???????????

[[The other characters can see this, as if having a dream, but can't interact with what's going on.]]

Lazarus stood alone in the street. It was nighttime, and it was raining. A brief survey of his surroundings revealed to the mage that he was standing in his hometown in Italy; not only that, but outside of the house where he was born. The windows were dark, as were those of all the other houses. In fact, he seemed to be the only person in the city.

As the mage watched the raindrops fall, he noticed something odd about them--the water was inky and black, leaving strange black streaks on every surface they fell on. Even stranger was that there were no clouds in the sky; the black rain fell from a perfectly clear, starry sky.

The mage frowned as he took his surroundings in. He checked his skin for any effects from the odd black rain, and to see if anything he had on his person had come with him to this strange realm.

From what he could tell, he was wearing only the clothes on his back, with none of his equipment.

A voice spoke behind him, and he turned to see Irisviel's form.

"I knew you'd come," she said, smiling at him. "This is where your wish will come true. Within the Grail you longed for."

She pointed up into the sky, where a large black hole had appeared, from which the black rain appeared to be falling.

"That is the Holy Grail. Though it has yet to take shape, the vessel is already overflowing. You need only offer your sacrifices. Then, it will be able to go outside. Lazarus, you are the only one worthy of defining its form."

"I highly doubt that, Miss Einzbern," the mage replied with crooked smile. "In any case, I see no servants, so what would I sacrifice?"

"We will come to that, in time," she replied. "First, I needed to speak to you. To see you with my own eyes. To hear your wish. What is it you wish for, Lazarus Quinlan?"

"I wish to be immortal, which I define as lack of decay over time of body AND mind, and maintaining of my self. I do not want to be a dead apostle or anything of that vein. I wish to keep my soul and my values." He was still quite wary of this situation, but hoped that conversing with Irisviel, if it even was Irisviel, might reveal some information. "More than that, though, I wish to open the door to Akasha. To use it's knowledge to give myself immortality and fulfill the wishes of my comrades. That is what I want the most. "

She frowned. "Lack of decay over time of body and mind, you say. What you wish for truly is a miracle of the highest proportion. But, as you yourself have seen through your studies, the World itself makes all things decay over time. In order to preserve oneself, something must be taken from another. So... what problem do you have with Dead Apostles?"

"They are evil and must feed on others. I do not wish to become that. Also, if I may, the sacrifice of the servants should serve as a proper exchange for that miracle. That is the point of this whole war, if I'm not mistaken, so granting that wish should not be a problem for the grail I hope. Otherwise this whole affair has been quite overblown..."

"You are correct in one way, but incorrect in another. As you say, the Grail is capable of almost anything, but it is no omnipotent God. With the power of the seven Servants, it can grant you that immortality that you wish for; an immortality beyond your wildest dreams, rivaling that of even the True Ancestors. You can be rendered unable to die, even if every molecule of your existence is destroyed."

"But that immortality has a cost that must still be paid. Decay and entropy are irrefutable laws of nature. An equal price of life must be paid to counteract it as your life goes on through the centuries."

"In any case, does it even matter? It seemed from the information given to me by Miss Yui that perhaps I had a choice of either opening Akasha or granting my wish. Do I get both, then?"

"In a sense. The souls of the Servants will be returned to their place in the Throne of Heroes, and the Grail will utilize that natural movement to open a hole to Akasha. Their accumulated mana is used to grant the wish of the one who touches the Grail."

"Though a lesser wish is possible with five Servants, with all seven needed to open the hole to Akasha, a true miracle can be granted. The Grail will take the combined life force of those living in Fuyuki City and use them to transform you into an immortal being."

The mage laughed in her face, "There has to be another way! And if there isn't, I no longer want that wish. I will not sacrifice and entire city to live forever, no matter the benefit. Especially if Miss Yui will be one of the sacrificed. I suppose I will simply have to live on through bloodlines and choose another wish..." he grew bored with this woman and turned towards his former home. He peered inside the window to see if it looked like he remembered.

Irisviel appeared to grow angry. "Another way? You cannot wish for something you yourself don't know. If you wish to become immortal, it can only be accomplished via methods you understand. I am showing you the truth that you refuse to face! You learned a long time ago the means to pursue immortality, but you tossed it aside because you could not accept the price!"

"Exactly! I thought the grail would be able to grant the miracle of immortality without a price. But if it cannot, as I said, I no longer want the wish. You don't have to be so upset about it." He tried the door to the residence to see if it would open.

Lazarus opened the door and stepped inside, but instead of his childhood home, he found himself standing in the lab he was working in when he first tested the drinking of blood to extend his life. Irisviel was leaning against a table and staring at him.

"It is a miracle. What you tried and failed to accomplish on your own can be carried out on a scale no man could enact. What is that, if not a miracle? Lazarus, you are the one worthy of the limitless power the Grail is offering you. The one worthy to bear all the evils of the world. You are saying you would throw this opportunity away?"

"Ah, but I'm not throwing it away. I simply would prefer another wish. I'm sure you understand." He found an empty vial from the lab, and carefully collected some of the black rain from his skin. He tucked the vial away in a pocket. "What do you mean by 'bear all the evils of the world' anyway?"

"You cannot simply 'choose' something else. Your wish remains unchanged, and is the one that will be granted. A wish for immortality, to raise yourself above that of the common rabble. To gain that wish, one must be willing to commit unspeakable acts of evil."

"You and your fellow magi summoned Heroic Spirits of the highest quality to sacrifice and fill the Grail, did you not? To use as tools and weapons of destruction. All you humans know how to do is kill and destroy. So, to grant your wish, you must be willing to bear all the evils of the world. To become the very embodiment of Angra Mainyu."

"I refuse," he said simply. "Part of the miracle I craved was to not become evil to become immortal. If the grail cannot grant my wish then I refuse to accept the terms." He began moving about his workshop mixing compounds for simple chemical bombs, just in case.

Irisviel narrowed her eyes. "You reject the Holy Grail. You reject this most gracious gift, which no man could ever hope to achieve. Yet I still have a wish to be granted. A wish to be born into this world. And I will not be denied!"

"Go then, Lazarus. Return to your simple life and die like the rest of the common pigs!"

As Lazarus tries to gather his materials, he finds his vision blurring, as though he's awakening from a dream. [[moving back to Shinto]]