Sword/Hogwarts
The dead have no use in the world of the living, as a servant he knew that, as a former human, doubly so, and as a Counter Guardian all the more.
His was a cursed existence, a curse passed down by his father by accident.
A single pure wish.
To save everyone… I will be a hero in your stead.
So pure that it was corruptive.
So corrupt that it would not let you see the darkness as it was so bright.
An all encompassing abyss of madness and despair.
There is no way you can save everyone, if two people fight with a blade at each others neck, you must choose whom to save and whom to discard.
He had made a deal, and never thought in the long term consequences, of how it could… it would end.
He saved people by killing people,an instrument of death by the forces of the planet to keep life in check, when some great upheaval that threatens to destabilize the world order and the life contained in it, he was called, again and again to kill those related to it.
This is not what I wanted
Killing everything related to the problem, a tactical nuke empowered by the planet itself, good or evil both were killed.
A man betrayed by his own ideals, even as a spirit contracted by the planet, his job is eternal, same as his existance.
He sought the one chance to kill himself.
And thus he bet everything on that, a paradox.
He was summoned as a servant in a holy grail war, but it was not the hin he was looking to kill, this one was still an idiot, but he had his priorities straight.
Thus rather than kill him, he decided to give him something so he would not rely on Alaya and condemn himself.
A transplant, his past self lost and arm, and he was bravely harmed, so rather than leave him to die he transplanted his arm to his past self.
There was a catch, even if they were the same person, they are not each other, HE was a spirit, empowered by the world, even if he was given corporeal form for this war, he would disappear once he died and return to his previous duties.
And so the fake priest Kotomine used his abilities to spiritually graft the arm of the servant into the boy, ignoring providence and succeed.
Artificial Phantasm, so long as his past self supplied magic the arm would remain, however it had a corruptive property, if his past self used it too much the arm would devour the consciousness and replace it with HIS.
And thus his past self became stronger to fight off the intrusion of the arm…
He managed to save the person he wished to save.
He was glad that his past self had deviated from that self destructive wish he had.
And thus… smiled as he had hope that at least that one would not end up as him.
He expected to return to his duties… however he found himself in the floor, it was raining, his body felt odd… he had both arms, but they seemed off.
His point of view was also askew, something was wrong, he heard screaming but he was too delirious to care… a chunk of debris hurling at top speed hut him as he was too bussy trying to make sense of it all.
He passed out.
He woke up much later be didn't understand what was going on.
So many deaths… and that poor baby, to had his mother die that way.
Infant? Baby?
A terror begun to swell inside as he turned around… on the metallic surface of the crib he was put in he saw the reflection of himself, as a wee baby.
A couple hours later
The initial shock had all but vanished, he had no use of such worries, for some reason his memories had been retained, was this a reincarnation? If so why was his skin as his appearance as a servant? That was due to years of abuse of his circuits, a rebound of sorts for going over his limits.
Emiya Shirou, his name as a failure of a human, was someone with fair skin and red hair.
It is possible that he had been transferred and de-aged, but that seemed too convoluted and crazy… exactly what Zelretch is known to do, but this does not seem like something of his doing.
Regardless he was here and looking like this, so he was going to suffer the indignities of being an infant as well.
Time has passed and he grew up, he was taken as a weird kid due to his adult like mannerism and speech, and many were taken back by his sharp wit and retort, he was pragmatic and cynical, yet he was always helpful. Many of the younger kids flocked to hin as a role model of sorts, and while he felt awkward at the attention, he didnt hesitate to help his fellow orphans,
He was sent to an orphanage due to the destruction that happened in the street, apparently a gas leak happened and many people died that day.
Obiously Emiya smelled bullshit a mile away, gas leak his arse, that was the same excuse for what happened during the grail war. So once he finished cooking a meal for all the children and staff he asked to be allowed to go out.
The staff trusted Emiya enought to let him wander off, so long as he came back before supper.
He walked on to the street were it happened and took a deep breath.
"As suspected, even after this long time it still clings… magecraft of sort was used here, and very heavily" Emiya said. There where many smells that intermingled but he could see that it the street had been repaired via magic, as he could smell the magical signatures in the area, they might had been dissipating, but enough remained that it could be picked up by his sensitive nose.
He noticed then a strange bathing happen, a man dressed like a magus would around the middle ages came and left flowers, only to vanish with a crack.
Emiya now knew that this was not his world.
That was a teleportation, or similar instant movement type spell.
He also noted that this world had an abundance of mana, so much that he had to get used to the scents.
Thankfully, where he lived there were not many magic users, he already outed some, then again if it was not for the scents they had, then just for their… peculiar sense of fashion.
Truthfully, even the magus in his own world had better sense, only the inordinately long lived ones would don such attires, and even then…
Anyways, it was finally time, he had delayed it so long, he was attempting to (re)open his circuits.
Before that he made a mental recollection of everything so far.
First, was the fact that he was in London, second was that he started back as an infant, and third all previous memories, experiences and knowledge had been retained, as well as his element and origin. And lastly, this was not his world, some SNAFU happened and now he is like this, he would be tempted to chalk it up to his abysmal luck, but as he thought it better, he saw this as a chance to remake his life.
He was, for once, happy.
He had no need to kill endlessly, no need to go and kill his past self to prevent his existence, this was the first miracle given to him.
Even if the orphanage struggled a bit, he always made sure the place was clean and everyone feed, the staff, bless their hearts tried to make ends meet, but with so many orphans and so little manpower any bit of help is godsend, they received donations and charity to help and Emiya made sure the money lasted using his own knowledge and his cooking abilities.
By unlocking his circuits he would be able to do more… and reclaim his old title as a brownie.
The process was painful, especially on a child's body, but he stifled the pain and swallowed the scream threatening to escape as he twitched on the floor, this body was not used to pain yet, even if he mentally was capable, physically speaking it was a whole nother tune.
He woke up early in the morning, he took a shower and began to prepare today's breakfast when something strange happened.
It was a week before his 11th birthday and he felt a peculiar scent… he reinforced his eyes and spotted a brown barn owl flying around, then said owl locked eyes and begun to fly towards him.
The owl stopped on the open window and lifted his leg up, it had a tube tied, Emiya just decided to retrieve the message inside, it was an envelope and it had a LOT of mana in it, he opened it up.
It read as follows.
Mr. Shirou Emiya
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Please find enclosed the list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1, we await your owl no later than July 31
Now, Emiya felt confussed, his name and adress, up to his room and being in a bunk bed was placed as the owl looked at him, he allowed the owl in and gave something for the bird to eat, so he could wait.
He delivered the letter to his guardian, apparently it was not the first time it happened, however she was surprised, she asked if he wanted to go… he was unsure, but decided that it would not hurt, and perhaps, maybe, he would step up from being a 3rd rate magus with actual magical education.
The orphanage matron than gave him something.
It was all the money they managed to save thanks to his help.
"All the kids and staff members decided to do this, if someone deserved to have a good life after all that has happened it was you, thanks to you the kids been satiated and us adults had little to worry, thanks to you fixing many of the appliances and helping cook delicious and nutritious meals, many of the kids got adopted while the ones that remained still had hope, you going to a boarding school will make them sad but they all knew that this would never last, so as a token of their being thankful, they all put in a bit for you" she said with a sad smile.
Emiya was taken back, he was someone deemed… unadoptable.
Not due to any bad behaviour, no, this child was polite, however his mannerisms did not match his age, it was like seeing a grown man, someone who could be independent in the shape of a child that should, for all intents and purposes, not know or do what he can.
And he was fine with that, that meant the others had the possibility to find a warm and loving family.
To all the children, he was their hero… and so, they saved every pound and sterling they could, even the older kids and the staff and made a little savings for Emiya, as token of appreciation for all the help he had given them.
Even the ones who got adopted send part of their allowance to be put forth for Emiya, the goodwill and love he had unknowingly garnered from the other orphans was now being shown.
And so, the matron from the orphanage wrote the reply and gave it to Emiya, who gave it to the owl that had finished eating the cold cuts given.
He put the letter to the owl and flew into the sky.
Apparently Emiya Shirou was going to magic boarding school.
He did not know how to feel about that.
Could it be due to him awakening his magic circuits?
Anyways, he would find out soon enough.
A week later he received another letter saying that he would be picked up by someone named Hagrid, who is accompanying another new student, due to the proximity to the only place to buy supplies, he was asked to do so.
It was 2 days later and he found a mountain of a man, wearing a coat made of many types of animal leather, many of which were magical, it would equate to a defensive armament as even mid sized projectiles would find it hard to penetrate.
Yet, the man, for all his size and magic armament in the shape of a coat, was rather, friendly, jovial and earnestly open. Next to him was a young lass, she had shoulder length wavy hair, it was naturally messy, did not seem the type to be tamed and deep green eyes, she had a pair of broken glasses held by tape and on her forehead.
A dark and nauseating scent assailed Shirou.
It was dark, it was evil, it was corroding, yet held in place by a magical barrier from within the young girl.
It was obvious that the girl herself did not know nor was actively making said protection,but he was worried. The scent felt not unlike Zouken's parasitic magic familiars.
After shaking his head he introduced himself.
"My name is Shirou Emiya, I will be in your care" he said with a slight bow.
Hagrid just laughed "Yeh dont have to be so formal boy, and nothing of that mister either, just call me Hagrid, I am 'ogwarts keeper if keys and grounds, so today I be taking you both to Diagon Alley, should be quite a dash for ye both" he said with a smile.
"And… you are…?" Shirou asked.
The young girl blinked, seems she was not used to interacting with others, I am Iris Potter, nice to meet you Shirou"
Emiya cringed a bit, as he was still not used to being called by his old name.
He gave an awkward smile.
They went to a local pub "The Leaky Cauldron"
Shirou could smell a sort of bounded field that served to repel cognition of the pub by regular people.
"That's interesting, so, only people who can do magic or the like can see this place?" He asked, to make sure he was correct.
"That's right! However every now and again a muggle manages to get in, sort of people who 'ave a strong will or something" Hagrid said.
"What's a… muggle you said?"
"Ah right ye are… a muggle is what us magical folk call the regular folk who can't use magic" Hagrid said.
Shirou nodded silently as they entered the pub.
"Ah Hagrid! good to see you, you want your usual?" The barkeep asked as he jovially greeted Hagrid.
"Ahh… afraid not Tom, I am in official 'onwards business, '' he said moving his head towards the two children.
When Tom saw young Iri his eyes "is that…?!oh bless my heart it is you!" He said with tears in his eyes, shaking Iris' hands.
Shirio was taken back by how many adults were shaking her hands as if she were a celebrity.
It seems Iris herself didn't understand the reason behind it.
It was then when she was told there was a dark lord, whose name people fear so much that they refuse to use it out of fear, and apparently it came to kill her, her parents died protecting her and when he turned his wand towards her… he was killed, he had uses a curse that has a 100 percent effective rate of killing and was called thusly the killing curse, there was no way of blocking it, or so they say, Shirou was quite sure that he had quite the arsenal of Noble Phantasms that would do short work of it.
Still his circuits are still fresh and now, going to what could be considered the analog of the Clock Tower, he could practice with no hesitation.
Hagrid took them to Diagon alley, apparently there was a sequence of bricks one must touch while coursing mana for it to open, and a new world was opened.
Inside, it was like a small town in size, Iris looked awestruck as she saw many incredible stores and products. However Shirou just gave a cursory glance and just shrugged.
"Isn't this also your first time seeing this?" Iris asked, seeing Shirou not taken back by this was a bit jarring.
"While novel, it is just a different type of stores, this could also be seen in other countries, imagine yourself going to New York, it would be the same, just a bit of culture shock, once you get used to it, is just the same thing, wrapped in a different wrap" Shirou said.
Iris blinked, in a weird way, he was right, it was just more of the same, just that the presentation was different.
They went to the wizardry bank called Gringotts, they got into a sort of minecart and proceeded to what amounted to a crazed rollercoaster ride. First we stopped by Iris' trust fund, her parents left her a sizable amount, however that only got more questions, why does she seem malnourished? Why are her glasses broken?
By her reaction, she had never been aware of this.
To be honest Shirou was taken back that phantasmal species were running the bank AND actually coexisting with humanity, as in his world they had left into the reverse side.
They were then taken to another vault where Hagrid asked to be taken, he took out a package from there and hid it inside his coat. Afterwards I exchanged some of my money to use for my education, due to my being an orphan, Hogwarts had a discretionary fund for people like me, so we got most of my things second hand (of course I haggled and surprised Hagrid with my skills at negotiating)
After buying books and ignoring the lead cauldron he had to buy ("have you heard of lead poisoning? Is an actual thing, how have you people not killed yourself with this?" Shirou asked surprising Hagrid and Iris).
Hagrod decided to treat both kids, as it was Iris' birthday, he came with a gift, a snow white owl, it seemed rather intelligent and once Iris was told that it was a gift to her she cried, as it was the first genuine gift she had ever received.
Emiya filed that for later.
It was nearing the end, and so they went to the wandmaker's store Olivanders.
The old man greeted them, he tool a look at her and said"Ah yes… Miss Potter I have been expecting you, and you have a rather interesting individual accompanying you as well this might be interesting"
So he asked which was her wand arm and begun to take measurements and explain a but about wand lore, it seems that the wand have several parts, the core, the reagents to preserve it and the wood, the wood influenced a lot as well as the size of it, an apparently wands have a semblance of awareness, as they choose who to allow them to be used.
Anyone could use any wand, but only a wand that is a perfect match would make the wizard complete, otherwise the wizard's ability and skill will never be fully shown.
Emiya was taken back, all these wands had parts of God honest phantasmal beasts… if any magi back home saw this… well this was basically a magus wet dream.
In the end a rather peculiar wand choose her.
"How curious" Olivander said.
Iris asked what it was about.
"The core of this wand came from a Phoenix, which gave a single more, and it so happens that said feather was in the wand that caused," he said tapping her lightning bolt shaped scar "this. He-who-must-not-be-named did great things, terrible ones, yes, but great"
Iris felt a bit uncomfortable at the revelation, however it was now Emiya's turn.
"I am ambidextrous" he said as the measurement tape snaked around.
"I see, this might make things interesting" he said.
They went through more than 10 dozen wands, all rejecting him, but rather than be angry, Olivander felt more alive than ever, so he went to his backroom to take a few wands that had been made with… unconventional cores and wood.
"This is made with a sakura tree, it was treated 5 times each time it broke and made a new, the core is the blood of a fey from a hidden lake in Cornwall, it was made by my great great grandfather, it was freely given." He said.
The wand immediately shone in a golden light.
"Incredible, this is most curious indeed" he said as he cleaned his glasses to stare into Shirou once more and looked at him carefully.
"This wand's core was the blood of the fey of the lake, that it chose you, quite interesting" Ollivander said.
Emiya was taken back and then just gave a strange smile… "I see"
It was rather… interesting.
Chapter end