The fires were laughing around him.
Cruel wisps of sound that licked with malice, crack of brimstone and splinters of the earth raining down on him. The stench of molten steel like a demon's putrid breath, suffocating him as the jeers of foul spirits celebrated his misery and woe. His skin curled in protest, but no matter which way his arms swung, they found no relief.
His feet hissed upon the ground, shoes already gone and melted miles back as he ran. No screams left him, the air too dry and heavy to suck in a single breath. No tears left to shed, the rest already burned off, leaving only the red marks of burns and muscle. His clothes protected him not a scant amount from the fires, already charred remains further back than the soles of his shoes.
He looked up, trying for the umpteenth time to howl, to grasp, to find anything but the fires around him. But his dry eyes found saw only smoke, his lips could at best rasp, and his nearly charred hands found nothing but the wavy hands of a fire's greedy embrace. All around him was nothing but scorched land and burning buildings. Not a soul among them, no one else to cry or latch onto.
The fires were more than laughing, they were avaricious.
No thoughts of comfort were allowed as the wisps of flames tried to seed themselves upon his skin, cruelly celebrating with more laughter as they were able to travel up his bare arms and legs, laying visage siege to the little of the hair on his head, and claiming untwistable victory over his flesh. He was being ruined by it all, and there was no comfort in it.
Nothing. No one around him, no goal to reach for, noting to hold, and no relief to come. Mocking fires, burning flesh, burning stone, burning spirit. Burning, burning, BURNING, BURNING, BURNING!
"RITSUKA!"
Wham! His head hit the ground, hard.
"W-Wha-!" He twisted out of his sheets, pulling at them like the fires he knew them to be! Until… he found them damp as a river's bed, his own sweat coming off in heavy beads as his arms swung. He reached up and pulled his hair, before falling down and feeling his chest. There, whole, and covered by a drenched t-shirt. His breath was heavy, labored, but there. "W-What the heck just-"
"A nightmare, obviously." He twisted, looking up at the woman who bore down on him. Hands on her hips, brow raised, and putting her weight to one side. The look she gave was stern, one could mistake for patient, but he was more aware than the average soul. "We haven't the time to let you think on it, however. Make an appointment with one of the doctors if you need to, but you need to get up now."
"I do? I thought I…" he looked to his bedside table; sure, the clock would ally itself with him. The hard blue digits read 9:12. The blinking alarm button mocked him. "Never mind. That's my mistake."
"Not the only one you'll make today, I'm sure." She responded back to him. "But if you want to at least make up for it, prepare yourself and head to the training room. I'd still like to get in a solid hour or two of your practice before you start to study."
"Right, history." He dragged his hand down his face. "Um… what year again?"
"Better to ask what region." She replied curtly. "And we are having you begin with European, as Dr. Archiman pointed out, reading on the proliferation of your religion through Italy, France, and Spain, not to mention the introduction into the colder countries to the north, would be the best way to get your head out of the bible."
"There's nothing wrong with the bible."
"I didn't say there was. Only something wrong with only knowing about the bible." She huffed. "You're not going to degrade your presence before your Lord if you know more than you did before. Are you?" Her eye was critical as she bent down at him.
Even if he was sitting on the ground, and covered in sweat while half-dressed, he wasn't put off by the posture. He only returned it with a smile of his own.
"No, you're right. I'm sorry if I sounded like I was against it." He scratched his head, making the cross under his shirt shift and giggle. He heard it slide across its chain. "Just a bad dream."
"I can clearly see that. And I'm not about to feign surprise." Ritsuka couldn't say he blamed her for the sigh. "When it's the tenth time in three weeks I find you having all but come out of a pool, I realize that this isn't a healthy way to be spending your nights. That's while I'll reiterate my orders to find one of the doctors to speak to."
"Sorry."
"And don't apologize. Don't." She held up her hand, pointing at him with her gaze… not on him? "It's nothing to apologize for. It isn't. Apologize for being late, incompetent, and a touch of lazy, but not that, alright? I won't stand for it. I won't."
"O… kay? I'm sorry, for that."
"Good, better." She approved with a nod of her. "But again, you have to get ready for training. If you're not there in time, I'll be sure to tell Da Vinci about it. I'm sure she'll come up with a better method for extracting you from bed in the mornings."
The threat was palpable.
"I-I'll be right, there, promise." Ritsuka replied as he stood to his tallest. "Sorry again Olga. I am. I'm just-"
"You're just not the perfect man for the job, and we know this. That's why we're putting in the work to make you decent at it." She waved over her shoulder as she left. "But put in the work so you don't put ours to waste." The door shut behind her as she left, leaving him alone in his room again. Ritsuka let out a long breath. It felt cool on the way out, much better than his nightmare.
The same nightmare as he'd had before. The same one that he'd had ever since he came back from the Rayshift. The same once since he beheld the face of his lord, and witnessed his miracles first hand. Ritsuka's hand grasped the cross under his shirt, taking in another long breath.
"Our father, who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses are we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The eternal prayer passed him in a moment of meditation. Remembering his duties, more followed. "Give us strength, oh Lord, to overcome these trials and restore your world. So those who have gone may return to know you."
His hand fell again, letting the sweat chill him. A look at his clothes reminded him he needed to change. A shiver reminded him he needed a shower. And Olga's words were clear he had minutes to do both.
"Better hurry."
If everything went well, he'd be clean and ready to go for the rest of the day.
Redo the next four pages here to give Ritsuka and Olga their names. This is no longer the intro.
Sweat ran down his brow like a river, his breath more molten than the fires that still plagued his dreams.
It was only by the purest form of concentration that he was not falling over, though the trembling of his legs made it a true debate of a breath of wind would topple him. The clothes he donned this morning looked as if he had barred them for weeks, and the matting of his hair made it appear he had come from a river's current, more than sitting in the dry room.
Still he stood, tall as he could on unsteady feet, and kept his arm extended. He felt the current move through his arms, burning at his skin and itching the ends of his nerves. Each little tick he forced out, a contraction of his arm, moved a bundle of nerve endings he hadn't even imagined existed before. They made muscles move and glands twist he only discerned the names of yesterday. He did all of this without complain, and without rest.
And under the critical eye of a cool gazing woman.
"STOP!"
The word cut the strings holding him up, and his legs slammed against the floor. It sent a dull bang through the room, and was followed quickly by his chest hitting the platform soon after. He didn't even have the strength to turn himself over and let his chest rise, settling instead to let the metal lick at his wet face, cooling his almost boiling temperature.
The woman's heels clicked as she approached him, stopping when she stood over him, looking down with a raised brow and judgmental twist to her lips. Amber eyes looked him up and down, from head to toe and back again, settling on the hand he had kept outstretched. Without a word, she bent down and grasped at his hand, running a thumb over the back of it.
Her own gloved hand traced the red cross that was bore there, the empty halves separating the arms, and then the thin bottle neck between the head and stem. The boy didn't have a complaint as she did so, letting her look it over.
"You haven't worn out the magic carried in here this time, that's good."
He barely was able to nod his head, almost savoring how the coolness of the metal dragged at his sweat. She, however, clearly wasn't satisfied with the posture, putting the toe of her boot under his shoulder and raising it. He was sure pancakes flipped with more elegancy, and his other arm slammed against the ground. He was sure if he had much feeling left in it, there would have been quiet the jolt of pain. Right now, he as just thankful he was cooling down.
"Though the lack of stamina you have after such a simple command clearly speaks towards your lack of skill or merit. It is still an improvement, and I'll take any positives at this point."
"Thank… you…" The words barely left him, and they forced a snort from the woman. That, and an affirmative nod as she rose.
"You will have a break for now, enough time to gather your breath and put some strength back in your legs." He was sure the promise of millions of yen wouldn't have given him such relief. "I hope you don't take that to mean you are done for the day."
"Couldn't even… dream of it…" He let out a snort of laughter with the words. However, they made the woman turn back to him, alabaster hair flipping, the lone braid in her long mane flipping over her shoulder. "I say… something wrong?"
"Only if you confirm for me you are still having those nightmares." Her eyes didn't change as she stared at him. He didn't blink. "You are, aren't you."
"Yeah… sorry."
"Of all your actions requiring apology or redemption, the horrors of what we've seen and gone through, and the effects those have on your mind, are not something you need to apologize for." She stepped back to him, settling on her knees, looking over him. "I would truthfully be more furious if you said you weren't affected at all."
"Don't know… who could…"
"That's because you haven't met them before, and they were likely sent to even worse places than WE were." She took a moment, and he didn't have the energy what for. "Just… be honest with the others about what you're dreaming. You are a Master now, and dreams are one of the most common ways a Master has to their servants."
Fires that laughed him, screaming voices in a pit of mud, a cry as a corpse was revealed, another shown, a soul taken to heaven, all others BURNING BURNING BURNING-
"That's why… I'm dreaming the…"
"WE are dreaming of it." She corrected him. "Don't forget we both were there, and only one of us actually died." He couldn't forget.
Her body impaled on rebar, twisted over in a coffin, the girl screaming up at the images lain before her.
"Sorry… didn't think…"
"You're exhausted, and that's my doing." She took a long breath. "I'd normally demand more, but seeing as you are the literal last Master here, and we are currently trying to acquire the exact position of the others, you'll be treated as such." He remembered that treatment differently. "Like I said, take your time. I'll come get you when we will practice some more."
She rose and turned away from him, heels clicking as she left. He could do little more than flip his head over and watch as she marched out of the room, door sliding and closing behind her. It left him alone in the large empty room, voice echoing as it continued to try and catch up to the beating of his heart. He was always two breaths slower.
His head lifted and fell, the dull boom hardly felt. It forced him to take a slower breath, controlling his breathing, just like had learned not long ago.
'A sound body makes a sound mind. A sound mind makes a sound soul. A sound soul makes magic known.'
The mantra ran through his mind as he let his breathing regulate, his body calm down, and his temperature drop, slow degree by degree. It could have been minutes for him to finally feel as if he was collected, maybe longer, but it didn't matter how long it took. He was recovering, and that was what he needed to do.
He pushed himself up, arms arguing as they bore his weight and had him setting up, staring forward at the door the Director had left from. He swallowed, thinking about her words, her teachings, and what they meant for him. The same hand she had traced lifted and held itself in front of him, bearing the crests, the Master Seals.
"I still don't understand."
"I'd argue you know more than most ever could." He turned at the voice, startled for a brief moment. "Oh, sorry, though you knew I was here. Felt you calling me."
"Oh yeah… we were practicing that." He glanced once more at his hand, before turning back with a grin. "Almost had me passing out trying to keep it up. Felt like holding thirty pounds in an outstretched hand, and it was getting heavier."
"Circuits have that ability. A lot different than any other part of the body. Actually, changing your body with the circuits. Making it well… heavier." The man's tanned face pulled back into a smile, curved and proud. "You'd be surprised how fit that keeps majority of its users."
"Magicians?"
"Magus. Don't let Olga hear you saying that again. I may be a Servant again, but I still don't want any extra work." Their laughter was shared. It gave him time to push himself up. Legs annoyed, but ultimately bending, then straightening to his command. "From one prodigy to another, you are progressing at a good rate."
"I'm not a prodigy," he replied earnestly. "I'm just someone dragged off the street to fill a quota."
"And then was chosen by God to help save the world." The man physically pointed with his verbal point, five rings on his hand clinking together. The alabaster and crimson robes swayed with the motion. "Don't discount the wisdom he has."
"I won't, I never will. But I'm still not a prodigy. I'm barely learning." He gripped his hand into a fist. "You're the one who led a kingdom with the wisdom of God, and who has his seal representative of all of Jewish Culture."
"I do, I do, and you bear the symbol of all of Catholics. And considering what's happened the past month, that's the vast majority of the world now." The words made the small smile he had built up slip. "Sorry, had to be said."
"I know, it's just-" 'Burning Burning BURNING BURNING' "It's incinerated. Da Vinci explained what the SHEBA system is and… and all of the planet is gone. Everything is just burning. Like that city."
"Worse than that, actually." He could only stare at the man. "Sorry, bad at letting people believe lies. Not a wise thing to let happen. What is wise is reminding you that that is all that's happening at this moment and, technically, in the past. It's not the future, and it's not going to last because of that."
"Plus, we do have God on our side." He smiled at the reminder. "And if he stands with us, who can stand against us?"
"Whoever it is who has the allies of demons and using the rest of Team-A to disrupt those seven points in history." The Servant tilted his head. "Yeah, that was probably metaphorical. Went a little too literal with that, didn't I?"
"It's alright," he replied. "Good to be reminded. Just wish we knew where we were going first."
"That is what Da Vinci is working on. Or all of us are working on, but… you know." He did, and they both shared a sagely nod. "You and Olga are doing your part while Da Vinci and I do ours. You need to be a bit more comfortable with your Circuits and knowing what's happening. We can't be sure what will happen wherever we end up, so we have to ensure we are prepared for the obvious."
"That's why I'm doing this." He looked at his hand again. "Olga said I had to learn how to do it before we Rayshift. Call on Servants, I mean."
"More like command them. You can just ask us." He blinked, and the tanned Servant smiled back. "What? We are Servants. And you're the Master. It's in the name. Master Ritsuka Fujimaru. It's written right there on your shirt." He resisted the urge to palm the nametag. "Sure, not all the servants are going to bend knee and do as you ask, but you don't strike me as the kind of guy who's going to be forcing others to bend or break."
"No, I wouldn't." The idea of it, someone looking up on a knee and swearing to him… it made his already weak legs squirm in disdain. "I'm not worth that."
"Thinking about it wrong again. Not about worth, but ability. And right now, you are the sole individual with the ability to help save the Order of Humanity. That comes not just from the previous Director and the remains of Chaldea, but from the Son of God himself." The Servant stepped forward, looking down at Ritsuka from his superior height. "The same man who escorted Mash to heaven, gave life to Olga Animusphere, and returned to me rings I scattered. He said it was your duty and, no matter what you call yourself, you're not one to question the Word."
That made him laugh.
"No, I'm not." He shook his head. "It's still… just coming to terms with it. Jesus Christ, the son of God, giving me his blessing and a task to go forth in his name. Before this, all I was asked to take responsibility for was lighting candles about churches or cleaning up after mass."
"From tending one house of his to another." The servant returned, lifting his hands and making his mane of alabaster hair wave. "I'd say you've earned his accreditation with your work before, and he saw in you the strength to carry this weight now. Though it is heavy, remember, you're not alone."
Hands clasped to Ritsuka's shoulders, making him look into the golden eyes of the former Medical Head of Chaldea, and the smile of its currently most powerful Servant.
"You have the aid of King Solomon on your side now."
That name, the weight it carried, did help to ease the weight on his shoulders.
"Thank you. I… yeah, thank you."
"Anytime. Literally, I'm good whenever now that I'm a Servant again. But the Director is right that your dreams are something you should talk through." He pointed at his temple. "More than just traumatizing, or giving you an incorrect view of what's to come, they'll keep you from interacting with Servants we may meet or summon in the future. If you have fears clouding your mind, you won't be able to connect with them."
"And if I can't do that, I'll be inefficient in giving them Mana or understanding their abilities." He listed the bullet point. "It is also why I must read up on history, because the Servants will be drawn from there, many refusing to state their names."
"Also true, but not as important. Again, because I am here." Dr. Romani… Solomon, thumbed his chest. "Here to give you advice, information, protection, power, and everything else you could ever need."
"Everything?"
"Yes!" He pulled his arm back from Ritsuka and… it was full. Not full as in clenched in a fist.
Full as in it was holding a platter of deviled eggs. Well pressed, shaped, sporting dollops of seasoning and still steaming as if they had come fresh from the oven. Just sitting there on a plate, fragrant, like it was made up in a restaurant he could have only seen before through the steam of a street window.
"Where did you get that from?"
"Magic, gifted by the Lord!"
"But I thought… didn't Olga say that magic couldn't create food like this. It was why Magus needed good meals for their circuits and-"
"Not a Magus anymore, Servant!"
"But…. But then you still wouldn't because-"
"Hey now! You're not going to turn down an offering of good food, are you?" The plate was put under his nose. And wow, Ritsuka had to admit, it did smell good. And yet…
"But if you took it from somewhere-"
"My head! Then my circuits! Now my hand. And, if you enjoy it, in your stomach! Wouldn't that be good?" It did smell good. "I am your Servant, so you can be assured that everything I do is for your benefit. Right?"
"Right." He reached for one of them, touching it like he would the soft underside of a cat. With extreme hesitation. "It is soft, and it smells good, but-"
"But you don't know if it tastes, good! Good point. Better have a bite to make sure." The tanned man was eager to hold on up to the boy. His eagerness, almost juvenile in nature, was endearing. Knowing of his history made it compelling.
"Maybe… okay." He held up his hands over the platter for a moment. "Bless us oh lord for these thy gifts which we are about to receive through Christ, our Lord. Amen." The prayer concluded, he looked up to see a new gleam to the former doctor's eye. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. Merely appreciating a man who hasn't lost faith in God. After all that you've seen so far, it's a pleasant thing to see."
"Even in the day when you ruled? I recall that kings and queens would travel to hear your words."
"They did, and I'd talk to them, with all the gifts God blessed to me. But they thought they were my words and my gifts. They didn't consider who God was, and performed the rituals they needed to in order to appease me, not to bless him." Solomon's hand traced the silver tray. "That's why I'm happy to see a man who hasn't changed his ways despite what is happening. That shows strength."
Burning, burning, burning, BURNGING, BURNING, BURNING!
"By not giving up on God?"
"For not changing your ways when trials come to you. I saw a great many men and women claim that the moment things changed, we should change with them. They forget that all things that change do so under the blanket of an eternal one." He smiled, a patient smile, like that of a king. "For example, no matter the squalls were are to face, we do still need to eat. I and I do still have the means to help you." The platter edged up Ritsuka's chest.
He took one of the deviled eggs like he would a street merchant's dusty good, looking it over with a critical eye and loose grip. It was warm in his hand, and it didn't smell any different. He shrugged as he took a tentative bite out of it. Flavor lit up his tongue.
"It's good, right?"
"Very! It's amazing!" He replied eagerly. With the freedom of hesitation, he had before. "I've never had anything like this before! It's so good!" He poked at the red seasoning atop the yolk. "I don't know what this is, but it makes spicy before I swirl it in my mouth! What is it?"
"That's the paprika! Great stuff, common in a lot of dishes." The Servant waved his other hand, before picking up one of the eggs himself and taking a bite. "Used mostly for smaller meals, so you won't get it in the cafeteria a lot. Don't blame them, just need a LOT of it for a bulk meal."
"Right, right, makes sense." Ritsuka replied as he took another bite. Another wave of relief fell through him as a burst of flavor stuck to him. "Need to make sure they're all fed to, seeing where we are."
"Literally and metaphorically," he added. "Da Vinci was clear and right on when she said we can't afford to have anyone getting sick or malnourished during this time. So, everyone's well fed. Some are just a bit better fed." The servant grinned as he took another bite from one of the deviled eggs. The platter was already half gone. "Of course, those same people are going to be jumping into the folds of time to try and correct Human Order. So you're not going to be hearing any complaints."
"Maybe," Ritsuka added. With a bite of his own. "But if you can make it with magic, and we're still waiting for Da Vinci and you to find the first Singularity point, then you could make these for everyone else." Dr. Romani held his hand over one of the eggs at the words. Ritsuka took another. "I mean, I don't want to tell you what to do, but that'd be a great thing to show everyone we're working together. Making them this kind of food."
"Y-Yeah, it would be. Just the most… generous thing we could do. Making… a few hundred deviled eggs."
"It wouldn't be hard for you, would it?" Ritsuka honestly didn't know. "You just pulled these out of thin air. And you were saying it's easy for you before." He smiled at the idea. Solomon no longer had his. "You can be honest if it was a little harder than that."
"It's not… harder, just… complicated."
"Oh, then I wouldn't understand. Olga and Da Vinci have been honest that I'm not learning things fast enough."
"No, no… you would. You just wouldn't be too happy." That made him blink. Try as he might, he honestly couldn't think of anything being so difficult or beyond him he loathed it on principle. Nothing came to mind. "B-But you know what. Maybe I will, as a sign as a king returned. Sure i-it'll take some effort, but I can do it."
"Yeah, you can. I'll help even." The words made him light up.
"You're right! You can! You can start by holding onto this!" The Servant suddenly pushed the platter against his chest. Ritsuka leaned back to make sure he didn't smash them. "Have the rest, take a walk, and be sure to stay away from Olga!"
"Why Olga?"
"Because… you need more time to recover!" He patted the Master's shoulders. "And I have to help Da Vinci with finding the Singularity! It's a request from God after all!" He made a show of the rings on his hand, and Ritsuka enjoyed, truthfully, the gleam they had. "So eat up, rest up, and work out!"
"You mean practice, right?"
"Whatever you need!" The former Doctor was already passes away from him, all but waving as he slammed his hand on a door control. "See you soon!" He was gone with a flash of his golden and red robes.
Ritsuka, still holding the tray of deviled eggs, looked down at them with a shrug of his shoulder. Not the man he thought would be the wise king Solomon, but he was not the one to judge. He was the one whom Jesus returned God's gifts to, and who was thanking him for keeping the Lord's prayer on his lips. Plus, they were good deviled eggs. He popped another into his mouth, walking ahead towards the exit. He had some time before he had to practice again, and there was never a strong desire for him to remain in one room.
The door slid open as he thumbed the button, walking into the cleaned hallway. Cleaned, but barring some of the marks of falling steel and burned paint. The leftovers of the catastrophe that had struck the facility. The destroyed supports, the trapped corridors, the burning, burning, BURNING.
Ritsuka swallowed, shaking his head, turning down the hall, and walking on. They were dreams, and this was reality. And reality was he was training to prevent that from happening, with those who listened to his Lord, another who was blessed by him, and himself, having walked side-by-side with the Son of God. No fires could reach him then, and they wouldn't now.
The thought comforted him as he popped one of the last Deviled eggs into his mouth, turning his head as he heard another door slide open. He almost chocked.
The furious amber gaze of Director Olga Marie Animusphere bore down on him.
"Ritsuka…" she growled, eyes leering at him. "Where did you get that platter?" he tried to speak, he really did. But the egg was still in his mouth, and he didn't have the room to chew, speak, and answer. "What's wrong, is your mouth full? Filled with paprika spiced deviled eggs?"
He blinked. His eyes widened. She snarled. Her eyes narrowed.
"I knew it. I was being too soft on you." Her hands flexed, and he knew he saw lightning crackle around her gloves. "Stealing my food after a single hour of Mana Concentration and Servant Allocation. Looks like you need a heavy hand to train you."
"W-Wait!" Ritsuka finally managed to get out, swallowing the last of the egg. "I-I didn't steal it! This was given to me!"
"Oh, I'm sure it was." She replied. The grin she sported was not what he fashioned as kind. "I'm sure you asked the most powerful Servant in Chaldea, my father's former Servant, to acquire for you something tastier than the meals we have now." He couldn't speak. "Did you?"
"H-He did!"
"Then I'm right!"
"I didn't tell him to!"
"You certainly didn't mind taking them!"
"I didn't know where he got them from!"
"Unless you're about to admit to ignorance and intentionally forgetting the lessons Da Vinci and I are hammering into you, you already know you cannot create sustenance from Mana like that!" He bit his lip, earning a sharp point of her hand. "And I'll take that as admission of guilt."
"He told me he made them!"
"I made them!" Electricity coated the walls. "And now I'm gonna cook something else! So, say your prayers!"
"B-But I already did! I blessed them and-" He saw the vein pop beneath her alabaster bangs, matching the grit of her teeth. In that same moment, he recalled the pleasant smile of the ancient king who gifted the eggs to him. The contrast was clear, as was the guilt.
Ritsuka, having seen the look of ire and wrath in many business owners and stall managers in his time, knew her expression well. He was aware of its meaning, its intent, and who it was directed at. Holding the silver platter, cleaned by his hand, and staring down the woman who had been robbed of her meal, he did what he felt appropriate.
"I'm sorry!" He then began to run.
The lights above him cracked.
In the control room of the Antarctic Base, engineers and technicians busied themselves at their consoles. A series of coded fonts and detailed analysis from the SHEBA system filtered through the screen, haloed by the work along the main floor. Coffins reconstructed beneath the red spinning orb, a constant and permanent reminder to what they were working to correct. They were all quiet as they continued to work at their stations, eyes tired and hopes waning with each missed snagging of a thread. There was very little cheer in the air.
The shaking of the consoles, combined with some terrified squeaks, was almost enough to break a few of them. Thankfully, a genius was among them.
"Oh my~. It appears that our dear Director is showing her temper again." The woman spoke, sipping on a mug of coffee. It pulled away to present a serene smile. "Let's hope she releases that steam before she makes her way here, hmm~?" The few faces that turned to her in confusion looked back at their stations, work trudging on.
The famed inventor leaned back on her chair, staring at the multitudes of data that crossed before her. She knew to anyone else, any living being even, the amount of information would have been to the point of useless, trying to find the sharpest needle in a stack of them miles tall. For her, a reborn genius, on the other hand, it was only a matter of patience.
'And coffee.' She silently thought with another sip from her mug. 'Coffee always helps.'
Her thoughts were momentarily interrupted by the sliding and closing of the main door. After waiting a soft second to hear no hurrying footsteps or curses, she knew who it was.
"I'm happy you made it here this morning, Romani~." She waved her mechanical hand.
"It's… good to be here. Just in the nick of time."
"Time for what?"
"Time to avoid a catastrophe." The chair she was sitting on shook a bit again, earning more confused mumblings from the workers around her. "Like that."
"A catastrophe would be the loss of a single other life in this facility. This." The rom shook again, and the screen momentarily flickered. "Is a bit of stress relief a pair of young adults should be made to partake in. I, for one, am glad to see that our dear Olga and beloved Master are enjoying each other."
"I don't need God's Wisdom to know they'd never admit to that."
"You wouldn't, would you. But you would still use it." She twisted and stood up, marching towards the now familiar man. Seeing him far more like the figure of power and authority than the bumbling doctor he was before. This suited him, red robe and all, like the smile she'd never let wane. "Still coming to terms with your divinity? A second time~?"
"I never did it the first time." Solomon pointed out to the famed inventor, who only laughed under her perpetual smile. "But I am getting back into the swing of things, so to speak."
"Oh, I can tell~."
"Can you?"
"Of course! How else am I to believe that devout and pious Ritsuka stole those precious devilled eggs from our dear Director~?" The man equated to the wisest king in all of history sweated before the famed creator of the renaissance. "Do be aware, Romani, I may be a servant as well, but I am rather attuned with using camera. For watching and recording~."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Wouldn't I~?" She played with her staff, her faux arm rapping at the steel.
"No, you wouldn't. Because you want me to procure those for you in the future. And you thought the Director and Ritsuka could spend more time together." The genius blinked before the words.
"I think this now? Well, that is a new accusation. I've been accused of heresy, blasphemy, ignorance, neglect, and much else, but I don't believe I've ever been accused of instigation, least of all between two healthy, young, and cohabitating adults~." She tapped the edge of her chin. "Not that it isn't true, just the first time I've bene accused of it~."
"Isn't a first for me, on either regard." The former Doctor stood to his tallest form, well above Da Vinci. She had to marvel at the error of perception, Servant or human, and how he had not gained any true height in stature since his reconversion to Servant status. The robes, and the smile, however, did make one seem higher than they were. "How is the rest of the work going?"
"Steadily, merrily, consistently~." The woman listed with a roll of her mechanical land. "All of which at a rate limiting around 0."
"Wonderful." The king let out an expressive sigh into his hand. "A month and a half of this and we're hardly a foot closer."
"If we were a foot closer, I'd be willing to strip for joy~." The comment made the usual heads turn.
"You'd strip if someone put a pallet and canvas in front of you."
"Yes, for oh the joy~!" She smiled beatifically at his calmed breath in. "But you have certainly matured Romani."
"Solomon. It's Solomon now."
"Of course you are, but you are still Dr. Romani Archiman to me." Her hand came up and traced the golden lace of his robe. "The same man who stood side-by-side with the Director when I was summoned, and whom explained the course of history you were plotting. That was who I saw, and all you've changed is your attire."
"This attire is more than show." His hand rose, clinging the rings together. "You know that. I know you know that."
"And I know you know I know that." She smiled at his mounting impatience. "That doesn't mean you couldn't use a reminder. Take it from a true genius, whose mind is her gift from God, and now a set of rings upon her hand. Even a genius can forget important matters, and that is when you need a fellow genius to remind you."
"What am I forgetting?"
"You are a Servant again, made so by accepting Jesus's gifts." Her hand reached up and traced his own. "The gifts you forsook, and the son of the divinity you granted them to you returning them to you. But that doesn't mean you've lost what you gained before."
"I wished I was human without divine gifts. I know have divine gifts and I'm no longer human. I'm sure I don't need to tell a genius what that means."
You don't~. The same way how I don't have to tell a wise man to tell you haven't lost what you gained as a human." Her hand fell to his chest. "You were a human for decades. You understand what it means to struggle, to toil, and to work for the little you have. You understand more than most do, because you have ventured there and back again~."
"That was almost uplifting, until you started to quote Tolkien."
"Can't blame for appreciating more fine art, especially when it coincides so well with our dear Master." She twisted and let her skirt flip. "The grand stories he created worthy of layering the halls of any museum, and with the intention of showing Catholicism through the fantasia worlds. I am quite sure I am the only one to have done better."
"You haven't written much."
"No, but I dare you to find many who adore my work without saying I was blessed by God~. I will admit my genius is a gift, and one I am all too willing to share."
"Too willing indeed." The Servant sighed. "But back to the Ritsuka, can we focus on him?"
"A fine idea~! We must make sure he isn't burned before by our dear Director before he's thrown into the stream of time~." A technician snickered, serving to make Da Vinci smile.
"Sure, that, but I think we need to focus on his training as well. He was far more exhausted than he should have been for calling me. I've seen second or third generation Magus doing that with ease."
"But he is not second or third."
"How do you know that without his family records?" The Servant stepped forward. "We spent the first week trying to see if we could trace his family line and found nothing."
"You do not need to repeat my own research to me, Romani~. I may have lectured you on forgetfulness, but I'm not so poor that I'd forget something that monumental." She tutted. "It seems I have to remind you that I am a genius, and a genius knows you may be able to determine abouts the lineage of an individual by the makeup of their body and genetics. And I can tell you by the analysis of his circuits, even without transplant from a family head, he could not have developed them beyond a sudden mutation. Much akin to how all the families began."
"And it just so happens that this first-generation Magus is devoted to the Church. There's a kind of irony in there."
"I would rather think of it is a divine joke~. Those are the most humorous, aren't they?"
"You believe God's laughing?" Solomon raised an eye to judge her.
"I may be a genius, but God is the one thing that alludes me, beyond his presence. Can the wise king tell me?" Da Vinci stepped forward, looking up at him with a bent back and her usual perfect smile. "Is this a joke on God's part."
Solomon looked down at her, eyes narrowing, as the keyboards around the room slowly pattered off in repetition. The two Servants remained eye locked with one another for a moment longer. Until another small vibration beneath them jostled the words out.
"Would the Lord of Creation have the savior of humanity come from origins that everyone else would mock, despite, or outright distrust?" Da Vinci's brow rose. "Yes, I can see it." Her head leaned back with victory.
"Of course, he would!" She crowed. "And thus, we see the wisdom in his actions! Having us learn from one who is devout to him, but all of us scrambling to teach what he doesn't know. And while we teach him about the lost histories and his own Magic, he is the one keeping the faith in God alive. Perhaps the only one." She leaned forward suddenly, hand in Solomon's face. "Aside from you."
"You saw that, too?"
"Everything Romani. Remember, remember~."
"Right." The former Doctor pinched his nose. "Then let's go back to what else can do. Everyone is still working on tracing the Masters, and we have at least confirmation of their Rayshifts. Nothing's changed."
"Aside from the equivalence of tracking a Rayshift to telling somewhere where a gnat will be twenty minutes in the future, yes, nothing has changed~." Another snicker that was ignored.
"Then all we can do is continue to prepare Ritsuka. Olga is handling his magical aptitude." The door behind them jostled. No one gave it any mind. "And I suppose you are trying to familiarize him with more of history?"
"We are. Plurality~. A genius like me cannot be expected to teach a novice efficiently. You on this other hand of mind, are gifted with perfect past sight. There is nothing in the past you do not know." She grabbed his hand again, thumbing his index finger. "It helps when you merely need to point to what has happened, and are told of what occurred."
"You know it doesn't work like that." He pulled his hand back, doing nothing to slight the grin on the Servant's face.
"I do, but I know that anyone else listening won't. Or am I mean to explain the complexity of tracing values through a fourth dimension by use of magical currents and-"
"Stop, stop, they have enough to worry about." His eyes looked about them, the golden sheen of a king seeing more than a few curious gazes swiveling back to their screens. "Give anyone too much to think of and they produce nothing for you. That is one of the basic tenets any leader has to learn."
"The division of labor is well known." She stepped forward again. "But so is the necessity to relax. An overly active mind is likely to skip and lose track of what it is working on. We have our dear Master's current predicament as proof of that." Solomon did not play ignorant with her.
"The dreams are something we need to work on. But sleeping more won't help them." He massaged his temples. "And the wise decision would be avoiding that which gives him fear, or working on things you enjoy that are unrelated. I can't tell him to not focus on rescuing the Masters when any one Rayshift is likely to end him another pit."
Their eyes looked at the SHEBA system again, floating above the coffins below. The bodies of Team A held in their cryogenic isolation, holding them in place while their bodies were suspended through time.
"I can't give poor or false advice. All I can do is encourage him."
"And follow him." Da Vinci added. "Don't forget you are the Servant, Solomon." His eyes fell to his hand, not her gaze.
"I haven't." He took a long breath in.
BRRRRRRRRRR
Circuits activated and his mind flew to incantations as the siren blared and the room was coated red. Shouts from the technicians took over a moment later, coming in and out with the blare of the horn.
"What is it!?" He shouted as he turned to Da Vinci, only to see the famed inventor over her console again, typing away with a speed only she could muster. "What's happening!? Don't tell me Olga broke something serious!"
"Nope~!" Da Vinci shouted as she slammed her hand down on her chair.
The blare of the sirens fell to nothing, returning the room to the same soft light, and earning more than a few sighs of relief. He knew those were far too soon.
"Then what is it? Emergency power loss? One of the crypts failed? What happened?!"
"We got ooooooone~!" Da Vinci literally sang as her fingers danced across the keyboard, all smile and songs. "We have the very very first of the Masters found~!"
Solomon was over her shoulder before she could even think to turn towards him. Hand next to hers and staring down at the screen, his voice was that of a king.
"Who is it? Wodime?"
"Nope~. I'm afraid that the leader of Team A is as elusive to us as affection to him~."
"Now is not the time to make jokes."
"So says the ancient king who framed his master for eating his former Director's precious breakfast~."
"That was then, this is now." His tanned hand double-tapped the screen, rings clinking together. "And right now, we finally have the first foot in the pond for being able to save the incinerated world."
"A wise does not make an eloquent one it seems~." The fame inventor continued to sing.
"Da Vinci."
"I know~, I know~. You know I know a great deal~." She hummed as she worked at the console, pulling up the necessary information. It blinked to life before them, tracing around the SHEBA global system, and stopping in the midst of a European state. The world's age twisted along the clock, settling on the time, the date, and the era.
"And there it is. The fifteen century of our lord, 1431 to be exact. And it looks to be… ah~! Quite a time that is. Are you familiar with it, Romani~?" Her grin as sly as ever, but his golden eyes were on the console.
"I know it well." He spoke simply, his thumb tracing one of his many rings. "And I have a strong feeling our Master may be familiar with it, too. Perhaps this is a strike of good fortune. Not having to have him learn about the entire history of a culture he doesn't know."
"And this will be better for our devout Master because….~"
"I know about that!" The boy all but cheered as the news was given to him. Stood, cheered, and kept a solid arm's length away from the Director. Her expression reminded Da Vinci of her usual fiery nature.
That, and the small wisps of smoke rising from her gloves. They almost seemed to match the few patches on Ritsuka's shirt.
"Oh? And what about that time period do you know~?"
"It's the time when the French and British fought each other. Not just one battle, I know, but it was about the nationalism and challenges to the faith as well! The devout French and the newly led Luthor religions of Britain." Da Vinci never did, nor would, hide her smile. She had no need to. No one could ever guess what it was she meant by them.
"You buffoon. That was not it," Olga corrected, waving at him. Perhaps in a wise move, he stepped a bit further away. "The Hundred years war was regarding the French royal who should ascend to the throne, but it grew into succeeding conflicts regarding territory dispute from the British royals over the French. They aimed to have their kings take over roles, starting with the duchy of Guyenne, in order to obtain independent control rather than shared acquisition in the form of fiefs, which majority of the land belong to the French crown as."
"Correct Director~!" Da Vinci congratulated, making the woman preen. "And there is much that happened over those hundred years, or one hundred and twenty-five years to be near exact."
"We're going to the Hundred Years War! France!" Ritsuka shouted, looking up at the pair of Servants addressing him. Him, and the Director standing with crossed arms next to him. "In the middle of it, before it, or after?"
"Is there a time you'd prefer~?" Da Vinci's question caught him flat footed.
"W-Well the end… if that's where we're going. That's around when Jeanne D'Arc made herself known. A Servant of our Lord who was told to march for her kingdom's freedom, but told with as much ferocity to not strike down any man." The Golden Saint shone in his head. "The true embodiment of what it means to fight for God. To bring forth peace without staining the ground in blood."
"She's one of the only ones to do that in history, I'll confirm it." Olga added. "But she did pass at the end of the war, killed at the stake even by her own people."
"That's not true." The two eyes met, and Da Vinci smiled at the spark they shared.
"It is. Jeanne of Arc, only a teenager at the time of her campaign and death, was arrested under accusation of heresy, seeing as she claimed to hear God's commands whilst the papacy could not. It led to her guilty verdict in the middle of the war, specifically 1429. The conflicts didn't cease for another thirty years." The Director struck a pose over the Master. "I'm far more familiar with history than you, Ritsuka. Remember that next time you try and correct me. Read up on your history rather than raiding my meals." Da Vinci snagged a picture of Solomon, the former Doctor looking at the burned SHEBA image for clearly unknown reason.
"I didn't-"
"What did I just say about correcting me?"
"Not to, but-"
"Then why don't you discuss something more important than a matter you do not understand?" Now it was time to intervene.
"I believe we were discussing a matter that we all understand little about~." Her words earned their attention again. She kept her smile up as she spoke. "In the specifics, we were able to determine the location and time where the first Master was taken to." Her fingers played on the pad, bringing up the name and image of the master on screen.
The sunken face and gray hair of Kadoc Zemlupus, snarling at the images who always hated.
"Oh great, him." Olga let loose with a sigh. "It figures that of all the seven members of Team A, we find the least talented first."
"I'm noticing a trend~." Like all her famed creations, the glare of the Director withered under her gaze.
"Trend or not, and worthy or not, Kadoc was a member of Team A, chosen by the former Director because of his tenacity and dedication towards Magecraft. His circuits were sub-par compared to other members of Team A, but he was able to create new methods for solving complex issues that others could not." Solomon summarized. "In other words, he worked harder and smarter, despite being neither."
"So he's just like you."
"Me?" Ritsuka thumbed his chest. "He's religious as well?"
Da Vinci laughed. She did enjoy the innocence.
"No! He's untalented!" She all but shouted back. "But he's dedicated is what Dr. Archiman meant. Given a task, he won't stop working on it until it is solved or he gets what he wants. That led him to the seventh position of Team A. inferior, without question, but on the team at all." She sighed. "It's a wonder he was found first at all."
"Perhaps that's because he is doing something on his end to allow us to find him~." Da Vinci let the question hang. "He may be no genius, but if it were possible to leave bread crumbs for us to follow, I'd wager a few Quarts he'd be the one to do it."
"Him or Daybit."
"Who?"
"No one important at the moment," Solomon added back in. Wisdom at the most unexpected of times, as always true. "Kadoc, on the other hand, is important because we know where he is, and because we have his coordinates, we can finally Rayshift to him."
Just as the genius thought it would, the news had the pair frozen.
"Rayshift… already?"
"The system is prepared?"
"He's ready?"
Da Vinci turned to Romani, looking into the golden eyes of the wisest king and wondering how he could ask such a simple question. Her smile hid it well.
"Yes, the system is ready now and our dear Master is prepared." She turned back to him, seeing the young Magus standing to his tallest. "Though he's not anywhere in the band terms of excelling in any regard, he does have better control of his circuits, an understanding of the summoning procedures as well as Servant contracts, and at least a passing understanding for the time period he is going to." She let her smile trace the others in the room. "Is there a reason for delay I'm not aware of~? A reason that's escaped my genius~?"
"I didn't say there was a reason not to go!" Olga shouted back. "I just didn't know the system was ready! Last we discussed, we were still repairing the cooling pipes and ensuring a tertiary backup in case there is another explosion of any kind!"
"And I'll affirm you by reminding you that short of the entirety of the world being blown out of all existence, we are prepared for anything else to happen~." She combed her hair. "I am a genius, accounting for electronic, thermal, and nuclear disruptions, radiation exposure, and tie rifts."
"You can account for time rifts?"
"So when I say, Director, that we are ready to go, I mean we are prepared to send Ritsuka Fujimaru and King Solomon into the Hundred Year's War and correct which ever even has gone awry. Am I clear~."
"You were before!" She shouted back again, grumbling with folded arms. "I don't need a lecture from you. He's the one who thought it was a religious war."
"I thought that was why Jeanne died."
"And there's your ignorance showing!"
"I-I'm not being ignorant she was killed because-"
"Because her own people betrayed her! Don't try and talk your way out of a truth I know."
"But you're-"
"Not important!" Olgas' gaze could have sent Solomon back to the Throne. Da Vinci's smile could have repainted the Mona Lisa. I-It took the wise king a moment to realize why. He was, however, wise enough to not speak on it. "What is important is that it is time to Rayshift, again. Ritsuka, this means you and I are going to be entering the crypts again, and I'm going to help you, just like we practiced."
"R-Right, got it." The boy stood to his tallest. Taking a breath before he responded. "This is why I've been practicing, so I can better supply you and keep track of other Servants."
"Yes, though I will be fair to say there are few who can match me." He snapped his fingers.
A glyph rose in his palm, spinning about himself as the crest of the Jews painted itself in the air. All eyes were on it, as they so often were. The hum of power in it, the well-tuned spinning of his circuits, was a lullaby to sum, and a symphony to others.
"I will remind you that I was the one who bested the last Holy Grail War with Olga's father, Marisbury. This includes the same Saber, Berserker, Lancer, and Archer you fought. I did fight them all, and I won."
"But with half power you did with my father," Olga stepped in. "I'm not discounting your strength either, but for all the improvements that Ritsuka has made, it would be an insult to my father's memory to even compare the two."
"Oh it would be~. Akin to comparing my famed inventions to a child's make-believe drawings."
"I'm… sorry?"
"It's nothing you could have helped," Solomon was quick to address. "Rather, now is the time to think ahead. Regret for the past only serves purpose in planning for the future. And at the moment, we have already made way in preparing you for this."
"But I will be here this time," the Director made clear. "I don't have the affinity for a Rayshift, and it's nothing short of a miracle I made it back at all."
"I know." She flushed under his smile.
"Y-You know what I mean!"
"I do. I was there. I saw who performed the miracle." The boy gripped his shirt, and an obvious object beneath it. "And I'm hoping I serve him well going forward."
"You're serving all of humanity with this, not just the prophet." The director did a superb job of avoiding the boy's gaze. "Regardless, no matter you find when you end up there, you will have my father's servant, and the Wise King of Israel, on your side. That should be suitable for protecting you from any unnatural surprises."
"I agree, and I'm thankful for that." He nodded to them both. "But… what's an unnatural surprise?" The groan from the young Director was matched only by a few snickers from the technicians. Da Vinci wouldn't let herself forget who.
"The difference between the surprise of you walking around with my deviled eggs and seeing a reincarnated saint!" She shouted back. "Think, Ritsuka. I haven't been drilling your mind with lessons for the past weeks to have you act like a buffoon now."
"I'm not, a-and I won't. I promise."
"I'll hold you to that, and I will help out with it." Solomon stepped forward, hand out to the boy. "Now let us prepare ourself, Master. We have an order to restore, and a life to save." The words worked like a miracle, making all in the room smile, and brighten the clearly rattled Master.
"Of course! In God's name!" The two shook hands. It thankfully drowned out the impatient sigh of the Director.
It was easy to say one was ready for anything. It was another to act on anything with nothing in hand. He had learned that in the streets before, working between meals and trying to show others the benefits of faith. Such like now, it was easy to say he was prepared to give his all to save those in need.
It was another when a portion of that required him to be strapped into a coffin, fit for burial, and asking him to rest while his soul departed.
'I really am about to be buried alive.' The thought gave cold comfort, matching the coldness of the metal box. He recalled some of the terms that he doctors and technicians had thrown around before, involving cryogenics and the such, but he only took that to mean that in use, they needed to be constantly cooled. To lay in one while it was in use… he was doing his best to calm his mind.
He did so by reciting his rosary. The day eluded him, but he went with his favored five, the Glorious.
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art though among women and blessed as the fruit of the womb Jesus." He took a breath in, voice shuddering as the electronics around him rumbled. "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen."
'Relax Master.' The voice flittered through his mind as he finished his twelfth Hail Mary. 'Praying works, but pray for things to work, not just the guarding of your soul.'
'Solomon,' he thought the name slowly, feeling the pressure in his head, as if the Servant was there speaking to him. 'I'm sorry. I'm not used to this.'
'For all the training you did under Olga, none of it was for this. This was what you were meant to practice when you first showed up, and by divine providence, you were able to Rayshift without a coffin.' He felt, more than heard, the laughter. 'I wouldn't think it a prudent decision to try that again. Not without angering Da Vinci. If there is any advice I can give you, Ritsuka, it is never to anger a woman. There is a reason God found only one woman in all of creation to be his bride.'
'Because she was perfect.'
'Yes, that. And because she was, she didn't need to be corrected.' More pressure of laughter. 'And there is nothing more difficult than telling a woman she is wrong or how to improve an idea. I am sure you already know this.'
He thought of Olga, standing before him as he breathed deeply in the training room, her lectures about his circuits, history lessons he wasn't fulfilling. He thought of Da Vinci, laughing as she corrected him, repositioned him, cajoled him, and marked him off for form and function in his use of Servant commands. And those were only of the memories in the past month.
The boy's mind was littered like the ocean with memories of trying to correct a sister, and realizing the folly of that.
'I understand.'
'I knew you would.'
"Are you both ready?" The voice echoed inside the coffin. Ritsuka almost missed it beneath his heavy breathing. "We're all set up here. Ready to launch the two of you into the great beyond of space and time~."
'L-Launch?'
'Not physical launching. Spiritron transfer. Motion of our digitized spirits through the Human Order.'
'Right.' "Right." Ritsuka spoke as he thought. He said another silent prayer under his lips, wishing for not the first time he had a length of beads about his wrist to count on. "I can do this."
"Spiritrons aligned with the age. Theoretical existence established. Preparing the Rayshift now!" Ritsuka felt a hum in the box around him, forcing his breath to vibrate. The Hail Mary he was working through turned into a plea for strength from St. Michael. "Initiating Rayshift, 3. 2. 1~!"
For the third time in his life, Ritsuka saw a tunnel of light. His spirt fell up into it.
"They're here."
Two words and the whole of the castle looked up at the man. Chained to a corner, beaten and bloody, but his words made them all focus.
"They are? Are they more of the rogue Servants scouting this land, or are they the betrayers that seek to overthrow the righteous might of our lady?"
"The obvious one." His comment came with a wry grin.
BOOM! The sudden missing chunk of stone next to his head did not dim his smile. Though it did blind his already pulsing eyes.
"You will not speak in mockery in our lady's presence! Do you hear me foul human!" The man rose, robe of twisted colors falling around him. "You will be dutiful and kind! The same kindness and virtue that has allowed you to live for as long as you have!"
"Then stop complaining. I'm doing exactly as you would." A dull eye looked up at the hunched figure, frothing at the mouth. He watched as a fist was drawn back, tendrils of dark magic whipping at the wrist.
Boom. It was stopped with a dull explosion of wind. The crackle of lightning followed.
"Careful there. We don't want to injure our accomplice. He's already suffered so much, tirelessly so." The eloquent man spoke, holding back the feral wrist of the robed being. "Take a moment to ponder if the woman you are striking out in favor of is ever erred by this boy's words."
"Of course, she is! Any word against her being is blasphemy worth of death!" A hard wrench of the hand freed him, though the man, gowned in a long billowing coat, did not move. "To think she would be entertained by such foul words is akin to saying God would be dancing for joy at the death of his own son!"
"AHAHAHA! And now we see your true madness!" The bellow of the eloquent one filled the hall. He gathered no more attention. "What else will you say is akin to God? I wish to hear it. I wish to hear the delusions of one who fell into the well of revenge and couldn't scavenge a drop!"
"Traitor's words from a begotten noble!" The man's hand reeled back again.
"Enough."
But the simple voice from the figure on the throne stopped him.
Stopped him, and had him spinning to his knees, looking up at the woman gowned in darkness, looking down at them with a raised chin and impassive gaze. The throne of Gold, smelted from the gifts and tributes of the nobles near and far, did little to show the strength of her body. Not even the fires, the embers that burned without end or fuel, could belie the strength of her dark stare.
"My lady. My most just and beautiful lady. Forgive me for acting out of accordance to your desires. I-"
"I said enough." He was silent. "For your mind only, know I don't care for the boy's words. He is helpful to us, but that is all he is. Helpful. Not a threat, a nuisance, annoyance, or cur. Only helpful. Is that understood?"
"Of course my lady!"
"And do you all also understand?" Her golden eyes roamed about her throne.
Six heads gazed up at her, each careful with how long they laid eyes on her. Of those six, five of them nodded. A man with long silver hair, tall as the mad robed mad man, and carrying a lance twisted and gnarled. A woman by his side, gowned in red and wiry frame, wearing a mask of anonymity, but hiding none of the glowing gaze of her eyes. Another man half-masked, and wearing a glove made of nails and rusted metal, bowing as if he were at the forefront of a theatre. Another with a chef's hat and crossbow, sitting at the edge of the castle's window, nodding with a diligence that was practiced. And the last, the only one among them armed with a blade, and gowned in a suit of foreign purple. Tight and laced for royalty but that of battle among waters and shadows. His nod was noticed only if you stared.
"And you?" The same madman asked the last of the six. The one who had not moved or spoken. "Speak Rider! Speak and address your queen!"
"Gilles, I will not command you again." The cry of agony from the man befits a beating. "Do not push Rider. His mind is pre-occupied." They all looked at the lone figure.
Staring out past a window, gowned in a robe long enough to stretch from head to toe and the trail of five feet behind him. A crown stuck to his head, jutting beneath the fabric, and sharp enough that elk would be killed in contest with it. He did not even breath nor stir as attention was given to him. His eyes were only eastward.
East towards the rising sun. Towards the forest beyond the far villages. Towards something only, he could see.
"Let's not sit 'n dwell on the chaff chap." The sword wielding man spoke. "They're here. They're obvious. What are we gonna do? Hopefully somethin' not as off whittled form the staff."
"We will do nothing for the moment. A charge against them, when we are not yet sure what Servants they have brought with them, could be as beneficial as catastrophic. They did survive the fires from their own time, and that is not to be underestimated."
"Smart. Good." The tall silver haired man agreed. His face spoke nothing of compassion to match his words. "Then we are to wait and let us be surrounded."
"No. We are to continue our campaign of fire and slaughter." The woman rose from the throne. The action gathered all attention. "We are going to continue our task, such that by the time those ingrates and mewling kittens from Chaldea realize what we are planning, they will not even have the blessing of the Lord to stop us."
Heave boots rocked the stone as she walked, embers falling behind her. The little of the painted floor she touched returned as charred coal, and those around her gave berth to her stature. She walked on, smile growing beneath her own silver bangs.
"Ignore them until we know them. Strike out until they find us. And when we know who we face, we will hunt them down like the dogs of God they wish to be." She reached to her side and drew forth her blade. It cried angrily as she pointed it towards the air.
Above, surrounding, and for miles away, the dark clouds swirled and dragons roared in approval. The casted sky was lit up with the bellows of fire and screeches of war. It shook the castle they stood in, making all secure themselves. All, but the Rider who cared not for them, and Gilles whose smile was that of one gazing at a Saint.
"Let them come. Let them burn."
Author's Note:
Well let's see. I think I made it clear there are new servants, and the dynamic is a little changed, even if the break is a bit extreme. I think the biggest change is going to be the Masters being used as anchors, but I honestly did that because I thought it would be a bit more fun that a game of 'guess who' for all of the singularities, when everyone already knows them. Now it's a race to find the Masters, figure out what the Servants are planning with a free Mana supply, and also whatever else is happening. A lot more of a threat.
And that threat is becoming more obvious.
Also, the biggest complaint I've seen from the last arc had to be Ritsuka being a bit too 'spineless' and Olga argumentative. For the latter, this was intentional, as she was against it and she hates, in canon, being circumvented in any case. IT's always what she wants and everyone else is wrong. That will change, and I believe I've showed a bit more of her patience here. As for Ritsuka, this is obviously a tight rope with being around literal Jesus. I can only hope as the story moves forward, you'll see that he isn't spineless, but merely peaceful. He is trying to follow the commandments of God, and violence from those are VERY specific. You call it spineless. He's mile and call it pious.
But anyways. I did nerf Solomon, because obviously, but I did buff the Rogue Servants, because OBVIOUSLY. But how much in which ways? You'll have to see.
Stay tuned and God bless!