FicWad

Disclaimer: All rights of ownership of "Fate/stay night" and its characters belong to Kinoku Nasu, Takashi Takeuchi, TYPE-MOON on a whole, and other affiliated companies such as Kodokawa Shoten, Studio DEEN, and Geneon. This is purely a work of fiction made by fans, for fans. If any of the respective owners ask, I will remove all content that I do not hold any rights to (meaning, by proxy, the whole story).

Warning: This story contains explicit (and not so explicit) sexual content. Read at your own risk.

Additional warning: Hack. Talentless. ONOES. Etc.

---
Begin – Discontinuation of your Dream
---

Surprisingly, it was not for quite some time that he decided that he might be in some trouble. The day of aimless wandering did not dampen his spirits. No, ironically, it was the time that he found civilization—when he first spoke with someone, did he realize that things were not going to be as easy as he had hoped.

'Oh… no…' He felt a groan escape his lips as the ragged man across from him muttered something unintelligible to him, likely making as much sense to him as his speech was to the other man. 'Why on earth didn't I think of THIS?'

Quickly bowing to the man in apology, probably causing his confusion to reach even greater heights, he quickly fled.

His thoughts were completely unorganized, and at that point, he could only wander out of the village of muddy huts and even dirtier townsfolk in a daze. It was only after his stomach gurgled in protest that he realized he had drudged a few kilometers and the sun was already setting in the sky. Eerily, the mountains in the background reminded him of another sunset that was never far from his mind.

Despite the melancholic memories, he felt a grin tug at his cheeks. He recalled the incident that forced him to come to the war-torn lands, and why he was not unhappy about it at all. His vigor somewhat renewed, he set out to catch something to eat. Hunting quickly took his mind off what would doubtless be an aggravating next few days, and after a somewhat plain meal, he set to bed.

As he had expected, the next few days – or weeks, rather – were frustrating. He almost wished that the language had been taught in his school, but realized that he would not have likely been proficient enough truly ask anything he couldn't already with body language.

As it was, he knew what he was looking for. His accent was obviously horribly difficult to understand, and his imposing stature – and likely his alien features – seemed to put off quite a few of the people he tried communicating with, but he was finally rewarded when the eyes of the man he towered over lit up with recognition.

As luck would have it, there was apparently a caravan leading its way to his destination. The entire town itself, if it could even be called that, was on board. Its sparseness was highlighted by the fact that a small wagon tethered to a single horse was enough to carry all the residents – with much room to spare.

Still, it was a rest for his weary feet, so he had no complaints.

Some of the eyes of the passengers looked at him curiously, but he felt no malicious, and the fact that he held nothing of any value let him rest easily – or as easily as one could on the bumpy ride.

How much time past from that, he did not really know, although simply judging from the sun, it couldn't have been for more than a few hours. Regardless, he was awakened by the low cry from the other passengers – the name of his destination.

'Finally,' Shirou smiled. 'Camelot.'

---

It was an accident, honestly, and yet… he couldn't truly regret what happened. Indeed, he should have known better, even. But as time went on, even as his acceptance of the fact solidified even more in his heart, he still missed her. And when fate dangled something so tempting in front of him, could he be faulted for hesitating?




Yes, he supposed he could be.

Regardless, he found little regret in himself. The job was dangerous, it could have easily been a trap leading to his untimely demise, and instead… he might have found something that neared a desire dearest to his heart.

He had no idea what had truly happened. His job had been simple enough: protect – or rather, act as cannon fodder. The exploration was supposed to have yielded some rather ghastly traps, and while there had been a fair few, the group hadn't run into real trouble until the last step. A treasure trove of potent artifacts, and indeed, one of the items they were supposed to recover was the likely culprit to his dislocation. When the group had reached one of the storerooms, they had divided, each inspecting various places. The hired help had the unpleasant task of also splitting up to protect the various employers. While none of them had truly been helpless, even alone, some of them were rather… absent-minded.

Shirou had drawn one of the short straws.

He might have blamed Tohsaka for her interesting habit of attempting to educate him, but when images of a place long since gone sprung up from one of the items the scatter-brained female magus was prodding, he couldn't help but wonder at its usage. Was it something created by that mischievous dimensional traveler that many at the Association spoke so bitterly of, perhaps?

When a frightened yelp woke him from his slight daze, it was already too late to do more than blink stupidly before getting sucked in. What exactly, he wasn't sure, but when he had landed in a heap in the middle of nowhere, he had a feeling–No, he KNEW that he was no longer in his proper place. It was, in the best sense he could describe, a certainty that he was an outsider. Not simply in the usual sense, but rather, the entire world didn't recognize him at that place and time.

He wasn't quite certain why, but after a few minutes, he suddenly had a spark of intuition that the images he saw and somehow felt were now a reality to where he was. So, with nothing else in his mind, he set out.

To find Saber – or rather… Arthur.

Why, he couldn't be certain. It simply felt… right.

Except, now that he had finally arrived at the place he knew to be the location of the object of his affection, he suddenly came to another realization.

He had absolutely no idea where to go from here.

The language barrier, while the most immediate problem, was far from the biggest. Even if he knew the speech well enough to converse, his features would likely leave him in a point of scrutiny. Most importantly, the difficulty of purpose: even if through all reason he could converse with Arthur on an equal setting, what could he hope for the outcome to be?

This land's king was not Saber. Arthur was not the woman he had fallen in love with, she was the king of a land, with duty foremost in her mind.

He held no fear of damage being done, as Tohsaka had seen fit to cram enough knowledge into his head about the subject. The World took care of itself, if a paradox occurred, it would be fixed, simple as that. Even if he had actually traversed through time instead of into an alternate reality of sorts, it took extraordinary power and circumstances to attempt a feat like cause a paradox that would damage the earth. He was stronger than some, yes, but he held no illusions to being powerful enough to do that.

Still, the fact remained that he had no reason to do so. Why should he interfere with history's course?

He held no regret, but now that he was closer to his goal, he felt his vigor wane. Perhaps the trap truly was a curse instead of a mixed blessing.

Still, if he learned the language, in theory, it should have little different to be a Hero of Justice in one time or another. There were people dying, people that could be saved. If those people had already been ordained to death by history, well… what of it? If he could save even a single life that was to die, he could find satisfaction in oblivion.

A tiny smile coming back to his face, Shirou finally came back to himself. Lengthening his strides, he turned around a corner, and completed his journey to an odd encounter.

"Oofft!"

---

It would not be any surprise to any that knew him to see Merlin flee the main castle with a gleeful expression carefully hidden beneath his bearded face. It would also not surprise them to later hear high-pitch shrieks echo throughout the fortress' hallways, soon accompanied by angered shouts with the wizard's name in them.

Despite the fact that Merlin loved torturing the residents of Camelot, he was not a stupid man either, hence his trips out of the castle when such events occurred. It was not the fact that he feared any man's wrath – far from it, in fact – but he knew it would be better if he waited a time for tempers to cool before he ventured back in. Anger tended to delude one's reasoning, and with it, one's wisdom. With their temper snapped, a number of men might try to challenge him for the offense, and then he'd have to accept on principle. Then Camelot ended up with one less knight, or whatever, and that tended to put Arthur in a grump.

Not that Merlin didn't play with Arthur, but too much too fast might lead to bad results. All good things came with time, and that included better pranks.

So, whenever that time came, Merlin took a leisurely stroll through the growing peasant population. Sometimes he even helped somebody if need be. He had tried a few pranks on the commoners, but given that they were too frightened of offending him, they never gave satisfying reactions, and he soon stopped. Besides, doing good deeds didn't hurt his reputation. Most often, it was the common folk that spread the gossip.

And, of course, there were days like these that brightened his day even more.

"Oofft!" Well, except for the initial bump.

After getting a good look at the sky after having run into the solid, yet fleshy wall, Merlin got back onto his feet, with the man he had run into streaming apologies as he helped.

It was only after he got a look at the man that he knew that bump was fate whacking him in the face and screaming "PRIME MATERIAL HERE!"

First, the most obvious bit was the man having something OFF about him. It probably wasn't really noticeable to anybody without a smack of magical talent in them, but to someone of Merlin's caliber, it was almost disorientating at first glance. Second was the fact that, while Merlin could easily understand him, he soon realized that the man wasn't speaking in the local language.

"What is that, anyway?" Merlin spoke with a bit of magic lacing his words, quirking his white eyebrow.

"H-huh?" The redhead blinked stupidly.

"That language, boy." Merlin gestured. "What it's called? I've never heard it before."

"Japa—wait, you…?" The man, beyond all reasoning to Merlin, became even more flabbergasted. "You understand me? No… wait, you're speaking Japanese?"

"No," Merlin shook his head, feeling a bit of annoyance creep in. "I'm just speaking, and you're hearing what makes sense."

"O-oh…"

"Now, what is it?" Merlin sighed. "No, never mind, it doesn't matter. Come with me."

Gesturing, Merlin spun around and began to trek back to the castle. While tempers were still likely to be high, this was far more interesting. Plus he just planned on locking himself and the boy up in his study anyway.

Knowing that the redhead was following his command, Merlin hurried his pace. It took what seemed to be only moments before he was once again in the castle grounds. Running up the stairs, and navigating the halls, even what was only seemed to be a scant few seconds was far too long for the wizard. Straining his mind, he could only recall a handful of times that he had run into such an interesting puzzle. He only hoped that it was as intriguing in depth as it was at a sensory glance.

"E-excuse me," the man stumbled, obviously confused. "Wh—"

"Merlin, the center of Camelot, or at least pretty close, because you're interesting, and no, I don't care." Merlin answered. "Now, what's your name?"

"I…" The man blinked. "Emiya Shirou."

"Hm. Emiya, eh?" Merlin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Shirou, then. Please, sit down."

Shirou glanced around, probably for the first time, and finally sat on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs near his small library of books. Merlin sat in the much more comfortable one that was a little ways away so that people wouldn't pick it.

"Now, tell me your tale, if you please." Merlin smiled.

---

There was an awkward silence.

Shirou looked at the man—magus curiously, evaluating him. He'd heard tales of Merlin, but as he had never even read the tale of Arthur, he knew little beyond that the man was a great wizard. There was an element of power around him, that much was obvious. He radiated a certain… charisma. His commands were strong enough to cause Shirou to follow them before he realized what he was doing. And he was able to talk to Shirou even though he apparently didn't speak a word of Japanese.

Glancing around the spacious room didn't reveal much. Certainly, there were magical elements about the room, items that almost seemed to give off an aura of power. But beyond a few shelves of books and several vials held in place by racks, it seemed much of a ordinary room, or as much as Shirou could judge.

Then again, he probably couldn't judge very well, considering his displacement.

Coming upon that fact again, Shirou decided to throw caution to the wind. Merlin was supposed to be Arthur's trusted advisor, so it obviously wouldn't hurt to speak of some of his story. At best, the wizard would have a solution to the dilemma, and at worst… well, at least he would have been able to actually talk with someone for a time before being thrown out as a madman.

So, he began at the start. The moment of his forging, which set him onto the path of becoming a Hero of Justice, and of course, to the point at hand. Unbelievably, the talk of being from a distant future, or perhaps alternate dimension didn't even cause the wizard to bat an eyelid in surprise.

He spoke for hours, with Merlin not speaking except for short interjections for more details. Sometimes on points of magic, and others even on insignificant details like the ingredients of the dish he made that day.

Finally, he finished with their meeting. His throat was sore, and with a glance out the single window of the room, he realized that the sun had set and was now just beginning its rise. He had spoke of far more then he first thought to, but he didn't feel like he had divulged more than he should have. Honestly, the main points that he felt shouldn't be spoken of to the wizard were ones he didn't really know much about.

"Ah." Merlin blinked. "I was right."

"Right?" Shirou coughed, quirking his brow in question.

"This is going to be interesting."

---

Unsurprisingly, his rest was comfortable and plentiful. After being lead to the kitchens and fed a hearty meal, Merlin shoved him into some empty quarters to rest. After days of nothing but rough ground and uncomfortable rocks, lying in a bed – even if it was still hardly up to par to a good futon, or even a more modern western bed – was absolutely heavenly. He woke up with the sun shining through his window and onto his face, telling him he had slept through the day and into the next.

Sitting up, Shirou stretched his muscles. While the bed WAS better than anything he had slept in for weeks, it still left with some kinks. Quickly running into his morning routine, Shirou only barely noticed when Merlin entered the room. As he was almost done anyway, he politely acknowledged the man before finishing his workout.

As Shirou swiped a palm across his sweaty brow, Merlin finally broke the silence.

"I trust you slept well?" Merlin spoke in rhetoric, as he didn't wait for an answer, probably because he already knew it. "Take this."

Grasping the object from the wizened hands, Shirou knitted his eyebrows together in confusion at the silver cross.

"Christianity is becoming a bit more widespread, so I just decided to go with that since they're getting common even among with commoners." Merlin seemed to give a shrug of sorts.

"What is it?" Shirou questioned, immediately coming to the conclusion that it was far more than it seemed.

"I enchanted it last night. It will act as a translation device of sorts for you." Merlin tilted his head. "Not my finest work, I must say, but I was in a rush. The enchantment will fade in a year or two, and it only works for translation spoken Latin to… Japanese, was it? Well, it's limited anyway."

"I… I see." Shirou was stunned, impressed despite himself. He wasn't very knowledgeable on the subject, and modern magi learned languages by memory to assist them in their studies, but he hadn't even been aware that it was possible to speak other languages through thaumaturgy. "Thank you."

He quickly pulled the cords around his neck and knotted them.

Merlin stared at him for a few moments before gesturing to follow. Strangely, as Shirou did as he was bided, he got the impression that the wizard seemed… disappointed?

Shaking the thought away, the displaced magus took in the sights he hadn't while following Merlin the last few times. The halls were sparsely decorated, but the stone walls seemed to glow in a majestic manner, leaving the viewer with a wholesome impression instead of claustrophobic.

"We'll be setting your stage as a magus from a distant country," Merlin chuckled. "Not that that isn't the truth. But to make things mesh you'll be acting as my apprentice."

"Acting as your…?" Shirou blinked, surprise causing him to stumble momentarily. "Are you sure about that?"

"Mm?" Merlin shot him a glance. "It's only an act, boy. I don't have time to devote to an apprentice, so you'll just be on your own devices. If anybody questions what you're doing, just say that you're running some errand for me. Nobody really knows what the hell a wizard's apprentice does."

"I see." Shirou shook his head, feeling what could be described as a jolt of culture shock. Even someone like him knew that most magi took such things very seriously. Of course, this was some several thousand years before his time, so obviously things were a bit more laidback.

"Of course, we'll just introduce you to your long-lost love and then see how things go from there." Shirou couldn't see Merlin's expression, but the man seemed… amused.

"'See how things go?'" Shirou shook his head again, his thought whirling. "Merlin, what exactly are you planning?"

"Hah!" Merlin barked a laugh. "Time will tell, boy."

Then they were at a pair of large iron clad doors. Built from sturdy oak, they looked like they could withstand an attack from Berserker's axe-club. Well, a few of them at least.

Merlin pushed them open with a tap of finger.

They swung open in a whoosh of air, yet stopped before they crashed at the end of their hinges. A dramatic, yet frivolous use of magic, and it was the cause of Shirou suddenly getting a bad feeling.

"Merlin." The voice caused Shirou's intuition of ill tidings to get swept away in a swath of memories.

There. Exactly as he remembered, she was right there. It had been quite a few years since, but in his memory, his image of her was still perfectly etched into his mind. Every detail.

Realizing that he was missing conversation, he quickly shoved the nostalgia aside.

"—miya Shirou, my apprentice." Merlin smirked. The response was immediate, cutting through the audience with gasps of surprise – and groans of despair. Shirou didn't miss the suspicious glares directed at him.

"Indeed?" Arthur's face was calm, but Shirou spotted a slight rise of her brow, signaling her own surprise. "From where do you hail, magus?"

"Japan, your majesty." Shirou answered, suddenly feeling the scrutiny, and wondered if the proper forms of speech would translate properly.

As no exclamations were made outside of looks of confusion, Shirou decided that they did, or it was being overlooked due to his status as a magus.

"I have not heard of that land, but as my advisor's guest you are… welcome." Arthur's hesitation piqued Shirou curiosity, but he didn't feel it would be a good idea to question a king in her own castle, let alone in front of an audience.

Shooting a quick glance about the chamber, Shirou suddenly wondered if this was before the Round Table was introduced. He doubted that the king took audiences in that chamber, but from the vague mentions he'd heard of the tale, it was of some import.

"Was there anything else you needed to call to my attention, Merlin?" Arthur's posture was excellent. In the somewhat uncomfortable looking throne, she stood with her back aligned in a straight angle, yet did not appear to be overly stiff either.

"No…" Merlin trailed off, shooting an unreadable glance at Shirou. "No, I simply wanted to introduce my apprentice."

Nodding to dismiss them, Arthur turned to the court page, likely to address the issue that they had interrupted with their entrance.

Shirou felt a sort of hesitation as he left the hall, and glanced over his shoulder back at the king of country.

"Ah!" Merlin exclaimed, his back shoot up straight in apparent realization.

Not looking, Shirou slammed into Merlin once again, yet this time he was the one thrown to the ground. Strangely, the wizard in front of him was much more… solid, then when they had first met.

"That's what was wrong… Silly me." Merlin shook his head, before turning around and looking down at him. "I need to go and discuss something with Arthur."

"Ah…" Shirou stood up. "Should I—"

"No, just wander about." Merlin was already halfway back to the still open doors. "Get used to the castle and such."

"Uh, right." Shirou suddenly felt out of place again.

Sighing, Shirou picked a random direction and started yet another wandering. As such, he missed the beginning of Merlin's query.

"Arthur, about that marriage proposition…"

---

"I refuse." Arthur said with a tone of finality.

"Ah…" Merlin paused to stroke his beard. "What if I told you, 'it's already done'?"

"…" Arthur's composure broke for a moment as she gaped. "Merlin, you…"

Flexing her fingers on the hilt of Caliburn, Arthur drew a slow breath.

"The audiences are over for the day." Arthur sat up. "Merlin, come with me. I want to… discuss this with you."

As she swept out of the room with her Merlin behind her, Arthur felt a headache coming out. Gently taking one hand to massage her temples, she didn't speak until they entered her quarters.

"What exactly is this, Merlin?" Arthur spun around and glared at the magus. "Are you trying to make things even more impossible? Putting aside that the people will believe me even more of your pet if you continue such decision making for me, I NEED those men's loyalty. This country needs those men, and you are making it difficult."

"So, you love Leodegrance's girl?" Merlin ignored her rant.

"Love is beside the point, Merlin." Arthur shook her head, trying to stem her frayed temper. "It is a matter of convenience, and to decline it is both insulting, and stupid."

"Arthur, Leodegrance is loyal to the crown. He offered Guinevere as a bride because you two displayed some… shall we say… affection with one another? Your face is that of stone to the people, and any such displays are going to be noticed."

"I…" Arthur paused. "Certainly, Guinevere and I are friends, Merlin, so I cannot say it would be a burden to be wed to her. But the important matter is that the marriage would tighten the bonds of the kingdom."

"Arthur, don't make me repeat myself." Merlin's beard swung in the air as he shook his head. "What you REALLY need now for support is to loosen up. Show some humanity for the masses. They've had tyrant after tyrant pressing them under their thumbs, and while your façade of unwavering strength is good in the short-term, showing a bit of compassion would be better."

"Then what is this?" Arthur chopped this air with her hand. "If what you say is so, then I should marry Guinevere, given that the public seems to believe we are in love. Why this unknown factor from nowhere?"

"That's exactly the point!" Merlin grinned, wagging his finger at the king. "Compassion, Arthur. Wedding an exiled royal for their protection goes beyond the call of any such duty. For your people, and more, you see?"

"Exiled royalty?" Arthur frowned.

"Eh…" Merlin felt a bead of sweat condense on his forehead. "More or less. That's what will be going about from mouth to mouth anyway."

"Or it could be said that I'm inviting trouble on an already troubled land." Arthur's glare renewed. "Merlin, this is a bad idea."

"You've said that many times," Merlin stated in a calm voice, knowing that he had won. "How many times has my consul been mistaken?"

"…Very well." Arthur sighed, her headache still pulsating strongly. "Judging from your flippant comment in the audience hall, I trust you've already announced the engagement?"

"Haha," Merlin chuckled sheepishly. "No, actually. That was just so you'd ask to speak with me privately."

"…" Arthur gaped. "Merlin, you…"

"But since you're with the idea! I'll do so right away!" Merlin fled the room before Arthur could regain her wits.

Suppressing a growl at the retreating wizard, Arthur walked to one of the few chairs in her room and sat. Concentrating to renew a calm demeanor, her thoughts quickly wandered.

'Emiya Shirou…' Arthur frowned. 'Ah, but did not Merlin say that Shirou was her given name? Odd, but nevertheless… I am now curious as to your true story, my betrothed.'

---

He hadn't lied.

Much.

If things went as he predicted, everything important regarding the public would go just as he projected. So Arthur should be satisfied in regards to it. The only lies were… well, everything about the person known as Emiya Shirou.

The disguise charm he had weaved into the amulet had worked perfectly, he just hadn't noticed since the subtle energies were overwhelmed by the aura that Shirou emitted. His senses simply weren't acute enough to pick it up since the enchantment had no affect on him, but for everyone else…

He was glad that Arthur had no magical talent, since the prank wouldn't nearly as amusing if she had seen through the disguise.

Now all he needed to do was lead Shirou into the thick of it. He didn't think it was going to be that difficult, considering how trusting the boy was of him. In that way, Shirou definitely reminded him of a younger Arthur, one who hadn't yet discarded her naiveté when it came to wizards.

Finding the man wasn't difficult. Even a blind wizard could have picked the boy out of an entire city once you were looking for it, once they'd experienced it anyway. The feeling was unmistakable. Merlin turned a corner and quickly found his target, apparently chatting with one of Arthur's knights.

"Shirou." His call caused the young man to turn in his direction. "Come with me."

Seeing that Merlin apparently wanted his apprentice, the knight politely exchanged farewells with Shirou. "I'll leave you to your master then, Lady Shirou."

"Ahh… yes, goodbye, Sir Bedivere." Shirou dipped at the waist and quickly followed Merlin back to his living quarters.

"The amulet working out all right?" Merlin asked, curious.

"I believe so." Shirou nodded. "The speech forms seem to be getting through well enough, I think."

"Good, good…" Merlin suppressed a smirk. "About that, let's discuss… you."

"Ah, about sending me back, I assume?" Shirou cocked his head inquisitively.

Merlin waited until they entered his quarters and took seats before answering.

"No, actually." Merlin frowned. "In fact, I doubt you'll BE getting back."

"I won't?"

"No." Merlin confirmed. "While I don't know the nature of the artifact that sent you here, I can guess. The main problem is that, even if I had the powers necessary, or we actually had the same item that sent you here, I couldn't tell you how to use it to get back to where you came from. From your description, it sounds much like an item that sends you places you really want to go. Your heart's desire, if you will."

"I…" Shirou grimaced. "I see."

"As you said, you have no regrets being sent here. If that doesn't change, then there isn't a point even trying to find ways for you to go back.

"Then I c—"

"Don't bother." Merlin interrupted before Shirou could say more. "The heart can't change so simply. I'm no romantic, but I know humans well enough. You seem practical, but that's makes things worse once you get into the irrational."

"Then, what do you want to talk about?"

"Have you thought about wooing your lost love?" Merlin got straight to the point.

"W-what?!" Shirou spluttered, standing up in shock. "Please don't make such outrageous jokes."

"Humor me." Merlin spread his arms. "Isn't that what you came here to do?"

"I…" Shirou paused, calming, and then sat back down. "Initially, yes."

"But Merlin… I realized something when I first arrived. Arthur… isn't Saber; she's not the person I loved."

"Err," Merlin held out his hand. "You'd best start referring to Arthur as 'he', Shirou. While it's true that you know 'his' little secret, that bit of info getting out could be very… troublesome."

"Ah, yes, you're right." Shirou felt his cheeks flush. "Forgive me."

"You don't need to say anymore though." Merlin interjected before Shirou could start again. He quickly beat down the nervousness that was creeping up on him. "I can understand what you're going with this."

"But, Shirou…" Merlin paused, quirking his lips as he thought over his next few words. "While it's true that Arthur isn't the person you fell in love with, what's wrong with trying to fall in love again?"

"I… don't really understand what you mean." Shirou frowned.

"While Arthur isn't the same person as the one you grew to love, aren't the qualities of the two essentially the same?" Merlin gestured in a complacent fashion. "All the things that you loved about Saber should be the same with Arthur. He's younger, obviously, rougher, but I don't believe ones baser character changes so easily, not on the points that count."

"That…" Shirou stumbled. "That may be true, Merlin, but it's still not the same."

"Even if it isn't, why don't you at least try?" Merlin felt his heart begin to calm. "Did you come all this way simply to stop now? I thought you heroes were more relentless."

"That isn't…" Shirou sighed. "You obviously have something in mind, don't you?"

"Ah…" Merlin blinked. "Perceptive, eh?"

"Compared to some."

"Well, ah…" Merlin paused. "I've engaged you to marry Arthur."

"…huh?"

---

There were a lot of things that left him in a sort of daze since he had arrived. However, Shirou could say with certainty that the bomb that Merlin set off was the biggest yet.

"P-please, again… What?" Shirou knew his eyes had grown a bit wild, but the strange feeling he had had around Merlin for a time was making itself known once more.

"I told you, there was a bit of an… accident with the charm I made." Merlin repeated apologetically.

"No! No, I mean the part where you ENGAGED me to King Arthur!" Shirou shouted. "Besides that, why can't you fix this… this illusion anyway?"

"Well, I've already given you a set identity, Shirou." Merlin shrugged in a helpless manner. "Having the rather attractive and very womanly looking Emiya Shirou from Japan suddenly change into a man wouldn't exactly go unnoticed."

"BUT I AM A MAN!" Shirou stopped, drawing a long breath. "No, you're changing the subject, WHY did you engage me to Arthur?"

"Ah…" Merlin paused. "Well, to be honest, I'm using you to secure some trust in Arthur's country."

"You see, when the gossip starts – and there's no way it won't – I'll let out a little story about you being an exiled royal from a distant country that Arthur's taking under his wing to protect."

"So," Shirou began slowly, "It's a political ploy?"

"Basically."

"Hmm…" Shirou's brow furrowed as he weighed the situation. On one hand, if it could help stabilize the country, it would be worth it. However, he doubted that it was as simple as Merlin made it seem, especially since he had started to get his suspicions about the wizard.

It never felt right to deceive anybody, but Shirou wasn't naïve enough to think that running a country was easy. Besides which, did he have a choice?

"What if I said no?" Shirou questioned, his eyes narrowing at the wizard.

"Ah," Merlin paused. "Well, I hadn't even thought of what might happen if you didn't go along with this."

"You mean you never even thought of what to do if you couldn't get me to agree?" Shirou gaped, shocked at the wizard's lack of forethought.

"Pretty much." Merlin grinned.

"Y-you're…" Shirou grimaced. "Very well."

"That's the spirit!"

---

Shirou yawned, letting his limbs stretch out and crack noisily. He did not consider himself a morning person, but on the other hand he did not have the same trouble with it as say… Tohsaka. Through a certain amount of discipline, and not a small amount of conditioning from one of his high school friends, Sakura, he had little problem getting into his routine each morning.

Mostly.

His mind wandered as he exercised. Thinking of his agreement with Merlin's mad plan, he still felt a feeling in the pit of his stomach to simply drop everything and run. Find a way back to his own time/space, make with the heroics in some other place… away from Merlin, anything but go along with the wizard's ideas.

But he couldn't.

No matter how much his instincts rallied, the temptation in front of him was far too great.

It wasn't like he hadn't ever ignored his better judgment and gotten through it fine before, right?

Moreover, Merlin hadn't really done anything to really paint him in a truly negative light. A bit reckless, but Shirou knew better than to throw stones in glasshouses. So, despite the sinking feeling, he decided to give the wizard the benefit of the doubt.

Four weeks had past, and tension had risen in the castle. At first Shirou had thought it was due to the announced engagement, but the news had apparently been accepted fairly well, with people eyeing him speculatively. No, it was only recently that while the tension involved him, it was mostly surrounding Arthur and Merlin.

Asking around allowed him to glean the fact that Merlin was notorious as a troublemaker—which didn't ease his worries at all—and to go for so long without some sort of trouble merely spoke of bigger problems for the future. That people readily admitted Merlin was completely loyal to the crown was the only thing that put Shirou at ease.

He wouldn't just screw around with engagements and the like just for a prank, right?

Sighing, Shirou finished his workout and changed clothes, stifling a grimace as the potent stench of sweat still lingered.

One thing he hadn't been able to get used to yet was the fact that people rarely bathed in this era unless they were nobles, and even then it was not uncommon to go weeks without scrubbing off. While bathes were available when needed, very few people found proper hygiene to be important.

Shirou would wager that half of Arthur's image of majesty at times was that he actually cleaned himself regularly.

Shaking his head of the errant thoughts, Shirou departed his room and immediately ran into a familiar face.

"Sir Bedivere." Shirou dipped slightly at the waist in greeting. "Good morning."

"Ah," the knight blinked in surprised. "Lady Emiya."

Shirou held back a frown. Bedivere had been slightly flustered when he learned that his surname was Emiya instead of Shirou, and he hadn't been able to convince the knight to continue to address him more familiarly. That Bedivere had stated it was because he was King Arthur's betrothed—and unlike the other translation errors, this statement came through quite clearly—caused Shirou's ire for Merlin to rise significantly.

The 'plan'—if it could truly be called that—was already in motion, so suddenly having another stranger from the East appearing would raise brows. But Shirou knew that no matter what he did, the knight would probably remain a distance away in terms of friendship.

"The wedding is approaching quite swiftly…" Bedivere murmured in surprise, mostly to himself.

"Ah… yes…" Shirou stumbled verbally. Even after four weeks, he hadn't accepted that fact that he was going to get married—as the bride, no less—especially in such a short duration. The wedding was only a week away, due to the desire to wed the king before any potential crises started brewing.

"I know that his majesty has not had time to speak with you often, as of late…" Bedivere, strangely started a conversation.

"Yes…" Shirou couldn't hold back a grimace. Bedivere was putting it lightly, as besides two, short occasions beyond their introduction in the court, Shirou hadn't even seen Arthur.

"Still, I believe that things will settle a bit once the people hear that the King is wedded. Despite the unrest, many are happy with the current reign. The King will have to make time, as to secure the continuation of his line."

"Huh?" Shirou blinked stupidly.

"Ah…" Bedivere paused. "I mean, once talk of an heir arises…"

"An heir…" Shirou froze. "H-heir…? As in children?"

"Yes, of course." Bedivere nodded. "As great as King Arthur's rule has been, he has no successor. It makes many uneasy, as the land could easily fall back into civil war if he were to…"

"I… yes… uhm…" Shirou quickly babbled an excuse and walked as fast as possible to where he knew that Merlin would be lurking so early in the morning.

"That's why you did it!" Shirou yelled as he barged into Merlin's study.

"Did what?"

"Why you engaged me to Arthur! For an heir!" Shirou's brow furrowed. "I… why didn't you just say so?"

"An heir?" Merlin blinked. "Uh… right. Yeah, an heir."

"Arthur couldn't have an heir if he were to actually marry a woman…"

"Yes!" Merlin quickly caught on. "That's true! I just… well, hearing you talk of your world, I didn't expect you to find the idea so easy. Different principals and all."

"Ahh, yeah…" Shirou did feel uneasy of the idea, but looking at it rationally, it was hardly different from what Merlin first proposal in terms of being used as a political weapon. It was merely more extreme a purpose.

"Don't worry, Shirou." Merlin clapped him on the back. "Just think. In a decade or so, you'll fling the title off onto the brat and you'll be living happily ever after with Arthur!"

"Umm…" Shirou was about to voice his thoughts on THAT idea, but Merlin quickly had him vacate the study.

"I'm careful you interrupted me in the middle of a volatile experiment, however. Let me finish before we speak of this again!" Merlin spelled the door locked.

'Damn. An heir. Why didn't I think of that in the first place?" Merlin smacked his forehead. 'This would have been so much easier to pass off on the boy in the first place. Although the idea of a…'

"Wait." Merlin froze. "…Idea…"

"Ohohoho!"

---

With the way the room swayed at every step, it wasn't hard—even for an ale-addled mind—to realize that either the world was tilting, or he was very, very drunk.

As he considered himself somewhat of a rational individual, he thought the latter was far more likely. Although considering the last few weeks, he wouldn't say the former was completely unreasonable.

His blurry gaze swept the room, and quickly latched onto the bed as an anchor. Surprisingly, it took only four uneasy steps and he was able to collapse safely onto the somewhat soft, yet also lumpy bed.

"Mm?" He let out a muffled grunt, knowing instinctively that his bed wasn't quite THAT lumpy.

Grasping, his hand landed onto cloth—and through it soft flesh.

Amazingly, he recognized the feeling instantly at the touch and was able to lift his head to attain a hazed view of the woman he was atop of.

"Ah… I see." That was it, right. The wedding. That would explain the woman in his bed.

Something was odd about the scenario, he knew, but his mind had already exercised enough excellent intuition in its state that he couldn't get beyond the fact that the fact that there was a woman in his bed. Not just any woman either.

"Mmm." He grunted as he lifted himself up slightly. Now he just needed to do what Merlin said.

Dipping his head, aimed for a kiss on the girl's lips, but ended up smacking his forehead against hers.

"Ow!" She instantly broke from her sleepy state and shifted to the side, moaning.

"Forgive me…" He let out the apology without a slur. Quite an accomplishment, as he had only rarely partook in drinking, and was very inexperienced in being drunk.

"It…ss… fine." She wasn't quite as successful in keeping her words together, but was completely understandable.

"Ah…" Pausing for a moment, he narrowed his eyelids to try to focus on her girl under him. Sadly, it was a lost cause, and still only had a vague outline.

Still… good enough!

Shifting it so that his elbows were supporting his weight, he reached his hands out to cup her face, and then leaned forward again—this time successfully grasping her lips in his.

"Mmh…" If she were surprised, she made no show of it as she eagerly suckled on his lower lip.

"…itin'…" she mumbled, before reaching out with her arm and grasping around his clothing. Digging her hands under his shirt, she caressed his chest in light, downward strokes, her fingernails clipping his erect nipples. Despite the pain that flared from the scratching, arousal suddenly flared in his groin, causing him to let out a groan of pleasure.

Strangely, his motions seemed less muddled as he tugged at her clothing, freeing her breasts from their confinement. Cupping each, he massaged them wildly, not stopping when she hissed in pain, and only pausing once his mouth successfully latched onto one of the jutting nipples.

Her own hands were apparently far more deft, as his shirt and tunic were tugged off without much of his notice, and his trousers were being unbuckled even before he began to suck on her breasts.

Still feeling a burning lust, he abandoned his suckling and pried at her rest of her clothing, quickly unveiling her slick vulva.

Dimly peering at the untrimmed, yet light bush of hair above her sex, he pulled her grasping hands away from the troublesome buckle and then grabbed at her legs. Lifting her, he pushed his face towards her groin genitals and extended his tongue to lick.

Strangely, he felt largely unwieldy as he flicked his tongue around and into the gushing orifice. Despite her pleased moans at the attention, he quickly hooked her right leg over his shoulder and started fingering her.

"Ahh!" Her hand grasped at his head forcefully, her fingers snatching his hair in a somewhat painful grip as she serviced her. "D…Mm-ghh!"

Whatever words she was trying to speak failed to be vocalized as his mouth started suckling at the erect bud peeking out of its hood.

"AHH!" Liquid churned against his fingers, splattering his chin as it gushed out her vagina from the climax of her orgasm. Her back arced in an awkward angle as she let out a short scream.

"Hah…" He let the rest of her body fall back onto the bed, digging at his pants as his arousal started to hurt.

Quickly prying away the buckle, his trousers fell loosely onto the dirty floor, and his under garments quickly joined them as they were untied.

Leaning onto the bed with his painful erection in hand, he noticed that her gaze was transfixed on his cupped phallus, a hint of hysteria creeping into her eyes as her eyelids widened at the sight of it.

Nevertheless, she made no resistance as he leaned forward and placed his penis against the entrance of her sex. Pausing to lean down and grasp her lips, sharing the taste of her juices with her, he thrust.

She grunted along with him, a pained grimace marring her face. Not waiting, he pulled out until only the head of his erection was still inside before thrusting it in again. Again. Again.

Her face was still pained, but her arms and legs snaked around his sweaty torso, pulling herself tighter to him as he continued to jab his prick into her vagina.

"Ngh!" The sudden tightening of muscles encompassing his penis was all he needed to let out a grunt stifled into her hair and one final thrust into her before climaxing. Sperm squirted out, quickly overflowing the tight orifice and dribbling out copiously onto the sheets of the bed.

"Hah…" Letting out a heavy sigh as his blood began to slow, his strength fading with the adrenaline. Shifting his weight, he slowly twisted around so that she was atop him, before letting his limbs flap down. Lean forward slightly, he peaked a small kiss on her saliva-covered lips before collapsing, utterly exhausted.

Feeling her shift, he was only briefly aware of her leaning back and inspecting the semen now creeping onto his stomach before sleep claimed him.

---

Morning came to Shirou in an unusual way.

Typically, he became conscious in a seamless manner from his dreams, leaving him feeling so comfortable that he had to exercise some discipline to be able to get into his routine.

This specific morning, it was very abrupt, and achy. His body hurt in ways that he hadn't known possible. It wasn't necessarily pain—he knew pain very well, like Berserker just crushed you like a bug pain—but it was very… disgruntling.

Pulling himself up, he quickly noticed two things. The first was that this wasn't his bed. His bed wasn't nearly as comfortable. Silk sheets adorned the mattress, framed by pillows that he suspected to be made from duck feathers. It was also much bigger then his bed.

King sized, even.

Which brought Shirou to the second thing he realized upon sitting up: he wasn't the only one on the bed. Blinking at the sight of a gently snoozing King Arthur. Her features were untroubled, but the most noticeable thing about her was that she was completely nude. Her left arm was crossed between her breasts, pushing the left one upward and the right downward. An odd looking position to be sure, yet somehow adorable.

Leaning forward with a tiny smile on his face, Shirou's blurry memories started to come back as he concentrated. Unfortunately, his loose breasts swung down with the movement and tickled his nipples against the silk sheets, breaking his trance.

He froze.

Gazing downward, Shirou's eyes widened as he noticed something very unusual about the morning. He had known that people thought that he was a woman—all thanks to Merlin—but until today, he had always appeared male to himself at the least!

Biting down a yelp of shock, Shirou grabbed onto his breasts with a violent movement—instantly regretting it as the rough motion caused a mixture of pain and pleasure to shot through the sensitive organs.

Biting back again shout, Shirou shuddered as he lowered his hands down onto his groin.

Shirou wasn't quite successful in holding back the whimper that jumped out of his—or rather, her—throat.

---

Arthur's sleep was often interrupted by various noises. Shouts of panic, urgent murmurs, and even at one point an unsubtle attempt at seduction. However, waking to whimpering was slightly new, even to her.

Sitting up, she immediately regretted it as a headache of epic proportions thundered inside of her skull, causing her to let out a pained groan.

Nevertheless, she glanced to the origin of the whimpering and found a rather attractive redhead squirming on the side of the bed.

Narrowing her eyelids, she tried to recall who exactly she was. Exactly five seconds later her eyelids shot open wide and her jaw dropped.

'Sex?' Arthur's eyes crossed. 'Wait, how on earth did I have sex? The wedding was obviously yesterday… I had several drinks but…'

A flash of the actual content of the previous night flashed through Arthur's mind, and she choked on her own saliva.

"Guah!" Arthur's gaze shot downwards between her thighs and quickly latched onto the sticky appendage that hung there.

"I HAVE A PENIS!?" Spittle flew from her mouth as she shrieked in horror, causing the nearly catatonic Shirou near her to jump.

Quickly scanning her memories before it all became a jumble, Arthur let out a growl as she recalled Merlin handing her a goblet in celebration.

"MEERRRRRRRLLIIIIINNNNNNNN!!!"

---

It would not be any surprise to any that knew him to see Merlin flee the main castle with a gleeful expression carefully hidden beneath his bearded face. It would also not surprise them to later hear a frenzied shout echo throughout the fortress' hallways. It would also be completely ignored by those that knew Merlin. They had been expecting it for weeks.

---

Nearly frothing at the mouth, Arthur scrambled around her room, searching for the place that she had left Caliburn. She sworn that today would be the day that she rid the world of one of its' plagues.

"Uh…" The murmur caused Arthur to pause in her fury. Blinking, she realized that she had completely forgot about her wife.

"Ahh…" Arthur stumbled, a blush creeping up onto her cheeks and other body parts as she realized she was prancing about the room completely naked. "S-Shirou!"

"…" Shirou looked at her blankly.

"Ah…" Arthur paused, scratching her chin while she suddenly felt incredibly ill at ease. Awkward. Yes, that was the word.

"Ah, you see…" Arthur remembered her frenzied shout. "That… was…"

Shirou blinked, a bit of life returning to her face, before she grimaced and palmed her face.

"Uh, don't worry about that, I know you're a woman." Shirou shrugged.

"You do?" Arthur gaped. Glancing down at her crotch, she paused as she noticed that her breasts—very womanly breasts—were swaying heavily in the air. "Umm… I can exp-"

Arthur paused, before imitating Shirou and palmed her face. "No, I really cannot. Forgive me."

"That's… fine." Shirou grimaced. "Look, we… should probably talk."

"Talk?"

"Yeah, we haven't really talked since we've met, have we?" Shirou patted the bed she was sitting on.

"Ahh… no," Arthur agreed. Feeling suddenly apprehensive, she nonetheless walked over to the bed and sat beside her wife. "No, we have not."

"I think that was a big mistake…" Shirou paused. "Well, that and listening to Merlin. The last thing I remember before everything went… strange was him telling me to drink up."

"Yes…" Arthur grit her teeth. "Myself as well. One can NEVER trust that damnable wizard!"

"Yeah, I think I've learned my lesson there…" Shirou sighed tiredly. "But… back to my point… I need to tell you a story."

"Hm?"

"It's a strange tale, and I don't really expect you to believe it—but you should still know of it." Shirou looked at Arthur to see that she was listening. "This story starts with fire… a forging… and maybe… it ends happily."

---
END – Discontinuation of your Dream
---

Not pre-read.