They Call me Vox

Singularity F: Act 5

Vox checked her new watch and sighed. It had been at least two hours since she had arrived in Singularity F with Mash. It had been an hour and a half since they met up with the Director. And it had been an hour since Vox had summoned Ushiwakamaru to aid them.

"Everything's burnt down as far as the eye can see. There aren't any traces of residents either. What happened here?" Olga asks, "What could even turn Chaldea gray in the first place? If we can't see the future, that means humanity will vanish. Could that mean the Counter Force doesn't work in a Singularity? Then this place is like a Bolt... the fatal choice of destruction scattered throughout human history. When your choices become mistakes, this is what happens."

"Looks like the Director is talking to herself again. This could take a while," Roman says in Vox's ear.

About a half-hour ago, the group had found another Ley Line and Vox had received her own Chaldea watch, along with an earpiece that she requested.

"Should we be worried?" Vox asks Roman.

"I don't think so," Roman says, "Oh, Vox, looks like it's safe over there. Why don't you rest up a bit?"

"That would be nice," Vox replies, before turning to the rest of the group, "Hey, girls, Roman said the area over there might be a good place to rest up."

"That sounds nice," Mash says, as Vox leads the group over to what could've been a small park.

Vox flops down on a bench, takes an apple out of her satchel, and takes a bite out of the fruit. Olga notices this and glances down at the satchel.

"Just what do you have in that satchel?" Olga asks.

"A lot of things," Vox answers, "Emergency food, a few more Saint Quartz, etcetera etcetera."

"But, how?" Mash asks, curious.

"A lot of storage expansion and environmental control rune combinations," Vox answers, patting her satchel, "This here is probably one of my most complex projects ever. Oh, and Director?"

Vox tosses an apple, which the Director barely manages to catch. Vox grins, "Enjoy."

Olga rolls her eyes but takes a bite out of the apple.

"How about you two?" Vox asks her Servants, "Hungry?"

"No, Master. Servants do not require any sustenance other than mana," Ushiwakamaru says while keeping watch.

"I know, but that doesn't mean Servants can't enjoy worldly pleasures," Vox argues.

Ushiwakamaru is silent for a few seconds, "Very well."

A second later, an apple flies towards Ushiwakamaru, who catches the fruit easily.

"And you, Mash?" Vox asks, holding out an apple to the Demi-Servant.

"Thank you, Senpai," Mash says, taking the apple.

There are a few minutes of relative silence, which is broken by Roman's hologram appearing over Vox's watch.

"That's enough rest! We got incoming!" Roman shouts.

Vox is on her feet in a second, Mash and Ushiwakamaru already taking defensive positions around their Master. A group of skeletons comes charging towards the group. One of the skeletons, an archer, fires an arrow.

Mash moves and the arrow breaks against her shield. Vox looks over to Ushiwakamaru, "Ushi! The archers."

"At once, Master!" Ushiwakamaru blitzes through the line of melee-based skeletons and begins striking down the archers.

Now relatively safe, Vox waves Solas Dawn in an arc in front of her, one of the runes glowing brightly ᚲ, "Kenaz!"

A wave of fire smashes into three skeletons, destroying them. Mash lunges forward and begins crushing skeletons with her shield.

A lancer skeleton lunges at Vox, who knocks the spear aside and presses her palm against its ribcage. A rune on her glove glows ᚱ, "Raido!"

A burst of force is exerted from Vox's palm that sends the skeleton flying. The Master turns and fires a lightning bolt at a saber skeleton. Another skeleton attacks her from behind, only to be cut down by Ushiwakamaru's sword.

"All enemies have been eliminated, Master," Ushiwakamaru reports.

"Phew," Mash sighs, "We managed to defeat them."

"I see you are getting used to being a Servant. Is it because, now that you know what we're up against, you're not afraid anymore?" Olga asks Mash.

"I don't know about that," Mash answers, "No matter how good I am with my weapon, when it comes to the battle itself..."

Roman's hologram appears again, "Sorry, but there's no time to talk! You need to get out of there, now!"

"Roman, what's going on!?" Vox asks.

"I'm still picking up something!" Roman exclaims, "And this is-"

A figure drops from a rooftop onto the street in front of the group. The figure is more like a shadow than an actual person, but Vox could feel the highly condensed mana that made up the person.

"What... is that!?" Olga asks.

"Servant!" Vox shouts before Roman can, "Mash, hold the line! Ushi, engage! Don't let up!"

"Right!" Mash says, slamming her shield down in front of Vox and Olga.

"A sound strategy, Master," Ushiwakamaru comments, dashing forward to engage the Shadow Servant.

The Shadow Servant swings its weapons, two chains ending in knives. Mash brings up her shield to deflect the weapons while Ushiwakamaru attacks the Shadow from its right flank.

A flash of a blade, and the Shadow Servant leaps away from the Rider. Ushiwakamaru doesn't let up, quickly closing the distance and engaging the enemy. The fighting soon becomes too hard to keep track of. Both Servants turning into blurs accompanied with the clang of steel.

They eventually break apart and Vox analyzes her Servant. Ushiwakamaru looks relatively fine, though she sports a few cuts and her breathing is slightly labored. The Shadow Servant, though, looks like it's about to collapse.

"Ushiwakamaru! Finish it!" Vox orders.

Ushiwakamaru nods and seems to disappear, reappearing behind the Shadow Servant with her sword at her side. The Shadow Servant twitches, before collapsing. As the enemy dissolves in golden particles, Vox's Rider walks back over to her Master.

"Well done, Ushiwakamaru," Vox says, "Are you okay?"

"Thank you, Master, and yes," Ushiwakamaru says.

Vox raises an eyebrow and looks over her Servant. While she stands tall, Ushiwakamaru is littered with cuts and Vox can see the slight exhaustion in her eyes. The Master sighs and places her left hand atop Ushiwakamaru's head, a rune traced onto her palm ᛒ, "Berkana."

Vox's palm glows a soft, calming light green. Ushiwakamaru's eyes widen before she closes them and sighs in relief. Under Mash and Olga's stunned gazes, Ushiwakamaru's wounds glow the same light green color before closing up.

The glow fades and Vox ruffles Ushiwakamaru's hair before removing her hand, "There, all better."

"Thank you, Master," Ushiwakamaru mumbles, her cheeks gaining a slightly red tint.

"Hey, um, I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Roman says, "but a similar single is headed your way! You need to get out of there!"

"Wait, you mean a-" Olga is cut off.

"Yes! A Servant is coming! Now stop standing there and move!" Vox shouts.

"R-right," Olga stutters, and the group begins moving in the opposite direction of the signal.