, she had made Shirou focus on the practice of his magic and the development of his inner world over the last four years. She did so because Shirou's strength was derived largely from the very weapons he projected.

She remembered how when watching Shirou sparring with Saber his fighting style and moves changed drastically for each weapon he used. With some weapons, he even moved like a master swordsman who had decades of experience, when in reality he had been training just for around a month. The more she observed those unnatural movements, the

more it seemed that those weapons had a life on their own… the more it seemed that the weapons were the ones using Shirou, not otherwise.

And in recent years, she had finally figured out why. The explanation of this phenomenon lay in the fifth and sixth passages of Shirou's tracing technique: 'Sympathizing with the experience of its growth' and 'reproducing the accumulated years'.

What those passages actually meant was that it was possible for Shirou to faithfully copy the weapon's history, special abilities, and any of the skills and experiences that its original owner had developed with the weapon over time. This was possible due to the nature of Shirou's reality marble, which was able to record the history, composition, and design of what Shirou saw simply by sight and then provided the necessary materials to reproduce them.

Shirou's Tracing is used to bring the weapon into the real world after the actual reproduction happened in his inner world.

And speaking about his tracing technique, it had improved quite a lot over the years, and the objects he could project had become increasingly more complex. Shirou could initially only trace simple tools, but under her guidance, he was now able to trace electronic devices such as radios and landline phones.

And in observing his progress on the matter in the past years, Medea had discovered that all of Shirou's projections stayed around until he either deliberately dismissed them or they broke for whatever reason.

She even discovered that if a projection was more fragile than it should have been, it was because Shirou considers them to be so. What this meant was that if the mental image of the object that Shirou had did not falter, the actual projection would not.

Shirou's Tracing provided the objects he 'created' far more substance than a regular projection, allowing them to exist almost endlessly, but his weapons were only as powerful as his mental fortitude. And that was a concept she'd drilled into him via continuous repetition in the past years.

But Medea had not been teaching him only how to Trace, between the many things she taught him she had also been trying to teach him an advanced form of Reinforcement.

Despite the fact that Reinforcement was one of the most difficult forms of magecraft, Shirou had shown that he could reinforce items and sections of his body, despite his usual difficulties. But Shirou never allowed himself to get disheartened when he failed, which was the bulk of the time, because she constantly showed him considerable enthusiasm and support whenever he progressed.

Medea initially hoped for Shirou's reinforcement to reach her level, and despite now knowing it was very unlikely, she still tried her hardest. If Shirou could even reach a level of reinforcement that was above what was possible for the mages of this era, he would have become someone capable of taking Servants on his own in a direct fight with the proper preparation...

…And she had yet to give him her final and greatest gift.

At that, she turned to Rin and watched the spot on her arm where her Magic Crest resided.

'Soon Shirou… soon enough…' Medea then thought.

Another hour passed before Medea decided that it was time to stop.

"Ok kids, that's enough for today. Good work." She said, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention and make them snap out of their study.

At that Rin placed a bookmark between the pages of the book she was reading before closing it, then she got up from her desk, and returned all of her books to the bookshelf. On the other hand, Sakura made all her familiars disappear before she too went to put her books back on the shelf. Shirou instead simply stood up and dismissed all of the projections that surrounded him.

Once they were done tidying the workshop Medea called them to her.

"Kids, come over here, I have to tell you something." She said.

"What is it?" Shirou asked, as Rin and Sakura followed behind him.

"First and foremost, congratulations on your excellent work today. I could clearly see the fruits of your labor.

Shirou, your projections are becoming more precise and stable, and I can tell that quite soon I won't be able to tell the difference between the original and the copy.

Sakura, the number of familiars you can summon and control is growing noticeably; the next time we meet, we'll focus on the creation of your Space Pockets.

Rin, what can I say, you've outdone yourself yet again. You're making incredible progress with the theory program, and I expect you to do the same with the practice." Medea stated.

"Now, I briefly called you because I wanted to remind everyone that what you're learning here is something far more complex and ancient than anything the greatest current magi are learning. You kids are doing fantastic. And now that I've seen how far you've come, we've reached the point where our studies must become much more thorough from now on."

Sakura was silent for a moment before asking, almost concernedly, "...Why? We didn't perform well enough?"

"...What? Of course you did." Medea said after a moment with a smile to reassure her. "Kids, I've always admired your dedication to your studies, and whenever you encountered difficulties, I was always there to assist you. I've always gone out of my way to ensure that you never get stuck on a problem. And now I'm saying that the subjects of our studies will become more complex from now on because you're making such rapid progress."

The three of them either nodded or smiled a little when they heard that. They all enjoyed being complimented every now and then.

"Now that we made ourselves clear, I don't want to be overly demanding or set unrealistic expectations, but what I need from all of you from now on are overall better results and progress. As I said before your studies will become more difficult, and I understand that it will be taxing, but when danger will come, it will not be just your 'effort' to protect those you care about." She then said as she observed the three of them.

Medea had already warned them about the threat of the Holy Grail War, and she had hinted several times that the conflict had been the root of all their tragedies and sufferings. And she was very aware of the impact it had on them whenever she mentioned it.

In fact, she looked at each of them after she said those words.

Shirou only had a pensive expression on his face, clearly recalling the night of the incident. Even though he was now more open and had made significant progress, he was still resistant to expressing any kind of negative emotions.

Sakura, on the other hand, just appeared dour.

The girl was not much more shaken by the memories of what she had gone through because she now believed that, aside from some heavy physical and verbal abuse, the Matou had never done anything worse to her, as Medea had altered and erased many of her memories for the sake of her mental health.

Rin, on the other hand, appeared normal as she watched the sorrowful Sakura at her side, but Medea could see the shame and anger hidden in her eyes.

Despite the girl's best efforts to hide it, it was clear that Rin had become overly attached to Sakura ever since she had been reunited with her. And whenever she saw her sister get sad for whatever reason, Rin would always get quite upset, if not outright furious.

Seeing how much Sakura had changed, both physically and emotionally, after their separation had shaken Rin, and it had triggered some kind of instinct in her. But it wasn't only that.

Medea was talking with Aoi about her daughters once, and the woman confided to her that Rin had begun to believe that she was directly responsible for what had happened to Sakura all those years before.

Aoi admitted that she had no idea why Rin had begun to think that way and that she had tried her hardest to convince her that it wasn't her fault. However, the fact that she still refused to tell Rin what had happened to her sister and why they needed to change her memories for her mental health, something that Medea made Rin aware of in order to further her own goals, had made Rin feel responsible for some reason, as if she had failed and abandoned her sister.

That guilty characteristic of Rin's personality was definitely not something positive or healthy, but it was one of the driving forces behind her newfound unconditional love for her sister. And Medea had no intention of changing that in any way.

"Ok, now that we are done here you kids can go out and play. Soon I'll start to cook and in around an hour we should eat."

"Can I help you make lunch?" Shirou immediately asked.

"Thank you, Shirou, but there is no need. Just go and have fun with Rin and sakura."

"...Ok." Shirou said after a moment of hesitation, before he followed Rin and Sakura who had already started to get out.

"Good boy." Medea told him with a smile as she watched the kids getting out of her workshop.

After they went out Medea closed the door behind them and went into the inner sanctum of her workshop. Her true Workshop. The place that was absolutely prohibited for the children to even approach it.

Because Medea believed that trust was the foundation of child-rearing, the kids were aware of her inner Workshop existence. She didn't keep the existence of that place a secret because she wanted to make it clear that she trusted them enough to tell them about it, and enough not to go there. And in fact, no one had ever tried to approach it without her permission up until now.

That was just one of many examples, but over the last five years, Medea has worked hard to establish a foundation of trust and friendship with them, and between them. Their journey will be a difficult one, so elements such as trust, teamwork, and friendship will be essential for their success. Whatever happens, they will always be there for each other, even in the worst of times.

As she was walking toward her desk at one point suddenly Medea stopped her pace and looked around her workshop, and her eyes fell upon a table, where one of the dioramas that she had yet to finish was.

'Huh, I thought I had finished this one…' She then thought as she approached the model that depicted a battlefield.

In the last years, Medea had started so many personal projects that by this point she frequently got confused about what she had completed and what needed to be completed.

She looked at the model and made a mental note of the materials and spells needed to complete it.

The appearance of those models was quite deceptive, as in reality, those small-scale reproductions that could at best attract the attention of collectors and modeling enthusiasts, were actually the example of ultimate Bounded Fields.

Thanks to her advanced Skill and knowledge, she had the ability to construct 'miniature worlds'. In fact, those models could be considered as one of the pinnacles of magic, as they were comparable to Reality Marbles.

And the display of such ability to build elaborate miniature worlds was the very proof that she learned directly from Hecate, the goddess of Magic.

But with those kinds of speeches aside, those dioramas were something she had successfully created in the past 5 years, with layer upon layer of incredibly precise spells. It took quite some time to create them as even the smallest mistake could undo her entire work.

It could be said that another dimension existed within the dioramas. One could even say that it was a world of dolls as the dolls inside were literally alive. Of course, that was because the dolls were handmade by Medea herself.

At that Medea observed the three small dolls were separated from the rest on the side of each diorama. Those were the dolls she had prepared for Shirou, Sakura, and Rin to use. When the time came, she would shift their consciousness into them and make them enter those worlds.

Yes, things had gotten out of hand. As she made more and more dioramas, she had to expand this section of her workshop several times. Because of how large they were, some of them even took entire tables.

And, no, she didn't have any problems or obsessions. She simply had too much spare time on her hands.

During the periods when they went to school Shirou and the girls stayed there until the afternoon, and other than doing the house chores and keeping an eye on them through her many familiars scattered around the city, there was not much Medea could do until they came home. Furthermore, despite having obtained a body, she still had no need to sleep, allowing her to work on her hobbies and projects all night.

She really had quite a lot of free time.

…Returning to her dioramas, it was still early for the children to enter them. However, she expected the children to be ready to utilize them as early as next year.

Every single one of the dioramas hosted terrible scenery and enemies. Perfect for the three of them to use as a training ground and prepare themself for the worst that the Grail War could offer. In fact, those dioramas would have taken them 'all over the world and throughout history'.

That is to say that those miniature worlds would transport them into some of the most brutal conflicts that ever happened in human history, from the massacre of Cannae, to the battle of Gettysburg, to the trenches of Verdun, to the siege of Stalingrad, and to so on.

She had done quite a lot of research to build them as faithfully as possible, but obviously, she had also added some things to spice things up as normal human soldiers and weaponry would not be able to pose a proper threat as time passed and the three of them grew stronger.

And while the puppets and monsters she had created could not actually harm the kids in any way possible, in case they would get hit or wounded, they would still feel the pain of the 'injury', albeit to a lesser intensity degree. Pain was the greatest of teachers after all.

On the other hand, she made sure that whenever the kids would hit the dolls with their spells and attacks, the dolls would instantly become harmless and also deactivate, at least until she activated them again. She did not want the dolls destroyed because she had taken great care in making them and they would need to be reused countless times in future exercises.

…Yes, she knew just how sick it sounded to send children to live and experience something as traumatic as war, even if it was not the real deal…

But she had not forgotten that their childhood had died a long time ago.

Because of the Holy Grail War Shirou had lost everything he had and he had been mentally scarred for life. Medea knew that no matter what she did, she would never be able to completely 'heal' Shirou and make him become 'normal'.

Sakura… Well, there was no need to say anything about her, as the child had gone through things that were much worse than anything she could ever prepare for her. While Medea had altered her memories, she was very confident that Sakura would not be bothered by anything she would see and do in those worlds.

But the only person she had to be concerned about was Rin, because, unlike Sakura and Shirou, she had not been through any 'real' traumatic experience or had any mental scars or issues. She was the one she needed to mentally fortify. And she'd been working on it for quite some time.

After she snapped out of her thoughts, Medea finally went to her desk, took her diary, and wrote down all the progress she saw the kid making for that day's lesson before going to the kitchen and starting to cook.

There she made lunch and when she was done she called the kids to set up the table.

They ate, rested, and then the kids began doing their summer homework together after a couple of hours.

Medea was in the living room at one point, sitting on the other side of the table, watching Shirou and Rin helping Sakura with her homework, and as she watched them, she could not help but to fell… guilty.

No matter how hard she tried to conceal it, no matter how many layers of lies she erected, the fact that she was raising those children to fight in the Holy Grail War did not change.

Sure, she had their best interest in mind, but it was not as noble as it looked.

Truth be told, Medea at first even viewed Rin as a pawn that she could use to her advantage.

She wanted her on her side since she knew that she was going to become a Master, and at first she just saw the girl as Sakura's guardian and one of Shirou's future allies. She gave the girl such a role since she wasn't particularly interested in her or felt any sort of connection or obligation toward her, unlike Shirou and Sakura. However, during the past five years, she had made the grave mistake of lowering her guard, and she had begun to develop a strong and affectionate relationship with the girl, and as a result, every plan she had ever made gradually fell through.

…Well, she had grown very attached to all of them over the years, and any desire she had at teaching them any kind of offensive spell, let alone how to fight and kill, had disappeared, but she didn't have much of a choice...

She knew their future, she knew exactly what they would go against, and she was preparing them appropriately.

She had tried to do something. She had tried to ensure that they would never be chosen as Masters and would never be involved in the war... but, no matter what, she saw through her clairvoyance that all of her efforts were always futile, or ended tragically.

It seemed to be those children's Fate to take part in the Holy Grail War. And that was something that even she could not change without doing something far too drastic again… maybe.

Once again Medea reminded herself that all of this was necessary. It was for their best. She did not have to hesitate…

-

It was now night, and Medea was now in her room, alone.

After Aoi had come to take Rin and Sakura home in the late afternoon, Medea spent the rest of the day with Shirou doing nothing in particular, and after some hours from when they made and ate dinner together, they retired to their respective rooms.

Medea at the moment was writing in her personal diary about her day. She had started to write it shortly after she had adopted Shirou all of those years back.

The reason she had started writing it was to keep track of all of her accomplishments, but that journaling then turned out to have become quite… the positive experience.

Other than to keep track of her accomplishments after some time, Medea then started to use her diary to keep track of her days and how they went, and then it became a regular habit for her to write down her thoughts and reflections.

But the most important thing that Medea had acknowledged was how journaling helped her reflect on her life. The last five years have passed very quickly, and that diary gave her the opportunity to stop and reflect every once and a while on everything she had done in the last years. In some way, it ensured that she was still doing what was needed to do, no matter how things changed.

After she finished writing about her day she closed her diary and put it back in the drawer, near to all the letters from Kiritsugu and Illya.

Medea began to think about the two after seeing the letters and being reminded of them.

In the past years, after they had successfully saved Illya, she and Kiritsugu Emiya had remained in contact. In fact, they have become quite the acquaintances and 'business friends'.

From time to time Kiritsugu would contact her to request some services, like a new system of defense for the castle, or new powerful familiars and guards, as he became increasingly more paranoid that someone may discover that he was still alive and come to take revenge on him.

And on those occasions when she needed to travel to the castle, Medea would take Shirou with her.

She used her trip to the castle as a pretext to bring Shirou along and introduce him to Illya. As a result, Shirou had quickly become the girl's best friend, due to the fact that he was basically the first kid she had ever met...

...and in doing so, unbeknownst to everyone, she had secured Illya as one of Shirou's allies in the war.

Kiritsugu usually paid for her services with favors since she didn't need any kind of monetary currency. But, for the most part, he repaid her by providing her with rare objects or materials she needed for her projects, or even by providing her with confidential information.

Since she had the chance, she had asked the man almost anything he knew about modern mage society and their most powerful organizations, and Kiritsugu had given her a lot of interesting information about the Clocktower, the Church, and other lesser-known organizations.

While information about the types of people she may meet, their mentalities, and the organizations to which mages would belong may be useful for her, it would be essential for the children, as they will undoubtedly meet and have to deal with agents from various organizations during their lifetime.

Medea then began to think of Illya in particular as she considered children.

She always made sure to properly examine the girl and her health whenever she met her, to ensure that she had no health problems and was growing at a regular rate, even though she could easily claim that she had successfully undone everything the Einzbern had ever done to the girl since Illya was in perfect health and looked her age.

However, her mother's death had a significant psychological impact on the child. And there was not much she could do about it.

Illya displayed clear signs of depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms in the years following Irisviel's death, but luckily for her, she had her father to always comfort her and help her grieve and accept her mother's death. And, much to Medea's surprise, Kiritsugu ended up doing quite a good job.

As the years went by the girl's mood improved significantly, and she became more lively with everyone around her, with no signs of developing any problematic behavior

And as a result, it had been thanks to that now meddling girl's insistent request that she and her father would actually leave the castle at certain times of the year to 'explore the world.'

But instead of actually traveling the world, they would always return to Fuyuki, as Kiritsugu felt it was the safest place they could ever stay for a prolonged period of time.

Yes, Fuyuki City was where Kiritsugu had allegedly died or gone missing, but since Medea welcomed him and his daughter with open arms and granted them security in her territory, the man couldn't refuse such a valid offer.

They had arrived in the city before the start of summer this year, and Illya had come over to them every day since then to play with Shirou and the girls or to learn about magic.

But, while Illya remained with them, Kiritsugu, on the other hand, was always busy planning step by step the brief 'vacation trip' he would take with Illya. The one that at the very moment Kiritsugu was taking with his daughter around Japan.

Because the man was still very paranoid that someone still may be after him, even though Medea had told him otherwise, he rarely ever left the castle with his daughter. But whenever they came there, he always took advantage of the opportunity to take his daughter somewhere she had never been before.

On the rare occasions when he came over to her house with Illya, Kiritsugu would usually spend his time watching his daughter have fun with the other kids, asking Medea questions about Illya's future, or even speaking with her about mundane things on even rarer occasions. The man seemed to have become more talkative since they first met. It was as if the cold and ruthless side of him had vanished.

But in observing the man for a while, Medea had noticed how watching his daughter having fun made him genuinely happy and relaxed. Kiritsugu would actually smile whenever he looked at his daughter being happy, but for some reason, his smile would always vanish if Illya turned to smile at him.

At that Medea then even recalled one of the times Kiritsugu and her talked about his paranoid behavior. He told her that he was too afraid of losing Illya too, yet, he did not want his daughter to spend the rest of her life recluse in the castle and to have a miserable life because of him. He was conflicted on how to act and behave. He knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he could not do otherwise. And that is why he sought some advice.

Medea could understand just how much he wanted to make Illya happy despite all of his fears, and she knew why. Both of them knew that he wouldn't be able to do so for much longer.

As she observed him at the time Medea noted that Kiritsugu didn't even seem sad, but instead he looked almost... content.

Kiritsugu knew that he would not be there for Illya for much longer, yet he was grateful for having the chance to love his daughter for a little longer. And the thought of it always saddened Medea quite a bit.

Kiritsugu appeared to be in good health even at the current time, but in reality, his slow decline had already started. He only had about four or five years left.

His health was already deteriorating. He had already begun to have breathing difficulties. His muscular system had begun to weaken and thin. Arthritis had started to appear. And some internal organs had already begun to show indications of health issues.

…

Talking about Illya, in terms of her relationship with the girl, Medea got along quite well with her.

Aside from the fact that they got along, the only thing worth mentioning about their relationship was how, because the girl lacked a maternal figure, she relished being showered with any kind of praise she gave her.

That was one of the main reasons Illya would frequently compete with Rin for the most praises after the lessons were finished. While Rin was superior in the theoretical study of magic, Illya's powerful artificial magic circuits allowed her to be superior in practice, as she was able to use spells that even Rin could not. That had sparked a sweet little rivalry between the two of them.

Medea enjoyed teaching her magic, and she also enjoyed watching her playing with the other kids and arguing with them...

To be honest, she never encouraged or rewarded that last behavior; instead, she consistently disapproved of it, yet she couldn't help but find it endearing. It was her little guilty pleasure.

Medea then realized she was quite tired as she closed the drawer and snapped out of her thoughts, but she didn't want to sleep that night as she had a lot to do.

She considered her options after getting up and stretching a little.

'Perhaps I should finish some of the books...' Medea reflected as she looked around.

Obviously, there were no books about the magic of the Age of the Gods for the kids to study with, so she had to write them herself. And maybe after she finishes some of them, she should start working on the dioramas.

Medea had chosen her course of action, but first, she decided to check on the city, as it had been a long time since she had last done so.

The hundreds of familiars she had scattered throughout the city worked flawlessly and alerted her to everything strange that had ever happened, but she just wanted to see it for herself every now and then.

She took her crystal ball from the shelf near her, sat back at the table, and started to watch the more populated part of the city.

Despite the late hour, the streets were bustling with activity, and she knew they were safer than ever.

As she looks around she reflects on how she has been quietly changing the city for the better in the last few years.

Because she somewhat controlled the city's only and most powerful criminal family, crime had virtually disappeared. She had made the Fujimura clan redeem themselves by assisting in the reconstruction of the city, assisting the civil population after the incident, and helping the local authorities in keeping the city safe, since she disliked the idea of 'her' city having any kind of criminal activity. And for obvious reasons, she made them shut down all of their illegal activities and use their funds to open legal ones.

That, in the last years, had the strange and unexpected consequence that whoever caused trouble in the city disappearing, as their actions could clearly harm the family's many successful businesses and ruin the town's reputation as a secure location.

Of course, no one wanted any kind of trouble in this nice and peaceful town where nothing bad had ever happened. Right?

At one point she decided to look elsewhere, and from Shinto she moved back to Miyama, and from there she focused her attention on the foreign district.

For a moment she looked upon the Matou residence, and through her crystal ball she noticed that around the residence stood a new Bounded Field that she had never seen before. At that Medea remembered Zolgen notifying her of how he had made another successful breakthrough and had found a way for him to use another 'form' of ancient magecraft.

At that Medea thought once again of how she truly had made an excellent choice in turning the lich into an ally, for what Zolgen did was much more complex than finding a way to use a form of magic that no one other than her should be able to use in such an era.

With the help of her instructions he deconstructed her magics to reveal their 'architecture', and by being inspired by them, he developed forms of magic similar to the ancient ones that could be actually used in the modern era. As a result, the spells the man created were much weaker compared to the originals, but stronger than the equivalent spell of the modern era, assuming they still existed and had not become lost knowledge.

But still, the fact that forms of magic such as those could be used in this period was oustanding.

She used the results of Zolgen reverse engineering research not only to understand how much magic had deteriorated and replace the spells she could not use in this era, but to also teach the kids forms of magic that they would normally never be able to use as they required far too much mana or mystery that was simply not present in the modern era.

There was no need for her to waste time on such things when she could focus on more important goals and delegate tasks like this to Zolgen. After all, he was there for that. She gave him notions of her overwhelming knowledge, and he gave her every kind of conclusion and discovery in return.

From there Medea turned her attention to a house that was not much farther from the Matou residence.

After observing it for a bit she entered the Tohsaka household and found herself in Rin's and Sakura's room. As she looked around, she noticed that the girls were already sleeping in their beds, and she also noticed that they were sleeping facing each other.

She smiled a little at the sight, as she remembered the time Aoi told her how Rin had insisted on transferring to Sakura's room after she returned, so that she could "stay close and look after her sister even when they slept".

Medea moved out of the room and then proceeded to find Aoi in the living room, still awake, sitting on the couch doing nothing. The woman looked at the air in front of her with her usual thoughtful expression. Medea had no idea what she was thinking, but she had a good guess.

Aoi was still trapped in the past. Constantly thinking about her mistakes and errors. The woman could never forget what she and her husband had done to their family, to their daughters, no matter how hard she tried.

Medea had tried to give her some advice on how to deal with the guilt…

…but Aoi was not particularly prone to take her advice on such matters anyway…

After leaving the house, Medea returned to the pitch-black streets to continue her nighttime wanderings. As she was doing it, at one point she considered who to watch next, and then, after a few minutes, she remembered Kirei.

Since she last saw him, it had been a while.

Since the priest rarely left the church and she had not placed any familiars there to prevent Gilgamesh from perceiving that someone was watching them whenever he returned to the city, she was mostly unaware of what the priest was up tp.

But, she could easily spy on them with her crystal ball without attracting anyone's attention.

At that she moved her vision to the Church, just to see that there was no one in the main hall. She thought that the man had gone to sleep since it was a late hour, but after she moved to the man's room, saw that he was not even there.

'...How strange.' She thought.

Medea began to wonder where Kirei could have gone at that point. While there were none in the proximity, she still had some familiars to observe the Church from afar. So if the priest had left the church, she would have known right away.

She eventually discovered a door that, strangely, she had never seen before as she continued to explore the Church in search of the man or some clue about his current location.

After passing through it and descending the stairs, Medea found herself in a dim basement. She was surprised to see Kirei standing in the middle of the room surrounded by almost total darkness, but as she observed him and wondered just why he would be there, she noticed that he was gazing at something on the floor with quite an odd expression.

Medea shifted her focus away from the priest and squinted slightly as she tried to figure out what he was looking at…

…

…

…

…And only when she finally realized what she was looking at, did the world around her go dark.

Her entire room seemed to turn pitch black. Around her, everything vanished. Her relaxed demeanor disappeared as well as she focused her eyes and drew herself up close to the crystal ball, which was now the center of her attention.

Her eyes had widened, her heart had stopped, and time had seemed to slow down by that point.

She observed those... things… while gritting her teeth and holding her breath... and as she did, after a while Medea realized she was unable to blink or even turn her gaze away even if she struggled to do so. Her eyes were fixed on them.

Never before had she been subjected to such a severe 'shock' that she remained... paralyzed?

She wasn't repulsed by seeing those things, and she wasn't frightened either; all it did was cause her to sit there motionless.

And it was just at that moment that repressed memories in the deepest recesses of her mind began to resurface, and a cold sweat broke out on Medea's forehead.

She was drowning in them again before she could even realize it, unable to move or escape. She had no control over anything, and she couldn't get rid of them despite her struggle.

She just wanted them to vanish so she could finally find her happiness.

Suppressing them had worked, until now, yet they have returned to torment her once again despite her best efforts to forget about them.

She could hear the screams echoing in the distance as if it were happening all over again, and her heart ached every time those horrifying sounds echoed through her eardrums. They never stopped, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not shut them out.

The room around her was spinning, as were the images dancing before her eyes. She felt sick to her stomach as she tried to wake up from that waking nightmare.

She had to act. Now. Before the memories of her children overwhelmed her.

And it wasn't until the moment that Kirei moved and left the basement, that Medea was finally able to snap out of that trance.

As her senses began to recover, Medea moved away from the crystal ball. And even though she could now move, her gaze remained glued to those entities.

After a further, desperate, struggle, she finally managed to look away from the crystal ball, and as she started to think on what she should do in light of what she had witnessed in the priest's basement, she covered her eyes with her left hand so that she would not even catch a glimpse of those things.

Medea took some time to recover from the shock. And after giving it some thought, Medea concluded that the best course of action was to first calm herself and to carefully consider what she should do next. She couldn't just make a snap decision while she was in that state.

At that she began to inhale deeply…

…so that she could calm herself…

…Yet, as each of her breaths became more strained, the scowl that had begun to form on Medea's face got more and more pronounced.

And suddenly, in the heat of the moment, unable to control herself, her wrath flared up and she stormed out of her room.

Shirou was in the bathroom at the time, brushing his teeth and making sure they were clean.

Medea always told him that good personal hygiene was essential for his health, and like always he listened to everything she said.

He exited the bathroom after finishing up his cleaning, and since he was now ready to sleep, he wanted to say good night to Medea before heading to his room.

As he walked to her room, he began to think about her.

In the past Medea always used to come to his room to talk with him and kiss him goodnight before going to bed, but she had recently stopped doing so. He was a little sad about it, but he wasn't going to cry about it. He was growing up, and he couldn't always be clingy and stick to her like glue.

And he had gotten right in front of Medea's room door at that moment, but before he could even begin to knock, he heard Medea quickly walking toward him.

Shirou assumed Medea had heard him coming and was on her way to open the door for him, but he remained surprised when she opened the door and slammed against him.

"Ouch." He said as he fell on his butt.

Shiroumassagedhisbackforamomentafterfalling,beforelookinguptowatchMedea…

...and he remained terrified of the woman who had saved and raised him for the first time in his life.

Medea, who towered over him, was staring at him in a way she hadn't before.

Her expression terrified him. Her eyes were frightening. Shirou didn't know why, but he felt threatened, as if his life was in danger.

Almost immediately he crawled backward, terrified by what he was seeing, but as soon as his back struck the wall behind him he closed his eyes shut.

He did not know what would happen next, he did not know what was happening, but he could only hope that everything that was happening had to be just a nightmare. It would be the only explain-

"O-Oh gods, Shirou, are you alright? I swear that I did not see you there. Are you hurt?" Medea asked him as she kneeled.

Upon hearing those words, Shirou re-opened his eyes, and saw that Medea's expression had suddenly changed. The terrifying expression she had before had disappeared, and she was now clearly very concerned and sorry.

"..."

"...Shirou?"

He continued to stare at her in confusion for another moment. Shirou then questioned whether the way Medea was looking at him had been all in his head. Perhaps, he was more tired than he realized, and his mind had just played a trick on him for some reason.

"Shirou? Are you all right?" She asked again as she snatched him from his thoughts.

"...Um... yes. I'm fine." He told her as he stood up.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She said this as she turned him around to see if he had been hurt somewhere.

"...No, it's my fault; I should not have suddenly gotten in your way… Anyway, where were you going?" He asked.

"Oh, well... I… I was going outside for some fresh air. I'm not tired, and the weather appears to be lovely outside." Medea explained. "...Would you like to come with me?"

"...No… I came here just to tell you good night. I'm… quite tired."

"Oh ok…" Medea said, "...are you sure you didn't get hurt?" She then asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you…" Shirou said before he turned around. "Good night."

"All right, night." Medea said as she watched Shirou walk away.

She then quietly sighed and shook her head as Shirou turned the corner and went to his room.

'I reacted far too violently and volatilely…' Medea thought as she started to walk toward the backyard.

She was beyond enraged at the moment, and her mind was racing. In her rage, she had even hurt Shirou by rushing out of the room.

Suddenly the course of the day had taken an unexpected turn. What she thought would be another peaceful day turned out to be… something that she was yet unable to fully describe.

And although she wasn't sure what to exactly think or feel just yet, she was confident that once she found Kirei, there would be a resolution.

She went outside, where she called for Zolgen, and while she waited for him to show up, she began to reflect.

It was clear that she needed a plan for what she was about to do next, but this one would require some careful consideration on her part. Not because Kirei was a dangerous being who may pose a threat to them, but rather because of the entity with whom he had a contract.

She was aware of the connection between Kirei and Gilgamesh since she had used her divination to spy on them. And she was certain that Gilgamesh would be alerted instantly if anything happened to the priest, even if they were no longer bound by a contract.

'...Should I act? ...Should I do anything about what I saw?' After a brief moment of hesitation, she reflected.

...but what questions was she even asking herself? After seeing that, there was no way she, of all people, could look the other way.

What she should be considering right now should be the best course of action for her.

Once she discovered what was hidden in that basement, the long-buried memories of that terrible day, when she committed the greatest of her sins, resurfaced in her mind.

Simply put, she couldn't sit back and do nothing since the knowledge of such things would only torment her for the rest of her days.

She had to get rid of this new problem and everything associated with it. Immediately. She would never achieve her happiness otherwise.

…And to think she had desperately tried to keep them at bay for over five years, only for them to resurface, stronger than ever. As if interacting with children all day long wasn't difficult enough...

'...But what about the consequences of my actions?' She then reflected.

She had no fear of Gilgamesh, as she had already witnessed his impending death at the hands of Shirou and Archer in the next Holy Grail War. However, if she were to draw the King Of Heroes' attention at this time, she would have no choice but to leave the city.

Shirou was still too young, and he hadn't yet developed his Reality Marble, while she lacked the necessary power to even fight, let alone defeat the ancient king.

She was fully aware that her hasty decision might change the future she had predicted and derail all of her plans... But, first and foremost, she had no choice but to act, and second, because she could already see the results of her actions with her own eyes, she had no need to speculate about how things might turn out…

But right at that moment, Medea had a sudden insight that caused her to pause for a moment.

'...Wait, would I actually alter the future?' She then wondered.

Even in her current state, she had to maintain her composure and reason as best she could.

So, what if everything she had previously predicted included these current events?

She posed such a question to herself, but she was unsure of the answer because she didn't know.

Medea had never used her abilities to see her own future and actions, but only those of others, as that was all she had ever been interested in.

She had used her abilities to ensure that the children would survive the war by observing their far future and Gilgamesh's death.

She had to acknowledge that this was a particularly awful habit she also had in her original life… But she couldn't help but question, though, if it had genuinely been her decision not to fully utilize her powers, as if she had done so, many of the tragedies in her life would have been avoided.

…What if her actions were scripted this time too?

She had to keep in mind the strength of fate and the enigmatic ways it operated. If something was destined to occur, the outcome would not change regardless of the course of action one may take. Even the gods themself were powerless against it.

And, just as the children were fated to fight in the war, perhaps what she was about to do was as well.

But that was something to consider another time.

And if there was anything to think about at this point, it was the fact that she had never seen Kirei in one of her visions, nor had she ever heard him mentioned...

What might happen next would most likely explain why.

At that, she slowly closed her eyes and began to see into the future, so that she could prepare herself accordingly in order to achieve the best possible outcome.

But, not long after she began, Medea began to sense and hear Zolgen's arrival.

A faint buzz filled the air, and it quickly grew louder as the horde of flying insects began to arrive in the backyard, while others crawled out of the ground.

After thousands of them had gathered and infested the backyard, they all concentrated on one point. After a few moments, the swarm of insects began to contract and shape, and after they dissipated, Zolgen Makiri emerged in the now-quiet backyard.

"I apologize for taking so long, Miss." As soon as he took physical form, he spoke, bowing his head.

As he watched his master, Zolgen was able to sense some of the rage, uncertainty, and internal conflict she was currently going through because of the link the two of them shared.

In fact, even before he arrived, or even before Medea summoned him, Zolgen had sensed that something had gone horribly wrong.

"...You don't have to apologize, Zolgen. After all, I had unexpectedly summoned you." Medea said as she opened her eyes, which were now glowing in the night, and turned to face the inexpressive man.

Medea observed him, and her thoughts strayed to the past. The man was entirely different nowadays than he had been when they had first met. She had helped him regain his youth, strength, and most importantly, his sanity.

He was no longer the aged lich who could barely keep himself alive.

He had been molded and shaped into her advisor and right arm. She had shared with him her ancient knowledge and wisdom. She had overseen his maturation and growth as a mage. And now he had become someone she could rely on, someone who could help her with any issue... and he was more than ready for his upcoming task.

"What seems to be the emergency? I can sense that you're quite upset." He said, before he noticed her eyes.

At that, he realized that she had just been using her abilities prior to his arrival. And noticing that, Zolgen couldn't help but think about how unusual the entire situation was.

Medea had never shown anything resembling surprise or unpreparedness for anything since they first met and he had pledged his soul to her and her teachings. That was because she could see into the future, so if she was like that at the moment and she had called him for help, Zolgen realized something unexpected had happened, or was about to.

That could be a foreshadowing of something terrible.

"Zolgen." Medea called his name, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"For your next mission, you will require extreme caution. Keep in mind that I don't care how long it takes you or what tools or tactics you employ. The outcome is the only thing that matters to me."

"I understand." Replied Zolgen. "What is your will?" He then asked.

"...Your next mission is to drive Kirei Kotomine out of his church, and to kill him." She went on, her voice was as cold as ice.

To say the man was taken aback when he heard his master's new order would be an understatement. But immediately after that momentary surprise, the inexpressiveness returned to his face, and a flood of thoughts rushed through his mind.

He started to question why, after previously telling him that it was best to actively avoid the priest, she would now want the priest killed. Then, he pondered what she could have seen in her visions to prompt her to reconsider her orders. He next considered the priest's death's potential effects, the kind of chain reaction it would generate, and the possible benefit it could bring…

…But he knew he'd get his answer when the time came. He'd never questioned his master's will before. And this time would be no exception. It was time for him to obey.

Kirei Kotomine was a powerful executioner of the church, on par, if not superior, with the best enforcers of the mage association. His great experience with mages, undead, and holy magecraft made him a terrifying foe for someone like Zolgen. But, as his master had told him, he could take his time, and he knew that with all the knowledge and power he had gained during his long life and under his service to Medea, he couldn't fail.

After a brief moment, he bowed his head and said, "As you wish."

And with that, Zolgen's body began to fall apart, and when he was gone, Medea turned to look at the full moon, before she disappeared as well.

-

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light…"

Kirei recited before he sighed, closed his Bible, and set it down on the pedestal.

The feeling of emptiness that permeated his being continued to irritate him as usual, despite the fact that he had finally discovered a way to relish his pointless existence.

The more he reflected on it, the more he realized how much he had missed the last night of the war.

That much fire. That much sweet suffering. The pain was still audible and palpable to him. He could still clearly recall every agonizing cry he had heard while traveling through that hell on earth. And he could still recall some of the outstanding individuals that despite their wounds and their dying state, kept on struggling, and desperately tried to live against all the odds, showing all of their worth.

It was almost painful for him not to be able to relive it.

In comparison to that night, the silent torment of the kids in his basement were not really capable of satisfying him. They were genuinely boring to watch for him. Whenever he went to visit them, instead of finding the entertainment he sought, he felt nothing but apathy.

After snapping out of his reverie and noticing the late hour, the priest decided it was time for him to rest.

Kirei then started to think of the only things that had piqued his interest in the previous years as he walked toward his room.

Five years ago, after returning to Fuyuki, he was eager to resume his duties as priest and caretaker of what remained of the Tohsaka family. And at the time, he couldn't help but be delighted by the thought of watching Aoi wasting away in her catatonic state, while her daughter was utterly unable to help her mother.

…

…And it would be an enormous understatement to say that he was shocked when he discovered that Aoi had somehow recovered from her previous state.

He wasn't the type of person to be easily surprised, yet... He wasn't sure how to react at first.

He was present that night. He had personally witnessed the woman being strangled, heard her throat being crushed, and was the one who had healed her barely enough so that she could be brought to the hospital and be saved.

He had even heard from the medical professionals that the woman was unlikely to ever recover from her condition.

Of course, he didn't hide his surprise when he met her, but he pretended to be happy and grateful for Aoi's miraculous recovery. Kirei was careful not to appear suspicious in any way, and he tried to be as genuine as possible in all of his interactions.

After speaking with Aoi about the aftermath of the war, what they had been up to in the recent months, and honoring Tokiomi's memory, Kirei informed her that he intended to finish implanting the rest of the family crest to Rin, as Tokiomi would have undoubtedly desired.

Aoi thanked him for his generosity, and after thanking him for also looking after Rin while she couldn't, she gave him her permission to do so.

A week later Kirei implanted the remaining half of the Tohsaka family crest into Rin… and that was it. That would be one of his last interactions with the Tohsaka family. And every interaction they ever had after that, had been of his initiative.

Even though he didn't expect anything different from them following the disastrous conclusion of the war that nearly destroyed the family, Kirei could not help but find the entire situation odd, if not suspicious.

Kirei initially assumed that Aoi would have asked him to educate Rin after she had recovered from her brain-damaged state, as she still appeared physically and mentally weak, but he had also assumed that she would not want anything else to do with magecraft in general after the terrible experience. But she never contacted him for any reason. Not even for the most basic of assistance.

The way the woman behaved was also strange, but it was not just that.

During his talks with Aoi when he had returned, Kirei discovered that for some reason Sakura had been returned to them, when he knew that the Matou should have kept the child so that she would become their heir according to the agreements pre-established by the two families. But as Aoi evaded the questions on why she had been returned, Kirei did not press

on the matter as it could have appeared possibly suspicious, and he surely wouldn't go to ask Zouken. So that matter, like Aoi's recovery, remained a mystery.

One of the first theories that came to mind to explain Aoi's recovery was that Rin had found a powerful magical artifact or Mystery Code that had been able to save her mother's life. Kirei was unaware of all the magical items possessed by the Tohsaka family, but if that was the case, he couldn't understand why the woman would not even mention it once, let alone hide it from him, unless it was a highly valuable or potent object.

Then another one of his theories was that perhaps the Matou were for some reason involved in the recovery. It would not have been out of the capabilities of the old lich. He was the only one in this city to have the power necessary to save the woman from that state.

However, simply seeing the woman made the priest doubt that the worm was involved in any way, as he had witnessed with his own eyes what kind of fate the individuals who had some sort of pact with the worm suffered. Aoi, despite appearing frail, was clearly in good health and sane of mind, which someone like the now-deceased Kariya clearly wasn't when he still lived.

And even if the worm was involved, Kirei knew that he wouldn't have left any kind of proof or trace of his involvement that could have been tracked back to him, let alone give back the heir of his family to her original one for whatever obscure reason.

At first, he was convinced that something strange was going on, but as time passed and he discovered nothing that could explain what had happened, Kirei could not help but consider Aoi's recovery to be a genuine miracle.

Sure, he didn't understand why the Lord would have spared the woman's life. But that would not be the first question Kirei would ask the Lord if he had the opportunity.

Naturally, over the years, he had made an effort to maintain contact and engage more with the surviving members of the Tohsaka family in order to learn more about what had happened during his absence. But after a few years of cautious and methodical investigation, instead of discovering how she had recovered from her brain-damaged state, Kirei had come to the conclusion that Aoi had somehow discovered what had occurred during the Grail war.

Aoi had been able to conceal her adversity from him admirably, but he had seen through her ruse after meeting her unexpectedly a number of times.

It had become clear to him that she would always mentally prepare herself before meeting him, as her behavior was very different when she knew she was about to meet him and when she didn't. In her eyes, he could see resentment, hostility, and fear.

That also explained why it was always just the two of them whenever they met to talk; why he barely saw her daughters; and why she had insisted on being present when he implanted the remaining half of the Magic Crest into Rin.

She did not trust him. She never did.

It turned out that he wasn't the only one who had been putting on a show all along. And he thought it was quite amusing.

To this day he still did not know how she had come to know the truth.

By that point Kirei had entered his room, took off his priest outfit, rested it on the chair, and sat on his bed.

As was his custom, he prayed to the Lord and gave thanks for all that he had given the world and to him.

He then lay on his back, shut his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. And as usual, he had no dreams. In his dreams, there was nothing but emptiness.

But at one point, while Kirei was sound asleep, he felt a bounded field being raised around the Church and its own bounded field, and he was abruptly awakened in the middle of the night.

Kirei got out of bed and glanced out the window of his room to assess the situation without any hesitation or moment of uncertainty.

Looking outside, he observed the bound field gradually raising and enclosing the zone. He was taken aback by its size, but he was also able to discern that the bounded field was powerful—just of a different kind than he had ever encountered.

Before he could be seen, Kirei stepped back from the window and began to think.

He had no idea who the adversary was or why they had attacked. One thing was certain: They appeared to be formidable and hostile.

Without the ability to kill one of their executioners, no one would be foolish enough to provoke the church or one of its members. The majority of the time, the mages did have the power to support their arrogance, even though they were often stupidly overconfident.

Nonetheless, he knew very little about his adversary or adversaries. And he also knew that he had to be cautious since he was no longer in his prime, so he began to think about how to approach the situation. But, because he hadn't yet felt anyone walk through the bounded field around the church, he knew he had some time to think and to prepare himself.

As he prepared himself, he changed his clothes, took his weapons, and went to take his outfit from the chair, but an audible crunch could be heard as he stepped on something.

He froze for a moment, then looked down, raised his foot, and realized he had crushed some kind of large insect.

Kirei raised an eyebrow. What had just happened struck him as strange. He kept the church clean and well-maintained, and the strong incense he used for worship, prayer, and grace to the Lord should keep insects away. Insects should not have been present anywhere, let alone in his room.

However, he abruptly came to from his train of thought when he saw movement in the corner of his eyes. He began to examine his surroundings, and it was only then that he noticed the number of insects in his room.

He had already realized that something was wrong, but his suspicions were confirmed when he noticed that all the insects were heading in the same direction: behind him.

He grabbed his outfit before turning in the direction where all of the insects were heading, and when he turned, he saw a man with blue hair and eyes standing in the left corner of the room, arms crossed, looking at him.

Kirei examined him from head to toe to determine his identity and equipment, but as he realized he didn't know the man and he didn't have any kind of equipment that could connect him to any known organization, he looked down and noticed the insect going up the man's suit. That caused him to widen his eyes.

"...You're still quite the sight, Kirei." The man said with a calm tone as he looked him right in the eyes, before he took a book out of his jacket and opened it.

'...That voice!' Kirei thought surprised, as his suspects were confirmed.

The priest now could feel a much more powerful presence, very different from the one he had felt the last time he had met the being. No longer was it dim, fragile… corrupt. It was completely different. Somehow it had changed. But Kirei did not doubt for even a moment that the one that stood in front of him was Matou Zouken.

But what Kirei was really bothered by was not the change of the fiend, but by how an undead had managed to enter this holy place without him noticing. Could it have been the result of a counterspell? Or was it his unique nature that made the infiltration possible?

The two men continued to stare at each other with their respective emotionless expressions after that, waiting for the other to initiate contact.

They remained motionless for ten drawn-out seconds, waiting for their foe to act first. When Zolgen realized Kirei was not going to act, he made the first move.

"Nothing to say? Fine, then." Zolgen spoke as a strange light emanated from his book and numerous familiars with oversized, jagged teeth emerged from his body, ready to devour the priest. "I'll have mercy on you, Kire-" He then began to speak, but a Black Key impaled his head and nailed it to the wall behind him before he could finish.

At that precise moment, Kirei had fortified his body, readied a black key, and hurled it at the monster's head. After catching the undead off guard with his still exceptional speed, Kirei used this opportunity to his advantage, amassing enough strength to jump out the window and escape the familiars who immediately tried to attack him after he made his first move.

As he fell Kirei put on his robes before touching the ground, and as soon as he landed, he began to run.

He was currently evading Zolgen because he believed it would be futile to engage in combat there.

Given that the church's defensive system had failed to reject the bounded field and alert him to the enemy breach, Kirei reasoned that this attack had been planned for some time, and that if he fought the undead right away, he would be at a disadvantage because the church and the zone that surrounded it were now considered compromised and potentially dangerous.

Not to mention how Zolgen had managed to sneak up on him. That was no ordinary feat. It was one thing for the bounded field to fail, but it was quite another for him to notice so late. Had he truly deteriorated? Had he actually lost that much strength since his "death"? Or was it a result of Zouken's newfound abilities?

Still, Kirei had no idea how long the worm had been preparing for this fight or what kind of traps he had set up all around the church, so he was cautious with every step he took as he got out of that zone.

When viewed from the outside, the situation seemed extremely dire. Kirei was alone in hostile territory, pursued by something akin to a Dead Apostle. And yet, instead of being concerned, he was delighted by this pleasant surprise as he deemed it as a welcome change from his monotonous routine.

But as he ran, Kirei began to ask himself questions. Was that man really Matou Zouken? What had become of him? What made him appear younger? And why was he after his life?

Then Kirei stopped bothering himself with meaningless questions and began to consider how he should proceed. He was aware that the worm was some kind of lich. So, no matter how badly he damaged his body, as long as he didn't destroy his phylactery, he couldn't really kill him.

Therefore, after giving it some thought, Kirei decided that for the time being, all he needed to do was locate a location where he could engage the repugnant monster and defeat it. Then, before it had a chance to regain its strength, he would devise a strategy to track it down and exterminate it for good.

But he snapped out of his thoughts once he noticed that he was about to get out of the bounded field, and he stopped right before he could pass through it.

Kirei could not understand the type of bounded field that was in front of him as he observed it, so he took a rock from the ground and threw it against the bounded field.

The rock simply bounced back, as if it had hit a wall, rather than passing through it and being destroyed.

Seeing the result, after a brief moment, the priest placed his left hand against the bounded field to study it better. He could now tell that this bounded field was nothing special, but it made it impossible for anyone to pass through it.

'Oh, so that's what he wanted to do. 'Keep me here with him.' Kirei reflected.

Kirei now knew he had to break through the bounded field; otherwise, he would be forced to fight here. But doing so would take a lot of energy, which-

"You cannot run from me, Kirei." As he took from behind Kirei, Zolgen snapped the man out of his reverie.

While Kirei turned around to face his opponent, his right hand reached into his outfit and took four black keys.

Medea was floating up into the sky, carefully watching the scene as it happened, as Kirei tried to flee and Zolgen chased after him.

She was currently waiting patiently for them to depart so she could act unperturbed. When she saw that they had gotten far enough and started fighting, she slowly descended from the sky toward the church.

A bounded field was raised just outside the church as soon as she touched the ground, making it impossible for anyone to enter while she was there or until she had finished.

Then, Medea proceeded to the entrance and stood before the church's imposing doors.

Just a few minutes had passed since Zolgen and Kirei left, but she had already forgotten about them. She had something else entirely on her mind.

She was aware that she needed to put an end to this immediately, but she first needed to gather her thoughts before acting.

Medea took a deep breath to focus and started to carefully examine the church to see if there were any traps or protective measures, but just as she remembered, there weren't any...

…She could still sense something else, though.

In the church's basement, some small forms of life could be found… which last time she was mistakenly believed to be some animal.

She then entered the church after ensuring that the structure was safe to enter.

As she entered, she noticed how cold and silent the building was. The atmosphere was eerie. And now she understood why things were the way they were.

She then walked slowly in front of the basement door, and after briefly glancing at the doorknob, she grabbed and twisted it. But then Medea's eyes grew sharper under her hood as soon as she opened the door.

Her superhuman senses allowed her to feel a wide range of sensations as the basement's icy air hit her right away. Every breath she took caused her nose to sting due to the air's lingering, faint scent of blood, rot, and decay.

However, it was something... strange... that was preventing Medea from walking down the stairs.

From deep within the basement, a faint sob that was barely audible could be heard.

For some time, Medea stood at the top of the stairs, gazing down the dim staircase that would lead to the horror she had witnessed.

As she stood there frozen, drops of sweat began to form on her brow, she swore to herself that what she was hearing had to be true and not a figment of her imagination.

She didn't know, but perhaps what she was hearing was just another long-buried memory coming to the surface.

Minutes passed, but the nature of what was making that sound remained a mystery. Although Medea had clearly observed that everything down there had long since died, she was unsure of this fact at the moment due to how genuine that sound seemed.

But even though she didn't understand the nature of the phenomenon she was witnessing, she eventually made the decision to put all of her uncertainties and concerns to the side and descended the stairs.

As she descended, time seemed to slow down, she moved slower with each step she took, and her mind was tearing itself apart in anticipation of seeing "them" once more.

But as she went, Medea realized that the sound was becoming quieter and dissipating the further she descended, and when she arrived, there was only silence. The basement was deafening, dead quiet.

However, something else greeted her instead, and that was the horrifying sight.

The darkness presented no real challenge to her. It could just as easily have been daytime in her opinion. As a result, she was able to see and notice every tiny detail of the room...

And every detail of the swarm of tiny corpses scattered throughout the dark room.

The first mummified child she came across was curled up in a corner of the room by itself. He or she was hugging its legs with one arm given that the other had fallen off, and its head was hidden between its legs, masking its contorted expression.

She then noticed another one that had both of its feet severed and was just lying on the ground.

Then there was another who was completely limbless.

Despite the fact that the bodies were all in similar states, she chose to ignore them and all of the bloodstains that covered the walls and the floor and focused instead on two corpses in particular who were huddled together in a corner.

She squinted her eyes after a moment as she noticed they were still hugging each other despite their current state. But it was their expression that drew her attention. She could see the horror on their contorted faces, their mouths still agape from when they let out their final scream...

...Gods, she could hear the children's deaf screams.

They were screaming, crying and begging for help.

They were still hoping for someone to save them after who knows how long.

The spirit of the children had been bound to their corpses due to whatever cursed magecraft the priest had used. And she could tell that these wretched kids had been attempting to scream for aid with their rotting throats from the moment they had 'died'. But even if they could scream, no one could hear them from down there… and even though she was there with them and understood what they desired, there was nothing she could do to save them…

It looked all far too familiar for her.

Although the ache in Medea's heart at that moment had already become intolerable, she maintained her composure. But a part of herself thought of how she had become too soft. Or weaker, depending on how one chooses to view her.

As she drew even nearer to them, Medea began to wonder where Kirei might have taken all of these kids, but after some thought, she had a good idea.

It was at that moment that she recalled that Shirou had not been the only one to survive the catastrophe. He was healing from the incident in the same hospital department as many other orphans. In fact, she remembered that the bulk of them were in good health. And since she had never seen any of them again, she could now guess where the majority of them had gone.

ShethenwonderedwhyKreiwoulddosuchathing,butafteramoment, she simply shook her head.

'...No… It is not the time to think about these things.' Medea then thought.

She then pulled out Rule Breaker and gave it a cold, stern stare as she readied herself.

The next thing she did would put an end to the kids once and for all.

She would not end their "lives" by stabbing them as they had already "died," but rather by disabling the magic that prevented them from passing away.

This would be her act of kindness for these helpless kids.

And, just like the last time she performed such an act, her grip on the hilt tightened, and she raised her blade without hesitation.