Chapter 3: Salty
The party of Masters and Servants progressed down the tunnel, some jumping at every shadow.
"We still don't have a plan for Excalibur," Nikki fretted.
"Girlie's got a big honking Noble Phantasm shield," Cu pointed out, gesturing to Mash - who was now being carried by Astolfo on the basis that Sita needed her hands free for her Noble Phantasm, just in case Saber popped out of nowhere.
"Yes, but it's not my own Noble Phantasm, it belongs to the Spirit inside me. I don't know what its True Name is, so I can't use it properly," Mash sighed. "I'm sorry, everyone,"
"Oh, is that all?" Lily quirked an eyebrow. "You should have just said so. Even though I'm not the really real King Arthur, I still have most of her memories, and that right there is the Round Table!"
Everyone stopped dead.
"Hang on! Hang on, hang on, hang on!" Tyler snapped. "Are you saying we've been protecting ourselves with the actual, literal, Round Table of Camelot?!"
"Yeah? Well, obviously it's not the table at the point at which it was a table. Looks more like how it did after we turned it into a shield and gave it to Galahad. Hey, that must mean the Spirit who merged with you is Galahad!" Lily snapped her fingers in realisation, then pouted. "Oi! Galahad! You could have said hello, y'now!" she grumbled in Mash's general direction.
Predictably, there was no response.
"Ahh, that guy. This is just like him, too. If things aren't going his way, be nopes out and leaved the rest of us holding the bag. Ugh," Lily grumbled. "Anyway! The True Name of that Noble Phantasm is Lord Camelot. Though I'm not sure that counting on a Noble Phantasm that we've never been able to deploy successfully is a good idea."
"I'll try my best!" Mash protested.
"No one thinks you won't, but we need to have options," Nikki assured her.
"I have some protection charms my big sister made for me?" Era offered, rolling up her sleeve to reveal a row of topaz gemstones set into runic inlays. "If we shared them between all of us, then -"
"Don't bother. Those things aren't bad, probably would protect you from anything you're likely to find in the world of magi, but twenty-first century magecraft won't stand up to Excalibur. I can tell just by looking at them. Against a Noble Phantasm on that level, you might as well hold a piece of paper over your head," Cu shot the idea down. Era pouted, but nodded.
"Well, if we don't have any way of blocking Excalibur, what about parrying it?" Nikki suggested. "Sword to sword. Um, beam to beam, I guess,"
"I can't parry Excalibur with Caliburn. Hers is the better sword, mine won't hold out," Lily shook her head.
"Well that's fine! I'll just parry it with my sword!" Astolfo cheerily offered.
"Really? Actually, say, what is your Noble Phantasm? You're a Rider, but you have a sword on par with Excalibur?" Nikki pressed.
"Nope!" the pinkette declared. "Doing something crazy like that, my sword would smash to pieces in an instant,"
". . then, why -"
"What's a plain old sword worth compared to the lives of everyone here? All I've gotta do is parry it, right? Who cares if the sword craps out on me after one hit, if that hit's enough to stop Excalibur from turning us all to dust? My actual Noble Phantasm gives me enough speed to close with her in an instant, I'm sure it'll be faster than however many seconds it takes her to fire off Excalibur. Trust me, Master, I can do this!"
Nikki stifled a smile. "Alright. That'll be plan A. We'll call Lord Camelot plan C. Does anyone have a plan B?"
The group exchanged glances.
"If you empower me with a Command Spell, I might be able to take the hit with my Wicker Man," Cu offered.
"Isn't it made of wood?" Era petulantly protested.
"It's magic wood," the Caster evidently felt that was adequate explanation. His Master still looked unconvinced, but nodded regardless.
"Right! Three plans for stopping Excalibur, that's as good as we're likely to get. Remember the plan, everyone; Astolfo and Lily engage, keep her busy and off balance. Cu, hang back, only engage if she looks like she's going to attack us or Sita. Sita, fire off your Noble Phantasm as soon as possible and make her go down. Any questions?"
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Era piped up, gesturing behind Nikki, who turned to see that the cave dead-ended a hundred metres ahead.
"OH COME ON HOW DID I GET LOST GOING IN A STRAIGHT LINE?!"
X
After far too much walking, they finally entered a massive cave. At the far end was an elevated platform, behind which they could see a massive ball of energy. Standing over it was an unmistakable figure; though her armour was black, hair and skin deathly pale, and eyes covered by a black visor, she looked exactly like Lily's hypothetical evil older sister.
A confused eyebrow lifted above the visor. "I sensed you defeat Archer more than two hours ago. It should have barely been a twenty minute walk from his post to here. What took you so long?"
"I don't. Want. To hear it," Nikki growled.
"Very well," Her hands, which had been clasped behind her back, swept outwards, one holding an evil-looking black blade. "Considering your actions thus far, I assume you've come here to kill me," Saber Alter said in a conversational tone.
"We need to resolve this Singularity and undo the distortion CHALDEAS detected in humanity's future. The only way to do that that we know of is to either destroy or retrieve that Holy Grail behind you. If you'd try to prevent that, then you're our enemy," Nikki coldly told her.
"Is that what we're doing?" Era whispered.
"You didn't know?" Tyler questioned.
"No one tells me anything!"
"Ah. Unfortunately, I still require the use of this Grail, so I won't just let you kill me," Saber Alter pursed her lips and raised her sword above her head. "Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King," she began.
"Astolfo, now!" Nikki barked.
"Otherworldly Phantom Horse: Hippogriff!" There was a burst of light and Astolfo's red cloak billowed out behind him as loose feathers popped into existence, followed by a majestic white-and-brown eagle/horse hybrid. The Hippogriff charged, screeching in fury, crossing the distance with such speed that it seemed to blur and form a blue shield of energy around itself.
Already committed, Saber Alter could do nothing but slide to the side in hopes of firing around the seemingly suicidal Rider. "Reverse the rising sun. Sword of Promised Victory: Excalibur Morgan!"
As he corrected to the left, Astolfo's sword met Excalibur. With a grunt of effort, he levered it against the descending blade, even as cracks ran through the steel of his sword.
Saber Alter, glaring at him behind her visor, gnashed her teeth and pressed down harder.
There was a noise like breaking glass as the opposing sword shattered without redirecting Excalibur at all.
Nikki froze, but Era reacted, pressing a hand to the red fox design on her hand. "Cu! Nommand Spell, Coble Phant - uh, I mean -"
"I got it, Master!" Cu nodded, stepping forwards. "Cage of Scorching, Consuming Flames: Wicker Man!" A flaming colossus erupted from the ground before them, kneeling down with arms crossed to better use itself as a shield for the Masters.
Excalibur fired, a laser of red and black that seemed to drain light from the room. It smashed into the giant, which vainly attempted to reconstruct itself even as the corrupted light atomised it.
After a long, heart-stopping moment, the light faded, leaving nothing but burning cinders raining down around the Masters and Servants. Cu fell to one knee, breathing heavily. "That is . . not how Wicker Man's supposed to be used,' he groused.
"Sita, start charging! Lily -" Nikki commanded, but Saber Lily was already rushing in to join Astolfo, who'd decided the best use of his time was repeatedly punching Saber Alter in the face.
Her corrupted visor cracked on the second blow, but after the third she used Excalibur to slap the Rider right off his Hippogriff, sending him sprawling to the floor. "You shouldn't have been so eager to throw away your sword," she taunted him, bringing her own up for a finishing blow.
Then Lily arrived, Caliburn positioning itself before Excalibur, and parried it to the side.
Astolfo took the chance, rolling sideways as the two versions of Artoria Pendragon focused on each other.
"You're not me! You're not who I become! You can't be! Who are you?" Lily yelled in her face as the cutting edges of their blades locked with each other.
". . Huh," was Saber Alter's only response, before she disengaged and danced sideways, avoiding an effort from Astolfo to trip her.
Lily swung again, the backdraft from her strike causing her skirt to flare. "Tell me what happened! What made you this way?!"
"Desperation," Alter retorted, parrying and taking advantage of the opening to strike past Lily's guard and carve a bloody slash into her hip. "If you're looking for some lesson to take from me, some wisdom about 'what not to do' or some crap like that, then here's the best I've got to offer," She danced back, foiling another attempted trip on Astolfo's part, and caught an overhead swing from Caliburn along the flat of Excalibur. "When the time comes that you have only one option that won't kill you, you have no options at all. I'd have died if I hadn't done this to myself. You might have to make a choice like that too. That is, assuming you live past this fight!"
Astolfo lunged from behind, but Alter planted a solid kick into his midsection that sent him sailing away. "And I'm sick of you!"
"That's it? That's all? You just want to stay alive? How goddamn selfish can you get?!" Lily roared, abandoning all attempts at finesse and hacking and slashing at her corrupted self like a lumberjack. "What the hell do you have that's so worth living for, anyway?!"
"I don't need a reason to want to live!" Alter yelled back, deflecting her strike and planting an armoured boot on her hip, knocking her away too and buying herself a second's reprieve before Astolfo was on her again.
A second was all she needed, though, and Saber Alter levelled her corrupted sword at the gaggle of Masters and crippled Demi-Servant still clustered at the entrance to the cave. "And you will not kill me today. Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King. Reverse the rising sun. [ruby="Sword of Promised Victory"]Excalibur Morgan!"[/ruby] A corona of black and red light built, heralding the impending blast of annihilation that promised death to the human contingent of Chaldea.
"No," Lily whimpered.
Astolfo lunged, but knew he couldn't possibly redirect the sword.
Cu groaned, still picking himself up, and muttered something unrepeatable at the sight of the oncoming death ray.
"Lord Camelot," Mash tried with a shaky breath, thrusting her shield forward. There was a flicker of light that quickly fizzled. "Lord Camelot!" she tried again, to similarly little response.
"Help!" Era screamed, hiding behind the shopping cart but unable to wrest her eyes away from their impending doom. "Please, somebody . ." There was an instant of stretched-out silence, and Mash saw the moment that the innocent young girl realised she was going to die. ". . help," she whispered.
No. Mash didn't know where the feeling came from, deep within her heart, but every fibre of her being screamed no. If the only thing she ever achieved in her worthless, meaningless life was to save this little girl, right here and right now, she would do it. Surely, if nothing else, her life was worth that much.
Her lips parted as she inhaled, and screamed. "Now Is A Castle Of Distant Ideals: Lord Camelot!"
The red and black laser lashed out.
It crashed against a blue shield of energy.
Screaming in fury and desperation, Mash forced the enemy's Noble Phantasm back, an aura of power forming the phantasmal image of great white walls around them. Flares of light escaped outwards, but nothing touched the people behind Mash's protection.
"What in the . ." Alter whispered in bemusement.
"Hah!" Then her balance collapsed, and she found herself stumbling, Excalibur's light dying as Astolfo crowed in victory. "Sita, you ready yet? Now!" he commanded.
"Finally," the Indian Servant nodded, stepping forward and raising her bow, which evaporated into Spiritrons as she chanted. A massive duplicate of her bow appeared from the particles, and she grabbed its string with both hands, walking backwards and dragging its drawstring back. "Peerless Bow of Reminiscence: Haradhanu Janaka,"
"No," Alter breathed. "No!" she repeated, snatching up her sword and bringing it around in a blocking position.
Sita released the string, and fired. A golden laser split the cave, ripples around it as the shot broke the sound barrier.
The force of the impact lifted Alter off her feet and slammed her into the wall behind with a scream of pain, ionised energy scorching her exposed skin and burning away the corruption that had encrusted her.
After a long moment, it was finally over. Chunks of her armour and skin were bleached or burnt away, and Saber Alter crashed to the ground.
Masters and Servants alike hesitantly advanced, Lily leading the charge and pressing the tip of her sword to her corrupted self's back. "Um. Are you still, y'now, alive?"
The heap of singed armour mumbled something that sounded disparaging.
"Good. There's something I want to know," Lily grabbed Alter's hair and lifted her head so that her face was visible, then snatched the broken and battered visor off it. Keeping her sword ready, she crouched to stare into the corrupt Servant's eyes. "Why?" Lily asked. "Why did you do all this? Destroy this world? Wipe out everything?"
The Altered Servant's yellow eyes met hers, and the stony facade shattered. "I," she mumbled, her lips parting in a scowl. "I just wanted to live. This world went wrong and everything died, and I could feel that this timeline was being pruned from reality. If you're asking if I killed humanity in this world, I didn't. I don't know what did, or why, just that everything burned except us Servants. All I wanted was to continue existing, even if only long enough for me to find something to do that would give this transient existence meaning. But . . look at me. Look at what I became in the process. I killed the other Servants to preserve my own life, and it stained me. And - and, look at you, you're so pure. I wish . . I wish that I could undo it all, that I could forget all this pain and revert to the sort of person I was when I was you," Alter chuckled grimly. "I guess I should have made a wish like that on the Grail when I had the chance,"
The silence that followed this was broken when Nikki groaned. "Oh, oh god damnit. Damnit! You really just want to keep on existing, huh? You're okay with anything else as long as you get to live?"
"Yes, I am . . why?"
"Then break off your connection to the Grail and form a contract with me. We'll take you back to Chaldea. We were supposed to have seven Servants anyway, even with you it'll only be five so I'm sure no one will mind much,"
Everyone looked at her as though she was insane.
"Huh?" Era squealed.
"Have you lost it?" was Tyler's more rational response.
"What? . . Why? How can you even consider trusting me after everything that's happened in this Singularity?" Saber Alter challenged.
"Because I hate being wasteful. Sure, you did bad things. Who hasn't? But if you weren't responsible for all the fire and death, all you're really guilty of is killing a bunch of other Servants. Which isn't great but it isn't unforgivable either. And I guess I can't condemn you for a desire as simple and human as wanting to live. If you swear loyalty to me, I'm willing to let it go,"
"So the price of forgiveness is an oath I could break at any time?"
"Do you have any reason to, though? We all know how Servants work. When we're away from here and you don't have a Grail on hand to replace me with, if you kill me you seal your own fate. Betraying me gets you nothing and costs you everything,"
"You really are quite the arrogant Magus, aren't you," Alter observed. She barked a harsh, sardonic laugh out. "I like that. Fine! One little snag, mind. If I break my connection, the Grail stops fuelling this Singularity's continued existence. So we'd better not do this until we have an escape plan."
"Understood. That means we're waiting on the Director to repair the Rayshift equipment," Nikki determined.
"Hang on, hang on, everyone," Tyler interrupted. "Is it just me, or did Alter Artoria here - that's a mouthful, I'm gonna call you Altria - just say that she wasn't responsible for all the fire in Fuyuki?"
"That's correct," Altria nodded.
"Wait, so. If that wasn't you, then who?"
Taking the cue, slow claps echoed from the far end of the cave, and everyone glanced back at the Greater Grail to see a tall man in a top hat and a green suit walking into view. "Honestly. Can not a single one of you do anything right? None of you should have gotten anywhere near this point. It's far beyond my plan's expectations and my own tolerances,"
Mash started. Everyone else just blinked in confusion.
"Uh, sorry, but who are you?" Tyler questioned.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised that the ignorant third-rate non-Magus Master doesn't -"
"Sorry, no. I don't know who you are either," Nikki admitted.
The man fumed, but before he could retort Era piped up. "Actually, wait, I know who you are!"
"As gratified as I am that at least one of you -"
"You're the mascot for St. Patrick's Day!" Era cheered. "Are you gonna do a funny dance? Ooh, did you bring a pot of gold?"
The man choked through gritted teeth. "I am Lev Lainur!" he finally roared. "Assistant Director of Chaldea - I am your superior, damnit!"
"I'm, uh, sorry about her, sir, she's just a child," Mash hastily interjected, tugging Era back towards her.
"Oh, so the Director got the Rayshift working? Great!" Nikki nodded, toggling her communicator. "Director? Dr. Roman? Does that mean you're ready to bring us back? You didn't have to send Lev here to meet us,"
"What?! Lev's there?" Olga-Marie yelled, appearing on the feed. Frowning, Nikki obligingly rotated her arm so she could see him. "Lev! You're alive!"
"Hold on. Nikki, you have the wrong idea. We didn't send Lev there - we thought he died in the explosion!" Dr. Roman chimed in.
"Really? Is that Romani's voice grating on my ears now? You survived as well?" Lev grumbled. "I told you to come to the command room immediately. What kept you?"
"Well, uh, Tyler convinced me that we could stop and get coffee," Dr. Roman answered, sounding chastised.
"Coffee? Coffee?" Lev's eyes shot open and he growled. "Do you mean to tell me that my perfectly laid plans were ruined because you pieces of biological refuse decided you wanted some coffee?!"
"No, I think it's also because I got lost," Nikki interjected with an uncertain smile.
"You can't avoid your destiny simply by getting lost! Just looking at you makes me want to throw up - how did a gang of fools, ghosts and children end up doing so much damage to my perfectly laid plan?!"
"Lev?" Olga-Marie asked through the communicator, hesitation in her voice. "Lev, what are you saying? Is this thing working right? The Lev I knew would never say such things!"
"Oh, Olga too? You sound like you're much less dead than I'd hoped. I should have stayed at Chaldea a little longer after planting those bombs, perhaps then I could have rectified that personally. I suppose it's too late now. How annoying,"
"What do you mean, you planted those bombs?" the Director demanded. "Why would you do such a thing?"
"To kill you! Obviously! You can't actually possibly be this stupid . . well, no, of course you can. That's why it was so easy to string you along these past few years. How foolish of me to expect anything remotely resembling competence from a failure like you, Olga-Marie Animusphere," Lev scoffed.
Stunned into silence, the communicator went dead.
"But, you know," Lev hummed to himself, sauntering towards the Masters. "I might as well take out some pent-up aggression on the convenient targets before me. None of you mind dying, do you? Well, I say that as if you have a choice in the matter,"
Cu Chulainn stepped forwards, his arms folded. "Yeah, fat chance. We have five Servants here, and you're just one human. What exactly do you plan to do to us?"
He choked.
Everyone gasped.
Lev's fist was suddenly protruding from Cu's back, a visible bulge under the coat with blood dropping from it.
The man brought his other hand down on Cu's head, and the Caster collapsed, held up only by his killer's hand through his guts. "You utter fool. Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Lev Lainur Flauros, in charge of the year 2017, sent to dispose of you humans. Chaldea is finished. You humans have reached the moment of your destruction,"
"What are you talking about?" Nikki demanded, then paused. "Is this why CHALDEAS caught fire?"
"Hah, you have no idea at all. That flame you saw is the reality that this is the end. The future, the past. All of Human History has been incinerated. Your era, your civilisation no longer exists. Romani, you can still hear me, correct?"
"Yup. You got something to say to me in particular?" the doctor called through the communicators.
"You've been unable to reach the outside world since the disaster, correct? That's no technical fault. It's just that there's no one left to receive your messages. The magnetic field around Chaldea may be protecting you for now, but anything outside your facility has suffered the same fate as Fuyuki,"
Silence greeted this declaration.
"So, that's why, huh . ." Dr. Roman mumbled.
"It doesn't matter, though, because when the time within Chaldea reaches 2019 you will all cease to exist regardless. That cannot be changed; human history has rejected humanity. Everything you know has perished because of the foolishness of you humans! Your incompetence! And, above all else, because you displeased our King!"
Lev cast the corpse of Cu Chulainn aside and folded his bloodied arms. "But you rabble, I'm going to kill you myself, because you displeased me,"
"Hey!" Everyone turned to see Altria struggle to her feet, indignantly waving her sword at the demon. "It was you, wasn't it? You were the one telling me to kill myself, let this era die and me with it,"
"That's correct. I do find it amusing that you desired so badly to continue to live. I almost considered saving you, but then I saw how pathetic you are. You're everything that our King despises wrapped up in a neat little package. No, he would have just destroyed you. You should be grateful to me for sparing you that fate,"
"Yeah, whatever. You've done a lot of talking these past few minutes, but there's two things you forgot," Altria spat. "The first is that when a Servant dies, their body breaks down into Spiritrons,"
"Right, well," Lev blinked. "What?" Immediately, he looked down at the corpse of Cu Chulainn. The disemboweled Caster shot him a savage smile. "Screw you," he declared and sunk the last of his magic energy into the hasty runes he'd carved around Lev's feet. "Cage of Scorching, Consuming Flames: Wicker Man!"
A flaming wooden colossus erupted from the ground, its chest wrapping around and enclosing Lev within it.
"Oi, fluffy-haired what's your face. How close are you to being able to get us out of here?" Altria barked.
"She's right. Dr. Roman, we need an emergency Rayshift, now!"
"Just hold him off for sixty seconds and I can get you out!" Da Vinci hollered from off-screen.
"Sixty seconds? That's fine, Cu's got this -" Tyler's arrogance died in his throat as Lev seemed to explode into a mass of flesh, swelling and ripping the Wicker Man apart. Legs quickly merging and growing down to the ground as his clothes burst apart and eyes grew in spiralling rings around his body, he both slammed to the ground and grew up to the ceiling, bellowing in fury as the last traces of Wicker Man faded.
"Indulge my curiosity!" the monstrosity blared as the Masters screamed, "What's the second thing I've forgotten?"
Altria bared her teeth in a savage smile. "No one got around to beating Berserker,"
Suddenly, footsteps echoed around the cave, and the assembled heroes bore witness to the once-in-a-lifetime event that was a Demon God Pillar - not that they knew to call him such a thing - going white with fear.
A roar shook the cave as an eight-foot-tall goliath of shadowy muscle, armed with a man-sized club, erupted from the cave entrance and, with a wordless roar, took a flying leap across the room, slamming into Flauros like a cannonball and making him sway. As he did, the roof of the cave quivered, and dust and loose rocks started to fall.
"Thirty seconds!" Da Vinci yelled.
"Now then," Altria snapped her fingers, and something broke. She grabbed Nikki's hand, placing a hand over the three intertwined runes of her Command Seals. "Your will creates my body, and my sword creates your destiny. I swear myself to your service, Nikki, Master of Chaldea."
There was no reaction.
"Master?" Altria waved in front of her face.
Master exe has stopped functioning.
"Looks like 'suddenly Berserker' was a bit too much for her to process. Or maybe it was that guy turning into some kind of flesh tower. Don't worry, she'll get better," Astolfo assured her.
As they spoke, Berserker had latched onto Flauros by gouging out two of his eyes and using the sockets as footholds, while his club beat a rhythm against the Pillar's flesh. "What is this-" Flauros roared, only to be interrupted by a BONK.
"How dare you-" BONK.
"Who are you-" BONK.
"Cease this at-" BONK.
"I suddenly really want a Berserker," Tyler mused, watching the spectacle.
"So the bad news is, now that I'm you lot's Servant, I can no longer tell Berserker what to do. Good news is, he's very focused. Whichever one of them wins that fight, it'll probably take long enough that we can get out of here. Without me controlling the Grail, this Singularity's going straight down the crapper too, but that'll take at least an hour. If we're lucky we won't ever have to deal with either of them," Altria clarified.
"But what about Cu?!" Tears welled up in Era's eyes as she gestured to the broken and forgotten body of the Caster that had contracted with her.
"Oh. Uh," Altria hesitated.
"He's still alive. The Rayshift should be bringing him back too," Nikki absently offered. "Da Vinci?!"
It looked like time had run out, as, with a flex that sent massive chunks of debris raining down around them, Flauros threw Berserker across the room and retargeted them. "You irritating trash! Die already!" he roared, energy condensing into a single point from all around him. [ruby="The Time of Awakening Hath Come"]"Incineration Ritual: Flauros!"[/ruby]
"Emergency Rayshift, commencing!" Da Vinci's shrill voice yelled over him, and the world around the Masters and Servants seemed to fade away. Flashing lights danced in their vision, and everything went black.
X
For the second time, Nikki started awake, and looked around to find several unconscious people around her.
Fortunately, this time they were back in the large room at the centre of Chaldea, and Dr. Roman was rushing towards them, medical assistants in tow - two of which were already loading Mash onto a stretcher.
An idle part of her brain noted with amusement that upon returning to Chaldea, they'd somehow brought the shopping trolley with them.
Tyler screamed and sat up, looking around frantically. "I . . I'm okay. We're okay. Ohhhh, that was close, that was so close, we were literally just about to die!"
"Hey, hey, kid," Surprisingly, Sita was up and helping him to his feet, both hands on his shoulders and staring into his eyes. "It's okay. We're okay. We made it. We're alive and everything's going to be okay now. Okay?"
Numbly, the boy nodded. "O-okay,"
"Yeesh, so that was a Rayshift, huh?" Astolfo sat up and stretched.
Lily was doubled over and clutching her stomach. "I don't like it," she groaned.
"Ah, wasn't that bad! Like a rollercoaster! Let's do it again!"
Altria, already on her feet, looked down at them disparagingly. "I don't know how it is I allowed myself to be bested by the likes of you. Hmm, allowed . . yes, that must be it. I must have let you win. My tenacity wavered at the last moment. That sounds good, I'll go with that,"
"You're full of crap," Nikki grumbled at her.
"G-guys?" Era's wavering voice drew everyone's attention as the youngest Master looked around. "W-where's Cu?"
It was at that moment that they realised not everyone had survived long enough to return to Chaldea.
A/N
A/N
Okay, elephant in the room; Mash and Lord Camelot.
I honestly just don't want to write out Mash's character arc again. She's a great character and I love her, but come on, we've all heard it before. Frankly, I don't really want Mash to be a main character in this story, we already have three lead heroes and their Servants, adding Mash just splits the focus too much. She's still important to the plot, so I'm not writing her out or anything, but don't expect her to follow the Trifecta around like a puppy as she does Ritsuka in canon Observer on Timeless Temple. Mostly because she needs to heal her legs. Yowch.
Next chapter might take a couple of days, I still feel very inspired but the fatigue's starting to hit and I've pretty much done nothing but write and sleep for the past day. I can't keep this up, I've got stuff to do.