Shirou Emiya glanced at Rin Tohsaka, who was diligently drawing a magic circle, and asked curiously, "Where's Morpheus?"
Two days had passed since the Holy Grail War ended. Not much had happened, but the house felt quieter, which Shirou found unsettling.
That morning, Sakura Matou and Bazett left for the Matou residence. Shirou had no objections... after their cooperation, they were friends, likely to interact more at school.
Rin and Illya remained. Illya stayed because of Morpheus, and, being Shirou's older sister, her presence was natural.
Yet, seeing Illya... smaller, calling him "nii-san" despite being his elder... made Shirou uneasy.
She could wield her sisterly authority to boss him around or play the younger sibling to guilt him, switching effortlessly. It was intimidating.
As for Rin, she stayed because of Morpheus, who had unfinished business. As his Master, she lingered.
Shirou suspected Rin simply wanted to stick close to Morpheus but kept quiet. Saying it aloud might provoke her, risking another outburst in his home.
"Morpheus? He's not in Japan," Rin said, groaning as she misdrew a line in her magic circle. "Ugh, why is this so complicated?!"
Shirou frowned, puzzled. "Not in Japan?"
Where could Morpheus be if not in Japan?
"I don't know, but supposedly he's at some ocean, retrieving the stone tablets that orbit Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm," Rin said, carefully erasing her mistake and redrawing.
Shirou recalled Gilgamesh's odd Noble Phantasm, remembering the rotating objects around it. "Those can be detached?!"
"They're just stone tablets. The Noble Phantasm reflects its mythic form, not its real-world existence. If something's altered by myth... like a bamboo stick you used to slay a sea monster becoming famous, myth might claim it's forged from a meteor. When manifested by a Heroic Spirit, it takes that form," Rin explained, focusing on her runes to avoid errors.
Shirou nodded. "So, we can't confirm if those tablets were truly part of the Noble Phantasm in history? They might be, or might not?"
"Exactly. It's even possible the tablets are the Noble Phantasm, and the central part is the myth's invention," Rin said, her hand trembling, ruining another section. She groaned again.
Seeing her struggle, Shirou chuckled. "What are you drawing?"
"A summoning spell based on the Lesser Key of Solomon, with runes for the 72 demons. It's insanely tedious!" Rin replied.
Shirou's eyes widened, alarmed. "Wait, won't this summon actual demons?!"
"No, it's incomplete. Even if it worked, the outer binding circle would trap any spirit," Rin shook her head, abandoning her work.
She tossed her pen aside, plopped down, and ruffled her hair, far from her usual refined demeanor.
"You can abandon Magic Circuits and Crests for magic, but it demands extreme precision. A tailored Mystic Code would make casting easier," Rin muttered, eyeing her clothes.
"Starting with your outfit?" Shirou asked.
"Is it that hard?" he added, curious.
Rin snapped, "Don't talk to me, you cheater with projection magecraft!"
Though Shirou's magecraft talent was lesser, his projection allowed him to conjure needed tools quickly, aiding magic casting.
While these projections lacked true spirituality, their mana composition made them decent temporary Mystic Codes.
Rin and others couldn't replicate this, hence her "cheater" jab.
Seeing her verge on rage, Shirou wisely retreated, wondering why Morpheus sought Gilgamesh's tablets. Surely not as relics.
…
"In a place like this…" In the deep waters outside the Persian Gulf, Morpheus used magic to repel the sea and breathe normally underwater.
Before him, in the dark abyss, several stone tablets lay scattered, eroded by seawater, their original forms lost.
Morpheus swam over, picking them up and wiping them gently. Beneath the surface, they were ordinary stone, nothing more.
Yet, he sensed faint mana within, ordinary but imbued with unique concepts due to their nature.
These tablets witnessed Earth's ancient environmental shifts, chronicling an era of lava and lightning.
Their value lay in this concept. Though tied to Mesopotamian myth's ancient past, Earth's state was universal then. With special techniques to reforge them into a Mystic Code, their influence could extend beyond Mesopotamia to the entire planet!
"Crossing into the Nasuverse was lucky. In the Toaruverse, I'd never find something like this," Morpheus muttered, storing the tablets.
He ascended, breaking the surface and soaring thousands of meters, accelerating toward Japan.
Flying freely without Christian anti-air spells was exhilarating!
As he flew, Morpheus pondered. "These tablets as a Mystic Code could affect Earth's environment, but there are other ways, right? Odin's runes could do it. Not Nasuverse's, but Toaruverse's…
"The final rune could alter global weather. Does this world's Odin have that power?
"Forget it. I likely won't meet Odin. In the Age of Gods, I stuck to Greece. Zeus couldn't reach that level, and Odin, another conceptual god, is probably similar. A physical Zeus might struggle too…"
Morpheus flew swiftly, but the journey from the Persian Gulf to Japan took over three hours. With a passenger, it'd be slower.
Landing at Shirou's house, he saw Illya chasing a toy, making him smile.
The Grail War's end had let Illya embrace her inner child.
Heracles sat nearby, his gaze nostalgic. Morpheus approached. "Missing your kids?"
"Yeah…" Heracles nodded, saying little.
"Unc, where were you?!" Illya spotted Morpheus, rushing over.
He showed her the tablets. "Getting these."
Trained as a Grail War Master, Illya instantly recognized their significance. "These… they're like Noble Phantasms!"
"Not quite, but prototypes. These are the originals of the tablets around Gilgamesh's Ea," Morpheus said, smirking. "If I meet Gilgamesh again, I'll flaunt them in his face."
Illya giggled. "His temper? He'd demand a duel!"
"He can't beat me," Morpheus laughed, taking the tablets back. He hadn't decided how to craft them into a Mystic Code. To fully harness their power, he needed more knowledge.
"You're back," Rin said, approaching casually. "Got them?"
"Yup. Want to see?"
"No need. Knowing you got them is enough. That's one less task here," Rin muttered, almost to herself. "You'll leave soon."
"True. Only Irisviel's revival remains," Morpheus said, noticing Rin's expression shift. She turned, heading inside. "Oh, is that so? Great."
Seeing her reaction, Morpheus smiled, shaking his head.
"Such a tsundere, bottling up her feelings, then getting mad over it."
He followed her inside.
Illya, curious, tried to follow but was stopped by Heracles.
"What? Heracles, why stop me?"
"Kids shouldn't see this," Heracles said simply.
"I'm not a kid! I'm older than Shirou!"
"But you look young, and your body's not fully developed, which affects your mind. Wait a bit."
Illya fell silent, regretting letting Heracles browse the internet. What had he learned?!
"Pfft!"
A laugh came from Shirou, who'd seen Heracles's antics.
As Illya glared, Shirou quickly said, "Your body's recovering, so don't worry. I'll enroll you in junior high soon!"
"I don't want junior high!"
"But elementary's too young, right?"
Illya's glare could kill, and Shirou fled, leaving her with Heracles, the fatherly figure.
"You're not going?" Heracles asked.
Illya hesitated, muttering, "Junior high… I'll check it out. Just for fun."
She couldn't admit her secret excitement about school.
Heracles smiled. "Good. Junior high suits you now. Later, try high school. In this era, it's a child's life... what you wanted, right?"
"Yeah, better than fighting those guys daily…" Illya said, then grinned. "But first, I need to visit home! Heracles, come with me. I'll show them why Kiritsugu betrayed them... it's all their fault!"
***
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