I felt an intense heat envelop me, a feeling I've felt before many times, and in the most important moments of my life. My eyes began to open slowly, and I witnessed a blazing fire all around me.
I saw myself standing on a scorched stone street, piles of wood burning all around. I looked up to see a big stone wall stretching along horizontally. On it I saw two towers, one had the roof totally destroyed and the other looked battered and breaking. A large cloud of ash was coming up from outside the wall, but I couldn't smell any of it or any of the scorching earth around me.
I turned around to see a big crumbling castle. Blue hues were slightly visible from the darkened bricks on the top. It's walls were full of holes and broken concrete. I saw stairs below the battered open metal gates of the entrance and slowly made my way towards the castle.
As I walked through, I noticed the plethora of burning buildings all around me. Bodies in armor filled the burning street, their armor covered in blood and ash. There were swords and arrows filling the path towards the castle, and I saw a flag burning on top a mountain of rocks. The heat began to leave me ever so slightly as I finally reached the stoned stairs.
As I walked up, I noticed a figure on top the end of the stairs. It was Lancer... Altria Alter, laying on her knees on the broken concrete floor while gazing at the burning city around her. She looked... lifeless and tired, her gauntlets were bloodied and her armor looked damaged. I saw her helmet lie a few steps below her. She looked so broken...
I wanted to come to her, to take her away from this place, this burning inferno. And just as I went to reach for her with my hand, the darkness enveloped my vision. And I felt the cold replace the feeling of fire on my skin.
Ritsuka began to open his eyes, the sound of beeping filling his ears. He quickly went to silence his clock, stopping the noise. He laid his head back on his pillow, staring at the ceiling as he closed and opened his eyes. He had seen another one of Altria's dreams, but not like the one he and Mash had fought in with her against her double. She had promised to focus her training outside of her dreamscape, so this must have been something else. He cleaned his eyes.
He worried about what this meant. If she was feeling some form of despair he was completely unaware of. Was this how all her nights went? He felt bad looking into his Servants pasts and dreams like this, but the connection between Master and Heroic Spirit made that a hard thing to avoid.
He got up from his bed and went to prepare himself for the day. Whatever she was going through, he hoped it was something he could help with.
...
It was the calm before the storm, staring at the blue wireframe of Earth. The time to venture into the Fifth Singularity had come. Ritsuka turned his attention away from SHEABA and now laid his eyes towards the rayshift coffins. He was now in his Chaldea Combat Uniform, waiting for all the called upon Servants to arrive at the room and once again follow their master into hell.
"Onto our next adventure, right Senpai?"
Ritsuka turned his head around towards Mash who was standing next to him, her face bearing a light smile.
"You bet Mash. Hopefully we don't encounter any creepy undead this time." Ritsuka replied, returning a wry smile.
"You beat them once before Master. If we encounter them in this Singularity, I'm sure you'll win again." Voiced William Tell.
Ritsuka turned to see the Swiss hero behind him. He saw his right hand holding onto his crossbow, his face displaying a confident grin.
"Yeah well, I'd still prefer not to face them. I really don't like ghosts." Ritsuka grimaced a little at the thought of the haunting spirits.
"Well if we ever do encounter them, I promise that my arrows will work towards their swift destruction." The Hunter assured him.
"And you can always count on me to shield you from any danger Master." Mash declared with conviction.
Ritsuka gave a nod. "Thank you both, I really appreciate it. Whatever happens, we do it all together."
As they both gave a nod, Ritsuka turned to see the other two Servants in attendance. Cú Chulainn Lancer stood with his spear held behind his back and Saint George stood next to him with both his hands on his sword which touched the floor in front of him. The two were conversing, exchanging stories from their respective legends.
Everyone was now waiting for the last two Servants Ritsuka had chosen for the mission, Francis Drake and Artoria Lancer Alter. Ritsuka had hoped to bring Lancelot Berserker along with them to add some more raw power to their team, but he quickly discarded the idea. The Berserker always became... unstable whenever in the presence of or hearing the mention of any one of the Artorias in Chaldea. He couldn't remove Altria from the team, she had proved herself a powerful asset and he'd promised to bring her to their toughest battles. Plus, Drake could help by summoning her ship if the need to sail at sea ever arrived.
Everyone's attention was quickly drawn to the entrance as the door to the room opened. And out came both Kings of the Storm walking together to join their master in this new voyage. "And then, after we secured all the rum inside the camp, I heard the sound of gunshots coming from the-" Ritsuka looked at both of them slowly walk in, Drake looked to be telling Altria a story of one of her great adventures at sea.
Altria was listening to Drake's story attentively, and to Ritsuka's surprise, she was...smiling. Not just any smile, she looked actually happy. It had been two weeks since their rayshift to England together, and he had only ever seen her smile come from the anticipation of battle, a feeling born from bloodlust. Now she seemed thoroughly entertained by Drake's story or just enjoying her company. Altria and the pirate Rider had taken a liking to each other rather quickly since they first met. He liked seeing her that way. She looked good when she smiled like that... maybe there's nothing to worry about...
Ritsuka shook away his thoughts and looked as Cú and Georgios went to greet their new arrivals. Ritsuka, William Tell, and Mash went to do the same.
"Greetings fair ladies, it is a pleasure to have both leaders of The Wild Hunt with us on this adventure." Georgios greeted with a fair smile.
Altria gave a nod in thanks, her typically stoic expression returning. "The pleasure is mine, Dragon-Slayer Saint."
"Hi yourself holy man." Drake said with a grin, her hands resting on her chest. "Should we be expecting any dragons on this treasure hunt?"
"Hah. If we were, I doubt we'd be going without at least bringing Siegfried along too." Cú answered.
It was time for Ritsuka to begin his briefing. "Cú is right, we'll be going to the North American continent this time and I doubt we'll encounter any dragons over there." Ritsuka explained. "This is the 5th Singularity we'll be venturing into, so I want everyone coming back alive, okay?"
"With you as our Master, I have faith our journey will come with no losses to Chaldea." Georgios said with full certainty.
"Heh, thanks George. I appreciate the faith." Ritsuka said. As everyone else gave a nod of acknowledgment, Ritsuka turned his attention up towards the Command Room. "We're ready to begin Doctor."
"Excellent! Alright everyone, begin the rayshift." Came the doctor's voice from the room speakers.
Everyone in attendance began to enter the coffins to begin the rayshift. As Ritsuka was in his coffin, he began to wonder just what horrors and wonders this Singularity would have in store for them, in The Land of the Free.
...
"All Shadow Servants have been eliminated!" Spoke Rama as he dematerialized his sword.
The group of Servants and human soldiers alike looked as the last Shadow's body rejoined the ether with the wind.
"We're almost at the capital, Washington. Cú Chulainn and Queen Medb should be there." Mash said, her shield now resting to her side.
"Karna and Scáthach are no longer with us. However we do have our master... Ritsuka." Rama said as he turned towards the group. "If we concentrate our power, we can defeat them!"
Ritsuka walked a few steps towards his new companion. "You'd don't have to force yourself."
"Hah. I know. I'm not forcing myself." Rama said with a smile. "I'm still far from my limit- Even if I can reach it, I feel as though I can go further."
"Hey Master." Rama began, looking at Ritsuka. "I feel love for you. Mash and Nightingale too. I love these soldiers, who follow my orders despite my young appearance. And I love Sita from the bottom of my heart, as she entrusted me with her life." Rama's right hand now laid on his chest. "Love makes me want to protect, and love makes me not submit to fear. Isn't it simple?"
Love huh...
"However, if you think about it- a hero begins his journey from tiny feelings of that sort. This is something I came to understand, after returning to my youth." Rama then turned back towards the open plain and the path which led to their enemies. "-Now, let's go!"
Everyone followed suit and began their march to Washington as Rama gave his order. The American troops were positioned at the center and the Servants formed a perimeter around them. Rama was leading at the front along with William Tell and Cú. Saint George was at the left accompanied by Mash, the two conversing as they viewed some of the pictures from George's camera. Altria and Drake were covering the rear, Drake was telling one of her adventures to some of the soldiers. And Nightingale had gone to check on the health of the troops.
Ritsuka had positioned himself at the right, and as Ritsuka walked, he thought about the experiences he and the group had on this Singularity so far: Viewing the grand landscape of the American landmass, Saint George taking pictures throughout their adventures, seeing Drake drink all the beer from the American encampment, that strange moment when the wizard Merlin appeared, and meeting all the new and old Servants he'd come to know in this Singularity; Rama, Nightingale, Edison, Geronimo, Billy The Kid, Karna, Scáthach, Elizebeth, Nero, Robin Hood, and Blavatsky.
He thought of the moment when Cú met his teacher once again, he asked to duel with Scáthach alone. Their fight was brief, but once it finished, Scáthach had expressed how proud she was of her student.
Ritsuka's thoughts finally ended on Rama's brief speech. He didn't know why, but Rama talking about his love for Sita had Ritsuka thinking about... the lack of romance in his life. He'd honestly been content with the friendships he'd come to build at Chaldea, but the more he thought about his lack of romantic attachment, the more he began to desire that deeper connection. He was aware that there were Servants like Kiohime who had feeling for him, but acting upon those feelings himself had honestly never crossed his mind.
"I wonder..."
"Something on your mind, Mr. Ritsuka?"
Ritsuka turned to his side to see Nightingale walking next to him, her stoic expression ever present.
"Oh, yeah..." Ritsuka began as he scratched the back of head, his face forming an awkward smile. "Just thinking about what Rama said at the hill." His hands fell to his sides. "By the way, how is the health of the troops? You finished your inspection rather quickly."
Nightingale smiled slightly. "Some of the soldiers have a few bruises from battle, but outside of that, everyone is in perfect health. No one is in need of amputations fortunately."
"Good to hear that." Ritsuka was glad to know no one had to experience Nightingale's more serious "treatment."
"On another note, what was it about Rama's words that peeked your thoughts?"
"Well..." Ritsuka looked away for a moment, feeling rather sheepish. "...when Rama talked about how love had come to motivate him on this journey, it made me think about the lack of love in my life. Like... sharing a life with someone that I really care about and want to be with."
"Hmm... I see." Silence filled the air as Nightingale closed her eyes for a moment and put a hand on her chin. "It seems that Rama's words have caused you to be ill."
"How so?" Ritsuka looked at Nightingale quizzically.
"Medicine can help heal the body, but the longing of the soul for someone else is far more challenging. I've seen love sick men waver in their duty when absent of that love. And even then, love is the greatest of gifts, for it is the reason we all are able to walk this earth today."
"I think I understand." Ritsuka said, smiling a little. "I didn't think you'd value love so highly."
"But of course, there are few things tools can't repair. And love tends to find a way to fix even the most broken people."
"It sure does..."
"On that note, surely there are some female servants in your service that you find attractive and wish to court, no?"
Ritsuka's cheeks began to turn a little red. "Well, attractive yes, b-" as he spoke, an image of Altria's smiling face began to seep into his thoughts and confusion formed on his face. Why...why did I think of her?
"Perhaps, you are already interested in Mrs. Kyrielight?"
"Oh, Mash?" Ritsuka waved one hand in front of him, his features relaxing. "No. She's my kouhai and she's practically my best friend, I don't really have those type of feelings for her."
"I guess I misjudged then. You two look very close from what I've seen, so I assumed there was something deeper to your friendship."
"Did you ever have someone you loved?"
Nightingale turned to look forward, her lips having formed into a line. "If I did, I don't remember. I know my parents wanted me to marry, but I was never interested in romantic pursuits. Such things would have distracted me from my work and purpose."
"Didn't you ever get lonely?"
"I have no time for loneliness. And even then, I had comfort knowing the Lord was with me in my time alive and He blessed me with many friends."
"I see..."
Silence followed as their march continued and Ritsuka turned his head around to look at Altria on her horse, her helmet covering her face. He wondered why he had thought of her at that moment. He never would have guessed she had the dream he saw back at Chaldea seeing her smile like she did...
Ritsuka turned to look back at the nurse. "Thanks for talking to me Nightingale. You... helped clear my mind on a few things."
She looked at him, a smile forming on her lips. "You're welcome, I'm glad I could help. I sincerely hope that whoever you choose to be with, that you both end up happy, Master."
A smile graced his lips. "Thank you."
The night continued without trouble and the walk to Washington continued on, and Ritsuka now thought of the unexpected prospect of a life outside of Chaldea and it's troubles.
Author's note: Next chapter will include a lot more action so I really look forward to writing it. Hope you enjoyed this brief chapter. Once again, please do leave a comment if you can. I appreciate any criticism and I want to have your honest thoughts. Till the next one.