lol, you guys probably didn't expect an update so soon. You were probably like "Oh, Dal updated. What?! The chapter is only 4k words?! Oh well, I'll just wait for an entire year for the next chapter..." But ah hah! I'm not Warframe, I update on a regular basis!... Okay, that's a lie. I actually just felt like writing this one, so I did. Some of you will hate it, some won't, but oh well.

Also, I have to thank FireFox614 for his honest review. I thought I was going crazy because the last chapter was horrible, but it only got positive reviews. I wasn't able to redo the last chapter in the small amount of time I had, but this chapter might be better and more well thought out, so here you all go.


The wall of violet caught the blast, shielding the people and the town behind it. As the beam continued its course, the first barrier in front of the flower began to crack, causing Erza to panic for a moment. Then it shattered. The second barrier soon followed, and then the third. As cracks and fractures spread throughout the fourth layer, Erza raised her shields once more, bracing for impact, but the beam had stopped before the flower cracked.

The flower shined brightly before vanishing in front of everyone. People could be heard cheering from behind, thanking their hero.

"It's Emiya!"

"He's come back!"

"He saved us with cake magic!"

Erza turned around, catching sight of the one who had saved them. "Emiya!"

There, Shirou stood with his arm extended. His sleeve was torn up and his arm bloodied. His clothes blotched with Red and his breathing was heavy. Blood trickled from his arm as he lowered it to his side.

Erza ran over to Shirou's side. Concern filled Erza's eyes as she scanned Shirou's wounded body. "Emiya, what happened to you?" She asked.

Shirou looked up, meeting Erza's worried gaze. "Don't worry about me." Looking behind Erza, Shirou spotted the giant spider-like construct preparing for another blast. "That thing over there should be our focus."

Erza hesitantly agreed. Turning around, she requipped back into her standard armor. Preparing to attack the Phantom Lord castle, Erza was about to give the command. Then, flying out of the castle were countless shadows. Leaving trails of darkness in their wake, the creatures headed for the Fairy Tail Guild, their flight pattern completely random.

"What are those?" Shirou asked from behind.

"That's Jose's magic, Shade." Erza replied. "It allows him to create minions out of shadows to do his bidding."

"He's trying to stall us." Shirou spoke. "Buying time for the next blast."

Everyone grew silent over Shirou's words. Dreading the thought of another blast, everyone began to feel helpless.

"Let me at it."

Everyone turned back to the voice. Natsu Dragneel stood in the center of the group. "I only need fifteen minutes." He began. "Let me have a go! I'll destroy that thing!"

Erza nodded. "Go, Natsu!"

"Happy!" Natsu began running to the edge of the cliff.

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew, catching Natsu once he jumped.

"We're going too!" Yelled Gray. "Come on, Elfman!"

Elfman followed Gray as the he jumped off the cliff. Freezing the water, Gray made a bridge to the Castle.

Erza turned around, catching sight of Shirou stepping in closer. His arms outstretched, grasping something that had yet to exist. And then, blue light began crackling under his palms like electricity. The light grew brighter as it formed into the shape of a large recurve bow. In his other hand, the light became a large steel arrow.

'Requip?' Erza thought. 'He has magic like mine?'

Apparently others had the same thoughts as Erza. People could be heard questioning the nature of Shirou's magic.

Erza shook her head, clearing away the unimportant thoughts. Even if Shirou had become an interesting topic, there was a dire situation at hand. Looking back at Shirou, Erza couldn't help but feel concern for him. He was quite strong, but he was wounded and she didn't like the thought of a wounded man fighting her own battles. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Erza voiced her concern. "Emiya, I won't allow you to fight in your condition!"

Shirou shook his head. "It's not that bad. Don't worry about it, Erza." Side stepping Erza, Shirou walked over to the cliff's edge.

Nocking the arrow into his bow, Shirou surprised Erza with the volume of his voice. "Natsu!" Shirou shouted. "I'll provide cover for you!" Shirou turned his body. Spreading his legs and straightening his back, he drew the bowstring to its fullest before releasing it, causing the arrow to fly.

Expecting the arrow to fall short due to the range, Erza's expression changed to a surprised one as the arrow sped through the air, whistling as it pierced a shadow creature straight through the head. Shirou's skill with the bow as well as the feats it performed had caused Erza to reevaluate her opinion of him. He was definitely stronger than she thought. It was then Shirou performed his most outrageous feat.

He had made another arrow and shot it. And then another one, and another one. Not only was he making arrows, or pulling them from somewhere, but he was firing them at a pace faster than most archers could.

"No way!"

"That's too fast!"

"Go, Emiya!"

Erza turned back to the shadow creatures. Even as Shirou eliminated a vast amount of them, there were still many of them on the way. "Everybody, focus!" Erza shouted. "The battle isn't over yet!" One shadow creature had already made it only to be slashed into nothingness by Erza.

Everyone stopped their cheering, instead, preparing for battle.

Erza dashed over to Shirou's side, slashing at another creature that attempted to harm him. "Emiya, I'll be going too." Seeing Shirou nod, Erza continued. "Will you be alright here?"

"Don't worry, Erza." Shirou spoke. "I'll be fine."

Erza nodded, but she still seemed a little worried.

Noticing Erza's concern, a tan skinned woman dressed in a blue bikini top and brown cargo pants stepped in, standing at Shirou's side. "Go on, Erza." She spoke, gold shimmering cards in hand. "We've got him covered." A shadow creature flew in close, only to be blown up by one of the throwing cards.

"Thank you, Cana." Erza turned around, running to the edge of the cliff.

Phantom Lord has a lot to answer for.


Muscles around his body were torn. The bones on his arm fractured. Even with reinforcement, it hurt to draw his bow. His arm would make a cracking noise every time he let go of the string. Despite the many compliments he had received, he was extremely sluggish compared to how he would have been uninjured.

Shirou was beginning to feel tired. He had used up a little over a third of his prana projecting Rho Aias, not to mention what he fed it to increase its defenses. The fact that he was tracing and shooting an arrow every second and a half wasn't helping the strain on his circuits.

As Shirou pivoted his arm to pull the bowstring back, he heard a bone chilling crunch. Like breaking several sticks of celery at once, no, more like wood. But what was worse was the source of the noise, inside of his own body. He could feel objects protruding from his body, a few bone shards sticking out from his skin.

The horrible noise didn't go unnoticed by those around him. Cana had turned to Shirou with a look confusion on her face. She wasn't sure if she had imagined the noise, so she listened for it to happen once more. Once she heard it again, her gaze turned into a worried one. "Are you alright?" She asked. "What's that noise?"

"It's nothing." Shirou spoke. "Don't worry about it."

Cana nodded, silently wondering what was going on with him.

Shirou shot his last arrow. It pierced the shade creature under the hood and between the eyes, causing it to disintegrate. 'I'll have to conserve prana.' Shirou thought. He raised his left arm, the bow in his hand fading in motes of blue light. Reaching out with empty hands, Shirou grasped the imaginary hilts. "Trace..." Blue light crackled within his palms, forming the shape of two Chinese Falchions. "...On!"

Shirou felt a few gazes directed at him. Or rather, gazes directed at the married blades he held in his hands. Kanshou, a black falchion with a tortoise shell pattern and Bakuya, a white falchion with a cloudy wave pattern. The craftsmanship of the blades were too beautiful not to receive stares.

Taking up his unique stance, Shirou waited for the creatures to attack him. One came flying in from the left flank. In response, he rolled to the side, spinning around to slash the shade with the momentum he gained. The shadow creature faded into particles of darkness, dispersing like a shadow. Turning around, Shirou noticed another creature headed straight for him. It flew straight, attempting to speed through Shirou and sap his strength away. Shirou waited for the thing to get close, almost too close, before jumping over it. He spun in the air, slashing the creature's back with the momentum.

Shirou took note on the feeling these creatures gave off. It was like how he could sense prana, but this was something else. He had 'smelled' a specific scent on everyone he met here, one he had originally assumed to be prana, but now he knew it was different. The shades had a stronger, more concentrated scent. Despite that, everyone seemed to always be leaking a specific smell. It was stronger on some, and weaker on others. Erza was one of the stronger ones.

Shirou pushed himself out of his thoughts, deciding to investigate the phenomenon later as a shade came close. From behind, the creature attempted to fly through Shirou only for him to crouch underneath and stab it in the chest.

"Not too bad."

Shirou turned around. Cana, while defending herself, had caught a glimpse of Shirou from the corner of her eyes.

"It looks like Erza will have some competition." Cana complimented. "Then again, I know nothing about swords." Cana went back to fighting, trying her best to ignore the grinding noise from Shirou's body.

Shirou normally would have interacted with Cana in some way, but he was still in the middle of cutting down shadow creatures and couldn't spare the time.

Two more creatures came in, one behind the other, closing the distance on Shirou fast. He swung Bakuya at the first creature, as it faded, he held the falchion in place to bait the other creature. Though, it seemed that the shades were incapable of higher thought and didn't need to be baited. They would just charge straight at anyone in their sights. As the next shade came close, Shirou sliced a path through its distorted body with Kanshou.

"Agh!"

Shirou heard a pained shout coming from within the group of Fairy Tail Wizards. Immediately, he ran straight for the person who shouted. Swerving around individuals, Shirou found one of the middle aged men who he met several weeks ago. 'Wakaba' was his name. He was drinking with Macao when the two told Shirou where he could find a map. "Are you alright?" Shirou asked, crouching down an grabbing the man's arm. Shirou stood up, forcing him onto his legs.

"Be careful, they can drain you with a touch!" Wakaba shouted.

"That's right!" The loud voice from the castle spoke. "Phantom soldiers that will drain your life force with just a touch, that is shade!"

Shirou clicked his tongue. This was more troubling than he had originally thought.

"So you just don't touch 'em, right?" Al shouted from the middle of the group.

"This is where we can really shine!" Bisca stepped back to back with Al.

"Guns magic!" Al raised his arm in the air, emptying his hand cannon and replacing the empty canister with a special one. "Sunlight shot!" Al squeezed the trigger, causing the muzzle to light up. The hand cannon shot a ball of compressed light out at the army of shades. The ball exploded in a flurry of light, removing the cloaks from the shades and completely obliterating them with the bright light. "Bisca, now!"

"Of course!" Bisca held her arm above her head, a green magic circle glowed brightly over her open hand. "Requip!" A Thompson sub machine gun fell from the circle and into her open right hand. She had apparently summoned one for her left hand to as she was dual wielding.

'Requip? Erza's magic?' Shirou thought to himself. 'I guess that's a pretty common magic here.' Shirou shrugged. The shades all around bursting into nothingness as Bisca and Al shot them down.

'He damaged them with light...' Shirou thought.

After all of the creatures disappeared, everyone began cheering for Al and Bisca.

Shirou stopped, something was wrong with the situation. 'That feeling is still here...!' Shirou turned around, facing the tan skinned woman with a look of urgency. "Look out!" He reinforced his legs to their utmost and pushed off the ground, causing it to dip. Launching through the air at high speeds, Shirou made it to Cana, who flinched at his sudden aggression. He threw Kanshou over her shoulder, wasting no time watching the blade bury itself into the creature's head, Shirou turned and slashed at another shade with Bakuya.

"What was..." Cana muttered. It took a few moments for things to register, but when the shade creatures began appearing again, this time faster, she caught on. Turning, Cana tapped Shirou's arm with the back of her hand. "I owe you one." Turning back around, Cana came face to face with a shade. She tried stepping back, but she was too slow. At this rate, the thing was going to catch up to her.

And then, a Black falchion with a red hexagonal tortoise pattern cleaved through the creature's head. The blade came in from the side, turned in the air, and went flying back to a space behind Cana, back into Shirou's hand.

Cana sighed. She might have to buy Emiya Shirou a drink when all of this was over.


Erza ran through the long stone halls of the castle. The earthquake moments ago telling her that Natsu succeeded in destroying the Jupiter cannon. However, the fact that the castle had shifted once more and began moving for a while gave Erza a bad feeling.

Even so, she had an important task at hand. She could sense a strong magic power up ahead. Running through the hall, Erza spotted a large wooden door. Jumping into the air, she extended a leg and kicked the door down. The force of her kick was so strong, that the hinges were torn off and the two doors were blown away.

It was a grand hall. The stone walls at the sides held many pillars and doors in between. A narrow red carpet lay on the ground in front of Erza, extending up to the stairs ahead. Following the trail of magic power, Erza ran ahead.

As she narrowed in on the center of the room, Erza could feel something strange. The feeling of being stalked. Her every instinct screamed at her to move out of the way. Listening to the instincts that saved her time and time again, she jumped back, doing a flip in the air and landing on her feet in a crouched position. Her intuition was correct, and she was even more so to follow it.

In the center of the room where she once stood, she saw him. Aria, the one who sapped away Makarov's magic power, stood over a large crater in the room. His head was low and his large coat was flowing despite the lack of wind. "It matters not." Aria lifted his head, revealing a white blindfold, unable to contain the tears falling from underneath it. "The Queen of Fairies will fall today." Extending his arm, Aria opened his hand and pointed it at Erza. A purple magic circle formed at the open palm of his hand.

Erza's instincts once more told her to move, but it was too late. As she stepped back, a small, yet powerful and invisible carpet bomb sped over her. Erza raised her arms, blocking as much of the attack as she could. She still felt the blast. It was powerful, but Aria would have to do more than that if he wanted to defeat Erza.

Holding out her arm, Erza opened her hand. A golden light shimmered and the shape of her signature sword formed from it. Erza pushed off the ground, launching herself at Aria with her sword arm raised. As she got closer, she slashed down with the sword. Erza's eyes widened as Aria disappeared right before her eyes. 'He vanished?!' Erza stood still, staring at the spot Aria was at moments ago.

Then, without warning, Erza turned around and slashed at the presence behind her.

"Augh!" Aria screamed, holding a hand to his wound. "How did you know?"

Erza glared at the now wounded Aria, showing no sympathy for him, she raised her sword. "After what you did to the master, it is quite obvious that you are a gutless coward."

"Is that your opinion of me? How sorrowful." Aria's blindfold began streaming water. Then, he vanished again.

Erza looked left, then right, debating her next move. When she felt a gust of wind at her side, she dashed forward, spinning and slicing with her blade. Aria had managed to dodge the blade, but the wind pressure still affected him, pushing him back.

Aria extended his arm once more, opening his palm towards Erza.

Erza stepped back, her form taking on a golden glow. "Requip!" She shouted. The golden light appearing to reform the shape of her armor in an instant. Once the light dimmed, she could be seen wearing a new armor. Cheetah fur could be seen on the breastplate, left arm, and left knee, allowing one to guess what this armor was for. She wore purple leggings and purple sleeves the left sleeve on her arm and leg concealed with the cheetah fur. A brown belt held a light green flaud in place over her dark, tight shorts. In this armor, Erza stayed crouched, preparing to run.

As the loud sound of Aria's carpet bombs drew closer, Erza pounced, side stepping the attack entirely and running straight for Aria. Her speed was unrivaled in this armor, allowing her to move faster than Aria could track her. With her dual swords, Erza delivered a flurry of attacks at blinding speeds, each catching Aria off guard.

"Gah!" Aria grunted in pain as each precise attack delivered fatal blows.

Erza was once more surrounded by a golden light, her armor disappearing in a flash, replaced by a new one. Her Flight armor was replaced by a beautiful silver armor. It had two sets of wings made of strange shaped metallic feathers. Her breastplate was rather small, made of metal shapes overlapping each other with a flower in the center. She wore dark steel greeves with feathers and long gauntlets of the same color. At the top of her white dress were numerous shields layered side by side. With two long swords in hand, Erza extended her wings and blasted through the air.

Erza raised both of her swords, dashing at Aria and slashing at him as she passed. When Aria thought the attack was over, countless swords flew into him, increasing the number of attacks. "Blumenblatt!" Erza shouted, completing her attack.

Aria was thrown back by the many attacks, coughing as he hit the ground.

"Someone like you should have never been able to defeat the master." Said Erza. Turning away, she requipped back into her Heart Kreuz armor.

Hearing footsteps coming her way, Erza stiffened, but then relaxed after seeing who it was. "Gray! Everyone!" She shouted in recognition. Gray, Natsu, Elfman and Mirajane ran into the center of the room.

"Erza," Gray began. "You defeated Aria?"

Erza nodded.

"It looks like the element four is finished." Said Mirajane. "That means Abyss Break has stopped!"

Everyone began cheering. If they stopped Abyss Break, that meant they saved their guild and all of Magnolia.

"Everyone, focus!" Erza shouted. "Jose is still standing, the threat is at large."

Natsu slammed his fist into his open hand, causing flames to ignite over them. "Then let's kick his-"

"Attention all of you from Fairy Tail." A loud voice echoed through the halls. "Please listen carefully to this voice.

"What's this?" Asked Gray.

"That's Jose!" Shouted Elfman.

The Fairy Tail wizards were filled with rage, rage that only strengthened when they heard the screaming.

"That's Lucy's voice!" Cried Mirajane.

Once the screaming stopped, the voice of Jose spoke again. "We have accomplished one of our objectives, which means that we have only one goal, wipe all of you off the face of the earth, you worthless brats."

"Damn him!" Natsu growled.

"Natsu," Erza spoke. "Can you get Lucy?"

Nastu nodded, appearing to be conflicted. Turning, Natsu ran out the door and in the direction of where he could smell the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Everyone," Erza stepped forward, facing the direction ahead. "I'm going to fight Jose."

"Not without us, you aren't." Said Gray.

"You can't, it's too dangerous." Erza protested.

"Don't underestimate us, Erza!" Elfman shouted. "We can fight too!"

"He messed with all of us, not just you! I'm not going anywhere!" Gray added.

Erza sighed, then nodded. "Alright." Turning, Erza began walking. "Just be careful."

Gray smirked. "Who do you think we are?"


Cana had to hold Shirou back twice now. The first time was when Mirajane was getting crushed between the fingers of the giant mech castle, and the other being when he heard Lucy's cries of pain. She had assured him that the other members of Fairy Tail would do something about it, but that wasn't enough. She had to remind Shirou that Al and Bisca were running low on magic power and they would need him even more once they went out of commission.

Shirou had reluctantly agreed, going back to fighting the shade creatures. His face took up a grim expression, one that was wiped away immediately after he saw Elfman saving his sister, but returned after hearing Lucy.

Shirou, during this battle had been reminded of what Archer had taught him. 'Saving one means forsaking the other. If you choose to save one life, another will die.' Gritting his teeth, Shirou threw Kanshou and Bakuya.

The blades cleaved through numerous shades like they were butter before returning to him, earning him a thanks from the wizards he had saved. Turning away, Shirou cut through shade after shade, saving the same people from countless close encounters. Shirou wondered when this would end. If this was Jose's magic, then the battle would most likely end once he had been defeated.

But from what he was told, Jose was a powerful wizard whose strength could be compared to Makarov's. Shirou, at hearing of Makarov's condition had little faith in Fairy Tail. He analyzed the situation, weighing odds only to find that he didn't like them.

If they lost this battle, Phantom Lord would slaughter Shirou's friends without mercy. Fairy Tail didn't like to kill, but If worse came to worse, Shirou was prepared to unleash the strongest blades in his arsenal against Jose and his guild. Even if it meant risking death, Shirou would do everything he could to protect his friends.

Shirou dodged a shade attack from behind, swinging Kanshou at the creature in return for its aggression. Another shade in sight, Shirou dashed to it, cleaving through it with his famous 'X' slash with both blades.

After hours of endless onslaught, the shades began acting strangely. They all stood in place, not moving. This warranted several reactions from everybody. Some saw them as free targets, others saw it as something to be cautious of. Shirou belonged to the latter. Unmoving for fear of what they might do next, after all, no one had seen what they could really do.

Then, the creatures started flying. Flying away from everyone and into the sky, swirling in the air until they met each other like a vortex. They shades that met in the air began to clump together, forming a giant sphere of darkness. The thing looked like a growing black hole, ready to suck everyone into a vacuum of nothingness.

The orb grew to a size equal to the guild house in front of it. Two Red eyes gleamed through raven colored sphere. Six tentacles came out from the sides and grew until it became arms with large hands. The entire thing would have been comical in not for what happened next.

The giant jelly fish-like shade hovered over the wrecked Fairy Tail guild house. Two of the arms pulled back before flying into what remained of the guild house. It repeated this process while alternating arms. Surprisingly, the already damaged structure held up quite well.

Everyone had been shocked. Staring at the place they grew up in as it was currently being destroyed wasn't something that one could just get over. Everyone stared wide eyed, waiting for the shock to wear off, and when it did, they went ballistic.

Many had tried running over to the guild house in a naive attempt to shield it, only to be held back by fellow guild members. Cana was one of those people. She had tried charging in and Macao had to do his best to keep her from doing just that.

"Our guild!" She cried, thrashing around in Macao's grasp. "They're destroying our guild! Our home!..."

Shirou's heart sank at the sight of countless tears, streaking down the faces of once cheerful people. 'I simply wished for an outcome where no one would cry'. What Shirou Emiya saw right now was the exact opposite of the world he dreamt of. An insult to the ideal chased by no one. Their home was being destroyed, they were suffering, they were crying and there was no reason for it.

A flame ignited in Shirou's heart. 'Yes, that's it... a flame...' all he needed was something like that. A light that was bright enough to obliterate the darkness and warm enough to wipe away the tears. Shirou needed something like that.

His head lowered as he realized he could not be that light. Shirou Emiya was not one who could inspire hope to the suffering. He could not make people smile with his presence alone. But... He remembered. A Blue... a Royal Blue that always ignited hope in him, even in the most dire of situations. The Royal Blue and Gold that protected him wherever he went. That familiar Blue and Gold had told him time and time again, 'I will protect you no matter what, Master.'

'Saber...'

Shirou stepped forward, placing a hand over Cana's shoulder and somehow grabbing her attention despite the chaos. The young lady turned, looking at Shirou with a tear streaked face. "It's alright." Shirou spoke softly. "I need you to step back. I'll take care of everything." At his words, Cana stopped struggling, allowing Macao to relax and clear the way.

"Everyone!" Shirou shouted. His shout was not an angry one, it was a strong one, strong enough to gain everyone's attention. "Please clear the area!"

The Fairy Tail mages gave mixed reactions to Shirou's commands. Some obeyed, stepping away and standing at the sidelines. Others were reluctant and stayed in hope of protecting their home. However, once they saw Shirou's next move, everyone had listened.

Extending his right arm and bracing it with the left, Shirou opened his hand and grasped the hilt that had yet to exist. "Trace..." Shirou imagined it the best he could, the sword she used, the one he saw in his dreams. A blue light sparked within Shirou's hand.

Judging the concept of creation

Hypothesizing the basic structure

Duplicating the composition material

Imitating the skill of its making

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth

Reproducing the accumulated years

Excelling every manufacturing process

"...On!" The particles of blue danced into the shape of a long, medieval broadsword. It was the sword Shirou needed at this very moment. The gold and blue long sword of the strongest person Shirou knew, his hero, Arturia Pendragon.

The sword in Shirou's hand began glowing a warm golden color. It was the sight of this sword alone that reassured everyone and convinced them to step aside.

Shirou placed his left leg behind the right, turning his torso. He held the golden blade at his side, pointing it at the enormous shade in front of him. Particles of golden light danced around the area like fireflies in the night. The beautiful sword gleamed with the flame in Shirou's heart.

"Sword of Selection, grant me power! Cleave the wicked!"

The sword's golden light grew brighter as Shirou thrust it forward.

"CALIBURN!"

From the sword, a bright beam of golden light shot out. As the beam connected with the jellyfish shade, it seemed to disappear inside of it. But all was not as it seemed.

A single explosion of victorious light ate away one of the shade's arms, and then another, and another. The air around the shade crackled with Caliburn's light, causing explosion after explosion, creating a sight to rival even the most beautiful display of fireworks.

The Fairy Tail wizards had to look away, shielding their eyes from the light that shined like the sun. But Shirou kept his gaze, for the light had reminded him of his dearest friend. The light was warm and they found themselves no longer scared, even after it dimmed, they felt the same. The sword Shirou had used would protect them, that was what it told them when they had saw it.

Once the light faded completely, the shade was nowhere to be found. Some had expected it to grow back and even prepared for it, but Shirou wore a confident look on his face. He knew the creature was gone for good.

After waiting, it was safe the wizards to say the shade would never return. It had been eaten up by the Sword of Selection. After a few seconds, cheers had been shouted and cries could be heard.

Shirou looked down at the blade in his hand. A crack formed over the center and began to grow. Fractures and chips formed all over the sword until it faded away completely, leaving motes of blue lights in its wake. In the end, she had come to save him again. Even if he were worlds away, she would protect him, just like she always had. Shirou looked up at the prana from the blade as it floated into the sky.

"Thank you... Saber..."


Jose sat in his throne, watching and expecting his shades to consume Makarov's children. When he saw a red haired boy, who definitely didn't belong to Fairy Tail, step in and destroy his shade, he began seething. The light he saw was beautiful to most, but Jose saw something else. The light was disgusting to him, and when it appeared, he felt his connection with the creatures cease, which meant they were gone for good, unable to revive.

"Those brats..." Jose growled. "Just fall over and die!" Standing up, Jose stepped down the long stairs of his throne. If the foot soldiers of Fairy Tail had means to destroy his shades, then he would have to save them for later, when he could personally kill them.

A loud noise to the left caught Jose's attention. At the sight of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, he didn't even flinch. They were too weak to face him after all. "Looks like you've saved me the trouble of finding you." Jose taunted. "Who want's to die first?"

Not bothering to speak to the Phantom Lord guild master, Erza and the rest charged into battle.

Erza's swords began flying around her in a disc formation, avoiding the wings of her Heaven's Wheel armor. "Dance, my blades." The swords levitated over Erza's head and launched themselves at Jose.

The master of Phantom Lord extended his arm, an unseen force blasting away the swords. Then, from behind, he sensed a presence. It was Erza, who had moved to his backside when he was distracted. He side stepped to dodge the attack, but he unknowingly stepped into their trap.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted. His arms outstretched and hands gleaming with magic power.

Long, sharp lances of ice flew at Jose with blinding speed. Jose crossed his arms, tanking the lances with his magic power. The lances hadn't cleared, but what Jose heard nearly caused him to worry.

"Ice-Make: Hammer!" A large hammer made of ice floated over Jose's head. As the lances of ice stopped, the hammer fell and completely encased Jose in ice.

Elfman came running over. Jumping into the air, he raised his arm, preparing to launch his fist. "Beast Arm: Black Bull!" His right arm transformed into a muscular, black, furry arm of an animal. Launching his fist, Elfman shattered the ice and made contact with Jose on the inside.

Jose flinched, they were stronger than he had assumed him to be. He swiped the air in front of himself, red energy pulsed out of Jose's arm and shot into Elfman and Gray, knocking them back into the stone walls of the room.

From behind, Erza flew through Jose, slashing with her swords at light speed. Jose thrashed from the pain and prepared to launch a counter attack, only to be hit in the back with dozens of swords that followed up on Erza's attack. "Blumenblatt!"

"Enough!" Jose yelled. Raven colored energy flowed from his hands, growing to large sizes. The energy launched straight for Mirajane, wrapping itself around her and raising her in the air.

Mirajane began screaming in pain.

"Nee-Chan!" Elfman screamed, running over to save his sister. As he made it to Mira, he found himself entangled in the same purple energy. It caused agonizing pain at just a single touch. He tried struggling free, but that only increased the pain.

Gray stepped back, dodging one of the shade traps from Jose. Gray slid back, putting his hands together. "Ice-Make: Lance!" Extending his arms, he shot dozens of ice lances at Jose.

Jose clawed at the air, causing a pulse of energy to shatter Gray's ice. The force traveled until it made contact with Gray, pushing him into one of the dark entanglers and trapping him.

Erza sliced through Jose, the air pressure forming the shape of a star. "Pentagram Sword!"

Jose screamed in pain, grabbing at his core where Erza's sword connected. "You damned brat!" He lifted his arm to the side, opening his hand as some of the purple energy flowed into it like a vortex, forming an orb. Once the orb grew to a large enough size, he shot his hand forward at Erza, causing the orb to shoot out a powerful beam.

Erza's entire body began to glow a golden color. "Requip!" She shouted. Her Heaven's wheel armor changing into a dark, bulky and jagged armor with two shields attached to her forearms. Raising the shields and connecting them, Erza took the blast head on.

Her shield began to chip and crack, Jose's attack proved to be quite powerful. As the power grew lighter, Erza knew the shot was nearly over. She lifted her footing, allowing the blast to carry her. Once the shot faded completely, she lowered her shields and shifted in the air. Her feet touched the wall and the force brought her to a crouch.

While on the wall, Erza's body began glowing again, the shape of her Adamantine armor disappearing in the light. Erza's new armor had large black pauldrons with silver crosses, which could be found on her black metallic flauds as well. She had greaves and gauntlets of the same color, but the most surprising feature was the wings on her back. And on an unimportant side note, her hair was in a pony tail.

Erza pushed off the wall, launching herself at Jose. Her wings extended and her sword true, Erza rushed past the Phantom Lord guild master, leaving a cross shape slice pattern in her wake.

Jose screamed, falling to the floor while clutching his chest.

'That was too easy.' Erza thought to herself. 'Something's wrong.' And then, Jose's unconscious body had vanished.

Erza raised her guard, turning around and pointing her sword ahead. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her backside. The pain grew bigger in an instant as an unseen force knocked her into a shade trap. In the process, she had lost her sword to a pile of rubble.

Erza began struggling in the grasp of the shadow prison, but strangely, it started to tighten as well as increase the pain.

"Struggling only makes it worse." Jose taunted. walking closer to Erza, Jose stretched out his arms, generating magic circles. "It's a good thing I've caught all of you now. If I let you run around, Fairy Tail really would have become the strongest guild." Darkness oozed from the magic circles, Falling to the floor before rising into large skeletal beings.

"All of this talk about who's on top... how petty!" Erza growled.

Jose broke out in laughter. "Maybe it is petty." The creatures began clawing at the air in front of Erza. Looking closely, they appeared to be siphoning her magic power. "But I don't care about that. I just want your guild mates to fall into despair. After seeing the invincible Titania suffering in agony, they'll all lose hope!"

"Erza!" Gray shouted, struggling in his own captivity while ignoring the pain.

Mirajane and Elfman had begun to panic as well. Each of them wrestling with the shadows holding them in place. "Erza!" They both yelled.

Erza's sword began levitating. It turned in the air, facing her as it came closer. 'If I become a liability to the guild...' At her command, the sword continued its path, heading straight for Erza's back. And then she felt a warm feeling.

The pieces of her armor that had broken off during battle began to reform, connecting to her armor and melding in place. The shades around everyone disappeared and they all were lowered gently to the floor.

'What is this familiar warmth?' Erza saw the room brighten up with a white light. Turning around, she saw her master gliding down to the ground. "Master!"


Shirou stood still in the spot where he had vanquished the shade, fearing that if he moved, he would faint. He could hear shouts and screams coming from around him. They sounded cheerful, celebratory even.

"He did it!"

"We're saved!"

"Finally, I can rest!"

Even with the shade gone, Shirou could not find time to celebrate. Nor could he find time to rest. Erza and the others are still in Phantom Lord territory and Shirou could not help but worry. It seemed others felt the same way, as Cana and Macao had maintained their long faces from earlier. He turned around to look at the Phantom Lord structure when he began to feel nauseous.

Shirou felt strange. A warmth traveled from his esophagus and into his mouth. Falling to the ground, he placed a hand over his mouth. The color red slid onto his hand, between his fingers and onto the ground. Coughing, Shirou could feel many bones in his body stab into shredded muscles. His body was completely wrecked. In all honesty, he had long since past his limit when he received the damage from Rho Aias. Fighting with shredded muscles and broken bones wasn't an easy task, but performing a feat only meant for heroic spirits with a broken body had thrown him out of commission.

Several Fairy Tail wizards rushed to Shirou's side, Cana and Macao making it over before everyone else.

"Emiya!" Cana shouted.

Shirou coughed up at least a liter of blood. Holding a hand to his side, Shirou turned over and sat up. "I'm fine." He spoke with a weak voice.

"Like hell you are!" Cana tried to make Shirou lay down, but the boy protested, saying that he should sit up for now. "If I had known you were wounded, I wouldn't have let you fight along side us."

Shirou shook his head. "No, I wasn't wounded." Shirou said, his words causing confusion around him. "It was my shield... the one from earlier."

Macao's eyes widened. "Ah, you mean that pink flower!"

Shirou sighed, Rho Aias had been described in two words and it didn't do the beautiful shield any justice. "The damage it receives reflects onto my body."

"What a crappy shield, you might as well have just taken the damage directly if that's the case." Wakaba added, shrinking back when he received glares from his guild mates.

"Even so..." Cana muttered. She wanted to tell Shirou that he can refrain from such actions in the future, but honestly, she didn't know what they would have done without him. "Never mind... thanks, Emiya. I owe you a drink."

Shirou chuckled. "That's fine. During the battle, you had my back. If anything, I owe all of you."

Macao's face scrunched up. "Are you kidding me? You didn't even have to come in the first place, yet you did. You even sustained critical injury on our account. It's all of us who are in your debt." Macao sighed. "And you stopped the Jupiter cannon with that pretty flower." He added, causing Shirou to close his eyes and sigh.

"Even so, I was in your debt first." Shirou began. "I would be dead if I hadn't met Erza, I would be homeless without Master Makarov... And I would be hopeless without the rest of you." Shirou smiled brightly, his gratitude emanating from his person.

Wakaba raised a hand, rubbing his eye as he sniffled before receiving an elbow to the rib cage from Macao.

Shirou's eyes widened momentarily before falling back down. He had remembered something just now, something that he wanted to bring up earlier. "Also, I'm not old enough to drink."

Everyone stopped what they were doing for a few moments. No idle chatter, no cheering, no noise. Everyone stopped what they were doing just to stare at Shirou.

Cana raised an eyebrow. "What...?"

A large white, translucent dome of energy appeared around the giant mech castle, somehow causing the water around to go crazy. The waves then fell instantly with a blast of white. All of this chaos caught everyone's attention.

"What's going on in there?" Asked Al from his resting place.

Shirou began to sit up only to be forced back down by numerous hands.

"Where do you think you're going in that condition?" Cana asked.

"Erza and Natsu are still in there." Shirou replied. "Elfman, Mirajane, Lucy and Gray are in there too."

Cana sighed. To her, it only made sense that someone this altruistic would have came to save everyone. "There's nothing to worry about, Emiya. They're Fairy Tail wizards."

A blast of purple energy blew a part of the castle away and into the water. The purple explosion was followed by a stronger, bright white one. Shirou was captivated by the two magical energies, but not for the reasons everyone else were. Shirou could feel nothing but concern for his friends who were still in the structure.

Shirou turned to the right, he sensed a familiar power ahead.

"Emiya!"

Erza along with her friends, from over a hill, came running over with a concerned look on her face. "What happened?" she asked. She looked down and noticed the pool of blood Shirou sat in. Crouching, she checked his condition in closer detail. "Emiya, how did you get so wounded?"

"I'm fine, Erza." Shirou replied, thinking about how they must've heard him to conveniently show up just now.

From behind the armor clad female knight, Gray Fullbuster crossed his arms and scoffed. "Like hell you are, you're sitting in a cup of your own blood."

Erza continued her questioning, ignoring Gray's remark. "Emiya, you're more injured than anyone here. How did this happen?"

"It's not anything serious. I just used magic that was too strong for my body to handle." Shirou replied.

"Yeah!" A voice beamed from the back of the group, catching everyone's attention. "Emiya's a ma-! Ow! Nee-Chan!?"

Erza looked back to Shirou. "You didn't have to do that, Emiya. This wasn't even your battle in the first place."

Shirou shook his head. "It's fine, I wanted to help." Shirou coughed, causing small droplets of blood to fly out of his mouth.

Erza's face took a solemn expression. Shirou was injured badly on their account. She had even let him fight after seeing him get wounded. But despite the topic of Shirou's injuries, there was something else that had been bothering her. "Emiya..." Erza began, grabbing Shirou's focus. "How did you know that we were in danger?"

Shirou looked into Erza's eyes, recounting the events leading up until now. "Mystogan..."

Shirou's explanation elicited several loud gasps. Many had surprised looks on there faces as they contemplated the name he uttered.

"Mystogan?!" Gray questioned.

Shirou nodded. "When I had left Magnolia, I was following a lead." Shirou turned back to the giant stone mech, watching the blast of white and purple as he told his story. "I found a corrupt guild, they would harass and terrorize many of the citizens and get away with it, so I figured that I would pay them a visit to confront them."

Everyone listened carefully to the story after hearing the name of their fellow guild member. Erza herself had appeared to be a little more worried than the others. She had been wondering if Shirou would make confronting dark guilds on his own into a habit.

"Once I set foot inside, I saw him. A man dressed in dark clothing, his cloak held down by staves strapped to his back. He was fighting them, all on his own." Shirou shifted his position, the stone ground was not comfortable for prolonged use. "I jumped into the fray and questioned him as we both defended against attacks. During the fight, he told me about your situation. That he was Mystogan of Fairy Tail, fighting for the sake of his friends. After hearing about your situation, I came as fast as possible."

"So he was there..." Gray whispered.

"Yeah!" A deep voice shouted once more. "Mystogan's a ma-! Nee-Chan, why?!"

A bright light radiated from the Phantom Lord structure, catching everyone's attention only to force them to close their eyes once it became brighter. The light was warm and bright, it reminded Shirou of someone he had met before. "What's that?" Shirou asked.

Erza smiled. "That's Fairy Law, a light that destroys the darkness. It attacks anyone the caster sees as an enemy. The spell is regarded as a legend."

Shirou turned his gaze back to the light. "A legend, huh..."

Shirou shifted his position, pushing off the ground. As he stood, he felt dizzy and nauseous. 'Oh no...' His legs grew weak and he felt himself losing balance. Shirou felt a gust of wind as he started to fall. Then, he felt something grab his arm. Feeling a pressure under his arm, Shirou turned to his side. "Thanks, Erza." He spoke, standing and watching the light as the female knight supported him.

Erza nodded, a positive 'mm' sound escaping her closed mouth. She threw her other arm around Shirou's side, allowing for more support as she held him up. The two of them watched as the light of Fairy Law slowly faded.


'Juvia will win Gray-Sama over with her cooking! It will definitely work! Juvia spent three days and three nights making this lunch box!' Juvia snuck around the corner, catching glimpses at Gray whenever she could.

He was sitting at a table, resting with the pink haired Dragon Slayer. The two were bickering over something, perhaps they were fighting over Juvia?! No, Gray would emerge victorious if that were the case.

Juvia sped over to a piece of rubble, using it as cover as she grew closer to Gray. 'Once Gray-Sama isn't looking, Juvia will place her lunchbox on the table.' Juvia stood at the ready, waiting for the perfect moment.

Now! Both Gray and Natsu were distracted by something up ahead, this was the perfect opportunity. Juvia pushed off the ground with her legs, making her way to the table she -! Recoiled, running back to her hiding spot.

Someone else entered the scene. A red haired boy carrying plates of food walked over to Gray's table, placing the meals in front of the Dragon Slayer and Ice Mage. Juvia lowered her lunchbox, a solemn expression taking over her once hopeful face. 'Someone is already cooking for Gray-Sama?! Not to mention a man around his age...' Juvia pondered for a few moments before gasping quietly. 'Gray-Sama... Is into men?!'

Juvia sped off, crying rivers of tears that somehow equated to more than the mass of her body. "Gray-Sama!"


"Gray-Sama!"

"Huh?!" Both Gray and Natsu stood from their seats, eyeing the direction of the voice.

"Someone's calling you, Gray." Said Natsu.

Gray shook his head. "Not a chance, I'm on break. There's no way anyone's calling for me."

A scowl formed on Natsu's face. "Are you trying to say that I'm crazy?!" Jumping forward, Natsu raised his fist towards Gray.

"Maybe I am!" Gray shouted, clashing heads with the Dragon Slayer.

From behind the table, Shirou sighed, wishing that the two would get along. Hearing footsteps over the gravel behind, Shirou turned around to greet the newcomer. He saw Erza Scarlet coming his way. Oddly enough, instead of armor, she was wearing a brown suit with white gloves and a construction hat.

"Don't worry about it, Emiya." Erza spoke. "It's how they bond."

"Erza. What brings you here?" Shirou asked.

Erza removed her hat, brushing her hair down with a gloved hand. "I'm on break." Placing the hat back on her head, Erza shifted her gaze back to Gray and Natsu. Out of nowhere, swords appeared over Erza's head and flew at Gray and Natsu, sending the two flying away.

Shirou wished he were like that. Able to take a slash from a sword like it were a blunt weapon. He still didn't know how Erza was able to cause blunt force trauma with the sharp edge of a sword and he wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to find out.

Shaking his head, Shirou turned back to Erza. Looking at it now, there was something strange about her outfit. It reminded him of something.

"Is something on your mind?" Erza asked, seeming to find his gaze on her outfit.

"Ah, no. I'm sorry If I was staring." Shirou raised his hands in a defensive stance. "It's just that... your outfit reminds me of my school uniform." Shirou grew silent. He had let the words slip right out of his mouth. He definitely had to be careful about what he said around the female knight. After all, he couldn't just shrug off all of the suspicions with 'It's how things are back home'. So, Shirou waited for a response with an anxious feeling.

Erza merely nodded. "It's only natural to be homesick, Emiya." She said with her eyes closed. "But until you find a way back, you can count Fairy Tail as your second home."

The two smiled at each other before awkwardly taking note of the guild house's current state.

"Well, when construction is finished." Erza added.

Shirou nodded. "Can I get you anything?" Shirou asked.

"If it's not too much trouble..." Erza's gaze fell onto his bandaged forearms.

"It's fine." Shirou said. "My injuries have mostly healed, I can serve you without a problem."

Erza nodded, but didn't say anything more. She had been worrying about Shirou's wounds throughout the entire week and Shirou seemed to notice it. In fact, everyone seemed to notice it. But it was not only Erza who worried, everyone had been constantly bothering Shirou about how he should rest and that he didn't owe them anything. Shirou would always correct them, reassuring them that he was fine and his wounds had been healing rather fast.

Erza herself had found it strange that several fractures all over Shirou's skeleton had been healing twice as fast as they should be. She couldn't question Shirou about it, because he had admitted to not knowing what it was either. Shirou Emiya was a strange person, Erza could tell that there was something more to him. There was just something that screamed 'I'm a piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit anywhere.' whenever she looked at him.

"A strawberry cake, then."

Erza was brought back to reality by Shirou's voice. She had to replay it in her head to find out what he had said. "Yes, please." She nodded.

Shirou walked off, ready to prepare 'lunch' for his friend.


"Do you need help with that?"

Makarov turned around, following the voice back to its owner. "Oh, Emiya!" He smiled from above one of the beams. Shrinking back to normal size, Makarov looked up at the figure of Emiya Shirou. "I couldn't possibly ask for your help, you've done enough for us already."

Shirou shook his head. "Nonsense. Friends help each other out, that's the way things work." Shirou walked over to the wooden beam, seeming to ignore the wide eyed stare he received from Makarov. Walking over to the beam, Shirou touched it and donned a focused look. "So, I'm guessing the problem is the wood? There are several fractures throughout the beam. It won't hold up if you continue hammering other pieces of wood into it."

Makarov nodded. "I was having trouble with that. How did you know the problem?" He asked.

Shirou turned around, facing Makarov. "I have a magic that lets me see the structure of things like a blueprint."

"That's quite a useful magic!" Makarov said. "That aside, I guess we shouldn't be recycling the materials from the old guild house. We were trying to save money, but if we have to buy new materials, we can."

Shirou raised a hand to his chin. "Maybe you don't have to... Let me try something." Turning back to the wood, Shirou placed his hand on it again. Closing his eyes and focusing.

Makarov could hear Shirou muttering something, like an aria of some sort.

"Trace... on."

Shirou removed his hand and turned back around. "Try it now." Stepping aside, Shirou made room for Makarov.

Makarov nodded and stepped closer to the beam. Channeling his magic, his body inflated to the size of a twenty foot giant. Lifting his hand, Makarov softly bashed the nail through the piece of wood and was surprised when it didn't break. Seeing as it was now structurally sound, Makarov began applying heavier force, causing the nail to connect the two beams together.

Makarov shrunk back to his normal size, a surprised look on his face. "That's some impressive magic, Emiya."

Shirou nodded. "It's useful." Walking over to a pile of wood, Shirou knelt down. "Is this the scrap pile?" He asked.

"Yes." Makarov replied. "That's the material we couldn't use."

Shirou brushed his fingers against a piece of the scrapped material. "If you gather all of the broken wood here, I can reinforce them so that you can reuse them."

Makarov took up a defensive expression. "Are you sure? What about your magic power, won't you get tired?"

Shirou shook his head. "No. I'll need to space it out over a few days, but I can handle it."

Makarov raised a hand, scratching the back of his head. "Alright then. I sent Laki home earlier, so it'll be a big help. Thank you, Emiya."

"No problem." Shirou said, turning his attention back to the scrap pile.


Erza had finished walking Lucy back to her home with Natsu and Gray and she had been feeling tired herself. Taking a deep breath, Erza exhaled and made her way to Fairy Hills, Fairy Tail's female dormitory building, or, as she knew it, the place she lived at. Along the way, Erza had decided to visit the construction sight of the new guild house. It was night time already, so one could imagine her surprise when she found Shirou there, sitting on one of the thick wooden beams that lay side ways on the ground and looking at the starry night sky.

Erza had halted her pace when she spotted him, but when the surprise wore off, she continued. As she got close, Shirou turned to face her. "Emiya, what are you doing here?"

Shirou turned back to the sky. "I was out helping the guild master with construction."

At those words, Erza stiffened and Shirou appeared to have noticed.

"Don't worry, it wasn't anything strenuous." Shirou said, hoping to relieve the female knight. "Anyway. I was fixing some of the scrap wood so that you guys could use them. I was here for a while and it started to get dark. I was going to leave, but... I saw the sky and I decided to stay."

Erza was confused. For what reason would the sky make him stay out past eight? She shook her head, figuring that Shirou was just a star gazer. "Emiya... about this week..." Erza walked around the wooden beam, positioning herself in front of Shirou. She lowered her head and bent forward into a bow. "Thank you, Emiya. You fought on our account and you were even injured doing so. I was worried about leaving my friends behind as I fought Phantom Lord, but you had come to protect them in my stead."

"I don't want to hear that." Shirou said softly. "I'm the one who insisted on fighting. I would have been there no matter what, Erza."

Erza stayed low for a few seconds, pondering Shirou's words. Standing to full height, Erza looked Shirou in the eyes. "Even so, I'm in your debt."

Shirou shook his head for the fiftieth time today. "I was in yours first."

Erza's expression contorted into confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Shirou broke his gaze with Erza, favoring the sight of the stars above. "When you first found me last month, I was injured. I used up all of my magic power and I couldn't find any of my friends around. Then, there you came, extending a helping hand after we had just met."

"Emiya..."

Shirou looked back at Erza. "I was still lost though. So when you brought me to Fairy Tail, it had soon become a place I could call home, even if just for a while."

Erza sighed. "Still, if there's something I can do for you."

Shirou pondered for a moment, probably thinking of how he can get Erza to change her mind. "Alright, if you want to do something, you can sit down over here." Shirou patted the area next to himself on the wooden beam.

"That's it?" Erza questioned.

Shirou nodded.

Erza walked over to the side, holding her skirt down as she took a seat next to Shirou. "Emiya, I don't mind sitting with you, but I must ask why?"

"It's nice to look at the sky at night, but it gets lonely." Said Shirou. "When I was a kid, I would sit out on the porch at night and watch the sky with my old man."

Erza turned from the stars. Hearing a story coming up, she looked at the narrator.

"We would talk for hours." He began. "I remember one time we had stayed up talking until the sun came up. We had to correct our sleep schedules over the week after that."

Erza, not knowing what to say looked up to the stars. The two of them stayed staring in silence for hours. After a while, Erza felt her eyes grow heavy. The exhaustion of her last battle taking over.

Erza could not predict the future. If she could, she would have definitely avoided a repeat of her previous mistake.


lol, guess what happens next. Just kidding, don't. You'll spoil the surprise.

Anyway, don't call me a weeb for using Japanese terms. I thought about it for a while and I came to the realization that nothing really works in place of them. So, characters like Wendy and Elfman will still be using Honorifics and specific terms. But regardless, there won't be any weebish stuff in this story.

That being said, I want to thank the people who answered the Shirou/Gaia questions... I received mixed answers, both showing merit, so I'll just leave it ambiguous in this story like how Nasu did in the VN.

Some had been saying that Rho Aias won't hold up against the JC, but I disagree. Rho Aias is stronger against projectiles, and Archer even fed it prana to strengthen it, which Shirou in this story also does.

I won't write it in the story, but Shirou used the first line of his UBW aria to strengthen his projection of Rho Aias. No one heard him though.

I wanted to say more things, but I forgot because I'm dumb. So I'll get right to addressing those reviews. On a side note, I was surprised to see that my previous chapter earned me 43 reviews. I actually hold more value over reviews than I do favorites or follows... I'm weird.

Hold on, I just want to ask... Can I get banned for writing responses to reviews in script form? If so, I don't want to be playing with fire and I'll have to address the reviews in a sophisticated and boring way.


revetwrot said: I wonder how far along we are from seeing Unlimited Blade Works. I also want to see Erza's face once she sees it.

Dal: ... Pretty far along...


StoryReiter said: Projectile Defense MOFO. Well, even if Fairy Tail could be as brutal as it is in the background which you'll probably focus on more than canon does from time to time, Emiya would have an easier time being a Hero of Justice here than on Earth with Secrecy/Decaying Magecraft although some might say the extra rules and specific law enforcement for magic might make it harder. Fate's Poster Boy of a Swiss Magic Knife and Cook shows up. Looking forward to more, most crossover for the two are lying dormant so Im happy that this is a thing, thank you.

Dal: Yeah, a lot of stories lie dormant, I hope this one doesn't... Also, you're welcome.

Thoughts though, does Shirou have a counterpart in Edolas? Probably not but I thought it would be interesting even if its still far away. Some characters in Fairy Tail exceed even those of Servants in parameters and power, Shirou has his work and survival cut out for him. Oh, well, he made it through the HGW. Should I jinx it? Nah, he's doing a fine job already eh, author?

Dal: Honestly, I think how far some of the stronger FT characters would go in the spectrum of servant power is debatable. I personally think some of the power houses would be at the level of weaker servants than the stronger ones. Now, some of the final bosses in the FT manga, I would think that they could match up to a strong servant in terms of power. But other than them, I just can't see it.

Also, yes. Our boy, Shirou is doing phenomenal.


Archleone said: I don't particularly like "prequel chapters". They seem pointless. It's like when bad writers do a time skip, then immediately write a flashback. What was the point of skipping ahead? It's stupid, awkward, and inefficient.

Dal: I guess, but I just wanted people to know where Shirou went. But I actually postponed it and planned to release it in pair with another chapter, you know, for those who don't like prequel chapters.

That said, I agree that the impact of Shirou's little hero moment at the end would have been better if the chapter were longer. Like if there was more to the chapter between his resigning from his job and the attack on the Guild. This could be filled with more Erza doing things and/or reflecting on Shirou more. It could also be filled with Shirou doing things, but then you run into the problem of his being too present for there to be a significant impact at the end.

Dal: I knew I forgot something! Dang...

Then again, it's meant to be impactful for the characters more than anything so it hardly matters if the readers feel the impact since it was kind of predictable to begin with and wouldn't have had much impact on the reader. I doubt anyone was surprised that Shirou appeared at the last moment, or that he used Rho Aias. It's a fairly typical thing for Shirou to do in fan fiction, though not a bad thing really.

Dal: Yeah.

I half want to see Shirou use Caliburn at some point (or as a go-to weapon even) just for that scene with Erza at the shop to go somewhere. Ultimately, I'm reading this story for interactions between Erza and Shirou. Maybe even Erza/Shirou as a pairing. Shirou being a bad ass would also be nice, but what I'm getting at is that I don't really care about what arcs you're doing from canon or otherwise specifically so long as the focus is on Erza, Shirou, or Erza and Shirou both. Quality is also important- how well you write the scenes.

Dal: Wait for it... Wait, Erza didn't see it... What is wrong with me?!

Getting worried about upsetting someone because you're using some canon events is pointless because some of them are relatively unavoidable without changing a lot. The thing you want to avoid is forcing canon events despite changes, which is what a lot of lazier writers do. For example, some specific event that would lead to a certain villain getting involved might be circumvented entirely, but then the villain gets involved anyway through a bunch of really nonsensical and contrived events just so that the arcs relating to them can still happen or continue. This happens a lot. It's awful because it's just plain bad writing. It doesn't really matter what fandom it is, because it's present in basically all of them.

Dal: Man, that was ruthless. I honestly didn't expect this from you... Anyway, something similar will happen later, but not necessarily a circumvention and then involvement later on. Some villians will either appear sooner, change, suffer and become more evil. Some villians will be made and others will be made up. (Forgive me for using OCs it's really necessary as it's hard working with this cast.)

Using canon events in a way that makes sense and putting a believable twist on them involving the new character or changes or whatever is otherwise fine. Shirou is a bad ass that can make a lot of situations simpler (i.e. make winning a lot easier), but he isn't omnipresent and can't be around to do everything for everyone. In that sense, many of the canon events (several/most of which involve Natsu) could still go forward relatively unimpeded while the focus on Shirou (and maybe Erza) can include new elements on the side/as the focus for the actual story you are writing. Natsu's stuff can be semi-background for Shirou's stuff, and cross over when it's interesting or sensible for it to happen, like right in this chapter where Shirou shows up when the Guild is being attacked and protects Erza from a heavy attack.

Dal: yea.

Of course, this is just my view on things. As I said, my primary desire in this story is to see Shirou be cool and get involved with Erza on multiple levels. I'm not even particularly invested in the idea of Shirou going off on his own hunting/investigating Dark Guilds because that keeps him away from Erza if she's not going with him. What you have in mind could be very different to what I'd like to see.

Dal: To anyone reading this. This man is a true Ershi shipper. Follow his example.

Anyway, good luck with the next chapter.


alexkellar (A.K.A. the guy who was the sole cause for the existence of this story.) said: haha actually was entertaining, of course, a little more detail in some scenes extending a little more, it would have helped, but it was a good chapter.

Dal: Yeah, I just got into writing recently so it's hard to do those things. I'll get better as I go and the chapters will be longer. And then when I do the revised version of this story I'll fix a lot of the mistakes and flaws.

although I think the cannon should break at least one of the Rho Aias petals, I mean, that could eliminate the entire guild of Fairy Tail and surrounding places with its strength, right? Anyway, good chapter, I look forward to the next!

Dal: Oh, it did... I also look forward to what happens next.


UzumakiSora said: Yeah! It's back! Even if it was short I can't wait for more!

Dal: Thanks, bro.


AmethystPone said: 'Warrioress' isn't a word.
'Warrior' is already a gender neutral word.
Same with 'Hunter'.
'Huntress' is only a word because 'huntsman' exist. All due to the nobles wanting to sound sophisticate when they wax poetry...

Dal: I already explained this in a PM, but I'll do it again for those who thought the same thing.

I know it's not a word, but it's a reference to the FT OST called "Scarlet Haired Warrioress". Even if it's not a word, it sounds cool, right?... I'm a bad writer...


C. said: more please and sooooooon! :)

Dal: Wow... I have fans!


Mr. Nava said: Hey Dal, after reading your response to AmethystPone's review, I started thinking of Shirou's strength. For a basis I started thinking of Prisma Illya universe's Shirou (since he's arguably the strongest iteration of the existence known as Shirou Emiya). P.I.(Prisma Illya) Shirou took down 5 demi-servants in the same night (demi or not, a servant is a servant). I'm guessing this is UBW route Shirou (based on what I've read so far), will your Shirou ever reach the strength that P.I. Shirou has? I'm asking since pretty much only the strongest fighters in the Fairy Tail universe could match up to a servant or a noble phantasm.

Dal: No. P.I. Shirou was buffed by the author of the manga. As it stands, this Shirou is unable to reach that level by the rules of the Nasuverse. Don't worry, though. I have something special planned for him.


I'm a Nobody. Who Are You said: This chapter works fine as a transition between the two sections.
Now I just wanna know where our boy was all this time.
Is the shield going to last or is our boy taking the hit?

Thank you for writing. Interested in seeing what you have planned.

Dal: Our boy won't be able to explain until the next chapter. Hopefully I can release them in pairs. Also, thanks. I'm also interested in seeing what I have planned.


I would respond to more reviews, but I'm afraid that would take up too much of the screen and word count. It's simply a matter of how far I can push it before I get banned.

Anyway, thanks for reading, this chapter was 9k words or something, but the AN made it seem longer.

Remember to open your loot boxes and eat four meals a day.

-Dal