PRIMORDIAL SONG: MELODY OF UNEASE

CHAPTER 4:

REUNION

"So, it's basically like a gacha?"

Hinako Akuta glared at Flat Escardos in the summoning chamber. "It is NOT like a gacha. Marisbury Animusphere refined the FATE system considerably over the years, along with Olga-Marie and Da Vinci, but it is still unstable. It basically pulls Mystic Codes out of probability streams, or else Servants, but is powered by Saint Quartz. The probability of obtaining a Servant is fairly low, but…"

"It's a gacha," Flat insisted.

Hinako was tempted to dope-slap him. However, Reines made a gesture to the metallic maid with her, who did so. "Ow, Trimmau, what was that for?" Flat demanded.

"Lady Reines asked me to do so," the maid responded.

Kayneth went over to the platform, the systems currently on stand-by, Waver following. "How fascinating," Kayneth said. "It seems like a waste of Saint Quartz, speaking as the Director of Mineralogy, as well as someone very well-acquainted with summoning and spiritual evocation. Still, despite its many faults and…lack of elegance, I daresay the results speak for themselves."

Hinako bristled at Kayneth's arrogance, but let it slide. Besides him being Lord El-Melloi and thus someone very powerful, the Magus was showing as much of a compliment as he could give. "I intend to attempt to summon a new Servant today."

"How many summons have you performed since the resolution of the Grand Order?" Waver asked.

"None to date. We thought we'd avoid any sticky questions. However, this is meant to be a demonstration. If you would?"

Both Magi moved away from the central platform. "Much of the process is automated," Hinako explained as she took the system off standby, allowing it to check her handprint. "Unlike in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, the FATE system does the heavy-lifting in place of the Greater Grail. We can feed in a select amount of Saint Quartz, up to 30 crystals, and allow a sequence of up to ten summoning attempts. Each time the process happens, there is an automatic pause, and you are required to clear the platform of the Servant or any Mystic Code. For some strange reason, Black Keys and mapo tofu seem to frequently materialise. I wish I was making that up."

Waver frowned. "What does mapo tofu have to do with anything? How can that be a Mystic Code?"

"Don't ask. One of the Servants here, the Lancer version of Cú Chulainn, said that it was the favoured food of a man called Kirei Kotomine, who had stolen him from his true Master." Hinako began activating the sequence. "Of course, Da Vinci prepared a means by which any excess Mystic Codes can be reduced to crystallised mana for use elsewhere. Now, stand well back…"

True to form, the first few summons were disappointing. Black Keys of various shades, a stuffed lion toy promptly claimed by Grey, for some reason, and a few of what they called 'echoes', Servants they had previously summoned, who vanished quickly, but somehow strengthened their existing Servants. However, when on the last summon of the sequence, rainbow colours appeared in the rings, Hinako knew something was about to happen. "Looks like it's your lucky day. A new Servant has arrived, and they're powerful."

A pillar of actinic light pierced the chamber, before a figure slowly formed within. Hinako blinked when she realised that the outline was familiar. Tall and muscled, dressed in the armour he had in life, his handsome but hard features adorned by a beard.

Oh, this was a cruel twist of fate if it was true. The one Servant she yearned for above all others, and he had to appear right in front of Clock Tower's investigation team. She had to stop herself from rushing over there right this instant with every ounce of self-control. She'd have to wait until she could get him alone, and hope that he either didn't recognise her, or else realised he needed to be quiet about her.

"Servant Berserker has answered your summons," he said, his deep rasp of a voice echoing through the chamber. "My name is Xiang Yu." He then frowned. "A Berserker? How curious for this frame to be manifested in such a class," he remarked to himself. His eyes roved over those present, before meeting Hinako's. There was curiosity in his eyes, so she decided to take charge.

"It's good to meet you, Xiang Yu. I am Hinako Akuta, one of the four Masters of the Chaldean Security Organisation. I hope you may lend your strength to our own." Inwardly, she was praying that he'd buy that, or else restrain himself and wait for an explanation, assuming he recognised her. At least he knew she was an Elemental.

He looked thoughtful, before he nodded. "Very well. My sword is your own."

"He seems rather lucid for a Berserker," Reines remarked as Xiang Yu stepped off the platform.

"Those with either low-ranked Madness Enhancement or, paradoxically, high-ranked Madness Enhancement tend to be," Hinako said.

"I am surprised," Rin remarked. "I know a little of Chinese history, but Xiang Yu…wasn't he infamous?"

"You know nothing of my history," Xiang Yu said, his rebuke surprisingly gentle. "Liu Bang was not my adversary, but rather, one I was shaping to be the future Emperor Gaozu of Han. History wrote me as something other, due to my actions. However, as I have been summoned, there must be need for me."

"Indeed there is, Xiang Yu," Hinako said, trying to restrain herself. She turned to the investigators. "I trust this was enough of a demonstration of FATE for your liking?"

"For now," Waver said. "When you summon Servants, what next?"

"We generally give them a brief orientation, and assign them quarters. Would you like an orientation, Xiang Yu?"

"I believe I will partake of that, Master," Xiang Yu said.

Thankfully, the investigative team didn't follow, though Hinako checked for familiars with a quick spell. Finding nothing, she began speaking in Chinese, specifically the Old Chinese of their era. "…If you recognised me, I am sorry I did not tell you sooner, my love. But those investigators would become suspicious if we showed ourselves to be overly familiar."

"Ahh, so my intuition was correct," he responded. "I thought you looked like my beloved, and given your nature as a Zhenren, it is hardly surprising that you have survived to this time. To think we would be reunited in such a manner. You appear to be well."

"As much as I can be as an Elemental in this blighted era," Hinako said with a grimace. "I only joined Chaldea to have a chance at reuniting with you. Sadly, I could not summon you until now, and the Grand Order is, for the most part, over."

"It matters little. If the summoning worked, then there must still be need for me."

"Perhaps. All the same, it is good to see you once more. There is someone I wish to introduce you to. After you perished, I made a friend centuries later, a warrior later known as the Prince of Lan Ling. However, he was forced to commit suicide on the orders of his paranoid fool of a cousin. He is now my Saber Servant, and confidant. Not that anyone could replace you, my love, but…"

"I understand. I know you would not replace me so lightly, and your tone speaks of a valued friend and comrade, perhaps even a sibling. Who here knows of your true nature, my dearest Yu?"

"Most within this facility know I am an Elemental. They have been…accepting for the most part, as long as I do not turn on humanity. Those aware of my true identity as your consort are also aware of your true nature, as a construct reverse-engineered by Shi Huang Di and his sages from Prince Nezha's body. In modern parlance, you would be considered an android, albeit created through Taoist sage arts."

"I see. So within these walls, you have found acceptance, at long last. I will do what I can to avoid jeopardising that. Have you any enemies here?"

"Not really. I have…a comrade, I suppose, whom I'm not on the best of terms with, but we have agreed to…the modern term is détente. In truth, despite our mutual animosity, he will work to help me if I am in trouble, and vice versa, and he was admittedly curious about you when I divulged your true nature."

"Oh? And who is this one to elicit such complex feelings?"

"He is a wizard from England by the name of Harry Potter. To give him his due, he fought well against a warlock who targeted him from birth, and when he joined us, he has been nothing but a good help. He even has a deity as a lover. But…in many regards, we are too alike to truly be friends. I am on better terms with his friend, a Hermione Granger, a scholar and intellectual. We three are the Masters of Chaldea, alongside a neophyte Magus called Ritsuka Fujimaru. An annoyingly idealistic idiot, but his heart is in the right place, and he's got resolve. Now, I need to warn you, we have a number of Servants from our homeland, some of whom you may not be on good terms with, if only by their reputation."

"Oh? And who would those be?"

"General Lu Bu is present, along with his steed, Red Hare. So too is Jing Ke, the would-be assassin of Shi Huang Di. The latter is more agreeable than you'd believe, though she is also a drunkard at times. Zhuge Liang is also present, albeit inhabiting a copy of one of the investigators as a Pseudo-Servant. We also have a martial artist from our future, Li Shuwen, and a Buddhist monk who travelled with Sun Wukong, Xuanzang Sanzang. Finally, an incarnation of the fox spirit Daiji manifested herself as Tamamo-no-Mae, but she is harmless in this form, lacking much of the malice she did. Indeed, she is quite the accomplished cook."

Before her beloved could reply, two people she wasn't sure she wanted to meet came along. Harry Potter and Tiamat. "Hey, Hinako," Harry said. "You finished the FATE demonstration for the investigators, huh? And got a new Servant. Who is he?"

Before Hinako could stop him, the Berserker said, "I am Xiang Yu."

Comprehension dawned on both of their faces, and thankfully, they didn't say anything really incriminating. "Showing him around, huh?" He then went up to her, and whispered, "I'm actually a little happy for you, Hinako. I mean, he does recognise you, right?"

"Of course."

"Do you need…like, help with a Privacy Ward or something?"

"I am capable of using Bounded Fields, Harry. And I have studied the best."

"Right. Like I said, I'm actually a little happy for you, Hinako." Then, an impish smirk touched his lips. "Anyway, I'm warning you partly because…well, remember how much they complained about the noise coming from Tia and I in our room?"

Hinako blushed heavily at the insinuation, and she hissed, "You have thirty seconds, Potter, before I bitchslap you so hard, Tiamat will have to drag you out of the wall. So if I were you, I'd leave. I won't chase you if you do so now. Got it?"

"Fine, fine, I'm just giving you allowance for a healthy sex life, Hinako." With a chuckle from both him and Tiamat, they left.

"…So, that is the wizard and his lover," Xiang Yu observed. "I have rarely seen you so embarrassed, my dearest Yu. It's rather refreshing to see you act more like a person around others. Still…the woman…I heard you call her Tiamat. As in the Babylonian deity?"

"And Beast II…well, she used to be. Just be warned, she loves giving out hugs. We'll have to touch base with the other Masters. The same goes with four others. Olga-Marie Animusphere, the director of Chaldea, Dr Romani Archiman, the chief medical officer, Leonardo da Vinci, the head of research and development, and Mash Kyrielight…a Demi-Servant and also assigned to Team A of the Masters, as I was. She's had a crappy life, and the fact that she's still an optimist is astonishing. Nihilistic, yes, but a positive nihilist. I guess she's the little sister of almost everyone here, barring the younger Servants and a few of the nastier ones. She, along with Ritsuka and Hermione, helped me realise there are still some things I like about humans. Summoning the Prince of Lan Ling also helped. I believe you would get along with him, despite him being more refined, in looks and manner if nothing else."

"You did not love me for such shallow reasons, my beloved. Still, the wizard intrigues me. I hope your fellow Masters and the Servants here do so too."

"I'm sure they will. Still, you may be right, my beloved. Chaldea's fight may not be over. In fact, it may just be beginning…"

Harry and Hermione sat together with Tiamat and Atalanta as the latter's adopted children played. The cat-eared Greek huntress had proved to have maternal instincts, along with a few other Servants, particularly the Iceni queen Boudica, and Margaretha Zelle, the Dutch exotic dancer and would-be spy better known by her stage name of Mata Hari. And a surprising number of Servants were children, and not just older beings with younger looks, like, say, Ana, Medusa's Lancer counterpart.

Take Jack the Ripper. Harry was astonished when he learned that the infamous serial killer took the form of a pre-teen girl with a ragged mop of silvery hair, golden eyes, and a cute, if slightly-scarred face. She was actually a gestalt of souls of children who died in Victorian London, some before they were born, others not long afterwards. Despite having violent tendencies, Jackie, as she was known, had taken well to becoming loved in Chaldea, gaining the warmth she never found in life, for she tried to find it by returning to the womb. She was actually quite readily likeable.

So too was her sister, of sorts. Alice looked like a silver-haired pre-teen girl too, but closer to the image of Alice from the Lewis Carrol books in Victorian dress. In truth, she was Nursery Rhyme, a living embodiment of children's tales. She often got into arguments with Hans Christian Andersen, the famous author who, despite his mature voice and a bitter, sardonic attitude that would give Snape a run for his money, looked like a pre-teen boy with blue hair. Alice had actually adopted her name and appearance from her Master in her timeline, a girl subjected to atrocious experiments and who ended up becoming a ghost within an alien supercomputer on the Moon.

There were others, like the 'daughters' of the Emiya family, Illya and Kuro, as well as Paul Bunyan, another example of the confusing tendency of historical and mythical figures to be genderflipped. There was even a younger version of Jeanne d'Arc's Alter self. Tiamat loved fussing over the younger Servants, her maternal instincts channelled into something healthier.

"I'm not sure how we'll be able to do anything with these investigators," Atalanta said, frowning. "Magi, on the whole, are quite arrogant creatures, as are wizards. In addition, we stopped Goetia, but now, we have to deal with this? While I intellectually understand the need for oversight with something as dangerous as time-travel, to say nothing of we Servants, I still despise it. Too many of us died from when those we saved turned on us, though I, fortunately, did not."

"No, but you lost a race to Hippomenes, and got cursed by one of the Olympians for…some reason, I dunno," Harry said. "I mean, Artemis is all right, but even she had her moments, and the rest of the Olympians were not really nice."

"While your blasphemy is unwisely provocative, even in this modern era, I will agree that the actions of the Olympians towards many have been reprehensible," Atalanta said. "But that is not my point."

"Your concern is shared by the songs of many others within Chaldea, Atalanta," Tiamat said. "However, many of those Professor Velvet brought with him appear to be good people, as far as Magi are concerned. Admittedly, my experience with them is limited, but Hermione and Hinako warned me of what many are like."

"Good. Despite your age, you are still a neophyte to the ways of human society in general, Tiamat," Atalanta said, giving her comrade in maternal feelings a smile. "You are naïve, and while you are still wary of humanity due to your sealing, you are unaware of the ways they can attack you. In addition, remember that you, along with Fou, sacrificed much of your power to save Mash. I say this not to frighten you, but…"

"You say it because your song is filled with concern for me, Atalanta, and I appreciate it," Tiamat said. "However, antagonistic notes will only invite unnecessary hostility into their songs. I believe your people had the laudable notion of sacred hospitality, one of the Greeks' better concepts."

"As opposed to the rampant misogyny?" Harry asked. "Seriously, your father was not a nice person, abandoning you to die because you were a girl, and only bringing you back because he needed someone to pimp out."

Atalanta snorted. "An unflattering but not inaccurate assessment. Few men of my time could look past my gender and accept my skill. However, there were some parts of Greek culture that actually worked out. And you are correct, Tiamat. Give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but keep an eye on them. Harry, Hermione told me you both had a teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, who preached 'Constant Vigilance'. That should be your watchword."

Harry nodded. The Clock Tower team knew of his dalliances with Time-Turners in the Department of Mysteries. They probably had more than a few suspicions as to Chaldea hiding something. But if the secrets got exposed, about Roman's true identity and Hinako's true nature especially, what would happen? Nothing good, he knew for sure…

CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:

Wait, Xiang Yu got summoned? And as a humanoid android, not a bloody cyber-centaur?

Now, keep in mind, the centaur mode was exclusive to the SIN Lostbelt. So with that Lostbelt not in the picture, Hinako finally gets her lover…but unfortunately, has to hide the relationship from Clock Tower.

Anyway, for this story, I just had an intriguing idea, based on the New Year's event, especially given Hinako and Beni-Enma (who is SO adorable! I mean for a Loli Sparrow Girl Gordon Ramsey, anyway) knowing each other.

No numbered annotations this time.