Prelude to War (II)

For Shirou, going back to school was a surreal experience. The events of Misaki were still quite vivid in his mind and the carefree atmosphere high-school, filled with inane chattering of teenager, felt like a completely alien environment.

Worse yet, it served as a reminder of what he stood to protect, something that in his twisted mind he had failed to accomplish. Not that his actions had been without consequences. Satsuki was still alive, sort of, and so was Ortensia-san. However, neither feat came without a steep price of its own.

In Satsuki's case, tangling in battle with the Executor surely hadn't helped prevent the slaughter at the hotel, and for Ortensia-san… well, perhaps Shirata-san had it coming but Kenta… the least was said about that the better. The last thing he heard about the kid he was completely catatonic, alive only in the biological sense.

So much for a hero that could save everyone. Not that he had expected it to be a simple endeavor, but there was a great difference between knowing out of logic and being made aware out of direct experience. He could see how Kiritsugu had fallen for the empty promises of the course of least bloodshed, the path of the Magus Killer.

But that would not be his path as well, he renews his vow. Perhaps, possibly, his ideal was even worse and would accomplish even less, but if wanting to save everyone was a mistake – it isn't – then it would be a mistake he would keep repeating until his dying breath.

That resolve didn't help his mood any. He had briefly considered dropping out of school so that he could use his time to improve his skill in preparation for the war. He discussed it with Medea and Fuji-nee over breakfast, but both of them were adamant against the idea, though for entirely different reasons.

Medea was of the opinion that a sudden change in behavior after the unofficial start of the Grail War would mark him as suspect Master to all other contestants, a tactically unwise move. Fuji-nee's motives were that of a big sister and of a teacher and she had been immovable on the subject. Thus he relented and decided to resume his ordinary life as a student.

He supposed that even him needed some downtime, thought he definitely could not continue being part of the Archery Club. He didn't look forward to having that conversation with Mitsuzuri.

"Yo, Emiya."

He was brought out of his musing by the unmistakable voice of Matou Shinji, who Shirou was surprised to see coming to school with his sister Sakura.

"Shinji, Sakura. Good morning."

"About time you showed your ugly face," his friend laughed. "There was a rumor that you were dead. Some people said you were at that hotel, you know, in Misaki."

"It was probably a misspelled name or something," he lied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Where have you been anyway? Skipping the first week of school isn't like you, mister honor student."

"Something came up with… my father's inheritance so I've been sorting things out."

"It's good to have you back Sempai," Sakura said demurely. He did not notice the dark look on Shinji's face as he turned to thank her.

"Anyway, Emiya. I have been taking notes for you, so you owe me. I'll cash in one of these days."

"Of course. Thank you, Shinji."

"Yeah, don't make a habit out of it. Come on Sakura, you're going to be late for homeroom."

They both went ahead, Sakura sending him one last glance he could not quite discern and Shirou was left alone again.

As alone as anyone could be with the presence of a Servant looking nearby and getting close.

"Good morning, Tohsaka, Sa- Dulac-san," he said without turning back but falling in step with the two instead, as they approached from behind.

"Emiya-kun," the Magus greeted coolly. "Wrapped up your business out of town?"

Well, wasn't that a loaded question?

"There are few loose ends, I guess, that still need being taken care of, but nothing pressing. By the way, I said I owed you some explanations before I left."

"That's right. This afternoon over at your place?"

"I would prefer in the evening if it's all the same to you."

"Hm," she agreed and left for her own classroom. Saber didn't say a word but gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement before following after her Master.

Shirou's eyes fell on the petite blonde's back, briefly puzzling over the strange feeling in his chest at the sight of her.

Surely she was… well, Saber was frankly nothing short of beautiful and Shirou, being a hormonal teenager, was acutely aware of it, but he didn't think he was crushing over her. She gave him this nagging feeling of familiarity he just couldn't place.

With a mental shrug he too joined his class.

Meanwhile, at the Emiya household, Medea was putting away the last dishes, humming to herself. Having Shirou back within her reach put her in excellent mood, even with the Eyesore sleeping upstairs.

It was because of such good humor that she didn't notice the bundle resting upon the kitchen counter until mid-morning.

"Oh?" she exclaimed when her eyes fell upon it. "Shirou has forgotten his lunch."

Silly boy. Didn't he know that it was fundamental to eat regularly at his age? There was no helping it, she would have to deliver it to him herself.

With a smile she left the house with a spring to her steps.

"Hello, Emiya-kun," Ayako greeted with her usual high spirit when Shirou stepped into the Archery club, "about time the captain decided to join us."

"Hello, Mitsuzuri. Have you been well?"

"As much as expected. We've got a lot of new recruits this year. We have more than made up for the sempai who have left. Matou' s sister joined too. Who knew that a guy like that could be related to a polite girl like her, am I right?"

"I suppose," he replied unenthusiastically. Breaking the news of his retirement to Mitsuzuri wouldn't be easy. She truly loved kyuudo and she never bested him. She would not forgive him for quitting while he was ahead.

"Hey, Mitsuzuri. You should now that I- "

"Hello?" a familiar voice called out, interrupting Shirou. "Is this the Archery Club?"

The door slid open and Medea of Colchis walked through. Shirou's eyebrows rose in surprise. What was she doing at his school? Had something happened to Satsuki? No… for any emergency she could have simply contacted him through their bond.

"Ah, can I help you, miss?" Mitsuzuri asked.

"Excuse me, I was looking for… Shirou! There you are."

A murmur began to spread between the members of the Archery Club. A beautiful foreign woman came looking for their captain.

"Megissa," he called her by her assumed name, but he didn't use any suffix out of habit. A mistake, in hindsight. "What are you doing here?"

"You forgot your lunch at home, you big oaf," she said, offering the neatly wrapped bento box. "Here."

The implication of a shared roof did not go unnoticed and it didn't help assuage the murmuring either.

"Emiya-kun, who might this person be?" there was a hint of… annoyance in Mitsuzuri voice.

"This is Megissa-san," he replied evenly. He hadn't done anything wrong as far as his schoolmates were concerned. "She's a guest at my place."

"I see, I see. Well, your place is actually pretty big. So you decided to rent out rooms, is that how it is?"

He stood at a precipice, he knew. His instincts were honed enough to know even if he couldn't see it or understand why. However, he was also being offered a rope, a way to salvation, in the form of a convenient excuse he should have thought of himself. He reached out to grasp it.

"Oh, no. I'm not a lodger." The Witch of Betrayal, true to her epithet, severed that hope with mere words. "I'm staying at Shirou's place at his goodwill."

"Ah… ha ha ha," Mitsuzuri laughed. It was an awkward, forced thing. "That's precisely like Emiya, I guess. So, how's our captain around the house?"

"Oh, dear. He's very hard working and passionate," she said with a smile. A shiver run down Shirou's spine. Compliments weren't like her. If she gave them, she would take something back of much greater value. "Though, I must say, he can be very forceful at times. When he truly wants something, he doesn't take no for an answer."

She cupped her face and looked away, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. The murmuring ceased completely and the temperature dropped drastically. Sword-like stares pierced him from all directions.

"W-w-what the hell do you think you're saying?" he all but shouted, managing to both pale and blush an unhealthy shade of red at the same time. She hadn't said anything that wasn't short of perfectly true, he admitted, but the way she worded it… it made it look like he was taking advantage of her in the worst possible way.

"Ah, I spoke too much," she murmured with thinly veiled amusement. "Well, I'll be off then. Take care of yourself and don't be late, dear. I'll be waiting."

She left as swiftly as she arrived, like a sudden storm, unannounced and unstoppable, leaving behind the wreckage of his reputation. This was his punishment, he knew, for making her worry.

Nobody in the Archery dojo spoke and the silence was heavy with accusations and unrelenting judgment.

All that was left was for the sentence to be carried out.

A hand was placed upon his shoulder from behind and he turned to face his executioner. Much to his surprise, it was Shinji. The boy had an inscrutable look upon his face, like he was seeing his redhead friend for the first time.

"Emiya," he murmured. Then he gave him a thumbs up and a bright smile. "Good job."

When Shirou returned home for the day, the sun had already begun to set, casting a red mantle across the sky over Fuyuki.

"I'm home," he announced, sliding the door close behind him.

"Oh, welcome back, Shirou," Medea greeted cheerfully. "How was school?"

He shot her a glare that only made her turn her head to the side, stifling a laugh.

"That was completely unnecessary, Medea."

"I beg to differ," she replied, still chuckling.

"Are you kidding? Mitsuzuri is going to be pissed at me for a while, Shinji won't stop calling me his best bud in front of everyone and Sakura of all people looks at me like I had been kicking puppies for sport, damn you. At least nobody objected to me resigning from the club because of it. Most seemed eager to see me go because of that stunt you pulled."

"Oh? Well, that would simplify matters, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose that's true, since it's going to be a long time before anyone will associate with me openly again. Though I really look forward to see how you deal with the downfall."

Medea blinked.

"Me? Why would I have to deal with anything from your school at all."

This time, it was Shirou's turn to smile.

"Well, when word got around that a minor apparently lives in debauchery with an adult woman, my guardian has been called in to explain. The same guardian who accidentally works at my school, which was still there when I left, getting her head chewed out by the administration. I'm afraid that Taiga won't be getting that raise she has been looking forward to for a while. Can you imagine who she's going to take it out on?"

On cue, somewhere out of sight, the door of the Emiya household slammed open and close with enough force to shake the building, and the approaching growl of a beast could be heard coming closer.

"Meeeggiiiiisaaaaa…"

"This is my cue to disappear," Shirou said with the hint of a smile.

"W-wait a minute, Shirou," the Servant stuttered. "You can't leave me to face her alone. Aren't you supposed to be a hero who saves everyone?"

"Oh, Taiga won't actually hurt you and I know you won't hurt her either. Besides I've got dinner to set up, otherwise she'll be eating up me next. We can't have that, now, can we?"

"Shirou…"

"Meeeegiiiissaaaa…"

"T-Taiga," she yelped at the sight of the woman shrouded in darkness coming up behind Shirou. "I can explain."

"Good luck taming the tiger," Shirou offered, walking past his Servant. "I guess you're going to need it."

Shirou closed the door to the living room behind him and started working on dinner, while listening to Fuji-nee venting her rage to the hapless Medea.

An hour later, dinner was being served. A mortified Medea sat at the table with her heat down, opposite to a still fuming Fuji-nee.

At her side, Satsuki had taken a seat for herself, watching with a mixture of fear and amusement the byplay between the two women.

"Is it always like this around here?" she whispered to Shirou.

"That's what you get when you tickle a sleeping tiger."

"DON'T CALL ME A TIGER!" the tiger roared. "This is your fault too, Shirou."

"… Yeah. I'm sorry."

The apology was so unexpected that the entire room's mood shifted.

"Are you feeling alright, Shirou?" the tiger-like woman asked, reverting to her human-self.

"Hm? Of course, I'm fine, Fuji-nee. What? I realize I gave everyone here a lot to worry about. It's only obvious I'll take my share of the responsibility. Besides, Megissa is my Servant, it's only natural I'm responsible for what she does."

Medea looked at him dubiously, yet she refrained from refuting his claim, one way or another.

"Hum," Satsuki interjected. "What's a Servant?"

"Right," Shirou nodded. "There's also that thing to talk about since you're going to live here. Tohsaka and Saber should be here shortly."

"They are almost here already," Medea said. "I can feel Saber getting closer."

"Good. Satsuki, for your information, Tohsaka Rin is the Second Owner of Fuyuki City, that is to say the Magus in charge of overseeing this area. As I have already told you, the general consensus in the Moonlit World is to kill on sight. Tohsaka is a good person and I think I can plead your case with her, especially since we have the Church's endorsement. There's a rumor that one of her ancestors had vampire blood, so I don't think she will be overly-prejudiced in your regards, but she's still a proper Magus affiliated with the Clock Tower so we can say for certain she won't be happy to have you here. Try to make the best impression you can."

"I-I get it," she nodded emphatically. "You won't be getting in trouble for me again, will you?"

"He better not," Medea muttered darkly.

"Don't worry. It won't be a party but Tohsaka isn't heartless. You'll be fine."

A moment later, the doorbell rang.

"There she is, I'll go get her," he announced, standing up from the table, hoping that his estimation of Tohsaka was not overly-positive.

Rin was not particularly happy. In Emiya's absence she had gone over the Magus Killer's notes and found confirmation of his son's words about the Grail. She wasn't pleased and Saber even less so. Moreover, she was fundamentally pissed about her guardian, Kotomine Kirei.

The Magus Killer had done a solid profiling of his opponents in the previous War and the name of Kotomine Kirei, Master of Assassin, was highlighted several times as one of the most dangerous participant.

Rin had cursed in ways that would have made her father turn in his grave. The fake priest – no, she didn't care that he was properly ordained – never once mentioned his role. Of course, as her father apprentice and as another Master they were likely allied in the course of the war, but the creep never once told her of his participation in the conflict nor how her father had perished. Had he simply told her he didn't know the killer she would have likely believed him, but not mentioning his involvement at all was akin to hiding the body.

Is she didn't trust him before, now he was bordering on being labeled as her enemy. Therefore, she kept silent about her involvement with Emiya as well as his role as new Master of Caster.

With the Supervisor being even less trustworthy than expected the situation looked dire. Global annihilation was a very possible outcome in the worst case scenario come to pass. Needless to say, Rin was now happier than ever to have Emiya and Caster in her corner. If she had gone into this War like any other Master, blind to the implications… She didn't want to think about it.

Because of that, and because of her debt to him, she was more than willing to give Emiya all the leeway in the world, should the situation dictate it.

She didn't expect it to be required two days into their alliance.

"Are you out of your mind, Emiya?" she asked, standing behind her Servant. "Bringing a Dead Apostle in my territory at a time like this?"

"Tohsaka, if you'd only let me explain – "

"There's no need to explain anything. Innocent bystander unwittingly turned into a Dead Apostle is rescued by the dashing hero which takes her into his home. How's that for an explanation?"

"… spot on?" he mumbled, taken by surprise at the succinct yet accurate summation.

"Great," she smiled pleasantly. It was the kind of smile that promised bodily harm to whichever poor soul had caused it. "I have no issues with Yumizuka-san here besides, you know, being duty-bound to terminate her as quickly as my skills allow, but even keeping that out of consideration for the time, couldn't you have picked a better timing to bring her here?"

"… It's not like I could have scheduled it; you know?"

"Look, I'm willing to ignore this complete and utter disregard of my authority in the matter because there's no point in arguing about it, but she has to go."

"And where exactly are you suggesting I send her, Tohsaka? Where can a Dead Apostle go that she won't be hunted?"

"Somewhere that's not here. Unlike you, Emiya, I don't make my mission to rescue every lost kitten that crosses my road. I do make my mission, however, to see this land properly taken care of, and frankly having a Dead Apostle here with an all-powerful artifact about to go nuclear is not helping anyone. She. Has. To. Go. I'll give you until the sixth Servant has been summoned to find her another accommodation. If she's still here by that time, I'll bring the Association into this. This is my final word on the matter. Saber, we're going."

She left the Emiya household in a huff, slamming the door on her way out. Bloody, idiotic hero-wannabe.

"… that went well," Shirou decided after the building stopped shaking in the wake of Tohsaka departure.

"Which part of that looked like it went well, exactly?" Medea asked with annoyance tinged with amusement. Annoyance at the way the little Magus treated Shirou and amusement at his inability to get a word in. General dislike aside, Medea had to admit that Tohsaka was sharp as a tack and determined to boot. She'd make a good ally if she managed to behave in a way that didn't make Medea want to kill her.

"Well, I did basically trample on her authority by bringing Satsuki here. Another Magus would have killed us both for it, if they wouldn't have killed us for the Dead Apostle issue already."

"Have you considered that she might have not tried it only because she couldn't have gotten away with her life?"

"Did it look like that to you?" he asked.

"… no," Medea replied, sounding surprised even to herself. "Although she was genuinely upset about it, I never had the impression that she even entertained the notion. I think it was more a matter of wounded pride more than anything else. Your thoughtlessness come biting you in the back once more."

"Fine, I get it, I'm an idiot," he sighed. "At least, she gave us the expected timeframe. Satsuki starting tomorrow, we are going to teach you."

"Teach me?" the vampire perked up. "Teach me what?"

"I will teach you the basics of self-defense and…. Caster, may I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"I won't ask you to take Satsuki as your apprentice, but she needs to know how Magecraft operates at a basic level and what kind of threats she's likely to meet out there. Could you tutor her while I'm at school?"

"I suppose I could," she said with measured diffidence, eyeing Satsuki like an unpleasant burden. "A few hours each day."

"Thank you," Shirou nodded.

"P-please take care of me" the vampire bowed in gratitude and perhaps eagerness.

"Oh, I will," the Magus from the Age of Gods smiled dangerously. "I most certainly will."

And just like that, whatever inkling of enthusiasm was promptly squeezed out of Satsuki.

Later that night

Urashima the blacksmith had not been a Magus in life, nor anything remotely close. The Accumulated Experience from the cursed blade that held his twisted soul had let Shirou know as much.

Even then, the crazy smith had sought a way to purify metal beyond what was possible at the time through ordinary means and after many years of failed experiments he had found a solution in a gruesome method.

The sacrifice of a human life.

Truth to be told, Urashima had discovered the spiritual equivalent of hot water. Human sacrifices had been a purported solution to a great deal of things since times far ancient than the blacksmith, but the application was at the very least original in its deplorable way.

Back when the Gods still mingled with mortals, sacrifices were often made to request a blessing or to placate the irate divinity. A plea that could very well go completely unanswered.

Urashima's purpose on the other hand was far less whimsical and far more efficient: he used the release of his victims' souls and their subsequent return to Akasha to free the material from impurities and infuse a spiritual influence, however malicious, in an otherwise unremarkable metal. Eventually his skill evolved to the point where he could tie the soul to the material itself to create the golem-like constructs Shirou had fought at the museum.

However, sick the entire concept was, it was still a stroke of genius for a man not educated in the ways of Magecraft.

It went without saying that Shirou neither could or would use such despicable methods as it was completely against his innermost nature. Fortunately, for once, he didn't even have a need for it, for Emiya Shirou, unlike Urashima, was in fact a Magus.

"Trace on. Structural Analysis, set."

Inside his mind, the spiritual-infused iron ore appeared. The metal had a significant spiritual presence, but its purity was low. With it as base he could create tools that would be excellent receptacles for Thaumaturgy, but very subpar in term of durability.

That was, of course, unless he purified it first.

With pliers and hammer in his hands, he lowered the ore into the furnace and begun smelting.

He could not use modern and easier methods. It wasn't because of the disdain of Magus toward scientific advancements, but because a thaumaturgical process required a personal investment, an [Ordeal]. His effort, his time and his mana would be the price to preserve, enhance and tie to himself the spiritual aspect of the base material.

With the application of Structural Analysis, he could individuate all the impurities and he could then hammer them out mercilessly.

The process took many hours and Shirou kept going without breaks. Continuity was another aspect of the process. The [Ordeal] of creating something through sweat and pain was not unlike the act of giving birth.

When the hammer finally stopped beating, the sun was rising above the horizon once more. In the depths of his Workshop, Shirou held a single ingot of perfectly refined iron. It had taken the entire night just to make one, but it had no impurity whatsoever and its spiritual aspect was so intense that even an ordinary human could probably feel it.

Later, while Shirou was washing away the sweat of a night of work, Medea examined the fruit of his labor. She wasn't an expert on metallurgy by any stretch of the imagination, but her keen eyes knew that she was holding something priceless.

Back in her days, save for a few exceptions of non-human origins, the greatest of Mystic Codes that would later ascend to the status of Noble Phantasms were made from raw materials of exceptional quality of their own.

Medea doubted there ever was a blacksmith in history that could take an ore and refine it to such lengths, not only without damaging the spiritual aspect but enhancing it in the process.

One cannot make something greater than oneself just as an apprentice cannot produce a master-level artifact. It is a simple matter of logic. Therefore, Shirou himself had to have into himself a level of purity that equaled or surpassed that which his hands could bestow.

That is not to say that Shirou didn't have impure thoughts natural of the human nature, but rather that his intent when he wielded the hammer was completely bereft of self-interest.

It didn't make any sense.

Surely his proficiency with metals was a sub-affinity of his identical Element and Origin. Metal and Sword went hand in hand, obviously.

That accounted for the process of physical purification but did not explain the spiritual enhancement. It would have been one thing if he had used the exact same method of the cursed Blacksmith, adding the soul of a living being to the metal would increase the spiritual aspect. However, any objected created with this method would inevitably be a cursed thing.

But Shirou hadn't done anything of the sort, of course. He had somehow taken the native spiritual imprint and added his own through the [Ordeal] and they had fused together seamlessly.

That shouldn't have been possible unless the one doing it had a colorless soul, completely transparent.

A heart made of glass.

Even if a feat of Magecraft required denying the self, the Magus was still there. It was just not possible not to leave an imprint of sorts. It would have been no different from [doing something without doing it].

One would have to be completely empty to do something like that. Someone whose Element and Origin were both [Nothingness] could probably be like that but that person would be also a drooling idiot without a will of its own.

Medea paced the Workshop, trying to piece together the puzzle that was his Master.

[Nothingness], [Sword] and a third element were required for a result like that.

Three components that needed to be all presents simultaneously within Shirou. [Nothingness] was possibly caused by the Grail's flame from ten years before. The boy that would become Emiya Shirou had survived, but stripped of everything that made him a person. Would that be sufficient to bestow [Nothingness]? Possibly, but she had no way to confirm it.

Then, of course, Avalon had been implanted inside him, shaping that Nothingness into a [Sword].

That made marginally more sense. [Nothingness] had no shape of its own and thus would take the form of whatever recipient it filled, unless and until the recipient was reduced into [Nothingness] as well.

Certainly, if something other than Avalon had been used to heal him, Shirou wouldn't have recovered even if his body somehow lived on. It was only because Avalon was eternally immutable, a completely separate realm, that [Nothingness] hadn't managed to break it down along with the boy that housed it.

Thus [Nothingness] with Avalon as a sort of mold had taken the form of [Sword] named Emiya Shirou.

Still, a Sword has no will of its own. At best the boy would have been an imitation of a human being. A machine made of flesh and blood. Certainly he couldn't have been someone so driven as her Master was.

However, that purposeless [Sword] had been picked up by Emiya Kiritsugu, a broken man with a broken [Dream].

However, no matter how broken, a dream is still a dream.

For a boy void of everything else, a [Sword] forged from [Nothingness] in the mold of Avalon, that [Dream] became the will for it to wield itself.

The nature of her Master was something much rarer than an Incarnation.

[Nothingness] shaped into a [Sword] living a borrowed [Dream].

He was a living lie, an oxymoron. An imitation that desperately strived to become the real deal. An abomination through and through.

Surely the Gods would never look favorably upon such an existence.

Medea did not care for that. The Gods had scorned her, discarded her, forced her to carry the burden of evil so that their scenario would come to pass. Even when her role in their story was over and done with, the taint plagued her to her death. A cruel fate that she desperately tried to defy.

She, too, was an abomination. Therefore, even realizing that his entire existence was nothing more than a lie, she'd believe in him, because in that beautiful lie she, too, could be saved.

XXX

Beta: Obiko Doragon

Published: 06/20/2016