Chapter 3:
Shirou tried to stop the shaking by clenching his hands. It did not quite work. "The Artoria you know," he said in a strained voice, keeping pace with Hans as they strode through the halls of Chaldea. "She might not be the one from my timeline."
During their discussion, Shirou had not talked much of his past, instead trying to find out more about Chaldea. Hans' recounting of the Grand Order in Fuyuki City and Orleans had left him with little doubt that he was either from a different timeline or dimension, which likely meant that the Shirou Emiya of this world was dead, like the rest of humanity at present.
Once he got over such a simple fact, the rest of the information Hans had told him was easy to digest.
"I would agree with your assessment of the situation," said Hans dryly. "But only due to the fact that my grasp of the metaphysics of this situation is entirely nonexistent. On the other hand we have two and a half Artorias here, so one of them or even the half might well be yours."
What?
"Two...and a half?" Shirou asked, perplexed.
"Hans! You've finally made a friend!" said the excited voice of a young woman from behind him.
"Oh," drawled Hans, rolling his eyes. "What a cliche! As an author it shames me to witness this before my eyes!"
Shirou gave Hans a curious look before turning to say hello-
And the words died in his throat.
"Meet the half I spoke of. Do not forget to breathe," muttered Hans under his breath.
Shirou knew as he laid eyes on her that this was not his Saber. But she was undeniably Artoria, if only a little more younger.
He blond hair was done up as a pony tail with a black ribbon, and she wore a white dress with another black ribbon pinned on her collar. Yet it was not her shorter height or lighter voice that conveyed that feeling of youth the most, it was that she was smiling like she had not a care in the world. An innocence that his Saber did not have.
Then her smile turned a little confused, and Shirou suddenly realized he had been staring.
"What's with that look?" the girl said with a curious tilt of her head, stepping closer and looking over him, her hands clasped behind her back. "Do I have something on my face?"
Desperately, he tried to regain his footing. It isn't her, it isn't her, it isn't her, he chanted to himself in his mind.
"S-Sorry," he said, looking away, a flush rising to his cheeks. "You just look like someone I know." His voice sounded feeble to him. It had to do with his heart pounding, most likely.
He cleared his throat and stepped back from her. She had smelled an awful lot like-it isn't her it isn't her it isn't...
"Give the man some space," said Hans, scowling at the girl and interposing himself between the two. "And since you are so rudely not introducing yourselves to each other, the man is Shirou Emiya, and the girl is Artoria Pendragon." Hans gave Shirou a meaningful look as he stepped to the side, formal introductions complete. "After she pulled the sword of selection but before she slayed Vortigern."
She smiled and took a theatrical little bow. "Call me Lily," she said brightly. "It stops people from getting me and my older selves mixed up a lot. Actually, the whole name confusion was even worse before when Gudao and Gabby were calling us Servants by our classes. Had to start calling us by our names instead after Medusa and Ushi kept turning their heads when it was Martha they wanted, hehe. And it still kind of got awkward for us Artorias for a few days before we came up with Lily and Alter."
Shirou was having trouble reconciling the image of his Artoria with this one. The one he knew was regal, a woman who was so composed he could not have conceived of her actually having at one time acted like...well an actual teenage girl.
Shirou felt himself calming down at that thought. Once he had a better grasp on this Lily's personality, it was easier to separate this girl from the woman he loved.
He had a question first however. "Why 'Lily' and 'Alter'?"
"Uhm, not sure. Maybe for the flower or something? Alter...is Alter for a really good reason," she said with a quick frown. "But I liked the name Lily and it stuck and there we went: Artoria Lily Pendragon, future king of Britain, at your service!""
He was about to ask after this 'Alter' when those last few words, so idealistic and honest, made him think of something else entirely. "Lily, you..." he said hesitantly.
She looked at him with honest eyes, open to anything he might say. Full of youthful hope and optimism.
"You still desire to be king, knowing all you know about your reign now?" He asked quietly.
Those wide eyes narrowed, and suddenly he was looking into the eyes of the Once and Future King.
"Is it not the duty of a king to protect his subjects?" So familiar was that voice, so soft and unyielding at once. "Even from the king himself?"
Shirou stared at her in shock. So she did know. About the mistakes her future self would go through. Of how her way of rule would doom not only her people but her most of all. About the end she would meet on that sunset hill.
And still she would press on, if only to try not to make the mistakes her older self had made.
Still as stubborn as ever, but the thought was fond.
This was the core of the woman he had fallen in love with. A lack of experience could not change that.
Perhaps this was the true reason why his chest hurt so much, now that his heart rate had slowed and the shock had died off. Lily was proof of everything Saber had cast aside to be king, to commit herself to that path with all her strength.
And while he loved and always would love the person Lily would be, he could still mourn the loss of the person that had been Lily.
So instead he shook his head slowly. "You are not wrong," he said, smiling encouragingly at her. Who knows? Maybe she really will learn a better way to rule.
She stared at him for a few moments and slowly turned around to cough into a fist, her other hand tugging at the ribbon on her chest. "W-well," she said a little quietly, to his confusion. "M-my training still has a ways to go anyways, s-so it isn't as if I'm not open to a little criticism you know? Still have as much time as we have here in Chaldea to try to learn how to be a better king and all that, and I could always, you know, use a little extra help here and there I suppose..."
Shirou suddenly understood. He knew what it was like to be praised when knowing that you were not at your best.
"I'll help with whatever and however I can," he said sincerely. It was the least he could do for someone who was trying to defy their fate. "You can count on me."
Strangely enough though, she grabbed at the tips of her ears and made a strangled noise from her throat.
"Lily?" He asked, concerned, taking a step towards her. "Something wrong?"
Still facing away, she stuck out a palm at him: the universal stop sign. "I-I'm fine, Shirou. Just, um, give me a minute."
Hans groaned, palming his face in a hand and muttering something under his breath, which Shirou only caught a little of.
"What's not fair, Hans?" He asked curiously.
Hans shot what seemed like a suspicious look at Shirou, before the author shook his head again, looking away with a scowl on his face. "You and Gudao are both terrible men, I hope you understand this sooner, if not later."
Shirou blinked. "What do you mean?" He asked, utterly baffled. "In what way?"
Hans ignored him. "Lily," he said, making the girl's shoulders jump a little. "Do you know if Artoria is in the training room now?"
Lily finally turned around and looked at the ground as she answered quietly. Her face was a little flushed, no doubt from embarrassment. Saber was self-conscious about some things as well, so it was understandable. "She left a few minutes before I did."
The short man sighed. "So she'll be in the cafeteria then. Joy. Other beings of little intelligence and too much personality will be there as well..." He turned to look at Shirou. "Well? What will you do if this is your Artoria? You might have quite an audience for such an emotionally charged meeting."
Shirou raised an eyebrow at the author. "You know what my answer is, Hans."
The author grunted. "I suppose I do." Hans began walking down the hallway once more.
Shirou nodded towards Lily, who was apparently able to look at him now. "See you later, Lily."
"Y-yeah, see you later," she said to his back.
Shirou caught up to Hans, who had been walking at quite the brisk pace for someone with such short legs.
After a short silence, the author said, "If I had any doubts as to whether this romance of yours was mutual, they have been settled now."
"By the fact that I made friends with Lily so quickly?" And to him it was true. Her having the face of Artoria did not affect his feelings towards Lily beyond the initial shock. If she had looked like any other woman he had no doubt he still would have made friends with her, given her personality.
Hans gave him a flat look. "Of course. Friends." The man drew the latter word out slowly, but Shirou could not hear any doubt in his voice, only something suspiciously like irony.
But for the life of him he couldn't tell why that was.
Hans continued, "Still, you are calmer than I expected you to be, considering."
"Really?" Shirou said. "I was surprised, sure, but coming to terms with it is easy enough. Lily may be the seed from which the woman I loved grew from, but she isn't going to be Artoria any time soon." He shrugged. It was as simple as that. His heart would belong with one woman always. "Anyways, I forgot to ask, who's this 'Alter' person Lily mentioned? It sounded like she's another Artoria from a different timeline altogether."
They passed a door. "That was the training room, by the way," said Hans. "Where you can spar either with other Servants or simulated foes in all different kinds of combat. Not only that, but it can contain the force of several A-Rank Noble Phantasms being unleashed. You will be expected to show off your capabilities there soon, in all likelihood against another Servant who matches your parameters."
Shirou's voice was dry. "Hans?"
"Have it your way," Hans muttered. "Alter is a form of Artoria with all of her bad sides come out to play. You can thank the Fuyuki Grail's corruption for that. She was also the Saber-class Servant Gudao and Gabby fought at the end of the Fuyuki Singularity. A merciless tyrant, I believe would be a succinct description."
Shirou stopped and stared at Hans, who looked back and relented once more.
"Fine, she is not a terrible person." said Hans. "Alter shares the same ideals and goals that Artoria does, but she has no qualms about methods she uses to accomplish her objectives. She is easier to speak to than Gilgamesh, but I suppose that is hardly a good measure of personality..."
Shirou nodded slowly before the words processed completely in his brain. "Gilgamesh is here?" He asked with furrowed brows.
"You have a grudge against him," Hans noted.
"The one from my timeline at the very least," Shirou muttered. "Is he still arrogant, egotistical, and a general bully?"
Hans nodded. "He mostly keeps to himself, but that is a sound description of his attitude."
Shirou grunted. "Then I'm just glad he won't remember me."
Hans nodded again. "Out of curiosity," asked the author, "exactly what made you hate him so much? Other than the aforementioned personality problems, of course."
"He treated Artoria like an object that belonged to him, nearly killed my sister, and tried to destroy all of human civilization," said Shirou flatly. "Twice."
"Well," said Hans after a short pause. "You have lived a storied life. "
The glint of metal off the edge of an impossibly sharp blade. He could hear the screams of the breeze being cut.
"Well," the silhouette holding the blade said after a short pause. Shirou got the impression he was smiling. "You've lived a storied life."
"Is that not why we are all here, great author?" a red-haired man said dryly.
"...Shirou?"
Sengo Muramasa only tilted his head to the side. "Such is this man's name. Do not be alarmed," added Muramasa, as Hans slowly backed away. "This one will retain control of this one's body for only a short amount of time longer, and from then on, no more."
"Shirou Emiya believed he had taken your powers and overriden your consciousness, swordsmith."
Muramasa smiled bitterly. "You really don't lack disdain for me. I was wondering when that damned curse would kick in." He sighed, and continued before Hans could say anything. "I guess it's a blessing for my rough tongue now that you're under its effects."
"Speak," Hans' voice had lost none of its edge, even though he knew about the curse.
Doesn't even try to fight it. Must have known my legend either too well or not well enough. Or maybe he knows I'm deflecting.
It did not matter which it was. Amber eyes squeezed tightly for a moment before Muramasa let out another ragged sigh. "Shirou's soul, though incredibly vast and powerful for a mortal, is still that of a mortal's. To truly use my powers, let alone my Noble Phantasm, Shirou must alter the foundation upon which his soul rests upon. It was going to happen anyways, given the meeting you and he are barreling towards to right now, but someone else must know this for certain, to tell him of it for certain."
"Insurance on your investment?" Hans asked sardonically.
Muramasa took a deep, steadying breath. "Something like that," he said with sad smile. "And one other thing. Tell him that it does not matter how many burdens one carries, so long as one can go as far as they can with them." Muramasa blinked in confusion, but this time his smile was much brighter. "I thank you, author."
Hans snorted, letting his quill and tome of fairy tales dissipate into the air.
"Is something funny, Hans?" the other red-haired man asked.
Hans shook his head.
"Uh," said Shirou, not wanting to belabor the point but still curious. "You look kind of...amused and angry at the same time."
Hans barked out a laugh. "Well, you are not wrong, Shirou. By the way, it does not matter how many burdens one carries, so long as one can go as far as they can with them. A certain man misunderstood by history said that once."
Shirou blinked in confusion and hesitated a moment as Hans began walking again. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked himself quietly before walking after the man.
They turned another corner, and Hans pointed to a set of white double doors. "That is the cafeteria there. Now, hopefully Artoria has not met with-"
The two tensed as prana surged inside the cafeteria in massive waves of golden light bursting from the door frame.
Shirou activated his magic circuits with a thought.
A moment later it died down with nothing else noteworthy happening. Hans sighed in relief. "It appears I was tempting fate," he remarked.
Shirou said nothing, walking towards those doors. At least ten other Servants were in that room. And though there were apparently two more Artorias he had not yet met in Chaldea, seeing that light again eliminated any trepidation he might have felt.
He pushed open one of the doors silently and stopped short, staring at the room in front of him. While the room itself was large and not even close to capacity, there were still quite a few people, Servants, sitting at the tables. At the far end of the room, there were a few people bustling about in the kitchen but making remarkably little noise.
Hans pushed the other door open and barked a short and quiet laugh. "This is not the way I would have introduced you to your other self and Artoria," he pronounced. "But I cannot say that it does not amuse me."
The Servants had turned their heads to see Shirou and Hans at the door, and more than a few of those looks were interested.
But Shirou barely noticed that.
He was staring at a scene near the back of the room, closest to an open-windowed kitchen, of a white haired man with his back towards the door, lecturing two very similar-looking women, both of them pointedly not looking in each others' direction.
Archer was wearing an apron. That man was wearing an apron.
"I don't care how much she annoys you by taking your food, Saber!" EMIYA said angrily. "Almost destroying my kitchen is not the appropriate response!"
Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights, and wielder of the holy blade Excalibur, wore a blue and white dress that looked exactly like the one Shirou had seen her in when she was living with him during the Fifth Grail War.
She herself, looked exactly like the Saber he knew and loved.
Artoria did her best to look dignified and said, "The rules of engagement had changed, Archer."
"In what way?! There shouldn't be any rules of engagement anyways!"
"This woman tried to take my dessert as well."
The other Artoria had pale skin, almost unhealthily so. Her eyes were like the eyes of a dragon, vertical pupils and all. Other than that, her entire demeanor was completely different. Whereas the other Artoria was explaining herself earnestly if not regally, she looked disinterested and bored, checking her fingernails and showing a marked lack of respect for the person yelling at her. She also wore a black dress that was significantly more revealing than the dress the other Artoria wore.
Shirou believed this to be the Alter form of Artoria.
"What's yours is mine," said Alter casually.
"And you!" EMIYA rounded on her angrily. "Didn't I say that if you were hungry you should just go ahead and ASK me or the kitchen staff to cook more food?!"
"It takes less time to just take what I want," said Alter through a mouthful of chocolates.
One of Artoria's eyebrows twitched. "A king must comport himself with-"
"So long as I am fed I care not for any ruffled feathers, oh self of mine."
"Alright, fine!" Yelled EMIYA exasperatedly as it looked like Artoria would jump on Alter with her fists any second. "I was going to make more servings for Alter every meal time anyways!"
"That is an acceptable arrangement," said Alter with a sly tilt to her smile. "With that done," her eyes suddenly flicked towards Shirou, locking onto his gaze with the intensity of a dragon. "Shall we receive introductions from this new, yet strangely familiar Servant who has just arrived?"
EMIYA and Artoria turned and caught sight of Shirou standing at the door.
Their eyes widened, lips parted.
Artoria stood slowly, her eyes locked on his. Neither she nor EMIYA had noticed her spilling some of her tray across the table.
"Shirou?" She whispered, her voice carrying in the sudden silence.
A few murmurs ran through the room, but he ignored that.
Shirou smiled at her nervously.
But the words came surprisingly easily to him, as if he had always known what to say.
"I'm back, Saber."
She took a sharp breath and that was the moment he knew. Despite the odds, despite the infinite parallel worlds that made up the Kaleidoscope, he knew.
It's her.
Servants were watching, making some noise. He didn't care as he walked to her, and she walked to him.
In her glistening eyes he saw those days he had spent with her during the war.
That one moonlit night of summoning. The fight with Rider, training in the dojo, tracing Caliburn from her memories, eating dinner together with Rin. Realizing who Archer was as he completed his aria and sent them all into his Unlimited Blade Works. Stalling Gilgamesh while she defeated Assassin, and defeating the King of Heroes together.
Destroying the Grail and the promise.
It really is her.
They met in the middle of the cafeteria.
Saber looked up at him. "You've grown," she said quietly.
He laughed, and embraced her.
And she said into his ear, sincere as when they made that promise under dawn: "Welcome back, Shirou."
Shirou felt something slide into place in his soul, something warm and soft in that sunless forest of cold steel.
He felt whole again.
A/N
Well after a lot of futzing around here we are, finally. The rambling nonsense of the A/N section everyone skips. And I don't blame you! This stuff is boring.
For the purposes of my fic, the Grail War was markedly different so as to give birth to "the complete form of Shirou Emiya as a magus (well, not quite)", so why not just mash two routes together, add some altered upbringing with Kiritsugu, and call it a day. That's all the detail I put into this Shirou's background, really.
Chapter did not want to be written, mostly because there were a lot of things I was considering as I wrote.
I didn't want Muramasa to be a non-factor so his story will definitely pop up later and in case you couldn't tell, its been pretty strongly hinted at already.
The introduction of newer Servants after Shirou and the way Septem will go down given how I screwed up and uh you didn't hear that, since I made Gudao an expert on Roman tyrants during the first chapter. Let's just say that some Servants will be unavailable to use in some Singularities.
More Servant interactions with Shirou and stuff.
If anyone complains about the astronomical odds that come with having the same Shirou and Saber meet in one place place across the (near)infinite expanse of parallel worlds that comprise the Kaleidoscope, please understand that I am aware that you are no fun and can go away.
I'm kidding, I live for seeing those view numbers go up. Please stay awhile, and listen.
It feels like running into brick wall, fighting Gawain for the first time.
...Next time we see-oh hold on the last time I wrote something like this someone poked fun at me when I wrote that interlude.
Ah, screw it, this helps me keep structured. And this is a long A/N already, might as well go for broke.
...Next time we see eight steps become seven, seven steps become six, and six steps become a word encompassing a forest of blades.