It was a quiet day on a Sunday for Illyasviel as she was just focusing on her homework that she needed to finish.
She had just finished sealing the Berserker Card with Miyu a few days ago and she wanted to rest yesterday due to being extremely tired.
Normally she would have finished all her homework by Friday or Saturday but because of Berserker, she put it on hold to recover.
And it came to bite her in the head.
"Ughhh." She slumped her head down on her desk, sending some of her pencils in the air for a few moments before gravity took hold and placed them back down. She had just finished doing Math, her hardest homework yet and she still needed to do a few more before she could call it a day.
This will be a very quiet but stressful day for her. Maybe she needs to take a nap first, she has been going at it since this morning and after lunch. She should be able to take at least an hour nap before dinner.
But unfortunately, Fate had other plans for her…
"Illya-chan! I'm bored~. Let's go to another world!"
The mystic code, aka Ruby appeared out of thin air, scaring Illya enough to send her to the floor, hitting her head again.
"Ruby! Don't do that again!" Illya whined as she nursed her own head from her self injury.
"Sorry sorry but I want to try out this new feature I found out and you have been doing your homework all day! Let's go have some fun!" Ruby's tone wasn't apologetic at all, borderline of not giving a damn about Illya.
Illya groaned as she dumped her head on the soft mattress. "No Ruby, I just want to sleep after I do this…" she trailed off as she fell asleep for a few moments before being jolted awake by Ruby's poking.
"Don't do that!" Illya cries out in anger.
"Ehe!" Ruby's uncaring attitude made Illya grit her teeth for a bit before she took a deep breath and just simply punched the mystic code to the wall.
"Gah! Illya-chan~. Why did you do that? Magical Girls aren't supposed to use barbaric moves like that."
"Ruby! I'm stressed right now and you are not helping! Can you please bother me tomorrow after school or something. I'm trying to finish my homework so that my grades don't fall." Illya snapped at the mystic code as she rubbed her tired eyes away before going to her desk to put away the homework she finished and went to her bag to get the next one.
"Tsk tsk tsk Illya-chan. You are very stressed, I can see that, but this is why I wanted to surprise you with going on a trip!" Ruby explained her earlier actions to Illya.
Illya could only give a deadpan stare to Ruby. There is only so much she could handle before she would snap again, but figuring out that the mystic code will continue to pester her until it gets what it wants, Illya resigned to her fate and hears it out. "Ok, what's this other world you were talking about?"
Ruby began to giggle maniacally which served to unnerve Illya a bit. "Recently, our creator has installed an interesting feature in all of our alternate versions of ourselves thanks to the place known as Chaldea."
"Chaldea?" Illya asked curiously as she has never heard or known about such a place before.
"No need to think about it, Illya-chan! All you have to know is that with a bit of tweaking, we can use the same spell we used to access the mirror world to go to other worlds similar to this one."
"I don't get it." Illya tilted her head in confusion.
"Well…to make it simple for you. We have access to the mana plane thanks to our access to the multiverse. And we use that to channel the spell that allows us to access the mirror world to seal those cards, right?" Ruby paused for a bit before Illya nodded. "So, our new improved spell can now also access other worlds that are similar to this one that have a different history from this world."
Illya pondered Ruby's words for a while. What it sounds like is traveling to other worlds similar to her home but with differences in them. Her imagination began running through possibilities; living in a different house? Being blood related to her Onii-chan? Perhaps in another world where they were married, kissing each other and making love…
Illya's face heated up at that last part.
"Hohoho! I see you're thinking naughty things again! Let me guess, you being married to Shirou-" Ruby could not finish her sentence as a pillow was thrown at it to keep it silent.
Illya's face burned as she tried to keep her imaginations in check, slapping her cheeks a few times before taking a deep breath.
"How long will it take for us to go to another world?"
"Oh it won't take too long Illya-chan! Like I said, this is just the same spell to travel to the mirror world. This would also allow us to travel to other worlds very quickly as well so we could explore as many worlds as possible!" Ruby explained happily.
Illya nodded tiredly. "Fine Ruby, we can go try you… new spell." She refused to say another world, as much as she would like to believe it, going to another earth is… a bit out there. "But maybe after dinner first, I need to at least eat before I go anywhere…"
Ruby nodded happily and just disappeared in a flash of light. Illya tiredly sighed as she looked between her bed and her desk. It is really tempting to just sleep there… but she needs to finish her homework instead. Hopefully after whatever Ruby is doing, she could just sleep the night away.
So with grit and determination, she pulled her next homework for the day and began working on it.
The Magical Girl Illya, clad in her magical girl outfit and her Mystic Code Ruby, stood outside of Illya's backyard. Illya shifted nervously as Ruby flew around for a bit, tilting its head before wandering to another part of the backyard as if looking for something.
If Illya wants to be honest with herself, she is nervous, skeptical and excited at seeing other parallel worlds. It's like those Isekai anime she used to watch where they go to another world to complete a grand task, save the world or get harems which Illya usually dislikes the last bit.
"Umm, Ruby, are you almost done there… It's getting cold here." Illya shivered as a gust of wind blew past her. Sure this outfit is very cute and all but it's not made to be worn at times like these. The only reason why she is even able to withstand the cold is because of the fact that she heats herself up when she fights the servants in which case, the cold is usually forgotten.
But in this case where Illya had to stand here for about 30 minutes? Not doing so well for her…
"Just making sure all the spells are casted right so that we don't blow ourselves up. It will be done in a bit." Ruby's uncaring tone from her answer made Illya shiver in fear. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...
"And done! The spell is ready!" Welp, it's too late to turn back now. "Just stand in the middle here and let Ruby do the rest!"
With fleeting confidence, Illya stood forward in the middle, still slightly shivering from the cold. Her attention gets taken as a bright light engulfs the entire backyard.
"Adding the imaginary numerical axis to the fifth instrumental variable." The space around Illya began to shift, twisting and turning.
"Preparing inversion. Confirming the existence of multiple worlds. Fixation of centre co-ordinates complete. Forming a reflective path to the multiverse stream." The colors around her backyard began to change, similar to that of a kaleidoscope as a familiar pattern formed on her feet.
"Performing partial inversion of alternate worlds connection." The colors around her shifted faster and faster at dizzying speeds. Illya felt like she was going to puke any second now.
"Coordinates are stable.
Unsummon program, start.
Spiritron Conversion, start
Rayshifting starts in 3…2…1." Then everything went white for Illya.
Caster Artoria or also known as Artoria Avalon shifted her feet nervously as she walked beside the last Master of Chaldea, Ritsuka Fujimaru to her very first Rayshift.
He explained to her that they would be doing some ember farming that grants them crystals to boost the powers of the servants through their Saint Graph. She still doesn't know how that quite works yet but she assumes that it's probably due to how the FATE system runs compared to the Holy Grail ritual it's based on.
After she was first summoned into Chaldea and was given the tour of the place, Ritsuka told her to explore the place while he left her to do something. After some time, she felt her power grow out of nowhere. It was quite a shock to her that she accidentally shot a mana blast at the wall due to her power spike.
She even glowed for a bit before changing to what her master dubbed `Her second Ascension`. She didn't quite get it until it was explained to her that servants summoned through the FATE system are generally weaker than those from the Holy Grail Ritual but thanks to an item known as Ember of Wisdom, Chaldea can strengthen their servants to the point that it can even surpass those summoned from the Ritual.
She was quite amazed on how far technology and magecraft can go hand in hand and wonders why she was ever needed in the first place. After all, while she indeed has magecraft from the Age of Faeries, it's nothing compared to those Casters who came from the Age of Gods and thus, have far more superior magecraft than she can ever wield in her lifetime.
But she remembers why she was summoned in the first place…
Her Lostbelt 6 counterpart in Avalon created her to help Ritsuka in clearing the last Lostbelt and help him through his journey to preserve mankind from destruction.
She didn't know how to feel about Ritsuka. She knows what he did and their adventures together because her counterpart also gave her their memories as well.
To be honest, she can't say if she can feel the same way about Master as her counterpart did. She can see why she fell in love with him but she isn't sure if she herself can learn to love him the same way.
She shook her head, dismissing all those thoughts. It doesn't matter to her, as long as she just helps Master then it is fine for her…
Then maybe I can learn the reason why she fell in love with him…
"Artoria-san, are you ok?"
"Eh?" Ritsuka's voice of concern snapped Artoria out of her head as she gave him a fake grin. "Of course I'm alright master, why wouldn't I be?"
Ritsuka scratched his cheek as he explained himself. "Well you had that look on your face that told me something was bothering you, is it something I can help you with?"
Artoria gritted her teeth mentally but kept up her grin, shifting to a bit of nervousness to throw him off guard. "Well… I am a bit nervous about this. This is my first time doing this after all so I'm not sure if I can do well here…" she told him a half truth. No need for her Master to know all her troubles after all.
Ritsuka snapped his fingers at Artoria's explanation. "Ah I see! Don't worry Artoria, you will do great out there! I am confident that we can do this, no sweat!" He gave her a confident grin which she returned back to him before the conversation died as they walked to their destination in silence.
Artoria mentally sighed as she didn't think Master was that perceptive of her. Best to keep her problems to herself when no one is around. She can complain later at her own time. Right now they have a mission to do.
The two arrived at the Docking Bay.
It was a cavern through and through, with pipes, machinery and handrails jutting out as if the builders had just materialized them in the same space.
A large opening led to a rainy exterior. The Shadow Border was parked on a ramp leading towards said opening.
Artoria could see the other servants boarding into the vehicle, but she didn't really pay any attention to any of them except for one.
This one in particular is a copy of herself… except it's not an exact copy either. They both have the same face, eye color and hair color but that's where the similarities end.
Her hair flows down to her waist while the clone ties it up in a neat bun, behind her back.
As while she wears a blue coat with a white buttoned dress underneath it, the clone wears a blue dress underneath the silver armor, befitting that of a knight.
While she herself wields the staff, the clone wields an invisible sword. But she knows what that sword is, afterall…
Murasama sacrificed himself to create that accursed sword in my place…
Excalibur, The Golden Sword of Promised Victory. Wielded by none other than King Arthur aka Artoria Pendragon, her panhuman counterpart.
She… really didn't know how to feel about her. She felt like she was staring at herself at the same time, she's staring at a complete stranger.
She has looked up this version of herself's history and she can't say if she can even do half of the things her counterpart can really do, despite being really similar to her…
That goes to really show how much of a coward and a cynic I am… I doubt she ever had these types of thoughts. Her bitter thoughts were in the forefront of her mind whenever Artoria thought of the Once and Future King but she shakes her head and forces a smile to everyone as they meet up.
"Ah Master, you kept us waiting. Are we ready to depart?" Artoria Pendragon asked.
Ritsuka nodded as he began boarding into the vehicle, followed by Artoria and lastly Artoria Avalon herself.
They were all gathered at the control room as the driver, called Méuniere, prepared the vehicle.
"Alright, is everyone prepared for some Ember Farming?" Da vinci asked from the intercom. Most of the servants cheered on while some of the others groaned at another tedious task to be made once again.
Caster Artoria just kept silent, twiddling her staff nervously. She looked over to her Saber counterpart, seeing her stoned face as usual. She looked over to her master as he cheered on as well. That brought a small smile to her face.
"Alright everyone! Strap in! Méuniere, make the honours!" Da Vinci said her final words before disconnecting.
"Okay. Commencing Zero Sail. All systems ready and on point. Starting countdown!" The vehicle rumbled, all light and switches lit up. The paper moon began displaying the cylindrical globe, with a bright dot on.
"Three!" Ritsuka grabbed hold of the seat. He hated Zero Sails. They made him nauseous.
"Two!" He took a glance at the rest of his servants. Everyone was prepared, their face set in grim determination, except herself.
"One!" As he looked at her, she moved her eyes to make contact. Their gazes met. Ritsuka gave her a nod and a small smile, which she herself returned back to him.
"Diving!"
Something went wrong at that moment.
Artoria Avalon could feel her body, being torn asunder by an invisible force. It was excruciating pain that she has never felt before, it was as if she was being burned alive in a volcano. It felt like her soul was being torn apart for a moment.
Her eyes fluttered in and out of consciousness, one moment, she was with Master and everyone else, the next, she was faced with a weird speeding magic wand coming into contact with her face.
The next, she knew nothing more.
When Illya regained consciousness, the first thing she felt was a stabbing pain through her head. Her body felt like lead as if she ran a marathon. It was not just that, she felt like electricity ran through her entire body, giving her pins and needles each time she moved her body.
When she finally managed to regain some strength and sat up, she was very surprised to see herself in her school uniform with her bag and everything. She was quite confused on how that came to be though, she was pretty sure that she was wearing her Magical Girl outfit so what changed?
She shook her head as she stood up to take note of her surroundings. She is currently in a dense forest, more akin to that of a jungle. The clouds above her were blocked by the trees, but judging by the light that did manage to penetrate through, she can conclude that it's either early in the morning or in the afternoon.
Nevertheless, she looked around to see Ruby, lying down face flat on the grass, unresponsive for some reason. She picked up the mystic code and tried to wake it up.
"Ruby? Come on Ruby get up! Where are we?"
Even after whacking the stick a couple of times, it seems to be unresponsive at the moment. Illya sighed dejectedly as her only companion at the moment was unconscious and now she is alone in this forest with no magic available to her for use…
Maybe she should ask Ruby later if she can learn how to do magic without needing Ruby. It would surely be useful to her. She knows Rin-san and Luvia-san had used magic without Ruby's help so maybe she can learn it too?
Regardless, she can't stay here in this spot and proceeds to place Ruby inside her bag before she starts to move in a random direction, hoping to find some sort of civilization in this new world?
As she was about to depart, she turned around to see a magic blast coming straight to her at a blinding speed.
Trusting her honed instincts of battles from the class cards, she dashed to the side, avoiding the blast that decimated the tree, sending splinters throughout the forest. Illya got up and took a look towards the entity that shot that blast.
She wasn't sure what to make of what was in front of her. It was a weird stump that was in the shape of a hand that had a glowing yellow crystal on top of it, radiating magic from it.
She saw the crystal begin to glow even brighter, assuming that it would begin to fire it again at her…
She really wished she knew how to use magic right about now.
But her worries were quickly abated as an invisible object stabbed right through the trunk, then proceeded to channel a gust of wind that tore through the entity apart without remorse. The yellow crystal flew towards her feet. She had to close her eyes when the wind gust blew to her, but after the wind subsided, she opened her eyes towards her savior.
Said savior was a teenager about a year younger than her older brother. She has emerald eyes with blonde hair that is tied into a neat bun. She wears a silver armor that covers the blue dress that she wears underneath it. Overall, she is a perfect picture of that of a knight or even that of a queen.
That costume looks eerily familiar to her though… she just can't put her finger on where she has seen that outfit before.
Her emerald eyes widened as if she recognized her and gave her a smile. "This is most certainly unexpected but welcomed. It is nice to meet you again Illyasviel."
Illya made the most dumbfounded face she could ever make. "Huh?"
"I did not think that we would meet for a while due to our world being in a crisis of sorts." The blue knight continued on, unaware of her confusing thoughts. "But it is nice to see a familiar face after so long…"
Illya had to snap herself out of it and waved her hands. "Wa-wait! I think you got the wrong person here!"
The blue knight tilted her head. "I did?"
Illya nodded her head fervently. "Yes! I'm pretty sure that I would be familiar with a knight that looks very beautiful!"
The blue knight had pink cheeks due to her honest compliment. "Thank you for the compliment Miss Illyasviel…" The blue knight shook her head before proceeding to pick up the yellow crystal that was near Illyasviel's feet. "Since you don't remember me, I would assume that you are a newly summoned servant? This is a first though… we never encounter servants in our farming expeditions lest we were farming for Ascension materials though…"
Illya was about to ask what she was talking about when the bushes behind the blue knight rustled. She tensed up, prepared for an attack, but the knight hadn't..
"Ah master! Look what I have found over here." She waves to the rustling bushes.
The bush gave way to a young man around Shirou's age. He has unkempt black hair and blue eyes. He is currently wearing a skintight white and black combat suit and on his right hand is a strange red symbol that has three strokes.
The man has a worried expression on his face, something that the blue knight and herself noticed upon taking a closer look on his face…
"Master, is something wrong?" The blue knight asked, worried about what's on his mind.
The man's eyes widened upon Illya's form. "Illyasviel? I haven't seen you since…" He shook his head. "Whatever it doesn't matter now." He turned to look at the blue knight. "Saber, have you seen Castoria anywhere?"
The now named Saber narrowed her eyes. "No, I haven't yet Master. I have only encountered Avenger Jeanne earlier."
The young man bits his lips in worry, something that worries Saber even more. "Why Master? Has she fallen in battle?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure… Da Vinci told me that the moment we initiated the Zero Sail, something went wrong with Castoria's Saint Graph. It was just… gone."
Saber's eyes widened even further. "What do you mean just gone?!"
"That's it! I don't know what happend?! Da Vinci doesn't know either! Heck, even Holmes was shocked by this phenomenon as well! It was just as if she was being ripped apart from our systems or just got forcibly kicked out of there and something replaced it!"
"Hehehe! That was probably me!"
Everyone's gaze turned to Illya's backpack where the mystic code Ruby got out of the backpack and floated around them. "You see, something was blocking our path to go to another world and of course, the brilliant Ruby could not endanger Illya to see what would happen so naturally, I kicked that thing out of the way, but of course whatever was sucking it sucked us too and so here we are!"
The man and Saber's mouth dropped, it was as if they heard the worst joke in existence. The man shook his head and tried to get a better grasp of this odd situation. "Are you saying that you replaced Castoria as my servant?!"
Ruby shrugged. "Probably, I mean, I can feel a strange force, trying to destroy Illya here but here she is now, just as healthy as she is, not feeling anything at all. Not just that, but also a steady stream of mana supplying her as well. It must have come from your Chaldea."
Illya gaped at the nonchalance of Ruby. "Wa-wait Ruby!? I thought you said that spell was safe to use?!"
"Of course it was Illya-chan. I just did not expect to be replacing someone as a servant just because I kicked them out of the way and sucked ourselves to this Zero Sail thing."
The man began to hyperventilate, which Saber tried to help by rubbing his back gently. "Ruby, where did you kick Castoria to?"
"Who knows?" Ruby shrugged with its wings. "For all I know, they could be in another parallel world or heck, maybe even in another Grail War."
Illya got very lost in the conversation rather quickly and had only one thought in mind.
'Castoria or whoever you are… I hope you are safe and can come back so that Ruby can apologize for being stupid again.'
Illya had no idea what was in store for her in this world.
When Arotoria Avalon came to, her entire body was being face planted into the ground. She can still feel the phantom pain of what had happened to her earlier. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to happen to her or not but hopefully, that would be the only time she feels pain like that.
She slowly pulled her body off the ground and dusted herself off as she took in her surroundings.
She was in an urban place that was distinctly eastern. And there was a lack of litter on the streets. Judging by the text from certain boards, she can very quickly conclude that she is somewhere around Japan.
She was told that the location of where they would farm Embers of Wisdom would be in a very dense forest so seeing this place instead took her for a surprise.
Nevertheless, she trusts that Master had a reason why the location suddenly changed and decided to contact him through their master-servant bond.
…
…
…
But then she realized with a sinking feeling that her bond with Master was nowhere to be detected.
She began to panic internally. Did he sever the contract between them? No, that wasn't the case as she would have felt the command seal snap the bond instead.
It wasn't just that, she no longer felt mana flowing towards her. Chaldea was usually the one that would provide the mana in Master's place as it's not possible for him to sustain 6 servants into combat at the same time, otherwise he would be drained out of mana the moment even two servants were contracted to him.
So then... What happened in that moment when they dived?
Did the system bug out and not only cut off the bond but also her mana supply? Possible. Did her Master give the order to cut out their bond and her supply? Judging by the memories of her previous self, unlikely but is still possible. Did something happen back at the Shadow Border as well? Also a possibility.
But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is finding her Master and hopefully fixing this mess together.
With that goal in mind, she began to float in the air, turned to spirit form and flew around the section. She would just hope that nothing that bad had happened to her Master at that time of her absence…
Little did she know that she was no longer in the same world as her Master.
Shirou Emiya walked home in the dead of this particular cold night. He could see the cold air he exhaled with each breath he took.
He looked around, seeing the peaceful houses, slumbering away, unaware of the horrible event that is currently taking place in Fuyuki…
The Holy Grail War…
A tournament style deathmatch where 7 magi with servants, who are apparently heroes from the past, would fight to the death with each other to win a wish from the Holy Grail…
He didn't like the fact that he was dragged into this event without consent. He didn't like the fact that one of his classmates, Rin Tohsaka, was also participating in it. He also didn't like the fact that it has been happening for over 200 years…
But most of all…
"I won't fight, I'll abandon my rights as a Master."
He didn't know if what he did was the right choice…
He looked over the faded command seals in left arm, his gaze seemed to penetrate it, as if it was waiting for an answer for his decision to just… forfeit the war.
But no matter what he did, the seals would just stare back at him, giving him no answer to his question…
"Do you still say that you will abandon your rights as a Master?"
"...I shall not see you again but I pray that you safely survive this battle."
At that very moment, Shirou noticed Saber's disappointment and wanted to call out to her, to tell her that he will become a master for her…
…
…
...But the moment he decided to revoke his right as a Master was the moment that he knew deep down…
He is useless, a coward.
He couldn't do anything when Lancer tried to kill him back then. He couldn't do anything when Saber and Lancer fought against each other.
Heck, he couldn't even decide whether or not to continue this war, just to avoid more meaningless deaths just like…
…
…
...It didn't matter though. He knew that if he took that role… he would be killed. He would fail his servant and would be the worst human on this planet… After all, he rejected his role as Master once, who's to say he would do it when it really matters… He just couldn't do it in the end...
…
…
...But that doesn't mean he won't be willing to participate in this war.
Maybe not as a Master, but as someone who can stay on the sidelines, observing around him, analyzing and acting as an informant for a Master.
'Maybe I should ask Rin if she needs help.'
Whether or not Rin will accept his help or not is up to debate, but right now, what he needs to do is just get some sleep and clear his head for the morning. That way, he would be more effective as an ally for Tohsaka.
He feels a phantom pain, stabbing through his chest. The wound that Lancer was responsible, is now aching.
He clutches his chest, grits his teeth and bears the pain for a few moments before subsiding…
"Damn it, I just need to go home and take a break."
But even then, it was never meant to be.
"I see you're alone now, Onii-chan."
Shirou looked up to the hill where he would walk, going to his home to see a small girl and strange figure…
In a blink of an eye, the figure disappears and reappears in front of him, ready to strike him down…
In that moment, it's where Shirou Emiya's fate was sealed and he would be doomed forever to live as a head in a jar as a human trophy by that girl…
But fortunately for him, his fate was avoided by an accident that was never meant to happen.
A blur of blue light was all he saw before being flung into the air. Gravity took hold and dragged him back to the earth, skidding down a few meters away.
Shirou was disoriented, his mind failing to catch up with what was happening around him. It took a few moments before his brain was working again and took in his surroundings.
He is still near town, but the road before him was cracked, like a massive force clashed against the earth with chunks of concrete flying out into the air.
But his attention was far more focused on the girl standing before him.
He could see the girl's long blonde hair, flowing as if the wind was supporting it.
She turned around to face him and was shocked by her appearance.
She looked way too similar to Saber. Besides the different outfit and even seeing a staff instead of an invisible object, she looks like his previous servant with the emerald eyes and even her facial structure but something about her is far more different than Saber.
Whereas, Saber had a regal air to her, something befitting of a commander or even a queen, this new lookalike felt… different. She feels like a person who is burdened by a heavy responsibility. He also felt like he could depend on her when things go wrong in his life…
'But why would I feel that way about her? I haven't even met her before!?'
It didn't matter though, he knew the person in front of her was also a servant from this Holy Grail War. He was just saved by her as well. Whether she was sent her to fight other servants or just patrol the area, the fact that she took the time to save him…
He isn't sure if he could ever repay that debt, but he will do it, even if he has to sacrifice his own life just to do it. This, he promises.
"Are you all right?" This is the beginning of a new story, for the unlikely event that was never meant to happen.
This is, Fate's End
Date posted: Sept, 27 2021
A/N: New one shot! Huzzah!
I was inspired by a story that takes place in a similar event as well. It is an SI/OC story though but still, the concept itself was pretty good as well.
Why another one shot story that may or may never be continued, I just write if the idea pops up in my head, it allows my creativity juices to be used so this happens. Also I don't know much about Caster Artoria in her lost belt since my information is based on fanfiction and some wiki so forgive me if i got things wrong.
Next update is DXD so stay tuned I suppose…
What do you think of this one shot? If you want to continue it, just tell me and I may let you adopt this story. Leave a Review, Follow and Favorite.
Anyway, Xian you later, Chow!