Fate series and characters belong to Nasu and TypeMoon
Shadow Servant
Back at the bridge, the four continued on their heels in getting a safe place away from the enemy Servants. While running, Olga Marie yelled in frustration. "Okay–Oh for God's sake, what is happening? Why are Servants here?"
"I see… A Holy Grail War?" Romani's voice shouted as though he discovered something. His voice soon proclaimed to them upon realization. "A Holy Grail War was going on in that town!"
"What?!" Ritsuka raised his wristwatch to peer at blinking lights whenever Romani spoke.
The Doctor's voice confirmed his earlier remarks.
"Normally, it would be a battle royale amongst the Seven Servants summoned in Fuyuki.
"But something's gone terribly wrong.
"I'm not surprised there's a Servant without a Master." Romani reminded them of their earlier near-death battle with Medusa.
"It's natural for Servants to target other Servants."
"Then as long as I'm here, we'll be targeted by other Servants?" Mash glanced behind at Ritsuka's wristwatch.
"But Mash has nothing to do with the Grail! That's just a wandering phantom gone mad!" Olga Marie cried.
"It doesn't change they are still coming at us—They're here!" At Ritsuko's shriek, the four stopped in their tracks at the figure before them.
The figure was a tall, frail, dark man with his right arm bandaged. His face wore a skull resembling the mask with its skin and nose shaved off. He let out a cackled at the dread showed on their faces. "I found it. New prey. The Grail shall be mine!"
"Servant signal confirmed, it's an Assassin-class Servant!" Romani's voice announced.
Mash swung her shield forward and called out. "I can fight! Senpais, please give me your orders!"
"All right, let's win this no matter what!" Ritsuka answered.
Ritsuko nodded in agreement. "Sorry, just bear with us a little longer, Mash-chan!"
"Okay," Mash nodded. "I'll bring both of you victory, Masters!"
The Assassin Servant moved and threw daggers towards her. Mash knocked it away with her shield and charged forward. Assassin Servant rushed ahead and fired his dagger at the same time.
Another swing to hit the dagger away, Mash leaped into the air and slammed her shield against the enemy Servant onto the ground. The said Servant leaped aside from her strike. Before he could proceed to throw more daggers, Mash appeared before him.
"All right—How about that!" Another swung of her shield, Mash sent the Assassin Servant flying back against the ground.
The Assassin Servant positioned himself backward and was to charge ahead. But, he halted in his tracks and let out a growl. "This is a waste of time. I could have handled this on my own."
"What does that mean?" Ritsuko's eyebrows furrowed.
Ritsuka, however, understood what he meant and turned to the violet-haired Servant. "Mash, fall back!"
"Eh?!" Ritsuko looked at her brother.
Romani's voice immediately disclosed to her confused face. "Ritsuko-chan, they've caught up! There's one more, that's their main force!"
"No wonder it's strange only one of them came up when we saw two!" Ritsuka gripped his pipe tightly.
Into their view, a man wearing a brown-colored headscarf, brown-yellow armor with his fist holding a naginata walked to his comrade. Olga Marie jaw fell and paled in panic. "No way… We're losing to one already, and now there's one more on the way?"
"Ah–!" Mash armed her shield on seeing the Assassin Servant armed back his dagger.
As his comrade stood beside him, the Assassin Servant declared, "Let's finish this, Lancer. I don't know what kind of Heroic Spirit that is, but I will have her head."
Dark laughter broke out from both enemy Servants. Olga Marie and Ritsuko froze in fear while Mash gripped the handle of her shield tighter. Romani's voice yelled from Ritsuka's wristwatch. "Director, Mash, hang in there! You got to keep moving!"
"Fou! Fou!" Despite Fou's squeaking, the two stood frozen at their spot.
"Ritsuko-chan!" Romani's voice cried out to the young orange-haired Master.
Ritsuko gulped and shivered from the sinister smirk on their faces. With a faint grunt, Romani's voice shifted to Ritsuka. "Dammit, the three of them let fear get to them… Give your orders, Ritsuka-kun! You're the only calm one now!"
"Tch," With a swift glance to his enemies, Ritsuka moved to where Mash was and stood beside her. "We have no choice but to fight!"
"Senpai, this–!" Mash turned her head to him.
Ritsuko shouted while struggling to her paralyzed legs going. "Idiot, what are you doing?!"
"I know this idiot had said to stand behind commanding, Ritsuko," Ritsuka replied. "But, right now two against one is too much for Mash. At least, let's break an opening and get out of here!"
A bewildered expression appeared on Mash's face for a moment. She swung her head back and acknowledged. "Understood, there's no other option!"
Ritsuka swung his pipe and glared at the front. It earned another dark laughter from the Assassin Servant. "Ha! Futile! Fight, then you die. Run, and you still die. The demise of the futile, oh so miserable."
"Hey, I don't feel like dying without trying to get out of here!" Ritsuka retorted.
Lancer Servant chuckled at Ritsuka's outburst, "Go ahead and struggle.
"Miserable people are ever so entertaining."
"F-Fight? Are you serious? We don't stand a chance against something like that, right?!" Olga Marie reminded.
Mash gulped and responded, "Even so, we must fight. I will find a way for us to get out of this alive!"
Another laughter escaped from the Assassin Servant. "Ha! You've just killed yourself, girl!"
Before the Assassin could throw his dagger, an unfamiliar male voice interjected them. "I thought you were just some girl, but it looks like you've got some fight in you. Then I can't leave you like this."
Two fireballs launched from the side blasted at the enemy Servants creating a cloud of smoke. The group shifted their eyes aside from the smoke as the two Servant leaped away from their spot. With a groan, the Assassin growled, "Ugh! Who are you?"
"What do you mean? Can't you tell?" Everyone's gazes turned to the side where the voice was. A blue light emerged from the ground revealing a blue-cloaked figure with his hood up, holding a wooden staff in his grip. "Don't tell me the mud got in your eyes too?"
Recognized the voice's identity, the Assassin growled, "Curse you, Caster!"
Pulled his hood down, it revealed a man with blue long and spiky mullet haircut. The Lancer glared back at the Caster's red orbs. "Why are you siding with a Wanderer, Caster?"
"Huh? Because it's better than siding with you guys!" Caster answered as though it's the most obvious fact in the world. He walked and stood in front of Mash with a confident smirk. "And hey, I don't mind brats with some potential."
Prepared with his staff in front, the Caster spoke, "Young lady, be ready for a fight. Don't worry, you're good. You can turn this around if you pay attention."
A startled expression surfaced on Mash's face for a second before turning back to the front. "R-Right, I'll do my best!"
"Hey kid, are you her Master?" The Caster asked.
With a glance at his sister who stared at them, Ritsuka nodded and answered, "Ritsuko and I are her Masters."
"Hmm," His red orbs glanced at both the black-haired and orange-haired Masters thoughtfully at their Command Seals. Caster turned back to the front and went on. "Then, I'm leaving the orders to you.
"I'm a Caster-class Servant. They don't really like me right now. Not like the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but for now, you can trust me."
Ritsuko reached her hand out and interjected. "But–!"
"If you are her Master, steel yourself!" Caster's sharp yell shook Ritsuko in surprise. With reluctance, Ritsuko nodded faintly and clenched her fist.
The two enemy Servants armed their weapons as the Caster added. "In honor of the brave young lady there, I'll form a temporary contract with you and fight as your Servant!"
A second later, the Lancer smirked at the Caster. "That's fine with me. It means we can kill you earlier than planned."
"The Holy Grail is ours!" As the Assassin declared, daggers threw at once towards the Caster. Mash stepped in and intercepted it with her shield before charging at him.
Caster glanced over and lifted his staff to block at Lancer's incoming halberd. Lancer's grin widened before drawing back to swing down his halberd. Caster leaped backward and jumped to the side as the Lancer followed him.
While the remaining three stood and watch, Olga Marie realized and shot to Ritsuka.
"What are you standing there for, Fujimaru Ritsuka?!"
"H-Huh? Me?!"
As Ritsuka gave Olga Marie a bewildered look, she groaned and scowled. "Be grateful, you're getting me to teach you how to make a contract with that Caster. He had appointed you to be his Master, and he requires more mana against that Lancer."
Blue orbs shifted back to the front, Ritsuka watched the Caster jumping left and right aside from the swing. He spun back to Olga Marie and asked, "Okay. How do I pass mana to him?"
"Ugh! That Romani must've not explained to you anything at all," Olga Marie groaned. She indicated in her mind to lecture the said Doctor when they returned to Chaldea. The Director then continued, "You'll repeat after me with your right hand raised. And it's important you get this in your head."
"Understood, Director…" Ritsuka sighed.
Cleared her throat, Olga Marie took a deep breath and recited, "Heed my words."
Ritsuka gulped and repeated. "Heed my words."
The familiar incantation caught the four Servants' attention.
Olga Marie remained unfazed as she proceeded, "My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."
The raven-haired Master nodded and continued with a more confident tone. "My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."
"If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason…"
Recited in synch, a bright crimson light glowed from Ritsuka's command seal. The two enemy Servants realized what was to take place and charged to stop them. But, Mash stepped in and swung her shield.
The two jumped backward with their eyes lingering on Ritsuka. Caster had now directed his attention to the said raven-haired Master as he continued. "Then answer me. Do so and I will entrust my destiny to your sword!"
A feral arrogant grin emerged on the Caster's lips. He pointed his staff at Ritsuka and declared. "I accept your oath on my pride as a Caster. I accept you as my Master with your offering as my flesh, Fujimaru Ritsuka!"
As Ritsuka nodded, a bright blue light burst from Ritsuka's command seal. It exploded and enveloped into Caster with a glowing light. By that distraction from the ritual, Assassin leaped over the shield and charged at the unarmed Masters. Before he could reach, Caster spun and swiped his hand across the air that formed runic words. "Ansuz!"
Multiple of fireballs shot out from each runic word at the Assassin, forming a black cloud from the impact. The Lancer Servant dashed out from the smoke and twirled his halberd at Caster. Caster swung his staff to deflect before leaping to the side.
As daggers thrown towards him, Caster leaped away to sidestep and hopped backward away from them. Unknown to the two, Mash and the remaining three stealthily followed Caster from his back.
-0-
Though focusing on the swinging halberd from Lancer, Caster's red orbs remained fixated on the Assassin throwing knives from Lancer's back. The halberd's blade slashed and shattered debris and lamppost.
Leaped up into the air, the Lancer taunted at him. "All you can do is nothing but to run away! It seems you don't even have time to cast a spell, right?"
Once landed in the midst of the street, the two enemy Servants followed along. They rose up with weapons raised as mouth crooked into a sinister grin. The Assassin stepped forward and mocked. "It's over, Caster. With you gone, we'll have the Holy Grail in our hands!"
Just as the Lancer were to swing his halberd, Caster's lips formed a large grin that gained a surprised reaction from the two. He suddenly shouted in a knowing tone. "Young lady!"
Mash stepped in between and whirled her shield forward against the halberd. Lancer's orbs widened as he hopped to his original spot with a wary expression.
Caster stepped out from Mash's back and retorted. "I don't need to chant a spell to use Runes. Go back to school, you dimwits!"
Brought his hand out, the enemy Servant wondered for a second before shifting to the ground. A pair of runic words before them illuminated with an orange flare. It blew up a burst of fire from the ground, charring them into flames.
"GUAAAH!" The painful cry that escaped from the enemy Servants. Minutes later after charring, the flames turned to black smoke.
The black smoke dispersed revealing burnt bodies of the two enemy Servants. Before they could strike back, Caster swiped his hand across in the air to form runic words. The familiar runic words roared out fireballs at them and broke out into a barrage of flames.
As the breeze blew the black smokes away, it exposed the severely burned Lancer and Assassin. Their bodies slowly disappearing into golden light and they howled in unison. "Ugh—Curse you, with the Holy Grail, before my eyes–!"
"And, that's two down," Caster watched them fade away. He spun on hearing footsteps approaching him.
The young violet-haired Servant showed a modest smile and bowed, "Thank you very much, for saving us from danger…"
"Hey, good work. You don't owe me for this, so don't worry about it," The Caster grinned. He placed his arm around her shoulder and pointed out. "You should be more worried about your body. That damn Assassin kept targeting your butt like a pest!"
"Oh!" Mash gasped with a delicate blush when the Caster rubbed her shoulder.
With a bright grin, Caster commented, "Hey, you look fragile but you have a pretty nice body! The icing on the cake! I have no idea what class you are, but you're pretty sturdy… Maybe Saber? No, you don't have a sword."
"Hey, hey, keep your hands off her!" Ritsuko stepped in between the two and pushed Caster away from Mash. While she stood in front of Mash with a glare, Fou on her shoulder hissed at the unwelcome action.
Despite the stares he gained, Caster laughed loudly, "Hahaha! Quite a protective Master you have!"
Olga Marie standing with Ritsuka asked as they had seen the entire scene. "Hey, Fujimaru Ritsuka, what do you think of that?"
"Without a doubt, he's an old pervert!" Ritsuko declared without a beat.
Fou nodded and let out another hiss in agreement. Ritsuka heaved an exasperated sigh at his sister's conclusions and Fou's hissing. "Pervert at worst… But, he's an ally, maybe?"
Romani's holographic image materialized in between Olga Marie and Ritsuka while he nodded in agreement.
"For now, let's get some information. He seems to be a decent Heroic Spirit."
"Oh, so someone who wants to cut to the chase," Caster said. He turned with an intrigued yet excited expression and pointed at the holographic form. "What is this? Some means of communication through magecraft?"
Romani nodded and bowed. "Well met, Caster Servant. I don't know which Heroic Spirit you are, but we have nothing but respect and awe for you."
"Oh, spare me your remarks. I'm sick of hearing them," Caster waved his hand and glared at Romani. "State your business, weakling. Isn't that what you are good at?"
"Uh… I-I see. All right then," Romani bowed his head and murmured with a disheartened tone. "I got called a weakling from someone I've met for the first time…"
Ritsuka face-palmed and grumbled to himself. "A sexual harassment and arrogant remarks. Perfect, just what we needed in this misery for an ally…"
-0-
Once the group advanced towards underneath the bridge. The Fujimaru siblings rested on debris as they listened with the rest of Romani's brief summary to Caster.
The doctor concluded, "And, that's the current situation in Chaldea.
"Presently, both Ritsuka-kun and Ritsuko-chan are the acting Masters and in the middle of field research. Let me confirm something. You're a Servant from the Holy Grail War that broke out in this city and sole survivor?"
"If by that you mean I haven't lost," Caster corrected. "Our Holy Grail War changed to something else along the way. I don't know how it happened either."
"Switched?" Olga Marie prodded.
"The city was engulfed in flames, and the humans vanished. Only the Servants remained." Caster nodded. "Saber was the first to resume the Holy Grail War. That chap began rampaging like a tiger released from a cage. Archer, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, and Assassin were all defeated by Saber."
Olga Marie rubbed her chin. "The survival of the Seven Servants… That rule of the Holy Grail War was broken here…"
"And you won, Caster," Mash queried. "Or rather, you're the Servant who survived."
"Yes," Caster nodded. "Any Servant defeated by Saber became like those two, corrupted by the black mud."
"It would explain with the Rider Servant," Ritsuka muttered.
"They, and the monsters which sprung up like maggots, started looking for something together," Caster continued. "The troublesome part is I'm one thing they're looking for. You see, the Holy Grail War won't end until I'm killed."
"You and Saber are the only surviving Servants," Romani summarized.
"So if you defeat Saber…"
Caster nodded again. "Yes, it would probably end the Holy Grail War here. But I don't know whether things would return to normal."
"I see. You helped us, but in the end," Olga Marie shot a distrustful look at Caster. "It was for your own sake, huh? You want to defeat Saber, but don't stand a chance doing it alone. That's why you zeroed in on us… Right?"
"That's right. But, it's not a bad deal, isn't it?" Caster smirked.
Ritsuko narrowed her eyes. "How convenient of you to help us save your own skin."
"There'll be no end to these guys if you have that Young lady alone as your Servant," Caster glanced at Mash. He then came back to Ritsuko. "Besides, there's nothing better than having allies now!"
Caster sighed and studied at his staff. "If I'd been summoned as a Lancer, I could've finished Saber with one strike. Man, Caster is just not for me. I don't like being a Caster in a Holy Grail War like this."
"Wait, what do you mean 'if you were a Lancer'?" Ritsuka perked up with confusion at Caster.
"It's been known to happen, Ritsuka-senpai," Mash answered, getting his attention.
"Some Heroic Spirits have the attributes of multiple classes.
"He is not just a spear-wielder, but a high-level Heroic Spirit with qualifications to be a mage."
"I see…" Ritsuka muttered with an appreciative grin curved on Caster's lips.
Mash hummed for a moment. "I'm only speculating, but he must be one of the top Servants. The kind that's featured in the magazine Vivian."
"Magazine?" Ritsuka stared at her with newfound confusion.
But before Mash replied, Caster interrupted them and brought up.
"Ahh right, you said you were Masters of an organization called Chaldea…"
"That's right," Romani nodded.
"Hmm," Caster hummed to himself and went on. "I guess that's all I need to know. Servants tend not to get overly involved in problems outside their own time period. We ultimately only cooperate as weapons.
"Your goal is to investigate this anomaly. My goal is to put an end to the Holy Grail War. We share mutual interests. So how about we join forces?"
The five looked at each other for a moment at Caster's words. Olga Marie, the first to turn back gave a nod. "That is a rational proposition. But if we do that, who will be your Master?"
"Well, that kid over there who made the contract, of course," Caster gestured to Ritsuka. "I would have picked that young lady with him since she has slightly better circuits than him. But, you, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have the aptitude to be a Master."
Shifting back to Olga Marie, Caster raised one of his eyebrows and pointed out. "I mean you possess high-quality magical circuits, yet you don't have the aptitude to be a Master. Is it a curse?"
"Oh, shut up! What do you care?" Olga Marie growled then shot a harsh expression at Ritsuka. "Fujimaru Ritsuka, he's in your hands. Use him wisely."
"Then, it's settled," Caster shifted to Ritsuka and grinned. "The contract is only temporary, but I'm counting on ya."
"If you don't mind me as your Master then." Ritsuka nodded.
With another bright grin at him, Caster's expression showed a thoughtful look. "That leaves one last thing, your goal. What you're looking for is probably the Greater Grail."
"Greater Grail? I'm not familiar with that. What is it?" Romani asked.
Caster turned his head to Romani. "The land's true 'heart.' If there is a Singularity, it has to be that. But Saber is lingering around the Greater Grail. The remaining Servants she contaminated, too."
"Berserker and Archer are the ones left?" As Caster nodded to her question, Olga Marie went on, "What are those two like? Are they strong?"
"Well, Archer can be dealt with if I'm with you," Caster shrugged. "Berserker is the problem. Even Saber had trouble with that monster. But, he won't attack unless you get close to him, so ignoring is one option."
"We understand the situation now. We'll team up with Mr. Caster to obtain the Greater Grail," Romani nodded to the group and turned back to Caster. "Mr. Caster, would you show us the way?"
"Skip the 'Mister.' I'll take you there." Caster then spun back to Ritsuka and continued. "The kid here will decide when to make our move."
"Much obliged," Romani bowed. He shifted back to Ritsuka and added, "Then shall we resume the search? I'm counting on you, Ritsuka-kun."
After Romani's holographic image disappeared, the Fujimaru siblings and Olga Marie stood up again.
Ritsuka turned to Caster and asked, "Do you know a route where we could avoid encountering Berserker?"
"That monster only lingered around that area a distance from the Grail, so the way I'm leading will be far from him." As Caster turned around, he signaled. "This way, Master."
Ritsuka nodded and replied, "Understood, Caster-san."
"Huh?!" Caster stopped and turned around to shot him an incredulous look.
Ritsuko stopped in her track and shot her brother 'are-you-fucking-kidding-me' look. "'Caster-san'?!"
Ritsuka's blue orbs noticing Mash and Olga Marie giving him weird faces.
He returned with a deadpan expression and rebutted.
"Well, sorry for actually having manners like a proper human being, people.
"Come on, let's follow 'Caster' before anything comes and kills us!"
With a snicker escaping from his lips, Caster gestured again. "Right. This way, 'Master-san' and everyone."
As another tired sigh left his lips, Ritsuka followed Caster with Mash, Ritsuko and Olga Marie following from behind.
End of Section 6
Hey there! It's been a long while so here's the next update!
I'm not that dead... Just really dead from the grinding hell of GudaGuda Meijin Isshin and Rashomon event OTL
Anyone surviving those two so far? Especially the raid event?
Hang in there for both event you guys!
Rashomon is on their 4th to be 5th day soon, so hang tight in fighting the banana oni! :D
Thank you everyone for following, giving kudos to this story especially for a week break
I hope all of you will enjoy this new chapter update!
If anything could be improve for the story or the characters are OOC, please let me know ^^
And the last scene with Ritsuka mostly based on the previous twitter incidents where people's account got shadowbanned for being polite or something...
I didn't get shadowbanned but seeing my friends did it's hard to communicate with them from the crazy banning here and there OTL
Also the contract wise with Caster... It's from UBW I've watched when Rin contracted with Saber again after her broken contract with Archer... So I'm thinking of applying this to the future Servants the two will meet in coming Singularities. As a form of temporary contract they're in due to summon for that particular singularity... ^^;
And I'm available on tumblr here at FGO Destiny Awakenings
So feel free to talk to me there or just browse around for lame ass incorrect quotes relating to the story ^^
