(A/N) Wow. It's been a minute.

If you read my other stories, you might have seen me making excuses for delays caused by scheduling or irl issues. Unfortunately, my time away from this story was entirely planned. Long story short, I kind of fell out of love with FGO. The characters didn't make me feel anything anymore, the story didn't matter to me anymore, and at the end of the day, I felt like the longer it went on, the more it cheapened my fond memories of the properties that I adore: Fate Stay Night and Fate Zero. It didn't help that I've reached a point in my life where I've realized that gacha is detrimental to my health, and mobile games in general just destroy my productivity.

It had reached a point where I straight up removed this story from the update voting entirely. I just didn't want to work on it at all. However, the great people in my discord and on my pa treon talked me through it, and helped me realize that I can still have a lot of fun with Welcome Hero of Chaldea without necessarily loving the story that it's based on.

And so, here we are. Things have been changed in the story. I won't elaborate as to why or what in the author's notes, but if you ask me via pm or on discord, I can answer your questions. The AN is pretty long already lol.

An important point: this story is now crossposted to QQ and SB like my other stuff. This means 2 things:

1: There will be at least 1 illustration per chapter to be found on those platforms.

2: I need to figure out a new way to do the servant voting. I'll keep in touch and I'll make an announcement once I've figured out what that new way is.

Sorry to everyone who has been waiting until now. Big thanks to Hecturnus for proofreading.

Enjoy!

X

"Jeanne d'Arc is being executed as we speak."

His trembling fingers could barely hold onto his goblet of wine. It began to slip, so loose was his grip, and yet he couldn't muster any strength to tighten it.

His lodging wasn't well lit as he felt no need for light at that moment. Regardless, he navigated the darkness with ease and slumped onto a wooden chair.

The container finally fell to the floor. Though he could not see it, he knew that the spilled liquid would stain: not that he had it in him to care.

He could hear his men through the walls: so loud were they. They were excitable as always, acting as though nothing was wrong, and as much as he wanted to hate them –to despise them– for it, he couldn't find it within him to do so.

In that moment, hatred was beyond him. He felt empty. Directionless.

He knew that here was not where he was supposed to be at this moment. He should have been in Rouen. With her.

And yet, he couldn't bring himself to go. He could not subject himself to that pain. He refused to look at what his guiding light had been reduced to by those bastards.

He would resent himself for the rest of his life for this one decision. That much he knew, but he was too weak to act any differently.

"…Why are you telling me this, François?" He gurgled out through a painfully-dry throat.

A hand slowly wrapped itself around his shoulder comfortingly, its owner standing behind him.

"It is not my intention to bring you any more grief than you're already experiencing, Gilles," a voice answered softly. "I speak only the truth; my craft does not lie. I can see it clearly: she holds a cross made of branches to her chest as she prays to the Lord one last time. She is being bound to the pillar on which she'll be–"

For a moment, Gilles' sorrow was replaced by anger. He burst to his feet, his emotions spurring him into action.

"I will stop it!" Gilles yelled. "It won't happen! I won't allow it! I will ride to Rouen alone if I must! The corrupt pigs who did this to my Jeanne will die by my–"

"Gilles."

François had said nothing but his name, and yet the wind had been taken from his sails in an instant.

Tears streamed down the face of a hopeless man.

"She will die, François."

"And if I told you that I had a way to save her from certain death?"

In an instant, François found himself trapped by the arms of a crazed man.

A desperate man.

"Tell me."

Gilles asked not for proof. He did not care for it.

A golden chalice was presented to the knight. His eyes widened imperceptibly.

"This is–"

"A device that will grant anything that you desire," was his companion's elucidation.

Gilles was not a magus by any means. Even so, he could tell at first glance that the item before him was much more than its exterior suggested.

The swelling tears did not cease, and yet, there was a spark in his eye that did not exist before.

"Thank you," he cried out in a cracked voice. "Thank–"

"There will be consequences if you save her, however."

François' serious expression was worrying.

"What?"

His friend pulled away. The chalice was lifted at arm's reach and examined almost apathetically.

"The once-holy maiden has been charged with heresy. If a godless woman can survive something as assuredly lethal as a death by burning, then she must be a witch, wouldn't you agree?"

"No!" countered the angered knight with an aggravated swing of the arm. "Jeanne is pure! No matter what–"

"What is or is not possible no longer matters. By saving Jeanne d'Arc, people will react as they will. If they say she is a witch, then she is a witch. Opinion will in turn become fact, and the woman you save will never be the one that you remember."

"That makes no sense! I don't–" Gilles lost the fire in his tone. "I don't understand."

"The workings of magic are beyond you. You are not expected to understand. Regardless, a decision has to be made."

Gilles clenched his fist. His head was lowered.

Could he do this to her? Could he save Jeanne only to subject her to a fate worse than death? If her life were to be taken by the Bishop Pierre Cauchon as was intended, at least then he could believe that God would forgive her in her final moments. That He would take her from this cruel earth and allow her to rest peacefully.

He could save the one thing that he adored in this world, but the cost was steep. He would taint her. Ruin her.

She would be ruined in the eyes of the masses, but what scared him the most was the possibility that she would be ruined in his own eyes as well.

…No.

He couldn't question it now. It shouldn't have taken him this long to reach a conclusion that was already forgone.

Without Jeanne d'Arc, Gilles de Rais could not claim to be an individual on the side of the righteous. If his Jeanne's light –his light– were to be stolen, then he would simply have to become someone who could embrace and adore whatever dregs remained.

"Do it," he ordered softly. "Save her."

François Prelati's smile made him want to throw up.

X

With a bundle of cloth underarm, I walked down the halls of Chaldea at a brisk pace. New sights greeted me at every corner –unique structures, facilities, and so on– but I knew that I couldn't stop to admire them. I advanced with purpose.

Medusa had gone off to do her own thing. Or at least, that's what I had asked her to do. She had intended to follow me here, but I knew that what I was about to do would be best conducted as a one-to-one conversation; the servant was a valued companion in most instances, but not now.

I stopped in front of a door. It was unassuming and looked exactly like every other door in the vicinity, but I knew what was on the other side of this one specifically.

It was the room currently belonging to Mash Kyrielight. If Da Vinci was to be believed, then this was where she would be.

Not looking forward to this discussion at all, I took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

I didn't have to wait long. I heard the soft patter of footsteps grow louder before the door opened inward.

The bespectacled girl's eyes widened slightly.

"Senpai. I wasn't expecting you."

"Sorry," I apologised on instinct. "Would you mind if we had a chat?"

I pointed my chin, trying to indicate that this would be a discussion best had behind closed doors. She didn't understand for a second, but quickly caught on.

She grew flustered for whatever reason.

"Wha– ah. O-of course."

Mash poked her head past me and looked around before ushering me through the door. How strange. What was that all about?

"Please take a seat, Senpai."

A request that I didn't humour immediately. There was only one seat after all: the chair pushed into the plain-looking desk at the end of the room. It would have been ill-mannered of me to have taken it and left her standing.

Of course, my unwillingness left me once she folded her skirt under her legs and sat at the edge of her bed patiently. I pulled out the chair and turned it to face her. I lowered myself onto it gently.

"How old are you right now, Mash?"

She seemed confused by my question, her head tilting to the side and her eyes blinking owlishly. Nonetheless, she answered me.

"Uhm, fifteen. Why?"

She was younger than I thought.

I asked her another question.

"When this is all over and done with, what do you plan to do?"

Mash blinked. Perhaps I had moved too quickly.

"Pardon?"

"Once humanity has been saved," I clarified. As it stood, I didn't think that I was capable of referring to it as anything other than a certainty regardless of the truth of the matter.

"I…" She looked conflicted. "Well, I'm not sure. I suppose I'd like to see the clear blue sky."

The… sky?

Impulsively, I looked at the windowless wall.

Right. The weather was pretty miserable, wasn't it? Was it like this year-round?

Wait, then…

"Could it be that you've never stepped foot outside of Chaldea?"

Slowly, she nodded. My expression softened sympathetically.

"…That's right. I was born and raised here. It's all I know."

"…"

That settled it then.

"Then do it," I told her. "See the sky."

Mash had a complicated look on her face. I was no psychic, obviously. There was no way for me to know what she was thinking.

"Well, I mean… I suppose– I… is that really okay?"

Again.

It happened again

For a moment, I wasn't looking at Mash. I was looking at someone else. The similarities between the two were a little painful.

Or rather, what was painful was what they had in common.

"Of course it's okay," I declared. "I'll make sure that you see 'the clear blue sky'."

I rose from my seat and dropped Da Vinci's mystic code onto it. I stood in front of her and clasped her hands between my own.

"Senpai?"

"When Animusphere announces that Chaldea is ready to tackle the next singularity, I want you to stay behind."

Her visage was contorted into an expression of raw, unfiltered bafflement. It was as if a knife had been stabbed in her back.

Again, I was no psychic. I merely expected as much.

I did not know Mash Kyrielight intimately, but after our shared experience in that facsimile of Fuyuki City, I was daring enough to believe that I knew at least this much about her.

But then again, what human being would want to think that they were useless?

She was not, but I'd much prefer that she hate me and live than like me and die.

"Why?" she asked quietly. I could barely hear her.

"Because you aren't needed. You're a kid. It's not your place to die for the sake of–"

"And whose place would that be?" she shot back heatedly. Or at least, the closest thing to heated that I'd heard from her until now. "I'm a demi-servant! My age is irrelevant! Compared to you –a human– my odds of survival are much higher."

She was correct. Entirely correct.

"You aren't needed," I repeated. "Chaldea needs a master to command servants. We already have one such servant in Lancer, and from the sounds of things, we'll probably be able to summon more as current events develop. I'd be able to rest easier knowing that a fully-fledged servant is fighting by my side; one that has access to the full scope of their abilities, but more importantly, one that won't bleed and die if we're not careful."

In a matter of moments, I had destroyed her confidence.

Unfortunately, that was about as much as I had the time to do.

"Attention," spoke the director's voice through the loudspeaker system. "Shirou Emiya. Mash Kyrielight. Report to the control room. All staff, at your stations. Finis Chaldea will be resuming operations imminently." A pause. "That is all."

The announcement ended as abruptly as it started.

Mash ran past me and left the room. Now alone, I sighed.

Making sure that Mash's door was closed properly first, I grabbed the mystic code and made my way to where I had been summoned at a brisk pace.

"Hm?"

A small creature blocked my path.

This tiny, dapperly dressed squirrel was familiar. It was with Mash on the day that I'd arrived, right?

It stared at me so intensely that I couldn't help but slow down to a stop in front of it. Our eyes locked, and it was honestly unnerving.

This was not a normal animal.

It judged me. It was judging me.

And then it left.

I let out a breath that I didn't know that I was holding. It felt like time had stopped for a moment.

What the hell is that thing?

I shook my head and kept moving. The director was by no means someone who liked to be kept waiting.

X

"I don't like to be kept waiting."

Resigned, I closed my eyes.

"Sorry, I ran across– never mind. I apologize for the delay. I'm here now."

The white-haired woman stared down at me imperiously from her high perch atop the elevated seat in the middle of the room.

She was the only one looking at me, mostly because everyone else was facing the front. Technicians were hard at work, from what their digital displays allowed me to infer. Da Vinci and Doctor Romani were here as well, but they seemed to be talking about something amongst themselves.

Mash was just outright ignoring me.

"Be more punctual in future," the director ordered. "Now that you're here: how do you feel? Well rested?"

I blinked. The question was a little strange.

"I'm fine?" I replied in what sounded like more of a question than anything. "I don't feel any fatigue or pain from the other day at all. The medical staff is pretty incredible."

She nodded. "That's good to hear. Romani!"

The orange-haired man straightened and stepped away from the servant next to him.

"Yes?"

"How long until the coffins are ready for Rayshift?"

"I dunno… five, ten minutes? Maybe less? We're just triple checking things right now, but we're good to go otherwise."

"Good."

What?

She turned back to me. "You have a stupid look on your face, Spellcaster. Is there something that you want to ask me?"

I frowned and crossed my arms.

"No."

I was caught off guard, but I understood now.

Our objective had been determined, so it was only natural that we would be deploying immediately.

This was a matter of humanity's survival. Being cautious was one thing, but we couldn't afford to take our time here.

Her glare softened and she nodded at me in approval.

"Excellent. I will explain your two primary objectives."

She hopped out of her chair and left her station in order to stand directly in front of me. The woman lifted a finger in front of my face.

"First off: complexities aside, at the end of the day, the easiest way to describe a singularity would be 'a point at which history deviated from the norm'. Find that deviation. If you can find a way to fix it –whether that be by reversing it or simply smoothing it over– then that should be enough to 'undo' the singularity. With me so far?"

I nodded. She lifted another finger and closed her eyes in thought before continuing.

My traitorous thoughts couldn't help but notice how much her mannerisms resembled Rin's in that moment.

"Your secondary objective might just prove to be as important as the first. Lev– the demon Flauros, rather, seems to be responsible for these deviations. We're not positive, but if what happened in Fuyuki is anything to go by, we're guessing that it has something to do with the holy grail."

"So if that turns out to be the case, we destroy the holy grail like we did in Fuyuki?"

"Yes. If it turns out that we're wrong, find out what is the cause and we'll figure out how we're supposed to move forward from there."

My eyes wandered before finally landing on the coffins.

"I understand. Before I go, however, I have a request."

She quirked a brow and motioned for me to speak my mind. I did just that.

"Please allow Mash to stay behind. I can take care of this myself."

"No!" shouted the teenage girl who up until this point had been trying to pretend that I didn't exist. She marched towards us, her face hardened by a stern expression.

The shout wasn't much of a shout at all. It sounded awkward. She must not have been used to raising her voice.

Olga-Marie's jaw dropped.

"Are you an idiot!?"

That was the shout of someone who had much experience with raised voices.

The director poked me in the chest. She stepped towards me, forcing me to move back.

"Mash's shield is our only way to summon servants at the moment. Without it, you'd be stuck in singularities without servants: not even the ones already summoned by Chaldea!"

I knew that. She was right.

"I can recreate the shield," I reminded her.

"And where does that leave you?" she shot right back. "Even with the shield, we need a leyline to establish the connection. That means that every time you Rayshift, you'll be alone until you can find it. Mash is the only servant we have that can Rayshift with you!"

I knew that too. She was right again.

"I can protect myself just fine. At least until I can find the leyline."

Olga-Marie gritted her teeth. She was quickly growing annoyed with me.

"You can't hold down the summoning ritual and protect yourself at the same time."

"Senpai."

The heat that Mash had forced into her tone had evaporated. When I looked at her, my resolve to remain hard-headed followed suit.

I clenched my fists. It might have been tight enough to draw blood.

How frustrating.

I could only see conviction when I looked at her. All anger and pain was either forgotten or buried too deep for me to find.

"I am a necessity," she declared. "I will prove it to you."

"…"

I had no words. I could only sigh.

With a curt nod, I gave up and moved on. "Let's go."

Animusphere had no more time for this, as it would seem.

"Hurry up, everyone! We're wasting time! Begin Rayshift in ten!"

I stood in front of the coffin and handed the folded mystic code to the technician standing beside it. Hands free, I began to strip off my clothes.

I heard a commotion behind me. Coughing and hacking. I tuned it out and instead grabbed the bundle from the now-frozen technician. I dressed myself quickly.

I turned my back to the coffin and my front to the onlooking staff members. The director looked quite red for some reason. Maybe her nerves were getting to her.

The technician at my side patted me down while another man in a lab coat approached me with a stethoscope. I lifted my arms so that they could inspect my body more easily.

I wasn't looking at her, but I knew that Mash was doing the same.

Though it was of my own doing, I still lamented the fact that tensions between us would persist during the investigation of the singularity. What poor timing on my part.

The director physically wiped her odd expression off her face with her hand. She resumed the countdown.

"Ahem. Nine! Eight! Seven!"

A pair of technicians got the machine ready for me. The hatch opened with a hiss, and I dropped myself into it.

"Seven! Six! Five!"

Now in position, I stared ahead blankly. One last time, my eyes traced the forms of the Chaldea staff surrounding us. All working hard to make sure that our chances of survival –of success– were as high as possible.

"Four! Three! Two! One!"

Da Vinci's smile was as undecipherable as always, and Romani's shaky thumbs up was about as assuaging as I expected. Funny enough, the director's angry glare did the most in the way of calming my nerves.

My eyes closed.

X

When they opened again, we were somewhere else entirely.

The environment that we had found ourselves in was so pretty that, for a moment, my brain had difficulty accepting the fact that I was in a singularity and not some random mundane forest in the middle of the night.

The differences between this location and the fake Fuyuki were like night and day, even though it was still dark out at the time of our arrival. Stars shone brightly above the canopy, and I couldn't help but lament the fact that I had never seen such a clear sky back on earth.

"Yoohoo. One, two. One, two. Can you hear me?"

It was Romani's voice.

I was caught by surprise by Mash suddenly appearing over my shoulder.

"We can, Doctor," she answered concisely.

"Good! Everything seems to be in order, so–"

"You're in France right now," the director spoke, interrupting him. "You've been transported to the year fourteen-thirty-one near the outskirts of Rouen. How do things look on your end? We're still trying to establish visual communications."

"We're in a forest," I answered. "It's calm. There doesn't seem to be much of anything–"

"Senpai. Look."

Mash's call alerted me. I had only then noticed the angry, red flickers in the distance.

Fire.

It was a little hard to hear, but–

"There's a mob searching the premises," the demi-servant concluded.

I reinforced my eyes in an attempt to verify her claims, and sure enough, she was right.

Men, women, children. They seemed angry. They carried torches and sharpened farm tools.

"What's going on?" demanded the director. "Tell me–"

"Sorry, please be quiet," I asked. It would be bad for us to get involved needlessly without having a better idea of what was going on.

The director squawked.

"You–"

Her line seemed to have cut out.

"Sorry about that," Da Vinci apologized. "Do what you need to do and we'll talk again later."

Communications from the command room ceased.

"Let's move," I urged. Mash nodded and we started to widen the distance between us and the seemingly-hostile group.

Our pace was quick but far from optimal as we tried to limit the noise that we made as much as possible. We were careful and purposeful with our movements, so I doubted that we'd have much difficulty getting away.

Or at least, that's what I thought until something crashed into my side. My eyes widened as I fell to the ground.

"Sen–"

Mash was able to cut off her surprised shout.

I quickly pushed away the dead weight laying on me.

I quickly learned that the weight wasn't as "dead" as I had originally thought.

It was a person. The moment that I touched them, they had rolled away and sprung to their feet.

They wore armour, but that was about as much as I could make out at this time of day. They didn't seem to be in the best condition though, if their laboured breathing was anything to go by.

Was this who the mob had been chasing?

The light of the starry night caught their eyes. Mine widened as they locked onto angry yellow irises.

All thoughts of imminent confrontation vanished when the figure suddenly passed out. I moved quickly enough to catch them before they hit the ground.

In my arms, the dirty, sleeping face of a young woman stared up at me. Unsteady breaths escaped her lips.

"…"

Mash approached us slowly. She didn't seem to know what was going on either. We exchanged uncertain glances.

What in the world had we walked into?