Sorry for being a bit late. I got to the second half of the chapter and had a writer's block. Fortunately, my beta-reader was able to help brainstorm on how to get over it but that took time. So here you go.
Chapter 18: Get Things Done! No Excuses! I don't Care if it is Illegal!
"Okay, last minute review." Roman shifted his weight, his heavy pockets, both in his pants and medical jacket, full of medical devices. His stomach was full of jitters. This would be his first time in another Reality Marble. "We're going to have Shirou invoke his Reality Marble. After that, Mash, Da Vinci, and I will find Olga and start diagnosing and treating her. I have the medical Mystic Codes and other devices, Mash has the liquids, and Da Vinci has the food."
Opposite him, Mash nodded seriously, her face intent. As the strongest among them, she had the heaviest load of them all, a large green hiking backpack full of water, broths, and ice. Her white and black dress, the standard Master uniform as opposed to her preferred garb, was a bit tighter on her than he liked but it was better suited to running than her usual Chaldean clothes. She could have worn her Servant form but they wanted to avoid her accidentally activating her Magic Resistance. Having her in combat garb could possibly risk having her reflexively deny Shirou's magecraft and get left behind. High Magic Resistance was no joke.
Between Mash and himself, Da Vinci rolled her eyes. Yes, yes, you are a genius and don't have nerves about this. Let those normals among us relieve our nerves please!
"Nothing new, Romani. Everyone in the command center already knows what is going on and you've reviewed this with us three several times already," Da Vinci chided. "Let's just get this started already. I want to see the results of my student!"
"A last minute review could help prevent disaster!" Roman protested.
"Um, it helps me," Ritsuka's hologram spoke up. "I'm sort of nervous about this and I really don't understand this talk about marbles and such."
Thank you Ritsuka! Roman knew he was his favorite Master for a reason. And it wasn't just because he was a fun conversationalist over delicious cake the first time they met.
"That's because Reality Marbles aren't something we would cover, Senpai," Mash taught. "Reality Marbles are a forbidden magecraft and the Mages Association doesn't like to bother with them. That is all the textbook teaches about it. Some families might know more, like the Animusphere family or families that deal with Heroic Spirits or Dead Apostles or devils, but it isn't something that is common among humans. Mr. Emiya might just be the only human alive who has a Reality Marble in the present time. It is a lot more common among non-humans than humans, which bears its own stigma."
"Okay, something rare then," Ritsuka just blinked before shrugging. "But, non-human? Then how does Shirou have it?"
"Yes, a few famous Dead Apostles are known to possess one," Mash nodded. "I'll get you a book from the library about Reality Marbles after this is done. The Animusphere family apparently studied quite a bit about them some time back and wrote down what they discovered."
"Yes, well," Romani coughed. Wow, did he feel awkward. All he had done was answer Marisbully's questions. Also, Mash was drifting from the initial topic and his nervousness was ratcheting up again. "Getting back on track, this is a bit a bit later than I would like but it can't be helped. Shirou only finished his aria a few hours ago and a few hours after his daily peak in power. He needed some rest too, so we are doing this now as Da Vinci calculated that this time was going to be the best probability of Shirou holding out as long as he can and still maximize Olga's chances of being helped."
Mash's eyes were wide and her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment at getting distracted. Ah, how adorable! No, he was not being a doting dad enjoying embarrassing his teenager, it was-it was some other reason!
"Shirou, is there anything you need?" Roman turned to the body sitting cross-legged at the center of two drawn circles. The inner circle only had Shirou, the outer circle was only big enough for the three of them while standing. The circles were just there to help as concentration aids in setting and keeping up the Bounded Field. Every little bit helped at this point. "Any last minute requests?"
"No, this is fine," Shirou shook his head and gestured down at the numerous flasks in his lap. "There's more magical energy in these fluids than I could produce in a week. More blood too."
"Remember, it is better to drop the Bounded Field than to push yourself." Da Vinci reminded. "If you kill yourself by pushing too hard, Olga will follow you into death. And we might need you ready to do this tomorrow too so don't damage your circuits."
Shirou nodded gravely, the seriousness of his part fully impressed on him. As opposed to the three of them, Shirou only had one duty and nothing else. Keep the Bounded Field up. It was the most crucial part of this first aid mission as if he failed to keep it up, the Bounded Field would destabilize, they would all return to reality, and the operation would be over and Roman could give no more direct help to Olga. Sure, they had a back-up plan ready to go, but it was a back-up plan for several reasons.
"Estimation of time Shirou can keep it up?" Romani turned to Da Vinci.
"As Shirou has never done anything like this before, I'll estimate 5 minutes, maximum," Da Vinci frowned. "If something goes wrong, he might be only able to do a few seconds and we'll have to retrain until it is stable. But that is assuming that he can convert and handle all of the magical energy efficiently. My tentative estimate for a first time with these supplies is one and a half minutes, give or take 20 seconds."
"Okay, one and a half minutes, got it." Roman exhaled a nervous breath before addressing the comm link. "Do you have that, Karen?"
"Estimation of loss of contact for 2 minutes, extending up to 5," Karen, the temporary leader of Chaldea while he and Da Vinci were in the Reality Marble, nodded. "Command acknowledges and is on standby. Ritsuka's vital signs are good and he is in the Coffin. We have Shirou's spiritual signature and location data in front of me. We can implement the back-up plan upon your say so or if time lapse extends beyond that point."
"I don't like how that sounds," Ritsuka's voice grumbled. "There's got to be a better name for this than Coffin. Makes me feel like I'm going to my own funeral. Couldn't we name them something like Arks? Like an ark to the past?"
"That is why you get the glass window," Ullr's crotchety voice scolded. "When they were testing the designs, being in the Coffin got the Masters scared which raised their vital statistics and got the emergency shut offs triggered. Bunch of scaredy cats. Back in my day, nobody got frightened of being enclosed in dark-"
Karen hit a button and Ullr's reminiscences of Chaldea in the mid-1900s were cut off.
Romani looked over his companions in Da Vinci's workshop again. Da Vinci was smiling her enigmatic smile while holding her picnic basket. Shirou was subtly tense but he bore no fear or any emotion other than pure determination. Mash had a small smile and vibrating suited legs. Not from nervousness, her eyes were soft and relaxed and a hint of a smile played at her lips, but from excitement. She was excited to go visit a Reality Marble. A place both not in Chaldea and inside Chaldea.
Romani held in a sigh as once again, his wish that she could go outside rose up in him, but she couldn't. She had grown up in Chaldea and her immune system was accustomed to its sanitized conditions. If she went out into the populated world, she'd get hit with every flu, illness, and cold at once. And given her life expectancy… It just wasn't worth it. Especially with how busy Olga had been running Chaldea and the Animusphere family. Asking the overworked girl to go through the forms and papers to let Mash out was too much when she had already let Mash leave her lab room and wander around Chaldea.
And that was in spite of Olga fearing that Mash would want revenge on her for what her father had done. Say what you will about her, but Olga had a will of fire. Blew with the wind and damaged everyone else's will but was a lot harder to snuff out than you thought. Also, she was the director and Roman had enough of leading Chaldea. Save Olga! Dump his work load back on her! Eat cake while on break once again! Hmm, would that work for a battlecry?
"Ready, Shirou?" Roman asked the man sitting at the center of the inner circle.
"Trace on," Shirou inhaled as his circuits sprung to life inside of him. They were still slightly warm from long use since yesterday but they would do. They were the only things that could work for this purpose.
"I am the bone of my sword," Shirou intoned, deepening his voice. He had to focus on this.
"Iron is my blood, and fire is my heart."
Shirou laid the curve of the Bounded Field on the edge of the outer circle. The smaller the field, the less energy he would require.
"I have overcome countless battlefields undefeated."
This was true. Even his brief strike against Lev had been a victory. He had saved Olga and that had been his objective. Thus, a victory. More lives saved than lost.
"Not once have I retreated,"
He sought for peace and Arturia. He sought to save people, not to kill. Sometimes he had given ground, but he didn't give up, he never abandoned his ideal.
"Nor asked for quarter,"
He didn't need affirmation from others. That was something Da Vinci had pointed out and after discussing it, it was something worth mentioning.
"Searching for my final end."
Endlessly. That was how long he had to search. Endlessly. Even after his final end, he would still search. He swore it to her.
"As long as she waits, I will fight"
He believed in Arturia. She would wait for him. He loved her and she loved him back. He would not falter in his pursuit, nor stop struggling to overcome the barriers between them. He would do what even Gilgamesh could not and enter Avalon.
"Here in…"
The magical energy was pouring through his circuits, into the Bounded Field and ready to burst out like swords from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.
"Unlimited Blade Works."
The final syllable left his lips and the Bounded Field lit up. It was like fire, burning through the air. Reality shrunk and fled and Shirou's Reality Marble flooded out through his circuits, filling the empty space inside the Bounded Field where reality had once been.
Shirou blinked, his eyes full of bright light as he heard the trio start running.
It was dry. A cracked desert, parched for rain. No sand in sight but the ground seemed barren. Lifeless, a desert. Up in the sky, a sun pressed down without anything to protect the ground or provide shade from the scorching heat. Except, up in the sky were 27 metal cogs. Each one twisting and turning, working at an unseen task but providing no shade or shadow.
Ah, there was the magical importance. Shirou had been saved by magecraft, had his life defined by magecraft, identified himself as a spellcaster, and met Saber by means of magecraft. To Shirou, magecraft was the route to his dreams. If he succeeded in becoming a hero or by meeting Saber again, it would be by magecraft.
And what better to symbolize magecraft than Magic Circuits? And given his mechanical inclinations, gears worked as well as anything for a circular pathway. Swords didn't make the best circles after all.
In front of him, leaning up into the sky like a pillar of a gate was a tall two-meter blade. It was somehow fitting that Monohashi Zao, the gatekeeping Assassin's sword, would be near where he entered.
Shirou lifted up the flask to his lips and started drinking the rich blood.
As always, yuck.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Mash could barely contain her excitement. She was going to a Reality Marble! A forbidden magecraft, one of the deepest secrets. A step away from True Magic. A stain on reality, an inconsistency with common sense.
And she got to go! She was so excited! Would there be a sky? Would it be like the outside world? Would there be snow? Or would there be drops of water falling from the sky? Could she see the mythical hail? Or lightning and thunder? Or maybe, since it didn't have to be like the rest of the world, would it rain frogs? She had read dozens of articles about what the weather could be!
Oh, could she see the sun? Or white clouds of various types. She had always wanted to see a Cumulonimbus cloud. She had heard they could get up to 10 km tall! What would something so big look like?
Mash closed her eyes and inhaled. Exhaled. Inhale. Exhale.
Opening her eyes, she sternly restrained herself. This was a rescue mission, a first response. Olga Marie was at risk of dying and Mash didn't want the director who had set her free to die. Olga deserved better.
In which case, hopefully it was cloudy. Sunny and hot would lead to dehydration. Cold and rain came with the risk of hypothermia. Snow or hail would prove deadly unless the director managed to find shelter. And Mash didn't know if raining frogs would come with their own health problems. Maybe it would depend on if the frogs were poisonous like that South American frog she had read about. But even if it was cloudy, too little sunlight could run the risk of Vitamin D deficiency.
On the other hand, it had only been three days. Lack of Vitamin D might not be a problem yet.
"Here in…"
Mash tensed up. This was the 9th line. With the next line would come the transition. The transfer from Chaldea into the world of Unlimited Blade Works.
Once there, every second would count. Mash couldn't delay even one second.
"Unlimited"
Mash rapidly blinked her eyes, readying to look around. They had to find Olga and fast.
"Blade"
Her heart was pounding, adrenaline rushing through her veins and into the cells of her body.
"Works."
It was blinding. A rush of red and white, fire and light as reality was shrunk and something else expanded to fill it.
It was…odd. Mash decided as the sunlight pressed down harshly on her white skin and she drank in the sight of sword after sword, shield with lance, bows surrounded by arrows, spears and clubs mixed with axes. Shirou Emiya specialized in weaponry but it was one thing to know that his Reality Marble was full of weapons and another to see an armory scattered across a wide-open land without any walls or racks.
Mash's eyes fell upon a beautiful trio of swords on top of a nearby hill, the tallest hill in the rolling mounds of the earth. The hill was tall, larger than her height but with a gradual slope. She supposed it was much smaller than the mountains she had seen in the simulator but that was a simulator. This was real, well, more real than virtual reality.
Mash couldn't look away from the three gorgeous, gleaming swords. One was gold and blue and white, with a small red gemstone just below the guard and on the blade itself. It was a gorgeous sword, as finely decorated as a noblewoman at a royal ball.
The other sword was just as beautiful but it was the beauty of Da Vinci. A beauty that simply was and drew beauty from being herself. No need for make-up or decoration. It was blue and gold and white, no patterns, no fancy designs. Just a simple beauty and perfection that none could deny. Crossing behind it at an angle was a very similar black and red sword, the one that Saber Alter had wielded in Singularity F. Excalibur Morgan. Mash could feel the magical pressure of the Noble Phantasms faintly pressing on her as she gazed in awe.
The pounding of footsteps broke Mash free of her trance.
Oh no! She had gotten distracted from her purpose. They had to save Animusphere!
Mash glanced at Da Vinci who was running towards a large stone statue that was leaning forward on its side. No, that wasn't a statue, that was a crude, hewn sword. One of the largest around but still a sword. And in its shadow was an orange, black and white heap-
Olga!
Mash's feet were pounding, thuds racing up her bones and legs as she chased the Caster Servant. But try as she might, Mash couldn't catch up as the faster runner pulled ahead, her basket of food not slowing her down at all. Mash could feel her backpack's straps pressing in on her shoulders and on the two straps across her chest but it was light. Easier to carry than anything she had ever carried before.
Da Vinci shot forward like a bullet with a burst of blue magical energy, some form of magical propulsion that had her kick the large sword to stop in a suddenly jolt. For a millisecond, Da Vinci hung in the air above the fallen director before gravity pulled her down to beside the director.
Before her knees had even hit the ground, Da Vinci had let go of the basket and was handling the director. Twisting the body around. Mash wished she could see how the director looked but she was far away, even as she got closer by the second.
Da Vinci laid a hand on Olga's face and her other on the chest before saying one word. Mash couldn't hear it above the rushing of the wind in her ears but she guessed it was a spell. A magical pressure built up ahead of her as Da Vinci cast spell after spell onto Olga, each one with only a short word or phrase.
And then Mash was only meters away from the pair, Olga now looking bigger than a child.
"Quickly!" Da Vinci ordered without looking up. "Give her the small thermos! She needs the mineral broth now! She can't have any food until she has some liquids in her."
Mash nodded and reached to the side of her backpack. Feeling a cool metal cylinder, Mash yanked and broke the Velcro strap. Digging in her heels, Mash skidded to a halt beside Olga and opposite Da Vinci and fell to her knees, unconcerned about how the brown dirt might stain her white common Rayshift suit.
Da Vinci snatched the bottle out of her hand before Mash had even stopped skidding. Pressing a button, Da Vinci opened the bottle and poured it into Olga's mouth.
"Swallow," Da Vinci muttered a one-word spell. Mash could sense the magical energy flow into the liquid and then it pulled the liquid through the open mouth, down the unconscious director's throat and into her stomach. It was amazing to see a genius Caster at work and condensing what had to be a long aria into a single word.
But Mash clenched her teeth and furrowed her eyebrows in worry. Unconscious was the final stage of severe dehydration. Olga must be close to death. Da Vinci and Romani had expected this which was why everything in her pack was arranged for rapid response.
"Ice." Da Vinci ordered.
Mash nodded and unbuttoned the straps across her chest before swinging the pack off of her back. Opening the first and upper zipper, Mash reached in, grabbed the cold bag and hoisted it out. The bag of ice was also snatched out of her hand and applied to Olga's forehead. Mash reached in again to get more ice.
Each packet was applied to a spot on Olga's body. Olga's jacket had already been taken off before they had even arrived. Now that she was close, Mash could see that the jacket had been used as a cushion. It probably gave some comfort from the hard soil. But Olga's shirt and skirt were sticking to her body.
"She sweated out enough that the minerals are sticking to her clothes," Da Vinci explained before Mash could even ask a question. "She overheated and needs nutrients."
A far-off huffing sound caused Mash to turn, her eyes brightening as Roman wheezed and gasped as he made it closer and closer to them. Far away, Shirou's head was tilted back as another flask poured some liquid down his throat, giving him magical energy to continue holding on.
"Kck," Da Vinci clicked her tongue before speaking in a loud voice. "The Director isn't willing to die just yet. She dug around the base to tilt this sword to give her some shade. But it isn't enough. She needs more shade if she is to survive here."
"What can we do?" Mash asked. "Anything we bring with us will leave with us."
The food and drink would stay once they got inside Olga but everything else would be rejected by the Reality Marble. They didn't belong and only ATLAS's technology had hoodwinked Unlimited Blade Works into acting as a shelter for Olga.
"One thing can stay," Da Vinci laid a hand on the stone sword and commanded. "Trace. Derive. Attested illusion."
Two large swords slammed down beside the original, each one tilted so that the hilts were crossing above their head. Two more swords appeared next to them, their parallel orientation towards the center. A third pair appeared beside them, leaving Mash, Da Vinci, and Animusphere inside a tipi of stone with the only open side pointed towards Roman. Specks of sunlight came down from between the crossed hilts.
"Swords?" Mash guessed.
"It is not called Unlimited for nothing," Da Vinci smiled. "Will happily accept copies as natural. Reproductions, originals, doesn't matter. Anything it can replicate, it will and won't see a problem in multiplying it, probably a product of being from an era of mass production. Same thing with gifts from another magus."
"But won't projections break down?" Mash asked the concern in her head.
"Using Shirou's spell, no, not in here." Da Vinci refuted, casually treating reverse engineering another's Mystery like it wasn't even worthy of comment, even as she reached across and grabbed a plastic canteen from the side of Mash's bag. Pouring it into Olga's throat with another shortened spell, Da Vinci continued. "Copies are their own unique entity to Shirou so even if two things are nigh identical, down to even their history, both will have their existence affirmed."
"Condition?" Roman gasped as he slipped inside the tent.
"She's severely dehydrated. Use the 3rd stage of Rehydrator Mystic Code to-" Da Vinci started before snapping her head towards Shirou. "What? It hasn't even been-"
Fire flickered in front of Mash's vision and she was back in Da Vinci's workshop, backpack behind Shirou and icepacks littered in front of Mash.
"-a minute." Da Vinci finished, still kneeling adjacent to Mash in the second circle.
Right in front of them, Shirou's head was hung, blood and something else leaking from the corner of his mouth
Mash glanced down at Shirou's lap. It was empty and all around Shirou's folded legs were empty flasks and ice packs. Her heart sank. Shirou had ran out.
Leonardo sighed and slapped an ice pack onto Shirou's arm. "Cool down for a bit. Your circuits are strained from overuse by this point. Get Roman to give you a checkup after the Rayshift is over."
"I'm sorry," Shirou apologized as he put a hand over his very queasy stomach. Ugh. He never really liked the taste of blood and other body fluids but now it was almost all he could do to not throw up. The body heat from running his circuits so hard for so long was making him wish he had a t-shirt or something on. He'd kill to take off his shirt right now.
"Don't bother," the Servant dismissed casually. "I expected you to hold out longer but we've been pushing hard for the last few days. Human burnout was a thing and I would have expected it to happen today or tomorrow, especially as you were given life threatening injuries not that long ago. Add in that this is a brand-new Mystery you've learned and are still learning how to use well-"
Da Vinci clucked her tongue and shook her head, forgiving Shirou for his failure. "And if nothing else, we managed to get some urgent critical care to Olga. She is now in a better condition than if we had never arrived."
"So she'll make it?" Shirou felt a surge of relief, followed by a surge from his stomach's rebellion. "Ugh."
Barely swallowing down his horribly tasting bile and stomach acid, Shirou firmly decided to keep his mouth shut.
"The broth we gave her will greatly increase her chances," the woman predicted. "More stable care will help, especially as Ritsuka and Mash will be able to give Romani a close second-hand look at her. Won't quite be as good as if he was there himself but needs must. And I did a basic diagnosis so we know what to bring along for the Rayshift."
Shirou nodded, keeping his mouth shut in hopes of quelling his upset stomach.
"Hmm," Leonardo leveled an eye onto Shirou. "You need a bed or something. Keeping you immobile in one physical place will help in locating you in regard to the Rayshift. And you look like you need a break."
As relief crested over his face, Shirou considered saying 'thank you' but figured that Caster would prefer to not have to dodge vomit. Or having to deal with sending her dress to cleaning.
"You're welcome," Leonardo smiled at him before spinning away towards the door, a waving hand causing a pillow and pair of blankets to fly out from a cupboard and arrange themselves into a crude approximation of a futon.
He hated it when she did that. Wasn't a man's thoughts supposed to have sanctity?
Still, Shirou was feeling tired and all they needed of him right now was to stay in one place. Loosening his collar, Shirou walked the few steps to his makeshift bed and collapsed into it. A nap sounded like an excellent idea.
Slam!
A bucket landed near his head. Shirou glanced over at the door in time to see it close behind Leonardo. Her mechanical bird cocked its head from its perch next to the door.
He wasn't going to throw up and not clean up after himself! What did she think he was, a child?
Ritsuka waited inside the dark cylinder, arms folded, as Mr. Longomontanus's lecture still ran on and on. The man was older than even his great-grandparents and a lot longer winded. Normally, Ritsuka was fine with listening to his grandparents and great-grandparents chat for stretches of time but Mr. Longomontanus was one, not family, two, his accented English in an old voice was hard to understand, and three…
"…and that is how we lost the 2nd Master in the Rayshift initial experiments, his spirit never returning to his body, still stuck somewhere outside time if it hasn't decayed and returned to the Root already as his body decomposed here in Chaldea…"
…not reassuring.
Just how many ways had Chaldea's experiments killed people? And why did Mr. Longomontanus know all of the gruesome and scary ones but couldn't remember Ritsuka's own name?
The door to the spacious chamber opened and Ritsuka felt a surge of relief as he spotted Mash run in, her eyes running across the chamber until she spotted his Coffin. He still didn't like the nickname, even if it was built to prevent him from needing a funeral.
"Senpai!" Ritsuka could imagine her crying as she ran towards him. She was wearing something different from usual, a uniform similar to his own, only with two black straps below and above her breasts, white shin high boots, and a black skirt with black pantyhose instead of one strap, black shoes, and pants. It looked flattering on her.
"Senpai," Mash greeted as she got close enough that the external microphone could pick up her words. Ritsuka smiled, happy to hear her voice over that of Mr. Longomontanus's ramblings about how the 5th death in the Rayshift experiments came by failure to properly verify the spiritual integrity of the subject's soul and the soul was torn apart. "Mr. Emiya's Reality Marble was amazing! It had swords, Noble Phantasms, and beautiful weapons! I think I saw more weapons there than I had ever seen in my entire life, even counting the ones in books. And it was sunny, Senpai! Really, really sunny! There weren't any clouds at all."
"That's great, Mash," Ritsuka congratulated her before his lips fell to a worried frown. "How is Animusphere?"
Mash's smile slipped off.
"She's dehydrated Senpai," Mash scuffed one shoe against another. "She was unconscious when we reached her and it was too hot for her. We gave her some broth, water and ice, but we weren't able to stay long enough to really help her."
"Oh, that's too bad," Ritsuka's heart sank. "It sounds like it is one of the worst-case scenarios."
Mash blinked for a moment and tilted her head. "Isn't Romani and Da Vinci telling everyone about what happened?" She asked.
"Maybe, but if so, I can't hear it over Mr. Longomontanus." Ritsuka gestured up towards the internal speaker. The chamber was air-tight and isolated from the outside, for purposes that Mr. Longomontanus was all too happy to explain why that safety feature existed, even if Chaldea hadn't encountered a situation in which it was needed yet.
Speaking of Mr. Longomontanus, he was now droning about how if the quantum observer, whatever that was, wasn't confirming Ritsuka's soul in the present, it could be relegated to that of a Phantasmal Existence and kicked out of the world in the past, with potential problems in the present.
"Oh, is he still talking?" Mash blinked. "Have you been listening to him the entire time we were gone?"
"Yeah," Ritsuka nodded sullenly. "Did you know that he knows every incident in which a Rayshift has ever killed someone?"
"Oh, Senpai, it's not that bad," Mash hasted to reassure him. "The safety features are more advanced now than they were decades ago, above even last year's. Those experiments are why the Rayshift compatibility test was invented, so that people for whom Rayshifting wasn't too risky could be found. Your results are above the dangerous levels, I am sure. Otherwise, you wouldn't be a Master."
"Well, that's a relief," Ritsuka sighed, the pressure of imminent and horrible death lightening from off his shoulders. "Thanks Mash."
"No problem, Senpai." Mash smiled at him and pushed a strand of lilac hair back behind her ear.
"So, you saw Olga in the Reality Marble," Ritsuka ended the silence before it could get awkward. "Want to tell me about it while we wait to start?"
"Sure!" Mash beamed at him. "Um, to start, Mr. Emiya did his invocation and it took us in. It was very different from here, Senpai. It was like a desert. Hot sun, dry land-"
"Sand?" Ritsuka asked, pictures of the Sahara Desert coming to mind.
"No, actually." Mash shook her head. "The land was brown and dry but there wasn't any sand. It was like a land which hadn't had any water in a long time. But neither was there gravel, Senpai, nor was there any sedimentary rocks. More of a wasteland than a desert. It was just brown ground, without any snow. Oh, and there wasn't any clouds in the sky but there were large metal gears…"
"Initiating illegal Rayshift to Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou Emiya's Reality Marble," In the Central Command Room, Romani Archaman spoke, letting TRIMEGISTUS record his words as the briefing for this Rayshift. The U.N. and Mages Association will be all over them for this but as a doctor who had sworn the Hippocratic Oath, he couldn't stand by and let Olga die. "In an attempt to provide first aid care to Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldea. Her condition is considered critical and urgent. Other alternatives have failed and under my own authority and direction, I, Romani Archaman, acting vice-director of Chaldea, have ordered the Rayshift to happen. All responsibility is upon my shoulders."
Legal disclaimer over, Romani looked down on the room outside the still needing to be repaired window. Turns out that high quality, bullet-proof, and enchanted glass was not easy to replace. It would take weeks normally to manufacture more. It might be better to just buy some more from the outside world.
But by that point, it would be Olga's responsibility and not his. Romani gleefully threw away the concern, content at making it someone else's problem.
Down below, two Coffins stood alone in a room with the red CHALDEAS. Two, where there had once been 48. In them, Mash and Ritsuka waited, listening to him start this Rayshift to save Olga. With them was as much supplies as they could squeeze into the Coffin. Medicine, food, water, a few books, and a deck of cards.
Shirou's Reality Marble looked like a dull place if you weren't interested in weapons. But then again, weren't most Reality Marbles like that?
Gathering his rambling thoughts again, Romani looked around at the full Command Room. Repairs had been halted in favor of carrying out this back-up to the Rayshift. Though, in case Lev had a second case of sabotage ready to inflict, there was a few personnel not here. Shirou being one of them.
"Are we ready to Rayshift?" Romani asked the support staff.
"Everything is good to go," Da Vinci looked up from the bottom floor and smiled. "We have Shirou's spirit coordinates locked in and the Reality Marble found. The Evocation-Invocation Engine is reprogrammed to target the Reality Marble."
"All right," Romani nodded. "Begin Rayshift."
He pressed the button. It was the director's privilege to press the button and as he was not going to miss his chance to press the button!
"Unsummon Program start." The automated voice sounded over the system speakers. "Spiritron Conversion start. Coordinates adjusted. Warning: this is not a Singularity and does not fall under the First Order. Penalties may be severe, up to and including death, imprisonment, torture, or massive fines not limited to monetary compensation. Do you wish to continue?"
Roman groaned and pressed the button again. Trust computers to have their hang-ups.
"Override accepted under the authority of acting vice-director Romani Archaman." The voice accepted. "Destination: Reality Marble known as Unlimited Blade Works. Warning: if demise of soul hosting Reality Marble is to occur, retrieval of Rayshift may be subject to failure. Other complications may also happen, rendering usual Rayshift functions inoperable. Do you wish to continue?"
"Da Vinci, did you have to add that in?" Romani complained as he hit the button again. "And Shirou is safe inside your Workshop, right?"
"Yes, he is and no, I did not add it in," Da Vinci huffed. "The protocol for Rayshifting to a Reality Marble was already there, buried in lines of code and locked out. All I did was simply tweak the code so that we could use the program."
"Then why are we dealing with the red tape?" Roman was not whining. "I already said that we knew the risks and were willing to bear them."
"It was faster this way," Da Vinci breezed through her answer. "And I had a lot of work to do so I prioritized streamlining TRIMEGISTUS's Rayshift programming as a lower priority."
Roman grumbled under his breath but he couldn't deny it. She was right. Right now, Chaldea depended heavily on her and even though she could multitask and work around the clock, she could only do so many things.
"Override accepted under the authority of acting vice-director Romani Archaman." The emotionless synthesized voice spoke. "Rayshift starting in 3, 2, 1." A pause. "All procedures cleared. Illegal, authorized Rayshift to Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works commencing."
Roman held his breath as energy flowed into the coffins. Right now, Mash and Ritsuka's bodies were there, empty, without their spirits to animate them. But despite the risks, Olga needed this.
Hold on, Olga, Romani thought as his eyes fastened onto the screens displaying the progress of the Rayshift. Help is on the way.
It really was hot, Ritsuka reflected as he felt the heat slam fall onto him like a wall. As hot as the Singularity had been. But that had been because fire was everywhere, burning buildings throwing out heat, flickering light, and clouds of smoke on every hand. Here, it was all coming from a single sun, pressing down like an oppressing hand, indiscriminate as to who suffered under its endless heat and light.
But it was also sad in another way, Ritsuka noted as he blinked as he gazed out over the parched brown ground that was filled with small hills and plains. Fuyuki was mankind destroyed, their works left to collapse and die on their own. Here, it was like a graveyard, a land lacking the water and life that could have been, an impression reinforced by the occasional weapon or piece of armor lying scattered amidst the hills, valleys, and plains.
"Wow," Ritsuka said. So this was a Reality Marble. All of this, everything he could see, was inside a person's soul, the fellow Japanese technician that Ritsuka had only met two days ago. Were all souls like this? Every man's soul a world unto itself? What was his own like?
"It is amazing," Mash agreed from beside Ritsuka, her head craning from left to right.
Their comm bleeped.
"Mash, Ritsuka?" Romani's voice sounded. "Can you hear us?"
"Yeah, we can hear you," Ritsuka responded, eyes falling to his communicator being worn like a watch.
"Okay, that's good. Very good. I was worried we might not be able to communicate at all. Do you still have the medical book?"
"Yeah, we do," Ritsuka opened the bag that had been Rayshifted in with him and confirmed the presence of the medical book they had taken from the library amid the rest of the supplies they had stuffed in there.
"Great, that will help. Now, don't lose that bag! It would be expensive to replace, probably worth more than all three of our yearly pay combined. And you are already using the spares, as most of the containers capable of taking the stuff inside them through a Rayshift were destroyed by the bomb." Roman instructed. "Once we have some time, we'll go look for any that got misplaced but it isn't looking like we'll have spare time for the foreseeable future. And I'm not sure that we have the time to craft replacements either."
"I understand Dr." Mash formally spoke, glancing down at her own full bag. "Being able to bring supplies and equipment into a Rayshift is important."
"Yeah, but so is Olga. For now, the bags are going to be used for Olga alone. If Olga doesn't agree to our solution, this will be the only way to get food and water to her." A distant indecipherable mutter interrupted Roman's lecture. "Alright. We can't see anything as SHEBA can't detect you but LAPLACE and TRIMEGISTUS are working just fine. No worries about rejection response and interference is pretty low. Much lower than normal. What?"
A pause as Roman listened. "Ah, apparently, Da Vinci's workshop and Chaldea's defenses are shutting out most outside interference. It means that proving your existences is going to be a lot easier than usual. All in all, we can say that the first ever Rayshift to a Reality Marble is a success and not a horrific failure."
Ritsuka applauded. He wasn't so sure why it was important or how it would be so different from a normal Rayshift but a first success sounded like something you should applaud for. Then again, it would mean that he wouldn't die in any of the horrible ways that the old man had dwelt on in detail. And that was definitely worthy of applause.
"Thank you," Roman sounded relieved at the gesture. "Okay, now that we know you will be okay, go find Olga. You'll have to report everything you see. Mash?"
"Yes?" Mash tilted her head.
"Just act like one of those training missions you were on with the rest of the Masters." Roman instructed. "Without video or SHEBA, we can't sense anything in your environment other than what your communicators or the Coffins are telling us. That is mostly auditory here."
"Couldn't you use that one room, the uh, what was it called?" Ritsuka asked, remembering the room that Olga had used Mash's shield with to call Chaldea.
"The Experimental Summoning Chamber?" Mash prompted.
"Yeah, that thing." Ritsuka nodded. "Would that let you see stuff?"
"It wouldn't work Senpai," Mash shook her head. "The Experimental Summoning Chamber requires a Leyline connection."
"There isn't one here?" Ritsuka gestured out across the land. Huh, there really was giant metal gears in the sky. "Wait, is that-"
"A metal gear?" Mash nodded. "It looks like it must be enormous for us to see from down here."
Weird. Ritsuka stared for a moment at the gear. How big was it and how high must it be?
"To answer Ritsuka's question, no, we do not want to use the Experimental Summoning Chamber there and there are no leylines there." Da Vinci's voice piped in.
"Hey Da Vinci-" Roman's voice sounded more distant, like he was pushed away from the microphone.
"Hush, I'm the technical advisor and I am the closest expert we have on Reality Marbles now."
"But-"
"In an effort to make a poor but easily comprehensible analogy, a leyline is somewhat similar to that of the veins or a magic circuit for a planet. We can tap into it and use its massive magical energy for our own purposes. Shirou's circuits are not even comparable in scale." Da Vinci lectured, overrunning Roman's grumbling protests. "Attempting to draw on Shirou's circuits would result in draining him dry in a few seconds, if he lasts that long. But tapping into a leyline also gives a grounding effect and strengthens the connection to the era. Shirou is obviously not a planet and trying to tap into his soul for a similar effect would tear his soul apart."
"Right," Ritsuka nodded, getting the important part. "No summoning chamber else we kill Shirou. Got it."
"Excellent!" Da Vinci seemed pleased.
"If you're all done now, go find Olga. She should still be where we last saw her, I think." Roman instructed. "Mash, you've had some basic first aid training, you'll be in charge of monitoring her condition and making sure she is recovering just fine. Ritsuka, help Mash and Olga out as needed. I'm pretty sure that there aren't any threats in the area, other than dehydration but that is why we sent so many liquids, pop, and juices through. If you feel thirsty, take a drink of those. Don't worry about if you're taking from Olga. You'll do no one any good if you dehydrate too. Just avoid drinking any of the specially prepared ORT solutions labeled with a letter and both you and Olga will be fine."
"Sounds like we'll be here for a while." Ritsuka commented.
"To be honest, I can't say how long you will be there. You might have to stay for days on end until she recovers sufficiently," Roman grimly mentioned. "And as she was unconscious from dehydration and starvation, it isn't looking good. I would prefer to have her up in the infirmary on a careful diet but that isn't possible."
"Days?" Ritsuka felt worry pressing down on his shoulders. "What if we run out of food and water?"
They only had two bags full.
"We'll be able to pull one of you out and then put you back in so we can resupply if needed." Roman mentioned. "I hope not though. I don't want to have to explain multiple Rayshifts to the same place to the UN."
"Understood." Mash nodded firmly. "We'll comply with mission objectives, Dr. Roman."
"Take it easy," Roman advised. "You'll probably spend a lot of time waiting until Olga wakes up. Now, if you need anything, just speak up and whoever is on deck will answer you."
"Got it." Ritsuka nodded.
"Thanks, we're all counting on you."
Roman's parting words left the pair alone in a lonely land.
"So," Ritsuka broke the silence. "Where is Olga? I don't see her anywhere."
"Oh, she should be in a tent-like house of swords," Mash recalled. "It wasn't far from the biggest hill, there it is."
"Lead the way," Ritsuka switched the bag over to his other shoulder. "I'm right behind you."
Mash nodded and they started walking across the parched ground.
"I'm so glad we have shade," Mash's Master sprawled against the stone sword. "It's much nicer in here."
"I'm glad Da Vinci was able to make this and it is still around," Mash replied as she thumbed through the medical book while letting Solution A drip into the tube into Olga's throat to her stomach. Roman had coached her through setting it up. "I wasn't sure that any changes we could make would stay but it looks like we won't need to worry about it falling apart on us."
"Yeah," Ritsuka agreed. "Three cheers for Da Vinci! Hip-hip hooray!"
Mash smiled at Senpai's enthusiasm before glancing out the opening in the tipi of swords towards the brown land and the priceless items lying around. She wished she could take a closer look at them. How many Noble Phantasms were out there?
"Want to go exploring?" Ritsuka asked after lapsing into silence. "Not much else to do while we wait."
"We can't Senpai," Mash shook her head. "We need to keep a careful eye on Olga's condition."
"But that doesn't mean we both have to do it," Ritsuka argued. "We can take turns."
"I suppose so," Mash tentatively agreed after thinking about it for a few moments.
"Great!" Ritsuka got up before patting himself off. "I'll go first as you got a bit of a look around when you first came. After a bit, I'll come back and take your place and you can go exploring."
"Alright," Mash acquiesced. She had spent longer than she needed looking at the swords on the top of the hill on the first trip. Only fair she take a little penalty.
An hour later, or so it had felt, Mash looked up as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Putting a finger in the medical book, Mash did a quick check on Olga again. No change. She was still unconscious and the solution of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and liquids was still slowly dripping down to her stomach.
"Hey Mash," Ritsuka greeted cheerfully.
"Hello Senpai," Mash greeted back. "How was your exploration?"
"It was cool," Senpai smiled. "Like being to a museum. Only, without any labels or glass cases to tell you what you are looking at. Though, being able to touch them was worth it."
Mash blinked. "You touched them?"
"Yeah," Ritsuka nodded. "A few of them wouldn't budge no matter what I did but most of them were lighter than I thought they would be. Except the armor. They were heavy."
"Thicker armor blocks better so plate armor is heavy. But heavy swords would be a problem on the battlefield Senpai," Mash said. "It would slow the fighters down and that would let a faster opponent hit first and maybe kill."
"But wouldn't heavier make a blow stronger?" Ritsuka asked, following up on the sword topic.
Mash shook her head. "Heavy would also make it slower. And when it comes to energy, speed has a squared effect on the energy of the blade while mass only is proportional. You would get stronger blows from faster strikes than from heavier ones."
"Huh, I did not know that." The Japanese Master admitted as he sat down. "Pretty cool that you know that Mash."
"It's only physics Senpai," Mash felt her cheeks warm up. "It's just the definition of kinetic energy."
"But knowing physics means you're smart," Ritsuka pressed on. "I don't think I'm smart enough for that."
"It's not hard, Senpai," Mash demurred. "You just have to study a lot."
"Well, maybe after the magecraft lessons," Ritsuka made a face. "Some of what I have read still boggles my mind."
"Maybe I can help with that," Mash volunteered.
"Nah, I don't remember what confused me right now," Her Master shook his head. "Besides, it's time for you to go exploring."
"Ah, right," Mash felt awkwardness spread across her chest and face. It was time for her to go explore while her Master kept vigil. "I'll do that Senpai."
"Have fun," he waved as Mash got up, putting the book down after a glance at her page, 217, and memorized the number. "Oh, do you mind if I borrow your book?"
"It's not mine, it's Chaldea's, and there isn't much else to do. Go ahead." Mash replied as she walked out the missing door. She turned around to give a slight bow. That was polite to do when leaving a residence, right? "I'll be back soon."
"Take your time," her Master casually waved her on. "Have fun. And maybe you can tell me what the ones you recognized are."
"If I can, Senpai," Mash tentatively promised. She wasn't a weapon specialist. Would she even be able to tell a Noble Phantasm from the plain ones?
Spinning around to face the wide open and hot plains and hills of the Reality Marble, Mash wondered where she should start. Did she want to take a look at the long red spear? The rainbow but jagged dagger? The identical yet opposite twin swords?
As she considered, Mash's eyes once again landed on the beautiful trio of swords gleaming in the light atop the hill. Decision made, Mash turned around and walked past the tipi of stone swords and up the hill.
Once up close, Mash could confirm that the blades were as gorgeous as her first impression remembered.
The first was plain. It was blue and gold with a pearly white sheen to the long blade. The hilt was blue except for a golden cap for the pommel. In the center of the blade was one word. Excalibur. The Holy Sword of the Planet, a Divine Construct, a Last Phantasm, the Sword of Promised Victory.
The second sword was the same sword. Excalibur Morgan, the blade that Saber Alter had wielded. Only this version was without the purple and black miasma around the blade. It was just sitting there, a blackness that swallowed the light and red lines and curves drawn up and down the center of the blade and across the guard of the sword. Sitting next to Excalibur, Mash could clearly see that it was the same shape, the same size, the same in every way except color and composition. Where normal Excalibur looked like a masterpiece composition, the ideal sword, Excalibur Morgan looked like it was one solid piece of metal that somehow ended up as a sword before having red lines drawn on. But maybe that was just because of how it seemed to repudiate the concept of holiness? How it had drank in the light as opposed to shining it like how Shirou's Noble Phantasm had done?
The last was more intricate than she thought and far more ornate than the other two. Gold and blue filigree and designs spread all over the hilt and extended down the blade with a dark blue round jewel polished into a ball firmly lodged in for a pommel. Up close, Mash could see that the sword had three red jewels inserted in. One in the crossguard, another just below it before the blade appeared, and the third was in the center between the blade and above the engraved writing in the gold strip running down most of the blade.
Whosoever pulls this blade forth shall be the true king. Mash walked around the blade to read the full sentence composed of the small writing wrapped around the hilt in a single line. Her eyes then fell down to the larger writing in the center of the blade and read. Caliburn, Golden Sword of Assured Victory.
Mash swallowed in excitement.
"Caliburn." She muttered. This was the legendary sword Caliburn. The sword that identified King Arthur as the king of Britain, the last king of Camelot. The Noble Phantasm that Mr. Emiya had used to attack Lev when he saved Olga.
And it was buried, tip into the ground.
Mash stared at it. Could she remove this blade? It was a Noble Phantasm. But what if her Heroic Spirit was King Arthur, the proper one, not the Alter she had fought? Would Caliburn let her pull it forth? Or would it not as she wasn't exactly King Arthur but her host, her Demi-Servant?
Curiosity pushed Mash forward, urging her to try to pull the legendary sword out. But her restraint balked. This was the sword of a king! Would King Arthur like it if someone took her sword? Would that be stealing? But the writing was almost an invitation.
But it was Caliburn, the sword that hundreds of people tried to pull forth and failed until King Arthur had.
Mash debated back and forth. It was a copy of Caliburn, not the original thing. But the original was broken, destroyed in the battle against the principle of Chivalry, rumored to be the battle with King Pellinore. But this was a Noble Phantasm of the same sword. A copy of that.
But it wasn't hers. Even if it was her Heroic Spirit's, would she deserve to take this? If she even could. Weren't most Noble Phantasms unusable by anyone other than the associated wielder?
But what if she was a Demi-Servant of King Arthur? It would be like a dream, an impossible dream, for her to be the Demi-Servant of the legendary King Arthur. But on the infinitesimally small chance that she was, would Caliburn let her pull it forth, even though she might only be King Arthur's Demi-Servant?
But this was Caliburn, the sword that rejected everyone but King Arthur.
Mash's thoughts ran in the same rut, going through the same arguments only to return to them again and again.
When Mash left the hill to go switch back with her Master, it was without even trying to touch the Sword of Selection.
I decided to make up the meanings for the script on the blades. Yes, they are all made up. I am unaware of any translation of the writings on Caliburn or Excalibur so I took some liberties in making up a translation that Mash could read due to her Heroic Spirit. The writing is either very sloppy Japanese (unlikely, it doesn't look like it) or some fictional Fae script that the ancient British could read, else how would they know how the sword would symbolize the next king? Or it just isn't legible at all but why would I want that?
Thanks to shadyxlr and Eiskralle1 for betareading.