Chapter Text
In Fuyuki, Saber pressed the blade to her chest, stepped forward, and unleashed Excalibur’s True Name. The resulting torrent of light instantly vaporized Medusa.
The blinding radiance swallowed Rider, dragging her down into the abyss of death. Yet, oblivion was short-lived. A moment later, consciousness rushed back, and she scrambled to assess her surroundings.
Though her eyes remained bound by her familiar blindfold, her heightened senses confirmed she was no longer in Fuyuki. The floor, walls, and ceiling around her were carved from cold, raw stone.
Stepping forward, a faint vibration rippled through the air—she was not alone.
Leaning against the far wall stood a young man, his eyes closed as he breathed in a slow, measured rhythm. Resting on the floor beneath his right hand was a sword. It featured a long, thin, double-edged blade, capped by a circular guard and a traditional tsuka.
Medusa remained motionless, wary of the unknown anomalies and bracing for an immediate threat.
After a few seconds of heavy silence, the youth opened his eyes, shifting his gaze toward her. "Tense?" he asked, his tone bordering on a question.
Maintaining her guard, Medusa gave a sharp shake of her head. "Who are you?" she asked coldly.
The man gestured toward the glowing thaumaturgical circle beneath her feet, indicating he was the source of her invocation.
"A Master?" Medusa pressed, her unseen gaze locked onto him.
A concise nod confirmed her suspicion. She began to untangle the memory of her defeat, but chose to bypass the details for now, focusing instead on his immediate intent.
"Why did you summon me?" Medusa demanded.
"I am stranded here, unable to escape on my own," the man replied, tilting his chin toward a heavy door at the far end of the chamber. "Beyond this room lies a corridor guarded by a defense mechanism I cannot bypass. I gambled on summoning a Servant."
Medusa turned her head toward the exit, then back to him, her posture mimicking an open stare. She moved to approach the door, but his voice cut her short.
"Not yet. Wait until I recover." His gaze swept over her form before he continued, "While we rest, we should exchange names. How should I address you?"
Medusa leaned back against the stone wall. "Call me Rider, Master."
"I am Noctis," he replied.
With introductions finished, the two lapsed back into a heavy silence, retreating into their own thoughts as they waited.
Medusa cautiously probed Noctis with her magical perception. His attire was clearly enchanted, and the magus himself, frozen in absolute stillness, seemed almost invisible—his breathing was that quiet and measured.
An hour later, he approached the door, and Medusa followed. She noted that his footsteps were virtually silent. He moved with a simple, calculated elegance; each time a foot was about to touch the ground, his supporting leg tensed, absorbing the kinetic momentum and creating a seamless transition to the next step.
Along the way, Noctis explained their location. They were inside ancient ruins—one of the abandoned underground vaults belonging to the Atlas Institute. "And here is the primary proof," the magus said, gesturing toward a gargantuan defense mechanism blocking their path. "These cubes are standard Atlas sentinels. This particular model is heavily armored."
Medusa gave a firm nod and lunged into the fray, summoning chains from the walls to bind the guardian. To her surprise, the machine surged forward regardless, dragging her along.
Noctis lagged only a couple of steps behind. A magical stylus slid obediently from his sleeve into his palm. With a swift flick, a glowing rune traced in the air expanded into an energy shield, absorbing the sentinel's devastating beam.
The sentinel's assault lasted far longer than Medusa anticipated, forcing both her and Noctis to rely heavily on their defensive abilities, as the narrow corridor left no room for effective evasion.
When the beam finally sputtered out, Medusa hurled a dagger straight at the core of the cubic mechanism, only to find it shielded by a dense, transparent material.
"It remains its weak point. Keep striking, and you will breach it," Noctis told her.
"Understood," Medusa replied.
Working in tandem, they used her chains and his magical barriers to lock the mechanism firmly in place. Rider then delivered a rapid flurry of precision strikes directly to the core, shattering the sentinel into splinters.
Once the guardian dissolved, Noctis gathered the specific components he needed from the floor, and they began their ascent to the surface.
Stepping onto the open roadway, Medusa looked up at the faintly brightening sky. She turned toward him, her tone demanding answers. "Noctis, what is the date, what is the time, and where exactly are we?"
Reaching into the inner pocket of his coat, Noctis pulled out a PDA and held the device out to the Servant. "Can you read it?" he asked.
Medusa nodded. Transmuting her blindfold into a pair of violet-tinted glasses, she scanned the information displayed on the screen. Confirming her suspicions, she locked a piercing gaze onto him, taking in his appearance for the very first time.
The magus wore a simple, light coat of pure white. His eyes were a striking azure blue that grew lighter and more brilliant closer to the pupils. Pale gray, medium-length hair fell in a tousled mane around his face, scattering into an array of unruly strands and locks.
Medusa stared at him, trying in vain to decipher the true nature of her new Master, but both his aura and his expression betrayed absolutely nothing. Still, she chose to take a gamble.
"Do you know anything of the Holy Grail War?" Medusa asked, her tone entirely serious.
Noctis regarded her for a few silent seconds before replying, "A battle between Masters and Servants, harvesting the energy and souls of the defeated to fill a vessel capable of granting the victor's wish? Why bring this up now?"
Medusa pressed on, "The Fifth War is currently underway in Fuyuki, Japan... Master, please allow me to return there. I must save my former Master, Sakura Matou."
A flicker of surprise crossed Noctis’s features. He knew the Lesser Grail had been shattered at the climax of the Fourth War. He swiftly deduced the reality: the residual energy had bled into a new reservoir, causing the next ritual to trigger abnormally fast.
"Very well. In that case, we go together," the magus answered, letting his eyes close for a brief moment. "Since your class is Rider, I assume you have a rapid means of transit? The journey to Japan is a long one."
Medusa nodded in agreement. "Master, my True Name is Medusa, the Gorgon. My celestial mount is Pegasus. However, to summon him for a flight of such distance, I will require your assistance."
Noctis answered without hesitation, "I will provide you with as much magical energy as I can muster... Beyond that, I can still tell you nothing more about myself other than the fact that I am Noctis. I simply do not know what parts of my past are safe to share."
With a swift, precise gesture, the youth traced a rune of life in the air and pressed his palm flat against the ground. The earth responded instantly, weaving raw stone into a golem with a hollow cavity in its chest. He deposited his salvaged relics inside the niche and issued a silent, mental command.
The newborn construct immediately set off in a direction known only to Noctis.
Watching the display from the sidelines, Medusa realized her Master was far more formidable than he appeared; crafting a functional golem with such effortless execution was no small feat.
"We need to move immediately. I already have what I came for, and the artifacts I recovered can be dealt with later," Noctis told her.