Section 7: Beyond the River of Chocolate

All right. I think now's a good time for a little chat.

Speaking as Chaldea's technical advisor, there are some things I can overlook, and some I definitely can't.

What's up? Is this about how different I look in my downtime outfit?

'Cause, there's a reason for that.

I told you how I used to skip my classes so I could go hang out at the beach with my friends from town, right?

Well, I had to at least change my hair color, or the guards would've spotted me a kilometer away when they

No, I'm not talking about that... Although, the reasons you change appearance are definitely relevant.

I think we all stopped questioning it at some point, but...I'm actually talking about you, Columbus.

Me? What about me?

Well, I guess my clothes do look a little different in this Singularity.

But it's like I told you back at the start.

I don't know why it happened either, and it's not all that unusual for Servants to change appearance, right?

Think about how different lots of them look during summer or Christmas.

So I'd rather you not worry too much about my new look.

I'm bringing this up because I'm pretty sure there's more to it than just a new look.

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For example, we never did get into how you produced all those coins during that river battle with the pirates.

What, that? I had to, or we couldn't've won, right?

...That's true. And I do appreciate you helping us out back there.

But, the thing is...that went way beyond materializing data tied to your Spirit Origin.

There were way too many coins for that. Not to mention you produced them way too naturally.

So the way I see it, that must have been a phenomenon equivalent to a Heroic Spirit's Skills.

But Chaldea's Columbus doesn't have anything like that in his data.

So I have to ask: Who are you, really?

Hey now, how many times do I gotta say it? You can see for yourself. I'm

Columbus, yes, we know. Your Spirit Origin pattern does line up with that.

The problem is, there are some particulars we can't verify. There's a part in you that's basically a black box.

So I suspect you ARE Columbus...but something else is mixed in with you.

Oh? How intriguing.

If that is true, it would mean you have been deceiving me this entire time.

I don't really get what you guys are talking about, but...is it something bad?

That's what we're trying to find out.

How about it, Columbus?

If you have an answer for our questions, I'd appreciate it if you told us of your own volition.

... ...

Hmm, what to do.

It shouldn't be long now, so I had a feeling it might just be a matter of time before

Whoa!

What's going on!?

Did the ship just suddenly pick up speed!?

...We're here.

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The chocolate river's flowing into that hole at a very high speed...

Stop adding chocolate and boulders before it pulls us down there!

I HAVE stopped! But it's moving on its own now!

Santa María drop anchor!

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Thankfully, yes. But the chocolate river is still flowing into that hole.

What is that thing, anyway?

Now that we've made it here, there's no reason to keep it a secret any longer.

I'll tell you what that is.

...It's a pit that leads to the underworld.

Well, I guess it'd be more accurate to say it leads to a place that's becoming the underworld.

A place where chocolate that never got gifted goes to die...along with the feelings behind it.

So it's not actually the underworld. Not yet, anyway.

But now that you know where it's ending up, I'm guessing you can tell what this chocolate river really signifies.

A river that leads to the underworld... So then, this is the River Styx?

Exactly. It's the concept of the river flowing throughout the underworld seen in all kinds of myths...

...taken on physical form.

You people have probably seen it before. I know out in parts of the Far East, they call it the Sanzu River.

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Now I see. If that's the case, that does bring a few things to mind.

But it also begs the question, how do you know that?

'Cause my goal was to bring you people here, of course.

I had to get you here, no matter what. I couldn't let you get held up anywhere further up the river.

It's like I told you way back at the start. I'm willing to lie if it means getting a ship to its destination.

Columbus, are you

You people are on the right track.

I AM Chaldea's Columbus, but that's not all I am.

Here on this ship, it's mostly been me driving the Spirit Origin I'm borrowing from him.

Hell, now that I've said that much, you can probably guess who I am without me telling you.

If this river is close to its conceptual ideal, then it wouldn't just be the Sanzu River.

It'd have to be the same underworld river that shows up in European, Indian, and Egyptian myth, too.

So we have a myth-spanning River Styx, an underworld, and a boat. Does that mean you're

Well, I guess I might as well tell you.

Here, my name is Charon. I'm the one who rows the boat that crosses the River Styx.

Charon!? As in the, underworld's ferryman!? That's who you really are, Beard Guy!?

Some of you don't look all that surprised. Does that mean you were starting to catch on?

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I hope you can believe me when I say I'm here to make sure this ship gets where it needs to go.

I'm no hero. I'm just a sailor who gets ships where they need to go.

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Heh. I see. The Columbus inside me is laughing and saying you're dead-on right now.

You're a lot sharper than I thought.

Charon. The ferryman of the River Styx, sometimes known as River Acheron, who appears in Greek mythology.

As I recall, you're the child of Erebus, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the goddess of night, so I guess that makes you a god, too.

The dead would always pay him in silver coins for safe passage to the underworld, right?

I see. So that's why you had all those silver coins.

And according to some descriptions, he's said to be an old man with red eyes and a long beard... Yeah, that tracks.

But I also recall you usually wear a tattered old robe, so I'm surprised you're dressed so sharply.

That was Colombus's doing. He was okay with me borrowing his Spirit Origin...

...but he said if I was going to steer his ship too, I needed to dress the part.

I didn't have any other choice, so I had him tailor this new outfit for me.

It cost me some coin, of course, but it was a fair trade. I'd expect no less from a businessman.

Never mind your clothes.

Get to the point.

Why did you deceive us? What was your purpose in guiding us here?

What, you need to ask?

I want you people to get rid of that faux underworld hole.

In a word, I guess you could say I'm a client with a prospective job.

I'm betting that hole is the core of this Singularity.

It's the entrance to a new underworld taking shape that you can only get to from this chocolate River Styx.

And I want to see it gone just as much as you do.

I...think I understand...

...but to be honest, this is all so sudden that I'm having a hard time following.

I don't get it. If you really are the ferryman to the underworld, why would you want the underworld gone?

It's simple. An underworld that revolves around dead chocolate of all things is no underworld at all.

I can't bring the dead to an underworld like that. It goes against everything I believe as a ferryman.

...You people don't count 'cause you're not dead.

Still, dead or not, I did bring you here, so I'm gonna insist you pay the charge.

Lucky for you, it won't cost you a single silver obol. All I ask is that you get rid of that hole. Please.

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Well, it does look like the Holy Grail is inside that hole.

That must be what's attracting this dead chocolate concept, which is in turn creating a new underworld.

It basically happened spontaneously, without anyone's nefarious involvement.

So that explains how this Singularity came about.

Our primary order is to eliminate Singularities.

In this case, that would seem to align with your goal...

...but I still don't know why you didn't just tell us all this at the start.

Because I couldn't prove there was a hole, or tell you where it was located.

I could intuitively sense that this chocolate river had the same traits as the River Styx...

...and that a new underworld was being formed at its endpoint...

...but I couldn't have told you where that actually was until we got there.

Besides, for some reason, you were mistrustful of me right from the start.

... ...

Even if I'd told you what I knew back then, I didn't have an answer for your biggest question.

So it was obvious that telling you before we got here would've just made me look even more suspicious.

And if I'd slipped up in any way after that, well, you probably wouldn't listen to another word I said, right?

Besides, I could tell from the scent of death mixed in with the chocolate smell from the stagnant river...

...that I had to do something about the situation before this world got even more messed up.

Long story short, before we set about either treating the symptoms or solving the problem at its core...

...I had to hurry and get you people down the river before I could explain what was really going on.

I always planned on telling you everything I knew once we got here.

Yeah... This is just a hunch, but, I don't think you're lying. I believe you.

So, while you're explaining, can I ask you about something else?

Why did you say this river would let people see someone they miss?

Yeah, good question. For that matter, why did we need to imbue the river with somebody's trait in the first place?

Oh, that? I actually wasn't being fully honest with you there, either.

It wasn't a trait we needed to get the river moving. It was a yearning that would guide the way.

The river gaining traits as a result was just a kind of side effect.

It's the desire to see someone you miss that moves the river along.

The Holy Grail was trying to create an underworld that was tied to the concept of dead chocolate...

...but that wasn't enough to get the river moving. That's why it was standing still when you got here.

To fix that, we needed to give the river a stronger emotion that would propel it along.

And the emotion that went best with ungifted chocolate...

...ended up being the desire to see someone you miss.

The locals must've picked up on that subconsciously.

And they weren't wrong.

The underworld's where the dead go to rest. And everyone dies eventually.

So if you ignore the timeline aspect, you COULD see the people you miss there by following this chocolate river...

...since that's where this river ultimately leads.

I see. So that's what they meant...

I can tell you're disappointed...

...but if that hole had finished becoming a new underworld, I really do think you could've seen him.

As an underworld made by pouring in a river that lets you see the people you miss...

...it'd make sense for it to then become an underworld that lets you see the people you miss.

So? What will you do now?

What else? We've got to plug up that hole.

Otherwise, this Singularity will never go away, right?

Oh? What about seeing your lover? Don't you still miss him?

Of course I do.

But as much as I want to see him...I can tell this is no place for second thoughts.

I made up my mind that I was gonna become a hero who helped other people. That's the whole reason I'm here!

Ehehe, there's no need to thank me for it. Any hero would do the same.

All right, now let's figure out how we're going to actually do this.

Yes, let's!

Unfortunately, I don't have a single idea how to do this! Help me!

Yes, yes, don't worry! We've got this part covered! Just give us a little time!

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Okay, after running some scans, we now know that hole mostly consists of an alternate dimension...

...but it's also technically a real, physical hole as well.

Imagine an incredibly steep chocolate waterfall, and you'll have a good idea of what it looks like on the inside.

The Holy Grail's signal looks to be about several dozen meters below the surface.

Can we salvage it from up here?

Doesn't look like it, unfortunately. We can't pin down its coordinates in 3D space, so we only have a rough idea of its location.

Which means someone is going to have to actually go inside the hole to collect it.

Ooh, me, me! I'll do it!

Are you sure? I mean, full disclosure, given our current gear, you're probably the only one there who could do it, but still.

I shouldn't have too much trouble going down this chocolate waterfall safely as long as I'm on Cetus.

And if I max out his power, I ought to make it back up the waterfall, no problem, too!

So you are confident in this, girl?

Of course! Just leave it to me!

It's definitely dangerous...but, I think it's also our only practical option.

Okay. If you can grab the Holy Grail yourself while you're down there, great.

If you can't, just fire an anchor at its location, and we can use it in our next plan.

Thanks for doing this.

I wish there was more I could do to help... At least take this comms device with you.

I have some experience providing mission support from a kind of command tower, so I might be able to help you that way.

Will do! Thanks!

Is there anything you'd like to say, Master?

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Looks like you got a glimpse of my past. Guess that happens with Masters and Servants sometimes.

Anyway, I appreciate that, but you've got the wrong idea.

I never planned on dying back then. That's the truth.

I don't know if you'll believe me, but...in my own way...

...I was doing my best to fight. I just wish...I could have done a better job then.

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Okay, I'm all set!

Let's do one last check. At the risk of repeating myself, we just need you to go down there and check things out.

Don't take unnecessary risks. If you feel like you're in danger, you can come back straight away.

Roger Dodger!

You seem to be taking this very casually...

Well, no matter. If something happens, it will not be me dying.

If worse comes to worst, I can at least throw in some poison that will ensure you do not suffer.

So you may rest assured as you make your way down the pit, girl.

You haven't changed a bit, huh, Empress? I guess you really aren't quite like my mother.

All right, everyone...I'll be back soon!

Be careful!

Go, Cetus!

All right, I'm making my way down the chocolate river on Cetus now! We'll be at the hole soon!

Understood. Please exercise maximum caution as you make your way down!

Okay, we're here!

Welp, guess this is where the real work begins.

Take your time, Cetus! Don't let the waterfall drag you down!

Good luck, missy. I'm counting on you...

Are you okay, Andromeda? Are the comms still working?

Yup, reading you loud and clear!

What's it look like down there?

It's really dark, and the chocolate smells REALLY strong. It feels like I've turned into chocolate myself.

Okay, I think my eyes are starting to adjust.

I'll try going in the direction you said the Holy Grail might be at.

I don't know if it's floating in midair or buried in chocolate or what, but hopefully I'll see when I

...Hm?

Is something wrong?

That's weird. I thought I saw something off, but I couldn't get a good look at it.

It almost seemed like there was something odd with the chocolate waterfa

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What the!? The chocolate's moving on itsAaaaah!!

Andromeda! Andromeda!?

That...didn't sound good.

And that is not all.

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The hole must've figured out we're trying to close it.

Seems like it's using the Holy Grail's power to control the chocolate that's been pouring in...

...and wielding it in place of limbs.

You mean, the hole has a mind of its own!?

Or at least, it has a self-preservation instinct.

I am surprised to see such behavior from a hole, but I suppose anything goes with a Holy Grail involved.

Dammit! It's taking everything I got to keep the ship from capsizing!

You people'll have to

Master, as crazy as this sounds, I think the hole is trying to attack us with chocolate!

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I've still got my hands full over here! How're things looking!?

We've managed to subdue the chocolate for the time being, but we're not out of the woods yet!

Khh!

Dammit, what happened to the girl!?

I've been trying to reach her, but she's not answering!

If the hole's putting up this much of a fight out here, the inside's gonna be...!

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It's no use! She's still not responding! I think she might've lost consciousness!

Dammit! It might not belong to me, but this is still my ship and I'm its ferryman!

I'd be a laughingstock if I let a boat I'm steering capsize!

I can still hold out here!

Please keep calling to Andromeda, Master! You too, Da Vinci!

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... ...

Damn. We may be holding out for now, but we can't keep this up forever.

We have to come up with a plan!

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Hehehe. I see you are wracked with indecision.

Very well then, I shall deign to lend you a helping hand.

I can tell you exactly what your best, if not your only, course of action here is.

Wh-what is it, Semiramis!? Please, tell us!

All right. Listen carefully.

Why not forget about rescuing her?

Wait. This really IS bitter! Gaaah! What the hell!?

Oho, you're awake. How fortunate that it reached you.

Huh? Empress? What reached me?

Did I not tell you? I said I could throw in some poison if worse came to worst.

Huh? You mean

Indeed. I released a poison that would cause anyone charged with magical energy to suffer.

It was much easier than my usual administrations, since I merely needed to let it flow down a hole instead of only affecting a small target.

Eee! It's still so bitter! And my skin is tingling! What did you do to me!?

...Oh. I fell asleep, didn't I? And this was a kind of shock therapy to wake me up?

Perhaps...

Or perhaps I was simply trying to finish you off once your whereabouts were lost to us.

Still, I did adjust the poison to affect the chocolate more than a little girl Servant, so be grateful for that.

Okay, that's enough posturing!

Andromeda! I'm so glad we reached you again! Are you okay!?

Yeah, more or less!

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Um, if you're still pouring in poison, do you think you could stop? It's kind of making me itchy...

Listen, this poison is the only thing weakening the hole's resistance.

If I stop the poison, the chocolate connected to the Holy Grail will begin acting up again, since it too is charged with magical energy.

Your life may no longer be in immediate danger, but you are still in the belly of the beast.

Is there anything you can do about it?

Well, there was that light I just saw. I wonder what that was about...

Light? From the Holy Grail?

No, it wasn't quite like that.

It felt...warmer. Like, it was inspiring me to be brave or something.

Wait. Huh!? It's coming from inside my clothes!?

Whawhat is this!?

It's...chocolate.

The chocolate I got from all those people I met on the river!

But, why is it glowing?

... ...

Oh. I think I get it.

It's because it's alive. None of them had given up on seeing their heart's desire.

I wonder... Maybe that's true for all of it? Hey, guys? Are you there?

If you are, then...it's okay. You don't have to be scared.

Aha. I knew it.

You guys were so sad and agonized about not reaching your recipients that it felt like you were dying...

...but you're not actually dead!

Yeah. That's right.

Since you're not dead, there's no need to go to the underworld.

So let's go where you really want to go. Where you can see the people you want to see!

I know what I have to do now! Can you guys get ready!?

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I'm gonna send all the chocolate in here back outside!

I think that'll probably get the Holy Grail connected to it to come out, too!

Then it'll be up to you guys to work together to collect it!

You're going to send out the chocolate!? Can you do that!?

Sure I can!

They all want to come out, anyway!

...Wait. What's with my getup!? Is this really me!?

You mean you didn't realize!? How are you more surprised than we are!?

W-well, never mind that for now!

I'm pulling on the chocolate with my chains, so make sure you guys are ready when it comes out!

Heeere weee gooo!

But that chocolate has already fallen down a hole into the underworld, even if that underworld is still in the midst of forming.

Are you certain you can pull it out with your chains?

Aha... I see.

We've come this far on her river, which treats boulders and chocolate as the same thing.

In which case

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Gh-ghhh! Hang in there, me! Hang in there, Cetus!

Listen, guys! I know none of you want to give up on your dreams! So come on! Work with me here!

Huh? The ship's anchor... It's wrapping around my chains and pulling with me!?

Looks like this body's owner likes what you had to say.

Don't worry, Columbus! Whatever it costs to drop and weigh anchor, I'll pay it in silver! So pull with all your might!

Watch out! The hole's still trying to fight back!

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Right! Don't worry, Master! I'll do everything I can to help Andromeda and Charon's plan succeed!

Hmph. I suppose it will be useful for the future to see how well my poison worked on this chocolate!

The hole has stopped fighting back! We're ready for you, Andromeda!

Goooooo!

Yay! It worked!

That seemed like a pretty brute-force approach but I can't argue with the results!

You were right! When all the chocolate came out, the Holy Grail connected to it did, too! There it is!

Thanks to all that fighting, its magical energy has dispersed, and it's losing its hold on its surroundings and its effect on the world.

You should be able to collect it and seal it up just fine now. Would you do the honors, Andromeda!?

Leave it to me! Yaaah!

Okay, I got it! So, um, do I just give this to you now, Mash?

Yes, it'll be nice and safe in my shield! Thank you so much!

Now that the hole's core is gone, the hole's quickly losing its underworld properties.

Pretty soon, it'll either just be a regular hole, or it'll disappear altogether.

Be that as it may...why is all this chocolate flying off in disparate directions?

You need to ask? All that chocolate was made to be gifted, so it's going where it needs to go!

(Aha. Now I see. Maybe it wasn't just brute force after all.)

(There was a Holy Grail in that hole. And Holy Grails are obviously all about granting wishes.)

(So if Andromeda made a connection to it, and wished that this all went back to where it belonged...)

(...maybe that's what got the nearby chocolate to reverse course.)

(This whole thing started spontaneously, after all.)

(So it's definitely possible that there was still a chance for someone to use the Holy Grail to intervene.)

(Still, even if I'm right about all this...)

(...I'd guess she did it all subconsciously, just like that Ascension that even took her by surprise!)