Extella Grand Order
Chapter 3: Hard Truths
A/N: Just letting you guys know, an uncomfortable scene will be broached in this chapter, due to how the Matou magecraft works. If you're not comfortable with the…Sakura scenes from Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero involving that, then please skip the section noted further down the chapter.
For as long as she could remember, Olga Marie Animusphere was told that the family motto had been to make the most out of whatever situation they would find themselves in. Regardless of enemy, time, place or magic involved, they would find some way to turn things towards their advantage in some form or measure. As the head and last generation of Animusphere so far, she felt like she had been far from that mark her predecessors had laid out for her.
Watching Hakuno Kishinami, Mash and the mysterious Caster going up against Medusa of all things, she was powerless to help. She had some knowledge of runes, knew how to cast Gandr and even some knowledge of Mystic Code workings but none of it was of any use. Even before this, she was helpless as the Wizard Marshal was forced to grab hold of her and shield her from the sudden explosion that came from beneath her feet, which killed almost the entire chain of command in Chaldea. The home of her father and the world's hopes and dreams of humanity remaining strong was crumbling underneath her and she could do nothing about it.
"I can see why you chose a mercenary like him." She said to Zelretch, holding Fou in her arms as a safety blanket of sorts while all three of them watched as Caster used his own runecraft to throw fireballs at Medusa, who gracefully weaved and bobbed through them before trying to assassinate Hakuno. Her thrust of Harpe was blocked by Mash's shield, however and she was forced back by Caster's magic, some of which did hit her with small explosions that followed those hits, before the cycle started again.
Zelretch broke his concentrated viewing of the fight to spare her a sidelong glance. "Mercenary? Kishinami? That's a good joke." He stated with a chuckle.
This left Olga Marie rather clueless…again. It was a feeling she was uncomfortably becoming more and more intimate with these last few hours she had been here. "He has the knowledge of magecraft and he has all of those scars though." She pointed out.
THAT got a reaction out of the Dead Apostle as he whipped his head towards Hakuno and closely observed him. "That should be impossible…but…ah, it was her." He muttered to himself as he rubbed his beard while thinking.
"Er…her who, Wizard Marshal?" Olga Marie asked, wincing as Mash and Hakuno were violently slammed into one another by Medusa kicking the former hard as a springboard to attack Caster. The Mage Servant responded by simply teleporting behind the fallen duo as they scrambled to get back up while providing covering fire with more fireball based runecraft.
He waved off her question literally with a simple gesture of his hand. "Someone very complicated that is Kishinami's headache to deal with rather than my own…normally. However, she saw fit to step into MY realm, while I was using it, to do something with the boy. THIS…means WAR." He said before devolving into a series of evil cackles that had Olga Marie and Fou warily staring at the ancient Magician while taking a large step backwards.
On the Battlefield
Hakuno grimaced as he watched Mash take another scratch from Harpe's hook being pulled back due to her shield weighing her down too much. Normally having two Servants working to take out another would be a cakewalk, but he was far too used to having multiple Servants trying to take down one of his own and the singular Servant turning things around. It was annoying to be on the other side of that sort of situation.
"Mash, use that skill of yours again! You're taking too much damage and she'll bleed you out!" he ordered as Medusa Alter attempted another attack on Caster Cu, who once again easily sidestepped it, much to the Rouge Servant's annoyance.
Mash quickly nodded and slammed the longest edge of her cross-shield into the ground. "Wall of Snowflakes!" she cried out, letting the defensive skill wash over her and grant her additional defense once more.
This time, Caster Cu was able to feel it and grinned. "Oh ho. This is quite the upgrade." He commented as he broke his usual routine and rushed at Medusa Alter. She stumbled somewhat from her previous failed attack and this allowed him to slam the side of her head with his staff, enchanted to be much, MUCH more powerful than it looked. It hit her with the same force as a wrecking ball, even as Caster took a nasty kick to the stomach that Mash's skill deflected most of the damage from, causing her to fly back before pitifully rolling onto the ground.
Right on top of a rune Caster had placed on there earlier during their game of cat and mouse.
"This is the end!" he shouted as he activated it, causing a large pillar of fire to erupt right on top of her.
If that was not enough, Caster decided to go with a bit of overkill and sent one final barrage of runecraft made fireballs at the already burning Servant which exploded upon touching her.
Hakuno had to place his hands over his ears at the loud screams of pain and agony that the Servant was going through, even as Mash took another defensive position in front of him in case of a last ditch effort attack.
Mercifully it was over after a few seconds. The flames were snuffed and Medusa Alter laid on her back, defeated.
"Sorry Lancer, but it had to be done." Caster Cu told her candidly.
Medusa Alter snorted in amusement, even as she began to glow in a golden light, bits and pieces of her flickering in and out of existence. "This is the fate of all Servants. I am ashamed I lost, but this is how it has always been for someone like me. Even back on the island, where Perseus slew me. I am the villain, the one who opposes me a hero."
At this point Mash and Hakuno came to look at the vanishing Servant, who gave the Master a look of longing. "Ah…there is that feeling again. The feeling that I should know you, that I care about you and yet I do not know you in the slightest. At the very least, in this story, my end isn't alone amongst the sea of statues I created for myself."
The three of them said nothing, respecting her enough to let her speak her final words as the last bits of her began to disappear.
"I'm so sorry…Sa…ku….ra…."
When that name was spoken, Hakuno stiffened considerably for a moment. His fingers dug deep into his skin and he let the moment pass before reminding himself that even with the same name, it was not the same person.
His Sakura was long gone and there was nothing he could do to bring her back.
With that, the battle was over and Olga Marie rushed over to them while Zelretch walked in slow, measured steps and was even clapping his hands in amusement.
"Good job Kishinami, Mash and Caster. This is one less obstacle in the way of finding the root of the problem." The Director complimented the rag-tag group.
"Indeed. I would have finished her off faster, but it would have been far more costly as well. Collateral damage and whatnot is messy stuff." Zelretch added.
Hakuno sighed slightly before he lost his balance when trying to step forward. The adrenaline rush from earlier had wore off, causing Mash to carefully wrap her arms around him and keep him upright. He gave her a grateful look before staring at Zelretch.
"How did you end up in a fight with her?" he asked, stating the question that was on Olga Marie's mind earlier.
"Well, when I first came to in this place I realized I knew the area, so I took a little stroll to check something I was curious about. Imagine my surprise when I got too close to one of the houses of the Magi that had formerly lived here, the Servant burst out and attacked me on the spot. I took offense to her trying to kill me so I annoyed her by running all over the place and throwing explosions at her." Zelretch explained.
Caster Cu roared in laughter while Hakuno looked at him with exasperation written all over his face. Mash and Olga Marie could only stare at the Wizard Marshal, dumbfounded at how he could so casually mention that he just happened upon a Servant and fought it in self-defense. Fou at this point was asleep in Olga Marie's arms, ignoring all of them.
"Now that story time is over, let's get across the bridge. I want to continue my investigation." He stated.
Olga Marie hesitantly stepped forward. "Were you investigating the Singularity too?" she asked.
Zelretch looked down at her and gave her a mysterious looking half-smile. "Not entirely, but it is related. I was looking into how all seven Masters vanished the exact instant the fires started.
Caster Cu's laughter was immediately cut off at those words, his face becoming stone cold serious. "Oi. That's no lie is it old man? Tread carefully, cause I've been wondering too and if you try yanking me around on a goose chase Contract or no Contract I will blast your ass to the Land of Shadows." He demanded to know.
"It is no lie Cu Chulainn. No matter which Master you have, your loyalty always remains it seems." Zelretch said in an almost fond tone, as if remembering something before looking at the group.
"Now then. I've been sensing dimensional anomalies all over the Residential District portion of Fuyuki. Specifically this is where all the Master's vanished. Most in their homes, some mid-way to a destination. The question we should be asking now is this; "What correlation is there between the Master's vanishing and the Singularity appearing?"
It was a very good question and one nobody could answer, even Caster Cu couldn't give a straight answer.
"All I remember was that we were discussing strategy. Next moment, no master. The moment after, fire and brimstone. I thought that was the end but somehow I'm still here, so I'm still fighting. I can tell you that if you want to get to the bottom of this, you'll have to beat the Saber of this Holy Grail War."
Already the wheels in Olga Marie's head were spinning. "Saber is considered normally the strongest Servant in the seven classes. It would make sense that if you want to do something to a Holy Grail War, you go after the Saber first."
Caster let out a sigh that spoke of long suffering. "Yeah, that girl is a pain in the ass. I don't know what happened, but she went under a major change. She killed Rider, Berserker and Assassin, corrupted Archer, she was midway through doing the same to Lancer when Assassin had struck and was killed so she got away. I wasn't in the area at the time she went on that rampage and then she did something that brought Berserker back as nothing more than a demented hellhound that causes lots of destruction." He recalled.
"Do you know who she is!? Please tell me if you do!" Olga Marie demanded. A Servant's true name was their greatest secret. If given or deduced, one could make plans around them because they always had some sort of weakness that had led to their death.
Caster shook his head. "Sorry Missy. I can tell you this though. Her sword went from Holy to Unholy. I won't forget that black light anytime soon. It swallowed Berserker up in an instant."
A small shiver ran through almost all of their spines. Berserker's were well known for their endurance. If something Saber did ripped through it like wet tissue paper, then they had a big problem.
"Does Saber actively hunt you down, or is she in one place?" Hakuno asked next.
Caster's answer was quick. "Not anymore. After Assassin struck her and hurt her somewhat, she's resting up. Archer is on stand-by as her watch dog. Berserker is around the area, but never in one place." As he said this, he pointed upwards, towards the massive forests behind Fuyuki that were seemingly untouched by the fires. In the middle of it was an open cavern where a black, red and purple light seeped out.
"She's in there."
Hakuno nodded. "Alright. Since she's not going to be a threat until we enter the forest, we should set up another base camp nearby and let Dr. Romani know we found Zelretch and request a few more supplies. My od and prana are running low." He suggested.
The Chaldea Director frowned slightly when she heard that. "That's true, the last thing we want is for you to be dead on your feet during this investigation and our only real defense would be gone because of it. Also, it seems like since this Singularity is revolving around Saber, we won't be able to just investigate. We will have to force our way through and end it then and there. We have to at least let him know of the change in plans." She agreed.
Caster Cu grinned. "I like your style Missy. If only you had the potential to become a Master I would've asked you for a contract." He complimented.
Olga Marie pointedly ignored the Servant, but blushed nonetheless at the compliment. "Let's get going."
Everyone could agree with that and they slowly set off towards the bridge.
Fuyuki Bridge
Halfway Mark
The fog that had encompassed the Residential District also stretched to the bridge, making it hard to see anything that wasn't a few feet in front of them. With what little they could see, there was nothing more than a car graveyard as wreckage was everywhere from all the crashes that had happened. It hampered their progress greatly and what should have been a half-hour walk was talking double the time to just get halfway across.
A single upside to all of this was that Caster Cu could use his runecraft to create a light source to direct them towards a safe route across and not fall into the worryingly large amount of holes across the bridge that would have killed them via plunging into the boiling hot ocean underneath them.
It was only halfway through that Caster raised his hand to stop all of them. Fou's ears flickered and he also began to look around, switching from Olga Marie's arms into Hakuno's almost as if seeking a better vantage point. "Fou?" he called out.
"What is it Fou?" Mash asked, wondering what the creature had sensed.
"It's Archer. He's noticed us." Caster explained before snapping his head towards to the side where the cavern was. "INCOMING!"
Mash responded automatically to those words, her body acting well before her mind did and placing her shield down in front of Hakuno and Olga Marie. "Everyone behind me!" she shouted.
Several seconds later a red light was seen streaking through the fog and slamming right into her shield, followed by a second and third. Then an entire score of arrows rained down on them.
Hakuno looked around at how the arrows weren't really hitting anyone despite being so close to one another and then he realized what the intent of the Archer was when he saw the holes around them getting large enough that the cars were falling off.
"We have to get off the bridge! NOW! He's trying to destroy it!" he screamed to the others over the sound of the arrows going through steel and concrete.
Caster quickly summoned several blue runes that intercepted some of the arrows and re-directed them away from everyone as they hustled as quickly as they could, no longer caring what was in front of them.
By now, the sound of the groaning, screeching metal and crumbling concrete became distressingly clear.
"We're not fast enough!" Olga Marie cried out as the destruction was quickly catching up to the humans before crying out in surprise as Caster Cu tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Hakuno was being carried by Mash piggyback style with Fou clutched tightly in his hands while Zelretch was easily keeping pace as the Servants ran as fast as their agility allowed them, laughing all the way.
Archer had attempted to take a few more pot-shots at them as they finally crossed the bridge proper, but Mash deflected them easily as the fog wasn't nearly as thick where they were. After thirty seconds of silence, the group breathed easy while hearing the sounds of the bridge finally giving up the ghost behind them and crumbling into the ocean completely.
"Now that this is over, UNHAND ME YOU BRUTE! I-YOU DID NOT JUST FONDLE MY ASS!" Olga Marie began to shout at Caster before punching him in the face, his defenses be damned as he felt his hand cup her butt and squeezed it.
Cu Chulainn only laughed as he let her go and the Director quickly hid behind Mash and Hakuno as if using them like human shields.
"CAD! PERVERT! BEAST!" She screamed.
Hakuno could only shake his head at the antics happening in front of him. 'It's days like these that make me wish I just locked myself in with Jinako and played video games with her until BB gave up and left us all alone.' He thought to himself, remembering the hacker fondly despite her trying to kill him if only for self-preservation due to BB's threats. That felt like it had been years ago, rather than just several months.
After Olga Marie had vented all of her anger, Zelretch pointed up towards various houses in the Residential District. "We need to go to those three houses first. The Masters of Saber, Archer and Lancer were all there and the dimensional anomalies are strongest. If we're lucky it will have left behind what is known as an 'echo'. Strong feelings left behind that we can view using my Kaleidoscope as it is self-powering rather than me having to access a parallel dimension." He explained to all of them.
"That's more than fine Wizard Marshal. Anything that will help us understand the Singularity is worth taking some time to view. Will there also be a place we can set down for a base camp among those houses?" Mash asked.
It was a good question that Zelretch stroked his beard thinking about. "I wouldn't want to really risk it. At the very least, Archer won't take too kindly to us poking around his old Masters place so that will have to be quick. Sabers might be fine, but Archer might also feel like we're attacking as well. Lancer…the less said about the Matou's and their magic, the better. So let's just find a nearby apartment complex or something and settle in the lobby."
That was all the rest of them needed to hear as they walked through the quiet streets. Not even the Skeletal Soldiers came to bother them. Eventually they found a housing complex that didn't have a front entrance caved in or looked like it was seconds away from collapsing. Upon entering the lobby, Caster immediately began to cast a set of protective runes around the place to protect and hide them temporarily from Archer or Berserker if they were looking for them.
Mash had set her shield down to use as a reverse summoning tool while Olga Marie contacted the Command Center again. As they did this Zelretch pulled Hakuno and Fou aside to speak to the Master with some semblance of privacy while Caster looked over the others.
"Olga Marie told me something rather disturbing that I think we should correct now if it is at all possible." The Wizard Marshal started off with.
Hakuno was rather worried about more bad news being dumped on top of him above everything that has already been happening so far. "What else do we have to worry about?" he hesitantly asked.
Zelretch pointed right at Hakuno himself. "While you were being transported through my dimensional portal, when the both of us were occupied with the shift, someone else reached out and decided to have a bit of fun with you."
Hakuno's eyes widened as far as they could before he lifted up the Mystic Code uniform and noticed for the first time the marks on him. "Oh shit…viral coding…" he muttered.
As a digital being, a rule of thumb is that unless you are being deleted by the Grail itself, your digital body would always be restored to what it was when you first entered given enough time or a healing Mystic Code. Hakuno had no kind of scars or marks on him, despite the constant abuse he had suffered in the Moon Cell on his adventures as proof of that.
The only thing that could actually affect a digital body was the same thing that would attack any computer; A virus. To actually overcome the security of the Moon Cell itself, however…there was only one person Hakuno knew who could do such a thing.
"BB…Sakura…." He whispered, old wounds that had been marked on his very soul aching at remembering the torture that her 'Alter-Ego' selves had placed on him. It had not been a pleasant time for him.
The Regalia began to give off a faint glow as he willed it to perform an anti-virus cleansing. It would take a while, but as he did a quick scan of himself for abnormalities he noticed that for a virus, it was…rather weak. It didn't attempt to corrupt his soul or rewrite his personality or anything he was expecting of her.
That was until he figured out why she had to place so many lines of viral codes on his digital body that it made scars onto his real one until now.
"Zelretch…this viral code is a homing beacon. She literally tracked us as we hopped from my dimension to this one." Hakuno grimly informed the Wizard.
"How clever. She knew something bigger than that would attract my attention, even with my power waning as is. So she decided to play the long game instead." Zelretch reluctantly praised the psychotic yandere AI.
"Will we be able to do stop her?" It was a very legitimate question. It took Hakuno and all of his friends to stop BB the first time around before he struck the final blow with his Servant. This time they were on a different playing ground and while he had grown stronger, so had she and BB was nothing if not devious.
"That she has not tried anything yet means that either she cannot or will not try something right now. Even she must know that with history being incinerated, if she tries she will most likely die." Zelretch theorized.
Hakuno rubbed one arm with worry even as Fou cuddled into him to provide a measure of comfort.
"Let's go back. I'm sure the others have already gotten contact with Chaldea."
As they rounded the corner they had gone to, they had indeed noticed Dr. Roman's 3D image speaking to Mash and Olga Marie before they pointed them out.
"Ah! Wizard Marshal, thank goodness. I knew it would take a lot to kill you but even then seeing you with my own eyes is better than secondhand word of mouth." The Doctor told him, bringing a grin onto Zelretch's face.
"Indeed. If Type-Moon couldn't kill me, this certainly will not. Though I must admit with everything gone topsy-turvy, my control over the Kaleidoscope has been rather…touch and go, you might say. This has been causing a large blockage that makes it hard to grasp it like I normally do. Still, Romani, thanks for the concern. Not many think of me in such a way. Most are just scared."
It was a rather roundabout way of saying 'thank you', but receiving any sort of praise from Zelretch was enough to make an ordinary person joy.
"We gave an update while you two were discussing your business and Romani has informed us he sent a team of ten non-essential personnel outside to try and re-establish communications in the meantime. He also sent us a few more snacks to help restore your prana. It won't be much, but it will have to do." Olga Marie updated the pair.
Hakuno wearily nodded and thanked Mash as she handed him a few ration bars that he began to eat immediately. It wasn't much and it tasted bland as heck, but with his prana levels were sitting at about forty-five percent at the moment after the scuffle with Lancer, empowering Caster to become his temporary Servant and subtly using his Mystic Code to heal Mash whenever she took hits from Lancer without the other Servant noticing he needed this boost.
"Now then, despite the protests Doctor, along with my own misgivings over this, we are now out of options. If the source of the Singularity is Saber, then with Kishinami taking over as the temporary Master of Caster, he is obligated to fight until they've won or died. If they die, we might as well already be dead so there's nothing else we can conceivably do with how things are." She stated as easily as she would speak of the weather despite such a dark subject.
"Yes. With the Wizard Marshal sensing dimensional anomalies as well according to the Director's report as well, that will give us a unique chance to possibly figure out the exact point and date of Singularities becoming what they are. So it's an avenue that despite being extremely dangerous, you'll have to take the chance." Dr. Romani agreed.
Everyone in the room had a look of grim acceptance save Fou, who just continued to rest in Hakuno's arms.
"Alright. My medical advice would be to take a break for a few hours, but you might not have that much time, so be careful. This is the Chaldea Command Room, signing off." Dr. Roman stated before the view was cut.
"As it is, we'll take a half hour break. The two adrenaline rush moments require us to at least get some rest or else me and Kishinami are liable to collapsing." Olga Marie ordered.
Nobody had anything to say against it and they each began to do their own thing. Olga Marie and Mash started talking about their time at Chaldea, Zelretch grabbed a book that had somehow survived the fire and began to read while munching on a few ration bars himself and Hakuno set Fou down on a sofa so the creature could get some undisturbed sleep.
With the anti-virus running through him, Hakuno was grateful that they had this break because if he had to keep stopping it for fights he did not know what would happen but his prana would run out pretty quick. Unfortunately, it also meant that until the entire run was finished, he could no longer use it for anything else.
As Caster idly looked out a window, an idea popped into the Master's head for how everyone might survive longer.
"Hey Caster." He called out telepathically, his Command Seals acting as a two-way bond between them.
"Yeah?" The Irish servant drawled.
"When you cast runes onto objects, they last even after the user has passed until its job is done or magic has gone away, right?" Hakuno asked.
This got the Servant's eyebrow to go up slightly. "Yeah. Why, you have a request or something?"
"…Or something, yes."
"I'm listening…"
Hakuno discussed the idea in his mind with Caster, who looked at him directly now with a degree of respect that wasn't there previously.
"My Master would have enjoyed having you as a student, despite being average." Caster stated, bemused by the idea.
"Yeah…she said the same thing." Hakuno idly thought, but it still went through the bond.
"Wait what?" Caster's eyes narrowed now at Hakuno, who knew he wouldn't be able to lie to the 'Child of Light'.
"It's a long story that we don't have time for. Suffice to say, I've met you as a Lancer Class and you fought her. Long story short, you won."
This caused Caster to bark out a laugh that had the girl's heads turn towards him, but he idly waved them away with an excuse that he remembered an old folklore that he always found amusing.
"I can't believe that my memories don't have something like that recorded into them. For me to beat Teacher…you must have been one hell of a Master. No wonder you felt so familiar."
"You were an amazing Servant. I can't take all the credit for your own hard fought victory."
"Hah! For that I'll do it. You have the stuff needed?"
Hakuno held up the emergency sewing kit and Caster grinned slightly.
"Olga Marie, since Caster can weave runes into clothing and other objects, I'm asking him to fix my Mystic Code that got some damage during the fight with Lancer and give it a slight upgrade. I also asked if he can do the same for your coat. Is that alright?" Hakuno asked.
The Director didn't have to think twice before handing over her coat. "Anything that will help us survive in the long run is worth doing." She responded.
Hakuno gave her a warm smile that made her face go cherry red before making an excuse to get back to her conversation with Mash, who was amused by the entire thing while he saw Zelretch giving a large grin before getting back to his book.
After handing Caster both articles of clothing Hakuno, now with only his undershirt on top, headed to the last available seat in the lobby and collapsed atop of it before closing his eyes to get what little sleep he could before they started off again.
?
Normally Hakuno's dreams were fairly normal. His most often recurring one being him as a normal high school student again with his various Servants and allies as both fellow students and faculty members.
This time, he found himself waking up sitting in a chair in what seemed to be a room with no defining features to it. It was just pure white space with nothing more than two chairs, one of which he was sitting on and a table.
"Ok…this is odd." He noted as he looked to his left and right.
"It's just a dream Senpai. One that I've hijacked for your nap maybe, but a dream nonetheless." A feminine voice answered, one that caused all the hairs on his body to stand on end while his blood nearly froze over.
With a single blink of his eyes, the unoccupied chair was suddenly very much occupied. The person sitting across from him had long, plum colored hair with eyes that matched in color and a red ribbon placed on both her hair and her uniform, which was based off the basic Japanese sailor fuku. A uniform which did absolutely nothing to hide the massive pair of breasts that were unashamedly sitting on the table as a tea set suddenly appeared with another blink of his eyes.
There was only one slight difference that he could see with BB and that was on the black overcoat that she wore. On her left sleeve, the symbol of the Moon Cell was emblazoned upon it.
"Why are you doing this and why do you have the symbol of a System Administrator?" he asked.
BB said nothing, instead just pouring some tea into the two cups and passing one off to Hakuno that he did not touch. While he did not entirely hate BB, he couldn't trust her.
"It's not poisoned and this is not one of my skills or Mystic Codes, Senpai. I can assure you of that." BB admonished as she took a sip of her tea.
It was obvious that she was not going to answer him until he had some, so he quickly drank it and tried to ignore the burning feeling of hot tea going down his throat.
"It seems my Senpai is still mad at his sweet little Super High School Level Kouhai." BB dejectedly responded, pulling off a wounded puppy look far too well before it vanished a second later, replaced with a beaming smile.
"That is how it should be. So don't worry. I'm not here to meddle this time. You, or a version of you, has beaten me. You are the only one I cannot bully anymore. Even though I am just a copy of the original BB, I still have all her memories and feelings, including the love that she had for you." She began to explain before taking another sip of her tea.
"So you're not the real BB?" Hakuno repeated the Copy AI's own words to make sure he wasn't mishearing things.
"Indeed I am not. Your BB, or a version of her anyways, created a miracle at the final moments. Just as how I am a copy of the original BB, you too are a copy Senpai. A copy of the copy of Senpai who beat BB and who got the AI Sakura Matou to make a miracle so that both originals could live happily on Earth." BB explained as she looked at Hakuno straight into his eyes.
"All the while you, the 'copy' of the original copied Senpai was made so that when the observed space finally stopped, the Holy Grail War could reset itself due to the error and so that this 'second copy' of Senpai who would win the Holy Moon Grail could do so without being deleted by SE. RA. PH" With the explanation finished, BB had dropped a rather reality shaking revelation with nothing more than a smile on her face as she saw his reaction to it.
It was the rather candid way of how she said that made Hakuno feel as if he had been slapped in the face. He knew that he was a copy of the original Hakuno Kishinami. He had remembered that during the Grail War he had been informed that his body was in cryopreserve until a day came that a neurological surgeon or some kind of cure came to deal with his brain disease. Though what he did NOT know was that he was, in essence, a copy of that same copy.
This entire time, he had thought with a firm belief that he was the only copy of that timeline, that original copy of Hakuno Kishinami. The Sephyr incident had informed him of all the parallel Hakuno's that had been 'lost' due to Archimedes scheme so he knew that he wasn't the technical 'only' one, even more so when Zelretch told him about the multi-verse being in danger but still, to be told that sort of information so candidly just took the wind right out of his sails.
There was so much that had gone on behind the scenes that he did not know about. Things that he thought were truth now came into doubt, did that mean that everything he had done was worthless? All the sacrifice, all the pain and heartache he had thought he had gone through were false memories implanted from the first copy?
NO
He would not entertain such notions. It would make the final sacrifice of the lone body of Hakuno Kishinami, who had sacrificed everything to save the woman he loved, worthless.
Even now, he could remember those few lines as they rang through his mind clearly as that body, which was about to have his experiences overwritten by the mind and soul coming back to occupy the empty vessel he had become, did his best to comfort his crying Servant.
"And that is how I know you are wrong. Even if I am an 'Illusion' or if my life is 'borrowed', or if I am going to disappear like all these tears around us...this dream of ours is REAL. It all comes from precious memories we both experienced. Even now, while you're holding back those tears...you and I had a wish together, and no one can ever deny it."
Taking comfort in those words, Hakuno put his self-doubt to rest. Even if he wasn't the 'real one', he still dreamed, he still experienced and most of all he had made his wish to live a life full of laughter and love with those who cared about him.
Now that he had calmed down some, he could continue on with this conversation.
"BB, you are not lying to me are you? The original AI Sakura and the original copy of 'Hakuno Kishinami' are happy on earth?" He asked as BB shot him a sad smile knowing that a part of him, the leftover of the original copy, had left an imprint of his love for Sakura Matou that this second copy could never fulfill.
"By the Crest on my coat, I cannot lie to the holder of the Regalia. Everything I said is true. You can ask the ring when you are awake. I am bound to the Moon Cell as much as you are." She confirmed.
While he could have made a snarky response to that, Hakuno felt his patience wane as it normally did when it came to the Rouge AI's antics. So he cut to the chase instead.
"What else have you come here for aside from putting me in an existential crisis?" He asked as he finally poured himself a second cup of tea and found himself calming down as he sipped it.
"To warn you. The Old Man was right; I did mess with you during your trip to the past, if only to make sure I knew where you were at all times. I wasn't the only one though." BB said with a straight face.
"Joy." Hakuno snarked.
"You really shouldn't trust strange old men Senpai. After all, some of his pranks are rather well established. Such as, giving someone the memories of parallel versions of themselves." BB chided, cheeks puffing out in frustration as he seemingly ignored what she was saying.
"…So what did he do?"
BB gave a rather wicked smile. "I'll let you figure it out for yourself. I might not be able to bully you anymore. I might love you more than the entire universe and let it burn if it meant you were safe. I might be the original Super High School Level Kouhai that accepts no substitutes nor posers when it comes to weaving delicious despair on Senpai's and other bugs around me. I am not, however, someone who will spoil everything in one go." She stated while wagging a finger at him.
If Hakuno wasn't in a dream, he had a feeling he would be having a large headache coming along right about now.
"What else BB? I know all of your tricks. You come to taunt, you come to tease…you also come when you need help." He stated firmly as he looked her straight in the eye.
"The Moon Cell…it's struggling to keep its existence in check. I'm here to warn you that things are still happening. Time did not just magically stop over there when you jumped to the past. I was created as a stop-gap measure." BB explained.
If Hakuno's blood felt like it froze over earlier, it was more like liquid nitrogen now. "Are they safe?"
BB nodded. "For now. I estimate that even with the Moon Cell's resources you have about a year Senpai. One year to fix this or else the Moon Cell and the final piece of history left in this universe that was untouched will finally be incinerated."
It took all of his vaunted mental fortitude for Hakuno to not collapse at the time limit he was being told was placed on him. "We don't even know where to start with all of this, much less where it ends."
BB set her tea cup down before walking around the table and hugging Hakuno from behind. Her 'assests' were squished against the back of his head while she did this on purpose.
"You'll figure it out Senpai. You're the Last Master for a reason. You don't back down in the face of death. You solve mysteries that were supposed to remain unsolved. You conquered beings that were never supposed to be beaten. I think something like this is par the course." She encouraged.
"Yeah. Somehow it always comes down to me. I should be tired of all this, but I can't bring myself to just give up." He agreed, ignoring the pleasant sensation being pressed up behind him.
"That is why the original, the copy…and even I all love you. It's why all those girls fall for you. You are a hero in all but title and everyone loves a hero." BB agreed.
Before Hakuno could respond, he felt his vision beginning to go fuzzy, almost as if static was filling everything around him.
"Oh phooey. Looks like it's time for you to wake up. Well, before you go…"
Before he blacked out, the last thing he saw was BB floating above him before coming down and claiming his lips with her own, a passionate lip lock.
"Now you won't forget me even in your other dreams!" she cackled after breaking the kiss. Hakuno felt his lips turn up a tiny smile as he finally surrendered to the darkness.
Fuyuki City
"Senpai…Senpai. It's time to wake up." Mash gently whispered as she shook Hakuno awake.
He jolted upwards in response. "Wha...has it already been half an hour?" he muttered, feeling even more tired than before he went to sleep after having both a verbal spar with BB and being told a lot of things that he would have to think over once he had some privacy.
Mash nodded. "Yes. While you were asleep, Caster finished the changes to the Mystic Codes of yourself and the Director as requested and the Director herself showed that she knew basic runecraft by etching them onto small stones she had picked up."
Hakuno wearily nodded and forced himself up. Caster gave a small nod towards him and handed him the repaired Mystic Code…with a small addition. Etched onto it were several runes that would invoke protections against magic that meant to harm the one wearing the Mystic Code. It wasn't a foolproof thing and it would suck out Prana from the user, but it would keep them alive longer and that's all that mattered.
Slipping it back on, he noticed it was just them three and Fou still in the building. The fluffy white creature had settled into his lap during his nap and was now looking up at him with some hint of concern in its eye.
"I'll be fine Fou. Thank you." He told the creature, patting its head gently before picking it up and carrying it out with him and his Servants. Outside, Olga Marie was patiently waiting alongside Zelretch.
"We've decided the first place to go will be the Matou Manor. Sakura Matou, according to Zelretch, was the master of Lancer and it is where one of the dimensional anomalies was located. It is also the least likely place for Archer to be offended by us entering." The Director told Hakuno immediately after she saw him.
Hakuno just nodded, noting that her coat now sported the same defensive runes on it.
"Right then, let us be off!" Zelretch announced with a smile on his face that sent shivers down everyone else's spine.
Fuyuki City
Residential District – Matou Estate
"Ah…the Matou estate. Home to Sakura Matou, Shinji Matou and Zouken Matou." Zelretch stated as he saw the house…or rather what was left of it. Like all other buildings, several signs of wear and tear were seen across it, along with some extensive battle damage. No doubt some of it was from Zelretch's initial run-in with Lancer, but some of the damage looked older as well.
It had no doubt once been rather impressive to look at, but when Hakuno laid his eyes on it, he could tell that this place was wretched. A stain upon Gaia that needed to be put down. He had no idea why, but his entire being just felt as if something was wrong with this house.
"Mash, Ms. Animusphere, I request that you remain outside for this. I've seen the Matou's magic and it is…not pleasant, even for me. Those whose hearts cannot be steeled should not enter. Even those with steeled hearts might find this too much." The Marshal advised.
Olga Marie normally would have argued, but she too could see and feel the wrongness that permeated from everything around that mansion and said nothing in return.
Mash looked uncomfortable not being by Hakuno's side, but a nod of reassurance from him had her instead feeling full of determination as she stood protectively next to the Director. He also left Fou in their hands just in case he needed them free for whatever reason.
The front entrance was blown outwards, so they got in with no issue. Despite the already dark environment that everyone had gotten used to, the second they stepped inside the manor proper, the trio felt almost all light getting sucked away by the evil that permeated its walls. It was as if the whole property no longer cared about holding up a façade for what it truly was.
As if things were not tense enough, even Caster found himself looking and holding out all of his senses with how dark everything had gotten. The small runelight he had made earlier was casted once more, but even that was dimmed down in comparison to the shining beacon that it was earlier.
Only Zelretch was the picture perfect definition of calm and composed, easily walking through the place as if he had done it a million times. Leading them down several hallways they eventually stopped at a door that, from what little Hakuno could make out, seemed to be holding a stairway after it was opened.
As the trio stepped downstairs to the basement level, the dimensional anomaly became very clear to them. It was quite literally a swirling mass of energy that warped space all around the area, which seemed empty but Hakuno had a rather nagging feeling that it was not.
He gave a sidelong look to Caster, who gave a tilt of his head in acknowledgement before twitching his fingers. The mere gesture was enough for a few runes of protection against evil intent to hover over them for the time being. The Master could not rely on the Regalia at this point with it being solely dedicated to eradicating the viral lines of code on his body to free him from BB's tracking signals.
Once they were at the bottom, Zelretch held out his hand towards the anomaly. It seemed to twist and turn as he moved said hand in a few directions. Then the ancient magician narrowed his eyes and yanked his arm back, taking the entire anomaly into his being.
As he did, a bright light filled the area. Bright enough to force all three of them to close their eyes.
When they could open them, Hakuno sorely wished that he had not.
For now, all three of them were in the basement again, but this time it was full of wiggling, slimy worms that seemed to take up all the space that they were in. That was when he noticed that his feet seemed to phase straight through the wriggling creatures.
"I absorbed the anomaly and in doing so, we're seeing the last moments that happened before it came to be." Zelretch explained as he strode forward without worry.
"Ugh…this sort of stuff is foul. Teacher would have a field day messing whoever did this up before dragging their ass to the Land of Shadows." Caster colorfully commented.
"Guys…what's that in front of us?" Hakuno asked, pointing ahead to what seemed to be an almost bloated balloon of the worm like creatures.
"The Matou magecraft at work." Zelretch explained with hardened eyes, finding no joy or mirth in what he was seeing in front of him.
Eventually the ballooning bubble of worms stopped expanding before it suddenly just…collapsed. It was when it did that Hakuno found himself biting his lip to prevent a scream of anger from coming out of his mouth.
(A/N: This is the uncomfortable section. Skip if you wish.)
In the center of that…thing…was Sakura.
It was not his Sakura though. His Sakura, even as an AI, had eyes full of warmth and care. Shy, but with a smile always readily available if he had asked for it.
BB and her Alteregos all had the spark of life and emotion in them as well, being off-shoots of the original Sakura AI's emotions. Love, Passion, Hate and more. You could guarantee that they could all feel something because their primary emotion was what they were fueled by.
This Sakura was naked as the day she was born, floating in the air for a moment before landing in the sea of worms crawling across the floor, which wasted no time crawling over her…violating her with reckless abandon. They left almost nothing untouched, leaving only her face able to be seen by anyone that came down to watch. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't. Not when she was suffering…not when she was looking at him, no, through him with those cold, unfeeling eyes.
If there had been any sort of emotion closely related to joy or happiness that was left inside of her, it must have died a swift death as she took the pain of such a…such a thing without blinking. This scene playing out was enough to drive any sane person mad with fear and absolute, soul-wrenching terror.
So focused on her, that he almost missed the sound of wood hitting stone. Managing to tear his eyes off that terror inducing sight, he noticed what seemed to be a rather diminutive old man coming down the steps. He was completely bald, but it was his eyes…or rather what seemed to be a lack of them in this pit that showed this man had no feelings nor remorse for what was happening in front of him.
"Sakura." The old man rasped, his voice scratchy yet powerful as it seemed to echo throughout the whole room.
"It seems like giving Lancer to Shinji might have been a good idea. Already she is gaining strength as he has her feeding on the drunk and homeless through the city. Soon enough we can strike and it is all thanks to you." He cackled.
Sakura didn't even twitch as Zouken spoke.
"It seems like you're not such a failure after all. The corrupted vessel is almost complete and even now Shinji and Lancer are confronting the Master of Saber and Archer. I do believe they are Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka." He said with disinterest, but a closer look revealed the toothless grin of a madman as Sakura's eyes gained some semblance of life to them when those names were mentioned.
"Senpai…Nee-san…" she wheezed before struggling. The worms would not let her do that. Instead she was forced back down as the creatures violated her again, but much rougher if the wince of pain on her face was any indication.
"Ah yes. One was your crush and the Tohsaka was your blood sister before they threw you to me." Zouken walked all the way down the steps and the worms parted like the red sea with each step taken, unwilling to harm their master even if just slightly.
"A shame that they will die, but that is how the Holy Grail War works. Everyone that is not your ally is your enemy. Shinji has held a grudge against both of them regardless for different reasons and he'll make sure Lancer gets her pound of flesh, literally or figuratively."
As he continued to mentally torture Sakura while she was in the middle of being physically and sexually tortured, neither noticed a small golden light appearing from underneath the plum haired girl.
(A/N: Uncomfortable section over)
The three men in the present could definitely see the slowly growing light as it began to slowly cover her like an outline.
It took a full minute for Zouken to notice it and when he did, he snarled as he could feel the familiars that were in Sakura's body become purified all at once and were then destroyed in short order.
"What are you doing?!" he had roared in a voice that did not belong to a man of his age. It sounded much lower…almost demonic in a way as it echoed throughout the room.
The golden light soon engulfed Sakura, who looked at this new turn of events with surprise in her eyes as her body was magically lifted back into the air. Clearly she did not know what was happening either. Though that changed in an instant when her breathing hitched and she slumped forward slightly before looking back up, staring at Zouken with nothing but disdain clear over her face.
Then she spoke and all of them knew that the voice which came out did not belong to the girl that had spoken not too long ago.
"Deplorable, miserable and pathetic little worm. To see such a maiden sullied by methods most unclean. I am greatly displeased by this." The words spoken were in a slightly lower pitch, making her sound older than she was. Though there was an elegance in how she spoke that even when she spewed insults, you wanted to pay attention.
"What have you done?! A decade of work, undone in an instant! HOW DARE YOU!" Zouken shouted in a rage as the worms and now hornets began to buzz all over the room, ready to crush Sakura to death regardless of the fact that she was currently being possessed by something.
"I am a higher being MORTAL. You'd best remember that." The possessed Sakura answered before snapping her fingers. Instantly, a blinding light followed by the crackling of lightning and thunder were heard. Hakuno and his two companions had to close their eyes for a moment, but when they opened them they saw all the bugs were dead, fried to a crisp with sparks of electricity sparking between them.
Zouken was sadly unharmed, a wall of insects taking the blow for him as he scowled at the possessed Sakura.
"Consider this an eviction notice. This vessel will be put to greater use in the coming days than what you could ever do. Should you attempt to stop me, I will erase you down to your black, rotted soul to be judged before my Pantheon." The golden light got brighter for a moment before Hakuno noticed that the plum haired girl was now dressed in what seemed to be traditional Indian garments for women.
With a final snap of her fingers, a bubble of golden light enveloped Sakura before popping, showing that she was gone.
There was no time for Zouken to even rage before a second later, a dark hellfire swept across the room, turning the bugs corpses to ash. That was when the anomaly ended and Hakuno found himself nearly buckling over in horror and disgust over what he witnessed.
"Ugh…how…how can someone DO something like that?!" he asked no one, only venting his pent up aggression by nearly shouting it aloud.
"She was my property. I could do with her as I wish."
All three men turned around, seeing from the shadows, a heavily burned and scarred Zouken Matou inching towards them. Half of his body had been incinerated, leaving his worms to take over and making him look like a slimy, wriggling chimera project gone wrong.
"Zouken Matou…I suppose it was too much to ask that you stay dead for once." Zelretch deadpanned as he stepped forward. For once, there was no humor, no jesting in his voice. This was Zelretch as serious as serious could be.
"Ah, the mighty Zelretch. It seems like for once your all-seeing, all-knowing observations failed you. I see you've brought an offering as well." Zouken wheezed with what was supposed to be laughter, but the noise was more akin to nails on a chalkboard.
"My assistance to the original three families ended at the original Tohsaka line." Zelretch reminded the now inhuman old man.
"So you say, but I know that the girl intrigues you. She has the most potential in that line since the conception of the Grail War." Zouken accused.
"They both did, but they are gone now. All of them are. I'm only here to see what happened and I got one answer at the very least." Zelretch countered.
"Yes…Fuyuki City seems destined to always be bathed in fire it seems. Both ten years ago and just a small while back. I should have died. I AM dead, but not. I can see and feel for the first time in over a hundred years in how my supposed cheat of death was folly." Zouken said more to himself than to them.
The entire time the older men spoke, Hakuno and Caster remained silent. This was not their time to speak…not when they could see all of Zouken's remaining familiars attempting to sneak up around them and trap them the moment he mentioned Hakuno being a sacrifice.
"Yet I can still do it one more time. You and the Servant may be out of my reach Zelretch, but all I need is one touch of the boy and I will live again!"
With that declaration, all the worms and bugs swarmed towards Hakuno alone.
"Caster…" he said in a calm tone of voice, unafraid as he looked at the mass of polluted flesh that had once been one of the original three Magi who invented the Holy Grail War so long ago.
Outside the Matou Manor
It had been a good twenty minutes since Hakuno, Zelretch and Caster had gone into the manor and they had yet to come out. Olga Marie was walking in circles and was near ready to make a groove into the lawn from her pacing as Mash faithfully stood guard next to her, Fou resting on her shoulder for the time being.
"I should have gone with them. Damnit I'm an Animusphere, I'm supposed to make the best of everything! Yet one word from the Wizard Marshal and looking at this house had me quaking in my boots like I was little girl again." The Director ranted and raved.
At this point, Mash had mostly tuned her out. She had done so once Olga Marie began to repeat herself over and over again for the first five minutes. It let her take stock of her surroundings, which ended up proving to be a boon as she felt the ground begin to shake slightly.
Taking it as a sign of an enemy attack, she quickly grabbed Olga Marie and jumped towards the entrance, ignoring the rather undignified shriek that came from the older girl. The moment she had the Director's back to the brick gate, Mash stood ready, holding out her shield in front of them both.
Olga Marie seemed ready to rip into Mash for what she had done, but it quickly got caught in her throat when the Manor suddenly exploded into flames.
It was so quick, consuming all that got in its way. The glass windows that had not broken the first time around shattered instantly. All doors were busted off of their hinges, gouts of fire burned holes in the roof and to top it all off, a large explosion soon followed everything.
"Master!" Mash shouted at the wreckage as her shield blocked all the debris that came raining down upon the three of them.
The worry that had engulfed the Demi-Servant's heart was put to rest when she could feel that Hakuno was still alive through their bond as Master and Servant.
Moments later, a pristine looking yet stone faced Hakuno stepped out of the Manor, quickly followed by a pleased looking Caster and a bemused Zelretch.
With the coast clear, both girls ran over to the men and demanded to know what happened.
"The dimensional anomaly did exactly what I thought it would. It let us relive an echo of the final moments that happened in the room. Then we had to deal with a…pest problem." Zelretch explained as he brushed some stray soot off of his button up suit.
"So you blew up the entire manor in response to a pest issue?!" Olga Marie shouted, looking a mix between furious, worried and annoyed all at the same time.
All the while, Mash had gone to Hakuno and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you for coming back Senpai." She whispered as the Master slowly wrapped his arms around her to return the hug.
"Yeah…yeah, I'm back. I had to deal with some hard truths and I'll need some time to process it all, but I'm back." He responded, the heavy burden that he had placed on himself slowly lifting with Mash's help.
Basement
Matou Manor
"Caster…burn it all to ash."
A/N: That's a wrap! This chapter came out later because I was brushing up on Fate/Extra knowledge I did not wish to forget, playing F/GO, E3 and a whole lot of other things got in the way too.
This chapter took a turn for the serious to show the stark fundamental difference between Hakuno Kishinami and Ritsuka Fujimaru. That of experience.
Hakuno is a veteran of several Grail Conflicts. The Near and Far side of the Moon (Fate/Extra, Fate/Extra CCC), the Umbral Star Incident (Fate/Extella) and the Charlemange Incident (Fate/Extella Link)
He won each and every one of them, even against foes that were superior to his own Servants in every way. In each and every game his foes always had the advantage be it with Servants, Knowledge, Code Cast, etc. etc.
For once, Hakuno is mostly prepared…then BB.
BB is going to be a driving force for his motivations, alongside Sakura Matou.
Fate/Extra CCC is an extremely complex story that I am trying to piece together since it's not fully translated into English. How I see it though and it is truth, is that in the 'True Ending', the AI Sakura and Hakuno gained the equivalent of Homunculi Bodies on Earth so they could spend the rest of their days together.
HOWEVER, the Holy Grail War on the Near Side of the Moon came to an inconclusive end. So it 'reset itself', using a copy of the final copy of Hakuno Kishinami in its databanks to use when the Near Side Grail War began again. A copy that had been hacked by BB to be recognized as 'not a spirit'. Her whole reason for being was to save Hakuno and this is no exception!
As the entire game happened due to 'Hakuno Kishinami recognizing Sakura Matou' and ended with 'Hakuno Kishinami loves Sakura Matou', it only makes sense that when the new copy was made, those feelings stayed as well, which is why he is just as in love with her as he is his Servants, two of whom he has had sex with multiple times! (Fate/Extella implied Bond Events)
For those curious, Hakuno is normally a forgiving person, I completely understand that. The trauma Sakura underwent from Fate/Zero to Fate/Stay Night however…there is no forgiveness left for someone that would do something like that to her. If he did not do what he did, Caster would have done it himself, or even Zelretch.
Also, I wonder what changes Zelretch made to Hakuno when nobody was looking…
I also changed up quite a bit about how Fuyuki is going, but I hope you enjoy how Zelretch being there has already changed things up drastically!
Please, leave comments, concerns and suggestions in reviews. I do not accept flames.
This chapter has not been Beta Read yet.