His story has long since reached its conclusion, and the Counter Guardian has already come to terms with his fate. Yet for the former hero, adventure seems to plague him wherever he goes- or wherever he's forced to go.
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At the Foot of the Mountain (Wuthering Waves/Fate)
- Thread starter Dagaz
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Statistics (1 threadmarks, 910 words)
User Total Dagaz 1 Threadmarks Reader mode
Prologue
New
Dagaz
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2024
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- 304
He's lost count of how many times he's seen this exact view. He lost track of how long he's been staring at this exact view. The barren sandy hills that spanned towards the horizon. The dusty clouds above the large floating gears. Hundreds, if not, thousands of swords stuck within the sand, covering the hills like a graveyard. His graveyard. His home, his soul, his grave. All three are true of this hill of swords.
Once he had attempted to release himself from this eternal hell by killing his younger self. He had hoped that the paradox of having killed his past self would completely wipe out his existence. He was no longer able to cope with his existence and so he looked for a way out.
Perhaps he always wanted some closure. Perhaps he just wanted to see himself break before he could ever fall into Alaya's clutches again. Yet at the end of that journey, instead of erasing himself, a spark lit in his heart– one that he had long forgotten.
If there was a reality where Shirou Emiya didn't take that contract, if he can be a hero without falling down this hellish path, he decided that that would be enough for him.
His own fate had been sealed the moment he accepted Alaya's terms, and he had finally truly accepted that.
Like a man rolling a boulder up a mountain he had been sent to kill again and again. From the moment he gave up his life to his ideals, he continued to live under Alaya. Even death didn't give him solace, as he woke up back on this hill of swords. "All for the greater good" he had once told himself, but that excuse didn't hold up for long.
He rolled the boulder up the mountain, summoned across time and space in order to kill.
The boulder would fall, he would return to this hill of swords after his duty is complete.
He walked back down the mountain, he would wait for his next task.
Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
At this point he had long forgotten the events of that time, but the spark that remained afterward continued to persist. Even as he continued to fight, even as he continued to kill, that memory never left. That spark left a reminder and it is the sole reason his actions as a counter guardian have not broken him.
That immature dream he once had was not wrong. He was not wrong.
Yet it's far too late for him to fulfill that dream. Now he is merely just a tool, a sword made to be swung and discarded.
So here he stood, waiting for Alaya's imminent call. A young man with tanned skin and white hair, coated in red. A breeze carried through Unlimited Blade Works. He glanced at the gears that scattered across the sky, blocking most of the horizon.
At that moment, a sublime presence made itself known. At first the man believed that it was Alaya.
Yet as he closed his eyes expecting to wake up in another place, something else happened. The presence grew stronger, and the Counter Guardian was finally able to get a better grasp.
It was definitely not Alaya, the presence had some foreign divinity behind it. Yet the man could not call the presence "godly". It did not belong to this planet, nor was it anything he had felt before. The presence finally arrived completely, revealing itself right behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around, not knowing what to expect.
He was met with a beautiful young woman in silver. She looked around, observing the gears in the sky and the swords in the ground. Her ruby red eyes glanced at the counter guardian curiously, before she gave a solemn look.
"Who are you?" EMIYA asked without any subtlety. His usual snark isn't present.
You two really are similar.
She observed him, yet he felt as if her gaze was moving through him.
You must have suffered through so much.
Whispers left her lips yet they echoed like regular spoken words. Her frown deepened.
I apologize for forcing this upon you.
"What are you—" The strange woman cut him off mid sentence. Before the man could even notice, she had moved closer to him and gently grasped his hand.
His lifetime of experience should have said to step back, but her melancholic expression combined with the lack of any malevolence or intent to harm left him confused.
Still, it only took him a second to gather himself, and he made to pull away. Once again he was stopped, this time by a loud ringing resonating into his ear.
Please.
"Wait!" He thinks he yelled, the ringing drowned out all other sound— he couldn't even hear his own heartbeat. Despite the discomfort he did not feel any pain, and even so he still couldn't move.
Protect my dearest Rover.
The ringing stopped along with his vision. His body fell into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before the world went black was the saddened visage of the foreign goddess.
(A/N) Finally got around to crossposting this here. As 2.0 inches closer I have to get off my ass and make do on my promise. I have so many ideas for this story but currently so little to actually work with. Hopefully I have my mind made up by the time 2.0 rolls around.
Once he had attempted to release himself from this eternal hell by killing his younger self. He had hoped that the paradox of having killed his past self would completely wipe out his existence. He was no longer able to cope with his existence and so he looked for a way out.
Perhaps he always wanted some closure. Perhaps he just wanted to see himself break before he could ever fall into Alaya's clutches again. Yet at the end of that journey, instead of erasing himself, a spark lit in his heart– one that he had long forgotten.
If there was a reality where Shirou Emiya didn't take that contract, if he can be a hero without falling down this hellish path, he decided that that would be enough for him.
His own fate had been sealed the moment he accepted Alaya's terms, and he had finally truly accepted that.
Like a man rolling a boulder up a mountain he had been sent to kill again and again. From the moment he gave up his life to his ideals, he continued to live under Alaya. Even death didn't give him solace, as he woke up back on this hill of swords. "All for the greater good" he had once told himself, but that excuse didn't hold up for long.
He rolled the boulder up the mountain, summoned across time and space in order to kill.
The boulder would fall, he would return to this hill of swords after his duty is complete.
He walked back down the mountain, he would wait for his next task.
Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
At this point he had long forgotten the events of that time, but the spark that remained afterward continued to persist. Even as he continued to fight, even as he continued to kill, that memory never left. That spark left a reminder and it is the sole reason his actions as a counter guardian have not broken him.
That immature dream he once had was not wrong. He was not wrong.
Yet it's far too late for him to fulfill that dream. Now he is merely just a tool, a sword made to be swung and discarded.
So here he stood, waiting for Alaya's imminent call. A young man with tanned skin and white hair, coated in red. A breeze carried through Unlimited Blade Works. He glanced at the gears that scattered across the sky, blocking most of the horizon.
At that moment, a sublime presence made itself known. At first the man believed that it was Alaya.
Yet as he closed his eyes expecting to wake up in another place, something else happened. The presence grew stronger, and the Counter Guardian was finally able to get a better grasp.
It was definitely not Alaya, the presence had some foreign divinity behind it. Yet the man could not call the presence "godly". It did not belong to this planet, nor was it anything he had felt before. The presence finally arrived completely, revealing itself right behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around, not knowing what to expect.
He was met with a beautiful young woman in silver. She looked around, observing the gears in the sky and the swords in the ground. Her ruby red eyes glanced at the counter guardian curiously, before she gave a solemn look.
"Who are you?" EMIYA asked without any subtlety. His usual snark isn't present.
You two really are similar.
She observed him, yet he felt as if her gaze was moving through him.
You must have suffered through so much.
Whispers left her lips yet they echoed like regular spoken words. Her frown deepened.
I apologize for forcing this upon you.
"What are you—" The strange woman cut him off mid sentence. Before the man could even notice, she had moved closer to him and gently grasped his hand.
His lifetime of experience should have said to step back, but her melancholic expression combined with the lack of any malevolence or intent to harm left him confused.
Still, it only took him a second to gather himself, and he made to pull away. Once again he was stopped, this time by a loud ringing resonating into his ear.
Please.
"Wait!" He thinks he yelled, the ringing drowned out all other sound— he couldn't even hear his own heartbeat. Despite the discomfort he did not feel any pain, and even so he still couldn't move.
Protect my dearest Rover.
The ringing stopped along with his vision. His body fell into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before the world went black was the saddened visage of the foreign goddess.
(A/N) Finally got around to crossposting this here. As 2.0 inches closer I have to get off my ass and make do on my promise. I have so many ideas for this story but currently so little to actually work with. Hopefully I have my mind made up by the time 2.0 rolls around.