Fate/Hollow Order

[Sucal]

[X] Tenfoldshields

....... Note to self: keep anything with a saberface away from Medea. And maybe reinforce the space with walls and people.

Click to shrink...

I dunno, I'd love to see her reaction to meeting Mordred

 

[Nidhoggr]

[ ] Cast a force field around Marche.
[ ] Cast Reinforcement on her and tell her to run.
[ ] Throw your shield. Servants can summon their Noble Phantasms back, right?
[ ] Put your head down and shoulder charge until you get to Marche. You'll figure things out from there.
[ ] Start swinging and hope that shield has enough weight to break some bones.

Click to shrink...

Well there was that time we were given the option to throw our shield and we didn't take it

You, meanwhile, decide to...
--[ ] Try to catch Hassan off-guard in melee. It could happen!
--[ ] Throw your shield at Hassan while he's distracted. It could work!
--[ ] Try to uh... use your... Noble Phantasm? It's better than nothing!
--[ ] Cast a force field around Olga Marie, Marche and Luvia. It worked on Marche, you can make it a bit bigger for three, right?
--[ ] Cast defensive Reinforcement on Rider. The safer he is, the better.
--[ ] Be patient and wait for an opportunity to arise. You're (almost) certain you'll see it when it happens.

Click to shrink...

And then we were given the option again later, and we did take it...

You could've sworn you saw white fur out of the corner of your eye, somewhere around floor-level. Did Four wake up? Did he, somehow filled with energy after his extended loss of consciousness, follow you down the lift and into this room?

Click to shrink...

[ ] Speak to your new Servant. Try to assess his abilities and identity.
[ ] Go in search of that fur you saw. You've had enough of Four's tricks.

Click to shrink...

And then recently we were given the option to go see what was up with Four.

"Four!"

You look down. Four is on the floor, perhaps trapped in here ever since the person who left you the 'phone' entered. The fluffy white familiar looks up at you with big, soulful blue eyes. He hops, squeaking insistently.

Click to shrink...

And since we didn't pick the option last time, Zerban shoved him in our faces again.

Okay Zerban, we get it, you want us to see what's up with Four.

...Lousy railroading sunova -grumble grumble-

I ain't voting for it out of sheer stubbornness and spite, but I'm sure that won't stop the rest of you from doing it.

Now if you don't mind me, I'm gonna try and fill a desert with all of this salt.

 

[reborn214]

[X] Tenfoldshields

 

[will408914]

[X] Tenfoldshields

 

[Xkeizer]

I dunno, I'd love to see her reaction to meeting Mordred

Click to shrink...

Or Nero for that matter. She'd love the attention and no one has to worry about the Sabers for an undetermined amount of time.

 

[Revlid]

Honestly, I'm kind of baffled by the Four option, given Rostam seems to believe (with good reason) that it's a familiar. Even Tenfold's write-in didn't eliminate the possibility. "Let's unload all my emotional baggage and doubts onto this intelligent security camera with legs" seems a little out of character for a shut-in whose big heartfelt emotional speech was preceded by a raft of internal excuses regarding the logistical benefits.

Medea is called Witch Of Betrayal for a reason.

Click to shrink...

Because of all those people she betrayed, yeah. Y'know, like the guy who abandoned her for another woman, or the guy who tried to have her killed by Lancer, and then ordered her to commit suicide? Those people. Pretty much the only actual betrayal she committed, if we assume King Aegeus is off the table, was of her father... which she was mind-controlled into.

elf dindu nuffin

 

[defenestrator]

I will not be swayed away from elf ears by your fancy shmancy write ins.

 

[ZerbanDaGreat]

Alright, I normally try to keep my thread-interference at a minimum between updates (aside from fishing for Funnies) so I can focus up and just watch things play out. But I feel the need to say two things before I get to work.

First of all, the thing about write-ins and their weighting against votes. I don't mean any offence to anybody when I say this, but posts from people like Revlid or TenfoldShields or LupineVolt or Nyxistence are worth ten or twenty "[Y] Vote" posts. I do this because I'm a creepy voyeur and I like watching everyone react. I do this because it's a really awesome feeling to see people talking about my story and their investment in it because they have a stake in where it goes. Write-ins are special because when done right, when I like them a lot, they're worth more than the single vote of the person writing them or even whatever voting turn they inspire. You can find that unfair. You aren't wrong, really. But a quest is a quest because of the people who read it and contribute, so I get in a favouritisim...is...tic... mood. And it means I don't have to do as much work so woohoo.

And second, something that returning fans from Hollow Fake may remember. I've been trying to be subtle about it, but it seems I'll have to come out and be straight about it again. Try not to just assume things and form a bunch of preconceived notions about how things are and how they will be based on canon, alright? In the end it doesn't do anybody many favours. The proof is right here, when everyone's reaction to Shinji replacing Dr. Roman was "Aw yiss" instead of "Oh no hide your kids hide your wife and hide your husband 'cause he raping errybody up here". Deliberately being a dick to Four and going MERLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN like you're Homura screaming at Kyubey was funny in the first twenty or thirty pages but now it's just getting kind of tired. At some point you should really just settle down and try to think about it from a newcomer perspective, right?

Anyway, enough non-update rambling. I've said my piece. Enjoy deafening silence for the next ten thousand years.

 

[defenestrator]

Speaking of write-ins, I don't suppose anyone has a write in for "Speak to Medea", but with Rostam getting his shit together first? The two aren't exactly mutually exclusive.

While it's human and in-character for Rostam to decompress first before plunging in back into the fight, I think it should be considered that Medea was spending zerban-knows-how-long in a post-Grailpocalyptic world with no one else to speak with aside from omnicidal blackened servants.

 

[Manic Dogma]

Does anyone else suspect four is Marche? 'cause I suspect four is Marche.

I'm not particularly familiar with F/GO, but if I were a shapeshifting asshole who was good at acting (and going by certain mythologies and my shaky understanding about Fate!Merlin from other media, is the son of the Prince of Lies), it's what i'd do.

 

[Wade Garrett]

Welp. We're getting an update where nothing happens except Four wagging his fwuffy widdle tail and and wiggling his widdle nose while Rostam gushes over how adorable he is.

Boy, I sure am looking forward to 2,000 words of "Introvert stays in his room and strokes fluffy animal". That's going to be much, much more interesting to read than any of the other options where we could have actually gone outside the bedroom and interacted with actual characters.

Que sera, sera.

 

[LupineVolt]

Welp. We're getting an update where nothing happens except Four wagging his fwuffy widdle tail and and wiggling his widdle nose while Rostam gushes over how adorable he is.

Boy, I sure am looking forward to 2,000 words of "Introvert stays in his room and strokes fluffy animal". That's going to be much, much more interesting to read than any of the other options where we could have actually gone outside the bedroom and interacted with actual characters.

Que sera, sera.

Click to shrink...

Keep in mind this is Zerban, an author who made you feel feelings about the death of a Pre-Modern Era Indian Political Wizard and an English Occultist who was shat upon by the world itself.

I've no doubt that wheels are in motion, somehow, some way.

 

[Wade Garrett]

Keep in mind this is Zerban, an author who made you feel feelings about the death of a Pre-Modern Era Indian Political Wizard and an English Occultist who was shat upon by the world itself.

I've no doubt that wheels are in motion, somehow, some way.

Click to shrink...

Perhaps it is merely a failure of my imagination, but I am...skeptical that I would have become as attached to Assassin and Caster of Red as I did had their dialogue been limited solely to "Chan! Chan!" and "Dee! Dee!"

 

[ZerbanDaGreat]

Welp. We're getting an update where nothing happens except Four wagging his fwuffy widdle tail and and wiggling his widdle nose while Rostam gushes over how adorable he is.

Boy, I sure am looking forward to 2,000 words of "Introvert stays in his room and strokes fluffy animal". That's going to be much, much more interesting to read than any of the other options where we could have actually gone outside the bedroom and interacted with actual characters.

Que sera, sera.

Click to shrink...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but can you reeeeeally get all that upset over thinking an update will be relatively uneventful when said updates are regularly daily? I don't know what the standard update rate is but I'd hazard a guess to say that I'm a lot quicker than most. So... *scales motion*

 

[Wade Garrett]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but can you reeeeeally get all that upset over thinking an update will be relatively uneventful when said updates are regularly daily? I don't know what the standard update rate is but I'd hazard a guess to say that I'm a lot quicker than most. So... *scales motion*

Click to shrink...

24 more hours to get to the good stuff? That's like...two forevers! / entitled brat voice

 

[ZerbanDaGreat]

24 more hours to get to the good stuff? That's like...two forevers! / entitled brat voice

Click to shrink...

Quiet you, or we're not stopping at McDonald's.

Alright fine we're stopping at McDonald's but you can't blow on you apple pie.

 

[Sucal]

Perhaps it is merely a failure of my imagination, but I am...skeptical that I would have become as attached to Assassin and Caster of Red as I did had their dialogue been limited solely to "Chan! Chan!" and "Dee! Dee!"

Click to shrink...

At the same time to put things in a slightly blunt manner of my own, this is a different quest with different rules. While we might be more rushed while inside the actual singularities, we don't have the same 'ZOMG THE WORLD IS GONNA END' pressure outside of them. Not only that, as shown by Hollow Fake, even the seemingly most inconsequential update can have rather large effects when we least expect it, and I have no doubt that Zerban would waste any scene that we are given. While they are seemingly no obvious benefits from ranting at what might be a fluffy white animal who was seemingly engineered to reduce everyones guard or whatever, for all we know it might be revealed that his fur is enchanted to reduce our stress or blood pressure.


Or maybe its just a well written 'slice of life' piece that serves to entertain, and we can do some worthwhile interactions in the next chunk of spare time before or after the meeting.

 

[LupineVolt]

Well, this is also the option that most leads to Rostam acquiring a small animal that can ride around on his shoulders like a parrot.

Then we can turn them over to Medea, who can make them adorable little outfits!

 

[Sucal]

Well, this is also the option that most leads to Rostam acquiring a small animal that can ride around on his shoulders like a parrot.

Then we can turn them over to Medea, who can make them adorable little outfits!

Click to shrink...

I think we'd have to fight Marche to the death to take her head pet away from her. She'd lose 90% of her screen time otherwise!

 

[The3rdCorinthian]

I think we'd have to fight Marche to the death to take her head pet away from her. She'd lose 90% of her screen time otherwise!

Click to shrink...

No! Not her screen time! She needs what she can get!

 

[Wade Garrett]

At the same time to put things in a slightly blunt manner of my own, this is a different quest with different rules. While we might be more rushed while inside the actual singularities, we don't have the same 'ZOMG THE WORLD IS GONNA END' pressure outside of them.

Click to shrink...

Technically, we do? I mean, in Hollow/Fake we didn't get to the "Surprise! THE END IS NIGH!" until midway through the Quest, whereas Olga Marie dropped it on us in...I want to say update four or five but don't feel like checking right now.

Secondly, Hollow/Fake was not an endless cavalcade of "Must burn candle at both ends and the middle no rest no breaks not even for donuts or peeing BEAR ALL THE BURDENS!"

There was many a vote where "Christ Tammy you're burned out take a minute and de-tox go go slice of life" carried the day, it's just that those votes tended to be "Interact with Best Girl Elizabeth", "Interact with Best Shield Yuko", or "Interact with Best Blacklight Disney Princess Enkidu".

And the thing all those characters have that Four lacks is they could all do more than bounce around puppyishly saying their name over and over while begging for a tummy rub.

 

[Lord Marshal]

Guys, can't we simply trust the QM?
Zerban already gave us Best Avenger....so...
Let's trust him,ok?
If he have an update with four is because he think an update with four is good for the story, even if it's simply watching Not!Kyubei being adorable and licking us on the cheek.
Ok?
I prefer talking about what will happen or what we can do instead of going full "this update is not interesting".
His quest, his game, let's follow the rules, be happy and enjoy the ride while speculating like people before a new star wars film.

 

[defenestrator]

I want to say update four or five but don't feel like checking right now.

Click to shrink...

Chapter Seven.

Just gonna hope that Medea's overslept this morning.

 

[ZerbanDaGreat]

[x] Speak to Four. Pick up the stupid fluffy thing, place him on your bed, and talk. Run through everything you know, every detail you've picked up in this whirlwind of insanity. Maybe putting it all into words will help you make sense of it, and at least talking to Four will let you figure things out without embarrassing yourself in front of a real person.

Click to shrink...

"Four!"

A moment of silence. You sigh and roll on your side, blindly reaching down until your fingers touch his furry belly. He squeaks as you scoop him up one handed. Little legs churning the air. You roll back over and hold him above you, eyeing him blearily. His coat's so thick your hands have almost vanished inside. He wiggles and squirms against your grip, fragile ribs pressing against your palms. You gingerly set him down on your chest.

There's an ache in your muscles. Like the sinews been turned to elastic, the tendons to warm rubber. Your arms are half-limp. Your stomach, your sternum, it feels like they're smouldering. Lines of heat worming through the red fibres of meat. You reek of smoke and dried sweat. You need to take a shower. You need to find some food. You need to talk to Medea, Luvia, Marche, Rider, and-

"Fou-four!"

Short white claws poke your cheek as the dog-cat-fox-thing paws at your face. You reach up and scritch the ruff of fur around his neck. He leans into your touch. He seems to enjoy it.

"...Who do you even belong to? You're not Marche's are you? And Madam Da Vinci would have known if you were Professor Uvall's. Are you Luvia's?" You try to imagine Luvia owning something so delicate and frail. You snort to yourself, first hints of a smile tugging up the corners of your lips. A thought crosses your mind. The smile slowly fades.

"Were you Miss Olga Marie's?"

Four just cocks his head, haunches rising and falling in time with his breathing.

"Is there even anyone on the other end?"

"Four!"

"...As you say then." You fall quiet for a moment. Considering. "I've never had a pet you know. Oh I've been trained to handle familiars but it's not the same. I've never had colleagues like this before either. Coworkers. Oh, there were students I knew at the Clocktower and sometimes there were collaborative projects but, heh, it's not the same either I suppose."

You slump back against your pillow.

"I...I don't know if I hate this place or not. It's insane. I've been here a day, if that, and the place has already been almost leveled. And that's just the start! I saw, I saw the end of the world! I almost died! Several times! There are three heroes from antiquity who all look to me now but two of them barely wear any clothes and one of them's a demigoddess from ancient Greece and if I don't figure something out soon she's going to start firing manablasts through the walls and I don't think this building can take much more."

Half-curled fingers through your short hair. Your free hand limply smacks against the mattress. You're not used to these kinds of outbursts, these unrestrained displays. Feels as if you've been having a lot of them recently. Still, you have to admit, you feel a little better venting. The nascent throbbing behind your eyes has bled away. Now you only feel like cold, congealed garbage. Which is, admittedly, a distinct step up.

"And then the thing pretending to be Professor Uvall is apparently answering to some hidden master of his own." You mutter, more to yourself than anything. "So it's just lovely all around."


Four carefully lies down. Belly warm, slowly expanding and contracting, through your shirt and against your chest. He rests his chin on his extended forepaws, a fluffy white pillow for his head. You meet his gaze (how hard, it's an animal) and try to decipher is furry little thoughts. You imagine it's a look of sympathy. As if, hobbled by his rather limited vocabulary, he's attempting to silently console you. You pat him in appreciation, scritching the peak of his skull between his big, fuzzy ears. He leans into it, eyes half-closing. He doesn't have the facial structure for it but you imagine that he's smiling.

"... I don't know why that spirit chose me," you say. It takes even you by surprise. Four gives you a look like he's hanging on your every word. "Luvia is the senior magus, by at least a decade. She's a veteran of the Grail War. She evidently knows how to fight already. Why wouldn't it fuse with her? Just imagine. If she were Shielder, we would..."

You sigh. "I don't know. I don't know about most things any more. All I know is that more and more I'm starting to think that that Spirit only chose me out of pity. And I wonder if, were Luvia to have become Shielder in my place, I would have a place in the fight right now. I wonder if, were I still human, I would be in Marche's position. Standing around. Watching. Unable to do anything. Were it not for that shield acting as a Mystic Code my magecraft would be laughable against a Servant."

"Four." It's very difficult to sound solemn when the only word you can say is squeaked out like a child's toy, but Four makes a valiant effort at it. He shuffles a little further up your chest, reaching up with one paw to gently bat your chin. "Four, four?"

You tilt your head back and screw your eyes shut tight for a moment. "I... don't know. Damn it, I have too many reasons to say that now. I'm just stumbling around in the dark, hoping the next thing I grab will stop me from blundering into something else. How am I supposed to do the work of fifty people? Fifty people. Fifty magi. Fifty magi of some ability or renown and fifty Servants summoned by each and every one of them. I have three or, well, two if Einzbern and Matou have anything to say about it. And God knows how reliable my mana output is any more but sustaining even one Servant is meant to be trouble and I have to look after my own existence now as a Demi-Servant and..."

You tilt your head up to look at Four again. "You have it easy. I've seen animals around, driving to and from the Clock Tower. Seen them as the less exotic familiars, too. Cats are likely the closest. I never see them move. They always just lounge around, nothing on their mind, waiting to be fed. No cares at all. No self-awareness. No one expecting any of them because they're just an animal, nobody expects anything from an animal. Right now, if someone offered me the chance to trade places with you, I'd seriously consider it."

"Four-four!" Four shakes his head vigorously. You chuckle slightly.

"I see you know how good you have it already. Not about to give it up for... well, all of this." You gesture at yourself.

Four stands with a stretch, reaches out a forepaw, and bats your nose. "Four."

"I suppose all this self-pity won't change anything. Waste of time, really."

Four shakes his head again. "Four."

"Agree to disagree."

Four squeaks with a tone of reluctant agreement. You groan, cricking your neck to the left and right, and carefully slide your hands under Four's middle to scoop the furry creature off your chest. He goes limp as he's hoisted into the air, weakly dogpaddling as if he can find purchase by swimming through the air. A somewhat worried squeak escapes him.

"I won't drop you," you reassure him. "I have steady hands. Dropping things tends to go poorly in a workshop."

You set Four down beside you and slide off the bed. You feel moderately disgusting for having slept in your clothes without taking a shower, but at least you aren't a hair's breadth from passing out with a needle of pain intermittently prodding your frontal lobe. You ruffle your stiff, still-ashy hair sleepily and feel around for the button on your wall. The cool plastic depresses and the door slides open.

"You can leave now if you want."

Four plants his rear on your rumpled covers, the fur making is back end look twice as wide as his shoulders. "Four."

You smile a little. "Alright then. I won't be long."

The en suite is quite modest and on the cramped side of small, but it serves its purpose. It's hard to mess up hot water for a tired body. Your filthy clothes simply dissipate into mana when you take them off - it seems a fringe benefit of Demi-Servant-hood is a reduced laundry bill. You wish that benefit extended to your now-grey bedsheets. But then you get under the spray of hot water (thank every deity that has or will ever exist that the hot water works after those bombs) and your troubles retreat to a comfortable distance. Your tension-knotted muscles relax just that extra fraction more. Your thoughts don't seem quite so sluggish with hot water slashing through the caked-on, sweat-mixed ash in your hair and on your skin. You feel like a human being again. Or at least half of one. You stay in until the water finally stops running black and turns clear, then stay in a little longer. When you step out of the shower cubicle you feel... better. All-around a hair's breadth closer to being ready to face the day.

You stand there naked for a few seconds and scratch your chin awkwardly, wondering how the clothing situation is going to work. A few seconds more, and the solution thankfully presents itself. Your 'Servant' outfit spins itself into being around you, clean as if freshly laundered in the extradimensional space Servants keep all their things. You adjust the fit, but it's only habit. It all fits you perfectly. You step back into your room and half-wave at the waiting Four.

"Four!" he says approvingly.

Your eye is drawn to the beside table. The phone you were left has come to life again, a red box bright against the neutrally-coloured screen. You pick it up, awkwardly rubbing your thumb this way and that across the screen, tapping a few times, until you get the right combination of arcane gestures. Another message from Einzbern appears beneath the former.

'I'm sorry I forgot to tell you earlier. Just realized that you might be pretty interested to know. Medea is in B4. Leonardo rigged up a containment cell in some of the old storage rooms. Brought down dormitory furniture so it's not just putting her in a box and locking it. Last I heard she was still unconscious. Seems what she went through in that singularity really took it out of her. If you want to go see her, I understand. Shinji and I are here on the ground floor if you want us. Luvia's down in the B3 training room, so I'd recommend you bring an EOD suit if you want to go talk to her. If Marche isn't in her room she's probably just wandering, so don't be too worried.

-Alfons.'

You check the time. 8:10. Not bad, all things considered.

"I should probably get going. No sense waiting in here until the briefing."

Four hops up on his hind legs and prods at your arm. "Four! Four!" He scrabbles, blunt little claws raking down your toughened skin. Even you can tell he wants to come with you. You think about it for a moment. Then you think about it some more. Then you crouch down and offer your hands cupped together, arms bent in a sort of 'bucket' shape. Four hops on. You grunt.

"Quite heavy for a small thing."

"Four!" Four squeaks in offense.

You lift him up to about chest height, his fur tickling your nose. He squirms for purchase, stubby legs waddling in the wind, before he manages to get a 'grip' on your shoulder. He pulls himself up with all his strength, balancing precariously on your left shoulder. He tries to find a more stable position, leaning against your ear like half of a pair of very warm earmuffs, before sort of going limp like a draped scarf. You give him one more appreciative pat before you pocket (you suspect the pockets are an anachronism for your benefit) the phone and hit the button once more. You step out into the hallway, ready for the day. A bit.

[ ] See Medea on B4. If anyone's doing a wake-up call, it might as well be you.
[ ] See Leonardo on B5. She's got her finger on the pulse, and you have to admit she intrigues you.
[ ] Call Rider to speak to him. Now that you've unwound, you should be ready to handle him. Should.
[ ] Call everyone together to introduce Saber and get briefing out of the way. Might as well, while your mood holds.
[ ] See Dr. Matou on this level. Best get a handle on this 'Demi-Servant' thing early.
[ ] See Einzbern on this level. He seems to be emerging as the new de facto director, so it's probably best to get up-to-speed with him.
[ ] See Luvia on B3. She's still technically your direct superior, and a better working relationship with her couldn't hurt. Besides, you probably need a trip to the training facilities anyway.
[ ] See if you can find Marche. You've had a heart-to-heart with her pet, may as well go see how she's taking everything.
[ ] Go investigate that mysterious 'pest problem' the staff mentioned. Probably nothing, given the trivial things mundanes usually concern themselves with, but there's still a chance it's something worth looking into.

 

[Sucal]

[X] See Medea on B4. If anyone's doing a wake-up call, it might as well be you.