Chapter 2: Fuyuki - 2

After a few seconds of darkness, I can feel myself touch solid ground. My surroundings feel hot. The sound of fire cracking fills my ears. Hot wind blows my hair around.

I slowly open my eyes. At first, everything is too bright to see properly, however, after a second, my vision clears up to see a collapsed city on fire. Rubble laying everywhere, fire in all directions.

"Huh? We're still alive?" I exclaim in shock. I thought we needed to be in the coffins to rayshift but somehow, we rayshifted without them.

A voice to my side responds. "Seems that way." It's none other than Alice. She made it safely too.

A man from behind me also speaks. "So, this is Fuyuki, Japan in the year 2004, huh? I wonder what happened to cause this?" Nick made it too it seems. Standing there in his normal cool and collected state as usual.

I wonder if those other two made it? If so, where are they? I wonder while looking around just to be sure they are nowhere in sight. "I think we should look for those other two that were with us. Maybe they can help." I suggest and the other two nod in response.

Alice takes a step forward, heading toward the heart of the city, or what once was the heart at least. "Let's go."

The city was very vast. Obviously everything is on fire, but I can easily imagine what it once was. Many buildings still stand tall and others have collapsed. The streets are crumbled but still easy to walk on. The two to my sides are looking around as well, observing the area seemingly on guard.

I speak up to make conversation. "So, Nick, what's up with those red eyes of yours? They look really cool!"

The man slightly hesitates. "Oh, they appeared when I learned my magecraft, 'Hemomancy.' That is where I can control blood and form it into different things such as a blade or a spear. Of course it isn't just weaponry but that's how I mainly use it. My eyes used to be blue.

"Hemomancy huh? That sounds really cool!"

"Of course it is. I have a never ending weapon supply. I'd argue it's one of the most useful powers a mage can have, though it seems quite rare." Nick responds with a smug smile plastered on his face.

After a while longer, Alice stops in her tracks and once again, materializes some sort of pistol. "Both of you, hostiles are approaching, get ready!"

Walking toward the three of us are many skeletons. They are holding swords from what I can see and have very light armor on. They have obviously spotted us and are clearly hostile toward us.

Walking in front of me, Nick pulls out a vial of some red liquid and removes the top. The liquid flies out and hovers above him, shaping into many spikes. "Stay behind me Serena. You're unarmed so we can deal with this. I haven't fought alongside anyone in a while!"

"No way! I can fight too! I just need a sword, or maybe I can find a pipe or stick or something. Anyway, there's no way I'm sitting back and doing nothing!"

Alice looks back toward me. "You said you can use a katana right? I have one in my Imaginary Space. Here, catch." Alice throws a katana my way and I carefully catch it by the handle. It looks like it's never been used. A shiny, standard katana.

I run up to the other two and get in position, taking a combat stance. I'm not perfect, but I can definitely hold my own against these things.

Alice fires off the pistol and holes appear in their heads, though they don't go down in one hit, so it takes a few shots to put one down for good. The blood Nick had hovering above him flies over and cuts the monsters down with ease, all while he just stands there looking uninterested, like these are nothing to him. I have no such advantage. Fighting with a sword means I have to get up close and personal. I aim for the weaker areas of their body and slash with all I can, bringing a few of them down. It's not like they are super weak or anything, but with my curse, I can see what move they will make next along with what my teammates are doing and react accordingly.

Very quickly, the three of us are able to kill all of the enemies opposing us. I realize I never actually questioned what those were or how they are here. I guess I just learned to expect the unexpected when I first heard that magecraft was real. Still though, they have to have come from somewhere.

The gun Alice was holding vanishes. "Is everyone okay? That wasn't too difficult, but a single injury can be fatal, so I just want to make sure."

"All good here, they didn't even get close to me."

"I'm fine too, they didn't touch me." I respond, putting Alice at ease.

"By the way, this katana is really nice. Do you mind if I hang onto it? At least until this is over?"

"Sure thing. I'm not a fan of katanas anyway. I don't like bladed weapons anyway besides knives."

"Thanks Alice!"

Alice looks forward. "Let's keep moving, I don't know how much time we have so let's get this done as quickly as possible."

The blood above Nick flies back into the vial and he seals it back up. He was right, quite the useful power to have.

We walk for a while, Alice had enough water on her so we could stay hydrated. She's the type to always be prepared huh? I don't blame her. If I had a pocket dimension, I would totally horde a ton of stuff in it. I think while taking a sip of water.

"So let's get this straight. According to the Director, we must resolve this Singularity, then it will be restored to normal. After that, we need to figure out how to return to 2017. Not sure what we should do to accomplish that though." Alice explains, mapping out our goal in all this. With all this chaos, I almost forgot what this was all for. The A Team was supposed to be fighting for us, but here we are doing everything instead. Hell, I doubt I would've even seen combat at all.

"I think next we should find some shelter. All this walking can't be good in the long run, plus I could use some rest. At the very least we can plan specifically what to do next, instead of just getting an idea." I suggest. No matter if we have water or not, sooner or later, we will get worn out. Better to rest now than never.

"I suppose you're right. Let's find an intact building to rest in."

"I have food for us when we get there, I'll share." Nick suggests. Eating is important too, we need the energy to keep going.

Something is off to me though. "Why did you get food but we didn't?"

"Oh, after the two of you got kicked out, the Director gave out rations to everyone, just a few protein bars but she said that they have enough calories packed in them to function like a light lunch. How Chaldea made these is beyond me."

Alice sighs. "Oh course, why didn't I think they would do that? Who knows how long this would've taken and having food is always a necessity. I have some in my Imaginary Space but I'd rather not use that up if you have food already on you."

Nick looks up quite interested. "Imaginary Numbers huh? You seem so prepared, what do you do for a living to have all that in there?"

"I'm a Sealing Designation Enforcer. Do you know what those are?"

"Of course, how mages get dirty work done and dispose of people who are threats." A Sealing Enforcer huh? Fascinating that one was sent here… Nick thinks to himself with a slight smile.

We approach the edge of a building and begin to round the corner. Without notice, both Alice and Nick get ready for combat once again.

"SENPAI GET BEHIND ME NOW!"

"Alright!" A man responds in a slightly panicked voice.

In front of us stand four people. Three of them are familiar to me. The black haired boy being Ritsuka Fujimaru, the pink haired girl is the one named Mash, the Director of Chaldea stands alongside them, and lastly an unfamiliar man with blue hair and a staff. Mash now has a massive rounded shield that's bigger than her blocking herself and the black haired candidate, while the Director and the other man stand, ready to attack us.

Suddenly, three out of the four get surprised looks and drop their guard. "Wait, you three are here too!? You're all okay? Wait, of course you two are. You weren't in the room when the explosion happened, but Nicholas Ketsueki, you're okay too?"

"Yeah, I'm quite difficult to kill, you see." The white haired man sarcastically says in response.

The director speaks up once more. "Well, I'm glad you all survived as well. I thought we were alone out here since the Doctor couldn't track any of you. Let me fill you guys in on everything that's happened so far with us, then, I expect to hear what happened on your side of things."

We exchange words and finally understand their situation.

"A Demi Servant hm? Interesting. Alice says in wonder. The term 'Servant' is still pretty new to me. A historical figure summoned to the present day to fight in a 'Holy Grail War.' Quite the interesting concept.

The black haired boy begins to speak. "Yeah, I'm still at a total loss here. A few days ago I was in my apartment as usual. And now I'm in the year 2004, alongside a girl who is actually a 'Servant.'"

"Yeah, same here for me. Glad there's another average human here. Anyway, my name is Serena, Serena Mirai. Just call me Serena. And these are Alice Narukami and Nick Ketsueki."

"My name is Ritsuka Fujimaru, and this is Mash Kyrielight."

Noticing something on his hand, I question if he's okay.

"Hm? Yeah it's fine. This red tattoo looking thing is called a 'Command Seal,' It's how I have a pact with Mash and Caster here."

"That's good that you're not injured."

Suddenly, a beep can be heard and on the Director's wristband, a hologram of a man pops up.

"It's good to see you were able to meet up with others. My name is Romani Archaman, just call me Doctor, or Dr. Roman works too. I am the head Doctor back at Chaldea and currently acting Director until the real one get's back."

"Nice to meet you." I say with a smile.

"Same here. By the way, hostiles are nearing your position, get ready to fight!"

We all take proper stances to fight. Mash heads to the front to protect us while Ritsuka and the Caster move near the back. Bullets fly toward the monsters along with blood and spells. I, like before, run forward and cut them down with ease. They are too slow to hit me, so taking them down is no issue at all.

The Director pipes up this time. "Nice work everyone, I'm impressed. For now, let's find shelter to camp out in. We saw a school on the way here, so we can camp there for now."

In agreement, we all head over to the location.

The school is quite big. The sign on the outside said the name was "Homurahara Academy." We go inside and make our way up to the second floor, then take a well deserved rest.

We pass the time talking about random topics.

"So how did all of you get here? Ritsuka asks.

The first to respond is Alice. "The job was offered to the Clock Tower, so I took it, well more like my Sensei encouraged me to go, but it was my decision. I thought the extra money would be good. To think it all led to this.

Next to respond was Nick. "I saw a job offer and thought strong people would be here to fight. I was clearly right on that assumption. I was just traveling around the world anyway, so I figured this would be a good change of pace."

"I live in Chaldea actually. I have for my whole life. Since I'm a Demi Servant, I've been training to reactivate my powers for a while. After the disaster before the rayshift, I managed to reawaken them and now use them properly."

Ritsuka explains how he was just like me, a normal person who was basically kidnapped because of his high rayshift compatibility found because he donated blood. The Director's father was the previous Director, and she just took over. And the Doctor back at Chaldea was recruited to help.

After a while of talking, I can sense the Director staring at me for some reason.

I decide to question her. "Is something wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"It's just… You're lying about having no magecraft, aren't you?" She boldly claims.

Alice gets a shocked look on her face. "Why would you assume that? If she had them, she would've said something."

In response, the Director points right at me. "During that last fight, I was watching you. You dodged and attacked too perfectly."

"Like I said, I have training with a katana."

"Still though, it's like you knew what they were going to do next."

Nick now chimes in. "Now that you mention it, I noticed something like that too. You seem too good for a normal human. You even managed to stay out of the way of my own and Alice's attacks during our first fight, despite not looking in our direction."

Olga speaks about her next piece of evidence. "At the start of the fight, it looked like your eyes changed to a blue color, instead of their normal gray color."

"Maybe the lighting was bad? We are in a city on fire after all. Plus maybe the stress is getting to your head." I respond in defense.

"Alright then, I have one more bit of evidence. Back in Chaldea, you predicted the explosion. You warned everyone, and wanted them to leave and look what happened. I was thinking you were just scared at first, but now I'm not so sure."

Nick once again joins in. "Actually, I think the explosion was actually sabotage. I noticed the globe above the room that predicted the future of humanity was completely unharmed. Maybe she, or someone else was after your tech, and the best way to do that was to kill everyone and prevent rayshift. Maybe Serena wanted everyone to leave, so she could grab it for herself and not hurt anyone. But obviously she failed."

I can't believe what I just heard. Me, killing everyone? I know nothing about magecraft, how the hell could I pull something like that off?

Alice joins in. "I highly doubt it was Serena. She definitely was telling the truth, she wasn't lying. Besides, you really think she could have done that? She's a normal human."

Olga retorts. "Well then, what about you? You left the room too!"

"I was in the coffin, remember? If I was going to blow everything up, why would I stay where I was and risk death? What about Nick? He didn't have a scratch on him. That explosion wiped out Team A. I don't know who the members were, nor did I see them, but I'm sure they were talented too."

Nick now comes to his defense. "I protected myself with blood. Formed a shield of blood around me, just as I said before about the protection spell."

"Mr. Fujimaru here was asleep and Mash has no motive at all. So it's agreed none of us caused the sabotage, if that's what it was. But back to what I was saying…"

"I have reason to believe that you have Mystic Eyes that can see the future. Your eyes changed color which is a common trait of Mystic Eyes, and it was like you could see the future and act accordingly. Am I wrong?"

I sigh. "There's no denying it anymore is there? FIne, I have 'Mystic Eyes.' They can see the future. I've always called them premonions."

The Director starts to yell. "Why didn't you say anything!? That would've been useful information to have! Maybe, people would've believed you about the explosion."

"Calm down, she probably has a good reason." Alice says, trying to calm her down.

"It's a long story." I say, not wanting to talk about it.

"Well I don't care! We have all night, so spill it!"

Mash now joins in. "That's going too far Director, if she doesn't want to talk about it, then she doesn't have to!"

"That's too bad. I want an explanation now."

"Fine then. Like I said, my eyes can see the future, or more specifically, the future depending on the actions I take. Let's say I'm walking down a path, I see that it splits into two more paths which go left, or right. I can see what would happen if I go left, and what would happen if I go right. And from there choose accordingly to the outcome I want. Or if I'm fighting someone, I can see what they will do next, or see how they will respond to what I'm about to do."

Ritsuka speaks up. "Wouldn't that make you really strong? You can see what others will do, so you basically can't be surprised ever."

"No, some people can move too fast for me to react or move in time. Just like when someone tells you to 'duck,' can you always duck in time before the thing hits you, despite knowing it's coming?"

"How did you not do well during the simulator test then? At least the first two sections of it." Alice asks.

"I didn't use them, I honestly hate using them. I only did during those fights to avoid injury. I pretend to have no magecraft because I don't want to use them. I may as well explain why I hate them now since, 'we have all night.'"

"It all started about two or three years ago. I woke up one day with the power to see the future, 30 minutes to be precise. I thought it was deja vu at first, but after testing, I came to the conclusion that it was future sight. Obviously I used it for my own gain at first, but nothing too bad. Stuff like predicting traffic or delays, or test grades."

"But once I learned how to use it, I made the mistake of telling my best friend at the time. I didn't know what it was, but thought it was cool so I told her. From there she told her boyfriend and then it spread through the school and town. At first, I didn't mind helping people, but as time went by, people got more aggressive about it and I rarely got privacy. A lot of other stuff happened during this time that I'm not getting into. After that, to protect myself, I rarely went outside for long after that. I had to drop out of school because I couldn't attend."

"In my time alone, people would knock on my door and harass me to use my power, which I never did. They would try and manipulate me but I never cracked. A few months later, someone broke into my apartment because he wanted the winning numbers for the lottery. He didn't listen when I said I could only see 30 minutes into the future as he backed me into the corner. Luckily, a neighbor heard me screaming and came over to help. I couldn't just leave the apartment yet cause rent rules suck. So I learned martial arts to defend myself, and after that, I learned the katana for fun, to get some joy in life."

"The reason I decided to learn the katana anyway was Miyamoto Musashi. His book was inspiring to me, so I became a fan of his. The hair tie I always wear is apparently the genuine one he wore, but it was red instead of gray. I painted it gray because the red was fading. I got it from an auction."

"I got off topic, after that, people stopped bothering me too much. They all heard what happened and left me alone. Some would try, but I just glared at them to leave. Because of that, I wasn't able to make any more friends, so I was pretty lonely for a while. And well after that, I ended up here and you know the rest."

"I didn't want that to happen again, so I hid it."

The Director grows a shocked look on her face. "I'm…Sorry. If only I knew. I shouldn't have pressed you like that…"

"No, don't worry about it. I should've just been honest." I look down, unable to process the memories that have come back.

Without even thinking, I run off. Out of the room, into the halls, and into another room somewhere in the school. It looks like a nurse's office. I'll stay here tonight.

Olga puts her head on the desk. She knows she messed up. A Director shouldn't have done something like that. Father…Why did you have to push everything onto me? Lev would be a better director, he always knows what to do. If he were still alive, he'd know what to do in a situation like this.

"I'm going to go find Serena." Alice says as she leaves the room.

Mash, Nick and Ritsuka all leave the room too in order to give Olga some alone time.

"You look like crap right now." A voice appears behind the Director. Turning around, she sees the Caster Servant, Cu Chulainn.

"When did you get here?" She asks in surprise.

"Not too long ago, I finished putting up defenses around the school."

"Thanks…I really messed up. I'm a shitty Director. What's wrong with me? Why can't I just be like my Father?"

"Yeah, you did say some bad things. But I understand, you're under a lot of stress right now right? With all that's happened, it's completely understandable."

"Doesn't make it any better." She responds with a saddened voice.

"Best thing you can do is apologize. Do that tomorrow after some steam has blown off. For now, I'd recommend getting some rest. You've been going all day right?"

"Yeah, you're right. Good night Caster."

With a wave, Caster vanishes into the air.

"Lev…"

I sit down on the bed, then lay down. Typical of a school infirmary, the beds are uncomfortable. At least there was a blanket laying around. I take the wristband off and place it to the side and get ready for bed. Normally I would check my phone, but there's no service here so I can't do that.

The door opens and Alice walks in.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Alice sits down on the other bed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. This is just a lot to process right now. I thought I'd never have to use this power ever again, but I guess I'm forced to now."

"I'm sorry. It's a useful power, yes, but if it will make you sad, then you don't have to use it."

"Nah, I'll take the night to think, maybe it won't be bad to try again? I don't think you guys will try and use me like everyone else."

"Serena…"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm gonna go to bed now and sleep this off. Where will you sleep tonight?"

"Would it be fine if I slept here? I'm already here after all."

"Yeah, that would be fine."

"Thanks."

Alice grabs a blanket, then walks back to the bed and places it down. Alice takes the Chaldea uniform top off to reveal a black shirt underneath. "This should do for now." Alice mutters to herself as she takes her skirt off now only wearing a black shirt and black tights. She lays down in bed and closes her eyes.

"Goodnight Serena."

"Goodnight Alice."

She has a great figure. I find myself thinking after seeing her in those clothes.

I throw away that perverted thought and close my eyes, drifting off to sleep for the night.

We walk down the street. The Director is talking to Caster about something.

"Where do we have to go from here?"

"If we can kill Saber, then this should end. She is located at the temple not too far away."

"Understood, the sooner this is over with, the sooner the world will be saved."

It's still hard to believe that the world, no, humanity will end if we don't succeed here. Just like everything else, this is a lot to take in.

I hear Alice's voice to my right. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'm doing fine. Definitely better than yesterday." I say.

"That's good. I just think she was too rough on you."

"I'm sure she's just stressed out. Everything went to hell in a few seconds after all."

"Yeah, maybe."

Behind us, two more voices are talking to each other.

"Those two get along pretty well, don't you think?" Rituska says.

"Yeah, it seems so." Is all Nick says in response.

Suddenly, Nick starts a new topic. "What do you think of all this?"

"It's all just so weird. Roughly a week ago, I was looking for a job to pay rent. My parents supported me, but I felt bad so I wanted to get some extra money. I didn't know magecraft existed until Chaldea. And I only got here because of that blood drive"

"What were you at a blood drive for?" Nick questions.

"I go every month. You see, my little sister, Gudako, got sick with something to do with her blood. It was a blood donation that saved her. Ever since then, I go once a month to repay that."

"Is your little sister alone now? Did she live with you?"

"No, she's only 16, so she lives with my parents."

"Why did you move out anyway?"

"My house felt a bit cramped, so I moved out a little after I turned 18. Now, they have more room to do as they please with. Anyway, enough about me. What was your life like before this?"

"Oh you know…" Nick pauses.

"Wait, no you probably wouldn't. I went to a private school to study magecraft. Top of my class too, though I hated the attention. My parents however. They didn't give two shits about me. Just that I was strong enough to "carry on the legacy' or whatever."

"Sorry to hear that…" Is all Ritsuka can come up with in response.

"Don't worry. It's no longer an issue."

Ritsuka gets a surprised look on his face. "Why's tha–"

Suddenly, the Director cuts in. "Alright everyone, we are approaching the temple. We don't know when or if we will be attacked, so stay on guard."

"I will shield us from any danger." Mash proclaims. Of course she can do that, she's the one with the massive shield after all.

After climbing the seemingly endless stairs, we make it to the top.

Sensing danger, my eyes activate on their own. The "Mystic Eyes of Premonition" activate when my death or danger is in the path I follow. That's how they activated before the explosion in the control room.

"In about one minute, we will be shot at by someone with a bow from the ridge over there." I say while pointing toward said platform.

Caster gets visibly angry. "That bastard huh? I'll deal with him. You all get to the cavern through that entrance over there, you will need those numbers of yours to defeat King Arthur."

"Wait, like THE King Arthur, with Excalibur!?" Mash says while shocked.

"Yep, though, she's a woman. I don't know or care why, but she's not a man like what history says."

"How!? How did no one notice a girl if she's in public all the time like any other king?" I question in disbelief.

"Hell if I know? Probably magecraft or something to hide it. Don't question it." Right after saying that. Caster puts up a shield to block the incoming arrow.

"Head to the cavern now! I'll deal with him!" Cu orders and just like that, we enter the cave.

We run for a while and eventually make it to a clearing. "This looks right." I say while looking around.

"Oh?" A voice echoes through the clearing.

Mash jumps in front of all of us and raises her shield. "Stay behind me everyone."

"That shield?" An unknown figure appears in front of us. Black armor and sword with red scattered throughout. "Are you sure you can use it?" She questions with a smirk.

My eyes once again activate. "Mash, be ready! She's gonna attack from the front!" With that, Mash gets into position to block.

Rushing forward, Saber attacks Mash, she blocks the attack, but is still pushed back. Just how strong is this Servant?

"Ngh…" Mash managed to stay in position. "We need to help her!" Ritsuka says from the sidelines.

Olga gets a worried look. "We can't, she's a Servant. We'd only be killed if we, especially a normal human like you, stepped in. That's just how it is."

"But–"

Mash lets out a scream, her shield getting hit by the black sword once again.

"She'll die if we do nothing! She can't even use her Noble Phantasm!"

Olga grits her teeth. "I know that, but–"

Alice steps forward. "I won't let anything happen to her. Don't worry, Ritsuka."

Alongside her steps Nick. "You can't fight a Servant every day. This'll be fun! Catch your breath Mash. We will handle this for a bit.

Sensing the new challenge, Saber steps back and looks over. Then, like a show of power, her mana burst flares up.

Alice immediately pulls out an SMG and begins to fire, hoping to not allow Saber to power up.

She blocks the hail of bullets with her gauntlet, shrugging them off like nothing. Right as Alice goes to reload, Saber makes her move.

She launches forward, readying herself to cleave Alice in two. Quickly thinking, she drops an explosive which goes off, staggering Saber slightly and Alice repositions to a safer place.

Blood goes flying toward Saber and she swings her sword to block. However, the blood flies out of the way and continues toward the black knight. Forming into blades, the blood goes to pierce her chest. The blood simply cannot penetrate her armor and she uses her mana burst to get rid of the red liquid for good.

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy" Nick then removes the cap from another vial, sending out more blood to aid him.

Bullets fly toward Saber once again, She dodges the pellets with ease. However, one manages to hit her cheek and draw blood.

"These mere pellets are able to injure me? What form of magecraft is this?" The dark Saber demands an answer.

"My guns have runes in their barrels. This allows the bullets to be more effective."

"Interesting." Is all Saber responds with before continuing her assault.

Once again, going for the biggest threat, being Alice. She prepares to cut her down. But before she can close the distance, Nick's blood forms into a sword and he blocks her attack. Breaking out of the blade lock, the two try to find an opening on the other, clashing blades endlessly.

Both of the two have a slight smirk on their faces, seemingly enjoying their fight.

I, on the other hand, can only look on. Unable to do anything to help. What can a katana do against that monster? Even if I can see the future, I can't move faster than her. Even if I know exactly what she's going to do, I won't be able to dodge fast enough anyway. The director and Ritsuka stand at my side, also unable to help in a meaningful way. Though, it's easy to tell that Ritsuka wants to help the two fighting.

Mash recovers enough to join in on the fight.

"Mash, wait!" Ritsuka pleads, unable to bear the sight of his friend being injured again.

"I'll be fine, Senpai. Don't worry about me. This shield is meant to protect, so that is what I must do."

Ritsuka only looks down with a sad look on his face.

Alice pulls some sort of ball out of the air. A grenade is in her hands. How she got such a thing I don't know, but will it do anything against that monster?

"Heads up!" Alice throws the grenade, flying slightly behind Saber, it goes off. Of course it barely does any damage, but the main goal was throwing her off balance in which it succeeded. Saber gets blown forward, and Nick aims for the throat.

"That will not work!" Saber says in a quiet voice, and in an instant. A black beam is unleashed from her sword, shot up toward the two opponents. "Shit!" Nick yells in surprise and he barely manages to dodge the brute of the attack, yet is still blown to the side by the mighty wind produced by the sword. And Alice's shoes glow, she jumps to the side with a spring in her step, literally. She goes farther than a normal human should be able to seemingly because of her shoes. She probably put a spell on her feet or shoes to aid her movement.

Everyone stands still for a moment as the beam vanishes.

Even Mash, who was running in to help, can't help but stand there in shock.

Saber turns around and points her sword. "You. Girl with the shield."

"Y-yes!?" Mash responds, clearly frightened.

"Do you know how to use that shield?" Saber asks calmly yet firmly.

"I…"

"It seems you do not. Then, perish, all of you. I will not let you stand in my way."

Raising her sword in the air, the black light flares up once again. Nick and Alice cannot get over to us in time, not that they could do much at this point. With no other option, Mash steps up and prepares to take the blow using her shield.

"Excalibur Morgan."

A Noble Phantasm is unleashed, the ground is shattered as death nears. Mash digs her feet into the ground and readies her shield. With a sound like thunder, the Noble Phantasm clashes against the shield. But she's not able to hold against it easily. She begins to lose her footing and her body starts to grow tired. Even with giving it her all, Mash is unable to defend against the attack. Nick nor Alice can get close to Saber or they will be killed, and the wind produced by Excalibur Morgan prevents ranged attacks. Nothing can be done anymore.

I can't watch this anymore. Sorry for being so pathetic, Mash. Ritsuka closes his eyes and looks away, preparing for the worst.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Olga demands from the boy. "Don't you dare look away from her! She's giving this her all and you give up on her? You're her Master, so act like it, Ritsuka Fujimaru!"

Ritsuka's eyes open. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry you had to see that." And with that, Ritsuka starts running toward Mash like some sort of idiot. Olga goes to stop him, but I stop her. "They'll be fine. Trust me!" I say, with my eyes reading the near future.

"If you say so, then I'll trust him."

Shit shit shit shit! What the hell am I doing running into battle like this!? I'll be killed instantly! That black beam will kill me instantly. I'm just a fragile human, no one special! But, I can't just stand around and let Mash be killed like this! As her Master, and her senpai, I must support her all the way!

Mash's vision starts to fade and her body grows weak. The end is near. Giving up hope, Mash closes her eyes, expecting the shield to shatter at any moment…

"MASH!"

"Senpai! What are you doing here!? Please, just leave me! I won't last much longer!" Mash pleads with her Master, wanting him to be safe.

Ritsuka grabs ahold of Mash's shield and another hand is places around Mash's body.

"Mash, I believe in you." The red marks on the boy's hand glow. The weight of the shield vanished as the attack became easier to block.

"Let's do this, Mash!"

"Yes, Senpai!"

The two hold the shield, repelling the Noble Phantasm together with her own.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The beam heads right back to where it came from and the energy explodes.

As the dust clears…

You did well. But that was not enough to defeat me.

"No way…" Mash feels hopeless. After all that effort, she was barely injured.

Artoria stands there, like a monster. Undefeatable no matter what is thrown at her. The match is lost, regardless of what we throw at her.

But, someone blue runs past us, straight toward Saber. "Sorry I'm late, good job, all of you."

The Saber seems to get slightly more mad when seeing Cu Chulainn enter the fight.

"Timber giant, eaten away by fire. Become a cage of flames… Wicker Man!"

Saber gets trapped in a cage and the fire starts. But, she attempts to cut her way free anyway.

"It may not be much against her, but this'll keep her still." Nick deploys more blood to bind Saber in place, turning into spikes to penetrate the non armored parts.

Saber gets a look of shock as the giant is consumed by flames and falls to the ground, defeating Saber.

Artoria, barely able to stand, admits her defeat and looks toward all of us. "Be aware, your 'Grand Order' will not be easy. This is only the start…" And with that, Saber fades away. The battle is over.

"How did she know that name? Not even the Master candidates knew…" Olga mutters to herself curiously.

"Man, I really got here at a good time, my body is at its limit from fighting that bastard Archer. You all did great.

"You're leaving too?" Mash sadly says.

"Yeah, but you can summon me again later if you want. So this isn't truly goodbye. Though, I'd like to be a Lancer if possible. I don't like being a Caster to be honest." Caster then vanishes just like Saber did.

"The Servants are gone. The battle is over." Mash says, relieved.

"Mash, you did it!"

"Ah, thanks. But I only was able to do it because of you, because of all of you."

"We lived!" I excitedly scream. I was getting worried for a bit there, but those two managed to pull though in the end. Not that I did much. I would've died instantly if I tried to help.

"Fighting a Servant. That was fun!" Nick says as he walks over to us.

"You just like fighting, don't you?" Alice accuses the white haired boy with an absolutely right claim. "Want to spar sometime?"

"Sure thing."

Cutting off the conversation, Ominous clapping can be heard from up ahead.

"Huh?"

We all look toward the source of the clapping.

"Well well well. I didn't expect this at all. I didn't think Chaldea would live."

"Professor Lev?" Mash says in a surprised tone. Who could expect this after all? We thought he was dead.

A hologram on Olga's wristband turns on. "Professor Lev is there!?"

"Oh, Romani, you lived too? Why did you ignore my orders to come to the control room when I asked you? You can't follow simple orders can you? You people make me sick! Why couldn't you filthy humans just accept destiny."

Alice takes a step back. His bloodlust is insane. "That's not the Lev we know." Alice warns everyone.

Olga takes a step forward. "You're alive? Romani said you were dead. Thank goodness. I don't know how Chaldea could continue without you!"

Nick stretches his arm out. "Hey wait a second Olga-"

"STOP! YOU'LL DIE IF YOU KEEP GOING FORWARD!" I desperately scream. My eyes showed me a premonition of her death, Being thrown into an artificial sun. No one deserves such a fate.

Olga comes to a stop. "What!?"

"Olga, you lived too? Even though I placed the bomb right under you?" Lev says, irritated.

"What do you mean? You did this?" Olga's face morphs into a shocked one.

"How the hell did you live, Olga!"

"I placed a protection spell around me. As much as I hate to admit, what Serena said worried me, so I protected myself just in case she was right."

"Tsk. Serena Mirai. First, you save Alice Narukami, and now Olga. You truly are a pest. A thorn in my side. And Alice, I know you have a gun trained on me right now. It's no use."

Alice brings the gun out from behind her back, now openly aiming it at his head.

"Why did you do this, Professor!" Ritsuka asks.

"Enough with 'professor.'" Lev gets a crazed look on his face. "My name is Lev Lainur Flauros. Sent to the year 2017 to end humanity. Romani, by now, you should have noticed something wrong with Chaldeas no?"

"Yeah, it looks to be on fire, like the sun."

"That's right! That is humanity in the near future. It didn't end, it was incinerated, burned to nothing. The only reason Chaldea remains standing is the magnetic field surrounding the base. But even that will soon fall!"

"That explains things…" Romani says.

"Once Chaldea hits the year 2018, humanity will be fully gone, and you can't stop it. You couldn't even beat Saber on your own! This Singularity seems to be at its end. If you all survive, I'll see you all later if you make it far enough that is!"

Lev fades away, like he teleported. At the same time, the cave around us starts to crumble.

"I'll try to get all of you out of there. But the cave may fall first. Get to safety!" Romani orders us to do.

"Everyone! Please get under my shield!"

"There's not enough room. Alice, Serena! You two come over here, I'll cover us!" Nick waves us over and we obviously obey.

"Thanks! Will this hold?" I question.

"We better hope so!"

We all brace ourselves as rocks start to fall.

Everything goes black. And next thing I know, we are back in Chaldea's command room.

"We lived?" I mutter out loud.

"Mash, are you okay? You went through a lot there." Ritsuka runs up to Mash and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, I'm okay. I'm glad you're safe too."

The Doctor comes running up to us with a team of what seem to be medics. "You're all okay right? Where's the Director?"

"I'm over here."

"Are you feeling okay? You look off."

"I'm fine, just trying to process all this. Ritsuka, Serena. I am truly sorry for everything I said to you two. I didn't mean it, but I promise to make it up to you. You have my word."

"No, you're fine. I couldn't have kept my eyes hidden forever. I forgive you."

"Yeah, you're right about me being the worst possible Master. But, I promise I won't be a burden. I will get strong enough to Be a proper Master to Mash, and strong enough to stand at your sides." Ritsuka proclaims with no hesitation.

"You two… I'll do my best!"

"Fou!" A strange squirrel-like creature runs up and jumps on Mash. "Fou, there you are! I'm glad you're okay."

The Doctor clears his throat. "There's someone I want you all to meet. Chaldea summoned a Servant a while ago so better time than ever to meet her."

A brown haired woman with a staff walks up to all of us. Her clothing looks pretty old fashioned. I wonder who it is?

"Hello everyone! My name is Leonardo da Vinci, Caster Class."

Eh? Wasn't Da Vinci a man? Why is a woman here? No wait, King Arthur was a goth woman so I guess nothing is impossible?

"I can tell from your faces that you are confused. I've chosen to look like the Mona Lisa painting. So feel free to refer to me as male or female. I don't mind either."

I swear if I ever meet Musashi and he turns out to be a woman, I don't know what I'll do.

"Nice to meet you." We all give our names to her.

"Nice to meet you all as well!"

Doctor Romani speaks up. "We have detected seven more of these 'Singularities,' We must take them down to stop humanity from going extinct. I know we can do it! Please rest up before we tackle the first one soon. Trifas.

Author's note:

So in case you all are wondering, On Ritsuka's side of things, the First Order movie happened, there were no differences besides Fou not coming with. So if you want to fill in what He, Mash, and Olga were up to until the two groups met up, just rewatch the First Order movie. Speaking of Olga, yep, she's alive here. I felt like she was a wasted character so I decided to keep her around and grow as a character instead of pathetically dying like she did. I can have her go through a proper character arc and not feel wasted in the end.