Almistyor
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Anomaly Ch. 29
🕑 Added 2024-05-04 12:00:07 +0000 UTCShirou's eyebrow twitched as he felt the eyes on him. He was no stranger to being stared at. He could admit that his features were striking even from a distance. However, he had thought that the elves had grown past that, having grown used to his presence within Alnus.
Though, given what he now looked like, he couldn't blame them.
"Lord…Emiya? Is that you?" Tuka, still next to him, spoke up. When he looked at her, he could barely tell that anything was amiss, until he spotted her ears. Where they had been pointed before the spell, they now more closely resembled that of a human's, albeit still slightly longer.
Nonetheless, she hadn't actually changed much. Her hair was still blonde, and her eyes were still green.
"Yes, it's me."
Shirou blinked as he heard his own voice, before internally groaning. Tally another change - his own voice - to the list.
"Are you alright, Lord Emiya?!" Snapping out of their reverie, the elves clamored around him, looking for anything that might've gone wrong. Some of them broke off, speaking to each other in low voices while shooting puzzled glances at his form.
The magus figured that this wasn't normal.
With a horrified look on her face the Grand Elder shooed away the others, before giving a low bow, prompting everyone else to do the same after a moment.
"I-"
"It's fine." He stopped her before she could apologize. He could tell that if he didn't, Adrianne would go on for a while, "Just, tell me one thing?"
"O-Of course, Lord Emiya." Despite his interruption, Shirou could tell that she was more than ready to apologize.
"Is this permanent?" He didn't think it was, else no elf would be really willing to undertake this spell with as much nonchalance as Tuka.
"It shouldn't be. We need only cast the counterspell to dispel it." Adrianne finally looked up, her eyes brimming with worry, "But still, such a drastic change is not to be taken lightly."
"Hm?"
"The spell that mine people cast, tis a method for us to trade with humans with no repercussions, in times when we would truly need to do so." She had a frown as she spoke, "However, such a drastic change has not been seen in any of the times the spell has been cast."
"If it's not permanent, then it's no problem." He shrugged. Honestly, he should have expected this. The odds of something not going the way it was planned went through the roof whenever magecraft and magic were involved.
"That's…" Adrianne trailed off, "Lord Emiya, art thou aware that thou hast grown shorter?"
Now that she said it, it did feel as though he was shorter than he normally was. He certainly wasn't looking down on them as much. Weird thing was, his clothes still fit exactly as they had, which didn't make a whole lot of sense. He figured that it was part of the spell, if anything.
"It should not have done that." And now back to the worried Elder, "All the spell should have done was put up an illusion, where the actual features would still be behind it. Lord Emiya, if you truly have grown shorter, then I fear that the change is more than just an illusion."
With a frown, Shirou pulsed his own magical energy throughout his body. He was more than familiar with using Structural Analysis on himself, to check for any injuries that he may have missed due to his frankly absurd pain tolerance.
Years using his nerves as Circuits would do that to a person.
Nevertheless, he had more or less memorized the 'blueprint' of his body after his Enforcer years forced him to do so, to spot any irregularities at a moment's notice.
Needless to say, there were a lot of irregularities.
It wasn't an illusion. He could tell, right there and then, that his body was that of his own, no doubts about it. It was just that, it was his own body from around five years ago. Before he had that growth spurt that had him grow to Archer's height. Before his hair turned white from stress and the overuse of his Circuits. Before his skin tanned after years of fighting under the harsh sun.
He was still Shirou Emiya, but he was a Shirou Emiya that hadn't been seen since the end of the Grail War.
…Surprisingly, he couldn't find it in himself to care all that much. Was it the feeling of Avalon clouding his judgment? Maybe. Even then though, he had a feeling that the Everdistant Utopia wouldn't lead him astray. Besides, he had a feeling that it was the same sheath that was the reason for this to happen in the first place.
"Like I said, it's fine." He gave the elves a smile, "If it really bothers you, then you can look it up while we're gone."
"Are you still continuing towards Italica?" She wasn't the only one surprised by it, as was obvious by the eyebrows raised by nearly everyone there.
"What's done is done, and better in my opinion." Shirou shrugged nonchalantly, "The Empire would be looking for how I normally look, and an illusion could still be broken."
"I would highly advise you to please reconsider. Who knows what could come of this!"
"Have some faith, Lady Valliere." He gave one last smile, one that hopefully got across that he wasn't changing his mind, "If anything were to happen, then I assure you, the blame shall fall on me and my own actions, not your own."
That leaving now would also give him some time to think of an excuse for Waver, Rin and the others was just a bonus.
…
It was only a few minutes later that they were silently sneaking their way back to Alnus. It was more or less needed, since they wanted to make sure that nobody spotted a huge bulk of the dragon and wyvern scales were missing until they were long gone.
It was easy, to say the least.
With the elven leader, reluctantly, helping them, they had the entire population of elves on their side. And while those that had seen him did a double take at his new(old) look, they followed through regardless.
Soon enough, he, Tuka and Lelei were with a horse drawn carriage, on their way towards Italica, with the JSDF and the other magi unaware.
For her part, Lelei had been silent ever since she had witnessed the spell. It wasn't anything that Shirou paid too much attention to - the girl was more or less always quiet, very much an introvert that only spoke when she needed to.
He would respect that.
Similarly, Tuka was immersed in driving the carriage. Apparently, it was her first time doing so, and was taking it very seriously, focusing on keeping things going smoothly. Shirou thought that it was a bit much, but to each their own.
For his part, he was relishing the feeling of his body. To other magi, this might've been the worst situation to find themselves in.
The stereotypical magus had become accustomed to their bodies, barring a few exceptions. They would have instinctual use of their Circuits according to their older selves, and would have had trouble adjusting. This could likely entail, if they tried to use a mystery, to either more or less magical energy used.
More in the case that they had instinctually did so to counter the effects of their aging bodies. Less in that they underestimated the amount their bodies could handle.
For him, having already used Structural Analysis repeatedly to drill into himself of his body's condition, it was no issue.
In fact, he had felt better than he had in years.
Whatever had happened, whatever Avalon had done to him by reacting to the Spirits, it had turned his body into his old one. That was to say that the fractures, the bone-deep wounds that he had experienced over the years, they were all gone.
The phantom pain he still occasionally felt from losing his arm? Gone.
The way he sometimes forgot to breathe, forgetting that his lungs weren't crushed under his ribs? Gone.
The struggle to walk as his body recalled that no, he didn't only have one leg? Gone.
It was almost liberating.
Still, that didn't mean he didn't have issues. He had to still remind himself, especially when he needed to grab something, that he wasn't as tall, nor his arms as long as he was used to. Those were more difficult to deal with, since he had gotten used to that through visual experiences, one that he needed to rectify as soon as he could.
Overall, he still felt it was a positive.
"Mana."
"Hm?" He looked up to see Lelei looking at him in askance. In her hands, he could spot a small notebook, and a pen in her hand.
"Mana before ritual. Different than now."
He raised an eyebrow, "You're talking about my magical energy?"
"Yes. Can sense it. Felt it before. Only understood now."
Shirou frowned. It's not that he doubted Lelei. There was a reason why Cato had taken her on as an apprentice, and from what he could tell, it was her practically prodigious mind when it came to anything she was interested in. It just so happened that she was very much interested in magic and magecraft.
That being said, he certainly didn't sense anything different with his magical energy.
"Can you elaborate?"
"Added feeling now. Same as Spirits."
Shirou's attention sharpened, a crease forming between his brows. The information Lelei provided carried significant implications. If his mana now felt akin to the Spirits, then there was a distinct possibility that his magical nature had been altered more fundamentally than he had assumed. One hidden from his own senses, akin to one's own voice sounding different to their own ears.
Lelei nodded, her expression serious, her eyes flicking from her notebook to Shirou. "Yes, similar structure now. Before, different, more...human. Now, intertwined, like threads of Spirits woven into you." She tilted her head, before scratching some more words onto her notebook.
"Some Divinity. Close in feeling to Apostle."
…He could practically feel the laughter and annoyance that Rin would be feeling the moment she heard about this.
…
In the end, no matter how much they talked about it, Shirou still couldn't do anything. He couldn't feel the Divinity that Lelei spoke about, confirmed even by Tuka. Apparently, the elves had felt it earlier, but couldn't pin down what it was that had shocked them so much. It was only Lelei's observations that had put the pieces together.
It was disappointing, to say the least, and he counted himself lucky that he had left before Rory could find him again. Then again, according to his two companions, the Divinity was faint enough that they figured that it couldn't be felt after a certain distance.
He still didn't want to test that against a demigod's senses though.
Of course, his lucky break couldn't have stayed that way.
They had stopped to rest for the night, having been on the road for the better part of the day. They had set up a small camp, and had eaten a decent meal he had managed to cook up from the local vegetation they had foraged.
He was more than satisfied to see that his cooking skills hadn't been disrupted.
They had turned in for the night, dousing the fire and letting the darkness take them till morning. At least, that was the plan.
Shirou's nose twitched as, sometime past midnight, well after they had put out the fire, he smelt smoke. He was immediately awake. One thing that you had to be careful about was fire, especially in the middle of the forest. Especially if your father was someone who could accidentally burn water by boiling it.
Sleeping through a fire was not an option.
Hence, he bolted up, ready to grab Tuka and Lelei and bolt it in case there was a forest fire.
The fire was nowhere near them.
In the distance, in the direction he knew they were heading in, were tall plumes of smoke. More than one. More than a bonfire could make.
He Reinforced his body as he climbed a tree, focusing on his eyes and ears. The faint sound of screams already filled his ears before he even reached the top. The moment he did, he saw it.
There. The walled town of Italica.
Burning.
…
