Prologue- Small Changes, Bigger Outcomes
Kaleidoscope, Zelretch. Those are the names for which the Second Magic is known. A magic so great, so powerful, that it transcends the understanding of modern science by centuries, and even the most experienced mages hiding in their world of centuries of research (maybe even millennia), cannot even begin to grasp the mechanics behind its working
Well, there are thre people that have done so.
The first one is his developer, the magician and 4th Dead Apostle Ancestor, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. A very old man, with a very twisted sense of humor. He is as wise as he is crazy, and anyone who has been under his tutelage (read: torture) or experienced one of his pranks can attest to that.
Nevertheless, his prowess with the Second Magic allowed him to even defeat the one known as the King of Vampires, Crimson Moon, in a fight well known to the magic communities all around the world. To this day, he remains a figure of both respect and fear.
The second one did by complete accident. A nameless Samurai who was simply trying to cut down a swallow with a sword, a seemingly imposible task what would require lots of patience and time, and that would end up, mostly, in failure . Yet he had nothing better to do so he persisted; disappointment and frustation were in the way, so he got rid of them. Until one day he was able to develop a skill that defied the Realm of Gods, twisting space by creating three simultaneous slashes that cut off any escapes to the flying bird.
The last one would be Toshaka. Though the ancestor, Nagato, was the very first to receive the blue prints for the reproduction of the tool capable of performing Kaleidoscope, it was not until his descendant, Toshaka Rin, that the family gained Zelretch's attention, taking the girl under his wing and declaring her one of his official apprentices.
But Toshaka is a special case. You see, her accomplishments with the Second Magic did happen… but in a particular number of universes. Because the circumstances allowed/forced her to. And because that is what the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope, is about.
The manipulation and operation of Parallel Worlds.
So, when Toshaka Rin from some worlds had to resort to the blue prints left by her ancestor to develop a form of the Kaleidoscope, she would probably latter become an apprentice under Zelretch. Sometimes she would still become one, even if she did not develop a first example before gaining his attention; but through iron-will and the company of a red-haired boy, Rin would eventually master a form of the Second Magic. And in particular cases, Toshaka Rin would not meet Zelretch at all, may the cause be her own early death or a change in her own circumstances.
The Operation of Parallel Worlds implies, therefore, the existence of different possibilities of what we and our world, and the world belonging to others could become: sometimes the differences are minimal, and the end result still persist; sometimes two worlds may have a similar beginning, and end up very differently. The possibilities of the Second Magic are, as there are parallel worlds, limitless. People only need enough imagination.
This story is a particular example.
In many worlds, it revolves around a battle royale between magi to obtain a single wish for the sole winner. It is a ritual that began as an effort to replicate the Third Magic, another impossibility which seeks to create a Soul, a being from a higher plane of existence; however, the power it needed to achieve such end could be used for other means, therefore, the possibility to wish for almost anything.
Because of disagreements between the founder families of the ritual, and the later incorporation of outsiders into the fight to claim the prize, this event was later called The Holy Grail War.
A war between seven mages who summoned the souls of people from legends, Heroic Spirits, in order to fight for them and eliminate competitors; until only one pair would be left and they would be allowed to claim the Grail and wish upon it. But it was not meant to be…. from the beginnings of the ritual at the end of the 19th Century until the end of the 20th, none of the participants was able to become a clear winner, and become chosen to claim the Grail and its power.
Here comes the first divergence.
During the Third Holy Grail War, one of the Founders, The Einzbern Family, would try to gain an upper hand in the battle; some cases showed them summoning a powerful but still human Heroic Spirit, as is the case for Amakusa Shiro, who would take the role of the Servant Ruler and later attain a real body, becoming a key player in the development of the future Grail Wars. But in many worlds, including the one of our story, the Einzbern got too greedy and cocky.
They wanted someone strong, an embodiment of power that could trample the other Servants, something akin to a God. Believing they could circumvent the System that governed the summoning of Heroic Spirits, they attempted to bring forth the representation of the evil god from Zoroastrism: Angra Mainyu, All the Evils of the World.
What they got was a very weak Servant from a new kind, Avenger, who was killed effortlessly by the strongest Servant, the Saber, on the first stages of the war. But, while the Einzbern only saw another defeat and their failure in recovering the Third Maigc, they and all other participants were ignorant of the consequences of Avenger's defeat. Even if he was a weak Spirit, Avenger was still an embodiment of a really strong concept, his legend born from the desire to create someone who could represent All the Evils of the World, a wish for a root and a reason for it. And as the embodiment of a wish, instead of merely being assimilated in the Grail to later return to the place where Heroic Spirits come from, Avenger latched onto the Grail itself, seeking to fulfill its purpose.
And so, unknowingly to all, The Holy Grail had become corrupted into a tool which desired to bring about the destruction of humanity, through twisting any possible wish from the winner into a way to release Angra Mainyu into the world. Only the first person to come close to fulfiling the ritual, Emiya Kiritsugu, would find out about the truth beneath the promise of the wish.
Kiritsugu was a man who above everything else, desired to become a hero who could save others, and grew up to become a ruthless killer that would sacrifice as few lives as needed to save many more, throwing himself into hunting for Apostles, Heretic Mages, and famous world criminals and dictators. When he received the offer of the Einzbern to become their participant for the Holy Grail War, he thought he would finally get the chance to wish for the end of the cycle of violence and war that plagued humanity, and ending his path as a killer after the ones involved in the ritual. While staying with the Einzbern, he even gained a wife and later a daughter, people who he actually cared for and that brought him smiles that he never believed he could make ever again.
But after so many sacrifices, including his lover and assistant, Maiya, and his own wife, Irisviel, the promised prize turned up being a monkey paw. Not only was it limited to whatever means he could think to bring his dream into reality, but it twisted everything for the sake of killing countless humans and releasing Angra Mainyu. He rejected the Grail and ordered his Servant to destroy it, not without consequences.
He was cursed to a slow and painful death, while half of the city where the ritual took place was engulfed in flames and death. After having almost everything he cared for taken from him, including his resolve in is goal, Kiritsugu had saved the world at the cost of becoming completely broken.
The second point of divergence happens here.
As the story of Kiritsugu is coming closer to an end, the story of a lone boy that struggled to survive among the unholy flames and the hundreds of dead, begins. He would be left as an empty shell, devoid of emotions, memories, and covered with burns and wounds; a mere shadow of his former self, something which could hardly be called human. As his drive to survive had finally run out of fuel, and he had accepted death, someone would find and rescue him.
Maybe an arrogant King, who had lost most of his former respect for the world and humanity, and believe himself to be the ruler of all things. He would find an opportunity to make of the boy something amusing: a servant of the King, or perhaps even one who could actually overcome every obstacle and fulfill the vision he received where humans finally outgrew the planet and left for new destinations.
Maybe a twisted priest, who questioned his own reason for existing, when he was someone who failed to attain pleasure and happiness through all normal and accepted ways, only feeling truly alive while inflicting misery upon others. The boy was an interesting prospect, an experiment to find the answer he was looking for through the eyes of someone very similar to him. Be it through the boy's own tragedy or his struggle to survive in the ritual, the priest believed the boy could give him the answers he sought.
Or even, the very master of the Kaleidoscope, who was just passing there by mere coincidence. The boy would grow to become a master of the Second Magic himself, traveling through different worlds and experiencing many different adventures, trying to find himself while doing so. A lone traveler without a family of his own, a wanderer of the multiverse known by many, yet never able to truly to stay in one place he felt he belonged to.
But in this world, the boy was found by the broken Emiya Kiritsugu, who had given up at that point into finding survivors and was being dragged into the deepest despair. By saving the boy, Kiritsugu had saved himself; for the first time, he had saved someone without resorting to his broken dream, and maybe… he had found a small measure of atonement for his mistake. And the broken boy who had lost his emotions, his memories and his sense of self to the fires of doom, would be faced with the smile of his savior and his situation, finding a purpose to live on in saving others.
Until this point things may resemble many other realities: a lonesome boy rescued by a broken Magus Killer, whou would adopt him and give him the goal of his life, becoming a Hero. But there are some last deviations worth of being mentioned.
Such as the fact that, at the very time the Holy Grail War was taking place, an important artifact from the Imperial Family of Japan was lost in Fuyuki City.
Such as the fact that a grater evil than the one residing in the Grail had awakened the moment it released its curse upon the city, thanks to the Black Sun from wich its contents rained.
And such as the fact that the boy, before becoming Emiya Shirou, had developed a strong friendship with a particular girl, who had been looking from her house at the disaster. One Misutzuri Ayako would become a key player in the events to come, and her relationship with Emiya Shirou could determine not only the future fate of the whole country... but also the fate of her friend.
AN: This is a project I have been planning for a while. It involves a crosover between three different series, one of them being an online game. You already aware of the main two, but let's try to guess about one of the changes mentioned above, anyway.
What kind of Evil could be similar to Angra Mainyu, yet more powerful and possesing a conciusness? It was defeated by three gods in the final time of Dinosaurs, then millenia later by a Samurai Lord, and finally by said lord's son. If you still haven't guessed I'll give you another hint: translate evil into Japanese.
As for the game... look for Valve.
On another note, I have been wanting to read a Shiroux Ayako fic for a long while, only finding three on the forums, from which two are one-shots and the last one you may know it as A Different Path. So I'm trying my hand on this, even though the other heroines are still participating (except for Saber).
Finally, I am not giving up on The Demon who wished to become a Hero. But honestly, I have been having some trouble with it. I fear that in bringing elements from other series I may complicate the story, to the point where too many characters would be introduced. Yet I am still going for it. Just be patient, I want to develop oter ideas I had for a long while.