Outsider.
That word carried a lot of implications for Ritsuka. Did this seaweed head mean he was an outsider to the timeline? Maybe this was some sort of minor Lostbelt? Wait, but most inhabitants of Lostbelts didn't know about their world's condition… was this guy a minion for the Crypters?
Was it Beryl? Ritsuka prayed to every deity he knew that it was Beryl. He needed to cave in that smug asshole's face after what he did to Wodime.
By this point, the seaweed haired boy walked over to Ritsuka's side, leaning over so he could look him closer in the eyes. "You think that you can come and try to screw with our Holy Grail War?" The boy asked with an evil grin. That grin began to fade when he saw the interest fade from Ritsuka's eyes.
"Oh, you're just here about the Grail War? Man, I got my hand stabbed for that? What the hell…?" Ritsuka muttered, causing the blue haired boy to growl.
"Don't fuck with me!" He yelled, kicking Ritsuka in the side. "What, you think because you're some hot shot magus that you can look down on us?"
"Hot shot magus? Where the hell are you getting your info, man?" Ritsuka asked between the pain. "If I'm a hot shot magus, then you're the Queen of England!" Ritsuka was barely able to suppress a chuckle as he heard the boy's teeth grinding together in frustration.
"Right, that's it, I'm done," The boy's tone had suddenly turned calm as he opened the book he was holding. "You're not even fun to torment. Rider, kill him," Medusa was silent as she nodded, positioning the nail on her side of the chain to stab Ritsuka through the heart as if he was some sort of vampire.
"Yeah, bad news about that, seaweed head," Ritsuka commented as the said seaweed head spurred in rage. "You hit the wrong hand," He held up his right hand, the Command Seals on the back glowing as he summoned forth his Shadow Servant.
His first thought was summoning Stheno and Euryale to throw Medusa off. He could do their voices well enough, due to them messing with him all the time. However, he wasn't in the best position to do voice impressions. Besides, it might not have been best to try to psychologically mess with the woman who had a nail through your left hand.
So instead, he focused on a Servant that, despite the weaker attributes, could keep up with Medusa's speed. It was a tall order, but he had one such Servant in mind. It was the very first one he had ever summoned, and perhaps his most loyal ally besides Mash.
"Rider, Assassin, Avenger!" He yelled, the forms of Ushiwakamaru, Ushiwakamaru but in a swimsuit, and Taira no Kagekiyo materializing on top of Ritsuka's stomach, each drawing their weapons. The seaweed boy was entranced by the trio of Ushis' nearly naked forms, but Medusa was much less so, leaping away as the Shadow Ushi swung her sword at the other Rider. The three Shadow Servants chased after her, letting Ritsuka take a deep breath. He quickly had to roll away from the seaweed head trying to stomp on his head, however.
When the foot stomped on the ground, Ritsuka stuck the nail on the ground, gritting his teeth as he used it as leverage to spin around and kick his assailant's feet out from under him. He then pulled the nail out of the ground and flipped back up to his feet, raising his leg into the air and attempting to bring down a massive axe kick on the blue haired boy's stomach.
With a yelp, the boy rolled away, Ritsuka's foot cracking the earth slightly as it made contact. Ritsuka watched as the boy scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off and opening his book. Ritsuka scanned the boy's body, looking for anything unusual, or some sort of hint to his magic, but there were no easy signs.
"Hey, I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka," Ritsuka suddenly provided. "What's your name?" The boy looked confused as he asked that.
"We're in the middle of fighting. Why would you want to know something like that?" The boy's voice was soft, almost as if he was caught off guard by that. Ritsuka could tell the best way to get the info he wanted from that alone.
"If you turn out to be a worthy rival, then I'd like to know your name," Ritsuka stated as he took his Bajiquan stance, leaving out the part that the boy's name might give him a hint to his magic.
"Matou Shinji," the boy supplied after a second of stunned silence, only the weapons clashing in the background filling the air. Ritsuka rolled the name in his head. He couldn't remember ever hearing that name before. Oh well.
"Then let's have a fair fight!" Ritsuka called out as he dashed forward, going for a strike to Shinji's stomach. At that phrase, Shinji let out a hysterical laugh.
"Fair?! I didn't think you were so naive!" As Ritsuka's fist neared his stomach, Shinji called out "Rider!" The Master of Chaldea suddenly felt the chain attached to his hand being pulled on full force, completely messing up his stance and throwing him to the ground. "There is no fairness here, only winners and losers!"
Rider must have taken out the Ushis. Ritsuka grunted as he looked over, ready to summon more Shadow Servants, but quickly saw that Rider didn't take them out, the purple haired beauty deftly avoiding a strike from the Assassin Ushi's fan, using the other side of her weapon to block Taira's twin katanas as she landed.
Even with three opponents facing her, Medusa should have been strong enough to take them all out. Something wasn't right here.
He looked up at Shinji, who seemed to be preparing some sort of magic spell with his book. From the angle he was at, he couldn't get a good look at his right hand, which he really needed to see right now to confirm his theory. The Master of Chaldea flipped up to his feet, taking his stance once more as Shinji finally used his magic, firing what looked like weak bolts of shadow. Ritsuka deflected one with the sleeve of his Mystic Code as the others collided with his body, dissipating harmlessly.
"That's not all you have, is it?" Ritsuka asked as he charged at Shinji, going for a high kick to Shinji's neck.
"I don't need more than that to beat you! Rider!" Before Ritsuka's foot could collide with its target, once again the chain was pulled, and Ritsuka was taken completely off balance, crashing into the ground.
"What is this guy's goal here?" Ritsuka thought to himself as he laid on the ground. It didn't hurt when he fell, and Shinji's magic wasn't even affecting him. He stood up once more but… his legs suddenly felt weak. Why was that? He looked over to his left hand, realizing he was still bleeding. "Oh… he's trying to stall me until I bleed out… oh…," He had to admit, that was pretty smart of Shinji. Shinji laughed once more as he watched Ritsuka look at his hand.
"Oh? Are you figuring out your situation here? Do you see now there's no way you can win?!" Shinji mocked, but Ritsuka ignored him to instead give orders.
"Rider, attack Shinji from his right side," The Master of Chaldea commanded as he raised his left hand, the Shadow breaking away from combat to immediately obey orders, charging at Shinji.
"As if that'd work! Rider, defend me!" Shinji called out, Medusa becoming a purple blur to close the distance and block Shadow Ushi's attack.
"Assassin, attack Shinji from behind him," Ritsuka didn't miss a beat, the Shadow quickly leaping up on her fan, the summertime warrior gliding through the air, riding the fan like a surfboard. She landed behind Shinji, preparing to dash forward and swing her fan.
"Ugh… Rider!" Shinji commanded, Medusa once again moving in front of Shadow Ushi and blocking the fan's strike. The large gust of wind generated by the fan however, was not stopped, although it only managed to ruffle the two boys' hair.
"Avenger, get him from the left," Ritsuka commanded. The shadow of grudges silently sank into the ground, swallowed up by a purple void, before erupting from the earth, her twin katanas igniting with a purple flame as she came down at Shinji like a blazing meteor.
"Are you stupid or something? No matter where you try to attack me from, Rider will be there to intercept it!" Shinji boasted as Medusa followed up on that boast. Ritsuka grinned as his plan was nearly complete.
"Rider, go straight ahead and unleash your Noble Phantasm on Shinji," He commanded one final time, Shinji for the first time breaking his cool facade, sweat trickling down his face.
Surely Ritsuka wasn't about to unleash a whole Noble Phantasm into him! However, to his dismay, he could see the Shadow Servant spinning backwards and crouching down, sheathing her sword as she prepared for an Iai slash right through Shinji's gut.
"Rider, defend me!" Shinji called out in a panic, and for the first time, Rider hesitated, even as the Shadow Ushi took off, taking huge leaps across the land, bouncing off trees to keep her momentum moving.
"This is a-," Rider spoke up for the first time as well, but before she could finish, Shinji interrupted her.
"Didn't you hear what I said? I said defend me, Rider!" He barked, Medusa sighing and rushing straight ahead. She held up her nail, blocking the slash from Ushi. The Greek Monster slid back from the force of the strike, the earth cracking beneath her feet. Ritsuka's grin turned into a full on smirk, one that Emiya would be proud of.
"Gotcha," Was the only warning Shinji got before Ritsuka pulled back his left hand, the chain that was wrapping around Shinji's waist tightening in response, causing the boy to give out a pained gasp. "This battle's finished!" Fujimaru called out as he held up his right hand, the Command Seals glowing once more. "Lobo!"
Assassin Ushi and Taira dissolved into mist, which was absorbed by Ritsuka's glowing Command Seals. The mist then came out once again, this time taking the form of a massive wolf, one that to Shinji seemed to dwarf mountains with its sheer presence alone. On its back rode a headless man dual wielding scythes. Even as a shadow of the real thing, Shinji could feel it. This... creature hated him with its entire being, and would stop at nothing until he was ripped limb from limb. Sweat began to pour down Shinji's face, and he tried to take a step back, only for the chain to keep him firmly in place.
He looked back at Medusa, who had gone back to clashing with Ushi, his breathing starting to get ragged as panic filled the boy's mind. He looked back to Lobo, who started to charge at Shinji, threatening to pounce on him.
"RIDER!" Shinji screamed, causing Rider to look over. At the sight of Lobo on the attack, Rider whipped her weapon upwards, launching both Shinji and Ritsuka into the air. The blue haired boy let out even more screams while Ritsuka positioned himself, waiting for the right moment.
At the peak of their ascent, Ritsuka charged as much power as he could into a Gandr in his right hand, aiming the appendage behind him before he fired, the force of the attack sending him flying at Shinji.
"Golden…," Ritsuka positioned his body for a flying kick, emulating the Golden Hero he saw as his big brother. "Justice Smash!" His foot connected with Shinji's gut, sending the two crashing into the dirt like a meteor striking the earth.
Ritsuka could only smile as he stood victorious over Shinji's unconscious body, a sense of pride swelling up inside of him. Even though he still wasn't the best, the training with all his teachers was paying off, even if the victory itself was minor.
The strength then left his legs and he fell to the ground, the rush of adrenaline that kept him up having worn off. "C-crap…," He muttered. "Ushi, Lobo… p-pin her down," The two shadows responded immediately, the Shadow Ushi forgoing her sword to grab Medusa's wrists and keep her from running as Lobo used his massive body weight to lay down on top of both of them, pinning Medusa's arms to the ground.
With Medusa pinned, Ritsuka began to carefully remove the nail from his hand, his vision blurred by tears as he gritted his teeth. After what felt like an eternity, the nail was removed, allowing him to activate the healing function on his uniform, the magic slowly closing up the wound and stopping the bleeding. After that, he took a second just laying on the ground, recovering his strength.
He couldn't rest for too long though, as he wasn't sure how long the Shadows could keep Medusa pinned. With a groan he sat up, looking over to the unconscious Shinji. Now was the time to check his theory. He climbed over Shinji, rolling up the boy's sleeves and looking over his arms.
No Command Seals.
The next thing he did was grab the book Shinji held onto so dearly, flipping it open and looking over its contents. He couldn't make out most of its contexts, but he did notice a symbol inside of the book. Not only was that really suspicious, there was also just… something off about this book. It felt like his skin was crawling as he held it. Why the hell was that?
He snapped the book shut and walked over to the pile of Servants, seeing that Medusa had stopped struggling. He carefully sat down in front of her, looking at her blindfold before asking a question.
"Is your Master in trouble?"
Medusa looked up to him, confusion on her face as he repeated the question.
"Is your Master in trouble?" Ritsuka could only frown as Medusa refused to answer him. Of course Medusa wouldn't open up to him right away. Even at Chaldea it took a long time for her to trust him, expecting her to open up under these circumstances was arrogant of him, especially with something so sensitive as her Master's condition.
He'd just have to start from scratch again then.
He raised his hand, dispelling his Shadow Servants before summoning a new one, a ninja with bright red hair, Fuuma Kotarou. He directed the ninja to Shinji, who was tied to a tree by Kotarou's kusarigama. After that, the Master of Chaldea sat down in front of the tree, placing the book on his lap and patting the ground next to him, beckoning Medusa to sit by him. The purple haired Servant watched confused, before she quietly walked over and sat down.
There the two sat in awkward silence until Shinji finally woke up, groaning loudly.
"Goddammit, what the hell hit me…?" His eyes finally focused, and he could see Ritsuka and Rider sitting in front of him. "You bastard… what the hell are you-," he moved to get closer to Ritsuka, but then noticed he was tied to the tree. "What the hell? Rider, get me free!" He commanded, struggling against the chains. He looked over to the Servant expectantly, but saw she wasn't moving an inch. "Rider, didn't you hear what I said?!"
"You are no longer my Master. You lost the book which granted you false ownership, so I can no longer obey you," Rider answered, turning her head toward Ritsuka and the book on his lap.
"Wait, what?" Ritsuka looked down at the book. "So this is how he was ordering you around?" He looked at it. "Sh-should I destroy it?" He asked Rider, causing Shinji to laugh.
"Yes, go ahead, destroy it! I'll lose all control of Rider, and you will have beaten me!" Shinji stated dramatically, mentally laughing maniacally. He would let this Fujimaru think he won, and when the bastard least suspected it, he would have Rider spear him through the head! No more playing around next time!
Ritsuka stared at Shinji for a few seconds before placing a hand on the blue haired boy's shoulder. "You tried buddy, and that's the best anyone can ask of you," Ritsuka stated, his voice full of pity.
"... Huh?" Shinji blinked, confused by Ritsuka's actions.
"Your acting sucks," Ritsuka said bluntly. "Obviously, you want me to destroy this, so I won't," he patted Shinji's shoulder before asking a new question. "Who sent you to take me out?"
Shinji's face turned bright red as he glared at Ritsuka.
"I'll never tell you, you bastard!" Shinji roared as he struggled against the chains. "There ain't nothing that you could do that could convince me to-," Ritsuka sighed, holding up his hand and summoning a new Shadow Servant.
Shinji paled as he watched the Shadow take form, the creature raising higher and higher until it was as tall as the tree he was tied to. That bastard had somehow summoned a T-Rex!
Ritsuka could only chuckle as the shadow of Kijyo Kōyō lowered her head, growling at Shinji and opening her mouth wide, showing off her rows and rows of teeth.
"O-okay, okay, I'll talk, I'll talk!" Shinji screamed. "I-it was my grandfather, Matou Zouken! He told me to get rid of you! Said you'd ruin the entire war! Please, please don't let that thing eat me!"
Zouken… nope, that name didn't ring a bell. Although, now that he thought about it, Shinji looked sort of familiar. He just couldn't place his finger on it.
"That… barely makes sense," Ritsuka replied. "I mean, you need mages to have the war, right? So how would another mage ruin it? Or does it have something to do with being an outsider?"
"Yeah… he said that you'd ruin the surefire plan he had for us finally making our dreams come true," Shinji stated.
"What, he's so xenophobic that he thinks every mage is here to ruin his ritual?" Ritsuka folded his arms as he sighed.
"No. He said you, Fujimaru Ritsuka, was an outsider, and you'd ruin everything," Shinji dropped a bomb on Ritsuka out of nowhere. Ritsuka put his hand to his chin, thinking to himself. How did someone from a completely different timeline know who he was? This was far too suspicious.
"Matou," Ritsuka addressed. "Has… has your grandfather been acting weird recently?" Shinji tilted his head before shaking his head.
"Now why should I-," he paused as a breath from Kijyo Kōyō reminded him of his current position. "... Fine. For about the past month, my grandfather has been ignoring both me and my sister. Now mind you, for most of our lives, he spent every evening with my sister, training her in our Magecraft. She's… she's the real successor of our lineage… despite being adopted… that… that..." Shinji gritted his teeth. He didn't want to admit it, he hated it so much! Ritsuka stared at Shinji before asking a more personal question.
"Shinji. Why do you want to be the successor to your lineage?"
"What do you mean, why do I want it?!" Shinji roared. "It's my right as the only true heir of the Matous! Because why would I want an outsider to inherit what is rightfully mine?!" Shinji was gritting his teeth so hard Ritsuka could swear he could hear the teeth cracking. "Because without it…," the boy couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, to voice that part of his mind.
With a sigh, Ritsuka stood up, folding his arms. "Assassin, Berserker, you're dismissed," Ritsuka commented as his two Shadows and their weapon vanished.
"Master?" Rider also stood up, confused, but Ritsuka held up a hand, backing up so he could look at both of them.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Fujimaru Ritsuka, the Last Master of Chaldea. I'm here to investigate an unusual phenomena happening around the Fifth Holy Grail War-," he turned to look at Rider. "and help anyone that's suffering. Anyone I can reach," he reached his hand out for her. "I know this book ties you to me with a false pact of Master and Servant, so I want to ask you directly. Will you please help me, Medusa?"
Rider blinked from behind her mask. He knew who she was? She looked like nothing from how the legends described her… how did he know? She looked at the boy in front of her, studying his face. The words he spoke were words that seemed childish. 'Help anyone he could reach'. However, behind those words was something more. Not blind naivety or hope, but a confidence he would do it and what felt like… experience. What stood out to her the most though, were his eyes.
They weren't the eyes of a normal teenager. They were the eyes of someone who had fought through hell and survived the experience. Despite that… they still held an innocence, a desire to genuinely help.
"Alright, I will entrust myself to you for now… Master," she said. Ritsuka waited for her to grab on to his hand, but she made no move to do so. That was fine, Medusa was always like that, he just forgot in the heat of the moment. Ritsuka then turned to Shinji, offering his hand again.
"Matou Shinji. You want to prove to everyone that you're worthy of becoming the Matou successor? Then help me. Together, we'll save the world. There's no better way to prove it than doing something so grand, right?"
Shinji stated at the hand before laughing. "Saving the world? What do you think this is, some sort of anime? This game wouldn't threaten the world!"
"When Chaldea's involved, the stakes are very rarely any lower," Ritsuka replied in the most serious tone Shinji ever heard. The boy stared at the last Master before letting his eyes drift to the book in his hand, a motion Ritsuka very much noticed. He'd have to watch his back for the knife Shinji wanted to plunge into it, but there's no way this could be worse than working with Amakusa.
"Fine then, Fujimaru. Let's save the world," Shinji responded, grabbing Ritsuka's hand and shaking it. Ritsuka smiled, letting go of Shinji's hand.
"Great! Well then, first things first! We need to-," the strength left his legs again and he went to fall, only to have Medusa catch him. "... We need to find a place I can rest. I've been running on full cylinders all night long…," Ritsuka muttered. Shinji sighed as he looked at the sorry display in front of him.
"Well, resting at my house is out of the question," Shinji stated. "Hmmm.. I got it. I know somewhere you can rest, for free. Get some good free meals out of it too. I just need to spin the right sob story," he muttered as he headed off. "Follow me then," Ritsuka looked up at Medusa before rubbing the back of his head.
"You don't mind carrying me, do you?" He asked, embarrassed. Medusa didn't answer, instead scooping him up like he was a princess in distress, causing the Last Master to cover his reddening face with his hands. He didn't expect her to do it so readily and without complaint.
The three travelled through the city, the streets nearly empty due to how late it was. After what felt like too long for Ritsuka, the three ended up in front of an elegant Japanese styled house, one that felt also like it was displaced from time. As they walked in, Ritsuka could feel them entering a Bounded Field. At the very least, someone living here was a magus.
"Okay, Rider, this idiot won't know about the War, so you'll need to make yourself scarce," Shinji stated before he began to pound on the door. Rider placed Ritsuka on the ground before vanishing into her spirit form.
That left Ritsuka and Shinji waiting in an awkward silence. After a few minutes of no answer, Shinji began to pound on the door even harder.
The door finally swung open, and to the shock of Ritsuka, the vessel of Muramasa answered the door.
"Shinji…?" He muttered sleepily. "What are you doing here?"
"Sorry to bother you Emiya," Shinji stated in a tone that showed he really didn't mean it. "Look, I'll cut to the chase," He walked over to Ritsuka and threw his arms over him in an attempt to look friendly. "This is my friend, Fujimaru Ritsuka. I met him while I was studying abroad. His parents recently died, so he moved to Japan to live with some relatives but… but they didn't want him and just kicked him out! He tried coming to me, but I just don't have room at my house. Emiya, you live here alone. Can you please take this poor boy in? At least until he finds his feet?"
Ritsuka inwardly groaned. He just told Shinji his acting skills weren't good. Was he expecting this guy to just acce-
"What? That's awful! Yeah, I'm willing to help out," The boy now known as Emiya said. "Come in, come in," He ushered the two inside, Ritsuka stunned as he walked in. Did that just work?
"Thank you Emiya, you're a lifesaver," Shinji sighed. "And I hope you don't mind if I stay over as well. It's really late and all,"
"Yeah, sure, no problem. Just find an empty room and get comfortable," Emiya said with a yawn. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Emiya Shirou," He held out a hand for Ritsuka, who was suddenly frozen in place.
"I'm sorry… what did ya say your name was?" Ritsuka asked.
"Emiya Shirou," Shirou stated. Ritsuka looked at the offered hand and shook it, a flood of questions filling their head.
"Um… this is going to sound weird, but… can you… smirk for me?" Ritsuka asked. Shirou blinked, confused. "Just, smirk like you know something someone else doesn't and something really funny is going to happen because of that,"
"Uh… sure," Emiya said, putting on a confused smirk. Ritsuka stared at the red headed boy's face for a few seconds before it all clicked and his world came crashing down.
"Oh my god…," He muttered to himself. The vessel of Muramasa was Emiya's younger self?! That explained so much and yet so little. "I am going to have a talk with him once I'm back at Chaldea…," Ritsuka muttered, causing Shirou to tilt his head.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing, sorry," Ritsuka said, waving at the air like he was trying to swat some smoke away. "A-anyways, I'm… exhausted from my day! I'm going to go to sleep. Good night, Emiya. Thanks for letting me stay at your home," Shirou smiled, a genuine smile that once again reminded Ritsuka of Archer.
"No problem. Sleep well," He waved as Ritsuka went to find a room. It didn't take him long to find an empty room with a bed to roll out and sleep on. The Master of Chaldea quickly slipped under the covers, clutching the book close to his chest as he curled up. Today was a crazy day, but he was making solid progress! Two allies and a home base! He now only hoped Shirou could cook as good as Archer.
Exhaustion quickly overtook him and he fell asleep, letting his mind drift off to the land of dreams.
Down an alleyway, a thick mist began to engulf the area, the mist so thick that even an Archer's sharp eyes couldn't see through it. Suddenly, a rainbow light glowed from within the mist, which exploded out into three energy rings that blew away the mist.
Standing in the center of it all was a figure covered by a tattered cloak. Their face was covered by a hood, and on their back was a huge bag that seemed like it was threatening to explode from all the contents it held. The figure looked around before vanishing without a trace, ready to carry out its one mission.
Find Fujimaru Ritsuka.
