Olga dusted herself off and walked back to Ritsuka with Mash in tow.
"Alright, I think we should keep moving." She said.
"So you don't think anything is on the bridge, Director?" Ritsuka asked. Olga shook her head.
"I used magecraft to scan the area, nothing of note turned out." She looked across the bridge to a port that looks like an area of interest. "Let's go there next."
"Understood, Director." Mash replied. Then she asked. "Director, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"The Fuyuki in our records is different from this version of Fuyuki that we rayshifted to. What do you think happened?"
Olga thought about it for a moment and answered as best she could. "History must have been altered in some small but significant way in order for this to occur. It's something very difficult to do but I don't know how else it could have become like this."
"Change history? Like in Back to the Future?" Ritsuka asked. Both women looked at him with eyebrows raised.
"What is "Back to the Future"?" Olga asked.
"I don't think that's true, Senpai." Mash answered.
Ritsuka coughed. "You don't know Back to the Future, Director? That's probably for the best. I'm surprised you know it, Mash."
"Why?" the young director asked. "What's in it?"
"Nothing." He snickered.
"It's a movie about travelling back in time. It's filled with a lot of pseudo-science that doesn't hold up to theory, director." Mash explained.
"That's… mostly what it is." He smiled.
"I see. Well, Chaldea observes the earth through an earth model called Chaldeas, and then a familiar called Laplace compiles a record of everything that has happened that Chaldeas has observed, history that wasn't recorded, history that was left in the dark, history that nobody knows." Olga explained. "Laplace observed an unusual Holy Grail war in Fuyuki in 2004."
"You mean the Holy Grail from legend, Director?" Mash asked.
"Yes. There's a ritual called the Holy Grail War that occurs here in Fuyuki City. Seven pairs of Servants and Masters fight for the right to the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wishing device." Olga continued. "My father… The previous director, I mean…"
Ritsuka noticed the pause in her speech. "So your father discovered it."
Olga was surprised. "Y-yes. My father discovered it. And Chaldea used it as the basis for Chaldea's third core invention: The Chaldea Summoning System."
"Third? Wouldn't the third be Sheba, Director?" Mash asked.
The director shook her head. "Me and Lev worked on that together, but he did most of the work, not Chaldea."
Ritsuka nodded. "I see. Professor Lev struck me as sort of odd when we met, but he was very kind. It's nice to hear you hold him in high regard."
"Of course. Lev has always been there to help him." Olga sighed. "Right. Back to the topic at hand. The Holy Grail War in 2004 ended with the victory of Saber and her Master, and Fuyuki was not destroyed. This anomaly is the reason why we can't see 100 years into the future anymore."
"Wait, so heroic Spirits were summoned to Chaldea before the mission began?" The young Master was intrigued as he only saw one of them. An eccentric one at that.
Olga nodded. "Yes. The first director summoned the first, but I don't have data on who or which Heroic Spirit it is." She pointed at Mash. "The second is the Heroic Spirit fused with Mash. And the third is… I'm assuming you met them already."
"Yeah. Leonardo Da Vinci was her name. The Renaissance Man. It was pretty surprising to see that they were a woman."
"It's an extremely long short story. I suggest asking her about it." The white haired girl spoke in a very annoyed tone. "If I start, it will take more time that we probably have."
Ritsuka laughed. "Director, was that a joke? Did you just make a joke?"
There was a faint blush on her face. Mash caught this as well, causing her to smile. For a second, the three of them shared a moment.
"But seriously, when I had to hear Da Vinci's speech about why they manifested as a woman, I-"
Olga was interrupted by Ritsuka running and crashing towards her as a long blade swiped at where she was.
"Mash!"
"On it!" Mash engaged the enemy.
However, this enemy was different. Instead of the easily crushed Skeletons, this had a fully formed corporeal body, and it brandished a long sword with an ease that can only come from experience. What threw off the three from Chaldea was that there was smoke covering the enemy, which meant that Olga could not analyze its stats.
Mash ran towards it and attacked, but unlike her previous enemies, this enemy was able to parry her shield strike and repel her. She was shocked but quickly recovered as the enemy engaged her. Metal struck metal, sparks flew between then, smoke and soot was kicked up as both their movements picked up speed to the point that they were no more than blurs to Ritsuka. However, it was clear to him that Mash was losing footing, so he picked up another pipe from the rubble and ran towards her.
"Ritsuka, don't!" Olga screamed.
She was right. The enemy clearly had intelligence as it noticed that Ritsuka was its priority to eliminate. With swift movement, it bounced itself off of Mash's shield and lunged towards the young master, knowing full well that his weapon of choice would never hold up to its blade.
It did.
The pipe blocked the sword enough for Ritsuka to push it away and roll to a safer location. The young Master looked behind him and saw Olga casting an enhancing spell on him.
"Can you stop being reckless?!" She shouted as she fired shots of magical energy at the enemy. "Gandr!"
The magic bullets hit their enemy squarely, stunning it, allowing Mash to get a few hits in. Olga returned to enhancing Ritsuka.
"Go! I'll enhance you so you can hit a little bit harder. Just make sure to stay behind Mash when it attacks!"
Ritsuka nodded. "Got it. Thanks, Director!"
Mash rendezvoused with Ritsuka. "Mash, let's work together."
"Yes, Senpai!"
Mash pushed the enemy backwards, sending it off balance, while Ritsuka ran to slam the pipe he held with both hands into its head, then as the enemy tried to recover and swipe at him, Mash jumps right in between with her shield, which is Olga's cue to fire Gandr shots at it. This continued for a while until Olga saw the enemy's core exposed.
"Mash! Destroy its core!" She shouted.
"Understood! HAAAAAA!" She used all her strength to slam the bottom side of her shield into the enemy's core. The core crackled, and, with the force it was slammed into, the shadow enemy was sent flying as it disappeared.
With the enemy gone, the three of them could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Is anyone hurt?" The director asked.
"I'm good. My hands are just a bit sore." Ritsuka answered.
"I'm fine, director." Mash replied.
"Good. Good." Olga breathed deeply. "Hey, Mash, could it be that you can't use your Noble Phantasm?"
Mash looked down. "No, I can't. I don't even know the name of the Heroic Spirit I fused with. I'm sorry, Director, Senpai. I'm still just a failed Servant."
Olga placed a hand on Mash's shoulder. "No, don't be too hard on yourself."
"I can use it as a weapon but its output is considerably lowered. So please just think of me as a weak Servant that can get stronger, Senpai." Mash smiled at him.
"That's right. Ritsuka, a Master should be able to know their Servant's abilities and parameters, that's true of any Servant and Master." Olga explained. "As you both learn and grow, Mash will become stronger. I don't want to be rude but you don't have the potential to grow more as a Master."
Ritsuka shrugged. "No, I understand that. I still can't wrap my head around all of this. At this point, I just want to get back in one piece."
Olga nodded. "I can understand that. Right, I think we should keep moving before more of them show up."
They moved on and investigated the port ruin but saw nothing of interest.
"Fire as far as the eye can see, what happened here?" Olga started thinking out loud. "What could possibly have caused Chaldeas to turn gray anyway."
"What does it mean for Chaldeas to turn gray, anyway?" Ritsuka asked.
"It means humanity does not exist."
Ritsuka stopped.
Olga turned to face him. "Chaldeas is a model of the planet. It usually has light on it, what we call the "Light of Humanity". If I had to liken it to something physical, think of the light of cities that can be seen from outer space. It's functionally the same in the sense that when they go out, it's a sign that something has gone catastrophically wrong."
"So the Chaldeas in the command room…"
"...is Chaldeas without the Light of Humanity." Olga finished. "Meaning that within the next one hundred years, humanity will disappear without a trace."
Dr. Romani popped up next to Ritsuka. "Hey, I'm sending over some rations. You guys should take five somewhere safe… Why is everyone looking so down?"
Ritsuka shook his head. "Nothing. I think I see a shelter over there. Let's eat there."
They walked towards the shelter Ritsuka pointed out. It was an abandoned church ruin, the crucifix still standing up high. It was like a beacon of hope among the burning flames of hell all around, except that when you entered it, it was also consumed by the hell it was trying to keep at bay. At the very least, it still had a roof and only one entrance, the front door. Olga stayed at the door.
"You guys go on ahead. I'm not hungry." She said as she stood guard at the door.
"Are you sure?" Ritsuka asked. The director nodded, but even so, he could see her holding her stomach.
Mash and Ritsuka sat at one of the few remaining church pews and brought out the rations, which were military-standard MREs. They opened the packs and followed the instructions. Ritsuka took Macaroni and Cheese while Mash got Beef Ravioli.
"I always wanted to try MREs." Ritsuka stated.
"They're not as good as you want them to be but they're better than what you think they are." Dr. Romani commented. "Just make sure you follow the instructions correctly or else they won't heat evenly. They'll end up with microwave syndrome."
"Microwave syndrome? I'm not familiar with that term." Mash inquired.
"It's when the outer edges of your food are hot but the inside is cold. Also the plate is hot but not the food." Dr. Roman explained, disappointingly looking down.
"Did you have microwaved food too, Doctor?" the young Master asked.
"I microwaved this lasagna and now the middle is cold."
"That's rough. I think mine is ready."
The two of them unpack their MREs from the water activated heating packets. Ritsuka also unpacked the third MRE.
"Anyway, Mash. Are you okay with me being your Master?"
Mash nodded. "It's okay. I think we were the most compatible, especially in my weakened state. If I was someone else's Servant, I would be a disappointment."
Ritsuka wondered if that was a dig at him or a compliment, and somehow he's too scared to ask. "Any complaints now that you've become a Servant, Mash? I don't expect it to be very pleasant."
Mash thought about it for a bit as she chewed on her food. "It's hard to explain. It's like I've turned into a jet plane."
"A… jet plane…?"
She nodded. "Yes. It's like I have the power of a jet plane but I can't do my own maintenance. As a Servant, our existence is tied to our Master."
"I see. I'll try to be better, then." He smiled and stood up. He took the other MRE in his hand and held it in front of Olga.
"What?" She asked.
"You're hungry, aren't you? Go eat with Mash, I'll take over watch."
"What about y-"
"I'm done eating. I eat fast." He interrupted.
Olga smiled. "Alright, if you insist."
The two women sat on the pews and ate together as Ritsuka peeked out on the hellscape. The church was on raised ground so he had a better view of the city. He could feel his heart beating in his ears. There was nothing alive, not even animals nor trees in sight, as if this world decided to digest itself in flame and melted stone, leaving no sentience left. He felt fear. His knees were shaking now that he thought about it. Even so, there was one thing he wanted to do:
He wanted to stay alive.
He wanted to go home.
He should have never stepped into this world that was hidden from him for all his life.
Then, a flash of light reflected on shining metal caught his eye. It took a second, but his legs moved faster than his thoughts this time.
From where his head used to be, was three knives stuck in the church's archway.
"Senpai!" Mash ran towards him as he tried to stand up and run away from the knives that could have ended his life a mere split second ago.
"Are you alright?" Olga helped him get up. "Oh no… This magical energy…"
"I almost died…" Ritsuka let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I… I…"
"Stay behind me, Senpai." Mash raised her shield.
"This signature…" Olga shivered. "It's a Servant."
Hello everyone. So I few things. This series will be updated randomly as I have the time. I really can't stick to a schedule because irl is extremely weird nowadays. I am having a lot of fun writing this. Writing Olga as having a dynamic with Mash and Ritsuka right here makes her more endearing to me and I hope it will have the same effect on you. I'm trying to follow the story loosely from now on, preserving story beats while making sure it deviates enough to make it very different.
Anyway thank you all for reading! I hope you will continue to enjoy Chaldea Re:!
-BlankSlate2356