By the Bonfire: Dreams of the Vanquished (Part II)

There weren't quite enough words to describe what Da Vinci was currently feeling as she stared at the new Servant who had manifested in the summoning chamber. It had all gone more or less according to plan, the record Spirit Origin had called upon the correct Servant and manifested the Golem Servant - or Stahl as the Director called her, not the most original of names but it was rather fitting - without any real error.

She knew the Director would be rather pleased at that, at least something they could control for the time being. When Fujimaru awoke, he would be able to bring back the Servants he had lost during the course of the battle in London as well as reassure him for the future if there was another incident where they suffered casualties. The Director was correct, Fujimaru was just a normal person and they typically didn't react well to their friends and workplace associates dying. No matter what he would be told about Servant existences, she figured he would react poorly to the idea of permanent death.

All in all, it had gone rather well and they had achieved what they set out to do and it was at least a pleasant surprise to see at least one thing around Chaldea working as intended. Even if it was one of the more morose aspects of the facility, not the worst but certainly not the best. Then again, she could easily put the other faults down to human error given that she had personally looked over each and every one of them. Sure, Pharros had done the same thing but she had checked them first so it was just a second opinion at that stage.

That being said, everything had gone well enough right up until the point where a rather unexpected variable had been thrown into the mix. The Spirit Origin retrieval was merely storing the data they had accumulated from the Servant in question, they still relied on the fate system to supply the body itself. Which meant they still had to send out a call across the throne, only this one was very well aimed, towards a specific figure. Which should have only summoned the targeted Servant in question.

Yet the readings had spiked at the last second as another Servant somehow latched onto the summoning and followed it all the way back. Something which she hadn't really thought was possible but trying to understand the full complexity of the Throne wasn't something that many could do. Suffice to say it would merely be improbable and the arriving Servant in question would require a strong enough link not just with the targeted Spirit Origin but also with Chaldea as well and they would have been actively needing to physically look for the brief window in which Chaldea put out the call.

Simply put, it was like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse. Sure, it could be physically done but it was incredibly difficult to do to even the extent that she would only attempt it three out of ten times if she was provided with the necessary equipment to enact the little test. Regardless, where there had been initial panic she had quickly cooled her head when she saw the Spirit Origin that was manifesting in Chaldea itself.

The way in which Spirit Origin's were recorded was not just for the sake of resummoning defeated Servants, it was to also ensure that they would be familiar with Servants they had already encountered once more during the course of their voyage. Just in case they encountered repeat summonings and could inform the Master teams on the ground of what to expect if they should encounter the same Servant twice over. The chances were low enough that it wasn't something they believed was going to happen, but it was still there all the same.

This was one such Spirit Origin.

A Servant they had encountered within a past Singularity that had been recorded was summoning themselves into Chaldea via use of the resummoning features. Brute force if ever there was an example of such a thing, yet Da Vinci had not found it within herself to panic just yet. For one thing, she very much doubted that this Servant was going to become hostile upon the moment of their summoning and even if that was the case, they were being summoned to Chaldea itself so a command seal from Olga would have stopped them rather quickly.

The appearance was something which stunned her first and foremost, basic similarities from the neck down aside, a slight change of colouration to the armour from black to a dull golden shine, they functionally looked the same except it did look like armour rather than skin. When she looked at the head, she could understand why, given the fact they were effectively human. Or they looked like it, at any rate. Rather crazy hair aside and all that.

Yet there was something wrong, something which briefly left her puzzled as to whether or not they had actually summoned the Servant she believed they summoned. Physical changes aside, there was just something about their posture that was just wrong. Their shoulders were slumped, their expression was stilted and awkward and there was just an aura of shame about them that had Da Vinci almost double take at the screen to make sure that she hadn't made a mistake.

Such a concept was laughable but there was such a disconnect that she genuinely entertained the possibility that she had - somehow - been mistaken in her assumptions and this wasn't the Servant she thought it was. Yet, upon looking at the screens, she confirmed their identity in all but name, the readings and pattern of the Spirit Origin were identical, right down to the Class they had been summoned in. Really, it looked as though it had been nothing more than a cosmetic change and yet…

Yet…this was nothing shy of horrible to look at.

Not an ounce of confidence within their entire being, the fact they had looked her dead in the eye and then turned away as though they were afraid of her was proof enough that they did recognise her. Which meant their memories had been intact, strangeness of that aside given that Servant's typically weren't supposed to recall their times from past summonings. Though Chaldea was already home to impossibilities and given that she was the one who was helping to run everything, it was just another impossibility.

Her initial silence had kept there right up until the Servant spoke, then she made no effort to keep her emotions off her face. "Servant, Berserker…I am here to help. Don't bother asking for my name though, it…for the likes of you, it isn't worth knowing."

…Who was this?

Who was this and what had they done with the Servant she had spoken with?

Her frown grew more pronounced, barely noticing that the Director glanced at her, she kept her focus entirely situated upon the Servant standing on the pad. Berserker? Who did he think he was fooling while showing off his Mystic eye to the world as though it wasn't obvious what it was. She would hardly be surprised if even the Director learned about it…but then again, he had not just changed physically.

Remembering what happened clearly did something to him.

He didn't even feel like he was the same person he had been, just some empty shell who had shown up in their place and just…

She closed her eyes and kept her arms folded over her chest. This was the sort of thing she didn't want to see because it was just much too painful to look at, the confidence, the passion, the potential that had been there - even if he had been their enemy - was something she had to admire. Watching as he had learned so much, taken such a clear interest in everything she talked about, how he hung on the edge of her every word and how he was clearly enamoured with the idea of the arts and building.

How he had been inspired to make something of his own, to fight against the impossibility that was before him regardless of whatever outcome was. To see all of that, be there to watch him learn all of that from such a small scale, and then watch as he was summoned as this?

…This was just…

There wasn't a word she could conceive of to describe the sheer scale of the tragedy she was looking at, or not looking at should have been the better word. He didn't even want to tell them his name because he thought it mattered so little? The worst thing was that she could understand how he had ended up like this. Used and discarded so quickly and having it exposed that everything he worked towards, everything he believed in, had always been nothing more than a pipe dream.

How people dealt with failure was always dependent on them. Those with experience in failure would be more capable of powering through it, better at picking themselves back up. Yet it was always getting past that first failure that was the hardest and it depended solely upon the failure. He had outright admitted that he would have been perfectly fine in losing to Olga and Da Vinci believed him.

That hadn't happened though.

He was made to kill himself.

He was made to kill himself and then sat there and listened to how all his ideals had been nothing more than a sham and that he was just summoned to act like a mere beast, nothing more. As far as failures went, she would admit that one sounded rather traumatising. Especially given that it was his first proper failure.

To branch out of his zone, to take the plunge into the unknown…

And then to be violently rebuffed in such a way.

Her eyes opened up, staring at Berserker across the room as he continued to look away from everyone else. His expression might have remained blank but there was nothing he could do to hide his general posture, the nervous energy and the just awkward stance of it all. Changes had occurred and it even merited repeating in her mind. The longer she stared at the Berserker, the more she found herself at odds with how he was currently.

Not that she blamed him for this, it wasn't his fault and given how he acted in the Singularity, his manner of thinking was quite simple. He was simply responding to heartbreak in the sort of manner she would have expected from someone with as little understanding of the world as him. He might have been in the process of learning, but there was only so much that could be conveyed through words.

Da Vinci found her mind returning to the present when the Director stepped out from behind Stahl, placing her hands on her hips and regarding the newly summoned Servant with what she could only assume was a rather irritable gaze. Though she was only theorising, given the fact that she couldn't see the face of the woman, it was a decent enough guess. Especially given the previous interactions with Servants concealing their true names…

Speaking of which, she imagined that the Archer in the cafeteria would eventually wind up getting cornered to reveal his identity in the not too distant future.

"Berserker?" Olga parroted the class back to the Servant, earning a flinch from them before he offered a single affirmatory nod of the head. "And why is it that you suddenly believe you can get away with not naming yourself?" as expected, the Director flew at the problem with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Berserker remained silent, still averting his eyes from them.

"How do you know that your name isn't worthy of us knowing in the first place?" The woman continued to spear holes in the rather feeble excuse of Berserker, who could only stand there in silence as she spoke in an increasingly annoyed tone of voice. "Is there some manner of conceptual weakness that you cannot speak of? Even if that is the case, I am not in the right mind to care right now."

Swinging her right arm forwards, she pointed squarely a finger squarely towards the Berserker and clearly caught them off guard given the way their heterochromatic eyes swivelled towards the finger in question and stared at it with rapt attention, presenting the rather amusing image of them going cross eyed. "So you were the one who accepted a summoning to Chaldea with the purpose of aiding in the restoration of humanity, I am going to be damned if I start allowing Servants to run around without revealing their true names anymore after the last debacle I have been party to and its effects on Chaldea."

Her arm snapped back down to her side, taking a single step forwards "So I shall ask you again. What is your true name, Berserker?"

Berserker stared at the Director for a few seconds in pure silence, his expression rather surprised before his eyes swung in her direction. Something crinkled in his gaze as he diverted it from her and towards the wall once more. The eyes closed themselves, Berserker releasing a long breath. "I accepted the summon with the expectation of being denied…To my understanding, the ranks of Heroic Spirits are filled with those who achieved great deeds in life."

Turning his head back towards the pair of them, his eyes opened once more. "There are no great deeds for me. There is no monument to my achievements…knowing my name will do you no good because I have nothing to show for my actions." spreading his arms wide, he shrugged his shoulders "I…was a failure in life, to be a failure in death is no surprise."

He lowered his arms "If you cannot accept me within your ranks, then that is fine…but I am not to give you my true name because Berserker is a more fitting one for me. At the very least it is…more passable than what my true name was." he muttered the latter part of that sentence out.

Da Vinci grimaced at his words. This was much worse than she had thought.

Olga looked as though she was going to start speaking again and it would doubtless end up in a runabout circle until she tried to force the matter one way or the other. Demanding the true names of Servants when they were summoned might have seemed a little peculiar, but there was now ample reason to justify knowing them. Not just because of the potential of grudges but also because of the last few instances of unnamed Servants causing trouble. It was likely that the Director was worried about being caught in a similar situation to Fujimaru.

Though if she pushed this when Berserker was so fragile, she was certain he might end up breaking and leaving. He would doubtless refuse to answer a summon again after that and she was going to be damned if she left him in this state. Former enemy or not, he was now here because he very clearly wanted to help and she wasn't going to let someone who was so willing to learn from a genius slip through her fingers.

Leaning forwards, she pressed her hand on the intercom once more. The crackle of the speakers silenced the room in front of her, she watched the head of Berserker swing around to the sound of the noise, concern briefly forgotten as clear interest flickered through his features. Da Vinci had to fight back a smile at the little slip there, in spite of everything, he really was curious about it all even now. "Director, if I might interrupt. There is currently a precedent for Servants not revealing their true names."

Olga paused, then slowly turned around to face her with a look of clear irritation on her face, opening her mouth to speak only for Da Vinci to cut her off before she could get a word in. "And thus far, the Red Archer has proven himself to be quite the boon even without a true name. Besides, it's not as though Berserker has forgotten his true name…just that he's ashamed of his past."

She looked to Berserker, the expression of the Servant was twisted, caught between looking to her and looking to the intercom above them. Though the moment she had started speaking, Berserker had promptly avoided looking at her. Da Vinci was half convinced he was going to bring up his hand and cover his face with it. "Besides, I don't think anything shy of a command seal is probably going to force a Servant who answered a summons from you. Master aptitude aside…"

That clearly gave her pause, Olga's face flickering between a range of emotions from surprise, then to frustration before finally settling on grimm resignation. The pale haired woman reached up and palmed her face, rubbing the bridge of her nose and shaking her head from side to side. Da Vinci certainly didn't envy their position and Berserker certainly picked on heck of a Master but…she was sure they would have an odd enough energy that they could make it work.

"...I do not expect this to be a permanent arrangement." Olga remarked in a far more tired sounding tone of voice, shifting her attention back onto Berserker, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "Nor do I expect you to withhold your full strength and lock away your Noble Phantasm in the interest of protecting your identity. If you place your own personal feelings over the objectives of Chaldea, then I will not hesitate to use a command seal-"

Berserker stilled for a moment. Da Vinci cringed at the clear panic that flooded over the face of the Servant as the Director brandished the red symbols on the back of her hand. The way his eyes narrowed into pinpricks and he looked as though he stopped breathing for a split second didn't help matters much either, not that Olga noticed as she lowered the hand once more. "-to ensure that. Do you understand?"

The Servant nodded their head once "I would not hold back against an enemy. That, I promise you." he assured her in a rather subdued but still deadly serious tone of voice, actually looking directly towards the Director for the first time during the conversation. Though it was only a fleeting moment as his eyes closed, he slowly turned his head down once more and stared at the ground, awkwardly swinging his arms up and folding them over his chest in a way that made it clear he was hardly comfortable with the gesture.

Almost as though he was trying to make himself smaller.

Da Vinci thinned her lips "Director. If it isn't too much trouble, I don't mind taking on the role of showing the Servant around Chaldea." She noticed Berserker freeze on the spot, swinging his eyes onto her and looking very much like a deer in the headlights of a car. Olga similarly turned around and raised an eyebrow at her in puzzlement. "There's plenty of work around Chaldea that requires your direct attention and with everything currently going on, I would say that taking the time out of your schedule to give a tour to a Servant would be somewhat…arduous."

Olga still didn't look all that convinced, but Da Vinci was hardly going to blurt out and say she wanted to steal Berserker away because she wanted to have some time to see how he was actually feeling and whether anything could be done for him. Olga put her weight onto one side, her left hand dropping down from her hip "You expect me to leave you - our technical genius - alone with a Servant who has yet to name themselves and go off wandering around the base?"

…That was actually a pretty solid argument.

"More to the point, what sort of Master just pawns off their Servant to someone else within seconds of summoning them." Olga continued onwards, lips drawn into an even deeper frown. Da Vinci found herself torn between praising the Director for her sudden change towards this more hands on approach and cursing the timing of it all. It wasn't that she didn't trust the woman, but it was that Berserker was hardly likely to reveal his true name and if Olga was to figure it out…well, he was evidently going through his own little lengths to keep his identity secret even from Olga out of shame.

Getting found out might prove a rather awkward situation and there was every chance that Olga would just blurt out his true name and all of that. Actually, it wasn't much of a chance, she knew the Director would do just that. Because in spite of everything else, the Director was still a rather straight to the point individual.

"This isn't about you pawning off your Servant." Da Vinci replied coolly, leaning forwards and looking at Olga through the glass. "This wasn't an intentional summoning and it was done through a method we weren't accounting for." pointing to herself, she continued on. "I already have to move through Chaldea to deal with the tasks you've asked of me, this is merely taking a small detour on my route to all of that and showing Berserker around. If it helps, it would also give me some time to evaluate him."

She raised an eyebrow at the Director "If you recall the last instance in which I spoke with a Servant and forwarded my opinion of them to you?"

Olga rolled her jaw, eventually closing her eyes and letting out a short huff. "Very well…at the very least, some fresh perspectives might be required at this rate." she glanced back to Berserker. Then pointed to the window "This is Caster, she is going to give you a short tour around Chaldea. I still have other matters that require my personal attention and…personnel that need to be spoken with in regards to recent behaviour."

Da Vinci almost cackled then and there at the muttering of the final sentence, namely the fact she could guess which personnel she was going to be speaking with. Though if she needed help with tracking down a certain French Queen, then she was certain that she could lend a hand towards that. It also seemed she wasn't the only one who noticed, the eyes of Berserker landed on her and narrowed ever so slightly in suspicion, his mouth opened before it closed. Evidently not feeling confident enough to speak.

"Comply with her orders as though she was me." Olga continued on "If you are not going to immediately reveal your true name, then the very least you can do is show that you are willing to be cooperative. Is that clear?"

Berserker nodded his head, albeit rather jerkily.

Olga watched him for a few moments longer, then shifted her focus back to Da Vinci "Report back to me once you have completed your task and see about this…sudden summoning." she continued on, moving towards the door "I want to know how a Servant ended up summoning themselves in the midst of a Spirit Origin retrieval."

Da Vinci hummed in affirmation, keeping her eyes on the Berserker and watching as they stood next to the summoning pad, still shifting around and looking anywhere but in her direction. Returning to the tried and tested appearance of a small child on their first day of school and being without a single friend. Actually, it was rather saddening to make that sort of comparison, especially considering all their previous interactions…she rather enjoyed those little talks.

…Just something for her to look forward to in the future then!

Clapping her hands loudly, the Servant jolted as she leaned backwards, then put on a very wide smile. "I'll be there in just a moment, Berserker. Then we can begin your tour of Chaldea!"

Berserker mutely nodded his head up and down.


Da Vinci hadn't expected them to immediately fly into a conversation, but the silence was certainly something that she was more than a little put off by. The least he could have done was ask some questions every now and again, mainly because she had said he could ask some if he didn't understand anything or wanted further explanations.

Also she kept having to slow her pace because Berserker seemingly refused to walk side by side with her. Opting to instead trail behind and keep his eyes on whatever it was that caught his attention, though it would differ wildly between something as petty as a light switch to a closed door. He was at least curious, she supposed. He'd demonstrated that in the summoning chamber, but there was still hesitation about him.

Coming to a halt, she pressed the door and then led the pair of them inside the next room, briefly glancing around to make sure that the Servant in question wasn't actually in the library. There was normally one or two around and she had sensed a Servant inside, but it wasn't quite the Servant she had been expecting. The purple hair of Medusa was easily spotted across the room, the Rider Servant froze for a moment and glanced upwards ever so slightly in their direction before she looked back down.

Though that lack of interest lasted only a moment before Berserker stepped into the room just after her, briefly pausing and then moving past her. His body leaned forwards slightly as he stared straight towards Medusa. The Rider eventually looked up and noticed the new Servant staring at her, Da Vinci glanced at him, his expression rather perturbed as though he was having problems in understanding what he was seeing. Eventually taking in a short sniff before narrowing his eyes.

Medusa inclined her brow at him questioningly, not quite saying anything yet but making it clear that she was aware of what he was doing. Her eyes turned onto Da Vinci and asked the silent question, all the Caster could do was shrug her shoulders. She couldn't quite understand what had Berserker so interested in her either, but given he was now sniffing the air, she supposed it might have something to do with-

"Are you a flame-kin?"

The question came so suddenly and was spoken with such an innocent tone that Da Vinci almost missed it, turning her attention to Berserker at the same time Medusa did. The Rider pinching her brows together and tilting her head to the side in a vaguely questioning manner. When she spoke, it was a rather slow and bemused tone of voice. "I would need to know what a flame-kin is before I answer it."

"Ah…right…" Berserker muttered, letting out a low hum and glancing down. "...I think they're called Gods. Though, you're a woman so…Goddess?" he nodded once, looking back to Medusa "Are you a Goddess?"

Medusa regarded him with a flat look, one bereft of emotion before she spoke but a single word. "Once."

And like that, she returned to her book and all but ignored the existence of the Berserker. He still stood there, staring at her because of the answer before giving a low hum and turning to the side, heterochromatic eyes swept over the expanse of the room with a vaguely intrigued look in them, yet the innocent confusion remained.

Da Vinci was slightly more impressed that he was able to tell what Medusa had once been, namely because her ranking in Divinity was the lowest that Chaldea had ever seen, barely present with an E- rank. Though she supposed that Dragon senses were just good like that.

"This is the library, by the way." She explained just so Berserker understood where they actually were, though she wasn't entirely sure if he would even know what a Library was in the first place. Indeed, after she made a grand sweeping gesture and returned her attention, she was greeted by the face of someone who didn't understand a single word she had just said, rather he looked rather lost and still kept his eyes fixated on the shelves and Medusa herself. "It's where we gather books."

Still no sign of comprehension.

"...It's where humans note down things they achieved."

Now Berserker looked interested, something flashed through his eyes for a moment as he suddenly looked to the rows and rows of books with something akin to mesmerisation, taking a single step towards the closet shelf and extending a clawed hand towards it, delicately hooking a finger around the spine of a reddish cover and pulled it back and into his hand.

Where he then flipped it open.

While the book was upside down.

She watched his face shift between emotions, first looking excited although it quickly gave way to confusion and then to bewilderment as he stared at the pages, his brows pinched together in a clear show of intense concentration as he leaned closer to the pages, pulling his lips into a deep frown.

"You're holding it upside down." Da Vinci glanced towards the commenter, she was impressed that Medusa had managed to say that without even looking away from her own book, idly flicking to another page and maintaining her indifference to what was going on around her. She was rather glad that it was just Medusa and not someone else…which was a phrase she had never expected to utter but that was just how Chaldea worked sometimes.

Berserker made a small noise, a faint dusting of red on his cheeks as he wordlessly flipped the book around on its head and then looked over it once more. Da Vinci furrowed her brows as she realised something rather important, where would a dragon even get time to be able to read. In fact, could he even read at all? To her knowledge, neither Ash nor Jeanne were capable of reading despite being Servants so where was the guarantee that Berserker could read as well.

"...What is…" Berserker's words jolted her, she turned to him as he stared at the book and brought it closer to his face while squinting at it. "What is France and why does it matter?"

Da Vinci blinked, then turned her head to the title of the book he was holding and had to close her eyes. Bringing her hand up to cover her face, concealing her smile and pretending to look as though she was thoughtfully nodding her head up and down, as opposed to cackling like an idiot. Indeed, he had somehow managed to pick out 'Matter of France' and she supposed that was a fair question.

Certainly an odd choice for his first reading but not a bad one.

That being said…

"It's just the title of the book though if you wanted an answer to your specific question…" Pulling a wry smile upon her lips, she leaned backwards and placed her hands on her hips, inclining an eyebrow to the Servant and speaking in a deeply amused tone of voice. "That might end up taking more than a couple of hours if you were truly curious as to why France matters. It would certainly eat into our tour…I don't mind but it's up to you."

Berserker hummed, slowly closing the book once more and then returning it to the shelf. "I am sure it would probably be interesting…" he exhaled, shaking his head from side to side. "But I don't want to be a bother to you, Vinci." waving a hand towards the door, Berserker walked towards it with a touch more life in his step than when he came in.

Vinci, huh?

Her lip twitched upwards.

And she hadn't even told him her name yet, he probably didn't even realise.


It was on their journey to the next stop when Berserker asked her a question, it was the first one he had actually asked her properly but it was still his first question and was no less important. Especially given the nature of the question itself.

"The woman in the…place of strange paper."

"Books." She supplied him with a nod of the head, keeping her vision ahead as she spoke, though she did spare him a quick glance from the corner of her eye and watched as he absorbed the word, humming in affirmation before he continued on.

"Yes…books." He spoke the word in a rather odd way, as though he was tasting it as it passed between his lips, considering his face scrunched up as he spoke it was clear that he was making a genuine effort to understand the word as well. "...The woman. She said she was once a Goddess."

Da Vinci nodded "She was, once upon a time."

"...You mean they can stop?" It was probably a rather interesting concept for Berserker, especially considering all of the Gods he had ever met had fought for the specific purpose of keeping themselves in power to obtain the power that went with being a God. The idea that someone could stop being a God would likely be a bewildering thing for him to wrap his head around. Though Medusa was hardly something of a common occurrence, there were actually a good deal of the Gods who willingly departed from the world towards the end of the Age of Gods, further hastening the coming Age of Man.

That aside, she made a small gesture with her hand, waving it from side to side. "They can depart from the world in such a way that they stop being a present God in the world. But in the case of Medusa she is a…product of extenuating circumstances." That was probably a rather delicate way of putting it. Though she could sense the confusion of the Servant, he was also making a poor effort of hiding it.

Coming to a halt, she exhaled and faced him fully. "Medusa is from the Mediterranean region of the world. This would have been thousands of years ago in a place known as Greece." she saw Berserker nod along with her words. "Long story short, the Greek Goddess Athena cursed her and Medusa would eventually become the monster known as the Gorgon…effectively she fell and became a Demon-"

"They would do that to their own kind on purpose?" She blinked at the sudden snarl that flooded across the face of the Berserker, his lips curled back and revealed a sharpened row of teeth, his head snapping back towards the direction of the library before horror flooded his features. "Was…did I drag up old wounds for her with my words?"

That was quite sensitive of him, as for the answer…

"I suspect she would be more accustomed to being treated as distant." Berserker didn't look mollified all that much with her words, though there was still the matter of his rather violent reaction towards becoming a Demon. Unless he was thinking in terms of the likes that came from…what did they call it? The Fall of Izalith, the birth of the Demons. That was due to Gods messing about with something and then turning into what were described as rather monstrous creatures, namely towards the likes of Quelaag. "As for her feelings…I suspect it would take more than being reminded of what she was to cause offence. She is probably rather aware of her own past."

Berserker made a noise, glancing down to the floor and clenching his hands into fists "...The Gods would do that to their own people? I…Hmmmm." bringing his head back up, he tilted it slightly. "...Why?"

Da Vinci shrugged "Jealousy is what is commonly decided upon as Athena's motivation."

He went still, shoulders squaring and a complicated look passing across his face for a moment before he made but a single noise. "Ah."

Visibly cringing, Berserker slowly turned back around and resumed walking down the hallway, a reaction that brought a raised eyebrow to Da Vinci but not one without understanding. Through all of their talks, he had made his original motivations for destroying things rather apparent. She supposed that the idea that he was not alone and something else he shared with the Gods would be rather uncomfortable…

She followed after him, falling back into step with the Berserker "In case you're curious, our next little stop will be the cafeteria." she paused for a moment, then continued on "It's where people go to eat. Humans and Servants alike, though the latter don't really need to do that." she explained as they came upon the elevator, ushering the dragon inside and then following them in, pressing the button and turning around to face the doors.

"They don't?" Berserker muttered in puzzlement "But they still do?"

"Oh, yes." She hummed "I still go from time to time. Siegward makes some magnificent coffee and pastries."

And he really did, becoming something of a small legend about Chaldea for his Estus coffee which he took in stride. She would dare say that his beaming face was nothing shy of uplifting in the morning. He certainly earned his Charisma rank, that was for sure.

Berserker angled his head, raising a brow "Siegward? Like Sigurd."

"Ah, he's from somewhere called Catarina." She explained to him, the naming conventions were certainly similar enough that she suspected that Catarina was the equivalent of Germanic Europe for the other world which didn't actually have a name yet. She wasn't certain what they called it but they would need to think of a name for it at some point. "It's a rather nice country from what I've been told about. Apparently they were quite big on food festivals as well, certainly sounds…peaceful. Siegward makes them sound appealing enough, that was for sure."

"Festivals?"

"Gathering of humans for the purpose of fun and enjoyment." The explanation came without missing a beat, waving a hand and keeping the smile on her face as she spoke. "Something that Chaldea could probably do with right about now…" she muttered under her breath, it was an intrusive thought that she hadn't meant to let slip but what was done was done. That didn't make it any less true, given how everyone was seemingly walking around with their own rain clouds as of late.

If Berserker reacted to her words, that was the one thing he didn't make much of a physical showcase of doing. Something she gleaned when she looked at him once more and saw his eyes wandering around the interior of the elevator, a slightly puzzled look upon his face before it reverted back to his schooled features. The doors opened up and they were back on their small journey once more.

Though this time, she was more inclined to see what the Berserker actually thought so far. "I understand we haven't seen all that much, but what do you think about Chaldea so far?"

Berserker made a small noise before he replied "It is…very clean." The remark in itself sounded rather dumb, but it also sounded as though it was the first thing that came into his head. The Servant came to a halt and looked out across the large windows that lined the hallway, staring down across the blizzard that surrounded them. He stood there for a moment, a stern look written upon his features before he continued on. "The outside looks so hostile to human life and yet inside it…it is something else entirely."

The Servant hummed as he turned back to face her, waving a hand towards the bleached walls "This entire place is so…different compared to what I am used to. It's so…clean. Even the buildings I encountered looked as though they still originated from nature, the mud that was slapped together into brick and the wood from the trees but this?" he shook his head, turning back around and extending a hand, placing the flat of his left palm on the glass. "This is…something else."

Da Vinci cracked a smile "I take it you're impressed then?"

"...I couldn't imagine making something like this." Berserker replied with a hushed tone to his words, something else underlying his words. Something that sounded very much like shame and envy rolled into one. She could see his reflection, watching as he closed his eyes and let out a shallow sigh, he leaned forwards and rested his forehead against the glass with a dull thud. "...That's probably telling, I suppose."

"Everyone has their own talents." She replied coolly, gaining the attention of Berserker even if only in the form of a receptive hum. "And everyone can create something. It's just a matter of working on it. It might surprise you to know that not every genius is born brilliant, the truly exceptional ones have to work hard at it," she leaned back, placing a hand over her chest and looking him up and down.

Berserker was silent for a moment before he replied. "Were you like that, Vinci?"

"...Being born a genius isn't all the blessing it's cut out to be." It was clear Berserker hadn't expected her words as he turned around and faced her, confusion flickering over his features as he stared at her. Then it shifted into disbelief, she could see where he was coming from. Who would believe something like that was genuine instead of pandering, but that was the truth to it. "It has its moments here and there but sometimes you just wish there was someone else you could compare with. If only for that little thrill that comes with a challenge. After all…"

Shrugging her shoulders, she turned away from him and continued on her way down the corridor. "Who wants to be amazing if it comes at the cost of being alone?"

"...Who indeed."


It didn't take them much longer to arrive at the cafeteria after that and conversations with Berserker were rather sporadic at best, normally involving very little in the way of going either way. Though that only lasted until they actually made it towards the door of the cafeteria itself, after that point it was when things took a turn that Da Vinci hadn't quite been expecting.

Not the worst turn but very nearly close.

Given that they didn't even get to the door before it swung open and Arkon stepped out into the hallway, a tray of food held in his hands. The Silver knight paused in the moment he caught sight of them, Da Vinci similarly froze but for a rather different reason. Namely because of the Servant who was currently standing next to her and the fact it had been Arkon's people who genocided their entire race.

Arkon silently stared at them for a moment, his helmet lingering on her before it gradually turned towards the direction of Berserker. His posture abruptly tensed, she heard a faint groaning and her eyes flickered down towards the tray in his hands, watching as the metal started to bend under the fingers of the knight.

She gradually turned her attention onto Berserker, his expression was utterly devoid of emotion as he regarded Arkon in front of him with an utterly dispassionate stare. Whether or not Arkon had realised who was standing before him was something that she couldn't attest for, but she wouldn't put it past the Silver Knight to know. The only way it could have been worse was if Havel came strolling through those doors.

"...I should have expected to see a Silver Knight in the company of humans." Berserker's voice was utterly bereft of emotion as he spoke, cold as ice and something which had Da Vinci cringe at. Combined with the expression, it made for a rather eerie tension as though he was moments from leaping at the knight.

Arkon did not allow the remark to go unreciprocated. "You seem sane for an abomination of the Abyss." he audibly sucked in a breath, then turned his helmet in her direction. "I see that the quality of your allies has deteriorated even further than I could have imagined. All you need do now is summon a true Demon of Chaos and a trifecta of abominations, traitors and enemies will be completed."

Da Vinci raised a brow "I don't recall it being any concern of yours who is and isn't summoned to Chaldea." crossing her arms over her chest, she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the Servant. Something was strange, Arkon didn't usually snap at someone like this, but there was the matter of the Abyss being generally regarded as evil by his people…except Ash using Dark fire was well known throughout Chaldea at this point in time. "And insulting them to their face within seconds of meeting them isn't very friendly."

He released a short breath "No…it is not. Though my personal preferences seem to have no bearing on matters as of late." Arkon finished with an audible click of his tongue, resuming his march with the tray of food still in his hands. Da Vinci inclined a brow at him and stepped to the side to allow him to move past her.

"Are you not going to eat in the cafeteria?" She called out to him, Arkon stopped walking for a brief moment as he registered her words. He turned his head to look over his shoulder for only a second, there was an odd posture about him, something almost defensive but it lasted for barely the time of the stare before it vanished and his head swung back around.

"I would prefer to eat in the comfort of my own room for the moment." He muttered in a low tone of voice as he stomped forwards, footsteps echoing through the halls. She watched him leave with slightly narrowed eyes, he was clearly hiding something but chasing him down to try and figure out what it might have been was a little low on her agenda today. It was possible he could have found out about Gwyn…but she imagined his response would have been a little more vocal than that.

Berserker was similarly watching him leave, with a slightly different look on his face before he spoke "...Are there many of the Flam-" he cut himself off, closing his eyes and then resuming with a minor correction. "Are there many of the Gods and their followers in Chaldea?"

Da Vinci hummed "We have a small contingent at the moment, yes. Though for the most part we've got more than a few humans based Servants in Chaldea…though the number is a little lower than it was in the past." she turned around, moving through the door to the cafeteria and providing a further explanation. "A small incident at the end of the last Singularity caused us to lose more than a few Servants in the final battle, I'm afraid."

He would have heard that anyway the longer he stayed in Chaldea, so it was probably better that he find out now rather than accidentally stumble into it.

"I'm sorry." She stopped at the words of Berserker, though only for a moment before she continued onwards. It was a nice enough sentiment but the truth was that she didn't actually know the Servants who perished very well. Besides, the way in which Servants worked was normally in the way that they would hang around for a few days perhaps weeks and then die for their Master. That was something they all accepted when they were summoned, especially in these circumstances.

Even still, it was a nice sentiment.

Stepping inside, she looked towards the kitchen and brought up her hand, waving towards the Servant behind the counter and offering a warm smile to them. "Afternoon, Siegward!"

"Hmmm? Ah!" Siegward looked up from handing another plate of something towards one of the staff, the blonde hair of Sylvia turned to her for a brief moment and the woman offered a single nod of the head before she took away her plate of food back to her own table. The Catarinan knight kept his eyes on Da Vinci for a moment, then looked towards Berserker next to her and smiled a little wider. "Da Vinci! I see we have another new ally to greet us!"

Leaning back, he puffed out his chest "I am Siegward of Catarina, pleased to make your acquaintance good Sir!"

Da Vinci cracked a smile as she approached him, placing her hands on the counter and leaning onto them. "I see that you're maintaining your smile fairly well, Siegward."

"Of course." Siegward nodded his head, a smile still plastered on his face, though there was a note of sadness within his eyes. "In times such as these, I feel as though a smile is more precious than ever before and it would not do to greet our new arrivals with a hefty frown…" he exhaled, then looked to Berserker "At the risk of sounding redundant, I shall repeat myself. I am Siegward of Catarina, resident chef of Chaldea."

"...Just Berserker." The Servant replied to the Catarinan for the moment, Siegward took the explanation with a nod of his head.

"Ah, a man like Archer then? Fair enough." Rather accepting but given he was working with another Servant who refused to divulge their true name, his accepting nature could be easily understood. "Well, our services are open to Servants just as they are open to the living but don't take too big a portion." he joked with a grin, the man reached up and rubbed his bushy moustache as he chuckled "You'll see some others beside myself. Namely Julius - who is human - and Highness Boudica-"

"Stop giving people the wrong impression of me!" A female voice called back from the kitchen, the door behind Siegward swung open as the red haired woman stepped out from one of the storage rooms, apron covering her front and a touch of amusement on her features as she approached. "Don't pay attention to this one. Us Servants should hardly be thinking about our times as rulers in the past given what we're all here for."

Coming to a stop, she extended her hand towards Berserker with a gentle smile "As for myself. You can feel free to just call me Boudica."

"Ah, yes…a handshake…" Berserker muttered under his breath, bringing up his right hand and moving it towards the Rider at a snail's pace, a look of utter concentration on him which brought a raised eyebrow to the red head but nothing further, clasping his hand in her own and shaking it up and down. "Highness…you are a Queen?"

Boudica cringed "...Was."

"...Oh…I see." Berserker's voice turned sombre, what could only be described as understanding filtered through his eyes as his expression dropped, slowing the handshake down to nothing and keeping her hand in his grasp, eventually releasing her and recalling the hand to his side.

The red head offered a faint smile in return to show she was unaffected "Don't try and put yourself down over it. Not something you could really know, what with your otherworldly Servants not knowing all that much about our history and all that." To her credit, Boudica was fairly understanding of what could have been considered blundering into a landmine. "Now then, given that this is your first time here, would you care for anything to eat?"

Berserker blinked, then reached up and scratched the side of his cheek rather awkwardly. "Uhm…eat…yes…err…" he silently looked at her for a moment, then returned his eyes to Boudica and looked at the Rider with an increasingly strained expression. Most likely because he'd never eaten human food before, unless he happened to eat a sheep or a cow but there was a marked difference between cooking one and just swallowing it whole. Still, it might serve as a good starting off point.

Clearing her throat, she stepped forwards "I think that a burger will suit him just fine. Something light I suppose." she looked him up and down, the real question was whether he would like anything with the burger…probably chips. He felt very much like a fast food type of person to her and her gut feeling for this sort of thing was never wrong. "Yes…Burger and chips."

Both Siegward and Boudica stared at her in silence for a moment, then the former cleared his throat "And yourself?"

"Hmmmmm…Calzone." She replied simply, then cupped her chin "As for the interior…tell Julius to surprise me."

"Right…" Siegward nodded, then looked to Boudica and mutely worded 'Calzone' to her with a bewildered look on his face. The Rider just rolled her eyes and shook her head from side to side.

Da Vinci chuckled to herself, then looked back across the cafeteria, not a wide array of Servants currently inside beyond the odd notable exceptions of those who ended up spending most of their time in there. She briefly spied Beatrice in the corner of the room next to a plant, silently staring at the chair opposite her without any food in front of her. Then there was Mozart somewhere else in the room, a coffee in front of him and no one else around.

Eeesh, the atmosphere was rather awkward.

Though it looked like Berserker hadn't noticed at the moment, though how long that would go on for was something she couldn't say. Yet…it was nice to see that he couldn't quite contain his curious nature, especially as he drummed his fingers on the countertop, eyes sweeping over the kitchen with an almost childish curiosity to them. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. A picture told a thousand words and he was wearing a manifesto on his face.

Well…when he finally did introduce himself properly, she expected he would have a good deal of confidence.

Kalameet seemed as though he had a flair for the dramatic, as all good creators did.


AN: Yeah, Da Vinci sussed him out instantly.

Berserker Kalameet on his third ascension looks very humanesque with him being a moderately tall person around Lancelot's height.

Worry not though…The era of Kalameet will return soon.

You cannot keep a Shounen Protagonist down for long!