Okay, I'm back.
This chapter should've been uploaded over 12 hours ago but the system on the site decided it wouldn't work.
Even now, I'm only able to bring you this due to a workaround of the system rather than anything else.
Anyway, I will answer some questions left in the reviews, but I am not going to answer the questions that have already been answered in previous Author Notes.
So...
Jasonwu: This fic is based off of Shin Megami Tensei 4... it has nothing to do with the Persona Spin-Offs and fusing demons into weapons is generally restricted to those games these days.
The Rupture: That is assuming every demon only takes up one circuit.
DarkLord98: There is a lot there that I'm going to just say "wait and see" concerning... also, thank you for pointing out the formatting removal that I missed.
DPSS: Look, the simple fact of the matter is that I don't see Shirou being comfortable talking about that stuff. And you mention that Shirou was instructed about the 'Moonlit World' but from what I remember, he wasn't , he didn't know about the Church, the fact there were other Magi in the same city etc... so while Fanfiction may like to pretend he was told, there isn't really anything in canon that gives the impression he was.
As for Shirou getting NP's... not in the immediate future.
And with Shirou projecting Kanshou and Byakuya, that doesn't really say anything about his ability to record weapons given that he had already started synchronizing with Archer when that happened.
Now... onto the actual story.
*Thud*
Shirou stared blankly at Hana as he placed the corpse of the Katakirauwa on the counter just outside of her stall.
"Here you go," he stated as he let out a tired sigh… his entire body was still stinging after all.
"You look like shit," her comment only made him sigh more, "how much of a fight did this thing put up?"
"You didn't tell me it could speak," he stated with a hint of annoyance seeping through his tone.
"Even so, I'm surprised it managed to push you as far as it clearly did," her statement made him blink as he realized what she was talking about.
"That wasn't the pig," he told her without a second thought, "it was the Fomorian I got into a fight with that did this."
"… a Fomorian," she repeated blankly.
"Yeah… you know, giant sheep demon, very aggressive," he stated only for her to cut him off.
"I know what a Fomorian is," she stated with an eye twitching in clear irritation, "what I want to know… is did you try to run?"
He could do little more than stare at her in response.
"It was dangerous," his statement seemed to make her sag in relief, "of course I wouldn't run."
She facepalmed.
"You frickin' idiot," she stated with a bland tone that conveyed her displeasure at his statement, "if something is dangerous, then you're supposed to run."
"Yeah, well I'm not going to run from something dangerous," he told her firmly.
"… Are you sure you're not a Gaian?" she asked, "because that sounds like something one of those guys would do."
"I told you, I'm not even from this time," he responded without a seconds hesitation.
"Yeah… doesn't stop you from coming off as being like those psychos in the Ring of Gaia," she stated without any hesitation, "refusing to back down from a strong opponent, just because it would make them 'weak'."
"That's not like me at all," he said with total conviction, "I fought it because it was a danger to anyone it came across."
"It's still idiotic," the response was clear and Shirou found himself simply choosing to give up trying to convince her otherwise.
"Well… I'm still alive and it is…" he was about to say dead, but he wasn't entirely certain that was correct.
"… don't tell me you've somehow managed to pull another Lham Dearg," the shopkeeper said with a blank expression, causing him to release a sigh of defeat.
"I think so," he admitted, "I haven't actually checked yet, but I think I can summon it… and the Kata."
"… okay, then can you summon the Katakirauwa?" she asked him and he released a sigh as he checked the Circuit with the least resistance before pushing it out.
A flash of Golden Lightning signalled the summoning of the demonic pig, though Shirou found himself somewhat surprised by the lack of concern the residents showed to that display.
"YA BLOODY MUTTON BASTARD!" Shirou found himself blinking in surprise at the first words that cried out upon the creatures summoning, "… wait… where the hell is that Fomorian asshole?"
"So… I think it's safe to say that you've probably got the Fomor too," Hana stated with a wry grin as everyone stared at the pig-like demon.
"I guess so," he admitted without hesitation.
"And it's corpse is still here too," she pointed out with amusement, "I wonder if that body will stick around as well."
"Wait… what?" the demon sounded almost worried now, especially when it looked at its own corpse, "oh hell no! I don't want to be used as a stew!"
Shirou found himself releasing a sigh as he heard that.
"Not your choice pork chop," Hana stated with an amused smile, "besides, this body's long dead so why does it matter what we do with it?"
Shirou found himself frowning at that.
If the demon's original body was still there, then did that mean that the body he was summoning was just a projection?
And if it was, then wouldn't that have caused Lham Dearg to vanish upon that hit from the Fomorian?
It also made him wonder what would happen if one of his demons died while summoned… would they just return to him or would they die for real?
"Hey, Hana-san," he decided to ask, causing the woman to turn her attention back to him, "Katakirauwa are some of the weakest demons out there aren't they?"
"Oi! I resent that!"
"Yeah, why?" her response was quick and clear.
"Because I'm wondering what will happen if a demon I have dies," he admitted without hesitation, causing the creature to freeze.
"H-hey! C-come on… you're not still sore over me attackin' you are ya?" the demon sounded almost worried.
"Well, if you lose a Katakirauwa… well, no one wants to recruit one anyway so it won't hurt," the shopkeeper stated without hesitation.
"C-come on…. I'm sorry for calling you a sucker, just stop talking about that okay?!" it was definitely worried and Shirou found himself releasing a sigh.
"You know what, I give up," he admitted, "killing you would make me feel bad… again."
"Oh, thank you ," the creature said in response, "you truly are kind, and merciful and a great master!"
Shirou felt his eye twitch at that way the demon said that.
It sounded far too sycophantic to be genuine.
"Stop it," he stated firmly, "you're just making me want to try it out anyway."
That shut the demon up.
Looking back at Hana, he found her staring blankly at him.
"Seriously?" she asked and he found himself frowning in confusion, "it admitted to calling you a sucker… and you still fall for its lies?"
"H-hoi!"
"I'm not falling for its lies," he stated without any hesitation, "I'd simply feel bad about killing something so pathetic."
"… I don't know if that's better or worse," the pig-like demon stated with uncertainty clear in its voice.
"Worse," Hana answered it without hesitation before turning back to him, "you sure you don't want to find out what happens to it when it dies? I mean, if its already lost one body then what's the problem with it losing another?"
"H-hey! Shut up lady!" the demon cried out before it started to splutter.
Looking at his food type demon, Shirou had to blink when he saw a familiar hunter sticking a knife into the back of its head.
"S-Sosuke-san? Why did you do that?" he found himself asking even as the pig fell to the floor and he felt the tether to his circuit pulling something back in before his prana started to drain slowly enough that he probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been paying so much attention to it.
"You seemed to be having trouble deciding what to do," he stated with a shrug before kneeling down to the Kata's corpse, "so what happened?"
He wondered how to phrase it but eventually settled on a vague description.
"I think I still have it… but it seems like it needs to recover," he admitted after a couple of seconds.
"Really?" the man sounded almost amused, "do you know what that means?"
He had to blink in confusion at that.
"You've got your own personal meat vendor," the man continued with a smirk.
Shirou honestly didn't know how to respond to that.
He wasn't too fond of the idea of summoning a demon just to eat it after all.
"Heh, remind me to give you a call if I ever feel like pork again," Hana spoke with amusement of her own and Shirou found himself sinking at the fact he was now being treated like a butcher.
"Yeah, he could make a killing selling pork bowls," the hunter said and Shirou found himself releasing a frustrated sigh.
"Look, I don't want to just summon a demon so I can eat it," he pointed out earning a snort off Sosuke.
"Shirou," Hana however sounded far more serious, causing him to turn his attention towards her, "I get it, you're not used to this, but you're going to have to learn to start taking advantage of whatever you can if you want to survive here… so don't dismiss the possibility of eating your Kata… keep the option open just in case you have no other choice."
He couldn't stop himself from looking away from her.
She was right after all.
This wasn't a world he was used to and as much as he might want to value whatever demons were under his command as more than just food, there was no guarantee a famine wouldn't hit and he would be forced to eat the pig and that wouldn't really be fair.
He blinked at that thought.
"Uh… hey, I have a question for you," he started to ask, causing the two who he was talking to, to look at him with raised eyebrows, "are Fomorians edible?"
"Yeah, though they can be a bit tough to chew," Hana told him after a few seconds of thought, "they don't have a bad flavour but they don't beat the Pork of a Katakirauwa… or the lean muscle of a Nue, or the sweetness of a Mamedanuki's scrotum."
Shirou found himself coughing violently at that last one.
"You okay?" she asked him and he found himself looking at her.
"Can't you just call it a Skin like everyone else?" Shirou found himself turning to face Sosuke as the man asked that single question.
"I have a feeling Shirou doesn't know what it is," Hana said with a smirk directed towards the other man.
"Oh come on, who doesn't know that's what a Mamedanuki Skin is?" the man claimed and Shirou decided to pipe in.
"I didn't," the mere fact that the man was treating it like it was a perfectly normal thing was probably the worst part of the whole situation… it wasn't like he hadn't heard of people cooking and eating such things before, but never in such a casual manner that denoted it as a daily occurrence.
The man looked at him with disbelief clear in his eyes but Shirou decided he would rather change the topic.
"But even so, I get the feeling I'd feel better about killing my Fomorian than I would my Katakirauwa," he stated without reservation, at least with the Fomorian, it wasn't constantly putting up a pathetic front to make itself look pitiable.
"As long as you're willing to put up with the toughness of it then that's your choice," Hana stated with a shrug before continuing, "now why don't you go and get something to eat and rest up, you look like you need it."
Releasing a sigh, Shirou found himself simply accepting that idea as he bade the two farewell and made his way to the Hunter Association.
He would just have to be careful to avoid anything with Mamedanuki in it.
XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX
Shirou wouldn't lie, the stinging was definitely an issue.
It was simply not dying down anywhere near fast enough and he was left with the serious question of how much damage he had caused from reinforcing his body.
And that is why, for the first time since he arrived in Tokyo, he was getting a medical check-up off a demon.
A beautiful woman with long blonde hair that fell far past her ankles, pointed ears and a long, dark blue one piece dress.
The demon of the Femme Race, Leanan Sidhe.
"So… what's wrong with him?" Sosuke asked as he watched his demon working.
"… it is… confusing," the demonic woman stated with a frown, "I have never seen anything like this."
Shirou found himself growing nervous as he waited for the results, with Hana and Takeda watching over despite his wish that they weren't there with them.
"Why?" Takeda asked with a frown of his own.
"His body… well, his soul at least, is reacting very strangely to the presence of MAG in it," the demon stated with a frown, "it is as if it is collecting it into a trio of channels designed to contain something else."
Shirou found himself growing concerned at that statement.
Was it possible that she meant his Magic Circuits?
If so, then could that mean that the reason his prana felt different to before be because there is something else mixed in with it?
"W-wait, don't human's produce MAG?" Hana asked with a frown of her own and Shirou found himself growing even more confused.
"Small quantities," the demonic lady responded with a frown, "however, not only is he not producing any himself, but he's drawing in relatively large quantities from the environment and focusing it into channels where it seems to mix with something else."
This was definitely a difficult situation for him to deal with, hopefully he'd be able to lie his way out of it.
"To put it bluntly… the stinging he is feeling, is MAG poisoning," the pointy eared woman finished off, "however… even then there is something that doesn't add up."
"What do you mean?" Takeda asked and the woman released a sigh.
"His MAG is mostly contained within those channels, it may leak slowly, but the damage should be contained to that area… but the MAG poisoning is affecting his entire body as if it came into contact with everything, but there is nothing I can find that would suggest how it happened," the Leanan Sidhe explained with her frown returning full force.
"But then… how did it happen?" Hana asked with a tinge of concern permeating her voice.
"… I think Emiya-san here already knows how," the demon stated and he found his eyes widening in shock as he found himself looking at her in surprise, "whenever I mentioned channels, he reacted with concern, but there was a distinct lack of confusion… meaning he already knows what they are."
Shirou found himself swallowing nervously at that.
Back when his father had started to teach him about magecraft, he had been warned to never reveal it to anyone because it always drew more trouble than it was worth.
And here he was, stuck in a situation where he was being ousted as a magus in a world where such a thing would probably attract even more danger to him.
"I thought he was hiding something," Sosuke spoke up with a wry smile, even as both Hana and Takeda gave small chuckles.
"You don't say," the sarcasm in the other hunters voice was so thick it could block an armour piercing bullet, "I never thought the guy that could summon demons without an app might have some stuff he isn't sharing with us."
Shirou found himself grimacing at that particular remark.
It wasn't really that hard to figure out when he thought about it.
"But anyway, Lea, is there anyone you can think of that might be able to help?" Sosuke asked and the demon shook its head in the negative.
"No, there may be someone capable of helping out there… but no one I am aware of," the demon stated with a bland tone.
"So he's destined to die of MAG poisoning?" that statement alone made Shirou frown.
"… I cannot say for certain," the demonic woman stated with her frown returning, "something about his body seems to be granting him some form of resistance… but I don't know enough to make a reliable conclusion."
That was definitely worrying.
If he was constantly having to deal with this poisoning every time he used reinforcement then that would naturally cause issues with holding his own against the demons out there.
But that wouldn't stop him from doing what he could to help people.
He clenched his fists in conviction as he rose from his seat.
"Thank you for that information Leanan Sidhe," he said before he prepared to avoid whatever questions were bound to come his way about his abilities.
"You are most welcome Emiya-san," the femme responded with a nod of satisfaction, "though if you are not averse to the possibility… I would like to ask for you to provide me with some MAG."
Shirou didn't know how to respond to that one.
"Doing so will help you recover from your poisoning," she claimed before continuing, "and feed me as well."
Shirou found himself easily identifying which was the more important part of that to the demon.
But he released a sigh before holding out his hand.
"Fine," and with little more than a couple of blinks of surprise, the female demon took a hold of his hand before he spoke those two words that helped him focus, "Trace On."
The Leanan Sidhe almost immediately jerked in surprise as he started to flow his prana into her hand, before her eyes widened and stared at their connected hands.
Pushing out as much as he could, he found himself forcing even the demons contained within his circuits into her being, discovering that the tether remained though the power was drained.
Upon emptying his reserves, he could feel little more than exhaustion claiming him, and to make matters even worse, it hadn't even helped in relieving the stinging in his muscles at all.
"That… was certainly a lot of MAG," the demon stated with a couple of raised eyebrows, "though you clearly pushed something else into me… hold still for a little while."
Shirou continued to hold on until he felt something that made his eyes widen in shock.
Prana.
The demonic lady was pushing his prana back into his body, however, this time it felt right… it felt the same as it did back when he used his nerves as circuits before he appeared in Tokyo.
And within a few seconds, he found his circuits full once again and the stinging in his muscles dying down.
"How did you do that?" he asked earning a smug expression from the demonic muse.
"I am a being of Magnetite, separating foreign substances and forcing them out of myself is nothing special," she proclaimed easily and Shirou found himself almost chuckling at her haughtiness.
"And why did you return that to me?" he decided to ask, wondering just why she didn't just release it into the air.
"Because whatever it is, your body is producing it instead of MAG," her answer was quick and to the point, "meaning it is natural to you… and likely to help you recover faster."
Shirou could definitely agree with her assessment.
"Now, as your medical advisor, I would recommend having your channels drained of MAG on a regular basis and your… whatever you call it, returned to you immediately afterwards," she stated firmly, "there is no guarantee as to whether that will help in the long run or not, but it is the best treatment I can offer you."
Shirou honestly found himself somewhat surprised at the fact she declared herself to be his medical advisor, but she was the closest thing he had to a Doctor in this world.
However, that didn't change the other issue he would have.
"So… Shirou," Hana spoke and he found himself wanting to leave, "you obviously know what this stuff is… are you willing to share?"
Her wording made it sound like she was expecting him to say no.
"Sorry, but it's not something I want to talk about," and she was right.
"Well, that's your choice," Takeda said and he found himself looking at the man with a frown, "guess it explains why you didn't want someone looking over you earlier either."
Shirou wasn't sure how to feel about that.
They weren't pressuring him into revealing what knew and despite everything, he found himself feeling like he should tell them… but Kiritsugu had told him to keep it a secret.
And he trusted his father.
"Look, if you want to keep it a secret, then we won't tell anyone about this," Hana said without hesitation, followed by the two men nodding in agreement, "just… if you ever change your mind about telling us, we'll be willing to listen."
And now Shirou felt himself feeling bad about not telling them.
Sure they were still practically strangers given how short an amount of time he'd known them for, but it was still hard to think of them as such given how… close, they were to him already.
"Sorry," he found himself simply apologizing again, before finding himself inwardly shivering at the unsettling laugh that came from the lips of his new 'medical advisor'.
"Hoh, I would suspect you were trying to come off as mysterious if everything about you didn't scream otherwise," Leanan Sidhe sounded amused as she said that, "it would make you quite the interesting lover."
Okay, now Shirou wanted out.
"You are not taking a lover," Sosuke stated firmly, "it never ends well for them."
"I merely said he would make an interesting one… but he is no artist," she replied without pause, "and I only take artists as my consorts."
Shirou didn't stop himself from releasing a sigh of relief at that statement.
"Well, my battery is running low now," the Hunter that summoned the woman finally said before a flash of blue lightning appeared around the blue dressed woman, prompting her disappearance, "I'm going to recharge my phone now."
That statement made Shirou frown before remembering that most Hunters used a phone to summon their demons.
At least he wouldn't have to worry about his demons vanishing in the middle of a fight due to running out of power.
"At least I don't have to worry about that," he responded out loud.
"Yeah, you're a lucky bastard with the whole 'you killed it, you bought it' deal you have going with your demons," Takeda said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Oh yeah… I'm so lucky I'm apparently slowly dying of poisoning from a substance I've never heard of before," he responded with the blandest tone he could manage, earning a bit of a grimace from the man, "anyway, I'm going to go and get something to eat… see you later."
And with that, he left the room and made his way back to the Hunter Association.
He wasn't going to let this poisoning stop him from helping people after all.
XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX
Getting missions from the Hunter Association wasn't something he was particularly used to, what with how he had only ever gotten one before and here he was, sitting with four options available to choose from.
They included, collecting some light bulbs for one of the rooms, make a delivery to Ikebukuro, kill some demons named Jack The Ripper or deliver 10 Mamedanuki 'Skins' to a restaurant… that last one made him shiver in disgust.
In the end, his decision was clear.
He had officially accepted the 'Slayer Quest' as they nicknamed it, with the simple goal of killing ten Jack the Rippers and collecting their heads to prove they had been dealt with.
He would probably feel worse about going on a killing spree if his targets weren't literally named after one of the most infamous Serial Killers in all of history.
Leaving the underground of Ueno, he found himself uncertain of what to do but steeled himself before calling forth Lham Dearg once more.
"I see you have chosen to bring me forth once more," this time Shirou found himself looking at the demonic Scotsman with worry at the tiredness of its tone, "now explain to me why we suddenly felt our Magnetite being ripped from us?"
He couldn't stop himself from grimacing at that.
He had just thought about himself and the fact he was apparently poisoned when he had passed his power over to Leanan Sidhe, never truly considering what it would mean for the demons in his circuits.
"Sorry," he said before the demon cut in.
"I did not ask you for apologies, I asked for an explanation," it said with narrowed eyes, "I am tired, and I am hungry, you would do well to fear me right now."
"I'm apparently suffering from something called MAG poisoning," he stated almost immediately, causing the demon to breathe in deep before letting it out slowly.
"And so you removed it to help yourself," it said and Shirou found himself nodding once even as he prepared himself to activate his circuits as he kept his hand near his sword.
Silence reigned as the demon kept its eyes closed before eventually opening them once more.
"Very well, I shall accept that reasoning," it claimed with a firm tone, "however, if you wish to remove the Magnetite from your body, be careful to not remove the MAG of your demons… it is liable to get you murdered."
He wasn't sure if doing that would hurt his long term health… but his short term issue was probably a little more important for just then so he found himself releasing a sigh as he found himself making an agreement.
"I'll try to avoid that next time," he said before feeling himself relax slightly upon seeing the Scottish Soldier releasing the tension in its form, "how is the Fomorian doing?"
From what he remembered, the Katakirauwa had been summoned arguing with something he called 'Mutton Bastard', so it was likely that all the demons he slayed ended up in the same place.
"It was doing well enough to become semi-docile," it told him before glaring at him, "until someone thought it would be a good idea to rip our MAG from us."
It was obvious it was a jab at him and he found himself averting his eyes with a grimace.
The sound of air being cut caused him to dodge to the side and grab the hilt of his sword, as the blade of the Scottish Swordsman stopped just short of where his head used to be.
"While it is good to see you can dodge off guard," the demon stated firmly, "averting your eyes is still a foolish action."
Shirou found himself gritting his teeth as he considered the fact that the blade wouldn't have actually hit him if he hadn't have dodged… but that didn't mean the demon hadn't really tried to kill him and stop upon realizing he had dodged.
All of a sudden, the one demon he had previously somewhat trusted had turned on him and he didn't know if he should trust the demonic warrior.
"Now, for what reason did you summon me," it asked and Shirou found himself unsure if he should trust it.
"Why should I trust you after that stunt you just pulled?" he asked it and it simply let out a satisfied grin.
"Correct question," it claimed and he found himself narrowing his eyes, "but if you truly didn't then you would've recalled me by now."
Shirou was definitely considering it.
"Who says I won't?" he asked and it simply smiled.
"Go right ahead," it told him without hesitation, "as long as you remain alive, you are useful to me… and given what the Fomorian told us, I think it's safe to say you know more about what is going on than you like to pretend you do."
He found himself freezing at that claim.
"After all, for a human to suddenly get 'stronger' after being hit is not normal at all," it continued, "and let us not forget the fact that you can summon us without training as if it is nothing special to you."
Yeah, it was pretty obvious when it was put that way.
"So I think it's safe to say that you are probably less likely to die than a normal human anyway," it claimed with an almost malicious smirk.
He found himself inwardly grimacing at that declaration.
The one good thing was that there was no-one within earshot.
"Now, what will you do?" it asked and he found himself wondering just what made the most sense.
It had attacked him when he had averted his eyes… but it had previously saved him from an attack when his guard was dropped… and beyond that, it was obvious it knew he wasn't normal now, meaning it probably expected him to dodge that attack.
So maybe it really did mean it as little more than a wake-up call.
Releasing a sigh, he decided what he would do.
"Fine," he acknowledged, "I need to kill ten 'Jack The Rippers' so I'll probably need your help."
"Is that so… then it might make sense to summon Fomorian as well," the swordsman told him and he stared at the demon blankly, causing it to release a sigh of its own, "if we are killing Jacks, then that means we can eat them… that will calm your Fomorian down."
He blinked at that before weighing the potential for it to go horribly wrong.
In the end, he made his decision.
With a flourish of his hand, a flash of lightning appeared, revealing the massive sheep-like demon he had previously defeated not that long ago.
"FOMOR HUNGRY!" it cried out immediately, "HUMAN FEED FOMOR!"
"I'll feed you Jack the Rippers as long as you don't eat the heads," he decided to try and barter with it before it attacked him.
"BUT HEAD BEST PART!" it cried out in anger.
"Then you can have any head we get after ten," he prepared himself to drag the demon back into his circuit, only for the monster to stall.
"… TEN HEADS FOR YOU?" it asked before Shirou found himself stalling slightly as he realized something.
"Actually… you might be able to get the heads anyway," he told it, "but I need to show them to someone before you eat them."
"TEN HEADS MINE?!" it sounded rather enthusiastic about that possibility and Shirou found himself nodding in acknowledgement.
"Yeah," he told it without hesitation, even if he failed to convince the client to let him keep the heads for his demon to eat, he could just try to hunt down more after.
"LET'S GO!" it cried out and Shirou noticed the nod from the Lham Dearg directed towards him.
Hopefully, this wouldn't prove to be a mistake.
Now, he just had to find Jack The Ripper.
He just hoped it was easier to find than the real one.
And that's all for today.
I don't have anything else to say right now so without further ado...
Shadow Out.