Shirou Emiya felt confused and frustrated.
While he was coming back from his training grounds in the ruins of Ryuudou Temple, he saw a scene that felt highly suspicious.
It was Illya running out of their home.
Curious to see what she was up to, as well as to make sure nothing bad would happen to his sister this late at night, he followed her, only to see that she infiltrated his school.
Realizing that something shady was going on, he projected Carnwennan, the dagger of Artoria Pendragon, and hid in the shadows of the school, observing his sister from a distance.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
Illya was dressed in a strange pink attire that looked similar to her magical girl anime and manga. However, Shirou could tell that this was no cosplay.
The sheer breath of mana rolling off of her was enough to rank her as at least a Phantasmal Beast in the same range as a Dragon, or maybe even beyond that, well into the Divine Beast rank.
His little sister was cloaked in mana on the same range as a Dragon.
That thought alone was enough to nearly send Shirou running and grab her then and there. However, when he spotted her companions, he was forced to stop and analyze the situation.
Tohsaka Rin. The daughter of the Tohsaka family.
While there were no signs that she was a Magus in this world back when he knew her nearly three years ago, a time when he was barely starting to understand the significance of the dreams that he was experiencing thanks to the Class Card, there was no telling if she was merely acting like a normal person back then, just like many of her counterparts, or if there were other circumstances involved.
And, sadly, he is not even sure if this Rin would be like her counterparts, cranky on the outside and soft on the inside, or if she would even recognize him as her childhood friend instead of an enemy should he reveal himself, which would put his sister in danger and turn her into a potential hostage.
And then, there was that mystic code that she was using the other night, the same one that he had chased after but lost the trail of thanks to a Phantasmal creature's attack.
All in all, the situation looked too dangerous for his sister, and he could not risk her safety by recklessly rushing in. So, he chose to wait and see what they were up to.
Which proved to be a terrible mistake.
Suddenly, he felt a sudden shift in the flow of mana in the air, followed by a burst of strange energies, before the group at the center of the track suddenly disappeared into thin air, followed by a burst of light.
For a single second, his heart stopped dead as his mind raced to comprehend what he just saw.
Then, frustration and confusion flooded in, leading to his current situation.
Still in his Archer form, Shirou circled the area where he saw his sister and his childhood friend disappear into thin air, trying to use structural analysis to see if he could find something while also scouring through his Noble Phantasms to try and find anything that might help him in this situation.
'A Reality Marble? No. I do not feel the sense of wrongness that comes with a Reality Marble. Maybe a Marble Phantasm? No. That can't be it either. I don't feel the oppressive mana levels. The only burst of mana that I felt was when whatever magecraft they used was activated.'
'Maybe a translocation spell like with the Ainsworth? Possible. But why use this place to teleport out? Why not some other secluded place? Rin is not the kind of person to do things like this out in public like this, a theory further supported by the strange Bounded Field I can sense across the school.'
'No. Knowing Rin, if she is anything like her counterparts, this place must hold some kind of importance for her translocation spell. Maybe an anchor point? But that would mean she is trying to track someone who can teleport around based on anchor points. This means that she will have to eventually return back to the source of the trail, which would mean she will come back here once she is done.'
'The problem is that she has Illya with her, and I have no idea where they went.'
It was a testament to Tohsaka Rin's ability as a teacher across the multiverse that Shirou was able to deduce that much of the situation based on circumstantial and visual evidence alone. After all, it is not easy to turn a third-rate spell caster like Shirou Emiya into someone whose theoretical knowledge can match even a high-ranked magus of the Clock Tower in the other timelines, even if his practical skills will always remain firmly in the Third-rate Magus range.
It was during his contemplation of this situation that his senses picked up three approaching presences, making him disappear again using Carnwennan and concealing his presence completely, and disappearing into the shadows.
Then, he observed as, once again, two familiar figures ran to the center of the track.
"Dammit! Looks like that gorilla beat us to the punch! Miyu!"
Luvia Edelfelt's frustrated words made the girl beside her with short black hair and golden eyes nod before holding up Sapphire.
Shirou's heart nearly stopped once again when he spotted the familiar girl from his memories. A singular existence with no other counterparts across his multiple versions.
Miyu Emiya. The little sister of Shirou Emiya from the very timeline from which the Class Cards originate. The girl that his counterpart sent to another world after fighting an entire Ainsworth-style Holy Grail War and winning in the end with his own Archer Class Card.
For the first time in his life, Shirou Emiya could not help but curse internally.
'Fuck! What the hell is going on here!?'
Then, he caught sight of the other mystic code, one that felt like the counterpart to the one Illya was using earlier, do the same trick as the other one from before.
'Ok. It's now or never.'
Making up his mind, Shirou watched for the right moment, waiting and reinforcing his body to the absolute limit while still keeping Carnwennan active.
The moment he felt like whatever translocation spell they were using was active, he sprinted to the limit of his ability.
For someone who was using the full abilities of a servant whose Agility stat was C, it was child's play to close that distance in an instance.
Yet, he still failed.
It felt like running through a mirage. The moment he set foot into that Formalcraft circle, he felt some kind of restriction hold his body for just a split second, long enough for the girls and the mystic code to disappear just like Illya and Rin, before releasing him, by which point it was all over.
Then and there, Shirou felt so mad that he wanted to lash out at something. But the cold logic inherited from his servant counterparts allowed his logic to prevail as he went back to observe the area, his theory of this place being an anchor point all but confirmed with Luvia's actions.
"I was wondering who would be foolish enough to mess with the Kaleidostick's spells like that, to think I would run into an anomaly like you when I just wanted to see how my potential students were doing in their first task. Shirou Emiya."
Shirou stiffened up as the familiar, amused tone sent chills down his spine while his mind ran a hundred miles a second.
Knowing that there was nothing he could do against the man who was probably standing behind him if his counterparts' experiences were anything to go by, Shirou took a deep breath and dismissed Carnwennan, turning to face the white-haired older gentleman wearing a clean suit and holding a decorative cane.
"Zelretch. Given how you spoke my name directly, can I assume....?"
"That I know exactly who and what you are? Across all timelines? Yes, Shirou. You can."
The Old Man of the Jewels chuckled warmly as his crimson eyes stared at Shirou with amusement and intrigue.
The old man suddenly snapped his fingers, making Shirou tense, but he did not even have the time to think.
One moment, they were at the track behind Kuoh Academy, then, the next second, they were in an exact replica of the room that the Old Man always used in the Clock Tower across the timelines.
A sight that all but confirmed all of Shirou's assumptions, making him slump and unceremoniously drop down on the seat opposite the old man, knowing the man's personality better than anyone, thanks to Rin's status as his disciple in nearly all the timelines he knew of.
Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. The Old Man of the Jewels. The Father of Jewel Magecraft.
The Kaleidoscope.
The man leaned happily into his fist with a grin as he stared at Shirou.
"Looks like you've found yourself in quite the intriguing situation, eh? Shirou Emiya? As expected of you."
Shirou could not help but slump further, knowing that it was going to be a really long and mentally draining night.
For such is the price that needs to be paid when dealing with the madness that is the Kaleidoscope.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1