Waking up is fun...?

So after a night of dealing with the ever lovable hat. I finally got some sleep. I just needed to be electrocuted into a coma for it to happen. The rest was peaceful in its own way. With me waking up wrapped up in fur blankets and slightly freaking out as both of my lives were far more comfortable and modern, I was justified in my "slight" panic. At least in my mind I was. 

The main response I unfortunately did was throwing off the covers. Was promptly rewarded with my ignorance of such an action. Not freezing temperatures or anything just cold enough where you regret things. Now while starting to feel the cold I sprang to my feet, not quite recognizing where I was for a moment. Then they all came back to me. I was in the Elder Scrolls universe. Also cold, or chilled to be more exact. Picking up the blankets and wrapping them around myself I moved to the door. Opening and moving down a small stair case I was greeted by no one. Another empty room, no sign of Shirou here. Crossing the room lead to a door and the final staircase. Going out into the shop floor I noticed it was actually cleaned. "Was he up all night?" I asked aloud. 

I did eventually find him after opening the back door. A subtle dawn forming in the sky. The reddish orange taking over the deep purple and blue of the nebulas sky. The Moons also were gone from sight by this point. In the backyard I found him going over katas. using two sticks he found and seemed to shape into rods, he moved as if dancing. Pauses when he completed a movement. Then Flowing deliberately into the next pose. It really was surreal to see. Then the movements kept flowing. He no longer paused but struck. His eyes were closed at this point but it didn't matter. Then I felt a slight draw on my Magicka. It was tiny so no need to bother with it. It seemed almost instinctual for him to reach out for it. The dance had a new element added to it. Kyne joined his dance.

The morning flowers began to bloom and flow. The dew of the grass, freshly trimmed seemed to sparkle in the dawn. The breeze flowed around Shirou as he moved. In a forceful moment he struck forward slashing in a crossed x pattern in front of him. All movement ceased. I held my breath unconsciously. As I heard his sigh it was like the world moved forward again. "That was awesome..." I whispered. Releasing my breath I held.

"Good morning Azarius. Surprised that you woke up so soon." "Yeah, I blame the hat." He turned to look at me at that. I could guess he wanted a bit of an explanation. "So, Azarius. We need to really sit down and finally talk about... everything."

"yeah, that's fair." 

With us back inside and now sitting in projected chairs by the counter of the shop it was time. "So how do we go about this because I'm sure you knew me before we did that whole handshake thing." "Yeah... so first a theory. You have Zelretch, The Kaleidoscope. His magic is the operation and manipulation of parallel timelines and worlds. A common wish among a lot of youth and predictably adults as well thought of the idea of parallel worlds exciting as well as potentially possible as well. Because these two ideas in two mostly separate worlds are common we can think there maybe a link. One of my favorite theories is all stories are real in some universe but they "Leek" the story of one such timeline and someone's head kinda just picks it up." he interjected here, "So in one such story you saw my world?" "Actually there were several timelines of that universe going around in my world. An anime, a book or 4, movies, not to mention what other people write about that universe besides the "creator" of that universe." 

"What? that's literally insane?!" "Yup, but it's keeping me sane currently as we are inside a timeline of probably one of the most dangerous universes. Fun fact, The Elderscrolls, a fun group of artifacts, are literal pieces of creation and the "Game" was played through the lens of such an artifact. Since it details all of a prophesy of an event. So most likely we passed that stage, into the main universe. Don't know what timeline it is though but would love to find out if its the one a certain fan-fic happened." 

"So many questions." "Ask away big brother, I'm coping by info dumping as much as I can right now." he paused at that then seemed to realize something, "Yeah, sorry about that. We're both in this situation now I guess. So, I guess the first question, what happened to you." ahh, right for the jugular.

"So... I died, in my original world. Similar to your Earth but no supernatural forces were present. Even if they were, it wasn't obvious at all. When I died, I was kind of wandering a void. That's where the Hat found me. The Hat was a partner and artifact to someone who could be considered an Eldritch God. The Lord of Mysteries. I don't Know what truly happened to him but as I found out last night, The hat." I pulled Arrodes out, "The Hat's name is Arrodes. My world also told a story about them as well. Arrodes, before he was the hat, was a mirror who served the Lord of Mysteries, The ruler above The Spirit World."

Pausing slightly to catch my breath, I continued, "I was named his Successor, but I didn't have a body. Arrodes having read my memories decided to bring me to your universe. Specifically to find you or a version of you. What we ended up finding is a pruned timeline. One that was tossed by Alaya. Where WE weren't saved. One of the Zelretch showed up at that point since our meddling brought him. When he let us in, the Shirou who was there was almost like an ember. With the hat, we had a body and a soul to help it burn. Without you though it wouldn't have been "even" and it would have been mostly Azarius in here instead of the both. Now, we're... Me."

"Yeah, that's... rough. So you really are a younger me now just with, extra?" "Yeah, the merge was done with what equates to wish magic so it was more seamless. Over time there won't be much of a barrier between the before and now that makes up me." he spoke again saying, "And you knew of me because the stories?" "Accurate enough, its more like I saw what might have been you. Infinite timelines after all."

Yeah, we needed this. Thank you Zelretch for proving part of my Theory by existing. "So, you now own my connection to Alaya?" ahh a fun one to talk about, "Not just that. Arrodes with the full power of what equates to a primordial god stole the contract you made in the first place. So while I now am connected to you..." "Your connected to all that makes up the me from that contract. but the causality?" ahh smart people, forgot about him being a Magus sometimes. "So the origin of that wish power, the name of the "sequence" or step by step process of becoming a god in that universe was a Miracle invoker. Fun fact a Miracle is just a FACT upon reality. And with a bit of what equates to rewriting history, fooling it, and then giving the finger to Alaya in the process. That is a Miracle."

"Still don't quite get it." "Oh!" he paused to give me a look at that. "I know the perfect example. So that fanfic I talked about earlier, the main character was skeptical as well. A sprit inside of him, I believe was the one to explain it better. Do you know the story of Mosses crossing the red sea?" "yeah, most should be." he answered with a bit of a scoff. "The miracle of that event wasn't that the Red Sea parted. Any decent mage or warrior could have potentially have done that. The Miracle was they left untouched from The heartland of Egypt." he raised a finger paused as he thought it over. It was interesting how he scrunched his face in thought. "Yeah... I get it now..." 

After coming to terms with just what a feat the hat pulled off, "So, where does that lead us now?" "That my dear older brother, is an interesting question. because at this moment, we have an opportunity. After gaining strength I will be able to move about the multiverse eventually. Which means multiple opportunities to gain strength and have fun. That doesn't just mean me. You, are an incredible warrior. Never doubt that. Mage craft wasn't the easiest for you but, with a few what can be considered tricks and a reality marble that scanned and stored weapons throughout history, you are powerful. But, your habit of not seeing around yourself sucks. You have the opportunity to be more that what you were. Especially in this universe."

After staring at me for a moment he sighed, "At the end of the day I'm just a faker. Gilgamesh was right about that." Standing up from my chair, smacking my hands on the counter, and then pointing at him I said, "Then at the end of the day we just need to fix that!" Relaxing a bit, my voice calmer I said, "Your magic, all of those techniques, the history of how they were made and how they were wielded. When was the last time you truly applied them instead of how they were BUT, in your own way. When was the last time, you created something using all those tricks of your spell, for Emiya, Shirou." 

"...My Bow."

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AN:// Thank you everyone for reading, if you like it leave some comments. We are on the Journey to eventually fix Shirou! This story will be on the slower side. This is my fair warning. Working up to about 30 or so chapters then we will be on a more set schedule for releases. Since i also have a job and all. FUN!!! Leave notes where you think i can improve the writing since I'm mostly just emulating a few other writers on the app. For the Story referenced in the chapter it is Nascent Kaleidoscope. Its great, hilarious in its delivery and a big inspiration to how I'm going about writing this. Especially the rules of traveling and how the worlds interact beyond just existing, since spacetime is a thing after all. As planned worlds go I do have JJK as one (cursed marauder's pathway?) as well as a maybe for Danmachi. A different perspective since he is a god by the skin of his teeth at the moment. Thank you all, May you find a good read!!

Ps: if the author of Kaleidoscope reads this, would love to do an omake where he just accidently opens a [DOOR] and a Spiderman moment pops up because of it.