Feeling something scrape on his cheek, Ritsuka began to stir.
"That tickles." Then he opened his eyes with a gasp. Turning his head to the side he saw it was Fou licking him that woke him up. Sitting up he looked around, noticing he was lying in the middle of an intersection. "Where am I?" As he got to his feet, he saw that the city around him was devastated. Building darked as if burned, some leaning to their sides, light post out of the ground, cars crashed and overturned, smoke rising covering the sky. Seeing this destroyed city more visions came, the first of a city covered in a brown-orange tint, as if dirt and dust was all that was left and people surviving how they could. And another city overrun by monsters, a giant wall seemingly out of nowhere in the middle, towers that shouldn't be there and people screaming and running in fear. He shook his head to break himself out of the trance. The device in his pocket still warm, he finally pulled it out. The device was black mostly, though it had a white ring and white button on top. In the center there appeared to be a turned face. Two symbols that were the katakana for the word Kamen, one on the top and one on the left. And at the bottom of the center was a year, the current year of 2018. "It looks kind of like a weird pocket watch. Where did I get this and why does it feel so…familiar?" He held the strange watch in his right hand and turned the ring, and it began to glow. The center now having a face, with the katakana that was on the left now on top. The face was one he saw in the dream during the briefing. A white face with a visor in pink katakana making out the word Rider. Looking up he saw a red object flying across the sky. It stopped above him, and then exploded into dozens of falling projectiles. And all he could do was put his arms in front of his face, and if by instinct his thumb clicked the button on top of the watch. And an explosion of power erupted from him, the falling projectiles disintegrated by this gold and black energy. A digital voice could be slightly heard, but the explosion muddied it. Then another volley came down upon him. But then, a figure appeared in front of Ritsuka saving him from this attack. Looking at them he saw who his savior was. "Mashu?!" He exclaimed surprised and confused as the clothes she was wearing was not what she was wearing when she was crushed under the rubble. And the fact that she held a giant shield.
"I'll explain later. But for now, please just stay down." Mashu stated. Her voice much stronger than it was before. Meanwhile, as Mashu held off the seemingly endless assault, Ritsuka began to remember. A life so similar to the one he lived. A life where his parents died in an accident, and he was raised by his uncle in the clock shop just like here. But also, so different. A life where he had the dream to become king. A life where he was alone for so long. A life where his first friends came from the future, one to change his path and the other to end it. And a loyal ally who proclaimed his destiny. The life of Sougo Tokiwa. The life of Kamen Rider Zi-O. Then the attack ended and Mashu stood up. "Looks like he retreated." She spoke. Ritsuka let out a quiet chuckle to himself, moved his arm over to Fou who jumped up to his shoulder, and stood up.
"Mashu. It's good to see you're alright." He smiled at her, happy to see her not being crushed to death. He slipped his faithful Ridewatch back into his pocket. Mashu turned to him and smiled back.
"I'm glad you're—" She started before she was interrupted by a distant scream down the road. The trio turned to the direction. Ritsuka's eyes narrow. The experience of being a Kamen Rider coming to the forefront of his mind. He was ready for a fight. "Master, your commands." Mashu turned her head over to Ritsuka saying this. Ritsuka raised an eyebrow at this for a moment, till he fully looked at her. Gone was her glasses, hoodie, black shirt, skirt, tights and shoes. In their place was a skin-tight black and purple armor if you could call it that, with a metal skirt and heels. And the giant shield he noticed earlier. He just smiled at her and nodded. "You and I will get through this situation together, Senpai!" Mashu's voice was firm. Ritsuka's eyes were drawn to the back of his right hand and on it he saw something that wasn't there earlier. A red emblem. Looking back at Mashu he smiled.
"Let's get going Mashu. We have to help whoever that scream was." With that the trio of Ritsuka, Mashu, and Fou took off down the road.
As they ran towards the scream Ritsuka began to joke around with Mashu, commenting on the fact they're fighting skeletons with rusty swords, lances and bows, how weird this situation is and how it's strange that some of the glass isn't broken in some buildings. Slightly thrown off by his odd change, Mashu began to enjoy herself oddly enough in this situation. It was nice seeing Ritsuka not panicking about all this but seemingly calm. Though Ritsuka hated feeling useless unable to help Mashu fight. And missing his Ziku Driver. Though he was able to figure out that his powers were still with him, a small rewind on an enemy before they hit Mashu, disintegrating one that Mashu missed, without her noticing. Mashu jumped on ahead when she said she sensed a large group of enemies. Ritsuka, with Fou on his should began to run up the rubble. As he ran, he could hear Mashu's shield destroying more skeletons. He spotted someone on their knees as he got to the top of a piece of rubble on the road and shouted out to them.
"Are you alright? Wait, Director?!" Mashu meanwhile continued to fight off the skeletons. Out of the corner of his eye Ritsuka spotted a skeleton running towards the Director so he narrowed his eyes and flicked his wrist at it, instantly disintegrating it. Jumping down from the rubble he walked over to the director who was still on the ground, watching Mashu. After that Mashu finished off the last skeleton by jumping into the air and slamming her shield into it, also leaving a crater in the road. Jumping out of the crater she rushed over to the two humans and Fou, still on Ritsuka's shoulder.
"Director, are you hurt?" Mashu asked, coming to as stopped before the white-haired woman. Ritsuka chuckled at Mashu.
"Little overboard with that last one, huh Mashu? I mean what did the road do to deserve that?" Mashu let out a giggle at that. Olga just looked between the two of them confused before speaking.
"What is going on?" Mashu's face went serious when asked this by Olga.
"This is Singularity F. Fuyuki City, 2004." Mashu explained. Ritsuka then snapped his fingers.
"Oh! That's why everything looked familiar. See Mashu I told you I recognized that store! It was just more on fire than the last time I shopped there. And fourteen years younger." The two looked at him, Olga with an eyebrow raised and Mashu giggling. Mashu continued to the Director.
"It may be hard to believe but I…" Before Olga spoke interrupted.
"You're a Demi-Servant, right? I could tell just by looking at you." She then stood up and put her hands on her hips, Ritsuka rolling his eyes at this. "What I want to know is, why didn't it succeed until now!"
"I'm sure you know that Chaldea prepared a Servant beforehand in order to resolve the investigation of Singularity F." Olga's eyes widened, and she let out a small gasp. "Right before I died, he offered me the contract. In exchange for giving me the abilities of a Heroic Spirit and Noble Phantasm, he wanted me to eliminate the cause of the Singularity. So I merged with the Servant to become a Demi-Servant." Ritsuka stayed quiet throughout the explanation, as Mashu had explained it to him on their way here when he asked her about her clothes and the shield. Olga then looked at Ritsuka and spoke.
"Then this substitute commoner has become your Master?" Ritsuka just smiled and raised his right hand to show the command spells on it. Olga scowled at him. Then the bracelet of his left wrist began to beep, shocking Ritsuka and Fou. Ritsuka proceeded to click it and a blue square appeared on the ground spinning until it grew, became multiple rounded bars with barcodes spinning and surrounding a circle with the Chaldea logo on it. Ritsuka glared for a moment at the barcodes, remembering a certain person. They hologram emitted an oval light and the image of Romani sitting in a chair appeared and began to speak.
"I finally got through! Hello, can you hear me?"
"Dr. Roman! Wait did that square just make a circle?" Ritsuka said surprised, though relieved at seeing the doctor was alright.
"Fujimaru, Mashu." The doctor said, relief evident in both his voice and expression. "So you did get caught up in that Rayshift. Without being in a Coffin, I'm surprised you didn't lose you—" He spoke, before Olga, who had sat down on a piece of rubble got up and pushed aside Ritsuka and Mashu, interjected.
"Why have you taken control, Romani?"
"AHHH! D-Director! You're alive?" Hearing this made Ritsuka wonder why he assumed the director was dead, his mind going through possibilities before focusing back on the conversation.
"What are you talking about? Why is the head of the medical section in that chair? Where's Lev?" Olga fired off question after question.
"Uh. Professor Lev was right in the middle of that explosion. I can't see any hope of his survival." At this Romani lowered his head sadly. Olga looked shocked and then her body began to shake. Ritsuka on the other hand didn't believe it. Remembering how the man caused his instincts to awaken once more, caused the young man to have doubts on the death of the good professor.
"No…" Olga said, her head lowered to the ground. At this and seeing how she was shaking Ritsuka softly put his hand on her shoulder. Surprisingly, she didn't shake him off, it seemed to ground her.
"The reason I've been entrusted with operational command is because there isn't anyone left who outranks me." This shocked Olga out of her stupor, looking up to the hologram worried. Ritsuka pulled his hand back. A grim look on his face.
"Then what about the Master candidates? What happened to the 47 people who were in the Coffins?" The Director questioned. Ritsuka's mind flashed back to running through the destroyed Rayshift room, seeing all the people unconscious in the now aptly named Coffins.
"All of them are in critical condition." Hearing this Olga began to grit her teeth. "At this rate…"
"Don't be so foolish!" Olga exclaimed, shocking the others present. "Transfer them to cryopreservation immediately! Our top priority is their survival!" At this Romani's face became less grim and more focused.
"I'll do it at once!" After saying this Romani got up from the command chair and was gone from the hologram.
"Director." Mashu softly spoke up.
"As long as they don't die, this can all be justified later." Crossing her arm and bring a hand up to her face she continued. "I can't possibly carry the burden of 47 lives on my back." Ritsuka looked down. Remembering the deaths of Minato, Geiz, and Tsukuyomi. And the lives lost when the worlds began to merge. Shaking his head, he looked up. He had to focus.
"Currently, Chaldea has lost 80% of all functions. Once communications with the outside are restored, I'll request supplies and start reconstruction Chaldea. That's the status." Romani explained.
"Fine, Romani Archaman. I'm not happy about it, but until I get back, you're in charge of Chaldea." Olga said, Ritsuka could tell she had to force that last part out.
"Roger. But still… A Demi-Servant, the fusion of a Heroic Spirit and a human." Romani stated, the two looking over at the trio of Ritsuka, Mashu and Fou. Ritsuka poking at Fou with a smile on his face. Then Fou whapping Ritsuka on the cheek for this. "I can't believe it succeeded at a time like this." Turning back to Romani, Olga spoke.
"Well then, starting now, both Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mashu Kyrielight will begin investigation on Singularity F." Romani sat up straight at this.
"I wish you luck. If an emergency comes up, please contact me."
"Hmph." Olga let out a huff at this and turned away. "We can send an SOS, but nobody will come to save us."
"Director…" At this Olga shut off her bracelet. Ritsuka and Mashu walked over to her.
"Director, are you sure about this? We could wait here for help instead." Mashu offered the idea.
"Well not here. We should probably find a location that isn't on fire and covered in smoke." Ritsuka stated.
"After this incident, there'll be a lot of protest from the Association." Olga clenched her fist. "We can't go home empty-handed." She turned to them and raised her voice a bit. "Sorry, but you'll have to help me, Mashu and Fujimaru." She exclaimed.
"Roger." Mashu answered, standing up straight. Ritsuka on the other hand just smiled at the two, rolled his eyes and turned to look at face Olga.
"Roger." Olga let out a sigh.
"I never thought the day would come when I'd have to rely on a commoner." At this Ritsuka rolled his eyes. But even as she said this Olga remembered the image she saw when she slapped him earlier, the armored figure with power coming off it in waves. She also thought that this commoner was seemingly different than he was before. As if something had changed within him. Her bracelet went off again. The hologram of Romani appeared. "You're being annoying! What do you—"
"Please get away from there right now!" All three looked confused till Mashu gasped and turned to her right then spoke up.
"I'm detecting signs of an enemy! This is…" She moved her shield to cover herself. "a Servant!"
"Yeah. Time to get out of here. Let's go!" Ritsuka spoke up, voice firm and joking smile gone from his face. In its place was a look that said he wouldn't take no for answer. So, the three, plus Fou still on Ritsuka's shoulder took off.
"OK, so why are Servants here anyway? I mean, I figured whoever shot at me earlier was a Servant, but I'm not sure why they're here." Ritsuka asked as they ran down the fiery streets of his home.
"It's a Holy Grail War." Mashu began. Ritsuka just let out an acknowledging sound to let her know he was listening. "It's been confirmed that in 2004, a special ritual called a "Holy Grail War" took place in this city. A Holy Grail is a magical vessel that contains the foundation of all Magecraft. Mages in the city of Fuyuki competed for a Holy Grail and summoned seven Heroic Spirits to activate it. The seven Masters battled it out, and in the end the survivor obtained the Holy Grail. But the conclusion isn't recorded. Did the ritual succeed? Did it fail? Whatever did happen, the Servants' actions ended without anyone knowing about them." She finished as they were now on a sidewalk by the river.
"Well judging by the state of the city, I'm guessing it failed." Ritsuka stated. But then he started to slow down from a run to a stop. Fou making noises. The other two stopped as well as chains appeared blocking their path. Ritsuka began to look around. To his left was the river, to his front was the path they were on, blocked by the chains and to his right he saw things that definitely weren't supposed to be there. "OK so I know this isn't exactly my Fuyuki, but I can say with complete confidence. That those statues aren't supposed to be there. I mean the chains aren't either but that's pretty obvious." He mentioned to the two others. Olga raised an eyebrow at this.
"How do you know this?" She questioned. He just turned to her and smiled.
"Well, if you look at my file you'd notice, I'm from Fuyuki City. I know this city and this area, and this isn't right." Suddenly the chains lashed out at him, as if trying to grab him. Seeing this Ritsuka did a short jump backwards, landing right on his feet. Eyes narrowed he began to look around for the cause of this.
"Master!" Mashu exclaimed, worried about him. When a voice began to speak, echoey as if they weren't fully there.
"Too bad. The fresh prey got away." The group turned to face where the voice came from. A figure appeared from purple energy. The figure wore a hood, putting shadow over her face, a black dress-like clothing, high-heeled boots, her hair was a faded purple, her eyes yellow and slit like a serpent's and her leg had strange red markings running up it. She held a long staff weapon with a curved blade at the top. "An unknown Servant and an unknown Master. How young and fresh…" Mashu got in front of Ritsuka and Olga protectively.
"A Servant! But I don't see her Master." She brought her shield out ready to fight. While Olga raised her left hand and made a gun with her hand, readying a Gandr Shot. Ritsuka's hand went to pull out his Ziku Driver, till he remembered he doesn't have it anymore.
"Dammit. What the hell am I supposed to do?" He muttered to himself, annoyed that he can't fight on the frontlines at this moment.
"This world has already gone mad. A Servant without a Master doesn't surprise me." Olga stated. They watched as the Servant walked over to one of the statues that Ritsuka pointed out earlier. She put her hand around its hand, nails scraping the stone of the face caught midscream.
"Those are…" Ritsuka growled out, furious at what he had figured out.
"Former humans." Olga finished. "That Servant must have turned them to stone." They looked at the statues above them on the hill, chains wrapped around them. All caught in expressions of fear.
"Why would you do this?!" Ritsuka shouted at the Servant. Fury evident in his voice and expression. Shocking Mashu and Olga who expected him to be afraid.
"You complain? When you wander into my hunting ground, I'm free to treat you however I please, am I not?" After saying this she ripped the head of the seaweed haired person-turned statue. Blood erupting from it, some hitting her hood and her face, and the head bouncing away. "Don't worry. I've lost one statue, but now I'm going to have three new ones." The blood on her began to vanish, but not before she licked some of it.
"Our only option is to fight." Mashu stated.
"Glad we agree, she needs to go down, hard." Ritsuka said with barely contained rage.
"Can you take her?" Olga asked the Demi-Servant.
"Yes." Mashu said, before walking forward. Ritsuka could tell that she was nervous.
"Oh, how bold. How fresh. Is this your first time fighting as a Servant?" The lance wielding Servant asked as she walked forwards. "Then, as a veteran, I'll teach you." With a flourish she spun her weapon around her, till the hook-like blade was near the ground but facing up. "Be careful of what you say and do. For once the word "fight" has left your lips, it has already begun." Then she leapt forward, disappearing into particles before reappearing right in front of Mashu and striking her shield. She continued her assault onto Mashu's shield. "You're desperate. Excellent. But be careful. My lance is the Lance of Immortal Killing. Any wound this lance delivers cannot be healed by any means." As Ritsuka and Olga watched on, Olga let out a gasp at this. Ritsuka meanwhile was of two minds. One was hating the fact that he was essentially useless at the moment and the other was trying to figure out which Heroic Spirit this Lancer was. "Even if by some miracle you could heal your entire body. Do you understand? If you make the slightest error, you'll be a failure of a Servant for your entire life!" At this she pushed Mashu back and was able to hit the Demi-Servant with the staff of her lance. Mashu responded letting out a yell by rushing forward with her shield, pushing the Lancer back. Lancer than jumped into the air and landed on her chains. "Being too fresh can get on my nerves." Lancer put her hands behind her hair and pushed it back. Her hair turned into snakes and then chains, boxing the trio in. Mashu then ran over to stand in front of Ritsuka and Olga. "I will entangle you all with my hair." The Lancer said, a cruel smile on her face. Ritsuka then spoke.
"So. I've figured out her identity." All present looked to him, the Lancer letting out a questioning sound at this. Ritsuka began to smirk. "Medusa, the Gorgon. Sister of Stehno and Euryale. The snake haired monster of Greek mythology, cursed by Athena, able to turn people to stone with her eyes. Till she was slain by Perseus and her head shoved onto a shield." The now revealed Medusa began to growl at Ritsuka for revealing this and for bringing up how she her history, and how she died.
"I'm no match for her. Please run, Senpai!" At this Ritsuka looked at her and could only smile.
"Mashu. There's no way I could do that, I'm not going anywhere."
"You've got guts. A little girl is still a little girl, but you seem pretty brave. And good on you boy, not abandoning your comrade. That's why I can't leave you." A voice came out, much like how Medusa's voice was heard before she appeared.
"Who are you?" Medusa questioned the voice.
"Who? Look at me and you'll know…old friend." Suddenly back up on the hill, outside the chain cube, a figure appeared from blue light. The figure wore blue robes, and a blue and white hood with fur around the hood. He carried a large wooden staff.
"You are…Caster!" Medusa hissed out at the smirking figure. The Servant now identified as Caster pulled down the hood, revealing blue hair and red eyes.
"Heh."
"Why do you side with these wanderers?" Medusa questioned the blue haired Caster. Ritsuka noticed that unlike Medusa he didn't have any strange red markings on him.
"Eh? Because it's better than being on your side, of course!" Saying this his hand glowed and he moved his arm in front of him, a series of emblems appeared and glowed with fire before flying at Medusa and exploding. The blast broke the chains, causing Lancer to land on the ground. Mashu had to put her shield up to protect herself and the other two from the blast. Walking over to the Chaldeans, the Caster spoke. "I'm a Caster Servant. For certain reasons, I consider her an enemy." He stopped in front of them, though still facing Medusa. "The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my ally, but for now, you can trust me. Get in position, young lady. Skill aside, your courage is second to none."
"Yes! Thank you!" Mashu turned back to Medusa after this, a small smile on her face.
"Kid!" Hearing Caster say this Ritsuka looked to at the man, taking in the details of the blue-haired Servant. "Are you the Master?"
"I am." Ritsuka replied.
"Then you'll have the commands" Caster stated. Ritsuka just smiled, but behind the smile was fury. Clenching his right fist, his hand hovering over the pocket that held his Ridewatch.
"Alright then. Glad to work with you."
"It'd be a temporary contract, but out of regard for that brave young lady and your own brazenness towards Snake hair over there, I'll become your Servant." Caster stated, rather smug. Ritsuka figured smug was this man's default setting.
"That's fine with me. It means I can kill you earlier than I planned." Medusa spoke, a cruel smile adorning her face. She stood up and spun her scythe around her. "I'll take you while you're still flesh and blood." She got into a stance and let out a small laugh, and the chains that were still around wrapped together like drills and flew at Caster. Jumping up he dodged, the chains flying up after him. He moved through the air nimbly, avoiding their attacks. Medusa jumped into the air and attacked him, but Caster brought his staff up to block her strike, the force of the blow sending him back to the ground. Landing on his feet, he continued to dodge her attacks. Hurrying up the hill the Chaldeans watched on. As Caster dodged Medusa's strikes, she destroyed multiple of the petrified people. The two Servants jumped back into the air. "All you can do is run away! It seems you don't even have time to cast a spell, right?" The dark Servant mocked. They returned to the ground, with Caster doing a flip by pushing his hand off the ground, landing in a crouching position. "This is what you get for opening your big mouth. This is what happens when you express your intentions." She leapt forward to slash at Caster, but he smirked, which Medusa noticed and was thrown off.
"Young lady!" He shouted out, and Mashu leapt in front of him. The hook-bladed weapon slammed into Mashu's shield, sending Medusa back to where she landed earlier. Caster got up and walked beside Mashu. "I don't need to chant a spell to uses Runes. Go back to school, you dimwit!" He snarked, smirking all the while. He thrust his hand forward, pointing at the Lancer Servant. Looking down she noticed a Rune, but it was too late for her. Fire erupted from the ground, engulfing her.
"AHHHHH!" She screamed out. When the fire blast ended, she hunched forward, her hood down, got back and looked at the other two Servants. Caster, with his raised hand, created more Runes which flew forward towards Medusa and exploded into fire. When the huge blast died, Medusa stood there. Barely holding on she looked towards Ritsuka. "If I fall here…Then I'm taking him down with me!" She shouted, and with the last of her strength she commanded her chains to fly at him. Ritsuka just smirked and everything stopped.
"Ah. Been a while since I've done this. Feels weird. Is this how the Time Jackers felt? Actually, how many times did I even use this ability? Huh." Ritsuka wondered aloud to himself. He looked to Olga who eyes were wide as she noticed the chains, Mashu who had begun to move towards him before he stopped time, and Caster who had begun to create a Rune. "Still. This is infuriating. I can't help in the fight at all." Looking up he noticed the drill of chains 3 feet from his face. "Oh right." Then he took a few steps to the side and time began again. The ground where he had been standing was impaled by the chains and Mashu let out a cry.
"Senpai!" Then the dust cleared, and they saw Ritsuka and Fou standing there fine. The Lancer's eyes widened in confusion, and she uttered her last words before dying into particles.
"How…what?" And then she was gone. Caster lowered his hand and spoke.
"And that's one down." He smiled. Mashu noticing that Ritsuka was unharmed. Stopped, turned to Caster and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you. You saved us when we were in danger."
Walking over to the Demi-Servant, Caster put his arm around her shoulder.
"Well, good work. We were saved because of your support. Don't worry about it." His touching of her didn't sit well with Ritsuka. Who then proceeded to gently push them apart. Well, gently for Mashu.
"Okay. Now that the whole mess with the Greek monster is dealt with, I believe we should move onto to other things." He smiled at Caster, warningly. Fou jumped from Ritsuka's shoulder to Mashu's. And began to growl.
"Hahaha! You have a fine body." Caster told Mashu. Fou's growl became a hiss.
"That's one sexual-harassing old pervert." Olga spoke. Romani's hologram appeared next to her.
"For now, let's talk to him about the situation. It seems he's a sane Heroic Spirit." Turning to face the hologram Caster pointed at it and question.
"Is that some means of communication through Magecraft?
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Heroic Spirit, I know not where you hail from, but it's an hon—" Romani began to greet Caster.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere. Just state your business quickly." He turned away from Romani and Olga. Romani gaped at this reaction. "You're good at that right, weakling?"
"W-Weakling…"
As that happened, Ritsuka noticed something. Looking around he saw a figure on the top of a building, a familiar scarf disappearing from sight. A smile erupted on his face.
"So you're still around aren't you my friend."
"In short, you're Servants from a Holy Grail War that took place here and the only survivor, yes?" Romani summarized, the group now standing under the bridge, away from now scorched area the battle took place.
"I didn't lose, if that's what you mean. Somewhere along the line, our Holy Grail War was switched with something else." Caster said, tightly gripping his staff when saying this.
"Switched?" Olga, who had sat down on a lip of a stage of some sort, asked.
"I don't know the details myself. Overnight, the town was blanketed with fire, humans had disappeared and only Servants remained." Caster began his explanation of how things became this way.
"Wait, what about Lancer and the petrified people, or the fact that she called it her hunting grounds?" Rtisuka questioned. Caster just shrugged, seemingly not knowing the answer. Ritsuka sighed at that. Too many questions and not enough answers. Caster continued.
"Saber was the first to start the Holy Grail War up again. That one has gone on a rampage with relish, like a fish finally out of water. Saber has defeated Archer, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, and Assassin. And then the defeated Servants become corrupted by dark mud, as you saw with Lancer. I disposed of the darkened Rider and Assassin before they encountered you. As for the Berserker, well, I think he won't attack as long as we leave him alone."
"So if we defeat the remaining Servant…" Romani began.
"The Holy Grail War will be over." Caster finished.
"There's a high likelihood of settling the Singularity F abnormality, too. Do you know where it is?" Olga questioned the last remaining sane Servant of this Holy Grail War.
"Yes." Caster turned his head and looked towards the mountains. "At the heart of this land. They're protecting it. The corrupted Greater Grail. I'll take care of the Archer bastard. I need to settle things between us once and for all."
Ritsuka smiled softly, remembering his and Geiz's own issues. "History there, huh Caster?" The Caster just nodded.
"You really don't mind helping us?" Olga wondered. "Even though you hardly know anything about our situation?"
"No, I don't mind. Don't worry about it.
Walking through the burning city, Caster continued to speak to the Chaldeans. Ritsuka looked on sadly at his burning and destroyed home.
"I don't get involved with things outside my own time period. At the end of the day, I cooperate as a weapon. That's the Servant Golden Rule. Your purpose is investigating this abnormality. My purpose is drawing this Holy Grail War to a close." Now walking in the hole of a broken road, Caster appeared above Olga, offering his hand. "Our interest line up. Why not join forces together?" Olga looked pensive for a moment, before answering, a small smile on her face.
"That's a logical decision." Reaching up she grasped his wrist and he grasped hers and then pulled the shorter woman into the air. "Wooo." He then set her down on her feet. Mashu meanwhile climbed up on her own. When she turned to help up Ritsuka she noticed that he hadn't climbed down, and instead began to run at the rubble at the top. The young man did a quick run on the rubble and made his way to the other side, without even knocking down any of the broken building. Mashu just stared at her Senpai for a moment before Caster spoke, face in Olga's face.
"Still, it's unusual. You don't have the potential to be a Master?" Ritsuka and Mashu looked over at this. Olga clenched her fist and blushed slightly.
"What of it?" She shoved the Servant away from her. Caster remained smirking.
"I mean, you're a first-class Mage. You just don't have the potential to be a Master? Is it a curse?" Caster questioned, leaning forward.
"What difference does it make?" Olga replied, angrily. Ritsuka and Mashu watched on. Ritsuka smiling at seeing the so far haughty director expressing herself.
"You have a first-class stubborn streak, too."
"What was that?!" Ritsuka chuckled at their interactions, reminding him of Geiz and Woz. He noticed the downcast expression on Mashu's face.
"Hey, Mashu. What's on your mind? Did I overwork you?" He questioned the Demi-Servant.
"No!" She exclaimed. "No, I'm fine. I'm operating perfectly." Hearing her use of the word operating wasn't something Ritsuka expected to hear. "But…" Looking over Olga spoke up.
"Oh, I know what it is." Mashu clenched her fist.
"Senpai, I can't use my Noble Phantasm yet." Ritsuka looked confused. She'd mentioned the term earlier but never explained what it meant.
"Noble Phantasm?" Olga turned to face Ritsuka.
"They're weapons that Servants use."
"Ah but wait Mashu you have the shield right there. You've hit quite a few skeletons with it. I think a head came off at one point." Ritsuka stated. Olga raised an eyebrow at how casually Ritsuka spoke of a skeleton losing its skull, Caster chuckled at it. Mashu shook her head and looked at the shield.
"No, this shield hasn't shown me it's true form yet." At this, Olga let out an exaggerated sigh and put her hand on her face.
"You said you didn't know what kind of Servant you merged with, so I figured this was the issue." Olga took her hand off her face, looking at Mashu.
"I'm sorry." Mashu apologized. Olga turned to face Ritsuka.
"It's not all your responsibility. An outstanding Master should be able to analyze the Servant with whom he has a contract." At this Ritsuka raised an eyebrow at that, looked over at Mashu, specifically her shield. While he looked, Olga walked over and pulled at his cheek.
"AH!"
"I'm saying your level is low!" Ritsuka playfully grabbed her arm, jokingly trying to get her off while responding.
"Well I wasn't supposed to originally be a Master!" At this, Olga let go.
"What?" Mashu, Fou and Caster joined Olga in looking at Ritsuka questioningly. "What do you mean you weren't originally supposed to be a Master?" Ritsuka smiled.
"I was originally scouted by Chaldea as an expert in history, mythology and legends. It was only recently that they did a medical checkup on me and found I had the potential to be a Master and then I was transferred over. Which is a pain, cause well I haven't graduated from high school yet. Wasn't that all in my file, Director?" At saying that Ritsuka smiled smugly at Olga. Her eyebrow twitched at this. This boy seemed to enjoy pressing her buttons. "Why did you think I was able to identify who Lancer was? Hell, give me some time to think on it and I could probably find out the identity of Caster." At this all attention was turned to the blue-haired servant. Who just smirked.
"Why not, give it your best shot kid."
"Well, you were using Runes, and not just any runes but Primal Runes. And only a few people in mythology would know those. Two of those are out cause one is Odin, who is missing and eye, and if I remember correctly it's really hard to summon a Divine Spirt as a Servant, and the other is-" Caster interrupted quickly.
"I don't think you need to say her name." Ritsuka smirked at that.
"Well that confirms it. It's an honor to meet Ireland's Child of Light, the Hound of Culann, Ireland's answer to Heracles: Cú Chulainn!" Cú did a small bow at that. Mashu looked at Ritsuka with awe, and Olga with slight interest. Cú then spoke.
"Well, that's enough of that fun. But a Noble Phantasm is about instinct." He then pointed at Ritsuka. "If something happens to call about upon that instinct…it will awaken naturally." His voice was serious. Mashu then jumped in front of Ritsuka, shield raised and then Olga jumped before Mashu, arms out. Ritsuka narrowed his eyes at Cú, slightly glowing gold. Cú looked interested at that. The standoff lasted a moment, before Cú smiled and lowered his arm. He then vanished into particles. Ritsuka could still sense him due to their temporary contract. Olga let out a long sigh.
"I'm tired. Let's rest up ahead." Everyone slightly relaxed.
"Right." Mashu responded.
"Come on, the high school is a good place to stay for a bit." Ritsuka said, before walking ahead of the other two. They made some small talk on the way.
As Ritsuka walked around what would, in the correct events of history, be his high school, he found Mashu looking out the window, Fou still on her shoulder. Her shield was leaning against the wall.
"Hey. You cold in that?" Ritsuka spoke up as he walked over.
"Fou!" Fou made his signature noise.
"Senpai. I'm fine. It seems this form isn't affected by temperature." Mashu answered Ritsuka's question.
"That's good. I'm kind of jealous of that now." Ritsuka jokingly responded, making Mashu giggle. Looking out the broken window, Ritsuka sighed. "It's been a long day hasn't it. A lot of weird things, some bad." He paused and looked at Mashu, then moved his eyes and saw Olga standing on the stairs. "Some good. And some just in the middle." His hand went into his pocket at those words, touching the Ridewatch. Mashu smiled at this.
"You really are a human, Senpai." At this Ritsuka turned to her. She smiled brightly at him, tilting her head cutely. "I'm happy. Happy that I could form a contract with you as a Servant." Ritsuka smiled back at her. Mashu then turned to look out the window again. "Was there a blue sky here, too?" Ritsuka looked at the sky with her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know there was. And there will be again." Ritsuka gripped his Ridewatch at this. He noticed out of the corner of his eye, Olga clench her hand and walk up the stairs. Ritsuka sighed at that but left it alone for now. To his left he saw something move, down the stairs at the other end of the hall. "Mashu, I'm going to check around some more. Don't worry though. I'll be fine. Fou, keep an eye on her, OK?" He reached out and pet the cute creature, it leaned into his touch and with that Ritsuka walked off.
As he walked to the lower floors, Ritsuka let out a sigh. Entering the classroom, he saw it was empty. He walked to the center of it, back to the door.
"Alright, you can come out now. It's been a while." At Ritsuka saying this he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw a face he hadn't seen in some time. The man had semi-long black hair, black pants and boots, but what stood out was the olive-green long jacket, long gray scarf, and the book in his hand. Ritsuka smiled at the man, who kneeled before him. "Stand up Woz. You're going to get covered in dust."
"It is good to see you once more, Waga Maou." Woz stood up after that and smiled at Ritsuka.
"So have you been following us since we got here, or just since I spotted you by the river?" Ritsuka asked.
"I've been here since you were sent back. I am glad to you see remember and have your powers."
"Well, not all of them. I can't transform cause no driver, and my abilities are weaker than they were. Might just be because my body isn't used to them yet." He paused. "Woz…have you seen Geiz and Tsukuyomi at all in this new universe?" Woz looked down at this, his expression sad.
"No, I haven't." He looked up. "But I'm sure we will see them again." Ritsuka smiled at that response.
"Dammit Woz. I feel so useless here. I can't fight, and Mashu needs my help. I won't keep sending her to fight alone." Ritsuka pulled out his Ridewatch. "Why is this back if I can't use it?!" Ritsuka loudly exclaimed, but not loud enough anyone else heard him outside the room. Woz then spoke.
"Perhaps these can be of help." At this he pulled two red pillows. The right pillow held a Ziku Driver, but instead of the white that he was used to, the center part was instead mostly gold, though the green arrow was still green. And on the left pillow was the Grand Zi-O Ridewatch.
"How-what? Why is that Driver gold?" Ritsuka questioned.
"This driver is the one you used when you became Oma Zi-O. It seems that while it mostly changed back, your ascension has slightly stuck with it. You said you felt useless not being able to fight. Shall you ride once more?" At the question RItsuka smiled. He picked up the two items and spoke firmly.
"Yeah. After all, a king shouldn't just sit around and let others fight for them, when they can fight on the front lines."
Well….this is awkward. Hi. It's been a while. I'm not dead, and shockingly despite my own stuff this isn't either. If you're reading this on you'll notice it's been over a year since chapter 1. I did say I didn't have an update schedule. So yeah. If you're reading this on Ao3, you dodged a year of nothing but hey, 2021 was weird. And this story froze on me for a while. For a multitude of reasons. Enough time past that this is being uploaded on Ao3 now too. So that's a thing. But we're here and that's what matters. So the big changes to the plotline of Fate Grand Order have begun. And Woz is here now. YAY. So, read and review, comment on Ao3. Favorite and Follow on . Kudos, subscribe and bookmark on Ao3. Now onto reviews from chapter one
Mr. Haziq: Yes Ritsuka is Sougo. And the brown hair was totally intentional and not the lighting of the First Order movie tricking me.
Soleilis: Sorry you didn't get to see Riders in this chapter. Chapter 3 I promise you'll see Riders and a lot of them.
The Furious Bard: Thank you. I did figure some people haven't fully immersed themselves in Fate Grand Order so I wanted to do a good chunk of set-up.
Merendinoemiliano: Yeah Geiz's movie is non-canon. Basically everything post the series, like Geiz Majesty, Reiwa First Gen, and Over Quartzer are non-canon to this story.
Thanks for the support, I'll see you guys next time. Thank you to my friend ZeroEnchiladas for his continued help, in fighting off the lobster army.