Endless Wire

Prologue: Bring the Boys Back Home

-(=O=)-

"Here kids, let me tell you a story," the old man said, as the children sat down around him. "This is a story about a family. A family who was divided by a war."

One of the children raised his hand. "Is this another story you saw in your Kaleidoscope?"

The man laughed. "No, it is not. This is a story that actually has occurred, rather than a story which only may occur."

The children remained quiet after that, most likely because of their confusion as to what the old man said.

"Moving on, this is a story about a war. However, this was was unlike other wars. This war was fought to determine who would get a legendary magical artifact. The war was brutal for some, and rather tame for others, but, in the end, it did not matter, for no man or woman who fought got the artifact, and the town surrounding the artifact was bathed in flame."

The man adjusted himself in his chair before he continued to speak. "This fire killed many innocent people. One of the men who fought in the final battle of the war survived until after the war however, despite the fact that he had been poisoned during his battle. But, this is not a story of that war."

"This is a story of the war that followed that, ten years later, in which there were twice as many combatants, who created two factions which are simply referred to as "Red" and "Blue." The man who survived the previous war led the "Blue" faction, while a magus who was related to the man led the "Red" faction. The Blue faction's mission was to save the world by destroying the artifact, and the Red faction's mission was to prevent the artifact's destruction, for their own greed."

The man grinned as he looked at each of the children, before he resumed speaking. "Now, our story started, one day in February, when it was long past your bedtimes, when the man accidentally released something horrible upon the town…"

-(=O=)-

It could only be described as hell. A raging inferno, which claimed the lives of all that entered it. The boy stumbled forward through the flames, walking as if in a daze, the look on his face completely uncaring about anything. This boy had given up. His family was dead, and as far as he knew, he would die too.

It's not like he had anyone to save him, after all. Although, people were dying left and right- including those who would save a neighbour, friend, or complete stranger, but in turn, get caught and die in agony. The boy stumbled on, before collapsing himself, into a pile of rubble. He stretched his arm out in a futile attempt to climb up, almost as if he wanted to continue walking.

As it fell, a man wearing a black suit and trench coat caught the boy's hand, while tears streaked down the man's face.

"He's alive!" he said. "He's alive, thank you, thank you!"

The boy started to fall unconscious as a man draped in red and black appeared, and started yelling at the first man. The first man had pulled out something, something that glowed gold, and left it with the boy, before turning towards the man in red.

The last thing the boy saw, before he slipped into unconsciousness, was a flash of red and the man in red as he produced another golden object.

On that day, the Fourth Holy Grail War ended in disaster. On that day, a boy lost his family. On that day, a man named Kiritsugu Emiya gained a new family.

-(=O=)-

[Nine Years, Five Months Ago]

Kiritsugu opened his eyes slowly, and just lay in bed, listening to the chirping of the Cicadas. It was early September, and the Fourth Grail War had been over for seven months. He climbed to his feet, and put on some clean clothes. A black suit was his choice, as per usual. He left his room, and walked down to the dining room, as the early morning sun glowed through the windows.

He entered the room, and sat across the table from his son. Shirou, he named the boy, when he first brought him to an ambulance. He had adopted the boy after the fire, as Shirou's entire family had died in the raging inferno that consumed the city. Kiritsugu smiled as the boy munched on a piece of toast, and started to eat as well, comfortable in his daily life.

Except, for the fact, that in a handful of hours he was going to rig one of the places that makes Fuyuki City so special with several kilograms of C-4 plastic explosives. No, he wasn't a terrorist. He was a man who currently was planning on using a tiny bit of magecraft in combination with a few timers to set off the explosives thirty years into the future to destroy the town's ley lines to prevent the Grail from gaining enough mana to start again.

And so, after his son left for school, Kiritsugu left his home as well, as he entered his car and drove to Ryuudou Temple. Once he reached the temple grounds, he climbed out of his car, and exhaled, his breath condensing slightly in the brisk morning air.

He walked over to his trunk, and popped it open, and revealed a duffel bag and, once the man made sure that there was no one nearby, he peeled back a section of carpet revealing a plastic box, which, in truth, was a case that contained one of the many Glock 17's he owned.

He slung the bag over his shoulder, and picked up the pistol and three magazines. One he slid neatly into the grip, and, racking the slide, made sure that a round was loaded, the other two he hid inside the interior pockets of his trench coat.

He closed the trunk of his car, and slipped into the forest surrounding the temple. He was looking for a cave entrance to under the temple, and while it may be faster if he actually went through the temple, it'd be very likely that he would be caught with a bag full of plastic explosives and a pistol.

That was why he spent an hour looking for a cave entrance that would allow him to access the ley lines under Ryuudou Temple. As the temple was the gateway for Fuyuki's ley lines, all of the ley lines intersected at this location. So, he figured it would be like four wires which converged into a single wire. You cut the primary wire, and the other four can no longer carry electricity. In a way he was correct, although it wasn't exactly like he assumed, but it was similar.

So, once he found the cave entrance, marked by a surprisingly well maintained trail and, of course, a bounded field around the area. Kiritsugu looked and found the origin point of the bounded field, and shut it down easily. He descended into the cave, and began to work on what placing and arming C-4 on the 'hub' of the ley lines.

Over the past several months, he had delved into what little spells he had on the Emiya Family Crest, and found one that he could perfectly use with a bit of modification. Nearly twenty years before, when his father was still alive, the elder Emiya had perfected putting an item into stasis permanently, often creating flowers that would never wither or die.

Kiritsugu, on the other hand, was creating timers that would count down from one hour after their activation, but wouldn't actually start counting down for somewhere between thirty or forty years, by using a butchered version of the spell. Despite the spell having bad memories associated with it, Kiritsugu still used the spell.

Once his work was finished, he scaled back down the cave to the entrance, where he heard the click a pistol's hammer being cocked. Kiritsugu turned around, and saw a face he didn't think that he would see for a long time.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, confined to a wheelchair as a result of Kariya Matou during the Fourth Holy Grail War, sat beside him, a Smith and Wesson Model 29 Revolver pointed at Kiritsugu. The Tohsaka patriarch, for lack of a better term, looked like shit. His hair was messy, and the man's once so cared for goatee was now shaved off completely. His clothes were creased, and his skin pale, a sign that the man had been spending too much time indoors. However, the man's eyes were still full of determination and power, showing that inside, he was still very much a very strong Magus.

Kiritsugu looked at the man, and chuckled. "I guess I am out of touch," he muttered, before drawing his Glock and aiming it at Tokiomi.

"Emiya, what was it that you were doing in there?" the man asked, the revolver still pointed at Kiritsugu's side.

Kiritsugu reached into his duffel bag, and removed a leftover brick of C-4 from inside. He tossed it onto Tokiomi's lap, and replied with "What do you think?"

The man's eyes widened, and a look of shock appeared on the other man's face. The other Magus keeps the revolver aimed at Kiritsugu as he looks at the explosives. "You're planning on destroying the ley lines, aren't you?" he stated.

Kiritsugu nods, his Glock still pointed at Tokiomi. "It's to prevent the next Grail War from occurring. Thirty years from now, the explosives will detonate, and prevent evil that is the Grail from returning to this world," he responded.

Tokiomi looked at him, his eyes full of sorrow. "That's what caused the destruction in the city? The fire released by the Grail?"

Kiritsugu nodded. "Angra Mainyu. Summoned sixty years ago as Avenger. All of the World's Evil's is now in control of the Holy Grail. I won't allow it to return."

Tokiomi lowered the pistol, and placed it away within his jacket pocket. He looked at Kiritsugu, and spoke. "Then there is something we must do. I need you to take me to the Church, Emiya."

Kiritsugu stepped back from Tokiomi, but kept the pistol trained on him. "Why?"

"Because we need to enact a special policy in the Grail. One that will give you the ability to destroy it once and for all."

"Explain."

Tokiomi glanced at Kiritsugu, before he turned away. "Look at your hand, Kiritsugu Emiya, and see what is coming to you," he explained, his voice laced with pity.

The sound of water droplets hitting leaves echoed out, as a liquid fell. Kiritsugu rotated his right hand, and saw blood coming from freshly produced Command Seals on the back of his hand.

"Come, Emiya. If you wish to save the world, then we must act now," Tokiomi Tohsaka said.

And, in the silence, a new friendship was formed.

-(=O=)-

Rin Tohsaka was honestly surprised when she saw her father waiting at her school for her. Her father, in his current condition, normally was not able to come by her school and drive her home, like he or her mother used to.

Alas, that was before the Matou broke his spine and the Archibald killed her mother. Of course, all Rin knew was that an evil man killed her mother and that her father had an accident and had fallen and hurt himself.

She skipped over to her father, who sat in his wheelchair beside a silver car, with a man clothed in black leaning on the hood of the car behind him.

"Father!" she said, excited, her eyes full of enthusiasm. Her father smiled, and couldn't help but be glad that she was excited to see him. While he may be a Magus, after losing his wife during the Grail War, he had come to appreciate the small stuff a little more.

Rin looked over at Kiritsugu and asked "Who's this?"

Tokiomi's expression changed to one of seriousness. "I'll tell you in the car, Rin. Here, climb in."

She climbed in, and once she was in Kiritsugu walked around to the other side and helped Tokiomi into the vehicle, before he took the wheelchair and put it into the trunk of the car. They sped off, towards the other side of the city. They reached a small elementary school, just as the majority of the students began to file out of the building.

A boy with orange hair wandered out of the gate, and he too smiled as he saw his father. Of course, while it was not rare for Kiritsugu Emiya to be at Shirou's school after the bell ended, the boy was still happy to see that man who saved him. He ran to the man, and Kiritsugu greeted his son quietly.

"Dad, who are those people in the car?" he asked as he tried to look over his father's shoulder into the window. The boy's golden eyes kept coming into contact with the girl with the blue eyes who sat in the backseat, who herself was trying to find out what exactly was going on.

"Shirou," Kiritsugu said quietly. Shirou looked at his father. Kiritsugu stared deep into his son's eyes. "Shirou, the man in the passenger seat, he's agreed to help teach you to become a magus."

The boy instantly became excited. Kiritsugu hated to, but he had to interrupt the boy. "Shirou, unfortunately, there will be something that you will have to do for me. Actually, to be honest, not just me, the entire world."

Shirou looked on, unsure of what to say. His father resumed what he had started saying. "If you are to do this, it will likely be the worst thing you will ever experience. You could die, and if you survive, you might not like what you have became."

Shirou absorbed what his father was saying. To anyone, it would appear to be a tough decision. Of course, to Shirou, with his father being a magus, and his father having saved him, he believed that he could do that too.

"Shirou. If you say no, I won't hate you or anything. This is your choice to make."

And so, Shirou agreed. "I want to become a magus," he stated.

Kiritsugu smiled a sad smile, as he gestured towards Shirou to enter the car. Shirou opened the door, unaware that his destiny was to change forever from this point on.

-(=O=)-

Kiritsugu pushed Tokiomi's wheelchair in the memorial park. It truly was a beautiful park, but that was often ignored as it was the place where so many people had died. This, along with how the 'poison' that drenched the city, the curse of Angra Mainyu, which, even to normal people was still detectable. These were the main reasons why people rarely entered the park for long periods of time, which made it a perfect area for Kiritsugu and Tokiomi to speak that evening.

"What was it that you did at the church?" the Magus Killer questioned.

"I activated a backup system that only the Three Families know of," he said, as their children talked excitedly further ahead.

"It allows the summoning of up to fourteen servants. Originally, the system was added in case of the event of all of the Servants banding together. But, now we can use it to summon seven of our own Servants, to form a faction to fight with us."

Kiritsugu stopped walking. "Will it work?"

"Yes, provided that the summoner performs a modified ritual correctly," Tokiomi responded.

Rin and Shirou ran around, each child excitedly talking about what Kiritsugu assumed was magecraft.

"This curse that's plaguing the area," Tokiomi muttered. "You were exposed to it, weren't you?"

Kiritsugu glanced at the other man, before he confirmed his suspicions. "Yes, I was. The curse of Angra Mainyu. Pure, unadulterated evil."

Tokiomi stared sadly into the sunset. "How are you not being affected by it now? How were you healed?"

Kiritsugu sighed. "My servant. Saber. You saw him, what he could do with Archer's Noble Phantasms, with being able to copy them."

Tokiomi nodded.

"Well, during his life, he had experience with a Noble Phantasm. His experience with it made him able to reproduce near perfect copies of it that last for weeks. That Noble Phantasm would heal it's user greatly, extend their lifespan, and it could act as an ultimate shield from harm," Kiritsugu explained. He pushed Tokiomi's wheelchair to catch up to Shirou and Rin. "That Noble Phantasm's name was [Avalon]."

Tokiomi glanced at Kiritsugu, before Rin grabbed onto his hand and started asking about when she would next see her new best friend.

And so they went- an assassin, who desperately wanted to have a family, a magus, who just wanted to prevent his daughter from being like him. There was a girl, who wanted to master magic, to become a magus like her father. The last of the group is a boy, who wanted to learn magecraft, who wanted to be like his father, because to him, his father was a hero.

-(=O=)-

The Holy Grail, while a powerful object, can find it difficult to process some Heroic Spirits of exceptional strength, talent, fame, and with large numbers of people who revere them. Even months after a Grail War has ended, those Spirits can exist for months, maybe a year or two, sitting dormant inside the Grail's systems as they are processed.

This is why, when Kiritsugu and Tokiomi activated one of the Grail's backup systems, it declared a state of emergency inside of it. It needed a Servant to be classified as Ruler, it needed to gather enough Mana to support fourteen Heroic Spirits, and, especially after the amount of legendary Heroes summoned in the Fourth Holy Grail War, it needed to lessen the load on it's systems by removing some leftover Heroic Spirits. Fast.

So, it delved into itself, and searched. The King of Heroes wasn't in the system, as he had been given new life months beforehand, and the Knight of the Lake wasn't fit to be a 'Ruler.' It searched, and searched. Those known as 'Saber,' 'Lancer,' 'Caster,' and 'Assassin,' wouldn't fit either, but he…he would work.

And so, it rebuilt him. The Grail, from its own Mana, breathed life into one who had died near the war's end. A hero so widely know, so revered, so incredible, he could only be described as a King, and who better fit to be classified as a 'Ruler' class Servant than he, Iskander, or, to most people, Alexander the Great: The King of Conquerors.

Ruler laughed, as he stood proud to the sky, as his crimson cloak bellowed mightily in the wind. His armour unscared, as was his skin, but his mind contained all of the memories of his previous encounters, of all his victories across the endless deserts, of being a King.

With a mighty grin, he shouted to the stars "I-ISKANDER-THE KING OF CONQUERORS HAS RETURNED TO THIS EARTH AS 'RULER!'"

He shoved his left arm into the air, twenty eight Command Seals, two for each Servant that will be fighting in the upcoming war, proudly displayed. "WITH THESE," he yelled, his voice reaching far and wide, "I SHALL BECOME ALL OF THE GOOD IN THE WORLD! I SHALL BE THE SLAYER OF ALL EVILS IN THE WORLD!"

His grin still plastered onto his face he steps forward, his massive foot crashing into the ground.

"THE GRAIL HAS SEEN IT FIT TO GIVE ME NEW LIFE! THE DREAM OF OCEANUS LIVES ON!"

And so, the first of fifteen Servants was summoned. However, this Servant was not one bound to a Master. Instead, it could be said that the Grail itself was the Servant's Master, and yet, that would not be correct either, for the Grail's corruption does not allow such a thing. This being, this King was not one who could be claimed as a Servant. In fact, like many other Servants seen throughout time and space, he could be described as his own man.

Like a King of Heroes, who sipped wine at the time of a man he legitimately respected returned to the flesh, like another Ruler, the one known as Shiro Amakusa, who received the gift of the flesh in another world. This is not another world, but it is also another world.

This is another world, where Alexander the Great, once again roams the Earth, where he can search to do whatever he felt like doing for the next several years until the Fifth Holy Grail War started. However, in his ear, the Grail whispered it's instructions and commands into his ear, but ear command was ignored, for Iskander had no Master, for the corruption of Angra Mainyu has, in a way, screwed itself over.

-(=O=)-

a long time ago

a girl lost her father

and her father lost the girl

but the father gained a son

but the father

wanted his son

and his daughter

to be happy

but we can't always

get what we want

can we?