Even a MAIDEN can BREAK...
Illya was a girl who knew her way around earthquakes, or any earth shaking for that matter. One does not become the Master of Berserker without learning a thing or two about the stuff, not when every step of her old servant sent tremors down the earth's mantle. So, when Illya felt the ground shake beneath her feet, she had a vague idea of what caused it. It reminded her of a certain twintails magus' exploding jewelry.
Blake and Illya froze. Like all the other people on the street, they felt the sudden jolt of seismic activity and heard the blaring siren that followed right after. The pedestrians were all bewildered, unsure of what to make of the sound.
But Illya knew what it was. She had heard it only once before, when her brother insisted on hearing the fire alarm system in their brand new store.
"Illya!"
She bolted, ignoring Blake's call. She forced her tiny legs as fast as she could, mending her way through the crowds.
But Blake caught up in an instant. "Illya, what's wrong?"
"Explosion. Brother's store," she said between bated breaths.
Blake's expression hardened. An explosion? In broad daylight? A robbery perhaps?
It was an unlikely thought, but the weight of the crime scene the two had just left was still fresh in her mind.
Illya stopped abruptly. Turning to her right, she pushed open a wooden door of a store and the blaring siren grew even louder. Blake stepped behind the girl. The lower lip of her mouth slowly dropped till her mouth hung agape.
The room smelled of burnt up charcoal. Smoke filled the store, so it was hard to see, but as the fire alarms blared into her ears, the smoke cleared, revealing Weiss and Yang lying on their backs in a crater. Charred and scratched weapons littered beside them.
A coughing fit from the counter caught Blake's attention. Ruby stepped out, fanning the smoke away her from her path with her hand. "Are you guys alright?" She called out.
A slur of confirmations sprouted from the two girls' mouth. They moaned and rubbed their heads. Ruby gave them her hands, and she helped them back to their feet.
They surveyed the extent of the destruction. A crater had been carved into the center of the explosion, scratching and charring several of the nearby weapons. The explosion was powerful but it wasn't large. The rest of the room was fine, save for the few weapons knocked from their place.
"What did you three do?" Blake's voice caught their attention. They finally noticed their last teammate at the door. They didn't miss the hiss of glaring disappointment in her eyes.
"Ugh, Blake! Funny story, actually!" Ruby tried not to panic. "Y'know how I once blew up Weiss' suitcase of dust back on our first day? Well, it's like that… But this time, I just broke the dust jars open. Yang was the one who exploded." Ruby gestured to the broken glass jars to her left and her freshly baked sister to her right. "Oh, and um, Weiss gave me the dagger to break the glass… so maybe um… it's not so funny after all…"
Ruby tried to explain as best as she could without incurring any more ire. She tried to play it off light-heartedly, but her panic was palpable.
"I see. I do remember you telling me that story last time, Ruby."
Illya's voice was cold and especially low. Her head was down, but she gazed unflinchingly at the ruined state of her brother's store through the bangs of her white hair. Her cat ears drooped, before trembling.
Ruby, Weiss and Yang lowered their heads. The guilt weighed down their shoulders only now when they noticed Illya.
"Illya…" Blake stared at the girl's trembling shoulders.
Illya's pale face colored red. Tears welled at her eyes. "Ruby… Weiss… you all… to Shirou's store…"
To the store Shirou painstakingly built to support us…
"You all…!"
Before she could cry in outrage, a hand chopped down her head. She winced in pain.
"Yes, yes, let's not do anything we'll regret later down the line," a deep voice spoke from Illya's side.
When did he get there?
Standing next to the girl on the verge of a tantrum, the girl's brother and owner of the store, Emiya Shirou wore a perfectly stoic face.
"It's my fault."
His words brought Illya to a halt. She looked up at his resolute face. What did he mean?
Even a BROKEN SWORD can be redeemed...
The screeching sound of senseless static paralyzed Emiya Shirou. His nerves frayed at the ends and suddenly his body was no longer his to control. Shirou flexed a muscle, or at least tried to. His muscles wouldn't budge. His joints locked in place.
The sound of shattering porcelain spurred him to look down. On the floor, a teapot had slipped free from his hands and broke into several jagged fragments. The pieces lied where they fell, in a green pool of spilled tea, never again to be whole. The image of a complete teapot shattered.
And so to was Shirou's memories. Fragmented. Inconsistent. Broken into chaotic shards.
W-who am I…? I'm.. $%^ EMIYA!? # Shirou… A Master…. no, ARCHER, a servant! A… Sword?
His head spinning, Shirou glanced around his surroundings. A regular, if not small, kitchen. Some tea leaves and a thermos of hot water on the table. He had been making tea? For whom? Why would he even do such a thing? He was after all a-
SWORD!
The idea filled the empty cracks in his mind, slipping into the gaps of where his memories and emotions should have been.
SWORD!
That was right. His memories and even his personality were gone, this single truth remained. Whoever he was or had been, his body was made of…
SWORDS!
His golden eyes lost their light, turning murky silver. His nerves overloaded with magical energy. His body became as hard as steel. His sleeves ripped apart, revealing his bare arms, their flesh marred with patches of a growing tan. Blue nerves glowed on his arms. Thin lines grew over his skin, before widening, opening his flesh. From these wounds, sprouted forth countless steel blades, spurting out fiery red blood.
STEEL is my BODY. FIRE is my BLOOD!
His mouth twisted in pain. He suppressed a gut-curdling scream. This amount of pain was nothing. This level of suffering was only natural for him. For a sword like him who cuts down anyone and anything for the sake of a twisted ideal, this was only justice.
In his mind, between the static, images of a man standing alone on a hill flashed. The man's back was stabbed with dozens of swords. Each one different from the other, their blades digging into his flesh and bones.
That's right. This was him. He was a sword that could never truly save anyone. He was not a hero to be lauded, only a sword to be used and thrown away for the sake of destruction. He was a sword that would never be understood-
There's no way that's true.
The sword lost it's breath. The static in his mind steadily died down. His right eye returned to gold. He wasn't imagining it. Someone's voice was reaching him.
I don't want Shirou to sacrifice anything more for me.
Shirou? Who was that? Whose voice was this?
That's why I've decided to help him however I can! I'll be his pillar of support…
The image within his mind changed. The man on the hill dimmed.
So that Shirou can stand properly!
He saw the image of an immaculate doll's face. The smile she wore, so fragile and delicate, and yet so strong, refusing to bend to fate. It was the girl who once called him "brother" on a whim.
The swords growing on his arms stopped, before dispersing into blue particles of light. His wounds closed, threaded back together by metal strands of swords.
He blinked. He had returned from the brink. Emiya Shirou picked up a broom and swept away the shards of the broken teapot. His body revitalized with new warm energy. From the connection in his soul, prana flowed into him, slowly restoring his body's motor abilities.
Shirou placed the pieces of teapot in a trash bag and went out the back door to dispose of them. He was just about to drop the bag in the proper disposal bin when the ground beneath him shook. He stumbled, the effects of his earlier lapse in consciousness still lingering. He had to take a few moments to steady himself.
"What was-"
He frowned. The blaring sound of his store's fire alarm immediately grabbed his attention. He reinforced his body and forced himself to returned to the store in haste. His enhanced hearing picked up sounds of the girls' conversation. Something about a dust explosion and Ruby trying to ease things off.
Just as he got into the room and was about to speak, his nose twitched. He instantly caught the new scent of magic in the air, a gust of a brewing blizzard mixed with an inkling of ferocious killing intent.
Shirou had to think fast. He needed to stop his sister from making a mistake she'd regret.
He operated on what little he knew of the situation and what he thought to be the most optimal method of pacifying his sister.
He hit her square in the head and chided her. She cried out in pain indignantly and glared at him. Her eyes still furious.
It wasn't enough, he realized. Illya's anger was still smoldering. Her rage was understandable, but it was too strong and difficult to control. It needed a target.
So, Shirou became that target.
"It's my fault."
He would shoulder any sins if it should mean her happiness. He was her brother after all.
Illya didn't want to understand. It was childish of her, she knew that, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be angry.
"I was the one who selfishly asked them to watch over the store, in the first place," Her brother explained to her, scratching his cheek. "They didn't have to agree to help, but out of the kindness of their hearts, they did. If they made any mistakes during their watch, we can't really blame them for their inexperience, now can we?"
The girls in question had the tact to appear embarrassed at Shirou's words. Even if his logic was sound, it still didn't absolve them of all blame.
"We are truly sorry for the damages we've brought upon your store, Shirou, Illya." Weiss bowed her head low. "Rest assured. We will pay the full expenses for the repairs."
"Uh, Weiss, I don't know about that…" Ruby nervously glanced at her partner. The precarious state of her monthly allowance now on the line.
"Quiet you." Weiss grabbed the girl's head and forcibly brought it down to a bow as well. "At the very least, I will cover the full expenses at least."
Shirou gave a perplexed look. "No, full expenses would a bit much…" While he was well aware of Weiss' status as the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, as to be expected, he was still reluctant about asking a teenage girl to pay what could potentially be a large sum of money.
Illya, on the other hand, glared at him. Her eyes blatantly telling her idiot of a brother to just accept the money.
"I insist." Weiss shook her head.
"Me too."
All eyes turned to the blonde brawler who up until now, had been in the middle of taking long deep breaths. Her temper having finally settled down, Yang Xiao Long addressed Shirou. "Even if you were the one who asked us to watch over your store. We were still the ones who accepted your request. We have to own up to our mistakes and take responsibility."
Ruby thoughtfully nodded at her sister's words. "Yeah, we have to clean up after ourselves."
Weiss looked at her teammates in a new light.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Shirou couldn't really argue with that. "How does half the cost sound?"
"Full cost." Weiss wouldn't budge.
"Three fourths?"
"Full cost, plus some premium quality SDC dust."
"Full cost then."
"Half the cost, with the quality SDC dust."
"Fine." Shirou sighed, finally compromising. "But you three are sure you can afford it?"
Weiss didn't think Shirou had the time to worry about the financial status of his customers when his store was still in its infancy. He was either confident in UBW's sales or kind to a fault. "We are certain. Right?"
Ruby and Yang nodded, and Shirou finally dropped the subject of compensation. He turned to his sister. "That okay with you?"
"If Shirou says it's fine then…" Illya pouted, looking away.
Shirou was about to ruffle Illya's hair when another hand beat him to it. Illya complained at the sudden patting and Shirou glanced at his sister's new companion who had remained silent all this time.
"Cheer up, Illya. My friends said they would pay, didn't they?" Blake tried her hand at calming the little girl down.
"I'm sorry," Shirou said. "We haven't met. You are?"
"Blake Belladonna." Blake removed her hand over Illya's hair. "I'm on the same team as these three in Beacon." She pointed her thumb at Ruby and the others. "As their teammate, I have to say I'm sorry for all the trouble they've caused."
"I see. It's fine really." Shirou smiled reassuringly. "I'm Shirou Emiya, Illya's brother and owner of this shop. How did you and Illya…?"
Blake raised her brow. Shirou called himself Illya's brother, but he was neither a faunus nor a von Einzbern like Illya. Perplexed, she saved her questions for later and answered the man's question first. "We met on the streets. Some thugs cornered her and I stepped in."
Shiro stiffened after hearing that. He shared a brief look with Illya.
We'll talk more about this later.
"Is that so? Thank you so much for saving my little sister," Shirou said. "I'd like to repay you, but first, I have to fix up my store…"
Shirou and the rest looked around at the chaotic state of UBW.
Today's afternoon work at Unlimited Blade Works seemed especially long.
Ruby and the girls, of course, volunteered their help.
That NIGHT…
It was a quiet night that night. Atop the roof deck of Unlimited Blade Works, Emiya Shirou sat alone above a broken piece of machinery. He leaned back on his palms, his feet dangling over the broken machine, his head craned up to the night sky. His once lustrous golden eyes were murky, clouded in darkness.
The evening wind passed by like an ethereal visitor, bringing with it the chilly gusts of the coming fall, a promise of winter.
"Illya, how long are you going to mope like that?" He called out to the silence, his eyes never leaving the broken moon that hung in the sky.
The door to the roof deck creaked open. Illya stepped out, and slowly joined Shirou's side. "But… they destroyed Onii-chan's store…" She pouted.
"You and I both know they didn't mean to." Shirou patted the spot beside him, inviting her to sit with him. "They're good people. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang… Even without looking into their weapons, I could tell that much."
"I know, but still…" Illya sat next to her brother, not flinching at the cold metal seat. "I know it was an accident. But when I saw what they did, I… I really wanted to hurt them."
"Illya…"
He could not refute her words. He had felt her killing intent at the time. If he hadn't stepped in at that time…
"Does that make Illya a bad person, Shirou?" She clutched a handful of Shirou's left arm sleeve.
Shirou smiled at her. "No, of course not. You may be a bit more temperamental than others, but I know that deep down, you're a good person, Illya."
He rubbed her hair affectionately. "Illya is a kind girl who makes mistakes like everyone else. I'm sure with enough time you'll learn to forgive your new friends for what they did."
"You're not taking their side are you, Shirou?" She narrowed her eyes. "In the first place, none of this would have happened if you had just called me back instead of asking Ruby and her friends for help. With the contract between us, it would've been easy."
"I'm sorry," Shirou apologized, scratching his cheek sheepishly. "I didn't think about that and just thought it would be quicker to ask them for help."
Illya looked down glumly at that.
"Isn't it fine, Illya? Nobody really got hurt. I can fix the damaged weapons in an instant. And Weiss insisted she reimburse us for the damage and the used dust. She said she might even score us a good deal with the Schnee Dust Company."
Shirou, in truth, didn't really mind today's accident that much. The damages he suffered were by no means small, but they weren't irreparable. They were also the result of his own actions, asking his first customers to watch his shop. His only true concern was Illya's now strained relationship with Team RWBY.
"Mou, I get it, Shirou. I'll forgive them for the accident. It's not like I can stay mad at them forever. They're my friends after all…" Illya grumbled sinking her head into Shirou's chest.
Friends. Yes, that was what Team RWBY had become to her, or at least, what she wanted them to be. In spite of today's trouble, Illya would still like to call them that.
"I'm glad to hear that, Illya." Shirou breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled happily at his sister, before scrunching up his nose. His eyes tensed. "I was right. You do smell differently tonight, Illya."
The girl glanced to the side, her cat ears deflated. "I,I don't know what you're talking about."
Shirou sniffed and nodded. "No, it's very faint, but unmistakable. You used your powers today, didn't you? And not just at the store, somewhere else. Was it when you met Blake?"
It was not a question, but a statement of a fact. One Illya clearly had to divulge if she wished to set her brother at ease. Reluctantly, she relayed the events that transpired on the streets of Vale earlier that day. Her job of handing out fliers. Her unfortunate encounter with a hate group. Her little show of force against the men with her abilities. Her rescue at the hands of Blake.
By the end of the story, Shirou had his arms crossed. "I knew it wasn't a good idea for you to wear those accessories." He glanced at the cat tail and ears. "Nothing good comes from pretending to be a faunus."
"Are you saying I don't look cute at all wearing these, Shirou?" Illya asked coyly, wiggling her ears.
Shirou coughed into his fist, blushing. "I won't deny you look cute in them, Illya. But still if they put you in danger…" Shirou stopped himself and sighed. "Well, no matter what I say, it's already too late now. People have already seen you in them. They'd ask questions if they saw you without them now."
"Indeed, indeed." Illya nodded fervently.
"That being said." Shirou looked at her critically. "Why didn't you call me at the first sign of trouble? Like you said, the contract between us would have been enough. And if push came to shove, you could use a command se-"
"Absolutely not!"
"Huh?" Shirou blinked.
"I don't want to rely on Shirou for every little thing. And I most certainly will not waste a command seal for something I can handle on my own." Illya declared resolutely.
"Illya, what's gotten into you? You know if there's anything you ever need, I could in a heartbeat-"
"No." Illya furiously shook her head and embraced Shirou's left arm. "I don't want to be a burden to you any more than this, Onii-chan."
Shirou wanted to refute her words, that she wasn't a burden to him, that he would gladly give up anything for her. But Illya's earnest face told him it would've been useless. And Shirou couldn't help but admire his sister's resolve.
In the end, he didn't deny her words. He turned back to the moon, still shining in the dark sky, even though it was already broken inside. His thoughts returned to what he originally came up to the roof for. Thoughts of another night and another moon came to his mind.
"You know, Kiritsugu and I used to do this all the time," Shirou spoke quietly, but Illya heard every word. "We would spend countless nights like these, just gazing up at the moonlit sky.
"He never said much during those times. He just kept staring up at the sky. His eyes… they always looked kind of murky to me, like they had lost some important light long ago. But under the moon, they reflected a shine so radiant and regal. "
Illya hanged on to his every word. It was rare that Shirou talked about their father. She looked up at his eyes. Weren't they exactly as he had described his father's to be? Murky and obscured in haze?
"On our last night together, the old man finally told me what was on his mind during all those nights together. 'When I was little, I wanted to be a hero of justice,' he told me. I asked him if he had given up."
"What did he say?"
Shirou snorted bitterly. "He said that being a hero was a limited-time thing, that when you grow older, it becomes harder to call yourself a hero… At the time, I didn't understand his feelings, not completely. Only that he was filled with regret and I wanted to save him."
"Kiritsugu…" Illya murmured the name of their father, the father she lost long ago.
Shirou raised his left hand to moon, as if he were desperately trying to catch the scattered light from its broken pieces. "I said I would become one in his stead. Not understanding anything, I took over his dream of becoming a Hero of Justice. But…"
He closed his outstretched hand into a fist. He gazed at the back of his palm, searching for the familiar marks he had lost long ago. He knew it was foolish of him. He had lost them the day he lost her in the war. "I understand what Kiritsugu had felt that night now.
"You can't save everyone. Saving one means not being able to save another. If you try to save everyone with a naive dream of idealism, you'll just lose everything instead…"
"Shirou, that's…" Illya could not refute his words.
He stared at the broken moon, its many pieces still suspended in the sky. "I failed to become a Hero of Justice. I did my best running around the Holy Grail War saying I would save everyone, and what happened? I lost everyone I cared about." He smiled bitterly. "I wasn't able to save anyone."
Not Fuji-nee, not Issei, not Saber, not Rin and certainly not Sakura.
"That's not true!" Illya shouted. "Shirou saved me. When everything was impossible, when I had lost Berserker and had given up already, you saved me!"
"Illya." Shirou stared at his sister, as if his memory had only now been pieced together. "Right, I was able save Illya at least. I saved Illya. I saved Illya. I did, didn't I? Did I really do that?" He scratched his hair furiously, trying to recollect his memories, segregating them from his memories. He panicked, his heart ready to burst.
"Shirou, please," Illya hugged her brother, trying to calm him down. "Shirou is my Onii-chan, my hero."
Shirou stilled. His rapid heartbeat slowing back to regularity.
He felt Illya's warmth wrap around him. "You know, Shirou, I don't know much about our dad's ideals. I never knew him as well as you did in his last days. So, unfortunately, I wasn't able to inherit any of his ideals.
"But I do have a wish," Illya whispered. "After mama and papa didn't come back after the fourth grail war, I had given up on it. But since meeting you, since getting to know my wonderful Onii-chan, I've remembered it."
Illya smiled beautifully, tears in her eyes. From the bottom of her heart, she spoke her wish.
"I wanted a family."
Shirou's mind paused. Its broken splinters slowly returned to their place, held together by his little sister's smile. His memories and that man's memories mended together. Their feelings united in one single thought.
I want to protect this smile.
Emiya Shirou was a broken man who had given up on his ideals. He was man who had failed to become a Hero of Justice like his father before him. But just like his father, he was able to save at least one precious life.
Shirou embraced Illya. Her small body enveloped by his much larger one. "Baka, saying that now. We've been a family for a long time now, haven't we?"
Illya mumbled content in his arms.
It was a beautiful broken moon that night in Remnant. Two siblings in each other's arms. Having lost everything, the brother and sister would do anything for the sake of the other's happiness. Even if it meant making the entire World of Remnant as their enemy.
Elsewhere that night, at the top of a certain tower...
A man in glasses drank from a mug of coffee. His gray disheveled hair looked particularly more haggard this night. His weary eyes were trained on the reports flashed on his desk screen. He'd been at this for hours, browsing through reports of escalated Grimm activity throughout the whole continent.
He yawned into his hand. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Perhaps he should retire for the night?
A beeping noise shook him free from his somnolent spell. His scroll glowed to life on his desk. He read the sender of his new message and immediately opened its contents:
From: QROW
QUEEN has NEW PAWNS. WINTER has fallen.
The man almost spitted out his coffee. The gravity of the news shook him to the core. It was as he feared.
Another Maiden had fallen from their side.
Author's Note:
As per several reviewers comments, I tried to make Illya a little more bloodthirsty. In this chapter, she well, almost killed Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and maybe Blake too. What can I say, Illya's temper tantrums are worse than Yang's.
Even if it's the entire World of Remnant, Onii-chan and Imouto will conquer all!
Thanks for reading.