Garreon
Paldean Top Champion
- Location
- Mesagoza, Paldea
first sita, now this. Can't they port the fucking game already? Or are they scared of it flopping like Dissidia NT?
I'm Not a Regular Mom (FGO OC)
- Thread starter Blinktwice13
- Start date
first sita, now this. Can't they port the fucking game already? Or are they scared of it flopping like Dissidia NT?
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
No official art, but think Arthur Lily with green eyes, and stuck in actual armor waist-down and borderline sword-and-sorcery amazon armor for a top. Add in a plain silver circlet, armguards, and a choker that now has a silver butterfly with four different colored gemstones affixed.
As far as update dates, again: no set schedule. I just started writing again tonight, and the current chapter was roughly a third done when I left off.
My work has been ballistic with people being sick or otherwise out, and the people left behind being various shades of incompetent and me having to clean up a myriad of messes. Before that I was on meds for a short-term treatment whose side-effects made me regret living and are just now wearing off. Physically and mentally, I am still recovering.
Update will happen when it happens.
In Which We Dive to the Roots
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A/N: Hey folks. So I'll be level: while this isn't my worst work, I also know this isn't my absolute best. To be honest, I cut the chapter where I did because otherwise it was just padding and I think about two more will wrap the arc - one for a series of reveals and one for the Big Clash. Tried to do the 'show, don't tell' thing a little better as per critique, but the fight scenes... fought me. I'm feeling a little better, but still pretty burned out. Eight hours OT (including two eleven-hour days) will do that. No big warnings. Hope it's at least worth the wait.
____________________________________________________
In the movie lounge, where not so long ago she watched films with her brother and friends, Mash sat alone. Her hands hesitated as she reached for the remote, seated in front of the television. Reaching, but not quite grasping. Her eyes flickered from there to the screen. After a moment, she placed her hands in her lap.
"Wanna watch something?"
She jerked, turning her head to see the speaker.
Musashi leaned on the couch's back with a friendly smile. "You seemed pretty deep in thought."
"I…" Mash leaned back.
"Bad session?" Musashi hopped over the back, landing nimbly on the cushion without so much as shaking the furniture.
Mash phased through the strike easily, letting Medusa pass through her. Re-solidifying fractions of a second later, she plunged forward and locked her shield against Artoria's blade. Conscious of Medusa's chain soaring at her from behind, she went intangible once more, pouring her energy into the technique - and letting it wrap around Artoria when she rolled to the side as it expired once again.
Artoria blinked as she raised a hand with the chain wrapped around it, but rallied immediately. With a tug she swung, letting Medusa use her as an anchor as she launched herself at Mash again feet-first.
On instinct, Mash ducked and held her shield overhead, then when Medusa closed, spun it. The flange caught the Rider in the hip, bearing her down, and Mash lashed out at Artoria with a kick that was nimbly hopped over.
While neither was coddling her, it was still evident that they were holding back. Medusa had yet to bring her full speed to bear, and Artoria didn't exploit even the obvious openings Mash had left, let alone the ones she hadn't noticed herself.
(She was sure they were still there.)
"Pause."
Mash looked up as the three disengaged, standing apart.
Scathach folded her arms. "That technique. How draining would you say it is?"
"Obscurant Wall of Chalk?" Mash thought. Her heart pounded with adrenaline, but she definitely felt the wear. "...moderately. I shouldn't hold it for too long, but I can handle some repeated use."
"So we'll be working on your timing and honing your instincts," Scathach decided. "And your awareness. Figuring out what to block, what to dodge, and what to phase through will be a major cornerstone of any fighting style you put together." She paused. "For as little experience as you have, you're a quick study."
Mash blushed. "Well…" She'd been in the field, and had seen combat before. But to keep up with Artoria and Medusa at all, let alone at the same time…
"She's right. You're learning at a pace far beyond mortal means," Artoria pointed out. "You were still fumbling with the shield a couple of months ago."
What went unsaid was that she wasn't any longer. She was honing her skills at an accelerated pace, beyond what a human could. So what did that mean?
"Hello? Chaldea to Mash, Musashi speaking? Helloooo?" The swordmaster waved her hand slightly in front of Mash's face.
"No, no it wasn't." Mash shook her head. "I can still use the skill Galahad taught me. Without naming it, even." She shrugged. "And I managed to keep up with Medusa and Artoria on my own, even if they were going easy on me."
"That's pretty good! So you're on the mend, huh?" Musashi smiled.
...her body ached from the training, but no more than usual. And also as usual, it faded gradually.
A knight upon a shield, in a field of vibrant flowers. His visible eye closed to the world, the other draped over with grey hair. His skin pale, his chest barely rises and falls. Though he is wounded, he does not bleed. Though he lives, he does not wake. Time is frozen, there amongst the eternal bloom.
But why? Why would he be wounded from using his own Noble Phantasm? And why couldn't he wake? She felt the sheer power of Lord Camelot, she would have… was it a hidden price? What was it?
"No. I wasn't the one who was hurt," Mash replied softly. "So in other words… I'm fine."
But Galahad wasn't. He had taken the damage. She'd had access to his power for so short a time, and Lord Camelot's full strength was beyond her… but why was he injured?
...she just didn't know.
Musashi picked up the remote. "So… want to find a good action flick?" She waggled it at Mash. "Or a comedy? I'm gonna go hunt down some snacks."
"Eh?" Mash blinked rapidly.
"Well, if it was your copilot who got hurt, there isn't much we can do. I'm sure Da Vinci and the Doc are either working on it, or have someone else on it." Musashi smiled, putting a hand on Mash's elbow. "So for right now, we just have to have faith. In them, in Ritsuka, and in your brother. Someone's gonna find a way."
Mash felt the slightest bit of tension ebb. Slowly, she turned her gaze to her hands, and jolted as something soft brushed her leg.
Fou curled into her thigh, next to her lap. His eyes were closed, and he slowly breathed.
She gave a small smile. "I think… there was a movie about an angry mother-in-law?"
Musashi blinked. "That's a pretty long list."
Mash sat up and made grabby hands at the remote. "Well, hand it over and I'll get it set up. And you said something about snacks?"
"Sure did," Musashi replied easily, grinning. "Want me to get Sieg, Jeanne, and Astolfo? Or just girl's night?"
"Girl's night sounds nice," Mash replied, happier than when she'd come in.
Next to her, Fou lightly snored.
____________________________________________________________________________
In the dark, there sat a wooden-backed chair with a dark cushion. Next to it was a table, and an old phone with a rotating dial. Its chiming ring echoed through the abyss, though the items in it were clear as day.
A white-gloved hand reached from the dark, and a man was where once was not. He plucked the gently sloping handle of the phone from its cradle, and placed it to the side of his head. "Greetings."
…
"Hm. Your ambition is grand, I'll grant you that. And I do have such an object in my care. But casting my lot in with you beyond what I've done could have repercussions."
…
The man's snow-white hair and beard contrasted against the endless emptiness as he reclined in the chair, listening to the other speaker. Eyes the color of polished rubies narrowed ever so slightly.
"Casting aspersions, are we? I never said I lacked any care for the outcome. Your success would make an interesting grouping of possibilities, assuming it was permitted." He rested his free hand on a knee covered in dark cloth, tilting his head towards the phone. More details became prominent - a black wooden handle, with speaker and receiver of bronze. The curling cable was dull black rubber, leading to a bronze-and-plastic contraption. The small table was cherry wood, big enough for the phone and nothing else.
…
"Using a moment of whim against me? How like you. Even untainted, you're still ruthless enough to do so. No, no. I am very aware it wasn't a threat." He hummed. "And I did agree. After you ruined my last apprentice - well done on that, I suppose - with his trials and tribulations, he'll make a good second choice. I said as much when he was a child." A slight smile filled with warmth crossed the older gentleman's face. His cape fluttered where it lay on his chest in a non-existent breeze.
…?
"It wasn't as though I needed further convincing. This battlefield has grown far beyond what it was, even in other possibilities. And one of the 'heroes' is connected to me this time, however much or little." He chuckled. "I'll deliver what's requested. If nothing else, it will be an interesting twist in the tale."
…!
"Yes, yes. And should they succeed, I will commit to this - whatever the outcome may be." He paused. "This is merely a commitment on my part. No, it is not a deal."
"...poopie." Morgan's pout was audible.
The Old Man of the Jewels chuckled as the dark melted the phone and table away.
"Very well. Your move, Ritsuka Tohsaka. I'll be watching."
And he faded, image refracting into softer and softer light.
At the end, only the chair remained.
____________________________________________________________________________
All she could do was observe.
Spears and pikes sprouted from the floor like blades of grass in the field, each carrying a feeling of 'death' and 'pain'. Twisted, barbed, seeking to pierce flesh and hang it aloft, letting blood flow and drain. Much like their master, they were changed from something that was simply 'horrifying' to something that was 'inhuman'.
...but how did she know that?
Kiara stood behind Andersen, one hand palm-up at her waist, fingers slightly curled. Her other was at chest height - the ring and middle fingers towards the base of her palm where it met the wrist, and the remaining fingers pointed upwards as she curled in her thumb. While it outwardly had no effect, she felt herself center, the scant anxieties fleeting and flowing away. With the battlefield raging as it was, kept barely at bay, it was still required.
With a roar, the knight that had protected her thus far charged and with a single swing toppled several spears as he bisected them with his great blade. Like a ray of sunlight carving through the clouds, it shattered all before him. His hair glinted as an odd light cast a pall over the battlefield. In a heartbeat he flickered forwards, the polearms splintering in his wake as he rose to meet the interlopers.
The girl with the ribbon - Meltryllis - danced on knives, pirouetting upon a thin stream of water. She swung one bladed leg down in an overhead strike, almost bisecting one of the familiars that had been summoned to the battle. Her eyes flared with a manic hunger, despite the comparatively small smile on her face.
The enemy who had announced himself, however-
He flung the golden wildcat away, grinning madly. Ponderously, unable to close the gap between the Archer and himself, he pursued his prey. "Come and face me, Archer! My spear rises in giddy joy to meet you!" He took another step, and a wave of spears erupted from the floor to chase the target.
Kiara's eyes widened. A scream brushed against her senses, inaudible to a human ear. A heart wrenched in fury, pain-
She cast her eyes across the battlefield. The redheaded magi stood together. The elder held what looked to be some projector, commonplace in the late twentieth century. Red mist danced around the two, and would manifest claws whenever either came under threat. The small girl held a fist to her lips as she narrowed her eyes, whispering fiercely.
The red-cloaked Archer tilted his head as though listening before leaping backwards into the air. His black matte bow bent, shafts of light dancing from the string across the distance to his enemy. It wasn't him, or Gawain, or Meltryllis, not Touko or Asako, not Hans-
So where was this agony coming from? And what was it inside Kiara that answered?
...wasn't there another Servant? Where did he go? The boy.
Spears erupted to Kiara's right, aiming away from her. "Come, Archer! How many of your allies shall I pierce to ensnare you!?" The mad Lancer continued his charge, slow only in comparison to the other heroes. His crimson eyes glimmered with excitement.
"He's immune to mental interference, so…" Kiara heard Andersen muse. "How're you doing this?"
Kiara narrowed her eyes as a Vassal got closer, even as Andersen raised a hand to intercept.
And then it was swallowed for a mere second. A column of white brilliance, and the echo of heat against her face. Then - then it was gone. Not even ash remained.
"A… plan… would be nice…!" a rough voice grit out. The air rippled, moving quickly around the edges of the battlefield.
Asako nodded once, and closed her eyes.
With a sharp gesture, Touko snapped out a command. "Lugh! Restrain!"
The wildcat's fur erupted from its back, golden strands ensnaring Vlad and slowing his rampage. With a yowl, it planted its claws into the floor, and its feet shifted to take root. Even so, the metal warped as it was very gradually dragged behind Vlad.
Meltryllis snapped her head up and glared at Gawain. "Cut a path!" she yelled, balancing on one leg. She began to spin, water streaming from the lifted blade as she raised her arms overhead. With a slight lean, she danced forward and began to scythe through the garden of polearms. True to her command, Gawain began to hack and slash, driving his own way forward.
And by Emiya the light bent, warped, and Matthew appeared, clutching the older man's mantle for support. Drenched in sweat, golden runes floated around his body. His eyes were dull, and he bared his teeth in a sharp grimace. Hand shaking, he lifted his arm. In his grasp-
Emiya looked down. His eyes widened, then narrowed. "I see." He raised his hand to the side as Vlad sent another wave of spears forward to stop him, only for Gawain to barrel through.
Light reflected from the knight as his blade swept the attack away, leaving an opening between Emiya and Vlad. Kiara squinted, almost frowning to herself as she saw the flecks of gold clinging to his armor.
"Trace. On." Emiya held his empty hand palm-up, and in a swirl of pale blue mist a weapon congealed.
From the hilt up, a solid black dagger materialized - the dark-polished wood of the hilt, the small and slightly curved guard, and the smooth blade of a metal Kiara could not identify. The weapon screamed against her senses. It was afraid, angry, bleeding inside. A wounded beast hiding its injury by lashing out, red in tooth and claw. The knife was devoid of human concepts like mercy, restraint, or forgiveness. It was made of suffering, to bring suffering. To spread its agony to others in an attempt to staunch its own.
Emiya pulled his hand back, and the blade thinned and elongated wholly. The hilt and guard became fletching, and the rest became the shaft and head of the arrow. He nocked it, pulled back on his bow, and fired in one inhumanly smooth motion. If he noticed the effects of the weapon, or was affected at all, it did not show on his face.
The Lancer blinked as the arrow sprouted from a connection in his armor, forcing its way through. Vlad tilted his head, then looked down. "...how?" His nose twitched. "Where is the blood?" In a heartbeat, his befuddled expression turned to a frown.
Matthew collapsed at Emiya's side, gasping for air. Even from the distance she stood at, Kiara could see the sheen of sweat on his skin.
"Touko, now! Finish it!" Asako barked, holding her hand aloft. The seals etched into her skin flashed with red light-
And Vlad vanished in a crack of collapsing air.
In his wake, the forest of spears creaked and groaned, the wood rotting at an accelerated rate before Kiara's eyes. The Vessels finally broke through, smashing through the glade of weaponry with monstrous noise.
"Eh?" Asako blinked, the seals on her hand returning to their inert form.
Touko clicked her fingers. "Lugh! Rampage!" And then she tore the glasses from her face, eyes gleaming with a hellish light as the nearest Vessel to Asako froze mid-step.
Seconds later, the wildcat descended - and Kiara bore witness to the soul's last moments as it was eviscerated beyond any means of reconstruction. Claws fell in a torrent, silver emerging from gold to bite into flesh and bark. The body scattered in pieces, shredded into minute fragments that spread beyond connection.
Flashes of light shone as Emiya loosed arrow after arrow, standing over Matthew in a defensive position. Blades manifested, converted, were drawn back, and loosed in an almost mechanical repetition. They lodged in their targets, keeping the Vessels at bay by breaking momentum-
"Move, woman!" Andersen barked, forcing his tiny back against Kiara. Kiara looked up and saw one of the Vessels charging her, reaching for her with clawed hands-
I observed your suffering with one thousand eyes.
In one hand, she held the mudra - that for casting out demons and ill intent - and with her other, she caught the Vessel's arm in her open palm.
And with these thousand hands, I take it away! Rise like the lotus from the mud that entombs you!
Kiara Sessyoin closed her fingers gently, touching bark and flesh alike on the misshapen creature.
Let Compassion be your Strength!
And all in her vision melted into light.
____________________________________________________________________________
Frowning, Hakuno ran her hands over the keys once more. Tabs flickered across the screen, her eyes flashing from word to word to picture and gleaning nothing of use.
Well. Mostly nothing. If they were going to stay much longer, they'd need to find food for Ritsuka and Asako at the very least. Possibly Matthew as well, assuming he processed it like a human still.
Flicking her gaze upwards, Hakuno observed Rin grinding her teeth and pressing her fist to her mouth. The smallest bead of sweat trailed down her brow.
"She's about to have a fit, I think," Tamamo murmured. She lay across Hakuno's lap, tail idly flicking in the air behind. One eye was shut, and the other observed the room with calculation.
Hakuno lightly bit the inside of her cheek as she returned her attention to the screen.
Redacted. Redacted, redacted, redacted- there was information on the oil rig itself, the crew facilities… But. But.
The list scrolled downwards as she finally committed to one tab.
Scientists. Mages. Engineers, janitors, medical, even a list of religious personnel. Each with name, age, and a variety of other information.
A sharp inhale drew her attention. Hakuno looked over to Ritsuka.
The boy folded his arms, eyes screwed shut as he dug fingers tightly into his biceps. He swallowed visibly.
Both he and Rin had grown quiet over the past few minutes, and the signs of stress were beginning to mount.
"...King Gilgamesh," Ritsuka began.
Said king turned his gaze on his ostensible 'Master'. Slowly, he raised an eyebrow.
Hakuno forced herself to look downward again, not jumping as Nero's finger trailed across a name she had been looking at beforehand.
"No station noted. But here…" The Emperor hummed.
Janus Pemberly. Magic Circuits: C+ quality, B quantity. There in the database, instead of occupation. In the others, the occupation would turn blue when she scrolled her cursor over them. A click of the hyperlink would open a new tab, and a dossier on the person would unroll.
There was no link for the circuit descriptor.
"Do you lack faith in your Servants, Ritsuka Tohsaka?" Gilgamesh asked, his voice raised just enough to wrench Hakuno's attention once more. She looked up.
Gilgamesh placed one hand on his hip, eyes piercing. He looked bored at first pass, but it was in the eyes- frigid, clinical. Ritsuka was teetering on the edge of his tolerance, and any interference from her or the other Servants would push him over.
Ritsuka didn't avert his gaze.
"While it is true that I surpass them in every meaningful way, I am hardly a means of last resort - or a man who indulges in petty rescues." Gilgamesh tilted his head backwards, staring down his nose. "So tell me. Ritsuka Tohsaka, do you seek to waste my time and insult those you tasked with this duty?"
"The thing they're fighting - it's not a Noble Phantasm!" Rin blurted out. "It's an entirely-!"
Gilgamesh held up a hand forebodingly.
Nero leaned on Hakuno's shoulder, and what she could catch of her expression was somewhat pensive. It was an odd look on her.
Tamamo squirmed upright, eyes bright and intent. Her ears twitched.
"Forgive me." Ritsuka tilted his head to look the Hero-King in the eye. "It seems I wasn't clear in my intent."
A lesser man would have blinked, Hakuno was sure. Instead, Gilgamesh's draconian gaze merely dimmed in intensity. "How so?"
"I asked for your help, by which I meant I wanted your advice. The battle is going poorly, and as you've seen most of what these Servants are capable of I was hoping for insight."
In all honesty, Hakuno would have preferred asking El-Melloi or Caesar. Unfortunately, neither were there, and Gilgamesh… for all he preferred taking things lightly (as it were), he wasn't the worst at reading situations.
Gilgamesh pursed his lips, clearly weighing Ritsuka's words. Then he spoke.
"What opposition do they face?"
Hakuno relaxed slightly. She turned back to the screen, only for Tamamo to be in her way, nose to nose. And when she opened her mouth, she was silenced by a kiss.
Well, with Gilgamesh keeping the others occupied… she could take a break.
____________________________________________________________________________
Shotaro swung the hammer wide, hitting nothing with the metal. The flames that roared forth were another story, scorching a half-circle a handful of meters ahead of him and forcing back stabbing, twisted branches.
The reddish bark gleamed in the low light, doused in what Shotaro hoped was water.
Seems like our host is a bit of an amateur, hm? The voice was wry, mocking. He hasn't even touched your armory.
Shotaro grit his teeth, hobbling backwards as the branches crashed before him and gouged the floor through the blood and sap. Stone chipped and flew, bouncing off of him harmlessly while wood twisted with cracks that filled his ears.
In the near distance, a blue blur sent spray spiraling upwards in a trail, afterimage trailed by a massive golden spear. A golden claw fell, only for the massive man before it to flicker to the side and reform his spear into a bow.
Aiming at Passionlip, Lu Bu was forced to duck when Cu Chulainn's spear passed through the space his head briefly occupied.
Shotaro wrenched his attention back to his own fight when the converted humans-
Vessels. Vassals. Hungering, thirsting, unable to feast or quench. All they are goes to the source; drinking, drank, drunk. Spinning as sobriety flees-
Hush, child. Yet a third voice echoed in a tone that could only be called paternal. They will not touch him.
Shotaro jerked as metal enclosed his waist, and he was hoisted out of reach upon contact with the enemy.
Wrought of gilded bronze, the automaton had three legs and moved upon wheels attached at the foot. The metal engulfing his upper legs and lower torso shifted, taking the form of a chair. Letters Shotaro immediately identified as an ancient form of Greek glimmered. Molten orange flooded the engravings, and the machine flew back, giving him much needed breathing space.
Dad! Dad, can you hear me!?
Shotaro's head flew up. "Ritsuka?" he whispered.
I know things are tough, but you've got to hang on! Gilgamesh said you should have a lot of powerful weapons to call on - can you think of any that would help?
Squinting, Shotaro tore open a veil of liquid fire midair with his bare hand. Awareness flooded him, the same that had when he had taken small peeks inside throughout this entire mission. It wasn't anything so organized as an itemized list, but he knew where each thing was and how to most quickly dispatch it - an instinctual knowing of all he had.
The 'vessels' as the young voice had called them began to climb up the machine's legs, only for the chair to lift ever so slightly. The wheeled limbs spun like a vortex, glowing brightly as they blurred and shot the enemy into the distance through sheer centrifugal force.
That- what's BB up to? Ritsuka asked urgently.
Shotaro narrowed his eyes in the direction of the tree's gaping maw, letting Ritsuka borrow his gaze through their connection.
The girl in black (who looked eerily like an adolescent version of his sister-in-law - minus the hair and eyes) wove her baton, discs of pink energy overlapping rapidly in the gullet of the carnivorous plant. With each sweep, the opaque barrier became less so and more solid in color, more radiant in brightness.
Behind her, Charlie's sword flashed and carved with frightening ease through man and plant alike. It gleamed with a hue of purples, oranges, reds, and blues as it scythed through the targets - and unlike with Cu Chulainn's spear, they did not rise again. The wounds dried and cracked, fissures spreading along the bodies of the 'vessels'. Dust floated on the macabre pool which surrounded the paladin's feet. Branches recoiled, losing tension and turning serpentine as they fled the iridescence of Joyeuse.
With a groaning wrench, shards of pink light shot from the tree's mouth and the shield dimmed. Vines dragged the helpless staff towards the maw for conversion, waiting for the barrier to fade. Branches erupted from the trunk and sprouted at seemingly random angles, forming a geometric impaling prison centering upon BB and Charlie.
Such an assault would shred flesh, spiritual or otherwise…
I have found, the fatherly voice noted mildly, that metal is an excellent deterrent to weapons of wood. And that even plants that take exception to fire can be quite easily burned if enough ordinance is brought to bear.
Soft, the irritable voice spat.
Dad?
Shotaro narrowed his eyes, and flung his empty hand forward. Once more, the air rent in a heat haze, and once more magma bloomed forth.
This time, the circle started at the size of a small highway tunnel and grew. Rounded protrusions of metal came first, extending into what first resembled rods. A heartbeat later confirmed they were fingers. Fingers of bronze, as the sloughing magma revealed.
The mere convection from the gate wrenched the moisture from every Vessel in ten meters, and those beyond began to flee. Against mundane qualities or a wide variety of weaponry, they might be a threat. Against fire and whatever Charlie was doing in his corner of the room, they fell like flies.
And then the portal closed, leaving a giant of bronze. Golden-orange energy flowed through visible circuits on the outermost part of its hull, and its head turned to regard the tree itself.
...that'll work. Stay close to it, and have it grapple that thing so BB can finish sealing it! I'll have Charlie watch your back, and Rin will get Cu Chulainn to keep the enemy Servant away.
Talos stepped forward with barely a thought from Shotaro, massive legs crossing the room in but a few paces. The metal beneath its feet didn't give, but it was close as the heat from its feet caused the floor to buckle and warp, groaning monstrously all the while. Reaching out, branches stabbed at its arms only to burst into flame on contact. Undeterred by the gurgling shrieks of the monstrous tree, Talos wrapped its mighty arms around the trunk - restraining it, and searing bark away wherever metal made contact.
"NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS!" BB cackled over the din, spinning her pointer in concentric circles. Pink light layered once more, and the vines that brought humans near the abomination spasmed and let them fall.
Shotaro wrenched his hand through the air, and drew a massive net from his smithy. With a puff from his lungs, he cooled it and then flung it wide.
The bodies didn't hit the floor, but he doubted many were uninjured even as slack as they were - the impact had to have some effect, he figured. Perhaps. (He was a househusband, not a physics expert.)
And at that moment, a shadow loomed over him. Shotaro looked upwards.
Lu Bu's spear had shifted, turning from a piercing polearm to a slashing axe and barreling towards him at immense speed. Even as Shotaro wrenched the 'combat chair', he knew it wouldn't give him the momentum to escape in time. He braced himself for impact.
The golden weapon, wielded in one hand, slowed just enough for Shotaro to escape. While the chair burst away from the Berserker in an orange blur, Shotaro saw what had impeded the enemy Servant.
A multitude of spines - thorns - cut through the meat of Lu Bu's arm when Cu Chulainn wrenched Gae Bolg free of his flesh. Blood spattered the ground, tendons tore, and muscle and bone alike were laid bare.
Lu Bu gave a hissing roar, his attention freshly diverted back to his former target. He leapt away, his weapon buckling and twisting until it turned into a great gold-and-black bow as tall as the giant himself. He drew what looked to be a copy of his spear, and pulled it back on the string. Immediately, Shotaro felt a sense of foreboding.
With a thunderous call like gravel being forced through a steam furnace, Lu Bu loosed the arrow like a meteor through the air. It tore through, the mere pressure sending transformed victims flying and dislodging the net Shotaro had hung.
Shotaro dug deep into the mountain god's workshop, reaching for a construct he knew could block it, only for the energy he used to keep the portal open to immediately cut out.
Talos vanished in a shower of orange light, releasing the tree. Though the bark was gouged with black char, it was still functional. The vines waved aimlessly, mouth still blocked with a solid pink disc.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shotaro saw Charlie trip, barely missing a claw to his neck. Passionlip stumbled, only her claws holding her upright.
All this happened in the span of a heartbeat. And in the next, the arrow plunged right above the ground close to Shotaro.
In a third-
"Execute: Phantasm_Step_98."
In a third heartbeat, Shotaro's sight was obscured by a shower of cherry blossoms, and his body turned weightless as though he'd been forced into his astral form.
Gradually, the petals fell.
In one chair, Ritsuka sat. He was pale, barely conscious as Rin stood over him with a strange screen spreading from her hand as she looked him over with poorly concealed concern. Asako didn't bother hiding hers as she held onto his hand with a stricken expression.
Behind a desk, Hakuno stood with wide eyes. Nero's brow furrowed in shock, seeing Shotaro. Tamamo glared at Shotaro in exasperation - as though he was at fault, and she knew why.
Gilgamesh appeared bored, unmoving from where he stood over Matthew's sleeping form as the young man curled up, unconscious. Emiya had two fingers on Matthew's neck, eyes narrowed as he loomed over the loveseat.
Meltryllis slid over to Passionlip, immediately checking on her. Charlie stood at the Alter Ego's other side, offering his own unsteady shoulder as a brace.
Cu Chulainn stepped forward, mouth open-
"Well. Who would have thought that trying to use multiple divine constructs at once could have consequences?" The voice dripped with condescension. "Not that I blame you, but it really is lucky we're in a datascape." BB stepped into view, tapping her upraised palm with her rod. "So. Care to explain?"
She directed this at the last three people in the room. One wore a doctor's coat and black dress, and had long black hair and golden eyes. She wore a small frown. One was a small child in formal clothes with blue hair. His exasperation matched Tamamo-no-Mae's. The last was a literal knight in shining armor, and his fingers twitched as he aborted a step towards Matthew and Ritsuka.
And in the knight's arms was a young woman in a labcoat with mousy brown hair and spectacles.
____________________________________________________________________________
Rin stepped back, massaging her forehead. There had been a sudden drain on Toh- on Rit- on his magical energy. The first rush had sent him unsteady, but the second pull had left him all but comatose. She'd ask what had done it, but she'd seen through Lancer's eyes. The moving tripod was a common courier used by Hephaestus, and from what she could tell Ritsuka's Alter Ego was similar in nature (if not shape) to Meltryllis and Passionlip.
Ritsuka.
No. She didn't have time to unpack that.
A bronze giant credited to Hephaestus, it had to be Talos himself - an engine of destruction given to Crete; namely Europa. And then he reached for yet another weapon or shield to block the incoming God Force. Whatever cost demanded must have been too high for Ritsuka to pay himself.
"So in summary," Hakuno began, shaking Rin out of her reverie. "You pulled out not one, not two, but attempted to triple-wield Divine Constructs." Hakuno's finger, aimed at Shotaro, moved to Charlemagne. "You ended up dusting no small amount of the people we tried to recover with your holy sword - which says more about their situation than I'd like." And she swung back to Shotaro. "And then the people you rescued were at ground zero of Berserker's Noble Phantasm."
BB shrugged. "It's all about cost-effectiveness. Also, I didn't care enough to save them and wasn't beholden to." She paused. "Huh."
Hakuno folded her arms. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," BB replied airily. "So. What got him in a state?" She tilted her head at Matthew's unconscious body.
Rin looked at Asako.
"No clue." Asako was terse, eyes focused on Ritsuka. "Not-Dracula showed up, said some weird shit, was wholly ineffective, got nailed with a cursed dagger, and got warped away. It looked like command seals, but things are weird enough it could be some other method. Our rules clearly aren't the only ones in play."
Rin watched as Shotaro hobbled over to Ritsuka's side, bracing himself against the chair. His eyes glazed over, he placed his hand on the boy's head. His expression was distant.
"Good thing too, it was the only way I was getting your Servants away from God Force," BB noted off-handedly. "Given Daddy Dearest went and totaled your brother, cutting Command Seals out of the equation."
Shotaro flinched.
Tamamo-no-Mae coughed lightly before Asako could fire back. "So. Lu Bu and…?"
"Vlad III." The red-clad Archer's voice was just this side of arctic as he stood. He stepped away, and Cu Chulainn - her Lancer - took his place, kneeling at Matthew's side. Emiya moved to Ritsuka, and began to examine him much as he had for Matthew.
Nero jerked. "Vlad III? Then… how did his illusions work?" She frowned. "Lancer's skills make him a fortress, and his mind is inviolable even if he is… himself."
"Translation: someone should have been more than a little impaled," Tamamo added.
The room was silent.
"While this is all fascinating," Gilgamesh drawled, "what I would like to know is what she is doing here. And who the woman in the sun-knight's arms is."
The dark-haired woman, who had yet to be introduced, looked up. "Ah. Apologies for my rudeness. My name is Kiara Sessyoin. I'm a therapist employed by Chaldea, by way of Seraphix."
"Fascinating." The faintest trace of venom twined through Gilgamesh's voice. His eyes narrowed, and Rin was suddenly aware that one of the few who might curb his anger was very unconscious.
"As for the woman, this is Mable Macintosh," Kiara continued. "She's a scientist who worked on the lower levels of Seraphix."
BB stepped forward, a glint in her eyes. "Can you wake her?" she asked. A giddy sneer spread across her face.
Kiara hesitated. "I…"
"We do not even know how the woman managed to revert her in the first place," the blue boy remarked in a dour tone. His voice was pitched far deeper than Rin had expected.
"Andersen," Kiara rebuked gently, regaining her composure. She looked from him back to BB. "I touched her and this happened after a flash of light. It was in the middle of combat, and afterwards there were no other survivors to try and attempt a replication."
"Had I known that such a thing was possible, I would have held back," the knight next to Kiara offered with a regretful frown. "I thought those taken by the enemy to be lost for good."
Rin shook her head, finally. "No, Gawain." She recognized him from the resistance, finally. He'd gotten separated, and… anyways. "We need to prioritize the people who aren't transformed yet."
"Well, a whole bunch of those got mulched pretty recently," BB reminded them jovially. "So good job you!" She clapped her hands together and gave a gaping grin, widening her eyes facetiously.
"I tried to stop him," Shotaro said hollowly, finally speaking up.
BB mock-gasped. "Really? I couldn't tell! It's not as though you overextended poor widdle Ritsy-"
"Which is fascinating, because he has been able to field myself along with numerous other Servants without issue in the past," Gilgamesh pointed out coolly.
"Launching treasures or using mystic codes is a world apart from mainlining multiple Divine Constructs, let alone a defense on par with the Round Table or a combat automaton which is a Noble Phantasm in its own right." BB's rebuttal was short, sharp, and to the point. "And that was what you were reaching for, weren't you?" She turned her eyes back on Shotaro.
The man merely balled a hand into a fist.
To add to the seasonings on the shit sundae that the situation had devolved into, the loudmouth Caster who had been insensate until that point stirred.
And as Rin watched, Matthew Kyrielight went from zero to homicidal in three seconds flat.
____________________________________________________________________________
Asako had expected a lot of things when her brother's Caster woke up. Concern for her brother, some continuation of the frenzy he'd entered against Vlad III maybe. Possibly clinging to his boyfriend if he was upset enough.
She didn't expect him to yowl like a wounded animal, voice like some feral cat filtered through a woodchipper, and lunge at the unconscious Mable Macintosh with extended claws.
Cu Chulainn managed to get his arms around the Caster, leveraging his superior strength and speed. It helped that though Matthew struggled, canines lengthening, he seemed unwilling to take whatever blind fury he'd entered out on the Lancer.
His pupils swelled to consume his irises, and the sclera of his eyes bloomed red. Asako watched the color spread independently of any blood vessels, marking the change as something other than injury. Black mist began to wisp from his shrieking mouth, clouds that squirmed with something inside them. Something with legs and mandibles and eyes-
Then Kyrielight went slack. His circlet gleamed a brilliant silver, and his body heaved with exertion. As though a stop-motion video, his eyes flickered through stages until they returned to green, and his fingers and teeth shrank back to normal. Each second changed his body as though it were replaced with a new, slightly different model. The effect was utterly unsettling.
The mist dissipated.
Slowly, Matthew blinked. His breathing gradually evened out, but no one seemed willing to speak.
The newer Servants were visibly unsettled. Not frightened, except possibly Passionlip, but definitely perturbed. Tamamo in particular wore a grimace.
The others ran the gamut of stunned, confused, and in Gilgamesh's case darkly amused.
Asako quietly freaked out.
"WHAT THE SHIT WAS THAT!?"
Very quietly.
BB's head turned as though on a swivel. "Well hel-lo Sleeping Beauty!" she chirped. "And how are we feeling? Hm? Peckish? Drowsy? Ready to sink our teeth and claws into an unconscious victim?"
Matthew finally straightened up. He looked around the room. After scant seconds, his gaze landed on Ritsuka. His pupils shrank to a pinpoint. "Fuck," he hissed, scrabbling at Cu Chulainn's iron grip. "Lemme go, lemme go-"
"Easy," Cu soothed. He set him down. "Now don't go attacking anyone."
Asako didn't see any danger of that, given he bolted straight for Ritsuka and immediately tore what could only be a magic wand out of his armguard, trailing golden light over Ritsuka's head.
"The fuck happened here!?" Matthew snapped, hackles up.
Their dad's shoulders tightened, and he looked away. He didn't move his hand from where he gently massaged Ritsuka's scalp.
Asako kept holding his hand.
"He's low. Critically low. Did nobody try a mana transfer!? At all!?" He paused. "Or contact Da Vinci!? Why didn't the generators back at Chaldea prevent this?"
Hakuno exhaled. "That's because we didn't establish a summoning circle. I can connect us to Chaldea to communicate and provide a beacon, but without that we can't receive the excess mana that is generally used to provide enough for multiple Noble Phantasm invocations. There's a link, sure, but it's not as strong as it would be otherwise."
"So Mash makes life in a Singularity easier, news at eleven," Matthew bit out. "How long was I under?"
"Dunno." BB shrugged. "Want to share why you woke up on the murder side of the bed?" Her eyes gleamed with hateful glee. "Inquiring minds are dying to know."
"Then perish," Matthew replied icily, placing a hand on Ritsuka's neck. Emiya removed his fingers just before Ritsuka faintly glowed.
BB scowled.
"His pulse is steady, so he hadn't hit a threshold for panic," Emiya stated. He looked at Matthew with curiosity. "...we have many questions."
"And I don't have answers. None I want to discuss, at least."
Asako breathed slowly. She felt warmth return to her brother's hand in hers.
Matthew stepped back. "Thankfully, my magical energy is more potent than a human's - it didn't take much for me to kickstart things." He rolled his shoulders. "We need to get to the observatory."
Hakuno frowned. "Chaldea-"
"Not that one." His eyes blazed. "Get me Da Vinci and Roman, if you can."
After a moment, Hakuno waved at the air in front of her. A bright blue panel appeared, and though somewhat pixellated, Roman's image manifested.
"Good, you're awake," the man said. His relief was palpable, even through the call. "And our monitors say Ritsuka has stabilized. Good work, Matthew."
Matthew sliced his hand through the air. "Did you know?"
Roman blinked. "What?"
"The observatory. Here. Did you know?"
The doctor's brow furrowed. "...an observatory on an oil platform?"
Asako couldn't call herself an absolute master of cold reading, but she knew clueless when she saw it. The doctor's suspicion had piqued, but he definitely had no idea what Matthew was on about.
Neither did she for that matter, but details.
Matthew's shoulders tightened. "Right. Da Vinci?"
Roman looked over his shoulder before turning back and shaking his head. "She's looking into the available files, but there's nothing immediately apparent. What did you find?"
Matthew's lips thinned. He stepped further into the room. "Ritsuka's going to be out for a while. I need a Master and certain Servants; we need to shut down that observatory."
Asako opened her mouth.
"You I want here." He deliberately didn't look at the unconscious scientist. "If Chaldea reaches out, you're more likely to get the transmission."
Roman nodded appraisingly. "You're not wrong. We need to force the connection, but we can contact Asako, Ritsuka, and Hakuno directly."
"And me!" BB smiled, face dimpling. She winked. "Aren't I sooo helpful?" Her voice was full of sugary malice.
"Someone's feeling better," Hakuno muttered, a speculative look in her eye.
BB froze, then straightened her spine. "Anyways." She coughed into her fist.
"Rin, Cu Chulainn, Gilgamesh, Kiara and Hakuno. The rest stay here." Matthew folded his arms. "It goes without saying I'm part of the advance. Tamamo-no-Mae, I'm entrusting Ritsuka to you. The person masquerading as you in Septem had knowledge of healing magecraft; does that hold true for you?"
"I can look after him," Tamamo said slowly. "But-"
"Aside from myself, Hakuno is the best bet for tending him with skill. The other option is one of Gilgamesh's treasures, and there's no guarantee he's in a mood for donations."
Asako bit her lip.
"And what makes you think I'll follow your directives, let alone this mongrel's?" Gilgamesh asked silkily.
"I don't think you will," Matthew retorted.
Gilgamesh blinked once, the only sign he might have been caught off-guard.
"I'm banking on what's down there pissing you off enough for you to destroy it. Rin's along because she's a Master who knows her way around this codecast stuff, and I have a feeling we'll need Hakuno and Kiara to disable it before destroying it." Matthew straightened his shoulders. "Cu's her Servant, so he should be there to protect her. If nothing else, I'd like to think if I got too far in over my head you'd bail me out. Maybe. If only because you don't want anyone else damaging me beyond repair."
Gilgamesh tilted his head and gave a noncommittal hum, looking down his nose.
Matthew turned his attention to BB. "And you'll want to come along too."
BB inspected her nails. "Oh?"
"Yeah. After all, I've gotta hold up my end of the bargain."
The purple-haired girl's head snapped back up, eyes flashing red.
Matthew turned on his heel in clear dismissal. "...Gawain. Try not to get too attached to that woman." And he marched out without another word.
Asako looked at Gawain, who frowned in confusion. "What does he mean by that?" he murmured.
Asako wasn't sure she wanted to know.
____________________________________________________________________________
Fuck.
My spear rises in giddy joy-
Fuck.
Red's a good color on you, kitten. Really makes your skin pop.
Fuck.
Well, if it's for the good of the world… I'm sure the director knows what he's about!
Fuck.
Pemberly here, ready to start! Ah, enter the coffin? Long-term deployment? Well, here's hoping I get back before my eighteenth birthday yeah? Heh!
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-
With the saint and the program and the king you will-
Fuckfuckfuckfuck shut the fuck up!
I grasped my temples with both hands, palms grinding into my head as I stormed down the hall. My magical energy billowed, buoyed by my own regeneration and the scabbard implanted in my torso. Whenever a mind brushed against the cloud, I snared every sense attached and distorted it so neither I nor those following me existed. Their bodies may have been strong, but their consciousness faded - and that was the battle ground I chose, naturally.
"Oi-" Cu began.
"Less talking, more walking." My feet echoed against the metal floor. "The observatory's at the bottom of the platform, dead center. We'll need a left at the next hall." I spun when the turn came up, forcing the rest to pour on speed. Gilgamesh didn't bother, easily keeping pace at the rear.
The halls felt claustrophobic in a way they hadn't before.
Before it told me. Before I knew.
Remove it and annihilate all with knowledge-
A soft chime spread through my mind, and the burning words subsided under a sweet chill.
Better? Morgan whispered.
Yes.
At least Da Vinci and Roman hadn't known. Da Vinci came after Mash and I, and denounced what made us. I couldn't see her countenancing- that. Roman… Roman-
I swallowed harshly.
A hand landed on my shoulder. "Can you give us a second?" Cu whispered. Concern tinged his voice.
"No. I know, and if I know then there's a chance someone is watching us and is aware, and if we don't stop it we can't bring them down," I bit out in a rush. "We've got to stop it."
"Stop what?" Rin asked, jogging to keep up. Her voice barely betrayed her exertion, but she was definitely breathing a little heavily. "What's happening?"
"Convergence." She could rest when we reached the service elevator. Without- Hrm. I turned my head over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes.
Who let Andersen come along?
"Your haste betrays your nerves," he said, eyes narrowed.
Kiara gently pat his head to his visual and verbal chagrin. "Yes?"
"Do you have clearance to access the observatory?" I asked her.
"No?"
...service elevator it is.
"Perhaps if you explain yourself, you might find the rest of us more accommodating?" Andersen called as I whirled another corner, this time to the right.
Oil platform plus Singularity equals not-Labyrinth. Good to know.
"I don't think he's listening, Andersen," Kiara told him, unruffled and unstrained.
"How are you keeping up with him I hate you," Rin wheezed, finally breaking down. From the sounds behind me, Cu scooped her up in his arms.
Gilgamesh chuckled.
When I stopped in front of the service elevator, I paused at the passcode entry.
"1-6-9-8-4," he whispered as he tapped the buttons.
I am a Caster. I cheat.
I punched the numbers in, and the mechanism groaned to life.
"So is Ritsuka going to be alright?" Hakuno asked, finally speaking up.
I nodded. "I gave him a jumpstart, now it's just treating symptoms. I assume Tamamo can do that."
"She can," Hakuno agreed. "Will you be alright?"
"Peachy keen," I replied, pitching my voice upwards without turning around.
The door opened.
"We'll see how long that lasts, shall we?" BB stared at me coolly. "Come on in, the trauma's fine."
The service elevator was easily large enough to hold all of us. It was made for moving crates and other large objects up and down; a cargo of eight people was nothing.
"Going down. Next stop, Chaldea's dirty laundry: at-sea edition," BB droned.
I clenched my hand into a fist. The only concession I gave was leaning my arm into Cu's. Rin looked at me from the corner of her eye as he leaned back, accepting it.
All the while, Gilgamesh's eyes gleamed with mounting interest.
...fuck.
____________________________________________________________________________
Astaroth twirled the cane in his grip. This was becoming unfortunate.
At first brush, Lancer appeared unharmed. On examination, however, a curse had taken root in his body. The output of his magical energy had dropped by a fifth of the total, which while far from fatal was definitely unproductive.
Berserker was a more immediate concern. He'd found the Servant rampaging through the insensate humans, the tree unable to ingest and twist them into familiars.
The man's arm was neatly mangled, and refused to heal. Which indicated more of the nature of the effects of the process on Servants than anything else- a boost and enslavement, but not full conversion.
Twice's eyes were closed as the wheel spun, light gathering along the edge. The instant any of Chaldea's forces surfaced they would be obliterated in a hail of radiant arrows. He hoped they would try to match it. Even Excalibur itself would falter.
Assassin stood apart, untouched. For a moment Astaroth considered sending him along, but then decided against it. Best to hold that card in reserve.
The Demon God's eyes flickered in shadow, weaving through the dark. In the enclosed spaces, in vents and pipes, he spread his awareness.
The majority of the invaders remained in their little encampment. It would be more trouble than it was worth to invade, so he left it.
However, a handful was making their way - ah. That was problematic.
"I'm going to examine the observatory," Astaroth offered off-handedly. "Is there anything you wish me to handle on the way?"
Twice opened his eyes, shaking his head. His face was pinched in fury. "They stopped it. The means of enlightenment."
"For now. Once we dispose of the girl, the shield will shatter and we can resume. Until such time, let the uninitiated hide. At worst they'll provide fodder for the growth of those you've shown the light." Astaroth gave a careless shrug.
"...if you have a chance to end her, do it." Twice's voice reverberated, a bit of the other leaking through. He closed his eyes and began to meditate atop the tree's branches.
Honestly. Transformed or not, smears in the tree chamber or not, the humans were meant to burn regardless. Unless and until it actively challenged the greater work, these were minor setbacks at worst.
However. Permitting one particular Servant to access the Anomaly would likely make things uncomfortable for the collective.
An ounce of prevention and all that.
"Ta, then. I'll be back in a wink." And Astaroth stepped forward.
A maw of shadows yawned, and the human-shaped nightmare slid between a pair of fangs as he descended to the oil rig.
____________________________________________________
In the movie lounge, where not so long ago she watched films with her brother and friends, Mash sat alone. Her hands hesitated as she reached for the remote, seated in front of the television. Reaching, but not quite grasping. Her eyes flickered from there to the screen. After a moment, she placed her hands in her lap.
"Wanna watch something?"
She jerked, turning her head to see the speaker.
Musashi leaned on the couch's back with a friendly smile. "You seemed pretty deep in thought."
"I…" Mash leaned back.
"Bad session?" Musashi hopped over the back, landing nimbly on the cushion without so much as shaking the furniture.
Mash phased through the strike easily, letting Medusa pass through her. Re-solidifying fractions of a second later, she plunged forward and locked her shield against Artoria's blade. Conscious of Medusa's chain soaring at her from behind, she went intangible once more, pouring her energy into the technique - and letting it wrap around Artoria when she rolled to the side as it expired once again.
Artoria blinked as she raised a hand with the chain wrapped around it, but rallied immediately. With a tug she swung, letting Medusa use her as an anchor as she launched herself at Mash again feet-first.
On instinct, Mash ducked and held her shield overhead, then when Medusa closed, spun it. The flange caught the Rider in the hip, bearing her down, and Mash lashed out at Artoria with a kick that was nimbly hopped over.
While neither was coddling her, it was still evident that they were holding back. Medusa had yet to bring her full speed to bear, and Artoria didn't exploit even the obvious openings Mash had left, let alone the ones she hadn't noticed herself.
(She was sure they were still there.)
"Pause."
Mash looked up as the three disengaged, standing apart.
Scathach folded her arms. "That technique. How draining would you say it is?"
"Obscurant Wall of Chalk?" Mash thought. Her heart pounded with adrenaline, but she definitely felt the wear. "...moderately. I shouldn't hold it for too long, but I can handle some repeated use."
"So we'll be working on your timing and honing your instincts," Scathach decided. "And your awareness. Figuring out what to block, what to dodge, and what to phase through will be a major cornerstone of any fighting style you put together." She paused. "For as little experience as you have, you're a quick study."
Mash blushed. "Well…" She'd been in the field, and had seen combat before. But to keep up with Artoria and Medusa at all, let alone at the same time…
"She's right. You're learning at a pace far beyond mortal means," Artoria pointed out. "You were still fumbling with the shield a couple of months ago."
What went unsaid was that she wasn't any longer. She was honing her skills at an accelerated pace, beyond what a human could. So what did that mean?
"Hello? Chaldea to Mash, Musashi speaking? Helloooo?" The swordmaster waved her hand slightly in front of Mash's face.
"No, no it wasn't." Mash shook her head. "I can still use the skill Galahad taught me. Without naming it, even." She shrugged. "And I managed to keep up with Medusa and Artoria on my own, even if they were going easy on me."
"That's pretty good! So you're on the mend, huh?" Musashi smiled.
...her body ached from the training, but no more than usual. And also as usual, it faded gradually.
A knight upon a shield, in a field of vibrant flowers. His visible eye closed to the world, the other draped over with grey hair. His skin pale, his chest barely rises and falls. Though he is wounded, he does not bleed. Though he lives, he does not wake. Time is frozen, there amongst the eternal bloom.
But why? Why would he be wounded from using his own Noble Phantasm? And why couldn't he wake? She felt the sheer power of Lord Camelot, she would have… was it a hidden price? What was it?
"No. I wasn't the one who was hurt," Mash replied softly. "So in other words… I'm fine."
But Galahad wasn't. He had taken the damage. She'd had access to his power for so short a time, and Lord Camelot's full strength was beyond her… but why was he injured?
...she just didn't know.
Musashi picked up the remote. "So… want to find a good action flick?" She waggled it at Mash. "Or a comedy? I'm gonna go hunt down some snacks."
"Eh?" Mash blinked rapidly.
"Well, if it was your copilot who got hurt, there isn't much we can do. I'm sure Da Vinci and the Doc are either working on it, or have someone else on it." Musashi smiled, putting a hand on Mash's elbow. "So for right now, we just have to have faith. In them, in Ritsuka, and in your brother. Someone's gonna find a way."
Mash felt the slightest bit of tension ebb. Slowly, she turned her gaze to her hands, and jolted as something soft brushed her leg.
Fou curled into her thigh, next to her lap. His eyes were closed, and he slowly breathed.
She gave a small smile. "I think… there was a movie about an angry mother-in-law?"
Musashi blinked. "That's a pretty long list."
Mash sat up and made grabby hands at the remote. "Well, hand it over and I'll get it set up. And you said something about snacks?"
"Sure did," Musashi replied easily, grinning. "Want me to get Sieg, Jeanne, and Astolfo? Or just girl's night?"
"Girl's night sounds nice," Mash replied, happier than when she'd come in.
Next to her, Fou lightly snored.
____________________________________________________________________________
In the dark, there sat a wooden-backed chair with a dark cushion. Next to it was a table, and an old phone with a rotating dial. Its chiming ring echoed through the abyss, though the items in it were clear as day.
A white-gloved hand reached from the dark, and a man was where once was not. He plucked the gently sloping handle of the phone from its cradle, and placed it to the side of his head. "Greetings."
…
"Hm. Your ambition is grand, I'll grant you that. And I do have such an object in my care. But casting my lot in with you beyond what I've done could have repercussions."
…
The man's snow-white hair and beard contrasted against the endless emptiness as he reclined in the chair, listening to the other speaker. Eyes the color of polished rubies narrowed ever so slightly.
"Casting aspersions, are we? I never said I lacked any care for the outcome. Your success would make an interesting grouping of possibilities, assuming it was permitted." He rested his free hand on a knee covered in dark cloth, tilting his head towards the phone. More details became prominent - a black wooden handle, with speaker and receiver of bronze. The curling cable was dull black rubber, leading to a bronze-and-plastic contraption. The small table was cherry wood, big enough for the phone and nothing else.
…
"Using a moment of whim against me? How like you. Even untainted, you're still ruthless enough to do so. No, no. I am very aware it wasn't a threat." He hummed. "And I did agree. After you ruined my last apprentice - well done on that, I suppose - with his trials and tribulations, he'll make a good second choice. I said as much when he was a child." A slight smile filled with warmth crossed the older gentleman's face. His cape fluttered where it lay on his chest in a non-existent breeze.
…?
"It wasn't as though I needed further convincing. This battlefield has grown far beyond what it was, even in other possibilities. And one of the 'heroes' is connected to me this time, however much or little." He chuckled. "I'll deliver what's requested. If nothing else, it will be an interesting twist in the tale."
…!
"Yes, yes. And should they succeed, I will commit to this - whatever the outcome may be." He paused. "This is merely a commitment on my part. No, it is not a deal."
"...poopie." Morgan's pout was audible.
The Old Man of the Jewels chuckled as the dark melted the phone and table away.
"Very well. Your move, Ritsuka Tohsaka. I'll be watching."
And he faded, image refracting into softer and softer light.
At the end, only the chair remained.
____________________________________________________________________________
All she could do was observe.
Spears and pikes sprouted from the floor like blades of grass in the field, each carrying a feeling of 'death' and 'pain'. Twisted, barbed, seeking to pierce flesh and hang it aloft, letting blood flow and drain. Much like their master, they were changed from something that was simply 'horrifying' to something that was 'inhuman'.
...but how did she know that?
Kiara stood behind Andersen, one hand palm-up at her waist, fingers slightly curled. Her other was at chest height - the ring and middle fingers towards the base of her palm where it met the wrist, and the remaining fingers pointed upwards as she curled in her thumb. While it outwardly had no effect, she felt herself center, the scant anxieties fleeting and flowing away. With the battlefield raging as it was, kept barely at bay, it was still required.
With a roar, the knight that had protected her thus far charged and with a single swing toppled several spears as he bisected them with his great blade. Like a ray of sunlight carving through the clouds, it shattered all before him. His hair glinted as an odd light cast a pall over the battlefield. In a heartbeat he flickered forwards, the polearms splintering in his wake as he rose to meet the interlopers.
The girl with the ribbon - Meltryllis - danced on knives, pirouetting upon a thin stream of water. She swung one bladed leg down in an overhead strike, almost bisecting one of the familiars that had been summoned to the battle. Her eyes flared with a manic hunger, despite the comparatively small smile on her face.
The enemy who had announced himself, however-
He flung the golden wildcat away, grinning madly. Ponderously, unable to close the gap between the Archer and himself, he pursued his prey. "Come and face me, Archer! My spear rises in giddy joy to meet you!" He took another step, and a wave of spears erupted from the floor to chase the target.
Kiara's eyes widened. A scream brushed against her senses, inaudible to a human ear. A heart wrenched in fury, pain-
She cast her eyes across the battlefield. The redheaded magi stood together. The elder held what looked to be some projector, commonplace in the late twentieth century. Red mist danced around the two, and would manifest claws whenever either came under threat. The small girl held a fist to her lips as she narrowed her eyes, whispering fiercely.
The red-cloaked Archer tilted his head as though listening before leaping backwards into the air. His black matte bow bent, shafts of light dancing from the string across the distance to his enemy. It wasn't him, or Gawain, or Meltryllis, not Touko or Asako, not Hans-
So where was this agony coming from? And what was it inside Kiara that answered?
...wasn't there another Servant? Where did he go? The boy.
Spears erupted to Kiara's right, aiming away from her. "Come, Archer! How many of your allies shall I pierce to ensnare you!?" The mad Lancer continued his charge, slow only in comparison to the other heroes. His crimson eyes glimmered with excitement.
"He's immune to mental interference, so…" Kiara heard Andersen muse. "How're you doing this?"
Kiara narrowed her eyes as a Vassal got closer, even as Andersen raised a hand to intercept.
And then it was swallowed for a mere second. A column of white brilliance, and the echo of heat against her face. Then - then it was gone. Not even ash remained.
"A… plan… would be nice…!" a rough voice grit out. The air rippled, moving quickly around the edges of the battlefield.
Asako nodded once, and closed her eyes.
With a sharp gesture, Touko snapped out a command. "Lugh! Restrain!"
The wildcat's fur erupted from its back, golden strands ensnaring Vlad and slowing his rampage. With a yowl, it planted its claws into the floor, and its feet shifted to take root. Even so, the metal warped as it was very gradually dragged behind Vlad.
Meltryllis snapped her head up and glared at Gawain. "Cut a path!" she yelled, balancing on one leg. She began to spin, water streaming from the lifted blade as she raised her arms overhead. With a slight lean, she danced forward and began to scythe through the garden of polearms. True to her command, Gawain began to hack and slash, driving his own way forward.
And by Emiya the light bent, warped, and Matthew appeared, clutching the older man's mantle for support. Drenched in sweat, golden runes floated around his body. His eyes were dull, and he bared his teeth in a sharp grimace. Hand shaking, he lifted his arm. In his grasp-
Emiya looked down. His eyes widened, then narrowed. "I see." He raised his hand to the side as Vlad sent another wave of spears forward to stop him, only for Gawain to barrel through.
Light reflected from the knight as his blade swept the attack away, leaving an opening between Emiya and Vlad. Kiara squinted, almost frowning to herself as she saw the flecks of gold clinging to his armor.
"Trace. On." Emiya held his empty hand palm-up, and in a swirl of pale blue mist a weapon congealed.
From the hilt up, a solid black dagger materialized - the dark-polished wood of the hilt, the small and slightly curved guard, and the smooth blade of a metal Kiara could not identify. The weapon screamed against her senses. It was afraid, angry, bleeding inside. A wounded beast hiding its injury by lashing out, red in tooth and claw. The knife was devoid of human concepts like mercy, restraint, or forgiveness. It was made of suffering, to bring suffering. To spread its agony to others in an attempt to staunch its own.
Emiya pulled his hand back, and the blade thinned and elongated wholly. The hilt and guard became fletching, and the rest became the shaft and head of the arrow. He nocked it, pulled back on his bow, and fired in one inhumanly smooth motion. If he noticed the effects of the weapon, or was affected at all, it did not show on his face.
The Lancer blinked as the arrow sprouted from a connection in his armor, forcing its way through. Vlad tilted his head, then looked down. "...how?" His nose twitched. "Where is the blood?" In a heartbeat, his befuddled expression turned to a frown.
Matthew collapsed at Emiya's side, gasping for air. Even from the distance she stood at, Kiara could see the sheen of sweat on his skin.
"Touko, now! Finish it!" Asako barked, holding her hand aloft. The seals etched into her skin flashed with red light-
And Vlad vanished in a crack of collapsing air.
In his wake, the forest of spears creaked and groaned, the wood rotting at an accelerated rate before Kiara's eyes. The Vessels finally broke through, smashing through the glade of weaponry with monstrous noise.
"Eh?" Asako blinked, the seals on her hand returning to their inert form.
Touko clicked her fingers. "Lugh! Rampage!" And then she tore the glasses from her face, eyes gleaming with a hellish light as the nearest Vessel to Asako froze mid-step.
Seconds later, the wildcat descended - and Kiara bore witness to the soul's last moments as it was eviscerated beyond any means of reconstruction. Claws fell in a torrent, silver emerging from gold to bite into flesh and bark. The body scattered in pieces, shredded into minute fragments that spread beyond connection.
Flashes of light shone as Emiya loosed arrow after arrow, standing over Matthew in a defensive position. Blades manifested, converted, were drawn back, and loosed in an almost mechanical repetition. They lodged in their targets, keeping the Vessels at bay by breaking momentum-
"Move, woman!" Andersen barked, forcing his tiny back against Kiara. Kiara looked up and saw one of the Vessels charging her, reaching for her with clawed hands-
I observed your suffering with one thousand eyes.
In one hand, she held the mudra - that for casting out demons and ill intent - and with her other, she caught the Vessel's arm in her open palm.
And with these thousand hands, I take it away! Rise like the lotus from the mud that entombs you!
Kiara Sessyoin closed her fingers gently, touching bark and flesh alike on the misshapen creature.
Let Compassion be your Strength!
And all in her vision melted into light.
____________________________________________________________________________
Frowning, Hakuno ran her hands over the keys once more. Tabs flickered across the screen, her eyes flashing from word to word to picture and gleaning nothing of use.
Well. Mostly nothing. If they were going to stay much longer, they'd need to find food for Ritsuka and Asako at the very least. Possibly Matthew as well, assuming he processed it like a human still.
Flicking her gaze upwards, Hakuno observed Rin grinding her teeth and pressing her fist to her mouth. The smallest bead of sweat trailed down her brow.
"She's about to have a fit, I think," Tamamo murmured. She lay across Hakuno's lap, tail idly flicking in the air behind. One eye was shut, and the other observed the room with calculation.
Hakuno lightly bit the inside of her cheek as she returned her attention to the screen.
Redacted. Redacted, redacted, redacted- there was information on the oil rig itself, the crew facilities… But. But.
The list scrolled downwards as she finally committed to one tab.
Scientists. Mages. Engineers, janitors, medical, even a list of religious personnel. Each with name, age, and a variety of other information.
A sharp inhale drew her attention. Hakuno looked over to Ritsuka.
The boy folded his arms, eyes screwed shut as he dug fingers tightly into his biceps. He swallowed visibly.
Both he and Rin had grown quiet over the past few minutes, and the signs of stress were beginning to mount.
"...King Gilgamesh," Ritsuka began.
Said king turned his gaze on his ostensible 'Master'. Slowly, he raised an eyebrow.
Hakuno forced herself to look downward again, not jumping as Nero's finger trailed across a name she had been looking at beforehand.
"No station noted. But here…" The Emperor hummed.
Janus Pemberly. Magic Circuits: C+ quality, B quantity. There in the database, instead of occupation. In the others, the occupation would turn blue when she scrolled her cursor over them. A click of the hyperlink would open a new tab, and a dossier on the person would unroll.
There was no link for the circuit descriptor.
"Do you lack faith in your Servants, Ritsuka Tohsaka?" Gilgamesh asked, his voice raised just enough to wrench Hakuno's attention once more. She looked up.
Gilgamesh placed one hand on his hip, eyes piercing. He looked bored at first pass, but it was in the eyes- frigid, clinical. Ritsuka was teetering on the edge of his tolerance, and any interference from her or the other Servants would push him over.
Ritsuka didn't avert his gaze.
"While it is true that I surpass them in every meaningful way, I am hardly a means of last resort - or a man who indulges in petty rescues." Gilgamesh tilted his head backwards, staring down his nose. "So tell me. Ritsuka Tohsaka, do you seek to waste my time and insult those you tasked with this duty?"
"The thing they're fighting - it's not a Noble Phantasm!" Rin blurted out. "It's an entirely-!"
Gilgamesh held up a hand forebodingly.
Nero leaned on Hakuno's shoulder, and what she could catch of her expression was somewhat pensive. It was an odd look on her.
Tamamo squirmed upright, eyes bright and intent. Her ears twitched.
"Forgive me." Ritsuka tilted his head to look the Hero-King in the eye. "It seems I wasn't clear in my intent."
A lesser man would have blinked, Hakuno was sure. Instead, Gilgamesh's draconian gaze merely dimmed in intensity. "How so?"
"I asked for your help, by which I meant I wanted your advice. The battle is going poorly, and as you've seen most of what these Servants are capable of I was hoping for insight."
In all honesty, Hakuno would have preferred asking El-Melloi or Caesar. Unfortunately, neither were there, and Gilgamesh… for all he preferred taking things lightly (as it were), he wasn't the worst at reading situations.
Gilgamesh pursed his lips, clearly weighing Ritsuka's words. Then he spoke.
"What opposition do they face?"
Hakuno relaxed slightly. She turned back to the screen, only for Tamamo to be in her way, nose to nose. And when she opened her mouth, she was silenced by a kiss.
Well, with Gilgamesh keeping the others occupied… she could take a break.
____________________________________________________________________________
Shotaro swung the hammer wide, hitting nothing with the metal. The flames that roared forth were another story, scorching a half-circle a handful of meters ahead of him and forcing back stabbing, twisted branches.
The reddish bark gleamed in the low light, doused in what Shotaro hoped was water.
Seems like our host is a bit of an amateur, hm? The voice was wry, mocking. He hasn't even touched your armory.
Shotaro grit his teeth, hobbling backwards as the branches crashed before him and gouged the floor through the blood and sap. Stone chipped and flew, bouncing off of him harmlessly while wood twisted with cracks that filled his ears.
In the near distance, a blue blur sent spray spiraling upwards in a trail, afterimage trailed by a massive golden spear. A golden claw fell, only for the massive man before it to flicker to the side and reform his spear into a bow.
Aiming at Passionlip, Lu Bu was forced to duck when Cu Chulainn's spear passed through the space his head briefly occupied.
Shotaro wrenched his attention back to his own fight when the converted humans-
Vessels. Vassals. Hungering, thirsting, unable to feast or quench. All they are goes to the source; drinking, drank, drunk. Spinning as sobriety flees-
Hush, child. Yet a third voice echoed in a tone that could only be called paternal. They will not touch him.
Shotaro jerked as metal enclosed his waist, and he was hoisted out of reach upon contact with the enemy.
Wrought of gilded bronze, the automaton had three legs and moved upon wheels attached at the foot. The metal engulfing his upper legs and lower torso shifted, taking the form of a chair. Letters Shotaro immediately identified as an ancient form of Greek glimmered. Molten orange flooded the engravings, and the machine flew back, giving him much needed breathing space.
Dad! Dad, can you hear me!?
Shotaro's head flew up. "Ritsuka?" he whispered.
I know things are tough, but you've got to hang on! Gilgamesh said you should have a lot of powerful weapons to call on - can you think of any that would help?
Squinting, Shotaro tore open a veil of liquid fire midair with his bare hand. Awareness flooded him, the same that had when he had taken small peeks inside throughout this entire mission. It wasn't anything so organized as an itemized list, but he knew where each thing was and how to most quickly dispatch it - an instinctual knowing of all he had.
The 'vessels' as the young voice had called them began to climb up the machine's legs, only for the chair to lift ever so slightly. The wheeled limbs spun like a vortex, glowing brightly as they blurred and shot the enemy into the distance through sheer centrifugal force.
That- what's BB up to? Ritsuka asked urgently.
Shotaro narrowed his eyes in the direction of the tree's gaping maw, letting Ritsuka borrow his gaze through their connection.
The girl in black (who looked eerily like an adolescent version of his sister-in-law - minus the hair and eyes) wove her baton, discs of pink energy overlapping rapidly in the gullet of the carnivorous plant. With each sweep, the opaque barrier became less so and more solid in color, more radiant in brightness.
Behind her, Charlie's sword flashed and carved with frightening ease through man and plant alike. It gleamed with a hue of purples, oranges, reds, and blues as it scythed through the targets - and unlike with Cu Chulainn's spear, they did not rise again. The wounds dried and cracked, fissures spreading along the bodies of the 'vessels'. Dust floated on the macabre pool which surrounded the paladin's feet. Branches recoiled, losing tension and turning serpentine as they fled the iridescence of Joyeuse.
With a groaning wrench, shards of pink light shot from the tree's mouth and the shield dimmed. Vines dragged the helpless staff towards the maw for conversion, waiting for the barrier to fade. Branches erupted from the trunk and sprouted at seemingly random angles, forming a geometric impaling prison centering upon BB and Charlie.
Such an assault would shred flesh, spiritual or otherwise…
I have found, the fatherly voice noted mildly, that metal is an excellent deterrent to weapons of wood. And that even plants that take exception to fire can be quite easily burned if enough ordinance is brought to bear.
Soft, the irritable voice spat.
Dad?
Shotaro narrowed his eyes, and flung his empty hand forward. Once more, the air rent in a heat haze, and once more magma bloomed forth.
This time, the circle started at the size of a small highway tunnel and grew. Rounded protrusions of metal came first, extending into what first resembled rods. A heartbeat later confirmed they were fingers. Fingers of bronze, as the sloughing magma revealed.
The mere convection from the gate wrenched the moisture from every Vessel in ten meters, and those beyond began to flee. Against mundane qualities or a wide variety of weaponry, they might be a threat. Against fire and whatever Charlie was doing in his corner of the room, they fell like flies.
And then the portal closed, leaving a giant of bronze. Golden-orange energy flowed through visible circuits on the outermost part of its hull, and its head turned to regard the tree itself.
...that'll work. Stay close to it, and have it grapple that thing so BB can finish sealing it! I'll have Charlie watch your back, and Rin will get Cu Chulainn to keep the enemy Servant away.
Talos stepped forward with barely a thought from Shotaro, massive legs crossing the room in but a few paces. The metal beneath its feet didn't give, but it was close as the heat from its feet caused the floor to buckle and warp, groaning monstrously all the while. Reaching out, branches stabbed at its arms only to burst into flame on contact. Undeterred by the gurgling shrieks of the monstrous tree, Talos wrapped its mighty arms around the trunk - restraining it, and searing bark away wherever metal made contact.
"NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS!" BB cackled over the din, spinning her pointer in concentric circles. Pink light layered once more, and the vines that brought humans near the abomination spasmed and let them fall.
Shotaro wrenched his hand through the air, and drew a massive net from his smithy. With a puff from his lungs, he cooled it and then flung it wide.
The bodies didn't hit the floor, but he doubted many were uninjured even as slack as they were - the impact had to have some effect, he figured. Perhaps. (He was a househusband, not a physics expert.)
And at that moment, a shadow loomed over him. Shotaro looked upwards.
Lu Bu's spear had shifted, turning from a piercing polearm to a slashing axe and barreling towards him at immense speed. Even as Shotaro wrenched the 'combat chair', he knew it wouldn't give him the momentum to escape in time. He braced himself for impact.
The golden weapon, wielded in one hand, slowed just enough for Shotaro to escape. While the chair burst away from the Berserker in an orange blur, Shotaro saw what had impeded the enemy Servant.
A multitude of spines - thorns - cut through the meat of Lu Bu's arm when Cu Chulainn wrenched Gae Bolg free of his flesh. Blood spattered the ground, tendons tore, and muscle and bone alike were laid bare.
Lu Bu gave a hissing roar, his attention freshly diverted back to his former target. He leapt away, his weapon buckling and twisting until it turned into a great gold-and-black bow as tall as the giant himself. He drew what looked to be a copy of his spear, and pulled it back on the string. Immediately, Shotaro felt a sense of foreboding.
With a thunderous call like gravel being forced through a steam furnace, Lu Bu loosed the arrow like a meteor through the air. It tore through, the mere pressure sending transformed victims flying and dislodging the net Shotaro had hung.
Shotaro dug deep into the mountain god's workshop, reaching for a construct he knew could block it, only for the energy he used to keep the portal open to immediately cut out.
Talos vanished in a shower of orange light, releasing the tree. Though the bark was gouged with black char, it was still functional. The vines waved aimlessly, mouth still blocked with a solid pink disc.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shotaro saw Charlie trip, barely missing a claw to his neck. Passionlip stumbled, only her claws holding her upright.
All this happened in the span of a heartbeat. And in the next, the arrow plunged right above the ground close to Shotaro.
In a third-
"Execute: Phantasm_Step_98."
In a third heartbeat, Shotaro's sight was obscured by a shower of cherry blossoms, and his body turned weightless as though he'd been forced into his astral form.
Gradually, the petals fell.
In one chair, Ritsuka sat. He was pale, barely conscious as Rin stood over him with a strange screen spreading from her hand as she looked him over with poorly concealed concern. Asako didn't bother hiding hers as she held onto his hand with a stricken expression.
Behind a desk, Hakuno stood with wide eyes. Nero's brow furrowed in shock, seeing Shotaro. Tamamo glared at Shotaro in exasperation - as though he was at fault, and she knew why.
Gilgamesh appeared bored, unmoving from where he stood over Matthew's sleeping form as the young man curled up, unconscious. Emiya had two fingers on Matthew's neck, eyes narrowed as he loomed over the loveseat.
Meltryllis slid over to Passionlip, immediately checking on her. Charlie stood at the Alter Ego's other side, offering his own unsteady shoulder as a brace.
Cu Chulainn stepped forward, mouth open-
"Well. Who would have thought that trying to use multiple divine constructs at once could have consequences?" The voice dripped with condescension. "Not that I blame you, but it really is lucky we're in a datascape." BB stepped into view, tapping her upraised palm with her rod. "So. Care to explain?"
She directed this at the last three people in the room. One wore a doctor's coat and black dress, and had long black hair and golden eyes. She wore a small frown. One was a small child in formal clothes with blue hair. His exasperation matched Tamamo-no-Mae's. The last was a literal knight in shining armor, and his fingers twitched as he aborted a step towards Matthew and Ritsuka.
And in the knight's arms was a young woman in a labcoat with mousy brown hair and spectacles.
____________________________________________________________________________
Rin stepped back, massaging her forehead. There had been a sudden drain on Toh- on Rit- on his magical energy. The first rush had sent him unsteady, but the second pull had left him all but comatose. She'd ask what had done it, but she'd seen through Lancer's eyes. The moving tripod was a common courier used by Hephaestus, and from what she could tell Ritsuka's Alter Ego was similar in nature (if not shape) to Meltryllis and Passionlip.
Ritsuka.
No. She didn't have time to unpack that.
A bronze giant credited to Hephaestus, it had to be Talos himself - an engine of destruction given to Crete; namely Europa. And then he reached for yet another weapon or shield to block the incoming God Force. Whatever cost demanded must have been too high for Ritsuka to pay himself.
"So in summary," Hakuno began, shaking Rin out of her reverie. "You pulled out not one, not two, but attempted to triple-wield Divine Constructs." Hakuno's finger, aimed at Shotaro, moved to Charlemagne. "You ended up dusting no small amount of the people we tried to recover with your holy sword - which says more about their situation than I'd like." And she swung back to Shotaro. "And then the people you rescued were at ground zero of Berserker's Noble Phantasm."
BB shrugged. "It's all about cost-effectiveness. Also, I didn't care enough to save them and wasn't beholden to." She paused. "Huh."
Hakuno folded her arms. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," BB replied airily. "So. What got him in a state?" She tilted her head at Matthew's unconscious body.
Rin looked at Asako.
"No clue." Asako was terse, eyes focused on Ritsuka. "Not-Dracula showed up, said some weird shit, was wholly ineffective, got nailed with a cursed dagger, and got warped away. It looked like command seals, but things are weird enough it could be some other method. Our rules clearly aren't the only ones in play."
Rin watched as Shotaro hobbled over to Ritsuka's side, bracing himself against the chair. His eyes glazed over, he placed his hand on the boy's head. His expression was distant.
"Good thing too, it was the only way I was getting your Servants away from God Force," BB noted off-handedly. "Given Daddy Dearest went and totaled your brother, cutting Command Seals out of the equation."
Shotaro flinched.
Tamamo-no-Mae coughed lightly before Asako could fire back. "So. Lu Bu and…?"
"Vlad III." The red-clad Archer's voice was just this side of arctic as he stood. He stepped away, and Cu Chulainn - her Lancer - took his place, kneeling at Matthew's side. Emiya moved to Ritsuka, and began to examine him much as he had for Matthew.
Nero jerked. "Vlad III? Then… how did his illusions work?" She frowned. "Lancer's skills make him a fortress, and his mind is inviolable even if he is… himself."
"Translation: someone should have been more than a little impaled," Tamamo added.
The room was silent.
"While this is all fascinating," Gilgamesh drawled, "what I would like to know is what she is doing here. And who the woman in the sun-knight's arms is."
The dark-haired woman, who had yet to be introduced, looked up. "Ah. Apologies for my rudeness. My name is Kiara Sessyoin. I'm a therapist employed by Chaldea, by way of Seraphix."
"Fascinating." The faintest trace of venom twined through Gilgamesh's voice. His eyes narrowed, and Rin was suddenly aware that one of the few who might curb his anger was very unconscious.
"As for the woman, this is Mable Macintosh," Kiara continued. "She's a scientist who worked on the lower levels of Seraphix."
BB stepped forward, a glint in her eyes. "Can you wake her?" she asked. A giddy sneer spread across her face.
Kiara hesitated. "I…"
"We do not even know how the woman managed to revert her in the first place," the blue boy remarked in a dour tone. His voice was pitched far deeper than Rin had expected.
"Andersen," Kiara rebuked gently, regaining her composure. She looked from him back to BB. "I touched her and this happened after a flash of light. It was in the middle of combat, and afterwards there were no other survivors to try and attempt a replication."
"Had I known that such a thing was possible, I would have held back," the knight next to Kiara offered with a regretful frown. "I thought those taken by the enemy to be lost for good."
Rin shook her head, finally. "No, Gawain." She recognized him from the resistance, finally. He'd gotten separated, and… anyways. "We need to prioritize the people who aren't transformed yet."
"Well, a whole bunch of those got mulched pretty recently," BB reminded them jovially. "So good job you!" She clapped her hands together and gave a gaping grin, widening her eyes facetiously.
"I tried to stop him," Shotaro said hollowly, finally speaking up.
BB mock-gasped. "Really? I couldn't tell! It's not as though you overextended poor widdle Ritsy-"
"Which is fascinating, because he has been able to field myself along with numerous other Servants without issue in the past," Gilgamesh pointed out coolly.
"Launching treasures or using mystic codes is a world apart from mainlining multiple Divine Constructs, let alone a defense on par with the Round Table or a combat automaton which is a Noble Phantasm in its own right." BB's rebuttal was short, sharp, and to the point. "And that was what you were reaching for, weren't you?" She turned her eyes back on Shotaro.
The man merely balled a hand into a fist.
To add to the seasonings on the shit sundae that the situation had devolved into, the loudmouth Caster who had been insensate until that point stirred.
And as Rin watched, Matthew Kyrielight went from zero to homicidal in three seconds flat.
____________________________________________________________________________
Asako had expected a lot of things when her brother's Caster woke up. Concern for her brother, some continuation of the frenzy he'd entered against Vlad III maybe. Possibly clinging to his boyfriend if he was upset enough.
She didn't expect him to yowl like a wounded animal, voice like some feral cat filtered through a woodchipper, and lunge at the unconscious Mable Macintosh with extended claws.
Cu Chulainn managed to get his arms around the Caster, leveraging his superior strength and speed. It helped that though Matthew struggled, canines lengthening, he seemed unwilling to take whatever blind fury he'd entered out on the Lancer.
His pupils swelled to consume his irises, and the sclera of his eyes bloomed red. Asako watched the color spread independently of any blood vessels, marking the change as something other than injury. Black mist began to wisp from his shrieking mouth, clouds that squirmed with something inside them. Something with legs and mandibles and eyes-
Then Kyrielight went slack. His circlet gleamed a brilliant silver, and his body heaved with exertion. As though a stop-motion video, his eyes flickered through stages until they returned to green, and his fingers and teeth shrank back to normal. Each second changed his body as though it were replaced with a new, slightly different model. The effect was utterly unsettling.
The mist dissipated.
Slowly, Matthew blinked. His breathing gradually evened out, but no one seemed willing to speak.
The newer Servants were visibly unsettled. Not frightened, except possibly Passionlip, but definitely perturbed. Tamamo in particular wore a grimace.
The others ran the gamut of stunned, confused, and in Gilgamesh's case darkly amused.
Asako quietly freaked out.
"WHAT THE SHIT WAS THAT!?"
Very quietly.
BB's head turned as though on a swivel. "Well hel-lo Sleeping Beauty!" she chirped. "And how are we feeling? Hm? Peckish? Drowsy? Ready to sink our teeth and claws into an unconscious victim?"
Matthew finally straightened up. He looked around the room. After scant seconds, his gaze landed on Ritsuka. His pupils shrank to a pinpoint. "Fuck," he hissed, scrabbling at Cu Chulainn's iron grip. "Lemme go, lemme go-"
"Easy," Cu soothed. He set him down. "Now don't go attacking anyone."
Asako didn't see any danger of that, given he bolted straight for Ritsuka and immediately tore what could only be a magic wand out of his armguard, trailing golden light over Ritsuka's head.
"The fuck happened here!?" Matthew snapped, hackles up.
Their dad's shoulders tightened, and he looked away. He didn't move his hand from where he gently massaged Ritsuka's scalp.
Asako kept holding his hand.
"He's low. Critically low. Did nobody try a mana transfer!? At all!?" He paused. "Or contact Da Vinci!? Why didn't the generators back at Chaldea prevent this?"
Hakuno exhaled. "That's because we didn't establish a summoning circle. I can connect us to Chaldea to communicate and provide a beacon, but without that we can't receive the excess mana that is generally used to provide enough for multiple Noble Phantasm invocations. There's a link, sure, but it's not as strong as it would be otherwise."
"So Mash makes life in a Singularity easier, news at eleven," Matthew bit out. "How long was I under?"
"Dunno." BB shrugged. "Want to share why you woke up on the murder side of the bed?" Her eyes gleamed with hateful glee. "Inquiring minds are dying to know."
"Then perish," Matthew replied icily, placing a hand on Ritsuka's neck. Emiya removed his fingers just before Ritsuka faintly glowed.
BB scowled.
"His pulse is steady, so he hadn't hit a threshold for panic," Emiya stated. He looked at Matthew with curiosity. "...we have many questions."
"And I don't have answers. None I want to discuss, at least."
Asako breathed slowly. She felt warmth return to her brother's hand in hers.
Matthew stepped back. "Thankfully, my magical energy is more potent than a human's - it didn't take much for me to kickstart things." He rolled his shoulders. "We need to get to the observatory."
Hakuno frowned. "Chaldea-"
"Not that one." His eyes blazed. "Get me Da Vinci and Roman, if you can."
After a moment, Hakuno waved at the air in front of her. A bright blue panel appeared, and though somewhat pixellated, Roman's image manifested.
"Good, you're awake," the man said. His relief was palpable, even through the call. "And our monitors say Ritsuka has stabilized. Good work, Matthew."
Matthew sliced his hand through the air. "Did you know?"
Roman blinked. "What?"
"The observatory. Here. Did you know?"
The doctor's brow furrowed. "...an observatory on an oil platform?"
Asako couldn't call herself an absolute master of cold reading, but she knew clueless when she saw it. The doctor's suspicion had piqued, but he definitely had no idea what Matthew was on about.
Neither did she for that matter, but details.
Matthew's shoulders tightened. "Right. Da Vinci?"
Roman looked over his shoulder before turning back and shaking his head. "She's looking into the available files, but there's nothing immediately apparent. What did you find?"
Matthew's lips thinned. He stepped further into the room. "Ritsuka's going to be out for a while. I need a Master and certain Servants; we need to shut down that observatory."
Asako opened her mouth.
"You I want here." He deliberately didn't look at the unconscious scientist. "If Chaldea reaches out, you're more likely to get the transmission."
Roman nodded appraisingly. "You're not wrong. We need to force the connection, but we can contact Asako, Ritsuka, and Hakuno directly."
"And me!" BB smiled, face dimpling. She winked. "Aren't I sooo helpful?" Her voice was full of sugary malice.
"Someone's feeling better," Hakuno muttered, a speculative look in her eye.
BB froze, then straightened her spine. "Anyways." She coughed into her fist.
"Rin, Cu Chulainn, Gilgamesh, Kiara and Hakuno. The rest stay here." Matthew folded his arms. "It goes without saying I'm part of the advance. Tamamo-no-Mae, I'm entrusting Ritsuka to you. The person masquerading as you in Septem had knowledge of healing magecraft; does that hold true for you?"
"I can look after him," Tamamo said slowly. "But-"
"Aside from myself, Hakuno is the best bet for tending him with skill. The other option is one of Gilgamesh's treasures, and there's no guarantee he's in a mood for donations."
Asako bit her lip.
"And what makes you think I'll follow your directives, let alone this mongrel's?" Gilgamesh asked silkily.
"I don't think you will," Matthew retorted.
Gilgamesh blinked once, the only sign he might have been caught off-guard.
"I'm banking on what's down there pissing you off enough for you to destroy it. Rin's along because she's a Master who knows her way around this codecast stuff, and I have a feeling we'll need Hakuno and Kiara to disable it before destroying it." Matthew straightened his shoulders. "Cu's her Servant, so he should be there to protect her. If nothing else, I'd like to think if I got too far in over my head you'd bail me out. Maybe. If only because you don't want anyone else damaging me beyond repair."
Gilgamesh tilted his head and gave a noncommittal hum, looking down his nose.
Matthew turned his attention to BB. "And you'll want to come along too."
BB inspected her nails. "Oh?"
"Yeah. After all, I've gotta hold up my end of the bargain."
The purple-haired girl's head snapped back up, eyes flashing red.
Matthew turned on his heel in clear dismissal. "...Gawain. Try not to get too attached to that woman." And he marched out without another word.
Asako looked at Gawain, who frowned in confusion. "What does he mean by that?" he murmured.
Asako wasn't sure she wanted to know.
____________________________________________________________________________
Fuck.
My spear rises in giddy joy-
Fuck.
Red's a good color on you, kitten. Really makes your skin pop.
Fuck.
Well, if it's for the good of the world… I'm sure the director knows what he's about!
Fuck.
Pemberly here, ready to start! Ah, enter the coffin? Long-term deployment? Well, here's hoping I get back before my eighteenth birthday yeah? Heh!
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-
With the saint and the program and the king you will-
Fuckfuckfuckfuck shut the fuck up!
I grasped my temples with both hands, palms grinding into my head as I stormed down the hall. My magical energy billowed, buoyed by my own regeneration and the scabbard implanted in my torso. Whenever a mind brushed against the cloud, I snared every sense attached and distorted it so neither I nor those following me existed. Their bodies may have been strong, but their consciousness faded - and that was the battle ground I chose, naturally.
"Oi-" Cu began.
"Less talking, more walking." My feet echoed against the metal floor. "The observatory's at the bottom of the platform, dead center. We'll need a left at the next hall." I spun when the turn came up, forcing the rest to pour on speed. Gilgamesh didn't bother, easily keeping pace at the rear.
The halls felt claustrophobic in a way they hadn't before.
Before it told me. Before I knew.
Remove it and annihilate all with knowledge-
A soft chime spread through my mind, and the burning words subsided under a sweet chill.
Better? Morgan whispered.
Yes.
At least Da Vinci and Roman hadn't known. Da Vinci came after Mash and I, and denounced what made us. I couldn't see her countenancing- that. Roman… Roman-
I swallowed harshly.
A hand landed on my shoulder. "Can you give us a second?" Cu whispered. Concern tinged his voice.
"No. I know, and if I know then there's a chance someone is watching us and is aware, and if we don't stop it we can't bring them down," I bit out in a rush. "We've got to stop it."
"Stop what?" Rin asked, jogging to keep up. Her voice barely betrayed her exertion, but she was definitely breathing a little heavily. "What's happening?"
"Convergence." She could rest when we reached the service elevator. Without- Hrm. I turned my head over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes.
Who let Andersen come along?
"Your haste betrays your nerves," he said, eyes narrowed.
Kiara gently pat his head to his visual and verbal chagrin. "Yes?"
"Do you have clearance to access the observatory?" I asked her.
"No?"
...service elevator it is.
"Perhaps if you explain yourself, you might find the rest of us more accommodating?" Andersen called as I whirled another corner, this time to the right.
Oil platform plus Singularity equals not-Labyrinth. Good to know.
"I don't think he's listening, Andersen," Kiara told him, unruffled and unstrained.
"How are you keeping up with him I hate you," Rin wheezed, finally breaking down. From the sounds behind me, Cu scooped her up in his arms.
Gilgamesh chuckled.
When I stopped in front of the service elevator, I paused at the passcode entry.
"1-6-9-8-4," he whispered as he tapped the buttons.
I am a Caster. I cheat.
I punched the numbers in, and the mechanism groaned to life.
"So is Ritsuka going to be alright?" Hakuno asked, finally speaking up.
I nodded. "I gave him a jumpstart, now it's just treating symptoms. I assume Tamamo can do that."
"She can," Hakuno agreed. "Will you be alright?"
"Peachy keen," I replied, pitching my voice upwards without turning around.
The door opened.
"We'll see how long that lasts, shall we?" BB stared at me coolly. "Come on in, the trauma's fine."
The service elevator was easily large enough to hold all of us. It was made for moving crates and other large objects up and down; a cargo of eight people was nothing.
"Going down. Next stop, Chaldea's dirty laundry: at-sea edition," BB droned.
I clenched my hand into a fist. The only concession I gave was leaning my arm into Cu's. Rin looked at me from the corner of her eye as he leaned back, accepting it.
All the while, Gilgamesh's eyes gleamed with mounting interest.
...fuck.
____________________________________________________________________________
Astaroth twirled the cane in his grip. This was becoming unfortunate.
At first brush, Lancer appeared unharmed. On examination, however, a curse had taken root in his body. The output of his magical energy had dropped by a fifth of the total, which while far from fatal was definitely unproductive.
Berserker was a more immediate concern. He'd found the Servant rampaging through the insensate humans, the tree unable to ingest and twist them into familiars.
The man's arm was neatly mangled, and refused to heal. Which indicated more of the nature of the effects of the process on Servants than anything else- a boost and enslavement, but not full conversion.
Twice's eyes were closed as the wheel spun, light gathering along the edge. The instant any of Chaldea's forces surfaced they would be obliterated in a hail of radiant arrows. He hoped they would try to match it. Even Excalibur itself would falter.
Assassin stood apart, untouched. For a moment Astaroth considered sending him along, but then decided against it. Best to hold that card in reserve.
The Demon God's eyes flickered in shadow, weaving through the dark. In the enclosed spaces, in vents and pipes, he spread his awareness.
The majority of the invaders remained in their little encampment. It would be more trouble than it was worth to invade, so he left it.
However, a handful was making their way - ah. That was problematic.
"I'm going to examine the observatory," Astaroth offered off-handedly. "Is there anything you wish me to handle on the way?"
Twice opened his eyes, shaking his head. His face was pinched in fury. "They stopped it. The means of enlightenment."
"For now. Once we dispose of the girl, the shield will shatter and we can resume. Until such time, let the uninitiated hide. At worst they'll provide fodder for the growth of those you've shown the light." Astaroth gave a careless shrug.
"...if you have a chance to end her, do it." Twice's voice reverberated, a bit of the other leaking through. He closed his eyes and began to meditate atop the tree's branches.
Honestly. Transformed or not, smears in the tree chamber or not, the humans were meant to burn regardless. Unless and until it actively challenged the greater work, these were minor setbacks at worst.
However. Permitting one particular Servant to access the Anomaly would likely make things uncomfortable for the collective.
An ounce of prevention and all that.
"Ta, then. I'll be back in a wink." And Astaroth stepped forward.
A maw of shadows yawned, and the human-shaped nightmare slid between a pair of fangs as he descended to the oil rig.
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jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Oh my. Considering Matthew's reactions, I get the feeling this is going to be a massive storage vault of his 'siblings' remains or something similar.
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So while I didn't outright say a lot in this chapter, I did do a bit of spelling out (or tried to). While the 'what' is still fairly ambiguous, who it involves was hinted at pretty loudly I feel.
In my opinion, it was on par with what Marisbilly did with the designer babies (but that's because I made it up in the absence of clear information on what exactly Seraphix's observatory did). It's definitely a deviation from canon in some ways, so consider it at least a mild AU element.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
-Points up at tag-
"Canon what canon"
We've been warned about that possibility for a long time now. And let's face it; sometimes adding AU elements causes a fictional setting to make more sense, internally and otherwise.
Tale Swapper
(Unverified Madman)
- Location
- Lost Among a Sea of Imaginings and Dreams
Good lord, yes. Some of the more popular works out there (Harry Potter, Nasuverse, Worm, Pokemon, MLP, etc) have glaring setting holes which are handwaved in various ways. Sometimes its the fanfic which comes up with a more satisfying conclusion than any steps canon would be willing to take.
As an aside, this chapter was still worth the wait. Although I'm waiting for the penny to drop on Kiara. Something's seriously different about her, and not just the 'Not gonna be Beast III-R'.
- Pronouns
- Male
Well kiara was known as the demonic budhesvia so maybe saver did a final f*ck you and gave her a normal enlightenment
Garreon
Paldean Top Champion
- Location
- Mesagoza, Paldea
well, you do remember that this Kiara is very different from the Kiara of Extra. Whereas Extra's could have turned into a Saver class servant upon death, her life and actions shaped her into a Beast.
Fate Go's Kiara, however, was saved and cured of her illness, so she never developed the mindset of humans being animals and that she was the only "true" human.
Basically this Kiara has devoted her life to save people and help them the same way she was saved, she is a very compassionate individual.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but one of the requirements to act as a pseudo-servant vessel was to be a match with the Spirit, or Deity, that will use the Saint Graph alongside the human vessel. Kiara is a devoted and compassionate psychiatrist and a practitioner of Buddhism, coincidentally a "divine voice" just spoke to her telling her this:
I observed your suffering with one thousand eyes.
And with these thousand hands, I take it away! Rise like the lotus from the mud that entombs you!
Let Compassion be your Strength!
I think we all can see where this is going, specially seeing as Morgan's Council has one representative from each pantheon, and since Manaka cheated it opened the way for Morgan to do the same back in moderation.
We already have Olga Marie acting as the new Lady of the Lake, now who is going to back up this budding Saver I wonder.
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Reality_Impacts
He Who Has Been Seen
- Location
- The Deep Abyss Of Madness
Let's see, one thousand eyes with one thousand limbs, has lotus imagery/symbolism, and is focused on compassion. GUAN YIN
One quick Google Search later, and there's already a prospective deity. I considered putting my guess in via spoiler tag but I'll just keep my cards close to my chest this time around. LIES
Very interesting I can we what you mean blink about fight scenes and the ending very ominous so we have a au Kiara nice I don't know much about Buddhism so I will wait for the next chapter
As a tentative guess...something similar to the base mechanics of what EoR Kiara did - inter 128 failed Master candidates in Coffins, force them to summon Servants which killed them but left their circuits intact, and used the preserved circuit network to resummon defeated Servants - except since it was Marisbilly and the pre-Order capabilities, plus the extended look into the horror of the designer baby demi-servant mess you've been doing...in other words getting back to the classic mystical mad science horrorshow that Type Moon is built upon...
So. Given the whole Animusphere Astronomy thing, the designer baby & Coffin, the fact this is a Planetorium/Observatory (at least officially), the way Astaroth referred to it as an Anomaly, and what little I understand about the core CHALDEAS/LAPLACE/SHEBA/TRISMEGISTUS thing, and my own rudimentary understanding of background Nasu-verse metaphysics...
An attempt to use that 'World Egg Theory' thing they mention underpinning Reality Marbles to create an artificial world with rules more to their liking:
-using the Circuits of the dead (or possibly not-quite-dead) Designer Babies as a bulk power supply;
-the Circuits and still-living minds/souls of rejected Master Candidates trapped in Coffins as a 'humanizing' director for the energy & supplemental power system to connect the mess to the human mindset/unconscious/Alaya to keep the phenomenon created semi-understandable by the not-integrated workers;
-the mechanisms that established the main Chaldean hardware to do a scan-and-archive of conventional reality to get relevant data for manipulating/interacting with the rest of the world;
-and some sort of apparatus for interacting with and ordering around the resultant abomination;
...all for the purpose of facilitating...Iunno, trying to maintain reality incase of something like the Lostbelts or the Incineration of Humanity, reaching the Root (always a favorite), continuing to warp history and society to facilitate Marisbilly's whims beyond what he managed to accomplish with the Holy Grail to get Chaldea off the ground, add conceptual weight & mystery to Chaldea's other projects, punching holes to alternate realities to expand what Chaldea can gain information on, punching holes to other planets to find aliens and exploit them without actually having to deal with TYPEs smacking people around, create a supercomputer that can get answers and perform functions by rewriting reality to pull a Gae Bolg style casaulity reversal of 'we have the result, so we must have reached it' instead of figuring out an actual method to get the desired result...Am I anywhere near it? I'll just wait and see when we get to the chapter (or chapters), if you don't feel like revealing more hints ahead of time.
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Woah rain that theory is either madness or brilliance I can't tell
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, it definitely pertains to the failed Master candidates, I'll give you that.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
When in the Nasu-verse, think crazy and use mystic-themed technobabble.
Fair enough. I'll wait and see if I got anything else close to right.
Okay, if that part of canon didn't change...
Dang, for the delete of first version, but it took me a while to remember the exact formulation for coding spoilers here.
It all comes down to Rayshifting. Marisbilly and Chaldea's little problem is that they didn't have the experimental data needed to move it from 'Fancy Theoretical Concept' to 'Workable In Reality Fact'. These poor sods, after failing the test for becoming Masters, were the guinea pigs selected to get that needed data, through... actual experimentation of the processus. Yes it didn't leave much of them.
Hakuta/Yu's recruitment is directly tied to the problem. The way Marisbilly saw it, if everything else failed, surely a True Ancestor would be able to survive Rayshifting and do the job.
Hakuta/Yu's recruitment is directly tied to the problem. The way Marisbilly saw it, if everything else failed, surely a True Ancestor would be able to survive Rayshifting and do the job.
Dang, for the delete of first version, but it took me a while to remember the exact formulation for coding spoilers here.
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
As a (mostly) unrelated aside, I managed to beat Solomon before the current FGO event. Thanks to all who shared their friend codes/friended me!
____________________________________
To keep it on topic, the next chapter will definitely pertain to what exactly the 'enlightenment' Twice is putting the people through is. Also will cover: Kiara and what exactly is going on with her, accessing the Moon Cell, and Matthew continuing to be my personal trauma piñata. On the home front, expect the little subplot with Mash I've been working on to come to a head, and possibly a little peek at what's going on in Avalon during all this. (The last part is still in flux and only if I can make it fit organically.)
____________________________________
To keep it on topic, the next chapter will definitely pertain to what exactly the 'enlightenment' Twice is putting the people through is. Also will cover: Kiara and what exactly is going on with her, accessing the Moon Cell, and Matthew continuing to be my personal trauma piñata. On the home front, expect the little subplot with Mash I've been working on to come to a head, and possibly a little peek at what's going on in Avalon during all this. (The last part is still in flux and only if I can make it fit organically.)
- Pronouns
- HIM
in this valentine event summer BB gift and scene is very creepy
but summer jealter was very fun tsun
but summer jealter was very fun tsun
pearypie
microwaving some barbies in your microwave
- Location
- Silicon Valley
- Pronouns
- She/Her
First off, don't be too hard on yourself. This chapter was 110% worth the wait-- you nailed the tone here, especially compared to Orleans and F/SN. In other words, you're improving.
As for fight scenes, people have told me that the best way to go about those is to keep the sentences and paragraphs short, but powerful. Be pragmatic and keep things simple. You did well with Mash vs. Artoria vs. Medusa.
As always, thank you for the chapter!
they could be using the Observatory to do something with reverse side. After all closer to Reverse side of world , stronger the magecraft. Maybe before creation of CHALDEAS and etc. they tried to replicate the clock towers situation.
Also doesn't chaldeas kind of reflect planets soul. maybe there are some sort research and prototypes of Chaldeas and Sheba.
Btw while Alaya speaks to Matthew, why doesn't it empower him. Like a mana source or some kind of advantage?
(And if you read this, pls take care of yourself author. this chapter is worth the wait.)
Also doesn't chaldeas kind of reflect planets soul. maybe there are some sort research and prototypes of Chaldeas and Sheba.
Btw while Alaya speaks to Matthew, why doesn't it empower him. Like a mana source or some kind of advantage?
(And if you read this, pls take care of yourself author. this chapter is worth the wait.)
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Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Short answer; it can't. Right now human history is being incinerated and it got caught with its pants down because Goetia was Very Very Sneaky and Clever. It can maneuver, but there's no Arcueid-style Backup coming down the pipe for any Counter Guardians or units Alaya can tap.
However, that doesn't mean that it isn't able to help him accomplish its desires - information is a hell of a weapon. 'Use X, Y, and Z' or 'this is where your enemies are going and this is their current plan' are incredibly useful things to know. There's a reason Kiara and Hakuno were recommended party members for the Observatory excursion - whatever happens there will empower both of them. There is no way Matthew could know this on his own, and no way that anyone short of BB could know just from being there. The trade-off for Matthew isn't physical power (which he is growing into at speed), but intel.
pearypie
microwaving some barbies in your microwave
- Location
- Silicon Valley
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Thread's been dead for like two weeks, so... what are Ophelia, Kadoc and the others getting up to while Matthew and co. weed the garden, Blink? And if Kirschtaria's going to be taking up a chunk of Romani's paperwork, then is he also going to be helping with the 'mission control' role as well?
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So Ophelia was on Mash duty for a bit - she was overseeing the training she was doing along with Scathach, Artoria, and Medusa.
Wodime will both help with admin and open up all the stuff Marisbilly kept sealed. That will lead into what I call 'The Belly of the Beast' Arc - Zero, London, and Paradox d'If. There won't be a lot of downtime between the three and they'll be immediately between Okeanos and Christmas.
Kadoc will most likely be the focus of the first downtime chapter between Seraph and Sanzang. He's been putting out little fires and handling potential dissent like Ritsuka would if he were there. LaVoisin existing is giving him and Anastasia a workout with France Crew, and that's before mentioning Nobunaga and potential boredom.
And Roman and Da Vinci are working the Rayshift comms, per usual.
Good News: I have two or three scenes left of this chapter, and it should be good to go this week!
Bad News: It's verrry talky. Lots of talking and unpacking stuff that's happened and reading documents and things. Which, I love dialogue so no surprises.
Medium News: CCC event (actual) is happening and I'm pretty wrapped up in it so despite having interest my writing pace hasn't increased too much.
Wodime will both help with admin and open up all the stuff Marisbilly kept sealed. That will lead into what I call 'The Belly of the Beast' Arc - Zero, London, and Paradox d'If. There won't be a lot of downtime between the three and they'll be immediately between Okeanos and Christmas.
Kadoc will most likely be the focus of the first downtime chapter between Seraph and Sanzang. He's been putting out little fires and handling potential dissent like Ritsuka would if he were there. LaVoisin existing is giving him and Anastasia a workout with France Crew, and that's before mentioning Nobunaga and potential boredom.
And Roman and Da Vinci are working the Rayshift comms, per usual.
Good News: I have two or three scenes left of this chapter, and it should be good to go this week!
Bad News: It's verrry talky. Lots of talking and unpacking stuff that's happened and reading documents and things. Which, I love dialogue so no surprises.
Medium News: CCC event (actual) is happening and I'm pretty wrapped up in it so despite having interest my writing pace hasn't increased too much.