Thank you to those who have been understanding. I wanted to thank everyone who has left a comment and to tell some of you not to be embarrassed or worried about leaving a lengthy comment! Those tend to be some of my favorites! Feel free to PM too is you have anything you wish to say in private or are too scared to post a public comment! Please keep it respectable or I will shut off PM's or delete on sight! Now Enjoy! COMMENT! Tell me what you liked, what you suspect will happen next and anything else within the realm of kindness and constructive criticism! Enjoy!
HIII...So it's been longer than I originally promised and I am sorry. Like Lothlorien-23 I suffer from depression and anxiety and I really did hit a wall with myself in my personal life. After my second COVID dose I was sort of in a type of rut that I couldn't shake. I also got into a bit of a fight with my father and it spiraled myself into a deeper pit of me feeling like a worthless daughter to a proud marine vet and how he deserved better, which lead into another argument about how he hates how I think about myself like that. It's been a bit of a time not to mention I got even more depressed cause I would go shopping and then feel horrible about all the shit I bought and...boom! This pile of word garble happened.
It's not my best but I tried and I promise that I am getting help and I am feeling better. I know this isn't my best work and I understand this might not be a well liked chapter but this was literally made in the middle of my depressive episode and for me to be able to continue this story I need to get this out how it is, so please be a bit kinder? Thanks and hopefully you somewhat like?
"Uugh, damned sports festival starts today," Ritsuka bemoaned as another notification went off on his phone. "I'm going to toss this thing into the wall."
"Hahaha! No need to get violent," Ashiay smiled as the roars of the audience from the TV rang through the air and more notifications buzzed on Ritsuka's phone.
'Like I care," he snarled, slamming the phone down and turning around to grab a mug.
"No need to throw anything either brother dearest, Kingu hummed as he stopped the boy.
'Ughh."
Just then frantic knocking, like the kind you would hear in horror movies sounded through the room. Eyebrows were raised as Edmond opened it to reveal a gasping Melissa.
"What's all the fuss about," Ritsuka sighed as Melissa barged into the room, yelping and squawking for him. "I thought you'd be at the Sports Festival Party."
"Yeah...but this happened," she gasped, moving to show a news station reporting on the festival.
"I find it quite shocking the revelation that Katsuki Bakugou dropped on his speech at the Sports Festival! Let's show it again," a bright eyed reporter stated.
Ritsuka pursed his lips as the foul mouthed wannabe hero who was closest to Heroes in terms of Chaldean standards took the stage next to Midnight.
"I pledge...that not only will I be Number 1...but I'll be the first hero to get into Chaldea. Mark my words."
Melissa shut off the TV turning to Ritsuka who had an unreadable on his face as he clutched his glass tighter and tighter in his hand.
"Well...I hate to be the crusher of dreams but that is never going to happen," Ritsuka gave a slightly off-tune giggle. "Chaldea is very strict on who we let in."
"Rumor has it that 4 more heroes joined recently," Melissa found the courage to speak.
"Special exceptions...they meet our standards. None of them meet them," Ritsuka laughed, eyes blown wide and crazed as he tried to get those little shits words out of his head.
"Director...we have a slight problem," Sherlock coughed as he handed the phone to him. "It's the UN and Heroes Commission," he whispered.
"Fucking great.."
He stomped off to deal with them as Melissa watched on, unsure of what was going to happen the last few weeks leading up to I-Expo.
"He has guts," Ashiya hummed just as a crash sounded in the next room. "But he's not going to even reach our level."
AT UA
"I can't believe he went to say he's gonna go to Chaldea,' students whispered as they were led to the waiting spot on the field for the first event to start. All students were forced to participate, only after the event could they forfeit or drop out...but it was highly discouraged.
"What if they decide to disbar UA students from the Chaldean Fest! They said that Sports Festival Winners and participants will receive no tickets for winning!"
"Look!"
The students looked up to see the head of Management, the Consulting Detective Sherlock Holmes smoking his ever present pipe as he overlooked them all. His eyes raked over the students as the whole arena held their breaths before they locked eyes with Bakugou. He took out a pipe, blowing out smoke with ease; his lips twitched up in a smirk before his face went back to neutral.
'You hear me,'' Bakugou yelled as the others bemoaned the fate of being kicked out of Chaldean Fest. "I'll be so good you'll have to take me to save your shitty reputation."
"My dearest boy," he sighed, his voice smooth and undeterred as the entire stadium went silent. "If we were only stopping potential heroes from entering because of skills, then we wouldn't be allowed to operate...certain...attributes are needed to be even considered to be a Chaldean Operative," he grinned. "Of which I assure you, you do not have."
"What the hell do we need to do," he yelled just as he was smacked on the shoulder by Kirishima. "Butt out!"
"Haaa, the joys of youths...but my dear boy. You reach for the impossible...so indeed it might be possible for you to enter," he smiled.
'Arrgh! Fuck your riddles!"
The man seemed undisturbed by the cursing of the student as he blew out another puff of smoke before turning to leave. He stopped, turning back to them with an intense burning gaze and some choice words.
"May the Goddess Nike lead you to the finish line and may the Goddess Athena lead you all to great revelations," he yelled out, staring them all down as the buzzer went off. "GO!"
They all rushed without a word.
"Perhaps there might be heroes in you yet," he murmured, uncaring of the stares he received or the television time he was racking up. "Or perhaps...you'll fall like all those that came so close, yet so far."
He began trending on Twitter within 30 minutes.
OUTSIDE OF THE UA STADIUM
"Hello! It's us the Water Hose Duo," the two entered the Chaldean cafe that was set up next to the raffle booth.
"Oh, welcome! Welcome," it was a English Chaldean Hero! "My name is Bedivere. From the Round Table group," he smiled, wiping off his hands to offer it to them. "I flew in to help with the cafe. Along with the rest of my group."
"Ahaha! This is fun, no," that was the Sun Knight Gawain! Beside him was the Black Moon Knight Agravian who was wiping down glasses with a bit of solemnity.
"I do say this will be an eventful day," the Lamenting Archer Tristan was in the corner, pulling up cutlery. "I find myself eagerly awaiting it."
"I don't get why I have to be here! I wanted to do some booths with Fran," the Red Knight Mordred! Wait...the Daughter of Machinery Frankenstein?!
"Uhh! Ahh," the girl pointed to the tables to which Mordred grumbled before going off to wipe them down.
'Thank you Fran!"
'Ahh!"
"I see everything is going well," that was the Excalibur Knight! Arthur! "Ah! The Water Hose duo and their son," he smiled at the boy who hid behind his father at the attention the hero gave him. "A shy one," he giggled. "Well, thank you for volunteering. I hope that you will work hard!"
"Of course," Mae gasped as her husband Hiro bowed. "We owe the fact that we are alive to Shiki and Enma!"
"Don't worry about it," Mordred sighed. "It's what we do."
"I...I take it this is a butler cafe?"
"Yes," Arthur nodded. "We didn't see another one and well...we thought it would be fun!"
The area was ornate to be sure, but when they were in the medical unit of Chaldea's Japanese Headquarters, they knew that they just did ornate. The whole thing was like some old tiny cafe that was considered homey and retro. The tables had the fancy floor table clothes that alternate in a circle pattern of white, black and deep maroon red all around the room. There were tables that held 2 and four people, fancy folded napkins already set out on some of them as the other tables were still in need of being wiped down. They had candelabras on the walls that were gilded in gold and chandeliers lit the rest of the place. The counter for ordering was made up of marble and fake flowers littered the room.
Each staff member was dressed up in traditional butler costumes, pocket watches to boot.
"You wanted this father," Mordred dryly commented as the man flinched at being caught.
"Wait...father?!" The two gasped. "You...you...but!"
"I'm older than I look," he sheepishly offered up. "Mordred just turned 19!" He looked so proud of saying that as he turned to face his child who merely rolled their eyes.
"19!" They looked faint now.
"Father takes care of his skin! It's a blessing he isn't old looking," Mordred puffed his chest out as Gawain came beside them and watched them upside the head. "OI!"
"Focus on cleaning," he stressed, pointing to the tables. "Fran agrees with me," he huffed as the Hero nodded with a grunt.
"I'm going, I'm going," Mordred huffed. "My own damned girlfriend is betraying me!"
"Waaagh," the girl grunted out before moving to sweep the front of the house.
"Lively," Hiro commented.
"Well we have about 2 hours before the Lunch Rush and before we're allowed to officially open," Arthur coughed. "So we'll take you back to get changed and your duties. And you," he kneeled down to Kota's height. "How about a snack for now and then we can have you in the booth with the Hero Students."
"We just ate," Hiro began. "And it's really unprofessional for us to eat-"
"No! No," Beni suddenly appeared, a steaming plate of gyoza in her hand. "Here you go! Some snacks for you while they explain everything!"
"Thank you," Hiro gasped as his wife bowed deeply before Kota went to hug the Sparrow Hero. "KOTA!?"
"Thank you...for keeping them alive," he whimpered. "Thank you so much!"
'Chirp...of course," Beni smiled, patting his head as he finally met one of his heroes. "Losing family is the worst feeling in the world."
"Yeah…" The boy looked up to Enma who smiled more tenderly.
"Now," she chirped. "How do you feel about making bread? It's really fun!"
"Yeah!" He nodded, giving a watery smile as the woman took his hand.
'Come on," she motioned for him to follow as Arthur sighed.
"Enma-San," he shook his head. "Well," he clapped his hands. "How about we head back and explain your duties?"
"Yeah!"
Like Parents, like a child, Arthur mused.
HEROES COMISSION, JAPAN
They were really lax on security, that's for sure.
"I certainly didn't expect this to be as easy as it was," Serenity murmured as Hundred faces nodded. "But then again..they aren't the smartest," she giggled.
"Indeed they aren't," Danzo nodded as she appeared. "One would think that the warning of 'one more spy, we send their head back' would enforce the idea that we would really do it."
"I don't think they understand that old threats of war are true threats," Fumma sighed, approaching as the four looked around in silence. "I would have thought they'd at least have something to detect others in the shadows...but then again maybe not. They rely on the fact that people must register their quirks and modify them as follows."
"That's how you get attacked," Hundred grunted before they moved into the more secure areas of the Commission. "They were smart to send their toughest at us at first, but then again having her arrested shortly after didn't help when they gained nothing."
"Lady Nagat? She was tough, but she had no heroic spirit. Her quirk was indeed dangerous, but her specialization was only long range. If you get in close and you're fast she is practically useless," Danzo hummed. "Besides, her bullets had no magic in them. They were merely composites of DNA she was shooting at us."
"She is in Tartarus, correct?"
"Yes, along with every other extremely dangerous criminal in Japan."
"I thought it was the world."
'That does not make it any better," Danzo sighed as they entered a file room. "In Fact that just causes us, master especially, more problems."
"The Nautilus is currently monitoring it at all times and some casters are always on it in case there is a breakout to form a barrier to prevent them from getting out."
"I feel as if it would be better to let them escape. This world has gotten too comfortable with it's own comfort and safety."
"Perhaps we should go to Master's with the idea. It would be something interesting at least," Fumma smiled. "And it would be like old times, watching as things go up in flames while we decide the best course of action!"
"There is the sports festival, I-Expo, our Chaldea Fes with three events that are sure to give the master both a stroke and an aneurysm. I think we are good and interesting at the moment," Hundred sighed, grabbing onto a locked file cabinet and ripping it off with ease. "I would rather our master not have a stroke at his age."
"I do have a question about that," Fumma hummed as he leaned onto a cabinet as his mother began to scan the various documents. "How old is the master? It was never really addressed in Chaldea. I know he turned 16 when he arrived...given that first incident lasted 2 years, the other 1 year and then the whole Lostbdelt debacle was another 3 years...and then he's been with Chaldea for another year," he listed off. "He shouldn't be 26! He should be 23."
"Rayshift messes with his body and his biology more than anyones willing to admit," Hundred sighed, crossing her arms as she turned to her fellow assassin. "He is supposed to be 23, but the cells in his body are aged to 26 though his cells also keep his youthful teen looks. All the time spent helping the world has either shortened his life or lengthened it...it's complicated."
"Indeed."
"Let's not focus on that. We need dirt on every Commission that has tried to shut us down. They want chaldea for whatever dumb reason that they can think of," Hundred snapped. "This is everything they have in Asian Countries. Let's keep going."
"Right."
"We shouldn't be bothered," Danzo noted. "The head...well it's getting a lot of attention."
"We warned them."
"Serenity," Hundred called. "Take the Cursed Arm and head to the Armory. Get Masters things back."
"They will notice though," the girl began to protest. "Master will be under mor-"
"We don't have time to recreate those items. Get them back," Hundred hissed, pushing her two fellow Old Men to the side. "Go!"
"Understood," Cursed Arm nodded, grabbing the young Assassin by the arm and vanishing into the shows.
"Master needs everything he can if he's to fight with us," Danzo sighed, closing her eyes. "And with the threat of the Papers being released during I-Expo...or Chaldea Fest…"
"Indeed."
NAUTILUS
"How is it looking Captain," Nemo turned to see Archer or Nameless as he liked being called, come up. "Anything happening?"
"Not really," Nemo shrugged. "They are all in there like sitting ducks at the moment. And the casters are making use of their powers to keep a boundary up if they ever did escape."
"Hmm." The man crossed his arms while he looked up at the monitor.
"You know...after hearing everything about you I would have thought that you would have loved a world like this...try and escape master...become a hero-"
"Being a hero is about hurting people," Nameless snapped, making Nemo stop. "As much as I like to tote around being a Hero of Justice the moment I accepted being a Counter Guardian there was no going back. I was merely a fool at the time and too idealistic to see it."
"I will admit I do admire you for admitting it...must be hard with Muramasa being around and seeing the face of your younger self," Nemo hummed as his Marines (LOL, I'm sorry but every time I think of Marines I like my dad, USMC! OOO-RA! Semper Fi!) worked around them with ease.
"I don't mind as much now. Shirou Emiya is completely overshadowed by Muramasa so it's not too much of a problem for me," he shrugged. "Besides, he is more of a recluse than me so it works out."
"I heard that he found a Temple close to where he forged back when he lived. He's in Ise Province if memory serves right," Nemo hummed.
"Yeah. He's making a special blade for master at the moment. Since most of his weapons were confiscated when we moved back here to Japan," Archer grunted, leaning back on the rail as he continued to look at the monitors. "Something along the lines of it not...being proper for a director to have them."
"Nothing was spared?"
'Everything, every gift that he received from us was taken...Assassin...Kiritsugu quickly got him his weapon back but others are going back to the drawing board to reforge the weapon...but it's getting harder."
'It should be easier now since Lady Nagant is in prison...I will admit that her attack on our forge was a bit of a setback in terms of weaponry…for master." Nemo pouted. "He has very little in terms of weapons right now compared to his old items."
'We can't even decorate our outposts because everything we would have is too expensive," Archer brushed off. "Everything we are used to is something meant for the rich or those stuck in the past."
"Well we have been called the most 'ostentatious agency' and the 'most pretentious in interior design' since we officially became one," Nemo shrugged. "America is slowly turning to liking our style though. They've adopted a similar mindset as well, showing no mercy to murderers that show up. This world has a bad habit of hiding them when evidence shows one has happened."
"Yeah...people are noticing and the papers showing up aren't helping."
"That's right, the MNEMOSYNE papers are showing...radar shows some of them in the ocean but they're gone before we can even get to them. They gather them for some reason and it's not going to be pretty. Master was only able to resist it's lull because forgetting meant getting rid of us," nemo sighed. "Humans...they aren't meant for this type of pain."
"No...and neither is master, but he's a different breed in the end," Archer sighed, closing his eyes.
"He is...but he's still human and he will die as one," Nemo nodded as Archer looked silently into the cells.
'No,' he thought. 'He's long past the point of dying like a human.'
UNKNOWN
"Hey Shielder," the servant turned to his current master with a curious face. "I have a question about...about the crypters." The man was in one of the sitting rooms, hours after a meeting filled with accusations, curse words, actual curses and undeniable tension in the air.
"What about them?"
"Only two managed to live, correct? After everything was said and done?"
"Chaldea didn't know about Beryl or Daybit. Beryl for this reason was a right bastard that couldn't stay down and Daybit...well Daybit was always a mystery that only Ritsuka was privy to. But Kadoc and Scandinavia lived, yes.``
"Records show that there are 2 more humans than need be in Chaldea."
"Oh…" Galahad sighed. 'Right...they...they took a plea deal to work under Ritsuka for the rest of their lives. Basically they got freedom since Ritsuka isn't one to force people, and they worked in Chaldea as advisors for him with the Alter Egos of the Foreign God as their assassistancts."
"So they lived and worked in Chaldea...they lived and they lived lives like normal humans? Even after all that was done?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "They were close friends with Ritsuka, ones that helped him through the episodes that he would go through whenever something triggered him." He then sighed as he looked out the window with a forlorn look. "I wasn't really trusted due to the fact I abandoned them a long time ago...too stubborn to help them restore the proper human history."
"Galahad..you had your reasons...I'm sure that it was all in good in the end," he assured him.
"Maybe...but I won't be able to work in Chaldea once this is all over...not without my king demanding my head," he sighed. "I betrayed Humanity and Chaldea because I did not want to kill humans…"
"Galahad...Ritsuka is a caring person. He will understand. He always understands…"
"I know he does, but after Camelot...those Fae's messed with his mind with those contracts," he scoffed. "They do whatever they damn want even now...even after all this time."
"Galahad, this world opposes everything Ritsuka fought for in the end. They do not fully reach for the peak of human possibility...and it hurts him. It hurts him very much, and he's vulnerable at the moment," the man sighed. "That Caster wants a powerful puppet under her control and we barely escaped with our lives. All for One doesn't know he's being played at the moment. She's just using him as a means to an end. All of his servants are."
"The Borgia Siblings and Hannibal Barca...I don't know their end goal," Galahad sighed. "They are variables that we can't calculate. But not ones we can ignore either. Something tells me though leaving Longinus to them is the best thing to do. "
"The Foreigner of London has a bone to pick with Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty," his master hummed. "But that leaves a variable number of people that it could be. Any person could fit...Sherlock was known for dealing with the best of the best and worst of the worst. Moriarty as well."
"The Alter Ego of Astrology is someone who is rooted in Japanese Lore," Galahad began. "But I don't know who he is...he's from the Heian Era for sure. But there is so much overlap with them. He has targets..but he's going the roundabout way of doing it to throw us off."
"The Caster that is contracted with All For One...she's rightfully insane. She has plans for Ritsuka and I don't like them at all."
"You mean turning him into a beast?"
"It's possible," his master defended. "Who saves humanity for so long before it turns into genuine selflessness and love? Yes, he saved the world the first time because he *lived* in that world. But after that? It was all determination to set things right and give people a chance at life that was taken," he pressed. "He loves humanity and he is capable of being a beast candidate…"
"I don't think that Chaldea is capable of even noticing it at this point...I don't even think they'd do a damn thing," Galahad huffed. "He's not Beast Candidate Material yet. He hasn't come to care about the humans here," he pointed down to the ground to show his point. "The moment he does it's game over and now it's waiting game of when."
"Have you forgotten it's Ritsuka? It's not game over or a waiting game so long as he has a goal. He might even be able to delude himself into thinking he's not becoming a Beast."
"Yeah...he might," Galahad sighed, leaning back. "He's not too far gone now but we can't let Caster get to him. She'll have a field day with him...no matter how strong his mind is...he's still a human to their heroic spirit."
"Yes, yes." He hummed. "I can only wonder how All for One managed to summon her of all people? She's not known to him or the world anymore. And she sure doesn't have a connection."
"Chaldea has been having problems with the FATE system. It's been summoning servants without alerting them," Galahad explained. "Of course Caster and all these were summoned before Chaldea came into the picture...I'm sensing no Holy Grail either."
"I seriously doubt you would. And if there was one the magic would be near depleted because of how much the world has been bled dry of mana." He scoffed. "Something brought this problem to this world and it's forcing the players to all line up."
"Moon Cell is almost completely under Chaldean Control. Beryl and Daybit haven't been seen in ages. Pepe and Kadoc are working for Chaldea. There's no Holy Grail. Mana and Ley Lines are nearly gone. Chaldea's stuck in a world that opposes them...what is to be gained...from either side," Galahad scoffed.
"I don't know," his master admitted. "This world becoming a lostblet is not as bad as some would assume, but it is happening. Quirks have made people lazy and uninventive in many aspects...evolution had a large leap and then a slow trickle after," he breathed out.
"For now we should focus on getting to Seraphix and healing the staff during I-Expo and Chaldean Fest. It's our best shot."
"Chaldea will be getting a lot of publicity too as Pepe and Kadoc will be revealed to the public as Sub Directors," the man smiled. "Good for them."
'Ritsuka can't keep up the facade of being Vice Director anymore," Galaad admitted. "People are targeting Chaldean Outposts because the director has never made an appearance. He's revealing himself to draw attention away from them so they can get back to the search for the papers and the rogue servants."
"That's right! They've been stopped on the street and barricaded into the agencies multiple times this month!"
"And it's continuing to happen to the point that people are thinking of breaking in to get the 'teleportation tech' and get I-Island to mass produce it," Galahad rolled his eyes as he explained it. "Idiots."
"While I agree...storming chaldea is a recipe for disaster...which places are they most likely to head into the agency," he demanded.
"India, Great Britain. Norway and New Zealand."
"Gods…"
"We can't stop them...Chaldea has made it very clear that if they storm in they will be met with force," Galahad assured him. "They even say it every day when they go to the barriers. It will be their fault for their deaths after so many warnings."
"Not in this world Shielder."
It was silent between the two of them.
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