The Way, Truth, and Light

by WizardlyWords

In the midst of tragedy, among the ruins in hell, a lone boy wanders through the valley of death. Chocking on smoke, swimming through tears, he looks up and begs for help. Clutching the symbol of his faith, begging for salvation as the world ends, he asks for his savior's embrace. And he is justly rewarded. For Jesus is never far from the cries of his flock.

3. Arc 0: Faith, Trust, and Charity

Arc 0: Chapter 2:

Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior.

The Word made Flesh, the man of Nazareth, the Perfect Man, the Immaculate Birth, the Forgiver of Sins, Son of God and Man, Savior of the World. These were but some of the titles that were scripted to the heart and mind of Ritsuka. They had shown across his eyes now like a banner, haloing the figure before him.

Ritsuka fell to his knees, Mash almost following, hand still clutching his back.

"Oh Lord, my God," the words fell out of him as he kissed the ashen pavement beneath him. He didn't care. "Forgive me for not giving you blessings when I first saw you. Forgive me for not recognizing you when you approached me. Forgive me for not-"

"Hush," the command came, and he followed. "You need offer no apologies, as I did not speak my name. You show your faith by recognizing me when I am called, and carrying the proof of my suffering upon your neck." He heard the words of his savior, and the weight up on his neck felt as if it may pull him deeper into the ground. Yet at the same time, his very core felt uplifted.

"Oh God, oh my Lord," Ritsuka continued to all but mumble into the ground, almost fearful of speaking up and gazing at the man again. The tears would run down his face. "You are too kind to me, a-and you have saved me. Many times now."

"You asked for me of aid, and you never lost faith in me. Many others ask of me only when they need me, then curse my name when I cannot find them. You are not among their number." Clap. The hand on his shoulder was heavy, blistering with the light he could suddenly feel from it. "Rise, stand to your tallest, and know that I am with you."

Ritsuka didn't argue. He pushed himself to his feet, standing as tall as he could in front of the Son of God. He always recognized that his robe was far brighter and cleaner than the ruined city could have possible allowed, but only now was he realizing another facet of Jesus Christ.

He was tall. He made Ritsuka feel as if he were a newborn. Both in body and in spirit.

"Jesus Christ, son of Mary and the founder of the Catholic faith," the name was whispered from behind him. He only knew who was speaking when he heard the soft giggle. "I knew it, you are a Servant. And a famous one at that. Someone who is still worshiped and praised throughout the world. That makes you indispensable!"

"My name is used by many people, but my power does not wane with the number who believe in me. The power of mine and my father are absolute. All that changes is how able others are willing to hear us." Ritsuka nodded, sure of his meaning.

"That isn't important right now." He almost chocked on Olga's words. "What is important is that this Master here was able to summon someone from the Throne. And not even a lackluster Servant at that." If adoration is what is most important for the strength of the hero, then this is great. It there's little here that is of serious threat. The issue however…" her eyes turned to him, and the gleam was lost. "You are dependent on the energy of the Master that summoned you. And those command spells on your hand, it makes it clear that you are the reason he came."

Ritsuka looked at his hand, seeing the red symbols on the back of his palm. He hadn't even noticed they were there before. Now that he saw them, he wondered how he could have missed it.

A stylized pattern of all red, on the back of his pale hand. A pair of red arrows, one longer than the other, the short above the longer, both pointing towards one another. They met at their tips, separated by a long thin bar of matching red. A red bar that expanded outwards from both arrows, thickening until it was a full rod. The design was heavily stylized, but he couldn't mistake the pattern.

How could Ritsuka ever forget the holy Cross?

"Command Spells." He tested the word, hating each one. "I… brought Jesus Christ here?" It sounded blasphemous to his lips.

Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, was before her, and she was wondering instead of what that meant for her.

"Ritsuka, a-are you well? You appear flushed." He looked at the girl, her glasses fogged still.

"I'm good, great even," he answered honestly. "How can't I be? I'm in the presence, the physical presence, of Jesus Christ." He fought the urge to raise his arms, at least no before he fell to his knees. "This is… I-I didn't imagine I'd ever see this before. Not even in my dreams."

"You are amazed to see me, and yet you are one who never lost faith in me, despite not laying your eyes upon me before." The highest of men spoke, and Ritsuka listened. "Your adoration is apparent. I thank you for it."

"My lord, I'm only so happy that you recognize me." It truly did make his body feel ten times lighter, even if the cross was heavier to match. "H-Have you come to me because of this? Like the Director said?" That earned the Director's attention.

"I have, and I have not." He didn't understand. "I came as a need for this dying world, and you who called me earned my answer. A spirit so light and leaving only your flesh marred. It was a beacon to me among the fires."

"E-Excuse me," Mash spoke up. "I don't mean to be rude, but I am a bit confused." She stopped, bowing lightly before beginning again. "My name is Mash Kyrielight, member of the Chaldea Faculty and..." She stopped, but only for a moment. "I… I-I forgot the rest."

Jesus laughed.

"Take no offense, Mash Kyrielight. I have received no slight from you." He walked towards her, putting a hand to her shoulder. Her face flushed as she looked up at him. "You are curious of me, wondered. You may know of my name, but you have not heard of me." She hadn't?

"N-No… I have not." She hadn't! "B-But that's not because I-I-I was actively against it o-or something similar. I just… didn't know."

"Because you have never walked beyond the walls you were born in. Because none came to speak of me. You have never been offered more than what was born among you, and even then, you were kept from so much as well." Mash gazed up in shock at Jesus, and Ritsuka could understand. Even Director Marie had stopped her mumblings, finally listening to him.

"You… You know about me?"

"I know of all those who have come from the grace of my father, and you are no different." His hand slid down her arm, coming off so that it fell beneath his chasuble. "The manner of your birth does change the origins of your soul. No matter the words of those of men, you do possess one, and my grace will not be denied to you."

"Oh… oh…" Mash repeated, hands folding over her chest. "Ritsuka, I-I believe I understand how you feel now." He was glad she did. "You have summoned a… an amazing heroic spirit."

"I didn't summon him, not like what you think." He couldn't imagine it possible. "I called you, oh Lord, but to summon you?" It still felt wrong to even think about the possibility.

"Whether you're willing to accept if you have or not, it doesn't matter." Director Olga's words stole his attention. "What matters is you have summoned a magnificent Spirit, and one that will ensure we are safe here. The amount of prestige he has, it'll ensure that anything else here can't even compare."

"Prestige?" He wouldn't deny the grace and wonder of his lord, but this woman. She took one look at him and sighed.

"Right, not only do you not have the history of a Magus family, you also missed my lecture. I suppose I'll have to explain what I mean." Olga clicked her tongue before answering him. She clearly didn't understand what he was having issue with. "Heroic Spirits, Servants, are more powerful based upon four factors. The circuits of their Master, which you are lacking, the age of their legends, purely age at that, the strength of their deeds, such as the difference between catching an arrow or ending a war, then the skills they are imbued with. Being of holy descent, Jesus here must have impossibly tuned skills." Again, like she had before.

"I will deny not the strength of my soul or reach of my word, but do not speak of the Word as if an item to be quantified or measured." Jesus spoke back, clearly having as much issue as Ritsuka felt. That was good, in a sense. "It is absolute and immutable. Not to be bound by the laws of man."

"They're not the laws of man, they're the laws of reality," the Director continued to say. Her grin brokered no semblance to disagree. "I don't know why you're upset. Aside from the Master, everything else about you is spectacular! Maybe not as old as Greek legends or the Babylonia era, but you're stories are passed across the world and millions worship you. Not only that, you have miracles of regeneration, revival, transfiguration, and so many more. It's perfect! It's everything I could have hoped for in a Servant summoned for this singularity."

Ritsuka expected Jesus to remind her just who he was. He expected Jesus Christ to demand she change her thoughts. Instead, his Lord and Savior merely sighed.

"You tie yourself too close to this world. Grace and infinity stands before you, and you think only of what rests beneath your feet. A pity."

"A pity?" Olga almost laughed at Christ. "I believed the first venture of Chaldea, something not even my father had the chance to see, doomed from the start because of whatever explosion went off before. Now I find that not only did the absolute weakest and least qualified of the Maters manage to summon you, but now I have a chance to correct the very holy Grail War my father fought in. This is perfect."

Now the grin was clearly something Ritsuka couldn't like.

"At the moment we're trapped in Fuyuki after something went wrong with the Grail War. That much is obvious, but I can't say what went wrong. I also only have a brief idea of the servants involved." Her fingers began to curl as she spoke. "My father had summoned Caster to assist him, though he wouldn't reveal to me just who it was. He said that he found the hardest servants to face in the war being the Saber, Archer, and Berserker. However, I don't recall him mentioning any of them having the ability to raze a city like this."

"You possess keen knowledge of this time. Is it because you have listened to the words of your father?" The words came from Jesus, and Ritsuka listened intently to them. He was having difficulty shutting his mouth now.

"Y-Yes, of course! My father was the man responsible for not only winning the war, but then using the wish to gather funds necessary to found the Chaldea system and facility. He used his only wish to ensure the prosperity and future of humanity's progress. So why shouldn't I understand everything that he did?" How the Director was able to speak plainly with him… it was simply impossible for him to understand.

"I spoke no ill words over your choice in actions. They were wise," Jesus Christ smiled upon her, and the alabaster haired woman at least lowered her head. Ritsuka was still content to stand silently by his Lord and Savior. "But the questions I have for this place are numerous, with me only knowing of the young man who calls to his Lord for aid, and blessing him when he is well." Ritsuka's cheeks flushed, and his breath was heavy once more, all while Jesus Christ watched him.

"Yes, well, I can safely remind you that is doubtlessly thanks to the SHEBA system. As a Master he was contracted into it during the simulation, even though the thought of being a Master was enough to tire him out. Fortunate as we are, that isn't an excuse to rest." She looked towards the lavender haired girl. "Mash, you've already tried to contact Chaldea?" The lavender hair girl stiffened at the question.

"N-No ma'am, not because I forgot, but b-because-" she bit her lip, and at the time he saw the alabaster haired woman suck in a breath.

"Because she was with me." Ritsuka stepped in front of her. He hoped his Lord would not begrudge him for taking off from his Grace. "When I woke up here, Mash was… she was unconscious. I found her and tried to help her, but it was Jesus." His smile returned. "Jesus helped to wake Mash up. Since then, we've been trying to find you and our way around here." More coincidence, but he wasn't about to speak falsely.

"Unconscious, huh? Well, considering how I haven't seen any other Masters, I'm not about to ask her to stand above the exceptional, especially when they have failed." She looked away from them. "I'm not even sure how much time has passed, but if we wish to make sur we can resolve this Singularity and attempt to right the Human Order."

"Speak to me, what is erred with the order of humanity? What, beyond my father, threatens it?"

"I… I-I-I never said it was beyond you!" She shouted at him, flushed and stepping back. Ritsuka nearly fell to his knees to beg Jesus to forgive her screaming. "I only know that the plan we setup for Chaldea requires us to be fast. There's no telling when this Singularity will devolve!"

"Dissolve like… disappears?" He tested the words, speaking them fearfully before his lord. "How is that possible? Y-you don't mean R-"

"Heyo! You guys still alive!"

The shout made Ritsuka spin on his heel, hands out in front of Mash. Olga let out a noise as she jumped. His Lord hardly moved with just a twist of his head, the hood of his robe hiding any surprise that may shine in his eyes. Ritsuka knew to see any would be impossible a sight.

More impossible than the sight of a blue clothed man walking up to them, vaulting over a column of rubble with a lance longer than his body was tall, and a richer red than the flames that tried to grab at him.

His jump was higher than Ritsuka would dare to fall, but this new man made it with so little effort, landing gracefully on his feet, rising to his tallest and looking down at them. He matched his Lord Jesus in height, but Ritsuka couldn't tell if he had a grin of satisfaction, or a sneer of superiority.

"Thought I heard a commotion over here, but I was half expecting to show up to see those bonemen picking at another fresh corpse. Good to see you're the lucky ones." The man's head titled, the long ponytail trailing down his back flickering.

"Who are you?" The director spoke first, from behind him. "If you've come to attack us, be aware we have a powerful Servant on our side!"

"I don't think we should be telling him that," Mash whispered in Ritsuka's ear. He agreed, but more so because his Lord didn't need another to speak of his glory… or to be used as a threat against another man.

"Hey hey, relax, I'm not looking to fight ya." The man waved his hand, balancing the long spear on his shoulders. "Been a while since I've seen a living human in this place, let alone another Servant that's not trying out the dark and edgy look." He let out a snort. "Like I said, all the humans I've seen recently have been chewed up, turned ta stone, or spat into the fires around you. Leaves a nasty smell."

Despite the callous words and horrific description, the man didn't lose his grin. It unnerved Ritsuka, mostly because he had seen men like this before. Those who didn't fear death, and worse than that, bragged about experiencing it.

"Then again, you still got an edge on your group. Hoping that's just nerves, cause I'll be the first to admit, I don't think you're locals." One of his hands circled around them. "Kind of obvious that one of you is a Heroic Spirit though. Means that added to not being locals, you're Magus at that." His grin was almost feral. "If that ain't the best kind of seasoning."

"Is he talking about food?" Mash whispered into his ear once more.

"I… think so?"

"The answer to your question? Sort of." Ritsuka felt his muscles tense, and the grip Mash on the back of his shirt tighten. "Now now, relax those nerves of yours. Don't need a Magus getting trigger happy around me again. I've experienced enough wayward magic here."

"We'll be far calmer if you tell us who you are." The Director demanded again. Ritsuka would admit. She sounded in control now. A glance back showed him why.

She was standing behind Jesus Christ, her hand held up as if to shake the blue-suited man. His Lord and savior only looked at the stranger, his beard hardly hiding his grin, and the cleanliness of his cloth untarnished, despite the close presence of the Director. He didn't appear upset by it, not that Ritsuka felt any right to judge his Lord.

"Guess that's fair. Sorry if I was dodging the question. Been dodging a lot of things recently, and my true name is somethin' basically hard wired to avoid." The blue-clothed man stretched his back, flicking his eyes towards Ritsuka.

It was only then he realized how red they were. Red, and slit.

"I'm the Lancer Class Servant of this war, or whatever you wanna call is left of it." He twisted the lance on his shoulder, spinning it around his neck like a baton. It was faster than Ritsuka's eyes could follow, and Mash gripped his outfit all the same. "Name's Cu Chulainn, hoping you heard of me." Ritsuka racked his mind.

"Sorry, I haven't." He came up empty. The man rocked on his heels.

"Wha? Seriously? Man, and here I was thinking I was name known across the world! That sorta hurts you know?" He swallowed on nothing, putting his weight on his heels.

"Just ignore him. He may not know who you are, but I do." The Director took a small step forward, but still behind his Lord. "The Child of Light from Ireland, the wielder of Gae Bulg, supposed reincarnation of the God Lugh." Reincarnation of what? "By all considerations, you're a top tier Heroic Spirit."

"Hey, looks like the Lass knows me." His grin was strong, and the fires made it ominous. "Good to hear there. Saves me the trouble of having to smooth things over."

"Don't come closer." The Servant's foot stopped mid fall. "I said I know who you are. That's a far cry from saying I trust you."

"Ouch, being a bit harsh there, aren't ya? Don't you think I would have attacked if I wanted you dead?"

"You speak of death casually." Jesus spoke, and Ritsuka listened. "Be that because of your nature, or your beliefs?"

"Ain't they one in the same?" The snicker didn't do the young man any favors to earn the admiration of this supposed 'Lancer' Servant, whatever that meant. "But seriously, mostly casual cause I've already seen the entire city razed. Watching every human you so much as chatted with plus your own master suddenly being poofed into stone? Kinda takes the tension out of ya." He knocked on his head. "Helps that I'm nothin' but a memory here. Can't say the same for the trio you've got under your wing."

"They are under mine to guide, but until you speak honestly, they are not yours to converse." Jesus took a long step forward, and Ritsuka moved for him. "Her words are coarse as carpenter's sand, but their weight is undeniable. Speak of your will, if you have no ill intent."

The man was silent for a moment, twisting that massive lance of his around before driving the butt of it into the ground. It took Ritsuka a second to realize how important that was, and not just because of the amount of ash and soot it kicked up.

But because it had literally driven through the stone and concrete, like it was fired by a piledriver. He had to blink at it.

"I was serious before, I'm not here ta start a scrap."

"Denial of one intent does not shine light on another." Jesus continued. "Offer your will now, or we will depart."

"Well that'd suit me just fine, seein' as I wanna follow you all." Ritsuka stared at the man, but he only continued to grin back into the visage of Christ. "Can't be hard to see why I'd ask that, right? You're a Heroic Spirit, strong one at that, and you're not one of the unlucky members of this defunct Grail War. Trust me, you're lucky on that note."

"Do you know what happened here then?" The Director spoke up. She finally stepped out from behind Jesus, walking in front of him as if her place belonged there. The burning in Ritsuka's collar was comparable to the fires. "As in you know what went wrong?"

"Course I do, saw the whole thing happened." He spun his finger in the air. "Only reason why I was able ta avoid the whole mess is cause I'm leagues faster than the other guys. Got an advantage over one of the three Servants left to boot."

"Three other Servants?" The Director focused. "So that means you're the fourth left?"

"Prefer if you thought of me as the first, seein' as I'm the first one ya met here." His eyes flicked towards Jesus. "Or the second, but the first that came from the war that started here." Ritsuka didn't like it. How could they be so dismissive of the Word in front of them?

"Order aside, what are the other classes left? No, not that. Who are the other heroes of the other classes? No no, not that either. Ah, what went wrong with the Grail War?" She pointed at him, a grin at her lips as if proud to ask the question.

"Things went sideways, what else?" The answer was followed by a laugh.

"Was that… supposed to be funny?" Ritsuka looked behind him, looking at Mash. The lavender haired girl shook her head.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to make a joke out of this. Just fun to finally talk ta someone else. Shadow Lands weren't this deserted." He twisted his back, cracking his neck, before spinning the lance of his about his arm. He was showing off his deftness with the weapon, clearly.

"It's like… the Yakuza."

"Ritsuka?" The girl behind him pondered.

"Oh, sorry. Just… the way he's spinning that around. It reminds me of some Yakuza members I saw before. How they'd throw around knives or the guns they smuggled." They loved to show off.

"That sounds dangerous. E-Especially if they weren't trained with them."

"They weren't, and it was."

"I think I've overstayed the introductions, so I'll skip to the point." The man, Cu, apparently, started. "I saw you guys handling those monsters before, but I couldn't be sure it wasn't a trick from Berserker or Archer tryin' to catch me. Once I saw this bright light pop up, I knew you guys were the wild card I was looking for." His hand reached out to tap Jesus on the chest.

His Lord raised his hand, stopping him. The back of Cu's hand clapped against Jesus's palm.

"You were watching them then. Watching as a woman screamed for help and my child was about to be devoured by the monsters, yet you chose inaction. Why is that?"

"Didn't I explain? Cause I thought it was a trap." Cu pulled back his hand. "This place is basically one big fire trap, and I've seen the other servants basically pull out all the stops to get back at me. Throwin' the statues of their former Masters around, making up illusions of my teacher. Heck, unless it was part of that fever dream, pretty sure I saw the Archer throw a building at me, just to get me in the open."

That didn't sound possible.

"So I wasn't willing to bet on you guys being friendly till I saw enough to convince me. I was just playing it safe. You gotta understand what that's like, right?"

"Jesus died after turning himself in to the Roman Garrisons, before he was tortured and executed on the Cross." The words flowed out of Ritsuka, earning the immediate attention of those around him. "He was asked three times by Pontius Pilot to confess his sins, to lie and say he wasn't the Son of God, but he chose death instead." He met the red eyes of Cu. "He would not chose to save himself over another."

The 'Lancer' looked down at him, twisting his head and lips at the same moment. He towered over Ritsuka, and Mash gripped the back of his shirt even harder. He stood tall, if only to keep her safe.

His Lord was beside him, so he had nothing to fear.

"Heh, you got a good look on you." The words finally came. "Gotta admit kid. Takes guts and glory to speak up to me like that. But seein' as you didn't know who I was, can't tell if that was you being brave or dumb."

"Settle for dumb and forgive him."

"Nah, that'd be selling him short. I'll go with brave. Gotta be to pull of the stuff he did to save your hide." The man twisted his lance once more, spinning it half way around his arm once, before jabbing it into the ground. This time the entire spear head vanished into the concrete. The whole six inches of it. "Names Cu Chullainn, like I said, and I can tell you're a Master."

"How?" He didn't know.

"Ritsuka, the crests, on your hand."

"Not a Master trained for this at least. Guess that passes with how you didn't know me."

"He's a fool who got lucky." Director Olga continued. "Extremely lucky, granted, but that doesn't change that he's a fool. You, on the other hand, were famed for being cautious, if at least barbaric."

"Oh? How'd you figure that?"

"Because a foolish man doesn't risk his life with training. He thinks he's good enough because of the way he was born. But a savage man would not only challenge an army alone, but also be so addicted to battle he had to be thrown into lakes of water to cool himself off." The idea was absurd.

But Ritsuka only heard Cu laugh.

"HAHA! Guess it's not a big surprise you know that much about me. Down to the embarrassing stuff. That makes you the ma'am in charge, huh?"

"O-Of course! Why, do you find that hard to believe?"

"Case you forgot, the woman who kicked my ass for five years wasn't exactly sporting a third leg." Ritsuka felt his face flush. "And a Magus who knows what's up? Saves me a lot of trouble covering the bases with what happened here."

"That it would, yes." She nodded her head with folded arms. Ritsuka watched the grin seep across her features. She fought poorly against it. "Then I suppose… you heard me before then, judging by that comment."

"Loud and clear across the city street." Mash was right before, that didn't seem good. "Half the reason why I came ta find ya. That loud, Berserker or Archer is gonna be looking for you soon. Don't wanna mess with either of them right now."

"No, I suppose we do not. We still need to get our bearings before taking action. We can hardly afford to risk a confrontation with anther Servant. An opposing one this time." Her eyes flickered to him. "Ritsuka hurry and generate a contract with this Servant. If he's out of a Master as he claimed earlier, he's going to need you."

"He needs what?" The question made her sigh into her palm.

"Of course you don't know. Mash, help him out." The girl behind him let go of his back.

"Y-Yes Director!" She stood up, before walking around him. "Ritsuka, a contract is an agreement between Master and Servant, made when a Servant is first summoned. It is what allows the Prana from the Master to flow into the Servant, to help them sustain their forms and assist them in combat. Without said connection, they are due to lose their spiritual bodies." Her head tilted back, as if in thought. She found it quick. "A-And it is necessary so the Command Seals apply to them."

"These things?" He held up his palm. "Use to command…" The idea he had came to him before he could stop it.

It felt like a sin seared to his mind once he realized it.

"My Lord, Jesus, this is not something I planned for!" Mash made a sound as he spun, and he ignored the noises from the others. "I had no idea or intent these things would… I had no idea that these were supposed to be some kind of chain. Never you, never like this! I promise I wouldn't-"

"Child, hush." Jesus Christ commanded, and Ritsuka followed. "I know of what you wish of me, and you know of my desires for you." The kindest of smiles shown down upon him, brighter than any flaming rubble around them. "I know you as you know me. You have no dreams to use those as others may be tempted."

"I would not, I wouldn't." Ritsuka quickly agreed, head bowed. "Thank you, oh Lord."

"I will accept your thanks and praise, but for those actions I have done, not for my inaction. Rise, stand tall, and know that you have not erred against me." Once more, he did as commanded.

He stood, looked up into the eyes of his Lord, and felt his soul rest peacefully. The gleam of the Son of God was all encompassing.

"Jesus Christ, huh? That's another name I never thought I'd see in this game." The supposed Child of Light spoke. "Trust me, you gotta name for yourself, can't deny that. Just saying that you don't fit the mold I was expecting."

"What shape am I meant to take but that of man?"

"Like one of the classes, maybe?" The blue suited man returned. "Cause staring you up and down, can't make out what one you'd be. Don't have a sword on ya, lance either. Seen enough exceptions to know you could be an archer, but I'm not seein' anything to act like your into archery. Got no stories for it either. You could fly for a Rider, but seein as you were walking around, I'm not gonna put a lotta stones in that basket. I'm not even gonna joke about you bein' a caster or berserker. So that just leaves with the more 'magical' of the bunch." He held up a finger, grinning. "A Caster."

"Caster would make for a fine class." The director agreed, and Ritsuka stared at her. She noticed. "D-Don't look at me like that! I'm saying it as a good thing! A caster can be self-relient on Prana, meaning he wouldn't be held back by you. In fact, my father won this Grail War with a Caster himself?"

"This one? Pretty sure your old man is a statue on the pavement if he was in this one." The oddest sound came from Marie at the comment. "Hee hee, relax girly. I don't have all the threads in place, but I can gather you ain't from around her. And if that's the case, then I'm gonna have to let you know you popped in a few weeks too late."

"Why is that?"

"Cause not only is the old man managing Caster gone, but so is he." The Director gasped.

"What? N-No that can't be possible. Father specifically used the catalysts that he did to ensure an unstoppable Caster." Her eyes searched the ashen ground for only a moment, staring back up at the red slit eyes of Cu. "How did they die? Be specific."

"Can't do that. Impossible to say what I didn't see." He held up his hands. "Only can mention that the Saber in this war went a little overboard on the servants after the Grail went haywire." He made another whistling sound. "That Saber was something fierce before the grail's mud ran her over. She basically wiped the whole city up with the Servants she did fight. Got the others that didn't fight her to submit to her. That's the trouble." Something didn't add up.

"Then how did you escape?" He managed to ask. "You said that the other servants were defeated, as if it were just one after the other. And the others submitted to her." Whoever her was. "Why didn't you?"

"Good wits, guess that's gotta help make up for your lack of brains. Don't worry though, I got answers. Like for one, I escaped cause no one's faster than me. Already made note of that. Once I get running, I bet I can clear this city in a few solid seconds." That was impossible, even if he grinned with eyes looking over the edge of the flames. "Two, she wanted them to submit cause the Grail was working for it. I wasn't into taking a mud bath and coming out all dark, veiny, and corrupted. Only reason I'd take a bath is to clean myself off, not cover myself in mud."

"That's a very loose reason," Olga agreed with him. "I'm not about to entertain the thought the others servants wanted to get dirty."

"They wanted power, and that mud is a super charge if nothing else. Me on the other hand." He took that moment to grip his lance.

THUNK! Then rip it out of the concrete fast enough to fracture the ground. Rubble raining down in a straight line from the force of his blow. Ritsuka almost jumped back at the display. It was like a bomb went off, a very unidirectional bomb.

"I've never been without strength, bein' the Ulster Hero and all. What I want is a good fight. Not gonna get that when I'm up against a Saber, Berserker, and Archer all putting their anger before reason or honor."

"Does any of sound mind find enjoyment in the taunting of death?" The question of his Lord was a clear lake to the turbulent explanation.

"Never said I was of sound mind." The answer was just as telling. "Point to it all is, you four popping up here is just what I was waiting for. A leg up to actually start knocking down the rest of the corrupted Servants."

"Wait, you want us to help you fight them? Because you want this fight of yours?"

"Simpler reason than that. I was summoned to this Grail War to win it. Doesn't matter if it got corrupted to hell and back, which I'm sure you can tell with a good whiff of the nose." Ritsuka thought looking around made it a bit more obvious. "The other guys are also protecting the Grail until I get offed, cause they know that they're gonna need me to get it running again."

"Why's that?"

"Because it is how the Holy Grail works." Director Olga replied, through grit teeth "The Holy Grail uses the Prana of the summoned servants to fuel itself. The fuel of the defeated Servants is necessary in order to activate it, like how you can't call a barrel fulfilling its purpose until you fill it up with something."

"But… the point of the Holy Grail…" He wanted to speak, but his eyes wandered to Jesus Christ. The Son of God smiled back down upon him.

"Do not be mistaken. They take the name of the chalice I poured my blood into in the course of my Last Supper. That is all they share. No hallmarks of my home are buried in this town."

"Of course not! If we found the actual chalice of the Holy Grail, why would we use it for a Grail War?!" The Director screamed, again.

"I'm sorry," Ritsuka's reply was automatic. "I just… I didn't know there was anything in this that was common."

"Not wrong there. Just don't forget the other Servants wanna use it for something. What that is, I got no idea. Don't care either." He winked at the Director. She noticed that, too.

"I-In any rate, the idea is good. Or priority in this singularity is to correct the errors here. This would be substantial enough to disrupt the Human Order. I'm sure that if we were to defeat the other Servants and use the Holy Grail, we could restore this point in time back to normal."

"How would the grail do that?" Her face fumed at him.

"For they named their relic after my cup." But Jesus Christ answered. "A cup that held my final miracle before my resurrection, the consecration of my blood and body, the Word made flesh, for all to feast and enjoy."

"Sounds gruesome. I like it."

"It blessed my Apostles, bestowing to them my blessings to them, so that they may spread the Orders of God. And thus, by passing upon my body and blood, they seeded the Holy Church throughout the world." His smile was genuine and bright as he gazed at Ritsuka. "My final miracle was the founding of the Church. The Grail forged by men is a sour attempt to do the same."

"To do… what?"

"A miracle, senpai." Mash answered. "The Holy Grail, once used, allows any one wish to be answered, by both the Master and Servant remaining." There was only one thing to say to that.

"Oh. Well that's impossible."

"It is very much possible! It is how Chaldea was formed, thank you very much!" Director Olga yelled once more. "Without it, Chaldea would have no funding and we would be without the ability to save humanity! My father's wish was for all the funds needed to found Chaldea, but that was a weaker wish he made, because he was sure anything more could damage the Order!"

"But now you're thinking of doin' just that, with the best intents of course. Using the Grail to wish the world back to normal, am I right?"

"Yes, though I will not be fooled by you." Cu didn't look insulted by Marie's wagging finger. "You were thinking the same thing, but just needed a Master to help use it, didn't you?"

"I said you were smart, so you don't need to show off." He cracked his neck. "That said, think it's obvious now why I wanna make a contract with your Master here. Wanna make it official so we have a leg up. Afterall, no telling with the Archer and Berserker are gonna start getting lucky in their search. So c'mon boy, shake."

His hand all but shot out towards Ritsuka. The boy nearly falling back it was in his face so quickly. Mash was gripping his jacket just as tight, keeping him straight. He stared at the hand for a full moment, following it up until he was looking at the sharp grin of the man it belonged to, to Cu Chulainn.

"Relax kid, I ain't gonna bite. I just want to make sure we're all on the same team 'fore we start taking roll calls." It still didn't feel right. He began to utter a prayer, before turning his eyes to his Lord.

He almost laughed. Almost.

"My Lord, what should I do?" Jesus stared at him. "Should I… should we accept his help?"

A long hum came from the Son of God, silencing any outburst the Director may have had. One of his hands rose to his chin, stroking his beard as he stared at the Celtic hero before him.

"There is no serpent on his tongue, nor wicked wish clinging to his back. He wishes for this War to end, and I may find no fault with one desiring the end of conflict. Whether it be that you accept his help or not, it is for you to decide."

"But… but you can tell me if it's right or not, can't you?"

"No, for such direction would take from you the choice of will." He never lost his smile. "I have told you of what I see and hear. It is for you to decide what choices to make with the weight of my words."

The breath Ritsuka left out was shuddering. He was still trying to grasp the idea of speaking to Christ himself, but now having to make a decision like this? It felt almost unfair.

A Holy Grail War, that involved some kind of wish granting chalice that wasn't the same as the Cup of Jesus? Servants that were bound to classes? Destroying entire cities to make a wish? History being upended? The fate of humanity on the line? It felt like tidal waves in his head. If nothing else, he couldn't say they weren't honest with him for why he'd be here.

Mash gripped the back of his shirt, chest pushing against his back. She wasn't about to let him go. That much was clear. He looked over his shoulder, staring at her. She gazed back.

It was the first time he realized how rich the lavender in her eyes was. And how intently they were gazing at him. It was enough to make him yearn for the scent, and give him the peace that often came with it.

"Okay…" he let out, facing the Servant with a raising hand. "Alright." He clasped his hand to Cu Chulainn's.

"Cool, now hold tight." He did as asked. "As the Lancer Class Servant of this War, I ask of you if you are my Master."

"I am. So please let us help you." The reply felt obvious.

"Eh, good enough." Then the scars began to burn.

"Ritsuka!" Mash called his name as he let out a small hiss, feeling as if a fresh coal was placed to the back of his palm. He let go of Cu, staring at it. "Ritsuka, a-are you alright? Does it hurt? I-I-I didn't read anything about it being painful!" He breathed deep as Mash worried. The red stylized cross was glowing on his hand, like a light was shining behind it. He breathed deep as the sensation continued down his arm. Ritsuka resisted the urge to scratch at it or forearm.

He let it stew, eyes on him as the glow of his hand permeated the air. Then, slowly it began to dwindle, almost as fast as it hard started. Slowly dropping away until only a faint numbness remained, not unlike when he cut off and released the circulation into his arm.

"Phew," the breath came out as he flexed his hand, ensuring there was still control in it. "I didn't think it would hurt."

"If you had strong Magical Circuits, it wouldn't." The Director almost spat out. "It's almost laughable how poor your qualities as a Magus are. But now isn't the time to remind you of your place. You're official the only Master in the vicinity and we have to find the others."

"Others?"

"Yes, others. There have to be others. If nothing else, I refuse to believe that out of the only ones to survive are the three of us. If I can make it, Professor Lev doubtlessly has as well. And if you can make it, I can't believe no other Master candidate would." She brushed a hand through her Alabaster hair. "The sooner we do so, the less concern we'll have for you."

"She means because you're supplying the Servants with Prana." Mash must have seen his confusion. "If we are to find the other Masters, we could supplement and make up for the pools. It will protect you."

"Protect me?"

"Seeing as we only have two Servants up against three potentially altered Servants, it would be foolish to make plans to attack now." She ignored him.

"What does altered mean? I-I thought they were corrupted." She didn't bother to look at him this time.

"Lancer, Cu Chulainn, do you know of anywhere else other Masters may appear?"

"You ask that like I've been setting up rendezvous locations." She stared at him. "Easy, easy there. Long answer is I have some ideas, but only cause I haven't seen the other Servants patrolling and I have no reason to go. Too open and pact with other monsters."

"And if you came to us first, it's likely because you didn't hear a commotion. So they wouldn't end up there. How likely is it they would appear near one of these other Servants?"

"About as likely as anywhere else I'd say. Not like they're gonna chose where to get dropped at, right?" He twisted his lance about him. "But if the lass is wanting to take a look for yerself, I can give you a lift. Be faster than you hiking around alone."

"A lift?" Her face flushed, again.

"Yeah, as in I put you on my shoulder and we-"

"I know what you mean!" She shouted back. "Just… the idea of being carried around like some sort of luggage isn't one that appeals to me."

"Wait, hold on," Ritsuka managed to pick up. "You're leaving? I mean you're planning to?"

"Not leaving, just trying to find the others. Pay attention." The Director scolded. "We may have a pair of potentially strong Servants here, but both of them are being supplied by just you, and you are a serious bottleneck when it comes to the amount of Prana you can allow them to take. If we want a chance to make our way out of here, we'll need to find another Master, or something else that can help."

"Gotta find 'em, too. Otherwise yer gonna tax yerself."

"You think he knows that?" Olga's words were harsh. "What he means is that you're going to be supporting two Servants with underdeveloped circuits. It will drain you."

"But more Masters will help." Mash finished. He screwed his lips, understanding, but loathing.

"Don't act like you're going to be helpless if I'm gone. If nothing else, the literal Jesus Christ there should be able to help you. That is far more than I expected you to manage." He wasn't even able to dream of a worst insult. Gazing up at his Lord, Jesus said nothing in return.

"Think you got it wrong, lass. Pretty sure he's worried about you. Aren't ya?" Cu asked. "Not even in a dreamy sort of way. Nah, you're lookin' out for her cause you already saved her life once, and you don't want her running off with a dog of a stranger, do ya?"

In so many words, he was right. And missing the point entirely.

"That's not-"

"I gotcha on it. Can't exactly get fussy about you bein' on edge about it. Wouldn't be much of a hero for my homeland if I didn't act like a proper Irishman. And we Irish know how to care for the ladies and lasses. Trust me on that."

"And if that's… not enough? I'm not saying that you're lying, I've just seen a lot of others in your position do just that."

"Lie?" He let out a breath of a laugh. "Trust me kid, if I lied about this, my dad would kill me before any other heroic spirit got the chance. But if you're looking for a bit more in the insurance department, I get it. I'm not exactly a stellar salesman over here. How about you look at your wrist for a second."

Ritsuka did just that. Staring at the cross of three parts. He understood what they were in name alone, but not what they would do.

"You're saying this makes you tell the truth?" He heard the Director let out a sound of aggravation behind the Lancer.

"Hahaha! You're a regular right, you know that?" He wished he wasn't at the moment. "It's actually simpler than that, and a heck of a lot more useful. You can consider those Command Spells the best kind of insurance I ain't gonna do anything to her." Cu flipped his thumb at the Director who made a huff, tapping her foot. "Cause if I do, you can just ask me ta off myself." The thumb drew across his neck.

"I can what?"

"Kill me. Those crests of yours are absolute, least they were every time I've seen 'em used. You can literally make me do anything, even if I'd rather tear out my own brain before doing it." He made a sound of negligence. "Heck make me do that, too. If ya want to get bloody."

Ritsuka rolled a ball of saliva around in his mouth. It tasted like blood, and he loathed it.

"Rest your mind, be at peace." His Lord and savior, however, calmed him with but a command. "Holding power is not a sin, no matter the weight it bears. You have the countenance of one loathing what he holds, but with thoughts teetering only at the edge of a table, where the bread and drink is liable to fall."

The hand of Jesus Christ fell upon his, holding the cross emblazoned hand. To Ritsuka, the touch was more of an offering than a thousand visits to the Church.

"Keep your thoughts and ideas in the center of the table you wish to feast upon. Balance it, so you may see all that lies before." Ritsuka nodded his head.

"I will, my Lord."

"Good thing you two are tight. It'll make the whole power balance a lot easier." Ritsuka looked towards Cu. "What? I'm bein' honest. This ain't my first Grail War, and I've seen plenty of Master either lord over their Servants, or the big guys they summon out right killin' them step one. You got the lottery with your relationship."

"He already won it because he summoned the founder of the Catholic Church," the Director corrected, he supposed. "Anything else is luck due to his foolishness."

"Weird how often that happens. The foolish gettin' lucky."

"Regardless of circumstance, it is now my job to act as should the Director. You at least try to do what you can as a Master, understood?" She popped her hip as she posed the question. He had seen such a stance before.

From officers, from office workers, from agents, from vagabonds on dirty streets.

Ritsuka said nothing as he bowed his head.

"Good. Lancer then, let's be off." She held out her arm towards the man. "You may lift me up, but I caution you to keep yourself from reaching too far."

"Again, Irish, women are treasures to us. And I can tell you're a lass worth more than your weight in gold." It was hard to tell if the blush she bore was out of anger or flattery. "Don't worry, I'll keep ya safe. Bring you back with a couple of friends, too. Hopefully that way we can have more luck against the other guys. Won't be much good alone."

"That is precisely why we have to hurry." Olga rounded Cu, grabbing at his back. "I doubt they'll be able to survive a Servant alone either. Not without having summoned one themselves."

"See, we're just an agreeing couple." Cu got down to one knee, giving the Director room to hoist herself onto his back. Now Ritsuka knew why she was blushing. "Just hold on tight now, and I'll see about getting back here in an hour, two tops."

"I thought you could clear the city in a few seconds?"

"Yeah, can you?" The question made the Director bite her lip. "Now that we're in agreement, I guess this is us." The blue-clothed man stood, easily even with the Director on his back. She let out a sound of surprise, but the red-eyed warrior only grinned down at Ritsuka. "Keep yourself safe Master. I'll be back in a bit." His free hand rose up, saluting him.

The boy just nodded, unsure.

"Cool! Take care then!" He spun on a heel, red lance at his side, and started a jog down the ashen street.

A job that was faster than any sprint Ritsuka believed himself capable of matching, and with the howl of the Director behind him. He watched them vanish over a pile of rubble, the fires of the burning city reaching for him, and missing by miles. Ritsuka let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

"Do you think the Director will be okay?"

"I hope so," he responded, looking towards Mash. "You think she's right? About the other Masters?"

"Director Olga Marie is the head of Chaldea, the one who holds direct connection to the Clocktower and is able to promote or change the influence of the Magus present as Masters, by her recommendation." He didn't understand any of that. "I-I apologize. I mean that they'll listen to her, and know who she is, because they… depend on her?"

"A child depends upon his mother. The plants depend upon the sun. What she has over these other mystics you name is not something of dependency." Jesus spoke. Ritsuka listened. "Perhaps that is why she left with the Child of Light. A man who holds great strength, and is aware of what he has."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It is not. To be aware of yourself is never a fault. To hold it above another, however, is a mockery of humility."

"My Lord, what do you make of them?" He posed the question, resisting the urge to fall to his knees again. He fought it, before hoping that his words didn't sound crass.

"I make of them as souls determined to ride their own strength. Fighting the whims of my father without thought to what their higher purpose is. Grasping at the rivers of the Jordan, hoping to find food, blaming others when their methods fail." His smile was kind, but the words were not. "Did you hear them pose a question to you or I?"

"I-I didn't."

"Because they thought themselves higher or equal." Ritsuka could see that. "You, the weights you have carried since arriving, and deeds you've accomplished in so short the day, did not see them as lesser than you. Your heart is humble, and your spirit kind." The Jesus looked past Ritsuka.

A twist of his head, and he was joining Jesus Christ with staring at Mash. The girl looked between them.

"I-I apologize. Did I… am I meant to say something?"

The Lord only laughed, and Ritsuka could think angels would sound akin to nails on a chalkboard in comparison.

"You have not erred either, Mash Kyrielight. Rest your weary soul, for I promise no harm shall came to you so long as you lay your fears upon my yoke."

"Yoke, as in an old tool used for transport with animals. I… I don't see any." Ritsuka sighed. "O-Oh! It was a metaphor. Of course, right, I-I apologize Jesus. Lord? My Lord? A-are you… is that appropriate?"

His Lord only continued to laugh, hands resting on the shoulders of Mash.

"Your fears are unfounded, and question of address and easy one to answer. First, I only ask that you know I am your Lod. To you and all who live in m father's world. Astray you may wander, sheep born without their Shepard, but I have returned to protect." Mash nodded at his words, hands curling at her own chest. "And my yoke is one that you could not fathom if eyes were lain upon it. One commonly known, yet heavier than anything a beast of burden may have bore. Your sins may be laid upon it, your fears, your ideas, and your worries. I will take them all, and thank you for trusting in me."

Mash didn't answer, not immediately. Her mouth floundered, staring up at Jesus Christ, and Ritsuka had no fault for her action.

"Ritsuka … I-I believe I understand now." She looked towards him. "This Servant is… I-I can't breathe. I'm sorry, that's not appropriate. Not here a-and not like this." She wrung her hands again.

"Peace upon you, and worries be gone." Jesus slid his hand to the back of her neck, patting beat the fears from her soul. "You have not heard of my Word, perhaps only whispers before. There is no need for you to feel terror in my presence."

"But I don't know you. I-I know about all the Servants that were potential summons for Chaldea a-and you weren't among them. Now it feels wrong like I screwed up a-and that's bad because I haven't been able to be of use to the rest of facility and now that I have the chance-" She bit her lip before she could continue on. Ritsuka waited for his Lord to speak again, to comfort her.

"Ritsuka, what do you know?" Instead he spoke to him.

"My Lord?"

"Of this world you find yourself thrust into. What do you know?"

"… Nothing, o-or at least not much. I know of you, but-"

"Now you, Mash Kyrielight. What do you know?"

"Most of it? A-A lot?" She shook her head, before shutting her eyes. "I have studied the history of the Holy Grail Wars as well as the potential servants. This includes the most effective catalysts and the means to allow them to be summoned. This has been used frequently throughout time and due to the limitation on Heroic Spirits, the Chaldea system was created to help supplement the Prana draw required for-"

"Hush," the same command came. She followed, blinking up at him. "Now realize the words you have offered. Compare them to those of the man who saved you."

Mash stared at Ritsuka, and he back to her.

"He knows nothing of this new land, but he has been devout to my faith since his age was counted on one hand." He tried not to blush. He failed. "And you are a lamb ignorant of my grace. Yet for this new world that threatens the masses, you have knowledge far beyond his."

Her face flushed, and Ritsuka swallowed. Jesus Christ only smiled between them.

"I will speak and guide, as a Shepard is meant to do for his flock. Trust in me, as I am here to cull that which threatens you, and lead you pastures where you may nourish. Now knowing that which I have lain before, I ask that you both speak." He looked from Ritsuka to Mash. "Speak of things you do not know, so that you may teach one another. This world is far too large to have any one soul learn of it alone."

Clap. He patted Mash on her shoulders, turning away from them. Ritsuka watched, wondering if it would be appropriate to get to his feet and start after him, but a heavy weight held him down. The words of the Lord were a great thing to bear. And Mash was someone he didn't want to ignore the words of.

"So… how do I ask this? You know Jesus well? Oh no." She shook her head as soon as the words fell out. "That sounds wrong, like I'm presuming your best friends."

"Actually, I kind of hope that we are." The girl looked up at him, but he didn't lose his smile. "I'm being honest. I never met him before, but he is one of the few reasons I think I've made it this far in life."

"But you've never met him before. So how is that possible?"

"I have faith in him, and I know what he did to prove his faith in me, in us." He gestured.

"For me?"

"Yes, and everyone else like us." His hand flickered between the two of them. "Jesus Christ is the man who is the Son of God himself. The Word made flesh." Just mentioning his name made him smile. "I can't tell you the number of miracles he's worked. Those that are written in the bible and testaments that happened after he ascended into heaven."

"And you know a lot about them?" Ritsuka smiled.

"I know them all. How couldn't I want to read all about the man who suffered the world to save us."

"Suffered?"

"Yeah, the worst of it." His eyes looked around. "This looks bad, but he came at a time when this was all that was in the souls of men." The silence from the girl begged him to continue. "He came when they didn't worship for fear of God, but instead to barter and trade. He came to them and threw them out of the temple for besmirching the law of his father, but then gave peace to those who most needed it."

"Who were they?"

"Everyone. Lepers, beggars, fishermen, whores, anyone who was lost and begging for help. He sought them out." There was a story for every category. "He cast demons out of them and forsook the deals of the devil. He was man so he could experience everything we were tempted with, but he was God so he could show us how to rise above them."

Mash looked away from him, eyes trailing back to Jesus. He could hardly blame her. Watching the man clothed in white, sitting now on a stone of rubble, staring down the burning street like a sunset. It didn't matter if this place was akin to hell. He made the air around him look like paradise.

"When I call him the Son of God, it isn't something I'm trying to make light of. He really is just that, the son of the divine being that created all the heavens and earth. Or purity, our souls, and our grace. To see him here… I can't even put to words how amazing it is."

"I suppose I can see it." She must have heard her own mistake. "I-I apologize! I didn't mean that to insult. I just… I-I've never heard of him like this before."

"Never like this?"

"Never. As in, not… in detail?" She tried. "I've been reading books for as long as I've been alive, and learning about Magecraft as well." She looked at her hands.

"I'm a little surprise, too." Ritsuka replied. "I mean, not that you don't know, a-and I'm not upset." He held up his hands as her jaw fell. "Just… I thought that you'd meet someone who at least believed in him."

"… Is there a name for someone who believes in him?" She worked her jaw again. "I-I mean, I apologize, but what do you call yourself?"

"Catholic." He had no shame to the title.

"And, if it's okay for me to ask, a-are there rules you have to follow? I know there are those for the Magus, as well as research goals."

"There are the ten commandments, delivered by Moses from the top of Sinai. But there are many laws we must abide for Jesus, or else we tempt ourselves with sin. One of them, for example, is using the Lord's name?"

"You can't speak his name? But… then have you been breaking that this whole time." He blinked.

"Oh! No no no, I meant as in like a curse. As in using his name for something bad. Like, watching someone being hit than proclaiming his name. Or blaming him for something bad that happened to you."

"Do people do that often?"

"It's more like… people do it out of surprise. Some are good about it." He hoped he was.

"Then others that aren't Catholic use his name like that? Badly?"

"Yeah. They're usually the ones to do it the most."

She put a hand to her lips, bending down as if in thought. He watched her, ankles folded over one another and hair covering one of her eyes. She looked pristine to him, even if ash and soot covered her clothing. He knew the same applied to himself.

"I think… could it mean Professor Lev was a Catholic then?"

Ritsuka blinked. "Who?"

"Professor Lev. He hates it when people would curse with Jesus… w-with the Lord's name."

"Lev… Professor Lev, isn't he the guy in the green suit? And the really tall hat?" He wasn't rude to him persay, but he wasn't exactly running to his defense in front of the Director. More like he was trying to pacify the situation over defend him. "You think he's Catholic, too?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure. I was told it was rude to ask people personal questions. And being rude can make you disliked." There was no brokering a 'maybe' in her words. "But there were a few other Chaldea Staff who said Jesus's name like that. I-It's why I know at least about him." Not the way he would have preferred to hear of his Lord. "But Professor Lev always got… stiff when he heard it." She ducked her head into her shoulders as if to demonstrate.

"Huh." It was all that he could offer. "And… he's the guy that the Director is looking for?"

"Oh, yes, I'm sure she is. He's probably the one she's looking for the hardest." He didn't understand why. "Professor Lev, or Lev Lainur, is one of the architects of Chaldea. He helped Director Olga's father, Marisbury Animusphere, develop the technology to rayshift. After her father died, he helped to raise her and teach her what would be necessary to make sure the facility ran."

"So she's been literally raised to do this?"

"Yes, that's correct." Mash sounded proud of the answer. "It is something that I believe makes her treat me better than others. She was raised to be a leader of Chaldea, and I grew up in Chaldea."

"You grew up there?"

"All my life." Her hand curled at her chest. "I've never even seen the walls outside. It's too dangerous, as I've been instructed." Mash's eyes averted his. "It's rude to speak against those who raised you."

Ritsuka didn't know how to respond. So instead, he only stared. He watched the girl who had spoken kindly to him when he awoke on the floor, the same girl he had begged Jesus Christ to save, the very girl who had been saved, call it improper to even ask to go outside. It was not something he expected to hear, but he knew it was a sour spot.

He'd seen what happened when you pushed a sensitive topic.

"Then, instead… do you know about the man from before?"

"Hmm? Who?" Mash started, before flushing. "I-I apologize! I was lost in thought and I didn't hear your question."

"It's okay, really. I just… I don't know anything about the guy from before. The man in the blue suit? Cu, I think."

"Cu Chulainn, the Child of Light. He is a famed hero of Ireland from the Ulster Cycle."

"You do know him them."

"Yes, I have read many stories about him. His legends regarding not only his wars, but also his final stand and tendency to go berserk in battle. He was one of the originators of the hero myths in Ireland.

"That's good, because I don't know anything about him. All I've ever read is the bible and texts about the saints." She looked surprised at his confession. "Mash, can you tell me about him?" The girl caught her breath, the smile at her lips undeniable before she answered.

"O-Of course, I'd be happy to. The library in Chaldea is extensive, a-and I had a lot of spare time." But no Bible to read?

Mash stopped for a moment, straightening her posture and coughing into her fist.

"Cu Chulainn is one of the greatest heroes of the Ulster Cycle. He was originally named Setanta, but after killing a famed guard dog of a deity of the land, he took the mantle as the new dog. Born as both the son and reincarnation of the God Lugh, he was destined to be a great warrior, and his clan knew it. He trained underneath the queen of the shadow lands, Scathach, before besting her sister in combat and returning home to fight for his kingdom. He did so with the weapon Gae Bulg and a supposed sword brighter than the sun, b-but I can't remember what it was called."

She nodded twice, the grin of satisfaction across her lips. She took another deep breath of the ashen air before continuing.

"Like many of the heroes of the Ulster cycle, Cu Chulainn's story is about redemption as well as warrior pride. He was born and destined to be a great hero, but that journey didn't begin until he accidently killed the guard dog of his father. It was an accident because another invited him to a feast, but no one held the dog back. So he slew the dog, then seeing his error, swore to Lugh that he would be his new guard dog. Hence why he's called Cu Chulain, which can translate to hound." She nodded some more. "When he was made to be trained as a guardsman, he went to the Shadowlands where the Queen, Scathach, was. She trained him in both archery, swordsmanship, spearing, and even some runes." Runes? "However, her price was that he would challenge her sister, Aife. He did beat her, after a long battle, and he was rewarded with the lance Gae Bulg, which I believe is the lance you saw him holding before, as well as impregnating Aife."

Ritsuka listened to her, valuing everything she said. He really did. Not everything he heard flattered him, but he knew that it wouldn't be possible to expect the laws of Christ to apply to this land. No, not when he was so casual with meeting Jesus himself. But there was one part of her explanation that he just couldn't accept.

"You said he's the son of… a god?" She nodded brightly at him. "How?"

Her face flushed.

"U-Um…" She bit her lip. "As in… y-you want me to explain… how he was… conceived?" Her fingers rattled together. "That… I-I-I can tell you how but… i-is it appropriate?" Her face flushed.

Ritsuka's was quick to join her.

"U-Ugh, no, hold on!" He held up his hands, nearly falling off of the small pile of rubble he sat on. "I-I-I-I didn't mean it like that! You don't have to- not- no!"

"Right! No! I mean… yes i-i-it would be rude a-a-and in appropriate to talk-or mention or… ugh…" Her hands went to her, pulling her bangs down until lavender locks spilled over her glasses. Ritsuka flushed at the sight further, the heat running up his collar having little to nothing to do with the heat of the flames.

Oh what an idiot he was, asking her about something like that. What would Jesus Christ think of him, having asked a girl like Mash to explain… that!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

From the sound he heard, quite well.

"My Lord?" He managed to speak, daring to gaze towards Jesus. The Son of God had since stood and began to walk towards them, his smile as bright as it was before. It made Ritsuka shake. "I apologize and confess my sins my Lord. I had… I did not mean to make Mash think of something a-and I didn't want-"

"Cease your confession, Ritsuka Fujimaru." And so his lips shut. "I care not for a cry of guilt that comes from innocent intent. Not when no souls are scarred or bodies harmed. And neither to you Mash Kyrielight. Let me see you."

The girl peaked past the bangs of her hair, lips trembling. She was well controlled, Ritsuka realized. Here he was shaking with his thoughts.

"You both have begun to speak to one another, of topics the other does not know. It is a natural part of any talk, those had of new matters or renewed ideas, to stumble upon matters ill-suited for speech." His eyes, a blue that felt capable of quelling the flames with a glance, look towards them both. "And in your speech, you have revealed something more."

"About each other?" Ritsuka guessed.

"Yes and more. You have shown not only each other, but also myself, the innocence of children."

"The innocence of children? Is that a good thing?" Mash asked, before raising her hands. "I-I apolo-confess! I confess as well! I did not mean."

"Again to you, do not confess your innocence as a sin. That is the gift my father gave to all newly born into this world, and that which is slowly washed from you as you experience the sin of the world. You both of have seen much already in the short lives you have led, and yet neither have left behind that innocence regarded as the greatest of heaven's gifts and treasures."

"Innocence is something that I shouldn't have as a member of Chaldea." Her hands covered her mouth a moment later. A moment too late. "I-I'm-"

"There you are incorrect," Jesus laid the words upon her. "A loss of innocence is a trade unfit for your soul. To lose that innocence is to wish for material knowledge and other sins. Perhaps to recognize them, perhaps to prevent them, but in any sense, to lose the purity you have. For a loss of innocence is a loss of my father's love."

"Then I humbly confess. And I do apologize profusely." Mash was standing and bowing as she spoke the words.

"Once more I cannot accept your confession, as your deeds were born not of ill will. And to that, you will have to speak with far more venom to scar my father's will." Jesus looked to Ritsuka. "You will have much to tell her, as she will have a great deal to explain to you. Do you find yourself capable?"

"To do what, my Lord? Explain who you are?" He took in a short breath. "I-I can, but wouldn't you be better at that? I'm just someone they pulled off the streets to be here. I'll explain! I will, but… how can I possibly explain who you are better than yourself?"

"Because you were born as she was. Not as I was."

Clap. He patted the boy's shoulders, as if to brush the demons off of them. The weight of the hand made his body feel lighter.

"So I ask again, can you tell her of me?"

"Yes, I will." The hand on his shoulder was tight, and the smile that fell on him divine.

"I am pleased to hear this. And you Mash, can you explain to him?" The girl made a sound of confusion. "You will hear of me from his lips, but can you tell to him the world he will be venturing into? The one in which you have been absorbed? What you know and what you chose to share will be what he may wield in this world. Will you help him through it?"

"Yes, of course!" She nearly jumped. "Where can I start? When should I start? Oh, I'm sorry, is now a good time to ask?" Jesus chuckled, his Lord laughed before answering.

"You need not worry, nor rush to fulfill your duties. Your oaths are not to be satisfied by the crow of the next day's bird, but following many moons of travel. Far more is to be said between your pair than merely short conversations. Do you understand?"

"I think I do." "As do I."

"Very good," Jesus nodded. "Now, let us be off."

"Off? I thought we were waiting for Director Olga?"

"She believes we are waiting for her, but for us to wait here will not suit us well." He explained, sandals already treading across the ash and soot. "I will lead us to where we need to be, and from there the turmoil of this land will show its heart. Come, we cannot stall now."

Ritsuka jogged lightly to catch up to the to coat tails of his Lord's robe, and Mash was quick to join. They were side by side in a moment, exchanging a look as they walked the same ground as Jesus Christ, following his path. For the young boy, it was everything he could have hoped for. And it was a path that was going to be shared.

"Thank you for helping me," he told Mash.

"No, thank you," her return was quick. "I don't know much about him, and I don't know why there wasn't a book about him in Chaldea. But if you're here, then I'll learn everything I can. And that feels… it feels good. So thank you, Senpai."

"Senpai?"

"Yes, Senpai," her smile grew as she walked next to him. "We are both following a new teacher, and you know more than I do. You promised him that you will tell me everything that he did, and why he is so great. I trust you, so, you are my Senpai now."

"Maybe," he admitted. "Then I guess I'll have to call you that, too. Senpai." Her smile fell as the now familiar blush crept across her. "I'm not trying to tease. You promised to tell me about these… Magus as well. I don't know anything about it, but you promised to teach me. And I trust you, as well. So thank you, Senpai."

Mash said nothing in response, only tilting her head away. Her lavender hair hid her face, and from his taller stature, he could see nothing more than her chin. It was still enough for him to smile, content to walk side by side with one of the few people who had been kind to him in his life, and behind the Lord who had given him purpose and hope.

And as they walked, their hands tickled one another, but neither had reason to draw away. Both noticed, and neither spoke of it. Neither did the Lord leading them, aware of all that occurred before and behind him.

"As I said, the innocence of children." Jesus continued to walk. "A gifted treasure all others lose."

---

He was used to walking long distance for long times, but the terrain then was, at worst just gnarly hills. Here he was walking across ruined pavement, rubble, ash, soot, and enough other forms of ruin to make him wary of his every step. That didn't speak for the ideas of what else could be lurking around the corners, more of those monsters or the so called Servants.

Ritsuka voiced no complaints though. He continued his walk behind his Lord and Master, letting the patter of his sandals soothe his soul. Acknowledging alone that he was walking behind the most high Jesus Christ was something that was akin to heaven itself. But it wasn't enough to keep him walking forever. His spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

"Senpai?" Mash whispered next to him. "Is it okay to say that I'm tired?"

"It's not wrong to say that, and I'm going to go ahead and guess you are."

"Y-Yes, sorry, but I am. This is far more than I've ever walked in a single day." Her hands massaged her thigh as she took a step, only to hop on her other foot while she did so. "I'm sure it will be beneficial for me, but my legs are becoming heavy."

"That's normal. Be more worried if you never got tired." He cracked it as a joke, but she only bit her lip as she gazed at him, doing her best to keep his pace. "Sorry, bad joke."

"It's okay. I would make worse ones." He chuckled at that. "But I ask, or say, because… I-I would like to stop. If possible." She turned from him before he could answer.

Both of their eyes settled on Jesus Christ, who continued his strides forward, undeterred by the ruination and hellscape around him. Ritsuka nodded his head.

"And you don't want to tell Jesus that you want to stop."

"Wouldn't it be rude?"

"It would not be." The Lord himself, however, did. "Rest is what allows the body to heal and grow. To forsake such a thing in respect for my wishes is not an act of humility, but one of pride." He turned to them, smile on his face. "If you care to rest, you only need ask. I can only do as you request of me."

"Then can we stop for a moment? I-If it is alright, of course, with you. I don't want to impose on you and-"

"Hush, Mash," Jesus spoke with raised hand, silencing the girl. "You are weary from a long day, and events that would try any man's soul. We will rest, and you may recover. Here would be good." He declared with a wave of his hand.

A hand that motioned towards a decrepit building, one of the thousands in the city, and the inferno that consumed it. For its credit, it was still standing, in the sense that it had a roof and gate, but it looked no more inhabitable than any other ruined place.

"My Lord, the house is on fire." He swallowed, hoping this wasn't considered questioning God.

"It is. That will ensure it is warm for us." Ritsuka still didn't understand. "A pity the Master of this house is no more. I would have liked to share wine with him, and speak of the deeds he wished to accomplish. Come, let us enter." Jesus commanded before his devout follower could question.

As Jesus Christ approached the entryway, the fires parted before him. They parted, shirking at his presence, before dwindling into nothing. Neither ash nor smoke remained. Only the charred halls that they had been born from.

Ritsuka and Mash watched. One mouth agape, the other grinning with a soaring heart.

"Senpai! The fire!"

"I know."

"He can do that?" He looked to Mash.

"He's the Lord. He can do anything." The awe started to glow across her face.

"I say again, come. The home is warm, and we may find rest in here." Neither needed to be told again. The pair followed Jesus in, sticking just behind him as the Lord continued into the main hall. The fires hissed at him as he approached, dying out all the same.

"Should we take off our shoes before entering?" Mash questioned.

"If you wish. I will not." Jesus spoke simply. "I would only ask you find a place in here to rest. I will protect you as you lay down your eyes, and see to it you arise fit to wander again." Ritsuka looked about the home, or what wasn't too damaged from the fires.

The stairs to lead to the upper floors were burned to a charred black, unsafe to step on. The hallway that led deeper into the house having collapsed, beams and pillars of stone blocking it off. Only the large room adjacent to their entry was undamaged, in at least that the fires were gone. Furniture was spread out inside, the fabric of each one having already curled and long since lost its color. The cotton sat curdled as well, looking more like stone than soft material.

He smiled, thankful that they had found anything at all.

"Is there anywhere you'd prefer to rest, my Lord?" He asked.

"The chair. It will suit me well." He spoke no more as he approached a chair in the corner of the room. Wooden, something that should have turned to ash before anything else in the home, yet remained only slightly damaged. As he turned to settle on it, he motioned towards the rest of the room. "Please, unburden yourselves. I am meant to carry your woes, not have you bear them for my sake."

"Thank you," Mash replied, bowing deeply. "Senpai, you should rest, too."

"You're right." He nodded, finding a small couch to sit on. He fell back on it, feeling the lumps of the hardened cotton and supports digging into him. It was no the most comfortable seat he'd ever taken, but compared to the usual beds he made, it was fine for him.

In the presence of his God, it was perfect.

"Are you alright, Senpai? You look uncomfortable." Mash bounced on the cushion next to him, or what little of it wasn't damaged. "Is the seat too hard? Or maybe it's too hot? It was on fire just before."

"I'll be okay, promise." He knew he would be. "You should rest though. I mean, if this is farther than you've walked before."

"My legs should be alright. Now that they aren't weight bearing. I'm more impressed that you aren't in pain. I-I mean, you weren't just walking, you were also running before, and you helped me, and the Director. So you should be more tired than I am."

"I'm just used to this." The admission made her brow rise. So he spoke on. "I'm used to wandering. When you do, there aren't a lot of comfortable places for you to relax. Plus, it means you have to be ready to move at any given time. This is only a little harder than I'm used to, but there is someone here making it a lot better." She blushed at his comment. "And thank the Lord he is here for both of us."

"Oh, right."

"You continue to bless my name with your words, and you are blessed for offering them. Now you must rest yourself." His hand rose again, palm out towards them. "Lay down your weary limbs and let them sleep. Settle your fears as you calm your bodies. There is danger beyond these walls, but in here I promise nothing shall harm you."

With those words, all the fears of the fires burning around them were gone. No matter how hard the seat was he was sitting on, to Ritsuka, it felt like the mattress of a king. He was speaking to one.

"Thank you again, Lord… my Lord… right?" Mash attempted to speak.

"Not yet." The answer made the girl's eyes widen in shock. "You have learned little of me beside from my name and singular deed. You have yet to accept what is my will, that or the presence of my father. You know of me by testimony, but you have yet to come seek me. Until such time, I am not your Lord."

"But that's… that's bad. Senpai worships you a-and that's something that's good, right? Even the Director knows of you."

"She would no more no more than she would a preacher's testimony. Her mouth may recount what her ears hear, but her soul cannot acknowledge my presence alone." His hand held itself out towards Ritsuka. He was tempted to rise and bow towards it. "Yet the man beside you has accepted me into his spirit, accepting my sacrifice and offering me blessings for it. You have not."

"Then can I now?"

The Lord laughed. A warm wound that held no qualms or mockery towards the lavender haired girl.

"No, not so fast." Blue eyes looked out beyond the edge of his hood, smile as clear as the fires past the windows of the home. "Your body is weary, and flesh of man is weak. Your spirit calls to me, but you must care for your home first. See to it as a temple, and invite me into your hallowed halls, so then I may preach to you and share the word of God."

If Ritsuka had fallen asleep at that moment, he was sure he would have had immaculate dreams.

"That makes sense. Thank you," Mash bowed her head. "And I… um, how do I phrase this… Is it okay that I haven't heard or studied you before?"

"You have a parishioner you already see as your teacher, and I the Lord above him. He will instruct, he will teach, and I will guide. And no different is he to you then you will be to him."

"I'm sorry?"

"The kingdom of my father is what he will teach you, but as I have instructed, you will be the one to guide him through this new world he faces. The pair you are, guiding one another. As I have seen fit to organize, and I now wish to see you both grow. Thus is my command. But before your lessons begin, or you speeches to him, you must rest. Rest, for the next day will be one of travel and trials." That was worrying.

"Do you know what is going to happen, Lord?"

"I do, for the Word was foretold far before my coming."

"Is that Clairvoyance?" Ritsuka looked at Mash. "I-It's a special skill used by some Servants. An ability to perceive a future event. The stronger the skill, the further into the future and more definite the event. Some famous figures such as Arash the archer and Fionn Cumhaill."

"I don't know either of them. Are they famous?"

"Yes! Arash was an archer famed for firing an arrow to end a war. It split the country in two, separating the armies. It was a blow so strong that it cost him his life. And Fionn Cumhaill ate a mystical salmon that allowed him to predict future events."

"That last one doesn't sound too impressive."

"But it allowed him to create an army capable of defending his kingdom, because he knew what the enemy would bring and what he needed to keep them away." Her smile grew as she spoke. "They are famed heroes, those who were able to predict not only the future, but also what was needed to prevent it. I apologize if it is presumptuous, but I thought… it feels as though you have the same ability."

"You do not offend me with your question. Many have thrown accusations of heresy towards me. A curiosity of the workings of my father's will is not worth condemnation." Jesus folded his hands in his lap, looking at them across the room. Ritsuka wasn't willing to break eye contact, not with such kind eyes and inviting smile. "Tell me, are you hungry?"

That question did make him blink though.

"I'm sorry?" Ritsuka mirrored Mash's confusion.

"Hunger. I am curious if you both suffer from it. This has not been the harshest of trials thus far, but I can see the fatigue and waste bearing on you. So I wonder if either of you hunger." With his question, he reached between his robes and produced a loaf of bread. It appeared just as that, an ordinary loaf of bread.

To Ritsuka, who knew who was the man holding that loaf, he understood what it must be, and his pallet was wet at the sight.

"I see you wish to feast," Jesus spoke kindly to him, before blue eyes turned towards the girl next to him. "And you, Mash Kyrielight. Do you wish for anything to eat?"

"Um… o-only if you are offering. I won't ask for your food, not after you've saved me."

"It is because I saved you that I offer it. For those who I help rise deserve more than a mere fleeting touch. Should you wish to join me in the enteral kingdom and follow my teachings, I will see that you shall never hunger nor thirst." The bible verse flowed through Ritsuka's mind as he watched Jesus break bread.

It was a miracle in its own right he had retained his consciousness, though far and minor to the one before him.

"Please, eat," Jesus spoke as he reached forth with the bread. "For this is my gift to you." Ritsuka reached forth with a hesitant hand, suddenly fearful that he may insult his Lord for the offering he had for him. Mash mirrored him. Both grasped the loaves offered, and slowly began to eat them.

Slowly, but the nourishment of the bread filled Ritsuka's soul. He sucked in a breath of air as he tore into another bite of the offering, tasting far more than he had with anything else he'd been offered on the streets. Not any soup kitchen nor housing project had given bread as filling as this!

"Th-This is amazing," Mash confirmed next to him. "The texture is… i-it feels like I'm eating a cloud." A blush came over her, even as she swallowed another bite. "I'm sorry if that's insulting."

"The fervor you feast is thanks to me, and comparisons to the kingdom the bread was parched in will not insult me," Jesus raised his hand as he spoke, smile broad. Ritsuka swallowed another heavy bite of the bread, down to only the last crust of it before the words of his Lord truly reached him.

"Made in… This is… manna?" He held up the last scrap of the bread, watching Jesus Christ nod with the most charitable smile mankind could offer. It filled Ritsuka's mind as the bread did his body and soul. "Oh… oh wow…"

"Manna? This isn't bread?" He looked at her quickly to explain.

"Manna is the bread that rained from heaven in the time of Moses, so that the Jews who escaped the Egyptians would not starve. It came after a time of fasting, and it was more fulfilling than any wheat of the earth." He suddenly wanted more, unaware if it was or was not a sin. "Food from heaven, rained from heaven."

"And passed from me to you. You will need it in the day to come. But for now, the hour is late and the journey long. Rest now, so that you may be prepared for the next day."

Ritsuka watched as he leaned his head back and shut his eyes. He did not slouch or slump, and thankfully didn't so much as fall off of his chair, but it was evident he was letting himself rest. Just the same way he wanted them to. Who was he to do against his Lord's will?

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for informing me. So do I just lay back?" Mash asked. Ritsuka found her trying to adjust her clothes as she sat on the ruined sofa next to him. "I can try, but I don't have experience going to sleep sitting up."

"Never?"

"I-I have seen Dr. Archaman do it, a lot." Mash added on. "But when I do, I tend to fall over. And it's usually comfortable to sleep in a bed. I know that there are none available now, and with Jesus here… it would seem rude to ask for a bed and he doesn't have one."

"You're right there," Ritsuka quickly agreed. He thought about it for a moment. Going to sleep in chairs was hardly new for him, something that he had come to expect on the longer nights. Those at bus stops were his only way to be comfortable, once they installed the bumps and spikes. "If you want, I can find somewhere else and you can lie down here."

"No no, you don't have to do that," she waved her hands at him. "I know there isn't anywhere else, and I wouldn't want you to go to sleep somewhere less comfortable. I'll manage to fall asleep Senpai, I promise." He didn't doubt her, but he knew that it wouldn't make him sleep easy.

Knowing that the girl who had been kind to him, and was seeking the Word of Jesus, was uncomfortable in his presence didn't help his soul rest. Fortunately, he had an idea. It was what he had learned from a few others in Osaka when he had been there before.

"Why don't you lay down on my lap?"

"Eh?" She made the noise almost immediately.

"My lap, you can lay your head on it." He patted his thighs, leaning back. "I know it wouldn't be like a pillow or a cushion, but it'll be easier than resting on the floor or something. And you'll be able to lie down." Mash continued to stare at him, face turning a deeper red. He checked to make sure the fires had not returned, but it was stupid to think they would. How could they when Jesus was so close by.

"You want me… to lay… on you?" The blush continued.

"Yeah, just for now. It'll be more comfortable for you. I used to do it a lot, and trust me, I can fall asleep like this." He knew he could. "It's okay, I'm inviting you to."

Mash's jaw shook, and she gazed at him. Her glasses looked a bit hazy again. She must have been really tired, as she was panting now, too.

"O-Okay… if… if it is okay with you… Senpai." He smiled kindly to her, as best he could at least.

"Of course it is. You helped me before, and this is the least I can do now." The very least in fact. The girl nodded again, as if trying to hold herself back still.

Slowly though, she moved closer to him, letting her torso fall until her head settled on his lap. The outer edge of his though, leaving only one leg covered, but enough to prop her head up and keep her comfortable, he hoped at least. She was warm, and Ritsuka was sure it was because they had both bathed in fire for the past day.

"Is that okay?" He asked. Rather than words, the girl only mutely nodded her head. He smiled, she must have been tired. "Good. Have a good rest, Mash."

"… you too, Senpai," her voice came out as a whisper. Her hands curled up, legs coming off the floor to join her on the ruined sofa. She curled into a ball next to him, head still on his lap. A content sigh left him, satisfied to see herself getting comfortable.

And for a time, that was it. He let the fatigue from his long day slowly drain from him as his body sunk into the burned and charred sofa, what it could at least. The air came and left him in heavy breaths, filled with the scent of smoke and ash. His arms covered the back end of the furniture, feeling the wood jutting from the edges, his fingers find the slivers, breaking them. An act to keep himself safe, knowing what was necessary.

His eyes slowly shut as his fears for the day bled from him, enjoying the girl who napped next to him, head on his lap, and the Lord Jesus Christ before him. His presence alone kept the worries of the day far from him.

"You rest well for a confused soul." But his word brokered for immediate attention.

"M-My Lord?" Ritsuka spoke, rousing himself from the dreariness he was slowly slipping into. He made to move, but felt the weight of Mash's head on his shoulders. It kept him seated. "My Lord?" He asked again in a whisper.

"I am here, I am listening." He hardly moved across from him, but his blue eyes were a pool of nurture and rest. "I only wish to offer you words, as I can tell your soul still struggles."

"My Lord?"

"You ask yourself this, 'How does the Kingdom of God relate to this world of magic and mystics'."

Ritsuka couldn't say he was surprised. It was just as hard to say he was impressed. He only felt the same admiration for Jesus he had felt since he first received the Eucharist. The difference between then and now was obvious.

Jesus Christ was still before him, lecturing him in a home he had saved from absolute ruin, by presence alone.

"You have yet to truly pose this question, but the moments were there. How may this man who has eyes like a demon be proud to say he is the son of a false god?" Ritsuka's heart lurched. "How can the woman who knew of him be so easy to accept both him and my Lord, when one undermines the other?"

"I… I don't know," he confessed. "Forgive me Jesus, but I don't have an answer a-and I didn't. I just… didn't think about it."

"Few of my father's creations can do just that. Let go of that which confuses them." He hummed, a sound that felt as if it could carry any tune in the world. "The woman who directs you, the leader of the Mystics. She knew of me." Jesus spoke on. "She spoke of me and yet held no adoration for me. Of what do you make of this?" He forced his jaw to work.

"I think… she doesn't understand your greatness."

"She understands of my stories, and her post forces her to believe the might of those who come before her." Right, because of the Servants. "So why then did she not ask of me anything?"

"You would have given her anything?"

"Not nearly so much," Jesus returned, smile ever present. "But I would have offered her the same harbor and peace you and Mash enjoy." His hands motioned towards the girl next to him, resting with a head on Ritsuka's lap. "Yet she asked for nothing. And not only her, but also the fabled Child of Light from the home of Ireland. The place that adopted by father's word faster than most others."

"I-I almost forgot about that." Ritsuka felt like shaking his head. "About Ireland, I mean. Mash is… I haven't known her long, but I can tell she has a wonderful soul."

"How do you discern this?"

"Because she didn't know me before, but she was concerned for me. When I first attempted, or I guess the world is simulated, the Rayshifting, I got tired and passed out. I think you heard the Director call me out for that."

"In so many words, from so different a place." Ritsuka blushed.

"Right, of course," He chuckled lightly, warmed but still whispering to Jesus. "Mash was the only one to help me up, and then we started talking. She was easy to talk to, and she enjoyed talking to me. She wanted to show me Chaldea, and welcomed me there. She didn't change what she thought of me when she heard how weak and useless I was. I think she actually… I think she paid more attention to me."

"And how have you come to know this?"

"Because… she defended me in front of the Director." He twisted his head. "Not like a fight, but with words. She was trying to keep me safe. And if she really though that I was nothing-"

"She'd release you from her care." Jesus finished for him. He tilted his head back, the hood of his robe keeping him from showing the expression across his face. "There have been many in your life to not offer to you the fruit of patience."

"There've been people who have."

"But not many." He wasn't wrong. "And the one who does is now one who wishes to learn from you. She has tasted the nectar of patience, being offered time to think, to ponder, to wonder. You have been given so little from others to do so. Can you offer this girl that which wasn't offered so readily to you?"

"Yes." There wasn't any need to think about it. "Because it's what you would do."

"It is, but you are not I, though I may dwell within you."

"I know that. But I was taught by Father Ciel, and he made it clear that if we are to be worthy of the Kingdom of God, y-your kingdom of course."

"Of course."

"Of course… If we are to be worthy of your kingdom, we must be like you. I'll make mistakes, I'll screw up, a lot, and I'll have to ask for forgiveness, something you never did." He looked away from God, the memories of all those times rushing to him. How could he stare at his savior and remember his sins? It'd be like staining him.

The lavender hair of mash, resting on his leg, however, was a sight that told him to soldier on.

"But I still want to be worthy of you, so I'll do my best to be like you." For a short moment, a few breaths, Jesus said nothing. Ritsuka waited, his breath still as he listened for all his ears could muster.

"I would expect nothing less from you." And the praises shed his body of his fatigue. "You know the history of my faith well, the importance of spreading it, and you have no fear of doing so."

"Others didn't, so I won't." He felt the cross on his neck again. So long with Jesus before him, it felt odd to have to refer to it even. "I trust in you and know that my body is but mist."

"Mist… ah, you refer to the words of Aiden from Ireland." Ritsuka had no surprise that Jesus knew of the man. "How humorous that one man comes from such a place and heralds a good fight, as he proclaims, while another sacrifices all that he has to keep my word alive."

"That's true," Ritsuka admitted. "I guess I was kind of surprised, the same place that had the Book of Kells."

"There were many others from Ireland besides the Warrior King Cu Chulainn," Jesus corrected. "Do not discount my apostle who journeyed for the far island, seeking to spread the Word of God as far as any man could manage."

"St. Patrick, who threw the snakes from the island." He knew.

"Or Columba, the man who founded the abbey of Iona. He was a man of great fervor for the faith. A tongue as harsh as the whip, but carried in a hand as soothing as spring water. Able to turn the monarchs of an island towards my father's word."

"Yeah, yeah! I remember him! He was one of the supposed writers of the Book of Kells, right? Am I right?"

"You are, but only in the idea. My father and I had offered the seeds of a plantation for the man, and he used them to raise a great perch for his words to spread. From this farm of words and doctrine came the fabled book, though its journey is a vast one, hardly recorded at that."

"Do… do you know it?" It sounded stupid to ask. The very expression the Lord gave him was one of amusement.

"As I do all things." Ritsuka wasn't surprised. "Would you care for me to tell you? It has a story that may be beyond your belief." His breath was shaking.

"My Lord, you are offering me the chance to hear you speak of the gifts bestowed to man, with your own voice?" He smiled at the idea alone. "I would listen to you until the world ends."

"Time is short on that measurement," Jesus returned, his smile far broader now. "I suppose I will have to speak with a swifter pace. Now listen close, and let me tell you of my mother, the woman who raised me as God and Man."

Ritsuka did just that, for longer than he could ever hope to recall.

---

"Stop stop stop stop stop stop!"

"Again? I just got into the tempo."

"Your tempo would make bullet trains seem slow, and I'm just a normal Magus! Put me down, now!"

"You're the one holding onto me, Lass. Ain't much I can do about that."

"I can let go once you stop!" The final shout came from the top of her lungs.

The rest of the air was vacated from her chest as the man she clung to came to the requested stop. From beyond jet engine speed to a dead calm. Her entire body felt like it flattened against his back, with the now clearly mad man not giving it so much as a thought.

"Welp, stopped now. You want to slide off of me, or do ya need a hand?" He grinned at her over his shoulder, fangs bared. Olga let out a mewling groan, unable to growl with the pushed from her chest. Either way, she did slide off of him, not letting go until her heels clicked on the ground.

It was only after she did that did, she realize, with a short gasp to inflate her chest, they were on top of a skyscraper.

"How… when on Earth did we get up here?"

"Maybe a second ago. Figured it'd be safer to camp out up high than sitting in the rubble down there. Cleaner for ya, too." He pointed at her, balancing the rest of his body on the red lance. This time, on her own to feet, she was able to growl.

Before chocking on a puff of smoke that rolled into her.

"The air's… burning up here," she hissed back, having to hunch over to take a breath. "I am a Magus, but I am human! Unlike you, I need to breathe air."

"It's not that bad. Actually, probably be better to just say it's not the same. Cause there is a lot of burning, that's for sure." He scratched his cheek. "Least it's all concrete, steel, and stuff. Doesn't have the rich taste of wood. Burning wood can wake you up or cook meat perfectly. Wouldn't trust cooking anything with this stuff."

"Thank you for explaining that clearly necessary detail."

"Anytime!" Her winked at her, red eye flashing as he did so. Olga growled.

"Lancer, if I had command spells, I may very well command you to do only as I say."

"Then I guess it's good fer both of us that you don't. I don't have to worry about you trying to put me on a short leash, and you don't have to worry about a famed hero of Ireland holding anything against you." Her teeth grit. "Might wanna let that tension out some way other than screaming, if the air is that bad for you."

Olga clenched her fist, the circuits in her arms rising. She wanted to fire a shot at him, a Gandr spell or perhaps another debilitating chant. It would feel so good to do it.

But she couldn't. She let the idea go with a short breath. She was the Director of Chaldea, the last bastion of Humanity. Cu Chulainn, the lancer was an allied Heroic Servant, even if he was contracted with the absolute lowest level of Master in the facility.

"Whatever. At least you'll listen to me now, even if you're more like Romani than Da Vinci."

"Think I know about the latter, just thanks to the Grail Summoning. Gonna have to fill me in on the first one, though."

"I have absolutely no reason to," Olga dismissed immediately. "Instead, what I want to talk about is the fact that we have met none of the other Masters. You're certain that we've covered a major part of the city?"

"Just the major parts. Least all the areas that had more monsters than servants, and then those with neither. There are a few areas left, of course. Ones I'm not gonna take you to without the actual Master here. Gonna need him if we want to have a chance."

"Trust me, he'll be more of a detriment than anything else. The boy doesn't even know about magical circuits, let alone Magus society at all."

"Maybe not, but he is the source of my Prana now, and that'll help with the Command spells. If nothing else, he can order me to throw my spear hard enough to do in Archer." He clicked his tongue. "Hate admitting that, not even to mention the fact it'll probably break my Spirit Graph."

"Is the Archer of this war really so troubling? I recall your legend, and I know that if you throw that lance right, it can create literal barbs through whoever is hit by it." He made to answer. "Never mind, I don't need to know. Not before I find out where the Masters are."

"You're gonna want to know then, especially if they did show up and were located near the other Servants." His lance spun about his body casually, for him at least. For Olga, it looked like he was cutting the air. She was glad he was some distance from her. "The dude is a powerhouse just with presence. If anything, I'm glad he came out as an archer and not something else."

"That may be so, but there are several members of the Master Candidates that will likely be able to stall, or at least escape, his presence."

"But not all of 'em?"

"No… not all of them." She grit her teeth, even as he flashed his own at her. "You seem awfully cheery about the idea."

"Eh, give me an excuse to fight the man again with a Master. Can't help but get excited, especially cause I thought I was guaranteed to just run around till he eventually got a lucky shot on me. You gotta choose between running scared and fighting with even a slim chance of winning? Course I'm gonna go with the one that lets me draw blood!" He hit the lance into the roof.

Smoke plumed out from the blow. Olga had to remind herself about the sheer number of floors beneath them, and how much pressure and smoke was billowing up in there. It did her stomach little good, especially knowing he was her only way off of this tower… and high speed.

"Plus, you're forgetting all about the other guy with you." He pointed at her as if his finger was as sharp as his lance. Blessed by the Root, it was not.

"I most certainly am not," Olga quickly replied. "How in my Father's name can I forget about literal Jesus Christ? I may know better, but I'm not about to dismiss the man heralded as the Son of God around the literal world."

"Good to hear, then why do ya sound nervous?" Cu continued on. "Heck, you got that ace in the hole, and you're still wanting to look for the other Masters? Wouldn't it make more sense to take out the threats first?"

"You were the one who volunteered to help me look for them!"

"Hey, I was just following the leader here. I may be a badass Servant, but I'm not about to start guessing what's going on outside of the place. Wasn't hard to figure out you four didn't exactly fall into this city knowing what was going on." He rolled his shoulders. "I figured that the Masters you were lookin' for would have other servants with 'em already or something."

"… For a few of them, I expected such," Olga admitted between grit teeth.

"Have to think they didn't succeed, if we're not finding them. Plus, if they ran into Berserker or Archer, we'd have heard about it." Cu continued relentlessly.

"And not Saber?"

"Nope. If they snuck past both of them to get the Holy Grail and ran into her, then we'd never hear about it." He waved off his hand. "That bitch would turn them into kebabs before they'd have a chance to scream an order."

"The saber is that strong?" The idea didn't sit well with her. "And my father… Caster still died in this war?"

"Brutally." He had the gall to smile as he said it. "Wasn't a fan, honestly, but I could at least admit my runecraft didn't really compare. Why I'm glad I'm a Lancer, cause I can run away and to not be the first on the chopping block."

"First on the… of course, because Caster and my father would both at least be aware of how the Grail War could be corrected." She put her palms to her head, rubbing her temples. "And if father was knocked off by the Saber, then that means that they're at least knowledgeable enough to know who to target in a battle first. I suppose that's why you want us up here?"

"Yup. I'll admit Archer's got the eye for it, but he'll have to take time for his arrows to reach me and I'll have any direction to choose from for escaping." Just so long as he took her with him. Olga didn't like it, but she could at least trust the pathetic Master to recognize that if she didn't return with this hero, then something was wrong.

She only had to hope he had the intelligence to decide on the obvious after that. Hopefully Mash would help him, seeing as she at least knew what was going on.

"You mention a lot of Archer," Olga finally changed subjects. "What about Berserker? Aren't they also looking for you? From what I read in the Holy Grail Wars, they are typically written with a high level of Madness Enhancement, degrading their cognitive abilities and lowering their combat powers."

"Right on there, too. Issue is, she's famed for being almost unkillable." He rocked on his heels. "Heck, I don't know if its cause of the nature of the thing or if the Mud of the Holy Grail is making her capable of it, but the woman is basically walking around with her Noble Phantasm permanently charged."

"That's not good." The obvious fact came from her lips. "What is it? An offensive spell?"

"Just the opposite, actually. Basically makes her harder to break through than a mountain range." He wrenched his lance from the roof of the building. "Able to hit her with a clean shot, and I thought I had her, but that damn thing was so strong she basically broke off the lance and the juts I had in her. Then she started healing right up."

"Self-regeneration and defense? That hardly makes her fit to be a Berserker, whoever she is."

"Actually, I think it makes her perfect. Though I'll admit I'm kinda biased. Don't forget the part about my legend, lass." His grin was sharp, and eyes a rich red. It made the skyline even darker.

Olga Marie was undeterred.

"I know all about you, but I know that you did eventually die. I don't remember anyone being able to survive the strike of Gae Bulg, however. Let alone someone who was able to fight after being struck by it."

"Like I said, it's why it's a hassle." He cleaned out his hear as he spoke on. "I could probably take her down with enough time, to be fair, but once I start gaining any ground, Archer usually starts taking pot shots at me. You know how hard it is to deal with a maniac of a woman while arrows are raining down on you? Give you a hint, I'd rather fight my teacher again."

"The woman who told you to kill her sister so that you could leave. You are a confusing man." She admitted. "Though at least your useful, strong if nothing else."

"Glad to see you got my good side."

"A useful side, good is subjective." She rolled her head, before coughing on the smoke. "What I need is to find others like the Master, though I know anyone else who came here will have far more capabilities and Prana to spend. I'm sure if we transferred your contract to them, you'd be far stronger."

"You sure about that?"

"Of course! It's basic circuitry. He's the bottleneck for your Prana generation, so removing him and placing someone else who has more to give at a faster rate would be far better! The Root only knows what is happening to his circuits with all the running you're doing now."

"Probably not too much. Ain't moving more than usual. Sure, take something, but I'd bet he's gonna just be a little tired. Not so much screamin' in pain. Course, if I had a girl moanin' in pain 'cause of me."

"Shut up, or I'll ruin you." That only made Cu laugh.

"You can try, but I'm not mockin' ya, honest. I'm just trying to figure you and the rest of my new allies out. That ain't a bad thing to do when I've been basically on the run for some time now." She growled, her face feeling as red as the flames beneath the building. "C'mon, you can't seriously be thinking I'm in the wrong for doing that?"

"I don't, I just think you could be better about how you go about it."

His grin promised nothing. "Should I start following your example?"

Olga's face fumed, and she let out a low whine. Only her self-control kept her from outright screaming. She wanted to, oh how she did, but she knew that once she did, it would be a signal to any rouge servants in the area. And if Cu was being honest about their capabilities, that wasn't something they should risk. Her life wasn't worth her annoyance. The Lancer's however, was getting awfully close.

"That's enough ice breaking, gotta talk some serious shop now." He spun on his heel, spinning his lance like a baton. An extremely deadly, potent, and obviously heavy baton. "To start, how sure are ya that any of those other Masters actually ended up here?"

"How sure am I?" The Chaldea Director spoke aloud, as if to ask herself. "Not confident enough to make it a guarantee, but I found it likely."

"How's that?"

"Because a man with virtually no magical training was able to successfully Rayshift, as well as myself, who was supposed to be a non-active member due to my low affinity for the system." It tasted like bile to admit, but she struggled through it. "Given those extremes, it seems plausible in the very least that someone else among the remaining 47 Masters would have made it here, correct?"

"Math makes sense, but I hate not havin' a guarantee of some kind." Cu scratched the back of his blue hair. "Like, you got nothin' to talk with them with?"

"They have the means, and the Command Center at Chaldea is perfectly capable of communicating with us. All they have to do is trace the spiritrons through the Order of Time and deliver a message to us."

"You make it sound so easy."

"I didn't say it was easy, just that we have the means." She crossed her arms. "The system was designed by many department heads, and my father was one of them. He and Professor Lev were insistent that the system couldn't be used until that as working, as there would likely need to be communication with the present of mankind in order to solve any issues in the singularities."

"Makes sense, I guess. Kinda like a spotter to make sure the archers are taken care of before ya send the cavalry down the hill."

"Barbaric, but it works." Olga rolled her head. It was stiff as her back. "The issue with that is that the explosion that sent us all here early, and doubtlessly separated us, was probably meant to ruin that communication as well."

"Hold up, explosion? First I'm hearing about it."

"Yes, well, there was an issue with the rayshifting procedure." Her fist found its way to her lips. She tried not to bite on it. "Simply, there was a large explosion that… may have upset the SHEBA system. I'm sure it was just a grievous oversight on someone's part, something that will require reprimanding and corporal punishment to make up for."

"You talking execution?" He sounded, and looked, way too happy about that.

"More like experimentation, but close enough." She waved off. "The point is that there's no reason for any at Chaldea to want to ruin it. We are literally an organization not only recognized by the Clocktower, hence giving any Magus who works there an in with the elite, but also one dedicated towards the preservation of the Human Order. Greed or self-preservation, trying to destroy Chaldea would get rid of both."

"How about just flat out crazy? I've met plenty of those lot on the field before. They're usually the ones screaming and covered in blood."

"And you honestly think that anyone like that would have passed the vetting for my father's organization?"

"You kept saying that a waste of a man became a Master, so I gotta think it's possible." Olga felt a tooth crack. "What? I'm bein' honest. You want me to lie and be a yes man?"

"You are a Servant."

"But you ain't a Master. That's what we're tryin' to find, right?" Now she shut her eyes. Because of the smoke, obviously. "You wanted to take five, well, we got it. How about now we get back to searching for those guys. If nothing else, we can at least get back to Jesus and tell him we couldn't find anyone."

"… and if we wanted to look where it wasn't safe?" Cu turned back at her, balancing the red lance of Ireland on his shoulders.

"Say that again? I think the fire is getting a bit too loud for me. Think I heard you wrong."

"You didn't." Olga repeated. "I'm asking… what if we were to look where you said it wasn't safe?"

"Then we'd be risking running into either an Archer that is flat out invincible or a Berserker that's more of a stone wall and heavy club. Either way, one will attract the other, and I'm not about to throw myself into a fight against them until we've got a chance to take them out."

"I thought you like to fight."

"Love it, in fact. But a fight that's just about dying? There's no fun in that." He shook his head until the thin ponytail on his back waved. "You're a magus, so I got experience knowing that means you gotta take a loud of tests to get yourself ready for family work. And it doesn't take a genius off the battlefield to see you've got enough pride in ya to drown a whale."

"You are half right," Olga corrected, combing her alabaster hair. "But what's your point?"

"Asking me to fight Berserker or Archer now would be like asking you ta take a test your guaranteed to fail." Her limbs froze. "Doesn't sound fun, does it?"

"… No, it doesn't." She let out a long-controlled sigh, one that mixed with the still billowing smoke. "Alright, I got your point."

"One of them you did." Her face flushed.

"E-Enough!" Her foot stamped on the roof. "We have to hurry and search the rest of the city before this Grail War descends any further. And to do that we need to find the other Masters!"

"Not against finding more force, but I gotta ask why you don't wan to ask the Master you've already got." His lance slid down his shoulder, the blunt end hitting the rooftop and propping him up as he leaned heavily on it. "Not gonna say he's a legend in the makin' or anything, but he did get Jesus literal Christ as his wing man. That'd get me to second guess goin' into battle."

"Why on in the name of the Root?" Olga shot back. "I recognize he is a powerful Spirit, by his deeds, age, and reverence, but he is a pacifist. More than that, he still didn't even tell us his class. If he is a Caster, which would be an obvious Boon, it would put him at a disadvantage against someone who is able to strike from afar. And you did say that Archer was one of the two servants left."

"Three left," he held up the digits to show her. "And yeah, he is. Probably second on the tier list."

"So he's strong, but killable."

"Now I didn't say that." He laughed like it was a joke. "Actually the dude would be a terror if he was anything else other than an Archer. From what the Grail told me about him 'fore it went all evil and black, he's got the list to go through as well."

"What does that mean?" She approached him. "He's an archer, but you know the servant can be more? Who is he?"

"Famous Greek dude. My Master made the joke I was the Irish version of him, least before she got swallowed up by all the mud and turned into stone."

For the first time, and not for a good reason, the Director of Chaldea saw the Irish hero's grin drop. With sharp teeth bared, and red eyes slit like daggers, it made her body shiver, deciding to take a step back.

"Dude may not have the eyes for shooting like I can throw a lance, but those arrows of his are like his dad's lightnin'."

"You mean because he's a Servant. I doubt you were able to run in real life as fast as you are now."

"Not much of a difference, ta be fair," he managed a grin, before growling again. "But this dude, I'm not talking about his shots like they're something scary cause he's a heroic spirit. I'm saying their scary cause I can tell he's lobbing his shots at us. Been shot at by enough archers to know the difference between a volley fire and intentional aim. Trust me, power's all different."

"… I don't understand."

"Didn't think you would," he rolled his head back and forth. "Long and short of it is, Archer has got gains behind his shots, and he's firing the way he is right now cause he's probably toying with me. Only reason I got for that is my personal skill." Olga racked her mind, cursing for not the first time the fact she wasn't a Master.

"Which one is that?" She had to ponder. "Is it related to the legend of how you were able to throw a lance with your foot? No, that wouldn't make sense. Then maybe… because you were able to fight an entire army even after you died?"

"My 'Battle Continuation' helps, I'll give you that, too," he pointed at her. "But it's my 'Protection from Arrows' that seals the deal. Basically guarantees that so long as bolts are bein' launched at me, I'm gonna have a much easier time dodging them than anyone else."

"And Saber?" She finally questioned. "You must have thought about killing her and getting to the Grail yourself, right?"

"Though about it, but then thought better of it." Cu twisted away again, before she could see his smile come back. "I wasn't jokin' when I said we'd know if any of your Masters were dropped on her lap. I'm a Grade A Heroic Spirit, one of the best you can ever get." He flexed his back, muscles rippling even beneath his blue suit.

Even the air warbled around him, making Olga swallow.

"But that bitch… if it ain't her class, then it's her legend. Puttin' her on a scale right above me, and feeling like I'm being driven into the dirt because of it."

"Then you know who she is?" Olga pressed. "Please tell me. I've studied history extensively, and combined with my Magecraft, I'll be able to discern a way to fight her. Perhaps that other Master can convince Jesus to help as well."

"You think knowin' who she is will make the fight easier?"

"Of course it will! It will allow us to form a strategy! You're a heroic spirit, bound to your legend-"

"And the Saber at the center of the Holy Grail was killed by a divine lance." Olga sucked on her tongue. "I literally couldn't do crap to her cause of her legend. Sure, I could get in there fast and deal some fun blows, but she shoved them all off and acted like a Berserker. A Berserker with the sword stained with the blood of her father."

"Holy Lance, father slaying blade," Olga listed out, mind cataloguing all the legends she knew. The names on the list did her heart little good. The smoke continued to torment her lungs. "And with the Mud?"

"With the mud?" Cu spat into the air. "With that stuff, she became a wicked wonder. Pragmatic enough to start launching bolts of red lightning and hold a conniving conversation." The Lancer twisted back on Olga, the woman take another step back from the look in his eyes. "Few people have mocked me for killing my kid and put up a fight after it. She was the first to do it and walk away, spitting out how she's used to killing parents, and she'll make up for my mistake!"

He kicked at the edge of the roof.

BOOM!

The concrete and rebar piping exploded out from the blow. A noise left her, but it was nothing compared to the sound of rubble flying through the smoke. Canon fire worthy, blowing holes in the smoky horizon of the skyline. Rubble and debris fell near her, blow back from the Heroic Spirits launching effort.

THUNK! Only to have her nerves jolted again by his lance puncturing the roof again. This time, until the end of his lance was even with his chest.

"I'm not fond of being reminded about my screwups, even less cause I know that there's something the entire world knows 'bout me. I'm no saint, far be it from that holy Jesus Christ Master's got down there." Olga breathed deeply at the mention of the boy. "But bringing up my kid and laughing about it, that's something that's not gonna fly."

"… Is that why you were waiting for us? For a chance to get back at her?" He eyed her for a moment, one just longer than necessary for a return.

"It's part of it, yeah, but I'm not sayin' that you gotta let me fight her anything like that. You get a plan together to wipe her off this landscape, shoot at it. I just want this Grail War to end without the world literally burnin' over it."

"We have that in common."

"Thought we had more than that." He wagged his eyebrows at her. Olga nearly bit her tongue in frustration.

"I-If you want to spend your time flirting with me instead of developing a more rigid plan, than you may do that. I on the other hand want to ensure that we not only have information on the Servants, but the other Masters as well." Her hand rose to her chest, fanning out beneath the nape of her neck. "On the name of my father, I swore that I would defend the Order of Humanity, and the Clocktower agreed that was fit to lead it. Because of that, I will not entertain thoughts of-look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Olga stamped her feet again as the Lancer twisted away from him. An aggravated look was in his eyes. BUNK! And he ripped his weapon from the concrete. Olga was not amused.

"If want to wave that around and threaten me, then do it! But know that I-HGH!" The air was sucked out of her in a moment. Or more like blown out of her.

It was impossible not to with the speed Lancer grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder mid-sprint. Her fingers gripped his suit, legs locking up as she prepared for something catastrophic. It didn't keep her aggravation at bay.

"H-How DARE you just p-pick me up an-" Her voice was lost a moment later.

BOOOM! As the entirety of the roof exploded.

Cu Chullain and Olga Marie already mid-air away from it, the pair of them eyeing the debris with looks of annoyance and disbelief.

"W-What in-"

"Archer, he must have heard us," Cu answered immediately. "Or just me losin' my temper. Figures. Gotta move now."

"H-How… how did he-"

"With that." Lancer pointed ahead of them. Olga twisted her head, gripping the back of the lancer with immense fear. She thought it was going to be Archer himself, maybe Berserker having been launched at them, anything at all.

Instead, it was an arrow. A single, unassuming arrow… that was larger than the remnants of the skyscraper it had blown through.

"THAT!?"

"Yeah, that," he blew back. "An arrow as thick as your back. I told ya Archer is a beast. If he was up close, that thing would leave nothing behind. Anyone else but me, probably wouldn't have realized the arrow was even coming." Olga thanked the Root for the man's divine senses. "Doesn't change what we gotta do now though."

"What's that?"

"Run."

---

KRRZT! SNAP-BZZZ!

"Dammit! Do we have anything that still works!?" The scream came with a slam of fists, pounding another fried board beneath him. The metal and polymeric material snapped underneath the blow. "Any spares, any thing at all? Even something from your workshop?"

"No expense was spared when setting up the Rayshift Chambers and controls, so there are no spares. Extra Coffins and suits, of course, but not for anything as protected as the circuitry and motherboards."

"Protected? Right?" The man rolled his head, a sardonic laugh barking from him. "The human heart is more protected than these flaps of scrap are. It can at least operate a bit after being scratched."

He lifted and chucked the server dish across the communications room. It blew into a dozen pieces, falling along the rest of the rubble along the ground. No more fires, but plenty of proof that they had scorched the place.

"I hardly think it is fair to compare a four chambered muscle to millions of pounds of wires and circuitry, do you~?" The man took a long breath of air at the tone of voice. "And that is quite disrespectful to those of us who didn't survive that catastrophic blast, isn't it?~" That stung.

A room fit to hold at least two dozen operatives, holding less than five now, including himself. All of them stealing glances at the pair, one of them looking at the extra bit of mess he had added to the ruin of Chaldea.

"More than the personal lost, you should also consider what the rest of us are doing. After all, a genius was responsible for placing each member of the Chaldea staff to absolutely maximize their efficiency and work ethic without reducing their motivation, for those who listened at least~." The woman hummed as she walked around him. "Now all those people are suddenly left attempting the work for their recently deceased friends, and you are breaking more circuitry instead of helping them."

"Da Vinci. I get the point."

"But you haven't yet, Romani~." He let out a seething breath, hot enough to feel like the place was still on fire. "Whether you are willing to accept the point doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that I am right, and you know I'm right. Why? Because in times of absolute stress, a genius is never wrong~."

"Maybe, but I'm the most senior employee, as well as the only living head left alive." He ground out. "You're smart enough to know that I'm the only one any Magus will think should take the lead, even I think medical staff is suit for leading like you're suited for humility."

"I'm the model of humility.~ So, I think you make an excellent leader,~" Her smile, that perpetual thing, was downright sinister. "History does have a way of proving us geniuses correct, hmm?~"

"I get it, I get it." He let up his hands, huffing as he turned away from her. Romani instead stared down at the monitor in front of him. "I just… I know how these communications are supposed to work. Rayshifting a spiritron core is difficult, but using the ties between the body and conceptualized conscious in the past should open a pathway to let our coms through."

"Of course, the young Marisbury invented it himself." Da Vinci confirmed. "And I improved it~." Then took credit.

"Can your credit help me figure out how to make it work then?" Romani asked, wiping his hand over the terminal. "We're not going to be able to help the rest of the Masters if we can't even talk to them."

"You are the one concerned with speaking to them, but as the genius as I am, I know the resources are better spent saving them first." Her large staff double tapped the ground. "Chaldea is still far from secure, and the Masters, Director Olga and Professor Lev included, are still locked tight away in the Rayshifting chamber. I believe you know how catastrophic it would be if we don't get them out soon."

He sighed. No jokes here. Only the crushing weight of humanity's future. Romani took a long breath in, focusing his thoughts, trying to organize them.

"Fires only went out because the oxygen levels are too low," Romani started to narrate. "Before that, the steel scaffoldings and electric systems were lit ablaze, putting noxious fumes in the air. All the Masters have to have been breathing it in for the past few hours at least. In the short term, it will just need minor bedrest, hydration, and clean oxygen to allow for any dead space in the lungs to filter."

"And the long term?" He licked his lips, ignoring the few faces staring at him, looking up from the stations they should be focused on repairing.

"The lack of oxygen is the problem, as low levels can cause hypoxemia." He rattled his mind. "If the cells start dying, then there is no replacing them. Skin scarring, blood anemia, then their mind are…"

"Dead." He nodded.

"And all of this… just because we don't have enough parts!" Romani reeled his foot back and kicked the monitor stand.

BONG! It hit back.

"YEAGH!" He jumped back, holding his foot through his shoe. He swore he could feel the throbbing in his hand.

"Now now, acting out is no way for a director to act, especially when young lives are on the line." Da Vinci scolded him, tapping him on the head with her free hand. "Now also isn't the time to focus on what may have prepared us for this, as we don't even know what cause this. If we don't have it, we don't have it. A true genius needs to focus on finishing a task with what he has, not wishing for what he could have had~."

"A true genius should have seen this coming." The grumble came as he dropped his foot.

"Hmm?~" Now Romani felt his blood drain.

"I said a true genius should know what's coming!" The visage of the Mona Lisa blinked at him, grinning with self-satisfaction. "Like what should we do now? Should we start looking at every place they could have been sent off to? Or should others just start trying to figure out how the Rayshift was able to fire at all?" The woman hummed for a moment, tapping her chin.

"First, and I speak with experience and mental acuity on this, you need to take a deep breath." Her grin softened. "You serve no one if you are unable to give your mind time to rest. Even a genius like myself must let it settle for a moment, or else I'll hardly be able to reach new heights~." Romani did as asked, shoulders falling.

"Kay… and what else?"

"Now you need to start thinking like a leader.~"

"Da Vinci…"

"Marisbury made you the head of the medical wing, so he clearly knows you are capable of leading.~ Just as he made me a head of development, because I am a genius." Her cheer was bright. "And a genius knows that we have to keep our hopes up as we work, because no breakthroughs are made while wallowing in tears. Could you imagine how many portraits I would have ruined If I spent my days crying over them? Oh, it just tears at me to think I could have ruined the perfect Mona Lisa with a bad thought." And she actually shivered.

Romani took another deep breath. He took it in, and held it. Namely because he did realize something. Most important of all, that Da Vinci was right. Everyone else was gone. He had to be a leader. He could at least guess at what to do.

That started with action.

"Da Vinci, can you make sure that there are enough oxygen masks and tanks? I don't believe the medical wing was hit, so we should have those. Any survivors are going to need a dedicated source." He thought on it for a moment. "If you have time prepare, or maybe even build, a respirator."

"I can do that, but are you sure we should interact with the bodies? If they are in a Rayshift?"

"You know we have to." Her grin told him everything. "We'll be careful, and everyone here was at least prepared for interacting with Masters in a Rayshift."

"Even you?~"

"Even me. The point is we have to make sure they are healthy." He let out a breath of relief. The weight on his back was still there… but it wasn't as bad. At least glancing at the pile of plastic and wires he'd thrown across the room made him feel guilty now. "We were lucky to get a signal that they had Rayshifted at all. The fact that they did probably saved their lives."

"Indeed~. A large drop in energy needs, supplementation through their conceptualized conscious, forcing an unconscious state. In a dangerous situation like this, those do help~." She didn't say it, but Romani knew he would.

"It's not enough though. Not alone. We just need to get in there fast enough to save as many as we can, those who did shift, and those who made it." His head almost hit the desk as he realized something else. "Do… do you know who did Rayshift?"

"Hmm?"

"The Masters. A-And Director Olga, and Lev. Do we know who was able to Rayshift. Because those who didn't…"

"They're already gone," Da Vinci spoke. Her smile hadn't fallen, but it had dropped.

It was hard to call that thin red line a smile. At least it wasn't an outright frown.

"I know I don't have to be a genius to suggest this, but haven't you tried looking through the window?" He followed her hand towards the observatory part of the communication room, overlooking the SHEBA system. He bit his lip before responding.

"Already did, or I should say try." Romani pinched the bridge of his nose. "Before there was too much smoke and fire to see anything. Now, because the fires were uncontrolled for so long, the only thing that I can say is operational in that room is the SHEBA system, and that's still a hard maybe."

"I'm not asking you what's working, director. I'm asking if you'd look in there. I wasn't aware this was another mark of my genius."

"It isn't, not unless you can tell who's who through stone, concrete, and what's left of the bodies."

"When you went to do a damage assessment on the Bounded Field, the first thing I did was try and look in there. After everything cleared, the first thing I saw was an arm, severed at the humorous." He gripped his own arm, as if the pain were flooding him. "Then I saw other coffins crushed beneath fallen metal plates, another black with the ash and soot that was burned inside of it." His stomach turned.

"Romani."

"They're not all gone, I know. We got signs of a Rayshift occurrence and partial confirmation of a successful trip. The system just decided to completely fry itself before we could make contact, let alone just see who made it. So, I'm just asking, if we know who was able to Rayshift. At least this way… we'll have a good idea who we're still trying to save."

She didn't answer him immediately, instead moving the large staff she was holding. Holographic screens popped and moved around her, her eyes skimming over them. Romani watched, but a few months of working with her kept his mouth shut. The few others in the room had gone back to work.

"It's hard to say who was able to Rayshift, only because the connection to so many of the coffins were destroyed." That didn't surprise him. "However, through a clever use of my genius, I was able to look down stream and look at the number of paths the spiritrons made."

"… Meaning?"

"Meaning that I know how many, though not quite who." Romani nodded. That was certainly better than nothing. "The where is also difficult, as the pathway for following the Order of Humanity is difficult in the current state." That one at least made sense.

"Those guys then, the ones who made it. They are the priority when we open the doors. The number of oxygen tanks and respirators to help them, combined with any first aid we ca apply without moving them from the coffins." He made to move, before realizing the question he forgot to ask. "How many do we need?"

"Ten."

"Ten right… ten," Romani repeated the number. "All the Masters, Director Marie, Lev, Mash… that's fifty one. Only ten out of fifty-one. Less than a fifth." He sucked in his breath. "It's far better than none."

"Indeed! I'm glad to see you're starting to sound like a leader, Romani~." He chuckled at her words, even as he heard her heels clicking away. "I'll be sure to make those respirators available soon. I'll even add in some Prana restorative patches, in case any of the Masters are suffering from fatigue."

"Yeah, that'll be a good idea," he nodded. "Have to keep them safe. No matter what."