Sigh
Another day. Another boring lecture.
Finis Chaldea. The organization dedicated to researching anomalies to human order.
Chaldea refers to a region probably located in the marshy land of southern Mesopotamia. It is mentioned, with varying meaning, in Neo-Assyrian cuneiform, the Hebrew Bible, and in classical Greek texts. The Hebrew Bible uses the term כשדים (Kaśdim) and this is translated as Chaldaeans in the Greek Old Testament.
In simpler terms, Chaldeans can be called Wanderers.
But in relation to Finis Chaldea, or Organization for the Preservation of Humanity, Finis Chaldea, its an organization dedicated to preventing the "certain extinction" of the human race.
Such an awe inspiring place would have almost any self respecting magus throwing in their lot to join.
After all, bragging rights are eternal.
Who wouldn't want to brag about saving the world from getting killed?
Armed with CHALDEAS, Simulated Global Environment Model CHALDEAS, is a Mystic Code developed by the Animusphere family. Requiring an extensive amount of resources and energy to start it, it can only be realized after a wish on the Fuyuki Holy Grail.
A Holy Grail won by the founder, Marisbury Animusphere.
Utilizing the soul of the world as a foundation and basis, the system manifests in miniature a perfectly accurate replica of the planetary body of Earth, permitting a representation of the World's status both in past and future eras.
And in the event of any errors detected, with the power of Rayshifting, Chaldea can dispatch a team of capable candidates to resolve any potential issues.
Yes.
These people.
This organization.
Its truly impressive right?
With all this knowledge, everyone here would have to be exceptional right?
That's your thoughts right?
Yeah uh...
About that...
"You're going to get caught sneaking cake in the master candidate rooms eventually Romani ya know?"
The culprit in question, Romani Archaman, looked up guiltily as his eyes met the amused gaze of another person walking in.
The guy plopped down beside him and took the cake from Romani's hands as he began eating the remainder.
"Honestly..." Romani sighed. "You talk with such certainty... Its not like you're any better Dante."
"You make a valid point Romani. Unfortunately, I actually contribute unlike you so suck it."
_
Master Candidate 13 - B Team Leader
Dante 'Archaman'
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Alignment per Observation of CHALDEAS: Chaotic Good
Origin: Blank Slate
Element: Fire
Magic Circuit Number: 26
Quality: Average
Practitioner of Alchemical Magecraft, or rather transmutation of Matter and Phenomena into other instances of Matter and Phenomena.
Dante falls under the Combat Variety of Magi, due to his Magecraft being rather unheard of outside of Atlas practitioners and the Einzbern.
_
Head of the Medical Department
Romani Archaman
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Alignment per Observation of CHALDEAS: Neutral Good
Origin:
Element:
Magic Circuits: ?
Quality: ?
The Current Head of the Medical Department, Romani is a surprisingly normal human with absolutely zero aptitude for Magecraft or Combat. He spends most of his time ensuring the Master candidates are healthy and not ill.
If he were to ever become a Magus, Romani falls under the category of Support type Magi, as he lacks any strong battlefield presence.
_
As both Dante and Romani sat side by side, lazing off without a care, a loud beeping rang throughout the air.
Unfortunately, neither idiot paid attention to it, so it just kept ringing without a care.
Eventually though, the cake was gone, and both boys looked down, visibly upset.
To leave and get more cake, or to not leave and get more cake?
Such is the question.
Whirr~
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
"Fou?"
The door to the room abruptly slid open as a black haired boy stared with disbelief at the two freeloaders in what he thought was his room.
Meanwhile a fluffy white furred squirrel, er dog, er cat? A white furred creature hopped of the boys shoulder and began walking over to the bed before hopping on the end and curling up.
"Well... Of all the ways to be busted, meeting a newbie was not what I expected."
Dante was the first to speak up, breaking the ice which led to the boy realizing he didn't introduce himself just yet.
"O-oh... Right. My name's Ritsuka Fujimaru and I'm Master candidate 48."
_
Master Candidate 48
Ritsuka Fujimaru
Age: 17(?)
Gender: Male
Alignment per Observation of CHALDEAS: Neutral Good
Origin: Humanity
Element: Change (Conversion)
Magic Circuits: 20
Quality: Average
One of the Master candidates picked up from the civilian batch. A surprisingly normal human, who boasts an air of compatibility with anyone. His demeanor while meek seems to bely a steadfast will.
For reasons unclear, Subject Mash has taken a clear interest in this boy.
Fujimaru will fall under the Ś̸̩̤͉̀̾̎̔̈́̆̽̂̚͝ų̶̘̰̞̲̀̈́̊͂̋͒́̏̕͠p̴̨̫̬̗̠̲̎́̃̋̓̅̓̾̉̒̃̑͘p̶̨̛̖̤͕̒̓o̸̭̹͖̠̳̿̀̎͛ŗ̴̖͓̼̹͓̪̍͝t̸͈͖̤̜̲̖̱̽̏͒͊̽́̓͌̃̃͝ c̵̢̪̜͈̬̲̬̱͖͕̞̄̚͜͜o̵̙͔̻̎ṃ̴͈̣̟̘͊̽͛̿̈́͌̿͆͗͝͝b̶̮̥̫͍͉̼̦͚̠̲̐͑̇̔͒̒ͅa̶̠̼̘̠̹̓̀̊̅̉́̀̄̓͋̂̀̌̀̕t̵̙̬̞̖̗̮̤̍ͅ Master type Magus.
_
"Cool. I'm Dante Archaman and the loaf hiding behind me is my useless brother Romani Archaman."
"Oi! Just because it's somewhat true doesn't mean you have to say it out loud! What about my status in his eyes?"
"You lost that the minute you were caught in his room eating cake. Plus there's still crumbs all over your face."
"Gugh...."
Romani slumped in defeat as Dante stood over him, seemingly radiating smug energy of a higher caliber.
Well, it was smug, until it quickly turned to panic as Romani tackled him and the two began rolling around the ground squabbling like idiots.
Ritsuka was understandably baffled upon witnessing the world's most diabolical comedy act between idiots.
He briefly contemplated just leaving and never coming back.
'Wait no. I'm currently trapped here due to being kidnapped. And I'm fairly certain this is the middle of nowhere...'
Yeah never mind, that's probably impossible at the moment.
Ritsuka let out a sigh as a helpless smile formed on his face.
"Anyways, I see your one of the newbies we have coming in huh?" Romani said while sitting back on the bed.
By this point, Dante was tied up with rope found from god knows where, and Fou was busy poking and kneading his face.
Romani was ignoring them both as he focused on Ritsuka, a fact Ritsuka found both impressive and alarming. Regardless he did respond back as it was rude to leave someone hanging.
"Right. As I said before my name's Ritsuka. And I have no idea why I'm here, the last thing I remember was giving someone my blood, and then a bag before waking up here."
"...Yeesh. Those guys really have no tact at all huh."
"...Uhhhhh...?"
"The blood drive was probably a disguised test to seek out civilians with Master potential. Anyways, you're here now so there's no need to worry about the rest too much."
A hand was then outstretched, a hand Ritsuka shook with a bit of hesitance.
"I'm Romani Archaman, head of the Medical Department. But you can call me Dr. Roman like everyone else does if you want."
'Is this guy the doctor here for real?!'
Seeing how the man had gone from serious to goofy in an instant, Ritsuka was inclined to wonder if that license was obtained by legitimate means.
"Oh right. I don't have any more cake but there are some cookies left. Come on and sit, after all my room is your room and all that."
"..."
I think this place is full of crazy people.
Well regardless, since he was here, that means he was stuck regardless.
Wait!
Romani is a doctor here so that means he should know where everything is right?
"Um, Mr. Archaman-"
"Roman. Or Doctor. There's no need to be so formal, we're gonna be knowing each other for a while."
"Right... Doctor Roman. I don't suppose you know where the bathroom is?"
"End of the hall on the right. Though if you're trying to hide from the Director, its better to hide on the opposite side of the building. She's too lazy to chase anyone who is willing to run that far."
...
Once again Ritsuka was left wondering if anyone here was normal.
Regardless, he shook his hands quickly in a gesture meaning hold on.
"That's not quite what I meant. Rather, do you know where we are specifically?"
Roman:
"Why are you looking at me like you're pitying a child?"
"Kid do I have some bad news for you~"
Romani grasped Ritsuka's shoulder and spun him around to look outside the window.
"....oh."
Upon seeing the literal layers of arctic hell spanning on endlessly in front of him, Ritsuka gave up any hope of sneaking away quietly.
_
"We're in Chaldea as you've already been told numerous times I'm sure. A secret organization run by Magi."
"Magi?"
"Yeah. Magi. We're one of several other institutes serving the same purpose, but the difference is we're located at about 6000 kilometers above sea level on a cold mountain with less of a warm reception than the Director after being shafted by someone."
By this point, as Romani was explaining, Ritsuka had begun gnawing on a cookie as he petted Fou who was also chewing one without preamble.
Dante had left and came back with a whiteboard at some point, and was busy taking notes and making diagrams as Romani spoke.
"Still though, after everything you went through, I guess you must think it was a kidnapping huh?"
"You mean it wasn't/It wasn't?"
Two separate voices rang out, both conveying lethal amounts of sarcasm.
Romani to his credit did look sheepish, as it was in fact a kidnapping upon further inspection.
"But..." Ritsuka continued, "Removing the fact that those people did kidnap me, they all seem to be good people."
"..."
The room fell silent for a bit as a bright smile appeared on Ritsuka's face.
"You are.... Surprisingly naive. That's not a bad thing though."
"But now that I know where I am, can I know why I'm here?"
Romani blinked.
He could have sworn he just explained why.
Regardless if it was just that-
"I can answer that easily enough. You see-"
Beeep
He was cut off as his wristwatch started beeping.
"Romani? Where are you at right now? We're beginning Rayshift preparations and I need you here now. Some newbies are showing anomalies and I'd prefer you here to help to prevent such things."
"Read ya loud and clear. I'll be there in a bit Lev."
"As if, it should take you 2 minutes tops to get here from the doctors office."
Click
The line dropped with a click, as Romani mechanically turned his head with a stiff smile.
Said smile immediately turned into a panicked expression as he started hyperventilating almost immediately.
"Crap! What do I do? It'll take 5 minutes minimum to reach them from here...."
"You shouldn't have been slacking off."
"No wonder everyone calls you hopeless..."
If Romani expected pity, the two arrows of unforgiving snark hurt far worse.
He sighed as he began cleaning up.
"Well regardless, thanks for talking with me, even if it was mostly work related. Once you get all settled and everything come see me some time. I'll give you some cake instead of just cookies then."
...
Watching Romani talk while simultaneously panic clean the area left Ritsuka both impressed and amused.
He was really flustered to get that call huh?
Click
"Eh?"
With a click, all of the power in the room shut off immediately.
"[Ignis]"
With a murmur, a small flame danced to life in Dante's palm as his face held a grim expression.
"The lights turned off Romani."
"Yeah. Which shouldn't be happening unless something bad happened. But that's highly unlikely, probably just someone messing with the Director again."
As if provoking Murphy, a loud explosion shook the room, as the entire building rumbled and wailed in pain.
Everyone in the room was thrown into the air from the impact, before landing in a groaning mess.
As the shockwaves subsided, a flashing red light began blaring as a siren wailed loudly.
Getting up in a hurry, Romani turned his attention to a monitor on the wall.
"Monitor! Show what's going on in the command room!"
It complied.
And the image shown, left everyone speechless.
'EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! A FIRE HAS BROKEN OUT IN THE COMMAND ROOM!'
Devastation. Hell.
That was all that could describe what remained of the room.
Countless fractures spread across what may have once been pristine marble flooring.
Various amounts of debris littered the area, and tongues of flames licked hungrily at everything remaining in the room.
'WARNING. THE CENTRAL AREA BARRIER WILL CLOSE IN APPROXIMATELY 90 SECONDS. ALL STAFF ARE RECOMMENDED TO EVACUATE PROMPTLY. REPEAT! THE CENTRAL AREA BARRIER WILL BE CLOSING-'
"Shit. This is kinda bad... Doctor what do we-"
Ritsuka's voice cut off as he turned to see the doctors grim expression. A palm to his mouth as his body seemed to be wracked with tremors.
As if wrestling with himself, before finally coming to a decision.
"Mr. Fujimaru. Evacuate. Now. I'm going to the control room."
"What?!"
"The barrier will close soon. Dante drag him away if need be, but I'm going now!"
"Wait!"
But Romani turned and ran off without a second thought, his expression a mask of determination as he sprinted.
Leaving Ritsuka's outstretched hand to hang slack in the air.
"Fou?"
Fou hopped on Ritsuka's shoulder as it stared at him in curiosity.
"He told me to evacuate but..."
An image of a petite girl with lavender hair and violet eyes flashed in his mind.
"That girl... She's still in that room."
As he made that connection, instead of running off, he turned his attention to the other boy in the room, a boy who was looking at him with bemusement as if already guessing his query.
"Yeah, yeah no need to fret. I'll lead you to the command area for Rayshifting."
"Thank you."
_
Command Room, Destroyed
"This is bad. Real bad."
That was all Romani had to say upon seeing the wreckage.
Hurried footsteps behind him, caused him to whirl around.
"Doctor!"
"Romani."
"You two?!"
Imagine the Doctor's surprise when the person he told to evacuate was standing in front of him.
"I though I told you to take him away if necessary?!"
And the guy who seemed to refuse to follow logical orders.
In response to the question, Dante simply shrugged.
"He's a kid who can't seem to let anything go. Better I bring him here than have him get hurt trying to get here himself."
"You-"
Romani let out a long sigh.
Its whatever at this point.
He turned his gaze back to the wreckage, his expression grim.
Ritsuka sidled up beside him, his own expression no less wary.
"The people Doc, what about everyone else that was here?"
"..."
"Doctor?"
"I don't know."
The answered was delivered with a sad finality. It must have hurt him as a doctor to know there wasn't anything he could do to help those who were about to die or currently were in the process.
"All I do know, is that the only thing safe is CHALDEAS. Which leads me to think this was no accident. But rather, sabotage."
Romani's face implied he was certain of this to a degree that nothing could sway him.
"What kind of person would do something like this? There's just... no way.."
Seeing the look of disbelief and disgust on Ritsuka's face, Dante swallowed the long list of people he could think of that would do something like this.
Instead he turned his attention to the rubble in the area, and began walking over to try and clear some of it.
Callous and unaware as he was, he knew better than to stay and try and contribute when he wasn't a people person.
Odds are he'd make the scenario worse with an insensitive remark.
Romani meanwhile was tapping away at his watch while muttering to himself.
"Ritsuka, I'm going to try and reroute the power from down below. For the second time, evacuate! Do NOT take any more detours, just get out!"
"Even if I wanted to, that girl is still here..." Ritsuka muttered as he watched the doctor turn around and leave.
Ritsuka turned to follow, only for a weak coughing to catch his attention.
Turning his head, he saw a hand reaching out weakly from under a pile of rubble, before falling slack.
"!"
With a speed he didn't know he possessed, Ritsuka was quickly running to their side and frantically asking questions.
"Are you ok?! No that's a dumb question... I'll help you right away though-"
His voice cut off as he saw who said person was.
The girl he had met from before, Mash.
She was currently covered in grievous wounds, and seeing the severity even someone like Ritsuka without a medical degree could tell.
These injuries were far too severe.
Perhaps seeing the look of realization in his eyes, Mash gave off a sad smile.
"Yes. I'm glad that you can see. My injuries are too severe so you should run away immediately. Save yourself while you still have time."
"..."
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Without warning a loud siren immediately began blaring once more, as the room was immediately cast into an ominous crimson glow.
'WARNING ALL OBSERVATION STAFF. A STATE OF CHANGE HAS BEEN DETECTED IN CHALDEAS. NOW RECONFIGURING DATA FROM SHIBA. ANALYSIS COMPLETE.'
'HUMANITY. THE EXISTENCE OF MANKIND. IT CANNOT BE SEEN IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS. THE SURVIVAL OF MANKIND IS NOT GUARANTEED. HUMANITY HAS NO FUTURE!'
"Humanity? Survival? What does it mean humanity has no future?"
Ritsuka was understandably confused.
But Mash was more focused on something much more terrifying.
"Chaldeas. The sphere turned red."
Yes. That's right.
The sphere modeled after the very earth itself as well as its preceding timeline, was shining an ominous red.
And red while some people's favorite color, never bodes well in the context of alarms and sirens following announcements of distress.
"The gates are locked. Because of me you can't get out anymore. It's my fault."
True enough, when Ritsuka turned his head, the gates were indeed closed.
But contrary to Mash's expectations of Ritsuka lashing out or blaming her for everything.
He did something that stumped her.
"Heh. That's not true. I'm sure it'll all work out."
He smiled at her.
As Mash looked up at him from her pinned position, that smile on his face seemed to warm up her very being, seemingly infusing every part of her body with a warm comforting light.
"Besides, there's something more important at stake here?"
"More important?"
What could be more important than the fact they were in danger?
Ritsuka raised two fingers in the air while crouching.
"This is the second time we've met, and I still haven't got your name. May I ask what it is?"
"!"
Mash's eyes widened at those words.
That warmth she felt before seemed to explode in magnitude at his words.
For the first time in a long while, she felt what it was like to have someone do something outrageous just to hear her name.
"I-"
Mash's voice cut off as it trembled, before she hesitantly opened her mouth again.
"I can't think of a way to introduce myself, so I-"
Her voice trailed off again, but fortunately Ritsuka seemed to understand.
"Then I'll be waiting for you to tell me when we get out of this alright?"
"Mm."
And so the two fell silent for a bit.
Ritsuka decided once more to try and lift the rubble off of Mash, but found himself struggling.
But he kept pushing, eventually stopping as he panted before trying again.
Mash watched as he kept trying though, and a forgotten observer couldn't bear to see the guy keep trying and failing.
"You have a resolve equal to Heracles in terms of being stubborn, you know that?"
Accompanying those words, Ritsuka felt the load he was trying to lift become significantly lighter as someone else shouldered it with him.
With gold circuits flaring to life on his skin, Dante began using [Reinforcement Magecraft] to help lift the large piece of debris.
Together the two barely managed to shove it aside, freeing Mash, but also causing her wounds to gush even more blood.
Without the debris to staunch the blood, her wounds were ironically worse.
"..."
Wordlessly, both Ritsuka and Dante plopped down beside Mash, as Dante began muttering stuff to himself in a different language while he started using magecraft to try and close the wounds.
"You branched into other stuff besides Alchemy?"
"Never thought I might need to show it off, but yeah. I dabbled." came his immediate reply.
"How diligent. Too bad the first person you had to use it on was me right?"
"I'd appreciate the patient not raising several death flags while I work."
As beads of sweat dotted his forehead, Dante slowly exhaled as he fell back onto his butt.
The wounds he had managed to reach were still bloody albeit closed, so the worst of it was past.
Or so he thought until, they reopened and began pouring out blood with more force.
"..."
Wordlessly he went back to work and began stitching up what he could once more.
Ritsuka even hopped in and began making tourniquets from already damaged or bloody parts of his clothes.
And while they worked, none paid attention to the new message from the intercom.
'COFFIN VITALS: MASTER'S IRRESPONSIVE'
The room holding the Master coffins was full of jagged glass and blood as the recipients inside the coffins fought to not die in a state of pseudo life and death.
'RAYSHIFT REQUIREMENTS UNMET. SEARCHING FOR QUALIFIYING MASTERS...'
"I don't care what needs to be done, we have to do what can to minimize the damage!"
Romani was frantic as he moved around the command office.
He had long since tried rerouting power but the results were lackluster to say the least.
Now he was busy brainstorming with the staff on what could be done, as Olga was MIA, and that slimy bastard Lev was god knows where.
'FOUND. MASTER CANDIDATE 13, DANTE ARCHAMAN AND MASTER CANDIDATE 48, RITSUKA FUJIMARU. RAISNG PRIORITY. GRANTED. MASTER STATUS GIVEN. BEGINNING RAYSHIFT'
With another tired grunt, Dante slumped back as he prayed for the 6th time that Mash's wounds would stay closed.
And for the 7th time he would be wrong as her wounds opened once more.
Sighing in defeat, he got back up and began trying again.
7th times the charm right?
"Dante... You don't need to keep going... Its fine."
Instead of responding to Mash, Dante just kept going.
Seeing this, Mash let out a soft cough while turning her attention to Ritsuka, who by this point had his arms sleeves drenched in her blood.
"U-um... Senpai?"
Ritsuka looked up at her call.
"Yeah?"
'UNSUMMON PROGRAM START. SPIRITRON CONVERSION START.'
Mash coughed as blood began leaking from her nostrils, and some red began clouding her eyes.
But nonetheless she focused her attention on Ritsuka, who to his credit didn't seem disgusted in the slightest.
"Senpai," she began once more, "Could you please... please hold my hand?"
Without a word, Ritsuka gently clasped her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers without a second thought.
And as the trio sat together, one trying to surmount the impossible task of controlling blood flow, two seeking comfort at their perceived end, a strange phenomenon began taking place as a bright light began filling the room.
And then...
Everyone was gone.
'PROCEDURES CLEARED. FIRST ORDER. START.'
Singularity F
The Eternally Burning City of Strife and Discord
Grand Order Commence