CHAPTER 17:
THE BURNING CITY
Harry coughed as he regained consciousness, getting up gingerly. The air was still hot, feeling like he was in the middle of an inferno. But when he looked around, he saw not the burning Command Room, but rather, the ruins of a city.
Years ago, while training with Kiritsugu Emiya, he had visited Fuyuki. In fact, he had walked down this very street once. But there were no people, just burning and burnt-out ruins.
He was forced to tamp down on his horror at the loss of life, both here and in Chaldea. Somehow, he must've been Rayshifted here, presumably into the very Singularity Chaldea was intending to investigate, despite not being in a Rayshift Coffin. The others might be here too, and if they were lucky, Mash had not only survived, but that Heroic Spirit inside her saved her.
"Harry!" called out a familiar voice, and he whirled to find Barghest and Melusine running up to him. Both were in their combat outfits.
"Are you both all right? Where's the others?" Harry said.
"We don't know," Melusine said. "Would you like me to do a recce from the air?"
"Wait…" Barghest said, looking to the sky. Harry followed her gaze, watching a crimson light arc into the smoke-darkened sky. It then burst into many crimson lights that began arcing downward…but not towards them. Onto the next block over.
And then, they heard, in that direction, Delphi screaming distantly, "HEY, WE'RE HAVING A MOMENT HERE! FUCK YOU!"
Harry glanced at Melusine. "Melusine, whoever fired that is probably not our friend. Go teach them some manners. We'll go find Delphi and the others."
"With pleasure," Melusine said grimly, before the petite incarnation of Albion rocketed into the air like a missile.
"I'll bring you over to them," Barghest said, and it said a lot about Barghest and Harry's bond that he didn't remotely protest about being picked up in a bridal carry before Barghest charged off at speed. Distantly, they heard an explosion, and then the sound of some building collapsing. It might have been that Melusine found the sniper, possibly an Archer Servant.
They soon found, thankfully, Ritsuka, Delphi, and what had to be Mash, standing on a small island in the middle of a crater of concrete and bitumen. Except Mash was now clad in figure-hugging armour, wielding a massive shield, cross-shaped with elaborate Fae lettering on it (something Harry recognised thanks to Barghest and Melusine occasionally writing in their own tongue), but with a circular middle.
Harry recognised the outfit and the shield from the security footage Hermione and Da Vinci showed them from Mash having a Heroic Spirit bound to her. Barghest skidded to a halt, and gently lowered Harry down. "Delphi! Mash! Ritsuka!" Harry called out in relief.
"Dad!" Delphi called out, leaping down into the crater and scrabbling up the side. Ritsuka and Mash soon followed suit.
Harry drew his daughter and Mash into a hug. "Thank goodness you're all right. Especially you, Mash. So, did the Heroic Spirit in you finally help you?"
Mash nodded. "He appeared to me, and told me he would give me his power." A distinctive cooing noise reached their ears, and Fou leapt up onto her shoulder. "Fou! So you made it too!"
"Umm…'scuse me, but…can anyone tell the newbie who slept through orientation the short version?" Ritsuka asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"Okay, TL;DR version? Mash here was an artificial human created through both genetic engineering and magecraft to be the vessel of a Heroic Spirit, so she's basically what they call a Demi-Servant," Delphi said. "And I'm guessing that we just got hit by some other Servant's attack. This Singularity's probably an alternate version of the Holy Grail War. Do you know anything about that?"
"Only a few scraps about what my aunt told me. But I know there's seven Servants in seven classes."
"That's normally," Barghest said. "However, there are other classes other than those seven. I myself encountered an Alter-Ego class Servant. But now is not the time for that. We need to contact Chaldea while we can."
As the group began to check their communicators, Melusine came back and landed. "I've dealt with the Servant. He looked vaguely familiar. However, my first attack did not kill him. And he seemed hostile, trying to shoot me down before I hit him. I sent him flying, but when I investigated the impact site for his body, he had disappeared. I believe he Astralized. I also believe he is an Archer Servant, though I cannot be certain. I also sensed at least two other Servants observing me, but neither made a move to communicate or attack, despite my attempts at hailing them. However, I spotted what looked like Golems of some sort, as well as undead constructs. We'd best be prepared for attack in case…"
Before Melusine could continue, the communicators bleeped, and a holographic image formed, showing Olga standing at a control panel, Roman hovering nearby. Olga visibly sighed in relief. "…Good. Can you hear me? This is Chaldea Command."
"Yes, we can hear you, loud and clear, Olga," Harry said, trying to keep as calm as possible. "We're down and safe as much as we can expect under the circumstances. And Mash is now a Demi-Servant. What's the situation back in Chaldea, other than the obvious?"
"A disaster, to say the least, as you already know," Olga said grimly. "Hermione and Da Vinci are still getting the power systems back online, while Waver Velvet and his apprentice are helping with the treatment of casualties. The control room is a wreck, and everyone present, even Lev, is dead." She grimaced in pain and sorrow. "Excluding myself and Da Vinci, Dr Archiman is the most senior member of the staff left alive. 80% of the staff are dead. In addition, the Master candidates are dead or dying. I've had to order an immediate cryostasis procedure. It's illegal to do so without their consent, but between that and letting them die…never mind that. TRISMEGISTUS is functioning well enough to verify your existence during the Rayshift, but our outside communications have been cut off, and in a very concerning way."
"And Mash? I'm glad to see you're safe, but…what's up with that outfit?!" Roman yelped. "Seriously, I didn't raise you to wear such a skimpy outfit!"
"I transformed into this outfit because I needed to!" Mash protested, blushing. "It's not like I chose to wear this!"
"Roman, if you haven't got anything constructive to say, then get out!" Olga snapped. "Or better yet, monitor their vitals and existence with Meuniere! An irregular Rayshift, even only a decade or so into the past, is still dangerous!" Turning her gaze back to the Rayshifted party, she said solemnly, "Still, to think my father's experiment succeeded. Your class, according to this readout, is 'Shielder', not one of the standard seven or even the known Extra Classes. Mash, how are you feeling?"
"…Better than ever, Director. I'm still coming to grips with my new status, and it's not like I have much combat experience, but…it seems Ritsuka Fujimaru is my Master for now. I forced the pact on him. He has Command Seals present on his hand. As for other Servants, we'll have to find a Leyline convergence before we can attempt a summoning in the field."
As Ritsuka examined his hand, and stared at the crimson tattoo-like pattern on it, Olga nodded. "Very well. We'll send the coordinates to your communicators of a nearby leyline convergence. Hopefully, your shield will act as a catalyst for the FATE system to use to summon Servants. Harry, as the senior member of that group, not counting the Fae, you are the field commander, with Barghest as your second in command. And Mash?" Olga's expression softened. "I'm sorry for this burden to be forced upon you. I know you probably don't know whose Noble Phantasm you're wielding, that you're still getting used to your Demi-Servant abilities. And what my father did to create you, not even giving you the choice to be a Demi-Servant…tell me…are you still willing to fight?"
At this, Mash straightened, standing as tall as the short teenager could. "Yes, Director," she said, firmly, and with conviction.
Olga nodded. "…Thank you. Contact me once you've gotten to the leyline convergence, or if anything else happens. And I'll leave it to you to explain to Fujimaru the particulars, especially Command Seals. Command Centre out."
As the hologram disappeared, Harry said, "All right. You heard her. Mash, you're in the front. Barghest, you take up the rear. Between Mash's shield and Barghest's Foulweather skill, that should help our defence. Melusine, you're up front with Mash. Any enemies, you divvy up between yourself and Mash, make sure she gets combat experience without putting her into too much danger." He pulled out his shotgun from his coat, the pockets enchanted to keep large things in there, like a mini-TARDIS. "Fujimaru, what spells can you cast?"
"Reinforcement, Structural Analysis…oh, and my aunt taught me how to use a Gandr. I know a few other things here and there."
"Right. Just don't hit us when you fire off a Gandr or something similar. Let's move out…"
Thankfully, they only had to walk (well, jog) a few blocks to find the leyline convergence. In the meantime, Harry explained to Ritsuka about Command Seals. To the teenager's credit, he seemed disturbed about it being used to forcefully control Mash, though Harry did point out that it could be used to boost Servants' power to help them trigger their Noble Phantasm.
They did encounter a small horde of skeleton monsters, but everyone made short work of them, even Ritsuka. Mash certainly seemed to gain more confidence as she fought. And soon, they were at the leyline convergence, a park that was a smouldering ruin. "Shit, I liked this place when I was here," Harry muttered. "Used to be a civic centre before Kiritsugu Emiya burned it to the ground to try and stop a Magus-turned-Dead Apostle. They put a park here instead."
Mash laid down her shield at the location indicated on their communicators. As she did so, she looked up to the sky. "This is horrible. All those people dead, those monsters…and the mana density in the air…it's closer to the Age of the Gods, I'm sure." She shook her head. "Never mind." She activated her communicator. "This is Mash Kyrielight reporting. Do you read us?"
The hologram of Olga-Marie appeared. "Loud and clear, Mash. I see you've placed your shield in place. Now, Harry, Barghest, Melusine, Delphi…all four of you are Master candidates. Fujimaru already has a pact with Mash, but we need to undertake a preliminary summoning procedure to both grant you Command Seals, and to give you a Servant apiece, assuming FATE works now. Barghest, Melusine, and Mash are all capable of fighting, but I would feel more at ease if you had reinforcements. Once that is done, you can then begin searching for the source of the anomaly."
"…Actually, I would like to opt out of the procedure for now, Director," Melusine said. As Olga opened her mouth to protest, she said, "I fear that if I use that summoning process, I could end up summoning someone who may be a liability to us. My former mistress, Lady Aurora, I fear that if she is summoned as a Servant somehow, she would end up betraying us. At least in Chaldea, we could forcefully undo the summoning."
After a moment, Olga nodded. "Very well. Harry, Barghest, Delphi, are you still willing?"
"Of course. But how do we do that?" Harry asked.
Olga turned to someone offscreen. "Feed the holographic ritual circle projection through the communicators." Then, the park around them shimmered and disappeared, as did Olga's image, being replaced by a strange starscape, with blue holographic patterns surrounding them. "You are in an emulation of the FATE summoning chamber. The summoning chant is different to the ones used for the Holy Grail War, so I will be projecting the chant as a holographic caption. Project your mana into the summoning circle. And one at a time, please."
Harry looked to Barghest and Delphi, who indicated for him to do so. With a deep breath meant to calm him, even if it did little to do so, he held out a hand, and began pumping magic into the circle hovering above Mash's shield. Above the shield, a ring of light began to form, splitting into three. And words began to appear, words Harry read out.
"Heed my words. My will creates your bodies, and your swords my destiny. Together, we forge the future of humanity! When all is naught, we shall be the guiding light! I hereby swear, I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all the evil in the world! Seventh heaven clad and the great words of power, grant me the power to lead the Guardians of the Scales(1)!"
Throughout the chant, the rings spun faster and faster. In fact, they began to take on a scintillating rainbow hue. Light began to converge above Mash's shield. And then, as the chant finished, the three rings snapped back to the centre, causing an actinic blast of blinding energy to belch forth, ruffling their hair and clothes with a gust of air.
Blinking away the afterimage from the final surge, Harry only slightly registered the sting in his right hand. His eyes were fixed on the form coalescing in the light, a humanoid form that was stepping forth. The form of his Servant.
The figure appeared to be clad in an armoured dress of blue and silver, seemingly in their mid to late teens. The face was beautiful, but in an androgynous way, golden hair done up in a severe bun, her expression cold and guarded. A gauntleted hand clutched at seemingly nothing. And emerald eyes, so much like his own, peering at him appraisingly.
But he knew that face. It was one he had glimpsed briefly in Barghest's memories, even if it was clearly a different person. Instead of a feisty and uncertain teenaged mage, this was a proud and stoic knight…no, a king.
"Servant Saber has answered your summons," she said. "I ask of you…are you my Master?"
After a moment, Harry chuckled in relief and awe, holding up his hand and the Command Seals in question. "Indeed I am. Sorry to ask, but…are you Arturia Pendragon? As in…King Arthur?"
She blinked, bemused. "…Yes. But how could you…?"
"Tis a long story, Arturia Pendragon," Barghest said, moving forward, and kneeling. "My name is Barghest. I am sure you know what I am, but I came from an alternate timeline, one where I met an alternate version of yourself. It is a long story, as I had said, and we will have to speak of it later. However, it is an honour to meet you, the version of yourself from Proper History. I was once the liege of someone you despise, but rest assured, I have renounced that vow long ago, and I would gladly fight by your side. Please, lend us your sword to put the world to rights."
Arturia looked blindsided, but regained her composure. "I see. One of the Fae." She closed her eyes for a moment, before a slight smile touched her lips. "FATE has given me some knowledge of what is happening. No true Holy Grail War is this, but rather, something with much higher stakes. Very well. My sword is yours…"
She hoped that Arturia, the Saber one, would be able to look past her former allegiance to Morgan. But Barghest intended to tell her later, once they were safe and this mission was finished. Honesty would be the best policy with such a knight. Still, it was so strange to see someone who resembled Arturia, and yet was so different, almost the complete opposite.
She then began reciting the chant, all while hoping that her Arturia's beacon would work, instead of summoning someone like, say, Morgan or Baobhan Sith. The rings glowed with rainbow hues, before contracting around the glowing centre of the summoning circle. Once more, an explosion of actinic light heralded a figure materialising.
Distantly, she heard the Saber Arturia murmur, "What is this?" But Barghest didn't care.
The same features were present, but the attitude and clothing were different, closer to a country girl's outfit of her Lostbelt. She was clutching a staff. She staggered a little off the shield, only to blink when she saw Barghest. A smile lit up her features, even as it did on Barghest's own, and even Melusine's. "Barghest!" she yelped, wrapping her arms around Barghest, laughing. "So it worked!"
"Yes, it did, Arturia," Barghest said, smiling. "And Arturia…look." She indicated the Saber Arturia with her eyes.
Arturia looked around to her Saber self, and her eyes widened in shock and surprise. The Saber version of her looked bemused, but asked, "You are me?"
"Yep! Well, an alternate version of you who was born a Fae. Very long story," Arturia said. "I do know who you are, Arturia Pendragon. But wow…so that's what Excalibur is like when the Fae actually bothered to forge it. I mean, you're hiding it behind those air currents, but…I can feel its power from here. Anyway, I'm sure we have a lot to talk about, Saber, but I think there's at least one more summoning to go."
"Yeah, it's my turn," Delphi said, Barghest and Arturia moving aside to give her space. She then began the chant, the three rings appearing again. And once more, a figure appeared in an explosion of brilliant light.
The figure was dressed in a black military uniform, with a red cape over their shoulders, and a cap with a distinctive, flower-like symbol picked out in gold on it. Said figure appeared to be a girl in her mid-teens, much like the Arturias, and Asian at that. Long dark hair framed cocky and cute features, while red eyes peered out from beneath her cap, like a demon sizing up their prey.
"BWAHAHAHA! I am the Demonic Archer, Oda Nobunaga, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!" declared the girl. She peered at Delphi for a time, before smirking. "Well then, I guess you're my Master."
"…No way…she's Oda Nobunaga?" Ritsuka hissed in surprise.
"Who's that?" Melusine asked.
"An infamous Japanese warlord of the Warring States Era," Mash said, even as said warlord stepped confidently off the shield, holding an old matchlock rifle over her shoulder. "He…well, she I suppose, tried to unite Japan during that time."
"Oh? An unflattering but not inaccurate description of me," Nobunaga said with a smirk. Then, as the hologram of the ritual chamber faded around them, she looked around the burning city. "Yeesh, reminds me of Honno-ji, only with less screaming and more fire. Oh well, it can't be helped."
Olga's hologrammatic image reappeared, frowning. "Hmm…a Saber, a Caster, and an Archer, the first two being alternate versions of the same person. Still, along with Mash, it means you have a better chance than before. Unfortunately, this is still less than ideal in terms of manpower, but we don't have anything better. Masters…Servants…I need you to investigate the cause of this Singularity, and if possible, find a way to remove it, for once and for all…"
CHAPTER 17 ANNOTATIONS:
So, Singularity F has begun. And Servants have been summoned!
Now, from this point onward, events will be a hybrid of the game, the mortalis:stella manga, and the First Order TV movie. I also threw in a little reference to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, because Delphi sounded like the sort to say something like that when corrupted-EMIYA decided to interrupt Mash, Delphi and Ritsuka hugging it out. And she survived, unlike Rebecca.
Now, I always intended Saber Arturia to be Harry's first summon, and Caster Arturia to be Barghest's. And before you say, "Bullshit, their gacha luck can't be so good", firstly, it's the first summon (so there'll be plenty of Black Keys and Mapo Tofu in their future, and fuck you, Kirei Kotomine), and secondly, I do what's in service to the story, not gameplay mechanics, especially a capricious gacha. In addition, both Arturias are able to realise how to gently coax Mash into getting stronger, Saber Arturia recognising Galahad's shield and believing it to be Mash's test, while Caster Arturia having known Mash from her Lostbelt, and knowing her potential.
Pinning down Delphi's first summon, though, was trickier. I thought it'd be too soon to bring in Habetrot, though she'll be summoned later. I considered Medusa and Mordred, but that might make things too complicated at this point, what with Saber Arturia's history with both. I also wanted to do something that was a different class to the two Arturias. At first, I considered draconic and serpentine-related Servants (I managed to get Summer Ibuki-Douji before her banner ended, so Ibuki-Douji was one of those first and foremost in my mind), but then, I realised, Delphi would probably summon someone who could emulate her own gremlin energy, and so, I decided on Oda Nobunaga, who will be a little more serious than her GUDAGUDA version, but still the prank-loving goofball/Fool of Owari to some degree compared to her Fate/Type Redline counterpart. I mean, only she could crack a macabre joke in abysmal taste comparing her own demise to the Singularity.
Also, Olga's character. If she seems nicer and not so bitchy, this is deliberate. This is mostly Hermione's influence, due to being, well, the closest thing Olga has to an actual sane parent. So unlike her canon self, whom I despise to some degree for being so bitchy, once the initial shock and panic are gone, she actually rises to the occasion as a leader. She made a choice between being a good Magus and a good human being. The right choice.
Incidentally, this version of Saber Arturia is from the Unlimited Blade Works route. I have it in my head that certain characters from the main Fate shows/routes will remember those, but only specific routes. Tentatively, Medusa, Salter (not the one in the Fuyuki Singularity, but any summoned version of her Salter self, or else her Shinjuku Pseudo-Singularity self), and Cursed Arm will remember the Heaven's Feel route, EMIYA, Medea, Kojiro and Lancer Cú Chulainn will remember the Unlimited Blade Works route, and Heracles will remember the Fate route.
Also, it does get hard trying to work out what to call the differing alternate versions of certain Servants. I remember mentally mocking Terrance Dicks calling the Third and Second Doctors (from Jo Grant's viewpoint) 'Doctor One' and 'Doctor Two' in his novelisation of the Doctor Who story The Three Doctors, but when it comes to the Nasuverse and all its many, many alternate versions of various Servants and other characters…yeah. I mean, it's easy enough out of story, but in-story, I need to avoid it being more awkward or confusing than it already is.
Anyway, this is the second half of a two-chapter update. The next chapter is mostly finished, but I don't want to burn myself out on this. Still, some interesting news before I go. I managed to get the official English version of Fate/Stay Night for the Switch, and will start playing it in earnest one day. Maybe it'll lead me to be refreshed on doing fics set during that time.
But I also saw something very exciting, a series formerly on Netflix is finally getting a home video release in Australia. Not a Nasuverse series, but certainly dark fantasy. Namely, Arcane. Who wants to see me doing a crossover with that series?
Review-answering time! Dragon Man 180: As awesome as that'd be, Barghest is more used to using her sword and her Black Dogs. Also, her special CE for the 9th Anniversary shows her in an outfit that wouldn't look out of place on a female Terminator, I reckon.
As for Jackie, she won't be being summoned in this part of the story, but she will be summoned later. As for Merlin getting mauled while the Arturias eat popcorn, well, that's a fun thought.
The Disquieting One: Keep in mind, they won't be telling Ritsuka about things straight away, though you're right, they will have a peptalk. And I agree that Dumbledore's theory of keeping Harry away from his fame was actually a good one. It's just who he left Harry with, namely, the Dursleys, that was the problem.
1. This summoning chant comes from GhostXavier's Fate/Grand Order fic Fragments of Chaldea. Long ago, for my prior Fate/Grand Order crossover Primordial Song, GhostXavier gave me permission to use the chant from their story. I hope they're still fine with me using it here.