[ Fate/Grand Order ] Final Lostbelt: Chaldeas

[ Chapter 1 ] Fleeting Dream of Humanity's Saviour

"Ritsuka?"

Someone was calling her.

"Ritsuka."

She wanted to sleep a bit more.

"Ritsukaaa."

She wished the voice would let her have some relief for once.

"RITSUKA!"

Something bashes against her head, causing her to wake up at last with a small bump on the side of her head. It's source? The staff wielded by a small little girl who looked like a imagination of Mona Lisa as a child.

It was Leonardo Da Vinci, her Heroic Spirit transferred into a body of a lower rank due to an unfortunate accident.

"You've been sleeping in all day, I get that you of all people should be getting rest, but this is too much."

The small Da Vinci would be pouting while tapping her feet against the metal floor of room. It was a room Ritsuka knew of all too well. After all, it was the Master's Room. They were still in the [ Shadow Border ], a small vehicle that was merely a prototype since creation. Now, it served as a home and base of operations.

"Why are you even calling me up? Did something happen?" In a half-asleep state of mind, she slowly sits up on her bed and meets face to face with her navigator.

"You're going to miss breakfast, too much rest on the bed is bad for your body. Anyways, get out of bed." Da Vinci walks out of the room with those words, the sound of the electronic door opening and closing playing without pause. She was quite light on her feet.

In Ritsuka's mind, she wanted to disobey that order and sleep in for another day. Its been far too tiring. Firstly saving all of humanity's history and then denying the Lostbelts. Both body and mind were exasperated. But she couldn't refuse Da Vinci unless she really wanted a deathwish.

Getting into her Special Chaldea Combat uniform, she looks over the desk in her room. Different pictures and notes pasted all over the wall above it with stacks of different books and notes. Every picture was of a different Lostbelt, and every one of them featured scenery and sights that could no longer be recreated today.

Giving herself a quick double slap to her cheeks, she wakes herself up fully and walks out of the room towards the small dining area of the vessel. As the door-in slides open, she's greeted by two familiar faces having light brunch together.

Mash Kyrielight, the Demi-Servant fused with Galahad who was nibbling on some toast.

Leonardo Da Vinci, the navigator of the [ Shadow Border ], enjoying a warm cup of chocolate.

"Gwoof mowning Shenpai." Mash tried to greet Ritsuka the first moment she saw her, but she knew better to take that toast out of her mouth first.

"I cooked up some eggs and toast for you as well. If you want some chocolate, it's by the fridge." Da Vinci points to a single mug sitting on a counter at the corner of the room, still letting off steam from its heat while a plate of toast and eggs were untouched next to Mash's.

A totally average breakfast, if this were the average family scenario, it'd be seen as a mother taking care of her two daughters. But these individuals weren't family. They were more than that.

Journeying together to correct faults in human history through Singularities to prevent the Human Incineration Project and conserve the Common Sense of Man.

Cleaning the Legacy of the King of Magecraft in the Epic of Remnant.

And their most recent and successful endeavour, preserving the Greater History of Man through the denials of the 7 Lostbelts created by the [ Crypters ].

It was hard to say if it was going to be the last task for them as members of Chaldea. But the future had looked brighter than ever to them now. And because of that bright future, all of them decided it was due time to return home, to return to Chaldea.

"This is it huh? After all that work, we're not going to get a single word of thanks from everyone but each other." Ritsuka looks down into her mug, her face not reflected by the surface of the hot chocolate.

"Well, we can live happy knowing that the world isn't going to end, again." Drinking up the last sip of her chocolate, Da Vinci puts on a proud expression.

"Mhmm, and it's all thanks to our hard work. At least now the Director's and Doctor's sacrifices weren't in vain." Wiping away the crumbs of bread around her lips, Mash had also put on a smile.

It was two against one, Ritsuka wasn't going to get away with setting a mood this time around. "Well, I guess you two are right. Let's hold a big celebration once we get back home." A warm smile formed on her lips. The longing feeling of her old room was finally going to be satisfied.

The Shadow Border was currently outside the [ Seas of Time ], and was travelling like any other vehicle. Its destination: Chaldeas, Antarctica.

"Well, I should be heading the controls. Even if its safe now in a combat aspect, arctic weather is no joke!" Putting down her mug, she walks out of the dining room with haste to the vessel's controls. Leaving Mash and Ritsuka alone.

"We're finally going back, I really hope everything has been well preserved.." Mash was most worried about Doctor Romani's room. The last she saw of it, everything was in perfect condition, as if the tenant never lived there in the first place. She knows it won't be the same, but deep down, she hoped nothing moved in there.

"Well~ getting frozen at -100 celsius can practically be considered cryofreezing, so I'm sure everything's going to be alright." Trying to reassure Mash, Ritsuka walks over to Mash and sits down on the chair next to her.

"Senpai..what will we do now? Now that everything's over, what will we do with our lives?"

"We've made sure time flows towards the future again. From here on out.." Grabbing the back of Mash's head and pulling it closer, their foreheads meet as they stare into each others' eyes. "We can choose our own path, that includes you too."

Faintly blushing, Mash gives a gentle nod in response. She wanted to say something back, she knew that she would be separated with Ritsuka once they returned to Chaldeas. She wanted to be with Ritsuka forever, not just as a Servant, but as a companion.

As Ritsuka pulls back from the skinship, Mash opens her mouth to confess her wish. "Senpai, I.."

Suddenly, the entire vehicle comes to a grinding halt, interrupting Mash's sentence as everyone is given a hard shake.

"Ritsuka, Mash. We have a problem." Da Vinci rushed through the dining room door. She had 'that' face. And whenever she had 'that' face, something was seriously going wrong. "Come with me to the helm."

"You can tell me what's on your mind later. Come on." Following after Da Vinci, Ritsuka was worried, but she didn't want to shake up Mash after what she had just said. Thus, she spoke to her and walked forward with a cheerful smile.

"O-of course Senpai!"

--- At the Helm of the Shadow Border ---

"T-this can't be happening." She thought her eyes were deceiving her, that this was all some sick joke of a nightmare she woke up into. Ritsuka knew she should have slept in today.

Mash covered her mouth in shock as her eyes twitched with tears welling up in the corners. In her mind, the same sentence was repeating over and over again.

"Please no Please no Please no Please no Please no Please no Please no Please no"

Outside the windshield of the [ Shadow Border ], the view of the mountain-scape that was supposed to be Chaldeas' home was cut off by a [ Boundary Field ]. But not the [ Boundary Field ] generated by Chaldeas itself which simply shrouded itself in snow.

No, it was a [ Boundary Field ] that everyone currently looking at it wished didn't exist.

The first person to break the disbelief was also already making preparations to tackle the problem. The Genius Da Vinci must never fall behind, but even she could not hold back her stutters.

"C-Chaldeas..has become a Lostbelt."