Awakening
Wet pristine white shirt, tailored made to snugly fit the body of its wearer, stuck to his body as he slowly dredged forward, his destination seemingly unclear. His black trousers were not faring any better as the downpour was so heavy, it had become difficult to see even a meter in front of him.
A brilliant flash of lightning then illuminated his surrounding, revealing that he was a tall pre-teen with hair as white as snow, and although his gaze was downcast, it was hard to miss the sorrowful orbs of amber he possessed. The loud crack of thunder that immediately followed made him pause a bit in his steps and with an unfocused gaze, he looked up at the dark, cloudy sky.
'Why did it had to come to this?' a rhetorical question fleeted through his mind not for the first time. He was told that he was miracle given form – an existence that should not exist. Countless times, he had been reminded that that he was beyond special. Due to being the perfect amalgamation of two most opposite of forces, his potential was limitless, or so he had been told.
'What is the use of this power if I can't even save you, dad?' he clenched his fist as fresh tears threatened to burst out of his eyes. Unbidden, memories of their time together began to flash through his mind. It felt only like yesterday when his father had pulled him out from a wreckage in the aftermath of a massive destruction caused by hellish flames. He had seen so much death and destruction on that day, he could barely remember anything of that time, or of the time before that. But what he could remember, and never forget, was the expression of pure relief and joy he had seen on the face of the man known as Kiritsugu Emiya.
"It's difficult to explain, Shirou," he used to say in a tired voice whenever he was asked about the incident. "I guess I was just happy seeing someone alive."
Life after getting adopted by a former Magus Killer was as uneventful as it would get. That is until the day when he had first manifested his powers, powers that were inhuman in nature. After that, his life consisted of nothing other than hours and hours of getting his head stuffed with knowledge and information of stuffs that would allow him to survive in the moonlit world – a hidden world shrouded in secrecy where everything from fantasy was supposedly real.
Another crack of lighting illuminated the cemetery, breaking him out his thoughts. Clenching his eyes shut, he allowed the rain to wash away his tears while he gathered himself. After a while, he opened his eyes and moved forward, and stopped when he reached in front of a tombstone, on which, the words – Here lies Emiya Kiritsugu, a hero – was inscribed. Crouching down, he traced the indent of the carved words on the granite tombstone.
"I wished to be a hero."
Standing up abruptly, he whirled around and began to walk away as fast as possible. He could not bear this anymore. He felt numb from inside. Reaching outside, he was nearly caught off guard when a tiny human missile latched at his waist, sniffling audibly. Looking down at the mop of black hair, he could sense the deep sadness emanating from his sister. And with that, something in his heart wrenched more.
"It's going to be alright, Miyu." He tried to placate her, but winced when he heard how hollow he sounded.
In response, Miyu just tightened her hold on him.
2 years later
Fourteen years old Shirou sighed in contentment as he lowered himself in the bath tub, the excessively warm, borderline scalding hot water easing the tight knots of muscle all over his body.
"Damn stupid crows," he grumbled as he tried to relax after whole day of activity, which consisted of chasing away noisy bunch of fallen angels, or crows as he liked to call them, getting into tussle with some more fallen angles, and finally, beating the shit out of both group of fallen angels when they came together, thinking they could scare him.
'I think it's time to change our location once more. The bigger crows in this area must have been tipped off by now that something is amiss.' Just thinking that made him scowl in displeasure. Ever since his father had succumbed to the curses in his body two years ago, he and his sister Miyu had been in a sort of a run from all kind of supernatural forces running amok in this world. He was not fond of running away like that in constant basis. But he had to, for the sake of his sister.
Many years back, when he had just been nine years old and had set out in the journey to travel the world in search of the rumoured descendent of the 'Child of God', he had never expected that that said descendant would later become his beloved sister. Although her transition to an Emiya from a Sakatsuki was not as easy as it should have been – Kiritsugu had treated her as a tool – the caring nature of Shirou had made her see him as her dear elder brother and unknowingly made a wish that had tapped into her miraculous powers.
"I wish we could be in a place where I would always have him as my real brother."
It is believed that the word of the God is absolute. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and he Word was God. When he had said let there be light, there was light; for that was what the miracle of god was.
So when Miyu, a descendant of 'Child of God' had made a heartfelt wish to be away from all the troubles and be with Shirou as his real sister, the miracle of God was invoked – she had become his real sister, signified by her eyes now being of the same colour as her brother's, and then, all of them getting transported to this dimension where the Age of Gods was still ubiquitous.
And now in this world, that same power which could invoke the miracles of god residing under her, acted like an irresistible lure to the fallen angles in the near vicinity of her. He didn't had a concrete idea as to why they acted like that, but if he had to guess it was probably because they were reminded of God by her powers. After all, that would certainly explain why bats – fancy name he had given to the devils – ran away like their life depended on it.
"Onii-chan!" he was brought out of his reverie when Miyu rapped at the bathroom door. "Are you inside?" she asked.
"Yes!"
"Should I pack the bags so that we can move?"
Shirou snapped to attention at that. "Why are you asking?" he questioned back, curious how she knew they were going to move again.
"Well, you have lots of blood all over your coat once again," came the exasperated reply, making him blanch.
"Damn perceptive brats," he grumbled. "Yeah you do that. I'll be back in few minutes," he told her.
"Ok."
Truth was, Miyu's powers were not as big of a problem when compared to the trouble that he would attract just by existing. In this world of angels, humans, and demons, he was an anomaly – a nephilim.
Devils hated him for his angelic bloodline, angles resented him for his demonic bloodline, and humans hated him for what he was – a child born from the unholy union of an angel and a demon. By all rights he should have died as soon as he was born as the light of angle and the darkness of devil inside of him would have constantly fought for dominance and destroyed him from inside out.
However, for some inexplicable reason, instead of fighting for supremacy, these two primal energies that were antithesis of each other since time immemorial had blended perfectly and empowered him far more than these two could have individually.
When his powers had first manifested, Kiritsugu's heart had nearly stopped when he had jumped in front of a skidding car and completely stopped it by his hand to stop it from hitting them. Once the initial shock had worn off, his father had not left a single stoned unturned in his new quest to find the limits of his powers, and to see whether he was gifted in other things as well.
So after an extensive series of tests that was specifically designed to push him to the limits, Kiritsugu had come to a startling conclusion – his adopted son was not a human. His abnormal physiology, the abundance of light and dark energy coursing through him, it all initially made him believe that he was some sort of failed Heroic Spirit or a Dead Apostle anomaly.
However, that notion was put to rest when on one fine day Shirou in a fit of rage had broken out of Volumen Hydrargyrum, or to be more precise, a fearsome spectral figure with eyes of hellfire had burst through the mystic code of Archibald family.
But it was neither the spectre, nor its hellish eyes that had caught their attention, it was the wing of pure black feathers at his right and the wing of pure white feathers at his left, making him look like a vengeful angel of death. Shimmering with unbridled divine and demonic energies, Kiritsugu and the poor Archibald scion were drowned by the rampant storm of Shirou's newly awakened power.
It was also on that day, when the world become aware of the fact that Shirou is not amused when someone puts a knife in his sister's throat and threatens to kill her. To drive the point home, he had turned the magus of Archibald family into a smear of blood by pummelling him to the ground.
Looking back at it, it was also the moment from when he along with Kiritsugu and Miyu had to live in a run. His display of power had sent shockwaves all around the world and all manner of savoury and unsavoury individuals as well as agencies had become interested in him. Because of this, they had to leave their estate in Fuyuki and move around a lot, always trying to stay under the radar. This went for almost a year and so, and although not tiring, it had become irksome after a while. Not to mention Kiritsugu's deteriorating health had made it impossible to have some respite.
That was when Miyu had invoked the miracle by her wish and unknowingly transported them to this world.
"Is everything packed already?" Shirou asked as he came out of the bathroom.
"Yup," Miyu smiled. "I managed to stuff our usual essential things in two duffel bags, so that we can carry one each."
"Good girl," Shirou ruffled her hair affectionately. Seeing the pout on her face, he chuckled. "So, what do you want to do first? Eat or move?" he asked.
"Can we please eat first," Miyu requested. "I don't like walking with empty tummy. It makes me feel funny."
"I think the word you looking for is hungry. But sure, we will eat first."
"Alright!" his sister cheered.
After that, they went to a nearby restaurant where they sold great sea-food. Miyu being a big fan of anything sea related, he thought it would appease her with the food selection available there. And like he had thought, she liked it so much she ended up having more servings than him.
"Owu, my tummy is really full. I think I ate a little too much," Miyu commented, looking a bit green from overstuffed stomach.
The nephilim rolled his eyes at that. "You bet," he looked at her pointedly. "And don't forget, you insisted on packing some for later as well."
The little girl of eleven sagged against him on hearing that. "Please don't remind me. I don't want to have fish for at least a few days now," she said.
"Oh, then who's going to eat it then?" Shirou asked her in a mock stern voice.
"Nya~!"
Abruptly, both brother and sister stopped in a perfect synchronization. "Did you hear that?" Shirou asked, looking around. His sister nodded.
"Nya~!"
"Ah, a cat!" Miyu exclaimed in delight and picked up a peculiar black cat with two tails. Turning towards her white haired brother, she gave her the look – the one she knew her brother couldn't resist –and asked, "Onii-chan, can we please keep it?"
"That look is forbidden, Miyu. I believe we talked about this," Shirou groaned.
"Please."
He sighed, "Ok fine. But you do know that it's a nekomata right? Meaning they will probably get into lot of trouble."
"Don't worry," Miyu spoke in a giddy tone. "I'll make sure it behaves."
And as if on cue, the nekomata tilted its head at him, "Nya~!"
After much thought, Shirou had decided that there next stop was going to be Kuoh, a city famous for being the stronghold of devils because frankly put, the constant attention of fallen angels had begun to worry him. Despite having miraculous powers, his sister had barely any control over it. Whatever she had done till now, had been done by her subconscious mind, not by her will. And with the nature of her powers and its tendency to attract all kinds of wrong attention, this basically made her a sitting duck for rabid fallen angels to take advantage of her.
Not that he would ever allow anything to happen to her, not after what she had endure before. Little known fact about him was that due to his mixed bloodline, his ability to sense other's emotion was really well-developed. While not on the same level as those of real empaths, his ability could still be considered as powerful. That's why, years ago when his father treated Miyu as nothing more than a tool, he had sensed the deep sadness, and feeling of helplessness that had been welling up inside of her.
So to brighten her up, he would talk to her, and once she had opened up a bit, he would play with her as well. Not only that, he even learned to cook so that he could spoil her with tasty but healthy foods as he didn't liked processed eatables and Kiritsugu was utter disaster in kitchen. And just like that, he would do various things for her to make her happy, unaware of the fact that he himself was getting happier and joyful just a bit more as the days went by.
He smiled wistfully as he walked lightly on the mostly empty footpath under the moonlight, making sure not to wake Miyu up, who was asleep on his neck at that moment. Looking at her peaceful face over his shoulder, he felt a sense of tranquillity settle over him, and with that, his resolve to protect her strengthening a little more in spite of it already being impossibly strong.
'I need to reach Kuoh as soon as possible. With it being a territory of bats, the crows will most likely avoid that area,' he contemplated, while discreetly eyeing his surroundings. It looked like he had crossed the busier part and was in the outskirt of their current city.
'I'll probably reach our destination by dawn if nothing eventful occurs along the way,' he mused. 'But before that…'
All of a sudden, there was a brilliant flash of light, then sharp whistling sound akin to arrows flying, followed by the sound of ground getting pierced multiple times, and lastly, a very surprised nekomata trapped in a cage of spectral swords. "Nya~!"
Crouching down to look directly at its startled golden eyes, he said, "So, can someone tell me as to why a devil is trying to pass itself as a normal nekomata."
Golden orbs with a hint of hazel in them seemed to regard him warily, before the holder of them tried to force its way out of the impromptu cage of spectral swords just to hiss in surprise when its midnight black fur got singed by them.
"I'd be careful if I were you. Those swords possess cleansing property similar to an angel's spear of light," Shirou warned, seeing the nekomata struggling a bit. However he frowned when in the next moment, he felt a large concentration of demonic energy washing over him before a bright light flashed in front of him. When the light finally faded, he saw that the nekomata had turned into a voluptuous young woman wearing a black kimono with red interior, and a yellow obi that was doing a rather poor job of hiding her assets.
On closer look, he noticed that she had split long black hair with an ornate headband in her head, and a set of golden beads hanging loosely around her neck. But the most prominent features of her were two black cat ears and two black tails, which were swishing playfully behind her. All in all, she was a strikingly beautiful woman.
"Oh my, aren't you a perceptive one, nya~?" she looked at him with half-lidded eyes and gave him a sultry look with her body bent forward, accentuating her already impressive bust size even more.
The white haired nephilim gave her a cautious look. "Who are you?" he asked, sizing her up.
Instead of answering, the former nekoshou began to saunter up to him with a feline like grace, a coy smile on her face.
But she had to halt when all of a sudden, more than a dozen spectral swords instantly materialized and hovered in front of her, shining bright blue with holy aura of an angel, which made the reincarnated devil shudder in her steps.
"I won't repeat myself after this. Who are you?" Shirou asked tersely.
"Spoilsport," the black haired buxom woman pouted. Then straightening up, she dropped whatever façade she had adopted and spoke in a serious tone, "My name is Kuroka, and I am here on behalf of Ophis to extend you an invitation to join our organization, the Khaos Brig-
"I refuse," Shirou cut her off, while dismissing the spectral swords around her.
"At least hear me out before deciding."
"Save your breath. I have no intention of affiliating myself with any organization, group, or faction for foreseeable future," Shirou firmly reiterated.
"Don't you think you are being too flippant about this, nya~? Someone of Ophis-
"Fuck Ophis." Shirou interjected again, a bit irritably and began to walk away from her. 'I have dealt with this My boss is so strong you don't want to mess with him shit enough times already,' he thought in annoyance as he continued to walk, ignoring the cry of indignation coming from Kuroka behind him.
"What do you mean fuck Ophis? Do you even know whom I am talking about?"
"Don't know. Don't care."
"Oh really? Then what if something happens to the cute little human who is sleeping behin- urk~ Kuroka, the former nekoshou, whose strength was equal to an ultimate-class devil, master of senjutsu and youjutsu, and part-time bodyguard of Ophis, the primordial Dragon of Infinity found herself down on her knees when all of a sudden, a tremendous amount of pressure began to push her down to the grounds.
Sweating profusely, she wearily looked up at the guy who had piqued the interest of her current master to see that he had stopped walking. "I suggest you to choose your words carefully devil," he told her in a baleful tone.
Then as abruptly as it had come, the suffocating pressure upon her vanished. And that was when she realized she had been unknowingly holding her breath as she began to take in huge gulps of air. Shivering all over, she took few seconds to gather herself together and shakily stood up. 'I can see why the Dragon God would be interested in him. He is freaking a monster,' she thought grimly. Then sighing at her misfortune, she silently cursed her team leader for always giving her missions which usually had highest chances of going pear-shaped.
"I see that you are having trouble."
'Speak of the devil and he shall appear,' Kuroka swore under her breath. Schooling her features, she turned around to look at the current wielder of the Divine Dividing, a sacred gear of Longinus class. He was a half-devil named Vali Lucifer, grandson of the original Lucifer and leader of Team Vali of Khaos Brigade.
He was a handsome young man wearing a dark green V-neck shirt with a high-collared black leather jacket over it. To complete the ensemble, he was garbed in burgundy jeans with a silver chain drooping down over them and black leather chaps with three bands encircling his right calf, and black shoe with black buckles.
"I thought Ophis tasked me to complete this recruitment mission," she crossed her hands in front of her, looking questioningly at the hazel eyed, silver haired man.
"It's exceedingly rare for the Dragon God to be interested in anything. I wanted to personally see what's so special about this new prospect," the leader of the Team Vali had a strange gleam in his eyes when he was speaking.
And the female devil was quite familiar what that particular gleam entailed. "You battle-maniac, you just want to fight him, don't you?"
Vali looked impassively at her. "Don't worry. I will make sure not to hurt him too badly," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Kuroka deadpanned at that. She had thought of warning him about their new interest, but seeing him in his usual pompous self, she just shrugged and said, "Suit yourself."
Shirou stopped in his steps when a magic circle materialized in front of him and flared brightly. 'What now?' he thought in vexation, sensing a large amount of demonic energy coming from figure in circle. When the light show from the magic circle began to fade, he saw that it was not the female devil as he had presumed but someone else entirely. Nevertheless, he dashed forward towards the silver haired devil that had emerged from the magic circle, with the intent of ending whatever was going on quickly.
The current host of the Vanishing Dragon Albion, was hardly fazed by the immediate aggression and effortlessly dodged a hail of spectral swords coming towards him. But his eyes widened when suddenly the guy in front of him disappeared from his line of sight in a flash and appeared behind him.
However, he was not a slowpoke either as he twisted his body with lightning fast reflexes and dodged a punch aimed at his face, following which, he had to hastily pull up his hands to guard against a powerful kick coming at his midsection.
But despite stopping the kick, the force behind it was powerful enough to launch him behind in blinding speeds. Furious at being caught by what in his opinion was a juvenile trick, he broke his fall by manifesting his Sacred Gear, the Divine Dividing.
Shirou frowned as he looked up at the young man who was hovering up on the ground with the help of hi- … hi… wi… ***** … hi-~
And just like that his brain short-circuited, nerves frying all over.
'W-what~' he could barely think with his heart hammering thunderously against his rib-cage. The night was cool, with soft breeze continuously blowing, but sweat was breaking out all over his body in rivulets. He could swear he heard someone screaming but couldn't be sure as his mind was running in light speed one second, and coming to screeching halt next second. There were prickling sensation all over his body and he felt like it was molten lava that was running through his veins instead of his blood.
And all the while, he just couldn't take his blood-shot eyes off from the white metallic wings with feathers made up of pure energy which were spread majestically behind the devil's back. He did not know for how long he remained in this chaotic state, before he felt something audibly snap behind his eyes and he blacked out.
"A-are those swords sticking out of him?" Vali thought out loud in utter disbelief.
Fogginess.
An all-encompassing fogginess by thick smoke of fire.
Except in one place. An elevated place which was illuminated by soft golden glow coming from a blue and gold sheath of other-worldly beauty and craftsmanship. On regular interval, it would gently pulse with power and for the briefest moment, it would shed light on the world around it.
The desolate world of infinite steel, forever honouring those who had fallen on the battlefield of past, present and future.
But it all changed when thirteen brilliant light came into existence and shot up towards the sky and hovered there for a while before they began to circle each other. Countless more balls of light also burst into existence, and followed the path of first thirteen up towards the sky and they also started to circle each other in dizzying speed.
This strange phenomenon went on for who knows how long before they all started to slow down and began to morph into something made up of steel.
And when they finally finished and took a uniform shape, the sheathe lying below gave out a pulse that was far brighter from before, as if it was greeting the new arrivals.
And as if responding, the newly formed monolithic gears hovering on the sky began to slowly turn, breathing life to the world they were in now.
Then there was a spark of fire.
A/n: So instead of short chapters, I've decided to make them a bit longer i.e. of around 4k-5k word count. Other than that, I've tweaked few words so that scenes flow much fluidly.
And thank you for all of your reviews and criticism. I know I'm neither a good story-teller, nor a fantastic plot creator. Sometimes, the scenes that I've planned out plays out really well in my head, but when I write it out, its just meh. So thanks again for sticking with me. Peace.