Critian Caceorte
Currently Suffering from Space-Time Narcolepsy
- Location
- Washington State
Even Alter? That is who I specified in the quote.
Fate/Sunny Order (FGO)
- Thread starter Swordomatic
- Start date
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Their
Ah, I didn't see that.
Artoria Alter has never spoken of the Anglo Saxons, or the French, so you could argue that she might hold a grudge against them, but she's also never even mention Britain itself so I kinda doubt she cares enough to hold a grudge.
Sir Plusse
Overly Vicious Quester
- Location
- Kansas
My thoughts on a non-MHX Foreigner Artoria are basically "if they play up the Fae-touched angle, she could fit." I mean, the Fae aren't quite Lovecraftian horrors, but they're pretty close; if she gets turned into a Fae (even partially), then that'd be more than enough, right?
This, in turn, leads to the idea of hybridizing Fae Artoria and Goddess Rhon for Alter Ego Artoria. Yes, I know, that's putting two versions of more-or-less the same being in one body; it could still work, I think.
Berserker has been previously demonstrated to include people who obsess over a single goal to self-destructive levels, such as Hijikata, so that could be a version who's so fixated on the role of "King of the Britons" that she goes the Iskandar route.
This, in turn, leads to the idea of hybridizing Fae Artoria and Goddess Rhon for Alter Ego Artoria. Yes, I know, that's putting two versions of more-or-less the same being in one body; it could still work, I think.
Berserker has been previously demonstrated to include people who obsess over a single goal to self-destructive levels, such as Hijikata, so that could be a version who's so fixated on the role of "King of the Britons" that she goes the Iskandar route.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Isn't that image just the ritual to summon Mysterious Heroine X with the most optimal catalyst for her, that being "too many goddamn Saberfaces"?
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
Considering that she is in said gif...
That's actually fairly close to what Lancer Alter is. She didn't become a deity like the Lion King, but however she managed to do that left her teeming with regrets that she plain refuses to talk about
WingsOfFire
Heavy Gunship
Is this thread dead?
Grue
滅亡迅雷
- Location
- -
WingsOfFire
Heavy Gunship
Thanks, I didn't see that post
- Location
- Singapore
I'll threadmark the post. That said, this is a good opportunity to note that I'm about 70% done with planning for Accel Zero, as well as another announcement I have about porting this (rather bloated and messy) fic onto AO3.
- Location
- Singapore
- Location
- Singapore
...Yeah, about that.
*****
Even as Sita's Saint Graph, no, her body, her essence, had reached moksha, Rama still hold what's left of her. He felt the grief as he failed to protect her. Again.
He failed to protect her from Ravana.
He failed to protect her from his own people.
He failed to protect her from himself.
It's always end up like this. She's beautiful, kind and pure. Honestly, he often felt he's not worthy of her. And it's always the kind ones who suffer for the world.
No.
No.
This is not right. They are not suffer for the world.
They are suffering from injustices and deviation of Dharma. People who discard Dharma and drowned themselves in Mara without care if they drag others. All they did is spread misery and chaos.
Preserver of Dharma isn't needed here. Not anymore. Not since a long time.
As his tears dried out, he stands. His Saint Graph changed.
Gone the wise king that always listened to his people.
Gone the young womanizer trickster that moving the pawns of Kurusetra.
Gone the brahmin that swore vengeance against corrupt kshatriya.
Gone The Fish. Gone The Swan. Gone The Tortoise.
Deep in Chaldea, both Karna and Arjuna was stricken with terror and sadness. Arjuna Alter, his Saint Graph violently resonates, cries in blood from sadness, loss, and fear.
Parvati, also crying blood, tried her best to calm Kama, who had switching between quietly crying and scream in utter terror. Jinako simply turned catatonic.
Even BB and Foreigners Servant can felt it.
All that left, is one Avatar that marked the End of Era. A pure white horse appear beside him, guided by two boys, eyes lit with cold hatred.
And they are not alone.
Thousands, millions, trillions of being appear. Apes, men, yaksha. Even rakshasa. All with the same cold, logical hatred.
This world shall be purged from Evil, whether they liked or not. Whether the world will survive or not.
And, without voice, simply by gesture, Kalki commands them.
Kali Yuga had ended. And so does The Lostbelt.
- Location
- Singapore
ok
Reflex-sama
Vtuber and Gacha Hell
- Location
- Carmen, San Diego
Okay, I've no idea what just happened.
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
...
So, does this seem legit for Gudako with her brother out of commission?
So, does this seem legit for Gudako with her brother out of commission?
Rewrite Chapter 1.1: The Burning City - Arrival, Pt. 1
- Location
- Singapore
Hello! Remember how I'm on hiatus?
Yeah, it's still on, and don't expect that to end anytime soon. Uni is actively sucking out my soul and that makes planning out Accel Zero difficult. I have a plan down, but I need to change it to accomodate Lil Shit Waver instead of just having Chaldea appropriate his story. Also I need to figure out how they actualise the Lesser Grail without consuming Irisviel.
In the meantime though, I'm also toying with the idea of retoasting this onto AO3. Which also gives me the opportunity to rewrite the earlier part of this fic, because the first couple chapters were written long before I figured out the emotional heart of the story, and so Chapter 1 is actually really bad at presenting what it's like. Not to mention that separating the Singularity Chapters and the Regular Chapters turned into a bad idea, so I need to meld them back together. The Interludes and Omakes are fine, though, and so will probably never get changed.
Also when I say 'toying with the idea' I mean 'I already rewrote a substantial chunk of Singularity F as if it were the real Chapter 1'. Enjoy!
----
The price of salvation is your soul.
This was something Kana's father had remarked upon, once. It was the night of a full moon, in the city of Dresden. He had been hurt, and she should never have been there. It was a rare moment of weakness for him, a man she often thought to be invincible.
At the time, she wondered why he was being so introspective, considering the arrow stuck in his side. Now, amidst a city on fire, Kana wondered if she hadn't been introspective enough. She knew that she wasn't dead, and she knew that this wasn't hell, but it certainly felt like it.
Especially considering the company.
"What are you even doing, going in this direction?!" With shining silver hair and large golden eyes, the woman with her is a beauty by any measure. But she's demanding and loud and very arrogant, the very image of a princess - or should she say queen? "The leyline is that way, you uncultured idiot! You're just going to run us into another mob of skeletons and get us killed!"
Kana sighed heavily, but she kept on walking. The street was cracked and ashen from the fire, but she still knew it well. She's walked through here so often she could probably navigate it blindfolded. "Relax, Director, I took care of the previous bunch, didn't I?"
The Director was unconvinced, but Kana couldn't care less about the tantrum of a girl barely older than her. She needs to know if that is still around. It probably isn't, but… Well, she'd like to make sure. "That's not the point," the Director, Olga-Marie Animusphere, snarled. "We're in the middle of hostile territory, surrounded by enemies and two steps from death, and you're sightseeing. Do you even know what kind of danger we're in?"
"Of course I do. I fought them. Me." She stopped and turned around, wrapping one hand around the imaginary handle of a sword that doesn't yet exist as she twirled. It manifested in less than a second, with enough real weight to sink into the asphalt when she drove it in. Without regard for Olga-Marie's suddenly-wide eyes, Kana pointed at it. "And I won. With this. But that pisses you off, doesn't it?"
A white hot flash of fury passed Olga-Marie's mind, one she suppressed immediately but one Kana saw clear as day. Of course it did. It was a worthless magecraft, a dead end with no potential, and she still killed forty of them. All she had, all she needed, was that feeling. Of pounding blood in her ears, of the rush in her heart and the weight in her limbs, of knowing exactly what to do next in the chaos. And that is something that Olga-Marie will never have.
But that doesn't matter, does it? She had magecraft and she had a powerful element, and the circuits to use it. She has all the power and resources of an old clan of magi, all the authority of a soon-to-be Lord of the Clocktower. Olga-Marie didn't have skill. And she won't ever need that feeling, because she has money and she has power. Someone like Kana, a talent with nothing else, was beneath her notice.
At least, that's what Kana thought. But then Olga-Marie did something she didn't expect.
She calmed down and took up the sword, pointing it right at Kana.
It was not a firm grip. She was used to Azoth Blades, not a full arming sword, and her arm was already trembling from the exertion of holding it up. But she continued to hold it, pride giving her strength. "I don't care how you took them down, much less how you know Projection to such a degree! I care that you only did it to make a point! I don't know for who or for what, but that stops now. Like it or not, you're a soldier of Chaldea, and that means you listen to me! And we need to end this disaster, get the Grail, and save the world. Or is that not enough for you?"
Kana looked at her. Her gaze was narrow. Her blood was high. But she smiled. She grinned, she almost laughed. "You know what, Director? I think I like you."
Hearing something so audacious, it was no wonder that Olga-Marie forgot her anger and flushed red for a moment. A girl so young, with so much responsibility, hearing something so bold so directly was rare. And Kana didn't grasp those implications until after she said it. "S-So what?! You're still just a country bumpkin!"
Kana was red too, so she turned back to the front, willing the sword to vanish in Olga-Marie's hands. The Director wobbled as her balance suddenly shifted, before shouting after the girl who had stopped at a crossroad. "A-Anyways!" She said loudly, then coughed. "I just needed to check something! After that, we can head off!"
"Check what?! Do you even know where we are?"
"Yeah, I used to live here." She took two steps, until she stood in the middle of a crossroad, and looked off into the distance down a long street. Then, she sighed. "Well, I've seen enough. We can go now."
"What were you even looking for?!"
"My old house." Her head snapped to the side suddenly, catching a glint. It glimmered as it approached her, until she could hear a faint heavy buzz. She stretched her hand out and plucked it out of the air, holding the tiny crystal beetle to her eyes. It shuddered in her grip before squeaking, before unfurling into a series of floating characters.
When she turned around seconds later, the beetle had become a piece of quartz again. Silent, inert, and lacking the mana that animated it. "Change of plans, Director. There's a street we gotta visit."
"Another detour?" Olga-Marie looked ready to burst. "What is it now, your boyfriend's house?"
"My brother, actually." She brushed her red hair with a flourish, gold eyes glinting in the light of the burning city. "He's the smartest guy I know, but someone has to save him. And he's got Mashu with him. But we can ignore them and continue for the leyline, if you want?"
The silent glare that Olga-Marie gave her was all the answer she needed to continue walking down the street.
----
The car they sat upon was still warm to the touch, despite how long it must have been since the city burned. Despite the ruination of the street around him, it was clear of danger at the moment. There were no skeletons around, nothing that could threaten them. It was safe, as much as a street could be, and it was familiar in a way he could not remember.
Yet his heart continued to pound in his chest as he remembered what happened five minutes ago. Waking up on warm pavement, gravel sticking to his cheek. Surrounded by five skeletons that would have gutted him because he forgot basic spellcasting in the moment and he didn't want to cut his hands against human bone. Saved and safe, only because of the girl that sat across from him.
The girl that should be dead.
"You knew this place, senpai?" Asked Mashu Kyrielight, clad in armour she does not own, carrying a shield she does not know and a legacy she was never told. But she remains hopeful, despite everything, a bright ray of sunshine in this bleak world. Hopeful of their odds, their future, their survival… Of a lot of things. Mashu is a hopeful girl.
It's good. It's admirable, he added mentally. In fact, it seemed that the more he got to know Mashu, the more he liked about her.
Mashu blinked, frowning slightly with her one eye not hidden beneath her bangs. "Senpai? Are you okay?"
Ritsuka jumped in his skin and nearly lost his balance. Once again, he got lost inside his own thoughts. It would be unbecoming of him, but he's always thought too much about too much. He coughed and averted his eyes to hide the blush on his cheeks, but Mashu's eyes just widened with concern while she leaned towards him, hands on her lap. "Ah, Ritsuka-senpai, is it the air…?"
"I'm fine," Ritsuka brushed off. "Really, it's okay." He pretended to cough a few more times for good measure, even though it started to hurt his throat. That'd teach you to focus on the here and now, he thought harshly to himself. Getting ambushed by those skeletons should have been enough. "The air's fine. For a Magus of my caliber, this is nothing," he added with bravado he did not feel.
Mashu smiled, thinking he was alright. But Ritsuka wasn't, and he wouldn't be as long as he was in this city, constantly distracted by the ruins of everything he used to know. He needed to find shelter. He needed to link up with a leyline and try to contact Chaldea. And before all that, he needed to link up with her.
Communicating with Chaldea should, at least, be relatively simple. He didn't actually know how they communicated with teams in the field, but it shouldn't be that hard to send a message back. It's all magecraft. He's supposed to be good at magecraft.
But here in the silence, at the same time warm and cold as a breeze rolled through the street, Ritsuka can't help but think about what brought him back here. Arriving at Chaldea. Meeting Fou, Mashu, and then the Doctor. The bombing. The pillar.
The fact that the girl next to him should be dead.
He looked at Mashu's Servant garb again, while she kept her eyes peeled for any further enemy attacks. The pillar that crushed her from the waist down was solid stone. Nothing should remain of her lower half, and yet here she is now. Alive, well, and possessed of strange powers.
"Mashu, now that we have time, I need to ask," he said, not realising the way the girl tensed up when he spoke. "How are you alive? You were under that pillar in the Chamber. I held your hand." There was a tremble in his voice, which he tried to stifle. "I felt you dying. But here you are now, dressed up like… Like a Servant. What's going on?"
Mashu looked at him with slight worry, her brow a straight, furrowed line. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out for several seconds. "I… I'm really not sure. Maybe Director Animusphere can help?"
Ritsuka nodded. That settled it, then, Mashu knows what is going on, but isn't sure if she should tell him. Perfectly understandable. Chaldea is a moonlit organisation, despite its aspirations towards saving the world, so it would definitely have secrets to keep. He will have to investigate later, but for his working theories… A Homunculus imbued with a Heroic Spirit? Or maybe a properly incarnated Servant? His hunch said Homunculus.
He took another look at her, playing with her hair as she kept an eye out for trouble. She started humming a tune to herself, but trailed off the moment she realised he was looking. Their eyes locked for half a second before she turned bright red and looked away.
...His hunch still said Homunculus, but his conviction is wavering. Maybe Chaldea figured out how to make adorable homunculi? Questions for later.
"A-Also, senpai, why are we here?" Mashu asked in a transparent attempt to change the subject, still looking away. "If you're looking for a leyline, I sense a powerful one to the south of us."
"I know. I'm familiar with that leyline, too. But we're waiting for someone."
"Someone…? Senpai, who else could be here?"
"I mean, I wasn't the only one in the Chamber with you. I'm not sure why she wasn't with me, but I sent out a familiar to go look for her. Speaking of." Without even looking over his shoulder, Ritsuka caught the gemstone before it could hit the back of his head. "Took you long enough, Kana," he said to the one who threw it as she walked up to his side.
"Sorry for the wait, traffic was murder. You'd think all those skeletons were trying to get in my way." His sister was covered in bone dust and road ash when he turned to greet her, and returned his smile with a wide grin. "Thanks for the guide, by the way. I was gonna wait for you at that place, but here is way better."
"Yeah, it felt kinda familiar. Dunno why, though."
"Well, I won't ruin it for you. I know you like surprises."
Ritsuka had already turned back to Mashu, not bothering to dignify her with a reaction. "Mashu, I know you've met already, but since she's not very memorable I'll introduce you. This is Kana. She's my twin sister."
"I think she knows who I am, Rits," Kana said, until she realised that Mashu's eyes were like dishplates, wide and unblinking as they looked at her. "You… do remember who I am, right Mashu?"
Finally, Mashu turned a deeper shade of red and immediately bowed her head. "I'm so sorry, Kana-senpai! It's just that… Well… I mean, they were a lot less obvious in the hallway!"
Credit to Kana, it only took her half a second to realise, when her eyebrows knitted together. Less credit to Ritsuka, who took another three seconds to realise it for himself.
"...Right." Kana sighed heavily and folded her arms, which made Mashu jump a little. "It's fine, just… Don't look at them. Ever. Please."
"Of course! Please don't mind me, Kana-senpai, I have to manage mine as well! I'll do my best to ignore them from this point on!"
Any amusement Ritsuka felt was long dead by this point. Now, he just wanted to wither and dry up like a prune. So he quickly sought a way out of this conversation, and as luck would have it, his sister brought him one. "Kana, who's that?"
"Hm?" Kana looked behind her, right at the white-haired woman tapping her foot at them with her arms crossed and her scowl so deep it might just break through the road. "Oh, I found Director Olga-Marie on the way here, so I brought her along. Why, think I should have left her behind?"
"D-Director?" Mashu cried out. "Director!"
"You found the Direc--Should you have--Nevermind, nevermind!" Ritsuka inhaled sharply, ignoring the jab of pain through his nostrils from the ash and heat, and took a long, deep breath. "Nevermind. Director Olga-Marie, I'm not sure why you're here, but I'm glad you are. Now, I mean."
"Kiss ass," Kana muttered under her breath.
"Lazy gorilla," Ritsuka whispered harshly in reply.
"Oh you did not--"
"Oh, stuff it, both of you," snapped the Lady Olga-Marie Animusphere, master of Chaldea and incumbent to a Clocktower Lordship. "It was bad enough with one of you! I bet that if I left the two of you here, you would argue about nothing forever, out here on the road, completely exposed to the enemy! Why are we even here?!"
Then, and only then, Ritsuka remembered why this place was significant. It was the shopping district of Miyama Town, where he shared many memories of weekend grocery shopping. It shook him for a moment, realising that the place where his Aunt used to buy Taiyaki in bulk is now a burning pile of ash.
If Olga-Marie noticed his shaken composure, she never got the opportunity to note it. Kana, who took it as a point of pride to get lectured at every opportunity, immediately tried to lighten the mood. "I mean, we're twins," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "Like it or not, I know this nerd inside and out. Though, considering how he usually acts--"
"No! Enough!" It is only a small flare of mana, nothing like an actual spell, but it is enough to give even Kana pause for a second. Only a second, but then Olga-Marie continues talking. "We are at war, and the two of you are soldiers fighting in it, not civilians yapping on the sidelines! If the two of you insist on being unprofessional idiots, then I will have to take special measures once we get back!"
Kana's everpresent grin, the same one that has gotten them into trouble since the day they were born, straightened out into a line. To Olga-Marie, it's a sign that she's finally taking her words to heart. Ritsuka knew better; Kana is always paying attention, even when she seems like she isn't. No, Kana only did that when she messed up. He knows her well enough to know that.
Now, what she messed up? Heck if he knows, they're in a flaming hell city. That is already pretty messed up. Whatever Kana did doesn't even compare, and she should know this. He's the high-strung twin, not her.
"Director," he said quickly, before the tirade can continue. "There's a leyline to the south of us. If we go now, we can reach there in an hour or so."
"Half an hour," Kana corrected. She was back to herself in a moment. If only he could be as unflappable as her. "I know a shortcut."
Satisfied, Olga-Marie nodded. "Good, because accessing the leyline will be the real challenge. Whatever Singularity F has turned this place into, the Magi that laid claim to this city clearly knew what they were doing, because the wards around it are still on. It'll take at least a few hours to get through them, even for me."
"Oh, they won't be a problem," Ritsuka chimed in. "We can just walk in."
Kana nodded at that. "I know you said we're your soldiers and all, Director, but you should leave this place to us."
The Director looked appalled. She turned her ire upon Kana, hands upon her hips. "Excuse me? You want me to leave command of this mission to a pair of unprofessional half-baked magi who wouldn't know a bounded field if it bit their fingers off, when we don't even know where we are?"
"We're in the Miyama Shopping District," Ritsuka offered helpfully.
"Yeah, we're not lost. Besides, I saved you from that pile of skeletons, didn't I?" Kana countered, while showing off the back of her right hand - and the red brand emblazoned upon it. "Also, we have the Command Seals. Rits, show her your right hand."
"Hm?" He did so without thinking, only making the connection when the Director's eyes widened at the sight. "Oh, right, these. I don't have a Servant, though. Mashu doesn't seem to need any support. Speaking of…"
All eyes turned to Mashu, who had been trying to make herself invisible throughout this conversation. "I haven't said anything so far, Director," she said softly, "But if you would like, I could…"
"No, not now. I'll explain when we get back, Mashu, thank you." Olga-Marie sighed and shook her head, one hand resting on her forehead. "Of course, figures that FATE would just hand Command Seals out to two nobodies, but it won't even consider me…"
"Isn't that how Command Seals work?" Ritsuka asked, earning a sharp look from Olga-Marie. He raised his hands before him, as if trying to corral a wild animal. "I mean, they just show up, right? You can't really earn them."
Olga-Marie's fists clenched harder and her arms began to tremble. "If the two of you weren't sleeping through the briefing, you'd know that's not how FATE works!" She stomped her feet hard, then crossed her arms with a huff. "It doesn't matter! We need to get going!"
Kana nodded. "Mashu, can you shift into astral form? Or switch back to human form, or something? The longer you're like that, the more likely some Servant's going to come here and pick a fight."
"Don't bother," Ritsuka countered, before Mashu could stutter some sort of response. He continued, long before realising Kana and Olga-Marie were both looking at him weirdly. "We're already the only living humans in the city, and Miyama Town's in the heart of Old Fuyuki anyways. Servants can sense life energy either way, so if there are any around, they already know we're here. We might as well have Mashu stay in Servant form."
"...Y'know what, Rits? That's a good point. Good job nerding out."
"Besides," he added, almost as an afterthought, "I'm not sure if Mashu is fully a homunculus or just partially one, but she's definitely not a spirit. Otherwise, she'd have to be drawing on mana from us - well, either that or--"
"Alright, calm down. I said good job, not keep going."
"Eat a sloppy hoagie, Kana."
Olga-Marie's strange look lingered for a second. Eventually, she clicked her tongue. "Fine. Seeing as you two have somehow already been accepted as Masters of Chaldea, I'll defer command for now. This might be a good opportunity to test your skills." She turned to each of them, eyes hard and lips curled downwards. "Mashu, protect us. Ritsuka, Kana, lead the way."
----
The trip was quick, as Kana predicted. Thirty minutes to the second, at a pace that would be punishing for even seasoned hikers. For Olga-Marie, who was soft and not very physical like the majority of Magi, it was absolutely gruelling. But Ritsuka considered it a virtue that she was both prideful enough to refuse any help and driven enough that she kept up anyways through sheer force of will.
It reminded him of someone dear to him.
"Well, here we are." The mansion before them was old and foreboding, the walls peeled and cracked from the fire that annihilated the city. It wasn't a place he visited very often, yet he knew it intimately. "The Tohsaka Mansion."
Olga-Marie said nothing as she tried to catch her breath, but her eyes were fixed on his back. Ritsuka walked toward the iron gate, cracked and black from the flames that ravaged the city. He could only wonder at the devastation that took the city, at the lives that were taken in the disaster. As he pushed open the gates, he felt the bounded field surrounding the estate ripple, testing him. All it took was a single pulse of mana and the gates fell open.
"Home sweet home," Kana sighed.
Mashu looked on, eyes wide. She put into words what the Director had suspected since she was saved by Kana in that restaurant. "You're… You're Tohsakas! This is your house!"
"Only technically," Kana said, an attempt to be wistful. "We own the place, but we don't live here. Mom always thought it was sad." It falls on deaf ears as they walk piecemeal through the front doors, the wards testing Olga-Marie but doing little beyond that. She was a guest, said the heir to the family, so she would not be harmed.
They didn't even bother for the Demi-Servant. There was little they could do against an existence that defied magecraft in its totality.
The living room within was surprisingly intact, likely due to the house's solid foundations. Mashu quickly escorted the Director to an intact sofa couch, while Kana quickly claimed another seat. Ritsuka went straight into the basement to search for whatever reagents remained, confident that he could dodge the myriad traps and dangers that filled their mother's workshop.
By the time he returned with what tools and materials survived the devastation, Olga-Marie had set up communications with Chaldea. A holographic display was set up on the coffee table, projecting a screen still looking for a signal.
"You find anything?" Kana asked.
"Some alchemical silver and gems," Ritsuka responded with a shrug. "Might be worth something." He sat down with a thud on the floor, carefully laying out the magical tools in his arms. It was a pitiful haul, considering the amount of magical energy available to him, but the Tohsakas were never known for being particularly wealthy. And being well off was a distant dream from before his mother's generation.
As it turns out, clergymen aren't good businessmen. Who knew?
"I'm sure you have some questions for us, Director Olga-Marie," Ritsuka said, with Kana nodding behind him, "But I need to know how the FATE System works. It's the only way we'll get to the bottom of… Of all this."
Olga-Marie raised an eyebrow. If she's impressed or annoyed, she does not show it. Kana, meanwhile, presses her hands against his shoulders. "Fine. Considering your enthusiasm in doing the right thing, I'll forgive you two for sleeping through my most important briefing. For the most part." She leaned back on the sofa, betraying none of the exertion she felt on the way here, arms and legs crossed. "The FATE System is a variant of the Holy Grail War Ritual, our closest reinterpretation of the original that was intended to summon Heroes to save the world. It works off much the same principles, diverting the majority of the burden of summoning and maintaining a fragment of a Heroic Spirit upon a superior foundation of ancient magecraft, but generally the minutiae are identical to the original system you must likely be familiar with."
"Actually, we never learned much about the Fuyuki Grail Wars," Kana clarified, arms behind her head. "Just stories, and barely any of those. We just know that our parents were involved in ending the Fifth, and that our granddads both died as a result of the Fourth. Mom refuses to even admit the Sixth happened, even though I'm pretty sure it did!"
"About sixty percent sure," Ritsuka clarified, shaking a flattened palm before him. "We were about six when it happened, so we can't really be sure."
"Rits, we nearly died to a Servant that day. Dad sent us off with Aunt Taiga for the rest of the weekend."
Ritsuka looked back with an incredulous scowl. "Like the time he found you fighting a vampire as a Magical Girl that one time?"
Immediately, Kana's face turned fully red and she faced away quickly. "That never happened."
"Exactly, so the entire thing may never have at all."
"You can't prove I was a Magical Girl, but you can prove that--"
"Can we focus a little here," Olga-Marie half-shouts, head angled sharply. The twins acquiesced, though Kana made silent revenge by grabbing Ritsuka's shoulders hard with hands like claws. It barely startled Ritsuka, who saw it coming and had reinforced his shoulders, so Kana felt like her fingers were digging into solid steel. "So the two of you want to summon a Servant using the FATE System then?"
"I mean I know the ritual, sort of," Ritsuka shrugged. "It's honestly really simple. I've just never actually done it, so anything could go wrong. Or, knowing my luck, everything could go wrong."
"Spoken like a true Tohsaka," Olga-Marie muttered softly, before the screen quickly winked and the display cleared up. Soon, greeting them was the face of a gentle man with long red hair, his cheeks and lab coat only slightly stained by ash. "Finally. I was wondering when the signal would -- Romani! How dare you sit in that chair!"
Romani Archamann, Chief Medical Officer of the Chaldea Organisation, did not fall out of his chair. But he did do the next best thing. The only thing that remained on camera in the next three seconds was his ponytail before he pushed himself back upright. "D-Director Olga-Marie! You're alive?!"
"Of course I am! Why are you there? Where's Lev?!"
His expression quickly grew morose. "The… The bomb was right under his feet. We still haven't found his body, but…"
Olga-Marie turned silent. She lowered her head, hands trembling. Quickly, she struck her leg and looked up, blinking away the tears. "Nevermind, then! If you're in charge, make yourself useful! I want provisions and reinforcements established at our leyline, and I want an up to date map of the region, now!"
"I want to, Director, but reinforcements--"
"That wasn't a question, Romani! If they aren't here in five minutes they better be dead!"
"They are!" The sudden exclamation caught Olga-Marie by surprise, giving the Doctor time to catch his bearings. "Every single Master was in the explosion. The ones who aren't dead are still dying. We're still trying to save everyone we can. There's no one left that can leyshift!"
Olga-Marie remained silent for a moment. She pointed right at the twins mulling over the implications, their expressions haunted. "Are you telling me, Romani, that our only Masters are these two?"
"Which two?" Romani blinked, looking at the two of them. "Ah, the siblings I ran into! Rit… Ritsuka and Kana, right?"
Ritsuka frowned, wanting to say something, but Olga-Marie spoke first. "Yes, these two. Tell me, Romani, why didn't you tell me we had the Tohsaka heirs joining Chaldea?"
Romani blinked. His eyes darted to Ritsuka, then to Kana, then to Olga-Marie. "Tohsakas?" They darted over the twins again. "Oh. Oh, that explains a lot. I had a feeling, but I was only planning on confirming it when they got their physical exams..."
"The physical exams every member of staff is supposed to take before they get their uniforms? The ones you are supposed to preside over?!"
"I'm sorry! They just showed up suddenly! I thought we only had forty six Masters, so I thought that their exams could be delayed!" He blinked. "That is, I mean…"
"The moment I get back I am going to take away all of your sweets." Romani looked completely crushed by that promise, but there was no time to grieve, for Olga-Marie was already moving forward. "But until then, I need you to get FATE online. We're going to be conducting a summoning at this leyline before proceeding onwards."
"A summoning? Director, you can't possibly still want to continue!"
"We need to have something to show them, Doctor! I will not lose Chaldea because of some terrorist attack!"
"Alright, Director. In the meantime… Actually, how do you link up FATE…"
Olga-Marie audibly groaned and leaned her face right into the monitor. Romani leaned back just as far, looking like a deer in the headlights. "Just get Leo to take care of it," she said, quietly and dangerously.
"A-Aye, Director! We'll send you the updated data from SHEBA immediately!"
The screen winked and vanished in an instant. Olga-Marie sighed and slumped back into the sofa, hands on her temples. "I'm surrounded by idiots," she moaned, with the dread of a woman with the world on her shoulders. Which, Ritsuka reflected, might actually be factual, considering what Chaldea is meant to be. "Alright, we'll have to wait for them to return to us. In the meantime, the two of you clearly know the lay of the land, so in case SHEBA is as broken as the rest of Chaldea's projects, I need you to tell me everything I might need to know about this city… Fuyuki, right?"
Ritsuka nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright, so Fuyuki's divided into two parts by the Mion River that flows through the middle, with this part being considered Old Fuyuki and the part on the other side being New Fuyuki--"
"I'm not a tourist!" Olga-Marie snapped, which Ritsuka blinked at. Thoroughly amused, Kana bapped her brother on the head. "Singularity F takes place in the year 2004, which I know is when the Fifth Holy Grail War takes place. Tell me everything about the city from that time."
Kana nodded, humming to herself. One hand on her chin, she looked pensive as she thought back on old memories of stories told when she was a child. Finally, she nodded again. "Yeah, I have no idea," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "2004 was before we were even born. I remember mom complaining about having to save some seaweed then, and that dad apparently got stabbed five times and nearly died twice, but besides that they've told us practically nothing."
Olga-Marie looked about ready to punch out someone's throat. Her own or someone else's, she was not sure which one yet. But she would do it soon. Out of protective instinct, Mashu took several small steps to Ritsuka and Kana's side, hands tightly gripped around the rim of her cross-shaped shield.
"She probably means where the Grail is, Kana," Ritsuka said with a long-suffering sigh. "The Greater Grail is in Mt. Enzou, near Ryuudouji Temple all the way east. We only know a little about the seven Servants that were summoned in the 5th War, from what our aunt mentioned, but we can probably still identify them. The ones we'll have to watch out for are Caster, Berserker, Archer, and…" A lump suddenly formed in Ritsuka's throat. He swallowed, and tried to ignore the cold crawling under his back. "...And Saber."
Kana noticed her brother's sudden fear and jabbed his shoulders with her elbows. "That assumes that what happened here and what actually happened are the same. The fact that the city is on fire and everyone's dead means something's changed this time, right? So we can't completely rely on our knowledge."
Olga-Marie took another deep breath, giving the twins looks like they were garbage. Still, she sighed and sat forward, back straight and posture ladylike. "Very well, then. At the very least, we know where we'll have to go eventually. Ritsuka, we won't need those reagents for summoning. Either FATE is online, and we can call on reinforcements, or it isn't, and a summoning will be impossible."
"Alright," Ritsuka sighed. "I had to dodge a lot of traps in the basement, though. A lot of traps."
"Is the mirror still there?" Kana asked casually.
"The one that won't stay broken, yeah. It was just sitting there, taunting me."
Kana nodded. A moment passed. Ritsuka looked at a corner of the ceiling, deep in thought.
"Think the stick is still upstairs?" Kana asked idly.
"I hope not," Ritsuka replied immediately. He scowled and rapped her shins with his knuckles. "Why'd you even bring that up? Now I'm worried and can't stop thinking about it."
"Because I thought about it and I needed to share the misery," Kana responded, catlike.
"...You know what? That's fair. But fuck you too."
"Alright, calm down. No need for that language in this house, you know what mom is like." She held that straight face for three seconds before cracking a small smile. "You fuck."
"Is this what having siblings is like?" Olga-Marie asked suddenly.
The two of them looked at her and saw not the furious and driven Director of Chaldea, but a girl their age who seemed lonely. She sat there, back straight and posture perfect, but there was no one with her. It struck Ritsuka, then, that normal Magi did not have multiple children unless something went wrong. Only one child could inherit the Crest, after all. There was little point to having more than one besides political reasons, and Magi were nothing if not political.
Their parents always were, and always will be exceptions to the rule. And ever since he and Kana spent that summer at the Clocktower, they'd been grateful for the family they had, not the family they could have gotten.
"More or less," Kana said, resting her head on top of his like it was a table. Ritsuka rapped his knuckles against her shins again, to no avail, so he humbly accepted his fate. "It's not so bad, sometimes, since he helps me with homework and occasionally wakes me up for school. But I gotta say, it's a little annoying when he won't admit I'm the big sister."
"I'm five minutes older," Ritsuka grumbled. "We've been over this, Kana. Literally everyone who was there confirmed it."
"Then why am I the one who exudes oneesan energy?"
"You don't. You exude crack gremlin energy. Now get off my head, you're heavy."
"Why'd you ask?" Kana looked at Olga-Marie, not even considering Ritsuka's plea. "I mean, I get that you're a single child and all, but trust me, the grass is always greener on the other side."
"Pretty much," Ritsuka shrugged. "I mean, I wouldn't give up this idiot for anything in the world. But she's still an idiot." Kana pressed down harder on his head, but Ritsuka relished it, for he was right and she knew it. "The same has to be true about being an only child, right? It must be nice having some privacy in your life."
"I give you plenty of privacy!"
"Well… Okay, you actually do. Thank you for that."
"You're welcome, you lil' shit!"
"I am literally a head taller than you."
Olga-Marie said nothing for a long moment. She simply looked at them with a conflicted look on her face. "It's nothing," she ultimately said after a while. "I'm the Director of Chaldea, now. There is mankind and there is the mission. Nothing else matters."
Ritsuka frowned in dismay, but said nothing. Kana clenched her jaw tightly, but said nothing as well. It wasn't their place to say anything. The best they could do was to make sure the mission was a success.
And afterwards, if Olga-Marie still wanted friends… Well, they'd do that too.
Yeah, it's still on, and don't expect that to end anytime soon. Uni is actively sucking out my soul and that makes planning out Accel Zero difficult. I have a plan down, but I need to change it to accomodate Lil Shit Waver instead of just having Chaldea appropriate his story. Also I need to figure out how they actualise the Lesser Grail without consuming Irisviel.
In the meantime though, I'm also toying with the idea of retoasting this onto AO3. Which also gives me the opportunity to rewrite the earlier part of this fic, because the first couple chapters were written long before I figured out the emotional heart of the story, and so Chapter 1 is actually really bad at presenting what it's like. Not to mention that separating the Singularity Chapters and the Regular Chapters turned into a bad idea, so I need to meld them back together. The Interludes and Omakes are fine, though, and so will probably never get changed.
Also when I say 'toying with the idea' I mean 'I already rewrote a substantial chunk of Singularity F as if it were the real Chapter 1'. Enjoy!
----
The price of salvation is your soul.
This was something Kana's father had remarked upon, once. It was the night of a full moon, in the city of Dresden. He had been hurt, and she should never have been there. It was a rare moment of weakness for him, a man she often thought to be invincible.
At the time, she wondered why he was being so introspective, considering the arrow stuck in his side. Now, amidst a city on fire, Kana wondered if she hadn't been introspective enough. She knew that she wasn't dead, and she knew that this wasn't hell, but it certainly felt like it.
Especially considering the company.
"What are you even doing, going in this direction?!" With shining silver hair and large golden eyes, the woman with her is a beauty by any measure. But she's demanding and loud and very arrogant, the very image of a princess - or should she say queen? "The leyline is that way, you uncultured idiot! You're just going to run us into another mob of skeletons and get us killed!"
Kana sighed heavily, but she kept on walking. The street was cracked and ashen from the fire, but she still knew it well. She's walked through here so often she could probably navigate it blindfolded. "Relax, Director, I took care of the previous bunch, didn't I?"
The Director was unconvinced, but Kana couldn't care less about the tantrum of a girl barely older than her. She needs to know if that is still around. It probably isn't, but… Well, she'd like to make sure. "That's not the point," the Director, Olga-Marie Animusphere, snarled. "We're in the middle of hostile territory, surrounded by enemies and two steps from death, and you're sightseeing. Do you even know what kind of danger we're in?"
"Of course I do. I fought them. Me." She stopped and turned around, wrapping one hand around the imaginary handle of a sword that doesn't yet exist as she twirled. It manifested in less than a second, with enough real weight to sink into the asphalt when she drove it in. Without regard for Olga-Marie's suddenly-wide eyes, Kana pointed at it. "And I won. With this. But that pisses you off, doesn't it?"
A white hot flash of fury passed Olga-Marie's mind, one she suppressed immediately but one Kana saw clear as day. Of course it did. It was a worthless magecraft, a dead end with no potential, and she still killed forty of them. All she had, all she needed, was that feeling. Of pounding blood in her ears, of the rush in her heart and the weight in her limbs, of knowing exactly what to do next in the chaos. And that is something that Olga-Marie will never have.
But that doesn't matter, does it? She had magecraft and she had a powerful element, and the circuits to use it. She has all the power and resources of an old clan of magi, all the authority of a soon-to-be Lord of the Clocktower. Olga-Marie didn't have skill. And she won't ever need that feeling, because she has money and she has power. Someone like Kana, a talent with nothing else, was beneath her notice.
At least, that's what Kana thought. But then Olga-Marie did something she didn't expect.
She calmed down and took up the sword, pointing it right at Kana.
It was not a firm grip. She was used to Azoth Blades, not a full arming sword, and her arm was already trembling from the exertion of holding it up. But she continued to hold it, pride giving her strength. "I don't care how you took them down, much less how you know Projection to such a degree! I care that you only did it to make a point! I don't know for who or for what, but that stops now. Like it or not, you're a soldier of Chaldea, and that means you listen to me! And we need to end this disaster, get the Grail, and save the world. Or is that not enough for you?"
Kana looked at her. Her gaze was narrow. Her blood was high. But she smiled. She grinned, she almost laughed. "You know what, Director? I think I like you."
Hearing something so audacious, it was no wonder that Olga-Marie forgot her anger and flushed red for a moment. A girl so young, with so much responsibility, hearing something so bold so directly was rare. And Kana didn't grasp those implications until after she said it. "S-So what?! You're still just a country bumpkin!"
Kana was red too, so she turned back to the front, willing the sword to vanish in Olga-Marie's hands. The Director wobbled as her balance suddenly shifted, before shouting after the girl who had stopped at a crossroad. "A-Anyways!" She said loudly, then coughed. "I just needed to check something! After that, we can head off!"
"Check what?! Do you even know where we are?"
"Yeah, I used to live here." She took two steps, until she stood in the middle of a crossroad, and looked off into the distance down a long street. Then, she sighed. "Well, I've seen enough. We can go now."
"What were you even looking for?!"
"My old house." Her head snapped to the side suddenly, catching a glint. It glimmered as it approached her, until she could hear a faint heavy buzz. She stretched her hand out and plucked it out of the air, holding the tiny crystal beetle to her eyes. It shuddered in her grip before squeaking, before unfurling into a series of floating characters.
When she turned around seconds later, the beetle had become a piece of quartz again. Silent, inert, and lacking the mana that animated it. "Change of plans, Director. There's a street we gotta visit."
"Another detour?" Olga-Marie looked ready to burst. "What is it now, your boyfriend's house?"
"My brother, actually." She brushed her red hair with a flourish, gold eyes glinting in the light of the burning city. "He's the smartest guy I know, but someone has to save him. And he's got Mashu with him. But we can ignore them and continue for the leyline, if you want?"
The silent glare that Olga-Marie gave her was all the answer she needed to continue walking down the street.
----
The car they sat upon was still warm to the touch, despite how long it must have been since the city burned. Despite the ruination of the street around him, it was clear of danger at the moment. There were no skeletons around, nothing that could threaten them. It was safe, as much as a street could be, and it was familiar in a way he could not remember.
Yet his heart continued to pound in his chest as he remembered what happened five minutes ago. Waking up on warm pavement, gravel sticking to his cheek. Surrounded by five skeletons that would have gutted him because he forgot basic spellcasting in the moment and he didn't want to cut his hands against human bone. Saved and safe, only because of the girl that sat across from him.
The girl that should be dead.
"You knew this place, senpai?" Asked Mashu Kyrielight, clad in armour she does not own, carrying a shield she does not know and a legacy she was never told. But she remains hopeful, despite everything, a bright ray of sunshine in this bleak world. Hopeful of their odds, their future, their survival… Of a lot of things. Mashu is a hopeful girl.
It's good. It's admirable, he added mentally. In fact, it seemed that the more he got to know Mashu, the more he liked about her.
Mashu blinked, frowning slightly with her one eye not hidden beneath her bangs. "Senpai? Are you okay?"
Ritsuka jumped in his skin and nearly lost his balance. Once again, he got lost inside his own thoughts. It would be unbecoming of him, but he's always thought too much about too much. He coughed and averted his eyes to hide the blush on his cheeks, but Mashu's eyes just widened with concern while she leaned towards him, hands on her lap. "Ah, Ritsuka-senpai, is it the air…?"
"I'm fine," Ritsuka brushed off. "Really, it's okay." He pretended to cough a few more times for good measure, even though it started to hurt his throat. That'd teach you to focus on the here and now, he thought harshly to himself. Getting ambushed by those skeletons should have been enough. "The air's fine. For a Magus of my caliber, this is nothing," he added with bravado he did not feel.
Mashu smiled, thinking he was alright. But Ritsuka wasn't, and he wouldn't be as long as he was in this city, constantly distracted by the ruins of everything he used to know. He needed to find shelter. He needed to link up with a leyline and try to contact Chaldea. And before all that, he needed to link up with her.
Communicating with Chaldea should, at least, be relatively simple. He didn't actually know how they communicated with teams in the field, but it shouldn't be that hard to send a message back. It's all magecraft. He's supposed to be good at magecraft.
But here in the silence, at the same time warm and cold as a breeze rolled through the street, Ritsuka can't help but think about what brought him back here. Arriving at Chaldea. Meeting Fou, Mashu, and then the Doctor. The bombing. The pillar.
The fact that the girl next to him should be dead.
He looked at Mashu's Servant garb again, while she kept her eyes peeled for any further enemy attacks. The pillar that crushed her from the waist down was solid stone. Nothing should remain of her lower half, and yet here she is now. Alive, well, and possessed of strange powers.
"Mashu, now that we have time, I need to ask," he said, not realising the way the girl tensed up when he spoke. "How are you alive? You were under that pillar in the Chamber. I held your hand." There was a tremble in his voice, which he tried to stifle. "I felt you dying. But here you are now, dressed up like… Like a Servant. What's going on?"
Mashu looked at him with slight worry, her brow a straight, furrowed line. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out for several seconds. "I… I'm really not sure. Maybe Director Animusphere can help?"
Ritsuka nodded. That settled it, then, Mashu knows what is going on, but isn't sure if she should tell him. Perfectly understandable. Chaldea is a moonlit organisation, despite its aspirations towards saving the world, so it would definitely have secrets to keep. He will have to investigate later, but for his working theories… A Homunculus imbued with a Heroic Spirit? Or maybe a properly incarnated Servant? His hunch said Homunculus.
He took another look at her, playing with her hair as she kept an eye out for trouble. She started humming a tune to herself, but trailed off the moment she realised he was looking. Their eyes locked for half a second before she turned bright red and looked away.
...His hunch still said Homunculus, but his conviction is wavering. Maybe Chaldea figured out how to make adorable homunculi? Questions for later.
"A-Also, senpai, why are we here?" Mashu asked in a transparent attempt to change the subject, still looking away. "If you're looking for a leyline, I sense a powerful one to the south of us."
"I know. I'm familiar with that leyline, too. But we're waiting for someone."
"Someone…? Senpai, who else could be here?"
"I mean, I wasn't the only one in the Chamber with you. I'm not sure why she wasn't with me, but I sent out a familiar to go look for her. Speaking of." Without even looking over his shoulder, Ritsuka caught the gemstone before it could hit the back of his head. "Took you long enough, Kana," he said to the one who threw it as she walked up to his side.
"Sorry for the wait, traffic was murder. You'd think all those skeletons were trying to get in my way." His sister was covered in bone dust and road ash when he turned to greet her, and returned his smile with a wide grin. "Thanks for the guide, by the way. I was gonna wait for you at that place, but here is way better."
"Yeah, it felt kinda familiar. Dunno why, though."
"Well, I won't ruin it for you. I know you like surprises."
Ritsuka had already turned back to Mashu, not bothering to dignify her with a reaction. "Mashu, I know you've met already, but since she's not very memorable I'll introduce you. This is Kana. She's my twin sister."
"I think she knows who I am, Rits," Kana said, until she realised that Mashu's eyes were like dishplates, wide and unblinking as they looked at her. "You… do remember who I am, right Mashu?"
Finally, Mashu turned a deeper shade of red and immediately bowed her head. "I'm so sorry, Kana-senpai! It's just that… Well… I mean, they were a lot less obvious in the hallway!"
Credit to Kana, it only took her half a second to realise, when her eyebrows knitted together. Less credit to Ritsuka, who took another three seconds to realise it for himself.
"...Right." Kana sighed heavily and folded her arms, which made Mashu jump a little. "It's fine, just… Don't look at them. Ever. Please."
"Of course! Please don't mind me, Kana-senpai, I have to manage mine as well! I'll do my best to ignore them from this point on!"
Any amusement Ritsuka felt was long dead by this point. Now, he just wanted to wither and dry up like a prune. So he quickly sought a way out of this conversation, and as luck would have it, his sister brought him one. "Kana, who's that?"
"Hm?" Kana looked behind her, right at the white-haired woman tapping her foot at them with her arms crossed and her scowl so deep it might just break through the road. "Oh, I found Director Olga-Marie on the way here, so I brought her along. Why, think I should have left her behind?"
"D-Director?" Mashu cried out. "Director!"
"You found the Direc--Should you have--Nevermind, nevermind!" Ritsuka inhaled sharply, ignoring the jab of pain through his nostrils from the ash and heat, and took a long, deep breath. "Nevermind. Director Olga-Marie, I'm not sure why you're here, but I'm glad you are. Now, I mean."
"Kiss ass," Kana muttered under her breath.
"Lazy gorilla," Ritsuka whispered harshly in reply.
"Oh you did not--"
"Oh, stuff it, both of you," snapped the Lady Olga-Marie Animusphere, master of Chaldea and incumbent to a Clocktower Lordship. "It was bad enough with one of you! I bet that if I left the two of you here, you would argue about nothing forever, out here on the road, completely exposed to the enemy! Why are we even here?!"
Then, and only then, Ritsuka remembered why this place was significant. It was the shopping district of Miyama Town, where he shared many memories of weekend grocery shopping. It shook him for a moment, realising that the place where his Aunt used to buy Taiyaki in bulk is now a burning pile of ash.
If Olga-Marie noticed his shaken composure, she never got the opportunity to note it. Kana, who took it as a point of pride to get lectured at every opportunity, immediately tried to lighten the mood. "I mean, we're twins," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "Like it or not, I know this nerd inside and out. Though, considering how he usually acts--"
"No! Enough!" It is only a small flare of mana, nothing like an actual spell, but it is enough to give even Kana pause for a second. Only a second, but then Olga-Marie continues talking. "We are at war, and the two of you are soldiers fighting in it, not civilians yapping on the sidelines! If the two of you insist on being unprofessional idiots, then I will have to take special measures once we get back!"
Kana's everpresent grin, the same one that has gotten them into trouble since the day they were born, straightened out into a line. To Olga-Marie, it's a sign that she's finally taking her words to heart. Ritsuka knew better; Kana is always paying attention, even when she seems like she isn't. No, Kana only did that when she messed up. He knows her well enough to know that.
Now, what she messed up? Heck if he knows, they're in a flaming hell city. That is already pretty messed up. Whatever Kana did doesn't even compare, and she should know this. He's the high-strung twin, not her.
"Director," he said quickly, before the tirade can continue. "There's a leyline to the south of us. If we go now, we can reach there in an hour or so."
"Half an hour," Kana corrected. She was back to herself in a moment. If only he could be as unflappable as her. "I know a shortcut."
Satisfied, Olga-Marie nodded. "Good, because accessing the leyline will be the real challenge. Whatever Singularity F has turned this place into, the Magi that laid claim to this city clearly knew what they were doing, because the wards around it are still on. It'll take at least a few hours to get through them, even for me."
"Oh, they won't be a problem," Ritsuka chimed in. "We can just walk in."
Kana nodded at that. "I know you said we're your soldiers and all, Director, but you should leave this place to us."
The Director looked appalled. She turned her ire upon Kana, hands upon her hips. "Excuse me? You want me to leave command of this mission to a pair of unprofessional half-baked magi who wouldn't know a bounded field if it bit their fingers off, when we don't even know where we are?"
"We're in the Miyama Shopping District," Ritsuka offered helpfully.
"Yeah, we're not lost. Besides, I saved you from that pile of skeletons, didn't I?" Kana countered, while showing off the back of her right hand - and the red brand emblazoned upon it. "Also, we have the Command Seals. Rits, show her your right hand."
"Hm?" He did so without thinking, only making the connection when the Director's eyes widened at the sight. "Oh, right, these. I don't have a Servant, though. Mashu doesn't seem to need any support. Speaking of…"
All eyes turned to Mashu, who had been trying to make herself invisible throughout this conversation. "I haven't said anything so far, Director," she said softly, "But if you would like, I could…"
"No, not now. I'll explain when we get back, Mashu, thank you." Olga-Marie sighed and shook her head, one hand resting on her forehead. "Of course, figures that FATE would just hand Command Seals out to two nobodies, but it won't even consider me…"
"Isn't that how Command Seals work?" Ritsuka asked, earning a sharp look from Olga-Marie. He raised his hands before him, as if trying to corral a wild animal. "I mean, they just show up, right? You can't really earn them."
Olga-Marie's fists clenched harder and her arms began to tremble. "If the two of you weren't sleeping through the briefing, you'd know that's not how FATE works!" She stomped her feet hard, then crossed her arms with a huff. "It doesn't matter! We need to get going!"
Kana nodded. "Mashu, can you shift into astral form? Or switch back to human form, or something? The longer you're like that, the more likely some Servant's going to come here and pick a fight."
"Don't bother," Ritsuka countered, before Mashu could stutter some sort of response. He continued, long before realising Kana and Olga-Marie were both looking at him weirdly. "We're already the only living humans in the city, and Miyama Town's in the heart of Old Fuyuki anyways. Servants can sense life energy either way, so if there are any around, they already know we're here. We might as well have Mashu stay in Servant form."
"...Y'know what, Rits? That's a good point. Good job nerding out."
"Besides," he added, almost as an afterthought, "I'm not sure if Mashu is fully a homunculus or just partially one, but she's definitely not a spirit. Otherwise, she'd have to be drawing on mana from us - well, either that or--"
"Alright, calm down. I said good job, not keep going."
"Eat a sloppy hoagie, Kana."
Olga-Marie's strange look lingered for a second. Eventually, she clicked her tongue. "Fine. Seeing as you two have somehow already been accepted as Masters of Chaldea, I'll defer command for now. This might be a good opportunity to test your skills." She turned to each of them, eyes hard and lips curled downwards. "Mashu, protect us. Ritsuka, Kana, lead the way."
----
The trip was quick, as Kana predicted. Thirty minutes to the second, at a pace that would be punishing for even seasoned hikers. For Olga-Marie, who was soft and not very physical like the majority of Magi, it was absolutely gruelling. But Ritsuka considered it a virtue that she was both prideful enough to refuse any help and driven enough that she kept up anyways through sheer force of will.
It reminded him of someone dear to him.
"Well, here we are." The mansion before them was old and foreboding, the walls peeled and cracked from the fire that annihilated the city. It wasn't a place he visited very often, yet he knew it intimately. "The Tohsaka Mansion."
Olga-Marie said nothing as she tried to catch her breath, but her eyes were fixed on his back. Ritsuka walked toward the iron gate, cracked and black from the flames that ravaged the city. He could only wonder at the devastation that took the city, at the lives that were taken in the disaster. As he pushed open the gates, he felt the bounded field surrounding the estate ripple, testing him. All it took was a single pulse of mana and the gates fell open.
"Home sweet home," Kana sighed.
Mashu looked on, eyes wide. She put into words what the Director had suspected since she was saved by Kana in that restaurant. "You're… You're Tohsakas! This is your house!"
"Only technically," Kana said, an attempt to be wistful. "We own the place, but we don't live here. Mom always thought it was sad." It falls on deaf ears as they walk piecemeal through the front doors, the wards testing Olga-Marie but doing little beyond that. She was a guest, said the heir to the family, so she would not be harmed.
They didn't even bother for the Demi-Servant. There was little they could do against an existence that defied magecraft in its totality.
The living room within was surprisingly intact, likely due to the house's solid foundations. Mashu quickly escorted the Director to an intact sofa couch, while Kana quickly claimed another seat. Ritsuka went straight into the basement to search for whatever reagents remained, confident that he could dodge the myriad traps and dangers that filled their mother's workshop.
By the time he returned with what tools and materials survived the devastation, Olga-Marie had set up communications with Chaldea. A holographic display was set up on the coffee table, projecting a screen still looking for a signal.
"You find anything?" Kana asked.
"Some alchemical silver and gems," Ritsuka responded with a shrug. "Might be worth something." He sat down with a thud on the floor, carefully laying out the magical tools in his arms. It was a pitiful haul, considering the amount of magical energy available to him, but the Tohsakas were never known for being particularly wealthy. And being well off was a distant dream from before his mother's generation.
As it turns out, clergymen aren't good businessmen. Who knew?
"I'm sure you have some questions for us, Director Olga-Marie," Ritsuka said, with Kana nodding behind him, "But I need to know how the FATE System works. It's the only way we'll get to the bottom of… Of all this."
Olga-Marie raised an eyebrow. If she's impressed or annoyed, she does not show it. Kana, meanwhile, presses her hands against his shoulders. "Fine. Considering your enthusiasm in doing the right thing, I'll forgive you two for sleeping through my most important briefing. For the most part." She leaned back on the sofa, betraying none of the exertion she felt on the way here, arms and legs crossed. "The FATE System is a variant of the Holy Grail War Ritual, our closest reinterpretation of the original that was intended to summon Heroes to save the world. It works off much the same principles, diverting the majority of the burden of summoning and maintaining a fragment of a Heroic Spirit upon a superior foundation of ancient magecraft, but generally the minutiae are identical to the original system you must likely be familiar with."
"Actually, we never learned much about the Fuyuki Grail Wars," Kana clarified, arms behind her head. "Just stories, and barely any of those. We just know that our parents were involved in ending the Fifth, and that our granddads both died as a result of the Fourth. Mom refuses to even admit the Sixth happened, even though I'm pretty sure it did!"
"About sixty percent sure," Ritsuka clarified, shaking a flattened palm before him. "We were about six when it happened, so we can't really be sure."
"Rits, we nearly died to a Servant that day. Dad sent us off with Aunt Taiga for the rest of the weekend."
Ritsuka looked back with an incredulous scowl. "Like the time he found you fighting a vampire as a Magical Girl that one time?"
Immediately, Kana's face turned fully red and she faced away quickly. "That never happened."
"Exactly, so the entire thing may never have at all."
"You can't prove I was a Magical Girl, but you can prove that--"
"Can we focus a little here," Olga-Marie half-shouts, head angled sharply. The twins acquiesced, though Kana made silent revenge by grabbing Ritsuka's shoulders hard with hands like claws. It barely startled Ritsuka, who saw it coming and had reinforced his shoulders, so Kana felt like her fingers were digging into solid steel. "So the two of you want to summon a Servant using the FATE System then?"
"I mean I know the ritual, sort of," Ritsuka shrugged. "It's honestly really simple. I've just never actually done it, so anything could go wrong. Or, knowing my luck, everything could go wrong."
"Spoken like a true Tohsaka," Olga-Marie muttered softly, before the screen quickly winked and the display cleared up. Soon, greeting them was the face of a gentle man with long red hair, his cheeks and lab coat only slightly stained by ash. "Finally. I was wondering when the signal would -- Romani! How dare you sit in that chair!"
Romani Archamann, Chief Medical Officer of the Chaldea Organisation, did not fall out of his chair. But he did do the next best thing. The only thing that remained on camera in the next three seconds was his ponytail before he pushed himself back upright. "D-Director Olga-Marie! You're alive?!"
"Of course I am! Why are you there? Where's Lev?!"
His expression quickly grew morose. "The… The bomb was right under his feet. We still haven't found his body, but…"
Olga-Marie turned silent. She lowered her head, hands trembling. Quickly, she struck her leg and looked up, blinking away the tears. "Nevermind, then! If you're in charge, make yourself useful! I want provisions and reinforcements established at our leyline, and I want an up to date map of the region, now!"
"I want to, Director, but reinforcements--"
"That wasn't a question, Romani! If they aren't here in five minutes they better be dead!"
"They are!" The sudden exclamation caught Olga-Marie by surprise, giving the Doctor time to catch his bearings. "Every single Master was in the explosion. The ones who aren't dead are still dying. We're still trying to save everyone we can. There's no one left that can leyshift!"
Olga-Marie remained silent for a moment. She pointed right at the twins mulling over the implications, their expressions haunted. "Are you telling me, Romani, that our only Masters are these two?"
"Which two?" Romani blinked, looking at the two of them. "Ah, the siblings I ran into! Rit… Ritsuka and Kana, right?"
Ritsuka frowned, wanting to say something, but Olga-Marie spoke first. "Yes, these two. Tell me, Romani, why didn't you tell me we had the Tohsaka heirs joining Chaldea?"
Romani blinked. His eyes darted to Ritsuka, then to Kana, then to Olga-Marie. "Tohsakas?" They darted over the twins again. "Oh. Oh, that explains a lot. I had a feeling, but I was only planning on confirming it when they got their physical exams..."
"The physical exams every member of staff is supposed to take before they get their uniforms? The ones you are supposed to preside over?!"
"I'm sorry! They just showed up suddenly! I thought we only had forty six Masters, so I thought that their exams could be delayed!" He blinked. "That is, I mean…"
"The moment I get back I am going to take away all of your sweets." Romani looked completely crushed by that promise, but there was no time to grieve, for Olga-Marie was already moving forward. "But until then, I need you to get FATE online. We're going to be conducting a summoning at this leyline before proceeding onwards."
"A summoning? Director, you can't possibly still want to continue!"
"We need to have something to show them, Doctor! I will not lose Chaldea because of some terrorist attack!"
"Alright, Director. In the meantime… Actually, how do you link up FATE…"
Olga-Marie audibly groaned and leaned her face right into the monitor. Romani leaned back just as far, looking like a deer in the headlights. "Just get Leo to take care of it," she said, quietly and dangerously.
"A-Aye, Director! We'll send you the updated data from SHEBA immediately!"
The screen winked and vanished in an instant. Olga-Marie sighed and slumped back into the sofa, hands on her temples. "I'm surrounded by idiots," she moaned, with the dread of a woman with the world on her shoulders. Which, Ritsuka reflected, might actually be factual, considering what Chaldea is meant to be. "Alright, we'll have to wait for them to return to us. In the meantime, the two of you clearly know the lay of the land, so in case SHEBA is as broken as the rest of Chaldea's projects, I need you to tell me everything I might need to know about this city… Fuyuki, right?"
Ritsuka nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright, so Fuyuki's divided into two parts by the Mion River that flows through the middle, with this part being considered Old Fuyuki and the part on the other side being New Fuyuki--"
"I'm not a tourist!" Olga-Marie snapped, which Ritsuka blinked at. Thoroughly amused, Kana bapped her brother on the head. "Singularity F takes place in the year 2004, which I know is when the Fifth Holy Grail War takes place. Tell me everything about the city from that time."
Kana nodded, humming to herself. One hand on her chin, she looked pensive as she thought back on old memories of stories told when she was a child. Finally, she nodded again. "Yeah, I have no idea," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "2004 was before we were even born. I remember mom complaining about having to save some seaweed then, and that dad apparently got stabbed five times and nearly died twice, but besides that they've told us practically nothing."
Olga-Marie looked about ready to punch out someone's throat. Her own or someone else's, she was not sure which one yet. But she would do it soon. Out of protective instinct, Mashu took several small steps to Ritsuka and Kana's side, hands tightly gripped around the rim of her cross-shaped shield.
"She probably means where the Grail is, Kana," Ritsuka said with a long-suffering sigh. "The Greater Grail is in Mt. Enzou, near Ryuudouji Temple all the way east. We only know a little about the seven Servants that were summoned in the 5th War, from what our aunt mentioned, but we can probably still identify them. The ones we'll have to watch out for are Caster, Berserker, Archer, and…" A lump suddenly formed in Ritsuka's throat. He swallowed, and tried to ignore the cold crawling under his back. "...And Saber."
Kana noticed her brother's sudden fear and jabbed his shoulders with her elbows. "That assumes that what happened here and what actually happened are the same. The fact that the city is on fire and everyone's dead means something's changed this time, right? So we can't completely rely on our knowledge."
Olga-Marie took another deep breath, giving the twins looks like they were garbage. Still, she sighed and sat forward, back straight and posture ladylike. "Very well, then. At the very least, we know where we'll have to go eventually. Ritsuka, we won't need those reagents for summoning. Either FATE is online, and we can call on reinforcements, or it isn't, and a summoning will be impossible."
"Alright," Ritsuka sighed. "I had to dodge a lot of traps in the basement, though. A lot of traps."
"Is the mirror still there?" Kana asked casually.
"The one that won't stay broken, yeah. It was just sitting there, taunting me."
Kana nodded. A moment passed. Ritsuka looked at a corner of the ceiling, deep in thought.
"Think the stick is still upstairs?" Kana asked idly.
"I hope not," Ritsuka replied immediately. He scowled and rapped her shins with his knuckles. "Why'd you even bring that up? Now I'm worried and can't stop thinking about it."
"Because I thought about it and I needed to share the misery," Kana responded, catlike.
"...You know what? That's fair. But fuck you too."
"Alright, calm down. No need for that language in this house, you know what mom is like." She held that straight face for three seconds before cracking a small smile. "You fuck."
"Is this what having siblings is like?" Olga-Marie asked suddenly.
The two of them looked at her and saw not the furious and driven Director of Chaldea, but a girl their age who seemed lonely. She sat there, back straight and posture perfect, but there was no one with her. It struck Ritsuka, then, that normal Magi did not have multiple children unless something went wrong. Only one child could inherit the Crest, after all. There was little point to having more than one besides political reasons, and Magi were nothing if not political.
Their parents always were, and always will be exceptions to the rule. And ever since he and Kana spent that summer at the Clocktower, they'd been grateful for the family they had, not the family they could have gotten.
"More or less," Kana said, resting her head on top of his like it was a table. Ritsuka rapped his knuckles against her shins again, to no avail, so he humbly accepted his fate. "It's not so bad, sometimes, since he helps me with homework and occasionally wakes me up for school. But I gotta say, it's a little annoying when he won't admit I'm the big sister."
"I'm five minutes older," Ritsuka grumbled. "We've been over this, Kana. Literally everyone who was there confirmed it."
"Then why am I the one who exudes oneesan energy?"
"You don't. You exude crack gremlin energy. Now get off my head, you're heavy."
"Why'd you ask?" Kana looked at Olga-Marie, not even considering Ritsuka's plea. "I mean, I get that you're a single child and all, but trust me, the grass is always greener on the other side."
"Pretty much," Ritsuka shrugged. "I mean, I wouldn't give up this idiot for anything in the world. But she's still an idiot." Kana pressed down harder on his head, but Ritsuka relished it, for he was right and she knew it. "The same has to be true about being an only child, right? It must be nice having some privacy in your life."
"I give you plenty of privacy!"
"Well… Okay, you actually do. Thank you for that."
"You're welcome, you lil' shit!"
"I am literally a head taller than you."
Olga-Marie said nothing for a long moment. She simply looked at them with a conflicted look on her face. "It's nothing," she ultimately said after a while. "I'm the Director of Chaldea, now. There is mankind and there is the mission. Nothing else matters."
Ritsuka frowned in dismay, but said nothing. Kana clenched her jaw tightly, but said nothing as well. It wasn't their place to say anything. The best they could do was to make sure the mission was a success.
And afterwards, if Olga-Marie still wanted friends… Well, they'd do that too.
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Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
Yeah, this is a much better Chapter1
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
This is what happens when someone tries to make a crack fic, but instead of putting it into the fic they started sacrificing it to the gacha in hopes of better rolls.
Your dad should have told you that people don't always die when they're killed.
Ritsuka showing that he's the smart one.
Don't you mean 'dying'?
Ah, they're talking abut their floaties.
Hmm.
Guess there were no Gudao and Gudako Fujimaru this time.
Hey, it takes one to know one.
Yeah, good job at that, Shirou and Rin. *sarcasm*
Kana, no.
...Oooh, boy.