Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any of its spin-offs, or any of the Type-Moon's series such as Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoki/Garden of Sinners, Mahoutsukai no Yoru/Witch on the Holy Night, Melty Blood or any related series nor do I own any of the characters from any of the series. All of the mentioned above are owned by Kinoko Nasu and Type Moon. This is purely a work of fanfiction inspired by the universe Nasu and the rest of Type-Moon created.
Chapter 1: Night of Flames/Scabbard of Blades
Fuyuki General Hospital, Fuyuki City, 1994
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
That was the sound that could be heard from the heart monitor as Touko Aozaki sat next to the bed in the Fuyuki Hospital. Concern, fear, and anxiousness marred her face as she looked over at the body of her dear son of seven laying in the bed beside her. She kept playing the events from a few nights ago in her head over and over. Sure whatever Emiya did with that golden noble phantasm did its trick and physically healed whatever curses were afflicting Shirou caused by that fire, but... he hasn't awaken yet. She shouldn't had left him alone in her safe house. Touko reached out and ran her hand through Shirou's red hair.
"Just what is going on in that head of yours, my little soldier?"
-Flashback, five nights ago-
"Huff... Huff... Huff... Huff..."
The accursed flames burned everything and anything with in their embrace. Touko raced through the ruins, avoiding the flames and that black mud that had claimed the body of her puppet. She had gone out on a grocery run to stock up her safe house in Fuyuki. She needed to find Shirou and get out of this inferno before it was too late. She placed a rune on Shirou that would allow her to find him no matter where he was. All because there was a delay in shipping in getting materials for Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald's order, she had to deliver them in person and she had brought Shirou along with her when she made the delivery. She had decided to stay and lay low to see how the fourth war would finish playing out. She was always curious on how one was conducted, but she hadn't predicted this.
"I got to reach Shirou... got to get to him... before... before..." She picked up her pace as her breathing became heavier. She had gotten swept away by the flames and mud while she was in the store. Her puppet body killed as she, the original, took its place moments after. Shirou, however had no such protections other than ones she had placed on them with her runes. Whatever the hell that mud is made out of, she knew those protections wouldn't last forever. Panic was evident on her features as the corpses were strewn all over the place.
Those that were still alive, she could hear their cries for help, begging for her to help them, but she couldn't... She had to find her Shirou. She just had to. She felt fear and despair filling her being, her heart pounding in her chest and her ears. She could hear the curse of that black mud, whispering in her ears. While her real body hadn't been affected by the curse, thanks to the runes placed on her own body to rid herself of any inflictions made to her person, the lingering residue remained.
Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump...
'He's dead you know... he's dead and it's all your fault...'
'Shut up...'
'You left him... You left him all alone...All alone in that house...abandoning him to his [FATE]...
'Shut up.'
'You're a failure... a failure as a human...a failure as a magus... a failure as a sister... a failure as an apprentice... a failure as a daughter and granddaughter...a failure as a moth-'
"Shut up!"
'But it'strue, you know, kind of like a young woman aborting her fetus, you abandon him to his [FATE]... Failing him as his mother! YOU HAVE FAILED HIM, TOUKO AOZAKI!'
"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Touko screamed at the top of her lungs, firing off a volley of spells off everywhere within sight, drowning out the voice that had whispering its accursed words. She didn't stop firing at what she could until she could no longer hear its dreaded voice. Everything around her was annihilated with in minutes but it felt like an eternity. Her red hair fell from its ponytail. Her heart was now pounding in her chest even worse than before as she panted in exhaustion as she placed her hand on her knees. "Get a hold of yourself. You can't let it get to you Touko, find Shirou and get to safety."
She had continued on her way, shakily making her way through the rubble and ruin and the corpses all around her only to find her search to reach an end. Only a few feet in front of her, was her son lying on the ground, only for her eyes to widened at the person who was kneeling above him.
'No..."
Her body shot forth in a full on sprint as a new fear and panic rose from within her as thought of nothing else but protecting Shirou. She knew who was that was next to him and she would be damned to let anything more to happen to her son. She leapt forward and landed with a slight skid, aiming her arm at the man in front of her. Her eyes widened as an enraged snarl appear on her lips. A curse ready to fire at the man should he try anything. "What... are you doing to my son, Kiritsugu Emiya?"
"Touko Aozaki... let me help save him... this is my fault... please?" The magus killer looked up, his face expressing a desperate look, despair shaking him to his core. She almost lowered her guard, though she couldn't, despite the honesty in his voice, Touko couldn't put her trust in his words, he was still a magus after all. A mage just like her. "What do you get out of this? Why is all of this your fault? Explain yourself and I might just let you live."
"I have something that can protect him from the curse. Something that can keep him alive. It... it's a noble phantasm that I had used to summon my servant." He stopped for a moment to take breath as his gaze landed on Shirou. "I was at the epicenter and I was the one who told Saber to destroy the grail. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't want this to happen. A hole appeared in the sky and then the black mud spilled forth. I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"Get ahold of yourself, Emiya! If you're truly honest about helping me save Shirou there, then prove it or so help me, I'll leave you here to rot. You're of no use to yourself in this state you've got yourself in." If it wasn't for this situation right now, She wouldn't be wearing her emotions on her sleeve right now like a certain sister of hers. "Now... how can this noble phantasm help me save my son." He looked up at her, a desperate hope in his eyes, a slight spark before he placed a hand on his chest, he closed his eyes and for a few moments, he stayed silent before he reached back with his hand, pulling out a golden light from his chest, that took the shape of a golden scabbard. Her eyes widened in shock. 'That... That can't be... but it is...'
-Flashback End-
She was drawn out of her memories as a knock was heard on the door. Touko gazed over at the door and frowned. She knew who was there thanks to the bounded fields she had set up around Shirou's hospital room. No better time to get her answers now was there. "Come in."
The door opened as Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer entered the room. Closing the door behind him, a look of relief washed over his face as he looked over at Shirou before the emotionless mask he usually wore took present again as he directed his gaze on Touko again. They stood there in silence for a few moments before one of them finally spoke, trying to figure out the others motivations.
"You know, I wouldn't have pegged you for someone who tries to save others." Touko began after the silence became too much. "Usually when someone ends up on your radar, they usually wind up dead or worse. If I didn't know any better, I would of guessed you were the one to cause that fire, but that doesn't match your M.O. now, does it? You usually try to keep things contained with in the bounds of concealing the mystics."
Kiritsugu stayed silent for several minutes, trying to figure out what to say. To him, Touko Aozaki is a wild card. One with a reputation for being troublesome, even by Clock Tower standards. "You studied up on me, I see. But you are correct in saying that fire and that... mud... doesn't match the description of my more... unpleasant methods."
"I think we know enough that we can skip the pleasantries and get down to business, shall we?" Touko said as she removed her spectacles and the features of her face sharpened as she narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her as he nodded. "First off, What happened exactly had caused the Fuyuki holy grail to cause all that destruction?"
The man only sighed and clenched his fist before speaking again. "It was Angra Mainyu. I only know this after deducing the culprit by checking the records of the second and third war prior to the fourth war and noticed the only irregular summoning was avenger in the third war and the master was an Einzbern homunculus. I met the servant in the grail after I killed the master of Archer... they... took the form of my wife... trying to twist my dream and wish into something horrendous. I then commanded Saber to destroy the grail and then that portal opened up the black mud and flames spilled forth and well... you know the rest."
"Do the Einzberns know about this?" Touko asked as her grip on the bed's railing tightened a bit. She had a serious bone to pick them. They knew the risks and summoned something that dangerous? "I'm not sure. If they don't, it has probably kept itself concealed not to alert them their presence, but if they do, they probably don't care or think it's too insignificant to really do anything that could cost them in the end. All they care about is obtaining the Heaven's Feel at any cost."
"And they will discredit you at any turn because you failed to obtain the grail for them." Touko finished as she studied him for a moments. "There's more, isn't there? Out with it, what of yours do they have." The man gritted his teeth together. "My daughter... Illya... they have my daughter and already have barred me from getting to my daughter the moment I failed to obtain the grail for them."
Touko's eyes were wide with shock as she stared at the man before her. Who would of the thought the Magus Killer would be a doting and loving father. She placed her spectacles on as her expression softened and her eyes took on a calmer appearance. "And you'll need my help for this, won't you? But if I'm going to take up this job in helping you get your daughter out of their hands, then what am I going to get out of this? This deal is a two way street after all."
"I'll offer my place of residence that I used during the war as compensation for the loss of your safe house during the fire. It's located in the Miyama district. In addition to this, I'll offer whatever I can as service to helping you with whatever business you have regarding the moonlit world." Touko nodded her head in approval and agreement, finding these terms acceptable.
"Then this pact is sealed. Though I must warn you, I may not always be able to pay you properly at times, but I will find something to reward you for your services as you are under my employment. Is this acceptable to you?" The man nods his head in agreement. Kiritsugu had enough money stashed away as he was frugal with how he spent it and more than enough for an entire lifetime. "There is one other thing though. I think that scabbard you implanted into my son affected his origin and element."
Kiritsugu's head shot up in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"When I checked it, they were both sword and sword instead of fire and wind." Touko confirmed with a frown on her lips. "Then that would mean-"
That's when they were interrupted as they both heard the sound of a groan from the lips of one Shirou Aozaki as he begun to wake up in his bed. His eyes slowly opened up as they slowly adjusted to the light of the room. His head tilted to the left as he took in his surroundings before his eyes landed on Touko. His lips formed a smile as his expression brightened immediately. "Mama?" He asked as he saw her, Touko smiled back as she reached down and ran her hand through his hair with a tender smile. Her red eyes meeting his amber golden ones. His eyes then went to kiritsugu. "Is this the man who saved me? From that inferno?"
"Yes, this is Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya. He is indeed the man who found and saved you during the fire. Without him, I may have lost you. I'm sorry I left you back at the safe house..."
"It's okay Mama. You didn't know it would happen." He smiled warmly at her, reassuring her that he was alright. His expression then changed into a puzzled one, which Touko took notice of immediately. "Is something wrong Shirou? You can always tell me what's wrong dear."
"Well... as I was dreaming... I saw a sword stabbed into a scabbard. Well... I think it was a sword. It was mostly this formless white energy thing, but it kept changing forms as I got closer." Kiritsugu and Tokyo both listened in with curiosity and interest as Shirou described his dream to them. "It was like... changing shape each time. First it was the formless form of energy and then it took the form a blue and golden sword with a golden blade before turning into two identical swords of white and black and then another pair of swords that had revolvers attached to them. Then it became a this giant gray sword made of stone before it became this katana with gray samegama wrapped around the tsuka. The scabbard was this beautiful blue and gold and felt almost sentient and then I heard a voice in my head, I didn't see anyone, but it told me to grasp the hilt of the sword and I pulled it out and then..."
Shirou paused for a moment to leave them in suspense before smiling at them. "I woke up here!" Touko smiled and ruffled his hair "Well that's an interesting dream Shirou. We can discuss it more later, Okay. Right now, I want to talk about why Mr. Kiritsugu is here. You see, due to the loss of my property, He has kindly offered us to let us use his place as our own in exchange for our help with some personal matters of his. He will in kind be helping me and offering his services for some jobs and plans I have in place for the future, is that alright with you?"
"Of course it is, Mama! He seems like a cool man, like in one of those spy movies you showed me." Shirou nodded his head in approval. "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine! Does that sound good with you, old man." Touko bit back a chuckle as Kiritsugu gave her son a small smile.
"Of course it does, Shirou, of course it does."
-Chapter End-
AN: Annnnnnd cuuuuut! Well this concludes this chapter of The Queen and the Sword! This chapter was hard to write as I was intentionally writing Touko as a parent and not a magus. The conversation with Kiritsugu and their interactions also contributed to this and it was tricky to write it the way I wanted it to. Next chapter will officially debut Aoko in a bigger role instead of like her cameo mentioned in the prelude. As for who I've chosen as the main heroine, she'll show up soon and I'm not spoiling who, but it's none of the usual suspects. I can confirm it's not Rin, Sakura, Luvia, or even Saber, so good luck guessing friends! So without further ado, see you all next time!
