They had done it. The Holy Grail was finally destroyed… but at what cost? Shirou Emiya, a participant of the Fifth Holy Grail War and the Master of Saber, laid on the ground bleeding out in the collapsing cavern that held the core of the greater grail. The events that had transpired till now were a blur as the last thing he could truly recall was telling Rider to get the unconscious Rin and Sakura out while he stayed behind to destroy the grail.
Ah, he remembered why his body felt like it was on fire, he had traced Saber's Noble Phantasm: Excalibur. A Divine Construct created by the Fae for King Arthur to use once his previous sword, Caliburn, had shattered. Though, to be able to trace a Divine Construct was astounding, but being able to use it and still be alive was an absolute miracle. Although, if the redheaded Magus had to take a guess as to how he was barely alive… it would have to be the arm of Archer that was grafted onto him to replace the one cut off by the corrupted version of his adoptive sister's, Illyasviel von Einzbern, servant Berserker, the great Greek hero Hercules.
However, the Shroud of Martin, the Mystic Code given to him by Kirei Kotomine to stop the arm's influence, was barely held in his right hand's grip as Archer's arm was now gone. The Artificial Phantasm seemed to have been obliterated after the single use of Excalibur. What Shirou didn't know was that the information regarding Archer's Unlimited Blade Works was somehow transferred into his own UBW.
But none of it mattered as the redhead laid there dying, not being able to see if Rider had gotten Rin or Sakura to safety, or to come back and make sure Illya, Taiga, or any of his other friends from Homurahara had survived his choice to save Sakura. Yet, it would never happen as his eyes slowly began to close, the cold embrace of death beginning to accept him.
Before that occurred a bright white light shined in Shirou's eyes as he began to refocus them on what was making it. To his surprise it was Illya, wearing a strange white dress, if you could even call it that, floating above Shirou's motionless form.
The homunculus could only smile at her brother as she landed on the ground beside him. "Hello, Shirou, do you want to continue on living?" What was she saying? Shirou couldn't hear her properly and could only stare in contemplation at the girl.
"Il…lya?"
"Do you want to keep on living… regardless of what life, or what form you may assume?" Shirou could only continue to stare at his sister with continued dead look only muttering out the last bit of her name.
"…ya."
"Yep! I wanted Shirou to continue living from now on, more than myself."
'No Illya! Don't say that! Don't give up your life for me! Continue living for yourself and you'll never be sad again!'
Almost as if she knew what he was thinking Illya gave her brother a weak smile. "The truth is even if you had survived this I still would have died. After I was supposed to obtain the grail my soul would have only lasted two more years. So I'm going to be giving you more time then what you have left."
The somber look that the White Grail had instantly went back to a cheery smile as she held out her hand to him. "Well then, I'll show you a miracle. It's just that… your body is a little broken now, so we're going to have to use mine." Without further warning Illya stuck her hand into Shirou's chest and pulled out Avalon, and inside the sheath was Shirou's soul which took the form of a well made sword that showcased the hill of swords within its blade.
Illya could only stare at the sheathed blade with tears forming in her eyes as she slowly placed it into her own chest. As the Noble Phantasm began to slowly sink into her body Illya decided to do one final thing for her brother. "I… I wish upon the Holy Grail, to send this body of mine and soul of my brother to a world where he can start anew." As if hearing her heartfelt desire the cavern shook as the Dress of Heaven faded away leaving her body covered in Shirou's torn shirt with the Shroud of Martin loosely wrapped around her lower abdomen and upper legs.
Illya could only smile as she saw her silvery-white hair gain a red tint to it and with one final sigh she closed her eyes and used the rest of her power as the White Grail to power her wish. With that Shirou's new body was surrounded by a flash of white light right as the cavern finished caving in.
As that had occurred an older man could be seen sitting in a chair watching what could most likely be hundreds upon thousands of TV sets, with each one playing something different. Yet, he didn't seem to be interested in any of the shows being played at the moment. The man stroked his beard for a moment before a flash of light caught his attention. Turning to see what just happened his red-eyes widened in surprise as he walked over to the floating child-like body of Illyasviel von Einzbern.
That is who he originally thought it was until he sensed the soul inside the body… and let out a hearty laugh. "Hahahahahah! Oh, now this is interesting! You seem to be from an iteration of Heaven's Failure, but young Illyasviel decided to send you someplace where you could start anew…" The man smiled evilly as he lightly tapped the body causing it to move towards a portal he had just created. "However, she never specified what place it would be like! So, I'll be sending you to a world where the Age of the Gods never ended and Devils, Angels, and everything in between walks the Earth like the rest of humanity! Now then, I hope you can relieve me of my boredom Shir- no, wait, how about Miss Emilya von Einzbern! Oh, I should write her a note so she doesn't freak out when she wakes up!"