Fate/Sealed

Psuedo-Singularity: Festivities of the Fated Family - I

(A/N): Merry Christmas! I've written this as a means to go back on this series before continuing on writing the QoB rewrite (around halfway through chapter 2 as of the time of writing this).

As for how canon this event is, let's just say that this is a pseudo-singularity of sorts. The initial idea of it was literally just it to be something like the Back-to-School and Shirou day specials, but I've randomly created a whole plot with this so...

Enjoy!


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*Hashire sori yo!*


The bells chimed throughout Chaldea's corridors and multiple rooms, alerting each and every being at the facility that it was the day. Today is the day where festivities came first and singularities second (not a good idea btw). Today is the day where everyone smiles; Assassins to Berserkers, Heroic Spirits to mere human beings. The decorations were prepared weeks prior and having multiple Servants just made it all the easier due to their speed, diligence, and cooperation.

And this year is the year where a certain Saber finally gets to be this Christmas' Santa servant.

"It's happening, it's happening! IT'S HAPPENING! ROME'S BELOVED EMPEROR IS FINALLY GRANTED THE SPOT OF SANTA!!" Nero squealed whilst jumping in overwhelming excitement. Apart from two bouncing mountains that a particular Greek servant had the opportunity to look at, the sight of Nero being happy wasn't annoying to all but the alters; whom find her joy to be a disturbance.

Orion was dragged by the ear to a place far away in Chaldea. Courtesy of Artemis.

They couldn't blame her. She's the main attraction during December 25th and has added fervor to her name thanks to her very special way of singing  'Jingle Bells', captivating those who've heard it in to ways; either finding it cute or find it annoyingly cute. Yet despite all that, she hasn't been selected to be Chaldea's Santa for a few cycles of Christmas (remember that humanity's progression is still magically frozen in time because of the singularities). It infuriated those who support her being Santa, and today is apparently the day where they will be delighted.

Not for the three latest Servants, however.

"Why's Nero-san so excited?" Kenme slightly tilted her head in confusion.

COTSN -Caster of the Starry Night- just shrugged his shoulders with an apologetic look.

"Apparently..," Hanamura proceeds to explain the situation; having heard enough from EMIYA. "... And that's what EMIYA told me," She finished.

"'Santa', huh? Dad's told me about it in Avalon. He says that it's a time where everyone gathers in a house and proceeds to give things called 'gifts' to each other. And apparently it's very fun; is it true?" She asked, turning to Hanamura as COTSN  observed the sight of a bubbly Nero; the three being called to the summoning room to act as accomplices for Nero in the event later.

"Well... I guess you could say that Christmas is the time where everyone smiles. Barely an ounce of bad stuff happens during the 25th of December, but they still happen. Overall, you shouldn't miss out on it. Besides, Caster knows the Christmas feel even without all of his memories; lest he starts feeling multiple gun barrels pointed at him again," Hanamura replied, COTSN shuddering at the latter part of her statement.

It was then that Nero looked at the trio, her smile being contagious to all three as her spirit origin began changing; her clothes changing from her usual red gown into a literal female Santa outfit. Hanamura had to cover COTSN's eyes when she was nude for 2 seconds of course. The transformation didn't take that long, the other three being forcefully changed to more festive outfits. What are those outfits you ask? Well...

"Green Santa? Wait, why do I somehow have longer ears?" Kenme questioned, her new elf ears twitching for no reason.

"Krampus. Seriously..?" COSTN says, sighing in disappointment.

"And I guess that makes me Rudolph. Neat!"

Kenme had a green outfit representing Santa's most loyal workers; elf shoes, a green hat smaller but similar to Nero's, and topping it off with green pajamas and a green sweater. She also gained elf ears for some reason.

COTSN and Hanamura on the other hand were wearing onesies of their respective Christmas creatures; Caster being the Krampus whilst Hanamura being Rudolph. COTSN has plastic horns on his head through headband means while Hanamura's reindeer antlers were apart of the onesie itself. COTSN's also wearing glasses for some reason.

"Oh yeah Nero-san, what's your new class?" The Archer of the group questioned with a smile, her companions looking at the 5th Roman Emperor's direction out of curiosity.

"Hmm..," Nero hummed, observing the changes to her spirit origin to identify her new class. "Seems to be Ri...der..," She voiced out, her excitement from a hundred to zero in one breath.


It confused Kenme, though it wasn't lost on the other two. The reason was obvious.


"J-just because I look like her doesn't mean I wanted to be the same class!" Nero yells in disbelief. "Hmph! No matter. I'll just be a better Santa than that Black Saber!" Her raised voice suddenly gained vigor and charisma, the excitement she had moments prior returning in full.

All the while a certain Alter sneezed onto her kin and rival, playing it off as intentional just to piss the latter off to the point of threatening her with the flames that've burned a saint. It amused the tyrannical version of the King of Knights.


-~-


"Wait, why are nearly all of you here? Shouldn't there be at least 5-8 servants forcibly involved in the Christmas singularity?" Da Vinci asked as if something had gone terribly wrong.

With her was Murazaki, who was wearing a Christmas sweater and black jogger pants; which was apparently a pair of Mystic Codes made by Da Vinci. The 'Christmas' servants however were being showered in praise; COTSN being flocked by female servants whilst the other three were being admired by a mix; the males being further to avoid Artoria's ire.

Speaking of Artoria, where was she during all this? The words that came out of Da Vinci's mouth explained everything however.

"Oh crap. Artoria, Shirou-kun, Mash, Ereshkigal, Muramasa, and Kama aren't here," Mona Lisa's creator said nonchalantly, the eyes of all people in the room widening from shock; Nero's eyes filling up with determination a few seconds later.

"Umu! 'Tis shall be my first test as a Santa? Bring it! The 5th Emperor of Rome shall not disappoint!" She exlaines, Aestus Estus' flames being as strong as her will and resolve to bring those servants back, followed by the roar of all the servants present. The Roman servants were more pronounced than the others however.

"Hm? Where's EMIYA?" Murazaki asked in a way similar to Da Vinci did earlier, though her question only garnered the attention of Hanamura and strangely enough, COTSN.

""But I'm right here??"" Both of them reply, stare at each other, COTSN looking away whilst murmuring stuff containing 'whys', and Hanamura's face heating up from embarrassment. It wasn't a surprise that the Archer of the two replied, but why the Caster? Everyone aside from a select few thought in confusion.


-~-


"All set and ready to go. You guys good?" Chaldea's Master turned to the servant accompanying her on this special singularity. In reality though, it's her and three other servants accompanying Nero, this year's Santa servant.

"Umu!" The Roman Emperor replied, the other three opted to nodding.

Murazaki enters her coffin so she can be rayshifted to the Festive Singularity, Da Vinci readying the coordinates. Once readied, the researcher sent Murazaki into the singularity alongside the four servants involved in the Festive Singularity; named by Nero herself.

Upon entering the singularity, three of the five transports widened their eyes whilst the other two observed their surroundings. It wasn't a huge phantasmal beast or an enemy servant. It wasn't something that would destroy a city, nor something that would harm its people. It was simply the city itself that shocked Hanamura, COTSN, and Murazaki; the latter wide-eyed due to an absent inferno while the former two because of their backgrounds.

It was none other than Fuyuki City filled with Christmas decorations throughout the streets. The lights were a stunning sight, the fact that it was night making it look like a national treasure. Snow slowly falling onto the ground with people walking the streets; couples holding hands and families on an outing were all smiling due to the festivities.

"THIS IS FUYUKI!? WHAT THE FUCK!?!?" The Master yelled. "IT LOOKS THIS GOOD WHEN IT ISN'T HELL, SO WHAT THE FUCK MAN???" She continued, garnering the attention of bystanders who looked at the group weirdly.

It was understandable though, seeing as it was a group of people consisting of a person in a Santa outfit, one in an elf cosplay, and two in onesies of Christmas creatures. The only person with normal attire had just screamed their lungs out, so where was the normality in this group?

"Master..," Hanamura could only wish that there was something else other than COTSN she could hide behind, with the Caster himself covering his face with his onesie's hood. The other two didn't even notice the attention they had until an individual approached them with a smile.

"You lot seem to be new here. Majority seem to be of Japanese heritage though. Moving into Fuyuki?" A woman in a white trench coat and black jeans greeted them. Their features were hidden by a hat and a pair of shades; a weird observation being that she was only wearing a single gray glove, her left hand bare with command seals present.

'She's a Master? Wait, what year is it?' Both Hanamura and Murazaki thought.

"Now I don't really follow trends these days, so I don't know if wearing onesies in public's a popular trend right now," The woman giggled. "But don't worry about finding a place to stay, my home's kinda empty right now. Care to vacate the rooms?"

Although normally their response would be to decline, but where would they go if this singularity was a near-mirror copy of another timeline? One mistake here would cause more problems really, so Murazaki opted to accept the offer much to Hanamura's and COTSN's detests; the lookalikes not really paying attention to the conversations in favor of observing the city lights.

With the woman in front, the group's journey to their apparent temporary home was nothing special. Aside from the stares they were getting from bystanders, it was breathtaking to walk through the city at this time; always has been for two certain individuals that decided to stray from the main group to visit a special location.


-~-


"Still looks the same. You've studied here too didn't you, Caster?" 

Hanamura and COTSN were in front of Homuhara Academy's gates; the former looking at the school longingly while the latter was looking at it questioningly. He had a feeling in his spirit origin that he just had to go to this place, and it was purely coincidental that Hanamura had the same place in mind when she said that she'd take a detour.

"My memories are still fuzzy but..," He looked up at the main building at a certain room. "I guess I did. Why else would my spirit origin lead me here?" He says with a somber smile.

'Guess this'll lead into more answers' She thought. "Well, why not go in?"

COTSN nodded, with both entering spirit form and going beyond the school gates and separating to go to their desired sights to see. Of course, being the person he was, COTSN couldn't help but worry not just for Hanamura, but for the others; especially his Master.

On her own end, Hanamura's head was filled to the brim with thoughts about Caster, and the reactions he's shown in regards to the kind woman who's lending them her place temporarily. Why would his expressions become like that? Was this someone she knew as well? If so, then why doesn't she recognize her? Was it one of her papa's friends from highschool? No, that couldn't be it.

Her thoughts were cut short when she looked up to see Homuhara's archery dojo in front of her. With nostalgia entering her being, she didn't even think about the possibility of there being a person within the dojo, but it was nighttime anyway. Who would stay in an archery past school hours anyway? She thought in hypocrisy.


What could go wrong?


-~-


Four remain, two off on their own agendas in the city. Murazaki wasn't all that worried; having two capable servants by her side as well as two long-ranged servants able to help wherever they are either through their abilities or simply convey information through their contract as Master and Servants. She looked at the Servants with her, their faces identical, with one having a boastful grin while the other a look of fascination. She couldn't help but think of them as 'adorable' in their own rights, the Emperor enjoying the prospect of visiting other lands whilst the Sword was in awe of the city itself. She couldn't blame the latter, it was a breathtaking sight. Too bad her first thoughts when the place 'Fuyuki City' were said was nothing but a miserable, everlasting hell.

They were told that they were near the house, Nero visibly excited to see what their temporary base of operations would look like. It didn't matter if it was a mansion or a regular home; so long as it can house Master, then it was suitable enough. This was HER chance to prove herself worthy of being a Santa servant, even more so when the fact that Black Saber was the first ever Santa just lights the fire in her competitive spirit and drive to be the best Emperor for her subjects.

"Umu!" She voiced out randomly. "I can't wait to see what's in store for us!"

"Ahaha..," Murazaki chuckled awkwardly. "Maybe contain your excitement until later, Nero. At least until we reach the kind woman's home."

Speaking of which, they've yet to catch the name of the woman. How strange...

"Hm? I haven't shared my name with you, haven't I?" The woman says. "Apologies. I was too excited at the prospect that I'd have finally invited strangers home; something my Dad would be proud of," She says with soft laughter.

Murazaki could only raise a brow at that statement, shaking her head knowing that she has two heroes of the past ready to protect her should anything happen at wherever the woman was leading them. It also relieved her that her training with Servants in hand-to-hand and armed combat was showing fruits of success.

Five more minutes of walking pass, a total of 30 now. She didn't mind the walk, having travelled by foot for the majority of the Grand Order. They were currently in a tightly-knit neighborhood a bit far from the main city, a small hill to climb on foot. Nothing to worry about, except for the fact that there were hostile snowmen and runaway Christmas hogs on the top of it, blocking the path they were supposed to take.

Murazaki was ready to send Nero in to test out her new abilities as Santa, but was distracted by... gun shots? And directly in front of them? What shocked her even more was that those gun shots caused those very same snowman and hogs to glitter into mots of mana into the air. Confused, Nero and Murazaki looked on to see where those gunshots would've come from, and what monster of a person is capable of doing that? More than that, they felt a Noble Phantasm being semi-deployed nearby. Where was that? What was the Servant and the Noble Phantasm?

All the answers to those questions were right in front of them.

Ditching the trench coat, the woman was shown to be wearing robes similar to that of Archer EMIYA's own but were white instead of red. She turned around, discarding the hat and shades to reveal auburn red hair tied in a bun that was swiftly retied into a simple tail on the right, the removal of her shades showing amber eyes that seemed to glow amidst the falling snow. In her hands was a pistol of sorts, nothing like Murazaki's ever seen. She could make out the model, but the design was wild. It was a bayoneted pistol, the blade running from the tip of the gun to the trigger; where it was shown to also be the gun's trigger guard. The hammer was also odd, resembling the handles seen on the married blades Kanshou and Bakuya.

And the fact that the gun was as white as the snow wasn't lost on Chaldea's Master, the Yin and Yang symbol present at the gun's base.

"Sorry for that, but better late than never," The woman says, her attractive face showing a smile that conveyed 'I'm really sorry' as she shoots down an incoming boar without even looking, twirling the unidentified gun around her finger as she put her free hand on her hips.



"My name is Ritsuka Emiya. Daughter of magi Emiya and magi Tohsaka, and your trusty tour guide of Fuyuki City."



The woman, now identifying herself as Ritsuka Emiya, introduced with pride and certainty; the smile on her face conveying the utmost confidence in herself. She could clearly see the awe on two of the three 'tourists', the third one having a resolute one instead accompanied by an affirming 'Umu' and a nod. She may not know who these 'tourists' are or where they came from, but it's apart of a hero's duty to make them safe and sound; lessons taught to her by both father and brother.

"Wow..," Murazaki voiced out. "So you were a magus this whole time?" She asked.

"Well, the Clock Tower doesn't take it nicely when the moonlit world's been revealed to the general public, but seeing as you have 4 servants and have visible command seals, I deemed it fine to reveal my magecraft," She states, letting the gun in her hand disappear as mots of mana. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to y'all. My offer when we first met was genuine, so no backstabbing from me. 'Sides, Fuji would KILL me if he found out I lead strangers to their death," She chuckled at her own 'joke' that had Murazaki on edge for a second.

"I-I see..," The Master chuckled awkwardly. It wasn't that she was afraid of Ritsuka doing something graphic with them, far from it when the other party was aware of the heroic spirits she had on board. "Ah- I nearly forgot! My name is Murazaki Kaji, Chaldea's final Master," She introduced. "These are Rider and Saber, the other two were Archer and Caster."

"Trying to complete the ServantDex, are we? Haha," Ritsuka joked. "In all seriousness though, glad to meet you Kaji-chan! You've said that you work at Chaldea, so that means that you must be a secret newbie prodigy the higher-ups aren't talking about? Seriously, stuck-up elder magi are pains in the ass."

"?!"

At the mention of Chaldea, she tensed up. Wasn't Chaldea supposed to be humanity's hope of attaining a future beyond the year 2017? Wasn't it supposed to be kept secret from the Clock Tower, or at least, have it relatively hidden? How could she speak of Chaldea so casually? It was confusing -and infuriating at the same time-, but she couldn't question her forcibly; opting to release her frustrations through a heavy sigh.

"I guess I'm something like that," She says. "Say, what servants do have under your command?" She continued with a question. It was relatively harmless and simple, something that Ritsuka could answer without growing suspicious of her fellow Master.

"Hm. If we go by classes, then I have an Archer and a Lancer. If we go by their true names, then they're Atalanta and Nagao Kagetora; the latter being transferred from my brother."

"Oh," She perked up at the names, remembering Chaldea's Atalanta and Kagetora. "I see..."

Something didn't make sense however. Sure, she was aware of similar organizations throughout the singularities that do a similar thing to Chaldea albeit to a lesser extent, the fact that it was named 'Chaldea' specifically kind of irked her. She knows of the historical Chaldea; a small country within the nation of Babylonia. But nobody aside from freshly taught highschool students or history geeks would remember such a relatively small portion of the entirety of Sumerian history. It was by sheer coincidence that Chaldea, having a much more longer name that was too much of a pain to remember.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she returned to the world to see Ritsuka picking up her hat and trench coat that she carelessly threw to the ground and wearing them once more, her shades now being stuck on her coat instead of wearing them properly. It was honestly dumb to wear sun glasses in the middle of winter, but she thought she'd make herself look cool like her favorite stereotype in movies and games.