At the end of path
Unlimited Blade Works epilogue
My Body is made of swords
Iron is my blood and glass is my heart
I had overcome countless battlefields undefeated
Without once retreating
Nor once being understood
Always alone, intoxicated with victory on the hill of swords
Therefore, there is no meaning of that life
This body is probably itself a sword
It is a hill of swords, the rest of an anonymous battle. Wherever the sight goes, it is only laying corpses, broken blades and torn flags floating in the wind.
Is it a dream, a recollection? Past or future? Nobody knows.
But it is the only reality of the red-clad man who sits on the hill. Even with his white hair, it is impossible to give him an age. He looks young but his steel-grey eyes seem to have seen too much things.
In this world out of the time axis, where one second is an eternity and the other way round, he is waiting for something.
And when he starts to hear steps in his back, a light smile appear on his lips.
Finally, the wait has come to its end.
He slowly stands up; let one moment the wind blow in his ample garment and suddenly address the man behind him
“Such a long wait. You took your time, brat”
A brief laugh answers him.
“I’m no more a brat for quite a long time now, and time doesn’t mean anything here. But you were waiting for me?”
“I knew that you will come”
He turns back and faces the stranger for the first time.
But the man is not a stranger. Even with his falling short red hair, it is like staring at a mirror.
The same well-built body, the same face, and nearly the same smile.
The white-haired man shows no surprise, and after a while, speaks to his visitor again.
“How do I have to call you? We both have the same name, after all”
“Emiya Shirou will be fine, like before. Do you mind if I call you Archer? Old uses are always hard to stop”
“It doesn’t bother me. Nobody called me like that since the last time we met. And so, Emiya Shirou, should I ask you why you’re here?”
“You already know it, if you were waiting for me. The last time we met, you were already at the end of your path. I was at the crossroad. Thanks to two women, and to be honest, thanks to you, I took the other way. I’m now at its end. We are equals from now on.”
“Glad to see that you’re fine. But don’t show off. We are only two possibilities of an unlimited number of paths. And what you said to me doesn’t explain anything of your presence here in my world”
The red-haired man smiles again.
“You know very well that for the boy called Emiya Shirou, only two paths were and are possible, yours and mine. In this castle, I won against you the right to follow my way, the other one, at its end. I’m not here to laugh at you, and fate has nothing to do here. It is my choice, my duty, to show you the end of the way I’ve taken.”
“You look so serious! But I see. And I like the idea. But don’t forget that we two are a paradox. For us, Emiya Shirou, there is only one means to speak. “
“A fight? It has no meaning! Moreover, we have the same strength and we can’t die anymore.”
“Honestly, were you expecting something other when you came here? It would also be a fine way to entertain ourselves for the eternity to come.”
“Fine, you’ve won. Even now, you still can’t stand me, am I wrong?”
“Neither do you, right?”
Closing their eyes and smiling, the two men begin to declaim a poem, the last thing they own:
“I am the bone of my sword…”
