Singularity-F 23

He stared at the door for a few more moments before getting up off the pew and making his way up to the altar where Olga was still concentrating on a golden magical circle. Allowing his rune enhanced axe sword to dissipate into motes of light as he did, waiting upon his call to arms once more.

He had to withhold a whistle. Man it was pretty damn big. Enough for five or six people to sit inside, "You didn't have to go this far you know," he commented, "A normal average magic circle would have been fine."

Olga looked up at him and he noted she had bags under her eyes, her golden family crest shining brightly on her forehead, "This is the least I can do right now," she replied after a deep breath, "The more powerful a magic circle you use as a focus, the less strained you will be. This way, it will help you be fully rested for the battles tomorrow."

"Such a diligent hard working woman aren't you? But I don't dislike that," Faeran found himself smiling slightly despite his previous thoughts just a few moments ago, "Then thanks for your hard work."

He had the urge to say, 'Don't push yourself so much stupid', but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. She wasn't the general person he interacted with in Scotland who knew it was a term of endearment. Like his buddies, he could call his best friend a stupid limp dick faggot, but he knew he was only taking the piss and having a laugh.

Despite how exhausted she was, she smiled brightly at his words, "It's not a problem, at least this meager amount should be expected of someone of my caliber." she replied, proudly, her chest puffing out in pride.

His eyes drifted to her puffed out chest. The unflattering clothing she wore really did nothing to hide he voluptuous bosom, "Well you definitely aren't meager there, that's for sure, good on you." Faeran chuckled.

Her cheeks turned red, "...You're such a fiend, do you know that?" Olga responded with a huff.

"That I am love, but it comes with territory, what with your fiendishly sexy body." he retorted teasingly.

Olga shook her head, "I can see now why you didn't get along with your family, no magus family in their right mind could stomach an heir who acted like this." the white haired woman huffed again rolling her eyes, but despite her words her smile did not lessen at all.

"Sure let's go with that," Faeran shrugged and decided to change the subject, "So, Mash said something to me when we were talking earlier that has got me a bit worried."

Olga lost her lovely smile and frowned, "...Has something gone wrong with her abilities as a servant?" she asked, worriedly.

"Nah, nothing like that I don't think," Faeran waved her worries off, "She just said she doesn't have much time left. I don't think she even meant to tell me and did it by accident."

Olga's eyes slowly closed and she sighed, stepping away from the magic circle and allowing her family crest to fade, "I see, I understand then," she nodded, lifting her hand up to wipe a trail of sweat from her forehead, "This is something only known to the top physicians of Chaldea, myself as the leader of Chaldea and Mash herself." she suddenly said.

Faeran's eyebrows rose. 'So it's an important secret then?' he thought.

Olga cast a glance at the door Mash and Ritsuka followed Cu through before sighing and turning back to look Faeran in the eyes, "Chaldea needed a servant to fix the singularities. Mash was genetically engineered specifically to contain a Heroic spirits soul and become a Demi Servant," she explained, "Quite frankly, Mash is not too far off of that from a homunculus, and like homunculi, she has a very limited life span. She was estimated to have eighteen years of life and as of now, she is sixteen. She has at most two years left to live."

...Ah so it was something like that.

Shit.

Just like Ilya. His chest throbbed painfully at the thought.

"I wasn't particularly happy to learn of it myself when I took over as the leader of Chaldea, I must admit," Olga revealed, crossing her arms and frowning, "A waste too. Mash was the only one able to contract with a Heroic Spirit, quite frankly losing her especially now that she has gained access to her powers is simply unacceptable. Which is why I was trying to reach out to Touko Aozaki to prepare another body for her when her own gives out, but with the damage to Chaldea now...it may be impossible to afford such a thing." she lifted her hand to her mouth and bit her thumb in frustration.

Touko Aozaki...

The puppet woman? The one Rin would get into contact with during Heaven's Feel to get Shirou a body? But wasn't it lacking in sensation and such? Sure she'd live, but being unable to feel?

He hadn't known Mash for a long time. He'd only known her for a day. And talked to her for less than two hours in total. But that was enough for him to understand that she was very sheltered, and was very curious about the world outside of Chaldea. He could practically feel the desire to see the world and experience it emanating through their bond as master and servant.

Faeran ground his teeth.

The puppet body was a moot point more or less right now anyway if Chaldea was as damaged as it was. He understood what Olga meant. Getting Chaldea restored would cost a lot, possibly too much for them to have enough left over to pay Touko Aozaki.

How fucking expensive were the bodies she made? He knew it took Rin and Sakura like three years to get a body for Shirou.

Hell fucking no. Something stirred deep within him. Madness emanating from the depths of his soul and inflamed what he already didn't want to accept.

"It's fine, I'll take care of it." Faeran waved off her worries. Mash was his servant, his!

Faeran was a very greedy person at heart. Frigid even when it came to parting with things that were of value to him. And deep within his soul was a man clad in madness who failed someone important to him in a similar position.

It seemed neither Faeran or Herakles was accepting of that outcome for Mash.