Welp...I messed up? Ok so its not that much of a mess up.
Since several people managed to point it out and convince me that his [Gate] is underpowered. And after they pointed it out, I looked it over and kinda agreed with them. I mean an authority is SUPPOSED to be OP since its godly. LOL So i have replaced it. xD Don't worry though, it barely effects the future plot of the story.
So! I replaced the [Gate]'s statistics with extensive help from Zaralann. LOL BTW if youve already read chptr 3, you dont need to reread it. Its the exact same chapter, excluding the Authorities at the bottom.
I replaced the [Gate] since my previous description was pretty bad...and kinda stupid in some ways. It HAS restrictions. Some of those restrictions( and pros) aren't mentioned explicitly though. So you will need to think about it. xD
Hopefully it will clear up any misunderstandings! And don't credit me for the new Gate. Credit Zaralann.
BTW many have noticed that Hebe's authorities weren't mentioned. The thing is... I haven't decided on the exact ability description. Its a "blessing" type, basically a support type authority.
Chapter 3: New World
He had woken up in a hotel bed with no recollection of what happened after he had talked with…who? Shirou just could not remember who he was talking to, but It didn't rank high on his priorities for the time being. He had some stuff to do.
For the past week, Shirou had visited libraries to read up on facts and events that were unique to this world. Shirou had opened his [Gate of Babylon] for the first time to retrieve enough funds for living expenses and other needs that he might have. Desperate times called for desperate measures. If his life wasn't on the line, he would've never opened that gate yet, but life didn't work that way. And besides, the [Gate] was frighteningly useful. He could practically store any non-living item into his [Gate].
He had arrived in this world with no money, no knowledge, and no identity. He was practically an alien to this world. About the only knowledge he had was the very vague description of his kind: a god-slayer.
(Flashback)
"...So you mean to tell me that I am a god-slayer." Shirou stated calmly, even though on the inside his thoughts was running at light speed. The situation just didn't make sense to Shirou. From what he was taught, gods were almighty beings that could not be slain by mere mortals. And yet, Pandora was stating that he had accomplished killing, not one, but two gods within the same day. It was absolutely ludicrous.
"Yes! You had died, but you also succeeded in killing a god and thus you are reborn as a god-slayer, a king of kings, a Campione!" Pandora sounded awfully cheerful despite the serious conversation.
(Flashback End)
Then he had woken up in a lavish hotel room. No one seemed to know that he resided in that room. He wondered if that was all a dream. The entire Holy Grail war...the last fight with Gilgamesh...It was an encouraging thought. But it was impossible. He had already confirmed that fact when he successfully opened the [Gate]. It confirms his slaying of Gilgamesh.
He had briefly wondered what the security officials thought when they saw a red haired teenager exit the building, since he had never entered in the first place. That should've caused some havoc. Good thing he had moved on to a different hotel the next day. Shirou moved one hotel every day. Sure, it is a major hassle, but it was necessary for Shirou. By now, a government agency could be reviewing the security tapes and might discover that he had walked out from somewhere he didn't belong.
That was all in the past.
Back in the present, Shirou headed toward the front gate to exit the hotel that he had been staying at. He had woken up less than an hour ago and He was heading to the nearest library to research more of this world. But a library could only hold so much. He would need to find a new source preferably with more details about the magical side of this world.
Shirou had a most unusual hair color for someone of japanese descent. It was red, and slightly longer than it was back during the Holy Grail War. He had on a white shirt and a tight leather jacket to defend against the chilly bite of the early morning. As for pants, he wore slim black jeans that provided some protection against the weather. On his left hand, he had a ring on the pointer finger. It was a Noble Phantasm with passive abilities to conceal power. He had stumbled upon it in his [Gate of babylon] that time when he opened it to obtain funds. It consisted of a small teardrop shaped amethyst and a platinum band with runes carved into it.
Sadly though, the ring could not handle the immense amount of power that the magus-turned-Campione had and thus, even though a vast majority of his magic power was sealed away, his prana still gushed out like a broken faucet. Hopefully there weren't any magi or people who could sense magic nearby. He wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible after all.
Shirou had no idea of this world's workings afterall, and he was also alone. He had no Tohsaka to keep him on track. He had no Fuji to take the place of his legal Guardian. He had no permanent residence either! So he had come to the conclusion that he would at least gain some knowledge of the workings of this world. From his research so far, it looked to be not too different than his universe. In fact, it was so similar that it was scary. There is some positives to this. With a Campione's power, could he somehow find a way to get back into his own universe?
That was certainly a longshot. According to Tohsaka, only the Wizard Marshall, Zelretch, had mastered the Second Sorcery: Kaleidoscope. So it was almost impossible, given the infinite amount of different and parallel dimensions, for Zelretch to come onto this one.
As he was walking down the streets towards the library, Shirou noticed that many of the civilians had turned their heads discreetly to look at his hair. He briefly wondered if this was really a different world's Japan, it sure looked like his. But that thought was useless, all the facts proved that he was no longer in his own dimension. Dashing the observation from his mind, Shirou thought about more important topics. It seemed that the age of gods, that had ended 2 millennia ago in Shirou's world, had not ended in this one and thus gods were wreaking havoc. Even though the news only mentioned the gods as "natural disasters" or "terrorist bombings," Shirou knew enough to be able to tell whether or not something logical was happening or not. Seriously... an attack on the Colosseum? By terrorists? Unreasonable, terrorist have no reason to target a historical monument. Shirou had assumed it was a rather irresponsible Campione, but without facts and a reliable information network, he couldn't be sure.
It was about brunch time and Shirou was passing by a local high-school. 'Jounan Academy huh? School sure brings back memories.' Shirou stood there at the entrance looking at the school. The thought of school brought back so many nostalgic memories. It was where he had first seen a battle of servants. It was where he had first met Tohsaka Rin. It was where he had fought with Saber. No…Those memories of Shirou's had to be locked away for now. It would do him no good to reminisce and not do anything to find his way back. He needed to find a way back home first and foremost. Clenching his right hand into a fist, Shirou was about to leave when he heard someone shouting at him.
"Hey you! Why aren't you at school? Look at me. Don't try to run away. I know I just saw you turn away from that school." An officer pulled up and interrogated Shirou.
"Ugh…ummmm…." Shirou had no idea what to say. 'I was too careless! What was I doing just standing outside a school!? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! I have no ID in this world! If they bring me to the department to get me checked, they'll find that I have no records at all! I'd be searched and would be quetioned as to why I shouldn't exist and where my real records are. I would be cornered with no reasonable answer to those questions!' Hastily making up an excuse, Shirou keeled over and pretended to be in pain. "A-Argh! M-My stomach! Officer, believe me, I wanted to go to school...b-but I have this massive stomach ache."
The officer stared straight at Shirou. He blinked. It was by far, the worst excuse he had heard of in history from truant students. Having enough of this farce, the officer grabbed Shirou in the arm and dragged him onto school campus. Shirou could only let himself be dragged lest he drags more attention to himself.
The officer had dragged him through the school and had stopped at a room once to ask for directions to the principals office. All the students that saw him through the windows being dragged by a civil service worker looked on in confusion. Shirou was definitely going to be the topic of gossip for a while.
"Pardon me Mr. Principal!" The officer did not bother to knock.
There were two people in the room. One was sitting behind a giant mahogany desk with papers stacked on top of it. The other was sitting on one of the three chairs all positioned facing the principal. The was an old man nearing his sixties. the top of his head was clean, it practically reflected sunlight like a mirror. He had a strong look despite there being small traces of age wearing it down. It was the type of veteran look that looked like he could stare at your eyes and know your entire person. He was wearing a gray suit that seemed all too customary for principals in Japan.
The person that was speaking to the principal before we intruded was also in a gray business suit. He was a fairly tall Italian man. Much taller than Shirou was. He had a dirty blond hair that went to his shoulders and looked combed. He had a body reminiscent of the statue of david. His calm demeanor exuded a sense that he had lots of power.
"Pardon the intrusion Mr. Principal, but I have here a truant student who was just about to leave before I caught him and brought him here." The officer stated while gesturing at his prisoner.
"Oh it is no problem." The Italian man spoke. "It looks like we must cut our meeting short today. I will see you next time my good friend." He nodded at the Principal and left while nodding at the officer to acknowledge his presence. He certainly knew how to conduct himself. The moment he saw me though, his eyes widened for but a split second as if he discovered something he had not noticed before.
"On second thought, I had forgotten something that I had to do so I will take a seat here, if I may, Kaieda?"
"Please, Blandelli. It would be an honor." The principal nodded at Blandelli.
'Woah... The principal talking to the tall man like that. He must be a big shot.' Shirou concluded.
"Now, officer, what may I help you with today?" Kaieda stated while interlocking his fingers.
"Thank you Mr. Principal. Sorry for interrupting, but I found this delinquent snooping around at the school gate. If you would kindly take him off my hands, I could get back to patrolling the neighborhood." The officer added with a smile.
"Alright, you may leave. I will handle things here." The principal sighed and motioned to grab a pile of files in the bottom left drawer of his desk. The officer turned around and walked down the hallway they had just come from. He took this time to leave leisurely whistling to himself while he was at it.
Shirou just stood there, pondering whether or not he should just try to run away, or stay and wait to see what happens. "Now then, young man, I do not believe you are a gangster or even delinquent." 'What?' "Despite your hair color, that would make anybody looking believe that you are part of a gang, I can see that your roots are also red. Which means that you are a natural red head."
Shirou raised his eyebrows. The principal in this school is very observant to small details.
"Your hair is unique enough that I can safely say that you are not a student of this school. Am I right?" The principal continued.
Shirou could only nod up and down.
"Well that leads us to the problem. You look to be about 15, 16 years old, yet you were hanging around outside of Jounan Academy gates, what were you doing? What school do you go to?"
Leave it to the observant principal to ask an awkward question that Shirou did not know how to lie through yet. So why lie? Shirou flat out told the truth.
"I don't go to school." 'Because my school is in Fuyuki City which is in another dimension.' Shirou didn't say the last part out loud though.
Oh well, that was a good enough lie for Shirou. Even though Shirou could not lie even if his life depended on it, he could tell half truths since they technically weren't "lies."
(Timeskip- 3 hours)
Those 3 hours were long and treacherous. The more they asked, the greater the chance that Shirou would let something out. In the end, they worked something out with Blandelli being present. In fact, it was Blandelli that requested something of Shirou.
Shirou was walking out the school. It was approximately lunchtime and all the students were looking at his general direction. It was not unexpected, first he had been dragged in by a cop, and now he was being led out by a very refined and powerful(?) man. People were staring, but none were approaching. Until they left the building.
"Uncle Paolo!?" Shouted a very feminine voice. Up ahead of us was a remarkable spot of golden yellow that headed our way. The girl who had just arrived could be called a beauty. No, the word "beautiful" is too much of an understatement to correctly call the maiden in front of Shirou. He could only stare ahead.
"Erica. Good afternoon, It is a grand surprise to see that you are here." Paolo Blandelli stated with no hint of disapproval, rather, he seemed happy when he had uttered the phrase. Shirou supposed it was his public image that he had to keep up. "And good afternoon to you, Kusanagi Godou. It is a pleasure to be in the presence of the 7th Campione."
Shirou widened my eyes at his words. In his research, he had found traces that had pointed that the youngest Campione who had slayed his first god not too long ago had settled in Japan. Shirou never expected to meet him here or even in these circumstances. 'Hehe...Looks like we could get along. Erica seems to be just like Tohsaka. Perhaps Godou and I could relate.' Pondered Shirou while never taking his eyes off the boy.
The 7th Campione had the usual black hair that belonged to most of the Japanese. He had a slightly tanned skin tone that meant either he had a natural tanned skin tone or he usually plays a sport. Examining his muscles, Shirou concluded that it was the latter.
Erica walked up to Paolo and greeted him with the bare minimum of formalities. Possibly due to her status as his niece. Erica then turned to Shirou.
"Who are you?" The change in demeanor when dealing with her uncle and with me was everything but unnoticeable. He was going to respond but a limo pulled up onto the road just directly outside the gate.
"Come Shirou, we must get going." Paolo stated, saving Shirou from what would be an very awkward and time-consuming situation that was guaranteed to be laden with questions. If Erica was at all like Tohsaka, then Shirou would have an avalanche of questions and accusations laid on him. And he did not want another session after 3 hours with the principal. So Shirou ran up behind Paolo. Whispering that he was sorry that he was leaving without answering.
With that, the duo left Jounan Academy.
[Location: Jounan Academy- A while after Paolo left with Shirou]
"Erica, were those people you know?" Godou walked up to her from the left.
"Yes...That was my uncle, believe it or not. The current head of the Copper-Black Cross. I don't know what he was doing here though. Knowing him, he was probably setting something up." Erica sighed. She had no idea he was even in Japan. Why would the chief be here? He could just send a lackey to do his work.
"Hm...then was that red haired boy also from Copper-Black Cross or wherever you came from? He certainly seemed like the type. He had this aura around him, kind of like your aura but yet it was very different." Godou put a hand to his chin in the standard thinking posture. Despite not knowing much about magic or even the age of gods in general, he is a campione and thus could sense other powers even if only slightly.
"No...I have never seen him before. Either he is new, or an acquaintance of my father's." Erica was feeling a bit down that even though she was the Diavolo Rosso, her dad still had more authority than her and thus she could not know everything about his business.
What was most frustrating was the fact that the boy looked about the same age as her and yet, his magical power completely overshadowed hers. Hell, it even overshadowed her father's. And the senior Blandelli is one of the most powerful magical entities in the world! Not counting divines of course. She wanted to fight him. An extremely powerful entity that wasn't even classified as a Campione! For once, ignorance is NOT bliss, rather it is frustration.
"Now, back to business. Kusanagi Godou, I hope that you will immediately come with me to Italy. I need your help. It will probably be difficult for me to settle this matter with my power alone, so please consider this earnestly. I, Erica Blandelli, swear upon my honor that I have not lied to you. Why do you think I specifically came to pick you up? I knew for sure that if I didn't do this, then you wouldn't come." Exclaimed Erica with no hint of desperation despite the urgency of her desperate situation.
"Right…" Godou's shoulders sank. He was still not accustomed to her personality yet, but he did know that when Blandelli Jr. swears with her honor on the line she is not joking. It is a very serious matter.
"Great! ...Thank god I didn't need to use my trump card." Erica shouted the first part, but whispered the second part so weakly that it was barely audible.
"What? I couldn't quite catch that." Godou turned his ear at her direction in hopes of catching more sound waves.
"N-n-nothing!" Erica sputtered while turning around to hide her not-so-obvious blush. "We will leave tomorrow in the morning."
[Location: Limo]
"So Shirou." Paolo had set himself down on the leather seat to the left of me. "Tell me, do you know the potential that you have?" Shirou stared straight at the man. 'Does he mean magic? I guess that means he had sensed the prana leaking out from my seal. At least he doesn't suspect me of a greater power as of yet. I hope I can trust him though. He certainly does have a lot more magic than others. Probably the only ones who would be able to defeat him at full power would be other Great Knights, Campiones and gods. Probably more, but I don't have that information... yet.'
"What do you mean?" Shirou pondered. He might not be an Archer in terms of not trusting others, but he had learned the ways of the world a bit after the Holy Grail War. One just does not come out alive from a free-for-all war without learning anything.
"I mean that you have an immense amount of magical power inside of you. So much so that it surpasses mine." He doesn't even know the half of it, literally. "I would like for you to join my organization."
Shirou narrowed his eyes. If it was an organization like the Mafia or Triads, he would be out of here in a flash. So he voiced his question without a second thought while feeding od through his body so he could reinforce immediately should the need arise. "What kind of organization."
He saw my expression when he had mentioned an organization, Paolo knew that he had to phrase the next sentence properly otherwise they would lose the recruit of the year. So he stated the core of the Code of Chivalry. "Our organization, The Copper-Black Cross, is a magicians' organization located in Italy that works to protect. We protect lives, records, or anything of value to us. We are the one of the most powerful descendants of the Knights of Templar. We also have an alliance with 2 of the 7 Campiones."
Shirou's mind began running through all the scenarios that could potentially happen should he join or not join. Primarily, he would have the backing of one of the most powerful organizations in the magic world. Secondly, he would have much more access to uncommon knowledge due to it being an magical organization. This was a source of information that he was looking for! Thirdly, he could get closer to the other Campiones. One of them was most probably Godou Kusanagi.
On the other hand, The Copper Black Cross would gain yet another of the Campione's alliance, even if they did not realize it yet. That in itself was a very valuable thing. Was it worth it?
"Blandelli-san, your organization sounds like a decent group. But I wish to make a request. Should you accept I will join the Copper-Black Cross." Shirou stated with finality. He would be making the decisions here. It made it so that he wouldn't be manipulated by any major power. Shirou had had enough manipulation in the Holy Grail War. It isn't pleasant at all to know that you're being puppeted.
They passed the rest of the time in the limo heading for the airport. They had a flight to catch if they were to make it to Italy.
(Timeskip: Many hours.) [Location: Italy]
Shirou stepped out of the private jet. It is a great wonder that he could travel between countries without even having an ID or passport! After thinking about it during the flight, Shirou just summed it up into being one of the benefits of being a Commander-in-Chief of the Copper-Black Cross. They just had so much power to use and abuse. It made a good impression on Shirou that they didn't abuse that power muc-more than necessary.
The jet was a bit of a stretch though. It was completely lavish with ornaments and sparkly decorations all over. Shirou had sat on the couch that replaced the usual cramped seats. During the duration of the trip from Japan to Italy, they had 2 meals. Both of which were extremely extravagant. Filet Mignon, Sashimi, and they even had Caviar. It was certainly a novel experience to Shirou. Although it won't be new for long given his Authority: the [Gate] He could just buy that kind of food whenever, but he wasn't a glutton. And he also liked to cook his own food.
Paolo stepped out first. He was greeted by a vast amount of servants and security guards. The servants provided a guarded aisle to the white limo that was parked at the end of the runway. Paolo looked composed as if this happened regularly. It probably did, since he IS the most powerful person of a very powerful organization.
We walked into the limo and immediately sped toward the Copper-Black Cross headquarters in Milan.
(Timeskip)[Location: Copper-Black Cross Headquarters]
A chauffeur opened the door to the limo. Paolo stepped out first followed by Shirou. The many maids and other knights all bowed to Paolo's thus making it very awkward for Shirou. The Blandelli senior led the two into the building.
It was magnificent. The outside of the building looked much more modern than Shirou thought it would be. He had though that it would be an older and much more traditional Italian architecture style. 'Oh well, I guess time consumes and changes all.'
The inside was more to Shirou's expectations. It looked a bit oriental and had a somewhat gloomy feeling to the room due to the low lighting. There was many chandeliers hanging from the ceiling that had actual candles. Not the imitation candle light bulbs. They were on a soft red woolen carpet. There was also a massive cross-like flag on the far wall. 'It must be the Copper-Black Cross's flag.' Concluded Shirou.
As Paolo led them straight through the entrance of the building, Shirou took this chance to observe with more detail the surroundings. He had accepted Blandelli's offer to join the organization and had also observed that this is probably one of the safest places in Italy, but it never hurt to be too careful about surroundings. The entire time, Shirou would flinch at random intervals due to some loud sound or another. You might say he is being overly paranoid.
They had passed through many areas. They walked passed the training rooms, the living quarters, and even the center of the organization. They had many things going on at once in this place.
They had finally reached the end of the hallway on the 8th floor. Paolo had probably led them along a longer route to his office because the building did not feel that big to Shirou. Paolo motioned for Shirou to sit down on a chair in the dimmed room. He did so.
Paolo walked around the mahogany desk and sat down as well. They stared at each other for a bit. Shirou was starting to feel awkward. Then Paolo broke the silence.
"So, You requested an accelerated knight training, Emiya-san?" Paolo stated.
Shirou had seen the other recruits and knights of this place train, and to be honest, Shirou thought that they were weak. He could barely "smell" any magic from them. His conclusion: to become a knight for its benefits since it wasn't hard for him to do so. Its not like they can even compare to the might of a Campione, even if his abilities were severely toned down my magic artifacts.
"Yes, Blandelli-san. I stated that I would join if you would allow me into an accelerated knight training course. And I won't break a deal after I make it. The question is, now, if you would accept my conditions." Shirou spoke as formally as possible. He briefly thanked Tohsaka for her proud attitude.
"Why would you want to take the training Emiya? What rush are you in? Wouldn't you rather take the path that all other Knights go through? What I am asking is simple, What is your goal?" Paolo looked directly at Shirou's eyes as if to stare at his very soul. Quite intimidating really.
Shirou had to think about this carefully. He still was not sure that Paolo would even allow this. Hell, Shirou hadn't even known that there was an accelerated course, he had just requested the lowest rank that would let him access to most of the files that they had. Paolo had stated that a Knight class had clearance to most of the material. As a result, Shirou had requested the fastest possible way to get to that class, that is, IF he had the necessary skills to do so. Shirou might as well tell him his goals. With that Shirou told him his ideals that, though were borrowed, he still followed to this day.
"That is a very honorable cause that you fight for...Very well. I accept your conditions. It is a pleasure to meet you Emiya Shirou, I expect great things from you." Blandelli added with a smile. "You may be excused now, I will have a maid help you to your room."
As if on cue, a maid stepped in from behind Shirou's chair. She had a nice face and an attractive body. She had black hair that framed her face and also went down to her back. Four gold clips helped shape her hair. The maid had deep blue eyes that radiated a sense of joviality and playfulness.
"Sir Emiya, if you would so kindly come with me so that I may show you to your room for the moment?"
The maid said with a small smile.
Shirou got up and followed after the maid. They walked into a pretty decent suite type room. Shirou pondered how much this costs them to maintain. It had imitation paintings on the wall that had a light blue tint. The room had a small kitchen at the back and a king sized bed in the bedroom.
Before Shirou could do anymore exploring of his new room, the maid giggled. "Sir Emiya. If you would please tell me if you have any other questions?"
"Oh..Oh!" That broke Shirou out of admiring the room he was given. "I am sorry for taking up your time…uh..."
"Arianna, Arianna Hayama Arialdi." She assisted.
"Thanks. I'm sorry for taking up your time, Arianna. If you would let me make it up to you, I could cook you some dinner. Its pretty late and I don't know if you've eaten or not…" Shirou sheepishly scratched his head.
"Oh Shirou. I didn't know you would hit on girls on your first day here." She said sultrily. Seeing the desired effects of having succeeded in making Shirou's face light up red, she consoled him. "Hahaha, that was just a joke. I'd love to join you for dinner though! Oh! I'll help you set up the table! And also, call me Anna. All my friends call me Anna." Arianna giggled happily and ran in to set up the table.
Shirou could only stand at the door not comprehending what had just happened until he heard the clanking of plates being placed on the table. Shirou could only chuckle to himself and smile.
The two talked late into the night.
Shirou talked easily about what he was doing before his recruitment and how he had met Blandelli at Jounan Academy. Shirou was told that apparently no one, even in the Copper-Black Cross, knew what the chief was doing in Japan.
Anna told Shirou how she was the maid of Erica Blandelli. It brought on an interesting conversation in which Shirou learned a lot about the blond that he had seen at Jounan Academy.
Looks like he had made his first human friend in this world. Its a good start.
[Location: Shirou's Living Quarters]
That next morning, Shirou woke up on the floor of the dining room to find that they had partied well into the night. The kitchen was a mess. It looked like they had gotten drunk and messed the place up, because there were things everywhere. Shirou then noticed the dark elongated bottles that rested upon the table.
'Are those empty wine bottles?!'
"What the..!"Shirou voiced his surprise out loud.
"mmmmmmm…" A sound coming from the bedroom interrupted his yell.
Standing up, Shirou walked slowly and quietly towards his bedroom door. He pulled it slightly open, hoping that he had not heard what he thought it was. Sure enough, there lying on his bed, was a mound with black hair poking out one end. It was Arianna. Damn his luck.
Resisting the urge to facepalm at the ridiculousness of the situation, Shirou knocked on the door twice. The knocks woke Arianna up from her slumber.
Her eyelids blinked open and fluttered for a bit. Then she yawned and stretched under the covers. While this was going on, Shirou could only turn around, face away and wait for her to be finished. It was impolite to look at a girl when she was sleeping after all, and Shirou would not be accused of perversion after just one day of meeting her. There was a lot of shuffling going on behind Shirou. But it stopped soon afterwards.
"Um Sir Emiya? I...I'm sorry!" Shirou turned around to see that she was bowing. Shirou would have none of that though.
"Anna! Don't bow please! We are friends! Besides what would you need to apologize for?" Shirou tried to convince her.
"I took your bed...without asking. I am so ashamed of myself." Arianna sported a solemn look on her face.
Shirou had no idea what to do.
He was starting to panic. Thus he decided to say whatever he could to cheer her up. "Nono, I am happy that you took my bed. In fact you could sleep there anytime you want!"
Shirou really did not think it through. Anna began to sport a healthy blush after he said that sentence. Shirou looked on for a couple seconds until, he too, realized the implications of what he said.
"I'm sorry! That came out wrong!" This time it was Shirou's turn to say sorry. Both of them stayed like that in silence, with Shirou looking devastated and Anna holding her cheeks in her feeble attempt to hide her blush.
They both started to laugh at their comical situation. That is, until they realized what time it was.
"OH NO, I'm late!" They both shouted in unison.
[Location: Copper-Black Cross Arena]
There, in a massive circular dirt covered field, armored men stood waiting. Waiting for what, you ask? They were waiting for the new recruit that Chief Blandelli had recommended. It was 20 minutes past the requested time and the knights that were to oversee the test were growing impatient. At least the younger knights were getting impatient, the older ones just sat there looking absolutely dignified with their swords in hand.
All of them were waiting on one person, the rumored Emiya Shirou, who had acquired the former Diavollo Rosso's recognition. A recognition that many in the organization aspired to get, and yet this newcomer acquired it just after joining! It was absolutely preposterous.
Many of them were imagining what kind of person that the Chief would recommend for this extremely torturous accelerated training. Some imagined a very strong, very muscular man. Some imagined a very dignified scholar who had as much talent in the magics as in swordsmanship. Because of these delusions, none were ready for what the truth was.
Running down the halls was one Shirou Emiya. He crashed through the double doors to the arena to come face to face with over 50 knights. Most were renowned as being very strong. There was even one great knight leaning on the wall at the back. Shirou remembered his name to be Genaro Gantz, one of the strongest in this organization. Though Great Knights would lose to those of Paladin class, they were still figures of immense authority.
"Haha...I am sorry I'm late…" Shirou scratched the back of his head for no particular reason. All the knights looked at Shirou. Then in unison, they closed their eyes, and wiped their previous visions of Emiya Shirou away. Surprise of the century.
"Alright, now that you are here, we can finally start." A blond haired knight stepped forward. "We will start with gauging your magic capacity. After that we will test your swordsmanship. Do you have any swords?"
Shirou stepped forward with a smirk on his face. 'This is going to be easier than I thought.'
(Meanwhile with Erica)
Erica and Godou had just left the airport. They were looking for Erica's maid, Arianna.
"Hm...She should be here by now. Oh well, Godou carry the luggage, we will head out to look for her." Erica brushed her hair back while walking towards the exit.
"Ughh….Why do I need to carry all of this? It's mostly yours!" Godou complained with a passion.
Erica turned around. "You would let a woman carry her own stuff? No, I know you aren't that kind of man, Godou. You are very chivalrous and would do your best to assist a lady." Erica added that last part with a smile.
Godou was about to refute, but had stopped since he had learned from past discussions that Erica always won. Always.
With a grunt, Godou lifted their luggage onto a cart: 5 suitcases in total. 4 of which, were Erica's. Seriously, why do girls even need to bring so much stuff? It was as heavy as an elephant. What does she even put in there?
Dragging the cart through the airport, Godou finally caught up with Erica. They stopped at the edge of the street. Erica seemed to be waiting for something.
Sure enough, screeches could be heard down the street. It was coming closer. A red BMW drov-skidded to a halt right in front of us.
"I'm sooooo sorryyyyy I'm late Erica-chan!" The maid appeared yelling.
"It's ok, Arianna." Erica swatted it off casually. "I would like you to meet Godou Kusanagi."
"Hello Mr. Kusanagi!" Arianna recovered rather quickly from her sorrowful state from earlier. "I am Erica's maid, Arianna Hayama Arialdi."
"Um..hello Ms. Arianna.." Godou said nervously. Arianna laughed heartily at Godou's shy politeness.
"Alright thats enough. We should head to headquarters now. Arianna if you would so please."
At that, Godou paled. They had just seen what Arianna's driving was like, and Erica still let her drive?!
'Perhaps it isn't as bad as it looked'
(Timeskip: After the ride…)
Godou touched down on the ground sweating profusely.
"That was the scariest experience I have ever had. I think….no, I KNOW I have car trauma now." Godou looked absolutely terrified of the cars that were passing by.
She walked up till she was right behind him, whispering into his ear. "Relax Godou. A Campione should not be afraid of such trifle objects. Even so, I would not let anything harm you. " Erica stated as if it were a fact.
"Ok...Stop calling me a Campione. What if Ms. Arianna overhears? I thought you didn't want to tell her yet. So please call me by my name, Godou." Godou sighed. He had only first met Erica a couple of days ago and she was already calling herself his sword and shield. It was a very drastic change. One that Godou was just not ready for. He just wanted to be normal!
"What is there to misunderstand? You are a Campione, and I, as a Knight and Diavolo Rosso, am your sword and shield." She put a hand on her waist and stared pointedly at Godou.
"Great..., but could you please tell me why am I here? You only said you needed help, you didn't specify anything at all! I could be in Japan studying for the exams next week..." His shoulders sagged and his head dropped. Godou complains, but he is not actually mad at Erica. He just could not become angry for some reason or another at her. Despite his dislike for all things magical, he could not bring himself to get angry at the person who could be called the sole reason for his current involvement.
Erica simply looked at him. "Godou, please. I swore on my honor that this is a big deal. Its something that I can't handle, even with my status, alone."
His complaining was useless. He was already in Italy, so he might as well follow through with this.
Fixing his posture, Godou starts to follow after Erica into Copper-Black Cross headquarters.
Godou followed after Erica into the building.
End Chapter 3
Shirou's First Authority:
Gilgamesh's [Gate of Babylon: King's Treasury] (Acquired in Chapter 1) NO Chains of Enkidu. That is a different Authority. Ea is also another authority. The [Gate] is not empty though. It has every single treasure that Gilgamesh had.
PROS:
-Having a full access to every treasure in the World gives Shirou an ability to copy them fully, because he has a full detailed Blueprint in his head. Each item that Shirou will Trace, and which and if its original stored in the [Gate], won't receive a reduction in Rank.
-Shirou has access to every Treasure in the world, and he only need to know a slight bit about it to gain information from the [Gate] about it, giving him almost limitless knowledge of artifacts and treasures in his Authority.
-Opening the [Gate] and accessing the Treasure costs very little Prana(1 Unit each). However, Shirou doesn't need to supply Prana to keep the Treasure in the outside world.
-Being basically a personal dimension, [Gate] can accept new Treasures. Placing a new item inside will bond it to the [Gate] and it will be restored to its condition at its prime.
CONS:
-When Treasure receive any kind of damage it can't be called out from the [Gate] after being returned there, until fully restored. The time needed to restore the Treasure proportionally to the amount of damage and the power of the Treasure and inversely to the amount of Prana that can be use for restoration. The minimal amount of Prana for restoration will be automatically drained from the user. Small scratches, dents and dirt will be restored in seconds, or even less, while a fully broken weapon can take hours or even days to be restored.
-Treasures won't come back to the [Gate] automatically so Shirou will need to command them to do so. This leaves the chance of leaving something behind, even if unintentionally.
Credits to Zaralann. I don't know what I would've done without his help with this. xD He did like 99.99% of the work for this revised [Gate]
BTW Anna might or might not be in his harem/pairing. I was just trying to set up a friendly atmosphere for now. And considering Anna's personality...this is totally possible. This chapter was bsically just a set up for future events. It ws also kind of a cool down chapter since the first 2 chapters were battles so this is like mellow...er
KK thanks for reading! Dont forget to drop any questions or anything in the revieews! xD
Seeya next time!