Crawl like a Worm (Nasuverse SI)

Chapter 20: Cuddle, Pillows and two Worms


~Shinji’s POV~


When I returned from my unexpected visit with what was left of the Matou family in this universe, I had been quite eager to enjoy some relative quiet and peace from any other escalations ready to implode on my face.


At least those that I wasn’t aware of since the large majority of the issues lingering in the Prillyaverse were either away from happening here at this time and place, leaving me with plenty of time to either prepare or elaborate my next steps with my own individual plans.


Sadly, there is no peace in a world as this one, especially with the quirky characters I had been mingling with about the multiple problems that required proper attention and intervention.


When I returned at the castle, ready to go for a quiet nap over the ordeal I had just finished to deal with the Matou family, I wasn’t prepared to take in the little shock which I was granted right as a curious group of homunculi greeted me inside.


Artoria was a little tense, irritated by the unusual behavior of the doll-like maids, yet she wasn’t enough to truly feel threatened by this approach.


The reason behind such an odd development was… an even odder development.


I was given some papers, a thick stack of reports that had been compiled in the last two hours, almost since after I had left for my little visit at the former family mansion, and the content within it was more than enough to bring another rounds of headaches over it all.


And that’s why I was now lying on some comfy couch in one of the various living rooms of the fortress, left alone as I groaned and whined over the insanity that just ensued while I was away from the castle.


The first few pages of the big report were fairly normal, the data was a copy of the readings from the seals I had ordered to be placed in Sakura’s and Pandora’s rooms, to keep a constant inner watch about the happenings in both places.


I had these specific runes set up as a precautionary step and I actually hadn’t expected of having to make use of any of those for this curious circumstance.


I was glad to have been wrong about overestimating the issue at hand.


The ‘magical’ ink transcribed down by the special runes and then processed by the maids assigned to keep an eye for any unusual activity, giving them a close seat to two strange phenomena happening in the span of mere moments.


The first one was a dual distortion of the space-time starting from a certain blonde-haired girl that was supposedly unable of using her full magical potential, two trips had been registered, with the first beginning right from the blonde’s room and concluding into Sakura’s room while the final one was used to make a return back to her confinements.


Rather odd for a prisoner to avoid escaping their captor if they have the means to do so, especially if said individual was a pseudo demi-goddess with a troublesome affinity with the magic of old and a strong affiliation with a certain Magus family trying to create the ‘best’ world ruled by them… or the better men that they considered themselves to be.


I was confused, incredibly so by this lack of attempts from Pandora’s part to try and evade her captivity, yet I was quick to also remember a specific issue.


The girl didn’t want to die, that was what had stopped her from opening the box the first time around.


Fear had dictated her from opposing the completion of her main purpose, her original reason to be and… now she was here, without her creators’ iron-like rule and free from pursuing anything that she wanted to.


Sadly, freedom is not something that sat well with Pandora, especially since she wasn’t human to begin with.


Considering her a mere homunculus would be a serious mistake, especially since the pseudo-humanoids in question had a very limited lifespan attached to their creation, with only just some few types (the Einzbern maids being the prime example) capable of sustain themselves for longer times, even longer than human lives, with proper reparations and careful maintenance.


She was less than a proper human, but her main flaw was her lack of ‘general sense of life directions’.


Smart she might be and capable of creating immense anomalies with her top notch Magic Core, Pandora wasn’t provided with the means of conceiving complex independent thoughts.


She could go for a walk in the park one day, she could decide to eat ice cream during a sunny day, but she couldn’t exactly make grand plans on the go without the capacity of ‘dreaming and establishing a future for herself’.


It wasn’t her function, it wasn’t the reason that saw her created. Her purpose was to die to fuel that blasted cube of hers and cause the Earthly corruption and sins to reach all over the world and introduce a major shock effect against Gaia.


Which right now would seriously speed up the process of the destruction of Earth in the Miyuverse.


Really bad, but not terribly so since that world was meant to die anyway with how little time was left to it.


Yet this very detail about ‘Erika’ wasn’t something that I was just going to put away yet, especially since it added a curious clue over the second phenomenon she had caused.


The Einzbern Clan had registered just a handful of cases about transmutation and all of those were old depictions of the Age of Fairies that left them with some records over theories born from those recollections.


Nothing truly exhaustive, but it was still enough material to recognize the happening of a transmutation with some of the reports here and the object that was used for such a process was…


Sakura.


The girl was now normal and no longer a Doll. She didn’t have any Crest Worms, nothing that would confirm any residue of pollution within her body and the final proof was her Element.


My mind had to reboot when it was confirmed that her current Element was Hollow.


Imaginary Numbers, the definition it was commonly known as, was the original affinity of the plum-haired girl and her Magical Circuits, the original ones, were healthy and perfectly-working.


But the greatest mystery was her lack of memories over her current whereabouts.


One of the maids had ultimately gone and checked on the girl after a thorough distanced-test occurred and gave them the opportunity to study the case closely.


It would be a massive understatement to say that Sakura was confused and incredibly afraid when she was confronted by the maid sent to get some answers out from the ‘specimen’ in the room.


The plum-haired girl freaked out incredibly and legitimately as she hadn’t expected this situation to unfold, her mind seemingly stuck to a more easy-going nature compared to her previous encounters in this universe.


She didn’t have to lie her emotions for some mission ordained by her senpai and thus there was no reason to appear secretive.


And some answers had indeed come out from such a situation, some of those were quick to cement the actual suspect that…


Pandora had reversed Sakura to a state of humanity and liveliness that was way-beyond what the strongest Magus could ever hope to achieve.


It was an effort that was eagerly defying Gaia’s rules, it was… transcending mere magic as that level of transmutation, provided so effortlessly, couldn’t be achieved by any Magician.


Yep, I had a pseudo-deity in captivity and… her reasons to commit such a morally-good action had to have something that I was failing to see.


Something simple, something that had to be inherently bad for her to accept as a viable action.


But what could it be?


My brain was burning at the immensely complicated mystery I had to get solved before the blonde managed to do something even more messy and somewhat good for my plans.


I groaned, drowning my face even more onto the soft pillow I had been resting it onto.


Why were things being this incredibly complicated and crudely annoying even now that I had the upper hand?!


“Because the universe as a funny way to show its care over its children,” A familiar masculine voice mirthfully replied, causing my entire body to tense up and my face to slowly shift to look at the origin of the voice.


Gilgamesh smiled, the child version of the King of Heroes was currently crouching down near to my face and holding quite the amused posture as I frowned my tired eyes at him.


“Gil,” I greeted curtly, feeling far too irritated by the world itself to grant him with a frightened reaction to such a close up. “I hope you weren’t getting bored while we were away.”


Red eyes widened just a little and his smile deepened in a genuine curve of happiness.


“A little, but now you are back,” He admitted with a soft hum stuck in his throat. “The maids are fair to easy to prank and their reactions is lacking.”


The homunculus weren’t meant to show panic about some simple jokes and pranks, but I was mostly surprised that Gil would still try to get that kind of reaction despite the fact it wasn’t just possible.


I nodded. “I’m sorry if I don’t appear too susceptible to anything you are saying but… I’m facing quite the conundrum with-”


“The little puppet becoming a real girl?” The blond interjected with fake surprise, then his tone turned back to his previous amused state. “I suppose it had to have been a shocker that she is no longer an enemy to us.”


“She is a scared young woman that possibly think that was kidnapped by the Ainsworth and…” I paused a moment, slowly turning my body belly up to stare at the ceiling. “She thinks that her senpai is on his way to save her from our clutches.”


The boy nodded at my words and soon accepted the silent gesture to take a seat by the free space on the couch.


“Shirou Emiya… I don’t know what to truly say about him,” Gilgamesh commented with a certain fascination in his tone. “I’ve seen many variations, some in his youthful and more idealistic state, his feats reaching a legendary degree in this phase of his life, others where he is just that dull-edged watchdog that can’t even accept the unfairness of every single job.”


I blinked at that last bit.


“You aren’t much of a model individual yourself,” I mused softly, drawing a surprised look from his red eyes. “You overworked yourself to death-”


“Because in my last few days of mourning I found no reason to continue with that perfect life,” The blond replied with a hint of annoyance. “Imagine being bestowed with everything since my birth, to have the respect, either out of awe or fear, and being forced to find something meaningful in this life.”


There was some silence, my eyes still staring at the ceiling.


“It was Enkidu that brought you out of that loop, wasn’t he?” I asked quietly, my voice faltering a little as I felt like there was no need for answers after what he just said. Yet I found myself urged to ask him about it all.


“He was odd; so odd that even before his impertinence, I wasn’t able to do anything about him as he would so bluntly state his opinion over the world around me,” He narrated with a certain nostalgic voice. “He was annoying, but funnily enough I couldn’t bear to have him stop being that much troublesome. He was a pest, but one that challenged me with his own simple and strong mind and body.”


“He was your milestone,” I continued for him, feeling quite detached from the current issues for that very moment and right into this conversation. “Someone that would keep you on your toes and-”


“Then a sad excuse for a goddess took slight of being politely refused.”


I would have questioned him a little more over the ‘politeness’ in that fairly brutal response to Ishtar’s advances, but he seemed to be annoyed by the topic itself so I kept quiet just enough to come up with some other topics.


“Do you think that-”


“She would feel a little better to see a familiar face,” The blond-haired boy interjected blankly. “She might be displeased that it’s yours as she does assocites it to the pathetic scumbag that was her brother.”


I flinched at the murderous tone at the end of it and I nodded slowly.


“Still, she would be afraid of me, wouldn’t she?”


He shrugged. “What if she is? I think immediate fear gives people the chance of mustering some courage faster than letting them suffer a slower but more lenient fright.”


But would it be convenient for me to approach Sakura this early on, especially with how distressed she was?


I was quite sure that Gil wasn’t saying anything wrong by pointing out how it would eventually conclude in something more acceptable, the initial panic would be troublesome but not impossible to curb down to an easier level to try and get some conversation going with her.


Before I could say something more, I felt a pair of arms pressing on my legs and I stared down to see Gilgamesh slowly crawling over my chest and stopping to lie his head on there, red eyes carefully staring onto mine and… he smiled.


“I saw Chloe do something like this, to try and show affection in your regards and… is this how cuddles work?” His inquiry was somewhat stomping, my brain failing to register the scene until it was far too unraveled for me to avoid. I was embarrassed, enough to hesitate to give him an answer and ultimately I conceded a sigh.


“Something similar, but yes, this is the basis.”


He hummed, nuzzling closer and almost melting his body in that position, letting go of the last bits of tension he had over his arms and legs.


“It’s… similar to what Enkidu used to try to do after every spar, hugging and trying to tackle me down on the floor to nestle his head on my chest,” He muttered quietly, eyelids almost dropping and ready to succumb to the tiredness. “It was draining, but in the good way. It felt endearing and… warm. Like it’s now.”


He yawned, giving a final nuzzle before finally… snore.


It was soft, very unusual to see someone- him sleep so suddenly and without any major warning.


I was shocked by the scene, my brain scrambling to recover some sense or lucidity but… I really needed that nap.


I had been dealing with ordeals after ordeals, two hours of rest would make me better-prepared to face what was going to be quite the troublesome encounter with Sakura.


So I yawned myself, adjusting my head on the pillow as my descent to sleep began and concluded with my own snoring.


Silence reigned in that room for at least an hour…


Then a certain giggling Kaleidostick decided to finally leave her hideout, preparing her camera feature and- SNAP – take a picture of that high-level blackmail situation.


Maybe Kuro would reward her handsomely if she showed her those… maybe she would be eager to try out some of the magical girl clothes that she sadly couldn’t use on Shinji-sama.


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~Sakura’s POV~


In her mind, she was chiding herself for having failed to see the signs that things were far from good ever since waking up in this spacious room.


Sakura was a smart individual.


A little shy and reserved, but still capable of deducing simple issues from little clues that were so visible from her little fortress of pillows.


The bed had become her sanctuary after she had realized that this wasn’t part of Senpai’s plans.


Quite the opposite considering how expensive everything looked to be in that unknown place and her beliefs were further cemented when she was introduced to one of the servants working in this building.


The pale woman had some of the most unsettling red eyes the girl had ever seen, quite similar to the ominous sensation conceptualized by the form of her late grandfather during the little time she spent under his ‘mentorship’.


But it wasn’t malicious, nor it was sporting any positive emotion as it just offered some neutral coldness with the lack of expressions in her face.


The woman merely demanded some questions, her tone firm but not overly-commanding, and Sakura slowly but surely conceded to reply to the sudden interrogation she was subjected with.


There was no major reaction from this maid, the only noise coming from her being the scribbling of the pen she had on her hand over some papers, copying her verbal answers down on the documents.


Most of the queries were simple ones that were easy to answer, about her age, her height and other measures; then the questioning moved up right to topics related to her current state of being.


She felt healthy- She was healthy and that was quite a perplexing self-discovery as her body shouldn’t be feeling this much well-accustomed to the world as a whole.


While Zouken had died after the Ainsworth had decided to eradicate the Matou clan, the Crest Worms that had been there in her body had been ‘neutered’ of the chances of resurrect her grandfather, but they had been left there in her body both as a sadistic ‘punishment’ and as a mean to cripple her means to make use of her magecraft.


Yet now she felt an unfamiliar sense of vitality running in her limbs and torso, as if she was finally breathing cleanly and away from some poisonous gas around her.


It was liberating and somehow horrifying as it meant just a sole thing.


This wasn’t some hideout planned by her senpai, nor it was the Ainsworth’s castle…


This was a completely different place altogether!


And so she was completely clueless about whom had decided to capture her and confine her in this room.


She was still receiving some decent food and she couldn’t feel anything odd coming from the fruits she had requested from the surprisingly lenient maid.


Apples tasted much better now that her body wasn’t in constant agitation, yet her mind was still failing to accept the fact that this was a safe place just like the servant had admitted to her with quite the genuine reply.


This wasn’t a place of bad people, or at least not of cruel ones.


The room she was confined within was a ‘precaution’ from what the maid had continued to tell her and that her senpai ‘was actually alive but captured by the Ainsworth’.


The mere idea that her lover had been ultimately been kidnapped by the family was… worry-inducing but also infuriating.


Without the concerns required about the emotions that would drive the Crest Worms to react on her body, she was given a complete freedom over her emotions.


And with her emotions left unrestrained, she was able to finally explore the height of her overall anger.


The two pillow in her bed were shredded without second thoughts and, while the maids keep pouring more white pillows to replace the ones she was destroying, the more Sakura was eagerly letting the furious sensation of vindication pour in her veins and prompt her to shred more of the little things.


Feathers were now filling the floor of the room, painting the ground white as she was given the chance of letting go of so much inner frustration and contempt she held over her family and other individuals.


After a few hours of spending her energies in such a destructive activity, her tired body had finally decided that it was more than enough for now and she decided to take refuge under the warm covers of her bed, waiting for whatever next development was prepared for her to witness.


It didn’t take too long for the door of the room to open one last time, drawing her attention as this time it wasn’t one of the maids to enter the room.


Her focus shifted to a more panicked expression as she realized whom was now standing with an uneasy smile right by the door.


She couldn’t never forget her vicious older brother and his unique characteristics, Shinji Matou was here before her and…


He was far shorter than she remember him to be.


The young boy looked quite nervous and squirming under her own uneasy stare, lacking any of the cruelty and deviousness that the young man would display back a few days ago… before getting turned into a puppet.


She gulped, her throat tightening at the sight as horror forced her face to drain much of its color and…


He spoke.


“H-Hi,” He said while waving at her, some uncertainty noticeable in the action. “I know that this might look… bad since my face is surely bringing quite the fair share of unpleasant memories but...”


He sighed, his posture easing just a little.


“My name is Shinji Matou, I’m an apprentice to the Wizard Marshal, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg and I’m in the middle of a mission to fix some bad situations involving yours and the one where your senpai’s little sister has been sent after the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War,” The boy explained with a more serious voice.


Her eyes widened at the mentioning of her senpai and… his sister!


“Y-You are talking about-”


“Miyu,” His interruption confirmed his truthfulness over this knowledge. “She is currently a ward of the Edelfelt family as Luviagelita Edelfelt has recently set her residence here in Fuyuki after her own Zelretch had asked her and her fellow apprentice to investigate the situation.”


There was a little pause, giving her plenty of time to properly sponge up his words in her brain and… her mind felt like some details just felt odd.


‘Her own Zelretch’? Wasn’t there just a single Wizard Marshal?


“There are currently three Zelretchs involved over the matter,” He continued with a nod, before shrugging a little. “Okay, maybe two since the one from your dimension had yet to speak with any of his counterparts and-”


“I- You are not from… here?”


He nodded with a patient smile on his face.


“That is indeed the case, but my presence here is caused by a little favor I’m trying to get out of that lazy vampire.”


She frowned at the strange comment about the supposedly-respectable elder, but for some reason she couldn’t exactly defend him.


Yet her attention was drawn to another, more important detail.


“A favor?”


Shinji Matou was still a materialistic individual and surely this good-version of his wasn’t actually truly that good with his intentions when-


“I want to destroy the holy grail from my original dimension before the Fourth Holy Grail War begins,” The boy replied with some determination. “From there, I will kill Zouken and free my little sister.”


…


What?


Her mind exploded with multiple opposing thoughts from that very heated proclamation, her brain almost melting at the weird circumstance unfolding before her eyes.


Three dimensions.


Her Senpai was alive but captured.


Her Senpai’s sister was alive and protected by a Magus family in this Fuyuki.


This Shinji Matou was actually good and-


This Shinji Matou was adorable-sized.


A giggle almost left her lips, the bout of insane thoughts finally starting to flow more regularly and making her efforts to keep those from becoming troublesome easier.


Sakura hummed at this, seriousness finally regaining some dominance in her trail of thoughts.


“Does this mean that… you are against the Ainsworth family, Shinji...-san?”


It felt odd to address her brother as such, but the usage of the usual honorifics just felt… wrong.


Tainted.


“Me and a large group, yes,” He answered happily. “Julian Ainsworth is trying to achieve the realization of a wish to ‘save’ humanity by proclaiming his family to some new gods and… he wish to use an artifact that… isn’t meant to do that.”


The explanation clicked somehow with her knowledge of the Holy Grail War, the magical construct used was something that caused the Great Fire of Fuyuki, erasing a little more than half of the city.


A terrible disaster and… it had all been prevented from reaching the full annihilation of the town only because of-


Miyu.


Was that why the Ainsworth had wanted her? Did the little girl have some sort of power that-


Her thought collapsed as she felt a slight sense of sickness making her a little nauseating.


At the mere sight of seeing her a little bit tired, Shinji looked incredibly concerned and proceeded to just take two steps closer to the bed. “Is everything alright?”


“My head is… spinning a little.”


She lowered herself deeper in her cover, resting the back of her head onto the… mattress.


Oh right, the pillows are all shredded.


A sigh left her mouth.


“I’m- I’m sorry,” The young woman apologized out of instincts, only getting a sigh from Shinji.


“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” The boy calmly stated, his soft gaze putting her at ease just for a little. “I suppose thinking too much about these topics might be getting you to remember some of the stuff you have forgotten.”


F-Forgotten?


She could clearly remember everything, from the little plan she had gotten prepared a few days ago to when she confessed her love to senpai and-


…


And then-


Her body tensed up in a seizure-like manner, but it didn’t convulse just yet.


“I-I-”


“S-Sakura, that’s enough- If you continue to think about the past you might hurt yourself too much and-” It was a blink of an eye, he was already by her side with his small hands grasping at her arm. “S-Stop, I will tell you- not now, your mind isn’t ready yet.”


But the girl was so close to completely faint under that pressure, the mystery driving her to think more about the strange lack of recollection about what happened after that kiss and-


“D-Don’t, please. I-I beg you.”


There was a moment of stillness, her mind regaining just some base control over her twitching body as her eyes fixed upon the distress within Shinji’s face.


It was so odd, so fascinating, so heart-crushing and-


And so familiar.


That pseudo-sob, that slight of fear that she had let out when her uncle Kariya had gone to fight the Ainsworth to save her, her mind already knowing that they were too strong to oppose and-


And how he became one of their emotionless dolls.


Her breathing was starting to stabilizing a little more, but her body and mind felt too tired to continue any conversation.


Eyelids half-dropping, Sakura gave a tiny smile. “I-I think I got- I got this.”


There was a pause, surprise surging from his face and soon he gave a nod back at her.


“O-Okay, do you need anything or-”


“I-I’m tired,” She interjected with some whiny tone. “A-And I don’t have a-”


“A pillow,” He nodded again, this time his attention turning to the door where a certain strange stick was poking its ‘head’ from.


“Ruby, can you please-”


“A super-fluffy and comfy pillow coming right up!” The strange object exclaimed, giggling afterwards while a strange light propelled from it and created a-


A pillow out of nothing, landing right into Shinji’s waiting hands.


The boy approached her closer as to put the pillow under her head and it was incredibly comfortable.


Her eyes widened just a little in awe at how… comfy it was.


Sakura let out a cute, little yawn, her eyelids dropping a little more as she nodded. “Thank you.”


He smiled. “You are welcome.”


The interaction concluded there, with her mind finally ceding to the growing weight of tiredness and she ultimately closed her eyes and she drifted away in her sleep.


Shinji’s smile widened a little more at the pretty sight and, while part of him would have wanted to accept Ruby’s offer to take a photo out of that scene, he decided against it.


He wanted this moment to be unique after all.


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AN


You know what would be absurd?


Shinji vs Dio- And I’m not talking about the original characters.


No, no, it would be hilarious to test the might of the protagonist of Crawl like a Warm against the Heaven-Holder from Absolute Divinity.


Can’t you feel the WRYYY in that crawling? What an odd sound!


(But yes, I did start a DIO!SI from Ep 1 of Phantom Blood, it’s the first Dio SI… ever!)

 

Chapter 21: Hugs, Cross-Dimensional Issues and Worm


Once I was done dealing with Sakura, I found myself facing the final issue for the day.


I was tired, incredibly so, and for good reasons too.


After dealing with the multiple shenanigans that I was subjected to, part of me would have wanted to just skip this situation to the next day… and yet I had to work onto it now that I could.


While Erika had been quiet, ‘well-behaved’, after reverting Sakura to her human self, I wasn’t sure for how long her patience would have kept her stuck in her new room.


And to be immensely fair to the world, I didn’t want to wake up with some crazy blonde staring insanely at me- probably to kill me in the most brutal way possible.


I didn’t have any major plans for what was going to happen once I vaulted inside that area of the castle, yet I entered that silent room with some minor idea of what I was supposed to gain from this difficult endeavor.


I was frightened. Undoubtably so.


But I wasn’t going to just let this odd and confusing situation come to persist without getting some rightful answers over this topic.


Erika was sitting on her bed, seemingly boring herself with some book about fairy tales.


The blonde was humming quietly, with gusto even as she carefully turned the pages in a somewhat moderate pacing.


The moment I closed the door behind myself, the girl tensed a little as the noise created from the action finally took her attention away from her reading and right onto me.


Bright blue eyes, sporting such an unwavering glint of curiosity and mirthfulness, were narrowed in unquestionable delight at my appearance.


She eased up as quickly as she had mustered her guarded self, a pretty face suddenly painting her face colorfully as she greeted me.


“Oh, hello Shinji.”


Simple, innocent and… hinting to some giddiness over the recent developments.


I sighed.


“Hello Pandora,” I greeted back, my smile lesser in its intensity compared to the girl’s.


She blinked as I took a few steps toward the bed.


“I see that you are enjoying your time here,” I pressed onward with an inquisitive tone. “Is there perhaps something that you wish to have at the moment? A glass of milk, maybe some cookies?”


Her sight glowed brightly at the mentioning of the delicious snacks, but her lips parted to reveal just a light pout.


“But it’s a little late, isn’t it?” Pandora asked with some surprise. “I mean, are you trying to trick me and prank me?”


…


“No.”


She smiled once more.


“I actually know that,” The girl almost giggled in response. “I know that it’s still early enough to drink some milk… but then I would have to deal with an upset tummy for dinnertime.”


I raised a fascinated eyebrow. “Truly? Is it some allergy that causes this or-”


She giggled happily, interrupting me. “Maybe~.”


Silence resumed shortly after, lasting for a little less than a minute before the blonde actually rekindled the conversation with a hum.


“Aren’t you going to ask me about what I did to Sakura-nee?” Pandora questioned with interest dripping from her words. “Maybe even how did I manage to elude your guards-”


“I don’t need to, no.”


The blonde froze up at the quick rejection, her blue eyes widening in quiet confusion at my genuine disinterest over the subject.


“B-But what about your sister, you surely would want to know what-”


“You restored her body, mind and soul back to the point those were prior to her first death,” I curtly interrupted. “While also removing the loyalty compulsion she had over Darius and the rest of the family.”


Pandora was gawking just a little at my dull response, surprise adorning her adorable visage just for a handful of seconds before the made a partial recovery.


“B-But surely you would want to know what truly-”


“It’s something connected to True Magic you are capable of using thanks to your connection to the Box,” I interjected once more. “I admit I wouldn’t mind to think about the real mechanics behind the process… but then again I would have to trust you.”


I was perfectly aware that a direct approach would have ended in some failure, maybe something far worse than getting injured by the young girl.


She was well-versed with people despite her clear hate directed at Humanity as whole, making her someone too difficult to crack without some serious planning about this conversation.


Pandora was visibly unbalanced by my blatant disinterest almost offended even when I rebuked her attempt to gain some negative reaction out of me.


She wanted me to snap back at her, but the reason behind this kind of instance was lost in my mind.


Why would someone like her be determined to get me angry and confused all at once? What was she trying to achieve by doing this.


The blonde pressed forward on the bed, eyes wide open in shock as she kept herself lifted by holding herself up with her little arms. “B-But I would just tell you without asking for anything in return!”


…


…


What?


I blinked, taking another step towards her.


It was even more confusing as I couldn’t just grasp the reasoning in being so ‘easy’ to get answers to.


I knew of her wish, her desire to die by enabling the content of the box as…


Her ‘death’ was within the box, together with the various evils of the world.


This decision wasn’t truly bad considering that Pandora had been ready to activate her Noble Phantasm and unleash Chaos upon the world as a whole…


Yet something had forced her to back away and not go through with her main priority.


“Why didn’t you open the Box, Pandora?” I finally asked, now unsure how to properly wriggle myself in the pressing topics and focusing onto something probably more important than what had just happened.


The child gulped nervously, but she didn’t as she fell back on the mattress.


I walked closer to her bed and she followed my steps with a quiet glance, keeping her hands pressed on her lower face as to hold her mouth shut.


“I really don’t want to hurt you Pandora,” I continued with a tired voice. “I really don’t. While I’m genuinely terrified with what you can do with your powers… with what you can achieve in so little effort, I still don’t have a true reason to actually despise you.”


She blinked again, this time her surprise vanishing to make way to a sad look.


“W-Why not just- why don’t you just hate me?” The girl inquired softly. “I-I hurt you, I messed around with Sakura and then… and then now!”


Pandora looked at the ceiling with a slight pout embedded on her face.


“A-Are you dumb?” Her statement trailed some quietness, her fierceness trying to stuck verily upon my confused state. “H-Humans should know how to hate, yet y-you are dumb enough to not know how!”


Not truly a wrong statement, but I could perceive some emotion driving her to commit the girl into this kind of retaliation.


There was no violence, yet she seemed so hostile at the mere approach I had adopted.


Just like as if she was…


“You are afraid of me.”


My words cut deep in her defense, wide eyes showing some surprise at the unexpected response.


The blonde tensed up, almost horrified by this statement and soon… she smiled.


She smiled and started to giggle, the intensity of her laugh increasing the more it went on undisturbed.


“Y-You are so stupid- to think that- that you were this close to-”


“I’m telling the truth,” I calmly rejected her little effort to make me appear wrong. “But maybe I’m simplified what the reality truly is for the sake of bringing you back to earth.”


The girl stopped, freezing up again and this time I pressed on.


“You… you are not truly afraid of what or who I am,” I explained with a cautious voice. “You are utterly unnerved by the fact that I’m not someone that you can easily predict as Darius is.”


Pandora blinked, her head resting on her pillows as she continued to stare at me dully while I continued with my answer.


“Your fear is that I’m not here to use you for the powers the Box gave you,” I quickly pointed out. “And the reason why it frightens you so much is because it reminds you so much about… Julian.”


…


“Nii-san?”


A smile returned on my face as I nodded at this little opening.


She wasn’t speaking as Erika, the youngest child of the Ainsworth Clan, yet she was addressing the teen as her big brother in such a genuine manner.


“I can only assume that before Darius decided to turn him into his new host, Julian had cared for you on a true degree of love,” I said. “He considered you part of the family and loved you the same way he did with Beatrice and Angelica.”


Staring away from me, the girl sighed and squirmed on her bed at the mere thought of the past.


“He cared for us and he promised that he would have tried to stay the same even when Darius ordered him to become his newest host,” The blonde admitted. “B-But Darius doesn’t care for family. He… he said that it was the only choice we had to- to save the world.”


“You sought death, maybe you do even now that we are talking to each other, but I think you found purpose by staying with the original Julian,” I pushed her a little more over the subject. “He gave you a reason to stay alive despite the fact you are aware of your immortality, he gave you some bright color to paint your life a curious thing to once more delve into.”


“I… I miss him,” She let out a sob, her hands reaching for her eyes as to keep the tears from flowing down. “I-I hate Darius for stealing him. H-He was mine!”


One could easily be confused by her wording over this matter and possibly skeptical over her capacity to truly act against the parasitical being that was Darius Ainsworth.


But there was a limit within her power, something that was connected to the Box itself.


With her mean and understanding of ‘Death’ sealed away, her magic can’t act to resurrect people that were past gone.


Sakura’s case was possible due to the oddity of the nature of Dolls as their souls are preserved within meat puppets.


Julian was still human and, while she could try to detach the ancestor off from his soul, the process could easily see her butcher the young man’s own soul.


The head of the Ainsworth clan had been devious in evolving Zouken’s own capacity to keep alive for so many centuries.


Having preferring to stabilize his form as a leech within another host’s body, the elder had been granted plenty of powerful ‘pawns’ to use within his family and the compatibility of their Circuits made the ritual even more stable than anything known to other Magus families.


So she was rendered useless from actually be able to save the one individual she considered part of her family, the one that connected them all in the sense of friendly kinship and… love.


I didn’t even remember moving onto the bed, nor I could remember when I had my arms wrapping up around her neck, forcing her to rest her chin on my right shoulder.


But I did remember giving her a comforting pat on her back.


“He still is your brother, Pandora,” I whispered back to her, ignoring the little tension to took hold over her body. “And I promise you that I will save him, like I will save Miyu’s brother.”


…


Her arms slowly reached upwards and… wrapped around my waist in a desperate manner, the sobbing increasing threshold as the girl let go of the last inhibitions and broke the last dam of her resistance.


I kept quiet, merely brushing off some of her hair while caressing her head until she managed to wrap up the entire emotional baggage that she had yet to unleash.


It was little, but I was sure that this wasn’t the first time she had to cry over her past and over her own sorrow.


But just as I thought that this was going to be a repeat of what had happened earlier that day with both Sakuras, my little calm vanished the moment I realized that my body was now paralyzed.


Wide-eyed, panic surged within my mind as I tried to make sense of what was happening, I felt her hold growing more fiercer if not… careful.


“I know you care, Shinji-kun… but promises I have trouble to truly trust,” She admitted with a sigh, staring up at me, her eyes now a dark-blue as she stared at me with a genuinely saddened look. “I believe more when there is some proof of your truthfulness, something that can’t truly be denied.”


I felt something rising up from the bed, slowly starting to latch onto my body and coating it in… darkness.


Utter darkness.


I felt the Worms wriggling madly within my body, causing me to yelp at the sudden wave of pain rushing all over my limbs and torso.


But before I was granted a sight of what was happening, I found my eyes deprived of the means to look around.


I was into the nothingness, my body being slowly squished and compressed into something else no-


It was different- far too different to be described so easily and in that moment of hellish nightmare.


I barely could breathe, yet I could still listen to her words as Pandora hummed quietly.


“Prove me that you are seriously interested in saving people instead of focusing only on Sakura and a handful of ‘lucky ones’,” The blonde ordered bluntly and tiredly. “Show me that I can really put my trust on you...”


“-Oniisama.”


And with that, I found myself finally plunging down somewhere else.


My capacity to properly understand what was going on around me was once more deprived… until I fell on some hard floor.


Pain rushed over my left arm as-


-------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d---


I groaned in pain as I found myself finally ‘landing’ on some stable ground, the darkness having lessened to some shadowed and dim-lit small room.


I was alone, there was no noise and… I was no longer in the castle.


I was sure of this circumstance the moment I realized that the floor felt like wood- no, it was made with wood.


The kind of floor that no room in the fortress had available for me to check up.


Blinking around, I found my eyes finally getting accustomed to the dark location, noticing some broken pieces of school tables and the distinct presence of various school-related objects within the room.


I slowly stood up and I found a sudden bright light coming right from behind me.


I glanced back and I stopped to see a certain Kaleidostick looking around in a somewhat confused way, then she settled her stare onto me.


“Shinji-sama, what is going on here? Where are we?” She inquired with a hint of nervousness at the sudden teleportation.


She was here too and I felt relief about that.


By having Ruby with me I could face any dreadful developments that could be born from this and… now I needed to understand where I was exactly and why she did this when-


“Also, when did you became a particularly-handsome teen?”


…


…


No. There was no possible way that she was-


But what if it was the case?


“R-Ruby, I need a mirror,” I asked with a brief stutter, my face paling a little as I felt a strange theory taking form from within my mind.


Even my voice felt different, older and… mature. It wasn’t my usual one.


It also felt familiar to listen to as the pitch was just resonating within my mind in a dreadful echo.


I knew this tone, I knew this… voice. And I sighed a moment as I glanced back at Ruby.


The Mystic Code was quick to provide the requested tool and I was swift to check on my reflection.


I was still Shinji as far as my hair and face were on spot with the character, but I was no longer the chibi version of the firstborn Matou.


Wearing what I could see being the Homurahara Academy uniform, I was indeed looking much taller and older than my former self.


My face had also lost some of the baby-fat, now appearing a little slim and leaner.


But I wasn’t Shinji Matou himself as I wasn’t as scrawny as he had looked in each route from the Fate series.


My posture looked more similar to Shirou’s, if not a little bigger than his own figure.


My hair were also longer, some of the locks reaching way lower than they were supposed to be.


I panicked at first, my heart drumming in cold shock at the fact that I had been somehow moved in this kind of situation after had appeared to have been just a mere hug.


It was just a blasted hug, and now I was stuck in what looked to be…


Hell. This was true hell for me.


There was no way to describe the growing sense of horror at the fact that the more I looked at myself, the more I started to theorize where exactly Pandora had sent me.


I was in the premise of Homurahara Academy, the hints present here in what looked to be a storage room giving me this absolute answer over the main question troubling my brain.


But now I was supposed to deal with the bad predicament itself.


I, Shinji, was probably dealing with one of the routes from Fate Stay Night and there was a high chance of death for me if I wasn’t careful enough around this new dimension.


I wasn’t sure how Pandora had been able to do this kind of move as I was sure that Magic itself was limited to reach out the impressive heights of the original five known True Magics, but now I was stuck to face what seemed to be the hardcore version of a Dark Souls game.


I would have set up to keep myself around this place until I was sure about how to deal with what was lurking outside the door but… I was sure that I wasn’t the original Shinji here.


I didn’t have anything on me that resembled the Book of the False Attendant, plus I was pretty sure that Shinji barely stayed around Homurahara during all routes.


He might have made some stands here at the school, but he wouldn’t be hiding in this place of all the rooms that were for him to use as hideouts.


And the ultimate hint was given by the fact I felt less constrictions over my body and… I could feel the energy running all over my Worm-free Magic Circuits.


I was surprised at first by this development, but instead of keeping around for too long I decided that it was time to go out there and see what route I had been sent to face against.


Knowing the limited time I had to work with, I sure wasn’t going to linger too much around the original timeline as I had much more to do.


This detour was certainly as unexpected as irritating, yet I couldn’t just whine before knowing the difficulty I was supposed to face in this very moment.


Ruby reached back to my left arm, letting my fingers get hold of her as I finally decided to venture out of that dark room and right into the corridor beyond the door.


I was still in dubious territory, especially since I was clueless about the route I was dealing with, but I wasn’t going to wait patiently for some rogue Servant to attack me as an easy target.


Rider was still going to be a problem for me, especially since I looked like the individual she hated the most and I wasn’t protected by Sakura’s orders about her real brother.


Yep, I should have truly listened to the little part of me that wanted to skip dealing with Pandora.


But no, now I had to face the worst thing I could be forced to endure on my own.


At least I had both Ruby, some poor-looking but working Magic Circuits and… wait.


I stopped a moment in my little wandering to reach out for my pants’ pocket, trying to find something I was sure that I had on me when I had visited Pandora and-


I retracted the Berserkalot Card from my left pocket.


It was the card used by Sakura, the one the Ainsworths had bestowed to the plum-haired girl to be best-equipped with the opposition that she ended up facing in the Prillyaverse.


I stared at the card with a grim look, thinking of it more as a last ditch effort to use in case I had to face a real Servant.


While any of the six other Classes from the Cards would have to go through some trouble in fighting normal Servants, I was quite sure that the Berserker card in my possession could still keep up fairly well against everything that wasn’t Herakles.


Hopefully, Illya wasn’t going to just end up wandering around Homurahara or even nearby the zone.


But I wasn’t much accepting of the drawbacks of using the card to the full potential.


If it was a mere Insert, Ruby could completely suppress the effects of Mad Enchantment but the issue would rise if I tried to Install it.


My psyche, albeit far stronger than the one of many people within the Nasuverse, wasn’t made to be subjected to that kind of emotional pressure created by the blind rage from a scorned knight.


At least I wasn’t going to face any Servants anytime soon.


A sigh left my lips as I put back the card where I had found it.


But just as I prepared to turn the corner of the seemingly-endless hallways of the school in the effort of making my way to the front doors, I felt a grand concentration of loud noises coming from… one of the rooms nearby.


It sounded just like an explosion, and I was quick to check on whatever was going on there.


The door was half-open, enough to give me way to see what was happening inside what looked to be a…


Library.


I could remember vividly what was happening before my eyes as it had been one of the key scenes of Heaven Feel the lost butterfly.


The route was already unfolding, way far from its starting point as Shirou was now without a Servant as Saber had been corrupted by the Shadow and… Rin was supposed to make her glorious entrance quite soon.


There was smoke, but the curtail was starting to dissolve away as I was presented with quite the scene of a furious Shirou Emiya standing in front of a panicking Shinji Matou.


Sakura was staring at the close up in a frightened state while Rider looked as impassive as usual.


I crouched away from getting spotted from the occupants of the room, giving my attention to the plum-haired girl as she seemed clueless about what she was supposed to do in that very moment.


Meanwhile, I was almost rubbing my hands at the opportunity presented here at this scene.


I could conclude a large majority of this route in some careful moves, especially since I knew what was going to happen very soon and how I could just solve the troubling issues afflicting the route altogether.


Oh yeah. It’s all coming together.


Ruby had left my grasp to peek her own head through the little opening offered by the door, her confused posture glancing briefly at me as I gestured her to approach me once again.


“What do you need me to do, Shinji-sama?” The Mystic Code inquired with some curiosity, obviously intrigued by what was happening just a few meters away from the two of us.


I sighed. “First thing first… I need you to disable the effects of the little earpiece Sakura is currently wearing,” I ordered quietly. “There should be a spell that connects it to another crystal. I want that one gone first.”


The Kaleidostick bent slightly towards me as to nod my way before stealthily flying over near the ceiling of the room as it started to work over the defusing the connection spell.


I waited silently, knowing that I had to gamble over the timing of a certain sword-using Archer for making some distractions to keep Rider from discovering my little ploy.


Much to my immense relief, Rin wasn’t late to make some proper badass entrance in the room, her attention directed at Shinji while EMIYA started to target Medusa in some disappointing and rushed fight.


Without Sakura’s better Circuits and input bringing her to full strength, the weakened Gorgon was easily beaten by the Counter-Guardian, forcing the Book of False Attendant in Shinji’s hands to burst in flames for a second time.


It was as anticlimatic as I remember the scene being, with Rin starting to describe how Sakura had to have been the Master of Rider considering the pathetic magical potential available to my counterpart and how the girl was supposedly the unknown heir to the Matou clan.


The explanation was then followed by some begging from the tragically-inept version of myself, trying to leech for the third time in a row Rider off from Sakura and… getting rebuffed by the plum-haired girl.


Knowing that he was no longer a ‘Master’ and that he was now an enemy to his ‘one and only love’, the young Matou decided to go for what in his mind was the ultimate winning move.


His hand reached for the tiny transparent crystal in his pocket, bringing it up as he prepared to unleash the spell and…


“You can die now.”


He cracked it.


There was some silence, some confusion and… some sudden dread coming from the other Shinji at the lack of any reaction coming from the crystal near Sakura’s face.


The girl looked surprised by the harsh words, and so were the two other students present in the room.


But I, the one that was now standing behind the incredibly-confused purple-haired prick, was actually feeling giddy as I prepared to unleash the hot fury of the weapon I decided to bring from the occasion to deal with this scumbag.


*BANG!*


The shovel struck true unto the skull of the unsuspecting youth, the young Matou collapsing almost instantly at that powerful bash allowed by the tool created by Ruby.


The Mystic Code had been swift in complying with my first order and even quicker in concluding the second one.


A solid thud preceded what looked to be the weirdest development that the already-mad situation could have gone for.


Everyone was gawking at the sight of a second Shinji, even Archer and Rider looked shocked at the presence of two similar-looking young men.


“N-Nii-san?” Sakura stuttered in blatant surprise at the insanity unraveling before her violet eyes and I sighed.


“Kind of,” I replied quietly. “Different dimension.” My curt answer was then followed by another one, this time directed at Rin, the Tohsaka gracing me with a wide-eyed look just as Shirou was.


“I’m an apprentice of Zelretch.”


Her surprise tripled from that mere comment but she managed to muster some words out.


“T-The Kaleidoscope?”


The Emiya glanced at the twin-tailed girl with a frown. “T-The what?”


“It’s an alternative name to call the Second Magic, the capacity of manipulating energy from various dimensions,” I replied quickly, unwilling to focus to much in this precise topic as I knew that I was working on some limited time here.


The faster I concluded this mess, the higher the chances of getting returned back ‘home’ by Pandora.


“My presence here is dictated by a serious reason and a less-serious one,” I said the half-truth while I looked once more at Sakura, the girl tensing up under my sight. “Sakura, I think you know what the real issue might be, right?”


The female Matou blinked, looking fairly uneasy at my wording but bowing her head somberly.


“I-I’m ready to go-”


…


“What?” I frowned at her reply. “No, you don’t need to go elsewhere. Nor I need to do anything truly harmful.”


“Wait, what are you two talking about?” Rin jumped in with a confused tone. “W-While I can understand the importance behind your role as… Zelretch’s apprentice, I think you should tell more about the case, Matou-san.”


I blinked in surprise at the lack of annoyance in using that respectful tone, but I nodded as I continued to glance at Sakura.


“When the Fourth Holy Grail War concluded, Shirou’s father, Kiritsugu Emiya, decided to use his Servant’s Noble Phantasm to destroy the Holy Grail after he had discovered that it had been corrupted during the Third War,” I started to explain with a tired voice. “The Grail survived, but some of the shards fell off from it. Zouken decided to take them under his custody and implant them in some of the Crest Worms… that Sakura currently has in her body.”


Only Rin seemed to be able to keep up with the discussion having known much about the Fourth Holy Grail War from her father’s journals.


“So she is something close to a… Lesser Grail. The sacrifice that is usually served by the Einzbern Clan.”


I nodded. “That is indeed correct and… that is why I need to make sure that the soul of Saber and her corrupted worms are removed as fast as possible-”


“S-Saber?”


Shirou looked shocked by my words, but I was quick to defuse what seemed to be a good way to speed-up the Dark Sakura’s process.


In fact, I could see Sakura panicking at the little possibility that her senpai could connect her to the reason why his Servant was no longer here.


I decided to be careful and give only part of the truth.


“The soul of a dying Servant is absorbed by the closest Lesser Grail. Sakura was the closest one and thus the one to take the soul.”


The redhead was confused even more by my words, but he was derailed away from pursuing the connection between his kohai and the Shadow.


“Now, we should start from the Soul itself since it’s the easiest bit to accomplish with my current equipment.”


I looked at Ruby and the floating kaleidostick proceeded to create from nothing something I’ve been working onto in the last few weeks.


An empty Class Card.


The little matrix that had been altered and reworked from the original Ainsworth-made ones was capable of containing the soul of a full Servant, working similar to a normal Class Card and possibly be used to resurrect the Hero contained within the card.


The idea that made me work upon this little project was the fact that I was going to meet more Heroic Spirits during my journey, maybe in an adventure after I was done with the issues back in my original dimensions, and now I was going to use it to ease up the strain Saber’s soul had over Sakura’s body.


The process was something not even I was sure about as I was guided mostly by Ruby through all steps, getting glanced quite intensively by both Rin and Rider as I had to make sure the discomfort their friend/family member was reduced to the minimum.


Yet their pressure paled compared to my own inner panic at failing such an operation, knowing full well that it was still a delicate process to accomplish.


It took me around twenty minutes of silent concentration, but I was relieved when everything had gone well about it all.


The soul was quick to be perfectly integrated within the card, making it the second Saber Class Card available in my roster and…


I wonder who would come out of it. The normal Artoria? Lily? Or maybe even another Saber-face altogether?


I was of course not going to resurrect the spirit now that I was in that part of the Nasuverse, a little frightened by the chances of whoever would come out to be considered the Seventh Servant for this Holy Grail War.


If I managed to sneak the card out of this dimension, Avenger would have nothing to get the War to conclude as planned and… that is why some extra information had to be delivered.


Both Rin and Shirou were informed of the fact that Illya was the official Lesser Grail and that continuing to fight over a screwed-up wish wasn’t worth it.


Sakura was given a large bag filled with some cookies that were meant to keep her Worms in a dormant state even with Rider’s drain on her reserves.


Without the means to replace the Crest Worms with proper Magic Circuit, I wasn’t certainly going to experiment on my little sister and… then the greatest issue of them all came up in my head.


Shirou was confused, but he seemed to understand ‘something’ when I alluded to him taking his kohai to a nice place where to spend some time alone.


With the ordeal she had faced, she more than deserved a date with her love interest, but I was of course not going to tell him directly that as such.


I merely suggested him to gift her that kind of wish since they were both close and… I got to deal with the embarrassed protests from Sakura and… Rin’s furious glares.


I managed to calm the Tohsaka down by telling her a little about how she could get to be enlisted by Zelretch as one of his apprentice, mentioning how Illya had Justeaze’s memories of the Jeweled Sword and that Archer was the key to properly recreate the blade.


EMIYA was slightly pissed at receiving that much attention, but the subtle comment I decided to shot back at him about the Counter-force seemed to get him to stay quiet over the matter.


Speaking of Illya, the situation for her was a little more complicated.


I suggested Shirou to bring to the castle some of the documents or receipts that Kiritsugu might have left around about the multiple trips he had gone by before dying, especially those that mentioned ‘Germany’ as their destination.


It would surely take a while for the Einzbern to understand the clues the redhead was going to provide her, but knowing her resourcefulness, it wouldn’t take too much to see where the hints were leading to.


From there, Shirou had to convince his step-sister to contact Touko Aozaki and try to get herself a new body.


It was odd for the Emiya to take in the fact that there was nothing to do about preserving her body, but he ultimately agreed to the case I was pushing for.


Once I was done with this messy discussion with the group in the library, I proceeded to give them a salute while mentioning that I was going now as I expected to return back to my ‘original dimension’.


Ignoring their awed look, and the fact that Rider had decided that the best way to move around my counterpart was via low-kicks onto his ribs, I decided to make my way through the half-closed door of the room, waving at the three Masters (a former one considering Shirou) as I left their sight and…


I tripped into a pool of dark mud.


I merely had the time to blink that I found myself brought back to the familiar bedroom that I had assigned to Pandora as-


“You stupid, stupid m-meanie!”


The blonde was already pushing me off the bed, red-faced and looking incredibly annoyed by whatever I had done.


I fell on the ground on my butt, sighing a little as I felt the strain on my chibified body.


I let out a yawn while standing out. “Look, we can… talk about your flawed plan later… I need my sleep.”


She squinted her eyes angrily. “B-But it’s not even dinnertime.”


“I’m tired,” I replied dryly. “I’ve been awake since four and I need some rest with what I had to deal with, especially with your little test.”


The girl huffed but I was already going towards the door.


“I will still save your brother, wherever you trust me about it or not.”


The door shut behind myself, my tired form making way towards bed and…


Soon a certain group of individuals led by a certain tanned Einzbern decided to follow me back to the main bedroom and… let’s just say that waking up never felt this much complicated in a cuddle box.


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AN


I’m tired too Shinji, make way in that bed!


But yes, I managed to break the 6k+ barrier for this story too and… I’m immensely tired.


I decided to play a little trick with ya all by having this little ‘insight’ over the FSN HF version that will be explored once the Fate Zero Route is completed.


Yes, the story containing FSN elements will happen after a strangely-solved Heaven Feel route.


Expect a lot of insane shenanigans, some cameos from unexpected characters and…


…


Did I tell you that I restarted two old stories of mine? Fate Last Heaven and Tale of Two Kings are now available for you all to read in FFN, QQ, SB and SV.


And after this, I’m hitting the bed. Good Night~!

 

Chapter 22: New Body, New Friend and Worm


The preparations were set and with the arrival of the long-expected guest to the castle, we were all waiting patiently in one of the large living rooms within the building.


Kuro and I were the only ones standing near to the esteemed Magus currently looking through her suitcase, carefully fishing around some of the ingredients required for her current task here.


Touko Aozaki, the older sister of the Fifth Magician, professional smoker of the worst brand of cigarettes, and the one that was supposed to prepare new bodies for me and Chloe to house from now on.


I could go on with her titles, going as far as bring even other achievements she had accomplished in other timelines, and all of those would be without any correlation with Aoko herself.


Albeit the youngest of the Aozaki siblings sounded like a cheerful and funny individual, I dreaded the time I would end up having to encounter her.


Knowing of her interest in Shiki Tohno back from his childhood years, I was rightfully fearful that the version of her offered by Carnival Phantasm was truer than it looked to be.


And I didn’t need to deal with any perverted woman anytime soon. Maybe never would also work too.


While silence reigned over the room, the rest of the group had taken seat by the closest sofa available.


Salter looked to be particularly calm at the presence of this new individual, possibly because she had some minor recollection of this individual from one of the previous timelines, or perhaps because I had vouched for the woman’s morality and capacity more than enough to avoid any unneeded clashing.


Gilgamesh was happily humming as the scene unfolding, the young blond actually looked particularly distracted by the content of the bag as his red eyes widened once or twice in a while as the Magus continued to round up all the object she needed for the two operations. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe just utter fascination at the rarity of some of the stuff now in front of him.


Luvia was… giddy. I could give plenty of adjectives to address her euphoric state as she stared at the redhead with a starry-eyed look. There was no reason to doubt that it was connected to the fact that, despite Touko having long-left the Magus Association, she was still someone considered a role model to all young women striving to leave a powerful mark in history.


And there was no reason to doubt them about believing Touko to be the best example, especially since I knew how far the woman had gone in any timeline.


Yes, she was present and powerful in various timelines. From the Tsukihimeverse to a large majority of the Fateverse, holding a prominent position that made her still stand up as an important figure in many stories at once.


Yet, despite the impeccable curriculum that she had, I was still wary for various, undeniable reasons, starting from the fact that her aggressive perspective over my current existence.


Disgust was the first sensation that strongly made its way on her face when she fully understood my current situation, but much to my relief that was sent to the individual that made this issue happen rather on me.


Chloe was spared of any strange comments, but we both noticed that the woman had given her longer stares than she had spared to anyone else and… I was quick to understand that I had to keep close to the tanned Einzbern girl until the redhead was around.


While it was an unconfirmed rumor, I did found some suspicious claims about Touko having gone to do some ‘adventurous encounters’ with a good majority of her female clients.


And considering that it had been alluded by some bits of Kara no Kyoukai that she might be swinging towards women, I was for sure not going to let her wander around with only Kuro despite how respectful I was of her.


But instead of keeping an incredibly polite attitude as I had wanted early on, my composure was shaken by the discovery born from some of the muttering coming from the distracted Aozaki.


“So the process does hurt,” I muttered grimly as I continued to stare at the crouched red-haired woman while she went through her baggage.


With my current corpse reaching a critical state which limited my usage of magecraft even more that it should at this stage of my life and with the Crest Worms continuing to be a dangerous hindrance to keep inside of me, I was due to have a proper chance at life instead of complicating my already-complicated existence.


The bespectacled woman scoffed at my comment, shaking her head in disappointment at my childish words.


“To think that I had expected to talk with some serious client, and yet I’m dealing with quite the bratty kid,” Touko commented under her breath. “Still, you are incredibly lucky that I can actually give you something to fix this indecent issue you have. Same for the little girl fawning over you.”


Chloe blushed a little at the jab directed at her, but I was quick to return the teasing back to the sender with some extra kindness.


“At least I don’t need to take off some glasses to be a nice person when I want,” I mirthfully retorted with a smile. “By the way, is it true that you get this cute nonsensical verbal tic when you wear sunglasses.”


Touko actually stopped for a moment to give me a strong glance, a mix of surprise and annoyance at the fact I had to bring up the ‘sunglasses debacle’.


“I have to ask now, was it the old man or that moron of my sister that told you?”


“I actually got a glimpse of the Kaleidoscope, nobody told me anything,” I admitted with a smug snort. “Now that I think about it, I hope things are going well for your Garan no Dou.”


The redhead blinked, but returned to quietly conclude her task of picking out the last ingredients for her job as she started to reply.


“I wouldn’t say that work is as busy as ten years ago, but I suppose that with what members I have now I don’t have to worry about staying around Mifune City,” The woman admitted with a hum. “I suppose that you wish for me to tell them anything since you brought them up.”


I tensed a little, feeling a little nervous at that mistaken thought. “Actually… I would prefer you didn’t do that.”


Her eyes glanced back with a hint of surprise. “Oh? Any particular reason?”


“Considering that pretty eyes is a mom with a daughter now close to my age?” I sarcastically asked back. “I prefer life, thank you very much.”


A snort left Touko’s lips. “Truly? What a terrible tragedy then. I suppose I will still have to tell them about-”


“I have blackmail on your sister,” I mentioned calmly, while I tried my best to keep myself from begging her to not do that. “I’m willing to share it to you.”


“I hardly think it will be as dirty as the things I know about her-”


“Ask her about Shiki Tohno.”


…


My words brought her to a quiet staring, now her bag closed as all that was necessary was now in full display for her to use with the soon-to-happen operation.


“What are you talking about?” She inquired with a hint of fascination. “I might get an idea from the ‘Shiki’ but-”


“Shiki Tohno is someone she took as her apprentice in one of the timelines alternative to this one,” I mentioned with a smug grin. “Considering her prowess with the Fifth Magic, I think she will easily understand the reference.”


“A man from a different timeline? What kind of blackmail would that be?”


“The one where she has to explain about why she entertained the idea of romancing a child,” I answered with a sigh, causing her to frown in confusion at the implicit accusation. “Just ask her.”


“Oh, I will do that once I’m done with this little work here,” She patted the floor, gesturing me to lie down there.


I gulped nervously at what was going to happen now, but still complied to her silent order as I carefully splayed myself on the red carpet as I braced for what was going to follow next.


“So, how does this technically goes no-”


Before I could finish that sentence, I felt her hands suddenly grasp at my neck as they pulled my head to the side with a fluid by quick move.


SNAP!


Surprise was the last emotion I felt before feeling detached from reality with my… inner self.


I could blink, but it wasn’t my eyes that were committing to the action. I could breathe, but technically I didn’t need that.


Instead, I felt myself light, lighter than usual, and I found myself staring right at the shocked expression transfixed on my now dead body.


There was some white-blue light coating my floating form, but soon this state of metaphysical was brought to an end when I felt something restricting my new form, squirming and pressing me onto something newer.


I felt instantly tired as a sudden mental drain forced my eyes closed out of fatigue. I could hear Touko speaking, whispering furiously some arcane words as I felt plunged deep into something solid.


I was being slammed in some harsh ground, my entire self flaring in minor pain as I felt the sense of touch finally returning to me in the strangest of ways.


It was fuzzy, I felt incredibly sleepy, but I managed to blink up at the ceiling the moment I could feel my tired eyelids opening to offer sight upon the room.


I felt cold, I didn’t have any clothes onto my new body and… I blinked calmly.


I was still tiny, I was still Shinji Matou, but the wriggly Crest Worms that had once plagued my life had been now safely contained in some jars prepared by Touko.


The woman threw a towel over me, sighing as I lost some time to grow accustomed to the now-purified body I had.


“We can move onto the next patient,” The redhead calmly pointed out, “Please, stand down and keep calm.”


I slowly turned to glance to the side, fixing my stare onto Kuro as the Einzbern carefully lied down where I had once been.


She didn’t seem to return the stare, perhaps worried that it would have been horrifying for me to see her going through the first step while looking back at me.


Her neck was snapped and the same process I had to go through started for the tanned Einzbern.


I could see some bright light-blue light emerging out of her body, flying upward before stabilizing mere moments away from her face.


Soon, Touko was moving some of the materials she had prepared a little closer to the orb, the ingredients starting to rush to reach out for what I could only see being Chloe’s soul and…


The world exploded in a bright white light, hindering my means to see what was going on during the process.


I could hear the bespectacled woman speak during the distracting light, the same spell used to properly manifest the magecraft to create proper bodies with what was available in the proximity.


The light started to falter and soon it ceased to make way to the newest form of the girl, now lying half-conscious on the floor close to where I was.


Red eyes stared unfocused at the ceiling, her skin was just a tone darker than the classic Einzbern paleness, but Chloe was now fair-skinned as Illya and Irisviel.


Her hair, surprisingly enough, were no longer the light-pink shade as before, but those weren’t even white or light-blond as the other individuals she was ‘related to’.


No, Kuro’s locks were now a dark black that resembled much the very shade Kiritsugu had.


A blend of Einzbern and Emiya, Chloe von Einzbern was now reborn a normal human girl.


The Archer Card, the one she had used to mold a proper soul out of the fragmented state she had after leaving Illya’s body, was now idly resting on her stomach as the professional Magus proceeded to rest another towel over the girl’s naked body, protecting her privacy as quickly as possible.


“And with this, my job here is done,” The Aozaki pointed out as she calmly put back the various jars and empty containers that once held the objects used to conceive the absurd degree of magecraft.


I was still baffled by the surprising art, but the mysterious means to achieve these results were actually the ones making me shocked and fascinated about the world of Magi.


The woman stood up with her baggage, glancing at the two of us before sighing. “While the new bodies should have none of the issues your former ones had, you are still limited in terms of magical capacity.”


There was a pause, but then she nodded. “Well, that is the problem for you, Shinji Matou, but not to the excellent quality of the Circuits in the girl’s body. Truly an Einzbern.”


Chloe blinked at that and sighed, but didn’t comment on that compliment as the redhead started to make her way out of the room.


“Since the payment has been already given, I suppose I will take my leave already,” The red-haired stated with a nod. “I’ve stuff to do. You better hope I don’t have to come back anytime soon because of some idiotic mess you will create with the Kaleidoscope.”


There wasn’t room to speak about this as Touko managed to pace out of the room and out of the castle before I had the chance to even think about how to answer to her words.


I was too tired, the same for Kuro as the girl slowly tried to reach out for my closest hand, failing short to actually arrive to it and… I calmly stretched my arm to help her up.


She squeezed a little, comfort filling the two of us at the contact and, while I felt ready to stand up, my brain didn’t feel still accustomed to this all.


With tiredness enveloping us back to unconsciousness, the rest of the day went up and about without our direct presence on what was then going to happen.


-------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-------


~Luvia’s POV~


There were many thoughts that were storming within her mind, but the things that truly jumped up to her attention were two.


The burning of the old bodies, the ones that had remained after the dual operation, had happened well-away from the rooms of the castle.


With the task left to a group of Einzbern maids, Gilgamesh and Artoria had decided to take upon themselves to have both Shinji and Kuro moved to rest by the bedroom that was usually taken for the nights by them all.


There was a big bed, plenty of space to keep so many people at once and… Luvia wandered alone through the halls of the castle, unsure about what she had to do with what Shinji had given to her.


It had happened so suddenly and without much of a warning, yet the young Matou had presented her with a modified Servant Card that he had wanted to resurrect.


The crux of the situation? The Matou had decided to offer her this Card for a proper reason.


Despite the lack of her own chances to shine, Luvia was still an equal ally to the young boy and she needed someone to trust the utmost next to him.


Both were apprentices of Zelretch, and while the boy was a source of essential knowledge for their adventures, it was the young blonde that actually held the raw power to make complicated things happen.


She was a little bit of the ‘brawn’ with her magical power expanded by Sapphire while Shinji worked well as a guide or ‘the brain’ of their duo with the way he knew what kind of steps to take in this uncharted territory.


Everything was new for her. New places, new faces, and new issues to be concerned about.


It was odd how in the matter of a few weeks spent away from home, after having whined for so long to be finally trained more in magecraft, Luvia was now becoming the protagonist (or the prime spectator) of what looked to be an adventure without bounds and limits.


The kaleidoscope was infinite, and so were the problems riddling what Shinji had described as the ‘multiverse’.


A mix of various happenings at once, ‘dimensions’ were there were people like her, or like Shinji, that existed and had different roles that their current ones.


It was awe-inspiring, but also incredibly worrying by the fact that now it’s been so long since she had seen her parents back at heir mansion.


Albeit strict and stern, albeit… tiring and somewhat unfair with their traditions, those were still her mother and her father.


She still missed them, because she knew how much they cared for her.


Perhaps that would happen once this first adventure was concluded, especially with how optimistically Shinji had sounded when mentioning that the final steps were soon going to happen for them to fix the real issues of this dimension.


Despite the overall wonder born from the discovery of so many beautiful and horrifying things at once, the blonde was far from sure about what she was supposed to do in that very moment with that Card.


Walking around the castle served well to clear her mind, to offer her space to think and ponder how she was supposed to make this happen.


The girl knew the word meant to be used to activate the final command of the card, the one that would ultimately resurrect the Heroic Spirit contained in that simple object.


A legendary warrior, a paladin of good, and possibly a new friend for her.


The last bit was what got her even more interested in seeing the process happening as soon as possible, but her logical mind and common sense were quick to halt her giddiness at the prospect of making some mistakes. Maybe face some dangerous individual so suddenly and without preparation.


Yet he had been so sure that whoever was coming from the card is going to be a good Hero.


The worry was still there much to her immense dismay. Hesitation was pressing on her to keep her hands from touching too much the card, and her lips to not even come close to utter the simple incantation.


Luvia sighed, her eyes regaining some sight over her path and she glanced to the windows to the side.


The sun was up in the sky, still shining through the cloudy sky. The girl stopped, her eyes mesmerized by the view while her mind delved more on the possibilities there laid for her to pick up from.


Shinji’s reassuring words were doing a good job in pushing her-no, pressing her to finally take some decision on her own.


While she was still a child, and a majority of her mind wanted to continue getting lulled around by the Matou’s wise and mature plans, the blonde was still feeling the need to actually make that step alone and with her own responsible acceptance of it.


Another sigh left her lips and a little pout adorned her face at the continuous state of indecision that had captured her mind.


What was she supposed to do? Give up to her own whims, or perhaps it would be best to be patient and wait for a better occasion?


Yet the waiting was ‘killing’ her, the fascination of having been given such a curious gift had left her awed but confused at the same time.


I should do this.


Her mind was getting echoes out of that simply-curt sentence, and her resilience to desist from this idea faltered to the point where her grasp over the card tightened.


Her mind wandered back at Kuro. The kind but roughish girl had been supportive of her, praising her efforts against the bullies back at Homurahara Academy, and her reckless behavior, albeit worth of endless worry, had left her in a state of perpetual envy.


Luvia was envious, but it wasn’t the attention for Shinji that had driven her to feel this emotion.


It was the Einzbern’s capacity to act so bluntly and without guidance, the proper usage of her own freedom, that had gotten the blonde particularly annoyed.


But the annoyance was directed all back to herself, as there was nobody to blame but her own inability to dive down on an opportunity.


She was lingered on the past’s limitation, to her own surprise at the novelty of things, that the girl was always losing sight over the present.


Finally, Luvia decided to make her decision and, after transforming in Magical Sapphire, the girl prepared to commit to this uniquely reckless action from her part.


She was excited, but also worried and uneasy about it all.


Regrets were already building up behind her face, but nothing left her lips and throat as she focused on giving out just a single word.


The card fell on the floor, just a couple of meters away from where she was standing by and Luvia nodded to herself.


“Summon!”


Energy flocked at the harmless card, making it glow brightly as a blinding white light made her pause and panic momentarily.


Thoughts of ‘I messed up’ and ‘I should have-’ were quick to riddle her full capacity to react, but nothing horrible happened out of it.


In fact, there was a strange amount of new silence to the room despite the presence of a new individual.


The figure had a black-white hood that shadowed his face, a strange contrast compared to the bright silver armor with blue details and dark-blue clothes.


He was holding what looked to be a bright blue light by his right hand and… he was looking at her.


There was no doubt that Luvia was staring at a young man, but for some reason she felt that there was much more than just that distinct detail.


He took a step forward, making her tense up instantly as Sapphire prepared to conjure some beams of energy to repel the possible enemy.


“Who are you, fair child?” The figure finally inquired, his tone kind but also tense himself at her guard.


She blinked, gulping nervously at the predicament she was now forced to deal with.


“My name is Luviagelita Edelfelt, heiress to the Edelfelt Family,” The blonde replied strongly. “Who are you, stranger?”


There was a surprising easing in the figure’s guard and he sighed.


“I’m King Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot and of all Britain,” He introduced himself with a small smile reaching out of his hood. “And I’ve been seemingly summoned by you, fair Luviagelita.”


What? Wasn’t Artoria the- but what if-


Her mind had to reboot momentarily at that discovery, her turmoil hopefully hidden away from her interlocutor as she carefully resumed the conversation.


“Luvia,” The girl interjected instinctively. “I prefer to be referred as ‘Luvia’, and yes, I’m the one that summoned you here. But not as a Servant-”


“But as a full-fledged living being,” Arthur interrupted with an awed look as he stared at his arms. “I can’t feel the usual reliance of energy a Servant’s body should feel and… I don’t see Command Seals on your hands or chest.”


At the last detail, the blonde frowned at the mentioning of the seals appearing on a Master’s chest. It was just… wrong, but also not something in the rules she was aware about Holy Grail Wars.


“May I ask why was I summoned, little Luvia?” He asked again, this time his free hand reaching up and pulling down the hood to reveal his face.


Blue eyes met with her amber ones and the older blond smiled happily at this.


“I- You have been summoned to- to help us with our adventures,” The girl pressed forward, knowing that there was no mean to go back now that she was at this point. “Me and my friend, we both are apprentices of Kischur Zelretch von Schweinorg, Wizard Marshal and-”


“User of the Second Magic,” The Hero concluded for her, an infuriating but amused smile on his face. “I suppose your mission is a tough one to require my assistance.”


“Y-Yours and others!” She huffed in annoyance, starting to get irked by his humble but playful mannerism. “As if we would entrust ourselves just to those like you!”


He let out a pretty smile and nodded. “I suppose I might have sounded a little too pretentious by pushing you like this. Thousands of apologies, little Luvia.”


She huffed, what an infuriating individual for sure.


But while her reaction was hiding it well, her mind wasn’t denying it that she was glad to have gotten this kind of person out of that card.


He just looked like a knight in shining armor and… that made him good for a paladin to have as her subordinate.


Yes, this pretty young man was now her minion!


Some habits are just too difficult to eradicate…


-----------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d---------


AN


So we got Pretty Boy Arthur, with his dashing figure, his archaic understanding of society, and a distinct interest in playing around with people.


I wonder what will happen when Salter notices the disturbance in her Hamburger, another Saber-Face jumps in for more troubles!


Also, little clarification for some that were surprised by the fact that Kuro is no longer tanned: The ‘tan’ came from the Card. For her to continue to exist properly and as a human being, the process she had to go through had to remove the influence of the Archer Card (thus removing the tan) and giving her the chance of being ‘reborn’ in another form. The dark hair has a dual significance, which I can give only the first one out for you all to know and that is Kuro is now more Emiya than Illya.

 

Chapter 23: Fresh Perspective, Inner Acceptance and a New Worm


~Kuro’s POV~


There were times when things within the universe just were there to not make sense to logical people.


Despite her propensity to waddle properly within the chaotic ocean of insanity that was the Moonlit World, there were still plenty of issues that Kuro just failed to even comprehend a little bit.


It was annoying, it was exasperating, but, worst of all, it was deadly for someone like her.


It had been EMIYA’s memories, that had remained well deep in her mind, that had shook her from her rest, the sharp need to stay awake in moments of uncertainty and inability to defend herself.


An instinct long developed from various experiences and that the young Einzbern thought connected to Eye of the Mind, or even something that just couldn’t be translated in known abilities of the Counter-Guardian.


Her now-red eyes blinked awake from her unexpected slumbering, her attention suddenly grasping at any remembrance of what had happened before falling unconscious and away from the important happenings that had took almost a full day to complete.


Kuro blinked again at the ceiling, this time her mind finding clarity and calm within this logical reassessment as she noticed that a couple of things just felt different.


A new body. She had almost forgotten that immensely important detail and… she was surprised when she felt the very first effects of this change already from the beginning.


There was such a strange balance of things within her core, something that she had failed to register from her ‘birth’ up until to her current situation.


The dissonance of two stubbornly strong souls clashing with each others, influencing her mind and settling her in a state of immense displeasure and dependence.


But now there was silence, there was quiet. She was calm, her breathing was normal and her thoughts were cleared of any conflicting understandings of her new circumstances.


Some of the inner needs were there, both Justeaze’s ambitious sight over the family’s success and EMIYA’s thirst to conceptualize blades for the sake of good, but they were diluted, or better, adjusted to better fit within her dominant perspective.


It felt like breathing clean air after wasting so much time enjoying the smokes and the ashes of two crumbling doctrines.


A small smile finally appeared on her face, her body put at ease as she finally grew accustomed with her whereabouts.


It was one of the bedroom left available within the Einzbern Castle in Fuyuki City, and her eyes didn’t even need to look around to perfectly remember all the details that made this little place a safe haven for the Clan members and allies.


Another blink, Chloe finally took notice of the lack of warmth beyond her own body under the covers, her eyes slowly turning to the side and humming with mixed thoughts over the lack of a certain Matou.


Perhaps Shinji was already awake and testing out his new body? Or maybe he was just taking his time wandering around to sort out his thoughts.


Or even both considering the prolific mind he still got.


A yawn left her now pale lips and the girl finally started to rise up from the comfy mattress, her eyes lazily taking account of the fact that the maids had to have dressed them both while they had been unconscious and… what a pity.


The little Einzbern sighed, her dull stare directed downward for a couple of moments to properly scroll down the rest of the sleepiness hindering the wake up process.


Yet, in that state of tired daze, her attention was completely taken by a detail she had failed to take notice early on.


Black. Her hair was now the polar opposite of the standard Einzbern hair color, its shade almost familiar and somewhat amusing.


She thought well about this, remembering that she wasn’t just a Einzbern but also an Emiya, and not only by the properties of the Archer Card.


Kiritsugu Emiya was dark-haired, and thus any child of his were partly expected to take this element from him.


Illya’s birth was conditioned by the specialized doctor-maids in the castle back in Germany so that only the Einzbern traits would emerge within the newest heiress.


But Kuro didn’t have any of that circumstance influencing her current appearance, thus she was now created to be the closest thing of a twin to Illya.


She was Chloe, there was no denying to that new legacy of hers, but perhaps it was time to adopt a name that best suited with her reinforced paternity.


Kuro Emiya, daughter of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern.


It was odd how the tables had turned, how in the end her ‘purity’ was dashed for the creation of a completely new strain of the bloodline.


Her memories from EMIYA were quick to provide some amusing details that, if proven to be correct, would seriously increase her combat capability.


Could it be that her Origin and Element had changed with this situation? Maybe she had to check and, if her suspects were proven correct, it would be a good reason to start to involve herself in the old family’s affinity of making use of weapons.


It was amusing, especially since the EMIYA’s leftover within her mind tried but failed miserably to dissuade her from distancing herself just for a moment from Unlimited Blade Works.


But the itch was mostly gone, her craving to keep a blade ready to be traced to satisfy the need of making use of that unique magecraft was now so diluted it hardly mattered to her survival needs.


Would she outright ditch UBW? Not truly, no.


Yet Kuro wasn’t in need to have that draining ability become her own nightmare to deal with.


Her legs shifted over the warm covers and right out of those as she carefully moved to reach the edge of the bed, where a pair of flip-flops were there waiting to be used.


She hesitated just a little, her tip-toes hovering over the pair for a while and… then she let them fall inside of those.


No oddities were born from that simple activity, and for a moment Chloe couldn’t help but feel a little bit silly over the general situation.


Paranoia was alright if managed and present in small quantities. Left unchecked or even let fester too much within one’s mind, it can easily make misunderstandings bigger than they need to be.


A soft hum started to build up as the girl started to calmly make her way towards the only door of the room, stealing just a glance by the nearby window as to see what time it was.


Morning, she had been asleep for more than planned. It was an annoying development but… perhaps it was best for her body to have required that much time.


Her case was different, more complex, than the one that Shinji had to go through. His mind was already intact, while hers had suffered some moments of unpleasant instability that she herself had yet to abandon now that she had been freed by those.


It was exciting alright, to be finally conceded some free rein over her own thoughts, but perhaps the after-effects and the past influence did leave just some minor ‘injuries’ that needed more time to fix.


But resting wouldn’t help, no. She needed some time to ponder freely and away from mere sleeping, and she needed to talk to someone.


Yes, making a conversation, one where all topics were easy to deal with and quite light-hearted, would just start her day properly.


Finally she started to let out the humming, a suave sound that accompanied the rhythm of her steps through the mostly deserted hallway, her eyes scanning thoroughly over the place.


There was proper silence at first, the lack of distinct noises that would have dignified the presence of anyone was soon replaced by the distant sounds of someone talking.


Her ears twitched, and soon her attention was diverted at finding the origin of the conversation.


There was no obstacle, no reason to take a pause in her path, and Chloe took this as a good reason to actually find someone before checking on her appearance properly.


The detail wasn’t as significant as the need of sharing some discussion, to make this dream-like perception of everything vanish with a realistic discussion.


This wasn’t a dream, this was reality.


But what if it was?


That very question was aggravating her state of new peace, and that wouldn’t just do.


So she finally stood in front of the origin of the noise, the living room that was usually taken by the group to share discussions about everything, from important to simple stuff and...


Kuro opened the door that was closed to her, slowly but calmly as she got a glance of what was going on inside there.


The girl’s red eyes widened a little at the explosion of giggles and laughs, everyone seemed so immersed about something that wasn’t… hers.


The Einzbern blinked in surprise when she spotted Gilgamesh giggling without hesitation, his hand failing to hide the degree of red his face had turned into after laughing so much for so long.


Luvia was sitting beside a… young blond man that was sharing some mirthful chuckles with the younger blonde about the same subject of amusement.


Even Salter was failing to hold back her own giggles at the sight bestowed right in the middle of the room and… Kuro finally decided to investigate about what had gotten them all so much elated.


Shinji looked immensely embarrassed at the circumstance, his eyes closed while his whole face was burning a solid red shade as he continued to receive the various reactions of the many individuals looking at this interesting humiliation.


His hands were currently squeezing tightly at the shaft of a certain Mystic Code, trying to bend and break it while the Kaleidostick offered the greatest of giggles at the current situation despite the state of pain it seemed to be.


The Matou was rightfully furious with Ruby, as his current state of clothing did show that there was a proper motivation that drove him to react so aggressively towards the perverted stick.


Considering the situation, Kuro was half-tempted to guess that Shinji had tried to make use of the power of the kaleidostick and, Ruby being Ruby, he ended up getting tricked into turning what a young boy his age (and adults too) would find quite distasteful.


It was Illya’s own magical girl’s dress. All the details were spot on, from the petite pink boots to the wings-like ribbons tying some locks of his dark-purple hair.


But in that state of femininity clashing with his masculinity, Chloe couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the overall cuteness that was exuding from the scene.


Despite the amusing element within the sight, what truly caught her attention was the incredible sense of adorable the clash of pink and purple was creating before her eyes.


It was endearing, it was pleasant and… she stifled her own giggles as the boy finally opened his eyes and noticed her.


The stare of the embarrassed Matou was just what the girl needed for the amusement to roll out of her tongue.


He looked worse at that, but didn’t seem angry about that reaction. Rather, his irritation was once again directed at the Kaleidostick, with Ruby more than happy to tank all the abuse for the sake of teasing her Master for the first time ever.


But to be fair, maybe it was actually Shinji’s fault for having ignored the chances of the Kaleidostick to actually make some moves of her own to draw some entertaining scene out of his surprise and embarrassment.


He was perfectly aware of the other counterpart, the one that was tied to Illya, and it was odd for him to have forgotten that like this…


Or maybe he just misplaced trust upon the playful Mystic Code. She didn’t do anything towards him to warrant any degree of distrust… until now that is.


And now Shinji was perfectly aware of this situation, probably ending up keeping a tighter watch over Ruby’s attitude from now on.


The Kaleidostick might have burned some trust like that, but perhaps it was all worth in her eyes to make a stronger bond with the boy.


Chloe could see it as a possibility, as she herself was aware that Ruby was no foolish Mystic Code.


Or perhaps she was giving too much trust herself to the Kaleidostick right now.


So the young Einzbern merely joined the group in that amusing sight, knowing full well that there was nothing hurtful about this escalation and…


Maybe this was just the revenge she had needed about, the one for having to wear that cumbersome dress at school just a couple of days ago about-


…


Her giggles interrupted shortly after, her mind rebooting for a moment as she thought back about something that she had ignored up until now that was related to her appearance.


Kuro von Einzbern was a student known in Homurahara with white-pink hair and tanned skin.


But now she had black hair and white skin… which would in turn translate into something she was immensely happy about and that Shinji couldn’t do anything about.


She can’t go to school like this, because it would spark some unwanted suspicion.


And mixed wit the present amusement of seeing the young Matou forced in that irritating circumstance, Kuro’s laughs resumed with a never reason to be happy.


But much to her immense chagrin, there were other means to have her keeping studying even at home.


-------------d-d-d-d---------------d-d-dd---------------d-d-d-d-----------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d------


~Shinji’s POV~


After what I was quick to label as ‘the last time I will trust Ruby about special transformations’ concluded with me promptly turning back to normal and with the Kaleidostick promptly ignored for the remainder of the day, I decided to focus my attention back to serious predicaments that I had to fully assess on a personal degree.


Luvia had followed my advice to summon on her own the Heroic Spirits contained within the Saber Card born from that unplanned trip to the Heaven Feel Route I had just two days earlier, the results seeing me a little perplexed and surprised.


Arthur Pendragon from the Protoverse was someone that could be seen as ‘more mature’ than Artoria, starting by the means that saw him relinquish his dream of reshaping history to ‘save Britain’ from the horrors that afflicted it during and after his passing.


Yesterday’s dinner had been quite the tense one between Salter and her genderbent, ‘purer’ version as the Tyrant saw the good-hearted king as a reminder of what her opposite once represented.


Yet, instead of seeing despair, sadness, and the same degree of self-disappointment at having failed his subject that the yellow-eyed lady had expected to see embedded in his face, Arthur actually seemed to have long overcome his own issues and made steps toward improving from his own mistakes.


It was a surprise for sure for Artoria, one that opened to endless ‘what-ifs’ in her minds that kept her in a state of ominous silence. I had restrained myself from intervening over the matter, preferring to first gauge her proper reaction instead of ending up worsening her current state of mind.


So, once I was done with that crap Ruby had put me through, I decided to spend some time properly discussing with Artoria.


It was easy to see that the Tyrant had already understood what kind of topics I wanted to talk with her about by the way she flinched at the tone I had adopted while starting the conversation.


I was hopeful, despite the clear signs of reluctance, that something could have been done from that point, and so we took a brief walk around the castle to privately discuss of this.


At first there was silence, with none of the two being willing to begin what was going to be quite the grueling conversation for sure.


Yet, there was a reason why Artoria is defined one of the bravest Servants.


“Shinji, I’ve no quarrel with Arthur,” The blonde admitted in a moment of genuineness.


“I’m aware of that,” I politely agreed at her words, nodding before continuing. “But I also understand that it isn’t something about a grudge or anything properly directed at him.”


She hummed. “And you think you know what is it?”


“Maybe?” I shrugged a little while rebuking at that calm inquire, causing her to deflate a little. “I think it’s something you yourself should be aware about. After all, you aren’t ‘much’ different from a certain ‘rice-obsessed foreigner’.”


The wording was crappy, but the resulting blush made it clear that I did succeed with the playful jab.


“That’s… that’s a low blow,” The girl huffed with brief annoyance. “But I assume you are trying to mention about my foolish dream of ‘saving’ my country.”


I nodded. “Every good ruler put their respective nation up in the highest of pedestals… but perhaps they also forget that the nation itself isn’t just a name.”


She deflated even more at my words. “The people revolted against me because I hadn’t brought them the heavens. They demanded too much.”


“Is that so?” I asked with a hint of surprise and confusion. “I thought your reign came down when you failed to take into account that there were other cities other than Camelot.”


Artoria paused for a moment, prompting me to take a pause in my own steps.


“History is largely corrupted by the anger of the victors, for their victory was a hollow one,” She admitted with a sigh.


“Mordred, albeit regarded the claimant to the throne, was just the puppet of some disgruntled noble,” The young woman continued to explain. “She wasn’t meant to become a King the moment she failed to recognize that she was drunk with the desire of power and that the burden of kingship was nothing to trifle with.”


I nodded at her words. “But perhaps you missed a couple of details about the matter that… actually don’t match up with your idea of Mordred.”


…


“What?” The blonde’s full attention was now onto me.


“I’ve known Mordred for many years during her stay in Camelot, her brash nature and stubborn aggressiveness were signs of-”


“Someone that had been lacking guidance from the very beginning,” I interjected calmly at her attempt to push back my efforts. “You had Sir Kay, you had Merlin, you had people believing you. Do you know how many people believed in Mordred? How many truly cared for her being… herself?”


“Morgan was her mother. Why wouldn’t she show her care if she wanted her main weapon against me to be primed to be used?”


“Gawain, Agravain, Gareth, and Gaheris,” I listed quickly, drawing a confused look from her. “They were all her children, yet she never cursed them when they joined you.”


“And what does this have to do with Mordred?”


“Mordred wasn’t truly her daughter,” I hummed with a little grimace, ignoring her frown over the sentence. “Half-human, half-homunculi. The product of years of desperate efforts wasted in bringing you down. To her, Mordred was a pet, a tool, and never a child of hers.”


“You make it sounds as if her plea to become my heir were-”


“I think,” I interrupted her as I wasn’t done yet. “That Mordred didn’t really want that blasted crown. She wanted you to call her your child. She wanted to have someone that cared, and why not the very king that is actually her biological parent and a good king?”


“She would have still become my heir,” Artoria commented back. “Rebellions would have tried to reach out for her and-”


“She would have rebutted them because she would have been too loyal to her father,” I snorted, taking a moment to stop once again in our walk. “You underestimate Mordred’s loyalty-”


“And you think you are not overestimating it?” The blonde groaned with some anger. “She betrayed me, she trusted herself over to some thugs of men and women, and then killed me.”


I closed my eyes. “She killed the King, she never killed Artoria.”


…


“What?”


“When Mordred fought you, she did it against the idea of Kingship you had,” I replied with a drained tone. “In her mind, the only way to gain your praise, to gain your forgiveness, it’s to prove that you are wrong about it all.”


There was more silence, the Tyrant thought well about my words and sighed. “I feel like this isn’t over yet.”


“I actually have a genuine question, something that has driven me quite mad to be fair.”


“Then please, do tell,” She huffed, her annoyance having long diminished to nothing.


“What if, and I say ‘what if’, you had called her your child?” I finally asked. “What if, despite the burden of the crowd, despite Merlin telling you not, you had actually done that?”


…


“I think… I don’t have an answer to that,” The blonde admitted with a defeated sigh. “Back then, my worry made me unable to decide on my own, driving me to seek guidance from Merlin over the matter. After what had happened with Lancelot… many things just sounded so difficult to think about without doubting myself.”


I sighed at this confession, my eyes turning up at her unfocused orbs and… I shrugged.


“I guess that’s been quite the mess,” I concluded with a nod. “But still, there is nothing that can change now that it’s been so long.”


…


“You should apologize to Mordred if we end up meeting her somehow,” I muttered again, causing her attention to be brought back to me once again. “She would have to do that too, mind you. In my opinion, the fault is shared between parent and child.”


She gave a calm nod at this, accepting my words as the truth over this case and… I felt my lips twitch for a moment, feinting for a smile at a new thought.


“Also, there is something about Merlin that I’ve always wanted to ask either you or your other self.”


She blinked, her confused and intrigued look would soon become one of eternal fluster at the little diversion back to a more ‘amusing’ topic.


Let’s just say that I learned a little more about Artoria’s botched efforts to make an heir than I had intended to.


After I was done with the Tyrant, lunch ended up being a smooth but peaceful affair, with Arthur ending up having to deal with some teasing from his counterpart over some stories about his ‘more playful’ Merlin.


It didn’t matter the gender, the Meme-lin was still a Memester beyond space and time.


Once we were done with the food, I found myself sitting by the couch with Kuro and from there some odd circumstances ensued.


The girl was happily leaning her face on one of the big pillows present there, hugging it close to her chest while resting a little bit in the comfy couch.


I stared at her for a while, curious to understand why seemed that much happy about sitting there.


My attention was also diverted to look at her black hair. The more I continued to stare at those, the more I was being reminded that she just looked like what Illya would have if the Einzberns hadn’t made sure that their traits were the ones to be dominants in the girl’s appearance.


Luvia had retreated away to talk some more with Arthur, both having surprisingly hit it off pretty well as the young man had decided to tell her more about the stories about his kingdom.


Gil was currently napping by one of the other couches, showing once more that his younger self was far eager in finding time to actually enjoy some resting once in a while.


Artoria was still sitting on the floor, her eyes staring quietly at the fire coming from the fireplace.


“So,” I muttered calmly while still looking at the young Einzbern. “How does it feel to not be dependent to the Archer Card?”


Red eyes blinked open at the query, and soon Chloe was staring at me with a lazy look.


“Much better than I thought it to be,” She admitted easily. “In fact, I’m happy that now I’m… kind of free from it.”


“I suppose it’s kind of relieving-”


“I still have their memories,” The girl continued, ignoring my words. “But everything is just more… ordered. There is no conflict, just harmony.”


I blinked at that comment, a little surprised that Archer’s memories had still survived the spell despite the lack of influence from the card.


“All of the memories or just part of them?”


“All. I’ve glimpses about… Shirou’s life,” Kuro replied with some hesitation, trying to keep her tone quiet as to not alarm Artoria about the matter. “And I’ve seen some bits about… your other selves.”


I blinked. “I’m fairly sure that a large majority were outright douches, there is no need to-”


“I know why he still tried.”


…What?


“Even though there were signs that the other Shinjis were bad people since the very beginning,” Chloe continued to explain. “He still tried to… do something about it.”


I tensed up a little at this as… I was unaware of any unique reasoning behind Shirou’s interest in helping Shinji.


It always seemed to be all part of the redhead’s overall kindness and heroic sense directed at mostly everyone.


“Ant the reason is?”


Kuro sighed. “He… they were friends much before the Fourth Holy Grail War,” The girl replied with some hesitation. “Shirou could remember his face, his name and… the eagerness to always met at the park on a daily basis.”


There was some silence after that, no continuation to this reply and I sighed as I knew what she was alluding to this.


“Don’t tell me that when the War ended, Shinji thought that Shirou had ditched him.”


“It seems to make sense and...” Chloe huffed. “Actually, why don’t you know about this? I thought that-”


“I’ve never been able to leave the proximity of my home back from where I come,” I interjected with a tired sigh, my mind bringing up a fresh batch of nightmares about it. “Zouken was distrustful of already leaving me around Fuyuki City even much before the beginning of the War. He feared that I could have gotten injured, or perhaps ‘ridiculed’ the clan.”


So I was completely stomped by what she was just saying as I was fairly sure that the old worm had suspected nothing about my presence in his domain, and that there had been no reason to actively forbid me from pursuing some fun at the local park.


How did these Shinjis ended up doing so?


I pondered over it for some time, trying to find some clear answer to it instead of relying to theories… when I finally got a glimpse of how this was possible.


While I had done anything to warrant Zouken’s wrath to disallow me from going outside the mansion, there was an individual I had shown distrust about from the very beginning and… he was the only person that could have gotten me to wander around if the relationship had been a little more warmer.


‘Uncle’ Kariya was someone I had mixed feelings about, starting from the fact that his genuineness about saving Sakura because she was Sakura looked… far-fetched. It sounded so fake.


It was no lie that the idiot aspired for the love of Sakura’s former mother, even though Aoi Tohsaka had given him plenty of signs that she wasn’t interested to him.


Like, it had been years now and he still try to creepily gain her attention.


I was half-tempted to write a letter to the woman, suggesting her to flipping the bird the next time she ended up meeting him instead of politely decline his advances.


If politeness can’t into the mind of a ‘nice guy’, then the push needed to become a furious shove to make things as clear as a limpid sky.


“It’s not important,” I ultimately conceded with a hum, causing Kuro to give me a surprised look. “Despite what you might think… there were just some elements from the other Shinjis that just make them irredeemable.”


“But why not? You managed to-”


“My mother died as food for worms, Kuro,” I interjected sternly, making the girl tense up in a sudden chill at my words. “I was 4 when it happened and… I was shocked to death about that. Some versions of myself just accepted this, their minds just couldn’t handle the fact that Zouken was a bastard, that my own father was a fucking drunk bastard and… and then I got Sakura.”


…


“You think it’s your fault for-”


“My mother’s death? Never. I know that it was well beyond my means to act,” I replied truthfully. “But Sakura is my younger sister and, while not by blood, I still consider her the closest thing to family. No one in the Matou Clan had ever received this much trust from me and… I can’t just left her like that.”


She blinked at my words and then… she smiled. “You will do it,” Kuro replied with a hint of happiness. “I know that you can do that.”


I was surprised by this degree of trust, but I nodded a little tiredly at her and… she hummed.


“You know, you should probably go and check on her,” The young Einzbern pointed out with a nod. “I’ve heard from the maids assigned to her that she is feeling a little lonely.”


I frowned at the comment and… I nodded back. “I suppose I will go and see her-” I paused just for a moment as I stood up. “And Kuro.”


She glanced at my face and… I smiled at her. “Thank you.”


A snort left her lips. “You’re welcome, Shinji-kun.”


I walked up to the door, opening it and leaving the living room to reach where Sakura’s room was.


Blissfully unaware that Gil had woken up in the mean time, his red eyes staring at me leaving right up until I was away. Then he glanced at Artoria and… he sighed as he noticed a couple of tears falling off from her face.


To think that they were all broken somehow despite the best efforts to be fixed.


-----------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-------


AN


Gotta love some Shinji’s weakness moments once in a while… especially since he isn’t a knight in shining armor, no matter how much he tries to appear as such.


His very flaws are what make him relatable to many within the Nasuverse, but also render his job of helping people difficult because he himself has his own issues to deal with. And hugs can do just so much…


Next chapter, there will be some ‘action’. Expect some comedic scenes alright.

 

Chapter 24: War Plans, Absolute Divinity and a Worm


With some of the main issues finally solved, it was about time to get some plans going at the eventuality of dealing with the full-force of an assault from the Ainsworths.


From newer estimation, I was aware that it would still take around two more weeks to get the portal to properly stabilized, but I wasn’t going to bide my time for that long as I had so much to do.


I needed to get much stuff moving, to get some people secured in better places and to finally make some defensive preparations for what was going to happen the very moment the head of the family decided to finally step inside this dimension.


Knowing the furious state I had left Darius Ainsworth, with Ruby having done quite the foul move and by having taken Pandora out of his close watch, I was well aware that I had to play my cards correctly if I wanted to avoid a full conflict by the castle.


Despite the man having received quite the details over this Fuyuki Town from Sakura, I knew that he didn’t have the same perspective of strategies as I had.


The ‘optimal decision’ within his mind would’ve been to keep the most treasured bit of his plan in the safest place within the city, which was the Einzbern Castle in this dimension.


The thing is, while that would’ve been the most viable option, I also knew that even a less safe location would’ve done miracle work with this circumstance.


And letting Pandora stay at the castle would’ve been just a moron decision considering the closeness of the rift to the forest where the fortress was.


If they wanted, they could’ve gained a complete victory by merely attacking the castle. They had Beatrice and Angelica, both girls being equipped with some of the strongest Cards available in their arsenals.


I knew how to counter the blonde thanks to Miyu’s brother and Canon Kuro, but I was dreading a match against the always-grinning girl that cared a lot for Julian.


The redhead had a single Berserker Card, yet the nature of the Servant itself allowed for the presence of two Heroic Spirits to boost her body and abilities.


Magni, son of Thor, is already a tough bastard with its divine stats, but the fact that it had also access to his father’s Divine Core made it possible for Beatrice to also make use of Mjolnir.


And that was just the offensive capacity of such a boost.


The real problem was the resilience to attacks, all because of her little ‘1-Up’ life allowed by Thor’s Core.


She had used it back in Canon to survive a full blast from Fragarach, at the expense of being forced to no longer being able to use Thor’s hammer after that very situation.


Which forced her to enable Mad Enchantment.


I knew that both Arthur and Artoria could’ve killed her without much of an effort, but the troublesome part of that idea was… that I didn’t plan to kill her.


While Beatrice had given plenty of reason to warrant some punishment, her actions in these crimes weren’t hers.


Reborn as a Doll to Darius after dying in front of Julian because of some rubble falling right onto her during an Earthquake, the redhead had barely resembled what she once was.


She was given new life, but also a newer purpose. Gone was the shy little girl that just wanted to love a caring young man, and here a sadistic tragic figure replaced her.


A puppet, another nail to the coffin of the mostly-gone Julian.


Darius had made an effort to secure the boy under his command, to twist his mind to his whim by shattering whatever resilience was within his mind.


It’s kind of ironic to think that, without Darius, Julian would’ve seriously taken the role of the ‘Shirou Emiya’ of his dimension.


Miyu’s brother was someone that had long ditched the ideals of Hero of Justice, instead shifting his determination to protect his own ‘world’.


Julian was lost in the convincing rhetoric of being a savior, someone that really wanted to stop the madness destroying the planet.


This is why, despite his opposition at the utter brutality displayed by his ancestor while he manipulates his body, I knew that the young man was quite subdued to this ‘last road’.


There wasn’t one. I had pondered well enough over the chances of that dimension surviving the quick-paced stagnation and there wasn’t just any mean to avoid that.


Even a Grail War had a limit, and Pandora’s Box was a messy way to try and save everything.


...This is why Darius wanted to use it, not to save the world as a whole, but that part he deemed worth of surviving.


Minions, servants, slaves.


He wasn’t caring for some glorious mission of peace and justice. Just like any traditional Magus, he was trying to make a big win out of the horrible situation.


And now he was suffering a fair amount of problems all at once.


Maybe he had expected me to do something against him, just not this soon and not this strongly.


Now he was quite aware that I was a big threat that he will have to deal with if he truly wanted to succeed with his mission, and he would have to set maximum priority with whatever I would be doing within his domain.


Which was terribly convenient since I had some plans over abusing this little fear he had about me.


My attention turned back to the current situation, with me taking two small steps back after knocking at a much-familiar entrance door of the small building in front of me.


Behind me were a nervous Kuro and a confused Erika.


Yep, the little blonde had been freed from a prison she had already proven to be able to leave without obstacle if she wanted.


The girl was surprised by the fact I had decided to move her out of the castle, yet there was no doubt in her reaction that she was enjoying walking around Fuyuki after having been stuck in that room for some days now.


Yet now that we were at the first destination of this long day, her blue eyes were trying to convey the utmost degree of confusion over what was going on right now as she didn’t recognize this place.


But Chloe was well-aware what this house was and she was already sending me some glares at the fact she really didn’t want to be there now.


I had promised her that I would’ve circumvented the issue of the school and got her still busied somehow and, considering that she was now allowed with so much free time, I decided to have her enjoy some more opportunities since she now had a proper body.


It would be a lie to say that I had left the rest of the group without any tasks, as I had divided them in two groups.


Gilgamesh and Artoria were sent to the Matou household to prepare for some reunion I wanted to hold with both Sakura and Zolgen, while I had Luvia and Arthur to check on how Miyu and the other occupants of the Edelfelt mansion were doing without much of a serious mission going on.


Soon there were some footsteps approaching and the door was opened by a calm-looking Sella.


“Hello, how may I help-” Her eyes widened as she noticed me. “Shinji-san?”


“Sella-san, I’m sorry for this sudden visit,” I apologized quietly while bowing my head a little. “But there is quite a serious matter I wish to discuss with Kiritsugu-san and Irisviel-san, are they at home right now?”


The young woman blinked in surprise at the query, but she managed to recover pretty quickly from her moment of shock. “Irisviel-sama and Emiya-san are at home,” The maid replied quickly, her tone letting out some nervousness. “They have skipped going outside since Illya had been suffering stubborn fever.”


I blinked at that. “A fever? When did it start exactly?”


“From what I remember it was two days ago,” Sella answered calmly. “It happened quite suddenly, but it’s nothing dangerous.”


Two days ago Kuro and I had gone through the operation to get new bodies, and if I remember correctly, even without the Seal they still had some connection between each other.


It wasn’t a big stretch to consider how this phenomenon was connected to the operation.


I nodded. “I understand,” I commented quietly, still thinking about this discovery. “Can we come in then?”


There was a brief hint of doubt within her face, silence replying to me for a couple of seconds… then she sighed.


“Shinji-san, I wouldn’t advise for you to come too close to Irisviel-sama,” The Einzbern muttered nervously. “She has been having quite some strange attitude since some words that Chloe-san had given to her.”


...What?


I glanced behind, and Kuro’s attention was ‘surprisingly enough’ elsewhere. Perhaps the sky was prettier than usual to get the girl’s attention now that she was mentioned.


Just as I returned my attention back to Sella, I noticed that the young woman was staring with barely-veiled surprise at the different Einzbern.


She glanced briefly back at me and I nodded. “That’s part of the things I need to tell to them.”


The young woman sighed and nodded, making way as the three of us slowly entered inside the house, my mind bracing for whatever insanity Irisviel had committed because of some harsh talking with Kuro.


The girl had already commented on the topic way too many times for me to just ignore or forget, but I was caught off-guard when I learned that there had been some big conversation just a couple of days ago.


Sure, I knew that the dark-haired Einzbern had done something to turn quieter than usual, but I couldn’t just pinpoint the complicated origin of this newly-found issue with just some emotions.


I was the first one to venture inside the living room and I was granted quite the curious sight that was just telling me that the woman might have taken whatever conversation had happened to a degree a little higher than normal.


Kiritsugu was quietly sorting out numerous guns of various caliber, with Maya taking seat by the couch opposite to his while helping him with the particularly complex task.


They both were distracted, yet I saw the ‘head’ of the family giving a quick glance to us, surprise swelling instantly but not surviving for long before getting replaced with a gloomy and dreading mask.


I gulped nervously as I turned my attention at the small table there and… I blinked at a calm-looking Irisviel sitting peacefully by the table.


Happily humming as she continued to draw something over some paper, I also spotted Leysritt sitting a couple of seats away from her, the short-haired Einzbern quietly snoring as she continued with her nap by the edge of the table, blissfully ignoring the absurd scene unfolding right now.


My full attention was directed at the matriarch of the Einzbern, my steps slow but quick as I carefully approached her.


She seemed too engrossed by her activity to notice my approach, and I managed to get close enough to take a peek at what she was working with.


Flowers. I blinked with even more surprise as my thoughts of seeing some macabre topic was dashed away by the peculiar style used to create some pretty flowers over the paper used for this little project.


To be fair, I hadn’t expected to deal with any of this but… eventually I ended up mesmerized by the beautiful drawing that was on its way to be completed by the determined-looking mother.


Silence persisted as time passed, but soon Irisviel paused in her little effort to take some breath.


Just as she prepared to resume with her work, her entire body tensed and her eyes widened as she slowly turned to look behind herself and… she noticed me.


Her red orbs narrowed at me in a moment of outright irritation and I frowned back at the challenge thrown my way.


“Shinji,” The woman greeted with a cold tone, almost stomping me where I was standing.


“Iri,” I replied with a quiet but neutral tone.


“Irisviel,” She corrected with a sigh.


“Iri,” I remarked with a shrug, causing her to snort in brief amusement before she realized it wasn’t the ‘time’ to appear silly.


“I find you responsible for many heinous crimes.”


“Would it be asking too much to have a list of those… crimes?”


“You stole my daughter,” The Einzbern accused. “And now she hates me.”


I blinked at her answer. ‘Hate’ is a strong word, and I couldn’t just see Kuro say something like this, especially to Irisviel of all people.


“The correlation?”


“She wants to stay with you and not with us,” She answered quickly, her chair turning slightly more as to help her stare more at me. “Thus you’re to blame.”


“I think you’re well-beyond going through this degree of silly, Iri,” I retorted calmly, causing her to huff.


“Then you’re wrong.”


…


“I just called you smart there,” I explained with a confused frown, her strong front faltering a little at that. “Look, how about we just talk about it?”


“I’m ready to wage war,” She admitted. “I can’t just back away so suddenly and wihtout any good reason.”


I blinked at that, and pondered about this very detail.


Then I nodded as I got a good idea. “If Jubstacheit hadn’t forced the Einzbern genes to be dominant in your daughter, how do you think her hair would’ve been?”


The sudden question seemed to catch off-guard the woman. Yet Irisviel seemed to recover gracefully if not swiftly.


“What?”


I sighed, a small smile appearing on my face as I looked back at Kuro and… she looked back at me with a surprised look.


Before I could say anything, I heard a gasp from the mother, and I barely noticed Irisviel blitzing around me and towards the panicking girl.


Chloe didn’t have the time to react properly at the situation, the lack of her Archer-Card already proving that her reflexes had dimmed just a little as she failed to avoid the glomping.


“Oh my- Kiritsugu, come here!” The woman exploded in giggles as she tightly held the nervous dark-haired Einzbern, lifting her up from the ground while her husband approached with a hint of curiosity lingering by his face.


Just as the trio reunited and Pandora decided to move away from the scene and closer to me, the girl visibly distressed by the sudden display of affection, I decided in the meantime to focus on another problem I could actually help with.


A certain kaleidostick carefully drifted out of my pocket and right in front of me as I sighed.


“Illya-chan is sick, I don’t see any reason for her Ruby to be unable to heal her,” I started to explain at the Mystic Code. “She’s probably taking some perverted pictures- please, do give the girl some help… and the help is for Illya, not your counterpart.”


Ruby bent a little as to nod. “Aye, Shinji-sama, I will see for the poor maiden to be cured of her illness!”


I blinked at the seriousness in her tone, almost surprised by it as I stared at the Mystic Code flying away from my sight.


Taking a moment to sigh, I turned my attention back to Pandora, preparing to deliver quite some important speech with the two parents when I felt a pair of arms quietly crossing around my neck.


My surprise intensified as I felt my back being subjected to the sudden pressure coming from… two pillows.


“Shinji-kun,” A now-awake Leysritt greeted with a yawn. “You’re here.”


I sighed, trying to ignore the newest sensation the best I couldn’t but still failing because of the teasing smile on Erika’s face.


The blonde was grinning, almost ready to giggle at my plight while Liz continued to keep me stuck in that strange embrace.


“L-Liz, you shouldn’t press so tightly,” I tried to carefully dislodge myself out of that hug, only for her arms to squeeze me even closer.


“I slipped,” She replied flatly, not even caring at how feeble that explanation was and… Sella was staring with a full-face red blush.


Seriously, this family is the most bizarre in the Nasuverse!


If only Shinji knew that this wasn’t going to be the most bizarre moment… for today.


------------d-d-d-d-d-----------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------


~Change of POV~


Perhaps I should’ve been a little more lenient.


The living room of the Edelfelt Manor was filled with almost every occupants of the building, with the exception of Auguste, Luvia’s most trusted butler.


Miyu was carefully tending at Bazett, the woman groaning a little as she was carefully placed by the long sofa there while both Rin and Luviagelita tried to make sense of why I was here.


But there was no means for the two apprentices to the Wizard Marshal to understand why I, of all people, was here to deign them with my presence.


I reckon I could’ve been gone for another route, maybe even gone to directly intercept my current target of interest to avoid the amusing situation that saw the only remaining member of the Fraga McRemitz family getting obliterated in a couple of seconds.


It was surprising, but also absolutely just for me to comprehend how her abilities just failed to stand up against my own.


There was no denying that a well-aimed Fragarach would’ve proven to be quite the difficult obstacle to overcome with my eased state, and how a well-placed punch could’ve still left me harmed during the ‘match’.


I had just presented myself to the doors, knowing that the young boy I was trying to have a private conversation with was still busy with the Einzbern/Emiya household.


Once he was done there, it would’ve been the Matou’s turns and, finally, here at the Edelfelt Mansion.


Shinji Matou, an interesting individual I had just ‘known’ about as much as he was aware of me.


He wasn’t expecting my presence. But to be honest, not even I had expected for this sudden reunion to be needed.


Yet the necessity had risen up from the very troubles riddling the state of things- this world being a minuscule particle of what truly going to be the glorious battlefield of the conflict that was brewing.


A mysterious threat, a novel alliance that hailed under a single common point.


It was particularly hilarious how it all started, and how I was suddenly and surprisingly yanked to deal with this situation with other trustworthy men and women.


“I’m still failing to understand how you’ve managed to beat a professional Magus when you yourself aren’t one,” The young Tohsaka finally brought up with a huff, her blue gems shining a pretty light as she was troubled by the entire situation. “And to think that Zelretch-sama would just allow you to stay there without any notice.”


“It’s scandalous,” The older Luvia pointed out with a huff. “While I understand that we’ve duties to abide to, I don’t see how housing such an unneeded guest would-”


“Duties to abide?” I interrupted quietly, taking a brief moment to sigh before staring at the blonde. “Do you understand that up until now you’ve done the minimum of keeping up with thse with how you’ve behaved even recently? With how you’ve carried yourself around others?”


“You don’t have any right to-”


“Luvia-san,” I hummed quietly while turning to the younger blonde, the one sitting right beside the taller and more powerful King Arthur.


To think that such a development could’ve been missed by me… but maybe I should’ve expected this as a possibility.


The webs of the multiverse are multiple, but logical actions dictated certain hints within the plot itself. But even thinking too much about it would be counterproductive, especially with how negligible some details were now.


“Yes, sir?” The child asked with a polite tone, drawing a pleased smile on my face and a nod directed at her to praise such a dutiful manner.


“If you were to pick a decision about either swallowing your pride and committing to a mission ordained by Zelretch-sama or not, which one would you pick?”


The girl had little to think as she merely sighed. “Uh… do the mission?”


I nodded, returning my stare back to the two confused teens. “What you’ve just listened was a mature decision coming from someone younger than you two. You should be quite ashamed of yourselves.” I explained dryly before staring dully at the blonde. “Especially you, Luviagelita. Your younger self managed to not only give an accurate answer, but also presenting it politely and properly towards someone of my stature.”


“You’re not a Magus, why should-”


“You’re English, good sir?” Rin was interrupted by Arthur, the former King of Britain offering me a curious look as I glanced at him.


“That would be… correct. How did you deduce this?”


“I can feel some accent, very little but just enough to recognize it,” The blond elaborated. “Your manners and your tone suggest that too.”


I blinked. “Impressive. I wouldn’t have expected any less from the King of Knights.”


He bowed his head calmly but then I resumed my talk with the two girls.


“Still, your performance was distasteful,” I judged bluntly, drawing even more anger out of the two apprentices. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if Zelretch decided to deny you his teachings once this is all over.”


“WHAT?” The young Tohsaka finally exploded in outrage at my comments, her hands slamming by the small wooden table between me and her. “You-You just came out of nowhere, managed to maim someone as experienced as Bazett-san, and now you ridicule us about-”


“The truth,” I placidly interjected. “Because, up until now, the ones that were capable of securing the entirety of the Cards were Miyu and Illya.”


At being mentioned by me, the little maid stopped with her ministrations and gave me a quick surprised look.


“Both have formed a contract with Ruby and Sapphire after the disappointing bickering you’ve been caught into after picking just the first card,” I continued to point out at the two. “And I’m sure in saying that neither Illya nor Miyu have yet shown any issue that made both Kaleidosticks regret the ultimate decision of breaking the contracts with you two.”


“O-Once we will be done with this, Zelretch-sama will surely help us-” Luviagelita tried to counter but I was already losing my patience over their attempts.


“By leaving both of his creations under the care of possible new apprentices,” I rebuked with a huff, drawing some shocked expression from both… and from the young ‘Emiya’ working with the unconscious Executor. “What? You thought that he was just going to forget how you messed up this badly?”


“But we recovered the cards!” Rin replied heatedly. “We completed the mission!”


“But you still managed to lose the contracts with Ruby and Sapphire,” I tiredly reminded. “And that isn’t going to be fixed with a little plea.”


It seemed like my words were finally starting to make sense to them as their postures grew more and more uneasy, showing nervousness over what felt to be an undeniable truth.


Differently from Shinji, I had no reason to let some incompetency go unchecked for so long.


I knew that mistakes could kill so suddenly and so unexpectedly. Mistakes could damage people, make them easy to attacks.


Mistakes were stupid, especially when so repetitive and continuous.


But just as I prepared to enjoy some more silence while ignoring the two ‘poor girls’, I found myself taken by surprise by what followed next.


“You’re lying.”


I blinked, glancing to the side where little Luvia was. The younger blonde was giving me quite the tense but somewhat determined look, catching me off-guard with her convincing tone.


“How so, Luvia-san?”


“Zelretch doesn’t assign students by what the Kaleidoscope think,” The girl continued with a serious voice. “Apprentices can also be picked without Zelretch-sama having to give them any mystic code… like Shinji and Nagato Tohsaka.”


Awe blended with wonder at that curious reply as I found myself intrigued by such thought. It was correct, there was no doubt about it in my mind but-


“A-And I don’t want to become Zelretch’s apprentice,” Miyu blurted out loudly, causing me to look at her with a fascinated look. “I-I think that Luvia-sama is capable of continuing with her role, and that despite her flaws, both her and Rin-san are meant to be his apprentices.”


“Mhh,” I hummed quietly and sighed. “It would seem that my thesis has been cracked open so suddenly and easily… I guess that I might’ve been harsh in some bits. But still, you both need to pick up the pace if you want to be considered real apprentices, especially now that there is a interdimensional problem threatening the stability of this universe.”


Rin frowned. “What do you mean...sir?”


I smiled at the reluctant note of politeness, almost understanding now what Shinhachi(1) was referring about the importance of certain honorifics.


That strange bot sure knows how to heighten an already-divine charisma when he wants to.


“The Ainsworth Family will surely come barging in this world in a matter of few days, especially with how desperate they are about their prime objective,” I started to explain with a serious tone. “But you still have plenty of times to make countermeasures to strike them badly once they show their faces.”


“But how?” Luviagelita inquired with some perplexity. “From what we’ve found out, the Clan is only present in the other dimension.”


“And that’s an incorrect statement,” I pointed out with a sigh. “Darius Ainsworth was active when he was alive. You’ve access to some important records, and I can assure you both that some news will pop out about him.”


“And then?” Rin asked a little too giddy for my tastes.


“And then you draw some plans, working hard to make preparations to counter any invasions,” I replied with a minor scowl. “If you start to work properly, to truly bring honor to the role you’ve been bestowed with, then there will be no issues in finding help from Shinji.”


“You speak of Shinji as if you… know him,” Little Luvia pointed out much to my growing interest over her.


My smile returned on my face. “There is indeed a correlation between us. Something that I would be glad to explain but… it’s too complicated. Too messy.”


“If it’s anything perverted, I-”


“I can assure you that my relationship with Shinji is platonic, Luvia-san. Albeit strange, if not bizarre on itself.”


…


“I don’t understand.”


“Good,” I said while nodding at her. “Then we will both avoid some unneeded headaches about the matter.”


My assurance seemed to easily dissuade the child from pursuing something more from this conversation, and I was finally granted some more silence as I looked once more around the room.


Bazett was no longer groaning, her sleeping form barely lashing around thanks to Miyu’s medical experience.


It was impressive to learn that the girl had some knowledge over that subject, almost intriguing as little Luvia’s mind.


Perhaps Shinji had been wrong to depict her as an ‘untouched gem’ that would’ve been ruined with politics.


No, I was sure that the situation was different, simpler even.


The flexibility to accept new information, to make use of those in theoretical and practical situations, and then being able to elaborate from those bits.


She was seven, and yet I was baffled by her acumen over the Moonlit World.


Little Luvia was a genius, something different from her canon self.


Perhaps I was seeing too much about it, or maybe I was seeing properly something that Shinji just couldn’t see early on and was now distracted from noticing.


And with Arthur and Sapphire by her side, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by what kind of limits the world will try to impose on her.


She was limitless right now, but there was no doubt that Gaia or Alaya would’ve tried to meddle with this new development.


They wouldn’t accept something so close to the first Gods, the two Wills just wouldn’t accept an abrupt reopening of the road connecting the Root to Earth.


But while I continued to muse quietly over these new discoveries and developments, part of my mind still delved back to how I was supposed to interact with the young Matou.


He will be surprised, skeptical and frightful even, but I was certain that with some proper discussion and some careful explanation, everything would eventually make sense to him.


There wasn’t actually an immediate worry to be concerned about, even I was aware of that notion, but it was best to have everyone warned and ready for what was going to happen in the span of a few ‘years’ from now.


Especially those that were going to be the ones that will be the more probable to make first contact with such a dangerous threat lurking around the edges of the multiverse.


A destructive force beyond my abilities, beyond Shinhachi’s own powers… it was going to be a brutal and ugly conflict.


Yet I was confident in the strength of those that will join us for this lengthy battle.


It will be glorious and it will be hellish.


But in the end, they would have to prevail for the sake of good and justice.


It was a certainty, it was a promise, it was the undeniable truth-


Because I, Dio(2), knew that there was no other way about it.


---------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d--


AN


Little explanation about what is going on with the second part of this chapter:
I’ve big plans. Plans that revolve around the possibility of a massive crossover among my stories. Why? I always thought about bringing up something that ties it all together. After all, the Bukharinverse is a canon tie to all my stories and… it’s about time to make use of this connection.


What does this chapter entail (right now)? Nothing. This one and the next will have Dio explaining to Shinji was will happen and how to prepare… but then? It will take a long time from now to see anything happen again. So no, this is not a crossover, it’s just a prelude for something quite big and complicated. But probably my biggest idea yet!

Glossary:
1) John Shinhachi, also known as Unit 428, is the protagonist of the story ‘The Living Bot’.
2) ‘Dio Brando’ is the protagonist of the story ‘Absolute Divinity’.

To soothe some tired spirits… here’s a cute Liz!


P.S. I think there will be just four-five more chapters before the end of this Arc. Next one will be smaller and will serve to add a little bit of uniqueness to the story.

 

The Xover project will not happen within the story. it will be a different story altogether. Dio will leave next chapter and there will not be any xovers (except silly references, but nothing more.). This is story is listed as a (Nasuverse SI) and it shall continued to be that!

I repeat, there is no Xovering planned after this very bit!

 

Chapter 25: Immense Warning, Lurking Siege, and a confused Worm


Alerting the Emiyas and the Matous for what was going to happen rather soon regarding the Ainsworth family proved to be a breeze.


The former accepted a new responsibility in the form of Erika after I had explained to them why she was to be watched for while also monitored for any weird behavior that could end up in disastrous world end grade scenarios.


Kiritsugu was slightly surprised by learning about her powers but quite quick to make serious assurances of not dusting his former ambitions by trying to make use of Pandora.


I trusted Irisviel to not let any temptation go by and… I knew that no one else in that house genuinely wanted to express any wishes for the blonde to try and satisfy.


Yet, despite having secured some guarantees that the family was going to keep an eye on the little girl, I still had to spend sometime handling myself out of the cumbersome embrace that Leysritt had decided to pull me into.


Sella had tried to provide some help, but she seemed to hesitate a lot while trying to pull her fellow maid’s hands off from me.


It would have been a funny scene if I hadn’t been caught in that friendly fire between the two young women.


Kiritsugu gave me an odd luck, while his wife let out a giggle at my plight… and Illya, now healed and standing to see the absurd scene, seemed willing enough to offer just a sympathetic look instead of intervening herself.


A smart decision from the little Einzbern as we were both aware that adding a ‘lewd-magnet’ to the count was likely to worsen the situation, not improve it for the better.


Then it was the turn of the ‘hermit’ family led by a certain Dead Apostle.


Zouken and his heiress seemed quite glad with the fact that I had contacted them for this very development and they decided to harbor ‘Sakura 2’ for the time being. At least that was meant to be the accommodations up until Miyu’s big brother was brought out from their dying dimension.


Convincing the plum-haired former Doll that the ‘old man’ had got ridden of the Crest Worms had been initially difficult.


It didn’t help that Gil had been joking around the fact that he felt ‘in danger’ while in that place, prompting a head-bash from Artoria.


While the girl had recognized it as a reason to be frightened, I was well aware that the cheeky blond was referring to how brutal his ‘death’ had been during the Heaven’s Feel Route.


Sakura was legitimately scared about this new development and unnerved by merely being brought before the Vampire that was her grandfather’s counterpart, but she seemed to ease up a little when her own counterpart had decided to speak over the matter.


The discussion was tense at best, but there was enough stubbornness within the fellow Kohai to address the fact that there was really no worm and… that there was a common goal that they shared.


While the second half was more comical at best than else, the important first bit ended up finally getting rid of any leftover of her initial reluctance.


Especially when Zouken himself was punished by her counterpart. I saw some sadistic smile on that pretty face- something that truly reminded me that what Dark Sakura had was still held within the original Kohai.


And hopefully, this wasn’t something I was going to deal with once I had freed my little sister.


I left the two ‘Oneesans’ while they were discussing about how the former Doll had managed to make a serious step towards a proper relationship with the now-imprisoned Senpai, and that mere revelation was enough to incite quite the interrogation from her ‘less experienced’ version.


Admittedly one of the most amusing topics to leave the situation, I was entertained a little when Artoria had decided to speak out about her recent assignment.


Gilgamesh smiled smugly as his ‘partner’ started to list all the issues that the mini-King of Heroes had caused while they were waiting for me and Kuro.


From crass tones, to cruel jokes directed to the clueless Prillya Sakura about her ‘Dark version’.


I took in all the grievance with a tired sigh, and I was sure that the blond that was now walking eagerly beside me wasn’t going to do anything close to an apology.


The only promise I decided to accept was that Artoria didn’t have to do any other missions together with the red-eyed kid.


The King of Uruk was mildly dismayed by this, but surprisingly enough he reserved himself from pincushion me with some of his treasury.


With most of the important tasks for today done, I was expecting for things to end up even better as we made our way towards our final destination.


I was so sure that all of the tassels of my plan were properly placed for the surprises I had planned for Darius.


Maybe I should have expected that things could easily be jinxed. That maybe gloating this soon would’ve proven to be problematic in the long-term as the Nasuverse wasn’t certainly known to have an ‘Easy Mode’ for anyone living there.


I was silly enough to already consider this day a massive success. One that shouldn’t have warranted any unexpected outcomes since we were going to face just the least worrying of the issues.


The Edelfelt Mansion was the stop before we all returned back to the castle to properly set up the defenses, and I had been expecting to deal with some amusing circumstances since it had been some time since I had seen Rin and Bigger Luvia.


The first hint that something was incredibly off about this very part of Fuyuki was the fact that the path that led to the main entrance of the building had been filled with several man-made holes.


Holes that didn’t seem to have been created with shovels or other tools designated with the purpose of digging- it looked more a damaged battlefield.


Tensing up a little, I noticed Artoria muster up her sword and armor as she took the lead through the open gates and the main doors of the mansion.


Kuro kept close to me while Gilgamesh seemed to sport the most concerning of expressions I could’ve seen him bring up.


Gone was the bravado, the smug- it was all replaced by a perplexed and curious look. More perplexity to be precise.


The walk was a slow and quiet one, but still one that offered more clues over what was going on inside that house.


The boundary fields were still up, and the signs of a fight had been limited just by the ground near to the front gates.


Nothing that would suggest an intruder making it past that initial spot by the entrance.


A failed attack? No, Ruby would’ve alerted me of any strange circumstance happening with her sister’s counterpart. But as far as I could see, the Kaleidostick was quietly humming in my pockets.


Perhaps hoping to humiliate me again.


Cheeky stick with lewd antics!


We reached the doors, and Artoria leaned to knock with her armored glove before guarding up and preparing for anyone answering her knocking.


There were some footsteps approaching soon after and… Auguste opened the door with a curious look.


“Oh, Shinji-san and-” The butler stopped as he noticed the aggressive appearance displayed by the Tyrant. “Is… there something wrong?”


“We saw that there had been a fight sometime ago,” I replied quietly. “Near the gates, there are some holes.”


His glasses shone a little in realization. “Oh, it might have to do with the fact that Ms. Fraga McRemitz had tried to fight against our current guest.”


Bazett was there already? That was kind of good but-


“A guest?” I inquired, having no knowledge of anyone visiting and being strong enough to keep up with the Irish woman.


“Someone that seeks to spare some words with you, Shinji-san,” The elder explained with a careful voice. “He seems quite the patient individual… and forgive me if I sound a little silly, but I can’t help but see him way older than his appearance might indicate.”


I tensed up a little more at this, knowing that even with that jarring depiction there were plenty of individuals in the Nasuverse that I had to be wary about.


Some were Dead Apostles, but I was sure that Auguste would’ve brought that up already if it had been the case.


Someone that had acquired something close to immortality, but not enough to become a bloodsucker.


…


Okay, maybe the fact that this individual wasn’t a Vampire made the difference since there wasn’t anyone that had come close to achieve that.


Except Zelretch but… he’s pretty much a Dead Apostle and so out of the list of the suspects.


In the end I was left blissfully unaware of whom I was going to interact with, and I genuinely hoped that it wasn’t anyone that could count as a possible enemy of mine.


The large living room seemed to lack much of the loud voices that would rise up at the usual bickering between two certain apprentices to the Wizard Marshal.


In fact, the sight that I was bestowed with was well beyond my expectations as I saw both Rin and Older Luvia act up together… quite calmly. Only a couple of glares would pass around as the two went through some paperwork like a decent team.


I was half-tempted to call out this as an illusion, trying to get some explanation from both Chibi Luvia and Arthur only for them to-


“｢The World｣.”


The mere moment these words were uttered, I felt my eyes going wide in shock and realization as I had more than just a clue at what was going on.


The entirety of the world went silent, its inhabitants going still as I was left alone to deal with the absurd reality imposed right onto me.


I was the only one capable of moving… or at least the only one beside the tall blond now approaching me.


He was bulky, a little less than his Part 3 appearance, and donning what seemed to be his Part 1 Battle clothes, yet those had some slight modifications that made it stand out from the original.


It was impossible for me to fail in recognizing who I had in front of me.


“Greetings, young Shinji,” Dio offered a slight bow as he paused in his approach, ignoring perfectly all those around us. His attention was solely directed on me. “And I wish to apologize if we are talking privately in such a manner… but we really need to talk.”


“There is no way that you’re-”


“You?” He concluded for me, a small smile adorning his face. His orange eyes glimmering with amusement as I failed to form a solid response to that. “While there are some distinct differences in each Bukharin, the result is still the same. Same name, same soul… same moral compass.”


“W-Why are you here?” I knew that I couldn’t use Ruby’s help, nor Install any Cards right now. The current display of power, the full control of time was… frightening.


My current ‘mobility’ wasn’t dictated by some similarity I shared with the Stand User. He was allowing me to ‘exist’ within his ‘World’. Dio’s World.


“My current presence isn’t dictated by any nefarious activity. I have no reason to expand in a universe currently inhabited by versions of myself,” Dio started to explain with a sigh. “But the reasons that see me wandering in this specific place… are more concerning to some issues you might end up dealing in the distant future. Issues that will reach out even to my main dimension.”


...This- This is just insane.


His presence here meant that there is a connection within the Insertions. Something that transcended black on white, or the opposite.


But then… why? Why now!?


“Issues?”


“Someone has already been spotted tampering with the timelines,” The blond answered quickly. “Up until now the culprit has been repelled by one of our versions, someone that had plenty of power and reach to protect the dimensions without much support.”


I blinked at this detail, knowing of only a single figure that fit with the bare description.


“So the Living Bot is keeping an eye at it?” I asked with a grimace, trying to think properly about what the hell was going on.


Something was causing ripples through the dimensions? But why would Dio be here if Shinhachi is taking care of this problem?


“More than an eye if he decided to prepare us for some brewing storm,” The Stand User finally admitted. “And if he is so sure that we need to be alerted of this problem… then it has to be a troublesome threat.”


A threat capable of overwhelming him in a normal instance. Quite an impossible thought to imagine happening within logical reality.


John Shinachi, the Living Bot. He was already powerful and resourceful enough to keep up with whatever was threatening the continuity of the macroverse so… why the need of recruiting?


What could’ve pushed him to go as far as alert the rest of the ‘Bukharins’? And… was there a council? Like with the Ricks?


What was the limit of-


“And I will suggest that you keep away from over-thinking over our existence,” Dio spoke, snapping me out of my reverie. “It’s simpler than it looks like. And from my own estimations over this ‘problem’, I can say that it will not become important for you to be involved up much later in your own adventure.”


“But this- The fact that we all exist in-”


“Shinhachi called it ‘Bukharinverse’, but he seemed to be… open for suggestions,” The blond continued with a nod. “There is a common element among us, something that makes us appetizing to most forces of evils. Be careful, and you will thrive in success. And I, Dio, can assure you of that.”


I frowned at the last bit. “Kind of difficult to believe it if you’re just me-”


“We’re alike. But I reckon that I’ve to remind you that I’m far older than you. I’m… a couple of centuries old after all.”


…


“Wait, what?”


“I would like to entertain this discussion a little more,” The man said while sighing tiredly. “But my duty here is done and I wish to return to my own dimension and organization. I’ve still plenty to do despite the years that have gone by.”


I blinked at that, ready to protest and press for more but… that blink went by and he was gone.


Actually, the world had resumed its course after that blink as I noticed everyone else moving normally and as if nothing had truly happened.


“What was that?”


I merely glanced at Gilgamesh, the red-eyed kid staring at me in shock as the rest of the room was now looking at me with confused, and suspicious looks after hearing the boy’s question/demand.


“Would you believe it… that I’m not truly sure about it myself?”


Gil blinked, his eyes staring at me with intense curiosity while I could feel Kuro’s hand settling on my shoulder and-


“W-Where did he go?”


Little Luvia looked surprised, her attention directed at trying to find someone that was no longer there in his previous seat and… no longer in that room.


In the middle of that kerfuffle born from two surprises, I couldn’t help but realize that Dio’s Stand had managed to use its abilities… without getting any opposition from Gaia herself.


...How the fuck did he manage to do that?


------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d----------------d-d-d-d----------


“I suppose you’ve finished with your task, Beatrice.”


The unnervingly calm voice coming from the dark-haired teen seemed to endear the red-headed Berserker, enough to widen up her malicious smile.


They had managed to take refuge by one of the few hotels within the city, keeping a discreet attitude to avoid gaining any suspicions from the inhabitants within the city.


Maps had been bought, known boundary fields were marked upon those and-


“It’s done, Julian,” The girl confirmed with a swift nod. “The Castle is their current ‘home’. I’ve spotted them entering it.”


A scowl adorned the face of the ‘young’ Head of the family. His distaste at the idea of facing such a lengthy siege proving to be far too strong to be contained within his mask of silence.


But the situation was still salvageable considering the incredible opportunity bestowed to them by one of the ‘missing cards’.


The ripples had mostly closed, yet two had managed to survive through the attempt of the Will of the World from this universe to preserve the survival of its space-time continuum.


One which Darius and his enemies had known about… and one that had been discovered upon scouting the entirety of Fuyuki.


It had been a maddening process driven mostly by rage and fury that had taken a couple of days to conclude in a pleasant success.


The humiliation suffered at the hands of that little boy with a stupid Mystic Code was still burning fiercely within his psyche, enough to make it almost a primary need to see the agonizing brat suffer under the worst kind of torture his creative mind could’ve conceived in that very moment.


And yet the ambitious Magus wasn’t going to let some petty revenge get in his head, at least not enough to distract him from the main objectives of his current presence in this ‘stable world’.


Sakura’s reports had stopped coming for more than a few days now, and yet the limited amount of those documents had presented him with a clear glimpse of the situation unfolded within this happier city.


There was another Lesser Grail, maybe two hiding within this city. All of them seemed to be watched carefully by the Magus Killer and some other individuals.


Zelretch was more active than in his dimension. The Wizard Marshal had employed his apprentices to investigate the circumstances that led to the presence of the Servant Card.


And finally… Shinji Matou.


He wasn’t someone from this Fuyuki. This world never had the chance of experiencing a young Matou heir if not for the arrival of this intruding force.


An individual that had acted well in subtly keeping Sakura, his little crazy pawn, from acting violently against him.


She had been so unsure, so insecure. Her devotion for her Senpai wavering just a little at the sight of her ‘brother’. This time a little boy with no malicious intent attached to his soul.


Ironic considering how the former wielder of the Assassin Card had begged to be turned into a puppet to the Ainsworth.


A pity that his use expired so suddenly and at the hand of a filthy villain like Shirou Emiya.


Darius should’ve been more careful when he had noticed the dubious words used in the last messages from the plum-haired girl. He should’ve demanded her return to properly update her mental matrix instead of letting her fully fail him with this silent betrayal.


But now it was stupid to whine and linger further upon this unpleasant situation.


The clock was still ticking, and the home-dimension’s time was close to end just as he had calculated.


It was now a matter of a few days before everything comes crashing down and… he needed to act quickly and take the risky gamble considering the horrible stakes against him.


His centuries-old ambition was so close to crumble before his eyes… and all of that was because of a simple refusal to accept the Greater Good.


He would’ve expected the spawn of the Magus Killer to be perfectly aware of the intricacies of justice. The most important need of self-sacrifice all for the sake of saving the ‘majority’ of people.


It was his wish, to bring true justice to the world by saving only those worth saving. Those that would bow to his dominance, and accept his words as laws to follow more than mere guidelines.


A world where Darius Ainsworth was the unquestionable God, the true ruler of the entire planet.


The veneration, the recognition- it was enough to almost make him drool at the chance of finally reaching his peak, to attain the final zenith.


But sadly enough, uncertainty was driving him to take some more careful steps instead of outright assaulting the fortress where Erika was being held.


The Grail vessels would be useless to him without Pandora’s prime input within his plan. He needed her to begin the process required to save his dying world, or else nothing could’ve truly been done with the useless brats.


The Castle was the only viable option where to hide the ultimate prize of power, the undeniable temptation to power and… he needed to make plans. He needed to keep moving or else things would vanish out of his hands… again.


An attack was needed, but not one born from strong-arming against whatever defenses had been deployed inside of it.


Sure, they still had the element of surprise but… it was their only opportunity to truly strike.


They needed a proper footing, a good understanding of this bigger city and… a plan of action to use to siege down the grand castle.


It was smaller than the one back home but… it was also provided with some of the strongest spells that he had managed to get sight off thanks to Beatrice.


The hard work of one Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern.


The only one of the legendary heads of the Three Clans that Darius had actually avoided to confront after copying some of the Holy Grail ritual within the Einzbern’s archives in Germany.


With Nagato being killed indirectly and Zouken burning among the ashes of his former home, the Homunculus had been left to die by ‘natural causes’.


Her complicated self wasn’t prepared to survive for more than sixty years, and the Ainsworth had been smart enough to keep avoiding any reunions with the woman up until he had been sure that she had perished.


Truly some of the most unpleasant decades he had been forced to live through, especially with how difficult it had been to experiment with his then-risky Possession spell without gaining anyone’s interest by buying expensive ingredients from Clock Tower.


While the Magus Association had crumbled in quite the agonizing manner while squabbling over how they were supposed to solve the problem that was the Grand Decline, its society had stood proudly up to the very end.


It was kind of a pity to imagine how none of those old families was going to be around when the world would end up being saved and shaped into his image and mind.


But the situation now didn’t require this kind of amusing thoughts.


“Angelica,” ‘Julian’ finally muttered, glancing to the side where the blonde had been standing until now. The older sister nodded, a blank but stern look on her face. “I require for you to prepare some traps by the second rift. I think we will have to cover our retreat if things turn sour.”


Her blue eyes glowed momentarily as she nodded. “I will be done, Julian.”


The young woman vanished through her Gradation Air and into the small seal she had placed by the woods near where the working passage had been located into.


The task was sure going to take a couple of hours and, considering the vast hard-work already put down within the mapping of the city, they would be able to make a move by dinnertime.


Right as the element of surprise was going to be in the highest height. Right as his opponent were busy to enjoy their moment of ‘victory’.


He shook his head, draining a small smile forming at the mere thought of seeing their shocked expressions at seeing their upper hand crushed so quickly and violently.


He imagined about Shinji’s last stand, the mockery of proper justice.


Moralism against realism, divinity against mortality.


Darius hummed at those pleasant ideas, but he needed to have a perfect picture of his target.


“Beatrice,” He quietly muttered, drawing the redhead’s attention almost instantly. Her yellow eyes vibrated and quivered with devotion and loyalty. Truly a fitting sight from a silly puppet. “Can you tell me more about Shinji Matou? What can you say about him at a proper first sight?”


A little surprise painted her features, yet her expression barely wavered at the unexpected query.


“Well, he does… he does appear quite fragile,” She said, giggling a little about it. Perhaps wondering at the prospect of ‘fighting’ him. “But I think it’s quite saddening that he can’t see your genuineness, Julian.”


…


“What?”


“He doesn’t seem to have any malicious intents. Actually, he looks to be… very attached to his ‘family’,” She continued with a strangely familiar tone. “It’s just like… you. I think.”


She thinks?


He almost snorted at the unpleasant similarity. Truly a silly thing to imagine that he could be compared to the brat.


…


Or was she actually alluding to Julian? The little caged boy that couldn’t even remember his own true wish?


What a funny thought! To think back to how simple and inconsequential it had all been to take over the frail mind of that youth.


It had taken a mistake from Pandora, a mistake born from trying to kill herself in front of a boy that loved her so much that he promised her to find a way to kill her.


And for what? A smile.


He wanted to see her smile away from the thoughts of suicide. To make her believe that there was a life beyond the atrocities that had gone through in history, with the girl as the epicenter of it all.


Pandora had lived six millennia worth of suffering. There was nothing that people could do about it.


Death was the only viable option in her mind.


She was gone, her chances of a normal life forfeited all because of her original creators’ desire for the perfect tool to stabilize the world when the crisis was first noticed.


And back then they had failed to unleash the purpose, to end the reason for Pandora to be alive.


The pity, the agony… the morbid and endearing amusement created by the resulting mess.


Darius relished in that kind of sights. The demise of a powerful entity for a greater mission?


It just made the world logical and sensible of the rational system. As it should be.


“Yet he still decided against helping others,” ‘Julian’ ultimately rebuked with a sigh. “He was selfish, just like the man that is Shirou Emiya.”


Beatrice didn’t hesitate in nod in agreement. She had nothing on her face that would’ve resembled to any dissonance with his thought.


His opinion was her truth. There was no other ways around it as it was meant to cement her loyalty to him.


Darius needed her strength, like Angelica’s. He needed them to fight for him up until their existence wouldn’t matter any longer.


Just a little longer, enough for him to finally conclude this annoying travesty of ‘saving the world’ for the sake of everyone.


There was no reason to be utterly selfless… but there was no reason to limit his own selfishness in salvaging this opportunity.


Julian’s body was excellent, but it was going to grow spent in a matter of a couple of years because of Darius’ continuous usage of high-grade spells.


He was wilting him away on a daily basis… and that’s how he planned to make use of Shinji.


The boy had an impressive potential thanks to the tool bestowed to him by Zelretch, as the man knew that the Mystic Code was capable of incredible deeds and feats.


He needed to get a hand on it, to shape it to his will and… conquer the world and beyond with it.


It would be perfect, and it would be correct for him to strive and achieve the ultimate goal of full domination of existence itself.


He almost cackled, but then he remembered that he was still in the form of his ‘heir’, and in front of Beatrice.


Thus he merely smirked, turning his attention at the big window that offered sight over this Fuyuki.


It looked so peaceful, so unaware of the might that was waiting to be unleashed upon its tranquility.


But even this dimension was going to learn more about him. About the Ainsworths.


About their undeniable ambitions and power.


The clock was ticking, and the world was moving at its regular pace and time. One can only wonder how things will develop from this curious situation.


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AN


I thought after a while since I had posted last chapter I would’ve ignored one of the reviews in FFN that actually made me angry but… I re-read it just now and my blood is boiling. I will not make a rant, I will not make a scene because this AN is meant to all versions of this story. I will just ignore it.


Lastly, I did start a new story set in… Worm. It took me a while to get a grasp over the plot, the characters, the various plotpoints and… god, this will be a fun ride. Check Metempsychosis!