017 - Now it's time to say goodbye (Part 2)


Mashu Kyrielight

For a moment, time itself seems to stand still, the form of Tohsaka-san frozen in place before the Demi-Servant's eyes. There's an expression of grim determination in her face, with an arm extended ahead of her and the wispy red trail left behind by her spell slowly fading into nothing.

Fading into nothing, just like like the Lady Director is fading in a burst of blue light motes, so similar yet so different from a defeated Servant.

(… Is that how it looks when a soul is destroyed?)

As the intense shock that pinned her in place slowly fades into something more manageable and her perception of time returns to normal, Mashu finds her lips moving all on their own. To try and make sense of what just happened. To ask why.

"Tohsaka-sa—?"

'Don't say a word, Mashu.' Only to get cut off by Haku-senpai's strained telepathic warning. Turning her sight towards her Master, Mashu finds the other girl focused on Lev-san, body language tense and wary. 'I know this is upsetting, but if you've ever trusted me, trust me on this. Everything is fine, the situation is under control.'

'But…' In spite of herself, Mashu's slowly growing outrage gets immediately doused by Haku-senpai's words, replaced by hurt and confusion. 'They just betrayed us?'

'Look around you, Mashu. Their attention is still on Lev, not a single one of them is trying to move against us.' At Haku-senpai's prompting, Mashu finally takes a look around her. The Red Faction is indeed focused on Lev-san, both Servants and Masters seemingly ready to break into violence at the slightest threat. 'We don't want that thing to see us divided. Keep your head in the game, I'll explain later.'

Mashu can't imagine how a satisfactory explanation for what just happened could even exist, but she'd be the first to admit she doesn't really have the most active of imaginations. Maybe there's something she's missing here, something obvious she doesn't see or some big secret that she hasn't figured out. Maybe this situation can still be salvageable. Maybe… Maybe Matou-Senpai isn't actually their enemy.

Because Haku-Senpai is asking, she's willing to at least listen to them.

(Even if there's a chance that Haku-Senpai may be an enemy too, fellow worshipper of that strange demon lord thing of theirs that she is.)

Her attention snaps back to Lev-san when he lets out a growl that echoes all around the cavern.

"You… However little Olga met her end matters not to me." He states in a dangerous tone, his human eye narrowing even as the pupil of his inhuman side shrinks like some sort of mechanical lens. "But the gall it takes to presume to snatch my fun away…. Such impudence cannot go unpunished."

"Bring it on, bubble-eyes!" Tohsaka-san challenges brashly, though even the always-confident woman seems to be wary and tense. "We can take you!"

"Oh, how wrong you are, little interloper. Not that it matters, you misunderstand my words." As he says these words, all the wrath in Lev-san's demeanor disappears, making way for a maddened smile full of fangs that makes even his supposedly human stretch monstrously. "I don't really need to move a finger. Your punishment will be to struggle in vain against the inevitable for my own amusement."

Mashu feels a shiver down her spine at the gruesome sight in front of her. Is this thing Lev-san at all? Did Lev-san exist at all, at any point or has he always been a monster under his skin? Is the monster something else, something other that took residence inside the man she once knew to wear him a sockpuppet? There's no answers to be found in that demented smile of his and no answer would've been a good one anyway.

"Go to hell."

Lacking Mashu's own familiarity with the man or maybe simply being more naturally capable of reacting to bizarre developments, Tohsaka-san easily manages to convey her own feelings on the matter while the Demi-Servant remains caught in a whirlwind of questions and emotions.

There's… something admirable and comforting in the direct simplicity of these words.

"Now, that's an amusing thing to hear." The monster that Mashu used to call Lev-san chuckles amusedly, seemingly over his previous anger. "But I'll respectfully have to say… Ladies first!"

With these words, he breaks out into maniacal cackles, the tear in reality behind him widening to swallow him whole. The reason for his glee becomes obvious when the whole world starts shaking around them.

"Tsk. The Singularity is collapsing, Grail and all. With both Saber and that thing out of the way, there's nobody to ensure its power is used properly." Tohsaka-san quickly evaluates the situation in a frustrated voice. "Looks like your expedition was a success, Chaldeans. But you should go back to your time before you get swallowed in the collapse."

"Tohsaka-san…?" Mashu feels her heart throb painfully in ominous realization. "What… What about you?"

"Don't worry about us. We knew this was going to happen." Einzbern-san joins the conversation, giving Mashu a comforting pat on her… Well, Einzbern-san is very short, so it makes sense she can't actually reach Mashu's shoulder. "Secure the mystical wish-granting device and leave, you still have much to do."

Mashu is about to protest, only to find a soft hand landing on her shoulder to give her a gentle squeeze. Turning around, she finds herself face to face with Matou-senpai's kind smile and a slow head shake. All the fight leaves her as her throat constricts painfully and tears pool into her eyes, threatening to spill.

To watch these three women, so confident and capable, calmly accepting their own end like this when a wreck like her would live to see another day… It's wrong, it's painful, it shouldn't be. They might've killed the Lady Director out of nowhere, but they're still… Wait a minute!

"W–Wait!" She cries out, shaking off the gloomy feelings to ask the question that needs to be asked. "What about the Lady Director? Why did you attack her out of nowhere?"

"Because that thing would've doomed her to a fate worse than death. To forever burn in the fires that incinerated humanity, with neither rest nor end to her torment." Tohsaka-san explains with a sigh. "Killing her was a mercy, really. Not that it's going to stick."

"It won't stick…?" She repeats dumbly. "What do you mean?"

"Ask your Master, she's a shrewd one." Einzbern-san nods towards Haku-senpai with a knowing grin before patting Mashu's… behind again. "Now, if you'd excuse us, we need to set our business in order before reality collapses around us. Maybe have a goodbye orgy or something, leave with a bang."


Olga Marie Animusphere

The work of the Lady Director of Finis Chaldea never ends.

She might've just had a sanity-shattering revelation about the true heart of the man she trusted the most in the world. She might've her Rayshifted Soul -and how does that even work in the first place, she has no idea- annihilated by the mysterious woman she was starting to see as a reliable role model. She might've been killed twice in the same day and somehow managed to wake up from it all in a hospital bed, but that's no excuse to ignore her duties.

Yes, while it would've been perfectly excusable for other people -for lesser people- to simply go catatonic under the sheer strain her mind has recently gone through, she has a job to do. There's no time to become catatonic.

Kyrielight and Hak– Fujimaru are still in the Singularity and they sorely need her support. That's why she ripped off the needle on her arm, jumped out of her bed and signed her own discharge -paperwork is important and procrastination only means headaches later- before marching through blasted, ruined and sometimes still on fire corridors to reach the Command Room.

Her only alternative would be to rely on Roman for a second longer than strictly necessary, after all.

"Status update." She demands in her best no-nonsense voice as soon as she clears the door, drawing everyone's attention to her person. "What happened since I got kicked out of the Singularity?"

It's about this point, as she feels her subordinate's gazes burning into her exposed skin, that she finally realizes walking there wearing only a revealing hospital gown might've not been the best choice for her dignity. But it's too late to fix it now so she'll have to own it.

B-Besides! Time was the essence! She could hardly afford looking for a change of clothes. Yeah!

"L-lady Director! You are alright!" The wishy-washy doctor cries in patent relief while she crosses her arms and tries very hard not to blush. "It looks like your soul and body successfully re-synchronized after—"

"Don't know, don't care. Unless I'm about to fall over out of nowhere, you can fill me in on that later." She cuts him off. Her own medical miracle can wait, they're in the middle of an active crisis. "Priorities, Doctor. Priorities. What's going on in Singularity F?"

"Ah… Right." The man scratches the back of his head in a (comfortingly familiar) infuriatingly spineless manner. "Lev retreated from the Singularity through means unknown, leaving the Grail behind. Mashu and Haku recovered it and are already being Rayshifted back. The Singularity is… collapsing."

"What about the Red Faction?" She asks, hoping her conflicting feelings about them don't show on her face. On the one hand, Tohsaka-sen– Tohsaka-san just killed her. On the other hand, it very clearly didn't stick. "Can we…?"

She trails off, unsure of what she's trying to ask. While Rayshifting can be used to mine soulless resources from singularities, bringing natives into Chaldea is simply not viable. She knew from the start that the Red Faction had their days numbered no matter what. Heck, the Red Faction themselves seemed perfectly aware and accepting of that fact.

"They… were left behind." Roman admits reluctantly. "There's nothing we can do to help them."

"Of… of course they were. I already knew that." She nods with a sigh. And then, after taking a deep breath, she says what needs to be said. "What are they doing now? I'd like to have a last conversation with Tohsaka, if at all possible."

"Oh, I haven't been keeping an eye on them, let's see…" The man focuses back on the console, blissfully unaware of her awkwardness. "They seem to have returned to their base of operations and… what's that?"

"Something wrong, Roman?" Hopefully not, the last thing she needs when they're already short on time is another fire to put off.

"Unknown Mystic Code, an egg-shaped crystalline structure the size of a human torso. Functionality… unknown." Roman immediately dashes her hopes. "We have nothing on file that looks even remotely like it."

"Well, that's not ominous at all." She mutters under her breath, resisting the urge to run a hand through her hair. "Patch me through."

Fortunately, there's no further setbacks and soon the call connects, Tohsaksa-sen— Tohsaka-san's holographic face popping up from the console with good resolution. At least the signal is strong.

"Oh, Olga-chan! I'm glad to see you're alive and well!" The woman greets her cheerfully, not looking surprised in the slightest. "Sorry about these lessons we talked about, it doesn't look like we'll have the chance to share notes anytime soon."

"I reckon." Olga huffs, to hide her disappointment. "What's that thing you're carrying around?"

"This? It's a [Memory Crystal], a very special information processing tool with many uses." Tohsaka-san answers with a confident grin. "Amongst other things, This bad boy can be used to record the events taking place inside a Singularity and, once the Singularity collapses, let that information spill out into Proper Human History."

Discreetly, Olga sneaks a hand into the controls outside of Tohsaka-san's field of view to patch Caster into the conversation, making sure to keep the bombastic and rambunctious genius muted and out of sight so the game won't be given away. Olga wants the ear of an expert for this conversation, just in case.

"That… are you trying to use it to abandon the Singularity?"

Such a thing should be impossible without usage of the Second True Magic but, then again, time travel should also be impossible without The Blue and Chaldea found a roundabout. Going by that very vague description, this [Memory Stone] could be used by the Red Faction to try and overwrite their counterparts from a proper timeline.

"Nothing so grand or pervasive, only knowledge can be moved around this way. In spite of its name not even proper memories will be transferred, just knowledge in the vaguest of senses." Tohsaka-san waves away her concerns. "It'll create dreams, it'll nest on the back of the mind and it'll inspire stories. Stories that will become more successful than they had any right to be, simply because they'll deal with topics the general public will be receptive towards, but it won't go beyond that."

"That…" Olga trails off. If anything, having her suspicions denied only makes her feel more suspicious about the Red Faction's plan. "What are you even trying to accomplish?"

"This Singularity may be doomed, but we're under no obligation to take it quietly." Tohsaka-san declares with a frown. "What happened during this Fifth Fuyuki Grail War, our feats and struggles in here… They will transcend time and space to live on in the collective consciousness of humanity, our existence will be remembered."

"That goes against the directives of Finis Chaldea!" She protests all the same, even if nothing malicious will come out of that, they still have to stick to proper rules and regulations. "It will taint Proper Human History with aberrant knowledge!"

"Your directives, not mine." Tohsaka-san replies easily, casually flipping a strand of hair away from her face. "I won't be chastised for my wish to exist, we all have a right to fight for our own lives. This is how we choose to fight and we aren't harming anyone in the process. What right do you have to call us out on it?"

Olga could say many things about that. How it's her duty to call them on it. How she's devoted her life to this organization and the noble goal of preserving Proper Human History. How there's a dangerous slippery slope that starts by making reasonable-sounding concessions for morally compelling reasons that will only make further and further deviations more palatable until one loses sight of their original goals.

But… but that's not really the case, isn't it? Her goal isn't to police history, just to ensure humanity continues to prosper for ever. Aberrant history can be a threat to that, but it doesn't need to be. Stealing a glance towards Caster's hologram, she sees the Servant nod confidently.

Apparently Tohsaka-san is telling the truth about the purpose of that [Memory Crystal] of hers. At least, as far as a genius polymath like Caster can tell, which will have to suffice here. That being the case and taking into account the fact that the attempt won't, in fact, threaten Chaldea's mission at all… Well, Olga could see herself, maybe, hopefully, letting it slide this one time.

In spite of her attempts to keep a stern visage, some of her thoughts must've shown on her face, because Tohsaka-san's expression softens, the challenging glint on her eyes giving way for a small smile.

"See you on the other side, Olga-chan." She says softly. "We'll talk about Gemcraft next time."

With that, the connection cuts off. It's not long before Roman announces the total collapse of the singularity. And she didn't even get to ask Tohsaka-san about the whole deal with deploying a pseudo-Noble Phantasm against her.

"Good job, everyone." She declares while holding back a defeated sigh. Maybe she'll never know what that was about. "The crisis is far from over, but the day is saved."

There's hoping nothing else will explode in the next twenty-four hours, she needs some time for herself. To think, to process.


Status Window Update:

Angel Ring (Final Fantasy Tactics): A ring fashioned after white feathered wings. It is said the angels themselves made this ring of benedictions. Whoever wears this ring will be protected against both mundane and supernatural maladies. It is said that, should the worst come to happen to the wearer, the ring will shatter to grant a second chance at life.


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