Servant(s): [Alter Ego] Meltryllis

Have you ever heard of the tale of The Princess and the Pea? 

The Princess and the Pea, as old of a work as it is, is the story of a prince who is searching for a princess -a real princess mind you- one who is dainty and sensitive and what not. To test whether this princess truly was the one, she was made to sleep over twenty mattresses and beds, but at the very bottom of them all was a single pea. When given the bedroom to sleep, the real princess could not, for she could feel the pea right through it all.

This was Hans Christian Andersen’s commentary on the overly sensitive and easily irritable nature of women, but its meaning seems to have been distorted and made more positive over time, some malarky about not judging a book by its cover and how small things can make big differences. The deep voiced snarky Caster class Servant was all the more willing to rant about how the interpretations and the meanings of his absurd stories written at the edge of a deadline were distorted by a bunch of good-natured fools.

Now why was Andersen ranting about one of his old works? Because it was relevant to their present situation.

“Andersen, shut up, please. We get it already.”

“All I’m saying is you two would do best to understand that dealing with this virus of a girl will be no easy task.”

“I understand that prima donna is not one I’d prefer to be around either. Still, I have to admit, that was a safer trip than I thought it’d be.”

“You can thank that recluse for that. This is her domain after all, not that prancing-AI. That shut-in princess is not enough of an imbecile to create a path to a dangerous zone.”

“I suppose you’re correct about that… Master, you don’t seem to be feeling too well.”

“It’s the trauma…” 

“Trauma? That’s Shakespeare’s department. Though we have been through a lot. Just grit your teeth and bear with it, Master.  This should be the final act.”

The miniscule Master held his hand over his stomach. While it was true that getting this far had been full of terrifying experiences, that wasn’t why he had mentioned trauma. Himeji Castle was a location full of poor experiences for him. Most of them involved a certain dragon idol and the Csejte Castle beneath the pyramid beneath Himeji Castle. The only solace he had at the moment was that no version of her seemed to be around.

There were many concerns the less than 2 cm tall Master had now that he had entered the location of the Holy Grail. Being without any regular sized allies, the three of them were just as defenseless as they had been previously. Even an unaware Meltryllis was just as dangerous as one who was aware of them. However, that wasn’t the main problem they had at the moment.

“Zzzzzz….” Snore!

“How do we wake her up?” asked the Master to his allies.

Having walked out of an identical kotatsu to the one in Osakabehime’s room as the one they had entered to enter the Hikkikomori Princess’s castle, they were on the wooden floor of her private chamber. Though larger than her room in Chaldea, it was much more cramped due to being completely filled with her figures, body pillows, cushions, and used ‘Amazones’ boxes. The floor was also littered with opened garage kits and piles of doll parts.

Even so, they had found Meltryllis just lying in the middle of the room. They got up to her mountain sized face. A sleeping beauty in white, she was curled up like a cat on the tatami mats, hugging one of Osakabehime’s enormous bean bag plushies of Miyamoto Musashi. She had a happy smile on her red face and a puddle of drool formed beneath her mouth that was more like a pond to the shrunken Master and Servants.

“Fufufu~ Cute… doll… Zzzz… Snrk!” snored the giant Alter Ego a hundred times their size. She was talking in her sleep, which alone was already capable of incapacitating the Master and the Casters accompanying him. A sickly overly caffeinated and sugary aroma blew down onto their bodies.

“Cough. Cough. Bleck, I recognize this smell… It reminds me of my student years,” choked the young form of Lord El-Melloi II whose form was the age he was talking about.

“Gak… It’s like me and Shakesphere on a deadline...” Andersen also recognized the odor of Meltryllis’s mouth and had to cover his nose with his long sleeves. It was not the smell of flowers like her name would have suggested. It was the smell of energy drinks, as evidenced by the two dozen empty energy drink bottles and cans surrounding the sleeping Alter Ego. 

“No wonder that NEET princess threw her in here. She burned through them all and crashed after the drinks ran their course,” the pseudo-servant of Zhuge Liang covered his nose.

It was going to be difficult to wake her up then. The Master was also acquainted with the consequences of consuming too many stamina recovering items. The memory of the taste of dozens upon dozens of apples gave him nightmares. Meltryllis was clearly sleeping to recover from her time with Jeanne Alter and Osakabehime. Even though she was the culprit who had caused all of their troubles, the kind-hearted Master was a bit concerned about if the Alter Ego was going to feel hungover after the caffeine crash.

Hungover was a good word to use in this case anyways. Although all Osakabehime and Jeanne Alter had given her were energy drinks, they were not ordinary ones. That much was clear by the saccharine lake Meltryllis was continuously adding to as she drooled. It smelled toxic, around the level of Shuten-Douji’s Noble Phantasm, but without the aroma of fruity sake. To further add to that, what Meltryllis had drunk from was clearly the source of the incident.

“Who the hell thought it was a good idea to give her energy drinks in a Holy Grail?” cursed the Clock Tower professor.

The luster of the Holy Grail could be seen right in the grasp of the sleeping Alter Ego. A number of empty energy drinks bottles had been tossed in it. What was more impressive, though, was how Meltryllis was holding it. Her arms in their long sleeves were preoccupied with the Musashi plush pillow, but her legs were free. Just above her metal legs, the grail was in between her thighs which squeezed the chalice tightly, rubbing against it as legs moved in her sleep.

So this was how a wide-spread Noble Phantasm had affected them all. Where she had found the grail, he didn’t know, but because she was in possession of one, she must have made use of it while sleeping. Did that mean Meltryllis had done so unconsciously? Was it all just an accident?

Accident or not, the trio had to get the grail. If not, they would continue to remain at 1/100th their size. How were they going to do that though? Climbing her would not be a simple task. To be up against an energy-drink laced, Holy Grail possessing sadistic-attribute [Alter Ego] class servant was not going to be easy at his less than 2 cm tall size. Well, at the very least she was sleeping...

… is what they would have said if a shadow didn’t start falling over them.

“Incoming!'' The fastest to react to the approaching monolithic Alter Ego was Lord El-Melloi II. He pushed the Master and Andersen out of the way just as Meltryllis rolled over. The sleeping Servant’s hand landed on him while the protected Master and Servant was knocked to the side.

Thud!

“Professor!” the shrunken Master cried. In an instant, El-Melloi II was pinned under a heavy forest of purple hair. He could see the Lord’s hand limply sticking out of Meltryllis violet locks.

“Grk… That’s smarts...” he mumbled as he struggled to move. He couldn’t not break out, however. Though one would think hair was light, it certainly wasn’t when they were under 2 cm tall. He was pinned under the weight of Meltryllis’s long hair, buried in it like a violet thicket had suddenly grown on him. 

“Hang on Professor, we’ll get you ou- Whoa!” Master approached to pull the shrunken Servant’s one free arm. No matter how hard he pulled though, he couldn’t succeed. In fact, he lost his footing and back into Meltryllis’s hair as well. Right when he did, more hair fell over him, enveloping the shrunken Master along with the pseudo-servant. “Mffp!”

The Alter Ego of Pleasure was no simple Servant. She was a High Servant. Even while passed out drunk from energy drinks, she still radiated power, queenliness, and beauty. Her hair alone was enough to entangle and seal the Master and El-Melloi II’s movements. Each violet strand was straight and smooth but also as thick as vines to them. It was more than that though. Meltryllis naturally exhumed beauty. Immediately on being covered by her hair, his senses were assaulted by the smell of freshwater and flowers. Even though her breath had stunk of energy drinks, her hair glowed as though kissed by the moon - as expected of one whose components included a moon goddess and a river goddess. As for the third component-

Slap!

“Pwah!” the Master only broke out of his stupor when Andersen yanked him out and slapped him in the face.

“Get a hold of yourself, Master,” scolded the deep voiced Servant. “You’re lucky it was just one part of her locks that blanketed you unlike that unlucky Iskandar fanboy.”

He really was a lucky Master, but that didn’t mean much in the face of a sleeping giant. Even luck could be good and terrible depending on your perspective.

“Mgrh...” Meltryllis groaned in her sleep. “No… that piece… goes here...”

Tremble. Tremble.

“This irreconcilable lass, here we go again!” Andersen shouted as the ground beneath them began to move. The hair they were standing on was unsteady and shifting around like water waves. He and the Master had to hold on to one of Meltryllis’s locks as she turned in her sleep again. She swung her head around so quickly, the trio were whipped off the Alter Ego’s hair and flung into the air.

“Whoaaaaa! Oof!” The master plummeted and landed unceremoniously on his face. He had gotten used to falling from great heights after multiple singularities, but it still hurt. 

“Grk!”

He wasn’t the only one either. Lord El-Melloi II had been freed from the hair prison, but had also fallen right on top of him.

“One after another, we’re getting dragged along by every little action of this girl,” groaned the Caster as he picked himself off of the Master. “At least I’m out of that mess. Where are we now, Master?”

To confirm his thought from earlier. The bad luck of getting thrown up in the air could be considered good luck now.

“Looks like we’re on Melt’s stomach,” he realized as he got up and looked around the endless skin colored plain they were on. Turning around, he could see Andersen spewing numerous derogatory insults as he picked himself up. He could also clearly see Meltryllis’s face in the distance which was now rested atop the plush doll like a pillow. She was still asleep thankfully. “We’ve made a bunch of progress thanks to that.”

“Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. The grail is not too far off. We can head down to her legs and get to it. As a Master, you should be able to utilize it even in this state as long as you touch it,” Lord El-Melloi II reasoned. He agreed. So long as Meltryllis didn’t wake up, they would be able to safely get to the Grail and end this ordeal.

He wished it would be that easier, but he knew it wouldn’t. Without Mashu and Serenity around to move them, the less than half a meter to the Grail felt distant. If those two were around, all they had to do was grab the Grail from between Meltryllis’s legs. He hoped they’d be able to find a way in soon, but with any luck, they would be able to finish the incident without needing their help. 

… As if that would happen. The 1/100th scale Master was experienced enough through all of the Rayshifts and Gudaguda-ish events to have learned never to expect things to end up easily. Simple walking down Meltryllis’s navel required the utmost patience and caution.

Tremble!

“Duck!” “Whoa!” “Hrk!”

“Hmmm… Stupid Seaweed Head...”

The three dropped to the ground as Meltryllis’s arm dragged up from her stomach towards her chest and then her face. They were nearly pushed off by the long white sleeve just because she tried to scratch her face in her sleep. The shrunken Master nearly slid down the lone pit that was the girl’s belly button, but he grabbed onto Andersen just in time.

“Hey, don’t drag me down there with you.”

“Shush. If you’re too noisy, she’ll hear us.”

Andersen complained, but Lord El-Melloi quickly quieted him down before he started stomping his feet.

In the end, Andersen’s telling of the Princess and the Pea was highly appropriate for the situation. A sensitive princess would be able to feel them walking on her stomach. They did not want that to happen at all, because they were certain the Alter Ego of Pleasure would find plenty of pleasure if she saw them at their current size.

Grumble… Grumble...

“Lip… I can still… eat… more...”

Meltryllis would probably seem cute at normal size at this moment, scratching her belly and mumbling nonsense while sleeping merrily on Osakabehime’s plush pillow, but the sound of her growling stomach worried the Master. There was more than one type of pleasure for the Alter Ego of Pleasure. The one that crossed the Master’s mind at the moment was a carnal one.

“Let’s hope she’s not referring to us,” he mumbled worriedly. Being inside Kiyohime’s and Kiara’s mouths was enough for him for a lifetime. He didn’t like the idea of being eaten by Meltryllis and… well… melting in the very stomach they were standing on.

“Then let’s hurry,” Lord El-Melloi prompted as they climbed over the silver metal crotch plate blocking their way to her legs. The trio were thankful none of them were the easily distracted type like certain Round Table members were. Meltryllis’s normal outfit left very little to the imagination. The metal plate was small and did not cover much, but even that was several times their own size. Additionally, a promiscuous odor was wafting from behind it. As it entered his nose, the Master found the need to cover it with his mouth.

The transition from torso to leg consisted of a modest slope as the sleeping Alter Ego had her legs slightly raised while she squeezed the Holy Grail between her thighs. The ground had a softer give to it compared to her slim belly, but there was a firmness to it that was to be expected of someone who fought with her legs. Those legs in question would have actually been flat on the floor had it not been for the fact that the metal spikes she wore forcibly raising them. The three of them needed to pace themselves as they worked their way up the plush peach colored hill.

“It’s hard to believe that we made it up here just fine,” the shrunken Master remarked as they were two thirds of the way to the grail, roughly half way up Meltryllis’s thighs.

“That crass Alter Ego who’s lacking in fat has a deteriorated sense of touch,” Andersen was familiar enough with Meltryllis to explain as they climbed. He did not get exhausted because he managed to convince the shrunken Lord El-Melloi to carry him on piggy back. “She’s no princess by any means, so there was a low likelihood she would notice us scaling her body like a motley of ants.”

“So that’s why… you gave us that... scathing review earlier,” Lord El-Melloi II groaned as he strained his muscles to climb while carrying Andersen. He had his younger body, but he still was not built for physical activity whatsoever.

The Princess and the Pea. Certainly, they were the pea and Meltryllis was the princess in this scenario, but the sadist-type Servant’s [Neurological Disorder] had made her ability to be classified as the story’s princess nigh impossible. It was the one thing that troubled Meltryllis, her limited ability to feel. The Master sympathized and wanted to support Meltryllis after he had learned that since they first met in the Digital Sea, but for once he was glad she had that affliction. If she no longer possessed that condition, she would have discovered them bringing them endless orders of trouble. However, there was no way that would happen. It would take a wish on the level of a Holy Grail to grant Meltryllis enough power to overcome her affliction.

Yes, a wish on the Holy Grail...

“Almost there…” the less than 2 cm tall Master strained to get just a bit closer. He was just in front of the golden cup. All he had to do was reach out a bit further and touch it to gain authority and access to the wish granting device. Just another few millimeters and he’d be able to grab it.

Rumble. Rumble.

“Not quite.”

“Huh?”

In an instant, the grail before the shrunken Master fell out of his grasp. Meltryllis’s legs spread open. With her thighs no longer clenching the cup together, it fell to the floor. His target gone, what he was reaching for out of reach again, he started to fall as well, having lost his balance without anything to stop him.

“Whoaaaah!” “Grk!” “Damnit! We’re falling!” 

Smooosh!

“Mffft...” the shrunken Master heard the pseudo-servant and Andersen as they fell off, but he couldn’t see them. All he could see was the color of skin, pressing against him tightly from all directions. The sweet smell of flowers and sweat assaulted his nose as he was compressed between two titanic walls of flesh. He was being held between Meltryllis’s thighs.

“Mmmpftt! Me… lt...!” the Chaldean Master could only manage to utter her name under the intense pressure was the thighs holding him rubbed against each other, heating him up from the friction.

The Alter Ego’s thighs opened just slightly - enough to let him see the outside, but not enough to let him for or even free him. He was greeted by the purpled haired servant’s smiling face.

The sleeping beauty was awake.

“Melt?”

Something was off, the Master noticed - her cheeks and ears were red. After drinking Osakabehime’s energy drinks out of the grail, she was overflowing with magical energy, but it seemed she was unable to keep it under control. The look in Meltryllis’s eyes was not the calm and elegant one he was familiar with. It was more unhinged, more primal.

“Ara~! My oh my~. What do we have here? A bunch of perverted insects slinking up a lady’s legs? No, it looks like Master’s finally arrived,” giggled the sly Alter Ego.  “Hic~!”

The normal Meltryllis was a composed sadistic AI who had a sharp tongue yet also a soft spot for her hobbies, but the titan of an Alter Ego looming over him now seemed far too happy for someone who had just woken up. She spoke clearly but far too quickly, such as during those times she lectured him on her hobbies (which he admittedly blanked out on three hours into the discussion).

She was drunk. Meltryllis was intoxicated. 

“Fufu~n~hic!” a thick energy drink laden breath escaped the Alter Ego. “It’s about time you’ve got there. I wasn’t sure how many more minutes I could feign sleep!. If you had taken any longer, I would have gotten impatient and just crushed you all completely as punishment.”

The shrunken Master’s eyes widened. She had known they were there. In fact, she had been awake for some time. 

“Did you really think I wouldn’t feel you scurrying atop my skin or hear your incessant chattering in my ears?” asked the red-faced Meltryllis. “The Princess and the Pea was it? That fairy tale writer… Mister Andersen, you underestimate me~! I’m more of a queen than a princess.” 

“Grk. Looks like she used the grail to amplify her senses in addition to making us smaller,” Andersen confirmed. Not only was her sense of touch improved however, her hearing was as well. She could clearly hear them. “She’s removed her weakness just so she could manage us better at this scale. That pitiful brat’s due for a scolding.”

“Tch. This is bad. She’s far too plastered to be reasoned with. Master, we should escape until she manages to sober up.” he heard the tactician Lord El-Melloi from down below.

The pseudo-servant’s plan was the best course of action, unfortunately, they were in no position to accomplish it. He had fallen for her honey trap and was now in her grasp. Going to the mastermind of this entire ordeal with little support in his condition had been a terrible idea. While he certainly had no other option, he was now caught like a rat in a trap, only he was much smaller than a rat.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come to me on your own whim, my~stupid~Master~hic!” giggled Meltryllis with another hiccup. “Ah~! How I wish I could have witnessed your little adventure. That look on your puny face is so miserable! How many times have you made that expression today, I wonder? Now the cherry on top would be to hear your high-pitched screams~!”

It was an innate part of her [Sadistic Constitution] - she saw little satisfaction in simply reducing their scale to that of miniature dolls. The AI-ballerina loved seeing the Master’s panicked expression. It sparked a fire in her core. She eyed the miniscule master like a hunter would eye its prey. Her pink tongue stuck out of the right side of her mouth and slowly swept to the left as she licked her lips.

“... Let’s calm down, Melt,” the Master tried to reason with the giant girl holding him between her thighs. “You’re not thinking straight. How about drinking some water?”

At his words, the violet haired Alter Ego paused. She then put her sleeve over her mouth to stifle her laughter. “Not thinking straight…? I think I’m perfectly sober, Master~hic!. Isn’t this just the best? A bunch of tiny dolls are right before my eyes. A Chaldea fit for a hobbyist! Certainly, you are all quite puny, but I make no exceptions for any scale~hic!”

Considering how often she was hiccuping, Meltryllis was not making a good case for herself. Still, Meltryllis’s words confirmed her desires and what she had used the Holy Grail for.

[Doll Mania] - Meltryllis’s hobby that had evolved to the point of fanaticism. From life-sized to smallest scale, so long as it was a doll, it caught her interest. What was a doll? To her, figures, models of human beings, were exemplary subjects to obsess over. She often kept this [Secret Garden] level secret to herself, but it seemed in her intoxication, her drive to admire dolls had risen to the surface. Osakabehime’s figures and the various garage kits scattered about were evidence of that.

“Aha~ Ah, Jeanne Alter and Osakabehime were such kind hosts~! The garage kits, the kotatsu, the drinks - just for helping out, I got rewarded so much~hic! I can’t remember everything from last night, but I feel so energized right now! Drinking from a Grail is so empowering! Who’d have thought it was just lying around in Amazones box~hic!”

Wow. She was spouting exposition nonstop while under the influence of the grail-laced energy drinks. Master frowned at how GudaGuda it sounded, but it certainly helped him understand what had happened. He was going to have to scold Osakabehime and Jeanne Alter when he got back to normal. Also, he was going to have to talk to a certain Queen/CEO about whether or not she was holding out on Chaldea (or if she had any left in stock).  

In any case, he got the gist of it now without the need for a flashback. In her time with the hikikomori princess and the doujin-drawing Alter, Meltryllis had been satisfying herself with the number of figures and models Osakabehime possessed. During that time, she must have been drinking a number of energy drinks as those were the only liquids that were in that room. Somewhere along the way, she found the Holy Grail and used it as a cup.

And with it, her wish for more dolls turned all [Males] in Chaldea to a more suitable size for her [Doll Mania]. 

“You have got to be kidding me,” the Master groaned. This was another event for the records he wouldn’t want to be able to look back at. Meltryllis’s desires were on full display.

Meltryllis’s eyes narrowed on him and licked her lips. The Master could feel his body moving upwards as Meltryllis raised both her legs at once while still lying on her back. She was done beating around the bush. “Now then, Master~!  Since you’re a fitting size, let’s take Doll Observation to the next level, shall we? Your current scale is absolutely lovely! I’ve been holding back all this time, but I think there's no need for that now!”

“Unreturning Formation [Stone Sentinel Maze]!”

“Eh?! Kyah!” “Woah!”

It was a time for retreat. That was the pseudo-servant of Zhuge Liang had decided. Using his noble phantasm, a stone structure appeared above Meltryllis’s legs and plummeted down to where the Master was. The pillar shoved the Master through Meltryllis’s thighs and down onto the floor.

Lord El-Melloi II had been successful in freeing the Master, however. After all, this was the legendary formation made for retreats. Andersen wasn’t exactly someone with the proper build to catch the Master though so the Chaldean magus knocked him over when he landed atop the author.

“Grk… Maybe you should lay off that playboy bowman’s meals once in a while, Master…,” he groaned.

“Professor, you saved me,” the Master was thankful as he got up.

He couldn’t stay still though, none of them could. The pseudo-servant was already gesturing for them to run. His stone maze already sacrificed itself as it was squeezed apart immediately. “You can thank me later, Master. There’s no fighting this losing battle. We’d do better with some normal sized backup. Andersen, do you have an exit?”

“I was working on it before Master fell out of the sky,” Andersen picked himself up along with a quill and a piece of parchment. “This is going to cost a lot of energy to open one here though. You owe me on the next deadline.”

“Marchen Meines Lebens [A Story Just For You]!” 

At the author’s mercy, Osakabehime’s room, her story, was written to include another passage for the three bug sized intruders to use to escape the inebriated Meltryllis. The plan was clear - to withdraw and return with a proper team of servants to be able to manage the Alter Ego servant.

If only they were quick enough.

Wham!

“Grk!”

A sleeved hand slammed down on the trio. Before the trio could even move towards the portal Andersen opened. Meltryllis stopped them by simply putting her hand between her spread legs and using it to pin them down. Two Caster servants couldn’t handle an Alter Ego of her caliber.

“Running away so soon? We can’t have that~!”

“What is it with these AIs and their devilish personalities?” scowled Lord El-Melloi II. 

“I can give you a scathing review of this pitiful love-brained brat if you want, but I’m afraid we don’t have the time,” Andersen grumbled.

There was no need for that. The Master had known plenty about BB and Melt in their time cooperating with one another. They were often at odds with one another but they had their similarities. When it came to tormenting others, both had an interest in it, but both had different ways going about it. 

Melt clearly was not going to allow them to have any chance to make it through Andersen’s door back to Chaldea. She was going to enjoy her time with the newest dolls that had come to her, especially the Master she had so patiently been waiting and desiring to be with.

Drip.

“Huh?” Underneath Meltryllis’s sleeve, the two Servants and the Master suddenly felt damp.

Drip. Drip.

“Master~! Shall we change locations?” the red-faced AI-type Servant asked without expecting an answer. “As filled with dreams and models this princess’s place is, it’s a little cramped, don’t you think~hic!?”

Drip. Drip. Drip.

As they endured being pinned down by Meltryllis’s sleeve, they realized the sleeve wasn’t becoming wet. The entire thing was becoming water.

“What the-?! Water is...” Lord El-Melloi started.

Andersen was aware of what was happening. “You fools. Hold your breaths and hang on to your manuscripts. Did you forget? That drunken ballerina’s made entirely of water!”

“Exactly.”

Splash!

At Meltryllis’s mercy, the shrunken trio became engulfed in water. Besides the Moon Goddess Artemis and the River Goddess Sarasvati, there was a third component the Composite Divinity Meltryllis was composed of: the Beast of the Sea Leviathan. She could turn any part of her body into water if she wanted to. The Master and his Servants found themselves floating in the clear blue [Perfect Fluid] that Meltryllis had authority over and transformed her arm into.

But she wasn’t done yet either.

“Blargh blubblug blarghblub! (She’s overflowing)!” the Master already couldn’t breathe, but he expelled the last of his air when he realized just how much water was starting to flow from Meltryllis’s body. The entirety of Osakabehime’s room and its surroundings were becoming flooded in the sea that was Alter Ego Meltryllis.

This cataclysm was only the beginning of the end. The drunken Alter Ego of Pleasure was ready to live out her desires. As she formed her own Digital Sea with the help of the grail and her powers, she could help but smile. Her [Sadistic Constitution] was in full force.

As the Master lost consciousness from the being unable to breathe, he could hear a gentle but dark giggle from all around him.

“Let’s wash them all away together…!”