"Italica."

"Italica?" Shirou frowned as Lelei approached him. He certainly didn't recognize the name, but the confident way that she spoke was a bit out of the norm for the quiet girl.

"Trading town. North of Alnus."

"That doesn't really tell me much." He gestured for her to follow him. While he still had a few things needed to do, he was certain that Lelei would follow him to watch. Better to continue with the conversation as he worked, in that case.

"Overheard you discussing wyvern scales. Too much. Italica considered as trading hub. Easy to hide, trade."

With a wave of her staff, the load of wood that Shirou carried lightened by a significant amount. While unnecessary, seeing as he had already Reinforced himself, it was nonetheless a kind gesture. He gave a nod to her as he thought.

Selling the wyvern scales back to the Empire left a bad taste in his mouth. It wasn't that he would have to deal with the Empire itself - just the idea of selling the loot of their own fallen comrades was, in his eyes, more than a bit morbid.

The men and women that he had seen were mostly conscripts. They didn't really have a choice but to fight if they didn't want to be executed.

Still, selling back the wyvern scales wouldn't affect anything too much. The Empire already likely had a market for such things, seeing as they liberally employed the creatures.

All in all, the more he thought about it, the better it sounded. He would be getting rid of the excess wyvern scales, which he would likely be able to get more of if the Empire decided to attack again, as well as get some more information on the Empire's settlements.

A good deal.

He wouldn't have to risk having any wyvern scales being stolen from under him and smuggled into Japan.

Let it be said that he wasn't worried that they'd be stolen from whoever he sent it to. The magi, and especially the Queen, would be doubly and triply sure to protect that delivery, and anyone who tried anything would be on the receiving end of their wrath.

The only problem now was getting a disguise that would be adequate. He stood out way too much, what with his white hair and burial shroud.

That said, he might know just the person for the job. The only thing left was to convince them.

…

"Lord Emiya, I cannot in good conscience accept thine request."

Adrianne stared at him with a stern glance. In front of her, she had two books open, one in Japanese, and the other being a rough translation guide that the JSDF had been developing. Around them was an entourage of several elves, having been listening to their Grand Elder tell them of what she had learned.

The elves learned through oral tradition, and while they could read, they still preferred their traditions over book learning. Adrianne, since the beginning of their stay here, had taken it upon herself to read and teach the others.

Shirou sighed. He'd expected this, "Lady Valliere, I understand your apprehension, but this is a matter that I must insist on." If his eye twitched at how much he was hamming it up, then nobody noticed.

"Be that as it may, mineself shall not give thee thine own noose by which to hang yourself." The elven leader gave him a glare that would usually be reserved for an unruly child, "To combat the enemy in thine own home is a different matter than to waltz brazenly into their territory."

Shirou breathed in, dragging forth memories of politicking in the Clock Tower. He was not proud of it, but he'd picked up more than just how to avoid the nobles of the Association.

"Lady Valliere, I can see that you've been hard at work learning about Japan's sciences." He had managed to see what had been written in the book, and he'd been surprised to see that it was a middle school science textbook.

Blinking at the sudden change in topic, Adrianne looked down and smiled as she held the book as if it were a holy text.

"Yes, while I am saddened by the lack of widespread magic in thine world, mineself can see that you are no lesser for that. Indeed, I must profess mine fascination with this…'electricity', though we have not a word for such a concept. To power the very lights of thine world, I had thought that you had merely harnessed the element of fire for thine own use. Oh! And the carriages that thine call automobiles!"

The Grand Elder continued to tell more and more of the things she had read, all the while her audience remained captivated. From things that made sense to them, for example, a sewing machine that made it easier to sew. To things that didn't make sense to them, such as the aforementioned electricity.

Seeing a lull in the conversation as Adrianne paused to drink some water, Shirou spoke up, "I would like to point out that you do have a concept for electricity. I believe the closest I can explain it is that it is controlled lightning."

With raised eyebrows, the elves looked at him in alarm. None were apprehensive enough to stop the sudden gleaming interest that had overtaken their leader.

"Controlled lightning? How did thine people manage that?"

"Hmm." He made a show of bringing his hand to his chin, "Think of lightning being a powerful surge in a river. You could get caught up in it, and it would sweep you away. Similar to how lightning would very well kill you if it hit."

He paused to see the elves nodding before continuing, "Electricity meanwhile, you could think of a dam that's letting a small stream of water out at any time. With this, we can still use the river without having the risk of the surges."

He was bad at explaining. He wasn't a professor at the Clock Tower for a reason. But it did the trick, he could see the elves nodding in understanding, and he watched in no small amount of amusement to see Adrianne furiously write his words down in a notebook already nearly filled.

"Grand Elder." He spoke just before she could, no doubt to ask more questions on electricity, "I understand your hesitation in helping me put myself in what you deem to be unnecessary risk. However, what I am doing is nothing less than what you are doing as we speak."

"Pardon?" She frowned in response.

"Learning through second hand knowledge can tell me a lot." He reached for the science book, "However, that still doesn't compare to the first hand experience." He shuffled to the pages about electricity.

"Here, this told you what electricity is, did it not?"

"It did. What is it thou are implying?"

"Would you have truly understood what it was without me telling you?" The textbook had a brief explanation of how electricity flowed, but not what it was. After all, it was assumed that anyone who had this book lived in the modern era, where they knew that they lived with electricity.

It didn't explain things for someone who never had a concept of it in the first place.

"What is it thou are implying?" She repeated her words, this time, eyes narrowed. Shirou looked at her, eyes hard as steel.

"I want that first hand experience. Right now, I understand what the Empire is from your eyes, and from the soldiers that they sent against us. However, I have not seen the Empire beyond that. I want to see just how they truly are beyond the folds of war."

Adrianne paused, her eyes flickering with a mix of suspicion and realization. She weighed his words, the tension around them palpable as the surrounding elves looked on.

Finally, she sighed, the sound carrying a heavy burden. "Thou art stubborn, Lord Emiya." She stood up as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, before giving him an exasperated smile, "Then again, tis that stubbornness that saved mine people's lives. Very well, mineself and mine people shall help thee."

Adrianne quickly led them to the outskirts of the base. Them being Shirou, Lelei, and a bunch of other elves that Shirou knew to be spellcasters, including Tuka.

The moment they passed a certain point, he could suddenly understand just why they needed to go so far. Bright, tiny lights started dancing around him. Spirits, the ones that the elves communicated with, swarmed him.

While he knew that the Spirits had been gathering right outside of Alnus Hill, not daring to approach it for some reason, he didn't expect to see so many of them. One or two would approach him when he was out gathering wood from the forest, but never this many.

Had they sensed the gathering of elves and had gone towards them?

Maybe. And maybe that was the Elder's plan all along.

Spirit magecraft, the type of magecraft that the elves had been doing, were long lasting, from what he could tell. The translation spell that they had cast on him all that time ago had not weakened in the slightest, and unlike the magi of his world, who would usually need an anchor point for certain mysteries, the only thing holding back the elves were the presence of the Spirits themselves.

It was the point of longevity that had Shirou going towards Adrianne for help. No offense to either of them, but Waver specialized in alchemy, not illusion magecraft and Gray was just as good as him in the latter - that is to say, not very much. The only other person he could have asked was Reines, and he was sure the price for that help would have nearly bankrupted him that he didn't even bother asking her.

That she was already going to receive a few wyvern scales wouldn't have been enough, not when he knew her personality.

And even then, the craft that they would have used would have been tied to an object on his person. Unfortunately, knowing his luck, he'd find himself in a situation where that object would either be lost or destroyed.

Just like the several other times in his Enforcer career that had happened.

So he wasn't going to risk it. He went to the one group of people that had him in their good graces, and had reliable magecraft.

If he had to suffer through a few minutes of Spirits clamoring for his attention, then so be it.

Soon enough, they stopped. With an amused huff, Adrianne gently coaxed the Spirits to leave, to which they did so, albeit clearly reluctantly.

Directing him to stand in the middle of the elves, Shirou did so, mildly surprised as Tuka joined him. At his glance, Tuka chuckled, "Lady Valliere requested that I join you, so I'm here to get a disguise as well."

He sighed, though he gave Adrianne a wry smile. She acted tough at times, but she really was a mother hen.

They started to chant soon enough. The ritual began, and the Spirits around them whirled to even brighter colors.

Shirou didn't notice.

He was too focused on the feeling growing in his chest. Not just emotionally, but quite literally. A tug. Warmth. One that he hadn't felt in years.

The swirling colors reached a peak, just as the warmth did. Spirits - no, he knew what they were now. The promise of victory assured him of that.

The reason they had become so drawn to him. The reason why he hadn't truly felt threatened when they had swarmed him.

Avalon lit up in his chest in brilliant golden light.

The Spirits responded in kind.

Shirou was never good at lying. To have a disguise that would work, he would have to keep his head down. That meant not helping those who would have needed it. To be a different person than Shirou Emiya.

His features could be obscured, but his personality would just give him away.

The solution was right there.

Shirou Emiya would remain as Shirou Emiya.

That was what the Spirits - the Fae - decided. To do anything else would be an affront to the one that they had deemed worthy.

The light died down, and the warmth of Avalon with it. Almost desperately, Shirou clutched at his chest. Its light was not addictive, not in the way of seeing the light of Excalibur. Of seeing Promised Victory in its purest form.

But it was a reminder.

Of an old friend that he never got to say goodbye to.

Saber.

Arturia.

It was impossible to see her again, but in that moment, he had felt what he had thought he had lost back in that Grail War.

He froze as he saw his hand.

His normally tanned skin was instead lighter than he had seen in years. He quickly Traced a mirror and stared at his reflection.

There were no eyes of steel. The features of Archer did not stare back at him. It was a face he hadn't seen in so long, that he would have forgotten it if it wasn't himself.

Red hair, and golden amber eyes.

A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.

Thanks to my newest patrons: Jason Moreno, and KAFFING.

And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.