A New Child

Chapter 4: Magi

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.

~A New Child~

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.

~A New Child~

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.