Ritsuka awoke, almost screaming against the howls of hell, crying into a burning world.
His hand swept up rubbing at his face to push the flames from himself, but found nothing. He looked at his palms, but saw no ash or soot. Deep breaths stretched his ribcage, and he wasn't feeling the urge to mutter a cough. His clothes were clean, his hair as well.
Ritsuka stood easily, staring down at himself, as lost as he was when he awoke on the floor in Chaldea. Now, he wasn't in a burning building.
He was in a burning city.
A single glance showed him the burning landscape around him. He didn't recognize the city around him, but even if it weren't a hell-washed land, he doubted he would.
Skyscrapers were turned over along the horizon, bending and falling atop one another with plumes of fire roaring from them. The rooftops of the shattered glass buildings looked akin to the floor of a furnace, warping the skyline above them. Down to the cars and streets he stood on, all was engulfed in flames, or nearly everything.
The little that wasn't burning had already been snuffed out. Charred stains across the ground, statues and corpses littered around him. Men, women, and children, all of them wearing a face of terror as they looked up and screamed at nothing, frozen, eternally tortured, in their final moments.
He shook where he stood, looking about himself and having a better idea where he was now.
Hell. He had to be in hell. If he had died, and this was what he saw…
Ritsuka swallowed, forcing the thought down. He was here, but… others could be as well. His eyes looked around for Mash's lavender hair, almost praying that he failed to find it. Better he never see her again for she was taken to heaven then be cursed here, she didn't deserve it. He searched nonetheless.
"MASH!" He cried out, hands cupped around his mouth. His voice echoed no great distance, the roar of the flames stripping him of the little strength he had. "MASH!" He cried out again, regardless.
His breath was harsh as he continued to walk around the burning land, looking for any sign of life. If not Mash, than maybe the others he saw. He saw no less than 48 others in the chamber, and was told as much by Lev. If they were here, possibly, then he could find them.
If this was hell, Ritsuka didn't know what good it would do. All he could do was hold what little he had left.
Prayers and hope.
"MASH!" Ritsuka continued to cry out as he walked down the barren street, averting his eyes from the statues and charred remains around him. They were gone, he couldn't save them. Mash might not be. "MASH!" He had to find her. "MA-" He did.
Collapsed on the ground, face in the ashen rock, and lavender hair sprayed around her. But there was no blood! Her face looked okay, her clothes were unstained, and most importantly, her legs were there! No column or anything! It was something to celebrate, but he couldn't. Ritsuka couldn't for a single obvious fact.
Mash wasn't moving.
"MASH!" Ritsuka yelled her name as he barreled forward, running and jumping over the few flames licking at him. He slid as he got close to her, on his hands and knees. "Mash! Mash, can you hear me?" She didn't answer.
His training took over. A hand wrapped around her neck, reaching from the top of her skull. The other was placed on her closest hip, forearm securing her back. Carefully, he rolled her over, taking her face out of the dirt. When she was on her back, he quickly dusted the little ash away that clung to her, staring at her. Her glasses were still broken, her clothes a mess.
And no breath.
"No… oh no," Ritsuka let out once, before taking to action. Hands carefully leaned her back, opening her jaw. He took in a deep breath, saying a prayer of hope, and put his lips to hers.
He exhaled, her chest inflated. Ritsuka lifted, took in a breath, and once more, breathed in. Mash's chest inflated again, but she didn't stir.
"Compressions," he ran through his head, putting his hands over one another and setting them on her chest. "God forgive me if I hurt you." Another prayer offered, fearful that he'd break a rib.
But he'd rather that than give up on her life.
Ritsuka counted the pumps of his arm, up and down against her chest. Her body swayed with each force, bouncing the little room it had. Her eyes didn't flicker, lips didn't shiver, and she still had not taken a breath.
"Not like this… not…" he couldn't finish, because he needed to give her more air.
Another heavy inhale, lips against her, then exhale. Her chest inflated, but still she didn't move. Once more, and the same effect. Ritsuka began to compress her chest again.
"I'm not going to let you die. I'm not going to let you die," he spoke to himself as he pumped his arm, counting to thirty. "You shouldn't, you can't!" He couldn't let her die. "Wake up, please!"
He shouted, before taking and giving her more breaths. Nothing happened. Not once, not twice.
"Please, wake up." He spoke again, compressing her chest with fervor. His fear for her ribs gone, far outweighed by her life. "You wanted… you were going to show me around. You promised to see me later. I didn't… you didn't tell me about yourself." He had hardly known her.
More breaths, no change.
"I haven't told you about me. We don't know anything about each other." His hands felt as if they were about to tear into her chest he was pumping them so hard. "I only know your name, the place you work, and the smile you gave me. Your kind, you're too kind for this."
Finished compressions, more breaths, still nothing.
"I haven't… no one was that kind to me before, not so quickly." He spoke on as he helped her. "I was used to them before, I knew they'd act that way. I've always been seen that way!"
More compressions, more breaths, still nothing.
"You… You took… care of me. You helped me. You did more than anyone else so. So I can't let you die like this!" He was screaming at her, Mash's face still as the stone he rested on, ash coating her body. "You don't deserve this. You can't. You… You shouldn't…"
His compressions stopped, his back gave out. Ritsuka collapsed against her chest. Ear to her heart, he listened for a thrum of life.
Only the crackling of flames laughed at him. Bitter tears left him.
"I can't… not you… not after..." His head rolled against her chest, desperate for any sign of life. A groan, a shriek, a hand at his back, a whisper of his name, a blink. But nothing happened. The dead didn't rise for one's grief.
"God… please answer me..." Ritsuka mumbled against Mash's chest, fingers grasping at her cloak. "Is this… Is this my hell?"
The laughter of demons around him only told him he was correct. His chest shook in pitiful rage. A paltry feeling the pits around him would swallow, soon to make him another screaming statue that littered the streets.
"Please Lord… please honor my faith…" the words fell from him as the last drops of a drying spring. The tail end of a cold life. "Please don't take her… n-not like this… not like this."
Maybe he did deserve this. Maybe his parents were right, but she didn't deserve it. Mash didn't deserve to die like this. Not after she was so kind to him.
"What can I do? What can I do? Please tell me what I can do? Jesus Christ, I beg of you," His hands grippe at Mash's uniform, afraid the heat he felt would soon turn cold. The fear, the terror, the rage, the…
Clap. Hand on his shoulder.
Ritsuka's face whipped up, tears flying as he looked at Mash. The hope shown on his face, only to be dash. Mash was still as the statues around him. Hope churned to confusion, eyes turning to see the hand grasping him. He followed it up a long arm.
And bore the visage of a man robed in white.
He simply stood there, leaning down to reach Ritsuka's prone form. One hand behind his back, robes immaculate even with creases, and a light about him that… it made his hope return. It felt peaceful even. But no words could flow from his lips to explain why. Nor even where this man came from.
"Why do you shed tears?" The man finally spoke, voice deep, but cordial. "Is it for this woman that you suffer?" Ritsuka swallowed the ash and tears mixing in his throat.
"Y-Yes," his breath shook harder than before. "I… I-I can't wake her up. I-I-I c-can't…" His hand on her clothes stiffened. "She didn't deserve this."
"Deserve to rest? Would not all who toil through life deserve to lay their head in peace?" Ritsuka's head shook harder.
"She's not at peace… She… Her body was-" He swallowed on bile now. The memories of her body before he awoke in hell returning to him. Seared to his mind like the flames had been to his skin.
"Her flesh appears free of stain, soul that of your tears. I think a woman would not decry a man weeping over her." His teeth grit, listening to the man speak as flames billowed behind him. His chest felt hollow. "But why do you shed your tears?"
"I-I told you. She can't… M-Mash isn't waking up." He refused to let go of her. The man behind Ritsuka had yet to release his shoulder.
"Why do you wish to stir her? Do you know she wants to see the world around her?"
"I… I-I don't know."
"Then is there a matter she needs to attend to. A task unfinished at her steep?"
"I don't know."
"Then what of her name."
"Mash."
"From what land does she venture from?" That he didn't know.
"For what reason, for you who knows so little, do you wish to rouse this child then?"
His hands slowly unclenched, staring at the lavender haired girl who had been so kind to him. The one he tried to protect yet couldn't do anything to save he stared at her, wondering now, why he was trying to save her after she was already gone. He knew.
"Because she didn't want die." Ritsuka knew that answer clearly. "Because she cried, and told me she knew she was going to die, but didn't want to. She was c-crushed and burning and…" He could see the blood pooling around her, even if she was still and whole as the stone corpses around them now. "Mash didn't want to die."
"And you? You wish to serve her wish as your desire?"
"No," he shook his head. "I want to save her, because I want to speak to her."
"Words left unsaid? Or is it chanced that you saw a light you wished to embrace?" Ritsuka nodded his head. That was it.
She was a light to him, brief as he'd known her, and she was gone. And he'd never be able to see that light again. Ritsuka knew that now. The man's words, cruel as the questions were, were evidence enough.
He wanted to save Mash, but he knew so little about her. He wanted to protect her, but she was already gone. She was at peace… and he was too late.
"I just… wanted to help her." The words fell from him like coins from a purse, clattering across the burning land. Eyes shut and squeezed out bitter tears, all while holding himself over her body. Still, warmed by the fires, and cooling within. Gone. "For the first time, I wanted to… I wanted to show someone I could help. I wanted to matter."
"You wish to bear fruits for others to admire," the man spoke on. "Not taken from another's garden or plucked from a stall store. You wish to nurture what you hold. Do you have nothing else to show the world?"
"I don't." He shook his head. "She was… Mash's the first person to help me. And I only wish to God I could have helped her." Hands tightened along her clothes again. "But I failed again. And again."
The man did not speak now. Instead, he pulled on Ritsuka's shoulder. Nothing strong, certainly not enough to pull him away from Mash, but enough to lower him to his side. Ritsuka knelt next to the girl's body, and the man did the same beside him.
Face still cloaked, a light beard at his chin, and a smile resting within it. Aside from an alabaster robe, it was all he could make out. It hadn't even occurred to him until he was kneeling next to this man that he didn't know where he had come from, or who he was.
"You failed because you thought to pull at teeth with your own strength, caring not for the beast they fitted to." He told Ritsuka, voice warm even with cold words. "Another pair of hands now kneels beside you. What will you do with them?" The man held up his palms. Ritsuka stared at them.
No ash coated them, though plenty of callouses. They were tanned, relaxed, and still. No sweat covered them, and though they looked warm, Ritsuka felt as if to grasp them be something unheard of. The only mare to them was a redness that bloomed from the palms.
"Who are you?" The man's smile only bloomed.
"You have need of aid and you chose caution for given hands?" Ritsuka shook his head.
"I didn't… I just, why do you want to help me?"
"Because your cries were heard, and I chose to answer." He heard him before? "Do you wish to know more? I am as willing to talk as I am patient to listen." Ritsuka wet his mouth, blaming the ash and dryness in the air. He did want to know, but that wasn't important.
"I'm sorry," he spoke quickly. "But you're right. I-I need your help." The man hardly moved. "Please, help me to save my friend." He bowed his head towards the man, staring at the alb of his robe. "Please help save Mash's life."
"I will do so," came the simple reply.
His hands turned over, one placed on Mash's forehead and the other at her chest. His palms brushed away her lavender hair, letting Ritsuka behold the fullness of her face for the first time. He hoped desperately it was not the last. The man brushed his thumb under her glasses, over her eyes, and made a slow circular motion with his other, from the collar of her throat to the top of her chest.
"What are you going to do?" Ritsuka asked, before shaking his head. "What can I do? Can I help?"
"You have offered prayers and sorrow for this girl. More has come from you for this young life than gifts offered to her by others." How did he know about her? "The veil of her past is heavy to you, but you bore it upon yourself without question. A light exists in your heart, and for that, you have done enough."
"I don't understand." He felt better, something he didn't understand. That he felt, well… better. But it didn't help. "I don't understand."
"Leave such a burden behind." The man's words were a command, his hand still on Mash. "Instead, clasp your palms and curl your throat." Still confused, Ritsuka did as asked, head bowing forward and threading his fingers together. "Ask what you have before, and let faith guide you."
A long breath left the man. The same did for Ritsuka.
And then, the world was silent.
The flames didn't bother him, the cold trail of his tears were easily ignored, and the uncomfortable bend of his legs and arms were relieved. He felt at peace, as he hadn't for many years now. At peace, comfortable, and so much that he almost thought he could fall asleep. He nearly did, but wisely staved off the 40 winks. He was given a task, and he would see it done, for Mash.
So Ritsuka prayed again.
"Please God, please save Mash Kyrielight. Please save her from death. Though she may be worthy to enter your kingdom, please do not let her be taken in so soon. Offer her life, offer her the chance to grow, offer her time to continue. Please, I ask this of you. I beg of you, my Lord Jesus Christ, please save her."
Her whispers in the Rayshift Room was like thunder. Now, Ritsuka's prayer was the storm.
He produced a small pouch from his side, one that was damp despite the licking flames around them. With a content hum, he uncorked the leather material, dipping it, and letting water roll in his hands. Ritsuka watched, words still dedicated to Mash's return. The bearded man moved his hand to the still girl's head, letting his palm brush over her scalp. It dampened her hair, and was almost disturbingly dry by the time he drew it away. Her eyes will still shut, so Ritsuka still prayed.
Slowly, like she was a delicate doll, he drew his hand back, letting it shadow one side of her face again. His hand cupped her face, slinking down until he had a hand by her ear. He leaned further, and Ritsuka barely heard the words he uttered.
"Talitha koum. I wish to meet you."
Then with a gasping breath, his prayers were answered.
Ritsuka nearly tore his own fingers off with the ferocity his hands separated. His eyes shot open faster than any bullet could fly, staring at the girl once more. No longer prone on the ground, no longer still and unmoving.
But back arched, her own eyes wide, and chest lifting as she dragged in a lumbering breath. Ritsuka let out his own.
"MASH!" He cried out, quick to take her hand. The girl was just as fast to clasp onto it, trembling in his grip. Stronger than he thought, but still looking about herself like the lost child she was, they both were. "It's okay! It's okay! You're okay." He didn't realize how important it was until he said it.
"H-Hello?" Her voice came out, just before a harsh cough rattled her throat. The boy wished he had a canteen of water, or even a bottle of it. His were taken away when he came here. "W-Where…h-how…"
"It's okay, I'm here. You're alright." The words poured from his soul, relief spilling from his eyes. With little effort, he picked her up, letting her rest on his bended knee. She fell against him, still trembling. "You're okay, you're here. I have you." She pulled his hand closer.
"B-But where-I-I-I was under the stone and then-" Mash jerked in his arms, and he was afraid she was about to empty her stomach next to him. He'd hardly blame her. "Now I'm here and… a-and where is here?"
"I don't know. I-I thought it was hell." Lavender eyes shrank as she stared at him. He amended the words quickly. "But that's not it! It can't be. Not if I was able to help save you." He held her hand tighter. She did the same in kind.
"Enflamed as the land has become, barren of life to match, I can tell you in confidence you do not lay in the bowels of the inferno." Ritsuka looked up at the man.
Shame filled him, having forgotten he was there. It was almost impossible to think it so, especially when he was so much cleaner than the rest of the land around them
"I-I'm sorry," Ritsuka quickly spoke to the man, head bowed as he'd been taught. "You saved Mash a-and I haven't thanked you. But thank you. Thank you." His heart bled into his words. "Thank you for saving her when I couldn't."
"You saved me?"
"Do not disperse your own efforts." The man raised and waved his hand, clean even after he had wiped the soot from Mash's face. "You asked me for aid, and I freely offered what I could. You have done well yourself to hold onto hope, even through despair."
"Ritsuka? What happened to me? Where… what happened?" His mouth was dry, as was his mind.
"You were…" he started to say, but then met her eyes.
The tears, the terror, that lingered under her glasses. Lips trembling, holding his hand with a grip vices would be dared to match. He stared at her, unsure of how to put voice to words, let alone how to tell a girl he was holding what happened.
"You were asleep, and you could not hear his voice." The man, however, seemed to know. "He called to you and you would not listen. He cried and you would not awake." Ritsuka watched him. "With hope in his heart, he cried out for aid. I heard his tale and plight, and awoke you in his stead."
"I was… asleep?" She was no more convinced than before. "That's it?"
"Beyond the point of waking to the world, I add." He raised his hand towards her. "But though you were deaf to your beloved, you heard me call back to you. So now, you have nothing to fear."
"I-I see," Mash responded, voice still small. "Thank you, then. Thank you very much for helping me. A-And Ritsuka as well." He didn't need thanks from her.
"You are most welcome." The man smiled humbly towards her. "But now I ask of you two. From where do you hail? For what reason do you find yourself in this place?"
"Actually… we don't know either." Ritsuka admittedly honestly. "At least for the second part. For the first, we come from a place called Chaldea."
"I know of this place, but cannot see truth that you hail from there." His head shook.
"I-It's named after the old Chaldea!" Mash quickly amended. "Chaldea is… it's a facility dedicated to the preservation of the Human Order. It was named after the Chaldea of old Mesopotamia, w-where Abram was born, and channels, gardens, several philosophers as well." Ritsuka realized he should have specified.
"From a place hailed for an old kingdom, bearing youths who fall into torment." The man nodded his head slowly, like a teacher learning from his class. "What tools do you bring to preserve this order? Have you lost them during your trek?"
"We didn't… trek," Ritsuka tried. "We just appeared here."
"Ah, the mystics aided you then." From the little he had discerned from the control room, he couldn't call the man wrong. "Do you trust these men?"
"What?"
"The mystics who gave you the wings to land in this place." His arm swept over the fiery towers and stone corpses. The lavender hair girl gasped as she took in the sight, perhaps for the first time realizing where they were. Ritsuka held Mash tighter, even as she pulled her legs in to stand. "The preservation of a thing is the defense of its existence. You preserve nothing by entering a burning field. You only chase the demons who spread it. So why have you come here if you seek the preservation of the Human Order?"
"We didn't… come here willingly," Ritsuka began, knowing how bad it sounded. "There was an explosion, a-and a lot of people were caught up in it." Mash's breathing was shallow against him, and he held her a bit tighter.
"Thrown from the heavens for flight, wings burned as you grazed the sun." Icarus, he was quoting Icarus. The words sounded damning, but his smile never left. "You do not carry such lofty thoughts, humble are you who value the life of another more than your own."
The man looked at him, letting Ritsuka behold his brilliant blue eyes.
The fires were quelled beneath their gaze.
"Evil acts have been cast upon you, and you called out for aid when you were lost." He nodded, perhaps understanding something. "You have been wronged, and trespasses made against. I may offer my aid once more, should you have need of it. You only need to ask of me."
His hand reached out towards them again. The same hand that had roused Mash from the dead, and still looked as clean as clouds.
For only a moment, Ritsuka looked away from it, looking towards Mash. Her expression was one draped with confusion, but just as heavily unease. Trembling, tight lips, wet eyes, he had seen them all before. In more mirrors than he cared to admit.
It was reason enough for him to answer.
"Please, help us." He implored the man. "Please help us find our way home."
"Then I will show you the way." His voice was a balm to the burns. "May you stand to follow me?"
"Y-Yes, of course." Ritsuka lifted Mash up with him, only to set her down as she made a high noise of embarrassment. Set her down, but did not release her. Not until he was confident she could balance on her own feet again. Even still he looked over her.
"I-I believe I am alright," Mash spoke confidently as one could amid a burning city. "I can walk, if it is necessary."
"Effort is required on your part." Was the man's reply. "Be it to improve the state of affairs or leave behind a world in flames, you will need to act. But do not worry for supporting poor decisions. As you have asked, I will lead you from here."
He turned from them, motioning with his hand. Ritsuka hesitated for only a moment, but followed the man nonetheless. His hand clasped to Mash's, head heavy with worry, soul torn with relief and grief, and a terror consuming him. The cross was heavy beneath his shirt.
A terror for the unknown that wrapped around him. An unknown was a terrible thing to be afraid of, and it was a fear he had for much of his life. Unlike the times for meals or safety for the next day, however, he could inquire about these unknowns.
"Do you know where we are?" Ritsuka asked. "I know we are in a city, but I don't recognize it."
"I've never seen any cities myself. And it doesn't appear to be like any I've read of. But I will admit the fires and de-struction make it harder to tell." He held her hand tighter, and she wrapped hers in kind.
"I know the name of this metropolis, and that few who now dwell within it." The man's feet ghosted over the ground as he walked, the ashes of the fire failing to stain the alb of his robe, or mare the glow about him. "A kingdom likely for some, but a kingdom of man. One that was destroyed by the deeds of other men." He took in a long breath, careless for the dryness in the air. "Fuyuki, a name given to those calm as winter's snow. A sin then that this city has been ruined from such a peaceful meaning, with fire at that."
"Fuyuki? That's the city Sir Marisbury fought in." Mash answered, in kind, though Ritsuka didn't know what she was talking about. "There was a Holy Grail War there, here, but the city wasn't destroyed. If I may ask, do you know how it was destroyed?"
"I do," the reply was swift. "For it is likely the reason matching why you are both here now. A powerful artifact being draw upon, used for purposed beneath divine." Ritsuka was still lost.
"Do you mean the Holy Grail? That's what he fought in the war for." She turned to him, and thankfully saw the confusion marring his face. "Ritsuka, do you not know what that is?"
"I know what the Holy Grail is." He confirmed. "The chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper, offering his body and blood to the apostles. It led to the establishment of the Eucharist." It had been days now since he last received it.
"What is that?" Mash's question almost terrified him. "W-What? Is it something I should know?" Yes.
"Sort of. I can tell you it's-"
"KYAAAAGH! HELP!" The shrieking cry filled the air, and wrought Ritsuka's nerves to his bone.
"Th-That was the Director!" Mash shouted, face as white as Ritsuka's. "She's nearby. We have to help her!" That went without saying. His answers would have to be given at another time.
Mash took off, running with Ritsuka at her side. The flames were quick to reach at them, close to grasping their feet as they barreled by. Just as ready to grasp to them were the expressions of grief of the many statues they ran by. The looks of torment frozen and immortalized, for all to look on in horror.
He didn't pay attention to them. "HELP! PLEASE!" He paid attention to the cries.
They vaulted over the rubble of fallen buildings, listening to the head of Chaldea scream for them. The flames roared past windows, even as their feet trampled the soot beneath them. It was already hard to catch his breath with the dry air, but the panting did not do him any favors.
"PLEASE!" It did not keep him from running towards the screams, determined to do something.
"Ritsuka! We have to hurry!" He didn't argue with Mash's words, neither did he respond to them.
Something that ran through the streets with rattling bones. No skin or scales, flesh or soul. Just bones, assembled like marionettes, running down the streets. Feet that were talons, tearing up the ground, arms that were claws, holding blades as long as their own arms, and letting out cries that would make the dead rattle.
Monsters, dozens of them running through the burning streets of Fuyuki. "KYAAAGH!" Chasing Olga Marie.
"Do you know what those things are?" He didn't know how anyone could, outside from monsters or demons.
"Dragon Tooth Warriors, a common construct of mages from the Age of Gods." Apparently she did. "They were most commonly created by witches belonging to Circe's order, or having been given divination from the Greek Pantheon. They're brittle, but strong, and easy to create with the proper catalyst." Brittle meant easy to break, and exposed bone wasn't very durable. But they had weapons, and claws, and the thirst for blood.
"Do you know how to stop them?" He looked to the girl, but her lavender hair only waved.
"I don't know any magic myself, and I lack Magic Circuits or proper crests. Do you know any spells?" He felt himself rocked.
"I don't, I-I would never practice magic." It was blasphemy.
"You don't-" She sucked in her lips, as if sampling a bitter lemon. "My apologies Ritsuka, I-"
"PLEASE HELP ME!" The cries of Olga earned their attention properly.
He had to act, danger or not. But it was okay. It was three of them. Three that-
Oh no.
Ritsuka looked around himself, quickly as he could. Fire, buildings, statues, corpses, monsters, ruins, Olga, but he wasn't there. The man who had saved Mash wasn't here. Where did he go? Did he… not follow them? His dry throat felt as if were about to tear. Perhaps he couldn't keep up, or hear the screams. His teeth felt as if they would crack.
He forced the pain away. The man wasn't here, but that wasn't reason to do nothing. "I'M GOING TO DIE!" Not when someone else was in danger.
"Mash, if you can, please get her attention!" Ritsuka yelled out. "I'm going to get the monsters' attention." Her fear was immediate.
"You can't! You're just- I can do it!" Her hand grasped at her uniform, as if to tear it off. "I was created for this. Send me and I can-" Fall down again, get hurt, collapse on the ground. Die!
All the thoughts rushed through Ritsuka's mind. He reacted appropriately.
"NO!" He shouted, dispelling the thought. It also shook the girl. "No, you just… you just woke up." He couldn't say it. "Just get her attention, then get her to safety. She'll listen to you." It was clear she wouldn't listen to him. He remembered what he said of her. "I'll think of something."
"I won't leave you!" She grabbed at his hand just as he was about to move. He wasn't watching her, he was watching the monsters chasing Olga. They were getting closer, she was getting tired. "HELP! HELP!" And he couldn't do nothing.
"You're not. You're helping me." He answered as quickly as he could. "We have to help her, so please, help her." The hands gripping him shook, as much as when she first woke up. It was enough to make him worry.
But she relented, taking her hands back slowly, and nodding.
"A-Alright, Ritsuka." He did his best to put on a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll be right back." He didn't look away. "I promise." The cross on his chest almost burned. She nodded again. "Good." Then he took off.
The fires roared at him as he ran past them, arms pumping as he tried to gain pace with Olga and the monsters chasing her. If he could get their attention, then Mash could save her. Then he'd only have to think of something else to do.
But better she be saved than him. She had purpose, and the cross he wore reminded him eh was never bigger than how he felt.
"God please save her," he spoke through breaths, lunging over a body statue crawling on the ground. "Please save her, protect Mash, and help me vanquish these monsters." It was all he could do, to pray. He had no weapons nor 'spells'.
That wasn't an excuse to do nothing. He never accepted it as one.
"HEY! HEY!" He shouted as he ran past a burning car, within a dozen meters of the monsters. "Hey you failed dinosaurs! Why don't you give up on that prey!? You can't catch her and you can't catch me!" Ritsuka had no idea if they understand what he said. But the roar and whine, the grinding of bone against bone, made as they turned to face him, was evidence enough something had worked. And if not that, then the harsh cries of the monster as they stopped to face him certainly helped. Ritsuka grinned, even if he felt the heat of hell bearing down upon him, the roar of demons matching.
"I hope you have my back," he spoke to himself, looking for Olga. He couldn't find her. "Please tell me you saved hers."
He turned and ran. He didn't need to see if they were following. The trampling behind him was evidence enough. Crushing steel, smashing stone, and the cries of bones rattling as the monsters ran.
They were after him, and he had to go.
There wasn't a place to run to, or one that he could name. He only knew that he had to stay in the open, because if he was cornered, they would show no mercy. History repeats, and monsters of the present often mirrored those of the past. So he ran, ignoring the cries of his body as the inferno reached for him. He jumped over it.
The cry of hunger from the monsters' stretched maws showed they were concerned about him for only one thing, and it was nothing he would allow them to indulge.
"God, please help me," Ritsuka spoke, almost as a joke. "Help me survive this. Please lord, help me." The mantra came between panted breaths, harder and harder to match the weight of the cross about his neck. But like every time before, no pillars of light descended from heaven to help him.
So he ran, this time jumping over a car and quickly climbing under a pile of rubble. He only realized he was trapped when there was no exit to the hole he crawled into.
CRASH! Not but the one a monster was standing outside of.
He held his breath, looking at its feet as it clambered on the soot covered pavement. The sound of its bones rattling was like the drums of war, and the crackling fires cooking the oven he sat in. Sweat poured down his skin as he watched the monster, watching as more talons appeared, others scurrying about the other. When no claws or blades reached into the hole he was in, he knew what was happening.
They had lost him, or at the very least couldn't find him. They were smart enough to search, but not intelligent enough to look in the small hole he'd barreled into.
While the monsters cried outside, he prayed on.
"God, please let Mash be safe. Please have her save Olga. Please keep them safe." The claws and bones scratched at the concrete as his whispered under his breath, the fire laughing at his fear. "Please Lord, save me." His hand clutched at his chest, the cross heavy there. His eyes shut, heavy from the terror.
KRACH-chchch. The sound was enough to allow his eyes to crack open.
The bones of the monsters fell to the ground, clattering as they scratched at one another. Jaws, femurs, tibias, and the collection all dropping into a pile. Ritsuka stared at them, not sure what had happened. Was this normal for the monsters? Or was this a trap? Either way, he knew he couldn't stay in the hole for much longer. The fires were cooking him.
Far slower than he entered, he crawled his way back out, hands pushing at the bones that piled over the entrance, brushing them away with trepidation shaking his hand. They were warm, hot as everything else in the burning city, and he did not know if that was because of the fires or the 'magic' that had given them life.
Whatever the reason, they had fallen. It, and several other piles around him. Ritsuka swallowed as he emerged, looking about the stone for what could have caused. It something natural? Something meaning to save him?
"Greetings again." The latter, definitely the latter. "I see you have found yourself a place to hide. Do you wish to dwell there longer?"
"No, I'm alright now." Relief poured through him, a balm that he was sure would soothe even the wounds of the flames. "I was just trying to hide from these things. The monsters, I guess. Mash called them something else." Realization hit him hard. "You destroyed them, didn't you?"
"I banished them, if that is what you mean." It was. Ritsuka quickly bowed with the admittance.
"Then please let me thank you again. You not only saved the life of my friend, but also my own. Twice, and only because I asked for it. Thank you so much." The man's hum was light and bright.
"You are welcome. You are one who deserves such grace." That was more than he was willing to admit to. His head shook before looking up at the robed man again.
"I wish to apologize as well. When I heard the woman cry, I didn't think to see if you were following me. That was rude of me, especially to someone who is trapped here with us."
"You have no need to worry for me. I have seen things far beyond this." It was only because the man was so calm, and still his robe so immaculate and clean, that Ritsuka could believe him. "I am happier to see that you are unharmed. Is it true for your companion?" The fires couldn't warm the chill that ran through his bones.
"I-I don't know. She was going to get the Director's attention, while I was supposed to make the monsters chase after me. They started to, and she wasn't near me, so I just assumed," his head swam left and right. "She has to be alright. She has to be." He refused to believe she wouldn't be.
"Then let us search for her," the man offered. "There is no greater reason to search than for that of others. Better than you saving yourself as they are punished." The very thought made Ritsuka's skin crawl.
"I would never do that," he spoke with complete seriousness, ignoring how his foot kicked one of the dried bones of the monsters. "I wouldn't just abandon someone, and not like that. The way these monsters were acting… the idea of leaving two girls to them is just-"
Clap. A hand was on his shoulder again. Without the terror of a friend's body at his knees, or the misery of seeing her pass, he could appreciate how heavy it was now. Heavy, firm, and warm. Everything an embrace should be.
And it all led up to the man's sure smile, visible through his beard.
"Do not poison your mind with the thoughts of what could have been." His words were a command. "You cannot alter the river God has set out for you, nor can you swim back upon it. It's current too strong and your arms too weak." Ritsuka listened intently as he spoke. "You may only gaze ahead as far as he is willing, trusting in that what comes ahead will test you, but not break you. Knowing that any loss you have suffered is to lighten you for the trials ahead. For God does not take out of spite or malice. Only to teach and guide."
His head was nodding towards the man's lecture, spoken in a soft voice yet louder than the flames around them. When he was finished, the flames hissed in response, but Ritsuka could give them no mind. He didn't care about the fire. Only this man standing before him.
"Sir, I have just realized something."
"What may that be?"
"You have not only saved me twice, you have also helped me to relax. I feel peaceful now, more than even before this place was thrown to me." His hand was over his chest, grasping and the ashen stained white shirt. "Your words are a liberation to more worries. You have given me all of this, and I have yet to know your name."
"Do you not already?" His smile was wide, his hand slipping from Ritsuka's shoulder. "I heard you call it thrice now. And each time I came when asked." The young man's mind swam. "It is one you know, but not one I need to speak. The answer will come to you, through thought, action, or fate. It will not change what must be done now. Come." His hand motioned. "Let us find your friend."
He began walking, and Ritsuka was quick to follow. His sandals crushed the soot and rubble beneath, but the fires stayed away from his as he walked. The boy looked around as they marched through the street, seeing the bones of the monsters laying around the crumbled statues and ruin. The idea of them reforming again stuck to his mind as readily as Mash's prone state.
"You are afraid." The comment came like a flash of light.
"I'm sorry, I am. I'm just not used to this."
"Few are used to the horrors of war, even fewer can walk comfortably through them." His smile, when he turned to look at Ritsuka, was the same warm invitation, like a hug he'd always loved to receive. "Yet you walk through this valley of concrete, steel, and stone with more questions than concersn. That is the symbol of a courageous heart." The compliment made him blush.
"I'm not that brave. I just don't like seeing people get hurt."
"Many are like that, but the few who act are the ones whom God favors. And it takes a courageous man to brave the fires of war."
"I haven't fought anything yet. I've just been running."
"Running to others who cry for help, or those who are succumbing to an ill prepared rest." His face turned again, and Ritsuka kept pace behind him. "Do you feel fear now? A dread that lingers upon you?"
"… No, I don't think so at least." He flexed his hands as if to test them. "I'm just… confused, I guess. So much has happened so quickly, I can hardly be sure if this is just another dream."
"Do your dreams often involve fire and brimstone?"
"No, but I've had nightmares before. And if I did fall asleep, I'm not sure here. That usually matters to." His mind went to wear he was before he awoke in the halls of Chaldea, Mash kneeling over him. "I could be at a bus stop in the city, or near a furnace of the church."
"If you are in need of rest, would you not go to the house of your father first?" The man stopped when he asked the question. And it was the first time that Ritsuka had heard him say something without the smile to his voice. "Why would you not seek refuge among those halls?"
"Usually? Their full," he shrugged. "That, or they're trying to cycle people. Don't want to have anyone stay too long, because they're afraid they'll become compliant and not want to get out. I can't blame them for that, priests and sisters. I've seen a lot of people talk about trying to steal from the church. I guess it's just what happens."
"When what may happen?"
"People try and take advantage of you. It's natural to try and protect yourself. It stinks that it hurts a lot of others, but I can get it. Better to help a few who believe than to throw the doors open to demons." He could remember the quote well. "A father told me that once, when he explained that I'd have to find somewhere else to rest for a few days."
"And who was this father to you?"
"Father Johana Ciel." He remembered the name well. "He was a good man, and he took care of me often. He was always trying to help as many people as he could, housing in the districts and stuff like that. Kyoto can be really packed in." The man smiled often. "He only told me to stop coming because of someone else's orders. I don't blame him for it."
"The scars of another's heart tithe thy soul." He blinked at the man, only to see the smile grow again before he continued to walk. Ritsuka followed. "Do not ever lose such a burden upon your heart. The burdens you carry are remembered in the life to come."
"You mean in heaven?"
"My father's kingdom, yes. A place far above and incomparable to the ruin of this earth." In fairness, Ritsuka realized, there was a lot that was above this. "I am glad to find among this rubble one who has not tarnished the fire in their heart. I would ask you not try to diminish it yourself."
"I don't think I am."
"Did you not speak ill of yourself moments earlier?" He couldn't deny that. "Vile words towards your own actions, deflection of praise and ignorance of your own trials?"
"When you put it that way, I guess I did a little."
"There are no other ways an action should be read." His hand pointed towards the black sky above. "When even the clouds of the world blind us to the glory of God, that is when you must charge the fire in your heart to be a light. Be not ignorant of your strengths, for those who commit vile deeds will be charged themselves to act against you."
"You're saying I should… brag about being brave?" The hood of his robe shook.
"Not at all. I am putting to words that you must see not speak ill of yourself. If you do not, you will be amazed by the drop in those who seek to do the same." He looked again, a smile upon his lips, still glowing above the embers of the fires around them. Flames that still couldn't touch them. "I have noted your courage from what I bore witness to. Would you care to guess if your friend will call you anything else?" Ritsuka almost tripped.
"Mash!" He yelled. "I-I almost forgot! We're looking for her but-" He had started following this man, and didn't even question where she was. A guilt welled up inside of him, weighing him down like a cannonball in his gut. "Where is she? Do you know where she is?"
"I do not." The man spoke easily. "If you wish to find her, why not call to her? Loud enough to smother the flames."
"That's not possible," he wasn't a world class genius, but even he knew that much. "I mean, I'll yell but-"
"If you care not to put the soul of your voice into your cry, can you say you are doing all that is possible?" His idle question was simply posed. "You care for this friend, as she does for you. So call to her, as you are both lost in a land you do not know, and separated by wreaths of flames."
Ritsuka swallowed on nothing, wetting his throat. He wasn't wrong, but it almost seemed like he was going to be an idiot to just scream. Yell, call, yeah, of course. But to the point of making the flames smother themselves? He took in a deep breath.
Well, if he was going to yell, he should at least yell his loudest.
"MAAASH!" He bellowed. His eyes shut as he screamed her name.
And for a brief moment, the fires about them seemed to whimper rather than laugh.
Ritsuka blinked, looking around himself. The fires didn't look any smaller, nothing wasn't on fire. The man was watching him, arms wrapped beneath his robe, smile still present.
"That is good. But I do not hear nor see her." One hand unfolded. "Try again." Ritsuka did as asked.
"MAAASH!" Once more he yelled out, to the point that his eyes needed to shut.
"Good. And once more."
"MAAAAAASH!" It felt as if the skin on his throat was going to fall off. He lurched forward with the cry now, not even knowing if he was yelling down the burning road or into the sky. He just yelled as loud as he could. The fire, once again, for the third time, sounded as if they were dying.
"Ritsuka!" And it was enough for him to hear her.
"Mash!" He spoke quickly, spinning on his foot. He only needed to search some far away rubble for a moment before he saw her. It was impossible to miss her lavender hair among the flames.
Just as difficult to replace the alabaster haired girl following her, both of them wearing the same ashen covered clothes. They were climbing down from some smoking ruin, appearing alright. Hurrying down, busying, but okay. The smile pulled at his mouth.
"They're okay. They're okay!" He looked back at the man, smile undeterred. So was his.
"Then you should embrace them. Answer those who call to you." He nodded, turning on his foot and sprinting. Past the flaming cars, the statues of people, the fallen bones, he ran to Mash. And she was running to him as well. Ritsuka didn't stop.
WUMP! Not until he held her.
"You're okay!" The boy let out as he wrapped his arms about her torso, holding her until her feet likely left the ground. It was a tight hug, but he didn't' want to be so loose. He needed to make sure it was her. "You're really okay!" He spoke with a panting breath, relief flooding him. At least until he realized that Mash wasn't answering him. "You are okay? Right?" Ritsuka leaned back from his embrace to look at Mash.
It was only then he saw her trembling jaw and flamed face. Her glasses also looked to be foggy, doubtlessly from the fire and humidity.
"We are not alright!" The voice of the Director made Ritsuka look away. "I was chased by those Dragon Tooth Warriors for the past hour! I have been running around the burning town for so long I was able to recognize where I was by the ruined landmarks alone! Even then, I saw no one else but these… charred remains of humans!" Her voice snarled as she spoke. "I was so sure that there was no one else here."
"I'm sorry that I wasn't-"
"But then I see you running out and away from me!" Her finger was in his face, nearly pushing at his nose. "You didn't run towards me to help, but away! I was only so lucky the Warriors found your cowardice more appetizing a scent, perhaps because they knew a low-quality Master like yourself would make for a better meal!"
"W-Wait! Director Marie!" Mash spoke up, roused in Ritsuka's arms. He let her go, in time for the young girl to adjust herself as her heels hit the ashen dirt. "That isn't right! Ritsuka was-"
"I'm sorry I didn't get to help you faster." He felt Mash look towards him, but he spoke on to Olga. "I was trying to save Mash before, and when I saw you, I didn't know how else to help you but to lead the monsters away. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do it sooner."
"Well, it's fine that you have recognized your mistake, but that does not change the fact that you are not fit to be here. Fuyuki was the city where my father competed in the Holy Grail War, some ten years ago. For it to have turned out like this now just shows how twisted the threat to the Order of Humanity is." She turned up her nose as she looked around. "Here there are supposed to be Heroic Spirits in battle. I half suspect all of this is caused by them." There was word he didn't know.
"Heroic Spirits?" The fury on the Director's face as she rounded on him a second time was a terrifying one. All the more so for the cackling of fires behind her.
"Yes! Heroic Spirits! The remnants of past lives summoned by the Throne of Heroes to compete in a great fight for the Relic of the Holy Grail!" He recalled one of those names again, but nothing else. It must have shown on his face. "Do you truly know nothing about this? At all?! I thought of you of poor quality before, but now I'm starting to become convinced you are merely an invalid!"
"I-I can explain!" Mash jumped in front of her. "Senpa-Ritsuka is probably still tired! He went from collapsing in the hallway to the bomb and fire and… a-all of this. So he likely just needs a reminder!" Olga Marie's face was unconvinced, but the look on Mash's as she turned back to face him was one of determination.
Nervousness, for sure with the bit to her lip, but the furrowed brow beneath her glasses was obvious.
"Heroic Spirits are entities summoned by the Throne of Heroes. The Throne can best be thought of as the record of the world, o-of sorts. Whenever someone commits a grand deed, often something that alters or defends the course of human history, they are recorded in it. The Holy Grail War is a war where said spirits are summoned to fight for the Holy Grail." There were more questions Ritsuka had in his mind than he believed ruined buildings around them.
"Why would you fight over the chalice of Jesus Christ?" It was a simple question, but he could not mistake the look of utter disdain from over Mash's shoulder.
"It is not the same cup!" She yelled at him, though the fires didn't quite when she yelled. "It is a manifestation of Prana collected from the Ley Lines, usually after 60 years! The reason Fuyuki was a site for the war was because of this. Do you get it now?" Only partially. "Then let me say it simpler for that matching mind."
Her foot stomped down, making Mash jump a bit and out of her way. Ritsuka nearly put a hand up to her, but stopped when Olga strut in front of him, pushing her chest up and snarled towards him. The soot almost dripped with the sweat.
"In this war, which has clearly gone too far, there will be heroic spirits that were deified by history." How was that even possible? "These Spirits are more powerful than any human could hope to be, with some of them being capable of not only shooting an arrow across a country's length, but also smacking the earth with such might the ground could split!" How was that even possible? "And those are only feats of strength. Look around, and I'm sure your mind would char at the idea of what kind of Heroic Spirit did all of this!"
The burning, the ruins, the monsters, the remains, the death… these were because of this 'Holy Grail War'? Because of Heroic Spirits?
"Is this something you think you can dare to handle?" The question came from Olga. "You're looking at what the Masters were recruited to stop, what you would be expected to fight, if your circuits or your mind were of better quality." He wasn't sure any quality would be good enough. Against all of this. "Well, do you understand now why I want you out of here?"
"What?"
"You! Do you understand why I want you out of here as quickly as possible? This is… well it's supposed to be a rayshift. To one of the most dangerous battles in human history, involving resurrected spirits and magical powers far beyond your comprehension! I can clearly tell you can't even grasp the concept of the war itself, let alone the intricacies of how we got here!"
Ritsuka couldn't deny that. It was just hard to breath.
"So after seeing all of this, just listening to Mash, can you think you'd be anything other than a burden?"
Burden… he was that a lot of the time, wasn't he? To his family, to his friends, to the caretakers, to the system, to the church… he was that a lot.
"Oh Jesus Christ, this is so much to take in." The breathless moan left him. He felt a hand at his back, then felt Mash at his side. "How… Why am I here even?"
"I told you!" Olga reared back. "You-"
"You are here because you were meant to be. There is no other reason greater." Ritsuka turned, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Your screams were quite loud, and I saw you were distressed."
"I-I am, a little," he admitted. "Not because of this. Well, sort of this. More like all of this." He sighed, hand to his chest, clutching it. It felt heavier than usual, the cross that beat against him. "I was already confused, now I'm just coming to realize into how deep of waters I've been thrown."
"No matter how deep the abyss that lurks about you, take heed that I am here." His hand clasped on Ritsuka's shoulder again. Like the balm from before, a cool wave of water amidst the scorched air, he felt relief. "Breath deep and calm your spirit. Your heart cannot find perch on an unsettled tree."
Ritsuka nodded his head, slowly, doing as he was asked. Breaths in, breaths out. It was helping.
"It is good to see you are well, Mash Kyrielight. You braved terror to save your leader." He couldn't help but smile at the words. They were close to the ones he'd been offered before.
"Of course! A-And thank you, I-"
"Mash! Exercise caution when speaking toa stranger!" Olga's voice overpowered hers. "Especially one in the midst of a singularity like this! Do you have any idea who he is?"
"I'm sorry, I-I don't, but he-"
"Doesn't matter. You are not to speak idly to him." Ritsuka took one last forceful swallow of air before standing upright and facing Olga Marie again. She, however, had already moved past him. She was staring up at the alabaster robed man, eyes furrowed with a mean grimace. He felt the urge to step away at the sight. "I on the other hand am the Director of Chaldea and the de facto head of this operation. If we are going to interact with any anomalies capable of thought and voice, I will be the one to initiate it."
"You speak as though you are above not only me, but those who treed beside you." Ritsuka thanked God the man didn't sound insulted. "Yet I have heard only titles to your name. May you introduce yourself to me?"
"Yes, I will." Her stance was proud, head brought back and her eyes shutting, before she began to speak. "I am Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldea, the Organization tasked with preserved the Human Order. We have come here… with the intent to correct the anomaly that has put the normal flow of humanity's existence at risk." Ritsuka remembered then this was still above him, what he could understand at least.
"I understand. Then you came here knowing of what would occur?" That threw the Director. "Your scribes have said that there was a raid upon your kingdom, forcing you and your subjects to tumble through to this place."
The next thing Ritsuka saw was the Director's red face nearly in his.
"You told him who we are!?" He took a step back, trying to fathom what he said wrong.
"I-I didn't know we weren't supposed to."
"Of course you did not! You were so lazy, a near invalid with your magic capabilities, you weren't even able to attend the lecture!" She seethed. "Do you have any idea how much can go wrong with you proclaiming to those of the past that we come from the future!?" He honestly hadn't.
"W-Wait! Director!" Mash spoke up, a trembling hand by her shoulder. "Da Vinci said that… that correcting the anomalies would reset the Human Order a-and correct the human flow. Our presence would be erased then. So… is there a problem?"
No matter the number of times the question was posed, he still could not think of a good answer.
"Do not bark at those who have yet to err," the man, however, spoke for him. "Least for actions you have repeated yourself."
"My actions?" Her snarl showed her gums. "And just what did I do?"
"You spoke so that I may know you. And I know you are from a land where mystics have touched upon the surface of God's plan, moving your life into the empty passages between." His words made Olga stutter. "I have gleamed more from you than this young practitioner, so keep still your whip, else you mar your own skin with lashes."
Ritsuka watched as the Director fumed. The flames continued to crack and cackle around them, roaring with heat and laughter. He listened, unsure of what he was waiting for.
"Just… who are you then?" She posed through grit teeth. "You humiliate me and you try and undermine me in front of those who are supposed to listen to me. Just tell me who are you?" Before he could answer, she turned to Ritsuka. "Who is he?"
His mouth opened and shut. He honestly didn't know.
"He… helped me save Mash," he began, looking past the Director to the lavender haired girl. "And after that, when we were trying to help you… h-he took care of the monsters that were after me." That made her stop.
"He did? You did?"
"I did." The confirmation came without pause. "He cried for help, and I came to answer him." Ritsuka still couldn't remember crying out like he said he did.
"Never mind that. You took care of the monsters then. You destroyed the Dragon Tooth Warriors? With what?" She looked him over, uncaring for the glow he had. Ritsuka was almost as amazed by her ambivalence as the man's magnificence. "You don't have a weapon on you."
"My commands are tools monsters fear. Demons screech when they are given them. Those beasts were but monsters looking to ruin the figures of God. A command to stop, and then they succumbed." Ritsuka couldn't remember him speaking either. He was, then again, holed up in a tiny crevice.
"No weapons… commands… religious…" The director adopted a thoughtful pose. "You aren't normal, that's for sure. Yet you're not one of the Masters and certainly no operative of Chaldea… then..." her eyes nearly sparkled. "You are a Servant!"
"I am." Her face bloomed with cheer. "As are you." Ritsuka heard her mind halt.
Despite the hellish land about them, Ritsuka couldn't hold back a snort. He heard Mash fail just as well.
"Wha- but-"
"All of us share the role of servant, be it to the masters we are born or those we find. Would you not say you are a servant to those who came before you?" His hand rolled over his chin. "Youth still paints your features. A place such as Chaldea, where Mystics dwell, is described too well to be founded by one still possessed by youth. The title you possess is a crown passed onto you, not one you forged of your own merit."
"So… so what if it is!?" Olga yelled back. "My father was a brilliant man who spent his wealth working to protect the order of Humanity! That should be something anyone would be happy to follow him for!"
"I do not disagree. I follow my father for love as well. A servitude born of love will seed a garden more immaculate than any other toil of this Earth."
"A-And that's not what I mean by Servant! You're talking about something so general like a… like a slave!"
"I assure you I am not."
"Well I am talking about the Heroic Spirit that is called a Servant!" Ritsuka didn't understand that point. How was a heroic Spirit a Servant? And, did that have to do with him being a Master, supposedly? "You answered the call of that man, did you not?" Her finger thrashed towards him once more.
"I did. His call was heard, and I chose to answer." The man of pristine robes spoke, but Ritsuka still couldn't recall crying out as he said.
"Then you are his Servant!"
"I find it more accurate to say he is one to me." That made Ritsuka blink. "He dons a symbol of my sacrifice and has spoken my name in reverence. You are not incorrect in my role to serve, but to proclaim another as my Master is a falsehood."
"I'm doing what?" He felt at his chest, finding the cross that lay there. "I haven't… when did I call your name?"
"Did you not listen when I answered you last?" Ritsuka's wasn't sure what to say, or if there was anything to say. The man didn't sound angry, but… those words. "You have called my name as many times as days you've lived, yet you still do not recognize me? Will you hear me when I speak?"
"He might not, but I will!" Olga strode forward. "In case you may have forgotten, but I've been running around this damned city for what feels like hours now. Chased by those Dragon Tooth Warriors like some kind of plebian maiden fleeing council. I haven't heard a word beyond my screams since I found you three, and all I've heard since then is that you helped out these two and have yet to answer me!"
"If you wish to ask, I will answer. Words given without ears to listen are wasted fruit upon the soil, left for the maggots to toil and feast upon." Ritsuka slowly nodded his head. "A plague is born of such negligence, and better it is for you to ask a question carefully worded than demand answers without a basket to catch them."
"Stop talking like that!" She yelled, again, and took another foot forward, again. "I understand you have some great power in you, but I can tell that you do not know who I am." She raised her head, hand at her chest as she cried out. "Do not forget who I am!"
"A prestigious name the begets a heavy burden." The man answered without pause. "A crown of brilliant gems lays upon your head, and power falling from it. Brilliant, but empty."
Ritsuka hadn't met Olga more than twice now, but he could tell the red that rushed to her face wasn't something good.
Especially not when her hand reared back. Everything within him told him to act.
He hardly thought twice when he grasped the director's hand. She whirled on him with a fire in her eyes not unlike the flames that still burned around them. Their cackling… it was hard to tell if they were laughing at him or encouraging her.
"Unhand me!" She shouted, and he felt her wrath, just as well as she tugged at her hand. "You do not have the right to restrain me, least of all when a Servant so casually insults me!" He still didn't let go, despite her efforts. "Do you think you're better than me? Holding me back like this." Her other hand rose up, grasping at his shirt. "Release me or I will burn your life away." Mash gasped off to the side, but Ritsuka didn't look away from the Director.
"I'm not… I'm not stopping you because of that. I don't think I'm better than anyone." He couldn't even imagine it. "I just don't think attacking this man is a good idea. He saved us, me, and slapping him… it's wrong to do."
"Then this only shows you do not understand the hierarchy of the Magus order." She stomped her heel, finally wrenching her hand from his grasp. She rubbed at it, even as golden eyes continued to burn into his. "We are born and made with the purpose of expanding the magical foundries we were born from. We protect humanity to do so here, but we create tools to help us with it. Those tools are made to be used when necessary and disposed of when not."
"Then you think he's," he stopped speaking as he spoke. "She thinks you're a tool?"
"I may guess at the meaning of her words, but those sound as solid as a mountain's base. It is a pity, as she proclaimed her desire to hear me, but does not wish to listen to what I say." He turned away from the pair of them. "Mash Kyrielight. You are member of the mystics of Chaldea. What do you propose for this situation?"
"I… I-I don't know what to think." Her eyes, partially covered and hidden beneath fogged lenses, looked among them. Ritsuka could sympathize. He felt as lost as she looked. They were all in the same boat at least, metaphorically. "I don't know how we got here, but I know you helped us. You saved me a-and the Director."
"I have done so, but the matter at hand is not for past actions, but future tithes. So answer me, do you believe I am a Servant to woman who calls herself Director of Chaldea?" Mash's mouth floundered. "You may speak, as I have willed you to share your knowledge."
"That is not in your authority!" Director Olga shouted at him again. Ritsuka's gut kept feeling like it was churning the more she did it. "Mash is a… resident of Chaldea. She is not yours to command!"
"Perhaps not, as I cannot force the will of any life touched by my father's hand, but I have seen that her hesitation is born of fear. By making command of her, I have relieved her of that fear, for she is now no longer acting upon her own will, prepared to bear the consequences, but of my own. And when my will is done, I shall be the one to pass out the judgement that comes."
Ritsuka's heart felt as if it had stopped. He knew those words. He know those commands. He had read them in the Holy Book more times than he could count, and said them in prayer far more than that.
A hand raised to his mouth, feeling the parchedness of his tongue, breath hard to grasp, the flames feeling as if they were trying to choke him once more, and yet his body was colder than any manner of ice could match. It wasn't until a hand was at his back he realized he was shaking.
"Ritsuka? Ritsuka?" Mash's hand attempted to jostle him. It nearly made him fall to the floor. "Ritsuka, a-are you okay?"
"He must be suffering from fatigue, summoning a Servant and then commanding it without training." He was able to focus his eyes on her, and he felt the knot in his lungs grow. It was all that kept him from shouting now. "Never mind him for now. He'll be okay once he has time to rest."
"You should offer him mind, for he has realized my majesty." The man, his Lord, spoke. The breath Ritsuka took felt heavier than his body. The cross at his chest felt close to scalding his skin. "If you know of me, will you speak of me? For I am the Way, the Truth, and Light. I am the only path to my Father, and none shall know his greatness except through me."
The fires were darkened, the pain relieved, and even the still granite statues of the screaming citizens appeared to weep. Ritsuka's face was stained as he gazed at the glowing figure before him, realization creeping into his soul, and tearing his heart asunder.
Mash's hand clutched to his back, Director Olga's form took a step back.
Ritsuka could only stare, the tears beginning to fall.
"You are… Y-You are…"
"I am the Lord Jesus Christ. I am here as called to guide you."