View: https://youtu.be/1ABwmybgVfA?si=caXudiZ_XwiiwWBB
[Her thoughts on the situation]
[That bow I used today]
[Why… did she come onto you?]
Thanks to @Armoury for the beta! He knows where the Grail is!
—
You stare at the witch laying back on the bed, your thoughts a mess, your feelings worse. If your brain was running a mile a minute then your heart was in the Marianas trench and looking for the cabana it rented. If you hadn't killed, more would have died… is that fair to even consider? Circe's words bounced around in your skull, and you didn't much like the idea. You would have preferred if no one died at all. But you had already failed at that, repeatedly, and in a war with Magus involved, you aren't sure it was ever even a possibility at all.
You frown, letting your gaze drift away from the witch and towards the window. Circe's words were meant for comfort, but… no, it somehow only made you feel wor-
That thought was interrupted as Circe's delicate fingers grabbed your chin and forced you to focus on her again. Her face was set in a deep frown, not the glower that Medea would aim your way from time to time however. This was more… well, you had no frame of reference for it actually, but there was worry present there.
"Do not dwell on it piglet, you would not be the first to make such choices." Circe says quietly, her voice soothing like a mist of water on a hot day. "There will be more difficulty in your future, but you will overcome it." Then she smiles. "After all, unlike every other master in this war you have the aid of a
Grand witch."
You stare at her, silently. "What… do you think about all of this? About Caster, about this war, about Mordred and the like. I…" You close your eyes and let out a breath, turning your head away once more as you force yourself back to stability. It used to be that you could go through the motions of your Kyudo to do that, now that wasn't near enough. "None of this makes any sense. All of this for a
wish?"
"Man has long sought 'wishes'," Circe emphasizes the word, playing it on her tongue like the final drop of an expensive sake she wishes to savor. "Whether gifts from the Gods, or from those beings who dwell in Tartarus, it mattered to them little. The faces change, the technology, the beliefs and the names. But man will always return to their baser instincts. They shall always want more, desire greater things than they have. It is a rare man to be satisfied, and a wish promises something that no man can be said to have."
You open your eyes again, then look back at the witch. She was no longer smiling, instead she was holding her hair to gaze at it in front of her face. Her eyes met your own a moment later, and the smile returned at the sight of the silent question that likely showed on your face.
"Everything, of course." Circe replies. "What is a wish but that most
powerful of magics, I can grant you a great many boons Shirou, there was a time I could move the stars in the night sky and dance in the vanishing moments between eternities." The hand holding the hair twists, and the hair flashes a brilliant gold before slinking back away from her fingers. "Wars have been fought, gods have been slain for a wish. They have all but disappeared, along with the other mysteries of this world." Circe continues, "Do not describe it as some mere thing, would this ritual they have planned truly work, there is very little it could not do." Her eyes then flit to you, "Do you have a wish in mind?"
"No." You answer simply. There was only one thing you had wanted from this whole endeavor, and you so far not getting it. As for yourself separate from this war… to be a hero, that was something you would accomplish with your own two hands. Of course, you were doing a very bad job of being a hero at the moment regardle-
"You did save that brother of your girlfriend, I would say you are doing the best you can." Circe says.
"Mind reading now?" you ask warily.
"Mind reading? No, too much effort. Man reading, yes. I have plenty of experience with that." Circe replies with a smirk. "I knew great men, heroes that are now myth and legend. Not even Hercules could save all those he knew, nor could Achilles."
"Does not mean I can't try," you reply.
"No, no it does not." Circe admits. "But you should not fault yourself for failing to live at such a standard regardless." Circe then pushes herself back up into a sitting position, the woman was very close to you now, smelling of herbs and honey. "As for your questions, however," Circe goes silent for several moments, one hand moving to her lap as she looks briefly, oddly pensive. "Medea remains Medea, the girl was stubborn as a child, but she has now surrounded herself by an iron core so that she cannot be hurt again." One side of Circe's lip curls up in a conspiratorial smirk. "You have done well to break her out of that, and with great speed too… though I suppose she may have been desperate for anyone to make the attempt. I would ask you to take care of her."
"I think she takes care of me more often than not." You reply.
"It is a mutual affair," Circe replies. "As for this war, foolishness, and there is something deeply wrong with it as a whole, not the idea, if fool magus want to kill each other for sport that is their business. But this whole affair… something about it, well." Circe's smirk fades. "You shall have to discover that for yourself, it is not my place to say."
… She knew more than she was letting on, but then, she had since you first met her. The way she acted, the things she said. You had a mind to confront her about it, but then, she had never once been malicious to you either.
"Fujimaru, I couldn't say," Circe continues. "In time, perhaps. But wouldn't want me to at the moment."
"You know her?"
"After a fashion, in a manner that would be hard to explain. Just be assured she means you no harm."
"I know she doesn't."
"So quick to trust?"
You frown. "It's a waste of time to be suspicious of everybody."
"Explains why you are so eager to speak to a witch." Circe teases. "As for Mordred… she is a broken shell that is not within my abilities to fix. Perhaps, with time she could recover a slight fragment of whom she used to be, she is of the Berserker, and has been deeply infected by the madness that causes." Circe lets out a long, wistful breath. "If you trained and focused on it, you could theoretically lower the shackles it has on her mind, but full sanity is beyond her now."
"How would I do that?" you ask eagerly. "I want to help her if I can."
"Even after she stabbed Ayako and nearly killed you?" Circe asks.
"If I can help her, I will." You answer firmly.
Circe stares at you quizzically for a few moments, then. "Give me some time to look into it. However, do not expect a miracle."
"Thank you Circe."
The grin returns. "Oh, do feel free to flatter me more. But now I do believe I get to ask a question in turn. What
do you think of Medea? And myself?"
"That is… two questions." You reply.
"And you asked me three," Circe teases. "Even if it was disguised as one."
"I am very grateful to the both of you," you honestly answer after a few seconds of thought. "Medea is… evasive, she doesn't seem to like answering things honestly, and frankly I thought she didn't like me very much. But I consider her someone close to me now, and…" Your thoughts move back to
that night and
that dream.
"She's gotten a touch handsy." Circe says with a giggle.
Your cheeks turn so violently hot so quickly you could have been used to heat a pot of tea. "You know about that?"
"I'm the one who arranged matters in such a way that it
could happen. The girl needed a push in your direction, she was dithering, too scared to make a move." Circe replies. "I merely gave her a strong kick on the buttocks and she took care of the rest."
"What… about Ayako?"
Circe arches a brow. "What about her? Your life is far from normal Shirou, and if you break my dear Medea's heart I will do far worse than turn you into a piglet." The threat was clear as day in her voice, then she smiles. "Do not be hung up on modern sensibilities when you are dealing with magic and witches. Now, your question?"
You swallow, you would rather much like to ask her more about… all of that, but instead you focus on what you used today. "That bow I used today, you said it belonged to a troublesome man." You think on it, recalling what you had felt at that moment. "I saw… snippets of something, I knew how the bow was made, I knew how to
use it. And I don't know how or why, who did it belong to?"
"Believe my honesty when I say I know little about how your magic works Shirou, I shall continue to study it to aid you. But I would suggest speaking to that red fellow that follows Sakura around. I bore witness to him doing something similar." Circe replies. "As for the original owner of the bow… I do not wish to speak of him. Bad memories, I'm sure you understand."
… You did, yes. "Anything else?"
"It is a good bow, strong and able." Circe replies. "It will serve you well, but do not overly rely on it. Your magecraft will need to be used just as ably if you wish to protect the ones you love. More than one fool put all his faith in a weapon and lost his life over it. "
"Alright, your question?"
"Did you prefer me as you first saw me?" Circe asks.
"... Excuse me?"
Circe waves a hand over herself, and at once there's a
change. She twists in your vision like you were looking at a mirror from a weird angle. One moment, she is as you've known her, the next, she is as she was in that first dream. Taller, fuller, and, for lack of a better term, stacked. She grins at you, then leans over, a twinkle in her eyes as she comes ever closer.
You, almost on instinct, lean back, then you quickly find yourself scooting across the bed by about a foot as she swings herself around. Her breasts shifting quite distractingly within the confines of her silk dress as she looms
over you. She's holding herself up with one arm, the other draped across the bed noticeable, but you have a hard time
focusing on that.
"I can make myself as desirable as I need to be." Circe replies. "I'm well aware that I am not considered attractive in this day and age." Circe finishes. "So, be honest. How do I look?"
…
You weren't sure how you were meant to be reacting when a beautiful woman had you partially pinned to the bed. You knew how a very
particular part of your body was reacting, but you never really let it lead the charge in your life. Honesty, you felt, would be the best thing to showcase here. "I thought you were pretty regardless."
Circe tilts her head, jewel-eyes glittering in the darkness. "Oh?"
"You're…" you let out a breath. Shinji was the one who was good with girls, as was Issei, despite the fact that he never seemed to actually be interested in them. You weren't. "Your hair, your ears, your dress. I thought they were charming regardless, and you are very fun to talk to?"
Circe stares at you for several moments, "would you prefer me over that Assassin?"
Your mind thinks to the brunette, then you nod your head. "She's pretty but… I don't really know her?"
Circe continues staring at you, then she smiles, pulling back.
By the time you get your senses in order she's already turned back to her normal self, hand in her lap, smiling. "A fine answer, now, anything else?"
You nod your head, pushing yourself back up into a sitting position. "It's…" your eyes drift to the crotch of your pants and you shift to cover it. Circe, thankfully, doesn't comment. "Why… did you come onto me in that dream? And now, I suppose."
"Ah." Circe replies. "A fine question. That would be because I love you."
View: https://youtu.be/3L1DEvzsftw
That would explain that you sup-
You're sorry what?
"You were amusing, at first. But oh so very earnest, I found myself becoming interested rather quickly. So I made an offer, and I must admit I was both surprised and pleased you managed to refuse me. Though, I must admit there was more than… one reason I came onto you as such." Circe says, then she stands and walks in front of you, she moves one hand over the immobile arm, then draws it away to reveal… a stump. You stare at it, your eyes widening. Just above where the elbow would be, the arm… stops. The flesh around the end was closed, but heavy marks of bruising surrounded it.
"This morning," Circe explains. "My magic could seal the wound and numb the pain, but little else. I have been using an illusion ever since."
You were standing before you even realized, in an attempt to do… you weren't honestly sure. "Why were you hiding it?"
"As to not worry you or Medea." Circe explains with a small smile. "I am no servant Shirou, my wounds are more permanent. I could heal it, but that would be a poor decision."
You move from staring at the stump to her eyes, asking the question with a look alone.
"I do not belong here Shirou," Circe says with a sigh. "I hid from the world, I am…" Circe then frowns. "Relic makes me sound too old, antique is worse. Vintage. Yes. The root of this world does not appreciate my existence and would dearly like me gone. At the moment that means I cannot draw mana from the environment anymore, what I left the island with is what I have, and to replace my arm would drain me completely."
Your eyes flick to the command seals on your wrist.
"I'm afraid not," Circe replies, amused. "I am a living being, not a spirit. Hence why I wished to speak to you, there are… other ways of obtaining mana. Ways I believed Medea offered to you in the past."
Your mind flashes back to that evening, Medea naked as the day she was born in your room, and a very difficult to refuse offer. "I-."
Your lips are sealed by a finger pressing against it. "Before you respond, know this Shirou. I do not care about your relationship with Ayako as I have stressed." She then lowers it, smiling an impish smile. "That is not to say I disapprove of it, I merely am stating I fail to see the need to restrict things. Of course, if you refuse, I shall attempt to find other ways of retrieving mana, this is merely the simplest. And at a certain point a woman just needs to hear a yes or no, piglet. No waiting to ask a friend, or trying to phrase rejection in pretty terms. So. What do you say?"
—
This does not affect your relationship with Ayako. At least, not in any detrimental way.
[] [Accept]
[] [Refuse]
No write-ins for this one.
