hey guys I have increased the chapter length for this one. I hope you enjoy it. I am still a novice at writing fanfics. Please leave reviews. I would love to hear your thoughts !
October 15th, 2016
I woke up with a jolt as those words pushed me out of my stupor in my sleep. My ribs ached as I fell off my bed with a thud. I looked around frantically scanning for threats but all that was present to me was the pitch black darkness of my room. I sighed as I got up from the floor and turned on the lights in my room.
I took my time to appreciate Chaldea's resources. It really was impressive that it still had electricity despite the entire outside world being destroyed. Its self sufficiency is the only thing keeping everyone alive after the events that transpired in the past few months.
I slowly opened my washroom door and entered. I turned on the lights and started brushing my teeth as I reminisced the dream I just had. Ereshkigal never came back after that breakdown of hers. I convinced Ishtar to wait for her sister's return but as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a month, she left for the underworld. So far we have had no response from her. I wonder if the sunlight had managed to destroy Kur and everyone in it.
No. No. I can't think like that. I eliminated that thought from my mind before it could further develop into something worse. I need to have faith in them. I am sure that they have their reasons for not returning. If protecting the underworld from the light was a priority for her then he could only respect her decision.
I finished brushing my teeth and washed my face. I looked at the reflection from the mirror in front of me. My eyebags were visible from my previous late night patrols throughout chaldea. I look so different now. It looked like my soul was taken from my body and the only thing left was this useless husk that couldn't do anything even if his life depended on it.
I shut that thought out of my head. There is no use of loathing about the past. What's done is done. Humanity's survival is the most important goal currently, there is no time to reminisce about past regrets.
I left my room and headed towards the command center. As I was walking there I could see shutters that blocked all the windows in chaldea. If it wasn't for this we would have been decimated in just a few days. As I kept walking I came across two staff cleaning blood off the walls. I walked past them, our eyes met briefly before they turned away. It's probably a good idea not to talk to them, everyone is on edge these days and I can't keep that happy go lucky attitude in a world like this. It would just annoy everyone. I looked to see that the blood was used to write something on the walls.
"FEAR THE LIGHT"
"DARKNESS IS SALVATION"
Ah yes this was one of the few incidents that occurred after the sun broke. People were used to holding onto hope, especially after the singularities that resulted in humanity outside of Chaldea being exterminated. They powered through whatever difficulties came their way. But when the sun changed, a few ended up giving up. Atleast 4 people committed suicide, believing that there was no hope left for humanity. It was only due to the efforts of Nightingale and several other servants that further mass suicide was prevented. Da Vinci proposed an idea of setting up a psychological center within chaldea to provide mandatory therapist sessions to staff suffering from mental distress. Nightingale is no psychologist but her bedside manner from being a nurse made a huge influence in the halt of suicides.
Though I can only wonder how long it will last. The monsters were actively mimicking the voices of their co workers to lure them and one staff member almost tried to leave the facility towards the sunlight. As a result many rooms were soundproofed and servants were stationed near the doors as guards to prevent any staff from being manipulated in their vulnerable states.
I eventually reached the command center where I saw Romani. He was in better shape than previous days but dark bags under his eyes gave away his fatigue.
"Fujimaru, glad to see you're here on time unlike last time." Romani uttered in a solemn tone.
"Thank you, I try my hardest to do so." I replied
"Good, let's get on to more pressing matters. Currently most of chaldea is free from the flesh but the outside of chaldea is completely surrounded by them. We can't keep staying here, we have to establish contact with any survivors outside."
The existence of the outside world never ceases to amaze me. When Chaldea was bombed and the singularities were created, the entire world outside of Chaldea was incinerated. Chaldea was the only thing left of humanity and the outside world could only be restored through resolving the singularities. But we were proven wrong, as according to Da Vinci's observations the outside world was automatically restored completely a day after the sun changed.
At first it was almost as if there were no humans when the world was restored. The only things that seemed to inhabit the planet were the flesh. But we were proven wrong when we detected radio signals coming from outside Chaldea. We were so excited when we heard the voices of people through our command center radios. We had believed that a miracle happened, but we were proven wrong as the voices in the radios turned into shrill screams. Their voices distorted into a familiar sound of the flesh.
One minute humanity was there and another minute it was gone. Luckily they were able to send a broadcast to the entire world about the sun before the screams. Our world wide broadcasts continued for numerous days connecting to numerous radio towers around the world broadcasting information about the sun's effects. Romani firmly believes that our broadcasts must have reached any remaining survivors and saved them from the sun. However we have yet to receive any messages back.
London's Clock Tower was practically impossible to contact because of their stubbornness in their refusal to adopt modern technology. But knowing their kind, they are probably still alive due to them being cooped up in their homes working on their magecraft rather than exploring the outside.
The Church on the other hand was responsive but no voices came through the radio. Occasionally morse code seems to be used every now and then. We were unsure at first why they refused to communicate verbally but the code they left painted a grim picture.
STOP BROADCASTING. THEY CAN HEAR YOU.
DO NOT RESPOND
DO NOT RESPOND
DO NOT RESPOND
DO NOT RESPOND
Our broadcasts stopped shortly after. This was a dire warning. If the church themselves seemed to be terrified, then we should take their advice. However, according to Da Vinci, maintaining in person contact is necessary. Therefore an expedition was launched for the sake of retrieving any survivors back to Chaldea. It was winter now in Antarctica therefore it meant that the skies would always be cloudy and block the sun. There is barely any sunlight to begin with. This is the safest time to transport survivors. Not even the moon can pose a threat to us anymore. I just wish we had known about the threat of the reflected light from the moon sooner.
If we had then she would have still been alive.
"Senpai, are you alright ?" The voice broke me out of the train of thought.
I turned to see Mash looking at me with a worried expression. Ah crap, I have been zoning out again.
"I am fine." I sighed as Mash looked at me with concern, easily seeing through my lie. But she didn't bother commenting further.
"Alright that's everything, get ready to embark on your journey."
Crap I didn't even pay attention to what he was saying. Mash noting my confused expression responded to me.
"Senpai, you really need to pay attention to these briefings."
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"About what ?"
"The people we have lost."
"Senpai…"
"It's fine, Mash. I am ok now. I just need to know what we are doing for this current mission."
"If you say so. Our mission is a trip to South America, more specifically Argentina. The goal is to contact any mage organizations there if some of them have managed to survive the sunlight. South America was chosen as it is the closest continent to Antarctica and Romani wished to save fuel in our travels. We could set up a base in Argentina and fly helicopters to various places to find more survivors."
"Makes sense, but what are the chances that we even find survivors ? You heard those screams on the radio, everyone out there is going to eventually die before we even reach them."
"Senpai ! You can't just believe that !"
"Why not ?! It's the truth isn't it ?! Look around you Mash ! The world has gone to hell. The Sun has turned on us. The Human Incineration incident was nothing compared to this ! At least the humans that died during that event didn't suffer as much ! The Sun refuses to let us die ! It brings us back to life and turns us into those abominations ! Imagine you not even having the mercy of death !"
"But we still have to try and salvage what's left of humanity !"
"The Church which protected humanity from dead apostles was unable to defend against this kind of threat. What do you exactly see for the future of humanity Mash ?! The only reason we are alive is because we are in Antarctica where there is barely any sunlight ! You think that just because we went through all those singularities that we are suddenly top shit ?! You think that because you are a servant you are invincible ?! The last person who thought that had to be put out of his misery by his own friend ! Just take a walk outside and you will see the remnants of his golden ship, an eerie reminder for the price of arrogance ! That same arrogance that made me believe that "I" , a normal human being, the last master of chaldea, could save humanity ! But no, I was proven wrong as all of our efforts have been for nothing !"
I panted as I finished my tirade. The weight of my actions just dawned upon me as I realized what I had done. I took out my frustration on Mash. Mash who has been by my side all throughout my missions. I yelled at her, she didn't even deserve it.
"Mash I–"
"It's alright, Senpai…"
"No Mash, I had no right to say that."
"I said it is fine." Mash uttered in a solemn tone.
I am such a piece of trash. I yelled at an innocent girl because of my own weakness.
"What's going on ?" Romani asked as he approached us.
"Nothing Romani." Mash muttered
I said nothing as I looked away.
"Look I don't know what is going on with you two but I need you guys to pull yourselves together. I get it, life ain't going the way we wanted it but we need you two to at least try."
I nodded in admittance. Mash looked away while doing so.
"Fine, then let's get you guys going."
I headed to the locker rooms to change out of my clothing. I put on the new protective gear Chaldea has developed against the sun. It was a standard black bullet proof vest that I wore over my white long sleeve shirt. I equipped my hands with black ski gloves. I put my black boots on. I zipped up my white jacket and put on my tinted goggles with my white ski mask.
I made my way out the locker room and headed towards the main entrance of Chaldea. I saw Emiya standing there clad in a black and red attire but this was quite different from his usual attire. His clothes were not suited for the winter as expected as servants won't die from hypothermia, but it resembled a middle eastern style. His arms, chest and neck were covered by his black long sleeve shirt accompanied with a black vest. His trademark red robe was still on him. His face and neck were further covered by a long white cloth that resembled a keffiyeh that was wrapped around to prevent any skin from being exposed to the sun. He, like myself, was also wearing tinted goggles.
Emiya wasn't the only one there. Quetzalcoatl was there, she was wearing her usual clothes but underneath she was wearing numerous sports bandages to cover every inch of skin. She was wearing some sort of South American style Mask.
As I arrived there, I saw Mash. Our eyes briefly met before we broke contact with each other. I can't face her like this, not after what I did.
I picked up our standard issue Chaldea flame throwers. They were developed by our engineers as a way to combat the flesh. Bullets and blades have shown to be ineffective but fire based weapons showed otherwise.
Hassan wanted to come with us but Romani suggested it was best he stayed behind to protect Chaldea. His flame abilities would be valuable for protecting humanity's last paradise.
I tensed as the steel doors opened up to reveal the white environment that resided outside. I took a step and others soon followed.
Our goal was to reach the shipping dock and find a functioning ship to transport us to South America. The trip was long but it was only made easier due to the fact that we were traveling on a snow cruiser. We were lucky enough not to encounter any of the Flesh and as a result our trip went smoothly. After 2 hours we managed to reach the shipping dock.
The shipping dock was showing signs of rusting in their metal components due to the lack of maintenance ever since the singularities and Sun happened. As we exited the cruiser we began exploring the dock and spotted some ships that looked to be in good condition.
As we made our way to the ships, a sound caught us off guard. I listened carefully to hear that sound again.
Ḧ̶̬̩͈̜́̂̔̌͗̌͌͋͛̓̌̚͘͝ĕ̴͕̠̳̞̍͗̒l̶͇̭̿̿̈́̂̉ḷ̸̡̛̱͖̭̆̓̐̆͑̇̅̾̚͝͠ò̸͓̹͔͎̹̜͒̓̊̈́̇̇̈́̋̋̀͜͜͝ ̵̢̿̒͐̆͋̎̏̌͂̅͘̕͘͝͝ȋ̵̢̡̛̛̫͓̭̤̱̱̞͕̭̱̬̺̇̎̅͋̓̀͠͝͝s̴̨̲̗͉̩͚̮̩̠̖̖̩̤͐̔͐̋͒̕͜ ̶̙̯͍͉̰̜͉͇̹͒͋̇́ͅs̶̡̺̭͕̀̇͋̈́̈͐̿̑̚o̶̯̣̞͐͑͌̾́̀̚m̸͉̥͉͊̅̈̑́̓̚͘̚ě̵̡̨̧͎͍͈̹̠͈̫̱͓͍̏̽̒̚͝͝ͅb̶̢̨̻͎̘̹̠̹̱͚̩̳̓̏̅͋̈̒̎͒̎͊͗̀̀̕o̴̢͚͍͕͇͚͖̺̖͙͗̒͋̒̚͜d̵̡̦̥̪̪͚͍̗͚̋͊́͊̒̾͗̔͘̕y̸̨͓͎͆̏͌͊͆̽̃͝ ̶̪̠͍̲̩͑̏̀̀̋̅̈t̵͉̝̥͚̮̣̹̭̩̊̓̒̌͊̽́̋́̊̕h̷̩̻̠̭͕͖̗̀̉͑e̵̢͊͒̀́̇̈͑̎̀͛̅͑̕͘ṛ̵̖̣͌e̶͖͎͎͖̜͕͚͎̼̔̏̑͒͛́̄̄͜͝͠͝ ̷̧̖͑͑͂̍̍?̷̡̡͇̥̦͓̺̙̺̞̫̫͂̍̋͐̈́͐̒͂͒̎̎̕͜
"Shit we got some company Master !" Emiya yelled.
Confused, I look at the direction of Emiya's view and see a flesh monster emerging, mimicking a human voice to lure us.
"Some company is an understatement" Quetzelcoatl uttered.
I turned around and saw that we were completely surrounded by the flesh.
J̵̤͕͍̲̌̏o̴̡͉̺͂́͌̇̓͌͘ͅi̷̪̘̤̰͔̗̜̯̜̇͒̒̈́͋̐ǹ̶̡̨̳̬̱̹̮͈̙͕̲̠̬͚̑̈́́̿͗̂́̕͝ ̶͙̋ú̷̥̯͈̳̪͛̋̓̈́́͐̃̈́̓̎̚̚s̵̗͉̘̝̮̩̱͚̥͉̻̽͊̓̀̿͆͑̈͜ ̸͖͙̳̮̹͉̤̮̞͓̐!̴̢̢̞͙̟̤̣͚̮͖̉͊͘͘͜ ̷̢̛͓͚̪̳̟̰̲͖̭͚̱͒̈̈́ͅḼ̷̢̛̻̯̘̄͂́͌̀̚e̵͖͍̞͐́̐́̽͗̓͗͆̑͝t̵̨̡̢̝͙̜͕͔̲̲̗͙̯̀̀͜ ̸̛͇̠̯̙̮̯̬̥̭̞̤̘̐͌̆͗̓̑̿̈́̐͆̕͠u̸̜͚͎͙̜̻̫̰̿̔̉̉̌̀̓̓̕͝͝ͅş̷̡̡̟̬̙͍̬͍͋͆͂̔̔̀̿͗̿̓ ̸̳̗͖̪̻̙̪̪́̀̊̐̋̇̍b̴̡̲͉͙̯͔̱͐͜͠ͅe̷̡̞̻̝̞͓͇͌̽̀̈́̌c̴̡̧͉͉̩͇̼̖̟̞̺̺̳͈̍̑̍̏̓́̄̈̔̕̚͝ơ̶͎͈͇͉̣̫̱̹͖̥̰̔̂͊̏̏̕͜ͅm̸̛̦̥̞̀͗́̐̾́͂̏̈́̊̒̅͝e̵͍̫̰͚͕̣͈̲̰̼̖̻͔͌͌͛͜ͅ ̷̧̢̡̬͍̹̫̺̰͒̀̍̈́̀̒͐̑̇̐́̒̋͘͝ͅẅ̵̢̢̼͓́̾̿͗̃h̵̨̯̮̫͉̬̣̖̄͒̐͌͌̈̈́͗̆̔̿̓͝ó̴̡̢͚͔̼̫͖̖̽̽͊l̷͓͂̋̉͐͐́̀͗̄é̵̢̻̹̥́͗̓̈́̓̊̔̐̔͋̈̕ ̵̛͇̳͇͙̰̣̓̇͜!̷̙̜̰̫͔̹̮͆͌̃̒͌̾̈́̏͝ͅ
I used to think that this event was just gonna be one of our few struggles we would experience in our journey but years later I would come to regret never turning back. I would regret never staying back in Chaldea. If I had just canceled the mission and stayed back then I would not have had to see the things that I have seen, done things that I would not have done, said things that I would not have said.
If only we knew that this event would only become the start of our suffering. I just wish I could have spared all of us from hell.