Shirou POV
The travel is long and tense, Shirou in silence, meditating inside the dropship stormbird model Warhawk VI, a masterpiece of tech that almost gave Shirou another headache, due to his structural grasp addiction, as the Custodes silently guide it. His circuits still ache from the overload on the battle with the Patriarch, and he still has countless circuit fragments on his soul, from his alternate versions,,that can easy get into a "short circuit", similar to victims of his father old origin bullets,not deal with this issue might be a problem later, if he lose control of his magic forever a moment.
They see the fleet quickly vanish from view and travel through the empty void of space, having only the sun and the stars visible around them, the cockpit of the ship is cold and silent, the dropship it's empty, since most passengers were dropped on the battleship, all Custodes personal is now, working with Burk's team. Which can be a blessing in disguise, or possibly a curse.
"You know, those ships belong to Burk's ancestor, they are his." Shirou says, seriously.
"That's for the emperor to decide." Answer Diocletian, flatly.
"You can't just take other people's things just like that, this isn't different from the pillage that the other Warlords, the barbarians. Do." Says Shirou.
"That fleet, it's from the age of technology, and aren 't trade vessels or civilian vessels, but military vessels, we can 't let it be in private hands. The Emperor will decide, but I'm sure he will reimburse the man properly, if it comes to confiscating the thing." Says the Custodes.
Shirou don´t seem convinced that the powerful ships should be in the hands of the man he saw drowning the world in blood in his dream, but he does not voice his opinion again, it's a waste of time now, he should meet with the man.
Returning to Terra he had a view he didn't notice before, he saw a world with less than half the water it had on the surface, covered in wastes, he was landing on the dark face of the world, it was night, most of it had no light, very few cities shining on the darkness.
The Imperial Palace, even incomplete, even during the first stages of construction, still an extension of the mountain facilities, was massive, as they approached, they received a escort of faster attack craft, Equinox Interceptors. After the landing, they are received by more customs. Shirou felt like a human in the land of giants, since almost everyone around had more than 3m and he had less than 1.20m and felt like a midget.
After entering the palace he was shocked with how modern and luxurious the place was, many ancient art and art that seemed to be from before the second milenia, art that was already ancient on this timeline.
As he approached the throne, he saw several Custodes, the giant tanned man on the throne, wearing a golden armor and with long black hair, the man was looking at a dataslate, he recognized him from his dream, he had a Sword sheathed.
The sword was old, a mastercraft, made of a mix of modern materials and high quality old school smithing. It was a power sword, but had many enchantments on it, and something more, it was not only old, it had many millennia and history, and legend, it´s mystery was absurdly powerful, it was clearly a noble phantasm.
A powerful noble phantasm on top of it, already, capable at minimum, to take Heracles live several times, Shirou guessed. The sword was incredibly powerful, on the threshold to what could be classified as divine construct, and was so complex that Shirou's nose started to bleed, and he had a headache.
At the golden giant right side was an old man with long white hair, he wore brown robes, with an archeotech collar on his neck, and holding a weird staff that seemed to combine archeotech and some sort of sorcery properties. At his left was Constantin Valdor, who he recognized from the video communication on the ship.
"So… You are the sorcerer, no… Magus is the word you used?" The man deliver the datapad to Malcador to hold, and stand up from his Throne, walking towards the kid
"I… Know you… From my…" Shirou says as blood drips from his nose on the floor of the palace, he feels dizzy.
"From your dreams, yes, I had the same dreams…The ruinous powers, the bloodshed, the decay… That man, he fought corruption too. I could guess that, but I got no context of his identity, but the clothes… That suit was ancient clothing." The Emperor gets in front of Shirou that's covered with his massive shadow.
"Now, you will give me… Context." The Emperor easily grabbed Shirou by his shirt and lifted him, looking into his eyes.
The kid try to resist, but his head is already "light" from all things he analyzed, and more, if Caster mind control was too powerful for him, and got him mostly defenseless, he felt that if her power was like a fireman hose, the Emperor power was like a flood, not a powerful and advanced sorcery from the age of gods, but crude raw unfiltered telepathic power, crushing all his mind defenses and reading him completely. They spent several minutes like that, frozen, on a mental struggle.
"I see… So that was it, that man, he spent his entire life trying to save humanity, kill the few for the sake of the many, he died by the curse of his greatest enemy… Unlike me though, he seemed to have regret at the end, I would never regret my path like the man in your dreams… But it seems we have a similar fate. " The Emperor says, then sighs, and drops Shirou that falls and drops on his knees, exhausted.
"Y-You… You messed with my head…" Shirou says, stuttering, shocked.
"I just got the information and context I needed. Your world is an interesting place, it has it hard even before the golden age it seems, but humanity is promising there, must make sure the ruinous powers never find your time careful, they are hungry and your universe would be too irresistible for them." Says the Emperor.
"Ruinous powers?" Ask Shirou.
"The real enemy, the great enemy of all sentient life in the material universe." Says the Emperor.
"What will happen with me now? And with Burk?" Ask Shirou.
"Even before we mastered warp travel, during the first wave of space colonization, I already knew a huge war would start. My precognitive powers showed me visions of the future." The Emperor says.
"You knew about the Age of Strife?" Shirou asks, confused.
"Yes, and I learned that the sentient life in the universe was doomed to an otherwise unavoidable, quick and brutal end. There's no free solution. To fix it, I had to pay a price. I learned the price on Molech, there I made a deal, I got the power to change the future, but the price was an untold amount of suffering, I don´t know details of it, but this fate, this "carma", cannot be avoided. At must, delayed, or thinned. " Says the Emperor.
"So, you got the power to prevent the end, and lots of suffering will happen because of it? Why don't you try to change it?" Shirou asks.
Suddenly Shirou sees himself inside a dark hall, without a notion of up and down, only the Emperor, shining there as a beacon of light and reference, the emperor says.
"We are inside your mind, the others can´t hear this, their loyalty would make them act in ways that would make things worse. Yes, i could peek on the future again but, every time i try to fix it, the "carma" will increase, and it will return worse, i must endure it in the end without precise knowledge of what's to come, i know half of my future legacy, my heirs will betray me, and that's it, i cannot change it."Says the Emperor, with a solemn tone.
"What does this have to do with me?" Shirou asks, confused.
"Your presence here it's a problem, you are outside the bounds of fate, my terrible future cannot be changed, even by you, but what's after that… Whatever the ruinous powers planned to double cross me, to allow me the deal in the first place, that does not count with your existence as variable, and you already made ripples. Your presence here is not exactly a boon, you could make things worse, or even doom your own universe, bringing the problems from this one. Now I have to take your reality into consideration for now on, there's a place where humans are safe, at least from the horrors of the warp, I want it to stay like that." Says the Emperor
Shirou shivers with the Emperor's words, and the Emperor makes them seem to be in fuyuki again, in Shirou´s former house. The emperor walks with Shirou and they leave the house, it's morning, they see the blue sky, and birds flying, the Emperor smiles, Terra is still not ruined by wars in this world.
"I don't know what to do with you. The easier way would be to kill or imprison you." Says the Emperor. Shirou shivers. "But, your story… It makes me want to see how far you can go. I already have my own plans to deal with the issue. I have my hands full with my heirs, with my thunder warriors, with the future great crusade." The emperor says, and Shirou sees himself at his side on the bridge of a Ship, and an enormous fleet can be seen. On the orbit of a red planet. "I need to unify Terra and go to mars, restore solar system unity and restore humanity." Says the Emperor.
"And what will happen with me? And Burk?" Asks Shirou.
Suddenly they are back on reality, everyone looks intently at the scene, especially Malcador, it seems they were not expecting that.
"You had a private conversation with him right?" Asks Malcador.
"Yes, things related with my visions, things I cannot share with a native of this universe, I already put some defenses on his mind, on everything I believe to be sensitive, to prevent peeping." Says the Emperor.
"That hurt my feelings…" Malcador says, half as a joke.
"And what will happen with me? And Burk?" Asks Shirou again.
"I had a vision about that fleet, that fleet would never be recovered, we would only find the debris after a massive warp drive explosion, half the debris would not even end in the material world, but on the warp." The Emperor says, and Shirou remembers the repairs on the warp drive.
"That fleet cannot be allowed to interfere with the material world in this millenia, my "carma" cannot be improved, so that fleet can only be used to make things worse for now." The Emperor says, then picks a small chest from the side of his throne, opening it, Shirou sees a vision that's familiar and scary, it's the parchment from his dreams. "That´s a trade Warrant, the first trade Warrant i do, much before i planned to, it has more privileges and perks than usual warrants, and has some bonuses you will learn later. It will be yours at the end of the unification of terra, if you prove your worth. And then I will have a new mission for you, and your fleet, everyone connected with you, will be part of it, that's the consequences of making ripples." Says the Emperor.
"Trade Warrant? Why would I need that?" Ask Shirou
"You want to be a "Hero of Justice" right? That's the most freedom and authority you can have, without becoming a cog of the system. If you want to save people outside terra, you will need the freedom to travel, and act freely." Says the Emperor
"I see…I saw that in my dream, it was dripping with blood." Shirou starts to connect the dots.
"Exactly, your other self showed you that right? The path to be a hero is dripping with blood and hypocrisy, are you still willing to walk that path?" Says the Emperor, Shirou has a remembrance from his fight with Archer, he was asked the same questions.
He closes the box and gives it to Diocletian, who holds the box and nods, he then looks at Shirou again, and suddenly stabs Shirou with his hand, Shirou eyes almost pop from their sockets. The Emperor removed Avalon from him, with a grasp and held it with his telekinesis in the air, in front of Shirou that remained on his knees, in awe.
"This relic will remain with Diocletian, you are wasting it´s energy and your own full potential, if you die… I cannot let it fall on evil hands, it will be returned to you if you succeed. Besides, you need to prove not only your worth, but grow, the Relic won´t let you age, and the healing will make you reckless, you won't improve on battle if you rely too much on the scabbard to save you from your mistakes, it will be on the way of your growth." The Emperor says, with a few minutes on his mind, the man learned enough about Shirou to understand what Avalon does.
"You are right, I become… Reckless…" Shirou confesses.
"The scabbard becomes like a crutch, you have to walk by yourself." Says the Emperor, then he looks at Diocletian. "Diocletian, from now on, you will keep an eye on him, if he dies, you will recover his body, it cannot fall on enemy hands, you are allowed to help him, but never at the cost of risk to your team. I will give you six custodes and a small battalion of soldiers. See what the kid can do, get him in shape." Says the Emperor
"Won't you make him join us master?" Asks Diocletian.
"No. The indoctrination and my blessing, might "mess" with his inner world. I absorbed too much knowledge from his mind. I need time to digest it,and write it. Then I will let Malcador analyze it and give the final say, for now, i´m not risking it, his magical circuits seem to be a mutation, and the Custodes procedure is meant for human DNA without large deviation" The Emperor says, pondering about it. "Malcador, you will supervise the biotechnical division, study his DNA, get all the samples you need before he leaves the palace. Make the security level be the same as the Primarch project." Shirou cringes at how his opinion was not considered.
"Make your own path, become capable of surviving in the grim darkness of the galaxy and you will maybe, archive your dream, this galaxy needs heroes." Says the Emperor and nods him away, the Custodes get the catch and Diocletian guides him outside the throne room.
Outside the throne room, a female tech priest with shining eyes approaches him, with the look of a fangirl looking at a grabs his arms giggling in a creepy way.
"I shall now collect some of your blessed blood, for study, Astarte will take a look at your gifts." Says the woman, wearing a red robe with the symbol of the Terrawatt clan, she quickly passes some alcohol on his arm with something similar to cotton and, after squeezing his arm in an almost painful way, to reveal an artery, she stabs it, collecting a blood sample.
"Outch! Hey, easy with the arm, I still need it!" Says Shirou, she smiles and leaves giggling.
"So, let's return to the fleet? You need to finish the repairs, and then we will see all that talk of yours about how to deal with the Udug Hul." Says Diocletian.
"I will have to ask you some questions, depending on it, i might have an idea, all on it´s time, ." Says Shirou, Dio flinches at the nickname.
They both leave the throne room walking towards the ship they used to arrive, the ship is now loaded with more supplies, the extra 6 custodians, several tech priests and is followed by other dropships.
The travel is long, and after arrive on the battleship, the repairs continue, the Custodes explain how the ships cannot be used for a while even after the repairs are finished, and how their nature will be considered classified, they are offered some reimbursement and money for their families with the condition of a temporary contract with the empire, everyone that refused would be returned to their homes, and have their memories erased by a psyker under the emperor employ, the others would have a permanent work on the ships.
Somewhere on Akkad
The great king of Akkad read reports on his throne, about the mysterious psyker that has somehow evaded his elite soldiers in the frontier.
"So… Five of my Elite warriors got outsmarted by a little kid?" Asks the furious king.
"M-Majesty… His sorcerous abilities were unexpected…" Answer the advisor in the room.
"I want that little sorcerer in our custody by the end of the month, and if I don't get it, heads will roll." Says the King, flatly.
"Y-Yes, majesty." Answer the advisor.
Fuyuki Japan
Several shadows congregate on an empty warehouse on a train station, they have multiple sizes, some are even too tall for humans.
"...So, that grail war was interesting, normally they end with just a stupid bloodshed, but this one seems to have a curious byproduct." One of the Shadows says.
"...A master was sent to another universe? Do you really believe that?" Another shadow says.
"The contacts with Fraga family are reliable, the third rate magus it´s on another universe, by her report, it seems our universe mystery and magecraft works there, but without Gaia and Alaya interference, it seems humanity spread through the galaxy and exploded in numbers, human life there seems to be worth even less than here, they had contact with other species and the mana on earth lose only to the age of gods." The shadow state, with an excited voice tone.
"So you called us here because you believe we might seize that opportunity?" One of the voices says.
"He will summon his servant and several acquaintances to this universe, using a command spell, it has to be on the right moment, once the command spell is activated, if we are nearby, we might use a bounded field to trap us on the phenomena and follow them, we might appear there, on random locations, but still, a new universe, free of counter force, counter guardians, and with no mage association or church to hold us. So… Who here is with me? For the ones here that are dead apostles… Can you imagine the buffet of worthless humans? '' Says the voice, which gathers the attention of several shadows. "So… Who is with me?"
