Spirit Sword

Chapter 1: A Return to Life

I own nothing beyond this crazy idea and the laptop I write it on.

Author's Note: I am re uploading this, making it slightly slower and with what I feel to be better characterization. I broke my leg and am on pain medication, so please point out any error I make so that I can fix them. Like I said earlier, this is a Heaven's Feel Shirou that made a significantly different choice that changed the entire route of the war and his personal growth. This isn't 100% my best work, but it give me something to do to pass the time until surgery.

Edit 17/10/2014: Apparently I wasn't clear enough above, but this is a self made bad route for Heaven's Feel. This is not the good or normal ending, but one were Shirou choose Sakura, but managed to fail in saving her.

The world was wrong. The sky was filled with many steel gears, the burnt grass on the hills showing millions of blades in every direction. The air was filled with a fog that blocked the view as far as twenty feet. On top of a small hill, there was two people. The first was a tall man that was muscular and tanned, with white hair. He was wearing black, skin tight armour, with a red over coat that had a large section over his midsection missing.

The other person was a younger man with normal jeans with a long sleeved shirt that had a white torso section with blue sleeves. He was much less tanned when compared to the white haired man, but he possessed the same muscle mass that granted him tremendous strength. His red hair contrasted deeply to the white of the other.

Both men had steel coloured eyes that were completely identical. The red haired man looked at his surroundings and noticed how the fog was beginning to wipe out the strange world. "Looks like your dieing too," the red haired man said, a sad smile on his face.

"Don't worry about that so much Shirou, I should have already died. Be grateful that you managed you dream and saved me from being a beast for Alaya." The white haired man place his hand on Shirou's shoulder.

"I guess I did save you, but really the costs were far to great." Shirou looked at the disappearing land as their joint life began fading away.

"Shirou, nobody could have know that Alaya would deploy Counter Guardians as soon as you freed me." The white haired man looked up at the sky of his own inner world. The only reason Shirou could even access this was due to the fusion of their souls.

"Archer, this is our end. We fought well, but even the two of us combined could stop Alaya from ending us."

"Shirou, you don't understand. We could never stop anyone. We are just swords."

"And as swords we possess no killing intent." Shirou replied, remembering the first thing that Archer taught him after they had fussed together.

"Exactly. That's why you could dream to save everyone, because without that killing intent you felt no hate or anger, even towards yourself." Archer said. "Look at your left hand. See the steel command sigils? Those mark you as one worthy to fight for the Holy Grail. That has to mean something to you."

"Why are you comforting me? Until now you were nothing but sarcastic and cynical."

"I guess it's because I am finally free. Achieving a goal you fought a long time for gives you this feeling of relief and renewal." Archer explained.

"I guess that makes sense. Do you think anyone survived?" Shirou asked, looking at the fog that was now only a few feet away.

"Shirou, when the Counter Guardians broke your dream, you picked up the pieces and reforged them into something greater, stronger. Don't tell me your going back to your old ways." Archer reprimanded.

"It was just idle curiosity. I think Alaya was only targeting me because I stole one of the Counter Guardians away from it. It was afraid that I would remove the only way it could defend itself fully." Shirou said.

"Probably, but not quiet as emotional as you describe it. Alaya isn't a true sentient force. It is almost robotic in a way. It saw a threat that couldn't be stopped by normal counter force and sent the Guardians."

The fog engulfed the duo, before the light disappeared. The swords stuck in the ground disappeared from the worlds, as if they never existed. The grand gears in the sky stopped their eternal working as they slowly began cracking. Slowly pieces of the giant gears fell from the sky and imbedded themselves in the ground. The sky turned black and the world shattered into a million pieces as it was no longer tied to the life of Archer.

Zelretch was a being that was incredibly difficult to understand. He did enjoy spending time with morally righteous people and always rewarded good work and repaid his favours. At the moment, Zelretch was looking at the dead body of one Emiya Shirou. Shirou was a good man that had actually done what he believed to be impossible and preform some derivative of the third magic to alter his own soul.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that unlimited universe would eventually create one that would produce weird results, but unless one could use true magic to travel between alternate realities, then no one would ever discover this. Thankfully Zelretch was one of these individuals. Zelretch knew that the boy would not be able to live any human life, but maybe in an alternate universe he could exist as a different species.

Zelretch could have hand picked were he would send the body, but sometimes it funnier to just have vague ideas and see where he would end up. As it happened, the first reality he landed in had a person who could bring back the dead as a devil. The only thing Zelretch would have to do would be leave the resources to reincarnate Shirou along with Shirou's body, and he would be done.

Issei had very conflicted thoughts during that days classes. He had been given back his life, but as a devil. Issei wasn't incredibly religious, but even he felt apprehensive about being a devil. On the other hand, he was dead and now alive. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that we apparently a servant to the most attractive girl in his school, who was also a devil.

Issei was highly perverted, a fact that everyone in his school knew. That made it hard for him to gain female friends, even of the 'just friends' kind. It hurt that he may never have a true girlfriend. Perhaps that is why the fact he was serving under such a beautiful woman had hit him so hard. Despite all this, the fear that he would become a soulless monster was still present in the back of his mind.

Issei hardly noticed when the end of school came. He only took notice when another person appeared before him. It was a blond, handsome boy with a friendly smile. He was Yuuto Kiba, the 'most handsome' man in the school. Issei harboured little anger for the man personally, but it made it hard for the pervert to see another man have so much female attention.

"Buchou sent me to retrieve you. Are you ready to go?" Kiba asked.

"Sure" The two left the room and began leaving the school. Around them the mostly female students began gossiping about Issei's perverted ways corrupting their 'knight' Kiba. Until the previous year, the school had been a girls only school, only recently having become co-ed. That was the main reason that Issei had joined the school.

The duo left the main school building, walking along the path to the older school building. Until recently, Issei felt the building was an odd relic of the past, nothing more. But now he could feel the sense of belonging coming from the building. Outside the doors were Rias Gremory, red haired beauty that followed English naming habits, Himejima Akeno, a Japanese beauty with long black hair and a generous bust, and the school mascot Toujou Koneko. Unlike the other two, Koneko was small and lithe, having absolutely no bust of hips of any sort.

Rias greeted her newest servant devil, "Hello Issei-kun. Should we go up to the club room now?"

"S-sure" Issei replied, before following the group to the second story room. The others officially introduced themselves, but a startled shout from Rias stopped that. The group rushed ahead and they all gasped at what they saw. On the desk in the room was a corpse. It appeared to have been a red haired teen before it was repeatedly stabbed, burnt and crushed. The only other feature that could still be recognized was the three steel marks on the left hand that came together to form a sword.

The room also had two couches and a coffee table in between. On the coffee table their was a purple knight piece from chess and a single piece of paper with the words 'Use this' under it. Rias strode over to the piece a picked it up, before feeling a shock pass through her. This piece wasn't any old chess piece, it was the evil piece that devils used to bring dead humans back to life as servant devils, among other uses.

"W-w-why is there a dead body here?" Issei asked.

"I don't know, but someone wants us to bring him back to life as a devil." Rias said.

Akeno walked up beside her buchou and asked a question, "Are you going to bring him back with that?"

"It is a mutation piece, so he must be powerful. But we know nothing about him." Rias said.

"Smells like steel." Koneko said, waking up to the corpse. "And light. He was killed by a holy weapon." The elder devils among the group froze at that. The man was human but angels or fallen angels had killed him for some reason.

"Well, he definitely wont betray us for the angels or fallen angels.."Kiba said, looking over the body.

"Buchou, what is that chess piece?" Issei asked

"It is an evil piece. They can bring humans back to life as a devil under the service of the devil that brought them back. Each piece is given a value and give unique skills to the reincarnated devil." Rias began, but Akeno soon took over.

"This piece is a mutation piece, which is much more powerful and rare. Some people would give an arm and a leg for a single mutation pawn to add to their collection, but here Buchou was given one for free and all that was asked is to bring another person to life."

"Will you do it? It would give you another great soldier for when we eventually fight in rating games." Kiba asked, lifted the arm of the corpse and staring at the odd steel mark.

"I don't know, it's a risk because we don't know anything about him." Rias said. Akeno leaned in and said something that the others didn't quite hear, but when she finished Rias was much stiffer and looking at the corpse uncertainly.

"Well, not to be harsh, but this is an extra piece. Could you just use it and if he is someone you don't want in you group just trade him off to another group or something?" Issei asked.

"That, well I could, but it just doesn't feel right." Rias said.

"Remember, our group may need the firepower in the future." Akeno said, patting Rias on the back.

"Do it" the normally quiet Koneko said, looking at Rias with expressive eyes. Rias saw something in those eyes that moved her. It was often said that eyes were windows into the soul, and it looked like Koneko truly believed in this.

"Everyone deserves a second chances, just like you gave us Buchou." Kiba said, smiling softly.

Rias finally made her decision and strode forward to the corpse on the desk. However, as soon as Rias entered three feet of the corpse, the mutation knight flew from her hand and landed in the middle of the corpse and glowed. Suddenly the piece disappeared and the man was healed. The devils here shocked to say the least.

"Is this not supposed to happen?" Issei asked.

"Normally I would have to do a ritual, but apparently, the person who gave us the mutation knight did the ritual, leaving only the devil part unfinished. If I had to guess, our benefactor wasn't a devil and thus couldn't bring him back to life with this ritual." Rias said, looking over the man. It appeared the man wasn't much older than her, and was quite dashing if she had to say.

"How are we going to introduce him to his new life?" Akeno asked, looking over the newest devil among them.

"He is clearly a fighter, that is apparent now. That means he probably knows he died." Kiba said.

"How about we just be completely blunt?" Rias asked rhetorically. The man on the desk began to groan as he reentered the world of the living. His steel coloured eyes were strange, but to a group of devils, it seems rather mundane.

"I'm alive?" The man asked, looked at the ceiling before raising his left and looking at the odd mark on the back of it.

"Yes, you are. I am Rias Gremory and I have reincarnated you as a devil." Rias said, offering a hand to the man. The man seemed to consider the hand briefly before staring at Rias for a good minute or so. The silence in the air was deafening as the Gremory Peerage felt the man size them all up.

The man eventually took Rias' hand and used it to bring himself up on his feet. He looked over himself and found himself lacking in injuries. He looked at Rias again and spoke, "Thank you. I am Emiya Shirou, in your debt."

"My, such a polite young man." Akeno said.

"So, we found your dead body. How did that happen?" Kiba asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"I broke a rule trying to save a life." The gathered devils nodded in respect as they found another kindred soul. Perhaps he was foolish, but at least he sounded like a good person.

"Really? I thought that kind of thing would make the news?" Issei said.

"Ever heard of a city called Fuyuki?" Shirou asked.

"No."

"Then it probably doesn't exist anymore because of what I did." Shirou said, not showing any regret.

"You don't regret it?" Rias asked, shocked.

"If you are asking for regret or sorrow, then you wont get it. I saved a life. It's a shame that so much destruction happened because of it, but I simply saved a life." Shirou said.

"That's awful harsh. You did cause all this destruction, apparently" Rias said.

"I tried to stop it when I realized what happened, but I was unable too." Shirou said.

"You were left here by someone to be brought back to life. Do you know who that could be?" Kiba asked.

"Umm... I think most the people I was friends with are dead... Unless. Did you see who did it?" Shirou mumbled.

"No"

"It may have been Zelretch, since he like rewarding people for doing 'great things' which could be anything depending on the mood he's in." Shirou said. "Although, if it was him, then this is probably a parallel universe. Doesn't matter to me since I had nothing left for me back to my old home anymore."

"Wait, parallel universe?" Rias asked.

"Trust me when I say it more of a headache then it's really worth." Shirou said, shuddering. The silence that followed was awkward until Rias broke it.

"Well, let me introduce your fellow devils." Rias said. "Hyoudou Issei just joined yesterday."

"Nice to meet you, Shirou."

"Likewise."

"The blonde is Yuuto Kiba, my knight."

"Greetings."

"Much Obliged."Shirou replied.

"This is Toujou Koneko, my lovely rook." Rias said.

"Hello." Koneko said.

"Hey."

"And this is my unbeatable queen, Himejima Akeno."

"My, what a nice young man you are." Akeno said.

"I aim to please Akeno-san." Shirou said. Akeno simply chuckled.

"And you are my newest knight Shirou-kun. I hope you will come and find you life with us enjoyable. You are now a member of my peerage, which means I am responsible for you and your action. All I ask is that you preform your demonic duties for us and help us fight if the need comes up." Rias said, earning nods from Akeno, Kiba and Koneko.

"Fair price for saving the life of a stranger I would think." Shirou replied, being completely polite.

"Excellent. Now I suppose I should teach the two of you what jobs you will be doing." Rias said, motioning for Issei to come forward. "Tonight the two of you will go into the town, using this device," At this point Rias brought a round object from her pocket. "This well help you locate people that are inclined to use devil wishes and form contracts. You will leave leaflets that hold our summoning circle on it so that they can summon us."

"Wait- We aren't stealing their souls are we?" Shirou asked.

"Calm down, it's just physical goods that we normally take as payment. I'll go into that when you begin making your own contracts." Rias explained, handing the circular object to Issei.

"Well, shall we head out Issei-san?" Shirou asked. Issei nodded briefly, heading out ahead of Shirou. Shirou gave a small wave as the duo left the room.

"Well he is pleasant, I'll give him that much" Rias said.

"We should learn more about him. You really only asked vague questions." Akeno said.

"We learnt that he was a good person. I know he wasn't lying about what he said. If he is a good person, then the specifics can come later." Rias said.

"I sense a good spirit within." Koneko said.

Issei and Shirou were walking back to the club house after finishing handing out the fliers. Shirou had set a brutal speed that was causing Issei to be close to falling over in exhaustion. Shirou heard a large gasp and turned. Once Shirou saw the condition that Issei was in, he put an arm under his shoulder and held him up.

"If I was going too fast for you, you should have said something." Shirou said.

"How were -ha- moving that -ha- fast?" Issei said, gasping for breath.

"I didn't realize that you wouldn't be used to this kind of pace. Living across millions of battlefields forces people to move quickly." Shirou explain.

"You're a soldier?"

"Something of the sort." Shirou said, subtly pulling on his magical circuits to create prana from his od and the mana of the world. Once Shirou had access to the prana, he began using it to reinforce Issei's lungs and heart. Issei began to recover much quicker as his organs were operating more efficiently.

"You know -ha- your not half bad. I though handsome men were all evil, -ha- but you are the nicest person I ever met." Issei said.

"What?"

"Oh, my dream is to be harem king, but all you damn -ha- handsome men are taking all the women just by existing!" Issei ranted.

"Um, well it's good to have dreams." Shirou said, shaking his head.

"Do you -ha- not believe in the greatest dream of a harem!" Issei shouted, before falling into a rant about harems and breast. Shirou was both surprised and afraid of the perversion shown by Issei. Even Shinji hadn't been this bad! Well before the Holy Grail War.

Issei managed to get on his own feet by the time they reached the club house. The duo walked up to the main room and opened the door. The only person still in the room was Rias, working at the desk on what appeared to be paperwork.

"Buchou we're back!" Issei shouted, startling Rias from her work.

"Oh, that was much quicker than I expected." Rias said.

"Shirou-san moves so fast that it was a pain to keep up" Issei said, causing Shirou to look sheepish and look away from his master and his fellow servant.

"That is to be expected since I forgot to tell him the physical benefits of becoming a devil. Might as well explain it to him now." Rias said, looking at Shirou. "Issei if you want you can return to your home for the night. You did a good job." Issei nodded to Rias and waved good bye as he left the room, face still red of the exertion.

"So I get additional benefits aside from a new life?" Shirou asked as he moved to the tea cart and prepared two cups of tea.

"Yeah, every devils is nocturnal to some amount. During the night your senses, strength, speed, and cunning will be much greater than during the day. Beyond that, becoming a devil naturally increasing certain attributes." Rias explained.

"So what did I gain for becoming a devil?" Shirou asked, bring a cup of tea to his master and sitting on the couch and drinking from his own cup.

"Thanks. I brought you back as a knight. As a knight you get slight increases in everything, but it is your speed and sword skills that really get increased the most." Rias explained, before taking a deep gulp of the tea that Shirou had prepared. Rias raised an eye brow when Shirou broke into loud laughter at her explanation.

"Of course, a sword would get the ability to use swords." Shirou said, earning an odd look from Rias. "My magical element in human magecraft was 'swords' meaning that I could only use sword magic."

"Interesting. Say, do you have a place to stay tonight?" Rias asked.

"I can find a place on my own, but thank you. I'm going out, I'll try to make it here tomorrow evening. However, I need to do something important first, so if I am late don't wait up." Rias was going to say something, but before she could, Shirou disappeared and landed on the ground outside.

Shirou smiled as he felt the speed he could now use. He ran all night, revelling in the feeling of pure speed and life the night gave him. This was much better than using magic, mainly due to the feeling of genuine life that it extruded. He only stopped at the crack of dawn to rest. He was deep into the hilly woodlands south of the city. Shirou found a large branch high up in a tree and use it to lay against the trunk.

Once Shirou was sure he wouldn't fall off, he entered the world that only he and Archer could access. The sun burnt his skin, but he ignored it to embrace Archer's reality marble and enter it. He felt his mind slipping in a manner similar to sleep, but not quiet the same. When Shirou opened his eyes, he was once again in a world that was wrong.

Unlike Archer's usual reality marble, this one was different. The sky showed it to be midnight with a full moon, but the sky had long cracks running all over it. Much like a mirror that was shattered. The ground was formed of a sparse grass. The swords that were scattered all over the place were formed of stone. Although he could still feel the magical potential of each, the accumulated history and the skills of crafting, the swords were now stone.

Sitting cross legged in front of Shirou was Archer. Archer looked completely normal, but for the stone sword the grew up beside him. It was a sword that wasn't a sword. It resembled an arrow instead of what should have been a sword. Archer was a sword, he couldn't have arrows in his reality marble.

Archer opened up and looked Shirou in the eyes and spoke, "Welcome your own reality marble Shirou."