I do not own anything related to the Fate Franchise or Typemoon, I'm only responsible for how this story is written
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BWAHAHAHAHAH!
Greetings to you all after years of letting this dry under the sun. Since I started writing on this site I have noticed my most popular project even today has been this story, constantly getting both favorites and reviews despite the lack of updates. I have gone with different ideas since then, some have worked before stalling and others are working but I have deviated for sudden ideas and my own personal obligations. You have enjoyed some lots, others probably less, but this work seems to be a favorite for many of you despite looking as if it had found an early death years ago.
As I told another author in PM years ago, the last chapter before I stopped updating this story left me with a serious block. I went from just humor to a serious plot and found no way to easily go back, since I didn't want to turn it all into drama but I also didn't feel comfortable just rebooting the whole chapter. But about a month ago I found a very interesting fic in AO3 called "Boobs, Death and Endless Panic" which managed to combine different ideas and create an enjoyable narrative with constant updates. Some of the choices of the author I didn't like but it still showed the person behind the story managed to make a story work for about 91 chapters before going for a slower rhythm.
I was impressed and realized that if somebody could make such a thing work by going from humor to seriousness, so could I. I decided to take a look back to the story and the reviews you left behind, I used the recent enthusiasm also provided by Avalon le Fae and the Melty Blood Lumina release, and put my mind into producing this chapter during the weekend.
And so here it is.
What you have all been waiting for.
Whether you like the path I am going for or not, I want to thank you all for the support. To all who like this story. To those who also supported my other ideas despite putting this one on hold yet never condemning them for the problems with this one. And for your patience with my never to be trusted update schedules.
Thank you all, and hope you have fun reading this.
Let the curtain rise once more!
I Can't Believe It's Not a Game!
-Chapter III: Spoiler Alert-
Its' been almost a year since the release of Fate Grand Order and, despite some restrictions still on place, the game became hugely popular far beyond Japanese soil. Unknown to most, the game's fame also reached far beyond the mundane circles and became a recurrent theme for many denizens of the Moonlit World.
From the first generations who aspired to make a name for themselves or simply be left alone, to the most elite of the elites, Fate Grand Order was something that found its way into conversations every so often. It was simply impossible to ignore, especially as time went on and more of its contents became public knowledge.
After the first actions taken by Lord El-Melloi II and Lady Reines Archibald Archisorte to gather intelligence about the issue and establishing contact with other interested parties, The Clock Tower's early response had been as Waver Velvet expected. Despite saving face by informing the Queen of the investigation he made in Fuyuki regarding the strange leak, most Lords still sought to put the blame on him and the Archibald family for not taking notice immediately and throwing suspicions at his role in the mess given his appearance in the game.
Waver had pointed out that if such was the case then it would be necessary to point fingers at the Animusphere, the missing Lev Lainur and even the Atlas Institute, given the fact that the game pointed out their collaboration in creating the fictional Chaldea Organization. And since all was based on speculation, the best they could all do was maintain an eye on important names just as he had done when contacting two of the families involved in the Heaven's Feel ritual and the late representative of the Church for it. Even better for Waver, his actions in establishing continued contact with other interested parties earned him points with the Barthomeloi, despite the fact that one of these parties happened to be a faction led by the Black Princess herself.
That was not to say that Lord El-Melloi II and the Archibald were out of danger, since Waver was still put in charge of solving the mess to the best of his ability, and to make sure the Black Princess would not get the upper hand in the middle of this mess.
Beyond this failed attempt of inquisition, the other Lords of the Clock Tower took the typical self-assured stance of those with experience and resources to alter the world as they believed fit for the sake of maintaining the status-quo. But as days and months passed, all of their money and influence, and whatever mysteries they had at disposal… all failed to effectively discern the parties responsible for leaking information through the game, or at the very least stop its activities.
Aniplex, Delight Works and the absurdly called Type-Moon … the Lords who had always shown disdain for the Far East, found themselves unsuccessful in forcing them to compel, even by attempting extreme measures. It was as if an extra party was awaiting the reveal of their hands, only to silently but effectively crush their efforts.
One stupid Lord in particular who had opted for the use of force found himself disgraced in a very humiliating way, that still left clear it could have been so much worse for the fool. Or anyone who wanted to walk in his shoes.
And so, a year went by without any success being made in coercing the people behind the game or locating the mastermind behind the leaks.
And for every word translated from Japanese to other more spread-out languages, many magical families or individuals experienced the anxiety that suspicions would be put on them, or worse. Magecraft thrived with increased belief but lost effectiveness the more people knew about its mysteries and how to replicate them. This loss was even worse whenever Humanity becomes able to replicate a mystery solely relying on scientific methods and mundane tools.
Every new content could mean the risk of anyone being put in a web of conspiracy or their craft becoming mundane, and the lack of success was non-surprisingly successful in maintaining the general feeling of anxiety.
Some were deeply immersed into the unfolding chaos.
Almost a year and he still could not understand how it had all turned into this.
His plans for the future, his great yet selfless ambition for Humanity, the very future of his family…had been put on risk by three words.
Fate Grand Order.
A game that spitted on his efforts for secrecy about his plans, as well as the very success of his future endeavors.
The Project to create an organization for the purpose of preserving the future of Humanity supported by all, and willing to take steps while Atlas continued hidden in the eternal cycle of lunacy that gave birth to the Night of Wallachia. It was not simply revealed, it was apparently doomed to eventually fail barely a decade after his victory in the upcoming Heaven's Feel.
His failure of a daughter being effectively played like a fool by that bastard Lev Lainur, who himself had been a puppet of a monster capable of erasing Human History. All the while his apprentice and the one who should have been in charge of his legacy went missing or maybe was killed, leaving it all in the hands of some nobody who bonded with a surprisingly successful experiment.
Some nobody whose success was most likely the result of writing than reality, given the ridiculous luck involved in solving some of the aptly called "Singularities".
Before the game's release, Marisbury Animusphere was not a widely known name in the circles of the Mage's Association, but the man had the conviction and the tools ready for betting it all in the Heaven's Feel. The proof of his destiny still on his right hand, making him a surprisingly early addition to the future contenders for the Grail.
Since then, he had gained the sort of popularity he abhorred. Formal inquiries to confirm his current role, the possible relations to the currently missing Lev Lainur, his possible plans for getting the cooperation of the Atlas Institute and the secrets behind the summoning of Heroic Spirits that was part of the Heaven's Feel ritual. All mere formalities that he answered with formalities as well, never fully exposing what cards he still had left to play the politics of the Clock Tower.
But Marisbury knew well enough what laid behind such acts. The probing, the gathering of information for his reactions to new developments in the mess that had turned him into a central piece of the puzzle. They were all aimed at poking for a weakness to bring him down, to bring down the legacy of the Animusphere before it had a chance to achieve greatness.
But he would not be felled.
The Animusphere would not be felled.
His dream to save the world would not be felled by the hidden party putting him on the spotlight, nor some possible puppet of Humanity's true enemy like Lev Lainur, neither by the incompetence of his daughter.
Soon his chance would come.
He would weather the storm, summon the King of Magecraft and have him confirm the truth before crushing all opposition in his path.
The Three Founding Families, the Lords of the Clock Tower, the Church or any of the Twenty-Seven. They would all be forced to make way for the sake of Humanity's Future, and they would all serve their purpose once Marisbury had the Grail in his possession and kickstarted his great project of Chaldea.
No matter what he had to sacrifice, no matter who he was to sacrifice.
Even if achieving his dream required an earlier removal of the stain to his legacy.
Others found themselves in between.
Almost a thousand years ago, the Church and the Black Princess worked with the White Princess of the True Ancestors to bring down a common enemy who sought to conquer all of Europe and become the strongest of all Dead Apostle Ancestors, Michael Roa Valdamjong.
Since that event, cooperation between the Church and other organizations had been brief, reluctant and on a very small scale. The same could be said about the Black Princess Faction, or anyone of the 27 that was not Crown or traitorous Enhance. Even the cooperation between Atlas and the Church during the most recent manifestation of the Night of Wallachia came as a result of one of the infamous Seven Contracts enforcing the assistance of the institute with an issue relevant to the Church but very small when it came to preserving the balance of power in the Moonlit World, or ensuring the survival of Humanity for the next century.
That was until a year ago when the heads of the Burial Agency and the Black Faction found a common threat once again, and a common enemy whose very existence became unbearable enough to send their elites to deal with it. They even allowed the presence of envoys of members of the Clock Tower who had vested interest in the events taking place.
Compared to the war against the Serpent of Akasha, the first battle of this crisis had been more of an awkward encounter quickly disarmed with surprisingly effective diplomacy from a fourth party, and the first real fight was akin to an interrogation before an execution.
The common enemy had barely put up any resistance, and had in fact embraced his Fate gleefully.
But in a manner similar to the Serpent, death had been but an inconvenience.
"Arrghhh, again that bastard of a priest!" -complained loudly a young woman wearing black and red, her red eyes and pale skin clearly different from those of Albinos or Homunculi and denoting her belonging to another branch of the supernatural.
"My condolences for another failure, Lady Altrouge. While money is never going to be an issue for us for the next century, do you wish me to try once again another threat, or maybe use an intermediary to contact Mr. Dawn?" -replied her companion despite not being addressed.
At this, Altrouge sighed in annoyance but acceptance as well, a trait she had shown more often since she had joined the many avid players of the game.
"As fun as it would be seeing Svelten being humiliated for a third time, the message was clear. Adding our lack of actual involvement so far in the story, we gain nothing poking out heads in a problem mainly involving the Mage's Association. As for the exorcist… I am honestly surprised he failed despite his success in dealing with the issue afflicting the Matou girl. Speaking of which, any updates regarding the coincidences with the Prologue, London or Accel Zero?"
Despite linking the Matou incident with events related to the game, the right-hand man of Altrouge Brunestud knew she was being serious. The cursed park that acted as Ground Zero for the disaster at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War and apparently in the prelude of the game were the first clues that pointed to something unusual with the Grail System. But it had been the common enemy of Narbareck and Altrouge Brunestud, the priest Kotomine Kirei, who had given the third clue to El-Melloi II.
The parting words of the priest as well as his quite literal black heart allowed them to track down another source with a similar mana, a girl who had become the third most common visitor for the Emiya Manor since his guardian and one Mitsuzuri Ayako.
Sakura Matou, formerly Sakura Tohsaka. Once the second daughter of the late head of the Tohsaka Clan and Second Owner of Fuyuki, as well as the younger sister of his successor, she had been given before the start of the last Grail War to Zouken Matou under the condition she was trained to succeed his mysteries.
The wannabe Dead Apostle had spent more time torturing her than starting her on the path of a proper magus, but it had been his second use of his so-called heiress which had called upon another scenario for cooperation amongst traditional enemies. Apparently, a Crest Worm with his soul was not the only thing the old magus had put within the body of the girl, but he had also infused into her shards of the destroyed Grater Grail.
Said shards shared the same mana that had cursed the Fuyuki Memorial Park and kept alive the living corpse of a priest. And according to Mr. Dawn, they created a connection to a demonic entity who was most likely the source of the disaster that caused the Fuyuki Great Fire.
Needless to say, Strout cared not for the plight of the girl or the tragedy that took place in Fuyuki, but the fact he had allowed a way in for an entity with the potential to compete with her mistress pet or the Spider was of relevance.
And after gathering enough information from the soon to be dead worm, he left it and the Matou Girl at the hands of the others. The exorcist of the Burial Agency proved lived up to his legendary reputation, while Bow had taken care of the Matou Head. The magi took upon themselves to deal with the lair of the maggot, the Edelfelt Heiress being the most committed to the clean-up.
Since then, they had gone their separate ways, though contact was renewed as the greater situation evolved.
"According to the research done by El-Melloi II and I, there were no moves from the Matou Head connected to London or the Heaven's Feel beyond his attempt to create a second Lesser Grail. However, while Zouken Matou is effectively dead as far as I am concerned, it would be prudent to not take his demise for granted. I am not one to take information from an unknown source for granted either, but the situation has gone beyond coincidences. Besides, our situation…"
Guessing where her loyal Black Knight was going, the Princess of Dead Apostles gave a humorless chuckle.
"Ah yes, we do not exist as far as the game is concerned. There have been Dead Apostles but no Ancestors since Millennia according to the additional material related to the Grand Order. Even the upstart was done in before he could reach his full potential, by one of the edgiest and chunniest iterations of the Count of Monte Cristo ever created. An entire timeline based on an opposition between the relevance of humanity and our kind, with the later dying out due to a different outcome in our war against the True Ancestors, as well as the dead of the Brunestud line with Crimson Moon himself" –she stops her musing for a moment before turning to look at the horizon through the view provided by her balcony.
"I wonder, Strout… should all of that happen in this timeline of ours, will our kind make any difference in the struggle for the future? Would any of us remain if the so-called King of Magic summons the power to incinerate this world's Human History? Are we still of value for Gaia beyond my sister and my pet, or are we to be washed away in this timeline's process of restoration?"
"So long as this cursed spirit remains you will always have a tomorrow, my Lady" –replies the Black Knight with conviction to his master and Lord –"and even if that is not enough, I have taken extra measures to balance the scales in your favor"
Altrouge Brunestud, the Black Princess of the Dead Apostle Ancestors and Master of Black Blood and Contracts, could guess some of his many plans to ensure her safety as well as her enormous influence in the Moonlit World and even in the mundane.
Such was the loyalty and skill of her most trusted servant.
But she could make another guess at the particular measure he was most likely pondering about taking into account their conversation.
And she could not help but giggle, before showing him a big smile due to how amusing it was.
"Ah yes, your most recent pet project. I'm looking forward to how it all goes. It is funny how so many missed the diamond in brute standing in front of them, perhaps only the Edelfelt was smart enough to make her own pick. But you have always had a knack for finding talented people, my dear Strout"
And the conversation reached its end with a simple comment directed to someone else who was not present in the room.
"Let's see what role you have to play in the times to come, little guardian"
And there were those who made a bigger mess by pure accident, even if those changes were still a mystery to most.
"Ok, it was ridiculous enough when you got a Berserker who does not exist in the current rooster of possible Servants to roll for, despite clearly being a Saber-face with the witch theme. You even got a package in your game with the materials needed to get her max ascended despite, again, those not existing in any of the maps currently released. Maybe Camelot will reveal something once we finish it. Maybe she will be in the next banners."
Mitsuzuri Ayako stops to take another look to the absurd happening in her guardian's game, especially after listening to his own words about the situation.
"But even that is nothing compared to this. Why is she is making faces at me in her My Room dialogues? She even has lines poking at me, I know it!" –finished Ayako pointing an accusatory finger to the character shown in her friend's device.
Before the only male in the room could try a reply, a second female voice added her own cents.
"Mitsuzuri-senpai, doesn't she act like that when it comes to any other woman that is apparently close to Emiya-senpai? –commented one Sakura-no longer Matou to her friend and self-proclaimed senior in the world of Grand Order.
"Do not make it normal, Sakura-chan. She is acting outside of any game programing I can think of. And she is totally messing with me. That Ice Queen Saber-face is messing with me and pretending to be so collected about it. But she cannot fool me! That whole intro of hers that Shirou replayed, her lines about other Berserkers no longer needed, my intuition is not wrong!"
The person of interest mentioned in between the lines, sighed at his friend's outrage.
"Ayako, I agree with how unusual the situation about her is, but don't you think you are making it all personal for no reason?"
Ayako took his words with incredulity of her own, Sakura's efforts to placate her having failed.
"I don't want to hear wise words about female intuition from the Eroge-Protagonist in the making! You may not be as oblivious as those idiot leads in anime and manga, but you can really miss the meaning behind words and actions sometimes, Shirou."
Now it was Shirou's turn to get annoyed.
"I am not an Eroge-protagonist"
"Yes you are"
"No, I'm not"
"You are fated to become one"
"I will not do such thing!"
"Your future self has the potential to do so, and so do you"
"I am not that bastard Archer!"
"...you are Emiya Shirou, the guy who stood against a super vampire knight and a couple of magical enforcers to protect a girl you barely knew. The guy who offered home and care to a girl who went through a living hell, despite her current very happy adoption and again, having just started to get familiar with her. You are the guy who always gets five copies or any Saber-face, even rolling the original one in the tutorial of all things!
And you are the only person we know that got Ice Queen Saber-face there, who according to your own words declared you her husband right after the summoning!"
With every argument she used, Ayako got inch by inch closer to Shirou's own surprised face. And when their noses were almost touching, she grabbed his face with both arms before finishing.
"You Emiya Shirou are a living and breathing Eroge Protagonist. And she is staking her claim against the competition!"
…
While Shirou had nothing to say immediately at that, Edelfelt Sakura nodded to those words, as if acknowledging the wisdom in them.
But eventually he overcame the sense of bewilderment.
"I wish I could say you are putting too much thought on a fictional representation of an historical figure, no matter the coincidences the game has shown with our own reality. But after the Kara no Kyoukai incident, I cannot."
Suddenly, realizing what he just say he decided to add one more thing
"Speaking of which… are you in any position to connect me to the weirdest happenings related to the game, strawberry ice-cream addict Kanrinin-san?"
At that, Ayako stilled and went red in embarrassment.
"Low blow senpai" –scolded Sakura politely but firmly –"You know how she feels about that weird month, especially since the connection remains even now"
Between Ayako's reaction and his kouhai's words, it didn't take long for Shirou to realize what he had done and he turned to the first to apologize.
"Sorry, that was uncalled for. I guess the teasing got too far by making you recall that time, Ayako. So long as it is within my power, how do you want to take advantage of my apology?"
Just as quickly as she had stilled, Mitsuzuri went back to the offensive at his offer and was ready to take it. Her brown eyes seemed to darken and sharpen, her smile not reassuring Shirou.
"How about you get a pair of boken, Emiya-kun?"
'Ah'
Sakura silently making her way out, most likely to get the medical supplies in the house, only made his feeling of dread worse.
He never won a spar against Taiga when it came to swordsmanship, and Ayako's experience during the incident left her some interesting gifts that seemed to manifest from time to time.
Before making his way to prepare for his doom, Shirou took one last look at the woman on the screen of his phone who was the cause of their initial debate.
Her pale face and light blue eyes regarded him with an expression similar to Artoria Alter in her Saber or Rider forms, yet even he could feel the good luck she was giving him as if putting the final nail on his coffin.
A/N: I am not making promises about when I will post the next chapter, since I tend to not follow with the schedule. I will only tell you that I will eventually deliver more, and feel capable of doing so before another year goes by. You may see my other works updated sooner than this one, or maybe this one will take the lead for a while.
But there will be future content, with humor and drama, with memes and conspiracies.
For those who are wondering, since FGO was released around July 25th in Japan and it's been almost a year since then according to this chapter, you can guess what part of the main story they are about to play =P
As always, I welcome reviews with your opinions and ideas about this chapter and the ones that will follow. Have a good week, everyone.
See ya!