Advanced Origins

Each individual possesses an Origin, A defining main attribute that so perfectly encapsulates that individual's base existence better than any possible description can give it. Regardless of the Race or the capabilities of the individual or even their ability to do magic, they possess an Origin. That Origin in some way or another, to small or large degrees, dictates that individual's every decision. Peel away every memory, every unique experience, every incident significant or insignificant to the individual that has nurtured them and you have run into the truest form of existence that they can possess. They are now the Physical Embodiment of their Origin. It is that Origin that will be the instinct that will dictate the individual's moral code as well as their choices.

In the system of Magic and Magecraft, an Origin is of far greater significance. The Origin of an individual is just a trait such as mischievousness but rather something more. An Origin is a special stream from the Root, the Akashic Records, the Vortex of Radix and a multitude of other Names. Whatever the name, it is the repository of all knowledge, the Root to all things. It is this stream that takes a material form in an individual. It is each individual's unique connection to the true basis of reality. It represents a path, a purpose to each idiosyncratic existence.

To awaken an Origin is something revolutionary. An act that could change and shake the very fabric of reality itself. Whether artificially or naturally, to awaken an Origin is to trigger an inner state of the soul. Making an individual exhibit more unique traits and behaviors contrary to what they have previously done.

It is through this awakening that individuals can go beyond their natural potential, discover and utilize new branches of Thaumaturgy or Magecraft. Allowing them to perform Unique mysteries unable to be replicated by Magecraft such as Magic. True miracles impossible to find in the modern world.

It is with immense caution or ambition should an individual even consider to awaken their Origin. It could lead to major disadvantages or even a major advantage with the consequences unable to be comprehended by the mortal mind. Of course, after awakening an Origin, there is a chance one could no longer link their existence so easily to a moral concept such as mortality…

Heat. Blistering, unbearable heat… Pressure, akin to being weighed down by mountains… Pain, impossible amounts of pain, every action, every step, causing nerves, alive or dead, to shriek in agony…

This was all that he knew, for all the boy saw was fire, being inside the world's hottest furnace, every object was melting, losing their structure quickly every second, individuals trapped in this fiery inferno, crying out, none with a chance to escape. Any assistance to be gained from the other brave citizens sacrificing themselves, enabling others to escape was futile, for there was no escape, there was no peace, nowhere safe to go, no place of refuge, no gods to grace themselves to help the faithful, there was nothing but death, fiery unavoidable death…

Still… the boy persisted, losing his identity, sacrificing something every step of the way, for a chance to escape this cruel reality, for as far as he was concerned this was all he knew, did the boy even know his name at this point?

What was it…Shirogo?...Ichirou?...Shiroma?...Shirou? was that it? Was it his name? Did it matter?

He felt his lungs giving out, each and every second bringing it closer to collapse, His limbs were aching, he had already lost the ability to walk upright, now only able to crawl on his hands and knees, his eyes were straining, enduring unparalleled pain just to keep open, fighting against the instinct to give in to the darkness, to the cold embrace of death…

Right as Shirou collapsed, he saw a figure in a suit, crying and smiling for the ability to be able to save him. In countless worlds, the boy would wish to experience the sensation of what was the incident that allowed the man to have such a smile in such a bleak circumstance, in countless worlds, this would be the incident to kick start the boy's unique destiny, in this world, the boy with the last thoughts he had before collapsing into unconsciousness, he questioned. The boy questioned the purity of the smile for all the boy wanted for was to simply understand it for in such a bleak world it seemed like an impossible prospect to be able to gain such an emotion without a unique catalyst. The boy wished to experience such a phenomenon. To undergo such a unique catalyst so that he gained a purpose. A reason for existence…

Deep in unconsciousness, unaware, the boy experienced a feeling of the purest magic, giving a soothing, peaceful sensation beyond what he had ever experienced. The sensation, healed every inch of the body, healing every scar, every burn and bruise inflicted on the boy as a result the cursed fire, in doing so, the magic healed every inch of the boy, remaking him, changing him…making him…more.

The magic was Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur, the greatest sword that ever was, or will be, the purity and power of Avalon was unmatched, able to heal every injury, able to provide protection against every possible force. Fueled by the remnants of the energies of its owner in countless worlds, its purity would overwrite every origin, every alignment the boy possessed into its own nature. It did not matter the origin, whether it be a physical, imaginary or theoretical, the purity of Avalon would overwrite it all, and in countless worlds, this would be all the boy was left with, the embodiment of this new origin.

This world however, was different, for no matter the power, no matter the purity, the sheath would not be able to overwrite the origin for it was what which allowed it to exist, not the physical materials that Avalon was made of, unique and powerful as they were, but what gave it its power, its strength, for beyond anything, Avalon was not just an object but rather the physical embodiment of an ideal, of a concept of Utopia for that was what Avalon represented, not purity, not protection but rather Utopia, a peaceful and safe land that was meant for King Arthur after a noble and storied destiny of serving others.

As such, Avalon could not overwrite the boy's origin, for it would not be able to overwrite itself, a physical ideal, a crystallized mystery made real by embodying a concept. Instead, with its energies still drifting and without a purpose, Avalon would enhance the boy's alignment or origin, even being inert, having used its last vestiges of power to heal and remake the boy.

The Origin, the gift of the root would remain, the new origin and alignment of sword, the gift of the sheath would also remain, accompanying the true origin… the origin of conceptualization, both being activated as a result of Avalon's influence.

Shirou woke up to a constant beeping and a thick and heavy smell of disinfectant. He recalled the first thing that came to mind, which was the fire. He recalled being rather heavily injured and collapsing in a man's arms before collapsing into blackness. He felt good…no better than that, he felt great actually, Shirou had never ever felt this great before. He was rather perplexed at the situation for even surviving the fire, he did not expect his lungs to be in any kind of condition to be able to not rely on a breathing apparatus of any sort.

His mind was surprisingly clear considering having undergone such a traumatic incident. He heard footsteps, footsteps that denoted multiple individuals with a purpose walking towards his hospital bed. He surveyed his room, it was a small rather sparse room with only him and several machines, it had spartan furnishings and a window covered by curtains displaying the view of the outside world. From the amount of light getting through the curtains, shirou deduced that it was likely to be in the morning when he woke up.

A doctor and two nurses walked in, while the doctor questioned him, the nurses were monitoring his vitals. Aside from some administrative questions in which all he recalled to be able to give was his name, he was inquiring about the fire of the city of Fuyuki.

"Shirou…you were found at the ground zero of the fire, it is believed that you are the only individual to survive the fire, you appear to have quite severe amnesia which is normal for such a traumatic incident, however it is rather miraculous and unusual how you were found physically unscathed considering the magnitude of the fire, especially when you were near to the cause. Nevertheless, you are perfectly fine and you are able to be discharged soon."

"The man who saved you is waiting outside the room, he would like to speak to you, would you be fine with that?"

"That would be fine, Doctor"

Shirou agreed with the doctor, confused with why his savior would want to speak to him, was he a detective, wanting to know more about the cause of the incident? Shirou could comprehend no other reason why.

A man wearing a black suit and trench coat walked in, his face is blank and his eyes looked empty, as though lacking a purpose. He looked as though his life had been turned upside down, as though his reason of existence was lost. This was a stark contrast to how he had been when he had saved Shirou.

"Shirou. I hear that's your name. Would you rather go with a stranger that you have just met than go to the orphanage?"

"I must first tell you, in the spirit of being forthright. I am Kiritsugu Emiya. I am what's known as an individual that performs magecraft. I am a Magus. I must ask, would you like to be adopted...?"

Life after the fire was strange. Shirou had lost his memories of his previous life before the fire. He still had his language skills but he had also lost most of his basic knowledge about the world. Even with the changes after the fire being apparent, he had lost the knowledge about how to navigate through Fuyuki City.

What was crucial however was that he seemed to have also lost something within him. A regular individual upon observation of a familiar object would have an emotional association of some sort, however minor with the object. It was as though Shirou had lived in a muted reality without emotional connections to everything around him.

Shirou would not know better or even how attaching an emotion to an object could work, especially with his lost memories, but even with nothing to guide him, he had recognized that there was something wrong with him. Whatever he did, whatever he was going to do, had felt pointless. All he felt was emptiness.

Kiritsugu Emiya had helped him immensely in his new life. The strange man who had adopted him had seemed to recognize what Shirou was going through. It had helped him a lot. It had been several months after his adoption but everything had already started to feel… less pointless. A strange woman had started to come over to the Emiya residence every week. She had called herself Taiga Fujimura. She was a… strange person.

Shirou had found himself lost within the Emiya residence. Kiritsugu had accompanied him everyday since his adoption but he was currently in the process of finding a job. Shirou had not felt a motivation to do anything. He had known nothing after the fire. He had one curiosity however… Magecraft.

After the initial revelation after the adoption of him, Kiritsugu had not spoken about that topic. The only other incident in which he had mentioned Magecraft was when he was feeding him with pills. It was apparently to combat the toxicity of the Magic that had been used to cure and heal Shirou from his wounds during the fire.

It hadn't taken long after his lack of action and purpose after the fire that Shirou had requested Kiritsugu to instruct him in the art of Magecraft. He had been reluctant but had showed him how to perform the basic arts of Material Transmutation. Reinforcement, Alteration and Graduation Air. Lacking of purpose or wants in his new life, this was one of Shirou's first attachments. Magecraft. He would master and know more about this subject.

Aside from just teaching him the basic art of Material Transmutation of Magecraft, Kiritsugu had also given him an overview of the what was Magecraft and what being a Magus meant. He had described some basic practices of Magi that had the implication that he should ascribe to them. He had also confusingly enough instructed Shirou to ignore some of the practices.

Shirou was fine with it. He had not known enough about this topic to judge. Besides, the true reason he had initially suggested the topic of Magecraft was due to Kiritsugu being a Magus. Kiritsugu was his savior, his first sight after he had lost what was effectively his existence. He wished to understand Kiritsugu.

Kiritsugu was the first adult that Shirou had gotten to know in this strange new world. He had acted so differently from the woman who came over. He didn't know if Kiritsugu was normal or not. He had not enough references to judge. He was curious about Kiritsugu however. This was his saviour. This was the man who strangely wanted to take up the responsibility of adopting him.

What were his motives? What were the different aspects of him? Who or what was Kiritsugu truly? Why had he been so happy at saving Shirou but the next and subsequent interactions of him had not painted him as the same individual? Kiritsugu had adopted a kindly and gentle attitude towards the individuals he had interacted with including that woman who came over.

Why did his eyes tell a different story? He seemed to be devoid of a purpose like Shirou but he had managed to find a distinction. Rather than being without a purpose, Kiritsugu had seemed to lose it and had been broken by it. It seemed as though his entire experiences in life had weighed him down and one final incident had been the cause of his brokenness.

This was a scant few months into Shirou's new life after the fire and the only life he had known so far. He had been without desires but he had gained fascinations. He had developed obsessions. He had not yet found a purpose and his life was mostly an empty existence but he had found what could constitute as a purpose of some sort. Magecraft and primarily the desire and curiosity to find out more about his guardian. Why was Kiritsugu, Kiritsugu...?

Authors Notes:

This story came as a inspiration of wanting to write a Shirou Emiya that is vastly different from any of the routes as well as all of the different fate fanfictions. It was due to this that I had wanted to change so much about Shirou Emiya so that what we know as Canon had almost become unrecognizable. I did not want to write him out of character, as such I had to begin from the start of the story and start with small changes before the branches could spread out and become my vision of the story. I am not writing a Shirou Emiya that is totally out of character but basically a Shirou Emiya that has ever so slightly different circumstances at the beginning of his new life that will eventually deviate through a natural progression into the Shirou Emiya of my vision. This is my primary goal here. Natural and logical progression of Shirou's personality and abilities to deviate into what would be a massively different Holy Grail War.

The main aspect of my change is Shirou Emiya after the fire. Shirou Emiya is empty. He is empty like Kirei. Kirei is the extreme dark version while Shirou is the extreme light and moral version of that deviation. To do this change, we must understand why Shirou is empty. The experiences of the fire and his deep suppression or losing of his memories had resulted in him becoming empty. I have tried to express this with my writing. Shirou is a new baby chick flapping his tiny wings around and trying to understand the strange new world. To add his inherent emptiness both in my story as well as canon, we must remember that there was an alteration to Shirou's soul, an act that in whatever universe of fanfiction, will have wide reaching ramifications. His Original Origin and element was changed to the Concept of Sword. This made him an Incarnation. Due to this, he is the embodiment of what a sword signified. A sword is to be used. A sword requires a wielder. Shirou Emiya being a sword, sheaths himself into these ideals to satisfy his emptiness. This is apparent in Canon.

This is my first deviation from Canon. His Origin. This does not matter much and is never touched on in other fanfictions but what Avalon did was rewrite his soul. What if his Soul had not been rewritten? What if he Avalon had just granted him the Origin of sword on top of his previous Origin? Shirou Emiya's previous Origin does not matter here for it is never mentioned in canon and thus giving me the opportunity to come up with such a story. His Origin is 'Conceptualization' or 'concepts' The ramifications and significance of this both to his personality or skills will become more apparent later.

Shirou Emiya in canon bathes himself into the ideals of selflessness and being a Hero of Justice too much in canon. My story will touch more on the aspect of Shirou's Emptiness instead. This is due to his Origin no longer just being 'sword' and thus he does not sheath himself into the ideals. Shirou in my story will instead undergo a Journey much more similar to his mirror in emptiness. He will have a journey of discovery much more like Kirei. They are still mirrors however and going by that line of thought, Shirou has more good in his soul differing to Kirei.