Final Battle: The Reason I step on to this battlefield
As the two Armies meet Shirou's hands seek out Saber's desperately holding on to them. And then he saw them the persons- no the Army whom they would face and in the middle of all that was the Golden king being lifted by soldiers, sitting upon it was Gilgamesh 'even in the face of war he's still obnoxious' Saber thought as she tightened her hold one Shirou. The soldiers set down Gilgamesh's Chair and the Golden king stood and walked to the center
"Well here we are. Now vermin step out and show me this worthy fight you have promised me"
Shirou let go of Sabers hand and walked slowly to the middle with Gilgamesh in his mind he was reliving some memories
"If you cannot defeat your enemy with the weapon you do have, then imagine one with which you could."
Archer said as they escaped from Illya's mansion and Archer went off to fight Berserker
"...what you should always be imagining is you at your most powerful."
He said once more. And as Shirou neared Gilgamesh a new memory emerged
"I ask of you, are you my master?"
He just had to smile 'not one month of meeting and my life has already been changed literally. Whoever said that it takes forever to change a person can eat their words' he silently thought while stopping. He looked up at the being he had to face to move on. 'The greatest challenge of my life is here' he thought
"Well, I should praise you for not running away. Shall we start Vermin?"
Gilgamesh said as he opens his gate of Babylon and 50 golden ripples appear on the sky. Shirou immediately copied all weapons and the same number of swords float across the sky behind his back. Gilgamesh's eyes widened for a second and relaxed
"Oh it seems like you have gotten stronger than our last fight, you have acquired new tricks as well … let's see if you live up to expectations"
Gilgamesh fired of his swords faster than bullets and as the swords neared the middle of the two warriors they are met with Shirou almost equal copies of them and thus shattering them both
"Oh you are good … let's see if your copies hold out then shall we?"
Just after he said that numerous amounts of swords started appearing and was fired after a second
[~]
Meanwhile Saber's hand started sweating and shaking as soon as Shirou let go of it. Now as she sees Shirou fighting Gilgamesh she can't help but worry
"He'll be fine" Kay said while putting his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him before returning his gaze at Shirou who was tracing swords as fast as Gilgamesh could call on to them.
[~]
"This is starting to get hard" Shirou said as he traced of what felt like the thousandth sword in this battle, he needed to turn the odds on to him and to do that he needed to call upon his world. But no such opportunity presents itself and he was starting to fall behind. Then as Gilgamesh looked like he was starting to get bored a large sword shot off from the gate. Shirou traces Kanshou and Bakuya to block the sword but the falchions break along with the large sword and Shirou is thrown a few meters back
"Are you already done? And you promised me a worthy fight" Gilgamesh said with a half annoyed voice
As Shirou got himself up he noticed his Shirt was now torn searching for wounds, he found none but sees 'numerous blades' sprouting from within his body and into some parts of his chest
'This must be what Archer is talking about' he thought as he straightened his stances and reached out his right hand and began relieving swords from both his and Archer's Memories
Gan Jiang, Mo Ye, Kladenets, Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar, Dyrnwyn, Gram, Caladbolg, Caliburn, Kanshou and Bakuya and many more variations of sword enter into Shirou's mind right before he recites his Aria:
"I am the bone of my sword"
Upon a hill of swords a warrior met with the rays of sunlight, covered in swords all over his body his tears were falling as he soaked in the rays of the sun
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood"
"This is something only we can do" Archer's voice echoed inside of him
"I have created over a thousand blades"
"Use my Memory to defeat the King of Heroes" Archer said to him after he gave his Memories to Shirou and after that he collapsed
"Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain"
An image of Saber about to uproot Caliburn appeared on his mind
"Are you sure? Think this over carefully, for if you pull that sword out you will no longer be human" Merlin said and as Shirou watch the memory unfold a thought passed him 'She's just like me' Shirou thought
"Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival"
"Shirou …" Saber's voice rang through his mind and heart
"I have no regrets. This is the only path"
"All this time … You were my Scabbard" Saber said as she supported him after their clash with Gilgamesh
"My whole life was …"
Images of Saber smiling appeared in his mind
'It was always for her'
"Unlimited blade works"
Flames ran through everywhere as the two 'wielders' along with their respective Armies were sucked inside Shirou's Reality Marble
"Alright fun and games are over king of heroes. These are no more than copies of swords both me and Counter Guardian Emiya have collected in our life … Do you have enough weapon stored up?"
Needless to say anger filled Gilgamesh's face as he opened the gate further
"Don't you dare talk to me like that you ingrate copying scum!" he exclaimed as he barraged Shirou with endless noble Phantasms
"How I defeated Gilgamesh?" Archer asked when Shirou asked him for tricks in defeating Gilgamesh
"Honestly I don't remember anymore, but all I can say is … If I did it you could do it too"
'I can do this, if he did it then there's no reason I can't' he thought as he projected Kanshou and Bakuya while firing off his own collection of Noble Phantasms meeting them at the middle. He ran towards Gilgamesh smashing his falchions to Gilgamesh's Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
Final Battle Part 2: last Stretch
As the battle rages on Shirou is slowly overpowering Gilgamesh but as that happens Gilgamesh opens his gate further and thus tipping the scales to balance ( due to Mordred's mana assistance)
'Just how strong is this gate?' Shirou asked himself as he traced swords faster and ran to get closer to Gilgamesh he threw Kanshou and Bakuya at him but it was blocked by swords of Gilgamesh
"Cheap tricks won't get you anywhere!" Gilgamesh said as hundreds of sword shot out from the space behind him
"Talks aren't needed here!" Shirou said as he slammed Gram into Gilgamesh but it was blocked by floating swords that pushed him back Fifty meters and unlimited blade works Receded
"Now I am starting to regret letting you live … it is clear as night and day, no clearer than that, that I am superior to you!" Gilgamesh said loudly making sure everyone could here "Saber really made a fool of herself, choosing you as her lover … even his foster brother would've been a better choice than you" he said pointing to Shirou, Meanwhile Saber was fighting the urge she had to go out there and prove Gilgamesh wrong
"You're right" Shirou said which caused kay and Saber to be taken back
"Oh so you acknowledge this?" Gilgamesh said with a smirk
"I do … still as the one she chose it's my duty to protect her from delusional bastards like you" Shirou said as started to get up. Gilgamesh's face darkened and he closed all portals
"… Insects like you should be squashed as soon as possible! And though you are not worthy I scorn every second I see you" he said as the last of his swords fire off and a giant ripple appear and Ea is pulled out
[~]
'This is bad, this is very bad' Saber thought as she saw Gilgamesh pull out Ea She was about to use Prana Burst when Shirou held out a hand to stop her without looking at her
"Don't I can handle this" Shirou Shouted and though Saber did not move her face was still full of worry 'Shirou please take care of yourself' She was silently praying
"Handle this? Ha! Such foolishness will result to death!" Gilgamesh Shouted as he readied Ea for Attack
"Oh and to make sure you don't Dodge look behind you …" he said and as Shirou looked back he saw that he was directly in front the Saber's Army
"Damn it!" he cursed himself which resulted to Gilgamesh Smirking
"Enuma …"
"I am the bone of my sword"
He said as he took out one of Archer's most trusted Arsenal and targeted it to Saber's Army
"Elish!" Gilgamesh exclaimed
A red wave was emitted from Ea and ran through Shirou but not before he shouted something. Saber attempted to run to Shirou but covered herself as the red wave approached them.
A few Seconds passed She opened her eyes to see that Ea's Wave did not reached them instead it was stopped by a flower like Shield covering her whole Army. She recalled what Shirou shouted a second ago
"RHO AIAS" Shirou shouted mere milliseconds before the wave hit Saber and her Army
The wave receded the Rho Aias (now only had one cracked ring) shattered like glass.
And as the smoke and dust cleared. There stood like a statue, with sparks all over his body, non-moving was Emiya Shirou … Alive, but not unscathed. All of the left part of his body, his right hand, half his chest and neck were now covered in metal blades (like a chainmail), he's hair was now white. He stood there looking at the sky seemingly inanimate
'My Head hurts! My Body hurts! I'm scared! The Swords are starting to grow again!' his mind shouted at him 'Not yet, not yet … he's still standing … so I can't fall … until he falls … I have to fight … I have to push … one last stretch!' he shouted in his mind
Then suddenly an image appeared in his mind … Saber resting on his body quietly asleep their bodies covered in a large blanket 'Shirou please know that … that I love you' he heard her voice say and a smile graced his lips
"What the-" was the first words Gilgamesh utters, before his face was now filled with rage and he once again the sky behind him was filled with swords
"If you continue to be a pest then I shall use all my force to obliterate you!"
Shirou looked at Saber and smiled at her, a smile full of love which made Saber blush but something in his smile told her that there was also goodbye in that smile. He muttered something but Saber didn't hear him, he then faced Gilgamesh and stance himself like Saber as if he was holding a long sword, Saber didn't understand what he was doing, and that is … until he spoke.
"I am the bone of my sword"
Winds torrent all over Shirou as he spoke the First line of his Aria and Saber understood what he was doing "Shirou that's suicide!" She couldn't help shouting
She tried to go over to Shirou but Shirou traced swords in her way to tell her to 'not interfere'
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood"
Shirou smiled 'of course you'd know this, I mean it's yours' he thought to himself as he said the second line of his Aria and the winds was now concentrated on his hands an outline of a sword can be seen. And a memory came:
Archer stood over a mountain eyeing the town which was engulfed in flames he caused "What did I really wish for?" he said as he turned around and walked away
"I have created over a thousand blades"
The winds exploded and now shown what Shirou was holding … in his hands was Excalibur an almost perfect replica of the one his love was holding
'You're wrong archer wishing to save everybody is not wrong … although it's true you can't save everybody … you forgot to look at the smiles of people you saved' Shirou thought
"Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain"
The torrents of winds was now being ejected at the end of the sword much like how a car would on its exhaust pipe
"Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival"
Shirou didn't know if this was because of his traced Excalibur or if Saber subconsciously did it but as he said the fifth line of his Aria Saber's Excalibur's invisible air also exploded and it revealed a glowing pulsing Excalibur
"I have no regrets. This is the only path"
He said as he proceeded to stance himself and ran towards Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh in return fire a Barrage of Swords at him but none of them managed to hit him because he jumped back.
"My whole life was …"
As soon as he said this both Excalibur's glowed brightly but Saber's glow died down. Shirou tightened his grip on his Excalibur and dashed towards Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh readied his Ea while firing his swords toward Shirou in which he dodges (every sword he couldn't dodge the 'Chainmail' deflected it) as he neared Gilgamesh a memory flashed upon him:
"Excalibur you want to trace it?" Archer asked for certainty when Shirou asked if he would be able to trace Excalibur once his memory was passed to him
"No, Don't" Archer said with coldness
"Why? Surely you've traced it before" Shirou asked
"I did, but I can you can't" Archer told Shirou
"Why can you do it and I can't?" Shirou asked annoyed
"Because I am a spirit, and I am connected to Alaya, I won't die unless Alaya breaks off our contract but you will because you are human … To achieve something like that you have to give up on being Human even momentarily"
Now as he ran towards Gilgamesh he thought to himself 'Surely I'm not human anymore now aren't I?'
He dashed towards Gilgamesh but Gilgamesh set up a wall of never ending raining swords in front of him as he recharged Ea, 'No choice' Shirou thought and He concentrated "Trace on … Prana Burst" he shouted and he rocketed himself upward past the swords and readied himself to execute his attack when he heard Gilgamesh Shout First
"Enuma Elish!"
And once again Shirou was covered in the red wave Ea Emitted and was lost inside of it. Saber clinched on Excalibur hoping Shirou was fine
Ea's wave was cut in half on the part where Shirou was and when Ea finished its attack it became clear why. Shirou's back was facing Ea's wrath and on his Back was Avalon repelling Ea's wave
'10 seconds' he said in his mind 'I can only keep Avalon here for 10 seconds'
And as Ea's attack vanished Avalon broke and Shirou turned and shouted the words he never thought he'd say
"EXCALIBUR!"
Shirou thought for sure he saw Gilgamesh smirk
The whole middle field covered in bright light as Shirou brought down Excalibur both armies covered their eyes as the light from Shirou's Excalibur outshined even the sun itself
[~]
After the light died down Saber Immediately surged toward Shirou but saw a large crater in the middle of the field. Gilgamesh was gone and in the center was Shirou, kneeling bleeding all over as his blades were at their limit
"Shirou!" She shouted and she jumped into the crater and hugged Shirou who was just about to fall unto the ground
"Shirou, Shirou stay with me please" she pleaded while hugging his face unto her chest
"Ouch Sab ... Saber I'm fine" he said weakly and Saber smiled
"Reckless" Saber said and Shirou smiled widely despite being bruised and cut all over
"I can't defeat … someone like … him without … being reckless" Shirou said while trying to get up
"Shiro-" saber started but merlin's voice entered their minds which caused both of them to be shocked
'I'm sorry to interrupt but I must transport Shirou right now, his health is in a dire situation … we will be right by the tree where Bediver will bring you' as Merlin said and at that Shirou disappeared like dust in the wind
'Merlin!?' Saber called through her mind
'I assure you I will not let the boy die' Vivian said to say to Saber
'Vivian?! Why are you with Merlin I thought you had a grudge against him?' Saber asked
'He has asked for forgiveness … in return I turned him into my familiar so as to keep him with me at all times' Vivian answered Saber and at that Saber understood
'Thank you' was all Saber said in response to Merlin and Vivian as she stood up and relived the battle she had fought once before
Final Battle Part 3: Closure between bloodlines
The Clashing of Excalibur and Clarent sounded through the Battle field
"Why, why didn't you give me the right to the throne?" Mordred Shouted as she slammed Clarent to Excalibur. Saber just defended herself not talking nor attacking 'Mordred …' Saber thought
"All I wanted was for you to be happy … to be proud of me!" Mordred Shouted as he continued her assault. Just then Saber let go of Excalibur and hugged Mordred
"I'm Sorry" Saber silently said and at that Mordred tears start to fall and she let go of Clarent and hugged Saber
"I was silently happy to have a strong daughter like you" Saber said as she remembers the feeling of proudness and guilt she had when she learned that one of her knights was her daughter "… but I cannot subject you to the fate of the king … I wanted you to grow differently … but by the time you showed yourself you were already tainted with blood and so the only solution I had was to at least save you from the fate of the king (i.e. Dying for their country)" Saber said as a few tears start to fall from her eyes
"B-but I wanted to take that role to save you!" Mordred shouted "ever since I became a knight I always wondered why you never smiled … I asked Sir Kay and he told me you never smiled ever since you became king" Saber tightened her hold on Mordred "I wanted to save you from that dark abyss … I admit at first I only listened to mother … but watching you in pain changed that I wanted you to smile through my actions to tell me I did a good job" She said as she clenched her hands "that boy, he changed you … the second he arrived you smiled … you became soft and you even revealed your gender! It made me jealous! What kind of things did he do to change you? What kind of things did he tell you?" Saber held her tighter
"He told I didn't need to change anything about myself … that all my choices were something to be happy about no matter what the outcome is … that as long as one is contented and proud of their life and accomplishments they need not change anything" Saber said as Mordred chuckled
"He's just naïve" Mordred said and Saber smiled
"Maybe so … but he saved my life more times than I can imagine both physically and mentally" Saber said
" … I see … now I kind of regret hurting him … I'm sorry father" Mordred said silently
"It's okay … he's stronger than he looks … I'm the one who should be sorry … subjecting you to this role" Saber said but Mordred shook his head
"It's ok-" Mordred said but he was cut off when blood started to run down her back. They both looked back and saw Morgan handling fire balls shooting it at them …
"You sorry excuse for a daughter you should have killed her!" Morgan Shouted
"Father … I love you" was the last thing Mordred said before falling unconscious. Saber set her down took Excalibur and dashed for Morgan where she sliced her in two without even voicing anything. She then dashed back to Mordred who still had her eyes closed and set her head on her knee which caused Mordred to open her eyes
"Father you're hit" Mordred said worriedly as she saw Blood coming from Saber's stomach in which Saber just smiled her pure smile
"You smiled" Mordred called out with awe "You … finally … Smiled … for … me" and with that she closed her eyes. Saber was silently crying when Bediver arrived
"Sire you're hit! … Mordred!" he said as he neared Saber
"Bediver" Saber said not looking at him "please set Mordred in a nearby tree"
Even as he was confused Bediver still followed his king's orders and after Mordred set, upon his horse, with his king, Bediver rode away from the battlefield.
[~]
"Where is she?" Merlin complaint as the three waited for her at the tree where Bediver would set her down. When suddenly an incoming horse was heard.
"They're here quickly into the barrier" Merlin said as they hid behind the barrier merlin ad set up
"My liege please stay here while I scout the area for enemy forces" Bediver said as she run off. When she was out of sight the trio left the barrier and merlin constructed a bigger force field 'this looks like the one he used after my spar with Gawain' Shirou thought as Vivian held Saber, after a few moments, suddenly there was a new Saber beside her the new one wearing the clothes Tohsaka gave but without the wounds sustained from the battle, Shirou took a step back shocked but merlin held his shoulders and pushed him towards the new Saber
"This is your Arturia … the other one is the Original from this timeline" Merlin said Shirou blushed at merlin choice of words
"Original Timeline?" Shirou asked confused
"Yes the real Arturia from this timeline … in short the younger version of Your Arturia … since we can't change much of the timeline I asked Vivian if she can create a body for the older Arturia" Merlin explained
"And is that a real body?" Shirou asked and Vivian huffed
"Of course it is … although it doesn't have the same amount of mana reserves or circuits as her original body it's still a body she can use" Vivian said
" … I see sorry for offending you" Shirou said
"Okay … no go wake up your princess" Vivian said
Shirou neared Saber and shook her body lightly and Saber awakened
"Morning Saber" Shirou said with a smile and Saber returned the smile
"Morning Shirou …" and then she stopped for a second. Shirou heard her mutter 'mordred' then return her attention to her body
"My body feels weird" She concluded as she scanned her body
"It's Vivian's created body … your body is in this timeline's Saber" Shirou said and they both turned to see Vivian holding the other Saber's head
"Don't worry she's only rewriting her memories … so that she'll have the same memories that you had in the original timeline … of course with the appropriate Changes" Merlin said as he saw Shirou's and Saber's worried expression
" … I see" Saber said
"Well as regrettable as it is … it is time for you guys to return to your time" Merlin said
"Our time?" Shirou asked
"Yes to your own time" Merlin said as Vivian left the younger Arturia and stepped beside Merlin
"Yes … due to our selfishness you have been both subjected to unbelievable amounts of pain … and so the last thing we could do is allow the two of you to be together" Vivian stated
Shirou was dumbfounded 'she's allowed to be with me?' he unknowingly smiled when he felt saber hold his hand. He looked back and saw saber was smiling at him … he then turned his attention back to Merlin
"Is that …?" Shirou started and the two nodded and smiled as a portal appeared it was Gold not like the black hole type portal merlin uses "Best be on your way" Merlin said
"Thank you" Shirou said to Vivian and Merlin as he held Saber's hand and dashed towards the portal
[~] End [~]
[A/N]:
Well on more chapter (Epilogue) and it's all over … thank you for everyone for your support and for the ideas and advices! :P
Fire lord 626: I'm really sorry lord … but I promised myself this will only be a twelve chapter story (not counting the epilogue and prologue)
I'm really sorry … and thank you for following the story to the end!
Also you were already a big help! Thank you … :D
Reishin Amara: Thank you for changing Mordred's fate … Expect your idea to be up at the epilogue!
P.S: have you ever played fate grand order?
I'm not trying to criticize the game or anything but I think it's turning out to be like pokemon (personally I love the game … I'm even playing it right now)
REVIEW!