Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The Savior of Pan-Human History. The Last Master of Humanity—Whose bloodstained hands had denied countless lives to be a hero.
The person Oberon-Vortigern was waiting for.

At a glance, she was nothing more than a regular human.
It wasn’t hard to spot her bright red hair even from afar. She was quite tall compared to the malnourished humans in the Britan Isles, her body healthy and athletic.
A pleasant-looking young woman, nothing more, nothing less.
A person born with blessings and promised to live a peaceful, normal, albeit insignificant life.

Yet when Oberon first set his eyes on her, what he saw was sickening beyond imagination, more detestable than anything he’d ever seen, even in the cursed land of Britain built on top of myriad corpses.

Curses. Curses from souls that lost their worlds, clinging, swarming, waiting to prey upon the one who brought their demise. Something deeper and more pitiful than the Evil of Humanity itself. The bottomless mud, suffocating with foul stench born out of the dead hopes.

Those are the curses she had cast upon herself, enclosed in the layers of lies.
Even from distance, he could see her smiling at her ‘friends.’ Beyond that smile was a constant fear, hesitation, guilt, that she was desperately trying to hide.

His Faerie Eyes glanced into her soul. It was ominously pure, untainted, transparent even. As if it was forcibly blocking off any vices by erasing its own existence. Just like a glass marble tossed into a swamp, it was indistinguishable yet untouched by the surroundings.

It was an understatement to say she was on verge of collapse.
Submerged in the thick curses, it was a miracle her mind hasn’t crashed yet.

No… It’s not that she hasn’t crashed yet.
She had already erased the concept of succumbing to the curses. Her true self was already lost, long ago.

Ritsuka Fujimaru, the Last Master of Humanity. A normal, human girl cast onto a role that was never meant for her. As Oberon recalled, from the moment he met her… she was no longer a “human.”

A singularity that wouldn’t resolve by itself was never a good sign, let alone it being located somewhere familiar to him. Understandably for many staffs and servants of Chaldea, discovering the time-space abnormality at that particular space was enough to cause visible bewilderment, as their wounds were still fresh from the recent ill-fated trip.

Oberon couldn’t care less. Chaldea already had the nerve to summon the Pretender Faerie King/Vile King Oberon-Vortigern as an ally, despite them all knowng what he did. On top of that was Ritsuka Fujimaru—his Master, that decided to allocate a large amount of Chaldea’s precious resources to strengthen his Spirit Origin, ignoring the obvious unspoken protests from quite a few.
Surely they could manage.
That was Oberon’s conclusion, as he scornfully watched two identical-looking little sailors hurrying through the hallway. Really, he couldn't care less.

"Oberon, I want you in the Command Room."
…Until Ritsuka called him to join the rayshift. Talk about eccentricity. Knowing Ritsuka, that shouldn't have been a total surprise to him. She must have been an extreme utilitarianist or she just got bad tastes, that’s all. Maybe both.

“Such kindness to let me accompany you, Master. I’d be surprised if it was your idea to bring me to that particular place.”
Again, wasn’t a surprise. He ought to be the one familiar with the Forest of Wales, right? He wondered whose idea was to include him in the mission.
“You know, you can stay if it’s too hard. I’ll manage.”
Ritsuka gave him an apologetic look as they met in the Command Room.
“…What’s really in your mind?”
“A proper closure. I want someone I can rely on to go with me.”
…As if he wouldn’t be a threat to her.
“As expected of my Master. I understand. I totally understand your decisions.
But really…Are you being suicidal or what?”
She stared at him, her amber eyes slighlt widened. The way she looked at him always made him feel uneasy.
"Wait... are you sure?"
He hoped she would misinterpret what he said. Unfortunately, she didn't.
“…Thank you. Sorry for the troubles, it’s still a relief to have you.”
He didn't know which was more concerning, the uncanny trust she had in him, or the fact that she understood his warnings.
She smiled at him, hiding her fears inside, as usual. A smile that always made his stomach churn.

During the Rayshift, servants would follow their master as spiriton data, while the master herself gets her existence broken down and reconstructed at the target location. Oberon watched Ritsuka laying inside her Coffin, with her eyes firmly closed before he himself dissipated into spirit form, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth.
"It's not that bad once you get used to it. Better than zero sails." He remembered Ritsuka saying it as if she was making a good comparison.

If the name “Coffin” doesn’t hit a wrong note, he wouldn’t know what else to say.

Soon later, they arrived at an autumn forest soaked in golden sunlight. It was a place that shouldn’t have been existing. A lost memory of a dead world.

“…As I suspected, the leftover curse from Faerie Britain manifested into a singularity. Not a surprise, actually, considering how big the influences the British Lostbelt had on the Pan-Human History.”
Da Vinci’s hesitant voice from the Comms device was enough to make both Ritsuka and Artoria Caster turn pale instantly. The girls nodded to each other as if they tried to squeeze off the last bits of reassurance.

“Let’s go,” Ritsuka spoke to the team. Oberon decided against speaking up. Aside from the other servants, he hoped what they’ll see would be the greatest irony he’s got to known, when all three of them, himself, Ritsuka, and Artoria, happened to be involved in this mission.

“A Shadow Servent…?”
As they reached the mana source creating the singularity, Ritsuka muttered in disbelief.
“Oberon! What is this!? Don’t tell me…”
“Quiet Artoria. The enemy’s over there, you know?”

The enemy had Oberon’s shape but clad in darkness.

A Shadow Servant, as classified by Chaldea—a mindless copy of him manifested from the leftover curse of Mors. The carcasses of the past that once wished for the End of the World.

Although they couldn’t see its face, somehow they still knew when the shadow acknowledged them. It created a lance out of dark mud and tossed it straight to Ritsuka, still looking stupefied.
“Funny, huh? You two get to kill me all over again.”
Oberon quickly stepped in front of her, created a scythe, and deflected the attack.
“…Could you shut that foul mouth? You have no right to say that.”
Artoria screamed at him as she dodged another attack flying towards her.

“Did you think it was something I can control? That's my nature, I was born that way. It’s awfully naïve of you to believe thousands of years worth of curses would go away so easily. Fight me if you can”
“I said, stop! I'm not here to fight you."
“Oberon, Artoria! It’s fine. I’m fine now.”
Both Oberon and Artoria gave a quick look to Ritsuka right behind them, ready to activate the Mystic Code.

“This is something we all have to face, sooner or later. Let’s focus on the fighting”

Clearly, Ritsuka wasn’t fine. Both Artoria and Oberon could see.
“As you wish, Master.”
“…It’s weird when you’re acting like a servant, Oberon.”
“Shut up and give us orders.”
“But how!?”

Ritsuka looked panicked by his absurd request (he knew it was contradictory), but it was enough. She had to relax her tension to focus on the fight. He didn't mind either way, but at they all deserved a proper commander. At least he could lend a hand.

It wasn't an easy fight. Ironically, his shadow was stronger than his current self. Artoria scoffed as she dodged an attack, tossing a hand-bomb while doing it. The explosion barely slowed the enemy.

“Abby! Stop him! Melusine, prepare to attack!”
As Ritsuka swiftly made orders to fight, the other two servants in the team complied. Usually, Oberon wouldn’t want to go near either of them. Still, that alone proved that Ritsuka made a good decision in choosing the team members. Oberon himself had a good reason to fight despite the nuisance. It was worthwhile for him to tolerate their presence.

The Foreigner girl stunned the enemy, as Melusine’s sword cut the shadow in half, only for that to reassemble instantaneously. It was both disgusting and yet strangely satisfying to see his look-alike getting sliced off repeatedly. It was an abhorrent sight. Without a second to waste, his scythe sliced through the shadow, aiming to cut its head off. The blade did reach the target but only caused a slight disturbance as its neck got reconnected again.
…Despite the odds, the enemy was not willing to give up. As expected of him.
The nauseating feeling made him stumble. He ground his teeth, fighting an urge to throw up at any moment.
He couldn’t react fast enough.

His shadow self dissipated into amorphous mud and hurled itself straight to Ritsuka once again.
“Master!”
He heard Artoria shouting to Master right behind, followed by a groan.
“Artoria! No!” Ritsuka’s anguished voice.
The smell of fresh blood.

Oberon turned around and saw Artoria collapsed to the ground with a red stain on her stomach. Kneeling right next to her was Ritsuka, her face distorted in desperation.
“Gandr!”
Still, Ritsuka didn’t hesitate. Using her Mystic Code, she stunned the enemy for a few seconds.
A few seconds to determine the outcome.

“Activate Command Spell! Melusine!”
Ritsuka held her right hand out. A red light flashed through the tattoo on the back of her hand, taking away a stroke, and got absorbed into Artoria’s wounds. Artoria quickly grabbed Ritsuka and fled, while another stroke on her hand disappeared.

“Innocent Arondite!”
A final blast from Melusine. Once again, Oberon lost to the Dragon of Albion.

It was almost nighttime when the fight was over. Despite the nearing darkness, the surrounding scenery was oddly bright, illuminated by the thin moonlight reflected on the snow. When the twilight ends and night falls, the singularity would disappear. A fitting “closure,” he supposed.

They had no reason to remain there any longer. The Shadow Servant was destroyed. Artoria’s wound was healed thanks to the Command Spell. Oberon glanced at the charred trees.
“Everyone, let’s move back to the base… Oberon.”
That’s when Ritsuka approached him.

“We should still have a little bit of time before this singularity gets resolved. I’ll be waiting here.”

…He hated the fact that he probably let it show enough for her to figure it out. Still, the Faerie Britain was gone. Nothing he does as a Servant of Proper Human History, albeit a liar, shouldn’t affect what’s already gone.

Without a word, without looking back, he headed towards the remnant of the forest.
Truly, a laughingstock. The reason why his Shadow Self remained there. The last remnant of what it wanted to protect.

Among the scattered branches was a small open space covered in ashes and snow.

A foolish yet proud princess. At least she was able to reach her home.

“…Seriously? You really were waiting for me? That’s outright creepy.”

“You’re Welcome. Now hurry before this place is gone.”
Even in the darkness, he could see her amber eyes soften, her hand reaching out to him.

She made him aware of his hollow self more than ever.

“……”
Oberon ignored her hand and proceeded to walk back.

…Then suddenly the ground started shaking.
No, it was as if the world itself was shaking, falling, and pulled into a source of gravity, not unlike what one would feel inside the Hollow Worm.
“…Ritsuka!”
Instinctively he reached back to his Master, holding her slim waist tight in his arms.

A sudden surge of mana in the area, followed by a violent collapse.
Together, they got thrown into nothingness.

Oberon realized his senses were rapidly disappearing and held Ritsuka tighter so he wouldn’t let go of her presence.
The warmth of her body within his arms was the only thing that felt real.