Chapter 119: Snow and ash.
The group stared at the black armoured knight as he seemingly shifted awkwardly in front of him, the black knight raised a fist to the front of his helmet and coughed once before he thumped his fist twice on his chest as if trying to clear his throat.
Despite the fact that he probably wouldn't have been able to achieve anything on account of the half-inch of rolled steel currently hanging off the front of his body. Not that he seemed to register that slight problem as he started again.
"A-anyway!" His voice came back full of confidence and still maintaining that childlike tone to it "I'm…Tarkus. My Class is Saber." he muttered a quiet cheer under his breath before he continued on "And I am…" he trailed off, then fell into a long silence.
Olga stared at him unblinkingly for a few moments before he rolled her jaw and spoke up in a slightly strained tone of voice "You have been summoned?"
"Yes, I have been summoned." He nodded his head at her "Thank you miss." Despite the fact his words could have been construed as sarcastic, his tone of voice contained nothing but genuine gratitude. It was utterly baffling for the woman to behold. "Are any of you my Master?"
Olga felt a hand gently rest on her back and then found herself shambling forwards for around a foot, flinching in surprise before she shot a look over her shoulder and found herself staring at Marie's encouraging expression, the French queen giving her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile.
Giving the Rider an annoyed click of the tongue, she slowly turned back to Tarkus and started to walk towards him - still keeping Berserker on standby - and halted her movements at least several metres from the Servant. "I am Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldea." she pointed towards him "Why have you been summoned here?"
Tarkus remained silent for a few moments "...I..um…got told to come here?" he responded slowly and in a very unsure tone of voice, looking left and right before he leaned forwards slightly and sounded very nervous "Was…um…was I not supposed to?"
"What?" Olga did a double take at him, feeling her annoyance slowly start to rise "No you idiot!" she snapped at him and to her surprise, he actually flinched at her sudden rise of volume "I mean why are you specifically summoned here? Do you not have a Master already?"
"N-no?" He stepped back then nodded his head more confidently "No!"
"...Fine then." Taking in a deep breath, she composed herself and puffed up her appearance "Then from this moment on, I shall be your Master." her eyes narrowed behind her goggles "I expect you to obey my every command if you are to be my servant, are we clear?"
Tarkus raised his hands and tapped his fingers together, a gentle hum leaving his helmet as he seemingly considered something before looking behind her to the other Servants. He must have seen something - the Director resisted the urge to whirl around and see what they were doing behind her - because he gave a single nod and slowly moved towards her while extending his right hand like he was about to try and shake hers.
"Okay…" He continued on as he waddled towards her "I'll be your Servant." There was a pause as he stopped just in front of her "Just…don't make me do anything bad, alright?"
"Bad would be not obeying your Master." She growled at him as she extended a hand of her own and clasped his, finding that his own gauntlet very nearly dwarfed her palm. The actual Servant himself was towering above her, at least six-foot-five. She felt a slight jolt run through her body as she forged a contract with the Servant.
The minor twinge of pride was quickly stamped out when she realised that this one was an idiot.
"Have you been informed of anything in regards to this Singularity?" She asked as she retracted her limb to her side and placed it on her hip, staring up at the Servant expectantly.
Tarkus slowly shook his head at her and she found herself disappointed and unsurprised by the answer.
"Tch." She waved a hand at him while giving an annoyed click of the tongue, turning back around and walking towards the carriage "Just get in and keep silent."
"Okay…" He muttered again, slumping slightly as if he was a child who had recently been scolded.
Marie was staring at Nero with a mildly disapproving look on her face, whispering to her as the walked past the Rider "Do you need to be so rude to him?"
"As long as he does his job, what does it matter?" She bluntly replied back, bundling herself into the carriage and sitting down. Crossing her arms and returning to merely glaring out the window across the snowy tundra.
It probably wouldn't matter how she treated him anyway, the Servant would just as likely speak ill of her inside his own mind regardless of how she acted. She ground her teeth together in her jaw.
They were all the same. Smiling at her as if they thought she couldn't see their mocking expressions.
The only one exempt from this was Stahl.
And they were just a mindless Golem.
The carriage lurched to the side, Olga giving a panicked gasp as she turned to see Tarkus very nearly pull the entire vehicle over as he climbed in. The Saber paused when he saw the expression on his new Masters face, he turned his head to the side and looked down in a manner that clearly showed his shame.
"Sorry…mother always said I was-"
"I don't care."
"...Alright." He whispered again, climbing inside and shutting the door behind him. Hunching his body over as he sat down and resting his arms on his knees. Marie laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and tapped him twice in an effort to comfort him.
Tarkus released a noise of acknowledgement, turning towards Marie for a moment before he turned back to staring at the ground.
There was a groan and a muffled neigh before the carriage started to pick up once again, carrying the group onwards.
The command room was silent as the group stared at the monitor, all of them having been party to hearing the Directors 'recruitment' of the freshly summoned Saber.
The room remained silent, only the tapping on the keyboards could be heard as the operators managed the information of the readings they were getting from both the Scandinavian and London teams.
"Still nothing from Fujimaru-kun?" Romani asked as he looked away from his own screen towards Kerry, the man was visibly worried about the lack of contact although some could tell that wasn't all that concerned him.
"Still nothing." Kerry confirmed with a nod of the head before she exhaled and leaned back in her seat "Right if no one else is going to say anything-"
"Kerry." Maxwell spoke up from his own seat, sounding more exhausted and resigned than anything else "Don't. It's not worth it-"
"No, that was perhaps the worst recruitment I've ever heard in my life!" She exclaimed as she pointed at the screen "The Saber approaches her like the gentlest guy I've ever heard in my life and her first response is to say 'shut up and become my glorified slave' and the fact he doesn't just flip out is-is-"
"You say that like Servants aren't just familiars." Meuniere commented from his own station, then raised his hand "I know that's just the simplest way of putting it but they are basically familiars with sentience and a personality to them…" he sighed, reaching up and rubbing the bridge of his nose under his glasses "But yeah…That was…"
"She's just…getting used to it." Romani excused her with a faint smile "Besides, not every Master can be like Fujimaru-kun." he pointed out with a nod of the head, gesturing to the the screen of the boy in question "We're just used to Fujimaru-kun being much more approachable…"
"There's not being approachable and then there's being an asshole." Kerry grunted under her breath, shaking her head and looking away "...This is gonna end badly."
"Just give her time." Romani pleaded "She'll get there just…give her time is all. She did well in Rome so-"
"Yes, yes." Maxwell sighed, giving a wave of his right hand before he returned to his monitor "She'll get the hang of it, whatever…Lets just keep an eye on the Singularities." He turned around and faced the room. "We can complain about her all we like but we need to support her to resolve this Singularity in the same way we need to support Fujimaru."
The room was silent, Romani sending the man a thankful nod of the head which he responded to with a grunt as he turned his chair back around.
"That being said, I'd advise you to talk to her Romani." The man continued on "At the very least remind her that Servants probably work best if they actually like their Master."
Romani grimaced slightly and looked down, tapping his fingers on his desk and sighed. That much was true, in terms of Master compatibility the Director had been ranked as one of the worst possible contenders for the role of Master. The fact she had been able to summon a Servant at all had been nothing shy of miraculous.
However, it made sense when it was understood that the Berserker she summoned was nothing more than a Golem. Without a will of their own it didn't matter what her Master compatibility was if it meant they would obey her every word without question and lacked a personality.
It was having other Servants alongside them that gave him pause.
The Director had a very…difficult personality and the results didn't lie.
She was a…not very good Master.
Romani raised his head back up and stared at the monitor "They're currently on track to get close to where modern day Ribe is located, they'll be there within the next twenty minutes. Keep an eye on the readings as they travel, something caused this Singularity to jump up rapidly within a few minutes so be on the alert." he leaned back into his chair and fixed his eyes back on the readings for London.
By all accounts, it still looked as though all was going well.
The only issue was they hadn't communicated with them yet, so either something was blocking them or they were just preoccupied. Whatever the case, it was best to focus their efforts on the Singularity that they could actually monitor successfully, much as he didn't like it, he would have to focus on the Director before worrying about Fujimaru.
There wasn't much choice, that was just all he could do at the moment.
The carriage trundled along, occasionally jumping slightly as they ran over an odd bit of ground the movements would cause Tarkus armour to clang together and produce a metallic drumming sound.
The mild irritation was made worse by the fact that Tarkus himself refused to sit still for more than five seconds without doing something, either tapping away on his knee with his fingers or turning to look out of the window of the carriage. Each movement caused his armour to make yet more noise.
Olga felt her eye twitch in annoyance, turning to face the Servant with an irritable scowl before she clicked her tongue and looked away once again.
The silence didn't last forever though, Nero decided that she would be the one to break it.
"So! Saber!" She grinned, Tarkus jolted and continued to stare out the window "Tell us of yourself?"
"M-me?" He made a noise of surprise and pointed to himself as if somehow expecting there to be another Saber that Nero intended to speak with and had somehow snuck in between them without him noticing.
"Of course." Nero nodded her head "Someone of your stature and polite disposition must have a story to tell, must they nod?" she inquired, leaning forwards and cupping her chin "Umu…I do not know your name which means you must come from the other world!" she proclaimed as if it wasn't obvious.
"...I suppose?" Tarkus replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders "I mean, yes. I am. I'm a Knight from Balder…I was one of Sir Berenike's."
"Umu, umu!" Nero nodded along "Were they all as imposing as you?"
"A-actually, I was shorter than most of them." He admitted with a faint chuckle, reaching up and scratching the chin of his helmet "But mother always said that all that mattered was being big in heart if not in body!" he proclaimed with a cheery tone of voice, earnestness bleeding into his words "So that must mean I have a big heart!"
He paused for a moment as he looked around. "Actually…you're all shorter than me, so you must have big hearts as well, right?"
Nero stared at him in silence for a few moments before her eyes brightened considerably and she pressed a hand into her rightmost breast, the movement caused Tarkus to swiftly look away from her and back out of the window, not even registering the motion Nero started to speak in an exceedingly boastful tone.
Otherwise known as her normal voice.
"Umu!" She grinned widely "I do indeed have a big heart! How else could you explain how generous I am to the people? Umu, umu!" she waved her arm across the carriage towards Tarkus "You must have quite the perception to notice such a fact about me within moments of meeting me, although I suppose it is rather obvious, is it not?"
"U-um…y-yes, right." Tarkus nodded his head, still not directly facing her and opting to stare from the window, then paused and slowly turned back towards Nero and then towards Marie, finally at Olga before he returned to the other two Servants "...Sorry if this sounds abrupt but aren't you cold?"
"...Yes." Nero admitted after a moment with a sullen nod of the head, pouting and gazing at the weather in a forlorn fashion "Every instinct is telling me to bundle myself within a dozen warm blankets and cloaks to protect myself from this godless cold but that would deprive everyone the beauty of seeing my peerless body."
Tarkus tilted his head "I don't mean to be rude miss, but I would much prefer you to be warm and comfortable than anything else." His response was earnest and innocent as he gestured to her "It's much too cold outside and I think you should dress more warmly."
Nero frowned ever so slightly "But in this chill, the people who live there would need every bastion of beauty they might find." she pointed at herself "What sort of Emperor would I be if I didn't appeal to the needs of the masses?"
Tarkus made a noise in response "I don't know about all that miss. I just don't like the idea that you're getting cold." he paused and then hummed "Although I don't think that there's anything you can make a cloak out of…" he realised with a sad tone of voice as he looked down "Sorry, miss."
"Do not worry yourself about it!" Nero assured him with a wave of her hand "Although the fact you care so deeply for my beautiful figure warms my heart and surely it is that love that will keep me warm even in these bitter winds."
"Alright." Tarkus nodded his head, accepting the reasoning without another word before he realised something "Ah…I realised I never asked for your names. That was rude of me." he looked between the Rider and Saber "Sorry, Miss's."
"Umu, that is our blunder." Nero shook her head at him before she crossed her arms and puffed herself up "I am Emperor Nero Claudius of Rome!"
"I'm Marie Antionette." The platinum blonde to his right introduced herself with a soft voice and a gentle smile, bowing her head ever so slightly at him "Queen of France."
Tarkus froze in the wake of their introductions.
He slowly raised his right hand, pointing a finger at Nero "E-Emperor?"
"Umu!"
The shaky finger turned towards Marie "Queen?" he squeaked out.
The girl nodded her head once before she shifted her face, her mouth morphing into a concerned frown as she saw the way the knight's arm dropped to his side "Is there something the matter?"
"I-I-I am so sorry, Miss!" He loudly apologised as he dropped his head down as far as he could "I have been so rude to you! I should have been more respectful! Mother always said to speak politely to your betters and I've been speaking much too casually!" he released a strangled noise as he turned to Nero "P-please accept my apologies for telling you how to dress, Miss Nero!"
Nero blinked at the sudden shift in personality, looking thoroughly taken aback.
Marie was swift to respond, resting a hand on the knight's right shoulder "Don't worry about a thing, Tarkus." she patted the knight gently "You can treat us exactly the same. I don't mind." there was a pause "Actually, I would prefer you to!"
"Umu!" Nero nodded her head "We are not in Rome anymore and I would prefer you to speak with me more candidly." there was a pause "Also, your polite way of speaking is very appealing. It is much more preferable to this fearful tone."
"B-but…um…" Tarkus looked between the two of them before his shoulders dropped "I don't want to be rude Miss Marie, Miss Nero…"
"It's not rude if we're asking you." Marie assured him gently "I would prefer a friend to a subject anyway."
Tarkus released a light chuckle at her words "I don't think I could be friends with such pretty ladies, Miss Marie."
Marie raised an eyebrow at him and presented him with a playful smirk, all the while Nero preened at the praise.
The Black Iron knight eventually realised what he had just said, an embarrassed noise escaped his helmet before he swiftly turned in his seat and returned to staring out the window "P-please forget I said that!" he all but begged.
"Will you stop talking nonsense!" Olga hissed from her side of the carriage "What are you even playing at?"
Tarkus looked away once again, staring down at the floor with a hint of shame and guilt. The move managed to earn a frown from Marie who turned to the Director and levelled an unimpressed stare upon her.
"There's no need to be rude." She chided the woman "We're merely speaking with one another, isn't it expected for a team to have some measure of communication with one another to be successful?"
"What does that have to do with asking him why he won't look at you?" Olga scoffed, shaking her head and looking away from the group in annoyance "You're not even discussing anything relating to our current situation, you're just speaking of nothing even remotely relevant. If something happens, then we can engage in conversation about what it was but until such a time then I would strongly recommend that-"
"Well, then." Nero cut her off and turned to Tarkus, giving him an unusually serious look "I assume you do battle in a straightforward manner, given your attire and choice of weaponry?"
"Ah…yes!" Tarkus nodded his head at her "I'm not very good at fighting tricky so I just use my strength." he pointed towards his arm "Mother always told me to play to my strengths and mine is…well…" he awkwardly chuckled as he realised where that sentence was leading.
"Your strength." Nero surmised with an amused twinkle in her eyes "Have you any special skills?"
"Just boosting my strength and toughness." He thumped a fist into his chest before he paused for a few moments "Also something to do with the stars but I don't know about that."
"Stars?" Olga shifted in her seat and turned towards him when she heard that, her head inclined ever so slightly and her tone changed from annoyance to befuddled curiosity "What do you mean by stars?"
"Pioneer." He paused when he saw several surprised looks aimed at him. "...What?"
"Pioneer of the Stars!?" Romani's voice cried out through the communicator on Olga's wrist, his face flashed into existence soon after and looked thoroughly dumbstruck by it "Really? What did you do? That's a skill that only those who shifted the course of humanity have access to, like Tesla or Francis Drake."
"Or me!" Da Vinci's face cut through Romani's feed, her own expression behind one of palpable excitement "So, what did you do my darkly armoured friend! It must have been something special to earn you that sort of ranking! What impossible deed did you do in life?"
"...Um…impossible?" Tarkus tilted his head slightly "What do you mean impossible?"
Da Vinci blinked once before she shook her head "Mamma mia." she muttered under her breath before facing the man once again, this time sporting an expression that looked close enough to lecturing. Tarkus recognised the look as the same one his mother would give him whenever she was about to tell him something important.
"Listen closely." Da Vinci raised a single finger, placing a pair of glasses on her head with her other hand "A Pioneer of the Stars is not just someone who performs a task that is exceedingly difficult, they are one that performs a task that was regarded as - quite literally - impossible. Acts that break the boundary for what humanity thought they could achieve. Understand?"
Takrus was still for a few moments before he nodded his head once "I-I think so? I did something that people didn't think they could do?"
"...Yeah." She nodded her head "That's a simple way of doing it and kind of plays down the achievement but I doubt that you actually mean it in a malicious way." she paused, cupping her chin "So I can only assume you got yours via the same sort of method as Francis Drake…so was there anything you did that others regarded as really difficult?"
The black knight crossed his arms and gave a quiet hum as he thought to himself for a few moments "Well…There was Sen's fortress. Everyone said that was really difficult."
"A-a fortress?" Da Vinci replied with a strained expression but still not disappointed "Was there anything special about it?"
"It was supposed to grant entry into Anor Londo!" He pointed out with a bit of excitement in his voice as he turned back to her "That was supposed to be hard."
"Supposed to?" Nero raised an eyebrow before she looked around "And Anor Londo?"
"City of the Gods." Da Vinci supplied "Think of Olympus." she clarified for the Roman Emperor who now looked at Tarkus with something more akin to surprise at mild interest. "So you got into Anor Londo?"
"...Yes." Tarkus nodded his head, then paused and realised something "I don't think anyone else had done so before me…" he reached up and scratched his head "But I don't get it…I just…walked forwards and got to the end. It didn't seem that hard to me…"
Romani's face flashed up again, this time with a great deal of understanding "Well, that would explain the EX ranked luck." the man realised with a dry laugh and a faint shake of the head "You just walked your way into changing the course of human history and didn't even realise you were doing it…that's impressive."
"...I don't think that's it…right?" Tarkus looked around the carriage for support. "I mean…It probably wasn't that amazing anyway."
"Did you actually get into the city?"
"Yeah…" He chuckled nervously and looked away from the group "But…um…I slipped."
"...You slipped?"
"Yeah."
"Like…you fell over?"
A hum accompanied by a nod.
"So…"
"Well, I was trying to find a way across this bridge." Tarkus explained with an embarrassed voice "And there was this Church that went across the gap so I went in there and walked along the rafters…" he paused, then pointed a finger at himself "I'm…not that…um…I'm a little clumsy."
"Oh." Romani made a strained expression at him "Ooooooh."
Da Vinci's face cropped back in again, looking blank. "So let me get this straight…You manage to just walk through a maze of the Gods which was apparently so difficult it was regarded as impossible to do." she nodded at him "Given that you possess the skill, and upon gaining access to the city of the Gods after braving this impossible fortress….you then slip and fall to your death?"
"...Yes." Tarkus nodded after a moment's hesitation before he looked down at his lap and tapped the tips of his index fingers together. "You can laugh if you want…it's a bit silly."
"...It's not that funny." Marie reassured him from the side "It's actually quite tragic." she added on with a mild frown.
"Meh." Tarkus shrugged his shoulders "It's pretty embarrassing. I mean…I would laugh at it."
Olga stared at him in pure silence before she spoke up again. "Anything else to inform me of?"
"If I fall from a high place, I'll probably die." He responded quickly "I don't know how I know that, I just do." a pause "It seems pretty obvious for me to avoid high places and also…they…I'm not a big supporter of heights."
The Director closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose before she exhaled through her mouth, the eyes opened back up "A conceptual weakness to heights then." she surmised "In that case, it would be best that you stay at ground level at all times."
"Okay." Tarkus nodded his head once before Da Vinci spoke up again.
"Well, I suppose not every Pioneer can be a genius or master inventor but braving an impossible fortress and succeeding is still a very impressive feat." The woman smiled to herself and leaned back "So - from one Pioneer to another - I offer you my warmest welcome."
"Thanks, Miss."
"Leonardo Da Vinci." The brunette boasted as she flicked her hair over her shoulder as if to try and show off more of her face. It was as she turned back to Tarkus that she noticed something off. He wasn't actually facing her directly, it was barely noticeable but his line of sight was positioned so that he was actually staring at her shoulder.
Da Vinci narrowed her eyes slightly towards the knight as she started to piece things together. "Tarkus?"
"Yes, Miss Da Vinci?"
"You are looking me in the eye, right?" She inquired as she tilted her head before waving in the direction of her face "It's just that the helmet makes it hard to tell."
"Sorry, Miss Da Vinci." Tarkus apologised in a slightly abashed voice.
"I'm about an inch to the left."
"As if on cue, Tarkus did indeed turn his head to the left ever so slightly." The end result was him not even staring in her general direction.
"Is that alright, Miss Da Vinci?"
The collective eyes of the carriage fell upon Tarkus as they realised he wasn't looking at Da Vinci at all.
"...Your eyes work normally, right?" Nero asked rather bluntly as she tilted her head at the Saber, Tarkus visibly shifted in surprise at the question.
"Yes, why?"
"Tarkus." Da Vinci spoke in an amused tone "Are your eyes closed?"
"...No." He responded after a moment's silence "Mother said it was very rude not to look someone in the eye when you speak to them." a beat "Unless they're someone important, then mother said to just look at the ground unless they tell you otherwise."
"Just checking." Da Vinci hummed to herself as she leaned back and raised an eyebrow, a knowing look passing across her face "I've just noticed something."
"Really?"
"Yes. You haven't actually looked me in the eye once." She stated with a tone of absolute surety "You've been staring in my general direction but you haven't actually been looking at me."
Tarkus remained silent.
"Your mother didn't teach you to lie, did she?~"
"...No." Tarkus looked down "Sorry, Miss Da Vinci…I just…it's hard to look you in the face. Sorry."
"Why is that?"
Tarkus shifted awkwardly in his seat, turning his head to gaze out of the window of the carriage and seemingly unwilling to speak further. He made a noise in the back of his throat that made it clear he was finding it increasingly awkward to be present. What was worse was the fact he could feel the curious stares being aimed in his direction.
"I…have trouble speaking with pretty girls." He admitted in a quiet tone of voice, looking down at the floor of the carriage.
Marie squinted at him "...How long have your eyes been closed?"
"...Since I got in the carriage."
Kerry scratched her cheek as she stared at the screen, her brows furrowed in mild bewilderment before she turned towards the others in the room. Gesturing to Romani to cut out the communication, the doctor nodded his head and cut the connection on the Directors end to hide what they were going to say.
"Is it weird that we've encountered Servants who apparently did the impossible and between all of them, one is a drunk and the other is just a himbo?" She pointed out with a bemused expression "Like…Is Da Vinci just the exception or something or is there some hidden aspect we're not seeing?"
"You mean aside from the consistent demand for praise?" Romani dryly replied with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head "Besides, I'm sure that Leo is taking this in her own unique way." he chuckled "I imagine she's quite a bit surprised at the lack of Pioneer's being geniuses. Probably." there was a pause before he realised something "Actually, she might also enjoy being unique…"
"She really can turn any situation to her own advantage, can't she?" Maxwell grunted in amusement from his own seated position "And the extended range has managed to detect a slight disturbance coming from up ahead of the group."
Romani turned to him with a serious expression "What sort of disturbance?"
"Small scale but quite potent." Maxwell elaborated further as he pressed his hands on the screen and enlarged the image in front of him "Based on what I'm seeing it looks to be some sort of defensive bounded field?" he frowned as he drummed his fingers on his desk "But it's more physical than you would normally expect."
Kerry looked to her own screen "Yeah, I can see it as well. Looks more like someones blessed a wall or something." she paused "Or created a wall with magical energy around a small settlement. Looks like Ribe too, so someone is trying to defend it."
"Defend it from what, is the question though." Meuniere asked aloud "And who is the one doing it? Servants summoned by the Grail or whomever is behind the Singularity to begin with?"
"Unfortunately, we won't know until they arrive." Romani sighed, shaking his head and frowning to himself "Any sign of life forms up ahead?"
"The bounded field is muddling the readings a little." Maxwell informed him before he gave a hum of understanding "I would think that the purpose is to protect it from scrying, so basically to find it you'd need to physically see it." a pause "That would also mean that they want to keep it hidden so they're either desperate to hide…"
"Or they are doing something they don't want anyone to see." Kerry finished with a grim expression "So they're either going to walk into a bunch who are going to be happy to see them or a group that are all 'death to outsiders'?"
"...Unfortunately so." Meuniere grimaced and rubbed his neck "We should probably let the Director know what she might be walking into, just in case it's a worse case scenario."
"I'll let her know." Romani nodded his head and moved back to the communicator.
The black knight continued to tap on his leg, content with staring out at the horizon without making a single sound from his mouth. There was, however, something he was deeply curious about. Eventually, it reached a point where he could no longer contain it and he turned towards the Director once again, seemingly debating whether or not to ask her something before he decided to "Have you done something like this before, Miss Animuspear?"
"Animusphere." She corrected him with a curt tone of voice "And yes."
"Okay." He nodded and looked out of the window "Because it never really got cold at home so I've never seen snow before." his head shifted from side to side as he stared at it "Does it always look like this?"
"Snow?" Marie piped up at his side and hummed to herself "Yes, but how beautiful it truly looks if affected by location as well as the amount of snow." she pointed over the knight and at the horizon "Such as this, we're in the middle of a snow storm but I assume that this landscape is rather lovely during a sunrise."
"Hmmm." Tarkus nodded his head at her words "That sounds nice. Did it snow in your home, Miss Marie?"
"France? Yes, we did get some cold winters and a touch of snow every now and again." Marie nodded her head with a tranquil smile, a faint twinge of nostalgia in her eyes "It was actually some of the colder winters that occurred about ten years before I was born."
"Does it snow every year?" Tarkus asked with something akin to childish awe, his innocent tone of voice was more than enough to bring an amused smile to Marie's face as she nodded her head at him. "...Wow." he muttered in sheer amazement as he returned to gazing out of the window "...I can't imagine that. Even when it got really cold, it didn't snow. Mother said that it was only the northern lands that got snow."
"What was the weather in your home like?" Nero asked, leaning forwards and resting her chin on her hand "You make it sound rather pleasant, if you were spared the chills of winter."
"Well…" Tarkus paused as he looked away from the view "It got really hot in the summertime, actually some of the plants and trees would catch fire. During the autumn it got a bit chilly but also really wet so we called it the rainy season." he paused for a moment "Spring was nice though. It got a little warm in spring but not that bad. I liked to go to the local river and feed the ducks."
His shoulders puffed themselves up, indicating that he was rather proud of this next achievement "The ducks really liked me. They would always swim up to me when I went near the river and they would speak to me." he paused "They didn't say actual words, but I could tell they were happy to see me."
Tarkus' voice positively dripped with pride as he spoke, the idea that he had made friends with the ducks was apparently something that he was exceedingly happy about.
Before anyone else could ask further about his odd fascination with ducks, the communicator flared back into life. The holographic image of Romani's face flashed up with an obvious sense of unease about him.
"Director, you're coming up on the settlement of Ribe but we're having trouble getting some accurate readings of it." He informed her, the woman frowned heavily and turned to face him with a slightly pensive expression.
"Why not?"
Romani bit his lower lip "We think it might be a bounded field of some variety to prevent scrying its location which is why we're having trouble seeing anything inside it. So it's probably the work of a Caster Servant." he explained to her "Which means they're either trying to hide out of protection or because they just don't want anyone to see what they're doing."
Olga rolled her jaw "...What do we know of this town historically?"
"It would have been founded in the late sixth century and early seventh." Romani explained "Actually, for a portside town it was quite well off. A lot of the currency used in Denmark was thought to have been minted in that location, a lot of the other income came from trading that went on as well so it shouldn't be too empty."
"So its a commercial town." Olga remarked with a nod of the head before her eyes narrowed "Therefore, there is little reason for it to be isolated?" she moved her hand towards her mouth and bit into her thumb "Which means that this is going to be our best source of information for what is going on in this Singularity…"
"...So far, yeah." Romani nodded his head "But whether the group present is hostile or friendly…we just don't know yet." he shrugged his shoulders before giving her a half-smile "Maybe they will be friendly?"
"Or maybe they'll try and kill me." She bluntly shot back before rolling her jaw. It would be simple enough to just avoid the town and go elsewhere but as it stood, the next location probably wouldn't be for a few dozen miles and the idea of patrolling the entire Danish countryside - especially in this weather - without any actual source of information wasn't one that she was willing to make.
On the other hand, if they went to Ribe and found out that it was the central territory for whoever was running this Singularity, then there was a chance they would end up being defeated and killed.
"I think we should say hello to them." Tarkus chimed in from his side of the carriage "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Death, you idiot." Olga bluntly retorted without so much as turning in his direction, still internally debating whether they should keep on going or try and investigate the town. She removed her thumb from her mouth and ground her teeth together, eyes flickering around the carriage. "We'll…" she trailed off and fell into another thoughtful silence.
Nero and Marie exchanged a glance with each other before they both turned back to the hesitant Master, the woman continued to think in silence without making a single utterance.
"I believe we should investigate." Nero proclaimed loudly, pressing a hand against her chest and puffing herself out "With the forces we have available, even if they do prove hostile we should at least be able to make a rapid escape in the worst case." she turned to Tarkus and beamed "Not to mention our newest addition who can make the impossible possible!"
Tarkus fidgeted under the praise, looking away from the Emperor and towards his feet "Well…I think you're being a bit too generous there…But if you say so!" he looked back up, turning to the Director "Don't worry, Miss Olga! I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you, I'm still a Knight after all!"
"Wonderful." Marie clapped her hands together and turned to the Director with a reassuring smile "See? We are prepared for the worst."
Olga looked at her and then swept her gaze across the carriage. An odd look passed through her eyes before they turned resigned and flickered away from them and towards the window. "...Fine." She responded to them after a few moments "Take us to spotting distance before we approach."
It showed how much faith they had in her as a Master.
They were already prepared to have to fight a retreat rather than debate the possibility of victory.
Servants were just supposed to be mere familiars on paper and yet they were already telling her that they fully expected every encounter of battle they had with her as their leader to end in disaster. She shifted in her seat to further hide her expression from the Servants, doing her best to contain her rather tumultuous emotions.
She didn't want to consider any of them seeing her in this state and the idea that they would was nothing short of traumatic.
Avoiding the gazes of the Servants, she hunkered down and fell into a deep silence as she already imagined the ways that their first encounter was going to go horribly wrong and she would inevitably be blamed for it when it wasn't even her fault to begin with. Closing her eyes, she steadied her breathing.
It worked out in Rome when Stahl obeyed her commands.
Therefore, as long as the Servants obeyed her commands then everything would work out fine.
The carriage ground to a halt, sitting still in the snow at least a kilometre from the town of Ribe. The main issue wasn't the presence of woodland blocking their path, rather the complete lack of a woodland.
Instead, there was only patchy black dirt covered with a thin layer of snow that hadn't completely settled. That much indicated that either it had occurred recently or that the snowstorm wasn't an ongoing occurrence and had only formed recently.
The group slowly climbed down from the carriage and into the open, Tarkus stepping towards the black ground and dropping down to one knee. The knight reached out and stuck his hand into the floor and grasped at the dirt before raising his hand up and shifting through it with his thumb.
"It's…burnt." He informed the group as he let the ash slip in between his fingers, standing back up and turning around to face the group before offering a single shrug "It's all burnt."
"Clearly." Olga huffed as she pulled her hood over her head and affixed her goggles over her eyes, walking towards the ground and staring down at it. A frown came upon her face behind her thermal mask as she scanned the location, the patchy burnt patches of ground were occasionally displaced with a stump rising up from the ground, for perhaps a few feet before it curtailed off into a shard.
As she looked closer, she could see further points of uneven ground that revealed themselves to be toppled over logs and the like, as she squinted at them she took notice that they were similarly burnt.
"This is most disturbing." Nero commented from behind her, placing her hands on her hips and frowning heavily "This has the hallmarks of an attack meant to stop anything from being rebuilt." her eyes scanned their surroundings and the frown only deepened "This level of destruction would require an army to do so…or perhaps a Servant with a preference for flames."
"Unless…" Marie cupped her chin, a gentle and thoughtful hum emerging from her throat as her eyes narrowed "I recall the Singularity in France having similar scenes of destruction."
"Those were caused by an influx of wyverns accompanied by a Dragon." Olga rolled her jaw, crossing her arms and drumming her fingers on her upper arm. "That is…" she cast another glance over the devastation before she raised up her communicator "Romani, what are the local readings for the area?"
"Not looking good." Romani informed her with a pensive frown "From the looks of it, there isn't a single woodland within a mile of you on any side. It's like the entire landscape has been burnt to nothing." he nodded towards the direction of the Rider "I would say that Queen Marie is on the right track, this is the sort of damage that is consistent with high concentrations of Wyverns and dragons…although whether this has anything to do with the actual Singularity or is merely a byproduct…"
"You refer to the case in the third Singularity where Fujimaru encountered wyverns in the wild summoned by the distortion." She realised with a frown. Neither case was particularly appealing to her but it would make sense why a Magus would want to conceal their position from scrying. If there was someone directing the wyverns rather than them being wild, then it would be best to prevent any sort of long distance spell from discerning their location.
It meant they would need to scour the entire country in order to find them which would mean a long and bloody war.
Whatever else, they confirmed that there was definitely something occurring within Denmark that might relate to dragon-kind. At the very least, she could expect them.
Of course, she could have told Romani that.
That little comment where he told her that the Rider had the idea was nothing more than a jab at her competency. She could just tell that was the case.
The Director held her tongue, biting back whatever scathing remark she had for the Doctor in favour of focusing on the task at hand, she turned her attention to the west and stared across the horizon. As expected, even with a majority of the landscape flattened she still couldn't see the town of Ribe in the distance which meant they would have to get closer.
But with conditions like this, they would probably end up seeing each other at the same time.
It wasn't like the carriage was well hidden amidst the snow backdrop and any Magus or Caster Servant who went through the trouble of keeping an entire town hidden from anything but the most advanced scrying wasn't liable to be caught off-guard by a carriage just riding through this place.
They would have set up a warning system of some kind to alert them.
They would set up a warning system and they'd just blunder right the way through it and end up waltzing into a trap.
She continued to stare at the horizon, giving an internal growl before she looked away in an irritable huff. They didn't have much of a choice unless they wanted to go back to blindly riding across the entire country. There was every possibility that any other centre of civilization in the local area had been reduced to a similar state. They just couldn't guarantee anything when it came to their current situation and she truthfully hated that.
Again, they didn't have much in the way of a choice.
Grinding her teeth once again, she waved her hand back in the direction of the carriage.
"We're going." She informed the group as she turned on her heel and marched back towards their vehicle "Get back in carriage." The next words were virtually forced out of her mouth "We're…going to Ribe."
Tarkus tilted his head at her "We are?" he blinked behind his helmet "I thought you didn't want to go, Miss Olga-"
"Of course I don't want to go there!" She snapped at him, whirling around and glaring at the Saber behind her goggles "But it's not like there is much of a choice, is there!?"
Tarkus flinched and looked down.
"Now do as you're told and get in the carriage." With that said, she flung the door to the carriage open and stepped back into the vehicle and out of the cold.
Tarkus stood there for a few moments more in the quiet before he looked down at his feet, shuffling his legs in the ashen snow. Eventually, he looked back up and took notice of Marie and Nero giving him mildly concerned looks, he waved his hand at the pair of them.
"It's fine." He assured them "I'm sure Miss Olga is just a bit…stressed right now." he spoke in a gentle tone of voice "She'll probably feel better soon enough. Dragons are pretty scary." he chuckled as he started to walk forwards "When we aren't in trouble, she'll calm down."
The confidence at which he spoke managed to abate the worries - if only slightly - for the two other Servants as they followed suit after the Saber and stepped back into the wagon.
With the group once again in the carriage, the transport continued on its ride west of the group in the direction of Ribe.
The group was entirely unaware - as they departed - of the pair of white wolves that gazed upon them in the distance. Their fur perfectly allowing them to blend into their surroundings even without their magical nature to assist them in remaining hidden.
The pair of wolves soon turned to glance at one another before their eyes fell back on the retreating shape of the carriage, their eyes already funnelling information back towards their owner.
"Jarl!" A voice called out, accompanied by the sound of rushing footsteps as they closed in on the figure hunched over near the 'wall'.
Wall in the loosest possible term, it was a patchwork of branches grown from the ground that interlocked with each other, rising up at least ten feet high and arching inwards in a slight curve. Along the inner surface of the wall were a consistent line of symbols carved into the wood, each marking glowed ever so slightly and spread across the entire length.
The figure shifted in their crouched position, and looked over their shoulder. The nail shaped helmet with antlers jutting from either side looked in the direction of the speaker, a young man with blonde hair and a rough cut beard stretching across his chin, garbed in simple chainmail and a tunic underneath.
They slowly rose to their feet and turned in the man's direction fully, towering over the individual and staring down at them. Ragged fur cloak billowing in the wind as they did so before they raised their left hand up to halt the rushing man.
"Peace, young warrior." His voice was deep and mature. "Breathe, you cannot deliver a message if you yourself are too tired to speak."
The young man nodded his head, slowing his breathing as best he could and nodding his head before he looked back up. "Jarl Torin, the Völva has a message. He says that others approach the wall."
Torin paused at the words "...People? He is certain of his words, Brynjar?"
The young man nodded his head vigorously "He assures all with absolute certainty. He says they will be here before the passing of the storm."
Torin visibly shifted with the words, turning away from the young man and staring towards the wall itself, although his expression hidden behind his large helmet it did nothing to conceal his thoughtful hum, nor the way his posture shifted to appear more contemplative.
He raised a single hand in the direction of Brynjar "Find Torgny and tell him to prepare the warriors but to hold fast. We need not make enemies with the spawn of the black serpent swarming in our skies."
Brynjar nodded his head.
"I shall go to the front gate and prepare myself to meet with them." He saw the look of alarm on the young man's face before he spoke again "Inform the völva to accompany me when he has the time but to maintain a watch on them." he started to walk away from the wall and towards the other end of the settlement "And what more have the survivors from the north had to say?"
Brynjar hesitated for a moment before he spoke "They have still not awoken…I am growing concerned, to die here and not in battle." his expression turned grim "They do not deserve to walk the halls of Hel-"
"And they will not." Torin interrupted him, turning to face him "If dealing with the arrivals proves peaceful, then perhaps we might enlist their aid."
Brynjar blinked "You believe so?"
"There is little else for us, we can barely withstand the attacks as it stands and given that we are now present…" His tone turned grim "I have little doubt that the black serpent of dread will be upon us."
The man blanched "...Fafnir…"
Torin nodded his head in acknowledgement as the pair continued their walk, moving past the groups of other individuals as they made themselves busy with other duties about the town, stopping to nod in the direction of the pair.
Brynjar paused before he spoke again "Do you perhaps believe they might also be emissaries of Lord Odin?"
Torin paused at that, humming to himself in thought "Perhaps, but they might be travellers…" he continued on before shaking his head and dismissing the thought "It matters little to speculate right now, we shall see when they arrive." he turned to face Brynjar and pat him on the shoulder "I have issued my command, now go and see it done."
Brynjar nodded his head "As you say, Jarl." With that said, he turned away from the taller man and rushed back through the town, heading in the direction of the wooden hall at the far end, moving past the bundles of armoured men and women.
Torin watched the young man depart before he focused his attention on the pseudo-gate and crossed his arms. Closing his eyes behind his helmet.
There was much to consider, especially with the recent attack by serpents they had repelled. They'd failed to kill all of the beasts and that meant they would inevitably return to their master. When that occurred, it didn't matter what manner of runes they had carved into the wood, it wouldn't protect them from the wrath of the one who brought calamity.
They would need to move from this location, however to his knowledge there were few places of sanctuary. It would all depend upon what those who had fled from the northland would say. To say nothing of recent arrivals in such a location, although it conceded with what his fellow druid had spoken of.
'Those who watched stars would arrive in the land scorched by fire.'
He might not have been a seer, but he wasn't going to doubt the words of one.
It mattered little either way, battling the black serpent was not something he could possibly do alone and the assistance of his fellow druid mattered remarkably little. Their foe was just too powerful.
Exhaling gently, he released a half chuckle and reached up to rub the bridge of his helmet.
"No time for such sour thoughts." He muttered to himself as he walked towards the gate and willed the branches to retract, exposing the outside world and allowing himself to step outside before they slowly worked themselves closed behind him.
AN: Olga problems and already an idea as to what is going on around here.
And yes, Torin is another OC Dark Souls Servant like with Verndari.
5 guesses who they are.
But anyway…
We're away!