I mentioned this a while back in a story pilot a while back (it could be the entry before this or it could be from several months ago at this point) where I mentioned I was working on a "treatment" or a test chapter. Well, this is it. For those who missed that note, because I'm pretty sure it was in one of my [E] rated chapters, this concept as the chapter title would imply is a Fate Stay/Night and Percy Jackson and the Olympians crossover. However, unlike other entries, I'm not going to start at the beginning. I have a specific scene in mind and I really want to write it out to see how it goes. If people like it, I'll start writing up a full "pilot treatment" for it. After all, there are multiple ways that it can go for just the concept stages. As usual for these prefaces, let's go over the inspirations that spawned this idea: well, the first being "Lord of Swords" by Slim A Lou Prime (id: 13899843) where Shirou is reborn into another world where the Age of Gods never came to an end and is born as a demigod in that world, said world being the universe of PJO. It's really creative and I highly recommend checking it out, you know, after finishing this entry if you'd please.
But that story in its current story state inspired a scene in my mind. Now, I should note that this inspiration with knowledge of that story's events could be considered a soft spoiler for his story, especially if this comes out well after he gets to the point that this "chapter" test is going to explore briefly so please keep that in mind. My test idea is going to do something else entirely separate from his plot but this specific section has the possibility of spoiling something he's working/worked on. On second thought, fuck what I said previously, open a new tab, go to his story and read it first so you don't get spoiled. If you don't care about that kind of stuff, proceed.
Did you read it? Welcome back if you did.
For those that did check it out, pretty great, right? With that out of the way, what's this small snippet of an idea?
Here's what I got and the starting point is the same as the idea above. That being Shirou dies, and is reborn in the PJO universe as the son of a god. He unlocks memories of his previous life and starts magecraft again and in dealing with both gods and monsters, both benign and malicious alike, he decides he needs some help. What better help than that of a Heroic Spirit, a certain Heroic Spirit who he summoned in his first life? Enough beating around the bush, he's going to summon Saber Artoria Pendragon as an ally.
As this is just a snippet of a single scene in a potential fic, pilot, or extended beyond that, one of the large things that will be explored is the impact of magecraft on the PJO universe where nothing of this sort of thing exists. Sure, there is magic used by demigods, gods, and monsters alike – as well as certain humans – but nothing of this particular brand of magic. Magic of crystalized myths and legends in the human subconscious. Magic of surpassing gods and men alike. Sounds pretty grand, doesn't it? Well, because it is. Fate just be that way, it hits differently. But this is sort of "future me's" problems and not present me's as I'm just getting this scene idea out of the way. And with that being said, let's get this (short) party started.
Title: [undecided]
Pairing(s): Shirou/Artoria, all others undecided.
Rating: T+ currently is projected, I do not know if it will increase from there.
Summary: Shirou had died, but it was not the end of his journey. Reborn into another world where the Age of Gods and monsters have yet to cease, he decides to summon an old friend and lover to help him. [Not final].
Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Fate belongs to TYPE-MOON/Nasu, Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan, and I only own this idea iteration's concept. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.
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Shirou, once known as Emiya, stood in the middle of the pavilion reserved for meals and offerings to the gods. He had gone to Chiron asking for permission to initiate a ritual, one that had never been performed in this age, an Age of the Gods. The other campers had cleared the requisite amount of space needed and Shirou had painstakingly drawn the magical circle needed over several hours. Every stroke of prana conductive chalk is done with care, patience, and intent. Sundown was quickly approaching which was known by many both as an old wives' tale and for the practitioners of magic it meant something slightly different. Regardless of how others saw it since it was in the Collective Unconscious, it had power. And power was what Shirou needed.
All around him in a semi-circle gathered the demigod children of the Greek Pantheon. It was the price of using such a public place. After all, he didn't want to damage the cabins should it go wrong as incorrectly performed magecraft has a tendency to... erupt violently. The Witching Hour was finally here.
Shirou reached into his Reality Marble and Traced a sword he hadn't seen in years in real life, only in his Marble did he look upon it. He didn't dare wield it, as he wasn't worthy. But there was someone who was, and if everything went right, he'd be able to return this Noble Phantasm that had been left in his care. He stabbed the tip into the center of the magical circle. The campers looked on in awe at what was Excalibur, the Arthurian sword of legends—created by the fey for King Arthur, the king of England.
His friend.
His lover in another lifetime.
He extended his hand, accessed his magic circuits, and started to focus his prana on the magic circle beneath him. He could feel the circle do its job, now it was time for him to do his. He started to invoke the words he knew to speak for this ritual.
"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Let each be turned over five times, simply breaking asunder the fulfilled time," he started. Just as slowly and methodically making sure his words and intent were aligned. Mana buzzed in the air as globules of light started to rise from the circle. Five of them to be exact. "Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let my great master Schweinorg be the ancestor." With these words, the balls of mana-light started to rotate around the circle, around the sword. It acted like a vortex of mana, sucking in all around it. The wind started to whip as a result. "Raise a wall, against the wind that shall fall. Close the four cardinal gates. Come out from the crown. Rotate the three-branched road reaching the Kingdom." The rotating lights had become a blur. A halo around it. The buzzing had become a fever-pitched whine; like that of a jet engine. The single halo split into three and expanded outward to surround him. "I shall declare here. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason… then answer!" The three rings collapsed on the sword which caused it to become a beacon. Magic flowed into the heavens, barely contained by the magical circle.
This did not go unnoticed. The Mist was barely able to keep this magical beacon of hellfire intensity hidden from mortal eyes. The gods on Olympus turned towards their demigods' safe haven and watched in awe as magic as raw as magic could be surged into the atmosphere and into what felt to be another realm. They would not be wrong. Those sensitive to magic and the supernatural world looked in awe at this balefire, something that would in many signal the end-times if seen by them.
Shirou felt it, he felt the connection to the Throne of Heroes. The Throne had answered, it was time for the final push. "An oath shall be sworn here! I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell! – From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Balance!" he shouted as his will was declared to the powers that be.
The light became too much and for a moment, the night became day to the point where even the mortals noticed for a few seconds believing it to be lightning before going on with their evening. But for those that were sensitive to the supernatural, they felt blinded before the light was gone. In Camp Half-Blood the light faded and there was silence. The only thing that could be heard was the buzz not so different than that of electricity from a live wire but made of mana. As Shirou's vision started to come back, him being the closest, his eyes focused on his still outstretched hand.
Command Seals were on it. He had been successful.
Looking below him, kneeling on one knee as a knight did to his lord was a woman. She was clad in a blue dress that was adorned with armor. In her extended hands held the hilt of the same sword that Shirou had put in the center of the circle. She held it in front of her using it like a cane, or, more accurately, someone swearing fealty to their lord. Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun that was one part practical, one part elegant. She finally opened her eyes, revealing the green irises. Then, she spoke.
"Servant Saber answers thine call," she said with royal airs.
"Welcome back, Artoria," Shirou said with a welcoming smile and a kindness that seemed different than his normal kindness. It felt more tender. More loving. His hand extended down to her.
She grabbed it, pulled herself up, and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm back, Shirou." She then whispered in his ear, "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
End scene.
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And with that, I'm going to call it there. Yes, I know this was short, but as previously stated this was just a test scene to see if I could do it. Granted, it was only a thousand words give or take about a hundred. With this, I'll gauge interest and if there's enough, I'll do a little thinking on a pilot concept for it. After all, no information of what god he's a child of or if he's even a demigod and just a really buffed-up human immune to the Mist thanks to his magecraft. The summary I put just as a reminder of what I want to do for this test doesn't even hint at one or the other so at least right now I'm not backed into a specific corner I need to run with. Even if I did do a pilot, I'd then need to figure out a fuller story to do this with and get to this point, then from this point figure out the ending and where I want to end. I mean, do I want to do the entirety of the PJO series? That's a bit of a tall order. Or, should it only be a specific section or a specific book? Like I said, lots of questions, not a whole lot of answers.
Going on to "new"/other ideas. I'm still working on the backlog; this was a shorter little test, so it only took about a couple of hours to whip up. I did come up with a new "Original Fic" idea which is only in the planning phases (IE: writing the preface so I don't forget about it later). I'm still working on other stuff though. A couple I got stuck in my head but I'm stumped as to how to get them out there as a couple of times I've sat down to do them I've just had the worst writer's block with them which then causes me to go on to other stories until it clears up. For some this has happened and worked swimmingly, for others they're still in development hell. So, in other words, no really new stories in the works, just really trying to work through these older ideas I have on file.
On to real-life stuff. Going to start my next homebrew project soon. Cider this time. We'll see how it goes. As for other stuff, got my eyes on a 1911; now whether it'll be in .45ACP (God's caliber) or 10mm we'll have to see. Every firearms enthusiast needs a 1911 in their collection. The Springfield Ronin for .45 and the RIA for 10mm both are appealing. There's just something about hammer-fired pistols that are just neat.
But that's all I have this time around, likely will have more stuff later. Let me know what you thought about this idea in the usual places. Anon tip jar addresses are in my bio. I'll see you in whatever I decide to put out next.