Being a Handler at Chaldea Sucks!

by axel4ekruz

It was supposed to be an easy deal, do the rounds earn your paycheck then rinse and repeat. But the universe along with worm-demons, aliens, gods and other forces decided to play strip poker with humanity, so it all came down to this... A sad outcast and his harrowing thoughts ends up teaming up with a greenhorn and a moody rich girl. A perfect recipe for success.

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: FGO is Nasu's and the work of his brainiacs he keeps on a short leash and on minimal salary, I'm sure of it. So let's see what a guy not paid a dime can do.

Being a Handler at Chaldea Sucks!

Chapter 2: The Jolly Chimp Has Left the Building

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"I promise on my faith that I will in the future be faithful to the lord, never cause him harm and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit."

That distant memory…

"Splendid. At such young age at that, nothing less must be expected of him."

Wizened and shapeless, your voices are a dry wind upon a pale bark.

"Furthermore as a knight I swear to abide by and uphold Code-"

"That is quite enough."

Your words that cut through, casting thousands of blades reverberating through the room yet as a voiceless voice given supreme authority there now exists but a single Aria.

"…"

"The oath was spoken and the Crown acknowledges your admission in the Order. We may move to the more pressing matters."

And yet as I stood, my mind still reeling, my years of discipline forcing my body to remain perfectly posed, a fleeting dream that a boy once so young and naive sought, now to come true I cannot…

"I…"

"Maximilian promised the results, quite astonishing might I add…"

"To display the level of physical fitness in body at mere fifteen years… Simply amazing, yes he will do nicely…"

"Of course, the reports on his prowess is by no means exaggerated, one time he even…"

"I…"

I, of that single moment, the bile in my stomach churning, to spill from my mouth, an ever present headache, a burning sensation…

"..istan…"

After that moment, all has gone horribly wrong.

Faith was shaken to its core, the ugly Truth revealed swallowing Justice in gradual gnaws, for neither Charity of the heart nor Resolution from above could be upheld with Diligence… Valor and Hope as a pair would die last, on the bright day from the bastion of shadows approaching the mind.

Who are you really?

"...entraut…"

Who is that?

XxX

"...aut! Ermentraut! Wake up, you great big lump!"

I don't thinks so, I'm not an early riser anyway, not lately.

"Fuck off…"

"…"

Ah, the sweet, sweet glorious silence, finally! The pillow was nice though, but not so much as the covers, jeez lumpy duvet all over. Now if only I could get the smell of a burned wood and sulfur out of my room it'd be close to heaven next door.

"… Wait, did I leave the stove on?"

"Get… UP!"

Whack followed by a very finely manicured nails scratching my ear off.

"Ow, wow, scheisttt-shite!" And many other forms I couldn't remember with this sudden headache.

The attack successful, I just became aware of a floor with bunch of strewn drapes, a broken window, and an angry two eyes of a crazy cat that was still trying to bleed me like some wild caged animal. "Knock it off!" Regaining some motor functions I caught the offending hand.

The worst part is, there was no pillow. Or a blanket. Or a bed for that matter, so this brings a nature outing to a whole new perspective. Beats the bayous and mosquitoes though.

Of course it doesn't solve the current predicament, right I focused on a huffing and puffing she-wolf glaring at me with brimming eyes. Must be the dust of the place because now I can feel it in all the wrong places.

"Oh, it's just you. Finally calmed down?"

The deceased Lord Willy-Nilly's daughter flushed red, "Get off me this instant before I put you down like I should have!… And get your hand away from…. From … J-Just get away, Ermentraut!"

"Alright, alright…" Someone woke up on a wrong side of a bed this morning, speaking off, "Huh? That's weird…" As I slowly stood up, gravel and stone slid off of me and a big hole in a ceiling showed the faintly lit night sky. Okay, I'm missing some context here, I could swear this doesn't feel like a frozen wasteland I got used to in the past years.

I interlaced my fingers behind my back and leaned down in a stretching pose. Hmm, stiff shoulders, and some minor pain in lower back but nothing feels broken or dislocated. Finishing with a sigh I turned to look at Madame Director only to find that she dragged herself propped against a wall, an action that shouldn't cause her to lose breath that fast. Well this doesn't look good.

"You good?"

Nothing, she wasn't even looking at me, but I knew a haunted thousand yard stare when I saw one. Her mind's running a marathon probably trying to make sense of it all. I would too, but every time I tried I got the annoying words from childhood and a reminder of a betrayal.

But that is neither here or there, what we need is to get a hand on a current situation and see how we proceed. Easier said than done with my present company. Alright Tristan, you can do this, saving injured girls from a swamp monster is easy, how hard could this be?

"Any idea how we ended up like this?"

"…"

Silent treatment, after being so vocal in her protests, even if it was probably because I shielded her fall and the reason she's still breathing and without squashed lungs. But, right, who am I talking about. This isn't your typical troubled girl who accidentally wandered where she shouldn't have, oh no sir! This is the aristocrat of a Clock Tower, who can trace her bloodline far as when underwear was luxury and those who couldn't afford were all troglodytes for them. "Agh, shiiiiiiiiit… Okay, yeah, so a little lady tea an' biscuits who never wandered into a park without having an escort and for that matter having to prove to some imaginable totem pole from which daddy dearest is watching from the afterlife that she's as good, no wayyyyy more better than him and the rest of the family."

Story of your typical high lord of Clock Tower. Damn, I hate that place for a variety of reasons. Highborn, aristocracy, lady… Damn, I got rusty over the years, I couldn't even charm a fly least of all someone who's used to perfection and has expectations that touching in public is a breach of privacy. Forget PDA, this is next ten levels above such trivial things.

"Guess we're doing this the hard way." I muttered, and if she heard, she can take it as a warning or a wake up call either is fine by me. "Come on, Missy, time to get up and at 'em."

Meanwhile, outside of interference from the common rabble one Olga Marie tried and no matter how much she pushed her brain she couldn't for the love of all find where it might have gone all wrong… It was so, so, so horribly wrong from her father's unexpected demise up until where today was supposed to be the crowning moment of Chaldea and the years upon years of added knowledge and experience finally would come to fruition.

Only for one thing to change it all. One measly miscalculation, one overlooked mistake, a fluke or a stroke of bad luck… A product of chance called 'fate'? Then what was it all for?! "Why have I struggled so far and this is the result?" How others would look down on her, their disappointment, Chaldea's staff, her subordinates, the people she was supposed to set an example to be followed… What would Lev say if he could see her now? Dirty, ragged, out of breath, with pins and needles coursing through her leg and a giant pauper of a man shaking her shoulder… Oh.

All the collected knowledge of the Animusphere family over the ages gave her only one clever idea on how to respond, "Move your face away from me," A glowing pointer finger was put under Ermentraut's chin, and to her immense dissatisfaction he didn't even flinch or avert his gaze, "Do it now or I'll blow yours." The words were ash in her mouth, and the dried corners of her eyes were starting to sting again.

"That so?" The foolish fool dared ask, now keeping his hands low, "Say you blow my head off with a curse shot, what're you gonna do in a no-man's land with a bum leg and body in that condition?"

She hated him even more right now if possible. How dare he ask about her condition while being dismissive the whole two times they had conversation. He should know when addressing to his betters, he barely had common etiquette and from what little she read about him he seemed like that reckless troublemaker type who frequently ignores other people's advice and goes against orders. Well, not this time!

"Hmph, maybe to you it looks like a big problem. But I am a Magus, and as a member of the prestigious Animusphere family this is nothing but a minor setback… Watch and swallow your words." Activating her circuits by now was child's play, she could do it for more than half her life already, one injured leg was nothing. As she stood proudly, slowly but surely yet again Ermentraut just watched in silence, barely showing anything.

What an odd man. True, he might look like a brute, but he did have a point. A grating thought, but nevertheless her pride would not let her live this down.

"You plan on walking like that the whole time?"

Oh not again, she quickly rounded on him, "What? Do you think me incompetent, Ermentraut? Or weak?" How dare he question her ability to stand on her own, she managed that for years… Mostly, but he didn't need to know that.

He didn't say anything at first, but it looked like he had something on his mind and ended up shrugging, "Suit yourself, your Ladyship. Let's see for how long y…"

The rest was lost on Marie as he stopped and muttered something, too quiet for her to catch. She could try Reinforcing her ears, but it was probably too trivial to waste effort. He was leaning out of the window, but not a few seconds he retreated and crouched, prompting her to do the same, finally remembering where this was supposed to be.

The anomaly SHEBA detected, the aberration at such magnitude it developed as a singularity. What was it again, what year… "2003 AD… No '04 likely…" The information was still incomplete in the report, and now with the new development. "Very well, first things first, we need to establish the connection to the Chaldea. Ermentraut."

Nothing.

"Ermentraut." She hissed, poking into his arm, and by the Root it's like trying to prod a stone with a twig. No wonder he's always so off-putting, like some statue in the wind.

"Hmm?" He craned his neck upwards to peek again, whatever that caught his attention.

Give her strength, all good and bad above and below, when she survives this he's definitely in for a stern lecture. Maybe even under hypnosis, if anything to get through that thick rock-like skull. "Call Chaldea's Control Room."

Easier said than done, "Call them with what? They took my gear, I'm lucky I got to keep the clothes on my back." The temporary he had was now all but lost somewhere. And as more and more problems to solve piled up, Olga Marie let out a frustrated sigh, "Wait a minute, you're the Director, where's your communicator?"

Apparently broken… That might be another problem. They would have to make these thing sturdier in the future.

"Heh, seriously… Of all the times to be traditional Magus. Never say the modern word is without its pros, hmhmm…"

How dare he, the same common rabble outside the Moonlit World, what does he even know?! "I'll have you know that…!"

Tristan's hand was faster than her eyes could follow, and right before her pitch grew higher he seized her by mouth, grip strong enough that she despite stumbling remained rooted in the same position. And before truly deciding to punish him for such transgression of second involuntary inappropriate grope, he signaled with his finger for silence. Then with those same two fingers made a spotting motion followed by pointing outside. "Movement outside, dunno 'bout you, but it's time to act. We can't remain cooped up her forever."

"Obviously," She slapped his hand away, but it felt more like he let her, ugh he was frustrating, and was making her the same, "Don't ever do that again."

He just raised one tawny eyebrow and scoffed, "Uh-huh, and next time you decide to scream to high heavens and alert enemy camp, feel free to."

"How do you know they are hostile? It could be the remaining residents, in which case it would be good to establish contact." And at least get the first hand layout of the situation. Without the support from Chaldea that was currently the best option.

"Could be, could be…" He nodded, finally an agreement, "Just answer me this; when they taught you in fancy Clock Tower school for little aspiring magical boys and girls, in which category do walking skeletons fall into?"

Darn it!

"Ugh," She massaged her temples, it's just one after the other again, "Mmmmghhh, bloody hell, bugger…" Great, and now she started swearing like a common street urchin too. Ermentraut was however immensely amused for some reason. "What's with that look?"

"Oh nothin'," He said lowly, his right visible half lip upturned, "Feels good to let it out though, the Londoner is strong with this one."

That made so little sense, "What are you even on about? It's rude, a momentary lapse nothing more, don't expect it to happen again. And what would you know… Where exactly did you grow up?" He definitely sounded different now that she paid closer attention on his speech pattern.

"Posh part of Croydon."

Bull.

"There is no world where posh and Croydon can be put in the same sentence." Even she knew that much, it's clearly some misleading narrative on his part, serves him right.

"Aw, but it's comparative, innit?"

"Fine, don't tell me," Not that it mattered much, she knew enough about him by now, "But we need a new plan, if those what you saw really were some type of revenants or undead… Hmm, in which case they shouldn't be much smart."

"Yeah, the problem are numbers." Ermentraut supplied succinctly, "I only saw three down there, no telling where the others might be lingering, or what are they even looking for. Hmm, whoever summoned them surely wanted cannon fodder and didn't wanna waste fresh troops."

"Point," She reluctantly agreed, he wasn't half-bad all thing concerning, as far as tactics go, "I think we should try to avoid – What are you doing?"

"There's no plan that survives first contact anyways." At her reprimanding look he only rolled his eyes, "Here's the line up; I'm a fighter, a front liner, always have been. You on the other hand are tactical rock-paper-scissors, but in that state we're gonna rely on your supporting skills. How good's your sniping?"

Not terrible, if what he was suggesting was true, "I'm positive that one hit from my An-Gandr can obliterate that kind of shoddy Familiar." She didn't know of course until it hit.

"A'ight then, time to roll," He said after looking pensive for a moment, "But scream if you need any help." He waved, the rude brute to assume that.

"Hmph! Cheeky…" She positioned herself on the windowsill carefully, he didn't need to worry about her, it was him going against bunch of skeletons unarmed… Unarmed? "Oh are you having a laugh with me now?!"

Unbelievable, he's either that foolishly brave or plain dumb muscle level of stupidity, probably the combination of both!

She sighed briefly, undoing the reinforcement to her leg, ignoring the stabbing pain and forcing it onto her eyes, her vision clearer than any human, she could clearly see the decay, the dilapidated buildings, the faint dancing shadows from fires, this was truly a nightmarish place they landed into.

"Show me what you can do, Ermentraut. If you fail, I'm leaving you behind." She spoke under her breath, for it was true, without him to offer any kind of physical backup she would be left on her own, to fend for herself on her own devices.

And she spotted him, not even trying to act with stealth, however much that body of his allowed him to, but it was still too reckless to approach, and now she couldn't scold him without giving away her immediate location to the enemy. Darn it.

"~...discarded my name...~"

"~… lone man holding my blade...~"

Was he actually singing? She added one more layer of Reinforcement to her ears, the pain in her right leg intensifying, so she she had to shift to a more half-dangling position to support her body and relieve the weight off her leg.

"~… Desolate palace, an empty place only the wind to my side…~"

"~… knight in the night I spite, courting death he stands to fight…~"

"~… Thö̵͍̲̳̪̼̫͉̩͉̑͂̈́̓͋̿́͘͠u̵̝͈̤̿̃̆̓͌́̑͗̚ ị̵͙̠̙̅͂̊͠ņ̴̱͎͈̝͕̜̥̫̈́̓̓̃͆͛͝v̴͔̮̼̙̉̑̇́͛̆̈́o̴̧̱̮̼͎͐͋͋̈́̏̋̀̌͠k̸͍͒̒̒̕ė̷̡̛̟͍̦̗͖̝́̈́B̵̦̭̤̳̘̉̿̄̍͝l̵̨͖͎̮̯̙͉͇̍̾͑̌̉͐̒͑͛o̸̖̓̾̍͌̓͋̊ö̴̭̘̠́ỏ̶̜͎̹̮̦̙͇̭̠͜ơ̵̼̼̥͓͈̺̭̟̳̟͗̆̔́̌͑̇o̸̤̞̝̭͑̅̉͜ǫ̸̭̠̱̖̋͒ó̸̦̣͚̖̇̑͗̎̓̔̕͠ỏ̶̬͇̦̎͘͘d̶̨͚̫̺̍s̸̭͓̜̣͎̿̋̂̂͂̊͘͝h̶̥̣̗̭̅̄͒̎̀͗͐̂͘̕͜ȅ̴̫̮̉̎̿̾̍̕̚͝͠d̶̢͓̫̞̤̬̹̮͂̀͂̌͊̕ͅ~!"

Olga Marie winced, a loud ping echoing through her ears as if an explosion caught her nearby, her sight going momentarily blurry. She didn't catch the ending, almost didn't. What was that? Some sort of Aria mixed with praying? She was certain not even the Church could come up with such text, it could be that Ermentraut's personally designed verse.

"Not now, focus, Olga Marie, steady yourself!"

Whatever it was, it could wait for later, Ermentraut is now definitely going through thorough questioning. Speaking of, he wasn't doing such a bad job as she thought. Looks like she might have slightly underestimated him. But only slightly. Energy accumulated at her extended fingertip, the one skeleton who would try to attack from behind with a spear.

She let the energy loose, expelling the curse shot of Nordic lands, the dark red ball landed on the lower half shaving off the legs, but the skeleton was still in full thrust. It will make contact! In a hurry she fired another shot, it connected but not before the spear and it pushed the burly man on his knees.

"No, no, no…! Stand up!"

It wasn't necessary, it really wasn't. Ermentraut, somehow managed to not only take the blow but also get a hand of the spear, which he used as a whacking pole to bash the two incoming undead. The weapon was nothing special, as it broke after its third use, so he used the remaining tip and got close up to the one carrying a sword, a stupid and bold move that paid out, and now Ermentraut was up for a sword while the rest of the spear was buried in a fading skeleton's skull.

How very savage, yet somewhat familiar fighting skill. There was definitely more to him.

"-et BACK!"

"Eh?"

Another lapse, another moment late and a bony hand grabbed her own, her shot misfired, exploding against the wall of adjacent building. The Animusphere head was helpless as a strong force pulled her out of the window into a free fall, in that single moment she activated reinforcement despite receiving a slash on a thigh, she could only close her eyes and wait for the quick impact from the second floor to the rough ground.

In her dazed state she could do nothing but blink as a sword was raised above her captor, pinning her down, and as the sword descended she couldn't look away as it landed and clattered uselessly on the ground. Then came the skeleton's head and the horrid noise of creaking bones stopped completely.

The next minutes past in a blur of pain, a renewed disgusting taste of ash and dry air as Olga Marie was turned to her side, luckily her left uninjured leg, Ermentraut patting her on the back to promote breathing paths more clear. As dust was cleared, he looked around and back at her, her eyes playing nasty tricks because it was not possible that such caring analyzing look coupled with faintly glowing red eyes belonged on such face.

Fingers snapped several times in front of her eyes, until her focus was back once again.

"… Hey, you still with me?" Seeing her pupils shrink, the gaze once again fixed he sighed in relief, "That's it, good. No concussion far as I can tell… How many fingers am I holding, try to follow."

She swatted his middle finger, yeah she's going to be just fine far as the brain department was concerned. Physically on the other hand. "That's no good, we're binding this wound right now."

"You're what…?!" She snapped, sitting up, her whole lower half stung now. And when she looked at her leg, crimson, real blood seeped from the wound above her knee further coloring her favorite stockings which were now already ruined. "Oh my… Wait, you're binding it with what exactly?" There is no way she is having some dirty rags around a fresh wound, and does he even know how to do it?

"Relax, I've done this before."

"On whom?"

"… Myself, why?"

How can he ask that with such a straight face, "Then what's with that delay? I'm not build like you, and we don't have any proper medicinal tools at hand!"

Tristan grinned, and held out some cloth and a long handle of sorts, "That's right, welcome to survival one-oh-one, Chaldea's field edition for dummies." It did nothing to calm her if judging by how her face lost even more color, he had to act fast, "Hey, it's either this or you can wait for blood loss and infection to spread. Neither is fun let me tell you, so sit tight, bite on this, and close your eyes if you're suddenly feeling queasy."

This was so humiliating that she didn't know where to start, so acting on pure desire to not make herself the bigger fool she bit on a leather, a belt, and turned her face away, but didn't close her eyes because they would need a pair of eyes in case more of those creeps came suddenly and chopped them while Tristan was distracted and she weakened.

"There we go, this should do for now. See, it wasn't so bad, was it?"

She was now a stocking short, but it had to be done, the slash didn't hit her femoral artery so she won't bleed out without transfusion, but the forming bruise on her leg was not something he could deal with right now.

She was oddly quiet though, he noted, her face not what he expected. She held out like a champ, most can't claim that.

"Just kill me now."

"Huh? C'mon, you did good, I've seen grown men cry for less, you did with barely a tear or sound. It's nothing to sneeze at."

"… Bury me alive…"

Tristan stood, picking up the discarded weapon and tied his belt. "That's a no go, Lady Director, now that we've caused a ruckus and raised some noise, more of those things might come. Time for some tactical retreat and finding cover." And some food or drink because fighting in that state caused him serious craving he'd eat a cow if there were any in sight.

And so they did. Olga Marie with great reluctance, swallowed her pride, making a vow to disinfect every part of herself when she's back at Chaldea and ask Romani to give her every booster shot available.

Their travel was tiring despite being so slow. They literally stopped at every corner, it was a miracle Ermentraut could keep this up, having to lend her a shoulder and keep up with this slowed pace. He was unusually warm, but Olga Marie ignored the burning furnace under his uniform.

"How did you manage that?"

Tristan hummed, checking another corner and taking them through the underground parking lot next, it looked stable enough. "Gonna have to be more specific."

She sighed, her body feeling the weight of tons despite walking with his assistance, she shifted her arm over his broad shoulder, it was getting uncomfortable again, "Those skeletons… There is no way you dodged every strike."

"Of course not, that'd be insane even for me, but when you have an alchemist who owes you and material available, well, you get this dandy suit of mine." It wasn't easy though, he had to really try his damnedest to get that freakish redheaded woman to accept the request. Magi are troublesome no matter their affiliation or the lack of it.

That did it for her, this man was just impossible, "Who are you? And I don't mean your name, but who are you really, Tristan Ermentraut?"

Planting her legs into the ground, he felt her use strengthening on her legs, a dumb move, he could just pick her up and carry her like a sack, but oh well, "Is that really what matters right now? We're in a middle of somewhere Asia I think, with nothing but ourselves and no way of contacting Chaldea… And you wanna get to know me better?"

"Yes, and I'm not moving from this spot until you give me something." She was serious, walking skeletons be damned.

"Yeeeesh, how demanding, at least keep walking okay? So we're not sitting ducks that way…" She relented, his logic was sound, and it didn't please her one bit, "This is like skipping straight to dating while busting through walls, ya know."

"Dream on, Ermentraut. Answers, now."

"Didn't lie about my name."

"Not the family name though?"

"Nope."

She raised a pale brow, unimpressed, "And…?"

"And whatever happened happened, I was in a tight spot so I had to adapt, a little of this a little of that and one day surprise! I hear about this super hush-hush place through my contact, so I apply, cuz why not? Wasn't expecting anything really, but there it is one day, an official invite lands on my lap. Working hours plus benefits, sweet deal I thought."

A standard story for an outsider or a commoner barely familiar with the world of magi. "Right. And about your overly non suspicious knowledge of our world."

"… Can you keep a secret?"

An unusual question, "Yes." She answered warily.

"Great! So can I!"

"Grkh!" What a scoundrel! "You are on thin ice here, E-"

"We've got company."

Said company was dangling from the barely whole exit post. Our exit. In the dark with occasional spark and flickering light of the burning fire outside I could make out a silhouette of a malformed human body. It was downright hideous.

*CRUNCH*CRUNCH*

"Oh boy, here we go again." The weirdly shaped head covered with a white skull mask of sorts was pointed straight at us. "Same plan, find a good spot, I'll try and keep him at distance."

Olga Marie carefully stepped up and squared her shoulders, putting weight on her other leg, she added another Reinforcement, at this rate she will exhaust herself slowly. "Can you beat him?"

I pulled out my new best friend, the kriegsmesser, this ought to be interesting, "Time to find out. Go." Not taking any offense she crouched and slowly started to move further back against and between many parked dead cars. I clanked the body of the blade on the broken pipe on my way, the mask now trained solely on me. Good.

"Evening there. Nice night for hangin' out, won't you say?"

A sick crunching was my answer as the guy in an amazing display of gymnastics with such disproportionate body did a flip and landed with an echoing thud. Almost completely dark skin, raggedy loincloth, mask that is apparently stitched to his face and a pair of stubby legs and upper torso Hulk would contest with.

"Okay," I took a bastardized stance with the sword experts still classified as an overly large knife, "Let's fight you and I."

The hanging pipe I passed was now launched at the huge man, an amateurish toss I didn't prepare for well enough. The metal spun with enough concussive force though, he had to raise both arms to defend and just as expected he staggered, so the legs obviously cannot fully support the weight of the upper body and his muscles.

With a war-cry of my ancestors behind me I ran straight at him and him at me, we cleared the distance in a barely two seconds, just enough for me to veer down in a tackle, the skin on my calf burning with this much friction, but I had to ignore it. One successful swing and wet sensation washed over my face and my blade.

Then in the next moment I blacked out before the pain of being swatted like a kitten with a hammer came to me. So this is the same as a monster. "Dammit, Tristan, just when things were getting…"

Sliding and squeezing in-between dirty automobiles was not giving Olga Marie any more pleasant experiences she had already collected in her young life. Ermentraut's plan was still reckless but sound in a way that they had little to no options but to operate as a team of two. Even if this is such a travesty for a Magus such as herself the priority currently override such nuances of proper conduct taught in her family. The bright side is, there's no one that important to see her like this.

Filthy, with basic contraption to help her walk even with strengthening, and most of all the smell of sweat that permeates the air filled with residues of ash and smog.

Shaking her head swiftly to will such thoughts as cosmetics and hygiene back, Olga Marie continued to prowl passing another bright silver colored modern vehicle. In the background a loud angry shout was heard, "Ermentraut? His voice is deeper octave but that he can sound like that…" Like a maddening beast or a Berserker of old Normans… "Wait… Berserker… An inhuman form and a…! Oh no no no no!"

It was a Servant he was facing! Or at least that's what it could be, she first assumed it was a monster or another revenant of sorts. She had to act fast, there was no way even Ermentraut with his outrageous brute strength alone to best such an opponent.

In the next moments she didn't think, there were no calculations or any kind of grand designs to draw from her head. Just like before, she drew on her Mana and focused it on the tips of her fingers. The spell was unstable with how much she tried to push into, so she joined both her pointer and middle finger making a faux imitation of a modern firearm.

But at the critical moment, she stopped dead in her tracks. Tristan was down, or more precisely being held down by a huge hand and a limping hulking ugly monsters was inches away. Again, there was a crunching sound, and Olga Marie saw the disproportionate mouth opening, blood and drool and foam falling on his face.

"You, ugly freak!"

She paid not attention to how it might look, the words just came out of her mouth, and she took aim. Unnaturally, the creature creaked its neck at an odd angle, the white of the mask's with tiny eye holes turned at her. "Get off my subordinate!"

The An-Gandr shot flied true, and a sound of breaking ceramic was heard as shards of the mask crumbled and the charred flesh revealed followed by a loud wail of pain.

So loud to wake up the dead, and push her back on her knees as she covered her ringing ears.

It woke up not the dead, but one fairly pissed off former Chaldea's peacekeeper Tristan Ermentraut. His eyes snapped open, he snatched back the kriegsmesser and in a true fashion of wielding a large knife as a butcher he pressed the handle and with both arms pulled as if to cut off a large piece of flesh from a butcher's shop. The flesh gave away despite the loud protest and elbow blows digging to his side, his position was hard to reach and the disproportionate body of his adversary proved fatal for it.

One last heave and the blade, old but sturdy passed through the spine column that held the head connected with the rest of the body. A gory display and a burst of blood that now covered Tristan's entire face were the last straw for the daughter of the late head of Chaldea.

A familiar sensation took over, which she had no control over, pain in her leg was now but a distant memory as she emptied whatever contents of her measly lunch from her stomach to the side.

She didn't know how long she's been at it, dry heaving. What a pathetic sight she must make, at this point she welcomed anything, any reaction. Mockery, scorn, crude jokes and whichever judgment Ermentraut might direct her way. She's deserved now five times over for being like this, failing father, failing her family, failing Lev… The rest of humanity, what would become of it?

In her daze, she almost didn't feel something pulling her back from the brink of her depressing personal thoughts. The momentary bliss where everything was gone and not a speck of worry about taste, smell, touch or sight mattered, she was leaned against something soft.

"Damn girl, you just keep surprising me… It's almost embarrassing now." Tristan, mostly with a clean face now but hair completely messy and sticky with blood muttered under his breath.

The were inside a car, she now realized, the windows were slightly dusty but through them she saw the fizzling form of a disappearing creature they just killed. No, not just any creature. It definitely must be a Servant. When the last of vestiges of its remains disappeared into the night air Ermentraut let out a huge breath and with a lever his seat fell back, doors were open and the sword he used was casually leaned on the outside just inside his reach.

"What a night, but am I glad I didn't drink any more of that vodka now…" I turned my head slightly to the seat next to me. She was quietly starring out the windscreen, but her mouth was twisted into a scowl. "It's like this."

I reached out and pulled her lever which collapsed her own seat all the way.

"Eeuk!"

You don't hear that every day. The wise thing to do is to keep it down, probing her with cheap jokes now would not get me any favors. I needed to distract her, but not so much she blows a gasket. She's earned that much from me. Now which subject to broach then?

"So that thing we just ousted… You know what it is?" Talking about this seemed like the best option. Of course she probably knows more about the finer intricacies of Magecraft than I ever will. It was the safest bet to go with a familiar tune.

The pale blonde held her hands up, lowering them on her face, and for a time I thought I might get no answer.

"… Most likely it was a… Servant of sorts."

The what now? A servant… With a capital S? Something didn't add up here, the Moonlit World isn't always so straight and narrow as many would think. There are layers upon layers of intricacies spun over the generations and eons. It's practically a science on its own, the systematic study of structure and behavior of supernatural with testing, observing and experimenting. I'll have to thread carefully here, Magi are a paranoid bunch.

"Servant you say. So who does he serve then?" Who sent him, or it? Is it some kind of a human experiment, or a mutation perhaps? A chimera? Though I've never seen ones like these.

"…"

Yeah, no way am I letting it go unanswered like this. She definitely knows something. "Since I'm already here and involved with… whatever tomfuckery this is, I think I deserve to know what you know at least. Every bit might help if we're doing this together."

That got a strange reaction out of her I didn't know if it was chuckle, a retch or something else. A dry whiz.

"What do you know about the Holy Grail?"

Oh great, a quiz. What else should've I expected, but I had to be patient, so taking the kriegsmesser, I slowly began to fiddle with a blade if only to keep my slowly fraying nerves occupied with something before recalling every lesson, whisper or hearsay I heard. Man, does it take a lot to fit all the puzzle pieces.

"Are you telling me a cup of Jesus Christ was used to summon that, whatever the hell it was?" There was just no way, this would have to be next level of having one's faith turned upside down.

There were many stories, sprung from many different interpretations of many different people's minds. What every Christian scholar of any school might agree upon is that it was a powerful relic, up there with those of Ark of the Covenant, or close to the Spear of Longinus… Many of those stories were connected with Arthurian romances and myths.

"Mmm," Olga Marie made a non-committal sound, "In truth there is an original holy relic you and most are familiar about. However, there is also a concept that was developed. A very special kind of ritual was developed with a Holy Grail in mind, one that would produce the same effect as the original. The power of such gathered energy able to grant any wish possible."

"But there must be a catch to it or something, right? How else is nobody blowing up each other to find the thing?" There's always something, a price to pay. That kind of power at the palm of an individual's hands… I shudder at the thought of handling something like that even for a second.

"Because it cannot be acquired through conventional means, nor with what most modern Magecraft is capable of." She rearranged herself on a seat and continued after a short brake, "Therefore a method of a high ritualistic summoning was devised, a competition you might call it… For one to obtain the Holy Grail one must compete in an event known as a 'Holy Grail War', where magi, each with a help of a Servant they summon try to outlast the other, best and outwit the other until only one remains standing. Then and only then would the Grail itself manifest, upon where the victor makes their dream's desire known."

I literally cannot believe what I just heard. Even with being familiar with the other side of the world, this was an entirely new level, no forget that, a whole new major league upper class bullshit!

I quickly pulled the seat up and exited the car, leaning back against the outer shell. I needed a drink. Or a dozen. Fuck! This is exactly the kind of shitstorm I've been trying to avoid, no more pulling my damn weight for the others, doing favors surviving on charity and risking my neck for little to nothing as a reward… "Fuck me! Ughhhhhh fuck, fuck a duck! Who even the hell was stupid enough to invent some wish-granter half-assed genie from a bottle device and think nothing would go wrong?! Did anybody think it was a bad idea, ohhhhhh no, they prolly thought 'Oh goodie, Imma win this shit and then use it to propel my sorry ass all the way to every other magi's wetdream… THE ROOT… So long bitches, I'm riding in a sunset and y'all can eat my dust! My life is finally complete!' Fucking greedy selfish self-centered magi!"

The doors of a car I was holding in my right hand gave away and clattered, startling my traveling companion as her orange eyes frantically danced left and right looking for any signs of danger. Good thing for her is that the only danger here was me.

"Ermentraut?"

"I'm gonna summarize what you just told me so feel free to stop me if I got anything wrong." Not like it'd stop me in any case, "Some noble family or two out there had a lotta money, time and brains at their disposal and one day a light bulb fires up a million gigajoules of an idea in their heads. Oh look over there; Let's plant an imaginary wish granter and then have people brought to spawn all kinds of monstrosities of Familiars and have them whack each other silly to death. Good news is the reward's more than fair, it don't matter it violates and bends several major laws both physical and non, because what's important is we made it work, yippee-ki-yay!"

"That's… a very watered-down and rudimentary way of putting it. There's only seven of them."

I jerked my thumb at where the pile of Gray Hulk's uglier cousin once was, "So there's six more of those things out there?"

"Most likely, yes." Olga Marie nodded.

"And they're how strong?" There's gotta be a system of sorts, even if they're whackjobs the more time I spend on this Earth knowing about them, they never like leaving things with such inelegance in their works. The mere thought makes me want to bash my head right on this car, witnesses be damned.

"The Servants are divided to classes… That one was Assassin, I wager. They are supposedly the weakest ones."

I looked at her incredulously, "That one was weak? Any other man got into a fist fight with it it'd've pulverized them!" I know I'm going to regret asking, but I had to know what more am I dealing with here, "Okay, fine, what are the other six then, how does it work?"

"Barring the Assassin we just faced, Servants are figures from old, legends and myths summoned and placed into a container vessel that is their physical body. Then, they are divided into six more classes each with different type of specialty and ability tied to their story in life… Sabers the sword masters, Lancers the masters of the spear, the wielders of bow Archers, the top of cavalry class Riders, the Magus Heroic Spirit Caster and finally the mad warriors Berserkers."

"Wow," I exhaled, can it get any worse than this than it already has, "Just… wow… Let me get this straight; if these Servants are past legendary figures, so that means we'll likely to encounter what? Karl der Gross? Napoleon Bonaparte? Herakles?" The sheer number of variables was making my head spin.

"… The possibility exists that any of those can be summoned. The greater the legend, the myth surrounding the individual makes any of aforementioned as a candidate for a Heroic Spirit Servant."

A truly demoralizing equation when added into the mix, "Great, that's great… I always wanted to die by a hands of a worthy opponent. Now I got the chance, what a riot!"

She frowned in his direction, not seeing the face only the torso from the entrance of a driver's seat, "What, are you giving up like that now, Ermentraut? Just because an encounter with a few famous fables you read in childhood scares you?" Next thing she knew the car shook as if struck by an earthquake. "What in the world-!"

And then it was Tristan's scowling face peering down on her, though she wanted to, there was no where to back away.

"Let's get one thing straight, Lady Director." At how fast he closed the distance despite being wounded and in awkward position didn't escape her, "I'm not scared of monsters. You know why? Because monsters are real and I've seen them, I've fought them and I've killed them."

Her wide eyes still on his face, "Then why-"

"But," I stopped her harshly, "You're talking about fighting someone who's being written in the annals of human history, lauded in songs as heroes and lived through grueling tribulations to become what we now only know as fables and stories… Manifested in flesh and given form far outranking any normal man or even Magus, that Lady Director! That is exactly what I would rather not face… Ever." No matter the hours upon hours of training, nothing could possibly prepare you to throw it down with the likes of warriors such as Achilles, Ajax or Perseus in terms of raw strength. To outwit and clash minds with Odysseus, Alexander or Hannibal. God forbid you ever be put in an exchange of spells with the likes of Marie Laveau, Loew ben Bezalen and God forbid actual Baba Yaga or that demon spawn that is Merlin of Britain.

Because then I would have failed. I would fail miserably like I have failed before. I had one role and that is to protect and I have utterly failed in my mission.

"We have no other choice." She offered after our stare down, "We can only move forward, that is what I was taught… And that is what I need to believe, now more than ever… Will you… I cannot believe I'm saying this, but will you help me? If only now until we resolve this situation and then… Then you can leave Chaldea in peace." That is all she could offer Ermentraut now, a mutually beneficial pact, a weak one, but it was all she could do.

In the end, Ermentraut picked up his sword, walked around to the other side, and with a straight face offered his left hand, "Very well, we have an accord. I will help you." As she shook the offered hand he pulled her out of the seat, she barely protested as they were back to the familiar rhythm, "Do not make me regret it."

If only she could tell the words that have plagued her mind for hours now, if only she knew how. But for now it would have to do. This was all she could do. Move forward, with or without helping hand.

But the small part in her heart was warmer with the feeling of safety it gave her.

XxX

Ritsuka Fujimaru thought this couldn't get any more weirder. It wasn't every day you get a special invitation with a seal from United Nations signed by authorities and plus given a tuition fee as well. That which he had sent to his parents' account for he didn't have any yet.

Next thing he gets accosted as soon as he's on transport bag over head and in a typical way as in one of those Hollywood movies being carried to an unknown location. To do what, he's still unfamiliar with what exactly Chaldea does. Observing and protecting human history is it? It definitely didn't sound like something the bad guys from action movies or games would do.

Most of the people he met were either cordial or neutral to him though. Meeting the director though was a peculiar experience. It was partially his fault, for sleeping in like that, but boy did they expect him to stay awake for how long after changing who knows how many time zones en route to Antarctica apparently.

The next chain of events was once again a blur that his mind had trouble following for there was a brief respite, meeting a funny quirky doctor Roman, then an explosion, then holding the hand of a teenage girl he just met while everything burned around them.

Then… and then he was back home?

"Or at least the same nation…" The few signs and posters that were left hanging were clearly in Japanese kanji, but he still had no idea about the exact location… Oita prefecture maybe, which would put him all the way down on Kyushu, so far from home.

Another problem was, what was it with all this fire? He was certain nothing like this in the recent history of Japan ever happened, that the whole entire cite was engulfed in flames with no living thing, not even animals in sight.

Only where there were no living things in sight, other things crawled out.

Like some restless angry spirits form the deep mountains they came. Bones, metal and a horrible clacking and rattling noise, as if it were laughing the sad fate and mocking those they came to trample on.

He should be dead by now, he knew he should most definitely be dead. For one reason or another, yet he didn't want to. Was it instinctual or some other, he didn't want to die here. Much as his legs carried him running, his lungs breathing air in and out, heart pumping blood, he was finally cornered.

That was until she showed up.

Clad in armor like from some fairy tale of old with a huge round shield that looked too huge and clunky to be carried and swung by such hands. Yet she did it. For no reason this girl who was almost a complete stranger saved him, and he couldn't do nothing but stare in awe at her determined face.

This girl, no Mash Kyrielight, she was stronger than him. The girl who for whatever reason called him her 'Senpai', for what could he possibly teach her that she couldn't already know, he had no idea. But for now at least, the best thing was to stick together for better or worse.

Mash made quite the work out of those skeletons and the creepy fat guy with a skull that despite his speed was no match for her, she made it all look so easy. Yeah, he was definitely sticking to her and under no circumstance was he to get on her bad side. It made a slap he got from the director look like joke.

"Senpai," God this is getting out of hand, "Are you well, your vitals? Shall we try to contact Dr. Roman again?"

She was doing so much, yet he could barely help with anything, "It's alright, Mash, really. I'm okay now that we can catch some brake from running." They made it to the bridge, the only bridge in town apparently, after avoiding a volley of strange projectiles that were deliberately seemed to target them but suddenly stopped all together. Maybe they escaped them, whoever it was, or they lost interest. Whichever it was, Ritsuka was glad that they didn't have to watch over their heads now and every time.

There was only so much that even Mash in her state could focus on in defending from ground assault.

That is not to say that Mash was bad at her current role, she did it to the best of her abilities, and as they were carefully ever so carefully crossing the bridge where existed so many openings and chances a potential new enemy never before seen can utilize.

"Careful now, Senpai. Stay close." Were her simple orders. Or more likely advice? Her tone wasn't particularly demanding or stern like of those who supposedly commanded troops or coaches.

But he listened, as best as he could, and they were doing so well so far. "Seems we escaped the worst of it…"

"EEEEERRRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"S-Shimatta…!" He had to jinx it at this moment! Ritsuka didn't even get to see the who or what was attacking them from behind, only dark and shadows swam in his peripheral as he was pushed back, hard. It was likely Mash, it stung slightly but if she didn't do it he'd have probably lose a limb or worse.

He took a refuge behind a junk heap that was likely once a van, peering out from behind he got a good look of what they were facing. It didn't look good. The raging form of a man or a woman he couldn't tell from this distance, it was raging down, bellowing dressed in dark with a smaller round shield and a wicked looking sword which was pounding on Mash's own shield.

Mash, true to herself as a defender was beginning to feel her own will faltering. This opponent was nothing like any previous ones. The relentless assault of metal against metal reverberated in her ears, each strike making her hands feel more and more leaden and her own shield by result grew heavier and harder to hold up.

"Casineb! Tân!"

That sound vaguely like Welsh and in the bottom of her core somewhat familiar. Pain... Fire...

"Mae'n... brifo!"

Hurts... it hurts!

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for your pain..."

But even so Mash had her own duty, her own mission to carry. As the one who has shown her kindness in her final hours, and for the one which gave her power to live. She would give her very best.

The rampaging opponent slammed their shield and Mash's knees finally buckled under. In that small window of opportunity Mash lashed out with a leg and managed to connect with her opponent's ankle. The resounding cry of pain was as wrenching as it was deafening. But steeling her heart, Mash let go of the shield in the free fall to grab the sword arm.

The blade dug into her shoulder blade as she pressed it down on the hot asphalt, the howling Servant now pressing on top of her shield on her, but with gritted teeth Mash held out the arm down as the pounding of the inferior shield renewed once again. "Just a little more and… There it is!"

Mash didn't have a skill of a swordsman, or any kind of typical brawler at all. But she had strength, and she had a sturdy big shield that was useful for more than one thing. Managing to bring her legs under, she pushed with all her might also while trying to avoid having her skull bashed in. Finally gaining enough leverage she enacted her idea.

"Heave-ho!"

With a cry sailors would've been proud, Mash spring loaded the now trapped dark Servant on her shield and it flew up with such speed it bent the metal construction of the roof, but didn't burst it out. That would have been a lot more troublesome.

Yet Mash didn't have much time to dwell on that, or how painful it might have felt for the offending party. Wincing from the still lying blade, she quickly stood up and summoned back her shield, in a burst of blue particles it was back into her hands and the enemy Servant, all bloody and now with an arm bent the wrong way returning to the gravity's embrace.

Right on the swing of Mash's blunt edge. A quick crunching of bones, and the Servant was already vanishing before it made another hit. The crying stopped. The wailing stopped, it simply stopped. "I'm sorry… Rest now, whoever you were, rest at long last." She silently sent to the unsuspecting watchers into the night. Even if nobody would hear, it was all she could do the bring that Servant out of suffering. It didn't feel any satisfying nor relieving though.

"Mash!"

She turned her head towards the voice, "Senpai, is everything… Senpai!" Ritsuka was being held in a choke-hold by another Servant. How did she not notice it sneaking. It completely bypassed her senses, despite being a rookie Demi-Servant herself it shouldn't be possible.

"I'm sorry Mash, I got careless…" The dark skinned Servant with long hair a shade stronger than her own was holding him hostage.

"You, Assassin…" The skull mask glaring at her was a dead giveaway. "Let go of him."

"I think not, girl." The surprisingly low lilt voice responded, a female then. Mash could see now the two daggers stored on Assassin's hip, but fortunately she still didn't reach for them. "Hmm, that is an interesting equipment you wear. A knight? Yet you only wield that huge slab of metal as weapon… How queer."

Mash racked her brain for the best course of action, as long as Senpai was hostage, her options were fairly limited, stalling for time was now her best bet. "What do you want, what is your goal?"

"Mine… goal?" Assassin queried, voice colored in confusion, "So you do not know anything, I see. It's pointless, this War, this blasphemy… Left on our own until we lost ourselves, our goals and minds… Nothing matters."

Mash's grip on shield's handle tightened, if worse came to, she'd have to risk it.

"Except… perhaps vengeance, no a recompense for two of mine you and your comrades have slain so casually."

Mash blinked, now she was confused, for she was certain they only encountered one, "We have met one, but what comrades are you talking about, we are the only ones?"

"Lies!" Assassin tightened her grip and Ritsuka's breaths coming out as gasps, "Zabanya, it sees all… Makuke, felled by that shield you cling to… And Gozul slayed in the most brutal way by beheading! You would dare deny knowledge!"

"So that's what the gorilla's name was… Mm, he fell in battle, there is no greater honor. And for you to ask for any kind of recompense from those that had nothing to do with it. Cowardly."

A third voice suddenly ranged around them. Seemingly unfamiliar to the Assassin by the way she tensed and looked around, Mash however was reminded of something. A gruff exterior that hides away the kinder man, an armor where beneath beats still a good heart. "Can't be…" She uttered in wonder. But could it?

"Who goes?!" Assassin demanded, now freeing one hand to reach for her dagger, the one gripping Ritsuka's shoulder slacked. It was all they needed.

"RUN KID, NOW!"

Ritsuka didn't need to be told twice, he didn't even get a good gulp of air as he willed his legs into a half-decent sprint, a slash on his back that he couldn't feel due to adrenaline coursing through his veins. Fight or flight, there was no choice for him it was the obvious one.

"-dare to interfere!?"

"I do!"

From above, a great figure of man descended, yet Assassin weren't given greater agility for nothing. What they lacked in brute force in this form, Hassan-i-Sabbah made up for their athleticism. Quickly rolling out of the way forward, the swing of a sword missed and sparked upon the contact with the road. The figure landed in low crouch their head down, but the blade shifted upwards from the hip at ready. Another knight?

No… this was just a human.

"Now! Light 'em up!"

A pebble, no more than a skipping stone was tossed, but on it inscribed was a simple spell. "Licht aus!" A command was sent and a bright flash erupted.

"Ghh! Cheap Magus tricks!" Assassin scowled, the mask providing limited protection but also narrowing the field of vision it had to be discarded for now. As the Hassan of Hundred Personas back flipped and send a single dagger flying, the man whose height was impressive simply flicked both wrists and intercepted the blade, it bounced off harmlessly and was lost into the river. This unfortunately called for a retreat.

"No, you won't!"

"I won't let you!"

The dual shout marked the charge and Assassin was caught mid jump, with no way of maneuvering the hit from the shield bearing girl was strong enough to send her slamming to the ground, and the last light glinting off the edge of the blade was the last thing that one out off many Hassan's personalities saw before darkness enveloped their vision.

Tristan's wasn't fairing any better. The number of times he pushed himself and after doing the amount of pulling aces finally took its toll on his body. "… Dammit, I've gotten rusty…" Too much time spend in relative no-action environment to keep him sharp was showing.

"Mr. Tristan... Is that you?"

He blinked several times rapidly, the bright spots from overexertion clearing, and the sight he beheld left him mute for a few seconds, "Mash?"

"Um, y-yes it's me, Mr. Tristan!"

"Why're you dressed like a cosplayer?"

"… Eh?"

"I mean seriously," He stood up, knees creaking in protest, but he powered through, "Look I know kids are into all sorts of things today, but didn't those nerds at Chaldea ever…" He paused, eyes wandering over her form. This made little sense. The armor was lacking in all the places! Of course the idiots who ever saw a proper warrior or knight on TV didn't have a clue what a gambeson was.

"Oh no, that's not what this is, Mr. Tristan! You see, I…" Before going any further in her explanation, Tristan grabbed her shoulder and with a grave face said.

"Mash, girl, point me at the person who designed this soon as we're back in Chaldea, I'll give them a piece of my mind… I mean, look at the negligence of safety here; no padding, no greaves, no pauldrons, who the heck designed that breastplate, it's gotta be uncomfortable! The sabatons are decent, but where's your helmet at? And this thing… "

He gave her shield a few knockings and promptly stopped.

"… A high-quality castle-forged steel… What the hell?" He looked down at Mash's flushed face, she couldn't meet his eyes. "I am so very confused right now." Not caring for his own safety or how in her head this was a complete breach of privacy, he was left unaware of the impending doom.

"You could at least show some tact first, big brute. Can't you see she's not used to attention like that."

They both stopped for different reasons. Mash's immediately recognizing the high borne voice of the Chaldea's head. Tristan was annoyed for being interrupted but maybe she could explain better. From all he knew of Mash she was a typical sheltered girl, quiet, bookworm type who didn't spoke much at first. Took him a while to get that she likes chocolate and strawberries.

"Uh, right. We'll talk about it later I guess…" Crisis averted, Tristan now looked to the last member who he had no recollection of. "And you are?"

Ritsuka, just out of another life threatening moment barely got his bearings, and now the Director herself and perhaps the biggest man he's ever met were starring him down. Yeah, no pressure. "Um, Fujimaru Ritsuka, sir! I've just been recently welcomed to Chaldea and uh… Well, you know the rest I'm sure." Talking about it didn't make it any easier.

"Don't see a 'sir' here…" Tristan muttered, loud enough for Mash to give him a questioning look, "But alright, so Ritsy-boy, you've experienced the famous Chaldea's hospitality for rookies I'm sure. We don't normally do this kind of thing though, ya know, bombs and apocalypse whathaveyous… Since we all know each other now, I suggest we get off this bridge pronto before we've been targeted again. Who's with me?"

Nobody protested.

"Akhem."

Mostly.

The tall man snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah, almost forgot. We've got a gammy legged Director here, Ritsy-boy, your first official orders. Be the shoulder she can lean on, eh."

Ritsuka looked about, neither Mash or Director looked happy for whatever reason, but if he could help like that he shouldn't protest much. Besides they saved their lives, and they are all from Chaldea. It was good to have more companions.

"Who's he calling gammy, that lug… Come Fujimaru, it'll be good not to sprain my arms trying to reach his fat neck."

"Betcha ten bucks she won't last until we cross the bridge." Tristan loudly whispered to Mash who looked mildly rebuking.

"That's not nice… And I don't have any money on me."

"Oh, that's cool. Food then, I'll be sure to bring you that dessert I promised this time around."

Mash briefly though, tapping her chin, "Then, a banana split, I want to try it."

"Mashy, you can even have two when we're back, Tristan never goes back on his word. Just ask her about what we've been through these couple of hours."

"Oh for the love of..!" Olga Marie snapped from Fujimaru's side, "Can you not?!"

The pink haired teen looked from Mister Tristan to the Director who noticed and avoided her gaze now. These two had a peculiar air about them. It must be something from before, she assumed. "I will hold my opinion, if that is alright with you."

Tristan clicked his tongue, ah well, was worth a try, "Someone's about to get it then… Anyways, I'm sure we all got stories to tell, so let's find us some shelter out there and then we can go about how wonderful our night turned out."

The group of four made their way across the bridge. Fires didn't dissipate, nor did the atmosphere start being easier to bare. It was as if they were all getting closer and closer to something. Something truly potent.

At Tristan's behest, they avoided going through large residential area that was ahead, instead opting to use the shoreline of the river to climb up. After almost more than half an hour, the settled into a well-preserved house by whoever was rich enough to have one by waterfront.

Tired, restless and every color of surviving through the tribulations, they slowly settled inside the main room.

Ritsuka let the Director rest on a couch and she almost stretched down like a cat ready for a nap, giving him the bare leg. He gulped and quickly averted his eyes only to meet with Tristan.

Double gulp.

To Ritsuka's fortune, the man just raised a smart brow, looked at the downed Director and shook his head gently. "Okay boys and girls, we're not out of the woods yet." Every head turned to him, Mash at the door's looking tense again and Olga Marie who reluctantly sighed before adjusting herself back to proper sitting position.

"The hedge-knight is right," The pale blonde Director ignored Ermentraut's scoff at the title, "This house barely provides protection, we need to set a perimeter and ward it against forced entry."

Tristan nodded, even after all that action, he couldn't take a moment to stand still else he'd lose his mind from idleness. Not a good thing at the time, "She's got a point there, the yard's pretty much what you'd expect from a bachelor's pad, so I say we split for a moment and then meet back here for a debrief. Sounds good to y'all?"

Not even Olga Marie protested, but Mash raised a good question. "How are we to divide our duties?"

"I say we go double teams," Tristan pointed at the shield bearer and Olga Marie, "You're our strongest defense Mash, you stay down and watch over Lady Macbeth do her work. Ritsy-boy an' me will scout the rest and try find anything useful."

"'Lady Macbeth'?" Olga Marie's dry voice sounded, "I'm honestly surprised a philistine like you knows old literature."

Tristan just grinned over his shoulder dragging away Fujimaru before he or anybody could protest much, "I know I'm amazing. And you, my little Lady Disdain, are you yet living?"

Fujimaru was left clueless as he followed the bigger man in the back, Mash slowly glanced at Lady Animusphere to see her gripping a decorative pillow to her chest, face contorted to anger it was almost as she wanted to take a bite of it, "Why you big-little… Ugh! I'll show you disdain, just you wait Ermentraut."

"Director," Mash didn't know what the exact relationship was between them, but they seem to have an oddly wit exchanging clash every time they talked with each other. An observation for another date and time, now they had other things to worry about, "About the wards."

Olga Marie almost recoiled as if stunned, face slacking but still sour, she patted her bare thigh, and after a painful response from her nerves she confirmed it's condition. At the very least, the pain was a reminder that she was alive. "Right… Right. I suppose I'm to pull my weight some more while we are at it… Give me a hand, Mash."

Mash did so, ever polite and careful. She kept vigil to any signs of immediate danger while Olga Marie applied the necessary spellwork on doors and windows. She could see the amount of pressure Director had on her, form uncomfortably stiff and coiled like she was walking on eggshells. But she didn't really know what to say or how to help with it. Human mind and behavior were still so strange and sometimes befuddling to her, unlike Director or Mr. Tristan.

That man, she found him a little out of place sometimes. Based on her observation so far he was not an unkind individual. He would make small talk, he would jest with his closest colleagues, even when doing rounds or at breaks. He never treated her any different than the rest, always greeting with a wave or a small smile or if he was in a rush just a passing shout.

But the latest news she heard were troubling. Going against the rules, disorderly conduct, drinking himself into a stupor and then physical violence that sent some of the members, all magi apparently on a semi-long recovery. This man, whose form looked like he could snap logs with bare hands. She didn't know what to think of that. What he did was against all rules and should be punished, yet here he was, helping them. Saving Senpai, and still he shows a caring side…

What did it all mean. It cannot be that simple that he was a bad man trying to look good or a good man secretly covering for whatever evil hides beneath his skin… Mash let out a quiet breath through her nose, she would have to talk with him at some point. Maybe with that banana split he promised. He did say that his word is not to be broken. With that decided, the pink-haired girl went back to assisting Director in the best way she could.

After what felt like hours, but she knew better than that, they were done and Director, relatively quiet for some reason were back to their previous positions.

If not for the voices she heard from the other end, she would have been concerned, but Mr. Tristan could be trusted with Senpai's safety for now. The voices drew closer and she could even hear some of it despite the sound traveling through halls from upstairs. There was a noise of something braking, like a glass of sorts.

"Relax kid, nobody's living here, and it's definitely due for a makeover anyway." That was certainly Mr. Tristan, he sounded both annoyed and deadpan.

"… It's still not polite… This was someone's home, for us to use it like this..." Senpai on the other hand sounded reprimanding, but also uncertain near the bulky man.

"You folks are really weird. I'll leave an address they can bill us at South Pole, how's that sound?"

Mash frowned, that was a specific topic they were on about. She flinched, her ears still strained caught Mr. Tristan's next words sending her eardrums into a slight dance.

"Hey, Irene Adler!"

Mash let out a quiet gasp, she recognized that name. Judging by the furious glare from Director, she did too, and knew it was directed at her. She really needs to talk about him giving out nicknames like those to more appropriate. There is no way that one Olga Marie Animusphere was remotely like some seductress who plays with other's and id in for the fun and money… Was she?

Olga Marie didn't respond, but it didn't deter Tristan from making his inquiry, "What was our postal code in Antarctica again? We'll be footing the bill for some… Uhh, what's it say here… Yeah, uh-huh… Mister Masahiro Ohno, right. He's got a lovely home, we'll be sure to send him flowers wherever he is."

Mash observed how the Director started practicing breathing techniques from far east as the pair of footsteps drew closer.

Fujimaru came first, he seemed embarrassed and a little perplexed at the same time. Tristan on the other hand was casually walking and carrying something in the bag in his left hand.

"Get this, dude's got a king sized bed upstairs with a walk-in closet but not a sign of a lady's garments in sight."

Fujimaru groaned in despair from his position on where the TV used to be. "This is so wrong…"

"Senpai?" Mash looked worried, her head turning from clearly uncomfortable Ritsuka to the unabashed Tristan in swift motion, "What did you do?"

"Nothing I swear," Tristan was genuinely surprised at the accusation in Mash's tone, "We were just having ourselves a guy talk, but Ritsy-boy started going some things about propriety or whatnot."

"It's really not our business what Ohno-san did or didn't do in his home." Fujimaru supplied tersely.

"You mean a love nest." Tristan argued, Olga Marie frowned at him in wonder, he took it all as a sign to go on his wild theory, "Look at this place, ain't no way a single man owns a home like this just for living. He prolly has a dozen of 'em over the country… Or even outside… Anyways, check the evidence if you don't trust me. You don't keep bombonieres lying around if you're not a player."

As if to further prove his point, he tossed a large box on the unoccupied couch seat next to Olga Marie, and it turns out it really did contain bonbons. Mash looked in wonder, only ever seeing one on picture.

"Also you'll be happy to know that the fridge's out and whatever died in there should be left alone…" He presented a single bottle of water, half-full. "Plumbing's gone to hell, so no baths and this is the only drinking water we got. And the beer's shit."

Mash turned to him after inspecting a sugary delight in her fingers, "What was that breaking noise we heard earlier?"

After taking a single gulp from the bottle, Tristan offered it to her, "That was me, I took all the light bulbs and vases and scattered the remains at all possible entrance points. That we anyone tries to sneak in on foot, we'll hear them."

Both Fujimaru and Mash looked in wonder, that was pretty smart from the big man. And as Mash took the tentative gulp of her own, her own companion came closer and tried to inspect the only viable source of nutrients they found. He looked skeptical at the surface covered in something white, like dust, but it didn't go off when he swiped it.

"Is this even safe to eat?"

"Sure is." Tristan sounded confidently, now taking one for himself and popping it right into his mouth, "Sugar keeps the chocolate from spoiling, you can safely eat it even a year after the expiration date… Damn I hate cherries…" He scowled after swallowing reluctantly. "You got lucky with your choice, Mashy-girl?"

Mash, ever the proper one, chewed fully before talking, "I think it's nougat." She replied thoughtfully.

"Hmm, mine's dark chocolate, or coffee."

Tristan snapped his fingers in a faux irritation, a smirk on his face, "Well I'll be, you got all the best ones no fair… How 'bout you Milady?"

Olga Marie regarded him, then the opened box and snatched one random piece, "I had better."

"They're no Belgian praline that's for sure." Tristan said, dragging a chair from the corner, turning it so the backrest was faced on the other side and promptly sat with a grunt.

Two people were surprised the chair didn't collapse under his weight. Third one contemplated shooting one of the legs just to see him fall on his face.

Tristan, unaware of their thoughts concerning himself turned to Ritsuka, "So kid, you got a comm unit on you or we're screwed in a retcon of 28 Days Later?"

Olga Marie restrained herself from butting in, her nails digging into her palm, while the 48th candidate's face did a silly transition from stupefied to sheepish to embarrassed. It was nauseating, so much she picked another bonbon without no one looking and this time letting it slowly melt in her mouth.

The holographic futuristic window opened, and on it was a face and voice Olga Marie last expected to see.

"Fujimaru, Mash!" Doctor Romani Archaman exclaimed behind a console, "Was there a new development? An emergency?"

Ritsuka somewhat awkwardly cleared his throat and waved his hands in a vain attempt to calm the frantic man down, "Um, we're fine, Dr. Roman… There's been a development, yes. I think it's best you see for yourself."

The young man turned, bringing himself in front of Director, who tried to look dignified, he hear a scraping of a chair behind him.

"Romani." Olga Marie simply stated. "Report."

The ice cold tone caught the poor man like he went outside in nothing but his drawers, "D-D-Dirtector Olga Marie Animusphere?!" Romani stuttered in shock, "You're actually alright, thank the heavens!"

Before she could tell him to stow it with the niceties and platitudes she felt couch sink slightly as a larger form quickly made itself sit against her right without permission. "Hey what's up, Doc?"

"Oh hello Tristan, it's good to see you, now I-…"

The group waited a full three seconds until Doctor Roman once again had his mental faculties rearranged.

"Whhhaaaaaaaaaattttttt…?!"

Mash felt sorry for Doctor Roman, he looked as he sounded, frazzled hair and heavy eyes. Ritsuka didn't actually know the man that much, but he was nice to him in a way. The awkwardness of him being in his room would be left forgotten. Tristan was the opposite of Director Animusphere, his blade forgotten against the chair, he lied back and crossed one leg lazily over the other.

"Oh yeah, I'm that good."

"What in God's name have I missed?!" The Chaldea's medic yelled in panic, as if today he learned that two and two don't necessarily make a four, "Director is alive? That's good, I mean it's wonderful!… But Tristan as well?!"

"Well ouch," Tristan deadpanned, while working the white chocolate bonbon in-between his teeth, "Must be the Hell was too crowded to fit one more person so the favored son kicked me out to be the emissary in his master plan against humankind."

They all stared at him with different levels of apprehension. Romani recovered first, "… You cannot just say something blasphemous like that while eating a convenience store candy."

Tristan smacked his lips from any remnant of melted filling, "Yes I can. Wanna see me do it again…?" He briefly looked down, and then suspiciously at the Olga Marie's hand that were not dirty with thin layer of creamy coating, "Damn, we're already out."

"Never mind that… This is all really abnormal! Unexpected, unimaginable… I'm honestly at a loss of words on how to describe it." Because it defied all viable explanations.

"Romani…" Olga Marie's dry voice spoke, her lips were even cracked that she resisted biting them, "Tell me everything that happened?"

Doctor's face suddenly turned solemn, "Director I…"

But she was done waiting, or hearing one excuse or another useless talk anymore, "Tell me now… What has happened to Chaldea? Where is everyone? Why are you in a Control Room when there should be… Lev… Where is Lev?!"

So focused she was in her interrogation she didn't notice she was shaking badly, all the accumulated grief, restlessness, all came crashing down, and Romani's continued silence was not helping the case. Mash noticed, even Fujimaru, and while the teen made attempt to approach she saw Tristan shake his head and indicate with his hand to stay in place.

Suddenly Olga Marie cried out in pain, her hand reaching down to the cause, her fractured leg. And the one who caused her such pain, Tristan was stone faced as Romani looked at him shocked in silent rebuke, being able to see everything from his place on the screen.

"That'll give you something else to think about… Speak to us now Doc, what's the state of Chaldea, any casualties and what's our next course of action?"

"Tristan, I'm not sure if…"

Tristan glared at the ginger haired man across, hate boiling underneath his skin, the pain of the memory he last saw before waking up into this pile of rubble of a city, "I've been given some specifics about a Grail War, is it? Then do me a favor Doc and fill me in with the rest, cuz I'm stone cold sober right now, and hella more pissed at what exactly is happening that I'm still to understand."

And so Doctor Romani Archaman left nothing unchecked as Tristan's brain wrestled with the new information. Olga Marie retreated to the very edge of the couch giving him dangerous look while one hand softly cast a glow over her wounds. Good, at least she knew what her priorities were.

"… You're saying that if we find and capture the Grail that is supposedly somewhere in this place, we'll be stabilizing this singularity and then we can go home. Am I missing something else, Doc?"

Romani gave affirmative, eyes and tone slightly disapproving at the use of force, "Essentially, that is the standard mission a Chaldean A Team would have handled, but with a… newly unforeseen circumstances we have Fujimaru and Mash as our only back up team to resolve the now dubbed Singularity F."

"The scans can't show us the exact location though?" Of course, he didn't have any expectations, why would anything go their way this far on the road.

"No, I'm sorry. Even with Chaldea at 55% capacity the interference of the saturated magical energy and Leylines in the area is just too high to get a good read from here. We are having our Engineering along with Leonardo deployed in stabilizing the power surge that came after the explosions."

"And the rescue op, how're my old boys in Peace Unit handling things?"

Romani looked aside, likely at another data screen for something, "Well, you'll be glad to know that they are using their training to their best. I haven't heard from them in the last hour but I have Mr. Williams assuring me that they will do everything they can."

Good ol' Ed, "Alright, I'm glad… So we're not getting anymore reinforcements here at all?"

"I'm sorry, again, but the state of the room and the Coffins won't allow anymore Rayshifts for the duration of the mission."

"Why're you sorry Doc, not like you can do anything about it…" Tristan muttered then stood, Ritsuka angling the screen towards him as he picked back his kriegsmesser, "Tell me something, Doc, is there any record of any bloodline in this city?"

Romani typed something and then it appeared on the projection at their side as well, "There is… Well, was in fact two of them. As you can see here, the lines of Tohsaka and Matou with the former presiding over this land for two hundred years!"

"That's relatively young." Tristan wondered, yet it's not that his knowledge of the Oriental families and ways are vast, unfortunately this was not his field.

"True, but regardless of their origins that goes way back, they were also the Second Owners of the Fuyuki, each generation producing a head that presides over its territory."

Now that is something, so they weren't just some greenhorns or recently move-ins, "Okay, this is actually useful info. You have by any chance a location to their residence?" But would that information be available to Chaldea at all knowing the families.

"… Hold on, let me try to… Aha! Here we go, and look at that, you're even close to it!"

The display showed our current position and the location of what was presumably the house of the Tohsaka family. Tristan squinted, trying to get a good read on the map, "Hmm, I see it. That's about some four klicks west to north-west from here, thanks Doc."

"I was just about to say that. You sure know how to read the map, Tristan!"

"What's a click?" Fujimaru voiced from over the screen.

"Klick with a 'k', it's another term for kilometer." Tristan supplied easily, kid could stand to learn more things, no harm in it. "We got what we need for now, so radio silence Doc, we'll reach you when we get to our next stop."

Tristan knew that Romani was trying to search Olga Marie with his eyes, but it was not to be, it's time we deal with it on the field, and then worry about the aftereffects. The projection finally went dark, returning the room to its dim state when they first entered. The Chaldea's former member took a deep breath and rounded on sulking Director.

Olga Marie Animusphere was ready for a shouting match now, her tears dried and throat prepared to handle and dish out any and all kinds of insults he will fling at her.

But Olga Marie Animusphere was not ready for when he gave her a once over, turned on his heel and clapped his hands hard to get the other two members of their group to listen. "Here's the plan, kids, we're going to brake into the Tohsaka manor, learn what we can and salvage what's left of their knowledge. Any questions?"

"Here's a question for you?" The only capable Magus among them hissed, "Is your brain being fed by stupid?"

"Oh, careful around her Mash, Ritsy-boy, she's in catty mood now, might scratch you if you get too close."

The said one abruptly stood, the numbness in her leg temporarily mended, "Who exactly made you the leader here, Ermentraut?!"

"Somebody has to, since you're all over the place." Now that three pairs of eyes on her, one accusing, others uncertain, Olga Marie felt the pressure building again, "You're frazzled, injured and with emotions on a haywire. I'm not risking you out there with us to put the mission in jeopardy…"

Her words were acid, the back of her throat already burned with a re-flux, "Oh, so you decided for me that…"

"… Or letting you die."

The bile stopped on the way through her stomach, "… What?"

Tristan shut his eyes temporarily, the image was still clear as a day, "I didn't shield you from that blast so you can die on me now. I'm many things, but I am also a man, and a man has a code… We're getting out of this with our without you, but if you're gonna be the one that drags us down so help me God, I'll knock you out stow you in a cellar where you'll be safe until we finish the mission."

This was the last thing he was willing to do. There was no turning back, it was up to her at the end. He has agreed to help her, and if he couldn't guarantee her safety out there no longer, then he will not take any risk. Not with her in that lowly state. His word was his bond.

"I want… I want to help you… As well." She gritted out, once more in a state where she had to display such emotion, "I'm not staying behind… I refuse!"

Tristan regarded her with critical eye, and whatever he think he saw or might have seen was satisfactory for him, "There we go then, it's settled. The Team Chaldea is a go, the first real mission!"

"Team Chaldea?" Mash, brought back from witnessing one of the most intense exchange in her life, couldn't help but ask, "Are we really a team?"

It was Olga Marie who answered, surprisingly, "We might as well be, Mash. A hopeless rookie Master, the newly christened Demi-Servant, the cheeky hedge-knight, and me… That's what the world has fallen down to."

"Do we make a great crew or what?" Tristan in a spun of the moment, encircled both Demi-Servant and her Master in his meaty arms, "And see how humble our captain was, only goes by a simple me."

"Shut it, Ermentraut." Olga Marie said only half-heartedly, "You are only proving my point."

All she got was a salute as a response.

The group exited their temporary shelter, warily, with Mash in front and then Tristan followed. They cleared the way and continued upwards their next destination, hoping to find whatever they could in whatever state the house of the Second Owner was in.

So they went into the night, and so as they moved behind them, shadows followed. The form taking the one of a hunter, the sounds of serpents and the agony of many who were left trapped and devoured in her wake.

"Finally… A worthy prey."

---

Hot damn, was it always this easy finding inspiration for new ideas. Yeah, probably not. Anyhoo, time to clear some things many of you might have wondered and will wonder since chapter one.

The way that this seems different that what you might have seen in the anime of First Order. Well, would you believe it is actually considered as canon? Fighting Hassan of the Thousand Faces and her band of lackeys? Yeas it actually is; whoever wants to know, just look for the manga series Fate/Grand Order -turas réalta, I took the elements from there, combined them with the anime and with adding my own twist it turned out completely unexpectedly fine! So, as you can see I'm not making too many things up. Tristan does, however.

About my OC Tristan. If you're having trouble imagining him, just go with this; Jack Reacher by Alan Ritchson. Tawny hair and greenish eyes and voila!

Why he knows things that he knows, his strength, any abilities or whatnot? That I'm afraid will be revealed as the story goes, trust me, it's more fun that way, for you and me.

Mash going pro and slapping the blackened Rider to the roof, c'mon it's a classic move, because she's badass! And a sweetie for apologizing later.

Olga Marie and her status. Oh, guys, you've not seen the damage done to her and her psyche. She'll need help, but for now she's gonna have to bear it.