Honkai of Fate

Chapter 19: Kaslana's Tranquility

After being dropped off by Anti-Entropy's helicopter, the Kaslanas all decided to take a goodnight's sleep to stabilize themselves from the time lag from going to different parts of the world. Although Kiana did fell asleep first, despite her energetic personality, Siegfried and Cecilia decided to lay her on her bed. Siegfried himself decided that if he wants to reconnect with his daughter, he'd have to do it tomorrow.

With that out of the way, the couple were now left to wonder on where Shirou was supposed to sleep. This clearly wasn't in their plan when they visited Anti-Entropy after all. All that they were supposed to do was visit Shirou, help him in any ways that they can so that he can adjust carefully to the things that's happened over the past years, and to wish him good luck before leaving.

But with their daughter's pleading on getting Shirou adopted into their family, along with Welt suggesting it in the first place that got Kiana to continue, they were now left with a confusing decision. Where does Shirou sleep? Clearly he can't just sleep on the couch, which would be rude for a son that they just adopted. Their bed is out of the question as well, if Kiana were to find out that he slept with them together, she'd just get jealous.

With their options lessened and with no other ways out of this, they decided that Shirou could sleep with Kiana. Both of their small child bodies are enough for the both of them to fit in the girl's single bed after all.

They soon tucked Shirou in right beside Kiana, to which the little girl hugged her big brother in her sleep like a squishy plushy, to which then amused both Siegfried and Cecilia by their daughter's action. When he was tucked in and tightly hugged by Kiana, "Sirin" laid down next to Shirou as well, this led the boy feeling a little cramped being squeezed by the two.

This action was a bit unexpected to the parents. The both of them already know that this isn't really THE Sirin that they both knew about, but it was still a bit of a shock that this figure would do such an action. To them, Sirin was one that doesn't show her gentle feelings so openly and that she would mostly deny it, not to mention that she can be a bit too prideful in her role when she was the Herrscher of Void.

But nonetheless, the both leaved Shirou too it. Siegfried left the room with a bit of an awkward smile while Cecilia followed behind her husband with a light chuckle leaving her mouth. When the door of Kiana's room was closed, the couple went to their room to get some sleep as well. This left Shirou squeezed in between the two girls that he would now call "sisters".

There was really nothing much that he can do but to embrace this fate of his, so he closed his eyes to get some sleep as well.

Said sleep however…

"Huh?" Ended in him being inside his Reality Marble. "I'm here again…" He said as he scanned the area before he let out a small smile. "Not much has changed around this place. Still though, it's weird that I keep being transported into this world in my sleep or whenever I'm unconscious. Is there perhaps a way to deactivate it?" Despite that thought, he brushed it off before walking straight to where Ddraig and Albion are usually located.

After a few miles of walking, Shirou finally managed to stop at the usual location of Ddraig and Albion, which is where the golden flowers in the shape of Avalon was located. Although… "Ddraig? Albion? Where are you guys?" Despite Shirou calling to them, they didn't appear. He was alone in that place. "Strange… They're usually here…"

His head turned to look at the sky, the sun and moon were still there, circling around each other very closely with their respective time zone of day and night swapping wherever they both spun. The green aurora was still there as well, pointing into one single direction. Shirou let out a small sigh as he sat on the golden flowers.

"Just when I needed to ask them questions that needed to be answered..." He laid down completely, basking in the ethereal image of the place. "It was then that they're nowhere to be found." His thought then ran to different things, his times with Kiritsugu, his times at the Tower of Babylon, and his times with Sirin. "Right… Sirin… I wonder if I'll be able to get that chance to show her this place."

"That's seriously what you're wondering about, kid?" An unknown voice said, which got Shirou to slightly stand up from laying. Then a blue slash came and divided space, it soon opened with a burst of cold wind and ice dust, which then revealed Albion stepping out of the slashed space. "You really are thinking about strange this, kid."

"Albion!" Shirou shouted as he fully stood up. "I was wondering where you went. Where's Ddraig?"

"He's… busy right now." Albion answered before he continued. "Also, I did say that we needed to talk, remember?"

"Oh, right." Shirou nodded before asking. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Albion sighed as if trying to prepare himself for something that he was about to reveal. "Sirin… She… Oh boy… *SIGH* She's not who you think she is, Shirou."

That got the boy confused. "What do you mean? Isn't Sirin still Sirin? I don't get what you're trying to say, Albion."

The White Dragon rubbed his head and prepared himself to reveal it to the boy bluntly. "Okay, I'll give it to you straight. Sirin is gone, Shirou. She's no longer here with you."

The boy's eyes widened. "W-What…? B-But isn't Sirin still here? S-She hugged me when I was tucked into bed just a few moments again."

"That's not Sirin anymore, kid…" This revelation broke Shirou and Albion noticed it too. "Look… I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I can't let you delude yourself about this situation. That Sirin that you thought was Sirin, isn't really her anymore."

"No… Please, stop! You're lying!" Shirou shouted.

Albion sighed again before closing his eyes and channeled his powers. Glitch particles started to surround him as the lines of his body started to glow blue, ice seem to be in the air because Shirou can see mist surrounding the White Dragon's body and he was starting to feel chilly. Then with a forceful pull, Shirou's eyes widened again when he saw the same "Sirin" as the one he saw back then.

"N-No… It can't be…" The boy was in disbelief.

"Oh but it is, kid. Believe it or not, the truth is right in front of you." Albion placed a hand on "Sirin's" shoulder. "This is the Sirin that you thought was the real Sirin, correct? Well I hate to break it to you, kid. But that Sirin and this Sirin, is no longer THE Sirin that you once knew."

The boy fell onto his knees, completely in despair. "B-But… I thought that she lived. She acted the same with me as she did back then…"

Albion could only pity the boy, but he still tried to comfort him. "Hey, listen to me." He placed a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "Don't let this despair get to you, kid. I may have said that this is isn't THE Sirin that you knew, but she is STILL Sirin."

"W-What?" Shirou became confused, his despair was slightly gone. Albion knew he had to take this.

"This figure, let's say for easier explanation, is one of my powers as the Herrscher of Tranquility; Quantum Figure." The White Dragon explained as he continued. "This power allows me to replicate life, essentially human beings, into translucent blue figures that can serve me. However, there's a catch." He grinned at the boy as he started to explain further. "These Quantum Figures are still sentient of their actions and feelings in a sense."

Albion grabbed a sword from the ground. "Let me show it to you." Unexpectedly to Shirou, Albion threw the sword at him in high speeds that he couldn't react.

*CLANG!*

But the one that did react was "Sirin", who was now in front of Shirou with a Subspace Lance in her right hand, albeit translucent blue in color. Shirou couldn't believe it when he saw this and the White Dragon just grinned even bigger. "You see, kid? These figures still know how to act on their own. Sirin here wouldn't have blocked that attack for you if she wasn't able to do so."

Albion crossed his arms when he saw that the despair in Shirou's eyes started to fade. "Quantum Figures is a power that allows me to recreate figures made out of "Quantum Essences". If you want a simpler version of what I said, I'm essential giving "life" and "soul" to said figures while using my own body and soul to create them."

"Body and soul? Wait, doesn't that mean that you're—!"

"Don't get the wrong idea, kid. What I'm doing doesn't reduce my life in a sense. When I said that I'm giving these figures "life" and "soul", I didn't mean literally using my own life and soul to create them." Albion shook his head. "What I'm doing is "recreating" how the figure that I created used to act, feel, and think. That's what I meant when I said these figures are made out of "Quantum Essences", I'm replicating the figure's whole identity and soul from the bottom-up to give them a sense that they are "alive" and distinct."

Shirou then placed the dots together and it clicked. "Then that means…"

Albion nodded at Shirou. "That's right kid! When you activated this skill, albeit unexpectedly and unconsciously, you were trying to "recreate" the person you were thinking. You essentially used Quantum Figures to create a "soul" of Sirin, which created the "Sirin" that you know right now."

To say that Shirou was confused on how to feel, would be right. First of all, he doesn't know how to feel about this. Recreating a "soul" of Sirin to create a Quantum Figure version of her gives him a sense of relief that she is still with him despite the figure not really being her in a sense, but this also gives him a slight sense of despair knowing that the "Sirin" right now isn't really THE Sirin that he once knew and the real one is still out there, suffering for all he knows. So it's really confusing for the boy.

"But wait, this doesn't add up." Shirou said while looking at "Sirin".

"What do you mean, kid?" Albion asked.

"When you said that I used this power, I was trying to "recreate" the person I was thinking. But I also thought of Kiritsugu back then." The boy turned to the White Dragon. "Why is it that only Sirin was "created" and not Kiritsugu as well?"

Albion placed a hand on his hip. "Well, think of this way. You were more attached to Sirin than you were with Kiritsugu."

"Huh?" Shirou tilted his head in confusion. "More attached?"

"Uh-huh. Your experiences with Sirin, the way you tried to convince her back then to stop, and your life together back in the Tower of Babylon. You were more attached to the girl than you thought, kid. More than you were with Kiritsugu, that's for sure. Kiritsugu may have been your first father-figure, but Sirin was your first true friend ever. One can even say that you two are even closer than normal friends."

"This is… good news, I suppose." Shirou stood up and walked closer to "Sirin" before stopping a 5 meters away. "Then does that mean that I'm able to "recreate" more than one figure?" He asked to Albion while still looking at "Sirin".

Albion nodded his head. "Pretty much. But yours is still an incomplete version. The "Sirin" that you recreated and the "Sirin" that I recreated right now is not a complete version of Quantum Figures. This version that you're looking right now looks more like a mannequin with a wig than what a true Quantum Figure looks like."

"I see." Shirou smiled at "Sirin" before holding her hands. "I still have a long way to go, huh? Becoming a Protector of Humanity really isn't going to be easy."

"No path is truly an easy one to walk through, kid." Albion answered. "Take it one step at a time, get help from others and don't shove them away. You'll need it to become this Protector that you always dreamed about."

Shirou nodded slowly. "Yeah… I know, Albion." Golden particles started to cover his body, this only meant one thing for the both of them. "I guess I'm waking up now."

Albion let out a small grin. "Well it was a great conversation while it lasted. Hope this explains a few things about using the powers of my Core of Tranquility, Quantum Figures is a power of the Herrscher of Tranquility after all. Be thankful to yours truly." He smacked his chest with a prideful grin on his face.

"Ahahaha." Shirou let out a small laugh before nodding. "I am, Albion. Thank you for telling me about this. I guess Herrscher powers aren't that bad if this is what one of your powers can do." Shirou then started to fade. "Well… I'll be going now."

*FWOOM!*

With that, Shirou disappeared completely from his Reality Marble.

In the real world; Kiana's Bedroom…

When Shirou woke up, he felt a tight squeeze on his left and heard mumbles from the mouth of his new little sister. "Ehehe… Fried Chicken… Mama's fried chicken is the best… Ehehe…"

Shirou couldn't help but smile and pat Kiana's head before waking her up. "Kiana. Hey, Kiana, it's time to wake up, sis." Unable to wake up the girl, Shirou decided he'd play a little prank on her little sis. "Ahem." He cleared his throat before shouting loudly. "Kiana Kaslana! Wake up or you'll never get to eat Mama's fried chicken for breakfast!"

"UWAH! Mama, I'm sorry! I'm getting up! Just please leave my portion alone!" When Kiana shouted that in a panic, she then noticed the playful grin that his big brother has on his face before she managed to put the dots together. "That was mean, big brother! What if I really did miss out on Mama's fried chicken?!"

Shirou couldn't help but let out a small laugh before patting Kiana's head and apologizing. "I'm sorry, Kiana. You just wouldn't wake up. When I heard you mumbling about Cecilia-san's fried chicken, I couldn't help but use it. I'm sorry, little sis. Can you forgive me?"

Kiana pouted but hugged Shirou tightly. "If Mama's going to have fried chicken today, I'm having some of your portions."

Shirou smiled and hugged Kiana back. "If Cecilia-san does, sure."

"Stop calling Mama by her first name! She's your Mama now too, y'know!" Kiana retorted loudly. "Now, call Mama as Mama."

Shirou was a bit taken back at this. "Oh the consequences of my actions." He sarcastically thought before sighing in defeat. "Mama is… Mama."

Kiana smiled and nodded. "Good!" She then got up from her bed before stretching. "Ngh! Ah! Big bro, let's get some breakfast!" Without waiting for Shirou, Kiana ran out of her bedroom like the wind.

Shirou couldn't help but hum in amusement. "I guess someone's eager." He then started to walk out of Kiana's bedroom as well and headed straight towards where the dining room is located in the house.

At the dining room/kitchen…

Kiana was already seated at the table right beside Siegfried who has a can of beer gripped in his right hand, a grin on his face, and his other hand patting Kiana's head. The girl herself was giggling when the man patted her head. "Papa, that tickles!"

"Hahaha! You like it when I do this, don't you?" Siegfried laughed before noticing Shirou. "Oh! There's my boy! Come on, Shirou. Cecilia's just about to finish cooking breakfast."

Shirou couldn't believe that Siegfried was already drinking so early in the morning. "Is it really alright for you to start drinking this early, Si— I mean, dad?"

Siegfried noticed how Shirou changed his words from calling him from his name to calling him "dad", but the Former Knight just shrugged it off, he can understand that Shirou still needs time to adjust at this sort of thing. "Bah! Don't mind this old man of yours. Besides, I'm only drinking one can. It's not that big of a deal."

"It kinda is when your mouth is already smelling like a drunk." Shirou retorted before sitting right next to Kiana. "Sorry that I didn't manage to cook breakfast though."

This intrigued Siegfried. "Oh? You can cook? First I've ever heard of it."

Shirou nodded his head before answering. "Yeah, I know how to cook. My old man back then was a disaster in the kitchen, he couldn't really cook properly. So I had to take the time to do it, although it did took some practice, but it was worth it. If no one in our house could cook, we would've starved to death already."

"Hahaha! So your old adoptive father didn't know how to cook back then, huh?" Siegfried laughed before Kiana talked.

"Well, you're not really that great of a cook either, Papa." The girl stated, Siegfried felt like an invisible arrow stabbed him in the chest. "Mama usually is a better cook." Siegfried felt like another arrow pierced him.

Shirou noticed how the man was sulking a bit and turned to Kiana. "Sis, I think it's best to keep some words unsaid." He said with a sweat drop. "Clearly dad here didn't like how you said it so casually."

"Oh! Sorry, Papa!"

"It's alright, baby doll…" Siegfried patted his head with a small smile on his face. "I know you're right."

"Breakfast is ready!" Cecilia entered the dining room as she entered with a bowl of chicken stew, freshly pan-seared steaks, and a bowl of rice for each of them. "Sorry that it took a while, the chicken stew had to take some time to boil before I could finish it."

"Sirin" then entered the dining room with the plates, utensils, and cups. "Oh, Sirin! Thank you so much, dear!" Cecilia thanked her daughter before helping her setup the table. "Sirin" then took a seat next to Shirou after Cecilia had helped with setting up the table.

Shirou smiled at "Sirin" before looking at the food that Cecilia made. "I'm surprised that you three are able to eat something like this while in the middle of nowhere. Clearly you three have been doing well, so that's good." He said before taking a bite at the steak. "This is quite good…" He muttered to himself.

Cecilia smiled when she heard Shirou's compliment. "Thank you, dear! And yes, although we are in the middle of nowhere like you said, we've been doing pretty well on our own." She took a sip of her stew. "Hmm… Could use a bit more salt though…"

"Mmm~! Mama's cooking really is the best!" Kiana shouted as she took another bite of her steak before eating a bit of her rice. "Although big bro said that he could cook, I'm not even sure if he can go up against Mama."

That wounded a bit of Shirou's pride. "Hey! I may still be a child, but something like this is simple to make, you know!" Kiana giggled and that irked Shirou a bit. "Is this pay back when I woke you up earlier?"

"Hmm~. Maybe~." Kiana teased before she took sipping her chicken stew.

Shirou sighed before groaning. "Ugh…"

"Haha! It hasn't even been that long when you got adopted here, Shirou, and you two are already acting like real siblings." Siegfried laughed again before drinking a bit of his beer. "Ah~..."

*FWOOP!*

"Ah—! Hey!" Siegfried shouted when Cecilia swiftly swept the beer out of his hand. "I was drinking that, dear!"

"You can drink as much as you want later, but drinking so early in the morning, especially during breakfast, is a no-go, mister." Cecilia stood up and placed the beer inside the fridge before walking back to the dining room and sitting on her chair.

Siegfried sulked hard. "My… beer…"

"Sirin" seemed to vibrate uncontrollably as if she was laughing, her mouth also curved up to that of a grin before she completely burst out laughing. "Haha… Hahahaha!"

When everyone heard the translucent girl's laugh, Shirou started to giggle a bit and Kiana started to giggle as well right after him. Cecilia just smiled with closed eyes and Siegfried shook his head before letting out a small smile as well.

"This is good…" The Former Knight muttered to himself. "I like it when it's just like this. Peaceful, and warm… Just like a real family." He thought to himself with a smile on his face.

The table was filled with laughter before it died out soon enough and everyone started getting back to eating, there was also a few talks here and there before everyone finished their meal. Cecilia took the dirty plates and decided to clean them when Shirou started to help her. Although she didn't wanted to force Shirou to help, the boy insisted to help her, and knowing she can't really force Shirou out of it, she allowed Shirou to help her with cleaning all of the plates while Kiana and Siegfried took some time on the couch to rest.

After a while, December 3, 2007; 11:00 AM…

After eating breakfast and two hours later, Siegfried was out of the house, heading straight towards the near village to hunt down any of the Honkai Beasts that were potentially roaming around and causing havoc to the villagers. Cecilia stayed home with Shirou, "Sirin", and Kiana, the children were outside because Kiana decided to play with her big siblings.

"So what do you girls want to play?" Shirou asked while sat down on the snowy ground beneath them.

"Let's play tag!" Kiana suggested. "Mama took me to the near village once and I saw the kids about the same age as us playing tag. It's basically running around, trying to not get tagged by the one that's it, and if you get tagged, you'll be the one who has to chase the other kids and try to tag one of them."

Shirou nodded his head. "Sure, not like any of us will get hurt anyways." Kiana's eyes sparkled and "Sirin" nodded her head.

"Yay! Okay, I'm going to be it first! I'll count to ten, so you two better run!" The white-haired girl grinned as she started counting while Shirou and "Sirin" ran to different directions.

"10… 9… 8… 7…"

With Shirou…

"*HUFF* *HUFF* This should be far enough." Shirou panted after running away from Kiana. "Now, let's just find a place to hide in." The boy turned his head left and right, but all that he could see was snow everywhere on the ground and large trees. "This forest seems really dense…" Yet despite this, Shirou still walked, trying to find a hiding place.

After a while of searching, he finally gave up as he couldn't find the perfect spot. "Everywhere I look, it's just the same thing over and over again." He sighed. "How long have I been running around anyways? Don't tell me that Kiana's still trying to find me."

*KLING!*

Shirou's ears perked up when he heard some sort of metal sound.

*CLANG!*

His ears perked up again as he started to look left and right, trying to scout where the sound was coming from.

*BANG!*

It was then when a loud gun shot was fired did Shirou managed to pin point the sounds location. "The West… What's happening there?" Unknown dangers were looming in the place that he was in, but he didn't care. "If there's someone in trouble, I gotta hurry and protect them!" With that thought, he ran and ran towards where the sound was located.

He ran and ran, he kept running even if he was running out of breath. When he finally made it, he saw a man fighting 5 Honkai Beasts in total with his orange flaming zweihandr.

"ORA!" Siegfried slashed down at one of the Honkai Beasts surrounding. "Come one, come all! Is that the best that you can do?! I've fought stronger beings than you punks!" The Knight, ever-so loose, ignited his blade before thrusting it forward right into another Honkai Beast's chest. "This isn't even a warm-up!"

"ROOOGGHH!" A Honkai Beast roared as it tried to slam its massive paws down to pummel Siegfried.

"You're annoyingly loud!" Siegfried turned around before swiping the beast into half with burning sparks of flames slowly disintegrating the beast's lower body. "That's three down, two more to go."

Siegfried stomped on the ground before jumping high into the air and spinning downwards. "HAAAAH!"

*SHINK!*

After spinning and dropping down from the air, Judgement of Shamash split the fourth Honkai Beast in half, the impact of the fall also created a horizontal crater on the ground where its blade landed. "Last one…" Siegfried muttered before standing up from the ground and pointed his blade on the last Honkai Beast. "So… How should I chop you down?" His grin was cocky.

"ROOOOOOAAARR!" Mindless as ever, the last Honkai Beast lunged forward.

Siegfried grinned even more before placing his zweihandr in front of him. "Heh! So be it! If that's how you wanna die, then it's my pleasure to strike you down!" Flames started to spiral around the blade and when Siegfried brought the blade down, Isatu An-Utu unleashed itself and burned the last Honkai Beast into ashes.

"Phew~… Thank goodness that these Honkai Beasts weren't near the village, otherwise that could've been a problem." Dropping down to floor, Siegfried decided to rest for a while. "Hm? Oh?" Before he noticed Shirou. "Hey, kid! What are you doing? It's pretty dangerous here, you shouldn't be roaming around this place. Does your mother know you're here?"

"No, dad…" Shirou said before approaching Siegfried and sitting next to him. "Mama doesn't know that I'm here."

"Then why are you here?"

"Well, Sirin and I were playing tag with Kiana." The boy started to explain. "Although, I think I went a bit too far when running. I ended up here when I heard metal clashing and a loud gunshot. I thought that some people were in danger, so I ran here. I didn't expected that I would you though." He admitted.

"Hmm." Siegfried hummed before grinning. "Well, I'm just glad that you thought about protecting the innocent when you came here! But still though, Shirou, it's dangerous for a kid like you to go out in this place. The snow made the forest even denser than before. I'm glad that you went towards me, despite only doing so when you heard me battling the Honkai."

Shirou's lips curled into a small smile. "Thanks, old man…" Siegfried ruffled Shirou's hair with that same grin on his face. "H-Hey! Stop that! You're messing my hair up!"

"Hahaha!" Siegfried just laughed before standing up. "Come on, son. Let's head back home. Kiana must be wondering and probably worried to where you went. Cecilia's probably finished making lunch as well."

"Alright, dad." Shirou stood up from the ground before following Siegfried back to their wooden home.

At the Kaslana Household…

"BIG BROTHER!" Kiana hugged Shirou extremely tightly. "I was so worried! Where were you?! I couldn't find you anywhere I look!" The girl said with a voice filled with worry as she tightened her hug on the boy.

"I'm fine, Kiana…" Shirou hugged Kiana. "I just ran way too far than what I expected. I ended up where dad was fighting 5 Honkai Beasts." After forcing himself out of the hug, he smiled at the girl. "So don't worry anymore, okay? I'm fine, as you can see."

Yet despite saying that he's fine, Kiana just hugged him tightly again which then led to him hugging her back and patting her head. "I just don't want big bro to be in any danger…"

Shirou kept patting the girl's head. "It's alright, Kiana. I may not look like it, but big bro is pretty strong." He kept his smile at her. "Don't worry too much about me, I'll be fine. Trust me."

Siegfried watched the children's moment before opening the can of beer that he now has. "It's good to see that Kiana is worried about Shirou in a way that shows just how close they've gotten." He said to Cecilia before turning his head at his wife. "Although it did shock me when I saw Shirou suddenly appear. That kid is really something else, huh?"

Cecilia chuckled. "Well, that's our little boy. Always full of surprises. But let's not leave out our baby dolls out of this, Siegfried dear~." Cecilia placed her hands on "Sirin's" shoulders, which led the translucent girl to turn her head upwards. "Especially little Sirin here! She's very strong as well and very special just like the two of them!"

"Yeah, well…" Siegfried took a sip of his beer with a sweat dropping from his forehead to the wooden floor below as he remembered the time when he was fighting Sirin. "You don't need to tell me about that twice. I know how strong our little baby doll here is."

"Fufufu~." Cecilia giggled when she understood what Siegfried was trying to say. "And that makes her all the more special as well, just like the two of them."

After a while, Kiana and Shirou has stopped hugging each other, they all ate Cecilia's lunch, and are now in the living room. Kiana is on Shirou's lap, "Sirin" has her chin on Shirou's shoulder, and Shirou himself has a book opened. The tittle of the book was "Legend of King Arthur" and Shirou was reading to the girls the book's story.

"So King Arthur was the one that led the Old Britain back then?" Kiana asked while staring at the words of the book.

Shirou nodded his head. "Mhm. King Arthur was the one that led the Old British Empire back then. It was said that when he pulled the legendary sword Caliburn, which at the time it was known as the Sword in the Stone, he became the Britons True King. He who swore to lead his Kingdom to prosperity under the righteous name of chivalry."

"But why was it that he became the True King? Could there be anyone else who could've become the True King instead of him?"

"I'm afraid not." Shirou said with a shake of his head. "The reason why he was named the "True King" is because of Caliburn. The sword that King Arthur pulled from the stone is the Sword of Selection, it is the sword that selects the rightful king that leads the land. It was more than a weapon, it was a symbol. Many have tried to pull the sword out of the stone but none were successful, until Arthur came and pulled it out."

"Woah…" Kiana's eyes sparkled in amazement. "And that sword was really all that it takes to be known as the True King?"

Shirou shook his head once more. "No, Kiana. The sword is just a symbol, his actions were the ones that helped him become extremely known and what made him the True King in the eyes of the Britons. Caliburn was just the start of his journey to becoming the True King." He flipped through the pages again. "However, there was a cost of pulling the sword."

"A cost?"

The boy nodded his head as his voice took a different tone. "Yes. Once he pulled the sword out of the stone, he would no longer be human and he would stop physically aging." He flipped through the page and it showed the picture of an old man with white beard and has a robe on. "The one who told him about this was none other than Merlin, the Archdruid of Britain, and the one who mentored King Arthur himself."

"Woah…" Kiana became more and more intrigued and excited about the story. "So he's like, what, the most powerful mage at King Arthur's time?"

"That is correct." Shirou flipped to another page. "Merlin was the all-powerful mage back then. Although he was merely a watcher when Arthur pulled the sword, he was still powerful and one to never be underestimated."

Soon later, Shirou kept telling the story of King Arthur to Kiana and "Sirin". Although Kiana was a bit confused from time to time due to words that she still couldn't understand, she was still listening closely to every word that came out of Shirou when he read the story to her. The girl became extremely fascinated in the story of the Once and Forever King, that she wanted Shirou to tell her more about it when he finished the story.

Unfortunately for them, it was already night time when they finished, so Shirou and Kiana, along with "Sirin", went to the white-hair's bedroom to sleep. Kiana was the first to sleep, then "Sirin" followed, but Shirou couldn't sleep properly. So he decided to stare out of the room's window and right at the stars.

"The stars are so beautiful today…" He muttered to himself as he kept gazing.

"I find it quite interesting hearing that Arthur's deeds are still known today." Ddraig suddenly said. "That man wasn't really one that understood his people properly, but he still kept leading them to bring them a prosper life."

"So you were listening to us earlier." Shirou said softly to Ddraig. "I figured as much."

Shirou may not know it, but Ddraig was nodding his head in his Reality Marble. "Yup. And let me tell you; those stories in his legends, weren't all completely true. But that is to be considered. His time was far beyond today after all, so it's only natural for some parts of his history to be missing and lost. But let me tell you one thing, Shirou."

"Oh? Is it something interesting about the King's legend? Something that you only know about as the Red Dragon of his time?"

"Yes…" Ddraig was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Merlin… He wasn't really the person that everyone tells him to be. He wasn't any Archdruid, although he did showcased magecraft, he wasn't a staff-wielding mage. He wasn't known as the Mage of Flowers either nor was he really a mage, he was a warrior. One who wields a Greatsword of Flames with powers of ice."

"That's THE Merlin?" Shirou asked with shock at this revelation. "It's kinda hard to believe that, Ddraig. What else can you tell me about him?"

"There were a few things that remained true to the legends; Merlin was the mentor of Arthur Pendragon. He was the one that took my Herrscher Core and implanted it into Arthur's Heart. He taught Arthur how to lead when he was a boy." Silence came upon them before the Red Dragon sighed. "However… He wasn't the one that gave Arthur the legendary blade known as Caliburn."

Shirou became confused at the Red Dragon's last sentence. "Gave? What do you mean? Wasn't the Sword stuck into the stone?"

"Yes…" Ddraig affirmed it. "However, the sword wasn't always stuck into the stone. The Sword itself was one that was free from the bindings that it set into the stone back then, thus meaning that someone implanted the sword into the stone on purpose to find a "True Wielder" to use it. So whoever that person was, they indirectly gave the sword to Arthur."

"The Sword itself didn't shatter either, it was only after Arthur met the Lady of the Lake a second time did he managed to unlock the true powers of Caliburn."

The Red Dragon then continued. "And that's another thing; the Lady of the Lake, HE wasn't really a lady to begin with, but a man with feminine looks that would confuse anyone who looks at him at first glance."

"This is… a lot to take in, Ddraig…" Shirou said as his mind scrambled to think. "And all of this is true, right? You aren't lying to me, are you?"

"No, Shirou. I never lied to you about this, not a single word that came out of me was wrong. I'm saying all of this from what I know and from what I've experienced when I was still just a Dormant Herrscher, trapped inside my own Core of Perseverance."

Shirou became quiet at that point with only one word to say at the information that Ddraig has given him. "Wow…" Needless to say, he wasn't expecting such a huge revelation. "I don't think that I'm really going to be able to sleep now because of this new information to process."

"Take as much time as you need, Shirou. Just remember to not stay up too late, the little girls may wake up because of you." Ddraig suggested to the boy, and Shirou nodded.

"I know, Ddraig. Thanks for worrying."

With their conversation over, Shirou kept looking back at the stars with his thoughts running about the truth behind King Arthur's legend. Needless to say, it took him about an hour or two before he finally stopped thinking and went straight to bed, being squeezed in between his sisters.

The next day…

There really wasn't much to be done during this time of day. It was 1:00pm in the afternoon and Shirou with Kiana and "Sirin" are all outside on their house, Cecilia's with them as well, and they were all playing catch outside. With nothing much to do, it was the Mother that suggested that they should play catch with a Frisbee.

Although Shirou could use this as a time for training himself to get to know more about the powers of the Core of Tranquility, along with training himself to be more versatile in combat, he decided not to do so. The reason being is because Ddraig and Albion said that he should use this time to have a normal childhood, and it didn't help when Cecilia caught him when he decided that he should still train.

"You can train all you want later, maybe even train with Kiana or Sirin together, but right now; it's best that you live your childhood to the fullest." Those were Cecilia's words to him before she suggested that they should play catch with a Frisbee outside their wooden home.

"Big bro, catch!" Kiana shouted as she threw the Frisbee at Shirou.

"Hm?" Shirou turned his head at Kiana's direction before grabbing the Frisbee just before it hit his face. "Caught it. Sirin, your turn!" He casually threw it at the direction where "Sirin" is at.

However, Shirou's throw was a bit out of "Sirin's" range, so she had to run towards it before jumping a bit off the ground and landing. "Sirin" then threw the Frisbee at Cecilia, which the Mother of the children caught with a finger and a thumb.

"Nice throw, Sirin!" Cecilia turned to Shirou. "Shirou, catch!" She then threw it towards Shirou.

Shirou caught it, but Cecilia's throw was a bit higher than he could jump. So he reinforced his feet and jumped, but—.

*THUD!*

"Ow…" He fell on his butt because of the snow making him slip when he landed.

"Shirou!"

"Big bro!"

Kiana, "Sirin", and Cecilia all rushed to him with worry.

"Ugh… I'm fine." The boy said before standing up while stumbling a bit. "I just slipped a bit."

Cecilia checked if Shirou was truly fine, turning his body with her own hands to check for injuries. When she didn't found any, she let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least there wasn't any sharp objects beneath the snow that could've injured you." She looked at the Frisbee before suggesting something. "Maybe we should stop for now. We had a bit of fun anyways."

Her children nodded their heads before "Sirin" and Kiana headed inside their home, racing with each other. Their competitive and energetic behavior made Cecilia chuckle while Shirou just shook his head with a small smile on his face.

With the both of them alone outside, Cecilia turned to his son before speaking. "Oh! By the way, Shirou." When he was called, Shirou turned to Cecilia. "I should've mentioned this a lot earlier, but Kiana's birthday is coming up soon. So, do you have any gifts prepared for your little sister?" She asked with a smile.

Shirou clearly wasn't expecting this. "Kiana's birthday is coming?!" He asked loudly, which made the Mother giggle. "Now that I think about it, Pat-nee said that Kiana's about to turn 9 years old this year." He thought to himself before face-palming. "I don't even know what to give her… How much longer before her birthday comes, Mama?"

Cecilia placed a finger on her cheek and thought about it. "Uh… If I remember correctly… Baby doll's birthday is coming this Friday. So you still have three days to think, Shirou."

"Three days?!" He shouted. "How am I supposed to think about a gift to Kiana when her birthday is in three days?!" Shirou was clearly panicking as he try to think of something, "—!" before something clicked. "Mama, I'm going to need your help when Kiana's birthday comes up! So please help me!"

Although Cecilia doesn't know what his son is trying to come up with Kiana's birthday, she nodded her head. "Sure thing, dear. Whatever you need!" It wasn't a bad idea to surprise Kiana for her birthday after all. So whatever Shirou has in plan, it will become the main part of the girl's birthday.

When the day was about to end, Siegfried managed to come home a bit earlier than expected with a grand haul right behind him. Turns out the villagers that he defended in the nearby village all appreciated his efforts, so they all gathered to bring in gifts for the man, and there was a lot.

The day ended with the Kaslana Family having to eat an appetizing dinner along with opening a few presents that the villagers gave to them, Kiana considered the gifts that she got as early birthday presents.

In Avalon…

"Times of joy should be cherished, while times of despair should be perished but never forgotten. In days of someone's birth, it's more than just a time of mirth." A man in a white robe casually said with a smile on his face as he keeps staring at the world outside while inside his Tower. "Hahaha. Ah, Shirou-kun really is something. Not to mention that his new family is quite intriguing as well. I am glad that I can see this sight."

The Mage then let out a sigh. "It's too bad that SHE isn't here to see this. Is it really so hard to visit HER own mentor? SHE would've loved hearing these stories and seeing the boy who now has HER scabbard implanted inside of his body." The Mage sighed again as he stared right into the mirror in his tower. "Hah… It really is a shame."

He tapped his staff on the ground and flowers surrounded him before he disappeared and is now in a land full of grass and flowers. "Times have come and go over the years, yet seeing this place brings no sense of joy, not even a single tear. Oh how I wish I could escape this place, enjoy the fruits of joy on my own pace." He then started to walk forwards. "But such luxury is not one that I would get, for that is the punishment that I have met."

His eyes were closed, yet he still kept on walking forward. "A shame, truly it is. But that is the case for this old Archdruid who will never be missed. One may have all of these powers and is deemed to be trapped far from any encounters, but that is my fate. A fate that I have accepted as Merlin, the Mage of Flowers."

Where the lands bloom with flowers and grass, the Mage of Flowers follows only a single path. Once, he was there to guide a king, now he's here, entrapped in a land of spring. Yet he does not despair, nor does he truly wish to escape this trapped lair. He understands why he was deemed to be in here, the Lady of the Lake was the one that ended his career.

If this land were to be his punishment for his actions, then he has no choice but to accept this and watch the world outside for his own satisfactions.

(Author's Notes: For those who haven't read the Second Key manga of Honkai Impact 3rd, Merlin and Vivian are completely different in this world. The reason being is because Su is the Lady of the Lake while Kevin is Merlin. They've also met Arthur before.

There really wasn't much said about their whole story, but I guess that was kind of a given since it's all in HI3's past. So when I'm going to write Ddraig and Albion's story in future chapters, know that I'm only trying to write my best with what little information that I can get. But considering that this is a fanfiction and that there's a few things that I've already added, understand that I'm going to write their story in MY own way. So it's really going to be different.

All that I could ask you readers is to wait for when that chapter is out, I have a plan on how I'm going to write it, if I could remember it because it's probably going to be in further chapters. Thanks for understanding this and see you all in the next chapters.)