Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For many years, Tiamat slumbered. It had been a long time since her children had left her. They simply didn’t need her anymore. And so, she slept. She wallowed in the fact that she had no one to care for. No one to raise, no one to nurture. No one to love.

That’s when it happened.

Tiamat wasn’t sure how long she had slept, but she was awoken by a cry for help. A child’s cry. Not with their body, or with their mind, but with their soul. Tiamat felt the cry from where she was in Imaginary Number Space. The amount of pain from that cry.

Tiamat stirred and listened closer. It was a human child. Tiamat almost scoffed. Humanity, as far as she was concerned, was a race invading her home. She should leave the child alone to die.

But… What was this feeling? This heartache? Despite the fact that the child was human, she still felt a desire to help. A desire to nurture.

Was it her longing? Was she so desperate to be a mother that she was willing to rescue this… this human? After a few moments of hesitation, her choice was made.

Tiamat shrunk down into a manageable form and left the Imaginary Number Space.

The only thing the boy knew was fire. Buildings were burning, the cries of people ringing out as they burned to a crisp. He could feel the fire kiss his skin. He wanted to scream out, but he didn’t even have the energy. He didn’t have the energy to do anything but walk.

The boy continued to walk. He stepped over bodies of men, women, children, and animals. He walked past a woman whose body was crushed by a pillar. He could hear her begging him for help. He could hear her pleas. He continued to walk.

The boy wanted to cry. He wanted to fall to his knees and give up. He wanted to scream. There were so many things he wanted to do… but he couldn’t. He felt like if he stopped walking, his body would shut down completely. He couldn’t even turn to look at the man who was screaming as his body was impaled by a pole.

Eventually, the boy felt himself slip. Time seemed to slow down as he fell over. His body racked with pain when he hit the ground, but the boy did not make a noise. He couldn’t.

In any other circumstance, the boy would lament his death. He would think about how terrible the world was, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t think past the pain as he felt the searing burns on his skin.

As he started to feel his eyes close, he saw something glow. He faintly felt the pain numb ever so slightly as he was lifted off the ground.

As he was, he couldn’t make the figure of his savior out. The only thing he could feel was warmth. It wasn’t like the searing pains of the fire. Those were but a distant memory. He felt a warmth that made his heart swell. A warmth that draped over him like a blanket. A warmth that assured him that everything will be okay.

I wonder… if I can feel this warmth forever, The boy thought as the darkness finally took over.

Tiamat looked down at the poor boy in her arms. She could feel her heart shatter into tiny little pieces. The boy didn’t even cry. It was obvious that he was in pain, but he made no sounds.

Her feet slowly lifted off the ground as she started to float. She was only a few inches off the ground when she started to move. She weaved her way through the streets before finally making her way out of the fire. Waiting for her was a blond human male with red eyes.

“A beast dares show its presence in my garden?” The man scoffed.

“Step away, spirit,” Tiamat’s voice rang throughout the area, despite not opening her mouth. “I seek to provide this child with aid. If you try to intervene, I will remove you.”

“Oh? What an interesting creature,” The blond man rubbed his chin before smiling. “I will allow you to stay in my garden for the time being. Come, let us get this tiny mongrel the help he needs.”

At the same time, things were not going well in the Clock Tower.

“What the hell happened to the sensors?!” A man ran around a room, barking orders.

“S-sir! A massive influx of power caused them to overload!” One of the man’s lackeys shouted.

“Where was the source?!” The manager shouted back.

“W-we don’t know!” Another person shouted in reply. “The influx was so strong and sudden! It was like the whole world was affected by the influx at the same time!”

“Shit!” The manager slammed his fist on a desk. “We need to find out what caused it as soon as possible! We may not know what it is, but if it’s that strong… we might not be able to eliminate it.”

Tiamat and the blond man stood over the boy’s bed. Thanks to a bit of magecraft, the boy was healing nicely, but he had yet to wake up. Tiamat had long since used magecraft to hide her horns and her eyes to seem more normal.

“Spirit—”

“My name is Gilgamesh,” The man replied with a pointed glare. “It would do you well to remember the name of your king.”

“Gilgamesh,” Tiamat corrected herself. “Where can one get shelter in the human world? I will need a place to raise this child.”

“It will be handled,” Gilgamesh responded. “I need to make arrangements. I will meet you back here. If you aren’t here when I return, I shall consider you guilty of disobeying the king and I will exile you.”

Tiamat turned to look at Gilgamesh as he walked out of the room.

“What a nice child,” Tiamat thought aloud. She had little understanding of what his ramblings were, but he still offered them shelter, despite his rash attitude. She liked him.

Tiamat then turned when she heard the sound of sheets ruffling. Her pointed ears twitched as she did and she saw the young boy she rescued stir from his sleep.

“Child. I see you have awoken,” Tiamat made an extra effort to make the voice her mind conveyed extra gentle. “What is your name, young one?”

“I… I don’t…” The boy paused for a couple seconds, squeezing his eyes before he opened them again. “S-Shirou. I think my name is Shirou.”

“Is that all?” Tiamat tilted her head. “Do you have any other names?”

“I… I don’t remember," The boy, Shirou replied. “I don’t remember anything else…”

“That is okay, young one,” Tiamat took a step forward. Gilgamesh had told her that humans wouldn’t react well if she floated, so she started to walk as soon as she was in the presence of humans. Tiamat put a hand forward. “May I?”

Shirou looked at the hand with a confused look before looking up and nodding, the confused look still in his eyes.

Tiamat put a tender hand on the boy’s cheek. The boy then grabbed her wrist with both of his and held her hand still, as if Tiamat was the last bit of life he was clinging onto.

How precious, Tiamat couldn’t help the smile that started to grow on her face. With this once action playing out, she knew she made the right decision in saving the boy.

Shirou then jumped when there was a knock on the door. Tiamat already knew there was a human approaching. A… doctor if she remembered correctly.

“May I come in?” A female voice asked.

“You may,” Tiamat answered with her body this time. From her observations, normal humans couldn’t use telepathy. A human woman opened the door and walked in. She had black hair and brown eyes and wore white clothing.

“Hello. My name is Dr. Yuna and I’ll be helping you for today,” The woman introduced herself.

“I am Tiamat,” The beast responded curtly. She hated that she had to speak to this… human as an equal, but right now, she was willing to do anything for the child behind her.

“S-Shirou,” The young boy introduced himself shyly.

“Well, little Shirou, you’re a really strong young man, you know that?” Yuna had a friendly smile on her face as she knelt down by Shirou. “When Tiamat here brought you to us, you hurt, but now you’re all better. Isn’t that great?”

“Y-yeah…” Shirou muttered. Yuna seemed to notice Shirou’s mannerisms and her eyes started to fill with concern.

“Shirou, honey, do you have parents? Or anyone that can take you home?” Yuna asked.

“I…” Shirou shook his head, pointedly looking away from Yuna. “I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay, dearie. I’m sure that someone will take you home,” Yuna soothed.

“I want to take Shirou,” Tiamat declared, causing Yuna and Shirou to jump. Tiamat approached Shirou and knelt down so she was at eye level with the boy. “Do you want to come home with me? If you want to, I can be your mother.”

“Yes!” Shirou exclaimed before clasping his jaw and looking down. “I mean… if you’ll have me.”

“Of course, Shirou,” Tiamat gently cupped the young boy’s face and moved it so that he was looking at her. “We can go home together.”

It didn’t take long for Gilgamesh to return. It was about five minutes after the doctor had left to get the discharge papers when Gilgamesh opened the door to the hospital room.

“It seems like the tiny mongrel is awake,” Gilgamesh huffed.

“Gilgamesh, please do not insult my son like that,” Tiamat’s eyes drifted over to the spirit. Shirou flinched when he heard the voice.

“Did… did you hear that?” Shirou asked.

“Yes, child,” Tiamat turned to smile at Shirou. “When I’m not around normal people, I prefer to speak like this. Is that okay with you?”

“Y-yeah,” Shirou nodded hesitantly. Gilgamesh just huffed in response.

“A contact of mine has managed to find you a place for you to stay,” Gilgamesh said, catching Tiamat’s attention. “When you are done getting the tiny mon— one out of this place, I shall lead you there.”

“Thank you, Gilgamesh,” Tiamat nodded. “You are a good child.”

“Do not call me a child. I am your king,” Gilgamesh whirled around before leaving the room. Tiamat couldn’t help but smile, though. She knew he was starting to warm up.

Fortunately, discharging Shirou wasn’t too hard. It only took a few minutes before Shirou, Tiamat, and Gilgamesh were leaving the large, sterile building.

“Now, follow me,” Gilgamesh said as he led the two to some sort of steel contraption. It was painted yellow and had four circular feet. “This is a taxi. This is how normal mongrels move about the city. Come, it shall take you to your new home.”

“May I?” Tiamat turned to Shirou and spread her arms a bit. Shirou looked at her and paused for a couple seconds before nodding. Tiamat picked up the child with relative ease and entered the steel beast.

“Can you take us to the north end of Miyama Town?” Gilgamesh handed a stack of small papers to the man sitting in front of them.

“You got it, boss,” The man said. The steel beast lurched forward and started to move. Tiamat could have easily gone faster, but she had to admit that they were going at a good speed… for a human, at least. It took roughly half an hour, but they made it.

“Here’s your stop,” The man said. Gilgamesh nodded and opened the side before exiting. He motioned for Tiamat to exit and the beast made her way out. Gilgamesh returned the steel creature to its original stage and it ran off.

“It’s just down this road over here,” Gilgamesh led them down the street to a large, wooden house. The man then handed Tiamat a small object. It had a round top and the bottom extended with a couple jagged lines poking out. “The previous owner died in that fire you found the child in. My contact was able to claim this properly quickly.”

“Thank you, child,” Tiamat said, holding Shirou close to him. “We shall repay this debt someday.”

“It’s only natural for a king to care for his subjects,” Gilgamesh turned away. “Do not misbehave, creature, or you shall suffer the consequences.”

His peace being said, Gilgamesh walked away. Tiamat then turned his attention back to Shirou and smiled.

“Welcome home.”

Chapter Text

]Shirou knew his new mother wasn’t normal, but that was fine. As soon as the door to their new house was closed, two incredibly long horns appeared on Tiamat’s head. Shirou could only stand there and stare.

“Oh?” Tiamat turned to look at Shirou. Her head tilted ever so slightly. “Do my horns disturb you? I would not want you to be uncomfortable.”

“They’re pretty…” Shirou’s voice was soft, almost a whisper. He was enamored by them. They were long and curved, somehow making the shape of a butterfly, not unlike the ones in her eyes.

“Why thank you,” Tiamat smiled while putting a hand over her mouth. Then, she started to float. Shirou tilted his head, trying to determine what was going on. His new mother was floating, had massive horns, and spoke in his mind. Was his mother even human?

“To answer your question, I am not human,” Shirou flinched when he heard the voice of his new mother again. How did she do that? “Oh? Is it impolite for me to read one’s thoughts? I apologize.”

“I…” Was reading minds wrong? Shirou didn’t know, but if it was something that Tiamat was used to doing… “It’s okay… I don’t mind.”

“What a thoughtful child,” Tiamat floated over and picked up the small boy. Shirou basked in the warmth that Tiamat provided. “Now, let’s explore. We need to pick your room, after all.”

Shirou laid on the bed in his new room. It was comfortable. Nothing like the charred ground from the fire. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to sort out his feelings.

Tiamat was really good to the young boy. From the little time he had known her, she was making an effort to make sure Shirou was as comfortable as possible. Even though Shirou could barely remember his past life, he was smart enough to deduce that Tiamat was not normal.

Is that… really a bad thing, though? Shirou hesitated. Maybe Tiamat did have a few quirks to her. So what? It didn’t matter if she could float or read his mind. She loved him. It was obvious enough in the way she held him. Shirou felt safe in the woman’s arms. He felt like he was wanted.

The boy closed his eyes and a small smile spread on his face. He truly was lucky.

Tiamat couldn’t help but smile when she heard Shirou’s thoughts. This child… he loved her. Even if he wasn’t born from her, he felt genuine affection for her. If only her other children would be more like him…

As Shirou’s thought patterns started to simmer down, Tiamat started to float. She made her way out of the house and followed the cursed energy she felt as she made her way back to the location of the fire. She saw multiple humans cleaning the place. With a thought, she made herself completely invisible to normal eyes.

She knew she sensed something odd when she was carrying Shirou out of that fire. After a few minutes of aimlessly floating, she found herself levitating over a corpse. There were still traces of severe curses on it, but they were subsiding now that the man was long dead. Tiamat slowly lowered herself until she was on the ground. She then bent over and shoved her hand into the corpse’s chest.

Instead of forming a hole in the corpse, Tiamat’s hand just went through it. The corpse started to glow gold as Tiamat wrapped her hands around something. She pulled her hand out to see that she was holding some sort of sheath. It felt undeniably fae in origin.

Maybe it would make a good birthday present for Shirou, Tiamat thought as she floated away, her courses set for home.

Shirou woke up to the sound of a crash. He shot up without a care for what could be going on and rushed out of the room. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Tiamat frowning as she looked down at a small flame started on the floor. With a wave of her hand, the fire was gone.

“Oh, did I wake you? I apologize,” Tiamat said as she looked up at Shirou. “I was trying to make a meal for breakfast, but it occurred to me that I do not know what humans eat. I tried to make a dish I used to serve to my own children, but it seems that this place is not suitable for such meals.”

“It’s okay,” Shirou shook his head. He could see Tiamat’s expression change. Shirou couldn’t identify the emotion in Tiamat’s eyes, but it felt kind of… sad. He didn’t like it when she looked like this.

“Maybe we can ask Gilgamesh?” Shirou asked, his memory reaching for the name of the man who brought them here.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. What a smart child I have,” A smile grew on Tiamat’s face as she floated over and ruffled the boy’s. Shirou beamed at the praise and leaned into her hand. “ Now, let’s go pay the other child a visit.”

Ever since Gilgamesh got his body, he had taken the time to explore humanity. To see how much it had changed since he was king. Despite not having him to lead the race, Gigamesh was… disappointed.

Humanity was so unproductive. Most of them just sit in their cubes and press buttons all day. What was the point of it all? They weren’t growing food for their people or advancing their country forward. They weren’t defending their home or raising cattle. It felt so—

“Gilgamesh,” The golden king heaved a sigh as he heard the beast’s voice. He turned around to see Tiamat standing behind him, gingerly holding Shirou’s hand.

“What is it you want, creature?” Gilgamesh asked.

“It has come to my attention that I do not know how to make human food,” Tiamat said, her mouth unmoving. “Is there a place where I can get Shirou something to eat?”

“Tch. Follow me,” Gilgamesh said. Tiamat gripped Shirou’s hand and followed the king. He then stopped at the Copenhagen. He stopped by the place shortly after dropping Tiamat and Shirou off the previous night. It was… acceptable. “There aren’t many places that suit my palette, but this place will do.”

Gilgamesh opened the door and stepped in, followed by the two mongrels behind him.

“Ah, Gil!” The golden king was greeted by a lazy wave and an easygoing smile from one Hotaruzuka Asashi. The bar was mostly empty except for the owner kicking his feet up at a table while a young girl was putting away a broom. “It’s nice to see you again!”

“Oh? You remember me?” Gilgamesh was a little irked at the nickname but refrained from skewering the man. He may be an insufferable mongrel, but there was hope for the children. Maybe they would grow up to be half decent people.

“With how well you tipped, how could I forget?” Asashi chuckled as he made his way to the counter. “Who are these two? Isn’t he a little young to bring here?”

“I didn’t know any other place that served food,” Gilgamesh replied simply as Tiamat took a seat. She lifted Shirou up so he was sitting on her lap. “These two recently moved in and Tiamat’s cooking skills were… inadequate, so they came to me for help.”

“Thank you for having us,” Tiamat said, her neutral expression unchanging. “I am Tiamat and this is Shirou.”

“Ah, thank you,” Shirou stiffened, as if he was snapped from a trance before dipping his head in thanks.

“Wonderful to meet you,” Asashi smiled. “My name is Hotaruzuka Asashi and that girl over there is Otoko.”

“Don’t call me that,” The small girl walked up to what Gilgamesh could only assume was her father before turning to the three. “I’m Neko. Nice to meetcha.”

“Oto—” Asashi flinched under the gaze of the girl. “Neko, can you do me a favor and make some pancakes for Shirou?”

“Fine,” Neko grumbled before disappearing into the back room.

“Pancakes?” Tiamat tilted her head.

“It’s an American breakfast dish,” Asashi elaborated. “It’s very sweet so it’s popular with the kids.”

“I see,” Tiamat nodded slowly. “Thank you for the information.”

“No problem,” A bead of sweat appeared on Asashi’s forehead. “So you moved recently, huh? Where did you come from?”

“Far,” Tiamat answered vaguely. “I came upon this little one in the fire.”

“Oh,” It seemed Asashi had the sense not to press further on that matter. “I’m so sorry. You must have been very brave to save him.”

Tiamat pulled Shirou a little closer to her and nodded silently.

“So how did you two meet?” Asashi asked, trying to change the subject.

“I came across them while on a walk,” Gilgamesh replied honestly. The man wasn’t worth the energy of coming up with a lie. “Tiamat was looking for a hospital and Shirou was badly burnt so I took them to a hospital.”

“Ah…” Asashi muttered. He wisely remained quiet until Neko returned with the pancakes. They were glistening in the light and Gilgamesh noted that there was already syrup on them.

“Here you go,” Neko offered the plate to the young boy along with a fork and knife. Shirou grabbed the utensils. He struggled to cut into the pancake, but Tiamat gently grabbed his arms and guided his hands.

Shirou managed to cut into one of the pancakes and take a bite. The young boy’s eyes lit up and he made a muffled sound of delight. For some reason, this action… it resonated with Gilgamesh. He allowed a small smile to spread upon his face. Maybe humanity wasn’t doomed after all.

Neko grit her teeth as she watched the trio leave. She heard the whole conversation while she was in the back. Her father had an uncharacteristic frown on his face as well.

“What’s on your mind?” Asashi asked as Neko sat down on the chair usually reserved for her father.

“I heard everything,” Neko leaned back into the wooden chair. “I just feel bad. Like I feel like I should have done more than just make a couple of pancakes.

“That’s called sympathy. It’s not a bad thing,” Asashi pulled a chair from the bar floor and sat next to his daughter. “You saw the news last night, right?”

“Yeah,” Neko muttered. It truly was a horrific event. Even on the grainy TV they had in the bar, it still looked terrifying.

“Can’t help but feel bad for the kid,” Asashi muttered. “And the mom, too. She just moves and the first thing she has to deal with is that fire. And she managed to rescue a child, too.”

Asashi then turned to Neko and smiled. “That woman is the kind of woman I want you to grow up to be, okay?”

“Alright,” Neko smiled back. With their personalities being polar opposites, Neko didn’t really have many of these heart-to-hearts with her father. They were rather nice for the teenager.

Shirou… Neko thought. That boy. He had already gone through hell. She shook her head.

That settles it, Neko thought, determination swelling through her very being. I’m going to make sure that kid has the best life he can.

Chapter Text

Fujimura Taiga was worried. The first thing she did when coming back to school for the weekend was glomp her friend, but Neko seemed off. She remembered her being a little distraught when someone stole a large barrel of wine from the Copenhagen, but she recovered from that fairly quickly. This time, however, she seemed a lot more glum.

It only got more strange as Taiga noticed her friend space out in class. Neko was the type of girl to take meticulous notes for every class. Taiga even saw her color-coding her science notes one time. But today… today she didn’t even take out her notebook.

By the time lunch rolled around, Taiga just wasn’t having it anymore. They were sitting on the roof and Neko didn’t seem to be listening to Taiga’s rant about male idols, despite Neko being a connoisseur of culture herself.

“C’mon, Neko! What’s going on?” Taiga asked. Neko snapped up from picking at the food in her bento box and looked at Taiga with a confused expression.

“What do you mean?” Neko tilted her head. She really did look like a cat when making that expression.

“You’ve been out of it all day! Tell me what’s going on,” Taiga frowned.

“It’s nothing,” Neko shook her head. “There’s just something on my mind.”

“What’s up?” Taiga scooted closer. “We’re friends. You can tell me stuff.”

“It’s just…” Neko heaved a sigh. “Did you know there were survivors in the fire?”

“There were?” Taiga’s eyes widened. “But the news…”

“I know what the news said,” Neko pursed her lips. Taiga put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. She had never seen Neko so conflicted. “It’s just… two people stopped by the bar the other day. Apparently they were caught up in the fire.”

“Oh…” Taiga muttered.

“If that wasn’t bad enough, Shirou couldn’t have been older than seven,” Neko shook her head. “It’s just… I want to do something for them, but I don’t know what. They’ve obviously been having a hard time. Tiamat, the other person, said she just moved in when she got caught up in the fire.”

“Damn. That’s some shit luck,” Taiga replied. Neko huffed in response, but Taiga considered the small smile on her face a win.

“Yeah,” Neko sighed and looked up at the clear sky.

Shirou and Tiamat, eh? Taiga thought as the two sat in silence. I’ll have to ask Grandpa about them.

As Taiga turned up at her house, she saw two people she didn’t recognize. One of them was a beautiful woman with unnaturally long hair. Speaking of unnatural, there was no way that people were born with bright greenish hair. It was almost white for god’s sake!

The other was a small boy with crimson hair. He was happily walking alongside the woman with a book in his hands.

“Did you enjoy yourself, Shirou?” The woman asked. Taiga’s ears perked up at the name.

“Yep! Thank you, Mama!” The boy, Shirou, replied with a wide smile. Taiga’s heart almost melted. Was this kid really a victim of the fire? Instead of greeting them, Taiga decided to ask her grandfather before going to meet them. She went inside and immediately made her way to her grandfather, nodding to the two men that were guarding his office.

“Oh, what a surprise,” Raiga looked up from his paperwork as Taiga closed the door behind her. “It’s always nice to see my little Tiger.”

“Grandpa…” Taiga grumbled as she sat down across from him.

“I see that you have something on your mind,” Raiga chuckled as he put his pen aside. “What is it that you need?”

“Ah, Neko told me about two survivors from the fire. Apparently their names were Tiamat and Shirou. Do you know anything about them?” Taiga asked.

“Ah yes. I did have a pleasant talk with Asashi this morning,” Raiga nodded his head. “I did a little digging myself. They were lucky enough to have such a wealthy patron, though.”

“Patron?” Taiga asked. Neko didn’t say anything about that.

“Yes. His name is Gilgamesh,” Raiga pulled a drawer open and grabbed a file. “He’s been very important in our jewel business. He only approached us a couple days ago, but he set up an exclusive deal selling precious metals to us. It’s been very profitable.”

“I see,” Taiga nodded. “Did you know they moved in next door?”

“Actually I just recently figured that out,” Raiga opened the file and looked at the contents. “Gilgamesh bought the property only a couple days ago. It was going to go to an old friend of mine, but… he didn’t make it out of the fire.”

“Oh…” Taiga looked down. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Raiga shook his head and smiled. “Maybe you should go greet our new neighbors. I’ll have something prepared so you don’t seem disrespectful.”

“Grandpa, I can make something myself,” Taiga said with a small pout.

“I would prefer it if I had a professional prepared something,” Raiga’s smile didn’t move. “This will also reflect on me.”

“Fine,” Taiga groaned as she got up and left. As she closed the door behind her, Raiga heaved a sigh.

“How fast they grow up,” Raiga looked down at Gilgamesh’s file. “Now, I wonder what you’re up to.”

Tiamat was content. Shirou had asked Tiamat to buy a cookbook so he could start preparing meals at home and Tiamat was more than happy to oblige. She was able to easily persuade a couple of humans to tell her where she could buy books and used some of the paper Gilgamesh had given her to purchase it.

As she walked down the street with Shirou, she noticed something. She walked towards one of the patches of grass in front of a house and knelt down.

“Mama, what are you doing?” Shirou asked. Tiamat couldn’t help but smile. Shirou had recently started calling Tiamat “mama” and it had meant the world to her. She picked up a small insect with sharp teeth in its mouth.

I see someone is raising their own children, Tiamat thought with a smile. How sweet.

Tiamat then gently placed the bug back into the grass and walked back to Shirou, and took his hand.

“Nothing, little one,” Tiamat smiled down at the young boy. “Come, now. Let’s go home.”

Taiga stood in front of the neighbor’s house with a plate of cookies and a couple of towels. For some reason, she felt nervous. She had no problem meeting new people. Hell, she met new people for her friends sometimes. Reikan really needed to get out and talk more.

Taiga took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She didn’t hear any footsteps, but she did hear a voice.

Suddenly, the door opened, causing Taiga to jump. She was now face to face with Tiamat, who was looking at her with a perplexed expression. If Taiga could describe her with one word, it would be otherworldly. Her hair was wavy and smooth and her eyes… Taiga thought she saw butterflies in them, but she shook her head. It was probably a trick of the light.

“I… I heard you just moved in and I thought I would get you something,” Taiga handed the gifts to the woman. “My name is Fujimura Taiga. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh? How thoughtful,” The woman smiled gently and took the items. “Would you like to come in?”

“Oh, you don’t have to…” Taiga raised her hands.

“I insist,” Tiamat said gently. Taiga then felt something pull at her heart, as if going inside the house was a moral obligation rather than a choice.

“Alright,” Taiga nodded. Tiamat stepped aside and Taiga walked in. The house was nice, if a bit empty. The boy, Shirou, was sitting at the table reading a book. Shirou looked up and saw Taiga. He put the book down and waddled up to her. God, the kid was cute.

“Hey,” Taiga put a smile on and looked down at the boy. She didn’t know how to deal with kids, but she tried her best. “I’m Fujimura Taiga. What’s your name?”

“Shirou!’ The boy chirped.

“Nice to meet you Shirou,” Taiga said. “Do you have a family name?”

“Nope,” Shirou shook his head. “Mama doesn’t have one so I don’t have one either.”

Taiga looked to Tiamat, who was putting the cookies on the table. Who didn’t have a family name? Even though Taiga was sure she was a foreigner…

Something terrible must have happened with her family, Taiga’s brain instantly jumped to a dramatic conclusion. She knew enough about foreigners to know that they had family names. Waver had one, after all.

“Well, feel free to call me Fuji-nee,” Taiga replied with a smile. She always wanted to have a younger brother, but her parents said they couldn’t deal with another one of her. Plus, Taiga was an impulsive girl. What’s the worst that could happen? “Don’t worry about a thing, okay? Your onee-san will take care of everything.”

“How thoughtful,” Taiga looked up to see Tiamat right next to her. How did she get there? Tiamat then raised a hand and started to gently pat the young woman. “I’m happy that my child has such a loving older sister.”

“E-eh?” Taiga stared blankly. She didn’t expect Shirou’s mother to accept it just like that.

“Now, if you’re going to be Shirou’s big sister, then you should stay here,” Tiamat said as she moved her hand from Taiga’s head to her chin. “Would that make you my daughter then? I wouldn’t mind having another child…”

“W-w-wait!” Taiga took a step back and raised her hands. “I didn’t sign up for this!”

“You didn’t?” Tiamat looked genuinely confused. “I thought that you volunteered to be Shirou’s older sister.”

“I mean I did, but I still have a family,” Taiga replied frantically. “I live next door, so I’ll be able to take care of Shirou when you can’t.”

“That is… acceptable,” Tiamat returned her arm to her side. “But I will always have time for Shirou. I will continue to take care of him.”

“Don’t you have a job, though?” Taiga asked. Tiamat’s confusion only grew.

“Job?” The odd woman blinked a couple of times. “What’s that?”

Taiga had to remind herself that they were down on their luck, otherwise she would have rolled her eyes. She knew this was going to be a hassle, but she just couldn’t resist little Shirou’s puppy-dog eyes.

“My king, is something troubling you?” Kirei asked. Giglamesh had been sitting in the church’s pews for about half an hour, completely silent.

“It’s nothing, Kirei. Leave me,” Gilgamesh demanded. Kirei nodded and left the church. Gilgamesh pursed his lips.

He had pretended not to recognize Tiamat because getting into a fight with her would only cause problems. He knew many things about the Primordial Mother, one of them being her immense power. He wasn’t sure if he could beat her in the body he had now.

That being said, Tiamat was not known to be dishonest. It was odd, saying that her only purpose here was to care for a human child, but according to tales he had heard, it seemed like something Tiamat would do. It was odd that she was caring for a human child, but it seemed that Tiamat cared for children, regardless of species.”

What should I do now, though? Gilgamesh thought to himself. There was now a beast in his garden. A pest that he could not remove. Luckily, said pest seemed to be fairly peaceful.

The golden king heaved a sigh. If it wasn’t going to cause problems in his garden, he figured it could stay. Maybe it would even weaken enough so he could kill it himself.

As much as I hate it, I must be patient, Gilgamesh heaved a sigh as he stood up. Maybe he’ll visit the Copenhagen again. For a couple of mongrels, the food they made was… acceptable.

Chapter Text

Makiri Zolgen, otherwise known as Matou Zouken, was freaking out. When that… that thing picked up one of his crest worms, he almost had a panic attack. He immediately went to the Matou library to do research and what he saw…

Tiamat, the primordial mother. The primordial mother was in Fuyuki and she knew about him. Zouken was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. As soon as Tiamat caught wind of his operation…

No, I can’t leave, Zouken thought. If he left, then the grail would be lost. He needed to stay behind and grow stronger. He looked up at the worm pit and smirked as he saw Sakura’s broken expression. Things were going well, but he might need to step things up a bit.

Sella was confused. Ever since Kiritsugu and Irisviel left, she had been exclusively assigned to watch over Illya, but now Acht was reassigning her.

“What is it you need?” Sella asked, kneeling before the old man.

“Kiritsugu has died,” Acht said, his voice lacking any emotion at all. Stella looked up, confused. Kiritsugu was more than a competent magus and assassin. How could he have died?

“And Lady Irisviel?” Sella asked.

“Dead too,” Acht shook his head. Sella lowered her gaze. She silently grieved for the homunculus, but she didn’t allow it to show in front of the patriarch. “I need you to go to Fuyuki and retrieve Avalon.”

“Of course,” Sella nodded. She still had her doubts, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Your belongings have already been prepared. I expect you to leave immediately,” Acht nodded.

“Can I say goodbye to Lady Illyasviel?” Sella looked up to look at Acht.

“You may not. Collecting Avalon is more important,” Acht replied almost immediately. Sella bit back a few choice words.

“Your will shall be done,” Sella stood up and left. She gritted her teeth as she did. Acht may have made her, but she was only loyal to Illya.

Tiamat smiled as she watched Shirou cook. He had been making a lot of progress in the past week and was well on his way to making meals that would make any human bow to. She was so proud.

Should I… Tiamat shook her head. She knew Shirou was capable of magecraft, but the question was if Tiamat wanted to awaken his circuits now. He was so young… but… he needed to be able to protect himself. Even if Tiamat would be by his side for the rest of his life, it would still put her mind at ease.

“Mama, dinner time!” Shirou called. Tiamat’s smile widened as she floated over to the kitchen table.

“What did you make, darling?” Tiamat asked.

“I made curry!” Shirou chirped excitedly. He waddled over to grab the cookbook Tiamat bought him and opened it to one of the pages. It looked identical to the food on the table. “I think I did a good job.”

“I know you did,”   Tiamat put a hand on the young boy’s head and started to rub it gently. Shirou beamed at the praise.

“C’mon! Try it!” Shirou darted over to sit down. Tiamat floated to her seat across from Shirou and sat down as well. She clasped her hands together. It was a human tradition, but she wanted Shirou to learn it too. The boy mimicked her movements before going for his chopsticks.

As the two ate, Tiamat looked at Shirou. She knew that she needed to open Shirou’s circuits. The world was cruel and unforgiving and as much as Tiamat wanted to be at Shirou’s side for the rest of his life, she knew that there would be times they would be apart. For those few times, the boy had to be able to protect himself.

Tiamat’s first thought was to dip him in her Primordial Sea. If she did that, she would be able to modify Shirou and make him stronger. Not to mention she could extend the boy’s annoyingly short lifespan. But… Shirou had only been with her for about a week. She didn’t want to do anything that might scare the young boy. Maybe in a year or two she would dip him into her sea.

“Shirou, would you like to learn magic?” Tiamat asked. She wanted to approach this subject carefully, but this was the only way she knew how.

“Magic?” Shirou echoed. Tiamat could see the light shine in his eyes as he tried and failed to hide his excitement. “Is that how you float and read minds?”

“It is a part of the reason,” Tiamat admitted.

“Can I please learn magic, then?” Shirou’s pupils seemed to dilate as he replicated the gaze of a baby dragon begging for food.

How can I possibly say no to that face? Tiamat thought to herself. She was lucky Shirou couldn’t read her mind… yet.

“Of course. Finish your food, first,” Tiamat said gently.

“Yay!” Shirou said before beginning to wolf down his food. 

Shirou was filled with apprehension. He was excited, but he felt himself shaking too. He didn’t know how big of a deal this was, but he knew that Tiamat’s serious expression unnerved him.

“Shirou, this will hurt. Are you okay with that?” Tiamat asked as she floated down into a sitting position. She tapped the ground twice, gesturing for Shirou to sit. Shirou sat down and Tiamat smiled before rubbing Shirou’s head softly. “The other way, dear.”

“Ah! Sorry!” Shirou’s face turned red as he turned around. There was no way for him to know, but he couldn’t help the wave of embarrassment flow throughout his body.

“It’s okay. You’re doing great,” Tiamat assured Shirou.

“But… I haven’t done anything yet,” Shirou mumbled.

“You’re here, and that’s enough to make me happy,” Tiamat replied. Shirou felt a warmth stem from his chest and spread throughout the rest of his body. His tense muscles instantly started to relax.

“Thank you…” Shirou whispered. He didn’t know what his life was like before Tiamat adopted him, but he knew that he would rather be here. “I’m ready.”

“Alright, honey. I’ll try to make it as painless as possible, okay?” Tiamat cooed. Shirou felt a gust of wind brush upwards against his skin. His shirt then flew off his body and the cold air touched his bare chest. As he started to shiver, he felt his mother’s warm hand place itself gently upon his back. Warmth spread through his body once more and the boy took a deep breath.

Shirou then instantly felt a jolt of pain and gritted his teeth. The pain was sharp and quick. He felt something tear throughout his body quickly as he flinched in response. As he squeezed his eyes shut, an image flashed in his head. It was an egg hatching. Shirou was perplexed at the image. Why was he seeing this?

Rebirth, His mind supplied. Yes, that made sense. When Tiamat held the boy on that fiery night, he was reborn from the ashes of those cursed flames.

“Stay still, Shirou. It’s almost over,” Shirou heard Tiamat’s voice in his head. Even if Tiamat’s warmth wasn’t there, Shirou wouldn’t have minded. The pain was nothing compared to the fire. After the initial shock of pain, it almost completely went away.

“There. It’s done,” Tiamat said. As soon as she removed her hand, Shirou felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

“Mama… I’m… I’m tired,” Shirou muttered. His body was swaying back and forth, and Shirou had to force himself to stay awake.

“Rest, my child,” Shirou felt a gentle pair of hands pull him down into something soft. When he looked up, he saw Tiamat smiling down at him. The butterflies in her eyes seemed to be flapping their wings as she rested a gentle hand on his head. “You did wonderful.”

“Thank you,” Shirou whispered. The pain was long forgotten as he fell into a blissful sleep.

Tiamat had a small smile on her face as she finished tucking Shirou into bed. The litany of things she had worried about never came to pass during the boy’s awakening. As she brushed the back of her hand on the boy’s face, she decided to peer into the boy to find his element and origin.

Creation, a fine origin, Tiamat thought to herself. She did not know what was normal for humans, but his element perplexed her. Imaginary Numbers… has my presence influenced his element somehow?

Tiamat was under no misconception about her power and influence. Something like that could have easily happened. She was thankful that his origin did not seem to be affected. Shirou was her child, not clay that could be sculpted and played with.

“I wonder if there are any books about magecraft,” Tiamat thought to herself. She was never taught magecraft or the intricacies of the craft. Those things came naturally to her. She knew she could teach Shirou to an extent, but she didn’t have experience with beings that had to learn magecraft from the ground up.

With the night’s activities decided, Tiamat stood up and floated out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Tohsaka Rin was not having a good start to her day. She had passed out while reading an introductory book on magecraft and when she woke up, the book was gone. She went to check the library of the Tohsaka Estate, only to see several other books missing.

“Goddammit!” One could argue that a child her age shouldn’t know such language, but Rin was well read. It didn’t help that she heard her father curse multiple times throughout her life. As Rin stormed to the kitchen, she saw Kirei sitting at the table with an infuriating smirk.

“Ever heard of knocking?” Rin asked with a pout on her face. Even if Kirei was her legal guardian, she didn’t like having him around. There was something… multiple somethings about him that put the young girl on edge.

“I have not. Please enlighten me,” Kirei replied as he sipped his tea. Rin just huffed and sat down as far away as she could from him.

“What do you want?” Rin asked. She didn’t dare make herself something until the man left.

“I wanted to inform you that a being that is magical in nature has made a home out of Fuyuki,” Kirei’s smile faded behind his teacup. That was odd. Kirei almost never frowned. It was always that infuriating smirk that he had plastered on his face.

“Well why haven’t you informed me earlier?” Rin asked. “I am the Second Owner, after all.”

“This creature is much stronger than you or me. Neither of us can do anything about it, even if we wanted to,” Kirei set down his teacup and looked down at it before shifting his gaze to look at Rin. “We don’t know what its goals are. It can be extremely dangerous.”

“What does it look like?” Rin asked.

“I don’t know,” Kirei shook his head. “All I know is that it's here and it has no intentions of moving for the foreseeable future.”

“Well that’s just great,” Rin threw her arms in the air. If she didn’t have enough things to worry about. School was starting soon and now she had to look out for something that could probably kill her in a thought while she walked home from school.

“Well, I think I should take my leave,” Kirei stood up, leaving his half-empty cup on the table. “Rin, would you be a dear and clean this up for me?”

“I hate you,” Rin muttered. Kirei’s frown twitched.

“Is there anything else you need before I go?” Kirei asked.

“Yeah,” Rin glared at the priest. “Where the hell did my books go?”

“Books?” Kirei asked.

“Yeah. I woke up and a bunch of books were missing from the Tohsaka library,” Rin explained with an irritated tone in her voice. “I’m asking you. Where are they?”

In an instant, Kirei’s smirk had returned.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Chapter Text

When Shirou woke up, he saw Tiamat sitting beside his bed, reading a book entitled “Intro to Magecraft.”

“Good morning, Mama,” Shirou stretched as he woke up. He felt an energy surging through him that he hadn’t had before. Was this his magic?

“Good morning, Shirou. I’m happy you slept well,” Tiamat replied, looking up from the book. “A friend was gracious enough to give me some books to help you with your ma— magecraft.”

“Really?” Shirou’s eyes widened as he shot out of bed.

“Really,” Tiamat closed the book and handed it to Shirou. The little boy almost squealed as he took the book. “ Let’s eat breakfast before you start reading, okay?”

“Okay!” Shirou chirped before running out of the room. If he had stayed longer, he would have noticed Tiamat’s smile widen as she lifted herself from her chair.

Tiamat sat on the couch next to Shirou and watched him read. Every now and then, he would put down the book and try something under the book’s instructions. Tiamat let the boy experiment with his circuits. The book was very clear with its instructions and Shirou was a smart boy, so he was able to practice turning on his circuits without hurting himself. Even if he did, that’s why Tiamat was there.

“Mama, look!” Shirou said. Tiamat turned to see a small egg in Shirou’s hands.

“Oh, I’m so proud of you!” Tiamat exclaimed. As she moved to pull her son into a bone-crushing hug, the egg faded away into blue motes of light.

“Oh… it’s gone…” Shirou muttered. He looked down with a sullen expression, but didn’t protest when Tiamat pulled him closer to her.

“It’s okay, Shirou. You did amazing for your first time,” Tiamat cooked as she stroked the back of Shirou’s head. As she did, she started to analyze the boy again. As she looked deeper, she saw something… something that shocked even her.

Tiamat knew of the humans of her time. From what she could tell, their magecraft was far stronger than the magic of the present. The air was less dense in mana and the familiars she saw the other day were much smaller and weaker than the ones she was used to seeing. Hopefully, Shirou could be the one to break the mold… especially with what he had resting inside him. She didn’t want to go in for fear of vanishing in front of Shirou, but she resolved to find time to do it later.

“Here, let us study the book again,” Tiamat said gently as the book started to float towards the two. Shirou plucked the book from the air and turned a few pages.

“Mama, it says here that my element and origin are important to my magecraft,” Shirou pointed at the paragraph highlighting the subject.

“Yes it is,” Tiamat lifted Shirou and placed him on her lap. She then wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his head. “Your origin is Creation and your element is… humans call it Imaginary Numbers. It’s the same element as mine.”

“Really?!” Shirou seemed to beam at the prospect of having something in common with his mother. Tiamat felt her heart swell with joy as she read Shirou’s mind.  “What’s your origin?”

“I do not have an origin as humans understand it,” Tiamat chose her next words carefully. “I am not human myself. Although if I was to have one myself, it would likely be something akin to motherhood.”

“So that’s why mama is mama,” Shirou said. Tiamat smiled at his simple logic. She hoped his innocence would last forever. She would do anything to keep it intact, even if it meant destroying this city.

“Yes, you are correct. What a smart child I have,” Tiamat ruffled Shirou’s hair. The young boy giggled at the feeling before looking up at his mother.

“Mama, I love you,” Shirou whispered. Tiamat felt the genuine and heartfelt emotion in the boy’s voice/

“I love you too, Shirou,” Tiamat pulled the young child closer to him. Maybe this one would be different. Maybe this one won’t abandon her.

Shirou’s progress was slower than most of her children, but Tiamat was proud regardless. She didn’t have a frame of reference when it came to humans and magic, but she didn’t care. Shirou would make a fine human mage one day.

Now… Tiamat looked down at Shirou as he slept soundly. He fell asleep earlier than he normally did, but Tiamat chalked that up to the use of magic. She closed her eyes and put a hand on Shirou’s forehead. With a flash of light, she vanished.

When Tiamat opened her eyes once more, she was on an island flush with lush flora. She lifted her feet off the ground and started to float. When she rose above the trees, she found herself in a vast ocean surrounded by a pure white backdrop.

So this is Shirou’s soul, Tiamat thought. She floated over to the ocean. It was blue, not like the blackened waters of her Primordial Sea.

Tiamat looked up to see a river of black water flowing into the azure waters of Shirou’s reality marble. Tiamat floated over and raised her arm. The black waters started to rise, but the waters of Shirou’s world stayed the way it was.

It’s a link, Tiamat concluded. This river… it was a part of her Primordial Sea. It flowed down a narrow cavity, but when Tiamat moved through it, she found her way back to her limitless ocean. She made her way back and landed on the island. She couldn’t be more proud of her son.

Tiamat didn’t know much about Reality Marbles, but she knew the basic principle of it. This was Shirou’s inner soul. Tiamat could only conclude that her presence influenced Shirou’s soul to an extent where it reshaped to emulate her Primordial Sea. Perhaps the connection they had allowed Shirou’s soul to link up with her. Regardless of what caused it, Tiamat didn’t mind.

Shirou was her child, and everything that was hers was also his.

It had been a while since Sakura had made a noise. She had long since gotten used to the wriggling of the worms in her body. The pain she felt every time one of them moved. To anyone else, it would be unbearable, but for Sakura, that was her life.

She was once again in the pit, doing her “training.” She knew it wasn’t training. She knew her grandfather didn’t care about her. But what was the point? She wasn’t able to do anything about it. Shinji was cordial with her, but she could feel his jealousy. She couldn’t turn to him for help either.

Nee-san… Sakura thought weakly. That’s right, she had a sister. Tohasaka Rin. Why hadn’t she come? She knew her grandfather was a monster, but she hoped that Rin would at least try to save her. Whenever she went to school, the young girl would just avoid her.

Sakura wasn’t even angry at Rin. She just felt… resigned. No one was going to save her. The childish fire of hope for a knight in shining armor had been snuffed out long ago. She had accepted that this was her fate. She was going to live, die, and waste away in this pit. All for a sick monster’s satisfaction.

“Sakura,” Zouken’s voice was barely an echo. Sakura didn’t respond. It hurt to move. Zouken didn’t seem to care, though. He just let out a low chuckle and continued. “It seems that we need to step up your training. Something powerful has arrived in Fuyuki, you see, and only you can stop it.”

Sakura didn’t believe Zouken for a second. He just wanted to hurt her more. To break her more. The only movement that the young girl made was done by the fanged worms that wriggled both inside and around her.

“Now don’t be too loud, okay? You know what happened last time,” Zouken said. In an instant, the pain intensified tenfold. For the first time in months, Sakura made an immediate reaction. She shrieked as works coursed throughout her body at a quick pace, ripping and tearing at her insides. Zouken laughed as she started to sink. Worms wriggled into her mouth and throat, replacing the pained shriek with a frantic choking sound.

Zouken smiled at his handiwork before turning and walking away. As Sakura started to lose consciousness, a glimmer of light found its way into her vision. She couldn’t make out much with her glazed eyes, but it looked… It looked like a butterfly.

An angel… Sakura thought to herself. Was it here to save her? Sakura dismissed the notion immediately. No one would save her. The angel only appeared to laugh and gloat at her suffering. That’s what they all did, after all. With her mind and will completely broken, Sakura’s world faded to black.

When Tiamat returned to the physical plane, the first thing she heard was a piercing shriek. It wasn’t in hear ears or in her mind, but in her soul. She closed her eyes as she continued to listen. It was another child, even younger than Shirou.

As Tiamat listened, she noticed that it wasn’t crying for help like Shirou’s was. It was full of pain. There were no comprehensible words coming from the noise. She tracked down the location and noticed that it wasn’t far away. With a single thought, Tiamat had reached her destination.

If there wasn’t a child in the area, Tiamat would have destroyed the entire building with the force of her anger alone. There she was, floating over a small, young girl surrounded by worms. She could see them protruding from her skin, latching onto her, and violating her throughout every inch of her body.

Tiamat clenched her mortal fists. She had seen these worms before. The cute little fanged worms she would see whenever she would go out. She thought they were adorable. She was happy that humanity has also chosen to cherish life and to make families of her own, but this… this was unacceptable.

Tiamat wanted nothing more than to destroy these filthy creatures and take the young girl with her, but she couldn’t do something like that so quickly. If it had been a couple weeks, she could have. She didn’t have any obligations or responsibilities to get in her way. But now… she had Shirou. Would Shirou want a sister? Would he treat her well? He seemed to get along with the Taiga girl well enough, but Tiamat didn’t want to take any chances.

With another thought, Tiamat was back home. She was feeling an emotion she had not felt in eons.

Rage.

White hot rage burned through the primordial mother. She held her hands in front of her as power started to focus around her hands. Before long, an egg with a deep green outer shell. She wasn’t sure if she was going to take in the child for herself, but she promised one thing. The revolting humans who made those worms will suffer.

Chapter Text

When Shirou woke up and made his way out of his room, he saw Tiamat sitting on the couch, petting a small creature. It looked like a fat beaver without a tail. Shirou looked up at Tiamat to see an emotion he hadn’t seen from her before. Anger.

“Mama…?” Shirou slowly approached the woman. Did he do something wrong? He tried his best to be a good child for Tiamat. Did he fail? Was she going to abandon him?

“Good morning, Shirou,” Tiamat turned and smiled at the boy. Nothing about that smile was genuine. It wasn’t like the one Shirou had grown to love. “Please do not worry. I just found something… unsettling on my evening stroll last night.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Shirou’s response was immediate. Tiamat had done so much for him. If there was something he could do… anything he could do…

“Shirou… would you like to have a sister?” Tiamat asked. Shirou walked over to the couch and sat next to Tiamat. The rodent sniffed at Shirou before licking his cheek. The young boy giggled at the action. “Ah, this is a capybara. Although its diet doesn’t consist of worms, I wanted to make something that would put her at ease, so I made some changes.”

“Worms?” Shirou looked up as he pet the friend-sized creature.

“Shirou… I found a young girl… younger than you. They were hurting her,” Tiamat’s gaze hardened. “I heard her soul… like I heard yours. I can’t just stand by. I will be going to rescue her, but if you don’t want someone else to live with us, then I will leave her with Gilgamesh.”

Shirou sat in silence as he mulled over Tiamat’s words. Someone was hurting and Tiamat wanted to save them, but Tiamat wanted Shirou’s permission before bringing her here… Shirou smiled.

“You gave me this chance to live. It wouldn’t be fair for me to take this chance away from someone else,” Shirou smiled up at his mother. “If I can be a little bit more like you, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you… what a mature child I have,” Tiamat smiled. She stood up and placed the capybara down on the floor. The creature followed her as she poured some water into a glass. Tiamat put her hand above the glass and light started to shine from her palm.

“When I bring the girl, please have her drink this,” Tiamat said as she placed the glass on the table in front of him.

“What is it?” Shirou asked.

“Something that will make her feel better,” Tiamat replied softly as she lifted the capybara up. “I shall return soon.”

“Good luck, Mama,” Shirou said. A small but genuine smile grew on Tiamat’s face before she vanished in a flash of light.

When Tiamat appeared back above the horrendous pit, she considered blowing the place sky high once more. She knew of many creatures that resided in her sea that would be more than happy to do so.

I have to remember why I’m here, Tiamat thought to herself. The capybara in her arms took one look at the mound of worms and its eyes widened. It struggled in her arms for a little while before looking up at Tiamat with a pleading gaze.

“Yes, my child. You may eat as much as you wish,” Tiamat floated down and placed the capybara beside the pit. The small creature dived into the pit of worms and started to feast. Capybaras were herbivores, but Tiamat had made some modifications. Along with eating different types of plants, she specifically added the crest worms to its diet. Furthermore, she had prepared a microorganism that would eat away at the crest worms in the girl’s body before placing them in the water she had prepared.

As the capybara approached the small girl, feasting upon the fanged monstrosities, the girl started to stir.

The first thing Sakura saw when she awoke was a small, brown creature sniffing her face. Sakura immediately started to fear for the creature’s safety, but whenever a worm tried to bite at it, it chomped down on its attacker before swallowing.

“H-hello,” Sakura addressed the creature, taking her mind away from the pain as she looked at the animal with confusion.

“Hello, young one,” Sakura heard a female voice in her head as she started to float. Sakura’s eyes widened in fear as she started to flail in the air. As she rose from the pit, she saw herself approach a woman. A woman with long, curved horns and eyes with butterflies in them.

“Angel…?” Sakura muttered. The angel came for her? Was the angel going to save her?

“Not quite, my child,” The voice replied as she floated down into her gentle arms. This warmth… it was unlike anything Sakura had felt before. Even when Aoi, her own mother, would embrace her, it didn’t feel this warm and loving. “I have come to save you, however. I shall take you away from this place.”

“R-really?” Sakura couldn’t help but be skeptical. No one had saved her before, so why did this person appear before her now?

“Really,” The woman smiled down at Sakura, the butterflies in her eyes flapping their wings. “I shall take you to my home. When I do, my son will be waiting for you. He will offer you something that will remove the worms inside your body.”

“You… you can do that?” Sakura’s eyes started to water. The pain… the pain was going to go away. The terrible feeling in her body every time the worms violated her. It was going to go away. It was all going to go away.

“Of course, my child,” The angel replied. “Now, hold on tight.”

Sakura clinged onto the woman. This woman… She was her savior. With a flash of light, the two of them had vanished.

It didn’t take long for Shirou’s mother to return. Tiamat appeared with a small girl with long, purple hair in her grasp.

“We are here,” Tiamat said as she set the girl down. The girl, however, continued to cling onto Tiamat. “My child, you must let go. There is still much I must do.”

“Please don’t leave,” Even though Shirou was still young and inexperienced in the ways of life, he could still recognize the pain behind her voice. It was the same pain he felt when he waded through that fire.

“I will return soon, my child. For now, Shirou will take care of you,” Tiamat assured the girl with a gentle tone.

“S-Shirou?” The girl took a moment to look away from Tiamat to look at the boy. Shirou flinched and grabbed the glass of water and offered it to her.

“Mama told me to give this to you,” Shirou said.

“T-thank you,” The girl took the glass and sipped at it. She then started to gulp down the water before it was completely gone. The girl’s grip on Tiamat loosened as she sat down.

“I shall return,” Tiamat said before vanishing in a flash of light. The girl let out a small cry, reaching her arm out for Tiamat before lowering it. The look of sadness in her eyes casued a dull pain to ping in Shirou’s heart. He didn’t know what it was, but he wanted it to go away.

“I’m Shirou,” The young boy tried his best to emulate his mother’s tone of voice as he spoke. “What’s your name?”

“Sakura…” The girl looked up at Shirou, her eyes wide and watery.

“Mama’s going to come back. I promise,” Shirou assured the young girl.

“But… but what if she doesn’t?” Sakura asked.

“She will. Mama’s super strong,” Shirou promised. Sakura took a deep breath.

“Is… is it okay if I hug you?” Shirou asked. Sakura didn’t reply, but she scooted over to Shirou. The young boy wrapped his arms around Sakura. He could feel her shake.

“She’ll come back,” Shirou promised once more. “She always does.”

When Tiamat returned, the capybara was still munching on the worms, but a wraith was making its way down the stairs, glaring at the creature with rage.

“You,” Tiamat’s voice rang across the room. The ground started to shake as she let her rage bubble forth. The wraith had a look of sheer horror once he registered who was in the room with him.

“It was you…?” The wraith asked in disbelief. The form he had was quaking as Tiamat approached him. He had taken the form of an old man, but Tiamat could see through him. She saw the decaying, rotten soul that wasted away in his pathetic vessel.

“You have no right to address me,” With the wave of an arm, the old man was sent flying to the other end of the pit. He crashed into the wall, an invisible force holding him up. Tiamat slowly floated over to him, her eyes full of rage and contempt. “You humans… you are blessed with the ability to grant life and this is what you do with it. Disgusting.”

Tiamat flicks her hand and the capybara vanished, sent back to the house to spend time with Shirou and the little girl she had rescued. The ground beneath Tiamat’s feet started to shift and change until it was replaced by pitch black water. A small dragon rose from the pool, letting out a mighty roar.

“No… no, you can’t do this!” The man screeched as the dragon breathed fire upon the pit, burning every last worm to the ashes. The old man let out a scream of fury as a wave of insects crashed through the entryway towards Tiamat. The Primordial Mother did not even turn. A second dragon rose from the primordial waters and with the help of the first, started to burn down whatever insect got in their way.

“You are the epitome of why humans disgust me,” Tiamat flicked her wrist, and the man’s arms were separated from his body. He let out a cry of pain that Tiamat ignored. “You do anything for power. To ruin a child’s innocence like that. To torture a child like that.”

“So this is about Sakura?” The man let a sadistic smirk spread across his face. “Well if that’s the case, you— AGH!”

The disgusting creature was cut off when a third dragon appeared from the sea and bit off the man’s lower half.

“So that’s her name,” Tiamat’s rage had smoothed over in her voice. While she still let her anger be known, this worm wasn’t worth losing her cool over. “She will live a prosperous life. A life without you in it.”

“Tch, you can kill this body, but you won’t be able to—” The worm cut himself off with another scream.

“I noticed that you have placed a few worms in the girl as well. I have already made steps to eradicate those as well,” Tiamat said. At this point she was completely calm. This… thing will die, and Sakura will get to live a good life, free from the chains of these worms.

“Please… please don’t kill me!” The man’s tone completely changed. In the face of certain death, his tone changed to one of fear. Tiamat turned to see that the worms that the dragons had faced were all dead. She motioned to the dragons and they all made their way back into the sea. Before long, the water had vanished, leaving only the cold ground. 

“Thank you…” The man’s voice was shaky and filled with terror.

“I did not say I would spare you,” Tiamat let the man’s torn body fall to the ground. “Enjoy your meal, my child.”

The last thing Makiri Zolgen saw was a capybara with gluttonous eyes and unbelievably sharp teeth.

When Tiamat returned to the house, she was immediately bombarded with two child-shaped projectiles. Tiamat smiled as she wrapped her arms around both of her children.

“Sakura,” The young girl flinched when she heard her name. “The man who hurt you is gone. He will never come back.”

“G-grandfather’s dead?” Tiamat clenched her fists as she pulled the children closer. That monster was her grandfather? She regretted not killing him slower.

“Yes, little one. If you want to live with us, then you are welcome,” Tiamat replied. Her heart shattered when she saw Sakura start to cry. The Primordial Mother could scarcely imagine the life she had lived to be like this.

“P-please,” Sakura whispered.

“Of course,” Tiamat replied, kneeling down so she could get a better grip of her two precious children. “Welcome home, Sakura.”

Chapter Text

Sakura was awoken by a small ticking sensation on her cheek. She turned and opened her eyes to be met with the beady eyes of a capybara.

“Good morning, Ichiban,” she muttered as she petted the small animal. She knew she shouldn’t pamper the animal who killed her grandfather, but she couldn’t help it. He freed her from her hell. Him and Tiamat.

It had only been a day since Sakura was whisked away from her home, but she felt more safe than she had in months. Tiamat was the exact opposite of Zouken. She was kind and loving. Even though she had just met Sakura, she loved and treated her like she loved Shirou.

“Mama doesn’t choose favorites,” Tiamat had said. Sakura still had to get used to the floating woman and her large horns, but after the pit, she was willing to do anything.

Those words meant a lot to Sakura. Tiamat already saw her as her child. Not someone she saved or an unfortunate little girl. Sakura was Tiamat’s child, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Speaking of Shirou, the boy was nice. He was helpful in showing Sakura around the house and was a joy to be around. Despite his upbeat personality, Sakura was able to recognize a familiar hollow feeling behind his smile. She saw that look in her eyes whenever she looked in the mirror. Something bad must have happened to him.

“My child, are you awake?” Sakura heard a knock on her door.

“I-I’m awake,” Sakura replied. She brought her arms and knees closer to her as the door opened.

“Good morning, Sakura,” Tiamat had a reassuring smile on her face. Something about Tiamat’s demeanor made Sakura feel safe. She couldn’t place what it was, though. “Shirou has prepared breakfast for us. Would you like to join us?”

Sakura hesitated. She had dinner with the two the previous night and the dynamic was almost jarring for her. It was so… positive. Dinner with the Matous was a silent affair. Both Sakura and Shinji were too afraid to speak in Zouken’s presence. That is if Sakura even got to eat.

“It’s okay to say no,” Tiamat’s voice snapped Sakura from her thoughts. “Take you time to heal.”

“Thank you,” Sakura nodded and forced a smile. Tiamat’s smile seemed to waver as she closed the door. Sakura looked down at her blanket. Did she disappoint Tiamat? She didn’t want to let down the one who saved her. Should she swallow her fears and go? As she started to make her way out of the bed, she heard a knock on the door.

“Sakura?” It was Shirou this time. He opened the door and walked in with a plate of omurice. “Mama won’t tell me what happened, but she said you needed time. You should still eat, though.”

“Thank you,” Sakura muttered as Shirou placed the food on the nightstand beside the bed.

“Mama and I are going to get me enrolled in school later. She told me that you can come if you want,” Shirou said before turning.

“Wait,” Sakura raised her voice ever so slightly as Shirou made his way to the door. He stopped and turned. “Did… did I do something to make Tiamat mad?”

“I don’t think so?” Shirou tilted his head. “The only time I saw Mama mad was yesterday before she went to rescue you.”

“I see… thank you,” Sakura muttered.

“You’re welcome!” Shirou chirped, oblivious to Sakura’s inner torment as he left.

“Why do I keep causing trouble…?” Sakura whispered as she placed her head on her knees.

Rin heaved a sigh. Kirei said she was going to be here with her new books at 10 am, but it was noon and he still hadn’t shown up. He was always like this. Trying to find any way to be an inconvenience in her life. 

She was just about to lay down and sleep, but as she closed her eyes, she heard the sound of the front door opening.

“Of course he arrives now,” Rin muttered to herself as she made her way out of her comfortable position. “I had to wake up early for this.”

She made her way down the stairs and into the library to see Kirei placing books on the bookshelf. Luckily, he was placing them in the correct position.

“Took you long enough,” Rin grumbled. Kirei turned around with his smirk wider than usual.

“I apologize. I had some business at the Matou estate,” Kirei responded.

“The Matou estate? What’s going on over there?” Rin asked. She felt like she had to know. She was the Second Over, after all.

“Someone finally decided to kill Zouken,” Kirei said. His tone sounded… relieved? “Praise be. He’s very hard to kill.”

“He’s dead?” Rin’s eyes widened. Zouken might have been a magus, but he was just an old man. He understood why a twisted person like Kirei wanted him dead, but who else would. Then, realization dawned on her. “Wait, if he’s gone, where’s Sakura?!”

“She was nowhere to be seen,” Kirei shook his head, his smirk not fading. “Matou Shinji was found sleeping on his bed. He has been moved to a foster home since he has no other family.”

Rin almost didn’t hear the last sentence. She was already running out the door.

Sakura… Rin thought. She remembered Kirei’s warning about a dangerous magical creature, but she didn’t care. Whether she might run into it while looking or whether the creature was the one who took Sakura, she didn’t care. She would save her sister if it was the last thing she did.

As Kirei made his way out, Gilgamesh was walking down the street in Kirei’s direction.

“Greetings, my king,” Kirei bowed to Gilgamesh.

“Get up. We have a problem,” Gilgamesh’s tone was quick and sharp. Kirei did so, but he was completely unconcerned.

“What seems to be the problem?” Kirei asked.

“Don’t play dumb. It’s unbefitting,” Gilgamesh replied. “You’re well aware of why Tiamat went after Zouken.”

“It was because of the girl, correct?” Kirei remembered GIlgamesh talking about it earlier that morning as he left to investigate the scene. “Why is this a problem?”

“We’re using children as batteries, Kirei,” Gilgamesh’s eyes narrowed. “We need to change that before she comes after us.”

“It shall be done,” Kirei said without argument.

“See to it that it is,” Gilgamesh turned around and stalked off. Kirei’s smirk widened. To see a divine spirit in pain… he wondered what that would feel like.

Sakura, meanwhile, was shyly gripping Tiamat’s hand as they made their way to Homurahara Elementary. She had decided to go with Shirou and Tiamat to get Shirou enrolled in school. As she sat silently with the receptionist, the door flew open.

“Made it!” A teenager with brown hair and eyes was the one who Sakura saw. She was holding a stack of papers and was panting heavily. She then turned to look at Sakura. The two stayed silent for a few seconds before she spoke up. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi…” Sakura looked away from the energetic woman. She didn’t have the energy or willingness to deal with the energetic woman.

“Hi! I’m Fujimura Taiga,” The woman placed the stack of papers on the desk and sat next to Sakura. “What’s your name?”

“Taiga, don’t you have to get back to class?” The receptionist asked. She didn’t sound irritated or annoyed, but the tone of her voice proved that it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

“Eh, I’m doing fine in English,” Taiga waved the woman off. “Plus, if I want to be a teacher, I should be doing this kinda stuff.”

“Whatever you say,” The receptionist took the stack of paper and rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry, what was your name again?” Taiga turned back to Sakura with a bright smile. The teenager seemed nice. Sakura couldn’t see any maliciousness behind her eyes.

“Sakura,” The girl forced a smile as she introduced herself.

“Well it’s nice to meetcha, Sakura,” Taiga said as she put her hands behind the back of her head and leaned back in the plastic chair she was sitting on. “So what are you doing here in the office? You don’t seem like a bad girl.”

“Oh, my… mother,” The word felt funny on Sakura’s lips, “is getting my brother enrolled.”

“Oh, are you two transferring?” Taiga flicked her eyes over at Sakura.

“Shirou is, I think,” Sakura thought. It was a little odd that he wasn’t enrolled in school already, but Sakura hadn’t really thought about it.

“Oh, I didn’t know Tiamat had another kid,” Sakura saw Taiga’s eyebrows raise.

“You know her?” Sakura tilted her head.

“We’re neighbors,” Taiga replied. “Now that I think of it, I was at her place the other day and I didn’t see you.”

Sakura winced. Her situation was the last thing she wanted to explain.

“Uh…”

“I found Sakura in a rather… unfortunate family situation,” Both of them snapped their heads to see Tiamat approaching them with Shirou holding her hand and smiling. “A family friend offered to handle the paperwork tonight, but Sakura is a part of the family now.”

Sakura felt herself tense again. She still wasn’t used to considering Tiamat and Shirou as her family, so hearing those words made her heart constrict in a way she couldn’t describe.

“Oh,” Taiga’s smile faded rather quickly. She then turned to Sakura and smiled, but she could tell that her smile wasn’t genuine this time. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you a lot from now on.”

“Speaking of which,” Tiamat turned her head towards Taiga. “Are you sure you don’t want to live with us? I can—”

“It’s fine, I promise!” Taiga shouted, the humor in her voice returning as her smile became more relaxed. “Anyways, I should get back to class. It was nice seeing you!”

Before anyone could respond, Taiga had shot up from her seat and sped out of the room. There was an awkward pause before Shirou broke the silence.

“Mama, can we have ice cream?” Shirou asked.

“Yes, my child,” Tiamat nodded. She then offered her free hand to Sakura. The girl in question looked at the hand for a second before hesitantly reaching out. Tiamat waited patiently for Sakura to grab onto her hand before tenderly wrapping her fingers around hers. An indescribable feeling washed over Sakura. It was making her… happy? 

I like that, Sakura thought as she let a smile effortlessly rise from the corners of her lips.

“Let us go,” Tiamat’s voice was gentle. With the smallest of tugs, Tiamat gestured for Sakura to stand up. The happy family of three then walked out of the office, hand and hand.

Rin looked at her compass as she made a right turn. If there was a high source of magic energy in town, it was as good a place to start as any. Since she didn’t take the time to prepare, she only had one sapphire and her family heirloom on her. She was adverse to using the prana stored in the large jewel she had gotten from her father, but if it was to save Sakura, she would have done anything.

She only realized that she had taken the route she normally took to go to school when she saw the group of buildings in front of her. She looked down at her compass and it pointed east. Rin breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to start a fight in school. As she turned, she saw a woman with long, silver hair holding hands with Sakura and a redhead.

Images of the deranged murderer she saw during the fourth war filled her memory. The entire scene played out in her head at a rapid pace, ending with Kariya’s disturbed face. Fear gripped Rin as she remembered the monster that had attacked her. Adrenaline pumped through her body and she resolved herself.

“Get away from her!” Rin gripped her sapphire as all three of them turned and she threw it. As soon as she did, her face turned pale. There were so many things that she should have thought about. On top of risking the statute of secrecy, that particular gem was meant to explode. Even if the woman didn’t use one of the children as a shield, the blast was likely to reach her sister as well.

Much to her relief and horror, the woman let go of Sakura’s hand and grabbed the gem. Right before it was going to explode, she wrapped her fingers around the gem and the gem inside flashed blue as it exploded. Rin’s horror only worsened as the woman was completely unaffected as the sapphire detonated in her hand.

“It’s dangerous to be playing with such things, young one,” The woman’s voice was smooth and her eyes showed no malice. Instead they showed… butterflies? It was then that realization struck Rin.

That’s… that’s the creature, Rin thought to herself. She took a step back. She was so dead. Dead couldn’t even describe how dead she was.

“Nee-san?” Rin barely heard Sakura’s voice, but it was enough to snap her from her fears. Yes, that’s why she set out here. That’s why she risked her life. For Sakura. Even if she was a Matou, she was still her sister.

“Sakura! Get away from her!” Rin shouted, making a finger gun with her hand. She hadn’t had many chances to experiment with her crest since she got it, but she was quickly running out of options.

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” The woman turned to Sakura. The girl in question nodded shyly. “Would you like her to come with us?”

“I… I would like that,” Sakura said softly. The interaction stopped Rin from blasting off the gandr she was preparing. Wasn’t this woman coercing her?

“Child,” The woman turned back to Rin with a welcoming smile. “Would you like to join us for some ice cream?”

Rin could have said a thousand things. She could have shot the woman. She could have used her heirloom. She could have done something. But instead, she just looked at the woman with the most flabbergasted expression.

“What?”

Chapter Text

There were a lot of things Rin had expected when she ran off to find Sakura, but she didn’t expect to be getting ice cream with a magical creature that managed to negate her crystal with absolutely no effort at all.

“What flavor would you like?” Rin physically flinched when she heard the woman, Tiamat, speak. The name was vaguely familiar to the child, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on him.

“Can I please have rainbow sherbet?” Rin asked. If she was willing to buy some ice cream, there was no reason for her to refuse. How did a creature like her manage to get money in the first place? Sure, she looked like a human, but from the way she moved and acted, it seemed that she wasn’t accustomed to human society.

“Alright, that will be ¥1024,” The young lady behind the counter said. Tiamat closed her fist and when she opened it, a bill and a few coins were in her hand.

“Woah, that’s a fancy magic trick,” The young woman said. Rin wanted to scream, but even she could recognize that the only reason she was alive was because of Tiamat’s benevolence. It would be better for her not to rock the boat.

“Why thank you, my child,” Tiamat smiled as the woman took the money and placed it in the register.

“Er… no problem,” The cashier said as she briskly made her way to prepare the ice cream the creature had ordered. Within a few seconds, all three children had ice cream cones in her hand. The boy, who Rin vaguely remembered as Shirou, a completely average kid in her class, holding a cone of chocolate ice cream while Sakura gingerly held a cone of vanilla ice cream.

For some reason, Sakura’s choice made Rin sad. Back when Aoi took the two siblings to this place, Sakura would always order strawberry. It was as if something happened that sucked the life out of Sakura.

“Sakura…” Rin approached her younger sister with a concerned look. Sakura flinched as her eyes focused on Rin.

“I’m fine, Nee-san,” Sakura assured, but there was nothing assuring about her tone.

“My child,” Rin looked up as she heard Tiamat’s voice. She saw Tiamat’s motherly smile replaced with a sad look. It caused guilt to pang in Rin’s heart, but she didn’t know why.

“What did you do?” Rin’s tone was accusatory. “Why isn’t she with the Matou’s?”

Rin’s blood turned to ice when she saw Sakura flinch. The look in her eyes spoke of true fear. She remembered how she felt when she was trapped with the serial killer. For some reason, she got the feeling that the feeling Sakura had was worse.

“Child, I—”

“T— mom…” Sakura’s voice cut off Tiamat’s sharp tone. Rin felt tears prick her eyes. Sakura’s voice was shaking. “Can we please speak about this somewhere else?”

“Very well, my child,” Tiamat put a hand on Sakura’s head.

“Hmph, you can come to my place,” Rin huffed. “It’s not like anyone’s there anyways.”

“What about you parents?” Tiamat asked. Concern flashed through her eyes.

“I…” Rin clenched her fists. Aoi’s condition was only deteriorating since the end of the fourth war, and Rin has been taking care of her ever since. She remembered just a few hours ago when she had to feed her mother. The tears in her eyes almost started to fall down her cheek, but she wiped her eyes in time. “Let’s just go.”

Rin didn’t wait for the other three as she walked out of the store.

Sella let out the breath she was holding as the creature walked down the street. She expected to spend a lot of the time looking for Avalon and maybe running into a magus or two, but to see something like that here was unexpected. The presence it had was absolutely unreal. She thought she heard the Tohsaka heiress call it Tiamat, but that couldn’t be right.

Being a homunculus, she had a lot of information stored in her brain. She didn’t know much about the Mesopatamian myths, but she knew enough to know that Tiamat wasn’t supposed to be here.

If she has Avalon… Sella thought. She didn’t want to imagine having to confront that monster. Sella looked at her hands. Her weak body wouldn’t last a second against being, Tiamat or not. Even if she had high quality magic circuits, higher than those of other homunculi, it paled in comparison to the presence Tiamat was letting out.

“I’ll just look somewhere else,” Sella thought as she made her way in the opposite direction. “Just wait for me, Lady Illyasviel… I shall return soon.”

Tiamat frowned as she recognized the manor. She had been here before. She had sensed a child when she went to steal the books, but she didn’t know it was Sakura’s sister.

“We’re here,” Rin said as she unlocked and opened the door. Tiamat clutched the hands of both Shirou and Sakura as she entered. Shirou had already finished his ice cream while Sakura was still slowly licking at hers.

As Rin closed the door behind Tiamat, she let her horns appear as she floated a couple centimeters above the ground.

“Ah!” Rin shouted.

“I apologize, my child. I am much more comfortable in this form. I hope you do not mind,” Tiamat turned to Rin. Telepathy was much more comfortable than speaking with her physical vocal chords. She based this body off a human’s, but she wasn’t used to all its functions yet.

“I… see,” Rin said with a straight face, but Tiamat could hear her inner torment.

“If you want, I can use my human form for now,” Tiamat offered. “I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable, dear one.”

“It’s okay… I… I just want to know what Sakura’s been through,” No small amount of guilt was showing from Rin’s thoughts. Tiamat floated over to hug the young girl.

“It’s okay. Mama’s here,” Tiamat cooed as she wrapped her arms around the shaking child. Rin struggled at first, but Tiamat felt her relax after a couple seconds. 

“I…” Sakura looked up at Tiamat and Rin.

“You don’t have to speak if you do not wish to, my child,” Tiamat could see the horrid images flashing through Sakura’s head. The cacophony of senses made Tiamat want to cry. How could someone do such horrible things to a child?

“No… Rin needs to know this,” Sakura muttered. She squeezed Tiamat’s hands before taking a step. The dragon mother removed a hand from Rin to wrap around Sakura. Sakura took a deep breath and started to tell her tale.

“When… when Kariya died,” Rin flinched at the name. “I… I knew no one could oppose grand— Zouken, so I stayed with him. He… he made me do this training… he put me into a pit… and the worms…”

Rin’s breath hitched as Sakura went into detail about how the worms crawled inside her and violated her. Tears sprung in her eyes as Sakura described the things Zouken said to her… how he told her that she should pretend that Rin and Aoi didn’t exist. The terrible things Zouken made her do. By the end, Sakura had tears falling from her face and Rin was openly weeping.

“I’m sorry,” Rin wrung herself from Tiamat’s grasp with surprisingly little resistance from Tiamat and pulled Sakura into a tight hug. Rin cried into her shoulder as the guilt in her heart exploded, making Rin shake violently as she repeated her apologies.

“It’s okay, Nee-san…” Sakura forced a smile as she rested her chin on Rin’s shoulder, letting her tears fall from her cheek into Rin’s shirt. “Tiamat saved me. I’m free now.”

“Still! I could have done something,” Rin pulled away to look at Sakura with red and puffy eyes.

“It is not a child’s duty to do such a horrid task,” This time, it was Tiamat who replied by putting a hand on Rin’s head. “What matters is that you’re together now. If you like, you could live with us.”

“I… I don’t know,” Rin sniffed. It seemed like Tiamat’s touch was calming the girl down. “I still have to take care of Mama…”

“Oh?” Tiamat tilted her head. “Shouldn’t your mother be caring for you?”

“Mama’s… she’s not well,” Rin clenched her fists. “Kirei won’t help me take care of her, so I have to do it myself.”

“Show me to your mother,” Tiamat said. Rin paused before nodding.

“Can Sakura come?” Rin asked. Tiamat looked at Shirou and Sakura.

“I can stay here,” Shirou volunteered with a smile.

“Alright,” Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes. Rin nodded and she made her way up the stairs with Tiamat and Sakura not far behind. She walked down the hall and opened the second door to the left.

There sat Tohsaka Aoi, almost in the exact same position as she was when Rin left. After the Fourth War, she had suffered substantial brain damage. She barely talked and when she did, she showed signs of not knowing about Tokomi’s death and Sakura’s disappearance.

“Poor child,” Tiamat said as she floated over the wheelchair-bound woman and put a hand on her head.

“What are you doing?” Rin’s muscles tensed. She had been kind so far, but if she did something to her mother… Even if she was in a bad mental state, Rin loved her mother and refused to allow harm to come to her.

“I shall heal this child,” Tiamat declared. Before Rin could say anything else, a soft glow emitted from Tiamat’s hand. After a few seconds, the light returned to Aoi’s eyes as she blinked. She looked up at Tiamat with a confused expression before turning to look at her daughter.

“Rin?”

Aoi couldn’t describe exactly how she was feeling. She felt sore and drowsy, but at the same time, she had never felt more alive. Her thoughts were a mess, but she could recognize her daughter.

“Rin?” She asked. She saw tears form in Rin’s eyes. She also noted how her eyes were already red, as if she had been crying before.

“Mama!” Rin pushed past the odd person in front of her to tackle Aoi into a hug. Aoi had noticed the odd woman, but had decided not to ask questions. She knew how magi were. If she wasn’t going to explain herself, she was better off not knowing.

“I’m here,” Aoi cooed as Rin sobbed into her silky white clothing. “I’m here.”

“Mama, I missed you so much,” Rin cried, her voice muffled by Aoi’s clothes. Aoi then looked up to see Sakura with a shocked expression on her face.

“Aren’t you going to join us, my little cherry blossom?” Aoi asked.

“M-mama,” Sakura hesitantly approached Aoi. The woman was confused. She knew Sakura was shy, but she didn’t remember her being like this.

“Sakura, is everything alright?” Aoi asked. Sakura sniffed before running up to her mother and tackling her other side.

“Mama… I missed you… I was so scared,” Sakura’s voice was shaking. Aoi felt a pain in her heart. Just what happened to Sakura?

“The child has been through a lot,” Aoi turned to look at the horned woman. “I am Tiamat. It is a pleasure to meet you, my child.”

“It’s… nice to meet you too,” Aoi replied. For some reason, she didn’t mind being addressed as a child by the woman. It just felt… right. Something then clicked in her head. “Where’s Tokomi? Surely he should be here with us, right? I hope he isn’t working too hard. He’s always overworking himself for the family…”

“Mama…” Aoi looked to see Rin had looked up with beady eyes. Her voice was shaking. “Papa’s… he’s…”

“He’s what, dear?” Aoi asked with a gentle smile on her face.

“He’s gone…” The smile faded immediately. Tokomi? Gone?

“Gone?” Aoi repeated tentatively. Rin sniffed and wiped her eyes.

“He died at the end of the Fourth War…” Rin’s voice cracked. “And you were… I had to take care of you for two weeks…”

“I…” Aoi felt a sob creep up in her throat. She didn’t stop, however. She grabbed both Rin and Sakura and pulled them as close as she could as she started to weep. Together, the three weeped and grieved for the Tohsaka patriarch. It might have been the second time for Rin, but for both Aoi and Sakura, a fresh wound had just been opened in their hearts.

Chapter Text

Aoi had barely met Tiamat, but she was eternally grateful that she was the one who adopted Sakura. After what her daughter told her about Zouken, Aoi couldn’t help but burst into tears again. When Tiamat moved to comfort her, Aoi felt a warm and soothing sensation spread across her body.

When Aoi asked Tiamat what she was, Tiamat just replied with “your mother.” She resolved to do more research, but for now, she was going to enjoy some time with her daughters.

“Rin,” Aoi caught the attention of her daughter as she was showing her mother what she had learned with her crest. “Do you want to move in with Tiamat?”

“What? Why would I do that?” Rin tilted her head.

“You’re growing up to be a fine young magus, but I can’t protect you,” Aoi had a somber look on her face. As much as she wished she could, she was born with no magic circuits. There wasn’t much she could do. “I don’t trust Kirei to protect you either, but Tiamat can. If she killed Zouken…”

“I won’t go anywhere without you,” Rin shook her head defiantly. “I just got you back. I’m not going to lose you again.”

“If it’s to keep you safe… I am willing to move with you,” Aoi took a deep breath.

“But what about the manor?” Rin’s eyes widened. “This is our heritage! Our birthright!”

“Your safety is more important,” Aoi’s determined look brought Rin pause. “I would give up the entire family fortune if it meant that you and Sakura are safe.”

“I… I’ll think about it,” Rin muttered before looking up at Aoi with a conflicted look. “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too, Rin,” Aoi bent down to hug her daughter. She could tell that Rin still wasn’t used to her walking and moving her body again. “I love you too.”

“Thank you again for everything,” Aoi bowed to Tiamat. The primordial mother smiled as she saw Rin look up at her mother before mimicking her actions. It was a shame that they weren’t moving in yet, but Tiamat knew it was only a matter of time before the two joined her family.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?” Rin asked Sakura. Tiamat looked down at the little girl in question.

“I… I want to stay with Tia—” Sakura cut herself off. “Mama for now.”

“Oh, before we go,” Tiamat remembered something and a smile grew on her face. “Would you happen to have a book on inner worlds?”

“Inner worlds? What do you mean?” Rin looked up at Tiamat with a confused look.

“I found that there was a world in Shirou’s soul and I want to teach him about it,” Tiamat explained with a monotone voice. She didn’t notice the quick change of color in Rin’s face. “I’m not too familiar with human magecraft… perhaps he could project his soul to this world?”

“Shirou has a… a…” Rin stuttered. Tiamat looked at Rin curiously and dived in her mind. She was only able to see two words before Rin’s eyes rolled into her head and she passed out.

“Reality Marble.”

The rest of the day passed normally, with Shirou teaching Sakura how to use the television that came with the house. Tiamat remembered the time Shirou had taught her to use the mysterious black rectangle and a smile grew on her face.

“Children, I have to step out for a little while,” Tiamat floated over to the children, who were glued to the flashing lights of the Magic Mari show they were invested in. “Can I trust you to go to bed on time?”

“Yeah!” Shirou was the one who responded. Sakura, however, continued to watch the show.

“Make sure Sakura goes to bed on time, okay?” Tiamat said. When Shirou nodded, Tiamat smiled as she landed on her feet. As she opened the door, she let her horns fade into miniscule pink particles that were shaped like butterflies.

Gilgamesh had asked Tiamat to meet him at the Copenhagen to work out Sakura’s legal paperwork. Tiamat didn’t care for such things, but Gilgamesh insisted that it would be better for the children if they were legally under her name.

As she continued to walk, she noticed a presence following behind her. It was one of the stronger ones she had seen since her arrival. The only two she could remember being stronger than the presence were Gilgamesh and the disgusting wraith she killed not too long ago. She turned around and saw no one.

“My child. There is no need to hide,” Tiamat let her telepathic voice ring across the empty street. After a couple seconds, a woman wearing a blue and white dress stepped out from behind a house. The woman looked tense and her aura was fluctuating, as if she was preparing to cast a spell.

Tiamat curiously approached the woman, but the woman shot a small blast of green light. The small ball of energy didn’t even reach Tiamat. It dispersed a couple hundred centimeters away from her.

“There is no need for that,” Tiamat said casually as she continued to approach. The woman didn’t seem to listen to her, though. She silently blasted stronger and stronger spells at Tiamat, all of them being canceled out by an invisible force before reaching Tiamat. Eventually the woman stops and puts her hands together, letting her fingers curl around each other. She closed her eyes and pressed her nose onto her hands.

“I apologize, Lady Illyasviel… I won’t be making it back,” The woman whispered softly. She looked up as Tiamat raised a hand and glared at the primordial mother with determined eyes. Tiamat could see the image of a young girl with snow white hair and crimson eyes alongside another woman similar to the one in front of Tiamat.

Whatever the woman expected to happen never came to pass, however. Tiamat placed a hand on the woman’s head, not minding the fabric that was worn on top of her hair.

“There, there, child. I will not hurt you,” Tiamat assured as she rubbed the woman’s head. “You’re safe with me.”

“What… Do you want?” Tiamat saw the hardened determination in the woman’s eyes waver.

“I am merely looking out for my children,” Tiamat replied simply with a transparent smile on her face showing no lies or deception. “Now, my child… What is your name?”

“S-Sella,” The woman responded. Tiamat’s smile only widened.

“What a wonderful name,” Tiamat replied. She paused her movements for a small moment before removing her hand from Sella’s head. She could sense a small twinge of disappointment from Sella. “Sella, would you like to join my family?”

“What?” Sella’s stoic face turned to one of mild shock.

“I can sense your displeasure, my child,” Tiamat replied evenly as she wrapped her arms around the crimson-eyed woman. “If you so desire, you can stay here with us. Be a part of our happy family.”

“I cannot,” Sella shook her head, squirming softly at Tiamat’s grasp. Tiamat couldn’t tell whether she was only making an act or if this was all the strength she could muster. Nevertheless, Sella was unable to break free. “I serve Lady Illyasviel alone. I cannot abandon my post.”

“Oh? Is this Illyasviel forcing your servitude?” Tiamat asked. The woman was displeased that she came to this conclusion so quickly, but after seeing what the wraith did, she had become cynical of humans and their lust for power.

“No!” Sella sounded almost offended. “I serve her out of my own free will. Let me go!”

Tiamat peered in her mind once more and saw images and memories of a small girl. Two other figures, a taller woman with a childish spirit and a man with a dead stare and jet black hair. Eventually, the two faded away and… and…

For the second time since she had arrived to this world, rage had filled Tiamat. What happened to that poor little girl… she couldn’t let something like that slide.

“You are coming with me,” Tiamat let go of the woman and grabbed her arm.

“What are you doing?!” Sella demanded. “Let me go!”

“I shall save Illyasviel,” Tiamat stopped and turned to look at Sella. The woman flinched as she looked into Tiamat’s eyes.

“You… you will?” Sella asked. Tiamat could sense a feeling of hope bubbling within the woman.

“A child forced to go through such torture is unacceptable,” Tiamat replied. “Now follow me.”

Sella was conflicted. She had so many questions. How did she know Illya’s name? How did she know what was happening to her? Could she really trust Tiamat?

“Please do not be afraid, my child,” Tiamat said, snapping Sella from her stupor. “Illyasviel shall be saved.”

“Forgive me for being a bit skeptical,” Sella wanted to be careful with her words, but the sentence slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“You are forgiven,” Sella raised an eyebrow. Was Tiamat incapable of detecting sarcasm? “We are here.”

Sella looked at the house before her. She remembered Kiritsugu showing Irisviel a picture of the house.

“What’s in here?” Sella asked.

“This is my home. You shall stay here while I… deal with Jubstacheit,” Tiamat opened the door. “Would you be a dear and watch over my children?”

“S-sure,” Sella wanted to ask why Tiamat trusted her, but she didn’t want to think of what would happen to her if she did anything to the children.

“Shirou, Sakura, are you awake?” Tiamat asked as she stepped… no, as she floated into the house. Sella silently followed, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.

“Welcome back, Mama!” A redheaded boy said as he ran up to Tiamat, a shy girl with purple hair following not far behind. “Who’s this?”

“This is Sella. She will take care of you while I go out,” Tiamat explained.

“Didn’t you just go out?” The boy, who Sella assumed was Shirou, asked.

“I found Sella while running errands. I do not know when I will be back this time,” Tiamat explained. Sella was still wondering how Shirou and Sakura were treating Tiamat’s levitation as a normal occurrence.

“You will come back… right…?” Sakura tugged on Tiamat’s dress.

“I always do, my child,” Tiamat assured the young girl as she rubbed her head.

“Tiamat…” Sella spoke for the first time since entering the house. “If you find a homunculus named Leysritt… Can you please spare her? We both serve Lady Illyasviel together.”

“I am well aware, my child,” Tiamat said as she let go of Sakura. “Now, excuse me. I have a very naughty child to punish.”

Tiamat started to glow as she ascended further. Then, with a flash of light, she was gone.

Omake: Summoning

Fujimaru Ritsuka clenched her last three pieces of Saint Quartz. The flames of Fuyuki city were burning around her and she was surrounded by skeletons.

“What are you doing?!” Olga shouted. “Just summon something already! Anything!”

“Yeah, you might want to hurry up, kid,” Cu grumbled as he smacked a skeleton with his staff.

“Senpai, please!” Mashu was practically begging. With her shield on the ground, she couldn’t do anything to fight.

“Alright, here goes!” Ritsuka placed the stones on the shield and clasped her hands together as she started to chant.

Please be someone good! Ritsuka begged. She had already tried summoning a few times, but nothing that came out was a servant.

“Crap!” Cu shouted as he took a step back. A bright light shot out from the shield and immediately a large dragon shot up from the sky.

“Finally!” Cu shouted as he smirked up at the dragon. The creature roared before shooting a burst of flames at the skeletons. One by one, they all turned to dust. 

“What the fuck,” Was all that Olga could muster. Despite her professional demeanor, the dragon made her drop all pretenses.

“Servant: Rider, Emiya Shirou,” A man stepped out of the glowing light as the shield returned back to normal. He had short, red hair and pink eyes that glistened in the light of the fire. He smiled as he looked at Ritsuka. “Now, are you my—”

He cut himself off when he saw Olga. His smile faded for a look of confusion.

“Huh? What are you doing here, big sis?” The servant asked. Olga’s jaw dropped at the revelation.

“What?”

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long for Tiamat to pinpoint the location of the Einzbern mansion. It took her a few guesses, but Sella’s memories were enough to pinpoint an appearance, and searching for similar signatures was enough for her to confirm where it was. As Tiamat made her way to the ground, black water started to fill the ground. A large dragon burst forth from the large pool that had appeared from beneath Tiamat. It had brilliant blue scales and piercing green eyes.

“You called, Mother?” The dragon’s voice was a deep baritone. His eyes shone with many emotions. Loyalty, happiness, confusion. Tiamat smiled as she looked upon her child. Gevryn was a powerful dragon that remained loyal to Tiamat. He wasn’t the strongest of his litter, but he was the most level-headed.

“It is good to see you, my child,” Tiamat put a gentle hand on the dragon’s scales. The dragon closed his eyes and made a low rumble of satisfaction. “There is a… rather naughty child I must discipline, and I require your assistance. Your siblings don’t have the finesse required.”

“Who is it that I must spare?” The dragon was quick to catch on. After all, dragons were many times smarter than humans. Without a word or even a single move, Tiamat had transferred images of Illya and Leysritt into the dragon’s head. “It shall be done.”

“I shall go with you this time, my child,” Tiamat said as she started to float.

“I am honored,” The dragon dipped his head as his wings started to flap.

“Think nothing of it, young one,” Tiamat said as she flicked her glowing eyes in the direction of the large manor. “How else will a child learn without an explanation?”

“Lady Illyasviel, it’s time to get up,” Leysritt knocked on the door. Ever since Kiritsugu died, Leysritt felt herself gaining more of a consciousness. Not because of the act itself, but because Illya’s behavior caused Leysritt’s hardwired need to protect Illya responded by developing an ego.

“Go away!” Illya shouted from the other side of the room. Leysritt frowned. Illya has been like this ever since she got the news of the death of her parents. The poor girl was devastated. She shut down and holed herself up in her room. That didn’t stop Acht from continuing to modify her body. Illya’s life from that point was one of pain and sorrow.

“Lady Illyasviel, I insist,” Leysritt’s voice was assertive, but there was a slight wobble to it. She wished Sella were here. She was much better at getting the young girl out of bed. “You have a long day ahead of you.”

“I don’t wanna!” Illya replied. Leysritt could only sigh. The two had this banter every single day. Leysritt could understand why Illya didn’t want to get out of bed, though. Every day for her was torture.

“Lady Illyasviel, please—” Leysritt was cut off by a mighty roar. The ground shook around them and a feeling of impending doom washed over Leysritt.

“Leysritt, what was that?” Illya’s voice had gone from defiant to fearful. The maid instantly kicked into gear and with a flick of her wrist, her axe was in her hand.

“Lady Illyasviel, I’m coming in. Please pardon the intrusion,” Leysritt said as she hoisted her axe. With a powerful swing, the door was busted down. Illya was sitting up on her bed with the blankets still covering her legs. Leysritt dashed over to the young girl and scooped her up in her free hand.

“What’s going on?” Leysritt could feel the young homunculus tremble in her grip as Leysritt made her way out the room.

“I don’t know, but—” Leysritt was cut off when she turned her head. They were running down a hallway with windows every meter. As Leysritt ran, she saw a dragon flying towards the mansion with an open jaw. As it let out another roar, a voice spoke within the corners of Leysritt’s mind. Despite the earth-shattering roar, the voice was calm and firm.

“You who have angered the Primordial Mother now face judgment,” Leysritt looked down at Illya. The expression on her face said that Illya heard the voice as well. “Jubstacheit von Einzbern. Resist if you wish, but death approaches.”

As soon as the voice finished its statement, the mansion’s defenses started to kick in. Leysritt saw multiple homunculi burst from the doors and run down the hallway. Leysritt could see multiple golems already making their way outside the mansion to confront the powerful creature.

“Let us go, Lady Illyasviel,” Leysritt broke into a run. She could go help her brethren fight the dragon, but her priority was Illya’s safety.

“Where are we going?” Illya peeked over Leysritt’s shoulder. There was no small amount of awe in the young girl’s eyes, but the fear was visible as well.

“I do not know, but it is not safe here,” Leysritt said. She silently prayed that the Einzberns could hold the dragon off long enough to escape the dragon. She didn’t know what she would do with Illya after, but she could cross that bridge when she got there.

As she turned, she heard a loud crash followed by shouting. Leysritt pointedly turned in another direction and continued to run. Had the dragon already made its way to the mansion proper? No, if it did, she would know. Something else must be at play.

As Leysritt ran, she heard the crashes getting louder. She gripped her axe and took a deep breath. She resolved herself. Even in the wake of certain death, she would fight to the end. For Lady Illyasviel.

It was then something appeared in front of her. It was a woman with light blue hair and pink eyes with butterflies instead of pupils. She wore a long, black dress and she floated midair. Her horns went all the way down to her midsection, forming the shape of a butterfly. She exuded a powerful aura. It felt stronger than the one the dragon put out, but for some reason, it wasn’t smothering. It was… soothing? Leysritt didn’t care to understand. She only had one thing on her mind.

“Get behind me, Lady Illyasviel,” Leysritt put down the young girl and stepped in front of her protectively. She held her axe with both hands as she looked up at the thing before her. “What do you want?”

“Please do not fear me. I mean no harm to you, my child,” The woman’s voice spoke in Leysritt’s mind. “I have been asked to bring you home.”

“Home?” Leysritt took a step back, her eyes not leaving. “Our home is here.”

“Is that what you truly believe, my child?” The woman tilted her head. There was no malice in her eyes. “Is that what Illyasviel believes?”

“Leave Lady Illyasviel out of this!” Leysritt jumped up to reach the woman and swung down with her axe. The woman calmly extended an arm and caught the blade. The homunculus’ eyes widened as she realized her opponent had taken no damage.

“You have a pretty toy,” The woman acknowledged the axe with a short glance before letting it go, leaving Leysritt to land on her feet and jump back to her original spot in front of Illya. “I do not wish to harm either of you. Sella has asked me to rescue the both of you.”

“Sella?” It was Illya who spoke, poking her head from Leysritt’s dress. “Where did she go? I miss her.”

“What a caring child you are,” The woman smiled as she descended to the ground. “I found Sella on my way to run a few errands. From what I saw… I couldn’t let such a poor child go through what you have.”

“Does that mean… does that mean it can stop?” Illya asked. Leysritt could feel her heart twist and constrict when she saw the childlike hope in her eyes. It didn’t matter that she had never met the woman. If someone offered to free Illya…

“Yes, my child. It will all stop,” The woman assured. “Sella’s waiting for you back home, along with my other children who are eager to meet you.”

“Other children?” Illya parroted.

“That’s right,” The woman said with a gentle smile. “You can be a part of our family.”

“I…” Illya looked away. Leysritt winced as she looked at Illya’s trembling form. She knew what she was thinking of. “If I join your family… it would be betraying Mama and Papa. Even if Papa broke his promise… I want to be a good daughter for them.”

“I see,” The woman’s smile faltered. “Even if you don’t want to be a part of our family, I shall still take you away from this place. A child does not deserve to suffer like you have.”

“Really?” Hope filled Illya’s eyes once more.

“Really,” The woman assured as she held out a hand. “All you need to do is grab my hand.”

Illya immediately started to run for the woman. Before Leysritt could stop her, Illya had grabbed on. Leysritt looked upon in horror as… as… nothing happened.

“C’mon, Liz!” Illya called happily.

“You are welcome to come with us,” The woman said, her inviting smile returning. “Sella is waiting for you.”

Leysritt hesitantly stepped forward and placed her hand on top of Illya’s. Warmth spread throughout her body. Warmth that she had never felt before. Tears pricked her eyes. Was this love?

“Now, let us go,” The woman said. With a bright flash of light, they were gone.

Tiamat reappeared in her house to see Sella cooking something. Shirou stood on a stool and watched as Sella mixed ingredients in a pan.

“Sella!” Illya shouted, immediately removing her hand from Tiamat’s and running over to the maid.

“L-lady Illyasviel?” Sella dropped her wooden spoon just in time for the young girl to tackle her into a hug.

“You weren’t lying,” Leysritt said with a shocked voice.

“I would never lie to my children,” Tiamat said. “Shirou?”

“Hi, Mama!” Shirou ran over to Tiamat and looked up at her. “Who’s this?”

“This is Leysritt. She will be living with us for now. Can you help them pick their rooms?” Tiamat asked. “I still have a few more errands to run.”

“Okay, Mama,” Shirou nodded and smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes.

“Mama will come back, okay?” Tiamat rubbed Shirou’s head.

“It’s not that…” Shirou looked down, trying to hide the fact that his smile had faded. Tiamat delved into his mind and…

“Shirou, look at me,” Tiamat moved her hands to lift Shirou’s head so they were looking eye to eye. “I will always love you. No matter how many people move here and no matter how many children stay with us. You are my child. The one who brought me here to this world. You will always be special, understand?”

“Y-yes, Mama,” Shirou answered sheepishly. Tiamat looked into his mind once more and nodded.

“Now, I shouldn’t be long this time,” Tiamat said. “Be good for Mama, okay?”

“Okay,” Shirou nodded. The smile returned to his face. Although it was smaller, it was genuine. Tiamat smiled back and vanished in a flash of light.

Tiamat appeared inside a throne room. An old man with gray hair and red eyes sat at the throne. There were a few steps that led to the throne but since Tiamat was floating, they met eye-to-eye.

“So you’re the one attacking our home,” Acht muttered. He did not move from his throne. “Out of all the people…”

“Jubstacheit von Einzbern, you have been a very naughty child,” Tiamat also remained unmoving as she spoke. “I am a generous mother, however. I shall make sure your children are cared for.” 

“Tch, of course you’d say that,” Acht muttered. “Do what you wish. I don’t care for those products. Even with my death, the Einzberns will flourish.”

Tiamat did not say a word. She didn’t need to hear anything else from the man before her. Black water started to replace the ground around them. Acht stood up calmly as the throne started to sink. As his feet touched the water, the head of a dragon shot up from the black sea.

Jubstacheit von Einzbern was eaten up in a single bite.

Omake: Against Myself

“I still don’t understand how you’re my brother,” Olga said as the group approached the tunnel’s entrance.

“Mom adopted you. It’s as simple as that,” Shirou said casually. “Though Zelretch did say that mom doesn’t show up in most timelines…”

“Zelretch is involved?!” Olga almost shouted.

“Um… who’s Zelretch?” Ritsuka asked.

“Just a family friend,” Shirou replied with a shrug before Olga could reply.

“Heads up,” Cu moved his staff in front of the group to stop them from walking. Waiting for them was a familiar figure… the same, but different. The man had tanned skin and white hair, but instead of his hair being slicked upwards, it stayed down. The man had golden eyes and black armor with shadows seeping out of him.

“I’ll handle this one,” Shirou volunteered.

“Wait, what about us?” Ritsuka asked, grabbing Shirou’s hand.

“Sorry, little sis, this is personal,” Shirou shook his head.

“Little sis? Where’d you get that?” Ritsuka tilted her head. Despite the situation, the way Shirou addressed her caught her off guard.

“Sorry, force of habit,” Shirou smiled and shook his head. “Now watch my six, okay?”

Ritsuka reluctantly nodded and turned to Mashu. “Can you make sure no one else interferes?”

“Of course, Senpai,” Mahsu nodded.

“Out of all the versions of me,” EMIYA spoke as Shirou approached. Shirou held out his hand and a blackened spear made from dragon bones appeared in his hand.

“You should know by now, brother,” Shirou prepared himself to fight. “Naughty children will always be punished.”

Cu whistled as he watched the two fight. Shirou wouldn’t have made a bad lancer. If only he had Gae Bolg…

Speaking of the cursed spear, Shirou’s had a similar feel to it. The spear was definitely cursed, but it didn’t radiate bloodlust like his crimson spear. The spear gave Cu a feeling of dread. Like clashing with the spear meant certain death.

The blackened archer then jumped back and summoned his bow. He notched something on it and it began to glow.

“My core is twisted in madness! Caldabog!” He shouted as he released the string. A spinning drill shot towards Shirou, but the man didn’t seem fazed.

“All the World’s Evils have been gifted to me,” The black spear was enveloped in shadows as Shirou spoke. “Corrupt the hero, Rostam’s Bane!”

The backend tip collided with the shining drill. The shadows coming from Shirou’s spear started to envelop the projectile before it started to disintegrate. Before long, the spiral sword was reduced to blackened ashes.

“Tch,” The corrupted archer’s bow faded into motes of light. “I guess I have to do this, then.”

The man, EMIYA closed his eyes and began to chant.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

“I won’t let you!” The ground cracked under Shirou as he dashed towards the Archer, spear in hand. Two blades appeared in Archer’s hands as he tried to block the strike, but the numerous curses quickly eroded the blades and stabbed through the Archer.

“Urk!” The man coughed as what remained of the blades vanished into blue and black motes of light. “I should have expected that…”

“I’m sorry, brother,” Shirou frowned as he removed the spear from the man’s body. “Mom sends her regards.”

“Those were some of the best memories I’ve had throughout this damn job,” The Archer muttered. “Hey Shirou, can you do me a favor?”

“Anything,” Shirou assured as he grasped Archer’s arm. The man had already started to fade away into golden particles.

“Save your sister for me… alright?” As the Archer spoke his last words, he completely faded away.

“Of course,” Shirou said as he stood up and watched as the motes of light faded away. “It’s a brother’s duty, after all.”

Chapter Text

Illya was ecstatic. She didn’t know what was going on, but this was the first time she has ever been outside the Einzbern estate. Everything was so… warm. Despite the fact that it was nighttime, it was way warmer than it was. She looked outside the window and there was no snow.

She had become fast friends with the boy named Shirou. She would demand he follow her around and do anything he told her to, which he did with a smile. For some reason, it bothered Sella, but Illya didn’t mind.

The other girl was different, though. She never wanted to talk. Shirou said that the girl, Sakura, was recovering from something really bad. Giving Sakura space was the only thing Shirou asked of her, so Illya reluctantly complied. 

It didn’t take long for the woman that took her here to return. Shirou said her name was Tiamat, but everyone called her “Mama.” Illya decided to call her Tiamat. Irisviel was her Mama, and nothing could change that.

“Welcome back, Mama!” Shirou instantly ran towards Tiamat and wrapped his arms around her legs.

“I’m home,” Tiamat replied with a smile. Illya noted that she was still using telepathy even here. “I missed you, my child.”

“Mama’s home?” Sakura poked her head from the wall. Tiamat wordlessly smiled as she extended an arm towards Sakura. The girl reluctantly shimmied her way from her hiding spot into Tiamat’s arms. Illya saw Sakura physically relax as Tiamat wrapped her arm around the child.

“I missed you too, Sakura,” Tiamat smiled down at the girl. She rubbed the girl’s head, causing Sakura to close her eyes and smile. Illya felt a pang of jealousy. It wasn’t fair. These two had their mother to dote over them, but Irisviel was dead. She was gone.

“She was a great mother,” Illya flinched when she heard Tiamat’s voice. “I can see it. I know she’s proud of you.”

“What do you know?” Illya scoffed.

“As you get older, you will learn that mothers know things,” Tiamat floated over and put a hand on Illya’s head. The warmth of Tiamat’s love enveloped Illya once more and even she couldn’t resist the urge to smile again.

“F-fine…” Illya didn’t believe Tiamat, but she couldn’t deny that Tiamat was different. She probably knew things she didn’t.

“Sella, Leysritt,” Tiamat looked up at the two maids. “The Einzbern estate needs to be managed after Jubstacheit’s death. Is it possible to relocate the children here?”

“There’s a mansion owned by the Einzberns here in Fuyuki,” Sella nodded her head. “If Acht is really dead, then the homunculi should follow the new family head, which is currently Lady Illyasviel.”

“An important task for such a young child,” Tiamat smiled down at Illya. Illya looked up. She expected her to offer to take the task for her. Papa always said that bad people would want to take power from those with it. “I’m happy that you have two wonderful siblings to help you out.”

“S-siblings?” Illya saw Leysritt’s face heat up and instantly decided she liked the thought.

“Yeah!” Illya agreed with a bright smile. “We’re siblings, right?”

“Of course, Lady Illyasviel,” Sella managed to keep a straight face, but her eye was twitching.

“Now, now, siblings don’t address each other so formally,” Tiamat gently chided. Sella pointedly looked away. “Now try that again.”

“Of course, Illyasviel,” Sella muttered.

“Illya!” The young girl insisted. “My family calls me Illya.”

“Of course… Illya,” Sella’s cheeks tinted red.

“That’s a good child,” Tiamat smiled. “Now, Shirou. Sakura. Would you like to stay with RIn while I help these three sort out their family situation?”

“Do we have to?” Shirou whined.

“Now now, you should take the time to get to know your new sister,” Tiamat replied with a patient tone. “I have a feeling we will all be living together soon, after all.”

“Fine,” Shirou pouted.

“That’s my child,” Tiamat grabbed the hands of Shirou and Sakura before vanishing. A couple seconds later, she reappeared. She gently grabbed Illya’s hand. She reached her hand to Sella and Leysritt. The two, almost in sync, grabbed Tiamat’s hand. With a flash of light, the four were gone.

The four appeared in front of the Einzbern Mansion. Gevryn had long since returned to Tiamat’s Primordial Sea. Even though he was gone, the remains of the battle still remain. Several golems were shattered and homunculi lay dead.

“If you desire to move any of the children, I will be more than happy to assist you,” Tiamat offered.

“Thank you,” Sella bowed. Illya looked up at Sella and mimicked her gesture.

“I shall wait for you here,” Tiamat said. The three nodded before going into the mansion. Tiamat closed her eyes and an image appeared. An image of the mansion where the three had just walked in. Illya was in the middle with Sella and Leysritt about a foot behind her. A man with snow white hair and crimson eyes walked up to the three before getting down on one knee and putting his hand over his chest.

“We await your command, Lady Illyasviel,” The man said. Illya turned to look up at Sella. The maid nodded and Illya nodded back.

“We’re moving to the Einzbern Mansion in Fuyuki,” Illya said. The man’s eyes widened, but Illya continued. “We have someone to transport us. Gather all of the homunculi and meet us back here.”

“I-if that’s your wish, Lady Illyasviel,” The man stood up and bowed before walking away. As soon as he was gone, Illya turned to Sella.

“Did I do good?” Illya asked.

“Yes, La— Illya,” Sella looked behind her. Tiamat cracked a smile at that. “You did well.”

“Thank you, big sis!” Illya said with a glowing smile.

“Now, let’s get your things, Illya,” Leysritt seemed a lot more laid back than she did a few minutes ago. She had a soft smile on her face as she addressed the young girl. “Will you allow your big sister to take you to your room?”

“Yes please!” Illya said. As the three made their way out of Tiamat’s field of view, Illya looked like the happiest girl in the world.

Rin was irritated, but she knew her mother wouldn’t let her express it to her two guests. She was happy to see Sakura again, but Tiamat could have given them a heads up. Teleporting inside the mansion with the kids before leaving was really room.

Great, now I’m stuck with a literal child with a reality marble, Rin conveniently left out the fact that she was a child in her thought process. She only knew enough about reality marbles were very dangerous, and Rin didn’t want to be anywhere near someone who had one.

“Hi Rin,” The boy in question walked up to her with a smile. “Do you want to play?”

“I’m busy studying,” Rin huffed and looked away.

“Oh, are you learning magecraft too?” Shirou asked, tilting his head. “Mama is teaching me a bit too.”

“I…” Rin heaved a sigh. As much as she didn’t want to… she never had a study partner whenever working on her magecraft, and it was lonely. She’d rather have some company and no company. “Follow me.”

“Yay!” Shirou’s smile was enough to melt Rin’s cold demeanor. She let a small smile escape her lips as she turned and led Shirou to the library.

“Sakura,” Aoi addressed the girl who was resting on her lap. The two had spent the past couple hours enjoying each other’s company. Even though Aoi had some of her memories missing, she still dearly missed her daughter. Sakura, on the other hand, hadn’t seen her mother in months and had clung to her for the first fifteen minutes.

“Yes, Mama?” Sakura looked up at her with big eyes. The first time Aoi saw Sakura, she almost cried. The light that was in everyone’s eyes had faded away in the young girl’s. Luckily, the light in her eyes was slowly returning and Aoi was eternally grateful to Tiamat for helping her daughter.

“How is it like living with Tiamat?” Aoi asked. “Is she nice to you?”

“Mhmm,” Sakura nodded, her eyes not leaving Aoi’s. “The food Shirou makes is really yummy and Ma— Tiamat is very nice to me. She makes me feel safe.”

“If you want to call Tiamat “Mama,” then you can,” Aoi reassured her child. “I know I was gone for a while. Just know that no matter who you see as your mother, I will always love you.”

“Thank you, Mama,” Sakura nuzzled into her mother before closing her eyes. Aoi put her hand on Sakura’s head and looked out the window. Despite the death of her husband, she was truly lucky.

It had been about six hours of rigorous teleporting before Tiamat finally made her way back to the Tohsaka mansion. Illya had been exhausted, so Tiamat took her back to the Tiamat estate where Sella and Leysritt promised to tuck her into bed.

“Welcome back,” Tiamat smiled as she saw Aoi. Sakura was soundly asleep in her arms.

“Thank you, my child,” Tiamat said. “Have you considered my offer?”

“I have,” Aoi nodded her head, blinking slowly. “I think I want to live with you.”

“That’s wonderful,” Tiamat’s smile widened. “Where are the others?”

“I think they went to the library,” Aoi said as she stood up. She gently positioned Sakura in a way where she wouldn’t move much when she walked. Tiamat started to float a few centimeters off the ground as she found Aoi to the library. When she made her way in, she couldn’t help but smile.

Shirou and RIn were sitting on the wall, asleep as a book was left open in between them. Rin’s head rested on Shirou’s shoulder while Shirou’s head rested on hers.

“On second thought, maybe we should let the children rest a little more,” Aoi had a soft smile on her face.

“What a smart child I have,” Tiamat agreed with a smile of her own. Tiamat held out her hand and a blanket appeared to drape over the two children. The two made their way out of the room with Tiamat closing the door behind her. Today was a good day.

Omake: The Dark King

“Hey sis, you have any more of those crystals?” Shirou addressed Ritsuka.

“Yeah, why?” Ritsuka said. She and Olga had spent the better part of fifteen minutes explaining the situation to Shirou.

“You might want to try to summon someone else,” Shirou replied.

“Why? You’re already really strong. Not to mention we have Cu here,” Ritsuka tilted her head.

“Well, we’re going to be going up against King Arthur,” Shirou shrugged. Everyone froze. Even Cu stopped walking. 

“Why are you so casual about it?!” Olga shouted. “Better yet, how do you even know?!”

“I actually fought in this grail war back home,” Shirou said casually, as if it was just some daily activity. “Well, it was much less of a fight. Mom just went around and adopted all the servants.”

“This mother of yours really seems like a piece of work,” Olga muttered under her breath.

“Don’t forget she adopted you too,” Shirou said before turning to Ritsuka. “Now…”

The spear in Shirou’s hands faded into motes of light and was replaced by two swords with red hilts.

“You have swords too?” Olga raised an eyebrow. “No… I’ve seen those before. What are you doing with those?”

“Oh, my sister gave them to me,” Shirou looked at the blades. “She usually uses six, though. I haven’t learned how to use them like that.”

“Just how many siblings do you have?” Olga grumbled.

“That’s not important,” Shirou turned to look at Ritsuka. “So, can you summon someone else?”

“Sure!” Ritsuka turned to Mashu. “If you will.”

“Of course, Senpai,” Mashu placed the shield down and Ritsuka placed the quartz on top of the shield before she started to chant. With a flash of light, a silver card shot up from the shield. Shirou had just enough time to see the sword on the card before it slowly shifted into a gold color. The card started to glow until a person replaced the card. When the light faded, Shirou’s eyes almost widened. Instead, he decided to let a smirk creep up his lips.

“Servant: Saber. The name’s Mordred,” The knight’s hand clenched around Clarent. “Is my father here?”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, nephew,” Shirou stepped forward. “We’re about to fight your father. Are you with us?”

“N-nephew?!” Mordred took a step back. “I’ve never met you in my life!”

“Well, mom adopted Artoria as soon as she was summoned in my world. Something about being part dragon,” Shirou rubbed the back of his head. “I guess that makes you my nephew?”

“Wonderful,” Mordred grumbled. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“We’re here,” Olga said as she looked up.

“Well no shit,” Mordred grumbled as she looked where Olga had her eyes locked on.

“Ugh! Couldn’t you have summoned someone with more manners?” Olga heaved a dramatic sigh as she turned to Ritsuka.

“Don’t put this on Master,” Mordred scoffed. “Maybe if you weren’t such an uptight bitch I wouldn’t act like this.”

“Why you—”

“Now, now,” Shirou stepped in between the two of them. “We’ll save the fighting for the actual enemies.”

“Shirou…” Everyone turned at the new voice. Artoria was looking down on them, but there was something different about her. She had golden eyes, pale skin, and back armor. There was no small amount of shock in her voice. “I thought you were— no… you’re different, aren’t you?”

“Nice to see you too, sis,” Shirou held up one of the two swords he was holding. “You should know that mother wouldn’t approve of what you’ve done here.”

“I do not know what you speak of,” Artoria then turned to look at Mordred. “Ah, Mordred. Have you come to kill me once more, my son?”

“You’re not my father!” Sheer rage gripped Mordred. Shirou could see her shake with rage underneath her armor. “Maybe you’ll reveal your true self when I carve your face in!”

“Always one for vulgarity. It seems like some things don’t change,” Artoria then turned to Mashu. “That shield… how peculiar.”

Mashu stayed silent as Artoria raised her sword.

“Prepare yourself, strange girl… let this sword test the truth of your shield,” Artoria said as she closed her eyes.

“Senpai, she’s approaching!” Mashu held up her shield.

“Don’t worry,” Ritsuka had a small smile on her face. “We can do this together.”

“Vortigan, Hammer of the Vile King… reverse the rising sun,” Artoria chanted as black power swirled around the blade. “Swallow the light…! Excalibur Morgan!”

“Deploying Noble Phantasm,” Several barriers appeared in front of Mashu as she held her shield  up. “Lord Chaldeas!”

As soon as the beam of dark light made contact with the shield, Shirou sprinted forward. “Mordred!”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Mordred shouted. Shirou flanked Artoria’s right while Mordred flanked Artoria’s left. As the beam subsided, Mashu was still standing, but she was visibly drained.

“Mashu!” Ritsuka shouted as she ran to her side. Shirou focused his attention back to Artoria as he swung both swords downwards. Artoria blocked the blows easily. She shoved her blade upwards, throwing Shirou off before turning to block a blow from Mordred.

“Tch,” Shirou scoffed. The three then entered a heated battle. Both Shirou and Mordred were angled at 180 degrees so Artoria would have to move more to block their attacks, but she did so with little difficulty.

“Alright,” Shirou said to himself. He looked at Mordred and nodded as he jumped back. He threw one of the black keys and it sunk into Artoria’s shadow. Mordred then prepared a powerful strike.

“Damn it!” Artora grunted as she was momentarily stuck in place. Unfortunately, her magic resistance was high enough to quickly break from the spell and parry Mordred’s attack before kicking her away. “Looks like I can’t hold back anymore.”

Black power started to swirl around Artoria as her head snapped at Ritsuka’s direction. “So you’re the master…”

“No!” Mashu stepped in front of Ritsuka and held her shield up.

“You cannot block a second one! Excalibur Morgan!” Artoria shouted as she unleashed her noble phantasm. Shirou abandoned his other sword and dashed towards Mashu as gold motes of light formed in front of him.

“Still works,” Shirou muttered to himself as the light started to take form. “I hope you still find this recognizable, sister.”

Just when the beam was going to collide with Shirou, the light solidified into a sheath of blue and gold. A barrier appeared in front of Shirou that blocked the attack with ease.

“Avalon!” Artoria audibly gasped. “That’s impossible! How can you even use it?”

“It was my first gift from mother,” Shirou said as he grabbed hold of the legendary sheath. “It took a long time to get it to work with me, but I can now use it when I’m in your proximity.”

“You…” Artoria’s gaze narrowed. “I do not know who you are, but you are not Shirou.”

“Mordred!” Instead of responding, Shirou called for his ally. Mordred rushed forward and clashed with Artoria. Shirou then dashed, ducking under Clarent and Excalibur Morgan.

“Please work…” Shirou begged as he shoved the sheath into Artoria’s stomach. Instead of coming into contact with the armor, it vanished in a flash of golden light. Artoria took a step back.

“You…” Artoria fell to her knees as the curses started to fade from her body and her armor. Her eyes returned to normal. The curses peeled off her armor until it was its original silver color. Excalibur Morgan started to crack and fall apart, revealing Excalibur in its wake. “Thank you…”

Shirou couldn’t help but crack a smile. They had won.

Chapter Text

Rin didn’t want to open her eyes. She curled up with the blanket that had been draped around her and let out a small sound that signified her comfort.

Wait… blanket? I don’t remember getting a blanket, Rin squeezed her eyes for a second as she tried to think. I was studying with… with…

That’s when Rin opened her eyes. She turned to see that she was leaning on Shirou with a blanket she did not recognize resting atop the both of them.

“AHHH!” Rin let out a shriek as she jumped up. Shirou muttered something as he started to open his eyes.

“What was that for? I was so comfy…” Shirou mumbled as he rubbed the side of his head and yawned.

“Why were you sleeping on me?!” Rin shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

“Well, we were studying and…” Shirou put a finger on his chin and looked upwards in a thinking motion. “I think I fell asleep.”

“Well obviously,” Rin rolled her eyes. “Why on me, though?”

“Because… you were comfy?” Shirou smiled.

“Ugh, I can’t believe you,” Rin threw her hands up in the air.

“Good morning,” Rin jumped when she heard Tiamat’s voice in her head. “Did you sleep well?”

“Morning, mom,” Shirou said as he stood up and stretched. “I slept great.”

“I didn’t,” Rin gumbled under her breath.

“Is that so? You looked so comfortable resting on little Shirou like that,” Tiamat replied with a small smile.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rin huffed. “Where’s my mom?”

“Aoi has been preparing to move to your new home,” Tiamat answered as she floated a little closer to the two. “She asked me if it was okay for you to live with us.”

“What?!” Rin almost shouted, but lowered her voice at the last second. “We’re leaving the mansion?!”

“Yes, child. It’s safer with us,” Tiamat’s tone was almost cautious at this point.

“I… I’ll be right back,” Rin said as she stomped out of the room.

“Thank you for helping me pack, Sakura,” Aoi smiled as she looked at her luggage, which was all neatly stacked in a line.

“No problem. It’s… relaxing,” Sakura muttered. She had a small smile on her face as she looked upon her handywork. 

“Now, let’s go and—” Aoi was cut off when she heard the door slam open. She turned to see none other than Rin. “Oh, I was just about to wake you! It’s time to—”

“Mom!” Rin cut the woman off. “Are we really going to leave the mansion just like that?! The Tohsakas have lived here for centuries! We can’t just throw it away!”

“Sakura, can you be a dear and tell Tiamat that I’ve finished packing?” Aoi turned to her other daughter. With an understanding nod, Sakura made her way out of the room, closing the door behind him. “Rin, can you sit down with me?”

Rin silently nodded. Even though she glared at her mother, she still sat on her lap as soon as Aoi made herself comfortable on her chair.

“You remember the last discussion we had on this matter, right?” Aoi made sure her tone was understanding and soft. This was an extremely delicate matter and she had to handle it with the utmost care.

“Mhmm,” Rin nodded, her expectant gaze still on Aoi.

“I’ve decided… there are too many things that could go wrong,” Aoi shook her head. “Tiamat will be able to protect us while ensuring you have a proper magecraft teacher.”

“But mom—”

“No buts, Rin,” Aoi met Rin’s gaze. “I understand that the family’s traditions mean a lot to you, but for now, I want you to be safe. Once you’re older, you can reclaim the mansion, okay?”

“But… but…” Rin muttered. Aoi put a hand on her head.

“Just trust me, okay?” Aoi tried her best to reassure her child. “Your mother knows best.”

“Fine…” Rin muttered, finally tearing her gaze away from Aoi’s.

“Now let’s go pack, okay?” Aoi lifted RIn up as she stood up.

“Alright,” Rin said as Aoi placed her down. She still had a pout on her face as she walked out with Aoi following out.

It only took half an hour for Rin to pack. The second she finished, Tiamat appeared in her room.

“Gah! A little warning, please?” Rin snapped, before clasping her mouth shut. “I’m sorry…”

“There is no need to apologize, my child,” Tiamat’s voice rang in Rin’s head.

I really need to get used to that, Rin thought to herself.

“Take your time,” Tiamat’s voice said. Rin flinched, but didn’t say or think anything else that would incriminate her. “Let me take your luggage, okay?”

“Okay…” Rin murmured. She watched as her luggage started to float before vanishing in a flash of light.

“Now,” TIamat turned back to RIn. “Shall we move to your new home?”

The first thing Rin saw was three people. Two adults and one kid. The thing that stuck out was their white hair and crimson eyes. Rin took a step back. Those traits were the textbook to the Einzbern family.

“Tiamat!” The girl ran up to the taller woman before looking at Rin. “You… you look familiar. Are you a Tohsaka?”

“Y-yes,” Rin muttered.

“Illya, this is RIn. She’ll be living with us from now on,” Tiamat explained. Rin looked up to see the butterflies in Tiamat’s eyes. “I will be right back. I need to bring everyone else back.”

“Okay!” The girl, Illya, said with a cheery smile. Tiamat nodded before vanishing again. Illya then directed her attention to the other child. “So you’re one of Tohsakas, huh?”

“Y-yeah what about it?” Rin asked. A chill creeped down her spine as she dug into her pocket and grabbed a crystal. She didn’t know which one, but if she threw it, there would be a good enough effect to stall the three enough for her to run.

“Well, since we’re living in the same house,” Illya’s eyes shone with murderous intent. “As long as you don’t get in my way, I won’t get in yours. We wouldn’t want to make Tiamat mad, now would we?”

“E-er…” Rin muttered as she looked from side to side. How could this small, innocent child have such a scary look? Before Rin could respond, however, Tiamat reappeared with Aoi, Sakura, and Shirou.

“I have returned,” Tiamat was the first to speak. “I hope you have been playing nice.”

“Of course we have!” Illya smiled up at Tiamat. Tiamat, however, had a slight frown on her features.

“We will have to have a talk about how you treat our other guests,” Tiamat said.

“No fair!” Illya pouted.

“There, there,” Tiamat put her hand on Illya’s head. “Now, have you chosen your rooms yet?”

“Yep!” Illya turned to Sella and Leysritt. “Have you?”

“Yes, Lady— Illya,” Sella muttered.

“We’ve decided to share the room next to yours,” Leysritt seemed to have a much easier time in a relaxed environment, as she had a small smile spread across her lips.

“What thoughtful children I have,” Tiamat said before turning to Rin and Aoi. “Now, let’s take a look and see what room you would like to have.”

Gilgamesh scowled as he looked at the basement. He knew Kirei wasn’t an idiot, so why…?

“Kirei,” Gilgamesh’s scowl deepened as he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.

“Yes, my king?” Kirei’s tone was as innocent as he could make it, but he failed miserably. Gilgamesh could hear his smirk from behind him.

“I told you to stop using children as batteries,” Giglamesh gritted his teeth. Before him were several unconscious children. It looks like the draining finally did a number on them.

“I do not know what you speak of,” Kirei replied. Gilgamesh held out his hand and the Gates of Babylon opened. A staff rose from the ground until Gilgamesh grabbed it.

“I suggest you leave,” Gilgamesh said.

“I understand—”

“You do not,” Gilgamesh shook his head. “I should let the mother kill you for what you’ve done, but I am a generous king.”

The king whirled around and held the staff to Kirei’s chest.

“May it become a world where no one can hurt and no one can be hurt,” Gilgamesh intoned. The two circles in the staff started to glow. “Pain Breaker.”

Gilgamesh fought the urge to smile. He knew what Kirei was like. Despite his words, he knew he was punishing the priest. Denying him the pain from the tainted heart of the grail. Denying his death at the hands of the Primordial Mother.

“I see,” As Gilgamesh removed the staff from his chest, Kirei put a hand on his newly restored heart. “I thank you for your generous gift.”

“Leave my sight,” Gilgamesh shook his head. “You shall know when to return.”

“Your wish is my command,” A mocking smile rose from Kirei’s lips as he climbed the stairs and left the room.

“Now,” Gilgamesh looked at the staff in his hands before looking at the children. “I hate that I have to use my treasures on such mongrels, but I shall do what I must.”

Omake: Fun and Games

“Mom, look!” Shirou ran up to Tiamat with a smile as he held his smartphone in his hands. He was fully grown by now and Tiamat could not be more proud of him.

“Yes, my child?” Tiamat eyed the screen that Shirou was showing her. It was a picture of… her… or a version of her, at least. The words around her said something about an FGO Arcade Crossover event and a 10x summon. She looked at the younger version of her and read the text.

SSR 5 Star Larva Tiamat Drop Rate Up!

“Oh? So I am in this…”  Tiamat paused.

“Gacha game,” Shirou elaborated.

“Gacha game…” Tiamat echoed. She had to admit, the thought was amusing. “Have you unlocked my character yet?”

“No,” Shirou looked down, his pink eyes drooping to the floor. “I’ve spent a lot of money already. I… I don’t want to be in Rin’s debt again and Gilgamesh won’t let me use any more of his jewels. Apparently he’s been trying to pull Enkidu.”

“I see,” Tiamat nodded. She took another look at the game. “I shall return.”

Before Shirou could reply, Tiamat was gone. Shirou looked down and realized his phone was gone.

“What are you doing now, mother…?”

Things at Lasengle were going good. The introduction of Tiamat Larva in the mobile version of FGO was raking in more money than they had seen in a while. Millions of people with mommy issues forking out more and more money for SQ had done wonders for their company. They were now rushing for a global release due to the massive success.

As one of the employees, Matsuda, was looking at the gacha rates, he felt a gust of wind behind him.

“Yeah, what’s—” Matsuda spun around in his chair, only for his face to pale when he saw none other than Tiamat looking down at him. “What the fuck.”

“You,” Tiamat handed a phone to the man. “Give my son my character.”

“I… I…” Matsuda looked down at the phone. Tiamat existed? And her son played FGO? What the hell? “Yes ma’am.”

As quickly as he could, he looked up the user’s user ID. He then upped the gacha rate for Tiamat to 100% and did a ticket pull before reversing the rates back to normal. Luckily, he was high enough in the company to do that.

“H-here you go,” He said as he handed the phone back. Tiamat glanced at it before putting a hand on the man’s head.

“What a good child I have,” Tiamat said with a small smile. Matsuda flushed. “Thank you.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” The man looked away. With a bright flash of light, Tiamat vanished. After a couple seconds of silence, Matsuda took out his phone.

“Well, time to start rolling for myself,” he said. That encounter with Tiamat really did something to him. He was a f2p player, but now… another one bites the dust.

Chapter Text

The sun had barely risen when Shirou woke up. He wasn’t used to waking up so early, but ever since the house got more crowded, he found himself being more anxious. It wasn’t just because of the amount of people, but Tiamat now had to divide her attention. He felt himself getting jealous. All of it was happening so fast. He could barely keep up.

He stood and rubbed his eyes. At least he still had his own room. He yawned and stretched before looking at the clothes Tiamat bought him. Despite Tiamat’s reassurances, Shirou found himself worried. He knew Tiamat wouldn’t lie to him, but…

“Shirou?” The boy flinched when he heard Tiamat’s voice. She wasn’t even in the room. “Oh… I’m sorry, my child.”

“I’m sorry,” Shirou muttered as he opened the door to see Tiamat looking down at him. He knew she could read his mind. He shouldn’t have thought about things like that. He shouldn’t have…

“Oh, Shirou,” Tiamat put both hands on Shirou’s sides and lifted him up. Shirou felt himself start to shake. Tiamat rarely called Shirou by his name. It must be something serious. “Shirou, you are my child. My first child. You are the one who brought me into this world. I will never neglect you.”

Shirou felt his mind blank as Tiamat spoke. He could feel the warmth in her eyes. The sincerity of her tone. The fuzzy feeling he got whenever he was in contact with Tiamat. He felt his heart open up and his eyes water.

“Thank you,” Shirou muttered. Tiamat placed him back on the ground before crouching over and hugging him.

“Your mother will always be here, okay?” Tiamat assured him.

“Okay…” Shirou buried himself in Tiamat’s embrace as he felt the warmth take over. He closed his eyes. He would cherish this moment.

“What would you like to make for breakfast, dear one?” Tiamat asked as she followed Shirou into the kitchen. Shirou’s frown had long since faded and his smile returned on his face.

“Do you know what everyone else would like?” Shirou asked. Tiamat couldn’t help but smile.

“What a thoughtful child I have,” Tiamat put a hand on Shirou’s head as she thought. “Do you remember what you had at that restaurant that day?”

“Pancakes!” It was an instant reply. Shirou opened one of the cupboards and grabbed a cookbook on American dishes. He flipped through the pages before landing on the appropriate recipe. Tiamat took a look at it and with a flick of her hands, the appropriate ingredients floated over to Shirou.

“Thank you!” Shirou chirped as he grabbed a mixing bowl and got to work. As he started to put all the ingredients in, Tiamat sensed another presence starting to stir.

“Good morning,” Tiamat smiled and turned to see Sella facing her.

“Good morning, Tia—” Tiamat shot the maid a hollow smile. “Mother.”

“Good morning,” Tiamat greeted. “Shirou is making breakfast right now. Feel free to sit down.”

“Shirou?” Sella poked her head past Tiamat and looked at the young child happily mixing. “You should have woken me. I would have made breakfast.”

“Shirou loves cooking. I would not want to take that away from him,” Tiamat shook his head. By then, Shirou had caught wind of the conversation and turned to join them.

“It’s okay, Sella,” Shirou affirmed with a small smile. “I can do it.”

“It’s irresponsible to leave a child in the kitchen by his lonesome,” Sella countered as she walked past Tiamat and stepped into the kitchen. “Allow me to cook breakfast.”

“I want to cook breakfast though.” Shirou replied. Tiamat couldn’t help but chuckle. Reading his thoughts, she knew he wanted to come off as polite, but he came off as pouty and indignant instead.

“Let me,” Sella shook her head with a stoic expression. “I cannot just let the child of the house cook for me. As a guest, I should be treating you.”

“It’s okay, though,” Shirou said with a wavering tone. He then turned to Tiamat for help.

“How about you two cook together?” Tiamat offered.

“No, I insi—”

“Okay, mom!” Shirou butt in before Sella could finish her sentence. Without prompting, Shirou grabbed Sella’s hand. “C’mon! I still need to add a few more things. Can you help me? Please?”

Tiamat could see Sella waver under Shirou’s puppy dog eyes (EX), and eventually, she caved.

“Alright,” Sella muttered as she let Shirou drag her into the kitchen. “I shall work with you to make this breakfast.”

Tiamat couldn’t help but smile. At least her children were getting along.

Sella was surprised at how well Shirou handled himself in the kitchen. Even though he was still learning cooking etiquette and he strictly followed the recipe, he carried himself fairly well. He had a lot of potential when it came to cooking.

“Ah, let me handle this, please,” Sella said as Shirou moved to flip the pancake. He still had to step on a stool to see the pan properly, let alone flip it.

“I can do it,” Shirou pouted as Sella grabbed the pan and flipped the pancake. “I’ve done it before.”

“It isn’t safe for someone of your age to be handling anything with fire,” Sella shook her head before turning to Tiamat.

“I always make sure he is safe,” Tiamat assured her. “Plus, how else would my child learn? He is already doing such a great job.”

“I wonder what Lady Irisviel would have thought of this,” Sella muttered and shook her head. She knew in her heart of hearts she would find it cute, but the rest of her head was in stark contrast to that notion.

Sella checked the bottom of the pancake to see if it was cooked and she put it on a plate. She then grabbed it and turned just in time to see Illya walking out of her room.

“Lady— Illya,” Sella caught herself. Referring to Illya as an equal was still very jarring for her. “Breakfast is ready.”

“Thank you, Sella!” Illya took the plate from the maid and sat down at the table. Sella went and grabbed utensils for her former mistress and placed them beside her.

“Shirou did most of the work,” As iffy as Sella was about having him cook, she wouldn’t take all the credit for something she didn’t do. She was too prideful for that. Illya peeked around Sella to see Shirou flipping something on a pan.

“Thank you, Shirou!” Illya shouted. Shirou looked up from his work and smiled back, only to frown as Sella stomped over.

“Shirou, I told you to let me handle it,” Sella’s voice was one of concern this time. Why was he so persistent on this?

“It’s okay, Sella, I can handle it,” Shirou replied. As he turned his whole body, his foot missed the stool and he fell over.

“Shirou!” Sella cried and moved to catch him, but he was then suspended in midair.

“Do not worry, young one,” Tiamat floated over and wrapped her arms around Shirou, setting him down on the floor. “I am always keeping an eye on my children. Shirou, please be more careful.”

“Yes mom,” Shirou muttered. As Tiamat let go, Shirou looked up at Sella before looking down at the spatula in his hands and handed it over.

“Thank you,” Sella said. Forcing a smile was always weird for Sella, so she nodded and got to work on the pancakes. She may have lost the battle, but she had won the war.

Half an hour had passed and now everyone was at the table. Shirou, Sakura, Rin, Aoi, Sella, Leysritt, Illya, and of course Tiamat was there too.

“Thank you for the food, Sella, Shirou,” Tiamat addressed the two.

“Oh? Shirou helped make this?” Aoi turned to the young boy with a look of amazement. “You’ve already got a little chef on your hands, don’t you?”

“T-thank you,” Shirou flushed at the praise.

“Hmm,” Rin eyed the pancakes on her plate. “It looks edible.”

“Thanks,” Shirou’s flushed expression turned into a deadpan.

“Now, now, play nice,” Tiamat chided Rin gently. Rin, however, blanched and shrunk in her seat. Going into Rin’s mind, Tiamat could detect that Rin was still afraid of her. “Do not fear, child. I will not punish you.”

Rin relaxed a little bit, but her pale complexion didn’t fade. Tiamat’s smile twitched. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Hopefully she could warm up to her sooner rather than later.

“Thank you for the food,” Sakura murmured, her eyes flicking from Sella to Shirou. Tiamat looked into her mind and found that she wanted to help too. She considered talking to her there and then, but from what she’s learned from the child, she would much rather have that conversation in private.

“Shall we?” Tiamat clasped her hands together. Everyone looked at her and after a couple seconds, Shirou was the first one to get the hint.

“Itadakimasu,” Shirou clasped his hands together. Rin, Aoi, and Illya did the same while Sella and Leysritt looked confused. They looked around before copying Illya in particular.

“Huh,” Rin muttered as she took a bite. “This is actually good. I don’t even need syrup.”

“I added a little bit of sugar in the mix. Sorry we don’t have syrup,” Shirou said as he enjoyed the fruits of his labor. Neither Tiamat nor Shirou anticipated having pancakes this morning, so they didn’t have syrup beforehand.

“It’s good,” Sakura assured Shirou. She slowly and methodically cut a small piece of her pancake before taking another bite.

“This might be better than yours,” Leysritt muttered, only to yelp when Sella elbowed her. “I mean, thank you for helping out Sella.”

As they continued to eat, Tiamat rose from her seat.

“Oh, it seems someone is here to visit,” Tiamat said as she floated to the door. When the door flew open, Tiamat looked down.

“Gilgamesh?” Tiamat asked.

“Don’t ask,” Gilgamesh muttered. Instead of his fully grown self, a small child with gold hair and red eyes stood in his place. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and cargo shorts. “May I come in?”

Roughly an hour earlier, Gilgamesh was standing on the roof of the church. He was still an adult at this point, wearing his standard golden armor. Kirei was long gone by now and the kids were all healed, but Gilgamesh was feeling… lost. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him. He usually had an answer to whatever question life threw his way, but now…

“Where should I go?” Gilgamesh muttered to himself. Kirei had been mildly entertaining, but the king felt like the next person the church sent wouldn't be nearly as interesting. No, he wouldn’t stay at the church any longer. But where to go now? The Tohsaka mansion? He could take up Kirei’s role of harassing the poor Tohsaka Heiress, but from what he knew, Tiamat had already brought her into her home.

Tiamat, Gilgamesh thought. That was an option. An… interesting option, but an option nonetheless. Tiamat was… fond of the king. She treated Gilgamesh like her own child, but there were worse ways a divine spirit could treat someone. Plus, with her raising Shirou…

Perhaps he could be the one to restore humanity to its former glory. A human sculpted and shaped by a god… Gilgamesh almost scoffed. He hated the gods, and that was no secret, but at the same time… if he also had a hand in raising the child, he could become something truly special.

Gilgamesh sighed as the Gates of Babylon opened above him. A small vial fell from the golden portal and he caught it in his hand and looked at it.

This really is beneath me, he thought to himself. Why was he doing this? Was doing it really worth it to make himself more appealing to the Primordial Mother?

Perhaps… with this, I can see the earth in another light, Gilgamesh told himself. He didn’t know if he was just rationalizing the ridiculous idea, but regardless, it worked. Before Gilgamesh could think to take his actions back, he downed the potion. As soon as the sweet liquid traveled down his throat, his body started to change. Hopefully he won’t regret this in the future.

I regret everything, Gilgamesh thought to himself. He should have expected this, but for some reason, he didn’t. He was sitting on Tiamat’s lap as she sat down to introduce him to the rest of the residents. He should have expected the puppets to be here. Especially when they had all migrated to one of the mansions on the outskirts of the city.

“Everyone, this is Gilgamesh,” Tiamat introduced. Shirou didn’t seem fazed. After all, he had met Gilgamesh before. Rin, however, seemed to be shocked about something.

“You! You were my dad’s servant! How are you here?!” Rin shouted, pointing an accusatory finger.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, mongrel,” Gilgamesh scoffed. He relished in Rin’s annoyed expression, but was distracted when he felt Tiamat lightly smack the back of his head.

“Don’t treat your siblings like that,” Tiamat chided.

“Siblings?” Gilgamesh echoed. Was she really implying that…?

“Yes, these are all my children,” Tiamat said. Illya opened her mouth, but closed it when Tiamat turned to face her. “Some are a work in progress.”

“Tch,” Gilgamesh scoffed once more. He should have expected this. Tiamat was the Primordial Mother. Of course she would bring more people into her home and declare them her children. It was just an inevitability. And now, Gilgamesh was wrapped up in this too. Joy.

“Now, now, I’m sure you’ll grow to love them,” Tiamat rubbed Gilgamesh’s head. Although Gilgamesh felt patronized, he did not move to stop her. “Would you like some breakfast?”

Gilgamesh looked down at the plate in front of him. It didn’t necessarily look bad.

“Well…” Gilgamesh muttered. Tiamat grabbed the fork and knife and cut a small piece.

“Alright, then,” Tiamat moved to food closer to Gilgamesh. “Say ahhh…”

Gilgamesh blanched. He had truly made the wrong decision.

Kirei looked around as he exited the airport. Italy really hadn’t changed since he had last been here. He ran through the errands he had planned for himself and smiled a wicked, evil smile.

“I have returned.”

Omake: Grand Order

“Well,” Cu muttered as his body started to fade into particles of light. “This sucks.”

“Cu!” Ritsuka ran over frantically. “What’s happening?!”

“Looks like the grail is taking me back,” Cu said with a smile. “I don’t like this, but I’m leaving the rest to you. If you summon me again, make sure I’m a Lancer, okay?”

“‘Kay,” Ritsuka nodded, the grief apparent in her voice.

“Don’t worry, kid, I’ll be fine,” Cu put a hand on Ritsuka’s head before turning to Shirou. “If I come back as a Lancer, we need to spar!”

“It’s a promise,” Shirou nodded to Cu.

“Good,” Cu closed his eyes. “Well, I’ll see you on the other side.”

With that, Cu’s body fully vanished.

“If Cu vanished, why hasn’t Saber?” Mashu asked, looking at the unconscious woman.

“It might be Avalon,” Shirou muttered. “Hey Ritsuka, come over here for a second.”

“What’s up?” Ritsuka tore her gaze from the place Cu was standing at and jogged over to Shirou’s location.

“Here, let me just…” Shirou grabbed Ritsuka’s hand and moved it to touch Artoria’s. “Do the chant.”

“Are you sure? This doesn’t seem… ethical,” Ritsuka muttered.

“It should be fine. Big sis would be more than happy to have you as a master,” Shirou said with a reassuring smile.

“If you say so,” Ritsuka said as she started to chant. When she finished, gold motes of light started to form around Artoria as she opened her eyes.

“What…?” Artoria looked up before locking eyes with Ritsuka. “I guess you are my master now.”

“Yeah,” Ritsuka rubbed the back of her head. Artoria nodded before turning to Shirou.

“Shirou…” Artoria’s eyes widened. “What happened to you?”

“I’m probably not the Shirou you remembered,” Shirou offered a hand. “Servant: Rider, Shirou.”

“Servant: Saber, Artoria Pendragon,” Artoria grabbed Shirou’s hand and let him pull her to her feet. “I can tell that you will be a great ally in the future.”

“Same to you, sis,” Shirou said with a smile. Arotria’s expression morphed as Shirou said the words.

“Sister?” Artoria asked.

“In my timeline, my mother adopted you when you were summoned,” Shirou said. “It’s a long story that can wait until we get out of here.”

“I… see…” Artoria’s eyes drifted to the rest of the group. “Mordred…”

“Have you finally come to your senses, father?” Mordred made her way to the group with a scowl. “What the hell was that? How could you let yourself get corrupted by some… some… whatever the hell it was?!”

“I…” Artoria put a hand on her head as if she was nursing a headache. “I don’t—”

“Well, well, well, I didn’t expect you to get this far,” Everyone whirled around when they heard a new voice. “Master Candidate #48. I suppose I made a mistake to overlook you.”

As he spoke, a man with long, brown hair and a green suit appeared before them.

“Professor Lev?” Mashu was the first to speak.

“It seems that we’re in quite the predicament here,” Lev opened his eyes and a crazed smile formed on his face. “Why is it that you humans always try to avoid your predetermined destinies?”

Shirou then took a step between Lev and the rest of the group. “This man is dangerous. Step back.”

“No… this isn’t the Professor Lev that we know…” Mashu scowled as she raised her shield.

“Lev! Is that you?!” Olga, however, didn’t listen. “Thank goodness you’re alright!”

“Sis, don’t!” Shirou tried to reach out, but Olga was already by Lev’s side.

“Ah, Olga. You seemed to be having a hard time. How are you?” Lev’s smile returned to an eerily pleasant look.

“I’m… alright, I think. The command room blew up! I… I can’t seem to return to Chaldea,” Olga muttered frantically. “I… I don’t know what to do, but… you should, right?”

“Yes, yes, these complications have been irritating, to say the least,” Lev shook his head and his crazed smile returned. “You being the biggest one, of course. I set that bomb right under your feet, yet you aren’t dead.”

“L-Lev?” Olga took a step back, her expression turning to one of fight and disbelief. “Lev, what are you talking about?”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re already dead. Well, at least your body is…” Lev answered, the smile never leaving his face. “You weren’t compatible with Rayshifting correct? You can’t teleport without a physical body. That’s why you can’t return to Chaldea. The moment you do, your consciousness will fully fade away.”

“W-what?” Olga shook her head. “No! That can’t be right!”

“Actually, why don’t I show you the fate of your—”

“I think that’s enough,” Shirou said, dashing so he was in between Olga and  Lev. “Olga, you're going to have to trust me, okay? Don’t panic.”

“What? Panic? Why would I— Wah!” Olga shrieked as the ground started to shift and change until it was replaced by black water, which Olga fell into.

“I’ll be able to reconstruct a body for you there,” Shirou said as the ground turned back to normal.

“I see,” For the first time since Lev arrived, he frowned. “You’re… no. You’re someone else, aren’t you? Quite interesting.”

“Who I am doesn’t matter to you,” Shirou’s spear appeared in his hand once more. “Stay away from my family.”

“It’s no matter. If enough time passes in Chaldea, it will cease to exist as well,” Lev shook his head, the smile returning to his face. “It should be fun watching you squirm as you all burn away. Now, I should let you collapse in the dimension rift, but I’ll let you say your final prayers.”

“Crap!” Shirou grumbled as the cavern started to shake. He then turned to the others. “If you have something up your sleeve, I suggest you do it now!”

“H-hello?” A voice came out from… somewhere. “Can you hear me?”

“Romani,” Lev frowned. “Fashionably late to the party as always. I should have killed you first.”

“Doctor!” Mashu shouted. “You’re here!”

“Yeah! Performing an emergency rayshift!” Romani shouted. “Just hang on!”

“I’m not sure if we’ll be able to make it!” Mashu shouted.

“Wait! This way!” Ritsuka shouted, reaching her hand for Mashu.

“Senpai, your hand…” Before anyone could register what was going on, everyone’s world turned white.

Chapter Text

Breakfast was a cordial affair. It took a little bit of time for Tiamat to get Gilgamesh to act politely, but things ultimately worked out in the end.

“Shirou, you will be starting school soon,” Tiamat said as she helped Shirou wash the dishes. He had huffed and pouted when Sella decided to help and Tiamat had to keep the peace by suggesting Sella help Leysritt entertain Illya.

“Oh yeah!” Shirou stopped scrubbing one of the plates as he looked up at Tiamat.

“Don’t worry, my child, we shall do everything to prepare today,” Tiamat assured Shirou. “Gilgamesh can help us.”

“I—” Gilgamesh cut himself off before Tiamat could even turn her head. “Fine. I can lend a few more of my treasures.”

“What a kind child you are,” Tiamat replied, smiling as she put the final dish away.

“Speaking of which, Rin said you were a servant,” Illya waddled away from Sella and Leysritt to eye Gilgamesh. “You don’t seem like much of a servant. How does that work?”

“Aren’t you one to talk? You don’t seem like much of a hu—” Tiamat was behind Gilgamesh before anyone could react and started to tug on Gilgamesh’s ear. “Ow! What is this nonsense?!”

“I will not tolerate that kind of speak in my household,” Tiamat scolded with a stern expression. “Illya, may I ask what you mean by servant? Gilgamesh here is a spirit.”

“You don’t know?” Illya looked genuinely confused. “A servant is a heroic spirit summoned for the Holy Grail War.”

Tiamat looked into Illya’s head for clarification. She saw memories of Illya’s parents, Irisviel and Kiritsugu talking about the war. About seven servants and a wish… then it drifted to Illya in her room in the Einzbern Estate. She was looking at Leysritt as the maid explained the fate of her parents. Tiamat floated away from GIlgamesh and pulled Illya into a hug.

“There there, mama’s here,” Tiamat assured Illya as she felt the young girl shift in her arms. “You don’t have to think about those bad things anymore.”

“Wha—” Illya flinched, but decided to lean into Tiamat’s embrace after a couple seconds. “Thank you.”

“Tch,” Gilgamesh scoffed.

“Don’t be mean, big brother,” Gilgamesh’s head snapped when he heard Shirou.

“You dare call me your brother?” Gilgamesh’s eyes burned with anger.

“Gilgamesh,” Tiamat addressed the heroic spirit. Gilgamesh turned to face Tiamat, his anger dissipating into annoyance. “Please give it an effort.”

“Fine,” Gilgamesh muttered. Tiamat could see how conflicted his mind was.

“You’re doing a great job,” Tiamat let go of Illya and moved to pat Gilgamesh’s head. “I’m so proud of you.”

Gilgamesh let out a couple indiscernible grumbles before eventually shaking his head. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

“I still don’t like this,” Rin grumbled. She, along with Shirou, Sakura, and Gilgamesh were looking through school supplies under Tiamat’s watchful eye. Sella had insisted that she and Leysritt needed to be the ones to enroll Illya in school and after a long discussion with Tiamat, the Primordial Mother eventually let them go.

“Why do I have to get school supplies too?” Gilgamesh asked as he looked at a plastic package of pens. “I do not see why I have to go.”

“You are a child, so you will go to school,” Tiamat said bluntly.

“I knew this was a mistake,” Gilgamesh muttered to himself as he put the pens back.

“Now, now, it’ll be fun,” Tiamat reassured the young king. “You wanted to see humanity in a different light, didn’t you?” 

“Get out of my head,” Gilgamesh flicked his eyes at Tiamat before walking over to where RIn was looking at sketchbooks. He grabbed one and examined it before putting it back in favor of a small journal. It might be interesting to log down his experiences, especially with this… interesting situation.

“I’m done!” Shirou announced as he waddled up to Tiamat with an armful full of school supplies and a backpack on his back.

“That’s good, my child,” Tiamat said with a smile. “Can you help your siblings look for things?”

“Okay!” Shirou went off to talk to Sakura, who was staring intently at a pack of pencils.

Tiamat took a deep breath as she continued to watch her children look throughout the shop. At that moment, she was truly happy.

Caren sat on the pews with a blank expression as she watched the priest prepare the holy water. Caren had known the man for four years and she never cared to learn his name. It wasn’t like he cared for her.

“Caren,” The priest said. The young girl looked up and saw the priest beckoning her to come. She stood up from her seat in the pews and walked over. The priest looked down at her with disgust before turning to the small basin of water. “Are you ready?”

“I’m confused,” Caren said with a flat tone. “You never cared to baptize me. Why are you doing it now?”

“You…” The priest clenched his fist, but eventually sighed and let his shoulders slumped. “Your father has returned.”

“Father?” Caren stared up at the priest. She didn’t remember much about Kirei, but she did know he left her under the care of the priest. “Why would that matter?”

“Just…” The priest scoffed. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Whatever you say,” Caren replied. The priest then put a hand on the back of Caren’s head and the young girl leaned in so her face was a few centimeters away from the water.

“Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your lord and savior?” The priest asked.

“I have.”

“Will you obey and serve Him as your King for the rest of your life?” The priest then asked.

“I will.”

“Because you professed your faith in the Lord Jesus, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit,” The priest dipped Caren’s head into the water. As he finished speaking, a bright light started to glow on Caren’s back.

“T-this!” The priest stepped back, his eyes wide with shock. Caren raised herself from the water and turned around.

“What’s wrong?” Caren tilted her head as she saw the dumbfounded expression on the priest’s face.

“Come, Caren,” The priest turned around. “We need to report this to the church. Now.”

Ciel stretched as she closed the door to her apartment. She had been in Masaki for a few months now. Narabeck had helpfully given her a lead on the location of Roa’s next incarnation, so Ciel had rushed to the town. It took a bit of time to get herself enrolled in school, but things have been going without a hitch. That was, until Ciel found a letter on her table with the seal of the church on it.

That damned bitch, Ciel swore internally. Her opinion of Narbareck was pretty similar to everyone else who met her. She took the letter and opened it, carefully skimming the contents.

Yumi,

The Holy Church has been informed that the overseer of Fuyuki city, Kotomine Kirei, has recently abandoned his post. When he was interrogated, it came to light that a powerful entity had taken up residence in Fuyuki and he fled in fear for his line. Due to your unique disposition, I volunteered you to become the next overseer. You will be expected to move there in a year. Good luck.

Burial Agency 1st Member,

P.S I just found out you’ll be on babysitter duty as well. I hope you’re good with kids!

“That… frigid…” Ciel tore the note in two. She heaved a sigh as she looked at the two pieces. “A year…”

She would cross that bridge when she got there.

Shirou sat in bed with a huge smile as he finished packing his bag. It had only been a couple months since Tiamat saved him from that fire and so much had already happened. He went from having no family to having a large one in barely any time at all.

He thought back on all of his new family members. Sakura, Rin, Sella, Leysritt, Illya, Aoi, Gilgamesh, and Tiamat. Although things were rocky at times, especially with Gilgamesh moving in, it was still a nice family.

Sakura was slowly but surely coming out of her shell. She liked to spend her time with Rin and Shirou. Illya didn’t spend as much time with them, but she would occasionally take some time to play with them. Rin had set up a class for the kids so they could learn the basics of magecraft. Tiamat and Aoi loved the idea and bought Rin a small teacher’s costume and every Saturday afternoon, the adults would watch as a small Rin would lecture the other children about magecraft with a small chalkboard.

Gilgamesh had also started to mellow out. It was a long process, but Tiamat eventually managed to convince Gilgamesh to interact with the family more. Whenever he would spend time with someone that wasn’t Tiamat, it was usually Shirou. The young boy quickly caught on to Gilgamesh’s antics and played along, taking the role of his loyal servant as Gilgamesh was the great king.

“Shirou?” The young boy looked up as he heard the voice of his mother ring in his head. Tiamat was floating in front of the open door, her horns absent so she could go through the small entryway. “It’s late. Why are you awake?”

“I’m just a little nervous,” Shirou replied honestly. His mind then drifted back to that day. The day where Tiamat saved him from the fire. The warmth that had flowed through his body. He couldn’t help but smile even wider.

“You’re a bright child,” Tiamat assured him as she sat down next to him. “I’m sure you will do fine.”

“It’s not that…” Shirou mumbled. There was rarely a time where Shirou wasn’t with Tiamat. The longest he had gone without her since she adopted him was when Tiamat went to rescue Illya, which was only a few hours. Now that he was going to school, he would have to spend hours on end without her. The thought of not being close to his mother was scary.

“What a kind child I have,” Tiamat put an arm around Shirou’s shoulder. The young boy had long since gotten used to his mother reading his mind. He really didn’t have anything to hide. Most of the others weren’t as used to it, however. Shirou would always try to assure them that it was fine, but it never worked for some reason. “You are strong, Shirou. I know you will make me proud.”

“Thanks mom,” Shirou exhaled as he looked up at her. “If… if it’s not too much trouble, can you sleep with me tonight?”

“Of course,” Tiamat said as she stood up. Shirou did as well and the blankets started to move. The two got into bed and the blankets moved to cover the both of them. Shirou wrapped his small arms around Tiamat and closed his eyes. “I’ll be here for you, Shirou. Always and forever.”

“Always and forever,” Shirou replied. He repeated the words in his head. Always and forever.

A pleasant sensation creeped down from Shirou’s head and down his body until he was completely relaxed. He then drifted off into a blissful sleep in his mother’s arms.

Tomorrow was another day.

Chapter Text

Shirou stirred when he felt something move. He yawned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. When he opened them, he saw Tiamat getting out of bed.

“My apologies. Did I wake you?” Tiamat asked.

“It’s okay,” Shirou looked out his window. Although it was mostly dark, the sun was barely rising in the east. “It was time for me to get up anyways.”

“Such a productive child,” Tiamat let a small smile creep up her features. “Are you ready for your big day?”

“I hope so,” Shirou frowned. He still had his reservations about being away from his mother for so long.

“Come now, your siblings will be there,” Tiamat assured him and placed a hand on his head. Shirou looked up and felt a feeling of ease wash over him.

“Yeah,” Shirou nodded his head, his smile returning. “I’m sure they’ll want breakfast.”

“They will,” Tiamat agreed. The two then made their way out of the room and into the kitchen.

It took about an hour for everyone to file into the breakfast room, which was mostly because Aoi was fussing over Rin and Sakura’s hair while Sella and Leysritt spent a lot of the time helping Illya get dressed.. Rin, Sakura, Shirou, Illya, and Gilgamesh were all in their school uniforms, much to the young king’s chagrin.

“Oh, you all look so good,” Aoi said as she finally sat down.

“Thanks mom,” Rin said. She didn’t smile, though. She did like to look pretty, but standing still for as long as she did was still a tall order for her.

“Breakfast is ready!” Shirou announced as he and Sella started to put personalized omurice in front of everyone. Each one had a couple words written on the top in ketchup for them.

“Itadakimasu,” Everyone clasped their hands together in prayer before beginning to eat.

“Do you all know where your classes are?” Aoi asked.

“I’m in class with Rin,” Shirou replied. Since Rin and Sakura were already enrolled in school, they would be acting as tour guides for the other three kids. Gilgamesh nodded, indicating that it was the same for him. “I think we have to go to the teacher’s office though?”

“I’m sharing classes with Sakura,” Illya said. Since she was homeschooled, she had to take a test to see which grade she would be placed in. Since the Einzberns didn’t cover kanji writing as well as history that wasn’t the family’s, Illya was placed in Sakura’s grade. This was despite being at a high schooler’s level in science and math.

“Good. I wouldn’t want you getting lost,” Aoi said.

“Are you ready to go, children?” Tiamat asked. Aoi and Sella were still making their way through their food, but everyone else had finished their food in less than five minutes. All five of the children nodded.

“Let’s go, then,” Tiamat stood up and started to float a couple centimeters off the ground. “I can’t wait to hear about your time in school.”

As soon as Shirou walked out the door, he saw an orange blur speed down the road. As he turned his head to look, it skidded a halt to reveal Taiga looking at them.

“Oh, Shirou!” Taiga said as she jogged over to the boy as everyone else filed out of the house. “Are you all heading to school?”

“Yeah,” Shirou nodded his head.

“Me too! Do you want to walk together?” Taiga asked. Shirou looked at everyone else. Illya, the little bundle of energy she was, bounded over to Taiga.

“Good morning, Fuji-nee!” Illya chirped as she looked up at the high-schooler. Taiga beamed and put her hand on the homunculus’s head.

“Morning snowflake,” Taiga snickered before looking up to Gilgamesh and offering her hand. “Do you want some too?”

“I’d rather die,” Gilgamesh looked away.

“I expected as much,” Taiga sighed. Ever since she met Gilgamesh, she would poke and prod at him. Gilgamesh only kept his temper in check because he knew Tiamat would get mad if he killed the excitable girl.

“Now, now, we should get going,” Tiamat interrupted the conversation as she stepped in front of Gilgamesh. “We wouldn’t want to be late for school, would we?”

“Ah! That’s right!” Taiga hit her palm as she looked at Tiamat with a blank expression. “We need to go now! We’re already late!”

Shirou watched as Taiga zoomed off, transforming into the blur he originally saw. He looked at Tiamat, who smiled and nodded. Shirou smiled back as he started the walk to school, his family not far behind him.

“Alright, here’s the teacher’s room,” Rin said as they walked in the communal teacher’s office. There was a row of desks divided by small walls on the desks. There were about a dozen adults bustling about.

“Follow me,” Sakura softly gestured to Illya as her eyes flicked over to one of the teachers. Illya nodded and the two walked off. Rin led Shirou and Gilgamesh to one of the other teachers. She was tall and pretty with brown hair tied up in a ponytail and brown eyes. She had a small scowl on her face as she turned to Rin.

“Good morning, Sensei,” Rin politely bowed to the teacher. Shirou immediately followed her example while Gilgamesh lagged a couple of seconds.

“Good morning, Rin,” The teacher looked at her before flicking her eyes over to the two. “I assume you are the transfer students.”

“Yes,” Shirou tried to keep his tone straight. The woman was definitely intimidating as she towered over the young child. “M-my name is Shirou.”

“Gilgamesh,” The young king added curtly.

“No family name?” The teacher raised her eyebrow. She grabbed a small booklet from her desk and flipped through the pages. “That seems to be the case. Thank you, Rin. You may go to class now.”

“Thank you, Sensei,” Rin dipped her head before leaving.

“Well, my name is Meiko Shiraki, but you will either refer to me as Meiko-sensei or Sensei, is that understood?” The woman’s tone was firm, but not mean.

“Yes, Sensei,” Shirou and Gilgamesh said in unison. Gilgamesh’s eyebrow twitched, but if Shiraki noticed, she didn’t react.

“Follow me. I’ll lead you to the classroom,” Shiraki closed the booklet and looked at the two. “You’ll stay outside until I call you in.”

The two children nodded at Shiraki’s words. The teacher nodded in acknowledgement and walked out of the room, leaving the two children to follow her.

“Today we have two new transfer students,” Shiraki said. Both Shirou and Gilgamesh could hear her through the door.

“Why do we have to go through this?” Gilgamesh heaved a sigh.

“Gil, please,” Shirou shook his head. He understood why Gilgamesh didn’t want to go to school. He didn’t know much about him, but he knew that school would mostly be a waste of time for him. “It’ll make mom happy.”

“Ugh, fine,” Gilgamesh rolled his eyes. Tiamat seemed to be the only person that Gilgamesh would listen to. He also listened to Shirou, but that’s because his mother asked him to.

“Shirou, Gilgamesh, come in,” Shiraki said with a sharp tone. Shirou opened the door and let Gilgamesh enter before he entered himself. The two stood beside Shiraki and looked at the class. Two dozen sets of eyes were all focused on them. It made Shirou nervous, but Gilgamesh didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Will you please introduce yourself?” Shiraki asked.

“I’m Gilgamesh. If you can’t pronounce that, just call me Oga,” Gilgamesh wasted no time in introducing himself. He wrote his name in hiragana before writing the kanji for king and river on the chalkboard behind him.

“I’m Shirou. It’s nice to meet you all,” Shirou bowed respectfully. He turned to write his name, but Gilgamesh had already written it down. “Thank you.”

“Gilgamesh, you can sit there,” Shiraki pronounces his name flawlessly and points to an empty seat in the second row. Gilgamesh nodded and sat down before Shiraki turned her attention to a seat by the window on the fourth row. “Shirou, you can sit there.”

“Thank you, Sensei,” Shirou dipped his head before sitting down at his assigned seat. As soon as he did, the kid next to him turned.

“It’s nice to meet you,” The boy said. He had dark blue hair and glasses. “My name is Issei. Ryuudo Issei.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Shirou said with a small smile. This boy seemed nice enough.

“Now that the transfer students are in their seats, I shall call roll,” Shiraki said. Both Issei and Shirou’s head snapped to attention. “Gilgamesh.”

“Present,” Gilgamesh stood up. When Shiraki nodded, Gilgamesh sat back down.

“Shirou,” Shiraki listed the next name.

“Present!” Shirou shot up enthusiastically. Shiraki nodded and Shirou sat back down. He couldn’t wait to get his first day started.

As soon as the bell rang, Issei immediately stood up.

“Hey Shirou, do you want to have lunch with me?” Issei asked.

“Well, I’m going to be eating lunch with my family,” Shirou looked down. When he saw Issei’s downtrodden expression, he started to backpedal. “Y-you can join us, though!”

“Really?” Issei’s expression brightened.

“Really,” Shirou nodded his head. “Just follow me.”

Shirou then stood up and made his way over to Gilgamesh and Rin, who were already talking with each other.

“Gil, Rin, do you know where Sakura and Illya are?” Shirou asked. Issei stiffened as he made eye contact with Rin, but said nothing.

“I usually have lunch on the roof. I think we can all meet up there,” Rin said.

“Sounds good,” Shirou said. “Lead the way.”

Rin nodded and led the small posse of kids up to the roof. When she opened the door, there was already a kid waiting for them. She had short, light brown hair and piercing brown eyes that bore into Rin.

“You’re late,” The woman shot an accusatory finger at Rin.

“You’re one to talk,” Rin shrugged her shoulders. “I had to get my siblings.”

“Siblings?” Ayako turned to Shirou and Gilgamesh while completely ignoring Issei. “Are these the ones you’ve been talking about?”

“Yeah,” Rin said as she made her way over to the girl and sat across from her. Shirou, Gilgamesh, and Issei followed her example and formed a small circle. “The others should be arriving soon.”

“More?” The girl’s eyes widened. “How many siblings do you have?”

“Ayako, we’ve been over this,” Rin rolled her eyes. “There are four of them. Shirou, Gilgamesh, Sakura, and Illya.”

“Oh yeah,” Ayako nodded her head. “You did say something about Sakura.”

“Yeah,” Rin clenched her fists. “It’s really complicated.”

“I won’t pry then,” Ayako seemed to notice Rin’s anger and backed off. The conversation was interrupted when the door to the roof opened once more.

“Ah, it seems we’re in the right place,” Sakura poked her head out the door before opening it completely, revealing Illya to be standing right behind her. The two walked over and took a seat in the circle.

“Good afternoon, Issei, Ayako,” Sakura greeted her two seniors.

“G-good afternoon,” Issei said. His eyes darted from person to person. “If it’s okay, can I get all your names? There’s so many people…”

“That’s how I feel,” Rin muttered.

“I can’t believe we agree on something,” Issei said.

“Honestly, I don’t even know why you don’t like me,” Rin raised an eyebrow at the boy.

“I just… don’t trust you,” Issei shot a glare at Rin, who just rolled her eyes.

“Anyways,” Shirou interjected. “You already know me, but I’m Shirou. You already know Gilgamesh.”

“Hmph,” Gilgamesh looked away. “If a mongrel is not aware that he is in the presence of his king, then that is on him.”

“What?” Issei asked, more confused than angry.

“Don’t listen to him,” Rin interjected. “You already know me.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Illya stood up to curtsey. “My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern.”

“N-nice to meet you too,” Issei said.

“Ah, I’ve met most of you, but I haven’t met you,” Sakura said to Issei. “My name is Ma— Tohsaka Sakura. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Ryuudo Issei,” The boy introduced himself.

“The name’s Mitsuzuri Ayako,” Ayako introduced herself. “So how does the whole family thing work?”

“Ayako!” Issei chided.

“What?” Ayako raised her hands in defense. “I’m curious!”

“It’s okay, Issei,” Shirou had a small smile on his face. “We all had our own situation when mom adopted us, but now we’re all under her roof.”

“My roof,” Gilgamesh muttered under his breath. Shirou could hear him because he was sitting next to him, but it seems that no one else heard.

“What was that?” Shirou asked, a threatening smile growing on his face.

“Nothing,” Gilgamesh grumbled. “It’s just that I—”

Gilgamesh was cut off when the sound of bells ringing shot throughout the school. Even if it was a little fainter on the roof, it was still audible to everyone.

“Guess we have to head back to class,” Issei stood up and stretched. “I hope Shiraki-sensei is feeling generous today.”

“Generous?” Shirou tilted his head. “Why are you hoping for that?”

“You’ll find out,” Issei ran his hand through his hair. “Just… follow me.”

Shirou heaved a sigh of relief as the bell rang, marking the end of the school day. Along with being the homeroom teacher, Shiraki also supervised the cleaning periods. She was extremely strict with all the students, but not too harsh. Despite that, Shirou had worked himself to the bone cleaning the classroom he was assigned to with Rin and Issei. He pitied the poor children who were grouped in with Gilgamesh.

“Whew,” Shirou stood up, turning to Issei. “That was really something, huh?”

“Yeah. She’s always like that,” Issei glanced at the teacher in question, who was talking with a student. “I’m just happy we don’t have cleaning until Wednesday.”

“Really? I thought we had it every day,” Shirou tilted his head.

“We rotate between grades,” Issei explained. He then looked down at his watch. “I have to go, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Shirou waved as Issei ran off. He then made his way to Rin and Gilgamesh. “Are you ready to go?”

“Finally,” Rin said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Gilgamesh nodded in agreement and the three made their way out of the classroom. As they exited the building, Shirou immediately broke into a run as she saw Tiamat waiting for him, Sakura and Illya on either side..

“Hello, my child,” Tiamat wrapped her arms around the young boy. “How was your day at school? Did you make any friends?”

“Yep!” Shirou nodded his head. “Let’s go home. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Tiamat replied. “Let’s go home.”