BOOOM!

This was insane.

CRAA-BOOOM!

This was… insane.

The idea was all the lone boy could think of as he ran through the burning building. Arms up around his head, keeping the licks of flames from grabbing at his skin, and panting with breaths of smoke. Hacking breaths that felt like needles running down his lungs, scratches at his throat.

His legs burned from heat and exhaustion, his arms charring like wood, and the burning of steel suffocating him through stench alone. It was a miserable place to be. Miserable and torturous. Yet still, he ran on. Into the fires with the fear of what was behind him… and only the faintest hope of what lay beyond this inferno.

He knew death, by the stench alone, but he did not know how tight its hold was. It was a terrifying thought, sobering as well. But it was not enough to keep his legs still.

Through the literal hallway of flame, he marched on, moving as fast as he could.

"Are you alright?" They were words that woke him up through a daze. A daze heavy enough to make him put his hand to head, trying to hold his mind steady. "If you're sick, I-I can take you to the infirmary. It's not far, and I'm sure Dr. Archaman would help."

He focused his eyes, looking up to see who was talking to him.

His gaze was overcome with a girl standing over him, lavender hair bob cut and hanging across her eyes. A pair of thin glasses peaked out between the frames, and her pressed alabaster suit shivering as she looked about him with concern.

"A-Are you okay? I understand that first time Rayshifting can be taxing. You did well to survive it, though." Survive it… oh yeah… survive. There was a possibility of death. He had been told that. "But if you can, please tell me, are you okay?" He nodded his head dumbly at her question. It would have been very rude to not answer her.

He heard her breathe a short sigh of relief, hand to her chest. Dulled as his senses were, he could still make out a faint smile across her face.

"That's excellent! I mean-I-I'm glad to hear it. It would have been horrible to hear one of the 48 Masters hadn't survived their trial Rayshift."

Masters… that was right. He was a recruited here to be that… even though he didn't fully understand what was happening. But he knew that they had asked him to help, a promise to save the world if he was strong enough. He had been asked that when he was done giving blood.

That was a few days ago, and the memories of coming here were still vague.

"You don't… oh! I apologize, I didn't think to ask if your memory was damaged!" Her hands were quick to hold him, pulling him up until he was on his hands and knees. "Just take deep breaths, focus on something you remember. A-And make sure it's something you like. That will make it easier."

Her face was close to his as she instructed him, and he blinked at her. Holding fingers up to him, biting her lip as the orders came. He had to wonder if he was being an inconvenience for her, requiring her attention.

"You're not! I-I mean-no, you aren't." She coughed into her hand, hair bobbing with the action. "You were hurt and as a member of Chaldea, it's my job to assist all the Masters. And you're one of the masters as well." Her finger pressed at his coat now, the white overcoat hugging his body.

He didn't know what it meant why she had to help him. He hadn't received help for it before. He noted that, tapping his chest and feeling necklace that hung there.

"Because I haven't seen you before," she quickly added. "But I'm sure that even if you weren't wearing this, I would still assist you." He smiled at her, thanking her for her kindness. "Of course! I'm happy to help. I've been told that masters like you are going to help save humanity." He had been told the same, but he wasn't so sure.

He thanked her again, sure that her kindness was a rare fruit in the world. Her blush was hard to ignore.

"If you are okay now, maybe… perhaps I may be able to introduce myself, a-as we will be working together from now on." If she was working here, then it made sense. She looked thrilled when he nodded his head. "Really? Oh then… please wait a moment."

He watched her as she stepped back for a moment, putting her hands up and down, straightening her posture before her hair. There were deep breaths taken in and released, before looking at him with a small, but clearly practiced, smile.

"My name is Mash Kyrielight, and it's my privilege to meet you."

Mash Kyrielight, the girl who had helped him when he had fallen asleep on the ground, who had shown him around what she could about the facility, even a few of the faculty members. She was at the center of this raging inferno, and that was where he had to go.

FWOOOOSH! Even as he ducked his head, a gout of fire spilling out from a torn section of the wall. It licked at his hair, forcing him to duck, hand running out to keep his balance.

TSSSH! Only for him to pull it back with a yelp of pain, looking at his reddened palm and upset to see the skin already smeared with burns. He tried to flex it once, only to make a half-fist before giving up. It wasn't the time to focus on that anyways, not in the middle of this fire.

The hallway hadn't changed in size, it couldn't have, but it was still cramped now. The smoke was making another ceiling above him, and the molten walls he couldn't touch. Shoulders hunched and knees bent, he ran forward with all that he could muster. He stopped only when a door was in his way. It was marked with broad black letters he couldn't ignore.

Chaldea Rayshifting Chamber

Authorized Individuals Only

He tried to take a deep breath, choking on the air for his efforts. Regardless, he looked at the pad next to it, smoldering from the flames. Faith in the magic of the institution had him putting his hand to the screen, tentatively. Skin seared at the touch, but the screen changed regardless.

Access granted, Master #48

A pained hiss left him as he yanked his hand away. Burned, skin wrapping over, and painful to clench. The only blessing now was the skin hadn't been removed. It was far from the highest blessing, but he was thankful nonetheless, even as he bent over the injured limb, curling around it.

FWOOOM! The doors opened, and he had more to be thankful for a moment later.

The flames from the chamber rushed in, licking at his hair and making him fall back with a panicked cry. By grace and luck, he avoided having his face burned asunder. Breathless, sucking in more ash than oxygen, he gave his thanks. Once the chamber door was fully opened, he was able to run inside. The air inside the sealed chamber was no better.

His eyes watered, only to feel dried out by the heat of the flames. The ground was hot to walk on through his shoes, and no matter how he squinted, the light was bright enough to blind him. The desire to rip his clothes from the heat was there, but the reminder that they protected him kept him from doing so. One of the many things he kept at the forefront of his mind.

"And your cloak is designed for a variety of environments, as well as Servants that may be summoned." Mash explained as they continued to walk together. "Because Servants have the ability to change the land around them, Da Vinci was careful to make sure the clothing you wear is suitable for any kind of terrain you could end up in, or to a limit."

He didn't want to test those limits, but he was thankful to her regardless. The long white overshirt he wore, as well as the form fitting dark undershirt. Their comfort was a boon to him, even if he felt silly still for falling asleep in them.

"Don't be! Dr. Archaman said they were comfortable to sleep in." She blushed at the comment. "O-Or at least he was sure it was. And Master Olga Animusphere said that was good, as it meant the Master would be more comfortable if they were deployed for the long term." Mash nodded with her words, as if testing them.

He smiled back, saying that he can confirm they are comfortable to sleep in. The blush returned to Mash's face.

"Y-Yes, and that's fortunate to hear. I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable." The lavender haired girl nodded her head once more. "Please let me know if there is anything else that makes you… tired." She was close to another word. "I will do what I can to assist you."

She was kind and he knew it, but he waved his hand, smile still present. He was sure to ask for aid, he knew that, because he was still new here, but he wasn't about to ask her like an assistant. If anything, she should be asking him for help. That was the best way to have him become used to the facility.

The words made her lone visible eye widen. The gasp of realization came in time.

"I-I forget! My apologies, I forgot that you were new here." She bowed quickly, standing up in a fuss. "I'm so used to others knowing about Chaldea that I didn't think… it's my fault for this, a-and I'm sorry."

Once more he said there was no need to be sorry, and once again she bowed towards him. He bit his lip, unsure of what to say. So he said nothing, waiting for Mash to speak again instead.

"I… I can show you the facility!" Once more her words almost seemed panicked. "If you are going to be here for the duration of the Chaldea Operations, then I can at least show you around." He took that, smiling and thanking her for the opportunity. Her smile grew the same. "Good! Then I can give you the grand tour!"

Her arms extended out, her lithe frame practically hopping in place, and the grin she wore bright enough to reflect off the snow. He smiled in kind, appreciating her jubilant attitude. His silence and eyes, however, appeared to shake her.

At least, it forced Mash to quickly dampen her own excitement, settling down with a deep breath.

"First, or to begin, we are in The Chaldea Security Organization. Founded by Marisbury Animusphere ten years ago, the facility has been focusing on the process of ritual summoning from the Throne of Heroes." She coughed once. "The facility has reached a higher level of operation thanks to the efforts of Professor Lev Lainur, as he was able to incorporate Spiritrons in the SHEBA system, allowing it to operate continuously."

He shook his head, a little confused. He did not understand who Marisbury or Lev were, let alone what Spiritrons, SHEBA, or the Throne of Heroes were. Mash blinked as well. He clarified he only knew of SHEBA from stories of David and Solomon, but he wasn't sure they were the same.

"You… do not?" He hoped that wasn't an insult to her, and the words took her breath away. "N-No! Of course not! I'm not insulted at all. I just… I thought that Madam Olga would have spoken about them during the meeting."

Once more he was confused. He had only done the trial Rayshift and ended up on the floor. He had not attended any meetings.

"You haven't?" She lifted her wrist up, touching at the screen wrapped around it. "But after the rayshifting, all Masters should have…" Her eyes widened, seeing something on the screen. "Oh! You fell asleep a-and now you're late!" Late? "Yes! I-I thought because you were out here it was over b-but. No! We have to get you to the meeting, fast!"

She took his hand and began to run. He stumbled before catching up with her. They ran by several open rooms, feet clapping against the metal in their hurry. Mash all but dragged him ahead, but he kept up as best he could, watching her hair bounce from behind. It wasn't the worst thing to watch while he ran.

BANG! The sound of crunching steel resounded in his ears. It wasn't helped that the room was so hollow and large. Only his breathing was muted, because it was so shallow.

It was difficult to cry out, even harder to scream, so instead he searched. Among the fires and smoke, he looked for anything.

Coffins lined up and fallen over, the metallic tubes having dents and cracks through them. Pieces of the ceiling having fallen down in chunks smashing the metal flooring, the spark of electricity crackling among the flames. If the smoke wasn't bad enough, the stench of burning rubber and plastic made his head wave.

But he didn't stop. He didn't give up his search. He was here for a reason, and he was going to see it through.

That being said, his shoulder still rubbed at the fallen granite, using it to balance himself. The protection of his clothing keeping him from being burned, but doing nothing still for his lungs. His eyes were starting to hurt as well, too much heat and light.

"Here! In here!" Mash yelled, stopping before a large set of double doors. He stopped next to her, the girl putting her hand on the screen next to it.

It flashed a variety of colors, dancing over her digits, before beeping at her.

Access Granted, Demi-Servant 01

The name meant nothing to him. What mattered was Mash taking his shoulders and squaring him in front of the doors.

"Madam Olga Animusphere is doing the introduction to the rest of the Masters. With luck-" She was interrupted.

FWOOOM! By the doors opening up.

Then a woman speaking.

"-now we'll-OW!" Then running into him.

He let out a cry of surprise as he fell over, the weight of the woman toppling over him. Head hitting the ground, hers against his chin, the ricochet did a number on him. A long groan left him, rubbing at the back of his skull, a goose egg already forming.

That was the least of his worries, far beneath all others.

"W-W-What on Earth is this!?" A shriek came from above him. He blinked, looking at the alabaster woman snarling down at him. "Who in the name of the Root are you?!"

He didn't answer immediately, looking at her instead. White hair tied with several ponytails and curls, a royal black overcoat hiding her long white blouse, amber eyes bearing down at him, smoldering like hot steel. He swallowed, unable to answer.

"Speak up! I will not tolerate this… this insult!" She stood up faster than he could get on his elbows. She towered over him now.

And just behind her were several others watching, all of them wearing the same clothing he was. Snickering, pointing, shaking their heads, but non intervening.

"My apologies Director Olga." Except Mash. "He is one of the Master candidates. I-I found him passed out and I put him in front of the door… and I assumed… forgive me." She bowed her head, for him. "I thought that the orientation was finished and he was simply fatigued from the rayshift."

"Rayshift? We haven't-" she caught herself, raising a brow before looking back down on him. "The trial? You were so tired from the trial that you passed out?"

He could not recall, but he assumed it true. The honest answer made the incensed woman sigh into her hand. The many others behind her giggling all the same. His eyes were drawn to a pair, one with a patch about one of her eyes, and the other holding an ornate cane.

"Not only did you miss the entirety of the orientation for the Masters, but you also have shown yourself to be severely lacking in magical powers as well. Answer me, what quality are your circuits?" He didn't know.

The answer made her gape and flush red.

"You do not know?!" He wasn't aware how he should. "You should know because you are a MAGUS! What self-respecting magus does not even know the quality of their circuits? It is one of the most necessary variables to understand for performing your craft! Without you-" she pointed her finger at him, as if to cast a curse.

"Hold! Please hold!" A voice suddenly called from down the hall. All eyes turned. "Forgive me, but I overheard the commotion before you were set to come by my lab. I felt the need to see what was happening." The man spoke with a dip of his head, after he caught the long olive colored top hat decorating it. His suit was colored to match.

"Professor Lev!" Olga responded. The name rang a bell in his head. "I apologize for being late. We were just on your way to you before-" her attention returned to him. "Before I ran into a rather unbecoming magus." The name was still unfamiliar with him.

But with all eyes bearing down on him, still laying prone on the floor, many things told him to keep his tongue still.

"Unbecoming? Ah, fatigued from the trial perhaps?"

"Y-Yes! I found him passed out before." Mash interjected.

"I see, that is unfortunate, but not too surprising." Lev's thin eyes looked down him, a smile of the same size just beneath. "Master candidates are not chosen for their circuit qualities, but Master Aptitude. He may not have great quality or quantity of circuits, but he should be capable of hearing the call of a Servant, can't you?" He wasn't sure.

He was only aware of being asked to assist with helping Humanity, after he had donated blood. He came because he didn't want to turn down something as important as that.

The answer made the group of similarly dressed people behind Olga laugh, howl even. A man with streaked black hair, fangs at his mouth, and another with hair almost long enough to scratch at the floor. He wasn't aware what was funny.

"… Unbelievable. Just… unbelievable," Olga, however, did. "You were shanghaied into coming here because of our quota. You are literally here only by the grace of your aptitude and nothing else."

"It appears that way." Lev seemed to agree. "But if the trial is enough to tire you out, perhaps it would be best to have you return to the clocktower soon."

"I-I'm sure that sen… I'm sure he's just tired."

"That is the problem Mash. He shouldn't be tired. None of the other Master candidates were." Olga waved a hand at the many others behind her. One held his head high, with lavender hair and one side of his skull shaved. Another adjusted a… leather jacket? "At this rate he'll only be in the way. Lev, I don't want to bother you but can you please see to him first?"

"Not at all, we'll see him returned to the clocktower." He still was unaware what the 'clocktower' was.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to take everyone else to your lab until then. I'll take the moment to answer any questions you may have about the facility, as well as what we are permitted to due beyond the rayshifting."

He looked down at himself, sighing. The eyes were at least off of him, not that it was abnormal to be forgotten. Still, he had hoped to be able to do more.

"I can take him!" Mash cried out again. He looked up at her, noticing the blush. "I mean… I can take him to-"

"No Mash, you stay here," Olga commanded the lavender haired woman. Complete with an outstretched arm pointing at the ground. "You actually have a purpose here, unlike that failure of a man next to you. He can go wait up in the command center with Da Vinci."

More words he was used to hearing. The cross lain on his chest was heavy with the reminder.

"Very well, I won't be long. Come along young man." He got to his feet, Lev standing next to him with a firm grip on his arm. Stronger than he imagined. "You will at least be blessed with witnessing one of the first rayshifts of this facility." The smile was still there.

He bowed his head, offering his apologies for the disturbance. Something he was used to doing, as were the snickering comments that came with it. He looked up again, holding his smile as best he could, watching just past Olga another white-haired youth, a male with a severe scowl to his face, and a girl with orange hair and a cheeky grin, watching him.

But beside all of them was Mash, standing next to Olga and biting her lip. He smiled as best he could to her, thanking her for showing him what she had. Their talk was grand, and he hoped to have another in the future.

She sucked in her lips, shutting her eyes at the words. Her nod was harsh, and words forced.

"Thank you. I'll see you later."

That was the last he saw of Mash.

He looked around himself in the room, the damage immense.

The 'coffins' for rayshifting scattered around him, those not cracked were splintered in half. Fire poured from them or licked at the jagged wounds of them. More of them had glass laying like harsh coral on the ground, ready to grab and cut any who walked over it. Smoke billowed out as if chimneys, the fierceness of it making it look more akin to a cracked bomb than coffin to lay in. But he couldn't mistake them for anything else.

He'd only seen a dozen already, and the bloodied limbs of many corpses bathed the ground around them. Even with smoke sifting in his lungs, it took all he had not to vomit in disgust and horror when the realization hit him.

The stench wasn't just rubber, plastic, and metal. It was flesh.

He was breathing in the stench of burning flesh, and staring at the corpses that had been walking not but minutes ago. His heart burned as flames licked at his face, making his dry eyes tear. Mash had to be crying. He had to find her.

More coffins past his vision the further he trekked, more bodies he recognized from the collection of masters who had seen him before. The suit, the coat, the cane, the hair, the eyepatch, the glasses, all of them already burning, past the point of being able to be saved.

He had to find her. He had to find someone.

He had to. He just had to.

He had… he had… his… his legs gave out.

He collapsed into a heap, as much fluming out of his mouth as was sucked in. Ragged breaths dragging in ash off the floor, poisoning him as he suffocated. Hacking coughs that racked his heated body, burned hands reaching for his face. Pain and pain and pain and pain.

It was too much. This room was… it was just too hot. It felt like a pit of hell.

Hell, the same hell his dreary eyes looked up to see.

The command center was nothing like what he thought, and he was sure he was being kept there because so many people were present, certainly anyone one of them 'stronger' than he was. Or it could have been simply faster, as Lev was quick to leave.

No sooner had the tall green suited man dropped him off than did he bow his head and depart, promising to take him back to the 'clocktower' soon. He still didn't know where or what the 'clocktower' was. So instead, he waited.

But he didn't wait long.

BOOM! Before an explosion rocked the room. BOOOOOM! Then another sent him off of his feet.

The room shifted as he stood, the lights flickering as the sound of appliances dozens of time his weight fell over. Electricity sparked and snapped, people screamed orders in the dark, and flickering lights returned a low luminescent red.

He stood on shivering legs trying to get his balance back, hand on a nearby table. The questions he had now were innumerable.

He listened as an outsider, standing in the command center as workers and technicians ran about. He couldn't tell who was working on what, or why they were doing what they were, but he knew that they all had something to do, unlike him. So he listened, and tried to understand what was happening.

"Explosion from the rayshifting chamber, unknown origin!"

"Coffins for masters compromised, only two reporting lifesigns, heavily compromised."

"Power efficiency is cut to 14%!"

"Leyline integrity has dropped to 33%"

"We're losing the Masters' vitals!"

"Fires have been reported around the facility! Core temperatures unstable!"

"Circuit infusion with electrical grid compromise! The burning lines has cut the magic circuits!"

"What's happening!?"

"What's going on!?"

It didn't take him long to realize no one knew what was happening. Not fully.

BOOOOM! But he could feel another explosion go off.

And see the fire through the window of the command center.

"M-Main chamber compromised! SHEBA system damaged!"

"Life support for Masters cut off! Unable to verify locations or vitals!"

He stared at it, the ret of the members of the team screaming. He stared at the fire that burned past the windows. A thin pane of glass was all that kept him from the fire and smoke. The screaming was still coming. A prayer left his lips, reaching for the cross hanging from his neck.

"There's no way that's possible! I-It's just not!" A man with a green coat screamed, hands in front of him, but staring out through a clear window.

"I'm telling you what I'm reading! I don't know if it's possible, just what's happening!" A woman replied, the oddest one in the room. Wearing a gown of red, blue, and gold, and smiling even through the clear unease and tension that permeated the room. "My genius would never allow me to misread what is before me, and I would first accept a false truth I can see than defy an impossibility I created!"

"But it can't be happening! Your sensors are just wrong!" The green coated man yelled again, reaching up to pull at long orange hair. "O-Or anything else!" His eyes looked across the room, the same as he had been doing. But he was looking for something, where as he was just watching and listening.

"Nothing else can be causing this! The sensors are literally tied to the world itself! It's impossible for the SHEBA system to get a bad reading!"

"Well clearly it is, because there's no way that the world is burning!"

He didn't understand. He understood none of it.

"The system is damaged! But my genius would never create a system that would give bad data at low power!" The woman returned. "The world is in trouble Romani, and this is just the beginning!"

"You mean this is what's happening all over the world!?" the man, Romani exclaimed, hand at the window.

He looked at the fire again, watching the windows warp with the heat. This was happening, and they said this was happening across the world?

How did they know it, how was it happening? What was going on?

"What about the Masters?! If this is related to the stability of humanity, they may be able to solve it!"

"Are you crazier than usual? The system is warped and you want to rayshift them?"

"I am willing to hear other ideas, but my genius knows there are no others!"

"They are all literally burning! There's no way to guarantee anyone would survive a trip there, let alone back! But…" Something hit him, through the sirens, explosions and terror. "We can save them! We have to save them! Then we can fix this!"

"We won't have time! If we don't act soon, whatever is causing this event may already succeed!" The colorful, but frantic, woman shouted back. Her staff almost hit someone in the head, not that he could tell through the hysteria. "We need someone to save them and go!"

"But all the Masters are in there!" Romani pointed. "Da Vinci, we'll have nothing if we send them, but if we save some now-"

He was wrong. He didn't have all of them. He spoke up then.

"Wha-? You! You're the one Lev brought in here." Da Vinci pointed out. "You are supposed to be going back to the Clocktower tomorrow." He still didn't know what that was. "If you wish to leave, you'll have to wait for-"

He stopped her, correcting her that he was brought by Lev, yes, but he could help.

"No!" Romani shouted. "Look, I-I appreciate you want to help but… this isn't the time to ask what you can do." He looked around, arms frantic. "Unless you know exactly what you have to do, you're just going to be in the way."

No he wouldn't. Because he did know what he had to do. They just told him.

"We… oh. Oh~! What luck!" Da Vinci cried, her smile back, even lit by the red light. "It appears we have another Master here!"

"WHAT!?" "We do!?"

"Indeed~! Perhaps Lev thought of this as a precaution, or perhaps a bit of divine luck. Either way, I am not about to forgo a blessing." The woman was upon him in a blink of an eye, faster than he gave credit for. "Now listen to me young man, and listen well. My genius knows exactly what has to be done, and you are a key player in this plan, do you understand?"

He did, and he'd do whatever he needed to help.

"Excellent~!" She patted his shoulders. He nearly collapsed, for a third time that day. "Now before you listen, why don't you tell me your name?"

Through the sirens, fires, and screams, he told her.

"Rit… suka?"

The name barely reached his ears, soft as a whisper. It thundered in his ears, rousing him with a smokey cough.

His body rolled as he righted himself, turned over now that he was done on one side. The seared flesh was evident of it. He didn't care. He heard his name called, even through the sound of seared flesh.

"Rit… su… ka?"

It came again, each syllable the crashing of waves inside his skull. It filled him with more life than a breath of mountain air. His eyes flickered open, crying with pained relief. He looked for the girl he heard. He looked for Mash.

He found her, the only source of lavender against the fiery red and tormenting hues.

It did not fill him with relief. It only plagued him with torment.

Mash was there, face down in the embers of the burning room, no coffin near her. Her top was singed, her hair the same, the shattered frames and lens of her glasses beneath her, cutting wounds at her face. None of it was worth staring at, so he didn't.

Instead, Ritsuka was forced to stare at the column of metal and stone that crushed her from the waist down. A column as wide as he was tall, and taller than many homes he'd ever seen.

Mash was an ant beneath it, and paper beneath it. The smell of burning blood was proof enough of it all.

"Rit… Rit…" her voice still rumbled out, calling for him. He clawed his way towards her.

Embers burned at him as fingers scratched at the ground. Soot and steel charring his fingers. He still pulled himself closer to her, furious at himself for struggling. He wasn't injured, he was fatigued. She… she was so much more than that.

It was his reason for continuing onward, letting the flames scratch at him as he did the floor, letting the burns that started to mar his face persist. His clothes could tear, his hair burn, he didn't care. He wanted to reach her, he had to reach her.

A journey of a dozen feet, and it felt like thousands of miles. Through the pits of hell and the valley of death, but Ritsuka continued on regardless.

And when he finally reached Mash… he didn't know what to do.

"Ritsu… ka… you came…" her voice weakly spoke to him, clear as unstained glass amidst the roars of the fire. "I didn't think… you…" Her hand reached out for him, shivering amidst the sweltering heat.

His ashen hand grabbed it, holding it with the little strength he had left. The strength to breath was taken from him, to speak properly as well, but he could hold her hand. Hold it, and offer a small apology with chalky breath. Eyes bleared with tears, he could still see her smile.

"No. I'm… I'm sorry…" She hardly breathed as she spoke, he didn't dare stir her. "You were… mocked a-and… I did nothing… you were thrown a-and I… I did…"

He didn't care about that. Ritsuka said as much. He spoke with smoke billowing from his mouth, smiling as best he could through what he was sure were ash covered teeth. She didn't have anything to apologize for. She was the one who had welcomed him with open arms.

Ritsuka had been swept into a building of unknown origins, ignorant of the magic they kept speaking of, surrounded by technology far beyond what he could understand, and meeting people who spoke of saving the world.

Next to all of that, meeting her was the highlight of his day.

Lavender hair stirred as she smiled back at him. It was because he was focusing on her face now that he saw her jaw shiver. He was determined to not look below her waist, or else he start to lose the little joy he had.

"I knew… I knew I would d-die, i-i-in this place." He listened to her, mortified but muffled by the smoke. "But y-you… I-I thought you would… be okay… I thought… I-I hoped… sen…" He watched the veil fall over her eyes. "I don't… I don't…"

Then he watched her head fall into the pool of blood beneath her.

The fires laughed around him. The cross under his shirt burned into his flesh.

He stared at her, not knowing what to do. Stared, trembled, and stilled. Mash's hand was limp in his, his body was too weak to stand. His grip too tight on hers, refusing to let go. Ritsuka held onto it, lips moving as tears flowed across his cheeks.

He had no idea what was going on. He had little idea how this had happened. But even with so little, he knew this was wrong. He knew this wasn't right.

Mash was dying, everyone else was possibly dead. The chamber was an oven he was booking cooked within, a portal to the pits opening all around him. Demons laughing, the fire scratching, and his conscious being ripped away.

It couldn't end like this. It wasn't meant to end like this. Ritsuka dug into his soul for an answer, for some action he could do to make this right. Anything, anything at all. His life for hers, his freedom, for a chance, his spirit for some hope.

Ritsuka found his body unable to answer, spirit willing but flesh weak. Spirit willing as it was, however, he did what little he was capable.

Ritsuka Fujimaru prayed.

"God… oh Lord…" Ritsuka wept. "Please… Please save us. Please…" he spoke the prayer over and over. A desperate hymn, a cry for salvation. Anything to reach above the flame. "Please save her… please save us… p-please save them… save… please save… save me…"

The fires of hell swam before him, and Ritsuka stared into them with a trembling soul. The loose hand in his all that kept him firm to this world now. It was a lifeline that quickly faded.

"Jesus Christ… My Lord… please save us… please…"

Ritsuka fell asleep amongst the cackles of fire and laughter of demons, staring into a burning void.

Author's Note: Months after I promised, I now deliver.

If it isn't obvious enough, I am a devout Catholic, and now one who is happily married. This was something I thought of years ago, while I was into FGO (I don't actively play after finishing Chinese LostBelt) and getting back into the church. Thought of how in the world it would work for the literal Lord of Hosts to show up when a demon king is trying to destroy humanity... so I made this.

This is, if succesful, going to be a DEEP DEEP story. Multiple chapters per rayshift, each one having a long over-arcing story and theme, and each of them bringing in its own revelations of whats going on.

I will say this much now. This is not going to be a cut and dry copy of the main story. So many things are going to change, you won't be able to predict what happens, and that's my goal. God works in odd ways, so get ready for a story that makes you question what's next.

It's going to be a fun ride!