Prologue

"Fiore you may have saved me that day and I owe you a debt... but I cannot allow anyone else to seize the miracle." I clenched my hands in resolve as I took out an old scroll made out of vellum with multiple names on it along with intricate patterns and symbols. To the untrained eye it would appear to be meaningless but to a magus it was a curse of the highest order a self geis scroll.

The scroll worked by binding both parties magic crests to enforce it's conditions and in theory cannot be erased but what happened if one of the party in question doesn't have a crest?

"Geis." I murmured softly as I placed my right hand over my heart. In order to complete the contract I had to agreed to a geis beforehand, even now I could still feel the curse of the geis infused within my nerves, body and mind nesting right beside my heart as if it was a second heart.

The scroll was more for my sake then theirs as I had brought it up on that day to ensure my safety, past experiences as Kiritsugu's assistant told me I shouldn't trust magi blindly especially in the condition I was in at that time.

"Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia..." A man who had lived for nearly a century while still retaining his youthful visage, a magus that has reached the highest rank grand and the elder of the Yggdmillennia. If it wasn't for my obedience and her help I might have died right there and then as I was in no condition to fight against a magus let alone one at his level.

"Shirou Emiya Yggdmillennia..." I muttered softly to myself as I scanned the scroll for one last time before putting it away.

Binding magecraft: Target – Shirou Emiya, Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia.

The Crests of the Forvedge clan, Prestone clan hereby command: Provided that the following conditions are met, this oath shall become a commandment and bind the targets without exception.

Oath:
To the freelancer Shirou Emiya: Regarding both Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia and Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, he must fulfil a reasonable request asked upon him.

To the head of the Forvedge clan Fiore, Prestone clan Darnic: Regarding Shirou Emiya, they must provide medical assistance or items that allow for his recovery and all intentions to kill or harm is forbidden until his full recovery.

Conditions:
Shirou Emiya must join Yggdmillennia.

"A reasonable request..." I scrunched up the scroll as I thought about this problem. I had already fulfilled Darnic's but I still had Fiore's left and that was the crux of the matter. Unlike Darnic or her younger brother Caules she wasn't suited to be a magus and was far too nice and kind for her own good, although that won't stop her in the grand scheme of things but it meant she won't be using her request anytime soon.

"Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia..." A beautiful young woman with brunette wavy hair, clear blue eyes and a gentle smile, her body appears fragile at a first glance. Due to a magic circuits malfunction during her birth, she became crippled and wheelchair-bound. If she was to have a request or a wish it would be to heal her legs while still retaining the power of her magical circuits. A request that would fall under reasonable as she saved my life but then I would forfeit my right to a miracle if I manage to achieve victory in this great holy grail war.

"... I'm sorry Caules, Fiore." My voice coming out calmly despite my internal struggle. Spending time with the Forvedge siblings reminded me of the days I've lost with Sakura and Julian, the times of tranquillity and peace but just like before the holy grail war appeared and shattered the illusion.

"But I will win this war." I had already resolved myself the moment I discovered the connection between me and the holy grail hidden beneath the fortress in the form of a magical pathway.

"...Kiritsugu." I grimaced slightly as I took out my inheritance the mystic code Thompson contender along with the case containing the origin bullets. This holy grail war was different from the Ainsworths but the core principles remained intact if I wanted to summon a servant I needed a catalyst, and the only one in my possession that might be considered one would be this.

"Like father like son." If I was able to become a heroic spirit in another life surely my mentor and father would have followed the same path of becoming a hero of justice or a counter guardian.

"...I guess it's time, wait for me Miyu I still have to fulfil my promise to take you to the ocean." I could feel a surge of mana coming from the holy grail entering me, proof that the great holy grail war was starting and that our bond as a family cannot break no matter what. As I could still feel her warm embrace even now despite being worlds apart.

"..." In front of me was a summoning circle etched into the snowy ground and a stone altar fashioned in a similar style to the Ainsworths. Taking out the mystic code from within my clothes I took one last look at my trump card before placing it on the makeshift altar.

"Trace on." I conjured an image of a gun cocking and firing, activating my twenty seven magical circuits to it's fullest potential before uttering the words of power.

"Let silver and steel be the essence.

Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.

Let gold be the colour I pay tribute to.

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.

Let the four cardinal gates close.

Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

With each line leaving my tongue I could feel a dull sense of discomfort, I have felt this feeling before when I first installed the archer card and directly connected to the throne of heroes.

"Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword.

Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail.

Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth."

The sensation of my magic circuits converting the surrounding mana and my od into prana was discomforting as it raged widely beyond my control. Nevertheless I pushed onwards accelerating the flow of prana circulating within my body causing the summoning circle to glow a golden light.

"An oath shall be sworn here.

I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven;

I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."

I paused for a moment as I prepared myself for the last verse of the incantation. It was time to release the prana circulating my body and call forth my heroic spirit from the throne to act as my sword and shield.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"

The moment I finished the incantation the raging storm of prana burst forth along with a blinding golden light from the summoning portal, and so it manifested. A being beyond magecraft, a being woven from mystery and ideals of mankind, a being that normally could only be summoned by the world was in front of me in the form of a servant.

"..." I waited for the summoning circle to finish as the storm died down along with the golden lights leaving behind a cloaked figure within the circle.

"Argh." I felt a sharp pain run through my right hand as if I was cut by a sharp knife. On the back of my hand was a strange symbol that slowly started to form into some sort of magical crest. The symbol was shaped in the form of a sword with a star shaped guard.

"Ah." I felt another wave of pain when the strange symbol integrated itself with my magical circuits, and started to heat up giving me the sensation of being burnt alive. Yet deep down I was smiling, this was the proof of one's participation in the great holy grail war as a master, the command seals and with it I could command my servant up to three times with absolute obedience.

"More dirty work… Fine. That's how it always is." A cold lifeless monotone voice rang out from within the summoning circle, belonging to a man covered head to toe with a red hood, darkish armour and bandages around his face. A steely voice that pierced me to the core bypassing the layers of darkness wrapped around my heart.

"Kiritsugu..." My voice coming out in a soft murmur as I was having difficulty processing these emotions flooding my mind. To think just hearing his voice once more affected my ironclad resolve and caused me to waver. Was it the fact that he had suffered the same fate as EMIYA, or was it something much more simple the fact that I couldn't live up to his ideals and betrayed his trust.

"Chasing after what's right could never be a mistake. I will never let it be a mistake." This was the last conversation I had with Kiritsugu, I didn't realise it at the time about what he was thinking, all I knew was that I couldn't bear to see Kiritsugu like that.

After all he was my reason for existence, trapped underneath all the rubble and debris I had given up all hope and lost everything to the darkness, all I could do was wait for my cold eventual death. Then it happened, I saw a bright light, it was small and could only save the one that has shone it but it still created a spark within my empty shell. It was the light of a hero.

So I rejected him, he wasn't the Kiritsugu I knew and like a child I naively told him that I would take his place... As that was my duty as his son and successor but in the end I couldn't become the hero of justice that we envisioned. I had chose the life of a human over the one of the machine, I chose to become an older brother.

That's why ... Taking a deep breath I chanted the first line of my reality marble. "I am the darkness that shrouds all." I will save you Kiritsugu as that is my raison d'être. (my reason for existence)

"Kiritsugu I won." I knew he wasn't my father but rather a different version of him, one where he followed out his ideals to the fullest becoming a mere killing machine for the sake of humanity but even so I still wish to save him.

"...Are you my master?" The servant in front of me asked me coldly, which I responded to with a wide grin and a voice filled with conviction. I had finally found a proper goal for myself in this world, originally my plan was to find a way back to Miyu but for now that could wait.

"That's right I am your master Shirou Emiya." I showed him my command seals and gave him my name.

"I don't know your circumstances, and I don't care to hear them. In any case, I'll fulfil my obligations as a Servant. …That should be enough." He ended the conversation with a cold tone before disappearing into the shadows in front of me.

I knew that he wasn't my Kiritsugu and that I shouldn't have any expectations... But the pain within my chest wouldn't go away.

"Are you an assassin Kiritsugu Emiya?" I already knew the answer to my own question as I couldn't sense him despite being his master and having servant level abilities. But it paid to make sure and... I wanted to have a conversation even if it was just about work.

In a flash a simple knife appeared in front of me as if this was his way of saying yes.

"I see..." Feeling a slight sense of disappointment, I reached out to the knife to examine it closely but it disappeared without a trace when my hand closed in but no matter I had already stored it within my mind.

Phantasm punishment, a C+ ranked noble phantasm with the shape of a knife. It is the embodiment of Kiritsugu's origin of Severing and Binding made into a noble phantasm with the abilities of inflicting fatal damage towards enemies with magic circuits or magic crests and anything similar inside their bodies.

Going up to the altar I recovered my inheritance and the case containing its ammunition, placing them back within my clothes I thought about whenever or not I would project the knife as it's primary function was the same as the mystic code only stronger but decided against it.

I wasn't the same as EMIYA, I couldn't activate the noble phantasms true abilities without paying a massive price as I could only see the history of weapons not emulate them.

"Kiritsugu... I will save you." Letting out a sigh I turned around to finish my business only to find myself facing a beautiful ghost. In an instant I propelled myself backwards creating a small indent in the snow from the sudden force while projecting EMIYA's favoured blades Kanshou and Bakuya.

Lifting up my empty hands I pumped more prana into the tracing to hasten the speed of my projection while I asked the beautiful red eyed silver haired ghost whom appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you." My voice reverberated throughout the snowy surroundings as the steel penetrating noble phantasms of black and white materialised in my outstretched hands. I didn't know how she slipped through my guard and Kiritsugu's but depending on her response she would either be treated as an enemy or a friend.

"Me? I am Irisviel von Einzbern, Kiritsugu's wife." She looked around the area first before coming to a sudden realisation. Giving me a shocked look that soon turned to bemusement, she did a curtsy with the grace and elegance of a upper class lady along with a smile so full of love that could warm the hearts of anyone that saw it but...

"... Your lying." Reinforcing my body, I took on a battle stance ready to strike at any given moment. Kiritsugu never had a wife or a significant other when he adopted me and when I asked he simply told me he had no interest in one.

That being said I couldn't say this with certainty as this was another world and that this wasn't my Kiritsugu. However that would lead to multitudes of other questions but for now lets test the waters a bit.

"As I am his son."

Author notes

Lazy author that only writes first drafts. THIS HERE IS VERY IMPORTANT, also I tend to write when I'm sleepy.

I did some minor changes to the chapter as I got a couple of lines wrong.

If you read my other stories you most likely know my policy and if you dont here is the short version. I upload teasers alot, mostly unfinished chapters to keep my motivation up as I keep moving from story to story. If there is a teaser there is a high chance I would go back to said story unless its another miracle for some reason can't seem to write that despite being my first story.

Also to stop the tide of entitled reviews keep in mind that this is a free service with no tangible benefits to the author. Meaning my story my rules, but this shouldn't discourage you from reviewing in general. For example if I got a fact wrong then feel free to correct me as long as you could provide evidence otherwise I can't take you seriously as I do cross reference somewhat.

I have not played fate grand order, I have watched fate apocrypha a while back and will rewatch it to write this story. I have finished the visual novel of fate stay night, fate hollow, the game of fate extra( nero route.) Watched parts of fate zero but know its plots, finished the manga for illya prisma mostly for miyuverse shirou as this shirou is based off on him with my own touches.

Changed parts of the prologue since I remembered that catalysts don't get destroyed, probably thought they did as I was writing this when I was sleepy.

I honestly don't know how I should write kiritsugu but I will do the best I can I guess same goes for Irisviel. If you haven't read my other stories the reason why he could see her is because of a skill.