The Protector
Chapter 1
A New life
The sound of a clock ticking slowly woke him up. Shirou open his eyes to see himself in a dark room, only illuminated by a lantern that stood on an old, Victorian style desk. There was a chair behind it, but it was turned around, that is until it started to turn towards him. Shirou laid on an old coach, it looked rather expensive, yet it was ungodly comfortable.
What Shirou saw was a man that looked like he was in his 50s. he wore clothing that spoke of nobility and his eyes glowed red through the darkness that surrounded them, save for the little oil burning lantern that struggles to light the room.
"So." The old man said in a groggily voice, showing that he also had fangs for canines. "You're finally awake…Shirou Emiya." Shirou's eyes opened wide with shock.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Shirou demanded answers. He knew that he was a wanted man because of what he did.
"I…" he paused in an overly dramatic fashion and stood up, picking up his cane and resting his left hand on it. "am the wielder of the Second Magic. I am Zelretch." He bowed in a curtsy like manner. Shirou was stunned by this revelation.
"Wait! You mean your HIM?" Shirou knew full well that he was in front of his enemy's mentor. His relationship with Rin Tohsaka started well in a friendly in the start of the Grail War 8 years ago. Until he did something that ruined her entire life. Ever since the last day of the war, they have been bitter enemies. She sent countless clocktower enforces and freelancers to take him out, but he killed them before they could even try and hurt innocent lives by accident.
"Indeed. Now that we've got that covered." He sat back down with a slight grunt, showing how much his is physical age has affected him. "let's get down to business." He said in an almost threatening manner. "Your life has been hell for almost a decade now, Shirou Emiya?" Shirou nodded with a "Hm" to confirm what the vampire said was true.
"I won't blame Rin for hating every fiber of your body. You did end her sister's life after all." Zelretch tried to tease out Shirou's emotions, but it didn't work.
"Yes, I did kill Sakura Tohsaka. But it was to save the world. It was only natural that I kill her, she destroyed my city and killed my family." He paused and looked down at his weapons, they were updated versions of the twin Chinese swords Kanshou and Bakyua, but they had red lines with circles going down the blades.
"That's a rather cold way of putting it. But that doesn't excuse the atrocities you committed in the War." Shirou looked up immediately after Zelretch said that. Giving the old vampire a sour look.
"Don't give me that look. We both know you did things you're not proud of. Like gutting the Rider class Servant, Medusa, like a fish with those blades or yours, or even killing that Matou boy, Shinji was it? In the slowest way you know how. You have any idea how hard it is to cover up a body with swords growing out of it?" Zelretch grew somewhat frustrated by remembering the state of Shinji Matou's body.
"No, and I don't particularly care about that. That jackass got what was coming to him." Shirou had found a way to make his reality marble invade his targets using origin rounds that he can trace to perfect accuracy. he used it to great affect after Saber was corrupted by the Holy Grail mud.
Shirou looked down with sorrow when he remembered Saber. He had a crush on her, he still hated himself for killing her, but he also knew that he didn't have any other choice in putting an end to the war. He looked at his skin, he had changed so much during these past 8 years. His eyes became steel grey, his hair ashen white, and his skin had changed from white to tan.
"looking back at old memories?" Zelreth asked.
"Yeah…old memories…" Shirou said, he still mourned over her death, even though it's been 8 years since that day.
"Why…? Why won't you kill me Shirou?" Saber asked him with a voiced that almost sounded like she was begging to be put down. She stood up and covered her stomach, it was bleeding from a freshly made stab wound that Shirou made with one of his swords.
"Because…I love you, Saber." he looked at her in his bloodied, broken state. He didn't want to kill her. She started to tear up and shake, as did he. Trying desperately to hold back any sniffling and their emotions. Saber Alter readied herself once more, ready to strike down her former master.
"I won't hold back; I suggest you do the same."
"Trace. On."
Shirou snapped back to reality by the sound of his name being said by the old vampire in front of him. "Yes?" he said with surprised evident in his voice.
"My apprentice will be arriving soon, so I'll make this short." He stopped and moved to his right, picking up a suitcase and placing it on his desk. "But first, you'll need this. open it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised for what I have for you."
Shirou got up and cautiously moved towards the desk before opening the case. What Shirou saw almost stopped his heart. It was his family crest, the complete crest. All that was missing was the piece that he had on his back.
"How…How did you get this?" Shirou muttered, trying his best to hold back any emotions. "I am the wielder of the Second Magic, remember. That and I called in a favor or two to get this."
Shirou placed his right on the sealed crest, almost caressing it. He knew how powerful this crest was…and how dangerous it could be for both his opponents, and himself. "What do you want?" he deadpanned.
"Here's my offer, Shirou Emiya. Sixth head of the Emiya Family. I can give you a new life, on a different world. But you must do something for me on said world I place you." Shirou took a moment to think about this, weighing his options.
One option, he can stay here in this world with his family crest, but he hunted down for the rest of his life unless he somehow manages to slaughter the entire clocktower. The other option is that he starts again, with his family crest, on anther, parallel Earth, where he will be a nobody. The only downside is that he must complete the task this vampire gives him and then he's scot free.
Shirou looked up and asked, "When and where are you sending me?" he watched as the old vampire gave him a dangerous smile and leaned on his desk with his left arm. "I'll be de-aging you once we've implanted the crest. Once that is done, I'll be sending you to 6th century Britain of the world I place you. your task." He paused and leaned back on his chair. "Is to befriend and protect Morgan Pendragon." Shirou almost had another heart attack once he heard that.
"She'll be 16 years old at the time I send you. you will too. Or, more accurately, your body will be 16 years old." Shirou almost collapsed onto the ground, but a chair appeared out of thin air behind him as he fell backwards into it.
Shirou placed a trembling hand on his forehead, trying to catch his breath. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Rin would walk through that door and ask for her next lesson.
"Just one thing before we start the procedure." Shirou said with a voice that spoke of renewed focus "Will she be the mother of most of the Knights of the Round in this world?"
"No, that lies with her younger, half-sister, Anna Pendragon." Zelretch stood up once more and placed his free hand on the crest. "You do know how painful this process will be?" "I do. But I've been through worse. What's a crest transfer going to do?" he gave Zelretch a fake smile. He really wasn't prepared for this.
The pain was excruciating, but he knew that it was nothing compared to the burns he felt during the First Fuyuki Fire. He was the sole survivor of both fires. The first killed over 500 people, the second killed the entire city, save for him and Rin Tohsaka.
He continued to scream as time around him was frozen still. Zelretch didn't want Rin to enter, she was only a breath away from grasping her hand onto the doorknob.
"It's done." Zeltrech said, "I recommend you wait to use it, but there's a few more things we need to do before I let you off. Shirou blinked and found himself sitting in a more comfortable chair. Shirou looked around to find himself in a luxurious train, but he was also the only one on it.
"Shirou Emiya?" he turned around at the sound of his name. Shirou was greeted by woman with blond hair and wore a red blindfold around her eyes. "Zelretch said you'd be here. please follow me."
"Wai- AGH!...Wait! where…am I" He pushed through the pain. the amount of it he felt was enough to cause any normal person to be bed ridden for days, but he wasn't any normal person. He was the Wrong Iron Magus Killer. A man of with will power so strong, he fought 6 heroic spirits single handedly…and won.
"You are on the Rail Zeppelin." She said helping him up. "A magic crest transfer this late into your life? I'v heard that the Kaleidoscope was insane, but this is just cruelty." Shirou nearly blacked out a few times as she helped him to the lounging room of the train.
"Please wait here, my boss will be with you shortly." She laid him down on a royal red couch. He blacked out soon after she placed him. "Guess the pain must be worst than you thought, if it could knock you out cold. Magus Killer."
He didn't know how long he was out. But when he woke up, he saw a ghostly, feminine figure in front of him, he knew that this was a Superior Dead Apostle. "Welcome, Second Magus Killer. I am the Deputy Manager of the Rail Zeppelin."
"How long was I out?" Shirou said as he tried to sit up.
"2 hours. Your body should be used to the Magic Crest by now, seeing that you have a high pain tolerance." She spoke with slight amusement. He couldn't see her eyes, but he could tell that she was going to enjoy whatever she was about to do to him.
"Why am I here?" Shirou asked. He needed to know why he was on something that was supposed to only exist through rumors.
"Zelretch has requested that I…merge your eyes with several pairs of mystic eyes that will allow you to see Fairies and other spirits." Shirou wasn't pleased with this news, if anything. He was terrified by this.
"W-w-w-Wait. Hold up. How are you going to do that?" he was rightfully worried. This kind of magecraft is lethal if performed incorrectly, it can be performed at all really.
"It's rather simple." She placed one of her index fingers on his forehead. Making Shirou pass out once more.
"I will try to make this as painless as possible." She said as she walked towards a briefcase that had a container. In it was several pairs of perfectly preserved mystic eyes. "That madman sure did pay up a sizable amount for this. It isn't every day that I'm given over one billion pounds to do somethings this questionable."
Shirou wondered how many times he is going to be knocked out today. But he was also trying out his new eyes. That dead apostle kept her promise, he didn't feel a thing. But it did feel weird for him, having his eyes be artificially merged with several pairs.
He was back in Zelretch's office, in front of him was a Fairy he called to help Shirou test his eyes. People who don't have these kinds of mystic eyes can't see them. Unless you're part fairy yourself.
"How are the eyes?" Zelretch asked.
"They're fine, I just need to get used to having purple glowing eyes now." Shirou said with a bit of snark.
"Excellent! Now, about time we get started with the last part. I've prepared some clothes for you once I've de-aged you. You'll still have the eyes and crest, but I recommend you use your crest sparingly, your younger body might not be able to hand such intense time oriented magecraft."
Shirou sighed a bit before trying to speak, but Zelretch interrupted him.
"Oh, and one last thing, I'll be needing Avalon. There cannot be two Avalons at once in any world." Shirou looked down again, he didn't want to part with something that was literally part of himself. but he also knew that he had to give up something. "Give it to Nimue. It's safe her."
Zelretch gave him a small smile. "Very well. I see that there's still some good left in you after all." He said as he retrieved Avalon. "I will return it to her. You're right to trust it to it's keeper." Shirou then started to feel sick, the room started to spin around him again, his clothes started to feel lose. Before Shirou knew it, he was physically younger.
"Try these on, you're going to need them." Zelretch dossed him a pair of clothes, they were similar in design to Heroic Spirit EMIYA. But it didn't have the metal or silver highlights, it also had a red hood and the gap between the mantle and the waist cap was closed with red cloth to make it look like a red coat with a long, black scarf to help him hide his face.
Once Shirou put them on, he found himself thrown towards an open portal. "Farewell Shirou Emiya, and good luck with your new life!" Zelretch said to him as he fell through the portal. Shirou yelled and cursed at him for pulling an underhanded move like that.
He fell, he fell longer than he thought was even possible. A voice whispered in his ears. The voice of an old man. He said, "now is not your time, my child." The falling stopped soon after that.
Shirou woke up once more, but this time to the sound of birds singing, he sat up to find himself in a vast forest. He sniffed the air to find any smoke. Smoke could mean many things in this time, it could mean civilization, mercenaries, or raiders.
"Guess I'd better go look." He said to himself. Shirou got up and just walked, trying to find any signs of civilization nearby.
"Ugh!" Morgan exclaimed as she entered her castle, slamming her doors close with magecraft. "Those damned noble families. Why can't they just get along and work together. Then I wouldn't have to be stuck fixing their messes and be left financially supporting the local, goddamned militia and those bloody peasants alone!" It wasn't easy for her, being the princess who was denied the right to sit the throne, while her half- sister Anna sat comfortably in hers next to her beloved husbands and raised her first born son.
She muttered to herself, her anger towards the nobles was for good reason. Some of them suggested that she wed their sons so that they can have a king and that she can sit back and relax. She told them that she would only marry a man with actual intelligence. She refused to give the throne and her power to some fool.
"…I could use a glass of wine right now." She said to herself as she started to get a migraine. She had a castle all to herself, no servants or knights, only her familiars, and the occasional visit from her former mentor Merlin, kept her company. It was little over 7,000 sq ft. but she did get lonely from time to time.
Morgan made her way towards her wine cellar; she had all kinds of expensive drinks preserved in barrels from foreign lands and neighboring kingdoms. "Ah, some Red Wine will do for now." She said as she poured a pint of it into a wooden cup. "Perhaps reading my novel with this will help me relax."
Morgan felt her joints ache as she walked towards her library. She had been walking all day in her heeled shoes. And having to deal with those idiots in power didn't help either. She had an excuse to take a long, comfortable bath right now. A glass of wine and a novel along with said bath sounded great to her.
She entered her vast library, books and scrolls from around the world filled its shelves, all of them in different languages. Each shelf was like a small tower, she had several ladders made through alteration magecraft to help her reach them. Almost all of her books were on magical lore and history, but there was one shelf dedicated to fun books. Things like adventure and romance always caught her eye, the tales of great heroes who return triumphant and live peacefully or fall from grace or fall in love with someone who end up becoming their hero in the end.
She sighed heavily. "If only my life were that exciting." she longed to be saved by all of this, to have a companion to help her ease this burden. But sadly, that dream will only remain a dream.
AN: hello everyone! I will be writing this along with Prince of Shadows. Prince of Shadows will be here for those that prefer a traditional Fate Story, whereas this one will be for those fans of the Fate-In Time formula. This is just my take on that formula. And no, Shirou will not be OP as hell in this story like the one in "In Time." He will be more emotionally broken.
Just here to clear things up. The reason why the deputy manager isn't one of the 27 DAA is because they don't exist in fates worlds. They do in the other type moon properties though. In Fate, beings that could classify as dead apostle ancestors like Cath Palug and Zelretch are classified as Superior dead apostles.
This story will be more mature than Prince of Shadows, I'm adding a bit more like gore and other things for this story. It takes place in the 6th century, expect things to get violent when fights happen.
I'm also adding more monsters in this story that are in the Fate Multiverse like Dragons and The Wild Hunt and expanding on their lore.
Shirou will get his own Excalibur in the story, I'm just not telling you how he gets it right now. Nor am I telling you what the sword represents.
Also expect to see some GAR moments here and there. I'm also planning on showing the history of the Pendragon Family magic, the very essence of Britain itself. Something that both Morgan, Saber Alter, and Vortigern have, and what it does to its users.
I'm also using Celtic Welsh names and place names because the tale of King Arthur is mostly Welsh. Sadly, I can't come up with names on my own, so I'll be using a name generator for the noble houses, this story does take place in the 6th century after all.