Chapter 11.1 - Beginnings of Another Fate [1]

Hanami and Shirou are amazing. That's something Amarilla had learned the moment they stepped into their city. Their auras are encompassing, vast, yet warm and guarding. Their strengths and magics far outpowered any of her kind. But, perhaps most of all, they held a bond tighter than she's seen, stronger than any bonds of love and marriage.

They know each other, understand, and accept one another, and she can only dream to have someone like the honored guardian by her side.

She was jealous of Hanami. She had beauty, amazing powers, and a trusted companion.

She had everything.

But as she saw Hanami cry for the honored guardian fall, his injured form torn and bleeding, shame rained down upon her heart. How could she be jealous of her, now seeing the pain and worries the girl carried deep within? How could she even feel as such, knowing that she had offered to help cleanse their mountain of its corruption?

She wants, needs to make up for it, but she knows the two won't stay for long. She can feel it. Their destiny leads to more. Their paths will continue far beyond what she can foretell with her magic.

The near future of theirs is clouded, hiding a terrible darkness, waiting to claw into them at their worst. She told her about it, and she nodded, knowing it as well. And it awed her.

To still continue despite knowing what awaits, what strength must one hold to do so confidently?

So she decided. As she watches the two converse happily around a table, recovering from their recent fight against the last remaining [Great Dragon], she decided that she won't stay idle no more. She may not hold the strength to stand with them, or even to look at their backs,

But she'll move when others can't, moving past and onwards.

After all, that's all she can do now.

~~~

A palpable feeling of tension lingers in the air, and Shirou can't help but glance around warily, despite knowing there are no current threats around him.

The fairly large opening he's in is occupied by a large army of dragoon guardians and priestesses, each of them knowing full well the monster that lies beyond the large stone door at the far end of the opening.

With the three [Great Dragons] killed and their corruption purified, the number of stray dragons around the city has greatly diminished, so much so that there hasn't been any battles for them to do. The lack of dragons only served the opposite however, amplifying the feeling of tension and wary confusion, and it's only when Hanami reveals that all the dragons have retreated close to the core of the mountain, seeking refuge in its pulsating corruption.

It was quickly decided for them all to follow them here, to purge them all for good.

Shirou looks down at his arm, fiddling slightly with the 3 metal bracelets on it. They are all defensive mystic codes Hanami had forged for him after his survival against the first [Great Dragon]. He's still quite confused on how and where she's made them, but there've been too many unanswered questions as of late, so he simply pushed the thought back for later.

"Shirou?" He looks up, seeing Hanami looking at him, her green eyes slightly narrowed. "Are you ready?" He nods and stands, following her to the large stone doors. He trades several glances with the dragoons, and they all nod, their silent resolve shining in their eyes. It makes him somewhat nervous actually, having the faith of an entire race resting on his shoulders.

But he's not alone.

Hanami blasts a small opening through the door, just large enough for them both, and they walk through. Hanami's new staff shimmers into her hands, and Okita's Noble Phantasm is conjured into his hands. Slowly, they begin to walk forward, the light of Hanami's staff lighting their way through the darkness.

A slow, almost static-like pulse begins to ring in his ears, growing louder the more he walks. Hanami seems to be more affected though, which is understandable, since her 'magus sense' is tied with her hearing. Her eyes are narrowed slightly and her grip on her staff tightens, but she keeps walking, and so does he.

Then, as the pulsing takes over the entirety of his hearing, a wave of wind pulses out across the darkness, and before them, a fluorescent purple light begins to grow.

"There you are, my old friend." He hears Yorrmir chuckle, and all the static stops.

The entire room lights up, revealing a giant purple crystal floating in the large opening they're in, and the thousands of corrupted dragons basking in its pulsing light. [Avalon] instantly activates, generating a golden glow around his body, warding off the wave of corruption the crystal is emitting.

"Let's do this!" With a confident smile, Hanami slams the butt of her staff onto the floor. The air around them sparkles, twinkling like the stars in the midnight sky, before clearing and forming a cocoon of spinning prana bullets surrounding them. They glitter one last time before they're fired, dicing through the waves of dragons rushing around them.

More prana surges into the air, before firing down onto the rocky floor as holy missiles, destroying and purifying the legions of corrupted dragons, creating a small path towards the floating crystal.

Hanami swiftly begins her charge, rushing towards the crystal as she gunned and slashed away at any approaching monsters. Shirou follows closely behind her, guarding her against any dragons that gets too close.

Then, the ground rumbles and tears, and giant dragons begin to emerge, their eyes glowing an angered red. They continue their charge, though now with Shirou at the helm, hacking away any roadblocks in their way.

As the army of dragons begins to decline, more and more magic-resistant dragons begin to emerge out of the chaos, their scales keeping them unharmed from Hanami's holy bombardment. Hanami completely forgoes her staff, instead going with her new twin-coloured sword, while Shirou remains as their spear, cleaving through the enemy ranks with the [Kojiki Kiyomitsu], fully intent on reserving his prana.

But plans hardly ever survive the execution.

Clang!

Shirou winces as he sees the katana lodge itself into a particularly tough dragon's scales, hearing the metal hissing against the tough scales. He quickly switches it out for the titan's blade, unwilling to find out what will happen when Okita's Noble Phantasm shatters, and slams down the sword onto the offeding dragon, cleaving the damned thing in half.

With the presence of the dragon-slaying blade, the dragons' charge slows, but it doesn't last long. But the small gap in motion let Hanami charge forward uninterrupted with all her speed, blitzing over most of the dragons and planting herself right onto the large purple crystal. He nearly laughs at the comical shout of pain he hears from the distant, but he stifles it, instead opting to hack apart a nearby dragon's head, blowing away the dragons around it.

Then, everything stops. All the dragons cease their movements and turn towards the crystal. So does he, and it's to his horror that he sees Hanami begin to bleed, her bleeding eyes a bright shifting blue as wisps of white and purple light dances around her form. Her teeth are grit and her body is tense with pain as her hands are dug into the crystal.

Then the dragons begin moving again, but now heading back towards the crystal, and towards Hanami.

He doesn't have any time to shout her name as the large stone door blocking their way back suddenly explodes, crumbling apart like it was never even there. The dragons stop moving again, but this time quickly begins to shuffle away in panic. Shirou remains there, transfixed at the gigantic spinning magic circle in the air, its green glow contrasting against the crystal's purple light. The circle melds together into an orb of twisting and spiraling energy, the heat morphing the air around it.

A choir of shouts sounds in symphony, and the world goes white.

"""[VIRISCENT ASTEROID]!"""

A rain of green light falls upon the parting legion of dragons, a single blast easily tearing through their normally magic-resistant scales. Rays of light continue to rain down, burning and tearing through the battlefield, killing the dragons and forcing the larger dragons to shield themselves from the harmful light.

Soon, it ends, but the attack is not over.

Dragoons of all kinds fly into the large opening, their weapons shimmering a bright green. Idly, he notices the weapons they carry, all looking much sturdier and more powerful than before, and he realizes why Hanami has been missing the past two days. They begin tearing into the army of dragons, and its awe-inspiring, seeing them continue to fight despite the slowly accumulating wounds on their body and the much larger dragons in their path.

"Have faith, both in your skills and your blade, and it shall cut through any adversaries."

He remembers those words, said at the night before adversary fell upon his world, and the puddle of doubt and worry in his heart vanishes. Hanami is up there trying to destroy the crystals. The dragoon warriors are out on the field, putting their lives on the line.

What the hell am I doing?

A flame ignites, and his entire body explodes in a shower of white light, its shine like the light of the moon at midnight.

"Now, wield my soul as your blade, and we shall atain victory!"

[Uriel] vanishes, replaced by Okita's katana.

But more than that, his casual clothes are no more, instead changed by a short white hakama, paired with a pair of black shorts and boots. A white and blue haori whips around his shoulders, and a flowing black scarf is tied around his neck. His hair, normally red, is now an almost pinkish white, and his eyes are a pale gold.

The strength of his natural body is coupled with the spirit origin of the woman known as [Okita Souji], and with his resolve sharpened like a blade, he leaps forward, surpassing the sound barrier with ease. He rears his sword back with relaxed focus, whipping it forward and slicing through hordes of dragons as he goes pass.

Knowledge of the legendary swordswoman, much more than he's ever had before, filters itself neatly into his brain, and his body follows, acting upon them as instinct. [Structural Analysis] goes off in near auto, scanning the dragon's many weak points in a moment before he acts upon them with his blade.

All noises are drowned out. The voices normally present in his head are silenced. The sounds of battle are muted. All that's left is the calm pounding of his heart, and his and Okita's will, merged as one.

And together, their sword strikes as one.

~~~

It hurts.

Everything hurts.

I can feel it, slowly cutting away at my sanity, slowly chipping away at my perception of reality. I saw it coming really, but still, not that I'm here, slowly drowning deep into the corrupted void, I can only endure. Endure and wait, as I continue sinking deep, deeper into the evident nothingness beneath me.

The corruption reaches into my body, my mind, my soul, but I don't let it enter. I keep them at bay, using the [Holy] attunement I took from [Avalon] and shielding my being, doing my best to keep myself sane as I delve into the hearth of its corruption. I can feel my body growing cold, and my skin wet from…what I assume is blood, but I continue.

Onwards, deeper.

And I sink.

It's all dark, darker, yet darker.

Things begin to grow hazy, a sign that the corruption has begin seeping into my mind. I redouble my efforts, erecting an even stronger shield over my mind and soul, leaving my outer body to suffer. Indescribable pain floods through my system, but I keep my consciousness submerged, not allowing the stinging pain to bring me out.

Finally, as the shield around my mind shatters, I see a light at the bottom of the well. It's a pulsating, almost twisting purple, but I can see through it, seeing the gentle green light that dwells inside.

I stop close to it, and with my heart steeled, I reach into the light. Tainted black fills my core, and my mind shatters. But my subconscious hand continues to reach deeper into the light, and as my soul begins to rot away, I feel a tingle.

And all returns, the corruption blasting away from my being in a nova of light.

My prana reaches inside, and I blast the core with as much holy prana as I can manage, blowing away the purple light surrounding the green. Winds blow outwards, tendons are torn, and my body shatters, blood flowing out of the many cracks recently formed. I smile, pulling my prana back into my body, and taking with it my true prize!

[Due to certain actions, you have gained the skill [Attribute Enchant: Dragon]!]

The smile grows to a grin, and I let myself fall from the now green crystal. The wind blows around me, and the ground is quickly approaching.

The ground never hit me however, as a white-haired man catches me, his pale golden eyes shining with worry and pride. He smiles, and seeing it, all the tension in my being melts away, and I drift off into sleep.

~~~

"Honestly," Shirou smiles wryly, gently wiping away the bangs of her hair from her face. "Can you do something normally for once?"

'Though that's somewhat ironic, considering who's saying it.'

He ignores the thought and runs back towards the crumbled entrance, careful not to further injure the sleeping girl in his arms. He slowly begins to pick up speed, occasionally using a blocking dragon as stepping stones and crashing its head onto the floor in the process. There, he leaves Hanami in the care of the dragoon priestesses, before he turns to return to the fight.

One of the female priestesses, one he nearly mistakes for Saber if not for her draconic features comes up to him in worry, but he shakes his head and smiles, giving one last glance at his unconscious partner before saying to her,

"Hanami's done her part. I'll help to take care of the rest."

He leaps forward, his sword in his hands once more.