The Magus Killer's Pet Apostle
Main Crossover between Fate Stay Night and Tsukihime
Minor Crossover with HSD Kenichi and, maybe, Bleach (and a few other manga depending on how things work out.)
Note: Originally I was not planning on putting up this story until I had written up to the start of the grail war… however since today is my 21st birthday I decided to put up chapter one as a teaser… so don't expect any more chapter coming up for a long time.
Current writing plan…
Prolog Arc: 3 chapters (92% done)
Tsukihime Arc: 3-4 chapters (0%)
HSD Arc: 3-4 chapters (0%)
Preparation for the war arc: 2 chapters (0%)
Grail War: A lot of chapters (0%)
…As you can see, it will be a long time before chapter two goes up… but try to enjoy the teaser anyway.
Before the chapter begins I would like to give special thanks to…
Gabriel Blessing: For introducing me to Fate Stay Night, through Hill of Swords, and for being such an inspirational writer, in every single fucking work you put out!
Third Fang: Whose work From Fake Dreams also inspired me in many of my ideas.
Major props to you two.
Also to…
Starnightking: For being a good beta. (Sorry about your laptop man… hope you can get it fixed soon.)
Chapter posted on 6/8/2013
Edit 1: The first time I posted the chapter it got rid of the scene breakers, so I remade them… hope it works this time.
8,080 words Total (For story)
((((Scene Breaker))))
Chapter 1: A Monster Born in Flames
The boy walked through the flames that had destroyed everything he had ever known. It had been a normal day…at least he thought it had been…he couldn't really remember.
Strange
The boy took a few more shaky steps forward as he looked around at the scene of hell on earth. People were trapped under debris as fire came closer to them. The flames seemed to slow down just before it touched someone, as if to give them a false sense of hope before greedily devouring them.
He wanted to help but knew that he couldn't. He was just a boy…a young boy…and he was ashamed to admit that he was afraid… he was afraid of dying… he did not want to die.
A few more shaky steps were taken, this time the boy saw others…adults…abandoning others who they could have saved. Instead they ran for safety…their own lives far more important than anyone else's…even their families.
Their efforts were in vain as the flames seemed to jump out towards them and use them as fuel, turning them all into ash.
The boy had walked for over ten minutes…though it might as well have been ten years for all the boy cared. The wind began to pick up…it was strange…in this hell where everything was dead…the wind had come alive.
…Alive…
How he hated that term.
Because he was alive he had to continue to suffer in this hell. How the boy wished to be able to just fall to the ground and sleep. But if he did that then he would die.
The boy did not want to die.
He would rather be "alive" then to die. For to die would mean to go into the unknown, and for humans nothing is more frightening then the unknown. And what comes after death is the biggest unknown in the world.
The boy wanted… no he needed a savior!
CRASH
The sound of a building collapsing gained the boys attention. He stared at the rubble with emotionless eyes. He was about to turn away when he saw it.
Some of the rubble was moving.
No… not moving but being lifted up.
The boy watched as a dark form pushed the rubble off itself. He watched as the form began to walk out of the rubble with shaky legs.
The figure was alive.
…ALIVE…
Images of people being abandoned filled the boy's head.
But this figure was moving and not trapped.
This figure could be helped.
This person could help HIM.
The boy ran towards the dark shape in the hopes of helping…her? The figure was female the boy noticed as he got closer to her. The girl, no woman, was hunched over and staring at the ground. Her clothes had been burned off and her skin and hair was blackened from the flames. She was bleeding from numerous cuts on her body, which was trembling.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked even though his voice was dry and it felt like his throat had turned into sand-paper, which made it hurt to talk.
It was obvious that she wasn't okay but it was a standard question that was like second nature to most people so he asked anyway. As he went to help the woman steady herself his left arm was suddenly grabbed by the woman in a vice like grip.
He felt his bones crack under the pressure the sickening sound combined with the look the woman gave him turned his blood into ice. Her eyes were glowing with a golden color and were silted like a cat's. The woman's mouth opened and the boy saw that woman's K-9 teeth were far longer than what he knew should be possible. The woman pushed him down; the boy's weakened body unable to put up even the slightest resistance against the woman like creature. Her hands were on his shoulders, holding him down as her claw like fingers easily dug into his skin like a fish through water. A soundless scream escaped him as he felt the woman's finger nail slide into the bones in his shoulders. She used her legs to arrest the movement of his own and the pressure was enough to break his hips.
"HAgH! HaGh! HAgH!" The boy felt the women's hot labored breath as she slowly brought her face closer to his neck.
The boy spasmed as he felt the woman's fangs dig into his flesh and soon he felt a sucking like motion as globs of blood was forced out of his body and began entering the woman. His vision blurred and blacken, soon the only sense he had was of the continued sucking motion of his blood leaving his body. After a solid minute the woman suddenly jerked back, revealing that her face and appearance had changed greatly from her meal. Where once her face was blackened and burnt, with pieces of flesh hanging off, was now completely unscarred and held a look of wonder and confusion as the creature looked around trying to get a feeling for her surroundings.
As she did this the boy's vision came back to him and as he stared up at her the boy could not help but look up at her and think about how beautiful the woman was. He continued to focus on the woman in wonder the woman had this aura of greatness about her. It was an aura that told people that she was above them, without her having to say a single word.
'If… if dying for her would allow her to live… than maybe dying wouldn't be so bad.' The boy thought, unknowingly falling under the woman's spell.
Then the boy moaned in pain as his half leaden eyes tried to stare into the woman's own eyes, which had turned from gold to red as she looked around. He continued to wait for the woman to finish with him so that he could die and she would live.
Instead the woman jumped away from the boy in shock as she stared at him. Her eyes were filled with fear, like a child who had done something bad in front of their parents and knew that they were in trouble. She started to back away even as she wiped the blood away from her mouth, her face going through many different expressions before settling on something between sadness, anger and disappointment.
She looked at him once more… then turned and began to stumble away.
'Where are you going?' The boy thought to him-self as the woman left him, 'Don't leave me please.' Some part of the boy's mind, the part that still wanted to live, was telling him that it would be good if the creature left him but with the boy being as broken as he was he didn't care about that part of himself, he just wanted to be of use to someone before he died. "Please don't leave me." The boy called out, turning on his side to look at the creature as a blood came out of his mouth, "Please don't leave me… Please." He continued to call out.
The creature turned and looked at him for a bit before turning back and run away. Her speed far greater than anything a human could ever hope to accomplish on their own, or even with the help of a motor vehicle, once again leaving the boy alone in the hell that was once his home.
'No… please don't leave!' He screamed within his own mind as he reached out a hand toward the rapidly disappearing woman.
The boy laughed at the absurdity of it all, even as the core of his being began to twist as some of the woman's own blood, which had fell from her when she was still wounded, began to change the boy.
The sound of rain was his only companion. It was a light rain, not enough to put out the major fires but enough to slowly weaken them and stop them from spreading.
'That's good at least.' The boy thought, his eyes darkening as the rest of his minor strength left his body.
((((Scene Breaker))))
Emiya Kiritsugu ran through the burning remains of the city, desperately looking for someone to save, however everyone he saw was too far gone for him to do anything to save them.
All he could do was watch as people died in front of him.
Thump
He had been searching for almost an hour now and was starting to give up hope. From what he could tell… everyone had been killed by the fire.
Thump Thump
Kiritsugu spun as he sensed raw prana and he ran with all his might toward the source.
His weary body burned from the exertion even as he used reinforcement on himself to help fuel his frantic run.
As he ran he noticed that something was off with the prana and to his great horror he realized that he was sensing a Dead Apostle.
Thump Thump Thump
Though it was impossible Kiritsugu's speed, fueled by his fear of what a Dead Apostle might do in such a situation, increased even as he brought out the Thompson Contender, armed with a 30-06 Springfield bullet, and flipped off the safety.
Normally, Kiritsugu would never willing enter this kind of situation. The idea of fighting an Apostle with only the Contender would have been considered the heights of idiocy if it were not for the fact that Kiritsugu really didn't care what happened to him.
…The grail had been nothing more than a cursed object that could only cause pain…
…With his own hands he had 'killed' his daughter and his wife for the sake of humanity as a whole…
…He couldn't even save a single person from the destruction he caused…
…Everything he believed in and worked for had betrayed him…
…Emiya Kiritsugu wanted to die…
And if dying meant fighting a Dead Apostle with nothing but the Contender and a few bullets then he would gladly do so.
He slowed down as he got closer to the Dead Apostle, straining his senses to the max as he forced his breathing to steady itself. He tried to locate the monster by sensing its prana but the amount of raw mana in the air made it impossible to get a precise location.
Having to resort to his normal five senses Kiritsugu looked around a corner to see how far the apostle was but was shocked to find nothing there.
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump
'Did the Apostle already leave?' He thought as he slowly moved out of his hidden position. Walking forward slowly Kiritsugu was ready to jump in any direction if need be. 'Or did it sense my…'
"Rwaah~~" Came a low growl from his left, cutting of Kiritsugu's thoughts as the man immediately spun around and fired at the direction of the growl. The bullet that rapidly flew out of the gun however would end up flying into a pile of stone, creating a large hole in it. The sound itself had come from what seemed to be a ditch near the bottom of the stone.
Kiritsugu quickly rearmed the Contender, taking less than a half a second to do so.
"Reeah~" The growling sound repeated and Kiritsugu slow walked closer to the ditch, ready to both fire at the creature or to jump out of the way from any attack, whether it be mundane or magical, that it might use.
When Kiritsugu finally saw what was making the noise he was surprised by what he saw.
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump
He was expecting a monster, either a Dead Apostle, a creature that played with human lives for sport, or a mindless ghoul, the servant and victim of the Dead Apostle that might one day became a Dead Apostle itself.
What he got was a red haired child that lay still on the earth.
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump-Thump
The boy's eyes slowly opened, and Kiritsugu noticed that they were glossy and lifeless. The boy's head slowly turned to him, letting out another groan, not the groan of a ghoul but the groan of someone getting up, as he did so. By chance the boy turned his sights on Kiritsugu and two locked eyes with each other.
'This is… a Dead Apostle's victim but… he's not becoming a ghoul.' Kiritsugu realized in shock as he looked down at the child who was even now going against all logic by turning into a Dead Apostle instead of going through the normal, one hundred year long, growth process. 'This shouldn't be possible! What kind of magic potential could this kid have?' He thought as he took another step toward the child, his gaze never leaving the boy's own. 'I've heard of people skipping the process before but usually those are people who came from families with a long line of magical history.'
Kiritsugu studied the boy for a bit more and saw that the boy's new gained regenerative powers, bolstered by the power of the full moon, tried to heal his body from the numerous wounds he had received. 'It won't work… the curse of the grail has tainted the mana in the area, making it unusable. Even with the power of a full moon the boy doesn't have enough energy to completely heal himself.'
The boy released another groan as his regenerative powers continued to drain him of his od, ironically bringing him closer to death the more it tried to save him.
'Another innocent life I failed to save.' Kiritsugu thought sadly with a shake of his head as he sighed at the sight of the poor child, who had probably been attacked by another Dead Apostle, to help recover from the flames no doubt, which then left it so that it wouldn't have to deal with the ghoul that formed from its feeding.
Kiritsugu stood up and brought up his gun, ready to put the child out of its misery. He didn't have to shot the kid to be honest; the kid would die if he simply left him by himself, either from his wounds or from the fact that his od was rapidly being depleted. 'A bullet to the head would put the kid out of his misery and considering the fact that the poor kid hadn't really done anything wrong the least I can do is make sure that he doesn't suffer.' Kiritsuguthought to himself as aimed the gun at the boy's pale face.
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump-Thump
[Emiya Kiritsugu…]
Kiritsugu grabbed his chest as a horrible burning sensation took hold of him. The pain caused the man to fall to the ground as the contents in his stomach quickly came back out.
"He… lp… me." The child suddenly said, its voice was raspy and made one think of dried leather. Kiritsugu turned his head toward the child, "I… don't… want to…die." As it spoke the Dead Apostle child reached out with its pale, lifeless, right hand toward Kiritsugu, its dried eyes looked into the man's with both hope and sadness before it turned its attention toward its hand, which had fallen to the ground. "Take me with you… I don't want… to be alone."
'Don't ask me that!' Kiritsugu shouted in his mind.
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump-Thump
Kiritsugu killed whatever sympathy was in his heart, "Your family is waiting for you… you won't be alone for long." He said his voice monotone, the sound of his blackened cursed heart beating in his ears, as he forced himself to pull the trigger.
[Emiya Kiritsugu… You are truly…]
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump
Click
The click of the Contender failing to fire was like a deafening roar that silenced the surrounding noise, both what was left of the crackling flames and the sound of the falling rain, now much heavier than before, seemed unnaturally muted.
"Please help me." The boy said again, his voice much clearer now than it was before. The boy, still so young and innocent, didn't even seem to understand that Kiritsugu was trying to kill him, "I don't want to die here."
Kiritsugu was in shock as he stared down at the boy. The beating of his heart was getting loader and he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of what just happened.
'The bullet… was a dud.' he thought in shock as he sank to his knees, eyes still trained on the boy in front of him, as he searched for another bullet.
He couldn't find any.
"Please don't leave me." The boy said again, his voice was both weaker than what it was before… and yet to Kiritsugu… the boy's voice was also much more clearer.
An image entered Kiritsugu's mind… no a memory… a memory of a young silver haired girl who asked him not to leave her.
Thump-Thump
[Emiya Kiritsugu… you are truly the one most suited of being…]
As he looked down at the boy an idea come to him. It was crazy, stupid and went against everything he had ever believed in and fought for. It was a complete and total betrayal of his lifelong ideals.
But then again… haven't those very ideals betrayed him time and time again in the past?
'This must be god's way of fucking with me isn't it?' Kiritsugu thought to himself sarcastically, as he began to laugh at the irony of it all, 'Everyone I tried to save was either too far gone or trapped to close to a fire for me to help and now that I have the ability to save someone… they end up being halfway through the vampirization process.' Even as he thought this, Emiya Kiritsugu had already made his choice. It was a choice brought about by the stress and impossibleness of the situation. He had all but dedicated his life to being a hero; always trying to help people in need. And in doing so he had killed hundreds of people, both good and bad, in the hopes of making an even greater amount of people happier. In the end he had even sacrificed his beloved wife for his dream.
In the end however he was never able to save a single person, all he ever did was kill people. He killed and killed and killed and killed but never once was he able to save a person.
It was then that Kiritsugu madly decided that even if it was a Dead Apostle he would still do everything in his power to save this child.
"I'll save you." He said as he fell onto his knees and looked the child in the eye. "I'll save you." He repeated out load, a true happy smile forming on his face as he repeated his vow.
"Thank you…" The boy stared up at him, his once dead eyes once more being filled with hope before they closed and the boy finally passed out.
Putting his hands on his chest Kiritsugu began pulling Avalon out of himself. The Holy sheath seemed to form from golden dust that flew out of his body. After it was fully formed he put the point of the sheath over the area where the child's heart would be and slowly began pushing downward and watched as the sheath once again turned into dust and flew into the child.
Thump-Thump
"I wonder if Avalon can cure vampirism." Kiritsugu asked himself wondering what type of effects the holy sheath would have on the Dead Apostle child in front of him. He wasn't really expecting anything but… a man could dream right.
[Emiya Kiritsugu… you are truly the one most suited of being… Angra Mainyu]
((((Scene Breaker))))
Two days later, Emiya Residence (Kiritsugu's POV)
I was currently looking down at the boy, who I named Shirou, I had saved from the fire. He was sleeping now, still weak from his wounds and I couldn't help but think that the Apostle child looked strangely peaceful.
In truth, it was a miracle that Avalon was even working for the boy, seeing as how he was more than halfway through the Dead Apostle growth process.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath before releasing it with a sigh.
Thinking back on it I don't know what possessed me save the boy, just that I had felt the need to save someone… something from the fire I had caused.
That's not to say I wouldn't kill the boy if he started attacking humans and releasing a bunch of ghouls into an unknowing city… but in truth, I really doubt that would happen. While Avalon didn't cure the boy of the curse of vampirism, like I had hoped, it did seem to stop him from burning up in sunlight, a weakness that normally takes six hundred years for an Apostle to get rid of, so maybe, if I'm really lucky it might take away the boy's need for blood as well.
'Wouldn't that just be a wonderful coincidence?'
((((Scene Breaker))))
Four months later, Emiya Residence (Shirou's POV)
My eyes were closed, my mind was focused and my breathing was even as I once again began the process of running od, the magical fuel that is produced from my soul, through my magic circuits.
In my mind's eye my twenty seven circuits lit up and I felt my body's temperature slowly rise. I was only using a little of my od as I was currently practicing the art of mixing od and mana, the magical fuel of the planet, to produce a greater amount of prana, the magical energy that would be used to power any future spells I might cast.
My Master, Emiya Kiritsugu, had told me that this was the basics of the basics, which made sense when one thinks about it. After all, who could cast spells without the energy to cast with?
He had also told me that beginners normally have to practice making prana for at least six months before they actually are allowed to try and cast spells. This six month period, was to allow the magus' body, normally that of a young child at this point, to grow accustomed to the feeling of magical energy without having to worry about the child releasing a misfired spell or producing two much prana which could either kill them and others in the process or deal damage to their magic circuits.
As a Dead Apostle, or at least something close to one, I was lucky in that regard as my magic circuits were stronger in comparison to humans my age.
(Begin mixing of od and mana… current mix ratio is five units of od for one unit of mana for each circuit… Total amount of prana being produced is one hundred and sixty two units.)
After producing the prana I began the next step of the exercise that Master had showed me all those weeks ago.
I had to hold the prana within my body and not allow it to leak out.
After being made Prana could only do two things. Either it is used to power a spell or it is released from the mage's body into the air. When used to power a spell some prana is lost during the process, because of this mages, especially beginners, have to produce more prana than the spell needs to function. Once made prana cannot be transformed back into od or mana.
This loss of prana is the source of a mages magical signature and emissions, which allows others to find them if their ability to sense magic is strong enough.
A body, whether it be human or Apostle, was not meant to hold onto prana for long so a mage must use their prana within a minute or two of making it.
Master told me that the process of losing prana is similar to radioactive decay, over a course of time prana will leave the body the more prana in the body the faster it leaves it. As the amount of prana in the body decreases the amount of prana lost, over a similar period of time, also decreases. The only exception to this rule is the fact that the final ten percent of the prana created leaves all at once. Why it does this is unknown; seeing as no magus would waste time and resources studying it.
My current exercise was to hold onto my prana for as long as possible, a task that requires a lot of focus, and see how long it takes for me to lose half of the prana that I was holding.
The task was similar to trying to hold water in your hands and then leaving an opening at the bottom.
After one minute I still had one hundred and thirty seven units.
At two minutes I held one hundred and sixteen units
Three minute I had ninety eight units
Four minutes after I started I had eighty three units remaining
Six seconds after the four minute mark my remaining prana reached the halfway mark of eighty one units and I began the next step of my training.
I reached over and grabbed a shinai, a basic bamboo practice sword. Taking a deep breath I began the process of using Structural Grasping on it. The spell, while basic and useless, was the first that master taught me, mainly as a way to get me used to casting spells.
"I open my Mind's Eye! I see with my Mind's Eye! My Mind's Eye understands all!" I chanted out as I felt the prana within me begin to fuel the spell.
Slowly a rough image of the shinai appeared in my mind. The image was rough and hazy so I spent another minute or so trying to make the image clearer, so that I might see more of the holes within the structure that could be used to pour my prana into the sword. Sadly I was unable to do so and I simply started the next step of my exercise.
Reinforcement
The spell was another basic spell that Master had taught me, though this one actually had its uses as the base of all strengthening magic. It cost me twenty four units of prana to cast. Combining that number with the five units I lost due to time I had thirty six units of prana left in my body that I simply released into the air.
In my mind's eye I watched as my prana began to flow into the shinai and began to 'fill it up', similar to pouring water into a container, making the shinai harder than it really was. Five minutes later, when I had finally finished, the bamboo shinai was as hard as an aluminum bat.
True it wasn't the greatest reinforcement but it was still a very noticeable difference compared to its previous hardness. In fact the only thing I was disappointed about was the time and energy it took me to reach that level of hardness.
'Well it's nothing that more practice wouldn't solve.' I thought to myself as I stood up to continue my morning workout.
I assumed the proper stance that master had showed me and began doing basic practice strikes that both Master and that weird, but kind, girl, Fujimura Taiga, from next doorhad taught me.
Thirty minutes, and one hundred strikes, later I fell on my back to rest. It was my fifth time through the routine, so my arms felt like jelly.
Normally I could only do the routine two or three times before I became exhausted but as the moon was getting fuller both the amount of energy I had, and the rate at which I recovered it, both increased greatly.
The full moon was also the reason why I was up training all night, its effect on my body making it impossible to sleep on night of, or near, that of a full moon.
"You seem to be working hard." A voice said from near the doorway. "Don't forget to do your cool down stretches or you'll end up going through the rest of the day with cramps again."
"Yes sir." I said in embarrassment as I began the basic cool down stretches he had taught me.
"Were you really up all night?" Kiritsugu asked and I could feel his gaze on my back as I finished the stretches, "It's already six-thirty A.M."
"It is my duty to work hard so that I might be of greater use to you in the future." I answered back, turning to the man and giving him a quick bow, "Besides, the full moon always gives me the energy to go through the night and the next day." I stated as rolled my joints around to loosen them up. "Is there something that you need me for?" I asked, secretly hoping that I might be of use to my savior in some way.
"No." He replied back before pausing for a moment, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to start on breakfast so if you want to join me go and shower off."
A chill went down my spine as he said that.
Kiritsugu + Making food = Horror
((((Scene Breaker))))
The rest of the day was like any other. After breakfast Kiritsugu would go over some textbooks for mundane subjects, such as math, languages and science, due to the fact that I wouldn't be going to a public school, for obvious reasons, and such basic information would be needed in order to blend into human society. After four hours of studying we would spar for half an hour before stopping for lunch. As we digested our meal there would be a thirty minute break before Kiritsugu would go over proper weapons maintenance with me. I cleaned guns, took them apart and learned about what each piece did before having to put them back together again. Sometimes I was told to use Structural Grasping on each part to get both a better in-depth understanding of the weapons and to practice my magecraft.
I wasn't allowed to practice with the firearms yet, seeing as how young I was, but at the very least I could learn more about them.
Gun maintenance was followed by an hour of hand to hand combat training, which is the basis of all combat, and even though Kiritsugu claims to be out of practice he still moves fast enough that I can barely follow him when he moves.
Hand to hand combat is followed by another break. As we rested Taiga-san would arrive from her school, she was a third year at the local middle school and not many people wanted to be friends with the girl because of her intense personality and the fact that she was a Yakuza princess.
I don't know why, but for some reason Kiritsugu always seems to be in a better mood with Taiga around though he does get this hurt look on his face as well.
From there Taiga would show me how to use a sword, and even though we were only using shinai I always left our practice with a few bruises.
How a middle school girl gained the skills of a second Dan master would be considered a mystery for the ages.
My normal day ended with me trying to make dinner, my meager skills in this department was much better than either Kiritsugu's or Taiga's, and then spending free time with Taiga going over her homework, with Kiritsugu, or playing games, Monopoly has become the bane of my existence.
Finally, at around eight o'clock, I was sent to bed, both to keep up the illusion that I was a normal boy and to allow myself to get the small, but necessary, amount of sleep. I would position myself so that I would be sleeping in the moonlight, so that I would recover faster and two hours later I would wake up refreshed and ready to start my abnormal night of magic lessons.
((((Scene Breaker))))
I basked in the light of the nearly full moon. It was eleven thirty, and Kiritsugu and I were standing in the yard.
It was time for my magic lessons.
"We are going to continue our work with Bounded Fields." Kiritsugu said in his normal, if not robotic, tone.
I could not help but flinch at that. The truth was that I had been trying to make a Bounded Field for the past three weeks and had been met with little to no success. Even the most basic of Bounded Fields, which did little more than help people practice the basics of making a bounded field, was beyond me.
It was actually a bit frustrating, regardless of how many hours I put into trying to form one it would always fail to form and the two times one did form it only lasted a few seconds before collapsing on itself.
But the most frustrating part was the fact that Kiritsugu didn't show any of his displeasure for my continuous failures.
"A Bounded Field is made by knitting a network of prana and spreading it over a base area, normally a piece of land or a building. Its purpose is to create a mystic boundary line, a magical wall so to speak, which separates the inside from the outside." Kiritsugu began his explanation and even though I had heard it many times before I focused all my attention on him, "Once a Bounded Field is made it is possible to insert functions into it. Normally these functions are to give the Bounded Field defensive abilities, such as not allowing people into an area or making it impossible for people to see what is really going on in the inside of the field." Kiritsugu continued before turning toward me and though he didn't say anything I knew that he wanted me to continue the explanation.
Taking a deep breath I began, "Other Basic Bounded Field functions included Sound Suppressing, that makes it impossible for sound to leave the area, Mana Gathering, that absorb the local mana for the magus while also not allowing it to leave the area, and finally Prana Masking, which doesn't allow a person's prana aura to leave the area making it difficult for other magi to find the area." I recited perfectly, seeing as Kiritsugu gave me a nod in confirmation at my answer.
"Now then, I want you to…" Kiritsugu began to walk around the yard, putting metal stakes into the ground, each at least four meters apart from each other, making a pentagon, "… Use these stakes as a marker to help you build a basic Bounded Field, try to add at least one function to the finished product."
I nodded my head in understanding and took a step forward and took a deep breath.
I closed my eyes and looked within myself to open up my circuits. In my mind's eye twenty-seven circuits lit up as I began to generate prana.
"The forming of the foundation is a complex thing! Its importance to the wall is equally great! Form oh wall! Form and protect your owner!" I chanted out once an appropriate amount of prana was generated as I began the First step of Bounded Field creation…
…The setting of its foundation.
The foundation was not as important as it sounds; in fact more advance magi don't even need to worry about it as a complete Bounded Field normally resecures itself to allow for maximum efficiency. Only beginners, like me, or people without magical talent had to worry about setting up the foundation.
I took out a small silver knife, luckily not blessed, and made a small cut on my finger to allow a few drops of blood flow out and drop on the first stake in the ground.
Blood for a normal magus was a great way to transfer prana, being a naturally high prana conductor … for a Dead Apostle like myself, that efficiency was at least five times greater than normal.
Soon each stake had a few drops of his prana charged blood on them.
From there magical lines connected the five stakes, enclosing the area with a two dimensional boundary.
The entire process took less than five minutes.
Now for the second step: The building of the Field's "membrane"
In my mind I began to imagine that there was a wall connecting the stakes, the image, and idea, of a wall was a familiar one and would help me in both hypnotizing myself into believing that this was happening and in imagining the coming processes.
Slowly but surely I was able to create the membrane of the boundary field form. Even though nothing was there for a normal person, to a magus or other magical creature there was a metaphysical belief that there was a solid stone wall with a stone dome on top where the stakes used to be.
The purpose of the membrane was similar to human skin. It would one, hold the 'innards' of the bounded field together, and two, would make it harder for other magi to penetrate the field, making it harder to either take down the field or to change it.
It took me fifteen minutes to connect the five points to create the membrane and I was happy to see that I had shaved off a few minutes from the last time I tried making a Bounded Field, as it meant that I was either getting better at manipulating prana or better at hypnotizing myself.
With its membrane created I moved to the third step
Creating the field's skeleton.
If the membrane was the skin that held the bounded field together then the skeleton was all the primary functions necessary for a bounded field to last by itself.
These functions included mana absorbing, mana to prana processing and prana flow.
In order to create the skeleton I would have to create all three of these functions at the same time. Because of this Kiritsugu said that it is best to make bounded fields while imagining the parts of a human body, as it is familiar to people and thus easy to imagine how the three function work.
Taking Kiritsugu's advice to heart I did exactly what he said. For the Mana absorbing aspect of the field, the start of the process, I first imagined giant lungs that would breathe in the mana in the air. From there the mana would be sent to the Mana processing function, which took the image of a heart in my imagination. Finally the newly made prana would have to power the entire bounded field equally, not over powering one area in exchange for weakening another. For this final part I imagined a circulatory system, which carried prana instead of blood, spreading out within the membrane of the bounded field like hundreds of little veins.
I continued to replay the idea in my mind trying to make the image as sharp and as clear as possible, even as my circuits began to hurt due their constant use.
Finally, when the image was as clear as I could make it, I started chanting, "You are the living wall! Like all living things you have needs! Take in Nature's bounty and slate your desire! Continue to live O wall! Continue to exist until the end of time!"
Even as I supplied the necessary prana to help the skeleton form, I couldn't help but laminate on my ineptitude as a magus. To build a basic bounded field I had to give out two different chants that totaled to become a nine line aria.
With the "skeleton" formed I turned off my magic circuits as both Kiritsugu and I both did a quick inspection of the bounded field. At this point I wasn't really worried. I had created dozens of boundary fields of this level and was happy to say that the chance of the boundary field collapsing at this point was now just one out of six times, and with the full moon granting me power the chance of failure was practically none existent at this stage.
Between the constant imaging and the actual making of the skeleton it still took me forty minutes to do.
"It seems that the base is holding up." Kiritsugu stated as he inspected the field, and I allowed myself a brief moment of happiness as I heard Kiritsugu's approval, "Though the fact that it takes you an hour to make the base is still worrying to me." The man added, unknowingly shooting down me good mood.
"I… I will work harder to meet your standards master." I said as formally as I could; bowing as I did so.
"Hmm." Kiritsugu hummed as he looked at me, "See that you do… now add some basic functions to the base." He ordered as he took a few steps back to watch me work.
I quickly decided to add the basic Misdirection function to the field. The Misdirection function was basically a hypnotism spell added to a boundary field that caused people that came across it to suddenly have a need to go somewhere else.
Kiritsugu jokingly calls it the "Solicitor Be Gone" function, as it is mainly used by magi to deal with door to door salespeople or other people who don't have a strong desire to enter the house.
"Blind the minds of the weak! Reject the advancement of the unimportant and send them away!" I chanted out as I began to weave the spell into the bounded field.
It took me fifteen minutes to finish and even with the nearly full moon boosting my power I felt a biting ache from my circuits from their near constant use but I did my best to ignore it.
With the Bounded Field made I stopped the prana flow from me to it before taking a few steps back.
Kiritsugu began to examine the field. He slowly walked around the perimeter of the field, examining it with the experience of a pro. "It seems that you have improved." Kiritsugu said after he made a complete circuit around the field, this being the first time he could do so, "This field has even rebound itself so that it can stay up on its own…" Kiritsugu commented. I couldn't help but smile at that. I had finally made my first successful bounded field. "However…" Kiritsugu taped the wall and the field suddenly fell apart with the sound of shattering glass, "The field itself is still far too fragile, even a light physical force such as a tap could break it down."
I immediately deflated at that, over an hours' worth of work destroyed in an instant by what amounted as a finger poke. It was humiliating that despite all the work I was putting into my training I was barely making any progress.
"Well at least your bounded fields will be able to stay up on their own now." Kiritsugu said, "So at least we can see that you ARE making some progress with your magecraft, if we keep working at it you will soon be making proper bounded fields as well as casting other spells."
"Thank you, Master." I said with a bow before the two of us went back into the house so that I could rest my circuits while Kiritsugu gave me a lecture about magecraft.
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END CHAPTER 1
OMAKE: The Shinso runs Amuck!
"The Clock Tower: a school for magi from across the world."
"The Clock Tower: A place of magical experimentation and discovery kept hidden from the mundane world."
"The Clock Tower: The main headquarters of the Mage's Association."
"The Clock Tower: Home to tens of thousands of Amoral Researchers, who see both mundane humans and even each other as simple stepping stones that they might use to reach greater heights!"
"WHAAAA!"
"The Clock Tower: Currently in SHAMBLES! After being INVADED! By a blond haired natural DISASTER!"
"ZELRETCH! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"
"WHAAHAHA!"
"The Clock Tower: Home to the violent and cold Vice Director of the Mage's Association and Queen of the Clock Tower, Barthomeloi Lorelei."
"It is in my expert opinion that Mrs. Lorelei needs to get herself laid… it might help her release all that built up ten…"
"DIE YOU WITHERED OLD BASTARD!"
"GRANDPA! WHAHAAA!"
"As I watch the, obviously sexually frustrated, woman released a small, but powerful, cyclone into my office… was there really any point in that?... I can't help but get the distinct impression that she doesn't like me… How odd… I think to myself from behind my mystic shielding… I was always under the impression that I was a fun person to hang out with. I know for a fact that I'm always laughing about something."
"I DID SOMETHING BAHAHAAAD!"
"And with a badass finger snap the woman was teleported out of my office, and her clothes, and into the bed of my good friend Sirius McGinty… he's a strong old buck. If any man could help Lorelei release her pent up anger it would be him."
"Considering the fact that he sleeps in the nude, the woman would at least get a good eyeful before she leaves."
"Grandpa… please help me."
"My head snapped down as I looked into the big, tear-filled, red eyes of my cute granddaughter and I can't help but wonder what had happened. It's not often that she comes to ask me for help after all…"
"It's also not often that I'm hug tackled so hard as to break my spine in eight different places…"
"Grandpa… who are you talking to?"
"Oh… maybe trying to practice my uber amazing narrating abilities out load is not the best idea… I said and with another snap of my fingers, in a really badass way of course, as I changed the POV of this omake."
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"And that's what happened grandpa." Arcueid said, with a pout on her face, "I… I didn't mean to bite the kid… but with everything that happened I couldn't stop myself!" She finished, her eyes becoming moist as tears began to gather in them. "I don't know what to do."
"Ah… so that's what happened." I said to myself as I thought about the story Arcueid had told me… and think about how I could use the situation for a few laughs. From what I can tell, that Emiya boy was going to have another amusing adventure for the sake of the world.
This of course means that I will be joining in on the fun, I couldn't let that old boring god out troll me now could I.
"Don't worry about it! Your amazingly awesome and incredibly handsome, grandpa shall help you!" I said as I stood up and put my right foot on the table in front of us. I snapped my fingers and a clear jewel appeared in my hands, "First, I'm going to have you eat this. It holds all the information you'll need on how to be a proper mother." I said. 'And of course how to be a proper magic girl.'
"Ehh?" Arcueid said, obviously confused about what was going on.
Perfect
"No time for questions girl." I said loudly, "If we are going to fix this problem then we must act fast! We must act before those who would act against us make the first move! Now quickly! Eat the jewel and gain the ability to make your dreams come true!
"Ehh?"
"What are you waiting for girl!? Do you doubt the love I hold for you!? If you wish to fix your mistakes you must become a shining beacon of hope and light that shall wash away the darkness of the world!"
No longer able to deny my charm, others call it insanity but what do they know, Arcueid ate the jewel.
"Now what grandpa?" She asked me, completely caught up in my pace.
"Raise your right hand and say MOON PRISM POWER!"
This is totally worth it.
"MOON PRISM POWER!"
TOTALLY WORTH IT!
CRACK!
My Back!
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Emiya House (Shirou POV)
I woke up in a cold sweat and couldn't suppress the horrible shiver that went down my spine.
Bringing up my hands to wipe the sweat off I couldn't help but feel like something horrible had happened.
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(The Omake is canon)