A.N.:

Reading author notes before I even read the story annoys me. So if you are annoyed by this, please bear with it a little. First things first, it would be advisable if you have the bare minimum of knowledge on F/SN or Type Moon in general before reading this. Second, I'm not following a specific route.

Third? There will be a lot of unanswered questions. Some I will provide an answer for, others you can speculate on cause I will leave it unanswered. Fourth, what crossover is this? It's an F/SN (obviously) and Mushoku Tensei crossover. This will probably be the first Mushoku Tensei crossover. I'm too lazy to do anything about it, so its just that, an F/SN fic.

If you don't know what Mushoku Tensei is, search google? Or read the manga(ongoing) or the light novel(complete). But you probably won't need to though it is advisable. I'll cover most things from Mushoku Tensei anyway. Hmm, oh, I think those are the important ones, the rest of A.N., is on the bottom... Read on.

Disclaimer: I own nothing...

Prologue(Infancy): Rebirth

-0-

To err is human. Therefore, regret is inevitable. Everyone has regrets no matter how small it is. But what if one wasn't human? What would you call the emotion known as regret? A sentient machine would go on and consider regret as merely an error in judgment and move to correct it or ignore it completely.

But the being known as Shirou Emiya was human, no matter how distorted he was. As he floated in the vast abyss of darkness, Shirou thought back to what he could have done. There was no logical reason for it. What was done was done, unless he was capable of time travel he should no longer be thinking of the things he could have changed. Because alas, there were many. It was the remnants of the fragments of Shirou Emiya who was able to barely develop something akin to human emotions.

Shirou Emiya was no longer on any physical plane of existence. But where ever this place was, it was neither heaven nor hell. His life flashed before him again as he floated aimlessly on that dark vacuum of void.

His very first memory was of a fire. But it was not the fire that Shirou Emiya remembered. It was the memory of a woman, a crimson eyed blonde Hero who became of his greatest regret.

There on that burning wasteland, she stood. A being of great power and authority. She was stared down the young boy who would become Shirou Emiya, clad in nothing, revealing her almost ethereal beauty to the world. That being was the very image of a king, a ruler of a great kingdom, the first Hero to ascend to the Throne of Heroes. Even the very flames which had consumed everything in its wake barely approached her.

"Live and prove your worth, your tenacity is admirable mongrel. Live and continue to entertain me, do not waste this chance I have given you."

Those were the words she spoke back then. It confused the child greatly. What did she mean by those words? Thus the child would continue to grow. Training his body and mind to become stronger. His aim? To reach that woman's level of power by all means necessary, or so he thought at first.

But in the depths of his heart, he knew that that was not what he truly wished. What he truly wished for was to be able to surpass that woman, surpass her until he too would stand at that summit. He wanted to become strong. He wanted to feel what that woman felt as she stood before him as the very pinnacle of humanity's power. He wanted to be at that apex, and that woman was what he saw as the one at the top.

But there could not be two 'strongest', the title of the strongest was absolute. It was a truth. So the only for him to hold that title was to surpass that woman.

The vision jumped forward to a scene bathed in the moon's fading silver light. A tired and weary man far past his prime sat beside a boy on the cusps of adolescences.

"Dad?" The boy looked up at his adoptive father inquisitively. "What does it mean to be strong?"

The man was startled by the question. It was the nature of the question that he found confusing not the question itself. The odd child had never asked any questions that were in any way illogical or rather, questions of great depth that could not be answered by a yes/no or a true/false.

The man fell into deep thought. He felt the importance of this question to the boy. Though he may not have been the best father, he did do his best.

"...To be strong... to be truly strong Shirou, is to be able to protect those that you hold dear, may they be people important to you or ideals that are the core of your life.

Let me tell you something Shirou, did you know that I once wanted to become a Hero? I trained myself to become stronger in order for me to become just that... in order to save everyone. And the Hero always wins because he is stronger, maybe his ideals are stronger, or his conviction."

The boy had an expression that was but a mimicry of confusion.

"You once dreamed to be a Hero? Are you no longer able to continue that dream?"

The man who was hailed as the Magus Killer grimaced, at both the pain that he felt and the bitter sting of the question. His eyes turned blurry and unfocused.

"Maybe being a Hero is a onetime thing, because as one grows older, he can no longer hold that dream in his heart."

There was a moment of silence before the boy answered.

"Then I will become a Hero in your stead, Dad. I will become everything that would embody the word 'Hero'. To be able to save everyone..." Those words with uttered with such conviction that the ailing man could not help but believe that the boy could do it. To become a true Hero.

A smile small formed on the elder Emiya's lips. It was the first true smile that Shirou had ever seen on his father figure. The expression of utter relief was too much for Shirou, he unknowingly mirrored the expression on his father's face. It was the least he could do, the only thing he could do for the man who had lost everything. It was his first step unto the hard and dangerous path of becoming a Hero.

It would be a five years later that he would be put into his first great ordeal, the Fifth Holy Grail War. It was a baptism by fire.

Shirou's thoughts stopped. The beast shackled inside his soul stirred again. The darkness broke like glass as he dived into his soul's depths. His eyes opened to the sight of his reality marble. A blood soaked field of swords, at the center of it all was a beast bound by divine chains.

The titanic primordial roared in fury. Its body, a strange composition of water, earth and lava, was littered by countless swords. The ten concentric circles that floated on its back whirled and turned. Each floating circle was inside the other, all of it of varying colors. The other most circle was of the color black and the inner most of the color white. It's single eye massive eye glared at its warden.

"You!" The sound was not a voice. It was a noise more reminiscent of a mixture of the booming of thunder, the swirling tides of the sea, the eruption of a volcano and a hundred more sounds that were not so unlike the forces of nature. But he was able to comprehend it by means that escaped him.

"You're awake again... please do not struggle too much. And all that shouting is making my head hurt..."

Shirou waited for the divine entity to calm down as it threw swaths of earth and fire at him. None ever reached him. He rubbed his temples in attempt to ease the pain in his head. He wanted nothing more than to skewer that titan with swords and mystic codes that would force back that being into sleep but he wanted to talk. He wanted answers. He did not know how long he had floated in that boundless space or how long he would be there.

So the least he could do was maybe try to talk some sense into that being wanted nothing more than to crush him into a bloody pulp. There was no sense of time in this place. He did not know how long he had been reliving his memories. He had lost count past a thousand.

But all his efforts had been futile so far. It was an endless cycle. He would wait and wait until either the massive titan tired out and fell asleep or he would grow tired of waiting and force it to sleep. But there were rare moments where the titan was not always trying to kill. Very rare moments. He treasured those moments like a lifeline to sanity.

Shirou sat down on a protruding rock to wait.

Then something strange happened. He felt his consciousness slipping. He panicked and tried to stand up. Even the chained titan seemed to grow weaker as he did. His last vision was of red spiral conceptual weapon. The only weapon that he 'owned', ironic because that weapon was not truly his but given to him. It was the only weapon that he had never been able to analyze, the only weapon he could not and would not touch. But it was there, it existence longingly reaching out to him. Her last gift, the sword worthy of a Hero, her Hero.

And the memory of his regrets.

-0-

Alicia Fathira Braeares gripped the sheets hard as her knuckles turned white.

"Push harder, milady. He's nearly there." The calm comforting voice of the midwife did little to ease her worry and pain.

"Gaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" The pain of the delivery was immense as she tried to follow the old woman's instruction. It was a little later that she felt the pain recede coinciding with the loud crying of a child. Her drugged and hazy mind recognized the sound.

"Congratulations on giving birth to a healthy boy milady. Ah, what great lungs he has. He's the loudest child I've ever delivered."

Alicia reached a hand out towards the little bundle being offered towards her. Her earlier pain was forgotten as she looked down at the child. This child was the source of all her problems. The child was a product of her foolish mistakes. The anger crept unto her mind as she waited for the midwife to finish cleaning and leave. The poisoned dagger under her pillow was ready.

"I would advise you well to try and feed the child later milady, if you need anything else please do not hesitate to pull the rope on your right. We will be here immediately in case you are in need of our assistance." The midwife bowed politely and left the woman and her child as she had been instructed earlier.

Alicia steeled her heart and mind. She had to do this. Her right hand reached behind her to grip the knife's hilt while the other cradled the covered bundle.

It would be a mercy to the child. Her hand trembled as she reached to remove the cloth that covered the child's face and eyes. The child would suffer nothing but a life of pain and suffering if he lived. Even she would be put in great danger if anyone were to ever learn of the child's identity. She would kill him. Yes, she was being merciful-

Her hand froze.

The unnamed child born of her mistakes stared back at her with innocent amber eyes. The hand that was raised holding the dagger weakened. Her resolve melted as she gazed upon the baby. The poisoned blade clattered noisily on the floor as it fell from her hand. The stoic facade which had only ever been shattered once broke once more.

She could not do it.

Tears flowed down her cheeks, wetting the bundled cloth. Slowly, she leaned down and embraced the baby. It was her child. She could not do it after all. She cried for something that would have happened had she brought down that dagger. She embraced the child to herself as she wailed loudly.

How could she have ever thought of doing such an unforgivable sin. She was not innocent to the concept of killing. Her hands were stained with blood, both by the times she had killed with her sword and by subtly directing others to kill her targets. She was, after all, an assassin. She was a member of the elite that dwelled in the shadows. Her true name long since forgotten by everyone but her. She was one of the dark secrets of the Kingdom of Asura, a member of the Crimson Rose, the elite assassins employed by the kingdom.

But even with all the blood she had shed, this was one life she could not take. She had not killed the child while it was inside her womb saying that the child should at least be born before it died. To that extent she had prepared extensively for this. But it was a failure.

She separated herself from the child. Her calloused hand caressed the child's unblemished skin. Hair as red as hers lightly covered the child's head. Her mind blanked out as she realized something. A name, she had not thought of a name for her child yet...

Shirou.

The word appeared in her mind. She could not recognize of what language it was though she was trained in three of most used languages.

"Shirou." The words rolled of her tongue perfectly. "I'll name you Shirou..."

The sleepy expression on the child's pudgy face was adorable. Ever so quietly, she sang a song. It was not a lullaby by any standards. Not one for the ears of a child. It was a sad song of a tragic story. It was one that was almost too similar to her own.

A shackled girl, the daughter of a rich noble, who dreamed of being free. The girl was beautiful, undoubtly so. As she grew older, many sought her hand in marriage. But one day, his father suffered a great loss. And the only way he could recover from it was by marrying his daughter to another noble. The song ended with the girl now a woman, suffering further tragedy after tragedy.

Alicia leaned her head on the bed's headboard watching as her child slept.

Her sleep was short lived as she was jolted awake before a blade could descend on her head. Honed battle instincts kick in as she tilted her head to the right. The blade was buried in the pillow missing her by barely a centimeter.

A crossbow bolt buried itself on her attackers head throwing him off the bed.

"Cap- I mean Milady! Are you alright!? Are you unhurt?"

"I am fine Celeste. You may refer to may as Captain now, our cover is unneeded. What is the status of the mansion?" Alicia calmly wiped the blood of her face she cradled her sleeping child, as if nothing had ever happened. She placed the sleeping child gently on the bed and retrieved a dress from the closet.

"A regiment of the Vermillion Lotus have arrived and tried to force their way in. We were able to stop them but we were barely able to intercept this group. The mansion is under attack, Revan's group is downstairs holding them off for now." Alicia nodded at the short report in satisfaction. She grabbed the poisoned dagger she had dropped earlier and headed for the door, her child comfortable placed on the hook of her left arm.

"Where are Irina and Chloe?" Celeste stepped forward and opened the door for her.

"They are securing our escape route as we speak Captain."

"The Vermillion Lotus has made their move? Did you find anything that indicates which groups sanctioned them to take action?" Her hand whipped out into motion as she threw the dagger, a body dropped from the ceiling. Celeste handed her an unsheathed blade immediately but not before shooting another bolt at the body on the floor. The blade was a thin guardless, katana.

"We found an insignia from their captain indicating it to be from Lord Darius."

Alicia gritted her teeth. That backstabbing traitor! He was the only one who could have known where she was. She had trusted him a bit too much it seemed. It did not matter. She had prepared for this. She had already seen the signs of Lord Darius supporting the Second Prince's growing faction. It was only a matter of time before Lord Darius could gather enough power to claim the seat of a Senior Minister.

The First Prince had approached her months ago for an offer. It was a very tempting offer. It was because they were one of the two great military powers that could influence any and all political battle in the kingdom.

The first was the Royal Guard with its massive influence and great popularity among the masses. And then there was the Crimson Rose, the ancient group of assassins that was established during the early years of the kingdom to deal with the more unsavory criminals and problems that the Royal Guard could not deal with. Their power was deeply rooted because of the many favors they had collected over the years.

Alicia was the Twenty First Leader.

While the Royal Guard could claim to have Water God Reida Ryia as their strongest, Alicia was the practitioner of an ancient style of swordsmanship that was more geared toward assassination, the Shadow God Style. The Water God Style of swordsmanship relied greatly on reading intent. But the Shadow God Style was a swordsmanship that had been dedicated and honed to perfection for just that, the elimination of single target. It had been successful so far that no one even knew of such a style's existence.

The Water God Style stood no chance against them.

Alicia as the Twenty First inheritor had mastered all six secret arts that was the something that only the founder of the style had ever done, as such she was also the inheritor of its title. She was known as Shadow God Alicia.

Alicia had refused the First Prince's proposition. Now that her child was born, she was more inclined to think that this may have been fate's work. If she had accepted the First Prince's offer back then, she would have decided then to kill her child.

Celeste held a torch as she pressed a stone on the wall. A few clicks could be heard as gears turned revealing a hidden door on the wall. The door lead downwards towards into the tunnels connected to the sewers that then lead out of the capital.

Their shadows flickered against the walls as they descended down the stairs. Celeste dropped her crossbow and armed herself with a blade similar to her Captain's. The paths grew wider as they advanced.

"Stop here. Celeste, take my child." Celeste awkwardly received the deeply sleeping baby. They had entered a part of the tunnel that lead to a cavern, the cavern having multiple paths.

"What is it Captain?"

Alicia slashed a her palm with her blade and splattered a few drops towards the shadows. Her blade came up later not a second too late parrying the incoming attack and slashing forwards. She remained stoic , her face impassive. The figure that had attacked retreated back into the shadows. But there was no escape for that man.

"Celeste, I want you to take my child back to the Blind Rat Inn just outside the city. From there, talk to our contact. Tell them the Silver Maiden sent you. They will know what to do. Please protect this child as you would protect me."

"Of course Captain. But... err, I mean-"

"Speak your mind to me."

"What if, what if... you..." A look of understanding crossed Alicia's face, her face was ashen and her complexion pale. It was likely Celeste had noticed this earlier and was afraid to ask if she was alright. She was still weak from childbirth, this she knew. Even the mind numbing drug that she taken was still working. The midwife had been adamant that she was not to take it for a safer birthing of the child...

Too late for regrets now.

"I will not die here. This I promise." Her eyes hardened and glinted cold as steel. " I am the Twenty First Rose, this I swear to you Celeste. As long as I breath, I will not let any harm come to my child. Thus, I must live." She felt a warmth in her chest as she said those words. It gave her a strange feeling of satisfaction saying those words.

She looked at her child once more and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She trusted Celeste as she would her own shadows. Completely. She looked at the only possession she had ever treasured, her hand-made bracelet that was a gift from her deceased mother. She took it off and placed it on her child's right arm.

"Go." Alicia turned back to where the attacker had retreated from. She could hear Celeste's quiet footsteps. A smile adorned her beautiful face. Her smile turned into a snarl as she could make out the approach of four other figures from where the man had retreated from earlier.

A strange fierceness emanated from her. It was so strange that the first two figures faltered in their steps unsure of what they were seeing. Shadow God Alicia never showed emotion on the battle field. She was so cold and emotionless that some suspected that she did not have emotions. As such, seeing her like this for the first time unnerved her opponents.

"Oh spirits of flames I beseech thee. Daughters of the Sun, I ask of thee. The third star that fell from heaven, oh Remnants of Sol, oh Remains of Luna-" Alicia's incantation was unbroken as one of the figures attacked.

"Ignite beast of the hearth!"

The torches on the walls exploded. Various explosions could be heard happening above ground.

"Have you gone mad!" Unable to remain calm, one of the figure shouted in panic. "Do you plan to bury as all here!"

"Silence you North God dog! You have lost all rights to speak to me when you sold even you honor to that traitor Darius! Either I die or you will all die you gathering of cowards!"

"Hoh... a sharp tongue you have their young one. I might just take you on just to teach you some manners..." The shortest among the four steps forward.

Alicia smiled ferally.

"Come then. I will show you what it truly means to cut you delusional hag."

Sparks flew from their blades as the two rival Blade Gods crossed swords. A battle where only one would be able to walk away.

-0-

Celeste paused in her steps when she felt the earth shake. A second later, explosions rocked the tunnel behind her. A massive chunk of the tunnel collapsed closing off the path where she came from. She leaned against the tunnel walls. She could smell the faint pungent smell of decay and waste. They were near the sewers.

She steadied herself before her legs could give out from under her. Being in the presence of an enraged Alicia was not something she wanted to repeat. That added with of the four other people who were waiting for them in that cavern had nearly made her kneel. Those four, they were far above her. Their aura, the way they moved and the sheer experience and talent needed to reach such ranks were still beyond her.

Her breathing steadied.

She sheathed her sword and made her way to the direction of the sewers. She had a mission to fulfill. This was no time to immersed in fear and doubt. The Captain would make it out alive. Alicia promised didn't she?

But Celeste could help but feel the creeping dread.

There was no way they could have escaped unless the Captain guarded the rear for them. She stared at the child that slept on her arms. Celeste was by no means a fool. Though she may not be as strong as any of the others, she was the smartest among. She was the second in command for a reason. Her sharp wits and borderline fanatical worship of the Twenty First Rose enabled her to deduce immediately who the father of this child was.

The child was of royal blood, he was a descendant of the bloodline of the rulers of Asura. The child was a prince.

Celeste had prepared herself for this inevitability. It was bound to happen someday. Her Captain was a woman who many admired and secretly yearned for. Celeste was no exception, she had suppressed her desires and channeled them towards other avenues. But what that man did was unforgivable. This child was a result of her mistress's weakness. She wanted nothing more than to abandon this child and return to the Captain's side.

She could not do that. Her pace increased as she went on a half jog. Her Captain's orders were absolute. If the Captain had ever asked her to take her own life, she would gladly slit her throat and die with a smile on her face.

Her torch's light was weakening. It didn't matter. She was nearly there.

She paused for a bit of rest. A cold chill run down her spine. Even from this far, she could feel the Captain's touki fluctuating wildly as it was released. Whoever her enemy was, they were strong.

She trudged towards a part of the wall. Her empty hand turned into a fist, she used it to crush a small part of the wall marked by charcoals, barely visible under the weak light. The wall caved in to reveal a hollow hallway, the paths lighted by arrayed torches.

Further ahead was a staircase leading upwards. She discarded the torch as she neared the top of the stairs.

The raucous laughter from nearby indicated that she was already outside. She was in the bustling parts of the red light district, the slums. She glanced upwards towards the darkening afternoon skies, dark clouds were gathering. Without stopping, she dashed towards a horse tied on a pole. Her blade came free as she slashed on the ropes. She glanced behind her. There were three armed men scrambling after her, two rushing towards the stables.

"Stop! Stop right there! Under my authority as a captain of the Royal Guards, I order you to stop!"

She leapt on the horse's back ignoring the lumbering man who was rushing towards her.

"Shoot her! I don't care what you do to stop shoot her you fools!"

She grimaced as an arrow lodged its way on her back. The leather armor had blunted most of the impact only allowing the arrow to burrow into a single inch of flesh. More arrows flew by her head as she whipped the horse into full gallop.

It would not end like this. The Captain had ordered her to protect this child, she would not fail her.

-0-

Shirou's eyes opened blearily. He felt weak, so so weak. It felt even worse than the time Rin had blasted him a full few shots of Gandr at pointblank because of... because of, well he couldn't remember why she had done it but it was probably because he did something so utterly idiotic and stupid that infuriated Rin so much.

He felt a soft warmth pressed to his body. He tried to open his eyes but he couldn't. His instincts were shouting at him telling him that he shouldn't. But his other senses were telling him of something else.

It smelt of blood, leather, steel and lilacs... wait, lilacs? He could hear the clashing of steel against steel and the moans of dying men.

"*** **** ** ******* *****." His mind registered the voice, but not the what the words meant meant. The person that was carrying him was a woman, of that he was sure.

The clashing stopped as he was tugged back with the woman carrying him jumping away from a sword slash. His mind registered the thought. Someone was carrying him? That would mean that the woman was somehow a few sizes larger than him. She would have to be a giant.

Shirou was by no means small. At the end of his life, he was towering over most of the average Japanese. It was also because he never aged past his thirties remaining at his mid twenties. He was a fully grown adult. The ease with which he was being carried around with meant that the woman had great strength. He far heavier than how he appeared to be. What with him having a body composed of pure muscles and a bones of steel.

It was either that or his body had suffered a strange curse reverting him to his infancy. That would be the more logical conclusion though he could not accept it. It would explain why he was so weak, why he could not fully open his eyes and why when he tried to speak all that came out was the wailing of a baby!

But what in the name of the Blue could have done this? Reverting a physical body's age back to its infancy was not something that was under the Fifth True Magic right? It was not... probably...

He could glimpse the face of the woman that carried him.

There were ten men surrounding them, all with their swords drawn. The man that stood at the front was most likely their leader. He menacingly waved his swords and shouted in an rough gravelly voice. Shirou could feel the woman's hot and labored breathing on his sensitive skin. He calmed himself and tried to gather any other information. The language with which both parties spoke was foreign to him.

But it appeared that the men in armor wanted the woman killed. He did not understand why. He did not know the reasons behind it. But he would protect that woman that was carrying him. He did not know who was right or wrong. By principle, he should kill the woman so that he would not have to kill the group of men. A life for ten? But it was more likely for the woman to be his protector, someone related to him. Thus he would protect the woman.

She was, from what Shirou could see, barely holding on. Her face was pale, sweat streamed down her face to her neck. It was likely that she was already losing blood.

He concentrated and tried to get a feel of his circuits. He nearly panicked when he couldn't find it.

It was not there. He did not have his circuits. Instead, what he found within him was a magical core. What he found disappointed and saddened him. The core's prana generation was pathetic. It was barely even comparable to a single one of his former subpar circuits.

The men readied themselves to attack.

"Trace On." He intoned in his mind.

He would have to make do with this. He would pour all of what little he currently had into this.

Prana gathered, swords materialized around him and the woman. The woman looked around confused, the men panicking and shouting. One of the men in armor turned back and dropped his sword, he started running.

Three. Four. Six. Eight. Twelve. More and more swords materialized in the air around them. This was surreal. There was no wrongness. There was no rejection to his magecraft. It felt like what he was doing was being guided by the world instead of being crushed by it.

The last of the men looked at him and the woman, then to his retreating subordinates. He dropped his own sword and ran for it. The woman stopped looking around and gazed down at him.

Ah, an elf.

The woman was an elf. Shirou began to sweat bullets. Elves did not hate humans, right? He was not about to be killed right? How had he not noticed the long pointed ears!? Rich purple orbs were focused on him with such an intensity that he felt he would melt if she stared any longer. But Shirou did not back down, he held the woman's gaze with an equal measure of intensity.

The woman collapsed on her knees. Her long disheveled hair was sprawled on the ground. Her shoulder shook as tears streamed down her face. Shirou could not tell if she was trying to laugh or sob. There was a myriad of emotions on her face, the most prominent being despair and awe. She chose to cry.

"Alicia... why... You promised you would be here!"

The words meaning escaped him. But the pained expression on the woman's face assured him that she was grieving. Someone important to her died.

Maybe it was one of the nearby corpses. Maybe not. He reached out to touch the woman's hand, his hand barely able to hold one of her fingers. Shirou waited as the woman cried, drops of water already starting to fall.

It was as if the world wanted to grieve for the woman's lose as rain poured down on both of them.

-0-

Derp le derp derp... I was bored yesterday and had a little time on my hands. So I wrote this. Another generic stupid fic that I came up with. Updates will be only when I got time if anyone would even read this... lol. This has been in my thoughts for a while...

Why Mushoku Tensei? BECAUSE I don't know? I just felt like it? Meh... I'm still not returning from hiatus status. This is just a fic I felt like writing. So updates will be irregular. And oh yeah... this will probably be a little AUish. It will steer a little from canon...

(-w-)

Also, I'll be following Mushoku Tensei-verse rules which means. Probably a lot stronger Shirou... What else have I forgotten to write... uh, uh, I dunno? Will probably write more notes on my next update whenever that is.

So yeah... hope you enjoyed reading this generic trash reincarnation genre fic. Leave a review or something. Tell me what you think?