The next day, Chara was outside in the thick fog of buckland, he looked at the sun and felt it was less blinding than the crimson moon or maybe because the sunlight has been dampened because it has barely peeked out from the Horizon, either way, he preferred it rather than the moon.
"What are you looking at?"
To his side MHX's voice rang out with curiousity. Chara gazed at her by the side and then returned to his sun gazing before replying. "The sun, it looks better than the moon."
MHX blinked before looking at the Morning sun before looking back at her master with a tilt of her head, she has seen countless startls within thr servant universe, what makes that one special?
"In a world where the moon bleeds red and everything feels like it's rotting from the inside out, a normal, boring star is a luxury," Chara answered, keeping his voice low as the distant rumble of a steam-powered carriage echoed down the damp cobblestone street.
MHX hummed, though she still looked entirely unconvinced. To someone whose daily commute involved dodging laser crossfire across galaxies, a pale, soot-filtered yellow sun in a smoggy Victorian sky felt less like a luxury and more like a poorly rendered background asset.
"Well," she muttered, adjusting the strap of Secretcalibur beneath her dark trench coat—a concession to local fashion standards she had reluctantly agreed to. "As long as it doesn't emit a Saber-class energy signature, I suppose it's acceptable."
Chara couldn't help a dry chuckle. "It's just a sun, Relax."
(...)
Speaking of normal things, he needed to spend some time with Jack, what would be something mundane to do since he didn't exactly have anything to do today, well he still has yet to figure out how to 'Create Life'
"Jack," Chara said, turning slightly to look down at the small girl who was currently walking close enough to his shadow that she seemed to be part of it.
Jack immediately perked up, her pale eyes reflecting the pale morning light as she tilted her head. "Yes, Mommy? Do we need to make someone... warm?"
"No," Chara replied with a soft sigh, resisting the urge to correct the terminology for the hundredth time. "Today is a rest day. We're going to do something normal."
"Normal?" Jack repeated the word slowly, as if testing an unfamiliar flavor. "What do normal children do?"
"Usually? They go out, get something sweet, and walk around without worrying about gangsters, Nighthawks, or cosmic entities." Chara offered her a faint smile. "Let's go find a bakery."
Behind them, MHX groaned softly. "A reconnaissance mission for sugar? Master, my tactical sensors indicate that high-sugar intake in urban environments drastically reduces reaction times."
Chara turned around and raised his brows. "Do you want sweets or not?"
MHX froze halfway through adjusting her trench coat collar. Her eyes flickered from Chara to the distant, soot-stained storefront of a local Backlund baker's shop whose chimney was just beginning to puff gray smoke into the morning air.
A fierce internal debate—clearly visible to anyone with a pair of eyes—played out across her face, wrestling the rigid discipline of an intergalactic Saber-slayer against the universal truth of carbohydrate cravings.
"...Strategic reconnaissance of local confectioneries can occasionally yield valuable morale boosts," MHX stated with absolute, deadpan solemnity, marching past him and taking the lead. "Lead the way, Master. I will secure the perimeter against any aggressive pastries."
Chara shook his head, a genuine amusement touching his lips as he held out his hand. Jack immediately slid her small, cold fingers into his, her grip tight and grounding. Together, the mismatched trio stepped off the curb and waded into the waking hum of the city.
The city was busy as always and the thick steam coming feom the factories added to the natural fog of buckland but it does make the environment harder to breathe in.
Jack held Charas arm as they walked around while MHX was looking around with a passive expression on her face, to blend in with the aesthetics of the era, she did have to wear a dress.
Soon, the trio reached a pastry shop, upon entering, they were already hit with the faint scent of sweets filling the air.
There were shelves filled with countless sweets of many types and sizes, it was a rather interesting sight. Who would have expected for such a variety to exist.in this era, well even if it did, it's not like everyone could afford it.
"So many sweets." MHX said, dazed by the scene and also the sweet scent that filled the building. She had thought that such a less technological advanced world wouldn't have high quality sweets but now she realized that she was naive.
Or it was easier to say that the darkness of this world made her think it was a world without any joy.
Perhaps, this was the reward for dirtying her hands with blood?.
For a moment, Chara simply watched MHX's reaction. It was rather amusing seeing someone who had travelled across countless worlds become fascinated by something as ordinary as a pastry shop.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and choose something."
MHX turned towards him, her expression unusually serious.
"Master, are you certain? There are quite a lot of them."
"Yes, I'm certain. You don't have to ask for permission every time you want something."
"...Understood!"
Her response was immediate. She practically marched towards the display shelves, examining each pastry with the seriousness of a knight inspecting weapons before an important battle.
"These are called croissants, right? And those are made with chocolate?" MHX leaned closer to the glass display, her eyes moving from one pastry to another. There were chocolate croissants, fruit tarts, cream-filled buns, small cakes decorated with colourful icing, and several varieties of biscuits.
She had encountered food from countless civilizations, including desserts made from ingredients that didn't exist in the conventional universe. Yet there was something strangely appealing about these ordinary pastries, perhaps it was the simplicity.
"Master, what is this one?"
Chara glanced at the pastry she was pointing towards. It was a small strawberry tart, with a golden crust, a layer of cream, and several fresh strawberries arranged neatly on top.
"Strawberry tart."
"Is it good?"
"How would I know? I've never eaten one from this shop."
MHX looked at him with a mildly disappointed expression.
"Then we should purchase one for testing."
"You're making it sound like we're conducting an experiment."
"We are. A culinary experiment."
Chara chuckled and turned towards the shopkeeper.
"Three strawberry tarts, two chocolate croissants, four cream buns, and..." He glanced towards Jack, who had been quietly observing the display. "What would you like, Jack?"
The little girl raised her head. "Can I we have that one?"
She pointed towards a small cake decorated with pink icing and a little white flower.
"Of course."
"Yay! Thank you, Mommy!"
The shopkeeper smiled at the interaction, though she couldn't help glancing at the unusual group. The little girl was adorable, the young man seemed rather gentle, and the girl in the dress had an oddly serious demeanour.
She looked to chara with a kmowing expression. "You must really have taken care of them for her to see you as a mother."
Chara didn't reply but he smiled at woman, he couldn't just explain Jack was the manifestation of countless dead infants he summoned to serve him and X was a space hunter who attacks anyone with a sword or has her face.
"Mommy, here." Jack tugged at his shirt looking at him with a smile.
She held out a cream bun towards him with her other hand. Chara smiled and took it. "Thanks, we should probably pack some for the rest at home and stop X before she goes Overboard."
She nodded and went ahead to pick some for Tiamat and Jalter and it wasn't long before Chara found X and stopped her from picking too much sweets.
After they were done, he paid twenty pounds and a few pence's for everything as they were packed into a paper bag.