Santo's Vajra Snippets (My Daughter, Shirou's Birthday)

My Daughter originally posted on November 23rd, 2012

Birthday originally posted on June 5th, 2013


My Daughter


Fate T. Emiya slept in her bed, shifting continuously back and forth as she relived things that were long past.

"So what? You expect me to think of you as my daughter now?"

She mewled and muttered, stretching out her hand, hoping against all hope that her mother would take it.

"PRECIA! PRECIA YOU COWARD!"

Tears fought their way down her cheeks as sobs wracked her frame.

"You are a fool." Said the white haired man as he held Precia's bleeding form over the black abyss by the throat. "The dead do not come back, reality cannot be overturned. Those tears, those painful memories. They are all that remains."

Precia began to struggle in his grip, clawing at the wrist that held onto her with a grip of iron. "To continue on remembering that pain, that is the only way your daughter remains. People die. Death is sad. But what about all those bright memories? What about all the time you spent happily with her?"

Fate mumbled incoherently, unable to decide who to help, who to condemn. She wanted the nice man to let go of her mother, she wanted her mother to go away. She wanted to be left alone, she wanted to be taken into a warm embrace and simply held. She remained frozen in indecision, and so the decision was made for her.

Precia growled deep in her throat and shifted her hands, clawing at the man's neck, trying to make him let go.

"Do you even remember the sound of her voice? Can you even recall the chime of her laugh?" Precia's eyes sharpened until they resembled a pair of daggers, glaring into the golden eyes that condemned her so. "Do you honestly think she would be happy to see the wretch you've become? Do you think it would bring her joy to see the monster her mother has changed into?"

Precia's eyes blazed and from her hands sprang forth a bolt of incandescent energy, striking the man in the center of his chest with enough force to push him back a full three feet, his iron tipped boots skidding on the floor.

Fate screamed and threw out her arm, knowing it to be useless. Yet even so the nightmare would not free her from its grasp.

Precia looked to the white haired man. She saw the open contempt those golden orbs directed at her with all the mercy of a sharpened blade. Yet she would not, could not, let him have the last word.

"I will not settle for a worthless fake! I will regain the single happiness I ever had!"

The white haired man intercepted the ruby-eyed girl before the latter could throw herself down after Precia. Holding her screaming form in the most gentle grip he could.

He looked down at the falling form and spoke in a voice broken by emotion, a strange mix of fury, pity, and grief coloring his tone. "You stupid fool…you broke the only happiness you were entitled to."

Fate woke with a heartrending scream, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

Almost as soon as her scream began, the door to her room opened with a loud bang as a tall white-haired man pushed his way through it. He rushed to her sobbing form and took her into a warm embrace as she proceeded to bury her face in his wide chest and simply sob. All the while proclaiming she was not worthless, that she was not a fake.

The lack of conviction in her voice as she sought to convince herself plain for all to see.

An indeterminate time later, after she had cried all she could, Fate refused to look up from her father's chest. She felt warm, wanted, and safe. And she did not want to let go of that feeling.

"The same nightmare again?" Asked Shirou softly as he trailed his rough hands through her silky hair, Fate's only response was to nod. "I see." Said Shirou and fell quiet.

They remained like that for a long while until Fate pushed against Shirou's chest. He let go of her and she sat back with a sniffle, her nose running and her eyes puffy and red from crying.

Shirou rubbed her head with a sad smile while Fate sniffed and hiccupped.

He thought long and hard over what she had screamed as she cried. Proclaiming she had worth, that she was important. The scars left by Precia would take longer yet to heal.

Not even after five long months could Shirou bring himself to forgive the woman. And so as his daughter refused to look up, content to let him mess up her hair, he made a decision he had been putting off ever since she had first asked about the two dull black and white swords he kept as a memorial.

"Hey Fate. You know those two swords I keep in the living room?" Asked Shirou with a jovial tone.

"Y-Yes?" Answered Fate with trepidation, still instinctively expecting to be punished for such a show of weakness.

"Want to hear the story behind them?" Asked Shirou with a warm smile.

Fate blinked and stared at her father. She had asked him countless times about those swords, wondering why his eyes always became bleak with pain, loss, and fear. Yet he had always refused, always telling her that there were some things that had to remain buried in the future, whatever that meant.
"R-Really?" She asked, completely nonplused by the offer. "B-But why?"

Shirou took several long moments to compose his answer, he ran his rough fingers through her hair again and gave her a wistful smile. "I understand that I've been something of a fool. I haven't told you because I was trying to protect you, but I see that's caused you more harm than good." He wiped her cheeks softly with his callused fingers and gave her a smile. "Now c'mon, go wash your face and blow your nose. I'll tell you about them in the living room."

Fate did as she was told, quickly washing her face, removing the tear stains and small amount of mucus that had leaked out of her nose. When she was done she went to the now bright living room where Shirou waited for her, carrying a steaming cup in each hand.

He handed her a cup and told her to make herself comfortable. She took a sip of the beverage, it was delicious hot chocolate.

She stared at her father as he sipped is own drink, starting at the black and white blades in the same way he always did. He walked to them and ran his hands over the dull blades for a few moments. When he spoke, it was in a distracted tone.

"Someone I used to know." Said Shirou slowly, frowning at the weapons as if they had caused his ire. "Would call these two swords a pair of worthless fakes." He stated in a tone as cold as the one she remembered he had used when speaking to Precia.

Fate flinched at the last two words, almost spilling her hot chocolate all over herself.

"He would say that they are a pair of worthless fakes." Fate flinched. "Worthless fakes, made by a useless fake. To honor the most insignificant of all fakes." With each repetition of the word 'fake' Fate would flinch as if she had been struck, her hands trembled as they tightened on the mug of cocoa.

Shirou turned to her and waited for Fate to look him in the eye. She did, and was surprised by the anger she found smoldering in them. "As the worthless fake that drove him to a corner and put him down like the rabid animal he was. I like to think that he was wrong."

Fate blinked.

Shirou continued, unheeding of his daughter's confusion. "He was…he was a great man. The greatest there ever was. He slew great and terrible beasts, conquered all of the land, lay claim to the world, halted cold a creature stronger than an earthquake. In the end, he held immortality in the palm of his hand, and gave it to a snake.

"He was…a tyrant, a monster. He was going to destroy the world, for in his eyes, humans were no longer fit to have him as a ruler." Shirou turned to Fate. "He had the most valuable of treasures. The greatest and most beautiful works of art. The most ancient weapons. All treated as trash for to him they were mere trinkets.

"My very existence disgusted him. He called me a worthless faker. Capable only of making a pale imitation of his great works.

"In the end, we...I pit all that I was against him. Making copies of every weapon he threw at me as I desperately fought, trying to keep him contained.

"I won. His treasures, each one ancient, each one beyond priceless. They could not overcome the countless copies I threw at him."

Shirou set his cup down and walked to his daughter, he knelt in front of her and placed his rough hands on her shoulders. Her wide eyes stared into his own as she sat enraptured by his story. "Just because something is a copy…a fake. It does not mean it's not real, it does not mean that it holds no value."

He drew Fate into a hug, pressing her face lightly against his chest and rocked her back and forth. "Fake. Original. Ancient. Worthless. Priceless. Those are just words, words that hold no true meaning, words that don't matter.

"You are Fate Testarossa Emiya, my daughter. You are real, and the most important thing in my life." Shirou pulled back from the embrace and pressed his forehead to Fate's, holding her gaze and absently wiping away one of her tears. "You are the best thing that has happened to me, and if I ever hear you say that an artificial life is not just as precious as a natural one, then you will make me very sad."

Fate blinked away her tears, sniffled, and gave her father a beaming smile. "I-I think I understand."

Shirou smiled back, wiped her cheeks, and stood up. "Atta girl, now c'mon, finish up your chocolate and try to get a few more hours of sleep, you have school tomorrow."

"Y-Yes!" Said Fate, her beaming smile so bright it could light up a room. "Thanks Shirou!"

"ACK!" Said Shirou at the mention of his name, falling to his knees and clutching his left arm.

"S-Shirou?" Asked Fate with alarm, causing her father to wail in agony as he grasped his chest. "S-Shirou what's wrong!?"

When Shirou spoke, it was with the agonized pain of a dying man, forsaken and betrayed by all he had known. "A world…where a man's daughter…refers to him by name…is not worth living in."

"Ah!" Exclaimed Fate, her eyes widening in realization. "I-I-I m-m-meant d-d-d-" Fate took a deep breath, her face flushing with color as she made her declaration. "I meant dad!"


Birthday


Signum Yagami faced a conundrum.

While she did not like to think that she liked tact, it would be a lie to say that she did not prefer to face problems that could be solved quickly and efficiently.

The light bulb not working? Change it.

Need groceries? Go buy them.

A friend is not speaking with you? Go to the friend and ask what is wrong.

There is an enemy ahead? Cut him down, or burn him, or shoot him, or otherwise incapacitate him.

Quick, simple, easy. Her modus operandi.

But the problem Signum faced was one she had never faced before. A task that she was unsure she was fit for.

What to gift Shirou Emiya on his birthday?

It was the first time they would hold a celebration for such an auspicious day, as he had always neglected to mention it before as, to him, it was a matter of no import. So far lady Hayate had decided on a book. Shamal had still not forgiven him for that time he broke her wrist. Zafira had gotten him a new punching bag. And Vita had apparently gotten a gaming console with her name, and was planning a prank.

Signum had turned down their advice of getting the man a sword. After all, what sword could she give the man who claimed his body was made of them? She had witnessed the power of some of the weapons the man possessed first hand. She had access to nothing that could match the power of the legends he held at his beck and call.

As such she had accepted Momoko's invitation for a 'strategy meeting'. Signum could honestly say that she had never before felt more out of her depth.

As such, while Momoko, Lindy, Amy, Nanoha, Susuka, and Arisa all talked excitedly among each other as they browsed make up, clothes, and phone accessories. Signum sat at a bench with no idea what to do with herself.

Strangely enough, she was not alone.

"So." Asked Signum after she could take the silence no longer. "What are you getting your father?"

Fate T. Emiya sighed the sigh of the dejected. "He told me that the best gift I could give him, was to leave the chores to him for the rest of the year."

Fate and Signum sighed in perfect synchronicity.

"Why is your father so difficult?"

"I don't know."

The two fell quiet once more and watched as Arisa held a swimming suit that was the very definition of the word risqué up for Suzuka's approval. And laughing uproariously as the poor girl's face turned tomato red.

"You know," said Signum as she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. "he almost never smiles…why is that?"

Fate folder her legs up, hugged them, and hid her face behind her knees, when she spoke, her voice was strangely hesitant. "He smiles when he talks to me but…it's rarely a happy smile, it's more…"

Signum picked up where the blond trailed off. "…something that he seems to do out of habit more than anything."

"Yes…just like that."

"Well…he has been happy before when he's sparred with me?" Asked Signum hesitantly after another round of silence.

"But you can't spar with him as a birthday present." Answered Fate, prompting the two of them into another long silence.

After several moments, Fate spoke. "He…has looked happy when people eat his food?"

"But the party is happening at the Midori-ya, and I doubt Momoko would let him into her kitchen." Answered Signum with despair in her voice.

They watched as Momoko did a spit-take when Lindy put on the swimming suit that Arisa had picked up earlier. She bowed at the awed claps of the children that accompanied them, incidentally showing off her ample bosom. She was then strongly scolded by Momoko.

"Fate." Said Signum softly. "When…have you seen Shirou smile? And I mean really smile?"

Fate thought long and hard on that question before giving her answer. "When…when he gave me ice-cream for the first time…and when he heard that charges against me were being dropped…and when he pulled Hayate out of the corrupt Reinforce."

"Only when he saves people…"

"Yeah…"

"I don't think we should put ourselves in mortal danger for his birthday." Said Signum with a sigh, not even she was sure if she was joking or not.

"Probably not."

The two fell quiet for a long time before Signum hesitantly spoke up.

"Well…I think I have an idea…"


The party went as everyone had expected it to.

Shirou had been quite surprised at the number of people that had attended. The fact that the people of the community would want to thank him in some way, due to the numerous times he gave help, was a completely alien concept to him.

The Takamachi family made the party itself their gift, Momoko had been quite adamant about keeping him out of her kitchen.

He'd thanked Zafira for the punching bag. When Vita stated that 'she would give herself to him so that he could touch her all he wanted' he'd all but thrown her out the window. Hayate had given him a manga that dealt with the forbidden love between a man and his adopted daughter, he'd sliced to ribbons out of reflex.

Lindy had give him a Mid-Childan brand of green tea that had milk already mixed into it. Something he accepted with a radiant smile and an incessant twitch on his right eyebrow.

Arf simply licked his face and whispered she'd give him permission to do what he wanted to Fate.

She soon joined Vita outside.

Once everyone had gone, when conversation had changed to other topics, and Shirou was left to sit by himself, a stranger on his own party. Signum and Fate walked up to him carrying a simple cardboard box, it was somewhat dusty, and unwrapped.

"H-Hey Shirou." Said Signum with pink coloring her cheeks, Fate hid behind her legs, peeking at her father from behind the taller woman.
"Yes Signum, what have you got for me?" Asked Shirou with a tired smile.

"W-Well…I ahh…"

As Signum vacillated and Fate fidgeted, the other people present noticed them and turned to watch. Soon, the attention of everyone in the building was centered on them, a fact that did not go missing on the two girls.

Signum gulped, then, blushing more strongly and not meeting his eyes, she held the box out toward Shirou. "W-We were wondering if…you could…fix that for us." As she spoke, her voice became quieter and quieter, until it trailed away into an inaudible whisper.

Shirou opened the box curiously, his sight being met with a broken rice cooker.

Everyone unashamedly stared.

And then began to whisper.

The blush on the faces of Fate and Signum went from 'electric' to 'nuclear.'

"But of course!" Said Shirou enthusiastically, his voice cutting through the chatter like a hot knife through butter. "Leave it to me!"

Everyone turned and saw that Shirou Emiya, for the first time that day, had a wide and genuine smile.


Intervention, by Heroslayer

Originally posted on February 16th, 2014


Within their group, everyone seems to point at Shirou as the only one with problems. However, what most people forget is that everyone within their circle of friends has issues. Serious issues.

Now none of them really wanted to actually see a therapist, so that meant they had to help each other.

And what better way to stop destructive behavior than the time honored event named:

An Intervention.

Hero Intervention

Emiya Shirou walked into his house and found all of his friends standing in his living room. At first he thought this was the world's worst surprise party, but then remember that it was August and thus not his birthday.

He then saw the banner hanging above everyone that had the word, 'Intervention' blazed across it and had a much better understanding of what was going on.

"What?" Shirou stared at the banner in complete confusion.

Or not so much better.

Nanoha grimaced but gathered her resolve and stepped forward.

"Shirou, this is an intervention."

"But, but," Shirou stumble through his own words as he tried to understand the current situation. "But I don't even drink!"

Yuuno pressed his hand to his face. "Shirou, interventions are for more than just alcoholics."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Nanoha cleared her throat to get Shirou's attention again. "Yes, well, Shirou. This is a Hero Intervention."

Shirou stared blankly at the faces of all of his friends. Some were filled with worry (Fate, Nanoha, Hayate), others looked at him sternly (Arf, the Wolkenritters), and others just looked frustrated (Yuuno and Chrono).

"But being a Hero is not a bad thing." Shirou pointed out.

Nanoha floundered a little as she tried to find the right words, but luckily Chrono took over.

"Emiya, you broke your arm in your last mission."

"Yes, but-"

"You broke it punching out the king of a Non-administrated world. A king that had the magical energy of an entire city of mages under his control. A king that you overthrew, by punching him in the face!" Chrono was shouting at this point. "You were delivering medical supplies how the hell did you start a revolution?!"

"The people only needed those supplies because the king was oppressing them. So I may have led some rebels to get him to stop."

"You lead a Coup d'etat!"

Fate laid a hand on Chrono's shoulder and started to try to calm him down before he tried to strangle Shirou. Shirou's last mission may have caused a great deal of paper work. Paper work that needed to be handled by the man that hired Shirou as a Contract Mage.

As Fate kept Chrono from committing murder, another member of the group stepped forward.

"Shamal? You too?" Shirou asked feeling a little betrayed.

Shamal pulled out a piece of paper and read from it rather than responding to that statement.

"Dear Emiya,

As your doctor I have had the displeasure of healing you for a variety of injuries that simply should not be so vast for a teenager.

You have broken more bones than everyone in this room combined, have had countless lacerations, many of them self inflicted through the barbaric thing you call Magecraft, and more inflicted by what I can only describe as you throwing yourself onto Signum's sword in what only you describe as training."

"Hey!" Both Signum and Shirou took offense to that one.

"Training does not have to be live steel, a wooden weapon will work just as well." Shamal stared at Signum as she said this.

"I… had hoped that the danger of a live blade might motivate him more…" Signum awkwardly explained.

Shamal sighed at the explanation but continued reading. "You have had several more injuries in your attempt to save people, many of which I will not repeat here in public, both because of patient doctor confidentiality and because of the sheer depth of the damage you taken will either frighten and or disgust the people in this room."

Everyone was pretty distraught by that. Shirou was undoubtedly the most fragile of their group since he did not have the same benefits of a Barrier Jacket, even though his armor did offer some protection, and they all remembered the image of the red haired boy lying lifeless in a hospital bed after a drone had nearly crippled him.

Shamal ignored them all and just glared at Shirou.

"How does a teenager even get that many radiation burns?"

"Ah," Shirou was happy that there was finally something he could explain. "See there was this child with a Rare Skill that involved radiation and-"

Shamal raised a hand to stop him. "Stop, I can guess what happened. This is only proving our point. Your constant need to help other people without any regards to your own self."

"But you always heal me."

"I can't heal you if you get yourself killed!"

"But I'm helping people..." Shirou whined softly.

Yuuno sighed and pressed his face into his hands.

"This is going to take a while."

Befriending Intervention

Takamachi Nanoha was surprised to find most of her friends standing in her living room. At first she was pleasantly surprised, after all with their busy schedules it wasn't often that they could all meet like this. That good mood was instantly doused when she noticed the solemn mood and the banner over their heads that said,

Intervention.

"Bweh?"

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Ahem."

Nanoha turned to Hayate who was staring intently at Shirou. Shirou blinked in confusion before Yuuno, not too gently, elbowed him in the ribs while hissing at him to start.

"Oh, right." Shirou stepped forward. "Nanoha, this is an intervention."

"B-bweh. But I… I'm not doing anything wrong!" Nanoha defended herself. She wasn't pushing herself dangerously in training or anything. Why did she need an intervention? "I'm not overtraining anymore. I'm fine!"

"This isn't about th- wait you said anymore. Did you start overtraining again?" Shirou scowled at the weak smile that Nanoha gave him that seemed to say, 'busted,' before shaking his head. "One thing at a time. Nanoha, this is an intervention about your… well…" Shirou took a moment to think of the right words. "'Befriending habits.'"

"Befriending?" Nanoha repeated in confusion.

Vita rolled her eyes. "The sword idiot means that you need to stop threatening and shooting people into becoming your friend."

"What?!" Nanoha squeaked. "I don't do that."

Dead silence met her defense.

"Shirou, tell her that I don't do that." Nanoha pleaded towards her oldest friend. Unfortunately, Shirou refused to meet her eyes. "Shirou?"

"Well, it's just that…" Shirou sighed before taking a deep breath and bit the bullet. "Nanoha we became friends because you dragged me to the room and demanded we be friends."

"B-but, that was for your own good!" Nanoha yelled.

"Maybe, but the thing is, well you've… gotten worse."

"Worse?"

Shirou nodded. "At first I didn't see it, but you've been escalating."

"First you threatened me. Then you slapped Alisa into being your friend." Shirou trailed off.

Fate took over for him. "Nanoha, we're good friends, the best of friends, but we didn't really become friends until you hit me in the face with a Starlight Breaker."

Vita pointed a thumb at herself. "I got an Excellion Breaker."

Shirou nodded. "And well, we've been getting reports from your cadets about you being a…" Shirou looked over at Yuuno for help.

"An Empress of Destruction and Pink Beams in the guise of a combat instructor." Yuuno stated dryly.

"BWEEEEEEHHHH!"

Skinship Intervention

I'll leave this one to your imagination. Some of the things they accuse Hayate of doing cannot be repeated in good company.

So just imagine an image of a fluffy bunny.

Isn't it such a fluffy bunny?

Yeah it is…

Book Intervention

Yuuno Scrya did not walk into his house and find his friends standing with a banner that said Intervention.

"Umm, Yuuno."

"Oh hey Shirou." Yuuno raised a hand and waved in the direction that he heard his friend's voice. "I'll be right with you. I just need to finish reading this."

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem."

Yuuno sighed and looked up to find his friend looking sheepishly at him. Behind Shirou was the entire group with the banner that said Intervention being help up by Arf and Reinforce Zwei.

"What?"

"Well, the thing is Yuuno, we're kind of worried about you." Shirou rubbed the back of his head. "You've been kind of overworking and well, we think you need help."

"Really?" Yuuno stared at all of them. He pointed at Nanoha. "Shouldn't this be an intervention for her?"

"We did that last week." Vita smirked as Nanoha pouted at the reminder of her second Intervention.

"What?" Yuuno tried to remember that intervention but could not bring it up. "I… don't remember that…"

"Yuuno-kun, when was the last time that you left the Infinite Library?" Nanoha asked gently.

"Uh…" Yuuno's normally sharp mind felt rather dull and slow so it took him a moment to recall when he last left. "I had to deliver a report to Chrono about the last Lost Logia that we archived."

"That was two weeks ago, you dumb ferret." Chrono snarked.

Yuuno blinked and looked down at his watch. There on the digital display was the date and two weeks had indeed passed since he left.

"That… doesn't necessarily mean I'm overworking."

Fate frowned gently at him. "Yuuno, Arf said that you haven't slept in two days."

"I…" The lack of sleep was a solid reason for his slow reactions and inability to defend himself. "Oh."

Shamal muttered something about these kids not knowing their own limits. "Yuuno we're going to put you to bed and continue this after you get some sleep."

"What? No, I still have to finish this book." Yuuno floated slowly away from the nurse.

"Yuuno, Shirou took the book away from you five minutes ago. You're reading air." Hayate pointed out.

Yuuno looked down at his hand and it was indeed empty. That moment of distraction was more than enough for Shamal to wrap Yuuno in a bunch of binding spells and start dragging him away to get some sleep.

Fate's Intervention

Okay, so if I was being totally honest. Fate doesn't really have much destructive behavior. I was going to do a Stalking Shirou bit, but it's been overdone.

I had thought of doing an Adopting orphans thing, but it seemed a little in bad taste. I like Erio and Caro and they honestly are pretty damn happy to be under Fate's care.

To be honest, Fate's problems are very internal and require more than just an intervention.

So yeah, just imagine a picture of an adorable tiger.

Isn't it adorable?

Yeah, it is…

Intervention Intervention

"Shirou, were you the one to call us here?"

Emiya Shirou turned around to find everyone standing in the doorway to the Takamachi family living room.

"No." The young magus shook his head. "I thought Nanoha was the one that called us here. It's her house."

"Eh, but I didn't invite anyone." Nanoha said. "I got a message to come home and everyone said that we were meeting up here."

"Then who called us here?" Fate tilted her head as she asked what everyone was thinking.

"We did."

They all turned around and saw a familiar trio of adults.

"Mom, dad?" Nanoha cried out in surprise.

"Mom, what's going on?" Fate asked as Lindy stood next to the Takamachi adults.

"Well, we're here to give you all an intervention." Momoko Takamachi said sternly.

"What?" Everyone was pretty confused by that.

Shiro Takamachi took over for his wife. "Well, we're here to give you an Intervention to stop all of your Interventions."

That only caused more confusion.

"Don't get us wrong." Momoko started up. "We think it's lovely that you all care about each other enough to give each other interventions. It's just that…"

"They're not working." Lindy pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Yuuno frowned at the accusation.

"Well, Shirou for example." The red head scowled at being singled out. "Shamal, what were Shirou's injuries when he went for you for healing last week after his mission."

Shirou's eyes widened and he quickly tried to stop the healer from speaking. "Wait, I have patient doctor confidentiality!"

Shamal paused before smiling. "True, but legally your father left Momoko and Shiro as your guardians. So with their permission I can share the information."

Shirou groaned and dropped his face into his hands as Shamal started listing off all the injuries that she had healed because Shirou wanted to save a small town in his last mission.

Any comment he wanted to make were cut off as Nanoha grabbed him and started yelling at him to take better care of himself.

Lindy nodded wisely. "See, Shirou is still taking risks to be a Hero. I know for a fact that Hayate is still being Hayate, and Nanoha's last batch of cadets all flinch if there is a flash of pink light near them."

The entire group all looked guilty as they realized that none of them had really taken any of the Interventions to heart.

"So all of you are going to stop these Interventions." Shirou concluded.

"But what about all of these problems?" Fate questioned the adults.

"We have a solution for that." Lindy said happily.

Momoko nodded. "All of you are going to therapy."

"What?!"

And so their entire group was sent to therapy. And after the disaster of a first session, they were all signed up for separate sessions rather than a group one.

Because seriously, none of them are exactly the image of a stable person.


Savior, by Old Iron

Originally posted on December 17th, 2012


The state of one's mind at any given moment is an incredibly important thing.

It can change the outcome of any number of situations ranging from what you have to breakfast to whether or not you press the little red button on the doomsday device conveniently situated on your front yard. Sometimes you may even be fortunate enough to get a few extra fries at a diner simply because your state of mind led you to be a little more courteous than usual to your server.

It can even change your life...

Fire.

Everywhere she looked, she saw fire.

What had been a happy occasion, the start of a family vacation, had turned into tragedy in mere minutes.

She remembered hearing a loud crash. Not like a falling dinner plate, but more akin to a soda can being crushed against a wall. Not moments later, an explosion ripped through the windows of the airport. Some were fortunate and had died instantly. Either by concussive force or by the crushing blows of falling debris. Others were not nearly so. Fire and the stampede of the panicked. Razor debris from explosions and the deadly smoke.

Her family was perhaps the luckiest. Or the least, if one wishes to dwell on such an aspect. The initial blast had been just far enough away to propel them away, rendering her mother and sister unconscious. Her father had been the furthest away from them. Relatively unscathed near the ticket counter as he submitted their luggage.

But at the moment, there was only the searing fire which did all it could to strangle the life out of her and the survivors.

She could see and hear those begging for salvation as they died. Their desperate pleading met with no answer as they breathed their last. Taken by all manner of form worn by death.

The smell of cooked meat assailed her senses as she struggled to keep her sister and mother safe from the encroaching heat.

Yet there is only so much a child can do in the face of such doom.

And still, she fights on.

Fighting to live even as the heat and smoke threaten to snuff out her young life.

Eventually she can do no more. Her arms lose strength after having pulled her unconscious mother and sister all of two feet from where they had fallen. The tears of fear and frustration fall like rivers from her normally bright eyes.

And she falls to her knees and does as the dead and dying do: she begs. She begs and pleads. Screams and cries. She doesn't want to die. She doesn't want her family to die. She doesn't want anyone else to die. She wishes no one had died this day.

The only sound she receives in reply is the roaring of fire, the deafening explosions, and the crumbling of stone and steel.

The girl collapses to the broken ground, not even reacting to the pain of doing so. She lays there, flat on her back and still crying out for help. Her hand outstretched, reaching up towards the heavens barred from her sight by the vision of a broken ceiling.

Just as the smoke and tears choking away her life threaten to send her into the torturous realm of unconsciousness, an answer comes to her.

A frigid and brilliant blue washes over the world, strangling the heat death approaching her and the survivors. Great hands of ice hold up and reinforce the structures. No longer would the threat of a crushing demise threaten them.

The damaged roof is cut away in a flash of gold. Vaporized by what she can only describe as a massive column of lightning.

No longer bound by the confines of the savaged airport, the fumes and smoke belch out of the wide opening in their prison. Fresh, cool air sweeps down to take their place along with the kiss of gentle rain. Both breathing life back into many who were very nearly lost.

From the vast scar above poured down figures.

People.

People who immediately set to helping everyone they could.

They had been saved.

Saved from a grim demise her young mind could barely contemplate.

One of them, a figure in white, set to helping her sister and mother. The sounds of reassurance helped to set her heart at ease. They would be alright.

However what she most clearly remembers is the sight of the one who carried her from the ruin.

Red hair tinged with white.

Golden eyes like molten metal.

And his smile.

The smile he wore as he spoke so joyously of her safety. The words of comfort and reassurance as she was saved by him. Those words and the sight of his most genuine joy at her survival.

They would be ingrained upon her very soul.

And Subaru Nakajima knew, she would save people too.

She would be a hero who saved people.

As many people as she could.

Just like him.

Just like the man who looked so joyous and grateful at having saved her.


Consequences, by Old Iron

Originally posted on December 18th, 2012


To say Yuuno Scrya was having a bad way of things would be a grave understatement, especially at this moment in time.

Things had begun to go sour about a week ago when a shipment of rare and valuable artifacts had been attacked and pilfered. According to Fate, all leads had gone cold at the moment and there was little else they could do in the meantime. Knowing his luck, the case would stay cold for years. And by then... Well, he wasn't exactly holding onto the hope he'd ever see them again.

Then to add yet more unfortunate events onto his serving of ill fortune, his car had broken down. It was an old and hardy model, and one he'd done a decent job of making sure it was well maintained. But all the maintenance in the world couldn't stop the damages of accumulated time on some parts. Having the vehicle's transmission go out would not be a cheap fix either.

He took a little solace in the fact Hayate lived nearby and had been willing to give him a ride. Part of him wondered why she still lived alone when she could have easily moved in with Nanoha and Fate. Or barring potentially awkward situations, gotten a roommate. Then again, considering her workload, such a person might just get in the way.

Hayate had actually been the source for another helping of misfortune not a day later. She had barged into his office with a stack of papers in hand. If it wasn't Chrono handing down information requests bordering on the insane, it was Hayate. At least she had the decency to make the bulk of her requests in person. Chrono simply sent a message, often littered with snarky or insulting barbs. Why is he friends with the man anyway?

But back to the information request. It had taken him the entire day to get it done. The time sensitive nature of it had forced him to skip both lunch and dinner in order to have enough time. Not exactly pleasant, but not horribly uncommon either. What had been the downside, was the fact the information gathering had been completely pointless.

Hayate had been given the wrong documents which had led to him gathering all the wrong information. And since it had been an honest mistake, there was little which could be done aside from bemoaning his empty stomach and the wasted day.

The final nail handed to him for what, at the moment, could very well be a genuine coffin for him to rest in, came in the form of a meeting.

A meeting with his worst friend ever and involving a very familiar topic.

Earth.

Owing to the TSAB's passive observation of the planet, a potentially worrisome situation had come to light.

Yuuno wished he could be surprised. Especially when the situation seemed to be focused on Japan, the nation which had provided the organization with two of its three most prominent members. This time, at least, the unusual readings were coming not from Uminari, but from another city.

Considering the strangeness of the signals they were observing, it had been determined there was a high probability of it being another Lost Logia. Hence the reason they were opting to send him and not a standard investigation team. His experience with Earth was merely an added boon. Even if said experience was limited, it was better than anyone else available.

Maybe if he'd been sent with a little backup, he wouldn't be in this situation.

Surely they could have spared at least one person to go with him. But no, Chrono had told him he would be going it alone. Partly for secrecy. But mainly because they honestly couldn't spare anyone to go on this sort of mission.

Were he a more paranoid man, Yuuno would have called it all a grand conspiracy to get him killed. In as violent a manner as possible.

The fact he could barely determine up from the color red as he was sent hurtling through the air was testament to the latter portion of his theory.

His impromptu flight was cut violently short by the presence of a very large and very solid structure. The impact drove the air from his lungs, forcing him to vomit up what remained in his stomach as well. The blonde man crumpled like a broken doll onto the snow. A rather sizable impact crater was left on the previously unmarred stone structure, tinged red in places where blunt force trauma had burst the skin.

How had he come to experience such a brutal flight? He wasn't quite sure. All he could remember from the previous few seconds of his life was a roar, a dark figure, and a lot of pain.

Yuuno was fairly certain he'd have died instantly from the impact of whatever had hit him had his reflexes not kicked in. Surviving far more cave-ins than he wanted to remember led one to being rather quick on the draw when it came to defensive spellwork. It certainly helped his shields were strong enough to garner the descriptor 'ludicrous'.

Then there was a voice.

It sounded both innocent and merciless to his ringing ears. One of them at least. The other heard nothing.

"Hmm~ I've never seen magic like that before. You're a strange magus, aren't you?" The voice sounded... curious?

Yuuno attempted to look up, but it was far more difficult than he recalled. How much had broken? "Ah... Ah..." At least his throat worked. "Who... you...?"

A vision filled his sight. Two in fact. One was massive, if blurry. He was pretty sure some of the pain in his face was from the shattered glass once belonging to his glasses. But the figure was dark and looked like it would tower over pretty much every single person he'd ever met. The other... White. She, for it certainly seemed female, had long white hair and if his sight was to be believed, eyes far more crimson than even Fate's.

The small figure placed her hands on her hips as she looked at his broken body. "I don't know who you are, or what you're doing here. But you're trespassing. You'd better have a good reason or I'll make sure your end is long and painful."

Yuuno would have cringed if he could. His returning senses brought even more pain to his knowledge, made all the worse by the frigid cold. Whoever said cold was good for pain had obviously never been in his shoes. If only he'd had the sense of mind to go planetside with his Jacket active. He tried to make his voice work. For if he didn't, then this girl would end him without a second thought. "Acc-Acc-Accident... Mean... no ha-harm..."

Even he would admit his plea was rather pathetic sounding.

The growling of the giant seemed to indicate some measure of agreement.

"Fufufu~ An accident? No one comes here by accident, you know. You better start talking, or I'm going to get bored with you, Mr. Intruder. In fact..." The lame nickname aside, were her eyes glowing? Yes, they were glowing. Quite a bit, in fact. "Why don't I help get your mouth moving?"

Yuuno couldn't have resisted even if he'd had the energy and wasn't bleeding out on the snow. Whatever magics might be weaved into her gaze, they certainly forced him through the pain. If only to get him talking. "Strange... magic. Sent to invest-investigate. Possible Lost... Logia. Need to... determine... possible... thre-threat..."

The girl's spell was broken and Yuuno collapsed, allowing him to give in to unconsciousness. Falling into a void he feared he might never awaken from.

"Lost Logia? Well, I suppose you're lucky then~" A smile far more amused than threatening graced her lips. "You've caught my interest. Berserker, bring him inside. I'll have Sella and Leysritt fix him up. This could be fun~"

Berserker obeyed with an affirmative growl and picked up the broken blonde in one hand. There was a surprising show of delicacy in the motion. Perhaps it was due to his Master's intent to patch up the man.

With a skip in her step, Illyasviel giggled as she led her Servant inside.

"Perhaps this war will be interesting after all~?"


Darkness Falls, by YamiheKazehito

Originally posted on January 24th, 2012


Sounds of clashing metal resounded in the area as Lancer thrust and swung his blade at Arturia repeatedly, each one of his strikes offset with a hit of her own sword. Every one of their strikes deadly if they connected, but none managed to get through defences of the other one. Lancer through superior speed and Arturia through overwhelming strength of her blows, each of them tried to overpower the opponent for even one hit, and whenever their weapons met, sparks from metal hitting on metal lighted the scene.

Shirou observed the duel from distance. Even after all this time, the sight of Servants fighting amazed him, the sheer power of their attacks and the speed with which they moved beyond the reach of normal humans. That was not to say that his Knights weren't capable of quick or strong attacks - even he could achieve Arturia's speed or Lancer's strength for a short time - but for some reason Servants seemed impervious to most damage not dealt by other servants, and it made them appear even more amazing. There was a certain mystery to Servants, and even though Arturia provided him with some explanation on that, there were still things he didn't understand.

As he continued observing the seemingly endless struggle between two Servants, he heard a loud thud from behind, followed by two sharper sounds, most likely steps. He started turning to face the source of these sounds when he heard someone speak up.

- "Do anything funny and I'll curse you. You've seen what my magic can do."

- As he turned, he saw Tohsaka standing a few metres from him, one hand pointed at him and the other holding a jewel of some sort. - "Now I ask once again, Emiya. Who are you?" - He tried to answer, but she interrupted him with further words. - "And I don't want your story about being a mere amateur magician. You were the first one to call a Servant, and you definitely used magic an amateur wouldn't be able to. What is your purpose in this war?"

- "It's not really like I have a purpose."
- Shirou replied - "I just want to make sure that nobody gets hurt in the war, that's all. There isn't anything I want from the Holy Grail, Tohsaka."

- "Then what about your magic? You can't tell me it's something you got from Kiritsugu, Emiya. I asked the supervisor. That's not the kind of magic he used."


- "That's..."
- Shirou lowered his head, unsure what to say. He couldn't tell Tohsaka about the Book, that he was certain of - "This magic is what I have left of my family."

- "Fine, then."
- Tohsaka replied, her voice carrying hints of irritation. - "But it still doesn't explain what happened at school." - She sighed quite audibly - "No, scratch that.
Nothing about you makes sense at all. I only need to know one thing now, Emiya. Were you the one behind the attacks?"


- "Attacks...?"
- Shirou thought for a moment. - "You mean the ones in the news? That's impossible, Tohsaka, I don't have that kind of skill."

- "Let's say I believe you then, Emiya. But if I ever find out that you did it, it will be the end of you."
- With these words, she started running towards the dueling Servants. Seeing her approach, Lancer jumped back and prepared his weapon.

Everything froze. Even breathing became difficult as he was quickly overwhelmed by killer intent contained within Lancer. And he knew it. Arturia wouldn't be able to dodge this attack. Feeling that there was no time to waste, he overcame the effect the cursed lance had on him, and concentrated. Unnoticed by anyone, runes in a triangle shape appeared on the ground beneath his feet. He couldn't do anything to help her, but he could at least get someone who would be able to do it. He uttered the words that would cast the spell he needed for that.
- "Dimensional Transfer."


To Shirou's side came his family, the four Knights with which he lived and trained, every one of them dressed in their Knight Armour. Seeing the situation before them, Signum quickly dove forward towards Arturia and her opponent, Lævateinn prepared to strike. She struck at the space occupied with the warrior in blue, and he easily avoided her attack by jumping back. He lowered his spear, preparing himself to combat two opponents at once.

The fight begun anew, this time with Signum accompanying Arturia as they went on offensive against Lancer. With his inhuman speed and superior reach he parried each of their strikes that could be parried, and dodged those he could not. It only happened for a short time, but for those who watched the fight it seemed like an eternity. Strike for strike, counter for thrust, block for counter, and parry for sweep, each action caused a reaction that blended itself with all other into one deathly dance. It only stopped when strings of energy appeared on the ground when they fought, and attempted to capture them. Lancer easily dodge them with his superior speed, Arturia shrugged them with her resistance to magic and prana burst, but Signum couldn't avoid them.

- "Lancer, we're getting out of there." - Tohsaka shouted to her Servant as she retreated the battlefield. Not wanting to get involved in the strange situation even more than he desired a fair fight, he complied to her wish and also started retreating. In their tracks ran Arturia, who knew that these opponents were not ones she could allow to leave; they had to be either stopped, or incapacitated. It would've been much easier if Shirou hadn't forbade her from attacking other Masters with her Noble Phantasm, but she still had a chance at achieving that objective.

Consecutive pulses of light illuminated roofs of the surrounding buildings one by one. The Knights knew what it was, of course - mages teleporting in to capture them. They got detected somehow, and their first priority became getting Shirou out to safety. If they found out that Shirou was the master of the Book of Darkness, they wouldn't be able to stop the mages from taking him. That was why they had to win, even if their leader had already been captured. They dispersed into the sky.


Vita flew up, Graf Eisen prepared to strike. Immediately she was attacked by a black-clad blonde wielding a scythe. She dodged the sweep with ease and countered with an attack of her own. Their awkward exchange lasted for a few strikes, after which Vita backed off from her opponent with a swift move. Hoping to be able to catch the adversary off-guard, she created four iron spheres in front of her and struck them at once with her device.

- "Schwalbefliegen!"
- With her words, now empowered spheres of metal started flying towards her opponent at high speed. The mage dodged them one by one, however, slashing two of them with her own device, and swept her now charged scythe in Vita's direction.

- "Arc Saber."
- The energy blade detached itself from the scythe and started flying towards Vita, spinning rapidly and swallowing the remaining two of her projectiles.

- "Panzerhindernis!"
- She created a shield in front of her. An instant later, the blade connected with her protection, struggling against it but not being able to pierce through. It held for a while, only breaking when Vita got hit by a beam of energy from behind.

Falling after receiving the damage, she quickly noticed the source of the attack. Another mage, this one a long-ranged type. With two opponents against her, she couldn't allow herself to hold back. She started flying towards the second opponent, commanding her device to load cartridge in that time. When she got close enough for her attack to reach, she changed Graf Eisen's form. If there were even more enemies, then it was vital for Shirou's safety that she gets rid of them as quickly as she can.

She started spinning towards the mage, her own device propelling her movement like a rocket. It hit the shield formed by one she targetted, and Graf Eisen smashed violently against it. Soon it cracked, and Vita's hammer hit against the armour of her foe, throwing her into the nearby building. Vita accelerated towards the felled opponent to finish her off, when she found herself unable to move. Her hands and legs, as well as Graf Eisen, were sealed by yellow-coloured binds.


Shamal tried to get close to Signum to undo the binds on her. It was a task that could have just as well been assigned to Shirou, but at the moment it was more important for him not to be detected than it was for her not to be in danger. Her skills in combat were mostly nonexistent, but if only she could get close enough to their leader, then it wouldn't matter as she would not need to fight on her own.

When she arrived on the open spot where Signum was held, she immediately realised that it was a trap. Whenever she looked, there were energy needles targeting her position. Cursing her own haughtiness internally, she took flight in an attempt to dodge the seemingly endless amount of projectiles coming from all sides. When it ended, she scouted the area she was in, and noticing there were no other spells she had to dodge, decided to land on a nearby roof in an attempt to undo Signum's binds from the distance.

As soon as she landed, however, her whole body got caught in a bind and she lost the ability to move. A delayed binding magic prepared to catch her off-guard just when she thought she was safe. It was unexpected to meet someone who would plan that far against an opponent like her, but there was nothing more she could do. Before losing consciousness she was only able to hear her opponent declare his attack.

- "Stinger Blade."


Zafira went to the side in an erratic pattern, trying to make it more difficult for the mages to track Shirou's location. His priorities right now were trying to pull some of the enemy power from his companions, and making sure that they wouldn't notice Shirou. Therefore, he moved in a way that was difficult not to notice, and soon his diligence in doing so brought him the reward. In front of him stood another guardian beast.

They started attacking at each other, every attack meeting an equal one from the other one. Every attempt to outmanoeuvre the one in front of them blocked somehow. Nearby buildings got damaged as they moved wildly in the surrounding, glass panes breaking and walls cracking.

But such a duel only lasted for a short time, and soon another opponent joined the fight against Zafira. Now every move of his had to also move him out of the range of binding spells, and every strike of his had to pierce the shield protecting his opponent. Even with his stamina as a guardian beast, he knew it was only a matter of time before he was too worn-out to do anything against them.

Yet as their battle went on, he continued to do so without fail. Not a single binding spell managed to stop him, not a single hit was landed on his body, and still could stop the other guardian beast from gaining the initiative against him. He even managed to figure the location of the second mage, and took their fight much closer to him than it originally was, in an attempt to bring down first. It was pretty simple, really - someone who specialised in defensive and support spells had no offensive power, and thus it wouldn't be that difficult to take him down; with that, he would have a chance of winning the current fight.

He only made one mistake, and one was everything his opponent needed. When he rose his head to examine the source of light that started illuminating the entire area, he was too distracted to dodge the binding spell cast at him. And with his body bound now, he could only struggle as the other guardian beast took him down.


When Shirou rose his head, he saw a steadily growing sphere of something. It was bright pink, and he soon realised what it was. Bombardment magic; prana gathered in one place and used to overpower targets in a large instantly. And he wouldn't manage anything strong enough in time to defend himself and his Knights. No, looking at the amount of gathered energy, he wasn't sure he would be able to ever use magic this powerful. He raised the hand command sigils were on, and clenched his fist.

- "Counter it, Saber!"

With these words, the second mark disappeared.

Arturia stopped in her pursuit and jumped closer to Shirou, just enough so that she would be able to protect her Master with her own attack. She steadied herself on the ground and started pumping prana into her blade as fast as she could. As soon as it contained enough of it, she rose the sword and said its true name, activating the effect stored within it.

- "Excalibur!"

Just as she activated her Noble Phantasm, an explosion shook the place where Arturia was standing, forcibly changing the direction in which her holy sword attacked. It hit the opposing beam at an angle, cutting through it and finally reaching the surrounding barrier. The spell it was supposed to counter rebounded from the affected area, magical energy changing its course and smashing into the surroundings.

After Excalibur cut through the beam itself and got outside the barrier, the holy attack was no more. Now able to do so unhindered, the spell from above hit the ground, engulfing her and all of his Knights. He watched as they struggled, unable to do anything, only Arturia not hurt by the ongoing attack due to her magic resistance.

'Absorption'

A random thought that came out of nowhere, he didn't even know why he followed on it. But he did, and soon after that his knights were no longer here, vulnerable to the attack. But the Tome didn't stop there; for some reason it decided not only to take them away from the physical realm, but to drain their Linker Cores as well. Final pages were getting filled, and soon the artefact he held within was full.

Pulse of dark energy struck his surroundings, and something broke. He felt the connection between and the Book of Darkness open fully, and through that connection he felt himself unite with everything that was inside. Pain. Suffering. Hopelessness. Grief. Hatred. Rage.

Filling every page of the Tome was supposed to be the end of their struggle here, a beginning of another story. But instead it became the end of their current tale. With his Knights now absorbed into the book, he had to find a way to bring them back, even if everything in him screamed that it was impossible. He tried to think of a way to do so, but with every passing moment he felt his consciousness fade to the building rage; he didn't know what was happening, but somehow darkness filled him to the point of overflowing. Soon, he couldn't even manage to stay awake, and the world before him faded into haze.

His body still standing there even without his will acting on it, a triangle-shaped rune formed on the ground below his feet, and soon another pulse struck his surroundings. After that, a vertex of black energy engulfed his body, and when the energy faded, instead of Shirou there was a female figure standing there.

Tall and well-developed, her face, arms and legs were adorned by red marks. Her hair silver in colour and her eyes brown, she was dressed in a dark blue outfit which appeared to be something between a long-coat and a dress with sturdy boots and gauntlets, golden and silver-coloured linings accentuating the whole outfit. Additional dark leather straps covering parts of her arms and legs, she had the look of someone who would not hesitate to seat at one table with death. On her back there were two sets of black wings, at first with something that appeared to be feathers, but soon they transformed into wings made out of multitude of blade-like metal needles.

She rose up into the air, and then the darkness fell.