Prologue Familiar Fields / Fallen Kingdom

The first thing she could feel were the blades of grass brushing against her fingers. The first thing she could hear was the wind blowing through the trees nearby. The first thing she could smell was the fresh grass she laid upon. The first thing she could see were blue skies, wisps of clouds floating by. The first thing she could taste—her first breath—was fresh air, untainted by the odour of blood and iron.

Gradually, her sense of self returned. Memories of who she was, what she was, came rushing back like a torrent of water. Being summoned for the first time, it felt like she was merging from a very deep ocean. Floating in total darkness, there was only herself, the memories of her failures, and the memories of her last moments alive to keep her company. That was until she saw it. A faint light in the distance, and a warm voice beckoning her to follow.

She swam through the ocean she was submerged in, fighting against the current that tried to keep her away from the one who was calling out to her. As she closed in on the light, she saw an outstretched hand, reaching out to her. As her fingertips gently brushed that person's own, a light enveloped her. The next thing she knew, she was lying down on the grass.

As the sensations of being alive threatened to overwhelm her, the woman checked to see if there was anything wrong with her body. She moved her fingers. Good, they still worked. She flexed her arms. Nothing seemed to be broken. Slowly, she sat up, almost as if she was learning to do so for the first time. Her body seemed to be okay, but there wasn't any way she could say that with absolute certainty.

One thing was immediately obvious to the woman: this wasn't the body she had when she was alive. The last thing she remembered of her life was her body burning away, the embers taken by the wind and leaving no proof of her existence behind. No, this new body of hers was a construct created by… something. She didn't know what manifested her, but she had a decent understanding of what she was now.

A "Heroic Spirit" summoned by her "Master" to be their "Servant" under a specific "Class".

"…Saber… Saber… hmm… So that's what I am…? Sounds about right…"

From what she could gather, there were only so many classes a Heroic Spirit could be summoned as, roughly twelve, and she seemed to have been summoned as a Saber. Unfamiliar terms, phrases, concepts flooded her mind like a tsunami. The words were alien on her tongue, but somehow they made complete sense to her. Whatever was responsible for her manifestation must have granted her this knowledge.

She knew that she was summoned to serve her new—well, her first—Master, in service to their goals and desires. There was one small problem with that, however. Other than the woman, there was no sign of any other living being, much less the one who brought the woman into existence.

"Typical," the woman grumbled. "I can't even be summoned properly…"

She stood up, wiping off any traces of dirt on her dress. Her hand froze, the woman taking notice of what she was wearing. An old styled dress, made of black and purple cloth. This was the dress she usually wore whenever she went out to battle, as well as formal events. The woman wondered if this image of herself was what she would forever remain as, or if there was a way to change—

No, focus. There are more important things to deal with. Let's get a good look at where we are first.

Grassy land as far as the eye could see. The gentle wind brushing through the grass, gently lifting her hair. It resembled any other field you may find yourself in, but something about this place was familiar to the woman.

…Ah, I see. How completely absurd.

She had ended up at the one place she could never forget, no matter how hard she might have wished she could. This was the place where the final battle of her rebellion took place: the fields just outside Winchester. The woman shook her head, a light chuckle escaping her lips.

"Of all the places to end up… How long has it been? I don't know…"

Time had no meaning in that vast ocean. Centuries could pass by and she wouldn't have been able to tell. This was the price one had to pay for making a mark on history, no matter how insignificant. To become an eternal witness to humanity's folly. Her last battle was a fine example of such. A sea of dead humans, their blood seeping into the earth; weapons strewn about the ground, their masters having been cut down; the sounds of battle, a symphony of violence filling the air.

All of that, and for what? To serve a worthless

The woman shook her head. What good would it do to lose herself in the past like this? Especially when she was in the middle of a rather unusual situation. She was a Servant, and she had clearly been summoned, but where was her Master?

"Huh?"

Something unusual began to pulse in her core. It tugged at her, incessantly telling her "this way, this way", like a child trying to show their parents something they thought was cool. She did feel a faint connection with the one who summoned her, so perhaps that pulse was them trying to reach out to her.

"…Could be worth checking out."

The pulse was trying to lead her to the north. If she remembered correctly, Winchester was in that direction. Perhaps they were waiting there? The forest she used to escape the King's forces during their last encounter should still be there, and she remembered the way through it.

"Can't say I'm looking forward to seeing that place again… Still, a trip down memory lane isn't the worst thing that can happen."

As she took her first step forward, she stopped. She could hear something, far off in the distance. The sounds of the sea. She turned towards it. Clearly an illusion. She was nowhere close enough to be able to hear something like that, but she heard it all the same. A melancholic look crossed the woman's features as a certain memory came to mind, as vivid and clear as the day it happened.

…Elise… I miss you so much… Perhaps once I meet my Master, I can ask them if we can make a detour. Visit the place where we…

"…Let's not get too caught up in the past," the woman told herself. "I have to find my Master."

The woman began her trek across those familiar fields, committing herself to following this pulse wherever it took her. She found the act of walking itself pleasant after spending so long floating in that endless void. Feeling everything move around her, feeling that breeze against her skin, it was like she was becoming aware of the world for the very first time. It was like she had been reborn.

"Well, I suppose that's what being summoned as a Servant is…"

It was a second chance to experience life, to see what had become of this world, and experience that through not only herself, but also her Master.

I wonder what my first Master will be like? Whoever they are, they're probably pretty strong.

They would have to be. The woman doubted that any old magus would have been able to summon her. She couldn't place a finger on why she thought that, but she was certain that her Master was exceptional.

"…I guess I'll know for certain when I finally meet them."

Eventually, the woman found herself at the forest's edge. She had many fond memories of forests, especially during some of the quieter moments of her rebellion. Though this particular forest was the source of some not-so-fond memories for her, she wasn't about to let that spoil her enjoyment.

Surely, the world wouldn't begrudge her if she indulged a little?

She let out a soft smile before she broke out into a sprint, delving deeper and deeper into the dense sea of trees. Dashing around the tree trunks, jumping over fallen logs, and kicking up piles of leaves that had bunched together. A sense of playfulness that she hadn't felt in a long time bubbled up inside of her. Launching off the ground, she grabbed onto one of the branches and swung off it, grabbing onto another branch effortlessly. Using her inhuman agility and strength, she reached the top in practically no time at all.

The other side of the forest was still some distance away. From her recollections, that seemed to be accurate. From the corner of her eye, she saw some apples growing on the branches she was sitting on. The temptation to grab one and eat it shot through her, but she ultimately refrained. Her stomach wasn't happy about her refusal to indulge, growing angrily in protest.

Her expression dimmed slightly as she rested a hand on her belly. One would imagine that being in a corporeal body would have completely eradicated her need for food. That didn't seem to be the case, however. At least when it came to her.

Even with this body, I… I'll deal with it later. First, I have to find where my Master ended up.

The woman fell backwards off the branch, feeling the air strike her body as she sharply descended, her long purple hair moving freely. At such a height, hitting the ground would severely injure someone, if not kill them outright. For a Servant—no, for her—this free fall was nothing to fear. In the few seconds before she hit the ground, the woman focused and summoned the black feathered wings she obtained all those years ago. Her fall slowed until she was like a leaf that fell off a branch.

She gently landed on her feet and, without missing a beat, continued walking through the forest, her wings disappearing like they never existed. The fall wouldn't have hurt her at all, not by a long shot, but a harsh landing was something she'd rather avoid if she could. She has had enough of those for a lifetime.

Soon enough, she reached the forest's edge, only to find a large hill blocking her view about fifty metres ahead.

"Odd… That's not supposed to be there."

She should have been able to see Winchester off in the distance. Instead, all she saw was that large hill… as well as the black smoke billowing up into the sky.

The woman's eyes narrowed as dread began to take root in her mind. What was that? Where exactly was she being led to? And what was causing that smoke? Though it could have been a number of things, the woman couldn't help but feel that this was familiar somehow.

Quickly, she ran to the hill and began climbing it, hopping up the steep slope like she was gliding over stepping stones. An effortless task for someone like her. When she reached the top and saw what was causing that smoke, she froze in place, unable to comprehend what she was looking at. Though she hadn't been able to recognise it on sight, she knew exactly where she ended up, if only through instinct.

"This is… Camelot…"

Her whisper was swallowed by the sounds of heavy clanging, steel colliding with steel, and the screams of the damned. This once shining beacon, the symbol of Britain's hope for a peaceful future, was now desecrated. A hollow shell of what it once was, a demented parody of what that man—that King—once ruled over.

The white walls scarred black by that rising flames, the buildings naught but rubble, the grassland surrounding the city was similarly scorched. And the castle… A faint memory came to the woman. She had seen what the castle had been replaced by before. It was only a few times, and only on sketches, but she was able to recognise it very easily. Once she saw it, a lot of things began to make sense to her.

"Mother… Were you the one who brought me here…? What the hell have you done?"

The hatred and bile that filled her voice as she spat out her question was something she couldn't help, because what her mother had done more than deserved such scorn. Construction had begun on a tower at a rapid pace. The woman wasn't certain how tall it would be and what purpose it served, but she understood that it wasn't good.

A terrifying thought came to the woman. If she hadn't been able to find her Master by now, then it was possible that they had been captured by her mother. If that was the case, then she needed to save them, even if she was walking into a trap.

As she took that first step towards the fallen city, something lightly tapped the woman's shoulder twice.

Her reaction was immediate. In a burst of lightning, she summoned her sword to her hand and pointed it in the direction of the one who managed to sneak up on her. How did someone manage to get so close to her without her realising it? Her senses were far beyond those of a regular human, so how—

"My, my. I certainly hope that isn't how you greet everyone you meet."

It was a woman. A rather unusual woman. A pale woman with red eyes who wore a blue dress—her head covered by a hood of the same colour. The Servant could see that the woman's hair was black from the small piece of it that was visible.

The Servant wasn't one to call anyone "strange" given what she was and what she looked like, but there was something about this woman that was unsettling to her.

"You can relax," the woman told the Servant with a gentle smile. "I'm not your enemy, if that's what you're worried about."

The woman's voice was soothing, in stark contrast to the bedlam happening not too far from where they were.

"…You'll forgive me for being a little cautious, given the circumstances." The sword vanished from the Servant's hands, flickers of lightning fading away a moment later. "And who might you be?"

"I am Sophia," the woman replied before turning to look at the ruined city off in the distance. "You have many questions no doubt, seeing this calamity unfolding in front of your eyes. I have the answers you seek, if you would like to hear them."

The Servant looked at the woman with a cautious expression. Though the woman calling herself Sophia felt odd to her, the Servant knew that she was likely going to be the only friendly face she would see around these parts. There was simply too much she didn't know, and she needed as much information as she could get. If the woman claimed to have that information, then she would just have to take her word for it. The Servant turned to face Camelot once more.

"I take it you know what's going on here?" the Servant asked, motioning towards the fallen home of King Arthur. Sophia moved to stand beside her.

"It is as you have surmised. Your mother has seized this cornerstone of King Arthur's reign, and is using the land it once stood upon to construct something she had been planning for a long time. However, there are some key facts I feel you should know, as there is far more to this than you realise."

The Servant paid close attention to what Sophia was saying. She was never privy to her mother's plans. She was never expected to think beyond carrying out said plans. So if her mother had designs beyond exacting her revenge on Arthur, then the Servant needed to know.

"What we're standing in right now should be an impossibility. An immovable point in history has been altered," Sophia said. "And now said history is beginning to unravel. The events that led to Arthur Pendragon becoming King and the events that led to his kingdom's destruction are supposed to be Quantum Time-Locked, and unable to be manipulated, but…"

"'But'…"

"…A short while ago, a different world had been born here, in these British Isles. Thousands of years of an alternate history unfolded. Kingdoms rose and fell, many lost their way and became monsters, and the tragic tale of the Avalon le Fay came to a heart-wrenching conclusion with the defeat of the Deceiver. A world that shouldn't have existed, a rotten branch that had been cut long ago, but was made manifest for a purpose that few could comprehend."

"A 'rotten branch'? What are you talking about?"

"The world has become a blank canvas," Sophia continued in response to the Servant's question, "on which seven people fought to legitimise their false histories—Lostbelts—turning fantasy into reality, painting the world with their colour. Only one of these Lostbelts remains now, deep in the heart of South America. This is the battle you've been summoned to: to reverse the Felling Theoretical Phenomenon and restore Proper Human History to its rightful place. Quite the first battle to be summoned to: the 'Grand Order'. I'm almost jealous."

The Servant's head spun as she tried to comprehend everything Sophia just told her. There was so much terminology being thrown around, she didn't know how to begin to process it. She tried to push through her confusion and get to the core of the matter. There was one phrase she managed to latch onto, which seemingly connected everything that was happening.

"So you're saying that these 'Lostbelts' have something to do with what's going on here?"

"Indirectly, yes. The British Lostbelt had proven to be rather complicated compared to the others. The 'Lostbelt' had become what can be called a 'Lostworld'. Which almost engulfed everything in the wake of its destruction. Your mother—or rather, her benefactor—has taken advantage of this instability, creating a Singularity that was able to change a fixed point in history on a scale that hasn't been seen since Beast I enacted his plan."

Sophia examined her surroundings with a neutral expression.

"What we're standing in at this very moment is a history that shouldn't be able to exist. If this isn't corrected, then the efforts of those fighting to save humanity will be for naught."

Turning towards the corrupted Camelot once more, the Servant could understand what Sophia meant when she said it "shouldn't be able to exist." It felt wrong, seeing what this once proud city had become. Even she, who fought to dismantle King Arthur's legacy, couldn't help but be disgusted with what had been done. Though whether that feeling was due to her mother being the one to do this and not her was something she was uncertain of, and it was something she didn't want to think about.

"…You say that my mother took control of Camelot from Arthur. Then that must mean that the time period we're in is well before Arthur's death, correct?"

"Indeed," Sophia replied. "Roughly six months."

Six months? Around that time, I was still…

The Servant lightly shook her head. Around that time, Arthur should still be out of the country, in the middle of his expedition to Rome. Given the situation that undoubtedly unfolded in the Singularity, it was likely that both he and the Knights of the Round Table were killed by her mother, including—

Don't think about it. Don't jump to conclusions. There's no way she would die that easily. Absolutely no way.

Instead of acknowledging the obvious, the Servant latched onto something else that Sophia said during her whole spiel. It was a rather curious term, one too grandiose for her to fully comprehend.

"…The 'Grand Order', huh? Sounds a little too large for a single Servant to handle, even for someone like me."

Sophia let out a soft giggle, clearly amused at the Servant's confidence in her own strength.

"Perhaps. Needless to say, you weren't supposed to end up here. A powerful force has interfered with your summoning, dragging you into this Singularity. Where you were supposed to end up… well, it's quite a special place."

The Servant tilted her head, silently urging Sophia to continue. The Servant didn't know if it was a trick of the light, but Sophia's smile seemed brighter somehow as she spoke these words.

"Chaldea—the Security Organisation for the Preservation of Humanity. That is where you are meant to go. Where you belong now. I can help you get there, but I have to warn you that it won't be a smooth journey."

"I've had to deal with harsh landings before. I can handle it," the Servant replied, shrugging her shoulders. Sophia shook her head.

"When I say it won't be a smooth journey, I wasn't just talking about getting you to Chaldea." She pointed off to the side. Towards the city. "I was also talking about that."

The Servant turned her in the direction Sophia was pointing in, and her heart dropped. The gates were opening with a heavy sound. Revelry and the sound of a singing choir somehow overpower that sound and filled the air as a horde of armoured, white-winged creatures spilled out onto the fields surrounding the blackened walls. They knew she was there. Her mother knew she was there. And now they were coming after her.

The Servant's mind raced as she considered what to do. Without any support, the odds of the Servant fighting that horde directly and coming out unscathed were very slim. With her dwindling supply of mana, she put her odds of victory at less than five percent. And that was assuming the best case scenario. Without a solid connection to her Master, those odds would decrease the longer the battle went on.

I have no choice. I have to run. I can't let them catch me.

A soft sound from beside her made the Servant turn to look back at Sophia, only to see that she had disappeared. Her presence hadn't entirely vanished, however. Her voice filled the Servant's mind a moment later.

"I'll meet you on the other side of the forest. It should give me enough time to prepare."

The Servant looked towards the horde for only a moment before bolting in the direction of the forest, sliding down the hill. Sophia had told her that getting to Chaldea wouldn't be a smooth journey, but it was ridiculous to think that would deter her in any way. She had to fight many difficult battles, endure many hardships, ever since she made the decision to hoist the flag of rebellion in the name of her father.

Needless to say, that news was old.

"Nothing is ever fucking smooth when it comes to me!"


- Author's Note -

Hello there, and welcome to my first fan fiction. The impetus for this was a series of simple questions. This character in the mythology of King Arthur, who was pretty much a footnote and doesn't have much information about them. What exactly would they be like in FGO? How would they interact with the other characters, especially their "father", given the circumstances surrounding her?

This tale I'm spinning is my answer to those questions. Now, to make something incredibly clear, this tale can only exist under very specific circumstances. Circumstances which are very much spoilers, but I'm looking forward to seeing if you can figure out what they are before the revelation. Now then, I won't take up any more of your time here. If you're reading this and have made it this far, I hope you leave a review telling me what you thought. This has taken quite a bit of work and I would like to see what people think of it.

The next chapter will be a long one, so look forward to that. See you next time!