Sorry for the wait! If you've been following me, you would know that I started another fic about Tiamat adopting Shirou. I highly recommend you check it out, even thought the focus is fluff. Along with that, my professor moved the due date for my research paper up by five days with barely any warning, so that wasn't fun. I'm still alive though so no need to worry about that.
Anyways, thank you to everyone who left a review! I shall respond to them now. If you want something for me to read and respond to, please leave your own review.
GrandSaberEMIYA: Thank you for reading! I chose Bedivere because both Shirou and Bedivere are very loyal to Artoria. Also, I think Bedivere is badass. He literally has Excalibur for an arm, and if you ask me, that's metal as fuck.
declanbeech97: They may have a large amount of mana, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's easily detectable. Hence why everyone has to check people's hands to see if they have command seals. Since people aren't using mana in the academy, Artoria is easily able to pick out who has command seals and who doesn't.
Exodus12345: Shirou's sword isn't nerfing UBW. Shirou can still trace as many swords as he wants and fully activate UBW. This is an additional power that makes swinging around an Noble Phantasm socially acceptable. Another thing is that transforming his sword is a lot cheaper than tracing it, so he has the potential to trace hollow projections of divine constructs without dying on the spot.
Chapter 18: Adjusting
"Shiro, did you hear?" Mary was sitting next to Shirou as they ate lunch together. "The administration is sending everyone home."
"Yeah," Shirou looked at his empty plate. When Lysette made the announcement, she decided to go with the truth. It came to their attention that an unknown group had their sights set on the school. Every student will be escorted home with three knights per carriage, provided by the school staff, the Church of Vivian, and the Kingdom of Astarda. Those who didn't have a home would be provided with housing directly by the kingdom. Of course, Shirou wasn't going home. If anything, his parents would come rushing to him as soon as they figured out what's going on.
"Man, it really sucks, but I have a bunch of cool stuff to show my parents, at least," Mary kept an optimistic smile on her face. "Well, I'm supposed to leave in an hour so I should probably get ready."
"I'll see you around," Shirou waved.
"See ya!" Mary waved back as she ran off. Shirou then got up himself and made his way back to his room.
How are things going? Shirou asked, establishing a link with his servant.
"Still nothing," Bedivere replied. "It seems that the opposing faction has not entered the city. As far as I know, every servant in the city is in this school right now."
Alright. Feel free to explore the territory. We have a meeting with everyone in a couple hours. Just be back by then, Shirou said.
"Understood," Bedivere replied before cutting the link. Shirou shook his head. With Edwin gone, he started to make his workshop.
The first thing Shirou saw when he stepped into the outdoor field was Alcia getting knocked down by Cu.
"Damn, how are you so strong?!" Alcia had a wicked smile on her face, but Shirou could see the irritation.
"Comes with the territory of being a badass," Cu replied, offering Alcia a hand. The woman grasped the spirit's hand firmly and let him pull her up. "You're pretty good for a human, though. I'm happy you're my master."
"You seem to be having fun," Shirou said with a smile. "You deserve it after what happened last time."
"Last time?" Cu turned to Shirou. "You fought in a war before? And I was in it?"
"You stabbed me straight through the heart," Shirou said with a deadpan. He saw Alcia gasp from the corner of her eye.
"Must've been a wild war, seeing you here now," Cu then turned to Alcia, who was gripping her sword with white knuckles. "Chill, lady. I'm not able to remember events from previous wars, so technically it was another me that did it."
"That doesn't make it okay, though," Alcia muttered.
"It's fine. I got over it a long time ago," Shirou shook his head. The next people to arrive were Rin and Luvia, both of their servants tailing him. Archer had a smirk on his face while Cleopatra looked like something unpleasant just happened. Archer then looked at Shirou and his smile immediately faded.
"You know, seeing you like this is kinda cute," Archer said, his smirk returning. "Almost makes me want to not hate you."
"Shut up," Shirou grumbled.
"Archer, behave," Rin commanded.
"Fine, master," Archer shrugged.
"I don't understand why you put up with him," Shirou heard Cleopatra whisper in Luvia's ears. "It wouldn't be hard. Let me kill him."
"I know you don't like him, but we're on the same side," Luvia whispered back. "Once we get the grail you can kill him."
"I can hear you," Archer grumbled. The master-servant pair didn't seem to care, however.
"Oh, it seems like we weren't the first here," Everyone turned to see Lysette and Rider, who Shirou learned was Boudicca, followed by Cassandra and Merlin.
"Sorry for the wait," Lysette rubbed the back of her head. "Bou— I mean Rider had some ideas to improve the curriculum for next year."
"Merlin also tried to flirt with master. I had to sort him out," Boudicca added, cracking her knuckles and glaring at the man.
"How am I supposed to—" Boudicca's glare intensified. "Fine…"
"Thank you all for coming," Rin cleared her throat. After all, she was the one who organized the meeting. "I set this meeting up so we can all get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses before the opposing team starts to make their way here."
"Alright, what do you want to know?" Alcia put a hand on her hip.
"I know a couple of the servants here," Rin's eyes drifted over to Cu.
"Seriously?" Cu raised an eyebrow.
"Since you don't seem to remember how much of a pain in the ass you were, we should continue on," Archer suggested.
"Wait, how can you remember what happened in that war?" Cu pointed an accusatory finger at the nameless man.
"I'm a little bit… different to your average servant," Archer shrugged.
"Speaking of which, who are you?" Lysette raised an eyebrow. "All of the other servants introduced themselves."
Archer looked at Shirou, who glared back. "Do you want to traumatize them now or later?"
"Might as well—"
"Master!" Shirou was cut off when Bedivere appeared next to him. He was still scouting when the meeting started. "A servant is rapidly approaching! I couldn't determine much, but they're powerful."
"What direction?" Shirou asked, unsheathing his swords.
"That way," Bedivere pointed to Shirou's left and everyone got ready for battle.
"Shirou, I know you want to help, but shouldn't you leave this to your servant?" Boudicca asked. It was a reasonable question, too. While Rin and Luvia backed off, Shirou stepped forward.
"Don't worry about me. This isn't my first grail war," Shirou tried his best to put on a reassuring smile. Boudicca's frown deepened, but she stepped back.
It was then the wall exploded. Shirou's eyes widened when he realized who caused it. The last servant he wanted to fight against. Herakles roared as Shirou's swords morphed into Caliburn.
"That sword…" Bedivere said with an awed whisper.
"Stop!" Just when Shirou was going to activate the Noble Phantasm, the sound of a little girl made him pause.
"Chloe?!" Shirou was pushed aside by Rin with Luvia following close behind. Herakles moved his free hand, making the little girl he was protecting visible before placing her down. She was small with pale blond hair that could be mistaken for white in the right lighting and crimson eyes.
"Chloe, what are you doing here?!" Rin knelt down to look at the girl, Chloe, with a horrified expression. "Do you know what you just did?"
"Yep! I summoned Berserker!" Chloe said proudly. She then turned to Shirou and walked up to him. "Onii-chan! It's so nice to see you again!"
"Onii-chan…" Shirou mumbled, trying to find out why the girl felt so familiar. When it dawned on him, he almost choked on air. "I-Illya?!"
"Illya?!" Rin and Luvia shouted, one horrified and one confused.
"My sister was Illya this whole time…" Rin fell to her knees and looked at her hands.
"I-Illya…" Shirou choked, remembering the little girl's gruesome end. "I-I'm so sorry."
"I already forgave you," Illya nodded up at the boy. Despite Shirou still being twelve, Illya was still quite shorter than him. "You did your best."
"Did my best?" Shirou shook his head. "Illya, he ripped your heart out and I did nothing."
"What?" Illya tilted her head. "If I got my heart ripped out, I think I would remember that. Silly Onii-chan."
"What?" Shirou shook his head. How could Illya not remember that? Sure, she might have died, but if she reincarnated, she should remember at least something.
"Maybe she came from a different dimension?" Rin asked. She still seemed shaken up, but she looked like she was forcing herself to stay calm. "The multiverse is vast and someone with knowledge of the Second Magic brought us here. Who's to say that this is the same Illya we met?"
"That makes sense," Illya rubbed her chin. "By the way, do you still have the knowledge from Archer's arm? I'm sure it'll come in handy for this war."
"His what?/My what?" Shirou and Archer said at the same time. Archer then paused before frowning.
"Oh yeah, that did happen," Archer grumbled. "Please don't remind me of that."
"Wait, what do you mean different dimensions?" Everyone turned to Cassandra. Boudicca was comforting her while Cassandra was seemingly trying to wrap her head about everything. Shirou sighed. This was going to be a long day.
"You know, I think it's a good thing Elizabeth isn't here right now," Shirou muttered. The four reincarnators left out a lot of details concerning their past lives, but their stories were still horrifying, some more than others. Halfway through Illya's story, Boudicca embraced Illya and pointed her sword at anyone who tried to approach.
The others were sufficiently horrified. Even Cleopatra had a sour expression on her face. Alcia looked like she was ready to kill someone while Lysette was sitting down next to Cassandra, seemingly trying to process everything. Merlin's signature smile was also gone while Boudicca glared at Cu like he was the scum of the earth.
"Hey! I already told you I don't remember doing it!" Cu held his hands up. "If you have a problem with it, take it up with the real me once we return to the throne!"
"Tch," Boudicca pulled Illya closer.
"Well, now you know our secrets," Shirou said. Bedivere then put a mechanical hand on Shirou's shoulder.
"I'm happy Artoria had someone like you to serve at her side," Bedivere said with a smile. "Thank you for taking care of her."
"If anything, I owe my life to her," Shirou smiled softly at the knight. "She's the reason why I didn't end up like Archer."
"I should be mad, but it's good that you didn't," Archer added.
"Anyways, the seven of us are here now," Rin said. "Now, let me show you how to get your servant's stats."
"How long are we going to be out here?" Elizabeth groaned.
"Until we find what we're looking for," Artoria replied. The two had made good progress, heading north. The real Merlin had told Artoria that the seventh master was already heading toward the school and that she should head north to meet the other team.
"Artoria, are we really not going to help Shiro?" Elizabeth asked. She was honestly quite peeved when Artoria said that. Apparently she knew Shiro. Hell, she even respected him. If that was the case, why did she refuse to help?
"Yes," Artoria's frown deepened as she nodded. "As much as I want to support him during this war, the grail has assigned me a duty, and that duty is to be neutral."
"Well screw the rules!" Elizabeth shouted. "Shiro's going to be in danger! We should help him!"
"Elizabeth," Artoria's harsh tone caused the young girl to freeze. Artoria knelt down so they were at eye level and put her hands on the young girl's shoulders. "Shirou is a lot stronger than you think. He has fought servants before and survived. He will be fine."
"If… if you say so," Elizabeth muttered.
"Trust me, okay?" Artoria put on a reassuring smile. "I also taught him how to use a blade, you know?"
"You did?" Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"Yes. He is quite the strong warrior," Artoria said, letting go of Elizabeth's shoulders. "I'm sure he'll be more than happy to tell you everything once we get back, okay?"
"Alright," Elizabeth nodded. "But I want to know everything."
"Of—" Artoria cut herself off and frowned. "Stand back, Elizabeth. I can sense a servant approaching."
Elizabeth flinched and took a couple steps back as Artoria drew her sword. Elizabeth noted that it looked just like Excalibur. Faster than Elizabeth's eyes could track, a hooded figure had swung at Artoria with a scythe. The queen, however, blocked it easily with her sword.
"Halt, Assassin," Artoria said with a commanding tone. "I am Artoria Pendragon and I am the Ruler class servant of this war. I have come to meet with your faction."
Elizabeth could see Artoria's attacker freeze up. The hooded figure took a couple steps back, her scythe reverting to a small cube.
"A-Artoria…?" The person asked. They had the voice of a girl in her late teens. She slowly removed her hood and Elizabeth gasped. Her face… it was the exact same as Artoria's.
The first servant of the opposing team has been revealed! I heard somewhere that she couldn't be summoned through conventional means, but honestly, I don't really care. I thought it would be interesting so here she is. Also yes, while Shirou, Rin, and Luvia are from UBW, Illya is from HF. Anyways, please do consider leaving a review! I would love to read and reply to your thoughts. As this is an original world, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Also please join my Discord! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! I talk a lot about my thought process while writing, so if you're interested in that, do consider joining. The url is discord . gg (forego the spaces) followed by a slash and CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.