Iron Body, Glass Heart

by bubbajack

A story in which the words "The more things change, the more things stay the same." never rang more true. For after death, and even in rebirth, he still wants to be a Hero. One that helps others at the cost of himself, knowing full well his ideal is hypocritical. Do you have enough blades...Jaune Arc? JaunexHarem! Could go up to M in later chapters!

3. Chapter 3

Iron Body Glass Heart

By: Bubbajack

Betas: Maestro of Madness, Grammarly, Self-proofread.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or FSN. They belong to Rooster Teeth and Type-Moon.

Ch.3: Dreams and Resolutions.

---

Jaune not for the first time since his eighth birthday, was having an odd dream. It consisted of the life of someone like himself. Someone who wished to be a hero like he did. The Hero survived a terrible disaster at a young age. A raging inferno that took the lives of over five-hundred people. Of those people, he was one of the few survivors. The Hero was saved by the Old Hero. The Hero, upon seeing the look of absolute joy on the Old Hero's face, wanted to make others as happy as he was.

The Old Hero adopted the Hero as his son. For a time, he asked the Old Hero to teach him magic, as the Old Hero confessed to being a mage. But for a time, the Old Hero refused, citing the craft of magic being fraught with danger. But the Hero was relentless and after much begging and pleading, the Old Hero relented. However, the Old Heroes ways were that of practicality not, tried and tested research. Thus, he could only teach the Hero so much, and improperly at that.

On the night of the Old Hero's death, he past his ideal, that of saving everyone down to the Hero, who swore to bring it to fruition. He tried his hardest for years in secret, as magic was supposed to be kept quiet from the public.

Yet for all his effort, Jaune saw little in the way of actual results. In fact, if Jaune was being honest, he didn't think the Hero was trying very hard to be a 'Hero of Justice' like he promised the Old Hero. Sure, he had only a couple of skills, but did he try using them on more than just junk? From what Jaune could tell from watching, no, he did not. From what he could tell, this 'Structural Analysis' could be incredibly useful if used properly. If, for example, a hostage situation was taking place, he could easily scan the building, find a weak point or unguarded place of entry, and then plan a way to rescue hostages as he would know the floorplan. His opinion of this Hero got even lower as he entered someplace equivalent to a Hunter Academy only to be blatantly treated as a tool by someone who was clearly a coward and a bully. What was more, the Hero failed to realize that someone in front of him was in dire need of his help. Jaune began to wonder if this Hero would ever amount to anything.

"Wait, maybe he's doing something wrong. He keeps talking about making Magic Circuits to do magecraft. I've never needed to do that. The pain of having a hot iron rod jammed into my spine only happened once, and that's when my Circuits activated for the first time."

Yes Jaune decided, Shirou Emiya was most certainly doing something wrong. But the fact that he kept going, despite the pain and lack of results, was nothing short of admirable. He still didn't know whether or not he would become a Hero of Justice. But he respected his resolve to try.

That all began to change one cold day…

The Hero stayed late again as a favor to a friend. Yet as he left, he heard the clang of weapons. Rushing out to the front of his school he beheld two beings clashing. One in red in black wielding Kanshou and Bakuya, the other in armored blued steel swinging around a cursed crimson spear named Gáe Bolg with enough force to stir up gale-force winds, he was Cu Chulainn, Irish hero of legend. Faced with such an impossible display of might, he backed away in awe, alerting them to his presence. Then he bolted like a deer. He didn't make it very far before he was gored in the chest by Cu Chulainn.

For a moment, the vision faded out, like a television with bad reception. When it continued, the Hero found himself alone, with naught but a crystal pendant. He did not seem to be questioning the fact that he'd been stabbed in the chest very much, as he leisurely made his way home.

His home, it was vast. Too large for a single person to live in alone, yet he did so. His guardian, an immature older woman seemed content to come around for food while leaving him to his own devices. This arrangement worked against him now as he soon found himself cornered by Cu Chulainn once again.

But something different happened as the Hero fled to his shed. This time, he somehow managed to summon a stalwart defender to his aid. She was a stunning if petite young blonde with green eyes clad in silver and blue armor, a skirt of royal blue around her waist. With speed and strength that would put veteran hunters to shame, she charged forth, tearing the earth asunder underfoot as she began her assault. She quickly drove him into retreat, only for her to attempt to attack one of his classmates, and the crimson and black clad man who had been fighting previously.

"Stop!" With but a word, the Blonde Warrior was brought to a stop.

Jaune wasn't sure if the Hero had made a good move right there. After all, hadn't one of them just tried to kill him twice previously? Was it really wise to extend an olive branch to such a person. All he could to was watch and find out.

He then proceeded to invite her inside for tea, as she explained just what he'd gotten himself into. The Holy Grail War. A secret conflict between, to Jaune, amounted to Aura users summoning long dead heroes and having them fight to the death for a wish. She then took him, to all places, a church, filling him with unease.

For though both Humans and Faunus worshiped Oum, the Human Church saw both Grimm and Faunus as an affront to creation. Whereas the Grimm tested humanity from without, the Faunus and their 'temptations' as the Church put it, tested mankind from within. Their attempts to segregate the Faunus and force them all to move to Menagerie, that sparked the Faunus Revolution, and from the ashes of that, the now militant White Fang, and the Church having lost a fair portion of their influence on the people of Remnant.

While the Faunus saw him in a different fashion they saw every action they took in life as having an effect upon themselves in death, and upon said death, it was the accumulated 'karma' that would decide one of three fates for them. The first if you were evil, would be to become like a Grimm, a mindless monster bent on naught but destruction of all you once held dear. The second if you were neither good nor evil, you would be reborn once again, and given 'another chance to get it right'. The last and hardest to achieve was if one was truly good, at which point they were taken to the paradise of Oum, a place without prejudice, hatred, or fear of Grimm, forever.

His parents like most on Remnant after the Great War and Faunus Civil War, believed that each person should decide their own fate and let their actions in life speak for them, rather than fear of some impending cosmic retribution that awaited after death.

It was both because of these thoughts and his personality that Jaune hated the Priest, same as the Hero, the moment he laid eyes on the man. He had this cocky 'I know something you don't' air about him, a cocky smirk on his lips, but it was his eyes that put Jaune on edge. For they were empty sans for hints of amusement he showed upon teasing the girl or mocking the Hero.

As they left the place of worship, they were accosted by the Fairy and the Black Giant. The battle was a sight to behold, and even further cemented the idea that these Servant's possessed capabilities far beyond any huntsman. The sound barrier was casually broken by the rapid movements of the combatants. The sound of steel clanging against stone rang throughout the park, and it was rather obvious that the flaxen-haired blonde was slowly but surely loosing this fight. Then, much to his surprise, the girl stepped in. Taking what looked to be a handful of dust crystals from her pockets and charging them with her aura before tossing them skyward, wherein in the Hero of Rusted Iron fired several arrows from a distance he couldn't even see after the dust crystals solidified over the Giant before causing a massive explosion…only for it to be completely ineffective.

The Black Giant stood within the flaming crater unfazed as the blonde swordswoman retreated, only to follow her into a cemetery on the Fairies' command. He was told by the girl to stay put. That he was of no use in this fight. She may as well have spoken to a wall for all the good it did her, because he went charging off into the forest after her anyway. Jaune didn't know if he made the right decision yet again, but he did know that if it was him, and he was told to stand by and do nothing while others put their lives on the line...well, he wouldn't be able to do it either. So he couldn't really blame him for rushing in even though he knew full well he couldn't do anything.

It was only through the intervention of the Hero of Rusted Iron. For he sent forth a shot that decimated the entire cemetery, turning into naught but a smoldering crater. Somehow, the Hero saw the shot coming and managed to pull his Servant to safety…

---

Jaune awoke from his dream, feeling conflicted. This was the eighth night in a row that he'd had visions of such events and now he knew something for sure…the Hero's ideal while beautiful in theory, was incredibly flawed in practice. Maybe it was due to the fact he had a family while the Hero from his dreams did not, but he found the idea of throwing one's life away for random strangers at least not without having a proper plan in place to minimize potential harm to himself and others around him…distasteful. Not when he had family and friends that clearly cared for his wellbeing. And while he couldn't deny that it wasn't wrong to help people in need, doing so while completely disregarding the thoughts and feelings of the people closest to him, and potentially putting people in danger by rushing in recklessly without a plan felt wrong on some base, instinctual level to him.

Looking over to his clock, he saw it was a little past three in the morning, yet Jaune's mind was abuzz with thoughts and emotions. So much so that he knew there was no way he was going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon. 'I need to talk to somebody.'

With such thoughts in mind he got up from his bed, clad in his footie pajamas and made his way down the frigid halls of his family home. For the place was built long ago and thus lacked proper heating and cooling. Jaune made his way down the halls coming to a stop before his father's study, when he saw the telltale signs of life in the form of the light of a fire coming from beneath the crack at the bottom of the door.

He knocked thrice before letting himself in. The study was covered in mahogany and stone, the floors furniture, and crown molding consisted of the rich wood, while the walls were of carved stone. A fire roared in a stone fireplace to his left which was surrounded by several plush chairs. His father sat behind an ancient wooden desk, in a plush leather chair. Both of which belonged to their forebear Julianos Arc, according to Sebastian anyway. Xanthus looked up from the ledger he was scribbling in when he heard the knock. Seeing his son come into his study caused Xanthus to frown and say, "What are you doing up son? You should be sleeping."

Jaune nodded, "I know, it's just," He paused to collect his thoughts, "Lately, I've been having this really weird dream or cycle of dreams I guess."

Xanthus took a moment to study his only son's face. 'He's conflicted about something.'

"Why don't you take a seat and tell me about it son?" He said, motioning towards the seats in front of the fire before stepping over to his coffee machine and making a cup for himself and then a cup of hot chocolate for his son before sitting down across from him.

"Are you sure Old Man? You looked busy, and this can wait." Jaune told him.

But his father waved him off, "Nonsense, if it's important enough to have you out of bed in the middle of the night needing to talk about it, then it must be important. Now, tell me what's on your mind son."

Jaune took a deep breath, thinking 'Well, here goes nothing.' Before he began, "Well, I had this really weird dream. In it, there's this guy, he survives this horrible fire. Like it was really bad, a lot of people died but he lived because someone saved him. That person, he adopted the boy telling him he was a Hero, one who did his best to save people, a Hero of Justice I think was the term he used."

His father scowled slightly at that term, but nodded before motioning his son to continue, "Well, the boy begged him to teach him what he knew, and eventually, he did. But something was wrong with the old guy and he died…passing on his dream of being a Hero of Justice one who saves everyone without killing anyone to the boy he adopted. I guess that took some burden from him, because he died content, with a smile on his face."

"I see, and how old was the boy at this time, do you know?" Xanthus inquired of his son.

Jaune scratched his head with his free hand before saying, "I dunno, but if I had to guess, I'd say twelve or so? And the fire happened when he was the same age I am now." Jaune watched as his father took a deep breath in through his nose before letting it out through his mouth, blowing on his cup of coffee as he did so. 'So this man gives a child a nigh impossible legacy to live up to just so he can pass onto the next life easier? How cruel.' The elder of the two Arc men mused.

"Oi, Old Man, is something wrong, you look like you swallowed a lemon." Jaune asked concerned.

Xanthus shook his head, saying "No son, it's just that Hero of Justice can so many things. Personal Justice, settling of a vendetta, to take up the flag of a vigilante, world justice for human crimes against nature, which would lead to eco-terrorism. I wonder what kind of Hero of Justice the father meant for his son to become. Since he didn't clarify, how was the boy to know?"

Jaune blinked owlishly before saying, "Oh wow, I never-I never thought about it like that."

Father nodded to son, replying, "There is no one justice in this, or any world son. Each and every person has a reason for doing what they do. Pride, Honor, a dream or goal they will do anything to see fulfilled. It is when we see these justices conflict, that we get things like heroes and villains, victors and losers. Criminals and victims, and war. War most of all."

Another silence fell between the two once again. After a moment passed, Xanthus sighed and said, I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away there. Anyway, then what happened, did this boy get looked after by someone in the man's family?" He asked of his son.

Shaking his head, Jaune replied, "No, but a family friend more or less became his legal guardian…but from what I saw, she wasn't around much. But the boy didn't seem to mind he preferred it actually, as it allowed him to practice with his aura more often. For some reason, the use of Aura was kept secret from people in general in the dream."

Blinking in surprise, the elder looked astonished, "You mean a twelve-year-old child was left in a house, alone, with no supervision when who knows what could've happened to him while he messed around with Aura, something that, to this day, we do not fully understand?"

"Yep, and while he didn't mind being alone, to me, it sure seems lonely having a big place like that all to yourself. But he tried to master what little the old man taught him before he passed and…well, let's just say I don't think he did a very good job. Not that it's entirely his fault."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but like I said it wasn't all his fault. I think he was doing something wrong on accident. See, when I awakened my Semblance, I felt like I had several hot iron rods being pushed into my back. But it only happened one time. For him, he did this everytime he wanted to use his aura."

Jaune paused, taking a minute to organize his thoughts, "I think it was because of that, that all he did was fiddle around with junk and see what was wrong with it. What the old man taught him, it allowed him to see things in the form of a three-dimensional blueprint. Then, as he got older because he wanted to help people in any way possible, he became a tool that other people took advantage of. It was sad really, all he wanted was to help people but never even really noticed that the girl who kept coming around every day had a thing for him…or that she was, at the very least, being abused by her old brother."

That was a bit of a sore spot with Jaune. One that annoyed him even now. That someone who wanted to be a hero so badly, could fail to see someone so in need so completely. Still the guy had provided emotional support even if unknowingly, so that was something he supposed. A thick, tense silence fell between the only two Arc males was broken by the elder who said, " It sounds like you respect him a bit."

"It's kinda hard not to. He walks through a literal hell, puts himself through agonizing pain everyday just so he may be able to help people. But I don't agree with all of his decisions. Probably because I'm able to pick up on things he can't

"Understandable, you have family who've always done there best to hammer into you good from bad on top of that, you now have a couple of friends now if I'm not mistaken. He didn't. And that makes all the difference."

Jaune nodded, "I guess you have a point there. "

Xanthus chuckled and ruffled his son's hair "Of course I do, I'm your father. Then what happened?"

"Some kinda secret war started. Poor guy got stabbed in the chest right off the bat, as if his life wasn't bad enough already. But somehow, he didn't die. Then he went home, got attacked again by the same person and summoned a girl. She was like the guy that kept trying to kill him, strong, unbelievably so. She fought the guy off, then the girl a different one from earlier showed up and after using…something to prevent the girl he called forth from killing the girl and her friend, she explained how he had been dragged into something called the Holy Grail War. A combat tournament where the surviving team got one rule free wish."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, then she took him to the local church, and I guess the pastor or whatever oversaw monitoring things. He was an ass hat. Then they left and got attacked by what amounted to a nine-foot-tall testosterone fueled behemoth, with a body carved from granite, and all the intelligence of an enraged bull."

Jaune paused then, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "The girl, she used dust. It did nothing to the Black Giant but still…"

"Used Dust, how son?" Xanthus asked, leaning forwards in his chair intrigued.

Scratching his head in thought for a moment, "It was sort of like in the old Hunter tales, but in the reverse. As instead of empowering her aura with the Dusts element, she took a dust crystal and instead she empowered it with some of her Aura, then tossed it." Another pause, "From what I could tell it was…crude in execution at best. Think of it like an IDED."

"An Improvised Dust Explosive Device?"

"Yep, but anyway, that didn't do anything and the fight eventually moved to a cemetery and forest respectively. Then he, decided to rush in and try and help, even knowing he couldn't really do anything, and almost getting himself killed in the process. To be honest, I probably would've done the same thing...After coming up with some sort of plan. he almost gets himself blown up, I woke up and decided to come talk to you. Not because of the dream but the guy in them…I-he's a lot like me. But he's also different. Different in ways I respect, but also can't accept."

Nodding Xanthus silently prompted his son to continue which he did, but not before getting up and starting to pace back and forth like a caged animal. He did this for a time before he turned on his heel and said, "I can't deny it, I'm not even sure I want to try. The idea of wanting to save people isn't wrong, it's beautiful…it's worthy of respect, but he keeps…he keeps pushing people away. People who could help him, who would willingly fight beside him. He keeps pushing them away because he can't stand to see anyone hurt for his sake."

"Jaune? Son are you ok?"

His father's plea of concern went ignored as Jaune continued his pacing, running his fingers through his hair as he started to break out in a cold sweat, and continued his rant, "But he's so stubborn! He's so stubborn that he doesn't realize! He doesn't realize that not only are his actions hurting people who give a damn about him. But also, also he seems to think he needs to do everything by himself, because he doesn't want people getting hurt. Not even people who declared themselves his enemies. He doesn't realize that to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs; that sometimes, the world is better off without some people in it. But more than that, he failed to even entertain the idea of having people who shared his dream, as that would mean putting them in danger. But if he did."

Jaune began to sweat profusely, as he continued, and his father rose from his chair in an attempt, to make his son sit down, But the boy ignored him and finished, "Then he could've saved hundreds of thousands if he had people he trusted by his side, I-"

Jaune's words were cut off as he dropped like a led weight was his father struck him in the back of the neck knocking him unconscious before catching him with one arm and gently pressing a hand to his forehead with the other before pulling it back.

'He's burning up! What could be-' Xanthus cut himself off before rushing to the bathroom and filling the tub with cold water and dropping his son in, before calling for Sebastian to wake his wife before bringing all the ice he could to the bathroom near his study.

Minutes later, Leona showed up clad in a crimson silken nightgown asking sleepily, "Dear, what's going on?"

Upon seeing her only son lying unconscious in a tub of cold bathwater she snapped wide awake and demanded, "What are you doing to our son, Xanthus?"

"It's been so long; I'd forgotten about it. It happens sometimes when someone unlocks their aura before the age of thirteen, due to not being in puberty yet, their body just isn't ready to handle the sudden influx of power and-"

Leona cut him off by saying sharply, "Xan, what. Is. Happening. To. Our. Son?"

Sighing, the Arc patriarch explained, "I'm no doctor, but I think he's suffering from Acute Aura Poisoning. It's something that happens when one unlocks their aura before the body is strong enough to handle it. That's why Combat Schools don't accept applicants till their at least thirteen. By then, puberty starts and the influx of hormones allows the body to easily handle their growing aura."

Xanthus could practically see the lightbulb go off over his wife's head, "So that's why the practice of unlocking one's aura became a 'rite of passage'. Then after the Great War and founding of the Kingdoms, was strictly regulated to Combat School Instructors if it was to be done at all."

"Too much of a good thing." He agreed putting a comforting arm around his wife's' waist.

Looking down on her sons' sickly form the matriarch asked softly, "Will, he be ok?"

"I believe so, Madame."

Both turned to find Sebastian, Noir, Violette, and Indigo hulling a massive metal tub of ice into the bathroom.

Leona put her hands on her hips as she turned and faced her daughters, "Violette, Indigo, what are you two doing up?"

"We heard from Sebastian something was wrong with Jauney." Violette replied with a shrug, before adding, "And why isn't Noir getting the third degree?" Meanwhile, while her younger sister leaned in for a closer look.

"Is he alright, what's the matter with him?" Indigo asked worriedly.

"Noir is an adult with a job, you two have school in the morning, and Jaune should be fine, he's just feeling a little under the weather." Leona replied to both of her youngest children as they poured the tub of ice into the already frigid waters.

Their job complete, both Indigo and Noir gave the boy a once over. Noir from the point of view of a scientific genius, and Indigo; that of a budding medical professional.

"His pulse is erratic, eyes appear to be dilated," Noir noted, opening his eyelid to check his pupils.

"Temperature is high, skin clammy."

"His aura is spiking and shows no signs of slowing down now, could be the root of the problem." Indigo finished, using her Semblance, Advanced Aura Detection to check him for anything.

The two looked at each other, and Indigo asked, "Acute Aura Poisoning?"

Noir nodded, "I was thinking much the same. He should be fine though. I don't see any lesions or necrosis. He doesn't appear to be cooked from inside out. So, chances are he'll pull through just fine."

"Umm, what's Aura Poisoning, I thought Aura could only heal and protect us?" Violette asked.

Noir nodded, "Usually that is the case. However, sometimes, too much or too little of it can throw the body off. In the case of extremes in Aura, this can lead to Aura Poisoning where one has too much aura than the body can safely handle, causing the body to treat the access aura like a disease leading to something akin to an autoimmune disease causing lesions and necrosis to take place randomly throughout the body."

"Then you have Aura Withdrawal; where someone overuses their Semblance even after they've run out of aura and causes their metabolism to rise, increasing their internal temperature by overworking their Hypothalamus, and causing Hypothermia." Indigo finished causing Noir to nod in approval.

"Huh, can you say that again in plain Common Remnant please?" Violette asked.

Sighing, Indigo stated flatly causing the punk-goth to pale at the thought of either one happening to her little bro, "The first causes you to rot from the inside out, and the second makes you cook yourself alive."

"He'll be ok though, right?" Violette asked in a small voice filled with concern.

The others paid her slip from her tough as nails persona no mind, for they all knew deep down she cared immensely for each one of them. Jaune especially, as she taught him how to play guitar herself when he was but five. He took to it rather easily, likely due to being so young, and they whittled away many an afternoon as she taught him cords, notes, and then songs.

It was the same for most of the others as well. Ceil taught him how to cook, Noir helped him with his schoolwork, Colombe used him as a model for her designs (even making him try on girls' dresses), Rogue helped him train, and Indigo always patched him up with band aids afterwards, which led to her want to become an Aura Healer.

Jaune was the glue that held the family together. For though he was their youngest member, as he took an interest in all their hobbies and in some cases influenced them, he kept them closer knit than they would've been otherwise. So, if something were to happen to him…

Violette turned when she felt her father's hand land on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine, he's strong. He's an Arc after all. Now, I believe your mother wants you and Indigo off to bed as you do have school in a few hours." Seeing her about to protest, he added, "We'll be right here watching him, and you can see him again before you leave. Now go on, to bed, both of you."

Both girls gave their youngest sibling's chilling hand a comforting squeeze before being herded off to their rooms by Sebastian, as his parents and elder sister kept watch over his fitful sleeping form.

After a moment filled with worried silence, Noir spoke, "I thought Jaune and I discovered something new a week ago." Her parents turned to her curious as to where this line of conversation was going.

"I thought we had discovered a secondary nervous system in the soul itself. One that holds the Aura of a person itself. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'd seen something like this before, so I started digging. Eventually I found what I was looking for… Back when Mountain Glen was being built, they came across some ruins that had paintings that had Erini words beneath them. These paintings consisted one person with roots across his body being touched by another induvial but his roots were glowing white. Then more the other person started to glow too."

'Babble, High-Glyph, Grekk, Romani, Erini, Kanata, and Eye-Ching. Collectively, they are known as the Lost Tongues.' Xanthus thought.

"You think that the ancient Erinians already knew about this 'soul nervous system'?"

"Could be, further on, images were found of people wielding lightning with dust-topped staves while an old man with one eye and two crows on his should drew strange runes in the air with his finger."

"What are you getting at dear?" Leona asked. Normally she would be more patient with her daughter, but it was late, and she was worried about her lone son.

Noir nodded in apology, "I was merely wondering, if the Erinians knew about this nervous system but then it was forgotten about…"

"Then how much have we forgotten?" Her father finished.

Noir nodded, turning her gaze back to her little brother, "Indeed. And there is an old saying…those who do not learn from their past, are doomed to repeat it. It is also said that doing the same thing over again, is the definition of madness."

They all fell silent after that each absorbed in their own thoughts.

---

As Jaune slept the night away in a cold bath, watched over by worried family members, he continued to dream.

It must've been the day after the fight with the Black Giant yet the boy was going to school, alone. Without his guardian.

'Again, he's doing something I don't really think is all that smart. I mean, he knows that girl is in this competition, Yet he comes here anyway without his Servant. That's like painting a target on his back. He's gonna get himself killed by that girl.' Jaune predicted. 'She reminds me of Weiss, now that I think about it…weird…and scary as all hell.'

Just as he'd predicted, once school let out for the day, the Dust-using girl attacked him. She had him dead to rights, using some sort of…black projectile attack. She described it as a curse. Gandr. The word was foreign to him, but the effect was obvious. Black spheres raced down the hallway blowing holes the size of apples in the infrastructure of the building as the Hero raced down the hall, at one point, yelling back for her to be careful or someone could get hurt.

'Hero...the someone getting hurt is going to be you. She's TRYING to kill you. RUN!' Jaune thought worriedly as he barricaded himself in a classroom, 'That might've a bad idea. I mean, what's stopping her from just throwing a dust crystal in there and blowing him to pieces?'

Just as he thought, the girl proceeded to bombard the room with black spheres, but not before she effectively sealed him into the room with some sort of force field. Something he referred to as a Bounded Field.

'Just another something to consider.' Jaune thought as the Hero, Emiya the girl- Who was constantly referred to as Tohsaka-called him, to reinforce a desk using it as a makeshift shield to survive the barrage. Only for the girl -Rin- something told him, to chuck a dust crystal through a glass window in the door, covering the room in a powerful pale-blue light. Amazingly, he didn't die, and threw himself out of the now destroyed classroom armed with naught but a piece of metal enhanced by his aura.

She gave him three seconds to hand over his Command Sigils, before she took them by force. He refused. Then right when things were going to get intense, a scream was heard. The two immediately set aside what they were doing to find the cause, which happened to be a classmate of theirs passed out on the ground.

Emiya thought she was just passed out, but he could feel it. Somehow, her aura had been drained nearly dry, almost to the point of death. Tohsaka said as much before she tried to rejuvenate her aura using a dust crystal. Both he and Emiya saw it out of the corner of their eye. A serpentine blur moving towards Tohsaka's head. Jaune watched as Emiya did the only thing he could. He threw himself in front of the projectile, piercing his hand before materializing into a spiked chain that was forcefully yanked out of his arm and into the trees. Despite telling Tohsaka how much pain he was in, he ran off into the trees, regardless of the fact he was clearly outmatched, he charged heedlessly forwards to protect those behind him.

"Emiya, I respect you, and your ideal to a point. But you are wounded, outclassed in everyway, and have nothing but an enhanced piece of metal standing between you, and hero of legend! Please, Summon Saber you dolt!" Jaune screamed to no avail.

For an existence, such as Emiya Shirou, the thought of putting another in danger for his sake never crossed his mind. Thus, Jaune Arc groaned as he went and actually taunted the purple-haired visored Servant who then proceeded to tie him up by his wounded arm. He would've died again right there if Tohsaka hadn't come to his aid. As she started dragging him off to her house to get him cleaned up, Jaune noticed a mop of purple hair fleeing the scene…

"Matou you dirt bag."

The scene blurred then and when it stopped, both Emiya and Tohsaka were seemingly going to school the next day and seeing as they weren't trying to kill each other, they must've formed an alliance of some kind. But when they passed the gate to their school he felt sick. Like a giant snake was sizing him up, looking to swallow him whole. Emiya clutched his chest in fear, and Tohsaka had to shake him out of it, before dragging him to class. Later that day at lunch the two met on the roof, and Tohsaka explained that someone, likely the Servant from yesterday, had set up a Boundary Field that will turn everyone in it into pure prana once it's activated.

"Ok, ewe."

The two proceeded to hunt down magical sigils. Well, Emiya did, he seemed to have a knack for sensing things according to Tohsaka, so he could easily hunt them down while she destroyed them. That night, he watched as Emiya was somehow dragged from his house to the local mountain temple, where a Servant, Caster, intended to take his Command Spells for herself. Only to be stopped by Archer. The two then proceeded to argue and bicker like children even as Caster tried to kill them both.

'Seriously you two, fight with each other 'after' you're not being attacked by a crazy woman. Now is not the time for this.' Jaune deadpan thought to himself.

Then Archer went and got himself caught in frozen space by Caster. Jaune thought the guy was done for, only for Kanshou and Bakuya to attempt to cut her down from behind. She easily deflected them, but her loss of concentration freed Archer from his prison, which he used to leap out of the way of her retaliatory energy blast, spinning in the air while also summoning his bow made of carbon fiber nanotubes and ceramics as well a spiral shaped blade with a golden guard, and blue and silver hilt.

'Caladbolg.' Jaune recognized the Spiraling Rainbow Sword of Fergus mac Róich the instant he laid eyes upon it.

As he landed, Archer took a knee and knocked the spiral sword and it lengthened and became more aerodynamic as he chanted the words, "I am the bone of my sword, Caladbolg II."

Jaune felt something in the depths of his very soul when he heard those words. They felt so right, but at the same time, so wrong to him. Like the pieces of a puzzle that didn't quite fit in that way. Even as a previously nonexistent wind whipped up from the power being built up in the Broken Phantasm he wondered, 'Those words, what do they mean, why do they sound so…familiar? And is that what I did the other night? Broke Hrunting, the Noble Phantasm of Beowulf of the Geats?'

The 'arrow' was then fired, tearing through Caster's paltry defense like a bullet through wet tissue paper, leaving a streak in the sky as the remnants of its power streaked off into the night, leaving a burnt and charred Caster in a smoldering crater she landed in. When she asked him why he didn't finish her, Archer replied he said he would 'Leave one scratch, and that he disliked unnecessary violence'. When Caster pointed out how similar the two were after healing herself, causing them to bicker once again, Jaune began to wonder.

'She's right, those two are a lot alike…in a weird way too.'

The scene suddenly shifted to that of Shirou stumbling down the Temple steps into the arms of his waiting Servant who had up until then been fighting a man wielding a long single-edged katana.

'Monohoshi Zao, sword of Kojirou Sasaki, special ability Tsubame Gaeshi, consisting of three simultaneous slashes that happen in the exact same instant.' Jaune noted instantly.

Jaune noted he had a large long gash on his back, likely curtesy of one Servant of the Bow. As if his thoughts had summoned him with a Command Spell, Archer appeared on the steps, Married Twin Swords in hand, intent on killing the boy he had just recently been protecting.

"And the award for most bi-polar Servant goes to… drumroll please…Archer! Seriously man, what did Emiya ever do to you? He's walked through a ranging inferno, and been stabbed twice within the past two days. Hasn't he had it bad enough within the past few days? Leave him alone.

Much to his surprise however, Assassin stepped in saying it was his right to decide who lived and died on these stairs as well as who got to pass on to the Temple above. Saber used the distraction provided by Archer and Assassin engaging in combat to pull Shirou away even as he watched the two clash blades at a speed he could hardly perceive.

When Emiya awoke next, he was back at his home, in his room. A place where he admittedly didn't spend much time. To Jaune it looked more like a guest room than a room for somebody who lived there, as it was entirely bare. No paint on the walls, no posters, nothing that would indicate this room belonged to the person known as Shirou Emiya.

'He should decorate a little bit, put pictures of superheroes up or something. After all, that's what he want's to be right?' Jaune thought to himself as Emiya made his way out to the living room where he found Tohsaka cooking in his kitchen…causing him to have a near aneurysm at the sight.

'Seriously.' Jaune thought upon seeing his reaction as he watched the two bicker for a moment before Rin gave him a dressing down for having a healing magecraft and keeping it a secret from her. Only for Emiya to admit he had no such magecraft. Which led the duo to wonder just how he healed so rapidly only for their conversation to abruptly cease when Shirou's mooch of a landlord, Taiga Fujimura came in through the front door, roaring about food.

Sometime later, Emiya and Tohsaka were out on the porch talking. She told him she used a Command Seal to prevent Archer from attacking him again and they talked about their upbringings. Mostly how Shirou was unfairly raised as a child by his father while Rin was raised as the Heir to the Tohsaka magecraft, and while Jaune sympathized to a point, he was mostly crept out due to his age. Cooties, cooties, Emiya, who aren't family or friends have cooties! Is there any way I can fast forward through all this? It's making my skin crawl.' He wondered.

In answer to his heartfelt plea, a blur of motion took place skipping their conversation and going forwards to the next day. 'Holy shit, thank you Monty, I really can fast forward through all this boring crap! Hallelujah!'

He quickly made note that Emiya and Tohsaka were now on a first name basis and on the roof of the school again, when all hell broke loose. Red beams of lightning shot forth from all over the school converging in the sky in the shape of an eye while a crimson dome fell across the entire campus. The two rushed into the school, having deduced that Shinji is the most likely to be the one behind this, only to be waylaid by monstrous soldiers made of bone.

They quickly surrounded the two, causing Emiya to use a Command Seal to summon Saber. She cut through the familiars like a hot knife through butter. Then, while she took care of the bulk of the horde, the two magi sought to hunt down Shinji, and do what they could for their fellow students. Yet as quickly as it came, the bounded field dispersed. They soon figured out the reason why. They found Rider, her body pressed into a crater in one of the classrooms and her neck bent at an odd angle, clearly broken. The two watched from the windows as Shinji fled full tilt in the direction of the Church, waiting for the paramedics to arrive to hull off all their incapacitated classmates. After they did so, they talked about how Rider died, Saber spoke about how she died honorably, defending her master, while Archer toted her as a weakling.

'Eh, I'd say she was a pain in the arse more than anything. I mean, she was forced to protect someone like Shinji Matou, first of all, and then tried to kill everyone else in the school. Likely on the sniveling little worm's orders just so he can feel important.' Jaune thought to himself.

He 'fast forwarded' events again, to the next day at school where the two were attempting to find the master of Caster, assuming it couldn't be just anyone. They were however, unsuccessful, as their only suspect Issei Ryuudou lacked any Command Seals. Emiya then, by sheer accident finds out that one of their teacher's Souichirou Kuzuki also lives at Ryuudou Temple, and that he has recently engaged to be married.

"DEFCON THREE! I repeat, we are now entering a DEFCON THREE situation here, Emiya! Is this thing even on?" Jaune was all but shouting to the dense auburn-haired teen.

Later that night, they attempted to find out if their teacher was Caster's Master or not by having Rin shoot him with one of her Gandr shots.

"Umm, can't she blow holes in concrete with those things? Is it really a good idea to be shooting someone with them in the back of the head on the off chance he MIGHT be a Master to a Servant? Cause if he's not, they'll have killed an innocent man for no reason, and then they'll need to hide a body."

His fears were unfounded however and their suspicions proven correct when the Finn shot was absorbed harmlessly by a bounded field set around his person. Then Caster herself appeared telling 'Souichirou-sama' that staying at the school was a bad idea, that he was safer on the mountain within the protection of both her and the natural bounded fields there. Battle soon commenced between the Servants of the Sword and Spell.

Caster fired salvo after salvo of magical spell only for Saber to barrel through them like they weren't even there thanks to her natural magic resistance. Saber charged in for the kill, only for her strike to be blocked by between Kuzuki's leg and elbow of all things. Before he threw a punch, which seemed to swerve and still connect with the back of Saber's head which turned into a strangling grip around her throat before dodging an attempt to take off his arm by the Servant only to punch her clean through a bus stop and turning his attention to Tohsaka and Emiya.

"Holy shit, this guy…he fights like dad." Jaune revised his opinion after a moment. "No, dad is better. He would've turned that whiffed swing into an elbow strike, then a backhand punch, before he would've finished her off with a double axe kick to the head."

Jaune was so busy analyzing Kuzuki's style compared to his father's he almost missed the fight happening right before his eyes.

The Tohsaka Magus proceeded to fire Finn shot after Finn Shot at the man only to miss horribly, -"Aim Tohsaka!"- He then took her out with a single swift punch to the gut, sending her crashing into a wrought iron railing. Screaming her name like some valiant idiotic knight, Emiya charged in with his metal rod, which his teacher destroyed in one punch before slamming his fist home in the boy's gut.

"I can't die here. If I do, Tohsaka's finished. I need a strong weapon, a powerful weapon, one that will let me fight."

"Umm, not that the speech wasn't cool and all, but I'm kinda wondering Why the hell hasn't Kuzuki didn't kill you while you stand there and monologue." Jaune wondered even as he imagined Archer's twin short swords Kanshou and Bakuya.

"Weapons like his…Trace, On!"

Miniature magic circles appeared in his palms milliseconds before lightning gathered in his hands and proceeded to take shape. Kuzuki rushed in, intent on finishing the fight, but it was too late for that. As by the time he struck, the Married Twin Swords had already formed and clashed with his magic enhanced fists in a flurry of strikes. Went the two finally broke off, Kuzuki's hands were bloody despite the reinforcement done by Caster, and Emiya was holding two undamaged projections of Kanshou and Bakuya.

It was then that Saber dashed forwards intending to cut down Caster's Master, only to be stopped by the Witch herself, who took to the skies with her master in her arms. Tohsaka then, strangely questions Emiya on his use of projection magic. Citing it odd that he'd learned to used that before Reinforcement.

All Jaune could wonder was, "Where in the Hell was Archer? If he'd been providing fire support, this fight wouldn't have even been a fight. He must've had a clear shot. So why didn't he take it?"

The scene then moved to the next day, and Jaune could not believe what he was seeing. "A date? You just found out one of your teacher's is a Master in the Grail War, that he has no problem killing his students, or allowing his Servant to suck the general populace dry, and you're going on a date!? The hell is wrong with you people?!"

But yes, that's what was happening right now. Rin Tohsaka was dragging both Shirou and his Servant around the ritzier part of town. First to a tea shop, then the batting cages, and ending with a picnic on a hill, in which Saber devoured most of the food while the two magi conversed. It seemed like a perfectly ordinary day between friends…that all changed on the bus-ride home.

The trio found themselves caught in a bounded field on the bridge connecting the two cities, a trap laid by Caster. She gave Emiya a choice, while holding up the unconscious body of his teacher guardian, and friend Taiga Fujimura:

Surrender his command Seals to her, or Taiga will die.

"Don't do it."

Emiya stepped forwards.

"Don't do it Emiya!"

He raised his arm.

"She's playing you! You know she's evil. I mean, I get you wanna save Taiga, I get that, but think about the long term consequences here. If you give her Saber, what's to stop her from killing you, and everybody else afterward?" The Witch smiled in victory as she descended, only for the Servant of the Sword to charge her, only for Emiya to cry out as she closed in as she severed the magical bonds holding Fujimura captive and inadvertently causing her to stop right in front of Caster, giving the Witch of Betrayal just the right window to use her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker. A mystical dagger that allowed it to nullify any form of magical contract and transfer it under her control. The twisted, jagged, brittle, and bloodstained blade descended towards Saber's chest plate…

One flash of malevolent dark red energy later, and it was done. Saber was now Casters to command. She then tossed Fujimura towards the ground contemptuously before using a Command Seal to force Saber to kill her former charges. She dashed forwards and stabbed Emiya through his shoulder, and she just managed to avoid cutting both Emiya and Tohsaka down in one slash when a hail of crimson arrows burst through the bounded field.

"About damn time, where the hell were you, Archer?!" Of course, Jaune received no answer, as he could be neither seen nor heard. He could only watch and comment to no one as these events unfolded…

Emiya awoke alone in the Tohsaka Estate, weakly he attempted to stand and only managed to knock over a small table filled with gems…one of which held the very same crimson jewel which was used to save his life.

"Oh, so that means Tohsaka, she…wow."

Emiya seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he slowly and painfully made his way out of the mansion, towards the higher end side of town, and onto the roof of the tallest building around where both Tohsaka and Archer awaited. She told him he should be resting, that he should seek asylum in the church, that she would now carry on alone with just archer by her side…and as she left, she said one more last thing before heading off into the night, "If you continue as you are now, you'll die."

"Seriously Tohsaka, you should know by now that being a hard ass isn't going to work on Emiya of all people, he cares too much. You get an A for effort though."

As he predicted, when both Rin and Archer went to confront Caster at the church where they had established their new base of operations, he was there, waiting in the wings. When Archer betrayed Tohsaka, he locked eyes with Emiya for just a moment, right before the Witch plunged her dagger into his chest, nullifying his contract, and replacing it with her own. As Kuzuki moved in to finish Rin off, Emiya rushed into the fray, swinging away with a reinforced piece of metal.

"Why don't you just use Kanshou and Bakuya? I mean, you know it works, right?"

As if the Auburn-haired third-rate magus could hear his thoughts, he did just that; bringing the Married Twin Swords to the fore as battled with Kuzuki once again. This time, he lost against his former teacher who won their bout as Kanshou and Bakuya began to fade in the boy's hands. They were only allowed to live, much less flee due to Archer's intervention. Stating their lives were the cost of his compliance. Surprisingly, the Witch agreed, allowing them to flee. Before she left, Tohsaka promised her Servant she would never forgive him, no matter how much he begged her in the future.

Later that night, Emiya finally confessed to Tohsaka how he felt, earning him a very Weiss-like reaction. She called him stupid one minute then softly clasped his hand the next while blushing…

"Ok seriously there has got to be a name for the kind of condition Rin and Weiss have. Mood swings like that just can't be natural."

The next day, the two Masters' now Servant-less, decided to go and seek help from the one Master they knew still possessed a Servant. Illyasviel von Einzbern and her Black Giant, Hercules. Yet by the time they arrived, they found the Black Giant already locked in heated combat with an unknown foe. He was tall, had messy blonde hair, with crimson red eyes, and he was wearing high-end if simple black and white clothing. Whoever he was, he practically oozed ego and arrogance of the highest order.

"Ok, just who the hell is this guy? He can't, or at least, shouldn't be a Servant. There are only supposed to be seven, but…"

Yet, Jaune was forced to rethink his position on the matter as Herakles was impaled by legendary weapon after legendary weapon, all of which came out of golden portals that rippled in space like a disturbed pond. Time and time again, dying over and over all for the sake of the little girl that was his Master, eventually being bound in chains that could even hold a God as she was first blinded, then impaled through the stomach. Yet still, she believed in him. Granting him the strength to break his seemingly unbreakable bindings and lunge at his Master's killer…only to be brought low by several weapons.

But the blood-eyed demon of a man was not yet finished. For as she lay there dying, he plunged his fist into her back, and wrenched out her heart.

This caused Emiya to leap up from cover and shout, even as Tohsaka pulled him away that…monster for it did not deserve to be called a man, fired a blade after them. Yet he didn't seem to bother coming after them, as they managed to escape the ruined castle unharmed. Their last hope all but dashed, they didn't know what to do. So, it came as a surprise to them both when Lancer of all people appeared out of the blue and offered his assistance on behalf of his hidden Master.

With a Servant now more or less on their side for the moment a plan of attack was easily created. While Lancer held off Archer, Rin and Shirou would handle Caster and Kuzuki, freeing Saber and allowing one of them to contract with her again in the process. As the trio approached the Church, Archer appeared from astral form. Leaving the Servants of the Bow and Lance to have their long-awaited rematch, the two headed inside to confront Caster.

As Emiya fought hand to blade with Kuzuki, Tohsaka engaged Caster in a duel of magic, which ended when she struck Caster down not with magecraft, but with martial-arts. Yet Kuzuki dashed to his servant's defense, citing Tohsaka's inability to land a decisive blow in three hits or less as a mark of inexperience on her part. Yet, before he could strike out at her, a voice spoke.

"Such a shame, if you were just a bit faster…Trace, on."

"Wait a minute, Trace on? That's…that means, oh, oh no way. I mean their similar but."

A plethora of common blades flew and Caster somehow managed to superimpose herself between her master and the surprise attack, being impaled several times in the back in the process. After she faded away, Archer appeared admitting to becoming a 'Trojan Horse' and his intention to destroy Caster's faction from within. He then quickly disposed of Kuzuki when he refused to back down from the fight.

Now that both Caster and her Master were dealt with, he declared his true objective. To kill Emiya Shirou. Only a weakened Saber stood in his way of fulfilling his goal. The two clashed, and it looked Archer had the upper hand. That all changed when Rin forged a new Master-Servant Contract between herself and Saber, restoring the Servant of the Swords mana and stats above and beyond what they were previously.

Thus, Archer was forced to unveil his own trump card. He began chanting.

"I am the bone of my sword.

Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.

I have created over a thousand blades.

Unknown to Life, Nor known to Death,

Withstood pain to create many weapons,

But these hands will never hold anything,

So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"

It was wrong. All of it was felt so wrong to Jaune on so many levels! Just about every word that fell from Archer's lips as he chanted was outright rejected. Not just on a psychological level, but also on an emotional and spiritual one as well. For Archer's chant, it spoke of loss, suffering, and an inability to protect a single thing he held dear. This was something Jaune Arc refused to accept. He knew full well he couldn't save everyone, as he was not a god. But to fail to protect even a single thing? To fail so utterly and yet still be able to call oneself a Heroic Spirit? No. Jaune Arc knew then that he could never accept Archer, even as he could not accept all of the choices of made by Emiya Shirou. Even though he too, refused to abandoned the idea that saving people was wrong...

'If they are two sides of the same coin, then I am the edge.' The blonde thought to himself as heatless flames spread, obscuring his vision before planting him, and all around him, in a very familiar, but vastly different landscape.

It was the hill of swords but it was such a different desolate place now. Gone was the caramel color sunset sky and the tan earth. Both were replaced by scorched ground from which smog incessantly rose, clouding over the sky as massive gears of wrought iron slowly turned in the background. Swords, axes, spears, and armor of all kinds lay scattered around in unceremonious heaps. Everywhere he looked he saw hundreds if not thousands of blades and armaments littering the landscape, and with everyone he took in, more blades were added to his own stockpile. So engrossed in the seemingly endless scores of blades that he almost missed what Tohsaka said in her shock.

"Reality Marble, a magecraft bordering on True Magic. It replaces the outer world with that of the users' internal world."

"So that's what the hill really is…my inner world. But then, why doesn't it feel like it's truly mine?"

As he pondered this question Archer told the others how at his core, he was neither a swordsman nor an archer, but a magus, and how as a Heroic Spirit, he wielded neither a Demonic nor Holy Sword. But, if a Noble Phantasm is a symbol of a Heroic Spirit, then this place, was his symbol. He then offered to replicate Saber's holy sword, knowing it would cost him everything while also killing the two masters behind her.

Yet instead he fired blade after blade at the Servant of the Sword, but it was not Saber who deflected the blades, but Emiya. He rushed forward with a battle cry tracing two of the blades even as they flew at him and he knocked them out of the sky, breaking his copies in the process. Both traced more copies of the same weapon, one shot them forth, while the other charged forward once again only for the world as they knew it to suddenly blink out of existence. Then before anyone can react, Archer had Tohsaka tucked under his arm.

He told them to come to the Einzbern Castle tomorrow so they could finish things, and that he was taking Rin to ensure Saber didn't interfere. He then disappeared in a burst of speed. Leaving the former Master and Servant alone for the night.

It was a night filled with a tense silence between former master and Servant. For both knew a confrontation was inevitable. Shirou knew he couldn't abide the existence known as Archer, whereas Saber knew no matter what happened, the existence known as Shirou Emiya would die tomorrow, no matter who won, meaning there would be no winner in truth.

Come dawn the next day, the duo set out to the ruins of Einzbern Castle. When they arrived, Archer stood waiting at the top of the ruined stairs. When they arrived, Saber questioned his motives, as if Archer was truly Emiya Shirou from the future, then he should embody his ideals, not be rejecting them outright. The Knight Class of the Bow laughed discursively, before replying that he followed Emiya Shirou's ideals to the very bitter end.

He spoke then, of training in what little he had after the Grail War, of losing Illya, which pushed him to train even harder so he wouldn't have to feel so useless losing anyone else like that. How in the beginning, he tried to save everyone on either side of any conflict he came across becoming hated and hunted by both sides. Eventually he was forced to choose. To pick a side and protect his 'allies' while simultaneously slaying his 'enemies'.

"That isn't what I wanted! I wanted to save everyone!" EMIYA barely raised his voice, but he got the point across even as he continued, "But I kept killing and with every kill I felt as if I tarnished my ideals a little more, even as I saved more people than I killed. After all, I wanted to be a hero that saves everyone. Isn't that right, Emiya Shirou?"

Shirou didn't answer, he just continued to glare silently at the figure at the top of the ruined stair. But Jaune could tell he was feeling angry. The glare he was shooting at his future seemingly opposite self, made this blatantly clear.

The Heroic Spirit ignored him and continued slowly descending the stair, "So I kept on picking sides, knowing I'd have to kill and hating it. Then one day, I'd had enough, I made a deal with the World to become a Guardian after death in return for bringing back to life less than one-hundred people that had died in front of me."

At the halfway point, he paused and continued, "I was betrayed by one of the people I'd saved, and blamed for the conflict in its entirety. But I didn't care. In fact, I happily went to my death thinking that now, as a Guardian, that surely I can live up to my ideals and protect everyone."

A fevered mad gleam entered the Servant of the Bows eyes then, and he stared down his younger self like a predator does prey as he finished his descent, talking as he did so, "I was wrong. I'd never been more wrong about anything in my entire life. For you see, Guardians save no one. The only time a Guardian is called is when Humanity is close to wiping themselves out in a given location. Men, women, children, it didn't matter. I saved millions by killing thousands, and billions by slaying millions. It is hell like you can't comprehend. Yet I persevered, because I held onto a single hope, no greater than a grain of sand…that I could one day be summoned to the Fifth Grail War, and use the opportunity to create a paradox." He stopped at the bottom of the steps. Now staring down his younger self, he finished, "By having Emiya Shirou who became a Guardian, kill Emiya Shirou before he made a pact with the World to become a Guardian, which would create a paradox strong enough to wipe myself from existence."

"Archer, you're an idiot."

The younger of the two Emiya's thought much the same but he had a bit more to say on the matter. "I refuse to accept that. Even if you are the culmination of my ideals, then I will just destroy that future and create a better one! I refuse to be lectured by someone who gave up on his ideals!"

"You tell him Emiya! It's not wrong to help people...but Oum do I wish you'd think before you act."

Archer let out something between a chuckle, sigh and a huff, before he walked forward until he stood only a few scant meters from his younger self. "If you don't understand by now what following these ideals to the end will get you…Then there is nothing left for us to talk about."

"Ding, ding. Class is session and someone hopefully Archer is about to get schooled."

The two stared each other down then, their signature weapons in hand, the colors opposing one another just as much as their owners. A gentle breeze blew through the ruined foyer kicking up a small cloud of dust…as if that were some unseen signal the two charged one another. Their opposing beliefs clashed just as hard as their blades, when they met with a clang of steel. Yet it was plain to see after three strikes just who the superior Faker was of the two of them.

For after Emiya's blades shattered like glass into motes of light, while Archer's own weapons hand nary a scratch on them. Emiya was undeterred however and merely called forth more blades and charged in once again. For the second time, his blades shattered like glass, and for the third time, he rose, only to be stopped by Archer who told him it was pointless. That at his current level, he could only Trace Kanshou and Bakuya six more times before he completely runs out of aura. Once again Jaune couldn't help but admire and respect the boy's will and tenacity. For though he was losing he failed to quit. Though he knew he couldn't win, he refused to lose.

Despite that Emiya charged in once again, and Archer called forth Unlimited Blade Works in response. As Emiya charged up the hill, choking on the smog in the air, he had visions, and Jaune saw them as well.

Archer going to the Clock tower with Rin for a time, before moving on, pushing himself above and beyond his limits causing his skin to slowly darken, his hair to whiten, his eyes to change hue, and for him to grow in height. Joining the Executors as their eighth member and being granted a holy shroud by his sensei Yumi. He fought and won against things no normal humans had a chance against. Vampires, Dead Apostle Ancestors, and Elementals. Not once did he retreat until he came across some sort of tangible shadow-like creature and was forced to withdrawal.

Upon tasting defeat, he distanced himself from magical conflicts, involved himself in more mundane ones. Conflict after conflict, war after war, not even once being understood by the very people he was trying to save, all the while slowly tarnishing the ideals he held so dear, until he beseeched the World for a Miracle. It was granted, and shortly after that, he died, hated by the very people he was trying to protect. Unless Jaune was mistaken, he was around forty-five or so.

The fight continued after that, blades slashed into Emiya's flesh as he futilely tried to match a Heroic Spirit who had more experience, power and skill than he did. His senses began to blur, but he continued to rush forth even with his blades shattered.

Archer dismissed his Reality Marble and took Caladbolg in hand preparing to finish his younger self with a single slash through the heart…only for it to be blocked at the sacrifice of Kanshou, before Bakuya swung in and cleaved into the Spiral Rainbow Sword, shattering them both.

Surprised, Archer traced Durandal, the invincible holy sword of the knight Roland and attempted to take his head off, only for the boy to block it with another pair of the married twin swords.

"Wait, shouldn't Emiya be out of Aura by now, according to Archer? But he just keeps going…I shouldn't expect anything less"

As he watched, the married twin swords broke once, twice, three times upon Durandal and yet, Emiya showed no signs of ceasing his Projections anytime soon. Seeing he could not break him from without, Archer tried a different tactic. He attempted to shatter his resolve, to break him from within.

"You and I both know the truth. That you are a hollow human being Emiya Shirou. That your ideals were only taken up from Emiya Kiritsugu because you saw that look of joy on his face when he saved you and wanted others to look at you the same way!

"Who cares?! It isn't…it isn't…I KNOW, REGARDLESS OF THE REASON, THAT IT ISN'T WRONG TO WANT TO SAVE PEOPLE! I can lose against someone else, against anyone else, but I refuse to be beaten by myself!" Emiya cried out before lunging at Archer with Kanshou, Bakuya having been broken deflecting the last strike from Durandal shattering it in the process.

"Hell yeah! Finish him Emiya!"

Archer quickly traced his own pair of the black and white falchions, and raised the white one to cut the boy down, but he paused. The look in his eyes, the conviction, and the will he possessed regardless of how badly his body was broken and battered. This was who he used to be, before he let go of his ideals?

He was distracted just long enough for Shirou to stab him with his blade.

"It's my win…Archer." Emiya huffed as he leaned against his blade.

"Yeah, I lost." Archer confirmed, not sounding at all bitter.

"Archer lost, but he looks content happy even? Maybe Emiya proved something to him. I guess being stubborn has it's place after all."

Suddenly, the scent of smoke filled the air and Tohsaka appeared, shouting for both her boyfriend and former Servant. But before anyone could do anything. A haughty voice called from the top of the stairs, "Die Fakers."

Immediately, Archer pushed Emiya out of the way of an incoming barrage of blades and spears but not before pinning his hopes and dreams on him, and giving him one final piece of advice. "Only you can beat him…should the weapon in hand prove insufficient to defeat your foe, then imagine what can."

The Unknown, whom Saber identified as the Archer from the last Grail War, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, who proceeded to explain that the Grail was tainted with all the Evils of the World, and how he intended to use it to wipe out humanity and rule over those that survived. He continued to smirk like a cat that ate a canary even as the castle began to crumble around them, allowing them to escape.

That night, the three came up with a plan for dealing with both Gilgamesh and the tainted Grail. Saber would deal with the Grail via Excalibur while Emiya and she would deal with the Gilgamesh. But in order to do that, Emiya needed enough prana to manifest his own version of Unlimited Blade Works. Something he currently couldn't do. But Rin had a solution, she would make him her familiar thus allowing him access to her prana pool long with Saber. The way they went about accomplishing this?

"Oh sweet Oum, my eyes! It's like a train wreck, I wanna look away, but I can't!"

The two had sex. Mentally scarring an eight-year-old in the process, even if he was one who was already 'in the know' about how such things happened witnessing it first hand was not something he wanted. In fact, Jaune felt…dirty now. Like he was some creep who willingly looked in on something that should've remained a private memory between two people.

But then later that night, they made their way towards Ryuudou Temple intent on ending the Grail War once and for all. While Saber headed up the Temple Steps, the two magi approached the Grail itself. It was a massive tower of flesh surrounded by a lake of liquefied curses targeted against the World, or more specifically humanity. Up in the sky a black void floated, spewing out even more ichor even as they watched in morbid fascination.

Emiya noticed Shinji stuck in the mountain of flesh. Just as Rin prepared to go and retrieve him, Gilgamesh appeared. Refusing to allow a 'mongrel' like her to ruin his plans, he fired one of his many treasures at her. Then, Shirou stepped in to confront the King of Heroes.

"Bring you A-game Emiya, your gonna need it against this walking piece of ego personified."

He fared poorly at first, as Gilgamesh merely toyed with him flinging the occasional blade his way while he tried desperately to deflect it with Kanshou and Bakuya. Yet he couldn't keep up and he knew it. So, he tried something crazy in his mind. As Gilgamesh summoned weapons from his armory, he made copies of them and flung them right back at him. It worked as it deflected the many legendary weapons sent his way.

"That's more like it, give as good as you get."

But then something happened.

A gigantic white arm appeared and attempted to grab the King of Heroes. Only for him to pull a cylindrical object from within his Gate. The moment he laid eyes on it, Jaune felt as if he'd just tried to swallow an iceberg.

"Gah, brain freeze! What-what the hell is that thing?! It makes me feel like I swallowed a banana split in one go."

Then, Gilgamesh spoke to it. Telling 'Ea' to 'wake up.'

The weapon, sword? Whatever it was, glowed with crimson cuneiform before a grinding was heard as its tops ground against one another one moving clockwise, the middle counter clockwise and the top clockwise again before it unleashed a blast of rose-hued energy, destroying the arm that dared reach out for him.

Gilgamesh was surprised to find Emiya still alive, having survived Ea's attack. For his part, the Magus knew he couldn't wait any longer and so, he began his own personal aria.

"My body is made out of swords.

My blood is of iron and my heart of glass.

I have overcome countless battlefields.

Not even once retreating,

Not even once being victorious.

The bearer lies here alone, forging iron in a hill of swords.

Thus, my life needs no meaning.

So, as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"

Jaune had to admit he liked Emiya's chant much more than Archer's but he still disagreed with its meaning. Standing alone, fighting, alone, not running away but never truly winning, and yet, your life needs no meaning? Without having something to fight for, what's the point then?

"What are you fight for, Emiya Shirou?" Jaune asked himself as the reality marble which looked exactly like the Hill he had seen in his own dreams, appeared.

Then the true battle began. A tidal wave of blades appeared quicker here than the Gate of Babylon could produce them, allowing Emiya to match and exceed Gilgamesh. The King of Heroes attempted to draw out Ea, only for the Faker to slice off his hand, taking the blade with it.

"That was awesome, a mere human went from getting his butt kicked and not even doing magic right, to fighting on par with something akin to God in two weeks. You really are something Emiya. I may not agree with you on everything. But I can't deny the results when there right here in front of my eyes. Now lay this guy to rest and go see your...uh...girlfriend."

Then, right when he was going to finish him off…he ran out of aura.

"Well, that's just some horrible timing right there." Jaune said to himself his voice flat.

Gilgamesh prepared to deal the finish blow to the spent magi, only for a black hole to appear from the stump of his arm attempting to suck him into its depths. Gilgamesh latched onto Emiya with Enkidu the Golden Chain he used to bind the Gods and Herakles, demanding he stay right there while he pull himself up. Only for Emiya to say he'd sooner throw himself into the vortex than help him.

Then, Jaune heard a voice he never thought he'd hear again. "Archer, you glorious bastard! You're alive! Thank goodness you stopped Emiya from doing something crazy."

"Far be for me to stop you from doing something stupid, but if you don't want to jump, then if you could at least not move, that would be great."

Suddenly the black shaft of an arrow sprouted from in-between Gilgamesh's' eyes. Killing him and making him fall backwards into the void. By the time Emiya arrived where Tohsaka and Archer were located, Archer was fading away, a genuine smile on his face.

Together, they watched Saber destroy the Grail wishing her well before she faded away.

Time fast forwarded a lot after that. It showed the two going off to the Mages Association in England together, for a time. Then it showed Rin traveling with him as he attempted to save as many people as he could, clinging to his ideals. There were a few scenes of him seemingly 'involved' with other women, with an exhausted Tohsaka looking on, sullenly.

"Wait, why's he sleeping with other women? Does he need more aura than Tohsaka can provide at the moment? That must be it, there can be no other reason for her to allow something like that to happen. Right in front of her no less."

Then came the day of his death.

A ritual to bring back the First Vampire Brunestud of the Crimson Moon was being attempted. Shirou was contacted by a couple of friends he had made in the Church, Crown and Yumi, in the hopes that he would assist them. He said yes, of course. The Church, along with the Canticle Brigade, a special group from the Mage's Association all fought against the worst the World had to offer. Merem Solomon, a Dead Apostle Ancestor who worked for the church and went by the name of Crown, lost his life against one of Altrouge Brunestud's guardians, his friend and enemy Gransurg Blackmore doing the same, while the Canticle Brigade led by Lorelei Barthomeloi herself were contending with Trhvmn Ortenrosse and his posse, while Arcueid dealt with her sister personally.

Leaving the Great White Dog, the Beast of Gaia, Primate Murder, to him alone. He immediately unleashed Unlimited Blade Works the moment the crimson eyes of the Beast locked onto his own. Here, in this place, Jaune felt Emiya had a chance, however slim. For here, Gaia had no dominion. For this was Emiya's world, and it played by his rules. Beast and Man, Predator and Prey, stared each other down. Neither flinched or gave an inch.

Primate Murder cocked its head to the side in confusion before sniffing the air. After which, he let out a howl that shook the false world to its foundation, before charging in. Emiya threw everything he could at the beast, and for the most part, the numerous blades in his possession simply bounced off its fur, a few higher level Noble Phantasms found purchase in its flesh however causing it to yelp in pain. Seeing his death, and with it, failure to protect people who were depending on him, charging towards him, Emiya searched for something anything that could stop Primate Murder.

Surprisingly it was not a weapon in his armory that came to him, but words of advice, half-forgotten, and whispered long ago, that gave him what he needed. "If you cannot defeat your enemy with the weapon you have, then imagine what can."

Archer's parting words before he left him to fight Gilgamesh sprang back into Emiya's mind and with it, a chance of victory.

"Judging the concept of creation."

He needed a blade capable of slaying Gaia's Beast. An Anti-Gaia weapon.

"Hypothesizing the basic structure."

He required both heft and reach, a Great sword would be ideal for this task.

"Duplicating the composition material."

High carbon steel dipped in silver with simple leather wrap seems appropriate.

"Imitating the skill of its making."

Only high level Noble Phantasms can even wound it; I would need to imitate the making of Balmung to even have a chance.

"Sympathizing with the experience of its growth."

I need enough skill with a great sword to cut down a wolf-like beast. Siegfried don't fail me now, please.

"Reproducing the accumulated years."

Balmung is at least one thousand years old or so.

"Excelling every manufacturing process."

It's a perfect as I can make it. I hope it's good enough.

Then he spoke. "Trace…On!"

Lightning sprung from his hands as slowly the blade appeared. It was along broad bladed weapon colored silver that looked to be razor sharp, with a matching colored hilt and pommel consisting of two snarling wolf-heads on either side with rubies for eyes, the grip wrapped in simple brown leather, and the pommel was a simple scent-stopper pommel.

Jaune watched as Emiya took one swift step to the side while swinging his blade and as he'd hoped, he cut the Beast along its flank, causing it to turn and snarl at him, bearing its teeth threateningly. But now that he knew that he stood not even a hundredth of a chance, Emiya charged in ready and willing to bet his own life for the good of others. He took hits from both fang and claw, but now he gave as good as he got, and for every wound Primate Murder inflicted it received one in turn.

By the time the two broke apart, they both looked like walking corpses. Emiya had several slash and puncture wounds all along his chest, arms and legs, and he stood on shaky unsteady legs. Primate Murder was limping on its back leg, its right eye gouged out, and had several of its teeth were either chipped or outright missing entirely, its muzzle was a torn up bloody mess.

Both knew this next charge would be their last. So, they waited, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Emiya intentionally let his guard down, hoping Primate Murder would take the bait. He was not disappointed. The beast lunged at him bearing claw and fangs. Yet the moment he lunged, Emiya raised his blade, allowing Primate Murder to impale himself upon it, even as a pair of claws impaled him fatally in the stomach.

Gaia's Beast laid on top of him as Unlimited Blade Works collapsed around him. He felt someone push the beast off him and looked into the concerned eyes of Aoko Aozaki, the red haired Fifth Magician. She looked exhausted like she could hardly move. She was begging Shirou to stay with her, to hold on as she took one of his hands.

Yumi appeared on his other side and did the same. Asking him to hold on, to not die. "Sorry you two. I-I think this is it for me. Tell Rin and Shujinkō sorry on my behalf, ne?"

"Damn it Emiya, dying and leaving your wife and a kid behind? Not cool man. But, I can't deny it. You went out like a real hero. Following your path of Justice to the end. I may not like you, but damn it all if I don't have to respect you after all I've seen you struggle through. Don't worry man, I'll carry the torch, the dream isn't dead. But you won't hold it against me if I do things my way right?"

The two tried telling him something, something important by the looks of it with the tears they had in their eyes, but it was pointless. Shirou Emiya's eyes were closing, his hearing having long since left him.

As he died, Jaune felt himself beginning to awaken, leaving him to wonder one very important thing.

'In the end, Archer, Emiya, and myself, we're all Swords. Our purpose forged by our own actions. Archer became a Sword that kills everyone. Emiya became a Sword that swung ceaselessly for the protection of everyone at the cost of those closest to him. So, that begs the question, what kind of Sword am I?'

---

A figure sat in shadow in a well-furnished office a wine glass sitting by its side filling the room with an iron tang. Crimson eyes peered out from the shadows at the two masked subordinates before him.

"Let me see if I've got this straight. An eight-year-old boy, your brother Hydra, destroyed a Monstrous Beast Class Avian Grimm with nothing more than a black bow, and an arrow?"

"Yes sir." Hydra replied.

"What color was the arrow?"

"The color, sir?" Hydra asked.

The figure nodded, "Yes the color, and did the arrow happen to break the sound barrier once loosened?"

Hydra shook her head at the suddenness of the questions. "It was a bolt of red light if I recall correctly, and we did hear a loud crack but we don't know if it was from an arrow breaking the sound barrier."

He hummed to himself for a moment before he flicked his crimson gaze over to his older subordinate and said, "I see, Nevermore."

"Sir?" Nevermore inquired, slightly startled by the sudden address even if she didn't show it.

"I would like you to bring this boy to me. I have questions I believe only he can answer."

Both Huntresses were taken aback by this. Hydra was the first to protest, "Sir, you can't!"

"Can't-"He said, a warning in his tone, "What makes you say that Hydra?"

"We're not supposed to involve our families'."

The crimson eyes bobbed up and down nodding in agreement, "Yes, you're not. That doesn't mean I can't."

"But-but." Hydra was cut off by her superior who spoke sharply, "Enough Hydra, I believe he may well be the very person we have been looking for. As such, he will be brought here to see if he can be of any use."

"And if he isn't?" She asked hesitantly.

The figure chuckled, "I highly doubt that will happen, but should I prove wrong, then I will simply erase his memories and send him on his way with Nevermore, none the wiser."

He turned his gaze back to Nevermore, "Raven, you have your orders, now fly."

Putting a fist to her chest she said, "Ut Quod Illustratum."

"Ut Quod Illustratum."

Raven swung her blade, causing a red portal to appear, and nodded to both Hydra and her superior before stepping through. Once she was gone, Hydra turned back to him and said, "Let it go on record that I am against this with extreme prejudice, sir."

"Noted, now get out of my office and hit the showers Hydra, you're going to want to look half decent for when your brother arrives."

Hydra spun on her heel and marched out of the office slamming the door on her way out. Once she was gone, he sighed while chuckling to himself, "That girl is such a handful."

From the corner of the room, a balding if kindly man in priest robes appeared. His hands clasped behind his back, pince-nez glasses on his nose, a perpetual smile on his face as he asked, "Do you really think it's him?"

The figure smirked giddily his teeth glinting in the darkness, as he replied, "I certainly hope so."

He turned his gaze to a Chinese chess board, upon which both the black and white pieces had already begun to move. "As two factions are already amassing their forces, to the detriment of this world should either side succeed."

---

Words: 13,607 Pages: 25 Date Completed: 11/2/16

---

AN: What's up everyone? Welcome to chapter three of Iron Body, Glass Heart. Now before we proceed, with the concept corner I'd like to address a few things as couple of people seem to be confused about some things.

Firstly: Jaune acting OOC. Of course he's acting that way he's Shirou's reincarnation. You should've expected that the moment you clicked on this fic.

Secondly: Reincarnation itself. Some seem to think that there is only one kind reincarnation. The kind in which the same soul is put into numerous bodies over and over again while retaining their past experiences. That is just ONE kind of reincarnation, specific to Buddhism. I went with the second kind of reincarnation more common in Hinduism were one reincarnates but their 'core as a human being' remains the same. In other words Jaune is still Jaune, but he's got Shirou mixed in too. He's his own person separate from that which was Shirou Emiya but at the core, the same.

Thirdly: Making Jaune a Faunus. Some people don't like it. Well I had a good reason for doing it. Several actually, but the main one came from me asking myself a simple question. One I'd like you all to ask yourselves. How the hell does Archer or Shirou for that matter, see in the dark? No seriously, think about it for a minute. He can see further with Reinforcement, yes but how does that translate him being able to shoot things from two and a half miles away, in dark, when said thing he's shooting at is moving as fast as a Servant? I couldn't come up with a good answer so I made one. Simple as that.

Now to the Concept Corner:

I have a lot of things I want to talk about today so let's get down to it.

First up I'm tweaking the amount of aura Jaune needs to spend to Trace NP's. An A-rank NP for example, would cost him fifty-five (55) aura just to trace, one-hundred five (105) aura to use its ability, and it would cost a whopping two-hundred five (205) aura to Break said Phantasm as he need to push more aura into it than it can handle.

Now that said, here's some new info for all of you to ponder about:

Aura Growth: Upon first year of unlocking (Usually at age 13, upon entering Combat School, as body is entering puberty and can easily handle aura increase.) Aura doubles within the first year of activation, then receives diminishing returns every subsequent year until age eighteen. EX: (Aura year one: 100% increase to base Aura level, Aura year two: +50% increase to base Aura level , Aura year three: 25% increase to base Aura level, Aura year four: 12.5% increase to base Aura level, Aura year five: 6.25% increase to base Aura level. For a total of a 193.75% increase over a span of five years).

Aura Density and Aura Regeneration: The level of one's aura defense, and the rate at which one's Aura regenerates per minute after an hour of disuse. One's Aura Density is controversially proportionate to their Aura Regeneration Rate. The Density of one's aura effects how quickly it regenerates.

Density/Regeneration:

E-/A+: Aura regenerates at 10x normal speed. 300 Aura per minute 18,000 aura per hour. Aura can take 4 hits before being totally depleted. 25.6% of aura is lost on hit. Aura can only defend against melee attacks. Examples: (Weiss)

E/A: Aura regenerates at 5x normal speed. 150 aura per minute, 9,000 aura per hour. Aura can take 8 hits before being totally depleted. 12.8% of aura is lost per hit taken. Aura can only protect against pistols and melee attacks. Examples: (Ruby)

D/B: Aura Regenerates a 2x normal speed. 60 aura per minute, 3600 aura per hour. Aura can take 16 hits before being totally depleted. 6.4% of aura is lost per hit taken. Aura defends against small caliber arms, but cannot defend against large cartridge rounds (30-06 to .50cal) or explosives. Examples: (Jaune)

C/C: Aura regenerates a normal speed. 30 aura per minute, 1800 aura per hour. Aura can take 32 hits before being totally depleted. 3.2% of aura is lost per hit taken. Aura defends against all forms of gunfire, but not damage on the level of explosives. Examples: (Yang)

B/D: Aura regenerates 25% slower. 23 Aura per minute, 1380 Aura per hour. Aura can take 63 hits before being totally depleted. 1.6% of Aura is lost per hit taken. Aura can defend against small explosives. (Hand grenades, RPGs, D4) but larger more potent high explosives (Artillery) can still get through. Example: (Nora)

A/E: Aura regenerates 50% slower. 15 Aura per minute, 900 aura per hour. Aura can take 125 hits before being totally depleted. Aura takes 0.8% damage per strike from conventional arms. Aura effectively makes one immune to modern arms carried by Hunters. It is not an exaggeration to call one with this rank a 'Hunter-Killer'. Nothing short of an Atlasian ships broadside laser cannon can pierce this defense. Example: (Lei Ren)

A+/E-: Aura regenerates 100% slower. 8 aura per minute, 480 aura per hour. Aura can take 250 hits before being totally depleted. Aura takes 0.4% damage per strike. One is effectively 'untouchable' by any known modern weapon. Can withstand strike from a tactical nuke. Example: ?

And that just about does it this time around guys and gals. A big thanks to my beta Maestro of Madness for making this legible. I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you next chapter. Bubbajack out! Peace!