AN: I LIVE AGAIN! …again. Hello everyone, finally got another snips set for you all. Enjoy!
17.1
[Fate Grand Order]
Grail Front: Orleans
Ritsuka Fujimaru was many things, but there was one thing she was practically above all else. Despite Altria's best attempts, she knew where her talents truly lied.
She wasn't a warrior, even if she was good at fighting. She wasn't a mage, even if she could cast spells. Her talents lied in two places. One talent was to make friends, to forge bonds with almost anyone. To be that friend that could be relied on.
Her other talent was in commanding. Forging battle plans, maximizing efficiency. Commanding heroes of legend in wars across time and all across the globe. She knew their talents, their skills, their legends. Their strengths and weaknesses, even how they preferred to fight.
She didn't prefer to fight herself, even if she'd wished to fight alongside them. No, her talents were best left where they belong. Commanding her allies and friends, leading them to victory through superior strategy and preparing them to face foes stronger than them.
This Loop was apparently going to be putting that to the test.
"What do we know about the enemy, Avicebron?" she asked, the golem maker putting his hands on the table before him. In their small base camp, Ritsuka had only herself, Mash, Jeanne and the Caster she'd summoned as allies. Three Servants against the oncoming forces.
"My Golem reported that the Pseudo-Master is commanding four Servants," Avicebron reported muttering an incantation and waving his hand to make four small illusions. "These were the Servants."
"Okay… Carmilla, Martha, Lancelot, and Phantom. Two Assassins, a Rider, and a Berserker," Ritsuka looked at the map before them. "And their current positions?"
Avicbron tapped the map, shrinking the illusions and putting them where his spy golem was keeping an eye on them. Martha was out front as the vanguard, alongside a pack of dragons. Phantom was completely missing, but had last been spotted circling north. Carmilla was sticking close to the Pseudo-Master, while Lancelot was just behind Martha, ready to reinforce her advance. Oh course this was on the map, so distance wasn't exactly correct.
"Let's see… our team consists of me, an Unawake Mash, Jeanne and Avicebron. Two defensive Servants with minimal offensive power, and a Caster who's best use is making golems. He himself can't fight, and without a proper Workshop he's practically useless due to the low quality materials here in Orleans," Ritsuka thought. Those were their disadvantages, so she needed to focus on what they could do.
She started pacing. "However, they're coming towards us, so we're on the defensive. I know Mash and Jeanne can hold off Lancelot together, but Martha's magic is capable of bypassing Jeanne's Magic Resistance due to being from the same source."
"Senpai what's the plan?" Mash asked as Ritsuka looked at the map again.
"Avicebron, I need you in the north, ready to intercept Phantom," she ordered. Phantom wasn't a particularly strong Servant, even with Madness Enhancement, and acting alone he was perhaps the easiest of this situation to handle. But he wasn't to be underestimated. "You have authority to use Adam if you feel the need to."
"I won't fail you Master," Avicebron responded, before beginning to walk off, then breaking into a run, and then a slide towards the northern side of their battlefield to protect their flank.
"The plan is to hold until Avicebron secures the flank. I know you two can do it," Ritsuka encouraged, before pulling up her communicator. "Avicebron, once you deal with Phantom, I need you to circle around to engage the battlefield. If the Pseudo-Master is going to keep Carmilla at his side, we're going to overwhelm the center. Shoot me a call once you've dealt with Phantom."
"Understood, I'm already on approach to the interception point."
"Let's go," Ritsuka started, adjusting her Mystic Code's sleeve. She was wearing only a basic Mystic Code, preloaded with three spells, and she needed to be close to the action to make use of them.
Thankfully with a pair of defenders doing just that, she wouldn't have to fear. But at the moment, her plan hinged on Avicebron.
The Golem Maker had arrived at his destination, laying a hand on the cliff wall and slipping a small timed spell inside. His trap set, he turned towards the forest and took a deep breath behind his mask.
He knew his opponent, and his mission. His Master was trusting him, and him alone, to be their key to victory.
He wasn't going to fail. Upon his stained Spirit Origin he swore it.
A quick tap of his stilt against the ground caused a golem to form, made of dirt and clay. Piss poor materials of exceptionally low quality, and without even a core to function for more than a few seconds. But that was all the time he needed.
A shadowy figure shot out of the woods landscape behind him, sharp blood soaked talons aiming for his back. Avicebron snapped his head to the side, his golem whipping around and swinging its massive fist as Avicebron stepped to the side. The Assassin's claw easily ripped through the golem's arm.
Avicebron snapped his fingers again as Phantom's claws dispersed his first golem, a pair of limbs shooting up from the ground and grabbing the assassin by the legs. "Dance with me." He ripped his way out of the binding with pure strength. "SING WITH ME!"
Avicebron raised his hand, forming an orb of magical energy in it before crushing it with his fist. An explosion detonated directly in front of him, sending him flying backwards and clattering against the ground as Phantom of the Opera was flung against a tree. The crazed Assassin picked himself up as Avicebron tapped the ground with a finger.
A golem sprung up next to the Assassin, attempting a haymaker. Rather than clash with it, the masked man leapt backwards, bouncing off of a tree and screeching, diving for the golem and ripping its mask off, tearing it to shreds as Avicebron used both of his hands, not even bothering to pick himself up off the ground.
Six golems sprung up around Phantom, all of them shorter than the Assassin himself. Small and quick they attempted to punch him as one. The singer leapt up before spinning around. "A rose amid the wind!"
He tore all six golems to shreds with his talons in a single spin, Avicebron rolling out of the way as Phantom launched himself towards the Caster. Talons impaled the ground as a golem sprung up right from where Avicebron had vacated, attempting to grab Phantom between its arms. The assassin threw out his own, easily stopping the attempted grab of the half formed golem.
Avicebron took advantage of the Assassin's frustration, forming a golem beneath him to drag him back towards the cliffside. Phantom screeched as he tore into the golem he was fighting, rendering it powder once more before turning around and stalking towards him, growling and clicking his talons against each other.
"Ah, what a lovely prize you shall make for Christine. Such exquisite dolls," Phantom mused, the utterly insane Assassin only earning a huff from Avicbron as the Caster stood up, and put his hand against the cliffside.
"The thing about insanity… it makes one lose focus upon the bigger picture," he snapped his fingers on his free hand, the cliffside deforming as a Golem formed out of it, one purely specialized for strength and durability. Phantom turned just in time for the thing to bear hug him as the Avicebron then smacked his hand against the cliffside.
Forming a few dozen small golems to act as boulders in a landslide, they fell upon the golem grappling Phantom, pushing both to the dirt as Phantom struggled to get out from under the enchanted stone. Just as that occurred, Avicbron closed his hand, setting off the last piece of his delayed spell.
A detonator.
A massive explosion shook the woods as all thirty-seven golems piled atop Phantom of the Opera exploded. A large cloud of fire and smoke formed as Avicebron steadied himself against the remains of the cliff. When the smoke cleared… there was only a crater.
He breathed a sigh of relief, before raising his communicator. "I've dealt with him."
Ritsuka responded. "Hurry around! Lancelot's making an attack run and Jeanne's barrier isn't going to hold if Martha decides to attempt dispelling it! We've already got Lord Chaldeas up, but we need you," his master ordered.
"On my way," Avicebron stated, cutting communication. Simply running wouldn't be fast enough.
He tapped his stilt to the ground, a golem forming beneath him, still in the ground as he stood atop its head. It began sliding forward, like a wave in the dirt and picking up speed. He simply needed to make it to the flank in time.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
Missiles and bullets pounded against Mash's Noble Phantasm, the shielder grunting as the wall began to crack. High above, Lancelot was circling around again on his jet as Martha and her army of dragons began to prepare another bombardment of flames, Tarrasque at the forefront.
Martha had dispelled Jeanne's barrier, leaving only Mash to defend them, and Ritsuka's friend was faltering, even with Ritsuka's aid. Of course, she'd yet to spend a Command Seal yet, relying entirely on her Mystic Code to provide Mash with backup.
"Where is he?" Jeanne questioned, clutching her folded up banner as another barrage of flames crashed against Lord Chaldeas, the heat passing over all three of them as Lancelot roared again, the jet circling back around as Ritsuka raised her hand.
"Mash! Defend us with all your might!" Ritsuka ordered, burning a Command Seal on a simple but strong command.
"Right Senpai!" Mash agreed, looking forward once again as the power of the Command Seal burned through her. A course of action they were in full agreement on.
The blue wall before them did not fall, it rose even higher as flames, bullets and missiles bounced off of it. Ritsuka watched Lancelot jump down from above, the Berserker howling as he summoned up a pair of Uzis, the guns crossed with red lines marking them as his weapons.
Landing behind their shield, Lancelot aimed at Jeanne, focusing entirely on her, screaming his first slightly coherent words in a while. "A̶̠͊̑R̷̗̖͈̿̋̋̋̑Ţ̶̒̔͗͜͝H̶̢̗̘͛͗U̵̝͇̫̣͚̿R̶̭̩̙͍̣͊̃!̸̳̙̪̫́̄͛̕" he screeched, a barrage of bullets firing from his twin guns.
"Order Change!" Ritsuka snapped her fingers, swapping the surprised Jeanne with a random boulder, which shattered from the bullets impacting it, but putting Jeanne closer to the Berserker. The Ruler charged with her flag, spinning it like a lance as Lancelot threw away his twin guns, pulling a literal revolver out of nowhere and firing twice with it while grabbing a random shard of rock off the ground, using it as a dagger as Jeanne blocked the two bullets with her flag, sending them flying as she advanced again with a leap.
Attempting to jab at Lancelot, the Berserker was quick to spin around, clashing his small rock dagger against her flag, stopping it dead in its path before pistol-whipping Jeanne with his revolver. She seethed as the Berserker kneed her in the chest, sending her skyward before following up with three more shots from his revolver, nailing the Ruler in the chest and straight through her armor before leaping up after her with a growl.
"Osiris!" Ritsuka shouted, a golden shield springing up around Jeanne that Lancelot rammed straight into, bouncing him back for a moment as Jeanne spun around, even with bleeding bullet wounds in her chest. She kicked Lancelot in the head, sending the Berserker sprawling and his weapons of choice flying as Ritsuka snapped her fingers. "Aid."
Normally, Jeanne was outright immune to magic that wasn't from church scripture. But thanks to her temporary contract, and a lot of experience, the Ruler's wounds were mended. It was only a quick patch-up, rather than a full on heal. But it was better to keep the blood in her body until someone could remove the bullets.
Lancelot spun back up, growling like a rabid dog before standing up again, whipping out a pirate cannon, much to Jeanne's surprise. The Berserker pulled the cord, firing a cannonball wreathed in red straight at Jeanne before straight up kicking the cannon at her. Swinging her standard like a bat, she knocked the cannonball into the distance, where it exploded with a surprising amount of force before leaping over the cannon.
"Jeanne! Plunge!" Ritsuka ordered as she pointed at Lancelot, Jeanne looking down just as Ritsuka threw out her other hand. "Order Change!"
There was a moment of pause as the cannon, and the Berserker swapped places. A moment of confusion passed before Jeanne dropped onto him, smashing Lancelot into the ground with the force of her body, and piercing through his black armor with her battle standard. Unfortunately he picked himself back up, Jeanne ripping her flag out of him as the Berserker roared, blood oozing out of the small hole in his torso.
He whipped out a pair of M16s, the guns clicking as Jeanne raised her standard, the flag unfurling as a golden barrier appeared before her. It wasn't a full release of her Noble Phantasm, but it was enough to stop the bullets.
"Senpai, we're losing ground!" Mash reported as Ritsuka spun around, the blue wall faltering again as Ritsuka grit her teeth. Lancelot behind them, with Martha and the wyverns in front of them.
It all rested on Avicebron now… and she could feel the ground beginning to shake.
"Everything is ready." Avicebron noted as he held up his hand. He was at the northern edge of the battlefield… an army of wyverns, a pair of powerful Servants. Unrelenting force being brought down upon his allies.
And he, the only one able to aid them. "Born of the great mother, swallow intelligence and be filled with life." The ground quaked as he began summoning his ultimate weapon. Chaldea's newest trump card. "Wield thy weapon, and evil shall be destroyed." From the earth, a golem rose high into the sky, Avicebron standing upon its shoulder. Without a core, it wouldn't function at full capacity. "Purify blood with righteousness." but it didn't need that right now. What they needed… was a single attack "Thy name, embracing Ru'ach, is...Adam!"
Adam, the mighty Golem Keter Malkuth. His once uncompleted Noble Phantasm, brought to life. This facsimile wasn't a 'true' Adam. But it was good enough.
The glowing green orbs around Adam's halo glowed bright, the golem opening its mouth and screaming. The land was overturned, stone and sound intertwined. With Jeanne and Mash on the defensive, he didn't need to worry about them, just simply covering as much area as possible.
Wyverns fell from the sky. Tarrasque was sent tumbling, and Lancelot flung into the air, screaming in rage and anger, summoning his jet and flying directly towards Adam and Avicebron.
Perfect. "Adam, strike!" he ordered, the golem raising back its fist as the jet came in, missiles firing at it. Avicebron leapt off of Adam, sliding down the massive golem as fist met aircraft.
A massive explosion engulfed Adam's fist, the grand golem beginning to crumble. As Avicebron landed on the ground, he made a new golem beneath his feet, driving it towards his allies to rejoin them.
"I've confirmed the disappearance of Lancelot's Spirit Origin… I think," Mash stated as she lowered her shield, panting a bit as Ritsuka looked down at her hand, clenching her fist at the sight of her two remaining Command Seals.
"Okay, now we've got the advantage, that's two Servants down for the count," Ritsuka muttered. The torn up landscape around them wasn't exactly a cold comfort, since the burned field had effectively been replaced by craggy stone.
"Oh my…" Jeanne muttered as Ritsuka looked around.
"Incoming!" Mash shouted, all of them looking towards the oncoming enemies. More wyverns, mostly of the 'Dread' rank, flames flickering from their maws as Ritsuka gave the order.
"Engage!"
Throwing out her hand, Mash leapt upwards, diving forward with her shield and ramming it into a wyvern, forcing it to the ground as Jeanne started batting away fireballs aimed at Ritsuka. The Master took a deep breath as she flexed her hands. This Loop was already looking to be at least a bit harder on than normal with how aggressive and tactical their enemies were being.
Jeanne spun her standard as another Wyvern closed in, attempting to claw at her, only to instead get pierced through the wings, dragging it down to earth as Mash crashed into the ground.
A wyvern dread dove for the downed shielder, only for part of the wall to deform, a golem leaping out of it and smashing the wyvern into the opposing wall before crumbling to dust. "Avicebron!"
"Apologies for the late arrival," the Caster commented, snapping his fingers. "I've confirmed Martha and Carmilla's retreat," he stated.
"Alright, let's clean up and get 's gotta be more allies around here somewhere," Ritsuka mused, already knowing exactly who to expect out of Orleans.
It was time for war.
It had been three days of near constant wyvern attacks, a few minor skirmishes, and even aiding the French army, but now it was time. Their final assault on the Dragon Witch's castle.
Their battlefield was a dozen miles, and here they stood in Avicebron's hastily crafted workshop. The fighting had actually been intense enough, and the monsters so numerous, that Ritsuka had finally caved and started pulling resources from her Pocket, giving their Caster Octuplet Crystals and actually decent building materials to make his golems.
"Roman, what's the field like?" Ritsuka asked, their communications with Chaldea having been reestablished about a day ago at this point.
"We're picking up about nine Servant signatures, and we've identified Martha, Vlad III, Carmilla and Fafnir. Kinda hard not to for that last one, given its utterly massive," Roman complained.
"I knew I should have come along!" Da Vinci whined, the Caster being currently the only other Awake individual as far as Ritsuka knew.
"It's okay Da Vinci," Ritsuka muttered. "Do we have a battlefield layout?"
"With our new scouts we do," Avicebron admitted, creating an illusion over the table of the battlefield. "Mostly open fields, and their forces vastly outnumber our own. Fanfir and the Dragon Witch, Jeanne Alter, are certainly consistent when it comes to making new wyverns. They've even managed a few additional dragons besides Fafnir himself," Avicbron started as Da Vinci overlaid Chaldea's scans over the map, showing off the greatest clumps of magical signatures.
"That's a big one…" Ritsuka muttered, laying her hands on the table and frowning. Well, time to put her skills to the test. "Avicebron, images."
The caster obliged, breaking up visuals of every Servant that had been spotted. The 'Pseudo-Master' had apparently been disposed of at some point (which concerned her), but that meant one less thing to deal with. Sanson and Marie were gone, and had been for a while unfortunately. Marie had stayed behind to act as a defense when Jeanne Alter had led Fafnir directly to them, giving the team a chance to regroup.
"Okay, so we've got… Gilles, Jeanne Alter, Vlad III, Martha, Fafnir, Atalante, Chevalier D'Eon… and oh god," Ritsuka complained at the sight of the final Servant.
"Senpai, who is that?" Mash asked as Ritsuka took a deep breath.
"Hercules. Thankfully the Berserker version of him," Da Vinci decided to provide over the communicator. "What an array of Servants," Da Vinci mused, smirking.
'Not the first time we've had to deal with them all at once, but they're certainly far more organized than normal,' Ritsuka pondered, before smirking. 'But that's what makes it fun. Let's crack this puzzle.'
"Alright, let's focus on the big problems. Our forces consist of around five hundred golems, which is substantially less than their forces, given our low estimate currently sits at, what, five thousand?" Ritsuka asked, looking to Mash.
"Yes Senpai, according to Chaldea's calculations, the low estimate of their forces is around five thousand, with a high and seven thousand five hundred. And this is only accounting for wyverns," Mash provided, then Avicebron spoke up.
"I've yet to confirm it, but their Dragon forces seem to number between three and seven. Besides that, there are of course the nine enemy Servants, including Fafnir in that calculation. The enemy Master, and commander, seems to be Gilles de Rais, their Caster," Avicebron pointed out.
"Let's look at what we all know. They know we've fixed Siegfried, but at the same time we know they have Fafnir. No matter what, this battle is going to be focused around Siegfried and Fafnir fighting, and that outcome will determine how the rest of the battle is likely to go. It's not a guaranteed loss if Siegfried loses, similarly it's not a guaranteed victory if Fafnir loses," Ritsuka stated.
"I know I am to face Fafnir, and I will prevail, as is my legend," Siegfried decided to pipe up, only for Da Vinci to speak over the communicator.
"That's only if no one else gets involved. Say Atalante decided to strike your weak spot while you're dueling Fafnir. They could provide a critical moment where you'd lose," Da Vinci amended. "Similarly, we can affect your battle with Fafnir to aid you. But we can't just rely on legends here, this isn't just some battle for glory or treasure. This is a war with the world's fate on the line if we lose," the Caster pointed out.
"A bit rude, but she's right. We've only really got one shot, and our enemy, whoever they are, seems to have prepared a lot in advance. We've got to pick their plan apart one singularity at a time," Roman added as Ritsuka crossed her arms.
"Our biggest problem, the way I see it, is going to be Atalante and Hercules. They're the two Servants they have that can make the biggest impact not only on the main event, but also on the overall flow of battle… so here's what we're going to do."
The Battle for Pan-Human history began anew, and Ritsuka was excited to meet this challenge in her preferred way. With friends by her side, a plan in the works… and a lot of adventure to come.
17.2
(Awesomedude17) (Fate/Grand Order x Postal)
Summoning The Postal Dude Jr.
Type: Archer
A redhead with a goatee in a black trench coat, blue alien t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses appeared before Ritsuka, holding a shotgun, with the barrel being covered by a still living cat via its asshole.
"I guess you summoned me as an Archer. Sure. Why not? My name is The Postal Dude Jr. Yes, it's a fucking stupid as it sounds." He then took out a crack pipe and lit it up. "Alright, I'll be getting the rest of my shit together."
"Alright. Welcome, Postal Dude.
Type: Berserker
The Postal Dude appeared before Rits, but this time, his shirt was green, his hair was a more vivid orange, and his trench coat was a lighter shade of brown. In his hand was a machete.
"The name's Dude. Postal Dude." He said in a much deeper voice than his Archer counterpart. "And you summoned me as a berserker. Hehehehe... I suppose this will end with me needing a new wardrobe given that I'll be splattered in blood. I think this is gonna be fun... unless someone's a complete dick to us."
"Don't pick any fights with anyone here and you should be fine."
"Sounds good. Now then..." He took out some catnip and snorted it.
Type: Lancer
The Postal Dude was summoned in a purple bathrobe, with a shirt that had a monkey with its brain exposed, and needles sticking out from various parts of it, and shorts cut above his knees. He looked like a bum to be frank, even with the scythe in his hands. He opened his mouth and out came a strangely casual voice, almost as if it sounded like Jon St. John was speaking from him.
"Hey there. Lancer Postal Dude here. I just escaped Paradise, Arizona, only to find my trailer and truck getting stolen. Not even my worst Monday. By the way, do you know where I can get some crack?"
"Speak with Holmes, and welcome."
"Alright then. I wonder how he'll react to the 'no shit, Sherlock' response."
"Wouldn't be the first time he heard it, I guess."
17.3
[Fate/Grand Order]
Bond of Monte Cristo (High Priest of Ereshkigal)
The relationship between the being known as Avenger, the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes (as much as he may reject that name), and Ritsuka Fujimaru, Anchor to the Grand Order, is in a word, complicated, even more so that any other Bond built between the Anchor and the Servants summoned in Chaldea.
These Bonds are usually built and rebuilt on the battlefield, on both opposite and on the same side, upon answering the call of Chaldea, or being drawn upon the wacky shenanigans and riding together the wave of madness.
Once attempting to end their life, the Count became a valuable ally and friend, guardian to the very soul of Ritsuka Fujimaru. Some would call such action foolish, as would others call it admirable, to place such trust upon a former enemy, to have him be their shadow.
But the Count unique position grants him an insight that (almost) none of the Servants have access to.
Time is broken, and in an infinite repetition. And Ritsuka is one of the lynchpins holding their reality, their Branch, tied to the World Tree.
These Loops, as they are called, have offered Ritsuka a myriad of new possibilities, new journeys, and even new friendships. But one thing that Ritsuka has always done, when given the chance to, is allow the Avenger into their very soul. And it is through that very act that allows him to reach an understanding with Ritsuka.
Ritsuka, who's very being, nature and even gender is forever undefined and everchanging. Who can be surrounded by people they cherish with all their being yet feel alone in an uncaring World. Who will always march on regardless of circumstances, and has stained their hands for the sake of humanity, along with the rest of Chaldea, all of whom would go to hell and back for Ritsuka.
These were the thoughts of the Avenger, Edmond Dantes, as he, Ritsuka (a man at this time), Fou and Mash were located inside an underground cavern, having taken a detour from their search for the Grail powering the Singularity at Dantes request to come to this place.
The Isle of Monte Cristo, the birthplace of his Legend, of the treasure that kickstarted his journey of revenge, that set him on the path that brought him to Chaldea.
"So this is where the fabled Treasure of Monte Cristo was hidden all along?" Asked Mash, awake and being used as a mount for Fou.
"It is. By this year, "I" should still be inside the Chateau for a few more years, which means the treasure is here, where Faria left it for me to find." Avenger said, remembering the kind old man who saw Dantes as a kindered soul, betrayed and unjustly punished. Who saved him and yet he couldn't saved in return.
"And given this is a Singularity, once we get the Grail everything will put itself back together, which is why you're taking us here." Ritsuka said, his knowledge born of the countless Loops he experienced.
"Correct, and you may suspect what I want by bringing you here, and it's simple. It's a gift." Said Edmond.
"To the both of you, Ritsuka, Mash."
"The Treasure, you're giving us the Treasure?" Asked Ritsuka, his mind wondering how big would the fabled treasure be, given the fact that it's wealth granted Avenger his Golden Rule skill.
His pondering brought out a chuckle out of both Mash and Avenger, which caused him to look sheepishly at them both.
Mash then turned towards the Count. "We're thankful for this Count, but it truly wasn't needed."
"I know it may not be, and that your Pockets are likely a larger size than this treasure, but even so, I want to gift it to you both." Were the words of the Count as he stopped walking, and pressed his hand against an oddly shaped stone.
"And I want you to have this Ritsuka." After that, there was a rumbling, and part of the wall opened up to reveal a hidden room, coins littering the ground, locked chests and in the centre of the room, a set of antique artifacts.
"This is not just the treasure that allowed me to enact my revenge, this is the treasure that granted me the power I now possess, the Magic Crest that granted me the black flames that burn even the soul." Said Edmond Dantes, the King of the Cavern, while looking at Ritsuka. "The Monte Cristo Mythologie, my Noble Phantasm."
"Avenger..." Started Ritsuka.
"Given that this opportunity presented itself, I figured it was a good a time as any. You have done a lot for me Ritsuka, for all of us on Chaldea, you've gone above and beyond what can be asked of you." Those were the true feelings of the Count of Monte Cristo. "And every time, you always open your soul to me, and allow me to your deepest secrets. You placed your trust in me, and I wish to reward that trust." This was followed by a smile.
"And if you wish to, just this once, you can use my name."
"Edmond, I, don't know what to say to that." Stammered Ritsuka, moved by the words of the Count.
"There's no need for you to say anything. Like I said, the opportunity presented itself, and your circumstances will likely allow you to use the full power of those flames." Dantes still remembered the first and only time he used the power of his flames, against the so-called Serpent of Akasha, the Dead Apostle Roa.
How fitting it was that he perished at the hands of the same power he was unknowingly seeking when their paths crossed. The power that nearly killed him, only held back by whatever Faria had done to hold it back and lock it away until his incarnation as an embodiment of vengeance.
"So, how does it work?" Came the question from Ritsuka. Edmond smiled, and he began explaining what he could from when he had awakened this power. In the background, Mash was quietly pocketing the rest of the treasure, with Fou digging up things he wanted Mash to wear.
The pack of Chimeras had been nearly slained, it's nunbers not enough against the enemy they faced. The clearing was littered with the bodies of the pack, most of them carrying various burns on their bodies. The last member was standing defiantly with it's three different heads, refusing to run from this last fight. It was then that a blur of black fire came upon him, and started hitting it's body repeatedly, enough to cause his flesh to start cooking where he was hit.
The beast tried to attack with a blast of magical energy, only for the flames to move. Suddenly, the beast felt something grab his tail-snake and start spining the Chimera, not realizing that the heat of the flames had started buring up the tail of the beast. And with a sickening sound, the tail of the Chimera was separated from it's body, a wound cautherized by the very fire that caused it.
The main body meanwhile, had been thrown against some trees when it's momentum had broken, his body also shattered by the battle. And then the figure shrouded in fire appeared, and upon seeing the state of the figure, his expresion softened. His hand raised, a burst of concentrated fire akin to a laser, burst forth from his hand, impacting the beast head and blowing it up.
The blue eyes of Ritsuka Fujimaru then looked towards the distance, seeing Fou, Mash and Dantes holding scoreboards, judging his performance in battle.
Fou had given him an 8, Mash a 9 and Edmond...
"5, really?" Complained Ritsuka. When Dantes had said he wanted to test how well would Ritsuka handle the flames, he didn't believe he was talking literally.
"The output of the flames was inconsistent, like at that last moment, where you were just toying with the Chimera and severed it's head. Then there was the moment when you were swallowed..."
"That one was intentional and you know it." Argued back Ritsuka, referring to the moment he let a Chimera swallow him, only to burn up the beast from the inside to dig himself a path out.
"Fo fou, kyu fou!" "See, Fou appreciated it!" Said Ritsuka.
"I did as well, and it did reflect on my score. For your first time using the flames, you did a good job, and you'll only improve from here." So was the judgement of the Avenger.
"In any case Senpai, now that the path is clear, we should head towards the Grail now that all enemies are defeated." Said Mash while she was pocketing the scoreboards back. Having grabbed them a long time ago for when they were needed.
"Once we finish gathering all the Materials we can. Can you lend me a hand?" Was the question of Ritsuka, answered by nods from his friends.
And so the group started collecting the spoils of their victory, and then set off on the path to the undefended Grail, restoring proper order to this Singularity as done countless times already.
But this power, the proof of the Bond between Dantes and Ritsuka, will be carried foward into the Infinite.
Avenger just hoped that after this Loop ended, his future selves would not be so shocked to see the Master they will face, carry the same black flames as he.
17.4
[Fate Grand Order]
Black Keys
"...I'm not keeping all these."
Mash chuckled softly, agreeing with the sentiment as she and Ritsuka looked at the third storage room to be filled this Loop. Specifically filled with black keys.
Thousands and thousands of black keys.
"At this rate, you might be able to have a Gate of Babylon that fires black keys," Mash joked, Ritsuka groaning and shaking her head.
"Please, doing so would be a stupid idea. These things break so easily." Ritsuka complained, crossing her arms.
"We have to do something with them," Mash offered, Ritsuka thinking about it for a moment, before snapping her fingers.
"I think I've got just the thing."
"And stay there! You fake priest!" Ritsuka shouted, Kirei Kotomine glaring at her from his position, pinned to a wall back an outline of around a hundred black keys, combined with some sort of mechanism rigged to fire a few hundred into his chest at any sign of movement.
"Well played Last Master of Chaldea," Kotomine noted as she, Mash and Meuniere left the room, leaving him trapped there for probably the next five minutes as Ritsuka pulled out another set of black keys from her Pocket.
These things were mostly useless, but they did have their uses… like being a distraction, or a funny tool.
"Where are you pulling all these from!?" Meuniere questioned loudly as Sherlock ran down the hallway towards them.
"Places." Ritsuka threw her current set of three down the hallway, nailing a single Oprichnik in the skull with one, and in the shoulders with the other two, and arming herself with another set of three between her fingers.
"Nice aim Fujimaru," Sherlock noted. "I believe I can leave Da Vinci to you?"
"Yeah, take Meuniere, come on Mash." Ritsuka ordered, Mash nodding as she pulled out a lot more black keys, lining the hallway with them to go off like mines should anyone approach.
"Alright Senpai. I'm surprised you managed to get Amakusa to enchant so many of these," She muttered.
"You'd be surprised how motivated he is when there's an offer of a grail," Ritsuka pointed out, Mash nodding as they began running for the control center to go get the unAwake Da Vinci.
After burying Koyanskya in about three hundred back keys, throwing her through a wall and shoving yet another black key up her butt for good measure, they began their retreat to the Shadow Border. Both Kotomine and Koyanskya had been… temporarily disposed of, and they went to grab Goredolf.
Inevitably this brought them into contact with one Anastasia and a squad of Oprichnik at her back.
"Okay, party's over, Mash!" Ritsuka ordered. It was fun while it lasted, but trying to fight a super powerful Caster with multiple ways to disable fairly crappy projectiles was not a recipe for survival. As funny as it had been to bury the fake priest and Vitch in the things, they hadn't really done anything.
"Right!" Mash dropped her own black keys, summoning her shield and getting in front, Da Vinci, and surprisingly Edmond joined her to fight Anastasia off. They could beat and kill her here, but doing so would lead to Kadoc getting killed by the Tsar's forces, and Kadoc was a future friend.
Of course after evading the icy Caster, they'd made their escape onto the Border, thankfully seemed to still be pinned to the wall or something, since he didn't show up to impale Da Vinci, they made their escape with relative ease, bearing witness to the oncoming descension of the trees, and diving to Imaginary Numbers Space.
"Still got so many black keys…"
"Master, did you really think that would work?" Edmond questioned, leaning against a tree as he, Mash and Ritsuka were amid the frozen wasteland that was the Russian Lostbelt.
"No, but it was worth a shot," Ritsuka admitted, spinning another black key between her fingers, the Russian Hydra before them weakly screeching, only for Ritsuka to put another black key through an eyeball with a practiced throw. It didn't do much other than piss it off, forcing Edmond to actually incinerate the thing… and the several hundred black keys that had been impaled into it.
"Darn things, why do we get so many of these useless blades," Ritsuka complained, pulling out another three black keys from her Pocket, just to keep emptying her stock as the trio marched for the leyline to summon whoever their ally this Lostbelt was gonna be.
"They are meant for fighting Dead Apostles, not Servants. Be thankful they can damage demonic beasts at all," Edmond pointed out with a hint of amusement.
"Yeah, and I'm fairly sure these things would be useless against Hinako," she waved the three she had between her fingers through the air.
"Hinako isn't a Dead Apostle Senpai," Mash reminded her.
"I'm also not sanctioned by any church, trained in scripture or follow a specific religion, so that probably won't help," Ritsuka admitted before chucking a black key at an Íss Úlfr, impaling it through the eyeball with expert precision through the snow.
"No, but your aim is impeccable. Do keep that up," Edmond amended, the Avenger blasting another two of the icy demonic beasts as they entered the cave to go summon up a Servant.
Ritsuka then proceeded to blow up a rock out of frustration while Edmond and Mash had been laughing at more Black Keys being what she'd summoned. Then she pulled a Catalyst out of her Pocket and forcefully summoned Gilgamesh…
The Caster was also laughing as he joined them. "Ah! Master, your luck seems to be quite terrible 'this time'," he pointed out… and returned to laughing his ass off. Damn his clairvoyance.
"Bite me Gil." That only caused him to laugh harder.
She didn't like black keys, she still had so many to get rid of.
17.5
[Fate Grand Order]
Stars Crossed
Nightingale had protested shoving Rama in her Pocket… until she'd shoved her in there too and told her to use whatever the hell she felt like to fix Rama's heart and get rid of the curse.
Throwing them both into her grail vault would probably be incentive enough for how to go about doing that. She'd check on them in like five minutes, at worst.
"Senpai, did you really have to do that?" Mash asked, chuckling softly. She was Awake this Loop, so it was more just confusion, since Ritsuka didn't tend to do something so blant.
She looked at Mash, and frowned. And basically pointed her shoulder. Mash nodded, taking the hint that whatever she was doing was probably something that if she said it, would invite a very unwelcome visitor.
Part one of her plan complete, she began phase two… which was booking it to Alcatraz as soon as possible. They'd deal with Cu Alter without Rama this Loop. "Hey Achilles!"
"Yes Master!?" The Rider called, stabbing a Celtic soldier through the chest before dashing over, coming to a stop in less than a second. "What do you need?"
"We're going cross country. West Coast!" she ordered.
"Eh? Alright then!" Achilles shrugged, picking her up.
Ritsuka looked down at Mash. "Mash, you and Jason are in charge, don't go too crazy!"
"Understood Senpai!" Mash replied, before smacking away a Celtic soldier with her shield and rushing off to get the Saber to help with command structure. Said Saber was currently running away from Fionn and Diarmuid while Mandricardo was chasing after all three of them in an attempt to save the captain of the Argo.
Achilles took off, Ritsuka on his shoulders, rushing for the western coast of America. With the fastest legs in the world (at least in this Universe), the only thing holding them back from being there nigh instantly was her… since going that fast would be very bad for her body.
It still took maybe less than two minutes thanks to the protections of her Mystic Code and surprising constitution (She wasn't exactly sure what she was this Loop, but it sure wasn't human), so it wasn't like it mattered too much.
"We're going for Alcatraz, down the coast," she said once they reached the water. Achilles nodded and took off running again, leaving her to hang on and hope… Mostly that Nightingale would actually fix Rama.
Grails had to be worth something for replacing a completely exploded and cursed heart right?
Reaching the prison Isle, Ritsuka leapt off of Achilles' shoulders, the Rider spinning his spear as guards started to pour out. "Don't go too crazy, I need to check on Gale."
"Don't worry about me Master," the Hero of the Trojan War said with a smile "I'll be perfectly fine."
Ritsuka nodded before Pocketing herself, allowing Achilles to get to work. Dropping into her Grail storage, she saw Nightingale crossing her arms, Rama looking down at his chest in wonder. At least he was up and moving again.
"Where did you get all of these Grails?" Nightingale questioned.
"Don't worry about it, let's go," she walked over to Nightingale, Rama moving to join them. "Not you."
"What!?" Rama questioned in surprise.
"Just stay here for a little bit, you'll see," she ordered with a smile, taking Nightingale's hand and dragging her out of the Pocket. The Berserker looked around confused as Achilles was still sweeping up and toying with Celtic soldiers.
"Interesting, we are in a different location," she noted, before leaping into action as well, Ritsuka shrugging before running towards the walls, beginning to scale them while Achilles and Nightingale wreaked havoc. It took her maybe twenty seconds to reach the top, avoiding a few stray arrows and magic spells along the way.
Flipping onto the battlements, she cracked her neck. Warping slightly to the right with her powers from Lotós. She then rushed the archers, several of them drawing swords as she warped around and through arrows, getting in close and punching fully grown soldiers from the early era's of humanity and flinging them off the walls.
After dealing with said archers, she looked around the courtyard, casually dodging some spells from druids as Achilles and Nightingale burst through the front. She nodded, accepting this outcome and made to go for Sita, who would be in the deepest levels of Alcatraz if her memory served correctly.
She hadn't seen Beowulf yet, so it was likely that he was-
She reacted just before the club-like sword took her head off, warping back the maximum distance (about a meter), on finely honed instinct. Beowulf huffed. "Dammit, well guess we're doing this the fun way then?" he asked, smirking.
Ritsuka smirked, cracking her knuckles and putting up her fists. That only got Beowulf to laugh. "You got guts kid!" he commended, before dropping both of his weapons. "Guess I'll give you what you're asking for!"
Beowulf going all out, discarding the limits of his Servant Container… This was gonna be fun. But her goal wasn't him, it was Sita. For Rama, and for her.
She wasn't about to lose here.
Whatever identity she had this Loop didn't matter, so she discarded it, Beowulf actually raising an eyebrow as she breathed heavily, her skin going pale, her shoes burning off as flowers began to sprout from around her. She needed her strongest body for this sort of close combat.
"Neat trick kid, what's your name?" Beowulf questioned as he spread his legs, taking up a boxer's stance as Ritsuka shifted into what she was familiar with, one foot forward and one arm extended, ready to block.
"You may call me Lotós," she declared the identity she had retaken.
"Well then Lotós," Beowulf rushed forward. "LET'S GO!"
She shifted her head to the right, avoiding getting it punched off by his left hook, and blocked his jab to her stomach at the same time. He ramped up quickly, not even giving her a moment to breathe, forcing her on the defensive entirely, blocking, dodging and occasionally warping to one side. But his instincts were well honed, befitting the warrior king, and he was on her the moment she tried to gain some space.
Double dashing backwards, she finally got just a little bit of room, deciding to use it as he advanced, warping 'through' him and striking him in the back with a quick jab, her follow-up kick being caught by his arm. She braced as he threw her into a nearby wall, shattering it. A quick groan, and she was back on her feet, dodging a piledriver and returning with a roundhouse.
The continued beating at each other, trying to make small gains at the other's defenses. The problem was, Lotós didn't know just how long he could go on for, and she certainly was slowly losing ground.
Of course, she could always attempt to fall-back on a death defiance, or pull out an actual weapon, even Malphon… but that would dishonor the challenge she herself had put forth. So she didn't.
After maybe five minutes of fighting, they both finally broke off from each other, neither breathing all that heavily, but both covered in bruises. "You're pretty good, where you from?"
"Beat me and I'll tell you," she decided, since she didn't want to have Goetia pop in. He probably wouldn't check that far back if she bothered to admit the era of her identity, but better to not take chances…
Then again the Underworld did have protections against being observed so maybe… nah, she wasn't going to risk it.
"About that, I think we're done here," Beowulf admitted, and she blinked, before nodding. "Your friends have already beat all my men, and we've been going for a long while. Gotta say, it's good to fight new opponents, so I'm satisfied with what I got," he shrugged, walking over to his discarded weapons and picking them up. "So what did you come here for?"
"We came for your prisoner," she admitted, and Beowulf nodded, reaching into his jeans (she wasn't sure why he wore jeans), and pulling out a key, tossing it to her.
"Knock yourself out. Hope to see you again someday Lotós," he waved, before walking off as she caught the key. She smirked, tossing it up and down before running down towards the cells.
"I'm telling you, we just gotta bust the lock," Achilles pointed out, him and Nightingale standing outside Sita's cell, the bodies of Celtic soldiers strewn about everywhere from their rampage through Alcatraz.
"The lock has magical protections on it. Extremely strong ones," Nightingale pointed out, Achilles huffing.
"Then we bust the wall," he argued. It was pretty darn simple for a solution.
"The cell is trapped," Sita called out from the other side of the door, Achilles groaning.
"With what!?" he complained.
"Death rune, I think," the Archer on the other side admitted.
"Great," Achilles complained, sitting down. "Where's Master?"
"I thought she was with you," Nightingale admitted.
"I'm here," Ritsuka called out, walking down the stairs towards them, flowers following in her wake. Achilles blinked in confusion, feeling her divine presence. Since when did…?
"Uh… Master, are you?" he started, this presence didn't feel completely familiar, but he was familiar with the type of it. Greek, was she a Divine Spirit? Or was she a living god? She would have had to be to survive into the Age of Man this long.
Ritsuka looked at him, blinking, before shaking her head, the girl's complexion catching Nightingale's attention. "Master, your skin has darkened, you are ill."
"No, this is just my natural complexion Gale," she said, holding up the key. "Had a run in with Beowulf and had to reveal something I'd rather have been kept secret."
"Oh joy," Achilles commented as Ritsuka walked forward, and he watched her snap her fingers, her skin tone changing back to the original pale white rather than the ash grey. The presence didn't fade, but it did become harder to detect, now that he was aware of it. He watched her open the door with the Key, Sita coming out, and bowing politely in thanks.
"Sita," Ritsuka started, the Archer looking up at her.
"Yes?" she questioned as Ritsuka held out her left hand for Sita to take.
"Please, take my hand."
Slowly, the woman took Ritsuka's hand, both of them vanishing, Achilles and Nightingale being left outside of that strange dimensional space Ritsuka possessed. They'd seen weirder as Servants.
Inside Ritsuka's Pocket… a very heartwarming reunion was going on. Amid the lounge, Ritsuka smiled as Rama and Sita were hugging each other, just… holding each other.
Content, and at peace.
"I can only keep you two in here for so long, but in here your curse won't work," she assumed. It had been a gamble to take if the Curse of Separation would try and screw with her Pocket… but thankfully it didn't seem able to. She'd still taken precautions to avoid even outright triggering the thing at all, just in case, like not telling either of them what her plan was.
"Master…" Rama started, the Saber smiling as he looked at Ritsuka. "...Thank you, that's really all I can say, for what you've done."
"Indeed," Sita added, the two just holding each other as Ritsuka smiled. Reuniting these two was a bit of a task… but it was a task well worth doing.
"If you ever need my help, just ask. I swear it," Rama swore, crossing his hand over his chest, only for Ritsuka to raise her own.
"No, I did this because you two deserve to be happy, to at least spend some time with each other. Take a break… this place is open to you until the day I have to take you both out, kay?"
"I understand," Rama said with a smile, Sita joining him as Ritsuka waved them goodbye, to leave the happy couple with each other.
She was willing to take a bit longer this Loop than normal in some spots, just to give them as much time as possible together. And as she left her Pocket, rejoining Achilles and Nightingale, she laughed.
She laughed in joy, that it had worked. That they could be happy.
It felt good, to make her friends happy, it was stuff like this that helped her think it was all worth it.
"So you really did it?" Kiritsugu asked, aiming his pool cue as he, Ritsuka, Irisviel and Medusa were all gathered around a Pool Table in Luluhawa.
"Yep," Ritsuka admitted, having long since dropped her guise of being human for the Loop, and currently just wearing her Tropical Summer outfit, taking a sip from her punch as Medusa smiled.
"I'm glad Cadence hasn't heard about this curse yet, she'd probably throw a fit if she did," Irisviel mused, Kiritsugu finally hitting the cue ball, sinking the four and six balls.
"More than a few love obsessed Loopers probably would," Medusa pointed out as well, adjusting her glasses. "You are taking them out of your Pocket, right?"
"Yeah, I was going to do so just before Avalon, probably in completely separate singularities or Lostbelts, just to make absolutely certain something bad doesn't happen, that curse can get nasty," Ritsuka said with a shrug.
"I'm guessing we'll be staying here in Hawaii for a while then?" Kiritsugu questioned, Ritsuka nodded. "Well it's been a while since we've had a vacation," he admitted as Irisviel smiled, holding up her own pool cue and striking the cue ball, sinking the one ball.
"It's currently just us and Mash, yes?" Medusa questioned, Ritsuka nodded.
"Yeah, most of the others aren't Awake," Ritsuka admitted.
"We're practicing your driving," Kiritsugu pointed out, Irisviel huffing, Medusa chuckling at that.
Ritsuka just smiled, and laughed. Last time she'd checked on those two, she'd needed to get a completely new bed in her Pocket… and she'd probably need a new one pretty soon then.
The parting affair wasn't a sad one. After a long Loop (It was around nine years for Ritsuka, combining the normal timeline, about two years in Luluhawa, and three in the Servant Universe), both Rama and Sita had come to an agreement.
Ritsuka may have told them she was giving them a vacation, a chance to be together, and they'd decided to help her as best they could. So she'd informed them of their options. Sita in particular decided if she was going to go, it would be on her own terms this time.
She joined Ritsuka in Olympus and Atalantis. She rode alongside the Neo-Argonauts, and helped face down the Olympian Gods. When Chaldea evacuated (With Wodime and Caenis in tow, despite his protests), Sita had stayed behind in his place, burning her Spirit Core just to strike the Alien God with the full might of the power Rama had granted her… and with a Holy Grail boosting her, she at least got the Alien God to back off with her death, rather than simply wipe out the planet, to search for something that could not be harmed.
Rama in turn had decided he would brave Fairy Britain. He didn't care how bad it would be on him, how weak he would be, or any of that. He simply decided that the only way he could repay Ritsuka was to help her see the Loop to its conclusion.
The decision to burn a Holy Grail to incarnate himself was barely an afterthought, the Avatar of Vishnu wielding his arsenal of weapons against the greatest threats Fairy Britain had to offer, in the name of love, for the Master who'd granted his wish.
Of course dragging Wodime along as well had been fun, and with the other Loopers joining in on the fun, Fairy Britain ended up going remarkably well… even if Kiritsugu had decided to kill Oberon because 'No chances'.
When the Loop ended, Rama and her had one final conversation, in place of her usual with Oberon. The Incarnated Saber handing her his sword, even if it would be useless to her. A token of his and his love's appreciation.
Another thing she would cherish, and strive to recreate, time and time again. Breaking fate, and defying prophecy for her friends.
Of course then Irisviel had to go and nearly ruin it by grabbing the Storm Border out from under everyone, nearly dunking them all in the ocean and forcing Kiritsugu to save them all. Eh, there had been worse ways to end a good loop. Laughing with Rama carrying her atop a yacht that Kiritsugu had pulled out of his Pocket was far from the worst way for it to end.
17.1: Master of Servants, Commander of Battles
17.2: Going Postal eh?
17.3: A bond beyond Love and Hope
17.4: The bane of all FGO players
17.5: They deserve to be happy. I'm sure we can all agree on that.
I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you'll stick with us. Sorry for the delay, but it's about time we got this show back on the road. I've adjusted all the previous chapters to be more readable, and removed the Requiem of Grand Order from this Compilation to allow it to be it's own story. Thanks for your patience!