As I edit the story, part of me has this argument about whether I should add more to a chapter or not. It's certainly a conundrum, but I'm sure I'll know when or what to add or what to remove. It's just a matter of time... which doesn't always come immediately. lol
Chapter 4: First Resolution
The silence was damning. It hung in the air like anchors in what would be a naturally noisy area. It weighed everything down with only the crackle of the fire and rolling rocks on their foot. Every distance they close to their destination changed nothing from the inferno that flickered in the silence. He could only imagine the hell people had been through before they died.
Shirou tensed, a feeling of malice he felt many times before.
"Projectiles incoming!"
He saw it seconds before Saber and with a command of "trace on!" swords appeared and launched themselves. Swords meeting sword, sparking in the air in their clash as the clangs magnified from the silence of the city.
In the distance he saw him, the bastard standing on top of Ryudou Temple's gate with a smirk, he just knew it that was a silent challenge to him and him alone. The infuriating smirk that said, "I know," that just grated him.
His hand shook, the rising fire in him threatening to burst out. Oh, he's livid, but not because they're being attacked. No, livid at something Archer forgot. Perhaps even ignored.
From the mountain, red rained down on them once more. Trained eyes prepared swords once more but with Mash on the front, he trusted her.
"Rho—"
But before they could do anything, runes lit up in the air and a blue barrier shined, coming to life and stopping the sword arrows raining down on them. Raindrops of metal clanged trying to penetrate Caster's runic barrier.
"On my mark, fire."
Caladbolg already appeared and nocked when he said that to Shirou who nodded.
The raining arrow clanged and exploded, but the ethereal blue field hung on bearing the brunt of the attack until it was no more. All around them were swords embedded in the concrete forming a throne and wall of iron and steel.
"Now."
Light flashed and the barrier disappeared, slipping between it and the sword flying fast followed by another, and a last third one just to spite the bastard that was Archer. Despite his want to make sure he was gone for good, the bastard was him, and he was that bastard in some form or another. And Emiya Shirou was a stubborn man to easily die without fighting. He knew this in so many ways.
Continuous explosions lit up, rising into the air forming a mushroom cloud.
"Is he dead?" Mash asked.
"Not in the slightest." He knew the bastard, much as he hated to admit it was good at surviving having been fighting superior enemies in his servitude to the world. "That was just a message for me."
"That he could kill you here and now," Rin said, clarifying things for them. "It looks like this Archer has more of a grudge against you than my Archer did."
"Senpai, why does Archer hate you?"
Shaking his head, he replied, "It's better if I show you. Come on, we have no time. Rin, Saber, you know the route, we split up here to prevent Archer from slowing us down."
Saber frowned, silently disagreeing, but she sighed. "This plan has a lot of risks, and I don't like that Berserker is an unknown. Be careful, Shirou."
"When have I never?" he said with a small smile tugging on his lips. When Rin raised an eyebrow in a silent question, he gave her an earnest smile this time.
"Can't we just not fight him?"
He shook his head at Mash's question. "I wouldn't be so sure. Archer's a stubborn man, there's more than a chance he would follow us, and him baiting me is a better trap than one we don't know."
Rin wanted to say something, he could see it in her eyes, but she pecked his cheek and said, "You better catch up."
"I promise." As they leaned cheek to cheek in a world and a city like theirs but not. Most important of all, in time not of theirs, where they could die, their worry was warranted this time around. Realer as the few times he faced death. In a way, he was reminded of the certain death that hung on them during their own Grail War and in his future when he decided on this path. "When you see Saber, ask her 'what are you fighting for,' and when all else fails, say that I am alive."
Her analytical eyes bore into his as their breaths warmed each other's faces was all they needed to say before she, Saber, and Caster went in a different direction from them and disappeared from the forest of Mt. Enzou.
They walked without trouble and reached the stairs of Ryudou Temple in record time. Of course, as someone who had the chance to have extensive training with various magus and warriors aside from Saber and Rin, it helped in strengthening his foundation in physical abilities—aside from magecraft and adding new sets to it— making the climb easier done this time around.
Meanwhile, Olga, while not tired huffed in the way her chest rose faster than theirs slightly. "Are you okay, Olga?"
"Fine," she said, frowning and gazing up at the temple gates. "I can feel it, the Bounded Field you said it would have. I can sense a powerful presence. Waiting."
"That's Archer, he knew I'd take the bait. Before we go," he said eyes still forward to what awaited them. "Whatever you'll see, I want you guys to stay calm and keep your vigilance with you and don't interfere."
No telling what could go wrong, like Saber said, so it'd be better if he alone confronted Archer but that was impossible at this point.
"I'm not sure I like this, Master." Mash frowned. The demure girl unwavering with disagreement with him, for a right reason too, he knew. No one in their right mind would fight a servant one-on-one, not even the strongest magus of his time.
"Mash." How does one explain to others the almost invisible need to do this? It wasn't out of spite, pride, or hatred; it was about proving that he was not Archer, and would never be Archer. That he was better. Counter Guardian EMIYA was EMIYA, and he was Emiya Shirou, two the same yet fundamentally different existence of the same person regardless of similarities. He may become someone like him, but he will never be like him. "It's something I need to do."
His young servant's frown doubled, and her gaze penetrating. Trying to see what was underneath the person that's Emiya Shirou before a resolute sigh left her lips. "I trust you, Master."
"Director," he said, slightly nodding to start it.
Olga grabbed his hand and muttered, her forehead glowing brighter with each word, making her pale until he felt it; a magical energy from another entering his being. The connection and flowing of magical energy into him was the same one that flowed from him to Mash and Saber.
"Thanks, Olga." He beamed at her.
She spluttered, looking away with a huff. "I can't have anyone under my watch die, not even a third-rate magus like yourself."
"Come on," he said leading them forward and upward, the three of them ascending to his possible death that was called EMIYA.
In the courtyard of the temple, stood his older self, confident and self-assured in his poise. The red shroud he wore now wrapped around his waist showing their similar body, a contrast of his still lighter skin to the other's dark skin.
"Mash, please stay here and guard the Director."
A curt nod was all Mash did as a response. Director Olga covered her nervousness with a foul look that would have fooled anyone unused to it.
He walked, Kanshou and Bakuya in hand, facing the man unblinkingly.
"I didn't think you'd live this long." Coolly the man said, an infuriating smirk on his face. "And to think you'd even drag Saber and Rin of all people in your delusion. Who are you trying to save now? There's no one left to save."
Rin, Sakura, Taiga, Issei, Mitsuzuri, Illya. Everyone was dead. He knew this, and only now did he really acknowledge it. He knew it, but so did he. The dual swords in his hand threatened to break, but he released a deep breath.
He could say that they forced him to do it, but that wasn't entirely true. Time and time again he reminded them that they could be doing something better with their life than be with someone like him, not just to Rin, but to Saber, Illya, and Sakura. Yet they wanted to follow him. To wait for him with a smile at the only place they call home.
He wanted to deny them so they could live better, but he promised; not just to them but to himself he would never end up broken like Archer.
"You were there, Archer." The thought of being unable to save the city ate him alive, and he was sure the him of this time did so too. Unable to fulfill his dream or even save those he held in his heart. "You of all people should know who to save."
"You know nothing." Accusatory was the gaze he leveled at Shirou, something he didn't deny. Still, there was one thing he knew. "Of what I'm protecting and what she's doing."
Copper eyes bore into gray, both unwilling to give ground.
"Corrupted or not, I know she's doing it for a reason." Whether that was the right thing to do was left in the air to decide, but he knew Saber never did things without reason. Everything had a purpose, and he needed to find out what made her prolong this hellish nightmare. "I'm not who I was before, Archer."
"Doesn't look like it if you're still chasing your dream."
Shirou gritted his teeth. His father's dream, his dream, was not wrong. "I'll return what you said, you know nothing."
Archer knew nothing. That the beauty of their dream was not in the end, but in the journey itself. The effort itself and seeing the people smile from being given a second chance at life and knowing they're alive just like them was enough for him. Whether it was saving them through sharing of meals that they prepared themselves or fighting for the peace of their community. The scope of events was inconsequential, only that he—even for a second—brought a smile to their face in the face of the cruel mistress known as life.
He may not save everyone, but he'd be damned if he won't do his best!
He got into stance as Archer projected the married blades mirroring his action. His arms, legs, everything taut, a spring waiting for release while they locked eyes.
They dashed forward, swords swinging, Kanshou above and Bakuya on the side but Archer met his strike. Swords ricocheting and wind blasting, their strikes swift and true but each meeting every time.
Clang.
Archer stood behind Rin, determined to win.
Clang.
There they were, the corrupted Grail oozing, having gone through challenges to get where they were despite his annoyance with Shirou of this time.
Shirou slid back, but he pressed forward again. Sparks, strikes, each meeting every time. But Shirou could feel it, Archer pushed him back slowly even as his muscles strained in power trying to hold him back.
He could lose to anyone, but not to himself!
EMIYA threw the sword which he reciprocated causing them to hit each other and bounced off, their resounding clash blowing winds that screeched and sending dust away. Swords appeared around clashing just as they charged once more, his Durandal against his Married Blades, up, down, left, parry, swing, stab, they went at it none gaining but their dance of steel and blade went on.
Archer swung at the same time, above and right, making Shirou reverse and parry Kanshou and slid Bakuya down the shaft before stabbing but Archer wasn't a servant of the world for nothing. Easily did he blow it aside, returning with a stab which he managed to deflect with a shield landing in front of him.
Fast as lightning Shirou attacked, crouching for the shield grabbing the handle to block the dark sword, and parrying the white sword.
"Oh, so you learned some new tricks." EMIYA smirked. The type of infuriating smirk that he knew was meant to get under his nerves. "But!"
Archer's blade screeched against the shield pushing him back and sending him flying only to stop when stabbed the sword to the ground.
He brought his shield up, the spark lighting the darkness around them, but he pushed back with a stab forcing Archer back.
Never let it be said that Saber wasn't the King of Knights for no reason. Ingrained now into his bones and reflexes were sword skills he never would have known without her long patient tutelage. More than his ability to see, and know, the style of those who wielded the weapons were the teachings of Merlin, Sir Ector's, and Sir Kay's passed onto him through his friend and lover.
The provocation only served to stoke the fire under his calm. Emiya Shirou was still Emiya Shirou, but through his journey, he met people and learned to temper his emotions. They both knew the time for words was long ago finished, now, they—need to—only prove themselves and only themselves as they were now.
Sword and shield versus dual sword clashed, memories flowing from one another to the other with each strike furthering the understanding of each other from different times and life.
Each clang, parry, stab, and cut that creates pressures of winds shook his very being as even with all his skill, EMIYA was still a servant. Still, Shirou persisted in fending off his future self, the light and fire burning within him brightly even with the things he'd seen and experienced. He was more than he was yesterday, and Archer refused to see that.
When both of them jumped back. It was clear this wouldn't be won with martial prowess alone.
"I am the bone of my sword."
The word flickered, a wave of power overwriting the reality of where they stood when said simultaneously. Mash's thoughts flowed to him but compartmentalized for his focus.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
From the fields of hellfire, they lost everything about who they were and what they had. Nothing remained but the fear of looking back to what he was before. But on the same hell, their new lives began with a single thing, a wish, a desire, and a dream born from the single smile of a man.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
His whole life has been a battle, not of physical, but of mental and spiritual need for his dream against all words against it. A battle for his ever-distant dream of happiness for everyone, a world where everyone smiled. He knew it was impossible, but still, just his best effort alone was more than enough. He didn't need to do it perfectly or to reach the utopia. The actions themselves were enough.
"Unknown to death." Archer stepped forward, one becoming two, going towards him with a slow gait.
The same person as they were, Emiya Shirou at their cores but just as the earth and river change, somewhere in life, their lives diverged despite seeking the same dream.
Archer became a hero, leaving everyone and everything he loved behind for the sake of their dream. A hero in every sense, but the very dream shattered upon his long service for the world. A hero for the sake of the dream, just to feel the tiniest shred of happiness in himself too.
But for him, he knew where it ended. And while he would never regret it, Rin and Saber were right: he didn't need to do it alone.
"Unaware of death." Would Shirou regret it? No. But would the deaths of lives he didn't save make him forsake the dream he so sought to kill himself again and again? Never, he promised to himself long ago and to his loved ones would never be like Archer.
To be human is to err. To be alive is to be imperfect. The journey was as important as the destination.
"Nor known to life." Archer, the unknown hero, was betrayed somewhere in his life and died with regrets.
But for Shirou Emiya? While he lived for his dream, he wouldn't die not of fear for himself or death, but because someone was waiting at home for him. Something which took long to set in, but was glad to have learned. Someone who will say, "Welcome home," with the warmest smiles and beckoning that pulled on his heart.
"Nor knowing of loss." In the years to come after the Grail War, Shirou fought hard for his loved one and everyone he saved. Even if he wanted to save everyone, the pain in his heart knew it wasn't possible, still, he endeavored so. To reach the ever-distant utopia through blood and pain he went.
The world around them pulsed with power, his magical energy slowly taking a dip, but Olga true to her word replenished what he lost. His magical circuits added just enough to cast it for a few minutes even with Rin's crest added to him, and their connection continuous as a stream.
"Have withstood pain to create a thousand weapons." The memories of Archer came unbidden to him, of the deaths, of the agony he had. In servitude to a being forever as he was.
"Have withstood pain to reach the ever-distant utopia." Magecraft, something he believed once to be ruining lives, can be learned to be used for good. For the people of this world seeking the same utopia he does. "Seeking that one place."
"Yet those hands will never hold anything." EMIYA who achieved everything yet lost everyone. Was it worth reaching the peak with no one to share it with?
"I have no regrets. This is the only path." The only path he—they— knew to be the Hero of Justice. To smile the same way his dad did.
Shirou could feel the world on the precipice of being subverted, replaced with something unnatural that was their very being. The materialization of their soul.
"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
"My being is Unlimited Blade Works!"
Magical energy exploded and the whole world disappeared in a flash. Everywhere lay not just swords, but various weapons pulsing with power on the ground waiting to be called and wielded. More than that, their worlds were worlds apart with one difference. Green grassy fields swayed under the silver moon surrounded by fiery red stars glowing like forges from faraway lands. A place where one can lay down and rest against Archer's barren soiled world of weapons with gears spinning ever so slowly.
A world of green and a world of dry barren land cleanly divided into two. Of two souls so close but worlds apart.
Olga said something, and Mash's unsaid words echoed in their bonds, but he paid them no mind aside from one warning.
'Mash, cover the director.'
"Director Olga, please get away from here."
This may not be the same Archer that he faced, but nevertheless, he would make him remember what and why he was fighting for. What they were fighting for! Through pain and blood, he persevered to be the hero that their dad wanted to be. Not only for his dad, for his loved ones but also for himself.
For their ideals, borrowed or not, wasn't wrong.
Even if it took forever. Emiya Shirou would wipe the regret out of Archer's eyes.
From the Grail War, much as he wanted to, he was never alone. Rin, Saber, and Sakura were always there for him regardless of what he wanted. For that, he would forever curse himself for not being strong enough to do things with his own strength, but still, he would persevere to reach his dream with them.
"Hoh?" Archer raised an eyebrow as weapons appeared all around him. "Now this is different."
Swords gathered around him, but one in particular he grasped. The first sword he dreamt of, the first he ever fully traced, and like hers, the first he used before Kanshou and Bakuya.
The sword, this simple sword in terms of power compared to its sister sword with its only redeeming quality being its extravagant design. A royal ceremonial sword of olde. A sword coveted by many kings yet all failed.
From the golden pommel, blue handle and hilt, and a golden guard with blue in it that extended past the guard and into the sword blade, a sword to show the King's prestige than a sword made for battle.
The few swords aside from the dual blades that held real meaning to him. And it was with the same blade that he faced his future again.
Shirou didn't need to say anymore, his very action and blade would speak for him. Of answers to questions he needed answering. Archer's doubts and why he's doing what he does now.
He lunged forward, swords flying beside him, clashing in sparks and might. Shirou deftly deflected the swords flying his way, the numbers increasing with every second as expected of Archer. Shirou was not as helpless as he was during the Grail War, a blue spear flew towards him, splitting the air but with all his magical energy in his hands and sword, he deflected it, cutting the wooden shaft in half before ducking and batting aside ballista bolt size sword.
He jumped, releasing the power with a horizontal cut that destroyed the swords in front of him. The others, met with resistance from his conjured blades stopping them in midair as he landed to a skid in front of Archer.
A single downward swing was met with ease with Archer's Bakuya. His arms shaking from the sheer strength of Archer. Its partner cuts from the side making him jump back, but he gritted his teeth upon landing.
The white mystic code he wore split open on the chest followed by crimson seeping out of the pristine white and black it once was. A decade's worth of experience has dulled his sense of pain, even more so when he knew Avalon would heal it.
A single sword deflected and parried against the dual blades of his opponent. Spark after spark between them with a shower of metal countering anything and everything around them.
Reality Marble. Mash's mouth gaped in silence. A Reality Marble of Noble Phantasms. A world of crystallized legends where every weapon pulsed with power rarely seen now, and among them, she saw the very same shield she now wielded. Her master's very words just hit her when he said he can copy every weapon he had seen.
Gripping her shield tightly, she prepared herself for any attack. Something which was taken care of by her new master…., but even with all this, she wanted to join him. To be the shield that would cover him from any dangers as was her newfound purpose.
If she did, would her master like it when she left Director Olga Animusphere in a world of swords and weapons?
She of all didn't expect her master to have something that most magi she encountered would covet without a second thought. She knew about it, an ability that would leave one with a Sealing Designation from the Mage Association for it was as closest one would get to magic.
How could she associate a borderline magic ability with someone gentle like Emiya-senpai? Copper eyes gazing into hers without wordless insults and derision than most did that saw her before. How could she see him as the cold warrior who was fighting a servant when he saved her without second thoughts and regard for his own life?
From the distance, Mash saw with her enhanced eyesight Emiya-senpai in a new light. She thought him a little too soft, gentle even for this occupation but quickly did she retracted that opinion.
His eyes revealed an experience she never seen underneath that more than matched the strength that lay beneath that form allowing him to match the strength of the Archer servant. Their strike meeting hit for hit in a macabre dance of deathly blades and sparks with every sword continuously clashing
The single glittering sword against the dark-skinned Archer of Red's dual curved blades that could cut a single person in half with ease.
The worlds fought just as they did, the constant pushing of the colliding worlds of green and dry soil.
"Mash….," the Director said, hiding the tremble of her voice. "Do you see it."
"What…" If Director Olga said it with fear, then it had to be something. Wasn't it? Even if she had no good opinions of the Director, as a magus, she was better than most she met. "What… what do you mean?" Even as she asked, never did she leave her eyes on the battle, and her shield always ready for anything.
Her golden eyes analyzed everything around them that only a well-educated heir could. "The Reality Marbles, Mash, can you see it. What does that tell you."
It was said that Reality Marble is the physical manifestation of the person's soul. Their ideals, their personality, and who they were as a human. If that was the case what was Emiya-senpai?
The worlds were worlds apart. Emiya-senpai's Reality Marble looked too homely, a scene of after battles when each sword was laid useless without its owner now lost to time with the reeds of bloodied yet swaying grass as the only witness. A world after a battle when peace eventually would come. The time when friend and foe would lay aside their weapons for a solemn peace for the fallen.
Archer's was without a doubt barren and lifeless hill of soil full of what seemed like smog and gears. The very antithesis of senpai's grassy morning moon and burning reds. A world of nothing but weapons always preparing for war; a never-ending fight.
Was there a connection?
Eyes flitted back and forth. Searching for any answer that she may find. Hills, swords, weapons. That wasn't enough of a connection, coincidences at best. Wasn't it? The more she gazed, the more she realized the truth staring back at them.
The weapons, with her servant eyes she could see it all, the same weapons clashed, nullifying each other as two different people of similar physique fought. Neither winning or losing.
Could it be...
When one spoke of heroes, heroic spirits, and servants many things come to mind but mostly legends of the past. People of great esteem and renown that changed the course of history whether big or small, for better or for worse.
Past, that was the word. That was it, wasn't it? Once one becomes a hero they're forever enshrined in the throne of heroes. A world outside of time and space where past, present, and future heroes would forever exist.
But that's impossible.…
"Look closer, Mash. Tell me what you see."
Underneath the clothing of white and black against red and black, a realization dawned on her making her gasp. Beyond the mystery and Reality Marble they possessed was something else that she could see. Through closer eyes did her doubts disappear and her the last air leaving her chest, more than that, something in her screamed from the conclusion alone.
Nearly similar in form, but more than that despite the difference in skin and hair colors, she saw it with her own eyes; golden eyes against gray and faces staring back at each other with an equal amount of intensity she never knew he possessed. The first determined not to lose, to pass break through and the other determined to stop him.
"They…. Emiya-senpai is…."
"A Heroic Spirit." Director Olga finished managing to keep her calm with her. "Or will be."
"But that's…" Impossible, she wanted to say because, in this day and age, heroes were rarer than it was a century ago if one excluded the diminishing mystery. But deny it all she wanted, the undeniable evidence was right in front of them.
Past, present, or future, what one needed to be a hero aside from fame was time.
Was it fate that Emiya-senpai was at the right time and place?
Mash didn't know what she thought of God and gods and even fate in general. But she who was supposed to die was here and now a demi-servant as she was made to be in a contract with a master who will be a hero.
Perhaps, she thought holding her shield tightly close, God is still watching over us.
"You don't know when to give up." Archer's copper eyes bore into his as neither dominated the other. "Even when you know where you're gonna end up!" Shirou gritted his teeth from the sudden strength that pushed him but he held on.
"My—our, dream is not wrong!" He will never regret it. Never will he become like Archer, a shell of a man, a hollow projection of himself who forsook everything he was. "Did you even try!"
Did you try to save them!? When did we go from saving to protecting?
No! He refused to see Archer do this to himself even if the man was aggravating, he would save him. Even if he tried a million times!
"Does the regret you carry so big that you would ignore someone in need!"
Caliburn glowed with power when slowly he pushed Archer feeling himself empowered whether by the sword or his stubbornness, he cared not as long as he would get through him!
Archer struck with a stab which Shirou parried glancing it aside but he pulled swords and shot it only to be intercepted.
"Did you try to save her!?" His chest lit aflame from Archer's negligence of those they cared for. Rin, Sakura, Illya, and Taiga, all gone in this world along with him. "Try to save them!? Save Saber?"
Saber who always bore the weight by herself regardless of what people thought, now undeniably carrying this world's burden to herself too. Knowing Saber, this was the only thing she could think of, yet here EMIYA was thinking he was helping her ease the burden.
No, to ease the burden was to confront it. Not Prolong the Grail War. Archer should know better, if he really wanted to help Saber then they could have confronted the cause that made her do it in the first place.
Protecting was part of a hero's duty, but saving was their first and foremost duty whether it's physically or emotionally, it doesn't matter. The act of saving was the most important.
Caliburn glowed, power resonating within him waiting to be used. To give hope and strength to those who need it.
Once more he attacked, he knew that Archer was stronger than him in strength, but not in spirit! When the stab was redirected he went with the flow and spun fast kicking his side followed by a rain of swords that neutralized each other but Archer stopped the kick skidding a few meters and threw Kanshou and Bakuya.
More dual swords appeared and flew towards him. The swords grew, jagged, and spun faster now coming from multiple directions. He knew what it meant, and it wasn't something he could take head-on without taking injuries.
Left, right, front, and back, his eyes flitted in analysis. The pairs of swords coming for him with no way out.
'Master!'
'No, Mash!' He needed to do this or it would lose all meaning.
Around him, golden particles from the sword glowed floating in the air like fireflies. A resplendent glory that few could ever reach in modern age, one that he was blessed to see in all manner of forms.
"Caliburn!" He breathed deeply containing the heat within when raising the sword, and spun releasing golden energy and blowing the swords away only to gasp falling to his knees when his back cried and wet from something. Shirou stood up, intercepted the last one off course, and charged relentlessly.
He could feel his energy decreasing with every moment. Olga may have fine magical energy but Archer was powered by the grail. A battle of attrition was the last thing they needed when Saber was the real threat they had to deal with.
He pulled a short dagger decorated with nothing but a white hilt, a golden guard, and a dark blade line with gold at the center. A simple white, dark, and gold-decorated dagger that was humble in design and power appeared on his hand.
"Carwennan." With a single utterance, the world became dark and everything in the shadow lit up in darkness lit by flecks of blue. The dagger that cloaked King Arthur, Arturia, during her youth. Ahead, a blue form stood prepared, and he held no illusion that he could sneak up on Archer but it covered him from his rain of broken legends.
He stabbed forward but Archer was fast in his parry, Shirou moved left missing the downswing, and cut back with the sword only to be blocked followed by a counter stab which he met with the very dagger.
He kicked, pushing Archer back. "Trace on!" Rain of swords clashed for superiority as their blades clashed. Shirou jumped and threw the dagger high in the air with a few more blending with the swords he threw.
Without the dagger, the shroud disappeared and everything became normal again.
Pulled from his armory, the drill-like sword appeared in his hand morphing into a thin spiral arrow. Caliburn became a glowing light that bent before revealing itself as a white and golden bow with royal blue string.
"My core is twisted in madness." Power pulsed in the sword, waiting to fly. "Caladbolg!"
He slid back with gritted teeth, the force of the wind sending him flying back when a blast of light capable of destroying a huge part of a city rattled their world and everything in the vicinity of it. Dust and smoke gathered, concealing him from Archer and the same could be said of the opposite.
With ragged breaths, Caliburn dropping to the ground broke the silence that heightened the silent anticipation of whether his gamble worked or not. Glaring at nothing, his senses detected nothing, but his guard remained nonetheless.
When the smoke cleared, Archer knelt and stabbed in multiple places. Worst of all was the stab by the black and gold knife, and his world giving way to Shirou's as the barren land became grass under the moonlight. The one dagger struck his chest right into the servant core.
"Heh." With a wry smile did he looked at him dropping the zigzagged dagger he held in his hand. Coughing blood and wincing, he removed the one in the chest. "Arturia's weapon. The Penumbral Dagger; Carwennan. The…," he coughed, wincing trying to stand up. "The… few weapons I don't have."
"She gave me that." Through searching did they find it. The memory she allowed him to gaze upon and to make it his own as one of the mementos when the day for them to say goodbye came. Everything that she was, would be, and now remembered through the legends of her weapons in his world. But most of all, through their time together.
"Why," he asked.
"You know the answer."
Why did you stop. A hero protects, but most of all, a hero saves.
The solemn smile turned sour. "If you knew what was ahead, you would realize that I… we… were right."
Would he? Breathing deeply, he came to the answer with defiant clarity. "No, I would not. Whatever Saber is bearing, I will carry it, fight it, and bear it with her. I will fight to the ends of my life to save her even if she doesn't want me to."
He threw Caliburn before him, landing a mere inch away. "Corrupted or not, I know she's still Saber unlike you."
"You—"
"Know nothing." He glared, knowing that one fact. "But I know one thing; you forgot yourself. A hero saves, not just protects, regardless of who they face. Rin, Sakura, Taiga, Saber, all of them gone and here you are standing and doing nothing, delaying the inevitable demise."
Whether it's God, the entire Mage Association, the world, or even himself, he would not stop saving those who needed it. "A hero would face that demise head-on. And you forgot that."
Shirou let go of his world, returning them to where they were moments ago. Archer was too injured to move, it would take him a day or so to move again. Especially when he cut himself off from the grail.
To be sure, he glanced at Archer, ready to pull out any weapons in case he did something. Downed as the man was, strength still laid in him, in which the unblinking stare held. A stare that now revealed held more hope than his bitterness. "Don't you dare let her down."
"Never." Never in his wildest dreams. "Mash, Olga, let's go." He turned to see Olga on her knees breathing faster. "Are you okay?"
The woman glared at him. "Okay?! Are you trying to kill me!? Do you realize how hard it was to maintain your Reality Marble, between maintaining it and using your liberal use of Noble Phantasms it's a miracle I'm still alive."
He winced, realizing that he himself could only maintain it for ten minutes at best even with what he had from Rin. "Can you move?"
"Yes," she tilted her head up, her knees shaking but she made it. "I should be asking you that! You're hurt."
He stretched, turning his gaze to the red on his back and wincing when he did so. Still less than what minutes ago, now that the rush of battle was slowing down. "Let's just say I heal fast."
Mash frowned. "Still, Senpai, you should be careful."
"Come on, Emiya. Lead us to the grail."
The path to the grail was straight and free of anything, but the closer they get the stronger the corrupted mana got. Wafting in the air like pollution, an unnatural one that can't be easily removed even by magecraft. A warning of things to come.
Olga felt it and tried to keep her trembling controlled when they got to the entrance of the cave. Mash stood next to him, shield ready.
Looking at the pathway, this was a sight he would never forget even if he tried to. Much like… he shivered and buried the images that rose in the deepest part of his mind.
He focused on the fleshy wall of the cave, the same as he always remembered it as they walked towards their death. The final hurdle in the closing days of the Grail War when they were already tired, battered, and scarred from battle after battle against Kirei, Gilgamesh, Zouken, Sakura, and now the final enemy that was contained in the Grail itself.
That wasn't including that almost two years later.
As they got deeper, pulsating mana made the very ground around them shake.
"Senpai, the cave." She said pointing at the oozing substance that was everywhere.
"Don't touch that." Mash stopped on his order.
Caster said that the substance in the grail, the very one in the grail that burned more than the body, corrupted Saber. If the same substance was in that… thing, then he couldn't let Mash be corrupted. For such an innocent girl to be like that, would hurt him for failing her as master.
The path became wider as they went on, the halls twisted and curved, and had he not known the way would've gotten them lost. In a wide cavern with an exit on the other side, crags free of corruption but the destruction in here was more than enough to have destroyed it. Still, the mana persistently lingered in the air, and with it, the stench of the corrupted energy the Grail held.
"What happened," Olga asked, flaring her mana in case of anything.
"They must have fought someone."
"Master, do you think it was Berserker?"
He nodded as he led them. It was fortunate for them that it wasn't Heracles, because a corrupted Heracles was something he'd feared above all. Even with Caster and Saber together, this place wouldn't survive if it was him.
"Be careful." Over a small pointed spire, he pulled shields shaped like a plank and walked over the spikes on the ground ahead. Grunts and steps followed him, and once in a while, he turned to both of them, especially Olga whose breath increased with every minute.
He'd offer help, but he knew she would deny it. He reminded her of Rin for that reason. So, if she needed it, he would, but not now it would seem.
The final path leading to the grail cavern was straight but rocks fell randomly from the ceiling making him worry not just for his companion's sake, but for Rin and the others. They can handle themselves he knew, but still, he worried nonetheless because up ahead the ambient mana made his very hair stand on ends.
"Senpai."
"I know," he said curtly. A stark difference in scent and power as both tried to overwhelm the other. He knew the battle still raged on as Saber's emotions bled into his the closer he got. "Mash, be ready. Olga, be careful."
The woman scoffed and puffed her cheeks, glaring at him. "Worry about yourself more, idiot. I'm not the one with the death wish."
Shirou for his part took the words in stride.
Shaken as Mash was, she held it in and wielded her shield with more dignity than he ever did since that fateful night.
On the opening exit, light flashed from red, yellow, gold, and black. Dancing in spiral and sparks that looked like fireworks that would have impressed an artist had it not been a battle to the death. But it was anything like fireworks.
The scene they came to was one of war. Rin formed a gem defensive barrier while far in front of her flames, vines, and earth together with golden blasts held off a figure in dark armor.
Said figure in dark armor was someone he had known all his life at this point. Even when bright vibrant blonde hair turned pale, it was a figure he knew in and out. The fair skin now pale and the once gentle green eyes a harsh gold that bore no resemblance to the Saber he knew wielding a black sword that released great dark power swallowing the attacks of the two servants she faced.
Yet, for all of these changes, he still saw—Saber—Arturia Pendragon in her. The woman he had fallen in love with.
What they lacked in power, they gained in skill. Fast and swift was Saber's strike when she capitalized on Cú's stab with the first Gáe Bolg. This Saber twisted the sword deflecting the red spear, then just like a flash redirected the golden Excalibur in an arching swing from the top before releasing magical energy with her sword.
With a single swing, an arching magical dark flame was unleashed but Cú let out fire and lightning with swift runes in the air.
Dark Saber strong and powerful, empowered by the grail bore it with her magic resistance and countered with her torrent of dark energy strikes that kept the two at bay as every move and swing made the ground tremble.
Power coalesced into her dark Excalibur, a dark illumination pulsed with malevolent power. With a swing that ocean of black mana fired at lightning speeds but Cú threw the first Gáe Bolg in the air and spun the staff now in his hand slamming it to the ground creating a wall of vine and fire.
The dark attacks rose to great heights and spread far and wide when they collided.
Saber swung and fired a golden beam that deflected the attack aside causing the earth to shake and rocks to rain above them. For only a mere moment before the dark power righted itself proving strong against the fleeting gold and red that clashed like thunder. Cú slid back but his barrier held on.
He ran to Rin, Rho Aias against the influx of power that even he and Rin couldn't supply forever. His heart broke seeing Saber like this, not because of what she's doing, but being alone in bearing the burdens of the world.
He knew it, and he could only clench his hand at all this.
"Shirou, don't." Rin knowing him, stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Rin, she's always alone." She bore the weight during her reign, she carried him to the best of her abilities through the Fifth Holy Grail War all for her kingdom to live a better life. That was why he did his best to bear everything during the war even at his life's cost. "She's always alone in bearing it all. You of all should know that."
His soul screamed, and his hand shook because, in the end, she ended alone. Like Archer. No! Not anymore.
She shook her head. "Shirou, that's not our Saber. Not your Saber. If she's our Saber, whatever she is now, is no more."
His fist tightened, but he needed to do this. "I'm sorry, Rin."
Rin sighed, shaking her head in frustration. "I knew it. I'll come with."
"No!"
"Shirou," she said leveling him the most angry glare she could muster. "I promised Sakura, and I will not fail my sister!"
He shuddered knowing how vindictive Sakura could be in her revenge sometimes. Rin can pretend so, but he knew what she's doing and only shook his head.
"I'll cover our advance."
"Idiot, don't waste any more mana, my crystals are enough to cover your approach."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Olga cleared her throat, arms crossed tapping her foot in anxiety. "You can't go barging in on a fight without your Servant. And you're forgetting about me."
Mash silently protested, her eyes defying him by slamming her shield down. "Senpai… Master."
'I want to stand by your side.'
He sighed already knowing where this went, not just with Rin and Saber, but Sakura and Illya too. Women of different backgrounds but all headstrong in their own way.
"I'll stay here and provide energy and cover," Olga said pointing at the pointed rocks. "To…." she looked away frowning at something only she could see. "I can't let employees die under my watch. I can't sully the Animusphere name."
Shirou found that acceptable, one less thing to worry about and more worry about how he would help the darkened Saber.
"I can see gears rolling in your head, Shirou." Rin looking paler now as blasts and spells of Saber and Caster fought Saber Alter to a standstill once more. Dark Arturia's sword glowed with a dark light that empowered the shadows more.
Saber moved to counter with her own but he saw it, shifting slowly. Swallowing dark light headed towards them shaking and destroying the very ground just by vicinity faster than anyone but them could defend.
Magical energy flowed in him, his body slowly heating and ending in his hands. A power waiting for its release.
"Mash!"
His new Servant was quick to his side with the shield, raising it in the air as power flowed through her and siphoning some of his to power hers. Both powers released, a symphony of two different Noble Phantasms but with the same purpose; to defend.
Pink and blue dancing as one, the ethereal Castle walls and the great impenetrable Greek walls.
"Lord Chaldeas!"
"Rho Aias!"
Pink seven-petaled magical shield side by side with the giant shield, faced the hellish fire of dark Excalibur's searing strike. Their world darkened, the ground trembled, and the air a searing flame of shock and awe of power rarely seen. Magical energy flowed through him just to maintain Aias.
He ignored the heat from within and without, magical energy powering his legs just to stand his ground beside Mash. Like a broken glass, something shattered.
One, two, three, one by one the petal broke even as he maintained it, mana draining from him. His circuits and nerves heated up but he bore it all with gritted teeth. Mash slid back together with him, passing what energy he had to her while supporting Saber.
Forever did it feel before the power eased, and the darkness faded, he breathed out kneeling letting go of the shield.
Everything blurred but he fought through it. Rage, anger, and confusion broiled when he looked up, then to Mash who carried him. Shirou gently pushed her away, standing on his shaking knees.
"Saber!" Bleariness faded when he screamed.
"What devilry is this!" Screamed someone in anger, someone familiar but his ringing ears took away his focus. "You dare deceive me!? No more of this trickery."
He gasped when great mana gathered ahead, but he put strength to his legs, reinforcing himself. "Saber! I don't know what you're doing but I know you're doing it for a reason! I want to—"
"Silence! No illusion and lies will stay my hand."
"Saber!" he called, running ahead of Rin and Mash.
"Shirou!"
"I have… no, I need to do this!"
Saber wanted to say something but felt her stop at the last second. Appreciating her understanding, wary as she may be of what he was about to do.
Different Saber or not, she's still Arturia! "I need to know! Saber, what are you bearing alone."
"Shirou, she's evil," said Saber not looking back to them, instead focusing herself on her enemy. "For only one lost in the dark as her could taint the holy sword that is Excalibur."
"You think me knave but it is not I who cast illusions of dead people to stay my hand. You know nothing!" A great flame burst out of the sword. "You think me evil but know of how I ruled, naive Arturia. Prepare thyself!"
But he did! He saw her deeds and valor through the shadow of her sword. All that she did to safeguard the people of her kingdom.
"Dark Knight or not, I know you're still you! I'll save you." From yourself, if he needed to! Shield in front and sword in the other, just as Arturia taught him.
"Silence! Illusions of dead men will not sway me." Morgan bathed in flame bigger than shrouded it before and in it danced her anger, her grief, and her steadfast ideal. Swung it, an ever-compassing dark flame destroying everything in its path.
Saber closed in, a gust of wind blowing when Excalibur crashed against the dark sword. Pulsing with power against the tide of darkness, a beacon of light that held it back. Yet, he could feel Saber's struggle when she started sliding back.
The sheer power sent flying back and the power uncontrolled.
Shirou pulled Caliburn and Prydwen. Blue and golden shield together with its partner and stood before her. He knew it during the war, he understood it halfway through the war, and it became a part of him after the war, so he knew how heavy the weight she carried alone.
He gritted his teeth from the sheer force of the attack, but he could feel it straining—buckling—under the attack.
"Saber! I'll save you!" He didn't know if his words reached the depths of her heart amidst the howling wind but he would not hesitate to save her from herself again if he needed to.
When the attack stopped, his knees surrendered and the breath he was holding in finally came out of his burning lungs. Mash's voice echoed with Saber's but his ears rang and vision danced.
"I see. Then prepare yourself!" Her sword glowed anew.