Fate series and characters belong to Nasu and TypeMoon
Investigate the Bridge
At the edge of the bridge, Olga Marie stopped in her tracks and spun to the siblings. "By the way, the type of being we called Servants, you know what they are, don't you?"
With no lesser than a second, Ritsuko shook her head while her brother replied, "We have no idea."
"Just as I thought," The Director heaved a heavy sigh. "It can't be helped, I'll tell you as we move."
When they resumed walking, Olga Marie described with a clear explanation.
"Think of a Servant as the highest-ranked familiar in the magical world."
"Various historical heroes.
"Noble acts.
"They're all summoned as spiritual bodies."
At that statement, Ritsuka's orbs widened. Ritsuko nudged his arm and gossiped with an elated tone, "You get your dream come true in meeting them instead of viewing it from books, brother!"
"Then, I'd be getting ready as a journalist to note down the actual story from the horse's mouth." Ritsuka returned with a pleased yet excited grin on his lips.
Olga Marie, but, rolled their eyes at their childish naivety.
"To summon a Heroic Spirit is to convert information stored on this planet into something for the good of mankind.
"People today have the right to use legacies of the past, and with that right, the duty to leave behind a future."
Whirled around, the Director pointed at the red markings on the back of their right hand. "Do you see? What you both made your contract with is greater than a human and yet is a tool to serve humans.
"That's why they are called Servants. Even if they're gods, they exist only to serve their Masters. And, not something of your childish thinking that they are your friends and playmates."
By the last line, both siblings frowned at her remarks. Ritsuka's orbs narrowed with irritation at the phrase 'tool' described to them. An insult to him that individuals who built up mankind history and performed as a tool. They were once beings who had experienced a life so who was she to call them that.
Before he could voice his displeasure, Mash interjected and voiced her own. "Director. Your line of thinking may be extreme. My cells are disagreeing with what you just said."
"Hmph. Meaning the Servant, you fused with must be an Earth-type Heroic Spirit," Olga Marie retorted. She whirled back and resumed walking. "Anyway, Servants are heroes of the past made into familiars. Those who enter into a contract with them and use them are Masters.
"There are seven classes of Servants, which vary depending on Servant's legends and abilities.
"It's incredibly difficult to copy a Heroic Spirit entirely.
"Human mages do not have enough resources or memory to achieve such a feat.
"That's why only one aspect of a Heroic Spirit is fixed in our world, resulting in seven classes,"
Olga Marie lifted her hand up with each finger closed as she spoke. "Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin.
"Every Heroic Spirit will manifest as one of these classes. That's the true nature of Servants," Shifted to face them again, Olga Marie continued. "It's also a way to hide their true name. They hide their names because they are famous. Take Achilles from Greek Mythology.
"Achilles is an invincible Heroic Spirit, but his weakness is extremely famous, right?" At their nod of understanding what she meant, the Director explained. "When a Heroic Spirit returns, their weakness returns with them. That's why Servants hide their names behind their class names.
"If you don't know their identity, it's harder to figure out their past or weakness, right?" The Fujimaru siblings nodded again. Olga Marie raised one of her fingers up to go on. "That's not all. There's another reason for hiding one's True Name."
"And that's…?" Ritsuka prodded.
"A Servant has a secret weapon worthy of their legend," Olga Marie replied.
"The crystallization of that Heroic Spirit's miracle and existence."
Before she could move on, Mash stepped in with her shield lifted up. "Director, sorry to interrupt you while you're having fun but we've detected hostiles. Entering combat."
The siblings turned over to see another army of skeleton warriors surrounding them. Olga Marie shrieked and dashed to the back behind a rubble. "What! T-Take them out right now! I'll be hiding over here!"
"Masters, orders!"
As Mash shouted, Ritsuka armed his iron pipe up and ordered, "Eliminate them! Ritsuko, same plan as before!"
"Understood!" Ritsuko spun and headed off to a position in the range of her target.
The two charged forward in synch with the skeleton army. Ritsuka blocked the strike with his pipe, his enemy screeched at him in fury. Mash swung her shield down at the incoming skeleton before plunging it upwards at the other.
Pulled back his pipe to attack, the skeleton raised its blade too. Before it could strike, few rocks were thrown towards its skull and hitting off its sword. Ritsuka charged forward and beheaded his enemy with a single swing.
As it turned to black dust, Olga Marie's voice yelled from his back, "Behind you!"
Whirled around, Ritsuka blocked the strike from the incoming spear with a groan. While struggled to deflect the attack, he suddenly heard Olga Marie shouted again. "What are you standing there for? Hurry and kill it!"
"I'm… Try… Ing!" Mustered all his energy, Ritsuka knocked off the skeleton away with a shove. As it swung its spear, he parried it with a high swing of his pipe. Then with a mighty strike, Ritsuka whacked the skull off from the enemy.
Ritsuka shifted his head and grimaced inwardly. Olga Marie hiding behind a debris glaring at him and Ritsuko with a vexed frown on her lips. He shifted away and groaned to himself. "A tough boss to satisfy indeed…"
"I can feel the tension across the screen," Romani's voice emitted out from Ritsuka's wristwatch. "The Director is grumpy as usual."
"She's not just grumpy, she's a total crank."
Ritsuko approached her brother with an irritated reply to Romani.
The raven-haired Master gave an annoyed sigh, "Please tell us there's a reason she is always so mad."
"Well, I can feel some sympathy for the Director's ill temper," Mash replied. She approached the siblings and spoke with a calm tone. "Excuse me, but Ritsuka-senpai and Ritsuko-senpai, there's too much about Chaldea you don't know."
"Fair enough," Ritsuka nodded in agreement. He stuck his pipe on the ground before shifting to the violet-haired Servant. "We both came here clueless since the one who invited us here didn't even give a proper explanation."
Mash sighed from Ritsuko's nod as confirmation, her brows furrowed in concern. "I really don't know what to do with both of you. It's like both of you are a lost little kitten."
The violet-haired Servant then shook her head. "Well, not that I'm any different. It's been about two years since I started here, and I still don't get it. I kind of sneaked in here. Almost like an alligator."
"I-Is that right, Mash-chan?!" Ritsuko's orbs widened
"True, even alligators have no clue," Ritsuka rubbed his chin.
"Yes, I've learned as much as I can from the database," Mash nodded to Ritsuko's query. "But I'll share it with you. Chaldea Security Organization.
"Or more accurately, the Security Organization for the Preservation of Humanity, Fenis Chaldea.
"A research observatory with the purpose of continuing and strengthening human history, with researchers, scholars, and mages from all around the world."
As the trio engaged in Mash's explanation, they were deaf to the footsteps sounds reaching them. Yet, Mash continued sharing her discoveries. "They watched a world that magecraft couldn't observe, and science couldn't measure.
"We're a special organization with national support, created to prevent humanity from reaching a 'bad end.'"
"Yeah, I figured as much," Ritsuka nodded. Together with the cloaked figure words, he had gotten an understanding for one of his two homework. Though, the other homework still had him struggling to figure out.
Ritsuko nodded too and replied, "You sure know a lot, Mash-chan."
Mash blushed at her compliment and returned. "Anyway, that's pretty much it."
"Fou!" Fou leaped to Ritsuko's shoulder.
The violet-haired Servant glanced at Olga Marie.
"It's true that Chaldea receives financial support from across the globe.
"But, the majority of that comes from the Mage's Association in London—From the Animusphere family.
"Director Olga Marie's family.
"Chaldea is a research organization, but due to its importance, it operates on a military level.
"There are extremely strict rules and punishments for everything, so the Director's attitude is actually reserved."
By the growing sound of footsteps, the three remained ignorant. Mash simply went on. "The Director isn't a villain, but she is evil. She'll get rid of any staff she doesn't like. Well, I'm not sure if it's okay to call someone who's got a bad attitude, evil."
"The Director has her reasoning to be serious," Ritsuka took a peeved glance at Olga Marie before turning back. "If she doesn't put so much of her feelings and bias to do her job."
As Ritsuko shook her head, Mash bowed her head with a frown. "Sorry, but I wanted to give both of you some encouragement, but I'm not used to cheery words."
"It's all right, actually. At least, we understand now." Ritsuka showed a reassured grin to her.
Ritsuko grinned and patted her shoulder. "That's right! There's nothing to worry about, Mash-chan. We understand your concern that's why–!"
"Kyu, Kyu, Kyu!" Fou squeaked as though growling what's in front of him.
Olga Marie's voice urged them in panic. "Hey! What are you guys doing? Behind you, behind you! The e-enemy's found us! Prepare for battle!"
Ritsuka examined Mash's back and yelled, "Ritsuko!"
Whirled around, Mash placed herself between Ritsuko and the skeleton's strike onto the former. A gash wound formed from the sharp blade at her upper left arm. Ritsuko gasped "M-Mash-chan!"
"This is nothing, Ritsuko-senpai," Mash answered. She pulled her shield up before striking and killing off her attacker.
Realized at once, another group of skeleton approached closer within their range of combat. With their weapons armed, Mash gave a thorough glance. "They're so close! Senpai, give me your orders!"
As Ritsuka made a sweeping glance, he caught one particular skeleton among the four using its blade to command them forward. With a deep breath, he requested. "Mash take down their leader wielding a sword and protect Ritsuko while she assists you.
"Ritsuko, do the same for her earlier. Find an opening and hit it off guard so she could take it down."
"Understood, Master Ritsuka!" Mash nodded.
Ritsuko looked at her brother. "What about you?"
"I'll hold them back! Go!" Ritsuka charged forward and swung his pipe to battle against the skeleton warrior.
Before Ritsuko could rebut, Mash grabbed her hand. "We'll come back for Ritsuka-senpai later. Stay behind me, Ritsuko-senpai."
"A-All right…" Ritsuko nodded, glimpsed at her brother one last time before following Mash leading her.
-0-
Followed closely behind Mash, her Servant swung and slammed her shield against each skeleton to black dust. Once reached close to its leader, Mash stepped forward with her shield armed forward. "Senpai, please give me the order to strike when it's fatal. I'll hold it back as long as I can!"
"W-Wait, Mash-chan!" Ritsuko shouted for her, but the violet-haired Servant charged ahead.
Mash swung her shield forward to the leader. But, it jumped backward before charging forward with its sword lifted. Her shield pulled in front of her to stop the strike, Mash then launched it forward to slam it back.
As Ritsuko stood there, she stared in fear yet wary of Mash's combat. She moved her gaze to Ritsuka, busying engaging in combat with now three skeleton warriors. The orange-haired Master clenched her fist and recalled Ritsuka's earlier words. "No way, I will do nothing…"
Orange orbs darted left to right on the ground, Ritsuko found a size of the ball-shaped rock and picked it up into her hand. Heaved a deep breath, she arranged herself in resting on her left toe and right foot forward.
Gripped tight of the rock, Ritsuko saw that Mash had just hit back the skeleton leader before charging ahead. The moment it raised its sword, Ritsuko shouted in her head. "Now!"
Moved her weight back to her left, Ritsuko extended her right arm past her hip and kicked her left foot forward. With a rapid and strong jerk of her right wrist forward, she aimed and hurled the rock.
Meanwhile, before Mash could block the strike, the rock flew past her and smacked the bony hand wielding the sword off. Like an indirect signal, Mash shouted, "Hiiiyaaah!"
Bashed her shield ahead as the leader turned startled, Mash pulled back her weapon before raising it up and swung it down at its neck. The shield thrust against the ribs, it snapped and turned the skeleton leader to black dust.
Mash spun to Ritsuko and beamed, "That was a nice shot, Ritsuko-senpai!"
"Hehe, being the main pitcher for softball and captain in Archery paid it off well!" Ritsuko grinned back, suddenly frowned as she recalled. "Come on, let's go help Ritsuka!"
-0-
"Kill them already!" Olga Marie's voice growled.
Ritsuka breathing heavily with blue orbs narrowed at his opponent. Their leader killed and only two left behind. The two skeletons circled around him from a distance, and the one in front charged.
Lowered his body to swing his pipe high, Ritsuka knocked the spear aside before turning up and hit a strong swing across the ribs. A screech escaped from his destroyed enemies, Ritsuka heaved a tired breath.
Thunk!
Whirled around, Mash taken down the forgotten enemy behind him. She set her shield away and looked at him. "Senpai, you mustn't let your guard down until all your enemies are gone."
"My bad, Mash…" Ritsuka nodded.
Mash leaned her head forward a little to inspect. "Are you alright, Senpai?"
Ritsuka showed a small beam. "Yeah, and you?"
"I'm completely fine, Senpai." Mash smiled.
Came out from the debris upon examining all enemies perished, Olga Marie approached them with a sigh, "Please keep an eye on your surroundings.
"Even if Romani is monitoring us, this is a Singularity.
"There's no telling what might happen."
Once reached where Mash stood, Olga Marie ordered, "Come here, Kyrielight. You're hurt, aren't you? I can heal something like that."
"Oh… Right," Mash remembered the wound on her upper left arm. She moved closer to the Director and nodded. "Thank you very much, Director Olga Marie."
"You all right, Ritsuko?" Ritsuka asked his sister approaching him.
As she nodded, Ritsuko asked, "You?"
"Yeah. Taking down four experienced soldiers at a time calls for further training at my current level." Ritsuka nodded.
A holographic image of Romani appeared behind the siblings.
They observed the magic circle appeared beneath her palm healing the wound in golden light. Romani commented. "Really, now. When the Director is calm, she can be dependable…"
"If only she could stay that way always, we'd be able to progress our mission quickly," Ritsuko grunted.
"Well," Cleared his throat to capture their attention, Romani spoke.
"Ritsuko-chan, Ritsuka-kun, you both should know… The Director is in a complicated situation as well.
"Initially, Marie was like you all, a Master Candidate."
"Is that so?" Ritsuka glimpsed at the Director before coming back with a confused look.
Romani nodded to affirm his words. "Three years ago, the previous Director, her father, passed away, and she had to take over Chaldea when she was just a student. Since then, it's been a tense one day after another. She had to take over as head of the Animusphere family."
"It was all she could do to keep Chaldea running," While the doctor went on, the siblings followed his orbs staring at Olga Marie. The Director's grim face with furrowed orbs examining Mash's wounds as its healing with her magic.
Romani's voice added, "Around that time, an anomaly was found in Chaldeas. We could no longer see into the promised future of 100 years from now. There was huge criticism from the Association and our sponsors.
"She was ordered to get the situation back to normal as soon as possible. To make the matters worse, they found that she had no aptitude to be a Master."
"Wait, what?!" Ritsuko's jaw dropped.
Ritsuka questioned with bewilderment. "Even though… She's a mage herself? And she could Mash's wound earlier…?"
Nodded with furrowed brows, Romani confessed with a grim tone. "Yeah. The noble Animusphere family, one of the Twelve Lords, the dominating faculty of Astronomy at the Mage's Association. Oh the scandal that would occur if the head of such a family was found unfit to become a Master.
"You can imagine the level of gossip happening behind the scenes. I'm sure those rumors reached Marie too." Before them, Olga Marie now chattering with Mash as the latter listened.
Romani sighed heavily as he got reminded about the Director's plight. "She still worked her absolute best as Director. This last half-year, she's just barely hanging on. She's worked herself so hard, I'd like her to come for counseling, but with how things are…
"In any event, she's been emotionally stretched to the limit. She doesn't hate both of you or anything like that."
At the weak nervous assurance to them, Ritsuka smiled, "I understand what you mean, Doctor Roman. Director isn't a bad person."
"Ritsuka…" Ritsuko stared in amaze at her brother's answer.
"I'm glad you think so, Ritsuka-kun," Romani grinned. "But you know she is evil, right? The Director wasn't allowed to go out much growing up, so everything she says is honest and innocent. But, make sure you don't say in front of her. She'll just hate you more."
The raven-haired Master chuckled. "I agree with the latter, but you probably shouldn't say that to incur more of her wrath too, Doctor Roman."
"You have a point there," Romani laughed. He gave the two a reassuring grin. "But, she isn't cruel, nefarious, and dishonest, that I can promise you both. She's just a rather serious person. Anyhow, you're the only four I can trust right now. I want you to continue investigating without fighting."
"Understood."
As the two responded, the holographic image returned to Ritsuka's wristwatch. While he exhaled a breath, he noticed Ritsuko staring at him. As he raised his brows at her, Ritsuko asked, "I didn't think you'd agree with the Doctor without sarcasm about the Director."
"As much as how we both can't stand her," He moved his glance to the Director with a distant look. "It's tough enough for her when she knew despite having everything with an influential standing, she can't get the one she craved the most."
"Ritsuka…" Ritsuko's eyebrows furrowed at her brother's expression. She recalled the only occasions he displayed such expression was the situation like now. Despite being siblings for years, it's generally like this she still can't tell what's going on in his mind.
While he looked at them, Ritsuka heard a snicker and shifted back to Ritsuko. Instantaneously, a frown appeared on his lips as he prodded, "Yeah?"
"Nope, it's nothing. I suppose you feel like that because you're offering your heart to her huh, brother?" Ritsuko's orbs glinted with amusement.
Rolled his eyes, Ritsuka folded his arms and scoffed. "That's stupid. She's our Director and supervisor in charge. And even if she's a guy you're thinking, she isn't my type from the start."
"True, I don't even want her as an in-law in our family. Mom and Dad would even protest at the minute she opened that mouth of hers," Ritsuko hummed to herself. A realization dawned on her and she smirked, "Don't tell me your type of guy is–!"
"You're free to think what you like, Ritsuko," Ritsuka rolled his eyes and whirled around as he walked away. "While I have to figure out how to resolve this Singularity and keeping us alive in this misery."
With her disbelief expression, Ritsuko gave chase to her brother and exclaimed, "Hey, wait! Is it true?! What happened while I'm gone? Answer me, Fujimaru Ritsuka!"
End of Section 3
Before I nearly forget and getting too distracted from grinding hell for both events in FGO NA and JP
Here's the other half of Section 3!
Thanks for the Kudos for this story and bookmarking it! :D
And I apologize if the next update will be delayed...
Because I'm too distracted with the grinding for materials in FGO
But I'll definitely try to write and upload the next chapter as soon as possible!
Thank you and hope you enjoy this chapter :)
