Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Nasuverse.
A/N
A little word of warning for people who may be potentially triggered by suicidal thoughts. Please take care.
Chapter 1 – From the Embers
Shirou knew immediately where he was when the light finally died away, and the familiarity of the scene was enough to send him spiraling into memories he wished to forget. Fire. Destruction. Pain. Tragedy. Death. To experience the dreaded Fuyuki Fire once was enough to crack his soul, but to see it again, to feel and smell it all again was more frightening than his nightmares.
Yet, this was worse…
All around him, there was nothing but desolate ruins. No life could be seen for hundreds of yards among the burnt rubble and dying embers. The once beautiful city of Fuyuki was nothing more than a smoking wasteland, and even the sky above burned and choked on the endless stream of rising smoke.
And among it all, the scent of evil magecraft clung to the air like a noxious parasite. Then the sound of creaking bones slithered through the air.
"Kyaa! What! What are those! Wh..what!" Marie's sudden scream rent through the air as she scrambled in Shirou's arms. He would have likely dropped her too if she didn't have a death grip on his shoulders and neck.
"Senpai!" the voice of Mash cut in behind him, stronger and with a confidence Shirou didn't know the girl possessed, "Enemies are approaching!" Looking behind him, he gawked at the sudden appearance of a few dozen skeletons wielding nameless swords, lances and bows.
However, the thing he stared at longer was Mash's drastic transformation. Gone was the timid girl who looked more at ease blending into the background. In her place, a woman wearing body-tight, black and dark-purple armor took to the battlefield. He didn't really have time to comment on her rather lewd manner of dress, because he saw the weapon she wielded.
The moment his eyes laid upon the weapon, he knew what it was. It was a beautiful Noble Phantasm, masterfully crafted and flawless, but what it represented resonated even deeper in his soul. He could feel its weight deposit in his soul.
"Your orders Master!" Mash yelled as she swung the large hunk of metal like it was a small twig in the breeze, snapping one of the approaching skeletons in half. She dug her shield into the ground suddenly as the sound of whizzing arrows approached and stopped dead on her weapon. Shirou shook himself out of admiring the legendary weapon and turned his head toward the battle instantly, his long experience taking over.
"Mash! Protect the Director at all costs," he said urgently as he gently laid the woman down on the ground despite her protests and screams. The Director almost grabbed onto his leg as he walked off, mainly because of the creepy skeletons that were staring right at her.
"What about you Master?" Mash voiced in concern as she tore through another wave of undead, "Your safety is…"
"Not necessary," Shirou stated calmly, eyeing his enemies with a determined expression. These guys were nothing compared to some of the monsters he had faced. Compared to a Servant or Dead Apostle, these guys were akin to dust on the ground. Saber and Rin would laugh at him if he were defeated by such nameless enemies. "Trace On!"
Instantly, in his hands, the familiar and comfortable Married Twin Blades, Kanshou and Bakuya, appeared, and Shirou rose his brows in surprise for just a single moment at their quality before flying into the hoard of shambling skeletons. There was time to analyze his new control over his magecraft later.
Mash and Olga Marie could only stare in shock as the supposed no-name magus took to the battlefield, dancing through the multiple rows of enemies. His blows were precise and swift, possessing a strength that belied his frame and easily slicing through metal and bone. Effortlessly, he blocked and countered, defeating enemy after enemy while making it look as simple as breathing. As he swept through the battlefield, bones and broken weapons clattered on the ground.
Then there was only one left, but it was clear it was stronger than the others. Shrouded in a large red rag, creeping shadows leaked from the barely held-together clothing. It rushed at Shirou, thinking he was exhausted after fighting so many, but was shocked to hear the loud clang of metal striking metal.
With a yell of fury, Shirou overpowered the monster, causing its darkened weapon to spin out of its hands, and with a swing too fast for the normal human-eye to see, its head rolled off of is shoulders as it began to dissipate into nothingness.
Scanning the battlefield one last time, Shirou took a deep breath, dispelling his copied Noble Phantasms into pure motes of mana. Frowning in thought, he wondered what sort of unholy power could call up so many undead and so easily. While they weren't all that threatening alone, the sheer amount of them was something to be worried about.
His ponderings were quickly cut short when he realized he had an audience.
"Senpai! That was amazing!" Mash said in awe, as she laid protectively over the speechless Director, "How did you do that? Where did you learn to fight like that?" Never in her life had she seen a human being fight with such prowess, if she didn't know better, she would have guessed she had been watching a Heroic Spirit.
"I've…had a bit of a rough life," Shirou admitted slowly, wondering how to explain himself, "I've also worked with the Enforcers before."
"What!?" Marie yelled, "That wasn't anywhere on your dossier. The only information we dug up was that you were a normal civilian."
"A truth and a lie. I'm considered sort of a…special consultation service," Shirou voiced as he walked over and inspected his impromptu companions, satisfied that there were no injuries that needed immediate medical attention, "Ignoring my boring past, what happened to you Mash?"
"Um…I mean…"
"She became a Demi-Servant," Marie explained, frustration in her voice, "How did it awaken now? After all these years…"
"I don't know Director," Mash answered quietly, "All I know is that whatever heroic spirit is bound to my soul, they saved me. I should have died in that explosion, but he saved me and gave me his powers. I don't know anything about my abilities or this weapon. All I have right now is my new physical ability."
"Galahad…" Shirou said reflexively, causing Mash and Marie to turn towards him in surprise, "The Innocent Knight of the Round Table. Your weapon is a shield, but it is not truly a shield. It represents the Round Table itself…a place where heroes gather and the desire to protect for victory…"
Mash was stunned.
"That can't possibly be…"
"No…Senpai is right. That name resonates in my very soul, and I can feel the history of my weapon slowly unfurling. Galahad…" Mash whispered, looking at her shield in awe and gratitude. Despite everything she had suffered in her life, knowing that her heroic spirit had been watching over her to protect her all of her life filled her with a sense of happiness.
"How. The. Hell. Do you know this?" Olga Marie yelled from her position on the ground, sorely wishing she could walk over there and shake the infuriating magus known as Shirou Emiya, "I didn't even know who Mash was bound to! That information was taken to my father's grave."
"There's no time for that right now," Shirou suddenly said, his senses picking up enemies closing in on their position, "We need to move. Without a doubt, there are more of those monsters coming. You can ask me questions along the way." Ignoring her protests once again, Shirou picked up the young director bridal style. Gathering his prana, he prepared to reinforce his body. "Mash, keep up."
"Hai, Master," Mash replied as Shirou took off, bounding over a two-story building in one hop. She blinked in surprise before chalking it up to just another mysterious Shirou thing before jumping after him.
After a few hours of running around and being attacked randomly by mobs of monsters, the impromptu trio found themselves a brief respite in the ruins of a broken-down grocery store. Though at this point, it was more akin to a cave if anything else. It was pitch black, both in color and lighting, and only through Shirou's dedicated sweeping, via projected broom, did it resemble anything close to a store.
For the Director, it was absolutely awful.
She was tired. She was sore. Her whole body was caked in dust, dirt, soot and grime. On top of it all, she couldn't even get her own fresh air by walking outside. So, she sat in an isolated corner of the cave, unable to even curl up her knees and wish the whole thing away.
No matter what she tried, nothing but dark thoughts clouded her mind. Poisonous thoughts of her failure and inability to be useful plagued her constantly. Out of the three of them, she was by far the most useless...
She had once dreamed of jumping straight into the singularity with her organization at her back, obeying her orders to the letter. She had even prepared a special mystic code for performing a Spiritron Dive, specifically so she could lead her troops. However, now that she was on the battlefield, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a ball back in her room at Chaldea and cry herself to sleep.
Olga Marie knew she wasn't a very tolerant person. Her upbringing as an important heir to the Animusphere family ensured that. From all of her upbringing, she had been assured in her position in life. Her quality as a magus was extremely high, and her talent for magecraft even more so. She had believed in her family's mission and had been proud of her family's accomplishments, especially her father's.
To be known as part of the family that was dedicated to the continual survival of mankind across the globe was a great confidence booster. Then, her life fell apart, all within the span of months.
Her father suddenly committed suicide, and her mother had been devastated, dying shortly after. Her status as a mage with zero ability as a Master became public knowledge at the Clocktower, and then she was forced to take over her father's institution, Chaldea, at an extremely young age while still in school. With it, the knowledge of her father's inhuman human experiments came to light, causing her belief in her family's righteousness to crumble. Everything she had believed in, her family's dedication to mankind, her own status in the world, was a lie.
And she suffered for it.
For three months, she had devolved into hysterics and acute anorexia. With her health and reputation failing, all of her allies had disappeared. She had no one. No friends to call upon, no family to fall back on, and no success to her name. Olga Marie Animusphere had been at her wits end, waiting to die, unmissed and unloved by anyone. Despite all of her hard work and dedication, she had nothing…
Then, a miracle had happened. She had been saved. Dr. Lev Lainur had rescued her. With his help, Chaldea had been reinvigorated. His knowledge and skills managed to fine-tune the already existing systems at Chaldea. Then, he managed to create the FATE system and integrate TRISMEGISTUS many years later. With his help, Chaldea had been transformed into a worldwide power and name.
Then…on the eve of their first, true mission, everything had gone wrong again.
Why? Why her? Had she done something terrible to deserve such a pitiful fate? Now, Lev was likely dead. Her organization was in shambles. Her body was mutilated beyond repair, and humanity was going to disappear.
She had failed. At less than twenty-five years of age, she was a woman with nothing.
"Are you okay, Director?" Mash asked suddenly, having noticed the grim mood her boss had been in. As soon as they had made camp, it had been noticeable, but Mash hadn't wanted to pry.
"I'm just peachy," she snapped back, recoiling instantly at the slightly affronted face of Mash, her previous trauma coming back to haunt her. Now that Mash had power…
"She's just worried about you, you know," Shirou interjected with a frown, having just returned from foraging for food. There hadn't been a lot out there, given the nature of the fire, but there would be enough for now. They were actually quite lucky that the Director habitually carried dried nuts and fruits. He could definitely swing it with those ingredients. If there was anything he liked about the new upgrades Zelretch had saddled him with, it was the cooking knowledge.
"You two should just leave me," she muttered darkly, "I'm nothing more than a burden here. Go to the nearby ley line, establish a summoning circle with Mash's shield. You can re-establish communications with Chaldea. I'm better off…"
"Stop that," Mash commanded, anger in her voice, "I'm not going to leave you behind. Shirou-senpai isn't going to leave you behind."
"I'm not worth it," Marie murmured before it all came crashing down. She wanted to run away and hide, but seeing only her useless nubs move in response, she broke. "Look at me…Look at me! What am I worth? I'm a crippled mage with nothing. All of my plans. All of my hopes and dreams…. gone. Lev isn't here. He's probably dead. I have nothing! I'm nothing more than a useless magus, heir to inhumanity and a failed legacy." Shirou paused, a frown on his face as Marie began to sob in earnest, the stress and trauma finally getting to the normally cold woman.
"If I was gone…who would care? I'm a horrible person. I've made people's lives miserable. I've trampled over anyone in my way without any regards to their lives. I cared for no one…and now…no one cares for me. If I died right here, if I just threw myself into the fires outside…which I can't bloody well do because I'm a fucking cripple! No one would care! Goddammit!"
"Director!"
"I did this! All those lives back in the chamber! 47 lives…and more of my staff… How many lives do I have hanging over me? How much blood do I have on my hands?" she said, her voice trembling, as her hysterics began to swing in full force, "I'm useless. I'm a crybaby. I can't fight to save my life. I'm scared of anything related to battle. Nothing in my life I've achieved on my own. I'm a worthless human being who should just slit her own thr…"
"MARIE!" Mash yelled, slapping Olga harshly, tears in her eyes, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare talk like that! I won't let you…If you died, I would care! I would cry!"
Olga Marie Animusphere froze, holding her burning cheek in bewilderment. Above her she could only gape at the teary-eyed Demi-Servant, wondering.
"Why?" Marie whispered, holding her face in shock, "After everything my family has done to you! It's because of my family that you're like this! It's because of my family that you suffer every day! I look at you and see the face of someone who should want me dead!"
"You never did anything to me Marie…" Mash said softly, grasping the Director's shaking hands tightly, "I don't remember you administering the injections. I don't remember you forcibly infusing me with mana. You didn't perform the surgeries or the tests. I don't remember anything like that when I think of you. If you ever felt guilty because of what your father did to me, please don't. And if you still feel bad, I forgive you."
"Why?" she croaked, "Why? I'm not a good person. I've never done anything to earn forgiveness or kindness. What everyone says about me is true. I deserve nothing!"
"I'm well aware that you're a very evil person Marie," Mash stated simply, "At least…that's what you portray outwardly. Deep down though, I don't think so. When you interacted with me in the past, I couldn't believe you were a completely horrible person. You tried to hide it, but you were afraid of me. I always saw it, you know? That's how I knew you regretted what happened to me. If you were as bad as you believe, you would have disposed of me a long time ago for being a failure. You care."
Olga Marie trembled uncontrollably as she listened to Mash's words. Everything in her being latched onto the girl's kind words. To her, such kindness was unfathomable. Why would anyone show kindness to Olga Marie?
"So please, don't think that way Marie. I want you to live. Chaldea needs you. You've worked so hard, all for the continued survival of humanity. I believe in you." Olga Marie began to cry anew at that. No one had ever acknowledged her efforts. No one had ever praised her. No one had ever spoken such soft words to her. Why now? Why her?
Then she froze as she felt a Mash embrace her, placing her head in her chest, like a mother would do to a child.
"I believe in you. And if you need help, that's what I'm here for. I'm part of the staff after all. And…I'd like to think we're at least somewhat… friends, Director," Mash said with a brilliant smile, and the Director began to sob anew.
For the next hour, they stayed like that until Marie fell into a fitful sleep, both of them not noticing the warm, packaged food on the makeshift table behind them and the blessed, respectful silence outside.
"Now look here! What you saw and heard back there was a one-time thing understand?" Marie barked from Shirou's back, her face flushed by embarrassment. "I promise you that such unbecoming behavior is not the norm!"
"Hai, hai," Shirou responded dutifully with a sigh, adjusting his weight a bit. Mentally, he made a note to keep a close eye on the unstable woman in the coming weeks. He knew such deep pains weren't going to disappear in the span of one conversation. Still, he was glad that Mash had been able to help Marie, even if only a little. "Are you comfortable back there?"
"As comfortable as I can expect your hard back to be…" Marie grumbled.
After the whole episode and dinner, which Shirou gracefully didn't ever mention, he had fashioned a simple back-pack-like harness which Marie now sat on with her back to his. The new center of balance was definitely taking a bit to get used to, but luckily, Shirou's ability to reinforce not only objects, but also himself, helped tremendously.
"I'm sure Marie is very grateful Senpai," Mash said from the back as she continually scanned the area for threats. Shirou hummed in understanding, heading off the Director's protests before she could voice them. Luckily, being Rin's lover for so many years had taught him how to deal with less-than-honest women.
They had been attacked one or two times on their way to the temple grounds, but Mash had made short work of them. Other than the random undead and strange shadow beasts though, they had yet to meet any other living human beings or the source of the Singularity Marie had briefed them on.
"You navigate these streets like you lived here all of your life Emiya," Olga Marie observed suddenly, smirking as she felt the stiffening of Shirou's muscles, indicating she was right on the mark.
"I was born here," Shioru said simply, sighing at the fact that like a certain tsundere he loved, Marie was quite sharp, "I grew up here too and went to school further down the street…One of my closest friends used to live at the temple we're going to actually."
"Oh…I'm sorry. I'm sure to see it like this isn't pleasant."
"It doesn't matter. In many ways, this isn't real," Shirou said simply, gesturing to all of the death and destruction around them, "If what you say is true, then this is nothing more than an anomaly in time that we can fix. Once we do that, everything and everyone here will be saved."
It was a ruthless outlook on things, but Shirou was able to separate it just barely. While the people suffering were real, knowing that it could be reversed helped soothe a lot of his horror and fury.
"You can be frighteningly pragmatic Senpai," Mash commented, a little wary, "I honestly hadn't expected such a magus-like attitude from you."
"I'm not normally like this either," Shirou replied with a sigh, "If this was all real…if these people really had suffered like this…I would have been furious. There's a small comfort in knowing that this is not really what happened in the past…even if that doesn't change how terrible this all is."
Then the dilapidated ruins of the Ryuudouji Temple peeked over the horizon, and Shirou grimaced as memories of Caster, Assassin and Gilgamesh came flooding back to him as the bottom of the stairs, upwards into the main grounds, came into view. Just imagining the gloating, golden King of Heroes made him want to stab something.
However, an upside to this particular location was that the fire had already eaten through everything, meaning it was more dirt than dangerous. Not a single piece of wood, stone or patch of dirt was not caked in soot and burnt into a crisp. Shirou wasn't surprised by its condition, given that the original resting place of the Greater Grail had been underneath the temple. He paused.
He wasn't quite sure how he knew that though...
"Here is the spot," Marie suddenly announced as they passed through what should have been the main temple courtyard, "The strongest concentration of mana is radiating from this point. Lay down the shield, Mash."
"Understood," the demi-servant said, placing the Noble Phantasm on the ground.
"You are to follow my instructions to the letter. Understood Shirou?" Marie suddenly demanded, "If you have to perfect walking backwards, do so immediately." Shirou half sighed and half chuckled, nodding his head in understanding. Satisfied, Marie began to channel prana and kickstart the ritual.
There had been a few bumps along the way and the occasional raid by patrolling hordes of skeletons, but after twenty minutes, the circle crackled to life. Then, all of a sudden, the trio found themselves back in the summoning terminal at Chaldea.
"CQ. CQ. Hello? Did it work? I think we're getting through!" a new voice suddenly said as a holographic representation of a man with very fluffy hair flickered to life.
"Romani! What's going on? Why are you on the console!" Olga Marie suddenly snapped, irritated.
"Oh my god! Director! You're alive!" he said, shock in his tone, but then he noticed her missing features, "Oh my god…Director! Are you alright? What happened!?" It wasn't every day that Romani saw his boss strapped in on the back of someone after all…sans legs…
"Senpai managed to save her right before the explosion," Mash chimed in.
"I see," Romani said with a sad nod, "Well, then, Shrou Emiya was it? I'm grateful for your swift actions."
"Fou! Fou fou!" a sudden barking noise followed, jumping over Romani's visage and causing him to fall backwards as a concerned phantasmal beast appeared on screen. It's ears, that were previously drooped, perked up immediately.
"Fou! You're okay!" Mash exclaimed, extremely relieved. She had wondered what had happened to the squirrely creature after he had walked off right before the orientation.
"He's been barking like crazy all afternoon…Kept pawing at the Command Room doors until they were forced open," Romani complained as he got up from the ground, rubbing his sore bottom a bit, "Still, thank goodness you're safe, Mash." Then he finally managed to get a good look at Mash, his eyes bugging out a bit.
"Mash? Mash!? What are you wearing! I don't remember raising you to dress that way," he exclaimed, averting his eyes, getting a peek at her current status on the screen, "Wait your physical readings are all…"
"The Servant awoke. I survived through becoming a Demi-Servant Dr. Romani," she said, "I also forced a contract with Shirou-senpai when we Rayshifted."
"Never mind all that you lay-about. Why are you in charge? You're the head medic!" Olga Marie interjected.
"Yeah. You're telling me. I'm fully aware that I shouldn't be at the helm right now. Unfortunately, bar you, Director, there's no other high-ranking official to take the role," Romani said with a frown, "Chaldea is crippled. The staff has been reduced to less than 20 people…
"So, Lev really is…"
"Dr. Lev was at ground zero in the Command Room. We didn't find any trace of him when we managed to contain the fire."
"Wait…More importantly, the staff has been reduced to less than twenty people!?" Marie yelled, alarm and panic on her face, "How about the rest of the Masters? What are their conditions!"
"We've placed them in cryo as per protocol," Romani said grimly, "But even then…it's not looking good. To be frank, I was surprised you placed it as a back-up, emergency order. As I'm sure you're well aware, putting someone into cryo without prior consent is a criminal offense…"
"I'm not going to just let them die," she argued, "Completely unacceptable. And I really don't take pleasure in what you're insinuating Doctor. Contrary to popular belief, I do have some humanity in me." Romani blinked, shock on his face.
"Shesh. What happened in there?" Romani muttered, "Who'd of thought I'd live to see the day Olga Marie Animusphere show some compassion."
"Would you just shut up and give me a full status report!" Marie yelled, a light dusting of pink on her cheeks, "Tell me everything. Status of supplies. Current progress. Estimated time of completion. Anything relevant." So, for the next fifteen minutes, Romani and Olga Marie debriefed each other on their respective situations., and the reality of the damage caused by the sabotage only seemed to mount with each update.
"In summary, we've lost a little over 80% functionality. Staffing is highly deficient and our contact with the outside world has been cut off," Romani relayed, his face set in a deeper frown, "All available staff is focused on Rayshift repairs and assessment of facility functions. Currently, the only operable Master is Shirou Emiya."
"Wonderful," Olga Marie drawled, feeling more and more frustrated, "Keep us updated whenever you can Dr. Romani. We, Shirou, Mash and I, will investigate the current singularity here in Fuyuki and attempt to discover if not shut down, the source of it."
"Understood. Best of luck to you all," he said before the hologram dissipated, and suddenly, they were back in the ruined temple upon the hill.
"It seems we have our work cut out for us," Shirou said simply, stretching his legs. Having to stand still for almost forty-five minutes really wasn't doing him any favors. "What is the plan, Director?"
"Currently the minimal scans we could do on the area point towards the bridge. There were strange energy readings coming from it," Marie said, pointing to the large steel bridge hanging over the river.
"What is causing the disturbance in the timeline though Marie?" Mash asked, "It could take a long time to search the entire city if we don't have a probable cause. There's not much to go on either as the records back at Chaldea indicate that this town was a peaceful place with little conflict. Why would a singularity appear here? And what sort of power would it take to create it?"
"The Holy Grail. A Grail War occurred here," Shirou stated simply, earning a twitch from the woman sitting on his back. That information was considered very confidential and only those in the upper levels of Chaldea were privy to it.
"And how, exactly, do you know that?" Marie asked with an unseen glare, wishing so very badly right now she could grab onto Shirou's shirt and shake him for answers, again, "While Chaldea speculated that one of the only things powerful enough to affect the timeline was the Holy Grail, there was little data we could use to confirm it. The very nature of the singularity obscured much of our ability to uncover information."
"Tell me one thing first Olga Marie," he said seriously, "Who won the 5th Grail War?" Marie grumbled unhappily, muttering things under her breath about frustrating red-heads that knew more than they should.
"According to Laplace, Saber did and an unknown master," she said reluctantly, "However, for some strange reason, neither of them made a wish on the Grail. Chaldea actually modeled the summoning system based off of our data from this singularity. Of course all of this is already something that is out of place because, according to the actual timeline, my father won the 2004 Grail War and used it to establish Chaldea..."
Shirou's mind raced at the implications. Saber had won the war, not Rin. Yet, in his mind, he knew the line of events that had lead to such an outcome. He could remember it vividly, summoning the regal King of Knights, taking a direct hit from Berserker, fighting Assassin and Caster together, falling in love with her…
The outcome was ever so slightly different from what he experienced personally, yet they came through crystal clear when he thought of them now. Endlessly waiting and endlessly pursuing …
"Emiya! Emiya! Are you there you empty-headed dolt!?" Marie yelled, resorting to bonking the back of Shirou's head with her own, "Ow! What the hell is your head made of!"
"Sorry, Director," Shirou replied sheepishly, "Anyways…as to how I know these things. I told you once that I was born here. However, that year, 2004, is perhaps the most important year of my life. That's when I learned everything, and that's when I became sure of my purpose in life and my place in the world."
He understood now that, much like the Kaleidoscope, Chaldea had access to parallel worlds, in some sense. To change time meant to alter the pathway of the world, and this only proved his suspicions. However, it was a mind-bending thing to think about. This place in time was an anomaly after all. It didn't even belong to the timeline of Chaldea. So that meant things that he remembered would likely be different. The complete city-wide destruction was proof enough of that.
"Speak clearly and get to the point, Shirou," Marie grouched, still nursing her head-wound. Shirou chuckled, nodding in surrender. He could tell them his full story another time, but for now, he needed to confirm whether or not any of his knowledge was useful here, and he suspected that their trip to the bridge would do it.
"If what I believe is happening here lines up with what I really do know," Shirou replied cautiously, "I'll gladly tell you everything. For now, I'll just tell you this. Prepare. We're going into battle with an unknown Servant."
A/N
I'm delighted by the amount of positive reviews and favorites I've received. A big thank you everyone who has read, faved and enjoyed. I hope everyone will continue enjoying my work in the future.
Thank you for reading and reviewing!
-Woona the Cat
