Shirou enjoyed mealtimes. He always looked forward to the peaceful calm that came whenever he was preparing food for someone, or enjoying something someone else made. One made the best of taking meals, especially during his time as the Last Master of Chaldea—as a human he still required his basic needs. But there was often little time to enjoy a hearty meal during a singularity, and it was a rare moment to be offered food and a quiet moment to savor it.

That was the reason why he had many fond memories of "his" Chaldea. The food was middling, as no fresh ingredients could be acquired in the wake of the apocalypse; but there was merit to be found in making soup out of bits of canned produce and grit, turning stale repasts into literal feasts. And he always benefited from the knowledge offered by his Servants, from old specialties gathered from all four corners of the world, to dishes that had never been made. Eating with everyone was thus a haven, a brief respite from the immense responsibility that loomed before them.

Shirou dipped his spoon into the familiar bowl, and put the gruel to his lips. He tasted it. He shrugged; it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't that good either. In truth, he didn't even need to eat now that he was but a Servant. Though he no longer derived nourishment from it (supplied by a means that currently baffled the resident experts of Chaldea), he still derived emotion from it. As he was an echo of the Emiya Shirou who had saved the world once, he would also possess the requisite personality, including his likes and dislikes.

He sighed, and spooned more food into his mouth. He could sense the eyes, visible and invisible, trained on him, despite the cafeteria's current empty state. Chaldea's surveillance continued.

He had returned to Chaldea, as he had predicted to Mashu, without needing Dr. Roman's assistance. Well, there had been a little detour along the way, but he was sure that one wasn't responsible for sending him Chaldea's way. He had rematerialized in the Control Room, where he met this world's Mashu, Dr. Romani, and the Servant Leonardo Da Vinci.

They were obviously suspicious of him; if the positions had been reserved, he would definitely feel the same. He'd debriefed them on what had occurred in the Fuyuki singularity, as well as Director Olga's fate and Lev Lynor's treachery. He'd then described himself as a Servant that had been summoned directly into Chaldea, by a fluke of circumstance that he honestly could not explain.

Of the three, only Dr. Romani had been visibly relieved by his presence. Mashu remained wary of him, and as a fellow Servant Da Vinci looked the most suspicious of him. Still, the announcement was made to everyone in Chaldea, telling them he was a friendly, but he knew he was to be observed and kept on a tight leash. Understanding their suspicions, Shirou had gone directly to the cafeteria.

He sensed Mashu's arrival before he even saw her. The small slip of a girl hesitated, thinking to herself, before approaching his table.

"Um… hello."

"Please sit," he said, indicating the empty chair before him. Mashu nodded politely and took the proffered seat.

Observing that Mashu was dithering, Shirou attempted to ease her mood. He picked up a baby carrot slice and bit on it, silently crunching on it. "I never liked the food here. I was told we were supposed to all get VIP treatment in terms of our living arrangements, but somewhere along the way we lost it. Like the food. We used to have meals catered for each individual mage's preference. Then we were left with nothing but rations."

"Oh…" Mashu said. He didn't know what she thought of what he said.

"What kind of food do you like?" he asked.

"I… um, I've never really thought about it, to be honest," she replied. "I only eat what they give me."

"If I had my way, I'd be showing you why we call things food, or food. Servant or no, everyone deserves that epicurean delight, if only for a little while."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we'll make a trip of it, around the world, sampling all it can offer our tastebuds," Shirou said. Any of the singularities would also do, but he didn't want to mention that.

"Wow…" she said quietly. Her eyes glittered with something he'd recognized from his own Mashu: the hunger of one who desired to experience all that life could offer.

He picked at the gruel. "Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask away, Miss Mashu."

"Y-yes! I mean, no, not yet…" Mashu pursed her lips. "I wanted to thank you first… for saving me, s-sen—Mr. Emiya."

"I only did what I saw was right," Shirou said.

"I see…"

"You are a Demi-Servant, aye?"

"I…" she sighed. "I'm told that, yes. But somehow it's not really working with me. I know I have that power, but…" Her shoulders drooped.

Boy, his Mashu had definitely been right. Going into that singularity had been Mashu's literal baptism in blood and flame, and she had come through it all the better. He had saved this Mashu out of complete sympathy, but perhaps that had been the wrong choice.

"Don't worry. I know you have the power," he said it. "I know it, because I was there. I saw you… grow. I saw you accomplish it all, and more, at the end of the world and the precipice of the abyss."

"You mean…" Mashu said, breathless, her eyes wide. "A-are you really speaking true? Were you really a Master of Chaldea in your time?"

He put down his spoon. He stared at her for a full moment, then nodded.

"Yes. Though the circumstances were quite different. The most obvious one, of course, being that I was not a Servant, nor did I appear as one."

Mashu seemed to have forgotten to breath for a few moments. She exhaled a breath. "I… I see. Was… I…?"

Shirou closed his eyes. "Yes. You, or rather she was one of my closest friends."

She looked away. "S-so this must be really awkward, huh."

"…In a way, but let that not cloud our relations from now on. If you're concerned about it, you and her are entirely different. I will not judge you for what she has done, nor will any of her standards overshadow you. You are your own person, Mashu Kyrielight." He chuckled bitterly to himself. "And besides that, it has been made very clear to me that our worlds are quite different. What I know then probably won't help us now."

"What do you mean? I mean… I know you told us that the Director was supposed to have lived, but…"

Shirou hesitated. He hadn't told anyone else, but he figured he owed Mashu this. "Well, for one thing, Lev Lynor was supposed to have been a casualty, and only later did we discover that he had been a villain from the start. Here, he has shown himself very early. He's still a damnable villain, though, so that helps keep our priorities the same."

"I didn't really know the man," Mashu admitted.

"Also, you were meant to have been there, with me on the singularity," he continuing. "But it appears that in 'this world' that is not the case."

"It's…strange to contemplate that there are other worlds out there with realities far different from this," Mashu said. "It disturbs me on a fundamental level."

"I know. 'I' wasn't even aware this was possible. But here I am. And the ripples, to put it simply, are already spreading wide."

"Ripples?" Mashu looked thoughtful. "Ah, like in a story about time travel? I'm familiar with that sort of fiction."

Shirou smiled. "Just so. I'm not too familiar with it myself, but the idea's probably the same."

"Then, do you think your version of events won't happen here, Senpai—oh, sorry! I mean, Mister—" she'd stopped, gasping.

"Please, call me Senpai if you want," Shirou interrupted gently. "You're welcome to call me however you wish."

"I… I do apologize…" Mashu said, her voice tremulous. "It's just that, I've always wanted to call someone, 'senpai'. Does that seem strange to you? Or, no wait. Logically it's not, not to you, I mean. Assuming 'I' am the same Mashu you know."

"You definitely are. I guess some things are constant," Shirou said.

Mashu flushed, and shook her head. "This is a rather bizarre situation, but I am determined to get past this, for the sake of the world. Therefore, please take care of me, s-senpai." She bowed politely.

He returned the gesture. "Same here."

"Fuuu…" Mashu placed her hand on her chest, and breathed out. "Now that's like a big load off my chest…"

"Fou!"

Startled by the sound, Mashu jumped, as a familiar ball of fur whizzed past Shirou's sight. He was able to follow the thing's movements as it landed on the other side of the table.

The small, dog-like, cat-like, mysterious and terrifyingly deceptively mundane cryptozoological wonder stared back at him with innocent eyes. Shirou suppressed a shiver as memories came back to him of Fou the mighty, Fou the fearless.

"Ah, Fou-san! So you were there," Mashu said. "Allow me to introduce you, senpai. This is Fou, my friend."

"Hmmm… pleased…"

Mashu punched a fist to her palm. "Oh, that's right. You know him too, right? You know of Fou-san. I guess you could kind of call him Chaldea's personal mascot…"

Mashu's words faded away in his ears, replaced by an irritable buzzing sound, like the Devil's own cursed swarm festering in his mind. His throat went dry, the food in his mouth turning to ash as he felt transfixed by Fou's silent gaze. They were like little pale grey orbs, near translucent, like windows to a realm far beyond the reckoning of any man or Servant. He knew of Fou, as any wide-eyed innocent man is aware of the innocent territory demarcated for use as their home; unaware of the terrors, the unknowns lurking just out of sight in the tall grass, the murky eyes within the foggy hills just beyond the border, of the mutterings whistling through the trees of the woods outside their ken; everything they refuse to acknowledge within the cushioned safety of their own narrow awareness, which they shut out and barricade themselves from with fence and wall and other tools of fierce vigilance; born of fear they stay within their bounds, suffering not the presence nor the taint of the other within their midst, driving it out through blood and sweat and iron, until they were once more at the center of the universe, the sole captain of their ship; and in Fou there had been the start of his understanding of the futile barriers within everyone's minds, of how the three little pigs could never have repelled the wolf by straw, by brick, by stone; and in his case his house was but a transparent glass, fragile and transparent, easily overcome, easily shattered; Fou had been a comrade in every definition of the word, and then some more, of the type that the learned men of words failed to account for, wholly unaware of the beast in the underbrush; Fou was pet, was friend, was comrade, and more, much more, so thick and sure were the chains placed upon Fou that even their maker was wholly unaware of their forging, a necessary step to ensuring that no Beast wakes to find there are things it must do, things it must correct to conserve the nascent purity of things—

"Senpai? Sennnpai?"

"Eh… Huh." Shirou blinked. Fou was gone—he'd relocated to his perch on Mashu's shoulder, nuzzling against her neck like a sleeping cat. He patted his chest, and checked that everything was still working. "It's… It's nothing," he said, sighing in relief. It was as if he had woken from a terrifying dream. "So, was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

She nodded. "W-Well, if it's not too much trouble… Could you tell me about the places you went to?"

Shirou smiled.

He had only felt this much animosity before, emanating from enemies who wished only for his destruction. That it was hidden behind the pleasantly smiling face of the Mona Lisa made it all the more confusing.

He'd left Mashu after a round of questioning, and had been walking down the quiet halls of Chaldea, when the Servant Da Vinci cornered him and dragged him to a room. Inside, Dr. Romani was also there, though he didn't show hostility.

"Servant Shirou," Da Vinci said.

"Yes…?" He turned back to look at her.

"Is there anything in what you told Mashu Kyrielight that we should be concerned about?" she asked.

"Concerned?" he repeated, frowning. "What do you mean?"

She glanced behind him, towards the doctor. "Would you be able to divulge the end of your so-called journey, and the secrets that were unveiled therein?"

He raised a brow. He'd caught on to what they were getting at: if he really was the shade of someone who had been the Last Master of Chaldea once upon a time, then it stood to reason that he should have foreknowledge of what was to happen.

However, such a thing had already gone off-course with Lev Lynor discovering his presence, and therefore causing the chain of events to fluctuate wildly, leaving the future just as uncertain as before. He repeated all that to the two.

"Whatever I tell you will probably not help with predicting exactly how the enemy will act. All we realistically have is a battle plan that will be designed to weather all contingencies."

"But there are such things as constants," Da Vinci said. "You said it yourself: the Fuyuki singularity began on the same destructive note. It only deviated with the absence of the Master who might supposedly have been your stand-in, along with your summoning. You must divulge what you know; it's data that may be able to help. Even if things turn out quite different than what you remember."

No, the deviation was even further back, Shirou thought to himself. There had been no record of any Emiya Shirou joining the ranks of Chaldea, not even under an assumed name as he would have done. Shirou was conscious of the many ways he could obfuscate his presence in official records, and so far what he'd seen in the records had shown him that he had never even attempted to associate with Chaldea. He was not present in today's Chaldea, and neither was he a casualty. And that was not to discount the fact that "he" might long have died before ever meeting the Director, or that he was no soldier of fortune but a normal human and was therefore a pile of ash to decorate Goetia's ambitions.

He might not even have been born here.

Shirou sighed to himself. These two had been his close comrades back in his world, but of course that had been because they had endured much hardship together. At the start, Da Vinci had been quite indifferent to him for a long time.

In any case, it wasn't like he could divulge anything. And that was because—

"You're a Servant, Da Vinci, you should know how it works. There are many things we can tell our Masters. Our knowledge, our experience, even our very best works and deeds. Perhaps the truth of the world, inasmuch as we are aware that we are but distorted reflections of the 'real' thing and are, therefore, flawed. But you know there are things we cannot say. Things we should not say—and further, those we are even forbidden to say."

A frown crossed her face. "How would we know you're not lying. In fact, how would we be able to trust you with our lives if you aren't forthcoming?"

"I didn't say I won't—only that I can't," Shirou replied. "I literally cannot give you the future, not that it was ever set in stone, anyway. You'll have to trust me on that."

"Trust? You?" Da Vinci said, sounding incredulous. "A mysterious Servant with no links to our system, summoned by mysterious means? Lev Lynor may have become a monstrous traitor but at least we know where he's coming from."

"No, you don't," Shirou said.

"Then tell us."

"He's an evil man, belonging to a very sinister organization. That is all I can really say."

"See, that's not good enough. We need to be drafting a plan going forward, and you're being exceptionally stubborn about it."

"Shirou-san," Dr. Roman, who had so far remained silent, then spoke, defusing the tension. "Please understand that we will be forever grateful to your timely arrival, as well as your aid in closing down one singularity. But please understand that we are only acting by what we experience in front of us. And at this early point, you are our greatest unknown as well as our best chance of survival. Thus, you can understand our efforts to start integrating you into our cause—for which I am personally grateful for, considering you were kind to Mashu."

"You were watching?" Shirou said, though he knew it was rather obvious.

"It's fine if you can't tell us anything," said Dr. Roman. Da Vinci looked like she wanted to protest, but he held up his hand. "But can we hold you to your promise of aid?" The doctor, eternally affable and cheery, looked very serious when he asked that question. He had only ever seen that look once—and that moment would forever be engraved in Shirou's memories.

"I will do my best, doctor."

"I see. Then we leave it in your hands. You have Chaldea's full support."

"Thank you. May I leave?"

"Before that, I would like to ask: what will you be doing next? What would you like Chaldea to do?"

"This is a very exceptional situation," Shirou stressed. "As of now, the only humans left in this world are working here, and the only one who can save it is bound to an existence that is entirely not human. But we need a human, as my instincts tell me, or the fragile foundation upon which the world exists might just fall down like a house of cards. Unless you want to go to Singularities, doctor?"

"…I don't have the capacity for it." He resisted the urge to really, really look at Dr. Roman. He knew of Dr. Roman's true nature, but now was not the time to confront him about it. Who knows what sort of ripples that simple act would make throughout this timeline—he was already in deep shit with Lev Lynor's case.

"Then we must rely on Mashu."

"She's a Demi-Servant," Da Vinci said.

"And a human, as well." He hesitated. "Or close to it."

"So you know," Dr. Roman said, a hint of sadness in his eyes. He dismissed the doctor's remorseful look, as his long-buried anger at the injustice done to Mashu was not something to dredge up—nor was anyone here a valid target for his disdain.

"Whatever was done to her here, she is still human. We will need her at every singularity. And she must therefore be the lynchpin around which our efforts must continue from now on. I was the Last Master in my Chaldea, but now I am only a Servant in his image. I will continue to be a Servant moving forward, so Mashu must be readied."

"How would we do that?" Dr. Roman said.

Shirou shrugged. "First, I will train her."

Chaldea had been intended to be analogous to a heavily-armed research station, and had been built to match that purpose. Much of the architecture was designed to maximize the amount of space needed to house much of the important systems and subsystems required for its purposes. The rest of the space left over were living quarters for personnel and amenities. Guards slept in bunk-beds in cramped rooms, and shared their meals at the cafeteria with the other staff. The engineers and magi, who carried the brunt of the work, were assigned their small rooms, uniformly-sized, and given adequate furnishings to assuage their mental states.

For a magus like him, the granted small space was hardly a detriment, as any able magus could sufficiently change their room/atelier to be more to their liking, so long as they remained within their assigned boundary. In this way, staff members and the intended Masters shared the same types of rooms, with the full knowledge that the more skilled magus would tailor each room to their respective designs and ask for nothing more, like the suite assigned to the Director.

The builders in this world seemed to share the same thoughts. Shirou saw that there were only minor changes here and there in the layout and architecture, further telling proof that this was a whole other world. Like before, most of the rooms were empty as a result of the recent disaster, and its contents had been whisked away to be quarantined.

In his world, he had not minded the setup, but he did recall that over time the empty rooms had been taken over by the many Servants he had summoned. Eventually, there were no more rooms to be handed out, forcing the necessity of Servants sharing a room. Fortunately, this was not as troublesome as it seemed.

While there were Servants with proud personalities and adamant to be given their own personal slice, others were understanding, and deferred to his instructions. Those of the Caster-class then were granted the opportunity to use their Territory Creation to fashion their own personal worlds inside the rooms, turning a once small space into a generous area where all of Chaldea's people could theoretically fit in. There were massive libraries, entire fields of flowers, a boisterous tavern, even a sumptuous mansion filled with extravagant decorations. This was hardly an unusual arrangement, as the space assigned to Da Vinci had long been turned into her personal workshop. These new personalized rooms turned into communal living spaces for much of his Servants, and were sites of many unforgettable events.

Today, the rooms were empty once more, all the chaos and camaraderie existing only in his memories. And yet there was a small comfort in this: with but a thought he could bring it all back—for thirty minutes at a time.

The time limitation was unfortunate, but he could work with it. It would be a good chance to make do on his promise to train Mashu, and a way for the simulator to gather data. His Servants would create an area that would be reminiscent of the battlefields they had fought through in his past, including the environment, topography, geography, ecology, landmarks and ley-lines, and most importantly, the enemies. The simulator would be able to gather all the relevant data, and therefore produce its own copy on the next round of training instead of using up one of Shirou's Servants.

"Are we really going to do this, Senpai?" Mashu said, already in her Demi-Servant form. They stood in the midst of burning buildings, the bright glow of the flames in sharp contrast to the dismal night-time gloom of the sky above. "So this is where you went…" she said, with wide eyes all around.

It was a facsimile of Fuyuki, or near enough for that matter. The Caster maintaining it stood off, hidden from Mashu's sight. The plan was for her to take over as a "final boss" of sorts, if Mashu was able to reach that point. For now, the undead skeletons and ghouls would be her current challenge.

"Yes, a terrible place."

Her demeanor shifted, as she turned to face the enemies. So far they were just standing there like puppets waiting to be moved on their strings, which was precisely what they were. "So all I have to do is fight them, yes Senpai?"

"Yup. First, you'll need to do it solo. Let's see how your combat capabilities fare on a basic level."

"Understood, Master!"

"Er… what."

"I—I mean…" Mashu looked down bashfully. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me."

Shirou sighed. "I can understand the sentiment, but remember Mashu, I'm not your Master. You can go with Senpai, if you want."

"Understood, senpai."

He wanted Mashu to really understand. This irregular situation left Mashu as the only rayshift-capable human in Chaldea. He would not act as if he was her Master here, as he'd done in his world. As a Servant himself now, they would be comrades, and he felt it important that she ingrain the distinction in her mind right from the start.

"Here I go!" she proclaimed, rushing into the fray. Shirou signaled Caster, who silently ordered her thralls to fight.

Shirou stood back, and observed her work. Caster approached, still invisible. Her form was wreathed in flame, like she was being constantly immolated, though it felt nothing to her.

"She's clumsy," she remarked.

"She's spirited," he rejoined.

"She's unskilled."

"She's untested," Shirou said.

"She's a liability."

"She's all we have," Shirou replied.

He didn't need Caster's constant needling to see Mashu's inexperience, though he didn't fault her that, for obvious reasons. Her movements, while influenced by the Servant inside her, were uncoordinated; her offense hesitant, her defense full of holes.

"You know that you're the only thing this wretched world needs, Master," Caster said. "There's no need to go over the drama of Chaldea a second time. I would spare you from doing that to yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, but this must be done. I'm a Servant now. I can't be anyone's Master, least of all this Mashu. But you know that, or you wouldn't have agreed to do this."

"I only agreed…" Caster huffed. "Because I am little else than a projection you created out of your own memory of this version of myself. If I were someone entirely different, even sharing the same Class and the same True Name, you wouldn't have any luck convincing 'me' that this isn't bullshit."

"Thank you for your thoughts. I'm sure Mashu will appreciate it. Isn't that right, Mashu?"

Caster's eyes widened, turning to see Mashu just staring there. He knew she'd been there for a while, so she had definitely overheard the tail-end of the conversation. She had cleared the "course" quickly, which was a point in her favor at least.

Caster's face flushed, then excused herself in a hurry, leaving the two of them in an awkward silence. After a while, she bowed her head and sighed.

"…I lack experience."

"That's true. But try not to take Caster's words to heart. Try and practice more, and even more. A thought to bear in mind is to always assume someone will be attacking you—no matter who it is. So, act with that mindset."

"Yes!"

They continued in this way for a while, until Caster's thirty minutes were up, with Shirou providing critique for her efforts, while Mashu dutifully soaked in all he told her. He could see she was doing her best, though there was not much improvement in her combat. Still, they were able to slowly gather the data that was needed. The next step would be the simulator.

Apocrypha: Kitty (Jeanne d'Arc Alter) available below (mature content). In addition, choose the Servants to be dredged into Apocrypha.

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