Note: I do not own Fate/Stay Night of any Type-Moon novels and I am only writing this for entertainment purpose only.
Prologue
The theory of the Kaleidoscope. It had been a known fact that the existence of other dimensions, parallel worlds identical each other, exist in an indefinite and uncountable number, and these worlds, these universes, come into being because of one thing: choice.
Choice, it is a simple concept in which one makes a decision on what to do. However, even those choices which seemed to be hardly of relevance, can have a huge impact on what would happen in the future.
For example, a man was trying to decide on whether to take the left road or the right road. Such a choice may seem to be insignificant, but on the contrary, it is significant. If the man chose to go left, he would get to the destination he was aiming for, find someone to love, start a family, and live happily every after. If he took the right road, he would be ambushed by bandits, and thus, that would never happen. From this choice alone, two worlds, two universes, had already been created, one in which the man and his family exists, whereas in the other it never existed.
And that is only from the choice of one man. Yet how many people exist in the world? How many choices, how many options, are available for them to take, to choose from?
Thus, theoretically, if we look at it this way, the number of dimensions in existence might as well be infinite.
These dimensions, however, these universes, are parallel, and thus it is believed that it is impossible to cross them... a complete lie.
Marshal Kishua Zelretch, the head of the Mage Association, knows this for a fact. He is , after all, a master of the Second Magic, and even though his powers had been diminished ever since facing Crimson Moon, he is still able to cross dimensions which supposedly have no connection.
However, he is not the only one. It has always been believed that these universes go in straight lines, and therefore are not connected. However, there are times, there are points, in which even these alternate worlds intersect, not entirely, but just a vague connection which means that either universes would hardly affect the other.
Sometimes though, the connection is enough, just enough, for there to be an effect.
And in the case of a certain magus whose Origin and Element happened to be Sword, that is exactly what happened. He was a man who lived upholding his ideas, and died without wavering from his path. Upon his death, tens of thousands of people, those whose lives he saved with his last act, mourned. And yet, even after his death, he still continued on, becoming an ascended existence that was beyond human.
It was only vague, a very slim connection which lasted at the moment of his death, or rather, the death of one of his copies, but that slim connection had been enough, and lasted long enough, to create an impact.
Nothing physical had been transferred, no persons, no objects, nothing of the sort. All that had been sent were a few memory fragments, vague and incomplete. And yet, it had been enough, more than enough, to cause the butterfly effect to take place, and change the course events in that other world, where his counterpart had received his memories.
Chapter 1
It was just another, ordinary day in the life of a young man who went by the name Emiya Shirou. Just like always, the school's handy man had been doing his best to help out whenever he can. Upon the request of his friend Shinji, shaky though their friendship was, he consented to helping clean up the dojo of the Archery Club, even though said friend was partially responsible for making him leave said club in the first place.
Regardless, it did not matter that much to Emiya Shirou. After all, his dream was to become a superhero just like his father, to save everyone, to become a person who helps other people. To him, such a mundane task was nothing.
Unfortunately for him, it seems it was not his lucky day. Just when he was about to go home from school, instead of heading straight for the gate, he ended up making the foolish decision of checking out the strange metallic sounds that he heard in the grounds, sounds which turned out to be the sound of fighting, a fight, a battle, between two individuals of great skill... skill and speed that was so great that it was impossible for said individuals to be human. They were something else... something which was far beyond any human being.
To make matters worse, he made another mistake. Sensing that one of the two combatants was about to do something big, he stupidly opened his mouth to try and distract them. Well, he did succeed, except now, he was the one who had their attention.
It was stupid, really stupid of him to do something like that. But then again, since he had that 'save everyone' and 'I don't want anyone to die in front of me' philosophy, it was no surprise that he ended up making that blunder. Sadly, the price for said blunder was that he was now being targeted by one of the two, and was now chasing him with murderous intent.
Yes, Emiya Shirou, the son of Emiya Kiritsugu, was in deep trouble. However, the fact that he was in mortal danger was only part of what was bothering him.
In all honesty, despite knowing that he was in mortal peril, Emiya Shirou was truly impressed by the great power which the two individuals had. However, one of the two, not the one who was currently chasing him, was the one which caught his attention.
Presently, Emiya Shirou was still running, as fast as he could, away from the dangerous individual that was chasing him. However, even as he entered the school building, he was only half paying attention to where he was going, for as he continued to sprint as fast as his legs could carry him...
I am the bone of my sword...
"?!"
His head was hurting. For some reason he could not understand, even though he was in full health, even though he did not have a cold, his head was hurting, almost as if it was about to split open.
Steel is my body and fire is my blood...
Part of him, the part which still functioned, was thinking, that the only rational explanation for what he was going through was that the stress and terror that he felt was getting to him, and thus, the painful migraine...
I have created over a thousand blades...
However, he knew it was not the case. He did not understand why, but deep down, he knew with certainty, that the man with the demonic looking spear, the man who was chasing him and was gradually gaining on him, was not the one which was causing it.
Unknown to death, nor known to life...
The one clad in red, the one with silver hair and tanned skin, who had hawk like eyes and who wields two falchions... the other of the two combatants who had been clashing in the middle of the school grounds. For some reason Emiya Shirou could not understand, he was sure, he was certain, that the man clad in red was the cause.
Have withstood pain to create many weapons...
He did not understand why, but ever since he had seen the figure in red, almost like it was some sort of trigger, flashes, visions, of memories and events, memories which were not his own, yet for some reason felt like his own, began flooding his mind.
A mere magus who was neither gifted nor talented, yet honed his abilities on the one thing he was good at, and used it to its fullest capacity to achieve his dream...
Yet those hands will never hold anything...
A mere magus, who lived his life trying to save as many people as he can, having lived and died as a hero, a man who died because of overexposure to radiation, as he successfully shut down a nuclear power plant as his last act of heroism, saving tens of thousands of people in process, all of whom, upon knowing of his sacrifice, mourned his death.
So as I pray...
A mere magus, whose name was forgotten as time passed, yet who continued to be worshipped and revered by the people even as a nameless hero... the embodiment and representation of the concept known as the ally of justice...
Unlimited Blade Works
xxxXXXxxx
He was feeling distraught. His mind was still jumbled, which was certainly not a good thing. Even in his panicked and confused state, Emiya Shirou was certain of two things.
First, his broken visions, whatever they were, whether they were memories or just a pigment of his imagination, represented the amateur magus' true desires, the goal which he has been pursuing all his life.
Second...
"This is a far as you go kid..."
If he did not think of anything soon, his dream of becoming a superhero will remain as just that, just a dream.
He was currently on the third floor of Homurahara Academy, cornered, without anywhere to run to. The man, or rather, being, in front of him, finally managed to catch up, and was now only ten meters away from him... a distance which Emiya Shirou knew he could close in an instant. For the man who followed him, was not a man, but something much, much, more than a man. The man clad in blue was simply taking his time.
For some reason though, unlike a few seconds before, while it was true he was still afraid, the amateur magus' fear had diminished just enough for him to be able to stop panicking. The being that was trying to kill him was powerful and far beyond his abilities, but maybe, just maybe, he might be able to get away.
"Sorry kid, but rules are rules. As you witnessed what happened, I cannot let you live." The man clad in blue declared, as he lunged forward, his spear aimed directly for his target's heart...
"?"
Only for the attack to be stopped.
"?!"
The man clad in blue froze for a second, before resuming his attack, thrust upon thrust, numerous strikes launched every single second, yet none of them met its mark as each and every single one of those swift thrusts were either blocked or parried.
For as Shirou noticed, the man's assault was neither as fast nor as determined as the assault which he had seen him launching upon the man clad in red, thus he had been capable of blocking and parrying every single one of them. Taking advantage of the confusion he noted in the man's aura, the amateur magus stepped forward when an opening in the barrage presented itself, and launched a strike of his own, aiming to slice the man's neck.
The man clad in blue, however, was quick. Realizing his error, he immediately jumped backward and put some distance between himself and his would-be-victim.
"What the hell?" The blue figure muttered. He managed to keep his voice even, but Shirou could not help but notice the shock and confusion they held.
"Who are you?"
"Emiya Shirou." The red-haired young man replied.
He did not know what made him do it, but the amateur magus despite the mortal peril he was in, could not help but smirk slightly. He knew exactly why the figure in blue was surprised.
A few minutes before, in the grounds of the school, the figure in blue had been battling it out against a being similar to himself, a tall man with silver hair and tanned skinned. Knowing that the enemy before him was something that was far beyond human, Shirou was sure that even if someone who he originally thought as a mere human was able to fight him, or even just defend himself for a little bit, he would be more amused than confused.
However, the fact that the weapons, as well as the fighting style which Shirou used to defend himself was exactly the same as what the figure in red used changed that. And thus, instead of getting an impressed sneer from the Heroic Spirit, what Shirou received was a glare that showed more confusion than contempt.
Still, the amateur magus knew that his perilous situation hardly changed.
In a matter of minutes, he acquired a large amount of knowledge and experience, both in magecraft and in battle. But then, despite this fact, even though he had the knowledge and experience, his body could not keep up with it.
Projection Magic, a form of magic which converts magical energy into a particular object. Normally, due to its inability to copy the properties of the original, only able to imitate the form and appearance, very few magi every bothered with it. Emiya Shirou, however, was an exception to this rule. Unlike most wizards, who can only create the shell, due to his specialized Magic Circuits, he can Project an exact replica of what he was trying to copy, its composition, its structure, and its history. He may be limited, only able to Project Swords primarily, although he can also project some defensive weapons at higher prana cost, but the copies he make are close to the original, and he is able to reproduce even legendary blades.
Unfortunately, despite his specialization, even though he had been practicing on a daily basis, risking his life every time he did so, his Magic Circuits were not as trained as they should be. For years, he had been practicing magecraft the wrong way, and thus, they had not been yet been developed to handle the strain of reproducing legendary weapons. With the knowledge he acquired, Emiya Shirou now knew where he went wrong, but even then, it would take him at least a month to get his Circuits to a satisfactorily functional level safely, and even longer than that, if he wanted to be at a level in which he had strong enough Magic Circuits and a large enough amount of prana to be able to fight fully competently.
Then again, slight though his chances of surviving were, things were still slightly better than before. True, it was possible for him to Trace high level weapons and shields, or even the weapon of his would-be-murderer, but even though he would have a one hundred percent success rate projecting them, he would likely pass out right after, making it useless. However, there were two particular weapons which he could Trace and Reproduce which are effective, but would cause only the minimal amount of strain at the same time, namely Kanshou and Bakuya, the weapons which he currently held in his hands. He did not know why he knew the names of the weapons nor did he know why he had the knowledge of said various weapons suddenly rammed into his head, but with his present predicament, it was of little importance.
All these thoughts he processed in a moment.
"So your name is Emiya Shirou. I admit that you have some impressive tricks up your sleeve kid," the blue figure commented, as his face, which had a look of confusion a moment before, once again turned into a feral grin. "Your fighting style... you fight just like that guy from a while ago. Are you related or something?"
At this comment, the amateur magus could not help but frown.
His connection to the guy in red? Shirou did not know exactly who he was, yet for some reason, he could not help but feel that there was a deep connection between them, seeing as he was probably the one who triggered the visions he was having.
However, he did not respond to the spearman's question, as he was still trying catch his breath, and instead focused on trying to find a way to escape his predicament and stay alive. He can worry about that later.
"Not going to say anything, eh? Well, it's not like it's any of my business anyway... Let's see what you've got then."
The blue knight struck. Unlike before, however, as Shirou noticed, this time, his aim was true, the amount of hostility and killing intent he was releasing was far greater than the aura he had when he did his initial assault.
"Trace on," the amateur magus whispered to himself through gritted teeth, as he prepared an array of the same weapons in his mindscape.
Had the blue figure continued with his half-hearted attacks, the amateur magus believed that he would have a chance, slim though it was. But his enemy was now serious. His already slim chances of surviving were even slimmer than before.
Sparks flew in the air as steel clashed against steel. Spear clashed against blades. This time, however, Emiya Shirou was having a much more difficult time, and he was barely holding his own. The thrusts were much faster and heavier than before, so fast, that even with his Reinforced eyesight he could barely see them. No longer was Emiya Shirou controlling his movements completely, and he was now letting the twin swords in his hands do the fighting for him, his body moving according to the swords' experience... a painful choice.
By letting his falchions take over his actions, Emiya Shirou had been able to hold off the spearman. However, his body, while he had trained it, was not yet at a level in which he could wield the swords properly, and thus, with every thrust he blocked, with every strike he parried, his body felt excruciating pain. Maintaining the weapons in existence alone was already taking a toll on him.
"?!"
The white falchion Shirou used to deflect the lance flew from his hand. Immediately, he brought into existence a replica of the sword which he had prepared earlier on in his mind.
"Guh!"
Then the black one was sent flying, which he immediately replaced with a similar blade. Every two or three thrusts of the spear, the amateur magus was disarmed. And in every single second he had to counter at least ten blows. Even if he was able to survive the spear, even if by some miracle the spearman decided to spare him, with the abuse he was putting his body through, Emiya Shirou knew that he was probably still going to die. At the level of strength he was in, the skills he was using, which was far beyond it, was battering his unprepared body just as badly as the attack of the enemy before him. His enemy had so far been unable to land a direct hit, but the strength of the blows, coupled with pushing his body beyond its limit, made Shirou feel like his limbs were about to be torn from their sockets... which he knew was exactly the case.
Crap, cursed Emiya Shirou to himself through gritted teeth, as another one of his falchions was sent flying. Twenty pairs, that was the limit of swords which he could produce with the quality of Magic Circuits he currently possessed, and that was already pushing it. Even now his Circuits were screaming in protest at the pain, and yet, despite his efforts, the spearman he was fighting... or rather, the enemy Shirou was barely holding his own against, was mercilessly tearing through them.
"Well, it's been fun, kid, but it's time that we end this..."
And now he was down to his last five pairs.
"Kuh!"
Not that he would be able to use them anyway. With one swing, the blue knight flipped away both his falchions, leaving him completely open. No matter how fast his Tracing was, in that instant, Shirou knew he would not be able to bring them out quickly enough.
"DIE!" The spearman shouted, as he thrust his spear forward against his opponent whose guard was now completely open.
This was it.
The red-haired magus knew it was hopeless. He knew he was going to die. His instinct was telling him so, that it was impossible for him to survive this ordeal. But still, he could not accept it.
To become a hero, that had always been his dream.
He had seen it, the memories, the visions he received, even though it was incomplete, in that dream, in those visions, whether it was his or not, the man managed to do it, the an managed to become a hero. In those memories, real or not, the man managed to follow that path to the very end.
And if he were to die now, then that dream will only remain as just that... a dream, a mere fantasy.
Darn it... I can't accept this! There's no way I can accept dying a meaningless death like this! The red-haired magus screamed in his thoughts.
A miracle. It was the only way for him to stay alive, a miracle which he knew full well would never happen.
At that point in time, he already expected to die... no, he knew that he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do prevent it.
But then, just as the spear was about to pierce his heart...
A miracle happened.
It came in the form of a sudden flash of light. From behind him, with speed that was far beyond human, a figure suddenly moved, and blocked the thrust that had been aimed at his heart.
"It can't be?! The Seventh Servant?! "
Taken completely by surprise, the blue figure, who had been used and calculated the strength and speed of his would-be victim, found the sudden appearance completely unexpected, and thus, his spear was sent flying out of the window.
"Hah!" The new arrival charged at the now weaponless blue clad knight, but said blue clad figure was just too fast.
"Damn it..."
Knowing he was at a perilous disadvantage without his weapon, the blue clad figure immediately jumped out of the window to retrieve it... and also to get away.
"He escaped," the magus heard a female voice mutter in annoyance.
Instinctively, even though they were on the third floor, Shirou knew that the height was irrelevant to the blue knight. A being that possess great power would hardly get hurt by such a fall.
However, the young magus was barely registering any thoughts about his would-be murderer, his attention completely taken by the new arrival.
He was speechless. At that moment, all his motor functions seemed to have stopped working, even his senses seemed dulled, as he barely registered the excruciating that was going through his self- abused and battered body.
"I am the Servant Saber. I have come in response to your summons..."
Everything seemed to stop from him at that moment.
The person who had saved him... was a girl. However, she was no ordinary girl. Based from the aura that exuded from her, Shirou was vaguely aware that she was the same kind of being as the spearman.
But what caught his attention the most was not her strength, not her speed, nor was it her sudden appearance. It was not even the fact that she was wearing some sort of medieval armour.
The memories he received, the visions he recently saw, they were broken and fragmented, and aside from a basic understanding of the end, as well as the magic that owner of said vision used, everything else was a blur, everything, except for a few people..
"I ask of you, are you my Master?"
And she was one of those few. As if on reflex, even without thinking, he gave the girl a slow nod, almost as if he had done this before.
Still in a daze, as well as the fact that his body was wracked with pain, he barely noticed the sudden sting and faint glow that emanated from his left hand at his confirmation, which the girl's emerald eyes was looking at momentarily before turning her gaze back to the owner.
"From this time forth, my sword shall be with you and your fate shall be with me. Now, our contract is complete."
Emiya Shirou did not understand why, but somehow, on an subconscious level, he understood that it was somehow some form of contract. And aside from that...
She was there with him. In that place, a barren land littered with swords, with turning cogwheels in the sky, she was there, in that vision, along with a few others, standing beside him. Even though it was just a dream, even though it might not be him that was there, he could not help but feel such a nostalgic feeling...
Just who is she? Why does she seem so familiar?
Thus, for a fleeting moment, the two of them just stood there blankly staring at each other.
?!
And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the girl with emerald eyes suddenly turned her back on him and started running in the direction of the staircase.
"WAIT!"
Surprised by her sudden action, the red-haired magus Traced one of his last five pairs of his black and white falchions as he ran after her...
Only to find her shattering a pair of swords similar to the ones he was holding, the blow penetrating through the blades like it was made of butter and slashed at their wielder, something which Shirou found hard to believe. For the person who was wielding those pair swords.
Was none other than the red knight Shirou had seen confronting and battling the blue clad spearman into a stalemate. He did not know exactly what kind of weapons the girl was holding, seeing as it was invisible, but based from the name she introduced herself with, it was probably a sword. Either way, he still found it hard to believe that Kanshou and Bakuya could have been shattered so easily with one blow, when the red spear used by the blue clad figure, which was of legendary quality, took at least a few hits to break one, and they happened to be the copies which he, Emiya Shirou, created, not the originals which were used by the red clad warrior.
Realizing what was happening, the red-haired magus immediately quickened his pace, but he knew he would still not make it, so instead, he settled for the next best option...
"STOP!"
"?!"
"Tch!"
The girl clad in armour was distracted by his voice. It lasted for less than a moment, but it was enough time for the figure in red to do the same thing which was done by the figure in blue: jump out of the window to escape.
"Are you insane, Master? Why did you distract me? We would have been able to defeat Archer here!" The blonde-haired girl shouted at him with irritation in her voice.
"I apologize, Saber-san," began the red-haired magus, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible (something which he was failing at), as he recalled how the girl introduced herself. "But to be honest with you, I have no idea what's happening. You're calling me Master yet I don't even know what I've gotten myself into. I can tell that I've somehow summoned you here, but I assure you it wasn't my intention."
"Are you saying that you were trying to summon a different Servant?" The girl in silver armour demanded, her voice carrying the tone of someone who had just been insulted.
"Servant, what is a Servant?" Emiya Shirou inquired, honestly confused. "If you are going to call me Master, then please, explain to me what is going on."
As he said these words, the girl, whose face had been a mixture of anger and confusion a moment before, turned into one of surprise, as if she finally realized.
"I see," the female in silver armour stated monotonously, her face now carrying a neutral expression. "It seems that there are a lot of things we need to discuss, Master."
In truth, Shirou was unsure if he was making the correct decision. He already knew, he already had a subconscious knowledge, of what was going on, at least partially. However, even though he already has a bit of comprehension on his current situation, he was still confused, and he was not about to make any move unless he had sufficient knowledge of what it is that he had gotten into.
At least, this reason were partially true. The main reason why he stopped her was because he did not want to see anyone dying in front of him, regardless of who it was. And aside from that...
That man... the one Saber called Archer, there is something I want to ask him, thought Emiya Shirou to himself.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Alright, this is the first chapter of my new project Fate: Dream of Utopia. As you may have noticed, this story is once again a typical story about Shirou in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Of course, this is my first attempt at making a fanfic version of the Fifth Heaven's Feel so I would really appreciate your comments, even negative ones, since it will definitely be of help.
Anyway, if you read this chapter, the idea is for main protagonist, aka Emiya Shirou, getting memories from a certain someone. His suspicion though, while partially correct, is actually false. As we all know, a certain Counter Guardian died because he was executed as the person who caused a grave disaster in life when in reality he was the one who stopped it. As you may have noticed though, the source of the visions is someone who died as a hero.
If some of you are thinking that it is Archer from Fate/Extra, then the answer is no. The background of the parallel version may be similar, but it is not the Moon Cell Grail War. There will probably be a chapter or two dedicated to the alternate version later, but for now, I hope the details are clear enough for them to speak for themselves.
Yeah, plot's kind of complicated, but I know I have to write it down and get it out of my system or risk losing it forever. Inspiration only comes once in a while after all, and if you don't write it down when it appears, you'll probably never get the same inspiration again, even if you can live over a hundred or two hundred years.
But enough about that...
And like always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter...
Later then, people...
