Disclaimer: All rights go to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.
– T.E. Lawrence.
"Saber is going to disappear, no matter who wins this fight. Then she'll vanish from this world and go back to the place in history where she belongs. I…I can't say I have no regrets. Losing Saber…losing the one I promised to protect, the one whose happiness I wished for. I don't know yet how hard it will be. I can still feel her presence. I'm not yet ready to lose her.
Even if I knew many days ago. Even if I knew from the beginning there would be a parting at the end. There where so many memories. Nights when we walked together and times we fought together. I selfishly tried hard in the beginning, thinking that I couldn't let a girl fight. She trained me in the dojo. I slept in the shed because I was uncomfortable with a girl in the next room. We had lunch together. Saber liked the bath, was satisfied when the food was good, liked the clothes Tohsaka gave her and talked with Fuji-nee.
She pushed herself, took all the burdens on her shoulders and finally collapsed – and we shared our warmth in the ruin. …I've been crazy since then. I couldn't think of anything but Saber and after my reasons for fighting changed, I realized I love Saber. How can I lose someone like this?"
However, we continued onward. Not saying anything.
"If I don't want to say goodbye, I can just talk to her about meaningless things. Like going to town again after we go home. Or what she wants for breakfast tomorrow morning. Such meaningless things. …But I can't even talk about such things. If I talk, that'll be our final conversation. A clear end. Neither of us can offer a clear farewell."
We reach the mountain gate. This is the final choice. "Saber." She is the same always. A tense stare with a composed expression.
All kinds of temptations attack me. Thoughts of turning back. Those thoughts rise in my throat.
But I stop it.
"Let's go. This will be our last battle." I declare that as a Master just as I always have. Saber nods silently. Her eyes are as strong–willed as always. So I won't have any regrets. As she believes in me. I too will believe my choice is correct.
We head into battle with no return. I couldn't say anything and I couldn't tell her what I really wanted to tell her. But I want to believe that this silence will be able to tell her my feelings.
Red light fills the mountaintop. The source seems to be coming from behind the temple. The blowing wind is getting stronger and the red phosphorescence scatters on the wind and the grounds is too bright for nighttime. Stagnant air filled with the presence of death. This is…
Like the fire back then.
But it isn't like that. Within all this red light, something is about to emerge. A black darkness oozing in the bright red. If this clearing is like a clear lake, that mud is like an oil spill. Mud that spreads, taints the ground, and doesn't kill anything it devours. It's like a visible curse. I can sense that this mud only reacts to the human mind and only swallows human bodies.
Our separate, final battles have begun.
We are both pushed to our limits.
We are both at the verge of defeat.
A miracle occurs.
But there is no such thing as a free miracle.
…And she appears. She walks straight towards me, her figure unchanged since the first time I saw her. She stops close enough that I could reach out to her. There are no words to confirm her safety or to congratulate her of the victory.
This was something already decided. So there is only one thing left to do.
"I will destroy the Holy Grail. That is my role." So saying, she begins to walk. The strong winds do not affect her as she approaches it step by step.
She must be in range. She quietly readies her sword and looks at the black "void."
I clench my fists hard, bite my lip, stifle the words about to come out of my mouth.
"Master, please give me the order. I cannot destroy it without your order."
Saber will disappear once the Holy Grail is destroyed. No, as she will destroy the Holy Grail, she will never become a Servant. Saber became a servant because she sought the Holy Grail. Destroying the Holy Grail out of her own will means destroying her contract as well. If she destroys the Holy Grail…she will end her life as the King.
"Shirou. I want to hear you say it." Saber's voice. Every time I hear it, I want to scream.
To tell her not to go.
I want to scream for her to stay here.
But that's something I should not do for the sake of my life.
"I…I love you, Saber." I burn her figure into my memory. "I want to make you the happiest you can be. I want to be with you forever…but…if I really love you, then the truth is…I can't do that. The Saber I fell in love with is someone who keeps fighting, regardless of how wounded she may be. And so, her pride is the one thing I must never harm."
She was born as a King and lived as a King. That will not change no matter what. From the time she swore to carry the sword, the girl became a king and nothing else. That is her pride. She ran through the battles so that in her final moments she would be able to believe her path was the right one.
The dreams of the girl Artoria. Even after she learned it would be unrewarded, she still clasped the sword and defended the oath of the king. I couldn't do anything to dishonor that pride. The pride that I considered to be beautiful.
"Saber, fulfill your duty." I say so with a flood of emotions.
An overflowing light.
The void in the sky is cut in half by the light and disappears without a trace.
There's nothing left. The destroyed mountain is now a flat field. Dawn is in the distance. The horizon is shining in gleaming gold.
My left hand hurts.
My last Command Spell disappears.
That…makes me accept that the curtains have been drawn.
A calm wind started to blow.
"So, everything is over?" Saber asked. Her armor had vanished, her golden hair free and floating in the wind.
"Yeah, this is it. There is nothing left." I replied. After so much fighting, it was over. A span of two weeks that I would never forget.
"As your sword, I have slain your enemies and protected you at every turn. I am glad I was able to carry out that oath." Saber was still faced away from me.
"You did well, Saber." I finished.
"There is one last thing I feel I must tell you." Saber's body wavers.
"What?" I reply with my best bluff.
She is looking right at me and in a voice without regret,
"Shirou, I love you."
Says those words.
The rising sun blinded me. When I looked back, Saber had vanished as she appeared.
Leaving no trace.
I smiled to myself. "Of course, that's just like you." I said aloud. I stared at the horizon, wishing to never forget and for it to never fade away. Keeping everything I lost close to my heart. A distant land glowing in sunlight. Resembling the golden fields she ran through.
I had no regrets. I would always remember Saber with a smile. Some things may change, but there where things that did not change.
I dreamed of a forest. Leaves rustled in the wind.
"King Arthur, I'll go and fetch the troops immediately, just rest for now." The knight's armor was covered by a black shouldered, white cape. His hair was long and white.
"Bedivere…" Saber's voice was almost as soft as the wind.
Bedivere started. "You regained consciousness, sire?"
"I was just dreaming for a moment." Saber lay in the arms of a tree as if preparing to sleep.
"Dreaming, sire?" Bedivere asked.
"Yes, I rarely have dreams, it was an invaluable experience." Saber softly smiled to herself.
"In that case, please rest without worry sire. I will gather the troops." Bedivere soothed.
Saber gasped as if coming to a sudden realization.
"Your Highness? Have I been rude?" Bedivere asked.
"I did not know a dream could be seen after one awakens. Is it possible to continue the same dream?" Saber asked.
"Yes, I have done it myself many times, sire. You just have to want it enough." Bedivere answered.
"I see. You are a person of great knowledge." Saber's soft smile never wavered.
"Listen to me, Bedivere. You must take my sword." Bedivere let out a soft gasp, but didn't protest. "Now, listen closely. I want you to ride through this forest and over that blood-soaked hill, beyond that you will find a deep lake. I want you to throw my sword into that lake. Go on, Bedivere."
The knight hesitates returning the sword.
The lake was certainly there.
But he just could not throw the sword in it.
If he throws the sword in, the king will disappear. The knight is unable to throw the sword into the lake from his unwillingness to part with the king. And the knight turns around and returns to the king.
As the knight lies, the King repeats to the knight. "To follow his command."
To disobey the king's command is a great sin for a knight.
But still, he disobeyed the king's order twice.
As the knight figures out he cannot change the king's decision, he throws the sword into the lake on the third visit.
The holy sword returns to the lake.
A white hand appearing from the water receives the sword and after going through the sky three times, the holy sword vanishes from this world.
And the knight finally accepts it.
The king's end.
"I have given your sword back to the Lady of the Lake, Your Majesty." Bedivere said.
"Thank you, you should be proud of what you've done Bedivere. You preformed an order for your king." Saber was silent.
"Bedivere…" Saber was dying.
"Yes, sire?" Bedivere asked.
"I'm afraid my slumber this time will be…a very long one." Saber closed her eyes, as if going to sleep. I could hear the sounds of the forest, the wind sighed peacefully, birds chirped. The sunlight fell on Saber and she did not stir. In her last moments, she able to obtain the peace she was never able to obtain.
"Are you dreaming now, King Arthur? Are you still dreaming the same dream?" Bedivere asked softly. The expression on her face was what I wished for. A peaceful sleep.
Thirteen years later. 2017
The streets of London where always busy and crowded with tourists around this time of day. "Why did the Mage's Association have to build the main entrances underneath the London Museum of all places?" A few trips to this city had allowed me to learn the hard way that the more accomplished in the Clock Tower deemed a fully-grown magus who lacked the knowledge of even the five elements to be a laughingstock.
The fakers, who specialized in projection magecraft, were rarely recognized in the hierarchy of the Clock Tower. The best they could hope for was odd jobs as specialists to the more prominent families of magi. If the Clock Tower ever welcomed me it would be as a test subject than a full mage. There would be some who would love nothing more than to extract some…"biological samples" from a man who had once been merged with Avalon.
However, my projection was not like other projections. No raw materials to be gathered beforehand, no incantation that would take a few minutes and no magic circle. The projection was flawed, a fake was still a fake. Which was all the more reason why I practiced as often as I could. It stepped dangerously close to First Magic, creating something from nothing. Speaking of projection, I could maintain a ten-minute reality marble.
Unlimited Blade Works. A wasteland filled with weapons under a twilight sky. I had learned that ability through projecting blades, fighting with them, forging them with magical energy. The reality marble itself was another contradiction: no penalties from the World.
My skills were a one-way ticket to a Sealing Designation, if they were found out. So, I took odd jobs, traveling and fighting. My skills with a sword had grown. Archer's swordplay was the base of my abilities. Somewhere along the way, the ideal of becoming a hero now included achieving Avalon, something that was higher than just the throne of heroes. It was like reaching for the distant sky.
The only possession I had with me was a single suitcase. Inside lay changes of clothes, books, a laptop and a stuffed lion. A smile came to my face remembering the first date I had with Saber, finding her admitting, in not so many words, that it was cute.
My time outdoors and projecting had tanned my skin, so I looked like a miniature Archer. I still had my red hair, so I looked Scottish. I looked outside at the passing slopes of the mountain. I thought back to the last ten years and what had happened to my small family.
Rin and Waver Velvet dismantling the Holy Grail War system in Fuyuki. I didn't even know how they had managed to pull it off. Rin had said she didn't want to take any chances if I was around at the time.
Taiga, Sakura, Rin and Illya.
The close relationship I had with Sakura had all but disappeared. I was committed to a single-minded faithfulness to Saber, even though we were separated by the rules of space, time and death. I couldn't give Sakura what she wanted. Last I heard, she had graduated. Our relationship had been distant and awkward ever since.
Taiga's communication of text messages had dwindled down to almost nothing. Traveling so often, a distance grew and the jobs of the Mage's Association had kept me traveling or without a way to contact anybody for weeks at a time.
Illya had passed away a few years ago. She was glad that the Holy Grail Wars had been dismantled. The only thing she regretted was that she couldn't see past her grandfather's manipulations and be a proper little sister/big sister to me. Even during her last days she was always full of life and was always cheerful. Taiga had broken down in tears and said that it was much too soon for Illya to pass away at such a young age.
Rin was officially part of the Mage's Association and sometimes lent her notes and books to me. In return, I was her unofficial apprentice. As a freelancer and an unofficial apprentice of Rin, I was offered Clock Tower "education" and could come and go as I pleased until I completed my generals, a three to four year course. After that, I was done with the Clock Tower...until Waver Velvet called me with an offer that would be "mutually beneficial" to us both considering loose ends of the Holy Grail Wars. The knowledge of the Grail War had spread and it's corruption didn't bother the more ambitious mages.
Fake Holy Grail Wars were a major pain to deal with and to cover up. More than likely, the whole thing exploded in their faces, killing the magus's. Ugh. A total mess to deal with and a lot of paperwork to go through.
This was the result. The long path I had ahead of me to be with Saber. I had just finished filing my report about the last disaster, a False Holy Grail War in a South American jungle that caused a minor dip in the magical energy of the leyline, resulting in an earthquake that measured a five on the Richter scale. At least it wasn't in a major city. I took one of the many streets of London heading from the Clock Tower to Rin's apartment. I always changed my route to avoid being followed and other mages. I also never talked to another Mage unless spoken to and avoided everyone expect Rin. Rin excelled at the poltics and intrigue part of the Clock Tower.
I came to screeching stop as I entered one of the many side entrances that the Association set up under London. All where well hidden, yet it seemed that I had drawn the short straw. All of the workshops where underground, making getting from class to class seem like a maze. Yet there where days when rooms moved around according to the faculty head and one of the unspoken rules of the Clock Tower.
One of those unspoken rules and source of headache was standing in the middle of the passage, mages parting like the Red Sea around him. Zelretch.
"I'm bored." Zelrecth's voice was like an old grandfather's, yet still strong and youthful. The Wizard Marshall had said one of the most dreaded sentences in the Clock Tower.
The effect was immediate. Every mage went stock still. You could hear a pin drop.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ZELRECTH IS BORED!" A female magus screamed. Everyone scrambled for the nearest door. And of course, I'm shoved out of the way and the mass exodus leaves me right in Zelrecth's line of sight.
"You there." The Wizard Marshall proclaims my doom. "Oh, don't make that kind of face. You have a chance to save a world, after all."
I twitched. The moment I heard the words "save" and "world" combined, I knew that I would have a tough time deciding against whatever crazy idea the Wizard Marshall had cooked up. "What exactly do I get out of this?" I asked bluntly. I was, at my core, someone who wanted to save others.
"Well, if you are able to bargain like a magus, maybe you aren't completely hopeless." Zelrecth laughed. "Just a few surprises for you, a few tweaks of my own here and there, adventure, romance, all that hero stuff you read in adventure books."
Zelrecth looked at his wristwatch. I had heard that it let him see into different timelines or measured their operation. "Oh my, time really does fly by! This world I'm so interested in is approaching it's terminal point. Happy travels!"
Without any warning, I'm blasted by a swirl of magic. I feel my feet leave the ground. I mentally curse Zelrecth as I'm sent through what I assume to be space and land hard on a flat surface.
I groan as I feel something wet touch my cheek. I open my eyes.
"Fou?" A small fluffy animal is sitting comfortably on my chest. It was rather like a large squirrel crossed with a rabbit. It's vest rather reminded me of Merlin's clothes from Saber's past.
"Senpai? Are you awake?" A soft timid voice asked. I could almost mistake it for Sakura's. I quickly sat up to find the concerned face of a girl peering down at me. She had short light purple hair and violet eyes hidden behind a pair of black rimmed glasses. She wore a red tie that was at odds with her white uniform. she looked no older than seventeen, maybe sixteen.
The hallway gave me a high tech vibe from how clean it was.
"Fou!" The fluffy familiar chirps.
"My name is Shirou." I extended a hand as I stand up. "What's yours?"
The girl looks down sadly. "Maybe I'm not important enough for you to know my name? No, I do have a name, a proper name. But I never really had the chance to use it. I'm afraid I don't leave a good first impression…"
"A homunculus?" Was my first thought.
"Fou! Kyuu! Kyao!" The fluffy familiar at my feet draws our attention.
"I completely forgot. I still haven't introduced you yet, have I Fou?" The girl turned to me. "This squirrel-like creature is Fou. He's a Privileged Life-Form allowed to freely walk around Chaldea. I was looking for him and that's how I found you asleep on the floor, Senpai. Do you usually sleep on hard surfaces?" The girl asks.
"Normally, I sleep on a futon." There was a lot I needed to learn. As far as I knew, this place was called Chaldea.
"Fou. Mmku, Fou!" Fou ran off down the hall.
"He does that sometimes, just walks around." The girl continues. "Normally he doesn't go near anyone but me, but he seems to like you, Senpai." She smiles. "Congratulations, you are now the second Caretaker of Fou in Chaldea."
"Ah, there you are Mash." A new voice said. The man was dressed in a green business suit and his brown hair was long, reaching his shoulders. Something about him made my skin crawl, a sense of wrongness. "That won't do, you know, wandering about without permission…oh, someone's already with you? I'm Leff, one of the technicians employed here. And your name is?"
"Shirou." I reply.
Leff smiles. "Welcome to Chaldea. Forty-eight magus's, each talented in their own way. Somehow, we were able to gather all of the candidates. This year, 2017, all possible candidates capable of Spiritron Drives were brought to Chaldea."
"So far its the same year as mine."
Lev continues."Feel free to ask Mash or me if you have any questions. Come to think of it, what where you talking about with him, Mash? That's not like you. Did you know each other before?"
Mash shakes her head. "No, I'd never met Senpai before. I found him asleep on the floor."
"Sleeping? Oh, I see. first time in the simulation can do that to you. It's not uncommon for the simulation to cause sleepwalking-like side effects." Leff looked at his watch. "The Director's orientation is about to start. You should hurry over."
I nod. "Don't want to be late." Magi noble families where always picky about being late.
"The Director is giving an orientation in the Central Command room in five minutes." Leff explained.
"Doctor Leff, do you think I'll be allowed to sit in on the orientation, too?" The girl, Mash, I assumed, asked.
"If you stand way back in a corner, I think she'll look the other way…why?" Leff asked.
"I just thought I should show Shirou the way. It's easy to get lost in here."
Leff nods. "We don't have time for the tour." He turns to me. "Any questions?"
"Why is Mash calling me Senpai?" I asked. I had grown used to it from Sakura, but hearing it from someone else…
Mash blushes a bit.
Leff smiles. "Don't worry about it. To her, every human your age is her Senpai. But it's unusual for her to call someone that. This might be the first time. Actually, I'm intrigued. Mash, why did you call him Senpai?" Leff asks.
"The reason? Shirou seems to be the most human like person I've met." "Oh, the irony."
"Which means?" Leff asks.
"I don't feel threatened. So there's no reason for me to be hostile." Mash explains.
"I think you two will get along just fine!" Leff laughs.
"If you like Senpai, Dr. Leff, the Director will probably hate Senpai." Mash says.
"Once you get used to her, she can be a sweet person." Leff reassures me.
The Command Room was dominated by a large glowing blue globe of the earth. I sit down, right in the only empty seat left, one in the front row.
"Well, that wasn't on time, but at least we are here now." Marie Animusphere was dressed in a yellow and black jacket with silver embroidery around the sleeves and front. Her long white hair was tied back at one part into a ponytail and wore heels to increase her height. "Welcome to Chaldea. I'm the Director, Olga Marie Animusphere. You have been selected…"
I began to drift off a bit… I still hadn't recovered from my little trip between worlds.
I'm slapped awake by the Director. I'm dragged out by Mash. "Are you all right, Senpai?"
"I fell asleep didn't I?" I ask.
Mash nods in response. "You've been left out of the first mission. I was taking you back to your room…" Mash is cut off by Fou racing down the hallway. He leaps into the air and lands on Mash's face. "Ummm…" I say intelligently.
"It's fine. This is normal. No trouble at all!" Mash says as Fou settles on her shoulder. "Fou likes to attack my face, slide around to my back and settle on my shoulder."
"So you are used to that?" I ask.
Mash nods. "It's his way of greeting people he really likes."
"Fou. Kuu, Fou! Fou!" Fou chitters.
"Apparently, Fou's embraced you as one of his own, Senpai." Mash translated. Though how she got that from the strange familiar, I didn't know. "But can a squirrel who sees humans as rivals exist in this world?"
"How does he see me as a rival?" I ask. Sure, I had to deal with a few familiars, but this one was sort of almost…normal, considering some Magi kept demons as familiars. Or the undead.
"Well, knowing Fou as I do, I'm sure he'll forget about it by tomorrow." Mash continues. "Actually, we've reached our destination. This is your room, Senpai." A set of sliding doors with a keypad is set into the whitish blue of the wall.
"Thanks for coming all this way." Mash sort of reminded me of a sheltered homunculus who was only just starting to step into the wider world.
"It's fine. If you ask me, Senpai, I wouldn't mind treating you to lunch." Mash smiles a bit. "I hope she's not crushing on me. I had enough of that with Sakura."
"Kyu…Kyu!" Fou jumped onto my shoulder.
"Fou says he'll look after you, Senpai. That sets my mind at ease." Mash translated Fou-speak for me. "Now then, I'm off. If we're lucky, I think we'll meet again." Mash leaves me with Fou on my shoulder. I take a breath and step into my room for the duration of my stay.
"Okay, I'm in here – Wait? Whaaaaaaat? Who are you?" Someone else is already here. That was almost always a clear sign of an impending attack. I shifted into a ready battle stance. "This is an empty room! It's where I slack off! Who gave you permission to come in?" That takes the edge off.
The man was clearly as startled as I was. His long, light pink hair was tied back and was wearing a doctor's uniform of the facility. "Let's start with the introductions, who are you?" I asked.
"Who am I? Isn't it obvious that I'm a healthy, diligent and hard-working doctor?" "Jeez, someone's cranky."
"My name is Shirou." I continue, ignoring his behavior.
The man untenses. "Well nice to meet you, Shirou. Didn't think I would run into someone like this, but let me introduce myself. Head of the Medical Department of Chaldea, Romani Archaman. For some reason, people just call me Dr. Roman. I don't know why, but it's easier to pronounce, so go ahead and call me Roman. Fact is, Roman has a nice ring to it, no? It sounds cool and vaguely sweet."
I accidently say something Rin would say. She rubbed off on me sometimes. "…Oh, so you're the fluffy type?"
"Fluffy? Oh, you mean my hair? I'm normally pretty busy so I just let it grow." "Went right over his head." Roman's attention drifts to Fou on my shoulder. "Huh? Is that the mysterious creature I've heard so much about? Nice to meet you. Can you do tricks?"
Fou gave him the equivalent of "looking down on someone" look. "…Fou."
"He just gave me a really pitying look and completely ignored me… A – Anyway, I think I get what's going on. You just got here and managed to get on the Director's bad side, right?" I nod.
Roman grins. "Then you and I are alike. Just so you know, I got yelled at by her too. You know the Rayshift's experiment is about to start, right? The entire staff's been sent to help out. But since my job is to look after everyone's health, I had nothing to do. The machines are more accurate at reading the vitals of the mages who are in the Coffins. The Director said, "When you're here Romani, everyone slacks off!" Then she threw me out. So I've been sulking here and that's when you showed up. This is what they call a blessing in disguise right? Since we both have nowhere to go, why don't we spend some time and deepen our friendship!"
"This guy…" I mentally sighed to myself. "It's not like I'm a loner.'
"Hey…you already have a friend even though you just got here…What a people person! I want in!" He seemed like a good guy, just a bit spineless.
Roman gave me the rundown on Chaldea and what it's many functions were…to Roman's experience. I admit I was pretty blown away. A summoning system not unlike the Holy Grail Wars, a time machine without the butterfly effect and a monitor of humanity one hundred years into the future? Mages really did like to play God. "So that's the structure of Chaldea. An underground workshop built on a snowy mountain six thousand meters above sea level…
Leff's voice came over a small intercom. "Romani, we're going to start the Rayshift soon. Could you come in case there's an emergency? The A team is in prefect condition, but B Team on down is less experienced and they are displaying some slight abnormalities. It probably comes from anxiety. The inside of that Coffin is like a cockpit."
Romani spoke into a small microphone hidden inside his jacket. "Hey Lev, I feel bad for them. Why don't I give them some anesthesia?"
"If you are in the infirmary, then you can get here in two minutes." Lev replies.
"But you are hiding and slacking in here…" I add.
"Whoa…Please don't mention that…it's gonna take five minutes from here now matter what… Well, I think they'll forgive me for being a little late. A Team has no issues anyway.' Roman reassures himself. "That guys name is Leff Lainur. He's the mage who created the Near Future Observation Lens, Sheba – A telescope used to observe that pseudo planet, Chaldeas. Sheba not only observes Chaldeas, but also serves as a surveillance system for most of this facility. Also the notes of the previous director led to the creation of the summoning/ unsummoning system, which is the foundation of the Rayshift tech. To actualize that theory, the Pseudo – Spiritron Calculation Engine basically a supercomputer was provided by the Atlas Academy. All these different talents have been gathered to carry out this mission. It's pointless for an ordinary doctor like me to be there, but if I'm summoned, I must go. Thanks for chatting with me, Shirou!"
I felt a headache coming on.
"When you get settled in, come by the infirmary. Next time I'll treat you to some yummy cake." Romani smiles. The lights flickered out. "What?" I step out into the hall.
"The lights went out. Did something…" An explosion sends me tumbling to the floor.
"Emergency. Emergency." An electronic voice announces. "A fire has broken out in the Central Power Station and the Central Command Room. Central Area's containment wall will activate in ninety seconds. All staff must evacuate from Gate 2 at once. Repeat. The Central Power Station and the Central…"
Red lights come on filling the room with an eerie glow. "Was that an explosion just now? What on earth is happening?" Romani picks himself up off the floor. He ran to a computer console. "Monitor, show us the Command Room! Is everyone alright!?"
The screen flares to life. The room I was just in was burning. Parts of the ceiling had given way. "What's this – Shirou, evacuate right now. I'm going to the Command Room. The containment wall is about to close. Get yourself out before it is too late!" Roman orders.
I am already running for the Command Room. "I don't run away if I can help somebody…even if I can only save one person."
"Wait! Where are you going?! Wrong way, gate two is over there!" I ignore Roman's protests. "I mean, sure the more hands the better, but…"
The Command Room had been hit by an explosion. I could tell that much. The bomb had been put right where it would cause the most damage. "This was sabotage." Roman sums up the situation completely.
"Generator operation stopped. Power level critical." An electronic voice announced. "Switching to backup generator. Error. Manual Override. Containment wall closing in fifty seconds. Those who remain in Central Area, evacuate immediately –" Roman speaks over the voice. "I'm heading down to the power station. We can't let Chaldea's light go out."
"I'm staying here to look for survivors." I begin shifting through the rubble.
"Wha.." Roman's protest is cut off.
"System switching to the final phase of the Rayshift. Coordinates, AD 2004, January 30th. Fuyuki, Japan." My blood ran cold at that moment. "Laplace shifting protection established. Singularity's additional factor slot secured. Unsummon Program set. Please start final adjustments."
I come across Mash, pinned down by a slab of concrete. "Mash! I'll get you out!"
Mash shakes her head weakly. "It's all…right…. You can't…save…me. Run." Blood is pooling on the floor from her wounds. The room begins to crumble. The bright blue of Chaldeas has turned a burning red, appearing like a flaming red orange ruby. Another chill ran down my spine. Chaldeas looked way too much like Earth for it to be a coincidence.
"Warning all observation staff. Chaldea's state has changed. Now rewriting Sheba's near-future prediction data. Unable to detect the existence of mankind one hundred years in the near future on Earth. Unable to confirm human survivors. Unable to guarantee mankind's future."
Mash's hand grips mine.
"Central Area sealed. One hundred eighty seconds until internal containment procedure." The voice continues.
"We can't…get out." Mash says.
"We will get out of this." I lie to her. I didn't see a way out of this.
"Coffin Vitals: Masters. Baseline not reached." The voice says. "Rayshift requirement not met. Searching for qualifying Master…found. Canidate Number Thirty Nine, Shirou. Reset as Master. Unsummon Program Start. Spiritron Conversion, start.'
Golden particles rise up around us. "Rayshifting starting in three…two…one… all procedures clear. First Order, commencing operation." Our surroundings swirl into a black hole, tinged with blue edges.
My E rank luck…
AN: Rewritten as of 2/12 because of a certain man in Season Two of the JP original.
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