"Unbeknownst to us, it seemed that some people had already noticed our earlier closeness, back then."
Memories of Chaldea:
Discernment of Friends
"I wonder what Master is up to now." A green-haired male servant wondered on a stroll around Chaldea. He hadn't seen him lately and had guessed that an another singularity had shown up again or that he was just busy with his work. Eventually, he found him, but something interesting caught his attention. Master was talking with a silver-haired woman. "Is it the new servant with Master? And they seem to be getting along quite well with each other." One thing he particularly noticed was the way his Master was looking at her. He was sure on good terms with all of his servants, but with this one, it looked different. In his gaze, his gestures and facial expression, he could feel something more. It took him a few minutes, but he finally understood what was happening with his Master. He suddenly let out a sigh of contentment as a knowing smile crossed his face."He has grown up so fast." As one of his most loyal servant, a feeling of pride washed over him."I wonder if that's how Chiron was feeling after he trained all of us." He thought aloud with nostalgia.
The green head, still smiling, decided that it would be better to just leave them alone. He was about to turn on his heel when he suddenly heard a voice calling out to him.
"Achilles!"
The Greek hero realized that his Master had noticed him and was coming, followed by the female servant. 'Crap, I'm not an assassin class for nothing...' He thought in defeat. "Ah, Master! Don't worry, I didn't want to bother you! I was about leavin-"
"No sense, Achilles!" his Master reassured him with a carefree smile."Actually, I wanted to introduce someone to you."
"The new servant, right?"
"Yeah." Blue eyes turned to the silver-haired woman."Achilles, this is Mélusine, Mélusine, this is Achilles."
"Nice to finally meet the recent addition at Chaldea."
"The feeling is mutual," Mélusine replied in kind."Master told me about you. The famous Greek hero. A great friend of his if I am to believe his words."
"Haha, Master tends to exaggerate, but I like to think I'm one of the strongest and fastest servants here!"
"Oh, are you really sure about that?" She raised her eyebrows."Because the very fact of my existence makes me unquestionably the strongest and the fastest one here."
Achilles was about to retort when he saw something that was troubling him. Her face showed no trace of taunts, amusement, or even mockery. On the contrary, the silver head was very serious in her statement, as if their difference in power was glaringly obvious.
"Do not make a fool of yourself, Achilles," a voice warned, familiar to both his Master and himself."She speaks the truth." The three of them turned toward the source of the voice.
"Ane-san?!"
"Atalante!"
Both males were surprised by the sudden appearance of the famous Greek huntress, while the other female just watched the newcomer curiously.
"What do you mean, Ane-san?"
"I guess you did not know, after all." The green-haired woman nodded to the other woman."This woman here present is called Mélusine, but..." she paused for a moment, this time looking directly at Achilles."She is actually the Dragon of Albion."
"Albion?!" The Greek hero widened his eyes, expecting anything but that. 'No wonder a being like Albion would say such a thing. She is on a completely different plane of existence in terms of power compared to us.' Even the great Achilles knew how to choose his battles. Unless it was to protect his Master, he would never take on a fight he was certain he could never win.
"On an another matter," Atalante continued." It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dragon of Albion... or should I say Mélusine?"
"Mélusine is fine," the female dragon confirmed."The pleasure is shared, Hunter of Chastity, Atalante."
"Therewith," the huntress announced, sharing a brief glance with Achilles, who smiled in return. "Achilles and I will take our leave," she said, not wanting to interfere any further between the two of them.
"Yeah! Have fun, Master!" Achilles gave him a thumb up, while Atalante just nodded them with a small smile.
"Take care, you two!" Their Master waved to them as both Greek servants departed.
"It feels good to see him grown up, don't you agree?"
"Certainly," Atalante replied."Though, you shouldn't talk like you're all grown up yourself."
"Come on, Ane-san." The green-haired hero smiled wryly as he put his hands behind his head.
"Senpai and Mélusine-san are getting along well." A girl with glasses noticed as she took another spoonful of curry rice.
"I can't tell you the contrary, Mash," a little brunette said with amusement."Is that why you didn't join him at his table?"
"I just didn't want to bother them!" The demi-servant pouted slightly."And..." A nostalgic smile crossed her face."It's been a while since I've seen Senpai smile like that... don't you think, Da Vinci-san?"
"I concede," a man with black hair who was smoking his pipe agreed."Fujimaru-san seems a little happier since Mélusine-san joined Chaldea."
"Holmes! If you want to smoke, please go out of the cafeteria!" a blond man reprimanded the detective as he was joining them at their table.
"Now, now, Goredolf-san. If I give you my dessert, will you let me stay some more?"
"Grrr..." The director of Chaldea grumbled."...All right, All right, just give me your cake."
"Here, Goredolf-san."
"...Thank you." The blonde man was about to start eating when he noticed that something was missing."Fujimaru is not here?"
"Take a look over there." His technical advisor pointed to a table further away from theirs, an amused expression on her face.
"...It is Mélusine-san with him? It's good for a Master to forging bond with his servants." He took a big spoonful of meat, then swallowed it."But he shouldn't overdo it..."
"Don't worry, Gordy, something tells me he definitely doesn't mind it!" Da Vinci hinted playfully.
"I agree." The famous detective made his trademark knowing smile.
"I have no idea what you are talking about..." Goredolf said, confused, but then grinned and looked at his desserts."But it can't be more important than what I see right now!"
"That's Gordy for you..." The little brunette sighed ironically.
Mash chuckled at their antics. It was good to have a moment of peace from time to time. Then she moved his attention to his Master who was smiling and talking to Mélusine, a look of determination appeared on her face.'Senpai, this happiness you are showing right now... I swear to protect it!' Unbeknownst to her, a certain Greek servant who witnessed the scene, had sworn the same thing.
Meanwhile, at the end of their table, a certain blond member of Chaldea's staff sighed for the umpteenth time.'I wonder if anyone will ever notice that I'm here...' He thought, completely ignored as usual.
"So, do you like the food here?" the Master of Chaldea asked his silver-haired servant curiously, as she had already taken several spoonfuls of the food on her plate.
"It's tasty," she replied, elegantly shoving an another mouthful in her mouth."But, unfortunately..." A dishearten expression spread across her face. "I can't really compare it to anything else."
"Huh? Why?" The young man blinked.
"I didn't eat anything back then."
"Really?" He was quite taken aback by her statement.
"In addition to everything that happened there..." Mélusine began explained. "Living in a land that stinks of corpses didn't particularly whet my appetite..." she finished with a wrinkle of her nose.
"...I see."A somber expression crossed her Master's face. Of all the places where they had ended up, the Sixth Lostbelt was definitely not the most welcoming land. For someone like Mélusine, who was also technically a part of Proper Human History, she certainly didn't belong in a place like that.
"There is no need for concern. A powerful being like me doesn't have much need for food. Besides, unlike you humans, I don't grow, after all," she reassured him after seeing his worried face."Still..." his servant continued, this time with a radiant smile."Being here, eating and talking with you, is quite pleasant." She placed her hand gently on his, as if to reinforce her affirmation.
Ritsuka couldn't help but blush at her gesture."I-I agree, it's pretty nice." There was something about the way she smiled and spoke that was so captivating. As they stared at each other, it was easy for him to get lost in that golden gaze of hers.
Giggling at his reaction, her expression softened even further as she squeezed his hand, still beneath hers, in a sign of contentment.
Author Note: Hello. At first, thank you for your support. It's nice to see you people enjoying and reviewing the story. As for what the next chapters will be about, you'll eventually find out in due time. Some are already planned, others are still to be decided. I don't want to spoil you, after all. As for my opinions, the story will probably speak for me. Maybe one day I will talk about some of my ideas, but not for now.
As usual, feel free to review on whatever was good or bad.
See you.