CHAPTER 14:

WELCOME TO CHALDEA

Four years later…

The quartet stumbled a little as they appeared on the platform, and were soon greeted by a musical voice with an Italian accent. "Buongiorno! Welcome to Chaldea!"

Harry looked up to see a pair of familiar figures waiting. Namely, Leonardo da Vinci and Mash. He grimaced from the dizziness the Portkey had inflicted on him even as he looked around at the Renaissance Woman's cluttered Workshop, filled with all sorts of gadgets, many of which had a Renaissance look to them. In fact, the vast majority of them could qualify as works of art in their own right. He recognised a winged device from Da Vinci's sketches, and there was even a bird automaton, beautiful and elegant, that peered at them from a nearby perch.

"Thanks, Leona!" Delphi chirped, even as they hopped off the platform. "Honestly, as bad as Portkeys can be, it's better than hours and hours stuck on airplanes."

"True enough, but don't let the other Magi hear you say that," Da Vinci said with a knowing smirk.

Mash, meanwhile, moved forward, dressed in her researcher uniform, complete with non-prescription glasses. Harry had to admit, the look was very endearing, adding to the young Demi-Servant's cuteness. And she'd grown into a fine teenager. "Good morning, all of you," she said with a welcoming smile and a brief curtsey. "It's good to finally have you visit my home, instead of my visiting yours."

Harry nodded, even as he gently hugged Mash. Ever since Christmas of 2012, he'd been hosting Mash at Potter Manor discreetly for brief visits. But even those brought the artificial human a lot of joy, and while Delphi was his daughter, Mash was all but a second adoptive daughter, even if Dr Roman was her actual father figure. It said a lot about Mash's bond with the four of them that they all gave her a hug.

Of course, that was far from the only bond to have grown in the interim.

"So, where is Aunty Hermione, anyway?" Delphi asked as they broke off the hug.

"In a meeting with the Director," Da Vinci said with an irritated sigh. "Dr Roman was caught skiving off again, and they are disciplining him. Roman was meant to be doing your final physicals upon being accepted into Chaldea, but he thought it'd be a better use of his time binging anime."

Harry snorted. "Who'd have thought that King Solomon was such a lazy bugger in reality?"

"Well, as true as that is, remember that, even with the Fidelius in place, that is not something you should discuss around people who aren't in the know," Da Vinci said, shooting him a look. "Roman told you because he wanted your trust. But yes, Roman does have a tendency to be slothful. But when he's actually needed, he's surprisingly reliable, as long as he doesn't panic. It was thanks mostly to him and Hermione that I stayed here."

Mash nodded. "Dr Roman has been very kind to me, even with all of his faults."

"Hey, it's fine," Delphi said. "He's just a bit like Uncle Ron."

Before they could continue, there was a knock on the door. On Da Vinci calling out for whoever it was to enter, a strange figure came in. On the face of it, the young man with spiky blonde hair wasn't so strange in of himself. His clothes were slightly mismatched, but otherwise, he wouldn't have looked that out of place strolling down the street.

It was his eyes and expression that gave it away. His purple eyes had a vaguely distant and detached look to them, as if he was looking upon them from afar, staring at them like organic cameras. His expression was also vaguely inhuman, not inhuman as in monstrous, but rather, alien. It was a strange serenity that looked subtly out of place on a human face.

Harry knew why, thanks to Hermione. Twelve years ago, as a young boy, the man standing in front of him had been involved in an accident involving a powerful artifact. He and his father vanished from existence, but the man in front of them came back into existence shortly afterwards, though his former self's still-living shadow was burned onto the floor of a Clock Tower laboratory.

Whatever the boy's birth name was now unknown, erased from existence, but he was currently called 'Daybit Sem Void'. The first name was a bit of a bad joke, apparently: Daybit could only remember a 'bit of a day' at a time, five minutes to be precise. It made him unsociable to some degree, because he only wanted to remember important matters.

"Daybit, have you come to see our new recruits?" Da Vinci asked.

Daybit nodded, his purple eyes flickering over them. Harry got the impression of him taking in their appearances, like a camera taking photos. "Yes. It's good to meet you in person, all of you. Granger speaks highly of you all."

The smile that touched the man's lips, while a little odd, seemed genuine, and Harry stepped forward, holding out his hand. Daybit took it after a moment's pause. "It's good to meet you too, Daybit. Thanks for taking the time to meet us," Harry said.

Daybit nodded. After brief greetings, he said, "Sorry, but I should go."

Harry nodded in his turn. "That's fine, I know about your memory issue."

"Thank you," Daybit said. "Wodime and the others wanted to meet you. Conference Room B. Goodbye."

After he left, Delphi huffed quietly. "Weird guy. Then again, given what he went through…oh, Mash, where's Fou?"

"Oh, well, Fou seems to do his own thing," Mash said. "As you know, he is classified as a Privileged Lifeform who is allowed to wander Chaldea with impunity, ever since he arrived here."

Da Vinci chuckled. "And who are we to argue with a Phantasmal Beast, eh? Fou may be cute, but we know there's more to him than meets the eye."

As if on cue, the door opened, but a person did not enter. Rather, a small, white furry shape scampered in. With a cooing noise, it leapt up onto Mash's shoulder, and nuzzled against her face.

The creature seemed to be somewhere between cat, dog, and squirrel. Its fur was white and lavender, its violet eyes without any skittishness. It seemed completely at ease around everyone present in the room, though Barghest and Melusine tensed up.

Fou had been brought by Mash to her last joint birthday with Delphi. Mash had turned 16, and Delphi 18, and as both girls were born in January, it had become a tradition for them to have a joint birthday party at the Potter Manor in Oxford for the past few years. When Fou came along, having just appeared at Chaldea recently, though, Barghest and Melusine became anxious for some reason. Fou was never aggressive to them, or to anyone (save for attacking Dr Roman a few times for some stupid remarks), but the two Fae were certain that the cutesy creature was more powerful than they were. And Harry had learned to trust their instincts.

On the other hand, Fou, while he took a particular shine to Mash, was friendly enough to Harry and his loved ones. Even now, he allowed Delphi to scratch him under the chin, cooing. "Hey, Fou, who's a good little Phantasmal then, huh?"

Barghest cleared her throat pointedly. "That's all very well, but…Leonardo, may we have our check-up, if Dr Roman is being delayed? You are capable of doing so in his stead, yes?"

"Of course, Barghest!"

A quartet of medical examinations later, and the motley group of new arrivals, accompanied by Mash and Fou, made their way to Conference Room B. There, they were greeted by a chorus of greetings of varying degrees of enthusiasm. Aside from Daybit, the entirety of those present were Team A of the Masters of Chaldea, most of whom had come to Potter Manor before, accompanying Mash for Christmas and birthday celebrations in Oxford.

The first that drew Harry's eyes was a tall man in garish yet stylish clothes and make-up. Yet despite his rather camp nature, Scandinavia Peperoncino, aka 'Pepe', was a genuinely friendly and affable man, very easy to like, even if he had admitted to Harry and Barghest that his past and his work as a mercenary were not exactly squeaky-clean. But he had a gift for putting people at ease, and he seemed to genuinely show affection for Delphi, like a big brother.

Next was a young man a little older than Delphi, sickly and pale-looking, his eyes seemingly perpetually ringed with dark circles. Kadoc Zemlupus was a Polish Magus of very little note and ability, yet his Rayshifting ability and Master compatibility was beyond reproach. Gloomy and envious, Harry had to smack down a couple of his jealous mutterings, and this oddly won some respect from the young man.

An orange-haired young woman was next, one of her eyes obscured by an eyepatch which was actually a Mystic Eye Killer. Ophelia Phamrsolone had been the subject of her parents' brutal experiments, but that, plus a Magus' upbringing, made her a withdrawn, stoic young woman, hard to draw into conversation. Yet she wasn't too bad by Magi standards.

The other woman on Team A was similarly withdrawn and stoic, though Harry was under the impression that Hinako Akuta was anti-social. Hardly surprising, as Hermione had divulged that Hinako was not only a vampire of a similar nature to Arc (even if she technically wasn't a True Ancestor), but none other than Yu Mei-ren, the consort to notorious Chinese warlord Xiang Yu. However, she showed little sign of such, simply looking like a rather beautiful but bookish young brunette with twin pigtails and glasses. And she seemed to be fine talking with Delphi and Barghest.

Thankfully, he'd never had cause to meet Beryl Gut before now. Even now, he felt Barghest tense next to him on seeing Beryl, a lean, sardonic-looking man with a small scruffy beard and pointed ears. The Werewolf, they called him in Clock Tower, and Harry hated him on principle. Even now, he had a cocky smirk that Harry wanted to wipe off his face with a half-brick, and considering that he had broken Mash's fingers once on a whim, Harry wondered why the man hadn't been dismissed, or better yet, condemned to a slow painful death in some dubious Workshop within Clock Tower. He certainly would never leave Delphi alone with him.

And then, there was a regal, aristocratic-looking young man with long blonde hair. He was everything the Malfoys would pretend to be but weren't, yet despite Harry's misgivings (given he supplanted Olga-Marie as heir to Marisbury's Magic Crest), Kirschtaria Wodime was a perfect gentleman and as decent a man as any serious Magus could be. It was small wonder he was made the leader for Team A.

The knowledge that at least some if not all of Team A betrayed Chaldea and became collaborators in creating the Lostbelts had Harry ill at ease. But hopefully, Hermione had prevented that with her modifications to CHALDEAS. Though Harry had to wonder what had driven them to betray Chaldea.

After the initial greetings, Harry made his way over to Hinako. Delphi was chatting away with Kadoc, the two getting along surprisingly well, while Barghest and Melusine were chatting with Wodime and Pepe. Mash, meanwhile, was talking rather awkwardly with Ophelia. Harry discreetly erected a Privacy Charm, noting the book in her hand. "Carpe Jugulum?"

"Hermione got me onto the Discworld books, said I need cheering up," Hinako remarked, rolling her eyes. "I'll admit, they are funny. So, how does it feel to be finally at Chaldea?"

"Interesting, though being stuck here…I don't envy Mash not knowing anything beyond this place until recently."

"True. She reminds me a little of an alchemist I used to know, Fu Xu. Though she was more enamoured with me. It'll be a little embarrassing if I summon her as a Servant. I've met enough people from history that I'm a living catalyst for a number of Servants, particularly those from China. Aside from my beloved, there's also Gao Changgong, the Prince of Lanling." She sighed solemnly. "He was the closest thing I had to a friend after my beloved died."

"And if you do summon Xiang Yu? He's not going to be some raging psycho?"

"He was brutal because he needed to be. Besides, you're sleeping with Barghest, and you know what she did in this alternate timeline you all alluded to," Hinako said, shooting him a sharp look briefly. But then, she shook her head. "Sorry, I just don't like people criticising him. He didn't perform his actions because he was a sadist or a bloodthirsty warrior, Harry. He was paving the way for Liu Bang to become the founder of the Han Dynasty. If a Grand Order comes to pass, then he won't be needlessly destructive. As for Gao Changgong…I daresay you and he would get along swimmingly. I hate how he was forced to kill himself because he was feared to be overly ambitious."

Harry nodded, suppressing his irritation towards her badmouthing his lover. Barghest and he had been in a relationship for years now, feeling their way through. They weren't yet married, though that was more rubber-stamping something that was already present. "Anything new of note in Chaldea?"

"Nothing Hermione wouldn't have told you about. Political pissing contests, testing SHEBA and CHALDEAS, along with TRISMEGISTUS, trying to get FATE to work…and there's some tension between Hermione and Olga lately, though you probably know that."

"Yeah, she's complained to me often enough. Olga's keeping the four of us on reserve, outside of the assigned teams. Officially, it's to ensure she has backup Masters in case the worst happens, but unofficially…we're Hermione's friends, and given the tension between them…"

"Like I said, politics. Once the Grand Order is underway, though, she'll need every Master capable of Rayshifting that she can get," Hinako said. "And unfortunately, too many are potential spies from Clock Tower and its factions, looking for their own advantage. It's been four years since Marisbury's death, and the vultures are still circling. I heard the scion of the Musik line's got too much interest in Chaldea."

"Ugh, those Einzbern-wannabes?" Harry muttered. "What about Beryl? Keeping an eye on him?"

"Yeah. I knew he was dangerous, but after what he did to Mash, breaking her fingers to get a reaction out of her…I was sorely tempted to tear him apart myself. Unfortunately, Lev Lynor has vetoed kicking him out, smug Willy Wonka-lookalike. I've kept an eye on Beryl, and I think everyone's made it clear that if he ever pulls that shit on her again, they'll never find his body. Hell, I'm willing to gorge myself on his blood in front of everyone, and damn the consequences."

"You'll probably catch something," Harry snarked, and Hinako chuckled in sardonic agreement. "Hope he understands not to touch Delphi. As for Melusine…I just hope he tries. She may be weaker than she was in her old life, but she's still capable of turning him into giblets with a single punch."

"Your lover looks like she wants nothing more than to kill him slowly and painfully," Hinako said.

"He reminds her of someone she once knew," Harry said tactfully, even as the muscular Fae in question came over, Delphi in tow, while Melusine wandered over to Mash.

He took in the sight of his lover, and his wife in every way but the wedding itself. Many within Magical Britain couldn't understand why he chose this Amazonian woman over so many witches. Then again, so many of them had preconceived notions of him and what he should and should not do.

True, she had a dark past, a bloodstained past that she would never truly escape. But he had come to accept that, along with everything else about her. And she wanted to be a good person, despite her past, despite her nature as a Fae. Then again, she already was a good person. Morgan le Fay never allowed Barghest to be a good person, or even a good knight. In Morgan's eyes, Barghest was a handy attack dog to set upon her foes, and wipe them out with extreme prejudice. Dubbing her Tam Lin Gawain was meant to contain the curse Barghest had been afflicted with since the day she was born.

But he doubted Morgan ever appreciated Barghest as a person. Harry liked to think that he did. Barghest, given her muscular frame, wasn't that conventionally beautiful. And yet, her face was a picture of regal beauty, and her muscled body was sculpted perfection. But that didn't compare to her strong and yet surprisingly gentle heart, a noble warrior who even now was still coming into her own. Even if the Fae were mostly malevolent and capricious beings, Barghest showed that they could be moral paragons better than even most humans. Hell, at times, he felt her to be more noble than he was, despite her acts as Morgan's enforcer.

He felt privileged to become the lover of this most extraordinary woman. True, he was the latest in a long line of them, and her previous lovers had met bad ends thanks to her curse, but after so many years, no sign of said curse had reared its ugly head, and it seemed Cernunnos' claims of curing it were true. In addition, she was a hopeless romantic, not promiscuous, despite the cruel words of other Fae in the Lostbelt.

She may deem herself unworthy of his love, but he felt the same way, that he was unworthy of her love. Yet here they were. Lovers and more, now recruited by an organisation poised to start saving the world.

They exchanged smiles. Despite the tensions in the air, despite the dangers yet to come, they had each other, and their friends. That was what mattered…

CHAPTER 14 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. A timeskip to Harry, Barghest and company coming to Chaldea, and a bit of exposition.

I'm sorry for the lack of Harry/Barghest fluff. There'll be more in the next chapter. I just wanted to move to the next phase of the story.

As for the tensions between Olga and Hermione…not everything is as it seems.

Review-answering time! Advent of Sloth: That won't be happening…well, yet. Of course, once they finally meet Gawain (the standard Nasuverse one), Barghest is going to be an understated fangirl.

ZLC genesmith: That seems a touch too cruel, fitting though that would be. I reckon that a more fitting punishment would be coercing Baobhan Sith to kiss Caster Arturia's feet and calling her 'My Princess'. Also, how many Rune Bears from Elden Ring would comprise a family unit, in your opinion? I just want to get an idea for how fucked Baobhan Sith would be.

The Disquieting One: Keep in mind, there's a lot of Servants who were originally Masters, either because they are Pseudo-Servants or Counter-Guardians for the most part. Even Medea counts as a Master, given what she did in Fate/Stay Night. And as Barghest is still a living being with magical energy to spare, I see no reason whatsoever for her not to become a Master. And while she's weaker compared to how strong she was in the Lostbelt, she's still strong enough to take on Servants.

As for how the Singularities will go, I will mention how they went both in-story and in annotations, but they will go broadly similar to canon for most of them, though I intend to have at least a couple of Team A members get involved too. Hinako is one of them.

Dragon Man 180: That's actually not a bad idea, and Harry will get along fairly well with both Saber and Caster Arturia because of this, with Saber Arturia being the big sister figure, and Caster Arturia being the little sister. And yes, Jackie will be summoned, and it will be as sweet as it can be, given that she's a serial killing gestalt in the shape of a loli.

Old steamer: I don't think PHH Barghest was ever afflicted by a curse. If anything, PHH Barghests ARE the curse, an omen of death, just like the Grim. In fact, a Barghest is basically a Grim by another name, AFAIK. Also, the rest of that idea sounds bizarre.

As for giving Barghest Fae Eyes, I didn't think of that at the time, but given how much of a curse they were for poor Caster Arturia, I wouldn't inflict them on Barghest. Neither would Caster Arturia.

No numbered annotations this time.