Hero of Justice (Fate/Stay Night UBW x Shield Hero)

But the Dream lives on

An eerie mist enshrouds him. His pain given form. Not as a flame, but as a cold dark, briny mist which seemed to have seeped out of the dark abyss itself.

Despite him so deserving to feel wrath, spite, vengeance, all he felt at this moment... was self-loathing... Where unbridled wrath, and anger against injustice should've sprouted, whereas the need for revenge should've grown, what came out was three words.

"I give up..."

True, he was angry at everyone within his immediate vicinity, but the feeling that overshadowed it was the helplessness, the self hate born from a feeling of incompetence. Just as Shirou promised to save as many people and to one day free that one thief in the proper way, he too inwardly promised to protect the three friends he had abd all they held dear.

Instead this happened. People he cared for were put to danger, both people from his world were forced to place their reputations on the line to protect him from the malice directed towards him and Raphtalia... Sure Raphtalia is being freed, but then what? In a country like this, she could only go so far before becoming a slave once more.

"I'm sorry... I give up. I'm sorry for being a terrible shield hero. Even with all this power I acquired, I couldn't even save you... Raphtalia... I put you into danger... Tohsaka... I couldn't help you save the world... Emiya." he thought to himself as he clutched his shield so hard that he would've cut his fingers on it's edge if it weren't for his absurd defense.

A soothing, cold voice then called out, saying "Sink... Sink... Sink... Sink into despair... Sink into sorrow... Sink and sleep..." like a siren to Odysseus as he was tied to his ship's mast.

Naofumi then saw himself slowly being engulfed by the darkness. He tried to throw the shield away from himself, to get away from the burden of heroes and the reality he faced only for it to come back to him. He then said "It's no use..."

"The only way out is to stop caring altogether... There is only... one way. To stop shouldering the world's problems... To stop being a hero... To just... Give up."

The shield's gem then turned into a dark blue as a salty mist enveloped it. Wrath can come in many forms, a fiery inferno that comes in and burns all that opposes it, a frozen blizzard of vengeance, a powerful explosion that decimates indiscriminately, but the emptiness that comes after it is not realized, the feeling of sheer helplessness afterwards is a drowning ocean with which one can become crushed by it's pressure.

[Curse series requirement: Met]

Suddenly, instead of Raphtalia thanking Motoyasu as he had hoped, she then slapped him, shocking him and his accomplices.

"I never wanted to be freed!"

"H-huh?!"

"You heard me! I was perfectly happy under Lord Naofumi and I did everything in my own volition!"

"But that shouldn't be... You shouldn't be fighting his battles for him! He's just putting you in danger!"

"Can't you see? He isn't someone who can't fight battles by himself! That's why I am here! We work as a team. He defends and I attack! Not only that, but he along helped me when no one else would! He fed me, took care of me, helped me face my past! He even gave me, a slave of all things, hope for a better future!"

"But that just can't be! He's just not that kind of guy!"

"Really? Then how bout this question instead, do you have the compassion to raise a dirty, sick, useless demihuman back to health, while giving her a new chance at life?! Do you?!"