Fifteen minutes later.
Artoria walked ahead, with Medusa and me following close behind. Sun blazed at its zenith; its rays beat down on a puddle in our path, the water visibly shrinking as it evaporated.
I had three paper bags slung over my right shoulder, while two more grocery bags dangled from my left, my fingers wrapped tight around their straps.
Medusa carried four bags of her own, two slung over her shoulders, and one grasped in each hand.
A drop of sweat dripped down Artoria's brow as she glanced back at us.
"Master, the heat is oppressive today. It was not so when we entered the supermarket. Even inside, it didn't feel much different from home," she said, wiping that drop with the back of her hand.
"It was cool inside because they had their air conditioners running at full capacity. Otherwise, you would've been drenched by now with all those maneuvers you pulled inside," I said, my eyes meeting hers for a moment.
"I see, those contraptions that release cold air, is it? During our time, we had to stand in long lines to buy groceries, under heat far more searing than what we feel right now." Her voice drifted back as she faced ahead again.
Even Medusa beside me was feeling it now. Her blindfold was starting to stick to her skin, outlining the shape of her closed eyes beneath its violet fabric.
I took it all in, sweeping my gaze around as we passed by a park. It was mostly empty, but my eyes landed on a bench and I slowed my pace.
Tilting her head at me, Medusa slowed to match my rhythm.
Artoria heard our footsteps slow and came to a halt, turning fully to face us.
"Master?"
My gaze remained on the bench, where a tree behind it offered a pocket of natural shade from sunlight. I looked between it, Medusa, and Artoria.
"Let's rest under that shade for a bit, or we'll be soaked through by the time we reach home." I pivoted toward the park's gate, my steps leading straight to that bench.
Medusa moved at my side wordlessly, hauling her bags with her. Artoria fell into step on my other side, her gaze roaming around.
A breath later, she spotted a vending machine and her eyes lit up like a knight who had just laid eyes on a holy relic.
"Master! Master! Is that a vending machine? A creation that spews tasty beverages?" Artoria asked while tugging at my sleeve.
"It doesn't spew anything. You put money inside, and it gives you what you want." I continued to walk.
We reached the bench in moments. I set my bags down first, then sat on its wooden plank. Medusa placed her bags beside mine and took a seat. Artoria remained standing, her gaze drifting between the vending machine and my face.
"Alright, go get whatever you want." I slipped a hand into my pocket, pulling out a coin and flicking it toward her.
She snatched it from mid-air and rushed toward that vending machine. Medusa and I watched her go.
"I'll go look after her so she doesn't break anything," I said, rising to my feet and slipping my hands into my pockets. I glanced at Medusa. "What would you like to drink?"
Medusa folded her hands on her lap, leaning her head back in consideration.
"...Anything."
"Alright."
I nodded once and headed over to Artoria and that vending machine.
...
She stood in front of the vending machine, inserting her coin with ceremonial precision when I stopped behind her.
A glance at the machine revealed its coil mechanism was faulty for slot C5. I could've said something, but chose not to because watching Artoria interact with technology was one of the new things I had started to find interesting.
She pressed a button. C5.
The machine hummed. A can dislodged with a clunk. And then—
Nothing.
That can teetered on the edge of the retrieval flap, caught between coil and shelf like a fallen soldier pinned under rubble.
Artoria stared at it.
She pressed C5 again. The machine whirred but refused to yield.
Her eye twitched.
"You dare." she murmured.
I said nothing, already mentally calculating what was about to happen.
Artoria knelt down, peering through its glass. The can sat there, taunting her, condensation glistening on its aluminum surface. She reached her hand up through the retrieval flap but couldn't quite grasp it.
She stood up. Her expression shifted from mild irritation to the cold, unyielding face of a king who had been wronged.
"This machine has taken my coin and withheld my purchase," Her voice was loud enough to startle a sleeping cat nearby. "It is no different from a common bandit lying in wait on a forest road."
"It's a machine," I said. "It doesn't have intent."
"It has my soda," Artoria countered, as if that was the only fact that mattered.
She gave the machine a firm smack on its side. That can wobbled but didn't fall.
Artoria took a breath. Then she drew back her fist.
My eyes widened by approximately two millimeters.
"Artoria—"
Her fist connected with that vending machine's side. A deafening boom echoed as the entire machine rocked forward, its glass rattling, several other cans dislodging and falling into its retrieval bin with a cascade of metallic sounds. Its steel frame groaned, tilting forward, and for one moment, it seemed ready to topple completely.
My hand shot out, catching that machine with one arm and pushing it back into place with effortless strength.
Silence.
Artoria stood there, fist still extended, hair slightly disheveled, eyes blinking.
I stared at her.
"...I will pay for the damages," she said quietly.
"You don't have money," I replied. "Even the coin you inserted in this machine wasn't yours."
Artoria didn't reply but slowly reached into the retrieval bin. Inside were not one, but six cans, her chosen beverage plus five others that had been knocked loose. She pulled them out one by one, gathering them in her arms like a dragon hoarding gold.
She looked at me.
Then, she looked at those cans.
"...The machine has paid compensation." Her voice carried royal authority as she handed me a can of cold coffee she didn't want.
"I consider this matter settled."
I looked at Artoria.
My lips twitched on their own.
Was this amusement?
I filed it under "data worth keeping".
...
..
.
"Master, dinner should be ready soon." Medea said, walking out from inside, rubbing her hands on her apron.
I was sitting on our balcony's edge, my legs dangling in air. Sun had dipped beneath the horizon, and countless stars flickered overhead, connecting with each other to form different constellations.
"Udon, once again?"
She nodded, planting her hands on her waist.
"I've been practicing cooking it since the afternoon, I'll blow your mind this time with its taste."
"You've been practicing cooking it on a simulator game since afternoon." My gaze remained fixed on those constellations above.
"Practicing cooking on a phone is still considered practice, is it not?" Her voice rose, neck craning to gaze at me, arms shifting from her waist to fold beneath her chest.
I didn't reply.
"Besides, I didn't have time for any real cooking because I had to complete that task of yours." She glared at me with faux anger.
"So... did you make those? Mystic Eye Killers?" I asked, glancing at her once.
"It will take more time, Master. Creating something that suppresses a divine curse cannot be done in a day or two." Medea took a step forward and poked my side, trying to get a reaction out of me despite knowing none would come.
Silence stretched between us after that.
She turned her face up and looked overhead at those constellations I had been counting.
"The stars are different now," Medea said. "These constellations have shifted from when I was young. Light pollution hides most of them now, but Sirius is still there."
She pointed a finger at it.
"That was the star my mother taught me to navigate by."
I looked at that star.
Navigate? I could do it. More precisely than any sailor who had ever lived, accounting for atmospheric refraction, axial precession, the star's own motion through space. I possessed that talent the way I possessed all talents. Completely, and without ever having learned it.
No one had taught me.
Neither had anyone stood beside me and pointed upward and said: that one.
"Sirius. Alpha Canis Majoris. 8.6 light-years from Earth. It will be visible for approximately two more hours before the Earth's rotation drops it from view."
"You're not romantic at all, Master. Shouldn't you say something like: That light left its source before you were standing on this balcony, and it still found you." Medea sighed.
"Observations aren't romantic." I pointed out.
"Everything is romantic if you say it to the right person at 9 PM."
I considered her words for exactly two seconds. "... That's an illogical statement."
"Most true things are illogical."
I didn't refute her this time.
More silence. The wind picked up slightly, blowing her hair back, making her apron flutter.
"When I was a child, I used to look at the stars and think about sailing," she continued. "When I left Colchis with Jason, I would watch these same stars from Argo's deck and think I was leaving everything behind. My family, homeland and even identity. And I used to think that the stars would at least be constant. That no matter what I lost, the sky would remain the same."
Her voice caught.
"It wasn't. Everything changes. Even the sky."
I didn't respond. At least not immediately.
"The stars you saw in Colchis are still there," My voice was even. "They haven't changed. The Earth's axis has shifted by a fraction of a degree, and light now takes longer to reach you because our universe is expanding. But stars themselves are the same. Your perception of them has changed. Not the stars."
Medea gently knocked her head against my side.
"That's the most encouraging thing you've ever said to me." she whispered, her fingers digging into my coat.
"It's an astronomical observation."
"It's an encouraging thing to say. You said it. And I'm going to remember it."
Medea said it while rubbing her cheek against my side.
I didn't file her behaviour under "data".
I didn't know what to file it under.
...
..
.
"Medea... did you forget about dinner?"
"Oh! I—I'm going!"
"If you don't get dinner ready soon... there is a 96.67% logical chance that Artoria will cry."
"Then... should I stay here for a bit longer?"
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Alright everyone. Sorry for the wait. I had been really busy since yesterday. Anyways, do you guys want more of this? Or should I start picking up pace, preparing for things, typing up loose ends like Shirou, Sakura and Rin, and maybe give a visit to the Einzbern castle?
Though it would be hard to add any slice of life in Grand Order, because there will only be Chaldea there, no world outside to experience things slowly. Grand Order is literally a slice of life killer, I might have to run my mind to find some way to at least put in a bit of it in between, we'll see which idea comes in mind.
Have a productive day, everyone!