Fate/True Future

Remember your weapon

There was once a story about a man named Icarus that wanted to fly and be free. His father managed to create some wings from him with feathers and wax which allowed the man to take flight. But, Daedalus, his father, warned Icarus that he mustn't fly too close to the Sun and that if he does, his wings will burn and he will fall. Icarus didn't listen to him and flew too close to the Sun which melted the wax on his feathers and made him fall into the sea where he drowned. For some reasons, I can relate to this mythological story. A story where a boy abused his potential and burned his wings in the process. Maybe there are some things that I must not do. In this fight, I don't know if using my potential at its maximum will help me. Maybe it's not the right thing to do? Maybe, I have to try something else?

"ᚱᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚪᚻ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted my own shadow.

When I entered this abandoned house to fight its current master, she didn't want to fight me herself so she created a shadow that bears my face to fight me. It's not really strong, but it's able to hinder my movements, so taking it out will be a bit of a problem. But it's fine, I can do this. My fight against Issei and my near death experience with Berserker strengthened me in a physical and mental way, so I will never lose to a lesser version of myself. While it charged at me with a dark longsword, I jumped upward to dodge the attack and landed right on the flat end of his blade. Without leaving him a second to rest, I followed my landing with a powerful kick directly aimed at his head which made him fly through the wall and knocked him out for a few seconds. Of course, I knew that he wouldn't die just from that, so to make sure that he would never come back, I ran at him and impaled his skull with two Black Keys. I then uttered two words that my father liked to use during his baptisms.

"Kyrie eleison."

In a fantastic blue light, the shadow disappeared and vanished in ashes. Normally, I would have to use the full chant to perform a successful exorcism, but since that shadow wasn't really strong, an incomplete exorcism still worked against him. Now that I was finally done with him, I could finally start to fight the opponent that I wanted to fight in the beginning: Iena. But, to my surprise, she wasn't there anymore. Where was she? Did she leave out of boredom and went to fight Saber or Rider? Wait, there's something wrong. It's not that she disappeared, it's just that I can't see anything around me. I know this sensation way too well, I experienced it a lot during those past few days. And this scent, the scent of death. Without even noticing, I was playing in her hand for the whole time.

"Hahahaha, you are such an idiot, Kotomine Shirou!" shouted the shadow from a place that I didn't know. "You really thought that I would fight you equally in my territory? And here I thought that you were different from Emiya Shirou... I guess that at your core, you are and will remain an idiot."

"Shit, you got me." I said. "So now what? Are you just going to let me here in this weird place while you'll go fight Saber or Rider? And here I thought that you wanted to kill me... I guess that at your core, you are and will remain a weak foe."

"Eh? What did you just say?" she replied, in denial.

"I said that you were a weak f– GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!" I was interrupted by a sharp pain in my leg.

A black tentacle suddenly pierced my leg. Blood is pouring out. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I don't know what she used, but this is not a normal stab. It's like millions of microscopic bugs entered my leg and started to eat my cells. But, this was just the beginning. Two more tentacles pierced both of my shoulders and another one pierced me in the stomach. Crap, this really hurts. And here I was saying that my past experiences prepared me for every possibility. I guess I was wrong because this feels like an execution and I'm the sinner who trespassed in this place. I really feel like I'm about to die.

"What's wrong, Kotomine Shirou? Didn't you say that I was weak? Can't you back up your own words? Are you really just a dog that can bark but not bite?" she said, in joy.

Shut up, your voice is annoying and it hurts my ears. Now, what can I do to escape this? I could try to use a Black Key, but I can't even use my own hands. Is this really the end?

"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die."

It's those voices again. It's the second time that I'm almost dead so I guess they couldn't resist to make a comeback and to assault my ears.

"DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DIE. DYING IS EASY. YOU SHOULD JUST LET IT GO. NOBODY WILL CARE. JUST DIE. DIE YOU FUCKING PIECE OF TRASH. DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—"

Crack. Something snapped again. The voices suddenly stopped and everything was black. I was walking in the abyss of nothing when three words appeared in front of me.

Remember. Your. Weapon.

How could I forget? Why did I want to not use my full potential? Defeating her won't be easy if I keep putting brakes on my potential. If Kotomine Shirou wants to defeat this enemy, he will have to let loose. Yes, I'm sure that Emiya Shirou would have done the same thing. I won't become a superhero. I'm fighting because I love it. Crushing people is my speciality, so I can't let this bitch steal this speciality from me!

"Ah— AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—-" I screamed while painfully opening my left hand. "Trace, ON!"

Hundreds of swords appeared around me and created a circle of iron. I do not know where my enemy is, so my best shot is to fire all of these in every possible way so that I can have a chance to hurt her.

"Trigger, OFF. Projections, FIRE!" When I said those words, the swords launched themselves around me to try to hit my opponent.

And it worked. A few seconds later, I heard three swords piercing something that wasn't a wall or a house's furniture. The shadow dome around me ceased to exist and I was met with my opponent that was bleeding from the wound.

"———!!!!!!!! You're JUST a FAKER! You will NEVER defeat ME!" shouted the monster while taking out the swords that pierced her.

"Who told you that something fake can't rival the original?" I asked. "But you are wrong on another thing, Iena. I will defeat you. If you are the cause of every world's death, then I shall be the cause of yours."

"Cocky brat. I'd like to see you try!" she replied.

With my left hand still open and my arm in extension, I placed my right hand on my left hand and closed my eyes. I can see it. A world of endless swords. A world that only waits for its owner to call it forward. It's my best shot at defeating her, so I can't let this chance escape.

"Prepare yourself, shadow master." I said. "I'm taking you on a field trip!"

"HAHAHAHA! You're not taking me anywhere, because you will die here, Kotomine SHIROU!!!!!!!!!!!" she said while preparing to attack.

My concentration is at its peak, my magic circuits are ready. With those factors in mind, I start to recite the activation chant.

"I am the bone of my sword."

To be continued...

Note: I am sorry for that cliffhanger... I didn't want to make the chapter long, so I had to cut it there. This is just the beginning of one of the best fights in Fate/True Future so don't even worry. Next chapter will probably come later in the day, so stay tuned for that. Thank you for reading and I'll see you guys later.