Fate/Grand Order: The Hunt For The Ancient Gods

Part 1

Prologue

Brave New World

A few years after the events of the Incineration of Humanity Incident...

Somewhere in the countryside of Romania:

The young man who was at the wheel of the taxicab was getting restless at this point. Ever since it started, the foreign woman who now sat at the backseat of his car didn't say a single word. She only looked at the beautiful landscape that the taxicab was passing by, and only now and then, she looked at her cellphone. Of course, the young man was also interested in his passenger too. It's not every day that he got the opportunity to spend so much with such a beautiful girl. While her choice of clothing was strange even for a foreigner, the girl's strange clothing actually made the young man even more interested in her too. Not to mention her beautiful blonde hair, with a short haircut, combined with her blue eyes and glasses. But when the driver was about to turn around and ask her something, the young driver noticed something in her left ring finger. As he soon realized what it was, it actually made him think twice before trying to talk with this girl. He didn't know if he would get at the wrong end of her husband's fist if he tried to even talk to her so the young driver really thought well about it, but in the end, he still decided to try and struck a conversation with the foreign girl. As long as he didn't make her feel uncomfortable or anything similar to that, all would be well. At least, the young driver thought so.

Driver:

- Uhm... Sorry to bother you... but... Uhm... Did something happen? Why are you so quiet? It's been almost two hours ever since I picked you up at the airport and you didn't say a word ever since then.

What happened next actually surprised the young driver. Instead of hearing the insult or the girl simply ignoring him, the foreigner actually apologized to him.

Foreign Girl:

- My apologies! I never meant to ignore you, mister. I was just so enraptured by the beautiful landscape outside that I ended up dozing off here...

Driver:

- Oh you were dozing off? I think I should be the one apologizing then. It's just that it was so quiet that I felt a little uncomfortable here, hehe.

Foreign Girl:

- That's fine.

After an awkward second or two, the young driver tried to continue with their conversation by asking the girl something.

Driver:

- So... Do you mind if I ask you something?

Foreign Girl:

- Sure. What you would like to know?

Driver:

- Well... Why are you going to Trifas? I thought you tourists liked to stay in Bucharest and only stay there. I was quite surprised when you came to me, asking for a ride to a countryside city...

Foreign Girl:

- That's simple. I'm not a tourist, I'm here to work.

Driver:

- Really? Actually, it makes only more strange...

Foreigner Girl:

- What do you mean? Could you elaborate more or is it too uncomfortable?

Driver:

- You see... Well... There are some... Strange rumors running all over the country about what's going on Trifas. Even though they seem very dar fetched in nature, I can't help but feel interested about what's actually going over there. I wish I could stay in that town and uncover the many mysteries that are now surrounding it...

After half an hour the young driver told the girl all the rumors that were circling all over Romania about the small town. Tales of ritualistic grisly murders, of strange symbols (and those symbols were drawn using the blood of the victims) appearing in all of the crime scenes. But that wasn't the end of it: There were also rumors of strange lights coming off ruins in the vicinities of the town every now and then, followed by sightings of strange robbed people exiting the very same ruins. When he was done explaining everything that he knew to the inquisitive foreigner, the young driver could already see the small city ahead of them, as the night was quickly approaching, with the Sun beginning to set on the horizon. It was almost as if time had passed so fast that the driver wasn't even able to notice it at all. The young man was also astounded by the fact that despite everything that he had just told the girl, she did not cower or ridiculed him in the slightest. In fact, she seemed to be taking the matter very seriously, she was even taking notes on her smartphone as she attentively heard every single thing that he was telling her about what was happening at the now peculiar small Romanian town. When entering the small town properly, it was almost as if the townsfolk didn't really care about what was happening there. There were small businesses owners closing down their shops for the day, bars opening for the night that was coming, couples of all ages walking down the streets without a care in the world. Despite all the rumors, the bizarre occurrences, and the violent murders, the people of Trifas simply carried on their lives as if nothing ever happened. Or perhaps this was their way to cope with all of these happenings that simply defied rationality and any sort of scientific explanation, the young man thought to himself. After a few minutes of cruising around town, the driver soon found the hotel where he was supposed to drop off the very curious foreigner girl. Parking his taxi, he helped the "tourist" carry her luggage to the hotel (even if she didn't appear to require any help at all, as the girl carried her heavy bags as if they were groceries from the grocery store, while the driver himself couldn't even barely lift some of them). As the girl was about to pay the young driver for his services, he decided to "pester" the beautiful foreigner one last time before he headed back to Bucharest (most likely to never see her again).

Young Driver:

- Hey... Can I ask you one last thing before we part ways?

Foreigner Girl:

- Well, sure. Since you helped me a little, I think it's fair that I let you ask me one last thing.

Young Driver:

- Okay. So, can you give me your name?

The girl pondered for a little bit, her expression clearly depicting her internal thoughts of if she should give her name to the stranger or not. But in the end, she decided to give in to the driver's request.

Foreigner Girl:

- I'm Jeanne d'Arc. Nice to meet you, sir.

Young Driver:

- Oh... But in one of the bags, there was a stick with the name "Helena Anderson" on it...? So what-

Jeanne d'Arc:

- Well, I guess that'll be our little secret, to keep for ourselves only and no else...

Before the young man could even react and ask anything, the girl named Jeanne simply turned around and headed back inside the hotel. Since there was no use standing here, the taxi driver turned his car around and began the trip back to Bucharest. But while this ended, much more grand events were about to happen in this small Romanian town...

TO BE CONTINUED...