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With the refusal for the gift Gilgamesh returned the staff's to his treasury saying "Ha! Well that's true at least! And our path's will cross again someday" before tossing the two sisters a wave goodbye. Waiting for them to go through the portal before he summoned a Portal for himself. Well, now the Murder Games were at an end and everyone else was gone. The first thing to do would be to start digging through Kotomine's Church, find any left over evidence...

Oh and there were those orphan children he hid in his Gates earlier to stop the others from finding out, they probably should be let out soon. Thank God Lonqu never blew his cover.

Gilgamesh then stepped through the Portal appearing back at the Church that the group had visited so early in their adventures.

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First order of business was to return to the basement, get those children back in those crates... Or let them go. It was Kotomine's idea to use them as Mana regardless. Regardless he entered the basement to begin getting the children out of the Gates at least... And they were dead. Starved out. Well, Gilgamesh couldn't say he was surprised. The Children were stuck in there for a while. So he left their bodies rotting there and began digging around for any sort of trace or evidence Kotomine had left regarding the Murder Games. Taking whatever he found he soon left the basement, leaving the rotting corpses down there as if he had simply taken out the trash.

Soon he began searching the other sections of the Church, one by one looking for anything that might point him in the right direction. However, that search was suddenly interrupted by a very loud crashing noise... Apparently coming from the main room. He rushed over there in an instant, summoning his armour and gates of Babylon to meet whoever the intruder was shouting at them "Hmph! You dare break into my domain! Be silenced you Mongrel!". Only for him to suddenly halt before firing anything... Was that? No way, it couldn't be...

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It was Iskander, just standing there in the middle of the Church... With a barrel of wine, and forgetting to wear any pants. "Huh? Your Domain? I thought Kotomine ran this place?" Iskander asked confused looking around for a bit trying to find him. Gilgamesh simply sighed and responded "Kotomine is no more, I was just cleaning up the place" before walking up closer to Gilgamesh, just looking him in the eye for a second before bursting out laughing. "Iskander! The Holy Grail War just ended! What are you doing here?". Which was only responded to by a small shrug from Iskander before he pulled out a letter and said "Ai, I just showed up here a few hours ago... Well, not here exactly but on the Bridge we fought. I went to try to find Waver... But he wasn't home, so I decided to grab some Ale and head to the Church. Figured they'd be able to explain why I'm here".

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow at this, why in the world would a Servant be summoned after a Holy Grail War? Swipping the letter out of Iskander's hand he looked at and asked "This, it was with you when you got here?" to which Iskander nodded and said "Yea, I opened it and it mentioned something about a Gameboard event. It seemed odd, and without a Master I figured I should ask Kotomine for clarification... Wait, you have one in your pocket too!". Gilgamesh looked down, seeing a letter also in his pocket. He opened it and quickly skimmed it over, it was definitely mentioning the same stuff.

"Iskander, have you ever heard of a Murder Game?" Gilgamesh would then ask Iskander out of the blue. "Uh... No. Is it something like the Grail War?". Gilgamesh sighed and then began to walk past Iskander saying "Come, let us have a drink of King's again. I'll explain it all to you there".

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Once they were at the destination the two sat down like they did the first time, only this time without Arthur, which was the first thing Iskander mentioned saying "This feels a bit odd, having another one of these without Arthur. Good kid, even if she couldn't handle the title of King". Then as Iskander went to drink from his barrel of ale Gilgamesh could only retort "Hmph! You still drink such Primitive Wine!?", already summoning some of his own and far superior wine. "Well, I didn't exactly expect you to be here Gilgamesh, it was this or nothing" was all Iskander could say as he took some of it from himself. Gilgamesh then sighed and said "Alright, the Murder Games... I have a lot to tell you".

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"Ai! So these Murder Games are basically people sitting around waiting to be killed? And they're just expected to take it!? What kind of dishonourable game is this!?" Iskander exclaimed angry, before calming down a bit and continuing "And you literally just came out of one? What do you make of these letters then?". Gilgamesh could only shrug and stated "In all probability this is another one of those, Kotomine said as much would happen... But the question is, why so soon?", he took a minute to think about it before saying "Well, the Holy Grail War summons people from all times, this is probably the Murder Games doing the same thing".

Iskander meanwhile seemed to be using his sword to carve some sort of battle plan into the dirt as he asked "So, what do you about it? Do you we just go in?". That would be a bad idea doing so that quickly, they needed to know what exactly they were walking into. "Not quite yet, these kinds of invitations tend to be sent out far in advance. We have a bit of time to prepare, follow leads. For example, part of this war involved a Sword stolen from Rin, the Tohsaka's may know something". Gilgamesh was fully aware that at this point they were just chasing leads almost blind, but it was better than nothing.

Iskander though seemed completely on board, nodding his head and stating "Ai, that works. And it's nice to not be fighting you for a change... Say, we can combine our forces like we talked about last time maybe!", which Iskander knew wasn't gonna happen, but it was worth a shot. "Ha! That's the second time you've made me laugh with that! But no, we'll work together for this... But I still have no intention is working with others when it comes to conquering".

"Fair enough, but who knows? Maybe those people you meet in the last war would pop up again. From what you said of them you seem to get along with at least two of them quite a bit...". Oh god, Gilgamesh sincerely hoped Ryan and Reece wouldn't get mixed up in it. Knowing what Reece was like that may be unavoidable, but still he'd prefer it if that wasn't the case. The two had already seen enough for such a dishonourable game, but now wasn't the time to worry, but a time for action. So Gilgamesh simply stood up and said to Iskander, changing the topic "Alright, let's go", to which Iskander simply agreed "Right behind you".

~Fin~
 
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Life's Good Now
~~~


"War Journal... Final entry." Frank read aloud as he wrote.

Frank sat alone in the home he shared with Rin in London, looking out the window silently for a good while before continuing. He was just... thinking. About what? Well, about everything. He'd come a long way. Born Francis Castiglione to a nothing family in Hell's Kitchen, thousands of miles away in another dimension. Went into the clergy. Didn't work out, of course. Still; he was a better priest than Kotomine. Joined the army. Two tours in Vietnam... marine recon. Not his fondest memories anymore, though he used to look back on them warmly. A third tour. The one that cost it all the one where he sold his soul. The one where he lost it all.

The screams surrounded him. The smoke filled his lungs. He felt the pain of bullets ripping through him, and, all the while, the voice in the back of his mind was egging him on. Telling him about a never-ending war. That he could give Frank that, all he had to do was say yes. There'd be a price, of course. Frank knew that. He just didn't expect the cost to be so steep. He got out of that battle. He managed to stay alive through the napalm they let loose on the fire-base (not even he knew how). He saw the fear in the soldiers that found hims' eyes as they saw him standing alone, surrounded by corpses- most of the kills his. The adrenaline faded, and he realized that he was about to get to go home. He was going to get to see his kids again. His wife. He was happy.

Frank was happy.

Frank went on to training special forces. A good job. Didn't pay spectacularly well, but it paid something. That's all they needed. He was happy. His kids were doing well in school. He was happy. He and his wife were considering having another child. He was happy. He was given permission to go on leave for a while to enjoy some time with his family. He was happy. His daughter handed him a note as they drove to central park. It was a cute little love-letter. He was happy.

Frank heard the gunfire.

He felt it, too.

He heard the screams.

Frank wasn't happy for a very, very long time.

Thirty long years of being a vigilante. Frank wasn't even putting a dent in crime, and he knew it, but he didn't care. He just wanted to hurt people the way he'd been hurt. He told others it was to prevent innocents from suffering the same fate as him, but he didn't care about that so much as he cared about revenge. He cared about how much he hated them, and hate them he did, with a burning, self-destructive obsession that nearly cost him his life countless times. At the time, he didn't care. Death would have been a release, though he didn't want to do the deed himself.

Then the Incident occurred. He woke up in a military facility he didn't recognize. He was infected with some zombie virus in a world he didn't understand. He was chased by a monster that seemed straight out of English television. He met Kotomine. That bastard. The two saw eye to eye on some things. Many things. Seemed like a good partnership at the time. At the end of it all, he met the Coalition and GORE. Turned out none of that was real. It was a training simulation. A very, very good one.

That's how he met her.

Rin and Kotomine came in out of nowhere while Frank was just killing time trying to get laid. They didn't really stick out too much at first, but a round of flirting established a rapport. They got drunk, though. They shared a room... couldn't get anywhere else, they were so wasted. He heard her crying in her sleep. About a father. The old man was still considering her romantically at the time, but... looking back, he wished he'd taken that roll far, far sooner. She needed it much more. When she woke up, they talked. About their pain. About how much it hurt. They found common ground. Eventually, Frank worked up the nerve to ask to go back with her. He saw a chance. Frank saw a chance to be happy.

First came the big deal, though. The hunt for the Arch Demon. The Ultimate Murder Game. He shook his head just recalling it. It was a foolish venture, sending such a motley force lacking any discipline and, largely, training, but the Coalition didn't have time to do any better. He met Ridley there. Sad girl. Frank wished he could have done more for her. Probably always would. He stuck with her as long as he could. Even more important, though, was Lisa. His daughter, but... not his daughter. She was... concerning. She was scared she'd end up like him. He was scared of that, too. Later, she made good call. Tried to shoot him in the back. Ridley took the bullet for him. Turned out she was the traitor... but it also turned out she wasn't as evil as she thought. Frank couldn't forgive Lisa for that, though. They found the Arch Demon, later. They punished him. He left with Rin, and hadn't spoken to Lisa since.

He was happy, for a while.

Living in the mansion was mostly peaceful, though they were building up to the Fifth Grail War. He'd fallen into old habits and amassed an arsenal of weaponry that only got used once or twice. Rin was going to school. He was helping her make amends with her sister. He'd decided to move past the romance when Emiya showed up. Too old for that, anyways. Frank wanted to be the father Kotomine had taken away from her. The demon was being fought off. He was changing. No more hunting criminals. No more torture. Frank was a different man. Then everything started to go wrong again. Soldiers broke into the mansion. Extradimensional travelers tried to kill Rin. All of it led back to one thing: The Murder Games. At the time, he had no idea how it was possible the Arch Demon was dead; who could orchestrate such a thing?

Frank put his happiness on hold to fight to keep Rin safe. The Murder Game started, and he was... afraid, for the first time. He didn't want to die anymore. He didn't want to leave Rin alone. It changed how he approached things. He was more careful. He still made friends, though. Two kids, in particular, stood out. Ryan and Kinuhata. The old man smiled at the thought of them. So bright for such a dark, dark 'game.' As time went on, he fought to keep the demon dead. Almost caved several times, but he never did. He died... again. Death was no longer a matter of concern for the old man as much as an annoyance. A setback. He was beginning to wonder if death would ever set him free.

They fought on through the game. Died several times. Later, they found something Frank was... not all that surprised by, though it certainly angered him. Kotomine was behind it all. He had spread the Games on. The old man fought him. He lost. He would have died, if not for the others present killing Kotomine before he could finish the job. It was finally over, though. That game, anyways. Frank let Ryan and Kinuhata go, despite wanting to stay with them. Didn't even have the guts to really say goodbye to either. He went with Rin to London.

He was happy.

He was still happy as he sat there, looking out into the busy streets of London. Such a long journey. So much pain. So much anger. And yet... So much good came of it, as well. His own happiness. His role in Rin's life. The happiness, however brief, he hoped he gave those two girls (though he had no delusions about protecting Kinuhata; he was fairly certain it was the other way around). All the friends and allies he had across the multiverse now. He smiled again, looking down at the floor.

"I guess it's not really so much a War Journal as a diary entry. Heh. I guess I'm just doing this in case Rin or somebody finds these. To explain myself. To offer a farewell. To end this chapter. I'm not the man from these earlier pages anymore. I haven't been for a good long while now. It doesn't hurt as much anymore... I still hate them. I still hate myself. But... I won't hurt anyone. Not ever again. I've got... well, I've got everything they ever took from me back. Sorta. No, no one can replace Maria... or Lisa... or Junior. But... I think I'm going to love Rin just as much as I'd love them. And... I'm going to make sure she turns out good. Better than I did, anyways. Maybe that Emiya boy would be good for her to..." He paused, then erased that part. "Just know that the pages before this are from a dark, dark man that died the day he met Rin Tohsaka."​
 
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Forgiveness
~~~

The old man stared down at his coffee in silence. Rin was off learning. He was just... Alone. Frank liked it that way, at times. It helped him think. Retirement gave him a lot of time to do that. What was he thinking about? His life before. What life he had left. Sighing deeply, the old man looked out the window into the streets of the city. It was more a relaxed sigh than anything else. His eyes closed as he sat back. Holding his phone, he pressed the record button and sat it down. Expressing his thoughts helped him think. So, whenever he was alone and needed to sit on something, he came to this little corner of his house and put what he was thinking into words.

For a few seconds, he just sat there, the image on the phone's screen seeming to watch him expectantly. Finally, he began. "Back when I was thinking about joining the clergy, I had an issue. I was hotheaded. Believed in righteous punishment. I was almost more a fan of the Old Testament God than the New. As time went on, I realized that I just... couldn't forgive people for their wrongdoings. I felt that they deserved every awful thing that came their way." Frank sat there for a few seconds, again in silence. "Been thinking about the people I killed. The people I punished."

"I don't regret killing one of them. They did have it coming. They deserved it. But, looking around, I... Well. I still want to stop Joe Mugger, but I don't want to dangle his intestines from a bridge anymore. That's a start, right? Well... I think so, anyways. I don't think I can forgive those people, but... there are some others that I think I can. Gonna pull some strings. Get a letter to Lisa. Maybe I can... Maybe I can make things right with her. I don't want her to come back, no. She's better off where she is. But, maybe, I can die knowing that, somewhere, she did make it... and that she forgives me, too." The old man smiled off to the side... but the smile quickly faded. "Still one person I don't think I can forgive, though."

"He's the one that put me here. The one that took... everything from me. My family. My position. My happiness. I'm sorry, Father, but I just can't forgive him. Because of him, my kids died in that park. Because of him, I lost Maria. I punished him the worst of all. I made sure of it. Now, he'll never hurt another person again."

He picked up the revolver that he'd hidden in the corner.

"Attempt number twenty-three."

The old man loaded two bullets in and spun the chamber. He pressed the gun to his temple. He didn't feel afraid. Didn't sweat. This was just one last punishment. One last killer gone from the world at his hands. Thousands more avenged. Hundreds in another universe put at ease, because the man so feared and hated for his ruthlessness was finally gone from the world.

Just one more person he couldn't forgive.
 
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