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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 3: Parents, Shopping and Worm
I knew things were going to be dandy that morning by the annoying way I woke up. Purple eyes stared at the bed ceiling as my body started to follow my mind back in the land of the living. No more tired, actually very refreshed from that sleep, I groggily turned my attention to Kuro's sleeping face, quite close to mine.
I admit my cheeks reddened a little at the closeness but I was quick to see that nothing 'unwanted' had happened in my rest. At least that was my initial deduction before I noticed that the pair of simple clothes I had been wearing before falling asleep had been folded by the end of the bed and.. I was wearing a simple, purple-themed PJ.
Panic was chased down by logical reasoning over what could have happened while I was out for some rest. Kuro was wearing a pink PJ with small, white dots, something I could see the girl appreciate to put on to sleep and... I was actually surprised by the very situation I woke up into.
There was none of the usual teasing, the need to embarrass people left and right just to charge up her mana's reserves. I was being reminded painfully of the Fate Stay Night version of Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Short, mature and... quite kind to those she cared. The ending of the Heaven Feel's Route was still a sad part of the story I hardly stomached the moment I first saw it and it was one of the reason I liked Illya as a character, someone that would sacrifice to preserve her family's life.
I decided to ignore the fact that Kuro may or may have not been directly responsible for my clothes change, seeing no 'weird actions' done on my body, but I knew I couldn't return back to sleep. The crescendo of voices echoing loudly through the castle continuing to persist even after the minutes I spent trying to remember where I was.
Sleepiness faded as I felt newfound energy fuel me up. My hand carefully caressed the sleeping girl's head, moving away some strands of pink-white hair away from her tanned visage and... orange eyes slowly opened to stare back on my own eyes. She smiled softly, her eyelids half-closed. "Good morning."
I smiled back, yet mine was possibly smaller. "Morning."
Kuro stretched a little and rolled closer to my chest as she 'hmm'd a little. "Someone is causing... quite the loud mess."
Her comment, albeit whispered, reached my ears perfectly and I sighed, confirming my agreement. "We should go and check."
She groaned in the purple shirt I was wearing. "Don't wanna..."
"C'mon, Illya, you need some-" "Chloe."
..."Uh?" She stared away from me, a pleasant smile in her face.
"I decided to address myself as Chloe von Einzbern." She looked back at me once more. "I think you are right. I don't need to prove anything."
I blinked as I sponged up this little bit of information. "Then... I remind you that you still need some mana to sustain your form-" "I am fine."
My eyes narrowed at the interruption but she emphasised our closeness by tightening her hold over my arm and chest. "You had some... nightmares yesterday and you started to sweat a little."
Oh... ohhh... "D-Did I say something-" "N-No. You didn't but-" She sighed tiredly as she closed momentarely her eyes. "I... He knew about the Matous. He knew but... never did much about it."
I grimaced as I realised she was talking about EMIYA. It was no big secret the Archer Servant had never bothered to direct either Rin or Shirou to investigate Sakura's insane family.
Sakura's insane family, not mine. I was beyond sanity to be recovered in any shape or form but... I will make things work.
"But that wouldn't be enough to-" "Just enough to keep the reserves stable. I will ask when I need some mana."
Did I just make Chloe a lot better in planning her needs than her annoying canon self did? Not that I despised her in the original series but... it was insane how much fan service she was subjected with in the Anime. Not even the Manga has ever reached that kind of lewd.
"Still we need to see what is going on." She nodded slowly, her grimace showing quite the lacking willpower to deal with that madness so early in the morning and.. wasting the warmth of the bed. "Should we wake Luvia-chan up or..."
"If she isn't already up, we could give her an hour or two more of rest. She is afterall dealing with a lot of things ever since she joined up in the madness."
We got up from the bed and we were respectully giving each other our backs as we started to change our clothes to ones fitting to leave the room, yet I could see the girl twitching a little, maybe thinking about giving a peek or two at my naked back.
Her resolution seemed to hold true to her early principles and... she twirled once to show her cute clothes as we both moved towards the door and- *Knock Knock* "C-Come in?"
The girl's voice broke at first because of the unexpected knocking but quickly recomposed the moment it opened to show a panicked Homunculus maid. "I-Illyasviel-sama, intruders have tried to force their way in the castle. They asked parlay and are waiting for you by the gates."
I had a feeling that I knew who was causing this ruckus, especially since Prillya would be quite easy to reveal that 'another' Illya is wandering around Fuyuki. I guess I should have expected something coming my way the moment I learned that the Magus Killer was home.
"Shinji?" Her hand was on my sleeve, tugging softly at it as we slowly followed the maid back to the entrance. "Do you... think they will accept it?" And me? I could feel her add the more steps we took toward our destination.
"They will." I stated as it was a factual matter. "They are way too soft to even think to kill you."
Chloe hummed at my words, a bit relieved that she wasn't going to face some fight anytime soon. While her reserves had stabilised for a while during their rest, the girl was hardly in a position to even defend herself with what energy she still had.
It took us few moments to reach the entrance of the fortress and... I admit I had not expected to find such a dreadful sight so early in the morning as my eyes landed on the two parents.
Kiritsugu was wearing his usual dark clothes and was equipped with his Calico and the Colt Contender, armed with an Origin Bullet. His cold eyes as he patiently waited for us to arrive... this was all the least of my issues in that moment.
Irisviel was wearing some kevlar, donning a red bandana and... was that a mother-f*cking gatling gun in her hands!?
The lounge that was the main living room of the castle had been conceived with a need to represent warmth and safety within the sturdy walls of the fortress. This whole idea crashed and burned the moment the 'enemy' was invited inside and given some tea and cookies.
How was I feeling in that moment? Incredibly scared as Irisviel's sweet smile promised more pain that whatever Kiritsugu could muster in his stone-like face. They had taken seat in one of the large couches while Chloe and I were sitting on the one right in front of theirs.
I took a quick sip from the white cup, trying to find harmony in this insane moment and... I wasn't. Maybe we should have gone to pick up Luvia, just to bring more firepower in case of some fallout.
"The weather is... nice today." I blinked as I wasn't the one that decided to break the ice, Kiritsugu staring calmly at his own tea as he said those words.
"It is sunny..." This was difficult as both females in that room kept quiet, Chloe alternating glares from Kerry to Iri while her 'mother' was keeping her eyes fixed on me- "What is your name, young man?"
A chill went down my spine the moment the woman asked that question, something attaching to her words as they reached my ears.
I gulped nervously, trying to untie the knot in my throat. "M-Matou, Shinji Matou."
She nodded, a somewhat pleased note settling in her features as she continued to stare at me. "Nice to meet you, Shinji-kun." She paused a moment, blinking just once as she continued. "By the way, why did you decide to kidnap our daughter?"
... "What?"
"There is no reason for Illya-chan to go and run away with some strangers if not she had been kidnapped."
What a plain logic but... it was Irisviel talking and I would have been quite surprised if she had made a less dunderheaded plan of action.
"I didn't-" "What if I wanted to stay with Shinji-kun?"
Red eyes moved away from my small body and onto Chloe's vivid orange. "Illya-chan-" "Chloe."
The older Einzbern tilted her head a little in confusion but the girl didn't miss a beat. "Illya is the name of thechild you have taken care of after you sealed me away. I decided to pick the name 'Chloe' to identify myself from my... countepart."
"B-But Chloe-chan- We would have been happy to consider you another child of ours-" "That is not the point, nor the reason I don't wish to live in that house."
The tanned girl huffed, her arms crossing near her flat chest. "The mere idea that you can't even consider the 'seal' the very reason I am doing this is-" "Partly true and false."
Their eyes quickly snapped my direction and I sighed as I prepared myself to deal with this mess of a world. Seriously, when you decide to leave this much emotional baggage unveiled, it is quite difficult for an 'intruder' to deal with it quietly and smoothly.
"While your main issue is the fact your parents decided to seal that part of Illya's personality that is you, Chloe, that doesn't mean your intense dislike is motivated by this only." I paused for a moment, getting a quick breath. "Your being was incomplete when it was created physically and the Archer Card filled in the missing bits. The process left quite the subtle influence of the Heroic Spirit's hatred for Kiritsugu."
..."W-What?" Irisviel's voice sounded closer to a whisper than a clear, distinguishable query but I still answered as honestly and simply as I could.
"The Heroic Spirit's True Name is Shirou Emiya, or Counter-Guardian EMIYA. The adopted son of a Kiritsugu Emiya that won the Holy Grail War, he lived a normal, somewhat disfunctional life until... the Fifth Grail War came to bite down his ass and got him straddled to the gorefest until he won and.. fell in love with a Servant."
I was deadpanning by the end of the quick, summarised story as I seriously disliked Shirou Emiya in many of his shapes and forms. Only Prillya Shirou and Miyuverse one managed to be acceptable in my good list but it was because the former was just a normal teen while the latter started to care for his little sister early on and was ready to die for her survival.
"But why would he hate Kiritsugu if-" "He decided to try to become a Hero of Justice."
The Magus Killer paled a little and I merely stared at him, no hints of emotions as I tried to sound as objective as I could. "He hated it after becoming Alaya's dog and tried to kill every single Shirou Emiya he encounters in the Wars he is summoned."
"How do you know about this?" I blinked as the experienced mercenary spoke, a dry tone in his voice as his throat was sore and aching under that unwarranted assault of mine.
"Zelretch's student, I know stuff about the multiverse."
He continued to look my direction for a few more seconds before finally accepting my excuse and dropping the subject altogether.
"Still Chloe-chan should live with her parents-" "No."
..."Chloe-chan-" "I am serious with this, mama. I don't want to go there and... and I need time to think."
Both deflated instantly at their respective words and I cringed a little as I hoped that none of them was going to cry in that moment. Seriously, why are women's emotions this similar to minefields in the Nasuverse?
I sighed tiredly as I waited by the bench in front of the clothing story Chloe and Luvia had decided to enter. It has already been 30 minutes ever since I had last sighted them inside the shop and I was growing concerned over the limited budget we have managed to obtain by having Sapphire create a milion yen out of nothing.
While this could be considered a case of counterfeit, I knew that spending that paper quickly or getting some real change out of different shops would solve the issue of getting caught by someone.
Yet I hardly felt like a milion would have been enough to satisfy the needs and the craves of both females, Chloe wanting quite the large wardrobe while Luvia requiring one that befitted a noble of her stature.
But I was happy to wait outside, unwilling to fall in that patient hellhole that wanted to make me stick around for hours as I would need some extra clothing if our stay was meant to be a long one because of the Ainsworths and their antics but I decided that the three sets of clothes I had prepared previously would be more than enough for what I had planned to do in this universe.
I had to start to consider how to deal with the real threats that have yet to surface like... what was I supposed to do with Kid Gil? There were many possibilities and the most opportune choice was befriending him and.. asking him to do some favours for me.
Simple things, I can assure you all, things about using Enkidu to steal some Cards I needed to have to... further study. If I managed to get hold over the Caster Card I could be able to do something against the Pandora's Box if my suspicions over the Card's functions were correct.
If those were using a system to pull the heroic spirits within the real world similar to how Zouken had done with the classic Grail War, then I should be able to... switch the Spirit with another one, even one that should be impossible to summon in normal circumstances.
The fact that we were going to fight in a world were Gaia's influence was weaker than usual also give me more hopes of accomplishing my little plan to deal with the Ainsworths.
As I continued to think calmly about the future, I felt a familiar buzzing in my pocket and I pulled out a... cellphone?
I blinked as I picked up the call and- "McRemitz called our offer a bluff and-" "She is destroying your house, Luvia. She doesn't have a warrant to do that."
... "Truly?"
"Seriously, aren't you supposed to be knowing this kind of stuff more than a 7 years old should?"
I could hear her pause a moment as she contemplated the best way to diver the attention out of that peculiar situation.
"I heard that you were shopping around-" "Spare me the excuses, Edelfelt. Just get the 'invader' out of your property and continue for your merry way without bothering me."
"Quite the gentleman, aren't you?" I smirked at her question. "I aim to please... myself."
An unnerved 'huff' was the last thing I catched before the call ended, leaving me to once more stare at-oh.
I was giving a long glance at the massive trail of bags filled to the brim with clothes when the two girls approached me, sharing a nervous smile. For some reason I knew that those were all theirs and.. my wallet was crying silently within the safety of my pocket.
"W-We might need to call some maids to.. pick things up." "And make multiple journeys... too."
I sighed tiredly as I realised that the greatest threat I was going to face in this world was the impressive thirst for clothes both girls had.
AN
My God, did I just made Chloe a proto-Illya?! And what is this about Irish redheads smashing into a noble's mansion? Shouldn't they do that only in pubs?!
Anyway, Shinji has a simple but easy-to-fail plan that will require ingenuity and luck to truly work. If it doesn't? Well, that is why contigencies exist.
Chloe, between Illya and Shirou: A tired girl, Chloe von Einzbern loves attentions from those she cares about. Differently from Kuro/Dark!Illya, Chloe moderates her attitude before strangers, teasing rarely if the situations allows it. The powerful arsenal of UBW is at her disposal but she lack the capacity to fully use the true power of EMIYA.
Why do you say that EMIYA is Fate!Shirou and not UBW!Shirou? Because EMIYA develops UBW much after the Grail War and he is able to use it without its ill effects and addiction because Alaya supplement him with the energy required for the action. UBW!Shirou is exposed much earlier to the Reality Marble and he is seen obsessing over Tracing aimlessly during the time he spent in Clock Tower with Rin. I also suspect he actually become another Kiritsugu in that Route.
What about school? Chloe and Luvia will be sent to school next chapter while Shinji tries to find someone that would help him with his worm problems.
REVIEW Q&A!
JD91B: Here it is!
Dark-Lord0: Thank you!
MasterOfDragonsGod: Thank you!
Guest (Chapter 3): I think you are forgetting that a possible Big Bubba waits in Jaul and frankly no one should hope to go there. Also that is the power of VN!Protag doing its work and dang I cannot even reduce its effectiveness. Man, I've plans for Sakura and it will be hilarious to show them to you innocent people. Lastly, that is why Shinji will take care of Gil-kun!
merendinoemiliano: Thank you!
stalkerdarkshadow: I am half-tempted to reply with 'I love Emilia' but then I would have to deal with some confusing aftermath. So yeah, thank you!
allentey: The Second Magic, Kaleidoscope, is one and absolute in the whole multiverse. The only ones that can use it are people that are the one and only representations of themselves (at first Zelretch become one and the same for every single universe.) and when Brunestud injected his blood in the Wizard Marshal, his multi-dimensional connection with his fellow counterparts collapsed, breaking up most of his hold over Kaleidoscope.
PervyPanda: Thank you and Shinji and co. are going to be sent back right the moment they had left for the journey, so no, Shinji will be in time.
Matze96: Thank you!
PasiveNox: Thank you!