By the Bonfire: Dreams of the Vanquished (Part I)
Olga barely paid attention to the Caster by her side as she strode through the halls of Chaldea, aimed directly towards the summoning chamber. Quite frankly, her reasoning could have gone without explanation especially because the Servant was 'supposed' to be a genius in spite of what recent events had led her to believe. She was more inclined to believe that the woman was nothing more than an eccentric who let her whims guide her every movement.
Unfortunately, she was also exceedingly good at her job and had the sense to see all of that as well. She couldn't afford to take Romani away from monitoring the condition of Fujimaru right now either, not while he was still unconscious for however long he would remain in that state. Recovering from being completely drained of magical energy was not a swift process, even inside Chaldea itself. When he did recover, he was going to need a proper workout to get his body operating again.
She could at least trust Romani to handle all of that.
As for why she was currently marching on the summoning chamber…
"Because when Fujimaru awakens, he is doubtless going to be aware of the loss of the allied Servants in the London Singularity." She explained with a wave of her hand, not even turning to face the Servant who was walking in step with her. "I am certain you are going to be aware of that much, Da Vinci."
Da Vinci hummed in acknowledgement but didn't actually reply to what she said, seemingly allowing her to speak first and foremost before she made to offer any opinion of her own. Which was fine enough for her, after that fiasco with Kalameet she was hardly in a position to be listening to Da Vinci at the moment. It might have worked out…moderately well, but if Kalameet had not been as he appeared then they would have lost vital intelligence against the Servant.
They got lucky in more ways than one.
"The summoning of Chaldea was designed to register the Spirit Origin of the Servants within its data banks in the event they were lost during a deployment." Though they had never actually used it before today, not even with the reports of the summoning of the second Heroic Spirit to Chaldea. They didn't need to use it now, considering Mash was currently occupying the role fairly well, but it would serve to finally put it to use and see just how effective it actually was. "With Fujimaru currently incapacitated, I remain the only individual left in Chaldea with the ability to make use of the registered Spirit Origins."
That got the Caster to stop walking, Olga heard her footsteps come to a halt behind her and similarly ceased her own movements. Waiting for the inevitable comment that was going to be sent her way. "I feel as though this would be a little direct to ask, but shall I go out on a loop and assume you are not about to summon the fallen Servants back and under your command?"
Rolling her jaw, Olga inhaled before she exhaled. The worst thing was that she couldn't dismiss the fact it was a genuine option for her. The stored Spirit Origins would be summoned to her which would make her their official Master in the place of Fujimaru, in much the same way that the Servants she summoned and contracted with were now hers. A different sort of affair when compared with the likes of Nero and Marie accompanying her down to the surface.
Though…that was not her intention.
Her arms were brought up, folding over her chest and lowering her head ever so slightly. She knew that Da Vinci was not asking her because she believed that it was a real possibility, because for one thing she did not have the capacity to command Servants such as those. Forming a contract with the likes of Brynhildr was based solely upon the Servants personal preference to be as distant from their Master as possible…that she somehow served as a suitable candidate for that was telling.
As for Cu Chulainn…
…She wasn't sure about him, not really.
"No." Olga replied after returning her mind back to the present, turning herself and shooting a look over her shoulder towards the Caster. The brunette stared back at her with a curious expression on her face that almost looked a touch knowing. She withheld the urge to scowl at the expression, like the conversation had already played out and she was just reading from a script. "When Fujimaru awakens, he will…be very aware of the loss of his Servants. He was contracted from civilian ranks and is therefore going to be unaccustomed to the death of those under his command…especially given the luck we have received in previous singularities regarding the passing of Servants."
The deaths of the Servants from Okeanos went without saying, that he even challenged her into remembering the names of the Saber - Oscar - was telling enough and she still doubted that he ever truly recovered from that. Those had been Servants he encountered from the Singularity and weren't even contracted to Chaldea, the Servants that he brought with him were another matter entirely.
Especially since he did know them personally and didn't seem to understand that a Servant was supposed to be nothing more than a glorified familiar for their Master to do with as they wish-
…
…At least, that was how she had always been taught in regards to their existence.
"Therefore, with this knowledge, it would serve Fujimaru to be aware that there is a method by which he can reclaim his lost Servants." Placing one hand on her hip, she made a sweeping gesture with the other. "That will alleviate some of his concerns when he awakens once more and I believe it would be beneficial to have my own Servants at the moment considering the…dire nature of the situation."
"You mean guarding Ash's room for militant elements."
She very nearly tripped over with how swiftly the words had been delivered by the Caster, and the complete lack of hesitation they had been spoken with. Olga halted, then swung herself around to face Da Vinci and opened up her mouth to respond, pausing briefly as she noticed that the Caster was giving her a look devoid of emotion, her hands on her hips and head cocked to the side.
Biting her lip, she gave a single nod of the head "Chaldea has more than enough trouble and with Fujimaru inactive there is no one to control his Servants." She could rely on some of the more sensible ones to keep them under control for the time being but there was a limit to even their influence. Especially with the rantings of Sulyvahn and if Scathach decided abruptly that Ash was going to die then they didn't have a single Servant in Chaldea who could realistically stop them.
Da Vinci hummed "An awful lot of effort for one Servant who did admit to betrayal." she shrugged her shoulders, turning her head to the side while keeping her eyes locked onto the Director. "Some might call it smarter to cut ties with him and be done with it."
Olga narrowed her own eyes "Some might also say the same of Servants who entered into talks with confirmed hostile elements of Chaldea without authorisation and without alerting anyone else immediately."
The brunette kept her gaze for a moment, then closed her eyes and offered a shrug of her shoulders, lips curling upwards into an apologetic smile. "I didn't say that I was a member of that sort of group. I'm hardly the type to be drawn into a lynch mob." her shoulders lowered, the smile diminished and her eyes opened, right brow raised "Though they are pertinent questions you will likely be asked. If not by the Servants then at least by one or two of the staff as well."
"And if they know what's good for them, they'll keep their thoughts private." Olga growled irritably, turning on her heel and resuming her walk down the halls. "Chaldea has more than enough to worry about without having to form lynch mobs and roaming the halls killing whichever Servant happens to act against us." she waved her hand "Even examining the facts provided, the betrayal we suffered at his hands compared to the likes of Lev Lainur can hardly even be compared. In his entire battle, he failed to kill even a single Chaldean Servant despite having the obvious means to be capable of that."
It was the thing that struck out to her the most, even his explanations felt like excuses but as it stood…
…She doubted Ash had the mental strength to do anything else right now, either betray Chaldea or move from his spot in his room. She doubted he would even offer up an ounce of resistance if someone went in there to claim his head. Just the idea of someone walking in there to declare their intent to take his head and for him to just lean forwards and expose his neck was…
Her left hand wrapped around her wrist, tightening her hold on it considerably and scrunching her eyes shut. It had all been simple once upon a time, so very simple. Now it wasn't and now they were dealing with something she couldn't have possibly imagined. She didn't even know if Ash was helping them because he wanted to or because he was just working off his slave mentality.
And that's what he was.
He was just a slave.
A slave who was cut loose without any real idea what he was supposed to do, so he just filled that void with another master.
Ash had betrayed them, that was an undeniable fact, and yet…
And yet…
…The thought of trying to punish him left a sickly feeling in her gut, especially after all he had gone through with them, all he had done and the fact the Singularity had been specifically designed to break him into that moment. He betrayed them because he was put into a position where he either betrayed his own ideals - his own sense of self - or he betrayed Chaldea.
…What sort of choice was he even supposed to have made in that situation?
After all that, the idea of just killing him for that was revolting to her. That wasn't getting justice for his limited betrayal or anything else, that was just beating him while he was down. Worse, it was like putting someone out of their misery that had been inflicted upon them. Suppose he was to be killed, where would that leave them? With the belief that any Servant who was broken in such a way that they would lash out would then be euthanized like an animal?
…How would Fujimaru have dealt with something like this?
Ash's description of his parents drew uncomfortable parallels with that of Mash. Raised for a single purpose and then failing at that, and they were debating whether or not to just toss him aside purely because he followed the programming he had been created with at birth. If it still meant so much to him, then they would be dead by now. It was little secret he still had magical energy to spare in spite of all he went through.
In fact, he could have probably killed her when they last met with ease. She had not expected those brands of miracles and he just used his surprise to heal her in spite of how much he believed humanity was wrong. He could have just zapped her with lightning or something along those lines, or even with one of those pyromancies of his. Considering the speed at which the Servants entered the room…
Shaking her head, she dismissed the thoughts for the time being. Right now she had to focus on ensuring something else. Her posture straightened itself up "What news in regards to the Spirit Origin stores? To my knowledge, they remained unharmed in the aftermath of the blast."
"They did." Da Vinci took the change in topic in stride, not even offering a single ounce of resistance to the fact she just altered the entire conversation. Olga appreciated that much in the way of common sense. "Which means that it should theoretically work as it was intended to do so. Though it is still something that has not been used before and could likely have no shortage of problems that relate to it."
Olga grimaced.
"Before you go into a tangent, I will point out that this is only me speaking based upon Chaldea's string of luck when we speak of these devices that we utilise." She continued on in a flat tone of voice, an edge of mirth entering her as she finished. "Especially considering our current record for Rayshifts that began with Fujimaru ending up hundreds of metres in the air rather than firmly upon the ground."
And she was still up in the air about how that had happened in the first place, she could place it down onto user error given that very few of the staff were actually the original operators as they were designed to have been but those who replaced them were at least familiar with the equipment. Not that it really mattered much now, they were stuck working with what they got and what they got was the B-team in all but name.
Well, they hadn't managed to Rayshift him into the stratosphere or half a mile below the ground so she could at least congratulate them for not instantly killing Fujimaru or Mash. Though, on the topic of Rayshifting itself…
"In regards to Servants, what is the current condition of the prisoner?" She wasn't going to dignify them with a name. It might have been absurdly petty of her but speaking the name of a Goddess could very easily be attributed to worship in some meagre capacity. Even after her talk with Ash, she wasn't going to loosen the noose around that Goddesses neck any time soon. Regardless of whatever Ash might have done if he was left unchecked, the fact of the matter was that he hadn't done anything and there was no proof he would have done something until the intervention of the Goddess.
Though she was taking that with a grain of salt.
Even without Ash, there was still the matter of resurrecting a proper Chief God and letting them loose onto the world, even if it had been by accident the restoration had been by design. Messing around with something like that was always going to end badly one way or the other. Therefore, the Goddess had been upgraded to prisoner, even if there was no official prison in Chaldea.
"Readings from the command room are that she is still going strong." Da Vinci replied without even a moment of hesitation, sounding as equally perplexed by the wording as Olga felt, though there was a touch of intrigue about her words. "There's no sign that she is suffering from a withdrawal of magical energy, which means it's possible she has some sort of 'Independent Action' skill like that of an Archer…or…"
The alternative was much more ominous.
Olga wet her lips as she stepped into the elevator, turning around and facing the Caster as they followed her in, pressing the button and allowing the doors to close behind her. Da Vinci rolled her jaw, giving a short hum as she reached up and rubbed her chin. "And no. We still have had no way of knowing how she was able to follow you back from London. Even with having Pharros look in on it…" sighing, Da Vinci moved the hand towards the front of her face "I even went and asked Gwyndolin about the capabilities of Velka."
She tensed, that was a risk and a half to say the least. By all accounts, Gwyndolin had been an ardent supporter of Gwyn while his mother was apparently estranged from the God. One could only assume how poor the familial relations between them actually were. "...You didn't tell him she was here, did you?"
Da Vinci made a face "Without knowing what sort of landmine I would be flinging myself onto? I'm spontaneous, not insane." she crossed her arms over her chest "I told him that we encountered the Goddess during the events of the Singularity…though it would seem he still doesn't know about either Gwynevere being there, nor is he aware of Gwyn." her expression hardened ever so slightly "...How long do you suppose you can keep that under wraps?"
Not long.
Not nearly long enough.
"What did Gwyndolin have to say in regards to his mother?"
If the Caster cared for the blatant change in topic, she didn't care, instead she answered the question dutifully. "He described her as a dangerous heretic. The description of her 'Miracles' was that she based them upon intelligence rather than Faith. Replicating the power of the divine with one's own mind as opposed to the soul." she offered a faint smile "In effect, she created a new branch that was separated from the power of the Gods."
"Some Magercaft equivalent, akin to pyromancy and flame sorcery?"
"Along those lines, yes." Da Vinci nodded "Though he didn't make personal comments on her…just said she was as dangerous as she was cruel. He said the Gods exiled her to a frozen land but that was about it. Aside from the land of Carim - which he paid little attention to - Velka was more known for…selling forgiveness."
Olga blinked "Selling?"
"Yes. You could give money to her church to earn forgiveness from sin." Da Vinci elaborated, then shrugged "Which sounds about right. I don't see anything particularly special about that."
Nor did she. Though now that she thought about it. "Do you think there is a chance she could make the attempt to buy her forgiveness from us?" it would have sounded absurd but bribing them until she eventually made up for her deeds was probably something she would expect from this Goddess.
The Caster hummed, leaning back against the wall of the elevator and drumming her fingers over her forearm. "Possibly. Though it's just a more tangible version of making amends. You've done something wrong so you offer a service to compensate for the wrong that has been dealt out. Though I'm not certain she'll offer us money. I would say information regarding Gwyn himself would be the most valuable source of information."
Not just Gwyn but everything the Goddess knew about Seath as well, Havel was a biased source at best and she doubted that asking him for anything would yield more than an ear blistering rant about how bad the dragon was and how much of a piece of scum she was for knowing magic or something along those lines. She didn't even want to imagine what he would do the moment he found out that Seath had been present and inside Fujimaru…
That was the problem with Berserkers. They were insane.
"Though, returning to Velka following you back from London…there is another option I have been forming." Da Vinci's words returned the attention of the Director to her, raising her eyebrow ever so slightly. "Another individual who has, thus far, managed to slip our notice with all the chaos and has already demonstrated that they have the ability to get around the detection of Chaldea with some ease and has also demonstrated the ability to move between Singularities."
"...The Caster from Rome." Olga looked to her, then furrowed her brows "You suspect they have had some hand in this?"
"We have confirmed instances of them in every Singularity save for the one in Fuyuki, Orleans and London." She held up three fingers "Though considering that his appearance in Scandinavia involved a conversation with Kalameet and we were only aware of his presence because of that, we cannot discount the idea he was somehow present in either of the other Singularities." lowering the hand "But it is only a theory at present and given that the motivations of the Caster seem unclear at best, who can say what they have done?"
"If they themselves can somehow move between Singularities, then tracing a link back to Chaldea would be within the realm of possibilities, even with our shielding." Olga frowned rather deeply. That was a concerning thought and one she could not fully eliminate. Especially with the Casters ability to block transmissions and readings from Chaldea, to the point where it had only been by word of mouth they had heard of the Caster at all. "...Still, they have not yet shown themselves to be completely hostile to us. They encountered Fujimaru alone in his tent and did nothing to harm him. Then encountered him and Mash alone without the support of his other Servants and departed once their business was concluded."
The brunette hummed as she stepped away from the wall, nodding once "True, true. Given how they describe themselves as a scholar first and foremost. I suppose it would be best to treat them as such for the time being." uncrossing her arms, they placed themselves firmly upon her hips. "As it stands, it would be best to consider them a neutral Servant currently documenting whatever is going on. From an academic standpoint, I can certainly see the appeal."
"Then how would the Goddess fit into this hands off agenda of his?"
"That I cannot say right now." The woman rolled her lips, turning her head down and staring away from the Director. "Though it feels as though we're only seeing fragments of a puzzle here at the moment. The pieces are all there but putting them all together thus far is proving to be more than a little difficult…either because we're missing too many pieces or because we've never seen the completed picture before it was broken up."
Da Vinci hummed, eyes narrowing as she seemingly considered something further "Though there is something else that should be taken note of. The description of the shielding that prevented us from viewing London. We believed it to be the work of this 'Aldia' yet no one ever mentioned encountering him during the course of the Singularity." she shrugged "And given his magic was apparently related to moving between worlds, I would say that journeying between Singularities would be a trivial thing."
Olga caught on to her implication instantly "You believe that this Aldia is the Caster that was encountered in Rome?" her hand reached for her chin, pinching it between her fingers. Given what they knew of this Aldia, at least what little they had been told, it would certainly make sense that they would be capable of impressive feats such as though. Especially if he was a True Magician. Yet it would be a complete change from his actions in the past, meeting Fujimaru in secret was one thing, but cloaking them in an entire Singularity was quite another…and in such an elaborate manner?
Da Vinci was right. They were missing something here, the brunette stared straight ahead before she exhaled, closing her eyes and lowering her attention downwards as she walked. "Though even if we know who this Caster is, I doubt it will do us very little good, given that no one seems to know much of anything regarding the history of the planet even if they come from there."
Her head focused on the Director "And given what we know of this Flame world, I doubt we ever will get the complete picture of everything that ever happened there. You'd need someone who is both old enough to have travelled the world and actually travelled the world." she grimaced "Gwyndolin only falls into the first category and doesn't strike me as being too interested in the human world."
Olga resisted the urge to groan, the debacle with this alternate world had been proving a headache from start to finish. Not least because no one seemed to have enough information on what even happened and those who did know more than others were still missing the knowledge to provide a clear picture. What she needed was someone to compose a factfile for them to actually call upon to access the information and then upload it somewhere just so they had access to it.
…She needed something like Ledo's weird 'Call to Adventure' skill where he could just summon his diaries. He might not have been a complete set of tools up in his head, but he would have at least made note of something and having them all explain things to her would take much too long and she probably wouldn't remember enough of it.
"Sulyvahn claimed to be an archivist, did he not?" She realised, looking to Caster and pursing her lips as understanding flooded through her mind. At the nod of Da Vinci, she carried on. "In that case, tell him to write down every legend that he would know about off the top of his head from his time as an archivist. I don't care how small or obscure he thinks it is." she waved a hand "For that matter, create an online resource for us about Chaldea so that we can actually access this information. The Throne seems to be doing only half the work in understanding the legends of these Servants and I would prefer not to wait until their names are revealed."
Da Vinci curled her lip slightly "I'm sure I can have them all string something together. Does this mean we're going to compose a library based on the history of another world?"
"With how often we encounter Servants from these other worlds, it seems as though this should have been done weeks ago." Olga declared with a heavy frown, looking to the elevator doors as they opened. "In not doing so thus far, we have been lapse in our judgements and proactivity." she moved through the doors and into the new hallway "We've been on the back foot for far too long and I'm tired of it. I'll even make it an official declaration if I have to for Servants from another world."
"...We're basically going to make the world's most exotic tourist book."
Olga felt her eye twitch slightly at the joke. "Whatever the case, I shall pass a message along to Elron, with her abilities as the records keeper she would be more beneficial in this event and she has already demonstrated herself to be…" she trailed off, frowning to herself as she realised something rather important.
She hadn't actually met with the records keeper before, she could actually recall her face. Knowing her name was a given but she hadn't had reason to visit the records of Chaldea, since everything she wanted to know would basically have been little more than a button's press away from her when in her office, but she could not recall actually sitting down and speaking with her. Olga grimaced, it would probably be best if she met up with the records keeper in a more official capacity.
That could come later, for right now there were some more important matters to take care of.
There was always a sense of tension when she stood before this summoning circle, though she had only been personally in front of it once. Every other time she had been stood where Da Vinci was, behind a protective glass screen that would last - perhaps - ten seconds in the event of a hostile Servant. Though such a thing was…not supposed to have been possible to be considered at all.
She had spoken the truth when she intended to do her own summoning to make certain that the Spirit Origin retrieval system was actually successful, in a two pronged method. She very much doubted that Fujimaru - with all the care he showed his Servants - would respond well to the thought or instance of them failing to be resummoned if something went wrong with the system. With the resummoning of Stahl, there wasn't much of a personality to lose to begin with and it was hardly as though she was a pressing member right now.
Her mentality…wasn't as great of an issue as that of Fujimaru's.
If there were any flaws in the system that decided to reveal themselves during the process, then it would be better if she was the one who suffered them rather than him. She didn't have the same sort of attachment to Stahl that he did and it wasn't as though she no longer had Servants of her own. Though she had neither Cu Chulainn or Brynhildr currently present, given that she had assigned them to routinely watch over the Goddess and Ash's rooms respectively.
Turning around, she glanced towards the window that led towards the small control room behind them. Keeping her expression thin as she watched Da Vinci bring her hand up and give her a short wave before lowering back down again and seemingly slumping away into the chair. The problem with that Caster was that she was half convinced that her reasoning had probably already been seen through but she wasn't going to come right out and say it.
She supposed that was for the best. No, it was for the best, she didn't need it being directly brought up in her face because it was common sense to determine that all the equipment they currently had in Chaldea was working as it was designed to, any sort of error that could occur should be addressed promptly, which was why she was also going to be laser focused on those altitude settings for the Rayshift.
Leaning forwards, the Caster's voice soon echoed out through the room "Just turning everything on now. We've not used this system in Chaldea before so we're going to have to jump through a lot of the start-up features for it." visibly taking her hand off the intercom, she leaned back and allowed herself to fall silent once more.
Olga kept her expression measured, offering only a single confirmatory nod as she returned her focus towards the summoning pad. She still had to wait for everything to turn on but that was to be expected considering-
There was a hiss of the door opening behind her, she whirled around and frowned as she watched the familiar magenta coloured blouse of Marie enter the room, bereft of her large bonnet this time. The woman pursed her lips and looked around for a moment, spotting Da Vinci in through the glass and offering a short wave to her before returning her attention towards Olga, though she personally had little idea what Marie was even doing here in the first place.
Her confusion showed, namely because she was making zero effort to hide it, as she grew a somewhat apologetic look for a brief moment before stepping forwards, visibly nervous in such a way that she had not seen the woman before…at least not since there small talk down in Scandinavia, so she supposed it hadn't been too long since she had last been in this position but at the same time it was still something else. She hadn't actually seen her since they came back, she had sent the Rider away to get healed while she was quickly sent back to London.
Her focus darted back to the woman, her expression schooling itself back to its original and clasping her hands behind her back. Looking Marie up and down in silence for a few moments before she opened her mouth to speak. "Is…is there something you require, Marie?"
The woman glanced down to her hands for a moment, visibly playing with them before she looked back up and then behind the Director towards the summoning pad. "I heard that you were coming to the summoning chamber." she replied after a moment of silence, directing her attention back towards Olga and offering a shaky smile, "I…just thought I would accompany you is all. I've not come too late, have I?"
Olga thinned her lips "We have not even begun, you have interrupted very little." she glanced towards Da Vinci "Unless you have managed to activate all necessary systems yet?"
The Caster shook her head in negative, though Olga couldn't actually trust she meant that judging by the curious expression that had not parted from the direction of Marie. Either she was being truthful or she was just stalling for time to see what this conversation was actually going to be about in the first place. Though, now that she thought about it more deeply.
"How were you aware I was coming to the summoning chamber?" She raised her eyebrow at the Rider, the Servant's eyes flickered away from her rather guiltily, there was obviously some way she had been made aware of them. Though she was certain that if she had followed them, then Da Vinci would have at least alerted her about the presence of a Servant behind them while in astral form. Unless she wouldn't, but then was the earlier surprise just for show?
Her eyes flickered to the side as the air shimmered ever so slightly, a humanoid form taking shape though the figure soon bowed their head to her in a clear display of apology. Olga flattened her lips at the Servant, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place before she could even think to question what was going on in the first place.
The Servant had their hat removed from their head, a wide brimmed cavalier hat pressed flat against their chest in a very obvious display. The blonde Servant brought their head back up, looking towards Olga with a clearly apologetic expression. "I confess that is my own doing. I felt as though it was my duty to keep her highness aware of all the news of Chaldea in recent events and…" their lips thinned "I passed along the news that you were moving on the summoning chamber to her. Though I did not believe she would come immediately."
Shaking her head from side to side, she dismissed the apology. There wasn't really anything to apologise for, they were a Servant who had served Marie in life and was still loyal to her now. Then again, given the current track record of what Servants who followed their oaths and duties were turning out to be, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel about this. The idea of the Servants following her or passing along information about one another was a little troubling but it was better than everyone in Chaldea being blind and-
Her eyes snapped to d'Eon "...What else are you aware of at the moment?"
The Saber tilted their head "I am aware of many of the currently ongoing efforts around Chaldea. Though there would need to be a specific inquiry…" they trailed off, bringing their hat back up and placing it atop their head. "If you did want something more specific, then I am currently aware that the Saber known as Ash is currently incarcerated within the halls of Chaldea for an event that occurred in London."
"...Do you know why?"
"I do not." d'Eon confessed with a shake of their head, a slightly troubled look passing along their face "While it is common knowledge that the Caster Sulyvahn has been vocalising the problems of treachery, there are few Servants who are currently willing to believe a known liar and the hatred Sulyvahn holds for Ash is well known. Though…the fact he is incarcerated as well as the number of Servants who were killed when they marched on London…" the expression of the Saber tightened "I would not confess to making rush judgements without evidence but there are those who believe the Pontiff's claims have…merit."
That…was actually useful information to be aware of, though it was also troubling as well. There hadn't been an official statement released through Chaldea in regards to London, only that the situation had escalated and that Fujimaru was now unconscious and currently recovering. Though that had likely left Sulyvahn alone to rant to no small extent about what happened in London and he…he wasn't there when Gwyn had emerged, nor would he have been there when Seath outed himself.
The Servants who had been there were all dead, save for Mash, Ash, Nobunaga and Scathach. Of those, she doubted that Scathach was going to be moving in to speak on Ash's defence any time soon. Nobunaga would have been but she had made it a point to keep information about Gwyn hidden for now, at least until they knew where they stood with the Servants who had loyally served him.
Her eyes glanced d'Eon up and down before looking at Marie.
This right here was the problem. Servants showed loyalty even after death, in which case they currently had several Servants who had the potential to remain loyal to Gwyn. Arkon, Gwyndolin, Sif and Caffrey. The latter two were purely on the basis that those they were affiliated with had also been loyal to the Gods or were Gods unto themselves. Caffrey was a Goddess, so asking her to side against the King of the Gods from her own world would be nothing short of stupid.
Her mind returned to the present as she noticed the Rider looked somewhat…impatient. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she watched Marie continually glance between herself and the summoning pad behind her, which left her to wonder what the Rider was actually waiting here for. She spared d'Eon a glance and saw the Saber was rather blank faced at this point.
"...Thank you for the information." She remarked with a nod of the head towards the Saber, the person blinked once, then gave a single hum of confirmation. "Would…you be willing to keep me informed of matters around Chaldea until Fujimaru awakens?"
She was asking because there was really nothing she could do to enforce-
"Naturally." d'Eon responded before she could even complete her own thoughts, the blonde offering a resolute nod of the head "It would not do for Master to awaken to a Chaldea that is in the midst of chaos following his return. I shall do what I can to ensure order is maintained." they paused for a moment, then glanced towards the direction of the Rider by their side. "With your assent, your highness?"
Marie gave no indication she actually heard what the Saber had said, keeping her focus completely on the summoning chamber. It was only when her eyes returned to Olga and she noticed the look she was receiving that she actually jolted in surprise, glancing around the room and finding herself the centre of attention. Her expression cycled from surprise to acceptance as she waved her hand "Yes, yes…what…what d'Eon said."
Olga pinched her brows together, shooting a look towards the Saber, only to receive a troubled grimace in return, followed by a shrug of the shoulders which indicated that d'Eon was similarly puzzled by the behaviour. As for her, she couldn't quite imagine what led to this nor why she would come to the summoning chamber of all-
The memory of an idiot who couldn't pronounce her name properly passed through her mind.
Her features flattened.
"...Marie." The Rider perked up at having her name called, though the next words wiped out whatever trace of goodwill there might have been on her features. "We're recalling the deceased Servant Stahl to ensure the resummoning of Spirit Origins is working as intended." The Rider's features dropped "We have…no current intentions of trying to summon another Servant at this time. Especially since I…lack the aptitude for that."
Marie rolled her lips, then silently nodded her head up and down, keeping her features stony and devoid of emotion. All the while d'Eon glanced between the two of them with a slightly narrowed gaze before their lips rolled inwards. Evidently they came to some manner of conclusion, given that they turned to the side and closed their eyes in grim acceptance.
"We're ready to begin." Da Vinci's voice echoed through the room a moment later, Olga didn't part her sight from the Rider as she stood there, still looking towards her with an almost hopeful expression, though it faded back to nothing the longer the silence stretched on. "...Whenever you're ready, Director."
"...Ready." Olga called back, though she did eventually close her eyes and glance down "I…am going to have lunch later, if you would like to join me?"
Marie offered an apologetic smile, then shook her head from side to side. "That's very nice of you to offer but I…I feel like I'd only be intruding, like right now." looking over her shoulder, she waved her hand towards Da Vinci "Sorry for stepping in like this. I suppose I was just being a nuisance-"
"I don't have an issue with you staying." Olga blurted out before the Rider could even think about making an effort to turn away from her. She froze on the spot, midway through making for the door and looking towards Olga. "Besides I would…feel more at ease with a Servant stationed nearby. With Da Vinci cowering behind the glass over there-"
"Hey!"
"-I am without a guard and neither one of my other Servants are nearby." The explanation was met with silence from the Rider, her expression shifted ever so slightly. Though her eyes darted towards d'Eon before a rather brittle smile came onto her face.
She raised her hand, pointing towards the Saber "I think d'Eon would be much better for it." lowering the hand, she made her way across the room and towards the door. Olga stepped forwards, reaching out towards her and opening her mouth to speak. Though Marie made certain she'd never get the chance to speak, vanishing into astral form and disappearing without even using the door itself.
Olga's outstretched hand slowly clenched into a fist, dropping back to her side as she stared at the now blank spot of the room. Her expression twisted into something she couldn't accurately describe, then reverted to a mask devoid of emotion. Her eyes lingered on the closed door, then flickered over towards d'Eon who looked at least a bit troubled by the behaviour of the Rider, though didn't say anything beyond staring at the door. At least until they turned back and noticed Olga's attention now fixed upon them.
The Saber closed their eyes and exhaled "I am sorry. Her Highness has been troubled since her return from the Singularity." opening their eyes, they fixed her with a somewhat piercing gaze. "I can only assume that something occurred in the Singularity for which she now blames herself but…I have not made the attempt to question her about it." they lowered their head "Forgive me for departing so soon, but I must follow after-"
Olga silently waved her hand in approval, she didn't need someone to explain that to her. Turning her body around and looking down to the summoning pad. Marie had been there in the hope that Tarkus was somehow going to come back. It was a wonder that Marie had even pretended to show any sort of good will towards her, especially since it had been her own blunder that had ended with the Saber getting killed during the fight against King Arthur.
She bit her lower lip.
Sending a Servant whose Noble Phantasm was a fortress against one whose Noble Phantasm was rated as Anti-Fortress? She might as well have just commanded Tarkus with a command seal to kill himself for all the good she had done towards him. It wasn't even a tactical blunder, that would give her more credit than she was due. Her actions had gotten a perfectly good Servant killed because she just…hadn't been good enough.
Beating a Dragon?
A joke at best.
They won because he was commanded to commit suicide.
…Was self-flagellation an epidemic around Chaldea at this point? Between all those who were blaming themselves for failures, she wouldn't have been surprised if that truly was the case.
Shaking her head, she barely paid heed to the sound of the door opening and closing behind her as she waved her left hand towards the direction of Da Vinci, who had been tellingly silent for a while now. Though Olga was fine with that, she had the feeling that a stray comment from the Caster might end up sending her over the edge at this rate. "Activate it."
The pad started to glow, the orbs of light grew just a touch above the pad itself and started to spin, moving faster and faster until they became rings of light that collapsed inwards. Olga closed her eyes and turned her head away from the sudden blast, the light was accompanied by the clang of metal as something that sounded rather heavy landed. Her eyes cracked open, finding herself staring up at the metallic shape of the Berserker.
Stahl let out a low warbling grunt, crouched down on one knee and with the top of their axe placed flat against the ground. The Berserker gradually rose from their position, adjusting their footing with weighty steps which echoed around the room with all the grace expected of what she presumed would be nearly one tonne of armour. She could at least feel the pull of mana from her circuits, indicating that the Servant had returned to her side once more. Taking a single step backwards, she made a mental command for the Servant to move.
Their feet rose up and then fell back down, Stahl moved across the pad and onto the main floor with heavy thudding steps. The lack of subtly she expected from them. Nodding her head once, she turned around and looked towards Da Vinci with a raised eyebrow "Any sign of error?"
Da Vinci shook her head through the glass, pressing her hand down on the intercom once more "There was a brief spike in magical energy transfer for a short moment but it looked as though it was just consistent with recalled already summoned data rather than a real error. I would assume it's because we're recalling specific information rather than making a random summon." she paused for a moment, then shrugged "But I'm working off estimations here."
"Look over the information." Olga responded to her "I would prefer this work without the risk of unexpected and unwanted surprises." her lips pulled down into a frown, her thumb came up towards her lips as she bit into her nail. "Especially the like that would be due to-"
Da Vinci glanced down to the monitor rather abruptly, her brows raising themselves up the length of her forehead and making a face of surprise "Oh! Now that's rather unusual!"
"What?" Olga froze, taking a step forwards and pulling her hand away from her mouth "What is it?"
The Caster didn't reply immediately, much to her annoyance, rather she went about pressing several buttons before her lips pulled themselves into a smile. "It looks as though there is a summoning in progress here. Seems as though someone latched onto the recollection of the Spirit Origin saved in Chaldea and is following the link here." her head came up, then her eyebrow raised "Before you ask. It is technically possible as we are actively putting out a summoning, this is just aimed in a specific direction…but if someone was to know what to look for…"
Olga failed to see why she was smiling about this.
She whirled around, facing the summoning pad as the orbs of light returned once more, a flicker of golden light flourished around them as they started to twirl around, this time radiating with clearly much more power than before. She took several steps backwards, her right hand clenching into a fist the longer she stared at the light. Her Berserker stood protectively in front of her, shield raise and axe at the ready.
They hadn't even made the preparations for summoning a Servant and suddenly they were being accosted by one? This was supposed to be a simple retrieval, so why was this happening now? Well…it was technically for reasons such as this that she had wanted to run through the process first to avoid kinks in the system, but even still.
Collapsing inwards, the pillar of light rose up and blinded the room with the display, much brighter than that of Stahl and with the same flourish of golden light about it. Olga brought up her hand to cover her eyes, soon narrowing them as she heard a familiar sound of weight on metal, though not quite to the same extent as Stahl.
She pulled her hand away and stared at the summoning pad, where there now stood a new figure, what she first noticed was the armour they were wearing.
The texture was rough like scales, sharp angled shoulder plates aimed downwards, a vaguely golden colouration to it, the sections underneath the armour were a blackened form of chainmail, the linked metal extended from underneath the pauldrons towards the forearms which were covered in thick gauntlets.
The breastplate was thick and blocky, the same rough texture covering it as it trailed down the length of the body, approaching the waist were a ragged strip of black cloth jutted out from beneath the armour, a metallic skirt on either side of the waist extended down past the thighs and to the knees. The legs were covered entirely in the thick plate metal, though she couldn't speak for the joints.
Only standing around six foot five, they lacked the same intimidation via height that Stahl had, yet there was still a presence about them that could not be denied. Even more so when she looked at their face, strong imposing features yet still on the younger side of things, one would have even called them handsome. Yet what struck her most of all was the hair, at least initially. Pitch black messy hair shot out in every direction with streaks of yellow painted through it.
Then his eyes opened, and she was dumbfounded once more.
The right eye was almost like topaz, luminescent and shining brightly, looking as though it was pulsing every few seconds and with a vaguely diamond shaped slit to the pupil. Yet the left eye was a crimson red, this one with a perfectly rounded pupil which flickered around the room for a moment before both eyes landed on her and widened ever so slightly. The face of the Servant twisted for a moment, looking as though they wanted to say something before their eyes travelled away from her and across the room.
Likely landing on Da Vinci, though the expression the new Servant made was rather complicated, a mixture of joy followed by obvious shame as they turned their head sharply towards the ground.
Finally, they opened their mouth to speak. Their voice came out with an almost gentle quality to it, but they were so incapable of hiding their emotions it was almost as though she was speaking with a child. "Servant, Berserker…I am here to help."
Shrugging his shoulders, his eyes landed on Olga for a moment before they averted themselves from her, making it perfectly obvious they didn't want to even so much as look her in the eye. "Don't bother asking for my name though it…for the likes of you, it isn't worth knowing."
Frowning, she stared at the Servant a moment longer, then slowly directed her attention away from them and towards Da Vinci, the Caster staring at Berserker with an odd expression that looked more annoyed than anything else. Though she quickly returned her focus to Berserker, now wondering if Chaldea was just becoming a haven for depression at this point.
AN: What a curious Servant? Wonder who they could be…
And yeah…
Chaldea going through a rough patch.