A/N: Volume 3 OP: "The World" by Jonathan Young

Chapter 5

Leaving Nothing Undone

Yang Xiao Long groaned as she collapsed onto the ground, the other members of her team doing much the same. Even Emiya Shirou groaned as he sat down and leaned against a tree. Most of them were varying levels of exhausted but Ruby Rose and Shirou were already slowly starting to rally after a few minutes passed.

"It really isn't fair, ya know," Yang complained as she stared up at the sky. The rest of her team gave her a curious look as she continued. "I mean, we kinda expected that we'd lose but we got thrashed. You barely even used those twin swords."

"How did you manage to replicate Weiss' fighting style so perfectly?" Blake Belladonna asked as she sat up. "It didn't feel like something you'd learned just by watching."

"And what about that weird shield thing?" Ruby asked. "It blocked Yang's Soul Surge!"

"There's also the matter of that strange dagger," Weiss Schnee added. At this point, all of Team RWBY were sitting up and staring expectedly at Shirou.

For his part, Shirou smiled bashfully and blushed as he scratched the back of his head. "I said that I could reproduce swords but there's a bit more to it than that. I can also reproduce things like armor and shields at a greater cost and I learn the complete history of any sword that I see. That includes things like the wielder's skill and abilities as well as attributes." Weiss looked pensive at this but Shirou continued on.

"As for the shield, that was Rho Aias: The Seven Rings that Cover the Burning Heavens. It's the ultimate shield comprised of a seven-layer bounded field in the shape of a flower with each layer having the strength of a fortress wall."

"It's gotta be way stronger than that. I'm pretty sure a buncha bricks aren't tougher than a Paladin or reinforced concrete," Yang said incredulously.

"You're probably right but, in this case, 'fortress wall' isn't a literal thing but rather a metaphorical concept. A 'fortress wall' is something that's almost impossible to penetrate without truly overwhelming firepower. Even then, in the case of Rho Aias, its defensive powers are exemplary."

"You said that there's seven layers but I only saw two petals," Blake pointed out.

Shirou smiled sheepishly again, "That's because I only deployed two. I figured that one would be enough but I deployed a second as a safety measure."

"Greeeeaaaaat. My strongest move got stopped by a flower petal," Yang groaned as she collapsed back onto the ground.

"If it makes you feel any better, even Caliburn, that sword that I used to take out that Goliath, could probably only get through a layer or two." Yang simply grunted in response.

"What about the dagger?" Weiss asked.

"The dagger is called Rule Breaker: All Spells Must Be Broken. As a weapon, it's worthless but its real power lies in its ability to sever almost any magical contract. Simply put, it nullifies nearly anything created with magical energy."

"But Semblances aren't magic, though," Ruby pointed out. "How'd it break Weiss' glyph?"

"That's… a good question, actually. I'll have to look into that. Honestly, I didn't even think it'd work. That was something I did out of desperation. If it hadn't worked, I'd have lost."

"The only reason that didn't work is 'cause you cheated," Ruby said with a huff and a pout. "You blocked Spiral Strike with reinforcement, not your Aura."

Shirou simply smiled, "The only rule was that we went until Aura break. You never once mentioned that I had to block everything with my Aura." Ruby grumbled but conceded the point.

"Regardless, you shouldn't be too hard on yourselves. You've all shown great improvement even when compared to your performance during the Train Incident. If I hadn't been training as hard as I have been for longer than you girls, I would have lost."

"In that case, you could have just used that golden sword; Caliburn, you called it," Blake said.

Shirou nodded, "I could have, in theory, but not in practice. At your current level, a weapon as powerful as Caliburn would have cut right through your Aura like it wasn't even there."

"Okay, I call bullshit on that," Yang said as she sat back up. "Like, yeah, sure, you can cut through Aura if you're strong enough but a sword's a sword."

"Normally, you'd be right. However, my swords aren't usually just normal swords, they're magic. Caliburn isn't the strongest under most conditions but it's strong enough for this. You could probably take a few hits, Yang. Ruby might be able to take a hit but it's too risky. Weiss and Blake might as well not have their Aura active."

"That's some big talk. Care to back it up?" Yang challenged.

"I wouldn't mind but there's little point in doing so now. With everyone as exhausted as they are, it wouldn't really prove much."

"How many weapons do you have, Shirou?" Ruby asked, her head tilted in curiosity.

Shirou looked upward as he peered into the Unlimited Blade Works. While the name was technically hyperbole, from a certain point of view, the number of unique weapons he possessed would take too long to count and it wouldn't give him an exact number because it was Unlimited Blade Works, not Many Blade Works.

"I couldn't say. There are too many to count."

"That many, huh? Damn. Welp! I don't know about the rest of you guys but I need a nap," Yang said as she got up and stretched.

"I think you're forgetting something. We shouldn't leave anything undone before the Festival," Blake said as she also got up.

"Huh?" Yang tilted her head in confusion before a wave of realization washed over her face. "Oooooh, right, that. Yeah, I guess this is the last chance we'll have to put the finishing touches on it."

"What are you two talking about?" Ruby asked as she also stood up, Weiss and Shirou following shortly after.

Yang smiled mischievously at her little sister, "Not tellin'!"

"C'moooooon, Yaaaaang!" Ruby whined as the three of them walked away.

Shirou chuckled before turning his attention to Weiss, who was standing there staring at the ground looking pensive. "You okay, Weiss?"

"Hm? Yes, of course, I'm perfectly fine." At Shirou's disbelieving look, Weiss changed her answer. "Well, maybe not as fine as I could be. You said that you know the complete history of everything you can trace, right?"

"I do," Shirou answered with a nod as his expression became serious. He could guess where this conversation was going.

"Does that include…?" Weiss asked, clearly unable to finish the question.

"I know everything that you did or that happened to you while Myrtenaster was present. I apologize for the invasion of privacy. It's not something I can turn off; all I can do is try not to think about it."

"Then you know what my family is like." At Shirou's nod, Weiss continued, "Can you— Do you have any advice for me?" Her expression was a cross between fearful and hopeful.

Shirou was quiet for a moment as he pondered how to respond. Weiss' situation was far beyond anything he'd had to deal with and trying to compare her situation to Sakura's was foolish for multiple reasons. Not that he would have had any experience with it if it wasn't. Since his own experience was lacking, he turned to Saber. While she also hadn't really dealt with an abusive family (at least, not in the normal way), she was a King who had rallied her soldiers countless times. If he couldn't offer proper advice, he could try to rally her instead.

"I don't think I have any advice for you. However," Shirou continued on hurriedly as Weiss' face fell, "there's something you need to accept: You are not your father. The sins of your family aren't yours to carry and you're not obligated to follow the paths that your ancestors did. I know that you believe otherwise but you're much stronger than you think. If you hadn't been here, I could have taken the rest of our team out without too much effort. While you may have trouble standing on your own, your ability to multiply the strength of those you fight with is far more useful than what Blake and Yang can provide in a straight fight.

"Don't listen to the voice of your father in your head. If the life he laid out for you isn't the one you want to live then cast it aside. Your life belongs to you and those you choose to share it with, not to your family or your ancestors or the Schnee Dust Company. Live your life the way you want to live it and cast aside those who only want to tear you down. You're already better than them. I know it, our team knows it, and even they know it. It's why they try so hard to tear you down. You've already risen above them and you'll only keep rising. All you have to do is cut those chains, spread your wings, and fly."

Weiss stared at Shirou in amazement as his words hung in the air, a light blush on her cheeks. Shirou held her gaze and was starting to feel uncomfortable when Weiss shook herself out of her trance. She then beamed at him and said, "Thank you, Shirou. I can't even begin to tell you how much that means to me. I don't know how long it'll take for me to break those chains or how hard it'll be but I won't back down. To do so would be an insult to my team."

"If you ever need encouragement, you can always talk to Ruby. She seems to be pretty good at that," Shirou offered.

Weiss blushed again as she recalled the conversation they had not too long ago before nodding. She then turned to leave only to pause and turn back. Shirou raised an eyebrow as Weiss hesitated and seemed to war with herself about something before she reached a resolution and closed the distance between them. Shirou kept his puzzled expression only to freeze as Weiss reached out and wrapped her arms around him in an awkward hug.

"Thank you, Shirou," Weiss said softly.

Shirou chuckled as he returned the hug. The physical display of affection from the usually reserved girl was unexpected but not unwelcome. "Anytime."

They held that position for a moment before Weiss broke off and stepped away, blushing again. "Well then," she began after clearing her throat, "if you'll excuse me." Shirou chuckled again as Weiss turned around and walked away a little more quickly than she normally would. Once she was out of sight, it was Shirou's turn to look pensive as he stared up into the sky.

"'Shouldn't leave anything undone,' huh?"

OoOoOoO

"It's good to see you again, Shirou. I honestly didn't expect to see you so soon," Professor Ozpin said as he turned away from the massive series of windows that lined the back wall of his office.

"I've made a breakthrough regarding our infiltrator problem and I also have some questions about Aura that I think only you know the answer to," Shirou said as he walked to stand in front of Ozpin's desk. Ozpin sat down after pouring two mugs of cocoa, handing one to Shirou. Unlike last time, Shirou nodded in thanks and took a sip. While Ozpin's drinking habits still annoyed him for reasons he couldn't quite explain, he had to admit that the man's recipe for cocoa was superb.

"Why don't we start with the latter since it might be the simpler of the two," Ozpin suggested with a pleased smile as Shirou finally tasted his cocoa. While he had never really bothered with improving his cooking skills over his many years, this recipe was one he was most proud of. If only he could actually get people to drink it.

"What's the relationship between Aura and magecraft? I sparred with the rest of my team earlier today and discovered that Rule Breaker— a weapon that can nullify nearly all magecraft— can nullify Weiss' glyphs. Not only that but I've been able to smell Aura like I can with magecraft."

"Ah, yes. Perhaps we should have started with the former after all. The full story is quite long so I'll give you the abridged version. A very long time ago when the Grimm were rampaging across Remnant, Soulkin could do little against them. They had Dust, yes, but it was difficult to trigger reliably and often caused more harm than good. The only thing that proved effective in both offense and defense was thaumaturgy. The innate properties of using the power of the soul— be it that of the magus or of the World— could put them down with relative ease and protect them from the claws that could tear through all but the heaviest of armor. This is why Jaune's sword was capable of easily damaging the Grimm despite him not using his Aura properly.

"Seeing as how there weren't enough magi to go around, one of them struck upon an idea both ridiculous and genius. If it was ultimately the power of the soul that let people fight the Grimm then all they needed to do was find a way to let people tap into that power without magic circuits. Naturally, such a thing was far easier said than done but that doesn't stop magi here just like I'd imagine it doesn't stop magi in your world.

"Now, such a thing would be a borderline miracle and so, despite decades of research and experimentation, this magus couldn't complete it. They had an apprentice, however, and that apprentice continued his master's work. This went on for a number of generations before a miracle was achieved. Through some unknown means, one of the magi in the line managed to tap into the Root and gained the ability to perform what you call the Third Sorcery." Shirou's hand tightened around the mug at that even as he took another drink to try and keep calm.

"With the Third Sorcery and the generations of research, this magus was able to actualize the souls of people without separating them from their body using what could be considered a unique form of projection and reinforcement. While the magus couldn't quite unlock the power for everyone, they made sure to do it to enough people and set things up so that the power would be hereditary. In time, enough of those people survived and reproduced. Skip ahead several hundred years and now nearly everyone can have their Aura unlocked."

"That… honestly explains a lot. What about me, though? I'm not from this world so how can I use Aura?"

"I'm afraid I don't know for certain but I can only assume it had something to do with how you got here. After all, we could understand you perfectly and you us. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing I've seen happen. It probably wouldn't even place in the top twenty."

Shirou actually snorted at that. He hadn't been alive for even a fraction of the time that Ozpin had and even he knew of or experienced things that were far stranger. If anything had the power to do that, it'd definitely be the Holy Grail. That would be oddly benevolent for it, though, so maybe there was something more to it. Zelretch, perhaps.

"Given all of that, I can only assume that Semblances are a sort of unique spell that's innate to the person if its basic application is like projection and reinforcement."

"That's exactly right. The entire system was absolutely inspired and we have it to thank for Soulkin's ability to flourish in the modern era. As for this Rule Breaker, while it could almost certainly pierce Aura like it wasn't even there, I'd imagine that it could only cancel out Semblances that had an external effect."

"Since Semblances like Ruby's Speed are the inner workings of the soul," Shirou guessed as he considered the fact that Rule Breaker couldn't touch the Unlimited Blade Works.

"That is most likely the case."

Shirou pondered this new information for a moment. While he didn't know too much about magecraft outside of the basics, the formation of bounded fields, and the creation of familiars; he had been learning a lot from those books that Ozpin had given him some time ago. The soul was a source of not insignificant power which is why even third-rate magi could perform great miracles using human sacrifices. Utilizing Heaven's Feel and other magecraft to create such a system was, as Ozpin said, ingenious. It also spoke highly of that magus' character since they achieved a Sorcery and used it to aid others rather than strictly for personal benefit. Of course, Zelretch and Miss Blue were known to help people so maybe Sorcerers were just a different breed. That did leave the question of how he had his Aura unleashed but then he recalled that Ilya had used the Third Sorcery on him and figured that that was enough.

"Now that we have that cleared up, what was that breakthrough you had?" Ozpin asked, interrupting Shirou's thoughts.

"Right. I think we've been going about this all wrong. Even I know how to sufficiently cover my tracks if someone comes looking so any other magus would be able to as well. However, no one's perfect. They'll slip up eventually and, even if they don't, you can still figure out if someone's a magus or not with enough effort. That's why I made this," Shirou pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and carefully unfolded it until it was in the shape of a paper crane. After feeding it some prana, it started to animate and fly around.

"A familiar that can easily hide and even has a weak perception filter on it. If I wasn't looking directly at it, I might not even know it was there. Excellent work, Shirou," Ozpin said as he idly watched the familiar fly around.

Shirou blushed and scratched the back of his head as his familiar returned to his hand. "Thank you, Professor. There's more to them than that, though. The spell circle I've placed on these is designed to sense concentrations of Od. If I leave a few of these in places where people have to pass through eventually, it will detect the magus and will silently alert me while a specific rune sequence lights up on a control slip. Between the two, I can then look through my familiar and see who's in the area. After doing this a few times, I should be able to figure out who our magus is."

"It seems that I gave my praise too soon. This is an elegant and genius solution. I'm actually disappointed that I didn't think of it myself."

Shirou blushed again, "It was actually Weiss who gave me the idea. She needed help with her summoning and the advice I gave her led me to this."

"Even so. Do you mind if I see the control slip and the spell circle on the familiar?"

"Of course not." Shirou directed his familiar to fly from his hand to Ozpin's before deactivating it even as he fished the control slip out of one of his pockets and handed it to him.

Ozpin unfolded the paper crane and examined the spell circles on both it and the control slip for a moment. "You call yourself a third-rate magus for perfectly understandable reasons but you should take pride in your construction of familiars and bounded fields. To make such a relatively complex spell circle this small is something most magi I know wouldn't be able to do."

"That's probably because I can't really do anything else. I practiced what I could do a lot."

"Perhaps. Even so. There's still room for improvement, however. One moment, please." Ozpin opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper before grabbing a pen. His hand was nearly a blur as he skillfully drew a magic circle of his own. When he was finished, he pushed the paper to Shirou who examined it closely. "This is an improved version of the magic circle you have on your familiar. The one you have should work perfectly fine but consider this an example to aspire to."

"Thank you very much, Professor," Shirou said with a grateful bow before taking the piece of paper and putting it in his pocket after carefully folding it up.

"Do you mind if I create a control slip of my own? You might not be able to check immediately if you're in the middle of class and a second set of eyes always help."

"Of course not. In fact, I'd greatly appreciate the help."

"Wonderful. Is there anything else you'd like to report?"

Shirou thought for a moment before shaking his head, "Not particularly, Professor."

"Very well then. Feel free to come to me if you have any more ideas or questions. If we're lucky, we should be able to single out our infiltrator before the Vytal Festival. Oh, and one more thing: Happy hunting."

OoOoOoO

Velvet Scarlatina took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart as she approached the door to the roof. It had been nearly a month since she had stopped training with Shirou for the upcoming Vytal Festival and nearly two since she had kissed him on the cheek. While that hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision, it was one she had regretted soon after as she had been afraid that it'd make things awkward between them. She had avoided him the rest of the week and, when they met again for training, she was surprised to see that Shirou just pretended it didn't happen.

She honestly wasn't sure if that was better or worse.

Now, however, Shirou had texted her out of the blue asking if she could meet him on the roof of the dorm. She had accepted in an instant despite her apprehensions as there was basically only one thing that he'd want to talk about in private. She knew that she was going to walk away from this conversation being either really happy or really sad but, either way, she'd be free of this underlying tension she had been feeling since then.

With another deep breath, Velvet opened the door and squinted her eyes in the light of the setting sun. Shirou was standing near the edge looking out over the grounds with his back to her; the wind tugging at his casual clothes and rustling his hair. Velvet wished she had her camera at that moment and considered pulling out her Scroll but she ultimately decided that doing so would be rude.

Velvet walked to the halfway point between the door and Shirou, leaving a good two or so meters between them. "H-hey, Shirou," she said, damning the slight quiver in her voice.

"Hello, Velvet. I'm glad you came," Shirou replied calmly, his back still to her.

"So… what did you want to talk about?"

"About what happened two months ago."

Velvet swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, "Oh, it's okay! There's nothing to really talk about! I was just being stupid and silly and we can just keep on going pretending it ne—"

"No, we can't," Shirou interrupted as he turned around. Velvet's breath caught as she saw that he looked conflicted and even a little sad. "You weren't being stupid or silly. You were being honest with me and with yourself. If anyone was being stupid and silly, it's me for ignoring that for this long." Shirou bowed deeply, "I apologize."

Velvet's breath returned to her as her mind was having difficulties keeping up. "No, it's okay, really. I could have handled that better." She unconsciously took a step closer.

"No, it's not okay. I ignored your feelings and left you in a troubled state for far too long. Coco made that clear when she gave me that outfit you bought for me. Thank you for that, by the way. I really liked it."

Velvet blushed despite herself out of embarrassment for both Coco's actions and the thanks. "You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. And it really is okay. I don't blame you or anything."

"Even so," Shirou took a few steps forward. There was barely a meter between them now. "I did something like this once before; I swore I would never do it again. Not only did I fail to live up to that promise, I actually did something even worse. I really am a terrible person." Velvet frowned at that but chose to remain quiet.

Shirou stared at the ground for a long moment, clearly choosing his words with great care, before looking up at the sky, "You… know about my past; some of it, at least. About that woman that I loved." Shirou brought his eyes back down to look into Velvet's. The conflict was back in full, along with more than a little fear. "I really like you, Velvet. You're an amazing friend and, if things had been different, I no doubt would have returned your feelings but… I can't. I'm still hurting from losing her. Even though it's been nearly a year by this point, that wound is still fresh." Shirou bowed once again, "I'm deeply sorry."

Velvet froze for half a second, a thousand different thoughts and emotions pulling herself in a thousand different directions. She quickly mastered herself, though, and took another step forward, closing the distance between them. She placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him back up before smiling at him. "It's okay, Shirou. I understand," she said in a soft voice. "I'm glad you feel that way about me and I'm sorry for not considering what you've been through. Thank you for telling me." She paused for another brief moment before closing the distance completely and wrapping him in a hug. "It means a lot to me."

Shirou froze, his body tensing up, but he immediately relaxed as he returned the hug. "You're really better to me than I deserve."

Velvet shook her head as she squeezed him tighter. "You do deserve it, Shirou, and so much more. Even if you don't think so, you're the most wonderful person I've ever met. I know nobody could replace her and I won't try to. If you need time then I'll gladly give you time and, if you ever need anything else, I'll gladly give you that, too."

Shirou squeezed her back as a shudder ran through his body. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Shirou slowly let go and the two stepped apart. "I'll be rooting for you during the tournament," he said as he gave her a gentle smile, the conflict and fear having been washed away.

Velvet smiled back. "Even if I end up fighting Team RWBY?" she asked playfully.

Shirou let out a laugh, "In that case, I'll just root for both of you." He paused for a moment, "Thank you, Velvet."

"It's never a problem, Shirou."

OoOoOoO

It was a dark cave; damp and unnaturally cold.

It was a cursed cave; oppressive and overflowing with malice.

It was a dreaded cave; the end point of so many lives and a long war.

It was a fated cave; the place where all lives would end and one would begin again.

The sound of steel clashing echoed throughout this cave. In the center of one of its massive chambers, two figures danced around each other at speeds beyond normal human reckoning with skill flawless and firm, one with a sword of light and the other with a sword of darkness

Emiya Shirou wasn't sure if his heart was breaking or if it had already broken as his feet slid against the uncaring ground. With a roar of equal parts rage and anguish, he willed his body to move and repel the assault of his opponent. There existed no words that could describe how much doing so hurt him but this was his only path. Both were destined to die on a bloody hill of swords. It was just a matter of who would die first.

Saber Alter— Artoria Pendragon after having been corrupted by All the Evils of the World— faced down her former Master and lover with a perfectly blank mask, her eyes shielded by a visor. Even as Shirou roared and pressed his own assault with tears streaking down his face, she remained blank. It wasn't as if she wasn't trying or wasn't in any danger. Despite the ocean that should have existed between them, Shirou had come close to getting a few hits in, closer than he ever had before, and he was actually managing to keep pace to some degree. He seriously doubted that it was a fight he could win but he didn't have to win. He just had to buy time.

But buying time was killing him. The stress of such intense combat was steadily tearing at his muscles, his nerves were burning from excessive use of prana, his mind was going numb from staring at the curses of Excalibur Morgan as the Unlimited Blade Works tried and failed to so much as analyze that which should not be. Simply put, his body was slowly breaking down but that didn't matter. He had experienced such things before and they barely even registered to him now. What was killing him, what was making every swing of Caliburn harder than the last, was the simple fact that he was here in this situation at all.

Shirou loved Saber with all of his heart. She completed him in ways that were hard to explain simply by existing and he did the same for her. They had been together from the start and always knew that, no matter what, they could rely on each other. Though it took time for them to properly fall in love, that small thing had become their sole comfort as the War slowly transformed into Hell. No matter how bad things got, no matter how many people died, they would stay together and see this through to the end. Shirou had even gone so far as to throw away his ideal of saving everyone as the deaths started to pile up and devoted his entire being to keeping Saber safe.

And then she had sacrificed herself to save him from the curses of Angra Mainyu.

Shirou had desperately wanted to save Saber from her fate but the only thing that had the power to do so was the Holy Grail and it was the Holy Grail that had caused this in the first place. Not even Avalon could fix things for it simply repelled corruption, not removed it. He had become inconsolable when Tohsaka Rin finally forced him to admit that the person he loved was gone and nothing could change that.

The sound of steel clashing echoed through the cave as the two continued their deadly dance. Shirou fought back his tears and focused on the task at hand. The person he had loved was gone, he kept saying to himself, and what he was fighting was but a pale mockery. His beloved Saber would no doubt thank him for doing so. It was a lie he kept telling to himself over and over, as though repeating it enough would make it true.

Shirou swung Caliburn with all of his might and was rewarded as the holy blade cut through Saber Alter's visor. It wasn't a proper hit but it was the closest he had gotten so far. As the visor fell away and revealed her yellow eyes, Shirou froze as his heart stopped beating.

Though her face was blank, her eyes were impossibly sad.

His beloved Saber wasn't gone, she was standing right in front of him and she was in pain. Just as attacking her had been killing him, attacking him was killing her. Shirou felt something snap inside of him when he fully realized just what it was he had been doing, who it was he had been trying to kill.

Despite being tainted by All the Evils of the World, she still loved him.

Caliburn nearly slipped from Shirou's grasp as the full weight of what he had been trying to do hit him. This wasn't a pale imitation, a mockery of the King of Knights, this was her. This was the woman who had appeared before him as if by a miracle and who had stayed with him ever since. He couldn't kill her in much the same way that he couldn't kill himself; the two actions being one in the same.

Even though Shirou had left himself wide open, Saber Alter didn't take advantage of it. Excalibur Morgan stayed in a ready position to stop all attacks but not to launch one itself. She needed to fight but it was clear that she didn't want to. Just like Shirou, each swing of her blade was breaking her heart further.

The number of curses that Shirou aimed at himself grew. This was all his fault. Everyone was dead because of him. The love of his life became tainted like this in order to save him. He had been too weak, too slow, too pathetic, too stupid. He couldn't save anybody. In the end, he couldn't even save the one he loved above all others.

Shirou's body started to move on its own, puppeteered by Caliburn's will. His eyes widened in fear and panic as he felt his prana fill the blade in preparation for its strongest attack. Shirou didn't want this to happen— he couldn't let this happen— but he couldn't stop it. He even tried to dismiss it but either something in the sword or something in himself wouldn't listen.

Saber Alter raised Excaliburn Morgan in a halfhearted block. The Golden Sword of the Victorious shone brightly, its sorrowful light banishing the darkness if only for a moment. Excalibur Morgan flared weakly, its darkness not even trying to overwhelm.

The two swords clashed, Excalibur Morgan was blown away, and Caliburn cut into the flesh of the only person who was meant to wield it.

Blood started to pour out of the wound as Shirou felt his world crumbling around him. Saber Alter slowly raised one of her hands and used it to gently cup Shirou's cheek. She smiled at him tenderly, full of love and care and thanks and forgiveness. Just before her form faded away as she pulled him into a hug, Shirou could swear that her eyes briefly returned to their natural green color. "Don't stop living," he heard her say before all traces of her faded away.

Shirou's heart faded away along with her.

OoOoOoO

Shirou jerked awake, a scream dying in his throat only to be replaced by a sob. He laid the back of his arm across his eyes as he failed to stop his tears from flowing, pain and grief tearing through his soul like a storm. That nightmare played on repeat in his mind regardless of his own wishes, his body wracked with pain every time he saw himself kill his beloved Saber.

It had been some time since he'd had any nightmares and even longer since he'd had that one specifically. No matter how much time passed, no matter how much love his friends showed him, the pain from that wound was as raw as it had been on that day. It was an open, ugly wound on his heart that he doubted would ever go away no matter how much time passed. While he had vaguely mentioned this event to his friends, he knew that none of them could fully understand and he prayed that they would never have to. The only person who could likely fully sympathize was Ozpin.

Once Shirou had calmed down enough to move, he sat up in his bed and turned to lean against the wall. It was three in the morning and he knew that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep. Instead of trying, despite all the pain it brought him, he muttered the spell to hypnotize himself and Caliburn sprung into existence without even a thought.

The Golden Sword of the Victorious glowed dimly in his hands as he laid it across his lap. While looking at it ripped another sob out from his chest, he forced himself to think not of the worst moment of his life but of all of the happy memories he had with Saber. All of the idle conversations they had during meals when it was just the two of them, all of the time spent training together, the moment he had confessed to her, the time when they became one not out of necessity but out of desire.

All of the good memories he recalled calmed him down and brought a sad smile to his face even as his tears continued to flow. There were simply no words that could adequately describe just how much he had loved her and still loved her. While he had potentially implied to Velvet that things might change in the future, he knew that they wouldn't; that they couldn't. Even though Ozpin had said that there could be room for someone else in his heart, he was wrong. The totality of his heart belonged to Saber. It had died that day when she disappeared and it was only recently that it slowly started beating. He knew that there would come a day when the memory of her voice, appearance, and actions would fade from his mind but there was one thing he would never forget no matter what:

He would never forget that he loved her.

A/N: Hot damn. I really loved writing this chapter. Volume 3 contains some of my favorite chapters but this one is definitely up there. We finally get an explanation regarding the relationship magecraft and Aura, two possible explanations as to why Shirou can use Aura, a major step was made in Weiss' character development, we get the conclusion of the Velvet romance subplot (don't worry, our favorite bunny girl isn't out of the plot yet), we finally see the "fight" (more like assisted suicide) between Saber Alter and Shirou, and we end things on one of the most powerful things I have ever written.

A couple of fun facts about the second-to-last scene: It was originally going to be much longer and was going to be a sort of highlight reel of Shirou's Grail War. However, I quickly realized that including all of that served no real purpose so I cut it and made what you just read. I also had to go back and edit the ending bit twice since I remembered that I had established that Saber Alter had hugged Shirou before dying and that I had also established her final words to him.

The next chapter is going to be the last of the original content before we get to the Vytal Festival Tournament. That being said, I've also changed up how that plays out a lot so there's still plenty to look forward to in that regard.

Regarding everyone's new outfits, I borrowed them from random images I found online with the exception of Shirou's so shout out to the original artists, whoever they are. You can find these images over on Imgur here: rof-volume-3-outfits-IWSNAe4 Alternatively, you can pull up this story on AO3 and just click the link. As for Shirou, his outfit is a recolored and slightly modified version of the Shinigami uniform from Bleach; that's why the outfit is called "Reaper." Speaking of names, if you guys have any suggestions for the names of Team RWBY's outfits, I'm all ears since I have nothing.

Now to reply to some reviews:

DBoblivion: I know that this usage of "Incarnation" is a fanon one but it's all that I've got. You'd think that someone as unique as Shirou- someone who has a matching Element and Origin- would have a name since everything else does but no. I actually didn't realize it was fanon until I tried to find it some time ago.

spartan-140: Maybe~

moose master5543: As I stated in the author's note at the end of the last chapter, Shirou was using Myrtenaster because he was playing around and wanted to test an idea that he had (overlaying the skill and exprience of a weapon on the weapon itself). He chose a path to victory that'd still give the girl's a bit of a fighting chance. The only reason it came so close is because Shirou didn't know that Ruby and Weiss could use Spiral Strike while the former was basicall prone as stated in the text.

A hearty thank you to everyone else who left such kind reviews and I'll see you next week!