A Fated Meeting

March 5th, 2015

Darkness surrounded him like a blanket. He could feel his body slowly sink into the voidless abyss, only for a strange wetness to touch his cheek.

"Fou, Fou!"

"Is there… A tail tickling my nose?" The boy woke up and saw the strangest critter staring at him. It's fur was pure white, with a small blue tuft of fur on it's upper body. It was incredibly tiny, just small enough to perch itself on his shoulder. The critter continued to lick his cheek, causing the boy to laugh a little.

The boy was incredibly thin, with black hair and blue eyes. His expression showed slight shyness, but also a hint of kindness and compassion as he rubbed the critter's chin gently.

"Oh good, you're awake Senpai."

The boy snapped to attention and his jaw stood slightly agape at the source of the voice. Standing in front of him was a beautiful girl, her lilac hair covered her right eye, and reached her shoulders. Her lavender eyes showed curiosity and wonder, inviting him to stare into them forever. She wore a gray hoodie with white accents. Underneath, a black shirt with a red tie and a skirt.

"I… Where am I? What time is it?"

"It's about noon," the girl answered. "You were standing and sleeping for a few minutes. It was very interesting to watch."

The boy blushed slightly at the comment. He didn't know how to respond to her after learning she caught him performing his usual habit. The boy continued to rub the critter gently, causing the girl to giggle.

"Is that your pet? Looks cute, what's its name?" The boy asked.

"His name is Fou, and I'm not really his owner. Just a caretaker really."

Fou jumped off the boy's shoulders and into the girl's shoulders. She gently caressed the critter's chin and smiled, causing the boy to look at her in awe.

"Well….. this has proven to be an entertaining little distraction."

The two of them turned their attention to see another girl standing beside the wall. She wore the same uniform as the boy, but instead of black pants, she wore a black skirt with leggings with white boots. She had orange hair, golden eyes and a devious smile. She walked up to them with her hands folded across her chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but seeing that cute little squirrel thing run into him was just too funny to watch."

"Well, glad I could entertain you….I think."

The orange haired girl shook her head. "Don't make such a long face, just remember that people usually sleep in beds, and not in hallways."

The boy nodded slightly before widening his eyes in realization. "Oh I'm so stupid! I shouldn't have been sleeping in the hallway!"

"It's okay Senpai, it was almost textbook rem sleep."

He looked at her sheepishly. The girl smiled at him in reassurance before the orange haired girl cleared her throat. "My name is Tatsuko Tachibana, if you guys are done staring at each other that is."

The boy snapped to attention and nodded. "My name is Ritsuka Fujimaru."

"And my name is Mashu Kyrielight,." The lilac haired girl answered. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Fou leapt off Mashu's shoulder and ran through the hallway. "Fou, where are you going?"

"Maybe he got bored with us?" Tatsuko chimed. "Maybe he's trying to find his stashed acorns from the previous winter."

Ritsuka looked at Tatsuko with a raised eyebrow. The orange haired girl shrugged. "What? He's got a fluffy tail!"

"My my, what's all the- Ah! There you are Mashu, you know you can't walk around without permission."

The three teens turned to look at a man walking towards them. The man in question wore a green suit with a top hat of the same color. His long brown hair was curly, as if he did it himself. His eyes remained shut, giving him a strange aura. His face twisted into a small smile. "I see you're already getting acquainted with…oh I see, you two must be the new recruits who signed up!"

Ritsuka and Tatsuko nodded slowly. "I'm Lev Lainur. I'm one of the director's advisors, as well as one of Chaldea's chief technicians."

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Lainur," Ritsuka answered. "I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru."

"And I'm Tatsuko Tachibana, but just call me Ms. Tachibana." Tatsuko answered coldly. Ritsuka looked at her in shock and disbelief.

"Don't be rude, he's our senior here!"

"Oh don't be a stick in the mud," Tatsuko answered back. "I'm just letting him know how I want him to address me is all."

Lev chuckled. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, the both of you. Now I heard you both were selected out of dozens of public applicants, so how long was your training?"

"A few hours." The two teens said in unison. They looked at each other in shock and surprise.

"Well this is a surprise indeed," Lev said calmly. He gasped and clasped his hands together. "Oh do forgive me, I was being very inconsiderate!"

Tatsuko raised an eyebrow. "Well it's not like anyone would have reacted differently."

"Perhaps you're right." Lev answered. The man checked his watch and let out a silent sigh. "I think we need to wrap up this riveting conversation. Orientation is about to start soon in the command room, and the director hates it when people are late."

The three teens looked at each other and nodded. Ritsuka and Tatsuko looked towards Mashu with beaming smiles.

"Since we're still new here, can you show us the way to the command room Mashu?" Ritsuka asked. The lilac haired girl stared at him with slight surprise as Tatsuko grinned at her.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Before Mashu or Ritsuka could react, Tatsuko wrapped her arms around them and dragged them alongside her. "Hey Mashu, can you give me some directions as to where the hell we're going?"

"Y-yes! You go right around this corner, then walk down the corridor and make a left towards the first doors."

Tatsuko chuckled mischievously. "Excellent! Let's see what's in store for us!"

Ritsuka and Mashu did not even bother to struggle as the orange haired girl dragged them off to what could be considered a grand adventure.

"I can't believe we were kicked out!"

Ritsuka covered his ear with one hand as he rubbed his sore cheek with the other, trying to soothe the part that was slapped. Tatsuko glared at him and huffed. "How could you fall asleep in the middle of orientation, you big goof?!"

"Hey I said I was sorry okay!" Ritsuka answered back. " I had a long flight!"

Tatsuko pinched his ear. "So did I! But you don't see me sleeping when someone's talking do you?"

"Hey, let go of my ear!"

Tatsuko sighed as she let go of his ear. The two of them weren't even at the orientation for very long before Ritsuka fell asleep, and incurred the wrath of the director who gave him a hard slap. Tatsuko laughed at the sight and was punished alongside him by being taken off the mission. Mashu said that she would catch up with them after the mission was finished. She wanted to get to know them more, and they wanted to do the same. However, Ritsuka felt more enthusiastic about talking to the lilac haired girl, and she felt the same towards him, but they didn't know why. The two master candidates were on their way to drop Ritsuka off to his room when a familiar white ball of fur attacked his face.

"Fou, Fou!"

"Hey Fou, where were you?" Ritsuka asked with a chuckle. The black haired boy scratched his chin as Tatsuko looked at them blankly. Ritsuka looked at her in curiosity. "What's wrong? Got out on the wrong side of bed this morning?"

"No, I'm just upset that you get to play with that adorable little fur ball and I'm the third wheel!"

Ritsuka looked at her and back to Fou, and gently grabbed the critter off his shoulder, and handed him over to the orange haired girl. Tatsuko smiled as she nuzzled her face into Fou's, eliciting a satisfied chirp from the critter. "He's so soft! I wish I had a pet like this!"

Ritsuka chuckled softly before his eyes shot forward. "Oh, looks like we made it to my room."

Tatsuko looked at the door and laughed. "I bet it leads into the janitor's closet."

"Don't make me take Fou away from you."

Tatsuko covered Fou in her arms and stuck her tongue out at the boy. Ritsuka sighed as he pressed his door key against the panel. The faint hiss of the door signified that it opened. The room was white in color, with a hint of green on the bottom. A silver metal desk sat on the left side of the room with a comfy looking chair. Ritsuka looked at the empty oaken bookcase and pursed his lips. He silently made a mental note to ask if there was a library in Chaldea so he could make good use of it.

"Okay, I like the decor, but I'm hoping my room has a better color palette than this…." Tatsuko muttered. Ritsuka looked at her with an annoyed glance before they heard the sound of someone eating. The two teens looked at the bed, and saw a man eating snacks and reading what looked like an adult magazine. The man in question had bright orange hair and green eyes. He wore green scrubs with a white lab coat on top of it, and white pants and shoes. The most curious aspect of him, however, were the white gloves he wore on his hands.

"Wow, I never thought I'd ever see- Wait, who are you two?" The man asked in shock. "This is supposed to be where I can slack off!"

"Really? But I was told this was my room…" Ritsuka answered.

The man's eyes widened. "Oh! You must be one of the rookies, I didn't realize they were assigning rooms already!"

"Maybe you'd have known if you weren't lazing about and reading porn." Tatsuko chimed. The man looked at his magazine and immediately hid it behind his back causing Tatsuko to roll her eyes.

"W-well, I just wasn't expecting anyone to claim this room is all."

"Sorry, but it looks like fate had other plans," Ritsuka said politely. "By the way, I feel like after finding you like that, we at least need to know your name."

"Right, right! Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Romani Archaman, I'm one of the scientists here at Chaldea, as well as the head doctor."

"You're the head doctor?" Tatsuko asked. "You don't look that much older than us!"

Roman chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I get that alot….."

"Well in any case, it's nice to meet you Dr. Roman," Ritsuka answered. "I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru, and this is Tatsuko Tachibana. But before we continue, what is the chief of Chaldea's medical staff doing here instead of the infirmary, or the command room for that matter?"

"Well it's not like I'm going to be needed," Roman answered. "Lev created Sheba, our surveillance system, the previous director built our summoning and unsummoning system, and the Atlas Academy built our Pseudo-Spiritron Calculation Engine. So it's not like I can do anything special."

"Uhhhh, yeah you can," Tatsuko answered back. "You can tend to the wounded, can't you?"

Roman gave a weak laugh. "Well yes, but it's not like anyone in Team A is going to need that. They're the best of the best after all."

"I see, well if that's the case, why not hang out in the infirmary?" Ritsuka asked.

Roman was about to answer the boy's question when he noticed Fou jumping back onto the boy's shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from him. "I see you've gotten acquainted with Chaldea's unofficial mascot."

"Yeah, Mashu called doofus here Fou's secondary caretaker." Tatsuko answered with a smile.

"Oh, so you met Mashu already?" Roman asked with a glint in his eyes. The two teens nodded causing him to smile. "Well color me surprised. She usually doesn't talk to anyone besides me. You two must have done something right in order for her to do that."

Ritsuka and Tatsuko looked at each other with surprise. Mashu never really talked to anyone in Chaldea? But she seemed so friendly and polite. They turned to the doctor as he put his hand up with a wide smile. "How about we continue our conversation some other-"

EMERGENCY! FIRES HAVE BROKEN OUT IN THE CENTRAL POWER STATION AND THE COMMAND ROOM! PREPARE FOR EVACUATION, PREPARE FOR-

The three of them were caught off guard as the ground shook. Fou clung to Ritsuka like a security blanket as Roman regained his bearings. "Was that an explosion?!"

The doctor tapped his watch frantically. "Show me the Command Room now!"

A holographic image appeared in front of them, and what they saw caused their hearts to sink. Flames engulfed the entire room, and they saw what could be described as charred corpses dotting the room. Tatsuko put a hand over her mouth in complete shock while Ritsuka looked at the image in complete fear. He looked around, but noticed something peculiar. Where was Mashu?

"We don't have time to sit around now!" Roman shouted. "Ritsuka and Tatsuko right? You both need to evacuate now while I go to the Command Room!"

The doctor ran towards the Command Room at top speed. Ritsuka and Tatsuko didn't even hesitate as they immediately followed him. Roman looked at them in shock and was about to protest before Tatsuko opened her mouth to speak.

"You're going to need help buster, so don't even try to stop us!" She shouted.

"I appreciate the offer, but-"

"Dr. Roman, please let us help!" Ritsuka said loudly. "We can help find survivors!"

Roman stared at them and sighed. "Okay, fine. It's not like I can convince you guys to leave anyway."

Ritsuka and Tatsuko nodded at each other as they headed towards the Command Room.

Not five minutes later, Ritsuka and Tatsuko stared silently at the carnage before them. Roman clicked his tongue in despair. "Judging by the fact that the explosion came from here, this wasn't an accident…this was sabotage, plain and simple."

Ritsuka and Tatsuko stared at him wide eyed. Sabotage, but who could have done this? And why? Roman looked at them with a stern expression. "I'm going to go to the power station underground in order to keep Chaldea's light alive. You guys need to get out of here."

Not a moment later, the doctor ran out of the room, leaving the two teens alone in the burning room. The two of them were about to leave, when they heard a groan of discomfort. Their eyes widened as they turned their heads and saw Mashu, lying beneath a huge pile of rubble, her face was bloodied and her skin became deathly pale. Ritsuka instinctively ran towards her, instead of going to safety while Tatsuko ran after him. The two of them reached her and tried to get her out from beneath the wall slab with Fou's help.

"Mr. Fujimaru, Ms. Tachibana…don't worry about me…..save yourselves…." She muttered weakly.

"The hell we are!" Ritsuka shouted. "We're getting you out of here."

"Yeah, twig boy is right!" Tatsuko exclaimed. "You're not going to die here, not if we can help it."

Mashu was about to open her mouth in protest when her eyes widened in horror. Chaldeas turned bright red, as if it became a giant sun. Her heart sank further as the doors to the Command Room were starting to close. Ritsuka and Tatsuko worked even harder to free the lilac haired girl from her restraint.

UNABLE TO CONFIRM HUMAN SURVIVORS. CENTRAL AREA IS NOW SEALED.

"Oh no….the doors are completely shut now….." She muttered quietly. Ritsuka and Tatsuko looked at each other in despair. If they were shut in, then it was too late for them. The best they could do now was try to free Mashu, and keep her company. Ritsuka stopped lifting and sat down to catch his breath.

"Oh sure, leave me to do all the heavy lifting….." Tatsuko said sarcastically. Ritsuka panted as Fou walked over to Mashu with a pained expression, and licked her cheek. The girl gave a weak smile as she petted the critter for what she thought would be the last time.

"Don't worry Mashu, we're right here with you." Ritsuka said in between breaths.

Mashu smiled at him. "Thank…you."

The boy gave her a reassuring smile as the flames continued to rage around them. Tatsuko groaned and roared as she continued to struggle to get Mashu free. The lilac haired girl closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She didn't know these two for long, and yet….she couldn't help but feel happy she met them, and that they were here with her right now. She looked at Ritsuka with a shy look. She didn't know if it was appropriate to ask, nor did she expect him to answer it, but she felt that she needed to, or else she'd regret it.

"Hey Senpai….. I have a request…." She said weakly.

Ritsuka nodded. "What would you like for me to do?"

Mashu looked at him with a shy smile.

"Could you….hold my hand?"

Ritsuka looked at her in surprise for a moment, before flashing a warm smile. He slowly put his hand over hers, and held it gently as the flames loomed closer and closer.

SEARCHING FOR A QUALIFYING MASTER-FOUND. CANDIDATE NO. 47, RITSUKA FUJIMARU, CANDIDATE NO. 48, TATSUKO TACHIBANA.

RESET AS MASTERS.

SYSTEM PROCESSING TOWARDS FINAL PHASE OF RAYSHIFT. COORDINATES, A.D. 2004. JANUARY 30th FUYUKI, JAPAN.

RAYSHIFTING STARTING IN 3…2…1!

The trio closed their eyes, as darkness engulfed them.

AUTHOR'S NOTES.

CV: Hello readers, we hoped you enjoyed the first chapter. Chaldean Chronicles is a dual writer project made by Owenchaser and CosmicVlad. This story is based on Fragments of Chaldea, an old fanfic that we both really like, and wanted to give our take on a similar story.

Some of you may be asking how we'll be tackling the Singularities in this story. For that, my friend Owenchaser will answer.

OC: Hello everyone! Owenchaser here and I'm honored that this is the first fanfic I write! To answer the important question about the singularities, it will go like this: Time will move much faster INSIDE the singularities. So 80 days or so inside a singularity will equal one day in Chaldea. Since this is an inspiration of Fragments, we wanted to make sure we gave the proper character progression for certain characters without rushing it. This will be MUCH more prevalent when we reach the Lostbelt saga.

Now another thing of note, this fanfic idea came about months ago. Another friend of mine and I were throwing ideas around about a fanfic idea similar to Fragments on Reddit, but it would not be written. I talked to my friend Cosmic Vlad here and told him some of our ideas, and he instantly fell in love with it. After a few weeks, he and I decided to write a fanfic that would borrow some ideas from my other friend: Mystech_Master. I dare say, if I didn't start talking to this guy, none of this would have been possible. A lot of the story beats were planned in advance, but some of them might change in the future if we deem it necessary. Now, for the next part, I'll let my buddy Vlad handle it.

CV: Some of you may be asking why we decided for the Fuyuki expedition to be made on March 5th. Well, 2 reasons, the first one being that it gives the Singularities more room to breathe, allowing them to be explored more than they were in the original game, as well as give time for the different events in between the main story. The second reason is because March 5th is the day we finally wrote the first chapter lol.

OC: Lmao! Truer words have never been spoken. Before we end this chapter, I'd like to thank my good friend Mystech_Master from Reddit again. If it wasn't for this guy, I doubt this fanfic idea could have ever been made. Or if it did, it would have been an even more herculean task for me and Vlad to plan out. And I'd like to thank the author of Fragments of Chaldea for the inspiration to write this. Without that, Chronicles would not have even been written or talked about.

CV: To close the first chapter off, I'd like to give thanks to my friend and co writer Owenchaser. For a long time, doing fanfics was something I couldn't talk about with anyone since none of my friends were interested, but with him, I could finally share my ideas and hear his, which ultimately ended up becoming in this story. I hope you all enjoy what he and I have created.

Have a good night everyone.