Beyond Avalon

Summary: Artoria had been crushed upon learning from Gaia that her beloved had been tricked into another contract and would never see her in Avalon. But Artoria would not let her beloved get away so easily. Reborn as the twin sister of Louise, Artoria Guinevere De La Valliere would have her scabbard again. Nobody would deny her. Not even Alaya. One-shot!

Reunion

"You cannot mean to tell me this commoner is my familiar, Professor Colbert!?" a pink haired girl yelled in outrage at a teacher, who was looking rather uncomfortable with the whole situation. Though that said nothing for the young boy in jeans and a jacket, looking confused and afraid.

"I'm afraid the ritual is a sacred tradition, Miss Valliere," the bald professor insisted. "This man is your familiar, and I must insist you finish the ritual."

"Looks like Louise really is a zero!" someone jeered from the crowd, and everyone began to laugh at the pink haired girl, who was turning red with rage. Everyone… Except one person.

Not far from the pink haired mage, was a young woman who was similar in stature to Louise, but had a much more elegant and slender figure to her than her sister, and was also slightly taller. Her hair was long and blonde, and her green eyes were like a pair of emeralds at the bottom of a lake. And she was looking between her twin sister and the young man summoned with interest… And a little bit of hope.

This woman was Artoria Guinevere De La Valliere. Though, in another life, she was known as Artoria 'Arthur' Pendragon, the King of Knights.

How had she ended up here? It was very simple. She had ended up here due to a wish. A wish to see someone dear to her… Someone she would go through any lengths to see again, even if it had meant being reincarnated into an entirely different world.

For once, Artoria was a being known as a Servant; a near divine being that had ascended to a realm known as 'The Throne of Heroes.' A place that only people who had become what humanity called a 'hero' could enter. Her legend was one of such popularity that she had earned herself a place on the throne of heroes.

Her beloved would have certainly also had a place there, but he had been tricked. He had been approached by the Counter Force, Alaya, and tricked into a contract. And with that contract, her chance to be with him in Avalon was gone. She would never see him again, and that was something she could not bear.

So she had twisted the rules.

It had taken much work and many deals for her to reach her goal, but she had finally managed to convince Gaia, the will of the planet, to allow her to reincarnate into another world. Gaia knew of her intentions, of course it did, but Artoria had saved Gaia much trouble. After all, if Angra Mainyu had managed to destroy humans, then the planet would be next. Something Gaia couldn't have. Gaia seemed to believe that the King of Knights and her beloved sheath deserved a nice little reward for that.

And so, here she was. And today was the day all the first year students at Tristain Academy, a place where 'Nobles' learned how to properly use the magic they were born with, would be summoning their familiars. Artoria had doubts that she would be able to summon her beloved to her, even though she had the words of the summoning spell that was used to summon heroes memorised. But upon seeing her twin sister successfully summoning a human, even accidentally, it filled Artoria with hope that it could be done.

Artoria was snapped out of her thoughts by a yell of pain from the young man her sister had summoned. While she was not paying attention, it appeared that her sister had completed the contract, something she noticed by the runes on the back of the young man's hand. However, the burning of the runes seemed to have caused him to pass out… Interesting, though the boy should learn to take a bit of pain.

She also noticed how Professor Colbert had seemed rather interested in those runes. But she would ponder on that later. For now…

"You are the only one left to go, Miss Valliere," Professor Colbert said, this time referring to Artoria.

"It seems like Lady Artoria is going to be summoning next," she heard from someone in the crowd.

"She'll obviously summon a proper familiar, unlike her zero of a sister," she heard another, earning more laughter, though it was quickly quelled with a heated glare towards the people.

Artoria had grown very protective of Louise. After her colossal failure regarding Mordred, Artoria had seen Louise as a second chance to have a proper family. She loved her sister dearly, and she was always quick to defend her. She knew Louise was not a 'Zero.' Even a third-rate could become one of the strongest beings to exist. That was something her beloved her taught her, and it was something she would always remember.

"I hope you do not mind, Professor," Artoria voiced, looking back to the teacher. "But I shall be using a… Different summoning chant that is not standard. I spent many hours in the library researching for this day, and decided that this chant fit me more. I hope that will not be an issue?"

"A little unusual…" Colbert said. "But I will allow it. So long as you summon a familiar. If it fails, then you shall have to use the standard chant."

"I understand," she said. She would not fail. She could not fail. She had waited too long to see her beloved again, and she would summon him. They had both waited long enough, and she was done with waiting. She needed him by her side.

Taking a breath, Artoria drew a knife and slashed her hand. She ignored the startled cries from the people, clenching her fist and letting the blood drip down from her palm as she began the chant.

"Silver and iron to the origin," she uttered. And she began to let her mind fill with thoughts of her beloved. His red hair… His amber eyes… His gentle smile… Magic began to fill the air, a huge magic circle appearing beneath the King of Knights as her clothing and hair began to waver, like gravity didn't exist. "Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg."

She thought of his unwavering will to face his dream. His desire to protect everybody, be they good or evil. His caring heart that none could imitate. "The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate."

"Shut (fill)." She would see him.

"Shut (fill)." She would see him.

"Shut (fill)." She would see him!

"Shut (fill)." She would see him!

"Shut (fill)." None would deny her this!

"Repeat every five times." Not Alaya!

"Simply, shatter once filled." Not Gaia!

"――――I announce." He was her scabbard!

"Your self is under me, my fate(doom) is in your sword." He was hers! Her scabbard! Her lover! He searched endlessly for her! Nobody else!

"In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer." She would summon him! Only him, and no other!

"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead." No other would suffice! For he was the one who held her heart! She needed him!

"You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance ―――!"

'Please answer me… Shirou!'

A blinding light filled the clearing…

He sighed as he returned home from his first mission. Thankfully, Alaya seemed to want to ease him into the job, and wouldn't be forcing him to kill people quite yet. She likely wanted to break him much more slowly than she had Archer, and the worst part was that he was powerless to stop her.

How had he been so foolish as to accept her offer?

He should have known she was nothing but a liar. And now…

And now he would never see her again…his dearest king was out of his reach forever. She would wait in that ever-distant Utopia forever, waiting for him to arrive. But he never would. He would forever be out of her reach, no matter how much he desired to see her again.

It hurt.

It hurt more than anything he had ever experienced.

Hearing her confession and then having her vanish before his eyes had hurt less then this! He didn't… He didn't know if he would be able to handle this…

But then he felt it.

A call. A call using a chant from the Grail, but it felt different. It felt more… Intimate. Like the summoning was touching his very heart. No, something deeper… It was reaching out to Avalon that was still within him. It was beckoning it, using it as a Beacon to call him to his the one to summon him.

As he began to follow the call, he saw the door open, and before him he saw Alaya, clad in the form of Illyasviel Von Einzbern. And she screamed. "No!" she roared, running towards him with fury. "No! No! No! She cannot do this, you are mine now! GAIA, YOU CANNOT DO THIS!"

Shirou Emiya never had a chance to question her as he felt his contract with Alaya snap, and found himself whisked away… He found himself free of Gaia's influence… And within moments, he found himself standing in a clearing as the light faded.

She hadn't dared to open her eyes yet. She was afraid to do so. She was afraid she had failed the summoning. Or worse, that she had summoned someone other than her beloved. If she had, then she didn't know how she would go on. She wouldn't… She couldn't be apart from him a moment longer. She needed him.

Through her closed eyes, the blinding light slowly faded, and she heard new breathing directly in front of her. Someone was there.

She daren't hope.

"In accordance with your summons," the voice spoke, and she sucked in a breath. That voice… Oh how she had missed that voice… "I have answered your call. I ask thee: Art thou my master?"

Those words… Were they not the first words that she had said to him? On that cold night when she saved him from Lancer. She had never known that she would fall in love with that young man on that day. But here they were, and with their roles reversed. This time, she was the master, and he was her servant… Her scabbard…

Her eyes slowly, hesitantly opened, and there he was. On one knee before her, his head bowed low and no doubt his eyes were closed. She couldn't help it. Tears began to cascade down her cheeks. Tears of joy fell down, but she didn't care.

It was him.

It was him.

It was him!

It was her beloved. Even when her faith had waned, he had answered her call. He had come to her. Her beloved was here…

"Shirou…" She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

It was enough.

She watched as his entire form stiffened. She watched as his head slowly tilted up, and they met once again. Emerald green to those eyes like gorgeous ambers. His red hair a contrast to her gold.

"... S... Saber?" his voice cracked, as if he were unable to believe it.

All around, she heard the people whispering in disbelief that she had summoned a 'commoner.' Foolish, all of them. Her beloved was no mere commoner. He was her scabbard, her most trusted. The only one she would follow to hell and back, and she knew that he would follow her in turn.

"... You're late, Shirou," Artoria tried to reprimand him like Rin had told her, but she found her voice lacking the needed tone. She couldn't use it against him. Not after so long. She just continued to stare at him with love and adoration as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"... I got lost," the red head told her as he slowly rose up. He was taller now, a few inches taller than she recalled him being at least. But that was okay, she would just pull him down, or make him lean down. "Is… Is this real?" he asked her, his voice fearful. "This isn't another dream, is it? I… I'm not going to wake up and be without you again, am I?"

"Never again, beloved," she told him, her delicate hands reaching up to stroke his cheeks.

Warm.

"Never again. We are together again… And we shall never part. This I swear to you."

That was all the answer Shirou needed. He scooped down, and captured Artoria's lips in a passionate kiss that had people gasping in shock. No doubt they expected Artoria to toss him off and cast a powerful spell on him to make him pay.

Imagine their surprise when her arms wrapped around the man, smiling into the kiss. Even as runes burned into the back of Shirou's hand, marking him as Artoria's familiar, they never stopped their kiss. Nobody would stop them, for they had waited too long for this. Even if this was not the place they promised to meet, it was more than perfect.

It was everything they'd ever wanted.