Chapter Text
Chapter 4: Orleans . . Or Not
"Are you sure we can't keep them in medical observation for a couple of days?" Dr. Roman pressed as the surviving members of Chaldea, as well as their new recruits, assembled in the command room. "They Rayshifted with their bodies. Not the proper spirit only method we'd intended to use. There is no telling what kind of side effects that might have had,"
"I appreciate your concerns, Romani, but we don't have time. We are in a very bad situation, and we need to get on top of it." Olga-Marie asserted. With that, she swept into mission control, which had been mostly repaired thanks to Da Vinci's magecraft. "Is everyone here?"
"Mash is currently in a medically induced coma, and so is everyone who didn't just die in the explosions, including the other forty-five Master Candidates. But everyone who's awake and alive should be in this room. Raise your hand if you're not here?" Dr. Roman weakly joked.
The thirty-odd occupants of the room were silent, save for a stifled cough.
"Sheesh, tough crowd. Well, Director, begin whenever you're ready,"
"Right. Well, a certain rumour has been circulating, thanks to a couple of interns who couldn't keep their mouths shut. Tomlin, Octavia," Olga-Marie glared at the pair. "So I'm going to make this apparent to everyone; so far as we can tell, it is true. Whoever our enemy is, whatever might be the true identity of this King who was pulling that fake Lev's strings -"
"Are we certain that Lev was an impostor?" Da Vinci weighed in as Olga-Marie paused for breath. "He did say he'd been 'stringing you along for years', so -"
"He was fake!" Olga-Marie insisted. "But his words, so far as we can tell, were true. All attempts to communicate with the world outside Chaldea - even locations as physically close as the other facilities in Antarctica - have failed. The Near-Future Observation Lens SHEBA is unable to detect the presence of human life anywhere on Earth. The people here in this building are, to our knowledge, the only surviving humans remaining on the planet,"
Gasps and low murmurs ran around the room, several expressions contorting into panic.
"But we still have a chance! So far as we can tell, this destruction of humanity in fire has come about as a result of temporal distortion. This means that it can be reversed!"
The crowd quietened at her gesturing, and she continued. "To be quite frank, the details are over my head, but according to our resident genius Da Vinci, our enemy has done this by creating Singularities at certain points in history. We don't know how many of these there are, but SHEBA has already identified three of them. The first three Singularities that we have managed to lock onto are in Orleans, France, the year 1431, Rome in the year 64 AD, and the Pacific Ocean in the year 1577 AD,"
"Since I know most magi can't tell their dynasties from their dysentery," Da Vinci took over the narration, and pouted when no one laughed. "These are all crucial points in history. Orleans in 1431 was a key point in the Hundred Years War between Britain and France, when the Saint Jeanne d'Arc was executed. 64 AD was the Great Fire of Rome. Finally, 1577 was the year Francis Drake began his circumnavigation of the globe, the height of the Age of Exploration. Each of these events are quantum time-locked; they had major repercussions for the development of humanity, and make up necessary parts of the Foundation of Humanity. Our enemy has subverted these events, changing their outcome, and created Singularities around them as a result. Therefore, much like the Fuyuki Singularity, these new Singularities need to be resolved. That's where our Masters come in,"
All attention swivelled to Nikki, Tyler and Era, and the four Servants lounging around them. Tyler choked and coughed, quailing under the attention, while Nikki remained blasé and Era all but preened.
"Nikki and Tyler. No one wants to ask this of you when you're still recovering, but you're the best we have and you've already established successful contracts with Servants," Olga-Marie began. "You represent -"
"Hang on, why are you only talking to those two? What about me?" Era demanded.
"Era," Dr. Roman took over the conversation. "It's bad enough that we're asking a pair of college students to save the world. You're eleven. There is no possible way we're letting you go to another one of these dangerous Singularities,"
"I can handle it!" the young girl hotly protested. "I did fine in the first Singularity! Or at least just as well as those two did!"
"We don't need you to do this. Two Masters is enough," Olga-Marie interjected. "If we were to send you in, and something were to happen to you . . please don't make me responsible for the death of a child," she begged.
Something in her eyes must have gotten through to Era, because she faltered, and grumbled. "We'll see about that,"
"With that settled," Da Vinci declared, "we haven't been able to discern much about the Singularities, but it looks like the one that's most stable is Orleans. By 'stable', I mean that we can do a partial scan for strong magic signatures, and Orleans has the fewest of those, so relatively speaking we expect it to be the safest of the three Singularities. Which brings me to the mission briefing!"
"Ahem," Olga-Marie nudged her aside with an indignant look. "Yes, the mission briefing. Tyler, Nikki. Servants. We believe that each of these Singularities also has an aberrant Holy Grail within it that is sustaining the divergence from history. Presumably, they were planted there by Lev or his unknown co-conspirators. Naturally, your primary objective is to disable the Singularity by removing the Grail and returning it to Chaldea. Or destroying it. Whatever works. However, under the circumstances, we have a secondary objective!"
Everyone waited as she paused for effect, which was not something that Olga-Marie had wanted to happen. Out of the corner of her lips, she squeaked in falsetto, "What's that, Director?"
As though someone else had just spoken, Olga-Marie continued. "I'm glad you asked. With Mash Kyrielight out of commission, we have lost access to the catalyst we used for the initial summon until such a time as she wakes up and can re-manifest her shield. Which, apparently, is the Round Table. And anyone who can explain to me how that happened without my knowing about it will be getting a promotion!" she half-yelled, half-sobbed, and cast angry looks around the room as though daring someone to provide the answers she sought.
"The second objective?" Tyler prompted, stifling a cough.
"Yes! Right! Without Mash or any other catalysts, we are unable to summon any new Servants. But it is a known phenomenon that Rogue Servants will be summoned by the Counter Force in large-scale Singularities for the sake of helping to correct the distortions in history. Furthermore, the Holy Grails in the Singularities are highly likely to be being used by someone to summon Servants. And as if that wasn't enough, Da Vinci also theorises that the Counter Force, in response to a Holy Grail being used to summon Servants, might chain summon Rogue Servants to maintain some manner of cosmic balance,"
"Simply put, the worse things get, the more Servants will be sent in by the world to try to fix it," Da Vinci summarised, and Olga-Marie nodded at her, hiding her embarrassment over having wasted so many words.
"That sounds like a lot of Servants could pop up," Era guessed.
"Correct! So, your secondary objective is recruitment! If you get the opportunity, make contact and establish good relations with any stray Servants you encounter. Try to get them to agree to a contract with you. If we can recruit more Servants in Orleans, we can then bring them back here and have them lend their power to solving the other Singularities. Don't worry about energy cost, Chaldea's generators can handle it. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am," Nikki nodded.
"You got it!" Tyler agreed, then cleared his throat.
"This means you have to be nice," the former whispered to Altria.
"I shall do my utmost, but should some fool decide not to treat me with due respect, the consequences of their actions shall be on their own heads. If they still have them," the corrupted king retorted, arms folded. Nikki sighed and accepted that was the best she was going to get.
"Good. Well, if that's sorted, then -" Olga-Marie cut herself off as Tyler was overcome with another coughing fit.
"Ah, Tyler, my boy? Are you alright?" Dr. Roman fretted, rising from his seat and moving over to the Master.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just had a weird tickle in my throat since we got ba-a-achoo!" Tyler suddenly sneezed, which was fine on its own.
Less fine was the bright orange ball of flame that splattered across the metal ground, leaving a spray of sparks and embers at their feet.
The room fell silent.
". . did that fire just come out of me?" Tyler faintly whispered.
To Dr. Roman's credit, the head of the medical department recovered quickly. "Infirmary. Now!"
X
"Okay," Dr. Roman slid away from a terminal on his office chair and exhaled, rubbing his eyes. "I have figured out the problem,"
"Is this because of that fever I had before the Singularity? There aren't any fevers that make you breathe fire, right?" Tyler questioned.
"No, no, it's nothing like that. If I understand all this right - and I'm not confident I do - your little bout of flaming mucus is the result of three factors converging. The first, is that Noble Phantasm Georgios used on you. Or, should I say, that you let Georgios use on you, which was very irresponsible and I can't believe you were actually that stupid! It could have done anything to you! It did do this to you!" Dr. Roman snapped.
"R-right . . sorry, doc. He just looked like he needed it," Tyler apologetically offered.
"Just don't make a habit of it, okay . . still, that damn dragon slayer didn't explain his Noble Phantasm accurately. It didn't just manifest your spirit in the form of a dragon, it manifested your spirit and added the 'Dragon' quality to it temporarily. The key word there is 'temporarily', normally it should have worn off on its own after a day, with no adverse effects,"
"But," Tyler prompted.
"Factor numero two-oh!" Romani crowed, raising two fingers. "The Rayshift. There's a reason Rayshifting flesh is frowned upon, it basically takes you apart, transports you, and then puts you back together exactly as you were. Which is fine, if you're in a normal state of being, but you went and turned bits of yourself into 'dragon'. Thanks to the Rayshift, the reversion process that would have turned those bits of you human again has been . . what's the word I'm looking for . ."
"Delayed? Lengthened?" the Master guessed.
"Hm, no, I'd say 'cancelled'. Or if I was feeling especially dramatic, 'obliterated'. The reversion's just not happening anymore. The bits of you that became 'dragon' are gonna stay 'dragon', permanently. And we don't have any way of reversing the process. I honestly don't know if there's anything that canreverse the process,"
"So . . that's it? I'm stuck with a bit of dragon blood in me?"
"Yes, but it really shouldn't matter, and I don't understand why it's becoming a problem in the first place. If I rounded up, I could call you maybe two percent dragon? Definitely not enough to matter," Dr. Roman frowned. "You shouldn't even be capable of outputting the right kind of energy for these parts of you to not just go dormant. Shich leads me to the third factor. Something's fuelling you, making the dragon parts come alive, and I don't know what,"
"That's -" Tyler cut himself off, heading a sharp intake from Saber Lily, who'd been hovering at the edge of the room. "Lily?"
"It's my fault," she realised, guilt crossing her features.
Dr. Roman cast her a surprised look. "Elaborate?"
"Even like this, I'm still a version of Artoria Pendragon. My Saint Graph contains a Dragon Reactor Core," she explained.
"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Tyler asked
"It means I have a dragon's capacity for prana, rather than a human's, and as a side effect my magic energy is that of a dragon," Lily summarised. "Our contract isn't simply a one-way transferral of mana from you to me, it's much more than that. It sounds as though the dragon energy inside me is flowing, so to speak, back up towards you,"
"Huh. That would explain it, yeah," Dr. Roman agreed. He saw that the Master's row was still furrowed in confusion. "You know Pokémon, right? Think of it as all her magic is Dragon-Type," he summarised.
"You know Pokémon?" was Tyler's main takeaway from this, as he folded his arms and raised a knowing eyebrow.
"That's not relevant. Thanks to your contract, her Dragon-Type magic is bleeding back through to you. The dragon bits of you would normally remain dormant, but with her magic in your system, they're getting power that you shouldn't be able to give them and turning on,"
"I see. Is there a way to stop that?" Tyler questioned.
"Maybe. I'll ask Da Vinci to look into it. I mean, the obvious solution would be to break your contract with Lily, but we can't really afford that can we?"
"If I may, Master?" Lily's eyebrows inched upwards.
"Shoot,"
"I know this is probably out of line for me to suggest, but . . perhaps we shouldn't be looking for that sort of solution. Not just yet, at any rate,"
Tyler cast her a surprised but thoughtful look. Taking it as a cue, Lily kept talking. "It's just, that, with this new mission that we must embark on, I'm worried for your safety. I don't know that I'll be able to protect you, I . . can't help but doubt myself, after manifesting in this form," she mumbled, shame creeping into her tone. "Perhaps, if you learn to harness this strange gift . . it might be a useful ace in the hole,"
"Lily. So far, you're doing great. I have faith in you," Tyler assured her with a smile.
She didn't look convinced, but smiled nonetheless. "Thank you . ."
"Right. So, Dr. Roman, what do we know about what this is going to do to me?"
"I have no idea at all," Dr. Roman raised his hands defensively at the irritated look Tyler was shooting him. "What? You're one of maybe twenty people to ever Rayshift in the world, and considering we've never before seen Saint George as a Servant you're probably the only human ever to get hit with his Noble Phantasm. The data we would need to try to predict what'll happen just doesn't exist. Really, all we can do is monitor you and hope for the best,"
"I see," Dissatisfied but realising there was nothing more he could hope for, Tyler stood. "One last question. Can I still Rayshift to Orleans and help solve the Singularity?"
"As far as I can tell, there's no reason you shouldn't. At least, nothing I can put my finger on besides a general bad feeling," Dr. Roman admitted. "But there's something you should be forewarned about. The majority of the 'dragonisation', to coin a term, is in your spirit. The proper Rayshift procedure that we'll be using this time projects your spirit as a body into the Singularity, rather than sending your actual body there. For as long as you're in the Singularity, you might find the dragon bits are much more pronounced than they would be otherwise. What exactly that'll look like, though, I couldn't tell you,"
"Right. Well, thanks for the warning. I'll remember it if I find myself with a tail when I get there," he weakly joked.
"Heh. Well, the Director said she wanted you ready to Rayshift as soon as I could give you the all-clear, and nothing short of impending death would let her accept not giving you the all-clear. So, I'm not thrilled to say this, but go see if Da Vinci's ready for the next Rayshift yet," Dr. Roman instructed.
"Wait, we're going today? But we only just got back from Fuyuki, and," Tyler glanced at the clock. "Is it really only half past four?"
It was only seven and a half hours ago that Director Olga-Marie had been giving a briefing on the mission. Only six hours since he'd summoned Saber Lily. Only one since they'd gotten back from Fuyuki. Only twenty minutes since they'd confirmed that the world outside Chaldea no longer existed.
His life had turned entirely upside-down in less than a single nine-to-five shift.
"Ah. Yeah, that's a good point. It's been a long day already, everyone deserves some rest. The residential wing's just down the corridor, did you get a room assigned to you after all that?"
"Of course, I've been here since yesterday," he mumbled.
"Good, well how about you go find an unoccupied room for Lily out there to sleep in, then settle down and get some rest? I'll go talk to Olga-Marie and make up something about you needing to sleep off some medicine and not being ready to go until tomorrow, okay?"
Tyler blinked. "You'd really lie to your boss just so I can get some rest?"
"You're not the only one," Dr. Roman stifled a yawn. "Everything's been very stressful today and everyone's tired. The Director, though, is the sort of person who'll just keep beating her head against a brick wall until she collapses, and she expects everyone else to follow suit. This is half me using you as an excuse to get some downtime of my own. So don't feel too grateful or anything, okay?" He winked.
"Hah. You got it, doc. See you at dinner?"
"Oh, right, the excuse won't fly if you show up to the cafeteria tonight. Send Lily to bring you some grub, kay?"
"Ah, right. Got it," Tyler hesitated at the door and glanced at one of the other beds. "How's Mash?"
Dr. Roman winced. "Well, she's alive, thanks to you and the others, which is honestly amazing. As for when she'll wake up or if we can heal the damage to her legs? I've honestly no idea. All we can do is wait and hope,"
" . . I understand," With that, he left.
X
"Oh, uh, Era, can you stay a moment?" Olga-Marie asked as everyone left the briefing room.
"Yes, Director?" the young master grumpily asked, Sita hovering over her.
"You're the only reason I'm still alive," she admitted.
". . Huuuh?"
"It was that protective charm I took from you right before the bombs went off. Your big sister does good work, it completely protected me from the blast. I just, um, wanted to thank you. Even if you didn't really do anything," the Director refused to meet Era's eyes, scratching the back of her neck.
"Aww. You're welcome!" she beamed. "Does that mean you'll let me go to the Singularities?"
"Absolutely not!"
"I can do it, though! I can handle it! It's not like I'll be alone, Tyler and Nikki will protect me and so will Sita!" Era argued.
"That doesn't make it okay to send a child into a war zone!" Olga-Marie retorted.
"And what if there's no other choice?" Era quietly asked.
All the senior mage could say in response to this was; "Well, hopefully it won't come to that,"
X
Half an hour later, Nikki finally found her way back to her room - only to see Altria packing things into a box. "What are you doing?"
"I am disposing of the possessions of this Ophelia person, so that there is adequate space for my accomodations," the Servant easily replied.
"No, I mean, why are you in my room? Mine and Ophelia's room. Not yours!"
"Because Ophelia is indisposed indefinitely, and I desire to share accomodations with my Master. In the likely event that you should be attacked in your sleep, I shall be ready to defend you,"
"I don't think that's likely," Nikki frowned.
"Do you not? You're a Magus, you must be aware of how that world operates. Do you honestly disbelieve that anyone on staff would be unable to tell themselves something such as 'We've got two other Masters, it'll be fine if I kill one and take her Command Seals for myself. Once I've Servants of my own, I can just order them to kill anyone who speaks out against me',"
Nikki opened her mouth to object. Then she thought about it.
"You understand my point," Altria nodded after a moment with no counter, declaring the matter settled.
"But why you? Why not Astolfo? You know, my first Servant, who actually answered my summon?"
"Because if I recall correctly, in this era there are taboos about a boy and a girl sharing a room unless they're family or in a relationship," Altria pointed out.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Astolfo?" Nikki tilted her head in honest confusion.
Altria blinked. "You . . are aware that Astolfo is a man, yes?"
"No, she's - but -" She spluttered. "What?!"
X
Astolfo sneezed. "Someone must be talking about me. Also, not sure why but I feel like I should be doing something interesting right now,"
"Oi, stop daydreaming and help me set up the backup Coffins!" Da Vinci yelled at him.
"Right! Coming! Oh, by the by, I almost forgot but I kinda sorta need a new sword. You got any going spare?"
Da Vinci paused and considered the request. "I think there's something in storage that you might get some use out of,"
X
Altria looked disdainfully at the platter of food she'd been given by the kitchen staff. It was half past six, and the cafeteria had just opened for dinner. "This is insufficient ro satisfy me, in terms of both quality and quantity. The former I shall overlook, but I insist that you rectify the latter,"
"Sorry, but we don't serve seconds until everyone's been served," The chef, Cayenne, offered her an apologetic smile. "Especially because, if I remember right, Servants only need mana and eat recreationally, so I really shouldn't be giving you . ." She trailed off, taking in the furious storm of implied violence that lurked behind Altria's eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, Altria was just starting on her third helping of hamburger beef when Lily, carrying a tray, slid into the seat next to her. "We didn't really get a chance to talk, earlier," she coolly pointed out.
"If you would speak, then speak. But do not expect me to respond to you whilst I am eating," the older Saber told her.
"Very well then. This food is to be delivered to my Master, and I doubt that he would be pleased if I let it go cold, so I shall be brief," Lily primly assured her. "We are deploying tomorrow, together, and will be expected to fight side by side. I want to make sure that we have cleared the air, so to speak,"
"I have no objections to your nature, nor to your presence. You are me as I once was, that's all," Altria said without looking at her, taking another mouthful of food.
"Yes, but -" Lily stammered for a minute. "How can you be so matter-of-fact about this?"
The older Saber swallowed, and heaved out a sigh. "Look. Whatever issue you think exists between us? It's all in your head. You don't like what I have become . . no. It terrifies you to think that you could at some point become me," Her guess was rewarded with a flinch, and a smile tugged at her lips.
"I . . just . . I know what happened to you, and yet . ." Lily trailed off.
"Why should what happened to me affect you at all?" Altria turned the discourse on its head.
"Because . . at some point, you were me," Lily muttered.
"I never sat in the cafeteria of an observatory at the end of the world and talked to an older version of myself," she evenly retorted. "Our paths have diverged. Now, you are here, where I never was,"
"I . . just . ." Lily collected herself, thinking, and speaking. "I cannot understand how any version of myself could have become you,"
"Good. Maintain that state of affairs," Altria brusquely told her, taking another mouthful.
"What?"
For a long moment, she chewed, and then swallowed. "If you cannot imagine becoming me, then you will never become me," Altria finally assured her.
Lily's expression scrunched up. "That should be comforting, and yet . ."
"Do you still feel that you are inferior somehow as a Servant? Why?" Altria frowned, folding her arms. "You are a version of Artoria Pendragon yourself, are you not?"
"Well, yes, I am . . I know most of the things that happened to her - me - us," Lily corrected herself twice over, "during our lifetime. And yet, everything that happened after pulling the Sword of Selection from the stone . . It is as though I read it in a book. Or, more accurately, watched it in one of these movies that I've heard exist in this era. All of the accomplishments that Artoria Pendragon's legend consists of . . I'm not the person who did all that. An existence such as me should not be here, in place of the true version of me. It's," She paused, casting a glance at her altered self.
"Speak," Altria cajoled her. Her features softened, and she offered a smile. "Get it off your chest, as people say in this era,"
"Very well . . I don't know that I can live up to that responsibility. I don't doubt that things would be better for Chaldea if my adult self were here instead," Lily shook her head and sighed minutely. "I certainly don't feel as though I am the legendary hero who will stand at the vanguard of the forces who will save this world,"
"You're better suited for it than me," Altria told her with a grimace.
"How do you mean?"
"You don't understand what it means, to be an Alter, and I can hardly blame you. We Servants are manifestations of legends. To corrupt a Servant, you must corrupt their legend," She shook her head. "I failed. Everything that went right for Artoria Pendragon, went wrong for me. Mine is a fictional, hypothetical history of filth and failure, a story extrapolated from the endpoint that you see before you. All those traits that made her so incredible? None of them exist in me. Her feats of heroism and valour? Stricken from my record. They were the price I paid to continue living. An impossible choice . . and one that I can't help but regret when I look at you," she admitted in a low voice.
Biting her lip, Lily offered her a guilty, apologetic expression. "I'm sorry for judging you. It wasn't fair,"
"No. You were right," Altria shook her head. "I'm a pathetic wretch. A pale imitation. It wouldn't surprise me if it were my fault that you appeared in Fuyuki; the lingering traces of Artoria Pendragon that were purged from me serving as an intangible, invisible catalyst," She shook her head. "This isn't about me, though. You may not be the hero who will save the world . . but you can become her. You're the Artoria who is still in training? Then train. Learn. Grow strong. Become that hero,"
"You're right. I will," Lily offered a solemn nod, then smiled at her. "How could I not, with such a capable teacher here to guide me?"
The Alter nodded, then froze. "Hold on, what?"
Lily giggled. "Was that a casual speech pattern? So you can speak in a manner that's normal for this era!"
"The knowledge of the modern world that I received during my summoning is none of your concern, least of all how it might interfere with my decorum," Altria snorted.
"Personally, I think you'll find it easier to get along with people if you try to use modern speech patterns," Lily advised her.
"I don't see you doing anything of the sort,"
"No, but I make it sound cute," she asserted with the radiant smile of a perfect little girl for whom butter would not melt in her mouth.
". . I take your point, but what do you mean, teacher?" Altria pressed.
"Don't worry about it. I'll just learn by example," With that, she sauntered off, cheerily humming to herself.
Altria watched her go, refusing to admit to herself that she was stifling a smile. ". . Was I really like that at some point?"
X
The morning dawned bright and early, or so the clocks said. Naturally, the sky was as grey and overcast as it ever was in the Antarctic mountain ranges that surrounded the observatory of Chaldea.
Not that this meant anything to the haggard zombie that shambled into the cafeteria. "Braaaaain . . is asleep," Tyler mumbled, pawing at the counter. "Need coffee,"
Once he'd had his caffeine fix, the Masters converged in the Rayshift room, where the soft blue glow of CHALDEAS bathed the room in gentle warmth.
"Everyone!" Director Olga-Marie's voice broadcast over the speakers. "I'm happy to welcome you all back. We all know what we need to be doing. Nikki, Tyler. Astolfo, Lily, and, uh, Altria. Into the Coffins! Rayshift technicians, prepare the uplinks!"
The three command staff of Chaldea watched the people below busy themselves with the minutiae, and Dr. Roman watched the vitals come online one by one.
"Ready? Excellent! I declare that now that we are here, the First Order has officially ended and the Grand Orders have now begun!"
"The what?" Nikki's voice sounded from a terminal, transmitted from the Coffin, and Da Vinci hissed into a microphone; "It's something she made up because she thought it sounded cool and save-the-world-ish. If anyone asks, Fuyuki is now 'Singularity F',"
"Ahem! Is everyone ready?"
"Coffins, standing by," Dr. Roman reported.
"Coordinates locked on. Existence verification primed and ready," Da Vinci added.
"Good then!" Olga-Marie declared. "Let's save the world," With that, she hit the switch.
The computer's voice filled the air. "Unsummon Program, Start. Spiritron Conversion initiated in T-minus 60 seconds,"
Olga-Marie's lips twisted. "In sixty seconds, we will begin saving the world,"
For a moment, there was no sound save the impatient tapping of the director's foot.
"Spiritron Conversion initiated in T-minus 30 seconds,"
A shrill cry split the somber atmosphere. "Would you get on with it already?!"
Da Vinci surreptitiously accelerated the countdown.
"Rayshifting staring in 3, 2, 1. All procedures cleared. Grand Order, commencing operation,"
For the five Masters and Servants, everything went white. Astolfo whooped.
X
Tyler slammed into the ground, his face meeting the dirt. He slid down an incline, bounding off rocks and trees, before finally coming to rest in a bush.
He groaned in pain, and mumbled, "It's too early for this,"
Something poked his ass. "Boy, stand up," the familiar voice of Altria demanded.
Tyler struggled to his feet, and suddenly Dr. Roman's warning about the draconic corruption of his spirit being made manifest in the Singularities flashed back to his mind. With a cold sweat running down his back, he looked himself over. As far as he could tell, his body was normal. "Uh, Altria? Does any part of my body look dragon-like to you?"
"No, you appear to me to be entirely human. If this is about the dragonic contamination, you oughtn't concern yourself. If it happens, then it happens, but it has not so presumably it shall not. Now, where are the remainder of our allies?" Altria looked around, and as if on cue a distant thump echoed through the trees.
"Ow," Lily mumbled. "Why did we all appear in mid-air?" she complained, sitting up as Tyler and Altria emerged from the trees to join her.
"I want to ask the fluffy-haired man about that myself," Altria grumbled.
"I mean appearing in mid-air rather than fused with the ground is probably safer. But still. We're working for an organisation of wizards, surely we can find some flying broomsticks or something if this is gonna be a thing," Tyler grumbled, poking his communicator.
On cue, it flickered to life. "Stop reading trash like Harry Potter, no self-respecting magus has called them self a witch or wizard in centuries. And I don't even know where that stupid idea about flying broomsticks came from, anyway. It isn't a real thing!" Olga-Marie snapped.
"Yes, Director. Sorry, Director," Tyler bowed in apology.
X
On the other side of the screen, Olga-Marie smiled. "Good, you can learn. Now, what's the situation? How do things look in France?"
"Well, nothing's on fire that we can tell," Tyler's voice came through. "We're in a forest. It's a pretty mundane forest. Also, it's just me, Lily and Altria. We're missing two,"
"Actually, that's a bigger problem than you realise. I'm picking up Tyler just fine, but I'm not getting a signal from Nikki at all." Dr. Roman frowned, looking over his instruments. "Damnit! Where is she?"
"Ah. Romani? Over here," Da Vinci beckoned him to another screen, which he slid over to.
His eyes boggled in disbelief. "Did she - but - how? I know she has a poor sense of direction, but . . how?!"
X
Nikki landed with a splash.
For the briefest second she cursed Dr. Roman for not warning her that she would be Rayshifting into water, then refocused on staying afloat.
"Here, Master, grab on!" Astolfo yelled, and the Hippogriff's foreleg reached down for her to cling onto. Holding on for dear life as the griffin lifted her out of the water, Nikki coughed up salty foam as Astolfo pulled her into the saddle to join him.
It was at that point that she looked around and realised this was not a river, nor a lake, but a seemingly endless ocean.
Her Mystic Code's hologram flickered to life, and Dr. Roman appeared. "Nikki! I don't know how or why, but it looks like you, somehow, Rayshifted to the wrong Singularity!"
Staring out at the oceans of Okeanos, Nikki could only scream a string of words that would have to be redacted from the logs.