ARC 2 - Prologue : Clear Night pt.1

Some context for those who do not know the story of F/GO up to Prologue 2, but still want to read this.

At the start of the game, we find out that the player(Gudako/Gudao, I'll be using Gudako as that's the female's name) joined the Organization for the Preservation of Human Order, Finis Chaldea(or just Chaldea as most of the playerbase prefer for a pretty good reason). Chaldea, located on top of icy mountains, is quite literally in the middle of nowhere(Antarctica).

A laboratory-observatory, there are a couple different large projects within Chaldea.

These include CHALDEAS, a device used to observe(albeit not closely) the future/past of Earth, SHEBA, a device used to aid in observing CHALDEAS closely, FATE, the device used to summon servants to Chaldea, TRISMEGISTUS, the device that allows Rayshifting(traveling through the past), and a 5th one that was introduced during an event(that I won't get in to).

In Chaldea are 48 master candidates, 7 of which are part of Team A, the 'highest' team and the one that will respond first in the event of an emergency. Gudako is #48...and is basically completely useless compared to most of the other candidates(no magic spells, mediocre circuits, etc.)

And then a day or so after Gudako arrives at Chaldea, a singularity is detected(Singularity F) and suddenly, CHALDEAS can't detect a future beyond..2012? I think? Anyway, at the same time, one of the staff members, Lev Lainur, reveals himself to be a very important actor in a plan to incinerate humanity. He blows up the Command Room, and succeeds in almost killing every master in Chaldea except for Gudako. In a rush, Romani Archaman, second-in-command, sends Gudako and a demi-servant, Mash, to Singularity F as there's no back up.

Long story short, the duo meet Olga there, meet a couple other servants there, defeat the final boss, and retrieve the holy grail, a cup with a lot of mana in it that is said to grant wishes. Right before they go home, Lev shows up again, mock Olga, throws her into CHALDEAS(which more or less dissolves her on a molecular level) and then informs Gudako that there are 7 other singularities(+ bad guys' monologue stuff).

So Gudako travels around the world(almost) and resolves all 7 singularities. They(+ F), and the major participating figures, are-

Singularity F(not among the 7) : Cu Chulainn, Artoria(female Arthur) Alter, Heroic Spirit EMIYA(corrupted)

Orléans(France) : Jeanne D'Arc, Jeanne(Alter), Gilles

Septem(Rome) : Nero Claudius, Altera(Attila the Hun), Lev Lainur(not a servant)

Okeanos(ocean area) : Francis Drake, Jason, Medea

London(1800s) : Jack the killer, Artoria Alter(Lancer vr), Mordred, Dr.Jekyll(and Mr.Hyde)

E Pluribus Unum(North America) : Medb, Cu Chulainn(Alter), Nightingale, Rama, Scathach

Camelot(in the Holy Land) : Artoria(Lancer vr), Gawain, Mordred, Lancelot(Saber), Tristan, Hassan i-Sabbath(multiple), Arash, Bedivere, Ozymandias, Nitocris

Babylonia(Mesopotamia) : Gilgamesh(after he became king), Enkidu(possessed by Kingu), Tiamat, Gorgon, Leonidas, Ushiwakamaru, Benkei, Jaguar Warrior, Quetzalcoatl, Ishtar, Ereshkigal, First Hassan, Merlin, Medusa(young vr)

Yes, as the story goes on, more and more appearing figures get more and more screen time. Thus, the list gets longer.

Anyway, after the 7th singularity, Gudako and Mash arrive at the Temple of Time. Along the way we figure out that the being behind this is the King of Mages, 'Solomon', who then turns out to actually be the 72 demon gods Solomon controls. They're also Beast I(there's a total of 7 beasts and no they are not the same as the 7 sins). BTW, Tiamat was Beast II. We find out that Fou(a little furry beast accompanying us) is actually Cath Palug and is Beast IV(he loses his power during the events at the Temple of Time to revive Mash who died earlier..not that anyone knows).

And then there are 4 'sub-singularities'; kinda like leftovers after the grand battle. These are:

Shinjuku(Japan) - Moriarity, Yan Qing, Heroic Spirit EMIYA(Alter), Jeanne(Alter), Artoria(Alter), Hessian Lobo, Sherlock Holmes

Agartha(fake world that is saturated in feminism) - Penthesilea, Francis Drake(Alter)(not a servant), Scheherazaede, Chevalier D'Eon, Astolfo, Fergus(younger), Christopher Columbus

Shimousa(era Japan) - Musashi(from another world, female), Houzouin Inshun, Caster of Limbo(don't know who he is yet), Senji Muramasa, Fuuma Kotaro, Tomoe Gozen, Yagyu Munenori, Mochizuki Chiyome, Kato Danzo, Minamoto-no-Raikou, Shuten-douji, Amakusa Shirou, Sasaki Kojiro

Salem(witch trials era) - Abigail Williams, Queen of Sheba(bible figure), Circe, Charles-Henri Sanson, Nezha(Ne-Zha), Robin Hood, Mata Hari

After all that(and a bunch of events in between including the Christmas one that's mentioned in the story), we arrive at the beginning of the Prologue.

Oh and for those who know, RIP Ereshkigal. Best Rin-face(until SWII) gets summoned for one day and then has to leave.

.....

...

December 26, 2019. Gudako has completed her mission. She repaired every Singularity, saving mankind from a dire existential threat. The Rayshift system has been placed on lockdown as of this moment.

The Servants summoned to Chaldea have been released from their contracts, their tasks complete.

Save for Chaldea's acting director, Leonardo da Vinci, every Chaldean Servant is gone- vanished from the face of the Earth.

***********************************************************************************************

*Bzzt*

*Bzzt*

"Fou, fou....fou, fooou..."

Gudako rubbed her eyes, raising her head to see the white furry beast named Fou currently sitting on her chest and making loud noises.

"...It's morning..."

Upon hearing her low voice, Fou perked up with a "Fou, foou?"

Gudako smiled slightly.

"Morning, Fou."

She raised her hand to pet the beast, feeling its soft fur. These days, it always felt like Fou was missing something. What was missing though, she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Before her thoughts could stray too far, Gudako heard the door knob click and the joints creak as her closest partner entered the room. The lights were then flipped on.

"Pardon the intrusion, Master Gudako...Oh, you're already awake", Mash greeted with a small smile on her face.

"Good morning, Senpai. You must have been exhausted after all that Christmas cleanup. I'm glad Acting Director Da Vinci gave everyone today off, after we all went a little wild last night."

Walking over, Mash sat herself down on the bed beside Gudako while Gudako propped herself up with a pillow.

"...It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since we completed the Grand Order and prevented the Incineration of Humanity. Yesterday may have been our last opportunity to eat with the staff we've come to know so well...But we shouldn't be too sad about that. They all have great jobs waiting for them at their next employers."

Mash smiled brighter before turning away from Gudako. Although the shadows half obscured her face, Gudako could still see the slight sadness that hung over her kouhai's face.

"I...I was also told that you'll first be going back to your family's home, Senpai...Do you, um, know what you'll be doing after that?"

Mash had never been good at hiding her emotions, so Gudako could easily tell the slight desperation hidden in Mash's tone. Gudako sighed inwardly before smiling broadly and poked at Mash's sides, earning a small giggle.

"I, for starters, got such a HUGE paycheck that I'm totally at a loss. What about you, Mash? What will YOU be doing?"

"I'm going to stay at Chaldea for just a little while longer after everyone else leaves. All of our medical data may be safely backed up...but we still have to finish dismantling Chaldea's summoning system, so..."

Fou suddenly interrupted with a loud cry before jumping up quickly and dashing out of the room. Gudako lurched forward, her face contorted in temporary pain as she watched the fluffball disappear out the door.

"Senpai! Are you okay?"

"..*huff*, *huff*, I'm okay. I guess Fou completely forgot about the fact that his springboard was my stomach. Slight ouch, but I'm fine."

"Ah..okay...What was that all about? He just ran off down the hallway all of a sudden...I'd better go look for him, to make sure he doesn't interfere with everyone else's packing. Please, just relax, Senpai. I'll see you again tonight at the farewell party!"

With that, Mash pushed herself off the bed, waved, and hurried out of the room. As Gudako listened to the sound of shoes against metal travel further and further away, she began to reminisce about the time she had at Chaldea.

Well, I guess I'll be saying goodbye to this room soon...I'll definitely miss this place. These past years have been like a fever dream. Even though there was always the pressure of humanity dying out should I fail...I almost wished that it lasted a little longer...

...

...

Maybe I'll take a walk around. Clear my head and

Pushing herself off the bed, Gudako quickly got dressed into the usual casual clothes she had. Yawning slightly, she pushed the door open and stepped out in the hallways. With no destination in mind, she wandered around for a bit, taking random turns here and there. To Gudako, the hallways suddenly felt so large and silent as the sources of the noises that used to fill this hallway to the point where she couldn't even sleep at night were gone. She sighed again and was about to take another right turn when she heard voices come from just up ahead.

"Did you hear the news? They say the inspectors for the inquiry board are already at the foot of the mountain. Apparently they'll be coming up here by helicopter once this blizzard dies down. Soon, we'll have a new director appointed by the Mage's Association, along with fifty of their flunkies. Saying it's an investigation sanctioned by the UN sounds nice, but let's not kid ourselves about what this is. It's just a hostile takeover. All this time, the higher-ups in the Association have written off Chaldea as just another observatory...but the moment they see its value, they swoop in to milk it for all it's worth..."

The speaker paused for a moment, shaking his head as he continued on.

"Maybe it's weird for me to be upset about this, but I feel sorry for Olga Marie. She'd never have wanted things to turn out this way."

This time, the other person spoke up, a slight smile on her face as she lightly teased him.

"Well that's a surprise. You couldn't stand her back when she was alive."

The man coughed slightly, clearly embarrassed, before replying.

"I mean, sure, I remember how she used to yell about anything and everything. Plus, she was...well, incompetent. Messed up all the time....But still, when I think back on it, I can't help but be impressed at how well she did despite all that..."

"..."

"Honestly, we should've been more considerate of her circumstances. Even if she WAS the daughter of a Lord family, she was still just a girl fresh out of school who'd recently lost her father."

"I guess. But you just have to set that sort of thing aside when you take a position of power, right?", the women questioned, "As the heir to the Animuspheres, she should've had that stuff completely covered, no matter what her age or how recent her dad's death was.... To be brutally honest, she should have never taken over as director in the first place, but she clung to the authority it gave her anyway. And look where that got us. Chaldea was nearly obliterated, and we had to beg the Mage's Association for help to rebuild it. So, it sucks, but if we want Chaldea to keep going, we have to let this new director take over. And if Olga Maries WAS still here, you can bet she'd be the first in line to hand off the responsibility since the alternative is to shut it down for good."

Gudako blinked slightly, her body feeling slightly cold from leaning up against the wall throughout the duration of the conversation. She felt a little disgusted by the way they talked about Olga, but...she also knew that they were correct. In the little time she had known her, Olga Marie didn't seem like someone capable of leading Chaldea all the way through. But even then, she couldn't bring herself to say anything bad about Olga. And at the same time, she couldn't openly refute what the two had just said. Deciding to leave it be, she stepped out from her hiding place and walked over to the two.

"Hey there."

The male turned, a look of confusion on his face before it was replaced by a soft smile.

"Oh hey there, Candidate Gudako. Taking a walk around Chaldea?"

"Yeah."

"Well, enjoy it while you can. This is probably your last chance for a peaceful walk and fond memories here. Once the investigation gets going, there'll be scary security guards walking around like they own the place...you know, maybe I should take a page from your book and go for a walk myself. This might be the last change I'll get to go wherever I want around here without a security pass."

"Oh? You're staying here, Dustin? Oh right, you were just an ordinary engineer, weren't you?"

"Hmph. Well, excuse me for being ordinary. This is why I hate talking with you upstart mage jerks."

"You're....just an engineer?"

"Yes. Not everyone who works for Chaldea is a mage. I used to study cosmic rays as a physicist before I came here. Marisbury, the previous director, offered me a job here. At that time, I was struggling just to get by. I'm guessing he waned me for my experience with particle accelerators. At first I thought he was full of sh*t... but eventually, he won me over. Before I knew it, I found myself in the middle of nowhere..."

Dustin smiled wider before patting Gudako on the back.

"That was 15 years ago. As far as I'm concerned, this is home."

The woman smiled too, but her's was filled with a little bit of sadness.

"Is that so? I'm headed to London. One of the Clock Tower factions liked what they saw and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But hey, if they start talking about making a new Chaldeas there, I'll give you a call. We're not kids anymore, right? Nothing wrong with selling your hard-earned expertise to the highest bidder."

Dustin let out a huff before playfully jabbing back with a "That's just like you Sylvia" before adding on a "I appreciate your consideration." And then, with a glimmer of mischief he leaned in towards Gudako and whispered loudly, "Or at least as close as you can get."

"Hey! I'm trying to be nice here, Dustin. Don't listen to him, Gudako."

Gudako laughed. It made her happy knowing that the staff members at Chaldea would know what they will be doing in the future although the knowledge that some were leaving made her feel a little sad. She was about to bid them goodbye when Dustin's hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hang on a bit, Candidate Gudako...On second thought let me just call you Gudako. The inspectors are going to have some questions for you, seeing as you're one of the Master candidates. And the Mage's Association people are about 10 times more calculating than Sylvia here. I don't think you'll be in any danger as long as Da Vinci's around, but watch out all the same. No matter how horrible they are to you, you can't lose your temper with them. Like they say, the only way to win is not to play. Just smile and nod, try not to let them get to you. Don't worry too much."

Sylvia nodded before adding on her own thoughts.

"I agree with that. Besides, you didn't do anything wrong, Gudako. If push comes to shove, we'll vouch for that ourselves. Given the circumstances, you took the best course of action possible, and did everything you could. So don't be afraid to hold your head high and tell them:

"Yeah, I'm Gudako, Master of Chaldea and savior of humanity. What do you want?"