Artoria and Medea sat on the ground with their legs folded, hands resting on their laps and backs ramrod straight.
Both glanced at me where I sat on the sofa I had dragged back, still upside down, my heels hovering an inch above the floor.
Behind me, Medusa had already pushed the bookshelf back into place, gently sliding one book after another back onto the shelves.
Silence hung between us, and I let it stretch.
Medea peeked up at me, then glanced sideways at Artoria, who was glancing back at her in kind.
Their eyes met for a moment before both snapped their faces in opposite directions. A patch of plaster broke free from above and cracked in two; one half drifted down to land on Artoria's nose, the other tangling in Medea's hair.
They puffed up like wary cats, whipping their heads back to glare at each other.
My heel tapped against the floor. That single sound jolted them back to awareness, and both looked toward me, shoulders slumping and eyes locked on my collar rather than face.
"...So. A broken chair. An overturned sofa, three holes in the ceiling, a half-cracked bookshelf, a flipped shoe rack, and a shattered umbrella stand." I recounted, and each word pushed their heads down further until their eyes bore into the floorboards.
"Master, it was all Saber's fault. However, I will restore everything with my magic in minutes... it will be exactly as it was before, without a single scratch left," Medea said, glancing up between words to track my reaction.
I tapped a finger against the sofa's cracked leg, and she jerked her head back down, suddenly more fascinated by the floor.
Shifting my gaze, I turned to Artoria.
"Do you have something to say for yourself too?"
She remained quiet for two seconds before shaking her head. "Master, it was my fault. I should not have lost composure over Caster's manipulative words. I shall atone by cleaning and patching everything up myself."
Medea's eyes widened, snapping her head toward Artoria. "Don't listen to her, Master, she's using reverse psycholog—"
I raised a hand, interrupting her, then rose from the sofa. Stepping forward, I stopped just before them.
"You can both get up."
They didn't budge at my words, still cautiously craning their necks to look up at me. We stayed like that for five seconds before Artoria rose to her feet slowly, inch by inch, until she stood fully upright.
Following her lead, Medea stood and swiped a hand. A magic circle flared above her head as the plaster tangled in her hair dissolved into violet particles. Artoria, meanwhile, wiped the flake from her nose.
"Artoria, give me a status update on everything that happened while I was gone, as well as Illyasviel's current situation." I moved past them to the dining table, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.
Turning on her heel, Artoria strode toward me. "As you command, Master."
Medea whirled around, rushing forward and overtaking Artoria. "Master, what about me?"
Glancing at her, I nodded once. "I do have something for you."
She perked up at that, a smile spreading across her face as she closed the distance between us.
When she was just three steps away, I continued.
"You can go and patch everything up. Make sure it looks exactly as it did before your fight." Her smile froze in place, body sliding to a stop inches away from me.
"But Master! It's unfair to make me do all the work when both of us are responsible," Medea protested, but I ignored her, keeping my focus on Artoria as she took a seat opposite me.
After protesting for some time to no avail, she stomped her foot lightly and turned away, trudging to those three holes in the ceiling. "I'll wrap everything up in seconds."
Before she could summon her magic circles, I said without looking, "No magic for the cleaning. Do it all by hand."
She shot Artoria a glare upon hearing this, then strode out of the room. "Hmph."
Artoria watched her back as Medea vanished past the doorway, her own green eyes flashing with a complex mix of emotions.
"Can you continue from where you left off?" I asked.
She shook her head to clear it and shifted her attention back to me.
"Certainly, Master."
...
One hour later.
Medea wiped a smear of dust from the hallway wall with a wet rag. Sweat dripped down her forehead, which she swiped away with her sleeve, a bucket of warm water sitting beside her.
"A witch always has her revenge, Master," she mumbled to herself, her grip loosening on the cloth.
"How should I go about it? Slip a love potion into his food? Would it even work? Or maybe enchant his pillow so he dreams of me?"
She was about to spiral further when the sound of approaching footsteps broke her from her fantasies.
A glance sideways revealed blonde hair framing a serious face, arms behind her back.
Medea's nose wrinkled, her brows furrowing together.
"Are you here to gloat at me, Saber?"
Artoria knelt beside her and brought her arms forward, revealing a wet rag in her own grip, which she pressed against the dusted wall.
Eyebrows rising, Medea asked, "Did Master send you to clean too? Hah... I knew Master would remain impartial."
"I came here on my own."
"..."
Those words made Medea fall silent for a long moment. Then, she asked.
"... Why?"
"Because it goes against my honor to let you bear the cleaning when both of us are responsible for this mess." Artoria didn't look at her, scrubbing another dirt smear with uniform motions.
Some time passed in quiet.
Then Medea spoke, turning back to her own work. "Don't think this changes anything between us."
"I didn't do this thinking it would," Artoria replied, pulling her rag back to dip it into the water.
Wordlessly, Medea pushed the bucket of warm water toward her with her foot.
"I'm only doing this to finish the work faster. Keep that in mind."
Artoria glanced between the bucket and Medea, then dipped her cloth inside. "I will."
From there, they worked side by side without exchanging a single word. Yet, whenever one needed it, they would pass the bucket to the other.
I watched all of this from the dining table before finally closing my eyes. Medusa sat in an adjacent chair, her gaze shifting between me and them.
"...You knew this would happen?" she asked, tilting her head.
I replied without opening my eyes.
"I ordered one thing. Artoria's honor did the rest. Better teamwork will be a necessity in our upcoming journey."
Medusa kept her gaze trained on me, then nodded, cupping my hand in both of hers under the table.
"...I'll get along with everyone."
I didn't reply physically.
I know.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[10 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Author's Thoughts]
This one I know is so loaded that there are four different meanings buried inside it. If any of you can find them, I'll call you my most attentive readers. I won't spoil it here for everyone, if you're curious you can ask me personally or comment, we'll see who gets it right.
Honestly, I don't think anyone will reach the fourth reason because it needs to look at this book as a whole, but still you guys can try, who knows if someone gets it right.
Anyway... have a productive day, everyone!