Victory.
It stood a mere 30 feet away from Shirou.
The man in front of him was his path to victory. All he had to do was fight.
They didn't dare break eye contact; the second one did, the other's victory was ensured.
Shirou analyzed the man's stance, searching for a weakness.
As his eyes wandered up and down the man's body, they suddenly landed back on the man's face.
The man smiled smugly, as if to say: "You've lost."
Suddenly, the man burst forward with a flash of speed that the normal human eye wouldn't be able to comprehend.
He's fast!
But not fast enough.
For Shirou, it was as if time moved in slow motion.
He could see every move the man made, down to the slightest muscle movement.
He's going for a kick to the head!
Shirou confidently posed to block the kick, and waited for the impact to hit him.
He watched as the kick traveled closer and closer to his head.
It was millimeters from him.
But abruptly-
ZWOOSH!!
With an absurd burst of speed, the man disappeared along with his kick.
"Huh?!!"
He had no time to react.
A jarring impact shook him to the core.
"Agh!"
From behind?!
The air flew out of his lungs as he was tossed forward from the sheer force of the blow.
Landing hard, he felt a sharp pain in his ribcage.
What is this power?
Before he could even react, the man flashed in front of Shirou.
Eye's meeting, the man simply stared at him with pure contempt.
"You're weak," the man uttered before gripping Shirou's head.
ZWOOSH!
With an explosion, they smashed through the walls of the prison, and out into the open sky.
Despite his current situation, Shirou could help but to admire the beautiful blue sky, covered with scattered white clouds, and the sun above them.
ZWOOSH!
BAM!
Shirou's body screamed with pain as he was plunged headfirst into the cement streets of the city.
"You're weak."
ZWOOSH!
BAM!
"You're weak!"
ZWOOSH!
SMASH!
"YOU'RE WEAK! YOU'RE WEAK! YOU'RE WEAK!"
Pain...that's all I feel.
What is pain? Is it a cruel method of torture? Of violence?
I don't understand.
I'm scared…of dying?
But I knew what I was getting into far before this…
So why do I feel so afraid?
All along, I knew this would happen. Deep inside, I knew I wasn't going to survive.
I'm so sorry, Sakusei.
I've failed you.
"What are you saying, Shirou?"
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
The world was gray.
There was no motion.
He was so deep into thought he hadn't even realized that the beatdown had stopped.
She stood in front of him, smiling.
He would have spoken, but nothing escaped his throat but a damaged croak.
"Don't try to speak. Just relax."
Tears streamed down his face.
He was in so much pain, and yet felt so calm.
"Let's go, Shirou."
Sakusei walked over and picked up Shirou.
His consciousness began to fade as they walked away from a fight.
Shirou had been truly, utterly defeated.
"Ugh…"
The first thing Shirou sensed was a disgusting smell.
A smell so gross, it knocked him out of whatever deep sleep he was in.
Stifling a gag, he stood up and looked around.
It seems he was in a sewer.
"How do you feel?"
Shirou looked over, and saw Sakusei sitting a few feet away.
"So that wasn't a dream…" he muttered.
"I take it, you're fine?"
"Yeah, but how? I should have died."
"I healed you, using the essence."
Shirou looked confused.
"Love. It allows you to heal."
"Ah, right."
They sat quietly for a couple minutes.
"I guess I have more to explain."
"Yeah, you do."
Sakusei looked at Shirou.
"To start, we'll need to go back 10 years. Or 500, depending on your perspective of time.
"500 years?"
"500 years. The amount of time this ridiculous war has been continuing."
Sakusei had an almost nostalgic look on her face.
"As I explained before, I was taken in by the Honshitsu, a group of pacifists who held the essence. But that man, he ruined it all. His hatred knows no bounds. He told us that the government was after us. He led us along, keeping his lies unknown. But I was smarter than that. I could see his hate as he peered down on us, as if we were worms. But I was nothing but a naive child, too scared to do anything. I ran, and ran, and ran. That was all I could do. They were all led to their deaths, at the hands of our master. He pinned it all on me. He accused me of killing them all."
Sakusei did not waver, but Shirou could see the sadness and anger in her eyes.
"But he didn't stop there. He killed in my name, destroying entire cities. I had become an international criminal, seemingly invincible to the world. But it was all just a ploy for the government to destroy the essence. Eventually, I was finally able to disappear. I hid myself in desolation for years, doing nothing but training. I harbored the power that was given to me by that man, and prepared to use it against him. But I never realized just how outmatched I was. I died over and over again, sending myself into a new timeline each time I did. But death was painful. I hated it. Over and over again, I died. It had been about 100 years since I first started my fight, and it was getting nowhere. So I created you."
She looked over at Shirou, expecting him to look angry.
He simply smiled.
"I used you to fight. I created you to carry my burden. I killed you over and over, and revived you to the point where you went insane. So I created another you, and after that one was used to the point of destruction, I created another. When you began to discover what I was doing to you, I simply erased your memories, burying them in a pile of past selves. And when you got too emotional, I tweaked your personality to be cold and emotionless. All for the purpose of redemption for my failures."
Shirou stared at the ground.
"Hate me, Shirou. Punish me. All this time, I manipulated you into believing you're a failure. Leave me."
Shirou's teeth gritted.
"Sakusei...what you've done to me is horrible. You're selfish, and a liar."
Sakusei gasped. She look up at him, shocked.
"But the last thing I'll do is hate you, or even leave you. If I wanted to leave, I'm sure any of my past selves would have by this point. This wouldn't be happening if I did. But I stayed with you on my own accord. I want you to survive. I want you to win."
"How can you say that for sure?! I created you! You just want to stay because I'm making you!"
Tears streamed down her face out of desperation.
"I saw them. My past selves. They all loved you, same as me. I don't quite understand love, but I don't believe it's something that can be fabricated so easily. All this pain I've endured, everything I've been through, these emotions I feel. They affirm me. I want to fight for you. As a human, not anything else, I want to fight."
Shirou kneeled down to face her.
"So let me."
"Alright."
Getting ready to leave, Sakusei turned to face Shirou.
"There is one more thing you should know."
"What is it?"
"The man's true name."