Saber Wars: VIII
This was why he loved adventuring.
Because you encountered things like this.
"The outer shell is composed of some manner of heat resistant alloy." The toneless echoing voice spoke as the figure paced around the outside.
He nodded his head along with their words, but at the same time he had spent his time divided between drawing quick sketches of both whatever this craft was as well as the individual currently giving the lecture. The two of them were unlike anything he had really seen before.
…No, the latter of the two wasn't that far off from the Golems.
But then again, to call them the same sort of being as Golems would be to insult their existence. It was clear to even the most untrained eye that there was a stark difference between this person and a golem. That being that this was a living breathing individual and not just a construct made of metal and nothing else.
"Interesting." A hum from the other figure, they stepped forwards and cupped their chin as they spoke. "More than heat resistance, it is as though the material itself is generating energy through interaction with the environment. Usually such a reaction would be rather violent and unstable, but this is the complete difference."
"A manner of magical spell to contain the reaction and disperse it across the hull?"
"Possible, though I am having difficulty discerning where the spell would originate or perhaps it is unique to the metal itself. It is an alloy of unusual make, even the parts we have come across as mere debris have stumbled my advances in rather pleasing ways."
Ledo continued to write down their words, looking between the two of them for a few moments before he paraphrased their dialogue. It had been a fairly interesting summoning by itself, nevermind the bountiful haul they had all stumbled across that was doubtless one of the most amazing things he had seen in a while.
The pair had explained to him that it appeared to be some manner of craft that used fire to propel itself through the skies and perhaps into the stars themselves.
Which did make him feel a bit let down that it was apparently broken as well, but that was all the more reason to understand how it worked so they could fix it.
At least that is how Ledo viewed it.
"Do you suppose that the interaction with the atmosphere of a planet is what grants it the ability to propel itself forwards? Or perhaps even through the materials of the world themselves. Star debris would service the reaction just as well and if they continued to encounter patches of space that held prominent materials-"
"Then the reaction would continue without interruption and provide the ship with limitless fuel."
The more metallic of the two surmised, a whirring noise as steam billowed out of the tubes along the side of their blocked head, then they spoke once more. "A form of Galvanism then? Rather than perpetual motive, it requires the presence of another material - or anything that would produce a reaction - before it can activate?"
The smaller of the two nodded his head up and down, adorned in a long white coat and with straightened hair. "Yes, though further testing of the materials will need to be carried out so that we can deduce which reacts stronger than others."
"I shall prepare the materials post haste-"
"Not to interrupt your little experiment."
The final member of their group spoke up, eyes turned to the speaker as they seemingly examined their fingernails as if those were infinitely more impressive than the actual spacecraft that was buried in the ground in front of them.
"But what do you suppose you're going to do when the owner of…this…" They glanced up and gestured towards the ship with a raised brow. "Come back and find out that you've been trying to pull their property apart for your own goals? Because if it was me, then I would be a touch annoyed if something like that ended up happening."
Ledo opened his mouth to respond, then paused and furrowed his brows in thought.
His raised hand lowered and he turned his eyes towards the others present.
The two Caster Servants standing in front of the rocket gazed at one another for a few moments. While he could not speak for the one whose body was made of metal, the individual with the exposed face was much easier to read and that being the sudden look of realisation that crossed his face.
Not that Ledo could blame him for that.
After all, he hadn't even considered the idea of the owners coming back either.
Seconds passed, then Ledo folded his book up and placed his hands on his hips, leaning his head forwards and staring at his feet for a couple of moments as he weighed up their options.
It was hardly as though they could be blamed for getting carried away, this was just the sort of thing that someone didn't just ignore. So really, they could say their curiosity got the better of them and it would be a wholly justifiable and truthful explanation of events. At that point, all they could do was hope that the owner wasn't too annoyed about all of this.
"How do we know the owner yet lives?"
Ledo blinked, then turned to the speaker.
The mechanical Caster - Charles - made an inquiry with the flashing red light that served as his eye burning rather brightly. "There is no guarantee that they survived the crash, even if the craft is in relatively one piece, the sudden deceleration from the crash and the angle of descent implies that it was a downward spiral into the ground, as opposed to a controlled landing that one could easily walk away from."
He blinked at the explanation.
He didn't understand a word of what was being said for the most part.
Just something about how the crash looked bad.
That added a decidedly sour note to their venture now.
"You don't suppose that is actually true, do you?"
He turned to the other individual, Parclesus, and waited for their response.
The straight haired man rubbed his chin for a few moments, then gave a decidedly neutral hum and a shrug of the shoulders. "It is entirely possible, but I find it unlikely to believe that someone could create a craft such as this and not design some manner of shock absorption. Given the nature of the outer hull, I would not be surprised if the material can redistribute the kinetic energy of an impact."
Ah, that sounded a bit better.
Ledo relaxed a little. "So they could still yet live then?"
"Which puts you right back to where you started, doesn't it?" Came the tired comment once again, Ledo managed to avoid flinching as he turned to the speaker once more, who was now looking between all three of them with a gaze that hid none of the exasperation that she currently felt. "So then, what are you going to do when the owner comes back?"
"Explain to them and hope for the best." He responded with.
The eyes of the woman turned on him, her face flattened and lips went straight. "You're just going to explain to them that it was because you thought they were dead that you all decided to start playing around with their belongings? Oh, this I cannot wait to see unfold."
With a smirk, the woman rolled her hand back into a fist and then folded her arms over her chest.
"Especially given that those two still look as though they're going to tear it apart even if the owner is alive and comes running towards you."
"What? Nonsense." Ledo replied with a chuckle and a wave of the hand.
He doubted they would be anything like that.
Still chuckling, he turned around to face the two Casters.
Neither of them were saying anything, rather, he noticed fairly quickly that they were not even so much as looking in his general direction. Instead the pair of them were looking back towards the rocket as though they had not heard a single thing that had just been said.
Ledo watched them for a few moments, then frowned behind his helmet. "We're not going to steal the craft when the owner comes back, right?"
Still silence.
"Right?"
Paracelsus did eventually turn around and face him, wearing a blank expression before speaking. "By my understanding, one does not typically abandon that which they wish to keep. Even supposing this is indeed a crash, one would assume they would leave behind some measure of defence or sign to indicate that it was still operational."
Babbage continued on. "The lack of countermeasures or any other type of warning indicates that this is an abandoned wreckage and is clearly not going to be visited upon any time soon."
The Caster paused for a moment, then spoke further. "Supposing the owner did return, I do not see an issue in requesting that they allow us to examine the interior of the craft in more detail. However, given the lack of an owner to seek permission of, we shall simply have to treat this as a wreckage to be explored."
Paracelsus finished. "In more common words, I believe the phrase 'finders, keepers' is the one that should be used in this situation."
Ledo felt his shoulders slumped as he stared at the pair of them, who could only be described as the creative equivalent of a pair of vultures or tomb raiders. Honestly, with the way they were acting, it was as though they would have stolen everything that wasn't nailed to the floor simply because it looked interesting to them.
He stepped forwards and brought a hand up. "Now look here-"
"Come now." Babbage turned on him and interrupted before he could finish. The larger Servant took a step forwards and pointed towards the craft with a sharpened finger, very much akin to a talon. "Do you not see the potential that this find could have for the future?"
Ledo paused in his stride, turning his head towards Babbage. "Well…it is impressive-"
"It is more than impressive." Babbage turned his large head towards the ship and released another billow of steam, soon followed by a clanging whirring noise. "It is extraordinary. To call myself an engineer and not do anything when presented with a find such as this…it would be shameful. I will bear the burden of the anger from the owner if it means I am granted the chance to examine this more closely."
Another whirr of steam.
"I will not apologise for it, nor make excuses."
Paracelsus nodded his head up and down, indicating just how much he supported the notion. "There are times where one must put aside their own moral code for the greater good, saddening as that might be. This is one such time…A small evil, true. Though imagine the good that could be done with such a find."
Ledo felt himself hesitate.
Moving his hand up and scratching the side of his helmet.
This was quickly turning into a far more complicated issue than he first thought about and he didn't really want to do a lot of thinking.
So he decided not to.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ledo turned around and held up his hands. "We can just wait for the owner to come back and then they can sort all of this out. Though I will say that they might be a touch upset with all of you…but if you're fine with accepting their anger, then I can't really do anything else."
He walked away from them and towards the other person, who was staring at him in a rather peculiar way.
"...Wait, is that it?"
Ledo blinked, then tilted his head. "Is what it?"
The woman stared at him for a few moments longer in a rather dumbfounded way, her arms dropped to her side, head whipping between himself and the Casters several times before it came to a halt. "T-they're about to ransack something where the owner could come back at any moment and you're not going to do anything about it?"
"I try not to think about it."
The bafflement seemed to grow, the woman shifted her body and then leaned forwards, hands falling to her hip and eyes narrowed. "Are you really a knight of Gwyn?"
Ledo puffed out his chest, then placed his own hands on his hips. "Of course I am! I just also happen to be an adventurer as well, sometimes these places have different customs! It's important to keep an open mind about this sort of thing when you're travelling to make sure you never say the wrong thing."
The woman jerked in response, then let out an amused scoff. "Different customs? They found an unattended…whatever that is, and then within the span of a single minute they decided to pull it apart to see how it worked. That is most definitely a crime no matter how you swing it."
Well, she was probably right.
Holding up his hands, he hummed. "They said they were prepared to face the consequences of making the owner upset. That is good enough for me."
"And when the owner asks what you were doing? Are you just going to say you stood back and watched?"
"...Isn't that exactly what you're doing, though?"
"Yes, but I'm not a knight." She flatly responded to him with a roll of her eyes. "It's hardly expected of me to step up and do anything of the sort."
"Yes…but aren't you more powerful than me?"
Her gaze narrowed. "You keep that to yourself when they arrive."
Ledo blinked behind his helm, leaning backwards due to the sheer intensity in her tone of voice, then hummed quietly to himself. It was a bit troubling to hear when she spoke about that, though perhaps she was self conscious about it? He supposed it was perfectly natural, given her appearance and everything else.
Dropping his fist into his palm, he nodded his head to the woman. "There is no need for it, even with everything else, you are still a very attractive woman…above the waist at least. Though I'm sure that there are some who would find your strength very appealing, so there's no need to hide it."
"..."
She gave him a slow blink.
"Tell me."
When she did speak, it was in a bizarrely toneless voice.
"When you went adventuring, did you ever happen to fall down mountains and hit your head off every single rock on the way down?"
He was a bit surprised by the question. "I only ever fell down one mountain and I had the good fortune to land on my feet like a cat."
She wasn't as impressed with his feat of flexibility as he assumed she would have been.
Unless she was disappointed that he hadn't landed on his head.
"Hmph. In which case, I can only assume you have been struck on the head by dragons before."
Ledo blinked at the shift in explanation, though he was starting to get a little puzzled as to what her obsession with him being struck on the head was. "...You're not one of the sorts of people who enjoy the pain of others, are you?"
The woman raised a brow. "That would very much depend on the person in question."
Ah, so he was the person in question.
"Stop right there, vandals!"
A rather loud voice called out, cutting off whatever thought he was going to put into words.
Briefly, he caught a glimpse of the woman's lips forming into a smirk that was aimed at him, in a manner that was very much an 'I told you so' way. Ledo quietly grumbled under his helmet and shrugged his shoulders, turning his head completely towards the new arrival and then leaning back when he saw them.
They were dressed rather oddly.
Some sort of long sleeved blue sweater with a hood, very short shorts. A navy blue scarf around their neck with a golden lining to it and some manner of hat with only a single brim. It was as though she was wearing a duck beak on top of her head. The girl, because she looked and sounded like a teenager to him, slid to a halt at the head of a dust cloud.
In the next moment, she planted a glowing golden sword into the ground and leaned on it, bright blue eyes narrowed as they swept over all of them. Her gaze barely lingered on the Caster Servants - though a touch more on Babbage than Paraclesus - before they shifted towards himself and his own companion.
The eyes narrowed immediately when they landed on him.
"Alright, true names and classes from the lot of you, now!"
The woman demanded, stepping forwards and pulling the sword from the earth and swinging it about like some manner of stick. At least until it was aimed squarely towards him, then she spoke again with that same demanding tone of voice. "You first."
"Ledo." He replied slowly. "Berserker."
"Aha! I knew you'd-A Berserker?"
Whatever confidence the woman had faltered a little as she stared at him, her expression dropped and was replaced with clear confusion, the sword arm lowered a bit and her brows pinched. "What do you mean you're a Berserker? You're a knight, aren't you?"
"I am, yes." He smiled brightly, not that she could see it. "A Knight of Anor-"
"Yeah, yeah." With a wave of the hand, she cut him off and squinted much harder. Ledo tried not to let the brusque manner of her put him off, but it wasn't helped by the snickering he heard from behind him by the woman. "Just…you're a knight. Aren't you supposed to be a Saber or something? Well…I guess you could have been a Lancer as well but what sort of knight doesn't wield a sword?"
Ah, he could see the problem here.
Placing his hands on his hips, he nodded his head understandingly. "I see. It is true that many of the other Silver Knights used spears and swords, as for myself, I was always a bit too strong for that sort of thing and they kept breaking. Therefore I decided to arm myself with a weapon that suited my strength!"
With a flourish of movement, he swept his hand across as the light danced across his fingers. His astralised weapon came forth into the real world and settled in his grasp, the large hammer thudded into the ground with a shudder sent through the earth.
The blonde woman coughed loudly, then swung her sword and pointed at the hammer.
"What the bloody hell is that!?"
He blinked at her, then brought his hand up and patted the shaft of the great hammer twice. "My weapon."
"Weapon!?" The woman choked on her words, taking a physical step backwards and shooting him a baffled look. "That is way too big! That size is absurd! It is utterly unwieldy! Just use a sword like an ordinary knight and then change your class to Saber so that I can kill you!"
Ledo paused, then leaned backwards. "W-wait, what?"
"And you!" The unnamed woman swung her glowing word towards the others. "Who on earth are all of you because I can tell that none of you are Sabers and-...Is that a walking toaster?"
He had no idea what a toaster was, but that sounded a little rude.
"There's no need for name calling-"
"T-Toaster?" Babbage made a whirring sound that must have meant something, either surprise or indignation as the large metal man stepped past his peer and towards the woman brandishing the sword. "My form is the culmination of my dream! I consider it a point of pride that it can be attributed to a common household appliance, for it means my dream has the chance to be rooted in the home of-"
Lowering the sword, the woman scratched the underside of her chin with her spare hand, Ledo very quickly cottoned on to something that seemed to elude Babbage.
That being that the girl clearly wasn't listening to a single word that he was saying.
He now felt a little bad for Babbage, electing to step forwards.
"Look, are any of you here Sabers?"
The woman asked with a rather dour tone of voice, on the border of being lethargic.
She received no answer from any of them, then clicked her tongue and dissipated her sword. He loosened his posture as she disarmed herself, but it looked more along the lines of her just losing the will to fight. He did not doubt that if any of them claimed to be a Saber, she would have attacked.
…He had no idea she was so eager to test her mettle against fellow swordsmen!
He could certainly understand the appeal though, but if she wanted a fair fight between Servants, then he would simply have to prove that he was more than up for the challenge!
"Now then, just because I'm a Berserker-"
"Well, whatever." She didn't seem to hear him as she waved a hand towards them all in a dismissive manner. "Go on and get out of here. I don't really have the time to waste in dealing with non-Saber Servants so you guys can just go and do whatever it was you were doing. I get my ship is impressive and all but that doesn't mean I appreciate people poking it and stuff, you get me?"
"I understand your reluctance." Paracelsus approached rather diplomatically with a raised hand. "However, I will say that if you would allow us to continue to examine your vessel more closely, then I am certain it would be to the benefit of all science-"
The girl let out a long sigh. "Listen, I'm not about to let a bunch of Casters mess around with my ship while I'm trying to repair it. What if you end up breaking the microwave or unplugging the minifridge that I have in there? Replacing snacks isn't easy and not just that, how would I heat up all my noodles?"
Those string of words were apparently enough for Paracelsus to be thrown for a loop, the man pinched his brow and glanced around to all of them while mouthing the word 'noodles' with a rather puzzled look on his face.
"Look, I get it, this is just regular Caster things." The girl spoke onwards, waving a hand at them. "You see a bright shiny thing and can't help poking it, especially for this Berserker here who is…hey, wait a second! How are you able to speak?"
Ledo blinked, then leaned back in surprise.
The girl was right in front of him and with a finger pointed directly towards his face.
Slowly, he brought his hand up and rested it atop the outstretched finger, pushing it back down as he replied to her rather odd question. "With my mouth?"
"No, I mean you're a Berserker!" Was the exclamation he received. "The only thing you should be doing with your mouth is foaming from it! What the heck? Did you cheat your way into that class or something? The whole point of Berserkers is that they're strong but too stupid to think, let alone talk! So what the heck are you doing even holding a conversation with me in the first place?"
He really didn't know how he was supposed to respond to that.
"I…what? I think you're exaggerating a little-"
"I am afraid she is quite accurate."
Ledo whipped his head to the speaker, his brows shot up as he stared at Babbage, who released another whirr of steam. The light of the glowing red eye shifted to the side, as if the Caster was somewhat ashamed. "I had no intention of referring to such a thing, but it is common for Berserkers to be incapable of higher reasoning…your capacity for following the conversion despite your class struck me as…odd."
He had no idea he was that special.
"So I'm a special Berserker."
"Well, you're certainly something." He turned around to the speaker behind him and frowned.
Squinting in suspicion, he watched her expression for a moment before he replied. "It doesn't sound very complimentary when you say it."
A smirk was the response along with a roll of the eyes. "Now where would you get the idea that I was being insulting from?"
Pulling his hand from his hammer, Ledo folded his arms and watched the woman for a few moments before he sighed and turned back to the still unnamed Servant who now looked a bit depressed. "Hang on, why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Huh…oh, right." The blonde muttered before she pointed to herself. "Mysterious Heroine X."
Ledo blinked. "...That isn't a name…is it?"
Heroine X made a sputtering sound before she frowned. "Of course it's a name!"
"No, that is not a name. It is an alias." Babbage spoke up, a hiss of steam before their next words came. "You can provide us with an alias, not a true name as you demanded of us. It would seem only fair that we are granted the same courtesy, given we have been introducing ourselves to you."
"You haven't introduced yourself to me though!"
"...Charles Babbage. Caster Class."
"Wha-that-...wait…Charles Babbage?" Heroine X leaned back with a look of shock, then seemingly observed the man under a new light before her expression twisted into sheer bafflement. "What the heck happened to you, Babbage? You look like a toaster…"
"What is your obsession with claiming my physical appearance is that of a household implement?"
"I mean…that is what you look like though?" Heroine X replied with an unsure shrug, waving to him. "You're all blocky…and your hissing steam…and you have a blinking red light."
"That is my eye."
"Right but…" Heroine X exhaled and then shook her head. "Nevermind, what about you?"
"Paracelsus von Hohenheim." The other Caster introduced himself with a polite bow.
Heroine X merely responded with a sniff as she scratched the side of her cheek. "Uh-huh…right…"
Her eyes turned onto the woman behind him and her brows rose up. "And…uh…you are?"
"...Rider."
"Yeah, I guessed."
"Aren't you the clever little one then?"
Ledo silently shook his head from side to side at the interaction between the two of them, fully aware that it probably wasn't going to get much better.
Heroine X grunted and waved a hand. "Nevermind, none of you are Sabers and weird Berserkers aside, it's not like I have a reason to fight you and…yeah, just go ahead and scram away from my ship while I'm still being merciful here. My apprentice still needs some training and unless you want to become dummies for her…"
For some reason, she trailed off as she gestured to the space right next to her.
Ledo stared at the empty patch of air for a good second or two, then back to the woman. "Where is your apprentice?"
"Hah? Are you blind? She's right-" Heroine X cut herself short as she turned to the spot where she had pointed. Her expression blanked and she looked rather dumbfounded that there was no one else around her, arms dropped down to her side and she blinked twice. "What the heck? Where did they go? They were literally right behind me?!"
Turning around, she stepped away from them and cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting off into the distance.
"Hey! Why are you all stood there!?"
With his eyes on the direction she was shouting to, he squinted and managed to catch a faint glimpse of what appeared to be a large group of individuals all crowded around something in the distance.
"Oh great." The flat voice of the woman behind him turned his head, noticing her roll of the eyes and rather put off expression. "She's here now…wonderful."
She?
Who was 'she'?
"For the love of-" Heroine X stomped her foot on the ground, then turned back around to face them and raised a single finger. "One second. I'll be right back, none of you go anywhere!"
Ledo blinked. "Didn't you just say-"
"Lalalala!" With that rather loud call, the woman ran away from them and towards the group.
He brought his hand up and wrapped his fingers along the back of his helmet twice, then sniffed and lowered them down.
"...She seems interesting."
"Is that what we call it now?"
The mutterance from the person behind him came again.
Just a single day.
That was all Olga wanted.
A single day of peace.
But apparently she was asking for something as impossible to give as a literal True Magic, given the manner in which everything just happened to fall apart again and again in varying ways.
With her arms folded, she watched over the group of Servants that stood in front of her, only half of which she recognised and of that, only one of them was an individual she had any real experience with speaking to.
"Hey, Olga."
Her eye twitched at the casual address from the Silver Knight, but she otherwise set it to one side as she drummed her fingers along her arm, rolling her jaw from side to side. "What exactly is going on here?"
"I'm trying to explain to these guys-"
She held up her hand, showing only a single finger to silence Heroine X before they could doubtlessly say anything that was stupid.
Her finger lowered and pointed towards the figure they had actually assigned to watch over.
Tametomo made a whirring noise as they stepped forwards. "Observation: Interrupted. Cause: Loss of consciousness from Master. Results: Inconclusive."
Yes, because Ritsuka had passed out the very second that he caught sight of Quelaag in the distance.
Evidently his fear of spiders was still rather terrible, she cast her eyes to the unconscious boy who had been freed from the clutches of Heroine X. Who decided the best method of moving the group closer to the ship was to just sling the unconscious boy over her shoulder and then sprint away with him.
With a practised show of controlling her emotions, she nodded to the robotic Archer. "Your own conjecture would be appreciated."
"Understood." Tametomo responded after a single moment. "Caster Class Servants initiated scavenging operations once they located the damaged craft. Progress observed by Berserker and Rider Class Servants. True Names of Casters: Charles Babbage and Paracelsus von Hohenheim."
Olga froze at the mention of the second name.
It was impossible to not know who that was, her eyes snapped onto the man and widened ever so slightly. It took all the physical effort for her to not step backwards in shock as she was told the identity of the man.
The man was a legend when it came to magecraft, especially for his development of philosopher stones.
Not to mention he was the one who started the tradition of mages creating Azoth Blades to be handed down.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she composed herself and nodded her head.
It was only natural that a man such as him would qualify for a Caster, after all.
She would have been more shocked if he didn't.
As for Charles Babbage…she had no idea.
Tametomo, ignorant to her troubles, spoke onwards with his report. "Discussion indicated possible courses of action. Salvaging of the craft and experimentation of equipment within. Assumption: breakdown in communication when owner arrived."
She assumed such as well.
It wasn't hard either.
Nodding her head up and down as the Archer finished his words, she stepped backwards and glanced at the other Servants, briefly sparing the unconscious Ritsuka another look before bringing her hand up to rub at her face. She had hoped that he would have built up some form of tolerance by now, but apparently not.
She turned back to the Servants. "Regardless of your true names and identities, this crash site has already been claimed by Chaldea. As such, we shall allow none to rummage around in the wreckage, given the damage it could inflict upon humanity. Therefore, your efforts to study the craft will be put on hold, effective immediately."
Paracelsus narrowed his eyes, then let out a disappointed hum. "I assume that you, as a fellow mage, understands the value of material such as this as well as the benefits it could yield if it were properly studied."
Olga nodded her head once. "And despite that, Chaldea is charged with ensuring the proper course of history. The presence of this rocket is already an aberration that we are correcting. Therefore, we cannot allow you to continue, regardless of the benefits that could be found."
The Caster regarded her silently for a moment, then exhaled. "I see, that is unfortunate."
His eyes glanced over them. "I would contend with your decision…but given the nature of your company and the presence of the Divine Spirit, I am not quite so foolhardy enough to challenge you over this. Especially as it would end with my defeat."
She was glad he was able to see reason.
Her eyes darted towards the other two Servants who had otherwise kept themselves quiet.
That being Ledo and Quelaag, the latter of which had just been aiming some bored expression towards one of them in particular.
"...Is there something on my face, Quelaag?" Gwynevere asked after a few moments.
The Rider snorted loudly. "No, just realising that you don't appear to have aged a single day since the last time I saw you…Hmph."
"Yes, it seems I am rather fortunate to maintain my visage." The Goddess replied with a tone like honey. "It saddens me to see you in this state-"
"Come off it, hag."
"Hag!?"
And just like that, the faux calm faded.
"Of course you're still that same disrespectful brat that you always were, why would I ever imagine differently. At least your outside matches your inside now, you spider."
"So how long before you turn into a fox, you vixen?" Quelaag all but hissed right back. "Or maybe you'll turn into a cow, considering you walk everywhere swinging around those udders of yours."
"Wh-you-the cheek!" Gwynevere took a step forward. "And what hypocrisy! Accusing me of swinging my chest around? What about you! Brandishing yours to the world as if you have anything worth showing off? Ha! You're like a knight who boasts about the empty sheath where his mighty sword would go if he had one!"
"You'd know all about knights and where their swords go, wouldn't you?"
Olga felt her brows shoot up her forehead, her lips rolled inwards as he slowly turned her eyes towards Marie.
The Rider could only shrug her shoulders in bafflement.
A low groan caught her ears.
"Senpai!" Swiftly came the concerned cry of Mash, indicating that Ritsuka had just about started to wake up, sure enough by the time she actually turned to the boy, the girl was looming over him and helping him sit up. "Are you alright, Senpai? You're not dizzy still, are you? How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Wha-?" Ritsuka slurred back with a rather baffled face, then jerked and shook his head from side to side. "Three, why are you-what happened?"
"You passed out." Lily answered. "I'm not sure what happened but you just froze up and then fell forwards, if Ash hadn't caught you when he did…"
Ritsuka made an 'o' shape of surprise before the confusion set in, he turned to Ash and nodded once. "Uh, thanks but uhhh…why did I pass out?"
Ash grunted only a single word. "Quelaag."
Understanding settled on the face of Ritsuka immediately. "...Ah. I see."
Olga grunted. "There were several other Servants, two that we have not encountered before and the final one being Ledo."
"Oh, Ledo! I remember him, he was-"
"-ou try finding clothes that don't burst into flames when your entire body can spew fire at random!"
"And whose fault is that!?"
Ritsuka pinched his brows, then turned his head slightly for a moment before sanity clearly got the better of him. Holding himself back and rolling his lips inwards, then throwing a thumb over his shoulder towards the shouting. "Is that-"
With a tired sigh, Olga nodded her head. "Yes."
Ritsuka just looked bemused. "They sound…uhh…close?"
"Yes." Olga responded flatly. "The very best of friends."
"Oi."
She turned to the speaker and raised a brow. "What?"
Heroine X was pouting like a child. "I feel like people are forgetting that I'm here. What the heck is the point of me if everyone just starts talking amongst themselves? Whatever happened to me trying to train Lily into the best Saber? Shouldn't we all be focusing more on that?"
A groan escaped her as she rubbed her hands over her face.
One day.
That was all she wanted.
One single day.
Ritsuka was sure this wasn't really the norm.
Pacing back and forth, he cupped his hand under his chin and pointedly aimed his eyes towards the ground.
"Alright so we have…uh…how many Servants here now? Like…a dozen?"
There was no way he was going to be able to support all of those guys for very long, even if he wasn't contracted with four of them, but he had every intention of making the offer. Or he would, just as soon as he could comfortably look at Quelaag without feeling the desire to turn on his heel and sprint away from her.
"It is twelve Senpai, yes." Mash confirmed from the side, he looked up towards her and raised his brows, though very quickly made a strangled noise and turned away from her as he realised her proximity to Quelaag.
That being the fact the spider woman had positioned herself on the right side of the girl.
"Now look at what you've done." Gwynevere chided with a disapproving tone of voice..who had positioned herself on the other side of Mash. "The poor boy cannot even look at his friend without being thrown into shock. Have some tact."
A snort came from Quelaag. "I'm just standing around. I'm sure that with enough time around me, he'll get used to it."
Gwynevere scoffed. "Get used to it? Yes, I can tell by his lack of consciousness and pale skin, he is very clearly growing accustomed to you, how foolish I am to think otherwise. The signs are all clearly there."
"If he can stomach being near you, then he can stomach being near me."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what it means."
Ritsuka pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Can you two just…not do that for a couple of minutes, please. I'm trying to get a grip on whatever is happening right now and all of that…"
Grunts were his answer, but he'd take it over nothing.
With an internal nod of the head, he paced further down the line of Servants before coming to a halt at the three at the end. Them being the recently discovered ones that he was actually able to look at.
"Right so…I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka, I'm a Master who works for Chaldea and…yeah. That about sums it up. We're pretty much all here for the same reason but with different goals, though I think we've all more or less covered that."
He paused, then turned on Ledo. Then blinked and frowned at the knight. "I'm gonna assume you're just sort of here for adventure or something, right?"
"Exactly!" He could hear the smile in the voice of the Berserker.
"...So if I offered you a contract at Chaldea…?"
"I'd probably say yes!"
"...Even if we were currently fighting against Gwyn?"
"...Uhh…"
He could hear mutters from Quelaag and Gwynevere behind him.
"You're doing what against your dad? How did you manage that-"
"Shut up."
He elected to ignore those and watch Ledo for any sign of reaction beyond a rather bewildered noise.
Eventually, the knight moved a hand up and scratched the side of his helmet, producing a scraping noise in the process that was a little unpleasant to the ears. "That isn't really what I was expecting to be told…Well…you are with Princess Gwynevere so…I'm still technically serving the royal family? Wait, is this a coup or something? Am I being invited to join a coup? Wait, no…that wouldn't work, there isn't an Anor Londo here…"
Ledo evidently wasn't listening to him anymore and became lost in his own little world, muttering to himself as he cupped the chin of his helm and continued to whisper.
Ritsuka watched the Servant for a moment or two, then shrugged and glanced at the other two Casters. "What about you two?"
Babbage and Hohenheim - not the one from Fullmetal Alchemist, he had to remind himself - looked at one another before they turned their attention back to him.
"This Chaldea sounds intriguing." Babbage responded with a hiss of steam that sounded almost excited. "More so if you are capable of transporting individuals across time and space, I would be very interested in seeing such a place…For that reason, I would accept a contract from you."
Ritsuka nodded his head, then glanced at his communicator. "Roman?"
The face of the doctor popped up. "I know what you're going to ask…and yes, we could probably Rayshift them back if they made a contract with you. It would be a bit harder because there isn't a pre-established link with Chaldea, but not really impossible."
He nodded at the words, it sounded good enough to him.
Turning to Babbage, he smiled at the man and extended a hand. "In which case, happy to be working with you."
Raising their own rather large metallic limb, he was a bit worried as the clawed fingers circled around his entire forearm, but relaxed a little when they didn't immediately crush his limb. Though he did note that the metal was a little warm to the touch, but with the amount of steam this guy was gushing out, it was understandable.
His eyes turned to Paracelsus as Babbage released him.
The visibly human Caster let out a faint hum. "This Chaldea…a gathering of mages with a shared goal?"
"Something like that?"
"I see." The man bobbed his head up and down, then a faint smile flickered across his lips. "To see so many mages unified under a single building for a joint purpose…that sounds rather ideal to me. I admit that it has garnered my interest in much the same way this craft has…but if I cannot study the craft, then am I at least allowed a welcome to this Chaldea?"
He paused for a second, then turned to the Director.
She'd stayed silent during the talk with Babbage, but he got the feeling she'd want to speak about it now.
The white haired woman stepped closer and dropped her voice into a low tone of voice. "It would be in our best interests to bring the Caster into Chaldea, but take care when he arrives. I would prefer to take precautions, given we do not know if he was summoned to this era naturally or not."
Ritsuka raised a brow, then replied. "You didn't say anything with Babbage."
The Director frowned. "From what I have learned, Babbage is nothing more than an engineer and I would wager Da Vinci's own intellect is superior to his. Hohenheim is a magus of great reputation and is doubtless a near unmatched peer even now. Given his virtually invented the alchemical department as it is known of today…"
Ritsuka nodded his head up and down. "I guessed that was the case, but I take it he knows more than that?"
Olga bobbed her head up and down. "Much more, though not quite an equal to Medea, he is still…No, you won't yet understand half the words I speak, but assume only that he is a far greater magus than even some of those assigned onto Team A."
He didn't know much about Team A beyond some of their names and that they were good mages.
"So…make sure he's not under the thumb of Solomon or something?"
Olga nodded her head once.
Ritsuka turned back to the mages and smiled. "Alright, but given that we're sort of stumbling across you rather than summoning you, I take it you can already guess we're gonna have to make sure that you weren't summoned as plants by someone else, right?"
Paracelsus raised a brow. "Plants? You mean that someone would summon a Servant to merely act as some manner of delayed explosive…For one thing, who could do such a thing? The command seals under your authority would naturally ensure someone could do no damage."
He wasn't going to tell him that the Chalea command seals were apparently weaker.
"I mean…when we're working against King Solomon as well…"
Even if Solomon said he wasn't going to bother acting against them anymore, it was still something worth watching out for…
…And Seath…
The Caster blinked once.
Then twice.
Then rolled his lips inwards. "Ah. Yes. I see…In which case, I can understand your hesitation completely and am prepared to subject myself to whatever you may deem necessary to prove my trustworthiness to you…within the bounds of reason."
Ritsuka nodded his head. "Yeah."
He reached forwards and extended a hand to the Caster, who slowly took it. He felt the pulse of magical energy connect the two of them.
"Thanks." Taking his hand back, Ritsuka glanced at the communicator. "Can you tell Lord El-Melloi II and Medea to meet them at the summoning chamber to make sure there's nothing the matter with them when they arrive. Just get it out of the way now."
He looked back to the pair and offered an apologetic smile. "Again, sorry."
"No, it is within your right." Paracelsus shook his head. "Perhaps especially so when dealing with such a well known mage. He did not earn the moniker of the King of Mages for little reason, using Servants in such a way when he is known as a master of summonings would certainly be a proper use of the materials available to him."
Ritsuka wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to the words that almost sounded as though they admired Solomon.
"Are there any other knights working for you?"
Turning to Ledo, he took a moment to think on the question before he answered. "We have Arkon-"
"Oh, Arkon is working with you? Alright. I'll join."
Was…was that all they needed to hear?
"...Uhh…alright."
Ledo gave a rather hearty cheer. "In that case, I look forward to working with you."
…That was way too easy, even if they were a Berserker.
"Aren't you put off with fighting Gwy-"
"Well, you are working with Princess Gwynevere." Ledo replied with a shrug. "And I have already made friends with different sort of people who were enemies of King Gwyn. Like Akal over there, I consider myself to be on good terms with her and she is a dragon…Also I did abandon my post which probably earned me a sentence of execution, but Arkon is a smart one, if he's working with you, it must be for a good reason."
Those were reasons.
Taking a step backwards, Ritsuka bobbed his head up and down.
"In that case…Roman?"
"We'll begin the Rayshift to get them summoned back to Chaldea. They'll be linked in and it should finalise everything, especially now they're contracted to you. I've already informed the two Casters and Okita is sending a security detail to watch over everything."
Well, that sounded as though it was going smoothly.
Releasing a loud sigh, Ledo slumped his shoulders. "So I do not get to linger around for long? That's a shame…well, I did get some good notes in my book about all of this, so I won't call it a total loss! And I'll be able to make even more notes in the future! So I'm sure it will work out just fine! Good luck with whatever you're doing!"
Ritsuka was barely able to get a word out in parting before the Rayshift came into effect, the three Servants turned to motes of blue light and vanished away, seemingly pulled up into the sky as they disappeared.
He watched them depart, then lowered his eyes towards the Director. "...That went well."
Olga grunted. "That depends on your definition of going well. Especially given the sort we have left to deal with…or are you going to flop on the ground again when you turn around?"
Ritsuka fought back the urge to flush with embarrassment. "I wasn't expecting her at that time! I'll be able to manage it, I promise."
He received a raise of the brow and a pointed look which made the doubt very clear.
With a faint groan, he turned back around and prepared himself.
"Alright, Quelaag-!"
Marching forwards, he took in large breaths as he got closer and closer to the Rider in question, then stopped when he was a comfortable distance from her.
Which just so happened to be with at least three Servants in between himself and the Rider.
The woman looked down at him from atop her spider body that he was making very clear pains to avoid looking at. "Yes?"
"..."
"You're looking a bit nervous."
"Senpai is trying his best, Quelaag-san." Mash spoke up with a slight hint of disapproval in her words, it was enough for the Rider to pause and then roll her eyes. Mash swiftly turned her sights onto him and stepped around the Rider, smiling at him. "You do what makes you comfortable, Senpai. I won't think less of you either way!"
That was nice of her to say.
Ritsuka remained still for a moment.
Then turned and looked away from the Rider, directly to the person stood in front of him, who just so happened to be Ash.
With his arms crossed, Ash looked at him with a blank expression, then he spoke in a slow manner. "...Do you not want to close your eyes?"
"That would be rude."
"In that case, perhaps we should throw a blanket over her lower body."
A growl came from down the line, Ritsuka shuddered at it.
"For your sake, that better have been a joke." The words of Quelaag sounded a touch menacing and very much as a warning.
Ritsuka clenched his hands into fists.
"No…it's fine."
Ash looked at him and frowned. "You are clearly discomforted-"
"Lily, Mash and Marie are all trying their hardest." He muttered, bringing up a hand and beating it against his chest twice, taking in a deep breath and then offering the blonde a strained smile. "That just means I have to try my best to fight past all of this, right?"
Ash said nothing.
Then shrugged. "I would advise against it…but you are the Master here."
Not really the most supportive words in the world, but he was barking up the wrong tree in the first place.
Ritsuka twisted on his heel, then marched forwards with slow and very apprehensive steps, each movement brought him closer and closer to Quelaag and her very scary molten spider body. It would be more accurate to say he waddled towards the Rider like a penguin, or he was sure that was how it looked.
His eyes remained locked on the woman, even as the beads of sweat started to roll down the side of his head.
Whether that sweat came from the heat that radiated off the body or from his own terror, he wasn't sure. It probably didn't matter all that much right now either.
"Hey…"
Quelaag raised a brow at him but otherwise kept silent.
"...So how are you-?"
"My eyes are down here."
He immediately lowered his eyes.
A second or two passed.
"...Lower than that, idiot."
Of course, that was when Marie decided to speak up. "I would have made that same mistake too, so it's alright."
He brought his head back up and looked at the human face. "Yeah, if I look at that I am going to pass out…So how are you doing?"
Quelaag rolled her eyes at him, then placed her hands on her hips. "Are you really going to run through twenty questions with me over all of this? You don't have to force yourself to speak with me-"
"No, it's…" Closing his eyes, Ritsuka rubbed a hand over his face and sighed into his palm. "Look, we worked well together in Rome and I feel bad that I can't talk to you properly without…you know…everything going on. So…thank you for your help in Rome and I want to be able to speak with you without freaking out."
"Why?"
"Because it's polite." Ritsuka grunted back, it was the only answer he had. "Because it's kind and decent…I want to work together with you in the future and I want to be able to do so when I can do it without being afraid…If you want to work with us, that is."
Silence.
Then Quelaag replied. "...Gwyndolin went with you, didn't he?"
He nodded.
"...How is he doing?"
Ritsuka thinned his lips. "...I like to think he's doing better but…I'm trying. He's my friend so…I'm trying to make him happy."
"His friend, huh?" An odd expression passed across the face of Quelaag for a moment, then she leaned forwards and smirked. "Alright then, if you're going to go and call yourself that, then I guess that's that. Besides, I do owe him one for trying to run away and get the last word in…so a contract, is it?"
"Yeah…" Exhaling, he swallowed as he tried to look anywhere else but the large mutant spider head that was directly level with his chest, but he could see the pale eyes right out of the corner of his gaze, and the glowing spines which jutted from the armoured carapace. "That is it…yeah."
She grunted, then moved and poked him in the nose.
"Alright, done."
He blinked at the faint contact which was apparently more than enough for her, the Rider leaned back and folded her arms.
"That's wonderful, Quelaag-san!" Mash cheered, turning the eyes of the spider woman onto her in an instant. "Ah! Da Vinci will be able to make you some heat resistant clothes! T-that is, if you want them. But Chaldea does have a dress code policy, but I'm sure some people will understand if you explain your condition to them-"
The rather baffled look on the face of Quelaag almost made him smile.
He probably would have.
If the spider head wasn't still staring at him.
That Heroine X…making friends with Sabers?
Training with Sabers?
Working with Sabers?
Unacceptable.
It meant she was soft, much too soft.
More than that, she was being shown up by a Caster class Servant? Clearly she truly was a weakling, it meant that everything she did was completely and utterly justified.
She slipped back behind the tree and narrowed her eyes, placing her hand on her chin.
There were far too many of them for her to take on all by herself, it meant that she would have to find someone that she could enlist into her service. Though it would doubtless be a mark of shame for her, it could not be helped.
As long as it meant bringing an end to the Saber menace, there was nothing she would not do to ensure that outcome.
…Except work with other Sabers because that would be a pretty weird thing for her to do.
She'd be fine with working with any other type of Servant except for a Saber.
But what to do, what to do…
Tapping her finger against her chin, she paced away from the tree and marched down the hill in the opposite direction to the failure and her gang. It was troubling for her to be met with such obstacles, a mark of shame for the Saber class, but she could doubtless turn this around.
All she needed to do was employ the correct sort of tactics against them.