A/N: Greetings, it is I, Lanieden, here with a fate fanfic. Riveting. Anywho, with this fic I'll alter characters personalities, it'll just be a couple so don't worry, most will stay the same, to give them more depth. I'm talking about Ritsuka - We shall refer to Mc-kun as that from now on and that's that - who in the game is but a wet noodle, and, now stay with me, Mash. I know, I know, "how could you? She's the perfect kouhai." Eh, I was never too much of a fan of her, so don't expect to see your sweet kouhai anytime soon, plus a change to her character would be the best for this story. Everyone else should be relatively the same, except for a couple of characters but it'll be fine, trust me. Yes? Yes.
Well, just so you know I'll put an author's note at the top and at the bottom of each chapter. The top will just be me writing stuff of no importance and the bottom one will be were I talk about the chapter and the story in general.
Goodbye, then. Until we meet again.
"Umm, mister, could you wake up? It isn't nighttime or morning, so I assume something happened to you, but, even so, you should probably wake up." As the girl spoke to the unconscious boy her small furry pet began sniffing the boys head, and after apparently satisfying himself he began licking the unconscious boy's cheek. Apparently that did the trick, as the boy was opening his eyes.
"Argh, my head," He whined.
"Are you okay?" She asked passively.
"Hm? Oh, ah, yes," He seemed confused upon waking up on a hallway with a girl and a white animal staring at him. "Erm, if you don't mind, what's your name?"
"My name? It's really nothing worth mentioning, so you don't really need to know." She stared at the boy who looked at her quizzly. "Though I do have a name, I just haven't had many opportunities to use it . . . So, I can't really make an impressionable introduction, but that doesn't really matter, I guess."
The boy scoffed as she finished, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the girl. "Nonsense, everyone's name is worth remembering, especially that of my saviour's." He said.
"S-Saviour?" This had caught her off guard. She had never been anyone's saviour and here he was calling her his. She was beyond taken aback.
"So please, don't ever say your name is something not worth mentioning, alright?" He gave an easy smile which the girl could only answer with a nod. "So then, your name is?"
"M-Mash" She said, still stunned by his brazen attitude towards a complete stranger.
"Well then, Mash, lovely name by the way," She muttered an awkward thanks and he continued on. "Do you, perchance, know where we are?"
Now that really caught her off guard. "Chaldea,"
"Ah, yes, I see," He nodded sagely. "Chaldea, yes . . . What is a Chaldea?"
"Erm, Chaldea is an observatory," She saw him stare at her very intently. "Um, I believe you should talk with the director for more information regarding Chaldea." Though you should already know by now, since you are here, after all. God knows how hard it is to get here, since it's so high up in the mountains and all that, and since it isn't really that entertaining a place . . . unless of course you're interested in the work being done here or-
The young man started speaking, snapping Mash away from her thoughts. "The director, huh, what kind of person is he, I wonder," He smiled as he spoke, and Mash slapped herself on her cheeks for letting her thoughts drift. Upon seeing her slap he asked, "Erm, is everything fine?"
Mash snapped her gaze back at the young man. "Yes, no problem at all, you were saying?"
"Ah, of course, could you take me to the dire-"
"Ah, Mash, there you are." Both of them turned and saw an older man walking towards them. "You know better than to walk around around without someone accompanying you."
"Yes, of course, Mr. Lev." She muttered with a bow.
"Though I see that you are not so alone now." Lev said.
"Is she not allowed allowed to wander around Chaldea?" The young man asked questioningly.
"Oh, my apologies for not introducing myself. I am Lev Lynur, a technician employed here," He spoke as he tipped his green top hat, his long, unruly brown hair falling down his shoulders. "And about Mash wandering, she isn't really allowed to wander off on her own, due to some reasons that you might be able to find out should you stay here long enough."
"I see," He said, dissatisfied at the vagueness of his Lev's words. "Anywho, it shouldn't matter too much for her to wander around now that she has me with her, should it?"
Mash stared at the young man questioningly. She didn't know why he was trying to defend her, after all, she had gone off on her own even after being told multiple times to do anything but. But I guess he doesn't know that yet, even so, what would compel him to help me? Is there really any gain in this for him? I doubt it, and yet he is still trying to defend me. I guess there really are a lot of people out the-
"You would be correct," Lev began, Mash once again being snapped away from her own thoughts. "That is, of course, if you had any experience working here at Chaldea, which you do not."
"That's fair, I won't disagree with that." The young man said, looking slightly irked at having no rebuttal. It was clear that he was thinking of something to say back at him, but before he could Lev started talking once again.
"But worry not, young man, I am sure that someone with your reputation and lineage will make it far here at Chaldea."
Mash picked up on the words spoken there, reputation and lineage. That would mean he came from a good family and was skilled in both magic and academics, probably. But that made her question why he would go out of his way to help her if he was of a high society, there was nothing for him to gain by defending her.
"I see you have heard of my family." The young man scratched the back of his neck, his smile becoming slightly strained.
"Yes, I have heard of your family and their wondrous legacy, they have certainly accomplished plenty in their time," Lev said with a satisfied nod. "But don't think that just because of that you'll have an easy time here at Chaldea. I expect you to pull your own weight, no family name will help you here."
The young man chuckled as Lev finished speaking. "I wouldn't have it any other way Mr. Lev."
"That's the attitude, but if you plan to stay true to your words you might want to arrive on time to your meetings." The young man tilted his head to the side, not understanding what meant. "After all, you are supposed to be in a meeting with the director and the other participants."
"I am?"
"Yes, yes you are, so I recommend heading over to the meeting." He pointed down the hallway. "Mash, if you'd be so kind as to accompany us over to the meeting, since we can't have you wandering off on your own, and all that."
"Of course professor Lev."
With that, the group walked down the many hallways until they reached an elevator which would take them to the floors below.
The walk to the elevator was relatively silent, and so was the descent to the lower floors. Mash saw the young man fidgeting as he looked out the clear glass of the elevator. Mash, guessing that he was feeling awkward under the silence, and since she wanted to learn more about him and his motives, decided to break the silence.
"What is your name?"
"Huh," The young man turned to look at Mash. "Ah, yes, how silly of me. My name is Ritsuka, it's a pleasure to meet you Mash." He extended his hand forward, a smile always present on his face.
Mash stared at the hand curiously, and then back at Ritsuka. After a minute of Being under Mash's gaze Ritsuka began to blush and proceeded to retracted his hand, scratching the back of his neck with it while also avoiding her stare.
"No hand shaking then?" He breathed in and out and seemed to have regained his composure. "I guess that's not to common here in Japan, huh? Though I swear people have done plenty of hand shaking in the mangas I've read."
Mash adjusted her glasses. "No, I apologize, it isn't uncommon for people to shake hands here in Japan, I was simply curious as to why you wanted to."
"The reason behind it?" Ritsuka held his chin between his thumb and index finger. "There really wasn't any special reason behind it . . . It's just something people do."
"I see." Mash said pensively. "So you are not from Japan?"
"Yes, I'm from London, actually, but my mother is Japanese so she decided that I should have a japanese name."
"Yes, Mash, you see," Professor Lev began. "Ritsuka here is from a well established mage family," Yes, I knew that, though you didn't say it explicitly before, it was fairly obvious that you said that his family was powerful. Anyways, since your magical capabilities are only as good as your lineage I assume that he is a strong mage, he certainly appears confident, though he seems to be on the weaker side physically spea- "And so you see, Mash, not only is his family accomplished so is he, to an extent, at least. Though his siblings have proved to be geniuses in their fields Ritsuka here has proved himself more than capable of keeping up. You could do well to learn from him, Mash."
Mash, having realized she missed a chunk of the conversation simply nodded, and Ritsuka kept scratching the back of his neck, smiling embarrassedly at professor Lev's words. Mash, not ecstatic to receive another lecture on paying attention, asked more questions to make it seem she had been paying attention.
"Ritsuka, is there a reason as to why you couldn't remember Chaldeas back when you woke up?"
At this, professor Lev looked over at Ritsuka, expectant of an answer.
"Ah, well," Ritsuka avoided their gaze. "You see, I'm not the most healthy person around, no, let me rephrase that, my body isn't peak condition, it is on the frailer side, so the change in altitude might've had an effect on me. But that doesn't mean I can't run or anything like that, you don't need to worry about me regarding anything like that." He quickly added.
"First I've heard of this," The professor said. "Is there a reason why you didn't say?"
"Erm, well, it's just a minor thing really. There was no need to make a big deal out of it, wouldn't you agree?"
"Is that so, but you do remember the reason for you coming here, or Chaldeas' objective?"
Ritsuka snapped his look towards the corner of the elevator, twiddling his thumbs at very high speeds. "W-Well, professor Lev, it's not that I don't remember, it's just tha-"
"You don't remember." Mash stated. Ritsuka stopped what he was doing and his smile began to quiver. "If you don't remember why pretend that you do? Is there any point?"
"Erm, when you put it like that . . ." Ritsuka scratched the back of his neck once again.
"Well?" Mash stared straight at Ritsuka.
Ritsuka sighed. "There isn't really a reason, so don't worry about it, ok?" He said, looking at Mash with an easy smile.
The elevator made ringed and opened the doors, everyone walked out and went down towards the meeting room. Mash stared at Ritsuka's back as they walked, thinking about why he acted the way he did. He refuses to answer, why? There is no gain for him at all, only loss . . . Curious.
They made it to the meeting room. The doors opened and they entered, interrupting the director's, Olga Marie's, speech. She stood there in front of a board with images being projected upon it, wearing her usual orange and black dress with a red cravat, her white hair tied into a braid that fell down her shoulders, and an ever present scowl on her face, which now looked seemingly more irritated than usual.
"What is the meaning of this professor Lev?" Demanded Marie, but before the professor had a chance to answer she began talking. "Don't you know this is an important time. You should have been here at the start of the meeting, you are a key component in Chaldea, therefore you should be present when we introduce the new members to the mission. Furthermore, not only where you late, but extremely late, we are three quarters done with it. It seems you have forgotten that this is a mission which the whole world is relying on to succeed, but I suppose that does not matter as much as strolling around the hallways of Chaldea doing diddly squat."
Professor Lev put his hands up defensively. "Olga, please, surely you must have realized we were missing not only Mash but another member of the master candidates here in this meeting," Marie looked at both Mash and Ritsuka with a furrowed brow. "So I went to search for them, but that sadly took longer than expected."
"So you knew there were people missing in this meeting?"
"Yes, I was informed by the staff, and I thought it prudent to search for them, after all I know handling a simple meeting is well within your abilities, Olga."
The director sighed and her features relaxed as she stared at the trio, but just as quickly she furrowed her brows.
"Understood, you are forgiven just this once, but hurry up and take a sit somewhere, it doesn't matter where." And with that the director continued talking about the mission and its objective.
Mash, already knowing full well the details of the mission stared at the ceiling, thinking back at the irrational actions of Ritsuka. She just couldn't understand him.
Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised by that, there aren't many people here who I do understand, but none of them act like Ritsuka. Most people here don't do anything without a reason behind it, well, I suppose that's an exaggeration, but not many people here acted on whims, except those new to Chaldea, and even then it only lasted for a year or so.
She thought back to when she met the other master candidates and how they had also tried to help her, similarly to how Ritsuka did, but she knew there was a reason behind it. They wanted to talk to her to suck up to someone who had been here for a long time, they simply wanted something to do, or they had the intention of entering a relationship with her. Mash felt irked at that, but she hadn't felt any of that from Ritsuka, it was disconcerting. She had never met someone who hadn't had any reasonable motive behind their actions. Sure, she knew there were plenty of people who did unreasonable things, but most of the time they had a reason behind it, usually enjoyment or a sense of escapism, not Ritsuka. Maybe he was one of those selfless people she had heard so much about, but she was still unsure about him.
Mash looked over at him and he was sleeping. She tilted her head and did a double take. He was sleeping. Guess he really had been tired. Why didn't he say so then? She stared at him for a little bit and then reached out to shake him awake when she realized the director had stopped talking.
"Oh my goodness," The director lamented, putting a hand over her face. "Can't anything go right today?" She made a gap in between her fingers and looked over at Ritsuka. "If I remember correctly his name was Ritsuka, if the reports were anything to go by. Anyways, professor Lev, you who were with him beforehand, did he seem at all strange when you met him?" Professor Lev was about to speak up but simply didn't get a chance to. "He didn't seem tired when he arrived at the meeting room, and I sure hope that he didn't fall asleep simply because this was a boring meeting, if that were the case I'd send him packing back to his family right now. I don't care if they are angry about it, I expect everyone to do their best, anything less and that's that, this goes for everyone in this room."
"Erm, yes, well, Olga, you see, when I met him, actually it's more when Mash met him he wa-"
"Mash was alone?" The director interrupted. Professor Lev nodded and the director furrowed her eyebrows further, she then motioned him to go on.
"As I was saying, when Mash met him he was unconscious an-"
"Unconscious, you say?" The director began, once again. "But you said that was when Mash met him, I gather when you arrive he was already awake?"
"Yes, he was awake and in fine condition, so much so that I didn't know he had passed out until Mash mentioned it the way here." Professor Lev stopped himself here so as to not be interrupted by the director once again.
"So he was fine after he had woken up . . . Did he say what was the reason behind his passing out?"
"Yes, he said it was the altitude change, it took a toll on his body which apparently isn't the strongest, though he assured us that he was fine and that it was a one time thing."
"So it's possible he is weaker than the reports said," The director muttered, now turning her gaze back at professor Lev she spoke. "Lev, if a staff member, or anyone for that matter, passed out or the like, make sure that they get medical attention unless it's an urgent matter. Even if they tell you they're fine make consultations with someone of the medical staff, we can't have people playing hero on this mission, needless casualties will only hurt the mission. Now take him to the medics and give him a check up, something he should've had upon waking up. Seriously, it wouldn't matter too much if he had missed this meeting, we could've given him a small briefing afterwards." She then blinked a couple times as if making a double take, her face then gave a rare nervous smile as she tried to cover her previous words. "N-Not to say that it wouldn't matter if you had missed this meeting, on the contrary, this meeting is important, yes. It contains important information regarding this mission which you will need if you are to succeed." She looked over at the room of eyes staring straight at her, and her face contorted back to her angry visage. The director directed her attention at professor Lev. "Well? Go on ahead, you missed more than half the meeting it won't matter if you miss it all, after all you have been here long enough to know the ins and outs. But do make sure to tell kid he isn't going on the first mission."
The director went back to explaining the details of the mission and most of the others present awkwardly turned their attention back towards her. Mash shook Ritsuka awake and told him what had transpired when he had been asleep. Ritsuka clicked his tongue but took everything in stride, he stood and walked towards the exit with professor Lev and Mash, but once they were at the door professor Lev stopped Mash, asking her if she had permission to go with them. Mash looked over at the director and once their eyes met, the director made a shooing motion.
"I suppose I'll take that as a yes." Muttered Lev as the three left the meeting room.
They once again made it to the elevator and waited for it to reach the correct floor.
"Ritsuka," Mash began. "Why didn't you tell us you weren't fully well? Was there a reason?"
Ritsuka stared out of the elevator for a bit, at the large contraption called Sheba which would allow this mission to function, and then turned around with an easy smile. "I legitimately thought I was fine, but I suppose I was wrong." He chuckled.
Mash was about to continue but the elevator opened.
"Oh my," Ritsuka began, walking out of the elevator, Mash behind him. "Is it just me or was this a lot quicker?"
"It was quicker, Ritsuka, you see, the medical wing is closer to the lower levels were the meeting was being held at." Professor Lev explained. "Anyways, Mash, would you be so kind as to escort Ritsuka here to the medical office, I have a few errands to run, and I'm sure Ritsuka will make sure you stay out of trouble." With that, the elevator's door closed and Mash was left alone with Ritsuka.
"Umm, well then, shall we get going?" Ritsuka asked staring at the white hallway that went on before them.
Mash nodded and they began walking, but it was not two minutes before Mash brought up the topic of him fainting again.
"Mash, I swear, I didn't expect to fall unconscious at the meeting, if anything, if I had expected it why would I have gone in the first place? I'm sure that professor Lev would've understood, besides the fact that I had nothing to gain from it" Ritsuka persuaded.
"Yes, that is what bothers me, you had no reasonable gain from feigning health, that's what confuses me." Mash scratched her chin as she mulled over her thoughts.
"Exactly, there was nothing for me to gain, so you should understand that there is no real good reason for me to have feigned health."
"I suppose that's true, though you could also be one of those people who lets pride cloud their judgment, though you don't seem the kind so I'll take your word for it." Mash settled.
"Thank goodness," He sighed with relief. "But we have talked far too much about me, what about you?"
"Me? I'm afraid there is nothing worth noting about myself." Mash stated matter of factly.
"Is that so? I find that hard to believe."
"I can assure you."
Ritsuka placed his hands behind his head as he walked. "I can't believe you, even if you yourself believe that I simply can't. After all, everyone has something of worth within them."
"It seems you won't change your mind about that, therefore I won't try to change it."
"Is that so . . ."
With that the conversation stopped and they both silently made their way across the white hallways. Mash stopped thinking so much about Ritsuka's fainting as he was fairly genuine in his responses, but that also meant that she had nothing to do. It's not that she minded being bored, it was simply that Ritsuka seemed to be different to the other staff members of Chaldea, well, he still was, but she couldn't help but think of him as less intriguing now that she got to know him a bit better.
The walk was silent. Mash saw Ritsuka fidgeting a bit and started wondering how long it would be till he decided to start another conversation. It appears it wouldn't be long, but not for the reason Mash expected.
As they walked Mash saw up ahead the head of the medical staff, Romani Archaman, who kept looking backwards as he carried a piece of cake.
"Doctor." Mash called out.
"Ah, who?" The doctor asked, he quickly hid his piece of cake behind him as he looked over to the source of the sound. Upon seeing both of them he relaxed. "Oh, Mash, it's just you. Gave me scare there."
"I assume you are once again abandoning your duties." Mash said.
"I actually finished them, so I'm not really abandoning anything." The doctor said with a nervous smile.
"Is that so. Well, now you have the opportunity to do something productive with your time." Mash motioned towards Ritsuka. "His name is Ritsuka and he suffered two faintings. He is here on the director's orders so make sure he is well for the next mission."
The doctor listened to the information and blinked. "Next mission? He's not going on this one?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"I see," The doctor sighed. "Well, you can leave him with me. Mash, you can go on ahead back to the others, I'm sure the director is expecting you."
Mash gave a curt nod to both men and headed back from where they came.
Once they were alone the doctor stopped hiding his cake and began eating it. "That girl sure works hard."
"Erm, doctor?" Ritsuka asked.
"Please, call me Roman. There's no need for formalities." Roman said, scratching his long, light orange hair.
"If that's what you want, but are you sure about letting Mash go off on her own?" Ritsuka asked, somewhat worriedly. "Professor Lev said that she shouldn't be off on her own before."
Roman stared at him with the fork on his mouth. "Oh, you don't need to worry about her." He began to spin twirl the fork in between his fingers. "Sure, she may be absent minded and we might have lost her a couple of times, but when there's a mission given to her there's none the more reliable." He finished with a proud huff. He looks back at Ritsuka who is looking at him with his mouth agape with worry.
"You lost her?" Ritsuka asks more worried than before.
"Oh, no no no no, it was nothing serious. We simply could not find her." He dismisses with a wave. "We still haven't figured it out how she did it, but still . . . Anyways, you said you had fainted?"
"Yes, yes I did, though I feel fine right now."
"I see, you do look fine, but you should come with me the the medical office just in case." He finished with a sigh, wistfully eating his cake as he guided Ritsuka through the hallway. "I see you're new here, what led you to this isolated place?"
"Nothing truly worth mentioning to be honest." Ritsuka muttered.
"What a coincidence," Roman chuckled. "You could say the same about me, but enough about that, how does it feel to not be able to go on the first mission?"
Ritsuka furrowed his brow. "Frustrating, I came all the way here but I'm not able to do anything."
Roman placed his hand on Ritsuka's shoulder. "Come now, it could be worst, you could have been kicked out of Chaldea, unlikely as it may be."
"Unlikely? I doubt that, I'm sure that if I mess up again the director will send me packing." He grimaced.
"The director, huh . . ."
"Yeah, when I awoke in the meeting room she was shooting daggers my way, if looks could kill let me tell you."
"Wait, you fainted right in the middle of the meeting?" The doctor asked, surprise apparent on his face.
"Yes, I did," Ritsuka sighed. "I sure started off on the wrong foot with her, that must be why she isn't letting me on the mission. Well, I haven't tried to convince her yet to let me in on it, of course I'll try, but I don't like my chances, after all she seems to dislike me already." Ritsuka gave a halfhearted chuckle.
"Hmnm, I don't think that's it, you see the dire-" Roman stopped in the middle of the sentence to look around the hallway. He looked at one of the door plates and sighed. "Erm, we might have passed the medical office on the way here . . . So I'm afraid we have to go back. Sorry."
Ritsuka raised his eyebrows in surprise. When he saw the doctor talk and walk - and eating cake - with complete casualness, he didn't think that he'd forget where the medical office was, though it could be just a one time thing so he shaked off the thought of him being an easily distracted individual.
They made their way back and after a bit they found the medical office which they entered. Roman instructed Ritsuka to sit on the bed as he laid down his plate of cake and grabbed one of the thermometers. He handed the thermometer to Ritsuka who placed under his armpit before Roman could say otherwise.
"You could at least let me tell you where to put the thermometer." Roman said with a downcast look.
"Oh, I'm sorry, please go on." Ritsuka said as he took out the thermometer.
"No," Roman waved it off with a sigh. "It's fine, just put it back."
"If you say so." Ritsuka muttered, complying to Roman's request. And after a few minutes of silence he asked; "But enough about that, you were saying something about the director before, do you mind continuing?"
"Not at all, but before that, could you hand me the thermometer?"
Ritsuka complied and Roman looked over at the thermometer as he walked over to a cupboard. He took out a thermos and a cup, filled the cup and took it over towards Ritsuka.
"Here, drink this," He handed over the cup to Ritsuka who began drinking it. Roman retrieved his cake and leaned back on a chair. "Well, as I was saying, I don't think the director hates you, or anyone, for that matter . . . Ok, maybe some people, but that's beside the point."
Ritsuka raised one eyebrow. "I find that hard to believe."
Roman chuckled. "Yeah, I can see why you'd say that, believe me I thought the same thing for months after I first started here. But," Roman raised his fork to accentuate his point. "I was wrong. You see, she is indeed a very angry person, oh man do I know that, but she is not angry at you, or others for that matter."
"I don't follow."
"Understandable." Roman went back to savoring his cake. "Well, Olga, the director, wasn't originally meant to be the director. Her father, the previous director, Maridsbury Animusphere, was the one who made all this possible." Roman spun on his chair pointing at everything while in the spin. "Sadly he passed away before he could see Chaldea's mission be completed and before he was able to choose the next director. And you know how the mage's society is very aristocratic with family lineage meaning just about everything. Well, that meant that Olga was thrust into the directors position."
"But couldn't she have just said no? I mean, they can't force her to be the director . . . Can they?"
"No, not really. But the thing is she took the spot voluntarily, even though she was and still is relatively young. Late twenties, early thirties, give or take." Roman put down his finished plate on a desk and continued. "Anyways, she wanted to finish her father's work and took the mantle of director herself. Needless to say, it didn't go as planned.
"She wasn't originally an angry person, she was actually quite sweet. I was able to meet her back in London in a time long past when I was studying magecraft at the clocktower, and so you must imagine my shock when the sweet and witty Olga went and became director of Chaldea. I was already planning on coming here but you could say that gave me a helpful push, after all I was still studying and she went on to become a director. Funny, really." Roman chuckled. "Anyways, when I arrived she was no longer the Olga I knew. As you may have noticed she was very angry a lot of the time. It was only after I was able to become head of the medical staff that I understood her better."
"Wait, wait wait wait. You are the head of the medical staff?" Ritsuka asked bewildered.
Roman looked at him, his pride somewhat hurt. "Yes, yes I am. I know I am still young, twentynine years old and twenty three months if you must know, and that I don't look like head medic material, but still."
"Nononono," Ritsuka backtracked. "I was just surprised is all, I didn't think that such a nice person was the head of the medical office. I was expecting a stuffy brick faced old man. It's actually better that you are the head, you feel very human, so you are easy to talk to."
Roman looked at Ritsuka with an expression of surprise which then broke into a slight empty chuckle. "I feel human, huh." He then muttered not expecting Ritsuka to hear. "I guess I'm making progress, even if I don't feel it."
Roman slapped his cheeks and he went back to his cheery self. "No matter. As I was saying, it was after I became head of the medical staff that I understood Olga more. She isn't angry at others, she is angry at herself. She went in to become the director and it was too much for her, any other person would have quit, but she didn't, she thought she owed it to her father to succeed in his stead." Roman gave a hollow chuckle. "She had always been a perfectionist, so when this didn't go as planned she was very close to snapping. And yet she kept on working on bettering herself and Chaldea as a whole. She became better at it overtime, now she is what I'd call a good director in a technical way."
"Technical way?" Ritsuka asked.
"Yes, it could be phrased better, let me elaborate; Olga is a good director, she goes above and beyond on her work, she wants to make sure everything works out perfectly, which of course is impossible, but she still tries. The problem is that she doesn't care about herself. To achieve that level of efficiency in a short time she has disregarded her physical and mental health. When something doesn't go according to plan she blames herself solely for it and beats herself up for it. Not to mention you basically have to force her to accept help from others. Well, she became more stressed and irritable as time went on and her hold on the anger became harder for her to handle so she ended up in a neverending state of anger, lashing out to others and then beating herself up for it later." Roman sighed. "It's quite a vicious cycle."
Ritsuka could sympathise with Olga, he could see a lot of his beliefs in her and felt pity for her. He then remembered what happened at the meeting. "Doesn't that mean that when I fainted she got angry at herself for it?"
Roman looked at Ritsuka contemplatively. "Don't you worry about that. You don't have to beat yourself up for her stubbornness."
Why would she do that? She should know that it was out of her control to account for my fainting. It was entirely my fault for letting myself think I would be able to push through it!
"Aaaaaand you're beating yourself up for it." Roman sighed, scratching his hair. "Listen, if you want to help her, talk to her, that is all the advice I can give you. Though, as I said before, she rarely takes help from others, keep that in mind."
Ritsuka looked up at Roman. "Is there a reason you know all this."
"Well, I am one of those rare cases of people who Olga asks for help." Roman said proudly, but his proud smirk broke with a sigh. "Well, the one time she did ask for my help might have been because I caught her at a bad time."
Ritsuka chuckled lowly. "For her to be so dedicated her father must have been an incredible person."
"Oh man is that an understatement." Roman smiled. Before he could continue he was interrupted by a call from his bracelet. "Sorry, let me take this." Roman went out of the room but came back in not long after.
"Was it anything important?" Ritsuka asked.
"No, it was just Lev being overly cautious about everything again. He wants me down there in a few minutes but I don't think they'll mind if I'm a little late." He said in a carefree tone. "Anyways, back to Olga's father, Maridsbury animusphere. He actually was the one who constructed the rayshift summoning system, an outstanding feat. That along with the atlas academy providing the spiritron calculation engine and professor Lev's shiva, the telescope that lets us see in the near future allowing us to observe chaldeas, we are able to complete our mission here at this observatory atop the mountain." Roman gave a short laugh. "So many people have worked in this, it's amazing."
Ritsuka, not knowing what half of those words meant decided to guide the conversation in another direction. "So professor Lev did something that important? He told me was but a simple engineer."
Roman chuckled. "A mere engineer? How humble of him."
They continued to exchange thoughts and stories for a while until suddenly the room turned dark.
"A power outage?" Ritsuka wondered.
"This place? Chaldeas has never had a power outage." Roman said in a worried tone.
"Emergency alert. Emergency alert." A robotic voice spoke through the speakers As the lights turned red. "Fires have broken out in the central fire plant and central control room."
"D-Did she say fires?" Roman asked no one.
"The central division bulkhead will close in four minutes, all personnel please evacuate-" The voice went on.
"What the . . ." Roman dashed out of the room, Ritsuka hot on his heels, alarms blaring all throughout the reddened hallway "Ritsuka, go to the bunker at the end of this hallway, there you'll find help."
Before Roman could begin his sprint he was stopped by Ritsuka. "Mash is where the fires are," Ritsuka demanded, worry tinting his voice. "Along with everyone else, I can't do nothing about it."
Seeing how resolute Ritsuka was Roman relented. "Fine, I'll head to the control room so follow me."
They both began sprinting down the once clear white hallways now only visible due to Roman's flashlight lighting the way. The constant sound of the alarms blaring through every corner of Chaldea only served to worry Ritsuka as he thought back to all the people that were in the meeting room and therefore the central control room. As they ran Ritsuka began feeling nauseous all over again, it was not like when he fainted, this time he would be able to push through it. He willed down the nausea and continued running behind Roman, though he could feel his speed slipping.
They dashed down the stairs in order to reach the lower levels were the mission was to take place. Going down the stairs made them slow down, precious time lost for Ritsuka but it also allowed him to catch up to Roman who also had to slow down. As they almost made it down the flight of stairs a quake occurred accompanied by the sound of an explosion. The quake caused them to lose their balance almost making them fall down the stairs.
With the all the worst possible outcomes flashing through Ritsuka's head he dashed down the stairs and out into a new hallway. He realized he didn't know where to go so he waited for Roman to come out, it only took a few seconds but for Ritsuka it was a lifetime. He followed Roman through the hallway which now had cracks and smoke filling the ceiling.
They made it to the central control room. Ritsuka was speechless.
They saw large pieces of the ceiling that had fallen down on the ground appear like pillars, the whole room glowed red as a giant sphere held inside a contraption at the end of the room radiated scarlet. The fires sprouting everywhere made this place feel like hell. There was no sound but that of collapsing rubble and the flickering of the fires.
"It can't be, the only thing standing is Chaldeas." Roman muttered, referring to the large scarlet sphere at the end of the area.
"Power output units confirmed to not have enough power generation." The mechanical voice said through the speakers.
"Not good." Roman looked up at the control room on the floor above, it was completely dark.
"Unable to switch to switch to reserve power. Personnel, please manually switch to reserve."
"Damn," Roman muttered. "Ritsuka, I'll head over to the underground power plant to fix this. I can't let the light of Chaldea go out." He spoke while running out the entrance stopping to look back at Ritsuka. "You need to get out of here now, it's useless to look for anyone in there." And with that he left as quickly as he could down the reddened hallways.
Ritsuka didn't even consider following Roman's orders. He dashed through the flame covered area, shouting for anyone, anything to avail. Whenever he thought he found something it turned out to be more rubble. He felt himself sinking down a dark hellhole of despair as he found no one, no matter how far he went all he found was rubble. He began breathing heavily, coughing roughly as his throat begged for water, but he wouldn't, couldn't, leave, not when there were still people to be saved. He continued to look at the pit of hell, the dark void in his chest making it hard for him to breath or think straight, but upon noticing a body a surge of relief tore through him.
This time I'll save them, I can't let anyone else be killed, not again, not ever.
He sprinted as fast as he could, tripping among the rubble until he finally made it to the young man. He held his hand and began telling all would be okay now that he was here.
"C'mon," Ritsuka spoke with a quivering voice. "Everything will be alright. We need to get you out of here so that I can search for more survivors, all you need to do is stand up." He said. "You don't happen to know if anyone else is around, do you? . . . B-But enough about that, we just need to get you out of here so stand up . . . Please, just stand up." He pleaded, his eyes red from the smoke and pain and anguish. "Just . . . Just stand up . . . STAND UP DAMMIT." He cried out, but he knew he was deluding himself, the man was long gone, and there was nothing he could do, absolutely nothing. He was but a useless nothing, not capable of saving anyone, not even one out of the many people there were.
He then heard a shout. He didn't know what or who it was but he had heard something. He ran up the rubble, the stones under his hands burning him as he climbed and once he made it through he broke.
There laid Mash, staring at up at him still alive, though who knew for how long. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he slid down the rubble. He dashed through the distance between him and Mash and tried pulling up the piece of the ceiling that was crushing her from the waist down.
"Ritsuka, you do know that is useless." Mash said matter of factly.
"I still have to try!" Ritsuka cried with all his might, tears streaming down his face, his hands burning under the heat of the ceiling fragment, his body yelling at him in agonizing pain, begging him to stop
"Ritsuka, why don't you sit down." Mash said.
Ritsuka stared at her with undisguised anguish. "Don't you feel anything? Any pain? Why didn't you shout before? Someone could have helped you." Ritsuka dropped to his knees pleading for an answer.
Mash sighed. "Yes, I do feel a lot of pain, though by now its feeling more numb than before, and I did shout before but since no one answered I assumed everyone was dead and therefore there was no point in continu-" Mash gasped for breath as her face contorted under the weight of the slab crushing her.
"You are in pain." Ritsuka stated, staring right at her.
"I won't argue that point, though there is no reason to- wait, what are you doing?" Mash asked as Ritsuka once again tried to lift the slab to no avail. "You know it's useless, right? It's far too much weight. Not even the strongest person in Chaldea would be able to lift this, and your body certainly is't the strongest, so by doing this you are putting your body through unnecessary pain, so why do it?"
"Because you are in much more pain than I am." Ritsuka said through laboured breaths. "And if I am able to lift this even just a bit you might be able to . . ." Ritsuka breathed in as he kept using all the strength he could muster. "You might be able to slip by underneath."
"Even so," Mash was now beginning to raise her voice." During this time you might have been able to save someone else. But here you are trying to lift a piece of the ceiling." As Ritsuka made apparent no intent of stopping she continued, her voice becoming more and more upset. "Don't you get it, it's pointless, there is no way for you to save me from this! There is no way to do this! You might have saved someone else by now. Don't you care about them? You certainly sounded like you did back when you were yelling at that corpse over the rubble."
"SHUT UP." Ritsuka commanded, his hands now numb under the stress and heat. "I will save those in front of me, because if I don't save them who will?"
"But then who will save the others?" Mash rebutted. Ritsuka gritted his teeth and remained silent, he could not answer her question. "And even if you could lift this it's not like I'd live anyways."
"Don't say that." Ritsuka commanded in a low voice. "Don't you dare say that." He tried once again to pull up the slab but he felt nauseous again, the room started spinning and he lost all the strength he had in his body, falling down to the ground. He tried moving but all he could manage was moving his hand slightly. "DAMMIT."
There was silence between the two of them. In the background the automated computer began speaking again about re establishing contact with a suitable candidate but that was all Ritsuka was able to get from it.
"You are an idiot, Ritsuka." Mash said.
"I know." Ritsuka admitted. He wanted to stand up and help Mash but he couldn't move, and even if he could he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything with his weak body. He laid there, staring at ceiling, suffering from his body and the gaping void inside his chest. He had failed.
"But," Mash began, now more relaxed since Ritsuka was lying on the floor rather than doing something worthless. "Even if you have wasted your life in this insane stunt," Ritsuka didn't have the energy to argue, he was too tired, he just wanted to close his eyes. "I'll have to say this was a very interesting time, and I for some reason feel better now. That is on an emotional level, because physically I wouldn't give myself another minute . . . Ritsuka?" Mash looked over at him and he laid there with his eyes closed, sleeping, even then he looked distressed. "I wonder what his reason behind this was." Mash closed her eyes and waited for all to run its course.
A/N: We meet again. Now, can you spot the difference between this and the game? Yes? Well good job, expect more of that. On another note, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I think it went a tad too quick - Though 8k words is still quite a lot - with the character interactions and inner thoughts not being as fleshed out as they could've been, but I think it went better with the second chapter which is finished. Oh? You want to read it? No? Well you wouldn't have anyways. There is a reason behind my madness you see. Even though I have finished the second chapter I will upload it next week, probably, that way you won't get used to reading this fanfic a couple days a time since I am lazy and writing takes time, oh how it takes time. I planned the prologue - singularity F in its entirety - to be just one chapter, but oh boy was I wrong. I wrote most of it by memory and then I remembered that there was an anime of the singularity, so I skimmed through it. It was so boring, holy heck. I had already written over half of the singularity by then so when they introduced stuff I really couldn't be bothered to cram it in, the second chapter is already long enough, that's why you might notice somethings are not how you remember.
Writing the first singularity made me think. It's going to be a long time until I reach Babylonia. Just think, they're not even in the singularity yet and its been 8k words. The singularity itself is much more than that. And this singularity was supposed to be the short one. Oh, my life will end before I even finish writing E Pluribus Unum.