002 - Fate/Half Astral

"Fujimaru! What's happening over there?? We've lost your visual!" Roman's panicked voice rang out, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't establish communication with Fujimaru and the others.

The last thing he had heard was Ritsu's sobs, crying out for her father.

"Don't tell me!" Roman's eyes widened as he began to understand what was happening.

"We can't access Fujimaru's bracelet at all, it's like something's blocking our signal!" one of the remaining Chaldea staff members reported, frustration evident as they tried desperately to reconnect.

But despite all their efforts, none of them could reestablish communication. They were working tirelessly, yet something beyond their understanding was blocking every attempt.

"It's no use, Romani. Whatever's coming, it's already severed our transmission," Da Vinci said, her eyes glued to the monitor, a deep frown on her face.

"Yeah, I know, Da Vinci, but if it's really Ritsu's father that's coming, we might not need to worry... too much," Roman replied, though his voice was laced with uncertainty.

Everyone kept their eyes fixed on the screen, praying that whatever was about to happen wouldn't make things worse.

Meanwhile, Ritsu, seeing that her father had indeed appeared, broke free from Fujimaru's grasp and flew toward the crack in the air. Her small wings flapped desperately as she called out, "Papa!"

She soared through the air, catching sight of her father's familiar astral clothing, the twelve magnificent wings enveloped in a glowing purple light, his silver hair flowing around him. But something made her stop in her tracks—his eyes. They weren't the usual warm color she remembered.

They were glowing purple.

Ritsu's eyes widened in shock, and she halted mid-air, her mouth dropping open in disbelief. "Edgy Papa! He's the one that showed up!"

Without a second thought, she tried to turn and fly away as fast as she could, but before she got very far, she slammed into an invisible barrier. Stunned, she felt herself being lifted from behind, someone gripping the back of her shirt collar.

"Where do you think you're going, my little princess?" a familiar, yet slightly teasing voice asked.

Ritsu pouted as she dangled in the air, unable to escape her father's hold.

"Hello, Papa," Ritsu turned to him, giving him an innocent smile.

"Hello, Ritsu. So, you're not going to call me 'Edgy Papa' anymore?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Umm, no, I never called you that," Ritsu began fiddling with her fingers, trying to act as if she hadn't said anything.

"If you don't admit it, no more cookies for you."

Ritsu's eyes widened, and she blurted out, "It's Mama! I heard her calling you 'Edgy' every time she sees your eyes turn purple!"

"Of course it's Rin..." He sighed, shaking his head with a fond yet exasperated look.

After that, he glanced around and quickly noticed the scene of destruction surrounding them. His gaze fell on the three people below, whom he knew well. "Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash Kyrielight, Olga Marie Animusphere? So this is Singularity F, because Olga is still alive?"

"Papa knows them?" Ritsu asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, your papa knows them very well, though it's more like I know different versions of them, not this one," he corrected. "So, what are you doing here? Didn't Rin tell you to sleep?"

"Umm… I was just trying out my ability and accidentally ended up in this world," Ritsu mumbled quietly, shrinking a bit under his questioning gaze.

He sighed deeply, "Hahhh, well, whatever. Let's go back now." He raised his left hand to his side, ready to open a void gateway to return to their dimension.

"No, I don't want to go back yet!" Ritsu began squirming in his grip, trying to break free.

"Help Olga-neechan! She's going to die if I don't do something to help her!"

"Olga-neechan?" He looked over at Olga, who was still unable to move due to his doings.

"Yeah, help her, please! I don't want her to disappear!" Ritsu pleaded, her voice filled with urgency.

Without responding, he descended from the sky with Ritsu and landed beside Olga, observing her condition carefully.

"Hmm, interesting... she reminds me of Ferry when she was a ghost years ago," he muttered as he observed Olga, his curiosity piqued. He began to study her more deeply, almost lost in thought, until Ritsu nudged him in the stomach with her elbow.

"Stop doing that!"

"What are you doing?"

"Mama said to always stop you when you start getting too interested in something."

"That Rin…" he sighed, shaking his head.

After that, he gently set Ritsu down and returned his focus to Olga. Fixing her wouldn't be too difficult for him—after all, creating a new body for her was simple enough, but his creation would be far from ordinary.

He smiled and lifted his hand to touch Olga. "Fruit of Life."

As his hand made contact with Olga, a radiant light began to emanate from her body. "Cerulean Fruit, Crimson Fruit, Golden Fruit, Emerald Fruit," he intoned as Olga's body began to glow in each of the colors he called out.

"Thirteen Labors, start," he continued, summoning multiple spherical chromatic barriers that shimmered with vibrant colors, along with orbiting arcane circles that hovered around Olga.

"Omen of the First Labor," he declared, sending one of the arcane circles directly into Olga's body.

"Omen of the Second Labor," another circle followed, seamlessly merging with her.

He continued calling out each Omen, and with every one, a circle entered Olga's body, causing her to glow even more intensely. Reality itself seemed to warp around them, distorting as the arcane energy flowed into her.

Finally, there was just one Omen left. "Omen of the Thirteenth Labor," he whispered, sending the final arcane circle into her, filling Olga with overwhelming energy.

But there was still one last step. "Celestial Fusion! Creation: Primal Beast, complete."

At that moment, the very fabric of reality began to fracture and break. Space rippled violently, creating cracks in the air around them. Light exploded out from Olga, distorting everything in the surrounding area as if reality itself was struggling to contain the immense power being channeled into her.

The cracks in the air spread wider, shattering like glass, as the force of creation defied the natural order, leaving behind a shimmering, otherworldly glow that pulsated through the broken space.

~~~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~~~~

"Huh?" When Olga regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was the blue light in front of her, signaling that the Rayshift was still active.

She looked up and saw Fujimaru and Mash still suspended in the air, frozen like statues. "Fujimaru? Mash?" But when she didn't see Ritsu there, panic set in. She frantically looked around for her.

"So, since when did you have wings?" A voice came from the direction of a man with silver hair and twelve purple wings.

"Umm, since like a month ago..." Ritsu, who was floating in the air, casually replied.

"Ritsu!?" Olga called out in surprise.

Hearing her name, Ritsu quickly turned around. When she saw Olga awake, a big smile spread across her face. "Olga-neechan!" She flew straight to Olga and hugged her tightly.

"You're finally awake! I thought it would take you more time to stabilize your body."

Olga looked confused by what Ritsu was saying, but before she could ask, the man's voice chimed in again.

"Looks like nothing went wrong, so I don't need to activate any safety protocols on you."

Olga turned toward the voice and saw the man with the twelve purple wings. "Are you... Ritsu's father?"

"Yes, he's my Papa," Ritsu responded happily before he could.

"Well, like she said, I'm her father. I don't know how you managed to get so close to Ritsu, but I'm glad she's having fun with you."

"Eh, you're really her father? Then... *cough* let me introduce myself properly—" Olga started, but the man cut her off.

"You don't need to introduce yourself. I already know who you are, Olga. You can call me Rei—that's what everyone calls me."

"Rei..."

"Is she okay now, Papa?" Ritsu asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, she's fine. But her ability as a Primal Beast hasn't fully manifested yet, so it'll probably take some more time."

"I see! Then I'll be the one to train her!" Ritsu declared excitedly, her voice full of energy.

Olga looked increasingly bewildered by the conversation between Ritsu and Rei. Finally, she decided to ask Rei directly.

"What are you talking about? My ability as a Primal Beast? What does that mean?"

Rei turned to her and explained, "Basically, you are no longer a spirit, and you can return to Chaldea without worrying about disappearing."

"Really???" Olga exclaimed, surprised and elated by the news.

"But you are no longer human. Now, you are a creature from my world called a Primal Beast."

Rei proceeded to explain what a Primal Beast was to Olga.

"Immortality, Higher-Dimensional Existence, Acausality, Invisibility and Intangibility, Inorganic Physiology, Energy Manipulation, Abstract Existence, Regeneration, Extrasensory Perception, Mind Destruction, Aura. That's what you are now, Olga Marie Animusphere."

"Wha!? What are you talking about?? Higher-dimensional existence?? What does that mean?? You mean I'm no longer human and now a Primal Beast??? How could that happen???"

Olga looked completely lost, overwhelmed by the information, her mind struggling to process it all.

"And every Primal Beast has its own origin and ability—" Rei continued, but suddenly Ritsu interrupted him by nudging his stomach again.

"Papa, stop! You're making Olga-neechan really confused!"

Hearing Ritsu's plea, Rei stopped and glanced at Olga, who was clearly overwhelmed by all the confusing information. He sighed deeply.

"Oh well, whatever. Your power will manifest soon enough anyway, so for now, don't worry too much about it," he said reassuringly.

With that, he released his control over time, and Mash and Fujimaru were finally able to move again.

After a bit more explanation, it was clear that their next step was to return to Chaldea.

"How do we get back to Chaldea?" Mash asked, since Fujimaru still couldn't reestablish communication with dr.Roman.

Without a word, Rei opened a void gateway leading directly to Chaldea. "Here. If you step inside, you'll be back at Chaldea. After that, I can finish the destruction of this Singularity."

"Let's go, Neechan, Niichan!" Ritsu said cheerfully, immediately stepping into the gateway without hesitation, leaving the others behind.

"Ritsu!" Olga quickly followed, chasing after her.

"Let's go, Master," Mash urged Fujimaru before she, too, entered the gateway.

Fujimaru, looking slightly uneasy at the sight of the void gateway, swallowed hard before stepping in quickly as well.

Once they had all gone, Rei stood for a moment, glancing around the decaying landscape as if recalling something from long ago.

"Heh, this place, huh? The nostalgia really hits, even though it's only been, what, fifty years since both of them summoned me to Fuyuki," he murmured with a small smile.

With that, Rei stepped into the gateway himself, and the destruction of Singularity Fuyuki resumed, erasing it from existence.