Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own Fate/stay night in any way shape of form and I am not attempting to or making a profit from this work of fiction in any way shape of form.
AN: Alright, sorry for this chapter being out so late but I had no ideas for this story for the majority of the month.
For one Sakura Matou all there was to her was the void. She didn't know how long she had been inside and only remembered how.
"Sakura, what you are facing are an unlimited number of blades, you've seen this once before but I didn't want to use this on you in the first place and I had other things to deal with. But now, now I understand that if I want to save you I have to come at you with everything I've got."
"So, Sakura, are you ready?"
Shirou attacked her, ripped away her power with his and it was nearly suicide but he still tried to save her. She remembered seeing his desperate grab for her when the shadows finally ran out of control as she lost her power, screaming for her to grab his hand. She even remembered his scream, the anguish and rage behind it when he realized he'd lost her to the void she found herself trapped in. She could feel the pain he felt, the failure and guilt at having lost her and she hated seeing him like that. Shirou was supposed to be strong, a source of strength for anyone nearby, someone they could always look to when things became bad. It was because of seeing him like that she'll escape from here, to make sure he doesn't feel that pain again and definitely not because of her. She would get out of the void and show him how much he meant to her when she did, she wouldn't let her fears get in the way again.
Unknown to any of the occupants on the plane, Sakura was slowly coming back as the markings that had spread across her skin at her possession began fading.
In London Rin dragged Luviagelita out with her when she heard a thud and saw Shirou climbing to his feet as fires raced around him and were fading.
"What happened?" Rin's question went unanswered for a moment as Shirou regained his bearings.
"It's nothing, just a little accident on my part." Shirou answered before slowly standing up and looking at both Magus." So, have things been cleared up between you two?"
"This is too great a source of information to leave to Tohsaka and some lackey she brought with her, I will be going to actually put it to use." Luviagelita stepped forward and Shirou chuckled quietly to himself.
"Well, that is going to be interesting." Shirou turned his attention to Rin and the Tohsaka Magus merely sighed.
"This is still a problem I need to fix, let's get going." Rin received a nod from Shirou before he was a blur and they were outside the hotel room and landing on a rooftop nearby.
In the plane Arthuria was trying to get a trembling Ilya to speak to him as Gilgamesh questioned the maids in the back.
"Ilya, what happened to you? Is there anything at all you can tell me?" Arthuria asked but Ilya wouldn't respond." What were you doing before it happened? Please tell me something Ilya."
"Death…pain…fire…death…pain…fire…" Ilya seemed to be repeating those three words now and Arthuria was glad she would at least talk now.
"Ilya, what do those words mean?" Arthuria gently pressed but Ilya kept repeating those three words.
"Death…pain…fire…"
Gilgamesh walked up to him at that moment and seemed annoyed.
"It seemed to have been a recorded message, neither of them seem to remember anything." Gilgamesh turned to Ilya and slowly reached for the cards in her hand.
Arthuria very quickly grabbed his hand, just in time as what was a blast of Prana would have killed her if he hadn't pulled her out of the way.
"Don't even try it, it looks like an automatic defense." Arthuria let go of Gilgamesh very quickly and turned her attention back to Ilya." Any ideas what she means with those words?"
"Death, pain, fire." Gilgamesh repeated the words quietly to himself but could find no way to link them together." I have no idea, perhaps Tohsaka or the Faker will know something we don't."
"Hopefully." Arthuria spoke as she moved away and dialed a number on the phone Shirou had given her.
In London Shirou stopped and quickly his phone was pressed to his ear.
"Arthuria, any news on Ilya?"
"Yes, but nothing good as she has begun to speak but she only repeats three words now: Death, pain, and fire. I thought it best to call you and ask if you have any idea to link them. Neither I or Gilgamesh have come up with anything yet."
"Maybe, it's a guess on my part and it doesn't make any sense."
"Anything would do right now."
"I'm thinking of the fire ten years ago. Countless died, that being death, while others were burned severely before dying and the friends and family lost could be the pain, and fire is obvious with it burning down that part of Fuyuki. It's just a guess on my part and it's probably wrong but it's something."
"You've at least given me an idea Shirou, thank you."
Arthuria hung up at that and Shirou merely sighed as he slipped the phone back into her pocket.
The creature that was once Shinji Matou attacked, hands shifting into foot long claws that ripped its prey to pieces in an instant and seconds later shadows consumed the body, drawing itself back to the creature in moments. The creature ignored the screams from their food, this was just one of their many victims and they were slowly getting stronger the more they killed and absorbed into them with the more evil prey always giving him the most strength.
The worms filling its body drew the energy to them and the creature went in search of more prey to gather more energy before the worms feasted on it all and soon changed their diet to it.
Timeskip…
Shirou, Rin, and Luviagelita boarded the landed plane and Shirou immediately rushed over to Ilya.
She still repeated death, pain, and fire and the moment Shirou touched her she screamed and he was thrown away in an instant as a bright flash of red light consumed Ilya and on instinct Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in Shirou's hands.
"Ilya?" Shirou asked as the light died down and he lowered his swords as he took a cautious step forward.
"Mistress!" Sella and Leysritt, Ilya's two maids screamed as they rushed past Shirou and directly into the light and Shirou knew something bad was going to happen so moved on Archer's inherited instinct.
When the mass of building Prana erupted from the light Shirou had grabbed both Rin and Luvia and threw them out the plane through the door while holding out his hand, his palm pointed at the light.
"Rho Aias!"
Instead of one seven-petal barrier, eight appeared in front of Shirou where he immediately collapsed and the explosion ripped through all but the last petal of the seventh barrier. Quantity took place over quality to Shirou at that moment and he panted for breath even as he felt something rip through his left arm, blood already pouring from it as it hung limply at his side.
'I've got to work on that still.' Shirou thought before he found a far too bright light in front of him.
"I am the bone of my sword."
It wasn't hard turning to face the kneeling army behind and what was certain death him but it was more difficult than he could imagine to push her aside, trying to make sure she stayed safe while he died.
"Stand aside trash, give her to us now!" a voice ordered from the army and the man who would later be known only as Archer chuckled as his body flashed with a deep crimson light.
"I can't really do something like that." Archer spoke as he held his hands out at his side and seconds later the married swords known as Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in them and he found himself comforted as his hands wrapped around the twin hilts." And besides, you'll have to kill me to take her."
"So be it." The voice snapped as the army in front of him rose to their feet in unison and the figure at the head of them drew a sword from their side.
"Kill him!"
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood." Archer continued even as he shot forward, ripping through the corrupted flesh of the undead army in front of him as he made his way to the person he needed to kill to end it all.
"Archers!" a voice screamed and Archer found himself close to laughing as thousands of different arrows rained down on him from a thousand different bows.
"Trace on."
They were responded to by his own weapons as he tapped into more and more of the powers of his one and only spell.
"Shirou!" a voice screamed but the white haired Magus ignored the scream, focusing only on the army he had to destroy even as more undead rose from the ground around him.
"Do you think this is going to stop me bastard!" Archer roared as he threw his two blades forward, erupting into impressive explosions as they ripped through the undead army.
Decades of nearly constant battle showed themselves as Archer ripped apart his enemies with brutal precision, always working towards the Vampire he aimed to rip apart as violently as possible.
"I have created over a thousand blades." Archer allowed his body to shift into blades at the third line and his attack began anew, his body actually morphing itself into blades as he continued his attack without mercy, ripping through anything in his way.
"Fire!" the Vampire ordered and a new wave of archers rose out of the ground and fired another volley at Archer who didn't bother dodging it, allowing the projectiles to bounce off of his skin even if it shredded his clothes and dented his armor.
'Huh, Rin is going to kill me for messing that shroud up.' Archer thought with a small grin before a pike was rammed through his chest and instead of blood pouring from his mouth and he collapsing he simply grabbed onto the pike with a grin and it shifted into a mass of blades before cracks ran through it as Archer tossed it away and into the army surrounding him.
"Let's test your limits, shall we boy?" the Vampire asked and without a word another wave of undead rose from the ground, this time heavily armored and wielding massive swords and shields as they charged Archer as a stampede and a wall of steel shields and swords.
"Is this all you have!" Archer demanded and with a thought flames encircled his arms before a rain of blades shot forward and ripped through the undead in front of him as he seemed to shatter into a mass of blades before they shot forward, moving in a formation as they ripped through the undead in their way without slowing down as they neared the Vampire, shifting into Black Keys as they did so.
They didn't hit the Vampire as they instead collected in front of him and Archer rested in a crouch in front of the Vampire, panting for breath as he looked down at his hands, the mass of blades surrounding it giving it a silver color before it slowly receded with a thought from Archer. The Magus slowly rose to his feet as Kanshou and Bakuya once again appeared in his hands and he grinned despite the army turning its attention to him and he noticed Magus rising from the ground around him now, the Vampire in front of him chanting something with Prana pouring into the ground around him.
"You will make a fine warrior Emiya, perhaps even someone to stand by my side if your power continues to grow." The Vampire spoke and Archer chuckled to himself as he felt himself consumed in a crimson flash before his armor was repaired and strengthened several times over, a personal set he created for this exact moment.
"I highly doubt that, I don't serve garbage like you." Archer spoke as he raised his swords." Now, enough talking, I want to see how long it takes to kill you."
"If you insist in killing yourself than I am fine with it, your child will most likely do the job just as fine as yours." The Vampire answered and Archer saw red and everything else after those words were horrible to watch.
Archer, in simple words, Broke himself and detonated with the force of a nuclear bomb, wiping out the Vampire, their army, and the many Bounded Field around the castle they fought at that allowed them to raise up a limitless amount of undead.
"Impressive." The Vampire spoke as they looked over to the collapsed Archer, blades ripping through his back and causing him to scream as Unlimited Blade Works ran wild after such an action." You will make a great servant to me Emiya."
Archer was in too much pain to even bother responding as the Vampire felt his current body burn away as someone entered his collapsing Bounded Field, Bounded Fields that had stood since the dawn of the world.
Shirou woke with a start and found himself looking up into Rin's face as she sat with his head on her lap.
"So, what did you see?" Rin asked him after a moment but received no response as Shirou focused on his hand, needing to know himself that it wasn't just a mass of steel colored to look like flesh and Rin sighed as she cupped his hand with her own, removing them from his white hair and he noticed some of it twisted into a braid on the side of his head." Archer was fighting him again, right?"
"Yes." Shirou spoke after a moment, hating the eyes he knew were the last thing Archer saw in his life." They restarted again."
"This is the third time." Rin told him and Shirou slowly sat up." It happens every time you strain yourself, perhaps you should keep yourself from doing things like this?"
"I can't, I know there's more to it all and it may help with 'that' problem." Shirou told the Tohsaka Magus who looked annoyed but nodded.
"You are still incredibly annoying by the way, I've never heard of someone losing a spell like that so easily." Rin told him as she stood to her feet and Shirou only shrugged while he stretched." And especially a spell with so many different uses, if you learned to us it properly that is."
"To be fair I don't think it's mine." Shirou told Rin before walking away, for now ignoring her questioning look as he fixed the parts of the shroud covering his arms, finding them a bit torn as he looked them over.
"Faker." Shirou cursed at the voice and turned to see Gilgamesh who leaned against the landing gear of the jet with his arms cross and looking towards the forest, his voice carrying a disinterested tone." How long do you think you can hide it from her?"
"Long enough to fix it." Shirou answered after a long moment of silence and Gilgamesh chuckled as he began walking towards the forest, gesturing for Shirou to follow him.
"Follow me boy." Gilgamesh ordered the Sword Magus who was surprised at the use of anything besides Faker from the King of Heroes so mindlessly followed the Servant.
They walked for what seemed like hours, heading deep into the forest around the jet and Gilgamesh eventually stopped in front of a massive tree, easily the size of the skyscrapers of the present and the King of Heroes was uncharacteristically somber as he gently laid his hand onto the tree trunk, his red eyes focusing on the ancient bark in front of him and his hand gently running over the rough texture of it.
"This tree is one of the few remnants of my kingdom, I and my companion planted it ages ago, a time so long ago I no longer remember the reason why we did so." Gilgamesh spoke and Shirou was silent, knowing the Babylonian King had brought him to the tree for a specific reason." Many of the things we did are only memories to me now, the whys for them having long since turned pointless. You may ask the obvious question you have now."
"If you insist then I'll ask, why did you bring me here?" Shirou's question was answered by Gilgamesh beginning the climb the tree.
Shirou figured he should follow and did so, keeping pace with Gilgamesh who stopped near the top, sitting on one of the thicker branches near the top of the massive tree.
"Use your Magecraft and see what your King sees." Gilgamesh ordered after a moment as his eyes turned to look at the perfect view of the forest.
Shirou was hesitant but after a moment he used Structural Analysis on the tree and was amazed at what he saw, nearly falling off the tree to certain death if a golden net Gilgamesh cast out of the Gate of Babylon hadn't caught him, Shirou still far too stunned to even register he was no longer falling.
"This can't be real." Shirou whispered to himself and Gilgamesh only chuckled as he plucked a fruit from the tree and took a bite of it.
"It is very real boy, very real." Gilgamesh told Shirou.
Arthuria walked with Ilya, having recovered while Shirou was unconscious but found herself still racked with random spasms of pain lasting from seconds to minutes and so Arthuria now followed her as she walked, ready to help her if another spasm overtook her while she was out in the forest.
"Ilya, can you tell me anything about the current conflict in the Einzberns?" Arthuria noticed Ilya's body tense but the former Lesser Grail nodded nonetheless.
"There's not much to say, only that most of them are idiots." Ilya answered dismissively as she turned to look at the flowers." The Einzbern in general may be masters of creating Homunculi like myself they just like every other Magus don't really change that much, we're still obsessed with the Holy Grail and Akasha. With the recent fractions things have only gotten worse as Homunculi can be made to do almost anything, ranging from Prana supplying factories to trained warriors. Even myself, I may not look like much but I have enough power at my disposal to keep Berserker filled with energy and even resupply his lives given time." Ilya answered as she stopped next to a patch of brightly colored flowers." I was experimented on after the Fourth Grail War ended and I guess that's when a traitor added the Class Cards system to my body."
"Will they be coming for you?" Arthuria asked and Ilya found herself laughing.
"I didn't think you were that slow Saber, of course they will." Ilya answered before walking ahead.
Ahead of Ilya the bushes were pushed aside and Arthuria didn't hesitate to summon her armor and weapon to her while using Prana Burst to move forward and see who was ahead of them.
"Don't attack me my Queen." Gilgamesh spoke as he walked out onto the path." I am not your enemy."
Arthuria stopped herself mere centimeters away from cutting down Gilgamesh and dismissed her armors and weapons for the moment while seeing Shirou exit the woods behind Gilgamesh.
"What happened to you on the plane? You began to scream before Rin pulled outside." Arthuria asked him and Shirou shrugged.
"I have even less of an idea as you about what happened." Shirou lied to the former Servant because he highly doubted she would let him out of her sight, or even keep him alive for that matter, if she knew about what was happening." So, can you give me any ideas?"
"None." Arthuria answered and Gilgamesh turned to Ilya.
"How long do you think you will last Homunculus?" Gilgamesh asked the Lesser Grail who shrugged.
"I have no idea as it could perhaps a few months, perhaps a few years, or perhaps a few hours if I'm extremely unlucky." Ilya answered nad Gilgamesh snorted.
"Of course you don't, you were of no help in this." Gilgamesh told her as he walked back towards the plane." I will be at the jet, don't make me wait more than a few hours."
"Arthuria, head back with him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Shirou told her as he walked up to Ilya." I'll keep an eye on my sister."
"Don't wander too far, we will depart soon." Arthuria told him, somewhat hesitant to leave but after some thinking she figured she could reach the two if something happened before Ilya was hurt.
AN: Well leave a review if you have any plot ideas.
Peace.