CHAPTER 32:

ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

Leonardo da Vinci smiled to herself as she strolled down the corridors of Chaldea. That Singularity had gone along smoother than many of them. Even now, the Masters were being Rayshifted back, along with the Servants who weren't drawn there by the Grails.

True, many people had died, both before and after Chaldea came along. But after Beast II was defeated, they had reconvened with Gilgamesh, who had told them something heartening: that he foresaw himself alone in Uruk during a final clash with Tiamat. But many of Uruk's citizens had survived. True, most of the other cities in the region had been wiped out, and this iteration of Mesopotamian civilisation may not last much longer, but while not everybody lived, fewer people died than could have.

Da Vinci chalked it down to Harry and Tiamat's presence. They gained vital intelligence and allegiances early, thus preventing a lot of fumbling in the dark. They laid the groundwork, smoothing things over before Chaldea proper arrived.

The hard part had really been the goodbyes more than anything. The Servants drawn there by the Grail were disappearing back to the Throne of Heroes. Even now, Da Vinci was hoping to have some of them summoned by the FATE system. Quetzlcoatl, Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Merlin, Medusa's child form as Ana, and so many others too. The Singularity had lingered a little longer, until Tiamat removed her Grail and gave it to Ritsuka for the journey back to Chaldea.

An odd interlude had been with Kingu, who turned up at Uruk. He hadn't come there to perform any last-minute attack out of spite, nor was he there to concede defeat gracefully. He'd just come to Gilgamesh and Siduri, trying to understand his feelings, even as his body deteriorated. Gilgamesh had offered the doppelganger his own Grail to sustain his life, but Kingu refused. He had no place here now. Beast II was gone, absorbed back into Tiamat, and in any case, her betrayal had defeated him. He wanted to die of his own free will.

And die he did, comforted by both Gilgamesh and Siduri, despite his crimes against Uruk. Da Vinci thought it was more than he deserved, but then again, the Servants here included many that other people would consider to be worse than Kingu. So, she couldn't exactly throw stones.

Kingu's passing or the farewells to the other Servants wasn't the only sad thing, though. Tiamat had tried to revert the Laḫmu to normal…but to no avail, only succeeding in mutating them further. Those she managed to remove her counterpart's Amino-Geas from begged for death.

So she granted it to them.

It didn't help Tiamat's state of mind, let alone Harry's. She could understand it: everyone in Chaldea shared the regrets when they failed to save people, a form of survivor's guilt. It started when Lev sabotaged Chaldea, killing so many personnel, including most of their Masters, and the Singularities only compounded matters.

She was glad she had finished up the stasis device and sent it back. While Harry and Tiamat would not be able to be Rayshifted, they could move beyond the confines of the Singularity. On Hermione's instruction, Harry had set up a Portkey to Antarctica, to where Chaldea would be built. There, upon activating the stasis device, they would be frozen in time, until they were ready to emerge.

Da Vinci knew that they had succeeded. When she was first summoned by Chaldea, Marisbury, in an unsuccessful attempt to curry her favour, presented her with an artifact they had uncovered while constructing the Chaldea HQ. It looked like a wooden crate, with a piece of paper on it. A piece of paper with a message in Italian on it, albeit backwards. Her handwriting, in her famous mirror-writing cipher.

It read DO NOT OPEN UNTIL…and today's date.

Da Vinci loved mysteries, but ever since the problem to get Harry and Tiamat back from the past presented itself, the mystery was solved. So now, she carefully tapped part of the crate, infusing it with her mana…and the crate fell apart, revealing Harry and Tiamat, both dressed in cloaks, Mystic Codes designed to protect them against Antarctica's frigid temperatures. They were briefly still…until they sprang to life, looking around. "What year is this?" Harry demanded.

"…2017, of course," Da Vinci said. "Nice to meet you in person, at long last, you two. Though…you didn't try tampering with my Mystic Code to try and wake up early, did you? To try saving those people again?"

Harry spluttered indignantly, while Tiamat giggled softly. Eventually, his shoulders slumping, Harry said, "I had to try."

"I know," Da Vinci said gently, walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm sorry I couldn't let you. But the Counter-Force has a nasty habit of making time travellers its bitches. Hermione just found you, Harry, she can't lose you again. And Chaldea needs you. We don't know how long it will be until Goetia decides to take action, assuming we don't have to track that monster down ourselves, and I am sorry I have to ask this of you, so soon after all that mess in Mesopotamia. But…"

"You don't have to ask," Harry said with quiet determination. "I'm up for it."

"As am I," Tiamat said. "My song is an ode to joy in being here, Leonardo da Vinci."

"I'm glad to hear it, Tiamat!" Da Vinci said cheerfully. "Now, Roman's giving the others their usual post-Rayshift checkup. Rayshifting is a dangerous business, after all. Even with that, the Counter-Force has a bad habit of interfering with the existence of those Rayshifted. Hinako won't take much time, given her nature, but Hermione, Ritsuka and Mash will need more time. I will have to have Roman give you both a check-up. Your general health may be good, but you might have picked up a disease there. So, Da Vinci-chan's gonna give you both a check-up!"

Da Vinci loved that deer-in-the-headlights look both of them got. Ah, the joy of the little things in this line of work. Harry asked, uncertainly, "I need an adult?"

Da Vinci knew her smile at that point was, far from being enigmatic and coy like the painting she emulated, or warm and welcoming, was something that would give even the Joker nightmares. "I AM an adult…"


Harry winced as he rubbed his rear. Really, did Da Vinci need to get so happy with the needles? When he had complained, she threatened to sic Florence Nightingale, who was a Servant here, onto him. She also added that he did NOT want that to happen.

As Tiamat was being examined, the door opened, and Olga was standing there. Harry had only met her briefly before. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she looked at them sternly. "Harry Potter…Tiamat…as director of the Chaldea Security Organisation…I bid you welcome. Your actions during the previous Singularity have been of considerable help to us all, and thus…"

Tiamat, who had just allowed Da Vinci to take some blood (something even the genius inventor could not do without Tiamat lowering her defences deliberately), got off her seat, and went over, gently hugging Olga, singing softly. "Wh-wh-what are you doing?!" Olga protested.

"You are like the Dutiful Daughter of Anu, beholden to duty, forced to hide your true song behind a mask," Tiamat said softly. "Do not hide it."

"…Potter, control your paramour at once!" Olga blustered, blushing furiously.

Harry merely laughed. "Come on, Olga, that's adorable! Aren't you going to give your mother a hug?"

The white-haired girl squirmed somewhat in Tiamat's embrace, before the draconic deity let her go with an amused hum. Olga gave Tiamat a half-hearted glare, before clearing her throat. Less formally, she said, "…Thank you for your help, both of you. We knew that this Singularity was going to be the toughest yet. And to be frank…Hermione was fretting about your status, Harry. While I would not have been as brutal as Hinako, I would have chastised you on what your desire to change history led to anyway. However, there is little time for that. Both of you are now operatives of the Chaldea Security Organisation as far as I am concerned, and we need all the help we can get. And honestly, I'm glad to have you both here." A genuine smile actually touched Olga's lips at that. "I feel like our odds have improved drastically. Having the Boy Who Lived, to say nothing of a reformed Beast of Calamity and primordial goddess, on our side will be a great boost to morale, and we need every scrap of that."

Harry knew that Olga was fumbling her way through her compliments. He knew she had this mix of haughtiness and awkwardness. "It's fine, Olga. I'm glad to be here, back in the present, with Tia along for the ride. I mean…I'm annoyed I can't change my history, but…stopping Goetia is the priority, right?"

"Of course. That is the point of this Grand Order. The correction of history from where Beast I warped it out of shape. Do not misunderstand me, the odds are still against us. The stakes are higher than when you fought against Voldemort, and Goetia has done everything he can to try and stop us. But we are not going to go gently into oblivion. Too much is at stake. Now, assuming Da Vinci has finished her ministrations…"

"Mostly. Blood work seems clean of any bacterial or viral strains of concern, or any related ones," the Mona Lisa lookalike said. Merlin, that was going to take getting used to.

"Once that is done, I will introduce you to the rest of Chaldea." Olga smiled again. "While the Magi may be sceptical about how much skill you had against Voldemort, to vanquish him is still an achievement to be proud of. A few here even had families affected by his attacks. Both of you have more than earned your place here, even amongst Heroic Spirits of yore. And some of the other Servants who couldn't go to Babylonia want to meet you two…"


This was a new sensation to Tiamat, albeit a not-unwelcome one. Even back in Mesopotamia, she felt acutely the stares and fear in the songs of those around her. Some accepted her, even knowing what she was, true, but she didn't feel the same overwhelming sense of acceptance as she did here.

In hindsight, this was obvious. The Servants gathered here were not just heroes. Some were infamous from myth and history. Medusa and Medea were obvious examples, as was Mordred and Jack the Ripper. She would soon come to meet many more, as would Harry. And to deal with them required considerable tolerance. By comparison, a fallen deity who was struggling with the Beast within her song was a doddle.

There was still fear and wariness. Tiamat was far from surprised. Rather, it was the acceptance that surprised her.

A shame Gilgamesh and Siduri couldn't be here, or at least the former how they met him. The king, despite the arrogance in his song, was a good ruler in the end, a child she would have been proud of, and Siduri a good and faithful aide. She had embraced them both for a long time before they left for Antarctica, never wanting to let them go, knowing that she had to.

The same went for the Servants, and not just the ones she knew she would meet again at Chaldea. The younger Medusa, Leonidas, Ushiwakamaru, Benkei, Shirou Amakusa Tokisada, Tomoe Gozen, Kotaro Fuuma…all friends and comrades. She hoped to see them again here. Oh, and Merlin. He was fun to lightly maul every now and then.

But there were also so many others here. All of them, descended from her children, fighting against Goetia's plans. Heroic Spirits and mundane humans alike, fighting together.

To see this filled Tiamat's song with joy. Quetzlcoatl was right. To see how one's progeny grew, developed and evolved was enjoyable, even if she couldn't be their mother in anything barring title now. And now, her love was reciprocated, not as she originally wanted it to be, but perhaps this was far, far better.

It didn't mean she wouldn't be a mother again. She still felt that desire in her song. But birthing new ecosystems was somewhat excessive. Giving Harry children for both of them would probably be better to fill that desire. But that could wait, of course.

Soon, after many meetings, they got back to the infirmary, where Ritsuka, Mash, Hinako and, yes, Hermione waited. People whose songs had made a connection with her own. Friends, family, acquaintances. Bonds she never had to this degree, save from a few of her children, before Marduk laid open her throat.

Tiamat exulted in this, enjoyed it. Her song swelled with joy that she hadn't felt to this degree before. She knew, like it was with everyone else here, that Chaldea had become more than a refuge for the last vestiges of humanity. It had become home. Even in the icy wilderness, there was warmth.

And Tiamat knew, albeit what she considered already: that she would fight to the end to defend it. Even against another Beast…


"So, things are picking up," remarked Merlin as he moved his piece across the chessboard in the Tower of Avalon.

"Indeed. My services were not required in Mesopotamia…but I fear they will be ere long," remarked King Hassan, still in his Ziusudra guise, before he made his own move. "A Grand Servant will be needed against Goetia. And the only way for Solomon to correct his folly personally…"

"Is to utterly erase himself from existence. He's been dimly aware of that. And as fun as it is to torment him…he deserves a happier ending."

"Mayhap he will," King Hassan remarked. "Sacrificing my title as Grand Assassin was what I had in mind, should the Primordial Mother have failed to keep her other fragment at bay. Still, even if they should vanquish Goetia, something else lurks in the wings."

"I know. But what exactly? All we have are vague premonitions…of a future wiped clean, the world made a palimpsest…and trees growing in the wasteland…"


In a place that sat between planes of existence, Delphini Riddle held out her hand at a summoning circle, chanting, while her associates, the Disciples of the Foreign God, watched on. A priest, a kitsune, and a clownish mage. If this was a bar, it would sound like something of a joke. But it was in deadly earnest.

She was doing something very important. She would become a Crypter, and when the time was right, she would rewrite the history of the world according to her desires. She would get revenge on the one who had destroyed her family. But she needed a partner. And she knew which one she would get.

Near the circle was a keepsake she had with her, now placed on a plinth. It was a broken fragment of a yew wand. Something precious to her, and would, hopefully, summon up the Servant she wanted.

She intoned, as the summoning circle throbbed and strobed with light, "Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning! Seventh Heaven clad, and the great words of power, come forth from the circle of bindings, Guardian of the Scales!"

The circle belched light that blinded her. She blinked away the afterimage, to see a form appearing from out of the light. A slim, elegant form, of a dark-haired young man, with coldly handsome features, dressed immaculately in a business suit. The only sign that there was anything wrong were his eyes, crimson and reptilian.

His voice was a cold, high rasp. "Servant Caster has answered your summons. I suppose that makes you my Master, girl. But be mindful of how you address me."

Delphi chuckled softly. "I don't think that applies between family, does it?"

"…Family?"

"I am Delphini Hydra Riddle." She waved at him, giving him her best smile. She knew he would be surprised by her name, and decided to make it very clear who she was to him. Two words that would rock his world.

"Hello…Father."

THE END?

CHAPTER 32 ANNOTATIONS:

Well, that was a trip.

Now, I'm sorry if I rushed the ending somewhat, but with the battle over, I didn't want to get caught up in the goodbyes too much. Harry and Tiamat will be summoning those Servants themselves before too long anyway. Instead, I decided to focus on Harry and Tiamat's arrival at Chaldea, as well as a hint of the future.

If I do return to this story, it will either be for the Pseudo-Singularities, or the Lostbelts. I'm skipping over the Solomon Singularity, though I will be elaborating a little on roughly what happens.

Unlike the game, the Solomon Singularity has to be searched for, somewhat like what happened in GhostXavier's Fragments of Chaldea. In the weeks between then, Quetzlcoatl, Ishtar, Ereshkigal and Medusa Lancer are summoned. Then, things in the Singularity proper go more or less as in canon, until the confrontation with Goetia. Goetia is wrongfooted that they know what he really is briefly, thinking that Harry and Tiamat tattled on him.

Mash is still vaporised trying to stop Goetia's Noble Phantasm, but this time, it is Fou AND Tiamat who revive her in a joint effort, Tiamat using her energy and connection with life to help catalyse the revival. The upshot is, both Tiamat and Fou are seriously nerfed, but Fou retains his sentience. Meanwhile, King Hassan appears, and sacrifices his Grand Assassin title to weaken Goetia, removing his immortality, so that Roman doesn't need to use Ars Nova. Goetia, understandably, is miffed, but he is defeated. The Incineration of Humanity is thus prevented…but Chaldea has to deal with the consequences.

If I do go onto the Pseudo-Singularities, I intend for Delphi and her Caster to make some cameo appearances in at least one of them. Salem seems pretty apt, but any Pseudo-Singularity that isn't Agartha is fair game. In addition, Harry has to deal with the consequences of his disappearance and alienation from his friends, with Magical Britain being suspicious of his disappearance, and then re-emergence in a Magus organisation. Meanwhile, Sherlock Holmes, during the Shinjuku Pseudo-Singularity, will learn the truth about Roman, and kick himself for missing certain clues, as well as suspecting Roman of wrong-doing.

Okay, so, that's it for the summary and possible previews. It's been one hell of a trip. Hell, this is the first Potterverse/Nasuverse crossover I have ever completed. Before I close this fic, I should really go out of my way to thank some people on this website, without which this fic wouldn't be here.

The first is Arawn D Draven, whose patience in being my frequent sounding board has been a boon. They helped me formulate this story from the very beginning.

The second is GhostXavier. Without Fragments of Chaldea, this fic wouldn't exist, and it's a shame it's coming to an end.

The third is meemapmeow, whose review on Zabaniya got the ball rolling.

Finally, but certainly not least, Psychoghost, with their story A Mother's Love, showing a different but no less heartwarming relationship between Harry and Tiamat, and which helped shape this story.

Anyway, thanks again for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it to the end.

Review-answering time! WearyCurmudgeon: It's actually not a typo per se. In the game and the anime adaptation, Tiamat actually has at least two different bodies, or at least iterations of the same entity. The smaller, humanoid 'Femme Fatale' mode is likened to being part of Tiamat's cerebral cortex, in other words, her brain, and only a small part of the larger entity. Tiamat was referring to both of these forms. Harry's Tiamat uses a transformation that can temporarily approach the size of her main form, as you saw in the fight against Gorgon, though this is temporary. I'm sorry I didn't make it clearer, but I wrote this for people who had some familiarity with this chapter of the game or its adaptation.

Also, I'm going by the game's rules that each Command Seal can regenerate over the course of a day, so it takes three days for them to regenerate. The anime implies this doesn't happen out in the field, though. As for Altera not being present, they wanted to use her as backup in case someone fucked up and Beast II began advancing on Uruk.

No numbered annotations this time.