How I Saved History (Fate/Grand Order SI)

I take a deep breath as I step out of the scrying cave. Time to go back. It's over. And...

The worst part, as I think about it, is that the entirety of what I witnessed, the great brunt of what I just saw... it could have been one of my plans. No mercy and no quarter. The enemy something less than human, to be disposed of by any means necessary. Anything and everything permitted in order to save humanity.

Is this what the others saw when I took out Lancelot and Gareth? When I had Jeanne Alter and Caligula killed mid-conversation? When I gave Vlad free rein to slaughter as he pleased?

Am I like her?

Do I want to be like her?

-the little Caster, still just a girl, the glowing arrows splitting her apart, one eyelid dangling loosely by a thread from her ruined eyesocket, fluttering ever-so-slightly at the base of the arrow embedded in her head like some grotesque parody of a lowered flag, gasping as-

No. No, I don't want to be like her. I don't want to be anything like her.

But, my strategy, my targeted plans of attack, they're what I do. Can I leave those behind? Can I really just stop doing what's made me so effective thus far? If my methods are necessary to saving humanity, and I abstain from them because they're morally wrong, isn't that the greater evil?

But, at the same time, can I really go through with them? Can I plan like I used to, now that I've seen what my own type of strategies look like without the thrill of victory dulling my sight?

I don't know.

Come on, Charlie, get your head in the game. It's not over yet. Just keep it together a little longer, and then, once you're back on Chaldea, you can work through your newfound crisis of morality on your own time. For now, steel your shoulders, and settle your mind. Gravitas.

I straighten up, and focus on the world around me.

"-if you can hear me, say something!" Roman shouts, and I belatedly realized that I must have been a bit too absorbed in my own thoughts.

"I can hear you."

"Good," he sighs. "You just... spaced out for a bit there, after you left the cave. You all right?"

"I'm-" I start, a lie of my solid and whole mental state on my lips before I stop, thinking the better of it. "No, but I'll manage for the rest of the Singularity."

"If you say so," Roman acquiesces, looking at me with unabashed worry. I'm probably in for some counseling when I get back. "Anyways, now that you're back with us, I can finally tell you what I've been trying to tell you for the minute or two: the Singularity isn't beginning to collapse."

"WHAT?"

"The Rogue Servants aren't dissolving, the World hasn't started its corrections, and the geography hasn't started to normalize."

"We secured the Grail, right?" I ask, my mind racing.

"Yes. And we've confirmed that its previous owners have been terminated." Roman says, shaking his holographic head in frustration. "Without the power of a Holy Grail, the Singularity shouldn't be able to maintain itself."

"The power of a Grail..." I echo, my mind racing. And then it settles.

I need to find Elizabeth.

---​

"Flynn. It's done?" Drake says in greeting as I walk into the secured clearing that houses the Hind's crew.

"Almost." I say. "We've secured the enemy Grail, but for some reason, the Singularity still isn't settling itself properly."

The crew's reactions to that little tidbit are varied, but I keep my eye on Elizabeth. She winces, just the tiniest flinch, and her hand goes to the Grail in her belt loop almost unconsciously.

Theory confirmed.

"The current presiding theory is that the Singularity is being supported by two Grails, and not just one." I continue. Galahad enters the clearing, rejoining me as I requested telepathically a few minutes ago. "Elizabeth, could you hand over your Grail for a moment so we can test it?"

She takes a step back as everyone turns to look at her, her hand tight around the Grail. Her eyes dart around as she realizes that she's cornered.

"Does it..." she stops and clears her throat, blinking tears out of her eyes. "Does it have to end?"

Drake looks at her sadly. "Elizabeth..."

"I-" she starts and stops a few times, her voice failing her. "I don't want this to be over! I don't want to go back! I know it's selfish, but..." she's well and truly crying now, tears rolling down her cheeks. "This... this journey? Sailing with you all and having adventures? For the first time in my life, I felt like I was free! I could be anyone! Do anything! This... this has been the best year of my entire life!" The rest of the crew is crying now, and Drake's face could be carved from granite. "I don't want to go back to the palace, surrounded by rules and scheming, with everyone trying to control me, or make me into something I'm not. I don't want to go back to having all that power and responsibility, just because of who I was born as! I want to stay! I want to go on more adventures with you all! I want... I don't want this to end. I want to be free."

"Elizabeth," Drake interjects, his voice stern, but with an undertone of kindness. "You can still be free when you go back."

"But… I just told you-"

"You told me that you feel free here," Drake interrupts, his tone brooking no argument. "Elizabeth, tell me, do you think I'm free?"

"Well, yes!" she answers heatedly. "You're a man, you're a noble, you're the captain, you can sail anywhere you-"

"And does that make me free?" he asks. "I am your man through and through, my Queen. If you commanded me to die for you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. And no, it's not because of who you were born to, it's because I know you, and I trust you. And even setting aside that I couldn't betray you, there's my wife back home. Do you think I would ever do anything to hurt her? Or to hurt my crew?"

"I... no."

"We're not free creatures by nature, Liz. We bind ourselves to each other even when we try not to. If there's a man alive who's free from that, I'd hate to meet him. And even beyond that, there's laws we can't slip free from, be they that things fall downwards or that all creatures return to their Maker eventually."

"So, what, freedom's an illusion? Just another empty dream?" the young queen looks heartbroken at that.

"Yes, but it's a beautiful one all the same," Sir Drake affirms, actually smiling for the first time since I've met him. "No man or woman is free forever on this Earth, because freedom isn't something concrete. It's in the moments. It's in the rise of the ship on the swell, sun shining down bright in the brilliant blue sky and a soft breeze stirring the sea. It's in returning home and finding that they're still waiting for you. It rests in seconds and minutes, the brightest and briefest, the ones that make you feel like you're taller than the mountains, like if you reached out, you'd touch the sky. And that's not something that can be found only on the deck of a ship, Liz. It won't ever leave you."

"I..." she's crying still, and I am too, although for slightly different reasons. That was easily the most beautiful speech about freedom I've ever heard. Even if it came from a slave trader. "But.. do I have to leave you behind? You're my friends. The first ones I..."

"Idiot." Drake offers, wrapping his arms around her. "Queen or not, you're still one of us, come hell or high water, and nothing's going to change that."

The crew cheers in agreement, and the whole mess quickly becomes a group hug, leaving Galahad and myself sitting awkwardly on the sidelines.

Finally, they break apart, and Captain Drake clears his throat awkwardly. "And if any of you lot ever tell a soul that I ever said something that sappy, I'll keelhaul you myself."

"Aye-aye Captain!" they chorus.

Elizabeth turns to me, tears already drying on her cheeks, and a fragile smile on her face. She makes to hand over the Grail, but stops, hesitation written on her face. "Flynn? Could you... tell me about the future? Not anything important, just... what it's like. Is it..." she doesn't finish the question, but I can see it on her face.

"Is it worth it?"

I could give her a lot of answers, I suppose. A thousand words, and a speech to rival Drake's.

But in the end, there's only one answer that I can give.

"It's a place where people are free. Not everyone, yet, but more than there used to be. And maybe they're not as free as they ought to be, but they're freer than they were."

"I wish I could see it for myself." she muses as she hands Galahad the Grail. I realize, to a certain degree of surprise, that I do too.

The Grail slides into the shield, and the Singularity begins to dissolve.

And as the light of the Rayshift takes me, I see them for the last time. The Queen and her Captain, standing side-by-side.

 

Things return to routine after the Singularity is resolved. At least, as close to the routine as they can get.

Honestly... I'm still in shock, and reevaluating my life choices. So I decide to talk to someone about it.

---​

"So," Georgios begins, staring into the depths of his teacup contemplatively. "You do not wish to be like Medea, but at the same time, you are unsure if it is morally right to abstain from your previous methods if doing so endangers our chances of success. Have I summarized your dilemma accurately?"

"Yes."

We're in the chaplain's office, off to the side of the chapel. The chairs in here are surprisingly comfortable, actually.

"Master, while I do sincerely appreciate your acknowledgement of your flaws and desire to rein yourself in, I feel that you might be a bit too binary in your thinking, here." Georgios offers, after he's finished his contemplations. "While I myself consider your methods dishonorable, I also know that, in a battle as desperately important as this one, trickery and guile can be valuable weapons indeed. I will not deny you your greatest tools."

"So... keep doing what I'm doing?"

"Not exactly, Master." Georgios thinks for a moment, and then continues. "I noticed, on the island of Stheno, that you managed to disable three Servants in rapid succession, all without resorting to violence."

"That really wasn't..."

"You have a gift, Master, for trickery and fast-talking." Georgios interrupts. "I think that you should try to use that more often."

"I suppose I could try to do that,"

"Good. I believe that it would be far more acceptable in His eyes if you were to try to disarm more conflicts with words than violence." Georgios tells me. "Just try. That's all I'm asking. It's all He's asking, too."

Try talking things out instead of immediately resorting to violence, huh? I suppose... I can work with that. I've a big enough stick as is. I just need to learn to speak softly.

And, so fortified, I go on with my day.

---​

The summonings go on, and continue to be fruitful. We only have to kill Kiyohime once.

Also, the creepy guy with a Christine fetish shows up again, and is promptly put down.

---
​

"Assassin-Class, True Name Mata Hari! Pleased to meet you, Master! Let's try to get along, all right?" she calls. How the hell did a Twentieth-Century spy and exotic dancer qualify for the Throne? Did the World just think, 'Hey, maybe one day we'll languish at the mercy of a bunch of horny adolescents, and the only way to distract them and save us all will be a striptease?'

"Do you know anything about bartending?" I ask instead.

"Yep!"

"Neat. Go see Dr. Roman."
​

---​

"Servant Archer, True Name David," the lanky redhead calls with a grin. "Glad to meet you again, Flynn."

"Likewise."

"So, what is there for me to do around here?" he asks, looking around.

"Well, unless you're willing to clean the floors," I offer hopefully, to which he shakes his head, "Then I'm not sure where we need labor. Go talk to Dr. Roman."

Two summonings later (we got another goddamn Phantasmal again) Roman storms into the room.

"You summoned David?" he asks indignantly, his lookalike trailing behind him.

"Roman, now is really not a good time," I grunt.

"Yeah, right, sorry," he mutters, before doing a double-take. "Is that a unicorn?"

The enormous white beast froths at the mouth as its baleful red eyes alight on him, redoubling its struggles to escape Georgios' hold as he, Cursed Arm, and Cu try desperately to kill the creature.

"Yes, and it really doesn't like you. You should probably leave, your presence just seems to make it angrier."

He pauses. "Oh, right. They really don't like non-virgins."

"Indeed. I'm slightly surprised you qualify, actually." I shoot back, growing steadily more irritated that this is the second unicorn we've had to put down so far, and Roman's just making things worse. David snickers from behind Roman.

"Wait, why isn't it going after you?"

"Roman. Leave."
​

---​

"Servant Lancer, True Name Musashibo Benkei," the towering Japanese man announces, his face stern.

Hooray! I kinda know him!

"Glad to have you aboard, Lord Benkei. Please see Dr. Roman for your work assignment."

"Yes, my Master." he pauses at the doorway, looking back at us. "There are glowing bloodstains on the walls and floor of your summoning chamber."

"I am aware."

"I wished to make sure that you were," he assures me stoically, still hesitating at the door. "Er… may I ask why-"

"Unicorn incident. We don't have a janitorial team to clean the place up, so we just have to live with the stains." At least Da Vinci took the body away to dissect for parts.

"Ah." He leaves.

"Finally. Alright, Marjani, fire 'er up!"
​

---​

"Servant Rider, True Name Alexander!" the young redheaded man calls. "The future King of Conquerors. A pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise." I affirm. "Go see Dr. Roman."

As he heads off, I silently affirm to myself that I am never taking him into the field. Servant or not, there's no way in hell I'm dragging a kid into the line of fire.
​

---​

"Servant Rider, True Name Blackbeard!" the towering pillar of a man bellows, his fuses burning bright. "Pleased ta meetcha, Master."

"Just... for the sake of my sanity, if you suddenly start demanding women's panties, or ranting in internet slang, I will have you summarily executed," I inform him. "Are we clear?"

"See, shit like this? Shit like this is why I left the navy." Blackbeard grumbles, giving me the stinkeye.

"Are. We. Clear?"

"Fine, you great buzzkill. I'll leave well enough alone." he concedes with a grimace. "And I was going to have so much fun making them squirm, too."

"I'm not forbidding terrorizing Servants and staff, just forcing you to be creative." I offer. "Trust me, I have no doubt that you'll manage to frighten and disturb them to no end and cause me no end of headaches, regardless of what I try. I'm just keeping you from going about it by giving them fodder for sexual harassment lawsuits."

"Fair enough, Master. I guess you're alright."
​

---​

"Servant Rider, True Name, Ushiwakamaru." the young girl calls, wearing what looks like a samurai-themed stripper outfit. "I've come to- Uh, Master, why aren't you looking at me?"

"Marjani, do you have any spare clothes that'll fit her?" she nods. "Okay, good, no more summonings for today, just take her back to your room and get her some actual clothing."

"Wait, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Marjani gently takes her by the arm and leads her away. "Hey, Master? Master?"
​

---​

The light shines brightly on the third try of our next summoning session, revealing a tall, thin man in a red cloak. His face is handsome and stern, his hair grey with a few black streaks and meticulously combed, and his bronze, stylized breastplate gleams dully in the light. His left hand rests on the pommel of his blade, and his right is firmly wrapped about the pole of his golden eagle.

"Rejoice, Master of Chaldea! For you have summoned the foremost of Sabers! I am Julius Caesar, champion and savior of Rome!"

"An honor, Mighty Caesar." I say, scanning his stats.

I think I just found myself a new second-in-command.

"In truth, Master, the honor is mine, to join in so noble a cause."

"Very well. After the summoning concludes, I was rather hoping you might review potential tactics during deployment with me." Like hell I'm going to pass up the chance to talk shop with Julius Caesar.
​

---
​

But, well, summoning isn't the only responsibility I have. So, it's with no small amount of hesitation that I find myself in front of the witch's door once more.

She opens when I knock.

"Another translation?" she asks.

"Well, yes, but also, I was wondering if I might ask about your capabilities. After your performance in the last Singularity, I feel I've been underutilizing you."

She hesitates, before nodding. "Very well. May I ask what you need my help in translating?"

"I think you might like it, actually."

"Why so?"

"It's about you."

Ovid's Medea. My old Latin teacher would have given her arm to get her hands on this.

"I suppose that might be interesting." She concedes, stepping out and closing the door behind her. I might be imagining it, but I think I see her smile, in the shadows of her hood.

Well, she's probably not going to kill me, so there's that, at least.​

 

"So, supplies are still going strong," Roman sums up. "As a result, we won't have to make a raiding party for another month at the longest."

That gets a wave of relieved sighs. Caesar doesn't join in, of course, still meticulously taking notes.

I'm still not sure how he got himself invited, but, well, he is one of the greatest strategists of all time, why turn him away?

"Now," Roman begins, his eyes serious. "On to the main meat of the meeting: We've found the fifth Singularity."

"Impressive timing," I comment. "It's only been a week since the last one wrapped up, and already we're ready to hit up the next one."

"I can't really take credit for it, this was all Da Vinci." he demurs sheepishly, his hand on the back of his head. "The Singularity is in Victorian London, in the year 1888. We're not entirely sure what the precise nature of the Singularity is, but we'll be deploying tomorrow at 0900."

"Understood. I'll pick out my initial team and brief them on the subject, and familiarize myself with the era."

---​

The next morning, my team of Caesar, Tamamo, Georgios, Cursed Arm, and Cu Chulainn (both Spandex Lancer and Caster) are waiting for me in the Rayshift Chamber.

Mash smiles at me from besides Roman and Da Vinci, and I realize with a pang that I haven't really talked with her since the last Singularity. I'll have to fix that soon.

But for now, it's time to save the world again.