Author's notes
Hi to all remaining readers who got through part 1. Yeah- I know it's kinda nothing new except the Chaldea cameo. Anyway, this is where real things start now!
START THE SONG AND ENJOY!
Fate/Grand Order: Where All Miracles Begin, SCHALE
Foreclosure Task Force (2/3)
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"I've been waiting for you, Ritsuka Sensei."
"I'd like to have a word with you, face-to-face."
The man greeted, he also knew the Ritsuka's identity. Sitting behind the desk, he had his fingers interlocked, resting lightly on a folder labeled "SECRET" in bold, ominous letters. The air in the room felt heavier, almost oppressive. As the newcomer approached, he felt as if being scrutinized, each step dissected by an unseen gaze.
"Who are you?"
Chuckled the weird-looking man, instead of answering his questions, he continued. "We know who you are. An enigmatic individual chosen by the General Student Council president."
"..."
"Owner of the artifact known as Shittim Chest. The sensei of SCHALE, Federal Investigation Club. Others tend to underestimate you but we won't make the same mistake."
"..." Ritsuka was taken aback by a little. The information regarding Shittim Chest was supposed to be between him and the General Student Council...
Noticing the teacher's cold glare, he quickly clear the suspicion. "First let me make something clear."
"We have no interest in a conflict with you. In fact, we want to work with you... because otherwise, you represent the largest obstacle to our plans."
"Wiping out an insignificant school like Abydos is child's play. However, we'd rather avoid the consequence of starting a war with you in the process."
"Why do you hold me in such high regard? And who the hell are you?"
Sensing the conversation turned more serious, he lowered his hands. "You hold the highest authority in the city... Moreover, despite being an outsider, you managed to grasp the situation and execute perfect tactics every time."
"And lastly, my intuition."
"..." Their gazes locked. Except for the body language, the teacher couldn't read his expression at all. The man has no face- only cracks and a hole emitting blue flame which seems to be a right eye.
"As for the other question- We are outsiders to Kivotos, the same as you... Ah, but that doesn't mean we come from the same place."
"For the time being, we've found a suitable name to borrow. Please call us Gematria- And I'm fine with going by 'Black Suit', Sensei. I've grown quite fond of that name."
"We, Gematria, are... observers, explorers, and researchers. You could say that we're enigmatic beings, much like yourself."
"So allow me to formally ask. Do you have any interest in working with us? Gematria?"
"No, never. All I want is to take Hoshino."
Ritsuka replied the instant the suspicious man shamelessly recruited him. He stood his ground- Hoshino was still in his care, she was still his student since he hadn't signed the resignation letter yet.
Black Suit, Gematria- Now that he knew such a shady organization existed, he felt the need to look further into this. Why?- He dropped him the greatest clue, 'Outsiders to Kivotos'.
Because ever since the man arrived in this world.
'Outside' did not exist.
No matter what data he stumbled across- they never mentioned any place outside of the city. The current World map did not exist, only were there the city map. The closest thing to call 'world' would be what the 'old human' has engraved in the library. Thousand years ago, a world with 7 continents existed, but now... only Kivotos remained.
Whenever he asked Arona or any student about it, their replies? 'I don't know.'
As if the world had changed- As if it was trying to hide something. Or maybe... something happened then the world had blended its history and progressed until today.
"Give up Hoshino-san, and the school will be spared."
"I refuse."
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They talked- The mysterious entity greeted the teacher oddly nicely, he had been waiting for his arrival. He thought for sure the man would give up the girl in exchange for saving the school, nonetheless- he was declined. This was the second time, he also was not interested in joining Gematria either.
"Why?"
"..."
"Why are you so desperate to stand in our way? You're powerless!" Black Suit said in a cold voice, unable to comprehend the person in front of him. "How do you plan to fight us?!"
Their eyes locked. To his surprise, the teacher did not waver one bit.
"Tell me where she is- Or you'll regret it."
"Interesting... To succumb to violence, Sensei." Black Suit chuckled in disbelief. "I've never expected the SCHALE teacher to use such primitive method."
"..." Ritsuka stayed quiet. Without servants or students, all he could rely on was now himself- Nonetheless, this was what he had prepared for. He wouldn't return empty hand, he would save his student. If it came to the worst case where fight broke out, he still had a trick or two up his sleeves.
Avoiding a direct battle would be the most preferable option.
Still, a bad adult like him deserved a good beating.
"But why? Why? WHY? Even if you beat me, how will you deal with them-?!" He stood tall, his presence dominating the room, a sly grin curling his lips. Perturbed by the guest's arrogance, he posed the question like a challenge.
"Sensei, tell me-Have you ever faced a god?"
The silence that followed was deafening.
The air seemed to shift, almost imperceptibly, as if the room itself had grown colder. His breath hitched-just for a second, so brief that anyone else might have missed it. His mask of confidence cacked.
Staring into his sharp blue eyes, he'd expected defiance, perhaps even desperation- but what he saw instead was something far more unsettling. Ritsuka's eyes weren't filled with anger or fear, they weren't a blazing fire or a trembling storm.
They were still. Deep- Deep and fathomable, deep like an endless abyss. They swallowed all light, turning it into eternal darkness.
A chill ran down his spine. His breath caught in his throat... yet he couldn't look away, though his instinct screamed to do so. Those eyes- they weren't just deep; they were mysterious. The more he stared, the more he felt falling into their infinite depths.
Black Suit felt it- an aura that wasn't merely human. It wasn't raw power or strength. No, it was something far more disconcerting. It was the weight of countless battles fought against forces that defied comprehension. The weight of standing before gods and walking away.
It was the look of someone... who had seen too much, endured too much, and stood unmoved in the face of it all.
"Im- Impossible..."
"What... What have you been through?" Black Suit muttered, the words escaping before he could think better of them.
The figure across him didn't answer. He didn't need to. The silence itself was an answer-a heavy, unspoken truth that pressed against the walls of the room.
Black Suit blinked, his confidence unraveling with every passing second... replaced by something much more fragile. Caution. Uncertainty.
At first, he knew the person was irregular. He even mocked him to shake that unyielding arrogance the man put. However, that was not an act.
Out of the blue, the grin returned-wider, unhinged, a mirror to his spiraling madness.
Black Suit threw his head back and laughed, a sound that echoed off the walls like a symphony of chaos. It wasn't the laugh of someone amused-it was the laugh of someone who had found something incomprehensibly beautiful in the terrifying unknown.
"Interesting!" He roared.
"To think that gods-and someone like you-actually exist! Unbelievable! How utterly fascinating!"
"...Who are you?"
"You've stood in the presence of gods and lived to tell the tale. Whatareyou?"
The silence from Ritsuka spoke louder than words, it said everything. The teacher- or rather the Master, wasn't here to explain himself nor to appease his curiosity.
Black Suit's smile wavered as he stepped back, his exhilaration giving way to something resembling fear, though he tried to suppress it.
"You're something else- Something terrifying." He murmured.
"You're not what I expected." He admitted.
"Few people are." The figure replied, his tone calm.
"We didn't want to make an enemy out of you. We will cooperate." Swallowed hard, whoever this person was, he wasn't powerless. He wasn't simple, he was something far more dangerous- someone who had faced things he couldn't imagine.
"Hoshino-san's being held in the lab of the PMC base at the center of the Abydos Desert."
"A long time ago, somewhere in the ruins of the old, deserted district on the outskirts of Kivotos, a strange experiment was conducted."
"The goal was to prove the existence of a deity and if possible- create a new god."
"We, Gematria, supported the research and invested immense funding and time."
"Mimesis has shown us the dark side of what a Mystic is capable of: Terror. We planned to experiment on her- if she doesn't work, we'll move on to the wolf god... Though even that doesn't seem to be a feasible option at this point."
"Since our negotiation failed- I have no choice but to drop out."
Black Suit explained obediently with a sigh. His intuition was correct- he shouldn't provoke with the person in front of him. He didn't dare think what would happen to him if he were to mess with another one of his students. At this point, betraying the Kaiser PMC was the best option.
Nevertheless, just now that he had assessed him... he was interested in him more than anything in the world. Forgetting the experiment, forgetting the gods-Who is this man? What in the world is he?
Losing a guinea pig, he just was supposed to be frustrated-
It was the most fascinating day of his life.
"..." Ritsuka listened silently, his head was full of thoughts.
"I wish you the best of luck rescuing her."
"Ritsuka Sensei, we'll see each other again."
"Gematria will keep an eye on you from now on."
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Like that, I returned to Abydos.
It was very late already yet the students were still gathering around the table.
"Welcome back, Sensei." Shiroko greeted, soon followed by the rest.
I told them the information I'd obtained- the whereabouts of Hoshino.
The conversation with Black Suit still bugged me. Gematria- to think they would be trying to summon and even recreate a god. In this world, old humans existed... thus they shared roughly the same historical events, the same gods, and the same pantheons as the world I came from.
Only until something happened, something that changed the course of prime species like Moon Dubai.
What the Gematria tried to be sound closely resembled pseudo servant summoning- to use a lifeform as a vessel, then a divine spirit to take over. I'd encountered a good number of actual gods and divine spirits... but still, there were too many of them in the world. There was no way I could precisely guess who they tried to summon.
Luckily, they were in research progress- They would need more time to do so, which could give me enough time to dive to the bottom of this. In addition, I doubt it would be successful soon- or else I could've summoned even a shadow one for battle already.
Focusing on the matter at hand, to rescue Hoshino, we needed more helpers. As a result, I headed to Gehenna Academy the next morning.
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"You want to a meeting with the head prefect? You think you can just waltz in here and chat with the Gehenna head prefect?"
"Yes, this is very urgent." I replied. The tan girl, Iori, was judging me from head to toe. Her eyes glared at me with a hint of disgust, as if looking at a pervert.
Our misunderstanding worsened every time we met... First, she thought I was going to hide in a man sewer to peek at girls' panties. Though, I was checking the city's waste treatment system.
I sighed quietly, the girl didn't seem to let me pass easily at all. Her mouth curled up, a mockery smile appeared on her face.
"I'll tell you what. Maybe if you got on all fours and kissed my shoes-"
Couldn't play her game any further, I instantly closed the distance. With one knee on to ground, two hands grabbed her tiny shoulders. "Iori, please."
"-!" Surprised by the action, she flustered cutely.
How childish- She didn't know how many demanding servants I'd dealt with. She was a hundred years too soon to pull Ishtar's feet trick on me. Since we were at the front gate, Gehenna students had already surrounded us- watching the scene unfold as though watching a movie.
"Iori, my students were kidnapped. I can't afford to waste any more time." With our eye sights on the same level, I stared into her trembling pupils-Come on, we're embarrassing ourselves in front of the whole world here! Just let me through!
"What're you doing?! Release me- Pervert!"
Look! Are they... flirting?
The strict and bossy Iori was blushing?!
"Let me goooo!"
"Iori, you're not listening-"
"No! You're not listening! Don't get any closer!" The girl cried out, her hands kept pushing and brushing me away.
Ahh- I knew it, her ears shut down the moment I reached her. How am I supposed to convey my emergency then?!Noticing she hadn't been listening, I panicked internally. The girl had been avoiding eye contact too. Justas I was to lose patience and cup her cheeks, a voice rang out.
"Why are you all being noisy?"
"P- President!" Iori quickly turned her head to the newcomer. The head of the Prefect Team, Hina, had arrived.
"Tell me, Sensei. What do you need from me?"
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In just a few hours, we acquired support from Problem Solver 68, the Prefect Team, and the Tea Party.
Finally, we headed to the battleground.
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END.
Author's notes
Writing this was a lot easier than the previous chapter! That one was a real pain to compress everything. The hard part for this chapter is Black Suit's speech where I have to retain almost half of the original script (or else it would feel too incomplete if I cut too much)
That feeling when cutting too much makes it too straightforward while cutting too less makes it boring as if rereading the o.g. blue archive.
Anyway, I put so much effort into arts. Feel free to find out who they are!
(As for why the art quality is inconsistent = 1. My mood 2. Some arts were drawn before I started this story, which I improved bit by bit later)
NEXT CHAPTER! Action Sequence!