Fate/Novus Ordo Seclorum

Chapter 1: Celtic Princess

FATE/NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM

"New Order of the Ages"

Chapter 1: Celtic Princess

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This and any future stories involving Connla will assume that you have read both Fate/Laoch Gan Finsceal and Fate/Outside Experience, so some details already covered there will not be explained here. If you haven't read those, I recommend you do so before this one so you aren't too confused.

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In one of the many bedchambers designated to the Servants of Chaldea, a purple-haired Lancer slept deeply, unable to be roused by any sort of external stimuli. Her True Name was Connla, the Child of Cuchulainn and one of Fujimaru Ritsuka's Servants. Although she didn't have the power or stamina that the adults possessed, she was notable for her ridiculous speed and disturbingly youthful age. At only seven years old, she was genuinely the youngest Heroic Spirit in the entire roster, but it proved to be a constant detriment because she couldn't last long in the deadlier battles without help.

The previous day, Connla had just survived an assault from the Berserker version of the Arthurian hero Lancelot. Normally she was not capable of fighting dangerous Servants of such high caliber, but thanks to some quick thinking and external intervention, she managed to squeak out a narrow victory. Unfortunately, she fell into a deep coma immediately upon returning to headquarters, and remained unresponsive for the last 24 hours. One of the four versions of the Heroic Spirit Cuchulainn – the terrifying Berserker who called himself Alter – watched over her condition vigilantly.

As he observed her sleeping, a strange thought crossed his mind:

I may not remember much of that Singularity, but I'm pretty sure Connla was not involved in that one. I shudder to think of what would've happened if she saw me spreading chaos and destruction upon the United States.

He was referring to one of the seven core Singularities that all of Chaldea was tasked with correcting in order to preserve humanity's history. In particular, the fifth of these Singularities would be written in Chaldea's records as E Pluribus Unum, or 'out of many, one', because it was a war that took place in colonial America between the United Western States and the eastern Celtic armies ruled by Queen Medb and the irregular Mad King Cuchulainn. Ritsuka, her Servants, and the friends they met along the way initially refused to ally themselves with the Presi-King Thomas Edison due to his warped belief in saving the country before the world, but after some 'convincing' (read: fighting), they settled their differences and unified to defeat the Celts, thereby resolving the Singularity.

That was the incident that Chaldea was familiar with. However, in this vast universe full of parallel dimensions and infinite possibilities, it wasn't necessarily true that this was the one and only E Pluribus Unum that ever occurred. Cuchulainn didn't know it, but Connla's mind was so far away that it felt like she was in a near-death state. She was being pulled further and further away from home, losing control of herself and being absorbed into a different person's mind.

What Connla was tapping into as she slept was beyond imagination; this was the memory essence of another version of herself who was involved in a very similar incident to the Fifth Singularity. It was a mystery how and/or why one Connla in a completely different dimension could extend her memories to the Connla who worked at Chaldea. What was the point of showing her an event that no one would ever have any record of? Was it some kind of message? A warning? Or perhaps just a long-gone girl's desire to pass her story on to an equivalent of herself? It was impossible to know the answer for sure.