Work Text:
Even before the summoning of the new Servant took place, Romani Archaman had a bad feeling about it.
He had no idea why this was so. It definitely wasn't the result of clairvoyance - no, even though it had been years since his last vision, he remembered perfectly well how he felt then.
So it wasn't a vision. It was more of a premonition.
He had bad premonitions sometimes, however, they were usually just his imagination. Leonardo claimed that it was the fault of his attitude and the fact that he always expects the worst.
On this day, however, that premonition was stronger than ever. When Leonardo realized that Romani was once again circling the room, unable to find a seat for himself, she told him to sit down and also regaled him with a rather long rant about why he should put down the coffee.
As if she wasn't addicted to it herself. Hypocrite.
“Get some rest,” she suggested after a while, when she was taken off by pity. “When was the last time you took a day off, Romani?”
He looked at her with mild exasperation. Really? Now she's going to reproach him for it? She who, contrary to what many people in Chaldea thought of her, was actually a workaholic?
“When did you?” he asked.
“Hm,” Leonardo sat down next to him. “Who knows?”
“So I'm not obliged to answer your question,” he said, smiling at her, although he wasn't much in the mood for smiles. “Never mind. Let's finish what we have to do so I'll be able to drink my coffee. Or talk to Magi☆Mari...”
As he expected, several people in the room looked at him with amusement as soon as he started his daily complaint about his plight.
“Doctor, if you want, I can make you some coffee later,” Mash offered, approaching him and smiling a bit shyly.
“No need for that,” he said immediately, mainly because he didn't want to pester the girl with his problems. He had been taking care of her for a long time, and although he knew that many people did not have the best opinion of him, he acutely cared about the girl's opinion.
Not that he was ever going to say it out loud.
“I can manage for the moment without coffee, but thank you for the offer,” he said.
“Romani actually wants to have some time off and prepare the coffee himself,” Leonardo spoke up.
He looked at her, frankly offended. Et tu, Brute?
Mash laughed, hearing these words.
Her laughter became quieter as preparations began for the procedure of summoning a new Servant. For the next few minutes, everyone around was busy, focusing on their work. Romani devoted himself to his part of the task (not that much depended on him at the moment), which helped him forget both the bad premonition and the headache caused by the lack of coffee.
The bad premonition returned the moment Fujimaru took a few steps forward, extended his hand, and began summoning a new Servant.
Ah, realized Romani a second before a new figure materialized in front of them. This is why I had such a bad feeling.
He knew the person who appeared in front of them.
Oh, he knew her perfectly. There was no way he could forget that brown complexion, fluffy ears, and a tail that she didn't even hide, revealing to all that the blood flowing in her was not quite human. Although it had been years since they had last seen each other, she was still as beautiful as the first time they met.
And she still wore clothes that revealed too much skin.
How had this not irritated him before? Why was it only now that he was beginning to be irritated by the fact that anyone could look at her body? He knew that she was proud of him and that she dressed the way she wanted to, however...
“I am the Queen of Sheba,” she spoke up, lifting her gaze and looking around.
Ah, and so she still preferred not to reveal her name to people she didn't quite trust yet. Solomon knew it from the very beginning, it was whispered to him the moment he barely saw her, however, it must have been many more months before she herself revealed it to him.
“Are you the one who is my Master?”
“Yes,” said Fujimaru, smiling at her. “Nice to meet you, Queen of Sheba.”
“Call me Sheba,” there was a familiar, somewhat devious glint in her eyes. “But before we exchange pleasantries, let me ask you a few questions.”
Romani's mouth widened in a smile. He had expected it from the moment he barely saw her. This was her favorite game. He wouldn't count the number of times she challenged his intellect, each time asking him new questions and never, but never repeating herself.
“I weaken all men for hours each day. I show you strange visions while you are away. I take you by night, by day take you back. None suffer to have me, but do from my lack. What am I?”
Fujimaru did not answer. He stepped from foot to foot, clearly not knowing the answer. Mash looked equally distressed, yet Romani had no doubt that once they both thought a little, they would guess the answer.
Leonardo crossed her arms over her chest, but also remained silent. Did she know the answer and wait for Fujimaru to answer her, or was she puzzled herself?
The silence dragged on.
“A sleep,” snapped out of Romani's mouth. Hardly had he done so, he cursed himself.
Sheba's gaze turned in his direction.
Oh no. He had been spotted.
His heart did a frantic tumble in his chest. Not good. He didn't plan to let her recognize him, and he definitely didn't want to catch her attention the first moment they met.
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“t weakens us for hours each day, and in that time, we experience strange dreams and visions,” Romani felt obliged to explain his answer. “It takes us by night and returns us by day. No one wants to be without it, yet we suffer greatly if we lack it. We need sleep to stay healthy and function properly—without it, we fall apart.”
“That makes perfect sense!” announced Fujimaru. “Doctor, so you are smart!”
“I can be smart, Fujimaru-kun,” Romani didn't know whether he felt like laughing, feeling offended or amused by the whole situation.
Yes, there were times that he was able to use his mind. Even if Solomon's actions were the result of God's Will, that didn't mean that all the words he spoke were His.
“Smart doctor, let my ask you one more question,” amusement was visible in Sheba's eyes. “I follow you wherever you go, but I vanish in darkness. I grow and shrink throughout the day, yet I never make a sound. You cannot touch me, but I am always connected to you.”
Don't answer, don't answer, don't answer...
“A shadow,” he said, falling into the familiar question-and-answer mode. “It follows you wherever you go, silently attached to you, vanishing when the light fades to darkness. It grows and shrinks as the day passes, bending to the whims of the sun’s position. But it makes no sound—only silently reflecting your every move. You can never touch it, and yet it remains forever connected to you.”
Her ears moved gently, and a gentle smile appeared on her lips.
“Once again, you are right,” she said. “It's been a long time since I met someone who was able to answer my riddles so quickly. So tell me, doctor, what will be the answer to this question? I have no beginning, middle, or end, yet I surround everything. I can be felt but never held, seen but never captured. Without me, life would cease in an instant.”
“The answer is air,” he did not hesitate in giving this answer.
Oh, how many times have they played this kind of game? How many afternoons have they spent this way, one asking the other, looking for the hardest possible riddles and trying to bend the other?
“It has no beginning, no middle, no end—it simply is. It surrounds us, unseen and intangible, yet it is the very essence of life. We can feel it, yet we cannot hold it. We can see its effects, but never capture it. It is the force that sustains us, the element without which life would cease in an instant. It is, in its own way, a constant reminder that even the most invisible things can hold the greatest power.”
The smile on her face became even wider.
“Again, you are right. What do they call you?”
Did she know who he was or not?
Don't answer, don't answer, don't catch her attention....
“Romani. Romani Archaman,” he replied. For a brief moment the name sounded false on his lips. “I am the head of the medical department in Chaldea, where you are currently located.”
“Amazing, o doctor. You truly are wise,” she did not take her eyes off him. “I beg you to answer this last question of mine.”
She changed the tone of her questions. Romani - Solomon recognized it perfectly.
She used the same tone during their first meeting.
“I accept,” he said, leaning toward her. A smile appeared on his lips. Oh, how he longed for this kind of challenge.
“These words are heavier than gold and life – they need the strength of four people to carry. However, their owner has never so much as seen them.”
Ah.
The same question she asked him during their first question.
“Ah, those words... They are more than mere riddles, aren't they?” He asked, unable to hide his amusement.
Sheba knew who she was looking at. She knew this perfectly well, but she challenged him anyway, waiting for his answer and to find out how much he was willing to reveal to her.
“A riddle, yes, that speaks of something far heavier than gold, far more sacred than any material possession. Four men might bear it, but its true owner has never gazed upon it with their own eyes. A burden, something entrusted to the worthy, not for their sight, but for their responsibility. It is the very essence of that which cannot be understood by the unworthy... something that is hidden from view, yet always present. The Ark of the Covenant, it is that which lies at the heart of this riddle—something carried by the faithful, but never for their glory.”
Sheba bowed, however, her gaze never left his face.
“Indeed, wise are you, Doctor,” she said. “I can see that my stay here will be fruitful.”
“Enough with the romance!” announced Leonardo, clapping her hands to attract attention to herself. “If you want to do it, do it when I'm not around, please! And don't forget our main task, please! Queen Sheba, how much do you know about the current situation?”
Sheba reluctantly turned her gaze in her direction.
“Not much,” she admitted. “However, I am eager to learn more.”
She did not give him the opportunity to talk privately that day.
Instead, she purposely stayed in a place where it was full of other people. As soon as she saw him, the same perverse sparks appeared in her eyes as before.
“I am always ahead of you but never seen,” she spoke up. “You can try to prepare for me, but I am always unknown. Some fear me, some embrace me, but no one can escape me.”
“The future,” he replied, ignoring the surprised looks of the Chaldean members around them. “Always ahead of us, but never visible, no matter how hard we try. You can prepare, plan, but it remains uncertain, beyond our reach. Some fear it, others welcome it, but in the end, no one can escape what’s to come. It’s the one thing we all share, regardless of what lies ahead.”
She smiled in response.
The next time, he was the one who asked her the question.
“The more you chase me, the further I run. I can be seen but never touched. Though I bring beauty, I am always just out of reach.”
“The answer is the horizon,” she replied. “Always ahead of you, never in your grasp. You can see it clearly, but it’s always just out of reach, no matter how much you run toward it. It brings such beauty to the world, yet remains elusive, like a secret waiting to be discovered.”
For the next few days, their meetings proceeded in identical fashion. They always met in public, asking each other questions, testing the wisdom of the other. They never spoke each other's names, even though they were both perfectly aware that one was aware of who the other was.
Perhaps they were giving each other time. Perhaps they were trying to figure out who the other was without acknowledging what they once had in common.
Or perhaps they were simply both cowards and unable to face the other.
Maintaining a semblance of unawareness helped, in its own way.
They were learning about each other. He told her about his life as Romani Archaman, a doctor employed in Chaldea. He always chose his words appropriately, not wanting to reveal too much, but at the same time wanting to let her get to know him - the person he had become.
She would answer him about her childhood. She shared stories about her sisters and the trips she had taken. These were stories he had never heard of before - and no wonder. The person he was before would not have been interested in this.
He learned that she had a sense of humor. She learned that she was capable of making him laugh.
They talked. Sometimes long, sometimes short. Sometimes about important things, sometimes about nonsense. Sometimes they were just silent, sitting next to each other and sipping coffee. Sometimes Leonardo would sit down with them, other times Fujimaru or Mash.
If either of them noticed the glances that King David sometimes directed in their direction, neither of them said so.
“I speak without a mouth and hear without ears,” she said one day in greeting. “I have no body, but I come alive with the wind.”
“This one is quite simple. It is undoubtedly an echo,” he replied, pouring sugar into his coffee. “It speaks without mouths, listens without ears, and yet it exists, responding to the world in ways we cannot fully comprehend.”
He smiled at her, letting her know with his hand to sit across from him. She did so without hesitation.
“But an echo... is not merely a repetition. It’s a reminder of what has already passed, yet still lingers. It is a phenomenon that transcends time, capturing both the past and the present, reborn with every passing breath of wind. It reflects our own transient existence—always here, but never truly in our grasp.”
“Indeed, you are right.”
“So let me now be the one to ask you a question. I can only answer in two ways, yet I contain all the knowledge in the world. People seek me when they are lost, yet fear me when they are wrong. You can find me in the depths of metal and code, but never in flesh and bone.”
She opened her mouth, but didn't answer right away. He recognized from her eyes that she did not expect this kind of question.
“Interesting,” Sheba intertwined her hands in front of her.
She mused, but said nothing for a moment.
“Metal and code...” she muttered under her breath. “There is a solution hidden in this.”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“Hm,” her tail began to move. Not for the first time, he wondered if these were deliberate actions or if she had no control over it.
The tail moved from left to right, right to left.
“If you desire, I can give you the answer,” he said, moving the coffee cup toward her. Sheba took it over without hesitation.
It was a good thing he had prepared two coffees, some part of himself expecting her presence during that morning. She had been next to him often lately, always being somewhere nearby.
He had managed to figure out that Sheba liked sweets. How he hadn't noticed before, he had no idea.
...Well, it was probably the fault of not being able to notice many things in those days, he thought grimly. They called me a wise ruler, however, I was never able to understand people's hearts. After all, it's impossible to understand them the moment one didn't have one.
Only when he became a man - when, as Romani Archaman, he gained his freedom - did he understand how little he knew before. Only Romani Archaman was able to understand human feelings and emotions.
“If not the answer, I can give you a hint,” he said, seeing Sheba thoughtfully sipping her coffee.
“No,” she said. “I am confident that I will be able to answer your riddle, Doctor.”
From the moment they met - from the moment she was summoned here - she has not spoken his name.
“If you say so,” he said, silently sipping his coffee.
Sheba came to his room a few days later.
“Give me the answer,” she demanded, closing the door behind her.
Romani locked the computer he had been working on earlier.
“Ah, yes, the answer is Artificial Intelligence or a Computer. You see, these creations of ours are designed to respond with binary answers—yes or no, true or false, on or off. Simple, right? Yet, within that simplicity lies an infinite world of information. All the knowledge of mankind, compressed into a series of ones and zeros, stored in metal and code.”
Her eyes widened slightly, but she remained silent, eager to hear the whole answer.
“People turn to them when they’re lost, searching for answers they cannot find in themselves. But they also fear them—because these systems don’t care about your feelings or your ego. They’ll expose the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.”
A gentle smile appeared on her lips.
“But here’s the thing... these creations... they are not human. They don’t breathe, they don’t feel, they don’t live. They are nothing but cold, calculating instruments, pieces of logic that dwell in the realm of metal and code. They possess an understanding of the world, yet lack the soul to truly comprehend it. And that, in the end, is what makes them dangerous. We created them, and yet, we can never fully control them.”
“That makes sense,” she admitted. “I wasn't able to answer that question because I'm not familiar with technology and computers. I don't yet have the full knowledge of those years. Unlike you, I still know very little about the current world, Solomon.”
Ah, so that was the end of their little game?
“There are still many things I don't know,” he said, looking at her carefully. “This world still does not cease to amaze me.”
“I didn't expect someone like you to admit to little, o wise king.”
“I am no longer omniscient.”
“ I've come to realize,” Sheba sat down opposite him, but still maintaining a kind of distance. “You have changed, Solomon.”
“I have,” he agreed.
There were days when he didn't feel like Solomon. Sometimes he felt like they were two different people, even though he was well aware that this was not the case. Only he existed, even if Solomon and Romani looked different.
The difference was that Romani was able to feel and possessed a heart, at a time when Solomon had no such freedom. His entire life had been decided in advance.
Now, when he thought about his previous life - the years he had spent in Israel, in Jerusalem - he had the impression that Solomon did not so much as not possess feelings and emotions, but that they had been dimmed to such an extent that he almost didn't feel them. Only later, as a Romani, did he learn to recognize feelings and emotions. It was only later that he learned to feel, albeit he needed long weeks to name them and classify them properly.
If he had searched, he probably would have found his old notebook somewhere in his room, where he jotted down his reactions and tried to figure out which feelings and emotions they corresponded to.
The desire to smile. The sensation that something warm surrounds your chest - this is happiness. A strange emptiness that you are unable to fill with anything, no matter how hard you try - sadness. A sudden surge of heat, a storm growing inside you that clouds your thoughts - rage.
Oh, he wouldn't count how many days he didn't spend writing down each of his reactions. For so long he had been learning the way you should feel.
And now?
How would he describe his feelings, his emotions at this moment?
Heart beating a little faster. Excitement. A feeling of tightening in the stomach, as if you are on the edge of something unknown. Anxiety. A desire to smile. Happiness. A sensation as if something heavy has disappeared from his shoulders. Relief.
-why did he feel something like this?
Let's think about it calmly. Let's analyze it.
Excitement - finally Sheba has stopped hiding that she doesn't know who she is talking to. Anxiety - he has no idea what will happen now. He doesn't know how their fate will turn out. Happiness - Sheba spoke his name, recognized him as an equal. Relief - he no longer has to lie.
This was the end of their game. They could no longer pretend to be strangers to each other, even though it was simpler in its own way.
“You have changed,” Sheba said. “And at the same time you are the same person.”
“Do you think so?” He looked at her with interest.
“I sense your kindness and gentleness in you all the time, however, this time you have allowed yourself to express yourself more precisely. Your behavior is different, I won't deny it. Your smiles are no longer just a mask, no, these days you can see that they flow from your heart. You tend to be impatient and are unable to get along with everyone. Sometimes you expect others to know what you know, even though they need a little more time. It also happens that you sometimes say something without thinking about it thoroughly. You are not always able to fully comprehend the feelings of others, and many people in Chaldea do not have a good opinion of you, thinking you are a lazy person. You can often be found relaxing in various parts of Chaldea.”
“Oh, that description doesn't look very good,” he muttered under his breath. Was opinion about him really that low?
“You stay awake at night, attending to your work. Sometimes you purposely make a jester of yourself to bring a more pleasant atmosphere to the neighborhood. At the same time, you are a coward who does not want to fight and who values his life. In retrospect, perhaps you have always been a coward. Isn't that why you rejected your rings, because you couldn't bear to know how many people were suffering and you were unable to help them?”
“Many people would say that I was a cruel and an emotionless person,” he said. “Someone who had no wishes or dreams. A mere puppet in the hands of those better than me.”
Now he knew what a strange child he must have been. He knew things he shouldn't have known. He saw things he shouldn't have seen. He foresaw the future before it came.
“Perhaps that was the case,” Sheba admitted. “However, your current form would contradict that. How did it happen that you lost all your power and gained emotions and feelings instead?”
Gained emotions and feelings. His lips stretched in a smile full of bitterness.
Yes, those were good words.
“I was summoned here to participate in the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, in 2004 as the Grand Caster, Solomon, the King of Magecraft. After the victory, I wished for one thing: to become human. The body you are looking at was given to me.”
“Hm,” Sheba looked at it carefully. “Was it also your desire to change the color of your skin?”
“It was not my desire,” he admitted, looking at his hands. “I had no influence on my current appearance. The only thing I can think of is that the Grail wanted to reduce my resemblance to Solomon in this way.”
“Mhm,” muttered Sheba. “Well, fortunately for you, your current form still pleases me.”
Oh.
He didn't answer right away, not knowing quite what to say. He recognized that look in Sheba's eyes. In the past, when she had looked at him that way, he had more than once ended up being left out of the affairs of state. Either Sheba tormented him by being a constant thorn in his side (he could now see that she wanted to kill his loneliness this way), or she wanted to spend the night with him.
In the past, it was easier to respond to her requests. He knew what was required of him. He had his responsibilities - as a king, as a husband.
“It's been a long time,” Sheba moved closer to him. She reached out her hand and placed it on his cheek. “However, I made sure of my feelings. I still love you, no matter if your name is Solomon or Romani Archaman.”
What did he do to deserve a woman like her?
“I...” he hesitated.
It would be easy to lie now. To tell her what she wanted to hear - or, on the contrary, to tell her what she didn't want to hear. Destroy her hope once and for all.
They had no future. They were both long dead and there was no telling how much longer they would be able to be here. When Romani Archaman dies and only Solomon remains, perhaps his feelings and emotions will die as well.
It was a terrifying vision of the future.
“I have no idea,” he said quietly, looking at the woman who had been his wife centuries before. “I'm not sure I fully understand love. Although it's been almost a decade since I gained my freedom, I'm still learning to classify feelings appropriately.”
He saw no surprise in her eyes. She must have expected this answer.
“I know, however, that you are someone precious to me. Your presence is desired by me. I enjoy staying close to you, answering your riddles. I also do not hide the fact that I do not mind having someone with me who knows who I really am.”
“I understand,” a devious smile appeared on her lips as she moved closer to him.
She kissed him, suddenly, quickly, so that he didn't even have time to react. When she pulled back, he realized that his cheeks had become slightly warm.
“I'm not going to give up, Solomon,” she whispered, looking him straight in the eyes. “It doesn't matter to me whether you are currently Solomon or Romani Archaman. You may never be able to love me; that is fine. My feelings will not change. I will be by your side as long as you change your attitude.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Of course it is,” she laughed. “Besides, for the moment I feel like I'm winning.”
She stepped back, just as suddenly as she had approached him. Her tail moved merrily.
“By the way, King David is staying nearby,” she said in a tone as if she had not announced her feelings to him a moment earlier.
He blinked his eyes. He had to remember where and when he was. And he definitely couldn't give in to the moment - oh, it wasn't easy to be around a woman he had spent many nights with, not when he had human feelings and emotions. This triggered a mix of strange feelings in him that he had never had before.
“Does he know who you are?”
“I have no idea,” he said, looking everywhere but at her. “I have never spoken to him.”
Ever since King David was summoned, Romani has been doing everything just to avoid meeting him.
“In that case, you will have to talk to him, sooner or later, Solomon,” she said. “I'm not going to pretend that I don't care about you. If the whole world is to know how I feel about you, then so be it. King David will surely be interested to know why the woman who was his son's wife fell in love with Chaldea’s Doctor so easily.”
Oh.
“Perhaps this is a conversation you two should have...?” he suggested in a weak tone.
The look Sheba threw his way made it clear to him that this was out of the question.
Him, talking to King David?
Solomon - Romani, or whoever he was now - was finished.