Ritsuka looked at the white-haired girl in revealing attire before him, her head bowed. The woman before him was practically a deity, and from the girl's past experiences with divine beings, she had learned one thing: not to provoke them.
The woman before her was a lancer-class servant, glaring at Ritsuka with disdain, ironic as it was. There was a sense of déjà vu in this situation, even though the woman didn't possess the same level of divinity as Scathach.
"Are you still angry about us killing your master?" Everyone around let out an exasperated sigh at her master's words.
The woman's spear touched the ground, causing it to crack, and the orange-haired girl flinched.
"You brat, what do you think?" The red eyes of the demigoddess glowed with hatred.
It was impressive that a servant retained past memories, but at this point, the Throne of Heroes was completely unstable, so it wasn't unusual anymore.
"Hey, don't blame us. You guys wanted to kill everyone!" The demigoddess only narrowed her eyes at her master.
Mashu stepped forward and stood in front of Ritsuka.
"How about we forget the past, Lady Caenis. We are allies now." Caenis shifted her gauze to the girl with washed-out hair and rested the spear on her shoulder.
"For you, it's 'sir'," Caenis remarked, accompanied by a tongue click.
Mashu blinked as the shield servant realized that Caenis had a history in legends involving gender switching due to Poseidon. Mashu didn't quite understand how it worked, but she decided not to ask – in fact, she didn't want to know. Caenis wore a very tight outfit that emphasized her body, and looking at her pelvic region, there was no bulge. Just the thought of something not being right in that area made Mashu contort her face in an odd expression of discomfort, as if something was amiss in her mind. Caenis seemed to notice.
"What's with that expression, girl? Looks like you've eaten something sour ..." Caenis moved closer to Mashu's face della, causing her to recoil in surprise.
"It's nothing. As I was saying, we don't need to be enemies here... Where are you off to, 'sir' Caenis?" Both Mashu and Ritsuka blinked as the demigoddess walked away from Chaldea's core, her spear resting on her shoulder, lazily waving her hand.
"I'm going to take a look around this Chaldea. See you another time, insects," her comment made both of them shrink back.
Caenis noticed that another, or rather, other deities were staring at her, their expressions filled with disdain.
Scathach and Cu Chulainn stared at her without saying a word, as if waiting for the demigoddess to do something. She noticed that the blue-haired man was a caster, not a lancer, which left her slightly confused since the Cu Chulainn she had faced before was a lancer. Caenis decided not to dwell on it too much and left the room.
...
"I feel like I'm in déjà vu..." Ritsuka sighed in frustration. Mashu gave her a few pats on her back to comfort the girl.
Scathach seemed to notice and clicked her tongue. "Don't compare me to her; I was more polite in the beginning."
"Sure, and my name is Hercules..." Ritsuka had to duck as a red spear flew over her head. Mashu had to pull her to avoid being hit.
"Kyaaaaaa! Are you trying to kill me?!" Ritsuka screamed loudly as her body trembled in fear.
"Tsk ... missed ..." Cu Chulainn simply laughed at his teacher's reaction to him, leaning the spear against his back and resting his arms on it for support.
"Well, she's better than I remembered, at least," Cu Chulainn's comment on her caused Scathach to narrow her eyes at her disciple, but he ignored it with a smile on her face.
"Why do I feel like I know where she's going..." Mashu said, looking at Scathach, which left the goddess confused, not understanding what she was referring to, until something clicked in her head.
"You must be kidding me..." Scathach exclaimed with wide eyes. Artoria and Artoria Alter simply rolled their eyes.
"Seems like the fastest one is the slowest," Artoria Alter said, and Artoria elbowed her in the ribs, making her flinch.
"You need to choose your words better... Hey, that's rude! Where are you going?!" Artoria shouted at her corrupted counterpart as she watched her leave the room while holding her sore ribs.
"First, I'm going to return what you gave me," Artoria Alter said, rubbing her sore ribs, "and second, that man is a magnet for deities; I'm not leaving him alone."
Scathach and Artoria looked at each other and began to chase after the man who seemed to attract divine beings, a rather strange situation indeed.
...
Caenis walked through Chaldea with her lance resting on her shoulders, children passed by her, playing and jumping through the corridors. She felt the larger amount of prana compared to her master's her.
Were these servants?
Caenis blinked and noticed that the people walking down the corridors and chatting weren't humans... they were all servants... which made her stop in surprise.
An incredibly muscular man with gray skin carried a small girl with snow-colored hair, while a white bear followed the two.
"I've already told you, Heracles. I think you're mistaking me for someone else," the muscle-bound man seemed to ignore the girl's comment and continued to carry her protectively on her shoulders.
"Moo...okay." For some reason, the girl felt safe as she clung to the man's head. A smile appeared on her face her, the bear that followed them yawned repeatedly – it did n't detect danger in the man, so she did n't mind.
Caenis blinked as the servants passed her by...
Was that Heracles?!
Caenis turned to look behind her and saw the group disappearing down the hallway. The demigoddess blinked and blinked again, unable to believe it. Her thoughts of her were interrupted as someone bumped into her. She turned to see who it was.
"Hey, wait up, Alcides!" The man was Jason, and he ran after the Greek hero, leaving Caenis in the middle of the corridor.
Two women walked and chatted through the corridors, they were exactly identical, the only difference being that one had paler, washed-out skin, yellow eyes, and white hair, while the other had normal skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Their styles also differed, even though they had the same face. One had a more gothic look, while the other appeared more cheerful.
"What are you staring at?!" Jeanne Alter snapped with aggression, giving her a tap to the top of her head.
"Ouch!?"
"Apologies, sister. She did n't pay much attention. Welcome to Chaldea," Jeanne said as she passed by Caenis, and Jeanne Alter rubbed the top of her head from her.
"We're not sisters..." Jeanne Alter whispered, but Jeanne ignored her.
Caenis just blinked... more servants walked the corridors. Two Hindu deities argued as they passed by her – one with pale skin and the other with darker skin. Greek servants like Achilles and Chiron passed by, engaged in conversation. Chiron waved to her and then departed.
Atalanta and Medea looked at the woman, recognizing her from the Singularity, but there was no hostility between them. They merely greeted her and moved on while chatting.
Among many, many servants passing by, Caenis just blinked in confusion.
What is happening here?!
The demigoddess snapped out of her daze and began walking. She walked aimlessly through the corridors, observing the snowy environment. She passed by servants, and more servants passed her by – some she'd never seen before, and others she recognized from the Singularity. However, none of them showed any intention of fighting; everything was so... peaceful.
This is wrong... it feels wrong...
Caenis blinked as she felt something strange. She walked in a specific direction until she spotted someone familiar.
"You ..." the man turned his head and saw his adversary from the previous Singularity.
"Me?" The nameless man replied, looking back out the window at the falling snow.
Caenis remembered this man well from her her uniqueness – sarcastic, cynical, and arrogant, yet an exceptional warrior ... which frustrated her. Of all the servants, he had been the most challenging for her, to the point where she used the small openings in her defense to land a projectile in her master's stomach.
"Come on, get your sorry weapon. I want my rematch!" She said, grabbing her lance and assuming a combat stance.
The archer merely looked at the falling snow, infuriating Caenis.
"Are you listening, wretch? Draw one of your damned weapons!" The Rabbit girl grabbed the edge of the archer's sacred burial shroud.
"Rematch? If I recall correctly, you were facing multiple enemies, and I was one of them," the archer grabbed the woman's hand and squeezed it, causing her to release it due to the pain.
"?!"" Caenis held her wrist and rubbed it.
"No need to fight for no reason, Rabbit girl. At least I won't fight without a cause. If you want to kill me, I don't mind," the archer said, still looking out at the falling snow.
Caenis stared at him for a few moments and sighed as she dematerialized her lance.
"You're stronger than you seem, human. What are you looking at?" Caenis asked, gazing out the same window as the archer. All she saw was snow and nothing more.
"Many people say that. Nothing special. Just have a lot on my mind..." Caenis turned her head to see the archer's vacant expression on her, the same one he had in the Singularity when he was her enemy on her.
Caenis blinked for some reason; that look irritated her. It was lifeless, purposeless... filled with hatred... it reminded her a lot of... herself...
Caenis grabbed the archer by the collar and pulled him to eye level. The nameless man merely blinked as he met the demigoddess's bloodshot eyes on her.
Your personality reminds me a lot of Mordred...
"Listen here! I'm tired of this dead attitude you're showing. It's time for you to change it, or I'll change it for you!" Caenis said, gritting her teeth in front of the archer's face.
...
The rabbit-eared demigoddess entered a battle stance.
"I don't like your miserable attitude; I'll change it by brute force..."
...
The archer blinked, remembering the first time they met. A cynical smile spread across his face, causing Caenis to raise an eyebrow.
"Preferred you more when you had those rabbit ears," the archer said, leaning closer to the demigoddess's ear dela, but her reaction was n't what he expected.
Caelis widened her eyes and stared at the archer as if she had seen a ghost.
...
"I like your new ears, Caenis. I find them cute..."
...
Caenis opened her mouth and whispered someone's name.
"Kirschtaria..." tears fell from the girl's eyes.
The archer blinked and took a step back, quickly understanding what it was about.
"I see ... you fell in love with your master, and I was the cause of his death for him ..." The archer said, looking into Caenis's eyes della.
The demigoddess took a step back in surprise and wiped her tears with the palm of her hand.
"You've lost your sanity. I have no feelings for that scrawny guy, especially not a man ... you're delusional ..." Despite Caenis's words from her, tears continued to flow.
"I hate men, all of them are..." Even with the memories of Poseidon, Caenis did n't hate them, not after getting to know her master dela. Her body was honest, and she simply cried. In the blink of an eye, Caenis advanced.
"?!"
The archer saw Caenis had hugged him, placing her face her against his chest her as tears fell.
"Haaaaaaa..." The sound that came from Caenis's mouth was as loud as a whisper. She was embracing the man who had caused the death of the person she loved, but even so, it didn't seem wrong, or maybe she just wanted someone to hold onto in that moment.
The archer blinked, not returning her embrace but allowing her to hold him.
In the end, the servants were just normal people inside, whether they were gods or not. In the end, they were all the same in one aspect.
They wanted to be loved, even if they were just tools.
The archer allowed the girl to hold him while he continued to gauze at the snow. Truly, wherever he went, he only brought suffering to others who were truly despicable.
The archer took out a cigarette box, grabbed a cigarette, and placed it in his mouth, being careful not to disturb the crying girl.
The archer placed his finger near the cigarette, heating it up so much that it lit.
Really despicable…
...
"What do you think you're doing?" The archer turned and saw Scathach, Artoria, and Artoria Alter standing in front of Caenis and him.
The girls saw Caenis embracing the archer while crying and the man with a cigarette in his mouth.
The girls looked at Caenis and then at the archer. For some reason, they had a disgusted expression toward the archer, as if he had made Caenis cry.
He was stared at by the girls, and it seemed that more servants had arrived in the corridor and noticed Caenis crying in the archer's embrace. People were talking and commenting on how the archer had made a girl cry.
The cigarette fell from the man's mouth and hit the ground...
Really despicable…
-A-
Author,
This is a Spin-Off story, and you can consider it a spoiler for what will happen in the future, as these stories are canon.
So what happens in these Spin-offs will indeed occur (but these stories cover open-ended parts, like the first one where the archer and Scathach met).
I hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you in the next chapter.