"Okay! Their spirit origins are confirmed to have disappeared! Now we have to get out of here or else their sacrifice is going to be in vane! Go, go GO!", Da Vinci yelled over the P.A. system.
"Roger that!"(Meuniere)
"Understood."(Holmes)
As the three worked quickly, Gudako hugged Mash as she watched tears roll down her face. There was no need for words.
"Holmes! How good are our odds of pulling off this thing?"(Da Vinci)
"Thirty percent at best, I should think. I can't even be sure where we'll end up though. If we do wish to make it out of this predicament alive, I have no doubt there are better options. However, Gudako, I believe you have set your sights further than that. This will aid us in fighting the adversary in the future."
"Gudako? Your thoughts?"
"...Go for it."
"You can't be serious! 30% change? You're gonna bet our lives on that? No-no way! I-mmmgh!"(Goredolf)
Meuniere had shoved Goredolf against the wall and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Shut up, this is the field agent's decision to make, not the head! Let the one with a ridiculous amount of experience decide!"
Gudako breathed in. She had already decided earlier, the moment she sensed a strange sort of calm when she saw the falling drop of purple light from the Shadow Border's camera.
"Holmes! Da Vinci! Mash! Everyone! Let's use this Paper Moon!"
"Understood. Expanding Void-Reality Observation Device: Paper Moon. Expanding Logic Formula on Shadow Border's external armor. Removing existence verification for Reality Space. Future prediction: hypothetically prove mirror world plane in twenty seconds. Relaxing space-time friction decompression for 0. 6 seconds....Emergency processes, all green. Looking good, Holmes! We're all set for our maiden voyage!"
Suddenly, a screen unfurled itself from the ceiling, showing little Da Vinci's smirking face.
"Now then, a little heads-up for those of you in the cockpit! Your souls will almost leave your body for a moment, but don't worry, you'll be fine! It's just your average out-of-body experience! But if you find yourself saying stuff like "I-I'm floating? " or "Is that my own body I'm looking at? "...just reach out, grab your body, and hold on for dear life! As long as you do that, you'll come out the other end alive!"
Goredolf, who had managed to shove Meuniere to the side, sputtered out, "How is any of that "fine"!? You've just said you're literally going to kill us!"
"Fou fou. Nnn, fooou."
Mash grabbed Gudako's arm, her hand trembling slightly. "Master...! I still don't understand what's going on. Are you sure about this...!?"
"Just another day at the office", Gudako replied with a smile, "Plus, we can't let them show us up can we? If they went out with a bang, we'll definitely keep up that spirit with our own bang!"
"Now that's the Fujimaru I know!" Da Vinci grinned.
"I believe in you, Master. Let's do this then! In honor of Fischl and Childe!"
"Then without further ado, let's get started. Although this Phenomenon Intervention Method we're about to attempt is one of the first Chaldea ever devised, we banned its use because of its extreme difficulty and danger. You know how Rayshifting involves breaking a Master down into Spiritrons and outputting them into space-time as numeric values? Well, this way of traveling through space is the exact opposite. We'll be slipping through a crack in this world into a Sea of Time, completely erasing our existence from reality."
Da Vinci paused, before shifting topics.
"We have a lot on our plates right now. An adversary that attacked Chaldea. Fischl and Childe's deaths. Even their appearence might change things for us in the future. Those things that fell from space. The Crypters. Like Mash said, we don't know WHAT'S going on right now. But one thing we know for sure is that they're all enemies–threats to humanity that even destroyed Chaldea. If we're going to do something about all this, we'll have to start breaking even more forbidden taboos. We are NOT handing over the future we worked so hard to take back to a bunch of newcomers we don't know the first thing about. So first, we find a way out of this mess. Then, we strike back. Well, let's get going, Master Fujimaru. We have a new weapon, and a new course ahead of us..."
"Da Vinci."
"What is it Holmes?"
"Based on my calculations, the possibility is rising. 35%....40%...50%.....65%.....85%.....100%! There's no need for hesitation now! Although I do now know what caused this change, we'll definitely make it through!"
"Perfect timing! Alright then, Shadow Border, untether from reality. Void Space Dive, Zero Sail: unfurl!"
As the Shadow Border warped out of reality, a single purple feather singed from electricity took its place. Slowly, it floated downwards and landed on the snow before fading away into dust.
--Back in Chaldea--
The Priest gestered forward towards the almost frozen globe that was once Chaldeas.
"Now, time for our last job. The Pseudo-Celestial Sphere Chaldeas...The miracle that leads to the Root. The miracle that the Animusphere family wished for and dreamed about for over two millennia...Part of me wishes we didn't have to trample all over this dream, but such is life. It is the job of adults to teach children the harsh truth of reality. Even the tsar fears this celestial sphere. After all, changing the past via Rayshifting is the one threat we can't counter."
The Grand Duchess stood next to him, her eyes already back to the ice-cold look from before. "..So this is Chaldeas. It looks just like an Easter egg...So this is the device I must freeze, Father?"
"That's right. That is what the tsar wants. Although we have already powered down the entire faculty, we must be sure that those Chaldeans can never use this again. You must use your Noble Phantasm to defeat the traitors. You must bury this magnificent crown jewel of humanity yourself, in a coffin of permafrost. Grand Duchess Anastasia, if you would please."
Anastasia raised her hand and began to murmer softly. All around her, the room turned colder and colder as it became filled with her mana. Even the Oprichnik, warriors who were used to freezing temperatures, could not stand it and began to freeze over before shattering completely.
"Viy, freeze it."
In a flash, the globe-and the rest of the room- became covered in permafrost.
The only things left standing and unfrozen were Anastasia, Koyanskaya, and the Priest, Rasputin.
--Arc 2-Prologue END--
Author's note:
I'm done with college apps finally! Also, the next story will take place in Teyvat which will start in Inazuma.