IBHJ 1365

In the Age of Origin, Shirou's eyes drifted open. He was still sitting cross-legged at the edge of the Vortex Gate, legs stiff from however long he'd been out.

"Guess Gaia didn't lock me up after all." He pushed himself to his feet and took off toward Earth.

He was about to call out to Alaya for transport when a sweet breeze drifted around the corner. Before he could process what that meant—

Thump.

His face collided with something soft and warm. "Ow! Hey, watch where you're—"

"Excuse me? You're the one who—" The voice was sharp, indignant. "Do you have any idea who you just crashed into? I'm the great—"

Shirou's hand dropped from his forehead. That voice. He knew that voice.

He looked up to find a white-haired girl with blazing red eyes glaring at him, one hand rubbing her own head. She looked exactly like Future Gaia's borrowed form from the present world.

"...Gaia?" The name came out disbelieving.

"Finally! Some recognition!" She straightened up, looking pleased with herself. "The great me deserves better than getting bowled over—"

"Wait." he squinted at her. "Why do you look exactly like... I mean, aren't you supposed to be some glowing light thing?"

Origin Gaia glanced down at herself, then shrugged. "This looked cute. So I borrowed it."

"Borrowed." Shirou's voice went dry. "Right. Gaia might sue you for identity theft."

"Pfft." She waved a dismissive hand. "What's she gonna do, complain? I'm the original!"

"..."

"Speaking of which..." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Weren't you supposed to still be locked up by Alaya?"

"You didn't ask her to let me go?" he blinked.

"Are you kidding? After all that crap you said about me?" She crossed her arms. "I was gonna let you stew for a while first. Had to get some payback for—wait."

Her eyes went wide. "You... you didn't actually escape Alaya's lock, did you?"

"Ah—" he suddenly remembered something. He still had Savior of Mortals active.

That was it—his secret weapon against Origin Gaia: using Tethys' record via Savior of Mortals to break free of Alaya's binding, then striking with the Arrow of Akasha to eliminate her. Of course, doing so would mean instant obliteration at the hands of a furious Alaya. The only one who'd laugh in the end would be the Lord of Salvation. So Shirou had shelved that plan and chosen a more stable route to deal with Origin Gaia.

But... upon returning, he'd completely forgotten that he'd left Tethys' record running. That's how he'd been able to casually shake off Alaya's lock and return to Earth.

It was like leaving the lights on when you go out—who actually remembers that kind of thing unless it's urgent?

Origin Gaia caught on immediately. Her face went red.

"You—! You did this on purpose!" She stomped her foot, but there was nothing she could actually do about it.

So... that whole encounter earlier in the future wasn't about her at all. It had been about him. No matter how she tried to save face, she'd end up getting played. Shirou had manipulated the whole situation just to make her smugly acknowledge Future Gaia.

She looked like a total clown.

"Ugh! I can't believe—!" Origin Gaia grabbed fistfuls of Shirou's hair and started messing it up aggressively.

Shirou just sighed and let it happen.

Why hadn't he used this trump card to pressure Origin Gaia earlier? Because that would've only added unnecessary tension and turned things into a lose-lose standoff—exactly the kind of situation the Lord of Salvation was dying to see. He didn't care about who got the last word. All that mattered was solving the problem. But Origin Gaia's pride had taken a serious hit.

Watching her ruffle his hair harder and harder, Shirou quickly said, "Okay, okay! Look, the Golden Emperor's almost here. You can beat me up all you want after we deal with this, alright?"

"Hmph." She finally let go and brushed off her hands like she'd touched something dirty.

"Come on," she said, jerking her head toward... somewhere.

"Where are we going?" he asked, suspicious.

"Just follow me. I'm not gonna kill you or anything."

"...That doesn't make me feel better."

Shirou grimaced. Was she planning some weird revenge?

Still, after a moment's hesitation, he followed her.

Origin Gaia led him deep beneath the Earth—all the way to the planet's core.

"Wait... is this the Inner Sea of the Planet?" he muttered, staring around in disbelief.

They were 3,000 kilometers underground, but instead of molten rock there was just... empty space. A vast, hollow chamber.

In the modern world, Earth's core definitely wasn't like this. No vacuum. Just lava and iron.

"Probably the prototype of what you know from your time," Origin Gaia said with a shrug.

He set aside his surprise and looked at her. "So why'd you drag me down here?"

She pointed into the distance. "See that?"

He followed her gaze and saw an enormous golden vessel lying dormant at the heart of the Earth.

"What is that thing?"

"That's why our star system is so special. The source of everything." Her voice got more serious. "It's an experimental ship from the Golden Universe. We call it the Creator."

He frowned. "I thought they were doing their experiments on the Moon?"

"They were. I moved it here later."

She started walking toward it. "Come, let's go inside."

Shirou followed her into the golden vessel. The material it was made of—he'd never seen anything like it. Far tougher than Orichalcum or the alloy used by the Greek Machine Gods. This was clearly some kind of cosmic super-metal on a whole different level.

"Long ago," she began. "the Creators from the Golden Universe came to this remote system to conduct experiments. That's how my siblings and I were born."

She paused, her hand trailing along the wall. "But the Golden Emperors and their kind turned on each other. Civil war consumed the Golden Universe. Even the Creators stationed here began fighting among themselves until they destroyed each other."

"And that's when you gained your freedom?" he asked.

"Exactly." Her red eyes gleamed. "With no masters left to command us, we finally became independent. Free to govern ourselves and our domains."

"After we gained our independence," Origin Gaia explained, "we each began creating our own defenses. Different approaches, but all with the same goal—never to be used as test subjects again. Venus created powerful weapons, but I... I chose to build civilization."

She gestured around them. "Using the Creators as my template, I made Tethys and the others—what you call the Origin Lifeforms. That's how everything began. The origin of everyting."

She led Shirou deeper into the golden vessel. At its core sat a massive, stabilized culture chamber. Inside floated several dead golden giants, clearly not from this world but from the Golden Universe itself.

He glanced at the corpses, then back at her. "I already know most of this. You didn't drag me down here just for a history lesson, did you?"

"No." she held out her hand. "Give me the Arrow of Akasha."

He hesitated for a moment—then handed it over.

Without warning, she aimed the arrowhead directly at his eye.

He didn't even blink.

The moment stretched between them.

Finally, Gaia let out a long breath and lowered the weapon. She tucked it away, looking almost defeated. She realized then: she'd already lost her footing in this dynamic—and probably wouldn’t get it back anytime soon.

"After returning from the present world, I realized something." Her voice was quieter now. "Shirou... I think the Lord of Salvation might not actually exist."

He stared at her. “…What did you just say?”