Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night or anything from the Lyrical Nanoha franchise.


Mahou Senki: Lyrical Days

Chapter Four:

Tempered in Flames


Shirou groaned and curled into a ball as he woke up. His dreams had been full of fire as usual, but the flames were so much worse this time. It was probably because of the searing pain that was coursing through his body. He still hadn't been able to close his Magic Circuit but the pain had settled into his body feeling just hot enough to feel painful rather than mind numbing pain, so he was able to move around again. Kiritsugu had given him some vague advice for closing his Magic Circuits, but Shirou didn't really remember it. It wasn't that good of advice in the first place.

After listening to his alarm clock for an eternity, Shirou finally managed to gather the willpower to get up. He got onto shaky feet and walked towards the bathroom. Hopefully a shower would help clear his head.

He went through his morning routine and started heading downstairs to the kitchen to cook breakfast and pack his lunch. Before he got to the stairs he paused at one of the doors and slowly opened it. He peeked in and saw a lump of blanket that meant Kiritsugu was still sleeping and grinned. He softly closed the door and made his way to the kitchen with a smile on his face. Even if he didn't get to see him often, just having him in the house made Shirou happy.

Shirou whipped up a quick meal for himself and made sure to leave a portion for Kiritsugu to heat up. While he did like cooking, learning the skill had been a necessity since Kiritsugu couldn't cook to save his life. If Shirou didn't learn to cook he was sure that he and his father would be living off of take out and burnt food. He shuddered at the thought.

"Now let's see. What can I throw in my lunch today?"

Still, he was happy with the skill. Cooking for others always made him happy and it meant that no matter where he went he could make a good meal as long as he had the supplies. Shirou peered into the fridge with a frown on his face. He wondered briefly if he stared at the empty space long enough will some food magically appear. He doubted it. He could possibly Project some food, but it would probably taste terrible. He should ask Kiritsugu if there was a branch of magic for cooking.

"I guess I'll have to just buy some bread for lunch." Shirou sighed and closed the fridge. He wrote a quick note to Kiritsugu, asking him to go shopping if he had time. Shirou would do it, but he wanted to talk to Yuuno about what he learned about Magecraft. The ferret had been really interested in his magic and they spent a lot of time discussing it. Though not all of those discussions had gone well.

Flashback

Yuuno looked up at the boy and tried to wrap his mind around the statement he just said. "Could you repeat that again, I think I misheard you."

Shirou scratched his cheek as he wondered if he said something wrong. "I have to make a Magic Circuit every time I use Magecraft."

"You have to create a Magic Circuit every time." Shirou nodded and Yuuno twitched as he realized the implications of this. "And creation of a Magic Circuit requires you to do that same ritual that we spoke of yesterday."

He saw Shirou nod again meaning he was on the right track, though he prayed to god that he had misunderstood something. "The same ritual that requires high amounts of concentration and feels similar to having a steel rod that has been superheated inserted into your spine."

Shirou winced as he figured out what was bothering Yuuno so much. "It's not that bad. I mean, it was unbearable the first few times I did it, but I've gotten used to it really. I mean the fact that I can do it in the heat of battle means that it can't be that bad, right? I mean, I'm probably exaggerating the pain, ahahaha…"

Yuuno just stared at the red headed boy and wondered if all the magic users on this planet needed to go through such desperate measures to use their magic. It would explain why there were so few of them at least.

It had taken Shirou an hour to stop Yuuno from telling Nanoha about how much pain using Magecraft put him through, and it took another hour to get the ferret to let him keep helping Nanoha with the Jewel Seeds. He had to lie and embellish a few facts after seeing Yuuno so stricken at how Magi normally worked.

Well, maybe the news that he didn't have to create Magic Circuits anymore would help. Though he would have to refrain from telling him about his inability to close them so far and the pain that came with it. Yeah, there was no need to tell Yuuno about that. What the ferret didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Though he had learned a great deal about Reinforcement. Maybe he could distract him with that information. It was more than just 'strengthening' the object to make it more durable. Reinforcement added to the effect of the object too, swords become sharper and a lamp would let out a brighter light. That would be useful to remember, though he wasn't sure it would help him much at the moment. A wooden sword wouldn't really cut even with Reinforcement, especially through whatever Barrier that girl had.

The girl. In his excitement over training and his focus on learning how to control his Od through his own Magic Circuits he had forgotten about the girl.

Eyes full of contained emotions, emotions that opposed the force and façade she outwardly projected.

Shirou shook off the thought and ran out of his house towards school. He went over the lecture that Kiritsugu had given him over Reinforcement to occupy his mind, but despite all his attempts his mind kept going back to that girl and her eyes full of emotion.

Resignation. That was an emotion that he wasn't entirely familiar with. He had seen it, but he never experienced it. He was a person of action, well, he was now. If he saw a problem he worked towards a solution. Though working towards the solution usually involved several mistakes and accidents he didn't let himself fail or wait for failure to reach him. Resignation was only something he's seen on Kiritsugu. Why would that kind of emotion be on a girl his age?

The answer alluded Shirou. He gave the entire situation as much thought as he possibly could but he couldn't figure out a reason.

"Argh!" The boy threw his hands in the air and stopped thinking about it. Shirou couldn't figure it out. There was something wrong with that girl and he was going to figure it out. They would probably see her lots more often while searching for Jewel Seeds so he had time. Shirou threw his thoughts to the wind and dash through the gates of the school. He wanted to ask how the trip to the hot springs went before class started.

Apparently not well. Nanoha and Yuuno had ran into the girl again and lost a pair of Jewel Seeds to her. The one that activated and another one from Nanoha's collection. She now had a familiar to help her with battle too. A woman that transformed into some sort of dog or wolf named Arf. Though Nanoha and Yuuno hadn't exactly gone home empty handed. They had at least gotten a name out of the mysterious girl.

Fate Testarossa. Shirou played the name in his mind a few times and mentally matched it to the girl. They couldn't really do anything with the name but it was nice to call her something other than 'that girl' or 'the other mage.'

However, the battle seemed to have taken a toll on his friend. Shirou attempted to get Nanoha's attention several times during the day to open up a mental channel so they could talk about what happened, but the girl wouldn't react to anything. Shirou had even taken a chance and bounced a note off the girl's arm, but she even ignored that. Whatever the girl was thinking it had taken her attention completely. Lunch was a similar case. He couldn't exactly talk to her about magic while Alisa or Suzuka were there so he just chatted with them as usual. Nanoha was still spacing out and he could tell that Alisa was starting to get annoyed by it. He wondered when the girl would finally blow.

"Give me a break already!"

Apparently right after class ended, Shirou sighed. The girl was probably counting down the seconds until she could go grill Nanoha. Shirou frowned and watched from his own seat. Alisa was over Nanoha's desk, while Suzuka was hovering back hesitating over what to do, and Nanoha was looking surprised at her friend's outburst. Shirou wondered if he should step in or not. On one hand, it looked like Nanoha was really out of it. On the other hand, it wasn't really that nice to ignore your friends.

"You've been staring out into space and zoning out since the other day, no matter what we talk about!" Alisa continued to rant at Nanoha.

"I-I'm sorry Alisa-chan." Nanoha bowed her head as she stuttered an apology, but this only seemed to fuel Alisa's anger.

"Don't apologize! If talking to us is really that boring, then go space out by yourself!" The blonde haired girl spun around in a huff and walked out of the classroom. "Let's go, Suzuka."

"Alisa-chan." Suzuka watched sadly as their friend stormed out of the classroom. She turned to look down at Nanoha as if asking for permission. "Nanoha-chan…"

The brown haired girl smiled weakly. "It's alright Suzuka-chan. It really was my fault this time."

"I don't think that's really true… but either way, Alisa-chan went really overboard this time. I'm going to go talk to her."

Nanoha nodded and watched her friend run out of the room to chase after Alisa. "I'm sorry about this…"

Shirou sighed at Nanoha's expression and started packing up his things. Bag packed and thrown over his shoulder, Shirou walked over to the pensive girl and tapped her on the shoulder. He scowled at the sad smile on his friend's face. He would make sure that she didn't have that smile on her face. He pointed towards the door. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Shirou walked over to the bench that Nanoha was sitting on with a small smile on his face and a paper bag in hand. He sat down next to the girl and pulled a piece of Taiyaki out of the bag and offered it to her. The girl looked up at him in surprise, but accepted the treat with a small smile. Shirou took another one out to eat and took a bite out of it. Taking a moment to enjoy the snack with it was still warm, Shirou looked up at the sky and sighed. "You know, I think I have a good idea of what Alisa is feeling."

Nanoha looked over at Shirou in surprise. "Eh?"

"Well, it's not something I experienced myself, but I wonder if you remember." Shirou smiled at the memory. He stood up and leaned over Nanoha with a mock angry expression on his face. "You're always working so hard to make everyone happy. So why are you not happy yourself?!"

Nanoha blinked at the now smiling boy and started giggling. "I said that to you, didn't I?"

Shirou nodded, "It really surprised me, you know. I didn't even know your name at the time and you came up to me and started yelling at me for no reason."

Nanoha shook her head and pouted at him. "Mou, I had plenty of reasons for yelling at you."

Shirou rolled his eyes. "Really, think about it. It was completely irrational."

Nanoha giggled and stuck her tongue out at him.

Flashback

"Everyone, we have a late entry into our class. It seems like he had some medical troubles before, but now he's fit to come to school." Their teacher had a large smile on her face as the class cheered at the news. A mysterious transfer student was something exciting. The teacher waved over at the door and Nanoha watched as a red haired boy dressed in their schools uniform walked into the classroom. His steps were slow and he looked over at the classroom in confusion as if wondering what he was doing here. The teacher smiled encouragingly at the boy and gave him a small push forward. "Go on, introduce yourself."

The boy blinked for a moment and looked up at the teacher who nodded at him. He slowly turned forward to face the class and bowed. "My name is Emiya Shirou."

His voice was clear and cut through the children's chatter, but it had no emotion. The boy had just said the words as a formality and straightened up right away to stare at the back of the room again. Nanoha looked over at the boy and for a moment she caught the boy's eyes. They were a pretty golden color. However, it seemed like his eyes were dull, like they were missing that vital spark that every person carried with them. Then the boy looked away at something else and the moment was lost.

"I hope to get along with all of you. Please take care of me." With the formality out of the way, the boy looked up at the teacher again for instruction.

The teacher cheerfully pointed out to an empty desk and the boy quickly sat down as if to quickly exit the focus of the class. The class quickly returned to routine and continued the lesson from the day from before. However, for Nanoha, her attention was drawn back to the boy that was sitting a few seats away from her. She kept looking over at him, almost as if she was hoping to see those gold eyes again.

Nanoha watched the boy intently. It turned into something of a hobby for her. The sight of those empty gold eyes had filled her with curiosity and she wondered what could make a boy her age look like that.

For the first week, Shirou had been rather silent. Not really talking to anyone or making any attempt to make friends at all. But that seemed to change one day almost over night. The boy was suddenly all smiles and helping people in his class and then in the entire school. If a teacher needed help with a task then Shirou would be the first to volunteer. If a kid had broken a toy, Shirou would take it to someone that could fix it, or learn how to fix it himself. It seemed like wherever the boy was, there were never a lack of smiles. It was fascinating how quickly the boy had changed from his initial introduction, but something still bothered Nanoha about the boy. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something off about him.

But the more Nanoha watched Shirou help others, the more something stood out to her. Whenever Shirou was helping people, he would smile and encourage the other person. He would make sure that they were happy, but he never stayed around to share in that happiness. He would hand over a fixed toy or stand up to a bully and then leave without even taking in the thanks of the person he had helped. It annoyed Nanoha for reasons that she couldn't understand.

Eventually, after watching him help someone for what felt like the hundredth time, Nanoha realized what was bothering her so much about Shirou.

Those empty golden eyes.

Those eyes would be filled with emotion when he was helping people or when he was trying to do something, but after the deed was done, he would fade back into that empty looking boy that she had seen the day he transferred into class. It bothered her, that someone that was doing their best to make everyone else happy wasn't happy themselves.

So she decided to do something about it.

Emiya Shirou had no idea what was happening. He had helped one of the older students put up some flyers for a teacher when a brown haired girl that he vaguely remembered being in his class ran over and dragged him away. To his credit, he did struggle a bit, but his reluctance to hurt the girl along with her determination to speak to him alone had made it a losing battle. The girl dragged him to the rooftop of the school and looked around and when she saw that the place was empty, released Shirou's arm.

"Uh…Takamachi-san. Did you need help with something?" People had started to realize that Shirou was good at helping people and went to him for help with stuff. It was mostly kids in his class but the news was starting to spread.

However the brown hair girl had not come to ask him for a favor or for his aid. No it was the complete opposite. The girl looked angry and had placed her hands on her hips as she glared at him. Shirou swallowed and took a step backwards. He didn't know what he had done to deserve that look, but some instinctual part of him realized that he should probably make up for whatever it was he had done. "Uh… I'm sorry?"

It seems those were the wrong words to say as the girl threw her arms up in the air. "You're sorry? What are you even sorry for? Why are you always like this?"

Shirou took another step backwards as the girl walked towards him. He did not like the expression that was on her face. He backpedaled more, but stumbled over his own feet and fell. Shirou gulped as the girl loomed over him and flinched when she pointed at him.

"Listen carefully, because this is very important." Shirou gave the girl his full attention. His instincts were shouting at him that this situation was a bad one, but it was too late to do anything but accept it.

"From now on." The girl was absolutely serious about this. There would be no arguing with her no matter what she declared. "You will be my friend."

Shirou stared at the girl who was still pointing down at him for a moment before her words actually registered. "Eh?"

Nanoha stomped one of her feet in anger. "You're going to be my friend and I'm going to be your friend. You're always working so hard to make everyone happy. So why are you not happy yourself?!"

Shirou just stared at the girl in front of him. He wanted to say something back, but the sheer shock of the situation hadn't completely faded just yet. "I-"

"No!" Nanoha interrupted him. "You don't get to argue. I've seen you whenever you think no one is around. You always make such a sad face. You aren't happy at all. So I'm going to make sure you are happy."

Shirou just nodded before the girl got even angrier. He had the feeling that if he tried to argue he would loss and if he argued long enough that things would escalate into him getting hit. He didn't know why he was afraid of the girl in front of him, but he had the feeling that he didn't want to be hit by her.

"Hey, I wasn't that scary!" Nanoha complained.

Shirou shook his head at her denial. "Are you kidding me? I was terrified of you. You declared yourself my friend and dragged me over to the Midoriya to introduce me to your family." That had opened up a bag of worms in itself. The whole, 'I'm living by myself because my father left on a trip for an indefinite amount of time' thing had not gone well with the Takamachi family when they asked him about his family. Neither had the whole, 'I am an orphan because a large fire nearly killed me but managed to wipe out my family' thing either. Shirou still wasn't sure how he escaped from being smothered by both Momoko-san and Miyuki-san.

Shirou shook his head as he realized that he was getting off track. "But that's not why I wanted you to remember that day. I wanted you to remember how annoying it was for a person you care about struggle with their own problems when they have help. For one of your friends to say everything is fine when you can see that they have a big problem that is bothering them. I hate to say it, but you probably know that feeling all too well because of me."

Shirou scratched his cheek in embarrassment. He had burdened the entire Takamachi family a lot in past. It was probably the reason that he was so reluctant to stay over there when he was left alone.

Nanoha nodded and frowned again. Shirou was someone that took on the burdens of others while keeping all of his own problems bottled up. She frequently had to trick him into telling her when Kiritsugu was out of town or when he was having trouble with something. It was frustrating to want to help someone, but having no idea how to do so. Even worse was when the person you were trying to help refused to accept it. "Alisa-chan…"

Shirou stood up and gathered his things. "I'm not saying we should tell them everything, but we can't say that nothing is happening either. Just… just let them worry about you, okay?"

Nanoha looked up at Shirou and nodded. However, her expression quickly turned to one of annoyance. "Let them worry about you, huh? Shirou is such a hypocrite!"

"W-wha?" Shirou took a step back as an irate Nanoha stood up and poked him in the chest. "I don't-"

"You should take your own advice." Nanoha walked past Shirou in a huff and continued towards home without him.

Shirou stood there for a moment and tried to get past the flashback of an angry six year old Nanoha looming over him. "What just happened?"

Shirou adjusted the bag he was carrying and looked up at the night sky with a frown. He had made a quick stop at home to check in with his dad before meeting Nanoha and Yuuno for a patrol around the city. The three of them had combed the city for a few hours with no sign of any trouble. Shirou noticed that Nanoha was still distracted by something, but his attention was on the ferret riding on his head. The two of them were having a conversation about Magecraft and in specifics the utility of Reinforcement and Shirou's Structural Analysis when he bumped into Nanoha.

Shirou turned his attention to the girl and saw that she was looking up at one of those large television screens. It was displaying some odd advertisement for a camera along with the time in the corner of the screen. Shirou was about to ask her what was wrong when she spoke up.

"Ah, I might be out of time. I'll need to go home."

Shirou looked over at the large screen again and realized that it was getting late. He felt Yuuno shift on top of his head to face Nanoha. "Don't worry about it. I'll stay around here and search a little longer."

Shirou nodded softly so he didn't displace the ferret. "I can stick around for a bit longer too."

Nanoha frowned. "Are the both of you going to be alright?"

Shirou rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine. Dad knows that I'm going to be out late so he'll order take out."

Or so Shirou hoped. His father was many things, a magus, a hero, and his father, but the one thing he was not was a cook. Shirou's passion for cooking had started as a necessity rather than a hobby. The last time Kiritsugu had tried to cook had been a disaster. Shirou had spent hours scouring their frying pan to get it back into usable condition.

Yuuno nodded and smiled at Nanoha. "We'll be fine. Go home and get some dinner, alright?"

Nanoha gave Shirou and Yuuno a wave goodbye before running off to get back home. Shirou watched the girl until she was out of sight before turning around and continuing his patrol. He felt Yuuno move from on top of his head to his shoulder and turned towards the ferret. "So, where were we?"

Yuuno's expression turned serious as he recalled their conversation from a few moments ago. "We were discussing Reinforcement."

Shirou nodded. "Right, I don't really recall everything Kiritsugu told me, but he mentioned that Reinforcement is not the strengthening of the physical shell of an object. It does that too, but its main use is to strengthen the utility of the object. Like if I reinforced a sword it wouldn't just be more durable, but it would be sharper too."

The two of them continued their conversation for a little bit before Shirou felt Yuuno stiffen on his shoulder. Before he could ask him what was wrong he felt a surge of magical energy assault his senses. Ozone, though it was different from before. The sky had darkened after the surge of magic and Shirou could see clouds filled with lightning covering the sky.

"A forced activation spell in the city?! This is dangerous. Shirou we need to move!" Shirou felt Yuuno jump off his shoulder and saw him create a magic seal on the ground. Shirou looked up and swallowed hard at the sight of the thundering sky. It was unreal that a girl his age could create such an effect.

"Shirou!" The boy turned his attention back from the raging heavens to his friend. "I'll set up a barrier and call Nanoha. You scout ahead and see if you can find the Jewel Seed."

Shirou nodded and steeled his resolve. He ran forward towards the source of the magic energy. He dodged past some people before he felt another rush of power pass over him and saw the people vanish from the streets. Yuuno had set up the barrier. Shirou pulled out the two wooden swords that he had thrown into his bag and picked up speed towards the build up of magical energy. Shirou was hoping that he could get to the Jewel Seed before Fate could find it. He was ready to fight, but he wasn't exactly confident about his chances for a win. He hadn't been able to close his Magic Circuits yet and his Reinforcement had been shaky so far. But he had been able to succeed for the first time in the heat of battle, so he was kind of hoping the same thing would happen here in the worst case scenario.

The boy had made it about halfway to the Jewel Seed when two blasts of magic cut through the night sky. The first one was pink and the other one yellow and they both converged somewhere in front of him. Shirou swore as he realized that meant that both Fate and Nanoha had found the Jewel Seed and would be moving towards another confrontation.

"Nanoha…" Shirou picked up his pace and hoped to god that he would make it in time to aid his friend.

Shirou slowed his run down into a jog when he saw Nanoha standing alone in front of the Jewel Seed. There was no sign of Fate or that woman that Yuuno said was with her. He was about to stop to catch his breath when he caught a blur of motion heading towards her.

"Nanoha!"

Shirou was in motion as soon as he realized there was an attack. The Od that was coursing through his body from the open Magic Circuits surged through his limbs and empowered them beyond human limits. Far beyond what a nine year old should be capable of doing. Shirou jumped above Nanoha and met the red familiar's claws with his own wooden swords.

Arf's eyes widened for a moment before she lashed out again and threw Shirou backwards. Shirou flew backwards and rolled back to his feet. He watched as Arf landed and launched herself at Nanoha again, only to crash into a green barrier. Shirou looked over to the side to see Yuuno running towards them. The ferret jumped next to the boy and nodded to him.

Shirou turned his attention forward and saw the girl, Fate, standing on top of a light post staring down at all of them. Shirou tightened his grip on both of his swords and pushed the fire coursing through his veins to the back of his mind. He looked over at Nanoha and was surprised at the determination he saw in her eyes. After seeing her so hesitant earlier in the day, it was refreshing to see her back to normal.

"Last time, we couldn't introduce ourselves properly." Nanoha stared up at the girl that had plagued her thoughts for the last few days and was determined to communicate with her. "My name is Nanoha. Takamachi Nanoha. A third grader who attends Seishou Auxiliary Elementary School."

Shirou blinked and wondered if Nanoha was serious. He knew that the girl had come to some answer to her problems, but he didn't expect her to introduce herself to the enemy Mage. Before he could question Nanoha, or even introduce himself, the girl had shifted her Device into Scythe Form.

"Where do you think you're looking at?"

Shirou twisted around just in time to see Arf rushing at him claws barred. He threw his arms up to protect his face when another flash of green repelled the dog familiar.

"Wha?" Shirou looked over at the small magic sigil that was hovering in front of him. He had forgotten that Yuuno had gotten some of his magic back.

Yuuno let down the barrier, Shirou was a lot stronger than before if that jump from before said anything, but he wasn't quick strong enough to go against Arf without backup. "Shirou, I'll back you up, but be careful."

Shirou nodded and saw that Arf had recovered from crashing into Yuuno's barrier and was snarling at the both of them. "Do you think I'm afraid of a tiny ferret familiar and a servant boy!" She rushed forward and lunged at the boy.

"My name is-" Shirou rushed forward and clashed against her only to be thrown backwards again from the dog's greater strength.

"I don't care what you're name is!"

Shirou got back to his feet and rolled to the side to dodge another attack. Arf slid to a stop and charged again. It soon became a game of cat and mouse as Shirou barely managed to evade Arf darting at him over and over again. The boy gritted his teeth as Arf came close to hitting him but just managing to claw at his back. His lungs were burning with every breath and his limbs were starting to feel like lead. He was moving way beyond his limit through Reinforcement. He needed an opening.

Ask and you shall receive.

"What?!" Arf cried out as green chains erupted from thin air all around her and bound her legs to the floor.

"Now!" Yuuno called out from the other side of Arf. The ferret must have been preparing this trap.

Shirou rushed forward and swung both of his swords and slammed them into Arf sending her crashing into a truck parked on the street. The dog familiar dented the steel truck before slowly getting back to her feet with a snarl.

"You little brats!"

Shirou jumped out of the way of another lunge and started to run as Arf chased after him. He passed by Yuuno with a grin as the ferret managed to bind the dog familiar a second time to give Shirou some breathing room. Another shockwave from the sky made Shirou look into the sky to watch the black and white blurs crash against one another. Shirou gritted his teeth as he realized that Nanoha was out of reach when he saw something.

"Yuuno, take care of her!" Shirou called back to the ferret as he ran towards the center of the street.

"Eh?" Yuuno turned over to see what Shirou was doing and paled. "Shirou, wait!"

But the boy didn't hear his friends call. He was running straight for the Jewel Seed that was floating in the center of the street. This was the item that they were all battling for. If he could secure it and get away, then the battle would be over and none of them would have to fight any longer.

"Oh no you don't!" Shirou turned back to see that Arf had broken whatever binding magic Yuuno had used on her and was chasing after him. Shirou swore and picked up the pace. He raced forward and focused on the floating gem. He ignored the clashing white and black blurs in the sky. He ignored the flashes of pink and yellow as two girls broke every law of magic he thought he knew. He ignored the angry red familiar that was racing on his heels to keep him from the Jewel Seed. He even ignored Yuuno's frantic yelling as he raced to stop him. Shirou could only see the Jewel Seed.

The boy got close enough and jumped into the air just in time for Arf to miss another lunge. Shirou reached forward and wrapped his fingers around the Jewel Seed.

And then his world caught fire.

The world that he saw was made solely of fire and smoke. Shirou wanted to scream but found no air to breathe. His mind burned. There was nothing left to fight with as he suffered in the flames of this world.

It's hot

The heat from this world was beyond unbearable. His body seemed to be changing into something else. Foreign material seemed to smash into his body to forge it into some different. The fire burns deep into his body setting every bit of his body on fire. It wanted to change him from the smallest cell.

It's hot

The flames seemed to start within his own body, flowing out and around him. The fire doesn't stop and continues to pour out like a fountain.

It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot It's hot

"Gah!"

Then it hits him. A fierce wind picks up and invades this world of flames. But rather than blow the fire out, the wind simply fans the flames hotter, and larger. Shirou wants to scream as the steel like pressure of the wind crushes him as the flames burn even hotter.

His mind melts as the flames attempt to mold him into something he's not. Information that isn't his floods into his mind like an unstoppable torrent. Information that has no place in his mind invades his mind.

The first were swords, swords of all ages and countries. Each of these swords was a masterpiece, flawless in their recreation. Information about each sword invades his mind. Their history, their age, every swing that was made with them. Beyond that was their forging practices and every single detail of their framework, to the point of their mystical properties. Each blade help magic that went beyond mankind's ability to replicate and yet the need information to duplicate their effects poured into his mind. The information for one of these blades would have filled his mind for ages and yet there seemed to be a limitless amount of them and the information for each was forced into his mind all at once.

A magic that was beyond his capabilities. The ability to duplicate these flawless weapons. No it's not even close to duplication, and it goes beyond even Projection. It's a magic that he can and cannot understand all at once.

More and more information pours into him. He watches as battles are forced upon him. Battles that he never could even dream of where played in his mind. He had never fought in them, and yet their experiences were forced into his mind. A battle in a wasteland against countless enemies. Fighting against a _ knight, _ in red, a raging beast wielding _ , a smirking man in _ with _ floating behind him, memory after memory flooded into Shirou's mind. Names and faces blurred together as century after century, and world after world poured into his being.

Blood seemed to flood into the world and drown him, but the flames were still there, the wind was still crushing him.

It was too much. He couldn't bare it all. It was like trying to pour an ocean into a single gallon container. It was impossible.

So the boy burned.

The battle raged in the sky. Two girls clad in white and black fought in the sky. The heavens flashed pink and yellow as both girls attempted to defeat the other. And yet, there was a subdued atmosphere.

Nanoha had been trying to talk to Fate the entire battle. She had tried to convince the girl to at least tell her why she was looking for the Jewel Seeds. She had even poured out her own reasons for helping Yuuno look for the Jewel Seeds to get the girl talking, but it looked like it wasn't meant to be. Just as Fate looked ready to talk a familiar voice cried out to them.

"Nanoha! You need to stop him!"

Both of the girls looked down to see the red haired boy rushing towards the Jewel Seed. Both Arf and Yuuno were rushing after the boy, but it seems his new found speed and the head start he had been too much.

"Shirou!" Nanoha rushed down to prevent the boy from grabbing the Jewel Seed remembering what happened last time a person activated a Jewel Seed, but was stopped by a flash of yellow. Fate had used Nanoha's lapse in attention to swing Bardiche and knock her back before speeding towards the Jewel Seed. Nanoha tumbled backwards in the air before rushing after the girl.

But that second delay had been too much. Had the both of them simply rushed to stop the boy they may have made it.

The boy grabbed the Jewel Seed and the world was engulfed in light. The force of the Jewel Seed activating slammed into everyone and sent them all flying backwards. Nanoha was able to regain her balance again. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"What… what is this?"

When the boy from before had activated the Jewel Seed, it had created a tree. A massive tree that had damaged the entire city with its grown, but it had just been a tree. This was nothing like that at all. The entire city looked like it had been devastated. Large sections of the city seemed to have disappeared completely only to be replaced with a wasteland. The buildings that were left had chunks missing from them and all of them looked like they were falling apart. The sky was filled with smoke and smog obscuring everything from sight but she could see rusty gears turning and falling apart in the distance. The ground was scorched clean of any sign of life and Nanoha could see fire dancing around at random all over the streets.

The city wasn't silent either. Voices could be heard from all over. All of them were crying out the same message. 'Save me,' 'help me,' and 'make it stop' but there was no salvation for the sources of these voices. No, they would go unheard even with the additions to this world. The cries rose up into the air and merged together into a wave of agony and resentment that weighed down on the entire world. There was no doubt that this was a hellish world.

However, through all the chaos and all the strife, through all the destruction and all the death, Nanoha could only see one thing. A single figure slowly and aimlessly walking forward.

"Shirou!"

The white clad girl descended to the hellish world, but the world sensing the foreign element reacted. A silver blur rained down from the sky to impale the girl only to be stopped by a green barrier.

"Nanoha!"

The weapon was deflected by the barrier and as it fell down to the flames below Nanoha could see what it was. A sword, jagged and half forged, but the weapon had been intended to be a sword. The girl was broken out of her thoughts when a familiar weight landed on her shoulder.

"Yuuno-kun. What… what is this?" The girl looked around at the city with tears in eyes. This was the exact kind of thing that she had been fighting to prevent. How had it become like this. "Why is the city…?"

"Nanoha, this isn't Uminari City." That statement caused the girl to freeze. Though that was probably a bad choice as Yuuno had to block another sword that had tried to impale the girl. "Whatever Jewel Seed did with Shirou didn't affect the city at all. The Jewel Seed seemed to have consumed my barrier and used it to create this world. Uminari is still untouched by all of this."

Those words were a relief to the girl. She had been trying so hard to protect the city and seeing it destroyed like this, even if it was an illusion, was heartbreaking. But if Yuuno was right, then the city was still safe. Her family and friends were still safe… except…

"Shirou." The girl looked around frantically for the boy. Luckily he hadn't really moved far from his position. The girl frowned as she spotted something close to the boy. She squinted and gasped as she realized what the object was. Nanoha dove down without giving Yuuno any warning causing the ferret to squeak in surprise and hold onto the girl as she rushed to her friend's rescue.

Except there was no rescue necessary. Nanoha dodged swords and fire frantically to get to her friend and quickly landed in front of the boy. She raised Raising Heart in a defensive stance but stopped when she saw the look on Arf and Fate. Fate had come to face the boy and completely froze at the sight of him. Arf had come to yell at her but also stood behind the girl and stared at the boy in horror. The golden haired girl had a look of complete horror on her face and the hand that was holding out Bardiche was shaking in fear.

"Oh god…" The soft whisper from Yuuno made Nanoha turn around. The sight of her childhood friend was almost enough to make her drop Raising Heart. Her free hand rose to her lips as she gasped.

Shirou's appearance seemed to match the hellish world that surrounded them. The boy was covered in terrible burns. There were holes in his shirt from where the fire had burned through and she could see the burnt flesh beneath it as it healed only to be consumed by the heat of the area again and again. The boy's red hair was covered in ashes, painting white streaks down his head. However the fire wasn't the only thing that was plaguing him. The boy's skin was covered in what looked to be scales. When Nanoha looked closer she realized that no, those weren't scales, but blades. Tiny blades that were interlocked together, pushing themselves out of the boy's skin. Nanoha wanted to cry as she looked at her friend, and the urge doubled itself as she looked him in the eyes. There was no life in those golden-colored eyes. They were empty and unseeing. The boy kept slowly moving forward and eventually passed the frozen white-clad girl. Shirou had not seen her, he could not see his friend. The only thing he could see was the fire-consumed world that surrounded him.

"S-shirou…?" Nanoha slowly reached a hand towards him, but flinched back as her Barrier Jacket activated to prevent one of the blades from cutting her hand. The boy walked forward, a slow stagger that screeched on every step. For the blades that Nanoha saw went much deeper than mere skin. Shirou's bones had all been turned into blades. Every step was agony as his muscles were torn by the blades with each movement. Every breath was followed by his lungs being pierced by the blades that protruded from his ribs. Every wound, internal and external, was healed by an unknown force, only for his body to be torn and burned again.

He must be in so much pain, the girl thought. So why doesn't he stop moving? Wouldn't it be better to fall over? What would drive someone to keep going in this kind of world? What kind of person would wish for this kind of world?

"-ha… Nanoha!" The girl broke out of her thoughts and turned slowly to Yuuno with despair written on her face. The ferret swallowed his own feelings and nodded to the girl. "You need to seal the Jewel Seed. That'll dispel this barrier and hopefully turn Shirou back to normal."

"Sealing Mode." The device toned out as it quickly readjusted some of its parts for sealing. Nanoha nodded and raised Raising Heart. "Serial Number XIV."

"Sealing Mode." Nanoha turned in surprise to find Fate standing next to her with Bardiche pointed at Shirou. Her face had once again been schooled into that emotionless expression that she wore so often, but Nanoha could see the fear and hesitation in her eyes. "Serial Number XIV."

"Shirou…" Nanoha looked at the back of her friend and wondered what wish he had been thinking of to create this world. The image of the boy walking forward blurred for a moment and Nanoha rubbed her eyes to find that she was crying. The girl shook her head and pointed Raising Heart at Shirou ignoring the tears that were running down her cheeks. "Raising Heart, please."

"Sealing!" The Device answered its master's plea and fired out a pink blast of magic.

"Sealing!" Bardiche took the cue and fired along side the other Device.

The twin blasts raced forward and crashed into the boy's back. The world went silent and for a moment, when the cries for help were gone, Nanoha could hear a man's voice, too soft to make out what he was saying, in the distance.

Shirou had grasped something forbidden and now he was being punished for it. He was losing something important, but at the same time it was being replaced by something similar. His body ached at the loss but at the same time attempted to adjust to the new information placed in it. That precious thing was gone, but, at the same time, it was still there. It was confusing and painful and the cycle was starting to erode Shirou away.

He had wished for something. He remembered that much. He had wished for something that could not be obtained. Wasn't that what his father had taught him? And yet he had wished for it all the same. He was being punished for his wish.

The boy slowly started to let go. His mind was being eroded away, even as some unseen magic attempted to piece it back together and add new pieces at the same time. There was nothing left for him to grasp onto. The anchors that he had set had been destroyed and recreated so many times that the boy no longer knew what or who he was.

But even though his memory had been fragmented, it still remembered. A single moment of focus was enough for the boy to piece together a complete memory. One detail lead to another and another until the boy could almost see the people in his mind. Like following the links in a chain until reaching the source.

The boy remembered a man. His features were blurred but Shirou remembered that he was important. "There will always be some that cannot be saved. It is impossible to save everyone. If I have to lose five hundred to earn one thousand, I will abandon one hundred and save the lives of nine hundred. That is the most efficient method. That is the ideal."

Anger filled the boy and gave him the strength to speak in this whirlwind of fire and steel. "No… that's not right… That's not right! The ideal should be to save everyone!"

Just as soon as it came the image of the man was gone. The wind and fire blow away the image and the memory passes only for another one to follow.

"Why do you always have to be like that?!" A small girl in white is glaring at him. The girl's face is blurred and out of focus. "Why can't you put yourself first for once?!"

Shirou shook his head. "Because I don't deserve to put myself first. I… I want to help people… is that feeling so wrong?"

"Of course it's not wrong." The girl's voice had died down to a whisper. "But, who is going to help those people if you work yourself to death?"

Shirou shakes his head and tries his hardest to make out the girl's face. The name falls within his reach. "Nano-"

The girl is lost in the roar of the wind. Just like the man before the girl disappears in a flash of steel and fire. The boy howls at the loss as his body is crushed and burned. He wills his body to move and rages against the steel winds. To force them to bring them back, but it is a useless effort. He cannot fight the winds, and cannot move the world. So the boy makes one last effort. He pushes all his energy to at least look up. And when he does, he sees something. An object just out of sight, but before he can look past the wind and burn the image into his mind the object is obscured by two flashes of pink and yellow light.

And the world stopped.

Light seemed to have cut through the world. Nanoha shut her eyes and raised a hand to shield them from the intense light. There is a loud roaring noise as the world around them is forcibly reverted back to its natural state. When the noise died down, the girl slowly opened her eyes.

The city had returned to normal. Or rather, it had returned to the barrier that Yuuno had set up before the Jewel Seed had activated. There was still no sound from the city as it was empty within the barrier, but there was no sign of the fire or destruction from the Jewel Seed. Nanoha let out a breath of relief before looking up. She could see Shirou's body on the floor and she ran up to the boy and checked him over for any lasting damage. None of the burns were on his body and there were no swords pushing themselves from his skin. He was breathing alright and there was no metal noise from the small movements as he breathed in and out.

"Thank god." Nanoha smiled at the boy's sleeping face. The boy didn't look completely comfortable but he didn't look in pain either.

"Scythe Form."

Nanoha froze as a blazing yellow blade was placed at her neck. Arf had Yuuno pinned down and was watching the both of them. Nanoha turned slowly to see Fate looking down at the boy in confusion. "The Jewel Seed."

Nanoha blinked for a moment before noticing that the Jewel Seed was nowhere to be found. Normally when she sealed the Jewel Seed it came out of the object that activated it, but she couldn't see it anywhere. "Is it still inside him?" Nanoha looked down at Shirou and hoped to god that wasn't true. She didn't want that thing anywhere near Shirou after what had just happened.

"I see." The girl closed her eyes for a moment before coming to a decision. Bardiche was swung down at Nanoha. Raising Heart quickly activated a barrier but the attack did its job and launched the girl away from Shirou. Arf transformed and threw the boy over her shoulder. Before either Nanoha or Yuuno could recover the three of them were gone. Nanoha looked around in a panic. She couldn't see them anywhere.

"No, bring him back!" Nanoha flew into the air and tried to spot Fate or Arf but no matter where she looked she couldn't find anything. Both the skies and the city were empty. They had disappeared and along with them was her best friend.

"Shirou!"


AN:Wow, this was a heavy chapter. This was probably the first thing that I thought of when I started writing this story and looking back of how much the scene evolved, I'm pretty proud of myself as an author.

I rewrote the Jewel Seed a bit to have it make more sense. A bigger edit than most of these things, but one I felt was needed.

I wasn't originally planning on having Fate kidnap Shirou, but it seemed like such a fun plot point to have, so I threw it in.

Anyways, tell me what you think.