Summary: Just because the world she called home was gone, that didn't mean she couldn't find a new one with Chaldea. She couldn't have fathomed it would start with sea-salt ice cream and advice from a homunculus-dragon.

Note: A reviewer one time asked what the "sea-salt ice cream" bit from Skadi's debut chapter was all about. And well, now that I'm in a better place in my professional life, I wanted to explore that.

Skadi has been at Bond 10 and Level 100 for a good while now as of this note's writing (to think I grailed her back on August 25, 2021, and this note is from March 11, 2022), so a story just for her is long overdue.

The theme for this chapter is Dearly Beloved by Yoko Shimamura, specifically the version that plays for Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Even with KH3 being out for a while now, this version still lingers with me. Another song I will recommend is Kyle Landry's piano cover of Anata ga ita Mori, or "The Forest Where You Are", the original ending song for Studio Deen's anime adaptation for Fate in 2006. The solemn tone really fit with what I wanted to go with in this chapter. The original song is just as good too for a listen. As a final 'note', I'll recommend the acoustic version of Let's Just Live from RWBY. The lyrics were calling back to me with this.

Otherwise, please enjoy!

Day 37: Sea-Salt Start

Scathach-Skadi was a goddess. A queen. The last from her world, in fact. All the power left to her was meant to protect the last vestiges of life present, to keep Surtr from awakening. All to keep her world, which wasn't meant to exist in the first place, alive.

How cruel it was, to know that not even the last hopes she pushed to Odin himself — failed in keeping her world intact. Failed in keeping her children alive for one more day.

Flames had taken over everything by the time the summoning circle had appeared at her heels. The world was bright red, she could no longer call forth any ice, and her castle was melting. Her Valkyries were broken — dead — and her people and the giants were all falling one after the other, whether in the villages or in the formerly flowering snow that should've promised new beginnings.

There was no other place Skadi should've been able to call 'home.' Nowhere else but the flames that stole her ice away, and yet—

"Skadi-sama!"

In the place known as "Chaldea", Skadi was still adjusting to hearing her name be called by someone other than her original children. Schooling her expression into neutrality had become commonplace by now — there was no point in mourning people who never existed in the eyes of Proper Human History — but even then, there was something about Vy's brown eyes that had the goddess inwardly falter.

Just like a child, was the deeply buried thought that brushed her mind again. No. Not again. Just like—

"What… what is it, Master?" The words came out almost dry, searing hot against her throat as Skadi turned to look into those brown eyes, and Vy blinked up at her. "I do not recall our having another quest to attend to."

"It's not that!" Vy blurted out, then covered her mouth with both hands as an embarrassed flush of red started to climb up her neck from what appeared to be mortification. "I just wanted to know what kind of desserts you would like," eventually slips out past the cracks in her fingers, a stray strand of brown hair falling down onto her temple as she looked up at Skadi with wide eyes. "You've been here for a while now, so I wanted to do something as a way of saying 'thank you' for all the help you've given me and the rest of Chaldea."

"Desserts…?" Yet again, Skadi found herself caught off guard, having to hide it behind a dainty huff into her sleeve. "If you insist, child, I…"

"Yes?" For once since Skadi had been summoned, Vy had a bright sparkle in her brown eyes past her glasses, almost like she was eager to hear the Caster out. Like she cared. Like she—

No.

The look merely made Skadi's heart ache. "…Give me a moment to consider it," she eventually got out past her sleeve, closing her eyes to avoid looking at the downtrodden face Vy made at Skadi's words. "Chaldea is still an odd place, child, and there are things that need to be done. Go and do what you must before going about worshipping me."

"It's not really 'worship,' though..." Still, Vy respectfully stepped back in contrast to her weak protest, putting on another small smile as she crossed her hands behind the folds of her black skirt. "It's 'gratitude', Skadi-sama. But okay." With a tilt of her head, she finished with a softer, "I'll wait."

"As you should, child."

Even when choosing to return Vy's smile with a nod before walking past her to the next destination, Skadi couldn't help but wonder if she was making a mistake.

"You wish to know more about our Master?" The homunculus boy — so young, so much like her old children — stared up at Skadi with a confused face, his knuckles falling lax against the curvature of his sword. "I am but a mere homunculus, Caster," he said quietly, shaking his head. "But if you are so curious, I will do my best to answer your questions."

"Thank you," Skadi replied in turn, taking a seat next to him while smoothing her dress underneath her weight. Even if the Servant sitting with her was not one of her children, he still deserved respect. Some kind of mutual understanding, especially with Vy pairing them together in battles against Assassins one too many times. "But you are still a living being as much as I am. You can take your time, Caster."

"Sieg," the homunculus said suddenly.

Skadi tilted her head at him, blinking. "…Pardon?"

A soft pink flush started to climb up the homunculus' neck to faintly cover his cheeks, making him duck his head as he lowered his sword. "You can call me by my name of 'Sieg,' Caster," he said quietly, raising a hand to scratch at his cheek. "Hearing my Class Name is still somewhat odd for me."

Skadi felt the giggle bubble up in her throat before she realized she was opening her mouth. "Sieg it is, so long as you call me 'Skadi' in return," she answered in agreement, nodding her head while folding her hands in her lap. "It's a fine name. I presume from your reaction that it came from a hero of yours?"

Sieg proceeded to turn a light pink in response to Skadi's question, and he merely jerked his head in a nod back. "…Indeed. It was from a hero who didn't have to give me his heart, Skadi," he elaborated with a soft wave of the arm not holding his sword, his red eyes looking somewhat distant as he glanced elsewhere. "The least I could do was take on his name to remember him, even if 'Sieg' was only a part of it."

"That is a noble thing to do, young Sieg," Skadi whispered, and it took a moment for the goddess to realize the wistful note seeping into her voice. Her children once sounded like Sieg too, didn't they? Earnest and cheerful, to the very end. "A kind thing too, if I am allowed to say such a thing. Is that why…"

"Why I answered Vy's summons?" Sieg filled in, turning his head back to look Skadi in the eye. To Skadi's surprise, a tiny, proud smile formed on the homunculus' face. "Partially that kindness, yes. But there's more to it than that."

"More?" Skadi said quietly.

"Yes," Sieg replied, his voice slowly raising itself in volume from confidence and vigor. And was that… fondness tinging his tone? "Vy called me her friend."

Skadi found herself freezing. When was the last time I heard that, seeped through the goddess' thoughts before she could stop herself.

Whether or not Sieg noticed Skadi's hesitation, he didn't give off any visible sign of such things. Instead, his gaze turned to focus on the back of his right hand, where three black marks — were those old Command Seals? — were visibly burned into it, made in the shape of a dragon. "I was a mere homunculus. An artificial human who became a real person through coincidental means. Someone who took away the power to make wishes from my world when I won my Holy Grail War, Skadi," he elaborated, the same smile tugging at his lips as he curled and uncurled his fingers. "I shouldn't have been summoned by any other means. I was even resigned to waiting for the person I've pledged myself to for as long as it took until I met our Master."

"…'Was'?" Skadi echoed numbly.

"My original self still is waiting, Skadi, at the Reverse Side of the World," Sieg corrected, glancing up at Skadi with a tiny blush on his face. "I'm—" he swallowed thickly, shrugging his shoulders while carding a hand through his hair, " —my current Spirit Origin who is conversing with you now, in the end, is just a terminal given form by my original self and kept anchored to Chaldea by Vy. And I can proudly say I wouldn't want to be anchored anywhere else when she looked at my original self and offered to help."

Skadi took a moment too long to realize she was inhaling sharply at the boy's words. Offer. Help. Just like— "She wished to help you?" left her in a raw, weaker voice than she intended.

"We originally met because of some trouble my original self found himself in," Sieg said with a quiet chuckle, a dry smile tugging at his lips. "Because of her work in saving Humanity, I couldn't think of anyone else to reach out to in order to resolve the issue, and she amazingly stood up to the task. Even calling me a friend despite how selfish I was in initially asking for her help." To Skadi's surprise, the homunculus' red eyes glazed over for a moment, becoming unfocused as he whispered, "Just like another hero I used to know."

Oh. "Did you…" Skadi scooted closer to rest a dainty hand on the boy's knee. "Did you lose someone as well?"

Sieg startled, his red irises clearing up to look up into Skadi's own before he shook his head with another tiny smile. "Not exactly," he elaborated, raising his hand in a soft "eh" gesture. "That hero is among those Vy has contracted with in Chaldea, but I'm not sure if he remembers me. The original hero I knew is still living amongst those in the world where I came from, helping people like the hero he wanted to be."

But in the end, he's not the same, was left unsaid. It's the same person in face and behavior, but not truly the original who was willing to save a homunculus like me.

"I see." Skadi glanced down at her heels before shrugging her shoulders weakly. "We both have had our fair share of shadows, haven't we?"

The children, the giants, my Scandinavia. None of it will come back to this History. Never again. Even if I could see a glimpse—

"…Vy was the one to tell me love could have definite mass," Sieg said in quiet agreement, lowering his hand to rest it against Skadi's own with a warm squeeze. "And from what I could observe of your time here, Skadi, it weighs you down just as much as Vy's own love for her family does, does it not?"

Skadi kept her lips sewn closed, closing her eyes to take a breath. It's not the same. Her family can still live. Mine—

Mine is never returning to Proper Human History.

Sieg's hand squeezed hers again. "Forgive me if I overstepped my bounds in asking," he said, retracting his touch after a few seconds of lingering. "But I had a haunted look in my eye once, just like yours, Skadi. I couldn't leave it alone."

"…Did you now." Even with the sympathy being extended her way, the former Goddess felt a curl of bitter regret start to form in the bottom of her stomach as the warmth from Sieg's hand started to fade from her folded knuckles. How could he know, did he have to see his children die, did he have to be the last of a world that was already doomed— Skadi still forced herself to raise her head, opening her eyes to look into Sieg's bright red ones with a wry smile unbefitting of a queen. Maybe she looked like a lost widow. Some kind of lonely woman. She couldn't tell with the look in Sieg's eyes as she met his gaze. "What have you learned then?"

To Skadi's surprise, Sieg merely smiled, offering her an open hand without a single ounce of hesitation. "May I show you instead, Skadi? I believe it would be better to answer that question through actions than words."

Skadi still wasn't sure what compelled her to reach out to take it. Maybe it was Sieg's smile or the fact his touch wasn't scalding to her cold hands despite being so, so warm. But she did.

She absently wondered when following him through Chaldea's hallways if he realized her grip was almost like a lifeline in the dark.

"Separate the egg yolks from the whites and put them into the mixer… then add in sugar, vanilla extract, and the salt to whisk, right?"

"Make sure the mixer is set to medium-high settings, Mya-ster," Tamamo Cat purred, flitting back and forth over the petite girl's shoulders in the kitchen while pressing her paws together in front of her apron with a huff. Her ears twitched above her hair as she continued with a firmer, "The ice cream base needs to be thick for better taste and consistency, mroof!"

"Aye aye, Cat!"

Skadi couldn't believe her eyes. Vy was supposed to be resting in-between missions. Not wearing a pink apron over her pajamas and carefully cracking open an egg. "…I thought I told the little one to wait on my answer," were the incredulous words that left her lips before she could stop them. "What is she doing?"

Over Skadi's head, Sieg chuckled quietly, keeping his voice low enough to stay undetected from their shared vantage point in the hallway. "…Being Vy," he answered after a moment, squeezing Skadi's hand before letting go. "She originally asked you what desserts you liked, correct?"

Skadi gave him a look over her shoulder. "…She did, and I told her I'd consider it."

"But you didn't say 'no' to her, did you?" Sieg pointed out, and when Skadi was raising an eyebrow at him, his smile still shined against his face despite dimming somewhat in the face of her stare. "To a Master like Vy, things like that merely give her a chance to do something for you. To 'give something back,' she'd say."

Skadi glanced back into that bustling kitchen, noting the way Vy carefully was pouring the milk into a prepared pot before shaking her head. "…I was merely doing my work as a Servant, Sieg. There shouldn't be anything she should feel the need to worship me for—"

"It's not 'worship' when she's happier with you here, Skadi."

Skadi froze again, finding her body moving against her will as she turned to look up into Sieg's bright red eyes. "…What?"

"Love may be a heavy thing," Sieg said with a soft hum, reaching over to gently pat Skadi's shoulder, "but if there's one thing I learned from Vy, it doesn't have to be a painful thing. Not when she's trying to make sea-salt ice cream for you to thank you for coming to Chaldea and helping her as a Chaldean Servant."

Skadi opened her mouth and found nothing coming out of it. Over in the kitchen, she could faintly hear Vy muttering something about heavy cream and being careful to not accidentally scramble the egg mixture when pouring in the heated milk, accompanied by Tamamo Cat's continued 'advice' through verbal meows.

Sieg smiled again, his thumb gently rubbing a line into Skadi's shoulder past her dress. "I'm not asking you to let go of whatever you lost, Skadi. Vy would never ask that of you either. If anything, I believe it's time to find a new love, and if I know her, Vy would be more than happy to help you with that." With a soft chuckle, he lowered his hand to grab Skadi's own in one more warm, gentle squeeze. "You've had a long journey of your own to come here, and even if we can't save everything, we can still live with her, right?"

Skadi stared up at him, long enough for her to barely notice a single line of wetness trail down her cheek as she then forced her heavy head to turn back to the single human Master still present in Chaldea. "Maybe."

Sieg merely smiled as always as he tugged at her hand. "Let's go join our Master then, Skadi? Balancing so many pots and pans might be a bit much for a hardworking person like her."

Even if it's not my world…

Skadi squeezed Sieg's hand back while raising one shoulder to wipe away the tiny stream still lingering on her face with her dress collar. "…Let's."

I can still help this one.