* I do not own anything. All characters and creations are property of the Type-Moon company. *
* M for adult themes *
An Eternal King for the Throne of Heroes
By Try Another Time
After having seen all the girls, Eero started to go to the kitchen to get something to eat. When he got there, he looked for food storage and upon opening it found a kind of corridor that stretched for who knows how long. In it he saw great variety ingredients well organized and for some reason they all felt very fresh.
"Did you think of everything or am I wrong?" Eero asked mentally.
"We told you there were no half-jobs. This food storage room is the closest thing you'll have to stop time for something. All food or ingredient in it are frozen in time for its use. Only food or ingredients are allowed, nothing about try to save someone's life using this place." Aria replied.
Eero said nothing. He wasn't going to contradict a goddess who practically created a complete home for him. So, he took what he needed and started to prepare something to eat. He was hungry, though not at a level of gluttony or Artoria's appetite. Sometimes he thought she was pregnant. That thought gave him a question.
"Can I have children? If I can are they going to be what I am now?" Asked Eero curious.
"You can, we wouldn't deny that right to you or your ladies. Not even the servants if they wish to have they own. But all your children will be mortal with just a combination of your abilities. This is something status is yours, of your loves and servants not a gift that can be passed from generation to generation. Only an eternal can conceive with another eternal, so a mortal cannot get pregnant by an eternal nor eternal can become pregnant with a mortal child. " Explained Asmodeux.
"Eternal this is how I describe myself now?" Eero asked as he continued to eat.
"It's what you are. There is no disease, but there is pain. All of you will stop aging at a certain time, but that depends on each one. For example, if an eternal servant is already an adult it will not age any more. But if is a young person it may grow more until its body decides to stop doing it." Explained A.S.
"All of you thought about everything. But why are we not alive or dead? " Eero asked.
"Your bodies are different. They are more resistant, and they walk between the spiritual world and that of mortals. Your eternal servants have copies of the original soul that is on the throne of heroes. Normally each servant is a copy containing a small essence of the original soul that vanishes when they are eliminated or lose all their mana." Said Asmodeux
"Your servants, girlfriends and you cannot be recorded on the throne of heroes if you are eliminated because your souls are tied to us. If any of you is destroyed by a noble phantasm like the one of Gilgamesh or similar your souls will be sent to the afterlife to be judged." Aria said.
"Ok. What about the girls? Can they have servants like me?" Eero asked.
"Any eternal bride can have eternal servants too, but it's harder depending on what they were before they became eternal brides, Servants or mortals." A.S. answered.
"What about Mashu? She is my eternal bride and was just a pseudo servant." Eero asked as he finished eating and was about to clean up the mess.
"Her case is unique because she was already mortal before being a servant. She will keep the servant's abilities that she has but as soon as she wakes up he will be released and will disappear like any other servant. I have to imagine that he has waited long enough for his freedom." Aria said.
"Then Galahad will disappear. It's a pity because he was a great ally in the entire war against the Goetia." Eero said.
"Who knows. Remember that you would invoke servants in a different way. You do not do it using the grail or the throne of heroes but through me, so normal limitations do not apply unless I stop you. You will understand it better when Kiritsugu introduces Avalon inside you." A.S. said.
"About the timelines. What happens with my bodies in the three timelines." Eero said.
"They are hollow bodies with only a little of your essence. The same goes for Mashu, Nero, Tamano and Altera in their own timelines. When you enter Shirou's timeline you replace that body transforming it into a younger Eero according to your age. Since you are the Shirou of that timeline and that body is only a copy following the events that occur until your arrival. The same will happen with the other two lines, but once you move from one line to the other and nobody will replace you. You disappear until you return to that timeline. " Explained Asmodeux.
"Miyu's timeline does not apply to this, right?" Eero asked as he prepared to return to his training.
"Yes, that timeline is intact, and Julian may take a while before he appears on your path. Miyu's brother made his wish come true, now what happens with that timeline depends on you and Miyu." Aria said.
Eero reflected on what he had learned from this conversation. There were other things he needed to know, but that would take time. Now he had to worry about mastering Caliburn like the other weapons. But with whom would he train now.
"Hey A.S. with whom will I trained now since I will not see you in person again? "Eero asked.
"Ah for that, prepare something for you which will help you even more. You still must use your latent elements inside of you, plus your attire is just in its basic form. You must awaken its active form. Your infinite marble of war is incomplete until Kiritsugu teaches you about firearms. Finally, you have not reached your noble phantasm with Bahamut. That will be another thing you must learn to use. " Explained A.S. before a large red glass pillar appeared in front of Eero.
"What is this?" Eero asked before touching it.
At that moment from the pillar came out several copies of him made of glass. The copies had different crystal weapons before beginning to attack him at the same time.
"This is your new lesson. Mastering Caliburn will be your first objective. The second will be that you reach those elements in your interior, they are indispensable and do not come separately. The third will be that your attire takes its active form, you will quickly realize how to do it. Finally, your noble phantasm with Bahamut must be activated. Your training starts now." A.S. said.
Eero dodged the attacks of his copies, but realized that they moved as fast as he and their strength were at the same level as A.S. That god knew how tested him. Eero began attacking the copy that was shooting arrows which when it saw him approaching gave him a roundhouse kick in the face sending him flying away.
"Defense is the key and not believing in everything you see at the time. A fragile flower can be your downfall." A.S. said.
Eero prepared continue to dodge as the copy with the big ax tried to attack him while he was in the air. It would be a long practice for what he saw.
Two months later the young aspiring king had master Caliburn, and he had learned that these copies were unbreakable while not let him escape from practice. If he wanted to sleep or eat, he should learn his lessons as he should.
He set out to concentrate on how to reach those elements that A.S. talked about. Deep inside his soul two entities waited for their owner to reach what was growing inside of him. His connection with the one who created everything was based on them.
5 more months pass and Eero felt that he was closer to those elements. The crystal copies only became stronger with him, keeping him in a state of constant effort. It was truly a process of constant growth and development. For each given step everything became more difficult. While dodging an attack of a copy that used a spear he heard very low voices in his mind, but they were not A.S. and the others.
"When will he realize we're here?" Said a female voice.
"I do not know. But he has been concentrating a lot on reaching us." Said a male voice.
Eero focused on those voices even more until they were more audible.
"Even when he is our creator he has taken some time to notice us." said the female voice.
"We cannot force his power to wake up. He must train to reach it. You forget that it took years to make infinite marble come true." Said the male voice.
Eero thought he was going crazy, but he had to try. The copies were stopped under the orders of A.S. It was time for the aspiring king to understand a little more about what he was.
"Excuse me could you tell me who and what are you?" Eero asked mentally. The voices fell silent for a few moments before speaking.
"He finally realized we're here." The female voice said.
"I was sure it would happen one of these days." said the male voice.
"So, you can tell me if I'm going crazy or even better, you can explain to me what you two are." Eero said a little annoyed.
"Calm down is just that we are happy that you finally realized that we are here. I am what you would call light." Said the male voice.
"I am the darkness. We are the personification of the elements that bind you to A.S. We are part of your power." Said the female voice.
"Wait why hell there are two voices in my mind claiming to be my elements." Eero said.
"Simple is for us to regulate the power that A.S. can give you in necessary situations. You possess both darkness and light, because you are an avatar of the power of A.S. Remember that you walk a path between the two without letting yourself be consumed by any." Light said.
"Both can be bad or good. Everything that exists has its evil as its good. We are not bad or good, everything depends on you and your decisions." Said Darkness.
"But how come I have both?" Eero asked.
"A.S. made you use a little bit of his soul to combine the three original souls. That little flame is what helped you to exist and is what marks you as an avatar of its power. We are your own darkness and light that was born within you during your creation. If you were to need more power, we are what would ask A.S. for more power." Said Light.
"We are not your advisors because we only exist to handle that power. Therefore, you will only listen to us in times of great danger. So, this is goodbye for now. You already know that we exist now, you only have to make that power appear in the real world." Said darkness.
With that his mind was silent once again. Eero remained thinking about what he learned. He let Caliburn floating and sat on the white grass before beginning to concentrate on using those elements. With a serene mind he let his mana flow into his hands letting it take shape.
Slowly in his hands flames that combined light and dark were appearing. For an hour Eero concentrated on expanding those flames through his body to see if he controlled it. They did not burn him, and it felt cozy as a part of itself.
With this as a principle the young king began to see how to combine the weapons and the two elements. For the next 2 months he looks for new ways to use these elements.
Infusing the weapons with these flames was just the beginning. Then it came to mold them to pleasure; from throwing the flames in the form of projectiles to using them as a protective barrier surrounding his body. Everything was fine in how to handle this power until he remembered that he had to activate his attire.
He thought that it was only some clothes that was granted by A.S. but it seems it had some use.
"Well, what can I do to activate you?" Eero wondered as he blocked a Warhammer from one of the clones with Bahamut. The young aspiring king thought about what could be activation.
"Blood?" he said before cutting off a finger and dropping a drop of blood on his sleeve. Nothing happened.
"Mana?" He said before letting his mana flow to the outfit, but nothing happened.
"Maybe" He said before causing the darkness and light to flow into the attire. This caused something to happen. A scarf of black and white flames formed around his neck. Black crystalline gauntlets formed in his hands. They were like Artoria's, but his fingers looked like claws. The coat of the attire grew longer and seemed to be made of flames. Then a white crystalline plate formed on his chest giving him more protection in that area. "He was not kidding about the attire."
His new additions did not feel heavy, so he decided to try them. The would-be king let one of the copies hit him in the chest with his ax. He hopes to receive great damage in that part, but he only felt pain. No bone felt broken, so Eero decided to try his new gauntlets by hitting the copy. The impact sent it flying and broke the glass it was made of just a bit.
"It seems you like what your outfit is capable off." A.S. said.
"It feels good. It is light and resistant. I'll have to practice with it to make sure it will not stop me from moving as I want to." Eero said.
"Well, it will not be possible now. The time has come. You took some time, but you made a lot of progress." A.S. said.
A red light surrounded Eero before absorbing him and taking him to another place.
It was time to change the course of the story on the Shirou Emiya's timeline.