How did it turn out this way?

Ritsuka Fujimaru could only ponder as her vision begins to blacken as she leans her broken body against the wall. The greedy visages of the magi who betrayed her dimming from her sight. To her side, Mash her stalwart friend lies broken and bleeding on the ground, her body all too mortal and frail after saving the Human order. On the far side of the room is Lord El-Melloi II, or less commonly known as Waver Velvet. His broken body was sitting upright against the wall, still conscience and defiant.

At least he remained true and loyal, unlike his treacherous peers of the Clocktower.

"You fools… Chaldea rescued the Human Order from incineration, gathered an army of Servants, and the first thing you do is betray one of the masters to grab a spare grail?"

"Like something so trivial matters Lord El-Melloi. Everything is permitted if it brings us closer to reaching the Root. Confiscate the Grail, quickly! We don't have much time before Da Vinci and the other Fujimaru master arrives!"

"That's Lord El-Melloi the Second you- Gah!"

Waver's protest was brutally interrupted as a magus kicks a wound at the side of his chest, knocking him down only to stomp on same wound, digging his heel in.

"I never liked you El-Melloi. You upstart plebeian, if only we had more time… I would have loved putting a sealing designation on you somehow."

Waver only glares at his tormentor, unwilling to give him the dignity of a response.

"Stop wasting time fool! The bounded field protecting the Grail is almost down, we need you to focus on transporting it."

"Oh? WhO dEEmeD yOu WoRThY? WHo gAve YoU ThAt rIGHt?"

A dark, chilling malignant voice echoed throughout the room right as the bounded field faded. The Grail, once golden and pristine began to warp and tarnish. A vile black mud bubbled from within, spewing invisible curses and evil across the room. The treacherous magi froze in fear, unable to comprehend the pure weight of the concept of evil before them. Until finally, after several minutes had passed, one of the magi's curiosity finally overcame his fear.

"Who… no what are you?"

Malefic chuckling resounded throughout the room

"I aM ThE WeigHT oF AlL Of yOUr sInS. ThE oRiGIn oF tHe HEro'S DeSPaiR. HAhAha… FOr sUcH 'wIse MeN' YoU ArE sUcH FoOLs."

The magus furrowed his brows in concern. Glancing at his still petrified peers he took a breath to collect himself and focused on the grail.

"Oh? And why do you say that, entity within the grail?"

"TEn MiNUteS."

The magi's expressions changed to dumbfounded as they turned to glance at each other. Until they noticed the mounting horror of the magus who asked the initial question. Cold sweat dripping down his face, and trembling in fear, he finally spoke.

"The plan… 10 minutes was our window of opportunity. We are now at 11 minutes…"

Their apprehension swiftly turned to panic when the doors to the room were blown off the hinges, the cold stare of a white-blond haired, golden eyed, servant bearing down in them. The telling steps of her armor growing louder as she came closer, a flaming sword and flagpole bearing the motif of dragons materialized in her hands. In panic, the flung every spell in their possession, expended every mystic code. But before any could reach her, she simply spoke one phrase:

"La Grondement Du Haine."

The fools spent the last few agonizing moments of their lives in agony as they were punctured by spears and stakes and incinerated by hellfire. Their screams of agony ended in a short moment, yet for those who endured it, their torment seemingly lasted for an eternity. Their ashes fell gently to the ground.

Unconcerned, the servant briskly walked to Ritsuka and Mash, only to find their eyes bleak and dull. The light of life snuffed out. Trembling in rage the servant screams in fury as fire erupts around her. Yet all the heat and fury of those flames could not dry the tears of sorrow streaming from her eyes.

Lord El-Melloi II could only watch in sympathy, knowing full well the strength of bonds servants can make with their masters. Cursing, he attempted to push himself back up and back away from the flames, only to collapse from the pain of his wounds.

The noise caught the attention of the grieving servant, her gaze promising nothing but suffering.

"Oh? I missed one? Time to correct that mistake."

He could only close his eyes, resigned to the whims of the griefstriken servant, until a most unlikely of sources spoke in his defense.

"NoW, nOw JEaNne. nO nEeD To HArm thE oNE ThaT fELL DEfenDiNG MaSH aND mAsTEr. BEsiDeS. mASteR aND mASh CAn bE sAVeD. aT A cOSt."

Jeanne's flames receded back, her expressions morphing into one of desperate determination.

"Explain Angra Mainyu. Now. And stop hiding in the grail. Someone as weak as you should not be speaking as if they were some secret final boss in a game."

"HEh, fInE."

Dark purple motes of light flicker out of the black mud of the grail, and floating above it, a faint image of a black haired servant appears, laying on his side. His tanned body is covered in black tattoos of glyphs and runs wearing at tattered red bandanna and waistcloth with black bandages.

"I've always been an existence tied to the grail. It wasn't too hard to dive into it when I had my suspicions about those magi. Normally, a singularity grail isn't primed to grant a wish like a Fuyuki Grail, buuuut… with my knowledge of a Fuyuki Grail's inner workings I've modified this grail to operate like a corrupted one. I can grant wishes through destruction."

"Good, then save Ritsuka and Mash. I don't care about the cost. Humanity owes its existence to them, so it should bear the price of this… betrayal."

Lord El-Melloi II shuddered at the sheer malice and disgust oozing from Jeanne as she spoke those words, and inwardly wished that perhaps it would have been better to have died before seeing the suffering to come.

Angra Mainyu preened at the desired wish. At long last, finally not being a just useless and weak servant, Angra closed his eyes in concentration, and willed the grail to overflow, its black mud teeming with All the World's Evils slowly oozing and inching its way towards Ritsuka and Mash, forming puddles of filth beneath their bodies. Slowly their veins began to bulge forth red with corruption as it worked its way in. But they did not rise.

"Hm… that's not good. I can't raise them as they once were. If I were to bring them back, they'd be distorted by All the World's Evils. They'd be parodies and caricatures of their former selves. However… there is another option…"

Jeanne narrowed her eyes at the bad news. Scowling she could barely contain the frustration in her voice.

"And what would THAT be?"

"Reincarnation. They deserve to live again, but free from this mess. With enough sacrifices, I can tear open a hole and fling their souls to a different time to reincarnate. Perhaps they will make their way back to us, maybe not. Either way, it is better than letting them return to the swirl of the root and being born again in this shitty timeline."

"How much of a sacrifice?"

"A few million mundanes. Don't worry, I'll just spread the mud to collect it myself. You don't need to do a thing other than make sure no one interrupts me."

"Do it."

"Now hold on just a moment! I cannot just allow this to happen!"

Despite being wounded, despite being on death's door, Lord El-Melloi II could not simply watch as an atrocity of such a degree be committed in front of him. Defiantly, he glared at the two servants of hatred.

Morality will not work against avengers. They hate humanity. No, I must buy time by appealing to their interests and logic. Perhaps then Da Vinci and the surviving Fujimaru master can make it back here in time.

"Arbitrarily killing millions people is wasteful, especially mages. What if you end up killing the mages who could make new bodies for Mash and Ritsuka if you preserve their souls? What would your other master say to you after such a slaughter? Do you believe he or Da Vinci would take this passively? Besides, Ritsuka and Mash paid a massive price to save humanity. Would you make their efforts, YOUR efforts all for nothing? Besides, proceeding along could get the Counter Force involved!"

Angra Mainyu smirked at the magus's words. Flippantly waving him off more black mud started to spew forth from the grail, slowly working its way towards the wounded magus. The wood and furniture of the room warping and burning from the corruption spreading

"You argue your case well, but we know our masters far better than you. He will be disappointed in us yes, but he will accept and understand our decision to save Ritsuka. As for Counter Force, well a few million souls should cover London and the surrounding area. Hardly enough damage to invoke their interference."

Angra Mainyu's gaze became piercing as he stared into Lord El-MelloI's eyes as he gave a sadistic grin. The mud now only millimeters away from touching him.

"But you raise a good point though, there are some humans that should be spared, for their usefulness or for their innate nature. You should know all the ones worth sparing, and from your mind I'll see which ones they are."

Panicking, he desperately tries to back away from the mud, only to remember he is already pressed against the wall. There is no way to escape the mud.

"Don't worry Waver Velvet. I'll heal your wounds while I'm at it. I'll even minimize the corruption done to you. At most you'll just be in a bad mood every morning from the corruption. You'll still be able to enjoy life as you did before. Think of it as my gift to you for your honesty towards my master."

Staring at the mud, he resigned himself to his fate.

"You'll heal me but you can only grant wishes through destruction correct? So gaining my knowledge and healing me is going to hurt like hell isn't it?"

"Yes. But it will be a one time affair. For what it's worth, sorry."

"Well, at least I can say my actions saved a few at least."

Closing his eyes once more, he took a deep breath, before screaming in agony as the mud surged forth and enveloped him. It entered his wounds, and circulated through his veins, healing him as it pried pictures, names, locations and artifacts to be spared.

Turning his attention away from the Magus, Angra Mainyu faced Jeanne, now knee deep in mud that flowed out of the room but desperately holding on to the bodies of her dear friends. Wryly smiling at the scene, he spoke up.

"Hah, if only your previous self could see you now. Did you overcome your hatred of humanity?"

Glaring at Angra Mainyu, Jeanne pulled the bodies towards the center of the room, unwilling to risk them being swept away by the mud or being damaged by the now raging fires around them as the building burned.

"No, I still hate humanity. They sin, they betray and in all honestly, I think they should burn. But… there are humans like Ritsuka and master that deserve to live. People that love me despite being a monster. Even though they knew it would hurt them, they didn't want to leave me alone. They… are worth saving."

Angra Mainyu could only give a sympathetic smile, which soon turned bitter when he noticed Jeanne was passively using her aura to protect the bodies of Ritsuka and Mash from the weight of All the World's Evils. With great reluctance, he finally spoke.

"You need to stop protecting the bodies. I can only grant wishes through destruction. If you want me to save their souls without corrupting or damaging them, you need to let my nature take its course and desecrate the bodies. Let abandoned flesh pay the price instead of the souls."

Hesitantly, Jeanne complied with the order and let go. Averting her gaze, she mercifully avoided seeing the bodies be consumed and destroyed by the curses of the mud. But she still heard the screams and suffering of the mundanes, suddenly caught in a disaster surpassing that of the Fuyuki Fire of other timelines. London burned, and soon became a hellscape worthy of the apocalypse. But she didn't care. It was their fault for betraying her, for betraying Chaldea.

After an hour of suffering spreading throughout Britain, the screams around the Clocktower and the Grail began to die down. All those that were not chosen to be spared had already expired. Only the steady cackle of flames resounded throughout the land, besides the occasional rumble of collapsing buildings. Lord Melloi II was sleeping restlessly after his ordeal, his face scrunched up in agony but not making a sound. Jeanne merely looked out into the distance, not making a sound while Angra Mainyu allowed himself to fully fade back into the grail to manage the mud more directly and ensure precision for the areas and people that needed to be spared. The tense silence continued for hours more until finally Angra Mainyu emerged back from the grail.

"Almost done. Mash and Master's souls are safe and pristine while the sheer number of mundanes and magi sacrificed is enough to open rifts through time and space and kickstart the incarnation process. Just need another town or two for an extra bit."

Jeanne finally reacted and moved from her silent vigil. Her brow raised in annoyance, she glared at Angra Mainyu.

"What extra bit?"

"Oh, a reward for you as well as insurance."

"Explain."

Angra Mainyu wore a smug grin before waving his finger in a teasing fashion.

"Now now Jeanne, your 'senpai' may be weak but he's most certainly reliable in situations like these. Oh and yes, I did hear you back in Chaldea when you first saw how weak I was. You were nowhere near as quiet as you thought you were."

Jeanne's eyes widened briefly before averting her eyes and grimacing lightly in embarrassment.

"Your lack of subtly aside, there is no guarantee that my Master and Mash will have a safe childhood. And even if they do, how can they make their way back to us if they chose to without a guide? The best bet would be to send someone to watch over them, but we are the only two servants available. Your master is with Da Vinci, most probably retreated back to Chaldea to figure out what happened. I cannot go because without me to restrain the Grail, the Counter Force WILL become involved."

With that Jeanne's face became conflicted, indecision evident in her eyes.

I want to go with Ritsuka and Mash, but I cannot leave my Master behind. Sigh, if only I could manage the Grail so Angra Mainyu could follow his master.

Wistfully smiling, Angra Mainyu easily saw through Jeanne's thoughts. Waiting for a moment, he coughed to regain her attention and continued.

"Therefore the best option would be to send you… but you will not leave your Master. Despite all that we have done today, he will need you to help him through his grief of losing Mash and his sister. So… while I was in the Grail I might have tapped into the Throne of Heroes to study it for a moment."

"You… what?"

"Heh… well, I noticed this problem about an hour and a half ago so while rummaging through El-Melloi's mind… So I kinda used about ¼ of London and a nearby town to give me enough time to observe the Throne of Heroes and might have made an imitation of the summon heroic spirit process?"

"What."

Smiling bashfully Angra Mainyu closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head. All the while Jeanne continued to look at him dumbfoundedly.

"What can I say? He wanted to meet Rider again so he studied the hell out of the process. Regardless, I'm going to make a copy of you and attach you to my Master. Once my Master is ready she should be able to summon you… I think. Not 100% sure how it will work, but better than having no insurance at all."

Sighing, Jeanne pinched the bridge of her nose and began to rub her temples.

"I must have somehow been converted to a berserker class by your mud earlier. Only under madness enhancement should I even be considering listening to this hair brained scheme let alone going along with it."

"So I have your permission? Don't worry, you are still an Avenger. Not like my mud adding hatred to your already infinite amount of hatred will do anything to you."

"Hah… just do it and be done with it."

Wasting no time, black mud from the Grail briefly doused Jeanne. Flinching in disgust she starts patting and swatting it off her.

"Good, I made a copy of you, sending them over… now!"

At his words, a rainbow colored rift appeared beside them, 2 motes of golden untainted energy, and one purple-blackish mote flew into the rift before it closed.

"There, we've done all we can. I'm going to use the leftover energy to teleport you and Lord El-Melloi II here to Chaldea. Da Vinci and your master should be able to figure something out. I'll stay here to safeguard the Grail."

Nodding, Jeanne walks over to the unconscious magus and flung him over her shoulder. Briefly looking around to see if anything was dropped, she nods one more time to Angra before he teleports them away.

Taking a deep breath, Angra Mainyu finally allowed himself to rest. Fading back into the Grail to sleep, his thoughts wandered to his now estranged master.

Master… I hope I made the right choice today. You've been gone for only a few hours and it hurts. And to think before I once believed I endured every pain, every hardship imaginable. Pain is the foundation of my being. But around you… I felt better. Sometimes I wondered if this is how normal people felt. How I was supposed to feel if I wasn't martyred in the past. But now… now I feel so empty, and hurt… I just hope your next life is good, you deserve it. After all, you did for me what no one else could… you eased my burdens, if only for an instant.

Closing his eyes, he astralized and entered the Grail, with only a single tear falling to the burnt earth below.

"Akeno… Akeno… wake up… Didn't you want to meet your new family members?"

"Hmm?"

A 4 year old Akeno groggily sits up, rubbing her eyes. Her father, Baraqiel knelt next to her, gently shaking her shoulders to wake her from the pleasant shackles of her dreams.

"Your baby sisters are here."

The moment those words registered in her mind, Akeno shot up and bolted down the hallway to the room her mother was in. Laughing at his daughter's excitement, he briskly walked along not to be left behind.

Entering the room, Akeno found her mother sitting in bed with two baby girls sleeping in her arms. Unsure on what to do, she kept her distance until her mother smiled and motioned with her head to come closer. Walking quietly Akeno inched forward to her new sisters and smiled at their peaceful faces.

"Say hello to your imoutos Akeno, Ritsuka and Nozomi."

"Hi sisters…"

Smiling gently and waving, it was a peaceful scene… until Baraqiel could no longer contain his emotions.

"Himejima Ritsuka and Himejima Nozomi… what beautiful names!"

He boomed in a loud voice, manly tears of joy streaming from his face. Unfortunately said booming voice awoke and terrified the new additions to the family and thus, they both began crying.

Both Akeno and her mother Shuri both gave him an exasperated glare at his foolishness. Looking abashed he picked up little Nozomi and gently rocked her in his arms, cooing all the while to calm her down while Shuri did the same for Ritsuka. Eventually calming down, the pair went back to a peaceful sleep.

Smiling, the family continued through the night, losing sleep through the selfishness of all newborn babies and their irregular schedules. Despite the hardships, the two were shown much love and affection, much to the approval of a gruff and grumpy tsundere spirit, watching unseen.

Author's notes

Heya peeps!

I know I said I'd be focusing on my Fire Emblem story first, but one day when I was bouncing ideas about future fics, this was one of 3 ideas people begged me to start writing immediately. Regardless, I'm still going to focus on my Fire Emblem story first, but I'll add to this story whenever I have the chance.

So any thoughts? I'll admit my knowledge of Fate mechanics aren't the best and I probably got some concepts a bit wrong, but I'd like to think it was passable if only for acting as the catalyst for this plot.

Oh, and Nozomi is Mash. Mash just didn't seem like a plausible name for the Himejima family.

Lastly, just out of curiosity, how do you think Akeno having two Imouto will change the story? :3

Editor's Notes (from his phone)

I came up with the name Mash now has, as "hope" was better than the generic-ass "light (Hikari, even if it isn't a bad name)" Kovaras belched up. Regardless, I goaded this because my existence decided it could live without it. So for those that know of our boi's past (or future) stories, Ryousuke will back at it again. Now excuse me while I go edit his response to these Editor's Notes.

Author's response: Hikari was a placeholder till I got back to you, lol. You always were better at figuring out names than me. (Seriously? Why do you love editing my responses?)