Chapter 6
A Path Never Taken
"You'll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path." -Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass
Part 1
The last few days didn't feel real to him, so many things happened and so many changed that a part of him felt utterly lost and astonished at how far deep into the darkness of the world did the world of the magus truly resided. It was nauseating how little did the magi care for the people that were unaware of their reality.
That was the only reason he joined the holy grail war.
However, he couldn't help wonder if he wasn't just as blind as them at the horrifying truths that lied in wait under the peaceful façade of the world. His father was a murderer and he was the cause of the great fire that consumed Fuyuki ten years' back; Shinji, the boy he thought he knew so well turned out to be a twisted and hateful person, and Sakura and Tohsaka were both magus trained by their families
'…What have I been doing…?' Shirou asked himself as he walked through the halls of Homurahara looking for Shinji. Even with the headache that entering the school gave him he hadn't shown a single bit of it in his face but this anger he felt well…His face had to have been something as everyone who looked at him immediately moved away
When he didn't find anything he could only grit his teeth to not scream and rage
"Emiya-Kun" It was the voice of Rin Tohsaka that pulled him out of his rage "You dare coming to school without your servant" She asked while glaring at him "if it's like that you really are looking down on me…eh?" Her tirade stopped when Shirou got near her with a serious look on his face and then grabbed her shoulders intensifying her blush
"Please, Tohsaka, give me advice!" He asked
"What?"
After that, they had to move to the roof after a group of girls saw them and immediately started giggling and whispering at each other
"I see" said Rin while looking at the sky "Shinji is a Master, Ayako was attacked and Rider is gone" She closed her eyes as if tasting the words out of her mouth "That's not everything is it?"
"…Shinji has a little sister; her name is Sakura" Shirou didn't notice Rin's grimace "There is a possibility she could get involved in all this…" Rin opened her mouth to speak "And there is also you"
That made Rin stop and stare at him "What?"
"I mean; I can't just leave you to fight this war with a weakened servant can I?"
"O-oh, That" Tohsaka coughed a little to straighten herself "You don't have to worry about me, I can just stay in my house until that guy recovers"
"What if the Master of Berserker attacks you?" Asked Shirou
"W-well I can… run away?" Even she knew how flimsy that answer was
"…" And Shirou noticed
"W-well it's not as if we both could stay at your house could we?! If I stay at your house she would get involved just by hearing us talk!" Yelled Tohsaka
"That's true…" frowned Shirou, until an idea appeared in his mind "What if she stays with Fuji-n – Fujimura-sensei?"
"Hah?" Now Rin was more confused "Isn't her family Yakuza?"
"Yeah, but Fujimura-san would take care of her if I ask as a favor and it's not like she would have to be there all day right?" Shirou reasoned "There's also the fact that Fujimura-Sensei would beat up anyone who looks at her the wrong way"
Rin sighed "And? How would you explain the fact that you are sheltering me but not her without hurting her?" She pointed out
"Hurting her?" asked Shirou confused
Rin just facepalmed
Part 2
Lancer looked upon the battle in Ryuudou Temple just as his master ordered. As expected information was revealed without the participant's knowledge, for one the master of Caster the only master apart from the Matou girl that didn't visit the church to register was revealed to be one the teachers at the local high school and then there was the appearance and preparations of the Servant of Magecraft
"Tche, if only I had a better master I could get a good fight" complained Lancer
Lancer watched as the master took one of the three assassins and the servant took two. He recognized the three of them as Hassan of the Hundred Faces; His master somehow recognized them and has been making him kill a few of the cockroaches every night
"Now that right there is a good Master, he goes right into the battle. None of that hiding behind the servant bullshit" He commented and was about to continue on his tirade until Kirei's voice appeared in his head 'Lancer, go on and try to see if you can kill Caster's Master'
Lancer sighed and almost sluggishly stood up from his spot "What about the traps?"
It wasn't even a question of if Caster would have put traps, and considering that most of them reacted with Assassin and not with the master while they ascended through the stairs of the temple, it was probable that those traps reacted to spirits even if they were astralized.
'You need to enter through the front door to enter the Temple but there is no resistance were you to only walk around the mountain' Explained Kirei, while Lancer cliqued his tongue
"You know master? I am a Lancer, not an assassin" Grumbled Lancer "I am supposed to be fighting other servants, not assassinating other masters"
'I could just kill her you know' answered Kirei
Lancer gritted his teeth as Kirei reminded him of why he followed his orders despite not having any command seals used on him
"…" Lancer just stood up from the building he was standing on and disappeared in a burst of speed
As he ran through the streets at the speed of a bullet train without any of the common people noticing it didn't take him more than a minute to reach the foot of the mountain and enter the forest that surrounded it, in search of Caster's Master. It was more instinct born in battle than any of his senses that made him duck down right before a black tendril almost took his head.
"Whoa!" Exclaimed Lancer "Oi, oi, just how paranoid is than Caster to even put one…of…his…" Lancer trailed off as he felt malicious intent from the being in front of him "You…What are you?" Lancer immediately put up his guard as the being, the Shadow in front of him radiated wrongness and every single of his heroic spirit instincts felt as if he would be killed by this being.
The Being's only answer was to launch more tendril in an attempt to catch him, keyword attempt. Lancer immediately used his spear to deflect the tendril and ran forwards to stab the being with his spear, the being however expected this and its shadow suddenly expanded almost catching him inside it. However, Lancer's hand and half of his spear were affected.
"What the?!" Questioned Lancer as his hand was suddenly covered by a black glove and half of his spear was covered in black "What did you do?!" Growled Lancer before the blackness disappeared from his body and the sanity that he was starting to lose recovered "You… The only thing capable of changing an active servant like that is the use of the Third Sorcery, just who the hell are you?!"
The Being just attacked again, this time using the tendrils to try and corner Lancer so it could use its shadow again but Lancer was a Heroic Spirit that entered the Throne of Heroes due to his Military and Martial achievements, it wasn't so easy to corner someone like him. Lancer used his spear to deftly deflect and weave around the tendril using his [Protection from Arrows] while trying to find an opening to use his spear.
'That shadow expanded about two meters so it is inside my range…' thought Lancer however Kirei's order was to retire and [Disengage] after finding out about the enemies' capabilities "What do you think master? Should I retire or can I finish this fight?" Lancer asked while deflecting almost dismissively the tendrils that tried to grab him, but even as he waited for a full minute while deflecting the tendrils that threatened to grab his flesh he got no answer.
"Guess he doesn't care then!" yelled Lancer while grinning and launching himself at an enormous speed at the being. The being fully expanded its shadow expecting Lancer to either retire or fall into the [Pool of Corruption], however, its expectations were destroyed as Lancer with skills unheard of normal spearmen fully used the 2-meter length of his spear and instead of having a range below the 2 meters instead had a range that entered the 3 meters without losing control of the maneuverability of his spear slashing at the being with the ferociousness of a wild beast.
A hideous sound similar to the cries of a thousand condemned and the yells of a hundred tormentors escaped from the being as Lancer tore into it slashing away into the darkness that surrounded it, even when the Being tried to attack with its tendrils or trap him in its shadow. Lancer simply predicted its movements and dodged, although the more he read its movements the more he noticed that they were oddly human and feminine in nature. He had to retreat however when he had to deflect a nail attached to a chain that came from the trees.
"Naïve!" Yelled Lancer while grinning whole-heartedly. Meanwhile, from the trees, a woman, dressed in a leather outfit and a blindfold, jumped and rushed towards him at speeds that overcame most land-based vehicles that weren't designed to go at ridiculous speeds, yet Lancer reacted and moved just as fast and blocked the woman's nails stopping her in her tracks then he used the impact and slashed at her with his spear.
"Hm" Lancer's eyes narrowed when what should have been a narrow wound instead became a serious cut and his spear started to release bloodlust without his orders "I see… You're someone that came to be known as a monster" It wasn't a question; it was a statement.
Rider didn't answer and just threw one of her nails while retreating after noticing her disadvantage in close range, Lancer wouldn't allow this. Immediately he rushed Rider and gave a thrust with his spear that would stab her chest. It was not meant to be as the black tendrils appeared from the ground and wrapped around his leg before throwing him at a nearby lake.
Lancer righted himself mid-air and landed on his feet only to deflect another of Rider's nails before jumping backward and dodging a tendril that tried to pierce his heart. Rider threw another of her nails and rushed at him with another in hand while the Being threw about five shadow tendrils at the same time to stab Lancer. Lancer deflected Rider's nail and four of the tendrils and turned to block rider even while one of the tendrils pierced his arm.
"As if something like this would stop me!" Lancer regretted that decision as the moment he blocked Rider's nail he noticed that the tendril weakened him as he had trouble taking the impact of the blade. He [Disengaged] and quickly moved away from Rider while cutting and destroying the tendril that pierced his arm. Rider just stared at his position and seemingly came to a decision as she grabbed the back of her blindfold and took it off revealing her eyes, [Cybele], to Lancer.
Lancer looked at her and smirked "That a pretty- Urk!" Lancer suddenly seized as his feet and arms started turning to stone "Shit! Mystic eyes!" Tendrils moved and slowly wrapped around him as the shadow of the Being, who stood behind Rider, suddenly expanded forwards instead of around it and it started to absorb him while corrupting his Spirit Core.
Lancer at that moment growled and despite the petrification used his left leg to jump at the shore of the lake "As if I would let you do that!" Lancer knew that at this point he had been defeated, though not without the enemy revealing the Servants Identity, however, he understood that the enemy's intentions weren't to kill him, but to change him into something that could only bring grief to the world.
He couldn't accept that
His pride wouldn't accept that
He had done many things in life that resulted in the death of those who were close to him but he didn't regret that because he took the decisions that led to their death of his own volition. He didn't regret the things that happened because he took the wrong decision, He would however regret it if he let himself become a monster manipulated by something as foul as the shadow that pursued him, so he took a bet. From his vantage point from which he saw the start of the battle inside the temple, he saw a lake that was about 200 meters behind the temple, if Caster was as careful as Lancer believed him to be a trap would be set nearby.
For once [Luck] was on Lancer's side, and there was a trap that was immediately activated making rock spikes rush from the ground and pierce his body. Lancer just spitted out blood as the spike pierced one of his thighs, broke the rock that became his left foot and both of his arms, and stabbed his abdomen and chest, piercing his heart.
"Heh, guess I ruined your plans" snarked Lancer, staying alive only due to [Battle Continuation]. The being just wrapped the tendrils around him and absorbed him into the darkness 'This is the worst' were Lancer's last thoughts
Part 3
This wasn't what she expected of the Holy Grail War.
If there is one thing that Tohsaka Rin knows, it is that this war had been bad situations after bad situations. She had once believed herself the most probable winner of the war, after all the training she had done under Kotomine and all her practice in her family magecraft, how could she not be the most prepared for the war?
Then came the actual war. She committed a mistake with the clocks and she ended up summoning Archer instead of Saber, added into that mess it turns out that her summoning was improper and ended up with her servant having amnesia and being unable to remember his name; Later her own mistake almost resulted in the death of her sister's crush and her carelessness almost resulted in her disqualification from the war and to finish up the disaster that became her participation in the war a murderous little girl with more prana in the tip of her finger than her in her whole body and a Servant that could probably squash Archer like a bug appeared.
So it was reasonable to admit that she was a bit hurting for allies so anyone was good enough, so she should be thankful that Emiya, her classmate with the extremely powerful servant, decided to ally himself with her.
She repeated this as a mantra even as she scolded the heck out of him.
"What do you mean you create your circuits?!"
Emiya flinched and looked down, looking the image of a regretful student while Saber looked confused. Rin gave one of her 'smiles' "Emiya-Kun, would you please explain what do you do when you actualize your magecraft?"
Nervously Emiya answered "I create the circuit and then use the prana to make my spells work?"
Rin glared at him and grabbed his hand while blushing a bit and activated her circuits "…27 circuits…5 circuits made out of…?!" Rin's eyes snapped open "You've been cannibalizing your nerves?!" She yelled making Emiya flinch and Saber stand at attention
"What does she mean master?" Asked Saber her tone stern
"Dad, uh, he said that circuits are nerves? And that I had to open them? So as he didn't want to teach me and I wanted to learn I kinda stumbled around until I found that method and finally managed to use [Reinforcement], [Projection] and [Alteration] although I fail… most… of… the…" Emiya shrunk more and more as Rin's look of anger seemed to reach levels hitherto unheard of "…Time"
"Are you done Emiya-Kun?" Rin said with a peaceful smile as Emiya nodded, then she took a deep breath "WHAT THE HELL WAS YOUR FATHER THINKING?! WAS HE TRYING TO KILL YOU OR IS HE THAT INCOMPETENT IN TEACHING?! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NOT WANTING TO TEACH YOU'?! IT IS THE DUTY OF ALL MAGUS TO PASS ON THEIR ARTS SO THAT THEY DON'T BECOME LOST TO THE WORLD! AND YOU! HOW IS IT THAT YOU'RE ALIVE?! ARGGGG! WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEE?!" Rin yelled at the top of her lungs with a truly desperate face
Meanwhile, Emiya and Saber were doing their dammed best to stop her rampage
An hour later and Archer entering the fray while for some reason trying his dammed best to get Emiya in the path of Rin's fists, and finally Rin was calm and collected enough to talk in a civilized manner
Rin coughed a little and decided to explain some things to Emiya "Emiya - Kun, what you have been doing is extremely dangerous and should have resulted in your death, fortunately, you're not hurt but unfortunately, your contract with Saber has been done based around this fake circuits and has resulted in her receiving very little Prana from you which makes her vulnerable, there are ways around it but… anyways pay attention and I shall teach you how to use your circuits"
Part 4
Julian felt annoyed
Throughout the entire night, Tohsaka hadn't left the Emiya Manor, which had resulted in the delay of his plans and his legend. This made him feel extremely angry with the Tohsaka heiress and only the thought of killing her after Emiya made him stay his hand. He knew better than anyone that Assassin wasn't a very powerful servant and the only way Assassin could win against another servant was if they attacked in masse which would result in the death of most of the replicas, something he couldn't afford because he only had 24 of the replicas still alive.
His annoyance only grew when a gaggle of giggling girls passed him by
"Did you know what I heard?" asked Giggle #1 "What, what did you hear?" asked Giggle #2 "Yeah, tell us, tell us" Said Giggle #3 "Weeeeelllll" said Giggle #1 acting coy
Julian was about to move away from the place to get away before he gained a headache when Giggle #1 finally answered Giggle #2 and #3 "I heard that Emiya-Kun and Tohsaka have been meeting at the roof recently and that maybe they are dating!" Giggle #1 as well as the other girls went 'kya kya' as Julian left the vicinity.
Calmly moving to the bathroom Julian considered the rumors that the girls were spreading and the possibility that instead of the romantic escapade they expected that Emiya and Tohsaka were instead using lunchtime to reunite and talk about the war. The moment he entered a bathroom stall he pulled out a handheld mirror and connected it to one of the windows of the stair access to the roof. Making it face the wall he neared his ear to the mirror
"…we will contact each other through these" that was Tohsaka's voice "If you destroy one you destroy the other so be careful and don't let yourself get killed" she added
"Ok thanks, Tohsaka. So what if we don't find anything at all?" Asked a male voice that belonged to Emiya
"We will reconvene in this rooftop and discuss our findings" answered Tohsaka
Julian just ended the spell and nodded
"Today I will kill Emiya and defeat Saber"
Part 5
Shinji trembled in the presence of his 'grandfather'. He knew that the man had somehow found a way to cheat death long long long ago and that he probably knew enough magecraft to turn his life into a living hell if he tried, combined with the fact that his actions almost resulted in Rider's death and that his grandfather really wanted to win this Grail War meant that he was in serious trouble
"Did you know, Shinji" started his grandfather "That I hypnotized your sister last night and sent her with the servant to hunt?" stated Zouken
Shinji's mind almost immediately {isshealrightisshealrightisshealright} halted in rage. Did that damn girl do something to impress his grandfather?
"Yesterday, she managed to defeat Lancer" Zouken continued "And I can't help but wonder if it was even necessary to give you the Book of False Attendant if she can defeat a servant in a tenth of the time you had it"
Fear and Envy permeated him {havetodosomethinghavetodosomething} and he knew, he knew, the next words out of his grandfather's mouth would be the ones that hurt him the most
"Maybe I should have her become the Heir of the Matou instead of you" cruelly mentioned Zouken "But I will give you one last chance, kill one master or servant in three days and I shall let you keep your status. Fail and I would recommend you to never return to this house" and with that Zouken walked away.
Shinji just fell to his knees and despaired {heisespecial} what could he do {kill} when his sister was about to take his rightful place {itisn't} maybe if he killed her? {Don't} No he had to kill a master, but who? {Tohsaka}
Shinji smiled and called for Rider
Tonight he would kill Rin Tohsaka
END
The title refers to the fact that past this point this isn't HF, UBW, or Fate route anymore. The slight changes in a different caster and master are rippling and changing the future. Also, Angra is stepping up his game as he feels that there's an immensely powerful force watching his movements.
I feel I had to do the scene of the circuits so that I could at least have Shirou's survival rate go up a little as in the next battle things are going to be hard to survive. As for Izuku, he will be facing something different than the others
Next Chapter
"How?! A normal human shouldn't be able to defend against that"
"So it was you all along!"
"You have to decide if you are going to be able to kill because if you aren't you are going to die"
"Cybele!"
Next Chapter: Bad Situation