Originally Posted by
Petrikow
The Earth is bleached.
There upon walks a lone wanderer.
No matter where she looks, it's all the same.
She muses to herself, perhaps thinking that at least the Antarctic would've been spared, but it too, is completely blank. Despite being an ocean, it has turned into a bleached land of nothingness. Interesting, so the Bleaching was not merely a transformation of the land itself. Then it must've been the work of something arcane.
Well then, it might work regardless. She laughs, though not in a human manner.
The scene changes.
Upon the bleached Earth stands Skadi, Holy Grail in hand, cackling to herself. If anyone wishes to stop her, now's the chance! The Valkyries she has with her pleads her to return to Chaldea and stop this foolishness. Her runes won't be able to allow her independent action much longer. Also, where did she get that Grail, anyway?! The ones in Chaldea are locked up securely. It must be a new one!
Skadi cackles once more. Right, nobody can stop her now! She uses the Grail, transforming herself into her swimsuit form. But her runes should be enough for that... Indeed, Skadi confirms: she shall create a new Singularity here in the arctic!
---
Back in Chaldea, a somewhat different Valkyrie approaches Erice, asking for her attention.
Another Valkyrie approaches Jeanne and Jeanne Alter for the same purpose.
In the library, another Valkyrie finds Raikou, Sei and Murasaki. They manage to deduce she's different from the usual Valkyries. Indeed, she introduces herself as Gerskögul, or Ers for short.
The one with Erice calls herself Rindr.
The one with the Jeanne's calls herself Ölrún, or Örun for short. They are the 3 new Valkyrie sisters, summoned separately from the usual Valkyries. Jeanne deduces they are Assassins. But they're not Chaldean Servants, instead having been summoned by Skadi. They're Pan-human History Servants though, so no worries there!
Raikou threatens them if they dare antagonize Chaldea's Master. Sei calls her down: if that was their intent, they would've done so already. Raikou is just a little on edge given the season, never know when the licentious Saint Graphs will come out in summer!
But yes, the Valkyries say: this is exactly about that! Swimsuits! They're swimsuit Valkyries! Erice is about to nod in understanding, but stops herself. Wait, what's going on, exactly? She's new to all this... Which works perfect for Rindr, she was looking for someone who hadn't gotten a swimsuit yet. She takes out a gun, and blasts a rune into Erice, transforming her.
The same happens to the Jeannes. Jeanne Alter tries to stop it, but Jeanne stops her: isn't this more fun anyway? Siblings gotta stick together!
Sei, Raikou and Murasaki similarly find themselves transformed, none of them feeling like stopping the Valkyrie. Sei had to hold Raikou back a bit, though. Besides, Raikou is in it to stop all this licentiousness from spreading!
The Valkyries then transmit the words of their queen:
To all swimsuit Servants in Chaldea, gather at the arctic. I order you to then enjoy summer to your heart's extent.
That's all! The rest will be explained when they arrive.
---
The swimsuit Servants arrive at the arctic to find... absolutely nothing. Cold as hell too, probably enough to kill non-Servants. A few new faces are in the mix...
A transmission from Skadi arrives, bidding her thanks to everyone who showed up. She explains that the Servants themselves are the one's who'll have to transform this place into a summer paradise! Through their collective power, Skadi will establish her Arctic Summer World! Now go forth, enjoy summer to the fullest! Know that eternal summer has come!
Back in Chaldea, Goredolf is informed of the situation. It's like this every year, but well, not that they can avoid taking care of it. But they're supposed to saving the world, not dealing with all these internal scuffles. Who stole from their Holy Grail collection anyway!? Da Vinci tries to calm him down and orders Mashu to explain the situation:
First, Skadi suddenly disappeared from Chaldea, crossing from real spacetime, to imaginary number space to arrive at the arctic. Damn Divine Spirits muses Goredolf, a normal human would never be able to do endure that!
In any case, Skadi then acquired her Grail on site. It was not taken from them.
Then, the Valkyries arrived, having followed the trail Skadi left through imaginary number space, probably to try and stop their master.
Regardless, the Valkyries failed in this task. Skadi was detected going away from the Thrud and the others, while they stayed put.
After this, Skadi summoned the new Valkyries, who appeared inside Chaldea. These turned many Servants into their swimsuit Saint Graph, and then moved to the arctic.
At the same time, some of the Servant who didn't get transformed into their swimsuit version were detected being turned into physical from spirit form by some outside magical energy, after which they too headed to the arctic.
Goredolf is perplexed. Why do Servants so easily go to Singularities when its summertime?! Well, outside interference into Novum Chaldea nigh-impossible so they probably followed Skadi's imaginary number route. Goredolf asks Da Vinci if such a thing exists: of course not. It's probably some cheats through Skadi's runes and her Grail. Gods sure are free-spirited...
Probably not a big deal Singularity, but might as well get the Holy Grail... An alarm sounds. A transmission from Sion appears: this Singularity will continue on forever unless Chaldea stops it. So, new orders: explore the Singularity and find out what Skadi's goal is! Rayshift starts in 10 minutes!
Holmes and Da Vinci are busy forging the Holy Sword device, they won't be able to assist much. Mashu will help from the control room. Luckily there are tons of Servants available for this Singularity. Douman shows himself, he'll deal with it, full trust! After him comes Asclepius, suspicious of Skadi already causing her second Singularity: check-up is required. Speaking of which, this Alter-Ego is practically a pathogen on his own, shouldn't he be dealt with? They stare each other down.
Yan Qing then introduces himself together with Gareth. They're both excited at the prospect of going to the arctic. What if there are polar bears, says Gareth, seemingly excited to fight one. With her is her dog Annette.
Da Vinci says the original Valkyries will also be waiting for them on site. Tons of Servants, right? Mashu asks how come they're all in swimsuits too. Turns out Gareth and Yan Qing got turned by the new Valkyries. On the other hand, Asclepius had his Saint Graph modified by Scathach, while Douman did it on his own. They all smile, though Douman's quickly twists into something terrifying.
How come Yan Qing and Gareth didn't go with the others though? Seems the phantom inside him did something to the runes in Yan Qing. He then took Gareth with him. Douman praises him, but he begs him to stop: like, for real.
Anyway, time to leave! Rayshift commence!
---
You arrive at the Singularity. In the distance, a large castle looms over the scenery. The environment is very arctic, while at the same time not, greenery and other strange sights dotting the landscape. In addition, it's not cold, but rather fairly hot! A truly summery Singularity, after all. For some reason, the Sun looks much larger than usual. There are no big irregularities with the Sun, reports Mashu. Or at least not the kind seen with Surtr in the second Lostbelt. Anyway, where are the polar bears, asks Gareth.
You look around some more. It's kinda looking like an amusement park. Your eyes are also drawn to a tower of ice in the far distance. This Singularity appears rather large... Before you can think further, Gareth alerts you to something. What arrives before them is a massive cruiser ship. Thrud, Ortlinde and Hildr's voices can be heard coming from it, urging you in.
Everyone is impressed at the luxurious ship as you enter. The Valkyries show themselves, apologizing for failing to stop Skadi. Asclepius is a smidge disappointed at the 'old models', which mentally damages all of them. Anyway, they explain the boat is something Skadi prepared for them to travel through the Singularity. Not for the Valkyries, but for you, of course. Very magnanimous of her, given she made the Singularity in the first place!
Maybe that's her godly love at play, speculates Douman. At his words, Gareth continues feeling uneasy. Instinctively so, though she's not sure why. The Valkyries continue explaining: there are tons of personal cabins, relaxation space and showers. The ship is named "Ice Wanderer" and moves by runes, so no fuel needed. Yan Qing still feels the need to investigate for traps, and Douman will accompany. Asclepius whispers to Yan Qing to not let Douman out of sight.
You notice the Valkyries all have a new Saint Graph. They were unable to convince Skadi, in fact, they were basically forced back, having their Saint Graph forcibly changed. Even so, they refused to comply with her. Skadi got fed up with them, and summoned new Valkyries instead: Rindr, Örun and Ers. Though you haven't met them yet, please don't call the original Valkyries "old models". You compliment their appearances.
Douman and Yan Qing reappear, having found no traps. You ask who is going to drive, and nobody is willing to volunteer. Out of the shadow steps... Goredolf! Leave the driving to him! Goredolf suddenly wonders why he's around at all. Mashu confirms he's gone from Chaldea. This is the real Goredolf! Fou jumps out too. The Valkyries say Skadi said something about calling for a driver... Must've been Goredolf. Regardless, guess you've found yourself a driver.
Douman wants something, and takes you out to the deck. He used his Shikigamis earlier to scan the entire Singularity. Before he continues, he wants to know what you want to do. You say you want to talk to Skadi. She resides in the castle of ice. Douman says its quite the distance to force themselves through even with this ship. They'll have to pass through several areas first. These areas are all basically like Reality Marbles. These are all maintained through Skadi's assistance, and will be difficult to break. In order to get through them you cannot use force, but... entertainment!!
Asclepius confirms: each area has its own laws to follow, which is the principle underpinning the Singularity. Mashu confirms too. Its just as Skadi said, only those who enjoy summer may advance through the Singularity! So what specifically needs to be done, then? Well, you just have to ask the one responsible for each area, reasons Douman.
So they have their current plan worked out: go through the different areas in pursuit of Skadi at her castle of ice. Fou announces the beginning of your journey! (wait, is Douman really okay to have around?)
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