Lick lick lick
"Mmmmmmmm...Fou?"
"Fou fou."
The Chaldean started to groan as he raised his upper body to sit on his bed. His eyes squinted as he began to retake his surroundings. His room was never very decorative, white walls filling most of the room and a small desk next to his bed. On it was a laptop to help with research and sending messages, an alarm clock, and a small picture frame with a photo of great significance to him. He noticed the time on the clock: 6:47am, and started to wonder why Fou had decided to wake him up. He started to pet the tiny furry creature. "What's up buddy? Why the early wake up call?"
He heard a hard knock and his attention was now drawn to the door. "Master? Are you wake?" Came a voice from outside.
"...Altria?" He asked himself very much confused by the situation. "Uh- One moment please!" He voiced from in the room. He got up from his bed and walked towards the door interface to unlock it.
The door opened afterwards and Ritsuka was now greeted with the Lancer's presence. She was in the same armor as yesterday, but without her helmet and he guessed Llamrie must have been dematerialized at the moment.
"Good morning Master" She said, seeming more at ease than yesterday.
"Good morning Altria." He greeted in return, his voice feeling rather dry. "What are you doing knocking on my door this early?"
"I felt you had rested sufficiently well considering you went to sleep after my summoning."
He yawned in disagreement.
"I am feeling restless, when are we leaving to fight our foes?"
Ah, now I get it, he thought to himself. He had felt rather tired after orienting Altria on their current situation yesterday and left whatever was left to explain to Da Vinci. He had hoped that by the time he went to sleep that Da Vinci would have at least told her about the Combat Simulator, before bringing Altria to take one of the vacant Servant rooms.
"We're not going to be fixing any Singularities today, I believe. Didn't Da Vinci tell you about the Combat Simulator? You can always go there to train and such."
"I was unaware such a device existed, it seems she left that detail out of our conversation last night."
Ritsuka sighed. "Okay I can take you there and orient you on what you need to know, but first we go have breakfast. Let me go change into my uniform and then we can head out."
"Understood Master."
...
They both walked in silence on their way to the cafeteria. Ritsuka was estranged by the now rather empty halls of Chaldea. He had gotten used to the buzzing of Servants throughout almost every day. He was sure some were up and about. Most likely they were part of the security detail they had established, patrolling the whole of Chaldea. He, Roman, and the rest of the staff deemed it a necessary system to prevent violent altercations from happening outside of the Simulator. Ritsuka noticed Fou wasn't around anymore, he likely had gone to go find Mash and probably preferred to be in her company at the moment.
He glanced at Altria a few times and noted her face was rather expressionless, seeming not to give much attention to her surroundings. He wasn't sure if she had noticed him looking, but part of him felt she did. Curiously, he finally noticed just how tall she really was. He guessed she was only taller than him by a few centimeters. She was certainly more "grown up" than both her Saber versions.
He finally spotted the door to the cafeteria. "We're here." He said. They both stopped, standing at the front of the door and it opened.
As they both entered, Ritsuka noticed the room had two occupants. Boudicca, who was cooking at the kitchen behind the counter; and Jeanne d'Arc Alter who was eating alone at one of the tables. Jean Alter liked to come eat early in order to avoid being around the other Servants.
As they both walked towards the counter, Boudicca turned around from the kitchen to focus her attention on her new guests.
Ritsuka noticed she had a pink apron on today. She seemed surprised to see them at first but her face quickly formed a warm smile.
"Good morning Master. It's strange seeing you up and about this early in the morning." She said taking one of her gloves off.
"Yeah, I was going to show our newest arrival towards the Simulator today." He said, returning her smile and gesturing towards Altria. "She's another Artoria that I summoned yesterday, but a Lancer."
"I see, I knew she looked familiar." She said, turning her attention towards her. "I don't want to confuse you with the others, so what would you prefer I call you?"
"Altria would suffice."
"Understood, happy to meet you Altria."
"Likewise." Atria said with a small nod.
"This is Boudicca. I hope you two are able to work together well in the future." Ritsuka said as he gestured to the center of the Cafeteria. "Over there is Jeanne Alter."
Altria turned to look towards Jeanne. Although she seemed to be ignoring them as she ate her food.
Ritsuka looked back towards Boudicca. "So, you got something good for us?" He asked.
"Well, Emiya is yet to arrive, but I do have a few things cooked up already. Tell me what you'd like to have." She said, grabbing a tray.
Ritsuka looked at his options. "I'll have some egg, bacon, and some bread for today."
"And you?" Boudicca asked looking at Altria.
Altria eyed the food for a moment before responding. "Some egg and bacon will suffice."
"Coming right up!" Boudicca got to preparing both their food and once done, handed them both their trays. Ritsuka gave his thanks and walked to sit somewhere at the left end of the cafeteria, but not before getting a glass of water. He gestured to Altria to join him and she did. They both sat and Ritsuka began drinking his water, feeling relieved as he felt the water refresh his throat.
"So you have summoned other "Artorias" ?" Altria asked, as she picked up her utensils.
"I have, but only as a Saber." He answered as he lowered his glass.
"I see." She said, her curiosity now satisfied.
The rest of their time was spent enjoying their breakfast in silence.
...
The walk on the way to the Simulator was just as quiet as the one to the Cafeteria. They had passed a few Servants along the way, the morning now progressing. He said his greetings to them all, but Altria paid no attention to anyone. It seemed to him that Altria, like Jeanne Alter, wanted to avoid interacting with the other Servants as well, if she could avoid it. It made him a little sad, Ritsuka didn't like seeing people in isolation. He felt people should enjoy the company of others when they could. He knew that didn't appeal to everyone, but it was most certainly true that no one wanted to go on through their entire lives alone.
They soon reached the Simulator room and Ritsuka was glad to see that no one was inside. He'd hate to intrude on anyone's time. He then began to orient Altria on the different mechanics of the Combat Simulator: how to work the controls, choosing the environments, the enemies one could incorporate, the structure for conducting duels with other Servants, ext.
Altria focused on him as he explained, not wanting to leave any detail unheard.
Once Ritsuka finished his explanation, he was about to ask Altria what simulation she wished to input, until the sound the of room speakers were heard.
"Master Ritsuka Fujimaru and Lancer Artoria Pendragon to the Command Room. Repeat, Master Ritsuka Fujimaru and Lancer Artoria Pendragon to the Command Room." Came the A.I's voice through the speakers.
Ritsuka sighed. "Sorry, but it looks like we'll have to leave this for later." He said with a small apologetic smile.
"There is no need for apologies Master. I am your spear, wherever the battle takes you, I will be by your side." She proclaimed, forming a serious expression.
His smile brightened and he nodded his thanks. "Let's go then."
They made their way out of the Simulator Room and on to the Command Room. Ritsuka hoped this wasn't something dire, he didn't want to go through another weird Singularity like before.
They both reached inside the Command Room and found the Director's chair was being filled by Da Vinci, Mash standing next to her with her normal clothes and found Fou was sitting on her right shoulder. Altria eyed the room for a few seconds as they made their way forward, noting the presence of computers and staff filling the room. They stopped in front of Da Vinci, who apparently was drinking some tea.
Ritsuka turned his attention first to Mashu. "Good morning Mash, sorry for not coming to greet you earlier. Altria needed my help finding the Combat Simulator. I hope you slept well." Ritsuka said bowing his head for a moment in apology.
Mash smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry Senpai, I'd guessed you were occupied when Fou came to see me alone. And thank you, I slept really well last night." She said.
"I'm glad to hear it." Ritsuka said before turning his attention to Da Vinci. "What's the occasion today? And where is Doctor Roman?"
"I'm afraid Romani is too busy taking care of some other errands, so he left me to take care of things here." Da Vinci said smiling as she put her cup of tea on the desk. "As for our current situation, it's nothing big." She gestured to the computer screen. "Just a small disturbance on England in the 7th century. It's probably just a few demonic beasts that shouldn't be running around at this time. I thought this would serve as a perfect opportunity for you to train on the field and gauge the abilities of your new Servant."
"I see." Ritsuka always liked to take any of his newly summoned Servants on a mission alone in order to get an idea of their strengths, skills, and abilities and how best to coordinate with them. This was a good chance to do just that. "This is good timing then. This will be a good opportunity to gather some materials as well, thanks Da Vinci."
"You're very welcome."
He turned to look at his latest Servant. "Looks like you'll be getting some real action sooner than I thought. You ready to head out?"
A small smile touched Altria's lips. "Of course Master, I look forward to crushing our new enemies."
He gave a nod to that.
"Good luck out there Senpai!" Mash said ready to cheer on her Master.
"Thanks Mash, I hope to be back and see you guys again soon."
...
They'd rayshifted to a forest. It looked surprisingly sparse, a small river bank to their right side, the sound of birds and critters in the background filling their ears. The sky was cloudy as the yellow sun shined above them. It seemed to be the middle of the day. Ritsuka had thought of changing into his Chaldea Combat Uniform for the mission, but he had a feeling the expedition would be easy and short so he decided against it.
Altria summoned her sacred spear, Rhongomyniad, along with her horse, Llamrie. She mounted her horse and it made a snort. She looked down at her Master with a stern expression. "Master, it would be best if we rode together in order to cover ground more quickly and destroy our enemy."
Ritsuka shook his head smiling a little. "True, but I would prefer to go walking. Leonidas has me on a strict exercise regiment so I think a long walk would do me some good." He said while stretching his limbs. That was half true. He also wanted an excuse to skip physical training with Leonidas when they got back. The Chaldean Master didn't mind exercise, but Spartan training was something he felt he couldn't handle everyday.
Altria eyed him for a moment before speaking. "...As you wish, Master." She said while bowing her head.
Da Vinci's hologram began to appear from the communicator on Ritsuka's left wrist. "If you're both done sightseeing, I'd like to let you know that we've detected the presence of demonic beasts about 2 kilometers from your position." A map then came to replace Da Vinci's holographic body, displaying their indicated destination.
They both nodded their affirmation at the new information. "Thanks for the info Da Vinci." Ritsuka replied.
"No problem. Happy hunting you two!" Da Vinci said before the holographic projection died out.
"Onward then." Altria said as she had Llamrie start to walk towards the indicated direction of their target.
Ritsuka followed her close behind. Silence had once again begun to fill the air between them for at least a minute. Ritsuka didn't want to make this the habit of their time together, so he decided to speak up.
"Hey Altria, I know you haven't been around for long, but have you talked to any of the Servants or any of the staff since your summoning yesterday?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Outside of Lady Da Vinci and Lady Boudicca, I have not." She responded, keeping her attention in front.
"Why didn't you greet any of the other Servants on our way to the Simulator?"
"I have no interest in mingling with any of the other Heroic Spirits. Besides, you did not summon me to form comradely. You summoned me to help you in your quest to defeat the King of Mages."
"That is true." He said, frowning as he crossed his arms. "But that doesn't mean you can't form connections here. It doesn't do anyone any good to stay alone. You're going to be teaming up with others as our journey progresses and forming connections could-"
"Then I will find a way to coordinate. Right now this conversation bores me." She interrupted, sounding slightly irritated. "We should hasten our approach. The beasts may move away from us if we do not hurry." Llamrie's speed increased slightly.
Ritsuka's face made a sour expression. He tried to keep pace with her, almost ending in a jog. He dared to speak again after a few moments. "Okay, but at least promise me to be friendly with the other Servants. You'd gain a lot from it." He said, lowering his hands to his sides.
A few seconds passed before Altria responded. "...No promises." She said in a low voice.
A small smile slowly returned to Ritsuka's face. He took that as a victory, even if she didn't say yes, she didn't say no either. The silence between them returned, but Ritsuka used this as an opportunity to turn to his thoughts for a moment.
He honestly should have expected having these troubles considering she was another Alter. But he felt there was a lighter side to her as well. She didn't seem inherently vindictive like Jeanne Alter or particularly sadistic like Saber Alter. All of them seemed to be lacking in social skills though. He had little success helping the other two since their summon, he hoped the Lancer would eventually be more open.
He hadn't seen Altria fight much, his only reference point being her appearance in London, and even then she was sort of in a berserker rage in that moment. He looked forward to seeing her more refined skill with a spear.
The path began to be more open and he noticed he was lagging behind a bit so he moved to be next to Altria and Llamrie at their left. As he moved and raised his head to look at Altria, he noticed something curious.
She seemed to be lost in thought and her face had formed a frown. He had a worried look, surprised by her new pained expression. "Hey, you okay there Altria?" He asked feeling concern.
She shook her head a moment and looked back down at him. "I'm fine Master. Nothing you need concern yourself with." She said, her stern expression returning.
She faced forward again. "Be ready Master. There is an open field ahead."
Ritsuka turned to look at his front and soon noticed the field. It seemed this was a subject for another time. As they both entered, they looked around the open field inside the forest, the flat green grass filled with a plethora of white flowers. A few bees could be seen collecting their nectar. They both came to a stop when Da Vinci's holographic projection returned from Ritsuka's communicator.
"I think it's best you both stop. We're picking up movement from your target and it looks like the Demonic Beasts are heading your way." Da Vinci voiced.
"Understood, thanks for the heads up." He responded, Da Vinci's projection now vanishing. "Looks like the action is coming to us." He said looking up at Altria with a smile. "You can act freely on this fight. Dispatch them however you'd like."
Altria gave a nod. "Understood Master, I will prove my strength to you." She proclaimed, having her horse move closer to the middle of the field. She put one of her hands to her temple and her helmet rematerialized around her face. She readied her lance and awaited the beasts that lay beyond the forest.
Ritsuka took a few steps back from where he was. They both waited there for two minutes before they both began to hear the sound of growling.
Several demon boars began to slowly come out of the forest, their lower fangs tipped with blood. They quickly began to advance towards the purple armored lancer.
Altria then charged with Llamrie towards the nearest demon boar to plunge her lance into. Her lance had pierced right through the creature, blood filling the once clean grass. She quickly swung her lance to the side to dispose of the dead creature that had now stuck to her sacred spear and moved to kill the rest of her prey.
Ritsuka observed as Altria gutted the boars that were now surrounding her. She used her lance more as a battering ram than a spear, but to be fair, her weapon wasn't very versatile. He saw as Altria swung her lance to throw one corpse at another boar, pinning it down for a moment, and saw Llamrie jump on top of its head, crushing it beneath its hooves. Pools of red continued to color the field until the final boar met it's end at Altria's lance. At least 2 dozen dead boars now filled the open field.
Ritsuka moved to congratulate his Servant on their now apparent victory until the ground beneath them began to shake and rumble. They both looked to the part of the forest where the boars came from and saw as a plethora of trees fell as a large figure approached their position. A few moments passed as their new opponent finally came into clear view of both of them. A Giant Demon Boar exited the forest and it stomped its hooves as it came to a stop, a rage filled stare pointing towards them.
Llamrie screamed at their new visitor and Altria eyed the giant boar intensely. "Looks like the leader has come to join the rest of its pack."
"Looks that way." Ritsuka responded and turned his attention to her. "I think this would be the perfect time for you to display your Noble Phantasm."
"As you wish Master." Altria had Llamrie move a few steps towards the creature and raised her Spear towards the sky.
"Oh holy spear, removing anchor...Thrust and feast." Altria began as the red spikes on her lance quickly vanished. The cylinders of her spear now loose, began to spin.
"Thirteen fangs!" A powerful wind formed around her and at the top of her spinning lance, like a tornado. The wind taking a red and purple color. The giant demon boar growled as it sensed the coming danger.
She lowered her lance, ready to finally unleash her Noble Phantasm. "Rhongomyniad!" She finished, thrusting her lance forward and engulfing the area surrounding the giant boar in a violent bright purple storm.
After a few moments, the storm cleared, and Ritsuka witnessed the result of his Servant's true power. The boar had disappeared into the great abyss and a part of the forest had been utterly destroyed along with it. He felt astounded, he'd seen destruction like this before, but that didn't make it any less incredible.
He ran to stand next to his victorious Servant. "That was awesome!" He said enthusiastically. "Your power is absolutely amazing Altria!"
"How fleeting... Everything was a temporary dream on horseback."
"Huh?"
She shook her head, looked down at her Master and dematerialized her helmet, firming her lips. "I'm glad to hear your praise, Master. This was an easy fight. I hope you have something of greater challenge for us in the future."
"You bet! Our battles will be much harder from here on out, and our fight with Solomon will be the hardest one we'll ever have." He declared with determination.
She gave a nod. He was thoroughly impressed. She had shown her great skill with her lance and given an amazing display of her power. The title of King of Storms certainly felt appropriate. Chaldea had gained a very valuable Servant.
"Okay, let's gather any materials around and come back home quickly." He finished, the day now finally having given its fruit.