Prologue: Oath of the Sword
"In the end, there is one thing I must tell you," Saber says while looking into the sunrise that signals the dawn of a new day, a new day she knows she won't be able to experience. With the Holy Grail destroyed by her own hand, nothing remains to anchor her to the world. She could vanish at any second, but the little time remaining is enough for what she knows she needs to do.
"…What is it?" Shirou replies, a calm sadness in his voice. He knows just as well as her that their parting is imminent, that they won't be facing the coming days together—not as Master and Servant nor anything more.
Her hair blowing in the wind, Saber turns from the colors of the coming dawn to face him. "Shirou—I love you," she says with a smile, speaking from the deepest depths of her heart for the first time since before she'd become king. The weight on her heart that had gradually lightened throughout the war completely vanishes as the wind picks up. She feels it blow through her body as it dissolves into shimmering particles, and with her last moments she longingly gazes at the man squinting in the sun, the man who had saved her from wishing for her own annihilation.
Having returned to her own time, Artoria awakens to find herself propped up against a tree with the man who turned out to be her most loyal knight in front of her. Her wounds are fatal—she knew that before she made the contract with the world, and it remains true now. There's one last thing to do, then.
"Bedivere," she murmurs, mustering all of her might to get his attention.
"Your highness!? Have you regained your consciousness!?" He responds with shock—to his eyes, her even being conscious must seem like a miracle.
"…Yes. I was having a dream," she quietly replies as she reflects on her time alongside Shirou and the others. Those fleeting days had turned out to be among the happiest in her life, certainly happier than any time after she'd been crowned. She has no way of being sure that her experiences were anything more than the fleeting delusions of a dying woman, and yet within her heart she's certain that what she went through truly happened.
"A dream…?"
"Yes, I have not seen many dreams, so I had a valuable experience."
"...That is great. Then please be at ease and rest. I shall go get the troops in that time." As she considers his words, she draws a sharp breath which causes him to falter. "…Your highness? Have I been rude…?"
"—No, I was just surprised at your point. I did not know a dream could be seen after one awakens. Are you saying I will be able to see the same dream if I close my eyes again…?"
"—Yes. If you strongly desire so, you should be able to continue watching the same dream. I have that experience as well."
"I see. You are knowledgeable, Bedivere." She pauses for a moment, considering his final order. "Bedivere. Take my sword. Pass through this forest and go over that blood-stained hill. There is a deep lake beyond it. Throw my sword into that lake," she commands. With death closing in, her weapon will no longer be of use to her.
"Your highness, that is—"
"—Go. Once you have accomplished my order, return here and tell me what you saw." He departs and quickly returns, informing her of his mission's success—but he was lying, and both of them could tell. Knowing that his mission remains incomplete, Artoria simply tells him "follow my command" before sending him off once more. He once again returns and lies, and as her consciousness begins to fade away she orders him to complete the mission yet again. When he returns a third time, she can tell that he has finally done as she asked.
"I have thrown the sword into the lake. The sword has returned to the lady of the lake," he somberly informs her.
"... I see. Then you shall be proud. You have obeyed your king's command," she softly mutters, barely able to stay awake, her rapidly weakening state being evident through her words. "I am sorry, Bedivere. This sleep will be… a… long—" Unable to finish her sentence, too weak to even form words, the world begins to fade away. With her consciousness failing, all the sword can think of is her desire to be with her sheath one final time.
When she comes to, she finds herself in an open grassland surrounded by forests. She seems to be completely alone, but it's difficult to verify—for some reason, she lacks any control of her body at all, so she's limited to staring straight ahead. So… Bedivere had just been trying to comfort her when he said it was possible to return to a dream. She knew as much at the moment, but that does nothing to ease the disappointment she feels from not being able to be with Shirou again. Though she was prepared for their parting, that does nothing to ease the pain within her heart.
Suddenly, a thought occurs to her: she has no idea where she is. Fields of deep green, a strange feeling in the air, a sky more blue than any she'd seen before… it's as if she's in a natural paradise. Could it be Avalon? Everything seems to fit, except for the fact that she's been rendered completely immobile.
"You wish to see the boy again?" comes a familiar voice from behind her, seemingly having read her thoughts, her pain, her deepest desire. It's been quite some time since she's seen him, but Merlin steps into her field of vision and smiles as if it had just been yesterday. With her still incapable of movement—not even to speak—the magus continues.
"That is difficult. To begin with, your time periods are hopelessly different. You could hardly meet by any normal means. To make it happen, well… it would require two miracles. One must wait continuously, and one must pursue endlessly. You must bear it for a terribly long time, even while believing it to be impossible. I hate to say it, but it's a pipe dream not worth wishing for, don't you think?"
A moment passes without either of them speaking; natural from Artoria, but quite rare from Merlin. Eventually he seems to have had enough though, and goes on with his speech. "Ah, don't misunderstand me. I'm not telling you to throw away your duty as the king. You're a king to the bone. If that pride was taken from you, there would be nothing left. You can stay that way. What I am speaking of is only your just reward. A girl's right to live happily. I think I can do that much," he says with a warm smile.
Despite her immobility, her eyes light up at his words. If he's trying to say what she thinks she is, then perhaps she truly could see Shirou again. Without concerning herself with the possibility of such a train of thought letting her down again, she allows her mind to wander to potential futures. Upon seeing the newly lit fire in her eyes, Merlin continues on.
"But whether or not that is a good thing is a different story. Artoria. Dreams are more beautiful if they stay as dreams. You would be more at ease if you were to stay in a deathlike sleep like this," he cautions.
His words cause her mind to race even more rapidly. He'd said deathlike sleep, not death; if that's the case, then perhaps she's not yet dead? But her wounds were most certainly fatal. She knows her own body better than anyone, and those wounds had certainly not been something she could survive. And beyond that, history itself reports her death at the end of that battle in Shirou's time. There's no way she should be able to survive without some form of miracle.
But if Merlin speaks the truth, then she knows what she needs to do. Perhaps her miracle is right in front of her.
"Even so—"
"Enough, Merlin. You need not speak any more. I shall do whatever it takes to live alongside Shirou," she interrupts, finally managing to break through whatever invisible shackles had kept her bound. His face briefly contorts into shock—he must have expected her to remain still—before creeping into a smile.
"…I see. I'd expected you to take me up on the offer, but for your desire to be strong enough to take control like that… Well, I'm not really sure why I'd underestimated you, actually. In any case, perhaps your chances are better than I'd thought," he says, more to himself than to her. "Well then, Artoria. The only thing keeping you here is you." At these words, she feels her consciousness fading once again; she's unsure whether this was the true Avalon, a dream, or the last gasps of a dying mind, but that doesn't matter now. "Remember: two miracles must be achieved for you to meet again. But miracles seem to be common when it comes to you, don't they? Continue your dream, Artoria." At the conclusion of Merlin's words, the world fades to complete black once again.
Her consciousness slowly fades back in and she groans as it does so, pain lingering in her body after the battle. Just as Merlin suggested, she truly is still alive—how is that possible? Potential explanations run through her mind—someone healed her, the wounds simply failed to kill her—but none seem suitable. That is, until she recalls how the fifth Holy Grail War had ended. When she considers those events, she begins looking deep within her own body. Eventually, she finds what she'd expected to, the only thing that could possibly save her from certain death, of bringing her back from the brink. She'd been in possession of it when she'd vanished at the war's end, so it's not a complete shock that it remains with her. But still, to bring it back with her in spirit form… Merlin had certainly been right about miracles becoming common.
"Avalon… Shirou, it seems you have saved me more than we had realized," she murmurs, feeling the power of the now discarded sword's sheath within her. "As soon as the sheath is returned to me, I choose to discard the sword. How ironic," she says, amused with the trade she had unknowingly made. "But this is excellent. As Merlin says, the sheath shall always be more valuable than the sword. This was more than a worthy exchange."
While she thinks about Merlin's words, one phrase returns to her mind: "one must wait continuously, and one must pursue endlessly."
"His words' meaning was unclear at the time, but if Avalon has retained its former power, I believe I now understand…" She pauses as she contemplates the possibilities that may now be open to her. "I suppose I shall not be able to tell for some time. But if Avalon truly has retained its power, then it shall be capable of bridging the gap between us. I cannot allow it to be stolen away a second time." A groan leaves her mouth as she works her way to a standing position. Her body may have healed from the injuries, but it remains sore and stiff from spending time unconscious. Though now that she thinks about it… how long was she unconscious, exactly? The forest is dark, but brighter than when she'd first come to—dawn is approaching and so it's been at least one night, then.
It could certainly be longer, though. The chill in the air is much greater than it had been around the time of the battle, more than you'd expect to feel from a single day's difference. A closer look at the surrounding forest also reveals signs of time having passed, such as more colorful and less plentiful leaves on trees. Her recovery definitely took more than a single night, then. Pinning down an exact timeframe is difficult without any direct way of telling time, but between the environmental changes and the severity of her injuries she reasons that it must have been somewhere between one and three weeks since the final battle.
It's been weeks since the last battle… she really needs to eat, then. She briefly considers what Shirou will be cooking for dinner before realizing her foolishness and chiding herself—tasting his cooking again is a pleasure she won't be able to experience for a very long time. As she considers food, she comes to a realization: she's not that hungry. Her stomach feels empty and her throat dry, sure, but it's been at least a week since she last ate. Surely after such a period of time she'd feel more hunger than what you'd expect to have after skipping a meal or two.
But regardless of that strange lack of hunger, she still needs to eat. Her mind might be playing tricks on her, perhaps not fully aware of her body's condition after essentially being in a coma for some time. In normal circumstances she'd try to hunt some form of game, but that option isn't really open to her at the moment. She no longer has Excalibur—and even if she did, she wouldn't sully it by using it on mere wild animals—not any other weapon for that matter, and her body is still a bit sore and stiff after the battle and her long rest.
A scene from her childhood suddenly plays in her mind, from years before she'd stepped forth to draw Caliburn. Sir Ector had taught her and Kay the basics of foraging, insisting that knights should be prepared and able to survive on their own in emergencies. The time is long ago now and she hadn't paid much attention at the time—after all, when would she ever need to survive out in the wilderness—so specifics have become vague in her memory, but she should be able to pull out enough knowledge to suffice for now.
With a plan for providing food in mind, she turns her thoughts to finding a water source. It shouldn't be too difficult; Vivian's lake and the river that feeds it are nearby, and they should be more than suitable for drinking from. If she can make her way to the river, it would be an easy freshwater source.
Getting water comes first, so she begins to stumble through the gradually brightening forest. Her armor makes the process a bit difficult in her weakened state, but not so much that she'd be willing to just abandon it. While making her way to the river she comes across a few sources of nuts and berries that she recognizes as being edible, so she eats as she goes.
With the sun approaching its peak, she finally reaches the river she'd been searching for. Once she's climbed down onto its banks, she cups her hands under the surface and raises the water to her mouth, taking a long sip. She does this over and over again, eventually managing to quench her thirst.
Her immediate needs have been tended to, so it's time for her to plan a bit further ahead. She'll need supplies; some form of blade, changes of clothing, something to carry things in. Getting these things on her own would ordinarily be difficult, especially without anything to exchange for them, but there just so happens to be a place where she should be able to find plenty of ownerless supplies nearby.
With less than a month having passed since the battle, it couldn't have already been completely scavenged, and altogether the fallen knights should've been carrying everything she could potentially need for survival. That's settled, then; a new destination in mind, she sets out to return to Camlann.
The sun is low in the sky when she eventually arrives at the battlefield, having taken several hours to find it as a result of being unconscious for much of the time Bedivere carried her away. Looking upon the war-torn field and bloodstained hill fills her with a deep sadness; though she'd resolved to stop seeking a way to change the past, such a sight doesn't exactly make her confident in her ultimate decision.
It isn't long before she returns to pragmatism though, and she begins inspecting the corpses of fallen knights. Their bodies' state of decay leads her to believe it's been closer to three weeks than one since the battle was fought, though narrowing the range further remains too difficult. As she'd anticipated, supplies are plentiful here. A sword, a few knives, a bundle of rope, clothing, cloth to bundle everything else in… almost everything she could ask for is here. Everything except food, that is; any that remained in the camps after the battle must've been taken by animals before she could reach it. A bit disappointing, but not unexpected. In any case, it can't be helped now. All she can do now is move forward.
When she returns to the edge of the forest of her rebirth, the sun has nearly reached the horizon. She turns and takes another look at the battlefield colored in the reds and golds of the setting sun, a melancholy feeling filling her. When she'd initially returned there had been a faint hope of managing to find and save at least some survivors, but the hellscape left in the battle's wake wouldn't have been able to sustain anyone for the weeks she'd spent recovering.
"I suppose even if I had found any survivors, I would not have been of much assistance as a 'dead' man," she laments, bringing to mind another memory;
"You can't redo things, and it's useless to even try."
"The fate of this country is no longer in my hands, nor do I wish it to be. I shall not change the natural course of history; if I were to do so, all that occurred between now and Shirou's time will have been for naught. No, I do not seek to change the past, I seek to change that which is yet to be written—I seek a future I can share with him," she determines as she reenters the forest, steeling herself to follow down her chosen path regardless of how difficult it may be.
She begins to feel drowsiness coming upon her as she walks through the rapidly darkening forest, so she keeps her eyes open for anywhere she could rest for the night. Eventually she stumbles upon a small clearing surrounded almost entirely by foliage, and if it wasn't enough that it provides plenty of cover for her to hide in, it's also near the river she intends to use as a freshwater source.
She sets her bundle of supplies underneath a tree and sits beside it, laying her sword across her lap for easy access in case of sudden emergency—it seems unlikely that anyone would manage to come across her, but better safe than sorry. When she closes her eyes she immediately begins drifting off to sleep, but before she can fall unconscious she manages to speak a single sentence;
"I shall return to you, Shirou, no matter how long I must wait."
Author's Note
So, first things first. This concept was inspired by the fic Continuation of the Dream by Caphriel. That's not to say it's going to be the same as it or anything though, just that the starting point (Artoria surviving Camlann thanks to bringing Avalon back in time after the Fate route) will be the same and the ending point will be similar; the journey itself will be almost completely different.
I had originally intended to post Chapter 1 alongside the prologue because a good portion of this is just recap of the Fate route's ending and Artoria and Merlin's talk in Last Episode, but I didn't manage to get a version I was happy with posting done in time for Shirou Day so I decided to just go ahead with this. I'm not exactly certain how often I'll try to update this, but ideally there shouldn't be more than two weeks or so between chapters.
This is my first time willingly writing fiction (and first time writing fiction in general in probably over half a decade) so I know it's probably not the greatest, but I just had to start writing something myself once I started to run out of Shirou/Artoria content to read. They're a strong contender for my favorite fictional couple and I just can't get enough of them together, so I figured that I may as well start creating content myself. Anyways, with all that said, I hope you all enjoy the ride.