Shirou walked into the kitchen, dressed in a set of casual clothing. Discomfort radiated with every step he took. His school clothing didn't have any holes in the back, but he was starting to wish it did. For some reason, it felt like his wings were being squished against his body despite them not being out.
"Hey, Shirou," His sister acknowledged him from the dining room table. Her face was lying on it, with an empty plate next to her. The smell of pizza still filled the air.
Looking at it, Shirou couldn't help but frown. He guessed he wouldn't have to cook for her. "Fuji-nee."
"You took a while," she murmured without lifting her head.
"I took a long bath," Shirou responded as he approached the fridge.
The bath felt strange, yet pleasant. It was like he was taking a bath for the first time. In some ways, he guessed it was.
He opened the fridge and looked over the ingredients. Taiga had already eaten, so he would be cooking for himself.
A part of himself told him to make something healthy. It was the voice in the back of his head that he'd always known. Eating healthy was the normal and rational thing one should do.
The rest of him didn't care. There was nothing wrong with him getting creative and making something new, right?
His new half took charge of his decision-making as he nodded to himself. The power inside himself resonated in agreement with his choice.
Shirou considered the contents of the fridge. Ideas played through his mind, more vivid than ever before. One's imagination is ordinarily flawed, lacking in details. Now, however, he found himself able to imagine every aspect of his imagined dish: taste, smell, appearance, touch—all of it.
It felt right. The old way he imagined things grew more distant as he conjured up dishes in his mind.
Shirou eventually decided on what he wanted to make and began preparing the ingredients.
"Remember to make me something, too!" His sister shouted.
The cook frowned. She had already eaten, and probably a lot at that. He wasn't going to make her something she wouldn't finish.
"I'll make you lunch," Shirou said loudly enough for his sister to hear him. She ate early today, so she probably needed a big lunch, and he needed to start making his own again. This way, he wouldn't risk wasting food.
"Shirouuuu!" He heard his sister complain, but he ignored her and went back to cooking.
He quickly made breakfast but didn't immediately eat it. He put it to the side, taking bites of it as he made two more traditional Japanese lunches.
By the time he was halfway done with the cooking and finished his lunch, Fuji-nee had entered the kitchen area. She was rubbing her eyes.
"Why aren't you in your school uniform?" she asked after a moment.
Shirou blinked as he looked down at his clothing. He was wearing a black T-shirt and blue pants. He'd need to change into his school clothing. "I forgot to grab them."
He wasn't thinking about what he pulled out of his closet; he was only worried about getting to the bathroom.
There should still be more than enough time for him to change once he finishes cooking their lunch.
His older sister was looking at him as he went back to cooking. Shirou took care to watch the former out of the corner of his eye. The boy could see her seemingly thinking about something, a frown on her face.
"Ok, Shirou – one-time deal – I'll let you skip school today and tomorrow. I'll talk to Gramps about getting you an appointment to get ya all fixed in the next day or two," she sighed. A tired and slightly annoyed tone in her voice.
Shirou paused as he considered what his sister had said. He would have a three-day weekend if he didn't go to school today or tomorrow. He'd be missing two days of class.
Normally, he would never consider it, but it sounded appealing.
The thought of going to school… some part of every kid found it boring and wanted to skip. A piece that felt stronger in Shirou than ever before.
The idea of going to school, sitting there all day doing nothing when he could be doing something useful – helping people – seemed stupid. Especially when he wanted to continue exploring his changes.
His rational mind knew how important it was, remembering Kiritsugu's desire for him to do good. But his rationality felt muted. Other things felt more important, louder. Logic seemed meaningless before it.
"Sure," Shirou agreed with his older sister, a slightly pleased tone in his voice. He didn't bother looking over at her, returning to cooking.
"Shirou," his sister spoke in a low tone a few moments later. "CAN'T YOU AT LEAST PRETEND IT'S A TOUGH CHOICE! THIS ISN'T AN EXCUSE TO START DOWN THE PATH OF DELINQUENCY!"
Shirou jumped as she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, hurting his ears. He felt a bit of frustration at her constantly switching moods.
"If I disagreed with you, you'd get mad too," Shirou complained grumpily.
"No, I wouldn't," Taiga crossed her arms, looking at him oddly. "But you're continuing to act weird."
Shirou frowned and began to ignore her. He felt like this conversation was starting to drag him down and would continue to do so if he let it go on.
To the audible annoyance of his older sister, the winged boy focused only on the cooking.
The steps of the new fairy echoed off the walls as he entered his room. In his hands was a newish box cutter.
His older sister had just left the house for the day, leaving him alone until nighttime. He knew the first thing he would do with this time.
Shirou closed his bedroom door behind him and looked around the mostly barren room. In the middle of the room was his shirt from the previous night and the book about fairies. The shirt was the only one he could wear without worrying about his wings.
The boy walked to the shirt and sat down in front of it, placing the box cutter on the ground next to it. He pulled off his shirt, relieving him of the discomfort he'd been stuck with. The black shirt was placed on the ground.
He closed his blue eyes and pulled up on the energy inside himself. He felt himself change. The boy reached up and scratched the top of his pointed ears as he reopened his eyes. His wings fluttered behind him. Turning to check on them, he was glad to see them undamaged.
Shirou relaxed for a moment before turning to his two shirts. He was glad his older sister wasn't here right now, or she would no doubt stop him or take it as proof he was crazy.
His plan was to use the box cutter to cut two slits into the back of his shirt based on the tears in the shirt he wore when he changed.
Hopefully, the new cuts will be harder to notice for normal people rather than massive tears. And, he would be able to hide it under a jacket if worse came to worse.
Shirou reached over to the shirt from his change, grabbing it to lay it on its back. There were massive holes in the back that had to be caused by the emergence of his wings. Then, he placed his black shirt in the same position, taking extra care not to leave any wrinkles in the fabric.
He'd never cut holes into clothing before but wanted to ensure he didn't make a mistake. Shirou looked at the two shirts before grabbing the new box cutter. It was an expensive one, extremely sharp.
Shirou pushed the cutter into the cloth until it pierced the clothing. He then dragged it down, making a slit. Shirou made sure it started at the same height as his other shirt and stopped at the same spot.
The fairy wondered how other people—other fairies—handled this and if there was some magic to make a good-fitting shirt.
The image of clothing made of green flashed into his mind before disappearing.
Shirou shook his head as he finished his second cut. He looked at the two slits, satisfied with them, until he realized something. His eyes turn toward his wings.
How was he going to put this on?
He considered it for a few moments. Eventually, he came up with an idea.
Shirou took the black shirt and put his left side through the slit, leaving him slightly happy to see it fit. He then took his right side and moved it as close to its left counterpart as possible. It took some bending to reach it, but Shirou was barely able to get it into its slit. From there, with some struggle, he managed to pull the front of his shirt over his head and then properly put on the shirt.
It would be so much easier if his wings were bendy. Still, at least he could now wear a shirt without being uncomfortable.
He got off the floor and walked over to his closet, grabbing a jacket from it. He would use it to cover up the new cuts in his shirt if he needed to.
The boy closed his eyes and switched back into human mode. He opened them again and put on the jacket. The jacket still felt uncomfortable, but not as bad as when he wore a normal shirt. He took it back off and shifted into fae mode.
Shirou turned to leave his bedroom before stopping. A realization hit him. He turned around to look at his wings. They were out, going through the slit he'd made for them.
He had forgotten when he did it… but when he switched to human mode, shouldn't his wings have left the slit? It doesn't make sense for them to be through the slits when he switched back unless they happened to sprout through the holes, but he would've felt that.
The blue-eyed boy thought about it for a few moments before setting this aside. He couldn't figure it out, but it wasn't harmful. He could think about it more later.
Shirou walked out of his bedroom with a black and white jacket in his hands.
He considered what he wanted to do today. Although his entire world had changed, he had no direction and an infinite number of things he could do.
Before he changed, he still had to do that drawing. It didn't have anything to do with his current situation, but he couldn't help but think about that. He also wanted to go to the residence's dojo and train physically. He wanted to see if his human body had changed physically. Those were two different things he could do to start the day, and they were as good a place to start as any.
Shirou quickly walked through his home, making his way to where he left his backpack. He grabbed his notebook and some colored pencils from it and then made his way toward the residence's dojo.
He reached his destination in record time. Entering the dojo as fast as possible.
It was a big room with wooden floors and natural lighting coming from the windows that lined two of its walls. On another wall, hang a few shinais. The room was built in a traditional Japanese style and had a pleasant smell despite being a training room. Shirou tried to keep the room in good condition, cleaning it until the floor shined.
The room had been built by the original owners before the old man bought it, but Shirou used it a lot once he started being trained. However, he never learned much about how to win fights. Kiritsugu spent all their training sessions beating him into the ground until he couldn't get up, which taught him how to survive a fight rather than win one.
Shirou thought it was also meant to prepare him for the idea of death – of dying in a fight or killing another.
That said… neither Kiritsugu nor himself cared about kendo or its forms. Spars between the two of them were just amateurs beating on each other without regard to how the forms should work. Shirou never minded it since he never took kendo seriously.
He set down his jacket and the things for the drawing in one corner of the room.
Shirou didn't bother picking a shinai off the wall. He just wanted to test his body and see what it was like exercising like this – in this form.
The boy walked to the middle of the room and began to do a series of exercises. Situps, pushups, jumping jacks, everything he could think of and do in the room. He pushed himself to the limit… only to find himself no better than he was before.
Once he got over the issue of his wings, he ended up doing around the same amount of each exercise as before his change. Becoming something else hadn't made him stronger or anything else. He was still limited to the strength of a human.
Shirou, sweating and panting, looked up at the ceiling from his spot on the cold floor.
He didn't know why he expected his body to be stronger. Maybe because of the power he felt inside himself or simply because he felt stronger. Whatever it was is clearly wrong.
It was slightly disappointing. He had hoped he'd gotten stronger, but it looks like he'll have to train hard if he wants to get better. At least that will make it all the more satisfying once he really becomes a hero of justice.
After a few more minutes of cooling down, Shirou stood up and walked over to his notebook and colored pencils. He sat down in front of it and opened the notebook to the blank page he hadn't been able to fill before.
What should he draw? A question he couldn't answer before his change.
As he thought about it, Shirou started to come up with ideas. At the same time, the warm power inside him seemed to stir, pushing his imagination further.
He could draw a ninja and a samurai in a sword fight
Or draw pirates in a sword fight.
Or or two Western knights in a sword fight.
Shirou's eyes widened slightly as he came up with a new idea.
A Western knight and a samurai… in a sword fight! A badass duel of ideals!
For some reason, he really wanted to draw a sword fight of some kind.
Shirou thought about it for a few moments before deciding to go with the last one. The idea appealed to him, even if he wasn't that good of an artist.
He imagined what he wanted to draw with perfect clarity: a knight with a sword and shield charging at a defending samurai holding an awesome two-handed sword.
As he began to draw his picture, he found his skills weren't anywhere near good enough to match his imagination, but he tried his best. Going as slow as he could, he drew the samurai first. Resulting in an alright image.
He decided to draw the knight before doing the scene around the pair. The boy drew the knight first before doing his sword and then the shield –
– only to pause as he drew the circle for the shield.
Inside his body, he could feel the energy responding… to drawing the circle. It grew more focused. Prepared.
He didn't know why this happened. Yet, he knew what he should do when it made no sense that he did.
No, wait. It wasn't what he should do, but what he could do…
Before he could figure it out, Shirou's attention was pulled away from it and toward his incomplete drawing.
The boy watched the image gain a slightly golden shimmer as the images came off the page.
The samurai and knight seemed to step out of the image – except for the incomplete shield. The drawing was still on the page, but it had also come to life. The pair began to duel right in front of him.
What?
Shirou's blue eyes could tell they weren't real. He can see that they are made of energy – the same as the one inside him and were present in an extremely small amount in some of the objects from the shed.
He watched as they fought, the samurai obviously in the lead. The knight didn't have his shield after all, but he was still trying his hardest. The duel continued until the knight was on the ground, ready for the samurai to put him down. Only for him to launch a surprise attack and fatally stab the samurai at the same time he was run through.
The two images faded from reality. The energy they were made of dissipating.
Shirou still looked at his page that just served as a battlefield for two drawings. He was completely lost as to what happened. If he knew what this energy inside him was, it might give him some clues, but he didn't even know that. And it wasn't like that book he read said anything about fae magic.
Huh, Shirou paused as he considered fae magic.
It was fae magic. That explained it and made sense. Or it was possible his new sight let him see something that happened all the time but was invisible to him. He could accept that as well.
Shirou briefly wondered what that said about him. When Kiritsugu met Shirou and asked if he wanted to come home with him, the old man admitted to being a mage. He was old enough to question something that outlandish, but Shirou accepted it instantly. The reveal of mages barely fazed him.
Now, he's transformed into some supernatural creature less than a day ago, and he's already accepted it. Normal people would probably be wondering if they were insane or something, but Shirou knows he isn't. Yet, wouldn't failing to question these things when sane people would make him insane?
Shirou shook his head, dropping the pencil he was holding till. He needed to take a break from drawing for long enough to be sure the picture wouldn't come alive again. And for him to really process what just happened.
He got off the ground, leaving everything related to drawing on the floor. The boy grabbed his jacket before making his way out of the room. His wondering had no path as he began to wonder what he should do for now.
He could feel the energy inside himself was slowly becoming less focused, returning to its natural state.
The boy stopped as he remembered the power – he guessed he could call it fairy power – changed when he drew that circle. It slipped his mind when the images he drew came to life. And there was another possibility for what caused the real-life duel of minimal creatures.
Shirou wanted to figure out what he could do with the fairy power inside himself. He wanted to know if he could use it to use fae magic. If only he knew anything about that kind of magic. Yet, some part of him did.
Shirou could feel the fairy part of his soul responding to his thoughts. Trying to communicate something he only needed to remember.
The new fairy ended up looking out at the estate's courtyard. It was no longer snowing, but the sky was still filled with clouds.
It looked better during the spring when all the green was sprouting. On the other hand, it was much more difficult to take care of this place during spring. This was especially due to the threat of things overgrowing during spring. It took effort to keep things in balance. Too much growth was just as bad as too much death.
A fact that Shirou knew but seemed to understand less as he looked at the empty courtyard. The sight of the courtyard held a certain beauty in Shirou's new sight, but it was nothing compared to the fragments of the dream garden he could still remember. Maybe if it was spring, then the two sights might have been closer.
He could do something about that.
Shirou bit his lip and closed his eyes, isolating himself from everything but his thoughts. Sealing away his senses and emotions. He tried to remember what he could. The idea was at the back of his mind; he just needed to let it come to the surface.
A spell. Spring. Growth. New Life.
An idea slowly came to Shirou's mind. The knowledge felt natural like he always knew it but simply forgot. The power inside him began to move as he followed the knowledge. It was resistant and difficult to control, almost as if there was a colossal amount of friction acting against him. Still, he knew what to do. What he could do.
Awaken. All he needed to do was plant a little bit of this fairy power into something in a certain way, and it would encourage growth.
Shirou opened his eyes but still focused only on the fairy power inside him. The thoughts that felt natural yet were fleeting.
He could use this spell to make the courtyard's growth in the spring all the better – how?
Shirou paused. No thought came to his mind. He knew how to prepare the spell but not how to cast it over the entire courtyard. This wasn't something he knew; the boy could somehow sense it.
Then how about something else?
Shirou looked around the courtyard but was unable to find anything else. There was nothing smaller with the yard to cast the spell on. Everything was hidden below the snow.
Slowly, Shirou came out of his concentrated state. The power returned to normal inside himself. The spell that could have been coming undone.
The boy blinked, feeling a mixture of excitement, disappointment, and concern.
He almost managed to cast a spell. He could feel it inside himself. He knew what he could have done and knew he could do so much more, the information swirling in his head. Yet, he failed to do it. There was something he was missing, preventing him from finishing the magic.
A part of him was concerned, unsure. This knowledge wasn't something Shirou Emiya had ever learned, so where did it come from? He knew it came from the new part of him, but how did it know something he didn't?
Then again, didn't he know it? He knew something 'Shirou Emiya' shouldn't have. The 'new' part of him was just as much a part of him as the 'old' part. He was both.
Shirou shoved that thought into a little box to ignore it. He refused to follow the possibilities it could lead to, for now at least.
The boy looked up into the cloudy sky as he felt the new knowledge finally solidify in his mind.
The magic of spring, the season. Growth. Protection. Life. Rejuvenation. Creation. Those things made up the season, and it's magic. The boy could remember some of the things he could do with it, and he felt in his soul more that remained unremembered.
The spell failed because it needed something else to be able to work on the courtyard. Something Shirou didn't know but maybe could figure out in time.
Shirou looked down from the sky and looked down at his free hand, the other still holding onto his jacket.
The idea that he, of all people, would have magic like that seemed laughable. It was like a sick joke for him to have spells around life and protection when he abandoned so many to die in the fire. He lived when everyone else died.
The heat of the flames still remains unforgotten in Shirou's mind, always waiting to remind him of their blaze. They were more than enough to incinerate any green of spring. It didn't match how much there was; it would never be more than kindling to the flame.
Yet, didn't good come after the fire? He was adopted by Kiritsugu and met Fuji-need. There had been countless pleasant days since. The flames may have burned his heart until only ash remained, but something new can sprout forth from the dust. If he became a hero – keep his promise to Kiritsugu – then…
…
The magic of spring. He can use it to heal and protect those in need; nothing else matters.
Shirou let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
He turned away from the snow-colored courtyard. He needed to go for a walk and get some fresh air.
Shirou closed the front door behind him as he left the Emiya residence. It was quiet as he did so. Any people that normally would be around were long gone due to the time. They were most likely at work or running errands.
The boy was wearing his jacket. His wings and pointed ears were nowhere to be seen. He didn't want them out, just in case. This was his first time out, and he'd rather be careful. Unlike the day before, he was wearing blue gloves when he left the house.
It was the middle of the day, a couple of hours before noon. The cloudy sky seemed to stretch for eternity, darkening the world.
Shirou began to walk left rather than right like he normally did when going to school. If he was calling in sick today and tomorrow, it wouldn't be a good idea to be seen wandering around there. Besides, he had a place he wanted to visit to be alone.
It was a small path going through the forest around Ryuudou Temple. He wasn't currently looking at the world through his new vision, but he was willing to bet the forest around the Ryuudou would be a special sight.
The boy took the walk slowly. Feeling the world as he made his way to the temple.
There was a strange feeling in the air, one he didn't feel when he was in his home. It was like something dark and threatening was present all around him.
The pathway he was walking on was covered in snow, and so were the few visible private driveways of the various homes he passed by. It was like nobody was bothering to do anything about the snow, content to leave it as it was. Shirou wasn't one to judge, given he didn't do anything about it either.
His path led him out of the residential district. He didn't encounter a single other person along his path. The Emiya residence was more on the edge of town rather than toward the center, but it still felt exceptionally empty and lifeless.
The new area he walked through had a few businesses on each side. The other buildings used to be businesses, but many of them were shut down. There had to be people inside the store, but Shirou couldn't hear anything from within. They might as well have been just as lifeless as the bland paint the stores all seemed to uniformly use.
The new fairy paused in his walking once he reached the end of that street, right before he had to take a turn. He looked back at the stores. The curious part of him wanted to look at them with the vision he gained from his change. Maybe then they would have some life and individuality.
He was held back by his inability to access it without switching into fairy mode. Unless… it wasn't like there was anyone around, and the way his older sister reacted meant they probably wouldn't react to his fairy form. Given the latter fact, he was probably being over-cautious.
Looking around briefly, he didn't see anybody around. He quickly took off his jacket and held it in his hands. The cold caused him to shiver, just as it did the night before.
The red-haired kid closed his eyes and then opened them again, changing in only a few seconds. The process seemed easier than it was before.
Shirou physically recoiled at what he saw, almost instinctively turning away if he hadn't stopped himself at the last moment.
Where everything else he'd seen with his eyes seemed more. The darkness darker. The light brigher. Vibrance greater. Contrast starker.
The buildings were the exact opposite. They weren't just bland or banal; it was more than that. It was like they were draining the color from around them, like black holes. The color of the space around them grew duller the closer to the buildings they were.
It felt fundamentally wrong to Shirou.
Shirou looked away, quickly returning to human mode and putting his jacket back on. When he looked back at the buildings, he still felt like he was looking at them with his fairy vision – seeing the disgusting sight.
"Oh? A child out it this hour, shouldn't you be at school?" a confident voice suddenly spoke from behind him, causing the boy to jump. He didn't see anyone around a few minutes ago, nor did he hear anyone walking toward him.
Shirou swiftly turned around, looking at the person who spoke.
It was a guy in his late teens or early twenties with blond hair and red eyes, definitely a foreigner. He had a carefree smile on his face that almost felt arrogant or condescending. His clothing looked expensive, designer-like. A winter jacket that looked like it was made from the pelt of a leopard and matching pants. Two gold earrings adorned his ears. The outfit was ugly, but it had life in it. It was unique, special to the wearer.
None of that mattered compared to what Shirou saw. Even without using his new sight, he could see the power radiating from the man. Literally. It wasn't the same energy Shirou had or that made up those drawings, but there were hints of it in the flickers of gold around him.
Every instinct in Shirou's body said the same thing: this man could kill him with ease.
"Interesting," the man said as he took a step closer to Shirou, his gaze locked on the boy's eyes. The arrogant impression the man gave off only grew as he literally looked down on Shirou. "Such an unnatural color. Pure beyond what a human could perceive. A mongrel with mixed blood is a rarity these days."
Shirou flinched as the man seemed to identify him as non-human, though he didn't know what the second part about pure meant. He did know what mongrel meant, leaving the boy feeling slightly insulted. Said feeling turned into defiance, despite knowing how powerful the man was.
"Ha, ha, ha," the man starts to laugh, the sound overbearing and amused. He placed one of his hands on his hips.
"What's so funny?" Shirou asked the man. The tone of the question was a mixture of dry and frustrated.
"You managed to ask me a question, so it must only be fair to reward you with a response," the man stopped laughing after a few moments, but the smile didn't leave his lips. Shirou didn't know what to make of the blond foreigner treating something as simple as an answer as a reward.
"The look in your eyes," the man in an ugly outfit answered, briefly closing his eyes. "You recognized the true extent of my magnanimous self yet weren't cowered by it. Only the most foolish of mongrels wouldn't bow to my magnificence."
Shirou wanted to call out the man for being an arrogant jerk but couldn't when he could tell it wasn't unfounded. And he was confused. Did this self-absorbed idiot like people defying him?
The man's smile suddenly disappeared, leaving something much colder behind. "Such will almost seems dead in this age."
The tone in the man's voice was harsh enough to send a chill down Shirou's spine despite feeling the ire wasn't directed at him.
"And you think you can judge the will of others?" Shirou questioned. One has to go beyond arrogant to think they can judge the will of the human race as a whole. A species numbering in the billions is too vast for such simplistic judgments.
However, given how many people he passed today, you wouldn't think there were that many humans. Looking around, it was almost as if the entire world was made up of just him and this man.
"Why, of course," the man said, the arrogance returned to his tone. A smirk on his face that Shirou really wanted to punch away. "I alone have the right to judge all."
Shirou was at a loss for how to respond to the magically powerful lunatic that was this man. He remembered Kiritsugu mentioning something called marauders. Maybe this guy was one of them?
"That said, mongrel, look around you," the man tilted his head to the side. "Do you disagree with my judgment? This city is devoid of the will of the foolish. They have been replaced by conformists, those who don't seek to grow, languishing in the creature comforts of this modern world rather than dreaming of something better."
Shirou paused briefly before responding.
His first thought was to deny it, but then he remembered how his sister laughed in his face. The way everyone seemed to continue on in a monotonous cycle with barely any changes. Murders accrue, and most people responded by changing the route they take. No one cares about preventing more deaths or the why. The very buildings seemed to make the world a more banal place.
Still…
"You're wrong," Shirou told the man, his blue eyes meeting the other's red. He had no justification for disagreeing with the man. Even Kiritsugu – the man Shirou viewed as a hero of justice – seemed so rundown in his final days. But something in him fundamentally rejected the man's view.
Shirou believed in mankind's dreams, just as he believed in Kiritsugu's ideals when the man himself didn't. Something may not be possible, but that doesn't make it impossible.
Hearing someone act like the world was passed saving pissed Shirou off.
The man looked at him, his red eyes narrowing. There was silence for a few moments before the man started laughing at the top of his lungs. The sound of it was condescending, mocking, but not hateful. It once again left Shirou unsure of what to do.
The man eventually stopped laughing, the condescension and mocking transferring over into his smile. "Boy, what's your name."
Shirou was surprised by the question. He thought an arrogant guy like this would never ask him his name. He knew it wasn't a good idea to give the man his name, but he didn't like being called mongrel. Getting the blond to call him by his name felt almost like a victory. And something about the man just made Shirou talk despite being fundamentally repulsed by the stranger.
"Shirou Emiya," Shirou told him honestly.
"Well then, Shirou Emiya, let this king grant you the rare privilege of receiving my wisdom," the man closed his eyes again, not even bothering to look at him. "I know not what your dreams are, but they wouldn't be found in a city like this. Cut away what ties you down and pursue your desire with reckless abandon. You will fail, but it might at least produce an amusing story."
The man finished his words carrying a weight of finality as he walked past Shirou. The boy didn't stop him, understanding the strange conversation was over.
The words spoken by the stranger lingered in Shirou's mind. Resonating within him more than he was comfortable with. The ideas they planted took root in the back of his mind.
That fact only increased Shirou's desire to punch the man in the face.
Shirou walked off the path to the temple, entering the forest pass. Something felt wrong in the air, but the boy was too lost in his thoughts to care. The trees he walked past seemed slightly withered.
The stranger's words were still on his mind.
If he wanted to be a hero, he would have to leave Fuyuki. One day, he would have to cut his ties to this place. It would mean leaving behind his sister and home.
Shirou paused in his walk through the winter forest. The snow-covered trees swayed with the wind, and a slightly nasty smell undercut said breeze. He could feel the snow crunching under his feet.
He really didn't have much tying him here, did he? But at one point, it was his entire world.
Yet, he couldn't imagine himself being happy with that world. More than that, he could feel part of himself rebel against the very idea.
He wanted to live the life of a hero, travel the world, and help those in need. It was reckless and irresponsible, but it was what he wanted. Even if he failed, it would still be worth it—as long as he could help a single person like Kiritsugu helped him.
He had to hope it wouldn't hurt his sister too much. The boy didn't think she would understand – how could he think that – but one day, he would pursue his dreams. No matter what she thought about it.
The boy took off his jacket and closed his eyes. Cold hit his body, his visible breath passing through chilled lips. When he reopened his eyes, it was like he entered a different world.
The snow wasn't brighter, more than what it had been. It had become an unnatural black spreading as far as the eye could see. The trees, now twisted and rotting, were covered in the ash like snow. The wind passing through sounded like the cries of the unseen.
Shirou was struck as silent as had been when he first changed. The smell of decay filled his nose.
It was like standing in the middle of a nightmare. The vision of the world around him made him feel like he was in a night terror.
The new fairy could understand what they were seeing, but he was sure most humans wouldn't be able to comprehend this world if they saw it.
Rather than sparking fear in Shirou, the environment made him feel curious. The nightmares he had were far more horrific than this, but they came from him. What was making the forest appear like this? It wasn't like the trees could produce their own nightmares.
Shirou looked around and noticed a dark energy flowing just beneath the surface of everything around him. Only in the smallest amounts possibly, but it was still enough to create what Shirou was seeing.
Far more worryingly, Shirou noticed the energy flowing from the snow into his shoes. It was like it was trying to get into him, but it was repulsed. Not allowed into his body.
The energy all seemed to be flowing away from a point. A point Shirou would be able to track with his eyes.
It could be dangerous to follow the energy back to its source. The dark energy clearly wasn't a good thing. But he still walked toward the source of the energy, driven by the curiosity of his new fae side. There have been a lot of things he's had to wonder about today without getting any answers. Maybe he could get an answer to something, even if it requires him being a little reckless.
The black snow seemed to try to grab Shirou's feet with each of his steps. The terrible smell of the forest grew stronger the closer he grew to his target.
Strangely, the amount of the dark energy didn't seem to grow or shrink as Shirou followed it. There was the same amount everywhere.
Eventually, Shirou ended up coming upon an area where the trees were bent over and few. The black snow covered the trees with no leaves, and red veins grew throughout the trees. Devouring them from the inside out. The longer Shirou looked at the trees, the more certain he grew they were laughing. A cruel, sadistic laugh mocking him.
The boy wondered what could have caused this. Something about it was wrong, twisted. Unlike the stores, what he was looking at made sense within his vision and mind. The world was like a nightmare—and that made sense—but it should've been a pleasant dream.
Shirou noticed a small stream of red liquid. He identified it as water without a second thought.
His eyes traced it back to a natural cave. If it had been nighttime and Shirou only had his old vision, it would've been hard for him to see it. On the other hand, he could clearly see the energy flowing from it with his new sight. The sight was so obvious he was sure he would be able to see it in the darkest of nights.
Shirou walked to the cave and tried to enter it. The entrance was too small for his wings to pass through normally, so he pulled them together like a butterfly does when it's resting, giving him more than enough space to make it inside.
He stopped when he was met with a see-through wall about a meter end. Dark energy flowed into it but was seemingly converted to maintain. The boy reached out and found he could go through it, weird.
Stepping through it, he could see the energy he'd been tracking flowing through the cave walls like blood through veins. For the first time, it seemed to be increasing in intensity the further back into the cave it was.
The taste of worms seemed to fill Shirou's mouth as he continued into the cave. He'd never eaten worms before, but somehow, he knew that was what it was. Eventually, he could almost feel it worming in his mouth.
Shirou stopped and spat, attempting to get the taste out of his mouth –
– only to be met with a wet plot as he spit out a worm.
One look at it told him it was made of energy like his drawings, but black instead of gold. Was it the same energy as the dark energy around him? He couldn't tell.
Shirou looked ahead, unsure of how much further into the cave he needed to go. But as he looked, he felt his will to continue fading. The dark energy tried all the harder to get into him. Where before it tried to enter through his feet, it was now reaching up past his ankle. The air itself was starting to be filled with it.
In the distance, he saw something different. It was as far as he could see, but Shirou could see a bunch of energy gathered on one wall.
There, he decided, would be the last place he looked before leaving. He wanted to know what was going on, but he wasn't stupid enough to continue like this. However, his old man would probably have had a word or two about him entering the dangerous cave in the first place with no plan or information.
Shirou walked to the gathering of energy. Before reaching it, he could see that the dark energy continued to flow past it. So, it probably wasn't the cause but another effect.
Once the boy reached it, he found himself looking at a tear between two massive flows of energy within the wall.
The tear wasn't a crack in the cave walls or something mundane like that.
It was a tear in the space itself. The edges were uneven and jagged like a piece of paper carelessly torn in two. Within it, Shirou could see a dark forest. The trees were tall and dense. Black vines link them together, combining with the thick branches to blot out the sky. There were countless thorns on them, sharp as knives.
The area right outside the tear was remarkably void of life for several meters. Shirou saw what looked like a small path through the woods, but it was covered in fallen leaves, colored the shade of night.
The sight was one that didn't make sense. It didn't fit in the human world, but Shirou still thought it seemed better than this cave. In fact, it would be nice to explore-
Shirou shook his head. He said this would be his stopping point. The answers would come another day. For now, he needed to leave the cave before the strange dark energy began to affect him.
He slowly turned to leave. Ignoring the dark energy and rift as best he could.
A stray feeling – born of impulse from some dark place inside him – passed through his mind, desiring to let it in. Hungering for it.
The new fairy used his willpower to suppress it before leaving the cave at a hurried pace.
AN:
Hello. Here's another chapter.
This chapter had to be rewritten, and I changed my plans for the next couple of chapters due to it.
Poor Shirou, living by an evil god in the ground. The god is so terrible it scares off denizens and makes the environment around it into horror.
There is a lot of WoD lore to explain, but since I changed stuff around – I'll be able to explain a lot of it in the story soon. There are still a few things to point out.
Firstly, fairy miens and mortal seemings exist at the same time. Shirou is just perceiving them as two mutually exclusive things he's switching between and is thusly shooting himself in the foot by forcing this misunderstanding onto him. Also – changelings exist in the dreaming and the mortal/Autumn world at the same time. The former is the land of dreams of all living creatures, both good dreams and nightmares.
Glamour: the fairy power. Powers fairies and the dreaming. Born of creativity, imagination, wonder, and darker things like fear or suspicions. It's a big deal, so it's better to be explained in the story.
Keening: fairy sight allows fairies to sense/see supernatural stuff and glamour. Shirou has a high level of it, but that doesn't mean he understands what he sees. Or how to properly use it.
Remembrance: basically fragments of memories changelings have from the countless lifetimes of their fae souls. Shirou gained knowledge of spring arts because of this, but that's about all he's going to get. Some fae automatically knows combat skills and others magic, but no Fae has perfect recall due to the mist of forgetfulness. A vast majority can't remember much of anything.
Again, there's more lore and explanations for things, but with the edited plans, I think I can get to do them in 2-3 chapters. (Some, since I don't want to lore dumb for 30k words.)
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!