Fate/Blackened Sugar

[AnonymousRabbit]

[] "Rest assured we'll get you to your daughter. I made a promise with her after all. Please come with us."

You tried to ignore her manner of addressing you for now. You turned to Assassin and nodded to which she vanished to go after the stragglers coming after you.

"Rest assured we'll get you to your daughter. I made a promise with her after all," you said as you turned to the exit of he woods, "Please come with us."

Hiyoko nodded and followed after you while Assassin took care of the remaining enemies coming for you. She should be able to buy you enough time to get back to town and conceal yourself again.

You made your way through the woods and came upon the road you left. There, your driver waited for you with a polite bow.

"Pleasant hunting, sir?" Your driver asked as he opened the door for your arrival.

"Yes. We need to go though, I hope you can drive us to the safehouse, Martin?" You replied as you stopped by the car.

Hiyoko seemed surprised by this before glancing at you, "A personal car! You're quite wealthy as well."

"Please get in," you coughed as she giggled and sat inside.

The driver chuckled as he shut the door and opened the passenger's seat for you, "An interesting woman, no doubt."

"You don't know the half of it," you replied as you got in. The driver also entered and started the car, revving the engine and driving down the road.

Assassin and Berserker should be keeping their distance now. It should split Minerva's forces while you escaped. Now it was just a matter of getting back to Miyu.

.....
....
...

Arriving at the safehouse on the city's outskirts, you stepped out and made sure that the area was safe. Tapping your cane, the bounded field you created split this entire compound you were in from the outside, if only for a little while.

You stood before the motel you stayed at and opened the door for Hiyoko. Someone stepped out of the motel out of breath from running. Miyu stood by the doors accompanied by your employees, her golden eyes widening as she stared at he mother.

Hiyoko met her child's gaze and smiled, "Oh my beautiful baby. Come here."

Miyu was already running and embraced her mother, the two wrapped in a tight hug. Miyu didn't seem to want to let go but Hiyoko simply let her daughter take all the time she needed.

For the first time, you saw Miyu display an intense emotion that broke through her mask. It wasn't worry or sadness, but great joy that actually let her smile.

Glancing at your guards, you raised your cane towards them. They immediately vacated the area and set off to guard the outskirts, making sure that the motel was safe.

"Oh I missed you so. Were you a good girl?" Hiyoko asked as she smiled at her daughter.

"Mother... You came," Miyu mewled as she slowly found her voice, "I..."

"Mother? How many times do I have to tell you, sweetie? Call me mommy, okay? I don't want my own little girl to be so formal with me," Hiyoko huffed as she stroked Miyu's hair.

"I... Yes, Mom," Miyu said with a sniffle.

You walked forward and cleared your throat, "Pardon the interruption, but I think it's best you two went inside. The December chill could get quite cold."

Miyu broke apart from her mother and faced you, "You... You did it again."

"Told you I did," you smiled as you leaned in your cane, "You should spend time with your mom for now. Mrs. Sakatsuki, we'll be protecting you from now on. We'll figure out what to do about the rest of your family soon afterwards."

"This changes nothing," Miyu said as she held on to her mother, meeting you in the eye, "This... It won't affect my judgement on you."

You blinked at that before smiling lightly, "Well, I couldn't say that the thought didn't cross my mind but... A promise was a promise."

"Miyu! Don't be like that to the kind and handsome man!" Hiyoko said as she pulled her daughter to her and hugged her, "He helped us meet again!"

"It's fine. Consider this a Christmas present," you replied with a nod, "Good kids, shouldn't experience a Christmas without their parents."

Miyu gave you a sharp look but she turned away, pulling her mother with her. The first day you got her, she barely reacted, ever since you defended her she was slowly starting to emote... Now...

All you need was one more push.

.....
....
...

You were sitting in a diner having dinner when you were made to look up. Berserker stepped in your booth and sat the opposite of you and sighed.

"Hmph, talk about a workload," he said as he waved down a waitress, "Hey, Miss. Dinner special and some beer please."

"Good job on today. Thanks for your help," you smiled at him.

"Don't sweat it boy. This meal's on you," Beowulf chuckle as he crossed his arms.

"Tomorrow's another defense day. I'll have to separate Miyu and her mother to protect the latter. It's going to be busy again," you said as you are your meal.

Berserker gave you a critical look and snorted, "Boy, are you well?"

You blinked before looking his way, "I won't drop dead yet."

"Even the mighty Gilgamesh died of overwork at the end of his Legend. Being the Grail Keeper for this long is a test of not just your strength but also endurance with so many enemies around you. I doubt that the architects of this war meant for the Grail to remain this long within one Master at this stage," Berserker said as his meal was brought to him alongside a draft beer.

"That's a high praise. I haven't actually done anything, you know?" You told him as you leaned back on your seat.

"If you're this worn out with Manaka by your side, I wouldn't want to see you when she isn't. After all, she is your greatest asset at the moment," Berserker noted as he stared at you.

That... That was true. Especially at this stage of the war, Manaka was invaluable but at the same time...

"Which brings me to the question, boy. What are you going to do about her?" Berserker asked as he set down his beer mug.

"What are you talking about, she's your Maser isn't she?" You asked him with a frown.

"That's true but you can't deny that she's powerful. Should she fully take over her host's body, she may just grow stronger... Or worse, the host body becomes Manaka herself even if the soul residing within leaves," Berserker guessed as he took a piece of his steak.

"You would turn against your own Master?" You frowned.

"I recognize the threat she poses. First and foremost, I'm a Hero, kid. I know the bad things she could do if she wanted. What she's got in her sleeve? Those blackened Servants... They're bad news," Beowulf answered in a serious tone, "There's two ways of handling that girl... Either you trust her or you don't. So what it'll be?"

Reunion​

[] "I trust her. It's a gamble that comes with great risk but she said it herself, she doesn't care for the Grail. She would help me achieve it for her own amusement. She chose me to provide her entertainment... And as long as she's useful and she can help me, I'll continue to play her Jester."
[] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."
[] Write in...

 

[Impstar]

Hmm, not sure I like the binary-ness of the proposed non-write in options. It shouldn't be "I will continue to support her and accept her support" or "she needs to be taken out as soon as feasibly possible." I think we should make plans and contingencies, but let's wait until she actually starts doing things worth betraying her over.

 

[ArvisPresley]

[X] "I trust her to do what she wants. Right now it's to amuse herself and find whatever reminds her of that king she talked about, no matter the consequences. I'm not blind to how easily that can change, Manaka makes it pretty clear that she cares about her goals above all else. The question is if what she wants to do matches up with what I can accept. If not, I'll do what needs to be done.

Imma be real with you guys, I trust Minerva more than I trust Manaka but the problem there is I'm infinitely more terrified and paranoid of the later so it balances out.

Also I just binged the entirety of Fate/White Parmesan a few days ago nd I love it. Just caught up in the sequel and I'm excited to be here.

Edit: Changed Vote

 

[veekie]

[X] "I trust her. It's a gamble that comes with great risk but she said it herself, she doesn't care for the Grail. She would help me achieve it for her own amusement. She chose me to provide her entertainment... And as long as she's useful and she can help me, I'll continue to play her Jester."

 

[patrickxx]

[X] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

She's killing people. She needs to go.

 

[Impstar]

[X] "I trust her. It's a gamble that comes with great risk but she said it herself, she doesn't care for the Grail. She would help me achieve it for her own amusement. She chose me to provide her entertainment... And as long as she's useful and she can help me, I'll continue to play her Jester."

She's killing people. She needs to go.

Click to shrink...

But is she? We saw images in a portal of people dying, but she denies actually killing people since being summoned. She doesn't need to kill people to summon Blackened Servants either. A lot of people in thread kind of assumed she was killing people, but we never actually saw her do it.

 

[Muramasa]

[x] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

[X] "I trust her. It's a gamble that comes with great risk but she said it herself, she doesn't care for the Grail. She would help me achieve it for her own amusement. She chose me to provide her entertainment... And as long as she's useful and she can help me, I'll continue to play her Jester."


But is she? We saw images in a portal of people dying, but she denies actually killing people since being summoned. She doesn't need to kill people to summon Blackened Servants either. A lot of people in thread kind of assumed she was killing people, but we never actually saw her do it.

Click to shrink...

No the magical pile of bodies just happened to come out of nowhere just so she could use them to summon her blackened servant. How convenient.

 

[Impstar]

No the magical pile of bodies just happened to come out of nowhere just so she could use them to summon her blackened servant. How convenient.

Click to shrink...

"You know why," you replied with a raised eyebrow, "People are disappearing and I am hoping that you're not responsible for them."

"Partly, Hans," Manaka giggled as she smiled at you, "But to be honest, there hasn't been the pressing need for it. At least not yet. As long as we keep killing Servants, we should be able to summon more Blackened Ones to help us. There's no need to kill people. Not unless you approve of such a thing but then again, I don't believe you're that kind of man."

Click to shrink...

So... it sounds like she has disappeared some people, but she also says that from this point she just needs to kill Servants. Which implies that she's not currently an active threat to innocent people. Also, please quote the magical pile of bodies, I don't actually remember us seeing a bunch of recent corpses.

Edit: If you mean this, then this isn't exactly a random pile of bodies, we just saw a bunch of people who may very well have been killed in Fate/Prototype instead of the story's modern day.

A blasphemous eye. It was peering behind Manaka through the mirror as you turned to see the figures of people clamouring within the mirrors and being consumed. They were faceless people, normal people, people... Who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Click to shrink...

 

[BrunofanofK]

[] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

While I agree Manaka is by far scarier than Minerva that part of me want to take the easy way out and just play her game the thing about good authors is that they care more for the story than to do a happy one, she is bad news and praying for a whinsical godess to be helpful never ended well for any hero. She will turn this war on its head yet, caster's survival instincts cemented that issue now is time to decide what to do with it. Sakura is a serious trouble and opportunity, she can be used as a container as well so we might be able to sacrifice her in Miyu's place... time to decide who is more important to Rans.

 

[luna001]

X] "I trust her. It's a gamble that comes with great risk but she said it herself, she doesn't care for the Grail. She would help me achieve it for her own amusement. She chose me to provide her entertainment... And as long as she's useful and she can help me, I'll continue to play her Jester."

 

[Frozen Flame]

Yeah, I think a write-in makes more sense.

[X] "I trust her to do what she wants. Right now it's to amuse herself and find whatever reminds her of that king she talked about, no matter the consequences. I'm not blind to how easily that can change, Manaka makes it pretty clear that she cares about her goals above all else. The question is if what she wants to do matches up with what I can accept. If not, I'll do what needs to be done.

 

[Impstar]

[X] "I trust her to do what she wants. Right now it's to amuse herself and find whatever reminds her of that king she talked about, no matter the consequences. I'm not blind to how easily that can change, Manaka makes it pretty clear that she cares about her goals above all else. The question is if what she wants to do matches up with what I can accept. If not, I'll do what needs to be done.

I like it.

 

[catDreaming]

[X] "I trust her to do what she wants. Right now it's to amuse herself and find whatever reminds her of that king she talked about, no matter the consequences. I'm not blind to how easily that can change, Manaka makes it pretty clear that she cares about her goals above all else. The question is if what she wants to do matches up with what I can accept. If not, I'll do what needs to be done.

I think that this is better than either of the provided responses, and this places us in a point of action. I'd rather not let Beowulf down.
So let's make sure to follow through, when that time comes.

 

[ChildishChimera]

[x] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

We can't kill her now but need to plan for later when she makes us want too.

 

[AnonymousRabbit]

@luna001

@BrunofanofK

Your votes are broken. Please fix. Thanks!

 

[Muramasa]

[X] "I trust her to do what she wants. Right now it's to amuse herself and find whatever reminds her of that king she talked about, no matter the consequences. I'm not blind to how easily that can change, Manaka makes it pretty clear that she cares about her goals above all else. The question is if what she wants to do matches up with what I can accept. If not, I'll do what needs to be done.

I like it.

Click to shrink...

That's just kicking the question down the curb. I think you guys need to decide quickly weather or not to take down Manaka while we can still potentially amass the manpower and resources to do so. Not later down the line when we may very well not.

We need to commit to a path now.

 

[Impstar]

That's just kicking the question down the curb. I think you guys need to decide quickly weather or not to take down Manaka while we can still potentially amass the manpower and resources to do so. Not later down the line when we may very well not.

We need to commit to a path now.

Click to shrink...

Except the current "I don't trust her" is basically, "I don't trust her and I'm going to off her as soon as I think I can get away with it." It's not "I'll prepare to take her down, and then do so if she goes too far." With the write-in there's no reason we can't try to amass power outside of hers in preparation for the possibility of turning on her later while not actually planning on doing so.

 

[dat_noob1926812]

[X] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

I hope to fucking God she isn't watching

 

[The-Chained-One]

[x] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

 

[Muramasa]

Except the current "I don't trust her" is basically, "I don't trust her and I'm going to off her as soon as I think I can get away with it." It's not "I'll prepare to take her down, and then do so if she goes too far." With the write-in there's no reason we can't try to amass power outside of hers in preparation for the possibility of turning on her later while not actually planning on doing so.

Click to shrink...

This does not work. We may very well need the other grail war participants and the church to take down Manaka. We're not going to get that help if the church has concluded we're her accomplice or we've already eliminated or killed the other masters and servants that could've very well helped us. Or they've rightfully concluded that we're not trust worthy.

If we're too slow to act on Manaka, we're not going to be able to.

 

[Signupname]

[X] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

 

[Tiny_Dic]

[x] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."

 

[Frozen Flame]

That's just kicking the question down the curb. I think you guys need to decide quickly weather or not to take down Manaka while we can still potentially amass the manpower and resources to do so. Not later down the line when we may very well not.

We need to commit to a path now.

Click to shrink...

Not really. It's not a "do nothing until we see her do something" answer, more of a "wait until she gets back from the trip that's likely to drastically influence her actions" answer. As it is now, Manaka is acting entirely for shits and giggles, nothing in the timeline has caught her interest and thus she's occupying herself with Hans. So long as that's the case, she could easily remain an ally. It's if she decides there's something she wants that things get difficult.

Manaka tends to operate on Blue and Orange Morality. If there's a goal she's personally invested in, all bets are off and any effective method is fair game. The thing is, even at her worst she isn't outright malevolent (barring getting jealous of someone getting close to Arthur). She doesn't do horrible things for the sake of them, but because she has almost no empathy for others and thus considers those acts the most effective ways of reaching her goal, never seeing the problems others have with them. I proposed the write-in because we're at a crux point for Manaka. If she comes back and has an obsession with Artoria remotely close to what she had with Arthur, she needs to die ASAP. If she's still just screwing around, then she has little reason to cause us issues. She's shown herself capable of some degree of benevolence when on her free time, just look at the end of Fate/Labyrinth.

A final decision on Manaka is needed, but I'd rather have the upcoming information first than betray her now and risk actually investing her in ending Hans.

 

[Signupname]

Not really. It's not a "do nothing until we see her do something" answer, more of a "wait until she gets back from the trip that's likely to drastically influence her actions" answer. As it is now, Manaka is acting entirely for shits and giggles, nothing in the timeline has caught her interest and thus she's occupying herself with Hans. So long as that's the case, she could easily remain an ally. It's if she decides there's something she wants that things get difficult.

Manaka tends to operate on Blue and Orange Morality. If there's a goal she's personally invested in, all bets are off and any effective method is fair game. The thing is, even at her worst she isn't outright malevolent (barring getting jealous of someone getting close to Arthur). She doesn't do horrible things for the sake of them, but because she has almost no empathy for others and thus considers those acts the most effective ways of reaching her goal, never seeing the problems others have with them. I proposed the write-in because we're at a crux point for Manaka. If she comes back and has an obsession with Artoria remotely close to what she had with Arthur, she needs to die ASAP. If she's still just screwing around, then she has little reason to cause us issues. She's shown herself capable of some degree of benevolence when on her free time, just look at the end of Fate/Labyrinth.

A final decision on Manaka is needed, but I'd rather have the upcoming information first than betray her now and risk actually investing her in ending Hans.

Click to shrink...

It's not personal morality, it's that she's a literal eldritch abomination that would fuck us up no matter what she does if she goes far enough. So we dealt with her early to prevent this shit from happening to us.

 

[catDreaming]

[x] "Of course I don't trust her. Not after seeing that monster in her Mirror... Or her Blackened Servant. She's a danger to us, yes, and it's just a matter of planning on how I could dispose of her. But again, I can't do it on my own... So I'll need your help again, Berserker."