Author's Note:

Well hello there! My name is Haoryuu, and I am a new face on the author scene as of today. As you will probably be able to tell, this is my first story and god have I not written anything in a while. Because of this, I would like to request any reviewers to be brutally gentle, or if you prefer, gently brutal in your critiquing.

The reason I wanted to start writing was mainly due to a few fanfics I've read for the fate/dxd crossover category, which I have to say, were bloody fantastic! Sadly, some of these included fics that aren't updated anymore, such as Fahad09's "A Demon Lord's Hero", and Sniperk's "An Unwilling Hero".

Finally, I just want to point out that I was heavily inspired by Kyugan's "Fate x Fate" in terms of this first chapter. If you all would go and take a look at his work, i'm sure you'll understand what I mean.

Now that the formalities are out of the way, please enjoy!

Redemption Of A Blade
By: Haoryuu

Prologue

My Body… Is Made Of Swords… (A solemn duty, given to one who wanted nothing to do with it)

The lone child walked through the desolate wasteland wreathed in flames, eyes hollowed from the sight before him…

Iron Is My Blood… And Glass Is My Heart… (A purpose given life, through the sacrifice of those burnt in relentless, hateful flames)

Ignoring the screams of anguish around him, he covered his ears and walked on, tears on his face dried long ago from the heat of his environment…

I Have Overcome Countless Battlefields undefeated… (Alas, victory did not stop the once radiant blade from chipping and fraying)

Unable to continue any longer, he collapses to the ground, raising up a single hand toward the heavens, as if to grasp everything he had lost…

Not Once Have I Retreated… (A fate inescapable, no matter what the means)

Grief, anger, guilt. Every single emotion and desire the boy had was tossed away in order to survive. As his eyes finally began to close, no longer able to breathe through the toxic fumes around him, a large hand belonging to a man dressed in black caught it…

Nor Once Have I Been Understood… (To "save" man was the promise made, but instead, the sword only bathed in the blood of those it wished to save)

As the child looks upon the face of his savior, one shaped in an artfully beautiful expression of joy and relief, he is only able to think of how he wished to be able to make a face like that one day…

He Was Always Alone… (With the foolishness of his ideals finally before him, he became bitter and resentful, regardless of what his noble intentions may have been)

A home was given to the boy, one that would have made any other child feel cold and lonely, but seemingly had no such effect on him. A rowdy visitor came from time to time, one which he came to view as an older sister, and the three lived together in an almost undisturbed peace. Even if the savior-turned father's health slowly deteriorated, quite possibly due to the frequent and mysterious trips he made outside of the country, life went on as usual in Fuyuki.

A promise that any normal person would scoff at was made in the months to come, and like an ephemeral butterfly, the wounded warrior, in both body and heart, passed on quietly from this world.

Intoxicated With Victory On The Hill Of Swords… (Time and time again, he was summoned to do his duty, no longer able to resist as he cut down even the innocent)

A war between mages, and a desperate fight for survival ensued, with events from 10 years previously finally coming to head.

The Bronze giant, turned mad once more by the whims of those bearing magic, bellowed his primal fury as he glared down his opponents with mismatched eyes. His monstrous frame and strength, a direct opposition to his frail and innocent master, standing as a seemingly unstoppable obstacle in the ways of his foes.

The beast incarnate, dressed as a simple spear man, observed reluctantly from the shadows, but was no less daunting when he brought his cursed spear to bear.

The elfin witch of betrayal, guarded by a peerless swordsman of the feudal era, fortified her base of operations from a distance, amassing power for the time that would come.

The beautiful monster, cursed by the gods themselves despite her innocence, reluctantly served the master she had become burdened with while wishing only for her true summoner's safety and happiness.

The Golden King of heroes, more proud and arrogant than any other leader that would follow in his footsteps, observed quietly from the place he had called his home for a decade, biding his time until he made his long-awaited move.

A torn and broken version of ideal doomed to fail from the start was summoned once again into a time he had lived in. However, he was only confronted by the foolish and naive self he had wished to put an end to for so long.

Finally, the chivalrous king of knights allied herself with the boy, swearing an oath of allegiance to him in exchange for her right to use the wish granting vessel at the end of the war. She would be his sword, and even if they did not know it yet, he would be her sheath.

One by one, the warriors of myth and legend fell, until the twisted ideal confronted his past self's naivety. Denying the world the archer had described to him, he fought against all odds and stood against his future self on even ground. With the knowledge that the young man's ideals would not be broken, he accepted his defeat reluctantly, realizing once again that he had not been wrong in chasing after his ideals. However, his younger self had been wounded grievously in their bout, so with no other alternative available at the time, he willingly severed his arm despite his former master's protests, and allowed it to be attached to the dying man. Requesting- no, begging the man to not follow in his footsteps, and to protect the people in his life now, he staggered out of the building and laid his back against one of the many trees in the Einzbern forest. As the Red Knight slowly faded away into motes of light, he could only smile and wonder aloud if he had become the hero his father had wanted.

Despite their best efforts, the priest garbed in black outwitted them at every turn, and finally managed to capture his former pupil, as well as her delicate sister. However, the protective tiger wouldn't let the man of the cloth take her cubs without a fight. Even as he put his hands on the stab wounds the clergyman had inflicted on her stomach, there was nothing the sword could do as the light slowly faded out of his surrogate sister's eyes.

Arriving on the scene as quickly as possible, all that he saw was the body of the older sibling being held by the younger as she wept uncontrollably. The kouhai had the shards of the previous corrupted grail implanted within her, and the priest, in his mission to inflict suffering upon the world and its residents, forced her to kill her own blood she had recently reconciled with in an effort to cause as much damage as possible.

"Senpai… Please kill me…" she sobbed as he shook his head in denial. There had to be a way to save her and everyone else. He could not accept sacrificing her for the supposed greater good, not after having heard what she had went through in her life so far.

"Please… I want to die as myself, without losing what I felt for you… I'm begging you!", she exclaimed, face still dripping with tears. Never before had he felt so powerless, with his magecraft still unavailable to him after his bout with Archer. Any attempt to trace would have flayed him alive from the inside, for his circuits were simply not ready to be used after the strain he had put them through. After agonizing with what he should do, he finally drove a dagger through her heart, even as she smiled through her tears.

"Thank you Senpai… For saving me… And for letting me love you…", she whispered with her last breaths.

Holding onto their bodies after the fact, the young man could only observe idly that he was still able to cry after all, before breaking down entirely and yelling his anguish to the skies above. Even as he plunged the Azoth blade of the sister's into the grinning priest's face, he could only observe through his numbed mind that there was little to be felt in the act.

The golden king, finally ready to act, ripped out the heart of the snow-haired little girl, before allowing it to assimilate with the body of his disposable "master".

Continuing onward, the red-haired man, who had already started to lose the color in his hair, howled his denial to the world as he rushed at his foe, not caring at all if the gift he had received from his future self consumed him. The king in his arrogance could not react in time, and he too fell, but not before taking the king of knights with him.

"I am your sword, and you are my sheathe", she whispered as she slowly bled out. No other words needed to be exchanged as he carefully brushed her bangs away from her face. She would wait eternally, and he would pursue endlessly, for that was the fate that bound the two together.

The man had lost everything. There was no family or house to back to. No kindhearted under classmate to teach, no hot-and-cold classmate to tease, or gluttonous companion to feed. No big sister to scold, nor little sister to dote on, as she had oh so deserved after the many years she had suffered in isolation.

Thus, His Life Has No Meaning… (The barren wasteland full of blades was all that he was left with, each weapon having committed its own atrocity over a period impossible to measure)

Unable to continue, the man once again fell on the ground, raising a hand towards the heavens, as if to call back the people he had lost. As static overtook his vision, and the corruption of his arm ate away at his magic circuits, he could only sigh and let out one sentence from his chapped lips.

"Even if I wasn't able to become a hero of justice... I wish that I had been able to save someone…".

The god of darkness all but smiled in glee. The boy had been foolish enough to make a wish! Gathering up the reservoir of mana from the now broken grail he inhabited, he smiled viciously as he prepared to send the thorn in his side into a volatile world that would act as a suitable punishment. The world that was finally chosen was one that was all too ready to break out into conflict. The tenuous peace between the factions there was in fact so delicate, that the cold war could erupt into chaos and bloodshed with even the smallest mistake at any given moment. Oh the boy could have his wish, save the day, and be the accursed hero he always wanted to be. That is, if he was willing to potentially cause a war unlike the world had ever seen before!

"Ilya… Rin… Sakura… Fuji-nee… Kiritsugu... I'm sorry… I promise, I'll try to do better in my next life…"

A dark miasma erupted from the grail and enveloped him entirely.

The man understood the god's intentions completely now. It didn't help that the being was constantly projecting his emotions of glee towards the suffering that he would endure in the world to come into the dying man's mind.

"No matter where I go… Or where I end up… I won't allow those that are innocent to be harmed ever again… So please, all of you, wait for me…"

His Body was Truly Made Out Of Swords… (In the words of another, if there is one thing that could be said about him, it was that he was constantly betrayed by the world around him)

He closed his eyes, waiting for the darkness to take him. Somewhere far beyond the realm of mortals, in a chaotic space known as the dimensional gap, a colossal, red dragon lazily opened one giant, golden eye. It seemed that after many years, a mortal had finally decided to intrude upon his territory once again.

AN:

Well? How was that for a first chapter? I really didn't have any sort of editor for this so I hope you'll forgive any mistakes in grammar and punctuation. I initially started writing this because I wanted to try it at least once, but if I see that people like the story, I may end up continuing it. Please leave a review on your way out if you can~