Hotel Chaldea - Gone Trick Or Treating In An Overcrowded Slum (Patreon)

The street was tight and narrow, there were ditches dug for flow of water between the road and the houses. Many of the houses had exposed brickwork, others had entire walls missing, almost every single window or door was barred and there were zero decorations.

Of course, this wasn't unusual. This country didn't really celebrate the season at large, and even more than that, it was a very poor neighborhood near the capital city of a third world country, even if they did celebrate Halloween, they would most likely not really spend a ton of money on decorations for it. 

Maybe that was what made it all the more meaningful to pay a visit to this place on this season.

"I'm shocked this is the first time we've met," you said, idly. 

"I as well!" Princess Medea, also known as Medea Lily, said brightly. "It was a twist of fate! I wasn't going to sign up for this expedition originally," she said, "but since the Head Nurse went to Africa instead, Master asked me to come here instead."

You hummed, thoughtfully. "Sorry if it's a little awkward, you're smaller, but you resemble my wife quite a bit."

Still smiling, the small princess nodded and bowed thoughtfully. "Thank you for filling the void in my older self's heart, she definitely looks much better now that she has you by her side. My side. You know I'm going to stop talking about that before I start getting tongue twisted."

You chuckled, patting her head. "That's probably for the best," you said. "Ah, sorry, just-"

"Not at all," she said, waving her hand and swinging her crosier around a little with the other. "But I should get back to work before people start piling up."

"Yeah, me too - I'm going to take the children around to do the Trick or Treating," you said. "If anything comes up, don't hesitate to call me. I'll have someone over," you said, raising your left hand, showing her the back of it and the temporary Command Seals engraved onto it. Ritsuka insisted on you having at least three to use in case of emergency.

"Same goes to you," another voice spoke, coming into the room you had commandeered as your personal office. It was Mana, currently your second in command as Koyanskaya was busy, and she flicked her blond hair behind her shoulder, striking a pose with her hand over her face, a wink making a little cartoon heart pop out from her fingers and trail off into nothingness.

"I'll be surrounded by servants, I'll be fine!" you said, raising your hands. "Anyway, see you guys later - Mana, you're in charge until I'm back."

"Right, Master~!" she said. "Do you have-"

You raised the trading card that was technically her main body. "Right here," you said. 'Playing' that card would bring her to your side immediately, no matter the distance. Nifty, but probably unnecessary.

With that said, you finally departed the building, leaving the young version of Medea and Mana, as well as some staff, behind in the building that would serve as a temporary hospital for Chaldea's Charity organization, and moving to the... rather poorly constructed apartment complex that was currently 'housing' the rest of the servants that had been brought along for this trip, across the street from the hospital.

Within moments of you hopping the ditch to get on the dirt road, a mist rose in the night, unnatural for this place, especially as it was the southern hemisphere and that meant spring was in full swing and quite hot.

The mist became thick, thicker and then even thicker, until suddenly, it began to dissipate, where there'd been no one, now there was someone.

You reached forward blindly and as the mist dissipated, your hand landed atop the head of a childlike servant. Luckily, thanks to the nature of Halloween, that servant was not wearing her usual, rather risqué and unnecessarily erotic outfit, and instead, she was wearing a princess dress, complete with tiara, puffy shoulders and those huge skirts. Really ill suited for the area they were in, but, well - it was a famous character and people wouldn't really think it out of place even here due to that.

Costume parties were a thing after all, even if Halloween at large wasn't a celebrated holiday.

"Daddy!"

And there was that, as well. On the way here, you had almost spat out your drink when she first called you daddy, but then the explanation made perfect sense.

She called her Master 'Mommy', and, well, you had a child with Ritsuka, ergo, you were her 'Daddy'. 

You patted her head and smiled at her. "Now, Jackie, you remember what Ritsuka said right?" 

"No stabbing or disemboweling or castrating people, unless they try to touch us in one of the no-no zones," she said, giving you a thumbs up, wearing a confident expression. "We learned!" 

"Good, good girl," you said, "your mommy'd be proud of you."

"Ehehe, praise us more!" she purred, leaning into your touch.

"Hoe, this place is really... sad!"

Hoping with unnatural grace across the ditch between the road and the 'hotel' came a winter sprite. Illya was a much more innocent girl than Jack. Her first costume had been summarily rejected as inappropriate, and the less said about her 'beast' uniform the better, but the third attempt was much better. A thick armored skirt and furs, originally she had only covered her chest with a piece of cloth, but after some prodding, she had actually properly put on the heavy fur coat that had been resting on her waist. Servants didn't feel this level of cold or hot, so wearing thick fur in the heat didn't bother her at all.

"Well yeah, this place's a slum! The dregs of society, the poor and destitute, the abandoned and those who've got something to hide, all the villains of the world, forgotten and forsaken~!" Kuro, meanwhile, was the total opposite of innocent. Fourteen costumes, many of which could be described as underwear, had been rejected. The only one that had been accepted had been a nun's outfit, and even that one had an entirely inappropriate slit cut on its side.

"Isn't it disrespectful to say it like that?" The third of that trio was Miyu, who, unlike her two closest friends, had not required much in the way of aid in selecting an actually usable costume, though you absolutely had to question the wisdom of actively choosing to look like Tamamo, at least she was almost entirely covered up.

The other two hopped after Illya, and the trio reunited with Jack, all of them exchanging greetings.

"Where are-"

"Ah, I'm here! I'm here!" Nursery Rhyme shouted. Dressed like a Nobleman from Victorian England, and wearing a fake beard to compliment the look, she might have been the least eyecatching if it wasn't for the bright green of her outer coat. You vaguely remembered a servant at Chaldea dressed like this, though the colors of his outfit were more muted and less... pastel. "Sorry, I had to help-"

"My apologies! My horns are... rather unwieldy!"

Tiamat, or 'Mom', as she preferred to be called, looked like anything but a mom, considering she was no taller than any of the young girls around her. Her costume was actually a rather strange one, as she was wearing white tights, a green tunic, and had a green conical hat on top of her head. You couldn't exactly put your finger on why she'd chosen that.

"So, everyone's here!" you said. The group you were taking care of, at least. 

"Rhyme! You look like Mister Will!" Jack gushed. "But much cuter!"

"Eheheh, I wanted to wear an outfit like Mister Sherlock but it was too complicated!" Rhyme responded.

"They are such good children," Tiamat said with a smile. "Don't worry, if anyone tries anything," she said, raising her right hand and patting her bicep, "I'll be working as your hero tonight!"

You hummed. "I'll be trusting your backup then," you said. "Now..."

The equipment was already ready, set up by the staff beforehand. A door on a frame, on wheels, complete with a working doorbell and everything, as well as a cart with sufficient sweet treats for the night, and a built in sound system. Indeed... everything was ready.

"Hit it!"

Tiamat raised her finger dramatically, though with a deadpan expression, and then she hit the play button, starting the soundtrack to your impromptu parade. An old and familiar song, declaring your intentions and your mission for the night... 

"After all... this is halloween," you intoned to yourself, a smirk. You caught your reflection in a nearby window. The vertically striped suit, the skull makeup... Everything was in order. So the celebration began.

The girls knew the song well, you'd put them through the movie a couple of times just to be sure - not that they disliked it at all, they were quite happy to rewatch it a second and even a third time, learning every song by heart. As the music came on, and the small group you led began to parade down the overpopulated slum. No matter how strange it all was, it didn't take long for people to begin taking notice.

Boys and girls, as the song called for, began pouring out of their homes, of all ages, from extremely young children barely capable of walking under their own power, even those relying on a sibling or parent for support, all the way to young adults, already on their way to adulthood.

At first, almost everyone watched as your and your girls sang and danced to the music. The embarrassed Illya was pulled along by the much more extroverted Kuro, and by the hand of Illya, Miyu was dragged into the dance as well, while Jack and Rhyme wasted no time moving about, dancing like a nobleman and a princess, laughing and singing all the while.

For yourself and Tiamat, the matter was a bit more complex, as you had to keep everyone in check while at the same time leading the little song and dance number, while Tiamat was bringing the rear and also the the sweets.

Finally though, you arrived at your intended destination, trailing many a child and quite a few of their parents or older siblings, though a distressing number of them seemed to be on their own, and eventually the song wound down to a stop. From then, you'd have to speak their language, though thankfully, you were more than ready, switching to it so that they understood what you said.

Thankfully, the Servants easily adapted to the modern world around them, including language.

"Welcome goblins, ghosts and so much more! Welcome to a night of thrills and terrors galore!" you called, moving dramatically, swinging your arms and legs in ways that were almost unnatural, relying almost entirely on the training Scathach had put you through so many times to retain balance and a semblance of control. 

You could see faces of confusion, though some seemed to be catching on that this was some sort of performance. There were murmurs coming about, though it seemed that the general consensus was that this was some sort of viral marketing stunt of some sort. That was fine. Some even pulled out phones to record.

The only thing that mattered was that they believed that you were there with non-harmful intentions. You threw a glance at Jackie, and she threw you a thumbs up, activating her Noble Phantasm and making the mist come along to enhance your performance, as a different song kick into play, perhaps not quite the image of a spooky song, but one that definitely fit the mood. You jumped atop the cart, and with your leg, you kicked a walking stick onto your hand, a cane tipped with a jewel carved to look like a skull, which you swung around.

"Darkness falls across the land! The midnight hour is close at hand! Creatures crawl in the search of sweets, to terrorize your neighborhood!" you called, gesturing along, the ghostly forms of the princess and the nobleman dancing about in the mist, you traced their motions with your cane. 

Not wasting time, Illya struck a pose, herself, as if she was threatening Kuro with a giant foam replica of a weapon a servant used, while the maid pretended to cower and run from her.

"And whosoever shall be found without the charm for getting down," you called, gesturing to where Miyu sat, affecting mannerisms similar to Tamamo, playing with a few paper slips, swinging them about, then at Tiamat, who had pulled out her foam sword and was raising it between herself and Miyu, who made a face of amusement that was more genuine than she wanted to admit. "Must stand and face the fox of hell, or rot inside a muffin's shell!" 

On cue, Miyu threw a muffin at Tiamat, who batted it away with her foam sword. It was okay, as it was a prop muffin, and not wasted food.

More movement was made, and you even used the superb physical capabilities that you had absolutely earned and totally weren't a byproduct of your wife feeding you super strength and agility potions, to launch yourself atop a light pole, making a grand sweeping gesture.

"The sweetest stench is in the air, the funk of super sugary treats, and candied ghouls from every tomb," you said, as the staff members of Chaldea, in their own costumes, roamed about on cue, "are closing in, to make you drool!"

Indeed, they were dressed like zombies made of candy. The costumes even had actually edible parts, like candy canes, suckers or chewy candy weaponry.

"And though you fight, to keep your treats, your candy starts to shiver..."

You leaped down, towards where the door was setup.

"For no mere mortal can resist the evils of..."

There was a beat as the mist became thinner so everyone could see you open the door, and the bounded field that prevented them from seeing the bounty of candy you brought with you lowered, allowing them to see it.

"The sugar!" you called, slamming the door shut, leaping back and laughing uproariously with an evil, cackling laughter.

As the spectacle ended, people actually liked it, clapping, laughing and even saying kind words about it, despite its goofy silliness. 

Your job was only half done, though. Entertaining children was not an easy task, but distributing candy and supplies was another challenge of its own. 

"Everybody!" you called. "Line up, before our door, in an orderly fashion, we will now proceed to distribute candy and supplies for all of you!"

And so it began. Each of the girls you had brought along began to help, as well. In some ways, the objective wasn't just to do the charity event and to entertain the local children, it was also a chance to give the children servants of Chaldea a Halloween to celebrate, when things were too busy at home to give them a proper one.

As things began to move and the girls became enthusiastic about handing things out, Tiamat approached you, and the Chaldea staff took over the proper set up - everyone lined up in front of the door, and in proper fashion, the children rang the doorbell to receive their candy, while the adults in the area were mostly getting supplies from the staff.

"You did well," Tiamat said, patting your shoulder. "Your mother's proud of you," she said with a bright smile. "Are you okay? Do you need a juice box or a break?"

You shook your head. "Just need a moment to breathe, dancing and singing in this costume's a bit tougher than I expected."

The costume was tight and the fabric was thick, and the makeup was actually making it even worse. Maybe some mistakes had been made. 

"You did excellent, the result was way better than expected," Tiamat said, "be proud of yourself," she said, clenching her fist with a determined expression. You looked into her cross shaped pupils, and wondered if anybody'd even notice that she had those. Or the massive pair of horns. Hopefully the spell disguise would hold. "Good kid, good kid," she said, patting your head.

You hummed.

It was a shame Medea couldn't come along, but someone had to look after Hecate and you weren't particularly keen in bringing her on a trip around the world like this one. Either way...

"Alright," you said. "You know what, I'll take that juicebox, I'm a little parched."

Tiamat produced it, already with a straw stabbed onto it.

You drank it, and then jumped back into the fray, getting back into character so as to continue the show for the kids. 

A nice and warm night that warmed your heart as well, and gave a different kind of halloween celebration for some of the kids at Chaldea who desperately needed it.

Hopefully it'd be going just as well for everyone else, but your thoughts on that soon faded into the back of your mind as instead you played the spooky scary skeleton you were dressed up as.