"Among all Magi, Kiritsugu Emiya was an outlier. He was one of the few Magi who committed themselves in using Modern technology and weapons along with their own Magecraft, a frowned practice among the Magi."
"Why is that?" Shirou asked.
Kirei smirked, "Pride."
"If there's a sin that would symbolize all Magi, it would be Pride. Pride in their art, their life's work and accomplishments. To have Pride in their magecraft is their preference in lauding their own abilities against the non-magi. Imagine, a society filled with nothing but elitist nobles with the ability to manipulate the world with their will, whose morality sees everything else as either cattle or obstacles to their pursuit in Magecraft."
"How would you stop them?"
"...I-I don't know."
"You don't."
Shirou blinked at the response.
Kirei snorted, "Magi aren't the kind of people you can simply bound by rules and restrictions. Yes, the Mage Association established the general rules and restrictions for everyone but it's mostly suggestions and a warning to not reveal the moonlit world to the world."
"This is where your father comes in."
"Dad?"
"Kiritsugu Emiya made a living in hunting and killing Magi who either risked the exposure of the Moonlit world or those who committed taboo practices. It's the Enforcers of the Mage Association to police such Magi but sometimes, a specialist is needed. Your father is one. Efficient and deadly, Kiritsugu Emiya always hits his mark. So much so, he earned a moniker that would soon become a title in the Moonlit World."
"The Magus Killer."
"Your father was a killer."
Shirou can't believe it. How could he? All he remembered about the man was his sickly state and his own carelessness. He couldn't even heat up water without burning the kitchen. The same man who dreamed about being a hero of justice. The man who saved him and entrusted his dreams on to him.
That can't be Kiritsugu.
"Huh? So that's where that title came from?" Rin commented. Looking at Emiya, she really can't imagine the boy being the son of such a man.
He's too… soft and naive.
Seeing his expression of disbelief, Kirei can't help but chuckle.
"I assure you, young Emiya. I'm not lying, no lies in the house God afterall."
"As I said, Kiritsugu Emiya's profession made him a deadly Master in the 4th Holy Grail War. In fact, he was hired by the Einzbern as their representative."
"The Einzbern's hired him?" Rin exclaimed in shock.
"What's so strange about that?" Shirou turned towards her.
"It's just a surprise. The Einzbern's are a very old family and isolated from the world. For them to hire an outsider for a very important ritual is too shocking." Rin explained.
Of course she studied the three main families who created the Heavens Feel Ritual or Holy Grail War. Among the three, only the Einzbern's kept their power and notoriety in the Moonlit world. The Makiri fell off down the line, their bloodline being cut off from Magecraft and was later turned into the Matou family in order to survive. The Tohsaka meanwhile was reduced to her as its last member, their reputation gone and their riches dwindling.
In a matter of fact, the Einzbern's have the highest chance in winning the war.
So why did they hire Kiritsugu Emiya in the 4th Holy Grail War?
"Whatever the reason it may be, it died with Kiritsugu and I doubt the Einzbern's would be too keen to reveal the reason after Kiritsugu's performance in the war." Kirei shook his head.
"Why? Did he do badly in the war?" Shirou asked, which earned him a chuckle from the priest.
"On the contrary, Kiritsugu's performance in the war was everything the Einzbern's wanted." Kirei began, a massive grin forming in his face.
"In the war, he was by far the most ruthless master throughout the entire thing." He revealed, watching the boy's expression turn from shock to horror at the implications.
"The war started with my loss. Assassin was the weakest servant class and the first to fall against an enemy servant on the first night." Kirei began his tale.
"I would be honest, my role in the war was not something I desired. I have no wish nor desire for anything. I'm merely a servant of the Lord. I immediately took refuge in the church for the entirety of the war and helped my father in his duties through the entire war."
"From there, I get to witness the lengths magus would go for a singular wish."
"First was Caster. A wicked servant and with a like-minded master. They're murderers who prowled the night, abducting and killing children with no rhyme or reason, just for the sake of killing."
"They're killing children? Why?" Shirou felt disgusted, "They're Heroic Spirits as you say, so why would they murder children?"
"Heroic Spirits doesn't necessarily mean they would be historical heroes of myth. To be counted as a Heroic Spirit, one has to gain enough infamy and fame across history in order to be recorded as a Heroic Spirit in the throne of Heroes." Rin explained.
"Why call it 'Throne of Heroes' in the first place?"
"I'm gonna hit you."
"Please don't."
Kirei chuckles at the two before continuing.
"In response to this direct violation of the rules both in the Holy Grail War and the Mage Association, all Masters are ordered to have a truce to eliminate both Caster and his Master."
"That poor Caster never stood a chance against Kiritsugu's Saber." Shirou perked up at the small detail, "He was obliterated by Saber's Noble Phantasm immediately as soon as he appeared."
"His master? Personally killed by Kiritsugu Emiya if the autopsy goes by. Shot in the stomach before a bullet tore through his skull." Shirou felt queasy at the detail. His old man did that?
"Caster and his master weren't the only victims in Kiritsugu's ruthlessness. Oh no, they were just starting at that point." Kirei grinned, taking joy in destroying the boy's own image of his own father.
Oh how would this boy break or would he persist and be polished into something else?
He can only imagine it for now.
"The first act Kiritsugu employed in the war was blowing up Fuyuki Hyatt Hotel, the base of operations of Lancer and his master."
Suddenly, Shirou's head flared with an unknown pain at the mention of the hotel.
" *a*a**iShirou."A name written in a hotel guest list.
"How did you even know this, Kirei?" Rin asked, they somehow didn't notice Emiya's lapse or simply ignored it.
"I was simply curious of what the other Masters did in the war and simply investigated what they all did based on what records and events happened in the war." Kirei explained.
"Moving on, Lancer's master was a noble Magi and wouldn't simply stand at the blatant attack without a proper response. He and his servant attacked the Einzbern's castle located at the outskirts of Fuyuki-"
"WHAT!!!? THERE'S AN ENTIRE CASTLE JUST OUTSIDE OF MY OWN LAWN!? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!" Rin screamed in both anger and hysterics.
How long did this twisted priest know about it and keep it to himself? The bastard!
"I see no reason to tell you? It's just your own inadequacy for not seeing what's on your own territory." Kirei snidely remarks, embarrassing the girl.
Well it's true after all. Rin doesn't really manage her territory or properties much due to Kirei keeping hold of said properties and her own studies in Magecraft keeping her.
Definitely embarrassing being called out to her own fault, especially in front of Emiya.
Wait? Why would she be embarrassed?
"As I said, Lancer's master attacked. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out well for him." Kirei chuckled.
"How so?" Shirou asked.
"Well with what I gathered, Lancer's master was crippled after the attack and was forced to retreat with his servant. The extent of damage was so severe that he had to switch ownership of the command seals to his own lover, who he brought as his safety net."
"Wait, you can transfer command seals like that?" Rin asked.
"It can be done." Kirei confirmed, pulling up his sleeves to show an arm full of markings.
Command seals.
"Unused command seals recovered from dead masters in the previous wars. Used by the church to enforce rules of the war." He explained to the two teens who can only nod in awe.
"With a new Master, Lancer could take on Kiritsugu's Saber again. Unfortunately, Kiritsugu was on the hunt that night. By the end of it, the bodies of both Lancer's Masters were found. The man was heavily disfigured with a gunshot wound and signs of being stabbed. His wife had her hand cut off and killed by the same gun."
"To put it simply, they were murdered."
Shirou didn't speak nor react, but Kirei can already tell.
The boy is breaking apart.
To listen and know what kind of man raised him, to know their greatest sins and failures. Kirei felt nothing but joy at the boy's expression. Hidden beneath that calm and silent surface was an endless turmoil.
And he has to add more fuel to this fire.
"By then, Rider and Berserker were taken out next. Sadly, I have no idea what transpired by then even with my investigations. This leaves Archer and Saber as the last servants."
"Dad's servant." Rin gasped, looking at Emiya.
Could it be?
"Sad to say, Tokiomi Tohsaka lost his life in the war and with him, Archer disappeared. Leading to one winner."
"Kiritsugu Emiya."
"Then that meant…" Shirou asked, turning his head to Rin to see the girl fighting back tears, fist clenched as she stared at the ground.
"Kiritsugu Emiya most likely murdered Tokiomi Tohsaka, Rin's father."
Kirei executed but he wasn't done yet.
Not by a longshot.
"With him as the winner, Kiritsugu Emiya gained access to Heaven's Feel, the third magic and a chance to make one wish."
"But know this, I have no clue of what he had wished that day but Fuyuki City itself suffered in his wish."
"What?" Shirou gasped, there's more?
"What else but the Great Fuyuki City Fire, the result of Kiritsugu's wish."
The same incident that orphaned Shirou Emiya.
Unbeknownst to him, deep inside.
A world cracked and broke apart, from its broken shell-
A moon emerged and left this broken world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's notes:
Oh snap!
Who saw this one coming?!
And here's a peek at Shirou's new reality marble.
Now give me your stones!