That's Hell You're Walking Into... (AU)
Attention all pimps, playahs, and pain-purveyors! It's your main homie, Avocado-sama!
Oh Lordy, here I go again, throwing myself into the deep fire of All Man Kind’s Evils… also known as the Fate franchise. And I'm posting on Beast's Lair for the first time so I'll get ripped to pieces 10x the amount! Yay!
So, this fic was mainly inspired by The Distorted Shadow’s story Tainted Steel, which is really good, go check that out as soon as you can.
I wanted to play around with Shirou’s past before the fire, so you can consider this fic an AU.
Chapter One: Spill Theirs...
It was evening in a small alley right next to a mechanic shop, where his dad worked.
He sat, slumped against the cold wall...
Once again, he had been helpless to stop the bullies that had relentlessly picked on him since he and his family moved to Fuyuki months ago.
There were three of them. Their appearances didn’t matter, their names didn’t matter. The only thing that concerned him was that they had taken his precious toy sword. Sure, he struggled and fought to get it back, but all that got him was a busted lip and a black eye.
He was one, they were three. The odds were against him.
He gasped as the one with his sword, the one in the middle, raised his toy sword up… and brought it down on his knee, snapping it in two.
“Hey!” A deep voice shouted, followed by heavy footsteps.
The bullies ran at the sound of the voice, laughing as they did.
The owner of the voice came into view, a middle-aged man, short, gray hair with hints of black, and five o'clock shadow. He wore a gray button-up shirt, and a pair of navy-blue khakis, both stained with black grease, as were his hands.
This was his dad…
His father stood there, his eyes narrowing at where bullies had run off to, then he turned to face him.
“You...”
He walked towards him.
“Little...”
He knelt down, looking at his son right in the eyes.
“Pussy.”
[-]
Brrring! Brrring!
Rin Tosaka’s alarm clock blasted, making its annoying existence all too prominent.
Rin was a beautiful young woman with long, wavy, black hair and aqua-blue eyes. Her face scrunched up into a sneer as her eyes looked at the alarm clock with almost enough intensity to kill.
“Ugh, shut up. Stop it.” She groaned.
Of course, it didn’t stop. If anything, it seemed to get louder. A siren warning of an intruder… or an annoying neighbor’s car alarm. At this point, both were equally irritating.
Why couldn’t she just sleep in today? She used way too much magical energy deciphering her father's will, not to mention she did so into the late hours of the night. That meant she was dead tired right now.
In her sleep-deprived state, she stared at her alarm clock. The arrows pointed directly at seven.
She had it set for six-thirty, wake up a half-hour earlier for some spare time. But, alas, those extra minutes were already used up.
She groaned into her pillow as she bargained with herself.
Sure, it was bad to be late, but couldn’t she be late just this once, or at the very least get to school at the last minute? She was a good student, no one would mind just this once, right?
Rin stared at the alarm clock for a few more seconds before shutting it off, and getting out of bed.
Shambling through the cold hallway, she entered the cold living room.
Seven o’clock, last day of January.
Fuyuki City was usually rather warm in the winter, but today, this morning was as cold as any other city. She was already shivering, even being able to see her breath indoors. On top of that, she lived alone, so there was no one else in the house to warm it up with the heater.
[-]
It was hot, too hot.
Was it from the pain, or the burning flames that littered the top of the building he now laid on?
He longed for the cold winter bite to take its place instead of this painful heat. He could see his reflection in the broken blade stabbed into the concrete, mere inches away from him.
Golden-brown eyes stared back at him with an empty gaze. His face was bruised and fresh blood poured from the side of his head where he’d been kicked. His body had been put through so much… too much.
So much fighting, so much killing…
Not one life he took made a difference. Not any ounce of strength he had could change his fate.
So there he laid, bloody, beaten, drowning in despair.
He had failed.
How… how had it all come to this?
[-]
Unusually, Rin saw no one on the way to school. She thought everyone had decided to sleep in, wrapped in their warm, cozy beds. Unfortunately, she was out in the city streets at seven-thirty, cold, tired, and alone when the place should be filled with students on their way to Homurahara Academy.
...Unless.
“Oh, Tohsaka? You’re up early today.”
The magus sighed. “...As I suspected.”
“Morning. It’s pretty cold today, huh?” A girl said walking towards her with a can of coffee.
She was an auburn-haired girl, strong-looking but still rather pretty. She wore a traditional kyudo uniform.
Her name was Ayako Mitsuzuri, Rin’s classmate in 2-A, and there were quite a few stories about her.
Rin gave a hum of agreement. “Good morning, Mitsuzuri-san. Please excuse the abrupt question, but do you know what time it is?”
Ayako gave her a look. “Huh? It's almost seven. Are you still asleep?”
[-]
He woke up, his head was pounding. He tried to get up but someone pushed him back down.
“W-Who…?” He asked, alarmed.
“Shhhh, it’s alright.” A melodious, feminine voice comforted. “You were in a horrible accident, my love.”
His mind froze at how she addressed him. “H-Huh…? Who… who are you?”
“Oh no… it must’ve been worse than I thought.” He heard her say, his vision still swimming. “How much do you remember, my love?”
How much did he remember…?
His heart skipped a beat as he realized he didn’t remember anything!
Then the pain intensified even further. “Argh!”
“Are you alright, my love!?” The woman exclaimed in concern.
His headache spiked again, even more painful than before.
Walking through what could only be described as Hell.
The heat…
The screams…
Throwing away everything he could to survive…
That face… the face of the man that saved him. The tears in his eyes, and the absolute joy on his face for finding someone still alive…
He looked so happy. Almost as if he’d been saved, and not him.
“You’re alive… You’re alive… You’re alive!”
Even on the verge of death, he felt jealous of that man... wondering if he could ever be that happy.
Another pulse of pain as a new memory surfaced.
That man - no, his father was there. The moon was full, the sky was dark and a little cloudy.
His father had lamented the dream he could no longer follow.
“Leave it to me… your dream. I’ll be a hero in your place!”
“Ugh...” He groaned as the pain turned to a dull throbbing instead. “I’m fine now, I think I remembered a few things...”
He shook his head, his vision was clear now…
“Do you remember me?” The beautiful voice called to him again.
He turned, and he saw the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen. Silky blonde locks that cascaded down her back, generous curves, red eyes… almost like blood. She wore a black dress that clung to her figure.
He shook his head, slightly mesmerized by her beauty.
She looked sad at his response and sighed. “That’s okay, that’s… normal. You’ll remember everything in time.”
She took his hand in hers and smiled lovingly. “I’m Estelle, and you’re my fiancée...”
He blinked, his lips parted slightly.
He was engaged!?
“Do you… do you remember your name…?”
He shook his head again.
“That’s alright. Your name is...”
[-]
Ayako had dragged Rin into the empty archery range to hang out before practice started. Mainly so they could talk about nonsense… like the competition they were having to see who could get a boyfriend first.
But not any guy would do, it had to be someone they actually loved and it would have to be a relationship so good it would make the other jealous.
They heard a trio of muffled voices, and then the door to the archery range slid open.
“Shit!” A voice, male, cursed…
THUD!
Rin and Ayako winced, that sounded painful.
“Sempai!” A second voice shouted, this one female.
“Shirou!” Another female voice yelled, this one with an accent.
“Oh no!” The second voice yelled in panic.
Thud!
“Ack!” The first voice exclaimed painfully.
Rin and Ayako gave a wry smile, that sounded a lot less painful.
“Sakura!”
Rin and Ayako turned to see two students fallen on top of each other and another fretting over both of them.
The first one, the one that had fallen first, was a boy. His messy, dark-red hair was almost long enough to reach his shoulders, it obviously wasn’t a style and more likely due to neglect. Although the lazy, but slightly pained, expression on his handsome face contrasted the fire that seemed to burn in his hazel flame-like eyes. He wore the Homurahara Academy male uniform, a brown blazer and dress pants, with a black shirt underneath. He also had a black glove over his left hand.
He groaned. “I’m going to be feeling that for the rest of the day, ow.”
Ayako sighed. “I swear, Emiya-san, you’re just like Fujimura-sensei.”
This was Shirou Emiya, seventeen years old, normally he would’ve been a second-year like Rin and Ayako, but he went missing two years ago, missing nearly the entire school year. He came back near the end of their first school year without much fanfare, and because he missed so much school, he was held back a year.
Rin found his disappearance extremely suspicious, and as such, confronted the Fake Priest, Kirei Kotomine, about the matter. Rin had pressed Kirei for information, but as it turned out, the situation revolving around Shirou was heavily classified. Apparently, the Church and the Association had to get involved in the matter, and Shirou was let go after having his memories of the event erased.
...Oddly merciful of the Church and Association.
As it turned out, Shirou was the son of a former Burial Agency member, Yamahiro Kusanagi, who decided to leave to Moonlit World behind and settle down in Japan years before the Fourth Holy Grail War started. After the fire, the great disaster that struck Fuyuki’s City Hall, as well as the whole residential district, he was adopted by the Master of Saber, Kiritsugu Emiya… the Magus Killer.
That damned priest kept on smiling as he saw how Rin paled further and further at how he described, and brought forth examples of Kiritsugu’s absolute ruthlessness… and how he had been the one to cause the disaster ten years ago, taking Shirou’s true father from him.
Normally, Rin would've used this as an opportunity to study magecraft with another person as a reference, but Shirou was seemingly ignorant of the Moonlit World.
Unfortunately, Kirei explained both of his fathers had decided against teaching him magecraft.
Another unfortunate circumstance was that many rumors about him once he came back. Most of them being about him joining the Yakuza… though considering his legal guardian was Taiga Fujimura, it was a logical conclusion, if not a slight overreaction.
Despite Shirou’s usual laid-back and lazy expression, and the rumors surrounding him, he was a pretty nice guy, always up for helping people when they asked him. Though there was a limit, even for him, he at least knew how to say “no”, that was good at least.
Most of his work usually went towards helping Issei Ryuudou, the student council president, with fixing broken school equipment. It was quite odd for the student council president to be associating with someone who most of the student body had labeled a delinquent.
Shirou sighed. “You know I’m not much of a morning person anymore Mitsuzuri-san, but come on, cut me some slack.”
“Not much of a morning person, eh?” Ayako raised an eyebrow. “Considering the position you’re in with Matou-chan, I’d have to disagree, you seem quite energetic this morning.”
Rin brought her attention to the person laying on top of Shirou.
She was a young woman with violet hair styled with a red-pink ribbon on the left side… the very same ribbon Rin gave her when they were kids. Her figure was curvier than nearly every girl in school, not to mention her sizable assets. She wore the Homurahara Academy female uniform, a brown vest over a white dress shirt, and a black, knee-length skirt.
This was Sakura Matou, Rin’s former sister.
She had been dating Shirou for the past four months.
She groaned as she pushed herself up, looking down on Shirou. “Sorry, sempai.”
Shirou shrugged. “It’s fine. I swear, that little ledge when you open the door gets higher everyday.”
The third person sighed as she picked up both of them to their feet effortlessly. “Both of you need to watch where you’re going.”
She was a blonde woman, seemingly in her late teens, of European descent. She was beautiful, elegant, and her green, emerald-like eyes spoke of experience far beyond her age. Slender physique, soft skin… she was almost unreal in how beautiful she was, nearly ethereal. She wore the Homurahara Academy female uniform just like Sakura did.
Her name was Artoria Griffiths, an “exchange student” from Wales. Her arrival in Fuyuki was a little too convenient, but judging by the Command Seals on her left hand, Rin could more than make an accurate guess as to why she was here.
...One of her competitors for the Holy Grail.
...And at her own school, what were the odds? But this was a war between experienced magi, it wasn’t like a majority of the Masters were going to be from her own school.
Shortly after her transfer, she joined the kendo club and became the star member in two days.
Artoria was an odd person, her inherent charisma made her popularity surpass Rin’s in a matter of weeks since she got here… yet she gravitated towards Shirou, the school’s handyman/possible actual yakuza member/Star of The Archery Club.
No, she wasn’t jealous of her rapid popularity… or the closeness both of them had with Shirou…
Really!
Shirou covered his mouth as he let out a yawn. “Morning Captain, morning Tohsaka-san, what’s up? You two talking about the ‘Boyfriend Contest’ thing again?”
Rin’s head snapped to Ayako. “You told him!?”
The girl in question gave him a shrug. “Eh, it wasn’t like any of us made progress in it, and it was a good ice breaker.”
“But still!” Rin exclaimed.
Shirou shrugged. “Besides, neither of you have gotten confessions in months.”
The two turned around, giving him a serious look. “...And how would you know that?”
Artoria and Sakura also gave him a look.
He looked confused for a second before his eyes widened slightly. “Oh yeah, that’s right, the entire school body unanimously agreed to leave you two out of the gossip loop.”
“Gossip loop…?” Rin and Ayako asked.
Shirou sighed. “Alright, I’m going to rip the bandaid off. The whole school thinks you two have the hots for each other.”
Their faces turned red. “What!? Why!?”
Shirou gave them a bland look. “Have you two ever heard your own conversations before? They’re riddled with such an unbelievable amount of sexual tension that it’s a miracle neither of you have dragged each other into a closet yet. ”
“What!?”
He smiled. “We even have a betting pool going on.”
“What!?”
“Pffft!” Shirou started laughing at their shocked and scandalized reactions… then Artoria elbowed him in the side.
“Ack!” He exclaimed in pain as the Welsh exchange student dragged him out of the archery range.
“I’ll handle this one...” The blonde said menacingly as she left.
“Ah, Sempai!” Sakura yelled as she hurriedly followed behind.
Rin sighed as the embarrassment subsided. This day was going to be a trial.
[-]
He stared at his shaking, blood-stained hands… then at the dead body of his assailant at his feet.
Everything had gone to hell minutes after he woke up.
The explosion… that man… no. That was no man, that was a monster, one that had killed everyone left and right… then the escape that they barely pulled off…
That monster sent people after them. They took Estelle, he had to save her, but…
He looked at the body again… he dropped the brick he used to bash the man’s face in.
He had just killed a man…
This wasn’t right. He was supposed to save people, not kill them...
“Hey! Watch out” A voice shouted snapping him out of his shocked state.
Now once again alerted to the world around him, he saw a few men rushing him.
That’s right, there was more than just one guy…
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
With the loud thunder of a gun being fired, they dropped dead, bullets in their skulls.
Shirou turned to the source of the shots. He backed away as he saw a man with a still-smoking gun approaching him, said gun trained on him as he moved.
For the lack of a better word, the man looked professional. Almost like an officer or a detective, combed brown hair, sunglasses, white dress shirt, and a pair of black dress pants.
The man lowered his gun, giving him a mocking smirk. “Heh, you’re a fucking rabbit in the headlights, aren’t you?”
He said nothing…
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you. Can you speak?”
“Y-Yeah...” He said, eyeing the gun in the man’s hand.
“Lovely, now come with me.” The man began walking away. “I have a car around the corner, I’ll fill you in on the shit you don’t know...”
He blinked, staring at the man’s retreating form…
He glanced at the bodies… should he follow him? Someone that ruthless and merciless? Someone who could take a life so easily and not even bat an eye…
“Fuck’s sake come on!” The man shouted.
He jumped a little, startled, but began walking at a brisk pace.
For now, this guy was his best option.
[-]
Rin… had screwed up.
Kirei had informed her that today was the last day to summon a Servant, and that she was the only one that hadn’t gotten it out of the way yet.
So, she summoned her Servant. At 2 a.m. which would have her at the peak of her magical power. The thing was… she forgot the clocks in her house were running an hour early, meaning she summoned her Servant at 1 a.m. instead of the appropriate time.
At first, when nothing appeared after the summoning ritual was conducted, Rin thought the worst.
...Then her living room exploded.
Turns out that her botched ritual meant her Servant got dropped in… through her roof.
Rin stared at him, the man sat in the middle of the rubble in a position that screamed arrogance.
He was a tall man, tan skin, spiky white hair, steel gray eyes. He wore a red coat with black body armor and pants.
...No discernible weapon on him either.
“Hmmm, it seems I’ve been summoned.” The man said in a dismissive tone. “I am Servant… Saber?”
He seemed confused by his class.
But Rin did not care, because…
“Yes! I did it! I summoned Saber!” She yelled gleefully.
...That glee did not last as her Servant proved to be incredibly irritating, and she wasted a Command Seal trying to get him to be obedient. That and he lost his memories due to her failure of a summoning.
All in all, it was a wonderful start to the Holy Grail War.
Rin sighed, it didn’t matter, she could work with this. At least she had finally joined the Holy Grail War. Not to mention she obtained the strongest class. It was only a matter of time before she won the Grail.
Rin sighed. “Let’s go on patrol for the night.”
She might as well get something productive done tonight.
…
…
…
Nothing happened that night aside from losing a few hours of sleep.
They patrolled the city, looking for any other Servants that would be roaming around, but since Saber was one of the three knight Servants, he could only sense others while in close proximity.
The next day, Rin decided to take Saber around town to familiarize him with the area.
Fuyuki City could actually be considered to be two towns. Miyama Town, where older houses and more traditional builds were located, and Shinto, where more modern development was progressing. Both towns being separated by the river that ran through the center of the city.
Rin and her amnesiac Servant shot a mostly straight line from her house in Miyama Town to Shinto, crossing the bridge connecting the two towns and finally ending up in the park which was the aftermath of the Fourth War.
“So, this is Shinto’s park. Now that we’ve seen all the important locations, what are your thoughts?” Rin asked Saber standing next to her, not that she could see him since he was in spiritual form.
He hummed. “It’s a big park. Is there a reason no one’s here?”
Rin smiled sardonically. “So it shows, huh? There’s some history to this place. It was the aftermath of the previous war.”
The park was mostly barren, as usual. The park was huge and well organized, it would’ve made an excellent playground for children, but with such a dark history tied to the area, no one really goes here.
Everything here seemed a touch or two grimmer than it had any right to be. A thick sorrow and melancholy reeked through the air, it just felt wrong.
As they walked through the park, Rin came across someone they didn’t expect to encounter.
About a few meters away was one Shirou Emiya sitting on a bench as he stared ahead, his expression was an odd mix of downcast and nostalgia.
“Ah, Emiya-kun, what brings you around here?” Rin asked, getting his attention. She was still miffed about his antics yesterday, but she did have an image to maintain.
...An image she just realized she shattered because she skipped school today.
Shirou blinked, and turned to face Rin. “Oh, Tohsaka-san, nice to see you. I’m just… reminiscing. I used to live here before the fire happened.”
Oh, good, he didn’t question it.
Rin nodded, pitying the redhead, she too knew what it was like to lose her family. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
He leaned back, his posture relaxing slightly. “It’s fine. Stay safe, Tohsaka-san.”
“You too Emiya-kun.” Hopefully there was honor among thieves and he didn’t snitch on her.
...There would be stitches to deliver if he did.
And with that, Rin began walking away. She noticed how Saber lingered where Shirou was for a few seconds before making his way back to her.
[-]
It had been a few days since he had been picked up by the mysterious man.
As it turned out, the world was a rather small place, because that man was his uncle. Like his actual, blood-related uncle.
His name was Jimmy, a member of the Burial Agency, he was a former student of the Wizard Marshall, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg… one of the ones that went insane.
The reason why Zelretch’s students went crazy most of the time was due to said students getting cocky and biting off more than they could chew. Jimmy was no exception, but he got off better than most. A small mishap with the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon and Jimmy had been fused with multiple versions of himself throughout the multiverse.
Turned out to have more benefits than not. All the personalities were still governed over by Jimmy’s original consciousness, and he had multiple lives because of the fusions, allowing him to take far more risky missions.
He learned many things from Jimmy, firearms training, how to properly use his Magic Circuits, the fact that his father was a retired member of the Burial Agency, and the history behind his adopted father, Kiritsugu.
...It had been a rather harsh few days.
He couldn’t accept that he had to kill others to save Estelle, but with the situation as it was now, he didn’t really have a choice.
...And Jimmy put it in a way he couldn’t argue with.
“If you go off and get yourself fucking killed, how are you going to save your girl?”
He hated that he couldn’t refute his point. He hated that he couldn't save everyone. That everyone couldn’t be happy.
Even after learning about the things Kiritsugu had done, he still believed in that ideal passed onto him. To be a hero.
“Hey, kid!” Jimmy called as he walked into the hotel room they shared. “Think it’s about time I taught you a new trick.”
He raised his arm and pulled down his sleeve, his arm turning into shiny metal.
“It’s called Alteration,” he explained. “This should be a far better addition to your toolkit than Projection will be. I mean sure, Projection is rather complicated and for someone of your age to have it down that well is impressive… but it’s rather useless.”
His arm turned back to normal.
“It may take a bit to get down, but your proficiency with Structural magecraft is outstanding, and when thrown in with this, you’ll take to it like fish to water.”
The boy blinked. “What’s wrong with Projection?”
Jimmy collapsed backwards on his bed. “Projection makes a hollow construct out of mana or od, usually the caster’s pick. Anyway, the constructs are fragile and disappear soon after they’re made, and it’s not useful for much other than making some tools you forgot or scaring the piss out of a magically unaware jackass.”
“Here’s a better example,” He unsheathed the knife on his side. “Think of this knife as having a power of… three. Now if you use Projection to recreate it, you just wasted ten units of energy to make another power level three knife. Now, let’s say you use Reinforcement instead, you now have a knife that’s a power level of twenty or thirty depending on how good you are with it. Now, apply that to Alteration.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “I could increase my own body’s power and speed even further through reinforcing the altered parts of my body!”
“Exactly!” Jimmy grinned. “Just remember, if you come across an obstacle you can’t overcome with the tools you have, then become something that can.”
He nodded, the words struck a chord with him. “...I see.”
“Now, get off your ass, let’s get training. Your whole ‘hero’ shtick is a pain in the ass, but I ain’t having you die on me.”
“You got it, Uncle Jimmy!”
“Heh, ‘Uncle Jimmy’, never thought I’d hear the day...”
[-]
It was only after school the next day that things finally picked up.
It was night, all the students had left, and in the middle of the courtyard stood a blue-haired man. He was shirtless, showing off his great physique and the red tattoos on the right side of his torso, and his right arm. He wore a moon-shaped pendant around his neck, silver earrings, and tight, blue pants with armored shoes. In his hands was a dangerous looking red spear.
It was obvious this was a Servant, the sheer amount of mana coming off of him would wash away any doubts if there even was any. That meant the spear in his hands was his Noble Phantasm.
And even more obviously, he was the Lancer Servant.
“Oi!” He greeted them with a grin. “I’m Servant Berserker. Now, if we could get to the fighting, that would be great.”
...Or maybe not.
Rin scoffed. “You’re Berserker? With a spear like that? Not to mention being as coherent as you are.”
The Servant that had claimed to be Berserker shrugged. “Eh, what rule said Berserkers couldn't have weapons? And besides, my Mad Enhancement is tied to one of my abilities, I’m as sane as you’re going to get as long as I don’t use it.”
Saber stepped forward, in front of Rin. “If you’re Berserker...” his hands flashed brightly for a moment before revealing a pair of black and white Chinese swords. “...then I must be a sword-wielding Archer.”
Saber’s smirk seemed slightly strained, as if he couldn’t believe he just said that.
Berserker grinned. “Oh, Saber right off the bat? This’ll be fun!”
“Master, get a safe distance away, and stay on guard for the one holding Berserker’s leash.” The red Servant said without turning around.
Rin didn’t need to be told twice as she used Reinforcement on her legs and took off with incredible speed. She hid behind the trees at the edge of the courtyard as she observed the battle about to take place. While her eyes were focused on the two Servants, she took out a few jewels from her coat, making sure to not be taken by surprise by the enemy Master.
The young magus stood mesmerized as the two combatants lunged at each other, streaks of blue and red trailed through the courtyard as the sounds of blades clashing sang a most entrancing melody.
[-]
Jimmy was dying...
He took a bullet meant for him, sacrificing his life to save him.
They had been together for four months.
Four months of brutal bloodshed. Four months of formal training in magecraft. Four months of his ideas being challenged at every turn.
...And now the one that helped him through it all was about to leave him.
Throughout their bloodsoaked adventure, Jimmy had been losing life after life, constantly pulling him out of the fire whenever he bit off more than he could chew, or giving one up so they could go just a little bit farther, but now…
Jimmy sighed, blood leaking from his mouth as he sat slumped in the elevator. “End of the line for me, kid.”
The boy grit his teeth as he put pressure over the bullet wound. “End of the line my ass! I’m getting you through this!”
His uncle raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the boy felt a shock through his mind, as if a dam had been broken.
Images flashed through his head.
A purpled-haired girl… a friend.
A brown-haired woman… someone he considered a sister.
A Japanese style mansion… a home.
The boy blinked and shook his head. “W-What the hell!?”
“When I first examined you, I found traces of magecraft mainly used to manipulate memories...” He explained. “I saw an opportunity in you, a way to finally kill this bastard. So, instead of breaking the mind fuck they gave you and sending you home, I crafted you into my own weapon… dragged you further into my grudge match.”
The boy looked at Jimmy in shock. “Jimmy… you…!”
“...But I finally realized it… and like always, I figured it out just before it was too late.” Jimmy took his sunglasses off, his golden-brown eyes stared back at him. “I finally realized what you are… to me. It’s bloody good having a friend… Shirou.”
Tears welled up in Shirou’s eyes. “Goddammit, Jimmy! Shut up and let me save you already, this shit can wait!”
Jimmy coughed up some blood. “Right now… you should start remembering bits… and pieces… those are your memories Shirou… they’re you. Trust them.”
“Fucking fuck, Jimmy!” Shirou’s mind raced a mile a minute to think up a solution to save the only blood-related family he had left.
"Shirou... you were your father's hero... you were Kiritsugu's hero.... you're my hero. You don't have to be everyone's hero. Just be ours..."
Shirou was silent as the life finally left Jimmy.
He barely noticed the ding of the elevator as it reached the top floor.
[-]
Rin was so entranced by the battle before her that she almost didn’t hear the broom that fell down near the archery range.
“Who’s there!?” Berserker shouted.
“Shit!” A panicked voice bellowed.
Rin turned to see a flash of familiar red hair before whoever it was dived headfirst into one of the windows and into the school.
The young magus stared dumbly as Berserker chased after the student who she had a rather good idea of who they actually were.
She noticed Saber wasn’t doing anything.
“Saber, what are you doing?”
“Resting.” He said with a straight face. “Berserker probably went to eliminate the witness. Now that he’s busy, I can catch my breath.”
For an instant, Rin’s thoughts freeze.
“...Follow him, Saber! I’ll-”
Crash!
The second story window shattered as Berserker was sent sailing through the air.
As both Master and Servant turned to face the falling Berserker, it seemed that Saber had the biggest look of shock out of the two of them.
[-]
Now, after everything, here he lay staring at his own hollow eyes as the life drained from his body.
The apostle that had started this mess, the one that Jimmy held a grudge towards for years… he had won.
...and Shirou Emiya was no hero. He had saved no one, he had killed everyone, and everything he had held dearly had slipped through his fingers like sand.
He failed not only Jimmy, but he also failed Kiritsugu…
So, here he laid, amongst bodies and flames. It was like a repeat of the events all those years ago… the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Shirou’s head pulsed with pain, he couldn’t tell if it was from the kick the apostle gave him after the long-fought battle he endured or something else, he didn’t really care.
A memory…
He was being bullied by some kids when he was younger… before the fire.
He was being bullied by some local kids because they thought his hair color was weird. They broke the toy sword his father had given him for his birthday. He tried fighting them, but was beaten up.
His dad came across the scene and drove them off.
His father stood there, his eyes narrowing at where bullies had run off to, then he turned to face his son.
“You...”
He walked towards him.
“Little...”
He knelt down, looking his son right in the eyes.
“Pussy.”
The man paused.
“That’s what my old man called me,” he clarified. “And I proved him right... Let’s just say I did some very bad things that I regret. Now, I love you Shirou, and I'll never call you anything but your name. But you got to decide... are you going to lay down there, and swallow that blood in your mouth? Or, are you going stand up, spit it out, and go spill theirs?”
BGM: Bleach OST - Stand Up Be Strong
Shirou blinked, then he was back, staring at the broken blade showing his reflection.
He felt a spark in him, a burst of life that he had never felt before.
It was like…
It was as if the boy that had died in that fire all those years ago never truly died. There was still something in him left. It was minuscule, but it was still there, and it sparked, bursting into a raging fire that filled his being.
Shirou stared at his reflection, his eyes no longer hollow.
He smiled, just a simple genuine smile.
He struggled to push himself off the ground.
“I am the Bloodstained Blade.”
On his knees, he tossed the broken sword in his hand away.
“Steel is my body, and my blood is of fire.”
His body began to heat up, but he didn’t care.
“Tempered in the blood of countless lives.”
He pushed od through his circuits, trying to Reinforce his body.
“Not once have I shown mercy,Nor stopped moving forward.”
His body felt like it was burning when he pushed his circuits further, they were already past their limit. He stood up.
“The bearer of rage lies here - alone - forging his body into a terrible monster.”
Flames slowly began to consume his body, but they did not burn him, they reforged him. His body turning into a human-shaped mass of sharpened steel.
“Thus, the fires of my forge burn ever bright.”
Before the flames consumed his head, he spat out the blood in his mouth.
“For I am, the Demon of Blades.”
[-]
Berserker managed to land on his feet, his lip was busted, and on the side of his face was the imprint of a fist along with a few cuts on the area. For some reason, the side of his face where he was hit seemed like it was smoking, as if he had gotten burned.
The Servant wiped away the blood from his lips. “What the hell was that!?”
The exposed hallway through the broken window lit up with an orange glow. A mass of flames shot out from the broken window and crashed into the center of the courtyard.
Rin had to cover her eyes, she’d never seen such bright flames before.
A deep, guttural growl reverberated throughout the courtyard.
The flames dissipated in an instant, leaving embers to flow in the wind like sakura petals. It was beautiful and mesmerizing, but the thing in the center of this display of beauty was anything but.
It was made of blades…
Its head almost seemed like a demonic samurai helmet, its eyes were black voids with red dots in the center, a small stream of flames leaked from its right eye. It’s body was shaped like a human’s, but it was made of sharpened and jagged steel. Flames leaked from the gaps in its body. Jagged teeth made up its mouth, sharp claws made its hands, deadly talons made its feet.
It was a living weapon of destruction...
It stood about as tall as Rin’s Saber, which only made its intimidating appearance even fiercer.
Ironically, it was Rin who found her voice, and not the Heroic Spirits. “Is… is that a Servant?”
Saber shook his head. “...Look at its left hand, Rin.”
Her eyes moved, and on the monster’s left hand, was a set of Command Seals.
The monstrous Master turned to face Berserker, its red eyes glowed with malicious intent as he stalked towards the Servant.
...Whatever this thing was, it was a Master.
...And it was ready for a fight.
[-]
On that fateful night…
A boy that should have stayed dead in the fires of evil came back…
A hill of swords transformed into an endless world of flame containing his ultimate weapon…
A Sword turned into a Blade…
And Shirou Emiya became a Hero…
Chapter End
As a few of you can already tell, Shirou’s backstory here is based on an action movie called Hardcore Henry. Well, less based, and more copy-paste but Nasuverse...ified… or something along those lines.
Updates for this will be slow since this story is just something so I don't burn myself out on my main story on FF, QQ, and SB, With Nothing but Mercy.
Also, here's a sketch I made of what Shirou looks like in that blade monster form of his, I call it Blade Trigger... have a cookie if you get the reference.
...AND EMBRACE YOUR INNER EDGELORD!
https://i.imgur.com/HYkhhiw.jpg
