Hey everyone. New chapter. Couple notes first.

Fragarch: After reading a bit more on Fragarch on the wikia. I admit, I misunderstood how it works, but I don't think that really impacted how it is used. From what I got, its main purpose is to counter an opponent's attack by rewriting time so that it always hits first while simultaneously dispelling the enemies attack. The reason it wasn't used that way is mainly because Bazett herself is barely able to use Fragarch at that point. It said in the wikia tha Bazett has not even begun to master Fragarch. That's talking bout Bazett during the Grail war and this is Bazett almost a decade earlier, so she wasn't really using Fragarch but something closer to a "a sword close to Fragarch" if you get what I'm talking about. Minor detail.

Also, sorry for the late update. I wrote about half of this and got hit with a case of writer's block. But hey, I finished (eventually).

Anyway, on with the chapter.

*One Year Later*

Shirou walked through the dark forest. He was going pretty slowly. It was obvious that the boy wasn't in any kind of rush. The 10 year old pulled his hand closer to his face and looked at the piece of paper that he was holding.

It was a simple profile. On the top was a picture of an elderly white haired man in glasses and beneath the picture was various pieces of information.

Name:

Charles Whitehorn

Age:

74

Place of Origin:

Stockholm, Sweden

Ethnicity:

Swedish

Dutch ancestry

Notes:

No known relatives

Fourth Generation Magus

Former Professor in the Zoology Department of Clocktower

Holds the rank of Fes

Specializes in the creation and control of synthetic beasts as familiars

Last Known Location

Amazon Rainforest

3.452° S, 62.2161° W

Threat Level:

D

Shirou sighed. One would normally think that hunting vampires and zombies would never get boring or tedious. However that person would be very wrong. Over the past year Shirou's skills had grown. At this point, he was strong enough to take out low level dead apostles like Whitehorn by himself, which he was currently doing.

Despite the vast majority of dead apostles that Shirou had encountered up to this point having decades more experience then him, most Dead apostles were more scientists then fighters. As a result, Shirou, who was a talented combatant and specially equipped to handle the undead, could take some of the weaker ones without too much issue.

Suddenly, the boy swung his hand to the side, A black key appearing it it immediately. His swing was just fast enough to bisect the creature that had tried to attacked him. Apon taking a closer look, Shirou saw that the creature resemble some sort of cross between a tiger and a lizard. It didn't really matter what it looked like though. If Shirou had really cared, he wouldn't have killed the creature so quickly.

"Well I guess I've entered his territory." Shirou surmised as he walked deeper into the forest.

*Fuyuki City - Church*

Kirei was sitting in one of the chairs in the church kitchen, an unfinished bowl of Mapo tofu on the table. In his right had was a old phone connected to a landline. By the look on his face, one could tell that he was less then happy. "Again, Bishop Dilo, I don't believe that this is the best idea." Kirei said into the phone.

"And as I told you already, Father Kotomine, you are her only living relative." The somewhat elderly voice on the other end of the phone responded. "She's too young to look after herself. Besides you've already shown yourself as a capable parent while looking after that adopted son of yours. Looking after your own daughter shouldn't be too much effort."

"But-"

"Father Kotomine," The old man's voice began again, this time less accommodating. "you were the one who shipped the poor girl off like some sort of package to her grandparents when her mother passed. Now that both of them have died as well, it's only right that you take her in." He said. "We'll be there in about 2 days time. Please prepare proper accommodations for her." He hung up the phone.

Kirei Kotomine just sighed. In all honesty, that phone call was the first time that he had even thought about his daughter since he sent her away. He figured his reason for doing so was good enough. Back then, he was still afraid of himself and saw himself as someone unfit to properly raise a child. Not that it was untrue.

In Kirei's opinion, it also wasn't really appropriate to compare his situation with Shirou to his situation with Caren. The two were, simply put, entirely different matters. He had adopted the Shirou out of pure curiosity. That blank look that he had seen in the boy's eyes during that glorious inferno, it was both similar and different to his own from before Gilgamesh helped him come to terms with his true self. It had piqued his interest. Kirei had wanted and to see how that boy turned out as he got older. Adopting the redhead just seemed like the most efficient way to keep an eye on him. However, with Caren, it was different.

He honestly didn't care.

The last time he had seen the girl, she wasn't even two years old, certainly old enough to understand the world around her. The fact that she had made no attempt to contact him in all these years would imply that she held no interest in reconnecting with her father either, and he was completely okay with that.

Of course, there was apart of Kirei that was interested in seeing girl die by his hand, writhing in pain, agony, and betrayal. It was just who he was. However the fatherly part of him that he had picked up from both his Tokiomi and Risei argued against that.

While Kirei didn't care much for his old teacher, he admitted that the man was a good father to Rin.

Kirei couldn't speak for his other daughter though. By the time that the preist began interacting with the Tohsaka family, she was already gone. The brown haired man didn't really know much about her, but considering that she was sent to the Matou family like some annoying pet that the Tohsakas didn't want anymore, Kirei doubted that she would attest positively to Tokiomi's parenting skills.

Kirei's own father had been, in Kirei's opinion at least, a someone that should be looked up to. While he never truly understood his son, Risei had always tried to be a good father. He never let Kirei get spoiled, he taught him everything he needed to know in life, and when Kirei seemed depressed, which was most of the time, he attempted to lighten his spirits. Even allowing Kirei to participate in the Holy Grail war had been, to some extent, an attempt to help Kirei get over the death of his because his father had allowed him to retain his status as a master, he was able to truly find himself. True, his still wished that he had been the one to take his father's life, but it wasn't like he was ungrateful for all the man had done for him.

Regardless of his thoughts, now the brown haired man had to look after another child, and whether or not he really wanted to take her in or not, he was still a strong believer in God's word, or, at least, he had to keep up that image. It would be unbecoming of a priest to turn away a soul in need, especially of the "soul in need" was his own child. The man sighed as he stood up. "Well, I suppose I should set up a room." He said to himself as he walked deeper into the church.

*Wth Shirou*

Shirou had made it to the outside of the cabin. The wooden building stood surrounded by trees and was surprisingly large. It's base was about about 20 square meters and it stood about four meters high. It was made completely out of wood, causing it to blend into the forest. The building possessed no windows and only one entrance, only knowledgeable by the thin openings separating the pieces of wood and small handle . It was essentially a giant wooden block with a door.

Deciding to get it over with, Shirou stepped in front of the door. With one strong kick, the door broke off it's lock and opened wide.

Apon stepping into the cabin, the first thing that Shirou caught sight of was a man.

The man was clearly his target, Charles Whitehorn. He looked just like his picture save for a few differences. His skin was noticably paler. That was probably due to his change into a dead apostle, though the two months spent hulled up in the cabin probably didn't help. The bags under his now red and bloodshot eyes barely visible through his crooked glasses. It was obvious that he hadn't slept in a while. Finally, he was sweating profusely, to the point where his white button down had noticeable sweat stains on it and white hair was now matted down toa Cages his head.

Shirou looked at the interior of the cabin. The only lighting in the building came from four candles sitting on stools that were spread across each corner of the room. Against the far wall were about 30 cages lined up and stacked on top of eachother. In the cages were large assortment of artificially created chimeras. They all had unique appearances. One looked like a crocodile with rabbit ears and uneven patches of white fur all over its body. One had the front legs of a bird, the head of a pig and the Hind legs and body of a dog. Another one possessed the body snake hand had three heads: a cat, a falcon, and….a goldfish? On the one open spot of the wall sat a large lever.

Whitehorn looked towards Shirou and the now broken door. "You, you you're from the Mage Association?" He asked. The old man then seemed to notice the cross on Shirou's neck. "No, the Church."

Shirou simply nodded.

"I am simply a man of science." He stated. "I do not understand why I am being hunted like this. I have cause no trouble. I have not killed any humans. So why?" He asked.

"I don't ask questions." Shirou stated plainly as he pulled out two black keys, one in each hand. "I just do my job."

"I see" the man stated. "Well then, it seems you'll have to die!" He jumped over to the back wall and pulled the lever down. At once, all of the cages burst open, allowing all of the synthetic beasts to roam free. "Go! Kill him!" The man ordered his beasts.

At their creator's command, about half of the creatures charged at Shirou.

Shirou, to his credit, didn't waiver. He sliced at the beasts without hesitation, cutting them down as they approached him.

"Tch" Whitehorn clicked his tongue. He turned to the synthetic beasts that he didn't send forward immediately. The man pointed at Shirou. "Kill him!" He ordered.

Most of them obeyed. They charged at the executor, not caring how many others were getting killed performing the same action. However, one synthetic beasts stayed back.

The creature resembled a wolf. It was decently large, standing about three and a half feet tall while on all fours. It's fur was a stark white and it possessed bright, golden eyes. The beast just stayed back, looking at its creator.

Charles noticed that the wolf-like creature had not moved. "Didn't you hear me!? Attack!" The dead apostle ordered.

The wolf looked at the man for a minute before it acted. Attack it did. Without any warning, the creature jumped at its creator. After pinning the man to the ground, it bit into his arm, tearing the flesh away Charles's bone.

"Aahh! You disobedient mutt! Obey me!"

The wolf-like creature didn't listen. It continued to tear it's master to shreds as fast as it regenerated.

"Dammit! You stupid beast! Get o-!

[SHINK]

Suddenly, a black key planted itself firmly in the dead apostle's head.

The synthetic beast jumped back as Charles's body began to turn to ashes. It turned its gaze to see Shirou. The boy's hand was lazily outstretched and his coat was covered in blood.

Shirou walked up calmly towards the beast.

The creature kept it's eyes firmly on the redhead.

Shirou looked back into the creature's eyes. In those two Amber orbs that were not too different from his own, Shirou saw something that drew his attention.

The will to live.

All of the other synthetic beasts that he had killed so far had attacked him by order of their master. They probably didn't even understand why. They simply obeyed their creator's command and attacked him with out a single thought, even while seeing all of their king being slaughtered.

This one was different. It posses enough sense of self to attack Whitehorn instead. Actually, perhaps it wasn't a sense of self. It could have just as easily been some form of survival instinct. Either way, it interested Shirou.

"Hmm" Shirou hummed as he looked at the beast.

*Three Days Later - Fuyuki Church*

The door to the church opened.

Kirei, who had been cleaning up around the podium, looked over towards the door to see Shirou standing there. Next to the boy stood a large white wolf. "Shirou-kun" Kirei said as he saw the boy enter the building. "I see, you've returned. How was your mission?" He asked.

"The mission wasn't that difficult." Shirou claimed. "It only took a few hours."

"Really?" The elder Kotomine asked. "But you were gone almost four days."

"Well, first, my flight got delayed." Shiou started. "Then I was told that my flight didn't allow animals, so I had to wait overnight for one that accepts animals. That plane had to make 8 stops before it landed in Tokyo." He finished his explanation.

"And getting from the airport in Tokyo to here?" The priest asked.

"I took a cab, then a bus, then another cab." He answered.

"And no one wondered about the animal with you." The man asked.

"He stayed quiet." was Shirou's only responded.

"I see." The man stated. "But I do wonder, why is that wolf accompanying you?" He asked.

Shirou looked at the creature that was next to him. "This is a synthetic beast." Shirou stated, patting the wolf's head. "I found it on during the mission. I decided to make it my familiar."

"Well, that's a simple explanation." The older man stated.

"Well well," a voice slightly familiar to Shirou started. "It seems the lonely boy has a fondness for strays."

Shirou looked over to the direction of the voice and was surprised by who he saw. "Caren?" Shirou began upon seeing the silver haired girl sitting in one of the aisles, a Bible open in her hand. "What are you doing here?"

"Shirou" the silver haired girl began. As she stood up, she put the book down. "It would seem that Kotomine-san has decided to finally take some responsibility for me."

"Responsibility?" Shirou asked, confused.

"Hm, you two already seem familiar with each other." Kirei noted as he walked closer to the two children. "I was unaware that you two were already acquainted." The man spoke.

"We met at your father's funeral." Shirou explained.

"Oh yes," Kirei said. "I did hear that Caren was present then."

"Yes," Caren began. "I was present then. I simply had no desire to interact with you." She stated bluntly.

"I gather from the context so far that you two know each other from somewhere." Shirou interrupted.

Kirei nodded towards the boy. "Well, you see Shirou-kun, Caren is my biological daughter." Kirei said. "That makes her your adoptive younger sister."

"...Okay." Shirou answered after a moment.

"I imagined that you would be more surprised." Caren stated, the slightest amount of bewilderment in her voice.

"Please don't misunderstand." The redhead began. "I'm actually quite surprised. When I had met you, I had assumed that you were his brother's daughter. The fact that he saw fit to keep this hidden from me until the last possible moment is nothing new." Now that Shirou thought about it, it did kinda make sense. Kirei and Caren did seem to have somewhat similar personalities, though that seemed to be the only clear similarity.

"And there's the blunt honesty that Shirou-kun is so we'll known for." The adult in the room stated in a somewhat amused tone. "Anyway, I am not surprised that you don't see the family resemblance. Caren takes after her late mother. My dear wife, Claudia Hortensia, unfortunately died several years ago."

Caren glared at the man. However, she didn't say anything.

"I had many responsibilities at the time, and did not have the time nor the skill to care for a child, so I decided that it would be in Caren's best interest to live with her mother's parents. However, they also passed away just recently, so this is the only place left for her now." He explained.

Shirou turned towards the white haired girl. "So, that means that you'll be staying here now?" He asked her.

"So it would seem." She stated.

"You should know that you can't expect too much from our from this man." Shirou told her as he pointed towards Kirei.

A small smile appeared on the girl's lips "You shouldn't worry. I don't." She confirmed.

"As fun as it is to listen to you two take turns insulting me," Kirei began. "I'm afraid that I have work to do. Shirou, I trust you to show her around. She'll be staying in the room across from yours." The brown haired man walked away.

After the man left, Shirou turned towards the girl. "So, where would you like me to take you first?" He asked.

"I think I would like the kitchen." She stated. "I've been told that your quite talented in the kitchen. Most men have a strong enough sense of masculinity to stop them from doing such tasks."

"Well, I can show you my cooking skills if you want. Though in my opinion, that seems like an odd place to start." Shirou stated.

"You know, you have quite an odd reaction to being insulted." Caren told him.

Shirou tilted his head in confusion. "That was an insult?' He asked. "As far as I see it, it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman as long as your abilities are satisfactory."

"Hm, I see." The girl said. "Well, either way, I would like to try your cooking."

"Alright, then you can follow me." Shirou said as he started walking to the kitchen, the silver haired girl walking behind him.

I intentionally had Caren refer to her father by his last name as a sign of disrespect. I hope I got their dynamic right.

I know its a bit shorter than normal, but I got the information I wanted in.