The Chosen One 06 (Patreon)

"Hah?" I slowly raise the blade I'm carrying. It's covered in blood.

Rin is on the ground, she's dead. Sakura is on the ground, she's dead. Illya is on the ground, she's dead. Four other people are on the ground, they're dead, weirdly enough however, I can't tell who they are.

I take a step back. "W-what the hell...?" And drop the sword. I'm more shocked than anything if I'm being honest, because I'm quite sure I didn't go in a murder rampage. This means this is some sort of illusion.

Of that I have no doubt. Daichi Ryouta isn't the type who can beat Rin Tohsaka of all people, in fact I'm even kind of offended someone is trying to convince me that this could ever happen.

I hear a sigh. Turning around I see nothing, but shadows. "I expected many things. Manical laughter, mind breaking despair... I did not expect indifference." Oh cool, a ominous voice, that's just what I needed.

I scratch my cheek. "I mean, if you're trying to break me with some illusion then you should at least try to do it in a more realistic way." It's kinda how shitty horror movies end up being funny most of the time, this thing is too surreal.

The shadow chuckles. "Trying to break you...? I would never." He giggles, which is strange, but even stranger than that is the fact that I believe him. "I was actually trying to get you motivated, for one that holds a Sacred Gear motivation, resolve, desire... is everything after all." I can't deny that.

I first unlocked Regulus Nemea by imagining myself as the strongest, and then I awoke Absolute Demise by finally admitting I wanted to win the war... And recently I awoke a new one because I desperately wanted to get back to Illya.

"Canis Lykaon." The voice interrupts my thought process. "You awoke Canis Lykaon, the Dog God of the Black Blade." Ah, that makes sense, Regulus filled me in about the Longinus so I should have figured out already.

But that would mean this guy is... "You're the King of Arcadia, Lycaon." The first werewolf, and the guy who feed Zeus his own son. Which means I'm talking to a super maniac right now.

He chuckles. "Indeed. It is rare for me to be able to speak with my wielder so soon, even when it's on a dream." So this is a dream, huh? "We must be quite compatible." I find that hard to believe.

Though I guess it could be due to factors outside of personality. I never learned my Origin, but maybe it's something like dog, or sword. That would certainly make us compatible.

I cross my arms. "That's cool." I'm not even being sarcastic. If this means my strength will grow faster I'm down for it. "Why would the vision of my sisters and my friend being dead make me motivated though?" And also a bunch of dead randoms, I guess.

Well, I probably shouldn't be trying to make sense of the mind of a guy who fed his own son to Zeus. It takes a special type of idiot sociopath to do that, that's for sure.

"I'm showing it to you because it's your desire." Huh? "Seven Masters dead beneath your feet, beneath the feet of the outsider. The Grail is yours, the applause is yours." As soon as he finishes talking, I can suddenly hear clapping all around me.

"That's..." I guess he's right about my wish. Sort of. In a very bloody way. "I wouldn't go slaughtering people like that. And seriously, stop with the clapping before I get a headache." It immediately stops.

He smiles. "How strange. You say that, and yet everytime you talk about strategy you do your absolute best to avoid confronting a Servant." The reason for that is obvious.

Just now I got my ass kicked by Rider, who was toying with me, and that's not even talking about how she's way weaker than Gilgamesh and Heracles. In such a situation I will obviously avoid the Heroic Spirits.

He chuckles. "Then your path will end here. However even if that wasn't the case... killing someone doesn't always mean stabbing them while they see you. Tell me, what did you hope to achieve by destroying your sister's workshop? I'll tell you what, victory."

"Don't worry however, I am not trying to judge you. In fact cutting down Masters without care fits me just fine... I am the blade who cuts anything and everything after all, making no distinction between friend or foe." Everything is getting darker.

"I was born out of the man who fed his progeny to a god, and out of the blade used to commit filicide. The murder of one's own blood is perfect for me, that must be why we are so compatible." I cannot see anything at this point.

"With that said, you should make up your mind already. When you failed to kill that child... it was quite a sad sight." And suddenly I can see again, but just a pair of red eyes. "I am not a blade of Muramasa, I will not force you to draw blood everytime I'm unsheathed, but..."

"Victory shall only come if you seek it. Remember that."



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"Well, that was a first..." My other Longinus haven't really communicated with me through dreams yet.

He also knew a lot about what happened before he woke up. Was he watching me ever since the bird put him inside of me? Does that apply to all Longinus? I can't exactly question Absolute Demise about it.

Leaving that aside however, what actually matters is that I'm alive, and feeling better than ever. I always knew I could count on the fake janitor, he even went as far as putting me to sleep on a really comfortable bed. I owe him one.

Except I doubt the fake janitor would put me in what I recognize to be a room belonging to the Tohsaka Manor. Ah, I'm now very worried I'm about to pay for my earlier actions. I will try to not destroy any more basements from now on.

I sit up, and then... I notice a shining red pendant in the drawer next to me. "That looks expensive..." I must have missed a few things Rin had, or she was carrying this with her. I wonder why she just left it here though.

I get up, and I really do feel completely healthy. Rin must have done something crazy to heal me, because I was super sure it was gonna take me days to heal or something. Well, I shouldn't look a gift horse in the teeth.

Is it weird that I want to steal the pendant? I might be developing kleptomaniac tendencies, but for now I'll hold back. Since the fake janitor failed, I am now technically stuck in enemy territory. No need to piss her off.

Which is why I don't summon any of my Longinus either. As much as I want to talk with Regulus or Princess... and check out what Dog can do, summoning them would be a mistake when her Servant is probably hanging around. And I don't feel ready for another fight with a Servant.

So I calmly make my way out of the room, and then down the stairs while hoping my sister isn't planning to kill me. And hey, maybe this can be a good thing, allowing me to recruit her and all. It's a shame the Matous rejected being on the Justice League though...

And then I see three people talking, two of them sitting down and drinking tea. I recognize Rin and Shirou, but I have no idea who the other guy is... Considering his clothes, I'm guessing her Servant.

I awkwardly wave at them. "Y-yo." I'm surprised Shirou was dragged here, but maybe I shouldn't be. Taking his connection with Illya into account, he is probably a mage. I gotta wonder why he has a black eye though...

Immediate they stop talking. Rin sends me a look that reminds me of my father. "Daichi, you are finally awake." That is to say, her expression is completely cold, as one would expect from a perfect magus.

Shirou raises an eyebrow in her direction, but then sends me a worried look. "Yo Daichi, are you alright?" He sounds genuinely worried though. It just makes me think about how this guy should have gotten the Longinus instead.

The man who is presumably a Servant says nothing, simply staring at me. I can only hope he won't try to kill me out of nowhere, since that seems to be becoming a trend recently. I will say though, much like Rider he doesn't have the same overwhelming presence like Gilgamesh and Heracles.

I look at Shirou. "Yeah, I'm fine Emiya-Senpai... Are you fine though...?" I don't even have the courage to look at Tohsaka right now, not when she looks exactly like father.

He scratches his cheek. "Yeah, don't worry. Tohsaka just ended up punching me." For real!? "Anyways, come sit down." I do as he says. Even though my body is healed, my mind feels tired, so I don't want to stay standing up.

Tohsaka glares at him. "Don't talk as if I punched you without reason Emiya. You attacked me first, so it's only natural I retaliated." He attacked first!? That seems very unlike him!

He hesitantly nods. "Y-yeah, my bad Tohsaka." So he really did it!?

I interject. "S-so, why did you guys fight anyways...?" I get no answer from them. Rin is still imitating father and glaring at me, while Shirou is blushing bright red and looking away.

And then Heroic Spirit smirks. "Take this with a grain of salt since I wasn't there, but my most... glamorous Master here decided to put the whole class to sleep once you appeared all bloodied up." Ah, right. I bet she wiped their memories too.

"This fool you're sitting next to resisted however, because apparently he knows one thing or two, and decided to attack Rin. However, he is pretty pathetic, so he got knocked around." I-I see...?

Shirou clears his throat. "G-give me a break! Daichi entered the class all bloody, asking for help, and then Tohsaka put everybody to sleep without a word! I just assumed she was doing something nefarious!" A good assumption when it comes to mages if I'm being honest.

Rin glare shifts towards him. "Give you a break? You're lucky I'm not punishing you for not even asking my permission to operate on my territory." He didn't? "And Daichi, if you knew Shirou was a mage, why didn't you warn me?" Because it had nothing to do with me...?

And besides... "I actually didn't know he was a mage, though I admittedly had a few suspicions due to some stuff that happened recently." Most specifically Illya's existence.

Tohsaka raises an eyebrow. "Then why did you come for him of all people when you were hurt? Last time I checked Emiya doesn't have any medical training." Knowing him that's gonna change sooner or later.

I shrug. "I dunno. Emiya-Senpai is just a reliable guy, so when I got hurt I thought about him." It's his reward for carefully building a reputation as a sucker who helps everyone without exception.

Tohsaka looks away. "I see..."

Shirou blushes... which actually makes the Servant laugh. "Wipe that look out of your face brat. You look pathetic right now." Wow, he didn't hold back at all!

Shirou immediately does, now glaring at him. "S-shut up! I was just... I was just flattered okay!?" How nice. I would say it's cute even, by I haven't crossed that line, nor do I have plans of doing so.

"With that said... I was wondering about how you know about magecraft in the first place, Daichi. Are you a magus like Tohsaka?" That's a pretty loaded question. Should I be honest with him...?

I guess Tohsaka makes the decision for me. "It's not something that concerns you Emiya. In fact, after the day ends you should act as if Daichi didn't know about magic at all, understood?" The fake janitor hesitantly nods.

But this doesn't sit right with me, and she doesn't get to make this choice for me anyways. "Actually Emiya-Senpai, the truth is that Tohsaka and I are biological siblings."

"H-hah?" Immediately he begins questioning reality.

Hell, even the Heroic Spirit seems to be at a loss for words. "W-what...? You never said that before..." I mean, I just met you. It's not like I introduced myself to people using this piece of information.

I shrug. "It's true. Sakura is my twin sister, by the way." I know she usually hangs around with Shirou... Well, I won't worry too much about it. She did presumably try to kill me, but it's my fault for getting involved with the Holy Grail War. I doubt she will just randomly attack Shirou.

Rin gets up, hitting the table with two open palms. "Daichi!" Oh? She sounds quite mad. I never remember father saying I couldn't go around spreading this though, so who cares?

In fact her anger actually makes me feel a bit justified. "What? Am I supposed to leave him in the dark? Telling him to forget about me knowing about the supernatural is a ridiculous asks." She sits back down, but she doesn't seen convinced.

Shirou interjects. "B-but...! But if you really are related to Sakura and Tohsaka...! Why are you guys not together!? And why do you three never even talk!?" My older sister simply looks away.

The message is clear, this is my mess to handle. "Mages can only have one heir. Since Tohsaka was considered the superior of us three, she stayed, while we were taken in by other families."

"Sakura has talent at magic, so she was sent to the Matous as a way to revive them, since their oldest doesn't have magic. I'm talking about Shinji of course. Oh, and it goes without saying, but Sakura had been trained as a magus." His jaw is on the floor.

"I didn't have any talent for magecraft, however. I did have severe health issues though, so dad couldn't just send me to any old family. I ended up being sent to a super rich one who could accommodate for my needs." When Rin was very young she actually showed similar health issues, which is why dad even had Sakura and I in the first place.

A heir and a spare. And he even got me as the world's most useless bonus.

Tohsaka looks down. "Yeah, I remember that... you were always locked in your room." I couldn't really leave, getting out and getting sick would basically be a death sentence. It wasn't too bad though...

Shirou is trembling. "So... Sakura is a magus... and your twin..." He stares at my face, searching for similarities, and he seemingly finds them. "How did I never notice...?" Because it's crazy and your brain couldn't make such insane jumps.

The Servant crosses his arms, he's now silently staring at my face just like Shirou. I hope me revealing secrets his Master didn't want to reveal is not gonna get me on his shit list.

Tohsaka clicks her tongue. "Let's leave..." She glares at Shirou. "Private family matters for another time. For now I want to know why Daichi entered our class during daylight while looking like a Dead Apostle."

I take a deep breath. "Okay, so you three must absolutely not interrupt me while I'm telling this. Leave questions for later." I'm mostly saying this so they don't catch me off guard and I end up saying something I shouldn't.

Rin can definitely act like father, at least if she can make his goddamn expressions. And if father discovered his brother had destroyed his workshop... that brother would be dead before he knew what happened. That's specially the case when Tohsaka has a Servant.

"So... A few days ago a bird showed up in my room and gave me a bunch of weapons, it also gave me a super cool body capable of growing to insane extents." And now they're looking at me like I'm an idiot.

For now I'll skip the end of the world bit, I can worry about that when this war is over. "I trainer for a while, and then joined the war out of stupidity. No, I don't have a Servant." I hope Shirou actually knows what the war is.

Surely Rin explained to him? "Anyways, I met the Einzbern of this war, who claimed Shirou was her little brother..." All three are choking on air. "We hit off, but then Gilgamesh showed up to kill me and steal my weapons." Tohsaka's Servant groans.

"And yeah, Gilgamesh is here... I don't know if you are aware Tohsaka, but he was father's Servant. Someone else summoned him. Illya... the Einzbern actually decided to save me, so she sent Berserker, who was Heracles, against him."

"Gilgamesh won super hard, and then declared he's eventually gonna torture me and Illya to death, and after that he will destroy Japan and Germany too." The Heroic Spirit clenches his fists so hard that I hear a crack.

"So I have been trying to recruit people so we can stand up to him. I tried talking with Shinji, who's presumably acting as a decoy for Sakura. He got mad for some reason and then sent his Rider to kill me though. That's why I was bloodied." I won though... I will never forget that.

"That's why... please join my alliance!" I get up and bow. I really hope she doesn't reject me, because Shinji saying no was already really bad.

Her eye twitches. "Don't lie to me Daichi." Eh? "You think I would fall for such an outlandish story? That you almost got killed by multiple Heroic Spirits? That Japan and Germany are in danger? Please tell me the truth or I will force it out of you." Ah.

Thankfully I have a solution. "I have proof though! Look!" I summon my Regulus Nemea, my most reliable weapon. "This is my axe, it grants super strength, projectiles can't even scratch it, and it can turn into a l-" The Heroic Spirits cuts me off.

"Daichi... My most stupefied Master passed out the moment you summoned the axe." A-ah... she really did. "I suggest you leave before she wakes up and blows up on you." What is she!? A Voltorb!?

I really should leave though. Illya is still waiting for me... It's still sunny outside, so I imagine I didn't stay passed out for long, but nonetheless I can't waste more time than I already have.

So I sent him a nod and get up. "Got it, thanks for the warning mister Hero... By the way, about that alliance..." I really wanna get this done. Specially since I don't know any other Master.

He smirks. "Consider us to be a part of your team already. This may be a Grail War, but neither me or my Master are cold enough to ignore a threat to two whole nations." Now that's what I expect from a hero!

I send him a thumbs up. "Awesome! I knew you couldn't be a bad guy when you look so cool!" I can't pull off red like Rin does, but this Heroic Spirit is a Master at it.

He snorts. "Thanks... a good friend came up with the design." It's good to know people from medieval eras had good taste too.

I look at Shirou. "So Emiya-Senpai, are you coming with me? You wanna find out more about the whole Illya calling you her big brother, right?" As weird as it seems, I don't think he had any idea about it.

I mean, he has pretty much gone into shock at this point... Though I guess that could be due to the other things I said too. I did just tell everybody Japan and Germany are under the threat of being destroyed.

He finally snaps out of it and nods. "Yeah, I'll follow you."

...

I hope she isn't disappointed.

That's what constantly runs through my mind as I return to my apartment. In the end I didn't fail Illya, I came back before school ended, and I even managed to make an alliance with someone.

And yet I'm still scared for some reason... It doesn't help that as soon as I get close to my apartment a weird feeling washes over me. I think Illya might have raised a bounded field, but I could be wrong.

I put my hand on the door's handle. "Ready Emiya-Senpai?" He has mostly followed me in silence, and that trend continues as he nods without saying a single word. He must have a lot going through his mind.

I slowly open the door. "I'm back, Illya!" And I'm greeted by a blonde knight.

There's no doubt in my mind, this woman is a Servant.



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AN: Seibah! Since she has her whole deal with Alaya she was bound to show up. Not as Shirou's Servant this time though.

Since Daichi wrecked Rin's stuff, as soon as the bell rung she rushed back home. This means she didn't meet Lancer, which means Shirou didn't become a casualty of the war.