Prologue

I couldn't help but sigh when the first rays of mornings light peak in through my hotel's window. My last eight hours were spent on a rock hard mattress that was anything but restful. In fact, I'm sure that I only got an hour or two of sleep out of the last eight. Normally I wouldn't toss and turn in bed due my bed mates, but Rin and Saber weren't here with me.

Speaking of here, guess I had to learn the hard way that New York City really was the city that never sleeps. From the ever present glow of artificial light, to the root be damned honking of car horns. Everything in this place made me restless, but fortunately I wouldn't have to suffer another night in this hellish place since by tonight I would be on a plane back to England.

The thought of my flight had me glancing at the alarm clock to my right as it rested on top of a night stand. Its red digital display told me it was already six thirty so I would need to get moving soon if I wanted to finish my business here on time. With that in mind I finally got out of bed and started to dress. I didn't bring much with me because of the rush, so I put on a pair of simple blue jeans with a long white sleeved shirt for my meeting at eight.

After brushing my teeth I headed down to the hotel lobby for a tasteless complimentary breakfast which of course wasn't even filling. After the meal I left the hotel that somehow managed to get a four star rating. With my already sour mood, the sight I was welcomed as I exited the hotel dipped my mood even further at. The traffic of the city was completely frozen.

"I guess I'm walking to the Bank of America instead," I muttered under my breath.

The long walk ahead was probably for the best though I reasoned. Not only would it help wake me up, but it would give me time to think. A lot happened in the last twenty four hours, and by just thinking about it I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It was truly an unbelievable series of events…

I would like it to be known that money has never been a problem for me. Even after the sudden death of my adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya. All it took was a part time job at Copenhagen along with a small stipend of money curtesy of the Fujimura family, who at the time were managing my finances. With the small income, I was never without the funds I needed. Better yet, once I turned eighteen I was able inherit the money Kiritsugu left behind for me, which by the way was more than a small fortune.

A small fortune that Rin managed to go through in just three years after moving to England…in hindsight giving Rin access to my bank account whose magecraft requires very rare and expensive gems wasn't exactly the brightest idea.

Now our current joint savings was at a grand total of £500. Needless to say we needed money, and we needed it fast. Honestly the rent for our apartment was the least of my worries. Basic necessities like food were! With only 500£ I would only be able cover a weeks' worth of food, and I knew all too well that a hungry Saber was a dangerous Saber.

My desperation for money was bad enough that I paid a visit to Barthomeloi Lorelei, the bloody Queen of the Clock Tower herself, in hopes of finding an apostle hunt with a hefty reward. Sadly no such hunts were currently on so I got nothing but the ire of Lorelei if anything from the whole debacle. With my options running out I was considering taking out loans, but luckily that was when a miracle arrived as if through divine providence.

A letter of inheritance from someone named Natalia Kaminski. At first I thought it was one of those Nigerian Prince Scams that I got all the time in my email box. But luckily for me the letter turned out to be legit.

Using my information network that I build from my work as an enforcer I was able to validate the authenticity of the letter. Natalia was the adoptive mother of father Kiritsugu, and he was the sole heir in her will. However, since Kiritsugu couldn't be found after her death in the A300 flight from Paris to New York, the inheritance was transferred to a third party stipulated in the will. Said third party mentioned was an account, one Michael Hawthorn to be exact.

After a phone call with Michael, I found myself on the next eight hour flight from London to New York with an 8 A.M. appointment at his office the very next day…

Speaking of the appointment, it appears that I have just arrived at it.

The Bank of America in New York, and I could help but marvel at it a little. Not only did the building stand at a height that dwarfed its neighbors, it had a unique design that was a welcomed change to the traditional square shape that skyscrapers were well known for. While the bank wasn't as tall as the Empire State building or possessed a design as unique as the Stark Enterprise building, it remained in their league due to a nice blend of both qualities.

While I found it somewhat enjoyable to simply marvel at the architecture, I did have a meeting at eight to attend. With that thought I entered through the main doors. With directions earlier provided to me by Hawthorn, I was able to navigate to his office on the eleventh floor in no time at all. Although the door was open when I arrived, I still gave the door two knocks and waited for a reply before entering.

Inside the office sat a portly man behind a desk. He was somewhere in his forties and already balding if the lack of brown hair on the top of his head was anything to go by. The man gave me a gesture to the chair opposite to him as he stood and cleared his throat to speak.

"Shirou Emiya I presume?"

"Yes I am," I said as I offered my hand to shake, "and I assume you are Mr. Hawthorn, the account that I spoke to earlier on the phone?"

"That is correct," he said with a smile as he took my hand to shake, "and might I say that you're an incredibly difficult person to tract down just as your father and grandmother were."

As Hawthorn took a seat, an action which I mimicked, I raised an eyebrow. The Emiya name was hard to track because of the nature of our work, but so were high profile individuals who had the money or power to hide themselves. Pointing out the level of discretion that the Emiya name practiced was a little strange, especially from an account that was holding an estate of inheritance.

"Difficult to track down?" I inquired.

"Yes," Hawthorn answered before his smile became somewhat strained, "You see I was never able to locate your father after Natalia's death. Even at the end of the three year holding period where I would gain full access to the account, he was nowhere to be found."

That tidbit of information came as somewhat of a surprise. If Hawthorn technically had access to the account, why not just take the money and forget about Kiritsugu? There had to be a reason why and I was coming up dry. My Naïve nature to always expect the best in people was mercilessly crushed, curtesy of the Clock Tower's mages of course.

"While I thank you for holding onto the account for this long, it comes across as a surprise. I must admit that I never knew my… grandmother?" I said, as I fumbled over the word. While my English was well enough off to mask most my accent, I still had trouble with certain words, especially those that I never used again after learning.

"Also, I must confess that my father was a very reclusive man. The knowledge of my adoption into the Emiya family is supposed to only be known by a small circle of friends. If you don't mind me asking how did you figure it out, and on that end why did you go to such lengths to track me down especially when you own the account now?" I replied in a tone that was a little harsher than I intended.

I was aiming at an intimation of sorts with the threatening disposition I began to take. The dip in volume of my voice and hostile change in my posture were practiced tools I often used to get the information I wanted. However, it didn't even seem to faze Hawthorn. If anything it seemed to put him at ease.

"Well Natalia was more than a client to me," he said with a pleasant smile back on his face, "Once upon a time she saved my life when I was being held hostage by a terrorist cell in Syria. Natalia was able to free me on her mission there, and then even went the extra mile to get me on a flight back to the states where my family waiting. So, after returning home I offered to help Natalia in whatever way I could. At the end of most of our meetings, I was circulating money across accounts to hide her purchases of certain…goods."

The way Hawthorn was acting like we were ago old friends kept throwing me off. I couldn't help but relax as my stern expression faded while the corners of my mouth slowly upturned.

"Then one day out of the blue she comes into my office with Kiritsugu in tow and says I quote, make sure this brat inherits everything when I croak."

Hawthorn dropped the smile but adopted a knowing look, "Natalia's death must have hit Kiritsugu hard since he immersed himself in the family business. That is if the sudden appearance of the Magnus Killer was anything to go by."

Even with the extensive training I underwent with Rin to hide my emotions, I couldn't completely stop the subtle widening of my eyes at just how well informed this New York accountant was.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Mr. Hawthorn," was my eventual reply.

"Of course you don't Mr. Wrought Iron Magus," was his friendly retort with a smirk.

I refused to comment on that remark. Instead I focused my attention on finding recording devices in the room as my eyes roamed the contents of his office. If Hawthorn noticed my wondering eyes, he didn't comment on it, but after a few seconds he decided to let out a cough that cleared the silence between us.

"I have led us off the topic of this meeting and I apologize. Let us get straight to business then," Hawthorn said as he straightened his posture, "Natalia's estate was worth an initial sun of roughly $250,000, but with a few investments of my own, plus the inflation over the years that number has quadrupled."

It took a moment for that to register, and when it did I couldn't help but gape at the man who was freely willing to part with it.

"From your expression I can guess you were not expecting so much?" My curt nod was all he needed before continuing, "Yes, well, that is the current total and I would be more than happy to transfer it to your account."

What followed next were the logistics of our transaction. Once it was all said and done, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that the entire thirty minute meeting was a dream. As I was exiting the office, Hawthorn decided to leave me with a farewell remark, "The world is filling up with people that can't be matched by the day. Every day new heroes and villains are born and I hope that the Wrought Iron Magus will be there when the world needs him," The smile he flashed me was sincere, "Now, I've already taken up enough of your time Mr. Emiya so off you go, and be sure enjoy the rest of your stay here in New York."

With his piece said I left.

As I began to navigate my way back to the hotel, I could feel my body switch into auto-pilot as my subconscious took the reins. My mind had more pressing matters to address then seeing the sights, such as Hawthorns closing words which I was already starting to mull over. He wasn't wrong by saying the world was full of powerful people. Hell, there were so many out there today that their numbers ranged in the thousands, but of course most people never knew they existed. The Mage Association made sure of that. From the twenty-seven dead apostil ancestors, to the sorcerers of our era, the world was chalk full of powerful people and they've simply remained hidden throughout the ages.

But then again, in today's age there were heroes and villains becoming known across the globe. What was once thought to be fiction was now an accepted fact. It was somewhat ironic since soon Rin wouldn't be able to knock on my dream of becoming a super hero anymore. If Tony Stark, the scientist who engineered the Iron Man suit could become a hero, why couldn't I?

Speaking of science it has progressed to such a degree that the Mages Association is starting to have problems with keeping the existence of magic a secret. The recent development in technology has forced most of the enforcers at the Clock Tower to take on missions to destroy recorded proof of magecraft. With large scale destruction bringing more attention than less nowadays, enforcers have been taking stealthier approaches to destroying information. I can already hear the cries of the world's youth as their smartphones go missing to preserve the secrecy of magic.

While I find the destruction of private property to be generally distasteful, it currently stands as the best method to deal with the problem. I'm sure that the trouble I have stifling my laughs when magi at the Clock Tower become 'astounded' by mundane security has nothing to do with it. I mean watching a magi try to delete data on a modern smart phones isn't so sad that it becomes hilarious. Also who could possibly find the situation where a distinguished noble reduced a box full of smart phones to ash in frustration funny?

Yea…maybe I should try to modernize the Clock Tower before all the worlds' smart phones suddenly disappear. That would be for the best… I'll be sure to get right on that…but then again it wouldn't hurt for a few more phones to be destroyed while I think of a plan…

My mussing came to an abrupt end when the sound of a jet flying right overhead snapped me back to reality. In the blink of an eye I was ready for combat. The hammer in my mind cocked and fired as three of my circuits activated. Prana flowed through my body as I started to reinforce it. With the enhancement to my senses came a calming realization. The 'jet' was the Iron Man suit, and it was currently flying in the direction to the Start building two blocks ahead.

I decided to keep the reinforcement on so I could see it in action. Once it landed on the building's roof, I was glad I did since what followed was a treat to see. Robotic limbs emerged from the floor underneath and removed the Iron Man suit piece by piece. Then the man who I recognized as Tony Start walked into the building casually as if what just happened was a daily occurrence. With my reinforced eyes I was able to see the whole spectacle clearly even though it was about half a mile away.

Keeping my circuits on and my reinforcement active, I walked towards the Stark building hoping for another glimpse of the super hero. Good thing I did since not a minute later a window shattered as a Tony flew through it. In the fraction of a second my body was already in motion.

I moved at a speed that Olympic athletes could only dream of. The people and cars I ran passed were a blur as I bobbed and weaved through then to reach the free falling scientists. Looking up I was on pace to catch him in time. I knew that if I caught Tony broken bones would be a guarantee from the impact, but it was still a preferable outcome then becoming a human pancake.

I would save him.

Tony wasn't idle in his decent though, and apparently had other plans. Half way to the ground his suit began to assemble on him. It finished a few second before he hit the ground. With enough space before his impact he was able to generate enough thrust to counteract the decent. He was safe, but the family of three under him wasn't. The glass from the window was rapidly approaching.

I came to a sliding halt before the three of them. A young mother with a daughter held in one arm as she towed a son behind with the other arm. Being larger then the three by far, I'll pulled them together tightly in a hug as I used my body to shield them. I could feel the glass cutting though my shirt on impact, but with the reinforcement to my body the glass scratch my skin at most.

Once the rain of glass ended, I pulled the three of them apart and give them all a quick look. I didn't see any injuries but I still asked if they were alright.

I got three small nods as they looked at me with wide eyes. I was about to smile but the sudden influx of prana caused my own eyes to widen.

I was better at sensing agecraft than most. From the precise location to the exact nature of the craft, this information came to me as smell. For example, I could smell the direction of a magic user and the nature/power of the individual. A weak fire mage would smell like a match while a well-versed one would have a scent reminiscent of burning fuel. However, what I smelled now was just stifling without any recognizable scent. All I was able to figure out was that it was coming from above and looking up, I had trouble believe it was real.

A portal, if I could call it that, was opening up in the sky above. Inside I could see the dark abysses of space. The absurdity of such a portal wasn't what I found concerning though. The creatures within were. I have seen aliens before from the various celestial types' that have visited the Earth, but never before have I come across something remotely similar to the creatures dwelling within.

They were humanoid in shape with two arms, two legs, a chest and body; but that was as far as similarities went. Their skin was ashen gray with drastically different body structures and I couldn't begin to describe their faces. Unfortunately the humanoid creatures were not the most alarming matter, the whale sized creatures covered in metal from head to tail were.

What fear the woman I protected early had must have compounded. She was shaking violently with eyes that look on in horror. I shook her hard enough to force her attention on me, "Take the children and hide inside a building!" her black stare was all I received so I gripped her shoulder harder, "NOW!"

It was enough to get her moving so I turned my attention back to the threat at hand. I knew the Mage Accusation would catch wind of this in minutes. The actions they would take though I could only guess. They could do nothing and merely collect samples, or they could crush the alien threat and everything it touched to dust. Whatever was going to happen though, I would not remain a bystander.

I hardened my resolve and held my arms to the side with open hands, prepared to trace blades at a moment's notice. Intoning the first line of my aria activated all twenty-seven of my circuits.

"I am the bone of my sword."

They descended in droves as I stood alone below.

AN: Well with the stress of finals finally gone I decided to write an idea that recently popped into my head. I started a storyboard for this fic, but I wanted to see the reaction I received before continuing it, hence the prologue and not the first chapter.

With that said, I hoped you enjoyed yourself and if you're feeling generous enough please leave me a review; remember they fuel me.

Best,

Light

Updated/Revised: 6/13/2015

Side Note: Looking for a beta.