Family Problems

The sword and shield having finished their work turned into light and flowed back in the direction of Jaune and his energy. A couple of the casters tried to trap the weapons but were unable to due to the now insubstantial weapons vanishing from the Throne an instant after merging with the energy.

The 'king' of the Throne looked in the direction the weapons went in dread.

Gil didn't know why he felt such anger and danger from the weapons but his instincts upon seeing them went wild like nothing he had ever felt. Following his instincts Gil never left his location and watched from a scrying mirror from his vault. From the initial appearance of the weapons to their abrupt departure Gil stood stock still not ready to accept this concept.

Two. Two weapons he didn't have within his vault. Both just as powerful as Ea. Something that shouldn't have any equal. Something that shouldn't be possible. Gil was deeply disturbed by this and made plans to meet with Alaya to understand what was going on.

Jack who had been staring into the sky watched as the golden black energy rushed back from the Throne. Jack, the singular manifestation, who was still present due to the last command seal looked at Jaune who now had black eyes staring at her. Jack felt immense danger from this boy but at the same time she just knew somehow that this danger was pointed away from her. In fact staring into the golden rimmed black eyes she felt immense safety from this person, the threat was only to those who would harm her and her many selves.

Feeling the connection with the Throne disintegrating. Jack focused on all her other selves were being pulled away by the object that had pulled on them so long ago before they were captured by Alaya for the Throne. Widening her eyes Jack realized what was happening.

Tears began to flow from her eyes as she crouched down and leaned forward. Placing her head on Jaune's shoulder she called out a word she had never expected to say since her death at the hands of the man who she had believed loved her so long ago. "Daddy."

Jaune who was still in his energized state wrapped his arms around the child who had lost so much and been forced into her own version of hell. Having pulled her from her unending torment he needed to comfort her however he could. And right now that was a familiar hug full of love.

Jaune even in this state could not stop the words from forming, "I am not your dad. Instead why don't you call me your brother? I have many sisters and I am sure they would love you just as much. I am do not think we are very different in age anyway. Relatively at least." Jaune said softly with a wry smile on his face.

Jack not wanting to remember the horrible man and the negative connotations to his name could only agree with a silent nod all the while crying. "Right. You are my brother."

Wrapping his hands around Jack, Jaune stood up and with a flex of his magic released the bounded field made by Jack. With her in his arms Jaune was met with the gazes of all his heroes along with Rieka who was in a seated position with blood still present on her body, though the wound had been healed. Tama looked on with wonder filled eyes.

The rest of the heroes had different expressions as well. After hearing Chiron's frantic telepathic message they all rushed to the last known location of Jaune. All of them had some form of shock and awe but had other expressions as well.

Beowulf had a smile that near spilt his face in two as he laughed madly at his charge's audacity to fight a god in her home turf. He could not stop his glee from showing through.

Medusa had a genuine smile on her face as she kept looking to the sky where the Throne of heroes was likely located.

Shirou had a an exasperated smile on his face with pride bursting from his expression. Even so some worry was present there as well as he looked over Jaune.

Grandpa Hassan looked on with an indifferent expression due to his helmet but from his blue blazing gaze issued satisfaction and pride that evident.

Nobunaga had a similar smile to Medusa but also had a sorrowful expression hidden behind the smile. She regretted failing in her mission that put Jaune in such a painful position but was glad Jaune had pulled through.

Scathach had an unreadable expression as she bored holes into Jaune even as he walked over to Rieka and attempted to pull Jack off and hand her off to her mommy while whispering comforting words all the while.

Artoria looked on from her position as she relaxed somewhat. Her lance stayed in her hand as she prepared for the inevitable counter from Alaya that was to come.

Vlad who had suggested to aid the Black Faction at the castle after the battle yesterday was not present. But his expression would have likely been similar to Nobunaga's if he had been there.

Jaune seated himself next to Rieka as Jack would not release her death grip on him. Smiling gently Jaune just held Jack while stoking her silver hair.

"What...What did you do?" Rieka asked tears present in her eyes from realizing she was alive and that Jack was still here.

"I released Jack's bound souls from the Throne." Jaune said quietly.

"The...the Throne?" Rieka asked.

"It is the location where all the heroes, villains, legends and mythic beings of humanities history go to after their deaths." Tama said not letting her eyes leave Jaune for a second.

"Oh. And you freed them?" Rieka asked as she stared at Jack who was still holding onto Jaune. "So that means she will be leaving me soon then?" Sadness laced her words as she said them.

"No! I will stay with mommy so long as mommy wants Jack." Jack said as she lifted her tear stained face for the first time.

Rieka who was holding on by a thread finally broke down and started to ball after saying, "Thank God! Forever and always Jack. Forever and always."

Jaune just smiled as Jack leaned over, finally releasing Jaune, and hugged her mommy. Rieka returned the hug with vigor.

Tama who was on Jaune's other side spoke to him, "Jaune you...your eyes are completely black. Are you ok?"

Jaune turned to Tama with a questioning gaze before she pulled out her mirror and showed Jaune what she meant.

Looking at himself Jaune felt trepidation. His visage was something out of his nightmares. Similar to the grimm in their intensity his pure black eyes with golden rims stared as if looking upon creation with some form of withheld wrath.

"What is this?" Jaune asked as he looked at Tama.

Tama hesitated before she began to speak. "Jaune we never did tell you about your actions that led you to be reborn did we?"

Jaune shook his head as he looked around at all the heroes. Tama looked to the other heroes before she started to speak, "Well to start off with you in your last actions acted as a true hero. You--"

There was a sonic boom and explosion not far away from the castle. A dust cloud rolled over Jaune, Tama, Jack and Rieka. The heroes prepared themselves for the fight that was to come.

Standing tall was a man who had a tired expression on his face. He was tanned with white hair. He was dressed in an open chest vest with intricate designs on it. Pants that were somewhat loose had similar designs. In his hands were two massive white and black guns with saber like bayonet attachments on the bottom.

Tilting his head cracks echoed in the silent area. Doing the same to the other side he shook himself and turned to stare at Jaune.

"You have angered my boss. And when they are angry I am the one who is on the receiving end of their anger. So I must say I am not happy at this moment. Let me teach you a lesson real quick and I will let you go. Resist and the lesson will be much more painful than it originally would be." The man said in a emotionless tone.

Jaune felt danger from this man. He didn't know who he had angered but it seemed they were fairly powerful to send someone so quickly and in such a direct way. Jaune glanced at his heroes to judged the danger of this man.

Shirou had a deathly pale face as he stared at the man before him. Scathach had a worried expression. Grandpa Hassan had grabbed his sword ready to attack at a moment's notice. Tama had a scared look on her face. Medusa looked on in tempered expression even as she held out her scythe ready for battle. Beowulf had the same battle crazed smile on his face.

Jaune stood up slowly. It looked like he was being hesitant with the new enemy. But Jaune was actually in immense pain as the energy use he had just went through was at limits he was not ready for. As such his movements were slow as he stood even as his body screamed internally.

Jaune was hesitant to act in any way as he didn't know the capabilities of this servant. Plus Jaune was on his last dregs of magic power. Even with the leyline underneath him Jaune would not be able to recover for many hours. Even if his body had seemed like it was healed when he woke up Jaune was not fully healed from the events from the previous night. So that body pain was just added to the spiritual strain Jaune had just underwent.

He didn't know if he could move fast enough to enter the barrier he had exited when he fought Jack and Rieka. Even being so close was no real escape as he didn't know how deadly this new servant was with his guns. For now Jaune wished to buy time for everyone to get into the barrier.

With a hand behind his back he swished it back forth in front of Jack and Rieka. Tama stood to Jaune's side as they looked at the man. "Who is it I angered? Only released some trapped souls from eternal torment. I do not see that a a problem." Jaune said in as confident a voice as he could.

"It doesn't matter what you believe to be right. You took from my boss and now they wish me to teach to a lesson as to keep your nose where it belongs. Now will you resist or will you willingly accept your punishment?" The man asked as he stared with dead eyes at Jaune.

"I don't think you have much of a leg to stand on. We outnumber you as well as out power you. There is no reason for him to accept punishment." Scathach said to the man.

"Don't speak nonsense. I know he is on his last legs. Should you push him too far he will go into a coma or even die from the overdraw of his power. Plus You wouldn't be able to move fast enough to stop me anyway." The man said as he lifted one of the guns and pointed it at Jack and Rieka who were right in front of the barrier. "You two need to receive punishment as well. It is for your actions this whole situation occurred. Prepare to die."

Jaune didn't even think as he summoned his weapons and activated the shield. The shield appeared battered and scarred. The extension flashed in place for a few nanoseconds before failing. But it was long enough to block the bullets that were aimed at Jack and Rieka. Jaune fell backward by the immense power from the bullet, knocking the two into the barrier. Jaune fell to his back completely drained of everything. He had nothing left to give and darkness was creeping in on the edges of his vision. Just outside of the edge of the barrier.

Tama hadn't stood still when Jaune reacted she had summoned her staff and called out magic. Spheres of fire, water, stone, metal, lighting, darkness, and light appeared and flashed in the man's direction.

Without any conscious thought the man shot the spheres of energy. Each exploded in a variety of blades from within the center of each of the spheres. Tama raised a shield of earth and metal in front of herself and Jaune but she was not fast enough to escape all of the bullets.

A bullet hit her hand.

A split second later Tama screamed as her hand was obliterated by sword ends that appeared out of her hand. Tama held her hand out even as she raised a blade of wind to sever the appendage as to not allow the attack further into her body. She quickly went to regenerate her arm.

Jaune was not so lucky.

Even as the heroes rushed to pull Jaune though the barrier they were stopped by the bullets they had to deflect from themselves and Jaune.

They watched in horror as Jaune was hit by three of the bullets.

One hit the armor and leather Jaune was wearing breaking the protections laid into them. The bullet lost its form and energy in this action. The second bullet hit Jaune in the center of his chest punching though his armor with little fan fair. The third followed suit and entered Jaune's body in the same location.

A few seconds passed. The man watched on with no emotion as his magic went to work inside of Jaune. The small Reality Marble attack started its work.

Blades began punching out of Jaune's body all over. All seemed to be in non life threatening locations but to receive the most pain. Jaune who was on his way to unconsciousness was awakened once again only to scream in pain as his body was shredded from inside out.

Avalon had already activated healing Jaune and preventing him from dying. The sheath sucked in the magic from the leyline but was on a very thin ice as Jaune's life was on a knife's edge. It was a constant battle to keep Jaune alive even as the enemy attack was being eaten away by Jaune's own Reality Marble.

Jaune Reality Marble was able to eat the second bullet but not the third and this was the result. Jaune was being shredded from within by swords.

Jaune's body laid in a pool of his own blood. His mind was already lost to the pain. He stared unseeing into the sky. The swords were being eaten away by Jaune's Reality Marble and Avalon's healing. The wounds glowed with a golden light even as the silver swords evaporated and formed in sequence.

With the Reality Marble Chiron watched as the outer edges of the world was filled with swords cutting everything apart, even space. The open wounds of the Reality Marble widened further. Chiron watched on in horror. There was no answer to this situation. Jaune was out of power. If one of the heroes used magic then they would harm Jaune and his Reality Marble further.

Chrion had no way to heal a person's soul. Tears of frustration ran down his cheeks as he watched what seemed to be the last moments of his charges' life all the while unable to do anything.

It was then when everything seemed to be lost that Shirou stepped forward unhurriedly. He spoke to Scathach as he passed her and the barrier. "Please tell Jaune I am sorry. It seems I won't be able to watch him grow up further. Tell him I am proud of who he has become. When we meet again in the future he should regale me with all the stories of his adventures then. Tell him I love him." Shirou looked to Scathach with a single tear falling from one of his eye.

Scathach knowing what Shirou was about to do could only nod her head.

Shirou sucked in a breath as he activated his soul shard within the Reality Marble.

All the while Shirou stood in front of Jaune with his swords appearing and vanishing as they shot towards the Alternate version of him.

Alter EMIYA was hard pressed to dodge the weapons of his other self. Each bullet he shot was destroyed by a sword of Shirou.

"Why would you follow her directives when you know this is your kin?" Shirou asked with a anger and sadness in his voice.

"I had no kin. Only you did. It changed you into something other than a Counter Guardian. Something that even Alaya couldn't control fully. That left the rest of us to pick up the slack that you left behind. I was picked more than the others. It seems I am better due to my emotions being gone. I still feel pain but it is one of the only emotions I still feel. So doing this has brought me something I thought lost. So how could I say no to this?" Alter asked in the same emotionless voice.

"You lost the ideals our father placed in us." Alter flinched when Shirou said this. "I am sorry for the pain I have left you to experience. But I will not stand by while you harm my only remaining family. Tell Alaya her chains will be broken in the future. She will not control Jaune as she wishes." Shirou said as he glowed with a golden light. A different version of Jaune's shield appeared. This one had much more runes present on it. The black sword also appeared. The two weapons flashed blinding Alter.

Shirou rushed forward and started his final battle as Jaune's brother.

Within the Reality Marble a soul shard floated into the center of the realm. The shard was in the form of a small Reality Marble. Within it were an untold number of weapons, buildings and technology of the world Shirou had come from. All of it was packed tight forming a shining marble that floated slowly towards the weapon stand. The pedestal was the very center of Jaune's soul. His anchor point was the dragon core which beat in time with his heart.

Shirou's marble floated until it rested on the pedestal and after a few seconds began to liquify. The Reality Marble that was tearing itself apart stopped all movement for a few seconds. After the pause the Reality Marble had a massive growth. The lands expanded to an unknown size. Mountain ranges, rainforests, oceans appeared while the skyscraper that Shirou had called home expanded to become five times larger.

The weapon stand began to grow into the sky. It finally reached a the same height as the skyscraper. Each of its open spaces were covered with weapons from all of Shirou's many travels across the world.

Once it had fit all the weapons the stand formed coverings over the weapons and sunk back into the ground returning to its original location.

The swords at the edges were broken down into magic as they were absorbed. The cracks within the Reality Marble began to heal and expand to untold extents.

The final action left by Shirou's soul shard was to leave his favorite weapons behind for Jaune to use in the future. Two short swords floated around the dragon core. One Black. One white.

Shirou had just pinned down Alter with his many weapons. With a final stroke he pushed the black sword into Alter's chest. Breathing hard Shirou began to speak, "I know Jaune will not die from this. I also know that once he learns of who you are he will do everything he can to get you released from Alaya's clutches. I only have one request for you."

"Speak." Alter said as he placed his gun against Shirou's chest. His mind was lost in thought at the words he had heard.

"Do not fight him. Instead consider him your family because that is how he will feel towards you. Even after everything that has happened here. Help him with all your strength. That is all I ask. As one Counter Guardian to another. One EMIYA to another." Shirou said with a wide smile on his face.

Alter froze as he heard this. Within his emotionless heart a flicker of something long thought lost was kindled. It was a tiny spark. But within the vast void that was his emotions it might as well have been a blazing bonfire. Emotion appeared on his face for the first time. "I will do so." a tight nearly pleading voice sounded out calling for aid.

Shirou smiled even as he faded into nothingness.

The other heroes watched on with somber and tearful expressions. One by one they turned immaterial to help Jaune save as much power as possible. Tams was the only one left materialized as she dragged her body over to Jaune's comatose body.

Artoria was especially heart broken as the time they had together with everyone had been the most enjoyable since her time as King of the Round Table. Artoria had learned from Shirou that she had been summoned by him in the Fifth Holy Grail War. They had become close friends in the last decade. Now she was watching another friend fall before her without being able to do anything, as she could not act lest Alaya send even more Counter Guardians likely ending in Jaune's certain death. Leading to her to be heartbroken all over again.

Before she slipped into depression she remembered how Shirou had doted on Jaune at any opportunity in the last five years.

She had to stay strong for Jaune she couldn't let her emotions go until they were back in his world. So it was Artoria replaced her emotionless king mask she had been in for so long in her previous life.

The state she had just been able to break in the last decade.

Not far away Achilles and Atlanta prepared for their opportunity to act. They had been sent when the gong sound had rang out in the region. The priest had sent them to investigate. Finding Jaune being attacked by the Counter Guardian they watched on in astonishment. Now that the master of Blue was with only one servant as protection was the perfect opportunity.

The two rushed out to capture the Master of Blue.