"You know, you sure are causing everyone a lot of trouble."
"..."
"You better be ready for this. I don't want to have to drag you out kicking and screaming."
"..."
"Although, knowing you, you would jump at the chance to not bother anyone."
"..."
"Hah. This conversation isn't very palatable."
"..."
Putting his head in his hand, Archer sighed again. He was sitting in the chair next to Shirou's bed, dressed in his red coat and black armour.
It hadn't been long since he met Illya, a little over a week at most, and in that time Illya had changed. Not spending all of her time at Shirou's side, instead going around the Den occasionally with Saber, Sakura, or Rin.
To anyone else, the change in attitude these four made from when Shirou was first admitted was sudden and bizarre. To the girls, they seemed mostly unaware of it, but it's the person they all have in common that had an idea.
In fact, they were all heading to the commonality between them. Meeting up in the elevator, the four rode it to the Laboratory floor, all believing they were going to different places. When they all stopped in front of the Infirmary, this belief was shattered.
All of them casting sidelong glances at each other, they opened the door to see Archer sitting in a chair facing Shirou. At once, they all began to talk.
"Archer, why did you call us here?/Excuse me Archer, what do you need us for?/ Nameless, what do you require?/ Hey Nameless, why are we here?"
Looking to the others, the girls broke into two groups. Sakura and Rin, screaming Nameless, and Saber and Illya yelling Archer. All at once, they turned to Archer. Saber took point.
"Nameless. What is the meaning of this?"
Standing, and turning around, Archer looked at all of them with a stoic expression, arms crossed. But if one looked closely they would see sweat on his forehead.
"I have called you all here today... to talk on a special topic."
Unfolding his arms, he then gestured towards Shirou. The girls all looked dumbfounded, before voicing as much with varying utterings of Shirou's name or his nicknames.
Raising his other hand towards them to silence them, Archer continued to speak.
"I need your help. He needs your help. Please, listen."
Going silent, he looked at the girls, trying to gauge whether they would listen. They all looked hesitant, glancing at each other, before eventually nodding.
Letting his arms drop, Archer stopped looking tense and collapsed back into his chair, which he had turned around. With a sigh, he rubbed his neck before he began to speak.
"Good. That's good. Now where to begin?"
Putting his hand to his chin, Archer thought on it before deciding with a snap of his fingers.
"I know. What do you all know about Resonance?"
Surprised at the sudden question, the girls all looked to each other, before Rin stepped forward.
"Do you mean the Resonance Phenomena? When two God Eaters are capable of feeling what the other is feeling, experiencing their emotions, physical sensations, and even thoughts?"
"Essentially."
"Okay. What about it?"
"Have you ever heard of a Resonance being capable of bringing something that shouldn't be real, into the real world?"
"...What do you mean?"
"For example... Have you ever heard of someone that was able to bring a God Arc's personality into a material form in the material world through Resonance?"
Silence greeted his question. After all, who would possibly come up with such a ridiculous idea. Just as Rin was about to berate Archer for his clear stupidity, she was interrupted by someone speaking.
"Actually..."
It was Saber, looking doubtful in what she was saying.
"I did hear a rumour ten years ago about a God Eater that met a God Arc. The God Eater was apparently legendary, and he was hospitalized after fighting a Hannibal, which broke his God Arc. He tried to use someone else's God Arc, but didn't die. Then, he met that God Arc as a person."
"B-But that's ridiculous! Even if a God Arc is alive and has a life of its own, it can't become a person!"
Rin protested. It just didn't make sense. It should be impossible. Archer just shook his head.
"Whatever you think, it is possible. If you ask Sakaki about it, he could probably tell you. He seemed to be aware of me, despite how impossible that should be."
Illya seemed to pick up on the end of his sentence.
"Hey, Nameless. What do you mean by 'How impossible it should be'?"
Looking to her, Archer chuckled and answered,
"Well, it should be impossible for anyone not involved in the Resonance to see me."
At that, the girls all stared at him, both in shock and worry. Sakura, who had remained silent until now, moved forward and asked,
"Archer... Who are you? What are you?"
Smirking, Archer leaned back in his chair, crossing his left leg over his right and putting his arms against the arm-rests. He then answered,
"I am Shirou Emiya's partner and his closest companion. He calls me Unlimited Blade Works, though I am quite partial to the name Archer."
An even more shocked silence greeted his proper introduction. No one could say anything, just because of the impossibility of it all. However, it was Rin that regained her ability to speak first.
"Hold on. You said that a God Arc manifested after another God Eater touches that God Arc. But none of us touched Shirou's God Arc. In fact, Shirou touched Saber's God Arc. So shouldn't her God Arc be here?"
"Well, you make a good point. I'm not clear on the specifics, but I'm certain it has something to do with him touching Excalibur. Likely a backlash effect. The reason why you all can see me has to do with the connection built between you and Shirou. And the connection I formed between us as well."
"Connection? Actually before that, here's something. Resonance can only occur between New-Type God Eaters. I'm not sure about Saber, but I know that Illyasviel and Sakura aren't God Eaters. How can they see you?"
Breathing deeply, Archer gave Illya and Sakura serious looks, before answering.
"Well. The Little Lady here isn't entirely... human. She's half-human, half-Aragami. Albeit a man-made Humanoid Aragami. And Sakura... Well, the forced Oracle Cells probably left more damage than what was just visible."
Rin and Saber were shocked and looked to Illya and Sakura, only for them to look away, withdrawing slightly. Silence continued to reign, until Illya looked to Archer and spoke.
"So... Onii-chan. You said you needed our help. To wake Onii-chan up. What do we need to do?"
Looking back to Illya, Archer retook his casual pose, before abandoning it and just standing up.
"Right. Asking you about your knowledge of Resonance served another purpose beyond introducing myself. I need you all to know so we can wake him up. We need to make a Resonance occur."
Sakura took the bait.
"But... how?"
Shrugging, Archer gestured for the girls to come closer, and said,
"I'm not sure. We might as well use the tried-and-true method and touch him. Well, come on, gather round. Hold his hands."
The girls moved forward, all of them with a slight blush, except for Illya who bounded ahead and jumped right onto Shirou's left hand. Next was Sakura, who moved slightly faster than the other two and took hold of his right hand, blushing a little harder, but also looking content.
Next were Rin and Saber, who went to share Shirou's right and left hand respectively. When all four were holding his hands, they then looked to Archer, who slowly moved to the end of the bed and put his hands on Saber's and Sakura's shoulders.
"Now I have to focus on the flow of Bias Factor and Oracle throughout all of us, and try and connect it to Shirou. It would help if you all closed your eyes and focused on steady breathing."
Closing his eyes, Archer focused on the flow of his Bias Factor. From his heart, to his lungs, to the Armlets on his wrists. Then from the Armlets to the shoulders of Saber and Sakura. Then they flowed further, from their arms to their hearts to their wrists and into Shirou's own Armlets.
Before he could continue further through Shirou, he connected to Rin and Illya. Up their arms, to their hearts. Having made the connection, Archer went back to Shirou, and trailed up his arms, until they reached his heart and finally his brain.
"Are you all ready? We're going to begin the Resonance."
Hearing a resounding yes, Archer took a deep breath and dived into Shirou's brain. More specifically, the world within. Finding what he needed, he then flooded the pathways connecting all of them with the sensations, emotions, and thoughts.
They were then in a plain of unlimited blades.
*Page Break*
They opened their eyes to see a desert plain, littered with blades of all kinds. Some were normal swords, and some were Blade God Arcs. All of them were held in the sand below them, the handles aiming skyward.
In the blue sky were colossal gears, shining with the light of ideals and turning like a well-oiled machine. But in the distance, on the horizon of what should be an infinite plain, the world seemed to distort. Instead of golden-grey sand, there was merely white. Where once swords stood tall, there were now undefined masses of metal.
The sky above had turned black, and the gears had stopped moving, seeming to dissolve by the second, until there was nothing left in the sky.
"Damn. This is awful. It really is consuming him."
The girls, rooted in place by the events before them, all swivelled over to see Archer, now without Armlets. Rin asked the first question.
"Archer! W-Where is this!?"
"This is Shirou Emiya. His world. The manifestation of his own self."
Next, Sakura asked, horrified yet also morbidly-fascinated with what was happening on the horizon,
"What's happening...?"
"His world is breaking down. Being consumed by his own Oracle Cells. Killing him."
Saber was next, yelling,
"Killing him!? What do you mean Archer!?"
"I mean what I said. He's being consumed by his Oracle Cells. If he stays down long enough, he'll eventually be consumed by them entirely."
Last but not least, Illya was looking at the world strangely, before asking,
"Where is he? Where's Onii-chan?"
At this, Archer paused, before turning around and pointing upwards.
"He's up there."
He was pointing at a large hill, unpeppered by swords, except for the very top, which had both swords and a figure slumped against them.
"Shall we go?"
Saying that, Archer began to make his trek up the hill. After a few seconds, the girls followed, except for Illya, who gave the horizon another pointed look, before following the others.
As they walked up, Archer began to think. They got this far, but how are they actually going to wake Shirou up? He had no clue, and just hoped that the four girls would be able to figure it out.
Reaching the top of the hill, Archer looked down to see Shirou's sleeping figure, lying against his God Arcs, Unlimited Blade Works. No. Lying against him. Seating himself on the opposite side of the blades, Archer leant backwards, and could almost feel Shirou lying against him through the blades.
As the others reached the top of the hill, they all moved to get a good glimpse of Shirou and gasped in horror. His entire left arm, as well as the left side of his neck, face, and head, had blades growing out of it.
It was horrifying, not only in image but also in how tranquil Shirou appeared, as if he was a corpse. Uncovering her mouth from the surge of sickness she felt, Rin asked, failing to hide the tremble in her voice,
"W-What's w-wrong with him?"
"It's the Oracle Cell Erosion. In Shirou's mind, it takes form on his body as blades piercing him from within. Physically, it messes with his skin and hair colour. Eye colour too."
Before anyone could say anything more about the horrifying sight before them, Illya asked, more successful than Rin in hiding how queasy she felt,
"What do you want, Onii-chan? How are we supposed to help O-Onii-chan?"
Sighing at Illya's straightforward question, Archer shook his head, before honestly answering,
"I don't know. I just know you can all do something."
"And what makes you say that? What makes us so special?"
"First, the fact that you can all see me is pretty important. Second, is that I could make a connection with you. Meaning that all of you are, in some way, compatible with Shirou."
Ignoring the slight blushes that suddenly appeared on their faces, he continued.
"Third, the visible effect you're all having on his world."
"Visible effect?"
Without looking, Archer pointed downwards, near their feet and where they walked up the hill. They were all shocked to see grass growing in their path, and even around them, seemingly growing from beneath the sand.
"What's--"
Before Rin could ask the question, Archer interrupted her with the answer.
"Shirou isn't well. The Oracle Cell Erosion is eating away at his body and his mind, making him malleable. Malleable from what should be steadfast ideals. However, as he's known you all, his ideals have come into question.
He wants to save everyone. To an unhealthy degree. It's practically the only thing that keeps him sane, the only thing keeping him upright under the weight of his past. But meeting you all has shown him something. In some situations, he was forced whether to choose between everyone's happiness over your own, or your happiness over everyone else's. But he could never come to a decision.
Here and now, you have the power to change Shirou Emiya.You can keep him as he is, almost certainly on a path to ruin. Or you can change him, make him value his own life at the cost of himself.
Either way, it's your choice. As long as you can wake him up, that's all that matters."
Saying that, Archer then closed his eyes, seeming asleep. From there, the girls all looked at each other and begun planning, discussing what they could do and how it would affect Shirou.
The conversation must have gone on for hours. Constant back-and-forths, morals and judgements, a lot of things came up and were discussed. Eventually they decided on a solution.
*Page Break*
Sakura and Illya made their way over to Shirou, while Saber and Rin left the hill. During their conversations, Illya mentioned that she was once able to heal Shirou with her Oracle Cells, in a process similar to Resonance. It was also discovered, accidentally, that using the Oracle Energy from the pseudo-God Arcs around were able to cause grass to grow.
The plan that was devised went as such. Illya would heal Shirou's 'body', trying to remove or push the swords back into Shirou, with Sakura assisting. At the same time, Saber and Rin were heading over to the eroded horizon. Saber was going to use a pseudo-Excalibur that she had found nearby, as a way to create a wider radius of healing. Rin would go around grabbing individual blades, and stepping on the spots Saber missed.
Finally, Archer was kneeling near the edge of the hill, also aiding Saber with the eroded horizon. In his hands were himself in Bow form, the Nameless bow. He would aim for the gears in the sky.
They were going to save Shirou, and they were going to eradicate the erosion to do it.
*Page Break*
It felt, again, as if hours had passed, but in this world of blades, time is static. Dropping onto his ass, Archer sighed with relief.
"Finally done..."
The horizon of the eternal plain before him had now changed. No longer a field of white, it was now reminiscent of a grassy plain. The swords and gears that had been distorted had become refurbished, shining under the yet again blue sky.
Looking behind him, he saw Sakura and Illya also sitting down near a no longer impaled Shirou. Where the blades once were, there was now tan skin and white hair, the same as Archer's own.
When Saber and Rin eventually arrived, they dropped the Excalibur they were carrying, which landed in the ground blade-first, before also taking a seat on the hill.
Heavy breathing was coming from everyone. Not just from the removal of the erosion, but also the toll of being in a Resonance for this long. Clearing his throat, Archer decided to ask,
"Are you sure this is all you want to do?"
He then gestured to the horizon of green, before gesturing to the rest of the unlimited plain, still a desert full of blades.
"If he stays like this, there's no guarantee he'll live happily. All your effort has done is just make him more hesitant when it comes to a situation where your lives are on the line."
Silence greeted him, before...
"No. This is fine. This is Senpai. Even if it's selfish of me, even if it will hurt him, I don't want Senpai to change!"
A shocked silence permeated, as none of them had heard her this emotional in the short time they knew her. Then, the other girls also started to add their agreements. Seeing this, Archer sighed.
"Hey Archer... you said that the physical characteristics of the erosion is his skin and hair changing colour, right?"
Rin seemed to ask that out of the blue. Archer nodded, before Rin continued,
"If that's the case, then how come Shirou still looks like this?"
A worried silence was the result. With a more resigned sigh, Archer answered.
"You were able to destroy the worst of the erosion's influence. But the erosion is still there, deep down. It's caused by an overabundance of Oracle Cells, so you all just whittled down the number. But the effect is still there. Not only that, this can happen again. And the next time will kill him."
Another shocked silence, before Illya took the initiative, asking,
"So now what?"
Archer looked at her and shrugged, before pointing to Shirou saying,
"I'm not sure. Just wake him up, I suppose."
Slightly irritated by his lack of useful information, Illya made her way over before lightly shaking Shirou's arm.
"Onii-chan... wake up."
Waiting, and seeing no visible effect, she was about to leave before...
"Senpai, please wake up."
Sakura had grabbed Shirou's hand and squeezed.
"Oi, Emiya. If you don't wake up, your kouhai and imouto will be sad. And if you make them any sadder, I'll Gandr you to death."
Rin was shaking Shirou's shoulders.
"Shirou, you should wake up. Should this go on any longer, me and the others may have to resort to drastic measures."
Saber wasn't touching Shirou, but her message was clear. She would beat him up if need be.
Archer was watching this all go on with bemusement, before sarcastically suggesting,
"Maybe you should kiss him. Isn't a kiss how you wake up a sleeping princess? Or prince, in this case?"
All of the girls blushed slightly, before Illya, being the fastest and most shameless, pecked Shirou's cheek, saying,
"There."
While that did make most of the girls blush, they were now less hesitant than before. Ignoring how fairy tales normally went, they decided not to kiss Shirou's lips.
Saber took Shirou's hand and kissed it, like a noble meeting a high lady. Rin followed suit, more out of a desire to not be super embarrassed than out of a lack of desire. It was Sakura that took the most time, looking from Shirou's face to his hands to his neck, and everything.
Eventually, she just decided to go for it, and leapt for Shirou's face. Taking his face in her hands, she said, quite loudly in fact,
"Senpai! I love you!"
Before going in for a proper kiss. It was short and sweet, and felt like an eternity for Sakura, now glowing a crimson red, before...
"Nngh. Mmm. Hah. Huh? Sakura?"
Opening his eyes, Shirou spoke. The others present were all stunned at Sakura's actions, before they all cheered in celebration, except for just Archer, who was smiling.
"We did it!"
They were all excited, until they all felt a sudden wave of drowsiness. They all then collapsed, with Shirou catching most of them.
"Hey! What's happening!?"
Shirou cried out in concern.
"Do not worry, Shirou Emiya. They are merely waking up."
Archer answered his concerns calmly. Shirou quickly looked to him, before looking back to the collapsed girls. A sudden glow appeared around them, becoming blinding. Then, they were gone.
And it was just the two of them left.
*Page Break*
They were both sitting side-by-side, looking out over the endless plain. Their backs were against Kanshou and Bakuya, the God Arc parts. It was silent, until Archer finally asked,
"So... Do you finally understand now, Shirou Emiya?"
"About the danger of my power? Or about you?"
"Both."
Taking a breath, Shirou answered,
"I understand that using the abilities with my God Arcs, my Burst Arts, are able to forcefully increase the amount of Oracle Cells produced. And I understand that that can kill me."
With another breath, Shirou continued.
"And I think I understand what you are. Or who you are. You're... my oldest partner. The part of me that has been in this world longer than even my own consciousness. You're... Unlimited Blade Works, aren't you?"
Silence, before Archer chuckled, answering,
"You are correct. Although, I would prefer it if you called me specifically Archer. It just rolls off the tongue, ya know?"
"Archer, huh? Not bad."
They both then chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. Then again, Shirou Emiya has always been an absurd person.
"Hey, Archer?"
"Yeah?"
Turning to face each other, Archer saw the steel determination in his eyes, now heterochromatic. His right eye was golden, while his left was a steely grey.
"Please. Stay by my side as my partner. Help me save people and slay Aragami, no matter what. It may be selfish of me but... Please."
Looking into his eyes, Archer saw no hesitation, just a pure desire to fulfill his dream. Sighing, Archer said,
"You know, if you continue down this road with those ideals, they'll kill you, right?"
"I know."
"That's Hell, you're walking into."
"This is the only path."
Looking into Shirou's eyes once again, only to see no hesitation, he answered,
"Fine. I was going to stick by you anyway." Saying that, he ran his hand through his hair, pushing it out of its previous position. Then, everything began to glow for Shirou.
Shirou, looked to Archer, only to be shocked by a face that was similar to his own. He couldn't tell earlier, but with his hair down, Archer looked like an older Shirou.
Smiling, Archer said,
"Goodbye, Shirou Emiya."
*Page Break*
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a blinding white. Looking around, he was then able to see that he was surrounded by four figures.
One with blonde hair in a bun, one with long purple hair, one with black hair in twin-tails, and one with long white hair. They were all looking at him in concern. Smiling, Shirou said,
"I'm home."
*Page Break*
Thank you for reading. Thus is Cee and, that was a longer than usual chapter. Comparable in size to Chapter 19. Maybe I save all my energy for finishing up an Arc. Anyways, thus was the 'Burst' Arc. In reference to the Burst arc from the released Gods Eater Burst for the PSP, where, spoilers, Lindow's God Arc becomes a person after the protagonist tries to use it. This could also be called the Unlimited Blade Works arc, but eh.
Second, Resonance. It only really comes up as a plot point in God Eater 1, and only with God Arcs in the Burst arc. Although, I think the new God Eater 3 update has something to do with Resonance. So I kinda made stuff up as I went.
Third, I bullshitted my way through the second half of this, because I forgot what my original solution was. Now here we are.
Fourth, the titles from Chapter 20 to now were all meant to be connected by an ellipse. However, FanFiction doesn't allow certain symbols in titles, like periods, semi-colons, or slashes.
Thank you to Bartogromeo for favouriting.
Goodbye.
Word count: 3946