"It is a pleasure to meet you, Master! My true name is Artoria Pendragon, but since I am still in training, please call me Sabre Lily." The voice echoed around the wrecked room, and caused her other eyebrow to rise up. Did she summon some long distant of King Arthur or something? The name was incredibly similar, but she had never heard of any Atoria before. As the light faded enough for her to get a good look at the servant, even more questions cropped up.
A girl stood before her, pale blond hair tied back into a ponytail with a large black ribbon. Bright green eyes poked out from behind the bangs, and a small smile covered her face. Covering her chest was a shining steel breastplate, segmented into six distinct pieces. Right at the crest of the breast-plate was a tiny symbol, a kind of diamond shape with two sections and four spikes coming from each point. An armored skirt came from the breast plate around the back of her, and underneath it was a dress of pure white accented with black. Covering each hand was an hour-glass gauntlet, with a sleeve of white going up to just below her shoulders. Covering her legs were greaves and boots, though they also had those ridiculous metal high heels.
In her hand was an exquisite blade of shining steel about as long as she was tall with a gold runed inlay. The haft was made of gold, with sections painted blue and a few purple gems set into it. It probably would have looked awe-inspiring… if the wielder didn't look at most fifteen. Rather, she exuded an aura of hopeful confidence. She felt herself relax slightly, the tension of the situation bleeding out of her at the sight. Things were bad, but she wasn't alone. She could do this, they could do this.
A small wave of exhaustion hit her, causing her to waver slightly. Mashu's hand found its way to her side, keeping her steady. Ignoring the concerned and slightly curious look coming from Artoria, she gave Mash a grateful look and a nod before taking a breath. "Sabre Lily, you have accepted the request to aid us in our mission to protect humanity. I am your Master, Olga Marie Animusphere, and this is your fellow servant Mashu Kyrielight. You are to help us uncover the reason for the Foundation of Humanity being disrupted in this singularity. Is this understood?"
"Perfectly!" The smile that had faded for a moment at her momentary weakness returned full force, and she couldn't help but return a small one of her own. The magnificent sword vanished as she unmanifested it, dropping into a small curtsy. "You already have a shield, so I shall be your sword on this most dangerous mission. Your enemies are my enemies… So, what's the plan Master? What're we doing and where are we going?"
The sudden tonal shift made her blink as Lily straightened back up and placed her hand on her hip. Opening her mouth to respond, before stopping. What… was the plan. Did she even have a plan? No, no she didn't really have a plan at the moment beyond "investigate". There hadn't been a chance to really think about anything in the long term, and now she was on the spot with both of them looking at her for leadership… "We… We're going to investigate the singularity, starting with major landmarks. The bridge should be a good starting point."
The two servants nodded, looking at each other for a few moments. Lily's eyes went directly to Mash's shield, eyebrows furrowing slightly in concentration as she considered it. The moment passed and she smiled, offering her a hand. Mash took it and shook it with slight, confusion before Lily let go and pointed towards the door. "We are burning daylight, so onwards my noble companions, to adventure!"
The two watched as she confidently strode out the door, vanishing out of sight before turning to look at each other. Olga sighed in exasperation as Mash giggled, earning a bit of stink eye. "Well Director, she's definitely a lively one… Do you need help walking?"
She frowned and turned to walk out the door as well, nose turned up slightly. "I assure you Mash, I am quite f-ah!" Her words were cut off as her leg gave out, only saved by Mash darting to her side to grab her. Grumbling internally, a small blush grew as she realized her position being hugged to Mash's chest. "...I-It appears that l'm not as… fine as I thought…. New plan, Mash, I order you to carry me on your back until I am able to walk again."
She nodded with a serious expression written across her face, and thus began the awkward process of shifting Olga onto her back. Eventually they managed, Olga shifting to get comfortable as she leaned forward onto Mash. The slight blush on her face as she felt Mash's hands shift on her legs to hold her refused to go away, and the feeling of cold steel under her arms as they looped around her neck wasn't helping. Without another word between the two, they exited the room and set off after Sabre Lily.
They found her stood on top of a pile of rubble nearby, eyebrow quirked as she watched the two of them hurry across the rubble and waste. The blush on her face grew a little bit at the attention, eliciting a small grumble in Sabre's direction. Glad that she didn't ask any questions about the situation, the trio set out in the direction of the bridge. At least, in the direction of the river. She couldn't actually see the bridge at the moment, but she could see the river.
An almost deafening silence descended on the group as they walked through the ruins of Fuyuki, the only sound being the crunch of concrete under their feet and the flickering of the flames around them. With the time to really take it in, Olga couldn't help but frown at the sight. The devastation continued as far as the city itself, only ending where the city stopped and forest began. Nothing seemed to have been spared. What could have caused such devastation…
"It is just you two? Considering what knowledge I was blessed with, it seems like there should be many more on this quest." Lily's voice shattered the silence like a bull in a china shop, causing her to jump slightly. Turning to look at the curious servant, she couldn't help but sigh as she remembered the devastation that had occurred back in Chaldea. So many dead and gone, it would take months before they even got close to their previous condition…
"There was an… incident in Chaldea. You know what Chaldea is, the system gave you that information, correct?" She waited to get a nod in response before continuing. "Someone sabotaged the very first test of the Rayshift system, and many of the master candidates were injured. We were sent here by ourselves, thus why we're here alone. We're investigating to gather information to use whenever we return, once we've returned to full functionality."
Lily slowly nodded, glancing around at the devastation around them as they continued onwards. "I suppose that's why she's carrying you on her back? You were injured in this attack as well?" A small affirmative sound was the only response she got. "Well Master, I promise not to rest until whoever thought to hurt you has been hunted down! Do you think we may encounter them in this burning hell-scape?"
She almost snapped at her for asking such a ridiculous question, before stopping and truly considering it. It wouldn't have been her first guess, that going to some of the rivals she had for funding in the Mage's Association. The fact that it was sabotaging something so incredibly important, and aimed for maximum casualties as well made that idea seem less likely. Even the most ruthless of magus families wouldn't cause so many deaths if they could get away with fewer. With the power of a Holy Grail though, an entity could theoretically reach out of the Singularity and orchestrate the sabotage… Wasn't that a terrifying thought. "It is a… possibility. If so, we must proceed as carefully as possible. If something in this singularity sabotaged Chaldea, then they likely have the power of the Holy Grail backing them. I don't think I need to explain why that is a bad thing."
Lily and Mash both nodded, their eyes darting towards their surroundings as they examined them anew. Shaking her head, her own eyes turned towards the distance, mentally trying to map out where all the major landmarks were. She hadn't spent much time familiarizing herself with the map of Fuyuki, figuring she'd have plenty of time to do so during the mission itself. No time to regret it now, just to figure it out. The harbor and church were located to the right of the bridge, if one stood on it looking at the ocean. To the left was the temple, one of the local schools, and… wasn't there a couple of magus households over there as well?
The feeling of coming to a stop drew her from her thoughts, bringing her to look between Lily and Mash as they stood and listened. Mash slowly let her down to the ground, and she followed their eyes up to where they were looking. Appearing in the window of a wrecked building nearby, was another skeleton clad in rags. This time, instead of missing one arm with a falchion, this one had a bow and an arrow stuck into one of its sockets. It cackled and started to pull back its bow, but never got a chance to fire. Lily took off, becoming a blur as she leaped the distance between them and the skeleton. A single swing of her blade was enough to cleave the thing in twine, the monster fading into motes of purple light even as it fell.
Even as she started to open her mouth, more cackles started to erupt from the buildings around them. Lily brought her sword up and deflected an arrow that came at her, casually shifting her sword to deflect more arrows before her voice came through their mental link. Your orders Master?
Mash turned to look at her as well, and she froze. All the combat simulations and lessons on tactics she had gone through fled out the window the instant their attention fell on her. An arrow skidded off a piece of concrete near her head and she ducked as Mash dodged in front of her with her shield. Just come up with something dammit, doesn't need to be the most effective plan ever! "L-Lily, hunt down the archers and anything that comes near you! Mash will protect me from any that come after us."
A sense of understanding came through the mental link and then Lily shot off like a rocket. A blur of black and white, bouncing between buildings and carving skeletons into pieces without any effort. Mash gave her an uncertain look, gripping her shield tightly. "Director… Are you sure it's wise to rely on me in a fight? I don't even know what spirit fused me, and can't use my noble phantasm to its fullest extent."
"I understand that Mash, but at the moment…" They both turned to look at a group of five skeletons that came around the corner, armed with a mixture of falchions and spears. A wild cackle escaped from their lips before they charged, and Olga set her features. "W-Well, you're just going to have to do your best. Because it's too late to back out now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Olga huffed and puffed, sliding down a wall and looking out at the river. Mash stood nearby leaning on her shield catching her own breath. Lily was the only one who seemed fine after the fighting, keeping an eye out on top of a nearby light pole that was somehow still standing. The horde of skeletons had been massive and had quickly turned into a running battle to ensure that they hadn't gotten surrounded. The bruises and scrapes she had accumulated flared and she couldn't help but wince and suck in a breath.
Mash noticed and gave her a concerned look, which she waved off before sighing. Her exhaustion had faded somewhat with time, at least enough for her to be able to run under her own power. She didn't dare use any magecraft lest the exhaustion return, which made their pace infuriatingly slow. Her eyes turned to Lily, asking a question through her mental link. Any more skeletons in sight?
She got a negative in response, and allowed herself to relax they didn't get surrounded, then Lily and Mash could keep her safe. Mash's skills with her noble-phantasm turned out to be more than adequate for dealing with the average skeleton or five. They really couldn't hurt her. The issue lied when so many came at once that some managed to slip past her, to try and get at Olga herself. Thus Olga having to constantly run to keep ahead of the horde as Mash and Lily worked in tandem to destroy it. The resulting noise would draw in even more skeletons, which resulted in more running and destruction.
"W-We probably have cleared out every skeleton within several blocks by this point… How in the Root did so many of those form? Are they what remains of the inhabitants of the city?" A small grimace came over her face at the thought of so many people turning into monsters. It was idle speculation either way. Shaking her head, her eyes turned to look over the river, choked with dust and debris from the buildings and fires.
"How are you feeling Director?" Mash asked, leaning the shield down against the wall before sitting down by her. Olga eyed her for a moment before sighing, raising one arm slowly before letting it drop.
"I feel better than I did earlier, at the least. Actually able to walk. I don't want to run the risk of using any magecraft though. I probably damaged my circuits back in Chaldea…" The last sentence escaped in a murmur, a frown coming over her features as she thought back onto that moment. There had been an incredibly real chance of her dying there, and then everything would have fallen apart…
"About that…" She glanced up at Mash, watching her take a deep breath and set her features. "Director, I really do appreciate you doing everything you could to save my life... But please, NEVER do something that reckless again. Especially now that you're not just the Director, but the only available master. Everything relies on you at the moment, and I'm replaceable. It's my job to protect you."
Blinking, Olga took in the determined set to Mash's features. Logically, it made sense. She was the most important person for Chaldea at the moment, so her survival was top priority. While losing a servant was painful, more could always be summoned. It still felt… wrong, but the logic there was too sound to ignore. "Okay… Okay. Mash, I entrust you with protecting me during this mission. As such, I won't make your job anymore difficult."
A relieved smile came over her features and she returned it, even though the wrong feeling didn't go away. It only got stronger from agreeing with her. Trying to ignore it, she pushed herself up. A wince came as her injures flared, but she took a breath and fought the pain off. Mash got up with her, and they both turned to look at Sabre as she hopped down from the pile of rubble. "We're still a bit up river from the bridge, I'd wager that we'll reach it with another hour's worth of walking."
They both nodded and the trio started off down the remains of the river-side road. The water flowed slowly alongside them, visible by the way the debris swirled and moved. Lily and Mash kept their eyes on their surroundings, though Lily seemed distracted as she kept glancing at Olga with a slightly concerned, slightly curious look. Each glanced made Olga fidget more and more with irritation, eventually causing her to turn her head and glare at Lily as she glanced at her. A small blush formed on her face and she quickly looked away, an only slightly cruel smirk appearing on Olga's features at the response.
"There's something ahead." Mash's voice cut through their little distraction, drawing their attention forwards. Both of them squinted as they tried to figure out what Mash had spotted as she pointed. It took Olga a couple moments to be able to pick out the silhouettes from the random rubble and destruction that surrounded them.
"...Is that a statue garden? What's a statue garden doing here of all places?" Olga asked incredulously, starting to walk forward again. It made absolutely no sense for a statue garden of all things to just be sitting out in the middle of the road. She couldn't for the life of her remember if there was a park in that location or not, it just wasn't important enough to be taken into account. Lily and Mash joined her as they continued towards it, though their expressions were much more curious and nervous respectively.
As they walked closer and closer, the curiosity slowly turned to nervousness as they saw the way the statues were posed. Arms thrown in the air as if warding something off, huddled to the ground in fear while gazing at the sky, on their backs as if they had tripped. A macabre scene of people fleeing from some unknown force. They eventually reached a point where they could see their expressions, and they had to stop and stare at the horrified looks on their faces. Each one was carved with such minute detail, they almost seemed like they were… alive… Olga took a few steps back, eyes wide as she understood the scene before her. "We… should leave. We should go."
"Aw, what's the rush." The sound of clinking metal was the main warning as a chain seemed to whip out of nowhere, trying to loop around Olga's leg. The only thing that saved her was Lily moving to intercept before there was even any signs of the chain. One arm grabbed Olga by her shoulder and pulled her away, the chain grasping at empty air before retreating to the barrier of chains that had formed behind them. A figure manifested on top of the chains, a set of glowing yellow eyes staring down at them. "After all, it's not every day fresh prey shows up~"
A/N: So, this is finally back after so long. Honestly I just got really caught up writing Worm related to things, and lost inspiration. Recently I got back into Fate a lot more, so I decided to pick this back up. So… yay? It's honestly kind of difficult to write for this, as I'm trying to keep the pacing good. Interspersing conflict with character interaction, while also trying to combine the disperate depictions that we get from the actual game and the movie tie in. I just hope I did well.