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Speaking: "Hello"

Thoughts: 'Should I tell him'

Magic Spell/ Special stuff: "Might as well tell the truth."

Flames encompassed everything.

They burned and consumed the land, raging toward the darkened sky as if cursing it for its distance yet longing for its peacefulness. Screams of pain, anguish and despair filled the air like smoke. Scorched bodies lay on the equally burned ground. A testament to the merciless fury of the fire. Malice saturated the atmosphere like a thick blanket.

In this infernal scenario a single red haired boy stood on shaky legs. Surrounded by devastation he pushed himself forward with heavy steps, toward an uncertain direction and a much more certain death. Every movement brought him a new wave of pain. Every single breath filled his lungs with smoke, burning him from the inside.

Yet, something else burned within him. Something between resolve and defiance. His young mind knew that there was no hope for him, no way to make it out of there alive, but in spite of that knowledge he pushed himself forward just a little more. A challenge to his unavoidable fate.

There was a limit, of course, to how much he could withstand such task. Soon his legs gave in under the effort and he collapsed on the ground among charred bodies twisted by barely managed to turn and fall on his side instead of on his face, and then pushed himself to look up at the sky.

Smoke and ashes filled occluded the sight of it like a dull ceiling. Despair filled his heart along with burning rage. Without voice he cursed and prayed alternatively, even if though he knew they would reach no one.

He felt the fire wash over him in a moment. Slowly he closed his eyes, waiting for his death, and remembering all the people he had passed. Wishing for his sins to be atoned.

But something had indeed heard his curses and responded accordingly. A chalice filled with malice. A curse given shape and power. A shard of all the world's evils and sins.

It reached for him, a kindred spirit bound by powerlessness. It slipped through the cracks in his body and soul, filling the boy with a portion of his energy.

The boy felt the intrusions with a remote part of his brain. Or was it his soul? He couldn't understand what was happening, nor could he imagine the nature of the blackness that was consuming him. All he knew was the wrongness of it all.

Death, for the scary thing that it is, it's still a natural part of a human existence. The nameless black thing wasn't. Thus the boy knew, even in his ignorance of the world's workings, that the invading feeling was just wrong. He struggled. He cursed. He prayed. He didn't want to die, much less he wanted to be swallowed by that thing.

Unbeknownst to him even his prayed had been heard. Or the very least they had been answered.

Breaking away from the control of Angra Manyu, was the small portion of the Holy Grail that was absorbed into the young boy. Hearing his plea, the Grail gave him strength, giving him the power to live, and even more the opportunity to atone. It warded off the fire, trying to consume him.

Light golden and blue washed over him in the same manner of the black malice a few moments prior, helping chasing away the darkness from within him. It filled and repaired him on levels he couldn't neither describe nor understand. It illuminated something – somewhere - that didn't actually exist yet was a fundamental part of him.

His eyes gazed upon an eternal sunset engraved in a rusty red sky, upon in a thick forest covered by countless weapons. Was it a vision of Heaven of Hell? Salvation or damnation? It went as fast as it came, before he could understand it, before he could burn the vision inside his conscious mind. It disappeared, yet it was still there, somewhere inside him. When the Zoroastrianism God of Darkness known as Angra Manyu could fuel the destroying fire no more, and the rain had set in he got back up, finding it considerably easier than before. Blankly, he slowly lifted himself up and started again walking. He hadn't walked more than ten feet before a tall man with unruly hair and blank eyes ran up to him, smiling.

He blinked and he was conscious again, but this time he wasn't alone. A man with dark, ruffled hair was above him, smiling like he had just found a priceless treasure. Joy filled the man's eyes as he stared down at the boy, and in that moment he realized that he didn't feel pain anymore, and despair left place to a sense of calmness that didn't belong in that place. It was confusing much like everything else up to that moment.

He knelt before him smiling a huge smile. "Are you okay?" the man asked. Dumbly, the boy nodded. The strange man's smile grew bigger. He held out his hand to Shirou, saying "Come with me." Still completely blank the boy followed, oblivious to the dangers of following strange men. The grail shard, however, knew that the boy was now safe. Exhaustion finally caught up with him claiming his mind with blissful unconsciousness. One last thought was spared for the smiling man as realization dawned upon him. Thankfulness, for without a doubt he had just been saved.

Thus it decided to start trying to grant its master's wish

Where had the fear gone? The burning sensation inside his lungs? The pain in his limbs? Was this how death was supposed to be? Or was it something else? Perhaps… But he had been given a purpose now.

To be as happy as that strange man.

...Grail Shard...

The problem it faced right now was how to help its master. It did not have the strength that it had possessed as the full Holy Grail. It could gather and create prana to give to the boy, but that would be nigh useless when he grew to be a magus. Fortunately, though it still could use all the abilities of the full Holy Grail, it simply was not able to give Shirou even close to enough power to make any significant difference to whatever method Shirou would decide on for his atonement.

Support his progression then. It could, instead of just giving him a large amount of power, boost his body, mind, and soul's ability to gain power. Make an exercise give maximum results. Then it could throw in it's own, small, left over power and activate his latent skills. Maybe even give him new ones!

Now, how would it run this system? It extended its conciseness to the surrounding area, searching for an answer.

…Perfect...

Little did the Grail Shard know its actions were being manipulated by Gaia. The world observed the scene with just more intrest than normal. It was drawn to witness the aftermath of the fourth Holy Grail war after said Grail released that unholy blaze upon Fuyuki, after the hatred of Alaya the hatred of humans was a close second.

And even closer to the humans foolish enough to try to recreate a sorcery four times and fail miserably in all of them. Even being as presumptuous enough to bring pale copies of heroes of times immemorial to use as fuel to the wretched ritual.

Humans have grown weak with the passing of the time, feats made by an average human of the past were now impossible to even the most skilled human of the present.

With had a rather boring aftermath, the fire, as unholy as it was, could not even consume a hole city, just a sector of it. Not nearly enough to gather the attention of the Will of the Planet, but something else gained its attention.

A young haired boy that refused to die when everybody around him withered.

It recognized the soul of the boy, being one of the insufferable tools of its human loving counterpart, Alaya. A Counter Guardian, what a pitiful ending to one with such fiber to his being, clearly reminiscent of the humanity of old...

For a single moment the world stopped.

That boy who was so helpless now would become one of the greatest Counter Guardian of Alaya, he certainly was capable enough to become a hero on his own, but that meddling Consciousness of Humanity wouldn't let that happen. Now, giving this, promising and full of steel, young boy a boon just great enough to stray him from the path of a Counter Guardian and reduce the mediocrity of this era was a pleasing thought.

But, what blessing could be bestowed upon him? His memories were now non existent, just like his feelings and pretty much everything else. Not much to work with.

Gaia searched among the rubble for something to give the boy, then it found the unusual way of portraying heroes on this age. It was unusual and most certainly absurd, but it would do.

The Magus Killer was so relieved to have someone from the cursed fire still alive and running towards the nearest hospital that he failed to noticed the faint glow that the boy emanated for a moment.

The Will of the Planet was pleased with the job, outstanding human who will become Emiya Shirou, you now have within yourself the abilities of [The Gamer], may this blessing serve you well.