Fate Grand Order Short Stories

Thoughts of the End

Aelis didn't want to think about what she was going to do when the Grail War was over. She didn't want to think about burning her Saint Graphs, kissing her Servants goodbye one bye one as they vanished over the flames. She didn't want to think about returning home, sleeping in a bed in a home that felt like a long-lost memory and interacting with the same people who had laughed at her for taking a job with a listing that read like a stupid Craigslist post.

Aelis didn't want to think about losing her Servants. They were so much more than that to her, the bonds they'd formed over the course of the war vanishing into the sand they became as they passed through the veil back to the Throne. She'd lost too many already. Not through any fault of her own, Aelis had finally come to realize that fact after they had completed the Septem Singularity. No, it was not her fault the Master/Servant system was designed the way it was. It was not her fault she was left with a singular Servant as a mocking trophy from each drawn out combat who was robbed of the memories they had built together.

It wasn't her fault she would have to give up her adopted family at the end of all this.

Aelis held her coat around her as she leaned against the railing of the balcony, the biting cold of the Arctic surrounding Chaldea clawing through her clothes as if they were tissue-paper. Aelis glanced at her fingernails, noting their lavender tinge. She should probably go back inside. The sounds of Chaldea were muted when she was outside, the hissing machinery and chatter from the Servants under her command washed away by the howling wind.

Aelis didn't want to go back inside. For a moment, just for a moment, she needed solitude.

Aelis closed her eyes, leaning her arms against the banister, shivering as the cold snapped through her arms. She could stay outside a little longer. Sickness wouldn't stop her, not when she had countless Casters at her beck and call.

Aelis hated herself for thinking that. Her Servants weren't even hers. They were people. Men and women from throughout history, each Summoned to her side by her request and need for allies. Each had their own stories, own feelings, and own wishes they hoped would be granted when the Grail, the true Grail, was finally won and the world was restored. Aelis didn't know what she was going to do when that happened.

And she was back at the beginning again, wondering what she was going to do when the war was finally over.

Aelis pressed her fingers to her forehead, groaning as she tried to massage the ache of responsibility from her mind. Her breath clouded in the air, hanging for a brief moment before getting snatched away by the wind. Part of her wished she could be whisked away too.

No. She couldn't even think that. Aelis pushed herself off the railing, pulling her jacket tight again. She was a Master- No. She was the only Master. A Master was placed to protect their Servants despite the traditions the magus had passed down for generations. She had to protect her Servants in whatever way she could. True she was physically weaker than they were, most likely mentally weaker as well, but she could at least try. And try she would. She had sworn it to herself the moment her Command Seals had appeared over her heart.

Aelis gazed into the sky, catching a glimpse of the aurora borealis that blessed the skies above Chaldea. The wavering lights danced together in a wonderful display, each color morphing into the next in a strange, wonderful dance. Tonight was truly beautiful. Aelis smiled at the lights, raising her icy fingers to her lips and blowing a kiss toward them. Her eyes watered, not from the wind. Not fully.

Aelis took a last breath of the sharp, icy air and wiped her eyes. She straightened her shoulders and raised her chin, sliding her arms back into her coat. Halfway closing the front of her coat Aelis stepped inside once more, the glowing warmth of inner Chaldea causing her to shiver in delight. As the doors hissed shut behind her, she caught a glimpse of a familiar red-haired man halfway around the corner.

"Doctor Roman!" Aelis called, catching his attention.

The man backpedaled down the hall as Aelis walked toward him, meeting him in the middle. His mouth was opened to ask her a question, but Aelis spoke before he could get a sound out. "Show me what's next." Aelis smiled, pulling her mussed hair back into a ponytail. Beneath her Command Seals, her heart pounded with resolve. Her next words were colored with a cadence both Nero and Jeanne would've been proud of. "We have work to do."