Earth (fate grand order time lime)
Unknown location
Unknown date
Tiredness, nauseous and a bad case of head ache. That was the sensation I felt as a result of laying for an indefinite amount of time in an unknown location, doing absolutely nothing but putting my back on the bed, and there was also the hunger. But it was not the tiredness that nor the ringing that woke me up, neither was it even the hunger. It was an annoying pressing sensation I felt resting down on my stomach, it definitely not painful but uncomfortable nonetheless. I felt it slowly stand up and then.
"phew, phew" the sound that followed was a strange mixture both the mewing of a cat and the chirping of a bird, I would have called it cute... that is if it wasn't so annoying, the pressing sensation moved upwards and then 'tap tap' it was accompanied by a light tapping sensation on my check as it finally stirred me awake.
"….." I groggily opened my eyes reluctantly if nothing else but to get rid of that annoying sensation and saw a rather strange animal looking back at him "w-w-what the hell…" I said weakly. Yes what I saw was not an ordinary animal at all. It was... cute yes that might be one word I could use to describe the animal seeing how it looked a white tiny dog with rabbit ears, the bushy tail looked like it belonged to the sciuridae family also with its face and it was strangely dressed with an oversized bow tie or at least that's how I saw it. How all such different part combined together to create such a cute animal was beyond me.
"Phew, phew" it cried again. But it was so annoying, I mean come on don't you see a tired man here, I groaned tiredly as I tried to push off the strange animal not really ready to deal with this "shoo, shoo go away let me sit up" I motioned the animal to vacate from over my body, but it seemed it was rather stubborn or just stupid. I am leaning towards the former as I saw the strange animal intelligently titled his head to the side as it looked at me like how one would look like an idiot and still didn't move at all.
"You little…!" I growled out lightly in anger as I was about to stand up regardless even if it falls overs from the imbalance. But the sound of another voice stopped my action.
"While I rather enjoy such a playful barter, I would rather you and fou-san not escalate such petty confrontation to a full blown one. So please stop before it gets out of hand" a rather soft feminine voice called out.
Realising I wasn't the only occupant in the room I turned towards the said addresser, she was a rather young woman with short lilac hair and lavender eyes and quite the fair skin. She wore rectangular frame glasses, with grey hoodie over a white shirt and tights. I could have sworn I didn't look at her that hard but all of a sudden she started to blush. She shifted back from her seat nervously as she continued "umm, I would appreciate if you would rather not stare at me like that".
'Um, now am confused do I look a gangster if me staring at you was that scary or am I just that ugly, maybe was there something on my face' I complained mentally even though I had much to say there was only one thing I could process from my mouth "em…, excuse me but please who are you?" I couldn't help but ask.
The girl in question seemed likely taken aback as she showed a sign of contemplation "um... Let's see… someone whose name is not worth mentioning… or something like that".
Eh, what's up with that, someone whose name is not worth mentioning isn't that a little too self-demeaning, seeing the look on my face she clarified "no it isn't that I don't have a name… it's just that I don't get to use it more often and as a result I don't often get to do an impressive self-introduction".
Ok at that I couldn't keep my thoughts to myself "oh come on" I drawled "isn't that just too pitiful, I mean it's like you were raised in a laboratory rather…" unknown to me the girl flinched at that, but as I didn't notice I continued on "…rather than raised at a proper home… in fact forget that, where the hell am I?" I questioned.
The girl took some seconds to gain control of her posture, seeing how she does it professionally make me think that maybe she deals with situations like this "well that's an easy question you're at the Chaldea security organisation, an observatory built for the maintenance of the human race for as long as possible".
Well… what do you know am at some big name organisation, that I have zero knowledge about… great?.
...
It was just after a few minutes; I got the infernal animal off me and sat at the side of the bed, as I did so I couldn't help but notice my clothes, a white long sleeve shirt with blank pants I couldn't help but notice the same symbol on the right side of the shirt was of the same pattern on the girl's clothing. Meaning I was also part of the organisation. Feeling a little bit thirsty and hungry I requested for something to eat and drink, the girl excused herself from the room as she left to do so giving me time to gather my thoughts,
'Chaldea. observatory. organisation'. Nope doesn't ring a bell I mean what's up with that, in fact why the hell am I here anyway…' I couldn't continue with my thoughts as the sounds of the door whirling open signified the return of my female companion.
"Here you go" she came and gave me a soft drink "drink carefully, it's quite cold and here's some snack as well".
Receiving both the snacks and beverage from her i winced a little from how cold the drink felt, but I still gave my thanks "well at least it's thankfully not water, I rather prefer the sweeter alternative and thanks also for the snack I was feeling kind of hungry".
"You're welcome" she simply replied.
After I finished the eating and drinking the only thing that prevailed in the room was an uncomfortable silence as the both of us didn't know how to proceed, it seems like both of us were kind of out of our elements here, sensing both our unease I decided to offer the olive branch as i continued with my questions and my confession.
"well am really going to be honest with you right now. To tell the truth I simply for the life of me not remember why am I here, I don't even know why woke up on this bed feeling very tired and with a stinging headache, what was I doing that made me end up in here anyway".
"ah right, the doctor informed me on what had happened, to simply put the reason why you're here was you were in a spiritron dive and you fainted as a result of your brains not being used to it and one other special circumstance the doctor said he wouldn't reveal to me".
Rubbing my head lightly I winced "...I really don't understand but at least now I know the reason for my headache. but spiritron dive?... what the hell is that?" I questioned.
It seemed like my questions seemed strange to the girl as she gave me quite the look, but she answered nonetheless "well spiritron dive are holographic simulations that masters potentials partake, think of them as training practices".
To be honest all what she said to me was gibberish, seriously I couldn't understand this entire spiritron dive and stuff doesn't make sense but, still one thing in particular bothered me so much I couldn't help but ask.
"hmmm… ok, ok all things considered well and good but I just need to get this off my chest" pointing at the animal "what the hell is that furry creature?, is it some kind of science experiment ".
It seemed like the animal or was it fou… san whatever it was, wasn't happy with me questioning its existence so it jumped from the bed to the girls and then hissed as it turned towards me. I will be honest right now; for a second cold sweat damped my back as the figure of the animal metamorphosed with another shadow figure only that it was much, much, more scarier.
I swear I didn't 'eek!!' right there seriously I didn't, but for some reason the girl chuckled as she petted the creature addressing me. "Well for starters, this squirrel like beast is fou-san, I don't know the full details but it seems like fou-san was given special permissions by the directors to roam around Chaldea freely".
It seemed like the beast … no sorry fou-san had its fill of being petted as it stood of from her lap to leave the room, well not before jumping on my face and giving me some faint scratches; apparently whatever it was it had no possession of claws. But still i couldn't help but growl out while cleaning my face "dammit squirrel,… don't let me get my hands on you". But by then it was already gone.
"Ptf" It seems like as our little spat drew a reaction from the girl as she blushed a little her shoulders quivered as she fought down a light laugh, seeing that I commented "well I hope our animal fight show pleased you, cause next time I get my hands on the animal he's gonna' get the spanking, cute or not".
She tried to calm me down "please forgive the poor animal I would rather such things not progress to such levels ok, I will also speak to fou-san as well".
'Well, it's not a person you can just speak to, you know' I internally snarked "... well whatever you're spoiling it too much" I reprimanded her.
"Now, now it is okay, he will listen, after all he rarely approaches anyone here beside me" She replied and then continued "but still this is quite unusual, for fou-san to behave like this with you. Maybe he likes you".
I lightly scoffed; this girl, it seems like what she views as like simply does not correlate with my own, after all to call what the squirrel did as a display of affection...hah. welp no matter that's not important, leave the strange animals for later, as I continued to barrage her with more pressing questions.
"so secret big name organisation I get, but the thing is that all this humanity progress and prosperity stuff is as clear to me as night, I really can't remember anything, or even why am I here, like what am I supposed to do in this organisation" I paused and slowly confessed "to be honest…. I can't even remember anything about myself. My name, my family, I really don't know who I am. And all I can remember are flashes and pictures with a bad case of headache… am doing all I can not to freak out here and to tell you the truth… it's not really working ".
She looked quite troubled with what I just confessed as she lightly pursed her lips and looked at me with an expression filled with pity,… and maybe… understanding. Seeing her expression for some reason made my stomach lurch, so as I tried to calm her down "look its ok, no harm done maybe it's just some temporary case of amnesia, no need to look so worried and if it's not…" I lightly smiled to her even though my heart did not "…. Well, we will deal with it as it is after all. A big name organisation like this must have their employee's background, so I could use that to identify myself".
The girl lightly smiled back even though it looked a little forced to me. Maybe i shouldn't have told her about my memory problems but, to the one in charge, well what's done is done.
The room took on a quiet turn as neither of us knew how to continue, it went on for like a few minutes before I could take it no longer and just decided to continue from the earlier questions "so as I was asking before about the organisation…".
The girl jolted a bit as she flustering answered "a-ah, oh yes they organisation right. Well It seems like as a result of your missing memories the reason, you seem to have forgotten all about why you are here and what you are supposed to do." The girl had already calmed down as she continued " well I should start from the beginning where we are right now is essentially a research facility and observatory that gathers researchers of all kind ranging from science to sorcery all for the benefit of mankind.".
I interrupted quickly "wait, wait what do you mean by sorcery do you em…. Mean something like magic".
"Yes magic" she nodded.
'wow, so magic is also real too… this shaping out to be of a more bigger deal than I thought' although to be honest the thought of magic did not truly surprise me much it's like by instinct i knew that magic just existed, but just went with the motions. Seeing that, she stopped for me to quietly gather my thoughts. So I thanked her and gestured her to continue "as I was saying before, they all pooled together to construct the chaldeas, a global environmental model".
"chaldeas?". I asked confused.
"Just think of it as the representation of souls around the world 'a symbol of human life' as someone once said that as 'long as there is light in chaldeas humanity is bound to continue for a hundred years more'. But just recently the light suddenly began to die… seeing that the light of Chaldea represent the human civilisation it means civilisation is coming to an end, the observers have predicted that by December 2016… the human race would have become extinct".
Gah!, that was the sound of my jaw metaphorically dropping on the floor because of the bombshell of such news, o-ok magic is real and soon we're all going to die… i groaned to myself 'former me what kind of job were you doing here again'. "b-b-but why" I croaked out.
"well it was revealed that the cause was an abnormality 'a special singularity F' particularly in japan that there was in unobservable area in the course of history and so the organisation determined it as the cause and proposed the rayshift experiment to the united nations, which received approval. The spiritron dive simulation was the test for the rayshifting as it turns humans into spiritrons sending them to the past to deal with certain events, think of it like time travel, going to the past figure out the abnormality then fix it and from what the doctor told me you are one of the master potentials among the few selected given the responsibility to go to the past and fix the abnormality".
You know what after this I'm actually not that surprised anymore, magic is real, time travel exist, humanity about to be destroyed and there is me chosen to be one of its saviours but ends up amnesia. Well there's only one word I say to describe all this "holey, moley" I whispered with sulky discontent at my situation. But looking at the girl I remembered something as I suddenly apologised for not beginning it sooner.
"Oh sorry I forgot with this whole situation, I suddenly forgot to ask of your name I seemed to have lost my memories as well as my manners…. Well as for me, you can call me…" before I could come up with a name, my head sparked with pain as I was jolted at the surged of images from a repressed memory.
"..lly bat… young man, what did I tell you about staying out late".
"... stson, please being a dear and wake up your siblings".
A shadow of an older man was at the door addressing some kids, their appearances spoke of the fact that they were not related by blood, but to the older man they were. He coughed lightly to gather their attention "kids today I would like for you to meet your new sibling…. and yes £%$@:~ you now have another older brother" he turned to the door and called out "don't just stand there come in don't be shy. Come and introduce yourself to your new family".
A younger youth calmly entered as he turned to the kids at the end of the other side of the hallway to address them smiling widely although his heart wasn't with it and greeted "hiya... am new to this whole kind of thing so I'll just keep it short and introduce myself. Am going to be your new sibling and my name is....".
I shook my head at the sudden memory as a name appeared and called it by instinct "billy batson, but you can call me billy, not that much of a self-introduction, but it's nice to meet you em…" I raised my hand for a hand shake as I waited for her to introduce herself.
The girl looked at my raised hand confused and unsure on how to proceed, but then she slowly raised her hand hesitantly like she had never performed such an action before. As she clasped her hand with mine, I chuckled lightly at the absurdity of her actions as she slowly began to introduce herself "w-well my name is…".
Her self-introduction was abruptly cut-off by the whirling of the door, as an unfamiliar man dressed with a green overcoat, brown slacks and a tall hat briskly walked in and scanned the room like he was searching for someone, he seemed to have found his target as he gave out a sign of relief and called out.
"Mash kyrielight. I have finally found you" he called out his deep baritone voice, with signs of relief on his face.
"Professor leff" the girl now named mash greeted.
"What are you doing here; the masters potential briefings are about to start and you are needed in the control room."
"I was sent here by the doctor to check up with his patient from the dive incident and to clarify there was no problem with the patient when he wakes up." she explained to the man.
The man turned towards me like he just noticed me for the first time, although I could have sworn I saw his lightly closed eyes widen in shock as he looked at me but like a flash, just as soon as it appeared it also quickly vanished as a smile took over his expression he apologised.
"Oh sorry, sorry didn't see you there my colleagues always said that I was always someone with a one track mind, now I am particular inclined to agree with them. Hope I didn't offend you".
"No, no it isn't a problem" I hastily replied.
The strange man now professor leff appraised over my clothing and then asked "aren't you also a master potential Mr…" he waited for my name.
"Billy batson. My name is billy batson although honestly I'm not too sure of that fact" I answered truthfully.
"Oyah, and why is that?" he asked.
The gi- no rather the now named mash cut in as she answered for me "it seems like billiy-kun here seems to have lost his memory, and have forgotten most of his personal details".
The man's expression became quite pitiable, as he regarded me "hmm well that's not good at all billy batson-kun, my condolences. I hope it is rather a short term case. But still as a master potential you are rather needed with mash at the control room for your briefing".
Before I could answer with affirmative, mash interjected "no professor leff, the doctor informed me before he left that the director gave him permission to not attend the briefing instead he should head to the medical site to meet with him for examinations".
Professor leff lightly sighed "oh well that's all right since the director have given her permission. But young lady that doesn't also excuse you. The briefing is about to begin and you're rather late. You do know how the directors behaviour will be like if you especially appear late".
The implication of the professors forewarning flustered the girl as she hastily stood up in preparation to leave, we all followed her out of the room into the hallway as before she left she worriedly looked at me "ah I before forget, I can't physically direct you to the medical site as I am out of time, but I can at least show you directions" she pointed at my left "just down the hall way at another intersession by your right, you can't miss it as you will see the sign for medical site, just ask for the head doctor 'Romani archaman' and they will direct you to his office" she lightly paused and slowly apologise "am so sorry again for the inconvenience but…" I cut her off as I understood her situation. "Don't worry; I understand what's going on. It seems like you have your own lion boss-man and everyone know how those types of ones behave to their minions that don't listen to their instruction".
The girl actually smiled at that! Maybe, it was the comedic imaginations of what I just implied ran through her head as she gave a light chuckle "true, I remember what happened to the last one that made the director mad; the way she glared at him for that entire month and his reaction to those glares were rather funny".
The iliac haired girl looked at the boy and then slowly turned the other way as she went towards the control room. Seeing that I didn't know what came over me but before I could process what I said I blurted out "hey mash…" I called her as I continued awkwardly "well… when all this fiasco about my memories and singularity issues are settled how about we hang out again. This time not in a resting room but in a rather better place".
She looked at me with an indescribable expression as her eyes widen lightly, she did not answer verbally but she gave me a light nod and then walked away; I called out "well don't forget mash… Next time it's a date". She paused slowly in her walked giving another lighter nod and then left.
As the girl strides onwards to her destination she couldn't help trying to process what just happened, the logical majority of her heart screamed out 'it was illogical, it would never work, she was born with a purpose, not to explore the rhythms of the heart' she wasn't even sure how long she will live. But… one tiny part of her heart, the inner rebellion unknown to even her said it was fine. As short as that meeting was billy batson showed her more emotions, gave her more attention than those who were with her since she was 'born'. Even for a short time one of her wish was granted
'she was acknowledged' .
She looked lightly at her hand remembering the handshake with billy her lips unknowingly curled upward, 'billy batson' she thought hopefully '…I also hope after all this…'. She shook herself from that line of thought as she lightly chided herself "you know what happens at the end, you know your purpose… just think of this as one short beautiful dream".
But as she continued her walk towards the control room one tiny prayer unconsciously crossed her mind 'how I wished it could last forever'.
As I looked stared towards mash as she left for the control room the voice of the other occupant announced himself and chided me "as much as I don't want to the be the bad guy here may I remind you that the culture of relationships between employees are being frowned on by the organisation".
"And why is that?" I asked.
The professor responded with a shrug "well don't ask me take it to the director, she made that unwritten rule based on the fact that she prefers a work professional relationship rather than an emotional one she says its non-effective in an organisation such as this. Although to be honest I am not in a relationship so I may not see how it affects the couple workers".
Yep called it she fits the lion boss-man role the more I hear of her "see? she fits the title like a fiddle through and through. Now all that's left is the screeching commands and withering glare and then it'll complete the package" I drawled.
The older man laughed as he warned me "hahaha, well don't let the director catch you saying those words. She will make you literally eat them" he leaned next to me like he was about to tell me a great secret "although to tell you the truth not everyone follows that particular unwritten rule after all I have seen some of my co-workers in a relationship in all but name".
I then raised one of my eyebrows as I regarded him "and so why tell me this then?".
He gave a smile with a little mischief over his face "well I believe it is as some people call it 'to fulfil all righteousness', and honestly I said it just for saying sake".
We both shared a laugh out of that as the man reached his watch for the time "oh will you look at that it seems like I will be late for the same meeting I just hurried little mash for" he then turned towards me "for as much as I loved our little batter I believe we both have our appointments to attend" he smiled as he raised his hands to me for a hand shake "I believe I haven't introduced myself I am one of this organisation's engineers leff lainur, I hope we will see more of each other often billy batson-kun".
"Same as well" I answered.
As we both turned and went our separate ways.
.....
The man's smiling face fell off as a cold look took over his features just as he turned and head towards the briefing,
"its impossible just as I thought, I must have been seeing things… yes that's rights, what I sensed that time wasn't him. It wasn't him at all" he assured himself.
His true nature wasn't that of a human, but he donned the mask as it was appropriate for the ordeal. When he first looked at the young boy she could have sworn that he felt his master at that time. But as he discreetly checked again the familiar presence wasn't there at all. In fact what he felt from the boy was that of an undeveloped mage, one that could be overlooked at the grand scheme of things. He sighed to himself 'forget about the boy and focus on your own mission' he chided himself. Yes what he originally came to do, all the planning and the patience was for this moment 'to prevent humanity from saving themselves'.
'All for the king' he reverently declared mentally as he donned the familiar mask of professor leff and continued on.
...…
When billy batson finally arrived at the medical wards he thought that it was straight to the doctor but alas he wasn't in his office. It seems like he was known around the staffs as a slacker and someone who forgets things quite easily so he may not remember his appointment with him at all. They still directed me to one of the free recruit rooms he frequently uses as his hideout.
When I found the room and entered it, the person I found wasn't someone who I never would have expected to be the head doctor in this big of a deal organisation.
He was a rather young man and fair in completion, and his pink fluffy hair was tied into a pony tail, he wore a white and green coat, white slacks and gloves. All in all you could say he was a rather handsome man. And I found him in a ridiculous position. He sat on a bed watching movies on his tablet and eating… ice cream!! he didn't even recognise I was there in the room as he absently glanced at me and went back to continue watching his… whatever movie was that.
I awkwardly stood by the just near the door side, with one of my eyebrows twitching. It was after a few seconds he finally registered my occupancy, as he raved at me in surprise with spoon in his mouth "a-ah!! Who the hell are you?, what the hell are you doing here? this is my hooky hangout…. In fact how did you find me. I thought this was a safe location".
'Ok this is kind of annoying' I pushed down my little irritation and politely answered "I am the patient you were expected to examine".
He looked at me in confusion as I explained "you know the one from the dive incident" 'thank you mash for calling it that "the patient you directed mash to monitor for you ...".
Luckily, he remembered as his face took on a face or recognition "ohh" he bopped a fist hand into a waiting palm, "so you're that one. The master potential that fainted just after a simple spritron dive".
'Oi, don't call it like that you make it seem lame and stupid' was the thought I had but did not say out loud after all what he said might be correct no matter how stupid it sounds. I just gave a strained smile as I forced out "yes that's me".
He winced as he profusely apologised rubbing both his palms above his head in a placating manner "ah sorry, sorry about that it seems like I have forgotten about your case. It's just that it is at this time of the day 'nurunuru doki hearts' starts and as an avid watcher that has watched more than seventy four episodes I can't afford to miss today's own after all-…".
I cut him off before he could continue his whatchamacallit heart tirade. "okay stop, stop I just came here because you instructed mash that after I woke up you needed to run some kind of test on me… and also to discuss my present situation".
"Well please come in and take a seat" he called me in.
During the course of explanation of my missing memories and of what little I heard from mash about the organisation and humanity imminent doomsday the doctor goofy expression fell off into a more serious one. It was after I finished talking that he just sighed "hah!! What a situation, memory loss hmm well will do an MIR scan just to determine what we are dealing with" he continued assuredly "and do not worry even if it's permanent, we all have our employee's background so we will be able to identify you. Although I am shocked, after all I have never heard of the case where magic circuits awakening causes amnesia. at worst it is mostly necrosis and at best numbness but that is only when ones magic circuits are forcefully opened".
"Ok now am just confused, what do you mean by magic circuit awakening and how exactly does it affect me".
The pink haired doctor titled his hair and answered me like its natural "oh I forgot you don't remember anything at all it's just that you are now officially a mage".
My mind halted and my expression dazed I slowly asked "and what do you mean by that".
The doctor answered sheepishly "you see well, while its true you are a master potential you… weren't... exactly… a mage at first…. Sorry".
"And why is that".
"well, when i last time examined you, the state of your magic circuits were rather new, like it was just recently opened and seeing that I didn't recognise you from any of the influential mage families you were most likely a commoner class candidate and we don't put much of our focus there, we all assumed that most common class candidate were normal mages and spell casters. But at least look the bright side now you can learn magic and when we're doing your physical examinations I will help you determine your magic circuits' quality. So cheer up".
'Cheer up my ass, this just became a more serious situation' I thought. 'From what I could gather it seems like former me didn't even know what was happening when just hoped into all this'. 'former me were you an idiot' I couldn't help but ask myself never knowing the answer.
Although this might sound strange and even stupid but for some reason it doesn't seem bother me that much not knowing about my past. It's like my unconsciousness was deliberately tries to avoid it.
Crazy right, I sighed as I cut myself out of my musings directing my attention back towards the waiting doctor and asked "and now what is going to happen".
Before the doctor could answer, he was interrupted by the beeping from his hand area he pushed back his gloves revealing an metal band with buttons over and pressing a button the holographic image of professor leff appeared "hey leff," he greeted.
"Romani you are needed back at the control room, the rayshift is about to begin shortly, could you come here just in case" he told the doctor.
"Did something happen".
"It's concerning one of the teams. Team a is ready but team b and down have some abnormality issues as some people are not used to this".
Hearing the conversation I could help but thought "and just like me then… well at least it's nice to know am not the only one with such complications".
The conversation continued on as the doctor answered "no problem I'll anesthetize them".
"Please hurry. It'll take at least two minutes from the medical wards to arrive"
"Okay" the doctor saluted.
"Don't be late". The coms cut off.
"Why did you say this was the medical office" I asked him.
"s-said, I never said anything" he denied "leff just assumed am at the medical wards and I did not correct him that's all".
I deadpanned "ehhhh isn't that you know…"
He hurriedly replied "hey don't be such a spoilsport its ok after all the staring team are green to go and that gives me sometime and-… oh the person I was just talking to was-".
"Professor leff right, and before you ask, yes I had already met him at my resting room. He introduced himself as an engineer".
The doctor quietly looked at me and burst out in laughter "leff engineer him, oh well he was always the humble one".
"Do you mean he wasn't an engineer" I asked.
"oh no he was an engineer alright but not the normal kind. After all he created the 'Shiva' a telescope used to observe the chaldeas. just so you know it was the former director that constructed the rayshift summoning system. And the atlas academy provided the spritron calculation engine to actualize the theory. while am I saying all this well many talented people all came together for this monumental moment and for a normal doctor like me, I just want to help in any way I can".
He stood up in preparation to leave "well sorry for not attending to your case much sooner, just allow me attend to the team's issue first".
I shook my head "it's no problem doctor attend to them first. Your expertise is more required over there".
He smiled lightly "you know what… you can follow me to the control room see what this all about and after everything we will just go straight to my office to sort this all out".
I also returned the smile back with my own it was before I could reply… the rumblings began…
Alarms blared throughout the facility with the room light's blinking on and off as it shook.
"What going on" I asked in confusion "power outage".
"That's not possible" the doctor dispelled "Chaldea's shouldn't have such kind of problems".
Before we could deduce what had happened. The robotic voice over the emergency public announcers spelled out what happened for us.
'Emergency alert'
'Fires have broken out in the central power plant and central control room'
"Fires" the doctor asked in bewilderment to no one in particular.
Cold sweat appeared all over body as I recognized where the fires had happened. I stood up in shock as I asked myself 'the central room… isn't that where…' I cut myself out of that line of thought as the inorganic voice continued.
'The central blockhead will close after the course of two hundred and forty two seconds. To prevent fire from spreading"
'All personnel, please evacuate from the head gate immediately'
'To repeat…'
I had heard enough as I quickly turned to the panicking doctor "doctor. Doctor please calm down. You aren't doing much panicking like this. We need to go the central room"
"r-right yes you right come on this way" we both ran out of the room and headed there. In the course of running I couldn't help but panic as the image of an iliac haired girl stayed in my mind 'mash'.
.....
Crossing the blockhead into the control room the image that settled in our sight was horrible.
While I didn't know what it had formerly looked like before, what I saw before me could be coined in one word 'destruction'. Heat wave coiled around me as fire littered all over the place with water sprawling all over. The area situation wasn't safe either as slabs of stones fell everywhere from the room's foundations.
"What the hell happened…" I muttered in dismay.
The doctor calmed down as he made a quick observation looking up he assessed " it seems like only Chaldea's is intact".
I followed his line of sight to be meet a dim gigantic globe surrounded by metal rings suspended in the air.
The doctor continued "it's possible this was an act of sabotage".
I turned to him confused. Although in my heart something told me the doctor's words had something to it. The inorganic announcer called in the room.
'Suspension of power output unit confirmed, insufficient power generation. Unable to switch to reserve power. Personnel, please manually switch to reserve I repeat… '.
"this is bad" the doctor called out in panic "very bad" he looked towards me and said "I'll go to the basement power plant".
While I don't have complete knowledge on physic and chemistry I knew going to somewhere like that was bad without proper preparation. "Isn't that dangerous" I tried to warn him.
But he already started running ahead "I know that but I can't let the light of chaldeas go out. As for you, you need to go back the way you came now" and left.
...…
I would have liked to say I listened to him and left but, still looking over the scene of destruction the thought of what might had happened to mash gnawed me too much to leave it to luck so I went over to check.
"MASH!!!" I kept calling out into the flames nothing responded except the searing heat and the patter my feet made as I trudged in the waters, as I kept on searching over I found some people locked in some kind of coffin. I felt relief for them at least they were protected from the worst of the fire and stray rocks. But I still hadn't found mash.
This time a different robotic voice this time called out.
'rayshift system transferring to final stage'
'Setting coordinates; January 30th, 2004CE. Fuyyuki, japan.'
I still didn't pay attention as I had put all of my attention on finding mash. It continued.
'laplase conversion in place'.
'Additional frame towards the singularity secured'
'Masters, please enter the final adjustments'.
I kept on running shouting her name. I really don't know why but my heart she was still here… she was still alive. I kept on shouting her name until I heard the voice of one familiar animal- Fou-san-. And I remembered what she told me, that she's the only one in this organisation fou likes to stay with. I ran to where the animal was and finally found mash but…
She was buried under a huge slab of stone my breathed hitched as I called out in panic running towards her.
"MASH!!!".
The girl stirred into consciousness as she slowly and painfully called out "billy-kun?"
"Mash, please hang in there I'm coming now" before she could say anything else I rushed over as I arrived my stomach fell as I analysed the situation. It was worse than I thought. The lower half of her body was buried under the rock and from the blood showed that it got her pretty good. Although it seems like either her body is tougher than I thought or the rock didn't squash her properly. Either way thank god for small mercies. All I just need to do was to get her out of here for immediate treatment.
Looking over at the rock the size of it terrified me a little as I gave a small gulp. As I bent over and used both of my hands to push the rock the heat coming out of it hurt so much I instinctly jumped back "ouch" I screamed in pain.
"Please… don't… mind me" she painfully heaved "you... need... to run".
I pulled out my shirt with only my singlet as bare cover. Wrapping both of my hands as I heaved again.
She pleaded "please there's no time just ru…"
I cut her off tiredly as I said "do you know what mash… I really want that date with you if nothing else but to get that tiring self-demeaning attitude out from you" I continued rambling on, ignoring the heat, ignoring the pain… ignoring the fact… she might die… I might die "you're a cute girl mash Do you know that. I'm pretty sure if we meet outside this facility you would have been a beautiful model and I the nervous bubbly kid" I chuckled painfully at that.
The room shook as more rocks fell all over the place 'got to hurry' I nervously thought. But I still tried to lift the giant stone without regard of the situation "you know what mash lets reaffirm our promise… i-I know this isn't the right time and place to ask this. But after this can you promise me a date".
"Billy-kun… what are you talking ab…".
"Please just promise me"
As we both looked at each other both in pain from different causes. She saw my sweating form and knew I wouldn't give up asking until she affirmed our promise. And so she gave a light smile and nodded "unn".
"yosh!!" I gave a small pump with a goofy smile on my face. But it quickly fell off when I saw mash glazing over "oi mash, don'ts fall asleep on me now" I quivered "Remember we got a date you know date".
My body dampened in sweat as tears spilled out of my eyes over our short promise, the sight of her intercepted with a forgotten memory.
'Ah… this looks quite familiar' I thought. 'sight of my brothers corpses, spilled on the ground doing nothing but watch it happen with no means of stopping it…' yes now I remember… my inability to do nothing and watch those I love die.
'Will let this one die again billiy' an emotionless inner voiced accused me.
'But I really don't know what to do… how to help her'. I screamed irrespective of the pain. It seems like the heat had already seeped through the clothes into my skin.
'Will you let her die just like the others' the voice continued its accusations.
I couldn't see the owner of the voice but it sounded strangely familiar. I beg desperately 'please I need more something anything… power yes that's what I need, More power.
'What can you do billy' the voice empathically continued on.
It seemed like I was become delirious as a result of the pain as I cried out mentally to no one in particular. 'I need more power, power to protect her! Power not to let her cry!!... POWER NOT TO LET HER DIE!!!'
And I could feel the voice just lingering near me as it asked in a near whisper 'and what if you had it ' power' ' .
Unknown to the boy something miraculous had occurred deep within his soul. His magic circuits blazed white blue as golden arcs of lightning ran through them. An old ancient magic of divine origin reaffirmed itself.
Establishing the divine soul contract between billy batson and the rockofeternity as the last keeper '
'Connecting…. Connecting…. Conec… ERROR, ERROR inability to establish contact with the realm of gods'
'Contract holder billy batson in possession with a piece of the said medium'
'As host does not have the primary means of establishing contract with primary means, initiate search for secondary realm alternatives. Searching…. Searching…match found'
'Establishing contract with the throne of heroes'
'Affirmative beginning countdown down to proper link establishment 99,98, 97…."£$%*'
'Host billy batson command issue 'power'. Computing logical analysis… directing 10% of the word of power 'H' for logical achievement. As a result total time for full establishment has been increased for an unknown limit'
'Installing word of power 'H' SOUL ORIGIN… 'BERSERKER''.
The boy screamed unknowingly as the changes in his soul became more external. His hair grew out a little as they frizzled, his body height and bulk increased as it became more defined. singlet stretched thin as a result of sudden muscles, steam blew out from his redden body as it oozed with both heat and powers. His finger dug deeper into the rock as the weight slowly became lighter.
"ahhhhhh!!!" he screamed loudly the primal divine soul calling out from his very core. The rocks weight decreased and then,
"WHOOSH!"
The large slab of rock stewed up great winds as billy flipped and threw it across the room smashing the other end.
"Mash" he called out only to notice the change of his voice. What was once normal teenager tone became more mature and adult like. He didn't want to think about it right now as he focused on only one thing 'to rescues her'. He looked on her and grimaced, she was already losing too much blood.
It seemed like the decrease of weight stirred her up as she looked up in shock at the sight of billy "billy-kun what's happened to you…".
"I don't even know myself what happened. But now you're not under that damn rock… but still we've got no time to mediate on it… we've got to out of here!" I urged as i picked her up and turned to the furry animal "and you little devil as well".
As I carried both the girl and the animal to leave only for the upcoming announcement gave each and every one of us a shock.
'Warning to observation staff Chaldea's' condition has changed'
'Shiva near-future observation data will be overwritten. The survival of the human race on earth cannot be confirmed in the next one hundred years'
The chaldeas observatory globe that was once dim was now covered in flames.
"The chaldeas…" she said in disbelieve.
Before we could react to that like a bad joke another piece of bad news was brought up.
'And now the central bulk head will be sealed'
I hurried over with both mash and fou at blinding speeds… but by then it was already too late. I arrived to the sight of a closed bulk head blocked by stones even bigger than the one that got mash piled over at the door. The air was getting uncomfortable to breathe especially for mash with her injury.
Mash uncomfortably looked at me 'billy-kun am sorry… it because of me.."
I flicked her lightly on her forehead, watching her wince a little at the pain. I gave out a small smile and said "nope it's no problem at all… and even if I could go back and do this again… I would still want to save you".
She looked at me and asked "but why…"
I smiled and used gathered her in one arm as I smiled "after all i still remember our promise… our date… and absolutely nothing will stop me from achieving it".
I suddenly became very tired and uncomfortable as I then laid down behind one of the fallen rocks to rest; i positioned both mash and fou protectively on my lap to prevent the heat from the flames. As i cut off the sounds other announcement my world view slowly became two… well three; me, mash, and fou. Mash suddenly began.
"Billy-kun, the sky, it seems that you can't see the sky… all the way from here…"
I was taken aback from her sudden observation, as my stomach lurched 'I really don't want to cry in front of her' I just smiled and said.
"Well of course we can't see the stars from here… you know when I looked out of the window panel on my way to the medical ward. I saw that we are at a mountainous location riddled with blizzards, and we're underground. So of course you can't see the sky from down here".
She smiled at me and reached out to one of my hand with one of her own "billy-kun sorry for asking this but… Can I please hold your hand?". I reached forward and grasped her hand with my own. ". Of course anything for my date" I playfully teased.
She cutely pouted "Mou. Now you're just teasing me now billy-kun". She laid her head back as her face paled closing her eyes she asked "…can we make another promise billy-kun".
"mhn" I answered "anything".
"Together… let's see the sky together… when all this is settled… promise me we'll see it" she said as I felt her blood dripping on my pants.
'She's gonna make it' I mentally reaffirmed myself. "mhn" I tearfully answered "of course that's a given our date won't be at this gloomy facility… we'll see the sky go to the beach do all the things you want to do… so please… don't give up… don't you dare die on me".
She just smiled "that's good… am so glad" and then she became silent. She wasn't dead but we could not get out of here in time the matter of motarlity would soon be a problem.
I cried in pain and at the situation as fou licked my arm. It seems like it was trying to comfort me. Using my other arm I petted it "… good… well whatever you are… let's hope mash is alright".
As I looked over at the carnage I could see dark spots at the corner of my eyes. It seems like whatever fumes I used to do all has exhausted as I slowly became tired.
As I slipped into the embrace of the dark the voice from before condemned me once again 'you've failed again. Just liked before… and you'll lose this one like all others'.
The only thing I to tearfully muster to the dark was a pitiful "sorry" and then slept.
In the midst of the rooms destruction mash slowly opened her eyes to look at her saviour and final companion. The only one in the faculty to ever look at her as a person not a subject She cursed her uselessness, her inability to help him to save himself… save herself as she kept on losing blood. The sound of clanging signalled the arrival of a phantom armoured figure.
She could only look at him recognizing who he was and hoping that he was here for what she thought would happened, the armoured person knelt next to her as he smiled extending his hand and then asked…
...…
Billy gasped lightly as he felt the familiar weight of fou on his chest licking his face 'oh it's that damn animal again' he tiredly thought As he reluctantly woke up opening his eyes only to be meet with a world on fire.