Chapter 6: Gudako Retrieval Arc.
In an unknown location, Gudako slept peacefully. At least, as peacefully as one in her position could sleep, as her bed was a lot harder than she remembered, and her blanket seemed to have fallen off. However, that that was of no consequence: months of sleeping on the floor of a Bleached building had left Gudako used to sleeping on uncomfortable surfaces. What did bother her was the sensation of something small and furry tickling her face.
"Stop it Fou..." Gudako muttered as she was slowly brought back into the waking world. Naturally, she assumed that her older brother's fluffy familiar was the cause of the fuzzy feeling on her face. She opened her eyes, however instead of Chaldea's adorable Beast of Comparison, she saw a large rat in front of her face.
"GAAAAAAGH!" Gudako screamed as she scrambled away from the rodent of unusual size. The rat scurried away into the shadows in response to the redhead's outburst. "EW! EW! EW! EW! EW!" She continued to scream in disgust as she tried to wipe her face clean. Once Gudako managed to calm herself down, she took a look at her surroundings. She was not in Enma-Tei nor Chaldea.
Gudako was in a dingy room that she had never seen before. There was mould on the walls, a dirty cracked window on one wall and a shelf that held dust covered miscellaneous items that did not interest Gudako. This place felt uncomfortably similar to that Bleached building that she and her parents had been stuck in for so long. Over on a nearby plastic chair looking towards the window was a white haired man whom Gudako did not recognise.
The white haired man wore what looked like some sort of formal black suit with gold trim. On his shoulders were silver pauldrons that held up a black and gold cape with blue inner material. The most striking feature he had were the blue vertical lines drawn over his eyes. The man looked away from the window in response to Gudako's shouts.
"Finally awake, I see." The man suddenly said with a smile that Gudako could just tell was fake. He then took out a small notebook from his breast pocket and opened it. "Fujimaru Ritsuko, also known as Fujimaru Gudako, age twenty four, unmarried, a high school graduate with no further education, no known credentials, previously employed as a convenience store cashier." The man read aloud. "And a Mage." He added with a glance towards the redhead before he returned his attention back to his pocket book.
"Known relatives; Fujimaru Kentaro, father, age forty five. Fujimaru Aki, mother, age forty five. Fujimaru Ritsuka, older brother, age twenty five. Fujimaru Kiyohime, sister-in-law, age twenty three. Jack Fujimaru, niece, age seven. Sakai Hina, aunt, age forty four." The man finished listing off before he faced Gudako. "Is this information correct?" The white haired man asked as he put his pocket book away and crossed his legs on his chair. Gudako scratched the back of her head in bewilderment.
"Uhhh. Yeah, that all sounds about right." Gudako replied, a bit perturbed by the amount of information that this man had on her and her family. "I'm not sure if I'm a Mage, though." She muttered. The man continued to give Gudako his fake smile.
"You are." The white haired man insisted. Gudako did not trust this person one bit, but she decided to put up with him for now.
"Where are we?" Gudako asked as she rose to her feet. The other person also stood up and walked over to stand next to the only window in the room.
"Just a Minute Singularity on the Eastern Coast of Australia." The white haired man explained dismissively. "However, the more pertinent question would be 'when are we?'" He said with his right index finger pointed upwards for emphasis. "It is currently the year 2009, and as you can see, there is currently an outbreak of zombies." The white haired man explained before he leaned back against the wall. "Just take a look out the window if you don't believe me." He said with a thumb pointed towards the filthy window that was next to him. Gudako cautiously went over to the window and peered outside, mindful to try and keep her distance from the white haired man. Gudako could not believe what she saw four stories down from the room that she was in.
"What the? There wasn't any zombie apocalypse in 2009!" Gudako exclaimed in disbelief. True to the man's words, the city streets outside were practically choked with the shambling undead. The white haired man seemed almost amused at Gudako's denial.
"Indeed there was not, in Proper Human History at least. However, it seems that someone has made a wish on the Holy Grail for the dead to walk the Earth. Whoever could be behind this?" He said with a small chuckle that made Gudako all the more suspicious of him. "Right now, you and I are going to resolve this Minute Singularity together." He declared with his arms spread wide in a dramatic fashion. Gudako just stared at the man.
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? And isn't that Ritsuka's job?" Gudako asked. She had no intention of ever going through whatever trauma turned Ritsuka into the person that he was now. The white haired man straightened up and began to walk towards the door.
"Rest assured, I will show you how to resolve this Minute Singularity. As for your other question, Humanity's Last Master is not here at the moment: only us." The white haired man explained as he unlocked and opened the door out of the dingy room. "Now then, please follow me, Miss Ritsuko. We're behind schedule enough as it is." He said as he waved his arm to usher Gudako out of the room. Gudako cautiously made her way out of the room.
"Could you at least tell me your name before you drag me off?" Gudako asked as she reluctantly complied with the stranger's request. The man closed the door behind the two of them and gestured for Gudako to follow him.
"As for my identity, you may call me Ruler." Ruler introduced himself with a dramatic bow. "I look forward to working with you, my soon to be Master." He added with a smug smile. Gudako just wanted to go back to Chaldea and play video games with her friends.
After a few minutes of walking, Ruler had lead Gudako to a wide open banquet hall. The hall seemed to have been host to a wedding at some point in the past, judging from the white table cloths (that were now dirty) and bloodstained wedding dress on the floor. Gudako figured that the zombie apocalypse must have started during said wedding. Ruler stepped forward onto what would have been the dance floor at the wedding and turned around to address Gudako.
"This is where the show starts." Ruler announced with a sly smile that only made Gudako regret her decision to follow him. Gudako looked around for any indication of what the white haired man was talking about.
"Okay, what's going to happen?" Gudako asked nervously. She sincerely hoped that whatever Ruler had planned would not be hazardous to her health. Ruler did not answer the redhead, but instead pointed a thumb towards a set of doors at the other end of the banquet hall. The far doors suddenly burst open to reveal a mob of at least nine shambling, man-eating, walking dead that hungered for human flesh. Ruler's smile did not leave his face.
"Ah, it seems that your trial by fire has arrived just in time, Miss Ritsuko." Ruler remarked calmly as he turned around to face the shambling corpses. "You and I are going to fight our way through this horde." He announced confidently. Gudako did not share Ruler's optimism.
"There's no way that the two of us can take on that many zombies!" Gudako exclaimed in a panic. She did not know if a bite from these zombies was enough to turn her into one of them, nor did she want to find out.
"Nonsense! This encounter is well within my calculations." Ruler stated confidently as he gave his arms a quick stretch. "Haahahahaha! Well then, shall we start?! I'm in such high spirits!" Ruler declared. "Your orders, Miss Ritsuko?" The white haired man asked as he readied his staff for combat.
"I don't know! Just keep them off of us!" Gudako called out before she grabbed a folding table and began to drag it away back to the doors that the two had originally entered through. Ruler decided that Gudako's panicked words counted as orders from a Master.
"Your wish is my command. Now, behold the power of a Servant!" Ruler exclaimed dramatically. "Logarithm Accel-Loader!" He announced as he charged into the zombie horde. Ruler was a blur of action as he jumped, rolled, flipped, kicked and swung his staff at the undead, all the while boastfully laughing. Gudako for her part was too busy trying to avoid getting bitten to pay any attention to Ruler's theatrics.
Far away from the city where Gudako was stranded, the dry bush land of the Australian outback was almost unchanged by the undead outbreak. The local plant life and fauna merely continued to live and grow as they had always done before the region had become a Singularity. A sudden flash of light heralded the arrival of Humanity's Last Master in this Minute Singularity. Ritsuka looked around worriedly for the two Servants that he had selected for this rescue operation.
"Kiyohime! Nightingale!" Ritsuka called out, but he received no response. It seemed that yet again, Ritsuka was separated from his comrades after arriving via Rayshift. With his little sister's life potentially at risk, Ritsuka wasted no time in contacting Chaldea with his communicator. "Leonardo, do you copy?" Ritsuka asked before he waited for a response. He was about to try again when a voice suddenly came through the communicator's static.
"We read you, Ritsuka." Leonardo's responded through the secure channel as a hologram of the Renaissance Girl was projected in front of Ritsuka. Her voice was not as cheerful as it usually was, owing to the serious nature of this latest mission. Ritsuka then spotted a dirt road not too far away from his location.
"Couldn't you have just dropped me inside the city?" Ritsuka asked as he made his way through the thick undergrowth of the outback towards the dirt road. A path to civilisation would serve as his first step towards rescuing his sister. Leonardo looked a bit sheepish at the question.
"Sorry, but there was too much interference." Leonardo informed Ritsuka, who started to feel the infamous heat of the Australian sun. "Let's see where you landed-Whoa! You're nearly three whole towns away from the target! And the others are just as far out. Whoever's behind this Minute Singularity really doesn't want you to find Gudako." Leonardo said in surprise. This mission would take a bit longer to complete than initially planned.
"I don't have time to pick up the others." Ritsuka muttered to himself as he considered his next course of action. Inspiration then struck Ritsuka: he had brought Kiyohime to act as a locator for Gudako, but there was no reason that Kiyohime had to physically accompany Ritsuka while he searched for Gudako. "Can you patch me through to Kiyohime?" Ritsuka requested.
"Will do." Leonardo replied as she tapped a few buttons on the terminal over on her end. The holographic image then changed to that of the Dragon Woman, who was pleased to see her husband in good condition.
"Do you read me, Honoured Husband?" Kiyohime asked calmly over the communicator. She handled this situation in a much more composed manner than her husband, mostly because her Stalking Skill had already reassured her that both Ritsuka and Gudako were safe for the time being. Ritsuka put his plan into action immediately, starting with a simple question.
"I read you. Can you sense Gudako anywhere in this Minute Singularity?" Ritsuka asked his wife. Kiyohime closed her eyes to concentrate.
"A moment please." Kiyohime requested as she took a moment to focus on her Stalking skill. She then opened her eyes. "Honoured Husband. I know where she is." Kiyohime answered, much to Ritsuka's relief. This rescue operation was finally going somewhere.
"Leonardo, bring up a holographic map of the area for Kiyohime." Ritsuka instructed, which the Renaissance Girl followed. Ritsuka then whistled to Summon Xanthos. "Kiyohime, I'll ride to Gudako's location on Xanthos. Just read the map and tell me where to go." Ritsuka said as he climbed onto his horse and grabbed hold of Xanthos' reins. Kiyohime by this point had planned out a route for Ritsuka to follow that would lead him straight to Gudako.
"Understood. Keep moving forward along this road. Then take the third turn on your left. That will take you to the main highway." Kiyohime instructed her husband, who did not hesitate to follow his wife's advice.
"YAH!" Ritsuka yelled as he urged Xanthos to gallop. With the supernatural speed of Xanthos, Ritsuka was certain that he could find his sister soon in this Minute Singularity. However, that did not stop the sense of dread in Ritsuka's mind as he was still worried for Gudako's safety.
"Victory! It really was a mathematical fight. Like the way in which you fell, for instance?" Ruler taunted his defeated opponents. The silver haired man had dispatched the undead horde in a dazzling display of skill and physical prowess. He actually felt a bit thrilled to completely lay into his foes with style and flash. It was too bad that Gudako had not seen any of it.
Rather than watch her 'Servant' fight, the Gudako had instead opted to drag one of the folding tables out of the banquet hall and use it to barricade herself on the other side of the door. This was not done out of cowardice (mostly), but instead because Gudako was fully aware that she was an untrained and unarmed civilian in a life or death situation. Ruler knocked on the barricaded door.
"You may open the door now, I have dealt with all of our adversaries." Ruler called out loud enough for the redhead to hear him. Gudako was hesitant, but she moved the table out of the way of the door and opened it nonetheless. "Did you enjoy being a Master, Miss Ritsuko?" Ruler asked, seemingly completely unaware that Gudako had completely missed his harrowing fight against the undead horde.
"I thought I was going to die." Gudako muttered fearfully. 'If all Singularities are like this then no wonder Ritsuka's so fucked up now.' Gudako thought to herself with a newfound sense of sympathy towards her older brother. Ruler however seemed to pay her discomfort no mind.
"That's nice to hear. Onward to the next challenge!" Ruler exclaimed before he suddenly grabbed Gudako's hand and practically dragged the poor woman along. "There is more to being a Master than simple skill in battle, as you will soon find out." He said as the two entered the far door that the zombie pack from earlier burst out of. Gudako would have preferred mindlessly tending to Da Vinci's Workshop over this.
Ruler had pulled Gudako along the hallway, passing many closed doors before he stopped. In front of the two was a wooden door with an elaborate circular mechanism over the lock. A flickering iridescent light above illuminated the door, giving a sense of significance and import that the other doors in the hallway lacked. Even the emergency fire axe on the wall next to the locked door looked foreboding in the dramatic lighting. Ruler reached out to door knob and gave it an experimental turn, however the door remained locked.
"Hmm, it seems that this door will not open until one of us solves this puzzle." Ruler remarked as he pointed to the mechanism on the lock to direct Gudako's attention. "Take a look: there's some sort of inscription. It says, 'My son lies to the North, my brother stands above the eldest, my daughters watch on in reverent stoicism.' Oh look, there are also four indentations where something may be inserted. Hmm..." Ruler said as he scratched his chin as if in deep thought. "Perhaps there are some clues in the other rooms-" Ruler's staged musings were interrupted when Gudako suddenly smashed open the glass case that was mounted next to the door. She pulled out the fire axe and began to chop down the door.
"I suck at puzzles. This is way faster." Gudako said before she kicked down the door. True to her word, Gudako almost always needed to look up a guide whenever a puzzle showed up in one of her video games. To the puzzle maker's credit, the mechanism stayed attached to the door frame even after Gudako had knocked the rest of the door down. Ruler stared at the redhead in shock.
"...W-why, how excellent, Miss Ritsuko! You certainly have shown your lateral thinking skills. An essential trait for a Master to have." Ruler said in an attempt to save face "Come, let's continue the adventure!" Ruler said with less enthusiasm than earlier. Gudako held onto the fire axe, just in case.
For the next few hours, Ruler continued to drag Gudako through the building and subjected her to 'trials' to help her become a Master. There were about nine more inconveniently timed attacks by zombie hordes (none of which Gudako stuck around to see to their end) and just as many convoluted puzzles that Gudako simply brute-forced her way through (much to Ruler's disappointment). With each new distraction, Gudako only grew more and more frustrated with the white haired man's antics.
"Rest reassured, Miss Ritsuko, for the worst is all behind us. There is only one more room to explore before we may make our escape." Ruler declared dramatically before he opened the door. "Behold, Miss Ritsuko. To the victor goes the spoils!" Ruler said as he pointed to a pile of Saint Quartz Crystals on the ground. Sunlight streamed in from a window onto the crystals which created a mesmerising display of coloured lights refracted onto the walls. There must have been at least a thousand individual crystals. Had Humanity's Last Master been present, he would no doubt be drooling over such a great bounty of treasure. Gudako however stared blankly at the Saint Quartz.
"...What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?" Gudako asked in an annoyed tone. "We're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. I don't need gems, I need a way back home!" She shouted at Ruler, who did not expect such a strong reaction to receiving free Saint Quartz."Even if I did want those, I can't carry that many with me. Just get me out of here already!" Gudako demanded. Ruler did not know what to think about this turn of events.
"If you insist..." Ruler muttered in disappointment as he lead Gudako around the crystals to the door on the opposite side of the room. Ruler opened the door for Gudako and let her go outside first. Before he joined the redhead, Ruler cast one last forlorn glance at the pile of Saint Quartz and sighed. It took him a long time to gather that many crystals from Minute Singularities. Ruler then exited the building and closed the door behind himself before he addressed Gudako. "And now we have escaped from that building thanks to your Masterful skills as a leader. How have you enjoyed your first day as a Master, Miss Ritsuko?" Ruler asked the tired redhead. Gudako glared at the white haired man.
"My entire day has been fucking awful!" Gudako yelled as she sank to her knees, supporting herself by leaning against the fire axe that she had stolen earlier. She took a few frustrated deep breaths as Ruler seemed to admire the sunset.
"That's great to hear." Ruler dismissed cheerfully, which caused Gudako to wonder if the silver haired man could even hear her. "You may keep this power if you help my benefactor with something." Ruler said as he turned his attention back to the redhead. Gudako knew that she was going to regret whatever came next.
"I'll... Humour you. Let's hear it." Gudako relented as she stood back up on her feet. Ruler gave Gudako a smug smile.
"It's quite simple, really. All you have to do, is kill your brother." Ruler revealed with the same nonchalant tone of voice one would use when talking about the weather. "My benefactor has decided that Humanity's Last Master is a liability. If left unchecked, he could potentially become just as much of a threat to humanity as the Foreign God that Bleached the Earth." He explained as his smile took a much more sinister undertone. "Your brother would never allow a stranger like me to get close enough to kill him, but you would have no problem getting his guard down. Once you have done the deed, then you will be the hero of this story as Humanity's Last Master." Ruler said as he held out his hand to Gudako for a handshake to seal the deal. Gudako did not hesitate to make her decision.
"FUCK YOU! I'm not stabbing my brother in the back!" Gudako yelled at Ruler, her patience finally at its end. "You fucking kidnap me, drag me around this fucking zombie infested hellhole all day and now you want me to kill my brother? Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! FUCK YOU!" She ranted as she vented her entire day's worth of frustration at the white haired man. Ruler simply sighed in disappointment.
"Oh well. My offer still stands. If Humanity's Last Master dies, then I will take that to mean that you've accepted the job." Ruler said before he began to walk away from the angry redhead. He then looked over his shoulder at Gudako. "In the meantime, have fun getting out of this Minute Singularity alive, Miss Ritsuko." Ruler taunted before he vanished into thin air. Before Gudako could process what Ruler just did, several loud banging sounds caught Gudako's attention.
"Great. Now what?" Gudako asked before the doors of the building across the street suddenly burst open to reveal yet another ravenous horde of zombies, only this time Ruler was not around to fight for Gudako. "For fuck's sake..." Gudako muttered in exasperation. This day just kept getting worse. "I'm not going down without a fight!" Gudako cried as she swung her fire axe at the first zombie. Her axe hit the zombie directly in the forehead, causing the undead abomination to slump to the ground. "Who's next?!" Gudako challenged before she swung her axe into another zombie's head. If nothing else, this violence acted as an outlet for Gudako to vent her anger towards Ruler.
However, as valiant as Gudako's efforts were, she was still an untrained civilian with no combat experience. Inevitably, she soon began to feel exhausted from swinging her axe around so much, and the zombies simply kept coming out of the other building. Gudako decided that her best course of action would be to fall back into the same building that she had just escaped from. At the very least, there should not be any more zombies back there (or so Gudako hoped).
A pack of at least thirty zombies had followed Gudako inside as she ran up a set of stairs. When she reached the top of the stairs, she turned around and swung at the head of the nearest zombie, embedding the axe head in its skull. Regrettably, Gudako's fire axe slipped out of her grasp during the struggle and the rotting undead tumbled over backwards down the stairs with the axe still lodged in its head. This started a domino effect as more and more of the zombies on the stairwell fell over. Gudako had no time to mourn for for the loss of her sharpened companion.
'That should buy me some time at least.' Gudako thought to herself as she sprinted down the hallway and entered the furthest room. Gudako quickly locked the door behind her and looked around for anything nearby that she could use to block the door. Fortunately, there was a set of metal shelves right next to the door that Gudako did not hesitate to push over in front of the door. With the entryway secure for now, she took some time to look around the room for another way out.
Gudako saw that there was a collapsed desk covered in a tattered tarp against one wall and a broken window on another. Gudako made her way over to the broken window and stuck her head out of it, being mindful to avoid getting cut on the filth encrusted shards around the edges of the window frame. While there was no fire escape ladder outside, there was a drainage pipe that ran down right next to the broken window that Gudako could easily reach.
"If I'm careful, I might be able to climb down using that drain pipe. Or I'll plummet to my death." Gudako muttered to herself. "Get eaten my zombies, or go splat." She said as she weighed her options. "Go splat." Gudako decided. If the tarp on the desk was cut into strips and tied together, then it might serves as a sort of improvised rope to help make the climb down easier. There were two problems with this plan; the first was that time spent crafting a rope would give the zombies time to break into the room. The second problem was that Gudako was not confident that she could even make a rope that could hold itself together, let alone hold up her weight. However, Gudako decided that the risk was worth it if it meant not getting eaten alive by zombies.
Before Gudako could enact her poorly thought out escape plan, she suddenly heard the sound of gunfire from the other side of the door. More and more gunshots rang out, until eventually the sounds stopped. Gudako was still wary but she pressed her ear against the door to listen in. She then heard a single set of footsteps slowly approach her location. After a few moments of silence, a knock came at the door.
"You can open the door. I've dealt with the zombies already." A man's voice called out from the other side of Gudako's hastily constructed barricade. Gudako was surprised that this person knew that she was in the room. She briefly considered turning around to try and climb out of the window, but then she thought that it might be safer if she stuck close to someone with a gun. With a grunt of effort, Gudako pushed the shelf that she placed in front of the door earlier to clear the way. Cautiously, Gudako opened the door.
Gudako saw a tall man with dark skin standing outside of the room. His short scruffy beard matched his messy white hair, and a pair of glasses covered his silver eyes. The stranger wore what looked like some sort of urban military fatigues, with the letters 'NFF' embroidered underneath a stylised fox head on the left breast pocket. The stranger cradled a gun in both hands with his index finger off of the trigger. The man stared at Gudako with a blank expression.
"Ah, there you are, Gudako. Here, catch." The stranger said numbly before he tossed a golden cup towards Gudako, who managed to catch it. "Give that to Humanity's Last Master when he arrives." He instructed as his facial expression remained unchanged. Gudako instantly became suspicious at the fact that this stranger already knew her name.
"Who're you and how do you know my name?" Gudako asked defensively. After wasting the day with Ruler, she was in no mood to deal with any more white haired strangers who popped in out of nowhere and knew her backstory for some reason. The stranger continued to stare at Gudako with a vacant look in his eyes.
"Just a mercenary. Call me Saver." The now named Saver replied as he ignored her second question entirely. Gudako felt something familiar about Saver as he continued to stare at her, so she decided to drop the subject for now.
"Well, thanks for letting me know that Ritsuka's coming, Saver." Gudako said sincerely. She was thankful that Saver seemed to be far less infuriating than Ruler. Something told Gudako that Saver was a good person despite his appearance.
"Don't mention it." Saver replied with what looked like a small smile, however said small smile disappeared almost instantly. "Literally, don't mention me to anyone. We never spoke. We never met. You just found that cup on a dead body after bashing in some zombie skulls." Saver said in a more serious tone. Gudako did not expect the conversation to go like this. "Just stay here and wait for Humanity's Last Master to find you. Don't follow me." The dark skinned man ordered before he turned and briskly walked out of Gudako's line of sight. Gudako immediately tried to follow Saver.
"Wait!" Gudako called out to Saver, but when she rounded the corner she saw no sign of him anywhere in the hallway. Once again, Gudako contemplated her next course of action. She could do as Saver suggested and stay put, as that would be the safest option. However a nagging feeling in the back of her head told her to go after Saver: she had too many questions on her mind for him. 'How did he know my name? Why did he give me this cup? Does he know that this is a Singularity? Why does he remind me of Ritsuka so much?' She thought to herself. With that, Gudako stepped forward and began her search for Saver.
In a certain room in Novum Chaldea, Jack was enjoying herself even though her parents were not around. The reason for Jack's happiness was the presence of a certain Fox Miko in her home. With both of Jack's parents out on a Mission, Tamamo had taken it upon herself to watch over her Master's daughter. Jack's grandparents had been invited by the Director to observe Ritsuka's mission up in the Command Room, and Jack herself had contemplated going up there herself. However, as tempting as the possibility of watching her parents murder people would have been, Jack had something far more exciting planned for Tamamo.
'We can't wait anymore!' Jack decided as she got out of her room and made her way to the kitchen where Tamamo prepared Kitsune Udon for Jack. The Wraith Child silently approached Tamamo and struck the defenceless Fox Miko from behind.
"Aaahn!" Tamamo cried out in surprise. She turned her head and saw that Jack had once again grabbed hold of her tail and nuzzled into the appendage. "Aww, don't be so impatient, Jack. Dinner will be ready shortly. Then afterwards you can hug my tail as much as you want." Tamamo said to the Wraith Child. Jack's face lit up with joy.
"Yay!" Jack cried out happily as she skipped away and sat down at the dinner table, eagerly awaiting what would come next. The promise of more time with the Fox Miko's soft appendage almost made up for her parents' absence.
Back in the Minute Singularity, Gudako's search for Saver proved fruitless. The hallway that she saw Saver exit through turned out to be a dead end, and he was not inside of any of the rooms that Gudako could find. She took a moment to try to calmly think of her options as she looked around. Gudako then noticed that there was an air vent that was missing its grate. Gudako saw no other way to progress forward, so she placed a nearby chair in front of the open vent to help her climb up.
"I guess it's time to go in the vents." Gudako said aloud before she tried to squeeze herself into the air duct. It was only after she had fully entered the air vent that she realised what a terrible plan this was. "Man, these are a lot dustier than in video games..." Gudako muttered as she found it hard to breathe from she sheer amount of dust that had caked the bottom of the air vent. In addition, the slightest movement made a loud noise that echoed throughout the narrow vent, which was sure to catch the attention of any zombies outside (if there were any left). More noticeably, the many rivets and screws that held the air vent together dug into Gudako's flesh painfully whenever she bumped into them. Despite the discomfort, Gudako pressed on forward.
Eventually Gudako reached the end of the air vent and gracelessly flopped down onto the ground, coughing her lungs out as a cloud of dust formed around her from the impact. Once Gudako got her breathing under control she took in her surroundings. The room was in the same state of dilapidation as the rest of the building, with a tipped over wooden chair in the middle of the room.
Gudako then noticed a wall mounted medical kit off to the side and went over to see if she could find anything useful. However upon opening the box, all that was left was a dirty roll of bandages and a mostly empty bottle of rubbing alcohol. She still took the bandage roll and alcohol, however. Gudako then realised that there was barely any natural light coming in from outside.
"Hmm. It's too dark to see any further in." Gudako muttered to herself in deep thought. If she were to continue on her journey then she would need some sort of light source. Gudako thought about what she had just found in this room and an idea struck her.
Gudako reached into her pockets and scrapped out a surprising amount of lint. The fine fibres would be perfect to use as tinder. She then turned her attention to the wooden chair and stomped on the legs to break them off. Her actions left a hole in the chair's base that a leg could easily be inserted back into. Next, Gudako took one chair leg, wrapped the bandage around it and poured the rubbing alcohol onto it. She laid the bandaged chair leg on the floor and grabbed another chair leg. Drawing on what little she could remember from her elementary school camping trip, she inserted the chair leg into the of the chair base hole and spun it around with both hands as fast as she could. More and more, Gudako kept spinning the chair leg until she saw a small wisp of smoke caused by the friction. She quickly removed the chair leg and tilted the wood to let the embers land on the improvised tinder. Gudako gently blew on the tinder until it caught fire and lit up the soaked bandages underneath.
"Okay, let there be light!" Gudako declared with pride as she held her improvised torch aloft. While the alcohol might not stay alight for long, Gudako hoped that it would burn long enough for her to explore the rest of the building. With a light source in hand, Gudako could investigate her surroundings much more thoroughly. Gudako saw that she was in what seemed to be a break room, complete with a fridge, pantry, sink and dining table. Most notably, she noticed that on the table was an audio cassette player with a cassette tape already inside.
"There might be something interesting on this." Gudako said aloud as she pressed 'play' on the cassette player. Fortunately, there was still some charge in the cassette player's battery. Gudako listened closely.
"So, you play the new Dead Mainland game yet?" A man's voice of poor sound quality spoke from the outdated piece of technology. Gudako vaguely remembered video game Dead Mainland, mostly because the game itself was considered a disappointment compared to the trailer. The trailer showed an emotional story of a family's vacation that descended into hell as the daughter of the family slowly succumbed to a zombie infection. The gameplay itself was just another crafting survival first-person shooter with zombies that saturated the video game market.
"Yeah, I've been making my way through the single player campaign. Sure is a lot of brown everywhere." Another man's voice replied, also of poor sound quality.
"Of course it's brown. That's how you know it's supposed to be grounded in reality." The first person responded. Gudako gave a short chuckle: back then it seemed that every video game had to be mostly brown to show off the graphics.
"You do realise that there are other colours in real life? Anyway, there's something else that's been bothering me about the single player campaign. What's with all the audio logs? Who would bother recording random conversations for the player to find?" The second person asked. Gudako had never thought about it, but he had a point: nobody in real life just leaves audio recordings around the place.
"A couple of reasons; firstly, it helps immerse the player into the world of the game. Gives them an insight of what people's lives were like before the zombie apocalypse. It gives weight to the character's actions in the present when the player realises how much they've had to change to survive and overcome their challenges." The first man answered. Gudako meanwhile just thought that audio logs in video games were just there to give the player clues for upcoming puzzles or boss fights.
"And the other?" The second man asked. Gudako was completely engrossed in this conversation by this point.
"Filler. Helps pad out the gameplay hours. The campaign's only about four or five hours long without them." The first man stated. Gudako remembered a time back when she thought that games needed to be at least six hours long to be worth her time. However, after graduating from high school and getting a job, Gudako found that she preferred shorter games that she could complete between shifts.
"Yeah, that makes sense. Also, who the fuck still uses cassette tapes? It's 2009!" The second man cried out. Gudako had forgotten that she was actually over ten years in the past, and even back then cassette tapes were an obsolete form of media.
"Way to shit on my hobby, dude." The first man managed to reply before the cassette tape came to an abrupt end. Gudako had learned nothing of value. This conversation did not relate at all to the zombie apocalypse in this Minute Singularity, nor did it hold any relevant information about the building that she was currently in.
"...Well, that was a waste of my time." Gudako muttered to herself as she left the cassette player on the table. A familiar pain in Gudako's gut reminded her that she had not eaten anything since she had breakfast back at Enma-Tei. Gudako quickly looked around the kitchen area for anything edible starting with the pantry. She did not want to risk whatever horrid smells would emerge from a refrigerator that had lost power for God knows how long. Sadly, nearly everything in the pantry had already been cleared out save for a bag of flour, a salt shaker and a mostly empty bottle of barbecue sauce. Gudako rested her improvised torch in an empty flower vase while she prepared her 'meal.'
"Lunchtime. Flour with a side of salt. My favourite..." Gudako muttered sarcastically as she scooped up a few table spoons of flour into a bowl and sprinkled on some salt. "Add some barbecue sauce and now we're living in the lap of luxury!" She exclaimed with even more sarcasm as she poured out what remained of the barbecue sauce into the flour and mixed vigorously. She then began to eat her lunch, which tasted... Exactly as one would expect flour and barbecue sauce to taste. As Gudako ate, her eyes began to sting and she found that it had become harder to breathe. She started to cough painfully as realisation hit her: the torch was filling the room with smoke. Gudako quickly opened the kitchen window, stuck her head outside and took several deep breaths to clear her lungs.
"Alright, I'm getting rid of this thing." Gudako decided as she threw the torch out of the window with contempt. "Fantasy movies lied to me with their wall mounted torches. Yeah, how about you stay in an enclosed space with a lit torch and then let me know how your lungs feel!" Gudako ranted between coughs as she tried to clear out her lungs. "I need some fresh air." Gudako said before she tried to get out of the smoke filled break room as quickly she could. "Oh shit, now I can't see anything." She said once she realised that her only source of light was now gone.
After nearly half an hour of slowly and carefully stumbling through the darkness, Gudako had somehow managed to work her way back outside of the building and onto the streets. Fortunately, she did not encounter any zombies this time, no doubt due to Saver having already cleared them out. Gudako then noticed something familiar on the ground by the front entrance.
"Oh hey, that's where my torch went." Gudako remarked once she saw the torch that she threw out the window in a fit of rage. The improvised torch was useless to Gudako now, as it had burnt out completely by now. Gudako thought about what to do next before she heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Hey boss! Over here! I found someone!" A man's called out. Gudako then saw a group of about four people who stood under a bridge further up the road under a nearby bridge. Gudako jogged up to the group to introduce herself.
"Hey there!" Gudako greeted. Now that she was closer, she was able to get a good look at these people. All four of the men were unkempt, unwashed and wore tattered leather jackets that each had a matching skull insignia. They were each armed with a bludgeoning instrument such as pipes or crowbars. Gudako suspected that these men might have once been part of a gang before the zombei outbreak. "Nice to finally see some living people for a change." She said cordially, wanting to give the men no reason to harm her. The men however did not return the redhead's friendly nature as they all eyed her with suspicion.
"Was that light in the window earlier because of you?" The man who Gudako assumed was the leader of this group of people asked. That question caught Gudako by surprise.
"You mean from my torch?" Gudako asked for clarification. The boss of these people nodded.
"Yeah. That- WHAT IS THAT?!" The boss suddenly shouted once he noticed what Gudako held in her left hand. Gudako furrowed her brow in confusion.
"What's what?" Gudako asked. The boss pointed a finger angrily at the Holy Grail in Gudako's hand.
"That fucking cup!" The boss yelled angrily as he drew his weapon from his back. Gudako's eyes widened with terror once she realised that the boss was not armed with a mere pipe but rather with an actual shotgun. Nevertheless, Gudako tried to keep her cool in this situation.
"This thing? I got this-" Gudako tried to explain before she was interrupted by one of the thugs.
"BOSS! We got problems!" One of the other thugs yelled in alarm as he pointed behind the group. The boss' voice had attracted a pack of zombies. With that, the four men took up positions and tried to fend off the undead. They swung their respective weapons with brutal efficiency, slowly whittling down the zombies numbers until only a single one remained. The last zombie surged forth with a surprising amount of speed towards the boss and tried to grab him. The boss tried to push back against one zombie, and during the struggle his shotgun fell to the ground. Gudako swiftly picked up the firearm and aimed it at the last of the zombies. One thug noticed the redhead's actions.
"No you idiot! Don't-" The thug's warning came too late as Gudako had already pulled the trigger. The shotgun let out a voluminous bang as its payload exited the barrel and peppered a zombie's head with lead pellets. As she was unused to using firearms, Gudako had actually been knocked to her back from the gun's recoil. In a confined space such as under the bridge, the noise from the gunfire had been so loud that both the thugs and Gudako had been momentarily deafened by the shotgun. As she tried to get her bearings, Gudako saw that the angry boss was trying to tell her something.
"WHAT?!" Gudako yelled just as the ringing in her ears began to subside. The boss' face contorted even more in rage in response.
"I said, THAT WAS MY LAST FUCKING SHOTGUN SHELL, YOU STUPID FUCKING CUNT!" The boss yelled before he stomped Gudako in the gut. The blow forced all of the air out of Gudako's lungs and the pain rendered her unconscious.
Some time later, the thugs had carried the unconscious Gudako back to their hideout for questioning. Outside, two thugs sat down in chairs by the entrance on the look out for more zombies. With nothing going on at the moment, one of the two guards decided to make some conversation.
"So, that redhead earlier." The guard said to his comrade, who stared off into the distance out of boredom.
"She was cute." The other person said without hesitation. The first thug could not help but agree with him.
"Yeah. Can't wait to have a turn with her." The replied with a perverted grin. There were only men in their gang, and all of the women that they had found in the city were currently rotting, so the entire gang was aching for some 'company' of the opposite sex.
"Assuming the boss leaves anything for us." The other thug said with a disappointed sigh. His companion nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I know what he's like-" The first thug began to say before something moving caught his attention. He leaned forward in his chair and squinted his eyes to try and get a better look. "Is that... A guy on a horse?" The guard asked. True enough, off in the distance was what looked like a man riding on a white horse that galloped down the road towards the hideout at full speed.
Gudako was suddenly jolted awake when a bucket of cold water was suddenly dumped on her face. She yelled in surprise and looked around herself in a panic. She appeared to be in some sort of warehouse that had been repurposed into makeshift living quarters, with a few tables and chairs scattered around and sleeping bags set on the floor. All around the room was also around twenty or so men, most of whom stared at Gudako. Directly in front of Gudako was the boss of these thugs, who scowled at the redhead.
"Get up." The boss sneered with a harsh voice as he grabbed Gudako by the hair to force her to look at him. She tried to fight back, but both of her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied to the chair that she sat in. "I was just going to leave you to die, but now you're going to answer my questions. Where did you get this?" The boss asked as he held up the Holy Grail. Gudako could not believe that she was about to die for something as worthless as a golden cup.
"A guy calling himself Saver just threw that thing at me." Gudako tried to explain. The boss's face contorted in anger at her words before he suddenly slapped Gudako across the face.
"Like I believe that for a second! This mess all started because of that fucking cup!" The boss yelled at Gudako. Gudako became more panicked as she feared for her life.
"I'm telling you, that's what really happened." Gudako insisted as she wracked her brain to try and come up with a way out of this situation. However before the interrogation could continue any further-
"WHERE IS SHE?!" A voice that was familiar to Gudako yelled from outside. Before any further questions could be answered (or any more harm could be inflicted on Gudako), the door to the thugs' hideout was knocked off of its hinges to reveal none other than Humanity's Last Master. He stepped inside, frantically looking around for any sign of his sister. Gudako's face lit up with joy once she saw that her brother had indeed come to her rescue.
"Ritsuka!" Gudako cried out in relief. The boss did not share her joy at Ritsuka's sudden intrusion.
"Shut it, bitch!" The boss yelled before he punched Gudako in the face. Time seemed to slow down for Ritsuka once he saw that his precious younger sister was in danger. All sense of reason left Ritsuka, and at that moment he felt nothing but Rage.
In the blink of an eye, Ritsuka raised Remnant and threw his forked spear at Gudako's attacker. The boss thug did not even have time to react before Remnant sailed across the room and impaled his body. The momentum from Ritsuka's throw actually launched the boss backwards and pinned him against a wall. The boss screamed in agony as he fruitlessly tried to pull the spear out of his chest. Soon, the blood loss and ruptured organs kicked in and the boss fell limp with a death gurgle. Every other thug stared at their boss' corpse for a few seconds before they turned their attention to Ritsuka.
"GET HIM!" The nearest thug to Ritsuka yelled as he tried to swing a crowbar at Ritsuka's head. Ritsuka stepped backwards to avoid the strike, drew Someone's Sword and cut straight through both of the thug's arms at the wrists. "GAAAAGH!" The thug yelled in pain as he stared at his severed hands in shock. The thug's pain was short lived, as Ritsuka quickly followed up with a horizontal slash across the thug's abdomen, which caused him to fall to the ground.
Two thugs then tried to attack Ritsuka as the same time. Ritsuka knelt under the swing of the first attacker before he swung Someone's Sword around in a wide sweep to sever both men's legs off at the shins. Ritsuka stood back up and a downward stab to both of the writhing thugs was enough to finish them off.
"You'll pay for that!" One thug shouted in anger at Ritsuka as he wound up for a strike with his cricket bat. In response, Ritsuka stabbed Someone's Sword through that man's foot deep enough to pin him in place. The man screamed in agony as he fruitlessly tried to pull out the sword and free himself while Ritsuka dealt with another attacker. Ritsuka grabbed the other thug by the hair and slammed his head into a nearby table hard enough to break clean through the wood. He then repeatedly slammed the thug's head on the floor until his face was a bloodied mess and then he let go of the limp body. Ritsuka then picked up the ruined table and thew it at the face of the man whose foot was nailed to the floor by Someone's Sword. The impact freed the thug from the blade, but it also fractured his skull, killing him instantly.
Ritsuka quickly pulled Someone's Sword back out from the floor just in time to block another thug's shovel. He pushed his sword against the shovel to make the thug stagger backwards, which left the thug vulnerable to a thrust to the chest from Ritsuka, impaling the man on Someone's Sword. Humanity's Last Master continued to push Someone's Sword forward until the blade stabbed through another unfortunate member of the gang, leaving two corpses on the one sword. Ritsuka then pulled his sword out of both bodies. To their credit, the gang was not dissuaded by the seven deaths that Ritsuka had just caused.
"Come on! He can't take all of us down!" One more thug shouted to rally the others. Unfortunately for them, Humanity's Last Master would prove them wrong.
In the Command Room of Novum Chaldea, Ritsuka's one-sided slaughter of the gang was displayed on the main monitor. Goredolf had invited Aki and Kentaro to oversee Ritsuka's mission, as he believed that it would give them some peace of mind.
"Magnificent, isn't he?" Goredolf asked the couple as he saw Ritsuka continue to cut down his foes. "To think that eight years ago your son was just an ordinary civilian with no experience in either combat nor Magecraft. Well, look at him now." He said with pride as he watched Ritsuka literally hack a man into pieces on the monitor. Goredolf had no doubt that the remaining Lostbelts and the Foreign God would all fall at the hands of Humanity's Last Master. Were Goredolf speaking to a Mage family then perhaps his complement would have been well received. Unfortunately, Aki and Kentaro could not have been more mortified.
'My son is now a killer, and it's all Chaldea's fault.' Kentaro thought to himself as he tried to suppress the urge to punch Goredolf in the face. Although Kentaro's expression did not change (as usual), inwardly Kentaro was enraged at Goredolf's boast. Nonetheless, he continued to stoically watch his son's descent into violent madness, all the while cursing Chaldea in his mind. He handled the situation in a much more composed manner than his wife.
'Ritsuka... I don't even know who you are any more.' A distraught Aki thought to herself. She covered her eyes in horror as Ritsuka grabbed a thug by the head with both hands and crushed the man's skull. It was one thing to see her son fight a Phantasmal creature such as Nue, it was another thing entirely to see him kill actual human beings so ruthlessly. Leonardo took notice of the couple's discomfort.
"You'll get used to it." Leonardo said as she leaned back in her chair, although her words did not comfort Ritsuka's parents in the slightest.
There was only one word that could describe how Humanity's Last Master dealt with Gudako's captors: slaughter. In the few minutes since Ritsuka had arrived in their hideout, more than half of their number had already been cut down. The gang's confidence in beating Ritsuka had been completely shattered. Now they all feared for their own lives.
"There... There's no way he's human!" One thug yelled in fear before Ritsuka brought down Someone's Sword down through the man's shoulder with enough force that the blade settled in his abdomen. Ritsuka kicked the nearly bisected corpse off of his sword before he looked for his next victim.
"Just give him the girl already!" Another thug cried out. His terror only grew greater once he realised that Ritsuka's attention was now on him. "No! Please Don-" The man's pleas were cut off when Ritsuka decapitated him with a horizontal single slash from Someone's Sword.
The next gang member tried to sneak up on Ritsuka from behind, but Humanity's Last Master swiftly turned around and backhanded his would-be attacker's face with a Magecraft-Reinforced fist. Predictably, the man's entire head was reduced to a fine red paste that sprayed all over the horrified Gudako.
Gudako had sat completely still out of shock throughout the entirety of her brother's carnage. Out of all of the horrible things that Gudako had seen in her life; the Bleaching, Nue, the zombies and getting abducted by this gang, none of those compared to the fear that she felt as she witnessed her brother's rampage. The last thug grabbed Gudako from behind and held up a knife to her throat.
"Stay back! I swear I'll kill her!" The man warned, however his threat landed on deaf ears as Ritsuka swiftly drew his Calico and fired a round into the thug's head. The man's corpse fell over backwards as Gudako sat numbly. Ritsuka then made his way over to Remnant From 1999, which still pinned the thugs' boss against the wall, and pulled it out with one hand. With the all of Gudako's captors now dead, Ritsuka then turned his attention to his little sister.
Gudako could only stare in horror at the blood-covered form of Humanity's Last Master. Every cell in Gudako's body screamed at her to run away from the monster that approached her. When Ritsuka reached Gudako, he suddenly dropped his weapons, leaned down and enveloped his sister in a tight embrace.
"Thank God you're alive." Ritsuka choked out in relief as he began to gently stroke Gudako's hair. "Don't worry Gudako. I swear I'll keep you safe." He swore as he broke the embrace to look at his precious little sister in the eyes. "No one who harms my family will live long enough to regret it." Ritsuka stated, his vengeful promise contrasted by the warm smile that he gave his sister. Unfortunately, Ritsuka's words only further horrified Gudako.
'How can he smile like that after killing all of these people?' Gudako thought to herself as her entire perspective of her older brother was shattered. She simply could not comprehend how her caring, chocolate-obsessed, mecha-nerd of an older brother could be the same monster that just finished this killing spree. She could not understand how the arms could very easily kill her could also hold her with such a gentleness. This was too much for Gudako to handle, so her fight or flight instincts kicked in.
"Ughhhh. Ughhhhhh. Uwaaaa. Waaaaaaah! WAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Gudako screamed until her throat hurt. She thrashed around in a desperate to escape from Ritsuka's grip. Her reaction made Ritsuka confused and concerned.
"Easy, easy! Gudako, what's wrong?!" Ritsuka asked as he tried to hold Gudako still. His words only seemed to make the frightened Gudako even more panicked, as she simply struggled harder to escape. Ritsuka decided that he needed to get his sister to safety without delay. "Sorry about this." He apologised before he swiftly struck Gudako on the back of her head with his hand to knock her out. Ritsuka immediately cast a healing spell on his unconscious sister to prevent any long term damage to her. He had just cut Gudako from her restraints when he noticed something golden in the corner of his eye.
"A Holy Grail?" Ritsuka remarked before he grabbed said golden object. "I've got everything I need. Leonardo! Get us out of here!" Ritsuka yelled into his communicator. Both Humanity's Last Master and his sister disappeared in a flash of light as the Minute Singularity began to correct itself.
Gudako awoke to the sight of an oddly familiar ceiling and to the strong smell of antiseptics. The room around her was stark white, which reminded her of a hospital room. She then realised that this was none other than Chaldea's Infirmary. Gudako looked down at herself and saw that she was currently in one of the Infirmary's beds and wearing a hospital gown. On her right, she saw that she was connected to a heart rate monitor that was set up next to her bed. Gudako's movements caught the attention of a certain nurse.
"Ah, Gudako. You're awake." Nightingale remarked from her desk now that the redhead had fully regained consciousness. Gudako weakly tried to adjust her position in her bed to look up at Nightingale.
"Ugh. I had a horrible nightmare that it was the zombie apocalypse" Gudako said as her eyes adjusted to the bright ceiling lights of the Infirmary. Nightingale stood up from her desk.
"That wasn't a dream. You were abducted by an unknown party and the Master rescued you." Nightingale stated bluntly. She then made her way over to the wall mounted intercom by the entrance to the Infirmary and pushed a button. "Leonardo Da Vinci, please report to the Infirmary." She said into the intercom before she sat back down at her desk. A short time later, a certain Renaissance Girl had arrived at the Infirmary with a smile on her face.
"Good morning Gudako. Good to see you've made a full recovery." Leonardo greeted cheerfully. She then took a seat next to Gudako's bed as the redhead sat up to talk to Leonardo.
"Hi Da Vinci." Gudako replied. Leonardo then took out a notebook and pen before she spoke.
"Now then Gudako, what do you remember about your abduction? From the beginning, if you would." Leonardo asked Gudako. The redhead thought back to her experiences.
"After we left Enma-Tei, I woke up in some dingy room." Gudako recounted with distaste. "There was this weirdo, Ruler, who dragged me through a building that was infested with zombies and lame puzzles. He said something about being a Master. No idea what that was about." Gudako said, to which Leonardo raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "After we got out of the building, Ruler ditched me." She added as Leonardo wrote down what she had said. The Renaissance Girl looked up from her notebook.
"Would you mind describing Ruler for me?" Leonardo asked, as her interest had been piqued. Such information would be pertinent to Chaldea's mission if this Ruler ever appeared again. Gudako tried to recall Ruler's features.
"He looked pretty young. Pale skin, white hair. Wore a black suit and had some kind of staff. Also he had blue eye liner for some reason." Gudako described to the best of her ability. She then recalled something more important. "Also, he offered me a job if I killed Ritsuka. Of course, I told him to go fuck himself." Gudako said with a slight frown. Leonardo gave a short laugh.
"Hah! I wish I could've seen the look on his face when you said that to him." Leonardo said, quite amused at Gudako's fire. "By the way, there was a Holy Grail near you when Ritsuka found you. What can you tell us about that?" Leonardo asked. Gudako thought for a moment about what Leonardo meant about the 'Holy Grail' before realisation hit her.
"You mean the gold cup?" Gudako asked, to which Leonardo nodded. "Yeah, someone calling himself Saver gave that to me and told me to give it to Ritsuka." Gudako explained. She did not know why, but Gudako suddenly felt quite sad as she remembered the dark skinned man who saved her. Leonardo's interest was piqued for the second time that day.
"Really? Can you please tell me what this Saver looked like?" Leonardo asked, curious about this new party. Being the genius that she was, Leonardo already knew about the Saver Class, but she was nonetheless surprised to hear that Gudako had apparently encountered one such Heroic Spirit during her abduction. Gudako tried her hardest to remember Saver's appearance.
"Umm. He had dark skin, white hair, silver eyes, a beard, glasses, and he was wearing some kind of army uniform. You know, the grey kind that they wear in cities." Gudako recalled. Leonardo's hand was a blur as she tried to write down every little detail that Gudako provided her.
"Anything else you can recall about him? Even the smallest thing would help." Leonardo pressed on: she would not let this chance to learn more about the Saver Class slip by. Once again, Gudako thought deeply about what other information she could provide the Renaissance Girl.
"Hmm. He was kind of tall I guess. He had a gun, but I don't know anything about guns to give you more details." Gudako said as she closed her eyes in concentration for a moment before she remembered something. "I think he had a tattoo on the back of his right hand. I don't remember what it looked like, but it was red." Gudako said before she suddenly recalled Saver's stare. "Saver also had this sort of look on his face: like he wasn't all there." Gudako added. "That's everything I can think of." She finished with a shrug. Leonardo studiously wrote down everything that Gudako said for later review.
"Thank you." Leonardo said once she had finished her notes. "Back on topic, please continue your story. What happened after you met Saver?" She asked, eager to get the complete story. Gudako then remembered which part of her story she had gotten to before that little tangent.
"Oh right. After Saver gave me that cup, I decided to go looking for him." Gudako said, to which Leonardo raised an eyebrow. Gudako had the decency to look sheepish at that. "Pretty dumb idea, looking back." She muttered to herself. "After I made it out onto the streets, I got caught by a gang of thugs and then..." She said as she tried to remember what happened after her encounter with the thugs, only to draw a mental blank. "I woke up here." Gudako finished. Leonardo stared at Gudako for a few seconds before she closed her notebook.
"Interesting..." Leonardo said in an even tone before her smile returned to her face. "Well, that's everything that I needed to ask." She said as she got up from her chair.
"Can I see my family yet?" Gudako asked. After such a long day, Gudako just wanted to see her parents again. Leonardo gave Gudako a friendly smile.
"You certainly may." Leonardo replied as she made her way over to the door and pressed a button on the intercom. "Fujimaru Ritsuka, Fujimaru Kiyohime, Jack Fujimaru, Fujimaru Aki, Fujimaru Kentaro, please report to the Infirmary." Leonardo spoke into the base wide intercom. "Ciao, Gudako!" The Renaissance Girl called out with a wave goodbye before she exited the Infirmary.
Aki and Kentaro were the first to arrive a short while later. When Gudako's parents entered the infirmary, Aki immediately ran over to her daughter and gave the redhead a hug.
"Thank god you're alright!" Aki cried out. "I'm never letting your out of my sight again!" She admonished as she tightened her grip around her daughter. Kentaro meanwhile said nothing and instead simply gave a slight smile towards his daughter.
"Aww, but I have work in the morning." Gudako joked as she returned her mother's embrace. She was glad to be back in Chaldea, where nothing horrible would happen to her family.
"Hello Master." Nightingale suddenly said from her desk. Everyone looked over to the entrance of the Infirmary room. Standing in front of the now closed Infirmary door was Humanity's Last Master, with his wife and daughter beside him.
"Welcome home, Gudako." Ritsuka said to his sister. However Gudako did not hear what Ritsuka had just said. As soon as Gudako saw Ritsuka, the suppressed memories of what she had seen her brother do all came crashing back into Gudako's mind at once. Dread engulfed her as she realised that she was now trapped in the Infirmary with this killer.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Gudako yelled at the top of her lungs. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Gudako shouted at Ritsuka before she scrambled out of the bed, only to fall to the floor. She desperately tried to crawl away from Ritsuka until she reached the corner of the Infirmary, at which point she curled up into the fetal position and sobbed in fear. Nightingale was quick to respond.
"She's having a panic attack!" Nightingale called out. "All of you, OUT!" She ordered. No one dared to defy the Angel of Crimea, so the Fujimaru family (except for Gudako) all did as they were told, with Ritsuka as the last one to exit. Once Ritsuka had left the Infirmary, Gudako suddenly found herself coming to her senses. Nightingale was surprised at this.
"That was unexpectedly quick. Have you calmed down?" Nightingale asked as she helped Gudako stand up. Gudako nodded now that she could think clearly.
"I'm-I'm alright." Gudako replied. "I don't know how to say it but, it's just... When I see him, I can't stop thinking about what happened. What he did..." Gudako tried to explain. Nightingale found what the redhead had said to be concerning, but she gave her patient a reassuring smile nonetheless.
"I understand. Let's get you to bed and give you something to help you relax." Nightingale told Gudako. She then helped Gudako back into the bed and gave Gudako some sedatives to help calm her down. Once Gudako had fallen asleep, Nightingale made her way out of the Infirmary to tell Gudako's family what had happened. Everyone else anxiously awaited Nightingale's explanation.
"It seems that Gudako's experiences have deeply traumatised her, to the point that the Master's presence triggered a panic attack in her." Nightingale said bluntly, which felt like a punch to the face for Ritsuka. Nightingale noticed the effect that her words had on her Master, and so she decided to give some good news for a change. "Fortunately, we already have a therapist in the base who can help Gudako deal with this." She said. Ritsuka instantly knew who Nightingale was referring to.
"Make arrangements for Kiara to start treating Gudako as soon as possible." Ritsuka ordered. Nightingale nodded and steeled herself for what she needed to say next.
"That brings me to the hard part. In order to ensure a smooth and effective treatment, we need to reduce Gudako's stress as much as possible." Nightingale said with an apologetic look on her face. "Master, I'm sorry, but for the time being I think it's best if Gudako doesn't see you anymore." Nightingale said sadly.
A great pain settled in Ritsuka's heart once he realised that his sister was now deathly afraid of him. Time seemed to slow down around Ritsuka as he noticed his parents' reaction to his presence. Aki stared at him in fear while Kentaro had stepped in front of his wife protectively. Ritsuka quickly figured out that his parents must have witnessed his most recent killing spree from the Command Room. He did not even hear the rest of what Nightingale said.
"... I understand." Ritsuka said numbly partway through Nightingale's explanation. He began to walk away from his parents as Kentaro and Aki stared at him warily. Kiyohime suddenly reached out to her husband and grabbed his sleeve.
"Where are you going?" Kiyohime asked. She had been married to Ritsuka long enough to know that he was planning on doing something stupid and dangerous to himself.
"Out." Ritsuka stated in a very Kentaro-like way. Jack stepped forward.
"When will you be back?" Jack asked with tears welling in her eyes as she feared that her father was going to abandon her once more. Ritsuka looked back towards his daughter, but the sight of his terrified parents behind her brought the pain back into his heart. For a brief moment, he saw the faces of all of the Lostbelt inhabitants whom he had killed.
"Later." Ritsuka said simply before he faced Kiyohime. "Look after Jack for me." Ritsuka asked his wife before he resumed his walk. Kiyohime did not follow him: by this point she knew that there was nothing she could say to dissuade Ritsuka from this self-destructive path.
"Have a safe trip." Kiyohime called out to her husband, to which Ritsuka did not respond. With her husband slipping away, Kiyohime did the only thing she could do: comfort her daughter. She pulled Jack into a hug as the Wraith Child began to cry.
In Chaldea's Command Room, a certain Renaissance Girl had just finished transcribing her notes into Chaldea's database. Leonardo leaned back into her chair as she pondered over what Gudako had said about her abduction earlier. 'It seems that a third party had already recovered the Holy Grail that was responsible for the Minute Singularity. Why then, would this 'Saver' hand over the Grail for Gudako to deliver to Ritsuka? Is Saver a new ally?" Leonardo thought to herself. With the threat of the remaining Lostbelts and the Foreign God on the horizon, Chaldea needed all the help that it could get.
"Then there's Gudako's description of what he looked like; silver eyes, darkened skin and white hair. That basically screams that Saver is a Counter Guardian." Leonardo deduced. She knew of the Counter Force of course, and she had assumed that the Bleaching had rendered the Counter Force powerless. However Saver's appearance suggested that Alaya still had some fight left in it. "Additionally, Saver already knew Gudako's name, and he was aware that Ritsuka was on his way to rescue her. There's not enough evidence to jump to conclusions, but it's possible that Saver's true identity is-' Leonardo's train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Leonardo." Ritsuka suddenly said with a neutral expression on his face, breaking Leonardo out of her deductions. At some point during Leonardo's contemplation, Ritsuka had slipped in. "Give me a mission." Humanity's Last Master ordered. Leonardo sat up straight in her chair and glanced at Ritsuka.
"Hello to you too, Ritsuka. I'm doing fine, thank you for asking." Leonardo replied sarcastically. Ritsuka however continued stare blankly at the Renaissance Girl.
"Give me a mission." Ritsuka repeated in a more insistent tone.
"Ritsuka, this isn't healthy. You should really take some time to calmly-" Leonardo tried to say to Ritsuka before she was interrupted by a very angry Ritsuka.
"Just give me a FUCKING mission! I don't care what it is!" Ritsuka suddenly shouted at Leonardo. 'I need to stop thinking about it.' Ritsuka thought to himself. He then took a few deep breaths to compose himself. "Please..." He asked calmly. Leonardo was surprised by Ritsuka's sudden mood swing.
"...Alright." Leonardo relented, unwittingly enabling Ritsuka's bad habit. She moved over to her terminal and pressed a few buttons to bring up a holographic map of a Minute Singularity. "Here. This is Slaughter Town. Grim name, I know." She said as she brought up a set of images that showed Slaughter Town in a state of total disrepair; with closed shops, empty roads and abandoned houses. "It's a little farming community out in the middle of nowhere in America, circa nineteen twenties." Leonardo informed Ritsuka.
"It should be a ghost town because of the famine going on at this time, but it seems to be thriving in this Minute Singularity." Leonardo said as she brought up another set of imaged that instead showed Slaughter Town in much better condition; with bustling streets and pristine buildings. "Your mission is to infiltrate the town, investigate the cause of its sudden prosperity and then restore Slaughter Town to its proper state." Leonardo stated before she turned in her chair to face Ritsuka. Humanity's Last Master did not like the sound of this mission.
"So I have to make sure everyone there starves..." Ritsuka deduced with disdain. Therein lay the underlying problem affecting Ritsuka's heart and mind: the easiest way for Ritsuka to distract himself from his guilt over all of deaths that he caused was to indulge in even more violence and murder. It was a vicious cycle. Leonardo looked indignant at Ritsuka's words.
"Hey, you're the one who said you don't care what mission you get next." Leonardo reminded Ritsuka, who conceded that the Renaissance Girl had a point. "Who are you bringing?" Leonardo asked. Ritsuka took a few moments to think over his options.
"Raikou, Qin Liangyu, Wu Zetian, Yu Mei-Ren." Ritsuka listed off. "Raikou and Liangyu will be the muscle. Nite Brite will gather information. Paisen will be morale support." He explained. Leonardo raised an eyebrow at his choice in Servants.
"Hmm. Not who I would have picked, but whatever. You're the one out there risking your neck. Not me." Leonardo said with a shrug. She then turned her attention back to her terminal. "The Coffins will be ready in twenty minutes." She said before Ritsuka left the Command Room.
"Well, that didn't work." Ruler remarked to himself from his base of operations.
Chaldea had the potential to be a useful asset in the future. The greatest Heroes that humanity had to offer all gathered in one place, ready to strike out at any foe through Rayshifting or Void Sailing. However, there was one problem with Chaldea in its current form: Fujimaru Ritsuka. So long as Humanity's Last Master lived, no one else would be able to wield such power. This was the reason that Ruler even bothered with his recent excursion: Gudako would have been the perfect inside pawn to eliminate Ritsuka and bring Chaldea under control. The thought of that redhead made Ruler frown.
Ruler for his part was confused. For someone as accomplished as Ritsuka, he must have been the favoured scion of his family. Conversely, Gudako must have been the neglected younger child who coveted Ritsuka's power. Ruler was certain that Gudako would have jumped at the chance to usurp her brother's position in their family and claim Chaldea's power for herself, as any Mage would. What kind of Mage was she? Ruler gave out a sigh.
"Oh well, it's not like I ever understood family dynamics to begin with." Ruler dismissed with a shrug. "On to plan B then. What was that other Mage's name again? Kodak Z. Lepus or something?" He muttered to himself as he tried to remember a certain white haired Crypter who was currently freeloading in Olympus.
Author's Note:
Here we have the first Gudako-focused chapter, wherein Gudako is trapped in a Minute Singularity by herself. The goal of Gudako in her chapters is simply to survive, rather than fight or resolve the Singularity. I'd liken Gudako's situation to a Survival Horror game: as an untrained civilian her only options when faced with danger are to run, hide or die. As Gudako will not be a Master in this story, I hope that readers enjoy this alternative role that I've assigned to Gudako.
Thank you for reading, and please feel free to leave a review.