Almost Weekly Santa Alter: IV

It hadn't even been something in the same line as curiosity, merely something regarding the appearance of the Servant beside him and her physical appearance before he recalled the brown paper bag he now held in his hands. When examining her heavily furred hands and feet and then looking at the bag, he could not help but become moderately concerned at whether or not the food she even prepared was edible.

It ultimately culminated in his actions, the scrunching of the bag caused Tamamo-Cat to whirl on him as he pulled out one of the strange baked rolls, he did not know their names off the top of his head but they looked edible at least. His eyes narrowed a touch as he turned them back and forth in his grasp and looked over every single inch of them with a keen eye, making sure to scan the surface for even the slightest hint of hair.

"What are you doing-wan?!" Tamamo-Cat released a shout directed towards him, a mixture of both horror and trace amounts of anger, she jumped at him and made the effort to try and pull his arm down to free the pastry from his grasp. He barely spared her a glance as he continued his examination.

Unfortunately for her, the efforts were wasted on account of the unique summoning removing most of her strength to allow for a prolonged existence without a Master. The end result was his arm not even so much as buckling even as she threw her feet off the ground and tried to drag the limb down with all her body weight, growling and yanking at his arm all the while.

His eyes turned to her after nearly a full minute of the display, there was much he would have liked to say but only one question mattered to him at the time.

"How were you able to create this without tainting it with your body hairs?"

Tamamo-cat stopped pulling, her head raised itself upwards and she looked straight towards him with surprise, gradually unlatching herself from his arm and then stepping backwards, patting her clothes down casually as though nothing had happened, he watched her stone faced as she grew a proud smile and placed her paws on her hips.

"Ah, ah, ah! A maid never reveals her tricks-wan!" A single hand was brought up and she waved her claw from side to side at him. "Especially not when I have so many competitors. Maybe you won't say anything-wan, but I can't chance the fact information might slip through to the others. That snake will jump at anything to get one up on me, especially since I've been absent for so long!"

She jumped backwards, narrowing her eyes and thinning her lips.

He frowned more openly at her as she brought her arms up and started to swing her fists back and forth, ducking and weaving as though avoiding invisible blows. "When it gets to this stage of the game, you can't let up for even a second or you're out of it before you even hear the bell ringing!"

She paused in her punching, then turned to him and raised a finger once more. "That's not an old man reference, by the way-wan."

He was rather lost with her.

"But!" Her hands came up, then she approached rather slowly and took the baked treat between her fingers. His grip loosened to allow her to pull it from him where she delicately carried it back across and lowered it into the paper bag, letting out a gentle exhale once she was done and stepping back. "Just know that I had a pretty serious teacher-wan. The type that would have turned me into a pie filling if I got even an ounce of a whisker in any of my meals."

She shivered for a moment, her tail stood up and puffed out before it fell back down flat and gently swayed from side to side. "Though if you can pass along some words to goshujin-sama and get him to let me into the kitchen, I would be very, very grateful to you!"

"...I'll see what I can do." He didn't actually find himself caring all that much, this was basically her chance to prove competence in that regard but judging by the appearance of the food, she was already far ahead of himself. He had few memories of tasting food before and the ones he did have from his time as Gawyn were limited to nothing more than basic proteins. Meat and potatoes in excess.

Tamamo-cat nodded her head, seemingly pleased at his vague answer for a reason he couldn't quite comprehend.

"Good. A maid isn't worth much if she can't be in the kitchen-wan!"

His brows crinkled a touch, the top of the bag rolled in his grasp as he resumed walking forwards. "I would say that you are, without a doubt, the strangest being related to divinity I have ever met in my life. I dare say that without the barest hint of knowledge of who you are, I would not even suspect you were divine in the least. Yet you are a minor aspect of Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, and by definition you are a scion of the light…yet you behave nothing like I would expect."

Tamamo-cat scoffed behind him. "Well, obviously I wouldn't behave like all the others. All of us Tamamo-nine are different and when we clash, I'll prove that I am the greatest Tamamo of all and become the sun!" her loud boast was met with silence, he turned to see her fist pointed to the sky with a savage look on her face.

Was she proclaiming her intention of murdering her other aspects to become a Goddess?

Was there a response to this that he could give?

"...As you say." He settled on that one, turning from her once again and resuming his walk. Dismissing the odd topic of conversation from his mind. "In another aspect, what are these supposed to be in the first place? I have given it much thought but I cannot come to a conclusive answer for myself."

"Huh?" Tamamo-cat made a face, perhaps a bit caught by the change in topic, though she recovered quickly enough and waved her hand from side to side. "Oh, those are just some cinnamon swirls. Pretty easy to make if you know how and very delicious-wan!" she beamed. "It would also show how skilled I was to avoid getting a single hair in all of that!"

…He supposed she was right, it did feel rather sticky when he held it in his hands for a brief moment.

"So what about you? Why did you agree to help with all of this-wan?" Her sudden question almost caused him to trip, he stumbled before catching himself and turning around to face the Berserker, his brows pinching together.

"Does it matter?"

"A little bit, yeah-wan." Tamamo-cat rejected the attempt with a shrug of the shoulders and a wave of the paw, her tail flickering back and forth with sharp movements. "I'm here for the sake of goshujin-sama and proving that I can be really capable in the kitchen as all the other cooks. Also because doing this will make them really happy at the end of the day, but it just seems a touch strange to me that you're going to be away from all the action-wan."

He could try and lie, but that would amount to nothing. "I do not care for this holiday. Every action I take that works to prolong this is like twisting a knife in my head. It stands against all of my beliefs, all that I have known to be right and true since the very first moment I picked up a sword or opened my eyes. Since the moment my mother first started to visit me each and every night. This holiday is wrong to me…"

Falling silent, his shoulders dropped and he turned back around. "But I know it will make Ritsuka and the others happy. Even if I don't understand, I know that rest and recuperation is important for humans and this offers the best chance for it. So whether I understand it or not, whether I accept it or not, then the very least I can do is see that Ritsuka, Olga and Mash get the very best they can in terms of relaxation from me."

"Someone isn't feeling the festive cheer." Tamamo-cat chided him as she stepped up by his side, frowning deeply and narrowing her eyes. "What is the point in helping to celebrate a holiday if you're going to ba-humbug your way through the whole thing? That just seems as though it would make everyone miserable by the end of it…" the Berserker fell silent, then she shrugged her shoulders and picked up the pace. "But if it makes goshujin-sama happy, then I won't stop you. At least it gives me a chance, right?"

He stared at the back of her head as she walked past him, keeping himself quiet as he did so before letting out a small huff. He wasn't sure whether to be impressed or disturbed by the fact she had seemingly ignored his entire issue in the first place. Well, it wasn't as though he was aiming for sympathy so he was thankful she didn't show him any. Her first concern seemed to be Ritsuka and he was a convenient tool for that goal. That was fine. That was something he could work with in this situation.

"How are the decorations going anyway? I did not get a chance to check on their progress during my short stop."

"I'd say that are going paws-itively fantastic so far!" Tamamo-cat boasted and it took him a moment to realise she had accentuated the opening letters of the word while giggling to herself. "Berserker went off to find a big tree for us to decorate and all of the food is starting to come along very, very, very nicely. A big feast that will surely make goshujin-sama happy!"

Well, he supposed that was good news in principle.

He stopped walking, something tickled his senses and he turned his attention to the sky and narrowed his gaze considerably. The sounds of Tamamo-cat walking through the snow fell away as well, he could feel her attention fall onto him but that did not concern him, eyes eyes remained solely onto the sky and his brows gradually pinched together as he watched a shape move across the skyline, silhouetted before the northern lights, he squinted at the moving form and found himself more than a little bewildered by it.

The communicator at his waist beeped, he brought it up without taking his eyes off the shape and pressed it on. "You're going to tell me that a Servant is nearby, yes?"

Silence from Romani, he glanced down to see the doctor paused in the middle of a sentence and gradually lowered his hand as he did so. Nodding his head up and down several times, though he didn't appear all that concerned. "Not just one Servant. It looks as though it's four with a small collection of phantasmals accompanying them. Really weak phantasmals but I'm guessing if you're speaking first, you can probably see them, right?"

He nodded his head, the shape grew closer and closer as Tamamo-cat started to back away towards him. Her head cocked to the side in clear confusion, something that he found himself sharing at the rapidly approaching shape. Headed with what looked like nine of them, the wyverns were all of different colours with the lead one appearing to be a crimson red.

All of them were fastened up and dragging some manner of loosely constructed sleigh behind them, made from slapped together branches and planks of wood. It looked rather makeshift and a far cry from what he would have been expecting otherwise. He and Tamamo-cat took a single step to the side and followed the descending entourage with bemusement on both their features, the wyverns slid into the snow and dragged the cart behind them as they did so.

Momentum grinding to a halt just in time for the sleigh to stop right in front of the pair of them.

It was at that point that he noticed it wasn't actually nine wyverns, it was eight with the lead individual not even being a wyvern at all. It was a matte black horse, adorned with thick plate armour and with glowing red eyes, the creature letting out a weighty snort as it shook its head from side to side, beating it's hooves on the ground as it did so.

Following the reins which connected from the horse to the other wyverns, he eventually moved far enough along that he was looking at the rider and the two passengers that accompanied them, the first was a rather expected sight of a Silver Knight, though he instantly noticed that it was not Arkon on account of the cape being a different colour, this one the more traditional light grey as opposed to the bright red of the guard captain.

The other was a woman with a rather loose sense of clothing, thick leather armour on either side with a strap going across her chest to cover herself, baggy fur trousers and some manner of thin cape around her, brunette shaggy hair with dark curling horns poking through on either side of her head in a manner that he felt was vaguely familiar for whatever reason.

Finally, there was the one who held the reins.

Black jagged armour, darkened horns emerging from porcelain like skin, pale yellow eyes and light blonde hair, the icy expression on the face of the woman as she clenched the reins in her hands for a moment, then loosened them as she turned her head towards himself and Tamamo-cat, her dull golden eyes flickered between the two of them for a few seconds before she spoke in a slow and familiar tone of voice.

"Hoh? So it seems there are others who walk the home of Santa."

Ash just stared at her in complete silence, more when her eyes narrowed upon him for whatever odd reason and looked him up and down. There was something passing through those orbs, almost akin to familiarity, but he held no recollection of ever seeing this woman before in his life. She looked like the Saber from Fuyuki but his memories of King Arthur were clear enough, they never looked anything like this nor grew as tall as this.

"Hmmm. A distant memory, as though you strike a cord of nostalgia within me…" The woman mused, likely to herself, before she grunted disinterestedly and shook her head from side to side. "It matters not before the eyes of Santa. All are equally judged, past encounters mean nothing."

That warranted a pinch of the brows, his attention briefly turned to Tamamo-cat - who clearly thought the same as he, if her brief glance to him was any indication - and then back to the woman and her associates, finally to the simple wooden sleigh she rode upon and then to the nine mounts that pulled it along. All of it culminated in nothing that made a lot of sense to him.

"I feel like I ate something funny and now I'm seeing things-wan." Tamamo-cat voiced at his side with clear confusion. "I know that you get a lot of Santa's during the holidays but I wasn't expecting to run into another one completely by accident."

The Silver Knight caught on, immediately raising his hand and speaking in a rapid and excitable tone of voice. "Did you just say that you met another Santa? Does that mean there can be more than one?"

He vaulted from the sleigh a moment later and into the snow, whirling around to the other two and placing his hands on his hips, continuing his string of words. "See? I told you that it would be possible for me to become Santa Claus as well. In fact, I shall make a note of this just for future reference in the event that it comes up again!"

A leather bound rough tome fell into the waiting grasp of the knight, flipping it open and already generating another pencil to start.

The brunette woman just rolled her eyes rather dramatically and waved her hand. "You can do that if you like, but they do make an interesting point. Given that I'm the one who birthed all these children, wouldn't it make more sense for me to be Santa Claus rather than you?"

"Didn't I make the sleigh?" The Silver Knight looked up and tilted his head from side to side. "Unless you were planning to ride them like a horse or something, but then that would probably be rather uncomfortable on account of all the spikes running down the back of the wyverns. Also it would probably be very difficult to get a saddle on them in the first place, you know?"

The blonde merely closed her eyes, then raised a single hand and formed it into a fist. "Silence."

A pressure washed over them, a subtle shove of mana and little else but it was more than enough to make her point clear.

"Given that neither of you have even an ounce of experience when it comes to a mount, then it would make little sense for either of you to wear the mantle of Santa." The newly claimed Santa lowered her fist, opening her eyes once more. "The aid you have rendered unto me is more befitting of helpers than of Santa himself. For that, I shall generously allow you to claim the title of elves. Be thankful for this and for the privilege of riding in the sleigh as Santa does his work."

Her eyes turned on them and narrowed. "Though this news is troubling. Speak to me of this pretender who claims my title? There can be only one Santa this holiday, I shall brook no others beside myself."

Before he could even attempt to answer that question, a head popped up behind the two women, he froze the moment he caught sight of her, the glowing golden eyes and the younger features, the dark grey hair flopping over the two of them as she looked between the women with a raised eyebrow before eventually speaking.

"Wait…" Her tone betrayed her intrigue and curiosity. "Does being a Rider mean you can become Santa? Because doesn't that mean I should be Santa Claus because of my class?"

Silence from all those present.

The brunette looked over her shoulder at the young looking girl, her lips thinned and she let out a puff from between her lips that blew the stray locks of hair from out the front of her face. "I believe there needs to be a bit more into becoming Santa Claus than just being a Rider and sitting on the presents we're supposed to be delivering and falling asleep on all of them doesn't count as contributing to the cause. By my reckoning, this is the first time you've actually woken up since we set off."

A pout from the younger girl, she stood up and wobbled for a moment before catching her footing. "That's just because Santa spends the rest of the year sleeping. He saves up all his energy for when he is needed. That is what the Lord Vessel told me, so that means that I should be perfect for the role because I spend so much time sleeping." she whirled on the Silver Knight, then pointed to them. "You think so too, don't you?"

Before the man could have uttered even a word, the dark armoured woman scoffed loudly.

"A biased source. They are a knight of yours, it is only natural they would take your side just as any knights of mine would assist me. Ask another who shall not nod their head blindly at your words."

Tamamo-cat leaned towards him and whispered. "Hey, that girl in the back smells very bright-wan. I don't mean the smart bright either, I mean the very divine-"

"It is the Goddess Filianore." He replied to her in an equally low tone of voice, having not taken his eyes off the girl from the moment she rose up. Thankfully she had not taken notice of him just yet and he was content with leaving it that way, especially since her last encounter involved the Darkeater Midir, he would prefer avoiding that.

On a more personal note, her mere presence made him uneasy for a whole host of other reasons, especially now he considered their familial relation to one another and the fact she was now a Servant because of his own actions. He still did not care for her one bit, but he wished that he had stayed as far from her if it was possible. If only because it was making him squirm, like a thousand small insects now walked across his skin.

Tamamo-cat made a small noise of understanding, then the understanding fled from her features as she double taked, looking at the girl with a greater sense of bewilderment before coming back to him with a raised eyebrow. "Why is she arguing over Santa?"

"I do not know and I cannot find it within myself to care."

He had tuned out the argument, coming back into it just in time for Filianore to wave her hand and generate a small glowing circle on the floor. From it rose a figure clad in snow white robes, covering every inch of skin, long sleeved and wide cuffed, with silver steel boots with curved toes, the newly made construct stood there like a statue, as the words of the Goddess returned to him.

"See? I can even make workers for me to carry out my activities. Clearly that makes me the most suited to be Santa Claus." With a triumphant smirk, the girl folded her arms over her chest and puffed it forwards, jutting her chin upwards as she did so.

A scoff from the dark armoured woman. "You are not granted the title of Santa through merely acquiring underlings. It is the ability to command those beneath you in a clear and concise manner. To bring them with you as you create the grand Christmas that all shall benefit from. Your soulless summons cannot appreciate the splendour of the holidays."

"That's really nice of you to say." A chuckle from the brunette, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth as she leaned back. "You could have just said that you want everyone to have fun even if they are just a helper elf or something."

"Such things do not bear mentioning." The dismissal was clear enough. "Even your children may enjoy something of this venture once they are fed and cared for."

Ash turned his eyes to the wyverns, all of whom had spent most of their time just staring at him with varying degrees of alertness. He could see it in their postures and the sharpness of their eyes. They had been measuring him up from the moment they landed, he met eyes with one of them whose gaze narrowed and lips pulled back, revealing the row of sharp teeth in a threatening gesture, a puff of black smoke from their nose.

He grunted back at them before turning his attention to the others once more, who had seemingly forgotten both he and Tamamo-cat were here in the first place.

There would be no complaints from him on the matter.

"As a King, I clearly have the authority on this matter." The woman finished off with a confident nod of the head, which left him rather puzzled but quickly sweeping through his memories as he looked for her identity. Ultimately, he was coming up blank on who she might have been, there were not many who bore a resemblance to her in this capacity or held the same feeling as Arthur from Fuyuki. Save that she never looked like this. "As such, it is only logical that I assume the mantle of Santa."

Filianore sputtered before visibly frowning and stomping her foot down. "I was the Goddess of an entire city. Even if I was a Princess, the council of the pygmies still served underneath me."

"You have admitted your title is that of a princess." A grunt from the King, Ash caught the hint of a smirk on her lips for a fraction of a second. "By my own reckoning, that still places you beneath me in terms of hierarchy. The presence of divine heritage does little to alter this simple fact."

"Wha-!?"

The Silver Knight made a small noise as he waved his hand in a so-so gesture. "I am afraid that they do have a point, Princess Filianore. If we were to look at it from the outside, you are a Princess and they are a King." he sounded rather strained as he delivered the words, even looking down and bringing up a hand to lay on the back of his helmet. "But as far as the Lordvessel informs me, there are multiple Santa's that exist in the modern day and-"

"I have spoken on the matter and shall speak of it no further." A command from the dark armoured knight. "As the highest authority, I am Santa Claus and those who surround me are my elves. Some may obtain higher ranks depending on the quality of their service but it is not something that is subject to change." a beat from them, then they spared Filianore a glance. "Besides, it would make for a poor showing for any Santa to be caught slumped over their own carriage like a freshly ejected drunk from a tavern."

The brunette woman snorted loudly, bringing her hand up to disguise the rest of the laughter behind her fist and making a noise as though she was coughing, yet the damage had already been done if the glare Filianore now sent her way was any indication.

Another glance to Tamamo-cat and yet another was sent back to him, they blinked once then returned to the scene before them.

Filianore looked dangerously close to stomping her feet before she abruptly paused and took in a deep breath, exhaling and visibly draining the frustration from her body as she did so. When her eyes opened once more, they were accompanied by an all too calm smile. "Then we can make this an entirely different matter. I have a counter argument that shall surely win me the day in this matter."

"Hoh?" The dark knight made a noise of mild disinterest "And what manner of response would this be?"

The smile of Filianore was all the warning he, and any of them, received.

It was like a pulse of mana directly behind him, a feeling of cold water rushing over his entire body and making him straighten out immediately, the desire to go for his sword was buried but only just. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the hairs of Tamamo-cat go ramrod straight, her tail jerked upwards abruptly and her ears shot upwards in a clear sign of alertness.

A deep growl from behind him, the heads of all of those in front of him gradually turned in the direction of the earth shuddering noise and stared in silence at something just over his shoulder.

Feeling as clear as day, especially with the heavy breathing from behind him, each exhale blasting into his back like a shove, the proximity of which left much to be desired, his lips pulled themselves thin as he studied the expressions, Filianore looked rather pleased while the brunette just inclined an eyebrow and the King just thinned her lips and looked almost annoyed.

The Silver Knight just stared in silence without making a single move.

He felt the communicator vibrate next to his hip, yet he remained unwilling to go for it.

Slowly but surely, both he and Tamamo-cat turned around to see what stood behind them, the moment he did so he was blasted in the face by another puff of air, his hair jostling a touch. The force of each breath was clear as day, making a great deal of sense when he found himself staring directly into the eyes of the breather.

Though they were a touch smaller, he could mistake the Darkeater Midir for no other.

Their eyes boring directly into his own, with neither one of them making a single move beyond staring at the air. He made an effort to keep his expression utterly unchanged, even as they parted their lips and blew out a small cloud of black smog directly into his face, it cleared with the next breath which shot it over his shoulders. It did answer whether or not the dragon actually remembered him and whether it could be summoned as a Servant.

Really, he should have put two and two together when he realised it was Filianore once again.

"Huh. I guess Midir doesn't like you all that much…how peculiar, I have not seen him act in such a way before." The mildly intrigued comment from his aunt was ignored in favour of focusing on the dragon which was now something of a nuisance to him. Mainly that he was certain the moment he made a move, it would go for him and it was close enough that he would be snapped up in those jaws before he could teleport away. "Well, it doesn't matter. I trust that I have made my point rather apparent. Clearly, with such a fine mount, I am the one most worthy of being called Santa."

A crunch of snow beside him, he shot a look to see Tamamo-cat actively sidestepping away from him while maintaining a rather innocent looking smile.

Well, she was a liability in this case.

"Hmph. If you believe that this dragon alone is proof of your worth as Santa, then you are mistaken." The King was less than impressed at the display, her tone hadn't even changed. "It takes more than mere brute force to decide the worth of such a key figure. The role of a leader is force tempered with wisdom and experience. What manner of experience have you in leading others?"

Filianore made a noise of irritation before speaking again. "I just told you, I was the matriarch of the Ringed City! I was the one they looked to for protection!"

He could not help but comment at that point. "By my understanding, your tenure as Princess of the Ringed City was sleeping in the centre of the Church."

Silence.

A single amused huff from the King.

He now felt the weight of a second glare directly at the back of his head, no doubt from his aunt, yet his focus remained on the dragon who had narrowed their eyes into slits. A low growl rumbling out from the back of their throat, clearly not liking what he had just said. That was its problem, all he spoke of was the truth. Nothing more and nothing less.

Folding his arms over his chest, he returned the glare to the Dragon without shifting his posture.

One of the two of them would need to blink first and it certainly wasn't going to be him.

"What good is a dragon if it cannot even intimidate a lone Servant?" The King's voice, which sounded an awful lot like Arthur's at this point that he was certain the two were related, echoed out behind him with an odd note to it. "Only those with the traits of a house cat seem to be frightened of it."

Midir snorted out, rather disgruntled and probably a touch insulted as they shifted their gaze from him towards those behind him, narrowing their eyes just a touch for a brief second before pulling them back to himself.

This was quickly growing to become something of a hassle to him, he had neither the time nor the patience to entertain this manner of debacle while there might well be an actual threat to the Singularity within it in the form of the as of yet undiscovered Krampus. Turning around, he brought his attention back to the group of Servants in front of him and narrowed his eyes at all of them. "Am I to assume that you are all invested in the Christmas holiday?"

The Silver Knight nodded his head. "I'd say so, yes. I like to immerse myself in the cultures of the lands I visit so I know a bit about these sorts of things." he paused for a moment, then stepped forwards and raised a finger, his other hand pulling forth the leather tome and opening it up as he started to read from it. "In fact, there is one mention here of when I spent a short time in the land of Volgen during one of their bigger festivals before I ran afoul of a rather influential merchant who wanted my armour at the time and was a touch upset that I wouldn't part with it."

With the knight occupied with whatever they were doing, he turned his eyes to the other collection of Servants and looked between all of them.

A scoff from the King was answer enough. "Would you truly ask such an obvious question, given the theme we travel with? Perhaps it would have been made clearer had I adorned myself in decorations and worn a hat." a beat of silence. "And you have yet to answer my original question. Who is the pretender to the name of Santa?"

"I'm looking right at her." His aunt grumbled from behind them, he spared her barely a glance and a tilt of the head. She caught his eye, then narrowed her gaze on him before she furrowed her brows, squinting at him before speaking slowly. "Say…have we encountered one another before? I cannot help but feel as though I know of you from somewhere, yet the memory is so distant from me…"

He was rather conscious of Midir behind him, a fight with them would certainly attract Ritsuka. "...We met once. Only in passing."

"Ah, I see. That would explain it." Another pause from the Goddess, then she wet her lips and angled her head, a single finger was raised and placed on her cheek, tapping away at it as she made a low thoughtful humming noise, "Yet I cannot help but feel as though there is more to this tale of yours…your eyes remind me so much of my sister-"

His hands clenched into fists, a wave of fury shot through him for a brief second before it was stomped down. If she noticed, she did not comment on it but the same could not be said for the others, he felt annoyance aimed at himself for his blunder as the two clearly caught sight of his twitch but said nothing on the matter. Fortunately for him, he likely would have devolved into a string of curses.

"If I were to speak of the current Santa, what assurance would I have that you would not engage them in battle?"

"Engaging them in battle is my sole intention." The King declared without even missing a beat, his body tensed and his eyes narrowed. "Though killing them is outside of my interest. Once they understand that I alone am the true Santa, they shall serve under me as an elf until such a time as they are allowed to rise beyond their station. Any who claim the mantle of Santa must have the strength to defend their title."

He…supposed that was a decent enough reason, at least they did not intend to cause harm to Ritsuka and the others.

"King Arthur."

The Servant seemingly paused, then raised a sole eyebrow at him. "Repeat."

"The one who holds the mantle of Santa is King Arthur."

"I know I do."

What?

"You're not King Arthur."

"...Are you bereft of sense?"

"No. I am merely certain that you are not King Arthur." He frowned, gesturing to them as he spoke. "For the matter of appearance, while you share a face there are physical differences. You are visibly older than they are and are taller. The colour scheme of the armour might remain the same but that is all there is. The nature of your existence is that of an older sibling. Though I do not believe you to be Morgan le Fay."

The individual stared at him in complete silence. "...I see." they responded with then turned from him and pulled their lips into a frown. "It would seem you are acquainted with another who shares this name…perhaps from my younger days, though such a thing is beyond my memories now. In any event, this shall be useful information."

"I am more curious as to how you can be King Arthur at all."

"It is not a story worth telling." They replied instantly without even looking at him. "Nor is it one that bears discussion."

…Well, that seemed to be that.

With a wave of his hand, he gestured towards the cart and turned his eyes to his companion who had managed to now put some considerable distance between himself and the dragon still breathing down his neck. "Tamamo-cat, accompany them."

The woman didn't respond for a good few seconds, he was debating whether or not she actually heard him, right up until the point she swung her head in his direction, eyes bulged and mouth wide in clear shock, repeatedly swivelling her head between himself and the others, bringing up her right paw and rapidly pointing between the two points. Then came the sputtering noises of clear shock.

"A-are you out of your mind-wan!?" The accusation was met with furrowed brows, prompting her to continue onwards. "You want me to get into the same sleigh as these super strong people while I'm like a cat fresh out the vet? That's going to end up as a cat-astrophe for me!"

Where was the problem?

"They intend to meet up with Ritsuka and the others and you yourself wish to take the fastest route to them." Shrugging his shoulders. "I do not see where the issue lies. Besides, should they meet up with Ritsuka with little to no sign of your presence it can be inferred they are hostile and can be treated as such."

Another sputter from the woman. "That just means you're using me as cheese for a mousetrap-wan!"

"No." He frowned, that was a terrible analogy for what he was doing. "A more apt manner of putting it would be like placing a finch in the mouth of a crocodile. If all is well, the jaws shall not clamp shut around you."

The horror stricken expression she sent him was clear proof that she did not appreciate his comment.

"You're confirmed to be able to return with your memories intact. Where is the harm?"

"The harm is that I'd die-wan! Have you no soul?!"

"I have more than enough souls."

Someone cleared their throat before they could argue further, he turned his attention to the speaker. The brunette woman with her fist in front of her mouth, lowering it down and shooting a casual smile towards them. "Though you might not believe us, I can assure you that we're probably not going to kill you. I, for one, would rather not muddy this first chance at experiencing a proper human holiday by fighting people. It would be terribly boring if that were to happen."

He nodded his head to her. "See?"

Tamamo-cat just pointed at him. "Are you really going to take their word at face value-wan?"

"The dragon behind me has yet to try and rip me in half, nor has the silver knight over there-" He pointed in the general direction of them. "-tried to slay me for being an undead abomination. Given that one is duty bound to kill me and I am directly responsible for the death of the other, I would argue that the lack of violence thus far can be taken as a clear sign of amicable intentions."

A beat.

"Though if you wish to continue doubting them, you are free to do so. Though it would be wiser to keep your doubts quieter, I'm informed that humans and other beings tend to become irritated if their words are rebuffed directly to their face." Another shrug of his shoulders. "But I am working under limited information. So I might be wrong."

Silence from those around him.

Then Tamamo-cat let out an explosive sigh, dropping her shoulders and sagging forwards. With a swift turn, she marched towards the sleigh and started to clamber up, awkwardly pushing her way past the two women and into the back of the cart with his aunt, the Goddess shuffled a touch just to grant more room before she paused and looked directly at something for a moment, then visibly reached forwards with her hand extended.

"Heeenya!" Tamamo-cat jolted and whipped around, pointing towards the Goddess. "Don't grab my tail so suddenly like that-wan! You've got some really cold fingers, you know?"

Filianore pouted and folded her arms over her chest. "You cannot just wave something so clearly soft in my face and expect me not to clasp it." she gestured in his and Midir's direction. "Especially when for so very long I had to content myself with merely petting Midir. While it is certainly an enjoyable experience, one craves the softness of fury just to break up the monotony of scale."

He stared in silence, gradually turning to look over his shoulder towards Midir. Sure enough, the dragon was still facing him but he could see that its eyes were closed and its head slightly lowered, making their exasperation as clear as they could without an actual face.

This was one of the most bewildering encounters of his life.

And he had traded alcohol with invisible talking birds.

"Worry not, good fellow." His eyes shifted to the Silver Knight who was now standing before him, hands placed firmly on their hips and an audible smile to them as they spoke. "Upon my honour as a Silver Knight, I shall allow no harm to come to any who stand before me on this holiday…unless it is a holiday where you are supposed to hurt people. Those were actually rather popular in some of the countries…there was actually a rather bewildering experience in a small town in Zena and that is a really private kingdom, first and foremost, so a lot of their rituals don't really get discussed across the world but the really-"

"Perhaps it would be best if you joined your allies, given they are about to depart." Cutting off the tirade with a look over the shoulder of the knight, they paused mid-sentence and whipped around, making a small noise of alarm and then running towards the sleigh as it gradually started to turn away from them, the wyverns beating their wings to lift it into the air.

The Silver Knight leapt out of the snow, catching onto the back of the transport and then dragging himself up, rolling into the back compartment and out of sight, though he managed to catch a glimpse of Tamamo letting out another squawk as the knight presumably fell on her tail.

Midir was still standing here, staring at him.

"...You think if I want to harm her that I would have been deterred with mere numbers?"

They growled, then turned from him, the ground trembled with each step before their wings spread wide. With a single powerful beat, the dragon thrust them downwards and into the snow, propelling itself upwards at the same time it hurled gale force winds behind it. Ash covered his eyes as an avalanche of snow slammed right into him, his body remaining unmoved as the pile formed around him.

Seconds passed.

He sighed and flexed.

A pulse of mana from his body scattered the pile of snow and freed him once more, reaching up and wiping down the last remnants caught between his armour plates and in his hair. The dragon was far more petty than he expected them to have been, that was for certain.

The communicator buzzed once more, he unlatched it and held it up before him with the face of Romani appearing once more. The two engaged in a silent stare off with the other for what amounted to at least five seconds, then Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Ritsuka can take care of himself and if I really believed there was a danger, I would have killed them all the moment they landed."

The doctor continued to stare in silence.

"Or is this in relation to my using Tamamo-cat as a finch? Truthfully, I do not care for her either way."

More silence.

"...What?"

"Sorry, I'm just having a hard time working my head around all of this." The reply was slow and rather distant, they reached up and scratched their forehead just above their left eyebrow, their lips pulled thin. "Though I'm more alarmed that it's taken me so long to realise that Fou has actually been following you the entire time. They just blend really well into the snow."

He blinked, then turned around and looked down at his feet.

Sure enough, there was Fou, staring up at him with a blank look in their eyes. How in the flames had they managed to follow him for so long without him realising? His senses were not so terrible that he could have somehow missed them.

With a raised eyebrow, he turned back to Romani. "Is that all that concerns you?"

"More the mental preparation for when the Director runs into those Servants again is all." A beat of silence. "Also the dragon that is now flying towards them. I mean, I'd like to believe you on account of the whole 'there is no danger' thing but at the same time, I'm allowed to be a little worried about King Arthur meeting them. Again."

The doctor frowned. "Why is it always King Arthur, anyway? Why not any of the other knights of the round table? Or the Paladins of Charlemagne?"

His mind cycled through the paladins beyond Astolfo.

It settled on Roland.

"...I do not believe that is the manner of fight that either Ritsuka or Olga would be comfortable recording."

A blink from Romani. "Really, why is that?"

"I have a series of images now burned into my brain that are confusing." He would need to speak with Astolfo to ensure that he was not mistaken, but the fact of it was that he might well have been. Still, it would not have been the first individual he met who fought while being virtually naked. The one with less armour were the ones who posed the greatest danger, the nameless swordsman at firelink shrine taught him that.

Romani looked as though he didn't grasp the meaning of what he said, but that was expected. He didn't tell him much in the first place. "In the meantime, I shall continue my efforts in search of this 'Krampus' in the hopes that I discover some evidence of their existence."

A nod from the doctor. "I'll let you know how Fujimaru-kun and the others get on with the Santa Claus you just sent their way. I wish I had your confidence with it but…I guess I can let myself calm down a little." he added, a faint wave of the hand. "He's doing well so far, he and the Director. They just finished sledding down hills, you know?"

Moving down a hill with something beneath them.

"...I see."

Good for them.

"Until we speak again, Romani." The doctor nodded back to him, he shut down the communicator and clipped it back to his waist. Turning around and bringing his attention back towards Fou. Squinting at the smaller creature, something about it was more familiar now but he couldn't quite place it. A subtle edge the longer he looked but seemingly little else. "Is there a reason you are not with Ritsuka and Mash?"

"Fou!" The small creature made a noise, then tilted their head before narrowing their eyes at him.

"...Keeping an eye on me, were you?" Was what he inferred from the gesture, the further narrowing of the eyes in clear suspicion was answer enough for him. "Hmmm."

Whatever.

He was just tired now.

Turning his head from them, he resumed his steps through the snow but now more acutely aware of the small creature following after him. He could feel them now where he couldn't before, only tiny however. That he was being shown more concern from what amounted to the residential pet than any of the other Servants, at least to his face, was bemusing to him. He could tell that both Verndari and Sanura had been untrusting but they hadn't openly been as Fou.

Was he truly relieved by the fact the mysterious animal was so clearly suspicious of him?

He stopped walking as he spotted something from the corner of his gaze, much like before it was a speck of darkness on the sea of white, barely visible before the wall of trees but distinct enough that he spotted it upon a second looking. Turning his full body towards it and straightening himself out.

That was not supposed to be there.

A log cabin in the distance, a speckle of light through the window where the occupant clearly resided.

Another Servant, most likely.

And yet…this was the homeland of Santa.

It was a pitiful thought but all legends had to be rooted in an origin. Then again, the origin of Santa was Saint Nicholas. Perhaps the Servant version had been summoned to this Singularity or along those lines, it was certainly possible given their fame.

He brought his hand up, rubbing at his face and letting out a small sigh as he did so, dragging it back down and dropping it to his side. Thinning his lips as he did so and shaking his head.

An utterly pointless notion to debate.

He started walking in the direction of the cabin.