Fate/Sealed

Children

Today was relatively normal. Well, if you could call a place with tons of supposed legends roaming around 'relatively normal'. The lone master of Chaldea was roaming around the place alongside her kouhai-turned-servant; Mash Kyrielight, the pair looking for the children summoned to Chaldea. The reason? 


"I hope Jack didn't drag the other kids to cause trouble again. Last time they did that gave me a huge headache, ugh," Murazaki complained with a huge sigh as Mash awkwardly laughs at her state.

"Don't worry about it Senpai. I'm sure they're behaving themselves in the recreation room, or most probably with Atalanta no?"

"Whatever it is, I just hope they aren't stressing anybody out. I can't imagine if Gilgamesh gets annoyed by the kids..," She replied, dreading the idea of Gilgamesh unleashing Ea upon Chaldea.

"R-right..."

As the duo walked around they asked a lot of servants if they've seen the children anywhere, with the answer always being some form of 'no'. Even when coming across both versions of Atalanta they didn't get an answer, or at least, a proper one. Atalanta Alter has a feeling that the kids were in one of the 3 new-summons' rooms, which confused her Archer self along with Mash and Murazaki. The alter told them to just follow them to see whether or not her feeling was off or not, which they complied to weirdly enough.


-~-


"Eh..?"

"See? My hunch is on point."

"It really is huh..."


The trio who accompanied Atalanta Alter were surprised to see the kids playing in Caster's room, with the servant occupying the room playing with them with a small smile on his face. Hanamura was also present but it seems she was currently taking a nap.

"Big brother's so amazing! He can make the room all sparkly!" Nursery Rhyme chimed.

"Right?! He can do it without spending that much magical energy, too!" Added Jack.

"And these swords!" Jalter Lily raised a familiar black short sword, "They're so fun to play with! Right Abby?"

"Yes. I didn't expect these swords to be of such quality. And they're harmless, so I suppose they're fine to handle," The Foreigner-class servant formally replied whilst eyeing the white version of Jalter Lily's -apparently- wooden blade with excitement.

"Careful now. Don't want you guys to get hurt now do we?" Caster says with a smile, the kids nodding in response as they go to the room's center to play. "I'm guessing you want an explanation to how this happened?" He asked, turning to the quartet who were looking for the children.

"I guess now that we know that they're happily playing in you're room, that explanation isn't needed," Murazaki says, her face lighting up a second later. "Though, we'd still appreciate how it came to be. Aren't you curious too, Mash?" She turned to her junior, whom had a smile on her face.

"I guess I am a bit curious..," She glanced at the Caster-class servant, remembering the time he was summoned as well as the vision she saw with Da Vinci during his test.

"..."


Caster on the other was in shock at the moment. He was reminded of things back when he was alive. Things that his consciousness locked away for the better, though he wishes to at least know WHAT they were. But today was a special case, as he remembered 2 important figures from his time as a human. It certainly helped when a person in front of you looks identical to said figure.

"Ritsuka, Mash..," He muttered with a melancholic expression on his face.

"Hm? Something wrong?" His master questioned.

"Ah. It's nothing to worry about Master. Just... remembering things, is all," He replied with a forced smile. "Anyways, I'll continue with how the kids got to playing in my room," Caster continued, the others slowly nodding due to his reaction a few moments ago.


-~-

An hour prior.


"You want help?"

"Well not me specifically," The Red Bowman says, "Since today's one of the days where I promised Lily to train her, I need a replacement. And knowing the both of your origins, I chose you both."

"Oh. Which Lily?" Hanamura asks, understandably so since there's quite a few lily servants in Chaldea.

"Sabe- I mean, Altria Pendragon Lily," Emiya replied, ignoring his vocal blunder. "Well if you need help then feel free to ask Boudica or Tamamo-Cat. I'll be off now.

"Alright. Take care, Emiya-san," The other Archer-class servant bid him farewell.


As Chaldea's head chef left the cafeteria to find his pupil, 2/3rds of what's now known as the "Servants of Fate" was standing behind the counter. The cafeteria is still closed as of now, with lunch time arriving in 10 minutes. Enough time for Hanamura to confront her partner in all of this, the Caster of the Starry Night, who was in a red sweater and black pants.

"You really don't like talking do you?" She asked as she crosses her arms.

"Apologies. I just have nothing to say in conversations, so I prefer not joining in at all," He replied with a blank expression.

"I didn't say it was a problem," She giggled, "All I'm saying is that, you probably went through a lot in your life, huh?"

At that moment, in Caster's mind, visions of people being slaughtered. Flames being set ablaze. Cries for help and screams of horror filling the air. Blood being splattered, weapons laying on the ground. A blonde and pink-haired woman appearing, their faces being obscured from his memory. That night, atop that hill surrounded by blood and bodies. It was a horror, but...


'If it was all for her, then I guess it was worth it,' The Caster thought, not even knowing who he was referring to.

"Sorry if I hit a mark. Just making sure that my half-sibling's feeling alright," She says, patting Caster on his back.

"Half-sibling? We're related?"

"Yeah!" She jumped, startling the calm servant beside her. "Kenme's also our half-sibling y'know?" She smiled.

"I... see," He responds, not sure of what to say or do.

"Heyyy! It's almost time for the lions to swarm in! Hurry!" Boudica shouts from the kitchen, causing the Caster and Archer servant pair to quickly get ready, both projecting their aprons and Hanamura trying her hair up in a ponytail.

Upon seeing each other's aprons, Hanamura laughed. The sight of Caster wearing a red apron that has the words "APRON BOY" in black just triggers her laughing bone due to it not fitting her image of Caster, who was more of a silent-yet-dangerous servant. She had a simple light blue apron with purple flowers decorating it. Once they showed themselves to Boudica and Tamamo-Cat, they also laughed at Caster's apron, calling it cute. Hanamura's apron was also called cute by their 2 seniors.

And then it was time.


"Alright. Around now is where the-"

Before Boudica could finish, the cafeteria was swarmed with servants who shared the name and face with the King of Knights. Other servants came in in a more civil manner after them as to not be trampled by Chaldea's lions.

"Excuse us, but we-"

"No no, we know your orders by now," Boudica cut Altria off with a chuckle. "What would it be? The usual or the special?"

"We'd take the special, please," Her altered form chimed in, with Boudica nodding in response.

"Alrighty. We'll make it shortly," Says the Rider before turning to the Beserker, "Bring out the list!"

"Nyas~!" Tamamo-Cat answered as she summons a scroll that -apparently- contains all the Saber-faces' orders and showed it to the rookies. "Help us out, 'kay?"

"Yes!", "Sure."

The quartet started working on the dishes with a lot of expectation from the Altrias due to the head chef not being here. The seniors had a lingering doubt that they couldn't do it without Emiya, but was proved wrong when they saw how the rookies were moving. Well, more like interns. It's like they were gliding across the place!

A few minutes later and it seems that the first part of the order was done, which were at least 2 dozen sandwiches. These sandwiches were filled with greens, scrambled eggs, bacons, and a sauce. They were surprised to see how quickly they did it, it was like Emiya never left.

"We'll take care of the minor dishes for now, so please focus on the big one. We'll help you two later," Hanamura says from the frying section, preparing to fry some tempura.

"Wow..."

The seniors couldn't believe it. It was like The Red Bowman had multiplied! They were progressing through the orders in record speed and eventually finished the last 'minor' dish, which were just Karaage-style chicken. Soon enough they were able to help out Tamamo-Cat and Boudica with the main dish; a huge hot pot specifically for the Altria-type servants.

"That's uh..," Hanamura looked at the pot and saw a lot of ingredients in it already. "Aren't these all stuff that needs to cook for a longer time? How about the things that just need a little bit of time?"

"Well, we can't go and scam the lions of Chaldea of their royal order now can we? Oh and the rest of ingredients are here," Boudica says as she points to various greens and seafood that only need a couple minutes in the broth.

"Oh. Okay."

Meanwhile, since Hanamura could help with the hotpot all by herself, Caster took the liberty to return to the counter to serve up orders from other servants. Though what he didn't expect was to not even see the servants in front of the line to order.

"Uhm," He quietly made a sound of confusion, "Excuse me, but who's at the front of the line?" He asked the servant seemingly 2nd in line, the goddess Artemis.

"Hm?" She looked at the servant, her eyes widening once she realized it wasn't the head chef, though he bore quite the resemblance to him. "My, well if isn't little Abby."

"Abby?" He peeked over the counter to see who this 'Abby' was and soon enough, he was met with a scowl of a child with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Oh. Sorry."

"Hmph! At least have the decency to look for your customers! No matter the age or height!" The Foreigner-class servant pouted.

"Now now, he's pretty new here. Please be patient with the newcomer, okay?" The goddess from behind says with a smile.

"Hm..," Abby had her thinking face on for a few moments before she smiled innocently. "Alright. If you want to please me, then make me my favorite!" She rejoiced. "Oh and include Jilly's, Jack's, and Nursery's favorites too."

"..." He blinked a few times. "Understood. Your orders?"

Abigail then began listing the dishes for her and her friends, with Caster nodding as he wrote each dish down on a piece of paper. 

"That's all?" He asked with a small smile.

"Want me to add more?"

"Can you finish it if you did?" He retorts.

"..."

"Alright. I'll proceed with your order," Caster says, turning to meet Hanamura approaching him. "Please take care of the rest while I prepare food for kids."

Hanamura shot him a questionable look that turned into a smirk, "You've already made love here? Sheesh, and I thought Mama was feisty with Papa," She joked.

"..," He stared at her with his poker face, shrugging as he walked past her to prepare the kiddie meals. "Procreating, huh..," He murmured, shaking his head as he dug up a memory that was as clear as day.

Ignoring said memory, he went straight to work. From frying eggs to making pancakes, even making fresh fruit juice from squeezing fruits like apples and oranges. It weren't meals that needed a ton of preparation, but he still gave it his best. For what reason? He doesn't know. Maybe he desires to see children smile? 

"Hm... not bad," He quietly said to himself as he plated the dishes up to make it look appealing. He doesn't know where it comes from, but he has the habit of making things as neat as possible, whether it was folding his clothes, serving food, or using his magecraft. There was a thought nagging at him that if he didn't, he'd be scolded by... a person who he's forgotten.

Disregarding the negative thoughts, he walked out of the kitchen and placed the dishes on the counter, letting the queued-up servants to marvel at his creation. Upon seeing the reactions of the servants behind her -as well as sniffing the aroma that suddenly came-, Abigail asked Artemis to lift her up to see what it was. Low and behold, her face melted upon seeing such delicious pancakes.

"Ah. There you are," He pointed out, causing the Foreigner-class servant to snap out of her trance. "So? Where will you and your friends eat this?" He asked.

"Hm..," She hummed after Artemis let Abby back on the ground. Where WOULD they eat the food? It's not like she asked to put them in a picnic basket so she and her friends would have their weekly picnic in the fields. "How about in your room? Since you're a new servant, I'd be delighted to get to know you."

'And also so I can know where your room is so I can personally ask you for pancakes!' She added in her mind.

The Caster-class servant just stared with a blank expression, the goddess giggling at their interaction. It was like a child found out that they had an older sibling for the first time, and it looked quite wholesome despite their earlier confrontation.

"Well... I still have a job to do here-"

"No, no we don't."

Hanamura walked into Abby's vision, a smile present on her face.

"Emiya said that we'd only help with the Altria-type servants, and look how they're holding up," She points to the right, where most of the current ambience of the cafeteria was coming from.

It was them, the Lions of Chaldea, actually eating normally. The reason?


"Hmph. It is almost on par with the head chef's, if not better," Lartoria stated before taking a piece of karaage into her mouth.

"Agreed. Just something about this... could it be that it's due to Emiya's absence?" Salter questioned as she took a bite of a sandwich half.

"I doubt it," X argued, "His food is on par with the gods! His cooking is what stops me from eviscerating  all of you!" 

"..."

The other Altria-type servants of earth eyed all the Altria-type servants of the Servantverse before continuing on with their meal -more like banquet-.


Back at the counter, both Hanamura and Caster sighed at the sight. It was as if the sight of the King of Knights eating like there's no end was a normal sight, much to the latter's confusion.

"Well? The food's getting cold, so we should proceed with Abby's request to see your room. And to be frank, I'm quite curious too."

"Weren't you usually a bit more quiet than this?" He says, quietly sighing.

"That was before I was acquainted with Chaldea, and now that I am, I can act more comfortably. Isn't that why almost everyone here can uphold a peaceful existence despite normally murdering each other for one wish from the Holy Grail?" She says with a warm smile, "'Sides, I don't think you can carry all this without dropping them all."

"..."



-~-

Back to the present.


"... And that's the gist of it."

"So..," Murazaki furrowed her brows as she turned to the Foreigner-class servant, who looked at her with a terrified expression. "You came here to bother Caster?"

"N-no..."

The sudden scolding caught the attention of the other children, who immediately stopped playing with their toy swords.

"Senpai..."

Both versions of the Greek huntress didn't say a word, only a look of worry as they anticipate their master scolding the kids.

"You have some nerve..," She trailed off, clenching her now formed fist.

"..."

"... TO NOT INVITE ME!?" 

"Wha-"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW CURIOUS I WAS? HE'S EVEN MORE MYSTERIOUS THAN EMIYA!"

Beads of sweat formed on every servant's head as their master ranted about trivial things.

"C-calm down Senpai."

"Hmph!" Murazaki pouted before shifting her attention to the Caster-class servant. "And you. Can't you at least open up? Even Emiya's telling me stuff after a few weeks of his summoning while you stayed I silent for a month!?"

"Ahaha..," The Caster awkwardly laughed. He was reminded of a woman with that would often shout at him if he didn't do things her way in a comical manner. "S-sorry about that, master. I'll try my best."

"Ugh!" The master scratched her head in frustration. "Now I'm pissed enough to go get materials for Da Vinci's research! You're coming with me, Caster!" 

"M-me..?" Nursery Rhyme asked from across the room, hiding beside the now conscious Hanamura.

"Not you sweety," She gave a toothy grin. "I meant this idiot right here!" She continued, aggressively pulling on the male's sleeve. He wasn't budging due to his superior strength as a servant. "JUST COME YOU IDIOT!"

"F-fine... I value my life, I guess..," He replied, succumbing to his Master's plea for him to come with her, much to his dismay.


As the pair left, the remaining servants didn't pay it much mind. They unanimously decided to stay in the room for now, seeing that it looked quite neat and comfy, especially with the lights off. The older servants -Mash, Hanamura, and both Atalantas- would chat whilst the younger servants -Jack, Jalter Lily, Nursery Rhyme, and Abby- would play around a mesmerizing light created by Caster's magecraft.

All in all, today was nice for Chaldea.