It's odd, Gudako thought to herself walking along the dirt path behind the temple as it began to steepen a bit, I haven't been able to shake this feeling that we've been followed since I got here with Mash…
"Master? Everything okay?"
She looked over at the pink haired girl in question and weighed her answer before deciding to be fully honest this time,
"Mash have you felt like we've been followed this entire time? As in since we wound up here?"
The girl paused as the other two women both came to a stop as well. Mash furrowed her brow clearly thinking hard as Olga gave her a look,
"We're too close to the goal for you to get all paranoid on us Gudako. We just need to beat Saber and then we can go back right? As far as goals go its simple on paper."
Gudako hummed a bit in acknowledgment as that feeling of being followed persisted. She looked at Ryujin in a silent question to which the Servant nodded and closed her eyes as a pulse of mana came off of her then looked back to Olga,
"Have you not felt it?"
"That we were being followed this entire time? No, I haven't…"
She looked back down the mountain trail just in time to see an explosion in the distance followed by an echoing boom half a second later. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes, breathing in a bit before exhaling and opening her eyes feeling more determined than before,
~| Don't die on us Caster. |~
"Whether or not we're being followed doesn't matter. We have our goal. Anything else is a distraction right now."
Ryujin stated as she shook her head subtly at her.
So she can't sense anyone else then…
Gudako turned and looked back up at the mountain, her eyes lingering on hole in the top of it. She swallowed her nerves and steadied herself,
"Caster is going to catch up with us. Lets keep going."
Mash nodded and took Cu's previous position at the front of the group followed by Gudako then Olga with Ryujin bringing up the rear as they followed the trail until it finally levelled out into a medium sized open area filled with construction equipment. Curious she walked over to examine one of the machines more closely when she froze as she sensed something
or rather the lack of something.
She ran back to the group,
"The illusion Caster set up with the skeletons is gone. We need to move."
Olga looked sharply at her while Mash's mouth fell open and Ryujin nodded, summoning her fan,
"Which means Caster is dead, someone dispelled the illusion, or both. Gudako is correct. We need to take out Saber before whoever it is gets here otherwise we'll be caught in a pincer attack either from Archer or whoever removed the illusion. We should be looking for a torii gate that covers a cave entrance or tunnel."
They all nodded and split up to look for the entrance then a few minutes later Olga called out to them all and they all jogged over to see that Ryujin was correct in what they had to look for. It was a blood red torii gate ringing a dark cave that almost looked like an open mouth which had Gudako shaking her head clear of those thoughts as best she could while Mash took point again and they all entered the mountain,
"This is… a lot of gates."
Olga muttered nervously into the silence as Ryujin hummed an agreement looking around with her eyes glowing,
"Normally you'd only see this level of separation between the divine and mortal realms around pathways between both planes. As for why…"
She trailed off as the path ended and then opened into a massive cavern that was illuminated by a red glow from the hole in the ceiling. They all fell into stunned silence as they looked at the giant floating stone orb that had glowing gold cracks running across its surface while a shiver of fear ran down Gudakos back from the mana in the room. It was dense enough that you could feasibly cut it with a knife and while one source of that mana was clearly the orb floating in the back of the cavern,
"Intriguing…"
They all looked at the person who spoke. She was wearing armor as black as sin that was shot through with red vein-like marks as well as a mask so they couldn't see her face but what really drew Gudako's attention was the sword that the Saber servant was wielding. It had been planted point first into the stone floor and was an even darker and richer black than her armor with three red circles above the handguard.
"Its been some time since I've had proper sport…"
The Saber servant pulled her sword out of the stone floor and held it in one hand as she settled into a combat stance. Gudako opened her mouth to give commands when Ryujin stepped forward annoyed and tapping her fan into her open palm,
"You're…. Not just Darkened are you. No… You're a Legitmate Alter. As for which one even I can recognize that blade despite the corruption flowing through it. Dispell your mask and show us your face Altered King of Knights."
Gudako snapped her gaze from Ryujin to the Saber servant who paused,
"And yet I don't know you… If this is to be a duel then state your name."
She dispelled the mask and Gudako's eyes widened as she saw pale yellow eyes glaring at them. Ryujin chuckled,
"My name is Ryujin, also known as the other half of the God O'watatsumi. I am one of the rulers of the Undersea Palace, the Divine Dragon Goddess of Seas and Storms, I have manifested as a Ruler Servant, and I intend to take your head."
Saber straightened upright and seemed to reevaluate Ryujin before looking at Gudako with narrowed eyes,
"I am the Fallen and Altered King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon also known as King Arthur. Ryujin, Dragon Goddess of Seas and Storms... I will kill you myself."
Both women walked forward several paces and began to circle the other as Gudako watched on when Artoria moved first, angling Excalibur behind her as something came off of the blade propelling her forward at Ryujin who flicked open her fan and swung it summoning a wind storm. The Saber servant caught the edge on her blade in midair which pushed her back until she gathered mana around the sword and swung the blade through the storm, splitting it in half as a three meter wide slash was carved into the rock floor.
Artoria landed, gathered mana into her palm, and then shoved her palm forward causing the compressed mana to lance out carving a redhot trench into ground. Ryujin responded by holding her free hand above her head palm down and swinging her fan up into her palm where it folded into itself with a bell sound as a pressure wave moved forward, caught the mana, and then dispersed it. They both paused as if reevaluating the other,
"...Surely this is not all the Vaunted King of Knights can do?"
Ryujin asked flatly only for Saber to stiffen in place as the Dragon God smiled with a draconic sweetness,
"Where's your blade work? Your agility? You might as well be swinging a club my dear Saber~"
Immediately in response to this mana pulsed off the enemy Servant as a red glow enveloped her and she adjusted her stance. Ryujin's smile widened further than a human mouth should be able to as she dispelled her fan and swapped to the bone white katana that she had used when the demonic beast attacked them. She angled the sheathed blade so the pommel pointed at the floor and settled into a stance low enough that her knee was almost touching the ground,
"Thats~ more like it. Do try to get me to have some fun before you die on me dear Saber~"
She purred as an explosion of rocks came from the Saber servant who shot forward almost too fast for Gudako to follow while blue mana pulsed off of Ryujin and she sensed the Ruler had changed her class again. Before she could check however Saber had reached the Ruler servant and swung at an upward angle, black and red mana roiling off the blade of the Darkened Excalibur and managed to cut a gash into Ryujins arm as the Ruler Servant dipped down lower and Gudako heard her servant speak a multilayered incantation.
A thundercrack sounded from where the two servants had impacted and then suddenly Ryujin was standing several meters forward of where she had been flicking blood off her fully drawn katanas blade and turning around to face Artoria who was pressing her gauntlet onto an area right above her hip that seemed to be bleeding,
"What did you do."
The Saber servant spat as she pointed her blade at Ryujin who merely raised her eyebrows and laughed a bit as she resheathed her blade and got into a different stance this one clearly meant for a downward cut,
"Oh that? Nothing more than some… bladework I learned from a friend of a friend. Some advice before I do this next technique though Saber," She said as mana began to waterfall off of her and the smell of the ocean filled the cavern as she grinned, "I would advise dodging this one considering I carved an undersea trench with it…"
"Master behind me!"
"Gudako, move!"
Mash quickly moved in front of them as Olga pulled her behind Mash's shield while the smell of the ocean peaked moments before Gudako sensed something about Ryujin change again. This time she was quick to check her servants stat sheet and her eyes widened as she saw that her Divinity had jumped three full ranks from D- to A++ moments before the mana in the room surged then was suddenly cut off as Ryujin screamed. Gudako ran out from behind Mash to see that purple glowing chains had wrapped around her arms, legs, and neck to pull her to the cave floor. Gudako began to run forward to try and help when she was suddenly pulled back by Olga who was staring at the chains in abject terror,
"Let me help her dammit!"
"Gudako snap out of it! Anything that can chain down and cause pain to a God isn't something Mortals can help with so-"
Gudako got her right arm free and clenched her hand into a fist,
"By my Command Spell! Bring my servant over to me!"
A ruby red flash came off of her hand as Ryujin vanished from where she had been chained and reappeared barely three meters from her as she tore her arm from Olga's grasp and began to run over,
"Don't come near me! You'll get trapped as well!"
The Ruler quickly dashed away several meters further only for those same purple chains to shoot out of the stone floor, quickly wrap themselves around her again, and then yank her fully to the floor where she was unable to move. Gudako swallowed and then glared at the Saber servant who was merely watching on barely interested,
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER SABER!?"
Pale Yellow eyes flicked to her and then to the Ruler Servant who was being forced to stay perfectly still. Artoria chuckled as a green glow appeared on her hip and she pulled her gauntlet away before she gathered mana into her palm again,
"DON'T-"
The Mana lanced out and took Ryujin's arm off at the elbow causing her to cry out in pain.
"It would seem… that I am about to kill another dragon.…"
The servant said into the lingering silence as she began to walk towards Ryujin who had used her noble phantasm as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding from her arm. Artoria had made it three steps when a rock clattered to the ground in front of her as those pale yellow eyes turned towards her,
"You can still live you know. I've not been given orders to kill you yet."
Gudako hefted another rock, got into a pitchers stance, and threw it at Saber who merely moved her head to avoid it letting it clatter to the stones behind her,
"YOU LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE. AREN'T YOU KING ARTHUR!? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS!?!?"
The servant turned to face her when,
"LEAVE HER ALONE SABER. YOU WANT TO KILL ME THEN DO IT BUT LEAVE HER ALONE."
Saber frowned and turned her head to look at the orb as more purple chains wrapped around Ryujins mouth gagging her. Artoria looked back at the Ruler servant, nodded clearly satisfied, and then turned back to Gudako,
"I am indeed King Arthur girl but I am one who has stepped down from the throne to rule her kingdom as a tyrant and despot. I am a version of Artoria Pendragon that didn't truly exist in history. As such I am not beholden to the same circumstances as the normal version of myself."
She took a step towards them only for Mash to move in front of Gudako who watched as the girl shook, whether from fear or rage she didn't know, but the Shielder Servant had a white knuckle grip on the shield that was her namesake,
"I… Expected better from you Artoria."
The Saber servant stiffened in place and narrowed her eyes at Mash,
"You… you're human and yet…."
Artoria flexed her fingers around the hilt of her blade
"What is your name girl with the Shield."
"Mash… Kyrielight."
"It would seem that I need to test your resolve Kyrielight. Do not disappoint me..."
Artoria angled her blade behind her and began to gather darkened mana along its edge while Mash for her part gripped the shield tighter and made sure that both Gudako and Olga were behind her right as Saber launched her attack,
"Partial Release- Excalibur… MORGAN!"
Mana flared off of Mash as she slammed her shield into the ground,
"LORD. CHALDEAS!"
A wall of translucent light expanded off of the shield forming the ramparts and towers of a fortified city right as the beam impacted. They collided hard enough that Mash was shoved back a bit but she managed to hold her ground as she held on, doing her best to maintain her Noble Phantasm. Gudako swore and quickly ran behind Mash, placing her hands on the girls back, and shoving what was left of her mana into the other girl right as the beam seemed to increase in strength.
"Master-!"
"Keep up Lord Chaldeas for as long as you can Mash! You need to be our castle! Our defense against all odds!"
Looking to her right she saw that Olga had joined her and had placed her hands on Mash's back as well. Blood was dripping from her mouth but the Director of Chaldea pushed on using her own life force to give the Shielder the extra edge needed to hold out. Suddenly the beam flashed out of existence and Mash let her Noble Phantasm fade as she fell to the cave floor. Gudako fell backwards onto her hands as Olga coughed blood into her hand while she fell to her knees.
"You… partially pass for now Shielder Servant."
Gudako looked at Saber and saw she was staring at the shielder with a mixture of wariness and approval before echoing laughter filled the cavern,
"Well done little insects. Truly well done… in the most pathetic way possible."
Gudako looked past Saber to see a tear in Reality below the orb out of which walked-
"Lev!? You're alive?! Why- Where have you been!?!"
Olga cried out as she tried to get up to run over to the man in green who only sneered in response as he extended his hand and snapped his fingers. Immediately Gudako was chained in place as Mash was chained completely to the ground unable to even move. She grit her teeth and managed to extend her right hand towards Ryujin who had watched all of this unfold eyes wide,
"By my Command spell-"
"Oh no. We can't have any of that now can we."
She felt her bond with the Ruler snap as Lev waved his hand and the purple chains holding the Ruler servant to the cave floor pinning her in place began to glow and burn into her flesh. The woman screamed past her bindings and Lev Lainur smiled, closing his eyes and smiling as though listening to a wonderful song,
"Beautiful… the dying screams of a Goddess. Truly I have been blessed to hear them… as for the rest of you rabble-"
"Lev! What is the meaning of this?! What- What are you doing! How are you here!? Why haven't you shown up to help until now!?!?"
Gudako turned her head enough to see that Olga was still sitting in place as though unable to stand. She flicked her eyes back to Lev as the man laughed and then looked at them all with mad eyes,
"'Help' you said? No, no, no Acting Director Olga Marie Animusphere. If I have given you cause to think I would help any of you maggots then let me correct you. I have never been on Chaldeas side. I have never been on your side. I have never been on humanities side. But before that I want to ask you a question: haven't you wondered what the reason is why you've not been able to cast any magecraft? The reason why your body feels the way it does? Have you not wondered? Examined yourself?"
Oiga fell silent at this as Gudako wondered what the man was talking about only for him to laugh again,
"My dear, dear fool of a Director. The truth of the matter is you've been dead this entire time and now you have but one purpose left…"
He snapped his fingers again and a hole in reality formed above the orb to show a molten Chaldeas as Lev laughed madly. Gudako heard Olga scream and quickly looked over to see that she had been floated up into the air and was moving slowly towards the hole
Towards the Molten Chaldeas.
"No! I don't- I don't want to die! I don't want to die like this! Not having done anything! I- Gudako! Help me! Please! Gudak-!"
Gudako struggled against her chains holding her in place and watched, utterly helpless, as Olga Marie Animusphere passed through the hole and screamed as she sank into the molten Chaldeas. Lev laughed again, sounding truly unhinged, as Olga's scream was silenced, and he looked at her again. She grit her teeth, glaring daggers at him, and the bastard licked his lips in response,
"Good…. Thats how you should look. Defiant until the very end. An end that has already been written. Humanity is gone girl. Turned to ash by my Master and yet I feel pity for you so I will tell you this before you die: Seven Singularities are the nails in Humanities coffin and as long as they exist… humanity never will. While I know you will attempt to travel to them and attempt to correct them I do wonder how far you'll get before despair consumes you. I wonder how you'll look as you die. Who will you pray to when the only God worth praying to is the very one that-"
Gunshots echoed from above as beams of golden light shot through Levs shoulder and torso causing him to yell in pain right as an explosion of blackened fire erupted from where Saber had been standing in silence. She shot backwards, her left arm dangling by a bit of flesh, and stabbed her sword into the cave floor, mana surging off of her moments before Gudako heard a french accented womans voice speaking english come from the lingering dust cloud,
"Bonjour my dear Saber~ Surely you haven't forgotten about me~?"
The dust was blown away by a pulse of mana she could only describe as hellish which let Gudako lay her eyes on the only person who had been able to put significant damage onto Saber. She had ankle length white hair, purple robes along with jet black armor, bright golden eyes, and a grin that would have made the devil blush. The woman pumped her arms and what looked like shotgun shells were ejected from her gauntlets as she got into an open handed combat stance,
"Come now~ That was just a love tap. Heal it off my dear Artoria. Surely you can reattach even a fully severed limb with your secret mana source can't you~?"
Secret mana source? What-
Mana surged off of Saber and Gudako's jaw fell open as tainted golden light shown from the servants right arm and when it faded even her armor was repaired. The white haired woman laughed evilly,
"Now we can dance to our hearts content~ Consider that arm payback for chopping off my leg."
"Who- wait- WHO DARES -AAARGH"
Lev screamed at the white haired woman who ignored him as more gunshots sounded followed by more beams that shot through him. Swearing, another tear in reality opened that he staggered towards,
"SABER. HERE ARE YOUR FINAL ORDERS: KILL ALL OF THEM AND MAKE THEM SUFFER."
Saber walked forward as a three back-to-back pulses of red mana came off of her. She held Excalibur Morgan in one hand and shot forward towards the white haired woman who just laughed and dodged out of the way,
"You should learn some new material Saber! I'll show you what I mean-"
A red and black glow pulsed off the woman as her gauntlets changed shape while something new appeared in her open palm. She spun it around her fingers and a gunshot sounded as Saber was blown backwards from a shotgun blast, blocking the shot with the flat of her blade, only for the shotgun to vanish into black and red embers as the power of the woman seemed to grow on itself,
"….You know me too well. Who are you?"
Saber asked warily as the woman chuckled,
"Who indeed~ Surely you remember the Fourth Grail War?"
She fell silent as the woman clicked her tongue sadly,
"And here I thought we were friends."
"I've never met you. Who are you?"
Gudako watched as blackened fire began to gather around the woman's feet that slowly rose off the floor to turn into a flaming black dragon's head. Both Dragon and woman grinned in a way that made her feel like she was staring at her own death as she summoned a flagspear into her right hand and a black sword into her left before settling into a combat stance. She grinned at Saber as the flames increased their intensity to the point where Gudako could feel the heat even from where she was,
"Vengeance incarnate Artoria Pendragon. Dance with me, Won't you?"
Mana surged off of the servants right as Gudako saw movement out of the corner of her eye near Ryujin causing her to turn her head and stare at the man who that came out of the now closing hole in the wall. He coughed up what looked like blood that he spat onto the rocky floor and had a golden-silver rifle in one hand that vanished into golden motes and silver feathers as he ran over to the Ruler and tried to pull the chains off of her. Gudako tried to move only for the chains holding her to not budge as she grit her teeth and glared at the man,
"GET ME FREE SO I CAN HELP TOO DAMMIT."
The man turned his head, glanced down at Ryujin who nodded as much as she could, and then he ran over to her as Gudakos stomach turned into more and more knots in the couple seconds it took for him to cross the distance. She stared opened mouthed as he got over to her and knelt down to yank on the chains,
"Ri- Ritsuka? Is that- You're-"
The man glanced up at her and she stared into her brothers eyes as he firmed his lips and turned his attention back to the chains,
"Good. You speak English. I need you-"
"YOU DIED. HOW ARE YOU HERE."
He looked back up at her with the exact same annoyed expression Ritsuka used to make,
"My name is not Ritsuka. I've never met you before today and if either of us want to make it past today then you need to shut up and use a command spell to get that servant out from those chains."
Gudakos mouth fell open and she stared at him before she growled,
"When we're out of this you're explaining to me why the fuck you have my dead brothers face and voice. And why the fuck do you sound French?!"
"Because I am French so-"
"YOU. ARE. JAPANESE."
The man slammed a hand over her mouth and glared at her as the two women continued fighting nearby. Rapidfire shockwaves blew past them as she stared into her brothers eyes,
"If you won't help then Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Otherwise use your fucking command spell. Saber has basically infinite mana and Je- Avenger, as much as she would love to claim otherwise, can't hold her off forever. We need to combine forces and at least disable Saber to stop her from killing us because we sure as fuck can't kill her outright as she is right now."
He took his hand off her mouth as she swallowed nervously right as more shockwaves blew past them. Looking over she saw the woman with the ankle length hair using fire from her palms and the heels of her boots to use 3d space to get around Saber's guard but it was clear that Saber was quickly getting used to her movement. She looked back at the mirror image of her brother as he got her right arm free and she grit her teeth holding out her right hand in the direction of her servant,
"By my Second Command Spell! Ruler! Come over to me!"
Ryujin vanished into golden particles and reappeared next to both her and the man,
"GUDAKO!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-"
The Purple chains shot out of the ground but just as quickly vanished into what looked like floating puddles of shadows as in rapid order several things happened. The man coughed up more blood onto the stone floor, she heard Saber yell in surprise, and saw that the purple chains had turned blue and were now wrapping around Saber forcing her to her knees but not without struggling first. The other woman took advantage of this and plunged her sword through Sabers chest before darkened lances shot through her limbs pinning her to the ground,
"Thats…. 2-0…. You bitch…."
She said as she fell backwards onto her hands before laying back fully onto the stone floor,
"Micheal… its done…."
"Got it. You did a great job."
"Yeah, yeah…"
The man frowned at the chains holding her down right as Ryujin placed her hand over his and gave him an odd look that Gudako couldn't figure out,
"Go. We'll be over shortly. Mash? If you can move can you come over here please?"
Mash started limping over to them as the man stood up and walked over to the woman and Saber who seemed content to sit there and glower at them. She looked back at her ruler servant and opened her mouth only for Ryujin to cut her off,
"We can trust them. Just… From what I could glean from scanning him his situation is… complicated," Her eyes flicked over to where the man had reached down to help up the woman only for her to brush him off and stagger upright on her own, "Both of their situations are complicated. I-"
"He's the mirror image of my dead brother Ryujin. The accent is different but I wouldn't mistake that voice or bearing or-"
Gudako barely held back her tears as Ryujin finally got the chains off of her, reconnected their bond, and then helped her stand up as Mash finally got close. She nodded to the pink haired girl and refocused on the only other three people in the room then started to limp over to them only for Ryujin to gently grab her wrist causing her to look back at her, her brow furrowed,
"Give them a chance. Thats all I ask of you."
Staring at her servant for a few seconds she looked back at the ashen haired woman and the man who was identical to her brother and grit her teeth before unclenching her jaw and hanging her head,
"….Fine. Just… let go Ruler."
Ryujin let go of her wrist and she walked over to the other group able to catch part of their conversation,
"-llshit. You actually don't remember taking off my leg."
The ashen haired woman had folded her arms and was clearly annoyed at Saber who was still pinned to the ground by the lances. If the servant was in pain she hid it well as she gave the other woman a withering glare,
"and I'm telling you that that was likely another me."
"Except you told me in Avalon that you remember every fucking timeline the fourth and fifth grail wars took."
Saber blinked and stared at the woman,
"Wait. You've been to-"
"Alright. Explanation time you two."
Gudako said glaring at them and folding her arms as they all turned to look at her,
"I appreciate you helping when you did but how I am to know you're not enemies."
The man glanced at the woman who was giving him an 'I told you so' look before he blew out his cheeks and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at her and she ignored the feeling that it was her brother as best as she could,
"Try reaching out to your… whatever the fuck its called."
"Chaldea. Bunch of bastards."
Gudako looked at the woman just gave her a flat look in response,
"Try to call this Chaldea place. I was told I need to speak to a Doctor there."
"Before you do…"
They all turned to look at Saber who was looking at each of them in turn,
"You all should know something. Consider this your reward for beating me… Micheal."
The man stiffened and looked at Saber concernedly as she smiled at him,
"This is the me in Avalon right now but I can't stay for long. This version of me isn't exactly the most comfortable version to be in."
As if on que the presence of the Saber servant shifted,
"Get the fuck out of me you coward king. My rule-"
The presence shifted again,
"See? I'll make this quick. Girl with the orange hair. What's your name."
She stiffened in place,
"Gudako Fujimaru."
"Gudako… You need to cleanse the seven singularities before defeating the one who has burned all of humanity. Trust your allies and your friends. Micheal and… Avenger."
Micheal and the ashen haired woman turned to look at the Other Saber speaking through Sabers body,
"Be safe."
He nodded as the presence faded and then sighed shaking his head right as the Altered Saber came back,
"ugh… that was… unpleasant…. All of you. You're journey is going to be long and full of trials. None of you have even gotten to the startline yet however I will advise both Gudako and Micheal on something."
They both looked at the servant as she began to fade into golden motes,
"Gudako. Don't be so quick to jump into harms way. Even with both you and Micheal at the helm you need to lean on each other. Which you can't do if one of you is dead."
She frowned at this and looked at Micheal to see him looking back at her as though evaluating her before Saber cleared her throat and gave him a deathglare,
"Be careful with my sisters Witchcraft. I don't know how you got it or who signed off on you using it-"
"Merlin. Merlin Signed off on it."
Avenger stated tiredly causing Gudakos mind to screech to a halt as Saber swore,
"Even more reason to not use it then. Now then, both of you, This marks the beginning of your Grand Order to restore humanity. Do not fail."
"I won't."
"Wasn't planning on it."
She looked at Micheal who just glanced at her and ran a hand over his face as Saber dissolved into golden motes. Not even a second later the silver bracelet on Gudakos wrist started beeping like mad and she held it up to glance at it when light projected off of it to take the form of Dr. Romani,
"Finally! We got a connection! Gudako, you and-"
He blinked and paused seeming to notice everyone else,
"Who-"
"I'll explain when I get back. I am in desperate need of a shower and to get a few hours of sleep in the bed that I haven't even had a chance to lay down in yet. So please tell me you've figured out a way to get me back Dr. Roman."
He paused as Micheal and Avenger walked forward,
"We'd like you to take us back to Chaldea with you. We're on the side of humanity."
Dr. Roman blinked and looked at both of them his eyes lingering on Avenger,
"I'm...hesitant to agree to that so-"
"Oh for fucks sake. Romani Archiman right?"
Avenger snapped as she glared daggers at the hologram of the man who seemed to stiffen in place,
"The Mage of Flowers sends his regards and wants to let you know that the lunch of the beauty offscreen to your right is burning in the microwave."
Dr. Roman went perfectly still before looking to his right for a few seconds moments before a woman with brown curled hair and fancy clothes ran up and shoved him aside. She stared at them her eyes glittering with excitement,
"We'll bring you all back! I see some of you have sustained injuries. I already have so many questions for both Micheal and the white haired Servant. As for the Ruler Servant a bit of time in the medbay will fix your arm right up. You're all not going to be in coffins so expect some nausea but focus on maintaining your sense of self until you get here. Rayshift in one minute!"
She ran out of frame and a disheveled Dr. Roman reappeared looking annoyed,
"You heard her. You aren't going to be in coffins which means you need to focus on your sense of selves when you are coming back…. Gudako. I want to run a check up on you when you've gotten back and rested a bit. See you all in a minute or so."
The hologram winked out and Gudako Fujimaru sighed, stretching her arms with her eyes closed, only to hear Micheal coughing awkwardly. She opened her eyes and saw he wanted to shake,
"Micheal Lafaire. Hope to not be too much of a burden."
She froze and stared at him as blue light began to envelop them,
"...Lafaire?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gudako rubbed her bruised knuckles and gingerly stretched her swollen fingers as she glared at Dr. Roman who was giving her his best strained patience look. He set down her chart onto his desk and sighed,
"Did you have to punch him?"
Turning to glare to the wall she said nothing and glowered in silence,
"I've taken care of the injuries that needed immediate attention. Everything else will be able to heal on its own time but Gudako-"
She flicked her amber eyes to look at him and saw he was frowning at her,
"Did he really say his name was Micheal Lafaire?"
Biting her tongue to stop her first response she seethed quietly for a few seconds before responding,
"Yes. The bastard said his name was Micheal Lafaire. Why?"
He shook his head clear and gave her a look,
"Just… nevermind. You're to take it easy for the next week. You need bedrest. You all need bedrest. So while yes, you're going to have to write a report on what all happened in Fuyuki, your first duty is to get better. Doctors Orders."
Her glare became less intense and she nodded silently causing Dr. Roman to hum approvingly. He picked her chart back up and read it a bit before looking at her critically as he opened his mouth to speak right as the door opened and the brunette woman in fancy clothes walked in. She paused seeing the both of them as Dr. Roman firmed his jaw,
"I am in the middle of a patient encounter Da Vinci. What is it."
Gudako blinked and looked at the woman more closely only for her mouth to fall open,
"Wait- I thought Leonardo Da Vinci was a man… why do you look like the Mona Lisa?"
"Because Gender and Sex are irrelevant in the face of Genius my dear."
The woman winked at her and smiled before giving Dr. Roman a look,
"I thought I'd let you know that we have the classes of the Servants that rayshifted back with Fujimaru and Lafaire. You're going to want to see both of them. Also have maintenance go to the server room. There's a glitch or something in the Servant database. A new servant entry that is completely unreadable."
Dr. Roman stiffened in place and turned fully to look at Da Vinci before turning back to her. He opened his mouth and she made a shooing motion with her hand,
"Go. I'm not going anywhere. Bedrest remember?"
He smiled a bit and got up, walked past Da Vinci, and left the room. In the silence that followed Gudako tried to ignore the look Leonardo Da Vinci was giving her but eventually met the…
She frowned,
"Okay I have to call you something. Would you rather me use male or female pronouns?"
Da Vinci laughed and walked forward to sit in Dr. Romans empty chair scooting it closer to the bed before turning around and crossing one leg over the other in a single fluid motion,
"Either/or, but given my current appearance I would assume female pronouns would be easier, yes?"
Gudako nodded as Da Vinci leaned back into her chair seemingly content to watch her,
"Is there any reason why you're staring at me? Its a bit unnerving."
The other woman blinked and then chuckled,
"Apologies but you just have such a fascinating mana color signature."
Gudako looked at Da Vinci confused,
"What do you mean-"
"You know that every persons mana is coloured correct? Mana takes on aspects of the persons magecraft and/or spells then from there their mana begins to change colour. Depending on the colors we then assign an Alignment to the person. Lawful Good. Neutral Evil. Chaotic Neutral, etc. Its why people who are 'good' can have an Alignment of Chaotic Evil to give an example."
She nodded and tilted her head at Da Vinci who's smile widened,
"And? What does mine look like?"
"All of them and none of them."
"….Excuse me?"
"I mean your mana that contains colors from every possible alignment while also being none of them. Its… Fascinating honestly."
"Wouldn't that make me True Neutral then?"
The other woman chuckled a bit,
"You would think that but True Neutral has its own defined color. If I had to describe it… Its like your the most 'human' human I've ever seen."
Gudako gave her a flat look,
"...Thanks? I guess? What about Lafaire then? I assume you've met with him."
"Nope~," Da Vinci said popping the 'p' as she grinned, "I wanted to meet with you first although once he is cleared to be visited I will be immediately dropping whatever I am doing to go talk with him. Speaking of Lafaire that was quite the right hook young lady."
As if on que her knuckles and fingers throbbed and she winced a little looking down at her hand,
"Wasn't expecting him to defensively reinforce just his jawbone. I didn't even sense any mana in him so how-"
"One of the many things we're planning on figuring out. Trust me. A Magus with no circuits yet is able to cast magecraft is unheard of."
Da Vinci shook her head a bit leaning back into the chair,
"So where is he right now?"
"Are you going to attack him again?"
"Depends on if he pisses me off."
She huffed a single laugh and closed one eye while looking at her with the other,
"Then I will have to decline sharing where he is right now with you. He's even more beat up than you are."
Gudako frowned and turned to lay back into the hospital bed gingerly lifting her legs up and onto it as she laid back.
"One more question before I kick you out to get some sleep."
"Oho? And whats that?"
"Did… Did Olga-"
Da Vinci's teasing smile fell as she grew solemn and shook her head,
"I'm sorry but… no."
Gudako closed her eyes and laid her head fully back onto the pillow as she felt exhaustion slam into her on all sides. She heard Da Vinci get up from the chair before she felt the womans hand on her shoulder,
"You did everything you could. Now get some rest like Romani said."
Humming an agreement she kept her eyes closed as Da Vinci squeezed her shoulder a bit before pulling away to listen to the womans heels clack to the door which hissed open and then closed with that same hiss. Gudako opened her eyes and stared at the now dimly lit ceiling before she sat up a bit and glanced at her command seals.
She frowned and focused on the bond between her and Ryujin imagining the string connecting the two of them again feeling it slowly come back into focus until finally,
(| Master? Everything okay? |)
~| Just wanted to make sure you were okay is all. Is your arm… |~
She heard chuckling from the other end,
(| Servants are giant masses of mana and when given enough mana we can grow back limbs by directing that same mana to form the new limb. We usually have to be in spirit form for it to happen though. |)
~| So…. |~
(| Yes I have my arm back. I… appreciate you checking in on me though. This will take some getting used to to say the least. |)
~| What will? |~
(| Being treated like a person again. The only one who did was my husband. Needless to say across my various summonings I've generally… only been seen as a tool or weapon to be used as needed. |)
~| When you have a chance… I'd like to hear about him. Your husband I mean. |~
Gudako sensed hesitation from Ryujin as the Servants end of the connection became colored a bit by emotion. She waited until the colors went away and smiled to herself when Ryujin responded back a bit sounding a bit embarassed,
(| I'll… consider it. Just- I- |)
~| You loved him a lot didn't you. |~
(| ….Yes. He was… my entire world. I… wouldn't be who I am without him. Knowing that he's not… here... Hurts… more than I thought it would. |)
~| Is that your wish then? To be reunited with him? |~
(| Yes… and no. Rulers tend to not have wishes but… I'll explain at some point I promise. so- |)
~| There's no rush so take your time with it. I just want to know more about you is all and I figured asking about your husband would be a good starting point. Sorry if… I brought up bad memories. |~
Silence over the bond before soft chuckling,
(| You didn't. Get some rest okay? |)
Almost immediately Gudako felt her eyelids get heavy as she laid back into the hospital bed a soft smile on her lips feeling sleep pulling at her. However she stayed awake long enough to send a response back,
~| You… too… Ryujin….. |~
=Intermission=
-Romani's PoV-
"What do you mean its corrupted?"
Romani rubbed his temple with his fingers as the engineer gave him an annoyed look,
"I mean that the entry isn't readable in any way due to- Look. We have entries on the servants we summoned before like Da Vinci, bar the one that fused with Kyrielight, and the ones that rayshifted back with Fujimaru and that Lafaire guy. Only two servants came back with them: a Ruler and an Avenger."
Folding his arms he stared at the monitor which showed the servant profiles for the Ruler Servant, Ryujin-no-kami, and the Avenger Servant, Jeanne D'Arc Alter. Putting aside his concerns on the fact an Avenger servant was on the side of humanity, not to mention her own story on where she came from that they couldn't even start to begin to verify, what concerned him more was the entry immediately between the two of them.
He looked at the entries again from left to right noting that they started with Mash Kyrielight as a Shielder then it was Ryujin and then after her but before Jeanne Alter was a third entry that was nothing but corrupted data. Leaning forward over the keyboard he once again opened the corrupted entry to be met with nothing but symbols, letters, and characters from the world over. He narrowed his eyes and scrolled through the entry trying once again to find any pattern.
"We got Da Vinci to look at it as well."
The engineer said sourly,
"She's positive its not written in code which only makes this more frustrating. I know the system inside and out. Hell I was one of the people who built the damn thing but in none of the testing before we lost the rest of Humanity did anything like this crop up."
Romani sighed and stood fully upright as he once again assumed the unfamiliar but heavy mantle of the Director of Chaldea,
"Okay. We have to assume then that a Servant, or similar, managed to break into the Rayshift as it was happening or somehow broke into Chaldea."
He shook his head and decided to ask another question to the command room at large,
"What about the Seven Singularities? Any update on those?"
"We've ascertained the rough location of one of them. As for time periods we're still confirming but should have the data on it in a few days. Data's too scrambled on the other six to make heads or tails of anything other than the fact they exist."
Came the voice of one of the staff from nearby as Romani walked back to the chair that was both his prison and his throne. He sat down in it and closed his eyes briefly tempted to try and sleep only for a womans voice to come from his right,
"So? How goes it Romani?"
He looked over his shoulder at Da Vinci and offered a lopsided smile,
"Every inch forward seems to put us three inches back is how its going Da Vinci."
She hummed a bit a this and walked to stand by him to scrutinize the displays,
"So no update on the corrupted Servant entry then or the singularities."
"The entry just has to go onto the backburner for now. If a servant did somehow come back with them then they'll have to show up to get mana to sustain themselves which would show up on the reactors much like it did when Jeanne Alter and Ryujin connected to them."
Da Vinci nodded and sighed before leaning forward to tap through some screens eventually stopping on a series of lines that looked like seismograph readings. She paused and leaned down to read them before glancing over her shoulder at him,
"Any update on our mystery particle then?"
He groaned,
"Nothing. All we know is that wherever we are in space time we are getting a steady stream of them from somewhere. We don't even know what the particles are aside from the fact that they only show up on mana detectors."
"So we at least know that they are magical then. What are the odds its a servant emitting the particles?"
He scoffed and gave her a look,
"The fact your asking me means you tried to figure that out yourself over the past few days only to be met with no success. Lets assume that the particles are coming from a Servant. What could we even do? Nothing. We could do nothing. We don't have the manpower to do more than scan them every so often and expecting the staff to keep working like they have been for the past week is inhumane."
Da Vinci looked back at the lines and then stood up seeming to have come to a decision. She turned to Romani and folded her arms,
"If its a matter of manpower then all we need to do is increase it."
That got his attention,
"Its too soon. They just back and are still recovering-"
"And nothing. If we get attacked right now we only have myself, A shielder with next-to-no combat experience, a single Ruler Servant, and a single Avenger Servant to fight back. We at least need to summon more Servants if only to get the majority of the seven standard classes on staff for defense purposes."
She tapped the screen with the lines on it again with a finger,
"If these are coming from a Servant then we need to be prepared to fight off something or someone that can emit particles that are able to sustain themselves through whatever void in spacetime we are in right now."
He looked at her and sighed, hanging his head,
"Give… Give them time to get acclimated to… all of this. Thats all I ask. I know what you're saying but… if any of what Lafaire told us is true then he's about to have a hell of a culture shock and the last thing we need to do is burden him with more servant contracts."
"A month. Thats the most I can give them Romani. We need to be able to defend ourselves since…."
She trailed off and Romani Archiman smiled grimly as he finished her sentence,
"Since we're all thats left."