I do not own any of the Fate series, the following is a non-profit fan-based parody. The Fate series is the property of Konoki Nasu, UFOTABLE, Type Moon, and Aniplex. Please support the official release.
The Matou House of Horrors
Shirou spent the rest of that night with his head in Sakura's lap, he had told her to tell him about her day, her week, anything to get his mind off of…. She absentmindedly played with his hair as she recalled the time she spent cleaning the house, this continued throughout the night, he wouldn't talk at all besides the occasional 'hmm' to let her her know he was still listening. Illya stood nearby, looking over him cautiously, he could tell she knew that he was no longer a Master but he would talk with her about that later. For tonight, he just wanted to forget, about the war, about Saber, about everything.
You have unspent skill points
The next morning Shirou woke from his slumber to find the area next to his bed eerily vacant, it had been around 10 days and yet the blonde Servant had burrowed her way into his life and now she was stuck like a tick. He knew that eventually she would have to go, and that when it came down to it, she wasn't entirely real but to him she had been real enough, too real in fact.
You have unspent skill points
Shirou rolled his eyes as he lay in bed, that was the third time he had gotten the message. He hadn't used the leveling system in a few days, and quite frankly the thought still made him a little sick to his stomach.
Shirou.
'Oh hell no.'
With you currently Servantless, there is an open connection that is not being used, we have moved into that space.
'So what does that mean exactly?'
Constant communication. When needed of course.
'Is there a mute button?'
….no. You haven't used your skill points, you currently have 5. If you are to continue in this War you need to improve.
'I never said I would keep buying into the videogame. Last thing I need is you sinking your claws deeper into me.'
'Zouken is still out there, Gilgamesh, Kotomine, Rider, Assassin, they all are running rampant. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and act like the hero you so proudly claimed to be.
Shirou rolled out of bed, getting up and doing his routine morning stretches. As much as he hated to admit it, the observer had a point, he had been just getting by up to this point. He had started to neglect his training while he was caught up in the events that transpired leading up to this day. He sighed, pulling up the menu to look at the skills to see if there was anything that would catch his eye. He knew one thing for sure, his fighting skills would have to improve drastically if he was going to run around the city with no Servant, and it wasn't possible to sneak past them.
Pankration increased to Level 4
Godspeed increased to Level 4
Dexterity has been increased by 5, Dexterity cost for physical attacks has decreased by 10%, instantaneous travel increase to 10% chance
That should help him out there, he was fast enough to dodge the shadow for some time so he was confident in his fitness for now. Shirou considered his magecraft, he had been using Kanshou and Bakuya extensively while he tried to figure out how to unlock Unlimited Blade Works.
Unlimited Blade Works increased to Level 7, increase in passive sword and archery skills and progression
Speed had been increased by 20%
Kenjutsu has been increased to B
Weapon Tracing has been increased to B
You have unlocked the skill, Quick Fire Projection. Allows successive projection of weapons (similar or not), speed and damage of projection increases with each projectile that hits your enemy by 2%
It seemed that the game had taken notice to his love for throwing his swords, Shirou didn't know why but it just felt right having swords as projectiles, even if it was unconventional. While he had maxed out his Unlimited Blade Works with the last of his skill points, this skill combined with his Mana Fortification would prove to be a boon in the battles to come. He figured that increasing the Mana Fortification along with his Projection skills would eventually get him to a point where he could call upon an endless supply of weapons, and if Unlimited Blade Works ever stopped being stingy and unlocked itself, he would have a wider array of weapons at his disposal. Shirou threw a few punches and kicks into the air, finding his newly found strength and speed to his liking.
'Would it have been enough to save Saber?' He shook the thought from his mind, 'She wouldn't want this, I still have a promise to keep to her. Be a hero, help people, reach Avalon, simple enough.' He groaned to himself, he knew all of this was a longshot that had gotten even longer after his most recent defeat. Thinking that some breakfast would ease his mind, Shirou went to the kitchen to prepare the morning meal. While cooking, he was interrupted by what he knew to be the voice of his sister.
"So she's gone huh?" He didn't look back at her, instead focusing his attention on his cooking.
"Yeah." Shirou replied softly.
There was a little pause, he began to wonder if she had left. "Berserker is gone to."
Shirou allowed himself a laugh, "To be honest I hoped as much as I feared that. I don't think the house could take it."
"Are you kidding? The castle couldn't take it." The next laugh they shared together, it felt look to Shirou. "Thank you for coming back for me."
"We're family, what happened in the past won't affect the fact that I love you."
He felt small arms wrap around him, and Illya's face buried in his back. "You're a fool Shirou, what I let Berserker do….."
"Deathmatch between mages for the right to have any wish your heart desires. It's… understandable how you weighed the situation. Now let go, unless you plan on helping me with the food." The arms disappeared behind his back and when he turned around there stood Illya, beaming a smile that warmed his heart.
"I'd love to onii-chan."
'This feels right.'
"You WILL NOT be missing another day of school! Do you want to end up a drop out?" Taiga slammed her hands down on the table, the three younger residents of the Emiya house looked on in terror at the waves of intensity rolling off her. She cleared her throat and like that she was back to normal, "Forgive me Illya, I don't want you to think I'm too harsh on him, but education is top priority at this point in a young man's life."
'If only you knew.' He was just happy she rolled with Illya's sudden appearance so well. The Einzbern had an amazing memory, and was easily able to satisfy Taiga with her recollections of Kiritsugu.
"C'mon onee-san, I just want to get Illya acclimated to the city. Rin and Sakura have been really great helping me keep on top of my schoolwork. Speaking of which, are you feeling better Sakura?" Shirou put the back of his hand up to her forehead, causing her face to turn a nice shade of red. Still feeling in high spirits, Shirou decided he would mess with her a little when he noticed the blush. He got close enough to Sakura that he could almost feel her breathe on his lips. "I've heard that something might be getting passed around, who've you been kissing Sakura?"
Shirou wasn't sure if she could get any redder, Taiga looked on, actually curious if Shirou's question held any validity. He saw a flash of realization go across Sakura's eyes, then her expression became cool, then puzzled. "Only you Shirou, but you seem fine."
The Emiya head choked on his food, sputtering and flailing wildly. Sakura, realizing the effect her joke had, immediately rushed to his aid, trying her best to help him breathe again. Illya and Taiga just looked on in fascination ast the strange sight, that is until Shirou finally choked down his food and sighed in content on the floor.
Sakura shared in his relief, chuckling lightly, "You had me worried there Senpai."
"Ahem."
Shirou and Sakura looked at Illya, who looked back at them with an eyebrow raised. It was then that they realized the position they were in, with Shirou lying flat on the ground with Sakura kneeling overtop with her hands on his chest. They quickly rearranged themselves to back in a proper order, their collective faces redder than tomatoes.
"S-Sorry Senpai."
Shirou quickly waved his hands dismissively, trying his best to look innocent. "No, no I would've died without your help, thank you." Taiga was glaring daggers at him, Illya was doing the same to Sakura, he had to defuse this, now. "I mean it's not like you two helped."
Illya's expression did not change, "It looked like you were getting all the help you need, onii-chan."
"We are sorry Illya, Ms. Fujimura, it was an accident."
Taiga's features relaxed, "Well if it was an accident, there's not much we can do." She shrugged her shoulders and went back to eating her food. Illya continued to look between the pair for a little while longer before she too went back to eating.
Shirou let out an inward sigh, he would live to see another day.
Once they finished eating, and the dishes were washed, Sakura and Taiga went to the front door to head out. Taiga turned to face Shirou and Illya who stood with them in the hall.
"Have fun you two!" She beamed them a smile, Sakura offered one too. Then they were off, Shirou and Illya stayed at the door until their figures disappeared down the street.
Shirou patted his older sister on the back. "Thanks for covering for me Illya."
"Don't mention it, just as long as you remember to take me to the park on the weekend." She pointed at him, she expected him to keep his word. "Why do you need the day off?"
"Illya I have to keep fighting in this war, to protect you, Sakura, the people of Fuyuki, you're all in danger. Even if I can't fight in a head up right now, I can still assist Rin and Archer, I need more time to train though."
Illya shook her head, "I don't understand your persistence to help others, nor do I approve reentering the war without Saber."
Shirou knew there was no way he could convince her, he had to tell her the truth. "Listen I know it's going to sound crazy but….. I think Alaya might be pulling strings from behind the scenes. It's given me the power and opportunity to make a difference."
"You're right that is crazy, agents of Alaya aren't heroes Shirou. Counter Guardians are just lap dogs, an extension of Alaya's will," She narrowed her eyes at him, "you didn't make some kind of deal did you?"
He shook his head rapidly, "No, no, but remember the last time we fought. Saber and I fought off the Archer Servant that broke into your castle, could I do that as an average magus?" He didn't bother adding in the sheer luck of that victory, but the that wasn't something she needed to know.
"It is certainly impressive, I just assumed Saber did all the work while you hid." Shirou's eye twitched at the slight insult, though Illya paid him no mind. "Even still, if this is true and there is power beyond our control at work, you need to be careful. Humans, gods, entities of unrivaled power, it doesn't matter, those with power are bound to make moves that are in their best interest."
"Yeah I figured as much, it said what I was doing was to both of our interests." He scoffed, even now the entire thing was far-fetched, plus there was the new gold bar hanging in the corner of his sight.
Illya crossed her arms, "...and what are you getting out of this? Power?"
Shirou looked down at his hands. "The chance to be a hero, I mean a real hero, like Saber and Heracles. I mean, how much mystery is out there in the world these days? There's no sword in the stone for me to pull, no ancient beast whose blood I can bathe in, this is my chance. Every hero had a point where they had to step off the edge of the known and dive into something beyond their comprehension. Even if the Grail is out of my reach, it's still worth the gamble if I keep my wits about me, because the payoff is incredible."
"I see…." The white haired girl didn't say anything for a minute, the entire time there was nothing but an unbearable silence. "Indeed with Leys and Sella now…. Dead, it makes it difficult to use the Grail without killing me, although…"
Shirou leaned forward, "You've got an idea?"
"As a Grail vessel I am a receiver for all the leftover prana a Servant disperses upon death. When Berserker was fighting the Shadow though, and the night you lost Saber, I didn't feel that energy come to me." She placed a hand on her chin, "But I definitely recognize trace amounts of prana from an Assassin Servant, though not nearly as much as it should be."
"The Assassin Servant is working with Zouken, along with the Shadow. Do you think the Shadow took Berserker and Saber's prana?"
"Not sure about that, but you don't just take down two of the strongest Servants in the war as a pushover, and it would make sense how it is able to keep up. Plus it stinks with Angra Mainyu's presence, not a good sign."
That made Shirou think, if Alaya was influencing the events of the war, what's to say the tainted Grail wasn't doing the same. "If this thing is as strong as we're making it out to be, then it should be last on our list."
Illya raised an eyebrow, "Our?"
"Figured I didn't need to convince you." He shrugged his shoulders.
Illya chuckled, "Yeah i guess you're right. So then what's first on the list?"
Shirou and Illya began walking down the hall, "Zouken. We take him down, Assassin goes with him, two birds as they say. If we're lucky and can catch him in the Matou residence, and burn it down while he's trapped inside."
I thought Shirou Emiya didn't kill people?
He shook his head, talking now to Illya and the 'observer'. "Zouken is a parasite who had forsaken his humanity a long time ago, I wouldn't even consider it murder, more pest control really." They stepped out of the house and headed towards the dojo,
"Well let me know when you and Tohsaka have something prepared, I'll offer any services I can spare." She gave him a hug before running back into the house.
Shirou stepped into the dojo, he let the silence envelop him, a silent prayer for his lost mentor. Before he started his workout, Shirou decided he would ramp up the difficulty of his training, he needed to push himself to his limit and surpass that. Shirou projected Banshou and Kaguya, while he held them he noticed that they seemed empty, like he created a hard shell but nothing else. So while held them, he tried to push his mana into the sword, he watched as his mana bar drain to nearly half.
'So it takes 25% of my mana bar for each weapon, and from how it feels if I push in too much the shell will begin to crack. Interesting, in that case-' Shirou held the swords gingerly, he knew if he so much as dropped them wrong, the amount of magical energy released at once could kill him.
You've discovered Broken Phantasm: The Destroyed Illusion, projected NP's will not suffer any downgrade, but will explode on impact. XP gained
Shirou shook his head, he didn't like it, it took way too long to prepare so it was useless in the midst of battle. He would have to get better, a lot better if he wanted to make it useful, it's potential was enticing after all. He decided he would leave the swords there and see how long he could keep up with the reinforced projections before he lost control of the mana flow. So he went to his more traditional exercises. Push ups, sit ups, Shirou does his entire morning workout routine, then does another set to cover for Saber's absence. After that came the fun part, a jog around the city. As much as he hated running, he did enjoy taking in the bustling metropolis that was downtown. While in the middle of the joh, Shirou took a right down a street and by a fish market, though the redhead then stopped in his tracks and proceeded to back up, something was off. He stopped back at the fish market, and deadpanned at the person running the vendor.
"What the hell are you doing?"
The brown skinned, white haired fish vendor replied, "Fetching you."
Shirou raised an eyebrow, "You decided to get a job while you waited?"
The Archer Servant quirked an irritated eyebrow at him, "Rin thought it would be more efficient if I tried to 'hide in plain sight'."
The redhead smiled, "How's the business been so far today?"
Archer took off his uniform, "Hey old man, I quit!" He began walking away from the stand, leaving one rather confused shopkeeper in his wake, Shirou quickly followed after him.
He finally caught up with him, they then walked some ways before Shirou decided to break the silence."So how did you know where I was going to be?"
"Rin said she was sure you would be there, said you were really predictable."
A vein bulged out on Shirou's forehead. "She doesn't even know me, where does she get the nerve-"
"She said you'd say that too. She told me to tell you, 'With as many times as she has saved you, you're basically an investment whose owner is Rin Tohsaka.'"
Shirou shook his head, "Are you making this up?"
He watched as Archer pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to him. Sure enough everything they had said was on the paper, it made him think either he needed to sharpen up or the Tohsaka heir was clairevoyant.
"So you lost Saber. How?" His question cut through everything else, the tone in the air just became dead serious.
Shirou realized that there were now no Command Spells on his hand, something he would have to used too. "We tried to fight Zouken, turns out the Shadow is aligned with him."
Archer scrunched his face in contemplation, "I understand, fighting that thing brings true terror to my heart. It feels wrong, like everything that I am is a filthy lie, it is corruption."
"How'd you guys get away?"
"Luckily that beast went after the Einzbern and her Berserker. That man that was fighting with Berserker, his name is-"
"Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, yeah we got the entire spiel from him while he used me as a pin cushion." He placed a hand to his chest, over the scar that hadn't fully healed from that fight.
Archer looked over the boy carefully, "Yet you still live, how did you accomplish that?"
"Avalon." Shirou looked on absentmindedly, "I projected Saber's sheathe, it had the power to repel and redirect a particularly nasty attack with our names on it."
"I see, well I have to admit that that's rather an impressive feat." Archer's eyes never left the redhead, still examining him like his form was going to change any second.
"You survived that, and the Shadow, but I believe I saw that school was in session today, shouldn't you be resuming your normal daily activities?"
Shirou shook his head, "I'm not completely useless, Zouken Matou has shown me that the machinations of a single person can turn the tide of a war, we can turn it back. He may have had time but we have talent, tenacity, and the best Servant remaining." He nudged his elbow against Archer, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Thank you for the backhanded compliment."
They could begin to see the Tohsaka residence coming into view down the street. "No problem." Shirou placed his hands behind his head and walked with his eyes closed. "I don't know how we're connected and I honestly don't care." He could feel Archer's eyes on him now, "The similarities are too much to ignore, and I have a strong affinity for your style of combat, maybe we're just a good fit. Even still, I'm having a problem, I can trace and save weapons that I come across, but I'm unable to recreate any but a set of swords, your swords." He opened his eyes to look at the brown orbs staring at him through slitted eyelids. "Can you help me?"
"I won't-"
"I'll repeat myself, I don't care about you, just what you can do to help me. This is about strengthening the group, not fulfilling petty vendetta's, or being an asshole just for the hell of it."
The two stopped in front of Tohsaka's door, Archer looked down at Shirou, a hint of annoyance and anger peeked through his eyes. "You have some nerve, I could kill you right now."
"I promise it won't be as easy as you think." Shirou shot back. "Besides Rin would kill you afterwards anyway, that's if you make it by me."
The growing snarl on Archer's face settled back into his usual condescending smirk. "You're a terrible liar."
Shirou scratched the back of head and chuckled sheepishly, "Gotta fake it until you make it right? So can you help me?" Archer didn't respond, instead looking over Shirou carefully before placing a hand on either side of his head. He watched as Archer closed his eyes and scrunched his face in concentration, Shirou didn't have to wait long as he felt a shock go through his spine and to his brain. Shirou doubled over, clutching his head as the pain coursed through him, it felt like a stream of molten iron was flowing through his skull.
"Overcome the pain or it will consume and kill you, whether that happens is up to you." Archer looked down at the dilapidated redhead once more before opening the door to step inside. "Try not to die on Rin's doorstep, crawl over to a bush if you feel yourself giving in." The door closed behind the servant as Shirou fought through the waves of pain coursing through him.
The agony he felt was unbearable, Shirou wanted to pound his head into the pavement to make it stop. He felt the world begin to slip from his conscious, it was like he was falling out of his own body.
'No, this is nothing, nothing compared to what others have been through. Shirou thought of the first night he met Saber, fresh from a bloody landscape she still stood tall ready to fight for him. Then his dad, broken and polluted by the Grail, still cutting his hands and losing his nails to remove the rubble from his small body. Shirou clenched his teeth, this would not be the end of him, just another speed bump. He couldn't stop the pain so he focused on steadying his breathing, when he had that under control he found that the pain had subsided slightly. So seeing the progress he went to regaining control of his legs that had given out from under him, soon he had proper control of his body again, and the pain in him was now just a migraine, terrible but manageable.
Saved weapons in Unlimited Blade Works are now available.
Weapons Category gained! You can now set your default projection weapon or choose from the your Weapons section.
"Having fun out here?"
Shirou looked up from the ground to see Rin looking over him quizzically with a hand on her hip. "Tohsaka, you really aren't a morning person are you?"
Surely she did look a mess, her usually pristine and flawless features looked disheveled and worn, and her hair looked like a tangled jungle. Shirou was so focused on her features that he didn't notice the fist she had cocked back until it was too late. She sent him tumbling down the steps as she approached him, cracking her knuckles. "You know it's rude to make such remarks about a woman?"
"But a woman such as yourself shouldn't find offense, I mean you're beautiful regardless, I was just pointing out what you said yourself remember?" Shirou was now on his feet, holding each of Rin hands to try to stop any further damage.
Rin let out a sigh before snatching her hands away and heading back up the steps with Shirou in tow. "You really are an idiot you know that? But…. thank you for the compliment. Anyway, Archer tells me that you lost my Saber Servant."
Shirou clenched his fists, he was doing well so far in keeping his emotions in check. "Yeah, we were ambushed, Zouken and the Shadow are working together. I was thinking we could pay the Matou's a visit, if we can take out Zouken and Assassin, dealing with the Shadow will be that much easier."
Rin shook her head, Shirou was so stressed that he hadn't even noticed her dig about Saber. In a strange way, she felt for the former Master, Archer had begun to grow on her lately, she never really considered that he could die any day. "You're in no condition to do anything."
They were now walking into the living room where Archer was lounging on the couch, staring off into space. When the Servant saw the redhead his eyes grew wide, then quickly back to a disinterested expression, though Shirou could swear that Archer was grinding his teeth. Shirou turned back to Rin, "It was determination and foolish confidence that lost me Saber, but it's also what had gotten us to this point, Saber was always ready for a fight. To go against that now, when her retribution is this close would be an insult to her pride as a warrior. I'm no fool though, after this I have every intention of resting, but only after this." He looked over to Archer, "Plus I feel like I can really make a difference now."
Rin looked from Shirou to Archer and back to Shirou, "You guys are weird about each other, maybe we should've switched Servants."
"We still can, I'll trade you Miss Fujimura." Shirou offered.
The Tohsaka heir laughed, "The Tiger of Fuyuki? Hell she might actually be better at hand to hand combat than Archer."
"Excuse me?"
Rin stomped over to her Servant, digging a finger into his chest. "Emiya has been fighting nonstop, he even has a win over the King of Heroes. What do we have? Every time we run into a Servant you pick me up and run away."
Shirou raised an eyebrow at Archer, who did the same to Rin. "Is that right? You're alive aren't you?"
"I don't care about living! I want to win!" She yelled at him, "Emiya, go upstairs, first door on the left, get some sleep and we'll wake you up when we have a plan. As for you-"
Shirou didn't stay to watch the rest, though he really wanted to, heading up to the bedroom that Rin described. Laying his admittedly heavy head on the soft pillow, he looked around the room in slight awe, the red overtones over luxury furniture spoke to the wealth at Rin's possession. He let the sound of the still heated Rin chewing out her Servant carry him to sleep. He made sure to choose Sleep, last thing he wanted was to chat with the 'observer'.
"Berserker, Saber, Caster, and not one of them was by me! Do you know how humiliating -"
You have slept and gained the Well Rested perk for rest of the day
Stamina, Health, Mana Regen +20%
Remnants of an ancient power have been depleted, Healing boosts and Health regen increases have been deactivated.
Last Embers activated, you have gained one final Full Heal, all injuries and negative effects have been healed.
'Makes sense, I started magically healing when Saber showed up, I'd lose it when she left.' Shirou thought bitterly, though thankful for that last heal, he felt like he could take on the world. While he lay there laying in the bed, he decided he wanted to change up his weapons. He pulled up the menu and clicked on the new Weapons.
'Not a bad selection to start out with.' He wheeled through the weapons at his disposal: Moralltach, Excalibur, Archer's Bow, Caliburn, Caladabolg, Merodach, Ascalon, the list was impressive but he noticed some were impossible to project, something that irked Shirou incredibly.
Merodach, Anti-Unit/Anti-Fortress
Rank: B/A (Broken)
Will inflict demonic light damage to all B/B+ enemies and weapons
Would you like to save as default?
As much as Shirou wanted to, it would take too much mana to keep making something so taxing that's so fragile. He closed the menu and got out of bed, he walked down the steps and into the living room where Archer and Rin sat meditating.
Rin opened an single eye at him, "Good you're awake, sit down so we can go over the plan." Shirou did as he was told, her single eye never left him. "We don't know much about the estate, and asking Sakura would cause her to freak out I'm sure. So we'll go in through the front door, the house hasn't shown signs of the rotting that the creature gives off so I don't believe it is inside." She stood up, so did Archer, Shirou looked at them quizzically.
"W-What now?"
Archer smirked, "No time like the present."
So the three set off Archer hopped up to the rooftops, and was shocked to see that Shirou was up there with him. The redhead looked nonchalantly at him, "What? Two sets of eyes are better than one, consider me your decoy, considering I'm not as fast as you."
Rin looked like she had a question, but quickly shoot it off, Archer did the same. Shirou honestly wanted a chance to see exactly how well his abilities were going for him. While he lacked the grace that Archer had, Shirou was able to traverse the city rooftops with only moderate difficulty. The wind whipping in his face, keeping track of his footing, the wires going over houses, making sure no one saw him, the Servants definitely made it look easy. When he ran out of rooftop he jumped from the edge onto the back of Archer would was also dropping to the ground.
"Get off of me!"
Shirou chuckled, "Yeah sure, no problem. Sorry about that."
"If you two are done, it's time to get down to business." The three stood in front of the gate to the Matou residence, "So the plan will be to map out the house firstly, if we come across anything hostile we eliminate them if possible. I want to know the ins and outs of this house. Let's try to make it quick too, the longer we stay the likelier we end up in a trap, also what's in the bag Emiya?"
"Something that should come in handy if we get in a pinch," Shirou spoke as they crossed over the threshold, he slung the bag he was carrying over his shoulder. "I doubt he'd expect a mage who just lost their Servant to storm his house, hopefully the element of surprise is ours."
"Not if you keep talking so loud." Rin hissed, causing Shirou to clamp a hand over his mouth. They made their way through the house, which looked lived in but hardly used. Dust wasn't settled over the majority of the furniture but it did look like someone prefered to clean them rather than use them. All in all Shirou would have guessed that this was about as average a house for a maniacal bug mage as you can get, not too flashy but enough to be presentable to any guests. The sparse lighting casts the shadows in an eerie glow, and the silence except their footsteps and breathing began to unnerve them. They checked room after room but finding nothing of interest, though Shirou had Rin go into Sakura's room and grab a couple changes of clothes.
"She's your sister…" was his excuse, which surprisingly worked as Rin, irritated and all, retrieved the clothes. After making their way through the house with no sign of any creepy old men, they finally stopped at the door to the basement. They had been saving this door for last, it was the only door left so their was likely no other way out after they walked through.
"Rin stay up here," He handed her a box of matches, "if I don't make it back in 15 minutes, burn the place down." He placed the bag he had over his shoulder down, opening it he showed the two of them it was full of gasoline cans. "I had to keep them sealed tight, figured if you guys couldn't smell it then Zouken wouldn't be able to either." He slid the bag over to Rin, looking her in the eyes, he had to make sure she understood.
She gave Shirou a nod before turning to Archer, "You're going down there with him of course." The Servant made to protest but fought it back when the look on her face stayed hard and expressionless.
Shirou and Archer descended the stairs, there was no light for the first few turns going down until they reached a huge clearing. The steps continued down into a large pit that made up most of the huge room, looking down Shirou could've sworn that the floor was moving at the bottom. Shirou went to go down the stairs and look closer, but was halted by Archer.
"Look closer." His glare never left the bottom of the pit. Looking more carefully, Shirou immediately felt shivers go down his spine.
"Well at least we know where he gets his worms from. Tell Rin that we're definitely torching the place now. Let's get out of here." As he went to turn away, he just barely made out a flash of color at the corner of his eye. Whipping his head back down to the pit, he could make out a hand reaching out from the mass of worms, and attached to that hand was the horrified face of Shinji peeking through, worms crawling in and out of every hole visible, the sight made Shirou gag. Instead of following Archer up the steps, Shirou quickly descended downward until he was only inches from the male Matou. As much as he tried to reach out to Shinji, a swarm of worms were there to meet him, and he didn't want to find out what they would do if they touched him.
You're too weak, too inexperienced.
'Shut up.' Shirou produced Kanshou and went to slicing away at the worms around Shinji, but they soon overtook the weapon forcing Shirou to cast it into the pit.
Ask for a little bit, just enough to protect your arm. Otherwise that boy will die, or you will die trying to save him.
Shirou ground his teeth together in frustration, nothing at his disposal was going to help him here. He wasn't even sure if Rin or Archer could help, if they even would. He was now shaking with anger, punching his fist into the stone floor until his knuckles were cut and swelling. He pushed his injured fist into the ground, hoping to bring enough pain to black out what he was going to do next.
"Alaya, please let me save this person." He whispered, he second the words left his lips he felt an intense heat burn through his right arm. Shirou didn't hesitate, grabbing onto Shinji and pulling with all of his strength, the worms that tried to cross over to his arm were immediately burned away from the glowing blue aura surrounding his arm.
The magecraft required to stave off those parasites has increased Alaya's Favor to 15%
The redhead didn't pay the notice any mind, he was too preoccupied dragging Shiji along up the stairs. When it became clear that he was in no condition to walk, Shirou grabbed him and slung Shinji over his shoulder.
"Emiya…" Shinji groaned weakly.
The man in question didn't say anything, he wanted Shinji to conserve his energy. When Shirou finally made it up the steps, he was immediately halted in his tracks by what he saw. Not only was the front door closed, but it was blocked, by the Shadow. It stood there motionless, but what scared Shirou even more was the lit candle that it held in a tendril and the canisters of gas behind it. As soon as the candle touched the can, the room erupted in flames, and with the creature rotting everything that it came into contact with, the surrounding area lit up like a bonfire.
"Time to go." Shirou was up the stairs in a flash, with the Shadow and the flames hot on his trail. He stuck to jumping from the parallel walls in the hallway to give him more evasion room, plus the last time his foot touched the floor it went right through. He had never tried running with weighted gear on, so having to maneuver from wall to wall to avoid getting impaled, and not touching the floor for fear of it giving way and plunging him back into the basement was a big challenge with Shinji in tow. Eventually Shirou was able to hop onto a wall that was directly across from a door, using all the strength in his legs he slammed his body into it, forcing it open. The redhead was now gasping for breathe, the strain from pushing his legs like that was already taking it's toll. Once they were inside and Shirou was sure that Shinji was still breathing, he did the only thing he could do. In a study, with the only door out being blocked by the encroaching monster, Shirou flung himself and Shinji out of the window. Everything moved in slow motion at that point, Shirou could feel the glass slicing into his cheek and arms, as he fell he turned to look back a final time into the burning house and see if the fire had any effect on the Shadow. What he saw was a pair of golden eyes glaring back at him from the window, and a young woman with golden blonde hair.
Author's Note: Will be updating all the chapters later today with Shirou's stat progression from the beginning to now (See the end of Matter of Family for example). I'm going to try and be more consistent with that from now on. As always, I thank you guys for the support and critique.
Shirou Emiya, Level 47
Health: 40/100
Magic: 25/100
Strength: 29/100
Endurance: 50/100
Dexterity: 52/100
Intelligence: 30/100
Wisdom: 20/100
Luck: 60/100
Skills:
Element: Sword/Sword
Resistance: Magic (5%) Curse (5%)
Unlimited Blade Works: Level 7 (Locked)
Passive increase in Swordsmanship
6% EXP increase in Sword skills progression
10% EXP increase in Archery skills progression
Charisma: C+
Cooking: A+
Cleaning: A+
Zen: D-
Alaya's Favor: 0%
Kenjutsu: B (Fighting Styles Inculded)
Reinforcement Magic: C+
Weapon Tracing: B
Time Alter: C
Gun Fu: D
Pankration: Level 4 (Instant Travel: 10%)
Presence Concealment: D+
Perks:
Ironman
Miraculous Healing
Star Constellation: O' Heaven, Collapsing Star
Mana Fortification
Quick Fire Projection