Mantra of Steel

This dream again…

I can't help but remember every detail: the ruined buildings, destroyed paths, and screaming voices, mixed with a horrible odor that surrounds and chokes the atmosphere, like the smell of melted steel.

From up above, a red-black hole watches it all like a god, leaving destruction in its wake, threatening to take it all.

I vividly remember every sound, smell, and sensation. I was like a ghost trying to outrun the inevitable, a remnant of the past that refused to accept its fate.

I ran and ran. I wonder why, after all this time, why was I running? The only thing on my mind was to live.

A selfish wish, refusing to give up, to let my existence end along with everyone else, only looking out for myself and leaving everything behind.

I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that.

My fragile body moved through the rubble as if running from that omnipresent sun. Every instinct made my body move, telling me the danger the red entity behind me represented.

It was useless. A mere corpse can't hold onto the world of the living. My legs were failing me, and my suffering increased with each passing moment.

I was about to die. I knew it, my mind denied it, so my body gave up first.

I fell helplessly to the ground and let out a quiet, painful scream. I turned to see the night sky, the only thing undisturbed by the chaos.

With each labored breath, I felt my energy leaving me.

Now that I think about it, my death was sealed there. No, I already died. Whatever existence Emiya Shirou had before the fire was ripped away in an instant.

My fate was already sealed; I just denied it.

The next moment will be buried in my mind forever. This is the moment "Emiya Shirou" was born, when my constant existence wasn't entirely worthless, and my life was given meaning.

A miracle that shouldn't have happened, a salvation that was never meant for me.

As if coming from the sky, a figure entered my vision, like a guardian angel, a living being among the dead, reaching for what I felt was already not there.

His face at that moment will follow me to my grave, haunting me forever.

A smile engraved on his face, the most hopeful thing I'd ever seen. The man looked at me as if I were the last remaining thing in his life.

For a minute, I was stupefied. Time froze for me; my mind couldn't think of anything else at that moment.

My consciousness finally gave up, and with my last breath, I drifted into a peaceful dream.

At that moment, I was reborn. Emiya Shirou was given life.

When I came to, I was lying on an unfamiliar bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

I looked around at what was a big room filled with similar beds, and more importantly, similar victims.

At that point, I remembered the days I came to the hospital: I was wrapped in bandages, unable to move, with only children to share the place. But I understood, I was alone, and the days passed like a blur.

That was the day I almost fully recovered and began to fend for myself a bit. If I'm not wrong, at that point, the doctors couldn't believe I was still alive. From the moment I was admitted to the hospital to the moment I began to heal, my recovery was essentially a miracle.

And I couldn't help but feel the same. For what was essentially a room full of people who barely made it, most of them were permanently injured or traumatized in some way. And here I was, after a couple of weeks of heavy care, steadily healing. In contrast to the other kids, I had a future.

Suddenly, I heard a door opening and footsteps coming close to me. I turned and saw him: an old man in a wrinkled coat and large uncombed hair. At that point, I thought he looked quite unassuming, more like a big brother than a father.

With a kind but coarse and stern voice, he began to speak:

"Hello there. You must be Shirou-kun. I wanted to speak to you."

He flashed a familiar smile, and then I understood who I was talking to.

"I'll be direct. Which would you choose? Go to an orphanage, or be adopted by this stranger?"

With hindsight, it seems like a silly question, but at the time, there was no difference to me. The only person who came to visit me was him. So, I decided to go with him.

"I see, good to know. Then I'll need you to get ready. We are leaving today so you'll get used to your new place as quickly as possible."

He packed everything hastily, and before finishing, he turned to me.

"Oh, I forgot. I need to tell you something important before you come with me."

I looked up at him quizzically.

"First of all, I am a Sorcerer of some sort," he said to me lightheartedly.

When I heard those words, I instantly believed them, innocently admiring him.

And thus, I became his adopted son, with my last name changing to 'Emiya'.

'Emiya Shirou,' I remember being quite proud of having the same last name as the man who saved me.

But most importantly, my life wasn't meaningless anymore.

And that's all! First of all if for some godforsaken reason you remember reading this...yeah! its here! but not because i stole it! It was mine! i'm InternetCreature! idk where i put my damn email and i couldn't log in. To that one guy, its the comeback no one wanted, after three years.

As for the story i fixed grammar (hopefully) and made it more clear to read.

Also if i'm stealing, its from my past self, if that's a crime then i'm a serial killer.