"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Master/Servant Link"
Noble Phantasm
Chapter 4: Taking flight! But not really.
The group of seven waited outside, just next to the Fuyuki bridge near the river. Archer, Rin, Illya and Ruby and met up at the location. Only to find Luvia, Miyu and Sapphire already waiting there.
Rin and Luvia quickly got into a shouting match while Archer, Illya, Miyu and the Kaleidostick's sat at the side lines.
"Archer…" Illya turned to her servant, he was frowning rather heavily at the display, before turning to her and raising an eyebrow "Don't they argue a bit too much?"
He sighed "That's just how most Magi are, they tend to butt heads with those they dislike." he shook his head "This is just ridiculous however…"
He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted over to the scowling pair "Oi! How long before we move over to the Card?"
Luvia and Rin briefly broke away from their insult trading match and composed themselves as if nothing had happened, Rin looked at her watch "We have a couple of minutes until Mid-night, then we move over to the mirror world."
"And we have no idea which Card we're facing?" Archer raised and eyebrow, he sighed when the pair of Magi shook their heads "Great...Not how I like doing things."
"Geez…what's with this negative attitude Archer?" Ruby chimed in "What's the worst that can happen?"
"Death." Archer answered immediately "Some Heroic Spirits are nasty. What if we open up that mirror world and get assassinated by Jack the Ripper or something?"
"I thought they were 'Heroic' spirits though?" Illya tilted her head to the side in confusion "What's heroic about a murderer?"
"You misunderstand. Heroic Spirits are figures who've earned enough notoriety through their deeds to be remembered." Archer shook his head "Being a Hero or not has nothing to do with it."
Illya looked a little bit more worried now but Archer waved her off "Remember Master, you have a full-fledged Heroic Spirit to help you." he smirked slightly "I shall ensure you remain safe."
"Archer-san." Sapphire spoke "I've been meaning to ask. Which Heroic Spirit are you?"
"Can't remember/Satan." Two voices answered at the same time, Archer scowled at the stick which made a 'Blech' noise back at him.
"Because I was summoned outside of normal circumstances my memory is jumbled up." He shrugged "I cannot remember my life before becoming a Heroic Spirit."
"That's unfortunate." Sapphire sounded a little saddened by this but Archer simply shook his head.
"I do not need memories of my life to complete my objective."
"It's time!" Luvia called out "Remember Miyu, attack swifty and deal with the Card and Tohsaka Rin!"
"Yes to the first thing." Miyu simply replied.
"You sausage haired witch." Rin sneered at Luvia.
"Uncouth Barbarian." Luvia scowled back.
"Focus, or I'm going to end the argument." Archer narrowed his eyes and the pair stopped.
Sapphire and Ruby began chanting their spell to move over to the mirror world, the second they moved over Archer spotted the Card.
And also spotted the sky filled with magical spells.
"Damn!" Archer reacted quickly, he wouldn't have time to project Rho Aias to protect himself or the group, but the Kaleidostick's could deal with that, right now he was concerned about himself. He projected a Nameless shield in front of him, seconds later the sky rained magical blasts at them the shield lasted all of a few seconds before being blasted away forcing Archer to jump around frantically to avoid being hit.
The barrage stopped after a few more seconds, Archer leapt back to the group. Caster was holding a staff, Archer scanned it hoping to get some gleam of their identity. He did and cursed his luck.
"How can that break through A-ranked magical defence barriers!" Rin shouted as she picked herself off the ground, Illya's shield having protected them from the majority of the damage.
Archer projected his black bow and several arrows, he charged them with Mana "Because it's Medea of Colchis." he fired, the arrows moving at supersonic speed impacted a shield of magical energy in front of Caster.
"Maximum power..." Miyu charged up Sapphire "Fire!" and let loose a massive beam of blue mana. It too was deflected off the Barrier.
Archer reinforced his eyes at the Servant "She's using highspeed incantations!" he shouted out in concern. Seconds later dirt was picking up around them as a spell began manifesting over their heads.
"A-are we pretty much in mortal danger!?" Illya shouted out in worry.
"Yep, it's totally checkmate…" Ruby commented, voice full of false bravado.
A red circular symbol began manifesting over their heads.
"Get us out of here!" Archer shouted as he dismissed his bow.
"Forming reflective path!" Sapphire began.
The spell above their heads charged up, they wouldn't make it.
"I Am The Bone Of My Sword!" Archer held out his hand directly above their heads, the spell activated. A titanic beam of magical energy headed straight for them.
"Ah!" Illya shouted and ducked down, her head between her legs.
"Rho Aias!" in the next instance, a seven pointed flower shaped shield formed over their heads.
"Pretty…" Ruby spoke out while the others looked up in wonder at the beautiful shield protecting them.
Archer winced as the first layer broke, his ribs cracked.
The second layer broke, his wrist fractured.
"H-hurry!" He said through gritted teeth, he wasn't going to be able to keep this up as he felt the third layer begin to crack.
Miyu finished her spell, they left the mirror world and Archer dismissed the Aias.
The rather sorry band returned to their regular world, only carry slight burns from the initial attack but nothing else, Archer being the most injured out of them. Not by much though.
"That…" Archer's uninjured hand moved to his damaged ribs and he winced "Was Caster…" he narrowed his eyes "It is also why I like to plan engagements rather than charge in blindly and hope for the best."
No one met his stern, Luvia however rounded on Sapphire "What was that though! I thought Magical girls were supposed to be invincible!"
"No one is 'Invincible'" Archer scowled which caused Luvia to jump slightly "The Caster card is Medea of Colchis. A Magus from the Age of Gods."
Luvia and Rin froze, the sheer power of that statement made them go wide eyed.
"T-then that means…" Rin began, looking a lot more nervous than before.
"Yes." Archer nodded "Even in her rabid and weakened state she's still far more powerful than myself and the 'Magical Girls' when it comes to magecraft. Worse is that she's completely mined the mirror world with traps so that the second we enter we are subjected to a barrage of magical attacks."
He stood up straight and winced "It means...we'll need to plan for this one."
"Archer…" Illya began, he turned to her and saw clear worry in her eyes as she looked him up and down "Are you okay?"
Archer looked down at his numb hand before flashing lllya a small smile "Nothing to concern yourself with, Master. I'll heal soon enough."
"Wow…" Ruby gestured over to Archer "I never knew someone so grumpy could make such a pretty flower."
Archer scowled at the Kaleidostick and Rin chimed in "That wasn't just some pretty flower…" she narrowed her eyes "That was a Noble Phantasm."
"But…" Illya turned back to Archer "I thought you said you didn't have one."
"I don't." Archer replied "The Aias isn't mine. I'm certainly not Aias The Great from Trojan mythology." He shrugged "It's just something I came across."
"What kind of Archer has a Shield which can stop Magecraft of that calibre though?" Luvia turned to Archer with a questioning expression.
"What kind of Magus loses their Mystic Code?" Archer smirked when Luvia sputtered in shock and Rin chuckled slightly at the display, despite the fact she suffered from a similar problem.
Archer changed the direction of the conversation back to the card "However the problem remains...How do we get past Casters defences?"
"Don't you have something Archer?" Illya looked at him with a slightly hopeful expression.
"I do...put I wouldn't be able to use it in my current condition, I'd probably also need a distraction to use it."
Rin adopted a thinking pose "So, that magical reflection Barrier is the real issue as well as those circles she's got."
"The offensive circles she has as well as the barrier seem to operate on fixed co-ordinates." Sapphire spoke up "We would be able to provide a distraction and attack if we could fly above them."
Rin sighed "Sure, but flying without training is unheard of." Archer merely raised an eyebrow at her as Illya floated into the air, a pleased smile on her face.
"Oh, so we just need to fly?" Illya smiled down at the shocked faces of Luvia and Rin before pausing slightly "W-what?"
Archer chuckled slightly "It seems you have amazed these Magi with your natural talents, Master."
"Eh?" Illya looked over at Archer with a shocked and slightly embarrassed expression "Aren't all Magical Girls supposed to fly?"
"Miyu!" Luvia turned to the girl "You can't lose to her! Fly this instant!"
Miyu stared at Luvia with a dead serious expression before replying "People can't fly."
Archer pinched the bridge of his nose as Luvia had a meltdown at Miyu's lack of imagination and stormed off with the girl, leaving him alone with Illya, Rin and Ruby.
"Well." Rin began and put a hand on her forehead "We should probably call this a day." she turned to the Servant "Archer, you should return to Spirit form to heal until we need you again."
"Actually...Rin-san." Illya began "Can we get Archer some clothes? I feel bad that he always stays as a Ghost."
"Master, I'm perfectly content to remain in Spirit form when not needed." Archer replied to the girl.
Illya shook her head though "I don't like having to keep talking to you in my head. It feels rude to not look you in the eye."
"Oh?" Archer smirked "And where would I be when not in Spirit form? Wandering the streets?" that gave Illya momentary pause as she realised that Archer wouldn't be able to go anywhere outside of his Spirit form and walking around with a strange man who looked nothing like her would be suspicious.
"But…" Illya frowned slightly before Archer patted her head
"Is my cute little Master afraid that she'll look crazy if she talks to herself?"
"Mou! You're just teasing me!" Illya patted his hand away and pouted and Archer's smirk grew.
"It's just your imagination." He said as he faded away into Spirit form.
Illya frowned at the disappearing figure of Archer before turning to Rin "Do you think we'll win next time?"
"Of, course. With Archer and yourself, we'll definitely win!" Rin gave a rather large, and Illya decided it was a rather disturbing, smile.
Illya was back in Hell.
That's what she could only describe this nightmare as, the burning ruins of her home the lifeless look on the childlike version of her adopted brother.
This place was Hell and Illya didn't want to be here anymore.
She dropped her head between her legs and cried, begging that she would wake up soon and leave this place.
She didn't know how long she spent there but eventually she heard a noise. Slowly, hesitantly, she dragged her head up to see a man digging through the ruins of the city.
He was wearing a completely black suit with a black overcoat and dark unkempt messy hair. His hands were long since turned black and covered in cuts, bruises and burns from the amount of burning rubble he stuck them in. He didn't seem to care though as he kept digging, a desperate look on his face.
Eventually the man turned his head, Illya got a good look at his face and she gasped.
"P-Papa?" Emiya Kiritsugu's face was unshaven, desperate and a hollow look in his eyes. He was almost unrecognisable to Illya but she wasn't mistaken. It was her father.
She watched him spot something in the distance and then sprint over too it, it was more of a quickened hobble by how tired he looked but he pushed on.
He dropped to his knees and began to pull something out of the rubble, Illya ran over to see what it was and froze.
Shirou, he was pulling Shirou out of the rubble.
The boy was barely alive and Illya turned her head away. She couldn't bare to see her brother in such a state.
"He's alive! He's alive!" Kiritsugu repeated over and over again, almost as if the child would disappear if he stopped.
Illya looked at her father.
That look on his face as he pulled the lone child from the rubble.
Illya noticed something, despite the horror surrounding her. The death and ruin that covered the area.
That really was a beautiful smile.
S̶͎̍̎͝t̸͈͋͑ė̷̦͚̔ḙ̶̱̖̓͗̀l̷͚̞͐́ ̶̧̾Ḭ̸̄̚͝s̷̭̪̋̂̉ ̶̪̖̮̍͌M̴̠͛y̶̖͗ ̴̳͊B̶̠̽́o̷͕͠d̷̖̖̬̀͠y̵̜͎͋,̷̟͒̈ À̵̤̻̓n̵̗̬̯̎d̷̤̹̬̄̈́͝ F̸̱̩̊i̷̯̞̒͠r̷̠̼̈́͂͗e̷͎̲̅͊͋ ̶̗̺̼̊͌͠Ì̷̧̖͙s̷͋̕͜ ̷̨͔͎̾͒̿Ṃ̵̿̇̽ÿ̷͍̦͕͝ ̸͈͊B̸̜̐͒ḽ̶̼͑̑ọ̵̥͂͜o̷̡̼͌̽ḍ̵̂̾
The voice returned, different from last time.
Illya awoke, she was still sweating slightly from how horrible the dream was but this time it wasn't as bad. In her mind there was a happy ending.
Shirou was saved, Papa was smiling.
She had seen her father smile before, it was a small thing but full of love. This smile was different, even amidst the horror surrounding them that smile still shone brightly. It was an amazing smile.
"I wonder if I could smile like that…" Illya whispered the words before she even realised.
"Hmm?" Ruby floated over "What did you say, Illya-chan?"
Illya shook her head "Nothing important." She then adopted a more thoughtful expression "Hey, Archer?" she spoke over the mental link.
"Yes, Master?"
"I was going to take Ruby out and practice flying for tonight. Can you help?"
"...I can't fly Master..."
"No! Help with training! You know, avoiding stuff being fired at me!"
"You...want me to shoot you with arrows?"
"It'll be fine!"
There was a sigh over the link before Archer replied "...Very well."
"Ruby." Illya turned to the Kaleidostick "Archer said he would help with training." she stood up before making a face of realisation "Rin-san also left the Archer Card with us, maybe we could get Archer to teach us how to use a bow?"
"He seems very grumpy though...he's probably a cheapskate when it comes to teaching." Ruby replied with a sigh.
Illya pouted "Archer is nice and reliable, he'll help."
"Sureeee…." Ruby made an exaggerated reply "Never lose that positive attitude, Illya-chan!"
"Maybe using the Card will let us find out who Archer is?" Illya shrugged.
"Probably not, he said he doesn't have a Noble Phantasm, although he might also be a liar." Ruby shrugged her wings "Maybe he was one of those nasty Heroic Spirits."
"Archer doesn't seem like a nasty Heroic Spirit, Ruby" Illya frowned at the stick "He's offered to help me, so he must be a nice person."
Archer, meanwhile, was staring at the mansion next door. The bounded field set up prevented any access without alerting the Magi inside. He could disable it with Rule Breaker but that would be far more obvious for the entire field to go down than it would be to trip the alarm.
In the end it wasn't worth it for some vague curiosity of what the Miyu girl was, he would keep an eye on her while he was here but unless she did something more suspicious he wouldn't resort to extreme measures. Yet.
He saw movement and turned his head to see Luvia and Miyu leaving the house.
'Early start…' He thought to himself, he checked the streets to make sure no one was around before materialising just near enough to the pair to get their attention.
"Archer-san. Good morning." Sapphire noticed him first and greeted him, he really did prefer this Mystic Code to the other one.
He made a grunt of acknowledgment before turning his attention to Miyu and Luvia, who at this point had turned to face him. Miyu looked impartial while Luvia had a brief look of surprise before composing herself.
"What can I help you with, Archer?" Luvia questioned him before smirking "Here to ditch that cow Tohsaka and work with a proper Magus?"
Archer raised an eyebrow "No, I am only associated with Rin because my Master is." He shook his head "However I am slightly curious about these cards."
"What about them?" Luvia raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"They are certainly leagues above what I would expect an average Magus could create, yet they are scattered about the town instead of in the grasp of the Association, why?"
"The Mages Association detected distortions in Fuyuki two weeks ago." Luvia adopted a more serious posture "When they sent a team to investigate, they discovered the existence of the Cards. The Lancer and Archer cards were taken care of by another operative before the task was passed on to Tohsaka and myself."
Archer narrowed his eyes "Then...these cards just appeared one day?"
Luvia nodded, Archer looked to the side slightly before nodding his head "I suppose that is enough for today. I will allow you and your apprentice to carry on."
He returned to Spirit Form, leaving Luvia and Miyu behind as he made his way across the street back to the Einzbern residence.
'Seven Class Cards appear from out of nowhere, and they just so happen to mimic the summoning for a Grail War?' This was too strange, it was as if some Magus had attempted to kickstart a Grail War with a different summoning system but failed. It can't have been the Mages Association otherwise Rin or Luvia would have been made aware of it and there was sufficient magic theory that went into the cards which stumped Archer, he couldn't see who created the cards. Only which Spirit they contained.
He shook his head, he'd rather not deal with this. As long as it remained a failed Grail War then that was acceptable.
"Shirou!" Sella called out as Archer entered the house, he turned to see her storming down the stairs "You'd better not be in that Kitchen again!"
"But I just wanted to-" Shirou began only to be cut off by a glare from Sella and dragged out of the Kitchen.
"I told you! I cook weekends!" she shooed him out.
The idiot slumped his shoulders, Archer turned away. He didn't like looking at him.
Illya came bounding down the stairs dressed in casual clothes, he could see Ruby hiding in her pocket.
"Sella!" She called out "I'm going out today! I'll be back later!"
"Have breakfast first!" She replied from the Kitchen "Then make sure you're back before Lunch."
"Yes." Illya replied before skipping into the dining room.
"I think this should be far enough out." Illya nodded to herself as she and Ruby came to a stop in a clearing in the woods "Archer, you can come out now." Archer materialised, leaning next to a tree under the shade.
"Okay!" Illya smiled "Now we can start!"
Archer watched the 'Transformation' into a magical girl with a blank expression, if gaining Magi powers came at the cost of dressing like a clown, he'd rather she just learnt proper Magecraft.
Illya floated into the air before making a face of remembrance "Oh, right." she turned to her servant staring up at her from under the tree "Archer, Rin-san left the Archer Card with me!"
Archer squinted his eyes "Did she? Why?"
"She said I should practice using the Class cards and Miyu already has the Rider and Lancer cards so…" She trailed off and shrugged at Archer "I was wondering if you could teach me Archery?"
Archer raised an eyebrow "Master...would that not make an Archer class Servant redund-"
"Include!" She cut him off and tapped the card onto Ruby.
Archer held his breath slightly before letting out a sigh of relief as a Reality Marble didn't manifest around them. He watched with slight curiosity as Ruby transformed themselves into a scaled down version of his Nameless Bow.
"Look Archer!" Illya cheered and smiled at him "We match!"
"That's...very nice Master." Archer kicked himself off of the tree and walked into the clearing "Where are the projectiles though?"
"There aren't any." Ruby's voice brought about an awkward silence as Both Illya and Archer stared at her.
"What?" The both said at the same time.
"It's just the bow. There aren't any arrows." Ruby clarified.
"What's the point of having a bow with no Arrows!?" Illya shouted as the card unincluded itself and Ruby returned to her regular form.
"I think you should manage your expectations, Master" Archer sighed to himself "That trash Mystic Code will always find a way to disappoint you."
"Hey! It's your power as a Heroic Spirit!" Ruby shouted back "It's not my fault that it's useless!"
Archer scowled and made to reply when Illya cut them both off "No Fighting!" the pair turned away from eacother.
"Good." Illya smiled "Archer, we'll just have to train like I said earlier."
"You mean shooting arrows at you?" Archer raised an eyebrow, his mouth in a thin line.
"Yeah! You shoot arrows and I practice dodging! Ruby will protect me from harm, won't you Ruby?" Illya turned to the Kaleidostick.
"Of course!" Ruby exclaimed in reply "As if Satan over there could hurt a Magical Girl of your calibre!"
"See Archer?" Illya turned back to the Servant "It will be fine! So don't hold back!" She smiled an innocent smile, completely unaware of what she just asked.
"Very well, Master." Archer projected his bow and a single blunted arrow "Then I will begin now." He drew the bow back and fired.
"AHHHH!"
Nearly two minutes later Illya was desperately flying through the sky to evade the hail of arrows being launched by Archer. They were never ending and Illya discovered very early on that even if she was protected by Ruby, being hit by an arrow moving at supersonic speeds hurt. A lot.
"You need to strike back, Master!" Archer called out as he sent another dozen arrows at her in quick succession.
"R-right! Ruby!" Illya dodged another barrage of arrows before firing off a beam at Archer. There was an awkward silence as Archer stopped firing and stared at the crater nearly seven metres from him.
He raised an eyebrow and looked back towards an embarrassed Illya who was hiding her face behind her hands "I-I panicked!"
"Well...at least your missing now rather than later…" Archer sighed before noticing something else, rapidly falling towards the ground.
He jumped into the air to avoid being caught up in the impact which kicked up a large cloud of debris and made a rather sizeable indentation in the ground.
"Wh-what was that!?" Illya shouted as she flew over to the crater. Archer dismissed his bow and traced Kanshou and Bakuya as he landed back on the ground and walked over to the hole as the dust began to clear.
"All mana was redistributed to prevent physical damage." A voice called out from the cloud, the dust settled and Archer and Illya could see a rather pale looking Miyu sat in the centre. Archer dismissed the blades and crossed his arms.
"Are you unhurt, Miyu-sama?" Sapphire asked, Miyu shakily got back to her feet.
"Y-yes, thankfully."
"Miyu-san?" Illya tilted her head in confusion, Miyu looked up to see Illya and Archer staring down at her.
"She's flying." Miyu said, Sapphire replied immediately.
"Yes, she's flying with great ease."
Illya floated down and landed on the ground in front of Miyu, the two stared at eachother for a few moments.
Miyu made to say something but stopped herself, "Miyu-san." Illya spoke, a small smile on her face "Um...do you want to train together? We won't stand a chance if we can't fly." the smile got wider and more encouraging "So let's train together!"
"Miyu-sama." Sapphire spoke the single word, the girl look a little conflicted when she eventually, and hesitantly, replied "Please teach me...umm...how to fly…"
"Sure!" Illya positively glowed before taking off into the air "It's like going 'Wahh' like this!" She then did a small spin in the air.
"I don't think I'll be able to help you much when it comes to flight." Archer turned to Miyu and shrugged "Also Master…" he turned back to Illya who looked at him in a quizzical manner "That's probably not the most informative teaching method."
"R-really?" Illya looked slightly downcast at being told that, nonetheless Miyu attempted it.
And fell flat on her face.
Repeatedly.
"Stop…" Archer pinched his nose as Miyu fell on her face again "This is getting use nowhere…"
"Indeed." Sapphire agreed "Illya-san, you said that all Magical Girls could fly, correct?"
"U-um, Yes?" Illya replied.
"What was the source you based this assumption on?"
"T-the source…" Illya froze and looked away, cheeks flushing in embarrassment "Umm...well…"
"A...cartoon…" Archer said slowly as he stared at he TV in disbelief, they were fortunate that everyone else hadn't come back home yet, therefore Archer could materialise without incident, which meant he and Miyu could see what Illya wanted to show them "You based...your advanced magical theory of flight…on a cartoon?"
"It's...an anime." Illya said, turning away from Archer in an almost ashamed manner.
Archer pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled "I...shall leave you and Miyu to your...anime." Archer said as he turned and prepared to go intro Spirit Form.
"Wait Archer!" Illya stopped him, he turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, Master?"
"Rin-san got you some clothes and left them with me!" She ran upstairs and returned moments late with a small bag, she handed them to Archer who sighed.
"Master, I told you. The clothes are unneeded."
Illya pouted at him "Archer…"
He sighed and shook his head "What an unreasonable Master I have…" His outfit shimmered, changing from the red and black costume to a black button up shirt, dark grey trousers and black shoes.
Illya gaped "Eh?"
Archer raised an eyebrow "You didn't think I was limited to simply projecting bows did you?"
"B-but that means..." Illya then pointed accusingly at Archer "What was the point of Rin-san buying clothes then?!"
Archer smirked as he began to fade away "There wasn't one."
Archer walked around the park without aim, he still had some kind of muscle memory about Fuyuki City even without remembering much of his old life. He found it a peaceful distraction from it all.
He'd much rather be looking for the remaining cards but it was better being here doing nothing than charging head first into dangerous situations.
He sat himself down on a bench and closed his eyes, he would wait for his Master to call him if he was needed. He remained seated for a while before he stood back up again, as he turned he froze.
He made eye contact with the person walking towards him, they also froze as their eyes met.
Archer stared down at them.
Emiya Shirou stared back.
The pair got into a staring contest for a few minutes. Shirou's face, normally plastered with some dumb smile, shifted into a slight scowl. Archer did the same.
"Emiya?" A voice from behind Shirou brought him out of his staring match with the tanned man in front of him, he turned to see Issei catching up to him, a look of concern on his face.
"What's wrong?" He asked before turning his head to Archer "You know this man?"
"No." They both answered at the same time.
"Really? You act like you've met him before or something." Issei raised an eyebrow at Shirou, who shook his head "No. Never seen him before in my life."
Archer shrugged "I think I would remember meeting this kid before." he walked past the pair "Have a nice day."
When the tanned man was at a far enough distance, Issei turned back to Shirou with a questioning expression "If you've never met him, why were you frowning so much?"
Shirou looked at him in surprise and then reached a hand up to his face to confirm that, yes, he was frowning. He shrugged at Issei and scratched the back of his head "I...don't really know." he turned his head back in the direction the man walked off in "I just get the feeling...I really couldn't stand that guy."
"Really?" Issei's eyes widened in surprise "I've never heard you say that about anyone before."
"Yeah…" Shirou shook "It was just...I can't really explain it…just a weird feeling is all."
Issei nodded "Well...we'll probably never see him again, so you can stop worrying about it."
"Yeah." Shirou turned away, the scowl slowly morphing back into a smile as he returned his attention to Issei "Probably."
Archer maintained his small frown as he left.
That was the last think he wanted to do, interacting with his past self would only breed trouble. Even without the stupid dream Emiya Shirou still had the capability to adopt it. Archer had heard of magecraft which allowed users to manifest skills from past lives, however that also worked with sharing memories.
The more time he spent around Shirou, the greater the risk of him absorbing some of Archer's memories. He'd see that smile, that conversation under the moon.
Then Archer would be responsible for the very thing he wanted to destroy. Creating Emiya Shioru, Hero of Justice.
It was rotten luck that the one time he doesn't use his Spirit form he runs into that child.
"Master, how did it go with teaching Miyu advanced Magical theory via cartoons?" Archer initiated the mental link to distract himself.
"It was terrible Archer...Miyu doesn't understand Magical Girls!" He could hear the frustration and shock in her voice "She tried to apply physics to magic!"
"Master...that's what magecraft is…" Archer chuckled over the link, only to hear Illya exhale in horror "Not you too!"
Archer smirked.
"Don't worry about it, Master. You seem to do just fine with just imagination."
"Ruby said I was an airhead!"
"…"
"...She's wrong isn't she Archer!?"
"…"
"...Archer? Why aren't you answering me?"
"…"
"Archer!"
AN: Yeah. They arrived, got trounced by Medea. Then left.
Also Archer, Meet Shirou. Shirou, meet your depressed alternate future self.
And yeah...It's not Shirou you should worry about thinking of being a Hero of Justice Archer. Illya is already thinking that's a nice smile Kiritsugu has.
But yes. Shirou will be involved in the story.
It will be a gradual build up though.