I do not any of the respective characters and all rights go to the respective owners.
And a massive thanks to Axel Emiya for Betaing the story.
A Bladed path of crimson
#A new beginning
"Onii-chan!" I turn my head up after taking my shoes off, to see my sister turning the corner looking at me with a pout. "You're late!"
"Sorry Iliya, there were not enough people on hand at work, so I had to help," I say as I rise from my crouched position while giving Iliya an apologetic look.
She just looks at me for a minute, as if waiting for me to continue. After seeing I was not going to say anything, she pouts and begins to speak "Mouuu, but you promised me, that we were going to the city so I could buy the newest copy of Kaleid Prisma!" she shouts, before sighing "Forget it. It's already too late to go there before the store closes." She turns around, not wanting to look at him anymore.
"Oh yeah… I'm sorry Iliya, I honestly forgot about that." I begin walking towards her, before passing her to go towards the living room, before beginning to speak again "How about we do it tomorrow and make a day of it. I don't have school or work there?" I turn around to look at her after asking her.
She turns her head a bit to look at me, before saying "we go and watch that new movie that came out last week?" And after that, she turned her head back.
"Deal." I smiled, before opening the door to the living room.
She smiles before catching up to me, before asking what's for dinner. "I'm not sure. Maybe some Udon doesn't sound too bad?" I say as we enter the living room, and everything faded out.
It felt like I was run over by a truck when I woke up with a sudden jolt of panic. It was hard to breathe as the room was spinning rapidly. After a few solid minutes of breathing in and out, I was able to see my surroundings clearly…and I was still lost.
"Where the hell am I?" I stood up baffled, beneath my feet was a glass platform that stretched on for miles, this strange world felt like I was in a reality marble or something akin to one. They're some glass shards hanging in the air off in the distance, something about them caught my attention. The curiosity got the better of me as I walked closer to investigate the shards.
"Well, looks like someone had a nice dream." The crooked voice of an elderly man called out, I traced a copy of my favored twin blades. Ready to strike whoever was behind me. "My, such hostility. It breaks my heart."
And nearly tripped upon seeing the old man sitting on a chair relaxing and sipping a cup of tea. And of course, I paled when I realized who it was.
"Zelretch!?" I exclaimed. It was impossible to mistake this man for anyone else, he was the teacher of Rin Tohsaka, his closest friend. Seeing him here caused even more questions and confusion. The Kaleidoscope looked almost amused if it wasn't for the current situation. "What's going on? Where am I? How did I end up here? And what even is this 'place'?"
"Hmm," Zelretch mused and gave a strange glance his way. "How should I explain this so that you would understand. The simple answer is that we are in a temporary mindscape of my creation, after rescuing you from a mission that had gone wrong."
"A mission?" I don't remember going on any missions. In fact, I couldn't remember anything before waking up. "Sorry, I can't recall anything."
'How unfortunate, the damage is worse than I thought," he murmured to himself before speaking up. "Seems like you have a small case of amnesia, so let's get you up to speed before we continue, shall we?"
"Okay," I frowned, not liking where this was heading.
"Right, let's see. Where should I start?" he asked and set the tea down to ponder.
"How about the beginning? What was even my mission?" I respond with a grim expression.
"Well, first off all, I was the one to send you on that mission in the first place. Some of my research documents had been stolen, and I sent you to retrieve or destroy them should it become a problem. It was when you encountered the thief that the event went south far too quickly," He trailed off with a frown, he looked regretful towards me, "I only saw the tail end of the fight where you managed to kill him with a noble phantasm, however, his mystic code triggered a sort of fail-safe, setting off a trap that tore open a space-rift sucking you in. I found you drifting in the root without any protection."
"So I was stuck in the root?" I stood there baffled, I was at the ultimate goal that nearly every mage could ever dream of reaching, and I couldn't even remember what it was like, which sounded both amazing and extremely terrifying at the same time. "But how did I end up here?"
"Because," His expression was filled with sorrow and his next words left me dazed. "I wasn't fast enough, your body had perished and I brought your soul that remained here."
I look at him stunned and silent, not saying a word before he continued.
"When you were sucked in, you gained an overwhelming amount of knowledge that your mind couldn't handle all at once and shattered as a result, and your body broke down from the stress. All the shards that you can see here are the pieces of your mind… Plus a bit extra." He said, looking at a particular one.
"What do you mean shattered? I can still remember Iliya, Saber, Sakura, and Rin. and the Grail war or when I joined Rin to… to… huh?" The more I talked the more my eyes widened in shock. "Wait! What's going on? Why can't remember my time after the Grail war!?"
"Easy there. As I said, your mind shattered from the overwhelming amount of information and became these fragmented shards of memories. You will slowly get them back as your next life goes on, you can even touch one if you so desire, though I do recommend not doing that too much." He says while smiling at me.
"Touch this?" I asked pointing to the shards after he nodded. I thought about what he said. After a moment of hesitation, I reached for the one close to me, and all of a sudden, I remembered a promise I'd never forget. My biggest failure.
As I open the door of my house and walk in, Rin turns the corner and was surprised to see me. "Shirou? You're here earlier than planned, did something happen to the deal?" She asks with a neutral expression.
"It was a bust… Again." I said with a heavy sigh, feeling as if I had not gotten any sleep. "The Musiks, couldn't go through with the deal, 'they' got in the way once again," I say as I begin walking towards her.
"Dammit, I thought we succeeded in not tipping them off this time," Rin says with frustration.
"Yeah, I hoped so too, but no such thing," I say as I sigh before speaking again. "How is she?"
Rin looks at me for a bit before Sighing. "Not good. In fact, worse than we expected." She turns her head to the side, not looking at me. "She's not going to last the week as we had hoped. It's a miracle she is still alive in fact."
My head swings towards her fast and hoped she was lying. When she turns her head further away from me, I knew she wasn't and that was the last thing I wanted to hear at the moment. "I… I see." I turned my head away from her before speaking again. "Where's Sakura?"
"She is with her right now and is washing her up. I wouldn't recommend going in yet, maybe brewing some tea is a good idea, last I checked the tea we had was getting cold." She says while turning to look at me with a small but sad smile.
"Yeah… Sounds good." I say before turning and walking towards the kitchen before beginning making the tea. After I was done Rin came in and said Sakura was done. As we walked towards the room, Rin stayed quiet looking uncomfortable, knowing what Shirou was about to see behind the doors.
When Rin opened the door, she quickly took the plate with tea Shirou had with him as his arms became slacked at seeing the state Iliya was in. "Iliya." He says as if I wasn't true what he saw while walking. Iliya lay in the bed sleeping and was unhealthy thin with medical machines strapped to her, checking her heartbeat.
After hearing her name being called out to her, she slowly opened her eyes to see her dearest brother looking at her. "Shirou…" she whispers before giving a weak but mischievous smile. "I hope you didn't peak while I was bathing. hehe, Cough! Cough!" she says before getting into a coughing fit.
"Easy Iliya! You need to save your energy." Sakura begins, before slowly getting Iliya the water by her bedside.
"Thanks, Sakura." She says while taking the class of water and drinks it slowly before continuing. "And don't worry too much about it, I'm fine. See." She says while lifting her arm weakly, not fooling anyone.
Shirou having stayed quiet while this was going on began speaking. "How are you feeling Iliya?" while walking to sit beside her bed.
"I'm doing good… maybe a bit tired though," she says as her voice lowers at the end. Both Sakura and Rin look at each other before nodding and begins leaving the siblings alone for some private time.
"That's good… That's good." I say while looking to the side with a grim expression. After taking a deep breath, I turn towards Iliya "Sorry Iliya. The deal was a bust… again." I say the last part looking towards the ground. "I tried everything I could, but nothing works. They always find a way to screw us over at the last moment! If it wasn't for the Einzberns, then maybe we could save you!" My voice begins to raise the more I talk before stopping, turning my face away. "Sorry Iliya… for being such a terrible big broth-."
"THAT'S NOT TRUE! Cough! Cough!" Iliya shouts at me stopping me from finishing, before falling into another coughing fit. After taking something to drink she speaks again but in a lowered voice. "That's not true. You are the best big brother I could ever dream of, maybe a little dense, but still.
"But I can't even save you?" I say as I look at her with a sad expression.
"And I don't care, I had already accepted my fate the moment I joined the Grail War. Surviving a whole year after that and having had so much fun, is maybe the best gift I could ever wish for." She says with a smile as she slowly lay more and more back. "And you were the one who gave me that gift. Even going as far as to accept me after all that I did to you."
I look towards her she smiles weakly before speaking again. "But if there was ever something I would wish for… that would be… being with you… more…" As she speaks, her voice slows down.
"Iliya?" I ask before beginning to hear a beeping to my side, seeing that her heartbeat stopped. "Iliya?! Iliya Wake up! Please!" Not hearing anything other than the beeping I shout at the top of my lungs as Sakura and Rin ran in. "ILIYA!"
I pulled my hand away as if I was burned. A tear ran down to my chin. "Iliya…" comes out in a low voice.
"My, isn't this a rare sight to see?" I turn my head fully toward Zelrecth, to see him giving an amused smirk. "I think this is the first time I see you show so much emotion?" he begins to enter a thinking pose while saying so.
"So. What next? From What I have heard, my body is destroyed." I ask turning serious again.
He turns to look at me directly, giving me a somber look. "That is true, your body was destroyed before I could get to you, and sadly I can't take you back either." He says to me.
"What?" I look at him completely shocked.
"You see, now that you have touched upon the Root, Magi's will come after you, or even worse. Alaya." My eyes widen when he says that. "So, if I was to send you back, you would not be able to live the life, you so choose."
"But what then? Am I just going to die like that!?" I look at him, getting even angrier.
"Sadly, yes. I can not save the life of Shirou Emiya." He says looking at me, and before I can reply he continues. "But, I can save you memories for the next life." He says smirking.
"Next life? But wouldn't that just be the same as this one, Alaya is after me after all?" I ask him confused.
"That would be true normally." He says looking at me with a small smirk. "But this world I plan to send you to is a bit different. You see, the Age of Gods never ended there, so Alaya hasn't manifested there." My eyes open up the more he talks.
"But do you think it's a good idea to send me there?" I asked.
"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know, but It's our only choice I'm afraid." he shrugged
While we stand there looking at each other the room begins to shake making me lose my balance ending up touching one of the shards by accident. "What the f-" Before everything goes white and what I see afterwords is a small smithy and a man sitting in the center alone, the only thing one can hear is the banging of metal, but each hit echoes in my head while the one word continues to pop up in my head no matter what. "Muramasa?" I ask out before returning to the mindscape coughing like crazy.
"What the hell was that, and why did I gain memories of that man?" I ask, feeling as if everything is spinning.
"That? Hmm, if I have to take a guess, maybe one of your other versions got into contact with that specific swordsmith?" He says while looking at me with a smirk. "But forget about that for a bit. This mindscape is not going to hold forever, so I can sadly not give you the time to think this over too much. Would you like to remember your life as Shirou Emiya 'Plus a bit extra' or are you not going to take the offer?"
I look at him, before beginning to mull it over quickly. Thinking of all the people I would leave behind and if I really would want to forget them before coming back to one memory. 'Iliya… No, I promised myself, never forget' I turn up to look at him steeling myself. "Fine, I accept." That was all I said readying myself.
He looks at me for a bit before smirking. "Good choice, young man. Then I will wish you good luck in your new life, and two more things." He says rising from his seat.
I look at him curiously before asking. "And that is?"
He raises one finger "Firstly, while I did save your soul from completely shattering, that does not mean I could remove the knowledge that flooded you. While living this new life, you may get some memories that were not originally yours, as already seen with that Muramasa shard." After he says that he raises a second finger. "And secondly, Avalon that has been with you your whole life, has now lodged itself in you and will not be able to be removed without destroying your soul. While this can be a problem in most cases, I believe it would be quite beneficial for you in the future. Though I would be careful if I was you, as I do not know how it will affect you in your next life." After saying that everything begins to spin. "Now after all this, I wish you good luck and good speed Shirou Gremory." He says the last part with a huge smirk.
"Wait! What do you mean by tha-" I never got to finish my question before everything went black.
was in the corridor walking back and forth nervously when the doctor opened the door. "Lord Gremory," he says
I turn my head towards the doctor before asking. "How is she? Is she okay? Is the child fine?" I begin bombarding the doctor with questions faster than he can answer.
"Now, now Lord Gremory, one question at a time." He waves his hands to placate me before continuing. "Now firstly, yes she is fine, maybe a bit tired after the ordeal, but fine." He says while I let out the breath, I didn't know I had. "And secondly, yes, your children are fine too lord Gremory." After those words there pops up one question, I got curious about.
"Children? As in plural?" I asked.
He laughs a bit at that before answering. "Yes, as in plural." Before walking to the side to give me away into the room. "To be more specific, twins. One boy and the Other a girl" he says while smiling at me.
My body began moving before I could fully grasp what the Doctor said. As I entered the room, what I saw was my wife. A beautiful woman with chestnut-colored hair flowing down her back and eyes the color of amethyst, an ample chest and smile to die for. She was holding two bundles of cloth, the sound of crying coming from one of them. "There, their little ones. Hehe." I hear my wife say to the small bundles of cloth.
"Venelana." I call out, which she turns her head up to look at me before I continue. "How are you feeling, I heard it was twins?" I ask her as I begin sitting next to the bed looking down at the two bundles of cloths, to see to heads peak out.
"You don't need to worry so much, Zeoticus. I'm fine." She laughs a bit when I got flustered. "But yes. Twins. This is such a rare event for our kind isn't it." She says while smiling down at the babies in her grasps, before turning to me again. "Also, where's Sirzechs at, didn't you contact him yet?" She asks confused.
"I did, but he needed to finish something up before coming. If I could take a guess, Grayfia probably stopped him from leaving in the middle of his work." I say as we both begin to laugh at the last part.
"That's probably true, she does hold him on a leash most of the time." She says before looking down at the children in her hands. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" She asks fondly while cuing at the one with a crimson cowlick sticking out at the top, making the kid laugh.
"Yes. Truly beautiful." I say while smiling. I turn to Venelana before asking her the question in the room. "What should we call them?"
She looks up at me before giving a serene smile down at the girl. "I have always thought of Rias if we got a girl." She says hearing the child laughing at that. "What do you think?"
I look at her before smiling. "Yes, it sounds like a wonderful name, and it looks like she likes it too," I said, chuckling a bit. "What about the boy?"
She begins to contemplate before turning to me. "I don't know, can't come up with anything." She says before turning back to the boy. "What do you think, Zeoticus?"
Before I can say anything. "Sorry, I'm late!" We both hear Sirzechs entering the room winded. A man with Crimson-colored hair, flowing down the back and blue eyes, taking a striking resemblance to myself. Grayfia walked in a bit after, right behind him, looking prim and proper in her Maid outfit, with silver hair flowing down her back and eyes of crimson.
"Don't worry Sirzechs" I chuckle. "We were just in the process of naming them. Though we could not come up with anything for the boy" I smile at him saying that.
"Them? As in twin?" He blinked before a huge smile creeps his face. "That's fantastic Mother, Father!" he says while walking forward.
"Yes, twins. We got to name the girl before you came, her name is Rias, and this here is… hmm I simply can't come up with anything." She says before turning to me and asking. "Do you have any idea of what to name him?"
"No, I can't come up with anything myself sadly… What about you Sirzechs?" I ask my son.
"Hmm, I maybe have something, but can I hold him first?" I ask
"Sure, go ahead." Venelana chuckles.
"How about…" He held his little brother in his arms. And thought up of several names
He begins to think before getting an idea. "Shirou?" As he says that, the child begins to open his eyes, looking at him with eyes of molten gold, with a bit of metallic silver surrounding his pupils. Looking curiously at him, before beginning to laugh happily.
Venelana begins to chuckle. "Looks like he likes it. Though I am curious, where did you get that name from? Sound Japanese if I'm not mistaken?"
"Oh, right. It's something I picked up during a conversation with Okita. If I remember correctly, the words mean something along the lines of Warrior's son or gentleman's Son.
"Well, I do see myself as quite the gentleman if I say so myself." I joked, making everyone chuckle. "But yes, I like it. Shirou Gremory. It has a nice ring to it. What do you think Dear?" I turn to my wife.
"Yes, I think so too. Shirou sounds like a beautiful name." She smiles, before putting a hand over her mouth. "Though, the warrior's son thing I'm not sure fits fully."
"Wha!? Venelana." I said sounding defeated, while the other just laugh at it off.
But doing this whole conversation after the naming part, nobody notices the child now name Shirou continuously blink as if completely confused about what's going on.
This is the first time I ever made a fanfiction, and thus I'm not very good at it. But I wanted to try, and the only way to get better is by doing it. Because It was my first time writing a Fanfiction I thought it was a good idea to join a writing contest for more motivation.
This writing contest is held by the fantastic Artist: Alex Keller. Someone you can find on Deviant art.
But back to the story, I'm not sure how well I did as I am a bit dyslexic, though not as bad as it could be. I am not sure if I went too fast or wrote something wrong or not. so a comment would be nice, but not those comments that talks shit without giving out actual critic to better myself on.
Ashenlite Out. peace.