Fate/Tempus Odyssey

It wasn't actually out of a lack of knowledge that Shinji turned ever so slightly to Sheba, his mouth opening to voice a question, but spite. Spite at a man who would dare look down on him, spite at a man who had been handed everything that Shinji desired. It was that spite that led Shinji to voice a question he already knew the answer to.

"Who is he?" He wasn't sure if Sheba picked up the underlying sarcasm, for she just groaned. However, the response from the Archibald heir himself was glorious to Shinji.

"Who am I? Only a peasant like yourself could not recognise your betters." The man looked almost like a bird who had over-preened his feathers, his face twisted into something between outrage and frustration. The shear pride at his own name was showing like a radiant sun.

"No, I know my betters." Shinji retorted. "You aren't one, hiding away on your boat." He sniffed almost mockingly at the magus. It was liberating, to toss insults back at someone who could annihilate you with an errant hand gesture.

It would take an errant hand gesture, right? All of Shinji's life he had believed magic required quite obvious preparation, but some of Sheba's spells simply happened without any sort of prompting. It was quite the nerve wracking thought, that Shinji's life might suddenly end, ripped away by an absent thought.

"Not- I am not the brat who crawled to Caster for help, you insignificant worm!" And the fact that the Archibald heir got flustered quite easily when the prestige of his name came into question was quite useful to know. "I'll have you on your knees begging for my forg-"

"Idael, time and place." A single, curt command rang out, and Shinji felt his back stiffen in spite of himself. The head honcho himself, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, had simply appeared from thin air to all perception, as if he had always been there and everyone had simply overlooked him. "Control of your emotions is required, or you will bring nothing to our name but shame."

He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'now I understand the Barthomoloi', but Shinji was not so brave as to mention it.

"I take it Rider is ready?" Sheba spoke up. Kayneth just regarded the ragged group of Masters for a long moment, ignoring her words entirely.

"I was wondering why your contract concluded. I suppose I will allow it." Kayneth muttered. "See to it that it doesn't interfere with the operation of the Servants." His eyes raked over each person, though Shinji was rather surprised he showed none of his son's disgust towards him. "Curious. I expected you to try to save more."

"I saved what I could." Sheba sniffed. "Is the Argo ready to leave? We're cutting this really close."

"Yes. Please, all aboard." Shinji got the distinct impression the man had been waiting years to say that, as he motioned for everyone to board with a dignified sweep of his arms. "Whatever you've left behind is not important."

Yet as everyone filed onto the boat, Shinji felt a hand on his shoulder. Kayneth's eyes were not so friendly this time.

"Do mind yourself. Before you get quite hurt."

Shinji didn't know if he was referring to his son, or to something else entirely. It was all he could do to swallow the lump in his throat and nod, yet Kayneth released him with nought but a brief look. Was it curiosity, or spite?

Sometimes, it was hard to tell what others were thinking. That was especially true of people whose egos could not be contained in their bodies. Shinji direly missed the days of archery with Shirou and Sakura. After all, Shirou wore his heart on his sleeve.

"That's the last, Rider! Get ready to sail!"

"Rogeeeeer!" Shinji didn't actually know who either of the voices were, but the image of a golden haired man swinging across the deck on a rope, wearing an open tunic and drinking from a bottle of what looked like champagne, was close to the strangest thing that had happened all day. "Damn it the grog is crap. Dunno what I expected, this happens every time!"

"Damn it Jason cut the anchor already!" Sheba's voice was significantly more urgent. "We're about to find out if something can be hotter then the sun!"

"On it, sweetie!" His retaliating cry was punctuated by the man hurling his bottle of alcohol from the ship. "Everyone tie yourself to something, we're hitting the seas!" It was becoming very clear who Rider was.

Jason of the Argonauts. Probably close to one of the most famous heroes ever, and he honestly looked no different to Shinji then a drunk he'd known long enough ago.

"Argonautica! Set Sail!" Whatever Shinji was expecting, he realised very quickly that he should not have been expecting a ship on the ocean. After all, there was no water to be found. The anchor lifted from the ground, the sails unfurled, and no movement occurred.

Someone coughed. Shinji was legitimately not sure who.

"Right, right. Wings, away!"

The eight golden wings that shot from the sides of the boat like oars were significantly less expected. Jason just whistled merrily, spinning his wheel, as the boat began to lift.

"Show off." Sheba's voice was low, but she was grinning. "Can't believe it actually works."

"You haven't tested it?" Shinji couldn't believe that, not for a moment. Sheba just chuckled.

"Not at all." Earth began to groan as the wings tore through the lowest levels of Chaldea, debris stewing everywhere. Shinji very quickly came to regret being on deck, yet after a moment, they pierced earth and made their way into the sky.

Shinji wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he wasn't expecting this. The world, for the most part, was gone.

He knew Chaldea's base had been situated somewhere cold and full of ice, yet surrounding the mountain sized glacier that hid it, was simply a cliff that led into black. It was as if the world stopped outside of Chaldea. In the sky, however, there was a giant, white ring.

"Shit." The word came from Kayneth's mouth. "Caster, tell me that isn't ready."

"… I'd be lying."

"Einzbern, get ready to perform the summoning ritual. Leonardo, get out here with the catalyst right now. Caster, a circle."

"On it!"

Everyone busied themselves almost immediately. Shinji had to admire the speed of which they moved. Kayneth certainly knew what he was doing, if nothing else. Soon, a big white circle was glowing on the deck, something shoved hurriedly in it's centre, as the Einzbern master stepped forward.

"I don't get it." Shinji admitted.

"The circle in the sky is called Ars Almadel Salomonis. Once it fires, we will die." The one to answer was a somewhat dignified Irishman, who seemed to have just melted out of thin air. "Master Kayneth has taken steps to ensure that we will not fall to it should we still be here when it fires. Ideally, the Argo would have already left, but..."

"Firing it is a waste." Sheba snarled. "Bastard clearly wants to make sure we don't interfere." The Irishman just shook his head.

"Regardless, watch. The Master's plan is coming to fruition."

"Seven Heavens clad in the three words of power! Come forth from the ring of deterrence, oh Keeper of Balance!" Really, it was obvious why the Einzbern was being picked to summon. Shinji wasn't entirely ignorant; the idea of a homunculus, a person who possessed almost unlimited effective magical energy, was not foreign to him. Yet he couldn't help the twinge in his stomach at the sight. Watching someone be more successful then you was not an easy thing to do.

The circle lit up, and the first thing that Shinji noticed was a large, red spear. The second thing he noticed was a giant shield.

"I am Servant Lancer, at y-" Whatever white haired young man, in purple armour, had been about to say was cutoff as his eyes began to widen. "What… exactly was I summoned to?"

"There's no time! We need your shield!" The voice that cried out was not one that Shinji recognised. "Sir Galahad, now!"

The young man turned, glanced at the sky, and seemed to understand immediately, for that giant shield in the shape of a cross lifted up just briefly, before slamming into the deck.

"I trust we can leave? This isn't just vein defiance?"

"YES! JUST USE THE SHIELD!" Sheba's voice cracked out. "JASON, HARD LEFT!"

"ROGER!" The boat clearly was not made for fine movements, buffeting about as the Rider slammed down on his wheel. "I'm not drunk enough for this."

And then it happened. It seemed like everything lit up in white fire.

"Siege Camelot: Heavenly White Castle of Everdistant Utopia!"

Shinji wasn't dead. He was beginning to be tired of thinking that he was, though. A long sigh left his lungs, as the white of the world was replaced with a giant, blue wall of flame. Something had shoved itself between the white and the ship for just a moment. It was like watching ice meet fire.

Then reality seemed to shriek.

"HARDER JASON!"

"I'M TRYING!"

And then it happened. Like the roar of the sea, the Argo rocked, buffeted on top of an ocean of rainbows, in the distance, stars of every colour. It was a surreal sight, one that did nothing to convince Shinji that he was still alive.

"Cutting it awfully close." Kayneth noted absently, checking his fingertips as if his only concern was a potential broken nail. "Einzbern, Galahad, Leonardo, Caster. Good work." With that, he turned and began to walk into the cabins. "See to our wounded."

The instruction was curt, but clear. Shinji's hands were still shaking, and it took him a moment to realise he was covered in sweat. The others on deck did not look appreciably better. Some hurriedly excused themselves, having emptied their bladders, while others did not look to be able to move under their own power. In the distance, Rider just cheered, though it sounded like it was more to himself then anyone else.

"I did it, Herk. First step on my own."

That sounded like it was intended to be far more private then it actually was.

Drawing himself to his feet, Shinji…

[ ] Went below deck. He was exhausted.
[ ] Went to the Einzbern. He wanted to see the man who had saved them all.
[ ] Took a deep breath, and headed up to the man steering the ship.
[ ] Whimpered, and crumpled again. His body hurt too much.