Fate/Zero: A Different Path

Chapter 51

I should have died long ago, a forgotten memory of a bygone time.

Years, months, eternities spent contemplating the meaning of an abandoned existence. It took some time to remember I wasn't always this this sort of...human

Looking at the bustling crowd around us, my mind wanders far past the time axis. Back to the beginning of my journey born as Kiritsugu Emiya. Then my participation in the Fourth Grail War. The subsequent adoption of Shirou. Our life in the Clock Tower...

The precious time of the world is being slowly changed by its principles to achieve the desired outcome. With each second ticking by, the world continues spiraling further than its intended course of history.

A minute is 59 seconds and 1 donut. Inflation had hit the timeline, it is now 59 seconds and 2 donuts.

At a conversion rate of 2.47 donuts per second, the sacred scaffolding of existence will shatter. Its remnant will be torn apart by forces beyond mortal syntax. At 2.48, axioms are inversed and nothing will no longer be sensible. All logics applied will lose their...sacharine entropy

This wasn't the place we ended the last time,

My life is a story I like to revisit sometime. To memorize the conflicts, triumphs, and nuances along the way in an effort to understand everything, though such things aren't feasible in today's world. A new chapter is the present, while everything gone is immutable to change

The past is the past. Only the me "now" that matters

"Kiritsugu, still obssessed with the flow of time?" Zelretch look at me, holding a singular cream-glazed donut "Live a little. Pour me some melted mozzy's"

Noticing the mozzarella sauce he's pointing at, I flipped the bottle and pour it for him

"And the bacon grease? Gonna go full-American and gobble those down too?"

"Nah. They're bad for my diet" The Wizard Marshal took his first bite "You don't go full American, unless you want to to end up like them"

As he devour the piece of food, I silently observed our surrounding.

Dutchess county. A piece of picturesque land in New York with not much history behind it. Our destination is a quiet autumn festival.

The statefair's lively atmosphere buzzed around us. Bright, flashing lights form the carnival ride pierce the evening sky, as the neon of electronic carousels reflected off puddles form a recent rain

The air is thick with the scent of fried food- corndog, hotdogs, fries, funnel cales, kettlecorns.... Laughter and excited screams echoed from the roller coasters high above us as we enjoyed the festival.

Amidst this chaos, only one question lingers on my mind

"Zelretch. What are we doing here?" My voice made the other man pause

"We're on vacation"

"Really?"

"Nh, with your daughters gone, we don't have much to do" A twitch resembling a half-formed smirk appear on grease-stained lips "Naturally I took you here for some entertainment"

"Is it true we have nothing to do...here?" I fixed my collar

It took a moment for the Wizard Marshal to stop chewing

The old man's fooling around ceased. He look at the half-eaten donut in his hand in quiet, justified indignity

"Come to think of it, I've always despise American food. Unlike our glorious British cuisine, their seasonings consist of frying oils and batter. Very distasteful stuff"