Hero
I dashed forward, black and white swords in my hands. Kanshou and Bakuya, the swords that belonged to the heroic spirit Emiya and became the symbols of Emiya Shirou in that lifetime.
-Fake. I didn't know what the blades were truly like. I didn't understand the history that went into making them, didn't understand the concept that brought them about, didn't understand the one who wrought them into reality.
...But I didn't need to. The ********** made up for the difference, turning my fake forgeries into a true reality.
Shirou didn't seem surprised upon seeing my blades. If anything, he looked expectant, his eyes narrowed with the expression of someone already seeing thirty moves ahead.
I closed the distance and swung my blades in a cross, up and down. Left and right.
Sparks filled the air as Shirou swung his own blades in an action echoing my own.
Kanshou met Bakuya and Bakuya met Kanshou, the married swords clashing against their matching pair.
Metal screeched as I pushed forward, trying to overpower Shirou. Yet, somehow, despite all my buffs, the defender of justice stood firm. And, as if to spite me, he let out a smirk.
"Is that it?"
I scowled and leapt back, opening the distance between us once more-
Dodge left!
-and found myself changing directions and careening to the left before I could think about it.
BOOM!
Blinding white lightning struck down where I would have landed had I kept going on my original course of action.
My eyes widened and I turned back to look at Shirou.
"Tch. I missed."
The defender of justice had his right hand held out in front of him, crackling with energy.
Impossible.
Emiya Shirou couldn't use magic. At least, not that type of magic. It was possible for him to mimic doing so by using a sword with the same abilities, but what he had just cast...
That was 'Zap'. A divine lightning spell. Even if he's a 'hero' type, he shouldn't know that spell-
My thoughts were cut short by the sound of a faint whistling through the air.
I acted on instinct and swung my swords up.
There was a brief clang and copies of Kanshou and Bakuya crashed into the wall on either side of me.
I focused, quickly scanning the surroundings for additional copies in case Shirou planned to use their overedge attack.
Fortunately, he didn't seem to be planning to attack for the time being. Instead, he was staring at me with narrowed eyes, as if trying to read what I would do next.
Seeing that, I did the same, quickly rehearsing over all the information I'd just learned in our brief exchange.
He can trace. There's no faking that. But he can also use magic. That's... impossible unless he's from a crossover story that I don't know about. But even then, the core of Emiya Shirou shouldn't change that much. And if it did, he shouldn't know how to 'trace'. So how...?
Emiya Shirou could not use regular magic. Despite his almost cheat-like ability to near perfectly copy any bladed weaponry and defensive items, his proficiency with magic not derived from his reality marble was non-existent.
So it was impossible for him to have attacked me with that spell.
Is it?
...It might be possible that he had found some weapons that granted him intrinsic magical effects while traveling with Lucina. The Outrealms held many mysteries, after all, especially if they were anything like the Kaleidoscope in their range of accessible dimensions.
But even then, he shouldn't be able to use them without having the weapon out.
And then there's his abilities to consider...
At the moment, I had on every single buff spell from every RPG I had ever played. It wouldn't be a stretch to call me a god amongst men at the moment, especially after my body had been enhanced from my contract.
...Yet, Shirou had met me blow for blow, sword strike for sword strike.
The signs of our clash were clear. The ground was torn and scarred from the force we placed into our charges. The walls themselves were carved apart from the razor winds created from our swords when they clashed.
...And yet Shirou himself remained unscathed, something that not even EMIYA could have done.
Knowing that, I couldn't help voicing my thoughts. "...Who are you?"
He was quiet for a moment, briefly closing his eyes and muttering something under his breath that I couldn't hear even with my enhancements.
I knew better than to just ignore his actions, considering his signature ability.
I quickly swapped out Kanshou and Bakuya for the Runeblade, trusting my old sword more than the forged phantasms.
It was the right choice.
"Trigger, off."
Upon saying Shirou saying those words, it was as if time itself had crawled to a halt.
-An illusion. Time had not come to a halt, but rather both Shirou and I were moving fast enough for it to be irrelevant.
He sprinted towards me, holding a giant stone sword in his left hand.
"X-Zone!"
I swung the Runeblade, carving open a hole in time and space towards the Void.
Want to use Nine Lives Bladeworks on me? Good luck getting through my spells first!
Shirou smirked, as if reading my thoughts and said, "That won't work!"
"Wha-?"
The world rippled, and Shirou passed through my spell without a single scratch. Almost as if he wasn't there...
"Set-"
The distance between us closed to a single step.
"Like hell!"
I took a step back and raised my sword parallel to the ground beneath my eyes, preparing my own attack.
Shirou took a step forward. "Nine Lives-"
I swung my sword. "Tsubame-!"
"-Bladeworks!"
"-Gaeshi!"
An attack at godspeed clashed against a slash bending time and space to strike three times at once.
The outcome should have been clear.
Even though Nine Lives Bladeworks was powerful, it was nothing when your opponent moved just as fast.
In comparison, Tsubame Gaeshi, the Swallow Reversal technique crafted by Sasaki Kojiro was something that couldn't be countered. At least, not with a single blade, and especially when the sword used to execute it was the unbreakable and eternal Runeblade embodying me.
Shirou's weapon might have been powerful, but the stone axesword originally wielded by Herakles in the Fifth Grail War was just an ordinary enchanted weapon.
So the outcome should have been clear. My sword should have cleaved his apart and then cut into his body.
There was a shattering sound like I expected, but the sword that broke wasn't Shirou's.
My eyes widened. It... broke?
Pieces of the Runesword drifted through the air, shattered like fragile glass.
"Hah!"
Shirou paid no attention to my dismay and lunged forward with a stab, the final attack of Nine Lives Bladeworks.
I grit my teeth and cast the first spell that came to mind. "Vanish!"
-Vanish. A spell originally from Final Fantasy. One that made me immune to physical attacks by making me intangible. It didn't work exactly like that in its original rendition, but I twisted its casting to force it to work as intended.
Shirou's lunge pierced into thin air.
I immediately moved to the side and began casting my next spell.
End the fight. Even if the one standing in front of me was Emiya Shirou, I refused to falter. My course was set. If he would obstruct me, then the only thing I needed to do was get rid of him.
...But this was Emiya Shirou, so that was easier said than done.
Something that couldn't be blocked. Something I could cast at this close range without worrying about it being stopped. Something that bypassed physical defenses entirely-
That will do.
A spell came to mind, along with its origin.
The unforgivable curse, one that held no counter.
I focused, erasing everything from my mind except for the thought of killing the one before me and shouted, "Avada kedavra!"
My intangibility dropped upon the casting of my spell, its nature refusing my actions to be shielded from the world.
A sickening green light shot towards Shirou, filled with undeniable killing intent that would be actualized into certain death.
Shirou saw it, but ignored it in favor of attacking me. It seemed that he discounted any possibility of the spell harming him.
Foolish.
The killing spell struck the defender of justice, splashing across his chest and disappearing without a sound and he stopped in his tracks.
I let out a sigh of relief that he was dead and projected a sword just to make sure-
Then was promptly launched across the room by a heavy blow to my chest.
I crashed into the stone wall and kept going, flying across the air for what seemed to be miles before landing in a pile of sand.
I coughed and scrambled to my feet.
Rather, I tried to.
My body didn't respond other than a small twitch.
"Gah... the... hell...?"
I tried to move again, and when I did I realized the problem.
My chest was gone. Along with a good chunk of the essential organs that kept a human alive.
It was surprising I was still even conscious with such a severe wound.
How-?
It didn't make sense.
The killing curse should have killed him. Avada Kedavra couldn't be stopped-
Unless he had Avalon.
I let out a bitter laugh. It came out as a raspy gurgling, what with my lack of lungs and heart.
Of course. I should have realized it. I wasn't facing an ordinary Shirou. If he could use 'Zap' of all things, why the hell wouldn't he have a working Avalon? Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Saber was wandering around somewhere in Ylisse as well.
Footsteps approached.
Unable to move, I was forced to wait until the person came into view.
I didn't wait long.
Shirou stood over me, his hands empty and his expression blank.
I let out a wry smile. "I... lost..."
He shook his head. "No. We won."
My vision was fading, whatever mystery prolonging my life beginning to slip away at last. "Damn... it. In... the end..." I coughed, unable to finish my words as my throat stopped working.
The thought continued in my mind, however. In the end... my life was meaningless.
I saved no one. I helped no one. My life in this world... it was meaningless from the beginning, and even my attempts to bring it meaning had failed.
Why? WHY? WHY?!
I did my best. I tried to change things, tried to do the best I could.
So why? WHY WAS EVERYONE AGAINST ME?
I gave everything for the power to save them. I gave everything for the power to defy reality itself. I gave everything to change fate.
Yet... here I was. Struck down by a 'hero'.
...Then doesn't that make me the villain?
I didn't accept it. Couldn't accept it.
-But I had no choice to accept it.
For all my magical prowess, for all my abilities, for all the benefits I had with my contract, I could do nothing more but lay there and wait for death to take me.
Shirou knelt down before me, his amber eyes staring into my own. Eyes that... were filled with tears?
Why?
There was no reason for him to be crying for me. It didn't make sense. Hell, nothing makes sense anymore.
"I'm..."
Static.
"...Sorry."
Shirou brushed his tears away and then held out his right hand, clutching at a blade that didn't exist.
Static.
I should have been paying attention to it. To the weapon that would send me off from this mortal coil. Yet I didn't. Instead, I stared at Shirou.
Static.
-From the moment we met, I thought he looked familiar. That there was something about his face, his stature... his very appearance that was familiar. I brushed it off as the fact that he was Emiya Shirou, someone I would recognize anywhere.
Static.
Shirou narrowed his eyes and wrapped his other hand around his projected sword. He must have meant for it to look determined, but I could see the sorrow in his eyes.
Static.
-I was wrong. He didn't seem familiar because he was Emiya Shirou. The reason why he was familiar was because...
THUNK.
...his face was just like my own.
"Sleep, Dad. This time, we'll be the ones to end it."
Static filled my ears for the last time.
Then, I knew nothing more.
...I'm dreaming. In the dream I see familiar people and familiar places.
Static.
Robin faces off against a robed figure wielding a sword sparking with dark lightning. He's losing at first until his bronze sword transforms into a sword with a gold and blue guard containing a crimson gem. The changed sword seals his opponents powers and gives him the upper hand until the figure vanishes into shadows. Her disappearance is followed by the appearance of a frantic Lucina who tells Robin to hurry after her.
Static.
Chrom faces off against a mechanical opponent. Like Robin, he initially falters, on the verge of death, until a sudden burst of blue flames allows him to rend his foe in half with a single slash. Bemused, he turns to examine it when Severa charges into the room and shouts for him to follow her.
Static.
The Shepherd's Garrison. What should have been a peaceful scene as the Shepherds relaxed before the long journey was anything but.
Blood splattered against the walls, limbs strewn in every corner.
...Dead. All of the Shepherds were dead, save for Lon'qu and Lissa.
In the center of this gruesome scene is a man and a woman. The man's eyes were wrapped with white bandages, his spiky hair a pitch black color, and his clothes a dark blue shirt and pants stained with blood.
The woman's eyes were crimson, her hair a deep golden hue kept in short bangs, and her clothes were a white gown somehow kept pristine despite the gore.
The Feroxi swordsman shouts for Lissa to run before charging at a man with spiky black hair and bandages wrapped around his eyes.
Static.
The man with bandages steps forward and traces strange patterns across the Feroxi with a bloody knife.
An instant later, Lon'qu joins the other Shepherds on the ground, fallen into so many pieces of flesh.
A shrill scream. Lissa scrambles backwards.
...I'm dreaming. A dream that's become a nightmare.
Robin and Chrom burst into the room, followed by Lucina and Severa.
The man and woman, upon seeing them, vanish into thin air, as if they were nothing but phantoms.
Lucina lets out a cry of despair. "No! We're too late!"
I'm dreaming. A dream that I can't wake up from.
Chrom staggers back with wide eyes. "No! Everyone...! This... can't be real!"
Robin's initial reaction is the same, but his intellect soon takes over and he turns to Lucina. "Who did this- no. Who's the one behind this?"
The future Exalt doesn't reply, but an answer is given by Severa.
"The one who did this... the one behind all of our despair... he's-"
I'm dreaming. A dream where I gained power and failed. A dream where I sold my soul to save someone who couldn't be saved. A dream where I died a meaningless death.
I'm dreaming...
And then I open my eyes.
Time... is a strange thing. The observer is doomed to repeat himself, even upon reverting to the prior state. The rules of existence have decreed as such. Once it has occurred, the record may not be obscured, even upon performing the taboo act of turning back the clock.
A death may not be changed once witnessed. Actions performed, though malleable, will not deter their prior outcomes.
It is in this manner that higher beings seek Outrealmers, those unbound to the timeline and free to change Fate through this loophole.
...It is also in this manner that they abhor Outrealmers who appear unasked.
Time may be somewhat malleable, but Fate is not. Once shifted, it is unable to return to its original course and absolutely resists further change, for better or worse.
A single mistake may doom an entire reality to demise, unable to be freed even by the most powerful of beings.
Ylisse has fallen. The cause? An Outrealmer appearing where he should have not. A single mistake, one recollection too late.
Desperate to change the course of Fate, he performed the taboo act of returning to the past. But existence once wrought is not prone to change and he found himself cursed as all others seeking to overthrow the rules of existence.
...But unlike the others, he did not succumb. Instead, he embraced the curse, staking everything on a single thought: If I cannot change Fate, then I will embrace it to pave the way forward for 'myself'.
And so he sundered his soul, shattered his Fate, and embraced another's for his own. All in the hope, the ever fragile hope that some Fragment of him would remain after all was destroyed. That some Remnant may reach where he could not.
Foolish? Perhaps so. But... such fools are the ones who create miracles.
...I shall continue to watch his journey in this Chronicle of mine after entrusting the Fate of that plane in his hands.
...May he succeed where I once failed.
-The Historian
Up next: Timeline Zero - Awakening