The courtyard was rather empty.

The duo had just gotten back from their little road-trip having only stopped in a couple places to pick up some supplies that Saru-Sensei needed.

The main thing being the four barrels that were carried into a nearby storehouse.

It was clear that they held some kind of liquid, even more so when the woman walked out with a newly filled jug full of the stuff.

She took out a small cup and pour into it, carefully filling it to the brim as to not spill a drop.

"Here" She finally said, holding it out to the amnesiac.

"What is this?" He asked, looking at the clear liquid. If it were any normal situation, he would have automatically assumed it was water. It looked exactly like water, albeit very clear and a slight aura coming off it.

"The reason we went to the shrine, its Blessed Water." She stated, looking rather proud. "Its relatively hard to come by, not many deities are willing to do something so 'lowly' for mere mortals." She said, emphasizing the sarcasm.

"I assume this only works with Water-based gods?" He asked. Though the question may have seemed obvious, and even he could guess the answer, he didn't want to assume when it came to beings that ruled over aspects of the world.

"Yeah, it's a matter of Domain. A god can infuse their 'essence' into something that correlates to their power. That Greek goddess of harvests, whatever her name is, does something similar to produce."

"Strawberries, as big as your head…so good." She said, absentmindedly, staring off into the distance for a moment. She quickly corrected herself, wiping away a little bit of drool. "Anyways, Blessed water, has a lot of good effects for the person who drinks it and its usually pretty expensive with low supply."

"Interesting, what kinds of effects does it provide?" He asked.

"It essentially expels negatives from the body while also fighting disease, promoting longevity and giving a temporary energy boost along with a minor increase to the bodies natural healing factor."

"Impressive, I can understand why such a commodity would be expensive." John admitted, eyeing the cup.

"Yup, and sis hooks us up with a few barrels every few months" The Youkai said, pride clear in her voice. "Now, drink up so we can get a little spar in before you gotta go to work."

With a shrug, the blonde downed the small cup of magic water.

His eyes widened as he felt an immediate effect. The fatigue that built up over the course of the day was immediately pushed away, he felt refreshed. The lingering soreness was still present, but he now was on his second wind with an extra kick.

"Amazing…." He muttered, moving his body to try and get a feel for it. Another question seemed to cross his mind though. "What happens if I continue to drink more?"

"That would be a bad idea." The teacher stated. "Its 'healthy' in sense, but too much for you could have some adverse effects. Your body can only handle about a small cup right now. Event this much is pushing it a bit, I wouldn't have you drink this if you weren't going to immediately get a workout to burn the excess energy."

The youkai plucked out a strand of hair and tossed it to the side.

An outline of a figure began to shimmer into existence until a clone of the Monkey-Youkai had popped into existence.

"I need to get a little more information on your ability, so we're going to spar." She said, a small smile on her face.

"Did…..you just clone yourself?" He asked, slightly in disbelief.

"An ability I inherited from my ancestor; I can make a few copies around 10% of my power. I did say before that I'm descended from the Monkey King."

"Does it come naturally to all of your race?" He asked.

"Eh, somewhat. Its not that uncommon for us, but its also a good measure of our strength by how many we can summon. The average Monkey-Youkai can only do a couple, I can do eight at the moment. There are rumors that the mantle of King was passed down to a successor and he can summon a few dozen."

"What an interesting ability, I do seem to recall something similar in legend." He mused.

"Anyways, I got some more things I need to take care of today, so I leave you in the hands of my clone. I share senses with them so I'll be able to see what she sees. So, just spar with her until she dispels which should be in about an hour or so, giving you plenty of time before you gotta pick up the little fox"

With that, the woman made her exit, the clone just twirling its stick, looking at him menacingly.

"I do hope you'll hold back…." He squeaked out, looking at her expression. 'I don't feel any confidence even facing 10% of her power.'

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle" She cooed.

"Oh joy, you can talk as well." He sighed. "Well, lets get this beating over with."

As carefree she is most of the time, he did trust that she wouldn't kill him with excess force.

He abruptly jumped back as the ground fractured and a crater formed at the slamming of her stick into the empty space that he was previously.

'Or not.'

She stared at him, like a predator to prey.

He locked eyes with her as she licked her lips.

'Nope.' He stepped back hesitantly, she followed by walking a step forward.

This continued for a few moments until his back was against a wall.

She smiled at him as she raised her stick and swung.

He felt something, something like an aura rolling off her.

Death.

She looked larger before, gigantic even. Like a titan towering over him.

He grabbed his blade with both hands and held it up to intercept.

She looked noticeably annoyed as the weapons connected, she continued to swing nonchalantly, only for John to struggle to keep up.

A haphazard dodge.

A desperate block.

A failed counterattack.

"Come on, you're boring me." She growled, swinging her stick with a little more force.

"Sorry for being such a disappointment…" He grit he teeth, standing up from the most recent attack. He could tell right away that he was going to have some large burses. But something else preoccupited his mind.

'I can do better than this.'

It was aggravating, he knew. Deep down, something stirring, he was not this weak.

He was not this…pathetic.

The pain sent a shock through is body, but it was almost completely ignored as he felt something familiar.

A voice in the back of his head.

'That was pathetic, you brat'

Memories.

A man came to the forefront of his mind.

Not too old, but certainly not young. He was battle hardened, but there was a sincerity and fondness on his face as he looked at John. He was just a boy as he stood infront of this man, a wooden sword in his hands.

'What have I told you about facing opponents that are stronger than yourself?'

A teacher?

A mentor?

No, it was something more.

'Don't take the blow head on. A blade is more than a sharp-metal stick, it is an extension of your body.'

'First step, take a proper stance.'

He stood up, locking eyes with her.

The weapon in his right hand, shifting the sword straight up infront of him. His left hand resting on its flat, about midway up blade.

It was instinctual. The position his hands were in, his shoulders squared, the distance between his feet. It was comfortable, it was right.

She reared back her hand.

'Watch their body movements, take advantage of openings.'

He took a step into her wide attack, mitigating a large portion of the force of the swing.

'Deflect, don't block.'

Shifting the blade to the side, he guided it with his left hand as it connected with the stick. Even after lowering the force, he could still feel the impact as their weapons connected, he almost buckled under the pressure as he pushed forward with his right hand still on the hilt. The stick slid off the edge of his sword and to the side.

She was open.

'And when you strike, you put your entire soul into the swing.'

He felt something rising, a familiar power.

The air around him was pushed away.

Moving both hands to grip the hilt tight, he swung in the opening that was created.

He let out a shout.

A strand of hair could be seen, lazily floating to the ground, and behind where the clone once stood, the courtyard wall now had a large gouge in it.

He should have been excited or atleast startled at the sudden burst of power he felt but his mind was preoccupied.

The memory he just experienced.

The person he just saw, he couldn't even recall the man's name but he knew who it was.

Not a teacher, nor a mentor.

A father.

His hand began to move towards his face without realization. Wiping away a tear that was sliding down his cheek.

'But, why does It hurt so much?'

After John had calmed down a bit, he eventually headed out of the training facility

Both settling his turbulent emotions and waiting to see if his teacher popped up. Since the Youkai was apparently gone for good, he decided to head out.

He would rather have a few minutes to himself before he goes pick up the little fox.

Stepping out onto the main street, there were already tons of people walking about and going on their business.

About midafternoon, he still had a bit before he had to make his way over to the school.

Though he was a bit hungry.

He did have a little bit of money; Soma had given him a portion of his pay ahead of time since he was literally walking into this place with the clothes on his back.

Letting out a sigh, he looked around. He still wasn't overly familiar with the area to know where to head to maybe find a small meal before work.

'Best bet would probably to follow the flow of people?' He idly thought as he walked along the street.

It was the first time he had been truly out and about by himself.

It was…. pleasant.

The last few days had been rather hectic; he had fought a Snake-Youkai – without knowing anything about them – got a new job and a whole bunch of other nonsense. All the while, having no memories of who he was. Only some things popping up now and then.

There was such a large variety of beings just going about their business. No one gave any a second look because of their race or origin.

If there was to be a good place to lose one's memories at, this would probably qualify as one of the best.

Shifting his thoughts to what recently happened, the man's face continued to pop up in his mind.

There was a knot in his heart every time that memory surface.

Something happened.

Perhaps it was even worse because he couldn't remember why it hurt so much to remember him.

Was this going to keep happening?

Every bad memory and experience was he going to experience over again?

'I suppose I can only take it one day at a time.'

It also didn't help that his body was coming down from the energy boost that the Blessed Water gave him.

The exhaustion was setting in quickly, he just wanted to sit somewhere and rest for a bit.

As he continued to walk, something caught his attention.

A food stall with a small seating area, and it smelled amazing.

'Takoyaki' He thought as the information seemed to come to him.

He nodded at the cook as he sat down.

"What can I getcha?" The man asked, pointing to a nearby chalkboard with all the items listed. "If I got the ingredients I don't doin anything special."

"I don't think I've had Takoyaki before, so lets start with just the basic" John said.

"Oho, so I'm your first huh?" The man beamed.

John began to space out as the man started cooking.

His thoughts still on what happened not too long ago.

That power that burst up through him.

Was it his magical energy?

It felt so natural that he didn't even have to think on how it flowed through him and enveloped his sword in the attack he unleashed.

It was enough to pop Saru-Sensei's clone. The thought of tomorrow's training sent a shudder down his spine. He didn't know if the Youkai would be upset or excited at the prospect that he could do that.

Nor did he know which one was worse.

"Here you go, young man." The cook said, setting down a plate infront of him.

"Thank you." He replied, not taking his eyes off the food.

The man just chuckled as he went about his business.

'So good' He thought, taking the first bit.

Cleaning his plate in seconds.

The cook noticed it, starting to cook another batch with a knowing smile. "Give me a moment and I'll have some more ready."

'Perhaps I'm a stress eater?' He mused. It's hard to feel bad on a full stomach.

Staring at the freshly cooked treat infront of him. He wasn't even close to full and he had noticed the other day that he was a heavy eater.

A few words seemed to pop into his head, causing him to smile.

'Hunger is the enemy.'

In an undisclosed location, the rhythmic sound of a stone sliding against the edge of a blade.

A young blonde was sitting in an empty room and he continued to use the whetstone on the long blade that rest between his hands.

It was a bit therapeutic; he could just empty his mind and focus on this simple task.

Even his sword seemed to thrum slightly. It's power would constantly pulsate around the room. One of the reasons he kept the sword sealed away when not in use. It wasn't particularly a good idea to have a beacon pointing to oneself that every supernaturally aware being in the city could notice.

The strongest holy sword in the world – Caliburn.

As was tradition with the Pendragon family, he was named after his ancestor just like his sister and father were.

He was Arthur Pendragon.

He set down the whetstone and picked up the blade. Holding it infront of his face as he inspect it.

Truthfully, he didn't need to do this kind of maintenance on the weapon. It was more so out of habit and respect for the weapon he was wielding.

It was powerful.

It would never rust or dull, even its form was technically malleable to the wielder.

When it recognized it's next owner, it would shift according to their innate preference.

Arthur fancied a larger blade and thus the weapon took this shape in this generation.

He carefully placed it against the wall as he got up to get himself a drink.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room.

It was his vice.

Back when he was under the thumb of the Pendragon family, he was forced into their regime. Be it training or just lifestyle.

Caffeine was not acceptable.

The family had cooks to make sure every meal was the epitome of health and gave the trainees everything they needed to complement their rigorous routines.

To a slightly lesser extent, he also enjoyed a nice cup of tea.

Yet, he never even had such at the family estate.

What kind of English family doesn't drink tea?

Blasphemous.

He preferred Coffee, but he was still an Englishman at heart.

His tranquil expression was suddenly interrupted as his eyes darted to the sword he left in the corner.

It began to vibrate, its power fluctuating like it was calling out to something.

The room began to fill with light.

Arthur quickly dropped what was in his hands and moved towards the raging sword.

Or so he thought it was raging.

As he grabbed it and tried to contain its power, he felt something else being expressed from the holy weapon.

While it wasn't alive in the normal sense, all weapon that reached such a level have some kind of soul.

He could feel what the sword was trying to relay.

It was practically singing in joy.

The sensation only lasted a few moments before it abruptly stopped. The sword returned to its normal dormant state as the light in the room began to recede.

"How strange" He muttered, continuing to inspect the weapon.

His concentration was broken away at a knock on his door.

He dismissed the weapon back into the 'space' that held it on his person.

Opening the door, a small smile rose on his face as he saw his sister greeting him.

"Hello Le Fay." He greeted. "Is that a new hat?"

His sister, having been named after the witch herself, Morgan Le Fay.

"You like it?" she asked, practically beaming with joy. "My other one barely went with any outfits."

"It looks very nice." He stated. It was quite cute actually. It was a stereotypical witch hate, but it looked lovely on his little sister.

She just smiled widely, glancing around him, peering into his room. "Whatcha doing? I felt a bunch of holy energy burst out."

"I was just training and forgot where I was for a moment."

"Hmmm, your hiding something." She said, poking him lightly in the chest. "Spill it."

"Just had a little accident while training, nothing to be worried about."

She eyed him for a moment before shrugging. "Georg asked me to come get you, he called a meeting."

The older brother sighed. "I don't suppose it's voluntary?"

"He didn't say…but it looked like he put a lot of effort into it and I don't want him to get upset." She replied.

Arthur adjusted his glasses. "I guess I have nothing better to do right now, I don't suppose he mentioned what the meetings about?"

"I took a peek at the folders he was setting out, but it didn't really explain much."

"Let me guess, a big Top Secret stamped across the front with a secret code phrase under it?" He asked, slightly amused.

The hero faction they called themselves. Descendants or reincarnations of past heroes.

A secret faction that was operating in the shadows under the flag of the Khaos Brigade, another secret organization.

Their resident Magician expert, Georg Faust, liked to take the whole clandestine shadowy organization thing a bit too seriously sometimes. He got really into the role when their leader – Cao Cao – put him in charge.

Everyone just let him have his fun.

Well, for the most part.

Hercules was an arrogant ass, not to the kid specifically, but it was just his default attitude.

Jeanne had as much fun with it as Georg did, Siegfried was indifferent, and Cao Cao played along for the most part.

Georg was one of the younger members, it was fine to let him play around outside of actual combat.

The younger girl giggled a bit before answering. "I think he called it Operation: Dragon Gate, this time."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." The older brother snorted. "Didn't we have a mission planned in a few days already, whats with the sudden change?"

"It was canceled, something about fairies, I don't know." She shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention."

It didn't really matter much to Arthur. While he was loyal to Cao Cao, but it wasn't a blind loyalty. He was grateful for his help in helping get away from the Pendragon family, for both him and his sister. He would work hard to repay the debt to the man.

"I suppose we should head over, no point is getting the kid upset."

Author's Note.

Well, first off; i'm alive.

It's been awhile and i'm not quite happy about that, so i'm going to rant for a moment before i talk about this latest chapter.

I've had work issues. A higher up in my office decided on some asinine changes that makes it so i've had overtime nearly every day for a month and even had to work weekends. Extremely unhappy with my current job and am even looking around at the moment.

Anyways, just needed to rant lets get on with the chapter.

The chapter was pretty straightforward. Some small changes having a ripple effect. Some more memories awakening, John learning how to fight - kinda. And just some all around character and world building.

The plot has started, as i mentioned above, small changes having a ripple effect. John being present = fairies active = far reaching consequences. I left it a bit vague on purpose in regards to the Hero faction. I felt like they were probably doing alot of things in the shadows before they finally made their appearance in canon. So, the ripples causing them to shift their plans around and hit Kyoto earlier than anticipated.

But yeah, chapter seemed straight forward to me. Maybe i'm just seeing it from the perspective of knowing what going to happens. So, if you have any thoughts or concerns, feel free to leave a comment as i do read them all.