Prologue: Forged in Fire

Fire

Burning fire

Dark rising columns of smoke

Collapse building

A scene of destruction and death is all he can see around. Another house fell down into a pile of rubble, burying several people below. They saw him, they tried to reach out to him but he just ignored them and move on.

'I have to get out of here'

'I want to live'

'Live, Shirou -'

That was the last thing he remembers before walking into this fiery hell. Now the only thing he has left was his own name, Shirou, and nothing more, nothing less.

Emotions already left him a long time ago, after he witness the first dead body, burned and blackened like charcoal. Instead of puking like every normal kid would, he just look at the scene with cold eyes and move on.

At that moment, something inside of him snapped. He began to lose pieces of himself. He left everything possible just to increase his chance of survival.

The flames has long burnt away his shoes, leaving him bare footed above the boiling ground. His feet little by little, fell apart, but he didn't give in. Even if he couldn't walk, he'd damn hell crawling out here alive.

But then, a breaking sound above got his attention. As he was looking up, a huge slab of concrete wall lost its final pillar which it was resting on and as a result, broke apart and fell right on top of Shirou.

Even as he couldn't see, couldn't breathe because of all the ashes and dust got in his lungs, he still desperately clawing his way out.

But the only thing that got out was his hand, and with that, the last of his strength left him, and he can feel his consciousness fading to black. The last thing he saw in his peripheral vision was something golden before everything turns into darkness.

Artoria found herself within darkness all around her, feeling naught but an endless sea of hatred and curses.

Abduction, Assassination, Assault, Bombing, Child Abuse, Corruption, Forgery, Genocide, Murder, Manslaughter, Rape, Slavery, Treason, Torture.

The moment she was engulfed by the black mud, senses overwhelmed her with pain and malice, crushing her body. Armor, clothes and skin burned like paper. Flesh melted into liquid while blood boiled away until not even a single drop was left, bone burned into ashes, scattered and swept away into the swirling void of sheer spite rushing around her like a raging current.

Her physical body was gone, what all was left of Artoria Pendragon was the formless core of her Spirit, along with Avalon shining brightly inside her, preventing the cursed liquid from getting any closer.

Twisted, contorted figures fleeting around her, appearing in but a brief moment before another took place. Amid the cacophony, a familiar voice echoed in front of her, reminding her of the battle a few nights ago.

'All of you monster who'd disregard a knight's honor for personal gain… Let my blood taint your dreams!' The look of sheer hatred and desperation in his eyes…

'Let the Grail be cursed! Let the wish it grants bring disaster!'

'And when you fall into the pit of hell… Remember the rage of Diarmuid!'

"Is this… the Grail?! But didn't I…"

Destroy it, yes you did, but nothing more than the vessel of it. But what you've done is merely spilled its content and halt its process of filling up for some time.

A voice, more pronounced than other, emerged in front of her.

I might not be able to consume the world... but I can at the very least send you do it for me. Yes… you would be perfect for this, King of Knights. A body of the cursed shall be yours-and you will rule the world, as you did in life like a tyrant! Pillage! Slaughter! Burn! KILL!

A vision filled Saber's thoughts, and she saw of villages being reduced down to ashes, bodies littering the streets at every corner, her knights' armors all blackened with their weapons distorted into horrifying creations, blood red with gore.

Standing in front of them all, she saw a reflection of herself. Hair no longer bright golden, turned into a pale white. Her eyes no longer shines emerald, and turned into cold yellow that looked down on everything. Her armor blackened also, with red veins scattering across her. Her holy sword shines bright no more, but what poured from her blade instead was layers and layers of curses, combined into a pillar of energy made of black, red and purple. High above in the sky, the black sun ominously hung, offering no light saves for the flames consuming the lands.

I, Angra Mainyu, ask you: Who will embrace all the evils of this world?

In that instant, she realized the truth of the Holy Grail - that it was corrupted beyond measure.

Whilst once indeed a receptacle which received and granted the wish of the one who obtained it, it had been twisted into a vessel which contained the evils of mankind made manifest. A womb which carried within it the unborn form of the Zoroastrian god of evil, whose birth would bring disaster to the world in the form of six billion curses-the very same black ichor in which Artoria now found herself in.

It was now that she fully understood why Kiritsugu rejected the Grail at that moment. She realized that he, despite his methods, held the same dream as her, which was to save the people. That was why he ordered her to destroy the Grail then because he must have realized that the Grail was no longer what it was.

And in the face of this... Saber chuckled. "What a complete farce!" She felt herself smiling, even though she has no physical mouth to do so. Her resolved hardened as she faced the Evil of Mankind's. "You're similar to me, albeit different at the same time. Both you and I are the slave to something we believe in but the difference is that I now can move past my dream once I realized that it was just a foolish ideal, whereas you still hung on to your hatred and wish for vengeance.

Though the entity before her had no form beyond the black sun, she could feel how it reeled at her reaction.

"While it is certainly true that humanity is plagued by the evils you embody, demon god. Therefore, it is also true that a king such as myself must be ready to accept these as a part of humanity itself. I myself am in no way perfect, as I cannot understood the heart of my men, but I am a King, and I'm willing to do all it takes to lead my people to Avalon, a better place. But not by the paths of destruction, for that is against what I believed in. Humanity cannot exist with only good alone, I know that both must be balanced to create an ideal country for my people."

"Therefore, I shall create the Avalon with my two own hands, for the Kingdom that I failed, for the past that can longer be redeemed, I shall reject you with everything I've got!"

The formless void of the evil god howled in demonic fury, but it was impotent before the King of Knights. The flow of curses which swirled around Artoria trying to crush her into nihility, as though trying to tell her that she was fighting a battle that holds no victory.

But Artoria knew she'd never lose, not against a foe like this, something so weak it'd have to rely on the hatred of others to exist.

"O holy sword!"

A column of light appeared in her hands once again, as she felt her body returned, she held the sword up high, and swung it down with all her might.

"Show me my victory, against All the World's Evil. EX-CALIBUR!"

And then the dark, empty void was filled with bright light shimmering with hope and warmth.

"Quite a scene, don't you agree Artoria?" Came a familiar voice from behind her. Indeed, much to her annoyance, Saber watched as from the very same path she had walked out moments prior, stood the form of Archer.

Who was completely naked.

In fact, she and herself were both naked.

"It seems that you also survived, Kings of Heroes. You also got doused in that black mud, didn't you?" Artoria said, a light scowl on her face.

"As have you, I see" Gilgamesh replied, a smirk on her face. "It pleases me to see you had the fortitude to resist that sick abomination; I would have been disappointed had you allowed yourself to be corroded by its influence, and perhaps even more so had you simply faded away. Now, the two of us have been gifted these bodies of flesh and blood. I suppose, in a macabre and roundabout manner, that your wish to save your country was destroyed by your own hand, once again. Irony, does it not?"

"Quit your rambling Gilgamesh, what do you want?" Saber asked with an irritated tone.

"I shall look past that tone of your right now, Saber. What I want now is to get some clothes on, because even though my body won't be damage with just this, as I cannot go into astral form anymore I simply do not want anyone to gaze their eyes upon my unclothed figure. I suggest you do the same, King of Knights, and as I'm feeling rather generous today, I shall spare you the effort of having to find some mundane clothes and bestow you with one of my best suits."

Gilgamesh said so while taking out pieces of clothes from her portal. A white shirt, along with a short black jacket that reaches just under her bosom. To go along with that was a long black jeans with white stripes at the side and black dress shoes. All in all, she looks extremely stunning.

Then she took out a white blouse with a short blue bow tie, and a knee-length skirt along with black stockings and a pair of brown boots.

Both of them then proceed to put on their clothes before Saber said

"I thank you for the clothes, Gilgamesh, but I must not remain here anymore. As bad as it is, I need to find my master to inquire his reasoning behind it, now that I have the chance to do so, albeit in a slight unfortunate circumstances." Artoria said hurriedly before departing, but Gilgamesh somehow decided to come along.

…

Artoria found her master lying on the burning ground dead, with his hand reaching out forward. Letting her gaze following the man's arm, she saw an arm, much smaller, stuck out from the rubble.

She strode forward and began digging the dirt and rubble around presumably a child's hand, and then she saw him. He was alive, barely so, but still nonetheless. It was then she realized what her master was trying to do. He must have been trying to find and save any survivor he can, being the man he is, as she felt that she now understands her master as who he is than before.

Deciding to honor the man's last wish, she then racked her mind for any possible solutions of saving the child, but only one came forward. Avalon, the sheath that grants her near immortality, now resides within her once again.

Artoria saw Gilgamesh walked up to the boy in her peripheral vision and to her horror, she opened up the 'Gate of Babylon' directly above the boy.

"I acknowledge your will of survival, young one. Be honored at the mercy of the King of Heroes for ending you of your suffering."

Dread began to fill Artoria's mind when she saw Gilgamesh took out a crown. Wait, a crown? Not a sword? Is she seeing things?

"What's that look you're giving me, Saber? Did you think that I shall end his life? As a king, I cannot tolerate such an act of disgracing another like that. He has proved his worth, his effort shall bear fruit and I shall grant him another chance, killing him means that I denied his struggle, his will to live and to overcome himself."

With this he should stay alive for now, but those wounds are not going to heal itself. I suggest that this is the time you take out that sheath of yours Artoria. The crown I gave him merely grants him immortality for a short while, that's all."

Artoria decided to follow Gilgamesh's word and for the first time, she saw an unexpected kind side of the proud and arrogant servant. Avalon, shining brightly, illuminating the surroundings, dissolves into ethers as it gets pushed into the boy's body.

His wounds began to heal at an accelerated rate and before long, he appeared to have never been injured in the first place. But Artoria knew better and made a decision to carefully lift the boy up in her arms before heading to the nearby hospital she remembered.

Before going, she looked back at Archer and expressed her appreciations for her help. But then, Archer gave her an offer. Instead of bringing the boy to the hospital and just live him there to his fate, she can get Kotomine to took the boy in for her. Seeing that the boy has potential in him, Archer said she would be curious to find out about his future and the best way to do that is to remain nearby.

She also disregard Artoria's worry about the priest, saying that she got him under her control and should anything happen, she would take care of the responsibility for the boy. Archer also extends her offer to Artoria should she wish to remain close to the child and to her surprise, Artoria accepted, with a condition, they would live in Kiritsugu's house and Kirei should only serve as the boy's legal guardian and magecraft teacher. Gilgamesh saw no harm in this and accepts her demand.

Thus, the gear of fate began turning itself and destiny changed it's course heading towards the unknown, for there have never been an universe where Shirou was raised by two of the greatest Heroes in the history.

- End -

Note: Alright, that's it for the prologue. Honestly I have been planning to write this for a long time and it finally came out. As I'm writing and editing myself, there's bound to be some errors somewhere and I hope you guys, as the readers can help me find those out and if possible, give me some advice on how to improve my story.

I have a lot of knowledge of Nasuverse, but my writing skill is nowhere near enough to express what I want so I hope to receive your comments and thoughts about the story.

That's all for this chapter, Alter out and I'll be seeing you in the next one.