Fate series and characters belong to Nasu and TypeMoon


Fuyuki Singularity: Prologue pt.1

On top of the snowy mountain, there was a lone white dome-shaped building. Despite it was early morning, the dark clouds and snowstorm covered the blue sky. A pair of footsteps trod hurriedly against the snow towards the door.

The moment they were close, the door opened in their presence. Not wanting to lose any seconds, they made a quick dash into the entrance.

Once the door behind them closed, the pair were breathing heavily. The orange-haired girl wearing a white coat and black pleated skirt, whined while panting, "Oh… My god…. That was close, Ritsuka….!"

"You…. Don't say, Ritsuko…!" The raven-haired male teen panted. He was wearing the same white coat, but with dark-colored pants instead.

Taken her breath back, she glared at Ritsuka and chided, "Well, who was the one who can't wake up when I'm reminded to wake up early?"

"Remind me to have 10 alarm clocks blast beside my ears, Ritsuko," Ritsuka suggested with a roll from his eyes. Though as she mentioned, he remembered the cause of their lateness.

A dream, a peaceful dream it was. A dream of a tower surrounded by flowers…

"Whatever you say. I'm not at fault if you can't hear them when being buried by books again, Ritsuka." Ritsuko replied with a snark towards her older brother.

Walked towards the door in front of them, a voice spoke from the surroundings, "-Base sequence confirmed to be human genome.

"-Spiritual Vessel's attribute confirmed to be Good Neutral.

"Welcome to the museum of humanity's future.

"This is the Human Continuation Facility, Chaldea."

The siblings glanced one another with confusion.

"Humanity Continuation?" Ritsuko voiced out.

"Maybe it's a group of mages doing a project in understanding human lifespan?" Ritsuka guessed and shrugged.

He, too, confused as his younger sister of the robotic introduction.

Before them, two panel appeared raised from the ground side by side. On the panel, there was a green-lit up square area with a human palm shown. Saved their questions for later, the siblings went to the respective panel each.

Placed their hand to palm on the screen, a green circular light below them scanned from toe to the head. Followed by that, the same robotic voice called, "Name?"

"Fujimaru Ritsuka."

"Fujimaru Ritsuko."

Seconds later, the robotic voice replied to them, "Fingerprint authentication, vocal authentication, and genetic authentication all clear.

"Magic Circuit measurement… Completed.

"Registered name matches. You have been acknowledged as a member of the primates. Pleased to meet you. You are today's last visitor. Please have a good time here."

The panel before them lowered and disappeared into the open hole. Once it closed, the siblings let out a sigh. Ritsuka was the first one to voice out, "Talk about lucky that they still accept us…"

"Maybe they weren't so strict on lateness, consider the time they have given us." Ritsuko agreed with a yawn escaped her lips. But, she then tilted her head and pondered, "But calling us primates…"

"You'd wonder if they are trying to mock every new employee to show their status," Ritsuka suggested. That word didn't escape from his ears too. It ticked them, but what better way to survive their first day of work was to accept it begrudgingly.

"My apologies," The robotic voice returned seconds later and informed. "Another 180 seconds are needed to complete the admission procedure."

"What?" Ritsuka and Ritsuko shouted in unison.

"During that time, please enjoy a mock battle." As the robotic voice announced, the surrounding room changed. Ritsuka saw a faint blue light surrounded his sister. Ritsuko noticed too and realized her body digitized.

"Ritsuka–!" Ritsuko called out in panic, but her hand outstretched to her brother never reached to him.

Before Ritsuka could reach for it, only the graze of her fingers touched his before disappearing.

"Ritsuko!" Ritsuka called out for his sister in the midst of the now white room.

The robotic voice announced, "Regulation: Senior Contracted Servants: Saber, Lancer, Archer."

Soon the room changes to an open-field with the robotic voice announced again.

"Your score will not be recorded. Please feel free to enjoy it as you feel like. Booting Heroic Spirit Summoning System - Fate. We hope that you will have a good experience as a Master for these 180 seconds."

-o-

A large room with a globe lit up with blue light, the blue rectangular holographic screen appeared and disappeared by the command in the room. Inside the room behind the globe, voices of worry and fear echoed.

"The Shiva Lens has detected an abnormality!"

"Coordinates confirmed!"

"Abnormal value rising!"

One after another, workers in turquoise- and orange-colored uniform typing anxiously on the keyboard.

Their eyes shifted often between the screen and the large globe outside the room.

"Laplace is getting a read on the situation."

"Hurry!"

In the center, a white long single braided-haired woman wearing a black coat and orange dress stood. She was biting the nails on her thumb, orange orbs focused right at the globe too. Her jaw dropped open, muttered, "The light…"

Behind her, a man dark prune messy long-haired wearing a green top hat and matching coat stood up from his seat. He spoke towards the woman in front of him, "Chaldeas was created from a reproduction of Earth's soul. If the light of that civilization is extinguished…"

The white-haired woman turned around with a confident posture. "Gather humans who are Master potentials right now! We'll move from Rayshift experiments to actual use!"

Faced back at the globe, her orange orbs gazed with a determined expression. "Unless we regain the light of Chaldeas, humanity has no future."

-o-

"My my, what a unique meeting we have, Master. I foresee our meeting would be much later with your sister together. But, this itself is an interesting outcome too."

"Who on earth…?" Ritsuka wondered in his thought.

Despite his body feeling heavy, Ritsuka tried to open his eyes. His blue orbs only noticed a blur gaze of what seems of flower petals fluttering in the sky. His nose smelled fresh scents from the surrounding flowers.

He remembered coming out of the simulation, and into a hallway. Ritsuka remembered he needed to find his sister who disappeared beside him. Next thing, he realized he was here and…

He focused on the blurred hooded cloak figure standing above him. He was unable to make out the rest of the features, only the serene smile.

The figure once again spoke in a refreshing tone, "Looks like you're still walking between the line of reality and dream. Perhaps, our formal meeting would be of another time when you dream in your slumber."

Before Ritsuka could even ask, he found his eyes heavy and drifting back to darkness. The figure crouched down and put their hands over his eyes and chuckled, "I see that my companion is here to wake you. Till we meet again, young Master of Humanity's hope…. Fujimaru Ritsuka-kun."

-o-

"Fou…? Kyu… Kyu?

"Fou! Fuu, Fou!"

"What's… That sound… Some… Animal?" Ritsuka thought.

He groaned when he felt something licked his cheek. Opened his blue orbs, he noticed a white squirrel-like creature looking at him. Before he could learn anything, it at once leaped off from him.

Ritsuka shifted his view and found a girl crouched down before him. The girl had pale violet bob hairstyle with her fringe covering her right eye.

She wore a pair of spectacles, white-grey hoodie, and black office dress beneath it. In his eyes, she doesn't seem like being a staff here. But also, she didn't seem to be a new employee that just joined too.

"Uhm, it's neither morning nor nighttime, so please wake up, Senpai." The girl said to him, noticing Ritsuka was still showing a drowsy expression.

Blinked his eyes twice, her words processed into his mind. Ritsuka tried to sit up but staggered as his body wasn't fully awake yet. Once in a comfortable person, he asked, "Who are you…?"

"That's a hard question to ask suddenly. Maybe I'm not important enough for you to know my name?" The girl answered with a polite yet blunt tone.

"Huh?" Ritsuka leaned his head forward, confusion and doubt worn on his face.

Noticed the change in his expression, she corrected, "No, I do have a name. I do have a proper name. But I never had the chance to use it… I'm afraid I don't leave a good first impression…"

Ritsuka sighed, thought to himself, "There's more to a first impression than just telling your name…"

With a quick glance of his position, he shook his head to rid of the drowsiness then asked, "Where are we?"

"Right. That's a simple question. I really appreciate it," The girl replied. "This is the passageway from the front gate to the Central Command Room, which is in front of the Main Chaldea Gate."

"Uh huh…" Ritsuka nodded to himself.

"Ahem. Anyway, can I ask you a question, Senpai?" The girl asked again a second later.

"Sure."

"You were asleep, but I don't see why you'd sleep in the hall." The girl wondered.

"Did I sleep here?" Ritsuka repeated her question in his mind. Another glance of the area, he definitely wasn't at the entrance after thinking with a clearer mind. If that's true, then the dream of the robed man told him was true.

"Can you not sleep unless you're on a hard bed?" She asked again with a blunt tone.

As though on instinct, he replied with a snark, "Yes, actually. If it's not a tatami, I would bother my sister– Ritsuko!"

Remembered his reason for leaving the gate, Ritsuka quickly stood up to resume his search for his sister. But, the sudden drowsiness hit his head.

The girl let out a quiet gasp and reached her arm out to steady him, "Are you alright, Senpai?"

"Fou, fou!" The white squirrel creature squeaked worriedly.

-0-

Escorted Ritsuka further down in the passageway, they stopped at a bench area with a vending machine beside it. Once the young girl set him down, she headed to the machine and pushed for a drink.

Returned with a mineral water bottle, Ritsuka took the handed bottle and mouthed a quiet 'thanks' to her. Without ado, he twisted open and gulp it down as though he never drank for days.

In silence as she watched, Ritsuka drank finish the whole bottle and heaved a sigh. She queried to him, "Are you feeling better, Senpai?"

"Yeah, thanks for the help. I appreciate it." Ritsuka nodded with a smile. But, there was still fatigue within him. His lips showed a tired and weak smile.

"Fou! Kyuuu~! Kao!" The white squirrel creature squeaked and went to its companion.

"I completely forgot. I still haven't introduced you yet, have I, Fou-san?" She turned back to Ritsuka and introduced, "This squirrel-like creature is Fou-san.

"He's a Privileged Life-Form allowed to walk freely around Chaldea. Fou-san led me here, and that's how I ran into you, Senpai."

With a nod of understanding from Ritsuka, Fou squeaked, "Fou. Mmkyu, Fou!"

Fou jumped off from the girl and ran off to somewhere. As she noticed Ritsuka's curious expression, she answered, "He ran off somewhere again. He does that sometimes, just walks around."

"I've never seen an animal like that," Ritsuka said, turning his focus back to her.

"Yes, he normally doesn't go near anyone aside from me, but he seems to like you, Senpai. Congratulations. Now you shall be the second caretaker of Fou-san in Chaldea."

At her smile, Ritsuka returned with a wry smile. "I'm not sure if I'm honored to be a caretaker…. Ah, that's right!"

His hand outstretched to her, he introduced himself, "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. Ritsuka is just fine. I didn't make a good first impression, but please take care of me."

Examined his hand for a moment, she looked to see the friendly smile on him. A moment later, she took his hand and smiled, "Please take care of me too, Ritsuka-senpai."

"Senpai, huh..?" Ritsuka wondered with curiosity after being constantly addressed as that title.

"Come to think of it. Senpai, were you looking for this Ritsuko-senpai earlier?"

"Yes. She's my sister who came with me together today. She was at the first gate with me earlier but she–!"

"Ritsuka!" A familiar worried and relief voice shouted at him.

As he turned around, a familiar orange-haired girl ran and gave him a brief hug. Ritsuka returned it before his attention focused on the coming footsteps.

Within view, an unknown top green hat man with dark prune long messy haired man and eyes closed approached them. He then said, "Ah, that's where you were, Mash. That won't do, you know, wandering around without permission…"

When he noticed Ritsuko and her brother, he spoke, "I see, you've found your brother, Ritsuko-kun. You're…"

"Thank you for bringing my sister here, sir. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused on the first day." Ritsuka bowed from his sitting position.

The man nodded in understanding, "I see, you're the rookie who just got assigned here. I'm Lev Lainur. one of the technicians employed here. And your name is?"

"Fujimaru Ritsuka pleased to meet you," Ritsuka answered.

"Hm, Ritsuka-kun," Raised his right hand up, the wristwatch on his wrist showed a holographic identity card of Ritsuka. "So you're the last of the 48 candidates invited here. But, that's strange…

"Your sister is the 48th candidate… No matter. Welcome to Chaldea. I'm glad you're here. I heard you and your sister was selected out of many public applicants, how long was the training?

"A year? 6 months? 3 months?" Lev asked.

Despite it's a polite question he asked with a matching smile, both Ritsuka and Ritsuko flinched in synch. Ritsuko smiled and said, "Well, we're selected no doubt as you said…"

"But, we got 30 minutes to zero experience. Considering both of us stalked by your staff in pressuring us to join," Ritsuka thought. A strong temptation he had to give that honest reply.

But, he smiled like his sister and added, "I'll leave that to your imagination."

Lev chuckled and raised one of his brows amusedly, "I see that you already know how competitive it is in here. You're going to hide your info from your rivals?"

"Well…"

Mash's voice interjected Ritsuka's words, "Dr. Lev, Ritsuka-senpai, and Ritsuko-senpai training were less than a few hours. I think it's from their embarrassment."

With the cat out of the bag, Ritsuka flinched and sigh to concede. Ritsuko nodded and said, "She's right. We have no experience and lack of training too for this job."

"Oh? Well, now… I see," Lev nodded in understanding and explained. "We had an emergency opening for applicants to fill out numbers. So you're one of them."

"That's right," Ritsuka answered with his sister nodded in agreement.

"So, you two were part of them? Do forgive me, I was inconsiderate," Lev apologized, but, he showed towards the siblings an assured smile. "But please don't be discouraged because both of you are a public applicant. We need all of you for this mission.

"38 elite mages, plus 10 talented public applicants… Or, 11 public applicants now. Somehow, we were able to gather all possible candidates. That's something to rejoice over. This year, 2016, all possible candidates capable of Spiriton Dives were brought to Chaldea.

"If there's something both of you don't understand, feel free to ask Mash or myself anytime."

At that friendly smile, the pair brightened up with a smile. Ritsuko replied, "Thank you very much, Prof. Lev!"

"Thank you for the help, Prof Lev," Ritsuka replied with a small bow.

"Hmm? Come to think of it, what were you talking about with him, Mash?" Lev now turned his focused on the bespectacled girl, rubbing his chin. "That's not like you. Did you know each other before?"

"No, I'd never met Ritsuka-senpai before. I saw Ritsuka-senpai sleeping here, so I just…" Mash shook her head.

"Sleeping? Ritsuka-kun was asleep, here?" Lev's tone laced with complete surprised and astounded.

Ritsuko tugged her brother's shoulder, repeated, "You're sleeping here?! And, I ran through the hallways just to find you, Ritsuka!"

"H-Hey! It's not like I wanted to, you know. That simulation from earlier had worn me, but…" Ritsuka let another yawn escaped his lips. "I didn't think they'd drained out of most of my energy."

"And you're certain it's not from the lack of sleeping from reading again?" Ritsuko narrowed her eyes, raised her finger up to poke his cheek.

"Yes, I'm certain, Ritsuko," Ritsuka rolled his eyes.

Realized what they meant, Lev interjected, "Ahh, both of you went through the simulation when you entered, right?"

From the nod of their head, Lev showed an assured smile again, "Spiriton Dives can get to you if you're not used to them. After the simulation, the gate must've opened, and you walked over here before you returned to consciousness. It's a type of sleep-walking. When you fell, Ritsuka-kun, that was when Mash spoke to you."

Nodded his head, Ritsuka acknowledged, "Well, that makes sense…"

"Except, for that weird guy. How did he know I was sleep-walking?" Ritsuka wondered in his mind but left that for later. As he stood up, a dizzy spell hit into his head. Before he collapsed to the ground, Ritsuko caught hold both of his shoulders.

"Ritsuka, are you really okay?!" Ritsuko's asked with a worried tone.

Ritsuka shook his head and smiled, "Yeah. Maybe sitting for too long was a bad idea."

The pale color of his face and the weak smile didn't convince anyone. Lev approached Ritsuka and said, "You seem to be fine as you said, but I'd like to take you to the infirmary just in case…"

Before Lev could take Ritsuka's arm, a beeping alarm sounded from his watch. He raised and look at his watch, and his brows furrowed after what he had read. Lev faced back to the siblings and said, "Sorry, hang in there a little longer. The Director's orientation is about to start. Both of you should hurry over."

"Director?" Ritsuka repeated.

"The Director's the director. The person in charge of Chaldea, and the commander of our special missions. Since you're a rookie from the public, you may have only seen the pamphlet?" Lev explained.

At their synched nods, Mash nodded in understanding, "It would appear so. Since the Director's profile hasn't been made public. Senpais has no connection to the Director. Only mages from families that have been around for a century show respect to the Animusphere names."

"Well, whether you know the Director or not, it doesn't affect your work as a Master, so it's not a problem. But it's good to not get on her bad side. If you wish to work in a peaceful environment, better hurry."

"H-Hang on! What's this orientation about in the first place?" Ritsuko clarified quickly, noticing both Mash and Lev were about to walk off.

Lev stopped and turned to Ritsuko, explained, "I almost forgot, do forgive me. The orientation is to greet the Master candidates assigned here today like the both of you, Ritsuko-kun, Ritsuka-kun.

"In other words, it's for the big boss to welcome the careless newbies. Since the Director is not the type to forgive and forget if you show up late, you'll be on her radar for the entire year. The orientation begins in five minutes in the Central Command Room. Go straight down this hall. Hurry."

"R-Right, thanks! Can you walk, Ritsuka?" Ritsuko turned to her brother.

Ritsuka gave a weak nod, answered, "Yeah…"

Noticed the worried expression remained on Ritsuko's face, Mash turned to Lev, "Dr. Lev, do you think I'll be allowed to sit in on the orientation, too?"

"Hmm? Well, if you stand back way in a corner, I think she'll look the other way." Lev answered as a memory flashed in mind, but also gained curiosity at her request, "But why?"

Mash turned her head to the siblings. "I just thought I should help Ritsuko-senpai to bring Ritsuka-senpai to the Command Room. It's possible she would have trouble that Ritsuka-senpai might fall asleep on the way again."

The professor brows furrowed with worry. "Hmm… If I leave you alone like this the Director might yell at me… I should tag along, eh?"

Decided to another smile, Lev said, "Well, if that's what you want to do, Mash, go ahead. You okay with that, Ritsuko-kun?"

"A-Ah, yes!" Ritsuko turned to Mash and bowed her head, "Thank you for the help, Mash-chan!"

"I'll be in your care then, Mash…" Ritsuka gave a weak smile as thanks to the bespectacled girl.

With a nod, Lev spoke, "Let's head to the command room, shall we?"

Ritsuko put one of her brother's arm over her shoulder, while Mash put over the other. The three followed Lev leading them with a brisk walk at a careful pace.

End of Fuyuki Prologue part 1


Alright, here's the first part for the Prologue for Fuyuki Singularity
Tags and pairings added for this story can be found on AO3
Some of you who watched the first order would recognize scene here and there for this singularity
And I apologized beforehand if Ritsuka and Ritsuko are more OOC
For the two, I'm trying to flesh them out more for personality and plot wise

For those who have fave and followed this story, I really don't deserve it but thank you OTL
It's a fresh idea and there's a lot I'm still trying to work around especially servants and their lore
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!