EMIYA Shirou's Self-Centered Holy Grail War
Prelude Notes:
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Chapter 6 - Training (Self-Improvement)
EMIYA had settled upon some training. To get some of the fundamental issues out of the way first, if nothing else.
"Saving people should always just be a means to an end, whether that's bring happiness to other people, or even if that end is just to feel better about yourself." Archer told him. "Don't lose sight of that and make the same mistake I did during my own lifetime."
For EMIYA, rather than just being a means to an end, saving people became his end-goal in and of itself. A pointless end-goal with no end or fulfillment in sight.
It was a hard truth that Shirou was struggling to accept, but ultimately he could do nothing but nod and accept the truth of it, even if he didn't want. He couldn't just ignore the things he had seen or felt from Archer, after all.
And their training started. Archer was a harsh teacher, but fair, though his comments on how Shirou should improve still had a bit of a condescending air to them, probably because they were direct to Shirou, more than anything.
"Even if I can't change your fundamental style, at the very least, I can make you less reliant on others, and on needing more brute force."
To EMIYA's surprise, though, Shirou learned his own style surprisingly fast, picking up on even the mild nuances with surprisingly quick results.
Well, this was the style most suited to Emiya Shirou after all, so perhaps it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that he would pick up on it quickly. But that didn't explain everything - his projection abilities and his ability to trace Kanshou and Bakuya were also rapidly improving, as his projected copies also proved to be increasing quickly in strength and structural durability.
Maybe his quicker than normal improvement could also have been attributed to his deeper instinctive understanding of himself that had been gleamed from seeing the manifest form of his own Reality Marble, and coming to a better understanding of himself and his own capacities.
Thinking back, EMIYA could've sworn he heard of something like this before in the Clock Tower, though under completely different circumstances...
Something about a type of magecraft that channeled experiences from your future self to resonate with your preset self to quickly gain experience and skills? Well, it was something like that, even if he couldn't recall the details exactly.
Finishing up their quick training session, Shirou prepared to head back to the bathroom to wash himself, and then to the kitchen to prepare dinner for Sakura and Fuji-nee's arrivals.
There was still an awkward air about the two of them, but there was something Shirou wanted to say.
"Sorry..." Shirou said. It felt kind of awkward saying that to himself, especially since he hadn't even made the same choices his future self had yet, but it felt like something he should do.
"heh." EMIYA let out an amused chuckle, "Well, I'll accept that." He said, "But words are meaningless without action. If you really are sorry for my fate, then you should put all your efforts into changing it, instead."
"I know." Shirou said, "You're still kind of a jerk, though."
Surprisingly, after venting out some of the self-tension, they got along - not well, but well enough, at least when making food together in the kitchen.
It was still a bit awkward between, but at least not to the same degree it was at first.
Shirou was a bit concerned about Sakura and Fuji-nee seeing Archer at first. Shirou had the idea of maybe introducing him as an older relative and acquaintance of Kiritsugu, or something along those. But Archer, for his part, didn't want to slip up and say anything he shouldn't have the ability to know, so he refused (No, more truthfully, he just didn't want to let any emotion show on his face from seeing them again or to get attached to them again, especially since he'd only be stating over for a short while - a period of two weeks, at most).
But after Archer told him he could just dematerialized into spiritual form, there was nothing to worry about.
Soon, Sakura arrived, and Fuji-nee stopped by shortly after that as well.
Shirou, for his part, seemed a bit down at first, which Sakura noticed, but as they got talking and as Fuji-nee joined them, Shirou's mood gradually lifted ad got better, as he was reminded of what he still did have right now, in the present.
EMIYA, for his part, just looked on for a while, nostalgically, and with just a small bit of envy towards his younger self, for still having what he had lost long ago.
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While Shirou was having dinner with Sakura and Fujimura, Archer pondered the enemies they would encounter later on in the war.
Doubtless, the boy would still want to save as many lives as possible, and though EMIYA was tired of doing the same, even then, he still an obligation to continue doing so as well. Even if he wasn't under the terms of Alaya's contract, this time.
Besides, though it may have a pain to do so, EMIYA still had some fondness for this town, where he grew up with Kiritsugu, even with as worn as his old memories of his life here may have been.
And so, EMIYA tried to recall the events of his own war.
If things were still going on the same or at least a vaguely similar path and route, then...
There would be a boundary field around school sapping away lives because of Rider? His memory of that wasn't too clear, but it was probably Rider, he still had the faintest of vague impression of his arm being impaled, too. Ironically, that very painful experience of his arm almost being torn off back then was probably the only reason he could now even vaguely recall anything having happened at the school.
Next, then, would be the incident with the "gas leaks", with Caster, defeating her, and taking down her life-siphoning magecraft.
Then, finally, would be Kotomine.
Actually, maybe he should take down Kotomine first, so that he could take out the Greater Grail, and de-summon all the other Servants (besides maybe Caster). Well, Caster first, then, and then Kotomine.
Wait, Kotomine was guarded by that golden bastard, wasn't he?
Well, he could probably take down Gilgamesh, if nothing else, but the boy didn't have access to Avalon's healing power like he did this time around, since he didn't summon Saber (Artoria), and so couldn't heal up from his stupid decisions like Archer did during his own Grail War. Which meant that Archer would have to make sure he stayed out of the line fire without doing anything stupid if he wanted to take down Kotomine.
Archer sighed. This was really going to be more trouble than it was worth, wasn't it?
Then, they might need an alliance or at least ceasefire with Rin, maybe even temporarily swapping servants for a little while, in order to get past that obstacle.
Well, maybe they could also get rid of Gilgamesh, or at least depower him, by cutting off his connection with Kotomine.
Wait, how did the Kotomine provide enough mana for the golden bastard stay in the world again?
Archer took a while to remember, but eventually recalled it, and his face furled as he remembered the disgusting sight of those charred orphans serving as batteries.
He was surprised he still remembered that, but perhaps it was only natural that he would, since that was the first true atrocity he witnessed as a human (though it seemed a very petty matter now, compared to all the other things he had seen and become desensitized to in his service as a cleaner).
Right, then destroying the church basement would be one of his first priorities.
Maybe if they tried to get Ilya on their side first, then Berserker could serve as a very useful ally (decoy) against that bastard after he inevitably came after them for cutting off his power source. And then it would be easiest and best if he could kill him with a sneak attack or surprise snipe, while being preoccupied by Berserker.
Actually, didn't he have some Chinese or Japanese or Greek blade around somewhere that nullified curses (besides rulebreaker, which served all magical bonds)?
Maybe he could find one to use on Berserker, to gain an even better ally in the form on a non-insane Hercules.
It would be a bit of a risk to de-berserkerify Hercules, but they shared the same goal of protecting Ilya, and EMIYA knew from personal experience that Hercules was a kind hero.
He probably wouldn't kill Shirou along the way, but then again, even if he did, that would still work out for EMIYA anyways.
A sudden mild headache interrupted EMIYA at that thought, but EMIYA brushed it off by shaking his head slightly, and it passed just as quickly as it came.
Things might not play out exactly the same way they did before, though, and there was no telling if other people summoned different servants, either. Or even if just different butterfly effects might have resulted from his summoning, even if everything else was the same.
Well, they could probably still afford train for one or two more days, before war really started to kick off.
Besides, ending the war so soon by taking out Kotomine directly was not his object - it would suit him to stay in the world a bit longer.
His real goal here was to see if he could really get it through Emiya Shirou's thick skull not to contract with Alaya to save people. If he did, then that would be as sure a victory as he could manage, no matter how many other people died in the process.
And he would delay destroying the grail for as long as he could until he could accomplish that.
Even those charred orphans could wait a few more days if needed, surely.
It sounded incredibly cold, and he almost hated himself for saying it, but, like always, it was a necessary sacrifice to achieve his goals.
He hated himself for having become so accustomed to that mentality, but this time it truly couldn't be helped - if it meant he could actually stop Emiya Shirou from becoming like himself.
And though he might still be obligated to save people, and though it might even still be something that he still begrudgingly want to do, deep down, setting the boy off of his foolish path would be his first priority above all, no matter how many lives might be lost in the process, over the course of the war.
He had saved more than enough for it not to matter, at least. The amount that could die here in Fuyuki from this war was surely just a drop in the sea of people that EMIYA had saved.
So, it was no matter if he didn't bother to save these people, too.
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Chapter 6 - Training (Self-Improvement) END
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Author's Notes:
For those who don't know, apparently, officially, Archer actually comes from a fate-ish route, but one where he couldn't save Saber (lacking enough affection for her).
And you can see how cynical and cold his mindset has become after so many years. No longer able to see the value in saving individual people's lives, but automatically just thinking about things in numbers and in cost and gain.
Originally, these were two seperate chapters, Training (Self-Improvement) and Thoughtfulness (Considering Other People), but after the last chapter, which was also pretty short, I didn't want to post another short chapter, and both of these chapters were pretty short, so I just joined them together. Enjoy!