Hey there! It's been awhile, but not as long as the last time you had to wait. Anyways, I'm finally back with Book Three of Fated Destiny for your consumption! I won't keep you as long as the other times, but before you skip on ahead to the chapter there are some important links and information that I want entailed. As always however, I want to direct you to the Artist of the beautiful cover Mulberry Art who can be found over on Deviant Art, Tumblr, and she even has a Paetron where you can donate to her. If you are new to Fated Destiny I would highly recommend you go to my profile and find Fated Destiny Book One and begin there, its as simple as a few easy clicks. One last thing however before I let you go, Fated Destiny Book Three will be updated from here on out every two weeks on Friday or Saturday. There may be a point where it is longer, but it doesn't mean I've abandoned the series it just means Its taking a bit longer than expected. If you want to remain up to date on Fated Destiny follow this story so you can be notified whenever a new chapter comes out, and if you enjoyed the story please leave me a like/favorite. If you REALLY want to know what's going on, hop on over to my Discord where you can talk about the story and Fate Grand Order, we even have channels for Azur Lane and Girls Frontline. Yes I play all of those too! To join my Discord just put in 5F2T7H7 to the invite link and you'll be set to go. So come on over once you finish reading this chapter! Lastly please Enjoy as always!

Chapter One

The Rocky Road Ahead

Across the river of an old clock tower and down a cobblestone road sat an old manor that had the appearance of a small castle. It was surrounded by a black fence that wrapped around the entire property denying entry only to those who it allowed, very few people walked its streets. The Manor was far from the squabbling and power struggles of the Mages of the Clock Tower Elite. The people there kept their noses in their work and did not quarrel amongst each others. It was eerily quiet inside and on today the only sounds that could be heard were the pitter patter of the rain against the windows…

I heard the familiar click as the second to last driver pin clicked into place, meaning all that was left was the last pin and the door would be picked. I concentrated hard as I fiddled with the last pin to the door's lock, all that stood in the way of entry.

"Rin…. Should we really be doing this…?" A voice asked and I looked up at my blonde haired companion and lifelong friend Arturia Emiya. While Arturia had long ago cast aside her servant and knight past to become married to Shirou, she still acted overprotective, righteous, and acted upon the same strict code of chivalry she held in her previous life. "This seems extremely… illegal to be breaking into the office of a Director." Arturia muttered as she read off the name on the door.

"You were the one who insisted on coming along Arturia." I said while peering into the lock via magic. "You have a job to work and kids to look after, you didn't need to come along with me." I replied.

"Yes... well, I still feel compelled to look after you Rin." Arturia said glancing down at me. "Not only as your lifelong friend, but also as a former knight, even though I put that former life behind me! It is still my duty to protect you." Arturia said clenching her hand into a fist and raising it up to her chest, and that made me chuckle a little.

"Well Arturia…." I said just as the last satisfying click was heard indicating I had successfully clicked the last driver into place. "You can't break into a place of a dead man." I said standing up straight as I grabbed the door handle and pulled it back. Arturia only sighed and brought her hand up to her face and rubbed her eyes. "Now come along Arturia and let's do some investigating." I said with a coy smile, Arturia only sighed once more and walked up to me.

"I haven't seen you this energetic in at least twenty something odd years Rin." Arturia said with almost a smile.

"Yes well you could say I've never been this excited in years. Finally something interesting is happening." I said raising my hand up in front of the open door with an open palm. I closed my eyes for a moment and then there was a green pulse as I disbanded the bounded field of the office. "Geez for the Director of one of the departments this field was a joke." I thought to myself smiling, but then again it was going against the very best of mages, Rin Tohsaka. "Now come along now Arturia, the bounded field has been disabled." I said hurrying Arturia along inside, closing the door behind us.

Once we were inside, we were greeted by the strong aroma of old furniture and the dust made me want to gag. I rose my hand up to my mouth and waved my hand in the air for a few moments. Arturia walked over to the window in the corner of the room and grunted as she lifted up the window after a few jerks, letting some fresh air into the stale room. Outside we heard the rain pitter pattering against the building and after a few moments it became more bearable to breath. I took my hand down from my mouth and looked around, the office was filled with musty old furniture and the walls were lined with well stocked bookshelves. There was also a fireplace that had not seen use in a long time with two leather chairs with some books stacked on a nightstand. "Geez is this an office or a library?" I thought to myself, but then again it was nothing new for a Mages office to be stacked full of books. However we weren't here to admire his book collection, even though it was impressive. I stepped forward into his office and made my way towards his oak desk near another window. I grasped the rims of the top of another leather chair and pulled it out from behind the desk. I sat down in the chair and swiveled around to face forward where I placed my hands down on the desk and pulled back on one of the drawers. There was a rattle as the drawer didn't budge and I ruffled my eyebrows.

"Locked." I scoffed, but then again I wasn't surprised. It was only natural for a Director of a department or anybody for that matter to keep their stuff locked away. "I was prepared for this, but this was going to take awhile" I thought to myself as I cupped my chin.

"Rin." Arturia spoke up and I snapped out of my thoughts and faced her. "Rin, is it usual for Directors to keep a bounded field like that in their office, it is not like the bounded field at home or the one at your house. This bounded field had been intended to keep people out. It seems unusual for a Director who would expect students every now and again." Arturia said as she glanced around the room. I Intertwined my fingers and leaned forward on the desk.

"Hmm…" I muttered and remained quiet for a moment, Arturia turned her attention to me. "Well it's not that unusual for there to be a field around a mages home or places like his workshop, but usually those are just fields to sense when someone has entered or to provide some sort of benefit." I replied and faced Arturia once more. "But I suppose it's not unusual for someone who wants to hide something." I said and Arturia narrowed her eyes.

"I suppose…" Arturia said and trailed off for a moments. "But what do you suppose he is trying to hide?" Arturia said and cupped her chin. I only shrugged in reply.

"Who knows, maybe he was hiding magecraft or an artifact that he doesn't want anyone to find." I replied. "Or maybe he simply was a paranoid old man." I said and Arturia only narrowed her eyes further.

"From what I read that doesn't seem very likely." Arturia replied and another moment of silence went by. "Rin, I know that we already went over this on the plane and at the hotel room, but what do you intend to find here. If we find nothing and are caught…" Arturia said and I rose my hand and interrupted her.

"Arturia please relax." I said and Arturia was taken aback, but her shoulders untensed and her expression became softer. "Even if we are caught, it is unlikely they will arrest us or do anything except kindly escort us out. The people here aren't the kind of people who arrest trespassers or cause a quarrel." I said as I lowered my hand. "And as I said at the hotel room, we must follow every lead we can. Clock tower still has not uncovered anything in their year long investigation. I thought I'd give clock tower a chance, but it seems like they won't produce any results on their own, so I'm going to finally step in and take things into my own hands." I said. "I can not sit by any longer while Humanities very existence is at risk." I said and I saw Arturia's hand curl into a fist by her side.

"If only I was still a servant I could…." Arturia said looking down at the ground.

"You don't really mean that Arturia." I said and Arturia's face shot up as she looked at me in surprise. After a few moments Arturia facial expression became more normal.

"...No… No I don't." Arturia said as she looked off to the side. "Even though I feel obligated to try and save humanity… I don't regret giving it all up to marry Shirou. I love him, my children, and my new life." Arturia said turning to face me once more. A small smile formed on my lips as I chuckled which surprised her. "Rin what's so funny?"

"Oh it's nothing Arturia, I'm just surprised at how much you've changed." I said still smiling. I cleared my throat and regained my composure. "Think of it this way Arturia, even if you can no longer fight as a servant now that you're a normal human. You're helping save humanity by helping with this investigation." I said and then a soft smile formed on Arturia's lips.

"Yes, you're right!" Arturia said and nodded her head.

"Now then, let's go about opening these locked drawers and seeing what we can find." I said and Arturia nodded her head. "Check any other drawers you can find and look for anything out of…. The ordinary." I said as I pushed the chair back and got on my knees and began working on the lock…

Several Hours later

"Ugh!" I exclaimed as I slammed my hand down on the desk causing it to rattle and Arturia's head shot up from where she was sitting in one of the chairs in the fireplace. I brought my hands up to my head and ruffled my hair vigorously in frustration. I let out a disgruntled sigh and then looked around at all the stacks of paperwork and files we had gathered on top of the desk. Over by Arturia there were several more stacks of paperwork that she was also combing through. "We've been looking through all of these files for hours and there's nothing here except research notes and reports on his work here." I exclaimed in frustration.

"I too have not found anything major." Arturia said and I turned my attention towards her. "However there are some incredible reports here on his work, and while I am not very knowledgeable in magecraft as you or Shirou are, his research still fascinates me." Arturia said and a soft smile formed on her lips. "He was also an avid bird watcher and very interested in history it seems." Arturia said looking down at a page filled with sketches of birds and notes. "He must have had the perfect spot to observe birds from this window." Arturia said turning to look at the window where you could see the rain coming down.

"Well given this department, its no surprise it's Director was interested in History." I replied as I closed a folder and placed it off to the side as I tapped my fingers against the desk. I was sure that this would have been the best place to start, but so far nothing useful is here. I continued tapping against the desk as I thought.

"Rin, is it possible that Clock tower has already swept through this place and got anything valuable?" Arturia asked and I shook my head.

"No that wouldn't be possible, according to my sources in Clock tower their main focus has been elsewhere." I said scratching my cheek. I heard Arturia snap her folder shut and place it down on the stack of folders.

"What shall we do now Rin? It's been a few hours now and it's almost lunch time." Arturia said and stood up.

"We keep searching through the files, there has to be something." I said and I heard Arturia sigh. Arturia walked over to the window and watched as the raindrops trickled down the window.

"Rin do you think the Second Order has begun?" Arturia asked as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Hmm I'm not sure, I don't have any sources in their organization. All I know is what he told me and that was only about the First Order." I replied intertwining my fingers and turning in my chair to face Arturia. "I imagine it will be sometime this year, he did say the chance only happens once per year." I added and crossed my legs.

"I see…" Arturia said as she gripped her arm tightly. "... Do you think they will be able to pull through a second Grail War?" Arturia said still looking outside.

"Well they were able to survive the First Order which was set in our Grail war back in 2004, so they must be somewhat talented or very lucky." I replied.

"Did the Man seem like a competent Mage?" Arturia asked next.

"It's hard to tell. I don't know his last name so I don't know if he comes from a Prominent mage family with powerful circuits." I said and sighed thinking back to my encounter with him in the alleyway. "However assuming he isn't from a Mage family, they likely trained him in the necessary magecraft. I've heard that their training programs are quite rigorous and can be downright brutal depending on the instructors… They pull in the best mage instructors from around the world." I said closing my eyes.

"What about his Servant?" Arturia asked. "There was a woman with him at Clock tower and while I couldn't read her, she gave off a very calm and composed demeanor." Arturia went on. "She also had a very cold demeanor, I could read no body language or signs of aggression even when she saw me. She almost seemed inanimate in a way, even though she talked. When she did speak it was in a hushed tone that I was unable to hear, so I do not know if there was any accent that might have given off her origins." Arturia muttered with a sigh.

"You are correct Arturia she was indeed a Servant, however all I know is that she likely is a Lancer class servant." I said as I opened my eyes and Arturia glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. "Other than that I do not know." I added.

"Well if she is one of the top three knight classes, then there is a chance they'll pull through." Arturia said as she closed her eyes and then promptly opened them after a second and turned to face me with her hands on her hips with a smile on her lips. "Enough of this somber talk, let's continue searching shall we!" Arturia exclaimed.

"Yes lets!" I said nodding my head with a smile which Arturia returned affectionately.

Suddenly there was a creaking noise coming from the doorway.

"Lev are you there?"

Both Arturia and I's attention snapped towards the door as it was pushed open. "Damn it I thought I locked it!" I thought to myself as I prepared to duck behind the desk. However it was too late as the door opened and revealed a woman in a long green dress with black stockings that went up to her thighs. She wore a pair of glasses on her face that covered her hazel brown eyes and she had reddish brown hair that she had in a ponytail. The woman had a surprised look on her face as she saw us standing in the office.

"Who are you!" I blurted out without thinking. The woman's expression turned to a neutral one and a soft smile formed on her lips.

"I was just about to ask you that." The woman replied without any hostility in her voice. "Last I talked to Lev, he was still a man not a woman. So then perhaps are you some of his students?" The woman asked. My mind raced as I thought how to answer.

"I asked first!" I replied and the woman chuckled as she adjusted her glasses up onto her face.

"Very well then I am Touko Aozaki." Touko Aozaki said with a subtle bow. "Well now that I've told you my name it's only fair that you tell me yours, No?" Touko Aozaki said and Arturia glanced at me and I nodded my head at her.

"I am Arturia Emyia." Arturia said placing her hand on her chest, her voice filled with pride as she introduced herself. Touko Aozaki smirked and then turned her attention towards me.

"I am Rin Tohsaka." I said as I crossed my arms across my chest. "I've heard of you Ms. Aozaki, Lord El-Melloi II has mentioned you before. However you are a lot younger looking than I imagined." I said and Touko chuckled.

"Lord El-Melloi II is talking about me behind my back is he?" Touko said cheekily with a smile on her face. "Rin Tohsaka, now that's a name I've heard before. While we've never met your name is well known throughout the world of magecraft, specifically in Japan. You've made quite a name for yourself Ms. Tohsaka." Touko said.

"Thank you Ms. Aozaki, while your sister is the head of your family. Most know you are the true genius in your family." I replied.

"Ah well I've given up my spat with my sister a long time ago, so there's no bad blood between me and her." Touko replied truthfully. "More importantly I did not think I was important enough for people to be talking about me, I've kept my head down in Japan." Touko said.

"Surely you jest Ms. Aozaki." I said. "Your adventures in Europe and your mischief behavior hardly are unnoticed by clock tower. Given that they gave you a sealing designation. " I said as I intertwine my fingers.

"Ah well you got me there." Touko said raising her hand up to her head embarrassed. "Anyway while I don't keep up with world affairs much, I know enough to know that your friend is the Japanese Ambassador to the UN's wife. That's practically like royalty." Touko said glancing at Arturia. I couldn't help but crack a small smile, if only she knew she was talking to King Arthur of Britain. However no one needed to know that except for myself and Shirou.

"Yes what you say is true. I am the wife of Shirou Emyia, Ambassador to the UN." Arturia replied. "You'll have to forgive me as I have never heard of your name." Arturia added.

"No that's fine, people not knowing my name is a compliment. Like I said I like to keep my head down." Touko said. "But you know, it's hardly dignified for an Ambassador's wife to be sneaking around. What would the British Papers think about that if word got out." Touko said coyly and Arturia narrowed her eyebrows.

"How dare you! We're not sneaking around! We're investigating!" Arturia exclaimed and then quickly rose her hand to her mouth. I rubbed my temples as Arturia sent me a look of apology. Touko raised an eyebrow and turned her attention to me.

"Investigating? Investigating what exactly Ms. Tohsaka?" Touko inquired.

"It's a private matter." I replied. "More importantly what are you doing here?" I asked and Touko looked like she just realized something and any sign of her humorous self disappeared.

"Well I came to pay Lev a visit, Lev is an old friend of mine. We were classmates, he and I went to the Mage Association together." Touko said with a tone of seriousness. "I haven't seen Lev in at least 20 something odd years, and I figured I would stop by and visit him." Touko said and looked around. "So where is Lev? I would very much like to talk to him. I hear in the past decade he has produced some very interesting research that I'd like to talk about with him in great detail." Touko said. Arturia and I glanced at one another nervously and then back at Touko Aozaki. I took a deep breath and I decided to be the one to break the news to her.

"Ms. Aozaki Lev is… Lev is dead." I managed to spit out after a moment. Instead of shock or tears there was only a brief glimmer in Touko's eyes.

"I…. I see. Perhaps we should sit down…" Touko said raising her hand up to her head as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.

The sound of boiling water was followed by a hiss as steam escaped from a kettle on top of a hotplate. Touko lifted the kettle off of the hotplate and poured hot water into three teacups with tea bags in them. After Touko placed the kettle back down on the hotplate, she lifted the tray with the teacups over to where Arturia and I were sitting and placed the tray on the table in front of us. Arturia and I took the teacups and gave her our thanks as we stirred the tea and Arturia added several sugar cubes into her cup. Touko sat across from us in one of the leather chairs and she crossed her legs as she removed her gloves and lifted the last teacup up from the tray. We sat in eerie silence for a few moments with the only sounds the continued rain outside and the simmering of the kettle on the hotplate.

"So Lev is dead you say." Touko finally said after a few minutes as she looked down into her tea while stirring it.

"Yes I'm afraid so. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you." I said trying to take into account what she might be going through after learning one of her friends died, however Touko seemed to be concealing her emotions quite well.

"It's alright." Touko replied.

"How well did you know Lev?" I inquired after Touko took a sip from her tea.

"Well it is as I said, Lev and I were classmates in the Mages Association. While I suppose it wasn't your typical friendship, Lev said that he considered me a close friend. Which was an achievement in itself given that Lev didn't talk to very many people." Touko said placing her teacup down on the platter. "I considered Lev a good friend. We sent each other letters occasionally, but we weren't in constant communication. Which was fine for both of us as we were extremely focused on our work, I know how important Lev's research was too him so I didn't like to bother him." Touko said placing her hands in her lap.

"When was the last time you were in contact with him?" I inquired and Touko stared at me for a moments as she appeared to be in thought.

"The last time I talked to Lev was after I left the Mages Association, which I know saddened Lev. That was in the 90's, so quite a long time ago. However the last time I was in contact with him was 2017. He sent me a letter informing me that he had been working a job since 1999 and was resigning from his post in Clock tower." Touko said.

"Wait, if you knew he had resigned from his post here. Why'd you come here?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well you know how it is. He still has his office here, and for a place like this time might as well be standing still. They haven't even emptied his office, so I thought perhaps he might stop by here occasionally and I could catch him, if not I had planned on probing one of the people here to see if I could find out where he was." Touko explained. "That and this was where I use to work when I was in the Mages Association." Touko added.

"I see." I said as I rubbed the brim of my teacup.

"So what is your connection to Lev, Ms. Tohsaka? How did you know him?" Touko inquired as I took another sip from my teacup.

"To be honest with you Ms. Aozaki I've never met Professor Lev." I said truthfully.

"Then how did you know him?" Touko asked as she raised an eyebrow at me.

"An associate of mine was his coworker." I replied.

"AND this associate of yours knew Lev?" Touko asked and I nodded my head. "So what does Lev and this co-worker have to do with you? You said you were investigating. What are you investigating? His death? If you have no connection to him why would his death be of any your concern. More importantly how did Lev die? Who was he working for since you know his co-worker?" Touko said and I placed the teacup onto the platter as I crossed my arms across my chest and crossed my legs.

"Those are a lot of questions, let's just start with one and move onto the others one by one." I said as I placed my hands in my lap. Touko nodded her head hesitantly and we stared at one another for a moment before I spoke up. "Have you heard of Chaldea Security Organization?" Touko's eyes narrowed at me once I said that name.

"I've heard rumors about Chaldea." Touko said after a moment. "From what I understand they are a powerful organization with deep pockets and even have a private military." Touko said. "However those are just the rumors I've heard, as I've said I've mostly been out of the loop of world affairs and the mage world." Touko added.

"Well the rumors are true." I said before continuing. "Chaldea is an organization funded in large part by the Aminsuphere family and they get the rest of their funding from private investors, Governments, The Mages Association, and the UN." I said and I saw another flicker in Touko's eyes. "Now you're probably wondering what they have to do with this…." I said and Touko interlocked her fingers and rested her head on her hands as she listened on the edge of her seat. "The Job Professor Lev spoke to you about was building the Shiva Lens or the Near Future Observation Lens at Chaldea, he was the lead Technician and researcher there." I said. "Shiva allows Chaldea to observe the past and future of humanity to some relative degree of accuracy to try and predict or foresee changes in the past or future that would drastically change or bring about the collapse of humanity. There have been several anomalies Chaldea has detected in our past forcing them to take action and go back in time and correct them…." I said before I was abruptly cut off.

"Wait, Wait you're telling me that Chaldea has the ability to time travel and they've been going back in time to stop incidents that would bring about our collapse?" Touko said as she rapidly blinked her eyes.

"That is correct." I said.

"How many of these anomalies are there?" Touko inquired.

"I do not know, my acquaintance did not tell me. All I do know is there was an anomaly in 2004 during the Fifth Holy Grail War that they recently went back in time and corrected." I said as I gripped my hands tightly and Touko's eyes flickered a little at the mention of Grail Wars. "If they had not corrected it we would not be sitting here speaking." I said. "Or so I imagine." I added.

"How long does Humanity have until our destruction?" Touko asked calmly.

"I believe we have until 2032." I replied and Touko leaned back in her chair and gripped the arms.

"So our only hope lies in Chaldea Security Organization." Touko said staring at the empty fireplace. "You still haven't answered my question about how Lev Died…" Touko said as she turned her head to face me. I felt my hands grow sweaty and my throat had gone dry, but I had to get the words out.

"... Lev…. To the best of my knowledge Lev was killed in an explosion during an attack on Chaldea Security Organization." I said. "Someone attacked Chaldea during their first rayshift back to the first singularity, or First Order as they call them, but Lev was caught up in an explosion in the Server Rooms." I said and for the first time in our conversation Touko's expression showed some emotion. Touko's face was washed over with sadness, but then her sadness disappeared and turned to anger as she smashed her hands down on the arm of the chair and then brought them up to her head where she ruffled her hair.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! RARGGHH!" Touko repeated over and over as she brought her head down into her lap and Arturia and I glanced at one another and then back in Touko.

"Ms. Aozaki are you alright?" Arturia said as she leaned forward and placed her hand on Touko's shoulder. There was a long silence that broke out in the room as Arturia rubbed Touko's shoulder counseling her and I glanced out the window watching the rain fall.

A few minutes later.

"Damn it…." Touko murmured and my attention turned back to her. Touko lifted her head and revealed her face, that had turned a deep shade of red and her eyes were puffy. Touko sniffled and Arturia offered her a handkerchief, Touko accepted it and rubbed her eyes and then her nose before returning it to Arturia.

"Ms. Aozaki?" Arturia murmured.

"I'm fine... Really." Touko said as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm just angry at myself that I never bothered to visit Lev, there was always so much he told me he wanted to discuss with me in person and I was one of his only friends." Touko explained. "I always put off visiting him because I was so busy in Japan, but if only I had visited him early then perhaps we could have discussed in great length about his research or perhaps even predicted this whole mess sooner." Touko said with a sigh. "It's ironic really, Lev built a machine to observe the future and save humanity, but it couldn't help him observe that his own death would happen…." Touko said. "... But maybe he knew his death was going to happen and he just accepted his Destiny…. No I can't believe that. Lev wouldn't accept the Destiny of Humanity being destroyed so why would he accept his own Destiny of being killed?" Touko muttered as she rocked her head side to side.

"From what I know Shiva can observe incidents to that level." I said trying to give some sort of console to her.

"You're probably right, but still…." Touko muttered and then all of a sudden she hit her fist against her forehead. "The worst thing about all of this is that my stupid stupid sister had stopped by Levs office, and she asked Lev if SHE COULD BORROW SOME MONEY!" Touko exclaimed as she once more gripped the sides of her head in frustration. "To think that the last thing encounter Lev ever had with an Aozaki was my stupid sister asking him to lend her money! UGH!" Touko exclaimed and Arturia and I glanced at each other once more as we watched Touko pull on her hair. After several more minutes Touko finally calmed down and had returned to her somewhat normal self.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that, but it really pains me that my sister was the last Aozaki my friend Lev talked with, and that was the last memory he ever had with an Aozaki." Touko said as she brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"It's quite alright Ms. Aozaki." I said sympathetically.

"Ahem. So you mentioned you were investigating." Touko said clearing her throat. "Are you investigating on Chaldea's behalf?" Touko asked and I shook my head.

"No we're do this on our own behalf…" I answered.

"I see, so what are you investigating? Lev's death?" Touko inquired further.

"Well not exactly. We aren't directly investigating Lev's death, but Lev's death was part of the attack so…." I said.

"... So since Lev's death was part of the attack you're seeing if he maybe knew someone who might have had it out for him or if he was just collateral damage." Touko picked off where I left off as she tapped her fingers together.

"Well it's something like that." I said. "We want to see if Lev knew anything or suspected anyone was carrying out an attack. If we can find out if anyone had it out for Lev or if Lev suspected anyone, we can form some sort of suspect list." I said leaning forward in my chair. "Clock tower is following dead ends and Lev is one of the only people who we know of who worked at Chaldea and at the same time had residence or an office outside of Chaldea. So I figured if Lev knew anything he would keep it here and not in Chaldea." I explained.

"I see." Touko said as she pushed her glasses up on her face and crossed her arms.

"And in doing so we can find out who attacked Chaldea and who is trying to stop them from going back in time and solving the singularities. It's a long shot, but it's one of the only leads we have right now." I said. "Lev had to know something, he was their lead engineer and researcher. He was vital to Chaldea and their research, so Ms. Aozaki is there anyone you know of who would want to kill Lev or stop his work?" I asked and Touko narrowed her eyes for a moment as she thought.

"...No I can't think of anyone who would want to kill Lev." Touko replied after a moment. "I know that's what they always say, but Lev truly never had any enemies. He always kept to himself and never pursued rivalries or was interested in increasing his power, he was solely focused on his research." Touko said and I cupped my chin in frustration. "Damn it, if no one wanted to kill Lev then he must have just been collateral damage." I thought to myself as I bit down on my thumb. "He dedicated his life to safeguarding humanity." Touko added.

"... Does Professor Lev have any family? Parents? Siblings?" I asked looking up at Touko.

"No not that I'm aware of. Lev's parents died a long time ago and he has no brothers or sisters, nor did Lev seem to have interest in things like Love so I doubt he had a lover." Touko answered. I began scratching my head furiously. "Is Lev really going to be a dead end too?" I thought to myself annoyed.

"Did Lev ever mention anything to you in his letters? Anything strange at all?" I inquired sitting on the edge of my seat. Touko rubbed the back of her neck as she thought for another moment.

"Not to the best of my recollection." Touko replied.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed out loud as I smashed my hand on the arm of my chair. A sharp pain shot through the side of my hand as soon as I did and I retracted it quickly and whimpered as I looked over the bruise.

"Rin are you alright?" Arturia asked concerned as she snapped to face me.

"I-I'm fine! It's just a little bruise." I murmured as I rubbed my hand. Arturia sighed and then turned to face Touko.

"Ms. Aozaki if I may be so bold to ask you for assistance. As you can see Rin and I have come up empty searching through Professor Lev's office." Arturia inquired and Touko faced Arturia and remained silent for a moment.

"Yes it's the least I can do, Lev was murdered and if I can help you find the man behind the attack then I will." Touko said and I was surprised by her answer.

"Thank you Ms. Aozaki, it means a great deal to us." Arturia said and Touko nodded her head in understanding. "So what should we do now Rin?" Arturia asked turning to me.

"Well the best thing we can do now is continue searching through the office." I replied after a moment.

"Right." Arturia and Touko said in unison as they nodded their heads.

"Ugh! We still haven't found anything!" I murmur as I slam another book shut and placed it down on the stack of books building beneath the bookshelf. Arturia, Touko, and I had been searching Lev's office for at least another hour and we had still yet to find anything that might assist us in finding out who attacked Chaldea. I scanned the room and saw Touko going through a book on the other side of the room, my gaze drifted towards Arturia where I saw her gazing up at a painting above the fireplace. I navigated my way through the mess of book stacks scattered throughout the room and over to where she was standing. "Arturia what are you doing? We don't have time to be examining the tapestry!" I exclaimed as I placed my hand on her shoulder. Arturia seemed to ignore me as she intensely focused on the painting above the fireplace.

"Rin there is something off about this painting…." Arturia said as she cupped her chin.

"Huh?" Was what left my mouth as I looked up at the painting and examined it alongside of Arturia. The painting that hung above the fireplace had several knights wearing British coat of arms. The Seven Knights were all gathered around a Golden chalice that appeared to be none other than the Holy Grail. Of course this was intended to look like the real Holy Grail that held Jesus Christ's blood, not the fake one forged by the Einzbern family and the one Saber Destroyed in the Holy Grail War. Looking at Artruia's face told me that something was bothering her.

"Arturia?" I murmured her name trying to get my friends attention. Arturia was holding her chin as she stared intently at the painting. We stood there in silence for a few moments as we stared at the painting. Then after a few more moments passed the silence was broken.

"This is all wrong! This painting is wrong!" Arturia exclaimed and I was taken aback by her sudden outburst. "I never found the Holy Grail in my past life! This painting is painting a scene that never happened!" Arturia said and I was confused for a moment until I squinted my eyes and saw in small white letterings in the corner of the painting it read: Arthurian Legend.

"W-Well Arturia, there are several different versions. For example King Arthur is a man in that picture..." I said just before Arturia cut me off.

"I've already come to accept that most people think that I was a man in life, but I think that paintings betraying that my men and I found the Holy Grail are a disservice to History itself." Arturia said as she leaned up on her tippy toes reaching for the painting.

"Wait No Arturia! Don't mess with the painting! We aren't here to mess around with the decor!" I exclaimed, but Arturia had already reached up and grasped the corners of the painting and she began to tug on it. However the painting did not see to budge as much Arturia pulled on it, giving rise to confuse in Arturia.

"Huh? Why is this painting so firmly attached?" Arturia muttered as she felt around the sides of the painting.

"It could mean that painting is important so you should leave it alon….." I said and just before I could finish there was a loud click heard and the painting swung forward. The three of us watched in anticipation as the painting swung forward, once it had swung fully forward it revealed that there was a green wall safe behind it.

"Are you kidding me! We've been searching this whole time and something was hidden somewhere as simple as behind a painting!" I exclaimed as I rubbed my head furiously in annoyance that I had missed something so simple. I heard Arturia chuckle in amusement and out of the corner of my eye I saw Touko cupping her chin as she stared at the safe in the wall. I returned my gaze to the safe as well. There was nothing too out of the ordinary about this safe except it was an older looking safe and had none of the appearances of a modern safe. This safe however did have an odd looking mechanism on it, I leaned forward to examine it.

"That's a little strange…" I muttered and Arturia tilted her head in confusion. "The Locking mechanism, it appears as if it requires some kind of key." I said as I extended my hand out towards the safe.

"Wait Rin!" Arturia exclaimed as she grabbed my hand and I looked at her taken back. "It could be booby trapped! Please Rin be careful!" Arturia said as she let go of my hand and I retracted it before looking back at the safe. Arturia was right, I hadn't even checked to see if it was rigged or cursed. I had been careless.

"Sorry Arturia I guess I had gotten carried away." I said as I reached behind my head and rubbed it. "We've just been searching for something for so long and we finally found something." I said and Arturia nodded her head with an understanding smile.

"Well we shouldn't get too excited, for all we know this is where Lev keeps research documents or his Bird Watching pictures." Touko warned us. I knew she could be right, but a part of me was holding out hope. I reached out my hand towards the safe, opening my palm as I did. As my fingers extended towards the lock on the safe, a shock went through my hand and I retracted it towards my chest.

"Rin are you alright!" Arturia exclaimed as she placed her hand on my shoulder and I nodded my head in affirmation.

"I tried to open the lock using magic, but there's a powerful spell keeping me from doing so." I said as I raised my hand up to my head. "I'll give it another go…" I said as I outreached my hand towards the lock. Closing my eyes I focused my magic on trying to overcome the spell. I gritted my teeth Electric shocks ran through my fingertips and branched out throughout my body. "Ah this doesn't make any sense!" I exclaimed angrily as I pulled my hand back. "The bounded field was a cakewalk, but this spell is something on a completely different level." I said and I heard Touko chuckle.

"You shouldn't underestimate Lev, he was quite a powerful Mage." Touko said looking almost amused. I ruffled my eyebrows at her and this only made her chuckle more.

"Instead of laughing, why don't you help us out and give a go at the lock." I said irritated. Touko looked at me and then up at the lock placing her hands on her hips.

"I did say I would help you guys didn't I, so calm down." Touko said as she reached her hand out towards the lock. Touko closed her eyes as her fingertips touched the lock of the safe. Red sparks emitted once her fingertips made contact and Touko grimaced as she made contact and over the course of several minutes Touko's deep concentration resulted in Touko retracting her fingers back to her chest.

"Whatever is in there, Lev really doesn't want anyone to get in there." Touko said as she shook her hand as it looked like smoke was rising from the tips of her fingers. "I can't even break that spell over the lock." Touko said looking back at us. I glanced at Arturia and she glanced at me nervously.

"Well it doesn't matter, we're already this far so we can't give up now." I exclaimed shaking my fist in front of me. Arturia was taken aback slightly but nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes Rin is right, we need to find out what is in there." Arturia said as she directed her attention back to the lock. "It looks as if this requires some sort of key to open, if we can't open it by magecraft we'll need to find the key." Arturia said as she rubbed her chin.

"Ugh! Who knows where that could be!" I exclaimed as I ruffled my hair frantically. It was then when I felt Arturia's hand on my shoulder once again and I looked over to see Arturia giving me a calm reassuring smile.

"Rin do not let something like this cause distraught, this key must be somewhere." Arturia said. "Like you said we've come too far." Arturia added and I nodded my head. I turned my attention back towards the Touko who was examining the safe. "Ms. Aozaki you knew Lev, do you have any idea where he could have kept any keys or personal belongings?" I asked and Touko snapped her attention towards me. Touko brought her hand up to her neck and rubbed it as she seemed to be thinking.

"Well I don't know where he might have put anything personal." Touko said. "However Lev did spend a lot of time in his books, perhaps he hid the key in one of these books?" Touko suggested and I felt a sweat drop form on my head.

"In… one of…. These hundreds of books…. You mean." I said with a deep sigh and rubbed my temples for a few moments. "Do you know what Professor Lev's favorite books were?" I asked and once again Touko rubbed her neck in thought.

"Ummm well Lev liked a lot of different books from what I remember." Touko said, which did not build a lot of confidence nor did it help us. "Wait I think one of Lev's favorite books was the Tale of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Touko said snapping her fingers.

"Right then! Let's scour the book shelves and find the book!" I exclaimed with my fist raised.

Twenty minutes later

"I found it!" Arturia exclaimed. Touko and myself snap around and face Arturia who is getting up from by one of the chairs. Arturia waved the book amusingly in front of her.

"What?! Are you kidding me? It was underneath one of the chairs this whole time!" I said and then shook my head. "No it doesn't matter where it was, now that we found it we should be able to find the key!" I thought to myself and Touko and I rushed over to Arturia. "Well what are you waiting for Arturia! Flip through the pages or just dangle the book until the key falls out!" I exclaimed and Arturia nodded her head. Arturia opened the book and hurried through the pages as we stood over her in anticipation. A ray of black lines swept over our face as Arturia reached the last page and no key had been found.

"What?!" I exclaimed and grasped the book holding it upside down dangling the pages over the ground. I shook it vigorously but nothing came out of it except for maybe some dust. I wanted to fall down to my knees in defeat after finding no key. Behind me I heard Arturia's footsteps as she walked towards the safe. I placed the book down on the table next to the chair and I sunk down to my knees.

"Rin there's something on this safe, come over here for a moment." Arturia said and I pulled myself up off of the chair and walked over to where Arturia was and looked up at the safe. "There Rin, its a number. Its 72:1." Arturia said pointing at a small pair of numbers located in the middle of the safe at the bottom.

"72:1 what could that be?" I thought to myself as I cupped my chin. Touko walked over and stared intently into the numbers. "Could 72:1 mean a ratio? Or perhaps…. It is 1:27 printed backwards, 1:27 as in time?" I murmured and I looked around the room. My eyes scanned the room and it was then when they stopped on the Grandfather clock. I rushed over to it and pulled back the glass cover on the clock. Arturia and Touko watched as I pulled the hands of the clock until they lined up with 1:27 and then…

"Eh? Nothing happened!" I exclaimed as I looked on in dismay at the clock. Nothing had happened after I had changed the hands to 1:27, nothing at all. "This is really starting to get on my nerves!" I thought to myself and I looked around the room in a frantic search for another clock, but sadly to my dismay once again. There was no other clock in the room except for the one I was currently standing in front of. I rested my head against the glass of the clocks lower half and let out an irritated sigh.

"Rin…" Arturia said and I pushed myself up straight and turned around and faced Arturia. "72:1 is not a time nor is it a ratio, instead it is a verse out of the old testament." Arturia said and her words hit me like a two ton truck as I smacked myself in the forehead with the palm of my hand.

"Oof! How could I be so dense to not think of that first!" I said feeling quite stupid as I smack my forehead. "Arturia do you know what the verse is?" I asked and Arturia nodded her head affirmatively.

"Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king's son." Arturia said and a sweat drop formed on Touko and I's head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked scratching the back of my head.

"It is referring to King Solomon of Israel, it is when Solomon asked God to bless him with the monarchy of Israel, wise judgements, and a reign displaying God's righteousness. God was impressed by Solomon's request for wisdom and so he granted his request." Arturia said and Touko crossed her arms.

"Wow Mrs. Emiya I'm impressed that you can recite verses off the top of your head. Are you a very religious person or do you study religion?" Touko said looking impressed.

"Thank you Ms. Aozaki… You could just say that I am…. Well read in the bible." Arturia said. Most likely she was referring to her time in her past life when she no doubt studied and read Bible in her studies leading up to becoming the King of Britain.

"But what does King Solomon have to do with finding the key? If it has anything to do with the key at all? For all we know it's just like some number that the people who installed the safe put on their safe." I said as I cup my chin. Arturia looked back over her shoulder and then shook her head at me.

"No I believe it is referring to that verse. I am sure of it!" Arturia said raising her fist up in front of her.

"Well alright, but we still don't know what the reference to Solomon means?" I said. A low hmm left Touko's mouth and I faced her, Touko was once again deep in thought as she had her chin in her hand.

"It could be referring to a book that King Solomon is in." Arturia suggested.

"Well how many books are King Solomon in?" I asked. Dreading the answer, given that he was a religious figure there could be hundreds.

"Well he is mentioned several times in the old testament so perhaps the key is in a bible?" Arturia suggested.

"Maybe… Just Maybe…. I think It could… I think It could be a referring to a book that I know Lev read." Touko said looking up at us. Touko strided past us towards one of the book shelves. Touko pulled out a white book out of the shelve and turned around to face us. "Lev would occasionally read the "Lesser Key of Solomon"" Touko said holding up the book that read Lesser Key of Solomon on the cover.

"What's that about?" I asked.

"The Lesser Key of Solomon is a grimoire on the study of demonology." Touko said. "You're probably asking what that has to do with King Solomon." Touko said and the two of us nodded our heads. "The Lesser Key of Solomon is about the Seventy Two Demon Gods that King Solomon summoned as his familiars." Touko said adjusting her glasses up onto her face feeling proud of herself for remembering.

"What was Lev reading a book about Demons for?" I asked.

"Well Ms. Tohsaka as you perhaps might know, King Solomon was considered the King of Magic. So Lev told me that he studied the book to see if he could learn anything about the magic employed by Solomon. Sadly he reported that this book did not provide anything useful." Touko said shrugging.

"Merlin always told me he was the King of Magic…" Arturia seemed to mutter under her breath.

"Well open the book already and let's see if the key is in there!" I exclaimed. Touko nodded her head and the three of us stood over the book as Touko lifted the cover. Once the cover was flipped back, what was inside was a hollowed out inside with a black key resting in a cushion. "Yes Jackpot!" I exclaimed as I grasped the key and hurried over to the safe. I pushed the key into the keyhole and twisted the key. A satisfactory click told me that it had been the right key. "It better have been the right key, otherwise I was going to blow this safe door open." I thought to myself as I twisted the handle and pulled the door back. The three of us gazed inside the safe wide eyed and found a brown journal and several folders. I reached inside and grasped the journal pulling it out.

Folder in hand we turned around and walked over to the desk and took a seat. Touko placed the folders on the desk and I grasped the edge of the folder and flipped it open in anticipation of what I might find….