By the Bonfire: Dreams of the Vanquished (Part III)
He had no real way of knowing what was supposed to be going on here right now, in fact this was something of a blur since he had started walking from the room he had been summoned into. He liked to have thought he kept his surprise to a minimum, despite what he had showcased he was trying to curb all of his questioning to a minimum from the very moment he appeared in the bleached metal room with the strange solid air in front of him.
Though…there couldn't have been a worse duo for him to be stood before, he heard the summons easily enough. Or perhaps it was difficult, it had been aimed in the general direction of him but not quite towards him. He just grabbed hold of the summoning and followed it back to the source, which wound up with him standing in front of the two people he most certainly didn't want to be stood in front of.
The biggest reason was shame.
It was an entirely new emotion for him to feel, not since he encountered the woodland knight in the snowy land did he feel shame such as this. Except this was much more intense, like an ugly spear buried in his gut and the longer he looked at them and was looked at by them, the more hideous he felt. The only good news was that it didn't look as though they knew who he was, which was a small victory at best, but he wasn't sure how long he could keep up the deception.
Vinci was smart, he knew he would need to be careful around her so that she didn't figure out who he was. After everything he boasted about being able to do and everything she had helped do for him in realising his dream…it felt disgusting on a number of levels to be around her in any capacity. A deep seated sense of failure, of wrongness. All pointed inwards, all the effort she put into teaching him and all the words they had traded, they had all been for nothing. Nothing but hollow air, they were so utterly wasted on him that it was a shame she had even spoken at all.
He could just imagine the disgust on her face when she found out who he was, the revulsion when she realised that she was currently sitting across from the fool who had proclaimed his desire to usurp the human world only to have it revealed that he was little more than a tool for someone else all along. It was like a sensation of something crawling over his skin as he sat in front of her, he kept his eyes away but he could tell she was watching him. Even if she said nothing, there was something about her gaze that always seemed…more.
Natural born genius, he supposed.
But as bad as Vinci was, there was someone who he felt a greater degree of embarrassment being around. The type of ugly feeling that made him want to just kill himself all over again the second she laid eyes on him. It was only because she didn't look as though she recognised him that he was able to hold in that urge to just rip out his own heart there and then.
Olga Marie Animusphere.
He could still hear his words as he proclaimed himself her rival. They bounced around in his head with such volume that they reverberated through his entire body, just thinking about them made him physically cringe and wish he could take them back or punch out his past self for saying something so utterly stupid as that. It was presumptuous beyond anything he could possibly have imagined and with the benefit of hindsight, he could see just how idiotic he was to say something like that.
To call himself her rival was to say they were somehow equals but he wasn't. He wasn't even close to being her equal and he wasn't even close to being worthy of standing in front of someone like her. She who could command the very stars to her side deserved a better rival than someone who couldn't even figure out that their dreams were pointless from the very beginning. He just…wished it had never happened.
He wished that he had never been summoned there before, wished that Chaldea had been the one to call upon him first. Wished that he had met them like this before he had a chance to destroy every ounce of his development in a fit of arrogance. Eyes trailed down to the table, staring at the strange food in front of him and his lips being drawn into a line. It was fitting that everything had proceeded as it had, perhaps this was the punishment dealt out to those who were stupid.
If so, he probably deserved it, being the biggest fool of them all.
"Hm?" Returning his attention to the one in front of him, he realised he had zoned out midway through whatever she was trying to say. Somewhat shameful of him to do, so caught up with his own self-depreciation that he ignored what Vinci had been trying to tell him. He watched as she regarded him with a flat look and then rolled her eyes, fixing him with a somewhat exasperated look but not one that seemed offended by his lack of attention.
Swallowing, she placed the small metal trident back on the 'plate' with a clanging sound and then gestured towards his own tray of food. "Are you not going to touch it? It'll wind up cold at this rate."
Cold?
…Ah, right. His food.
His eyes slowly moved down towards his own plate, staring at it with a slightly bemused expression. Right hand slowly bringing itself up and his fingers pinching the side of the top bun, lifting it off the slab of meat in the centre and staring at it. Watching the blood of the vegetable slid across the bottom of the bread, raising a single eyebrow as his gaze darted to and from the bread.
There had never been a moment where he encountered something like this before, he had burned things before and turned them to ash but this was a rather new experience for him. He wasn't quite aware that humans also burned their own foods to this extent to eat them. It would appear there were more than a few things that he was still rather ignorant about even now.
He slowly lowered the bread back onto the burger and then resumed staring at it. He watched the way in which Vinci had eaten her own strange food and yet he noticed he didn't have the same sort of weapons to cut up his own burger. Either he had been forgotten or this type of food did not require then, he assumed it was the latter but he couldn't dismiss the former either. That being said, even if he had the small sword and trident, he didn't know of a way he could actually use them on…whatever this was.
"...You can pick it up with your hands to eat it." Vinci replied in between bites, he blinked once and then nodded his head in understanding. So it was the type of food that could be eaten with one's own limbs, that seemed simple enough, he supposed. Yet there remained the question of why she had these instruments at her disposal and he didn't have. Was it some symbol of status?
His eyes moved away from the burger and wandered around the room, narrowing his gaze on those who were similarly eating and noticing more of the miniature metal weapons dotted about the room. Namely with some of the beings clad in metal or the strange man who wore a lot of purple and black with pale skin. Though he had some small bowl of some sorts which he routinely brought to his lips and drank from.
"...Why do I not have the small weapons?"
Vinci snorted loudly, his head turned back to her and watched as she covered her mouth with her free hand, rolling her lips inwards and staring at him with disbelief, soon angling her head to the side to hide her expression. He felt a deep shame flood through his body as he understood the reaction she was having, evidently he had just said something that made a fool of himself and now she was laughing at his idiocy. It was much too late to recall the remark, which meant he would simply have to live with it.
The woman held up the flat of her left hand, her right formed into a fist that she started to beat against her chest, each strike eliciting a dull thud before she eventually opened her mouth and let out a wheezing noise. "I-it's called cutlery."
Cutlery?
So that is what they were called as opposed to small weapons, though that did not quite explain why he hadn't received any-
"And burgers are finger foods." She explained further, letting out a slow breath as the amusement slowly trickled from her face. Leaning back into her chair and staring at him with a raised eyebrow and a glimmer of a smile on her features but nothing exaggerated. "That means that eating them with stuff like a knife and fork is pretty uncommon. I figured you would probably appreciate something that wasn't complicated when it came to eating. A burger you can just stuff in your mouth and that's that."
Ah, so she was being considerate rather than insulting. He looked down at the burger once more and slowly moved both his hands towards it. His large hand clamped down around it with enough force that he very nearly ended up crushing it within his palm, the thick red goo squired out from either side of the burger and fell onto the tray beneath him, he briefly stared at it for a moment, then returned to the burger and brought it closed to himself. Opening up his mouth and taking a large bite from the food, drawing it to the back of his throat and then swallowing whole. He pulled the burger away and hummed in thought.
It wasn't quite like anything he had experienced before, his mind struggling to comprehend exactly what he had just put in his mouth. His eyes lingered on the burger and stared at the mangled remains still in his hands. By all accounts, it did taste like cow and yet there was such a difference between this and just eating a whole one that he could scarcely believe there was even a similarity between the two of them.
…He wanted more.
Bringing the burger to his mouth once more, he quickly and rather loudly, finished eating the remains of the lunch with all the grace that could have been expected from a dragon such as himself. Namely that his hands were smeared with tomato sauce and juices from the burger itself, to say nothing of his face which currently held more in common with a painting than anything else.
His eyes remained fixed on his empty hands, staring at the gauntlets that were covered with the remains of his food. A frown slowly came upon his lips as he realised that there was nothing left of the burger. Lowering his hands back onto the table with a dull thud which rocked the furniture, he felt the frown slowly shift into something else. He felt dejection at the loss of the burger, he'd been too quick and now it was gone never to return. He wished he had savoured it more now.
Drumming his hands on the table, he stared at the remains before his gaze slowly slid onto his fingers. Turning his hand over and examining the traces of sauce and juice over the gauntlets. He felt his throat run dry, his mouth turned wet. An idea sprung forth into his mind as he slowly picked his hand off the table and brought it closer to his face-
"Absolutely not!" A voice rang through the air, accompanied by a sudden pressure that had his pupils shrink into pinpricks. He tore his sight from his hand and towards the direction of the voice, feeling the pressure get stronger and stronger as the familiar scent and taste of the flame-kin, a God, flooded his senses. His eyes flickered over the scenery, narrowing his eyes and feeling confusion soon replaced the irritation.
He didn't see any of the flame-kin.
All he saw was some small looking girl with golden bird wings and a white dress marching towards him with a tray of food in her hands. What looked like some sort of stew or collection of slashed up vegetables upon a bed of grain. It didn't make much sense to him, though he didn't know why this girl was approaching him nor why the sensation of a God was getting closer and closer…
…Wait.
His brows furrowed, he watched the girl stop at the side of his table, she looked as though she was going to glare at him, then slammed her tray on the table next to him. He blinked looking down at the food for a moment and then back at the small girl, Goddess. He mentally corrected himself, yet he was having trouble putting the two of them together. He remembered the flame-kin well enough. Each of them were powerful beings who could be more than a match for his physical strength. Their presence was one he was intimately familiar with and yet when he looked at this girl she looked so…
…small.
…Were they always this small?
He barely even registered the moment the girl whipped some small white cloth from the plate and then snapped her attention back onto him, a look of complete focus on her face as she leaned in closer. Kalameet found himself leaning backwards as she brought up the cloth towards his face, when she finally noticed he was retreating, her eyes narrowed further. Her left hand blurred forwards and grabbed him by the underside of his chin and pulled forwards, at the same time her right hand darted forwards and he suddenly found the girl wiping a cloth all over his face.
All the while, there was the same look of frustration on her face as she zealously scrubbed his face with the white cloth. "Honestly. Some of the mortals in Chaldea really need to learn some manners. Father always taught me the importance of good manners and I can't abide seeing other people eat so messily." she moaned as she continued to wipe down his face.
He was so shocked that he found himself utterly unable to so much as move, eyes locked onto the small Goddess in front of him with nothing less than bewilderment. A mixture of her small stature, lack of hostility and complete ignorance to what he added up as one deluge of confusion, he couldn't properly wrap his mind around what was going on. Not even after she pulled her hand away from his face and then placed her hands on her hips.
"Did your parents never instruct upon you the graces of good manners and basic hygiene?" The Goddess probed further, raising an eyebrow and looking him up and down before her eyes landed on his still raised arms. Eyes narrowed further and she pointed towards the hand with a look of clear accusation. "In fact, were you about to start…" she shuddered for a moment, a look of revulsion on her face "...licking the juices from your dirty armour?"
"...Yes." He could do nothing but admit what he was going to do, it felt as though his head was spinning around. At this point, thoughts of the Goddess trying to strike him down with Miracles was as far from his mind as it could possibly be.
She stared at him for a moment, then her brow visibly twitched "Unbelievable." her right hand swung forwards, throwing the white cloth - now stained - into his chest and dropping it onto his lap. "Are we just allowing savages to go roaming the halls of Chaldea at this rate?" she pointed to the ground "Are we going to start eating from the ground like wolves?"
The Goddess paused, then placed her hands on her hips "Of course not, because even Sif has enough basic sense to wash his face after he finishes eating his dinner." The girl turned onto Vinci as he remained frozen in his stupor, raising a single eyebrow at the brunette. "And you, how long were you going to sit there and watch him make a fool of himself like that in front of everyone? A lasting impression like that will make people believe he's an uneducated barbarian!"
A what?
Kalameet felt his brows furrow, there were words in there but he didn't understand half of what the Goddess was saying. He could infer that she was insulting him but it wasn't because he was a dragon. He was certain that she didn't know he was a dragon, but he knew what she was. The full weight of her existence settled in his mind, he felt his features go cold and his eyes distant the longer he stared at the girl.
She might have been small and all else, but she was still a Goddess. One of those who had butchered his people to a hatchling without a care in the world or even thinking about asking why they were doing it in the first place. He privately wondered how many Silver Knights she commanded to her beck and call, perhaps she also partook in some of the slaughter of his people.
And she was standing right here, without even a care in the world and without even understanding who she was standing next to. It was almost sad, though whether it was for him to realise this or her for her ignorance, he wasn't sure. Either way, he soon found himself clenching his jaw and turning away from the girl. Slowly sliding his own tray away from himself and placing his arms down on the table in front of himself. His eyes gradually pulled themselves shut and he did his best to ignore her voice.
Perhaps he could have managed that, yet it was quickly put on hold but the sheer brightness that came with the fact there was a Goddess stood not even a foot from him and was acting as though she had never done anything wrong in her left. His hands opened and closed, eventually drawing themselves tight into a fist as he lowered his head down and faced the table, all while his eyes remained closed.
Focusing his mind was simpler, yet he could not ignore the presence. As though his eyes were open-
"Are you even listening to me?" The Goddess continued on, now sounding more irritated than before with a note of exasperation. "I can tell you have some pretty terrible luck, I can always turn it around you know?" she let the words hang in the air. He responded with silence. Quite frankly, the idea of getting anything from this one felt as though it would be spitting upon the memories of his brothers and sisters.
"Hey…" The Goddess whined "A genuine Goddess of Fortune is offering to provide you with a blessing. This is the sort of thing that most humans would leap at the chance of getting." He tightened his features further, feeling his armoured fingers clench tighter and tighter, a faint groaning of metal reached his ears as his armour was put under increasing strain. He didn't want to get violent but the longer she spoke, the more he thought about his own people and-
"Caffrey." Anger washed away at the voice of Vinci, a touch of strained tension in the words of the Caster piqued his interest ever so slightly. He wasn't sure where this was coming from, he slowly cracked his right eye open and glanced at the brunette woman. Her expression was a touch troubled though she was smiling at the Goddess rather patiently. "Probably not the best time, though I do appreciate what you're trying to do here." she assured the Goddess with a wave of her hand. "Just…Berserker is a little shy and isn't used to getting crowded."
His left eye opened to join his right, his brows slowly furrowed as he stared at the woman for a moment longer. Soon his attention returned to the Goddess as she gasped, a genuine look of panic washing over her face as she froze on the spot, awkwardly looking between himself and Vinci for a few seconds, then cringed. "Ah, right. Sorry…most mortals probably aren't used to getting crowded by the Gods suddenly. Especially having one show up in their face."
The girl cleared her throat, puffing out her chest and then facing him once more with a more reserved expression. "You have my utmost apologies for being so direct. However, I wish to impress upon you the importance of good manners." she leaned forwards, taking her tray off the table and then bowing her head once. "As you were, mortal."
Without a further word, she turned and floated away from him, golden wings carrying her nearly a foot off the ground as she moved back in the direction she had come from. Kalameet watched her depart in silence, then felt his tension slowly leave him as he closed his eyes, his breath finding its way back into his lungs and the desire to just get away vanished into nothing. His eyes returned to Vinci and looked her up and down.
Shy?
He…probably wouldn't have described himself like but if that was how he appeared then that was how he appeared. Either way, he was rather grateful for what Vinci had done for him. Kalameet wasn't sure how much longer he could have handled being around the small Goddess before he reacted to her and exposed himself. It would appear he owed Vinci once again for something that he couldn't repay her for.
All the same, he shifted in his seat, bringing his arms closer to himself and thinning his lips. Nodding his head to the woman. "...Thank you." He muttered to her quietly, he was being as genuine as he could manage. "I am…not…comfortable around Gods or….Goddesses."
Drummings his fingers on the table once more, he shifted himself once again and glanced off to the side. Just over the shoulder of Vinci and towards the Kitchen, he briefly paused when he made eye contact with the woman of blood hair. Boudica, he recalled her name was. The woman stared at him with a look he didn't quite understand, then her eyes drifted between himself and the direction the Goddess had flown off to for a few seconds before they slowly drew themselves into a thin line, a strange look remaining on her face as she eyed him one final time, then returned to what she had been doing before.
Kalameet fought back a frown, but his brows did pinch ever so slightly. Not quite understanding what that peculiar look of hers was about, it almost looked for a moment as though she had been able to determine what his problem was. Yet that was impossible, he did not recognise her and she had no way to recognise him. There would be no way for her to understand what had happened just there. He closed his eyes and quickly shook his own head, likely just a trick of the mind and nothing more. Perhaps he was simply being overly worried about being discovered.
Vinci's voice brought him back into the conversation at hand. "Don't apologise for that. Probably my fault for dragging you here of all places." The brunette mumbled to herself with a guilty look that he didn't quite understand.
"You couldn't have known."
She didn't reply to that, instead staring at him with a pained grimace for a moment before she exhaled, leaning forwards and pinching the bridge of her nose. A shallow sigh escaped her as she wet her lips. He stared at her in a silence she reciprocated, it was difficult to tell what she was actually thinking in that moment, he never claimed to be an expert on reading the emotions of humans, so he didn't know what Vinci was currently thinking. All he could do was imagine what her current train of thoughts were.
The woman lowered her hand from her face, then opened her mouth to speak before she paused and tilted her head to the side. Her brows furrowed somewhat and she glanced away from him and off in another direction for a moment. A frown coming upon her features as her hand moved towards the small silver bracelet around her wrist, pressing her index finger on it.
A moment later, a small blue man appeared. It did not look like the communication disk he was familiar with but he believed they served the same purpose. Kalameet just didn't know they could come in other shapes. His eyes landed on the figure, tilting his head slightly and his brows furrowing in thought. The small man looked familiar, if he was to hazard a guess he would say it was the man…Roman? Romani. That was his name, Romani.
Vinci seemed to think highly of him, so there must have been something about him to win the attention of the woman.
Romani looked around for a moment, then blinked as he stared at Kalameet himself. "Oh, I didn't know that we had another Servant here." he nodded to himself in silence for a second, then swiftly jolted and leaned forwards. "Wait a second, there's another Servant here? I wasn't informed of this! When did this happen?"
Vinci rolled her eyes "It happened rather recently, Romani, and it was the Director who summoned him."
The man gaped "Seriously? So far the Director has only been able to summon things like Golem's because of their lack of personalities." a smile slowly emerged on his face before it slowly shifted into a thoughtful looking frown, his right hand came up and cupped his chin. "Hang on a second…I thought the aptitude of the Director hadn't changed all that much, or it hadn't since the last test we ran on her…how could she summon a Servant if her aptitude was so low?"
Those were words that he didn't quite understand, at least not fully. Though he believed he was able to interpret what exactly was being said. It sounded to him as though Olga Marie wasn't supposed to have been able to summon him which…didn't make much sense to him. She had met him on the field of battle with many other Servants, so why were they saying that she couldn't summon anyone? If he could summon Servants, then it only made sense that Olga would be capable of that and more. Especially considering that she was probably better than him. Given the number of Servants he had seen around Chaldea so far, it was clear that Olga was much, much better than him…
So how come they were talking about her in such a negative way?
At least it didn't sound insulting, it just didn't make sense to him.
Vinci shrugged her shoulders "Chaldea is quickly becoming the place where the impossible becomes just another tuesday." she joked with a twitch of her lip. "Besides, it should also go without saying that the Director wasn't Rayshift compatible either, that should no longer be considered something set in stone given that she is now capable of entering Singularities as well."
Romani was silent for a moment, then gave a nod of begrudging agreement "True enough, but that seemed to have been a result of the Singularity in Fuyuki and the subsequent influence of CHALDEAS on her granting her the ability to Rayshift. I still don't understand how she was able to maintain that ability even after she came back to life." he remarked.
Kalameet blinked.
She what?
The man continued on "Though I'm not going to complain about it. The Director did some good work in Scandinavia and Rome combined and it's nice that Fujimaru-kun has some reinforcements here and there…" his face gradually pulled itself into a grimace. "Especially what with recent events…but yeah, probably not something worth thinking too deeply about. Looking a gift horse in the mouth and all that." he finished rather lamely, though Kalameet was too preoccupied with the words he had spoken.
Came back to life?
Did that not imply that…?
He blinked, slowly furrowing his brows and looking away to the side, scrunching his face up in thought and only barely paying attention to the conversation between Vinci and Romani. The genius cleared her throat, giving the man a pointed look. "Interesting as this is, I take it you didn't call me just to start passing around gossip, did you?" she fell silent for a moment, then an unusually serious expression passed across her face. "Is it Fujimaru?"
"Fujimaru-kun is fine…or…well…as fine as he can be." Romani assured her in a rather strained voice, not that Kalameet knew who they were talking about. But they sounded at least somewhat important, so perhaps he would need to ask about them. "Physically anyway, no sign of any changes both good and bad which is…probably for the immediate best right now. But no, I was calling about the readings we managed to record from Mash and Fujimaru-kun during their mission in London. I'm not sure what else you're dealing with at the moment but I just figured I would let you know about them…some of the data still needs to be looked at regarding the bounded field that cloaked them from us and all of that."
Another silence followed, then he added on "Also the Director sent me a message a few minutes ago to make sure that you were still on task with what you said you were going to do. That being a report on the newly summoned Servant…and I just realised, I haven't introduced myself yet and we've been holding this entire conversation right in front of you." the man muttered, shaking his head from side to side and putting on a rather troubled face.
"Hello. I'm Doctor Romani Archaman, head of medical in Chaldea and…current leader of the Rayshift department." The man finished with a wave of his hand, some measure of greeting. Kalameet silently brought up his own hand and responded in kind. "I suppose it should go without saying but…thanks for showing up. We're really in a pickle at the moment because of…things I am not supposed to talk about and should probably leave before I end up blurting out."
Vinci let out a small breath of amusement "At least you're aware of it, Romani. Besides, I doubt Berserker is going to be going around letting loose any sort of secrets that he hears and he hasn't been around long enough to understand half of what goes on in Chaldea." her other hand rested itself upon the table, she nodded her head up and down. "Though in regards to the message from the Director, she is probably right…no sense in putting it off and all that…"
In spite of saying that, Vinci regarded him with what he imagined to be a nervous and somewhat reluctant gaze. As though she didn't want to leave him and attend to her own affairs. If he was keeping her from doing her work, as he privately suspected, then it was rather important that she return to what she was supposed to be doing. Jerking his head at her, he waved his hand. "You should not go out of your way for me. If there are things that need to be done, then you should do them. They are likely to be more important than myself anyway."
"...Matter of perspective on that part." Vinci replied rather quickly and with a tone of voice that was rather bland. As though she was forcing the emotion from her own speech. He fought back a shiver at the look in her eyes, as though he was being admonished once again by the likes of Artoria, though he wasn't sure what he had said to earn such a feeling. He quickly averted his gaze from her, though he could still feel that stare aimed at him for a few moments longer. "I don't suppose you would be willing to wait here until I come back, would you? I'd take you with me but I'm…probably going to be encountering some people you might not want to meet."
"...There are other Gods here, aren't there." That was the only thing he could think of, closing his eyes once more and fighting back the shudder that ran through his body at the thought of having to encounter more of them. At least he didn't recognise any of them, at least not truly. The Silver Knight was more of a distant figure and there was no guarantee they served during the war against his people…not that it afforded them any leeway but at this stage, he likely didn't deserve to start doling out punishment. Not after his pointless affairs.
Vinci hummed in affirmation, she did not speak the words but she did not need to. When she did end up speaking again, it was in a slightly rushed voice and one he assumed was meant to bring reassurance. "Don't worry though, I can't see it taking all that long to get everything done and I know the kitchen staff will be more than happy to help you get to know all the important stuff. They're lovely people like that…well…maybe Archer is a bit cynical but he's still recovering so he shouldn't be here."
Kalameet opened his eyes once more, turning them onto Vinci and watching her pick herself out of the chair, still regarding him with a smile as she slowly backed away from him. "Bad timing on everyone's part, this." turning away from him, she looked to the red haired woman and pointed in his general direction. "Make sure he doesn't feel too out of place. First time being around so many people, I don't want him to start feeling pressured and all that."
Boudica squinted at Vinci, then looked at him, then back to Vinci before she gradually raised an eyebrow at the genius. "If I didn't know better, I would have asked if we just ended up summoning your son or something. Given the way you seem to be babying them." the woman tilted her head, then offered a smile. "Not that I'm going to complain about it, but you just didn't seem that sort."
Vinci paused, then frowned, placing her hands on her hips. "Hey. I can be mothering, I raised Mash I'll have you know!" she jutted forth her chin, a smug aura surrounded her as she boasted rather loudly, she held the pose for a few moments before she loosened it again. "Just, given the number of Godly related Spirits we have around Chaldea and Berserkers problem with the Gods-"
"Say no more." Boudica didn't even let her finish her sentence before she was nodding her head in agreement, evidently taking Vinci by surprise as well given how the genius blinked several times, then uncrossed her arms and lowered them back to her side. Boudica offered her own faint smile. "Don't look so shocked, I never said I was against trying to make new Servants feel welcome. Besides, I'm feeling pressured by Siegward to present a welcoming side to Chaldea in spite of all that's going on."
Vinci chortled "He has that effect, doesn't he?"
"He's got something going for him and I'm certain it's more than just a low rank of Charisma." Boudica rolled her eyes, then jerked her head to the door. "Nevermind all that, just hurry along to where you need to be. I'll make sure that Berserker can at least see that Chaldea isn't always a dreary sort of place."
Dreary place?
Kalameet furrowed his brows, then turned his head, eyes sweeping across the room. Each and every face he landed upon was focused on, studying their every feature and expression. He hadn't noticed it at first but now that he looked again, there did seem to be something off about this place. It wasn't quite what he had expected it to be, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be expecting in the first place. It just seemed as though there was something missing here.
Perhaps not missing as much as it was something that had been removed.
His eyes landed on the woman in the far corner, staring at an empty chair with an odd look on her face. There was something about that look which he understood immediately, something that he could say he mirrored before in his life. It was a look as though she had lost something, something important to her. Or perhaps, someone. Kalameet turned his head towards the direction of the man in purple, sat completely by himself with an expression devoid of emotion.
Yet he looked rather…alone.
Bringing his head back around, Kalameet found his attention on the table, barely even noticing that Vinci had departed by now. His lip slowly curled down into a frown, his hands resting on the table and drumming away on the surface. That was it, Chaldea didn't feel like he had felt. At least how he felt when he was still under the mistaken belief his choices mattered.
There was an…
…It was difficult to describe, almost as though the air itself was alive. There was something that hung around him in those moments, a connection between himself and his sisters. Something which could only be described as…family. Yes, that seemed as though it was a good word for it. Chaldea felt…less bonded. It felt as though things were missing from this room, people were missing from this room.
Had…something happened before his arrival here?
Even Olga seemed slightly different to how he remembered, surely not that much time had passed. They also spoke of summoning someone else, but all he saw was the metallic Servant who he had fought against in the land of snow. Surely they could not have been referring to bringing that one back, he had not slain them to his knowledge.
It was rather unusual.
Even if Da Vinci had not asked her, Boudica would still have kept an eye on Berserker. If only because of the look he gave the Goddess Caffrey when she approached him, or rather the way in which he acted. That was a reaction that couldn't be hidden, she would know that just as well as anyone else.
The moment the Goddess had approached Berserker, he had frozen up as though he'd seen a ghost and then coiled in on himself. It looked as though he had been cycling through a fight or flight response for a few seconds and when he finally opted to stay, he closed himself off and went tense. Boudica had been half expecting him to yell out or scream at the Goddess. It wasn't for anything Caffrey had seemingly done, the girl might have gotten in his face but that was more of a case of chiding him for his eating habits which were…unclean to say the least.
Savage would have been a more appropriate word for them, except she had seen Sif - the giant wolf - eat with more reservation than Berserker. The way in which he stared at his food made it look as though he'd never eaten something like it before in his life which was certainly possible, but Boudica sensed there might have been more to it than that. Not to mention the armour that was deceivingly well constructed, even if it looked like slapped together clumps of metal, she could tell it was of an exceedingly good quality. She would have thought he was some manner of knight, save for the way he carried himself.
But returning to his look, that was what truly caught her eye most of all. That expression was a deeply personal one, that blank look of barely restrained fury. It was a small wonder Caffrey had not been able to sense the murderous intentions directed towards her despite being so close to him, that was what put her on edge first, or perhaps it was because she likely wore a similar expression when she first saw Nero.
Though Caffrey herself didn't seem to have any legends relating to her being involved in battles, it was likely directed to what she was rather than who she was. Which meant that Berserker clearly took issue with the Gods but he had held himself back enough to not immediately snap at the child. It also looked as though Da Vinci was partially aware of it, given the way she had frozen up the moment Caffrey approached. It likely meant that the Caster knew more than she was letting on about the Berserker but was, for some unknown reason, keeping it all a secret.
That was what she had inferred even without Da Vinci telling her that Berserker had a problem with the Gods, he hadn't made much of an effort to hide his discomfort within moments of the Goddess approaching him. Though she could have sworn that - for a split second - he looked as though he was going to leap out of his skin like she was hot to the touch. That spoke of more than primal rage, that reaction was born of fear. Pure and simple.
Now though, Berserker was glancing around the room with an increasingly troubled expression on his face. It didn't look as though he was so much lost as though he was thinking about something and letting his mind wander away from his surroundings. The way in which he kept looking at the Servants, first at Beatrice and then at Mozart, and then frowning even deeper was starting to press upon her curiosity.
There was clearly something going on with Berserker or something that he noticed which he was more than a little troubled by.
…No harm in approaching him on that front, besides they were going to be fighting side by side in the future so it made sense to at least get some discussion in with them about their time and thoughts of Chaldea thus far. It might have also been his look when he first wandered in here and his look when he was given his food for the first time. He had this aura of a lost duckling following after the first thing it imprinted on. Which, given his size and appearance, was most certainly bewildering to her but not necessarily in a bad way.
Turning her attention to Siegward, she called out to him "Watch over the kitchen for a moment, I'm going to-"
"Make our newest member feel welcome?" Siegward finished her sentence without even looking at her, the man rumbled a pleased chuckle as he wiped down the side. "You need not explain anything to me, Boudica. We can spare you for as much time as you need." turning to face her, he placed his hand on the counter and leaned over it, a smile etched upon his face. "Foods can be easily redone, a first impression not so much."
Boudica raised an eyebrow at him "More of your wisdom of the heart?" she gave a light tease with her own smile aimed at him.
Siegward, as expected, nodded his head up and down "Naturally! This comes from a great deal of experience in making friends with all manner of peculiar fellows and strange beings from across the lands." he waved his hand as he spoke to punctuate the sentence. "Each one of them relied upon the perfect first impression to convey the type of man I was…like being stuck in an elevator."
She snorted, rolling her lips inwards and closing her eyes, aiming her head down for a moment before it returned to its original state. Opening her eyes once more and offering a lopsided smile. "It has gotten to a point where I am completely unsurprised by whatever you might say and am convinced you have at least one first impression that revolves around you being fast asleep."
"I do! That was how I met my brother's wife." He beamed at that, looking rather proud of himself before returning to his original task. "But enough about my long winded tales. Go and forge your own bonds of friendship, Boudica. I dare say that Berserker looks like a pup stranded on an island out there by himself." she could hear the sadness in his voice "Poor fellow seems rather out of it…Hmmm. Hmmmmmm."
"Something piqued your interest?"
"Perhaps but I won't try to make my own little guesses on such things." Siegward dismissed with a wave of his hand. "That would be terribly rude of me." he was silent for a moment, then turned his head to look over his shoulder. "Though I would ask if it would be possible to teach him some manners. Not to mock his eating habits but I am more concerned for how he might appear to others." he pursed his lips "We wouldn't want anyone thinking he's a mindless brute based on how he eats food."
Well, there was that as well. He was certainly the messiest eater in Chaldea so trying to get him to learn some basic table manners would probably go far.
Nodding to Siegward, she moved her hands behind her back and untied the apron, walking around and hanging it up on the nearby hook before making her way to the dining room itself. It was likely telling that Berserker did not notice her approach, so consumed in though that when she was finally upon him and at the foot of the table, he noticed her and visibly started at her sudden appearance, heterochromatic eyes widened briefly before they swung back to the spot where she had been when he last looked at her.
The face of Berserker was like an open book, surprise flashing through his features which quickly gave rise to confusion as he looked between the two spots. Then he tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow at her. "Did…how did you get here?"
She offered an amused smile, crossing her arms under her chest. "I walked. You were just a little too absorbed in thought to notice that I was approaching though." she nodded towards the empty seat in front of him "Do you mind if I…?"
He stared at her in silence, then furrowed his brows "If you…?"
Boudica blinked once, then clarified "Is it alright if I sit down here as well?"
"I have no problems with it." Berserker replied to her, shrugging his shoulders and then returning his attention to the room with the thoughtful look coming upon his features once more. Armoured hands still resting upon the table and his fingers drumming up and down on the surface. Her eyes roamed across his body for a moment, then landed back on his head. His posture was a bit looser now, he looked more comfortable but remained on edge. "Is this because Vinci asked you?"
She would have replied to the question, except something else caught her attention first. "Vinci? I didn't know you two were that close." Even for the eccentric Caster, that seemed to be a rapid development for a Servant who was summoned today, and unless she had gotten the completely wrong impression of Berserker, he didn't seem the extroverted type to start handing out nicknames on the fly.
Berserker froze for a split second, a brief look of panic crossed his features before he kept his eyes from her. At this point, Boudica pondered if he really was something of a child or at least someone who hadn't been taught an awful lot growing up, given the expressions he was wearing. It might have just been that he was an exceedingly honest sort, which seemed more appropriate. "N-no. We're not…erm…I…have never been in the same room with them until today."
Until today implied that they had met with them before but hadn't interacted physically, yet there weren't any reports of encountering friendly Servants during the Singularities who acted as this one had, nor did he match any of the descriptions that were available. Quite the conundrum.
"I see." She replied in a vague tone, keeping the intrigue off her face before she glanced towards his place. "I take it you enjoyed your food then?"
With the same greed that he displayed when he destroyed his burger, Berserker ravenously leapt at the new conversation topic with a great deal of enthusiasm. Nodding his head up and down repeatedly "I did, yes. Enjoying it when you miss it when it's gone? Then I enjoyed it…do humans always eat like that?"
Ah, so he wasn't human was he? She wouldn't have been able to guess that. He looked human enough and didn't feel like one of the Gods they had around Chaldea, he certainly felt powerful but it wasn't divine power. How curious, there seemed an almost feral aspect to him as well.
As for his question.
"Well, sometimes. There is a whole menu to sample from." Boudica pointed out "All sorts of different types of foods from all over the world and the different time periods. Main problem we have is getting the resources for them. Considering we're somewhat dependent on the Singularities to keep our stores supplied with fresh produce." There were some strange spells that kept the vegetables from rotting, but at the same time there wasn't a spell for replicating them.
Perhaps, what they really needed was some sort of indoor vegetable patch. She was aware that such things existed but it was a matter of getting both the soil and the seeds for them. As well as clearing out space for something such as that and people to work them over so they didn't die. Boudica was many things but she wasn't really a farmer and she didn't know any Servants in Chaldea who were farmers either. Perhaps Beatrice might have a clue, but then she might also be making assumptions based on the whole 'witch of the woods' angle.
It was more likely that Beatrice was just exceedingly good at camping.
Berserker looked at her thoughtfully, nodding his head up and down and then muttering to himself, leaning back into his chair and pinching his chin between his fingers. "So humans need to create farms…but this place has no dirt so how would they make a farm? The outside is snow…hmmmm." he drew his hand from his chin "Do you always need to go to…uhm…Singularities to get food?"
Boudica blinked, this wasn't a conversation she was expecting to have but there was nothing wrong with it. "Recently, yes. With the modern world incinerated we're pretty much reliant on that. Sure, the Servants could probably go without eating as well and that would probably seem the smarter option considering we don't need food but…" she hummed, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, when you've got all these Servants, some of them need ways to keep their minds away from the problems and food is a good distraction. Both eating and making it."
A hum was her answer, though Berserker looked away from her once more and furrowed his brows. "Tell me something…perhaps I am imagining it but I cannot help but notice that there is something wrong."
Even he could see that, could he?
"Problem after the latest Singularity." Boudica explained to him "Master is currently incapacitated and…we lost more than a few Servants down there to something." She thinned her lips. "Information regarding what happened is hard to come by and I'm hardly going to start believing whatever Sulyvahn is peddling but at the same time…no one has seen or heard from Ash and…you probably don't know what I'm talking about."
Sighing to herself, she rubbed her forehead. "Nevermind that right now, probably a dour topic-"
"I…would like to hear of it all the same." Berserker replied slowly, adjusting himself in his seat. "I would assume that this is also troubling Olga Marie. I would say she is…on edge. Like a limb pushed too far."
An apt analogy, she supposed. "I think we're all a bit like that right now. Something happened and no one really knows what. You'll probably hear about all this from someone else." It would be better he learned it from her than from someone else who would be shamelessly peddling an agenda. "If I were to hazard a guess…I'd say it's related to Ash."
"Ash…you said that name twice now." Berserker frowned in thought, then leaned forwards "...Can you speak of them further?"
AN: Kalameet and Boudica, both having to work side by side with the people they don't like. Fun times all around.
Next Chapter is an Ash chapter.