Chapter 1. Hero of justice

1976 Spinner's End

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry!"

"Save your breath. I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you mudblood, it just-"

"Slipped out?"

Severus could still remember the day when that happened. The day his friendship ended. His life ended.

'Mudblood.'

A simple word, one simple word ended his friendship with his best friend, Lily Evans. Since that day she avoided him, wouldn't talk to him. Even going far as avoiding his approaches.

"Lily…"

Severus slumped on his old tattered bed as he thought of his ex-best friend again. Her bright green eyes, red hair, pretty face…

"I'm… so sorry…. so so sorry..."

He curled in his bed not wanting to think of her anymore. The more he thought, the more it hurt. It was almost like being stabbed in the heart over and over again.

"WHERE ARE YOU BOY! COME HERE AND MAKE ME SOME FOOD!"

Severus sighed as he stood again. He hated his father, why does Lily have to leave his side but not him. Life was so unfair.

Walking into the living room, he saw Tobias Snape roaming like an inferi. A beer bottle was held firmly in his hand.

"Boy, go to the kitchen and make some food!" Tobias yelled. He always yelled. Even at the funeral of Eileen Snape, Severus's mother.

"Stop calling me boy! I have a name, and it is Severus!"

"Do not give me that voice or I'll go and bang your head into the wall!"

It was like this all the time in the Snape household. Yelling, Beating, and Screaming. This was the life of Severus snape.

"Do it then! Kill me!" Severus yelled back. He was not in a good mood to deal with his drunk father. "Kill me like you killed my mother!"

"WHY YOU!"

Outraged Tobias Snape ran towards his son flinging down the bottle onto his son's head.

Severus surprised that the drunken man could move that fast, couldn't move out of the way and the bottle smashed on to his head. Warm, red blood started pouring out of his head as if a waterfall. His skull was broken and Severus could only topple down on to the floor as if he was made of a sack of potatoes.

Lying on the floor, Severus couldn't think straight. His father was still kicking him on the side as hard as he could.

'What did I do so wrong to live like this.'

In the pain, he thought about his life in Hogwarts. Professors giving him a stink eye because he was in Slytherin. Marauders calling him names and hexing in who knows where.

"Help… Someone please help…" Severus could only croak out these words. But somewhere inside him knew that no one would save him.

"Trying to get help boy? Well, you should know that nobody cares about you!" Tobias cackled. It sounded so disgusting in Severus's ears.

"Help…. Someone help…"

Severus never liked being helped. But in that moment he knew felt how much powerless he is. If he couldn't change his fate, he hoped somebody would.

"Shout as much as you like boy but no on-"

Was all Tobias could say as an arrow shot out of nowhere and murdered the man.

Severus was surprised as he could see the arrow, no a sword, sticking out of his father's head. It was not the best view but something in Severus's mind shouted freedom.

"Hey kid, are you okay?"

Startled, he moved his half-closed eyes to the warm voice and could see a person crouching next to him. Because of blood and tears, the only thing he could see was the person was wearing black and red.

"Tha…..nk you…." And that was all Severus could make out before he was sucked into his consciousness.

-The old man of the mountains-

Severus dreamed of a man.

A man who killed mercilessly. He killed and killed as he became a leader of a group. Some called him a hero, who punishes the sinner. But some called him death, as he killed anyone who saw him. There were many names he had like the old man of the mountain, First, or King Hassan…

"S… STOP! DON'T COME CLOSE TO ME FARTHER!" A man screamed desperately to Hassan.

{Listen… The evening bell has tolled thy name.}

The deep voice answered and Severus could see a skulled figure with dark blue flames walking to the man. He could almost hear the bell ringing softly as Hassan walked.

{May the feathers foreshadow your death and behead-}

Severus could see the sword gleam with power as the skull's eyes became alive. It was like seeing death itself. As the sword was about to hit the man's heart everything went back to black.

"Wake up Mr. Snape wake up!"

"WHA-?"

Feeling that someone was shaking him, Severus opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar face. A woman with light pink hair and blood like eyes were standing next to his bed. She wore a blood-red uniform that made her look like a soldier.

"Ah, Hello there Mr. Snape. Good to see you back alive." She said as if nothing happened.

"Where… where am I?"

Hearing his bewildered voice she smiled softly. "Mr. Snape, you're in the nursery room of Fatum Academy. Do you remember how you got here?"

Severus tried to think but his head hurt a lot. Still, he could remember the things that happened.

"I was dying and, and an arrow…"

"Yes yes, well, you wanted help? Right?"

Slowly Severus nodded his head.

"In our school we have a group called the counterforce and this group goes out and kills others who threaten humanity."

With those words, Severus was dumbfounded. Why was a group that saves humanity came to him?

"What? How? Wha-"

Seeing that Severus had more questions the nurse cut him off.

"All the other detailed questions are going to be answered by the headmaster so you should see him." The nurse said. "Someone from the Counterforce will be here in… oh his here."

Hearing the sound of the door Severus peered out from the curtains to see a teen with red white hair and wizard robes. He was tall for an Asian and looked strong. Gold warm eyes smiled at Severus as he walked into the nursery.

"You okay?" He asked. "I was worried that the man had already killed you."

"It's… okay. Ah… thank you?" Severus recovered quickly from shock and his voice became steadier. He never thanked people but the smile of the young man just shined with kindness.

"No problem. I was just doing my job. By the way, my name is Shirou Emiya. You can just call me Shirou."

"Severus Snape." The two boys shook hands.

"I see you have a lot of questions. You will get all your answers from the headmaster so wait a little bit longer." Shirou said helping Severus on his feet. "Well, I think we should be going, Nightingale. See you in a bit."

"Okay, Shirou. You too Mr. Snape."

With that, they left the nursery behind and started to climb up the tower. It was one hell of a tower. It was so high that when Severus looked out of small windows he could see the entire city.

About an eternity of stairs, they reached the top. It read 'The headmasters office' with some pick flowers decorating the edges.

"This is our stop, Severus. I hope to see you soon in class kay?"

"Class? What are you talk-"

But Shirou was already out of sight. Severus breathed a little and looked back at the suspicious-looking door. Making up his mind he turned the door and walked in.

There was an old wood table in front but Severus could not see who was sitting on the chair. Its back was facing the big window than the table.

"Ah, Mr. Severus Snape. A pleasure."

It seemed that the voice was coming from the chair but still Severus could not see who was sitting on it.

"Hello, sir." Said Severus trying to be polite. "Thank you for saving my life."

The voice laughed a little but still didn't turn to face the weary boy. "You should not thank me, Mr. Snape. For the will of humanity saved you."

"H… humanity?"

"Before you get your questions I'll give you some explanation to the gist of things here." The deep voice rumbled. "You see… The counterforce is more like a system that is to stop the extinction of humankind. You are a valuable asset in the future Mr. Snape, and without you humanity will fall."

Severus could only listen to this absurd news. The fate humanity was decided by him? A poor boy who lives in Spinner's End? A boy who have no friends and power?

"This place is called Fatum academy and we teach magic here, but not like Hogwarts. Here we study more about card magic."

"Card magic?" Severus never heard about card magic. He only heard about it in muggle magic shows. "Like exploding snap?"

"No, no. This is something we call spiritual cards. The cards that contain Heroic spirits."

After that, the headmaster talked about the wonder of card magic. Heroic spirits, noble phantasm, and true magic. To Severus, it was like discovering a new world full of aliens.

"How about being a student of this school Mr. Snape? The will of humanity concluded that you have enough power to master card magic."

"Me?" Severus asked in an unbelievable voice. "I can learn card magic?"

"Yes, you have the capability. You would make an excellent student here."

Hope bubbled inside of Severus as he thought about the headmasters offer. It was a good offer but Severus soon realized he had no money.

"If you're worried about financial problems, it's okay." The headmaster said kindly knowing Severus's thoughts. "The school will give you some kind of job to pay for your classes."

Severus thought for a little longer before making his decision.

"Then I will be in your care sir…"