I do not own Fate/Stay Night and stuffs:

o. o. o.

There were multiple reasons why Kiritsugu never went to the Clocktower, one of the main centers of magus activity in the world.

Despite the fact that the organization was extremely rich in resources, research, personnel, and inspiration, he could never be at ease there. Part of it had to do with the fact that Asians were generally not warmly welcomed there. Part of it had to do with the fact that he had been for the most part a freelancer and as such was considered an outsider. Part of it had to do with the fact that he viewed the use of magic differently than the bulk of the populace. Part of it had to do with the fact that there were more than a few magi there that were relatives of those he had killed over the years…

But for the most part, he didn't go simply because he just didn't like London.

He was fairly used to European food and cities, however the England capital just didn't mesh well with him. The city was old and large, as such it was fairly difficult to navigate anywhere unless you had a damned good map or if you were a local.

It made the city perfect for an assassin like himself to stage an accident or some other event and get off clean, which is why he tended to stay away from places like this. Even a pro could fall to a novice here if he let his guard down for a moment. It was probably part of the reason why the Clocktower probably was located there in the first place. Kiritsugu was fairly certain that there were at least half a hundred bounded fields surrounding the city itself just to make it more infuriating to navigate than it already was.

Still, even though the cursed man barely had any access to his magic circuits anymore, thus making him weaker than any apprentice, he still perfectly navigated himself to a small alleyway without any issue.

From an outside perspective, the indescript gap between a local hardware store and a family owned market appeared for the most part to not exist to the locals there. It was a location that he had traveled to only a hand full of times well over a decade and a half ago, however it was one of the places in this maze that he could find without any hesitation regardless.

Stepping up to the fourth door to his right, Kiritsugu paused and rolled his shoulders. His body had not taken well to the long plane ride here and it was taking a while to recover from the stiffness, also no thanks to the curse of the Grail. Sighing to himself and biting the metaphorical bullet, the man casually knocked on the door in front of him five times and simply waited.

A minute later a woman in her middle ages with red hair opened the door. "Can I help you?" She asked with a thick Irish accent, revealing her slightly darkened teeth, a disgusting but common trait among the locals here.

"I'm here to see Sirius." Kiritsugu got to the point, speaking in fluent English. It was one of the first things that his mentor and mother figure had taught him when training him to be a freelancer. You could be the best in the world, but if you want any decent chance to get hired for a big job, learn English. To keep it simple in his words, "Money speaks English." After that, the next best languages for getting work were Mandarin, Arabic, and Spanish. He was only fairly conversational in Arabic and barely that in Mandarin. He had never had a need to touch Spanish. "Tell him that Natalia's boy is back for one last favor."

The woman looked at Kiritsugu skeptically for a moment before nodding and closed the door again quietly. The man waited patiently in front of the dirty building despite his aching body and tired mind. The air was stale here and it did not help in the slightest, however his mental training during those long hard years as a freelancer had long since enabled him to surpass such meager ailments. This sensation was still nothing compared to that of his body simultaniously being ripped to shreds and regenerating from moving at four times natural speed and Avalon being implanted in his body during his final fight against Kirei…

His musings were interrupted as he noticed the thumps of something large stomping to the front before the door flew open more violently to reveal a massive old man with thick arms and long flaming red hair tied up in a ponytail. The monster of a human glared down at Kiritsugu with a skeptical grey eye surrounded by wrinkles and leather like skin. The two looked at one another in silence before the old man snorted. "Ya look like yer aboot ta keel over lad. It's been whut, fifteen years since ya left with me work? Not a damned word until ya wanted info for tat blasted war in Japan, 'nd then when I thougt ya were dead, ya show up at me door with more work?" He crossed his arms defiantly. "Ya better have a good tale for me and me kin ta make up for dis…"

Sirius McGinty. A magus of the clock tower, but a highly unusual one. The man focused his work and research on the applications of thaumaturgy into modern day objects, both used by magi and not. This impaired his image to many of the older clans since research into studies not deemed "significant" by the magus world was normally frowned upon as inefficient or downright useless. Rumor had it he was actually from the Fraga clan but no one knew for sure outside of his direct family. He was looked at skeptically by both the academic and practical practitioners of thaumaturgy, and as such had somewhat difficulty finding sufficient funding at times. To Kiritsugu's knowledge, Sirius was actually around a hundred and twenty years old and had somehow achieved some sort of longevity by use of an advanced form of modified reinforcement magic combined with runes, which was also something the beast of a man was quite skilled at, also supporting the rumors of his Fraga lineage…

However the man was most well known for what came out of his research. Mystic codes. Objects that supported, added, or amplified a magus' magic to support their needs, often violent ones. Any magus that did not have the ability, magic circuits, resources, or history to make one of their own came to him. Many clans actually were quite irritated with the man since his work on average were of significantly higher quality, efficiency, and effectiveness than their own "noble" and traditional codes.

It was Sirius that had made Kiritsugu's Thompson Contender and the mystic bullets that it fired.

"Well what are ya waitin' for lad?" Sirius grunted as he stepped aside. "Come on in. Ya look like somethin I passed this mornin'."

Oh yeah… another reason why Sirius wasn't that well accepted in the Clocktower was the fact that for the most part he was rude to absolutely everyone. Noble or not. Part of the reason why he seemed to be able to be around for so long without getting kicked out was because he seemed to be on fairly good terms with Zelretch, the sorcerer of the Second True Magic, Kaleidoscope, though no one really knows how the hell said friendship actually started.

Kiritsugu snorted. "No kidding." He shook his head as he grabbed his bag and walked into the building. The moment he got in, he immediately knew that the man had altered the space inside with a bounded field. The size of the rather colorful waiting room and the height of the stairs going up and down were clearly not within the range of the original apartment's parameters. "I haven't found a place to stay at yet…"

"Is that that last favor that you told Shela?" The red headed man smirked with a raised eyebrow.

"Depends." Kiritsugu shrugged. "How much are you charging per night?"

"Heh." Sirius chuckled as he closed the door and shook his head. He looked at Kiritsugu with a pitying gaze. "Ya really are dyin' soon aren't ya? Never heard of ya small talkin' so casually b'fore."

"My prize from the war." The assassin sighed. "Could we talk somewhere more secure? I owe you a long story."

"Sure. Consider it your payment for yer stay so long as ya don't mess wit me stuff or loiter too long." The elder nodded as he guided the man through the large building, going down several flights of stairs and a maze of confusing hallways. No doubt at least a few of these hallways linked to the center of the Clocktower in one way or another since the organization for the most part was underground.

Kiritsugu spied many rooms filled with odd appliances, both magical and not. Shirou probably would have been able to shave off a year or two in his analyzing training if he was locked inside of one of those rooms for a week. Soon enough the two stopped at a rather simple looking office which completely contrasted the large man's home and figure.

"So then…" Sirius sighed as he rested his large figure into his rather comfortable looking chair and causing it to creak underneath his weight. "Before ya tell me what ya want… yer gonna tell me what I want lad." His aged eyes narrowed at Kiritsugu who had just sat down on the other side of the dark wooden desk. "Last time we 'xchanged words, ya told me dat the next time we met ya would tell me what happened ta Natalia."

The Magus Killer nodded, knowing that his mother figure and Sirius were close. "I killed her." He said bluntly. He was already going to die. There was no point wasting time to play mind games. Besides, Sirius was emotional not stupid.

The large man closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, grunting slowly in the process. The room was silent for what seemed like hours before he spoke up. "Ah had a feelin that would be ta case." He sighed. "How?"

"We were after an Apostle that was traveling to New York by plane." Kiritsugu continued. "I went on ahead, and she was on the plane he was on. She killed him… however she was too late and the familiars he had on him corrupted all of the other passengers, turning them into undeads. She tried to land the plane in an attempt to survive and deal with the threat afterwards… but I couldn't take that chance. It was too risky."

He had relived that memory so many times that recalling the story didn't really affect him anymore. "She knew that too, even though she told me otherwise on the phone. Just as she was over the Hudson river I shot the plane down with a rocket launcher."

The elder snorted. "Heh. All that studying ta fight with magic and against monsters, and she goes out by a bloody launcher of all things." He shook his head. "Well at least it was with a damned big bang. The girl deserved as much." He opened a drawer and opened a can of beer. "Ah well, better than some o' these fools here that waste their lives away doin jack ta learn jack." He drank heavily from the can. "Reinforced beer. Still tastes like piss… though it probably is best if it does at ta moment."

The room was silent for several more minutes other than the large man's drinking.

"So then…" Sirius belched as he crushed the can in his hand and tossed it into a bin next to him. "I t'ought ya were dead in Japan after wee Waver Velvet of all people came back here alive 'n breethin. Of course no one really knew he fought in ta war other than meself and a few others who bothered ta look in ta east, but for the most part no one really bothered ta do anything about the lad. Ya aren't normally the kind that leaves loose ends." His gaze hardened. "The bloody fuck happened there?"

"Waver Velvet… huh…" Kiritsugu mused, remembering the name of the Fourth War's Master to Rider, Alexander the Great. Putting that information away for later, the man sagged into his chair. "Mind if you toss me a beer? This is going to take a while and I'll have to leave some things out…" He sighed. "Odds are I'll have to ask you my favor and another small one tomorrow…"

Sirius nodded and tossed the man a drink. "Aye. I've heard some things about that Grail War. Corporal Heroic Spirits, Noble Phantasms… if it weren't fer the fact that ah don't wanna die, ah wouldn't mind tryin' me hand at it just to have a look at one of their weapons. Would be a real boon to me work it would."

"Yeah…" Kiritsugu nodded with a grim smile. "Well, I'm going to have to dissuade you a bit more old friend."

o. o. o.

The next day:

Waver Velvet had changed since his experience in the Holy Grail War.

Many people had noticed it in his personality almost immediately upon his return to the Clocktower. No one knew he participated in the bloodbath in Fuyuki city, and no one really bothered to find out the reasons behind his disappearance since magi leave the campus for personal reasons all the time.

Still Waver's change was noticeable and significant to people who knew him. His natural brilliance had remained as well as his natural stubbornness that all magi had, however his pride had changed. His almost instinctive desire to prove himself to others and achieve greatness had been tempered to something more calm, collected and humble. And yet, his need to become something great seemed to be magnified.

His work reflected this as he had over the past few years blown past those in his age group and fields of research. Rumor had it that he was being considered by several significant individuals for a high seat in the tower should his progress continue at its current rate. Something with administrative power.

At the same time however, he had become more charismatic to a small degree. He seemed to understand others better and gave them advice on occasion. This even applied to some Noble families, enabling him to gain more funds and resources for his research. He seemed to push forward with his work with a fervor of a man going to war. Once one hill of research was cleared, he pressed onward to a related subject as if it was not the end he was looking for…

Waver was currently in the middle of his research into a small realm of water element manipulation, attempting to create a spell that would automatically analyze the amount and composition of residual magic in existing bodies of water… something he had done manually with a pseudo chemistry set during the Fourth war to look for the insane Caster and had actually worked surprisingly well. The spell itself would in theory be fairly basic, however the fabrication of the execution was a rather tedious task. Once he was able to finish this particular spell, he would attempt to make similar ones with the other basic elements.

He was returning to his workshop with several more books on water manipulation and sensory spells from one of the libraries inside the clock tower when he had bumped into something large while turning a corner and dropped his load.

"Ah! Sorry lad." The giant thing apologized as it bent over to help the teen pick his books up. "Ahm a bit on ta big side so ah sometimes miss the wee ones."

Waver grit his teeth. He had been on the short side for the most part of his life, however his growth spurt had kicked in recently, making it so that he was at least of average height now."That's fine." He sighed as he took the books. "You aren't the first to…" He looked up at the man and momentarily faltered. The man's red hair and huge girth had instantly reminded him of his servant of two weeks, the great King of Conquers, and his unofficial liege, Alexander the Great. He shook his head. "I'm used to it."

"I bet ya would." Chuckled the large man, patting the teen on the shoulder, bringing back some more memories of the teen's times in Japan. "Anyways, ahm lookin fer someone. Ya wouldn't know where… erm…" He scratched his chin. "Oh right, Waver Velvet is? Ah got sometin' fer him."

Waver rose an eyebrow. He had clearly never met the man before, although that was to be expected since the clock tower's population was rather large… however he was fairly certain that he would remember someone so blatantly different from the standard mould that walked around the halls here. "I'm Waver." The teen replied skeptically. "Who are you? What do you need to give me?"

"Ah! Finally!" The man grinned with a sigh. "Ah don't go inta the main tower dat much so whenever ah gotta look for someone. 'Sometimes get lost or come across some prick who doesn't give me ta right time o'day." He stuck out his hand. "Sirius McGinty lad. Pleased ta meet ya."

Waver's eyes widened. "The Mystic Code Crafter? I've heard many things about you and your work, but I've never seen you in person before." He shook the man's hand, not wincing as his hand was slightly crushed under the strong grip. "Your research is well known and respected among my peers."

"O'course it is." Sirius grinned childishly. "What lad doesn't want some kinda gadget ta blow things up with? They demand and I supply! Th'more unique the code is, th'more mah research is developed and more fun I have breakin' things!"

Waver laughed sheepishly in conjunction with Sirius' blunt statement. The man was resembling Alexander more and more by the second and it was honestly unnerving him to no end. "… So about that thing you wanted to give me?"

"Ah! Right!" The big man nodded as he started to pat himself down to check his pockets. Once again Waver mused at how odd this man was for a magus, wearing a muscle shirt and casual cargo pants with a long sleeved shirt wrapped around his waist. There was no sense of pride or nobility in his attire at all. "Found it!" Sirius cheered as he took out a letter from one of his pockets. "Here ya are lad."

Waver raised an eyebrow as he put his books down and took the letter. "A letter? How odd. Why not just send me the message with magic?" He mused. He could already tell that there wasn't any prana flowing through the paper as he had casted a quick spell that checked such things. Sabotage was fairly common among some magi after all and his ascension in the ranks of the Clocktower had irritated a few of the more ancient clan's youngest members…

Waver opened the letter curiously and scanned the contents, which was actually very sparse. At the top was a time, a date, and an address, all of which were relatively close by…

But his face paled dramatically as he read the eight words written beneath that information.

No… He mentally repeated to himself, praying that each time he read the sentence the words or the meaning would change. No no no no. This can't be… it can't be possible. It's been so long, years by now. Even if the man had an A+ ranked independent action he should be gone by now!

Yet the words on the paper did not change, nor did their meaning, nor the ice cold hand of fear that had gripped the teen's heart with a firm hold that prevented him from moving in the slightest.

The golden king still drinks among mortal men.

Waver quickly looked up to where Sirius had stood just moments before, only to see no one nearby at all.

Looking around to see that no one was around, the teen quickly attempted to calm himself down and think things through. Obviously the writer of the message was aware of not only his participation in the war, but of the identities of the Servants as well. He had doubted the possibility that he was the only Master to survive the battles since he didn't win it in the first place.

The only mortalities that he was aware of were of Caster's master, some non-magical mass murdering sociopath, his bastard of a teacher, noble prodigy, and master of Lancer, Kayneth Archibald… and several months later he had heard that Tokiomi Tohsaka had passed during the fighting as well… who was the golden king's Master…

Speaking of the other Masters, Waver had barely been able to gain any other information on them since the war ended. Kirei Kotomine had belonged to the Holy Church and was an executor at that, so he heard rumors about the old master of Assassin every once in a while. The identity of the black and terrifying Berserker had never been disclosed to him, not that he wanted to meet anyone that could summon something so distorted…

However possibly the most dangerous Master of all had for lack of a better term disappeared off the face of the planet.

Kitsirugu Emiya, the rumored Magus Killer. A man who was still whispered about from time to time as one of the greatest and fearsome freelancers to ever exist. This held true even if the older clans, the Einzberns in particular, ridiculed and disparaged the man for being a hired dog that apparently made a habit of betraying his employers at the last moment.

Waver was not a fool. The Master of Saber was by all means the most likely to win even if the man had shown himself almost as frequently as Berserker's Master.

He looked at the letter again. The Golden King still drinks among mortal men. His eyes widened at the second hidden meaning in the message. During the War, there had been oddly enough a night when the three Servants who had been kings in their past lives… drank among themselves and simply talk about times long past at the castle where Saber and her master had set up shop. At least that was until Assassin came and his Rider showed off his Reality Marble, killing the dark servant easily with his mighty army behind him.

The message obviously came from someone who knew of that event.

Still that did not help much. It had been three years since the war, and Masters and Servants were not the only ones that had participated to some extent. Stories could have been told and passed many lips during that time, even if secrecy was one of the first things a magus practiced.

But the main message remained the same. Gilgamesh was still alive, and it terrified the teen to no end for good reason. The man after all possessed an anti-world Noble Phantasm…

And he had seen it live up to the rank to the fullest in his Servant's final fight.

Getting his head back on, the teen focused his mana to his eyes and brain as he once more read the entirety of the letter in front of him, committing it to memory so firmly that he could remember it as easily as he could his birthday before wordlessly burning the note in his hands. Fire was not his element, however something small on that level was none the less simple for him. It was something he attempted to learn as quickly as possible in order for his future research and studies to become more efficient.

He would have to at least finish some of his smaller projects in the next few days. After all, there was a good chance that he was going to die in this meeting. Might as well do something productive in his remaining time alive.

If meeting the one who wrote the message didn't kill him… he had little doubt that the events following the event would.

o. o. o.