Chapter 02: Desperate Measures Require Desperate Times

Chaldea's command room was unusually quiet, the atmosphere felt so heavy it could even be cut with a knife.

Gudao's gaze remained serious, unlike his sister he didn't seem to be too concerned about what Da Vinci was informing them, of course that would be if you couldn't see at a glance the tremor running through his entire body.

- A new... Singularity? - The Servant said as she looked at the screen, her words laden with insecurity as she watched the constant changes in progress.

Singularity F.

An old ghost that had come back to bite at their necks, crawling over them to lead them back into the darkness. Both Masters could only grit their teeth as they tried to avoid any memory of the fiasco that was the First Order.

The doors opened and the Servants entered, not many of them knew or understood the reason for the panic present in both the Masters and the staff of Chaldea.

But to them it was as clear as day.

Because that singularity was the beginning of it all.

Because that event carried with it a large number of dead, including most of the staff, the Master candidates and the director Olga Marie.

It had undoubtedly marked all the survivors, whether they wanted it or not, the memory would always be there.

Haunting them silently, just like a hungry beast to its frightened prey.

- Any idea what's going on? - Archer EMIYA asked as he looked seriously at the changing readings, in truth, what he saw did not bode well.

Knowing how bad his luck was, it definitely did.

- I-It's spreading. It started in Fuyuki and now it's covering most of Japan! - Da Vinci shouted in panic - This has never happened before, it's like it's turning into a.... -

- Lostbelt - Mash muttered as his expression worsened, the singularities never grew, it was true that they could cover a country or many of them and even most of a continent. But they never expanded, which by discarding options left only a Lostbelt.

EMIYA sighed as his expression grew stern, it was because of things like this that he didn't enjoy gambling.

He still remembered how a certain loli that a version of him had had as Master beat him in a bet and made him wear a strange Rocker exhibitionist outfit.

- We must deal with this immediately," said Gudao ignoring his Servant's shudder.

EMIYA, Caster Cú, Medusa and Mash left immediately to prepare the necessary supplies and equipment.

This was no time for games, they had to get ready and leave the sooner Chaldea could act the better. Who knew what kind of things could be happening there, it was best to go immediately and stop whatever was causing all this.

...

Transitions were never easy...

Following the planned path, Shirou hid his weapons in his body, Tohsaka had arrived and it was time to receive her.

He didn't hesitate to repeat his past actions, sacrificing a command seal so early in the war was stupid, even he could say that for sure.

But it wasn't really important considering that it would help him win Archer's Master as an ally.

He knew perfectly well, alone he would never get very far, Saber didn't trust him and he wasn't very confident with her either. Trust could not be forced, he could only wait for things to happen right.

So he needed someone else, and Tohsaka Rin was undoubtedly the perfect choice.

Adapting to the different changes was really hard, as a child one dreamed of being an adult and as an adult one dreamed of going back to being a child.

A vicious circle in every sense of the word.

The conversations went as expected, which took him back to the beginning of this "adventure".

Swallowing saliva as he remembered everything, the time that had passed had not been long.

At most, only a couple of hours, but he couldn't deny that he felt a little fear at the thought of meeting the gray giant once again.

Decisions were never easy to make, nothing could change that simple fact.

Time flew by, the talk with the priest somehow was even creepier than the first time, but it didn't matter much either.

Soon the scenario repeated itself, with everything happening exactly the same as before Emiya Shirou once again saw the options over her field of vision.

She had to choose quickly, after all she didn't want to end up as minced meat again.

The feeling was not something pleasant, of that there was no doubt.

[𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙎𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙧]

[𝙍𝙪𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙞𝙣].

The fear of failure provoked doubts.

The red-haired man hesitated for a few seconds, but quickly selected [Help Saber], he really felt sorry for Rin. But he couldn't abandon Saber and run away, that wouldn't be right.

The doubts insecurity.

Shirou knew it was a poor excuse, the best option had been obvious to anyone, run away with Rin and leave Saber behind. But the redhead wasn't willing to do that, he understood.

If he ran away now, wouldn't he always be doing the same thing? He was no fool, he knew he feared Berserker, but it was better to face his fear head on.

That there was someone to help was just an extra bonus he would happily accept.

...

Sitting in a chair, Zelretch quietly sipped a cup of tea.

All in all, drinking tea while watching a fight was a most pleasant and satisfying experience.

His gaze shifted to the sky, rather surprised.

- Chaldea - It was surprising to see a functioning version of that organization destined to fail.

How did he know that such a thing was destined to fail? It was quite simple really.

The Masters.

Not all realities had the Fujimaru brothers, who while not the best Masters were quite dedicated to their work.

Many times those Masters and their various versions would corrupt themselves in the most stupid and childish ways, falling and taking humanity down with them.

In fact, I could remember one where a Master was killed by EMIYA, after the guy tried to turn all the Servants and female staff of Chaldea into sex addicts through Mind Break and command seals.

It was pathetic, they were supposed to save their realities, protect humanity? And instead they decided to simply leave everything to their own devices while they focused on satisfying their carnal desires, the worst part was that such timelines were becoming more and more common.

Zelretch couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

Because no matter what dimension or parallel world he looked into, only one was always a hero or a good person.

Emiya Shirou had been a perfect source of entertainment for him for a long time.

The boy was broken, he wanted to help others going to extremes from self enslavement to even destroying his body and soul.

All to fulfill that impossible dream, that ideal taken from the dying Emiya Kiritsugu.

A fool without a doubt.

A smile formed on the face of the jeweled elder.

But a fool, with a good heart.

There were few Emiya who had not actively sought the path of a righteous hero.

There were even versions who had succeeded.... And others who had failed and fallen into utter disgrace.

It was the perfect example of the words "A great dream magnifies even the smallest man".

That was why Zelretch had decided to protect the Shirou of this world, he could feel it.

Even in the infinity of parallel worlds, this Emiya, was undoubtedly a one of a kind anomaly.

Aware of the loss, but with an unimpeachable desire for victory.

This was him returning the favor, for years the boy had been one of his favorite victims and even in some versions a trusted friend.

It was time to return that friendship, those thousands of favors in spades.

He knew that at this point Alaya should already be aware of this boy, and knowing his modus operandi.

She definitely wants him in her ranks.

It was no secret that Alaya loved to turn the various Emiyas into her Counter Guardians.

...

I hadn't thought about it at all.

- Emiya-kun! - Tohsaka's shout sounded distant as her vision began to darken.

- How boring," said the girl, who now knew her name was Illyasviel Von Einzbern.

Everything had happened so fast that she didn't even have time to process it.

She had joined Saber in the battle, completely ignoring the refusals of Tohsaka and her Servant, everything had happened in an instant.

His companion had tried to attack the white-haired girl while Berserker concentrated on him and Saber.

Undoubtedly it was a good plan, when the Servant was too powerful to defeat, the wisest thing to do was to kill his Master.

A strategy that, as cowardly and dishonorable as it was, was perfect.

He had not expected it.

Heracles, the best known hero of Greek mythology, getting to the point where even someone like him knew a thing or two about the Servant's myth and history.

Tohsaka's attack was completely useless in the face of his speed.

The battle resumed when Saber blocked the slash that nearly killed her companion.

She could see it with the naked eye, despite her efforts to hide it, the prolonged battle against Lancer, the wounds caused by the spear.

They were beginning to take their toll on him.

Shirou couldn't help but feel guilty, maybe the situation would have been different if he hadn't taken his time while letting her face the Lancer.

Just one mistake and it would cost him everything.

One that was not long in coming, the great stone axe-sword swung upon her Servant.

From her perspective everything was seen in slow motion, her body reacted immediately following her instinct as her mind didn't seem to be working the right way.

He could feel the warmth of blood on his hands as the cold assaulted him.

Somehow he thought he saw that the girl's bloodthirsty gaze had greatly diminished as a result of the surprise generated by his unforeseen and unexpected actions.

A smirk, which in Tohsaka's eyes looked terrifyingly similar to Archer's, formed on his face as Tohsaka and Saber approached him in a clear state of panic.

It seemed like he should give it one more try.

These were Shirou's thoughts as his consciousness faded.

It was time to go back to the beginning.

This time he would not fail.