"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Master/Servant Link"
Noble Phantasm
Chapter 10: The Broken mirror…
The moment the words left Kiritsugu's mouth there was a brief silence, then Irisviel immeidately darted into the house, pushing past her husband and disappearing up the stairs.
Archer frowned as he turned to the man "I assume the situation is outside the norm, even for your position?" Kiritsugu nodded, Illya also darting into the house after Irisviel. Archer scowled and turned to the others, now staring at the group with clear worry.
"Head off." Archer said "I'll provide any aid that is required, if not I'm sure that my Masters family are capable of dealing with this." with that he turned and marched past Kiritsugu, the man soon following him and closing the door to the house.
Irisviel burst into the room Shirou was staying in and frantically calling his name, she was greeted by the sight of her adopted son thrashing around while Sella and liz attempted to hold him down to avoid him injuring himself.
"Wha-" Irisviels eyes went wide as she turned to her fellow homunculi in search of answers "What's wrong!?"
"We don't know Mistress!" Sella replied, in an equally panicked tone of voice "We entered not long after yourself and Illya left, Shirou was restless until a few minutes ago when he started screaming." she returned to holding down the boy, his legs now frantically kicking at something.
"B-but…" Irisviel turned back to her son and dropped to his side "Shirou-chan!?"
"Onii-chan!?" Illya burst in and was similarly greeted by the sight "Mama, what's wrong with Onii-chan!?"
"I-" Irisviel choked out in a panic as she turned to her youngest daughter "I don't know! The spell was only supposed to make him sleep!"
"Illya!" Shirou screamed out "Illya! Illya!" each scream was punctuated by the boy further thrashing around. At this point Archer and Kiritsugu entered the room. Archer frowned at his younger self, this wasn't purely the result of Irisviels hypnosis. He suspected the last the woman wanted to do was give him nightmare inducing visions in his sleep.
"Iri?" Kiritsugu asked as he entered "What did you do?"
"I cast a sleeping spell on him!" The woman replied in a panic "It was only supposed to keep him asleep for a few hours!"
"Tr-tra-" Shirou began to stutter out in his sleep, instantly the group fixed their attention on him "Tra-ce on…" Archer felt his eyes widen, instantly Shirous body was covered in a luminescent pattern.
"Stop him before the idiot kills himself!" Archer shouted at Irisviel, the woman jumped slightly before pulling Shirous eyelids open, she whispered a few words in German before the boy went limp.
Archer stared at the form for a few moments, Shirou had stopped from spasaming however he hadn't yet awoken. Archer frowned, there had been nothing in the past few days to indicate that Shirou could possibly…
No…
Archers gaze turned to Illya, who was cradling her brothers hand "Master." his voice had her turn to him "The Archer card. When you used it, what happened?"
"H-huh?" She stared blankly at him for a few moments, still confused as to his question.
"The Card, when you used it did you receive anything?" Archer was demanding at this point "Any kind of knowledge?"
"I-it showed me how do what you do!" She blurted out, Archer frowned.
'It shared a basic knowledge of my Magecraft and how to use it… However to use it without the card would be impossible for her…' His eyes turned to Shirou 'But not for him…'
Archer had a sinking feeling what had happened "Master… How long did he have the Archer card before he returned it to you?"
"Huh… I don't know! I didn't even realise it was missing!"
"Archer." He turned to Irisviels panicked face "What's wrong? What's happening to Shirou?"
"The card transfers knowledge and a basic ability to its wielder… however it is still a Heroic Spirit." He scowled "Do enough digging and you'll find the original within the card. That's what he did, he found the original if I were to hazard a guess."
Archer knew, the idiot must have done something to the card when he had it in his possession. Something that would trigger an influx of memories.
"He was complaining about nightmares." Kiritsugu interjected, Archer turned to the scowling man "What did that card do to him?"
"...He found the memories of the Heroic Spirit, or a version of them that had been summoned. He likely tried to analyse the card, his brain couldn't process the information all at once so broke it down for him. We're talking decades worth of memories being crammed into his head, it was likely easier for his brain to process it if it was broken down into dreams."
"How would he even know how to analyse the card?"
"Because it it my Card, it would have given him the basic information needed."
"Analysis isn't that precise." Kiritsugu frowned,
"Mine is." Archer turned away "I assumed the card needed to be activated in order to transfer knowledge. Evidently it is also a passive effect depending on the compatibility of the individual." Archer was supplanting his own guess work with a few well placed lies.
His memories, or a version of himself from the throne, were likely communicating with the boy via the card. When he tried to Trace the card he began absorbing a different life into his own.
"T-then, what do we do!?" Irisviel almost shouted in Archer in a panic.
Archer shrugged "There's not much we can do, you'd need to erase decades worth of memories from him. Even then, his mind will probably reject the memories that aren't his and file them away. They'd still be present but wouldn't be dominant." Archer furrowed his brows "Either way, your hypnosis, for better or worse, forced him to experience the information all at once. It was the equivalent of ripping of a bandage."
"Now what!?" Irisviel shrieked "Its your memories! Why would he freak out like this!?"
Archer didn't look her in the eye "With luck he'll awaken soon, you can ask him about it then. For the mean time, ensure he doesn't do anything else to risk himself." with that he faded away.
Leaving the family crowded over Shirou, who was still limp on his bed.
His eyes were open and he was out of the bed in an instant.
"Illya!" He shouted out, eyes darting around a familiar room "Illya!" he didn't know which was real. If she was here, then that was enough and he was out of the nightmare.
"Onii-chan!?" He heard a startled shout from outside the door, he instantly recognised the voice. His heart began to beat faster.
'Illya!' He virtually cheered in his mind as he barrelled out of the room, the moment he made eye contact with the startled girl he rushed forwards and scooped her up in a hug.
"Onii-chan!" Illya blushed and flapped in his arms for a few moments, before she heard a choked sob and realised that Shirou was crying.
"You're okay, you're okay, you're okay…" he kept repeating over and over again as he cried into her. The girl was left at a loss so did what mama did whenever she cried.
She enclosed her arms around him and patted his head lightly "I'm fine, Onii-chan." she whispered into his ear, Shirou collapsing to his knees with Illya still in his arms.
"I couldn't save you…" He choked out, Illya had no idea what he was talking about "I failed…"
"I'm okay, Onii-chan…" She continued to pat his head. Her blush disappearing as she realised the absolute state her brother was in, he cried into her for what felt like hours before he eventually exhausted himself and released her.
"Shirou-chan?" Irisviel's voice echoed throughout the house, the woman soon appearing and pulling the tired boy into a similar hug that he'd given Illya "You're alright, you're alright, you're alright." The woman repeated in a similar fashion to Shirou, although if were an attempt to convince herself of Shirou, no one really knew.
"Come downstairs." Irisviel dragged him behind her "Sella made pancakes." Shirou only nodded in rely, still being led by the woman.
Eventually he was seated at the dining table, a plate of pancakes placed in front of him and the worried faces of everyone else at the table focused solely on him.
"Shirou…" Kiritsugu began hesitantly "How are you feeling?"
"...I have memories of you dying…" His lifeless tone replied, everyone at the table flinched at how empty his voice was, barely restrained tears forming in his eyes "You were sitting on a porch, staring at the moon…"
"When I was little, I wanted to be a Hero of Justice…"
"You were telling me about wanting to be a Hero of Justice… You looked so...so…. Empty, just speaking…."
"Just leave it to me, your dream."
"I said I'd be one for you… but it wasn't that, I had to be one…" Shirou was no longer focusing on them "I have memories that aren't mine… I know they aren't mine but they're of me…" his eyes became frantic "I saw people die… I killed people, I killed someone I cared about to save another person… I forgot something important… I couldn't save someone who mattered to me…"
"Shirou…" Irisviel reached across the table to place her hand on Shirou's the boy virtually recoiled from her as if her hand burnt.
"No!" He turned to face her, his eyes brimming with tears "It was real! I wasn't dreaming or hallucinating! It was real! Saber was real and I killed her! That shadow was real! The Holy Grail! Angra Maniyu! Archer! It was all real!"
"Shirou." Kiritsugu said firmly, breaking the boy out of his panicked rant "We believe you…"
"Y-you do?" The hopeful gaze in his eye was hard to ignore, begging to anyone to tell him he wasn't crazy.
"Yes." Kiritsugu gave him a reassuring smile which Irisviel shared "Why don't you tell us about these nightmares…"
"I…I don't want to." He stuttered, looking away from him "I don't want to think about it again."
"Shirou, we'll be right here…" Irisviel softly spoke as she placed her hand on his, this time he didn't recoil from her "We're not going anywhere, you can tell us…"
Shirou shared a look with each of them, after a few moments he took a deep breath.
The story he gave them was disjointed, his memories were foggy for the most part as his mind had attempted to make sense of the information as best it could.
That did nothing to take away from the grotesque nature of it however.
The retelling of the Fifth Holy Grail War, or the version he had experienced, was rather disturbing to hear. Let alone listen to.
However, Illya noticed something throughout everything. These were strangely similar to her memories the nightmares she was experiencing. She didn't know what was going on until she heard about the point where the stories had changed.
And one major difference.
Shirou's story had Archer, her Archer anyway.
The one she had seen in Rin's dream was a slightly tanned man with dark hair and green armour and an orange bow. Shirou was describing the Archer that everyone, bar him, had encountered.
She furrowed her brows in confusion at that.
Something was weird…
Shirou had continued on, completely unaware of Illya's inner thoughts "-as told that the thing in the Grail or whatever was some evil God called Angra Mainyu." nobody noticed how Irisviel seemed to still at the words.
"Shirou…" Kiritsugu interrupted him "The Fire… did they say what caused it?"
"Huh? O-oh, Kotomine said it was the previous Grail War… he said you were a part of it…"
Both Kiritsugu and Irisviel slumped in their chairs, Kiritsugu with his hands resting on his forehead.
"O-old man?"
Kiritsugu remained silent, his mind running a million miles an hour. The Grail War that would have happened had he and Iri not turned against it… a Fire that would have left Shirou an orphan and himself dead…
Wait… How did these memories in any way relate to Archer?
"I… I've had similar dreams…" Illya blurted out, and like that Kiritsugu felt his world begin to crumble away.
"What?" Irisviel turned to her, an expression of pure horror "How long!?"
"Nearly a week...maybe a little longer…" She hesitantly replied, then threw her hands up "But they're different! Kind of…"
"Kind of?" Kiritsugu parroted "How so?"
"Archer isn't in them… not the Archer that Onii-chan is talking about…"
"Huh?" Shirou however was left confused "You also have those dreams? What?"
"Y-yeah...You were in a fire, you got saved by papa… you got stabbed in the heart b-"
"By a guy in blue tights...Lancer…" Shirou's eyes were wide "The card… it all started with that crazy tarot card you had!"
"Then...what does this mean?" Irisviel and Kiritsugu shared a look, Archer was somehow at the centre of all of this… they just weren't sure how.
Archer was staring at Rule Breaker in his hand.
'It would be so easy…' He thought to himself 'Just one little prick, then wander off and wait for my mana to exhaust itself…'
"So what does that Phantasm do?" He heard the last voice he wanted to hear right now, he scowled and turned to the floating mystic code "You said you were gonna use it on Illya when we first met...so what does it do?"
"Rule Breaker. A magical dagger owned by Medea of Colchis." Archer replied, he turned away from Ruby and stared at the dagger in his hands "It breaks magical contracts."
"I see…" Ruby hummed in thought "So… is that what you were going to do? Break your pact with Illya-chan and flee?"
"My task is done… and I've caused enough harm…"
"Is that so? Quite an irresponsible man you are, Satan…" Ruby chimed as she floated around Archer "You've 'harmed' this family, as you say, yet at the first sign of danger you try to tuck tail and run away…"
"My being here will only cause more problems for everyone."
"Everyone? Or yourself?"
"...Everyone."
"I see...Not going to take responsibility?"
"What could I even do?" Archer scowled "These problems are beyond my help. Besides, this is your fault to begin with. If you hadn't decided to rope Illya into this, she wouldn't have been exposed to the Archer card and the boy wouldn't be experiencing nightmares."
"Why do you call him 'the boy' he has a name, is it that you only care for Illya?"
"What are you even talking about?"
"If I had selected some other girl… would you have stuck around to help?"
"...That isn't relevant"
"No, no, no!" Ruby got into Archer's face "Answer the question. Would you have helped her?"
Archer looked away from Ruby, his frown never leaving his face.
"That's what I thought… Illya is special to you, not in a romantic way thought. You treat her like an overprotective sibling."
"Is that so?"
"You know… myself and Sapphire-chan do talk." Ruby changed the topic "She says that her Master and knows something about you… something you don't want anyone else to know."
"Really? Can't see how this affects you."
"Yeah. It doesn't affect me. Does it?"
"…"
"Trace On. Those are the words you use. They are also the words that Shirou used. That didn't come from the class card. Every mages activation spell is unique to them. Illya saying Trace on wouldn't allow her to activate her magic circuits."
"...Ruby. Don't."
"The Throne of Heroes exists outside of time. That's why no one knew your name. We all assumed that you came from the past." Ruby floated away from him, her voice becoming softer "But there is nothing to say that a Hero cannot be summoned from the future… or to a time where a version of himself once lived."
"…" Archer turned away from her, now staring out of the window of Illya's room.
"Well? Care to answer me? Emiya Shirou?" Ruby asked "How close am I?"
"...Just… just leave it alone…" Archer whispered, an almost pleading tone to his voice "She can't know… I intend to disappear, let me vanish and let her never find out."
"I can't do that."
"Why? Why are you so against her seeing you as her older brother?"
"Because I don't deserve to be called that… not by her." He released a sigh, the phantasm disappearing from existence "I failed her in the end… my Illya. Not this one… I failed her. The worst thing is I can't remember her face… I only know what she looks like because of this one… bits and pieces of her are there but not all of it… and no where near enough for me to be worthy of the title of her brother."
"I see… a different world then?"
"It's happened before… Spirits may be summoned to different worlds. My childhood, as little I can remember, was nothing like this. I didn't have this… That's why I need to leave… I've spoiled enough of their happiness. I need not spoil anymore."
"...And her nightmares?"
"My memories… The ones that thee boy is getting are… different to my own from what I've heard… evidently another version of myself."
"Illya dreamt of being a Hero of Justice." Archer scoffed, a rather venomous noise came out of his mouth.
"Illya dreamt of a naive fool. The boy downstairs had the better sense to ignore such stupid aspirations." Archer turned to Ruby "You need to stop her. She can't be allowed to continue with that self-destructive fantasy. Sooner or later that idea will grow on her. She'll do everything she can to be a Hero and you are the tool she needs."
"So? Will you force me to break her contract with her?"
"Its too late for that now." Archer turned away "I should have done it when we first met… now she'll likely learn Magecraft from both Kiritsugu and Irisviel." he sighed "I've probably already failed…"
"Then help her."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't!?"
"Both!"
"...You would warn me of a danger to her, then just up and leave?"
"…"
"You were right… you really don't deserve to be called her brother." Ruby huffed in response "I'm going to wait for Illya. Goodbye, Archer. I hope the door to the Throne hits you on the way out."
Archer said nothing as he faded away. He would choose one place to be before vanishing for good.
"I know it happened… but it didn't happen to me…"
"Archer's arm?" Kiritsugu had his eyebrows raised, he and Irisviel exchnaged looks of worry. The idea of transferring the arm of a Heroic Spirit on to someone else was… almost unthinkable.
"Yeah… that's what happened to, not me… I think it killed him? Or… something happened." Shirou was shaking his head, letting out shaky breaths "It… his arm it felt… natural… Like it belonged or something… but I wasn't quite ready for it if that makes sense…"
"What about Illya's nightmares?" Sella chimed in, a frown on his face "This doesn't explain why her dreams are different?"
Irisviel and Kiritsugu exchanged glances "Shirou...head up to your room for a moment. You and Illya could probably do wi-"
"No." Shirou cut him off with a frown "I'm not leaving. This affects Illya. As her older brother I can't leave her like this."
"Shirou yo-"
"I'm. Not. Leaving."
Kiritsugu and Shirou stared into eachothers eyes for a few moments before before Kiritsugu sighed "Fine… I suppose this now concerns you as well." he looked to Irisviel and gestured for her to speak.
"The Holy Grail War… was supposed to take place… Kiritsugu and I were married shortly before the fourth was supposed to occur… We would summon our Servant and go on to win the Grail…"
"You mean… you mean that was supposed to happen?" Shirou looked horrified "You were going to take place in that...that… bloodsport?"
Irisviel nodded "We were… however…" She turned to Illya "That plan… fell through after I had Illya…"
"Huh?" Illya blinked "Me?"
Irisviel nodded and smiled "We couldn't risk you… risk the happiness we found… so we decided it would be best to avoid it… without the Einzbern family to provide the Grail the whole ritual fell apart…"
"As for what this has to do with you, Illya…" Kiritsugu began "I was supposed to summon a Servant. I was given informtation on what would occur based on previous Grail War accounts… The Dream Cycle was a frequent thing."
"Dream Cycle?"
"Memories of your Servant…Shirou experienced a similar thing when he encountered the Class Card...Your nightmares are Archer's memories."
"But Archer isn't in my memories." Illya frowned "They are… about… Onii-chan…" Illya felt her eye's begin to widen.
As did Irisviel and Kiritsugu.
The one common theme between the two memories of Archer.
Shirou.
"Where's Archer?" Irisviel spoke first, she turned to Illya "You have a mental link? Where is he?"
"W-wait?" Shirou interrupted "Archer!? He's here!?"
"Yes, and not now." Irisviel kept her eyes on Illya "Call him here."
Illya furrowed her brows for a few moments, then began to panic slightly "He's ignoring me!"
"Get the car, Kiritsugu." Irisviel said as she stood up, a determined look on her face "We've got a Servant to catch."
"Hmm? Pretty lively in here, isn't it?" Ruby said as she floated in, Shirou just gaped at the Mystic Code "Oh? So what's got everyone in a fuss?"
"Ruby, we need you're help finding Archer!" Illya said as she stood up and rushed over to the mystic code "He's not answering my call and we have something to ask him."
"Alright then...Although he looked like he was getting ready to leave when I last spoke to him."
"When was this?" Kiritsugu asked with furrowed brows.
"A few minutes ago." Kiritsugu and Irisviel frowned, that was a long time considering the speeds a servant could travel.
"Ruby, change me. Now." Illya commanded, her voice more serious than ever before.
"Illya-chan...Archer does-"
"I don't care what Archer wants! Change me now!"
"...Compact. Full Open…"
Archer was stood on the spot where the Emiya house resided.
This was the second time he was drawn here. He let out a sigh as he projected Rule Breaker. Meeting his end in a place which didn't exist in this world and was known to no one.
Perhaps there was something fitting about that?
He shook his head. 'Don't think about it.' he told himself. He was aware of his Master attempting to contact him via the link.
He ignored her.
Something likely had come up with the boy. Something which had encouraged his Master to try and reach out to him. He suspected that his identity was no longer as secret as he had hoped.
Unfortunate.
He tried and failed to get Ruby's words out of his head. He wasn't Illya's brother, this Illya anyway, that title belonged to the other Shirou. He wasn't abandoning Illya. His task was done, he had always intended to leave.
Kiritsugu would teach her why being a Hero wasn't a good idea, he didn't need to be here…
But what did he have to go back to?
If he left, he'd return to being a Counter Guardian… to being a simple killer…. Was he in such a rush to get back to that?
Maybe not… but that didn't mean that he deserved to ruin this family because he didn't want to be a cleaner anymore.
Although, despite his best intentions, he had ruined this family. Emiya Shirou now knew about Magecraft.
While he wouldn't be a Hero of Justice, he was now involved in the moonlit world and nothing good would come of that.
Kiritsugu and Irisviel had found happiness, but they still disappeared for months at a time before returning. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were doing when they weren't at home. Was that the kind of life that Shirou deserved?
It was the kind of life Archer wish he had… and he'd just robbed it of this version of himself..
Archer was so used to crushing wishes… was it any wonder he would eventually crush his own?
And Illya…
He just didn't want her to get hurt...he'd done just that. A small girl whose only worry at the age of ten should have been school or going on trips with her friends was now thinking about going out of her way to save people.
A ten year old girl had no place dreaming of such lofty ambitions…
Ruby was right, loathe as Archer was to admit it, he had ruined their peaceful lives and now that he didn't actually need to be here anymore he was going to run away…
He released a sigh…
"That's a cruel thing… I've been forced to break a perfect mirror…" No, he wasn't forced to do anything.
He chose to stay, because he just didn't want to be summoned to an era specifically to kill.
He had no business staying after he had confirmed that Shirou was not going to turn out like him.
He should have just broken the contract between Illya and Ruby and been on his way… but he didn't… because he didn't want to give up an excuse to stay…
"Archer!" He blinked in confusion, that voice wasn't in his head. He turned skyward just in time to see Illya racing towards him.
She dropped to the ground in front of him, a cellphone in her hand "I found him. Turn… left? Yes left!"
Seconds later, Archer turned around just in time to see a black car turn up. Out of it came the entire household.
Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Sella, Leysritt…
And Shirou…
The two made eye contact… and understanding was instantly passed between them.
Shirou knew who Archer was.
'That confirms it…' Archer thought bitterly "You shouldn't be here, Master."
"We had to come… you were going to leave." Illya replied, looking at him with a frown.
"As I said I would."
"You said you were going to say goodbye first!"
"...Goodbye."
"Archer!" He turned to see Irisviel marching towards him, the woman stopped directly in front of him.
Her hand reached up, and ruffled his hair. Evidently she got what she was looking for.
Her eyes went wide and she stumbled away from him, tears beginning to build up.
"Archer… you never forgot your true name… did you?" Illya asked from behind him.
"No."
"Archer...Are you… are you and Onii-chan…"
"Shirou." Kiritsugu said, although he wasn't looking at the auburn haired boy. He was looking at Archer. "That's your name, isn't it? Archer."
"You really… shouldn't have come…" Archer's hands fell limply by his side, Rule breaker long forgotten at this point.
"Archer…" Irisviel placed her hands on his cheeks and made him face her "Shirou-chan?"
AN: We had to get there eventually…
Who would have thought it would have been Ruby who noticed the little slip of the tongue?
Well… we know what comes next. Don't we?
'Did I become a Hero for you, Kiritsugu?'
