The First Step Into A Past

Entry 142:

Pierre Cauchon POV:

As I begin my daily prayers, I find the chapel to be less populated than usual. Still, it is understandable as to what happened a few days ago, and with the treaty to end the Hundred Year War on the horizon, many flock to where the possible peace may be established.

I kneel before the altar and continue my prayer. I feel a growing sense of unease as I hear a voice from behind me say, "Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me. I hereby swear. That I shall defeat all evil in the world, but let thine eyes be clouded with the fog of turmoil and chaos. Thou art trapped in a cage of madness, and I, the summoner who holds thy chains— Seventh Heaven clad in the great words of power! Come forth from the circle of binding, Guardian of the Scales!

But as I look behind me, I am startled by the person's presence as I see an impossible sight; I mutter, "You can't be alive. You have burned away for your heresy, witch!" The woman looks at me in utter contempt and says, "The details of my demise were simply greatly exaggerated. But be silent, you old fool, as I need to greet some new players in this game."

Soon enough, five other presents enter the room with all of their eyes looking empty yet filled with madness. The witch then says, "Thank you for coming, my fellow servants. I am your master, but you know why I summoned you, yes?"

The servants give no response as I fear for my life and the population of France. "You were all brought here before me to spread destruction and slaughter as those that celebrate shall be devastated no matter how evil or cruel. God will forgive you through me should he meet out punishment that is fine in its own way, but this is no better way of proving that he exists now than Gilles brings the old fool here."

The man who looks like insanity incarnate as he drags me by my neck before the watch as she asks with faux care, "I trust that you did not harm him while dragging him over here, Gilles?"

The man chuckles as he asks, "Do you require a suggestion on how to deal with him, my fair lady?" The witch looks the man in the eyes, and a fire grows at the back of those eyes. "Thank you for your infinite concern for me, but do not be absurd. If you contribute to this foolishness, I will kill you and besides. When you are eating a meal, do you think of how to use your silverware? This is the same as what I do with him; it is a trivial matter that does not merit any thought."

I find my voice as I ask, "What is going on? Who are you people? Answer me, you fools! Are you all demented in the ears?! You witch-"

The man named Gilles then chokes me as the witch says almost excitedly, "Oh, Pierre! Bishop Pierre Cauchon! How have I missed you and your foolish visage? A day has not gone by when you're faced has not crossed my mind!"

I am unable to respond but can choke out a few words: "That cannot be! You should be dead!" I saw you return to Hell, where you belong, heretic!"

The woman smiles menacingly as she says, "Perhaps we all dwell in hell, good bishop, as maybe it was God that abandoned us out of fear of what he created."

This has to be a dream. She could not be alive! I watched her demise myself!

The man choking me looks at me in the eyes as he says, "Oh, he is beginning to disassociate from this reality. This cannot do as we require you to be cognizant."

I scream out in pain as he crushes my throat further and slashes at my stomach. The witch continues her hellish speech, "What will you do, Bishop? I stand here, the one you accused of heresy. Should you not attempt to grip a crucifix and offer up a prayer to God?! Should you not mock me, scorn me, or trample upon my ideals?! Should you not roar like the brave lion you are, go on! Do it! I am waiting!"

I try to beg for my life as I know her, and she should forgive me, right? God, please save your lost lamb! "Spare me, please. I'll do anything! I am begging you! Please do not kill me?! I can have your punishment erased from history. You can be who you were before! Just don't kill me, please!"

The witch began to laugh as flames began to ignite across the chapel as she spoke, "Ha ha ha ha ha! Did you hear that, Gilles? "Spare me, spare me," he says! This Bishop who tied me up mocked me and burned me alive! As if that were nothing! The Bishop told me with kind eyes that I was going to be killed. He is now begging for his life!"

My regrets continue to mount as she continues. "Oh—The sadness is making me want to cry. After all, that won't save anything. Your paper-thin father won't reach the Heavenly Father. The belief that is light as a feather won't blossom anywhere. Someone who has forsaken God and clings to his life by begging a witch is unfit to be called a believer. Do you understand, Your Grace? You just gave testimony that you are now one of the heretics. That is why I'm so sad. I think I might laugh until madness consumes me."

She then placed her flag on the ground, causing the fire to spread further. Closer and closer, the fire burns. "Now, think back, Your Grace. You know what sentence awaits heretics, don't you?"

I try to plead for mercy out of a flimsy hope for reprieve. "No! No! Please do not take my life! I can offer you money! Sainthood! Anything!"

She then continues to laugh as she says, "I'm so sorry; I'm afraid I ran out of salvation today. Indulgences are not for sale in this era. Now—Shall we start at your feet? If I was burned alive by holy flames... ...Then your body shall be scorched by the flames of Hell."

The dark red flames then consume me as I scream out, praying to God for salvation, but I find nothing.

It's so dark.

It's so cold.

The last thing I feel is burning agony as I see no light and only the fire. Maybe this is my punishment? I am so sorry.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Before I can fully embrace the end, I hear the woman and insane warlock speak of their plans, and it only leads to destruction. As she orders her servants to bring death and despair to the mistake, she calls France.

What have we unleashed?

I pray that someone may end this chaos. Please, someone, end this suffering.

Linus Ozias POV:

As we gather at the coffins for ray shift into the singularity, I look to Ritsuka as she looks tired. "Are you alright, Ritsuka? You seem more out of it than usual."

  She looks at me and glares while saying, "I simply had a bad dream last night, and I found that I couldn't go back to sleep." I then say, "Are you sure you're ready for this mission? We can withhold it for another day?" 

She shakes her head and smiles, saying "No, I'm fine, and besides, we get to go to early France, and I swear on all that is holy, I will come back with a legitimate baguette."

I truly do want to tell her that we're not allowed to bring anything back other than possible catalysts for serving summoning, but I don't want to disappoint her. 

"Well, if you truly are prepared, I will take the right coffin. You take the left and hope that the good doctor was able to find coordinates that aren't at the center of the Earth or in space."

I hear Romani then say over the intercom, "Such trust I hear in your voice. Maybe I should recalculate the coordinates just in case." I shake my head and say, "There is no need for such hostility, Dr Romani. I am simply concerned about our well-being, that is all ."

Mash says, "I trust in the doctor's ability to get us through a successful ray shift. What we need to focus on is establishing a base camp, and thanks to Ozias Senpai's buildings, all we need is sufficient space and privacy, and besides, a place to go back to is nice."

I nod my head as I've given both myself and Ritsuka multiple copies of the capsule houses within her suit, which are almost impossible to lose unless they are virtually disintegrated.

"You are definitely correct, Mash, and we will be counting on you." I say as she nods while saying, "That means a lot to me. Thank you, but you can count on me to give it my all!" We nod as Tamamo says in my mind, "Hey, I am here too, you mikon! I will show you my stuff in this singularity."

In regards to servants, Ritsuka will take Mash and Medusa while I will be taking Tamamo as Paracelsus wishes to stay at base and support us through the servant connection. But you see, I got a bit of a cheat on my side as I can literally use my own Throne of Heroes to summon them into the singularity.

If I were to summon a servant that was invoked by Ritsuka into the singularity, their contract would be shared between the two of us, with me taking a majority of the load, so we will never be without reinforcements as long as I am there.

Murasaki wishes to reorganize a library as it was left in shambles after the attack, and she isn't much of a fighter anyway and is more of a researcher and writer. Even if Ritsuka wants her to come, she exudes what Ritsuka calls "Mature Onee San Vibes."

As we enter the coffins, with Fou going into mine and our servants going into their astral forms other than Mash, we hear a countdown over the PA system.

[Unsummon program beginning, spiritron conversion rate increasing, ray shift beginning in 3, 2, 1… The Grand Order Operation Begins.]

Our beings are then turned into pure spiritual energy, and we are sent into the singularity.

French Countryside, 1431 AD

After a rough ride, being turned into pure spirit particles and then sent into a possible past is not exactly fun, as it feels similar to an apparition in Harry Potter. Specifically, it feels like your soul is being forced into a tube, and the tube itself has many tosses and turns before you land without any brace. 

Currently, I am tending to Ritsuka as she is barfing out her breakfast, and after a couple of minutes, she's able to get a hold of herself as Mash states, "It seems we have managed to reach France safely, and since we were teleported by accident last time this time, we did not need to worry about any anomalies."

In all honesty, it's not the anomalies that worry me. It's how such teleportation methods affect the soul and mind, but I nod as Fou pops out of my hood. I then transform my servant suit into what a French nobleman would wear in order to blend in.

The plan is to introduce myself as a French nobleman and the other two as my entourage. It is a bit flimsy, but it's the best we have to work with unless I feel like mentally manipulating the people around us, and with servants around, that does not sound like a good idea. 

Luckily, we don't have to worry about funds because my supernatural organization essence makes any currency I summon immediately applicable to the time period and nation we find ourselves in.

I have also placed a minor illusion over Ritsuka's clothing so that anyone looking at it will see a normal woman's clothing for the time period and not the normal Chaldea outfit. 

I then look to the sky to see the giant ring that shows GOETIA's ritual is currently active. I show Mash and Ritsuka as Mash says, "Based on the size of that ring, it's about the size of North America if I'm doing the math correctly."

Romani then comes over the comms [You would be right about that, Mash as it's most likely these rings across the singularity that have led to the phenomena of our future ending in 2018, but for now, focus on surveying your current location and start looking for ley lines to keep us connected.]

Mash nods as I say, "Yes, that is our current objective. For now, we explore the area and see the current situation that has led to the change in history, and worse comes to worst; we have to knock out anyone who tries to attack us. But for now, I sense multiple human presences  that way, so let us begin our march."

The two girls nod as we head towards the fortress in the distance, but what is odd about this place is that, based on what I'm sensing, there are two of the same signature. 

But one represents the opposite of the other. We're heading towards one of them, but this one is weaker but filled with light. The other is like a blazing dark Inferno but holds the same signature.

But as we walk down the dirt road, we see a patrol of French soldiers, to which Ritsuka asks, "Seems like we have soldiers up ahead. What do we do?" I smile and say, "Do not worry, I have this under control. Just let me do the talking." 

As the soldiers see us, I show them my noble identity, and one asks in French, "Identify yourself! Immediately!" I nod and say in French, "Peace, my countrymen. I am an investigator sent by the House of Valois  Octavian de Albert, and these are my entourage, Lady Ritsuka and her servant Lady Kyrielight."

The soldier seems hesitant as one asks, "We were not aware and investigate her was sent here as we thought that our communications were cut off by the witch and her dragons."

I look confused as he explains, "We have had to fend off their attacks for days, and numbers seem endless, and anyone captured who is not killed by the dragons turns into a skeleton. It's as if Hell decided to take the Earth as its dominion."

I nod as we follow them to their fort. I explain, "Back in the capital, we had expected communications to be returned, so suspecting foul play, they sent me to investigate."

One of the soldiers then asks, "Is it just you three? Where are the others?" I shake my head and say, "Sadly, it is just us three as the capital was not able to expend any more manpower at the moment due to British attacks as well as strikes from what they said were flying lizards."

[RA: Good work getting them to trust you, but for how long can you keep this ruse going?]

[OA: Also, where did you get those clothes from?]

(RA= Romani Archaman/ OA= Olga Animusphere)

I simply say quietly, "As long as we are able to get into their fort without a fight and stay there for a day to get the lay of the land, that is all we will need. And I simply changed my suits look mentally, Olga"

Mash then says, "Good work, Lord "Albert," but it seems like this has been going on for a while now." I nod and say, "You're right, Lady Kyrielight, but for now, we must see what can be done."

So, as we enter the fort, we see it in shambles with only a couple dozen soldiers, with most being gravely injured. But a bony roar pierces the grave atmosphere before I can ask if I may see to their injuries. 

(Imagine the skeletons roar like Vasto Lorde Ichigo.)

One of the soldiers then says, "Lord Albert, please stay back and allow us to do our work." I then shake my head as I walk out with the soldiers as I state, "I will not idly stand by as my countrymen are slaughtered like animals, soldier, but do not worry as we are not inept in terms of kombat."

I then took out my short sword powered by holy light and created using Blade Blacksmith as I took the lead and yelled, "Come on, you soldiers! You want to live forever!"

I use my charisma to inflame their courage as we charge the small army of skeletons. I also cover all the men with invisible holy armor to protect them as Mash takes out her shield and fights alongside us while Ritsuka gives covering fire with her silver horn.

To those wondering, the silver horn also has an illusion over it that makes it seem like an old crossbow firing holy bolts. 

One skeleton charges me as I take my sword and charge it with holy light and slash forward, sending an arc of holy energy that erases all the skeletons in its path as I continue to cut a swath through the army of bony familiars. Honestly, I would wish to turn them back, but their souls have already been burned away.

Soon enough, after we clear out the small force, the men cheer as I yell, "This is but one victory in my countrymen, one of many. Let this witch send her armies, for we shall show them our might! And our swords!"

Before we enter the fort I hear Tamamo say in my mind " You seem to enjoy the fight Lin but you need to let me have some fun too!" I give her a mental nod as once we leave the fort she can come out to play.

The men cheer as we return to the fort to find a blond-haired and blue-eyed woman wearing a silver cross on her head. She looks at me, and her eyes widen.