Ritsuka shot up into a sitting position, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly as his hands clutched tightly over his abdomen. His forehead was slick with set, and his gaze darted around. He stiffened when he heard Mash's voice.
"Senpai?"
That's right, he had been asleep. The woman's screams, the burning sensation in the pit of his stomach, the handle of a knife sticking out of his gut. All of it had been part of a hellish dream. Ritsuka shook his head slightly.
"Good morning, Mash."
"Good morning, Senpai. Are you okay?" She asked, his kouhai walking closer to him with a concerned look in her purple eyes. "You're looking quite pale today. You also looked troubled. Were you unable to get any rest last night?"
"I had…I had a scary dream," Ritsuka admitted after a moment's hesitation. A blow to his pride or not, Mash was his partner. To tell her that everything was fine when it wasn't, especially with only a few hours before deployment, was at best foolhardy, and at worst, potentially fatal.
Mash quickly adopted a look best described as a mixture between curiosity and concern. She peered closer at him behind her glasses. "A scary dream, you say? It's just a guess, but…could it be my…um…"
Ritsuka quickly realized that Mash was asking if the dream he had was of her past. While he hadn't yet had another of her memory sequences, he highly doubted that Mash had been wandering around the fog-obscured streets of some Western-styled city. "No. It was more like something from a horror movie."
"I see," mash responded softly, nodding slowly. "That's good to hear…"
"Mash?" This time it was his turn to inquire about the words just uttered. How the hell was it a good thing that his dream had been some sort of John Hitchcock film? Mash's eyes widened behind her lenses, and she blushed, looking away and rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
"No. No, it's nothing. I'm sorry that you were unable to sleep, Senpai. You should take a shower and get dressed. The meeting's going to start soon." Ritsuka nodded, pushing himself out of his bed.
"Yeah, let's get going."
I nudged Mordred's side with a knowing grin, having watched my knight practically bouncing in place for the past five minutes without pause, brimming with excitement over today's deployment. She merely shot me an unabashed smirk. Her energy was rather contagious, too, truth be told. At least, regarding me that was.
It had been two days since I started teaching Mordred the basics for how to swim, resulting in Mordred making slow but steady progress in achieving the art of not sinking to the bottom of a body of water like a solid brick wall. Before going to bed, Doctor Roman had sent me a message informing me, and thus also Mordred, that there was going to be something slightly different about today's deployment. Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, and I were to show up in the Rayshift Chamber for our briefing before picking our teams. Aside from that, the message had been rather vague, but that didn't detract from the mysteriousness of it one bit.
Of course, there was also an accompanying sense of anxiety that came with the message. Was it going to turn out to be good or bad news? Even if it was good news, too, that didn't necessarily mean that it was something to be bouncing off the walls over.
In all likelihood, I should have probably stayed up late last night worrying over the matter, but Mordred was quick to remind me in that no-nonsense manner of hers that it could wait until morning. That, and her reassuringly comforting presence, ensured that we both achieved a peaceful and fulfilling night's sleep.
Behind Mordred and me, the door slid open, and I turned around to see my fellow Master and his partner walking in. I pursed my lips briefly. Rits looked pale and shaken.
"Morning Rits," I said in greeting.
"You look like hammered shit. Get a little lost in the cups again?" Mordred asked, far blunter than I would have liked. Rits shot her an uncharacteristic glare at her, but the blonde knight merely raised an eyebrow at him.
"Ritsuka Senpai had a nightmare," Mash said quickly, seeking to diffuse the mini-standoff Mordred's words had caused. "He didn't get enough sleep." I made a soft grunt of understanding, reaching out and clasping his shoulder gently.
"I see. You okay with proceeding with our deployment, though? I can ask the doc if we can delay another day if you're not fully ready."
"I'm fine," Ritsuka said with a low growl, causing me to take a step back. Rits was normally non-confrontational on these matters. The lack of sleep must have been making him extremely irritable. I nodded slowly, holding up both palms towards him in a pacifying gesture.
"Okay, okay. You know your body and all better than I, after all. I'm just looking out for my teammate is all." Ritsuka's cross expression softened noticeably, and a more sheepish one replaced it.
"Yeah. Sorry. The nightmare really lived up to its name. Just give me an hour or two to finish shaking it off, okay?" Rits said, extending a fist. I nodded, relaxing myself, and gently fist bumped him. At that moment, Doctor Roman strode into the room, his arms clasped behind his back, as if he were a general surveying the troops on the eve of battle. Honestly, it wasn't that inaccurate a comparison, I suppose.
"Good morning, everybody. I see you got my message. Good. We've just about finished prepping for today's deployments." Deployments? As in, more than one? I wanted to jump in and ask him what the hell he meant by that, but I restrained myself. Patience, Jacob. The good doctor will get to it eventually. "First, let's start off with the analysis of information from the last time we were in here."
Oh, good! Hopefully, Doctor Roman had found something, because so far, I found jackshit for usefulness. Mash raised her hand slightly, and Roman nodded at her, as if we were in a college classroom.
"You said that you were going to be observing the era of King Solomon, where a summoning spell called the Seventy-Two Demon Gods was used, correct?" Roman nodded again, this time with a rather grim expression.
"That's right. This is the result thus far: I found nothing wrong with the era in question. There were no singularities observed around the 10th century BC. Basically, what that means is..."
"Unfortunately, as Romani says, those who called themselves the Seventy-Two Demon Gods had nothing to do with King Solomon," Da Vinci interrupted with her usual flair. She strode over to stand by Roman's side, once again arriving, as the Caster once said, 'fashionably late'.
"Good morning, Da Vinci. You seem even more lively than normal today," I said, and it was true. There had been a slight bounce in her steps, and her eyes seemed to gleam excitedly, again more so than they typically did.
"Hey, good morning! Someone that can actually greet people!" Da Vinci responded, not-so-subtly elbowing Roman's side with a meaningful glare. Roman rolled his eyes at her, ignoring the theatrics like we normally did.
"If King Solomon did use the Seventy-Two Demon Gods, we definitely would have detected it," Roman said, taking back over. He spoke with a rare degree of confidence. The kind that said he would stake his life on his answer if need be. Then, the image cracked ever so slightly. Roman sighed and lowered his gaze, shaking his head while rubbing the back of it as he did so. "Or at least, we haven't seen any signs that he released his Seventy-Two Demon Gods towards any point towards the future from his era."
"So, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're telling us that everything was as it should be there?" Ritsuka asked, looking a bit more like normal now. Roman nodded, but it was Da Vinci who took over speaking. Honestly, after this is over, I might have to suggest that Chaldea's two remaining highest rank officials consider taking up a comedy routine.
"Therefore, Lev Lainur and anyone else we may encounter who refer to themselves as 'Demon Gods' appear to be from a completely different era. And that in turn means that Solomon has nothing to do with this." The Caster paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Well, actually, there is one possibility."
"If King Solomon has been summoned by someone else as their Servant?" Mash asked, and Da Vinci made a 'bingo' finger gun gesture that had me cringing slightly. What are we in, the eighties?
"Correct. Like Jacob and Ritsuka here, one can simply use Solomon as a familiar in his own era. By extension, that means that they would also be able to control and command the Seventy-Two Demon Gods." I frowned at that.
"Honestly, that may very well be an even worse possibility. As a Servant, wouldn't Solomon have his abilities and power dramatically increased?" Roman shrugged at my questions, sighing sadly.
"Yes. But still, using the Demon Gods as familiars? That is assuming those things really existed. Furthermore, I don't think that King Solomon is the kind of person that would do such evil." I shook my head sternly.
"Perhaps in life, that would be true. However, if he has been summoned as a Servant, that may matter little. Servants are supposed to obey their Master…whether the Master deserves their loyalty, respect, and powers or not." Mordred grunted in agreement.
Being a Master shouldn't mean instant loyalty, and often didn't. However, each Master were given three Command Seals, and with a well-worded one, there seemed to be very little that could counter it. Mash nodded in agreement as well.
"Jacob Senpai raises an excellent point, Doctor Roman. As long as it's the Master's commands being heeded, then surely King Solomon would have no choice but to obey, correct?" Roman shook his head, staring sternly at us once more.
"Such a villain couldn't summon Solomon. It's not like the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki. Chaldea's Summoning System comes into effect only if the Master or Master Candidate and the Heroic Spirit agree to it together."
I couldn't help but flash Mordred a small smile, grateful that it had been the case between my lover and I. Da Vinci hummed thoughtfully, and took over speaking when I looked back at her.
"You do have a point, Romani. Take myself, for example," the Caster said for the benefit of Ritsuka and I. "I came to Chaldea because I agreed to. The director back then was a fine mage. I agreed to the contract because I felt I could trust him. Thus, Chaldea's third successful summoning was accomplished!"
"Who were the first and second?" Mordred interjected, for once looking interested in the briefing. Da Vinci made a grand sweeping gesture towards a startled Mash with one arm.
"Number Two is right here. Yours truly, Mash! As for the first one, no one knows at this point. The records regarding them, along with Mash's, were sealed as confidential matters of the highest degree. Not even Olga Marie knew. Only her father, the previous director and the one in charge when I was summoned."
"What happened to him, actually?" I asked. It hadn't slipped past me how Roman and Da Vinci were referring to Olga Marie's father in the past tense. Or now why someone as young as her had been in charge of so vital an operation. It was Roman who confirmed my suspicions.
"He was found dead in his office with a gun in his hand a few years ago. It was declared to have been a tragic accident at the time. Now, looking back at recent events, I suspect that it was actually a murder in disguise."
"Knowing now what we do about Lev Lainur and combined with the fact that he was present during that time, it's likely that he hated the Heroic Spirit Summoning System so much, he killed the previous director. Perhaps he had also learnt about Number One?"
"Perhaps, but I heard it had ended in failure. After all, Mash's Heroic Spirit Number Two ended as an incomplete summon. For Chaldea, completely successful Heroic Spirit summons began with me, Number Three. Why, I—" Roman coughed loudly, interrupting the Caster before she wound up on another one of her spiels.
"Ms. Leonardo We're going to start the debrief proper soon, so do you mind getting back on track?" Da Vinci huffed, rolling her eyes, though the excited look in them that I had noticed when she first walked in was still present.
"Fine, fine, Romani. Go on ahead."
"Thank you," Roman said with a slight huff, turning back to Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, and I. "Now, in any case, for the remaining four singularities, it's possible that the mastermind of this mess may be lurking in one of them, so keep an eye out at all times. As Medea Lily suggested, things are only going to get harder and harder with each passing moment."
"Understatement, Doc. So, where're we going this time?" I asked. "No another Waterworld, I hope?" Roman laughed at my half-joke and shook his head.
"No, nothing like that. It's set in the Nineteenth Century. The closest yet to modern times thus far. Perhaps it should be expected though. After all, this is a time when civilizations rise and flourish, across the world. In this era, mankind makes huge strides. The Industrial Revolution. Without a doubt, it's a definitive turning point in mankind's history. Even from the standpoint of a consumer society, this is when mankind makes a huge leap forward towards modern times! Your specific destination will be the dazzling, lavish British Empire." I didn't fail to notice how Mordred had stiffened at the idea of going back to her home country. I nudged her gently, and to my relief, Mordred shot me a grateful nod, relaxing somewhat.
"I hope you mean England, and not including Ireland, Australia, or any of the other colonies and commonwealths, Doc," I said. Roman smiled in amusement.
"No. In fact, the location is surprisingly specific. The capital of the empire, the city of London. Hopefully this time, as it won't be across the entire countryside, you won't have to walk yourself to death. After all, there are now carriages and trains. Well, provided that they are not affected by the abnormalities detected."
"As much as this has been enlightening a moment, Doc, I have a question of my own to ask. That message you sent us a message about Ritsuka and I showing up with just Mordred and Mash. I'm hoping you're not under the impression that only the four of us are needed to resolve the fourth singularity?" I asked, crossing my arms and staring sternly at Roman.
To my immense relief, Roman shook his head. "No, though that would be a bit ironic in a way, wouldn't it? No, the reason why, Jacob, is because you and Ritsuka are going to be deployed separately."
I blinked slowly. "…Say what now?" I asked, unsure of if I had heard the ginger-haired man correctly. Surely, he had to be joking about the idea of splitting up our forces in half. He had to be. I stared at the doctor for a minute or two before I fully registered that he was dead serious about this.
"You heard me correctly, Jacob. The mission objective is the same as always. Traverse the city of fog, find the Holy Grail located there, and resolve the Fourth Singularity, Ritsuka and Mash."
"And what the hell will Mordred and I be doing? Sitting around with our fingers shoved up our ass?" I demanded angrily. It wasn't that I doubted Ritsuka. Rather, it's the idea of being left behind with no task to accomplish!
"Easy now, Jacob. Ritsuka and Mash are taking care of London. However, Da Vinci has a task for you, Mordred, and your other Servants as well." With my arms still crossed I looked at Da Vinci with one raised eyebrow, clearly conveying my lack of amusement with the scenario.
To her credit, the Caster actually looked sheepish…for about thirty seconds. Then, she recovered quickly, pulling out a laminated piece of printer paper. "Behold this tragedy!"
I blinked, before frowning. "It's your own painting. Are you saying you regret making it?" Mordred snickered in amusement at my dry response. Da Vinci looked at the paper in confusion, before looking at me with her own flat expression.
"Hilarious. No, this is not my work! It's an atrocity committed by a fraud!" My other eyebrow joined its companion, and I turned to Roman.
"Is this for real, or are you two putting on a show?"
"No, it's real. Da Vinci's discovered that someone's re-creating examples of her art. She did some more research and—"
"And it will cause a lot of trouble!" Roman rolled his eyes, sighing and turning to his colleague.
"Da Vinci, this isn't that big a deal compared to everything else," Doctor Roman began to say, before he was stopped cold by the deadly-looking glare in the Caster's eyes.
"I will straight-up murder you if you finish that thought, Romani." Even though the words weren't directed at me, I couldn't help but feel a shiver run up the back of my spine. Good grief, what the hell, Da Vinci?!
"Oh, Right!" Roman yelped, his eyes wide in alarm. "Sorry!" Da Vinci blinked, coughing slightly as the murderous aura withdrew from the room.
"Ahem. Oopsies! My real personality came out~" I didn't believe that innocent and friendly tone now one bit. I leaned over towards my partner, whispering softly to her.
"Mordred?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Never leave me alone in a room with Da Vinci." My Saber nodded with a grunt. Having overheard the brief, whispered conversation, Da Vinci rolled her eyes at Mordred and me.
"Anyways," Da Vinci began, stressing the word heavily, "back to what we were saying. Normally, my professionalism would have ensured that I would feel little more than dry amusement at any copycat attempts, but this is different. This is a replica of one of my masterpieces! This has the potential of shifting the foundation of human history during the Renaissance! And I'm not being egotistical here, so don't even start!"
Contrary to her words, I hadn't thought of that, focused more on the implications her words bore. "Has there been a confirmed eighth singularity formed by this?" I asked grimly. Rits stiffened next to me, his hands curled up nervously in fists as he licked suddenly dry lips. To my relief, the theatrical Caster that had hijacked our briefing shook her head.
"No, not yet. It's currently more of something called a pseudo-singularity. An event that has the potential to disrupt all of history, but either doesn't truly target any foundations like the seven we are focused on, or they are in the early stages of becoming a true singularity."
"So, if we do nothing, there's a good chance that it'll come back and bite us in the ass, then," I surmised curtly, and Da Vinci nodded.
"Correct. I will be accompanying you, Jacob, as your team's Caster."
I breathed in heavily. I didn't like it, but Da Vinci had raised another point just now. We didn't have time to go chasing after any pseudo-singularity that might become a full-on one and resolve the remaining four. This was the best choice out of a bucket of bad. I looked over at Mordred, asking her silently her opinion.
My knight gave me a single, affirmative nod. Inhaling softly, I turned back to Doctor Roman and Da Vinci. "Very well. Rits and I will summon the other Servants and fill them in on what's happening."
"…and so, this is why we are doing an unorthodox briefing session," I said calmly, my arms linked behind my back as Rits and I stood in the middle of the circle of Servants that had arrived in the Rayshift Chamber. Mordred and Mash flanked their respective Masters. "So, with that said, we're going to start announcing who is on today's deployment." Clearing my throat softly, I swept my gaze across the crowd.
"Emiya, Boudica, Sasaki, Jeanne, and Lu Bu will be accompanying Mordred, Da Vinci, and I on dealing with Pseudo-Singularity C. Upon arrival, our first objective is to find the nearest stable Leyline and establish a link back to base." The five Servants I had called out nodded in understanding and walked over to form a loose circle around Mordred and I. Turning to my fellow Master, I stepped backwards, and gestured that he had the floor now. Ritsuka nodded in understanding.
Taking a half-step forward, Rits cleared his own throat, and the crowd fell silent as our Servants eagerly await to hear who had been chosen to see some action. "Artoria, Atalante, Romulus, Drake, Medea, Jing Ke, Erik Bloodaxe."
Six of the seven named Servants stepped over to the various Coffin devices. Rits and I both looked at the seventh member, Medea. "Is something wrong, Medea?" Rits asked, concerned over the behavior of his Caster and my mentor.
Medea shook her head slightly, however, and now that she wore her hood down more often, I could see that there was a sad, reluctant look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, my adorable Master, but I', afraid I'm still recovering from the last three deployments. It seems that I require a little more rest than I thought. My apologies." Rits and I exchanged nervous looks. We hadn't even stepped into those damn, claustrophobic-inducing devices and we were already encountering issues.
Still, it couldn't be help. The fact that other than Da Vinci and Medea, only Amadeus was the other Caster to have answered our various summoning attempts. Ironically enough, that was the role that Rits apparently needed to have fulfilled the most, too.
"Hey, Doc, you said that your preliminary scans detected an unusual number of magical signatures, right?"
"Correct." I turned to Ritsuka.
"If she doesn't have a problem with it, I can lend you Jeanne for you mission. What she lacks in magical usage, she more than makes up for with her Rank EX resistance to it."
"Are you sure?" I nodded once.
"Yes. You're my partner, after all. I trust and believe in you." Ritsuka smiled faintly, before looking at me critically.
"This has nothing to do with the fact that you won't be accompanying me on this deployment?" I hesitated for a moment, before giving him a curt nod.
"Yeah. It's weird, not solving a singularity together. I won't have an extra set of eyes to keep watch, for example. But I think I'll somehow manage. You have the more important role, of course. Don't stress out over it. You'll do fine. Just remember your training, listen to your gut and your Servants, and keep a cool head."
Ritsuka shot me a half-smile, half-smirk. "And I'll make it without almost getting impaled, I suspect," he said in a teasing manner. Even as I rolled my eyes at him, I snorted in dry amusement.
"Hilarious, Rits. Maybe don't go quitting your day job yet, okay? I'll have Iroh or Boudica whip us up something special when we're both back."
"Sounds like a plan. To the successful completions of our missions?" Ritsuka said, extending a hand. I grinned and tightly gripped it, shaking it firmly.
"To getting one step closer to saving humanity."
With our little 'bro moment' at an end, I went over to Jeanne and informed her about the change in circumstances. While she looked a little disappointed at not accompanying me again, the Maid of Orléans agreed to the proposal, understanding the urgency of our situation once more.
Then, I entered my assigned Coffin, Mordred's next to mine. As the glass door closed, I shut my eyes, as the familiar automated voice began counting down. Then, I experienced the equally familiar sense of nothingness.
Orginal Endnotes: And done! Hope it was okay? I'm trying to figure out how to re-work the Da Vinci and The 7 Counterfeit Heroic Spirits event which Pseudo-Singularity C is. It's honestly looking like it will be more of my own blend for it, so I hope it turns out well. Please feel free to tell me what you think of it and the next set of chapters covering it. It'll also be practice for an even bigger event I have planned for this story that's completely original (or at least, so far as I can tell for Fate/Grand Order and the fanfiction community for it). So, sorry if it felt a bit clumsy at times here. Hopefully, that won't be the case. Also, anyone wanna bet on how much longer until Ritsuka and Jacob finally get into their first true argument/fight between one another?
Now, for the question(s) of the chapter! First up, a bit of headcanon I came up with: what do you think of the idea that Mordred's jacket from Fate/Apocrypha was actually Kairi's daughter's jacket, or a gift he had intended to give her?
Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for all the love and constant support, and I can't wait to hear y'alls thoughts! May the Fourth be with you, and I'll see you in three to four days in Chapter 88!
Updated Endnotes 08/01/22: Chapter 200 was just posted yesterday on the up-to-date version of my story on AO3. Feel free to check it out, that version is updated far more consistently, with a chapter every four days, if you want to skip the wait. Otherwise, have a great day, and I'll see you on here in Chapter 88. :)