An Opportunity of Fate Part 2
Counter Guardian Emiya-
Emiya looked over at Alaya, who still remained in Rin's form. "What now?"
Alaya smiled and pointed. A section of the landscape changed.
Shirou-
A small boy was wandering through and inferno. Everywhere surrounding him were the sounds of burning people and the cries for help. Slowly those cries began to fade.
The boy watched moments of untold heroism and occasions of horror as the cataclysm hit Fuyuki City.
Everywhere was fire. It was so hot. So very hot. And part of him wanted to lie down and die.
But he didn't.
He felt as if he were melting. As if he were fading away, his mind and soul scoured away by the intense heat. And the dark pressure that seemed to fill the flames.
He didn't understand. It was simply beyond him. He didn't understand how his life and the lives of all those he knew could be simply burned away.
But they were.
He felt as his memories disappeared. As he disappeared.
The boy walked on. Looking for some way out. Looking for some way to survive, even though he knew it didn't exist. That it couldn't exist.
No one could survive this. He could feel echoes of death surrounding him, enfolding every other living thing.
But in the bright dark fire there were tints of gold. Tiny flecks of light that he drank in desperately without knowing, fighting as he could against the darkness.
Until even he had to sit down. As his strength powered by his need to survive. He lay down on a piece of rubble and looked at the sky. And watched as the rain began to fall.
So pretty. So precious. He would miss life. Even if all he could remember was this horrible fire, even if everything he had once been had been scoured away, he would miss it.
"Please, please be alive. Please don't let everyone be dead, please!" Said a tall man in a burnt and dirty suit. He grabbed the boy. And cried.
The boy could only look into the man's eyes with wonder. It didn't even matter at that moment that he himself was being saved. He could no longer comprehend salvation. He knew he was dead, that there was no hope for him. That was long gone.
But in the man's eyes the boy witnessed a different form of salvation. One that reached much deeper than the body. The boy witnessed as the man achieved salvation by saving him.
And it would awaken a hunger in the boy that would never fade. Even after his ideals soured and faded, even as he made concessions to reality against those ideals, that desire never faded.
Kiritsugu-
What Kiritsugu Emiya would do next would only strengthen it. Kiritsugu was never the most talented healers. The truth was his skills lay elsewhere. A pragmatic and effective killer, he was a master at using the items he had on hand to cover whatever situation happened to appear.
He couldn't heal the dying boy. But he still had Avalon. If it would still work he had no clue. It had provided some protection to Irisviel, but Saber had been present. It had been her magic that had let the device work.
She was gone. Back to the past where she had come from, no doubt hating him and everything he stood for. He had after all forced her to destroy the one thing she desired at the very moment of her victory.
He hadn't had time to explain. What a wish given to that thing could have done.
Not that his plan had worked all that much better. How many lives had been lost here in this fire? How many had he come across, some even looking whole and alive, only to watch them crumble to ash in his arms?
This boy. He had to save this boy. There was no other option. He implanted the ancient relic into the boy. And prayed.
And as Fate would have it. The boy lived.
CG Emiya-
The images stopped. Emiya looked over to Alaya. "What was that?"
"That was the birth of Emiya Shirou."
Emiya rubbed his forehead, "Well obviously I recognize that fact. I was there after all." He looked again at the paused action. "But how? How did I survive that? Seeing it like this…. What happened was impossible. There was no way I could have survived that."
"But obviously there was. You did indeed survive. It took only a small nudge to make sure that Kiritsugu found you before you died." Again Alaya smiled with that infamous Rin smile. "I couldn't have you die before the main act could I?"
"But why me? Out of all the other people in that fire, surely there was someone else that should have survived. Surely you didn't make an exception, just for me…."
Alaya shook her head, "Survivor's Guilt. You never got over it, did you? It more than your ideals was your driving force in the end. The aching need to save others in the name of those you couldn't save." She took a slight pose and raised her finger.
Great lecture time, Rin style. There were some things about that woman he didn't miss. That slight twist of the lips, that air of superiority…. He was about to feel like an idiot again. And he had gotten out of the habit of feeling like that. Well it was better to just roll with the punches. Maybe Alaya might miss something like Rin used to and he could turn the tables.
Of course, Rin had been smart, but human. Alaya was the personification of the subconscious will of Mankind to survive. His chances of having some fun at Alaya's expense were low.
But a man had to try, right?
Alaya continued her lecture, "If you were watching closely, you will notice that this was no ordinary fire. In some spots it burned concrete. Not melted, not carbon scored, but burnt to ash. Another was that everyone died. Even a vicious fire with massive casualties and major property damage, there is a chance that someone might get lucky. Not so here. And everyone burnt to death. Not death from smoke inhalation or any other cause. That fire was alive. It chased everyone down. It left you alone because you should have already been dead. From its perspective you were already dead and it didn't need to kill you again."
"But that doesn't make any sense. I survived long enough to be saved by Kiritsugu."
"When one is attacked by magic, what is the most effective defense?" Alaya quirked an eye brow at him.
"Well there are lots of ways, but counter magic of some sort is probably most effective…. Wait, you can't be serious. I was five. Unless…. Did someone in my family cast some sort of protective charm on me? Did I have some mystic code or device that saved me long enough to receive Avalon?" He shook his head, "And even then. Why did Avalon save me. You know I never really questioned all this. I just took it all on faith, but watching it…. I really should have died."
"Your maternal Grandmother was indeed a practitioner of traditional Japanese magic, but it was not her that saved you. You were born with an impressive natural talent. Fifty-two high quality magical circuits and elemental aptitude for both Fire and Ether. Had you lived in Europe you likely would have been snatched up by some magus, either for experimentation or as an apprentice. But you lived in Japan, and your parents really didn't want you involved with magic at all. They were very much believers in the promise brought by science and progress. No you likely would have gone through life with odd random talents. It is hard to say." She shook her head and smiled. "The truth may be hard to hear, but it is indeed the truth. No one saved you, Emiya. You saved yourself."
Emiya waved his hands angrily at Alaya, "That is impossible. Rin looked. I have no Elemental aptitude, and the most we could finally get to work were Twenty-seven circuits. What you are saying is impossible!"
Alaya shook her head again, "Not impossible, merely improbable. You were very young, you didn't have much in the terms of od that your body could hold. And the mana in the area was quicky corrupted by two separate overwhelming sources. One sought your death. One did not." Her smile was broad as she continued, "The first source was from the Grail. It sought to kill all it could reach before Gaia or I stopped it. The second, well Excalibur uses an tremendous amount of power. Is it any surprise that it left a residue? You have always been stubborn, and you were unwilling to die. You grasped at anything to live, your mind sacrificing itself to protect you. Your ability with Fire shielding you as much as it could from the heat and flames. Your talent of Ether drawing in the traces of Arturia's magic that remained."
All Emiya could do was shake his head. Trying to think of something, anything that could prove Alaya wrong. There was simply too much he didn't know, about who he had been and where he had come from. And the truth was he should have died. He shouldn't have lived long enough for Kiritsugu to save him.
Alaya placed a hand on his shoulder, "You burned yourself out trying to live. You were still filled with the remnants of Arturia's magic, but you had worn away all that you were. There was nothing left. Nothing left to keep you pushing forward. And so you lay down to die. There was nothing left to do."
"Enter my father, Avalon in hand, desperate to save someone."
"Yes. And you wonder why Avalon worked? All that was left of you was filled with her magic residue. For a brief time you were her. And it healed you."
Emiya looked through the vast and barren plain. Looking for it. Looking for Avalon.
For the briefest of moments he saw it. He saw the golden and blue hilt that the Faeries had crafted to hold Excaliber. Avalon, the Ever Distant Utopia. Emiya had to chuckle as it began to recede, disappearing amidst the massive collection he had amassed over his life.
But it was still there. Unreachable, but still there.
"The Faerie magic saved you, but it changed you too. You were no longer who, or I suppose even what you had been. In a real way, the real you did indeed die in the fire. And Shirou Emiya was born."
"Why? Why are you bothering with this?"
"Because I know you. You will try to keep yourself out of the war in the hopes of avoiding the traps that you fell into in your life. It is noble in a way, but ultimately futile. Shirou Emiya is involved in every single Fifth Grail War he lives to see. Every single one." She shook her head again, "He isn't always a Master, and he doesn't always summon Saber. But he is ALWAYS involved." She turned his head so he faced her, "The only other two who can't escape this fate are Gilgimesh and Kotomine Kirei. All of you were infected by the chaos that came out of the Grail. All of you are drawn to it." Alaya took in a deep breath, "Fate is not a word I bring up lightly, but you were fated to be involved in that war. And so is this Shirou. Accept it. Shape him to be an effective tool if you can. He will be the one you can most easily connect with and influence. I am sorry."
Emiya pulled away and stared again at the setting sun. Much more soothing than the massive gears that spun forever. "I can't escape it can I?"
"Your survival is a good thing, Emiya. Almost every Fifth Grail War that happens without your involvement ends in disaster. That doesn't mean you always live. But you always have some impact that causes a resolution that avoids Counter Force being needed. Whether you want to admit it or not, you succeeded in your oath to your father. You truly are destined to become a hero."
He felt her arms hold him, and for a moment he forgot who he was. He let the years, let the eons spent as a Counter Guardian fall away. And for a moment he forgot that the being behind him wasn't truly Rin. And he let her hold him.
And in her arms he wept.
-Author's note—
Okay, here is part two. Thanks to everyone for the good response to my first part, I hope you all enjoy this one as well. Note that the next part will cover the other 'Fated' Masters before the CG Emiya begins to try to change things. Don't expect for Shirou to gain impressive magical abilities. His brain and to a degree his very soul were reknit by Avalon and those talents and gifts are gone forever. But some familiar ones were left in its place, so I guess it is not all bad.
Let me know what you folks think.