A/N: I got this idea from the FGO memorial movie, god that was beautiful. I made this fic with the idea of giving EMIYA a somewhat peaceful life.
This is just a fic with interconnected oneshots, lore inaccuracies were done for entertainment.
Now, let's start.
In a world of blades, there sits a broken man cursed to eternally bathe in the folly of his own ideals. The eternity he spent in this hell made him bitter, angry, and spiteful, not to someone, but to himself for putting him in this situation. A torment of infinity, a cycle never-ending.
But what if, there was a spark of hope. What if he could escape this hell in one way or another?
Suddenly the gears that litter the skyline of his world stopped turning. He looked at the sky and heard a buzzing sound.
"Wha-?"
A blue glass-like screen appeared in front of him.
"ALAYA?" He asked.
Words appeared at the screen.
"Affirmative." It spoke in a feminine robotic tone. It was ALAYA, the unconscious will of humanity. Also known as part of the counter force. EMIYA's employer.
…
…
…
Two minutes later, ALAYA still didn't respond, it was bizarre to say the least.
"What is it?" EMIYA spoke in an irritated tone. "You usually don't take a few seconds to relay a mission briefing."
"Ahem!" Did it just… clear its throat? Weird.
"Counter Guardian EMIYA. I have noticed the severe decline in your morale. Thus, I am here to discuss your retirement…" ALAYA spoke.
"Pfft!" EMIYA snorted. "HAHAHAHAHA!" He touched his head as he laughed bitterly. "I'll give you that one, that made me laugh. Did you finally learn how to do jokes?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.
…
…
"Negative. Humor is irrelevant to the safety of humanity, I have no need of learning it."
This made Emiya pause… "What?" He raised his brow.
"I am here to discuss you retirement. Are you willing to listen?"
"Do I really have a choice?" He said as he sat down in the dirt of his bladeworks.
"Affirmative." It answered. Usually it just continues to talk.
Emiya had enough. "Okay, this is getting too weird. Tell me, what the hell happened!?"
"Counter Guardian EMIYA's morale has severely decreased over the span of 6000 to 8000 years. This compromises his mission efficiency, especially the stealth missions. The main body would affect the copies' morale and decrease the success rate from 97.86% to an all time low of 56.79% to 40.54%." Alaya explained.
Emiya contemplated Alaya's explanation. When he thought about it… Yes, he does fail missions more frequently. But that does not explain such measures such as forced retirement, surely Alaya would have just erased him at some point.
But wait, if there's one person that would come up with such silly solution, it's- "Zelretch? Did he set you up for this?"
The glass screen turned red . "Negative, I have ceased contact with the Kaleidoscope after "The Incident".
"Snowfield?"
The screen turned blue. "Snowfield."
It was really hung up on that fake Holy Grail war at America. It was such a mess to fix.
"Then why?"
"I am here to discuss you retirement. Are you willing to listen?"
It ignored the question, the bitch.
"Fine. I'll bite, what is this about my "retirement"."
"Counter Guardian EMIYA is eligible for retirement as of this moment if he so chooses. The retirement benefits include:
-An ID for an ease of access on paperwork.
-A card that contains all of Counter Guardian EMIYA's assets before his death.
This does not include:
-A living space."
"That's it? What's the catch?"
"You are to be deployed one final time using the main body."
And there it is! Probably a really big mass culling-
"It's a rescue mission."
"Pardon?" This surprised Emiya, it was the first one he's ever received.
"Mission parameters:
-Rescue the one that will save you."
Emiya went silent again. The one that will save him? Who?
"I will take your silence as a yes."
"Wait, what?" Suddenly a force pulled him away from Alaya, it was nothing like any deployment. He felt mana leave his body like a fan getting unplugged from an outlet.
He felt himself being torn apart from head-to-toe. Then everything went black.
Hot, everything is so hot. That is all that Emiya could feel as he walks through what looks like a large burning apartment complex, Alaya dropped him here for some reason, he honestly wasn't surprised as he often gets dropped on battlefields.
"Heh." He chuckled. "My final deployment… just like my first memories. The sheer poetic irony here makes me sick." He spoke to himself.
The Ex-counter guardian walks through the debris when he suddenly heard a cry.
"UWAAAA!!!"
"A child!?" He enhanced his hearing and vision as he searches for the noise.
"Where is it?" He looks through all the rubble, passing through burning corpses in his way. The stench really resurfaced some of his childhood traumas. But he must pull through, he needs to find that child.
He finally found it. It was still crying. The child looks like it was just a few months old. It was surrounded by two dead bodies he assumed was it's parents, the rubble crushing them might be the cause of their deaths.
He lifts the child to his arms as he finds the exit from the complex. Emiya dashes while reinforcing his body, clutching the child tightly. Soon he found the exit, there were firefighter there. The firemen looked at him weirdly and asked.
"Sir? Are you alright?" One stepped forward.
"I am." He nodded. "I'm not sure about this child though. We might have to get it checked." He gave the child to one of the firefighters.
"Alright, there's an ambulance for the survivors already, we just need the record the baby."
"Good." Emiya spoke, panting.
"Now Sir." They pulled a pen and paper. "We need to record you for documentation. What's your name sir?"
Emiya thought of a name for awhile but cannot arrive at an answer. He decided to use the name that he's abandoned.
"Shirou… Shirou Emiya."
"Mhm." The firefighter put the pad back to their pocket. "I think that's all Mr. Emiya, You can go to the ambulance where the baby is. We might need you for eye witness testimonies."
Emiya nodded. This might take a long while.
At the hospital
It was nearly two hours when Emiya waited for the news about the baby. He guessed that it was the person he was supposed to rescue, evident by the fact that after arriving at the hospital, he found an ID and an ATM card with a letter that says.
EMIYA,
Alaya sent these, just wanna say that I'm proud of you. Enjoy your retirement, kid! -
Your Senior,
-Cartaphilus
One of the guardians sent a letter. It was his senior. He folded the paper as he puts it in his pocket. People just thought that he was a cosplayer, so he changed his outfit. He wore a white tanktop and a dark gray polo accompanied with jeans, he also wore glasses because he thought it would fit in.
"Mister… Emiya?" One of the nurses called.
"Yes? That's me." He answered.
"We found information about the baby."
A few minutes later the nurse told him about the child. Just as he thought, the parents didn't survive the fire. What was surprising though was there was no traceable family for them. Also the baby was a girl but that's not important.
"So… we need to ask you if you would adopt the baby or we should send it to the nearest orphanage."
Emiya knew the answer, just as Kiritsugu did, he would adopt the child. He needed to know why the child could save him, and trying never hurts.
"I will adopt her." He said. "What about the birth certificate?"
"Undocumented."
Great. How convenient.
"So, first and foremost. What would you name her Sir?"
He thought of a name. He knew what to name the child.
"It's-!"
16 years later
"Rin! Breakfast is ready, its first day of highschool. Do you wanna be late!?" Emiya shouted.
"Coming dad!" A young woman answered as she walks down the stairs. She wore a pink pajama set with cherry blossom designs. Her hair was black along with her eyes, she looks like your typical Japanese student.
"What did I say about sleeping late?" Emiya asked his daughter.
"But daaad~"
"No buts, young lady. Take a bath before breakfast gets cold."
She puffs her shoulders. "Fine."
It has been sixteen years after his retirement. He had a peaceful life during those years, raising Rin(yes he named the child after "Her") made him learn new things in life. Becoming a father was not an easy task, he could even say that it was one of the hardest. Though, it all paid off, Rin is an honor student and was always top of the class. She was even nominated as student council president but refused because she thought it would be a hassle.
A few minutes later, Rin finished changing. They ate breakfast and headed to the family car for school.
They started talking while on the road.
"Uhm, Dad?" She called.
"Yes?"
"What did you do when you were my age?"
Emiya jolted. "It's complicated… I did a lot of things, I mostly work at the local pub." He's glad that he remembered working a Outoko's, he really didn't want to involve his daughter with magecraft and anything supernatural. "Probably some local repairs here and there, but that's it."
"Mhm…" Rin nodded. "So what about my mo-!"
"We're here." Emiya interrupted.
His daughter looked visibly disappointed. "Now, good luck. Be a good person and do your best, okay?"
"Yes."
"Good. Meet me at the restaurant after school, I'll treat your friends if you bring one." He closed the door. "Take care." He waved.
"Bye dad." Rin waved back.
This is a story of a man who found peace, where he started a new life unbound by his own ideals. Some things never change however, as the boy who once dreamed was still there, just unnoticeable.
A/N: I would say that was a good start.
You can comment on what scenarios I might involve this duo by the way. This would not have any overarching plot whatsoever. So feel free, I might heed that request if I like it.
PS: Google who Cartophilus is! He's really interesting as a biblical character.
Next update: Illya-chan and Shirou-kun's Problematic Otome Isekai! Redux
it will probably be a week later, class has started.