"Far beyond the razor-edge of your blade – There lies a prayer that will surpass – A dream I know will last throughout time"

Fate/Brave Shine

Chapter 9: Peirasmos

Shirō's cheek hit the mat again. Hard. He wasn't improving as fast as he wanted to, and that made him reckless. Careless. He would overreach, extend himself beyond his own limits, and leave himself open for a counter-attack. 'Patience' wasn't his strong suit, and neither was ensuring his own safety.

They'd argued over that very subject for days. He thought that it didn't matter what happened to him so long as he could protect someone else. He was perfectly willing to put his own life on the line without a second thought because that was who he was. Who he wanted to be.

Having been down that road before, she didn't want that for him. Unlike her, who even in life could regenerate from extremely serious wounds without Avalon and could fight long after she should've been out of breath, Shirō had more limits which wouldn't allow him to live the kind of life he wanted to for very long.

She wanted him to be stronger. To be able to protect himself. To be willing to protect himself. She wanted him to realize that if he couldn't protect himself, he wouldn't be able to protect anyone who truly needed him. That was a hard lesson to learn, and it had cost her entirely too much to learn it. She didn't want him to learn it the same way he did.

Through her eyes, she watched Shirō struggle to get back to his feet at a slow crawl. His arms and legs shook and his breathing was labored. Sweat clung to his body and soaked his clothes. Yet, his eyes showed no sign of surrender. He wanted to prove himself to her. Prove that he was able to fight by her side.

It wasn't imaginable, really. He was still human. Though his projections were clearly advanced far beyond what he should've been capable of, his body was human. His mind was human. He couldn't think at superhuman speeds and, even if he could, his body couldn't react quickly enough to make those thoughts useful in battle against a Servant.

Yet he stood once more, defiantly so, in protest of her disallowing him from fighting. They'd been at it for hours now and he'd been beaten down to the mat dozens of times. Bruises already formed on his skin and there was a small amount of blood at the corner of his mouth. Yet, he stood and spoke the order once more.

"Again."

It was only because of how far away they were that Ilya wasn't blinded by the massive ray of golden light. She'd seen it once before, but it hadn't been anything like this. This was brighter. Stronger.

The light illuminated the night sky for several moments before it dissipated into nothingness, and every moment both her and Berserker were squarely focused on that light. A Servant with that amount of power at their disposal would be a grave threat to just about anyone, but it wasn't caused by a Servant.

It was caused by Shirō. It not only looked entirely similar to what she had seen before, but also felt the same, and she wasn't the only one who could tell. Berserker's muscles rippled under his skin, trembling in what could only be described as excitement. He, too, could tell that this is what they'd seen before.

The light also told them that Shirō wasn't dead. To do something like that, he had to be very much alive.

As the light emanating from Shirō dimmed, something amazing came into Arturia's vision. Shirō was standing tall, fully outfitted in Arcurant's armor form. Yet, Arcurant's blade form was also in his right hand. Though the golden light was no longer rocketing into the sky, it was still released from him in powerful waves accompanied by an intense amount of air pressure.

However, his eyes were glazed over. He wasn't conscious. Not really. Despite this, he still held the attention of everyone present. The fighting had stopped completely, the participants choosing instead to stare at Shirō.

Shirō took a small step forward and disappeared in a burst of speed unlike anything Arturia had previously seen before, only six traces of light guiding her eyes to where Shirō ended up. Then, it was over, and both armor and sword disappeared before Shirō fell flat once more as the phantom-servants faded into the night, clearly unable to fight after whatever Shirō had just done to them.

Nothing she had just seen made any sense to her and made even less sense to Lancer, who was standing just a few feet away from her, and Rider, who was still lurking away from where the battle had just taken place was frozen in place, once again completely stunned into disbelief after witnessing such an event take place. Neither Arturia nor Lancer could offer an explanation as to what happened when Archer and a distraught Rin showed back up.

"What was that?" Morgan seethed, checking over the damage that had been done to her phantom-servants. Damage that wasn't being repaired. Damage that seemed to be very much permanent. Visibly, they seemed to be unharmed. Underneath the armor and flesh, however, the cores of her phantom-servants seemed to be irrevocably damaged. What's more is they were slow to respond to her commands and moved in strange, jerky motions.

Conveniently, Medea had been able to summon Agravain back just before that boy did.. whatever this was, so he wasn't any worse for wear aside from the small amount of damage he had taken from the fight itself.

"I don't know. I didn't know he was capable of.. that. He's supposed to be human, isn't he?" Medea asked.

Morgan grit her teeth. No human is capable of something like that. The sheer output he displayed put him on the same level as any of the real Servants, and the speed.. It was due to that speed she wasn't able to recall her phantom-servants in time. She'd completely lost track of his movements. They'd have to spend their time doing what they could to mend the damage to the existing phantom-servants rather than summoning another.

She cursed under her breath. It was still too early to use Vortigern, but without the other three, it would be risky to send out the others after seeing what that boy is capable of, especially now that the other Servants seem to be helping him. Worst of all, she'd all but gone and given away where she was.

"For now, we work on fixing the damage done. Once Agravain heals, we'll send him back out to scout. If necessary he can be used as a sacrifice to buy us time." Morgan said, refocusing her efforts, completely unaware that every word she spoke watered the seeds of doubt within Medea's mind about her.

'Just a bit longer. We'll be reunited soon, my son.' Thought Morgan, paying no attention to anything else around her.

Shirō woke up in a bed entirely too soft to be his own to the sound of voices arguing. Though his sore body protested when he slowly got up, it was his mind that got the biggest shock when he realized where he was.

Rin's bedroom.

Without a shirt.

Now, he knew that nothing had happened between him and Rin. He was committed to Arturia. Though in his past lives Rin had been important to him as well, he'd never do something like that to Arturia. The one exception had been the tantric rituals to supply Arturia with Mana.

His cheeks reddened at the memories. Though they had been necessary, he couldn't honestly say that they weren't.. enjoyable. But that couldn't have been what happened here. His connection to Arturia was perfect and she could get all the Mana she needed without needing.. that. So why was he here?

Suddenly, a flood of memories of the previous night's battle came back to him. The phantom-servants, fighting Agravain, Lancer showing up, and then..

Shirō looked down to his chest and saw no evidence of an arrow previously being there. There wasn't even a scar. Yet, he could still remember that cold feeling of the arrow piercing his heart. Had Avalon saved him again?

The arguing outside the door got louder as he approached it, but halted suddenly when he opened the door. Arturia was there in front of the door with Excalibur on display, standing across from Archer who had his twin swords in his hands with Rin in between the two.

He could see it. How the moment the door opened Archer's entire body tensed up. Archer wanted to kill him right there. The way he was feeling, he wasn't sure he would be much help if Archer did try, but he also knew that Arturia would never let that happen.

"I said stop it, Archer! Emiya isn't-" Rin started before being cut off by Archer.

"You don't have any more Command Seals to order me around with, Rin. Thanks to your foolish decision to go back, you're no longer a proper Master." He said, glaring at Shirō.

That surprised Shirō. By this point, Rin normally had two Command Seals. What had she used her last one on?

Before Rin could retort, Shirō projected the very same blades Archer held in his hands. It was a bluff, but it was all he could to do diffuse the situation. "If you think I'm just going to let you kill me, you're out of your mind, Archer."

Archer grit his teeth. Whatever this Shirō was capable of, he didn't know. He was much more competent than he should have been and that strange light they had seen had him questioning whether or not now was the best time to strike. Rin no longer had any hold over him, but Saber was still at her best.

"Hn. Whatever. I'm out of here." He said, going to a nearby open window and jumping out.

Shirō breathed a sigh of relief, loosening his grip on the blades in his hand before banishing the projections. However, he realized that now it was Rin whose eyes were fixated on him. He knew that there would be a very.. tense conversation to have, but a question of his own was at the forefront of his mind.

"Where's my shirt?"

A small part of him found it funny to watch Rin's face turn more and more red as the question lingered.

"That friend of yours really is something. I don't know exactly where that power of his comes from, but I have my doubts that he's even a normal human. Just after I was summoned, my previous Master ordered me to kill that kid for being a witness to my fight with that girl and her Servant. One of those other things ended up getting to him before I could. Cut almost all the way through his spinal cord." Lancer stated, resting against a tree in a secluded thicket of woods. "That should have killed him, but it didn't. Same goes for the arrow he took protecting that girl."

Shinji had a hard time coming to terms with the newfound knowledge he had of Emiya Shirō and the latest display he had seen from a distance and heard of from Lancer's retelling was even more difficult to take in. Sure, Emiya had always been a bit different from normal people, but that didn't explain anything he'd seen.

"How strong would you estimate him to be? I don't have any way to gauge his strength compared to a normal Magus." Shinji asked. Lancer laughed.

"A normal Magus? Kid, he would be able to deal with any normal Servant in the same way an adult could win a fight against a child. I haven't even seen half of what he must be capable of, but the speed he moved at? That energy he just casually let off? That sword and armor of his? No. Comparing him to a Magus would be like comparing a match to the sun. The kid is a monster and while I'm always up for a fair fight, I'd really prefer not to learn what else he might be capable of, especially if that Servant of his is also involved."

Lancer's answer rocked Shinji to his core. He had been assuming that Emiya was just an extremely talented Magus. But if what Lancer was saying was true, he had been lucky that Emiya didn't come after him once his control over Rider was severed. He hadn't decided whether or not he would attempt to fight him again, but it was becoming clear to him that it wasn't even a real option. He was so far and beyond what he ever thought possible for Emiya Shirō. Then, a thought came to him.

"You said that those.. what, phantom-servants? You said they weren't very powerful on their own. Why didn't he just use.. whatever that was when the fight started?"

Lancer shrugged. "I don't know. Apparently their power acts like a kind of mirror, so whatever level you fight on, they'll match it. It was kind of like fighting myself in a way, but whatever he did to them got them to leave real quick. Maybe he was waiting for something, or maybe he didn't want to reveal what he was capable of."

Apparently the matter of his missing shirt had been too embarrassing for Rin to tell, so it was Arturia who recounted what had happened to his shirt, despite Rin's attempts at protesting. The last thing Rin had seen was a Mana arrow sticking out of his chest, so upon returning she had run to him and torn open his shirt to put pressure on the wound. Only, there was no wound to explain the blood that had soaked through his shirt.

Which is what brought about many of her questions that he was unable to answer.

"I don't really remember what happened. One minute I was fighting and the next I woke up here. Actually, why am I here?" Shirō asked. Again, clearly realizing what implications might have been made, Rin's face reddened.

"Y-you're just here because it was closer than your place and we don't know if those things are going to be looking for you after.. whatever it was happened. Your Servant won't say anything even though she was there."

Shirō turned his head towards Arturia, who sat next to him, and they shared a look. A look that told him she expected a better explanation after they had some privacy. Unfortunately for them both, he wasn't hiding much from Rin in his answers. All he could really remember was being in that cold, dark place and calling out to Arcurant. He turned back to Rin, questions of his own on his mind.

"What happened to Lancer?"

Rin shrugged. "He took off not too long after we got back. Said his job was done, whatever that job was. I don't believe for a second that he's really on our side. It's bad enough we still don't know who his Master is."

Shirō knew who Lancer's Master was. At this point in the war, anyways. However, he couldn't tell her without putting her at risk. Too many things related to that fake priest had come close to killing every person he cared about in one life or another. Arturia. Rin. Sakura. Taiga. Even Shinji. He'd always found a way to hurt him through hurting others. That wouldn't be the case this time around. Retribution from the Mage's Association or not, he wouldn't allow that man to hurt anyone else ever again.

"What do you plan to do now, Rin?" Arturia asked, breaking the short silence that had fallen upon the room.

Shirō's eyes widened realizing Rin was no longer Archer's Master and that she was at greater risk than ever. Without Archer protecting her, Kirei Kotomine had any number of things he could do to hurt Rin. She no longer had any 'worth' as a Master, but that man always found ways to make people.. useful to him and his motives.

Rin's expression changed to a downcast one. "I don't know. I might not be a proper Master, but without my Mana Archer won't last very long, so I guess it depends on whether or not Archer comes back before he runs out of Mana."

It killed Shirō not to say anything. He knew that Archer could last for days without Rin, and that he might even go to Caster, which would complicate matters far and beyond what they already were. If Caster truly was working with Morgan, Archer would become another enemy they would have to face, only if that were the case it would only be him and Arturia fighting. That meant he didn't have to hold back, but that also meant he couldn't hold back. He knew full well just how strong Unlimited Blade Works was. That alone would cause problems for Arturia since he was the only one he knew that had a chance to win. Even that man was rendered powerless when inside the reality marble.

"If he does not return, do you plan on taking refuge at the Church?" Arturia asked carefully. In response, Rin let out a laugh.

"No. I don't really have the stomach to put up with Kirei for longer than necessary. Besides, it's not like I can't protect myself."

Shirō frowned slightly. It was true that Rin was a capable Magus, able to fend off Caster pretty reliably, but in the times she faced off against Kirei, she'd always ended up nearly dying, only surviving because the fake priest knew killing her was a waste of potential things he could use her for.

"Either way, I plan on figuring out what is happening at that temple. As a Magus I can't just overlook everything that has been happening. From the records of the previous wars, nothing about this war is normal." Rin said, much to Shirō's displeasure. She'd be safer if she stopped being involved. Especially after last night. The phantom-servants would consider her a combatant from now on.

Shirō knew her, though. Once she decided to do something, saying it was difficult to talk her out of it would be an understatement. He looked to Arturia and they shared another look before he spoke again. "Well, I still want to help, but without Archer it's going to be nearly impossible to get to the temple if those.. things keep stopping us. This time we were lucky that Lancer was there to help since without him things would have gone differently in a bad way. We'll need to find someone to help us."

Rin rolled her eyes. "Who are you going to ask for help? Do you even know anyone who can?"

"Maybe. Give me some time." Shirō said, the slightest of grins on his face. He did, in fact, know who could help. He was sure that Arturia knew exactly what he was thinking. In fact, he could imagine her predicting this in the first place. After all, he did tell her everything about his meeting with Ilya, and they both already knew her fairly well even if she didn't know them yet. With her and Berserker as close allies, they'd definitely all be safer. That man would also need to go through Berserker, Arturia, and him to get to Ilya if she were with them, and Shirō already knew how to win. He knew he could win. That was enough.

"Hey. How did you survive, anyways?" Rin asked, surprising Shirō. He thought quickly to what might be a good answer since even he didn't know what it was that kept him alive and breathing.

So, he shrugged "I'm not too sure. I remember when I was eleven I ended up breaking my arm and that the doctor said I was healing in record time. Same goes for any other injury I've ended up getting. I guess I just have some kind of strong healing factor." He said. It wasn't a complete lie. As far as he knew, Avalon had been healing him ever since it had been implanted by Kiritsugu.

But, he found it strange. Though his body was sore, he didn't feel any bit of weakness. In fact, he felt quite a bit stronger than he felt he should have after taking an arrow to the heart. That definitely wasn't the result of Avalon.

She knew who she was, now. The Grail had finally given back her memories. Most of them, anyhow. However, she was still not entirely corporeal and information still flooded her mind, the newest of which was a stream of bright golden light that illuminated the sky. Shirō Emiya was the source of this. She'd seen it before. However, the attack seemed to be rather impotent. No lasting damage had been done to that giant Berserker, and though the things he seemed to be fighting were gone after the attack, not one of them had been injured by her eyes.

Shirō seemed to be capable in a fight against Assassin, but it was obvious to her that Assassin was simply playing with him. In a real fight, no human stood a chance against a Servant. They were better in nearly every way, though she herself had a much more important role to play much like in life.

She also differed from the others because, as the Grail had shown her, she was going to be required to have a 'host'. She could not exist in corporeal form without one, nor could she do the duties assigned to her by the Grail. She'd seen who her future host to be was. The Grail had chosen well enough that she could easily be mistaken as a close relative and like her, she was one who took her faith seriously and believed strongly that all should live life as honest and decent people.

However, there were other matters to consider besides her host. The Grail had imparted upon her the knowledge that the war itself had become highly unorthodox and several outside factors were tainting the whole ordeal. The supposed 'overseer' wasn't chosen by the Grail or any governing body for the task that she soon would be relieving him of and those things kept interfering where they weren't welcome. They were among several other issues that plagued the war for the grail, and it would be her job to investigate and set things right so that the war for the grail could be conducted properly and a wish be made.

Merlin was confused. That mysterious guest of his had knowledge of Shirō that he didn't, and that included his source of power. Initially, he figured it came from having Avalon sealed within him for the majority of his life, but now.. Now, he wasn't so sure.

Arcurant was made by materializing a piece of Shirō's soul. It was more or less his own power in concentrated form. Or, that was what it was supposed to be. He had assumed that it would become something similar to Excalibur, but the similarities were few and far between. They both generated an immense amount of heat, light, and power, but to the naked eye it would seem Excalibur did more damage after an attack.

However, he knew better. Whatever Arcurant was doing, it was doing something. One of the things he learned early in life was an attack you couldn't see was usually the one that did the most damage.

The few short moments he had direct contact with Shirō's soul, he could tell that he was no ordinary human. His assumption was that was just a result of his tampering, but like everything else he was having second thoughts about that, too. Both of his guests were obviously powerful, and their interest in Shirō only raised more questions where little answers could be found.

After rethinking things and casting away his assumptions, he mapped out Shirō's progress and found that even in his past, or rather pasts, there were always sudden spikes where he overcame his previous limits by incredibly wide margins, often starting near or around the start of the Grail War.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that what often came with the result of someone surpassing their own limits, things like a personality shift or a change in the source of one's power, were completely absent. The best example was his Unlimited Blade Works. Though one of his future selves, or rather, all of his future selves had been the ones to demonstrate this ability first, they were still him. He was simply accessing his own latent ability when using Unlimited Blade Works himself.

That trend continued through every path of time he followed. Shirō never once appeared to use power that wasn't initially his. Rather, he seemed to be completely incapable of such. He was incompatible with just about everything. Each time he needed to be stronger, to be better than he was before, he simply accessed more of his own latent ability.

Was that what was happening now? His guest had alluded to such, if not outright stated it in a cryptic manner. Was he just able to access more of his own power? If so, just what was he? Where did his power come from? The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became.

Under his robes, the pendant around his neck vibrated slightly and started to warm the skin beneath it. Merlin had an idea of who to go to for answers, but there was no guarantee that his most treasured possession, the Galator, would work. He'd used it far too recently. It would be at least another week before he could use it again to get the answers he sought.

Agravain could tell she was there long before she stopped masking her presence. He'd be a poor assassin if he couldn't tell when he was the one being watched. She clearly had something on her mind. She wasn't like Morgan. She actually had redeeming qualities such as thinking things through before acting rashly and being cautious when it was called for.

"Is there something you needed, Medea?"

He watched her eyes widen slightly in surprise before stepping into the dimly lit room calmly and slowly. She took another moment before speaking. "Do you remember anything from the time you were under Morgan's thrall? Do you remember fighting that boy?"

"I remember everything. Willingly or not. Why?"

Medea walked closer to Agravain, where he was shackled to the wall by his wrists and ankles. Morgan's decision, obviously. Only those restraints and a wall of bars stood between them. Yet, she had the feeling even if he weren't restrained or imprisoned, she wouldn't be the one he would be after. "I need your opinion of the boy. I need to know how strong you think he is."

Agravain let out a humorless chuckle. "Is this you asking, or is this your partner?" She didn't hesitate to answer.

"Me."

The room fell silent as Agravain took a moment to think about what and how much to tell her. Moreover, he was curious as to why she was asking in the first place. "The boy, as you two call him, is strong. He could keep up with me better than any human should be able to. If he wasn't holding back, I'd say that not even my own abilities would do much good in a fight against him."

"You think of him that highly?"

He shook his head. "No. I only know what my instincts tell me, and they tell me that if it were just me and him, I'd be at his mercy. He's something else. Something other than what he appears to be. You'd know that if you ever left this temple."

Silence overtook the room once more for several achingly long seconds before Agravain had a thought. "You do know that, don't you? You met with him, using your magic. That's why you're worried."

"He was.. interesting. Interesting and fast. Fast enough that even I could tell he was holding back. I want to know why."

"Having second thoughts about your partnership?"

Medea chose to speak plainly. "Even if I were, it wouldn't matter. Even that attack of his didn't deter Le Fay. She says there's only three more summons to go after we get the others repaired. Once the other three are summoned, we're going to make our final attack. No amount of allies will be able to help that boy and your King. Not when she releases the restraints on Vortigern."

"Other three?" Agravain questioned.

"Palamedes, Lancelot, and Mordred."

Agravain cursed under his breath. "That witch. Using her comrades against her. And them.."

Medea stiffened at the word 'witch', but as it wasn't being used to label her, she was more forgiving. "You make it sound like these three are especially important. Who are they?"

"Palamedes was one of the strongest Knights of the Round Table and was part of the reason Pellinore decided to join, but the impact he'll have is nothing compared to the other two. Lancelot.. He was a victim of fate. Before that, he was one of my King's most trusted and considered the strongest of us. If it weren't for him, Camelot would've been much less than what it was."

"And Mordred?"

Agravain sighed deeply, remembering the child. One of his greatest failures was not figuring out who Mordred was until it was too late. "Mordred was a victim of bad parenting. That woman's doing more than anything. A strong Knight in every regard but just not headstrong enough to overcome her brainwashing."

"I see. I suppose I have nothing to worry about, then. If your King is unable to fight, there's no reason to worry about her or the boy." Medea stated.

Agravain shook his head once more. "Even if that were true, the moment she summons Mordred, your partnership will be at its end. She'll kill you. Maybe use that man of yours to do it. She's only interested in revenge. That's all she's been interested in for a very, very long time."

Medea, who was in the process of walking away, came to a halt when he mentioned Sōichirō. The one person she cared about. The only person who cared about her.

"It's not too late to leave before that happens. She's so caught up in her revenge against my King that she won't bother looking for you." Agravain stated.

For the first time. Medea truly considered it. She couldn't risk Morgan harming her beloved. Yet.. "No. Even if that were the case, I still need to make a wish upon the Grail if I'm to stay in this world. That means your King and all the others are my enemy." She said, walking out of the room.

A/N: I wanted to get this chapter done sooner, but you all know how it is. Anyway, I was pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. A bit shorter than I thought it would be, but that seems to be par for the course lately. I also left in something of an Easter egg for those of you who might've read a particular series of books, but I can say for sure that it has more meaning than a mere Easter egg normally does. Especially with what will happen in the near future. As always, feel free to review and thank you for reading.