I suppose I should have mentioned this was getting a two-part prologue. One to detail each side of the story a bit, but this one spills into the action. Anyway enjoy! (Reviewer responses below.)

"Oi Emiya, did you find those parts I asked for?" a gruff voice called out into attached garage of the auto-shop. An auburn-haired man poked his out from around the engine bay of an old cab-over he was trying to get into working order.

"They're on the bench over there," Emiya Shirou replied as he gestured his free arm in the general direction of said parts. He thought he heard his boss mutter something about vague teenagers, but he paid it no mind. Shirou returned his focus to the large Mitsubishi semi. The company that owned the vehicle had complained about it having low-power issues. 'It's not the turbo and the exhaust system is clean enough – although I should change that filter for good measure.'

Emiya Shirou had begun working as a part-timer in the small auto-shop when he had returned from London in the early spring. It had been nearly six years since he had graduated from Homurahara and gone to England to study and train under Rin. He had even worked his way up from third-rate to second-rate after he picked up some outside help.

The magus smiled to himself as he remembered the way a certain Enforcer had wound up on his doorstep looking for a place to live. He was never one to turn down a person in need, but with Rin living in and Taiga all but eating his savings away, he needed something in return. When she said she had no money, Tohsaka had manipulated the woman easily enough into teaching Shirou some of her trade.

'All of those gifts are gratefully received,' he thought to himself as Rin's dishonest exhortation of the woman played back in his mind. He shoved the thoughts down and turned back to the task at hand. Shirou removed his gloves and looked around the shop to make sure he was alone. 'Let's take a better look.'

"Structural analysis," Shirou murmured as he rested his hand upon the motor. There was a reason that the auto-shop had suddenly seen an uptick in business since it acquired its newest employee. Maybe being freakishly talented in such a mundane skill wouldn't amount to much in the eyes of the Association, but one could turn quite the profit if it was applied correctly. "Ah, so that's what the issue is."

The link cable, which connected the gas pedal to the accelerator, was a bit loose, so even floored the truck wouldn't be churning out full power. As Shirou moved into the cab of the truck to get under the dash, a new voice startled him.

"Last time we met, you were under great pressure from your teacher to progress in your talent. Now look at you, you're just under a truck," the voice of an old man called up to the cab. Shirou internally groaned as he worked. There were few people in the world that could hide their scent from him and this was one of them.

"Schweinorg-san," Shirou greeted, still not leaving the truck. "What bring you here? I don't think we have the parts to fix a DeLorean at the moment." The Wizard Marshall grinned at the joke and strode closer to the truck.

"You know I never considered building a motor-vehicle that operated using my system. It is rather tempting –" Zelretch trailed off. Shirou rolled his eyes as he pulled himself from the large semi and hopped down to properly face the user of the Second.

"Sir, why have you come to me?" Shirou asked the Wizard Marshall directly. Magicians don't just drop by unannounced, even one as involved as Zelretch. The old man's brow knitted in thought before he snapped his fingers.

"Oh that's right! I came across a little tidbit of information in my travels that I'm sure would interest you." That caught the young magus' attention. "However I suggest that we discuss this somewhere more private." Shirou nodded and before he could say anything, the Wizard Marshall held up his cane and they warped away in a frenzy of colors.

*Scene break*

After the old man had deposited them in the dining area of the Emiya estate, Shirou had begun to brew a kettle of tea. 'Why exactly is he here right now?' the auburn-haired man thought. 'What does he want out of this?' Shirou presented the tea to the Wizard Marshall, who sampled the brew and beamed.

"Ah that is excellent. My pupil picked her own apprentice well it seems," Zelretch commented thoughtfully. "Still I can't seem to grasp why you have discontinued your studies at the Clock Tower."

"Bureaucracy," was Shirou's only reply. Oddly enough the Wizard Marshall nodded like he knew the plight.

"Regardless of the true reason you are no longer in the company of the Tohsaka girl, I have come across a revelation that I'm sure will make your century!" he bellowed exuberantly. It dumbstruck Shirou that Zelretch could have such a multi-sided personality. 'Still, what is this all about?'

"And what have you found," Shirou asked calmly. The lack of enthusiasm seemed to deflate the Magician a bit, but he perked back up.

"That your family is still alive, boy," the Jeweled Man replied in utter calm. Shirou's mind halted. His family had been lost all those years ago in the fire that had consumed his neighborhood, a remnant of the Fourth Grail War. The old man seemed to pick up on this. "Oh I assure you, your parents are quite alive, and it seems they need you."

"Need me?" Shirou repeated questioningly, his mouth going dry. "How are they even aware I'm alive?"

"They don't know that you are, but I know they will need you soon enough."

"How can you possibly know that?" Shirou demanded his temper flaring slightly as the patience he had stored up for the Wizard Marshall was running dangerously low. Zelretch smirked at the expression on the younger man's face.

"You know the basic principles of my Magic correct?" Shirou nodded in reply. "I can see many outcomes of decisions as those all split off into alternate realities. Take for instance your friend in the red from the last War."

Shirou frowned at the mention of the Counter Guardian. 'Archer hadn't been the true me, but a version – no a shadow – of me that bargained with the world for great power.' Zelretch nodded as he saw the light bulb click for the second-rate.

"Similar to that event, I can see the outcomes of multiple choices. I'm still sad though, if you had spent more time with that Servant of yours she still might be here."

"What are you talking –" Shirou was cut off by the Magician before he could question Zelretch further.

"The point is, young magus, is that you have a choice. You can assist your unmet family and perhaps make a difference in their strife or you can choose to not involve yourself and continue to repair automobiles for a menial pay." Shirou frowned at the old man before staring into his teacup.

'I haven't given up on the path, no doubt, but how am I advancing? Rin kept pushing and pushing, but maybe she was pushing in the wrong direction. I ended up resenting her manipulations when I overheard her talking to El-Melloi about my self-destructive tendencies. Did that push me too far off that I hadn't even noticed? What I do know is that Emiya Shirou will continue to keep running. Even if I do stumble, if I aim for the distance, there should come a day when I would be able to reach out to what I have been aiming for.'

"Alright, you have my attention," Shirou said, a small fire in his eye. "What is the problem?"

"For that, you will need to ask them yourself. I've revealed all I know on the matter," the Marshall replied to the youth. "I can take you close to them, but from there, you will not receive my help aside from a few supplies." Shirou didn't like being so kept in the dark, but if he had family he at least had to try and support them. At any rate, Zelretch would be giving him supplies, so there was that. "You will also probably feel a bit different after the trip, so be prepared."

"Okay, I am ready then," Shirou affirmed as he stood up from his sitting cushion. The old man hoisted himself up with his cane and dusted himself off. The cane-head glowed briefly before a kaleidoscopic portal opened. Shirou looked into the abyss and saw nothing but a frenzy of colors and shapes.

"Here are you supplies," Zelretch offered a black sword bag to the magus. "I think it is rather fitting, considering." Shirou gave the old Wizard a deadpanning look at what he was implying. "This is similar to the trunk I've entrusted to the Tohsaka, just be careful not to fall in."

"I'm off then," the Incarnation affirmed, before he looked at the Wizard Marshall. "If you see Rin, pass on my greetings and tell her that I'm sorry."

"Don't get sappy on me now, boy! You'll see her again – hopefully." Before Shirou could question the user of the Second, the old man pushed him into the portal and he met the void.

*Scene break*

Shirou didn't know how long it had been since he entered the portal, but thankfully it was over. The thing had spit him out onto a roof of a building behind a much larger building. The magus suddenly through his hand to his face, covering his nose, as dozens of scents assaulted his senses. Was he under attack?

He walked slowly to the edge of the roof and took a startling sight. People, thousands maybe, that he could see, there was at least two dozen in the two meter vicinity directly below him. As he looked upwards at the sprawling towers in the sky, he focused on the building the building across the way. He spied a brass plate that read: 350 5th Ave. New York, NY 10118.

'They are here in New York?' The sun hung above the horizon to the east, as it was still before noon. 'Well I better get down from here before I attract to much attention or some loon in a bug costume nabs me.'

*Scene shift*

After Shirou had collected the sword bag and gotten down from the roof via fire-escape, he made his way down the streets, wandering aimlessly. Zelretch had said he would get Shirou as close as possible, but in a city like this, where to begin?

Hours ticked by and it was nearly sunset before the young magus wandered into the famous park that was located centrally in the city, but the name of it escaped him. Sitting upon a bench, Shirou rummaged in the bag and took stock of his supplies: a few toiletries, changes of clothing, American money, and a few other necessities. The weird end of the spectrum included a leather purse of gold coins stamped with a small building on one side and a bearded face on the other, a vial of a silver liquid - that Shirou couldn't identify even with his craft - attached with a note in unfamiliar calligraphy, and a model DeLorean car.

"Just like the good old days," he muttered to himself. Back in the days of the War where he had no idea of what to do next and just played it by ear until Rin turned him around. That had almost gotten him killed.

"Enjoying the cool evening as well?" a voice said approaching the young magus. Shirou stuffed his supplies away and smiled.

"Ah yes, this is my first time to the city and I wanted to take in as much as I could," he answered. It was the truth after all, just not in its entirety. The owner of the voice was a middle-aged woman. Shirou looked her over and was struck speechless by her looks. She smiled devilishly as she took a seat next to him.

"Are you alone here then? By the look of that bag, you must travel often," she murmured as she petted the small lizard in her hand. 'Wait when had that gotten there?' She placed her hand on his and smiled gently. "Hasn't anyone told you it's dangerous in this city for someone like you?"

"What do you mean like me?" Shirou asked warily, the woman's grip tightened on his hand. His eyes met hers and she still smiled.

"Don't worry about it. You can trust me," she said seductively, her words laced with – power. Shirou felt something washing over him, maybe hypnotism. He circulated od through his Circuits and felt the feeling disappear. Shirou laced od into his voice and from his eyes and spoke back.

"Release me," he retorted forcefully. He felt the grip lessen, but the woman didn't let go completely. Then a scent that reminded him of lust and blood poured out from the woman. 'Not Human.' Reinforcing himself, Shirou ripped his arm from the iron-grip of the inhuman thing that was disguised as a woman.

"Oh yes, your blood will be delicious," she said as she dropped the small lizard she had onto the ground and it began to grow. Its image faltered to Shirou's vision and in its place was a large, five-headed reptile. 'By the lost Age of the Gods, where did she get a Phantasmal Beast?' Shirou panicked internally. Still reinforced he kicked away from the two beings and held his hands half open, read to grasp at the phantoms of his soul. "Oh, so you know who we are, half-blood? Then this will be a much more eventful night than I thought. Kill him," the woman, now a white-skinned demon with flaming hair, commanded the hydra.

"I am the bone of my sword," Shirou chanted the gun cocked in his mind. The married blades he knew well came forth from the depths of his soul. Shirou didn't know what a Phantasmal Beast and a demon were doing in an American city in the middle of public. Shirou also didn't know why she had hunted him down or what a half-blood was supposed to be. No, in this moment, the Sword that was Emiya Shirou only knew battle.

Without another word he became a blur of midnight and ivory.

*Scene Break*

High atop the great mountain Fuji, an old being stirred and he appeared as a man with long black hair and a very full face of hair. Another being, a woman, looked over to the man with concern and they shared an unspoken worry before they spoke in unison, a decree that all that occupied the mountain heard.

"He lives again."

Well this is probably the fastest update in ever. Like under 24 hours or just right about. Either way I'm digging the story, and might keep up the trend of smaller, but more frequent chapters. Seems to fit my style a bit more, I mean like 10,000 words can be pretty daunting, but I'll eventually get into a pace of some kind. Onto the responses even though there hasn't been much time for a review. (Maybe minor spoilers in those? Skip down if you down want to see them!)

Quick responses:

Ali-kun: Shot you messages about your review, but thanks for the compliments.

Ultima-owner: You've been following my work since I began "Fated Death" nearly two years ago. Thanks for sticking along for the ride this long!

SO (Guest): Yeah the prophecy didn't flow very well, I added a few words to try an get a consistent syllable count going and corrected the 'in' to 'on' for the hill of swords line. Otherwise your interpretation was fun to read, but I won't say one way or the other if it's right aside from Shinto part, as hinted at in this chapter.

Dragonskyt: Thank you kindly! I don't know what you mean, the prophecy is super vague and could be anyone. Probably Shinji. I'm glad it's gotten you hooked in though!

nad destroyer: Firstly, great name. Sorry I can't update as much as I want, but trust me I'm working on things trying to get them in order. Work consumes most of my time, but I'll work on getting better. What do you want to see updated? I'd recommend reading the Heroes of Olympus saga, good read for sure. I try and drop enough backstory to give someone new to the PJO side of things enough to work with.

alienvx0: Spot on, and I don't know how I'll do a godly checks-n-balances yet. Power-by-believer never really comes up much in the PJO series and I'm playing this off that universe's logic not Nasuverse - since it doesn't take place there and all. Otherwise yes, that would be the case. I might give the East a boost just because they are still more relevant than the Greek in the eyes of the mortals at least.

lolboblord: The muses seem to be sticking with me for now as I've churned this out sooner than I expected. So keep on a prayin'. Thanks for the read!

Well that's all for me. If you like 'er give her a review or me a shout or whatever you feel. Later Days!

~PI