Epilogue True: Arcadia

From a place outside time and space, even reality itself, he observes. Silent, yet watching.

His universe came to an end ages ago, those he cared for fading into dust as all did.

They lived long and fruitful lives, happy and carefree. Unbothered by the burdens of magic, by the monsters in the dark, it was an ordinary end to what was once extraordinary.

Emiya Shirou was alone, having watched humanity come to an end and those he cared for fulfill their lives.

This was what he had wished for. What he had achieved.

Rin became a world-class researcher, eventually curing the greatest of diseases with her brilliant mind.

Sakura was always chasing after her sister's success, but never in her shadow. Without Matou Zouken around, and without magic, the Tohsaka family remained together, albeit with Tokiomi being an aloof researcher back in Britain.

Ayako's life remained as it would have been had she never been drawn into the war, and she obtained an ordinary happiness.

It was a world where Emiya Kiritsugu could retire from his freelancing to live with Ilya and her mother. Where Issei became the head monk of Ryuudou temple and lived a long and calm life.

Where Emiya Shirou did not exist, and his self before the fire remained just an ordinary kid.

But that was what had been. Now, nothing existed in that reality but empty worlds and desolate wastelands across the universe. Humanity had a long run, but in time it too wasted away, meeting its inevitable end.

Emiya Shirou was alone, the Maker of a peaceful reality and now the ruler of an empty void, unable to disappear and unwilling to start again.

...But Fate had other plans for him.

I hereby propose.

A calling, waking the Creator from his timeless slumber. An impossibility that shouldn't occur, and yet was.

Thou shalt come under my command, and thy sword shall control my fate.

"...This feeling..."

Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me.

A chance. A miracle to set things right without resorting to resetting the universe. To be 'Emiya Shirou the Hero' and not 'Emiya Shirou the Creator'.

I hereby swear. I am all that is good in the eternal world. I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world.

...But should he? He had chosen this path long ago, and came to terms with what it meant.

Thou, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint...

"...Heh. Looks like I've no choice in the matter."

Shirou shifted his weary body and started moving towards the source of the call.

Guardian of the Heavens!

An explosion of light.

Rin opened her eyes after shielding them from the sudden brightness.

A man, with glowing silver hair and eyes, dressed in clothes of purest white.

He took one look at her, and then let out a serene smile. "So you are my Master... how fitting."

An aura of sheer power, beyond anything that Rin could have imagined.

For a second, Rin glanced at the garnet pendant she had used as a catalyst. Huh. Guess it was a better catalyst than I thought.

And then it hit her. Without a doubt, she had summoned the strongest card.

The man knelt to the ground, like a knight would before a princess, and bowed his head. "I am Servant Saver, the one summoned to be at your side in this war."

It was strange. He seemed... familiar, for some reason. Rin couldn't place it, and that was bothering her. She should know this person, did know this person, and yet...

Her thoughts were cut off by his brilliant smile, one that took her breath away with how pure it was.

"I will ensure your happy end."

Another chance, a different fate. The Savior descends upon a war for the Holy Grail...

To the location where you wait for a miracle you vowed to a melody of sorrow. In place of the voice of hope heading towards tomorrow. Together, let us create it...

Arcadia

A/N: And here we bring this tale to a close, for real.

I hope these epilogues were somewhat concluding. I couldn't really think of a better way for each other than what's written, so I'm sorry for the short length, but that's just how it ended up to be.

Now for the Guest Replies. I'll keep adding on to these every Sunday if there's a new review.

Guest Replies, in order of oldest to new:

Chapter 25, What I Hold Dear

Overlord: I'm glad that you read it, and thank you for that.

Seeker 213: It's supposed to be Ayako, but you can think that if you want? I should also probably catch up on that fic, too, now that I think about it...

Guest: Haha, I'm glad that you were so enthusiastic about reading it, and I hope you enjoyed the epilogues.

Alpha95: Wow... to think that my writing could have such a reaction in someone is an honor. I'm more than flattered at the praise, and while I'm not sure it could match up to the original, I guess there's no rule an imitation can't beat it, eh? As for continuations, Sword of Origin is a continuation of the Normal End, while I might possible write a one shot continuation for the True End at some point.

Guest: Thank you. I'm glad that it was a worthwhile wait. Hope the epilogue was worth it too.

Guest: I've decided to keep the epilogues here, as you can see.

Guest: I'll make sure to try and remember not to gloss over the magic differences, but having both parties misunderstand the other's magic while trying to frame it in normal conventions is just too amusing to skip, you know? As for your opinions on a Sekirei crossover, I'll think about it and see how it'll work, but again, I'll keep it in mind.

Guest: Haha, yeah. It is a bit much, but he was replacing Berserker when summoned so I had to have someone on par with him at least. As for the whole 'he himself is unable to use it', it's because it's supposed to be a Master's Noble Phantasm. As for Assassin not on the list... er, I forgot about that. I was typing the sheet up from scratch, so it slipped my mind, but yes, he'd qualify for that as well.

Guest: I'm glad you enjoy Sword of Origin, and yes, we'll get to see a broken Shirou in action. I'll try to keep it balanced though, so he just doesn't steamroll everyone. And yes, it is always a shame when good stories end, but it's only for the reader. The end of one tale is the start of another, after all.

Guest: Tvtropes... while informative, I abstain from visiting it. As an information junkie, my time is drained from visiting it. And I prefer to get a feel from character through dialogue and actions, rather than summaries in any case, so it wouldn't work for me to just read up on it from the Tropes page.

Guest: Ah... sorry, but it's not happening in this story. I might expand upon that scene at some point, but not now.

Guest: Well, I dunno if there's many people who've read both Alicization and FSN who could write it without degrading the fic into an OP Shirou wrecks everyone. Though it's likely more that it's kinda a stretch to connect the two.

Guest: Sword of Origin, a continuation of the Normal End, is out already. I kinda jumped the gun on it a few months ago, so you can read it while I work on the next chapter?

Guest: Well, a Reality Marble represents a person's soul and inner world. Since Shirou's also contains his Magic, and he values their lives over his, when they died their souls were drawn there instead of to the Root like most souls go to. As a result, when he manifested his Reality Marble, they were manifested as well, and since they were brought back outside of Gaia's domain, they stayed when it faded. As for his aria, what's written at the end is his 'final' aria, and is what should be taken as the incantation for his Reality Marble.

Guest: Er... I'll try? It's just that it gets tedious having a bunch of different swords, and the more obscure ones might detract from the story. I know that it bothered me a bit in some of the stories I've read when an obscure sword ended up being traced. Though considering that the Sword of Akasha has Divine Instrument Forging, we might see a few famous fictional blades...

Chapter 26: Another Heaven

Guest: Yep! It's not in his nature to let something go unrewarded, especially considering all that Kirito did for him.

Guest: I'm glad you think so. Yeah, it's definitely the best gift he could have given them, though in his mind what Kirito taught him was even greater.

Chapter 27: Horizon

Guest: They're the Sword's kids, biologically, but I suppose it'd be best to say they're the kids of those Shirou cared for? Grief, the fact that the Sword is meant to ensure their happiness, and time probably played a factor in it.

Guest: Ah, but he's also the one most feared and the one with the most enemies in terms of the Magus society/Dead Apostles/bad guys in general. He's pulling a Shirou moment by thinking it's better to protect them from a distance than stay in their lives and risk them getting hurt. If Shirou was there though, he'd probably whack him on the head for being so idiotic.

Chapter 28: Arcadia

Tolazytologin: Glad you're happy with them! Yes, the True End on its own is a bit melancholic, but there *was* a reason why it's true. I do enjoy happy endings, you know? But anyway, thank you, and I'm glad you came along for the ride.

Guest: Ah, good. I tend to get obsessed with length at times, and it's usually what leads me to a block. It seems I've developed a subconscious avoidance to padding, and trying to do so causes nothing but trouble. Anyway, I know that feeling, and I can only say thank you for sticking with me on this journey.

Guest: Oh yes. Yes he is. The character interactions... the surprise when such a wildcard has been drawn... that'd definitely be fun. But alas, it won't be for a while, probably.

Guest: Yeah, sorry about that, but I need to do a bit more extensive research to do justice to that encounter.

Guest: Well, there's a reason why it's marked *true*...

Guest: Yes, the class designated to those embodying the concept of a 'Messianic' figure. Fitting, no?

Guest: Yeah, it seems like it's been a while, hasn't it? But it's at an end already... As for guest reviews, I'll try to keep this page updated every week for new reviews.

Guest: Gil's battle with Crown and Queen will show up in some form when I get around to it in 'Different Paths'. I'll probably also put in alternative scenes that were cut in the final draft, as a sort of 'What could have been'. As for the stats, they'd be a rank higher, with a plus if he used reinforcement. Though that's kinda cheating at that point...

Guest: Ahaha... you know me too well...

Guest replies from September 21st and later (not sure if I missed any):

Guest: The concern for the difference in magic has been acknowledged, and I'll do my best to write in the proper ramifications.

Guest: I'll do my best to show a large variety of blades from SAO and other fictional works/legends. Might be whatever's convenient at the time.

Guest: Yep. Kirito figured out that some things are better left as a fantasy, and living the dream is better only in some cases. Though he kinda knew that already, having it thrown in his face changed him a bit.

Guest: He could probably give Kirito powers, though I would think that they'd ensure Yui's existence didn't have any problems before they left, if they even do leave.

Guest: True on all of those points. Shirou's a melee specialist here, unlike Archer/Canon!Shirou, who's a range specialist. Put it that way, and I suppose it does work. (Psst, someone reading this note write the story!)

Guest: I guess I'll think about it when I exhaust current story ideas.

Guest: Yes, yes it was.

Guest: I'll likely write extensions of many scenes in the future, but I'd like to finish current projects before then. I always did intend ADP to be longer than it currently is, so we'll see.

Guest: Well, there's already something like that. For all the different cameos from many fanfics, we have 'The Throne of Shirou' by Arrixam, while for the war where all the Servants are Shirou we have 'Fate Shirou' by Shintouyu. While not quite what you say, they're pretty similar in concept. As for me writing a story like you say, I would, except I feel troubled using the renditions of Shirou from other people in a fanfic. I mean, I could, but it seems kinda disrespectful.

Guest: Is that the nanoha cross? Think I remember reading that at some point...

Guest Replies from October 8th onwards

Guest: Why yes. Yes I do. I'll wait on those until after I finish more stories/the FSN remake is finished/the HF movie comes out though.

Guest: Ah, let me clarify. I just don't want to do those characters injustice, since I'm not sure if I could give them the respect they deserve at my current level. In the future I might do it though, once I feel I"m ready. The idea's now noted in my future stories pile.

Guest: So I see. Mm, for now though, those ideas are still in my possible stories pile.

Guest: I'm sure there are those who can, but I'm not sure if they will. Do feel free to spread the word though to see if someone will do it.

Guest: Maaybe? Accel world might play a part in it...

Guest: Yep, different specializations.

Guest: He went off to his own adventures having regained faith in Humanity. :nods:

Guest: True, true. Like I said above though, that idea's been moved to my future stories pile.

Guest: The downsides of being an on the seat of your pants writer... In any case, the crystal was intended to be a way to heal Ayako for another ending, but I kinda retconned it. As for Zolgen, he went off to do his own thing after the events cleared up. And KIRITO's backstory is in my future stories pile. As for what happened to them, they died (and woke up back in reality) when KIRITO killed them for trying to stop his crazed charge. Probably.

Once again, thank you all for reading, and sticking with me on this long journey.

...Until the next.

Farewell.