Atalantae sighed heavily.
How many times do I have to tell her? Stick to her Mad Dogs territory.
The Huntress of Artemis was following the trail the Emperor of Roses had left all throughout the ‘hidden’ territory she and a few others used.
What concerned her was how unerringly disastrous the trail was for the future of the hunting ground.
Based on what she could tell, the mad Emperor had gone to check up on her ‘puppy’, and as would befit the hubris of a Roman Emperor, started to explore.
At first, Lancelot had apparently guided her, atleast while within ‘his’ territory.
Then he had started following her, when they entered the shared territory.
Smart. Its hard to not see the big boy when he’s in front of you, but he is distressingly silent on approach from behind. And a good dog protects its master.
Then, Lancelot’s tracks had stopped, and began to pace at a border that had only been recently established, while the Emperor had kept going, oblivious to the danger she was walking to.
Atalantae had decided to follow the Emperor’s trail, since Lancelot’s trail doubled back.
Which is what had led her to standing right before Heracle’s ‘cave’. She had some freedom to explore the Greek Hero’s territory, but she never pushed into here.
The man was a monster when enraged, and ever since she’d seen him make his ‘shrine’, he’d been fiercely defensive of it.
When the Emperor’s Mad Dog had come close to exploring it, she’d sworn the rest of Chaldea would know of their little hunting ground.
…..why is she touching everything?
Why couldn’t the Red Saber be like her Blue counterpart, all polite and respectful of others?
Yet the the Emperor of Roses was running her hands over everything, exploring every nook and cranny, leaving traces of her being there everywhere.
Atalantae pressed herself up against the side of the entrance upon realising the Emperor was talking aloud, but not loud enough for her to hear from where she had been.
“….ights also mentioned a young girl with silver hair. Our giant Berserker friend must have encountered my beautiful Blue twin in a past battle. Most Interesting!!!” the Red Emperor proclaimed, staring at a shape tucked into the bed.
Whatever it was, it didn’t look like much a girl. And no humans or servants with silver hair had ever been seen since she had established the territories, and none were reported missing from Chaldea.
So what was she talking about?
Despite having touched and examined every part of Heracle’s cave, the Red Saber had been very reluctant to touch the…….at first she’d thought it was a shrine, but upon finally seeing it better, it appeared to be a very fine canopied bed.
Of course atleast one of the Mages stationed here wanted such an extravagant bed. Atalantae rolled her eyes.
She wasn’t one to deny herself the luxuries if able, but that bed was disgustingly over the top.
…..or atleast, it had been before Heracle’s had gotten to it.
Simple white canopies had been haphazardly fashioned from the linens used for beds by the staff, and an occasional snowflake had been clumsily stitched into the canopies.
Given the sheer size of the hands of the supposed stitcher, it was surprising how well they were made, despite their clumsy appearance.
Maybe if he wasn’t a Berserker, he would make a fine Seamstress.
….which is a weird thought to have about a hulking giant who walks through doorways without opening the doors.
Having lost herself in the thought of Heracles of all people being renowned for his stitching work, Atalantae returned to her senses in time to see she could no longer see inside Heracles’ Cave, since the aforementioned Berserker now blocked the opening, watching the intruder.
Despite his reputation for a mindless wrecking ball once unleashed, there was something left in him that caused him to carefully watch things before acting.
A common mistake most of the Chaldea staff made with Berserkers, were thinking that they were mindless.
It wasn’t true, their thinking was just highly warped around specific things.
Kiyohime was easy to deal with, so long as their Master wasn’t around, or no one publicly said they wanted to be close to their Master (without her permission or oversight).
Caligula was easily tamed at the mere mention of his beloved Nero, and the other Romans were happy to atleast keep an eye on him.
And Lancelot was highly protective of the Rose Empress.
She really has a way with Berserkers, now that I think about it.
Atalantae settled herself into her hiding spot. Thinking on her realisation, maybe this wouldn’t become a problem.
“You remember something, don’t you?” came a drifted response from the entrance, ‘quiet’ for the Empress, but still loud enough for Atalantae to hear it.
She couldn’t see how Heracles was responding, but the fact it was silent typically meant the big brute wasn’t raging.
“I know the feeling well. My Uncle was touched by the Moon and fell for it, and the result caused him to be engraved into Human History.” The normally boisterous Saber was almost melancholic in tone.
“They think I am also touched by the Moon. I know they are wrong, any of my madness is of my own making. But I sense a connection to the Moon. Of a life I lived and people I loved there. Of Names I can’t recall but who are engraved so deep into me that my heart aches for their voices and touch.” It seemed the hulking Servant had now crouched, and from what little the huntress could see, the Red Saber was now much closer to him.
She saw movement, and was startled by the pained roar that echoed from the cave.
She was quick to ready her weapon, but when seconds passed and nothing happened, she considered advancing to see what happened.
“Don’t worry, oh Beautiful Destroyer. If someone could leave such a mark on you, our Master will surely bring them home. And I will be here for you until then!” Was the only cue she heard before she could leave her hiding spot, the Rose Empress quickly striding away.
“Atleast, that is the lie I tell myself.” Was quickly whispered before departing.
Not wanting to be caught by a hurting Heracles, and confused by the whole ordeal and words of the Red Saber, Atalantae quickly headed back to her territory.
I wonder how many people know of the pain she hides?