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A hero must be fearless, unmoved by all the horrors of this world, and capable of facing the nightmares that plague this world without hesitation.

In many ways, Shiruo reflected this discretion perfectly; since the fire of his childhood, the man had been desensitized, unable to understand even the most basic of emotions.

This had left him capable of calmly facing some of the world's greatest horrors. But even in his desensitized state, the man feared something with all his heart; his fears were represented in this moment by a white door.

Shiruo wasn't completely mad. It wasn't the door that made his heart tremble but the people behind it. So, the man who had faced a deity a few hours earlier without hesitation found himself paralyzed by fear.

Shiruo 's gaze alternated from the door to the little girls sleeping behind him, trying to find the courage to knock and unleash the hell that would ensue.

The situation was not dissimilar to the one he had experienced many years ago when he had brought Sally into the house for the first time. Only the thought that people were counting on him had given him the courage to act.

So once again, bracing himself, knowing that people were counting on him, Shiruo knocked.

"Really, Shiruo, you forgot the keys once again. I don't understand..." the voice of the young woman who had opened the door stopped halfway as she took note of the girls behind the man.

" Shiruo, what have you done?" the woman asked dangerously with an all too sweet smile, which did not reassure the man trembling before her.

"Master Rin, where do you want me to put these documents?" Piper asked, appearing at the door and thus unknowingly saving Shiruo.

For his part, the man thanked heaven for the proverbial intervention of the unknown girl. Still, in any case, it did not escape him that the girl was not only a stranger inside his house but also called one of his wife's teachers.

With a raised eyebrow, Shiuro asked Rin a silent question, hoping to understand who the mysterious girl was.

Rin was not used to being on the side of the interrogated and, under the persistent gaze of her typically guilty lover, could only feel pressured.

"I can explain."

"Not only were we attacked by a goddess, but out of spite towards her, you took her daughter as a student?" Shiruo asked in amazement, unable to believe his ears.

"You really can't judge me, seeing as you fought against a goddess and brought back not one but two children." Rin quickly defended herself; the woman sitting regally on the sofa behind her was confused. Piper trying to make sense of the entire conversation he had overheard.

"What could I do?" Shiruo asked tiredly

"Even without considering Eris's interference, Julian had just died; what should I have done, abandon her" Shiruo doesn't even bother to put the sentence as a question. He and his wife knew they wouldn't have acted any other way.

"Things are speeding up too fast," Rin said resignedly

"We knew from the beginning that there was a possibility that the gods would find out about us."

"I know. But I was hoping for a little more time; the children are still young; I don't want them to find themselves involved in the inevitable clash that will happen," Rin said with concern, showing her vulnerability and maternal side.

Shiruo proposed feeling the same emotions as his wife

"The children still cannot bear the journey to a new dimension." The woman promptly rejects the proposal.

"I could stay to defend them while you escape," Shiruo proposed again, willing to sacrifice himself and face a battle with little chance of survival to save at least part of his family.

"Don't talk nonsense; not even you could resist the assault of an entire Pantheon," the woman refuses again, angry only at the fact that her husband could have proposed such a thing.

"Enough, you two, don't you realize that with your words, you are scaring the children" I reproach a third voice, announcing the entrance of a tall woman with blond hair and eyes as green as jade; her beauty was worthy of legends and stories, and it was highlighted even more by the air of nobility that the woman seemed to exude.

"Mother, I'm not scared at all," a little girl dressed in a small kendo armor with long red hair and golden eyes exclaims.

"But I can't speak for the thief," the little girl said as she shot daggers out of her eyes at a terrified Piper, who had grown increasingly pale as she listened to her teacher speak.

"Elsa, be nice to Piper," I scold the blonde woman, managing to wake up the little girl simultaneously.

"How many times do I have to repeat it? I'm not a thief," Piper growls, having recovered from her dazed state.

"Anyone who tries to steal my cake is a thief."

"It was a simple dessert," Piper said resignedly for what felt like the millionth time.

"Hunger is the enemy, and you were about to make me feel hungry, so you are the enemy," Elsa said with conviction, following a logic suitable only for children and greedy people.

"Hunger is the enemy," the blonde woman involuntarily agrees, proving that she, too, is a glutton like her daughter.

" Saber," Shiruo gently scolded as he saw that his wife indulged in their daughter's antics.

Hearing the woman resume, she blushed heavily. At the same time, Rin on the sofa shook her head, aware of the man's effect on the former servant behind her; Piper couldn't believe her eyes.

In the few days she had been in Rin's service, the little girl had come to know some women who made up the Emiya family. Among them, Saber was undoubtedly the one who gave the impression of being the most inflexible; her air of royalty and coldness made her seem almost inhuman.

But now, the seemingly iron woman had shown signs of humanity, thanks to gestures and words that Piper would generally have considered futile.

"Elsa, what have I always told you" I continued Shiruo, who, after taking his wife back, concentrated on the little girl who had the impression of a frightened deer

"Not to let my obsession get me too carried away," said Elsa, transformed from a menacing fire-breather to a scared kitten, as she prepared to unleash the weapon that every daughter knew could be devastating for her father.

"But he was trying to steal my precious cake, the one you made just for me," said the little girl with tears in her eyes.

"Enough, Elsa, if that's the problem, I'll make you as much cake as you want." Shiruo gave up at the sight of the weapons deployed by the little girl.

" Shiruo," Saber also whined, seeing that her daughter had gotten what she wanted thanks to this tactic.

"Okay, I'll cook whatever you want too." The man became thoroughly annoyed seeing that his wife also joined in the assault on his daughter

Hearing his words, the mother and daughter duo began celebrating with a smile of pure joy on their faces at Piper's disbelief and Rin's resignation, who was now used to the two's antics.

Tohsaka heir shook his head.

"As if you're different when he brings you all those rare gems," Saber retorts, making Rin blush this time.

"Where are our new guests anyway?" Saber asked, deciding that now that she had gotten what she wanted, it was time to focus on the serious matters.

"They are sleeping in one of the guest rooms," Shiruo replied unchanged, not at all surprised by his family's behavior.

"The poor things must be exhausted," Saber said sympathetically as she sat beside her husband.

"I had to hypnotize them to calm them down; the shock hit them hard," the man confesses, eliciting a grimace from his wife and daughter.

Saber shook her head.

" Saber is right, Shiruo. You know well that you are terrible at hypnotism. In most cases, the people who have undergone hypnosis have suffered from various nightmares," Rin continues, scolding her husband.

"I know, but I couldn't do anything else. We had to leave the area quickly. There wasn't enough time for them to calm down, " Shiruo justified himself.

"You actually had no choice," Saber sighed.

"But you should have warned us in advance so we could take steps to mitigate the effects," Rin added; it was already clear from his face that he was thinking about the best ways to mitigate the side effects.

"Are we still in time?" Shiruo asked worriedly

"If they haven't woken up, we must be able to mitigate the effects."

"AAAHAAA" Rin had no sooner finished replying than a scream in the air, making the three adults jump to attention. They wasted no time in running toward the source of the screams.

Percy had a theory supported only by the male members of his family and entirely discarded by any female bearing the name Emiya.

Percy claimed that, like his father and grandfather before him, he was cursed, a curse that seemed to fit in very well with the low level of luck that male members of the Emiya clan seemed to possess.

Each Emiya man seemed to possess, beyond the horrifying ability to put himself in the most desperate and hopeless situations, the almost otherworldly ability to irritate powerful and beautiful women.

Many argue that this was more of a blessing, considering that in most cases, Emiya men married these women. But Percy knew better. He had seen the truth with his own eyes. He had witnessed how both his father and grandfather were under the thumb of their wives.

There was no doubt that women were in charge in the Emiya household. As much as Percy loved his mothers and sisters, he was aware that sometimes they were more than a little overbearing.

That's why Percy's goal in life was to avoid provoking the wrath of any woman, especially if they were beautiful and intelligent. A goal that for the moment was far from being achieved, the curse seemed to push Percy into the most incredible situations so that he found himself the victim of the wrath of the female population.

It was enough to look at his recent history for confirmation: first, there had been his encounter with Thalia and Annabeth, then the misadventure with Piper and the goddess who had taken possession of her, and now, as if that wasn't enough, he found himself having to endure the screams of two unknown girls inside his house.

"Calm down, calm down," Percy tries to make peace.

"Monsters, monsters," the younger of the two continues to scream, completely ignoring the boy's words.

"Don't worry, I'll save you," the larger two stepped forward, picking up the shinai that Percy had dropped earlier, surprised by the girl's screams.

"Die, die" the girl screamed as she swung her sword; Percy had to admit, as he dodged the girl's slashes, this one was talented.

Despite her clearly altered state, the girl's skills improved with each blow she landed; it was a talent similar to the one Percy himself possessed.

It was a primordial force that flowed from the blood that instinctively allowed you to wield a weapon as if you had always done so, a hereditary power capable of taking you from zero to one hundred in seconds.

It was something overwhelming that could go to your head; Percy had personally experienced the sense of invincibility you felt while your divine gifts gave you the push; in the girl, this sensation must have been even more potent, considering the state of alteration in which he was.

But as Percy had done in his time, the girl was also about to understand that this push was futile and that relying exclusively on your divine talent didn't take you very high. It was great for dealing with monsters and low-level enemies. Still, sooner or later, if you continued down the moonlit path, you would encounter an obstacle too significant to overcome.

This was why most demigods or prodigies didn't see adulthood as a lesson Percy and his sisters had experienced first-hand by being defeated countless times at the hands of their parents. The complacency and sense of omnipotence quickly disappeared when you couldn't even touch your opponent's clothes.

Percy was nowhere near his parents' level. Still, in their absence, he would have to be responsible for teaching the girl this lesson, all to defend the sanctity of his home, which had been violated too many times lately.

Percy threw himself inside the girl's guard with a lightning bolt while she raised her weapon for yet another blow. His intrusion completely blocked the girl's movements. She could no longer launch her blow, and instinctively, the girl tried to strike him with the hilt of his sword.

But Percy had expected this move and was prepared. He slipped his arms between those of the girl. By applying a little pressure, he made them open wide, thus disarming the older girl, who now found herself not only without a weapon but also with her hands. Arms blocked.

It was a stalemate for both of them; Percy had blocked the girl's arms, preventing her from attacking, but by doing so, he couldn't use his arms to attack either; luckily, the boy had already thought of a solution for this problem.

With an unorthodox move, Percy bumped his head against the girl's. She stumbled backward, neutralizing the first threat, and the boy turned towards the second.

The younger girl's face was tinged with fear, Percy had never seen anyone look at him with such terror on their face, and this only terrified him in turn.

Percy had never considered himself the lousy guy; in his mind, he had always been the good one; even now, his actions were dictated only by the desire to defend his home and his family.

But for all his good intentions, all he was accomplishing was traumatizing an unknown little girl even more; Percy couldn't help but feel like shit about it.

So instead of acting and knocking out the second girl too and ending the whole situation in this way, the young man hesitated just long enough for the girl to indulge her fear and, in her terror, try to chase away what was for her, the monster that tormented her.

Taken by surprise and still hesitant, Percy allowed the girl to pick up the fallen sword and launch the attack, even if he was a few seconds late due to his state. Percy was still perfectly capable of blocking the girl, but to do so, he would have had to wound the girl. The girl and the green-eyed boy didn't feel like it; in his heart, he didn't have the strength to do it, to cause even more pain to those who already seemed to be on the verge of despair.

Not finding it in himself to react, the boy closed his eyes, preparing for the impact that would have shaken him, but the effect never reached him.

"Woof," a bark and a thud made Percy open his eyes to see what had happened.

The girl was lying on the ground, defeated above her sister, and looming over them was Percy's savior.

Small in size, white and purple, adorned with different types of bows, it was the apotheosis of cute. His long ears made him look like a strange cross between a squirrel and a dog, but he seemed even more adorable instead of making him bizarre.

Any person who had a soft spot for the stuff couldn't resist the little animal and would bend under the power of its cuteness. The two girls, now lying at its feet, were no exception.

The two sisters seemed to have lost all traces of aggression as they were submerged in the saliva of the little animal who happily licked their face amidst the giggles of the girls whose eyes were now more evident than ever.

Percy wondered if the girls would be so calm, knowing that the little creature they were cuddling was actually one of the deadliest creatures in the world, if not the most lethal.

A predator born only to drive all life on the planet to extinction, the first of The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, the most dangerous creatures in the world, and the affectionate pet of one of Percy's sisters.

The boy looked at the beast with caution, almost expecting it to transform into its evil alter ego and begin to attack him. In fact, the little animal had a bad relationship with all the male members of the family, obeying only the women of the Emiya clan.

Luckily, the dog didn't seem interested in him, preferring to direct all his attention to the girls he was throwing the party for, a party that the younger sister seemed to appreciate much more than the older one.

"What's going on here?" his father's voice made Percy turn his head just in time to see Shiruo come running; following him, Percy could also see two of his mothers and even his sister behind him.

With the arrival of the new arrivals, Percy allowed himself to calm down and analyze the situation well; only then did the boy realize his situation and how guilty he seemed.

The girls were on the ground, dominated by Fou, who was watching over them in an almost protective manner while he (Percy) was standing with a sword at his feet, perfectly immaculate with not even a wrinkled dress to outside eyes, it would have been evident that it was him who had attacked the girls and that Fou had come to their rescue.

Now, Percy didn't just feel like the bad guy. Still, he also looked like one desperate boy looking for Fou, hoping that the beast could speak in his defense; the animal seemed to understand his desire, but instead of helping Percy, I looked at him with an expression that was far too haughty and sarcastic similar to that of a joker ready to pull his next prank.

Instinctively, after seeing the man's face, Percy knew that he couldn't count on his help; in fact, it was more likely that Fou himself was putting him in trouble.

"I can explain everything." When Percy is cornered, I find no better solution than to tell the truth and hope that someone believes him

"No need, Percy." his father's calm voice made the boy stop while Shiruo approached the two girls, still amused by Fou's antics.

" Hylla, Reyna, are you okay?" Shiruo asked sweetly, kneeling over the girls, completely ignoring little Fou, who, after looking disdainfully at the clan head, stepped aside to allow him to check on the girls' condition.

Seeing the attention that the father was paying to the two girls, a particular theory began to form in Percy's head; as if to seek confirmation of this, the boy alternated his gaze from his father, who was still checking the conditions of the girls and his mothers who watched him from the doorway.

"Don't tell me, are they my new sisters?" I blurted out his theory. Percy was sure of having guessed the new identity of the strangers who had tried to attack him.

Moms always said it was a matter of time before Dad brought home some new wives; if so, it was possible that he would get some new sisters, too.

"Baka," said a voice that Percy immediately identified as Elsanee 's

Shiruo 's warm voice interrupted an argument between the brothers.

"From now on, they will both be part of our family" was a definitive sentence. It was one of the few times Percy had heard his father be so resolute.

Normally, Percy associated his father with a calm and collected person who left the most critical decisions regarding the family to one of the mothers; hers was the voice that was heard the least in the house.

But now, for the first time since Percy could remember, his father had issued an order without even hearing the mothers' opinions.

"So, as members of this family, I expect you to protect them," Shiruo said, turning to Fou to the confusion of the new members of the Emiya clan, who thought the dog was a normal animal for Percy's amusement.

"As agreed, I will protect your family even for the new members," said Fou, who ultimately reflected his cute and cuddly appearance; this, too, was a fake put in place probably to mislead the new family members even more.

The very voice of the creature that Percy had had the misfortune of hearing repeatedly was like the rumble of thunder coupled with the clashing of hundreds of blades.

"But you and your son are not part of the agreement; you must fend for yourself. I do not fight for men." I remember Fou showing how Merlin's influence had affected him during his time as his familiar.

Percy had met the flower wizard and could attest to his libertine and playboy nature; the man seemed to act only out of love for the fairer sex.

It was only because of his relatively excellent and honest nature that the man reluctantly lent his support even to men. Still, Fou, by his very nature, was the antithesis of any form of human life. For him, helping someone was an enormous effort similar to suffering.

Considering this, it was a miracle that the creature was willing to defend the female members of the family, and it was something Percy was grateful for. The boy didn't care much about his safety, but he put that of his family first; it didn't matter that much of it was decidedly stronger than him.

Just the thought of seeing one of his precious people suffer was enough to give Percy nightmares, which was one of the reasons he trained so hard so that he would be strong enough to face any danger the Moirai decided to place upon him. His family's path.

Whoever the old hags decided to send would find Percy ready to face them. Behind him was also the steel wall on Father, and if by some miracle he too fell, there was an even more significant obstacle, the last line of defense of the Fou clan.

However, Percy would feel safer if Fou wasn't trying to peek up Mama Rin's skirt as she happily wagged her tail around the two new additions to the family.

At the sight of Percy, I felt his eye twitch for comfort. The boy looked at his father only to see the same expression on the man's face; the trust Percy had previously felt for the guardian began to waver.

To be safe, Percy decided to train more just to survive the madness that was life in the Emiya household.

I apologize for the delay, but I've had a busy two months.

Returning to the chapter we see both Shiruo and Rin face the consequences of their actions all seasoned with a piece of family life of the Emiya family and its new and bizarre members.

Releasing one chapter here means two more are available on my P. a treon, if you want to read ahead feel free to visit. There, you will also find some incredible fan art about this story.

P a /RedArcher739

P a treon . com(slash)RedArcher739