53A/N: Yup, it's another story, but in case you didn't know, I entered another writing contest hosted by Alex-Kellar once again. This time I didn't enter last minute! LOL!
For this story, I'll be using a different Shirou, and to be honest with you, it made more sense to use this particular version of Shirou over others in regard to the themes I was given in the contest. Because I am participating in this contest, this story will take priority over the others until the contest ends. More on that later, but for now, on with the chapter!
Chapter 1: His Final Stand and Her Wish
His world was dying, and the boy knew it. Yet what lay between saving himself and millions more was a single life the boy cherished—his sister, and she had a gift. A powerful gift that others wanted, whether it was for saving the world of humanity—or taking it for self-preservation. The boy wanted to use the gift, not for himself and not to preserve humanity, but for the happiness of his little sister.
Shirou Emiya wished for his sister Miyu happiness in another world.
The redhead was in a large cavern, and a large stone altar stood in the center. The small figure of a black-haired little girl lay on top, the boy's little sister, Miyu. Shirou was kneeling, leaning against the altar as seven cards floated above him and his sister. Grasping the girl's hand, the male magus spoke.
"I wish upon the Holy Grail."
"Big Brother…?"
"I pray you find a world where you won't have to suffer any longer. I pray that you meet kind people. I pray you find friends you can laugh with. I pray you find a warm, small— share of happiness."
The sad smile Shirou gave wasn't lost on Miyu, and she had an idea why.
He wasn't going with her.
He was staying here to give her time to escape.
He was saying goodbye.
"No… Big Brother…" tears were forming in the young girl's eyes, "You can't!" Miyu felt herself floating away from the altar, and her brother's caring grip on her hand continued to slip away as she rose higher. Her head felt light and her eyes felt heavy, but the girl barely fought off the nagging of falling unconscious.
Miyu's eyes were brimming with tears when she could no longer feel the warmth of her brother's hand. Blinking them away, the girl saw her brother walk away toward a blond girl in gold armor.
"Sorry, but my little sister is working her hardest right now," Shirou said with pride as he spoke to the newcomer. "Could you wait a little bit longer?"
"I cannot," Angelica Ainsworth began, her voice neutral but containing hints of anger. "Your wish will not be granted." The blond's brows furrowed as the pressure around her seemed to increase.
"A faker who slipped into the Holy Grail War by accident," several motes of golden light circled Angelica, "shall not seize the miracle!"
Several Noble Phantasms shot out of the golden lights at Shirou. While the weapons barely grazed him, the force behind them blasted the magus off his feet a few meters away.
"Big Brother!"
"So that's the true Archer card— Gilgamesh, huh?" Shirou struggled to stand.
"For a mere flesh and blood human to stand against the King of Heroes with no card, it's the epitome of foolishness," Angelica continued in her cold tone. "Whether it is western or eastern, ancient or modern, all of humanity's treasures are this Heroic Spirit's power."
"I see. So that's why Sakura called it the 'Strongest Card,'" Shirou spoke as he found the strength to stand, though hunched over as his hair cast a shadow over his eyes. "Saving humanity, huh? That's a bigger responsibility than words can express. It must be an enormous burden you guys carry. But you know what?" The redhead finally stood tall, his golden eyes revealing resolve. "I've got someone I'm responsible for too."
"Be it personal feelings or sentimentality," Angelica began as familiar golden lights appeared and stored the Noble Phantasms previously fired back into the Gate of Babylon, "both are completely worthless in this world." The same ethereal lights appeared around Angelica as she fired the same volley of projectiles at Shirou.
Seeing the danger, Shirou reacted immediately. "Trace… On!"
The married blades of black and white, Kanshou and Bakuya, formed in the male magus' hands as he quickly deflected the volley of Noble Phantasms aimed at him.
"Trace? It can't be… That fighting style!" While her voice remained stoic, hints of shock were present in Angelica's voice.
"Possessed by the embodiment of a heroic ideal, I saw an alternate future path." Shirou began to trace several blades subconsciously as Kanshou and Bakuya shattered.
"Having faced many battles, that version of me perfected both his skills and magic circuits. I've even inherited his Origin," more blades appeared around the redhead as a small part of his hair turned white.
"No, it might be better to say it like this," Kanshou and Bakuya reformed in Shirou's hands as a small part of his face tanned. "Every time this body fought, it was being invaded by the Heroic Spirit, Emiya!"
Several more blades formed around the redhead as they floated around him. "What was that about a mere flesh and blood human? King of Heroes, you're not facing a mere human. What you're facing is a true imitation of a Heroic Spirit!"
"You lowly faker!" the blonde woman angrily summoned and shot more weapons at Shirou, but the latter deflected them with copies of his own.
The sound of metal clashing against metal reverberated throughout the large cavern. While the two combatants continued to fight, the lone spectator watched as she rose higher and higher. Miyu saw her brother getting hurt, and despite all odds against him, Shirou continued to fight to give enough time for the girl to escape.
But Miyu didn't want to see her brother hurt. The girl didn't want him to sacrifice his life for hers. Tears started forming in her eyes as she watched her brother helplessly until a blinding light surrounded Shirou Emiya and Angelica Ainsworth.
Shirou was fighting a losing battle, but he didn't care. He had to give Miyu enough time so she could escape, wherever that may be. The redhead was struggling to get up. The last volley of weapons had bruised him badly. He could barely dodge most of them and was knocked down once more.
"You should be dead, yet the speed and strength of your projection are increasing," Angelica mused before continuing. "I don't know what trick you're using, but it's useless. The only thing that awaits you is certain ruin."
"I know," Shirou struggled to stand. "The reason I could survive those battles, what you labeled a 'useless trick,' is my connection with her!" The redhead glared at the blonde as he stood on his feet.
"I only lasted so long because of Miyu's support. I'm such a pathetic big brother, aren't I? But that's why I'm standing here and now, to use up what's left of my life!" The air between Shirou and Angelica seemed to increase as the former tore off the remains of his long coat and raised his left arm in defiance.
"I am the bone of my sword," the redhead began his mantra.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood." The blonde Ainsworth summoned another round of Noble Phantasms to stop Shirou.
"I have created over a thousand blades." The magus quickly projected a familiar five-petaled shield to protect himself from the plethora of Noble Phantasms trying to kill him.
"Unaware of beginning." Two petals chipped away.
"Nor aware of the end." Another petal shattered.
"Withstood pain with inconsistent weapons, my hands will never hold anything." One more layer of the shield shattered as the last petal was at its absolute limit.
"Yet my flame never ends." Several golden chains surrounded Shirou as they appeared out of several motes of light. Angelica tried to slash her restrained opponent with a sword she summoned using the Gate of Babylon.
"My whole body was still— Unlimited Blade Works." A bright light surrounded both Shirou and Angelica; the latter saw darkness as she saw the redhead disappear. The next thing the blonde knew, the surrounding temperature dropped, and she appeared to be no longer in the cavern but somewhere covered in snow.
"This place, reality and fantasy, inside and outside, is temporarily overwriting the world with one from my own mind. The pinnacle of magecraft, the Reality Marble." Shirou spoke aloud and was seen a few yards away, pulling a sword out of the ground as the sky cleared with the moon. Its light revealed the terrain as an endless field of blades protruding from the snowy ground. "Despite this world having an endless amount of swords, they look more like graves to me." The redhead's expression turned grim as he prepared for what was coming. "Sorry, but please keep me company until my body gives out."
Clashes of blades against blades continued as Shirou's reality marble kept countering all of the blonde's weapons stored within the Gate of Babylon. The sheer speed Shirou kept on summoning them from the surrounding field even overwhelmed Angelica's time to call the treasures themselves. The Ainsworth girl seemed to have enough of this faker's stand.
"Your very existence is flawed. To the last legend we have written and put into motion for humanity, you may prove to be a hindrance to our goals," Angelica stated evenly. A hint of frustration could be heard behind her words. "Your irksome ability, your strange use of magecraft, and your abhorrent self-destructive conviction…" The blonde summoned one final sword. "They will all be torn to pieces along with your world!" As Angelica held the sword over her head, segments of the blade began to rotate and emit a red glow as energy gathered around it.
Shirou could only stare at the weapon in horror, underlined with fear. He couldn't fully grasp the workings of the sword, nor could he trace a copy of it. The redhead could only lower his head in resignation. The magus knew he couldn't win.
"Yeah, there's no sword in this world that could equal yours."
But he had to make sure Miyu escaped, no matter the cost.
"Which is why, as futile it may be…"
The landscape behind Shirou began to darken, though not from the moon in the sky being eclipsed.
"I'll have to pay you back…"
It was the countless swords he called forth.
"With all the swords I have in stock!" A storm made of blades fired at his opponent. Shirou only needed to delay the Ainsworth girl for a little longer.
"Return to the beginning— ENUMA ELISH!" Swinging her sword down, Angelica released a torrent vortex of crimson and the void itself, meeting the plethora of blades head-on. Any blade it met was consumed or destroyed. Shirou yelled in defiance as he continued to send his arsenal. "It's futile! Even if you pile all of your blades together, they're no match for the greatest sword!"
Shirou remained firm and defiant as he continued sending everything at Angelica despite knowing that the blonde was correct. No matter the composition. No matter the origins. No matter the abilities of each Noble Phantasm he had, they were no match for the Star of Creation that Split the Heaven and the Earth.
Outside the spectacle, Miyu felt the connection with her brother fading as she unconsciously supplied the magical energy for Shirou to keep his reality marble active. He was going to die! In desperation, Miyu could only think of a simple thought.
"Please, save him. I wish for my brother to be saved! Please take him away from here!"
Just as she thought of her wish, Miyu Emiya disappeared.
At the same time, Shirou felt something was cut off from him. It took only a fraction of a second, but he gave a sad but accepting smile. "Yeah, you got that right." Shirou's arsenal started to wane as the moon was now fully shrouded in darkness. The impending vortex began to gain speed. "But there are times when just one thing can outweigh everything else." Shirou tiredly fell to his knees right as Ea's attack blew him away, destroying the remains of his reality marble. "Ah, this is bad. I forgot about our promise to see the ocean together…" Shirou thought with regret. Unbeknownst to him, his body slowly dissolved into blue motes of light. "I may have failed to be a hero who could save others," the redhead's eyes felt heavy, "but I won… Kiritsugu." Shirou felt elated before falling unconscious. His body fully dissolved into blue motes before vanishing into the air.
Shirou felt pain and the cold ground beneath him. Opening his eyes, he looked around. He was no longer in the cavern. He was outside but couldn't make out where. It wasn't until the magus paid attention to the sky above that he noticed a strange sight. There were two moons in the sky, one was large and was a bright blue, and the other was smaller but glowed pink.
"Is this… another world?" Shirou thought as the fatigue and injuries from the previous battle made his eyes feel heavy again. Just before falling unconscious, the redhead could've sworn he saw a silhouette of someone approaching him.
The next time Shirou regained consciousness, he wasn't lying on the cold hard ground, but he felt a soft bed beneath him. Opening his eyes, the magus did find himself tucked in a bed. To his left, he saw a dresser and an open window; to his right, he saw a nightstand with a candle bright enough to illuminate the room. On the opposite wall, he saw a wooden door on the far right.
Removing the blanket covering him, Shirou sat up and realized his shirt was off and his torso was wrapped in bandages. Touching his cheek, he also noticed a bandage covering a cut on his face. Contemplating who brought him here, Shirou heard the door open as a girl walked in carrying a tray with a pitcher and a cup.
She appeared to be around Shirou's age, as she wore a long yellow-green maid dress with a white waist apron over the front, and her long black hair was in a white bandana and red ribbon just below. The one noticeable feature of her dress Shirou noted was the low neckline which showed a bit of her impressive… assets and a silver necklace.
"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" the girl asked.
"A little sore…" Shirou said hoarsely. Hearing the boy speak, the girl quickly placed the tray on the nightstand, filled the cup with water from the pitcher, and gave it to the redhead. Graciously accepting the drink, Shirou took a few sips as the refreshing taste of water parched his throat. "Thank you, uh…"
"Oh, I'm Jessica, and you are?"
"Shirou."
"Shirou, huh?" the girl, Jessica, seemed to be in deep thought as she looked at the redhead. "Another one with a strange name."
"I'm sorry?"
"It's nothing," the girl dismissed. She was about to ask something when someone else walked into the room.
"Jessica dear, is our guest alright?"
Shirou turned to the newcomer and had to do a double take. The newcomer was a male adult with black hair, a matching mustache, and a goatee, but what the man wore made the magus pause. While the man was well-built, he wore white boots, tight-fitting booty shorts, a purple sleeveless a-shirt that reached his abs, and a white choker around his neck. Shirou could only give a blank stare seeing the man in that outfit, though Jessica's response surprised him.
"Yes, he is, father," the girl then introduced the two males. "Father, this is Shirou."
"Ah, it is very nice to meet you, Shirou," the man proceeded to put a hand on his hip, turn to the side dramatically, and use his other hand to point at himself. "My name is Scarron, and I am the father of my lovely Jessica."
"I'm finding that hard to believe. Even though both said, they are father and daughter," Shirou mused. "Erm, it's nice to meet you, but where exactly am I?"
The man, Scarron, proceeded to spin in place. "Well, you are currently in a room," the man stopped and placed one hand on his chest, the other arm jutting outwards as he seemed to bow. "Of none other than my Charming Fairy Inn," Scarron went into another dramatic pose as he straightened his goatee in thought. "Now then, Shirou, how did a cute boy like you end up like that?"
Shirou tensed in nervousness. He couldn't say where he was from. Chances of these two believing him were extremely slim. The redhead felt he should tell enough to diminish their curiosity.
"I was protecting my sister from some bad people."
"Eh, but I didn't see anyone else with you," Jessica stated.
Shirou looked down somberly, "We were separated. I held the people off until my sister could escape." Technically not a lie, but not the whole truth either. "I've been trying to look for her ever since." The redhead turned to the girl, "You brought me here?"
"Well, I couldn't leave you out in the cold."
Shirou conceded, "Thank you for your hospitality, but I really should be going." The redhead had barely touched the floor when Jessica was right in front of him and crossed her arms.
"Absolutely not. You haven't recovered from whatever these people did to you!"
"But I-"
The girl pressed further. "At least rest until morning. Do you even know where your sister could be?"
Shirou looked down at the wooden floor with a pensive look. He didn't know where Miyu was. The boy was sure he would not be teleported away; he used his reality marble to hold off the blonde Ainsworth. The only logical conclusion the magus could think of, "Miyu made a wish to the Holy Grail." The thought alone made the redhead think of the worst-case scenario.
Shirou may not have ended up in the same world as his sister. While he didn't voice it aloud, Jessica took his pensive look differently.
"I thought so. If your sister is smart, she'll be able to handle herself for one night." The girl's face softened, "I can help you look for her in the morning, but please rest first. Wouldn't your sister be worried if she sees you like that?"
Those words definitely weighed heavy on the redhead. While the chances of Miyu being in this world was slim, she wouldn't want him to exhaust himself looking everywhere for her. Taking a deep breath, Shirou looked up at the girl in green, "Alright, you win."
Hearing the sincerity of the redhead's words, Jessica could only sigh in relief. Scarron made another pose, "My heart is crying about your story Shirou. I myself will also help in this search for your dear sister!" The strange man proceeded to leave, "Please rest up, Shirou. If I know my lovely daughter, she will ensure you will."
The redhead involuntary shuddered. While Shirou knew that he himself didn't swing that way, Scarron's strange attitude was something to get used to if the man was going to call him a "cute boy" again. As for the girl in question, Jessica also walked towards the doorway before stopping.
"If you try to get away, I will go after you myself and drag you back here if I have to. Got it?"
Shirou could only nod as the girl closed the door behind her. Alone once again, Shirou looked towards the window and caught a glimpse of the two moons in the sky. While the magus was thinking of running away, he had a feeling it would be all for naught. Laying back down onto the soft bed, Shirou had one thought as sleep claimed him, "Miyu, wherever you are, I hope my wish came true."
Word Count: 3,255
A/N: Aaaaaannnd, that's a wrap for this chapter folks! Now I think I can answer the most obvious question, "Why Miyuverse Shirou?" Like I said at the start of this chapter, it made more sense with what I plan to do later on for this story in particular. Since you know of the crossover I'm using, and if you are from Alex-Kellar's writing contest, you can guess which heroine I chose.
Another question I can think of is, "What will happen to IBW?" I'm not gonna lie. Since the last chapter I posted for that story, I felt completely burned out. That doesn't mean I won't stop writing it, heck I have about 2 pages of it written out so far. However, there are times when I need to catch a break and even focus on other priorities IRL. As I said before, since I entered another writing contest, IBW will take a back seat while I work on this story until the contest ends.
Finally, I have one last thing to say. A few of my friends and a few authors I've been following have been using "Pa tre on" in order to support themselves. For an unpredictable schedule like mine, I don't think I can do something like that, plus I would feel terrible taking something every month. Which is why I decided to open up a "Ko (dash) fi". Yes, you read that right. If you enjoy my stories and want to support me through other means, I set one up and defaulted to one-time coffees. Now you can set it up to be monthly if you want to (it was a reason why I went with that site to begin with, more freedom to you all). I'll leave a link in my bio, but you will have to alter it since FF doesn't like links.
Now, if you enjoyed my story, don't be afraid to leave a favorite and a follow, and if you want to keep up to date on my stories, don't be afraid to follow me as well. Any flames/harassment will be ignored, but constructive criticism is appreciated. I will see you all in the next one! Stay safe and stay cool!
Update 10-8-2022: Noticed that the Horizontal Lines within the chapter didn't properly save when I added my Author Notes. And thanks to Beserkians fury and FabledLife for pointing out the small dialogue error with Scarron. I was able to fix it and it should be updated.