"I hope we can get along, Master!"
Gareth's words rang in Ryuuto's head as he stared at the spectacle in front of him: Chiaki was checking out Gareth's lance with enthusiasm while Mash sighed and the Director was once again yelling at them to focus on the mission at hand. Again, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, but…
"You know, la ragazza over there is really cute. Don't you agree, Alpha?" Naughty once again had the blonde by the shoulder, watching the girls. However, he didn't say a word to the Italian. Not out of annoyance, but because he too was engrossed with the little girl knight. She was definitely not his type, swinging that lance every which way and her energetic face with rosy pink cheeks.
Eventually everyone got back on track and started to discuss their next course of action. Fuyuki was a huge area, the singularity's origin point could be anywhere! However, the Director decided that everyone investigate the nearby church ruins first.
"Everything's burnt as far as the eye can see, and there aren't any traces of residents either. What happened here?" The Director thoughtfully spoke, her face stuck with a perpetual frown. "Why did Chaldeas turn gray in the first place? Did the CounterForce find no way to salvage the decision of destruction?"
The Director sighed. "When your choices become mistakes, this is what happens."
From the hologram projection, Roman spoke up. "Looks like the Director is talking to herself again. This could take a while."
Ryuuto glanced at the Director, who had started to go a little ways ahead of the group. "Say, why don't we take a little break?"
Everyone liked that. And so out of rations that were miraculously scrounged from broken buildings and abandoned shops, the motley crew had a picnic in Fuyuki, which was basically a picnic in hell, considering the burning backdrop.
"So, how does it feel to be a Servant? Do you feel tired, or get hungry?" Chiaki opened up a small can of mystery meat, offering it to Mash.
She blushed, but politely refused. "For the most part, I'm doing fine. It's just a bit scary to fight."
Chiaki nodded. "I don't blame you, suddenly fighting for your life against undead skeletons would give anyone a scare." She stuck a finger into the can and scraped out a clump of what appeared to be canned tuna. Shrugging, she popped it into her mouth and savored the salty taste of the fish.
Ryuuto spoke up. "Are you ok with Naughty being your Master?"
Chiaki made a muffled noise as if to speak, but her mouth was full of tuna. Mash simply shrugged. "It's ok. It's true, he can be disappointing when he flirts, but Naughty isn't just all that. He did give me advice on how to wake up Alpha."
Naughty had been sitting nearby with Alpha and grinned at that. He gave Mash a thumbs up while Alpha sipped a cup of tea.
"I see." Ryuuto looked a little conflicted about her response, but said nothing more.
Gareth arrived and stood next to Ryuuto with a heavy clang of metal armor. "Master, I've checked the area. No skeletons in sight for now!"
Ryuuto subtly scooted a few inches away to give her space.
"Man, I can't believe you managed to summon such an adorable yet tough Heroic Spirit! Gareth is amazing! Did you see how she wields her lance? She lugs it around like it's nothing!" The knight in question laughed at Chiaki's comment.
"It comes with endless hours of practice and training! Being a Knight of the Round Table is hard work, you know?"
Naughty came closer and looked at Gareth's hands. "Your hands..I've been looking at them for a while now. They're so beautiful, white as a lily too."
Beneath the silver helmet visor, Gareth blushed, her rosy cheeks turning even redder than before. "Thank you! I've often been praised for them. But for someone who I have just met, they must have been quite eye-catching, ufufu!"
Chiaki looked at Ryuuto, who was giving Naughty a baffled and annoyed look, and decided to tease him. "Hey Ryuuto, I think he's trying to steal your Servant."
The brunette hmphed. "Well, if he wants to do that, fine with me. But then there's no stopping me from befriending Mash!"
Chiaki rolled her eyes and smiled as he made his way to the pink haired Shielder, starting a conversation just out of earshot.
And everyone had a nice picnic, until the doctor decided to peep his head out of the comms hologram to make an announcement.
"We've got trouble!"
Everyone became alert and tense. Gareth and Mash got into a defensive position quickly, spear and shield at the ready.
"Incoming...two Servants!"
"What?! Two of them? But there's nobody here!" Chiaki looked around, bewildered. Her now-empty can of tuna fell onto the ground, and she got slightly upset that the atmosphere was no longer calm.
"Servants without Masters...that is possible, but they would only be shadows of Servants. This could be a Holy Grail War. Argh, why is this place so confusing? This Singularity is seriously twisted…" The Director was back at it again with her thoughts being spoken out loud.
Soon, the enemies approached. One was a huge shadowy figure, with a long arm and a skull mask. He seemed bulky, and a dark purple miasma seemed to swirl around him like an evil aura. His partner was also shrouded in the same mist, but looked a lot more human. With a variety of spears, swords, and other pointy stick weapons, he looked like a warrior from ancient times.
Alpha was once again resuming his default position, which was that of a sack of potatoes. "We're not going to die, right? Because even if that was the case, I'd be alright with it, but I think I prefer being alive for now."
Chiaki was having none of it. "Don't be silly!" She reached for his head aiming to smack him, but he dodged easily. "Team Shield n' Spear can take care of this. I believe in them!"
"...Team Shield and Spear? You gave them a name already?" It was supposed to be a mumble, but it came out too loud.
Chiaki grinned sheepishly. "Well, yeah! Saying Naughty-Mash-Gareth-Ryuuto isn't very catchy, right?"
"I am so glad you two aren't Masters right now…" The Director fought the urge to do a massive facepalm.
And so for Naughty and Ryuuto, it was showtime. Ryuuto looked at their opponents and sized them up.
"Two versus two, and I have no idea what kind of Servants they are."
Naughty gave himself a few seconds of thinking before his response. "I say you and Gareth should take on the one with the arm. Mash and I will cover the attacks of the guy with the weapons."
Ryuuto scoffed. "Since when did you decide to call the shots?"
"Since I decided we better make a move before they do." Naughty gave his usual smirk, and turned to look at Mash. "Time to show these guys what we're made of. Don't be afraid."
"Hahahaha, more Servants to fight? Well, I'll take their heads and then the Grail will be mine!" Skull face cackled while the other shadow Servant pulled out a naginata with a wicked looking blade tip in menacing silence.
Mash stepped forward, her cross shield ready. "Mash Kyrielight, assuming combat mode!"
The first strike came from the bulky shadow Servant. Daggers flung from his hands flew at a breakneck pace and lodged themselves on Gareth's armor. "Ghh!"
The silver knight stumbled, trying to stabilize her stance, but the skull-faced foe was quick to fling daggers to keep her moving. However, if there was any pain coming from the assault, Gareth showed none of it.
"I can take it! This is nothing!"
"That must be an Assassin-class Servant. He's going to wear her down with agility, and when her armor can't take it anymore, he'll go in for the kill." Alpha stared dead-eyed at the fight, as if fixated by the action.
"Hey, uh, you sound possessed. Have a little faith, ok?" Shooting a concerned glance at the blonde, Chiaki then looked at the fight between the weapons servant and Mash.
Mash was doing all she could to block the shadow Servant's naginata, and her cross shield looked like it was making every attack a no-sell against her. However, Mash could not make a move against the spear bearer due to using her shield for defense.
With every clang, her shield fell back bit by bit. "Ghhh!"
"Hmm, I guess this one is Lancer-class. They're at a stalemate, though." This wasn't good. If all they could do was defend, then it was only a matter of time before the girls would be exhausted!
Anxiety began to bubble in both of the spectator's stomachs, and Chiaki was tapping the ground with her foot, full of nervous energy. "We need a hero…"
"You called?"
"GYAAH!" Immediately Chiaki's shoulders tensed at the sound. She spun around in panic only to find a hooded figure behind her, wielding a staff that looked suspiciously like a hockey stick.
She placed a hand on her chest, and gasped out a greeting. "You, scared, me!"
Alpha approached the blue-robed wizard. "I take it that you're a Servant? Are you going to kill us?"
Chiaki pushed Alpha back behind her to assert dominance. "You'll have to excuse him. He's kind of a death-seeker." She pointed to the fight ahead in the distance. "Our friends need help over there, please, mister, um, wizard man?"
The wizard unhooded himself, letting his sapphire-blue hair cascade out. "I was just heading there. Seeing those two young ladies fight despite the miserable odds, I just couldn't let that slide."
Chiaki smiled, hope shining in her eyes. "Well then, let's not waste time!" Together, they ran off to the battlefield.
Gareth had gotten the hang of the shadow Assassin's attack pattern and used her small shield to deflect the dagger volleys...
"Take thiiiis!"
...but she was still lagging just a bit behind her Skull-faced enemy. The thrust of her lance did graze the shadow Assassin, who wobbled just out of reach for a second attack.
Mash was still resisting the attacks from Shadow Lancer. However, with each strike, she was starting to counter on her own, angling the shield every other hit for a counterattack.
And behind the fighters, the two active Masters were giving it their all, issuing commands in tandem. It looked paradoxical, since their attacks were not of working together as one unit, but working alongside each other for the same goal: victory.
"Amazing...they're holding it out!" Chiaki huffed, hands on her knees from the sprint. Alpha simply stared in awe, internally impressed at the turnout of the fight.
"You two have guts, despite being little ladies. There's still fight left in you two." The blue-haired wizard man leaped down to the fray, hockey stick staff in tow. "So that's why I can't leave you both to fight off these shadows alone."
With a wave of his hand, red-hot runes materialized in thin air. They glowed with fiery light, and the ground beneath the shadow Servants erupted into flames.
"Grrhk! Who are you?!" The Assassin spat, his skull mask looking angered in the fire light.
"Hmph. Can't you see? Or did that cursed mud get into your eyes?"
That definitely was a burn. Shadow Assassin roared, and launched a volley of daggers every which way. Mash quickly caught them on her shield, now resembling a dart board after a drunken man's turn to play.
Caster waved another set of fire runes, and discs of light zoomed towards the enemy Servants. Mash and Gareth backed away as the discs collided with the enemy in an explosive burst of flames.
The smoke settled. "It's you...Caster…" The shadow Lancer collapsed and struggled to use his naginata as support to try standing. He could only lift his face into a scowl before disintegrating into purple dust.
"Heave-ho! Gotcha!" Gareth took aim and impaled shadow Assassin with her lance. He too disintegrated, and the fight was over. She rushed over to Ryuuto, practically skipping and making her armor clink and clunk as pieces hit one another.
"Victory! We won, Master!"
"Yes, victory is ours...whoo." Ryuuto didn't look too happy as he replied with a hoarse voice. He looked tired, if anything. His face was pale and his eyes were a tiny bit dull.
"Ah, I think Master is tired."
"You don't say…"
…
After the victory against Shadow Lancer and Assassin, everyone huddled together as Roman explained the mission to Caster and waited to hear his side of the story.
"...and that's the current situation in Chaldea. Currently, these four are Masters, but only two are active. We're all doing field investigations, but let me get this straight: you're a Servant who is participating in a Holy Grail War, but also its sole survivor, correct?"
The blue Caster nodded. "If by that you mean I haven't lost. This isn't a Grail War anymore. Out of nowhere, everything started burning and all the humans vanished. And then Saber started the War back up again, rampaging everywhere."
He sighed. "Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Rider, and Berserker were all defeated by that chap and corrupted into shadow Servants."
"So then the rules of the Holy Grail War were broken...I see." The Director frowned.
Caster continued. "That, and monsters started to spring up like maggots. They are all looking for something, and one of those things just happens to be me. When they finally kill me, this War will end." He chuckled. "Now you see why I came forward to help? It's always great to make allies. Strength in numbers, after all."
"So what do we do now?" asked Chiaki. "It's not like we're going directly to Saber and beating the Grail out of her, are we?"
"We're going to have to do that eventually. But some things first." The Caster turned to face the redhead Master. "Let's make a temporary contract, shall we? For the time being, I will be your Servant."
Chiaki tensed up and blushed. "Wh-why me?!"
"Well, if I contract with any of the active Masters, they'll strain under the energy flow for two Servants."
The doctor spoke up. "That wouldn't be any good. They all just recently activated their magic circuits, so running them full-time would be-"
"Harmful. I understand." Caster held out his hand to Chiaki. "And besides, I'm not into weaklings like your friend over there, the so-called death-seeker."
Alpha looked off to the side, quietly.
"Wh-what about the Director? She's got amazing magic and stuff!"
"It sounds to me that you don't want to take up the role of Master, young lady."
"It's not that, I just figured there are people more prepared for that than me...I just want to be sure I'm not a last-ditch pick." Chiaki huffed, a little indignant with her tone. But she meant well.
The Director sighed as Caster explained that while she had superior magic circuits, the Director had little aptitude for being a Master. She actually got mad and started to throw a fit!
Chiaki looked at Caster. "I feel like I shouldn't have asked...but, um, we have a deal." Chiaki shook Caster's hand, wincing as red command seals bloomed onto the back of her left hand. She internally cringed at the fact that her palms were rather sweaty, but Caster didn't seem to notice or care.
After an awkward minute of shaking hands (it felt like an eternity), Caster continued his plan.
"The second thing at hand is to train that shield girl over there. You didn't think I noticed that look just now? You feel bad about something."
Looks like Alpha has company in the depression department now. Mash sighed, disappointment clear on her face. "I still haven't unleashed my Noble Phantasm."
"Oh, so that's what was bothering you. You're pretty responsible to be thinking like that, Mash…" Roman spoke from the projector, also catching the depression bug. "But an issue like that can't be settled overnight. It's a Noble Phantasm, after all. If it was so easy to use your ultimate attack, Servants wouldn't be special!"
Caster snorted. "Of course we can master something like that immediately! Heroic Spirits and Noble Phantasms are one and the same. If this young lady can fight as a Servant, of course she can use her Noble Phantasm. And yet she can't at the moment, and it's probably because her magic isn't circulating right. Or, she isn't yelling it out loud when practicing."
"You have to yell your ultimate move out loud? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me." Ryuuto commented, Gareth at his side with her eyes sparkling.
"He's right, Master! A way to put your whole spirit into it is by yelling with focus, fury, and passion!" Gareth gripped her lance with pride as Ryuuto rolled his eyes.
"Actually, that was just a metaphor. But this lady gets it." Caster looked at Mash, who was still a little sad. "So how about it? We'll take a little detour and have some special training. This Lancer lady and I will have you unleashing your Noble Phantasm in no time."
"If that's okay with Master…"
"Sounds fine with me. A Servant as beautiful as you should be as tough as she looks." Naughty smiled with confident encouragement...while he stared at Mash.
"Alright. As I'm a Caster, you can leave the healing to me."
And so everyone made their way to a nearby rocky clearing, ready to boost Mash's power to the extreme! Or at least, to a level that would leave her with something to be proud of.
Caster's voice trailed off in the distance. "You know, I do wish I was a Lancer…"