Thanks Failbird105 for the feedback, it was really helpful and I really appreciate it. Also I'm going to be completely honest and say I had no idea how to check how many followers I had or how many views/reviews, so hooray! As of writing this I got 9 followers! Thanks and I hope you stay for the ride. It's going to be a long one hopefully.

Chapter 4

Fuyuki part 4

Fight for the grail

"Hahahahahaha! To think I would be something like the next door uncle in your world! The great warrior, Cu Chulainn, working as a storekeeper!"

The handsome blue haired man laughed as he listened to stories about his counterpart. Mash and the others had decided to set up a base here, so they had gone off to create a bounded field.

"You looked like you enjoyed it though." Said Ritsuka

"Maybe I did! Would be a nice change of pace. Love a good fight, but not having to worry about dying every day is nice too." Cu responded with a chuckle.

The intercom on Ritsuka's bracelet beeped, and Dr. Roman's voice came out. "Um ...Mr. Cu? I have a couple of questions."

"Yeah?"

He paused, and asked "...What happened in this singularity? Are there other servants beside you?"

Cu paused, a grim expression washing over his face. "What happened? Oh boy you better strap in, because what happened was a hell of a roller coaster! A holy grail war happened. Nothing unusual about that, but it's what happened during it that was strange. The city was suddenly engulfed by flames, and all humans suddenly disappeared. There apparently were some left judging by the statues though, so correction, MOST disappeared. However, the biggest change by far was the saber servant. By the way I'm a caster, though I wish I was a lancer. Like seriously, I know I learned rune magecraft from teacher, but I wasn't THAT good at it. Hell, why was Medusa of all people a lancer?! She never used a spear!"

Ritsuka grabbed the red spear and handed it to Cu. "You can use my copy if you want, though it'll break a lot more easily."

He laughed, and pushed it away. "Haha! Thanks, but I'm not so helpless I need help from a kid! Anyways, where was I? Right, saber changed. She restarted the grail war, and proceeded to beat the hell out of the rest of the servants. I'm the only one who escaped, which, granted that I'm caster servant, was not especially difficult. Guess that's one good thing about being a caster. Every one of them got corrupted by some sort of black mud, and they, along with a bunch of monsters that started popping up, started hunting me cause I'm the last servant "alive" needed to finish the holy grail war."

Dr. Roman grimaced. "So there are other servants left that we have to fight."

"Well yeah, but only two, cause I killed the rest of them, lancer included now. Archer and saber are the two you need to worry about the most, because berserker won't bother you if you don't attack him." Said Cu

Upon hearing that most of the servants had been taken care of, Dr. Roman widened his eyes. "Wow, that's really impressive." He said in amazement "So we just need to beat archer and saber, and hope everything gets fixed right?"

Cu nodded. "Well, at the very least the holy grail war will be finished. Besides, the greater grail is likely the source of this singularity. I need to kill saber to end the war, and you need to kill saber in order to get the grail and fix the singularity. So how about it? Wanna join forces?"

(Ritsuka)"Sure!"

(Dr. Roman) "Wait, Ritsuka! I think we should discuss this with the others."

(Ritsuka) "It's fiiiine. He may have been a bit rough back in my world, but he was definitely the honorable type. Unless he was ordered to, he probably wouldn't harm people he has no relation to."

Cu sighed "You're giving me a bit too much credit kid."

"I agree. He may be the same person, but different aspects of servant can manifest different personalities. In any case, mind catching me up?" A voice spoke up behind her.

Upon seeing Olga, Ritsuka replied "Welcome back everyone."

As Cu began reexplaining everything to Olga, Martha kneeled down, and began to pray, leaving Mash and Ritsuka alone. Ritsuka glanced at Mash and saw that she had a rather downcast look. Ritsuka poked Mash.

Mash glanced at her. "Hm? Ah, senpai, what's wrong?"

(Ritsuka) "I should be asking you that 's wrong?"

(Mash) "Huh? No, no I'm fine."

Ritsuka shook her head at the reply. "You seem kind of out of it, so there's definitely something wrong."

Mash paused for a moment "... I feel...pathetic to be honest. When I saw just how powerful that attack from Tarasque was, I was amazed. But it also made me realize one of my fatal flaws as a servant."

(Ritsuka) "Flaws?"

(Mash) "I don't know what my noble phantasm is, who my heroic spirit is, or even my own class. It just feels like I'm not complete as a servant."

(Ritsuka) "I don't think that you should worry about that."

(Mash) "Huh?"

(Ritsuka) "Look at it this way. You're not a heroic spirit summoned in their prime. Instead of someone at the end of their journey, you're just beginning yours. So you don't need to rush."

Mash blinked, and replied "I guess you're right…"

(Ritsuka) "Hm, still a bit sad huh? There's not many people around… right, repeat what I do Mash."

(Mash) "Huh?"

"Breath in." Ritsuka took a deep breath. "Breath out." She exhaled. Mash paused for a bit before copying the action.

(Ritsuka) "Now on the count of three, yell as loud as you can!"

(Mash) "huh?"

A look of confusion washed over Mash's face. In response, Ritsuka grinned.

(Ritsuka) "Come on! I can't force you to do it, but you'll definitely feel better. Ah! Before you yell, think about all the negative emotions cooped up inside you first."

Mash slowly nodded, and hesitantly started thinking about it. What exactly had gotten her into this mood in the first place? It was because she felt disappointment in herself...right? No, that's not right, there was something else. Yes, that right, she was jealous. Jealous of the fascination and admiration Ritsuka held for the other heroic spirits. The trust she held in her eyes as she spoke with them. She wanted to be looked at the same way. Not so much wanting admiration, but she wanted to be at least worthy of her trust. All these feelings twisted together and formed a single emotion.

(Mash) I...feel...frustrated?

As if responding to her thoughts, Ritsuka said "Mhm. You feel it now right? Now, on the count of three. Three."

Mash breathed in.

"Two"

Then breathed out.

"One"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She yelled at the top of her lungs, putting all her emotions into it. Finally, she stopped. She felt… more relaxed.

(Mash) Huh...it worked

Suddenly, an angry voice roared behind her.

(Olga) "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

(Mash) "Ah, um, sorry director!"

"...pfft"

Both of the girls began giggling.

(Ritsuka) "Hehe, sorry Mash."

(Mash) "Ah, you don't have to apologize, senpai!"

Smiling again, she said "It helped. It really did. Thanks senpai."

(Ritsuka) "No problem! It always helped me when I got really pissed. When you're feeling sad or angry, sometimes yelling out loud is the best option to calm down. Ah, but don't do it in a place with a lot of people around, ok? Do it in your room or something, or else people might look at you weirdly."

(Mash) "I'll take that to heart."

She paused, thinking for a bit, then spoke again. "I can somewhat see why director Animusphere is doubtful of your real age. The way you act is weirdly mature"

Ritsuka grinned "I read a lot of novels when I was younger. Learned a lot just from seeing how people act in a book. Had to study up English to understand my mom's magecraft books too and ended up reading a lot of history." She giggled. "It was really interesting. Dozens of stories from people, both on the magical and non magical side, experiencing something truly unique. And unlike novels, they are real, something that could actually happen to you."

(Mash) "Hm… I guess I understand what you're saying."

(Ritsuka) "Yeah, that's why I think fixing history is an honor. If you change one part, millions of stories may disappear, and I wouldn't want that. And besides, I like helping people."

They continued chatting for some time, until Cu suddenly said, "...nonono, you raise your hand like this, and..." *clap* A pair of hands smacked together.

Ritsuka glanced behind her. Olga and Cu had clasped their hands together in the type of hand shake two close males would do upon meeting one another. Olga had a confused expression on her face, immediately asking "What was the point of that?"

(Cu) "It's more casual, not as stiff! Cmon, we're partners now, so we should be more friendly."

Looking back, he waved over to Ritsuka and Mash. "Yo kid! We're officially partners now!" He said with a laugh. "Get over here, we're forming a temporary contract!"

He stuck out his hand in a handshake, and Ritsuka happily took it. The moment their hands touched, Ritsuka's command seals flashed, causing Ritsuka to flinch.

(Cu) "*whistle* Damn your magic circuits are high quality!"

He paused, and stared closely at Ritsuka.

(Ritsuka) "Um...Uncle Cu."

He grimaced. "Just call me Cu, I'm not the same one you knew...but your magic circuits...they're almost all damaged."

(Ritsuka) "It never really bothered me, so you don't have to worry."

(Cu) "That's a shame though, you woulda been a great mage if that didn't happen."

Suddenly, Mash spoke up.

(Mash) "Um! Mr. Cu!"

(Cu) "Oh, the Demi servant girl. What's up?"

(Mash) "I...want to fight you. I need to get stronger. I don't even know how to use my noble phantasm, so at the very least I want to be able to see how far I can go."

Cu widened his eyes in surprise, then grinned.

(Cu) "Sure, but bring the girl with you."

(Mash) "Master? Why?"

(Cu) "You two are master and servant right? Moreover, I saw that fight earlier. You had preparations already, which, although a good thing, made the fight way too easy. You won't be ready when something jumps out randomly and attacks you. Besides, you two are pretty inexperienced, so this'll be good for you two's teamwork, and you'll get a better grasp of each other's limits."

He looked at Mash "And for your problem, Noble Phantasms work through either instinct or unleashing their true name. More often than not, instinct related noble phantasms only allow partial releases, but judging by the fact that you don't even know your noble phantasm's name, that might be the best you can do.

Mash and Ritsuka nodded in agreement. Then, Cu started to grin. "That means I have to beat you until you're almost dead, and then you might be able to use it."

(Mash) Huh?

(Ritsuka) Wait, me too?

"Hey Lady!" He shouted to Martha, who had just finished praying. "Get ready to heal them in case they get injured." He then looked at Olga "Oh and Miss?"

(Olga) "Yes?"

"Could you…" He came up close to her and whispered something. Olga nodded.

(Martha) "As much as I understand that this is necessary, could you hold back on those two?"

"I'll at least try." He said cracking his knuckles "Well, then, shall we start? Get ready for the Scáthach special number 1!"

The what number 1?

(Cu) "Dodge!"

Mash panted in exhaustion. Right after he had yelled Dodge! He had launched a flurry of fire balls at them. Wasting no time, Mash had blocked all the fireballs in front of Ritsuka, and had prepared for combat. From there, they had fought for over half an hour. However, judging by the state of both Mash and Ritsuka, it was clear that the match was coming to an end.

"Now then, try to block this!" Cu raised his staff into the air. A massive amount of fire blazed around him and formed a large circle.

He began chanting "Timber giant, eaten away by fire. Become a cage of flames, Wicker Man!"

A massive wooden hand stretched out of the circle of flames and slammed the floor. Than another came out. They pushed down on the floor, pulling a wooden head, a torso in the shape of a cage, then legs, until finally a wooden giant in all of its glory stood up from the flames. It's hands curled into a fist, and burst into a raging inferno.

Mash grit her teeth as the wooden giant launched a punch. The massive fist slammed into the shield, as a ludicrous amount of fire blazed from the giant's hand. It was a miracle for Mash to still even stand after that blow

(Mash) This is a heroic spirit? If saber is stronger than this...how...how are we supposed to beat this?

She struggled to keep her shield up as the flames blazed around her. A myriad of emotions flashed in her mind, as she desperately looked for a way to get out of this situation. Despair, fear, they ran through her mind. And in the midst, she saw a memory.

Yeah, that's right. It was only several minutes ago, but it was still a precious memory.

When you're feeling sad or angry, sometimes yelling out loud is the best option to calm down

Breath in, breath out, and "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She yelled out, putting all her emotion into it. She had only one objective, and that was to protect her Master. So no matter what it took, she had to defend against this blow. Her shield began to glow, and a barrier suddenly formed, pushing back the massive fist.

If I can't block at least this, how am I supposed to protect senpai?!

The barrier glowed ever brighter, and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it pushed the giant's hand away, causing it to fall backwards. Mash fell down to her knees, tired and gasping for air.

(Ritsuka) "Mash! Are you okay?! Oh god, oh god."

She frantically checked Mash's body for any wounds. Martha ran over, preparing to heal any injuries on the spot. Confirming that there were none, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

(Ritsuka) "Thank god you're not hurt."

"...Thank you senpai." Mash said weakly

Cu laughed. "Don't worry, you guys did gre-" Martha launched a punch into his stomach.

(Martha) "What in the world were you thinking?! They could have been killed!"

Cu coughed from the blow. "D rank strength my ass... *cough* Geez, don't worry. I woulda stopped if I thought she couldn't handle it."

Ritsuka grumbled "What do you mean, you launched a full powered noble phantasm at her! Also how did you nullify my magecraft?"

He looked at Ritsuka. "Your magecraft just happened to be exactly like the archer's. I've been fighting him for weeks, so of course I've had time to analyze a counter to it."

Ritsuka blinked. Then she gasped. "Wait wait wait. Does the archer have a red coat, uses a pair of black and white swords, and spams swords as projectiles even though he's an archer?"

(Cu) "Yup, and if I had to guess, he's either your ancestor, or at least related to you in someway."

(Ritsuka) "...He's uh, he's a future version of my dad. Counter guardian, future hero, yeah, my mom summoned a weird servant."

"Of all the things that he could have been, he was an alternate version of your dad?" He paused. "Huh. Ya learn something new everyday."

(Cu) "Anyways, back on topic. Shield girl."

Mash perked up "Yes!"

(Cu) "Well for one, I've figured your class out."

(Mash) "Eh? Really?"

(Cu) "Yeah. Thing is, I assumed that servants summoned would almost always be in the main seven classes. But things have been weird lately, so it's possible that you're not part of the main seven, but part of classes outside of those. The extra classes. You just happen to fit one of the rarest types."

He grinned. "A shielder class. The only class who's heroes are all defense oriented."

(Mash) "A...shielder?"

(Cu) "That's right. It's a class designed to not only protect the servant, but the master as well. You noticed it yourself right? Your spatial awareness was upped to an eleven."

That was true. Although Mash and Ritsuka were tired, they both hadn't been hurt at all. It might've been because Cu had been going easy on them, but Mash had somehow been able to react to and block basically every attack.

"In a normal grail war that would be somewhat of a disadvantage due to lack of firepower. But..." He pointed at Ritsuka. "You can summon multiple servants. That makes it all the more important that someone can protect you, which is why a shielder servant is the best possible partner for you."

(Ritsuka) "See Mash? You're amazing!"

Mash blushed. "...thanks senpai."

(Cu) "Also congrats, you managed to release your noble phantasm just now."

Mash widened her eyes. Then she softly smiled.

(Mash) "Thank you Mr. Cu."

Cu grinned "No need to thank me. It was all part of your efforts."

Ritsuka than asked "Ah, but why didn't you get Martha to fight."

Cu blinked, then thought for a moment. "She uh...she reminds me of my teacher. Not in terms of skill or personality, but I just feel like she's probably just as d-" He glanced at Martha, than quickly looked away. "Never mind."

(Ritsuka) "Huh?"

He clapped his hands. "Right, get some sleep now kid. We're going to try taking both saber and archer out as soon as you've all rested up."

(Ritsuka) "Wait, you haven't answered me yet!"

He waved his hand. "I answered you plenty. Now go to sleep!"

Ritsuka sighed. "Hopefully we don't have any bad luck later… wait no that's a flag. Dang it"

A skeleton wandered into a cave. *Click clack*went its bones against the floor as it wandered in the darkness. Suddenly, it bumped into something...fleshy. It had sights of life, and in a reaction it slammed itself into the object.

*crack*

Dozens of bones fell down to the ground. Where the skeleton once stood, a massive stone sword had been embedded into the ground. A roar resounded, shaking the cave's foundations. The black giant stood up and growled, hungry for blood.

Ritsuka twisted and turned in her sleep.

(Mash) Is she having a nightmare?

She rubbed the young girls head, which was on her lap. She began to calm down, and instead giggle and mumble something about gems. They were currently resting in preparation for the attack. Martha and Cu were out patrolling, and Olga had been working on something.

"...Looking at her sleep, she really is a child." Olga walked over and sat down beside mash.

(Mash) "Ah director. Welcome back."

Olga stretched and groaned. "My god, that servant is a slave driver. Making me carve several runes just in case…"

That sat there in silence until Mash broke it.

(Mash) "...May I be honest with you?"

(Olga) "About what?"

(Mash) "About how you acted during this time."

Olga glanced at Mash, than shrugged.

(Olga) "Go ahead. Nothing you say will hurt me."

Mash widened her eyes. "Ah! Um, I wasn't going to say anything bad...mostly. I just thought that you were a lot more… lenient I guess? Normally if someone acted like Ritsuka, you would scold them pretty severely."

Olga sighed. "I think it would be rather ludicrous to compare a child to an adult. My pride won't allow me to stoop to that level. If anything, I'm impressed she can handle things as well as she can at her age."

She stared off into the burning city on the other side. "...I'll be honest with you Mash. I was scared of you."

(Mash) "Eh? Why is that?"

(Olga) "You know what you are, and what my father did to you. I thought that… maybe you had some resentment towards my family for that." She gazed at Mash. "But, seeing you now, I realize that I don't have anything to be afraid of."

Mash tilted her head in confusion. "Why would I resent you for that?"

Olga chuckled. "Yes, that really is like you."

*cough*

Olga flinched and looked at her bracelet.

(Dr. Roman) "Sorry… I uh, was trying to contact you, and ended listening to the whole thing…"

(Olga) "...is this what people call ruining the mood? Archaman, when I get back, we are going to have a long talk…"

He helped and said,"I'm sorry!" before pausing and chuckling. "Never thought the day would come where you would open your heart to someone."

Olga blushed from embarrassment, and quickly turned off the comms. She cleared her throat and pointed at Mash's shield. "Your noble phantasm. It activated not because you obtained your spirit's true name, but because your will forced it to activate. It needs a name. It might not be it's true name, but a name will nonetheless help you with it. I think it should be called...Lord Chaldeas. It's a fitting name, being humanity's shield."

Mash's eyes sparkled, and she smiled. "Thank you director. That's a beautiful name."

(Ritsuka) "Yeah, I agree."

(Mash) "Ah, senpai, you're awake."

Ritsuka got up and stretched. "Hnnnngh. Ah, that was a weird dream."

(Mash) "What did you dream about?"

(Ritsuka) "I had a dream about uncle Heracles. He was already pretty tanned before, but in my dream he was really dark."

Olga held up her hand to stop her "Alright, I've been wondering this for a long time, but just how many heroic spirits have you met before now?"

Ritsuka scratched her face. "Uh… Arthur, Medea, Cu, Medusa, Heracles, Gilgamesh, Sasaki Kojiro, Hassan, and uh, I think that's it, so 8."

(Olga) "Alright, alright, got it. Now I don't have to wonder which people you know now and get all surprised."

Cu and Martha walked up from the side, and waved.

(Cu) "Yo, we're back. You guys ready? Cause we're heading out in a couple of minutes."

They all nodded. Cu gestured to Olga to bring up a map.

"Right, let's review. The greater grail is west from here right over in this cavern." He pointed to the location. "It's a bit far. Archer is probably camping on the way, but I can probably stop him from interfering, so we'll split up a little bit before the cave. All you guys need to do is stall saber long enough for me to kill archer, and create an opening so I can blast my noble phantasm at her face. Any questions?"

Nobody spoke, and he nodded. "Right, let's go!"

Someone, no many people were approaching. That's what the black archer saw. That was strange. No humans should be alive, and only caster should be left to defy them. But that didn't matter, all he had to do was kill the,m. An arrow with a spiral running down it's length appeared in his hand, as well as a black bow. Drawing his bow he aimed, and fired. Then, he looked away, having absolute faith that the arrow had hit it's mark. Suddenly, he tilted his neck, and a fireball flashed passed where his head originally was. He glanced back, and a familiar man clad in blue robes as well as wielding a wooden staff stood before him.

(Archer) "...Caster. So you've decided to die today."

Cu scoffed. "Die my ass, today's the day we settle things ya fake archer."

A pair of blades appeared in his hands. "I admit that archers in a literal sense normally do not use swords. But who said the archer class was entirely made of archers?"

Cu blinked "...The hell are you talking about? Ah screw it, let's get this over with."

Ritsuka breathed a sigh of relief. Moments before, an arrow had almost slammed into Tarasque. And not just any arrow, it was a noble phantasm. However, a couple feet before impact, dozens of runes had manifested in the air, and stopped the arrow. Cu had yelled "That's my cue!" and ran off to confront the archer.

(Olga) "So that's why he made me carve so many runes!"

(Martha) "Everyone hold on tight! Alright Tarasque, run as fast as you can!"

Tarasque roared. Everyone held tightly to Tarasque's spikes as he broke off into a run.

(Mash) "I hope Mr. Cu will be okay…"

(Ritsuka) "Well, we can't do anything but hope…"

Suddenly, her bracelet beeped. Dr. Roman's face popped out, a worried expression on his face.

(Dr. Roman) "Everyone! There's a spirit origin traveling at high speeds at you! According to our sensors, it's class is…"

A massive roar resonated through the air, and something crashed into the ground next to them. A black giant wielding a stone blade of equal height stood there. It's body was at the very peak in terms of physical power, it's skin bulging as if it's muscles would burst out at any moment.

(Ritsuka) "Berserker…"

Martha grabbed Olga and Ritsuka and tossed them into the air. Mash leaped up to catch them, and started sprinting away once she landed on the ground with Olga and Ritsuka in her arms.

(Martha) "Go! I'll hold him back here!"

(Ritsuka) "Wait! Stop!"

However she was already out of earshot. Martha jumped off of Tarasque, preparing to face the berserker. Heracles roared, and smashed his blade in a downward arc toward Martha. She grinned. A crater was gouged out of the ground under her feet as the blade smashed into her cross. However her knees didn't buckle under the force. Her arms didn't so much as twitch under the pressure. No, that statement was wrong. Not her arms, but her arm. She was hilding back the blade with only one hand on her cross.

On her face, a blissful smile appeared on her face.

"Ah, finally."

She glanced at Heracles.

"You have twelve lives right? The girl told me."

Her smile twisted into a terrifying grin.

"That means I can go all out without holding back."

A tear fell out of Tarasque's eyes as it mentally whispered a prayer for the berserker.

(Ritsuka) "Why…"

Mash glanced at her.

(Mash) " Senpai…"

(Ritsuka) "Why do i feel worried for Uncle Heracles instead?!"

Huh?

(Ritsuka) "Nevermind, we're at the end of the tunnel!"

A bright light emanated from the opening on the other side of the cave. As they walked up to the opening, a truly astounding site met them.

Massive. That was the only thing that came to mind when looking at the cavern. Blood red light spilled onto the walls, and in the center, a hill where the light emanated from stood. A massive magic circle was placed at the top of the hill.

Olga gazed at the magic circle with amazement. "The greater grail. A product of the third magic, and a ultra-superior Magical Reactor…"

Ritsuka also stared at the where the grail was, but what she was looking at was not the grail itself.

(Ritsuka) ...there's someone standing on top…

A woman stood there, clad in pure black armor, with her hands on the pommel of an equally black sword stabbed into the ground. Her expression was devoid of emotion, and her eyes stared directly at Ritsuka and the others.

(Saber) "...So there were some humans still alive."

(Ritsuka) "...King Arthur, no Artoria."

The one she called her aunt wasn't there. This person looked like her, sounded like her, likely had the same abilities as well. However one thing was different, and that was her personality. Ruthless, unforgiving, and completely merciless, a different version of King Arthur.

(Artoria) "No matter, you will die like the rest."

(Mash) "Master get behind me!"

Artoria slammed her sword into Mash. She felt her knees buckle under the force, bu didn't fall down.

"Hoh...That noble phantasm. How familiar…" The saber remarked. She then unleashed a flurry of blows onto Mash. Barely managing to block them, her arms trembled from taking such powerful blows. But she held her ground.

(Mash) Their even stronger the Mr. Cu's blows! But I have to hold on until he arrives!

The saber grabbed the shield's rim, and pulled from in front of her. She the. Launched a kick into Mash's stomach, knocking the air out of her. Pain blazed around her body as she gasped for air.

(Artoria) "Your defense is impressive. However it's time for this to end."

She raised her blade and…

"Wait what are yo-!"

"Gae!"

The saber snapped her neck to the side and saw the girl holding a red spear.

"Bolg!"

She threw it. The spear blazed with a crimson light, and space seemed to contort. Artoria brought down her blade, and shattered the spe-

Time seemed to rewind, and the spear suddenly appeared at a differant angle. The spear grazed her cheek as she dodged, and she slashed through the spear. She looked at the girl

(Ritsuka) "Crap, should've made it into a broken phantasm."

The saber's blade suddenly wreathed itself in a violet aura. Mash's instinct screamed at her to run. She did the opposite, and using all her strength, ran in front of Ritsuka."

(Mash) Now's the time to unleash my noble phantasm!

The aura on the sword blazed ever stronger, and the saber slowly brought the sword into an overhead position.

(Artoria) "Let's see if your shield can black this."

"Excalibur-"

"Lord-"

"MORGAN!"

"CHALDEAS!"

A beam of pure black energy sprang from the tip of the blade as she swung it downward. At clashed with the glowing shield that was Mash's. She struggled to stand, to not get pushed back.

Ah, it's hopeless. It's too strong. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm...going...to...die?

She felt an emotion welling up inside of her.

I don't want to die. I don't want to die! I want to see a blue sky, I want to read more stories. I want to experience more things with senpai! But how do I survive this situation? How?

As if reacting to her question a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked back. Ritsuka was grasping it tightly. She was shaking, her eyes laden fear in them.

Ah, she's afraid too. But she's not looking away. Her eyes have hope.

A girl younger than her, a girl who had barely lived her life was not overcome with fear in this situation. The girl took a deep breathe.

"Mash, I need you to hold out for at most two minutes. Can you do that?"

Despite the question, her eyes had absolute trust radiating from them. Mash slowly nodded. No questions, no arguments. This little girl trusted her with absolute certainty, so she shouldn't, no couldn't disappoint. The girl who, despite only knowing her for less than a day, had risked her life to try and help her. The girl who said a lie, just to comfort her, and granted her only request. Mash, for once, was treated not as a tool, but a person.

Please, if only this one wish be granted, let me at least return a little bit of the favor.

So grit your teeth Mash Kyrielight. This will be the most hellish two minutes of your life!

(Ritsuka) "I order you by command seal, Mash Kyrielight, defend us for as long as possible!"

The command seal on the back of her hand blazed, and a surge of power coursed through Mash's body.

(Mash) "Yes Master!"

Wow. Holy crap. Ritsuka thought.

She knew it already, but this just reaffirmed it. Mash was an amazing servant! For crying out loud, she was blocking EXCALIBUR of all things! The sacred sword forged from the hopes of mankind and of the planet itself, a Last Phantasm! If this was her as someone incomplete, how far would she go once she obtained both her and her Noble Phantasm's true name? She wanted to witness it. She wanted to see how she would grow! But most of all, she wanted to see her grow as a human. Ritsuka already had a guess on Mash's physical state, so she wanted to help her as well. And in order to do that, she needed to survive. She didn't have anything that could take out Artoria, and the saber likely had a near infinite mana supply, courtesy of the holy grail. They wouldn't be able to last much lounger. So she decided to take a gamble.

Time to summon a servant.

Swords. Thousands upon thousands of rusty swords littered the ground around the dusty hill. Monolithic gears floated in the sky, unturning. A lone man sat upon the hill, waiting.

How long had it been?

Decades?

Centuries?

It didn't matter. He waited for the moment when he could see her again.

In another world, the gears would represent the fact that the man was trapped in his job as a counter guardian, murdering countless. Not here. Here, they represented how he felt. Time without his loved ones were meaningless in his eyes. But suddenly, the gear creaked just a bit. He could feel it.

Their reunion was at hand.

Honestly, it always confused me how Lord Chaldeas was supposed to reflect a blast from Excalibur like in the first order movie, so yeah