Fate/Tempus Odyssey

Not killing himself. That was one way to describe Shinji, it was true. He wasn't at risk of dying from whatever happened if you left your magic circuit on too long. But that was only a small comfort compared to the real prize.

"Uh, Da Vin-"

"Leonardo." The puppet women corrected from within the steam. "Da Vinci refers to where I was born, silly."

"Leonardo." Shinji nodded, correcting himself. After all, if Leonardo was anything like Sheba, she could probably snap his body in two with her bare hands. "Can transforming be made safe?"

There was a long pause, as Leonardo's eye peered out of the steam again.

"Transforming. Is that what we're calling it, huh?" She stepped back out with a pipe in hand, blowing what Shinji hoped was smoke out of the left side of her lip. "Heroic Spirit Advent isn't a game, kid. Normally, only people who are ready to die even attempt it; that's the usual result. The only man I've seen not die is..." She trailed off, almost humming to herself. "Actually, that would explain a lot. Come on, come with me." With that, she motioned to her guests, leading them further into the room.

The objective was a large table, covered in what looked like sketches and drawings and what had once been some sort of contraption. A flick of Leonardo's hand cleared the steam away entirely, as if they'd entered a bubble of safety.

"Let's see..."

"Who did it and didn't die?" Shinji blinked as Sheba voiced the question on his mind. Leonardo just smiled.

"Zolgen, of course." She answered. "I suppose it might be in the blood for you, in a sense. The attribute passed down through the Makiri line was that of Absorption. Temporarily taking on a Heroic Spirit is easier when your theoretical magic is suited to it."

"How do you know that?"

"Zolgen used to look in on occasion. Man was amazing at what he did." Leonardo admitted, almost wistfully. "I know enough of how his magic worked. Not as much as I wish, sure, but I know enough."

"… How old is my grandfather?" Shinji asked. Leonardo just smiled.

"Old enough. I'm impressed he made it as long as he did." She answered. She began drawing on a sheet of paper, two large circles. "See, when you take of a Heroic Spirit, you are metaphorically taking from one circle, and putting it into the other." She began to shade the circle on the left in. "Except… these circles can only take so much. You can't actually fit the content in, and the circle breaks." She kept shading and shading, the circle eventually becoming unrecognisable. "Obviously, this will kill you."

"If I spend too long, that's what happens." Shinji nodded. Leonardo raised an eyebrow.

"Well yes, but too long in this case is almost immediately. The body will reject the physical changes immediately, and your soul will begin to self destruct from the forced on excess shortly after." Leonardo's answer was sombre. "Zolgen did not survive his foray entirely intact. That you think you might is… well, you might succeed where he failed, I suppose." She paused briefly, leaning back. "Maybe if I could create a puppet to take on your soul, I could create a method for you to use it safely, but this is already outside of my field of expertise."

"Wishcraft?" Sheba mused. Leonardo raised an eyebrow.

"Could work, if it was possible to throughput that much magical power." She answered. "The other alternative is some sort of phylactery..." She hummed, scribbling a few notes in the corner. "Leave it with me. I'll think on it."

"Leave it..." Shinji felt his shoulders sag a little, but Leonardo just smiled sadly.

"That's the price of power." She answered. "Heroes are… heroes. The circumstances where their use can be called safe is rare. Unfortunately, you aren't a false servant."

"Huh?"

"Sometimes the will of man steps in and shoves a heroes soul in with a human. The normal collapse of the soul doesn't happen because the will prevents it." Leonardo answered. "There are some heroes probably better suited for this stuff, too. A Buddhist might be able to descend without harming the soul that called them. You aren't that lucky." She shrugged again. "It is what it is."

"Right..." Shinji paused just a moment. "Who did grandfather call, anyway?"

"I don't know. I only saw the aftermath." Leonardo answered drily. "It involved a lot of fire." She shuddered briefly, leaning back.

"Well, if I can't use the transformation, can I use magic? You said I was like a hose?" Sheba and Leonardo looked between each other for a long moment before breaking out laughing.

"Too soon, Shinji." Sheba finally answered. "Wait for your magic circuit to adjust to actually having something flow through it."

"You need at least a week, preferably two, before we dare look at that." Leonardo nodded. "Some things are worth pursuing, but only in the correct time." She lifted her hand, allowing her owl to hop back on it, a small book not unlike a pocket bible in its beak. "Speaking of, consider this a gift."

"Sorry?"

"It's a 'book of masters', as Zolgen would call it. Just a cheat for someone who can't do the basics themselves." Leonardo answered, handing Shinji the book. "Within it is the details of the Servants you summon and their parameters."

"It's empty."

"Well duh, you didn't summon Sheba." Leonardo grinned. "The contract between you and her is reversed." She explained absently. "Normally the Master provides magical energy to the Servant. It's very rare for a Servant to be able to produce sufficient magical energy to remain manifest. However, Sheba possesses a real body, not a construct of magic, and such her consumption is far lower then her output. Most of what she has spare is leaked to you."

"… So the book doesn't pick her up?"

"Well, I'm sure if you gave her the book, your stats would show up." Leonardo sagged a little in her chair. "There is no more to it then that, really. It's just a book with a simple information enchantment on it. It's not complex or special, heck, you could probably make it these days with pure science if you were inclined."

"Don't worry, Shinji. We don't need to see how low the books opinion of you is." Sheba's voice was almost like a song. "I appreciate your efforts, even if they are in mediocrity."

"Thaaaanks." Shinji's voice couldn't drip more with sarcasm. "… Hey, Leonardo. Do you know who Archer was? Does anyone know?"

Neither Sheba nor Leonardo answered for a long moment.

"Yes. We know." Leonardo finally answered. "Sheba probably saw it when she peaked into the future. I saw it on the FATE systems summoning outputs." She paused for just a moment. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Of course I do!" Shinji grumbled. "How can I use it properly at all if I don't even know its name? I wouldn't know what to even look at."

"Looking up that spirit would be pointless. He didn't exist as of the end of the world, and won't exist for about a decade from now." Sheba answered darkly. "I think you should leave well enough alone."

"I want to know. I should know." Shinji insisted. Sheba glanced at Leonardo.

"Do you want to say, or should I?" Leonardo asked. Sheba just sighed.

"No good will come of this." She muttered. Leonardo seemed to agree, but even so, she just leaned back.

"Even if you don't tell him, if he asks Kayneth, or just checks the datalogs..."

"Archibald wouldn't tell him."

"Do you believe your own words?"

"… No." Sheba just groaned, leaning against the side of the table. "You're sure you want to know, Shinji?"

"Yes."

"… Archer's name was Shirou Emiya." Sheba's answer was short and to the point. Shinji just stared at her for a long moment.

"You're shitting me."

"No." Sheba's voice was sincere. "Don't think about it too much."

"How did Shirou become a hero!?"

"… It's better, at least now, you don't know." Sheba answered. "That's why your soul is intact. Your friend bore the brunt of the weight of your souls colliding to protect your own."

"I don't get it! How did Shirou become a hero? How does that even matter, it happens in the future!"

"The Throne of Heroes doesn't care for the concept of when." Leonardo answered softly. "If your friend makes it at all, then that's good enough. There's a hero on the throne from the next calendar humans create." Shinji just stared. His mouth was just a little dry.

He wasn't sure he believed them, if he was honest, but neither Leonardo nor Sheba had a reason to lie to him.

"… So Archer is Shirou." Shinji muttered, the gears churning.

"That doesn't change your situation." Sheba warned, yet Shinji just grinned.

"Is it possible to talk to him?"

Whatever the two had been expecting him to say, that was not it. Leonardo hummed, twirling a curl of hair.

"I'll figure something out." She answered. "Shoo now, you two. That's actually an interesting challenge." Shinji just blinked at the dismissal, but Sheba nodded.

"Right, right." She didn't even bother saying goodbye, walking away. Shinji simply gave a short, polite bow.

"Thank you for your time."

Being polite to one of his grandfather's… acquaintances was only correct, after all. He finally caught up with Sheba as she walked out of the room, stretching her arms.

"Is there a problem?" He asked. Sheba just rolled her eyes.

"3. 2. 1."

"Huh?" Shinji's questions were answered after half a moment, a man walking around the corner and waving at them.

"Master Matou. You are being asked to head to the hold." He declared. Shinji just cocked his head to the side.

"Why?"

"They want you to summon a Servant." Sheba mused. "Might be a bit early."

"Summon a Servant? Like another one?"

"That's what he said."

"I can do that?" Sheba nodded, hands folding behind her back.

"The FATE System can support a fair few Servants. At our current numbers, it can support what we already have plus about six Servants." She noted. "So one for you and Einzbern, and two for Istari and Archibald's brat."

"About? It can do less?"

"Kayneth thinks it can do more. I don't agree." She answered. "I think you should go sleep, though. You have plenty of time, and I need to direct Jason to the nearest Singularity."

"Matou's appearance is mandatory."

"Matou currently has a hole in his stomach. Your mandatory can take a hike." Sheba growled back. Shinji blinked, before sagging his shoulders.

Right, he still needed to take that medication, and figure out some way to get Sheba to take hers.

[ ] "I'm going to the summoning." Summoning another Servant was too exciting.
[ ] "I'll go sleep if you take your pills." Perhaps she can be bribed.
[ ] "I'll sleep, I'll sleep." Perhaps getting on Sheba's bad side was more dangerous then anyone elses.