"So you don't recognize me?"

Mash hesitated, unsure, then shook her head no. "I-I'm sorry. I-I d-don't-"

"Enough. You've given me what I needed, thank you." Ereshkigal huffed and raised her hand up to shoo the young girl away. Everything was wrong. The stupid Archer managed to slip away from her, and she didn't dare stray too far from her Master (and others) in case he tried to pull something. She didn't encounter the fabled Berserker, but wasn't going to risk the weaker ones running into him and being killed. She barely saved her Master's life, and wasn't about to throw it away for nothing.

This was the worst! Why did everything have to be so difficult? Sure, she said, quote, '... even if it's not you you' when contracting with Ritsuka, but…. Well, yeah, that probably explained it. She should've been more specific, that the 'you' had to know who she was, or at least had to have contracted with her themself…

Actually, no! The timeline was all out-of-whack, and she could both remember everything and nothing at the same time to the point where it honestly gave her a headache, but she could make this work! Ereshkigal found her thirst for a life outside the underworld stoked by Fujimaru's fantastical tales, so this would be just like living out a storybook! She could experience saving humanity for herself, and then live past that alongside the master who threw (would throw?) himself into the Abyss for her! This would be wonderful!

And, even better, he wouldn't remember that she might have tried to wipe out Chaldea in an attempt to kill herself. That was definitely a plus. While she knew Ritsuka would certainly come to her aid next time she went on a downward spiral, she still wasn't proud of it and would prefer it never come up again, so this worked in her favor! As far as this Ritsuka would know, Erehkigal never doubted the worth of her life, for she was a reliable goddess of victory and nothing less. Never anything less.

She let out a small groan of embarrassment, drawing her fellow Servant's attention, but managed to put on a dazzling smile in place of whatever un-goddess-like expression she had been making.

"D-did you say-"

"No, it was nothing!" She internally cringed at Mash's skittishness. Ereshkigal hated to be feared by most humans; she only wanted to be respected, and there was a significant difference .Ereshkigal saw the fear in her purple eyes. Always, the goddess was met with fear and trepidation, always she was looked at warily, always people walked around her like they were stepping on eggshells (when they walked around her at all). Ritsuka was the first person, mortal or otherwise, to just talk to her. The Mash in Babylon wasn't as nervous around her. The Mash of today hadn't matured yet, hadn't experienced as much combat. Neither had her Master... If Ritsuka looked at her with that fear in his eyes…

Ereshkigal wanted to tell the humans all about why there was no need to be afraid, how she was a benevolent (if gloomy) goddess who would provide the best accommodations possible to the dead, and that, given time, she would be willing to them her friends.

But she couldn't just say that out loud. After all, even if she was trapped in the underworld for her entire life, she was still a goddess. A goddess wouldn't explain herself, so Ereshkigal didn't. Mash would have to reach understanding on her own. As Mash went about her business, the goddess of death glanced at the two humans lying on their temporary basement base's floor. Well, one human, and one… spirit, of sorts.

The Throne, curiously, would not allow her to say anything to the young spirit girl about her condition. If she remembered correctly… this girl would never reach the Underworld. Ereshkigal looked over her with empathy, but had to stifle it for the time being. For now, she had to figure out how she was going to fight with two mana-dry masters and limited connection to the Chaldea mana link.

It would be difficult considering the amount of mana she expended to partially activate her Noble Phantasm, and the mana she was putting through the cage that surrounded Ritsuka like a blanket. Fighting in the overworld was much more tiring than it needed to be! She thought it would be a simple task to drop herself and her compatriots into the underworld to give them a chance to run away outside of the Archer's line of sight, but that knocked out the spirit girl and nearly drained all of her own personal reserve of mana. She was still more than a match for that stupid, cowardly, no-good-useless Archer, but- wait, why did she care so much about some random Servant?

"It doesn't matter... " she grumbled. Her eyes narrowed before the Shielder could talk again.

One of her patrolling spirits warned her of an approaching undead. She sighed and rang her little cage, knowing that the skeleton was instantly consumed by one of her shadowy Gallû beasts. The undead were nothing to her. With a flick of her wrist, she could send them on to a restful afterlife; she only chose not to make such a spectacle out of it and remove all of the undead in the area so the Archer couldn't find them. Using the beasts individually and sporadically would make it just a bit more difficult to triangulate her location. As long as no Servants fell upon them, they would be fine here.

Mash, luckily, seemed to have inherited good knowledge of tactics. Without any need for Ereshkigal's orders, she found a nice basement to move the unconscious humans, well-hidden from the Archer. She may not have realized it, but the low altitude of the building and close proximity to the underworld (relatively) gave Ereshkigal a minor boost in power, and the innumerable multitudes of undead in the area gave her spirits great cover to slip around and keep an eye on everything. For now, they were safe.

"Lady Ereshkigal…"

The respect made her smile, especially since the anxious stuttering seemed to be under control. "Yes, Mash?"

"Thank you for saving my- our Master," the Shielder said with a slight bow. Ereshkigal waved off the praise.

"While his soul would be safe with me, it's not quite time for him to die." Mash looked vaguely uncomfortable with that idea, but that was normal for mortals.

"I see... " Mash looked down, focusing on a cardboard box filled with random little baubles stuffed away in some cobweb-covered corner of the cement box of a room. "Do you… know us from somewhere, Lady Ereshkigal?"

She shook her head. "Oh, goodness no. The summoning gave me some extra information is all. I needed a moment to get used to it."

Not that she could talk about the future, anyways. Every time she tried her words left her and her head got fuzzy.

Mash raised an eyebrow at the semi-obvious lie, but managed to bring it back under control. "I see. You just seemed very… familiar with us. May I ask another question?" Ereshkigal nodded. "Ereshkigal is the Sumerian goddess of death. Does that mean you're a Divine Spirit?"

The soreness in her body was evidence enough that she wasn't, not completely, anyways, but Mash couldn't know that. "I'm a Pseudo-Servant. The Grail found a suitable human vessel for my spirit to inhabit. My Divinity is too much for any human to handle. I couldn't bear to put that kind of strain on my Master…" Ereshkigal trailed off, sending a glance towards the recovering male Master. The color had returned to his face and his wound had closed, but his recovery would still take rest. Her cages could only do so much to stop death given their intended purpose.

"I see," Mash replied. She opened her mouth to continue, then closed it and furrowed her brow in thought. Ereshkigal gave her a moment to gather herself, waiting patiently before she finally spoke. "We should come up with a plan for securing the Grail. We… us two, I mean, we… our Master needs our strength to get home."

"And he will get it," Ereshkigal stated with a hint of firmness. "I… have a contract with this human. As a goddess, it is my responsibility to protect and support my champion to the best of my abilities." At Mash's intrigued gaze, the blonde goddess turned away to hide her growing blush. 'Why did I say something so embarrassing?! A goddess would never so generously give her support to anyone! Choose your words more carefully, Eresh!'

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two Servants. The cold walls of the basement kept out any outside noise, but magnified the soft breathing of the four inhabitants. To both of their relief, Ritsuka's breathing was as stable and strong as any of theirs.

"Lady Ereshkigal?"

"Yes, Mash?"

Mash bit her lower lip. She let the question hang in the air, then quietly and deliberately turned her attention back to Ritsuka and the spirit girl. "No. It's nothing, sorry."

"You have my attention. Speak," Ereshkigal commanded slightly more harshly than she meant to. Her sister demanded respect, so she tried to emulate her when speaking to mortals, but… maybe she should tone it down just a little bit. "Please. And, Mash. While you'll do well to remember that our relationship is that of a goddess and a human, well… we are also fellow Servants under the same Master. As long as you remain respectful, you may treat me as a comrade with similar goals." Or a friend, if you'd like.

Ereshkigal didn't say that last part, but she thought it very hard.

Mash nodded cautiously. "R-right." Ereshkigal noted the stutter, fearing that she may have unintentionally made their relationship worse. She was sending mixed signals! Before she could attempt to correct herself, the Shielder sat down across from her and cradled her knees to her chest. Mash sat in silence, again contemplating her words carefully. "You're right, I think."

"About what?"

"I'm…" Mash's back expanded as she breathed deeply, in and out. "Our relationship should be more like a goddess and a human. I've only been a functional Demi-Servant for a couple of hours, and I've already let my Master get gravely injured. I mean," she let out a dry, humorless chuckle, "I'm a Shielder, a class specialized in defense, and I couldn't protect him. I nearly let humanity's last hope die. My last hope…"

What did she mean by that? And why was she looking at her like that? This goddess would listen to her comrade's woes, but why was Mash looking up through her lavender bangs like she expected advice or emotional support… Oh. OH.

Ereshkigal took on the proud smile her sister wore constantly and hoped it was believable. "Yes, perhaps you did let your defenses falter, but what could one expect? You are not divine, nor perfect." The goddess mentally cringed. That wasn't helpful! Quickly, recover! "A-ah, yes! You are but the vessel of a Heroic Spirit! Luckily, this reliable goddess has come to your aid! I will… umm… be the goddess of victory you need, so… count on me, please. "

The goddess could feel Mash's gaze judging her, but couldn't muster the courage to put her in her place. She wasn't used to speaking so much.

"You're also… your devotion to our Master is respectable. Well done."

"Thank you, Lady Ereshkigal," Mash said with a fresh determined look in her eyes. Whatever Ereshkigal told her had worked, apparently. "I'll work hard so you don't have to pick up my slack in the future. I will keep Senpai safe so you can secure our victory!"

"You're awake. Good."

That was all Ereshkigal said to Olga before she dematerialized. Servant Lancer seemed to have nothing to say to Olga Marie, much to her chagrin (and recognition). According to Mash, Ereshkigal had been quite kind and, while not talkative exactly, at least engaged with the Shielder. But the second the director woke up she disappeared. God forbid the Servant talk to one of her masters (even if one of those Masters wasn't a Master but just got so close to being one that she wanted to fudge the difference and pretend that maybe she had some authority and was maybe something a little closer to praise-worthy and wasn't just a glorified mana battery that would be tossed aside the moment the Servant was able to connect to the Chaldean mana link).

...

"Director? Are you alright?" Mash asked, looking up from Ritsuka with a concerned glance (that she didn't deserve).

"I'll be alright when we get back to Chaldea," she snapped. "Which would be faster if that Servant didn't LEAVE!"

Mash knew better than to pry further. She was already well-acquainted with an angry (stressed scared anxious terrified worthless meaningless) Olga Marie Animusphere.

At least in silence the director would fume to herself.

The nerve! Olga Marie still said the summoning incantation (she had it memorized for as long as Chaldea existed). If her raging headache and dry mouth had anything to say about it, she was definitely providing mana to the proclaimed goddess (that meant something, right?). Certainly she couldn't just be ignored by a Servant she was proving mana to. Right?

They had a chance to survive now. Olga Marie needed to talk to the new Servant, but even though she could feel a telepathic connection with her she had no command seals to enforce compliance (but even then the telepathic link was there so she was at least something tangential to a Master right? She was something more than nothing because she had to be something, please at least let her be something). So… she just had to wait for Ritsuka to wake up. Because, apparently, he was important. The man who showed up late to and slept through her briefing (because she was a failure and an uninspiring leader no one looked up to). Yeah. Right. She had only put an entire year of her life into (hoping Father would look at her and not Kirschtaria Wodime) the Chaldea program, so it made sense that the disrespectful bastard of a backup master candidate ended up with the respect of a Servant who never even spoke to him (and refused to speak to her, just like Father). Right. Yep. Great.

Olga Marie stifled her rising anger and blinked back a few frustrated tears.

This was fine.

Everything was fine (except she was hyperventilating and Mash noticed and was watching her deep breaths Olga deep breaths in out in out).

They were still alive (deep breaths). She just had to help the Master get them out of here (in, out). Accept her supporting role (slow down). Even if she wasn't a Master, she could still help! She'd been running Chaldea for long enough to have some experience in managing the project (just breath, Olga Marie). Except Romani was doing that now.

Romani. Shoot.

Their connection to Chaldea was shot. The urgency of the situation hit her like a bucket of ice water, and sobering realization chained back the panic gnashing at the heels of her subconscious. She couldn't afford to spiral right now.

For the next twenty minutes, Olga focused on re-establishing their connection to Chaldea. Something about the huge influx of mana during their fight with Archer destabilized their link with Romani, but after a little magical tune-up the acting director's holographic face popped back into being. While the stress in his eyes was obvious, he seemed relieved to find them in one piece and commented that, from what he could see, Fujimaru's vitals were back to normal. Why he didn't wake up was anyone's guess, and he claimed it would just be a matter of time.

She also sent a few telepathic messages Ereshkigal's way and was completely ignored. Which was fine.

Romani managed the Chaldean chaos well, reporting to her that all major fires and damages had been contained. He was eighty percent confident that there were no more bombs in the complex, and tentatively declared that they no longer had an immediate emergency on their side. However, the rayshifting technology was not at a point where they could be evacuated yet. Whatever disturbance caused this singularity was also keeping them there, so they had to resolve that quickly.

Caster's information gave them enough to form a plan, but without Ereshkigal in the room that would be near-impossible. They knew they needed to avoid Berserker at all costs so they didn't have a repeat encounter, and they knew that the Grail was in a cavern behind Ryuudou Temple. By going straight there, they would be able to draw Archer in and face Saber, minimizing the amount of fights it would take to resolve this foundation of humanity.

Just as the director considered asking Romani if there were a way to activate Fujimaru's Command Seals to force the rogue Lancer to return, the brown-haired Master coughed violently. Before Olga Marie could even jump to her feet, Mash reached his side and slowly propped the waking Master up. His bright blue eyes fluttered open and wearily took in the cold stone room they found themselves in.

"Wow… I thought I was a goner for sure." His light-hearted smile contrasted the stress of the past hour so drastically that Olga couldn't help but gape. Mash jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him, letting some small tears of relief leak out.

"Senpai! You're alive!"

"I guess I'm hard to kill, huh?" he joked, but the director clocked a dullness to his eyes that wasn't there before.

Romani's voice chimed in over the comms. "You certainly are. Da Vinci says you should be dead thrice over, so even if you're feeling better now make sure not to push it."

"Right, right," Ritsuka said as he sat up. Mash helped prop him up against a wall. "... Caster isn't here, huh?"

Olga Marie stepped up. "There are some things we need to catch you up on."

'Okay, so after my introduction there are four general options. Ritsuka say "Nice to meet you, Ereshkigal, thank you so much for saving my life," and he continues to acknowledge my divinity and swear his loyalty to me. That's a great scenario. Mash is sweet, I like her, and she's also quiet so that's perfect for me. Very respectful, too. She's seen me… falter in my Divinity, though, so I need to keep that in mind. What if she says something to Ritsuka when I'm not in the room? Like, "Oh Senpai, this goddess you summoned is just putting on a strong face, she's really a sheltered little girl with no idea how to talk to people!'"

Even in spirit form, her metaphorical cheeks burned. Ereshkigal definitely knew how to talk to people! She was practicing right now! In fact…

Ereshkigal did the spiritual equivalent of standing up and cleared her throat. "Here goes… Servant, Lancer. Mistress of the Underworld, Ereshki- no, no, no, I need a mirror! Why aren't there any mirrors here?" She looked around the crumbling rooftop that she claimed as a vantage point. Only the smoldering flames on the horizon replied with their ever-present crackling. "Ugh! Never mind! Again! Practice makes perfect, Eresh, you've got to make a good first impression...

"Servant, Lancer…" She paused, hummed and hawed, considering. "Let's add '-class' to that. I'm not averse to being called 'Lancer,' but 'Lancer-class' is more like a title than a possible name. I don't want to be perceived more as a Servant than a goddess, so my name is most important in this case. Keep that in mind for later, goddess... Okay, continuing: Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld. I responded to your summons!"

Ereshkigal struck a haughty pose and put on a smile, but it didn't feel right. "That last line doesn't work. The girls didn't respond to that like I wanted... It could be better, I mean, and if it could be better then it's not the best! C'mon, Eresh, this is make or break!"

Her practice was interrupted when one of her Gallû scouts pinged a dangerous location in her mental map. The intersection of leylines plus a terribly malevolent aura? That must be the location of the grail Mash mentioned. Even knowing about the grail's corruption, she found aspects of the energy confusing. There was a touch of something similar to the aura of the Age of Gods, something extra and something that she recognized, but couldn't put her finger on. Ereshkigal sighed. The sudden onset of a headache told her it was probably something she learned of when she first met Ritsuka and the Throne just didn't want her to know about it yet. How annoying. She filed it away as 'important' and decided to come back to it later.

"Okay, anyways," she sighed and went back to practicing. floating to and fro in a rough approximation of pacing. "I responded to your summons… let's see. I came because you called?" she shook her head. "No, absolutely not. I responded to your call… You called and I responded… I came in response to your call! That's it!"

Even as she continued her recitation, Ereshkigal's kept the movements of her Gallû spirits in mind. The Chaldean team might have known the location of the grail even before she arrived, but her scouts to give them an actionable and detailed map of the area. A few more spirits roamed in the area immediately around their temporary base and two were specifically assigned to follow the corrupted Berserker that nearly killed Ritsuka.

The monstrous being currently stood catatonic far to the west of their base- whatever the Chaldean team and the late Caster had done, they seemingly drained enough of his energy for him to take some time to replenish his mana. Not that Ereshkigal took that as a reason to relax; the power the rogue Servant exuded would have given her pause even during her prime. There was no way that she would allow the beast to come anywhere near her comrades again… with her current lack of Chaldean mana supply, she probably wouldn't be able to fight both Berserker and whoever set up near the grail, and that was before taking Archer into consideration.

"Servant, Lancer-class. Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld…" Ereshkigal continued her introduction on loop. While it did deserve her undivided attention (a goddess should have a perfect introduction, after all), she needed to strategize. What would she do about Archer? Her spirits were scouring the entire city of Fuyuki and found neither hide nor hair of a red-clad fighter. She could face him, certainly. She did not doubt her strength, and the ghost girl provided a suitable amount of mana- not enough to fight with her full divine luster, but still enough to fight comfortably. Draining the girl enough to knock her out was a fluke on her part, as she had attempted to unleash her full powers when only at Pseudo-Servant strength. Such a mistake would not happen again now that she had adjusted.

Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld, was dutiful in every way, and thus did not make mistakes that could harm her charges.

"I do not lend my powers to one person exclusively, but-"

'Hey, blondie, your champion's awake. Get back here!'

...

Ereshkigal blinked.

What?

Blondie?

What kind of disrespect-

'Excuse me? Blondie?! How dare you! I'll have you know that I am a-'

And then this woman had the audacity to interrupt her.

'Oh, now you respond? Yes, you're a goddess, but-'

'Do not interrupt me, mortal! Be silent!' Ereshkigal commanded, wincing as her Authority took hold. She didn't mean to waste mana like that. However, her command of the dead kicked in and the ghost was silenced. 'I will be back shortly. I must finish preparing.'

The girl couldn't respond, so Ereshkigal went along with her business without worry. While she wanted to drop everything and rush to Ritsuka's side, to make sure he was happy and healthy, doing that would make her seem desperate. No, a goddess arrives precisely when she means to.

'By my command seal I order you…'

What? Huh? That was Ritsuka's voice. What?

'Ereshkigal, appear before me and introduce yourself!'

'NO NO NO NO WAIT I'M NOT READY-'

AN: Chapter 2! This one is more setup-y than chapter 1, in my opinion, and the scenes just ended up so much more internal that my outline implied. The story itself will really pick up next chapter, but I wanted to give Eresh and Olga Marie time to stew with their thoughts. Olga's shock from last chapter is more contained, but that lets her self-doubt manifest in other ways. Eresh, on the other-but-kinda-the-same hand, is dealing with some timey-wimey BS.

Now for some housecleaning: I appreciate all of the support so much! Y'all are great, and I hope I continue to intrigue you enough to stick around!

The next chapter won't come out as quickly as this one- I had an earlier draft of chapter 2 already completed when I posted the first one, and just ended up rewriting it (almost completely). Chapter 3 is pretty close to done, but it's missing some key moments that just aren't coming together like I want them to. This is going to be a shorter story, so I'm really focused on making sure each individual chapter is high quality.