Little Ritsuka and her Loving Family (Fate/Grand Order)

[kamenhero25]

A/N: This fic was inspired by a series of fan comics here. They deserve the credit for the initial idea, though the rest of this comes from my slightly off-kilter mind. I will endeavor to have a few more bits out to entertain in the near future.

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Olga Marie Animusphere was in her element. Giving orders, making things happen, and generally reminding the new Master candidates who was in charge at Chaldea. At least she was until she saw who was sitting in the middle of the front row. "I'm sorry, but who let a child in here." A small girl, one who couldn't have been more than ten, was indeed sitting directly in the middle of the first row of candidates. She looked up at Marie with firm, icy blue eyes.

"Mama was working on something and then there was an explosion and I ended up at the Association," the little girl said. "They sent me here to get me out of the way."

Marie felt a shiver run down her spine as she remembered another little girl sent to Chaldea against her will. "I see. Why don't you go down the hall and look for a woman in fancy red and blue clothes? She'll keep an eye on you while we have our meeting."

The little girl looked up at her then shrugged. "Alright. It has to be more interesting than sitting here." Marie fought the urge to reply as the girl skipped out.

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Olga Marie was wondering how the hell she'd gotten in to this mess. Being stuck inside a singularity without proper preparations or resources was bad enough. Having her only possible master left alive as a surly ten year old seemed like a bad joke. "Your parents were magi, right?" she asked the child.

"Mama was a first class magus," the girl said proudly. "Papa was a total failure, but he could do some fun tricks."

Olga elected not to ask. "Good. Then I hope you have a basic understanding of ritual magic. I'm afraid you might be our only hope of getting out of this alive." She turned to their only other resource of value. "Kyrielight, is the summoning matrix established?"

"Ah," Mash jumped and looked up from her work. "I think so Director. We're tapped into the local leyline enough to communicate with headquarters again."

There was a moment of static and then the image of Dr. Roman appeared in the air. "You're alive!" he shouted. "Oh thank God, I was starting to think you weren't going to make it." He smiled a huge, genuine smile. "And you have little Ritsuka with you. I hope you're keeping her safe, Mash."

"Yes, Doctor," Mash said, standing up a little straighter. "I'll be sure to protect senpai. It's my duty as a Servant."

"That's our reliable kohai." The doctor sighed with relief. "But I'm afraid we don't have time to play around. The singularity you're in is slowly destabilizing. You're going to have to resolve the distortion before we can bring you home."

Olga Marie sighed. "I was afraid of that. Is the summoning system ready for activation?"

"Ah, yes it is. We don't have enough power for much, but it should allow you to summon one Servant. But Ritsuka as the Master..."

"She's our only option," Marie interrupted. "I lack the compatibility to summon a useful Servant. We'll have to rely on her natural talents."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Roman sighed. "Alright, we're establishing the connection now. Ritsuka-chan, I need you to focus your magical energy and connect to the ritual circle. Chaldea's systems will pick up the slack and make sure the Servant is powered sufficiently, but you need to anchor them."

"I know how a summoning system works," Ritsuka said, turning up her nose and raising her hand. Her circuits began to glow and the air blasted away from the connection point as she initiated the ritual. Marie threw up a hand to shield her eyes from the dust and light. She was really starting to wonder where this girl was from. A top class mage, with an abnormally high compatibility as a Master, who already knew about Servant summoning systems wasn't someone who came out of nowhere.

"Whoa, that's quite the reaction," Roman called over the sound of the ritual. "Servant coming through in three... two... one..."

There was another flash and a man appeared in the middle of the circle. His skin was tanned incredibly dark and his hair bleached white. A long red coat blew around his body, covering a suit of closely fitted black armor. "I am Servant Archer. I have answered you call to..."

"Papa!" Marie and the new Servant both stopped dead as Ritsuka threw her arms around his waist.

The Servant looked very confused for a moment. Then comprehension dawned on his face and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Ah. I see. In life I was the hero of justice whose name was never known. But before that I was known as Shirou Emiya. You were my daughter?"

Ritsuka looked up at him and nodded quickly. "I was waiting for you and mama to come get me."

EMIYA looked nervous for a moment. "Ah. Who exactly was your mama?"

Suddenly there was a loud beeping sound and Roman appeared again. "We've got a problem! There's a chain summoning phenomenon occurring! Be prepared for possible hostilities. It might not be as friendly as our new ally." There was a second eruption of light and another figure appeared from the summoning circle. Her dark hair hung down to her waist and bright red eyes peered at the others. A very skimpy white bikini edged in gold covered her light skin a little, along with a single deep blue stocking.

"Hmmm?" She looked around, clearly confused. "Oh, it seems you're all struck dumb by my appearance. I am the amazing goddess of beauty and war..."

"Mama!" The second Servant was cut off as Ritsuka practically tackled her in her haste to give her a hug too.

"What?" The goddess looked down at her baffled for a few seconds, then yelped as her own left hand came up and punched her in the jaw. "Ow!"

"Stupid goddess!" The words came from her own lips, but the tone changed entirely, losing the formal edge and sounding extremely annoyed. "She's my daughter, so this is my problem! Get out of my head and let me handle it!"

"Ow, ow, ow." The entire group from Chaldea watched as the goddess's hands beat her own skull.

For a fleeting instant, the new arrival's hair flashed gold and her tone changed again, shifting like someone trying to speak in a lower range than was natural for them. "Just let her out, I can feel that too you know!"

The goddess yelped and tried to shield her head from her own hands without much success. "Alright already! Spoilsport..."

The new Servant settled down and when she opened her eyes again, they were a familiar bright blue and her hair settled back to deep raven black. "My apologies for that. I am a Servant of the Archer class. My name is Rin Tohsaka. I'm currently renting a portion of my brain to the goddess Ishtar in exchange for borrowing her abilities so I can manifest in this vessel."

"Apparently you're borrowing her wardrobe too," EMIYA teased.

Rin very slowly looked down at her own outfit. For a very long moment, there was no reaction. Then she very gently untangled herself from Ritsuka's arms as she rapidly began to turn red. "Emiya! Give me your clothes!"

EMIYA had just enough time to look afraid before Rin full body tackled him to the ground. "Good lord woman! Don't start tearing my clothes off when other people can see it!"

"Stop talking and give me that jacket." Finally, Rin emerged from the struggle with Emiya's jacket covering her much more than her original outfit had. "Ritsuka!" She reached down and grabbed the girl in a massive hug. "I was looking for you! Then everything started exploding and I had to cut a deal with this idiot to come find you. I'm so glad you're okay sweetie."

"I missed you too mama," the little red-head said, hugging her back.

Olga Marie was now absolutely certain that she really didn't want to have to deal with this crazy ass family. "What did I do to deserve this?"

 

[kamenhero25]

Olga Marie grumbled as she stepped over another pile of rubble as the team walked near the river. Whatever had happened to this city had certainly left its mark. Meanwhile, Ritsuka had steadfastly refused to let go of her mother's hand and was hopping across the piles of stones like a gymnast. Mash had started a brief chat on the nature of Servants with the other Archer and had fallen slightly behind. She was so focused on the… unusual companions with her that she ran straight into another chunk of stone. She grumbled a little as she picked herself up, looking up at the statue. Then her words died on her lips when she saw its face. The stone was worked into an expression of pure, unrelenting terror that was far too real.

"It's scary," Ritsuka murmured, hiding behind her mother's legs.

"It's certainly interesting," EMIYA said, opening his palms. "Trace on." There was a glow of mana around his hands and two swords, one white and one black, manifested in his hands.

Olga Marie felt slightly sick to her stomach as she back away from the screaming figure. "That's… not a statue. Kyrielight, battle positions."

Mash immediately leaped to the front of the group, her shield at the ready. "Ready for hostiles director. Master, please give me your orders."

"Protect mama so they don't get too close," Ritsuka said. "Papa can take care of himself."

Olga Marie was slightly impressed that the girl had put together a half decent strategy so fast, especially for a child. "I'm glad you have such faith in me," EMIYA said dryly. "I'll be counting on you to keep them safe Mash."

"How touching," a voice said from just above them. "I was going to ask what you were doing in my territory Archer, but you're not the Archer I know, are you?" A figure in a black cloak appeared in a cloud of darkness, a long polearm with a sickle-like blade in one hand.

"Oh great, so there's an evil version of me running around," EMIYA muttered. "Just what I needed today…"

"Focus on that later and her now," Rin said, a massive gold and blue bow taller than she was manifesting next to her.

"She looks like Auntie 'Dusa…" Ritsuka said softly. "That's really bad, isn't it?"

"Two Archers. How interesting." The black clad Servant vanished for an instant, reappearing in the middle of the group faster than the human eye could follow. "But I'm afraid you're at a disadvantage here." She whipped the blade around, aiming for Rin's neck, but EMIYA was there in an instant, intercepting the blow on the flat of his blades.

"You're a sneaky one, aren't you?" he muttered, barely holding the brute force of her strike back with both hands. The others all scrambled away, Rin keeping Ritsuka behind her while Mash covered the Director's retreat.

The enemy Servant just scoffed and kicked EMIYA in the stomach, sending him hurtling backwards. "You're definitely not the one I know. You're far too weak. At least this will be over quickly. And two people who can power three Servants between them will make a good meal for me. Better than these fools certainly."

"Now that's just rude."

Another male voice echoed through the air and both EMIYA and Rin groaned. Ritsuka looked around with more curiosity then fear. "Who's that mama?"

"A troublesome person," Rin said. "But a potentially friendly one."

The invisible voice laughed. "Troublesome? Man, you sound like my old teacher. I wasn't even going to come down here until I realized that you weren't acting like the Archer who's been giving me grief for the last day."

"How about you just come out already, Lancer?" EMIYA said, pushing himself back to his feet.

"Lancer?" There was a shower of blue light and a man in a sky blue robe lined with white fur appeared on the bank above the river. "I wish. Now I'm sure you're not from around here."

"Caster," the black clad Servant growled. "I'm amazed none of the others has managed to kill you off yet."

"Yeah about that… they're all kind of dead." Caster waves his hand and a series of runes glowed in midair. The black Servant screamed and threw herself clear, trying to avoid getting too scorched as a pillar of fire erupted from the ground. "I was trying to figure out how to come after you, but then these kind folks showed up and made things so much easier for me. That is, if they don't mind working with a troublesome guy."

EMIYA chuckled. "I guess I can tolerate you for a little while. If Ritsuka doesn't mind providing a little extra power."

Ritsuka's eyes shined with determination and she nodded. "I can do it papa. I'm a top-class mage."

"Papa, huh?" Caster slid down the hill and stopped next to Ritsuka and Rin. "Well, if your papa thinks so highly of you, it would be rude to deny such a cute little lady my services." He knelt down and offered her a hand. Ritsuka looked up at Rin for a moment then took his hand and her command seals flashed once. "Then I'll leave the orders up to you."

"Go help papa stop that mean lady. And don't let her turn anyone else to stone."

Caster smiled. "Well, I can't very well refuse an order like that, now can I?" He spun his staff and stepped forward next to EMIYA. "Think you can manage that, buddy?"

"Easily. And call me Archer." Then they two Servants leaped at their opponent.

Olga Marie wasn't quite sure what she was watching, but it looked like the single most unorthodox pair of Servants she'd ever seen: an Archer who fought with swords and a Caster who loved melee combat. The fact that it was working just made things baffling. Kyrielight had jumped in and started helping at some point, intercepting swipes from the evil Lancer's blade and keeping her back from the other Servants. Things came to a rather abrupt end when Caster finally blasted Lancer with a point blank fireball and Archer followed up by taking her head clean off.

"Yay! I knew you could do it papa!" Ritsuka jumped past Rin and threw her arms around EMIYA's waist.

"Not going to ask how a Heroic Spirit has a kid," Caster said, absently laying his staff across his shoulders. "But you're a lucky guy."

"And you're significantly less annoying when you're not a Lancer," EMIYA said. "I didn't think I'd actually be fighting with you this time."

Cu Chulainn laughed. "I think I'd rather have you as an ally than an enemy. You were a royal pain in my ass last time we met."

EMIYA's face hardened. "I have a feeling we're going to need all of the details about that one," he said. "Before we run into something that catches us off-guard."

Cu's cheerful expression vanished. "This place is serious fu…" He stopped for a second and looked down at the little girl. "Messed up. It starts with a corrupt Holy Grail and some really bad luck…"

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Olga Marie gasped for breath as she ran to keep up with the rest of the team. A ten year old being able to outlast her stung just a little bit and she swore to add some basic physical conditioning to her weekly practice schedule as soon as they made it back to Chaldea in one piece. Assuming that EMIYA and Cu didn't get themselves killed fighting the Archer's evil doppelganger.

"You're approaching the location of the Greater Grail," Roman's voice said through their link. "I detect something extremely powerful up ahead. There's a major magical reaction going on, but there's definitely something else there too. It must be the Servant Caster warned us about."

Olga nodded as they emerged from the top of the mountain path. Ahead of them, a massive crater burned with blood red light and shot mana high into the swirling clouds. "I can't believe that something like this is the Holy Grail."

"It feels bad," Ritsuka said, looking up at the sky. "It's not supposed to be like that."

Rin clicked her tongue and scowled. "Another corrupt Grail… You'd think people would have learned by now." Then she suddenly manifested her bow again and narrowed her eyes. "But I don't think we have time to marvel over it. Ritsuka, get back."

Olga felt a shiver run down her spine as a figure in black armor stepped over the edge of the crater. Her eyes were hidden behind a black and red visor, but the Director had a feeling that she was staring right at them. "That's…"

"The system is identifying the Saint's Graph," Roman said, panic evident in his voice. "That's King Arthur." There was a long moment of silence. "King Arthur was a woman?" Olga very much wished that the scientist was actually there so she could glare at him. "Not really the issue here I suppose. Her form's been corrupted somehow, but she's still extremely powerful."

"Mama Saber," Ritsuka murmured. "No… No, that's not right. Why is she a bad guy too?"

"It's alright honey," Rin murmured, setting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It's not really her. She just looks like her. Just hold on a little longer and we'll beat her and go home."

Ritsuka took a moment to compose herself and nodded. "Stop her mama," she ordered, her voice firm.

"You have very unusual Servants," the armored Saber said as she drew a sword sheathed in swirling shadows from her hip.

"She's talking?" Mash said, looking a little startled. She raised her shield, ready to intercept any attacks from their opponent.

The corrupted swordswoman ignored the shield bearer. "That shield… yes, I see. It seems that I cannot allow any of you to leave this place alive."

"I guess we're done talking then," Rin muttered. "But if you think I'm going to let you hurt my daughter while you're wearing that face, you have another thing coming." She pointed her finger at the dark Servant. "Fire!" Then her bow drew back on its own and a massive arrow of mana launched straight at Saber Alter. There was a massive flash of blue and the ground all around the crater exploded. "Hmph, way too cocky. Don't underestimate me."

"Get down!" Mash leaped between the two, raising her shield just as a blast of black and red mana tore forward and nearly slammed straight into Rin.

"What? How did she…?" The dust around the impact of Rin's arrow cleared and Saber Alter stepped forward completely unharmed. Mana swirled so thick around her that it was visible in the air and ground at the earth around her feet, sending peddles and shard of rock flying around from her. "Damn, her Mana Burst blocked it."

"He would be unhappy if I didn't finish things now," Saber Alter said, raising her sword. "My only regret is that I must destroy you immediately. Ex-" The dark sword began to glow and the shadows grew longer and darker as her mana levels rose.

"Oh no. Ritsuka, run!" Rin conjured a second massive arrow and fired it at her opponent. Olga didn't hesitate. She just grabbed Ritsuka's hand and tried to drag her clear of the blast zone.

"-Calibur Morgan!" The blade came down and a massive wave of darkness burst forward, shattering the charged mana bolt in mid-flight and bearing down on the Chaldea team.

"Damn it, not like this," Rin muttered.

"No, not like this," Mash agreed. She slammed her shield into the ground. "For the future of humanity… we're not done here yet! Lord Chaldeas!" The shimmering magical barrier erupted between them and the blast and the wave of mana collided with it with a thundering roar. Ritsuka covered her ears and buried her face in Olga Marie's stomach as the massive attack battled with Mash's defense. Then the wave of darkness shattered, leaving only a few wisps of power hovering in the air. Even with the mask covering her face, Olga Marie could tell that the enemy Servant was baffled.

"That defense… it is…" Whatever Saber Alter was trying to say, she was cut off as a shower of golden arrows rained down on her and she was forced to throw up another mana barrier.

"Damn, she's too fast," Rin muttered. "I can't break her defenses without someone to force through her guard." She dodged left as another crescent of dark energy cut towards her, leaving a deep crevice in the ground.

Ritsuka closed her eyes and clenched her hand. "Mr. Roman, please, mama needs more help. I need to do something."

Roman sputtered a little trying to come up with an answer. "Ah, Ritsuka, this is something that is way beyond even a trained magus. A little girl like you would get hurt trying to get into the middle of that."

"Then help me call more help!" Ritsuka shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

"A… another summoning? Now?" He quickly began tapping on a computer that only he could see. "It might just work. If I can maybe tap into the Grail's energy field…" He fiddled around with a few controls. "We're only going to have one shot, so make it count."

Ritsuka nodded and closed her eyes as Rin fired another barrage that was intercepted by Saber Alter's protective field. She folded her hands in front of her chest and her Command Seals began to glow. "Please, please someone come and help mama stop her. I need someone who can fight like Saber Mama."

The ground cracked and mana poured out of the leylines into the little magus. Then there was an explosion of power that caused the entire battlefield to come to a deep stop. A pillar of blue light shot straight up and from within another figure in armor exploded outward, her blue dress whirling around her. "From across space I have heard your call," Arturia Pendragon said as she landed in front of her double, glowing golden blade already in hand. "The King of Knights await your orders Master."

"Saber Mama!" Ritsuka's eyes teared up and Olga had to grab her shoulder to keep her from running into the battlefield to hug the new Servant.

"Saber, stop that evil you!" Rin shouted as the Alter Servant shook off her sudden shock.

Arturia looked around in confusion for a moment. "I have no idea what's going on, but defeating evil is my sacred duty. Have at you!" She charged forward, her golden blade colliding with her double's blade blade and sending off dual bursts of power as their mana collided.

"Another fly to swat," Saber Alter growled, her strength evenly matched against her opponent. "I never thought I would have to face you again."

"Truly, I never believed I would face my own darkness in battle," Arturia countered. "But I will do what I must."

Saber Alter actually smiled. "You will certainly try." Their blades struck against each other again and again, their movements a near perfect mirror of each other as the twin Sabers clashed. Saber Alter gave first, leaping back and focusing her mana around her blade again. "No more of this. Ex-" Her cry was cut off as half a dozen arrows tore through her the instant her barrier vanished.

Rin lowered her hand, clenching it to try to stop it from trembling. "You let your guard down."

Saber Alter didn't respond for a moment as she swayed in place and blood dripped from the sudden wounds. "It seems that I was careless. Even though I was to defend the Grail to the end… it seems that I cannot complete that task."

Saber looked sad for a moment as she lowered her blade. "You fought well, but the fight is over. You can go in peace now."

"Rin!" EMIYA appeared up the path, followed closely the Cu. "You're alive. And…" his eyes widened slightly as he recognized the new Servant. "Oh boy…"

"Looks like your little girl called up some more back-up," Cu joked. "Another old girlfriend?"

"Technically yes," EMIYA said slowly.

Saber Alter laughed as the Servants gathered. "I couldn't even remove one of you. How foolish… But in the end this is only the beginning of the battle surrounding the Holy Grail. The Grand Order begins here, heroes of Chaldea… Be prepared…" And with that, the darkened Servant dissolved into nothingness.

Olga Marie froze in place. The Servants were all talking behind her, with EMIYA fussing over Rin and Cu congratulating Mash on mastering her Noble Phantasm, but she barely heard them. "Those names… where did she hear them?"

"Miss Marie?" Olga jolted out of her haze and Ritsuka looked up at her. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, no. I mean, yes, yes I'm fine." She shook herself. She smiled down at the girl, trying to look encouraging. "And it's thanks to you Ritsuka. We've managed to resolve this Singularity thanks to your… family." She didn't have a better way to put it than that. "It seems that you really were Chaldea's best Master."

"Ah, did the Director just compliment Rits-chan?" Roman suddenly cut in. "I think you've actually taken a liking to her." His image appeared in the air, smiling broadly.

Olga Marie immediately turned red and looked away. "She's done everything she had to and kept remarkably calm given her age. She deserves to be praised, doesn't she?"

"Really now, this has gone far beyond what I can stand. Really, I thought this child was some kind of bad joke from the Association, but to think that she would cause this much trouble for me…" Olga jumped again as a very familiar voice called out to them. She let go of Ritsuka and looked past her to see a familiar figure in a suit walking toward them.

"Professor Lev?!" Mash called out, completely baffled.

"Lev?" Roman said. "Professor Lev is alive?! He must have Reyshifted there as well. Somehow. Where on Earth has he been?"

"Romani?" the top hat wearing Professor said. "So you survived too. Blast, and even after I gave you direct orders. You always were good at ignoring directions."

"Ritsuka get back here," Rin suddenly called out. Her face was pale and one hand was clutched to her chest. "The spirit inside me… she's afraid of this man." Ritsuka looked at the man's off-kilter smile and run back to her parents, ducking behind her mother again. Mash firmly placed herself between the group and Lev, raising her shield as if expecting another attack.

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Olga Marie said. "Professor Lev is part of Chaldea. And he's…" She sniffled, rubbing her eyes as she felt tears well up. "He's still alive." She rushed forward. "Lev I was so… I was so afraid. I didn't know what to do anymore."

Lev's slightly bland smile didn't shift as the Director ran toward him. "Olga Marie. It must have been very hard on you. I'm honestly surprised that you're alive."

Olga Marie felt like the weight was lifting off her shoulders. She wasn't left alone as the head of Chaldea anymore. She hadn't lost everyone. "It was," she said, her voice barely loud enough to carry. "It really was. But you're here now, and you'll help, right? We'll still manage just fine."

"Considering I planted the bomb directly beneath your seat and all." Olga Marie stopped in place as Lev's smile suddenly seemed far less comforting.

"Wh…what? L…Lev, what are you talking about."

Arturia growled and immediately raised her blade. "You monster. I don't really know what's going on here, but I recognize a betrayal when I see one."

The Professor's grin spread until it was borderline demonic. "A betrayal? Yes, I suppose you could call it that. Though, the Director isn't quite alive anymore anyway. It's hard to betray someone who's already dead. Her body was destroyed just as I anticipated. It seems that Trismegistus was able to salvage her consciousness and shift it to this place as a spirit. How… unexpected. Still, it seems that returning to Chaldea would result in her spirit completely disappearing."

"Miss Marie is going to disappear?" Ritsuka asked, her eyes wide.

"This guy's one twisted piece of scum," Cu said pushing his hair back. "What the hell is he playing at?"

"Oh, you're still here, are you? Yes, I suppose you would be since they haven't deactivated this Singularity's Grail yet. I suppose I could clue you and the little Master in on what's going on here. It's only sporting after all." He waved his hand and the whole world shifted so that the group was suddenly standing back in the main room of Chaldea. It seemed to be entirely intact once again, but the glowing sphere in the center of the room was burning red rather than a peaceful blue.

Olga Marie felt her whole world collapsing around her. "No. No, it can't be."

"Oh, but it is. This is the final result of my mission. All signs of human life have vanished from this Earth. You mortals truly are fools. In the end, Chaldea's mission amounts to nothing more than the final failure in mankind's pitiful attempts to grasp at continued existence."

Olga collapsed to her knees, no longer able to keep herself standing. "No… No, this isn't right. This isn't my Chaldeas. I haven't failed. I'm not dead!" She gasped as she felt something tugging on her and her body began to be dragged forward. "What? Lev, what have you done?!"

"I did say that returning to Chaldea would mean your disappearance, didn't I?" the demonic man said. "I could have simply allowed you to fade away, but that seemed so cruel to have you just vanish like that. So I thought that I would reunite you with your family's legacy one last time."

Olga Marie's eyes widened and she grabbed for anything in vain. "No. No, Chaldeas is the space of a different dimensional territory. Being pulled in would…"

"Be like being dragged into a black hole," Lev agreed, his voice full of mirth. "So please, enjoy your death for all eternity."

"No, no please! Please, I don't want to die like this! I don't want to die like this. I don't want to die without accomplishing anything! Not before someone appreciates my efforts. Before anyone praised me. Please!"

"The hell you will!" Rin shot forward, one of her hands reaching out.

Lev just laughed. "Even a Servant lacks the strength to prevent a soul that has already passed on from departing this world. The best you can do is keep her from Chaldeas's grasp until her spirit dissipates and she passes on it peace. Such a boring struggle." He sighed and shook his head.

Rin gritted her teeth and for a moment it was like they were seeing double. A second Rin appeared superimposed over the first, her hair a brilliant gold and her clothes a mix of deep crimson and jet black. "Maybe not," she said, her voice echoing like several people were talking. "But we are not just a Servant. We are Divine Spirits and we do not allow this!" The blonde image of Rin surged forward, grabbing at Olga Marie's hand. The world seemed to freeze for a moment and Olga could feel something trying to enter her spirit. With nothing left to lose, she opened herself up and let it in. Everyone covered their eyes as a golden flash split the sky and when it cleared Olga Marie was no longer being dragged closer to the crimson sphere. She was standing tall, with a deep red cape swirling around her and a dark top covering her body. Her stark white hair now glowed radiant blonde and flowed down her back.

Lev looked utterly flabbergasted. "Inconceivable! You… you converted her soul into a Saint's Graph in order to anchor its existence? Utterly impossible! Such a feat is beyond any human's magecraft."

"Do you ever stop talking?" Rin said. She raised her hand and fired a blast straight into his legs, literally cutting the man off at the knees.

"For a mortal, yes," the new Olga agreed. "But I am Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. All things within the domain of souls are mine to command. And I will not allow this soul to depart before its time."

"Wow, you're being dramatic today sis," Rin chirped, her voice changing tones for a moment before Rin's scowl reappeared.

"Impossible, utterly impossible," Lev growled, struggling to regain his feet and failing. The world faded back into the rocky crater at the edge of Fuyuki City once again as his power faded. "A child magus like that… she couldn't possibly have summoned such a spirit. A person with so much potential in both magecraft and Servant compatibility would never have been able to go unnoticed by us."

"But she has and did," Ereshkigal said, a golden spear manifesting in her hands. "And now your plans have failed. I sense the calamity within you. So know that your brethren will also fail so long as we oppose you. Now begone from this world"

"You cannot do this! I am Flauros! I am…!" He was cut off as Ereshkigal kicked him against the side of the crater.

"You are a monster! Can you not see the pain you caused this girl? I can feel the heart that still beats within this vessel, and I can feel every unshed tear that she feels over the man she saw as a second father stabbing her in the back. You have no right to exist in the world of men or gods. Now begone!" She twirled her spear and rammed it through Lev's chest. The man screamed, his body twisting and warping before he disappeared, dissolving into a cloud of shadows.

Ereshkigal nodded with satisfaction as she turned around, only to find everyone else staring at her with open mouthed amazement. Save of Ritsuka who was hiding behind her father with wide eyes. "Oh no!" Eresh squeaked as she met the little girl's eyes. "I promise I'm not usually that scary! I mean, I'm a death goddess, so I'm kind of scary, but I'm only scary to bad people. You don't have to be scared of me Ritsuka."

Ritsuka carefully walked around EMIYA and looked Ereshkigal in the eyes. "You only hurt the bad guys?"

Eresh nodded quickly and tried to pose heroically, driving her spear into the dirt and crossing her arms. "That's right, that's what goddesses do."

"And you saved Miss Marie?"

"She's right here inside me," Eresh said, putting a hand over her heart. "I'll let her out once we get back to Chaldea and its safe."

Ritsuka looked at her speculatively for a few seconds then she nodded, seemingly satisfied. Then she launched herself at Ereshkigal and threw her arms around her waist. Eresh squawked with shock and failed her arms, trying to maintain her balance as she was assault by the ballistic child. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou," she blubbered. "I didn't want Miss Marie to disappear!"

Eresh looked up at her sister's host with a pleading expression, but Rin just grinned and did nothing. The rest of the Servants continued to stare for a moment then began to chuckle one by one until the entire group was laughing. "Man, I needed that after the day I've had," Cu said, covering his mouth with his hand to try to stifle his laughter. "You guys are great. Think I can come back with you? I think I can hitch a ride with the contract."

EMIYA gave a long suffering sigh. "If Ritsuka wants to bring you along. Oh, and is Saber coming with us as well?"

"I think she should be fine," Roman said seemingly having recovered. "Her Saint's Graph is stable and she's contracted to Ritsuka, just like the rest of you. She should survive past the Singularity just fine."

"Then of course I will be accompanying you," Arturia said, sheathing her blade. "You always did get into trouble whenever I left you alone for too long. I can't very well let you try to save the world without my help."

"Saber Mama is coming back with us too!" Ritsuka immediately abandoned the goddess and jumped on Arturia, dragging yet another Servant into one of her hugs.

Roman let out a long sigh of relief and ran a hand through his hair. "That was... entirely too close. But I'm just glad that everyone made it through in the end. Hurry up and grab the Grail before the whole Singularity collapses and then I can get you back here. I'll have a chance to make sure everyone is in top shape after that ordeal."

 

[kamenhero25]

"Well, you seem to be in pretty much perfect health," Roman said, tapping away on his tablet. "I admit, it's almost easier to monitor a Saint's Graph with our equipment here than it is to give a regular person an in-depth exam." Olga Marie gave him a flat stare. She hadn't even wanted to come back out yet, but Ritsuka had refused to let go until she came out to tell her that she was okay. She was not in any way good at dealing with children. "And you'll never have to worry about wrinkles now that we have you hooked up to Chaldea's magical energy supply."

Her stare turned into an outright glare. "I don't have time to care about that," Olga said, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "Status report."

Roman rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we didn't actually lose too many of the Masters. Most of them are still alive." Olga immediately perked up a little. Maybe their efforts weren't a complete wash out after all. "But we had to stabilize most of them with our cryogenic systems. Until we restore the rest of the world and can get them to a dedicated medical facility, I can't do much more than that. Additionally, we lost most of the command staff and the technicians working on the reyshift systems. Da Vinci has taken over operations for now so we're getting back on track."

And there was the other shoe. "I see. So we really are just left with Ritsuka and her… family."

Roman smiled. "That's not so bad. We've gotten them settled into a suite and they seem to be taking things rather well, all things considered. Mrs. Tohsaka has been working with the research team to try to track the next anomaly and Mr. Emiya has apparently taken over the kitchens. Rits-chan was headed there with King Arturia last time I checked."

"Then I'll go over the rest on my own." Olga stood abruptly and pushed past the doctor. "Thank you for your hard work Dr. Romani."

"Wait just a moment," Roman said, reaching one hand out toward her. "Olga… I'm sorry."

The director froze in place. "You have nothing to apologize for," she said, not turning to meet his gaze. "You've performed your duties perfectly adequately considering the circumstances."

"I meant…" Roman sighed again and hung his head. "I'm sorry about Lev. I'm the only other person who's been here as long as he had. I should have noticed something was wrong before now."

Olga Marie's teeth ground together and she forced herself to stay calm. "He was lying to everyone. Especially…" The 'me' died on her lips and she clenched her fists. It would have been so easy to just smash something. Her punches were more damaging that most simple combat spells now.

"Miss Marie?" She jerked her head up and her eyes flew open to see Ritsuka's head poking around the doorframe of the infirmary. "Are you feeling better now?"

Olga shook her head and quickly wiped her eyes to make sure they were dry. "Of course, why wouldn't I be? As the head of Chaldea, it's my responsibility to keep a level head at all times."

Ritsuka smiled brightly and skipped into the room. "Papa made us lunch," she said, holding up a covered plate. "Wanna eat with us before you go back to work? It's a Japanese style omelet with rice," the child continued. "I did the writing on it myself."

Olga Marie's resolve lasted for a few seconds before she pulled the cover off the plate to take a peek. The food was still steaming slightly and smelled better than anything the kitchens usually put together. She took a second to decipher the slightly messy Japanese text written on the eggs in ketchup.

Feel better soon Auntie Marie!

She spent a few more seconds trying to find words. "A… Auntie Marie?"

Ritsuka nodded firmly. "Mama and Ishtar are the same person now. And you and Eresh are the same person now. And Ishtar and Eresh are sisters. That makes you my auntie now!"

Olga gaped like a fish for a moment, then hurried wiped her eyes again. That Archer must have put some strange spices in the food for it to make her eyes water. She'd have to yell at him about messing around too much later. "That's… I'll eat it in the control room while I'm working. Thank you Ritsuka." She rushed out of the room before the girl could respond.

Roman smiled and patted Ritsuka on the head. "I think she liked it," he said with a little chuckle.

"Mama Sakura was adopted by bad people," Ritsuka said, her smile vanishing instantly and replaced with a surprisingly somber frown. "Papa always said that having us as family helped make things better for her. I wanted Miss Marie to be better too. So I made her my Auntie."

Roman looked down at her curiously. "You're a good girl Ritsuka. I think your papa would be very happy."

Ritsuka nodded. "Papa likes to help people. Mama always says he tries too hard, but I think it's nice."

Roman looked distant for a moment. "I remember my father. He tried to help people too, but he always had far too much to do. He had a lot of problems, but he always tried his best for everyone's sake." He knelt down in front of her and their eyes met for a moment. "I think you'll do just fine. Why don't you run along and find Mash? She can give you a tour of the rest of the facilities while everyone is getting things back in order."

The ten year old nodded and ran off, leaving the doctor to his work.

------------------------------

Rin was examining the SHEBA system. If it really had been designed entirely by the Lev person, it was the most likely thing to have been sabotaged, and they needed it to continue tracking the Singularities. She groaned as hit another bug. Some of the functions reminded her of her work viewing worlds through the Kaleidoscope's refraction, but other parts were a complete mystery to her. At least they had some more reasonable clothes for her to change into. She had missed wearing real pants.

"Miss… Tohsaka? Ishtar?" Rin turned to see one of the few remaining techs behind her.

"Tohsaka is fine. Or Rin if you must. Did you need something?"

The man jumped a little. She'd have thought that they'd be more used to having Heroic Spirits around than this. "Ah, yes. We've found Professor Lainur's research notes. I believe the original design documents for SHEBA are in here."

Rin took the papers from the man and glanced over them once. "Hopefully this gives us what we need to re-tune the blasted thing. Is that all?"

"I think so ma'am. I'm just dropping things off for Da Vinci before I get back to work."

"Thank you for your hard work," Rin said absently as the technician ran off. It was like working at the Clock Tower again, with skittish apprentices running around for whatever professor had given them chores. She had actually missed it a little bit. But trap the Department of Archeology into a pocket dimension one time and you were apparently 'kindly requested' to set up your workshop someplace else. Pricks.

She refilled took a sip from her tea and sat down at the desk she'd managed to salvage to go over the notes. At least EMIYA was still just as good of a cook as ever. She just hoped that the others eventually made it along as well. She didn't want to consider what would happen if they were stuck between realities when the Human Order collapsed. She just had to hope that they managed to anchor themselves to something and pull through. At the very least Rider should have been fine.

"Hi mama." Rin looked up from the papers as Ritsuka and Mash walked into the room.

"Hello there sweetie," Rin replied with a smile. She pulled Ritsuka up into her lap. "What have you and Mash been doing?"

"Mash has been showing me around," Ritsuka said, tapping her heels against Rin's legs as she swung her legs back and forth. She leaned up a little. "She's super nice," she stage whispered, letting Mash hear what she was saying.

Mash blushed furiously. "I'm just helping senpai get acquainted with the facilities," she said quickly.

Ritsuka giggled. "I'm a senpai now!" she said proudly.

Rin laughed and Mash's blush deepened. "I know it's strange," the Demi-Servant said quickly. "But Ritsuka is so responsible and she's my Master so it just… felt right."

Rin just shook her head. "You remember that a senpai has to help her kouhai too," she chided her daughter. "So don't make Mash do all of the work."

"I won't mama," Ritsuka promised. "We're a team now. We'll work together to take care of anything we have to."

Rin smiled proudly. "That's my girl. Now, how about you tell me what you favorite part of the tour was so far."

The little red-head had to stop and think for a minute. "Da Vinci showed me her workshop. It looks so much different than yours mama. There were lots of paintings and weird machines and stuff, but no gems or smelly potions or anything. There were still lots of books though."

Rin chuckled. "Any magus with half a brain has plenty of books," she said.

"Like what you're reading?" Ritsuka asked, squirming forward to look at the pages on the desk.

"Actually yes," Rin said. "I'm trying to fine tune one of the systems so we can find where to go next to fix whatever that Lev character and whoever he's working for did."

"Oh, where are we going next mama?"

"It's more a question of when than where," Rin admitted. "We have the location locked in France but we're having trouble correlating with the time period. Once Da Vinci can help me, I think we'll have it solved no problem."

Ritsuka's eyes widened. "We haven't been back to Europe since the last time you and Mr. Zelrecht were visiting the Association and I've never been to France! Will we all be going?"

"That depends on if the reyshift is full repaired," Rin said. "But that's not going to happen if I don't get back to work. Finish your tour and I'll make sure to take a break for dinner with you, alright?"

"Alright mama. Good luck." Ritsuka hopped down and grabbed Mash's hand, dragging her off to explore another part of the facility.

 

[kamenhero25]

Olga Marie had her sleeves rolled up as the remains of Chaldea's command staff gathered in the briefing room. "Is everyone here?"

"Ritsuka should be along in a minute," EMIYA said. He leaned back and folded his arms, he front legs of his chair lifting slightly off the ground.

Cu chuckled and just leaned against a wall, not bothering to take a chair. "You finally got something for us?"

The doors to the room slid open and Ritsuka and Mash hurried in. "I'm here!" the red-head said, quickly jumping up into her seat.

"Honey, what are you carrying?" Rin asked, her voice disturbingly strained.

Olga glanced at the little fluffy ball in Ritsuka's arms. Then a sudden feeling of supernatural dread crashed down on her and she could feel Ereshkigal beating at her consciousness to defend herself.

"Fou!" the little animal barked.

Ritsuka giggled and hugged the little animal. "This is Fou. He's Mash's friend."

Olga forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths. "He's just something they found wandering around outside the facility," she said, trying to sound dismissive. "Don't worry about him. We have more important things to focus on." She turned around and quickly activated the display above her. "Thanks to the hard work of Da Vinci and Miss Tohsaka, we've finally located the temporal disturbance in 1431, France, during the later years of the Hundred Years War."

Arturia's eyes narrowed. "The time of Joan of Arc and Henry VI," she said thoughtfully. "A particularly turbulent time for both Britain and France."

Olga nodded. "Though this will be Chaldea's first official intentional mission, it likely won't be an easy one. We're still recovering from the… attack by our enemy's agent and with the rest of the world in flux, we have only what resources we can salvage from Singularities to resupply. But we cannot afford to stop now. Otherwise humanity will never see another year."

There was a general chorus of nods and murmured agreement. "We need to arrange for an away team," Rin added, joining in the conversation. "Ritsuka will have to be included to provide an anchoring point for the Servants we deploy. Otherwise, we can adjust things to fit the situation."

"I volunteer," Cu said, quickly raising his hand. "I can only sit around here for so long before I start to go crazy."

"I recommend allowing me to go as well," Mash said. "I'm best suited to keep senpai safe while she's out in the Singularity."

Olga raised a hand before anyone else could interrupt. "Until we know the full situation, I believe that sending all of our available personnel is for the best. Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, and I will remain here to run monitor the shift. If anyone is injured or we require skills not available to one of our operatives, the Fate system is prepared to summon more support." Ritsuka raised her hand. Olga Marie fought the urge to sigh, silently reminding herself that she was dealing with a child. "Yes?"

"Are we gonna summon more Servants to help?" the red-head said with pleading puppy-dog eyes.

Olga considered the question for a moment. "Possibly. The Fate system is designed to call up more Servants as the need arises. You can try to call more of your… family once you've established a summoning circle within the Singularity."

Ritsuka smiled and hopped to her feet. "Let's go!" She ran off toward the Fate chamber, clutching her new friend so tight that they could hear Fou's pleading cries until the doors slid shut again.

"I'll go prepare the reyshift coffins," Dr. Roman said, quickly picking up his tablet and hurrying after the girl. "We'll be ready to go within the hour."

------------------------------

Ritsuka felt slightly dizzy as the reyshift's swirling vortex faded away and she found herself standing on top of a grassy hill. "Wow."

Rin groaned and cracked her neck. "Well, that was certainly a trip. I thought stepping through the Kaleidoscope was a headache."

"We probably would have landed upside-down in a river if you'd been running the machine," EMIYA deadpanned as he walked to the edge of the hilltop and looked out to the horizon. "But I think it landed us in the middle of nowhere. There's something in the distance though. Maybe a village."

"Fou!"

Rin yelped and nearly jumped out of her skin as the small rabbit… dog… thing scampered around her daughter's legs. "Honey, why is Fou with you?"

Ritsuka pouted and picked the small fluffy animal up. "He was lonely staying back at Chaldea by himself. So I brought him in the pod with me." She hugged the beast to her chest and the animal make a happy little squeak and rubbed against her neck.

Rin sighed in exasperation. "Just keep him out of trouble. Roman, what do you have on sensors?"

"Ah, well, I can detect Servants, but they're mostly too far off to locate exactly. I'll work on that. There's also something… odd that seems to be spread over the whole Singularity. Do you see anything strange? Magical distortions or something?"

"I think I've spotted the anomaly doctor," Mash said. Then she just pointed at the sky.

They looked up almost as one. "Oh boy," Cu muttered. "That's never a good sign."

"It's so big!" Ritsuka said. "And it's glowing!"

"What's glowing?" Roman asked. "I can't see it on my end."

"There's some sort of golden ring in the sky," Rin explained. "I'm guessing it has to do with the Singularity. This sort of phenomenon would have been recorded in historical texts if it was native to the time period."

"I concur," the doctor said with a sigh. "I'll get to work identifying that. You just focus on setting up a connection point so we can stay in contact."

"We'll begin the investigation immediately," Mash said. "We'll be counting on your support Dr. Roman."

"I'll do my best."

"Look alive, people," EMIYA called out. "We can marvel at the sky later. There's a patrol of soldiers coming towards us. Don't ask me who they are though. I was never great at history."

"It looks like a French patrol to me," Mash said as she looked out at the approaching group. "Should we say hello?"

"Who speaks the best French?" Rin asked, turning to the rest of the group.

Mash looked at her curiously. "The summoning system should provide basic language understanding…" She frowned and cocked her head. "Maybe your abnormal Saint's Graph means you only speak your native languages instead of having a general modern lexicon."

Rin shrugged. "Maybe. We can figure it out later. Just go down there and greet our guests, okay?"

Mash jumped to attention. "Yes ma'am." She hurried down the hill, trying her best not to slide on the grass. "Bonjour!" she called loudly and the patrol turned to see her coming.

"Une fille?" The lead soldier stepped forward. "Que faites-vous ici habillé pour la batallie?"

Mash rubbed the back of her head. "Mis amis et moi souhaitons aider le peuple de France."

The lead soldier grumbled for a moment and whispers broke out among his men. "Nous ne sommes pas en mesure de refusar de l'aide."

Mash's face immediately lit up. "Je vous remercie. Nous ferons de notre mieux. Oh, mais mes amis parlent surtout anglais."

The sergeant grumbled again. "Fine," he said in slightly accented English. "At this point I don't even know if it matters anymore."

Mash turned on her heel and called up the hill. "He says you can come down!"

Ritsuka rushed down the hill ahead of the group, kicking up grass and dirt as she skidded the last few feet down the side. "Wow, so these guys are real soldiers? They look kinda different from what I was expecting."

"Every kind of soldier looks a little different," Mash explained. "These men are…" She was interrupted by an ear-piercing scream from one of the soldiers. They both spun around to see all of the men backing away. Several were going for their weapons while the rest looked like they were about to turn tail and run.

"The witch!" one of the men cried out as he desperately tried to draw his sword with trembling hands. "It's a trap! The witch is here to feast on our souls!" Everyone looked around in confusion for a second before they realized that the man was pointing the shaking tip of his sword at one person in particular.

"Me?" Arturia said, sounding baffled. "Surely you jest. I am no sorcerer."

"That's just Mama Saber," Ritsuka said with a pout. "She's not a mage and she wouldn't eat anyone."

"Sh… she must have enchanted these people," one of the soldiers said, leveling a pike. "It's some kind of trick."

"Hold your horses!" the sergeant shouted. "The witch has never spared anyone before, be they man or woman or child. I don't see any reason for her to start tricks now when her horde can kill us just fine on its own."

"Well, at least the boss man has his head on straight," Cu said, absently twirling his staff and settling it over his shoulder. "Kinda want to know what the deal with this witch is though."

"The resemblance is uncanny," the sergeant admitted as the group finally got closer and he got a good look at Arturia. His men still seemed ready to either bolt or attack at a moment's notice. "You could be her sister."

Saber looked distinctly uncomfortable. "My name is Arturia Pendragon. And I have a sister," she said after a moment. "Who some might call a witch. But she should be long dead."

"I'm not sure we're talking about the same person, but I'd believe it if she was." The soldiers finally seemed to relax a little bit as it became increasingly clear that Arturia wasn't about to burst out in maniacal laughter and tear them limb from limb. "We were patrolling for any of her monsters, but I think it might be best if we give you an escort to the village." He wheeled around and waved his hand in the air. "Alright men! Let's act like soldiers for once. Back in formation!"

The soldiers quickly fell into an escort formation, surrounding the group to cover them from all sides as they started the walk back to the village. "Hey," Roman's voice murmured in their collective ears. "Do you really think that it could be your sister?"

Arturia huffed. "Possibly," she admitted. "I don't recall Morgan having any notable reason to destroy France, but there's very little I would put past her. She's as ruthless as she is vicious."

"Morgan le Fey," Rin muttered. "We might have really stepped in it this time."

The walk to the village was thankfully short, but Arturia was still getting annoyed with the constant nervous looks from the soldiers by the time they arrived. The townsfolk all hurried about the dirt streets, what few of them there were, and back to their homes again, eager to stay out of sight. "They're all terrified," EMIYA said softly. His fists clenched and he scowled. "This is wrong."

"The outlying towns are still safe for now," the sergeant said. "But the witch's army keeps spreading. France will all be burned to a cinder if this keeps up."

Ritsuka frowned, her little hands shaking slightly. "We'll stop her though. We'll stop her and save everyone." Her hands clenched into fists and her eyes lit up with determination.

EMIYA stared at her for a second. Then he broke out laughing. "You really are his daughter." He shook his head and tried to stifle his chuckles. "Don't get in over your head with promises you can't keep." He knelt down and patted her on the head. "But we'll save as many of them as we can anyway."

Ritsuka kept frowning for a minute then nodded. "Papa says stuff like that too."

EMIYA chuckled. "Maybe the idiot learned something over the years after all."

"Sorry to interrupt," Roman cut in, his image appearing in the air. "But I have some good news. There's a leyline running right under the village. You should be able to establish a connection point and a summoning circle so we can get this mission started properly."

"That's excellent news," Mash agreed. "Where's the best point to set up camp?"

Roman fiddled around with something they couldn't see. "I think… looks like a storehouse or something like that near the edge of town. That should work out fine."

The storehouse was mostly unused. According to one of the villagers who'd been willing to spend a few moments talking to the odd group of foreigners, it was mostly used to store grain during the harvest, but that was months away. Mash quickly set up a summoning circle on the dirt floor, momentarily filling the wooden room with light. "Should I try to summon someone now?" Ritsuka asked, looking up at Rin.

Before the raven-haired mother could answer, there was a scream from outside and an ear-piercing roar split the air. "Sounds like later. I bet that's our witch's monsters."

The small red-head's eyes hardened. "Go get 'em."

"You heard the little Master," Cu said, spinning his staff. "Let's go kick some… butt."

 

[kamenhero25]

I think this might be a bit different from the usual Pseudo-Servants. Rin is pretty much exactly herself, to the point where she actually punches Ishtar when she wants the driver's seat. She just used Ishtar as a way of getting to her daughter, in exchange for renting out some headspace.

EMIYA, however, is explicitly not her father, per author's WOG.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I haven't exactly explained the details because honestly they're not all that relevant.

The short version is that Ritsuka, Rin, and the whole family are from another timeline similar to Hollow Ataraxia, but a few years down the line. Rin is Zelrecht's apprentice, so she has access to the Second Magic to a limited extent, though she's far from a master. When Goetia started annihilating all of human history in all timelines, Rin basically tossed the entire family through the Kaleidoscope in hopes that they would end up somewhere safe. This actually kind of worked since it dropped Ritsuka in the Grand Order timeline where she could get to Chaldea and survive. The rest of the family sort of got caught halfway between different realities at different points because there isn't actually another reality to go to since all of human history in all times was incinerated. Rin was able to work out a way to use the weird limbo state she got herself stuck in with the Second Magic to hook on to Ritsuka's summoning by cutting a deal with Ishtar (since there was already a potential connection between them due to Ishtar potentially using Rin from the F/GO timeline as a host) to be her vessel in exchange for being able to manifest as a Heroic Spirit use that link to escape only kind of existing and get back to her daughter. Since Rin set the deal on her terms rather than it just being a quirk of the summoning, she gets equal control rather than Ishtar mostly being in charge, though there's still some overlap in personality.

Rin is mostly confident that the other members of the family are probably in the same situation she was, but she doesn't actually know if they can get out the same way she did or not. She's mostly not thinking about it because the last thing she needs is to let herself get distracted by the fact that if they don't save reality, she might never see her version of Shirou or Sakura again. Ritsuka knows this is Second Magic shenanigans at play, but she doesn't have the same understanding of it as Rin. She does however have faith that if her mom is keeping cool, then it can't be that bad. And she is a pretty confident kid, so she's sure that she'll see her actual papa again.

And so I don't have to keep explaining this, I'm going to threadmark this explanation of the situation for easy reference.

 

[kamenhero25]

The first thing Ritsuka saw where the soldiers. The soldiers desperately tried to martial themselves into a defensive formation at edge of the village while shambling men in tattered armor rushed them in a wave of metal and putrefied flesh. Then another roar tore through the air and a shadow fell over the defenders as half a dozen massive shapes swooped overhead. "No way," she breathed, her voice somewhere between awe and fear.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Rin muttered, her bow materializing next to her.

"Dr… dragons?" The disbelief was obvious in Roman's voice. "They should have been extinct ages ago! The enemy must have summoned them somehow."

EMIYA clicked his tongue and materialized his bow instead of his swords. "This might not be the craziest thing I ever had to kill, but it's up there." A strange spiraling black arrow appeared in a flicker of blue light and he took aim at one of the dragons as it swooped down toward the village. "Hrunting!" The projectile tore through the air, perfectly tracking the dragon and tearing across its body, leaving a bloody gash. The beast roared in pain and broke off its attack to dive down toward the Chaldea team. "Really?" the Archer muttered as he took a few moments to prepare another arrow.

"Stop right there." Mash jumped forward, bringing her shield up and bracing herself as the dragon's claws crashed against her weapon. Her knees buckled momentarily under the impact then she gritted her teeth and pushed. "You won't get senpai!" She swung out, bashing the dragon with the shield and forcing it back. Three more flashes shot over her shoulders as Rin and EMIYA blasted the dragon again and again until it fell from the air and stopped moving.

"Those things are tougher than they look," EMIYA grumbled. "And they look tough enough already." Another scream pierced the air as the dragons swooped over the village, their claws ripping at both buildings and people and the gale force of their wings throwing anyone who got too close off their feet. One of the dragons pulled back its head and fire poured from its jaws, igniting the thatch roof of one of the houses. "Shit."

"Mama, papa, you have to work together to take them down!" Ritsuka interrupted. "Mash can keep you safe while you shoot them down."

"Add me to that list too," Cu said, his hands already glowing with runic magic. "If anyone knows how to deal with magic fire, it's me."

"Then that leaves the frontlines to me," Arturia said, drawing her sword with a flourish.

Ritsuka nodded firmly. "Try to keep as many people safe as you can."

Arturia nodded and patted her on the head. "Fear not. This is hardly my first time leading men into battle. And revenants are little threat to me."

"Stay out of the line of fire," Rin said firmly. "I mean it. Hide inside or stay glued to Mash."

Ritsuka did her best not to roll her eyes. "I know how to stay out of trouble."

EMIYA's lips twitched up into a smile. "Rin teaching someone to stay out of trouble…"

The raven-haired magus rounded on him and fixed a glare on the red Archer. "Not the time. We have dragons to kill." With that, Rin kicked off of the ground and soared into the air, Ishtar's power carrying her aloft as she took aim and fired a rain of golden darts that turned one of the wyverns into Swiss cheese. Just then, three more appeared over the horizon, swooping down toward their new pray.

"Yes, yes we do." EMIYA sighed as he prepared another monster slaying arrow and took aim at one of the beasts while Mash and Cu rushed to try to save the village before it was razed to the ground.

------------------------------

The sergeant knew when he was fighting a losing battle. France had been fighting losing battles for ages before the Saint had come along and rallied them. The things coming at them fought like men, but they weren't. They fought like men, and moved like men, but they didn't react to pain. They didn't rout when his men pushed them back. And they just kept coming. Even if they were clumsy and slow, eventually they were going to wear his small group down. Maybe they could hold on long enough for the civilians to at least make their escape. "Hold fast men!" he bellowed out over the melee. "We have to hold out until the villagers can evacuate!"

"Take heart, it's not yet your time." There was a flash of blue and then the entire row of warriors in front of him crumpled like paper. "These creatures seek only mindless destruction. They are no match for true warriors. Reform your defensive line and we will do more than hold them. We will send them back to their master in pieces."

The commander could do little more than nod dumbly as the armored woman knocked the creatures back single-handed. "Y… Yes ma'am!" He didn't think about disobeying, he simply acted. "Rally to the banner!" he roared. "Spears in front! Keep them at a distance!"

Arturia nodded once as the French soldiers rallied. Then she dove into the melee, seemingly unarmed, but moving so quickly that his eyes could barely follow her. Then he saw the way the air seemed to shimmer in her hands and he realized that she wasn't so unarmed after all. Her invisible blade cut through armor like it wasn't even there, sending body after body to the ground. "Begone!" she roared, pointing her blade ahead of her. "Strike Air!" The air in front of her exploded, sending a spiraling wave of wind through her enemies and clearing the area for the French soldiers to surge forward again and press the undead back.

The sergeant couldn't help stopping and staring at the blade now revealed in her hand. It shimmered with golden light and just looking at it seemed to raise his spirits in a way he hadn't felt since the execution. "Who… who are you?"

The knight in blue half turned away from the battle as the French soldiers held the line. "I am Arturia Pendragon, the King of Knights. And I am your ally for as long as your people have need of me." Then she turned back to the fighting and tore into the monsters yet again. The sergeant swallowed heavily as he considered just what that sword might be.

"Dragon! Dragon coming in!" He snapped back to reality as he looked up to see one of the winged beasts diving straight for him, claws outstretched and jaws wide and slavering. He stumbled back, losing his footing as he desperately tried to avoid the monster. He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the biting pain of the blade-like claws in his flesh. But it never came.

"Away monster!" A golden flash nearly blinded him and the dragon recoiled, its claws raking uselessly against the figure in front of him. "There will be no more death here today." For a moment, he thought that Arturia had stepped in to save him, but then he realized that the figure was dressed in a blue so deep it was almost black and carrying a shockingly familiar banner. "Are you well sergeant? The battle isn't won yet?" Her hand reached down to help him to his feet. His mouth dropped open as he recognized the eyes of a dead woman.

"Yes," he answered on impulse. It was impossible. The Saint was gone. All that was left was the mocking shadow of a witch. "You're dead."

The woman smiled, but it seemed sad more than anything else. "I'm afraid I am. But my duty to France is not yet done." The officer's mind recoiled from that as he looked past her to Arturia and the implications hit him. "Please stay down. It's coming around for another pass."

The dragon roared and dived down for the pair again. Only for its head to go flying as Arturia's golden blade slashed through its exposed neck. For a moment, the two women just stopped and stared at each other. "Well, this is odd," the saint said.

"This explains so much," Arturia muttered. "We must speak after the battle."

"Agreed," Jeanne said, spinning her standard. "But first these things need to go."

------------------------------

Considering they were fighting a horde of god damned dragons, Rin thought things were going pretty well. She floated in her vantage point above the battle bracing her massive bow to fire again. It was oddly liberating to be able to fly and see everything from above. Not that she'd ever admit that out loud of course. EMIYA's arrows seemed effective enough at keeping the beasts back, but it took several shots to injure one enough to take it out of the fight. At least Cu and Mash were keeping up. She saw the brilliant green flash as Mash deployed her barrier and absorbed a burst of dragon fire.

"Mama!"

Rin's arm jerked as her daughter's panicked cry rang in her head, sending her next shot very wide. "Ritsuka, what's wrong?"

"There are more dragons coming toward the barn."

Rin spun around to see two more wyverns diving through the air towards the building. She cursed and raised her hand, focusing her mana into the bow and firing a massive arrow of blue light. It clipped the first dragon, causing it to dip toward the ground, but failing to knock it from the sky. "Are you kidding me?"

"It's hard to aim with your mind if you're panicking," Ishtar's voice whispered in the back of her head. "Focus!"

Rin scowled. "I don't need to hear that from you!" She focused on the telepathic link. "Ritsuka! Get away from there now!"

"I'm okay Mama. I have an idea!"

Rin felt dread settle into her chest. She knew that tone. It was the tone that Shirou used when he was about to do something stupid. Apparently it was hereditary. She dived for the building, raining weaker shots down on the dragons to slow their approach. But before she could reach the building, she felt a massive surge of magic and saw light blasting out of the cracked door of the barn. "Oh great…" She just hoped her daughter didn't end up summoning some out of control Berserker who ended up causing more harm than good.

As if the universe was taunting her, the front doors of the building were smashed open in one quick movement and two figures shot out, moving so fast they were almost a blur, even to her eyes. "I haven't hunted dragons in ages." The first dragon stopped dead as a blood red spear went through its mouth and up into its head, instantly ending its life. "They're still ugly though."

"If these are Western dragons, I believe I'll stick to my own culture." There was a flash as a brilliant, long-bladed katana sliced through the air and separated the other beast's wing from its back. The dragon roared in pain as it tumbled from the sky, leaving a long furrow in the ground before it stopped moving. "These seem to be little more than animals."

The blue Lancer grinned as he braced his spear across his shoulders. "Maybe, but they put up a hell of a fight. I think the only thing worse might be chimeras. Those suck."

The purple clad samurai just huffed and flicked the blood off of his blade. "If it flies, I can cut it from the sky. That's all there is to it."

"You know, I'm kind of regretting that we never got to face off now. You're a cocky son of a bitch, but I'd spar with someone who can cut a dragon down any day."

Rin groaned and glanced back at the battle. The dragon swarm seemed to have finally broken and Arturia was clearing the last of the foot soldiers with a squad of very eager Frenchmen. Leaving the others to clean up, she descended toward the ground. "It's you. Again."

Cu Chulainn looked up and grinned. "Wow. You know, you might be the last person I expected to see here." Then he stopped for a second. "Or second to last. Maybe third. It depends. So, how's it going with the kid? He still holding up?"

Rin's cheeks rapidly went through several shades of red. "That is none of your business. But we're married, if you must know."

Cu shrugged. "I'm not surprised in the slightest. He was head over heels for you." Then his eyes widened slightly and he turned to look at the red-head now poking her head out from around the corner of the shattered door. "Wait is she…" A giant grin spread across the spearman's face.

"Mama! I summoned Uncle Cu again," Ritsuka called out. "And a samurai!"

"Assassin class, Sasaki Kojiro," he said helpfully. "But I think you already knew that."

Rin sighed. "Yes, I remember you alright. I still don't know how you're not a Saber."

The Assassin gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I'm perfectly content as I am. I am little more than a sword for my Master's use after all."

Ritsuka looked at him with wide eyes. "You're so cool," she said. "I thought Assassins were supposed to be sneaky, but that was amazing!"

Sasaki's chuckle was warmer the second time. "I'll do my best to continue to live up to your expectations Master."

"Senpai!" The whole group turned to see the rest of their team hurrying toward them. Mash rushed over to Ritsuka, quickly looking over the younger girl for injuries. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry. I should have stayed with you."

"It's okay," Ritsuka said brightly. "Those other people needed your help too. And Uncle Cu showed up to help me anyway."

Everyone turned to see the two Cus looking at each other. "Me with a spear," the Caster said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Some guys get all the luck."

"Me without a spear," the Lancer said, sounding more baffled than anything else. "How the heck did that happen?"

"Druids and rune magic," the Caster said with a sigh.

Lancer Cu winced. "Ouch. I do not envy you. Though I guess Master drilling all those runes into our heads was good for something."

"Now there are two of them," EMIYA muttered. "I'm being punished for something."

Ritsuka frowned. "There are two of Mama Saber now too."

Everyone fell silent and turned toward the two blondes. "Greetings," the newcomer said. "I'm Jeanne d'Arc. I think we need to talk."

 

[CounterGuardian]

O-MA-KE-!!
~Oh Captain, My Captain~​

Ritsuka was having a lot of fun being a pirate. A small wooden sword hung by her waist- secured there by a small length of rope that had been hastily made into a kind of belt- and a red pirate hat that was quite obviously too big for her to properly wear sat on her head. It would occasionally start to slip forwards and cover up her eyes, prompting her to push it back up off of her face. She was a real pirate- the captain of the ship who gave out important orders.

Orders like...

Like...

"Umm, Miss Drake?" The young master turned to tug on the overcoat of the nice lady who had let her borrow her hat. And her ship, but that's beside the point.

Drake crouched down and gave Ritsuka a bright smile. "Yes captain?"

Ritsuka flushed faintly in embarrassment. "Umm...What should I tell them to do? I've never been a captain before."

Drake closed her eyes and brought a hand up to her chin in thought, doing her best not to let the internal 'squee' become an external one. She nodded to herself- more for the sake of appearances than anything else- and opened her eyes a moment later. "Well, as a captain, the first thing you need to know is how to drin-"

Death. Slow, Painful Death. A Hell Greater Than Even He Has Known.

Drake cut herself off as a sudden feeling of impending doom washed over her in waves. Nervously, she slowly turned to look at the smiling form of the red-clad Archer who had been accompanying Ritsuka when she first found her. He didn't say anything, he just stood there and smiled at her.

She started sweating bullets, and coughed into her fist, bringing her attention back to the patiently waiting Ritsuka.

"Ah, I mean, just tell them to work hard." Drake gave a thumbs up as she said this, and released a mental sigh of relief as she felt the killing intent coming from the Archer recede away to nothing. Bloodthirsty pirate or not, she wasn't dumb enough to get in the way of an angry father.

 

[kamenhero25]

A/N: aka Mr. Tesla comes to America

-----------------------------

"Wow, so this is America?" Ritsuka said as the light of the reyshift faded away. "I didn't think that it would be this… empty."

"You seem to have arrived somewhere out west," Roman said as his image appeared in mid-air. "In this time period, most of the modern America is supposed to be unclaimed frontier. I'm sort of surprised that there are towns out here at all."

"That has always been the state of America," Nikola Tesla said as he stepped forward. "The old mixes with the new, urban sprawls and quaint rustic towns sit just down the road from each other, and all linked together by a network of roads and power lines that bind the nation together. Isn't it a beautiful hub of innovation?"

There was a long moment of silence. "I suppose that's true," Roman said. "America has always been a melting pot in a lot of ways. I suppose a Serbian immigrant would know that well enough. But that wasn't quite what I meant. I think the Singularity is distorting the terrain around you. Things from other time periods are all getting merged together. If you don't stabilize it soon, the Singularity will collapse and take all of you with it."

"We'll take care of everything," Mash said with a slightly exasperated sigh. "Just like always."

"Indeed," Arturia said. "We've handled this sort of issue more than once already."

The image in the air flickered and Rin replaced Roman. "Keep an eye on Ritsuka alright? I have a bad feeling about this one."

"Of course," Arturia said. "She's my family too. She'll be completely safe with us."

The air crackled and there was a load laugh. "Excellent! Then allow me to lead our tour of this fabulous country!" Tesla's hand was already glowing and his hair rose and fell with the static. "I detect magic energy in this direction."

The team headed off in the direction the rather eccentric Archer indicated and as they crossed the next hill, they saw the source of the commotion. An army of archaically dressed warriors were clashing with what looked like an army of very American looking robots. "What." Even Ritsuka couldn't keep the confusion out of her voice. "They look kinda familiar…"

"They look like Mr. Babbage's robots!" Mash interrupted. "Rin, can you go check and see if he knows anything?"

"Calling him up now," the older woman said. "Is it possible that another instance of him has been summoned into this Singularity too?"

"No, that's wrong," Tesla said, staring intently at the robots. "These are not steam powered like the brilliant Mr. Babbage's creations. I can sense the lightning that flows through their forms like blood! Come! If we cannot determine who the villain is here, then we shall defeat both sides and I can confirm my suspicions."

There was little time to say anything before the Archer leaped into battle, bolts of lightning raining down on both sides and scattering the ancient warriors and the red, white, and blue robots in equal measure. The rest of the Servants sighed and followed after him, warding off attacks from behind as Tesla waded into the melee, frying everything within arm's reach with his lightning. The skirmish lasted only minutes before both sides were either fleeing or shattered on the ground. "All enemy contacts defeated," Mash said as she allowed herself to relax.

"What are you looking for Mr. Tesla?" Ritsuka asked as she cocked her head. The scientist was currently bent over one of the robots, rummaging through the inner workings.

"I knew it!" He straightened up, his whole body sparking and a scowl on his face. "I knew I recognized this technology. Shoddy workmanship, knock-offs of a smarter man's work, and this direct current engine… It can only be one man!"

Mash and Arturia both just looked baffled, but Ritsuka looked thoughtful. "Direct current? Oh! You taught me about that! It's the one that's inferior to your invention, right?"

"Yes. This interior technology could only be created by that man!" Tesla's whole body began to glow.

Mash gently put a hand on Ritsuka's shoulder and pulled her behind her shield. "You know who's behind these machines?"

"Of course. Come with me and we'll take care of this Singularity immediately. He must be the cause of all of this."

------------------------------

The next group they encountered was significantly less hostile. Nightingale hadn't been exactly what they were expecting, but she was determined and eager to come with them to try to cure America or something like that. "Hold on just a minute!" Only for them to be stopped by a new arrival. "Don't you know that deserting your post during wartime is a serious crime?"

The new Servant was hardly taller than Ritsuka, but she sounded much older. Nightingale just gave her a flat look. "I am not deserting my post. My mission has no changed. I must treat this country's illness so there will be no more fighting."

The new Servant just huffed. "That's a Berserker for you I guess," she said with a sigh.

"You look quite well, Madame Blavatsky." The new Servant trailed off as Tesla stepped forward.

"Madame Blavatsky?" Mash asked curiously. "I remember that name. She was the face of occultism in the 19th​ century. Her studies were some of the most widespread in her era."

"Please don't call me that Mr. Tesla." Helena's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I admit, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I, on the other hand, expected your appearance from the beginning," the Archer boasted. "I never quite understood why you were so close with that fool."

Helena immediately bristled. "He's a great man, and more importantly, he's my friend. You having differences of opinion with him won't change that."

"Great to a degree," Tesla said, reluctance obvious in his voice. "But his industry is hardly the light of one of his incandescent bulbs before the brilliant flash of my genius! Take us to him at once and we'll settle this matter once and for all."

The occultist immediately sighed again and rubbed her eyes. "You're going to run off to find him if I don't take you to him, aren't you?" Tesla's stony silence was answer enough. "Fine. I'm sure the presi-king will want to meet all of you anyway."

"The what now?" Arturia said flatly as they were led away by a large pack of mechanized combatants.

------------------------------

"Wow! A lion!" Ritsuka seemed to be the only one amazed by the towering lion-headed Presi-king of the West. Everyone else just stared in absolute disbelief. Even Tesla seemed at a total loss for words.

"Yes, I understand that you are at a loss for words to describe my majesty," the tall stars and stripes covered Heroic Spirit said, his voice deep and rumbling. "But you need not fear me. I am the great King of Innovation, Thomas Alva Edison!"

"I knew I recognized your handiwork, you direct current hack."

The large lion man cut off with a growl. "What? Direct current is the only way!" The tall Servant cut himself off with an angry roar. "I knew there was a familiar stench in the air. What are you doing here, you alternating current fool?"

"Fixing your mess apparently," Tesla said with a smug smile. "Since you've somehow managed to get yourself into a losing war. How incredibly like you."

Edison ground his teeth, a low constant rumble coming from his throat. "My industry is perfect! My America turns out my perfected mechanized infantry at an astonishing rate. This is the true glory of the art of mass production.

"Running your workers into the ground for a quick profit. Even as a Heroic Spirit you haven't changed at all. My superior technology could have ended this war entirely on its own."

"Not another of your ridiculous one-off super weapons," Edison groaned. "I have better things to spend my time on. I have the amazing power of America to restore!"

The rest of the group, Helena and Karna included, watched the increasingly snippy debate in silence. Finally, the short Caster sighed. "I should have known that they'd get like this," Helena said, shaking her head.

"I see," Nightingale said as she watched the pair bickering like children. "Master, I seem to have made a mistake in my diagnosis. It seems that the patients are both extremely ill. It is my duty as a nurse to administer immediate treatment."

"Yes please," Mash and Arturia said in almost perfect sync.

Ritsuka quickly nodded. "They're both idiots," she said flatly.

"Just don't hurt them too badly," Helena said.

"Sometimes medicine is unpleasant," Nightingale said as she drew her gun. "But the purpose is always to improve the patient's overall health. Proceeding with the treatment."

 

[meganeshounen]

Mini-Omake:

Ritsuka-chan's Future Clothing Choices

(Sponsored by Atelier Da Vinci, et al.)
(Commentary by EMIYA and Tohsaka Rin)

Spoiler: Chaldea Mystic Code

Rin: "I don't mind Ritsuka wearing Chaldea's normal Mystic Code in combat... but what about the rest of this list? They don't seem fitting..."
EMIYA: "You really don't have any place to speak here, Mrs. Red-Turtleneck-Black-Skirt-and-Thighhighs."
Rin: "Bwuh- ARCHER!!!"

*fires a Gandr at EMIYA who dodges it*

EMIYA: "Though to be fair, you looked quite good in it."
Rin: "... you damn Casanova."

Spoiler: Chaldea Combat Uniform

Rin: "Okay. Sure, this looks much sturdier than Chaldea's normal uniforms."
EMIYA: "That sort of form-fitting clothing would be fine for adults, indeed, but I have reservations on letting Ritsuka wear it."
Rin: "Ah, to hell with it. We have more than one Servant here from the Age of the Gods; I know we can whip up something with more defenses."

Spoiler: Mage's Association Uniform

Rin: "You know, I dreamed of letting Ritsuka wear something like this when she officially joins the Clock Tower..."
EMIYA: "Don't worry. We'll fix the Human Order, and she'll be able to wear that proudly. I promise."

Spoiler: Atlas Institute Uniform

EMIYA: "Well, this is a rarity. Don't know how Lady Da Vinci managed to find the designs for this. I think I've only met an alchemist of Atlas once before."
Rin: "... Was it a girl?"
EMIYA: "... yes. Oddly enough, the poor girl was living in a back-alley in some city."

Spoiler: Anniversary Blonde

EMIYA: "This is definitely nostalgic."
Rin: "You do remember that most of Saber's casual clothes were mine originally, right?"
EMIYA: "Good thing the two of you had similar figures."
Rin: "I'm not sure if that was a compliment."
EMIYA: "Oh, it is."

Spoiler: Royal Brand

Rin: "It looks quite... sharp."
EMIYA: "Reminds me of my Old Man's clothes that were left in the house's stockroom."
Rin: "Though, if we're going to give Ritsuka a black dress, I'd prefer if it had more frills."
EMIYA: "Agreed."

Spoiler: Brilliant Summer

Rin: "Nope."
EMIYA: "Denied."
Rin: "A one piece would suit my daughter better anyway. Next."

Spoiler: Memories of the Lunar Sea & Memories of the Far Side of the Moon

Rin: "This actually looks kind of nice."
EMIYA: "It has that... old-school feel, huh? I vaguely remember Issei showing me photo albums of Homurahara's graduates, and some of their uniforms sort of looked like these."
Rin: "I don't mind letting Ritsuka wearing these. Approved."

Spoiler: Fragment of 2004

EMIYA: "Yet another one that brings back good memories, right Rin?"
Rin: "Ritsuka would eventually wear this, once she's done with Elementary and Middle School. I suppose it's fine for her to wear this ahead of time."
EMIYA: "I think so too. I'm sure you're looking forward to that day."

 

[kamenhero25]

"I hate this place," Rin muttered to herself as they descended the long stone passage to the underworld. It was dark, and gloomy, and still managed to be interminably dry. Which would have simply been annoying if it weren't for the fact that whoever had taken over thought it was funny to shave a couple of inches off her height every time they went deeper. "I really, really do." Her voice came out slightly squeaky from her new size, just adding to the frustration.

Ritsuka was doing her best, but by now even she was giggling at her mother's predicament. "Don't worry mama," the red-head said with a smile. "You'll be taller than me again once we get King Gil back."

Rin felt the veins in her forehead bulge, but forced herself to take several deep breaths and not snap. Where was EMIYA when she needed to relieve some stress? "I know, honey. You don't need to worry about me."

"This place isn't all that bad actually," Olga Marie said as they rounded the next corner. "It feels… kind of homey actually."

Everyone stared at her for a couple of seconds. "I guess that Ereshkigal coming through," Rin said after the long moment of silence. "Ugh, even when we have the goddess of the underworld on our side, this is still a pain in the rear."

"It does make sense," Mash said as she helped Ritsuka over a large rock. "Having Ereshkigal in the Director instead of here probably made one of the Three Goddesses taking over her domain much easier than it normally would have been."

"Don't remind me," Olga Marie muttered. She did not like making mistakes, especially when the mistakes made things harder for everyone else too. "Let's just find this new goddess and deal with her so we can get King Gilgamesh back and get out of here."

"I hope she's as nice as Miss Quetz," Ritsuka said brightly as she skipped ahead.

There was a round of sweat drops from everyone. "I don't know if 'nice' is the word I would use," Rin muttered.

"She was so much fun!" Ritsuka said, either oblivious or simply ignoring her mother's annoyance. "And she promised to teach me how to do a proper suplex once we fixed the Singularity."

Rin once again took several deep breaths. "We'll discuss that later, sweetie," she said firmly.

"I think what we're looking for should be just up ahead," Olga Marie interrupted. "I can… feel it, for lack of a better term." She felt her skin tingling slightly and Ereshkigal was rising up inside her mind, the goddess's power growing stronger as they neared the heart of her domain. But something was interfering with the flow of power, like the river had been dammed up. "And I think our uninvited guest is there too."

"Fantastic," Rin said. "Let's get her and go home already." They pressed ahead, crossing the endless dark sands of the underworld as they approached the palace at the heart. The group finally came to a stop at the final gateway, looking up at the center of the land of the dead. "Alright! Show yourself so we can do this already!"

"O~hohohoho!" Rin felt her blood run cold as she heard a very familiar voice. "My my, the former owner of this abode and her airhead sister, come to see me? I'm afraid I haven't had much time to set up for company."

Rin gritted her teeth so hard she could hear them grinding together. "We're in a temporal Singularity, in a different reality, thousands of years in the past, and all of human history has been incinerated," she growled. "And I still can't get away from you. I must be cursed."

The figure stepped forward, giving them a good look at her for the first time. A golden mask, intricately shaped to look like a woman's face was pressed tight against the right side of her face, while a matching gauntlet covered her hand and wrist, with a black sleeve tucked inside to make sure it didn't come free. Her armored boots did much the same, though her right pant leg was longer, disappeared into her boot completely while her left was far shorter and left her exposed from below her knee up to the hemline of her shorts. Even her hair was split, with the right side and the large drill-like pony tail so pale blonde it was nearly white while the left was its usual golden blonde.

"Hi Auntie Luvia!" Ritsuka said, waving at the goddess.

The goddess sharing the body of Luvia Edelfeldt laughed again. "Oh, I see. You must have been familiar with my host. But you seem to misunderstand. I am currently the one in control of this body. You may call me Hel, the great and powerful queen of the dead."

Rin twitched slightly. "Fantastic. Now how about you give the underworld back to the actual goddess of the underworld and we can be on our way?"

Hel smirked. "Well, she was off neglecting her duties and someone had to step in. And now that I've moved in, I don't really feel like stepping out again." She flipped her hair back with a sly smile. "So why don't you just head back home… useless goddess."

Rin felt something snap inside her and her bow manifested. "I was looking for some stress relief anyway. Looks like I'll get to take it out on your stupid face, Edelfeldt!"

Hel's smile turned absolutely savage. "Come and get me then, Goddess of Venus!" A black metal spear manifested in her hand and Mash had to drag Ritsuka back before she could be caught in the crossfire as the two goddesses attacked.