I wasn't wrong.

That was the thought of Emiya Shirou, the Archer of the 5th Grail war, as he faded back into oblivion. As his mind and experiences drifted back into the Throne of Heroes, his mind still pondered about the war he just left behind.

I wasn't wrong… only the way I pursued the dream was wrong. To think the younger, more foolish me would prevail… And with Rin at his side… That Shirou will never turn into me. I may never escape this hell, but at least I can say I saved a world. I was finally able to save others, not just take lives. Even if I did it in the wrong way.

As the remnants of EMIYA entered into the Throne once more to reintegrate into the Counter Guardian bound within, a small sliver was pulled away. It was tiny, and unnoticeable; whose loss would affect nothing of the returning servant or the bound guardian within. But for those who pulled it away, it would change everything.

"Dammit! To think a level 0 could ruin EVERYTHING!"

"Tsk, I understand your distress Takahashi-san, but freaking out about this will not help us in the slightest. Be thankful that you're not Amai Ao. All the liability was forced unto him, and unlike him, we have contacts who will pay us well for the illegal spares we made."

"But still Kobayashi-san! Think of all the funding we lost, just to be redirected to other projects."

"No point in lamenting about it now, just be glad we'll be out of the city before they realize we embezzled about 10% of the funds for our own personal research."

"Do you think we can escape Academy City's agents?"

"Our contacts have given us their assurances, which is better than trying to gain the support of the Science Association like Amai."

"Who are our contacts anyways?"

"They claim to be part of an organization called 'The Seven Colored Dawn'"

"That sounds… pretentious…"

"No shit, but the money is good. They've already posted the 10% down payment."

"Already?"

"They too know that there's only a short window of time before the Superintendent restores order in this chaos."

"Still, hundreds of thousands for 9 extra clones… Aren't you curious as to what they're so desperate for?"

"Of course I am, but we can look into that AFTER we're safely out of Academy city."

Nodding, the two scientists drained the vats, revealing several naked middle school aged girls with long tea colored hair. The girls glanced around, looking at the world around them in awe like newborns. Their movements were awkward and clumsy, several of whom slipped and fell trying to stand up like the men before them or crawl. Takahashi could only raise his brow in curiosity at the sight.

"Hm? I thought the clones learned from each other through the network?"

"I isolated these specimens from the network. Last thing we need is LAST ORDER being able to track down these extras. For all intents and purposes these specimens are helpless newborns, barely sentient without access to the greater network."

"Ah, so the extra shielding you put in the insulation…"

"Was to prevent the network from accessing my specimens. Granted, most died shortly afterwards, but after the first few hundred or so, I finally got it to work. Of course, if they leave this lab as is LAST ORDER will detect them immediately. I have only isolated them from the network, not severed their connection"

"Then how are we to get them to our contacts?"

"I had special coffins created with the same shielding to isolate the specimens whenever I had to transfer them anywhere. Unfortunately, I only had 3 built. I wasn't willing to risk getting exposed with large numbers of extra clones. But if we sedate the clones we can pack 3 per coffin. It will be a tight fit, and they'll run out of air if left in there for a few hours, but the drop off point is only 30 minutes away."

"Right, let's get to work then."

The researchers walked away from the wide eyed clones, with Kobayashi going to prepare the coffins. While the other, Takahashi walked to the other side of the lab and pulled out syringes and flicked their needles. The newborn clones only stared in curiosity as he walked toward them.

"This is a dangerous game you're playing Bartel. If Birdway discovers we have been moving behind her back…"

"Our lives are already beyond forfeit, I know this Arno. But think of the opportunity! The grimoire we discovered in Germany has shown me a method of learning, but has been too outlandish to implement. An alchemical means of access to the truth of the world!"

Within an empty warehouse in Academy city, two sharply dressed men stood alone. The pair would not look out of place in a fashion magazine, with their platinum blond hair and their ice blue eyes. At first glance one would think they were merely a pair of tourists that somehow got lost in the advanced city. But in such a futuristic city, the golden spear and sword they respectively held in their hands was out of place, as was the blood red occult symbols that were recently painted onto the walls.

"But doesn't that method entail human sacrifice? I mean, all records show that the few that attempted that method ended up losing parts of themselves that negated any gains the ritual gave."

"Ah, that is true, but the Grimoire has shown me another way. An ancient german family found a way to modify the ritual by using the symbolic power of the number 9. A way that requires 9 identical individuals arranged to pay the price for one to access the truth. Since finding 9 identical siblings is beyond rare in history, the family attempted to circumvent this with specialized homunculi they produced. Unfortunately for them however, they were ultimately destroyed by their rivals before they could perfect the process. But with clones of a girl with power…"

"We can fulfil the conditions of the ritual. Still, this is an incredible risk, we siphoned a lot of money from the Dawn-Colored Sunlight to pay off those scientists. Even if we are successful, Birdway will probably still have us killed out of principle."

"Then it's best that we are overwhelmingly successful to give her pause. Now stop complaining, it's already too late to turn back now!"

Grumbling, Arno grabbed a piece of chalk and began drawing the primary alchemical circle on the floor, inscribing its center with the needed geometric patterns. Meanwhile, his partner began working on three other sets of alchemic circles, each adorned with three triangles, three layers, and three focal points. Once Arno completed the primary circle, he inscribed the necessary runes while Bartel symmetrically interconnected all aspects of the circles, following the principle of trinities the entire time.

The completed array was massive, taking up a third of the warehouse that was originally intended to store airplanes for Academy City's use. Bartel could not help but smile at the cleanliness of their handiwork. The peaceful silence was interrupted when their sensors buzzed, heralding the arrival of the scientists and the clones.

As the two began to walk towards the entrance of the warehouse, Bartel gave his partner a smug grin.

"You know, there is no way they couldn't have spent the money so soon right Arno?"

"Yes, and?"

"You still have the incense that laxes people's guard in the sideroom correct? See if you can use it to reveal their information. If that doesn't work, well Dionysus's wine should do the trick. Once you get their personal information, kill them so we can reclaim our funds."

Arno's eyes widened in shock at proposal.

"Eh? Isn't that a bit much Bartel? What happened to using them to fuse science with magic safely?"

Bartel, you've never been this callous before you found that damned grimoire.

"Once I obtain 'truth' they will not be needed. Besides, they betrayed their own organization for money. Who is foolish enough to trust traitors motivated by simple greed?"

Arno shuffled uneasily, his feelings of discomfort about the whole venture escalating immensely. Seeing his most reliable partner so uncomfortable, Bartel could only sigh.

"Hah… very well, we won't kill them, but still use the incense to gather as much information out of them as possible. We'd be fools to trust them blindly."

I can always kill them later and make it look like an accident anyways. I'll need to remember Arno is trustworthy, but too weak and squeamish for the dirty work. Huh, I wonder why I never noticed this before?

Sighing a breath of relief, Arno nodded and walked towards the scientists as they unloaded the coffins just inside the warehouse. As Arno led the pair away, Bartel opened the coffins and one by one, carried the girls to their designated spots on the array. Smiling ferally, Bartel pushed magic into the array, causing electricity to spark and a blinding light to emanate from the alchemic circles. Information poured directly into his mind as the girls screamed, their bodies breaking apart from the strain of power coursing through the area. He saw a grand door, and a white silhouette of a man sitting before it, bearing a toothy grin.

Oh? It's been a long time since anyone used alchemy like this in this timeline. I see, human transmutation as well. Tsk, people never learn. Lets see what I can take from this fool in exchange.

Truth gazed upon aberrant man, who was audaciously using powers long since forgotten in the timeline he resided in. Looking within the man, Truth cringed in disgust as he found the Grimoire infesting his body, slowly eroding away the man who bore it.

Ah, that filthy thing. I was wondering when it would appear once more. To think it would endure in such an unsightly manner, to spread its distorted understanding of 'truth' to whatever timeline, whatever world it resides in.

The fool is nothing more than a puppet, unaware that his actions are slowly becoming not his own. The book is using him as a sacrifice to gain the knowledge it desires.

How poetic, a pestilence trying to contact god to gain the knowledge on how to become a proper plague.

Foolish.

One cannot gain anything without losing something in return, and nine newborn children with the life of a fool is not equal to that knowledge.

Smirking to itself, Truth mused on how to respond to this peculiar summons. The sacrifice was enough to reach the gate and the desires of all involved laid bare before it. The mage wants ultimate knowledge, the grimoire wishes to spread its truth of suffering, and the girls merely wish to live with their sisters they never had chance to know, and to leave a mark upon the world.

Then let me abide by all their desires!

Reaching into the void to search for the most poetic of answers, he found a familiar fool drifting back into the Throne, one who in life failed to understand the nature of equivalent exchange. One who discovered far too late that you could not save one without sacrificing another.

But instead of seeing a broken man, insane from self hatred and loathing, he saw a man at peace with himself. A man who finally discovered the answer he had been searching for.

Beside himself in curiosity, Truth extracted a tiny fragment of the man as he flowed by, witnessing the 5th Grail war once more.

Hah, it would seem that even fools can learn, even if it took this one beyond an eternity to understand. To think the perfect solution would be found so effortlessly.

Taking energy from the fading souls for the girls, he empowered the fragment he plundered to survive as its own conscience. Then, taking their disintegrating bodies, he would forge a new one.

Then, as the puppet and the Grimoire finally appeared before the Gate, Truth sported a maniacal grin as he greeted the fools.

The Gate opened and several arms pulled the girls inside, their bodies disintegrating before the unperturbed mage. Calmly, he walked in, expecting his wish to be granted.

It was, in the form of an odd, spiral shaped sword that immediately pierced his body. Bartel's eyes widened he looked an odd sword, and then at the short girl who was holding it. She looked exactly like the clones that just died, but her skin was far more tanned, and her long hair became snow white, and her blank eyes were the color of steel. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the strange girl with one word:

"Caladbolg."

Suddenly energy erupted from the blade, a light reminiscent of a rainbow spiralling out in a torrent of power, rending and tearing apart the fool's body, and with it, the Grimoire that was stored within.

Heh, hehe… ahahahahahahahahahaha!

Truth did not even bother to suppress his laughter as he held his stomach, with his maniacal grin not once fading.

Ultimately, pain, suffering, and death are what all humans will learn throughout their lives. And what better way to spread the Grimoire's teachings of suffering than an eternally damned hero of justice? And finally, the surest way for a human to leave their mark upon their world than to give it a new blood relative? One who can carry their will to the family they never got to know.

Pushing the girl out of Gate, Truth bade the Gate to close behind her with a deafening thud. It was at this moment that the girl, who was but a blank slate, began to awaken. Her eyes widened in shock at the odd environment she was in, then a moment later, the fact that she did not recognize her own body.

Bemused at the girl's confusion, Truth bore his trademark grin as he finally spoke.

"I know you have several questions Emiya, and in time, the answers will come to you in due time. Despite being a fool, you had a knack for gathering information in your afterlife."

The girl once known as EMIYA stared at truth, petrified at the raw power she was sensing from it.

A divine spirit?

"No Emiya, merely Truth. None can hide their thoughts from me for I am a reflection of all things. But time is short, and I have used your services, so now I must recompense you. After all, equivalent exchange must be upheld."

The girl wisely held her tongue, prompting the white entity before her to speak.

"You are a fragment of a spirit, plundered at my discretion to deal with a fool trying to play god. Your body is forged from the lives of nine of his victims who desperately wanted nothing more than to see their family before their deaths. Your core is that of the Heroic Spirit Emiya, but your body is a vessel for the hopes and dreams of those young girls."

The world slowly began to disintegrate around them, and the girl could see the inside of a warehouse as the mists began to fade.

"You will live a new life, in this new world beyond the reach of Alaya. A world where the rules of magic and science are different from your own, and you WILL NOT squander it."

Nodding solemnly, Emiya began to flex her limbs, and willed Od to flow through is body. If she was to live in this new world, she needed to be prepared for ALL eventualities.

Noticing that she was prepared, Truth cut the connection, flinging the girl into the outside world.

I wonder if Emiya will notice that her body is… different than the others. Oh well, she'll do fine, or die trying.

Smiling to itself, Truth focused his attention to this new timeline.

The transaction was complete.

Author's notes:

Heya peeps!

Some peeps at the library I work at realized that I started writing fanfiction and challenged me to write a Fate x Index crossover. I read some of the early crossovers in the site and found many that I liked but were never finished, especially one about a Certain Reality of a Girl with Swords.

However, I don't think it was appropriate to just blatantly take someone else's story and use it as my own, but I'll sure as hell use it as inspiration to make something new. So here we are, Archer as a Misaka sister, a Mikoto alter if you think about it. A bit odd but I think it'll turn out cool.

Oh and I have a few more ideas for stories and I'll think I'll put a poll up soon after I gather enough will to update my profile page.

And lastly, I'm encouraging my editor to post one of his own ideas on Fanfiction soon because as cool as it sounds, I don't think I can pull it off. It's an Initial D and Fate crossover, featuring our favorite purple haired Rider from the 5th Grail war.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, the next chapter of The Shackles of Love and a Wish will be out in a few days, it's about halfway done, or ¼ depending on the length I decide to make it. Be sure to leave reviews! I actually do factor in what you guys say when I'm planning future arcs and stuff.

Editor Notes:

*wakes up at 8:00AM*

*8:00AM Ryousuke after playing a certain game with friends the night before*

*8:00AM Ryousuke's thoughts after editing*

"Someonefuckingkillmewhydoihavetodealwiththisafterafuckingsevenpageessayineedthesweetreleaseoframenplzthankyou"

~fin