A Moon's Reflection

by TheArrowblackcabary

An ending often leads to a new beginning, and even the most tragic end can give way to a happy beginning. Shirou Emiya has been reborn and must now live in a world where gods and monsters still exist. This is the story of the impact one person had on the world around them, while on her quest to not only find a new purpose in life, but to also make peace with who she is. [GenBend]

13. The moon's destination

Don't own anything etc.

---

The Moon was starting to rise by the time Silena and I reached the edge of Phoenix.

Where we were entering the city wasn't one of the good areas. Around us were rundown-looking stores, and the road was full of potholes. There was a pervasive disgusting stench covering the entire area like a blanket.

Just how much of the city is like this? Are all large American cities full of run-down areas?

At least in my old world, Fuyuki was run down because nobody lived there anymore, not because of neglect.

Not neglect from the store owners but the government. A single store, or even a couple, becoming rundown from the owners' failures is understandable. An entire area becoming rundown has to be from the government's systematic failure.

People don't want to live in squalor. They'll take every chance they can get to improve their condition.

I wonder if these people were given a chance to become as good as the inner city or if they were left to fend for themselves. Abandoned to slowly lose any hope they had in fulfilling their dreams

It's not like I care about them or anything. Only a hero would do that, not a person like me. The fate of these strangers has nothing to do with me.

I just dislike this place for my own selfish reasons.

"Ata, I'm tired," Silena interrupted my thoughts as she sat down on the sidewalk. "I'm taking a break."

"Isn't the concrete hot?" I asked her.

Concrete gets really hot on warm days and today isn't a hot day. It was a hot sunny summer day, perfect for making concrete blistering hot.

I can almost feel the heat through my shoes.

"Yeah, but my legs hurt too much," Silena answered before lying down. Her backpack was between her back and the concrete.

Her body was drenched in sweat and dirt. Her clothing would need a good washing once we get back home.

Traveling through the forest was rough for Silena. She kept getting caught up in the foliage and tripping.

She looked like she was ready to pass out at any moment, and I'm not sure I wouldn't be close behind.

I feel like someone has tied weights to my body and left me out to dry. My body protested against each and every step I took.

Given Silena and I's conditions, it might be best to rest for the night.

I don't know what we'll find at mom's temple, but we need to be prepared.

"We should probably stop here for the day," I told Silena while sitting next to her. "It will be nighttime soon, and I don't think you should be walking around here after dark."

A young girl shouldn't wander around at night unsupervised, much less in an unknown area.

"You're not going to say we should sleep here?!" Silena complained while sitting up. "I want to sleep in a bed!"

"You need a bath, too," I grumbled while my hands absentmindedly picked some pebbles off the road.

"Really, twigs for brains? You're one to talk."

I looked down the road while throwing the pebbles across the road one by one. Each pebble skipped across the road and directly into the street gutter across from me. "There's a motel down the road. We can sleep there tonight."

"Ata, are you going to brainwash people again?"

"Using the mist to persuade people isn't brainwashing. It's advanced mental persuasion," I scoffed at the idea I was brainwashing people.

Brainwashing people implies I took away their will. The mist alters others' perceptions. Totally different.

"I guess it isn't like my charmspeak. Mine's way better and unique," Silena nodded.

"Charmspeak?" I asked while another pebble slid under the gutter.

"Yep! It's an ability I have! It's apparently kind of rare among my siblings!" Silena explained while exuding pride. "I can talk to people and have them do what I say. It doesn't work on you, though."

Wait a minute. Is Silena saying she has the power to brainwash people?! Isn't that a little dangerous? And she's tried to use it on me?

I should've expected Silena to have something like this.

Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, desire, passion, and fertility.

While she's considered a god, her 'father' was Ouranos, the personification of heaven and father of the titans. Age-wise she's probably closer to the Titans than the gods.

The power she supposedly wields is reflective of her venerable age.

Aphrodite is said to hold domain over love, specifically the carnal lustful side of love.

She can control the hearts of all people, from the weakest human to the king of the gods.

With her powers, she can make anyone fall in or out of love. People's morals can be overwritten by the lust she implanted in them. There is nothing she can't make someone do.

In all of creation, only three people are immune to her powers: Hestia, Athena, and Mom.

They are the virgin goddesses who have sworn off love. Their hearts are immune to the powers of Aphrodite, no matter how much she tries to control them.

Without her powers, Aphrodite has no hope of beating them.

Supposedly, she's so poor at actual combat that she was wounded by a mortal during the Trojan War.

If a mortal could hurt Aphrodite, then Mom must be able to defeat her in direct combat.

Considering that, some of her children inheriting her power makes sense. It also explains why Mom told me the child of Aphrodite were pathetically weak. Aphrodite's ability to control the hearts is her main source of protection; without it, she'd be left defenseless.

Meanwhile, according to Silena, only a few children of Aphrodite inherit a weaker form of this power. All the other children are left as vulnerable as Aphrodite is with it.

I guess I should be glad Silena has a power she can cultivate to grow stronger.

Hopefully, it will grow strong enough for Silena to be able to protect herself with it but not brainwash me.

A part of me felt humiliated just thinking about being charmed by Silena.

My immunity to her power must be inherited from my mother. Mom can't be charmed, and I've inherited a weaker version. Or it might be a trait born of my divine connection to maidens and virgins.

Either way, it is a talent born from Mom. It would be an insult to her to let it be overcome by a power bred from Aphrodite.

"You're going to explain your charmspeak."

I'm going to find out all its secrets and prepare myself.

A mischievous smile formed on Silena's face. "I'm not going to explain my stuff without anything in return. You tell me something, and I'll tell you something."

"Your secrets for mine? How is that a fair trade? One of my secrets is worth at least three of yours," I returned with the barest hint of a smile.

"What makes your secrets so special?" Silena seemed annoyed by my joke.

"Scarcity. Secrets are only worth anything if they are kept secret. So, you blabbing your secrets to everyone lowers their value. I don't gossip, so the value of mine is higher."

Kiritsugu always taught me to never trade secrets like that. Any secret someone will trade can be easily learned through other methods. A secret of true value is something that someone would never reveal, no matter what.

Yes, it's better to keep your secrets hidden from all but those you trust most. I'll try to figure out Silena's secrets in a different way. Maybe we can share a more earnest conversation one day, but not now.

I got up from the curve. The concrete was starting to burn my butt and made my clothing hot. At least I wasn't sweating. "Let's get going. We have a lot to do before we can go to bed."

"Hey! Wait!" Silena pouted while jumping up and following behind me. "I want to talk about our demi-godness together; can't we do that?"

"What's there to talk about?" I asked. "I think you idolize our blood, Silena."

"There's a lot to talk about, but I guess we can do it later," Silena disagreed as she reached my side. "BTW, do you have enough money to pay for a room?"

"BTW?" I repeated with incomprehension. What does that mean? I haven't heard that English word before.

"By the way," She explained happily.

"I see," I mentally filed away BTW into my English vocabulary. "And money isn't a concern for us."

I opened my magic circuits while showing Silena the palm of my left hand.

White light slowly gathered in my hand as the ethereal became real. Two hundred-dollar bills materialized in my hand after a short wait.

If only I had this ability while traveling with Kiritsugu. The old man was always bad with money.

We were always short on money and had to hunt down dangerous mages for money. So, I understand the usefulness of being able to print money. But we would have to deal with more mages attacking us. In a dying world, spellcasters treated mana as a precious commodity, and using it to make money would be an unforgivable sin.

"Isn't that illegal?" Silena asked while looking at the American money in my hand.

"No, I don't think there's a problem. My projections are just as real as real money."

I could use Dad's money, but I don't want to waste his money. And using projected money doesn't hurt anyone. The people I give it to can still use it.

Not being real doesn't make it counterfeited.

"Are there any rules you don't break?"

"No," I answered as we continued to walk towards the motel.

"Then can you copy some makeup for me?" Silena unashamedly requested of me.

"I'm not a printer," I complained. "Magecraft isn't a toy for you to play with. To use it is to walk with death."

"But you can do it, right?" Silena asked while completely ignoring my ominous warning.

I reluctantly nodded. "Swords and such are easiest, but other things can be done too."

Makeup should be doable as long as I can use structural grasping on it first. The current condition of my magecraft would result in the projections being inferior to the original and cost a ton of magical energy, but it could be done.

"Then we're going shopping in the morning, kay!" Silena cheered as we started to get near the motel. "I want you to make as many copies of the makeup I want as possible!"

"No, Mom's mission comes first, and we need to complete it as quickly as possible," an instant denial passed from my lips. "Besides, do you know where a big store is in this city?"

"No…" Silena deflated.

A dejected Silena walked next to me as we reached the motel.

I felt terrible for making her feel bad, so I decided to throw her a bone. "Your mom is supposed to reward you with some makeup, right? I'll copy it for you."

"Really! Thanks, Ata!" Silena thanked me before yawning.

"Whatever," I ignored her thanks despite it making me feel good. "Let me go book a room."

The motel was a dirty two-floor motel with a giant glowing sign, but at least it was a place to sleep. A couple payphones were in front of the motels.

I opened the door to the main office to book a room while Silena waited outside.

The office had a carpeted floor, and there was nobody at the desk. Said desk was far taller than me. Even if I got on my toes, I wouldn't be able to reach its top. Along the walls were some chairs.

Other than the size of everything, it reminded me of the motels I stayed at with Kiritsugu.

The air conditioning felt nice after spending a while in this hot city. The forest was far more comfortable than this concrete jungle.

I could hear someone in a back office.

"Hello," I called out to whoever was in the back office.

There was a rustling in response to my call. The office door opened as a young man entered.

The man was wearing a work shirt and blue jeans. He had black bags under his brown eyes.

"Yes, who's there?" The motel employer asked. He looked around the room before looking down at me. The guy then glanced out the window. "Where are your parents?"

I blinked before remembering I'm currently a small girl. The memories of my time with Kiritsugu made me partially forget that fact.

My magic circuits flared up as I interacted with the mist. I used it to mess with the man's perception.

"My dad is outside," I lied without missing a beat. "He sent me to book a room."

"I guess that's fine," the man responded. "But your father needs to sign in, ok."

"I'll tell him that, but you look kind of tired, so why don't you talk a nap, and Dad can come to sign it later?" I suggested to the man with a helpful tone. While I can't force the guy to sleep and forget about us, I can implant the idea.

The man yawned. "Just don't forget to tell him. How many nights will you guys be staying?"

"Two," I answered while handing him the two hundred dollar bills.

We will stay here tonight and probably tomorrow night as well. Two hundred dollars should be more than enough to cover the cost.

The motel employee took my money and then typed something on his computer before handing me a key. "Here, the key number is on the chain. Go give it to your father."

I grabbed the key from his hand.

The tired man wiped his face while looking at the money. He seemingly forgot to give me my change, but I don't really care.

I walked back out to Silena. "Room number 108."

"That was quick."

Silena was sitting on the curb with her backpack still on her back. She stood up and walked beside me.

"Hey, Ata? Quick question, what's the difference between a hotel and a motel."

The difference between a hotel and a motel?

I just assumed English has two words for the same thing.

"Does it matter?" I asked as we reached the hotel/motel room.

"I just wanna know," Silena leaned against the wall next to the door.

"You'll need to ask someone else," I unlocked the hotel room door and entered.

The motel room had two twin-sized beds and a TV set in front of them. The carpet was rough, and the room stunk to my nose. A sink too tall for me to use was near the front of the room. There was a bathroom and one closet.

"How ugly! Can we stay in another room?" Silena complained while closing the door behind her. "Just look at these out-of-fashion carpets and those curtains, ugh."

"All the rooms probably look the same. And the carpets and curtains aren't that bad."

"Yes, they are! They don't even match, but I'm too tired to explain it to you," Silena threw her backpack on the closest bed. "I'm going to bathe first."

She sat on the bed and then pulled clothing out of her bag.

"Ok," I placed my bag on the other bed.

Silena jumped up with a bundle of clothing and ran to the bathroom, leaving me alone in the room.

Well, with Silena in the bath, I guess I can use this time to call Dad.

I walked out of the hotel room and to the payphones I had seen earlier. The machine took my projected coins without complaint.

The phone rang once before Dad answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi," I leaned against the payphone as I spoke.

"Atalanta! Is everything all right?! Why didn't you call earlier?!"

I flinched. My father sounded worried, and he answered the phone so quickly. Has he been waiting for me to call him this whole time?

I did agree to call him once we got off the bus, but we got delayed because of those snake monsters.

"Yeah, I'm alright. We just hit a little snag."

"Really, because you don't sound alright? Have you been eating and drinking enough?"

My lips and throat suddenly felt dry. I looked at one of my arms and found my veins completely faded. Kiritsugu's basic medical training taught me that dehydration causes your veins to shrink or something, making them harder to see.

"I might need some water," I agreed. "But I'll get some later. Are you ok?"

"Of course, my little moon." Dad's voice lacked its normal playfulness. "How's your quest going?"

"Fine."

"Ok, let me ask you this again. Have you been injured in any way?"

"Not really," I evasively answered. My wounds are a little more than small cuts, but I don't want Dad to worry.

"Good, I've been worried about you," Dad's voice was a mix of sadness, anxiety, and loneliness. It hit me like an arrow to the heart.

There have only been a few times I've been away from Dad, and I was with people he knew then. Now, I was traveling on my own, a there is a chance I will die on this quest, no matter how low it is. Dad's parents were killed by Orion, so I could understand him being paranoid.

Guilt assaulted my heart.

I was the one who put Dad in this position. His sadness was caused by my selfishness. I need to relieve him of it.

My eyes looked down at the ground as I spoke. "Don't worry about me; I'm strong enough to defend myself."

"You are strong… stronger than me in some ways. I'm not scared of you dying. I know you will endure whatever is thrown at you. It's the pain you'll suffer surviving that worrying me."

I didn't know how to respond to Dad's concern. It makes me feel a kind of weird mixture of guilt and happiness. The mixture was one I've come to know from all my years living with Dad, but I still couldn't figure out how to deal with it. Changing the subject at least gets rid of it for a moment. "By the way, can you tell Mr. Beauregard Silena is ok?"

"Yeah, I can call him up. How is she?" Dad took my cue. He's always been good at knowing when I'm trying to change the conversation.

"Silena is fine, for now. She is washing up in the hotel room right now. I may need to go wake her up if she falls asleep in the bath," my free hand made its way to my forehead. Silena was probably tired enough to fall asleep standing up. "And she had the nerve to ask us if we could go shopping. We're here to investigate Mom's defiled temple, not go shopping at the mall."

"First, please don't let anyone sleep in the bathtub; they could drown. Second, why don't y'all visit the mall after the sightseeing? You should have enough extra money too."

"We're not sightseeing. And weren't you the one who was worried about me? You, of all people, should know how dangerous detours could be."

In legends, demi-gods couldn't go anywhere without getting into trouble. Silena and I couldn't even travel to Arizona without encountering a monster and people dumping toxic waste. Who knows what we'll encounter if we go to the mall.

I was the one who got injured last time, but there's no telling what could happen if we encounter another monster. It could be Silena getting hurt next time instead of me.

We need to minimize the chances of that happening.

"I'm always worried when you're away from me, even when I know you'll be ok. What kind of father would I be if I wasn't?" Dad asked over the phone. "But you shouldn't get bogged down by what could happen. Go have some fun."

A small part of me wanted to yell at Dad's irresponsibility, but I held it back.

"You make it sound like there isn't a chance actual monsters could attack us. It's not like I'm imagining a threat."

"You are. Monsters aren't going to attack you in the middle of a crowded mall. Think about it. There are way too many people around for a monster to blatantly attack anyone."

"That's just an assumption you've made. There's nothing stopping monsters from attacking everyone. None of the monsters I've killed have cared about living."

"And how many times have you been targeted by monsters?" Dad's voice was laced with a guilty undertone.

"A few times. The last time a monster attacked me was before I went on that trip with Mom," I partially lied to Dad.

The monsters on the bus didn't target me. They targeted Silena and me.

"See, monster attacks aren't common. The chance of you guys encountering a monster is next to none."

"Even if you're right, I don't know where a mall is," I once again tried to reject Dad.

I couldn't deny his logic. I've never been attacked by two sets of monsters in a row, much less back to back. But just because it hasn't happened, that doesn't mean it wouldn't happen.

"Don't worry about that. I've been booting up the computer. I'll pull up some maps, and we can work from there. Any problems with that?"

I tried to think of another excuse, but I couldn't.

"No," annoyance leaked into my voice. He was too persistent. There was no way I could win this conversation.

Dad pulled up some digital maps of Phoneix.

We had to spend a while trying to figure out where I am now. Dad proved to be absolutely horrible with maps, so it probably took us twice as long to figure out my location as it should of. I even had to put more money in the payphone several times.

After describing my location in copious amounts of detail, Dad finally managed to find my general location on the map.

I asked him to help me figure out how to get from my current location to Mom's temple. Thankful, Dad didn't ask why I wasn't using the route we planned before I left. If he did, he might figure out I was leaving out what happened on the bus and how it knocked us off our path.

We found that I could get there by riding on the bus and then could travel to the mall afterward. It wouldn't take the whole day.

"So, you should be home in two or three days?" Dad's voice sounded helpful.

"If nothing goes wrong," I agreed quickly. A small part of me can't wait to get home again. Hopefully, Dad won't have messed with anything in the kitchen. "Thanks for the help."

"I'm welcome, but why do you sound annoyed. Something bothering you?"

"Nothings bothering me."

There is nothing that could be annoying me.

Not the constant pain I'm in. Not being convinced by Dad to go to the mall. Not the ugly stench of the city. Not being thirsty. Nothing is bothering me.

"I'm sorry something is bothering you," Dad needlessly tried to console me.

Even if nothing was bothering me, I still appreciated the sentiment. It made me feel warm.

"Thanks. Is there anything else you need to talk about?" I asked my father.

I don't want to be the one to end the conversation.

"No, I don't think so," Dad responded. His tone was soft, like a parent's would be as they put their small child to bed. "Just make sure to come home."

"Don't worry, I will," I quickly assured him. "Otherwise, who's going to make your meals and keep the house clean. By the way, the house better not be dirty when I get back. The floors should be mopped and waxed. Clean enough to eat off of, got it? Also, make sure the fridge is fully stocked with food; I'm going to want to cook a lot when I get home. If you need a shopping list, tell me, and I'll quickly write one. Oh, we probably need more dish detergent, especially if you're doing the dishes like you should-"

"Atalanta!" Dad yelled loudly into the phone to cut me off. "Don't worry, I get what you mean. I wouldn't make a mess of things, but I'll leave most of the chores for you."

"As if-" I bit my tongue before I finished speaking. Silena accused me of being overly mean and antagonistic towards others. Have I? Especially towards Dad? All he did was say that he'd leave the things I enjoy to me. Does that deserve a cold remark? "I see. Thank you, that's fine. "

"You're welcome," Dad said happily. It was different from when I was cold to him. Hearing him so happy made me want to smile.

"Ok, I need to go check on Silena," I muttered.

"I get it. Goodnight and sleep tight, my little moon." Dad said in a kind and affectionate tone. It was something I may have heard from Kiritsugu only once – if that. Yet, I hear from Dad every single day.

"You too," I responded before hanging up the phone. I walked back to my hotel room.

I let him convince me to go to the mall too easily. Did I let him convince me because he's dad, or did he know how to convince me because he's my father?

Either way, I won't let him manipulate me so quickly in the future. Even if he is my father.

I opened the door to the motel room.

Silena was lying on the bed; she was sleeping peacefully in a fetal position. Her brown hair was still soaking wet from taking a bath.

The effort from our march must have been too much for her. Today's walk would've been brutal for someone who isn't used to it. Even my feet were hurting from walking.

Hopefully, nothing will get in the way on our way home.

I walked to the side of Silena's bed.

Have I underestimated her?

Silena has been stronger than I thought she was. I could barely sleep after I saw corpses for the first time, every night's sleep was dominated by the screams of the dead, yet she slept so blissfully.

A little bit of… respect for her cemented its place in my heart.

I walked towards my bag and pulled out a set of clothing.

Clothing in hand, I made my way to the bathroom. My body rang in pain as I did so.

The bathroom had cheap gray tile flooring. There was a drop-in bathtub with a showerhead and a low-quality curtain.

The sink mirror was too high for me to look into, so I stood on a step stool from the corner of the room to fix that. I placed my change of clothing on top of the nearby toilet.

I turned on the sink and drank from it. The water felt good as it moved down my coarse throat. The liquid started to run down my chin as I tried to swallow as much water as possible.

I didn't realize how thirsty I was. I felt like I'd just wandered into an oasis after spending a month in the desert.

Even if the water wasn't particularly special, it still felt like that as it ran over my dry lips.

I removed my mouth from the sink after a minute or two. It wasn't a good idea to drink too much water at a time, and I still have things to do.

"Ugh," I moaned in pain while pulling off my shirt to reveal my rapped-up body. The white ace wrap around my body was red from blood.

It stuck to my cold, pale flesh as I removed it. Pain echoed throughout me as I did so.

I put the used medical wrapping in the sink.

The wounds looked slightly smaller than before and weren't bleeding right now. Dad wouldn't have to find out about them if I just stitch them up when I get home or something.

Yet, looking at my wounded body made me sick. It was like I couldn't ignore it now that it was right in front of my eyes.

My body felt as cold as a corpse's. Spots started to appear in my sight while nausea boiled over in my stomach.

"Blaargh," I felt the contents of my stomach coming up. The burning sensation of nausea grew stronger.

I ran to the toilet.

"Blaargh," my body convulsed as it tried to throw up into the toilet.

Nothing came out, but my body kept trying, convulsing as it did so. My fingers dug into the side of the toilet.

My eyes grew heavy as a minute passed, and my body returned to normal. I weakly used my left hand to wipe off my chin.

This pain does matter. My pain doesn't matter. Whenever you have a mission, you must put it above your wellbeing. If you can't do that, what use are you?

I stood up from beside the toilet. My legs shook as I did so; each movement felt like it was going to send me tumbling down, but I ignored it.

This was not a time to be concerned with myself.

---

"Ata!" Silena yelled into my ear.

"Yeah," I complained as she woke me up. My eyes felt particularly heavy as I opened them. Pain radiated within my body as I roused it from sleep's soft embrace.

"I've been trying to get you up for a while, you know? It's seven," she answered while moving back to her bed. She started to rub her feet once she sat down.

"I see," I yawned while sitting up. I should tell Silena about my call with Dad first. "I called my Dad last night, and he convinced me to go to the mall after Mom's temple. We even found its location."

"Really! Let's go!" Silena cheered.

"Calm down; I'm still getting up," I complained while sitting up. My body hurt with each movement.

"So! If I'm already up, you should be too," She grabbed her bag and my own, then dragged me up. "Let's get the stupid trip to your mom's temple done with so we can go to the mall."

"Fine," I relented. I rubbed the sleep out of my eye and took my bag from Silena. "There's a nearby bus stop we can use to get around. Hopefully, we cross a place serving breakfast on the way."

We got up and walked toward the bus stop. On the way, we encountered a Mcdonald's serving breakfast. Even if it wasn't healthy, it was still a place to eat.

Silena and I went in and got some food. Silena wanted to eat there, so we sat down at one of Mcdonald's indoor tables.

Once we got situated in our seats, Silena decided to pull out a hairbrush from her bag.

"Really, while we're eating?" I asked as she began to brush her hair with one hand while eating with the other.

"Yeah, I need to get ready," she answered while taking a bite of her hotcakes. Silena was somehow ambidextrous enough to perfectly brush her hair with one hand while eating with the other.

"Please don't talk while your mouth is full," I added a second complaint.

"Whatever," she muttered despite the food in her mouth. "Don't you need to brush your hair too?"

"I don't want to get hair in my food," I commented. Brushing your hair can come after you've eaten. Doing it while you eat is just asking for hair to fall into your food. "But I bet you'll start putting makeup on once you're done brushing your hair, even if you're not done eating. Just eat. You shouldn't worry about your looks when we probably won't see anyone we meet today ever again."

"Oh, shut up, Ata. I don't think you get why I wear make-up and stuff," Silena spoke without food In her mouth this time. She'd stop brushing her hair. "I'm already more beautiful than anyone else, and almost everyone naturally loves me. I don't need to worry about looking good or anything. I want to; it's fun for me."

I looked Silena in the eyes while taking a bite of my own pancakes.

How could she find such tedious unnecessary things like that fun? It must be a girl thing or something.

Probably more of a something. Miyu was never interested in makeup, and Mom told me not to use it too. She told me people shouldn't worry about petty things like one's physical appearance, and anyone who can be swayed by something like that can't be trusted.

If Miyu didn't care about it, and Mom hates it, why should I care?

I guess it could be chalked down to Silena's heritage. Being the child of Aphrodite makes her confusing.

"Well, do what you want. Just doesn't get hair all over my food," I muttered while continuing to eat.

For some reason, I was starving and thirsty. I've always eaten a lot, but I wouldn't usually order as much food as I did.

"Since we're going to the mall now, we need a game plan!" Silena exclaimed after taking a sip of her chocolate milk.

Why can't Silena put that energy into something useful?

But I guess this is what she considers useful or fun. I can't complain if she's happy.

Yet, I need to cull her copying desires. My instincts tell me I will regret it if I don't do that here. The illusion of a pirate ship already seemed to blow behind her. Images of myself being locked in the brig and forced to copy her loot assaulted my mind.

If I don't stop her now, that will be my future. A copy machine for god knows what-

"With your awesome ability, we'll be able to get whatever we want," she giggled as she spoke, a huge smile on her face. My eyes flashed down to my food. "It makes me really happy!"

Fine, I guess I can copy whatever she wants if it makes her happy. Worst-case scenario, I should be able to escape if she tries to kidnap me and lock me in the basement.

I took a drink of my own chocolate milk instead of responding to Silena.

"We half-bloods are way cooler than normal humans!"

Silena's comment caused my eyes to drift back to her.

Our bodies are better than normal humans. We possess divine blood that makes us flatly better than ordinary people. At the same time, humans can still surpass demi-gods. In my past life, I managed to defeat the class cards of several descendants of gods and their ilk.

Even Hercules, the greatest hero of ancient Greece, lost to me using the powers of a human. It wasn't that I was stronger than the user of Hercules's class card; I outwitted them. My will to win saw me taking advantage of every weakness possessed by my opponent to barely scrape a victory out of utter defeat.

Through will and cunning, so-called 'normal humans' can easily surpass those with talent. And believing otherwise is dangerous. It could get Silena killed if she antagonized someone like those mages I encountered at the museum.

"Not really. We're just different from normal humans, not better," a sudden feeling of disconnection resonated within me as those words left my mouth.

The scene around me felt fake.

What else could explain the strange scenario I'm in. There's no way I'm a demi-god talking to a daughter of Aphrodite in a McDonald's. Everything around me felt so surreal.

But then the gentle warm feelings in my heart seemed to burn away the feeling of falseness.

My mother and father's affection kept me grounded. They can't be fake, so I must be real. If I'm real, then so must this scene be as well.

"Hey, I'm not saying we're better, but we're special! Just look at how they treat me," Silena pointed her fork at me while speaking. "All of them love me without doing anything and sense how awesome I am. They're still friends, but they can't be friends like we are!"

My dull silver eyes bore into Silena.

Mom claimed that many half-bloods aren't told of their heritage to protect them from monsters. Other gods don't care about their kids enough to tell them. I wonder if some gods aren't telling them to prevent them from developing an ego.

I have memories of my last life that prevents me from developing a large ego, but Silena doesn't. She's spent her entire life being loved and was told her mother was a literal god. Who wouldn't have a slightly off perspective like that?

I listened carefully as she continued to talk.

"They feel fake… Like would they love me if people didn't naturally fall for me? With you, I know we'd be friends no matter what!"

She thinks we'll be friends no matter what? Friends?

Like Julian. So, how long until I betray her?

"Are you saying half-bloods are cooler than normal humans because we can be friends?"

"Yep! What's cooler than being friends?"

I sighed.

Silena's perspective was off but not as arrogant as I feared it could be.

She is someone who is loved by most, but that means she only gets to experience one type of relationship. And because she knows she's a demi-god, she's left wondering who's genuinely her friend. There must be a constant thought in the back of her mind that they only love her because she's a half-blood.

This means people like me, who don't automatically love her, are the only people she knows who like her for who she is. In her mind, that makes those relationships more valuable.

And who can she have this type of relationship with the most but her fellow half-bloods? The others born with unique powers that can give her the relationships she couldn't have otherwise.

I was worried that she'd look down on humans, but it looks like it's quite the opposite. Silena trusts other half-bloods too much.

"I understand what your saying," I started. In the past, I thought that it wasn't my responsibility to give Silena advice, but maybe it is. "But you shouldn't be so trusting of half-bloods. Not all of them will have your best interest in mind. They'll try to use you."

"Isn't this just your paranoia going off?" Silena asked in turn.

"No, trust me. I'm not saying you can't be friends with them, but you need to be cautious. Don't do whatever someone else tells you."

Silena looked down at the empty black plastic tray her pancakes came in. "I don't know."

"Then why don't you come to me if anyone asks you to do anything shady?" I asked her. If she values our relationship like I think she does, she'll at least agree to this.

"K," Silena relented after a moment. "It's not like I'd keep anything like that from you anyway."

Anyway? What shady things was she planning?

No, it doesn't matter. I'll find out when I'm inevitably dragged into her messes.

And for some reason, I feel okay with that.

---

Silena and I got off the bus at a stop across from a medium-sized park.

"Why'd we get off here?" Silena asked while taking a seat on the bus stop bench. She wiped some of the sweat from her forehead. The hot morning sun caused us to sweat from its relentless onslaught. "This isn't a temple."

"What did you expect? A temple like Mom's in Ephesus? Mom's temple here is small," I explained while looking at the park across the street.

It was large enough that I couldn't see the physical part of the temple. The park was sparsely populated by Arizona cypress trees.

The tall, fluffy trees were native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It was a heat and drought tolerant evergreen cypress tree.

Cypress Trees were sacred for Mom and Apollo. Her temples are often surrounded by some form of cypress trees.

"Then can you search it by yourself? My feet hurt," Silena complained.

"We walked miles yesterday, and you're only now complaining?"

"Yeah, but complaining wouldn't have done anything yesterday."

"You're fickle, you know that?" I commented with a sigh. Why is she complaining just to complain? "Whatever, you can wait here if you want. All alone."

"Ok, how long it's going to take?" Silena asked. She looked a little annoyed.

"At least four hours, so have fun lying around here," I answered while turning away from her. That number was something I just made up, but I know she isn't going to sit around for that long.

And I wouldn't let her if she wanted to. Across the street is a recently defiled temple of my mother. Whoever defiled sacred land belonging to Mom knew what they were doing and could be waiting across the street, ready to attack for all we know.

Obviously, Mom is way stronger than those who plotted to hurt her. Otherwise, they would have attacked her directly instead of doing the equivalent of throwing a lego brick under Mom's foot. But I can't ignore that we're dealing with insane people as no sensible human would attack a god. I wouldn't put it past them to launch a suicide attack.

Silena needs to stay close to me in case of an emergency.

"Nah, I'm not going to wait that long. If we work together, we can be one in a fraction of that time," Silena got up from the bench. I stared at her while she ran pasted me. "We don't have all day; let's do this."

"Stop! We need to be careful," I warned her.

"You stop being paranoid," Silena's lips twisted into a pout. "Think about it! Do you think our moms would send us to our death? Nah! My mom might ignore me, but I don't think she'd try to get me killed. The same for your mom; she isn't going to send you to die. I bet there's nothing here."

She looked both ways before crossing the street, and I had to follow behind her. "I'd rather be paranoid and alive than calm and dead."

Silena rolled her eyes and kept walking.

Now it was my turn to pout.

Fine. If Silena wouldn't listen, I'll just have to walk in front of her and look for anything suspicious as we go.

That is for the better anyway. We're visiting my mother's temple. If anyone should lead us, it should be me. A daughter of Aphrodite shouldn't be in charge.

I pasted Silena and reached the park first-

"Ugh!" My stomach turned as my foot pressed against the ground. A cold chill ran up my spine.

I looked around me, feeling a dark filth roll over me. It felt like I'd suddenly fallen into a pool of trash.

"Ata?! You alright?"

"Yeah," I gathered myself while trying to figure out what happened.

I remember before that Mom said something about attacking symbols or something. Just like demi-gods growing stronger from being close to things relating to their divinity, they can be negatively affected. Is the feeling of filth rolling over me from how defiled mom's temple was?

It's not like I'm being hurt or growing weaker. I just feel worse. My already weakened body was reacting negatively to my corrupted surroundings.

This should be a sanctuary of purity and serenity. Instead, the forest has been corrupted. The air itself has been filled with lust and degeneracy.

I wonder if that's why nobody is here? Can normal people subconsciously sense that there is something wrong with this place?

"Silena, do you sense anything wrong?" I asked her while looking around the empty park. There were no signs of traps or anyone having been in the park in the last few days.

"No?" Silena hesitantly answered. I could see the concerned glance she was sending me.

If she can't consciously feel it, then the sensation must be something I can sense because I'm me.

"I see. Let's go," I told her while walking forward. Silena followed behind me.

The faster we're done searching this place, the faster we can get out of here.

The altar of Mom's temple should be on the other side of the park.

I surveyed the land as we walked.

All around us were Mom's sacred plants. There were even plants that shouldn't be growing in this climate.

It made me think back on my knowledge of temples.

My mother's temple in Ephesus was one of the largest and most beautiful of its kind in the world. A structure of pure splendor that captivated all whose eyes fell upon it. The temple was even declared to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Meanwhile, this place is just a normal park. A simple refuge for the wildlife of this city and the final trace of the wilds that covered this land.

If I have to choose one of the two, I prefer the latter.

Practicality is more important than vanity. A temple like the one from Ephesus wouldn't serve any purpose in this modern world.

Modern society is fundamentally different from its ancient Greek counterpart.

We expand and consume everything in our path. The domains of the gods have been devoured by mankind.

The skies have been filled with planes. The wilds were settled by humans. All of the Earth has been claimed by humanity.

A temple like this one protects the wilderness from humans, whereas the older ones were a glorification of it.

What good is a glorification of something if it is gone?

That isn't to say there wasn't any worth in the old mega-temples of the past. The emotions put into them by their creators give them value. Even if they are destroyed and turned to dust, the efforts of the artists will be remembered forever.

It's a value born of people's struggles to create something that will last forever.

"Ata, do you know where we need to go?" Silena asked.

"Yes, we should visit the altar first. Mom told me how to find it," I explained while looking around. "We just need to find some of the landmarks she told me about."

There was a small pond with a grove of trees close to it. The trees prevented me from seeing if there was a building there.

"Over there," I pointed towards the grove and began to walk there.

"K."

I noted everything as we walked. Yet, I couldn't find anything out of place. If it wasn't for the awful mucky feeling, I would have thought that nothing was wrong.

We reached the grove of trees, and hidden within was a small open-air pavilion.

The pavilion was made of wood painted white. The paint was starting to chip in some areas, but the chipping looked extremely recent. It was almost as if all the damage had happened within the last couple of days.

Inside the pavilion was several sets of wooden picnic tables. A stone table with unreadable words engraved on its front was in the middle of the covering.

"Those words hurt my head," Silena commented while looking at the alter.

"Yeah," I agreed as I felt a headache from looking at the text. It was like my brain couldn't process the words correctly.

"What kinda words are those?" Silena asked while walking closer to the altar, squinting as she did so.

"Must be Latin," I answered. This is a temple for roman Mom, so the text is most likely in the Latin used by ancient Rome. "Now, don't touch anything. We need to examine everything to determine what happened."

"Ok, I'll search the tables!" Silena went and sat at one of the picnic tables.

I nodded and walked towards the altar. Hopefully, I can trust Silena enough to not mess anything up.

The dirty feeling grew as I walked closer to the altar. My senses told me it must be the center of the defilement of Mom's temple. Why else would this feeling grow so strong around it?

My nose crinkled as I approached the stone altar. A disgusting stench assaulted my nose, smelling of lust and wild passion.

The altar was too tall for me to see the topside. So, I instead focused on looking over the portions that could. I'll get Silena's help for the other parts once she's done looking over the tables.

I didn't want either of us to touch the top of the altar, given what could be covering it.

Mom didn't directly say what happened to her temple, but I could guess.

What is the worse thing a person could do at a temple dedicated to a virgin goddess? The ultimate insult and act of defilement?

Having sex in their temple. More explicitly, having sex on the altar.

It would've been a great insult even if Mom wasn't a virgin goddess. The legend of my namesake proved that well enough, but doing it here is so much worse.

I need to search around the pavilion for any clues.

"Ata! I found a big clump of strange hair!" Silena yelled after we had been searching for a while.

I turned to see her lying on the seat part of a picnic table.

"Let me see."

I walked over to her and looked at the hair.

It was a large clump of greenish hair. The long strains made me think it most likely belonged to a woman.

"It was caught in the table. Green hair isn't normal, and it doesn't look like it's dyed."

"How can you tell?" I asked Silena. My ability to identify things like that is non-existent, but it could be important. Unnatural green hair could mean we're dealing with monsters or something unnatural. It also gives us a lead.

"I don't know? Isn't it just obvious?" Silena handed the clump of hair to me.

"No, it isn't," I said while pulling a zip-lock bag from my backpack to put the hair in.

I heard the rustling of something walking near us as I did so.

I quickly put the hair in the bag and threw it in my backpack while gesturing at Silena to not say anything.

Three people came into sight.

The first was a well-built man that had to be over six feet tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt that didn't cover up a tattoo on his arm. The shirt was tight enough to reveal the numerous muscles underneath. There was an extremely large backpack on his back.

There was a lingering scent around him that reminded me of Apollo. However, I don't think the man was one of Apollo's kids. The scent around him was far too weak for him to be. If Silena and I radiate our divine scents, this man barely releases one.

The scent also annoyed me.

Next to him was a woman around his age. She had long brown hair and was wearing an expensive-looking dress. Unlike the man, she didn't smell of divinity at all. She was carrying a picnic basket.

Lastly, there was a small child around my age, if a little younger. He had blonde hair and blue eyes like the man. His face possessed characteristics of both the adults.

The boy had a scent similar to the man that must be his father, but even weaker.

Who were these people, and why were they here?

If I had to guess, the adult man and the child must be legacies, descendants of demi-gods. Dad was one of these in his past life.

They rarely naturally possess the powers of gods and are closer to humans than the gods, but that doesn't mean they're weak. It's just that their divine blood is far thinner than half-bloods like myself or Silena, hence the weak scents.

I shouldn't try to antagonize them, and I need to be extra careful because these people are probably roman.

The woman was the most surprised to see two children sitting around alone. The boy seemed to be more annoyed than anything, and the man was uninterested.

"Hey, kids! Where are your parents?" the woman asked us. There was no hostility in her voice. It sounds like she is genuinely worried about two kids being left alone in the park.

"Around," Silena spoke up before I could say anything. Part of me wanted to glare at her, but I held it back. "But we're not supposed to talk to strangers, so can you leave us alone?"

Silena's words became rude towards the end there.

"Wait a minute-" the woman's eyes seemed to partially gaze over for a moment. Was Silena using Charmspeak?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the man's uninterested expression turned hostile while he began to shake the woman, whose eyes started to return to normal.

Damn it, Silena. If you're going to try and brainwash someone, do it right. And at least make sure you don't anger the person's friends.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The man toward over both me and Silena. I felt murderous intent radiating from the man.

Chills ran down my back.

Who is this guy, and is he insane?

He came out of nowhere, and now he's ready to kill us.

No, that isn't fair. From his perspective, we could just be monsters taking the form of children and planning to kill him or his family. Silena's first action of responding to the woman's kind words with brainwashing shows hostility.

Silena jumped up before cowering before the adult man. I could see the sweat rolling down her forehead.

I looked from Silena back to the man, feeling strangely angry.

But I can't let it show. This man is already angry, so I can't give him a reason to get even angrier. At the same time, trying to act like scared children probably wouldn't calm this guy down. I need to appeal to his reason.

"And who do you think you are? Do you think you're immune to the wrath of a goddess? Because you'll incur one's wrath if you spill blood in her sanctuary."

It was true. I don't know Roman Mom as much as Greek Mom, but I can't imagine she'll accept blood being spilled in lands sacred to her. It would be an insult to her as a goddess.

It wouldn't have anything to do with me being her child. Roman Mom wouldn't care because she hasn't accepted me.

I'm nothing to her.

Nothing at all.

But why Mom would get angry at the man's actions doesn't matter to him. All that matters is that she will get angry if he spills children's blood here. If we aren't monsters and he attacks us, he'll risk a goddess's ire. That threat alone should be enough to cool him down, if only slightly.

The man's murderous intent faded, but I could still sense his hostility.

"Octavian, look closely; this is what you'll become if you don't follow the ancient laws. Disobedient children trying to use their powers for personal gain. Don't bring dishonor on our ancestors or me like these kids do to theirs," the man insulted us. It was the safer option for retribution.

The boy – Octavian – glared at the two of us. There was condescending cruelty in his eyes.

These two may be descendants of Apollo, but they were different from him. Apollo is a jerk, but he was never malicious. He lacked the anger of these guys. Despite being a god, he somehow doesn't look down on me as much as these guys do.

"Honey?" the woman asked as she was still trying to come to her senses. "Why are you getting so angry?"

"That girl over there tried to brainwash you. She must have some power similar to those priestesses of Venus," the man sounded angry for his partner. "This is why you should've taken our training more seriously. You would've been under her control if I wasn't here."

The woman shook her head. She seemed to be slightly disoriented.

Training, so is she someone who went through roman training? And that training can help one be resistant to charmspeak? I'll need to ask Mom about that next time I see her.

"Now, who are you brats? You're not from New Rome," the man spoke. "Are you the children of some traitors who left our home?"

New Rome is the city that Roman half-bloods retire to. The center of their culture and art, according to Mom.

I guess this guy takes a lot of pride in the place.

"As if we would tell you," my annoyance leaked through despite my better judgment. "You don't have any right to question us. Now, can you go away? We were here first."

"Don't talk to my father that way!" Octavian spoke. "He served in the Legion for over a decade. No man has fulfilled his duty to New Rome like he has. Even Lord Apollo must respect him as a worthy legacy by now. His station is far above yours."

Must.

Octavian said that Apollo must respect him, not does respect him. So, he's just guessing at this point. For all he knows, Apollo could hate their guts.

I don't think he would, though. Apollo is prideful and arrogant; all you need to do is stroke his ego to get on his good side. There is another way to get him to like you.

The older man's large backpack had a pleasant scent radiating from it.

I assume it is filled with things worthy of being sacrificed to gods just from the smell alone. Given where they are, I don't think it is too much of a leap to say they are here to make a sacrifice at Mom's altar.

It would be a smart move. The actions of legacies reflect on their progenitor god, albeit less so than demi-gods, and Apollo loves Mom. He would notice his decedents being good to Mom and grant them his favor.

Mom would also look fondly on them for making such a large sacrifice to her.

Best-case scenario, they gain the favor of two extremely gods. Worse-case? One.

If my guess is correct, it would be safe to assume they don't know anything about Mom's temple being defiled.

I don't know much about the effects of temple defilement, but I can guess it isn't productive for making sacrifices.

If this area feels disgusting to me, a half-blood, it must feel a thousand times worse for Mom.

A sacrifice from here would be like giving her food from a trash bin. Mom may be reasonable enough to realize they aren't doing it on purpose, but there's no scenario where she'll enjoy it. Much less one where she'll grant them her favor.

Apollo probably wouldn't get mad at them either. He'd care more about the sacrifice being spoiled than the people giving it.

Fitting for someone who claims a god loves them without ever meeting.

"I couldn't care less about station," I finally answered while looking into Octavian's eyes. They held a sadistic pride promising pain for anyone who dared to go against what they thought was right. A second chill ran up my spine.

My instincts warned me that this boy was dangerous.

He wasn't a danger because of his physical powers. I'm confident I can beat him in a straight-up fight. It's his mental state. Those self-absorbed eyes told me he was someone who never let go of a grudge or perceived slight.

I can't risk causing an incident here with this roman legacy. If Octavian one day finds out I'm a greek demi-god, then I feel like he'd attack every greek demi-god for his grudge. His roman pride would lead him to war against all the greeks.

And Mom could be held accountable for any incidents that end up happening because she's the one that broke the law separating the two kinds of demi-gods.

This guy can hate me for all I care, but the potential consequences are too high for me to anger any of these Romans.

I briefly looked down at my backpack.

Mom is a goddess with a specialization in hunting and tracking. Her divine skills should be enough to track down almost anyone if she has anything to go off of.

So, shouldn't the strange hair be enough? It's not like we found anything else here even though we've been looking around for a while. Whoever defiled this temple is clearly good at hiding their tracks.

We can check out the rest of the park if we leave the way opposite the one we came from. We may have to walk around the park to get to the bus stop, but that should be fine.

Yet, I felt dissatisfied with that plan.

Was it because I expected something more to happen?

We encountered monsters and trouble on our way here, yet there's nothing at the destination?

It's not like I want to fight someone. In fact, this is the ideal outcome. We got a clue to track down the perpetrators and didn't have to fight anyone.

But when is anything this easy? Was Silena right about me being paranoid?

"Anyway, let's go," I told Silena without calling her name.

Logic trumps my feelings, and logically we wouldn't find anything better than the hair if we stayed here. On top of that, we risk an incident with the Romans. The best decision is to leave now.

The daughter of Aphrodite was taken aback by my decision, while I saw a cruel smile forming on Octavian's face.

"What, are you scared?" The young boy mocked me.

"Please, as if Ata would be scared of a bug like you," Silena then jumped into trading insults.

I resisted the urge to facepalm. Why'd Silena have to say my name?

I grabbed Silena's arm and forced her up. "Ignore him."

The older man's hostile looks hadn't faded, but it didn't look like he would stop us from leaving. It looks like I read him right. He cares about his family more than anything else, and if we leave, the threat we potentially pose disappears. He'll probably rant about us later, but I don't really care.

The woman seemed confused about the whole situation. It looks like Silena's charmspeak can still mess someone up even if it doesn't ultimately work.

"That's what I'd expect from a pair of girls," Octavian threw insults at we walked away.

Silena didn't seem to take being insulted well, but I covered her mouth before she could throw out any more insults. At least she didn't struggle too much as I led her away from the pavilion.

---

AN:

Hello.

It's been a short (compared to last time) while.

First off, I received some advice on how to better organize my ANs and what to talk about, and am going to try to format this AN based on that. (With the exception of keeping the AN at the end because I want to be able to talk about what happened in the chapter without spoiling anything, and think it looks better.)

Reviews and questions:

Ken Lac - servants like Hercules became Heroic Spirits, despite becoming a god immediately after death. And another servant (Merlin) could be summoned despite being alive because he wasn't born yet and was thus 'dead.' While Atalanta was summoned into a timeline where she was never born and is thus 'dead.' Artemis may never let her child's soul go to Hades, but she only needs to 'die' to be summonable. Loopholes are the best!

Arturia LeFay - EMIYA's a big emotional softy under that cool guy act he puts on. The funniest example is probably in FGO's 2018 Christmas event 'The little Santa Altar Christmas' where he tries to dress up and go incognito as Santam just to be immediately identified as EMIYA. Which results in him going, "how did they figure it out," with a slap jaw reaction and needing Ritsuka to get them back on track.

Ivanruzic3758 - The difference between Atalanta (Shirou) and Atalanta (Greek hero) is that going forward the latter is going to be spelled using the alternate spelling of Atalante. Imagine them being pronounced with slightly different inflections. And there will be an omake between them in place of lines in the profile. (It feels like it would be more fun to keep how they interact a secret.)

Ghost099 - Without getting into spoilers, I want to say that this fic will either have a happy or bittersweet at the worse. So, our protagonist wouldn't live their entire lives shrouded in shadows.

A common question that gets asked about or mentioned a lot is adding Nasuverse characters. The issue with adding more nasuverse characters is that this story is already large enough to be a pain to juggle all the characters and their stories. Transporting nasuverse characters to this story will be I have to switch focus from the main characters to explain why they've been transported, and then change the direction of the story to fit that. The second issue is that it is pointless in many ways.

The Percy Jackson world is as wide as the ocean, but there are still lots of areas where we barely know anything about characters (or just have been mentioned) so it would make more sense to essentially merge the details of the nasuverse characters to fill in those spaces, meaning we still get fuller characters, the crossover with nasuverse characters people want, and don't have to take a complete aside to explain their presence or create a storyline about them (that could still be done with using their Percy Jackson versions.) Note - this doesn't mean all Percy Jackson characters without character or appearances will take the 1:1 appearance or personality of the fate versions. Well, designs probably (excluding the mech greek people because they don't fit) because I'm not good at designing ancient characters.

For those who are wondering about the omake, I'll use them to tell the stories and have the interactions people ask for or I think are fun. There will be continuity between them, but a lot of it will be brief interactions.

I want to thank everyone in the review section that offered kind words. For someone like me who has confidence issues, it means a lot to hear that people liked my writing.

And I want to say that from now I'm going to try and be more confident in my writing and keep these AN more positive from now on.

Ok, that took a while, but it looks like I answered a lot of the messages here that I didn't do before I already did for I was advised to write the answers out. I'll check let if I missed any, but I've spent a while doing this and am getting tired. Plus I still got to go back and make sure I didn't accidentally repeat any scenes or ideas. (This method takes longer than PM, or at least in a row. Do you guys like it? If you do, I switch to doing them all like this instead of the split like this time)

To talk about this chapter- I originally planned it to contain the mall trip and trip to the temple (basically being the longer conclusion chapter), but I decided to cut it in half once I was already over 10K and hadn't even reached the mall yet.

Hopefully, no one is annoyed by there not being a big climactic fight at the temple. But the person who defiled the temple is someone who holds a grudge against Artemia/Diana and is thus their enemy, not Atalanta. This little arc for her will be more about becoming friends with Silena and how she'll grow as a person from this trip, so it seems fitting that there wouldn't be a big huge battle to end this off, but a threat next chapter that she'll only be able to survive through avoiding conflict.

And hopefully, everyone found Silena's character to be interesting. Her canon self doesn't have a whole lot of deep character, so I tried to give her a unique perspective that would explain her actions in canon while still being interesting to explore. And having someone who is loved by all, but doesn't know if that love is real or not, thus leading her to be desperate for 'real' friends seems way more interesting than having her be the standard child of Aphrodite that enjoys the attention and playing with people's hearts.

Anyway, I wrote part 2 of (hopefully) 3 for the Olga omake. Some notes will be at the end.

Main story word count: 10,500

Chapter word count without AN: 17,435

---

Omake part 2:

Olga's glare became focused on Ritsuka as he spoke to her. "Shouldn't we look for others first?"

"Yeah, if you're here, the others must have teleported as well," Mash added in support of her master.

"Caster has already surveyed the city and found no other survivors," Olga explained before bitting her fingernail. "It must be because we were the only ones not in the coffins. That's the one common denominator all of us share."

"Coffins?" Caster asked this time.

"I forgot, you don't know much about Chaldea," Olga took on a completely different tone with her servant. The heat she held when arguing with Ritsuka disappeared. "Rayshifting flesh and blood are near-impossible, but the odds seem to be in our favor this time. The coffins themselves are normally needed to complete a rayshift, but they also have breakers in them in case of an emergency. That must have prevented them from Rayshifting."

Caster nodded at her master's explanation, while Ritsuka did as well.

"So quick, I guess there's a reason you're the director," Mash muttered with awe.

Olga felt a little hint of pride at the complaint, only for the civilian to ruin it.

"Yeah, I guess she can be useful when she's calm," Ritsuka nodded.

"Don't speak if you don't have anything useful to say!" Olga ordered.

"Shouldn't we get back to contacting Chaldea?" Caster asked with a hint of boredom and annoyance.

"Yes," Olga turned to her servant. "Mash, place your shield on the ground. We can use it to contact Chaldea."

Olga was silently thankful that Mash combined with the extra-class Shielder servant they'd planned for her to merge with. That noble phantasm's support abilities would be useful.

"I see; that's how it is. You've already discarded me for another servant," Caster murmured from beside Olga, her hands resting in her hoddie's pocket. "It's for the best. I'm a third-rate servant, after all. Maybe you should just order me to kill myself and summon my adult self."

Olga felt a ping of guilt as she watched her servant look down at the ground with an unchanging expression. Caster was her familiar, and it was her job to meet her needs. She should have gone to her mysterious servant first.

"Caster, can you contact Chaldea?"

"No," the child-servant answered quickly. "Sorry, but that's beyond me."

"Then why'd you look discouraged when the Director asked me to do it?" the new demi-servant asked. Mash had wide eyes like a child trying to understand something she'd never seen before.

"Discouraged? I couldn't care less about what my master does," Caster explained with a twisted smile or smirk. "But I'm a tool, so her just ignoring me reflects badly on us both."

"You shouldn't forget that Ritsuka," Olga glared at the only other human. "Servants are tools for us to use. They aren't your friend."

"I don't know, Director, both Mash and Caster have their own emotions. They're their own people."

"I agree with senpai, and I think the heroic spirit inside me agrees as well."

Olga Marie glared at the naïve pair infront of her. What use were people that couldn't put aside their personal feelings?

"If it makes you feel better, I agree with you, Master," Caster sided with Marie.

"Hmmph," Olga huffed in acknowledgment of her servant's support.

"You know, you seem kinda happy to have your servant's backing," Ritsuka observed. "You wouldn't care about a tools opinion."

"That's enough out of you, tool. Now order your servant to contact Chaldea!"

Following that, it took Olga five minutes to contact Chaldea.

"Hello! It looks like the connection's back! Good, now we communicate again!" Doctor Romani said via hologram. His attention was focused solely on Mash and Ritsuka, completely missing the other pair.

"Romani! Where is Lev?! Why is the head medic in charge!"

"What! You're alive and ok!"

"Is that an issue?" Olga asked with a glare.

"Nope!"

"Good, now answer my question!"

"There was an explosion in the command Room. Dr. Lev was supervising from the command deck. He couldn't survive that blast. There are less than 20 survivors among Chaldea's staff."

"No way," Olga's eyes widened as her heart broke. Dr. Lev was the person she the only person she trusted, and now he's dead. But she couldn't linger on that. She had to fulfill her duties as the director of Chaldea. "What are the conditions of the survivors?!"

"I'm trying to keep them alive, but I don't think-"

"Activate the coffins' cryostasis. We can think about reviving them later," Olga ordered Romani.

"Oh! I forgot that they could do that!" Romani exclaimed while clicking some buttons Olga couldn't see. "But what about the consent?"

"I can handle that later! Your top priority is to make sure they don't die!" Olga coldly ordered her subordinate.

"That's surprising… Cryopreservation without prior consent is a crime. Yet she still chose to put human lives ahead of her own position as director," Mash commented while contemplating Olga's actions.

"Is that so surprising, Shielder-san?" Olga heard her servant ask the demi-servant. "That's master's type. She's a terminally caring person under all that roughness. I don't doubt she'd put her reputation on the line to protect you and your master."

"Really?" Mash sounded doubtful. "The director always seems kind of… evil."

"What was that?" Olga asked, finally turning towards the others.

"Nothing, Master. Though, you should be more prepared for when problems crop up. In the future, you should have your employees sign prior consent forms in case of emergencies."

Olga suddenly felt very stupid. There wouldn't be a consent issue if she got their permission back then.

"Wait! Who's that?!" Romani asked over the coms, having already engaged the coffin's special function.

"This is my servant, Caster," Olga temporarily forgot her mistake. Her desire to be praised – even by someone like Romani – easily overtook the shame she felt.

"interesting; I wonder what kind of servant would answer your call," Olga watched Romani scratch his chin. Was he insulting her?

"A bored one," Caster answered. "I didn't want to be summoned or anything. It's just that her desire to summon a servant dragged me here. At least my master isn't useless."

Olga didn't know how to react to being called not useless.

"huh, I think I'm starting to see why she summoned you," Romani took a sip of coffee while leaning back into his seat.

"Yeah, they'll get along," Ritsuka agreed.

"I didn't ask what either of you thought about my servant," Olga interjected with a frown and crossed arms. Some small part of her was happy that they approved of her contract to Caster, but she'd never show it. "Have you finished with the coffins, Romani?"

"Yes," he answered quickly.

Olga nodded before pacing back and forth. "We have two servants and two masters. The original plan was to have the seven members of Team A summon their servants and fix the singularity as a team, but that's no longer feasible."

Team A was a team of elite mages made up of some of the greatest magic users of the modern era.

Her father, Marisbury Animusphere, selected them for their unique talents and abilities. Even Olga didn't know what all of them were capable of all, only that they could garner the interest of a Clock Tower lord.

The head of Chaldea couldn't help but feel inadequate when compared to them. Especially the leader of Team A, Kirschtaria Wodime.

He was selected to be the chairman of the Clock Tower's Department of Astromancy and was called the Jewel of the Clock Tower.

Olga could never forget the constant whispers of how Kirschtaria would make a better successor to her father than she would. How he was Marisbury Animusphere's top student while she was his discarded disappointment.

How was she supposed to prove herself worthy when she was never given a chance. And when her competition was one of the greatest mages of the modern era?

"Master, you shouldn't worry about what-ifs or possibilities. This Team A is out of commission, and we can't summon their servants; we must succeed with what we have," Caster spoke directly to her master, pulling Olga out of her thoughts.

The Animusphere considered her servant's words, letting them wash over her.

What Caster said was true. There was no use worrying about Team A right now. What matters is fixing this singularity with the tools they have available.

There were three things she felt they needed to do first.

"Here's the plan," Olga turned towards the only other people in the singularity. "Our main objective is to resolve Singularity F. Before that, we must evaluate Mash's strength as a servant, establish a base to investigate from, then determine the cause of the Singularity and what we must due to fix it."

Mash was a new demi-servant, so there was no telling how powerful she was. Olga felt that she need to know how strong a tool Mash is before planning how to use her.

It would also give Olga a chance to study the shielder in case Mash decides to get revenge and tries to kill her.

Establishing a base is common sense, and so is determining the threats they'll face.

"I'm not sure I'm confident in my strength," Mash muttered quietly while looking down at her shield.

"Even if you're not, I am," Ritsuka supported his servant with a smile and a thumbs up. "You were awesome out there!"

"Senpai," Mash responsible with a blush before gathering her courage. "I'll try my best! But Director, couldn't we wait for backup? "

Olga frowned at Mash's question. "No, if we wait, the Association will hound us and could even try to take Chaldea from me under the guise of mismanagement. Furthermore, while your master may be inexperienced, I've gone through simulated training and have a servant on my side. I will not go back to Chaldea empty-handed, is that understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am," both master and servant responded in unison.

"Good. Caster, are we clear to test Mash's combat power here?" Olga asked her servant without missing a beat. For some reason, the Animusphere found herself easily falling back on her servant's help.

"I don't see any threats around us," Caster answered while looking around. "But there could be cloaked enemies or the like wandering around."

"It's fine then," Olga concluded. "Caster, I want you to instruct Mash on combat and evaluate how current combat potential."

"Understood, Master," Caster quickly agreed from beside her master.

"Wait?! Fight Caster?" Mash asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, Mash, I'll be right by your side," Ritsuka once again encouraged his servant while taking everything in stride.

Olga made a mental note to have Ritsuka taken for a psych evaluation once they've cleared Singularity F. Only someone insane would be taking everything that's happened so well.

But Olga couldn't deny the fact that his words helped Mash accept her upcoming battle.

Olga took a couple of steps back to give Caster and Mash enough room to fight, and Ritsuka did the same once she yelled at him too.

Mash and Caster lined up a couple of paces from each other to begin the fight.

"My master has asked me to instruct you in combat, but you should know that I'm not an easy teacher," Caster said before the fight began.

"I understand," Mash nodded at her senior servant's words. "Pl-"

Whatever Mash was about to say was cut off by her raising her shield to block a sudden attack.

Caster had launched two swords at Mash while she was talking. "The first thing you should know is that opponents wouldn't wait for you to be ready. Always be prepared for an attack."

Mash gritted her teeth as she deflected the opening attack.

Another salvo of arrows was launched at her, but this time she dodged them.

"You should already know about classes, so I'll ignore that," Caster said while projecting a single sword and launching it at the shielder. Just before Mash could block the attack with her shield, Caster projected a shield of her own in the path of Mash's.

The projected shield prevented Mash from getting her shield in place to block the sword Caster launched.

The single sword hit Mash's armor, sending her flying back.

"Let's talk about attributes instead. There are three main ones: Man, Earth, and Sky. Man represents heroes that complete great deeds as normal humans. Earth is for heroes with unrealistic myths by modern standards and mostly come from folklore and the like. Lastly is Sky or Heaven, which is for those with a high amount of divinity, meaning gods or demi-gods," Caster went on while continuing to prevent Mash from making any progress forwards.

"Servants with the Man attribute are strong against Sky servants but weak to Earth ones. Earth is strong against Man but weak to Sky. And Sky is weak to Man but strong against Earth. It makes a triangle. Knowing your opponent's attribute can tell you if you have an advantage over your opponent and give you a clue about their identities."

"This feels like it's going to go on for a while, but I guess it makes sense that a servant compatible with the Director wouldn't know how to stop talking once they get going," Romani said over the comms. His words earned him a grump stare from the previously mentioned Director.

"Do you know what yours is, Shielder? And can you guess what mine is?" Caster asked as she stopped her assault for the moment to let her opponent catch her breath.

The shielder didn't open her mouth this time, instead choosing to shake her head no.

"Of course, you wouldn't. Attributes are hidden traits for servants that are very hard to figure out. Shielder's is most likely Earth, while mine is Sky. What does that tell you?"

"You have an advantage over Mash?" Ritsuka answered this time. "That must be why you're doing so well against her!"

"Yes and no. My attribute gives me an advantage over Shielder, but it isn't why she can't even land a single blow on," Caster explained while being her attack again. "As a caster, only the assassin class is generally worse at combat than my class. And being summoned in my child form makes me weaker than my adult self. The 'me' before you is third-rate as far as servants go, but I can still beat you because you're missing something vital."

Caster didn't say what Mash was missing. Instead, she rushed towards the shielder with a silver dagger appearing in her hands.

Mash wasn't ready for the switch from ranged to melee combat.

The dagger in Caster's left hand was already in Mash's guard before she could even react.

The shielder tried to jump back while raising her giant shield, but Caster let go of the dagger in her left hand before she could do so. The blade flew right above Mash's shield arm, momentarily forcing her to stop raising her shield lest she gets hit.

The servant of magecraft used that opportunity to grab Shielder's arm and throw her across the street, despite having a very low-strength stat.

The surprised shielder failed to land on her feet and was punished for that failure.

"Mash!" Ritsuka yelled to his servant, but she couldn't hear him.

A dozen blades appeared out of nowhere and pinned the shielder to the ground. The exhausted servant couldn't even catch her breath, much less break out of the cage.

"That's enough. I think we got all the information we need," Olga spoke up, ending the match.

Olga felt a tiny bit of joy at watching her servant prove herself to be more powerful than Ritsuka's, but another part of her was worried about how weak Mash seemed to be.

"Caster!" the Animusphere called out to her servant after Caster said something to Mash she couldn't hear. Ritsuka was simultaneously running to his servant's side. White lights sparkled around mash as the swords disappeared.

The child servant came over to her master and looked up at her with steel-silver eyes.

"What is your opinion on Mash?" Olga asked with a frown. She felt she needed to consider her servant's opinion before forming her own.

"She has the potential to be very strong, far stronger than my current self, but she hasn't tapped into any of that potential. I don't even think she knows how to properly use her noble phantasm..."

"Can you think of a way to jump-start her progress?" Olga asked while considering Caster's report.

She couldn't squander a potentially valuable asset. If there was any way to maximum Mash's current strength, she'd take it.

Caster seemed to get in lost in thought before Olga. "I think it would be best if we sent them off on their own and watch them from afar. We need to force them to grow."

Olga nodded, accepting her servant's plan. She also considered the added benefit of using them as bait to lure out any enemies.

"Mash, Ritsuka, we're splitting up for now. We'll meet at the bridge in one hour," Olga ordered the other two once she walked over to them. "Spend that time searching for clues or getting stronger."

Olga didn't wait for the two of them to respond before ordering Caster to go with her and running away from the other master-servant pair.

She didn't want them to have the chance to point out her skipping making a base.

---

Olga stood on top of a high school's rooftop while her servant sat on the building's edge. The once strong fence meant to prevent people from accidentally falling was now riddled with massive holes. Scorch marks littered the once pristine area, matching well with the debris scattered about. The Animusphere could still feel the heat of the burning city's flames and the stench of death they emitted from the rooftop.

No matter how long Olga experienced the sight, she couldn't imagine what caused this singularity. Of what could create such unnatural flames that seem to burn endless without fuel yet hungers for more. The fire seemingly wished to slowly burn everything in existence. Even looking at them filled the magus with a sense of existential despair. To the flames, she was nothing but another thing to torturously kill.

Even if it wasn't visible on her grumpy face, the longer she stood there, the more worried she grew for her own life and those of the pair she'd separated with.

"Caster, can you explain why it was best to leave those two to wander the city alone?" Olga asked her servant with a frown. She'd decided to trust Caster's opinion without question but began to second guess herself. The head of Chaldea couldn't understand how it would be good to send anyone off into the suffocating hell before her. And, how could she trust Caster's word when they barely know each other? If her servant was wrong or trying to sabotage her…

"If you want to know, I guess I can tell you," Caster responded while turning her steel silver eyes on Olga. Despite how lackadaisical her servant sounded, Olga could almost see a hidden somberness in the servant's eyes. "I possess the ability to identify any weaponed-based noble phantasm on sight thanks to my magecraft. I can instantly understand its abilities, history, and true name. Do you know the way Shielder's noble phantasm works?"

Olga nodded at the question. The project to make demi-servants was something started by her father, so she didn't know all the details, but she felt she had a good enough idea. "I don't know what heroic spirit it belongs to, but from my understanding, it possesses the ability to summon other servants if there's enough magical energy. Unfortunately, with Chaldea in disarray right now, we don't have enough to summon any more servants, leaving it useless."

Caster shook her head at Olga's explanation. "The name of the heroic spirit used to create her is Galahad, the knight of heaven. He was a Knight of the Round Table that was known as the perfect pure-hearted knight. His noble phantasm is called 'Lord Camelot' and is created from the Round Table itself. Its ability to summon servants is just a byproduct of being created from something that served as a gathering place for great heroes. The shield's actual ability is to create a barrier embodying the walls of Camelot; the durability of said barrier is proportional to the willpower of the user. Someone with infinite willpower would be able to create an ultimate defense that could never be violated."

The Animusphere felt a shred of self-pity at having to be told the true name of the heroic spirit merged with Mash and its true powers. Her father truly didn't trust her with even the most basic of things. He probably trusted Kirschtaria but not her.

And she felt idiotic for still not understanding why her servant had them split from Mash and Ritsuka.

"What does any of that have to do with sending them off on their own?"

"Shielder lost to me because her will and confidence were non-existence, and even the support of her master wasn't enough to fix that. If they were, my basic attacks wouldn't even have fazed her, much less crushed her like they did. By fighting alongside her master, she'll develop a bond with him. Hopefully, Ritsuka will boost her confidence and give her a solid reason to fight: to protect her master."

"Do you believe that will work?" Olga asked while looking down at her servant with a frown.

"I'm not someone who likes to do useless things," Caster answered her master while looking back at the city. Her tone changed into something Olga couldn't accurately describe. All she could understand was the guilt that underlined Caster's words. "In my experience, people will do whatever it takes to protect someone they care about. Good or evil… Love can even lead to someone damning an entire world to a slow death. If those two can develop a true bond, I don't think anything could defeat them."

A warm wind blew over the pair. A silent air fell upon the two as Olga couldn't bring herself to say anything. She felt like her servant had just told her something important. That must never be forgotten, no matter.

Other than Lev, Olga never had a bond like the one Caster described. Yet, her servant's words touched her more deeply than almost anything else she's ever heard.

After a few moments, Caster gestured for Olga to sit next to her. The Animusphere couldn't help but do so.

Somehow, the heat of the flames felt a lot hotter to her after she took a seat on the building's edge. It felt like if she stayed there too long, her body would forget what cold feels like.

"Master, can I ask you why you fight?" Caster asked Olga.

The Director of Chaldea instantly knew the answer to her servant's question, repeating it like an automated message. "I'm fighting to protect humanity's future. That's the purpose of Chaldea, to save humanity from its predicted bad end."

Olga felt confident in her answer. Heroic spirits were defenders of mankind, so her servant was sure to approve of her fighting for humanity's future.

But Olga's confidence was quickly dashed as her servant nodded her head no.

"Master, I may not have all the details, but it seems I already have a better understanding of you than you do yourself."

The Animusphere felt a ping of annoyance at someone telling her they knew her better than she did. Especially someone she just met. "Please, I'm the heir to the Animusphere family; what could you understand about me?"

"More than you think," Caster sighed and then looked up at the sky. The fire's smoke blotted everything out. "It may be a pain, but why don't we properly introduce ourselves now that we have the time?"

Olga's annoyance was quickly replaced with curiosity. She did have several questions for her mysterious servant. And she did want to know why Caster confidently thinks she understands her.

"Fine. But I want to know something first, Caster. You say your name is Atalanta, but your clothing is modern, and you possess the divinity trait. And on top of that, the heroic spirit Atalanta shouldn't be able to be summoned in the Caster class. How do you explain these discrepancies?"

Masters can naturally pull up their servant's stats once they know their true names, but some servants can mess with them. Caster could be hiding her true identity, and Olga would never know it.

"That's an easy question. You have me mixed up with Atalante, the hunter from Ancient Greece, and myself, a modern heroic spirit who just so happens to share a name with her. Unlike your timeline, the gods still roam mine; thus, demi-gods are still being born in the present. Hence my divinity. My modern clothing is because I'm modern."

Olga inwardly wielded at how honest her servant seemed to be with her. If Caster was hiding or keeping something out, she couldn't tell.

Caster's explanation for the discrepancies made perfect sense to her.

The Animusphere may not know much about parallel worlds, but she did know that anything could happen within them. A world where some of the gods could still interact with the modern world in some capacity wasn't that absurd. And the throne of heroes exists outside of space-time, so it was perfectly possible to summon a heroic spirit from a different timeline. The odds of it happening are just astronomically low.

"Master, I'm interested in you. My mother is a goddess, while my father is a relatively normal person. What about your parents?" Caster followed up after her answer.

Olga took a breath before answering. Her servant gave her an adequate answer, so she should do the same.

"I don't know who my mother is. Either she died giving birth to me, or she only bore me to fulfill a contract with my father and left afterward," Olga talked about her unknown mother first. A familiar hole in her heart made itself known to her as the words left her mouth.

Olga's father never said anything about her mother, leaving her to speculate about who she was and what happened to her. When she was younger, she assumed her mother died giving birth to her, which was part of why he hated her. But as she grew older and learned the ways of mages, that idea started to feel optimistic. Too often, women from mage families – whether willing or not – married into other families for various reasons, with love being the least of them. Instead, it was done to unite the magic crest of two families or create alliances.

Sometimes, mage families would even just hire a woman with certain qualities to have an heir with them in exchange for something.

For Olga, who only ever had one person care for her, it felt sadly right that she wasn't born of love. That she was just the product of a failed attempt to create a worthy heir. From the day she was born, she was someone who just wasted their family's resources and sulled their name.

"My father's name is Marisbury Animusphere, and he was the one who created Chaldea. Its mission, the technology behind it, and the resources to create it. Everything came from him before his death. He was the head of the Animusphere mage family, who were responsible for the creation and leadership of the Clock Tower's Astronomy department. His position in the Clock Tower was that of a lord, making him one of the highest-ranking mages there."

Olga described her father with her arms crossed over her chest. The more she talked, the worse she felt. How far she had to go to prove her worth to him, and everyone else seemed to grow the more she thought about it.

She had spent the entire time keeping her eyes away from Caster, but she finally looked back at her servant once she finished talking. She'd expected to either be dismissed or insulted for being a failure like she had been so many times before…

But instead, Caster's expression was one of sympathy and tragic understanding. Olga could feel a cacophony of emotions from the contact linked them. Just looking at Caster and feeling her emotions wiped away any doubts she had about Caster understanding her. For the first time, Olga ever felt like someone was empathizing with her. Even Lev always kept some distance from her, hiding things from her. It was something she sensed but never asked him about. She was too afraid Lev would leave her if she did.

Yet, Olga felt like she was seeing into Caster's true heart for a moment. Beyond her cold exterior was a truly warm person that understood others' sufferings.

"Master, based on how distantly you described your father and my general knowledge of mage families, I'm guessing you weren't close. That is the way of mage families. Instead of caring for and loving their children, they see them as tools to fulfill their goals. As extras to carry on their family's mission and ideals after they die. The value of individuals and relationships are discounted and treated as worthless," Caster spoke more in a row than Olga had ever heard her talk before.

Usually, Olga would've stood up and defended the way of things, that mage families are the way they are for a good reason. She would've done so if only to protect the honor Animusphere family's pride. But she couldn't bring herself to disagree with her servant's words.

Her father disregarded her as a failure and only cared about his mission. Now, after his death, it was her job to see his will through. All to prove herself worthy of the name he passed down to her.

Even if he never showed her any affection or love and never viewed her as a daughter… She still loved him and wanted his approval.

"I'm truly sorry, Master. You've been burdened with saving all of humanity by a father that probably never loved you or cared about you beyond your use," Caster sincerely offered her condolences to her master. The servant's eyes turned down towards the raging flames. "Let me offer you some advice from my own experiences. You want approval from those around you, not to save the world. But your father is dead; he can't approve of you now. And even if he was alive, he probably would never give you the affection you seek."

"How do you know that? He'd have to acknowledge me if I did good enough," Olga countered.

"Because you aren't the only one in the world whose humanity has been ignored by their father for the sake of humanity," Caster's shoulders slumped with her final words. A bitter smile formed on her face. "This doesn't have anything to do with me, but let me tell you a story I've heard."

Olga felt like Caster was lying when she said this story had nothing to do with her, but something in her stopped her from saying that.

"There was once a foolishly innocent boy who lost his entire family in a natural disaster. He to was about to die, surrounded by countless other dead, but then a man appeared. The nameless boy was saved when everyone else died. He came to worship the mage that saved and adopted him as a hero. But the mage was someone who wanted to save the world no matter the cost. He may have adopted the boy but treated the boy as a tool. As he was dying, he gave his dream to the child that not only didn't want anyone to suffer but also wanted to prove himself to the father he loved. In the end, he was left with a choice between saving the world or his sister. The trauma, his upbringing, and the father's dying wish locked the boy in a cage of guilt and despair. Every day he struggled between the darkness in his heart and the love he held for his sister. It took him years, but he eventually chose the latter, but it was too late. As soon as he made that decision, his precious sister was kidnapped. The boy managed to save his sister in the end, but they never saw each other again. Someone with a broken heart like his could only take the path of the villain and end up losing everything. His only consolation was his sister's safety."

Olga listened to Caster's story as even the wind seemed to stop blowing. There were gaps in the story, but she felt she could understand most of it.

"Master, that boy's greatest failure was not being able to move on from the past and grow beyond their father. He kept trying to live by the expectations of a father who cared more about his ideals than his children. He wanted to prove himself and be like the man who saved, but nothing would be good enough for a father like that. Yet, he still tried and suffered for it. When he was forced to decide, he couldn't see anything but the path of following his father or disobeying his wishes. A better option wasn't something he could think of. He couldn't move forward from the past and suffered for it."

The raw emotion in Caster's soft voice managed to reach Olga's heart. She wondered if her servant was the sister in this story but couldn't bring herself to ask.

Was there another path for her? She'd always lived her life seeing only two paths her future could take. Either she gains the approval of everyone, or she fails and lives her whole life as a laughingstock.

Is there really another way forward? A path she could take independent of being the heir to the Animusphere family?

"Move forward? How would you even do that?" Olga hesitantly asked her servant. Her voice was quiet, but she knew her servant would be able to hear her over the sounds of destruction all around them.

The idea gave the girl who spent her whole life being shamed a ray of hope. But it scared her. She could lose everything for nothing in return. Could she really give up on gaining the approval of those around her and proving the people who doubted her wrong?

"I don't know," Caster answered solemnly. "My older self might, but I'm a child servant who was never taught how to walk forward. The first person who should've taught me crippled me, and those that came after were left with my faulty self. But even if I don't know how to walk forward, I can at least help you learn how."

Olga watched as her servant looked over at her with dull silver eyes. She could feel Caster's support and respect as their eyes met. It filled her with confidence.

Olga could feel herself softening up, the stress she'd been building for years fading. She didn't know if she agreed with everything Caster said, but she was happy to have someone who believed in her. And that gave her the strength to consider making her own future.

"You're my servant, so I'll trust you have your master's best interest in mind," Olga granted Caster her support in her own way.

"Of course, I have to for my own sake. I'll never hear the end of it if a heroic spirit I know – especially Uncle – sees me with a useless master."

Usually, Olga would've gotten angry at her servant's comment, but she didn't feel like it this time. She knew that her servant supported her.

She didn't know what the future would hold, but she was happy she didn't have to face it alone.

The young woman stood up and looked up at the cloudy sky. Olga thought back to when she was a small girl innocently watching the stars in the sky. At its root, the Animusphere was a family who've spent their long history isolating themselves from the world to watch the stars. It was born from her ancestors' desire to see and understand the beautiful night sky. To touch the lights painting its black canvas.

It was a childish desire that Olga herself had when she knew nothing of the world or the hardships she'd face. Years had passed since she'd stopped and watched the night sky. Olga had Chaldea to look after. She had to live up to the Animusphere name. Reality crushed her childish dream of touching the stars and replaced it with nothing.

Yet, as she stood there, Olga felt a quiet wish stir in her heart. A wish for the clouds to part and the night sky to become visible. Then she could see the stars' brilliant luster once again.

Sadly, wishes made under a cloudy sky can never reach the stars

---

Shorter AN 2:

Hi again.

This ended up being way longer than I meant it to, but I got really into writing the Olga and Atalanta scene.

Some notes-

I decided to have Atalanta copy EMIYA's interlude lecture because I already explained classes and need something for her to lecture them on without the writing getting repetitive. And in a rare turn, she's able to connect with someone because they both have wounded hearts.

Stars within the nasuverse represent people's hopes and dreams.

Lastly, Caster went off talking so much because I decided to base that interaction on the way EMIYA gave a lecture so long that Romani went off about how he long he was talking and went off on multiple page philosophy lesson on heroes of justice when he just saved a cat from a tree (F/HA).