AN: I own nothing
I always wondered why In Flight's author who seemed to love his expositions not take care of such an obvious one. Keep in mind that this is just a rough doodle not to be taken to seriously.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Musubi had once spoken of the 'joy of the miracle of having met me'. I found myself understanding her words now, as I felt that same joy for having met her, and Tsukiumi. Of having met Kazehana and Akitsu, Homura and Kusano, Matsu and even Karasuba I suppose. So with them in mind, I decided to take the chance that maybe Musubi was right about love being enough to pull us through this as well. There were worse things to gamble on."Excalibur!"
I brought the sword down and the world vanished in light.
She did not know how long it had been since she last opened her eyes but the first thing she was aware of was the tolling of an armsünderglocke.
She opened her eyes and she could vaguely make out the details of a hill of endless swords . For a second she thought she was still in Shirou's reality marble. But as Matsu's vision cleared she could make out an absolutely barren landscape an overcast sky and giant gears almost noiselessly turning in the sky. There also seemed to be a thin mist hanging in the air somewhat limiting visibility .
She could see the rest of her fellow sekirei sisters getting up from the ground obviously frantically searching and calling for their ashikabi who could not be seen anywhere in the wasteland .
As she got up from the ground Matsu could make out the outlines of a staircase which seemed to lead into the sky .
Wordlessly agreeing amongst themselves to see if they could leave this eerie wasteland and search for their ashikabi they decided to follow the staircase and see where it leads .
As they were approaching the base of the construct they could make out the outlines of what looked like a makeshift chair made of swords on which a red clad figure was lazily sprawled with one foot casually folded over the other.
As the mist surrounding the figure cleared they realized with some shock that that man almost looked identical to Shirou if a bit older than him. There were some differences of course like him having all white hair and bronze skin.
At that moment sun decided to peek through the clouds and illuminate the seat giving the illusion of the white haired man being seated on a throne of bloody swords .
Matsu's razor sharp intellect quickly put two and two together and she gave an audible sob as she tried to not completely break down . This was not her Shirou the man she had fallen in love with who was her ashikabi but he was still Shirou Emiya .She had thought Shirou's reality marble had seemed lonely but this barren wasteland where the sun didn't shine , no plants grew and the toll of the armsünderglocke could be regularly heard broke her heart .
"What's wrong Matsu? Do you know that man?" Asked a visibly concerned Kazehana as she looked at the man sizing him up trying to determine if he was a threat .
"That's Archer" Matsu replied visibly taking a moment to compose herself . "The Archer from the Holy Grail war Shirou took part in." Matsu was still avoiding looking directly at Archer lest she break down once again .
"How do you know that?" Questioned Homura as he looked around visibily disturbed at what he was seeing. "More importantly where are we?"
"Shirou told me" Matsu replied weakly "And we must be inside his reality marble."
While the sekirei were preoccupied while conversing with each other Archer opened a single eye and then narrowed it at seeing the intruders in his domain .
For the sekirei the effect was almost instantaneous the pressure of Archer's intent was almost enough to make their legs buckle and their chests explode . Even Miya who was until that point thought to be the gold standard at displaying murderous intent by those who had been part of the original disciplinary squad would laughably pale in comparison.
This Matsu realized was the power of a completely materialized heroic spirit . One who was not limited by having to use a two bit shell to remain in the world .
As Archer got up from his makeshift seat the world darkened with the appearance of near infinite blades in the sky all pointing towards the intruders.
Karasuba and Akitsu quickly jumped in front of the rest of the sekirei taking up stances to defend the rest of the sekirei.
As Archer was slowly making his way towards the group of sekirei they were able to make out more physical differences between him and Shirou . His eyes were a steel grey and he was easily a few inches taller than Shirou. He was also a lot more powerfully built.
The sekirei were bombarded with Archer 's memories as he mercilessly slaughtered his targets almost in a zen like state . As he crossed battlefields barely being able to stand from all the wounds he had suffered . As he waded through rivers which had turned red from the blood of the fallen. As he gave his chant which was so similar and yet so different to the one their ashikabi had given .
My body is made out of blades
My blood is iron and glass is my heart
I have survived countless battles
Never once retreating
Never once being understood
I was always alone
Intoxicated with victory on a hill of swords
As he was beating up Shirou while goading him.
"If you can't let go of your fake ideals then drown in them."
"Matsu who is he?" Questioned a shaken Tsukiumi who was biting her lip so hard that it was drawing blood .
"That is Shirou Emiya or rather a version of him who had no one to guide him and protect him from himself. A version of him who would later on ascend to the throne of heroes" Matsu whispered .
"So that is what lover-kun would have become like if he had not met us sekirei" muttered Kazehana as she was looking at Archer and could not help but give an involuntary shudder . The eyes which she had remembered being so open , warm and inviting had been replaced with guarded , unfeeling and uncaring steel chips.
"Shirou-sama" yelled Musubi enthusiastically waving at the approaching man unable to run to him as she was being held back by Kazehana . Apparently she had just heard the part about Archer being Shirou and in typical Musubi fashion tuned everything else out.
"No don't Musubi" hissed Matsu wishing for the first time she would display some common sense "that is not our Shirou . Don't antagonize him by speaking a name he hates more than anything else."
Archer's eyes had widened in shock at hearing the girl dressed in a shrine maidens uniform calling him by his given name . He covered the rest of the distance between him and the group of strangers in the blink of an eye.
"And how do you know that name girl?" He asked Musubi his tone filled with derision. His already overwhelming presence was even greater being so close to the group of sekirei .
While Archer and the rest of the sekirei were busy sizing up each other little Kusano had managed to crawl from under Akitsu's legs and then bravely stand right in front of the being even whose hip she didn't reach.
Archer's attention was drawn towards the little blonde haired girl who was straining her head trying to look into his eyes . Before his disbelieving eyes the ground around the girl sprouted grass and flowers .
"That's impossible" Archer muttered as he took a few steps back as his eyes narrowed in shock as all his focus was directed at the girl. The giant gears in the sky ground to a halt and the armsünderglocke had stopped tolling . The only thing that could be heard was the eerie melody of the wind .
Little Kuu plucked a white lily from the ground and walked up to Archer and offered it to him .
Archer was wracked with indecision as he was wondering if he should accept the little girl's offering .
"Silly onii-sama when Kuu gives a gift you have to take it." Kuu huffed slightly miffed that he was not taking her gift.
As Archer bent down to take the flower Kuu took that opportunity to give him a tight hug . "Did that make you feel better onii-sama" she asked as she released him from it.
As Kusano had hugged him visions had assaulted him of these women . He knew them . They were strange, infuriating and endearing aliens . They had saved another version of him from his fate . He could take satisfaction in that fact.
"Yes little Kusano ,yes it did" Archer said as he gently smiled at her.