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Chaldea and Staff: Servants like People (154)
🕑 Added 2021-10-06 19:22:07 +0000 UTCNursery Rhyme, the Nameless Book God, was essentially a monster with no semblance of normal form, no single body, and perhaps not even a definite mind. Certainly, if one ventured to look at the ‘true’ form of Nursery Rhyme, one could not bring oneself to look at the form that ‘it’ otherwise took with anything other than horror. Their minds would buckle and break as they behold the insane and completely alien mind and being that existed as the true form of a Servant with such an innocuous name.
Such was the true form of the Servant, a form that, should a Master summoned it, they could not have survived. And therefore, Nursery Rhyme did not exist in its true form.
Such was the Servant's peculiarity, this creature, though it had something that could be called a ‘true form’, was not something that can be used to interact with its Master should the latter take its true form. And so, every time it was summoned, instead of some kind of mad and alien creature, Nursery Rhyme, the Servant, would take form.
Why they normally appear as a little girl dressed in gothic lolita fashion, though, is something that no one can answer.
Her ‘outer’ form was created for two purposes at once. First, to enable the Master to interact with something comprehensible to his mind and consciousness, and second, to give the alien creature a grounding for understanding moral norms, and consciousness that can correlate with its Master's.
If the Master summoning this Servant were one who wished to see an invincible warrior descended from the pages of dusty books of legend, it was in the power of the Nursery Rhyme to create just that. It would create a facade of a creature equal to a wise knight, a great hero, a noble and invincible warrior.
In other words, if one wished to see a noir detective hero, cynical and embittered by the world, Nursery Rhyme could provide that as well.
It was not the creation of a puppet, where the true mind of Nursery Rhyme would control. No, it was not just ‘a body’ created according to the Master's preference, it was the entire character of the Servant itself. The Servant changed itself entirely, taking from the Master's thoughts the image, the thinking, the knowledge, the understanding of how it was to think, to behave, and then changing itself to suit this image.
At the same time, although technically speaking a Master could control this process, realistically speaking, it was impossible. Not many Masters could independently determine that Nursery Rhyme was the Servant they would receive at their summoning, what sort of catalyst even summon such a Servant?
Even with their summoning certain, not many Masters could fully compose their demand or request to such a Servant to matter, forming its personality and thinking in one go. And therefore, Nursery Rhyme had a sort of ‘standard form’ or rather, a certain body and consciousness, a Servant that existed in most conditions in the absence of other instructions, a convenient form capable of interacting with its Master.
That form was named Alice.
A little girl dressed in a puffy black and purple dress that belonged more to a doll than to a person, with large eyes and a face frozen like a porcelain mask, staring unemotionally at her surroundings. Her white hair was braided into two long braids down the front of her dress reaching below the waist, with a beret pushed down to the back of her head.
In other words, Alice's appearance was that of a girl, not just young, but small and vulnerable.
The name itself, ‘Alice’, was taken from a distant, alien memory… But why it chose that name didn't matter.
More important, however, was that, in contrast to Alice's appearance, her mind was not the young and naïve mind of a young girl, but that of a Servant. Not so much an adult mind, as a fully formed one. It was not the mind of a child incapable of perceiving pain or loss, instead a mind fully aware of concepts like ‘death’ or ‘suffering’. Perhaps, even better than by humans themselves.
Underestimating Alice’s intelligence due to her appearance as a young girl would be a grave mistake.
At the same time, however, there was still a certain quirk. Neither could it be said that Alice was fully ‘mature’. Rather, it was a case where the two parts of the personality, the ‘child’ and the ‘adult’ existed simultaneously. Enabling one to comprehend heavy concepts, and yet at the same time able to interact with the world with the eyes of an innocent child, eager to engage in various games.
In other words, it was the perfect match for Nursery Rhyme itself, a being capable of finding common ground with both the young and the adult, the serious and the carefree, Altera and Jack, Asterios and Cainabel.
Ahem, the last two remarks were a bit surprising to anyone. Perhaps for a full explanation, a bit about how Alice found herself in her current situation is worth telling…
***
It all started when Alice found herself summoned. And, because Nursery Rhyme could not reach the mind of her summoner, her future Master, or rather, could not even touch it, she took on her ‘standard’ form. And so, Alice appeared in front of the other Servants in a moment of general chaos and confusion.
Alice, as an independent Servant, would not have minded participating in this chaos.
After all, chaos is nothing more than a ladder.
And with Ainz, the Master, busy with his own problems such as his romantic relationship, or Da Vinci's madness, it was the perfect opportunity for Alice to gain information about the world around her. Yes, of course, she could act aloof, but Alice's personality was not that of a recluse. Even more, as an actual child she was excited to meet new Servants, nor would she have been unhappy to interact with her Master. But if, for whatever reason, her Master was unable to meet her, that was not something bad either, for many other acquaintances awaited Alice in Chaldea.
Alice's first target initially, of course, was Jack. Not only did they already know each other from the Singularity, their age, in a sense, would also serve as a good starting point to begin their interactions. But, seeing a giant, Angrboda, monopolizing Jack’s time foiled that plan for a while.
But what could a child do if they were unlucky enough to not meet another child of Chaldea? Look for other children to play with, of course.
And in Chaldea, anyway, there were two Servants that could be called children. The first was Jack, and the second, of course, was no one else’s than Asterios.
Of course, he wasn't much of a child, physically speaking at least. His huge, towering figure and bulging muscles made it hard to see him as a child. But, if anyone even just had a conversation with Asterios for even a few minutes, any doubt would be gone. Asterios was a child, and, in Alice's case, was probably much younger than she was.
And since there was no way for Alice to play with Jack while Angrboda was in Chaldea, the most logical of all options for her was to meet with Asterios instead.
Sadly, when she finally found the giant, he was already with Altera. Alice might not be the most logical being, rather a Servant that tried to find the most logical solutions, and if it was impossible, was content with the given one. But even she knows that adding variables to an already unknown situation is silly.
That was why she decided to bide her time instead.
Luckily, soon enough, Angrboda had left Chaldea, giving Alice a chance to finally interact with Jack alone. And, as one would expect, where Altera was, sooner or later Cainabel would also show up, which eventually led to the current situation.
Well no matter the circumstances of her actions in Chaldea, she finally ended up sitting along with Jack and Asterios leafing through a thick book. The figure of Alice sitting in a chair designed to accommodate Asterios’ size makes for a funny picture.
“You have to run with all your might just to stay in place, and to get somewhere, you have to run at least twice as fast…”
Another page leafed through, she looked away and passed her gaze over Asterios and Jack. Who had already closed their eyes and, judging by their calm breathing, were already sound asleep. Seeing that her audience was already fast asleep, she slowly closed the book, with its title emblazoned proudly on the cover.
‘The Most Basic of Basics of Quantum Physics’, the title read, not that it matters to Alice, who had already memorized the book and could recite its contents from memory. And so, with nary a sound, the book disappeared from her hands.
It seems that her experience with children was indeed correct. Children do indeed like it when you tell them stories. Something which is somewhat of a specialty of Alice’s, if she says so herself. Plus, she does like to add some oomph to her presence, and a nice, very voluminous book was just the thing. Of course, why a child like her was holding a treatise on Quantum physics, or why she was reading its contents to children, was neither here nor there.
Maybe it’s because the two Servants in question have a somewhat tangible relationship to the subject. Or maybe it’s just because they just liked hearing Alice's way of reading the text, like she was reading a fairy tale. The answer was perhaps not really something anyone would bother to ask.
With ‘story time’ over, Alice carefully climbed down the large chair to return to the ground, a quite challenging task for someone of her size. After the somewhat arduous climb, Alice could finally take a closer look at the two children that she had just tried to befriend.
Asterios, though he looked more like a huge pile of muscles in his appearance, looked peaceful in his sleep. With his face relaxed, and his whole body seemingly shrinking on itself, no one would mistake him for anything else than a child. It still made it difficult for Alice to cover him with a blanket, in view of the fact that even standing up on her toes, Alice could hardly reach the blanket on his shoulders. So massive was he, and so diminutive was Alice.
Jack, sleeping on the other side of Asterios, instead of shrinking into a lump, on the contrary, only seems to collapse in all directions, spreading her arms. In this case, Alice was nothing but thankful that she managed to convince Jack not to take her knives to bed. No, Alice didn't mind people having their little attachments, whether it was a favorite book or a teddy bear, but when it came to knives, sleeping with them in her arms was… Unsafe, to say the least.
Alice glanced at Jack, snoozing peacefully, and exhaled.
In fact, she herself wouldn't mind snuggling up among the children. She'd probably find it easy to fall asleep hearing someone else's story as well. Preferably not a written tale, but someone else's legends or stories of their adventures, ones that weren't written down. Whether it was an account of Paracelsus' magical experiments or even just Hector's story of Troy, she wouldn’t mind. Though, if she had it her way, it would have been preferable to hear Ainz's story.
His was a story Alice knew nothing about, and it was a story not recorded in any book, and therefore a subject most interesting to her.
In the end, it was impossible even to say definitively whether or not Alice was an adult. Rather, she existed as both at the same time. But, unfortunately, the current conditions were more predisposed to her displaying her more adult persona.
Looking around at Asterios and Jack in their sleep, she sighed, then shifted her gaze to Altera, silently observing all three. She had been here from the beginning of the story to its conclusion, silently listening to Alice's words. Though, whether she was actually interested in the story, or was just keeping an eye on her, she couldn’t tell.
With the story-telling over, Altera rose from her seat, then turned off the small bedside lamp, the only light source in the room that had worked until then, before walking out the door. Alice follows close behind her into the corridors of Chaldea.
“Thank you for putting them to sleep,” Altera spoke in an unemotional tone. At least that’s what someone less versed in reading human emotions would say. Alice, on the other hand, was well versed in reading the personalities of any reader. And thus any person willing to speak, and so she was aware that what mattered was not the tone with which Altera communicated, but what she said as a fact. For Altera, whose original personality consisted of blindly and silently following orders, completely ignoring anything else, the fact that she spoke at all was something massive. The fact that she even expressed gratitude for something as insignificant as providing Asterios and Jack with a pleasant sleep, meant that her original personality had indeed changed.
And while Alice understood that she might not have fully understood her Master's plans and the complex network of relationships in Chaldea, she still finds that the decision to assign Altera as Cainabel's protégé was not the best decision… But at the same time, as she watched the latter's personality change from what was recorded, she was forced to admit that the many epithets Ainz had been awarded with were well deserved.
“You're welcome, I was only here to share my favorite story.” Alice responded to Altera's words with a smile. Responding to her display of emotion with one of her own. Well, after that spot of happiness, she finds herself somewhat wary of returning to the not so joyful event awaiting her.
Walking a short way through the corridors to her next destination, Alice let Altera lead the way, knocking on the door. After a short pause, for some kind of approval from inside the room, Altera opened the door, letting Alice to momentarily meet the gaze of the room's occupant. Altera's mistress and one of the potential movers of Chaldea, Cainabel.
Cainabel looked annoyed and strangely squeamish, but Alice thought this was a normal expression on Cainabel's face, and so she paid it no mind, just as Altera was used to the mood of her… Commander? Mistress? One could pick different names for how Altera sees Cainabel, but they all meant little.
“That took an unnecessarily long time… ” Cainabel sighed as she looked at Alice’s emotionless face, implying that her desire to put the two to bed was what had irritated the vampire, before returning her attention to Altera. “Well, in any case, since we have dealt with the least important part of this evening…”
Alice, as well as Altera, silently only continued to stare at Cainabel, waiting for her to continue, allowing her to sigh, before slowly returning to her previous mood.
“It's time for us to solve some problems,” Cainabel grouched as she glanced at the two Servants across from her, before continuing. “Baal is overstepping his bounds.”
Of course, that was what was going on, Alice sighed mentally. The underhanded struggle between two of the three Servants of Yggdrasil for influence over the Master, Ainz, what else could occupy Cainabel's mind?
As far as Alice knew, this fight had lasted a long time, perhaps even unjustifiably long. But, essentially, at the moment, the ‘fight’ consisted only of lengthy preparations, attempts to gather the largest number of supporters, and mutual attempts by the two peculiar lieutenants of Ainz's forces, to smear each other. Well, self-proclaimed lieutenants at least.
Something which was, from Alice's own point of view, a rather useless endeavor.
Even in the short time she had been in Chaldea, barely in contact with the other Servants, she had managed to get enough information about Baal and Cainabel. She understood, even with minimal information, that one should avoid Baal and Cainabel’s company, never mind the rest of the Servants.
So how could both of the almost pariahs even try to gather ‘support’?
However, since Alice was now in Cainabel's company at the moment, it was perhaps not that impossible.
In any case, the confrontation between Cainabel and Baal at the moment consisted of nothing more than preparing their ‘base’. With the most likely end goal of using that base of support when the Singularities crisis was resolved. Ideally by ousting the enemy, and winning Ainz’s support in every way possible… At least she hopes that Cainabel was smart enough to know that Ainz wouldn’t allow overt actions.
Baal, at least, judging by how many ‘conversations’ he was having here and there while remaining on the periphery of perception. And judging by the fact that through his influence of Medea he clearly had a reach to Olga-Marie, was banking to create pressure, if one could call it that, the further ‘demotion’ of Cainabel in a relatively diplomatic way.
Cainabel was clearly less talented in intrigue, so decided to simply use quantity to counter Baal’s influence. And for this she did not shy away from any opportunity, whether it was someone as naive and innocent as Asterios, or someone as desperate as the Gorgon sisters. Or, perhaps more pertinent to the situation she had found herself in, Alice herself.
“And if I don't like it, then you don't like it.” Cainabel exhaled slowly through her nose, and then glared at the two people in her room.
Altera, already accustomed to her mistress' logic, did not react at all to such words, while Alice simply remained silent, allowing her to continue speaking.
“And though I doubt that an obsolete tin-can, and a moth-eaten old book, which preferred as its appearance the wet-dream of a pedophile, can come to an idea that I have not had time to consider… And reject as absolutely idiotic…” Cainabel sighed slowly, as if swallowing something bitter.
“I am, however, perhaps with a foolish hope, willing to listen to your ideas, suggestions, questions? Feel free to ask the most idiotic ideas or questions you can devise. It's not like you can come up with anything more clever than complete idiocy. So I’m at least mentally ready to listen to the dumbest of your suggestions.”
Alice was sure it would have been easy for her to come up with some caustic response to Cainabel’s barbs. But she knew that it would just make her answer with something even more caustic. And in the end it would have come down to violence, probably involving injury and destruction to Chaldea.
But she wanted none of that in the first place. And secondly, even speaking loudly would have awakened the sleeping Jack and Asterios, who were sleeping peacefully nearby.
And so, with a sigh, she decided to ask the most important question of all. “So, what is the reason you’re fighting with Baal, anyway?”
At Alice’s question, Cainabel was frozen for a moment, as if she had just witnessed something incredible. After a second, she then turned her gaze to Alice, her expression barely containing her disgust. “I certainly expected idiocy from such a useless waste of paper, but such phenomenal stupidity… I… I… I have no words to describe it…”
“No, I do understand that this is a power struggle for a place as, in fact, the right hand of the Master,” Alice shook her head from side to side, quickly clarifying her position.
“But… What exactly is the advantage of being the “right hand” of the Master in this sense? The Master is not a ruler or a tycoon or anything like that, and has no power, some of which could be taken if you become his ‘right hand’, for whatever reason. What is the point of fighting your adversary for the office, if money or prestige is insignificant to both of you?”
After Alice finished, Cainabel silently looked at Alice, then blinked a few times as if trying to comprehend the words coming out of her mouth, before slowly inhaling and exhaling.
“Hah, this is what I get for allowing retards to join my side… It’s just problem after problem with every newcomer. Take a deep breath Cainabel, they are all idiots, they just can’t help themselves, none of them can look beyond a few months into the future, ha…” Talking to herself as if the other two Servants were not in the room, Cainabel finally designs to address Alice.
“Well, I realize that I brought this curse on myself when I let you speak your stupidest thoughts, surely.” Cainabel rolled her eyes, before looking at Alice like an idiot. “Do you know about Ainz's plans after the Singularity crisis ends?”
Alice blinked, but answered briefly and truthfully. “I don't think so.”
“In that case, let me ask you something so simple that even your lacking brain can answer,” Cainabel held up one finger, “Where are we?”
“Chaldea”, Alice answered.
“What is Chaldea?” Cainabel asked again, raising a second finger.
“It was originally a research organization established under the auspices of Marisburi Animusphere, the chief's father,” Alice answered obediently.
“And who are the Animuspheres?” Cainabel asked with some pressure, raising a third finger.
“One of the powerful families of the Clock Tower…”- Alice answered obediently, before blinking in realization and Cainabel lowered her fingers. “I mean…”
“Exactly,” Cainabel rolled her eyes, as Alice came to the ‘obvious’ conclusion. “Chaldea is a research institute that the Clock Tower knows about if not thoroughly, then enough. Now let's think about what happens after the Singularity crisis is solved. There are two possibilities.”
“In the first” Cainabel raised her right hand to articulate. “The mages in the Association know what happened, even if without full details, they know enough about the incredible crisis and the immense power that Chaldea now possesses.”
“The second,” Cainabel raised her left hand. “None of the mages can establish anything about what happened. But they do know that, overnight, Chaldea, the research institute, has gained an army of dozens of Servants. And worse, now possesses power capable of not just destroying the balance between the magic cliques of this world, but, quite realistically, the world itself in case of conflict.”
“It doesn't matter which of the two is going to happen,” Cainabel folded her two hands together in front of her chest.
“What matters is the fact that after the crisis is over, Chaldea will suddenly be strong enough to equal or perhaps surpass the power of entire states and ancient conspiracies. Do you feel where this is going?”
Alice blinked, “War?”
“Well, yes, but not an open war. Even a doll with a head full of paper and ink should understand why that is.” Cainabel exhaled irritably.
“But even a secret war would fuck up the entire status quo, with no way to restore it. It would have many consequences, but the fact that Chaldea would be no one's friend is absolutely certain. It will be a cold war, perhaps some skirmish, assassination attempts or even a few sabotages here and there, any method to get rid of a threatening force of Chaldea. Be it bribery, assurances of eternal friendship or an attempt to drop a nuclear bomb… Ha, the latter is not likely, but it is still on the list of possibilities.” Cainabel mirthfully laughed at her own joke before continuing.
“In other words, although a crisis similar to the Singularities will be resolved, there will only be a succession of next crises. A situation where Chaldea suddenly becomes a new pole of power and one of the priority targets for the enemies. One can even expect an early strike, before Chaldea can fully turn around and get into the game.” After that, Cainabel sighed.
“I don’t think that I need to explain to you why I desire a position of power in that future, do I?.”
“Okay, I understand that,” Alice sighed, “But why wouldn't Ainz intervene on his own in that case?”
Cainabel tried to answer these words, but, unexpectedly for Alice herself, she suddenly fell silent before slowly speaking out her reasoning. “Ainz has other goals.”
Alice blinked.
What Cainabel had said sounded… True and false at the same time. Why would she lie? Is she planning something nefarious against the Master? No, even just a short conversation with Cainabel on the matter, as difficult to withstand as that is, was enough for Alice to understand that such a thing was impossible. No matter how ambitious she might be, or how she dreams to be at the top, nothing could mask that wild, almost animalistic fear Alice could hear whenever Cainabel speaks of the Master.
And so, there was no question of any insubordination.
And yet, at the same time, her words hinted at something else that Cainabel knew about the Master's next steps… Something that she did not want to share.
But there was no way for Alice to find that out, so she chose to simply nod.
After all the explanations, Cainabel glanced at Alice, then shifted her gaze to Altera, who had been silent throughout the meeting, and sighed. “I can tell by your slowness, which is somehow even more than usual, your tin-head is trying to process some thought. And if I have doomed myself to suffer your stupidity, then go ahead, speak, you can deal another blow to my intellect with your idiocy.”
Alice blinked, was that? Really? As far as possible, disguised under a whole layer of swear words and insults, but was that a very, very weak attempt to encourage Altera to ask the question she was interested in? And was Cainabel really so familiar with Altera that she could tell her desire to ask a question by her, well, pretty much wooden face?
“I have a question,” Altera said slowly, confirming Cainabel's words. “Why is this fight between the two of you? What about others?”
“Oh no, a rebellion of machines, an artificial puppet trying to get into control…” Cainabel said disinterestedly, rolling her eyes. “Angrboda does not seek anything like this. And besides her, there is no one equal to me and Baal. Servants are nothing against the three of us. And, even if by some miraculous coincidence they were in the Master's favor, there are too many ways in which I or Baal could…”
Cainabel stopped suddenly, before speaking slowly as if the commands from her brain were encountering obstacles in their path to her mouth. “Capture… Over them… Control…”
Cainabel suddenly stopped speaking, before jumping to her feet. “Medea!”
Medea. Of course, fucking Medea!
Baal suddenly dropped off the radar, not because he was planning anything, but because he was already acting! Medea, she was the last piece of the puzzle!
Why did Baal make Medea hate himself so much, then let her go to Olga-Marie’s side as a teacher, even pushed her to join the Master into the Singularity… He set it up on purpose! To make Medea seek protection from Ainz, to appeal to Ainz, making her seem more reliable instead of Baal or Cainabel! If Cainabel was lucky, Ainz would just take Medea as a favored slave or perhaps a mistress at best. But what if Ainz decides to make Medea his favored Lieutenant! His Right hand!
What a vicious plan!
After all, Medea’s mind had already been broken by Baal. Devil only knows what commands Baal had put in her mind! Something that Baal would take advantage of at the most opportune moment!
There’s no way that Ainz doesn’t know of Baal’s plan, he was probably chuckling at her lapse!
Ultimately, in his quest to reach the Throne of Heroes, Ainz did not care whether one Servant or even a hundred were lost. As long as the one hundred-first one could be found who could open to him the way to the Throne of Heroes, what does he care! He does not care about the inner struggles of the two Lieutenants as long as they do not interfere with his ultimate goal, the absorption of the Throne of Heroes!
Cainabel clenched her hand into a fist, then rose from her seat, immediately dashing away.
Alice, a little stunned by the sudden turn of events, only had time to cast a glance at Cainabel’s retreating back who disappeared outside the door, before turning her gaze to Altera.
Altera answered her unspoken question with philosophical calmness, “Don't worry. Cainabel apparently decided right now to attack Baal and defeat him in a sparring match to restore her calm and inner conviction.”
Alice only raised an eyebrow at these words, causing Altera to nod slowly. “It happens more often than not.”
And though Alice had always considered herself almost perfect at reading emotions, even she couldn't be sure if the ghost of a smile on Altera's face hadn't been imagined at that moment.
***
Name: Nursery Rhyme \ Alice
Race: Heteromorphic
Title: Nameless Book God \ Alice
Occupation: Servant of Ainz \ Caretaker of the Chaldean Children (debatable)
Residence: Chaldea, where there are children
Karma: 0 (True Neutral)
Comments
Pascal1995
Very noice!
Draxis
Altera: You get used to it
