A/N: Hopefully the wait wasn't too long this time. At times I had trouble with the chapter's flow but my beta reassured me I was just being picky and that it was fine. I had the final moments of this chapter in my head since I first started FNR and I'm pleased to finally make it happen. Some readers may not approve but *shrug*. If this wasn't a crossover I would have never tried it but that's the beauty of mixing two universes. You can make their mechanics collide and produce something which normally wouldn't be plausible. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please leave your comments in the reviews, or send me a pm and I'll try to respond. Thank you!
All around me was darkness, not a sight I was unfamiliar with. Being here could only mean two things: either I died, or close to it. I'd much prefer the latter, but both scenarios were perfectly feasible given what I just did.
My Noble Phantasm wasn't something to be used lightly, and could result in my organs failing, my blood vessels exploding, perhaps with an additional brain hemorrhage as a bonus. This all-encompassing world of black was the exact same sight I was greeted with when I was executed after my failed rebellion. As my head tumbled down the chopping block, I'd always thought I'd be welcomed back into the arms of God, that he would accept me into his embrace and lead me to a better place.
However, all that awaited me was this void I stood in right now.
I understood why I wasn't led to Heaven. I was a failure, after all. Even a failure like me was given a second chance, though, and I believed this second chance was the reason why I wasn't allowed access pass Heaven's gates... For if I was walking alongside the Father, then I wouldn't have answered the calls of the Holy Grail.
The Third Holy Grail War was where it all started for me, once again. A woman's voice called out to me in my dark tomb and a small speck of light pierced through the shadows. Before I could comprehend what I was doing, I reached out towards that light, finding myself out of the darkness and peering into ruby-red eyes of the woman who was to be my Master. The moment the Grail imparted me with the knowledge of the current world and what I would be fighting for, hope flooded my very being.
My Master was a kind hearted woman, and it pained me to realize she was just a homunculus the Einzberns created to win the war. Her life span was shortened due to her body being optimized as a mana battery for myself. Her wish was a simple one as well, to become human, to live a normal life, have a normal lifespan. It was nowhere near the scope of my own dream at the time, but it still resonated with me. I truly wanted to win for myself, the sake of humanity, and for her. That was why it haunted me when I realized I failed to save her... To learn that I couldn't help bring such a simple wish to life even after I succeeded in defeating the last remaining Servant of that war.
Fionn Mac Cumhaill was famous within the Celtic lore, and even to this day, he still remained as one of my toughest opponents, even more so than the combined force of Budō and Esdeath. He was the leader of the Knights of Fianna, and descendent of the Celtic War God Nuada. He outclassed me in all parameters but mana and luck, yet I still bested him. The utter shock on the proud hero's face as I dealt him the fatal blow was still engraved in my mind. Truly, the combination of both Eye of the Mind skills was an unfair advantage in single combat.
Thinking back, it almost seemed hypocritical of me to disdain that homunculus Sieg so much. He merely wished to be able to live his own life just like my former master did, but the fact that he came between me and my own desire to grant humanity's salvation was unforgivable. If he and the others who opposed me let me wish upon the Greater Grail, then all of our dreams could have been realized. Why couldn't they understand that?
It filled me with dread, knowing that I used the Greater Grail to grant myself a form of escape. I still could have used it for the salvation of everyone else, but losing everything for the second time filled me with bitterness. Staying in the world that rejected me not once, but twice, was too much, even for me.
What would my old Master or Semiramis think if they knew I ran away once I held victory in my hands? Would they be disappointed? For some reason, I doubt they would be. My old master was too kind hearted, and although Semiramis seemed cold to others, she was one of the few people to ever fully understand me. In fact, she would probably be happy for me, happy that I decided to use my talents for a similar, yet different goal. She was always one to advocate looking after someone's own interests rather than others. She and Chelsea would have gotten along really well.
The migraines that would assault me if they were both together would be a bigger hazard to my health than my most recent clash with Budō and Esdeath. The two Generals worked amazingly well together, and it eased my spirit a little to know that I at least managed to end one of them before my death or coma. My Noble Phantasm should have been able to kill them both. I saw Budō get erased with my own eyes, but before Esdeath joined him, something felt off and then she was suddenly gone. Even though my senses were crippled due to the backlash from my Noble Phantasm, I wasn't even able to sense her presence in the general area, which meant she had some way to escape what should have been an unavoidable technique in that situation.
What could it have been?
Possibilities raced through my mind, but nothing seemed right. Instantaneous transmission didn't seem possible as it didn't link back to any of her abilities. Some sort of body swap would have to follow similar principles, so it couldn't be that either.
No... it couldn't possibly be that, could it?
It was the ability that I could see as being the most likely, but the sheer ridiculousness of it made me want to deny it with all my might. Nothing else seemed to fit, though.
Esdeath somehow managed to freeze time.
I wanted nothing more than to come up with some other option, but I couldn't, which terrified me. An ability like that could enter the realm of True Magic. It was terrifying.
Something still didn't quite add up, though. If Esdeath was in fact able to freeze time then why didn't she open our fight with that ability? There's the factor of her being a battle maniac to consider, but even then, when the fight was starting to look like a stalemate and Budō decided to use his Teigu's Trump Card, she let him do so instead of using her own. There's a possibility that an ability of that scale only worked for a very limited amount of time, and probably sealed off the rest of her Teigu's abilities while it was active. The immense drain on her stamina that freezing time should take would be astronomical; she probably would be weakened to a fraction of her true strength after its activation.
Yes, that made sense. Now, to try and think of a counter, which was where I was truly stumped.
A white light entered the edge of my vision. It would appear as if my time here this time would be significantly shorter than the first. I let the light wash over me as it brought me back to what would hopefully be the land of the living.
- BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
When my eyes opened and the rest of my senses slowly came to me, I was able to hear an incessant beeping, as well as a couple of distorted words. I was surrounded in a translucent fluid, which I didn't believe for a second was water.
I was in some sort of cylinder case, with air being fed into my lungs by a respirator.
The temptation to use Reinforcement to enhance my eyesight to better get a grip on my surroundings was strong, but in the end, it would probably do more harm than good. I was just able to recover enough to wake up, so straining myself, even with basic Magecraft, wouldn't be in my best interests.
Slight mumblings made their way into my ears, and two silhouettes moved around in front of me, talking with muffled tones. Luckily, I was just able to make out that these two individuals were Chelsea and Dorothea, judging from the orange blob around Chelsea's height and another shorter figure.
They didn't seem to have noticed my awakening, but I couldn't hear what they're talking from in here. I tapped the container with my right hand to garner their attention, and it worked. My two comrades immediately shot towards me, which I replied with a casual wave. A pair of arms hugged the container with a loud 'thud', and some clearer words were able to reach my ear due to the shortened distance and louder voice.
Dorothea walked over to some console, and with a flick of a switch, I felt something opened up beneath me and whatever fluid I was in began to drain away. The moment my feet touched solid ground, the container's glass opened up outwards. The respirator in my mouth fell by my feet and I reveled in the feeling of fresh air filling my lungs... Well, as fresh as the air in my Workshop could get. My footing was a little shaky, but solid enough that I was able to hide my slight weakness.
My body ached, but significantly better than my admittedly grim expectations. I suddenly shivered as I realized the chill I was feeling was due to me being only in my undergarments. To be fair, I have nothing to be embarrassed about, but I was more surprised I wasn't stripped down to my birthday suit with the method of treatment. Dorothea did a splendid job taking care of me, but I was curious as to how I made it back home in the first place. I needed details.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Dorothea, Chelsea," I acknowledged the two in my Workshop as I walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a towel and a spare set of clothes. "I would like to know the details regarding how I arrived back home, and everything afterwards."
"Oh, no, first you're going to-"
"You can grill the fake priest later," Dorothea cut Chelsea off. "You've been out for a little over three days. Truly a remarkable feat, if you were to ask me. The tank you were in is made for the accelerated reconstruction of cells, and with how ruined the insides of your body was, I wasn't sure it was going to be enough. I knew you had some enhanced healing factor, but this was way beyond my expectations." She grinned, saying, "Well, the fact you were alive by the time Chelsea brought you here is a miracle in and of itself."
The alchemist sat in her own chair by the desk. "Everyone's been on edge while you've been out of commission. Night Raid knew of your condition, as well as the key members still present. We haven't told Spear or Chouri because we didn't want to disturb their mission with the news. Yoru told everyone else that you were recovering from your injuries and that I needed you due to a sudden breakthrough I made." She sighed, although whether that's from disappointment or relief, I didn't know. "...never realized how much your presence put everyone at ease. He's not wrong, but of course that wasn't the actual reason. You haven't been out for long, but the general mood has dropped tremendously as people started to suspect you may not be okay."
A mug of coffee found its way to her lips. "Ahh... I needed that. It's good that you're up. Everything should go back to normal in no time. Chelsea felt something was off when you didn't meet with everyone at the designated point and went to the battlefield to check on you. She found you bleeding out of multiple orifices on the ground of the canyon you had your battle in. You should have seen her; she was in a craze yelling at me to do something when she carried you here with the help of some of Night Raid's members!"
A loud sigh escaped her lips, "I wanted to bash their skulls in because all of the yelling. Honestly, their complaints just made it harder for me to do my part. If it wasn't for that contract you made me sign, there would be a lot more bodies in the infirmary than just the members of Night Raid who got injured."
"I'll see what I can do about you that part of the contract. Thank you for the information." I told Dorothea as my eyes snuck a look over at Chelsea who still looked less than pleased, but I knew she was relieved to see me standing. "Thank you for finding me, I'm only alive right now because of your intuition that something was wrong. Was there anyone else around when you found me?"
"I expect some answers from you after we're done explaining things on our end. But no, you were the only one out there when I arrived, Mizuko arrived shortly after I did because she volunteered to come with me. Leone was going to as well, but she was forbidden from doing so due to injuries she acquired while they fought the Jaegers. Well, you know what happened from there after what Dorothea told you. We brought you back, Dorothea set up her contraption in record time and we've been doing what we can to keep everything stable until you woke up."
It definitely sounded they did what they could. I was just pleased to have woken up at all.
"You both did well, I'm going to have to let Yoru know I'm okay as well." I made a move for the exit, but two vice-like grips held me in place.
"You're not going anywhere until you tell me how you were injured so heavily! You didn't lose, of course, or else you would have been dead, but something obviously went outside of your expectations. What happened on your end, Shirou?" Chelsea's face was stern, but concerned. My near-death experience worried her more than I thought it did.
I waited for Dorothea to say her piece, but she just looked at me awkwardly before shrugging.
"To be frank, I was just curious as to how you got all those scars chiseled along your body. I already knew you were more than a simple priest through firsthand experience..." She subconsciously rubbed her gut. "...but you've been in more battles than I thought to have a torn up body like that. I was curious if you would share some stories."
"That's it?"
"Hmph! Well, I do need to talk to you about that sword you left me. I think I'm ready to take the last step, and I didn't know when you'll be back in here next after you leave. You have a lot of work to do out there."
She had a fair point.
"Alright then." I moved over to a chair and took a seat, and gestured for the other two to follow my example.
"I would like to consider my fight a victory, despite the damage I myself received. Things would have gone a lot more smoothly if Esdeath was my only opponent."
"What do you mean by that?"
My arms crossed as I leaned back more into my seat. "General Budō decided that he was going to accompany Esdeath. My fight was with both of the Empire's strongest combatants at the same time, and not having any experience fighting Budō and minimal knowledge on his capabilities outside of the basic abilities of his Teigu, I was fighting an unknown enemy on par with Esdeath. I excel in one-on-one combat to a point I could fight someone physically superior to myself, but fighting multiple combatants of such high skill made it a truly challenging endeavor."
Realization dawned on both of their faces, as well as horror on Chelsea's.
"Shirou, I know you've defeated Esdeath once already, but surviving in combat against both Budō and Esdeath isn't something I think anyone else can boast about. The amount of people that can say they've lived after fighting Esdeath herself can only be counted on one hand," Dorothea muttered in shock.
"They worked in almost perfect unison. I was honestly amazed by how quickly they acclimated to the other's style of combat. What was more worrisome was how much stronger Esdeath was during this most recent encounter. If she continues this trend of growth, then she may even be stronger than her and Budō put together from this most recent encounter."
"You can't be serious," Chelsea muttered, arms crossed. "For her to be able to become that much more powerful shouldn't be possible, especially in such a short time frame!"
"I would normally be inclined to believe you, but what I was able to see proved otherwise. I wouldn't even be surprised if she surpassed myself in terms of skill."
The two of them looked as if things were going to get hopeless, but they forgot a detail I mentioned earlier.
"There's no need for the forlorn faces. Remember, I specialize in one-on-one combat. Even if my opponent is stronger than I am, I can still overcome them. The only issue I would need to worry about would be any new tricks Esdeath comes up with. My studies have informed me that her Teigu didn't have a Trump Card, but she obviously decided to ignore that and created one for herself." My gaze hardened as my hypothesis came back to mind. Dorothea and Chelsea weren't going to like this.
"I've been led to believe that Esdeath can temporarily freeze time."
Silence permeated through the Workshop, and I heard a loud crunch as Chelsea bit down on the lollipop in her mouth. The stem fell onto the floor. Dorothea gripped onto the skirt of her outfit tightly as calculations ran through her head. There was once a time when Dorothea wouldn't have cared whatsoever about what this could mean for my faction, but we've grown on her during her time here.
It was Dorothea who spoke first.
"How did you reach this conclusion?"
"At the apex of our fight, I was forced to use my strongest attack: a convergence of two forces to create pseudo-black matter to consume all in its path. That same attack was the same reason why I was in such a sorry state when I was found. Truly, I'm surprised both of my arms didn't explode. The output of raw power was beyond what my body could handle and almost killed me. Sadly, it was the only technique at my disposal that I could use to overpower Budō's own Trump Card. My attack overcame his and removed the late General from existence. You won't even find a single speck of blood anywhere. It was this same technique that led me to my conclusion of Esdeath's own Trump Card," I explained.
It was Chelsea who appeared to have started piecing things together first. She must have saw the devastation that occurred at the canyon she found me in, so putting one and two together came naturally.
"Esdeath was also in range of your attack, wasn't she?"
"Correct, it shouldn't have been possible for her to evade it with how large the attack was and the velocity of which it expanded. The moment before I passed out, I felt a shift in the air... a 'bitter chill', so to speak, and right before Esdeath was swallowed up by my Noble Phantasm, she vanished. Thus, I came to the conclusion she could momentarily freeze time itself after eliminating all other possibilities."
I let 'Noble Phantasm' slip on accident, but it didn't seem as if the terminology confused them at all. They're not stupid, and were probably able to infer what it was,
"If it was anyone else, I still wouldn't be able to believe it, but Esdeath would certainly be crazy enough to try it," Dorothea muttered. With a quick shake of her head, she came up to me and grabbed my wrist.
I didn't bother resisting as she dragged me off elsewhere within our shared Workshop, Chelsea followed behind us. We stopped before a complex piece of machinery. Truly, I wouldn't know how to explain, and I'm not going to bother asking Dorothea about the components of the contraption before me. I knew what the end goal of this piece of equipment was, and my sights were firmly set on three cases attached to the machine.
Dorothea's Philosopher's Stone gleamed brilliantly in the machine's core.
The middle case held an ornate hilt wrapped in red leather with a pristine silver cross-guard with red accents. It was almost a perfect replica of the weapon it was based off, with the minor difference of the hilt being made for a hand-and-a-half sword rather than the original's two-handed form. All it needed was a blade. The two cases besides it held an item that has served me well, and in the other was a Shingu in which I was resting my hopes on as a basis for the first Teigu and possibly the strongest one I would create.
"As you can see, I think I've been able to complete the basis of your requirements for that weapon you wanted. The Water Dragon Sword served as a wonderful base and your own personal blade was able to give me the knowledge necessary to get this far. It looked unremarkable at first, but that weapon held more mysteries to it than any of the Shingu and Teigu I've ever looked at."
My eyes softened as I gazed at the Miike Tenta Mitsuyo. The blade had served me well, and was a gift from Shakespeare. It was also one of the few items of value I still had from my old world. Hmm... I didn't expect to feel so attached to it now that the possibility that this could be the last time I see my old trusted weapon.
"It was a gift from an old friend. He would be pleased to see it put to good use and potentially become something greater," I told the alchemist.
"It seems as if you two are busy with something so I'll just go let everyone know you're up and okay. Make sure you see everyone when you're done with this, though. It would be good for our morale."
Oh my, I forgot Chelsea was with us for a moment. I sent an apologetic look her way, but she playfully waved it off.
"Didn't mean to ignore you, we're just about to achieve something big."
"No need to worry," the auburn haired assassin traced a lone finger across my chest. "Just take care of yourself. I'm pretty sure I could come up with ways that you could make it up to me later. Bye-bye!" With a fresh lollipop in her mouth, she sauntered away. If my eyes weren't fooling me, there was a little more sway in her hips than normal.
"So, you and Chelsea?"
That's right, nobody knew about us until now. I don't think I would have to worry, but it would be good to make sure of things…
"That's right. I would appreciate it if you could keep that little bit of knowledge to yourself, though. I'm sure you have no interest, but there are a couple other individuals that I believe shouldn't know of my relationship for now."
Throwing out names was meaningless. Dorothea knew exactly who I was talking about and was grinning like a madman.
"Understood, Bossman, I won't tell a certain blonde girl about what I know. It feels good knowing a secret of yours, though," Dorothea snickered.
A small chuckle escaped my lips. "Well, it wasn't a very well-kept secret. I expected Chelsea to express more tact, but she probably reckoned you wouldn't spill any details if you were to know."
"Other than to cause pointless drama, there really wouldn't be a reason for me to share, so she's right about that. Right, enough about the two of you hooking up! Let's put my greatest creation yet to work!"
"Gladly." My feet carried me to where the middle case laid. Dorothea walked over to a control panel, and with a simple flick of a switch, a pedestal emerged from the floor with an indent in the shape of my right hand.
"Let's hope this works," I didn't want to use too much magic energy so soon after waking up, but even I have only so much patience. I've been anticipating this moment for too long. My right hand fit perfectly into the pedestal.
"Right Arm - Wickedness Predation."
The last time I used this Noble Phantasm was to absorb the brunt of Saber of Red's Noble Phantasm. That power has been stored within me ever since, waiting for the time it could be released into the world. Normally, the release would try to force out the attack I absorb all at once, but currently I'm trying to feed the powerful energy of an A+ rank Noble Phantasm as a small trickle, it could be compared to holding back a roaring tsunami trying to overcome whatever would be in its path.
Red arcs of electricity started to dance along the length of my right arm, and cold sweat started to drip down my face as I tried to keep in control of this volatile power. It felt as if a superheated iron rod was shoved down my arm, slowly twisting away. Safe to say, the pain was excruciating, part of it was the fact that I wasn't in my best condition already, but it was just how volatile Saber of Red's, or rather Mordred's, Noble Phantasm was. It made me respect the Knight of Betrayal just a little more, knowing she was able to produce something this intense.
The taste of iron filled my mouth as I bit down on my cheeks to keep me focused. Strangely enough, it only distracted me from the more intense burning in my arm.
Dorothea's gaze was upon me, and through the searing pain, I managed to see genuine concern in her eyes. She and I both knew and accepted that I would suffer some form of pain for this first procedure, but he also always gave off the feeling that her research came first to her. The fact she cared about my wellbeing was a pleasant surprise, but I couldn't let her stop the process now, not after we got so far. The intensity in my eyes conveyed my message clearly: We were not stopping.
A silver fluid similar to mercury filled the case which held my sword and the Shingu. Od left my body, saturating the two weapons with my magical energy. If Miike Tenta Mitsuyo wasn't recognized as my own weapon, I wouldn't have been able to complete this next step of the process so smoothly.
Alchemy was a craft designed around equivalent exchange. To receive something of great power, one must first give something of similar value in exchange. My trusted blade and the Water Dragon Sword both started to break down, their essence pouring into the silver fluid before flowing into the main piece of Philosopher's Stone began to radiate with power, and random noises which I didn't recognize were blaring. The only thing which allowed me to keep my cool was that if I lost focus, then my right arm would literally be torn off of me, and the fact Dorothea was grinning like she's gone insane. For a scientist, I believed that meant things were going well.
The fluid began to change from a glossy silver color to a mix of silver and a vibrant red. The new solution flowed into the center container which held the hilt for the new weapon- No, the new symbol that was going to be created.
It started to take shape; the mixture of my Magecraft and Dorothea's skills in alchemy molded the essence of my Noble Phantasm, one of the strongest Shingus, and what would be the essence of this new blade's final form.
A bright light blinded me for a moment, but the sounds of machinery in action stopped and I knew the process was over. My right arm felt numb, but that was irrelevant, because inside that center container was the fruit of my and Dorothea's labor. Months of planning, brainstorming, and work come to fruition.
Our baby.
Just don't let Chelsea or Spear hear that, okay?
It was an ornate, sparkling white sword, more dazzling than any silver. The blade was adorned with brilliant red accents that accentuated its beauty, almost a perfect replica of the blade it was designed from. The only minor differences was that it was more of a longsword than a two-handed sword to better suite my style, and the writings of the Fae no longer were present on the sword itself. It was-
"Beautiful."
"It really is. Not being on the receiving end of its swing really allows me to see how majestic it is, even if it is a mere replica."
My reply garnered an awkward look from my companion, but the story of how I faced against this weapon's original owner was for another time.
My feet carried me towards where the weapon rested, and the case containing it opened up before I even reached out for it. The moment my palm wrapped around its hilt, I could feel the power coursing through its length. I... no, we did it. With this, everything will fall into place.
A nudge to my shoulder tore my gaze away from the brilliant blade in my hand.
"No need to look at it as if it's your first born child," Dorothea snickered before she herself gazed at the sword. "A great creation always needs a name. What are you going to call it?"
A fit of laughter racked through my body and Dorothea was looking at me as if I've grown a second head. It's not her fault she doesn't understand the reason behind my sudden breakdown.
"I'm sorry, I know you don't know the history behind the reason I was so intent on creating the very first of our Teigu to these specifications. This blade could only ever have one name, Dorothea."
I saw my reflection clearly on the flawless silver blade, and smiled.
"Clarent."