Son of the Huntress; Breath of Steel

Summary: Isn't it strange how nobody seems to know the truth of Shiro's heritage? Isn't it strange how his hair has such a fine auburn colour? What about how his Magecraft manifests in smell? And what about how natural he finds archery? When Rin sends Shirou to New York to do a job for her, he ends up finding more than he bargained for.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate, or the Percy Jackson series. Fate is owned by Type-Moon and was created by Kinoko Nasu, and Percy Jackson was created by Rick Riordan. Please support the official release.

0: Stars Rise

Shiro Emiya couldn't help but sigh as he made his way through the crowded streets of Las Vegas, rather late at night too. He was clad in a pair of jeans, and a short sleeved white tee, his phone held in his hand as he used the GPS to try and find the right address.

The hero of justice, self-proclaimed as that may be, didn't quite understand why it was he was the one who had to head to a foreign country to deal with a problem that had arisen. He mentally played back the conversation between himself and Rin.

"Shiro."

"Yes, Rin?"

"You're going to Las Vegas."

"… Why?"

"There's a Magus who's getting close to exposing us. The task was delegated to me to deal with it, so I'm delegating it to you."

"Rin, you can't expect me to-!"

"Shiro…"

"… I'll go book my ticket."

"Shiro, when will dinner be ready?"

He couldn't help but let out another sigh… Arguing with Rin was a task in itself… Trying to convince her that she should go to Vegas instead? He'd have had better luck reaching Akasha before that happened.

Saber had objected, but once Rin calmly explained things- while not mentioning that it was supposed to be her job in the first place- the King of Knights had reluctantly permitted Shiro to go and do the job, on the condition he come back as quickly as possible.

'Whatever…' Shiro thought to himself, scratching the back of his head as he followed the GPS. 'As long as I can get this job over with, and can get back home before something bad happens to anybody in this town…'

After a bit more walking, the GPS in his phone told him that he'd arrived at his destination. He looked up, only to see a huge neon sign that read 'Lotus Hotel and Casino.'

'A casino…?' Shiro thought incredulously… What was a magus doing in a casino? For what reason would a magus bother with actually going to a casino for money?

He shook his head… It wasn't his job to think about it, it was his job to take down the magus and make sure that they wouldn't reveal the secret of Magecraft.

Shiro slowly took a step towards the Casino… Before he froze and backed away immediately.

'Bounded field…' He thought to himself. This one was different from a normal magus' field though. According to the information he'd been given on the magus, this kind of bounded field was far beyond them.

Furthermore, there was something… Off about the bounded field. The scent it gave off compared to the usual Magecraft he dealt with… Something was inherently distorted about it, almost as if the hotel he was looking at was in another time and space!

Shiro wasted no time dialling Rin's number into his phone, not caring about the costs to call Britain at the moment, and he waited patiently.

Brr, brr… Brr, brr… Brr, brr- Click!

"Shiro…?" A yawn was heard from the other side, implying he'd woken Rin up for this call. "Why are you calling so early in the morning?"

"Rin," his voice was firm, deadly serious. "The magus has taken up refuge in a casino and hotel, called the Lotus Casino. There's a bounded field around it that has locked off the entire space and time of the casino, almost like it's in another dimension."

He heard rustling on the other side, before Rin's sharp voice came through the phone, "Explain."

And so, he did, explaining everything he could about the Bounded field in a hushed voice, so nobody would hear him. He couldn't tell her as much as she'd like since it simply wasn't his expertise when it came to Magecraft, but he thought he gave her enough information.

"Retreat for now, Shiro," Rin told him firmly. "I'll have to contact the higher ups in the clock tower about this… There have been similar incidents like this in America, but never something like you've described. Find a hotel to stay in for the night and get the first flight back tomorrow morning."

"I will," he responded. "Sorry for waking you up, sleep well."

"You're forgiven," she told him, yawning lightly now that the serious talk was over. "Night Shiro…"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Shiro put his phone away, turning back to look at the hotel with a small frown on his face… Strange, but he would have to learn about this strange place another time. For now, he should focus on finding another hotel to stay at.

Shiro really didn't need to look too long to find a hotel, it was Vegas after all, but was he prepared to check into his room he felt it. Like a small prickle on his back as the hair there slowly came to stand up straight.

Someone was watching him.

As calmly as possible, Shiro rented a room for the night and made the request for his luggage to be taken up, saying he would be back later. It was accepted, and Shiro wasted no time hailing a cab and simply requesting for it to take him a good way out of town.

About 20 minutes later, he requested the driver to stop. He was in the middle of the desert now, and the driver looked confused. "Here is just fine," he said, handing him a generous amount of money. "Thank you for the ride."

The cab driver simply nodded and began to make his way back to the city area.

Shiro slowly made his way into the desert, walking for another ten minutes, only to finally stop. "Come out!" He called. "I know you're there, I can sense you watching me!"

"Ha ha! The little half-blood is smarter than we thought!" A booming voice came that send shivers down Shiro's spine.

He turned around sharply, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of a pair of huge men, each holding clubs… And each with only one eye in the middle of their face.

'Cyclops…!?' He thought to himself incredulously… Cyclops were a breed of Phantasmal Beasts, thought to have retreated to the reverse side of the world hundreds upon hundreds of years ago! Why, in the name of the Root, were they here!?

"This one looks tasty!" The one on the left grinned. "He'll go great with a little seasoning! And even better, he's unarmed!" The beast roared as it charged, swinging its mighty club at him.

Shiro went into battle mode. He reinforced his body and jumped over the swing, rising above the pair of monsters. "Trace on!" Green light shone in his hands, twisting and curving into a pair of swords.

Slice!

"AGH!" The one that attacked him roared as it was suddenly cleaved in two, before exploding into a cloud of golden dust, which made Shiro visibly recoil in surprise.

"Brother!" The remaining Cyclops cried with dismay. "You will pay for that, you insolent Demigod!" He roared as he lifted his club over his head and swung down again.

Shiro dodged to the left, before leaping at the Cyclops with the intent to stab him in the eye.

The best was ready for the attack, however and moved to the side. "I have you now!" He roared in delight, shifting the trajectory of its club.

"You got who?" Shiro retorted, Kanshou and Bakuya shattering in his hands, before he held a sturdy black bow, a random arrow tipped with bronze now aimed at the monster's eye as Shiro slowly fell in mid-air.

The beast's lone eye barely had time to widen before the arrow flew through his head and he, just like his brother, exploded into golden dust.

The auburn-haired boy landed on the ground, exhaling slowly… Today had been one strange twist after another. Bounded fields that manipulated both time and space, cyclops seemingly coming back from the Reverse Side of the World…

Shiro couldn't help but frown, before he looked over to the city and side. No cab this time, he'd have to reinforce his legs and head over the old-fashioned way. He supposed he could enjoy the beautiful glow of the city growing nearer as he ran-.

"SCREEEE!"

His eyes widened as he dashed out of the way in moments, the ground shaking as a huge beast collided with the ground from above where he'd been moments before. Shiro eyed the monster, looking very nervous at the sight of one of the most infamous monsters in all of Ancient Greece.

The Calydonian Boar.

A beast that ravaged Calydon, as ordered by Artemis, because the King failed to honour his rites to the gods. Killed in the Calydonian Hunt, and first wounded by Atalanta…

It had taken many heroes to kill it, with many losing their lives. And from the way it was glaring at him, he was its next target on another rampage.

Save them.

That was right. If Shiro fell, normal humans may end up getting killed by this beast. He could not allow that… As a hero of justice, he swore he would kill this monster… Even at the cost of his own life.

Kanshou and Bakuya formed in his hands, and Shiro stood ready for battle.

As if on cue, the boar roared as it charged at Shiro, eyes burning with the desire to kill.

Shiro charged right back, reinforcing his entire body, before he jumped sharply to the right to avoid its charge and grabbed onto its side before stabbing it in the back with Bakuya, and then again quickly with Kanshou. The beast roared in agony as it began to bounce around, attempting to buck Shiro off!

He let go of his weapons, and rolled to the right, but the boar was on him again in moments and it knocked up him into the air with a powerful blow, making him cough in pain.

He heard a whoosh of wind and looked at the starry sky, the boar now above him and preparing for some sort of dive bomb attack! Shiro knew if he got hit that his ribs would likely shatter from the force of the blow, even with reinforcement!

It was at that moment, that one of the weapons in his reality marble called out to him. It was a strange sensation, as usually he called out to his weapons not the other way around. But this time, one called out to him.

A sleek bow formed in his hands, with curls at the end and a firm string that would give Archer's bow a run for its money. He pulled the string back as far as he could, a pair of arrows forming with little pieces of paper fluttering on the end.

However, he couldn't get a clear shot towards the sky due to the boar being in the way… But that was when he got an idea. A crazy, insane idea. The Noble Phantasm in his hands wasn't meant to work this way… But sometimes…

'Not all stars fall… Some of them rise…'

Shiro let out a somewhat wry smile, reminiscent of his future self, before he aimed the two arrows towards the nearing ground, a green aura surrounding his body. "I respectfully ask for the protection of the sun god Apollo and the moon goddess Artemis!"

A light shone from the pair of arrows as the colour drastically shifted, the top arrow becoming gold, and the lower one turning into a startling shade of silver. Shiro didn't have time to think about what the heck that could possibly mean. Instead he just rolled with it.

"I offer thee calamity…" He fired the arrows towards the ground, the pair stabbing in ground before they both glowed a neon green.

"Phoebus Catastrophe!" Shiro let out a roar as he invoked the name of the Noble Phantasm, his mana supply taking a very noticeable dip as he reinforced its body to its very limits as a countless number of arrows began to fire straight up into the sky!

'This is gonna hurt…!'

And hurt it did. Shiro roared in agony as his body was pierced by numerous arrows, somehow all of them avoiding his vital organs…

But the boar was left off far worse. It squealed in pain loudly enough that it made Shiro's ears hurt before it, like the two Cyclops before, exploded into golden dust that showered Shiro's body.

He hit the ground with a hard thud, as a tusk from the beast bounced off his chest and landed beside him. He breathed heavily, his energy depleted from both invoking the name of the Noble Phantasm, and then altering the way it was supposed to be used and taking on a good brunt of the attack himself.

The world around him began to spin lightly, his sight dimming, and he let out a shaky breath. "Ah… Sorry Saber… I'm not going home after all…" He breathed… Above him a pair of radiant silver eyes, so similar to Archer they were scary, came into view and he heard a gasp.

"Lucas?"

That name was the last thing he heard as he passed out…

Author's Note: I wrote this out of sheer boredom and yes, I know how poorly written it is. But I've been in a bit of a funk with writing, and this idea needed to come out despite how terribly written it is. This is Chapter 0 for a reason, think of it kind of like a pilot episode, just testing the waters as far as this one goes.

I might return to this story someday, but no promises. I would love to do a proper Fate/PJO crossover with Shiro as Artemis' son. I also won't lie, this idea was inspired by d4nte's story 'Auburn Hair.' I'm a big fan of it, and I highly suggest all of you go and check it out.

I will not be announcing the results of the poll of Ruby V Tamamo V Both, though I'm sure many of you can guess at this point. I have no idea when the next chapter is coming, because someone ruined Ruby for me again so it's hard for me to keep writing the story at the moment. Rest assured, I have every intention to come back to Stacking the Deck. At the moment though, I'm looking to write another story to keep me occupied in the meantime.

Well, that's all from me. This is Ezras Hargrave, signing off!