"So, this was it huh? Being hung by the very people he had saved. Although I did see it coming, I had hoped that sending him on a mission that would assimilate him with his ancestor would change his fate. But he just ended up getting the same bad ending as his other self. How boring. Ah, my student is in the back of the crowd. Along with the Servant. It must be heartbreaking seeing someone they care about so much be hung like this. At least he lived his life how he wanted. Fulfilled with no regrets. Oh? The Servant is talking."

"Rin. I want you to end our contract."

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Please. I hope that his soul will find his way to Avalon. And I plan on being there for when he arrives."

"Saber, I know you two were closer than I could dream of, but you know that might never happen. You could be waiting for all eternity for something that will never come."

"I am aware. But please," Saber turned to look at Rin, tears beginning to roll down her face, "this is the only way that I'll have any semblance of a chance to see him again. No matter how small, I believe that he'll be able to do it. He always has, after all."

"I won't be able to change your mind, will I?"

Saber shook her head.

"-Sigh- Very well then. Saber, I hereby declare that our contract is now void. You may now return to whence you came."

"Thank you Rin." She spoke as she slowly turned into golden motes of light.

"Take care, Saber. And if you do see him again, tell him he's an idiot for me, ok?"

"I will do my best."

And just like that, Saber had completely vanished, the golden motes of light disappearing into the wind.

"Now look at what they've done. They've gone and gotten me invested in this story of theirs. Well, I have been meaning to test something. This will be the perfect opportunity to test it out. Besides, it shouldn't matter as long as Alaya doesn't figure out it was me. I doubt she'd care about a single person anyway. Well then, good luck on your new adventure, Shirou Emiya."

Hephaestus wasn't having the best of days, to say the least. Hermes said he wanted to talk with her up in Tenkai, but the bastard wasn't even here! She eventually decided to blow off steam by just walking around. Until she spotted something she didn't think she'd seen before.

"Hm? When did that forge get there?"

She walked over to it to find a man laying against one of the walls on the inside.

"Who's that? Why does he feel- Wait a second!"

Ok, the hell is going on. One second he's being hung, and the next he wakes up in a mysterious place full of just as many mysterious people. He was inside what looked like an old forge used before the modern era. In front of him, a woman with red hair and a black eyepatch was eyeing him rather intently. Whether she wanted something from him wasn't clear, but he wasn't too keen on finding out. Luckily for him or not, she was the only one paying attention to him. Outside, he could see other figures walking about. Some dressed in rather… unique outfits. He also couldn't shake the feeling that all of them had some sort of divine energy coming off them.

"Hey kid, what's your name?"

Looking back up at the woman in front of him, he responded, "It's Shirou Emiya, miss…"

"Hephaestus."

"Wait, what? I thought Hephaestus was a male? But if she's telling the truth, and really Hephaestus, then does that mean… Is everyone else here a god?"

"Correct. And you, my friend, are the newest to join us up here in Tenkai."

"Tenkai, huh? Can't say it's like any place I've seen before."

"Yeah, it's pretty special. It's where us gods reside in the first place after all. But now onto the interesting part, what are you the god of, Shirou Emiya?"

"What am I the god of?"

"Yeah, upon getting our divine powers, we get a type of classification. Take me for example, I'm a goddess of the Forge. Or Poseidon, with multiple classifications, being the god of the Sea, Earthquakes, and Horses. How about you?"

"Hm, let me think. Does it just pop up in my head?"

"Yup."

"Then I guess I have multiple classifications then."

"Oh really? And what would those be?" Shirou noted that she was eyeing him with a high amount of anticipation.

"I'm a god of the Forge, Swords, Cooking, and Heroes."

"I knew it!" Hephaestus suddenly jumped up in excitement, causing Shirou to flinch in surprise. "I knew I felt something special about you! Getting to meet another god of the Forge isn't something that happens very regularly. Now, tell me the others."

"You weren't listening after you heard the word 'Forge', were you?"

"No, sorry."

"Heh, don't worry about it. My other classifications were Swords, Cooking and Heroes."

"We can probably group your Forge and Swords classifications together, but all four of those are pretty distinct from each other. Especially that cooking one. And a 'God of Heroes' isn't something I've heard of before. But the biggest question is why the Forge is separate from the Sword? I don't want to pry, but my curiosity is growing."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you Shirou. If you like, I can show you around Genkai." Hephaestus proceeded to extend her hand out in front of her.

"Yeah, you too. And sure, it would be an honor." Shirou extended his to meet hers. As they shook hands, they both noticed how calloused each other's hands were.

"As expected of a goddess of the Forge."

"This kid…"

"I have to admit, I'm not sure whether this place is more interesting than Tenkai."

"It's a lot to take in, trust me I know. Don't worry, there's only one place left for me to show you."

As Hephaestus said that, a giant tower came into view.

"What, the hell, is that?"

"That, Shirou, is Babel Tower. As well as the entrance to the Dungeon of Orario. A place where adventurers from all over the world come to test their mettle. Quite a sight, isn't it?"

"If you can call it that. Hey, who's that?"

"Hm?" They both looked up to one of the higher levels of the tower, and looking down at them was a beautiful woman with silver colored hair and amethyst eyes. "Oh her? That's Freya, goddess of Beauty. She's probably just curious as to who the new god is, don't worry about her."

"Hm, if you say so. And don't forget, I'm suppressing my divinity right now. So she probably thinks I'm one of your Familia members. On that topic, what exactly is a Familia? I remember you mentioned it before."

"Oh yeah, sorry. I still can't believe you can do that. But you've really never heard of one before? Strange considering they're practically everywhere. Well, a quick rundown would be that a god or goddess chooses a mortal to represent them by giving them something called a Falna, basically like a status of sorts that the individual's god or goddess can look at or upgrade."

"So they're like parameters. Something I'm all too familiar with."

"Basically yeah. The god or goddess in question would prick themselves with something and put a drop of blood on the bare back of the mortal, we gods just call them our children. After that, apply a blank sheet of paper to their back and their status will appear. You have to keep that safe, unless you want everyone to know the stats and abilities of your child. There's also a way to lock it so the only way to see the stats on their back is with the blood of their god or goddess."

"That's handy. Are there any inns around here? I'd like to find a place to stay while I'm down here."

"Oh, about that. I'm willing to let you hunker down at my place while you get situated, I'll even let you use my personal forge. I'd like to see what you can do."

"I suppose I will take you up on your offer. And it would be an honor and my pleasure to show you what I'm capable of."

It's been about a week since he's been transported to this new world. How did he know that? Well, he had gotten a small letter with the initial 'Z' on it. He had also gotten a set of armor that looked like a mix of Archer's combat outfit and the white kimono and combat pants he had after merging with Muramasa's spirit. But he only knew one person, if you could even call him that, who could even think about sending him off somewhere else. But during the week, Shirou had an epiphany. If he was the god of Heroes, then he should be able to contact said Heroes, no? Thankfully, Hephaestus had given him his own private forge and housing after he crafted a, let's say an extremely special blade, right in front of her. So he'd be able to perform the summoning ritual right here in his current residence. Although he would have to get rid of it right after so as to not have anyone else find out.

"I've never actually drawn the circle myself, let's hope it functions as it should."

…

"Alright. That should be pretty good. Now all that's left is the incantation. And luckily for me," Shirou pulled out the letter that Zelretch had sent him, "someone has given me the words and materials for it. -phew- Here goes."

Heed my words,

My will creates your body,

And your sword creates my destiny.

I swear that I will be all good in the world,

And I shall defeat all evil in the world.

If you heed this god's call,

And obey my will and reason,

Then answer my summon!

Now come forth,

Guardian of the Scales!

[FLASH]

Shirou was forced to close his eyes as his room was filled with a blinding flash of light. And upon opening them.

"Servant class, Saber. Has responded to your summon. I ask of you, are you my…" She couldn't finish that sentence. Not when he was standing in front of her.

"Hello, Saber. Wait, why are you-"

"Shirou!" Saber had jumped into Shirou's arms the second she recognized who he was. Tears were running down her face as she hugged him tightly. "I- I was so scared that I would never see you again."

"Don't worry. I'm here. And I won't leave you again, I promise."

The two of them held each other for a solid minute before someone decided to speak up.

"This is probably one of the most awkward situations I've been in, and that's saying something."

Shirou and Saber turned around to see Archer standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

…

"How the hell did you get here?" Shirou spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Beats me, how did you even summon two Heroic Spirits with the same ritual?"

"Wait, Archer. Did you respond to his summons as well?"

"Correct. Although I might not have if I knew the one summoning me was this idiot."

"You do realize you just dissed yourself right?"

"… Anyway, Servant Archer has responded to your summons. Now, do you mind explaining where the hell we are?"

"You have got to be shitting me."

"Is that true Shirou?"

"As real as you want it to be. But yes, in this world, I am one of the gods that walks around with mortals. How that happened, you can try and ask Zelretch. Although I highly doubt he'll actually respond."

"Of course that damned Wizard Marshall is the cause of this."

"So what's the plan, Shirou? Are we planning on going into the dungeon?"

"Well…"

"Ah shit, here we go."

"Shut up Archer. The problem is, I can't go into the dungeon."

"Well why not Shirou, is there something keeping you from entering?"

"Not exactly. See, the dungeon apparently doesn't like when gods enter. Like, at all. Apparently it does whatever it can to get said god out by spawning a bunch of monsters that shouldn't be anywhere near the floor that they're on."

"So it's not that you can't, it's just that it's a really bad idea."

"Exactly, that's why we gods have our Familia's. Essentially our representatives while you're in the dungeon. Although, I do have an idea that I've been working on while I've been cooped up here."

"What is it?"

"You'll see. Archer, I suggest taking a look around the city while in astral form. You'll get a kick out of how much stuff is here."

"Hmph, I might as well." As soon as that was said, Archer dematerialized and left the area.

"How about me, Shirou?"

"I'd like to set up this Falna thing with you first."

"Ok, how do we do it?"

Shirou's face flushed slightly. "I need to be able to see your back."

"Huh?"

Although Archer hated to admit it, Shirou was right. This place is crazy. The amount of gods and mortals were higher than he had expected, not to mention the races that weren't human. Currently, he was resting atop a high ledge of a rundown building. Below him was what he believed Shirou had called 'Daedalus Street'. It looked like a madman had built it with how it was constructed. There could be a house in the middle of a walkway, or a stair leading from a window up into absolutely nothing. Ignore what he said previously, the one who built this must have been mentally insane.

Archer noticed a group of young kids running up and down the various streets, once they spotted him above them, they all waved at him.

"Hi mister!" It was like a choir with how in sync they were.

"What do you kids think you're doing running around this place? It's dangerous, you know." Archer commented while hopping down from his perch. Now right in front of the kids, he could more accurately see that they weren't all human. There was a human leading the group, a boy with brown hair and brown eyes with small cuts on his face, no doubt from playing out here. There was what he believed was called a Chienthrope girl just behind him. She had hair that looked similar in color to Saber's and scarlet colored eyes. The last kid in the group was what looked like an Elf with golden hair and blue eyes. It also perturbed him that he couldn't figure out their gender at all.

"It's fine mister, we live here anyway." The boy in front spoke up.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, we live at Mother Maria's orphanage." This time it was the Chienthrope girl that spoke up.

"Well, you nearly ran right out of Daedalus Street, so I suggest you head back. Here, I'll walk with you."

He was expecting the Elf to speak up, but no, they were just spacing out.

"Are you sure mister? We know how to get back on our own."

"No, there were some people that didn't look the friendliest, stalking around earlier. It wouldn't do my conscience any good to know I just let you walk straight into them."

"Jee, thanks mister. Come on, we'll show you the way!"

Archer couldn't help but smirk. "Old habits die hard, huh?"

"Ar-Are you done, Shirou?"

"Y-Yeah, you can put your dress back on."

The past couple of minutes were extremely awkward as the Master and Servant duo worked on adding the Falna to Saber. They managed to get there eventually.

"Ok, let's see here…"

Artoria Pendragon

Strength: I0

Endurance: I0

Dexterity: I0

Agility: I0

Magic: I0

Skills -

Charisma: Increase party's attack by 15%

Mana Burst: Increase own attack by 40%

Instinct: Small chance for a defeated monster to drop more loot

"Hm, it seems all your stats are set to zero upon receiving your Falna. And we can talk about your skills later. Artoria, how do you feel? Any weaker than when you arrived?"

"I feel fine. Wait, did you just…"

"Ah. Sorry, slip of the tongue. I can stop if you like."

"N-No. It was… nice." Saber couldn't hide the blush forming over her face, causing Shirou to chuckle.

"Very well then, Artoria. Now, can you look away? I'm about to do something."

"Of course."

Artoria did as instructed and turned around.

[GASH]

She immediately turned back around upon hearing what sounded like a sword slicing through flesh.

"Shirou!"

What she saw was not what she was expecting. Shirou had projected a small blade and had proceeded to slice his arm. Blood was flowing from the new wound into a pot she didn't realize was there.

"I thought I told you to turn around?"

"But-"

As soon as she started talking, the wound on his arm had already started to close up.

"I have Avalon, remember?"

"Shirou… you idiot."

"Grgh. That was from Rin, wasn't it? I needed blood in order to add new members to the familia."

"That doesn't explain the sudden act of self harm."

"This should help explain it."

Shirou grabbed a small tarp that Artoria didn't even realize was there. Pulling on it revealed a beautiful looking katana.

"Where did you get that, Shirou? You didn't project it, did you?"

"Haha, no. I made this with my own two hands. I am a god of the Forge and Swords after all. Now, do you know why we're inside a building within a bounded field?"

"It was to perform our summoning, wasn't it?"

"That is half of it. The other half…"

Shirou picked up the newly presented katana,

And stabbed himself with it.

"Shirou?!"

Artoria rushed to his side the second the katana came out the other side of his body.

"Why did you- Wait… It went through his body, why isn't there any blood coming out of the wound?"

"Finally realized, huh? This isn't just any random katana that I made on a whim. The only other person who knows about this weapon is Hephaestus herself, and she swore to me that she wouldn't tell anyone. It's specific purpose is to take and seal the divinity of a god. So as of right now-"

"You're just a normal human. And that's why you cut yourself, you wouldn't have the blood of a god anymore."

"Exactly. I knew you would get it."

"But, how did you even make it in the first place?"

"In order to do that, I had to infuse some of my own divine power into the metal during the forging process. Now, I need your help. Do you remember the lines I drew over your back when adding the Falna?"

"I believe so. Why?"

"Well, I'd like you to do the same to me. I'm technically not a god anymore, so I'll need a Falna if I want to do anything around here."

"So this was your plan to go into the dungeon. But, how will you get your divinity back? It isn't as simple as breaking the sword, is it?"

"…"

"Shirou?"

"Ok, it isn't that easy. I have to stab myself with it again, and then break the sword. If it were to break while outside of my body, I believe someone else would come out."

"Someone else?"

"Let's just leave it there. Now, can you help me with my Falna?"

Artoria couldn't help but smile. "Of course."

Chapter end

Ok, some of you may be wondering "What about your other stories that you haven't updated for months?" Well, they've been on my backburner for a while now. I'm still writing them, I don't want a short chapter for when they evenutally do make a return. And I don't want it to be crappy either. It doesn't help that I caught up on the fic 'Heroic Myth' during the break. An amazing story btw, I highly recommend it for anyone interested. But it also fed into my Danmachi crave since the new season trailer came out a little while ago. Anyway, I just wanted this here for when I return. Have a good day everybody!