Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.
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[January 3rd, Dojima Residence, Inaba]
After waking up and getting dressed Yu went to the door after the bell was rung and opened up to see Olga standing there.
"Hi, come in," Yu said standing aside allowing Olga to enter, she took her shoes off as she did so and walked past him greeting him as she made her way to the living room.
Yu walked over to join her and sat opposite her. She breathed in then out before addressing him.
"Ok, so you know some things but not everything. So I want to get you up to speed." Olga stated. "First, you should know that after the wedding, you'll be coming to Chaldea for a couple of years."
'A couple of years, sheesh.' Cu Chulainn commented unheard.
"Ah, you're here," Dojima said as he and Nanako appeared dressed up and ready to leave.
"Yes, thank you for letting me stay here, Happy New Year." Olga greeted them both politely.
"Same to you. Well, we're going to go now. Sorry but I'm leaving you and her to fend for yourselves for a while." Dojima explained. "We should be back by the middle of the month; we're headed to the hospital. Nanako was only allowed to leave the hospital for New Year's so I need to take her back now."
"I hope you get better soon," Olga said awkwardly.
"Thanks. Nanako's getting better, but the doctor wants to be sure, just in case. I'll be going along for physical therapy and to keep her company."
"But I'm all better!" Nanako objected.
"You don't want there to be any germs hiding away inside you, do you? Don't worry, I'll be with you. It won't be for much longer, okay? Well, then. Sorry, but I'll have to count on you to look after the house."
"See you, big bro!" Nanako waved goodbye as they both left.
When she was sure they were gone Olga continued on.
"Like I was saying, from what I understand after a couple of months you'll be coming to Chaldea proper," Olga told him.
"And where is Chaldea exactly?" Yu asked.
"It's in Antarctica, near the south pole to be exact. This is to prevent any nations from claiming control of the organisation. You see our rayshift technology could afford not just observation of the past but interference in it too. So while our objective is to preserve the current human order, others would want to take advantage. Even if we do work with the UN."
"So Chaldea's job is to make sure history goes as it should and fix it if it doesn't is that right?"
"Yes, and we summon Servants to help us do that because the further into the past we go the more dangerous it is. I assume you know what servants are?"
"Yes, some of my Persona's told me about normal Grail Wars," Yu answered.
"Good, but not everyone can become a Master Candidate," Olga explained. "I...can't become a master," Olga trembled a bit but quickly regained her composure "but you can, I expect that if you aren't put on Team A you'll be on standby at least."
"I understand." Yu nodded.
"Next, do you know any magecraft?" Olga asked staring at him.
"No, none at all," Yu replied.
"Well, I'll need to start teaching you," Olga said sternly. "If you do start rayshifting you'll need some magecraft even if it is just the basics like Reinforcement and Gradation Air. As for the Animusphere family magecraft, that will be up to father whether or not for you to learn it."
"Understood."
"One more thing, you need to know that Magi are not like regular people, thing like morality doesn't matter to them. It's odder to find a mage who does care about things like morality, ethics and things like that." Olga explained. "So whatever you do, don't let a mage talk you into anything and always be on your guard, they'll do anything to use you against our family when they find out about the circumstances of our marriage, they won't do anything overt because you are a persona user but they might try other methods, lying, cheating stealing, be very careful even if they're our employees."
"Stay on my guard around mages, got it."
Learning Magecraft would be for the best, after all, Yu didn't know if his powers would work in the South Pole he'd have to ask Chie to have Assassin give him some kata's to practice for self-defence.
Olga continued to talk to Yu explaining to him things about the world of Magi. Yu paid close attention even as the sun went down and he had cooked dinner for them both.
As he finished putting the dishes away Yu suddenly felt his chill return. It seems to have gotten even worse now that night had fallen, He tried to return to his room and rest. But then he felt dizzy and his vision began to waver.
"Hey, are you alright?" Yu heard Olga asked but it sounded like she was far away.
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[January 3rd, Dojima Residence, Inaba]
When Yu had collapsed Olga did the only thing she could think of and had called Doctor Roman. The man had come as fast as he could from Amagi Inn. When he arrived at the household he had examined Yu and asked Olga to retrieve a futon.
Together they had set it up and put him under the blanket.
"So what's wrong with him?" Olga demanded.
"It's like fever," Romani responded after examining the thermometer after taking Yu's temperature. "Strange though, you mentioned that his magic circuits were active?"
"Yeah, not completely only a little bit but still...do you think it might be some kind of magecraft?" Olga asked.
"Unlikely, you and the town's second owner are the only mages here and that's because you have an exception to the rules," Romani responded causing Olga to grimace at the memory of the heads of the magi that had been sent to the town initially appearing on her desk. "It's more likely something to do with the Holy Grail War, this isn't a normal war after all. I think he'll be fine though after some medication and a few days rest."
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It was dark. Yu could hardly see a thing around himself, then out of the darkness emerged Marie. Margaret had promised to look for her but here she was. It was then that Yu realised that this had to be a dream and yet something felt distinctly real about it.
"Well...I came to say goodbye. It's been fun." Marie said suddenly.
What?
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The Investigation Team were crowded in the Dojima residence after having been called by Doctor Roman.
Tamamo no Mae was knelt over Yu, examining him with her own brand of magecraft.
"Well, what do you think?" Rise asked worriedly.
"From what I can tell, his soul has been taken out of his body," Tamamo explained standing up and stopping her magecraft.
"What?!" "Who did it?" What can we do?" "How can we get it back?"
A sharp whistle from Romani got everyone to stop talking.
"Thank you," Tamamo said calmly. "Now listen, from what I can tell whoever drew his soul away did it gently and from what I can tell nothing bad is happening to him. The real problem is his magic circuits. We have no idea when he'll come back. The fever is likely just a side effect and the modern medicine Doctor Roman has can help his body but we don't have anything that can help with his magic circuits."
"Chaldea probably has something for it but it's all the way in Antarctica, we'll never get it here in time," Roman said sadly.
"If we just leave his magic circuits running like this it might start to damage his body," Tamamo stated.
"So what can we do?" Naoto asked.
"What I need is for you to help search for herbs and plants for me," Tamamo said as she wrote a rather extensive list and handed it to Naoto.
"I see," Li Shuwen said "A herbal remedy."
"To manage his Magic Circuits I presume?" Archer asked.
"Yes," Tamamo confirmed. "As I said, I doubt whoever did this is malicious, so he'll return in time, all we can do is help keep his body in good shape."
"Can't we just yank his soul back from whoever has it?" Kanji asked impatiently.
"No!" Tamamo yelled "If we did that we might damage it."
"And he might require a spirit doctor to fix the damage done, and the soul isn't easily fixed even with that plus they're rare," Olga explained.
"Here." Tamamo forced the list into Naoto's hands. "I know for a fact that these herbs and plants grow in the land nearby, so it shouldn't take too long."
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Yu tried to speak, to ask her where she was going but for some reason was unable to.
"...I'm sorry." She continued sadly. "Don't worry. The fog in your world is gone. I'm sure you will have a peaceful future...It's a shame I won't be there to see it."
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Following Tamamo's directions, Naoto and the team minus Rise who had to stay with Olga and Doctor Roman to keep Tamamo materialised to keep Yu stable, had arrived in the forest near where the school camping trip had taken place.
"Ow, watch it bear," Yosuke complained having had Teddy tread on his foot for the umpteenth time during their search for the first herb on the list.
"Sorry." He apologised as they continued rummaging through the foliage.
After a few minutes, Chie's voice cried out.
"Guys we found it!"
Hearing this they all ran to Chie who had paired up with Yukiko. Together the two held out a plant that was a pair of leaves without a flower.
"Good work, only two more to go," Naoto said crossing out the first plant on the list while putting the plant into a pouch for safekeeping. "Next is-"
"Hey, I know where to find that one," Kanji said upon seeing the herb on the list.
"You do?"
"Yeah, when I was a kid my old man showed me where to find it." Kanji explained. "He said it's good for the circulation of energy in the body or something. I picked I and mixed it into my ma's tea, it always seemed to help make me relax after a long day."
"Awesome let's go." Chie cheered.
"Come on it's this way," Kanji said leading the way.
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"Thank you, I'm so glad to have met you." Marie seemed to be on the verge of tears yet none fell, from her eyes Yu tried to reach out but found himself unable to move and none of his Persona's weren't responding either.
"So...let me end this while I'm still happy...Goodbye. Ha, don't make that face. This is all for the best...Goodbye."
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Finally after having gotten all of the ingredients the team had brought them back to Caster who had begun making them into a tea. She started by tearing the plants into smaller and smaller pieces before putting them all into a large mug.
"Shouldn't we have brought more?" Chie asked. "We only got one of each plant, is it really going to be enough?"
"Yes." Caster snapped concentrating on the remedy she was making, being sure to only pour a certain amount of hot water from the kettle into the mixture awaiting in the cup. "Even too much of a good thing can be bad. This has to be just right." She stopped and began to gently stir it with a spoon causing it to turn a dark greenish colour. "There we go."
Caster wandered over to where Yu was lying with the remedy in one hand and an empty bowl in the other. Olga had just wiped some sweat off of his brow as Caster knelt beside him and set them down. He then withdrew a talisman from her sleeve.
"Curse: Frigid Heaven" She chanted causing the talisman to take briefly glow blue before applying it to the mug. Suddenly the hot tea froze solid. She then turned it over the bowl and gave the bottom of the mug a tap which caused the cylinder of ice to slide out and drop into the bowl with a loud clack.
"It's frozen solid. Sensei can't drink it now." Teddie pointed out.
"He's deeply unconscious, if we try to just force it down his throat he might choke,"
Tamamo explained as she began crushing the ice using her inhuman strength. "So I have to. Freeze it and crush it into small ice cubes. He should. Be able to swallow these on his own."
When it was done she handed the bowl to Olga.
"Here, if you two are going to be together for the rest of your lives then shouldn't you be the one to do this?" She asked Olga who froze for a few moments before nodding and accepting the bowl.
"Romani don't just sit there open his mouth for me." Olga snapped at the doctor who scrambled clumsily to help by opening his mouth safely.
"Don't worry the ice won't melt thanks to my magecraft," Tamamo said.
"Ok, here we go," Olga said gently taking a few small cubes and putting them in his mouth and gently closing it so the cubes could slide back down his throat as they melted.
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[January 10th, Dojima Residence, Inaba]
When Yu finally awoke the sunshine was coming in through the windows. He looked and found himself under a futon with Olga laying on the sofa and strangely Romani curled up in a corner.
"Olga must have called him when you collapsed." Chiron deduced.
'I'll cook them both something good as thanks' Yu thought when suddenly his cell phone started ringing when he answered it Margaret was on the other end.
"Good morning." She greeted. "I apologize for disturbing you, however, there is something I must inform you about Marie, so I decided to contact you directly.
"Yeah, I just had a dream about her," Yu explained.
"A dream?... I see. Perhaps that has something to do with Marie's departure. Unfortunately, I have yet to pinpoint her location. However, there is something I have discovered...Do you remember what I said before? I told you that if I led you to Marie, it may lead to danger." Margaret explained. "I am concerned that this may turn out to be true. It is most likely that her destination is not found in the realm of man. I believe it will be a true test of your Persona powers. So, until I come for you, I would suggest that you work to further your bonds with others so that you can be ready when the time comes. Now, if you would excuse me." With that, she hung up leaving Yu alone with his thoughts.
So Marie was in a dangerous place if Yu understood the situation correctly. But why? Why was this happening?
"Well, we know now that she's no ordinary lass." Cu Chulainn pointed out. "I mean she was weird but friendly so I didn't suspect anything before."
"Yes, I didn't think of her as anything other than a normal human," Medea commented. "I sensed nothing special about her at all. If she was a god that somehow still remained in this era when she was very friendly, and I doubt even diminished powers would curb the arrogance of a god."
"An excellent point, while gods can be benevolent it is hardly ever in a way humans understand or appreciate." Chiron mused. "So I wonder, what is she?"
"Well she's our friend, so no matter what she is or where she's gone we're gonna go bring her back right?" Achilles asked
"Naturally," Yu said with determination before seeing the clock and realising that he'd have to get going soon as school was starting back up. Quickly he wrote a note for Olga and Romani and left it on the table, before taking a shower, getting dressed and taking some money to buy lunch before leaving.
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[January 10th, Path to school, Inaba]
As he walked to school Yu heard Yosuke calling out as he ran to catch up to Yu.
"Morning Narukami."
"Morning Yosuke."
"Are you feeling better? We freaked out when Olga told us how bad it was. You were kinda groaning that day when I went to see you, too...Well, even if we didn't plan it, I'm glad she was there with you. She put everything she had into taking care of you."
"I'm sorry I worried you all," Yu said apologetically.
"Don't sweat it! You're all better now." Yosuke reassured him. "Oh yeah, about the ski strip...We decided to hold off on that until another holiday. I'll set some of my New Year's money aside, so let's make our plans then! There is that block of holidays in February...I think that might be the time to do it."
"That's after the final exams right?" Yu asked.
"Ah, damn it did you have to remind me?" Yosuke groaned.
"Come on, we'll get together with the others and arrange to study"
"Yeah, ok." Yosuke conceded.
A silence settled in, Yu thought he heard a noise in Yosuke's throat as if he wanted to say something.
"Something wrong?" Yu asked him.
"No, no it's nothing well we're here time to get to class," Yosuke said quickly moving ahead into the school building.
"What was that about?" Atalante asked.
"Who knows?" Jeanne Alter shrugged.
Watching Yosuke walk away Yu shrugged. Whatever it was it would be dealt with eventually it just needed time. So Yu walked into the school ready to start the new year and be ready for the final exams.
