Extella/Grand Order
Chapter 2: The Second Fuyuki Fire
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Hakuno felt heat all around him. An uncomfortable heat like as if someone had turned up the air conditioning way too high for their amusement. It didn't help that being forcefully transported once more across time and space, his stabilized body was jarred all over again, leaving him one massive lump of pain. In response to this, the Regalia instantly went into self-preservation mode and made his body activate a healing spell, mending his internal wounds to a working status and brining his consciousness back up to snuff.
Taking in a deep breath, he instantly regretted it as soot, dust, dry air and smog entered his nose, mouth and lungs, causing him to cough and pull up his shirt to act as a makeshift filter for a moment. His eyes opened slowly and his body, despite being healed, swayed drunkenly as he attempted to force himself up.
'Mash…Fou…gotta make sure…they're ok.' He thought as he saw nothing but destroyed concrete and fire all around him.
His hearing came back moments later, going into that annoying ringing noise as it attempted to equalize itself before he could pick up voices once more.
'..i. Se….i…n…up….pl….g….up!' he heard in bits and pieces, like radio static as he managed to get on one knee.
Gritting his teeth, he forced his other leg to get up as well. Despite his muscles screaming at him to stop, he managed to stand once more…and what greeted him was a sight that could be described as no less than 'Hell on Earth'.
He had thought Chaldea's Central Command Room being destroyed was bad. What he saw in front of him…he saw a whole city that was on the exact same level. It was awash in a sea of flames and destruction. Once tall and proud buildings crumbled underneath their own weight as the concrete and steel used to make them melted underneath the unforgiving fire. Any and all human bodies that he could see were charred into unrecognizable messes of ruined flesh and boiled blood.
The Regalia also told him that while the fire happened almost instantaneously, the building damage had been around for far longer. If this was a Singularity like the PA announcement had said, along with the time and date coinciding with the fifth Holy Grail War…something happened that would both extend it and perverse it into something distinctly UN-holy. He was so lost in the sight in front of him that he almost missed the warning signal that the Regalia pushed into his brain to move out of the way. Reacting subconsciously, he rolled forward and looked behind him, only to nearly gag at what he saw.
It was a skeleton…or a partial one anyways. He could still see bits and pieces of flesh covering it, making it seem like a zombie if it wasn't for the fact that everything else that was important was gone. More disturbing was that not only was it walking, it was holding an iron slab of a sword as a weapon that had attempted to murder him.
Being used to being attacked and wanting to be killed by different opponents, he quickly flipped his mental switch from being 'scared' to 'kill this thing before it kills me'. Raising his left hand, clad with Regalia on finger, he called on his od and prana to channel the elements into his hand. Having a walking encyclopedia on all human history, including all spells that he could cast without needing absurd prep time, was very handy. In an instant, a sharp icicle appeared in front of him and he pointed it at the skeleton.
"Freeze!" he shouted and the icicle shot forward, piercing the shambling skeleton right at the exact center of its body before it exploded, an entire small pillar of subarctic ice taking its place before it shattered into pieces, taking the skeleton with it. Slightly wasteful compared to a fireball, but since they were already in a hellscape, he didn't want to take any chances on it being fire resistant.
Now that proper focus on his situation began to kick in, Hakuno looked around for this two companions. "Mash! Fou?! Can you hear me?!" He shouted at the top of his voice before coughing when he inhaled too much smog and dry air again. He would have used a spell to do something akin to sonar, but he only had so much prana and od to use and even the Regalia wasn't infinite in its prana reserves. So until he could tap into a leyline or something that had a lot of magical energy which he could safely absorb and convert, he had to make every single spell he did use count.
Until that happened, he resorted to careful moving amongst the debris and hiding from some of the skeletal warriors that he saw. He kept his eyes and ears out for any sign of Fou's signature cries or Mash calling out for him…if she hadn't died already. He hoped that her whole body was transported here and not just the visible part of it at the very least.
After several minutes of silence, he picked up the sounds of battle. Steel clashing against steel before the sound of broken or shattered bones reached his ear. Hakuno hoped that it was an ally, rather than an enemy as he slowly approached from the side. What he saw at that moment astounded him and would amaze him for days to come.
He saw Mash; dainty, pure Mash holding up a giant slab of iron in the shape of…a cross mixed with a shield? Cross-shield? Whatever it was, she was holding it effortlessly. Fou was carefully positioning himself within her range, yipping and barking whenever something attempted to approach her blind side. She was going against a large group of skeletons armed to the teeth and their numbers were not thinning out…rather for each one she killed, two more popped up.
Normally, he would be overjoyed that not only was she ok, she was actually quite alive and healthy to be fighting back like she was when only minutes ago she was knocking on deaths door quite literally. That was to say nothing about her outfit change. She had gone from a lab assistant look to armor that covered her breasts, arms, knees and legs with heels at the end to boot.
'Regalia, any solution to make Mash's life easier?' Hakuno thought to the supercomputer ring. After several seconds, a message appeared in his mind to answer the query which flashed through his mind in mere nanoseconds for him to comprehend, respond and agree to a solution.
'Solution, two found. One is to project a wide-area spell of holy light. Modestly draining, but ensures thorough erasure of hostiles, no prior knowledge of holy magic needed to cast. Second solution is to use magic: Projection and Reinforcement. Make Holy Church Black Keys. Inadvisable due to host subject not knowing holy attack scripture, how to properly throw knives or how to fight with them. Far less of a drain on magical reserves, however, in the long run.'
He didn't have time to wait for the Regalia to comb through the information needed to make him the equivalent of the Holy Church's Executors. Even if it did, that only gave him the mental knowledge and none of the physical knowledge needed to pull it off. He'd still be an average human waving a holy weapon he didn't know how to properly use in the end. So option one it was. The Regalia responded to his choice by giving him the proper knowledge of how to use holy light as a magical spell.
Getting down on one knee, he called forth an element that was almost gone to this realm since the Age of Gods had been long over. A shining light appearing in his hand, almost blinding in its intensity but giving off no heat. Instead, being bathed in its radiance made one feel safe and comfortable, like all would be right with the world. He had to steady the hand that he had placed the magic into, lest he drop it, hurt himself and wasted the magic for nothing. Slowly, the light went from a dim luster to a brilliant shine, causing all the skeletons to stop their advance on Mash and Fou and instead turn their attention to him.
Contrary to popular belief, one did not need to be a member of the church or any religion to use Holy magic or even holy objects. Faith only enhanced the power that was put into a spell. Conversely, to the few Gods left in the world, those who earned their favor could cast the magic for free or with massive benefits and little drawbacks.
To those that trained hard enough, or had an out such as Hakuno's Regalia, they could just summon holy magic as a rather powerful light which only 'drives evil back from whence it came, bringing salvation to the lost'. Those who were evil were smited. Those who harbored evil thoughts would find them fading if it wasn't their sole guidance. Zombies and forcefully risen spirits like skeletons…would find the peace that they were so rightfully denied.
"Let those who are twisted from the right path find their way back to a peaceful slumber. Holy Lance!" he shouted before throwing the shining ball of light into the sky. At the apex of the throw, the light hovered, defying gravity for a moment before bursting into dozens of smaller lights. Each of those lights then became sharp, turning into a needle like projection before they all shot downwards like bullets from a machine gun. Every needle of light that touched a skeleton made it glow for a brief second before it burst into ashes. None of them came close to touching Mash and Fou, but all the skeletons were annihilated by the holy magic.
It was definitely a modest drain and Hakuno felt like had just ran a 5 mile marathon course, sweat dripping freely from his brow and his legs and arms burning from the exertion his magical circuits had gone through. Still, it was enough and both Mash and Fou were immediately at his side.
"Senpai! Thank Goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug that he quickly found himself trying to pull away from when she placed too much pressure into it.
"Mash...can't…breathe…" he gasped, his face beginning to go an interesting shade of purple.
"Oh!" Immediately, she let go of him and Fou scrambled up onto him, causing Hakuno to hold him like a puppy or kitten and offering a smile of relief.
"I'm glad you're ok too Fou. Though Mash…what are you wearing? Why isn't half your body crushed?" he asked, curious about the wardrobe change and her dramatic health comeback.
A dark blush came onto her face when he called her out on that.
"I…uh…we should find a safe place first before we discuss that. I do not wish for these skeletal warriors to come back in greater numbers." Mash deflected, but she also had a good point. It wasn't easy to talk and fight at the same time when he wasn't that much of a combatant to speak of. These spells were too draining on his non-Moon Cell flesh and blood body to repeatedly sling out. "Also, for a civilian, you're well versed in spells."
Hakuno offered a slight smirk over her surprise in that. "What can I say? I'm a man of many talents."
Fou yipped in agreement to that statement.
Before they could even attempt to leave the area, however, Hakuno heard an incessant beeping noise coming from Mash. More specifically, her wrist.
"Mash, are you going to explode or something?" he asked seriously.
Mash had the good grace to blush again at the fact that it did sound somewhat like a countdown noise. "No. This is the communicator that all Chaldea employees are supposed to have for Singularity missions. It connects us to the Command Center to give mission updates and request supplies. You were supposed to have one as well, Senpai, but with everything happening so fast and you not even having a proper Chaldea Mystic Code Uniform…well, it worked out for you at least." She explained before tapping at a certain point in her gauntlet covered wrist.
A few seconds later, a fuzzy, grainy hologram appeared in front of them. In full view was Dr. Romani Archaman, who looked extremely nervous and scared, with good reason.
"Finally! I managed to make it through. Can you three hear me? This is from the Chaldea Command Room, over." He said, the voice coming through clear despite the image quality being poor.
Mash stepped in front of the Hologram and motioned for Hakuno and Fou to join her. "This is Mash Kyrielight of A Team. At this time I have successfully Rayshifted into Singularity F. The only other person with me is Master Candidate 48, Hakuno Kishinami. Spiriton shift was perfect and both his mind and body are intact. If the system is still working, please register Hakuno as an official researcher."
Being able to see them, Dr. Romani gave a sigh of relief, doubly so at the update that Mash gave him. "So you ignored all warnings and got Rayshifted, Mr. Kishinami? At least you're alright. That's what matters. Being Rayshifted without Coffin usage is extremely dangerous. You can 'lose your existence' if improperly done."
Then he got a better look at Mash and the good doctor found himself blushing. "Mash, what is with that outfit?! It's shameless! I didn't raise you to dress like that!" he shouted.
"It was umm…during the Rayshift. I had to protect Senpai and Chaldea's Uniform wouldn't do me much good." Mash quickly explained, blushing at being called out on her new clothes for a second time. "Just check my condition. It should explain everything."
Hakuno gave Mash a frown from behind her at being kept in the dark, but Romani quickly did as she asked and found himself blinking in shock.
"Physical Strength…Magic Circuits…everything has gone beyond human limits. Only a Servant could have such parameters. Mash…." Romani motioned to Hakuno who was behind her and she gave a small nod in return.
"While it is still dangerous in our position, I can quickly verify. I have become a cross between a human and a Servant. Our A team was provided with one for the Singularity, but the Master was cut off during the explosion. Without mana sustaining it, the Servant would have vanished." As she was explaining, she was also quickly looking around her to make sure no more Skeletal Warriors were near their position.
"Before it vanished, it offered me a contract. It would give me its skills, weapon and parameters as a Heroic Spirit and I would eliminate the cause of this Singularity. I accepted…I didn't want to die. I didn't want to have Senpai die because of me." Bitter tears came to her face at this point, remembering the phantom pain of having her body crushed, of not wanting her last moments to be alone and to have Senpai hold her hand, which he did.
"Dr. Romani, I hate to cut this short, but we should really get moving. We were attacked as soon as we got here. If any of the working equipment can do so, is there a way to locate a safe zone?" Hakuno quickly cut in, gently rubbing the back of Mash's neck to help calm her down with one hand while Fou jumped to her shoulder and licked her cheek to offer his own help.
Sadly, Dr. Romani was in researcher mode still and completely ignored him. "A Demi-Servant…human and servant fused…Chaldea's sixth experiment." He muttered, something Hakuno quickly locked on to.
'I really don't like the sound of that…or that Zelretch, since he went further back than me, might have approved such a thing.' He thought to himself.
Breaking that train of thought, he saw that Mash had recovered somewhat and she and Dr. Romani were talking.
"I do not know which Heroic Spirit I am. He only gave me his combat abilities, skills, the ability to use his Noble Phantasm and weapon before vanishing. Even his True Name was not given. I'm sorry." She told the hologram.
"At the very least, you're alive and you're completely trustworthy. That's what matters." Dr. Romani responded with a small smile on his face.
"Doctor, focus. We need directions." Hakuno cut in once more.
"Oh! Right…uh…huh? That's odd…aside from seeing that apparently you've subconsciously entered a Master and Servant contract with Mash, which probably explains why you two were able to stabilize and Rayshift successfully…I'm picking up two other signals of life that ping positive for Chaldea staff." Dr. Romani noted as he began to use the equipment in front of him to look at something beyond their scope of view.
A moment later, the doctor gasped. "I…I don't believe this. Somehow, there were two other people who Rayshited with you. It's the Wizard Marshal and the Director! They're alive! Er…unalive in the Marshal's case but still!"
Hakuno sucked in a deep breath at hearing that both Olga Marie and Zelretch were still alive. Zelretch, he could believe…Olga Marie, however, had no doubt been at Ground Zero when that explosion went off. How she survived that explosion was beyond his ability to grasp factually at that moment.
"Well, to answer your earlier question Mr. Kishinami, there is a leyline about two kilometers from your position, south by southeast right where the Director is located. It looks like…a community center of sorts? Regardless, get there and Mash can handle the rest. It will also let you stabilize the connection and –"Just as he was about to finish his explanation, the connection was cut and Romani's image and voice both vanished.
"Umm…Senpai…" Mash spoke up in a hesitant voice.
"Yes Mash?" Hakuno asked, already having a slight clue about what she might ask him next.
"Are you…not surprised by all of this? Servants…a Master and Servant contract between us…anything?" Was her meek response.
Hakuno shook his head slightly. "Not really. I might be labeled as a civilian but I know the basics at least." Looking down at his left hand, he could see the three symbols that had once gone dormant when he had left the Moon Cell light up in a familiar blood red glow, indicating his status as a Master. "The demi-servant and experiment stuff…the singularities…that stuff is new to me. Right now though, we need to focus on safety."
Mash nodded in agreement and Fou quickly shuffled back into Hakuno's arms. "Right. Let's go, Sen-I mean…Master!" she quickly corrected herself as she pointed in the direction they were supposed to be heading. In the distance, a large bridge could barely be made out along with even more buildings that were destroyed by the fire or other buildings falling atop of them. "I also see hostiles in that direction. Please, command me as I'm…rather new to all this when the time comes for battle."
Hakuno gave a small nod in understanding before they ran off, making sure to avoid heavy fighting when they could to conserve energy.
Fuyuki City
Business District, Community Center Area
10 minutes later
It was times like these that Hakuno was grateful that even in the Moon Cell with a digital body he went through training with Archer, Cu and Nero. In not so many words, all three agreed that a lazy and un-athletic master was very much a dead one when the time came to make an escape in battle. To all the female servants and one Astolfo, it helped serve him as eye-candy for their enjoyment and amusement. So even running two kilometers, while occasionally stopping to direct Mash in combat, only slightly winded him.
On her end, Mash did not look like she was breaking a sweat at all. Her face and body were slightly covered in skeletal dust and soot from the fire and wind, but not much else. She also used her 'shield thingy' as he called it quite effectively as a blunt instrument of destruction.
It wasn't long before they and Fou made it to their destination and just in time too. The familiar white hair of Olga Marie was quite distinctive as she began to be surrounded by skeletons. She fired magic out of her finger like bullets, but it seemed like these skeletons were more resistant to magic than the ones they had ran into as they took it without a care in the world.
As they got closer, Hakuno could see the look in Olga Marie's eyes. The sheer terror, pure horror…a girl who was not yet a woman at the end of her metaphorical rope.
She quickly whipped around to fire another dark looking magical bullet like spell at a Skeletal Warrior that had gotten too close before cursing up a storm. One that they could all hear.
"What are these creatures? Why do all these things always happen to me?!" she cried out. At this point, either her adrenaline wore out, her nerves finally snapped or she had used too much of her od, but she collapsed onto her knees, unwilling to do anything further.
"I can't take it anymore! Please save me Leff! You were always there for me right?" she cried out, tears streaming down from her eyes.
As she said this, Hakuno remembered what Dr. Romani had told him earlier about Olga Marie's rather fragile ego.
'Since the previous Director passed away not too long ago, all the responsibilities and expectations had fallen onto her. Typical magi stuff, but it's never something you want to put onto a young girl that is still in her teens. I doubt so much as a 'thank you' or 'well done' has been given to her since she took over.' He had told him.
'No one has ever thanked her, or even praised her. Not even so much as a show of affection.' Hakuno thought before springing into action. "Mash, save the Director at all costs!"
The Demi-Servant gave a resolute nod before dashing into the fray shield first and bowling the Skeletal Warriors over like so many pins. Hakuno himself quickly fired another low-cost icicle spell as a form of cover for himself as he slid to Olga Marie's side and hefted her up with one hand, Fou quickly falling out of his arms so he could also use his other hand to assist. "Come on Director! We'll get you out of here."
At being touched, it seemed to snap the white-haired magus out of her funk. "H-huh? You two?" she muttered, her eyes wide with surprise.
Not waiting for her to get her act completely together, Hakuno quickly half-pulled, half-carried her out of the melee as Mash fought off their attackers. After a few battles, he could see that she quickly learned how to use her shield a lot more offensively now in a more counter-based fighting style.
The Demi-Servant would use the shield to first block and stop an enemy's momentum, then use the weight of her shield to force them back, breaking their equilibrium. From there, she quickly used the cross-section of her shield to slice, bash or rush into the enemy to put them out of commission. Already in the time it took for Hakuno to reach the Director and pull her out of danger, Mash had destroyed the twelve Skeletal Warriors that had been attacking her.
It was only after Hakuno got himself, Olga Marie and Fou into a more defensive position in a choke-point alleyway that he called for Mash to fall back. Despite there being no visible enemies, she made sure to look in all directions as she dashed backwards towards them.
By this point, Olga Marie had already recovered all of her senses and she was looking at Mash carefully.
"Are you ok Director?" the Demi-Servant asked.
"Mash, what is going on?" her superior demanded.
It was all the pink haired girl could do to just blink at the suddenness of that question in return to her own.
"U-um…I know this is hard to believe, but…" she began to explain before she was cut off.
"You're a Demi-Servant, I can plainly see that. I more so meant that why is it now successful!"
Then she whirled around at Hakuno and got up in his face.
"As for you! You're the Civilian who slept through my speech and I forbade from coming on the first mission. Why are you here? Why are you contracted to Mash?"
At this point, Hakuno felt like he could have been in the right to be angry. To shove Olga Marie's rescue right in her face and demand at the very least a 'thank you' from her. Though as much as he wanted to, he knew that all of this was just bluff and bluster from her.
His eyes saw how the Director was still shaking, her voice tremoring and slightly breaking at points. She was still scared out of her mind and only trying to play the part of Director, when in reality she was just a terrified teenage girl put into a situation nobody should ever have to go through.
Recalling Romani's words once more, Hakuno swallowed all of his self-righteous anger and pride and instead did what he needed to do.
Surprising everyone, he went and he hugged Olga Marie tightly, one hand gently patting the back of her head comfortably in a soothing gesture.
"S-s-senpai!" Mash exclaimed, her face going beet red at what she thought to be an intimate gesture.
"WHAT ARE YOU-"Olga Marie began to shout, her face also red but for far different reasons, before Hakuno stepped in.
"Director Olga Marie Animusphere…thank you for surviving. I'm glad you're still alive. You did an amazing job lasting as long as you did. Please, calm down so we can properly help you." He told her.
At this point, Olga Marie's anger died in an instant, instead being replaced with an even darker blush as she was not only thanked, but praised! For the first time in her life since she took over for Chaldea, someone actually appreciated her. While she would never admit it, his words moved her heart far more than any gesture ever could. Even Leff did not acknowledge her in such a way when they talked.
She still had appearances to keep though, so she quickly shoved Hakuno away after letting him hold her for another minute or so.
"W-w-well, be grateful for me allowing you to do such a thing without blasting you into oblivion." She said with a huff at the end while giving Mash the stink eye when she heard the other girl giggling.
"So, status update. Mash, explain why you're in a contract with Candidate…er…Mr. Kishinami and our current situation." She corrected herself halfway, her blush still entirely visible on her face. Even Fou seemed to have a smirk on his furry little face over that expression.
"Understood Director. I'll also attempt to establish a connection with the leylines as you were almost right on top of them when we found you." Mash quickly agreed.
10 minutes later
Hakuno was utterly confused on how Mash's shield seemed to be the Swiss-army knife of magical objects. It defended, it attacked and somehow it managed to establish a cross-dimensional leyline shift between Fuyuki and Chaldea despite being over a decade and half a world apart from each other. The Regalia offered an explanation but he quickly declined, letting the supercomputer know he was being sarcastic.
"Director…was there any chance at all that some of the other Master Candidates aside from Senpai managed to make it here?" Mash asked as she attempted to get into contact with Central Command.
Thinking about it for a moment, Olga Marie slowly shook her head. "I highly doubt it. The common factor on how you, me, Kishinami, Fou and even the Wizard Marshal are all here seems to be connected to the fact that we were not in the coffins at the time of rayshifting. It's odd though, Leff was right there with the two of us when…the explosion happened but I didn't see him anywhere here. If it wasn't for the Wizard Marshal quickly shielding the two of us with a barrier spell…" she trailed off, giving an explanation on how she managed to survive such a horrible attack.
"There's a traitor in Chaldea. Dr. Roman said as much." Hakuno let her know.
"That should be impossible. I know each and every member. I've talked to and known them for years and all of them agreed that this was the best course of action. My father personally vetted for each and every one of them." Olga Marie stated with confidence, despite placing her hand on her head and rubbing it to stave off an impending headache.
Then she picked up on who Hakuno had just said let him know that.
"Wait…Dr. Archaman? Why is he in Central Command giving out orders?"
It was at that exact moment that Mash managed to re-establish the connection to Chaldea. Instead of the fuzzy hologram from earlier, it was now a very clear picture of Dr. Roman's back as he was shouting orders to seemingly thin air, but they knew he must have gathered some of the surviving staff to help him out.
"Dr. Romani Archaman!" Olga Marie barked out, getting the man's attention as he nearly leapt out of his skin.
"Director Animusphere! You're alive! Oh thank goodness." He said with a relieved smile on his face.
Olga Marie didn't share the sentiment at the moment. "Why are you giving orders to the staff in Central Command right now? You're the head of medical research, there's a long list of more capable chain of command that should have taken over." She requested to know.
At this, the doctor's smile fell off of his face. "Director…I'm the highest member of staff left in Chaldea. Everyone that was higher up than me was in the blast zone when the bomb went off in Central Command. After gathering the surviving staff, I was informed that several of the barracks and other areas were bombed as well. Thankfully the most important parts of Chaldea for functionality and survival; Engineering, Food Stores, Kitchen, Life Support, Medical…all of them were untouched. Whoever did this deliberately wanted the Chain of Command gone." He explained.
Olga Marie's eyes widened at the news. "E-e-everyone? They're all gone?" she repeated in disbelief.
Dr. Roman gave a sad nod of acknowledgement. "Everyone. If you meet the Wizard Marshal, give him thanks for all of us here. If he didn't countermand Professor Lev's order that everyone should gather in the Central Command room and instead keep doing their normal routine, there would be less surviving staff, probably less than twenty. In total, due to his order, there is about eighty of us left counting those in critical condition and currently in the med bay and excluding the Master Candidates. I estimate by next week our numbers might sadly go down to seventy or less for…psychological reasons not including those that don't make it."
Olga Marie's knees gave out once more as she was essentially told that Chaldea's command staff was gutted. All of the most capable minds in the entire world, gone in an instant.
"W-what about the Master Candidates? You said they were excluded." She managed to ask.
Dr. Roman shook his head. "They're all essentially in a coma or vegetable like state at the moment. We are critically short on medical supplies and –"
At this point, Olga Marie jumped in front of the hologram as if she was about to attempt to strangle him regardless of the fact that they were rayshifted.
"You idiot! You call yourself head of medical?! The coffins have a cryonic preservation mode so use it! The Master Candidates can attempt to be revived later once we've requested for assistance from the Clocktower but they must survive at all costs!" she all but howled at him.
Dr. Roman, for his part, managed to shift gears quickly. "A-ah, yes Director! Activing Cryopreserve state now!" he agreed, using the surviving computers to do as she asked.
Mash looked at the Director with amazement. "Even though cryopreservation without consent is a crime, you instantly leaped into action without care to your reputation. Amazing Director!" she praised.
Sadly, it fell flat with Olga Marie, who looked down. "So long as they survive, I can explain myself at the tribunal later. Already so many lives are gone. I don't think I can handle another forty-seven more on my head." She admitted.
Dr. Roman looked at her with pity. "In the sake of preserving time, this will conclude my report. Chaldea has lost almost seventy percent of its functionality due to staff shortages and sabotage. I've re-routed almost all manpower to keeping CHALDEAS' and SHIVA functioning like normal, lest we lose all of you as well. A lot of the staff that survived were non-essential, so there's only so much I can do. We will have to cross-train them or request more staff along with repairs once external communications are back up." He concluded.
"Its fine, Dr. Archaman. I would have done the same in your position. Until we return, you're in charge of Chaldea. Keep the rayshifting repairs as your top priority. Since I'm here…I'll take command of the field team of myself, Master Hakuno Kishinami, Mash and Fou. We will investigate the cause of Singularity and once we discover it, we will request to be evacuated. Once we are back to at least a semi-functioning state, we can send in a search and destroy team." Olga Marie ordered, giving her command to everyone around her.
Dr. Roman nodded and gave her a salute in respect. "Of course, Director. I'll be sending some supplies via the leyline shift and reverse-summoning using Mash's weapon, which seems to have the Noble Phantasm sealed inside of it, as a waypoint. Food, water, a small medical kit and a proper mystic code uniform for Master Candidate Hakuno Kishinami will be sent. Is there anything else?" he asked.
Neither Olga Marie nor Mash could seem to think of anything, but Hakuno raised his hand. "Yeah, please bring a sewing kit as well. I have a feeling this place is going to rip and tear through our clothes pretty quickly, mystic code or not." He politely requested.
Dr. Roman nodded in agreement. "That's true. We don't know who or what is out there and if your Mystic Code's get torn that's a lot of protection you'll be losing. Magical thread, instructions on repair and a proper field repair sewing kit will be sent. All supplies will be sent within the next ten minutes. Aside from that, I am still picking up the Wizard Marshal's signal. It's varying wildly, but he seems to be around the Fuyuki bridge area between the business and residential distractions. This is Chaldea Central Command, signing off for now."
With that, the hologram disappeared and Olga Marie looked more closely at Hakuno now. "Kishinami…you're unusually calm for someone in a situation like this. Are you sure you're alright?" she asked.
Hakuno gave a small nod. "There is worse things to be scared of right now. I want to focus on what will keep us alive and be scared later."
Olga Marie didn't back down though. "Then there was what Mash was telling me earlier along with what I saw myself. That you were casting spells, despite being a civilian who should have no knowledge of the Moonlit World. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was the Wizard Marshal himself who recommended you for being the final master. At the time I thought it was one of his flights of fancy so I humored him. Now I'm wondering if he had ulterior motives." She deduced, quite well at that.
Mash couldn't help but wonder that as well. To her, Senpai had showed himself as a humble and somewhat confused young man thrust into a larger than life situation. Yet throughout their time in the Singularity, he has shown a remarkable amount of combat prowess in both directing her to conserve as much energy as possible, while making sure he pulled his own weight as well. Almost as if he had been in such situations before in the past.
He did not deny or acknowledge her guesses. "I think, at the moment, we should get Zelretch." Was his response and he kept it at that.
Both girls looked down, wondering if there was now a breach of trust between the three of them with Hakuno's abnormal behavior and knowledge of things he shouldn't know in the face of danger. In the end, they shook it off because they had a point. There was still one member of the Chaldea staff they needed to save and Wizard Marshal or not, there was only so much one can do against a Servant.
Once the supplies were sent over, everyone ate a ration bar which replenished some of their od and prana reserves. Water went next, before Hakuno stepped aside to change into the Chaldea uniform. Despite it being improper, both young women found themselves unable to resist peeking, blushing slightly when they saw that Hakuno had some nice muscles on his body from the backside…with an equally nice rear to boot despite being a boxer person which didn't show much.
One thing they both noticed, however, was that he had scars. Battle scars, by the looks of them. New, old, faded…it was the kind that a civilian should never have. Reinforcing Olga Marie's theory that Hakuno might have been brought in as an independent mercenary by the Wizard Marshal. Her burning question was why he felt the secrecy was needed.
Did he know that there was a traitor and wanted to circumvent them by inserting his own man on the inside? What was Hakuno that the Kaleidoscope himself trusted with such a task that he himself could have done with the snap of a finger? Was he being watched and Hakuno was assurance that if he was outed that he could continue the job? Why was Fou, who trusted almost nobody in Chaldea, immediately attached to him?
In the end, there was a lot more questions given than answers and answers were what everyone needed and soon by the one person who could give them: Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
When Hakuno came out, both ladies agreed that the uniform looked quite well on him. It was form fitting at the very least.
With their break over, they all moved out, Hakuno carrying their supplies in a travel bag provided to them while Olga Marie took over Fou carrying duties. Their destination: The Fuyuki Bridge.
Fuyuki City
Fuyuki Bridge
20 minutes later
Several more encounters with undead hordes and Mash learning that she could 'enhance' the natural defenses of her body using one of the skills that the Servant who fused with her left her later, the trio plus Fou had reached the Fuyuki Bridge.
It was rather eerily silent and unlike the other areas of the destroyed Fuyuki, there was an aura of dread and fear hovering over them. About several minutes ago, they began slowly running into statues of people mixed in with the Skeletal Warriors. Each of them had the same look in their eyes. Pain, fear, horror and sorrow.
Now they had reached the last intersection before the bridge and in front of what was once a large office building, they could see what could be described as a demented playground of statues placed haphazardly everywhere that they could fit, even as fog began to somehow condense and make everything look hazy.
"Is this the place Mash?" Olga Marie asked, inching closer and closer to her and Hakuno as she kept trying to put up a brave front but showing her fear with a slight shiver as she could almost hear the screams of the people trapped as statues.
"Yes Director. This is where Dr. Roman pin-pointed the Wizard Marshal as being at." Mash confirmed as she warily entered a combat stance. She and her companions could all tell that everything around them was the work of a Servant and a rather cruel one at that.
"Mash, whatever you do, protect the Director at all costs." Hakuno ordered calmly as he had the Regalia focus on giving him knowledge of a Servant-penetrating stun spell that they could use to buy them time to escape if need be. It would drain almost all of his od reserves and leave his prana dangerously low, but it would be worth it if it meant that they could survive.
"Senpai…are you sure?" As his contracted Servant, Demi or not, Mash was basically programmed to place his life in front of everyone else when it came to a priority list.
Hakuno gave a firm nod. "Chaldea needs Olga Marie. As much as I don't like saying this…I'm more expendable than she is." He confirmed.
He still had a home to go to. People who loved him and wanted to be with him. He had an entire digital world to rule…but in this dimension, he wasn't any of that. Instead, Hakuno Kishinami was just a human who had a Holy Grail attached to his finger in the grand scheme of things. A replicable feat by anyone, especially if they managed to get Zelretch out on top of that.
For her part, Olga Marie blushed once more when he gave that complement of her life being worth more than his own. It was still sad to hear though but the chain of command was set as it was for a reason.
"Understood Senpai." Mash nodded to his firm determination to save the Director at any price, even himself.
As they inched closer and closer to the bridge, the sounds of battle could be heard. Steel scraping against what sounded like ice, snarls and curses being thrown around and a familiar, yet irritating laugh being heard on top of it all.
"This is truly something memorable. Even limited as I am, I always did wonder how I would stand up against someone from the Age of the Gods." Zelretch said with a hearty laugh as he appeared from the bridge and the fog that covered it looking pristine as ever, if sweating a little as he snapped his fingers. A large explosion, far larger than anything Olga Marie could do or even Hakuno in his current state, materialized in an instant.
Whatever he was fighting did not seemed to be deterred in the slightest, as the rattling of chains could be heard echoing all around them before pushing through the explosion and fire towards the vampire. It almost looked as if it was about to hit him, but before the spectators eyes, he seemed to literally phase out of existence and reappear to the side, completely untouched.
"You are nothing more than an irritating old vampire that needs to DIE!" a female voice screamed from the bridge before a black blur shot out of it and attempted to strike Zelretch in close combat.
With another smirk on his face, he simply faded out of view and reappeared in front of Hakuno and the others.
"Ah, I'm sorry Lancer but it seems like my reinforcements have arrived. Go on my apprentice, show her what you can do." He announced, grabbing Hakuno and pushing him forward akin to a human shield.
"APPRENTICE?!" Four surprised shouts came at the same time as everyone's heads snapped towards the ever grinning Wizard Marshal.
"Of course he is. I chose him to come to Chaldea, didn't I? Mash, be a dear and help him out since you are his Servant." He said with absolute confidence in his voice.
"How did…no, this isn't the time. Mash Kyrielight, preparing for battle!" The Pinkette quickly shifted from confusion to resolution as she ran in front of Hakuno, placing her shield in front of him and not a moment too soon either. The exact second she did what appeared to be a hook attached to a chain slammed into it, pushing the Demi-Servant back several feet and almost causing her to trip over Hakuno in the process.
"Zelretch you ancient vampire bastard! I did NOT agree to be your apprentice!" Hakuno shouted as before locking his eyes forward. "Mash, secure your footing and watch out. That was a lance on a chain. So we're either dealing with a Servant who has range on their weapon."
"R-right. Let me use that new skill I acquired." Mash responded before slamming her shield in front of her. "Wall of Snowflakes!" Responding to her words, a shimmering barrier formed in front of her and her comrades and they each felt like someone had slid something akin to body armor over them.
It was a spell that came just in time as the Servant came out of the fog and faced them properly.
When he glanced at her, Hakuno felt his heart ache slightly, because he KNEW this Servant, yet he did not at the same time.
She had on a black cloak that did nothing to hide her voluptuous body. Wearing almost no armor, her upper bodysuit only hid enough of her breasts to not be completely immodest, but also showed off enough to distract any male with a pulse. Combined with long legs, metal greaves and long purple hair, she gave off the aura of a seductress.
Yet it was the sigil on her hood, showing loudly and proudly that made Hakuno know who this woman was.
"Medusa."
The Servant heard her name and tilted it towards him in interest. "Hoh? I'm surprised you outed me in a single glance boy. Do you know of my legend that well?" she asked, before getting a full and proper look at him.
Hakuno quickly drifted his eyes away before they were latched onto his, knowing she had Mystic Eyes, but she froze in her tracks and scrunched her face in confusion as she continued to stare at him like a puzzle of sorts.
"How odd…I feel like I should know you and yet at the same time I don't. I feel a longing for you but at the same time I wish to do nothing more than add you to my collection of statues. How…annoying." She hissed as she held her hook-like lance in a battle ready position.
"Mash, you can't look into her eyes. Medusa was known for her Mystic Eyes!" he shouted as he focused on the information that the Regalia was downloading into his brain the moment he outed her True Name.
Class: Lancer
True Name: Medusa Alter
Weapon: Harpe
Skills…
"Yes, Senpai!" Mash shouted as she used the innate skills and instincts that had been given to her by the Contracted Servant to move into Medusa's range, using her bigger weapon to block Harpe's swings and avoid even its hook due to the cross-section taking up valuable space that saved her from being damaged too much.
As for Medusa Alter herself, she was laughing with demented glee. She enjoying the fact that her opponent was an obviously defensive Servant. One with a weapon that irritated her to no end due to her legend. The shield that acted as a mirror…it made her want to rip the girl into shreds! So she twirled Harpe around and began to make wild swings and slices at almost every angle her enhanced speed as a Lancer Servant allowed her to make.
It was all Mash could do to just take all the hits and not get blown away. Even when Medusa flipped Harpe to its reverse end where a wickedly sharp pointed edge came into play, she used her enhanced Servant strength to push her foe away.
"Wizard Marshal, I think we should retreat and head back to base camp. We are NOT equipped to handle an actual Servant fight." Olga Marie suggested, getting a laugh from the older man.
"Nonsense, my not-apprentice has it more than handled." He assured her.
Even being further away, it did not stop their conversation from being heard by the Servants. "You think you can escape? The boy told you my true name. Did you think that Mystic Eyes were all I had?" Medusa Alter asked as she stepped back and brushed her hair backwards with her hands.
The very moment she did so, they turned into hissing snakes that quickly shot out from those same threads of hair and turned into chains which quickly wrapped around light posts that had been around them until all five of them were trapped in a cage of chains. Just to mock them, she lazily flipped backwards onto some of them.
"I wonder…what will happen first? Will you actually beat me? Or will I kill you all one, by one…by one? I'll leave the boy for last. It's been a long while since I considered having a bed partner and I think he will fit the part well." She taunted.
"You will not hurt Senpai…o-or make him into your toy!" Mash shouted, flushing from embarrassment at the obviously sexual pass she was trying to make towards her Master.
"Yes well…wait." Medusa Alter began to reply before her eyes zoomed in on Hakuno, who had been muttering under his breath the entire time and holding his ring clad hand out.
"…and so I summon forth the righteous thunder of coiling fury, summoned from the heavens! Raijin, play your mighty drum, so that I might strike down that which opposes you. THUNDER REIGN!" he finished incanting, electricity crackling from his fingertips before he summoned a surge of actual lightning which struck the chains and electrocuted Medusa Alter, causing her to scream in pain as her muscles locked up before falling forward towards the ground.
Mash knew an opening when she saw one and she leapt into the air, using the sharpened edges of the corners of her cross-shield in hopes of lopping the Servants head right off.
Medusa Alter had other plans, however and despite Hakuno's attack penetrating her magical defenses, which were admittedly lower than if she had been summoned to another class, she was still more than capable of rolling out of harm's way before shaking the pain off.
"I changed my mind. You die first!" she howled with feminine fury.
"HAHAHAHAHA! For a Master to pull one over you! That is absolutely hilarious. You're losing your touch Lancer."
A disembodied voice rang throughout the area, causing the fighters to whirl around and try to figure out where it came from and if it was intending to be friend or foe.
Medusa Alter growled as she tightened her grip on Harpe. "Who are you? Show yourself!" She demanded.
"Can't remember me by voice eh? Then if you get a good look at me you'll remember…old friend."
A small ways away from the battle, a surge of light came forth and from it, a man with an adorned staff appeared. He wore a blue and white fur coat with the hood pulled up to cover his face. From there black leather clothing was seen from chest to foot, save for white gauntlets on his hands, greaves on his feet and a metal chain which looped around a white kilt at his waist. All of it had markings on them, showing signs of heavy enchantment.
It was quite easy to see which class this Servant belonged to.
"Caster…" Medusa Alter hissed.
In response the cloaked man pulled the hood back, revealing long locks of blue hair that went down to his neck and flowed down to his mid back. He opened his red eyes and looked at the group with amusement.
"Yo. Seems like a fun little party all of you are having here. Mind if I step in for a bit?" he asked, his wording showing that he was aligned with Hakuno's group rather than Medusa Alter.
"Why are you siding with this interlopers Caster?!" Medusa Alter demanded to know. With her now having to deal with two Servants, she couldn't go on the offense without letting the other get in a hit on her since they were at optimal distances for short or long range attacks. Plus, with the Master knowing magecraft that could pierce her magic resistance, it was three sources she had to be wary of.
Caster scoffed as he looked at her. "You have to ask why? It's because it's a whole lot better than joining your side of course!" he shouted. Waving his free hand, a line of runes appeared in the air in front of him before turning into roaring fireballs that launched at Lancer with enough speed to surprise even her.
The moment they touched the chains, Caster's attack magic exploded, breaking the group free from their prison. Lancer had flipped backwards to avoid the attack while Caster stepped in front of Hakuno's group and waved them back.
"Like she said, I'm a Caster Class Servant. For reasons of my own, I consider her an enemy. While the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my ally, for the time being you can trust me." He offered.
Hakuno nodded, as he already knew who this Servant was as well…along with the fact that he was in a different class too.
Class: Caster
True Name: Cu Chuulain
Weapon: Runecraft
Magic…
While the Regalia was giving him the information he needed, Caster Cu looked at Mash. "Young Lady, get back into your battle position. Skills aside, your courage at stepping up for your Master is second to none."
When he looked at Hakuno, his eyes narrowed for a slight moment. "Hmm…I feel like I should know you. You give off a nostalgic feeling, like we were once comrades in pitched battle. Not on the level of a sworn ally, but enough for me to know you're someone I'd trust with my back." He declared before looking forward at Medusa.
"Alright then. In return for such a good feeling and in consideration for the young lady over there, I'd like to enter into a temporary contract with you. That ok, kid?" he asked Hakuno.
The Last Master's response was to hold up his hand and clench his fist. "I accept your condition." He agreed and felt another massive drain on his od and prana as he felt himself feeding both Servants now that caused him to flinch slightly.
Olga Marie tried to step forward, but Zelretch placed his arm in front of her and shook his head. "This is their battle. Let them have this moment." He ordered. Despite her own opinions on the matter, the Director nodded and let the more experienced Magician handle this situation the way he wanted it to go. She subconsciously gripped Fou a little tighter, but the creature didn't mind because it was wary of everything that was going on as well.
Lancer looked at the alliance warily, but eventually accepted that her luck would either become amazing and she would get rid of many annoyances at once, or it would be bad enough that it lead to her demise. Either way, once a fight between Servants started, it was only proper to see it through to the end.
That was how the Holy Grail War worked after all. Even with her Master gone…she would still fulfill her duty. To get her wish granted…to save her, to save them!
Steeling herself, Medusa Alter prepared for what would quite possibly be her last battle.
"In the end, this means nothing. All it tells me is that this battle between us will end faster than we anticipated."
Bringing her lance up, she licked the blade in a seductive manner. "I'll rip you apart while you're still flesh and blood. This will be the only way I can sate this feeling that is growing inside of me."
She then twirled Harpe into a battle ready stance.
"Come, Caster, Servant of the Shield and their Master! I will be the one who decides your end!" she shouted.
End of Chapter 2
A/N: HOLY. WOW.
One Week. One Week and this story has had over 1,000 views, over 80 followers and almost 60 favorites!
I did not expect this level of popularity from this at all! All I can say is thank you everyone for reading and liking this story! It means a lot to me and I hope I can keep pleasing all of you as Hakuno's alternate take on FGO's storyline kicks off.
As you can already see from this chapter, waves are occurring and if you noticed there is two very important changes. One of which I will keep to myself until the end of the Singularity F Arc.
I can guess some of you are wondering why I'm going the OVA route rather than the game route. The answer is that I'm actually doing a mixture of both. The OVA fleshed out the story a little more than the game did in introducing Bro Caster Cu, Medusa Alter and corrupted EMIYA. In the game, you were just fighting Shadow Servants. You tell me which one sounds more exciting when it comes to writing things out?
Now there is one thing I wish to warn you guys about. I am going to change one Singularity a LOT in terms of the Servants summoned and I will let you know in advance that it will be VERY much further into the story.
That will be Singularity Five, the America one. Reason being, there was SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL! There were so many Servants that could have been made from American History but all we got were Billy the Kid, Edison, Nightingale and Geronimo. Almost all of which aren't even used in most peoples FGO accounts.
So I will be replacing SOME of the Servants in that one with original Servants based off of American History. Not all, just some! No offense to anybody that liked the singularity or the Servants chosen, but I wanted to show a little bit more creativity and ingenuity in how it could have gone about. Believe you me, the payoff will be very much worth it!
Now, onto other questions you might have.
I did make Hakuno a much more active Master than Ritsuka when it came to actual combat. Hakuno is a Veteran Master who has nerves of steel and a resolution that not many can surpass while retaining his humanity. As such, I tried to make things a little more interesting with him being able to use offensive spells for this chapter to support Mash's more defensive fighting style.
As time and chapters go on, he will switch to a more support role like in game, but what Mash needs at the moment is firepower rather than upping her attack.
Plus, the Regalia immediately breaks down any Servants he sees into manageable chunks of data over their true name, class, weapon and skills so long as they don't have Presence Concealment or that one skill Berserker Lancelot has, Protection of the Faeries I think it was. That was how he knew that if he charged up a spell, he could pierce Medusa Alter's Magic Resistance with his spell since her chains would still conduct electricity.
As for Medusa Alter and Cu having those familiar feelings about Hakuno upon seeing him…well it's actually explained in several of the event quests on such a thing happening.
I think that covers all but one last matter. One that YOU all can help me with.
I plan on getting a cover image for this story proper. What YOU all will decide is which Singularity will the cover image reflect? You can choose any single one! Just leave your choice in a review while at least also making sure to give an opinion on why you chose that Singularity. Just do not leave a flame and a choice in the same review; that is bad civilization and manners!
Omake: Other things Hakuno could have said to Mash's Outfit Change
"Mash, why do you look like a stripper?"
"Mash, why are you using a rip-off version of Wolfwood's weapon from Trigun?"
"Mash, how can you fight in those heels without tripping over yourself every ten feet?"
"Mash, do the words 'exposed weak point' mean anything to you?"
"Mash, why did you think I was into belly-buttons?"
"Mash…why don't we have guns or weapons in Chaldea that we can use?"
"Mash, can I see your magical girl transformation? I missed the first one."