FATE/PARALLEL COLORS

Chapter 21: Composite Mystery

Cuchulainn and Aisling continued through the confusing labyrinth for what felt like forever. The persistent changes in brightly-lit rooms and near pitch-black corridors were getting on his nerves, and he exhaled an audible grunt.

(Are you okay? Do you want to take a break?) Aisling asked. She and Lochrann remained completely unperturbed by this dimension's effects due to them being not actually being there in person.

"No, I can keep going. The sooner we find the rift back to my world, the better."

In a strange way, having Aisling around was a huge comfort to him. Just her being there provided enough stimuli for him to ward off the urge to just scream and shout for no reason other than to feel like he had company. Geal was also with him, but he seemed to be carrying around a hollow shell that had lost the ability to talk. Despite this, that uneasy feeling refused to subside as he stared at Aisling.

"Just let me be sure of this," Cuchulainn told Aisling. "Are you absolutely positive you can find a particular rift that will send me and Geal back to our proper world?"

(I can feel dozens of similar rifts all around us that can take you to alternate worlds. I analyzed your Spirit Origins to get a feel for the portal that matches your wavelengths, and I'm sensing it fairly far in the distance. It might take us some time to get there, but I promise that if you just be patient, we'll be there soon enough.)

"I'm not doubting you at all. I'm just not sure why you're able to act like some kind of dowsing rod for finding alternate dimensions while in this crazy-ass maze."

(I don't know. I just feel it. Perhaps it's an effect of me transitioning from a human into the alien I was meant to be. Maybe I'm going to become an Outer God similar to Daoloth myself. I can hardly wait for the day when that happens. Helping you is going to set me back a bit, but it shouldn't affect my training in the long run as long as I explain myself to Daoloth.)

He clenched his teeth and growled forlornly, "Don't say that."

(Why not? It's what I want. It's a decision I made on my own, without input from anyone who sought to ruin my life.)

"Do you really hate your world that much? You know your father is worried about you, yet you're still willing to turn your back to him and abandon Earth?"

Aisling's glare hardened as she frowned and retorted, (I've made up my mind. No one can convince me otherwise.)

"Even if you were shown the truth?"

(What truth? I saw that vision of my father killing me, all because my mother planned for me to be a throwaway patsy in her petty scheme. That's no life for me. I deserve better, and I'm not going to find it on Earth. If I want any hope for a better life, I'm going to turn my eyes toward the cosmos. However scary it may be, I want to be ready to face it and find my better life out there. That's the whole point of me and Lochrann training under Daoloth, after all.)

Cuchulainn turned his eyes away from the upset girl's gaze, fighting back a fit of his own emotions. How much more awful could this get? It was a twisted subversion of humanity looking to outer space as a symbol of hope and possibilities. True, Aisling saw it as her own form of hope, but it was born out of fear and resentment, not ingenuity and passion. The more he listened to her, the more he felt like his guts were being wrenched directly out of him and being put on display in some gory museum. It was truly disgusting… not because of Aisling herself, but of how he, Aife and Scathach had disappointed her so horribly that she needed to rely on an extreme measure to find salvation for herself.

"So then," he finally murmured, "that's how you became the First Denialist – the mastermind behind the Denialist Servants causing so much trouble for various parallel worlds."

Aisling grew perplexed when she heard this. (I don't know anything about this First Denialist business or whatever. I've let Daoloth take free reign of my body to use as his vessel while I undergo my training. Whatever plans he's enacting with my body, it all has nothing to do with me.)

"Even if you're to be falsely accused of destroying parallel worlds that should've thrived otherwise?"

(I'm leaving Earth behind anyway. What does it matter how people think of me?)

"I see," Cuchulainn whispered somberly. He was starting to understand how determined she was to go through with all of this, and it greatly troubled him.

Lochrann piped in with, "Stop pestering her, big guy. You should just forget about Aisling and think about rescuing Geal. That's the whole reason you're here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. But how can I be sure that Daoloth won't try to abduct Geal again?"

(I'll talk to him,) Aisling said. (I may only be an acolyte, and I may never comprehend my patron god's true mindset, but I was not expecting him to be so relentless towards my other counterparts. I thought that because he was gracious to me, he would be the same for them. Something just doesn't seem to be adding up.)

"You think so?" Lochrann wondered.

(I don't know. I'm just getting this nagging feeling that something's wrong…)

"Hmm…" Cuchulainn pondered. He thought about what Geal told him before regarding how she perceived the Outer God. In particular, one fascinating thing she claimed kept sticking in his mind:

"Even though he's an Outer God, he's actually not all that inimical towards humanity. In fact, he's totally docile compared to the more malevolent gods that seek to harm everything and everyone around them. He's just incredibly dangerous because of his inherent nature, not because of anything he's actually done to harm those around him."

Yet, the Daoloth that Chaldea knew was going around causing all kinds of trouble for Connla. If the god's behavior didn't match with what source materials claimed… This was getting to be quite the intriguing twist for Cuchulainn. Maybe there was something extremely important that had been slipping past everyone this entire time, and only now he was getting a small hint towards solving this eldritch mystery.

"Aisling," Cuchulainn suddenly said, "do you think you and I could maintain contact with each other after Geal and I return home?"

(Huh?)

She widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting to be asked such an outlandish question. She swallowed nervously and asked, (Why would you want to do that? I already told you that-)

"This is different. I think something's wrong with Daoloth as well. If you revere him so much, wouldn't it be in your best interest to help your god out?"

(Well…)

"Are you trying to trick her?" Lochrann bitterly accused. "I bet you are. You just want to use her to find a way to defeat Daoloth."

"Think whatever you want, punk," Cuchulainn snapped. "I just want to get this goddamn mess sorted out so Geal doesn't have to be the target of some Outer God's bullying anymore. Besides, I already know it's virtually impossible for me to fight against an alien possessing such mind-bending powers."

"Wow, look at you. I've barely given you your slice of humble pie and you're already choking on it."

"Shut up. If there's any shred of truth behind this, then it would behoove both of us to investigate as thoroughly as we can. Wouldn't you say so, Aisling?"

Although the Foreigner was looking away from him, the crease in her brow was a good indication for him. She sighed and murmured, (I suppose. I don't really have any basis for my theory, but I'm still worried that something could be wrong with Daoloth. I would like to make sure he's in his right mind before fully committing to being his priestess, even if it's just to erase my own doubts.)

"Naturally. You wouldn't want to save more of your counterparts from being flung into other far-off dimensions like this, would you? That would be an inconvenience to your training."

(That's true…)

Cuchulainn grinned, pleased that his arguments were getting through to her.

They eventually made it to a wide room with multiple exits and a random hole in the floor that would bring them to some kind of basement area. Aisling told Cuchulainn to wait, then phased through the floor and investigated for a minute. She eventually poked her head and shoulders back up and told him, (It's right here.)

"Really?" his voice sounded hopeful as he quickly hopped into the hole and landed in a dimly-lit garage-styled chamber. There were some rotting wooden stairs leading further down, but no one paid any mind to those. Instead, they stared at a section of the wall that flickered and undulated like television noise. A disturbing hollow sound echoed from the portal.

(This is the gate that leads back to your timeline,) Aisling said. (You and Geal will be able to escape now.)

"Ahhh…" Cuchulainn exhaled a tremendous sigh of relief. "Finally! Time to ditch this godforsaken place for good!"

Lochrann quipped, "You're not as happy as I am to be rid of your filthy mug. You should be more grateful to Aisling for sacrificing the progress we've made on our training to help your sorry ass."

The Servant ignored the lantern's rude remarks and told Aisling, "Come with us."

The little girl suddenly backed away with an anxious look on her face. (No… I can't. If I've really caused so much trouble for your world, then everyone's going to hate me.)

"That's not true. We all know that Daoloth is behind everything. Even without you guiding me and Geal out of this hellhole, we already know you're innocent. Once I tell them everything that happened here, my Master will definitely want to help you."

(I can't do it.)

"You're wrong. You're perfectly capable of it. It's that you don't want to."

(What difference does it make? My world discarded me, so I discarded it back. What makes you think I won't do the same in your world? I've already made up my mind – I'm not going to have anything to do with anyone anymore. I'm sick of everyone shoving their consequences onto my shoulders. I want to be left alone to make my own decisions for myself.)

"You say you don't enjoy being used, yet you're allowing Daoloth to frame you for his crimes against numerous parallel worlds?"

(T-That's because… I can become his priestess if he was given full control of my body. I admit that his behavior is rather strange, but I'll look into it on my own! I don't need help from you, your world, or anyone else! I'll take care of this problem by myself!)

"Stop!" Cuchulainn shouted as Lochrann's glow gradually intensified, and he needed to cover his eyes with his hand.

"You heard her, big guy," the lantern coldly retorted. "We'll make sure that Daoloth doesn't bother your world anymore. I just can't promise what will happen if you continue to chase after us. You should respect her wishes and leave her alone."

"Aisling!"

The white light became so bright that a searing afterglow singed his retinas, causing him to fall to one knee. It took a minute for the blinding light to die down before he could look again. To his dismay, Aisling and Lochrann were nowhere to be seen. He and Geal were the only ones left now.

He remained there for a short while, desperately fighting back against a distinct fury welling within himself. It was mostly directed at himself – his words failed to get through to her, and he wouldn't have been able to force her to go with him since she was a wandering soul he couldn't interact with. At the same time, he knew that Aisling had long since closed her heart to everyone, which explained why she was being so contradictory. No one was around to give her any advice on how to cope with such an unfair world. Those in her life were terrible influences that gladly dragged such a lost soul into the realm of cosmic horrors, and it thoroughly disgusted him.

As Cuchulainn stared at the empty room, he heard Geal's voice murmur beneath his mantle, "Harm end… Xanadu rush errant."

"Tch," he grunted and stood up. Unfortunate as it was, he would have to worry about Aisling later. Right now, his top priority was getting the two of them home. He faced the spasmic portal flickering before them, then jumped through without a word. Once they had departed, the unknown dimension returned to perpetual silence for all of eternity.

Chaldea

Da Vinci and Medb stared at the pensive Aibi. The mystery Servant grew more bashful as she felt their eyes practically boring into her. Medb faced Da Vinci and asked, "Are you sure she's not from one of the known classes?"

"I ran the numbers multiple times," the inventor said. "She's not one of the standard seven classes, nor is she a Ruler, an Avenger, or the new Foreigner class I just added to the database. I can definitely pick up our Connla's Spirit Origin in Aibi's, at least. The thing is, it seems a bit slightly different, as if it's been affected by a second entity. Her core personality is largely the same, but there's something else lurking within her. Perhaps she is a Composite Servant of some kind?"

"Well…" Aibi murmured nervously. "It's true that I have more than one Spirit Origin in me. It's just that… the second one might be a little difficult for you to understand…"

"Why? We already know about certain Servants merging together related mythologies, fictions and histories to create a new Heroic Spirit that embodies all of them. Take Hessian Lobo for example – they comprise of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, the King of Currumpaw, and the Invisible Man."

"Yeah, there is that. Such Heroic Spirits can be summoned in a wide variety of classes. The thing is, the second Spirit Origin lurking within me isn't a living entity… at least, not in the sense that it's a flesh-and-blood human or animal."

Da Vinci raised her eyebrows in obvious surprise. "It isn't?"

Medb became more and more confused as she heard these vague hints. She couldn't help but blurt the obvious question; "If it's not a human or an animal, what else could it possibly be? What other famous things could humanity have created that the Throne of Heroes would allow to be summoned as Servants?"

Aibi tightly curled her fingers over her lap. After a lengthy silence, she murmured, "It's not that I'm afraid of telling you everything. It's more of whether or not you will understand me. If you don't, I'm worried that you might dismiss me as some kind of lunatic. Believe me, I've been trying to wrap my head around this concept for many years after I was transformed from a Lancer into this class. All I really have to work with are theories and guesses, since I've never met another Servant with the same class as this."

Da Vinci's intense curiosity waned as she realized how nervous Aibi was. Her stern expression quickly changed to her usual sunny countenance as she assured, "Come on, you can relax. I was just surprised because we've been having an influx of new Servant classes being recognized lately. We're barely on the cusp of understanding how Foreigners work, so learning about another new one in such a short period of time kind of made me lose my marbles for a second. But trust me – if there's one thing I always love, it's a challenge. I'd be happy to listen to anything you have to say about your class. Maybe I can use my unparalleled genius to help you fill in the gaps behind your own reasoning."

"Are you sure?" Aibi asked timidly.

"Hey, the Throne works in many mysterious ways. Part of Chaldea's mission involves understanding how Servants operate so the Masters can command them efficiently in battle."

As Medb listened to them, her own excitement dwindled as she sat down next to Aibi and chuckled, "I guess it doesn't really matter what your class is. At the end of the day, what's important to me is that you're still Connie at heart, right?"

"I, uh… I suppose so…"

Now feeling consoled, Aibi was about to start talking. However, she was suddenly interrupted when the workshop's intercom crackled to life. Ritsuka's voice called out, "Are you there, Da Vinci?"

"I am," the Caster replied. "Is there something wrong?"

"Van Gogh and Dantes said they're picking up a single space-time distortion near the baths."

"Crap… Could it be Daoloth sneaking in one last attack?"

"They didn't think so. The gap isn't wide enough to allow for more Hedrons to pass through. They think it might be enough for a Servant to traverse, though."

"A Servant!?" Medb immediately got to her feet as only one thought crossed her mind. "It's Cu, isn't it!? He's come back to me with Connie!"

"Medb? What are you doing there?" Ritsuka wondered, surprised to hear the Rider's voice.

"Oh, you know. Private business and all that," the queen uttered, being careful not to prematurely mention anything about Aibi. "You said it's somewhere around the baths? I'm going to go check it out! If it really is Cu and Connie, I'll be the first one to welcome them back!"

"B-But we haven't confirmed that-"

"Okay, I'm off!"

With that, the pink-haired lady dashed out of the workshop with an energetic giggle. Da Vinci and Aibi watched her leave with dumbfounded expressions plastered on their faces. The inventor then said to Ritsuka, "Well, there you have it. Stay close to Medb, and bring some Servants with you just in case. I'm a little busy so I can't check with you, but let me know what's happening right away."

"Will do," the Master said and cut the intercom connection.

Once the atelier returned to silence, Aibi murmured, "Goodness… Queen Medb certainly was in a hurry."

"He he he. If there's one thing she's known for, it's her child-like energy. Whether it's commanding her country, pursuing someone else's valuable possessions, competing against anyone else, chasing some man she desires, or enjoying some male company in the bedroom, she always has the gusto to keep things lively. Sometimes I wish I could borrow some of that moxie for myself," Da Vinci chuckled.

"… Male company in the bedroom? What do they do in there?"

"You can't be serious. You don't know why Medb is summoned as a Rider?"

"No. I thought it was because she was fond of horses and chariots."

"Well, uh… Y-You're not technically wrong there…"

"You mean there's another reason?"

"Erm… You know what? Let's save that conversation for when you're a liii~iiittle bit older, 'kay?"

Aibi became more and more confused about why Da Vinci was purposely skirting around the issue. Before the conversation could get any more awkward, the intercom crackled on again and Ritsuka's panicked voice exclaimed, "Da Vinci! You won't believe what just happened!"

"Calm down there, champ. You sound like you're hyperventilating," the inventor told her.

"Of course I am! Cu Alter and Connla came back through that portal!"

In the entrance to the baths, a group consisting of Ritsuka, Mash, Roman, and Nightingale were already standing around a particular wall that ebbed and distorted itself. Medb rushed to the scene, but barely got the chance to say anything when something happened with this new rift.

To everyone's collective shock, the wall rippled like water, and an unusual reverberation compelled them to stay back. Then, completely and unexpectedly, Cuchulainn popped through with Connla in his arms. He landed on the ground, but immediately collapsed to his knees and stared at the floor with an empty and mortified expression, all while holding the half-comatose child Servant close. He was terrified of letting her go, as if she had been shattered into a million pieces and was only being kept glued together within his vice-like embrace.

"Cu! Connie!" Medb squealed and ran up to them. "Is it really you!? Did you really make it back to me, Cu!?"

"…"

"I knew it! I knew you could do it! Oh, you have no idea how relieved I am! I felt like I was walking on… pins and needles… the whole… time…"

"…"

"Cu?" the queen whimpered when she finally noticed how terrified and vapid he appeared. This was hardly like him. He would face any and all threats with either his usual menacing smirk or an apathetic glare. To see him look so scared was simply unfathomable to her. She pressed her hands on his cheeks and moaned, "What's the matter, Cu? Are you all right? Do you recognize your lovely queen?"

After a disturbingly long moment, he croaked, "M… Medb…"

"Yes, it's me, Cu. You've made it back, just like you promised."

"Oh god… that was… beyond horrible…"

"It's okay, my love. You're home now. There's no need to be afraid anymore."

"Ah… I… I guess I made it. So she wasn't lying…"

"What do you mean? Who is 'she'?"

Ritsuka interjected, "We can ask him all the questions we want later. What about Connla? Is she okay?"

Cuchulainn shifted his eyes down to look at the child Lancer, who had been eerily silent this whole time. He made her look into his eyes, and the sight still terrorized him. Her brown eyes continued to shimmer with a thin layer of multiple random colors, drool dripped out of the corner of her smiling lips, and blood rolled from her eyes. She vapidly stared at the ceiling, then pointed up and dotted the air multiple times while muttering in a raspy voice, "Spoiled rock swimming… on the pin of a mosquito's cold shock. Purple tuning fork fly yonder. Overture, my finest coup de grace, cut me a new one. A ball, too tall, free fall, false call, happy wall…"

Ritsuka yelped. As much as she wanted to ask what was going on, she was scared of the poor girl's horrendously deteriorating condition. Mash would be the one to voice the Master's shock as she gasped, "What on Earth happened to her!? She's not making any sense whatsoever! And her eyes… they're shining so many colors at once!"

"Gh…" Cuchulainn grunted and struggled to get back onto his feet. However, he was too sick to stand on his own. He needed Medb and Nightingale's help just to stay upright, so moving around was going to be impossible for him at the moment. The nurse forced him to lay on his side on a stretcher. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried to pry Connla away from him, he kept his grip tight around the insane child.

Finally, Roman ordered Nightingale, "Don't try to separate them for now. There's no telling how he'll react if we force them apart while they're both in such precarious mental states."

"It's going to be difficult to treat them like this."

"I can't diagnose Connla's condition at a glance, but at least Cuchulainn appears to be okay. It's more of a mental shock that he's going through. Can't say I blame him either – whatever was in that alternate dimension had to have been terrifying enough to disturb someone as hard-headed as him. If that's the case, I cannot begin to imagine what sort of effect it's had on Connla. Investigating whatever's wrong with her has to take top priority, and I don't think modern medicine is going to help here."

"Then the only thing I can do is keep them clean and comfortable."

"That's good enough. I'll have Cu Caster and Sigurd help me analyze Connla's cranial Runes to see if they're going haywire. Ritsuka, I want you and Mash to collect any available sources of magical energy we have in our stockpile. Just by looking at how pale Connla is, it's obvious that her mana's been completely drained, and we need to perform an emergency mana revival procedure ASAP."

"Emergency mana revival procedure?" Mash wondered.

"Think of it like a defibrillator, but for Servants who have lost all of their prana stores. Hopefully this will help fix her severe mental deterioration, but that might be wishful thinking on my part."

"What about for Cu? Is he going to be okay?"

"He's not as ill, but some materials will be helpful all the same. Now hurry it up! We don't have a lot of time!"

"We're on it!" Ritsuka cried out. She and Mash hurried to Da Vinci's workshop to scrounge for any resources. As the two girls barged into the atelier, that was when they discovered the inventor sitting across the table from a lavender-haired Servant they had never seen before.

"Uh?" the Shielder uttered, unsure of what was going on.

"Good timing," Da Vinci blurted, distracting her before she could stare at the mystery Servant for too long. "What's going on? Are Cu Alter and Connla back?"

"W-Well… Yes, they are…"

Aibi got up from her chair and shouted worriedly, "Geal managed to return!? Is she okay!?"

"Y-Yes… I think so, but… she was in a terrible state…"

"She alive though, right?"

"She was talking, at least. Roman and Nightingale have brought her and Cu to the examination room."

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought for sure they were lost to us!"

Ritsuka pointed at Aibi, but uttered to Da Vinci, "Uh… mind introducing us?"

"Oh, right," the inventor coughed to compose herself. "Ritsuka, Mash, meet Connla Aibi. She's from a different world than ours, but she managed to come to our timeline to help us out."

"You're kidding…"

"I'm so sorry for the sudden appearance," Aibi apologized profusely, even bowing multiple times to express her deep shame. "I promise I'll explain everything, but I fear we might step all over each other if we try to sort through everything all at once."

"It's okay. You don't need to bow so much," Ritsuka implored. "If you really are here to help us out, then there's no need to be so formal."

"I'm really, really, really sorry! I just didn't want to cause any more confusion after your base was assailed with Daoloth's creatures."

"Seriously, it's all right. All that matters is that you aren't an enemy."

"Yes, of course."

"Okay, now that we've got that sorted," Mash said, then faced Da Vinci and reported, "Roman wanted us to gather as many materials as we can for Connla's… erm, Geal's treatment…"

"Oh, it's fine if you call the younger one by her True Name," Aibi assured. "I'll stick with my nickname at all times."

"Sounds good," Da Vinci agreed. "So what did he request for?"

Mash gave her a list of the desired Ascension materials, plus authorization to use one of the Holy Grails they acquired. The brown-haired lady whistled in surprise and remarked, "Boy, that's a lot he's asking for. Connla must be in a horrific condition if he's willing to utilize Palingenesis to strengthen her Spirit Origin."

Ritsuka clenched her arms and shuddered while moaning, "It was one of the worst things I'd ever seen… like something right out of a nightmare."

"I'll bet. Okay, let's see what we've got."

As Ritsuka, Mash and Da Vinci got to work searching the workshop for the materials, Aibi watched them with a curious expression. She poked Mash's shoulder and asked, "Um, is there anything I can do to help?"

"We've got this," the Shielder said. "You're not familiar with how we organize things, so you might wind up being overwhelmed. Just sit down and relax for a while. This will be over before you know it."

"Um… all right… if you insist."

Three hours later, Roman and his team of specialists completed a thorough medical analysis of Connla's condition. The worst of her physical pain was treated thanks to the materials that Ritsuka and Mash brought for them. Ritsuka and Waver also expended a charge from each of their Command Spells to stabilize her Spirit Origin, but it was obvious that she was incredibly weak and needed long-term care before she could fully recover. In fact, the Command Spells probably wouldn't be enough to keep her alive for more than a couple of days. It was merely a stopgap measure until they could think of a better plan.

Once the emergency treatment was over, everyone involved sat around Connla's bed to discuss what to do next. The vapidly smiling Lancer rested in her bed and quietly played with the Mini-Cu plushie, absently wiggling its arms and tail as her mind wandered to places unknown.

"Phew," Roman sighed and rubbed his forehead with a damp towel. "Well, the good news is that we're out of the frying pan. The bad news is that we've jumped straight into the freezer."

"An apt analogy, to be sure," Sigurd said while adjusting his glasses.

"Well, how about it? Did you and Cu Caster manage to see if anything's wrong with her cranial Runes?"

Cuchulainn Caster looked despondent as he said, "It's bad. The kid's babbling total nonsense because the Runes have been completely starved of magical energy. We know that they're responsible for artificially enhancing her intelligence, so if you suddenly take them away, she's no better than an infant trying to say its first words."

Sigurd added, "It would seem that Alter's assertion of this other dimension's capacity to absorb mana from its victims is most definitely true. Truly, even I was stunned to find out that they were inside the Outer God itself."

"Damn it… Is there a way to restore the Runes to their original function?" Roman asked.

"Caster and I should be able to repair them, but we need a significant amount of time to do so. Since they're directly connected to her brain, we could wind up causing irrevocable damage if we are too hasty with the treatment. Suffice to say, planting Runes on a person's brain is highly unethical and dangerous, so very few Runecraft specialists would have the experience to efficiently handle such an issue. Coupled with how severely weak she is, we will have quite the job on our hands."

"So it would be better to stabilize her Spirit Origin before it can potentially collapse, then have you two look at the Runes while she's in a medically induced coma."

"That would be the safer course of action."

"Hm…" Cuchulainn Alter murmured to himself, looking to be contemplating something.

"What's the matter?" Caster asked his counterpart.

"I was thinking of trying something a little crazy."

"Something crazy?" Roman wondered.

"Remember what happened at the end of the alternate Fifth Singularity. According to the kid's report, that world's version of me sacrificed his Spirit Origin to restore that world's Connla back to full health."

"You know Ritsuka would never allow you to do the same thing."

"Don't jump the gun just yet, chump. I want to try tweaking the formula a little. Instead of one of us dying to resurrect the other, what if Connla and I were merged into one Servant? That way she would be able to survive by living off of my stronger Spirit Origin."

The others glanced at each other in bewilderment. They never expected the Berserker to come up with such an outrageous idea. Roman took a moment to compose himself, then replied, "I see where you're coming from… but is that even possible to do?"

"Well, it's certainly not that farfetched," Sigurd said. "After all, look at Anne Bonny and Mary Read, or Hessian and Lobo. They're individuals meshed together to represent a single Servant. However, that is because the Throne of Heroes defines them as such, allowing them to be summoned as one unit. We do not have the capacity to stitch two unrelated Servants together and have them function as one."

Alter grinned. "But these aren't normal circumstances, are they? We're dealing with an Outer God – an entity capable of upending human logic. Think about it; the kid made contact with Daoloth back when she died, and I consumed portions of his own body. That means we both have the god's power coursing through us, warping our Spirit Origins so much that we're turning into Foreigner-class Servants like that Van Gogh chick. At least, that's what your reading of our Spirit Origins claims, right, Doc?"

Roman read his notes again, then said, "It's hard to believe, but your classes have indeed changed to be the same one as Van Gogh's. So you're proposing that you and Connla go through some process to bind your Spirit Origins together, turning you both into a single Foreigner Servant?"

"It's either that, or let the kid rot to death."

"Hmm… That's kind of hard for me to believe."

"Why? Even without all of this Daoloth nonsense, Connla and I still have our connection as parent and child. After all, you can't talk about the Heroic Spirit Connla without mentioning the Heroic Spirit Cuchulainn. Our connection is simply too ingrained into her story, and our Spirit Origins naturally reflect that."

"Interesting. Like how you can't talk about my legend without mentioning Brynhildr," Sigurd realized.

"Exactly. If anything, I can tell that our blood lineage is getting a lot stronger thanks to this crazy shit. If I'm given enough time, I should be able to pull it off."

Roman closed his eyes and sighed, unsure of how to parse everything. Unable to think of a response, he faced Cuchulainn Caster and asked, "What do you think?"

"Well… I don't have any proof that it's impossible… But it's just as much that I can't prove it's possible. Still, what's the harm, right? If Alter's willing to step up to the task, then I'm obligated to help him out as his counterpart. I'll provide my assistance with the Runic formulas and make them as stable as possible. Coupled with some materials, and even a little help from one of Chaldea's Holy Grails, I think we should be able to do it."

Sigurd smiled. "This is becoming quite the experiment, isn't it? Then allow me to offer my services as a Runecraft user as well. If I do not, I fear I will become antsy about whether or not the procedure was successful."

"Hey, are you knocking on my skills? The Caster class might not be the best fit for me, but no matter what class I'm in, I don't screw around with it comes to Runecraft."

"Heh heh heh. I'm not belittling your talent in the slightest, Child of Light. It is more of a selfish desire to ease my own conscience, so I do not start wondering if there was anything I could have done."

"I see. Well, why not?"

Roman relented and said, "All right. I'll give you guys 24 hours to work your magic, literally and figuratively speaking. No one will be permitted to disturb you while you're busy. I'll authorize Da Vinci to give you one of the Grails we've procured as well."

"Ah, about that," Alter said. "Do you still have the Grail from the actual Fifth Singularity that Chaldea resolved?"

"Pretty sure we do. Is there a reason you want that specific one?"

"Mostly a symbolic thing."

Roman chuckled when he recalled the incident behind the American Singularity. Of course Alter was going to want it for that reason – his Singularity counterpart used it to strengthen his combat abilities to god-like levels. He theorized that maybe there was still some residual trace of that Cuchulainn Alter's Spirit Origin inside the Grail, although he felt that it probably didn't matter anyway.

Regardless, as the doctor was about to leave, he said, "Let me look into it."