Shinji laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling, cursing under his breath. He had really screwed up today, and the worst part was that it was his own fault. Wait, no, no, it wasn't his fault. He was a Master, how was he supposed to know that Fujimaru could somehow overcome that?
It just wasn't fair. He was running on limited time now, he knew that much. But what else was he supposed to do? He could either head back home and be deemed a failure right away, or stick with Fujimaru and hope he could just stick a knife in him when he had the chance.
Damn that Fujimaru. Acting like he knew him, acting like he understood him. That bastard stole what was his! Sure, that was taken from his bitch of a sister, but she was stealing from him!
The hours passed as the boy stewed in his anger. He needed to get that book back. It wasn't like Fujimaru was serious. Saving the world? How could his grandfather think such a delusional boy could ruin anything?
Delusional. That was the only word he could use to describe Fujimaru. Looking down on him, like he was no threat, having the audacity to ask for his help. Either that or he was far too trusting.
Still… there was a point brought up that he didn't think about until he was forced to think about it. His grandfather had changed. Entrusting him to do something as important as getting rid of a person that could destroy this game… that wasn't something he'd do.
No, no, no! That Fujimaru was getting into his head! With an angry grunt, Shinji threw off his blankets, storming out of his room. He had to get that book back, and he had to do it now before his grandfather checked on his progress. Finding the room Fujimaru had picked for the night, Shinji quickly slid open the door-
Only to find Rider sitting by Fujimaru's sleeping form, hand on her weapon as she stared in Shinji's direction. That bitch. She'd rather stick to Fujimaru than come back to him? That did it. When he got her back, he'd be sure to punish her so viciously she'd never think of defying him again.
Still, even in his anger, he knew he stood no chance against Rider. With an angry grumble, he shut the door and headed back to his own bed.
He'd just need to be sneakier when he finally made his move.
"How good of you to come, pruner of humanity…,"
Fujimaru Ritsuka opened his eyes to see a winter wasteland, with snow covering every inch of land, and a tree that stretched far into the heavens.
"As the former ruler of this world, there is something I would ask of you. I hope you answer me honestly,"
In front of Ritsuka stood something that was once a man, but became something far beyond it. He stood like a mountain, spikes jutting out of his blue skin like huge icicles, lightning sparking in every tip. Ivan the Terrible stood in front of him once again, in a memory that constantly replayed in his head, in a nightmare he always had.
"...Tell me what it is," Ritsuka's fists clenched as he knew what would come next.
"Why do you wish to destroy our world?" Ivan's voice rumbled like thunder, shaking the Last Master to his core. The figure of Ivan quickly shifted to that of an elegant queen with purple hair and a purple dress. The sheer presence of her divine power felt like it would swallow up Ritsuka like a blizzard.
"Why do you hate the children I love so dearly?" Scáthach-Skadi's soft voice still pierced him to his core like an icicle to his heart. She soon shifted, changing into a graceful immortal being that reminded Ritsuka of a moth. In the sky, he could see a giant meteor falling to the Earth, and a morning star rising to face it.
"Why do you hate a peaceful world?" Qin Shi Huang's voice asked, his majestic voice causing Ritsuka to take a deep breath. He before could give an answer, Qin had morphed, changing into a God of Destruction and Rebirth, a dark skinned god that looked at him with lifeless eyes.
"Why do you allow evil to exist?" The god known as Arjuna Alter asked as he ascended into the sky, his hand raised over his head like a sword. Ritsuka simply closed his eyes, allowing the hand of the god to come down, everything around him being wiped away, the world turning black as Ritsuka floated in a void alone.
This was a nightmare he had many times through the last few months, and he could only imagine he'd have it even more. He didn't expect that for the first time, the dream would keep going. Standing across from him in this lonely black void was Kirschtaria Wodime, the tall man standing like he was royalty.
"Ritsuka. Why do you deny humanity's ascension?" He asked as the black void began to turn to red. He didn't sound angry, or even sad, just a man asking a question. Ritsuka looked up, tears welling up in his eyes as he reached out to Wodime. He wished he could have known him better. The man that was meant to be his senpai, someone that was so strong of character, yet humble enough that in another life, they could have been friends.
When Ritsuka gave no answer, Wodime only smiled softly, his body turning into dust as he crumbled away in front of Ritsuka. "No, wait! Don't leave!" Ritsuka spoke for the first time, tears streaming down his face, now once again alone in this red void. The tears began to stream down his face, the Last Master trying to choke back the pained gasps.
And then suddenly, it went away. What was he even crying about…? He couldn't feel anything else, only the sensation of his entire body was embraced by a warm hug.
"Senpai?" A warm, familiar voice called out to him, causing him to look over slowly. Mash stood by him, her bright smile making her look absolutely beautiful. "There there, Senpai… it's alright now. Just rest," She said as she opened her arms for a hug. Rest… yes… rest. Ritsuka could go for a rest right now. He smiled, ready to close his eyes and let his body relax…
"KUH HA HA HA!" A booming laughter that seemed to shake the entire void snapped Ritsuka's eyes open, letting him take in the sight of a teal cloak. "It seems you have fallen once more," That voice… he knew that voice. Where did he…? "Fujimaru Ritsuka! Will you close your eyes and ignore the world, lulled into peaceful sleep, or will you step forth and claw your way out of Hell once again?"
Ritsuka's head began to pound as he looked up again, looking past his savior and to Mash. She was perfect… inviting… tantalizing… but… her eyes. Those were not Mash's eyes, no they were different… pale and beautiful, so beautiful they couldn't belong to any human, not even one as beautiful as Mash.
Did that even matter?
Of course it did.
"You know the answer already…," Ritsuka muttered as the redness of the sky began to fade away.
"KUH HA HA HA HA HA! You heard him, invader! Begone from this place!" With that, the guardian of Ritsuka's mind burst into black flames that spread everywhere, devouring every inch of the void and the fake Mash, Ritsuka shuddering at the scream he heard from Mash. The flames of vengeance that refused to be quenched burned with a searing heat, but that heat… it was comforting…
Fujimaru Ritsuka awoke from his dream in an instant, sitting straight up and panting, his body sweating from the experience. What happened? Was it a dream? A nightmare? He couldn't remember… his memories of the experience rapidly fading away. With a sigh, he looked at and picked up the book on his chest, rubbing his head as he looked out the window. The sun was starting to rise… maybe he would try to make some breakfast to thank Shirou for letting him stay.
Then again, if Shirou was as good as Archer, there really wouldn't be a point to thank him in that way.
Food… the thought struck him as he looked at the book.
"Medusa, do you mind coming here?" He asked quietly, the Servant materializing by his side instantly. Looking over at her, she seemed as stoic as ever, although… something seemed a little off. She seemed… embarrassed? Why would she be? Maybe he accidentally mumbled something in his sleep? "So, Medusa… are you getting enough mana from me?" he asked. "I'm not sure if this book messes with that process,"
"I am receiving no mana from you," She replied. "I need to get it from other sources," Other sources, right, right. Fujimaru sighed as he began to slip off his Mystic Code top, sighing to himself as he placed it to his side.
"Right, then take some blood. Not too much though, I need to be able to function by tonight," He said, presenting his bare top to her. Despite being blindfolded, Rider could still make out the world around her with a combination of hearing, touch, and the sensing of magical energy. In many ways, it was much better than just the sense of sight. That was why she could make out many small scars scattered across his body, but what caught her attention the most was a huge scar on his stomach. It looked as if someone had plunged a weapon in there…
"... Are you sure?" Ritsuka felt a pleasant shiver going down his spine as Medusa decided to shift her attention, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. She placed her icy hand on his neck gently. "If I start, a monster like me may not be able to stop,"
"I trust you, Medusa," Ritsuka replied without missing a beat, his ear tickled by the soft laugh Medusa let out.
"I wonder where you find such blind faith. Well, I'll try my best to live up to it for now," She said as she lowered her mouth down to his neck, opening her mouth and biting gently into it. Ritsuka, to his credit, didn't flinch until she ran her free hand across his chest, gently tracing the scars on his body.
After a minute or two, she released his neck, licking some stray blood from his neck as she backed away, smiling only slightly when she noticed Ritsuka's face was heating up. He must have been blushing.
"D-Did that help?" Ritsuka asked as he grabbed his Chaldea Uniform and slipped back into it. Never was he so glad the clothes had a high collar until now.
"Yes, so long as we don't do any intense combat, I shouldn't need any until tomorrow morning," She stated, causing Ritsuka to mentally sigh. He wasn't sure he wanted this to be part of his morning routine… it might awaken something in him. "Anyways, Master, there is something important I feel we should talk about,"
"I'm not your real Master, so you don't gotta call me that. Just call me Fujimaru. Anyways, shoot,"
"You can not trust that Matou boy," Rider stated. Ritsuka sighed as he stood up.
"Please, don't take this the wrong way, but let me take a guess. 'He's scum, waiting for you to let your guard down so he can steal the book back, in fact he came in here last night to try to steal the book back', which, if that was the case, I assume you stopped that from happening, so thank you for that,"
Medusa didn't respond to the thanks, instead asking, "If you know all this, then why are you keeping him around?" Ritsuka pressed his lips together as he thought to himself.
"Look, whatever he's going through, it's not something a pretty speech and some encouraging words is going to fix. I'm not some sort of magic man that can instantly convince people to change their ways or fall in love with me. He needs time and the chance to prove to everyone, and most of all, to himself, that he is better than everyone thinks he is. That won't happen if I send him back home to some evil mage grandfather that might kill him because he failed,"
"And what if he's not better than what everyone thinks?" Rider asked as she stood up. "What if in the end, he stabs you in the back?" Fujimaru paused, sighing to himself before saying.
"Then I'll deal with it when it happens. It won't be the first time it happened, and certainly won't be the last," Fujimaru said quietly as he pocketed the book and left the room. Rider stood there quietly before fading away into her spirit form.
The more she saw of Fujimaru Ritsuka, the less sense he made to her.
Ritsuka yawned as he stretched, a pleasant smell filling his nose. Ah, so it seemed that Shirou was already awake and cooking. That was great! It meant that Ritsuka didn't have to miss another Emiya tier meal. Walking into the room, he could see Shinji sitting at a table while Shirou was cooking breakfast.
"Ya need help, Shirou?" Ritsuka asked. While he wasn't as good as Emiya or even Tamamo Cat, he had been taking cooking lessons from the Chaldean kitchen staff, and even did a course with Benienma. He was sure he could help out.
"No, that's fine. Sakura should be here soon, and she usually helps me out," Shirou explained. Ritsuka noticed that Shinji gave a look of disgust and hissed through his teeth before staring at the wall. A shadow of an idea of what was going on was forming in his head. Quietly, Ritsuka took his seat across from Shinji, looking around. It was very quiet, but he didn't know what else to really say.
The silence didn't last long as a woman with purple hair walked in the fr-
Now wait just one goddamn second.
That was Parvati's vessel! And she really looked like BB and the Sakura Five. What the heck? The only thing weirder was how tense everything suddenly got.
"Nii… sama?" Sakura muttered, looking at Shinji with a look of fear in her eyes. Oh, oh this wasn't good. What was he getting himself tied into? Shinji just clicked his tongue, refusing to make eye contact with her.
It wasn't too late to find a Singularity to correct, was it?
"I'm not here for you, Sakura," Shinji muttered to Sakura. "Just helping a… friend,"
"Hi, yeah, that's me," Ritsuka stated, doing his absolute best to do something about this weird atmosphere. "Sorry… I got… disowned by my relatives, and Matou here suggested I stay here with Emiya for a bit," He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I hope we can be friends while I stay here!"
That didn't work.
Well, at least now Ritsuka was getting some sort of idea of what was going on. Sakura was probably the real Master and Shinji strong-armed her into giving him this book that let him control Rider. But what could Shinji have over her to make her give over her Servant?
Ritsuka sighed to himself as he turned his attention to the TV, hoping to ignore this tense atmosphere. The TV itself seemed to be on the news… and something on the news caught his eyes. There was the date, specifically the year.
It was 2004?!
He was 17 years in the past?! He thought he was in the modern day, not almost two decades in the past! The news itself however, was covering something very interesting. Apparently women across the nation were going missing, although the links between them were unknown. Not only that, but there was some sort of gas leak at a building in Fuyuki. Those seemed to be leads… Any other musing he might have had was interrupted by someone else coming through the door.
No.
No.
NO.
This was too ridiculous. One was a random chance, two was a coincidence, three was pushing it, but four. He had met five people so far and four of them were vessels. Hell, he also met a vessel and a past version of a Servant. What the hell was with this Holy Grail War?! Ritsuka could only watch in stunned silence as the vessel of Jaguar Man skipped merrily to them, laughing as she greeted Sakura and Shirou before walking straight to Ritsuka and sitting in his lap.
What the hell?
"Hey Shirou, the cushion feels off today," Jaguar Man's vessel called out. "You didn't do something to it as revenge for yesterday, did you?" She asked. Shirou looked at her and sighed.
"Fuji-nee…," he muttered.
"Y-yeah, um… you're not sitting on a cushion," Ritsuka mutterered, causing Not Jaguar Man to turn her head, looking at him before leaping off in shock.
"Who are you?!" She yelled. "And what are you doing in my seat?!" Ritsuka blinked. Was… was there no difference between Jaguar Man and their vessel?
That was a scary thought.
"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. Emiya is letting me stay here for a bit, until I can find a new place to live," Ritsuka supplied. Not Jaguar Man tilted her head before laughing.
"Fujimaru? That's funny! I'm Fujimura! Fujimura Taiga!" She greeted with a smile as bright as the sun. It was Ritsuka's turn to tilt his head. So a woman named Taiga, which was super close to tiger, was the host for Jaguar Man?
He knew at this point he shouldn't question it but he really wanted to.
He stood up, moving out of her seat. "Here, have your seat back… I'll just…,"He slipped to the edge of the table, putting a little distance between him and Shinji. Looking up, Sakura and Shirou finished up breakfast, and the two brought the food to the table. Ritsuka had to admit, he really liked the homely feel the atmosphere had, despite the tenseness between Shinji and Sakura.
And most importantly, he could have an Emiya meal again! It was perfect after a day of really hard work! He took a big portion and put it in his mouth, and came to realize something very important.
This food, while good, was not as good as Archer's.
In hindsight, he should have seen that coming. Shirou was still developing his skills, like a sword being forged, while Archer had years of experience augmented by Beniemna's teachings. Oh well, it was still good.
Maybe he was getting spoiled.
"So, Fujimaru," Taiga's voice suddenly grabbed Ritsuka's attention. "What brings you here? I mean, Shirou here doesn't have many friends, so the ones he does have I know pretty well. Never met you before though,"
"Ah, yeah, well…," Ritsuka sighed. He didn't like lying right now, but with it being so close to modern day, he had to make sure he blended in as best as he could. Well, he supposed he didn't have to… lie per say. "My parents died in a fire about three years ago," As did the rest of humanity. He noticed that Shirou seemed to space out a little at the mention of a fire, but that couldn't mean much, right? "I was taken in by some relatives in Shinjuku and… well… they kicked me out at their earliest convenience, about a year ago. They didn't really want me around in the first place. I've been drifting around ever since, struggling to make ends meet… Then I ran into Shinji. He was an old friend from a long time ago. We studied overseas together, and kept in touch through letters…," Sakura looked confused at this. Did it seem so weird for Shinji to have a pen pal? "Anyways, he pointed me here, and Emiya is graciously letting me stay until I can get on my feet for sure,"
At this point, Taiga was wiping some tears from her eyes. "Oh you poor thing!" She then slapped her hand on the table. "Shirou! You better not kick this poor boy out!" Shirou spaced back in, blinking a little.
"I… why would I kick him out?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"I'm just making sure you know! You better not!" She commanded, causing Shirou to shake his head. After that, it fell into a comfortable but tense silence as everyone ate. Poor Sakura seemed on edge, eating so close to Shinji… this might become a problem in the future. Still, now wasn't the time to deal with it.
Soon, everyone had finished up, Ritsuka standing up and walking his bowl over to the sink. "So, what's everyone's plans today?" he asked as Taiga stood up suddenly.
"I need to hurry and get ready!" She called out as she ran out the door. "The rest of you, I'll be watching to make sure you're in school!" Ritsuka heard the sound of some vehicle driving away. Maybe a moped?
"I'm going to head out to school too," Shinji muttered. "See you tonight, Emiya, Ritsuka," The blue haired boy walked out.
"Oh yeah, school," Ritsuka muttered. He hadn't been in a traditional school in almost three years now. He wondered if he could even function in a normal school as he currently was. "If you two need to get going, then head go ahead. I'll do the dishes,"
"I can't let a guest do that," Shirou argued as he walked over.
"You can, and you will," Ritsuka countered before drawing Shirou in close. "Look, people have been disappearing, and no one knows why. Someone like you should be making sure your kouhai is safe, ya know?" He said softly before motioning to Sakura. "Don't worry about these, I got 'em, alright?" Shirou sighed.
"Alright, alright, I hear you. I'll see you tonight then," Shirou said with a wave. Ritsuka waved back, washing the dishes as he thought to himself. When the two of them left the house, Ritsuka called out to Rider once more, the purple haired beauty appearing beside him.
"Yes, Master?" She asked, causing Fujimaru to sigh.
"You don't gotta call me that…," he muttered. "Anyways, do you happen to have any… normal clothes to wear?" He asked, causing the Servant to tilt her head.
"I… can get some. Why do you want to know?"
"Well, to be honest… I'm not used to being alone while on a mission," Ritsuka admitted as he scratched his cheek. "I always have a partner, and well… I just thought it'd be nice to walk with you, ya know?" Medusa had a small smile on her face as she answered.
"It would probably best if I remained in spirit form, so I don't consume as much mana,"
"Yeah, true, true," he muttered as he finished the dishes.
"If anything Master, you should get some casual clothes. It would look odd if you wore nothing but the same thing every day," Medusa pointed out. Ritsuka looked down at himself, nodding.
"Yeah, I suppose so, but I don't have anything but the clothes on my back. Probably don't even have enough money for more than one meal," he admitted.
"Seems… irresponsible for 'Chaldea' to send you here so unprepared," Medusa stated. Ritsuka shrugged.
"Yeah, well, this was dropped on my lap out of nowhere, so I have to make due," he explained. "Anyways, let's get this investigation started!" The Master of Chaldea dried off his hands, stretching as he headed out the door and towards the big city.
As he traveled through the city, Fujimaru realized missed something very much from Chaldea.
Directions.
He had no clue where to go. Sure, he had a building he wanted to investigate, but he had no clue where that building was. It didn't help that he hadn't actually been in a giant city for almost three years now, so he was taken back by the sheer size of everything all over again, like he was some sort of country bumpkin. It also didn't help that it took nearly an hour of walking just to get to the part of the city he wanted to get to!
Asking for directions was out of the question, because asking someone out of the blue "Hey, can you tell me where all the people collapsed happened?" "Hey, can you tell me where all the people collapsed happened?" would raise a lot of questions he just didn't want to answer right now. Frankly, it was an aggravating time for the Master of Chaldea. By the time he found a building, the sun was high in the sky, marking it was a little past noon. The building itself reached high into the sky, like a monolith of human achievement, bound by tape that warned him not to cross.
So of course he crossed.
The inside of the building's atmosphere was so starkly different. It was as if he had stepped into a new world. He could feel a malicious presence in the air, his skin crawling just by taking a step forward, like something wanted to eat him.
"So I guess we can scratch gas leak off the list of causes," he joked to Rider as he tried to calm his nerves. These were the times he really wished he had Mash with him. Her presence was very soothing to him. He wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to show off in front of her, or if it was the fact he knew he could always count on her.
The sound of scuttling deeper in the building caught his attention. Rider materialized into the room, looking around.
"I can sense the mana's being moved, but not to where…," She supplied, causing Ritsuka to nod. "Do you need me to stay by your side?"
"Nah, we need to conserve your mana. For now, stay in spirit form. If it looks like I'm in too much trouble, then help out," Ritsuka commanded, walking deeper into the building as Medusa returned to her spirit form. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he looked around, the noises getting louder. Finally, he turned the corner, seeing a familiar sight.
There were about three bipedal creatures made out of bones, standing about as tall as he was, and wielding weapons made of bones. Dragon tooth warriors, he believed they were called. Well, that rapidly narrowed down the suspects down to three, and really, even though Circe could do this, he knew this wasn't her style. So it was either Medea or Medea Lily, and frankly, one was scarier than the other.
God help them all if it was Medea Lily.
By this point, the Tooth Warriors had noticed him, and they charged at him like creatures out of a nightmare. Ritsuka simply took in a deep breath, stepping forward and stomping his right foot on the ground as he thrusted his fist in the first skeleton, the familiar falling to pieces instantly.
The next one quickly followed up, but was helpless against Ritsuka pivoting on his foot and driving his shoulder into it, causing it to also crumble.
"Maybe I'm favoring Bajiquan too much?" Ritsuka muttered to himself. "Maybe I can create some Ansatsuken?" The final Dragon Tooth Warrior charged at him, leaping into the air as it raised its weapon into the air. Ritsuka crouched down, waiting for the monster to get close before he rocketed into the air, uppercutting the creature into dust with a battle cry of "Shoryken!" He landed, looking at his hands. "Yeah, yeah, if I create Gandrs with both hands, I could pull this off,"
He scratched his head, muttering to himself. "Then again, I really need to practice my Pankration before Chiron has me wrestle Achilles…," He looked around the empty room, sighing to himself. "Well, if that's every-," He stopped as a huge skeleton of a monstrous crocodile crashed through the ceiling, Ritsuka staring blankly at the new arrival. "Alright, guess this time I should use it before Chiron finds out,"
The skeleton waddled at full speed towards Ritsuka as the master took a boxing stance, bouncing on his toes. The Master of Chaldea weaved towards the waddling monster, the monster opening its mouth wide as they got close. With a cocky grin, Fujimaru slipped to the right as the mighty jaws of the mighty creature snapped shut. The Master of Chaldea followed up by activating the Instant Enchantment feature on his Mystic Code, throwing a massive punch into the bottom jaw of the creature, the jaw flying across the room and embedding itself into the wall.
Despite this, the creature was still kicking, slamming the top of its head into Ritsuka's gut. With a grunt, Ritsuka used the last of his Instant Enchantment to punch some of the teeth into dust, wrapping his arms around the creature's jaw before grunting, straining his body to flip the creature into the air, before suplexing the creature into the ground. The force of the attack turned the creature into dust instantly.
"That's that," Ritsuka muttered as he dusted off his hands. "Well… this stuff seems to be involved with the Holy Grail War… not something I need to stick my nose into… but…," people were getting hurt. He couldn't just stand by as that happened. He sighed. "Alright Medusa, let's see if we can figure out where this mana is being funneled to…," he said as he headed outside.
He knew with his meager mana sensing ability and lack of eyes in the sky, he was at a major disadvantage at this task. It was times like this he really wished he had more time for more dedicated magecraft lessons, but between physical conditioning, keeping the peace at Chaldea, and the missions themselves, he just never had the time to learn more than the bare basics, and even less chances to practice them.
Honestly, he didn't even really need it. He didn't plan on becoming a magus after the Lostbelts were defeated, and during missions, he almost always had Chaldea's backing him up with every step. Maybe he did depend on them too much though, because he found himself really missing their help right now.
After some time trying to trace the mana in the city, Fujimaru found himself at the docks, the boy taking a moment to pause and stare at the ocean. Even from the shore, it looked so wide and beautiful.
"Oy, kid, whatcha doing here?" A friendly and familiar voice called out to him. Blinking, Ritsuka turned to see Cu sitting on the docks, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, fishing pole in hand. Ritsuka could only stare for a moment before the words left his mouth.
"Nice shirt," Cu let out a laugh.
"I think it's pretty nice to!" He motioned for Ritsuka to sit down by him, which Ritsuka wasted no time doing, getting comfortable as the two looked over the ocean.
"So, how did all this come about?" Cu asked, motioning to the empty space where Medusa was standing. "Last time I saw her, she was stuck to some other Master,"
"Oh, well… it seems that he stole Rider from her rightful Master, and until I can guarantee that he can't steal her again, I'm keeping her out of his hands," Ritsuka explained, causing Cu to nod.
"So you didn't summon her. That's too bad... I wanted to see what someone like you would summon," Cu admitted. "So, whatcha doing all the way out here with a beautiful woman?"
"Well… I noticed mana's being stolen from people and being funneled to… somewhere. But I can't figure out where it's going," Ritsuka muttered. "It's not easy for me to track,"
"Oh, well, I can tell where it's going," Cu stated. "It's headed to that mountain all the way across the city," With a smile, Ritsuka hopped back up to his feet.
"Thanks for the help, Lancer! To thank ya, I'll summon someone amazing for you to fight, just you wait!" He promised as he ran off. Cu could only let out a laugh as he watched the boy go, before his attention was caught by the fish on his line.
As the sun was beginning to set, Ritsuka found himself at the base of a mountain, the boy sighing to himself as he looked up at it. "From one side of the city to the other. Seems Caster's reaching far to get all the mana," He muttered as he inspected the mountain he now knew was called Mount Enzou.
He closed his eyes, his mind racing as he thought about what he should do. Frankly, the idea that Medea had gathered all this mana terrified the Master of Chaldea. The Witch of Betrayal once managed to make a miniature world inside of a bottle only using the limited mana Chaldea provided her. With an entire city's supply and sitting right on top of a leyline? She could probably shrink this whole city to fit in a pendant and mess with the city as she wished. He shuddered at the thought.
Medusa manifested by him, tilting her head. "Do you think we should attack now?" She asked. Ritsuka shook his head.
"More than likely, we're going against Medea. With all this mana she'd been gathering, this might as well be a fortress. I don't think just the two of us are going to cut it… maybe I'll talk to Tohsaka about teaming up about this…," Ritsuka reasoned out. "Whatever the plan is, it'd be best if we nip this problem in the bud tomorrow," He turned around, a smile on his face. "Let's head back to Emiya's house for now. I'm starving!" Medusa nodded, taking a look at the mountain before returning to her spirit form once again.
The walk itself was pretty uneventful, Ritsuka and Medusa enjoying a moment of silence as day turned to night, and the stars above made themselves known. Ritsuka looked to the sky. Even if he couldn't see as many stars now as he did during his journeys, he always felt relief that there was no giant ring in the sky.
He was almost there, at the bottom of the hill. Looking ahead, he noticed Shirou further down the street, also headed home. Did he always stay at school so late? The Master of Chaldea went to call out to greet him, but a voice beat him to it.
"I see. You're alone now, Onii-chan," Both Shirou and Ritsuka stopped in their tracks and looked up the hill, the sight turning Ritsuka's blood cold.
It was the figure of Illya von Einzbern illuminated by the blue moon above her. Ritsuka knew two very different versions of her, one being an innocent, sweet, and cute little girl that perhaps loved her big brother too much, and the other was a scary, playful, and cute little girl that was the host of three different goddesses.
Considering the form of Heracles, the greatest Greek hero, stood behind her like a monstrous guard, Ritsuka could guess it was the scary one. And it looked like they were out for blood… Shirou's blood specifically. Ritsuka wouldn't let them.
Ritsuka closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he calmed himself, reaching out to summon the one thing in his arsenal of Shadow Servants that could stop Heracles.
It wasn't an unbreakable shield, nor an unstoppable sword. Not a lance that could pierce all nor a magic to petrify him. No, there was only one thing that could stop him for sure.
Shirou couldn't even react as Heracles crossed the distance in an instant, sword raised high above his head. The sword came down with enough force to shatter a mountain, but before it could connect with Shirou, it stopped. Illya tilted her head in confusion as she moved to get a better look. A person manifested in front of Shirou, a person with the one magic that could stop the rampaging Berserker.
The magic of friendship. For no matter how much madness clouded the great hero of his mind and robbed him of his memories, there were some memories that can never be wiped away. Even with his reason taken away from him, there are some people he could never attack.
The Jason that had manifested in front of Shirou had his arms spread out wide, staring into Heracles' eyes despite the lack of his own. Heracles stared at his friend, unmoving as he asked an unspoken question. The Shadow answered by moving its hand, pointing at Ritsuka.
Heracles roared, clearly enraged, something that Ritsuka counted on. After all, he had weaponized Heracles' only friend against him, it was only natural the great hero would be infuriated.
"Rider! Get Shirou home!" He called out as Rider manifested beside him, whipping her chain out, the weapon soaring across the road and wrapping around Shirou's waist. With a pull, Medusa was able to bring Shirou over to her, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Get him home. If he struggles, you have any permission to calm him down in any way you can. Just make sure he stays alive,"
"What about you?" Rider asked as Ritsuka held up his hand, dismissing his Shadow Servant and activating his Mystic Code.
"I'll be fine. I'll meet you at home in a bit," He stated. "Now go!" Medusa stared at him before rushing off, just as Heracles leapt at Ritsuka. With a smile, Ritsuka activated his Mystic Code's Emergency Evade function, the Mystic Code allowing his body to move without him thinking, the boy miraculously leaping into the air and sailing over the swing Heracles swung at him with the grace of an Olympic athlete. He ran towards the forest, Heracles roaring and moving to chase him.
"Berserker," Illya suddenly reprimanded. "Ignore the boy and go after Onii-chan," The great hero's body relaxed as he turned to do as he was commanded, when his attention was drawn to something else. Ritsuka had summoned Jason once again, the Shadow Servant swinging at Ritsuka, who dodged easily. Ritsuka then swung back, not hitting Jason, but the Shadow Servant took a dive anyway, falling to the ground.
Heracles let out a roar, turning to attack Ritsuka once more, causing Illya to raise her voice.
"Berserker. I said, 'Go after Onii-chan'," She commanded, her body glowing with red markings as Heracles began to struggle against the command, red lightning trying to force him to obey. He turned once more, but his eyes widened when he saw Ritsuka pretending to kick the Shadow Jason while it was on the ground. The Shadow Jason turned, reaching out for Berserker.
And Berserker went berserk.
With a roar that shook the heavens above, hell below to rumble, and the earth around him to shatter, Heracles took off after Ritsuka, the Master breaking out into a full out run to the forest. It didn't matter though, as no matter how much Ritsuka trained, he was only human in the end, and Heracles was the strongest in the world.
However, Berserker stopped once again as this time the form of Chiron stood in front of the giant, the centaur cocking its bow. Berserker took a look for a few precious seconds before it swiped the shadow away, taking off once more.
By this point, Ritsuka made it into the forest, a fine mist covering the ground of the forest. He looked behind him to see Heracles barreling at him, toppling trees and everything else. Taking his eyes off of the path in front of him proved to be Ritsuka's downfall however, as he tripped over a tree root, tumbling to the ground. He could only look up at his impending doom as Heracles leapt into the air, ready to bring down his weapon.
And then a thick smoky mist quickly devoured the two.
Heracles' attack missed, landing right next to Ritsuka, the sheer force of the attack still sending Ritsuka flying away from the Berserker and deeper into the smoke, causing both of them to disappear from the others' sight.
Ritsuka landed, coughing as the smoke began to fill his lungs, making it hard to breathe. However, before it became too unbearable, the smoke around him moved away, leaving a clear area for him. Coughing, Ritsuka steadily tried to get up onto his feet, the boy looking around. He knew this Noble Phantasm…
"Mommy, mommy!" A very familiar voice called out as he was suddenly tackled to the ground by a figure in a black tattered cloak and a large bag on their back. Ritsuka blinked as the figure cuddled up into his chest, the Master of Chaldea reaching over and pulling down the hood, revealing the face of a very young girl with white hair and a scar over her left eye.
"Jackie!" Ritsuka said with a wide smile, lifting up the small servant and bringing her in for a hug, ignoring the sounds of the rampaging Heracles nearby. "What are you doing here?" He blinked as he said that. Wait, yeah, what was she doing here? Did he somehow summon her?
"Mommy fell asleep again!" Jack the Ripper pouted as she snuggled even closer to him. "Everyone at home is worried about Mommy! Um… we don't know exactly what's going on, but they sent us so we can help Mommy!" She motioned to her bag. "They sent Mommy lots of goodies!" She smiled as Ritsuka put her down, the Master taking the bag off her back. "Did we do good, Mommy?" She asked, tilting her head cutely.
"You did very good,' Ritsuka said with a smile, rubbing her head playfully. "Now come on. We need to get out of here before Heracles gets so mad he blows away all your mist,"
"Right! Follow us!" Jack said with a smile as she grabbed Ritsuka's hand and began to lead him away from Heracles' rampage. Deeper and deeper into the smoke they went, Ritsuka having no clue where they were going. Still, he trusted Jack as much as he did any of his other Servants, perhaps even more than the others. Eventually, they found themselves walking out of the forest…
And right in front of Illya.
Jack was quick to put her hands on her knives, but Illya ignored her, instead focusing on Ritsuka, a look on her face Ritsuka couldn't quite place.
"So, you save my Onii-chan," She stated in a playful tone. "You have two Servants. You manage to enrage Berserker so much he'd ignore my orders… and yet you're still alive. You look like a Tohsaka, but I know that family only has one heir, and she's a different Master," She tapped her chin as she thought to herself. "You're really interesting, you know that? What's your name?"
"... Fujimaru Ritsuka," He answered after a second of hesitation. He knew he had to tread very carefully here. Illya laughed, clearly amused.
"I'm Illya von Einzbern," She greeted with a smile. "Well, tonight, I was going to take Onii-Chan back to my castle since he didn't even summon a Servant yet,"
"Oh, um... He probably doesn't know," Ritsuka stated. "His memory was wiped by a mage, he doesn't even know this War is happening," She tilted her head as she stared at him.
"How do you know that?" She asked in a tone that sent a shiver down his spine.
"I-I'm staying with him," He explained. "And I had to save him from a Servant trying to kill him for witnessing the War. You know, elimination of witnesses and all," She considered his words carefully before nodding.
"Okay. Say, Fujimaru, why don't you help Onii-chan summon a Servant then?" She suddenly threw at him. Ritsuka blinked, letting out a very intelligent 'huh?' at her request. "If you don't want to, I could kill you now,"
"Don't threaten Mommy!" Jack snapped, going to attack Illya, only to be scooped up by Ritsuka. Ritsuka sighed.
"Oh, maybe I should call you Mommy too," Illya teased.
"No! Mommy is our mother!" Jack snapped again, clinging to Ritsuka's neck possessively. Illya laughed at the display.
"Since you entertained me so much Ritsuka, I'll give you three days to help Onii-chan summon a Servant. If not… well…," Illya let the threat hang in the air. "Anyways, I'll bid you goodnight. See you in three days," With that, Illya walked away, hands behind her back as she disappeared into the night. Ritsuka sighed to himself. Now he was really tied into this damn war.
He tried to put Jack on the ground, but the small child refused to let go of his neck. With a quiet chuckle, Ritsuka wrapped an arm around his child, adjusted the bag on his back, and headed back to Emiya's house. After a crazy night like this, he was looking forward to some rest.
At least despite everything that was happening, now that Jack was here, things were starting to look up.
