Fate / Stained Inheritance

-Do the magic test

"Oh?- Uh- Thank you?" You blink as Kiara hands you the purse, mouth moving a bit as you reach for a response, still a little groggy. There's a pause as you think of what to say. "Oh- yes actually. You said you could look at my magic earlier? Could you... please?"

"Oh, of course," Kiara beams, disappearing into an adjacent room. "Just let me get what I need to do that- we'll need a bit of space for this so we can't do it in here."

You nod, heading out into the main room of the chapel. Ruler comes over to you, giving your new look a look over. "You know, I waaas expecting something else as far as outfits go. As opposed to letting her dress you up in that same lewd nun getup." Ruler pokes down at the leg slit.

"It hides what I want to hide, it fits, and it's better than what I had before." That's all you can ask for. It's all you need... It's also a gift. You've… never really had one of those before. It's… not a bad feeling.

"Well, if you want to keep it, then that's that." Huh. Ruler looks happy about that. "What next? Are we moving on now?"

"No- I need to know more about me." You tense up slightly. You still don't know how you can do magic. You never could in the tests, those failures as some of the earliest memories you have. "Better here than with him." That'd just be too much.

Right on cue, Kiara emerges from the back, carrying a box full of assorted paraphernalia. Setting it down on a pew, she begins setting it up, all centred around a fairly basic magic circle. "There we go. I might not have the most experience with this but I'll definitely be able to give you an idea of what you can do. If you step into the circle we can begin."

You hesitate for a moment- you don't know what the circle does… but you do it. You've got to start taking things on trust. And it wouldn't make sense for her to do anything now when if she was going to hurt you she's had way better chances.

"You know, this isn't very overseer-like is it?" Ruler asks as you take your place in the circle. "This sort of thing is a bit more mage than church, and this is giving my Master a little helping hand."

"Oh? Are you complaining? I could always not help them. Buuut, it's simple- she is an extra- the other Masters have a head start on her, this is simply evening the playing field." Kiara gives a conspiratorial smile. "... But as our little secret... A fair few of the other Masters aren't people I'd want to win."

That's… a surprisingly frank admission. You're not going to complain if that means what you think it means.

"As for this" Kiara says, passing you a pair of carved silver rods to hold. "I've picked up a few things in this long… diversion of mine. Now- Mimi, please begin by activating your circuits."
You start at the use of your actual name, before focusing on the task at hand. Right. Circuit activation. You've never done this before… but you must have used magic when summoning Ruler. And you've got a vague idea of how that went- it started with your heartbeat.

You concentrate on that feeling.

Beat.

Cycle.

Mana sloshing into a chamber.

Beat.

Cycle.

Mana being forced through your body.

Beat.

Cycle.

A sharp exhale of breath, and power sparks, a rush filling you up as your circuits flare into life, the cracked glow spreading out from your chest.

"Ah- excellent. Now, let's start with this…" Kiara begins listing a set of instructions, simple tasks to do. Even for someone with not much idea as to the actual magical bits of it, she's a good instructor- it's easy to follow the steps she's listing. Do this. Connect these rods to here and there. Tap the following vials of powder.

You're approaching the final stages of the test when it happens. You're going through a series of basic exercises without much luck, but something clicks at the last one- shapingrequirementsmanaflowoptimisationmethodofactionnervetargetpainstimulus foundationbasiseffectlength- you know it you understand it and it just clicks, the cantrip firing off almost unconsciously. Poorly aimed, you hit yourself in the leg with it, the magic sinking into you, before for a brief moment you feel a dull ache in your leg.

You blink, then recoil as a sharp headache kicks in, the card storing the spell crumbling to ash. There's a cry of concern from Ruler and Kiara at the same time.

"Oh my, that shouldn't have happened- let's call it there shall we? I should be able to give you a brief summary with what we've done so far." Kiara says, gathering up the notes she's been scribbling on and sorting through them, while Ruler brings you a glass of water.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you that much- some of the results I got are quite unusual" Kiara says, flipping through the pages. "The only magecraft you showed any real talent with was curse-related, and you were also surprisingly resistant to the effects of the minor curse you hit yourself with. Your affinities and circuits are also a mess- everything is laid out wrong or all muddled up, and you might have a surprising amount of circuits, but so many of them seem to not work- like they've burned out."

Kiara thinks to herself for a bit, hmming audibly. "It almost feels like a scar? Like in the past, something was done or happened to you, and the way your magic is is the result of that. Has it?"

You shake your head. Nothing like that ever happened to you in the vaults, and you don't have any real memory of your life before there.

Kiara steps forwards, pulling you into a brief hug. "Please, do not be discouraged. I am not an expert on these matters, and this has not changed my opinion of you. No matter what, you are welcome here."

"-Thank you." You mutter as you leave the hug and make to leave the chapel.

"Not what you hoped?" Ruler asks as you leave the chapel and start heading back to the park. "Your magic doesn't change who you are. What are you, a magus?"

You don't know what you were hoping. You can't remember anything that might have broken your magic like that… Have you always been a test subject, even before the vaults? Still, Rulers comment does help you out of your funk somewhat. You're not a magus. And you're damn glad about that fact.

Nothing more of note happens on your walk back to the park, a trip that, all in all, could have had a much heavier air to it. Another thing that helps keep your spirits up is the reactions of people to your outfit- It's a bit nerve-wracking at first, you do draw attention from passers-by. But nobody notices you. Kiara was right, people just see the outfit, they don't pay any attention to the person wearing it. As you arrive back at the park, there's a smile on your face as you take a seat on a bench.


"Master- look up." Ruler's voice is serious, snapping you back to alertness. There's a woman approaching you; she's definitely approaching you, her eyes are fixed on Ruler. She's too close to you for you to run-no. Not yet. You're not going to run just yet.


"Hello." She stops in front of you. She's about your age, wearing a long white dress and a loose, light jumper on top of it. Deep red eyes fix you from a face as pale as your own, slightly obscured by the messy bangs of her fairly straight, neck-length snow-white hair. She pauses for a moment. Gathering herself up?

"I am Izabetha Von Einzbern-Emiya. As a fellow outsider to this war, I have an offer for you." She holds a hand out for you to shake. You can't see her Servant, but that doesn't mean they aren't here... Still, if she's wanting to talk Her voice is… cool. Refined. Soft, like snow. "Trust me, it will be worth your while."

[] Turn her down. You're not interested
[] Hear her out now
[] You've already sort of got a group. Why should you join up with her?

-Hear her out.

This girl- Izabetha- she's approached you peacefully. Mage or not the safer thing to do is at least hear her out.

"Fine- I'll hear it- but hands and servants where I can see them-" But like hell you're going to assume she's not up to anything.

You watch tensey as she steps back, holding her hands up. "If you insist. Archer."

As Izabetha calls out, Ruler points forwards- following her finger, you can see a slight motion on the roof of a building on the other side of the park. A few seconds later, Archer rematerialises a few steps behind Izabetha.

She's a tall asian woman; ethereally pale and beautiful skin, jewellery-adorned raven-black hair in a himecut, and a pair of blood-red eyes. She's wearing a set of ornate flowing robes, a small gourd tied to the sash at her waist and a veil covering the lower part of her face. On her back is a medium sized bow in deep, richly coloured wood with gold leaf decorations, and two quivers, one smaller than the other, wrapping sealing off it's lid.

"Master." Her voice is low, sorrowful.

"Thank you Archer. Keep watch for other onlookers."

"Of course." Archer turns away, her gaze scanning the area.

"Happy now?" Izabetha turns to you, having retracted the hand she offered for you to shake. "What I propose is a… loose association."

"This war is… unusual. To begin with- The Einzberns are one of the founding families who created this rite. This war was prepared without our knowledge, half the world away from it's usual spot in F͜u̧y̷uki͠." Izabetha's counting off on her fingers as you blink rapidly, a brief dizzy spell passing over you. Maybe you just need a bit to eat. "Furthermore, Wav- Lord El-Melloi, as you have seen, is not a master."

"How'd you know that I'd know that?" You interrupt, tensing up as you glare at her. Has she been tracking you? What does she really want with you?

"I was watching him, because he was a Master in the last Grail War, and his interest in the ritual is a known fact- You left the chapel with Gray." Izabetha inhales sharply as you glance at Ruler. Is she lying?

"She's not lying, Master." Ruler casually takes a step forward, bending down to get a better look at Izabetha's eyes. "Buuuut- if you're already friendly with them, why not go with them already? Why're you coming to us?"

"I'm not friends-" Izabetha's voice cracks, raising a whole octave as she visibly flusters, which somewhat spoils the cold and dignified air she was presenting before "My family has simply had prior experience with the man, and I have had some minor contact with the faculty of Modern Magecraft."

"Denial." Archer whispers under her breath as Izabetha rallies herself, forcing her putch back down.

"Regardless- I have… certain things I must ascertain about this war, such that I cannot allow myself much contact with a proper magus. Furthermore, given my doubts about this wars' setup, I feel that a strong alliance would cause the other Masters to unite against us- are we still clear?" That last bit is directed to Archer, who merely nods slightly. "Good- so, I propose limited cooperation. Nonagression as a base, with intelligence sharing as an option. If you wish to continue associating with- The El-Melloi faction- you are welcome to extend this proposal to them as well."

Izabetha nods, folding her hands together in an almost prayerlike motion. "So- are you interested?"

Ruler hmmmms at the offer, giving a slight nod. "She's still not lying here. I don't see a backstab."


[] No, you're not interested- You trust Gray, but she's different from this

[] You trust Rulers judgement here. You got for it.
-[] Just nonaggression- if nothing else, that's easy for you to break if you need to.
-[] Do some intel sharing as well
--[] Be more forthcoming and share equally
--[] Be cagey, try and come out of it with more information than she does.