"Holy shit." The words emerged from his mouth without his knowing, his mind temporarily bleeding into his body.

They stood in front of the Tohsaka Residence-although it may be more appropriate to call it a mansion.

The town neighboring Fuyuki, as well as part of Fuyuki itself, had been industrialized years ago, when Rin still lived there. Modern and sleek buildings were frequent, mainly made of smooth white concrete. She had actually decided to walk the whole distance to her house, which Liam surely didn't complain about. Besides, he could tell her mind was living in the past.

He watched her occasionally as her brain worked. It recalled memories from years ago, bringing forth moments in time without discretion. Sometimes they were happy, as he could almost hear her giggling as they passed a certain department store and baseball arcade. Others were not so pleasant. Particularly when they walked by a certain church. Her eyes didn't even meet the building, but Liam could tell it wasn't obliviousness that eluded her from the church, but effort to keep her attention away from an accursed place.

Crossing the Fuyuki bridge, they entered the southern part of the city. Rin spoke a lot as they walked, describing the layout of the city as well as part of the history as she dragged her suitcase along the concrete sidewalk, which Liam was grateful for.

The residential area of Fuyuki had two distinct parts: the southern and northern parts. While the northern section had typical, yet old, Japanese style housing, the southern section had specifically Western styled houses. He understood her meaning when they arrived at her mansion.

It was a comically large building-something that immediately made him think of "a magi's home" when his eyes met it. The style reminded him of English tutor homes, with dark brown bricks paired alongside bright white walls. The shape was irregular as small octagonal rooms jutted out from the sides of the house, creating spires rather than a typical slanted roof. The yard had many overgrown plants, some of which reached up above the house and clutched at it, as if they wished to crush it and pull it back down into the past where it belonged.

"You weren't kidding about space." Liam spoke again, a nervous laugh escaping his chest. Rin stayed silent as she unlocked the front door and pushed it open.

The interior appealed to Liam even more than the exterior. The floors of the entrance hall were dark brown and wooden, while the walls were of a slight off white color. The woman immediately slipped her shoes off as gently pushed them into the right corner. She gave a nod behind her for Liam to do the same, of which he did indeed.

"There's a guest bedroom upstairs, second door on the left, right before you reach the study." She informed him as she shoved her suitcase's handle down. She carried it the rest of the way, stepping up the large carpeted staircase to the left of the hall. Liam followed her quickly, only having his regular duffel bag, although this time it was appropriately stuffed with clothes.

His bedroom was beyond anything he had ever lived in before. It was larger than his own dorm room by several feet. The bed sat close to the upper left corner of the room, twisted horizontally so that it was parallel to the large window towards the end of the bed.

The floor was carpeted a deep but bright red, similar to the color he saw Rin wearing on occasion. A small nightstand stood on the right side of the bed, while the other side was left empty. A large dark brown bureau sat at the right corner of the room.

As Liam started to dig through his clothes, he could hear Rin exit her room across from his, making her way down to the first floor. He changed his clothes, now wearing a simple brown button up and black jeans.

He left the luxurious room, calling as he walked down the small staircase,

"Rin?"

Silence. Liam frowned as he continued downwards, looking around the living room and peering into the kitchen in the room across from it. It almost scared him how pristine the house had remained since Rin had left it years ago-then again, he reminded himself this was the house of a magus.

He slowly turned around before his eyes met a door he didn't remember. It was opened halfway, which would normally allow at least some light to enter the adjacent room, but it remained dark. It reminded him of a cave which reached through the earth-where light mattered not, simply dissipating due to the sheer depth. His body stepped towards it without his consent, slipping through the door and walking down the wooden steps.

The walls were made completely out of dark blue bricks. The room at the end of the stairs was a vaguely circular shape, which held Rin in the dead center.

She had changed into a large white button up, the sleeves bunching up more and more as it approached her wrists. Across it laid a thin red shawl with a small white symbol on its back, as well as a skirt which almost reached her knees. She was currently crouched down, touching the cold stone floor with a hand, inspecting something. Liam's steps resonated through the small room even without shoes to provide a hard surface.

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"I didn't remember giving you permission to enter my Workshop, assistant." Her voice was suddenly cold and professional, transforming into a slender sword which pierced into his heart with fear.

A magus' workshop was like their very body imprinted on the World. A place of utter power for the mage, where they would be at their strongest. Walking into one would be akin to begging for death for an enemy magus.

"S-sorry, it's just that I couldn't find you anywhere, and I didn't want to snoop around just to find the bathroom..." Liam stuttered. He was speaking the truth, but his curiosity for the underground workshop combined with the sudden fear he felt created a guilty expression on his face. Rin simply sighed and stood, picking up her brown purse she kept beside her and turning to the boy.

"It's directly next to your guest room." She said before gesturing with her head for him to exit.

"I'm going to go out and do some shopping. Keep out of the workshop, my room, and the study, please." She explained as they approached the living room again. She closed the door behind them and approached the front door. "Other than that, I would appreciate it if you kept magecraft to a minimum. Performing magic inside another mages house can lead to some... troublesome outcomes."

Liam nodded in agreement. He had intended on leaving anyways to try and get an idea of the land around him. Rin smiled slightly before nodding back and leaving the home.

"Took that witch long enough."

The boy nearly hurt his head spinning around to see the voice.

The curtains now behind Liam swung closed, and judging by the noise, so did all the other curtains in the house. The light from the sun noticeably dimmed, casting a shadow which turned the walls from off-white to an almost gray color.

Two adults stood to Liam's left, a male and female. Both were noticeably older than Liam himself, yet they were simultaneously unnaturally youthful. The woman had long and straight black hair that reminded him of his teachers-although hers was parted over her forehead rather than gathering in bangs. The man had lighter, brown hair, cut short and faded around the sides. Each wore a plain red shirt with golden outlines, although the woman had a long black skirt while the man wore slacks. While it was the woman who had spoken before, this time it was the man,

"Nice to see you in person, nephew."

While he didn't have much doubt over who these strangers were, that sentence practically confirmed his assumption.

"Auntie. Uncle." Liam said as he turned his body towards them. His shadow cast over the two of them, thin and weak, only darkening their figure by a couple shades. The two spoke English without any accent, leaving one to wonder their true ethnicity, but Liam knew.

"That's a bold move. Breaking into an expert magus' very home?" He jabbed, yet his mouth made no indication of a snarky grin. His heart beat so hard he could feel it through his ribs. Blood rushing, chemicals mixing, fear arising. Liam tried to focus on Rin's earlier advice.

'Weapons don't feel. Weapons don't think.' He told himself. A meager attempt of self-suggestion, to deny himself the fear that resurfaced. It had brewed over the past two months, time creating a scab to suppress it, but at the present, the barrier had shattered. His terror had long since boiled over. He was infected with it.

"Well, drastic times call for drastic measures-that is the saying, correct?" The woman turned to her brother who nodded. The two grinned as they turned back to Liam. "Now, won't you come with us? It'd be a shame to dirty such a pleasant residence."

His fears receded slightly upon hearing her words. Any chance to avoid combat was a blessing for Liam.

"While I'm grateful for your nonviolent request," He began, the words struggling to escape his lips. "I believe you two have some explaining to do. Particularly why."

The siblings gave a small chuckle. The man sat in the luxurious sofa at his side, while Liam's aunt simply remained standing.

"Do you know of Philosophy Keys?"

Liam recalled a lecture from Lord El-Melloi II, shortly after the corpse puppet attacked him.

Western magecraft operated through the use of foundations of thought engraved upon the World by humanities consciousness. Religion, philosophy, even superstition created an avenue for magecraft to be performed. Magi connected to these thaumaturgical foundations with their magic circuits, using their incantations and processed magical energy to artificially realize Mysteries.

Eastern magecraft was fundamentally different than that of the west. Long ago, when gods still roamed the planet, ten divine-level beings created a gigantic Mystic Code within the planet. An artificial simulation of the Root, the True Origin of all of realities phenomena, and the goal of all magi. Philosophy Magecraft drew from this artificial Root as one may take books from a library. A philosophy key would be akin to a library card then, a certificate that allowed a mage to use a certain selection of spells. Liam nodded slowly, allowing his aunt to continue.

"You wouldn't happen to have one on you, would you?" The woman spoke with a false smile. A monster merely attempting to imitate a human. Liam shook his head-fear had wired his mouth shut. She made a disappointed sound and shook her own head.

"Well, if you don't have it, only one thing's left. You know where it is." Before he could protest profusely, she continued speaking,

"Now you might not know where it is, but some part of you does. Whether you were simply too young for you to remember or if she repressed it magically doesn't matter."

"This can all be resolved if you just let us see." His uncle spoke this time, holding his head. Liam could see he was becoming increasingly impatient with their pacifistic method.

It was certainly tempting. He would most likely live even if they dug around in his mind, and the cause of his stress and fear for the past two months would be dealt with without any danger. Despite this, something within him trapped his words. Words he didn't want to say came up instead,

"You ever think... there's a reason mom didn't leave them for you?" His body shook as he spoke these words. He knew what would happen when he said these sentences. Why was he saying them? This was wrong, but it was also right. Liam grit his teeth subconsciously as the battle within him raged.

"Maybe she figured people who would murder their nephew, without even talking to them first, didn't deserve such magic."

There was barely a shift in his relatives demeanors. If anything, it released some tension for them, as his uncle slowly smiled and turned to him.

"I take it that's a no?" He asked the boy. His eyes locked with Liam's. He opened his mouth with his response,

"Collect (Bind)."

Then lightning struck.