.
.
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My body was afloat, moving without direction and with no end.
Darkness draped over my eyelids and coated my being.
...
W̶̢̲̹̝̰̰̫͈̓̃̾̌̈͌̂͘ḩ̷̥̦͔̤̩̣̤͌̐́̈́̏̂͌̈å̵̡̢̞͎̰͕͈̘̿̆̓̀̏͐̄̕†̴̝̖͓̩͖͍̘̜͊̇̂̌̔̈͠͝ ̶̡͉̘̱̪̟̣̙̓̃̓̅̀̅̔͘h̸̞̘̗͇̲̠͊̔̂͗͐́͂͜͝ͅê̷̡̝̤̲͚̩̞͓̒̓͋͛̓̋́͝ ̸̨̥̺̳̮̭͎̺̐̀̎̄́̓̃͝l̵̨͖̮̝̤̺͉̃̓͊̀̃͂̀͜͝ê̴̛̘͙̘̣̦̪̩̼͊̈́̈́͑͒̂͠£̷̛̙̖̖̼͕̩̤̹̈́͛͗̂̍̊̕†̴̘̮̭̠̮̠̼̪͑͋̀̽̒̈́̊͝ ̴̡̮̖͎̠͎̭̹͗̐̐̈͂̚̚͘¥̷̯̮̟͓̹͇̫̼̂͒̃̀͂̒̀͌ð̵͕͙̮̜̰̰͎̊͑̊͌̾́̚̕ͅµ̵̧̧͔̞̰̫̲̻̆̌͊̀͌̋̓̚ ̴̺̦͎̝͎̤̹̳̀͒̿͒́̆͐͠w̶̢̲̝̞̬̰̘͗͒̑̐́́̄̀ͅå̴̤͚͔̘̰͇̘̭͛͐̄̃̐͘͘͘§̷̩̻̬̣͓̪͚̳̀̐̅̽͊̊̽͠ ̸̧̟̠̘̫̼̱̔̉͒́͐̏̌̚ͅå̴̰̳̠̟̮̖̫̟͆̃͋͆͐̒̒͊ ̴̝̼̠̗̳̘̦̔̓̒̓͊̊̍̚ͅ¢̷̢̳͍̼̺̘̔͒̈́̋̄̇̚͜͝ͅµ̵̨͙͙̜̝͎̮͔̈̅̽̃͆́̕͘ṟ̷̨̳̙̟͚̊́̏͊̒̌͒̈́͜ͅ§̵̢̡̹̮̝͔̻͍̓͗̌̎͛̀͒͝ę̵͉͎̥̖̙͎̯̂̋̓̈́̀̂̓͒̈́
…
I heard someone's voice, but the static prevented me from making out the words.
With a herculean effort, I groggily opened my eyes to look at my surroundings.
…
Where? Where was I? What was this place?
.
.
.
There was nothing and everything. All that encompassed the area was pure white.
…
Ì̷͈̝̞͔̲͕͕̋̀́͌̆̏͂'̴̣̦̜̞̤̹̥̓͂̈́̌̈́͂̋ļ̴̣̰̠̜̤͍̾͋̅͛͐͆̕l̵̛̮͎̗͓̼̜̖̿̽̿̏͂̑ ̴̛̣̭̝̥̖̪͕̆̊̋̽͋̕ß̶̨̼̻̹̦̻͈̎̀̋̈́̌̀̅ê̶̝̖͉̳͖͈̻̐̋̎̊̕͘͠¢̵͉̱͔͓̯͕̼̊̑̓̏̄̄̇ð̵̢̪̪̯͔̦͈̇̏́̾̓̕͘m̴̛͉̭̥͓̤̩̖̒̑̈̉̉̄ę̵̞̼͚̝͇͉̂̅͗̈́͐̽̑̚ ̶̼͉͉͉͚̯͎́̎͌̑̂̐̚ð̷̨̱͓̹̩͕̈̿̓̈́̈́̚͠ͅñ̶̦͈͔͕̅̅̈́̒̌͗͜͜͠ͅê̸̹̬̮̹̮͎̲͒̓̋̃̍͛̓ ̵̨͕̪̜͔͙̈́͗̀̍̉̍͑ͅ£̷̣̘̼̖͚̬̙̌͊͐̌̋̍̏ð̵̛̤̥̱̦̫̜̉͌̍̽͋̚͜r̵̢̡͇͉̰̫͙͆̑̄͋̆̊͝ ̵̢̪̩̥̦̤̍͒̄͐͜͝͝͝¥̸̨̻͍̙̜̟̪͆͂̒̀̐̇́ð̷̡͔̝̘̲̣̗̑͂̑̾͛̀͘µ̸͓̼͉̗̭͖̓̄̽͌͊͌̇ͅ
...
Ì̶̛̹̘̹̙̟̮̈̾̈́̚͝£̶̛̫̺̳̤̯̺̂͊̄͆̚ ̵̘͕̬̝͓̬̈́̆͊͑̏͠Ð̷̡̞̩̣̹̻́͗̿́̃͝ð̸͙̳̟̪͇͙͌̑̽̆̾̓į̷̭̥͍͓̠̈̉͌͊̈́̓͗ñ̵̩̗̭̫̝̂̃̌͑̂̆͜g̷̡̬̲̟̘̫͋̿̄̄̏͝ ̷̨̠͈͍͇͕͐͐̈͂̑͝†̵̡̮̟̹̩̠̑̑̿͆̀͠h̷͕̬̘̗͈̥́̇̀̿̚͝å̷̛̼͖̘͈̙̊͐̈́̂̚͜†̸̧̮̗͍̤̩͐̄͒͗͛͂ ̶̨͕̟͈͍̦̃̓̍͌̏͘m̶̨̙̳͍̺̩̎̓͊͑̽͝ê̷̫͕̳̩̣̲͋̏̊͌̊͝å̸̧̙͍͓̼̊͑͊̂͛͜͝ṋ̶̢̼̝̻̘̃̈́̑́̄̚͠§̴̛̗͓̱͓̬̭̾̽̂̌̅ ̴̼͎͇̟̣̙͒̅̀̃̚̚ñ̴̢̠̘̙̜̬͆̉́̍̓̈́ð̸͈͕̤͇̞̰̅͗̅̂̄͑ ̸̨͎̮̱͉̮̾̀̓̏̏̚ð̴̧̘̗̟̯̭́̒́̏̀͠ñ̸̛͇̬̯̲͚̳́̑̐̓̈́ê̷̼̝̯͕̟̰̂͗̾͊̆̉ ̴̧̧̥̱̰͇̉́͌̉́̚w̷̲̗͔͕̠̼̄͊̋͑̔̓ï̵̘̮͕͍͎̗̽̓̊͒̑͝l̴̡̦͈̻͈̽̔͂͋́͘͜l̷͉̮͉̯̳̊͆̊̉͑̐͜ ̴̢̳̘̞̼̱̽͌͂̈͝͠¢̵̨̱̱͇̦̠̂̅̍̓͊̔r̶̨̢̤̯͖̲̓̒̈́̓̓͘¥̵̣̗̠̭̣̍̆̈̀̇̀ͅ
…
I turned to look for the voices that echoed in the distance, yet all I saw was a vast expanse of white. Despite hearing those incoherent phrases, I realized I was the only one here. I searched everywhere for something, anything that could indicate where I was.
.
.
.
...
¥̴̢̨̨͓̹̙̳͎̻̾̐̆̐̆͊̊̀̂ð̵̰̣̙̣̤̻̼̞͇́̃̅̽̂̀͆͌͘µ̴̢̲̻̩͇̫̩̬͙͑̑̔͗̀̆̈́̈́̓r̴̢̛̤̼̩͈̖̬̣͑̂̀͛̂͌̃̚͜ ̴̩̗͇̳͉͙̲̭̽̔̀̿̿̔̋̄̎ͅw̸̢͖͉̞̳͉̬̣͐̇̓̊͋͆̏̕̚͜ï̸̢̠̭̣͔̳̺̲̻̓͌͂́͐̈͊͘͝§̷̹̗͇̻̭͈̼̗̀̑͋̈́͐̎̋͜͝͝ḩ̷͍̫̤̤̳̻͕̓͊́̈́̀́̇̈́̂ͅ ̷̛̯̥̯̥̣͇̹̮̪͒̉͊̈̀̚͠͝ḩ̵̣͚̖͉̤͎͓̤͗̉͛͑͊̀̑̈́̕å̷̧̩̥̝̦̯̪̏̉̈́̈́̈́̓̑̄͜͝ͅ§̷̥̼̮͉̞͙̩̣̙̐̔͐͌͒͒̏͊̎ ̴̡̨͔̦͕͓̞̬̝͊̏̉͆̐̄̔̚͠ß̶̳̯̘͖̭̗̥͈͆̿̿͐͂̀͒͘͝ͅê̷̜̲̝̪̥̮̫̐͆̈̃͐̔͘̚͜͝ͅê̶͎̪̹̲̲͖͔̗̯̽͂̀͑̀̈́̒͊̕ñ̷̢͔͉̩͕͍̭͎̍̐̃̂͋̂͐͘͠ͅ ̸̧͉̼̗̗̫̳͉͇̊̀͆́̾͆́̊͝g̵̨̛̣̳̤̳̹̻͖̫͒͌̈̅̈́͒̃̋r̵̜̖̦̣̰̪̭̻̭͐̐́̅̌͆̎̑̍å̴̧̝͔̰̦̘̟̣̗̉̂̀̀̒̓͂͘̚ñ̵̡͓̼̦͙̤̝̞̎̒̉̊́́̏̀͜͝†̶̱̝͖̩͖̥̘̗̻̍̃̃̈́̆͒̚͝͠ȩ̷͍̳̖̫͚̠͔͇̂͊̈́̓̐͗̐̽͘͝Ð̵̡̛̪͉̻͕̫̖̗̜̉̓̇̅͒̏͠͝
...
Huh? This time I could hear it.
"—Wish? Is it—the Grail!?"
The voice's echo faded away into silence.
…
Without warning, it felt like something was trying to pull me somewhere.
A sudden heaviness plagued my body. I couldn't move or breathe.
My vision became blurry as black spots appeared in my eyes.
Darkness overtook me and shrouded my form once more. Before the ominous shadows completely engulfed me, I saw it.
...
An image in my mind.
...
It was only for a split second, barely an instant. I saw—
A massive swirling amalgamation of green and blue shrouded in a pure white glow. My body was a mere insect in comparison to its size. Its length was effortlessly bigger than the entirety of Fuyuki City.
Because of its immense size, my eyes could only take in a single swirl of an unfathomable whole.
After the vision faded away, a surge of information invaded my mind.
.
.
.
A series of images flashed before my eyes.
…
Knowledge. It was the only way to describe it. I saw knowledge of everything and nothing. I saw a formless blade of peerless make. It was beautiful and invoked a sense of longing within me. I learned of Saber's real name, Artoria Pendragon. The golden light that disrupted my Reality Marble was Excalibur, Artoria's Noble Phantasm. I was able to continue fighting Archer EMIYA because Avalon resided in me. I learned that Rider was known as Medusa and that my wound knitted itself with blades when I fought her. I learned that there were other worlds and universes. Worlds where magecraft never existed, where a power called curses was prevalent. All this knowledge flooded my mind. It was overwhelming. My mind was incapable of understanding it all. I tried to focus on a singular point to get a clearer picture, anything to stop the flow of information. I tried to remember the last thing I saw, a world of curses.
I saw—
20 fingers. Red and grotesque—
I saw a shadowy figure with four arms and a malicious grin.
The last image was of a man with a horizontal scar across his forehead. He mouthed the words,
"October 31st, in Shibuya."
.
.
.
The flood of information suddenly stopped.
Then, abruptly, the sensation of floating turned into falling.
I fell into the void. The darkness vanished as a kaleidoscope of colors assailed me. My arms and legs flayed in every direction as I unwillingly performed flips and turns. Fierce winds blasted my form as I tried to regain control of my limbs without success. I don't know when I stopped falling, but as soon as the light dissipated, a sense of vertigo plagued me. I made out an image of some vertical landscape.
No, I was lying flat—face down—on a coarse surface. My vision was blurred as sound erupted in my ear.
CRASH
SCREECH
The noise of various objects crashing all over and some unknown creature's fading screech reached my ear.
After the screech ended, pure silence reigned in the vicinity. Moments later, I heard a voice muttering something incomprehensible.
I managed to interpret some of the mutterings into words,
"… finger … boy"
Click Clack
The sound of shoes tapping on the ground echoed throughout the surrounding area.
Light brown dress shoes entered my foggy vision as my eyes moved upwards to gaze at its owner.
A man with a sandy beige suit was the last thing I saw before my sight went dark.
AN: Thank you, those who favorited, followed, and reviewed my story!
To WeirdTree1: Yup, present tense does sound weird. I don't know why I used it, but I followed your advice and edited the prologue. Go check it out, and feel free to give more criticism.
To Ducphu & jellpo: Your ideas are great, and I already considered some of them when I planned this story. I hope you both look forward to seeing many of them implemented in the story!
Clarification:
The Root has information about the past, present, future, and universal possibilities. Shirou opened up a path to the Root through the Grail Hole, where he glimpsed a small fragment of it. Seven or eight servants' souls are in the Grail, so a path to the Root became possible. As a result, he saw all those images and gained new powers, which I'll reveal throughout the story.
Also, he arrives in the jjk world through the Grail Hole with his "wish." Shirou had a desire, and the Grail searched his memories to grant it. It's a way to fulfill his one desire though the world he ends up in may give him more trouble due to the Grail's corrupted nature of granting wishes.
I'll try to make the chapters longer from this point forward.