Preface:
(VERY IMPORTANT)
Gonna ask some readers to try this out before reading the chapter.
It'll seriously enhance the reading experience, no joke.
It's freaking awesome when read and experienced this way. Seriously.
Look up the term "mighty wind - fate/stay night" on YouTube, and it'll bring up a soundtrack video.
I'll post it here, and at the end of my profile page for very easy access (since this site doesn't allow copy-pasting of stories, but does allow copy-pasting links on profiles).
Link:
www. youtube . (c) (o) (m) /watch?v=yBzrCL53Fac
(The original super easy to copypaste link is also available on my profile page, for super-easy copy-pasting.)
(I have to space them out like this and add parenthesis because the site censors it otherwise. The original link on my profile doesn't have those restrictions, though.)
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First though:
Don't play the music at the start, wait for the right moment, until the exact phrase "(...) a mighty wind" is mentioned.
You'll know when.
Trust me, listening to that soundtrack while reading the text at the right point, seriously GREATLY improves the reading experience the first time you read through this chapter,
With literally very little effort required on the reader's end (literally just an extremely quick youtube search, or a google search, or copy-pasting, which I'm pretty sure most people know how to do at this point).
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Now then,
Have you got the soundtrack ready?
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Then, without further ado, please enjoy...
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Chapter 2 - The Appetizer
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Emiya Shirou groaned, as he got up.
The next time Emiya Shirou awoke, he was still on school grounds.
Confused as to why he was sleeping on School Grounds at night, he took a few moments to compose himself and try to recall what had happened before he had fallen asleep.
Wait, what was that about?
He looked down at his chest.
...Well, there was no arrow in his heart, at least.
Though the cloth around his chest area was slightly torn, for some reason?
Had that been a delusion? Or...?
Seriously, what had that been all about?
Gathering himself, and standing up from his place on the ground, Shirou shook his head.
Well, no matter what that was about, it was late, and he needed to get home.
...
Bazett sighed. It looked like Kotomine-san was right, after all.
She had just ambushed the kid, who had somehow managed to survive.
And though she had wanted to finish him off swiftly and painlessly as a mercy, the kid had put up a lot of resistance, and had fled to his storehouse.
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Once again, Shirou had nearly died.
Right as he came back into his house and settled into the living room, he had been ambushed and nearly killed yet again, by that crazy red-haired woman and her ominous red spear.
Panicking, Shirou fled into the Emiya Estate's old storehouse, the only place he could think to find some temporary shelter and maybe something like a metal pipe to reinforce and defend himself with.
But before he got the chance, he was suddenly kicked in the back by the crazy woman, and he hit the ground hard, coughing up blood in the process.
"Sorry kid," Bazett apologized, sincerity in her voice, "I'm afraid I can't let you live any longer."
Those were just the rules she had to follow, after all.
Shirou knew he was very likely about to die, as the woman pointed her spear at him, towards his chest.
Shirou's heart was full of regret.
'Not again!'
'I still...'
'...Haven't become a hero yet!'
The woman kicked him again, knocking him against the back wall, and he coughed up blood again, painfully.
He glared at her.
And though he knew he was about to die soon.
After all, Emiya Shirou was the type that wouldn't die, even if you killed him a million, or even ten million, times over.
And as he was on death's door, only one last thought filled him, reverberating throughout his whole body, and throughout his whole existence.
'I want to live!'
'I want to live!'
'I want TO LIVE!'
The whole world flashed white for a moment, and...
Suddenly, a card appeared.
And without thinking, he grasped onto it, tightly. And in the next instance, the "software" as "Artoria Pendragon (Saber)" installed itself on to the compatible "hardware" known as "Emiya Shirou (Master)".
Without warning,
An intensely strong gust of wind suddenly started blowing from where Shirou and the card had made contact, and Bazett was forced out the shed, landing outside in the yard.
Before her stood Emiya Shirou, but now with a certain Regal presence and confidence about him, donned in blue cloth and silver armour, and adorning what appeared to be a Sword in his hands, clad in wind.
And Shirou exited the shed, he started to approach her, before stopping.
The two stood at a distance, gauging each other, as the melody of a mighty wind blew in the background.
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Stepping out to repel the intruder, Shirou approached calmly.
Shirou glared, a glare without any mercy.
Normally not so hostile, even to unwanted guests; Shirou felt a warning from his card, to fight without holding back, or he'd die painfully in battle.
The threat in front of him was that serious.
Shirou felt his survival instincts and resolve strengthening.
Bazett felt her battle tendency and inhibitions loosening.
The enemy in front of her was that strong.
Usually not so bloodthirsty, especially not to unknown strangers; Bazett felt, from her card an urge to fight with full force, for the living pleasure of the battle.
Bazett grinned, a grin full of ferocity.
Closing in to kill the survivor, Bazett stepped forward eagerly.
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They two of them exchanged a deadly glare, tension filling their bodies, as they prepared to kill each other in a battle to the death.
The first one to strike would win...
And wasting no time,
Shirou charged forward with a mighty mana burst!
His sword clashed against Bazett's Lethal Red Spear, sending sparks flying everywhere as the two legendary weapons met, the sound of steel against steel.
Each of his strikes felt like it would cave in her spear, hitting with the force of a truck, Bazett noted, excitedly.
As as they exchanged blows, Shirou forced her back with every one of his strikes, each working to repel her with the force of a mighty hammer of wind, even as she parried and deflected all of them.
Bazett grinned.
Now this was the fight she was looking for!
Ever since this card had been "installed" on to her, she had gained an insatiable bloodlust! And now, finally, it was being fulfilled!
She would take her time, savoring this meal!
Backing off, she introduced herself, as was only proper in a hero's duel.
"Name's Bazett. Hero: Cu Chulainn. You?"
Saber Shirou glared, but he had an obligation as a knight to return the favor.
"Emiya Shirou, fighting in the name of King Arthur."
Bazett's grin grew fiercer.
"Nice, nice!" She declared, "Another mighty Celtic hero to face off against, I couldn't have gotten a luckier draw!"
Arching her back up, she prepared her spear.
"Let's see how you fair against this! King Arthur!"
Shirou, feeling the incoming blow, braced himself.
"GAE!"
Shirou put his sword at the ready. Somehow, he knew what was coming.
"BOLG!"
In an instant, causality reversed upon itself, and his heart had already been pierced.
Bazett grinned, fiendishly.
...Until she saw that he was still charging at her!
His shoulder (not his heart?!) had been wounded and bloodied, but he was still charging forward!
With the forces of providence (luck) on his side, he had somehow managed to divert the blow, and redirect the ultimate target of attack to his shoulder.
His wound was literally healing right as he rushed in recklessly, closing the distance to deliver another heavy blow;
A blow which she barely managed to block with Gae Bolg!
The sword, in all its might, had managed to even chip off a tiny bit of Gae Blog's shaft.
But even so, it took some incredible courage to keep charging in the face of an attack that was meant to be a surefire strike to the heart!
Bazett smirked.
Now, it was really getting fun!
Preparing her lance again as she continued deflecting his onslaught of blows, she jumped and prepared to use Gae Bolg again, this time, to a different effect.
Putting some distance between them,
She suddenly leapt into the air!
Craning her spear behind her, she prepared to fire off her Gae Bolg as a destructive missile.
"GAE"
Once again, Shirou braced himself, sword gripped tightly in both hands.
"BOLG!"
The spear fired off like a shooting, with incredible force!
And Shirou met it with a two-handed-swing, struggling to force it back!
Shirou grunted, as he struggled to block it! What incredible force! As expected Ireland's Child of Light!
Mustering up all of the strength in his arms and legs, Shirou used his mana burst to force himself forward; managing to counter-act some of the spear's force.
And as his one last repellant, he forced the invisible air surrounding his sword against the spear!
And finally, he barely managed to repel the spear, and sent it shooting it back towards Bazett.
Avoiding it's trajectory and catching it in her hands easily, Bazett whistled in appreciation at his ingenuity as she twirled the spear behind her.
"Not bad, not bad at all! King Arthur!"
Shirou glared.
"Is that all you've got?"
Bazett grinned.
"Not even close!"
Getting back into her fighting pose, Bazett prepared herself to charge in for another close-range clash.
But, right before she was about to close in,
...She was distracted by the presence of another Master approaching.
"Tch!" She clicked her tongue, as Shirou rushed in again, closing the distance and putting the pressure of the fight on her.
She grinned at his enthusiasm, but she knew she would have to flee for now.
Deciding to strategically retreat, she forced him with all her strength, and leapt atop the roof's walls.
"It was fun!" She called out, "I'll be back!"
Shirou glared after her as she left, but didn't bother with chasing after her.
He felt exhausted already, and he wasn't even sure if he could maintain his condition, let alone fight for another few minutes.
Now that his adrenaline was wearing off, his body felt strangely tingly, as if his magical circuits had suddenly jumpstarted in a way he wasn't used to.
Sighing, he let out a breath of relief.
The battle was over, and the mighty wind that had blown all blown about was just about starting to die down.
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In relief, he looked down at himself, checking out his armor.
Was there was something he could do to take it off?
And just then, as he was pondering that, a certain Red-clad girl just happened to be jumping into his estate.
Shirou looked on, shocked.
"Tohsaka?!"
Tohsaka looked back at him, equally as shocked.
"Emiya-kun?!"
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Just as the battle was ending, a certain girl in red just so happened to be rushing over to the Emiya estate, her heart filled with concern about the safety of a certain blockhead, as she heard the sounds of battle on the Emiya Estate.
And right as she was about to leap over, a certain retreating Lancer leap over the walls first, shooting her an amused look and a wink as she quickly ran past.
That incited and worried Tohsaka even further, and reinforcing her legs, she quickly jumped into the estate.
Jumping in, and landing in his yard gracefully, she shocked Emiya Shirou with her sudden appearance.
"Tohsaka?!"
"Emiya-kun?!"
On the other hand, Tohsaka was more shocked by Emiya-kun's appearance, donned in regal knight armour as he was.
But before he could ask her any questions or why she was here, his armour had suddenly started to fade away as his class card re-appeared right in front of him.
And of all sudden, he too, felt a sudden wave of exhaustion and numbness slamming into him, as his body started to collapse.
The last thing he saw before passing out, was the image of Tohsaka in a certain nameless Red Hero's garb. One that seemed to suit her almost irritatingly well, for some reason.
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Bon Appetite!
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Author's Notes:
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So, that was pretty awesome, wasn't it?
I've been waiting to post this chapter, no joke, no joke.
I think I managed to make that musical cue pretty obvious (lmao) while also integrating it into the flow of events and narrative pretty seamlessly and in a pretty cool fashion. All the other stories I've seen put the soundtrack in parenthesis, but I didn't want to do that, since I always felt like that kind of thing ruined reader immersion during the chapter, so I didn't want to do that.
So this was the method I personally thought up of to get around that restriction. It requires a little bit of help and cooperation on the reader side of things, but I tried to make that as easy and effortless for the reader as possible, so I hope that worked.
Trust me, listening to that soundtrack while reading the text at the right time, seriously GREATLY improves the reading experience, with little effort on the reader's part.
So I hope all you people were willing and able to do that, 'cuz it's freaking awesome when read and experienced that way. Seriously.
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So, as you can see, the class cards here also have a bit of an effect on the user's personality.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there's no kaleidoscope to act as an intermediary, so the users are less capable of drawing out the card's powers (lesser main-effect), while the cards also end have more effect and influence on their personalities (bigger side-effect)?
Hmmmm...
I dunno, *shrug*
Might be something like that, maybe. It fits surprisingly well in context without the magical girls and kaleidoscopes, at least.
(Well, Rin has one, but she just doesn't know that they can be used as an intermediary interface for the class cards, as opposed to just installing them directly on to the users' body. And the kaleidoscopes themselves won't ever be featured in this story...
Probably...)
But you can see the direct effects the Class Cards have had on the Masters, already.
Bazett has become more bloodthirsty, and Shirou has already started of thinking of himself as a knight, without even realizing it.
What other sorts of changes will this bring about, I wonder...?
Hmmm...
Well, we'll just have to read on and see what happens, won't we?
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And there actually is a reason, that is to say, a cause, that this war is being fought with Class-Cards instead of Servants.
And no, it doesn't have to do with Zelritch or Kaleidoscopes, or even Ilya or Ritsuka.
The cause of this specific war...
Well, let's just it's related to a certain one of Shirou's friends (not Julian) and a certain family (not the Ainsworth), for now...
And something to with a certain very simple magecraft, known as "refresh air"...
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Next time is Tohsaka's humorous prologue, by the way;
Chapter 0 - "The Menu Options"
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If you liked it, please feel free to comment away!
And feel free to tell me your thoughts!
Was it cool? Did it give you any chills?
Thanks! I really appreciate it!