So, thinking about the relative merits of the options after the war... Kiara would almost certainly want to make sure Mimi still had agency - she wants her to win, after all. But it might technically be a sort of "for your own safety" securing, since they do that with grails?
Whereas Gray/Wavers offer is a little more open ended. In either case a lot of it will depend on us having a patron and staying on good terms with them, so it kind of comes down to Waver vs Kiara for who's trustworthy and good to Mimi, maybe.
I think Waver is quietly offering his OWN patronage...he'd certainly be quite able to offer more support, especially teaching/mentoring outside of limited timespan Heroic Spiritd, but magi being magi...not as much insulation or isolation.
Some of those guys are a little less likely to be deterred by politics alone after all.
[X] East to hunt down Caster- he's on the back foot, why not try to end him.
So, thinking about the relative merits of the options after the war... Kiara would almost certainly want to make sure Mimi still had agency - she wants her to win, after all. But it might technically be a sort of "for your own safety" securing, since they do that with grails?
Whereas Gray/Wavers offer is a little more open ended. In either case a lot of it will depend on us having a patron and staying on good terms with them, so it kind of comes down to Waver vs Kiara for who's trustworthy and good to Mimi, maybe.
"Caster." You point to the east on one of the maps, to where you recall Caster- Lainurs hideout being. At least, before Adashino got people to sink it. But With how things are, you don't think they'd have been able to go far. Mages make their lairs where they do for a reason, you know that much. "He's been left alone for too long and he's seen more of us than others did. If he's planning anything we can't- we've got to stop it."
"You would finish matters with Caster and his Master then?" Ruler asks from behind you. "While I have nothing against the man himself, I cannot stand the thought of his Master profiting from this war. Not when he tried to use you as some disposable chip."
"Adashino made mention of the Lainurs having some property in that part of town. And you don't want to let a Caster have free reign to work." El-Melloi says from the pile of documents he's got in front of him. "He's the logical choice to try and pick off now. So if you go there, expect him to have something planned."
Oh yeah. He'd be speaking from experience there. That's something to bear in mind. There's a brief rustle from within Gray's cloak as she stands, nodding slightly to El-Melloi. "Right. Thank you Sir."
"Right- so. Ready then?" You ask Gray, who simply nods in response, shifting her grip on the birdcage she carries. "Then- we'll be off. No point waiting for Caster to do anything he wants."
"Come back safely!" Flat calls as you back away from the table, a sentiment echoed by El-Melloi and Izabetha, leaving you and Gray both muttering similar things in response. It's an odd thing to hear yourself saying, and you fumble the words a bit from inexperience. Of course you want to come back safely. Being safe is the whole reason you're fighting here. But if nothing else… you'd prefer it if the others don't get hurt either. But with that awkward parting, you and Gray leave the room, Flat and Izabetha having yet to finish their preparations so remain behind. And just like that, it's only you, Gray and Ruler.
A faint breeze greets the three of you as you emerge into the evening, the sky fading into the deep violet of dusk. There's much less in the way of idle chat as you make your way across the city this time, that oppressive sensation of danger filling the air as dusk deepens to night. The odd exchange or so, Ruler taking care to keep the atmosphere light. But you know what you want to do, so the only thing is to go do it. At the very least, with Assassin dead, the shadows of the alleyways don't fill you with the tension they used to as you flit between them, keeping yourself hidden as best you can as you slip eastwards, to the docklands and Lainurs lair.
The walk might be tense and dragging on, even with Ruler doing her best to keep the mood light, but you arrive in the docklands without incident. As you look out across the Thames, you're greeted with the sight of Lainurs boat as it sits half-submerged beneath the water, only the cordoned-off bow of the vessel remaining above the surface. You're not sure how to feel about the sight- you might have sold him out to get ahead just as he'd have done for you, but at the same time he's your enemy in this war and denying him all the fancy stuff he had there can't hurt your chances. You just wish you could have got this outcome in a way that wasn't so much like what they'd have done.
But now you're here, you take a deep breath, sniffing the air as you reach out, trying to sense the flow of magic in the area. There's a rich blend of magecrafts coming from the sunken wreck of Lainurs, along with a grim presence that's a flat, even texture as far as you can sense, matching that oppressive air the night has these days. But from nearby, there's some more you can feel, a mixture of sterile scents and some other flavours that match some of what's coming from Lainur's wreck.
"There- that direction. The magic energy- it feels the same." You indicate the direction, drawing an appreciative ooh from Ruler.
"Well, it's better than just circling aimlessly." Ruler says, a slight nod of agreement from Gray as she starts heading off in the direction you indicate. "That's a rare talent you have there, my Master. It's good to see you making use of it."
It's a much shorter trip to investigate the magic you felt, and a much tenser one this time around. You're in enemy territory now. But at the same time, despite the heart-pounding tension, it feels good. You're on the attack now- you're not just defending yourself.
After a short walk around the area, getting your bearings once or twice, you find the surest sign that you're on the right track. A single figure, standing in the middle of a well-lid street. A familiar hat and jacket, and a sharpened cane tapping against the tarmac in a measured beat. Caster.
"Ah, so you're the ones who've come for our heads tonight." Caster says softly, a slight edge in his voice. "The beast and the runaway. Are you not yet content? Do you wish more ruin upon my Master?"
"I'm not going back- not now- never- I'm not his thing!" You yell back, your hands tightening around the scrollcase.
Your vision flickers. A brief flash of red moving in the darkness. The faintest sound of grinding bone. T҉͍h̹̟̫̩͎̘͔e̛͙͈̲r̳̲̹͕e͙͡ ͉̠̲̫̥̻į̦͙̻̭s̵̳ ̱͈̬̭̮̳̩s̛̺̞ǫ̝̩̞̝m͍̹͚̯̮̤̰e̵̞̮͙t̩͉̘͚̹̲̟h͙̥͈̟̟͢i͙͙͉̻̥͝n̙̻̖͇̳͓͝ͅg̩̟̀ ̖͈̙͙ͅi̳͇̞͇̮̯n͚̦̣ ͍̲͇͔͙̜͠Ca̮̫̜͍s̙̰̗͜t̸̮̬̤̺e̴̪͓̞̣͕̥r̥̖̫͙̗͜'̰͇͉̹͓s͍͎̮͇̤̹̰͠ s̘̖͔h̟̀a̶̦͍̖d͕̟͢o̠̙̠̖w̶͎̻͎̬̻.
"A fine sentiment. But my Master still thinks you can be of use to him, and so we must fight." There's an almost approving note in Casters voice as he drops into a combat stance, fixing you all with a gaze from beneath his hat. "But I know the beast you fight with, and even with a ghost at your side, do not think this duel will go in your favour."
"Well well, aren't you the perceptive one." Ruler says with a cocky grin, shattering concrete with a forceful step forwards as flames start to flicker around her fists. "You deserve a better Master. But no matter what you have, you'll never catch me."
With that, the fight begins, Ruler closing the distance to Caster in a heartbeat, shattering the ground beneath her and crumpling lampposts as she bounces off them. A shining red flare rises into the air as Caster fires one bolt upwards, before firing another spread of shots down the street at the approaching pyre that is Ruler. There's a faint murmur from Gray, before Add unfolds into the gleaming scythe you saw her use against Assassin, effortlessly slicing a stray shot out of the air before charging forwards to join the fight.
Caster doesn't stand a chance. As you jog forwards to stay close to Ruler, you know this. Ruler's already got Caster on the back foot, flames spreading across the street as she dashes around, striking at Caster from all angles with an endless rain of hammering punches and bonebreaking kicks, all the while pinning him into an ever-tightening ring of fire, glass shattering in nearby windows from the impact of Ruler's blows and the force of her footfalls. And from the feeling in your chest, the power that Ruler's drawing from you- she's nowhere near her limit.
And that's before Gray arrives, her scythe a gleaming trail of death in the firelight. And while Caster could almost hold his own against Ruler, minimising the damage he was taking from the hits that she could land, there's no way he can fend off her as well; he'd been on the defensive before, but now there's no chance of him even trying to counterattack. And even with all his efforts focused on defense, blood soon stains the streets as Gray's scythe cuts into him, a faint snickering coming from it.
With no other options left to him, Caster's forced to dash backwards through Ruler's flames, scorching himself in the process. With a moment's respite, he reaches into his bag, pulling out a paper sachet as Ruler charges towards him, the flame around her fists blazing white-hot as Caster begins to chant.
"From ash to ash and by ash be sealed!" There's panic in his voice as he readies himself to throw the packet at Ruler. That's when you strike, unfurling the scrollcase and connecting to it, the sweet, relaxing aroma of the incense filling your lungs as you present the shimmering pattern towards Caster, the dazzling lights spinning inwards in an endless cycle.
And just like with Assassin, the pattern draws Caster's attention for one fatal moment, his focus slipping long enough that he can't throw his packet before Ruler launches that bolt of white heat at him. So rather than covering Ruler with its contents, Caster's forced to toss it into the air, bone-white ash sprinkling out of it as it arcs into the air.
The fireball hits the ash and just vanishes, nothing left but wisps of harmless smoke as Ruler rallies herself from that attack, darting back to avoid getting clipped by any stary sprinkles. Whatever Caster guessed, he was right, as a faint grin flashes over his face as he reaches into his bag again.
But that's when Gray strikes, leaping out from behind a wall of fire left from Ruler's passage earlier, out from a blind spot. The arc of her leap is a brilliant crescent that matches the shining crescent of the moon in the sky. And the swing of her scythe is yet another crescent, shining golden in the firelight as she swings it up, splitting flesh and bone to send Caster's arm spinning away in a spray of arterial blood, the arc of its passage the fourth crescent of a single second.
With a pained yell, Caster springs backwards, a weak and predictable leap that leaves him easy prey for Ruler, who flies forwards, driving a blazing palm into Caster's chest to the visceral crack of shattering bone.
But just as the blow lands, there's a surge of mana, blood red and blindingly intense, and Caster is gone, vanishing to somewhere an eyeblink before Ruler's blow would have driven his ribs through his heart and out the other side. And just like that, you're left alone in this street, shattered shopfronts and blazing concrete behind you, nobody here but you, Ruler and Gray, all bathed in the gleaming red light from the flare Caster shot into the sky.
The signal flare.
You run towards the others, panic welling up inside you as a feral roar rips through the night.
You reach them, the three of you standing in the middle of an intersection. Flaming ruin lies behind you, but nothing but empty streets down the other two roads.
A figure walks down one of the empty streets, the glitter of the riverwater behind him. A suited egyptian man, his shaven head gleaming under the streetlights, a gilded cane held casually in one hand. A single crimson stroke adorns his forehead, flanked by two faded dashes. "Ah, Lainur's runaway. Though he was never going to win the war, even before you ruined him."
A rich voice, as deep as old oak, supremely confident. You tremble as it slips into your ears. The arrogance of a magus who's in a superior position and knows it. The confidence of a man who holds your life in his palm and knows it. The blood-soaked words of a man who thinks of you as nothing more than a thing. "You cannot win. Surrender, and live."
"I'm. Not. Going. Back." You snarl at the man, glaring at him from behind your veil.
"Very well. Berserker!" The man calls out, as the roar sounds again, a building next to the man collapsing as something bursts out the other side with a deafening clatter.
The icy claw of terror grips your heart as a figure strides out of the dust. A figure both familiar and not. The towering form of Berserker, but- different. His armour is swollen and ill-fitting, glimpses of pale whiteness beneath the gaps in the plates, and his sword is being dragged along like an afterthought, making a blackboard-screech as it tears concrete apart with its passing. Your breath catches in your throat as Berserker glares at the three of you, his free hand clenching into a fist.
"Be calm-" Ruler says to you, quickly gripping your hand before interposing herself between you and Berserker. "Trust in me, my Master. I will protect you, I promise."
You nod at Ruler's words, but still tremble as Berserker steps forwards, buckling under the pressure of the murderous gaze coming from behind his visor. A panicked cry comes from beside you as Gray meets Berserkers's gaze, shaking her head as she takes a couple of frantic steps back, her hood slowly sliding back from the shaking.
"No no no no no no no-" She cries, as her hood slips away, revealing her androgynous face again, the terrified look on it a world apart from the composed look she wore when she first showed it to you on the night you met. Her scythe shakes in a white-knuckle grip, completely useless as fear freezes her solid.
Berserker growls, a low, menacing sound that reverberates through your bones as it rises upwards upwards into a furious cry, screaming his frustrations to the sky. He swings his sword upwards, holding it in a two-handed grip. And then, it ignites, a river of mana flooding up from beneath the ground into Berserker, so strong you can feel it even without trying, all being channeled into the pure-white torrent of energy that flares around the blade, turning night to day around it as it flares up and down in a ragged heartbeat.
"Do you see now?" His Master says. "You cannot win. Berserker, KILL."
"Master!" Ruler calls out to you, a tightness in your chest as she ignites, wings of flame bursting out of her back, burning a sun-bright gold in an attempt to match the white flare of Berserker's own mana. "We're not dying here!- Your orders?"
What do you do? Votes to be tallied as a single block.
Gray...
[] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
[] Gray takes a defensive role, to keep you and her safe
How does Ruler fight Berserker?
[] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
[] Go on the defensive, use healing and terrain control to make it an endurance match
[] Try and rush him down, shatter his defences for a fatal blow
You...
[] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do.
[] Focus on Berserker, the others need all the help they can get
[] Focus on the flow of mana. Is there anything you can do to it?
QM note- took a little bit, some life stuff happened. Not that happy with some of the last bit, but it's been a while and I wanted to get this update out for all of yous so here we go. Have fun with Berserker!
Other QM note- Ruler was a match for Caster when he had the terrain advantage and you had just summoned her which was also literally the first magecraft you'd ever done. You've grown a fair bit since then, you had Gray helping and a better location to fight in. Caster didn't get a combat vote because there was basically no way you could have failed to kick the shit out of him there.
Plan Whoop 'Em
[X] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
[X] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
[X] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
Berserker has boatloads of raw power but I suspect he's going to be easy to disorientate if he's got two high speed opponents focused on hit and run tactics. Our job should be to try and stop him messing with the battlefield so they can focus on that task.
[X] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
[X] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
[X] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
[X] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
[X] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
[X] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
[X] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
[X] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
[X] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
[X] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
[X] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
[X] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
[X] Gray takes a defensive role, to keep you and her safe [X] Go on the defensive, use healing and terrain control to make it an endurance match [X] Focus on the flow of mana. Is there anything you can do to it?
Generally speaking, you don't want to get into a straight up fight with a Berserker and between his armor and having regenerated when Saber stabbed him in the heart, I don't think this situation is all that different. Which leaves a fight of endurance. Usually a good idea given how high a typicical Berserker's energy consumption is, but likely not viable with the flow of mana, so that needs to go. Here's hoping a defensive Gray can intercept any oddball thrown at us.
I'll be calling the votes here as it's a fairly clear-cut divide.
Adhoc vote count started by Sightedjt on Sep 20, 2020 at 3:56 AM, finished with 7 posts and 6 votes.
[X] Gray supports Ruler on the offensive [X] Draw his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks [X] Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
[X] Gray takes a defensive role, to keep you and her safe [X] Go on the defensive, use healing and terrain control to make it an endurance match [X] Focus on the flow of mana. Is there anything you can do to it?
Gray supports Ruler on the offensive
Ruler draws his attention, focus on speed and agility with hit and run attacks
Focus your efforts on Berserkers Master. Stop whatever he tries to do
"Ruler! Go fast- don't let him hit you!" You cry out, focusing on giving the power Ruler's drawing from you as you rush over to Gray's side, trying to avoid thinking about the shivers his presence sends down your spine. She's still shaking as she stares at Berserker.
"Hey hey hey- come on get a grip Gray this really isn't a good time to do this!" The scythe yammers at her, Adds voice coming from the decor where blade meets haft. Gray doesn't say anything in response, only staring ahead, not seeming to notice you as you arrive beside her.
"Hey- Gray?" You say hesitantly, half extending a hand towards her, halting halfway between her as a deafening crash fills the air as Ruler slams into Berserker, drawing a gasp from Gray even as you hop away from the sound in a panicked flinch. "Gray? Hey- say something- are- you okay?"
You can't hide the tremble in your voice.
She says nothing, still fixing her gaze upon Berserker. She's not going to respond like this- and she's dead meat if she stays frozen like this. So after one last moment of hesitation, you reach out to her, bridging the gap between you to grip her shoulder.
Gray gives a mousey squeak at your touch, gripping her scythe as she twirls round towards you, swinging the blade at your throat faster than you can react- her eyes widen midswing as she sees you, and she frantically jumps back, the blade passing harmlessly by you, though the breeze of it's passage still sets your heart racing as an icy shiver trickles down your spine.
"Ah- Mimi- sorry I didn't realise-" Gray babbles apologetically, frantically waving a palm at you as she backs away. "I thought-"
You touch a hand to your throat, feeling your pulse race through trembling fingers. But you've got to say something to Gray- But before you do, there's another deafening sound, as Ruler strikes Berserker again, drawing both of your attention to where Berserker strides out of the flames, each step shattering the road beneath him as he limps towards Ruler; there's a dent the armour covering his left leg, a plated crater digging into his flesh, blood trickling out from the gaps in the metal. A wound. Ruler's hurt him. Just like that, some of the fear that'd been clawing at your mind vanishes.
A faint noise escapes Gray as she feasts her gaze on that sight. Her hands grip the haft of her scythe once more, but not the white-knuckle grip of panic. Firm. Practiced. Resolute. With the sight of that moment of vulnerability on Berserker's part, Gray passes through fear and terror, reaching a calm stillness on the other side. "He will not wake to the news of my passing."
A whisper slips from her lips as Gray steps forwards, towards Berserker. Once. Twice. Three and four and five and then she breaks into a run, her hood being blown back by her movement to fully reveal her face, the light gleaming off her scythe.
As Gray charges forwards towards Berserker, Ruler grins from where she stands in the middle of a pool of flames, watching her foe stumble towards her. No more probing attacks. Now it's time for the fight to properly begin. Within a heartbeat, Ruler charges back in towards Berserker, a blinding swathe of flame streaking towards his head with a flap of her ember wings; if it hurts Berserker, you can't tell, but it's enough of a distraction for Ruler to get her actual attack in, a white-hot jab aimed at his ribs. Not a killing blow. Meant to wound, to cripple. Enough to force him to plant his feet into the earth, rooting himself in place. And with the crunch of metal and bone ringing out, Ruler dashes away in a flash of light, taking only the merest scratch from Berserker's counterattack as his blade traces a lethal arc, the force of his swing blowing away Ruler's flame, cracking stone and shattering glass in the windows behind Ruler. You can't even tell if the cuts Ruler's taking are from the blade itself, or just the force of its passage.
But with those mere inch-deep cuts healing up in the flames that surround Ruler as she escapes from Berserker, she's back to being unwounded again, while he's left with the injury from their clash- you know Berserker can heal, he shrugged off Saber's blade being shoved through his heart- but you don't know if he can move while he does it. So for the moment, in these precious seconds, Ruler has the advantage.
An advantage that she's making full use of, darting in and out and back in again, a lightning-fast series of leaps and swoops and outright flight. Streetlights spark and fizzle out as she soars by them, their wires melting from the heat of her passage, and the places she perches on between leaps are left dented and shattered from the force of her takeoffs, glowing stone and melting tarmac dripping down from those shattered footprints. Each inwards dash ends in the crunch of denting metal and cracking bone, each dash out ending with a just-dodged wound and a storm of wind-churned embers, blown into the sky with each of Berserker's strikes. Then Gray arrives, sprinting across the burning and ruined street, her scythe gleaming in the firelight as she goes after Berserker with a series of cautious, probing attacks, dancing around at the edge of his reach and forcing him to divert more of his attention away from Ruler, letting her hit harder as she dances around Berserker.
While all of that's unfolding, you've made your way around the side of the fight, carefully keeping a very safe distance from the clash as you approach Berserker's Master- Dathmet. That's what Izabetha called him. You're not sure what he can do. But you can't just let him do what he wants- that almost got you killed when you faced Kitsune. So you've got to do something.
"Do you think yourself an assassin? You, of all people? Rags from the church hardly make you an Executor." Dathmet calls out to you as you approach him, having to shout over the noise of the braw, embers flying through the air between you. "You have less chance in this fight than your Servant does. I know what you are. And what you are not."
Again, an unshakeable voice. He speaks as if he knows the outcome. But his brow is furrowed, and his eyes flicker towards where Berserker fights. You don't know if you can fight him. But you don't need to. You just need to give Ruler and Gray an opening. And so what if he knows just what you are- you're not just that. Not anymore.
You don't say anything in response to Dathmet, merely stalking closer to him, your hands clutching your tools. You don't know what you'd say to him- and if the shaking in your hands is any indication, it'd just tell him how nervous you are. You've got to keep him in the dark- you can't show your blade yet- he needs to act first.
For a moment, nothing. But then Dathmet strikes: As you step towards him, he strikes the base of his cane onto the ground, muttering a brief incantation. Mana gathers around the onyx-set head of the staff, icy cold to your senses. A pale will-o-the-wisp, with no purpose beyond murder. A chill slips down your spine at the sight, a bone deep-sense of danger flooding into you. Even so, there's only one thought in your mind.
Scathath was faster
You can see it. The casting, the movement of the wisp as it streaks towards you- it's all so much slower than the lightning Scathath trained you with. You can do this. Without her ward, you must.
The lightning-rush of adrenaline surges through you as you connect to your keys, choosing them over your scroll as your weapon of choice here. Mana pulses as you extend their blades, the shattered-glass pattern of your circuits flaring to life as you stab the wisp as it flies at you, pinning it on your paired blades. It struggles as you feel it fray, tangles of power being cut apart, losing all focus as they seep into you, a brief chill around your fingers as you drink the spell up. He's trying to kill you with curses? Compared to the sludge from the grail, this is nothing. You're not sure it could even hurt you.
There's a grunt of annoyance from Dathmet as you slice the last remnants of his spell apart. His eyes flicker back to Berserker for a moment, before he gives you more of his attention, firing wisp after wisp at you, death curse after death curse. But with a dodge here, a cut here, and a bus stop as cover there, you're able to keep yourself unharmed. You can't get confident. You can't get used to this. You don't know what else he can do. You peek out from behind the bus stop, rust spreading across its surface as it crumbles around where the curse struck it.
You see Dathmet incanting a second chant, feeling the stone beneath you shudder: Walls of stone rise up from the ground, earth and concrete fusing into the gold of sandstone as rock surrounds you, beginning to close in around you. Slowly. Inexorably.
You strike the wall with your blades, feeling some of the mana infusing it seep away, some of the rock crumbling. But- it's not enough, this is far more physical than a mere curse, even if you sap the mana holding it together it's still a tonne of solid earth slowly closing in crushing you and if Ruler comes to help you Gray'll be left alone against Berserker and there's no way she can survive that even if Ruler can make it to you in the first place-
Again and again you stab at the rocky walls closing on you, your breath coming fast and rapid as you hyperventilate. No. This can't be happening. Work. Why isn't it working there's some effect when you stab it some mana to leech but it's just not fast enough this is a cell a tomb and you're stuck trapped and can't get out- Stone presses against you as the walls make contact with you. You brace yourself against them, trying in vain to push back against the walls as you force your blades into the rock in front of you.
The rock pushes against you, starting to become uncomfortable, pressing harder and harder against you- and then, their motion stops, and you feel the mana flow recede from the rocks as a feral roar breaks through the night. From above the now-crumbling rock walls you see a blinding flash of light, accompanying the howl of an unchained beast. You stab the walls some more, draining some of the remaining power within them away to hasten their decay, causing the one you'd been focussing on to crumble enough for you to scramble atop it with some effort. As you gasp for breath, you get to see what's been unfolding while you clashed with Dathmet.
Berserker stands in the centre of a crater, howling at the sky as he drains power up from the earth, a flow that feels richer than anything else you've felt with your new senses. It feels almost like a river. Like there's one single point he's drawing from. You feel Dathmet frantically trying to get Berserker back under control, pulling on the link between them, but Berserker cares not for the frantic orders being yelled at him.
You see the blood trickling out from Berserker's wounds close as he continues to drink from the earth. And as he drinks, Berserker grows, more traces of white starting to become visible as his armour bulges and buckles around him, cracks and gaps appearing as it reaches its limit.
From where she stands nearby, panting slightly, Ruler charges at him once more, a rapid zig-zag to attack from an unguarded angle. But as she charges, Berserker simply raises his sword, swinging it in a broad horizontal arc as the world becomes fire.
A blast of light shines forth from his blade, magnesium-white in the centre, blending through the deep red of a bloodstained sunset into a light-swallowing black.
It fills the air, blasting out, an explosion condensed to a sword's arc, Ruler frantically leaping away from the blinding light, her flaming wings burning even brighter as she brings them up to shield herself. There's a golden light from where Grey stands as she dives for cover as well. And then you see no more, your eyes blinking closed to spare them, a tightness in your chest as Ruler pulls ever more from you.
You blink away afterimages, opening your eyes to ruin- for a hundred meters, the street is ruin, tarmac and concrete and buildings reduced to a rubble-strewn molten pool, fires springing up around its ruined surface as steam sprays up from ruptured water pipes underground.
Ruler hovers above the molten ruin with steady wingbeats, a deep gash cutting into her torso dripping blood onto the burning ground, the flow steadily decreasing as fire wraps itself around the wound. Meanwhile, Gray lands atop a pile of rubble that was once a house, her cloak smouldering and golden light shining around her weapon- no, not a weapon. A shield, forged in the same style as her scythe. There's a small patch of intact tarmac where she was standing- she blocked it?
That same multicoloured light gathers around Berserkers blade once more. He can do that again? But this time, he turns towards Dathmet. And heedless of his Master's panicked commands to stop, Berserker raises his blade high. An executioner's grip.
Wait. No. You're too close to him if Berserker does that again you'll die there's nothing you can do how can you stop him-
Crack.
A sonic boom resounds throughout the street, a shockwave sending embers flying sky-high as Berserker's head slumps forwards, lolling limply forwards on a shattered neck, the gathering mana fading away as his blade falls from limp fingers.
You gasp, feeling darkness claw at your vision, your circuits shining brighter than ever before as a vice grips your chest, a sudden surge of power having been sucked out of you by Ruler. For she soars behind Berserker, burning a brilliant gold as she draws a bloodstained geta out from the ruin that is Berserker's neck, the entire 3-inch heel of her sandal dripping gore.
A flash of motion and she's beside you, Gray bundled under one arm. Another moment, and you're safely back on the ground again. And only now does Berserker's corpse start to topple forwards.
Your blood freezes as you hear the clink of armour, motion in the corner of your vision as an armoured boot slams into the ground as Berserker steps forwards. Gray gasps beside you, clutching her glowing shield ever closer to her body.
He's still alive.
Mana flares up from the ground again, a low growl slipping from Berserker's lips, along with the crunch of flesh and bone knitting together as his head starts to pull itself back into position.
What can you do- how can you kill that thing? That much power that much strength and he can just shrug off Ruler nearly kicking his fucking head off! You glance around frantically, fear grasping you once again as you look for somewhere to run- but how can you run from that?
"Stop him!" Ruler's yell draws your attention, and you glance over to where she holds Dathmet aloft, her hands wrapped around his neck.
"He's not listening to me- and I only have one seal left! He'll be loose without it-" Dathmet babbles back at her, the colour drained from his face as he clutches as Ruler's hands in a vain struggle.
"THEN HAVE YOUR MONSTER KILL HIMSELF" Behind Ruler, Berserker stands again, mana gathering around his blade as he slowly raises it aloft, pieces of shattered armour crumbling down from his back and helmet. He's going to make another attack like that. Even with Ruler's speed there's no way you can get to safety in time it's just impossible-
"That- even that wouldn't be enough." Dathmet gasps for air as Ruler drops him to the ground, rushing to where you and Gray stand.
"Then help us or die with us!" Ruler yells back at him, before embracing you and Gray in a brief hug.
"Together. Gray blocked it." Ruler whispers to you, the warmth of her wings starting to drive the cold terror of Berserker from your body. How can she be so calm here? "Because we still have a chance."
It's like she read your mind. Or maybe you're just that easy to read right now, with how you're shaking. But with how confidently she stands as she faces Berserker, bracing her wings as a shield again, glowing a sun-bright gold, how can you give up. With how Gray stands before her, planting her shield in the ground and bracing behind it as Ruler rests the tips of her illusionary wings on the shield as a living, burning wall, how can you not try to live?
How could you ever lie down and die when you've finally got a future!
Your breathing still harsh and ragged, you dart forwards, pressing your hands against Gray's shield as you join her in bracing against it. Your hands tremble as you connect to it, pouring what power you can spare from Ruler's own need to help Gray.
It's beautiful. The shield, the scythe, the cube, everything it can be. Old gold. That's what it feels like, as you link yourself to it. Old gold, with the brief hint of older light from within. No wonder it could withstand that light.
"T-together." You gasp, that image and their strength giving you enough courage to speak again. A faint nod of a response, as the three of you are all enveloped in golden radiance.
The four of you- with the faint sound of a cane on tarmac, Dathmet stands behind Ruler, stone walls rising out of the ground in front of you as he lends his own strength to your makeshift barrier, sweat dripping down his pained face.
You close your eyes as Berserker's blade comes crashing down to end you all, flinching ever closer to Gray's shield as that blinding multicoloured light engulfs you. Even behind Gray's shield, in the faint bubble of protection you've all crafted, it's hotter than the furnace you dreaded when you were a prisoner.
With your eyes closed, all you see is the gold light of Ruler and Gray's protection, the power you're channelling out to ward off Berserker's assault, the red and black of it pressing ever closer to you as it begins to overwhelm you, smothering your light.
Time passes like treacle, the scant second of Berserker's attack feeling like an hour as all you can do is pray that your defences hold away the darkness pressing in on you.
There's a moment of respite as Berserker's swing finishes. But before you can do anything, he swings again, plunging you back into that hell of waiting and praying. The darkness of Berserker's assault claws in closer to you, Dathmet's workings having been obliterated by the first blast and unable to help you anymore. But you hold.
Even if you cannot take another blow like this.
Blinking your eyes open, you see Berserker's sword raised high once again, ready to swing down for the third attack, the blow that will end you all.
It never comes.
In that moment, the single opening when Berserker prepares to strike, Ruler flies forward, the wind of her passage knocking you and Dathmet to the ground as she drives a blazing uppercut into Berserker's chin, shattering his helmet and sending him flying backwards, Gray rushing towards him the instant his feet leave earth. Her shield folds down, returning to the form of a scythe as she slashes at Berserkers now-exposed face.
Berserker screams as the blade bites into him, the first time he's shown any sign of pain being now, his blood spraying into the air as Gray lands back on the ground, Berserker landing down on his knees some distance in front of you.
But even that wasn't enough, as you see Berserker rise to his feet, sword left beside him where it landed, embedded in the burning ruin of what was once a house, one hand clutching his wounded face.
A familiar face.
A choked gasp escapes Gray's throat as you see Berserker's face for the first time. Blood streaks down his left cheek from where Gray's strike sliced through his flesh, claiming Berserker's eye- and the wound isn't closing- it almost looks like it's smoking slighty.
But even with that, you know what you see. Short, straight hair in greying blonde, a single ahoge springing up from the front. A pale, gray-green eye, bloodshot and twisted with a primal hate. A stubbled chin, A scarred face, but not an unknown one.
He looks like Gray.
He looks at Gray, as if seeing her for the first time through the pain of his wound, visibly shaking with rage.
A murderous growl escapes Berserker's lips as he stomps a foot into the ground, drawing more and more and more mana up from the earth, far more than he'd used in his last attack.
His wounds zip themselves closed- all of them but the wound from Gray's scythe gone within seconds, that strike the only one that remains unhealed as Berserker steps forwards. His flesh swells more, and with a clatter, his gauntlets finally shatter, exploding outwards to reveal the hands of a monster; snow-white scales cover inhumanly sized hands, an inky blackness swirling in the gaps between them, each finger ending in a vicious claw, reptilian and predatory.
The armour on Berserker's back explodes outwards in pieces as two great, scaled wings unfurl from his back, their scales and membrane the same white as his hands. Embers scatter from his mouth as he charges- flies towards you, murder shining in his eye.
He's not aiming at you, his Master or even Ruler- His claws are trained on the statue-still figure of Gray, who's still staring unbelievingly at Berserker's face.
All you see of what happens next is a blur of motion, as you and Gray are both thrown to the side by someone- Ruler, it had to be.
But when you get your bearings again, you see Berserker's claws wrapped around Ruler's throat, and you can hear the crunch of bone as he squeezes tighter and tighter, his wings flapping leisurely as he takes them both into the air. She's struggling in his grip, but Berserker doesn't seem to notice anything she's doing- there's a weakness in her attacks that wasn't here before
"Mimi! Please- This isn't the end- I have a plan!" Ruler calls out to you, the pain in her voice a knife in your chest.
But at that point, Berserker's flight reaches its apex, and he dives towards the ground, still crushing the life out of Ruler. And as he falls, Berserker whispers something, mana flaring within him as he speaks. And with his words, the earth shakes, as you feel a blinding amount of mana well up from deep beneath the earth.
"Blade of my body….."
"AALLLLLBIOOOONNNN!"
Berserker True Name Revealed: VORTIGERN
[] Use a command seal. Ruler must live. [] Use a command seal. Berserker needs to die.
[]Give up and runYou are not done yet.
QM note- Making the albion dragon vortigern may be playing fast and loose with the garden of avalon mats, but I will raise the counterpoint that strict canon is for chumps and it's more interesting this way
As a little aside, in myth Vortigern is generally the ruler Arthur defeats as his first throne, and there's often a bit where a white dragon representing Vortigern is defeated by a red dragon representing Arthur, as some form of prophecy. Naturally, as would be expected from Nasu, official mats have taken liberties with this in depicting him.
Though making him a saberface was all me because nobody can stop me.
"RULER!" A cry splits your throat, sending ragged pain coming with each breath.
Crimson light flashes on your hand, dazzling to both your sights, every single drop of it responding to a single thought.
Ruler can't die.
She needs to live.
You don't want to lose her.
Ruler smiles as you gift that power to her, confidence welling up despite the bone-crushing stranglehold Berserker has her in.
His wings beat once, sending him flying down towards the ground, towards the vast surge of power rising up from below.
Ruler goes limp in Berserker's grip as his grip tightens, one last crack splitting the air as Berserker lands, planting his feet into the earth.
"This will not be my end."
One last whisper from her, more lip-read than anything else as the ground shudders, all that Berserker had drawn upon finally reaching the surface.
A moment of stillness, of sound and sense smothered by power as Berserker dismissively tosses Ruler's limp body into the air, ice filling your heart as you stare helplessly.
You'd given her that power.
You told her to live- doesn't that mean anything?
But you can't look away.
Not even as you're sent sprawling to the ground as the earth tears itself open beneath Ruler, a jagged gash in the ground filled with a chaotic senseless mass of old, barbed, fossil-brown bone and cracked claws and razor sharp dirtied white scales and pulsing cancerous flesh and viciously jagged teeth.
It shudders slightly, the warm, wet stench of flesh and stomach acid and death filling the air in a hacking exhalation as the gash- the mouth- slowly yawns open.
Then, in a motion that nothing living or that ever lived could do, the teeth and bone and spikes spear out with a piston-motion, impaling ruler again and again and again and again-
Blood sprays from Ruler's wounds as her body is torn apart, the quivering maw beneath her greedily drinking her up. The mouth shudders, teeth grinding through Ruler as it drags her down into its mass, slowly closing on her body as Berserker stares grimly at her.
Then in that moment when she's drawn oh-so-close to him, Ruler smiles, a faint whisper reaching your ears. "I had hoped to keep this hidden…"
And a star is born.
White fire bursts from Ruler's body, raw and wild and untamed as it burns her to ash in the half-heartbeat it takes for your eyes to blink closed, a flash of sudden heat on your skin as if you stand at the opening to that incinerator- then shadow, and coolness.
You shield your eyes, sweat gathering on your forehead at the heat and memory as you see Gray standing before you, holding her shield between you and the blinding light of Ruler's fire. You stumble to your feet as she draws closer to you, helping you stumble to cover, taking shelter behind an abandoned car in one of the few unruined parts of the street.
Your handprint burns itch and your vision blurs as you stumble forwards, your heart pounding in your chest and ears as your breath grows ragged; Ruler's pulling power from you, more and more and more than she's ever needed before. With all this and how bright the cracked lines of your circuits are flaring, you're pretty sure you'd be half dead and passed out on the floor right now if you hadn't gifted Ruler that power from the command seal.
You press yourself against the car, your condition drawing a concerned look from Gray as you peek back behind you, the tinted glass of the car windows filtering just enough of the light for you to see what's happening.
A sun is shining in the street, burning the very night away.
That's the only way you can describe it. An incandescent sphere burns just above the street, the bottom of it's 3 meter diameter not-quite-touching the molten tarmac below, as its heat slowly melts the ground itself into a sea of tarmac and magma. A sea which Berserker is sinking into, his flesh sloughing from his bones as armour melts into skin and scale, his rage-filled screams barely audible over the roaring flame.
But as you watch, as you squint through tinted glass at the awesome terrifying fire that there's no way you could look away from, you catch sight of something strange. The faintest hint of a shadow within the sun. Like there's something inside it. Something moving. Growing. You tense at the sight, starting as you hear Ruler's voice once more, a floor of relief rushing through you- she's alive? But you saw her crumble to ash in that fire- so how?
"You have given me so much, my Mimi…" You don't know where Ruler's voice is coming from. But you can almost see her smile there, tinged with melancholy. You can almost feel her hand on your cheek. "So if you wish for it, not even death will stop me."
The star in the street shines even brighter at those words, the moving shadow within it growing ever more solid by the heartbeat, moving faster and faster, like something about to wake. About to hatch.
"So bear witness to all that I am, to all that I had wished to hide. Behold my miracle, my truth and my resurrection, for I amthe divine bird of living flame, to which all others are but embers!"
A thunderous crack shatters glass, sending you ducking for cover as the car window you were looking through breaks apart. A tentative peek shows spiderwebs of purest white light shining out from the star, the shade that only comes when colour itself burns away. The cracks spread, pulsing in a heartbeat rhythm. The same rhythm as your own.
On instinct, you look away, squeezing your eyes shut as tightly as you can manage. Even then, you still see the flash of light burning red through your eyes, another explosion ringing out in the night as another wave of heat and pressure washes over you.
An inhuman cry fills the air, a reedy, melodic song, triumphant and melancholic in equal measure. And with the fading of the explosion's light, you open your eyes to a breathtaking sight.
Burning feathers slowly drift down from the sky, glimmering with a comforting sun-gold light. A double helix of glowing trails in that same shade rises up from the molten crater that lies beneath where Ruler's burning egg floated, the charred corpse of Berserker lying still in its centre, armour scorched to slag and a deep X seared into his chest and halfway through the other side. But that is nothing when compared to what truly draws- captivates you when you open your eyes and follow the golden trail up into the sky.
A great bird, soaring freer than anything you could ever imagine. Building sized wings that shed those golden feathers with each flap, tracing those golden trails through the sky with their passage. A hawklike body with two slender tailfeathers trailing far behind, plumed in thirty colours and all of them the fire that it is. Because the bird isn't just ablaze: it is the blaze, every inch of its body made of an ever-burning flame.
But it's not its body.
It's her body. Ruler's body.
Because as brilliant, as blinding a sight as she is, to both your eyes and your sense for mana, you can still feel that bond between you and Ruler. You can still feel the flow of mana pouring out of your chest, straight to the heart of her flame.
"And now you see why I had kept my heart from you. Why I never gave you my name. For I was old when the first name was given."
Ruler's voice whispers into your mind as a golden feather settles on you, while Ruler pulls her wings inwards, still singing out her cry as she plunges towards the ground, a gilded meteor in the night sky. You brace in anticipation for an impact that never comes: instead, as she reaches the ground, you're bathed in a soft, warm light. And when it clears, there is the Ruler you've come to know these past days.
But she's different now. She's still her, but more. That's the only way you can describe her.
A golden disc floats behind her head, faint sunray engravings etched into it catching the firelight, and a pair of great wings, each as long as she is tall, frame the disc as they sprout from her back. Wings that are no longer the flame-crafted phantasms they were before, now flesh and blood and real, their warm, fluffy looking plumage in an ever-shifting myriad of reds, coppers, silvers, oranges and yellows and golds and brasses. Embers trail from their tips as Ruler folds them in, gently brushing a stray hair back into place as she lands on the ground.
Now you're looking, her hair is longer by a few inches, reaching just below her shoulder blades: It's even fluffier than before, so soft and feathery you could fall asleep in it. Still the vibrant ember-red you remember it being, but now streaked with white and gold. At her temples, you see the glint of silver, as a pair of hairpins keep the bulk of it out of her eyes including a pair of long winglike bangs, revealing a sigil is chalked on her forehead: an eye in a flame, painted in blowtorch-blue.
'The same but more' is the only way you can describe her clothes as well. They're still the same, loose and unrestrictive style they were a moment ago, but made that way, rather than crude modifications. Her leather breastplate is much the same as it was before, but the cloth beneath is an actual toga-like top now, as opposed to the crude wrap with bindings visibly showing that it was before. In a similar vein, her hakama is now meant to be knee-height, rather than being crudely torn off from something longer, and a golden pattern now runs up their sides. Her geta are more elaborate too, you notice as they clack down onto one of the few places of solid road left in this street: brass encases the base and sides of the now-lacquered wood. The light glints off her bracelet as she turns to you, revealing that that too has become richer, golden talons firmly gripping the egg-like opal in place within the leather.
But for all those slight changes, there's one part of Ruler that hasn't changed at all: Her slit-pupiled amber eyes. And as she straightens up and turns to you, you see a faint glint in them as she flashes you a blinding grin.
She's dazzling.
A heartbeat of motion, and she is by your side once more, pulling you into a deep hug filled with the warmth of an afternoon sunbeam, the fluffy warmth of her wings against your back something you've never felt before. "I wish you had not had to see me like that, my Mimi. How it must have pained you to see me die."
You say nothing in return, simply pressing yourself into Ruler more, feasting on the sensation of her presence because she is alive and safe and whole and alive. You thought you'd lost her.
"But you can rest easy: I shall be with you until the end, for I have taken you under my wing." Ruler sounds the same as always. Warm and confident, so many things that you are not.
But even so, something feels different. A slight brittleness in her tone, that would be unheard if not for how you've not left each other's sides these past days. How she's the one who breaks away from the hug, pulling her wings back away from you.
"But this day is ours. Berserker will trouble us no more." Ruler glances at the molten crater where Berserker's charred body lies, left in an undignified heap amid liquid stone and a spray of mana from that flow rising up from the earth.
That flow of power that you can still sense.
Why hasn't it stopped?
You open your mouth to shout a warning as something moves in the crater. An iron-dark blur streaks across your vision, ruffling hair and clothes from the wind of its passage.
"At last." A harsh voice calls out into the night as Berserker stands. Charred flesh and cloth and the last remnants of his armour all slough from his bones as he moves, driving a foot into the burning ground to feast once more on the mana there.
And as his body reforms, new flesh growing out to replace the old, you see Berserker for who he truly is, freed from Dathmet's confining armour. Snow-white scales are visibly growing in, forming a patchy coat over his skin, an incomplete armour that will be stronger than any forged iron when it is finished. His hands and feet are now completely inhuman, wicked reptilian claws glinting in the firelight.
But as he pulls himself out from his rooted stance, you can see that one wound remains on him: the slash on his Gray-looking face from when her scythe took one of his eyes. That scar remains, and Berserker's eye is still missing.
A hacking gasp pulls your attention as Berserker steps forwards, Gray and Ruler interposing themselves between you and him. You look back, and see Dathmet lying on the floor in a growing pool of his own blood, desperately gasping for breath as his hands weakly clutch at the crude iron slab of Berserker's sword that's impaling his chest, a handspan of the blade sticking out of his back.
There is nothing you can do for him.
He is one of the people who took you here. He is one of the people who caged you, who treated you as an object, a worthless thing who only lived because of the secrets carved into you.
He is dying in front of you, blood frothing at his lips as he gasps and gasps for one more breath, trying and failing to muster any conjuring to save his life, slicing himself apart on the sword that killed him as he scrabbles helplessly for anything that might save him.
And all you can do is watch.
"Damn you- Vortigern…" Dathmet spits out as you watch helplessly, paralysed between focusing on Ruler and going to Dathmet's side, to offer what aid you can even when you cannot save him. Because the sight of someone dying like that, slowly and painfully and fighting for every second… there's a twinge of pain in your head at the sight. Something about the sight is familiar. Like there was once someone you wanted to help but couldn't. Like he isn't the first person you watched die.
The faint echo of a scream flashes through your mind.
DON'T LET IT BE ME.
And you blink away tears.
"Why?- We both wanted an exodus! We both wanted to open-" Dathmet curses at Berserker- at Vortigern, a hate-filled shout from a dying man.
A shout that is met with a low chuckle from Vortigern as he looks over the street, his wings flexing out behind him. "Why? You chain me in the armour of a man. You blind my senses with madness, so that I would mistake that pitiful imitation for my kinslaying niece. You call me Servant, and wonder why I fought you every second of this life."
Vortigern's voice is calm, free from the blind anger that filled his shouts before. But it is all the more terrifying for it, for now you can feel the contempt that drips from his every word. His remaining eye narrows in a hate as his face twists with anger, fixing Dathmet with a glare that could crush iron.
"I am King, and no man will ever be my Master." Scales and horn erupt from Vortigern's forehead as he shouts at his dying Master, shifting and growing together into a five-pointed decoration that stands proud atop his face. A crown of his own body, one more impressive than anything as mundane as mere gold could ever be. "I will tear apart the surface of the world, to return it to how it should be.
You shiver at the acidic resentment in his voice, even though not a single scrap of it is directed at you. You're beneath his notice. A fact you're thankful for, as you stand frozen in the street, still unable to tear your gaze from Dathmet even when you really should be focusing on Vortigern.
"I never needed you. And you will command me no longer." With that, Vortigern casts his gaze back to Ruler and Gray, who've both been shuffling around, trying to get an angle to attack him while still keeping you covered. It's then that he properly looks at Ruler, and in his eyes you see recognition. "Why are you here? No, how can you be here?"
A chill runs up your spine, enough to draw a response from you, enough to tear your gaze away from Dathmet's dying moments, as he frantically tries to summon forth one last sentence from his body. As you fearfully glance back, you see Vortigern staring at you, eyes narrowing as he studies you. You freeze in place, trembling in place as your blades slip out of strengthless hands. You need to run. You can't move.
"I see now. So this is how you can be here, long after you faded." Vortigern whispers, before fury twists his features, his claws visibly lengthening as yet more scales burst from beneath his skin, covering more and more of his body in armour. "This broken thing was worth your aid, WHEN OUR ENTIRE ERA WAS NOT?"
The ground shatters beneath Vortigern as he springs towards you faster than Ruler or Gray can react, his wicked claws poised to tear the heart from your body. You're still frozen with fear, unable to move so much as an inch. There is nothing you can do. You cannot save yourself.
But as Vortigern reaches the top of his leap, a crimson light flares behind you, and a hacking voice shouts into the night with a dead man's defiance. "I command you yet, Berserker! And by the last of my command seals, BE RETURNED TO THE PLACE I SUMMONED YOU!"
With a vast surge of mana, Vortigern vanishes into thin air, the clawing wind of his passage the only thing that reaches you. You stumble backwards, gasping for breath as the pressure of his presence vanishes. You're safe. For the moment, at least. So you're left in an empty street with only your friends and a dying man.
"He cannot - ruin- everything we have worked for." Dathmet chokes out as he lies there, Vortigerns blade having remained impaling him even when it's owner vanished. But with that, the last of his energy is spent. The last command seal fading from his forehead, Dathmet's arms slump down to the ground, and his breathing gets ever more ragged and shallow.
You look down on his broken body, Ruler and Gray walking towards you. With his last acts, he saved your life. You know he's one of the people who caged you. But with what Kiara said to you about hate, you don't know if your grudge is that pure. But after that flash of memory that flickered inside your brain at the sight of him dying… you find not a single spark of anger within your heart. Even if you had desired revenge upon this man, this death would suffice.
But you don't even know if you want that right now. What you do know is that this sight reminds you of something in your past, even if it's something you can't recall. Whoever the person you watched die was, you know there was nothing you could do but watch. I'm sorry, sister whom I forgot. And you know there is nothing you could ever do to save Dathmet. But there is something you can do now that you couldn't do in the past.
You retrieve Kiara's scrollcase, carefully holding it in your hands. A snap of your fingers, and you catch the flickering remnants of Dathmet's mind as his eyes begin to close. A pulse of mana, and the spiralling mandala-pattern bursts into life once more. In this weakened state, Dathmet can only look on as it captivates his focus, drawing his mind into its depths. This is all you can do for him, as thanks for your life and as a memorial for the person you could do nothing for.
You can make it so that in his final seconds, he is somewhere where the pain and fear is not.
A moment passes, and Dathmet with it.
"We should go, Master." A hand pats you on the shoulder, and you turn to find Ruler at your side, both her and Gray bearing a somber look. You turn back, and glance at the devastation left behind you, a block of wrecked buildings and burning stone. You nod, then turn to leave.
It's a quiet trip home, where you and Gray spend most of it being carried by Ruler. There's not a trace of anyone else, and none of you say anything the entire trip, the gentle flapping of Ruler's wings the only sound. Dathmet's dying form is still lodged in your mind, while Gray is lost in thought as well, her hood pulled down low over her face, where you can see her biting her lip as well. Not even Ruler says anything, and the handful of times you look towards her you see her quickly look away, avoiding meeting your gaze.
Then, in time, you arrive back at Izabetha's house, the three of you stumbling in through the front door with heavy limbs into a darkened hall, the firelights coming off Ruler's wings the only illumination. You let out a deep sigh of relief at that, now this everything is finally over.
"I'll see if Sir's still awake. He needs to know." Gray's the first to speak, her quiet voice barely breaking the silence as she vanishes through a doorway, still holding her hood down further over her face than normal.
"You have done well tonight, Mimi. Many would not hold their nerve in a night like that. Get some sleep. I shall be here, should you need me." With one last pat on your shoulder, Ruler heads upstairs, her wings folded up behind her. She pauses slightly at the curve of the stairs, and you see her shake slightly. But she doesn't look back. Then just like that, she leaves your vision, leaving you alone in the hall.
A yawn slips from your lips as you look on to where your friends went. Even with a tired head and heavy limbs, neither of them are acting normally. Something's wrong here.
Who do you check on
[] Go to Ruler. She said she had wanted to keep all you have seen a secret, and this silence is completely uncharacteristic for her. With what you can recall of that dream you had the night before last, this might be weighing on her more than she shows. You should check on her
[] Go to Gray. Vortigern looked like her, and you know her face is something she is sensitive about. She's linked to this, no matter how much she might wish she wasn't. You should check on her, see how well she's holding up.
[Ruler's nature is revealed: The First Phoenix]
QM note- bit of a delay between updates, but I've had a fairly busy month or so- a lot of stuff happened, including getting a job so I've had less time than usual. But here we are, the reveal of Ruler. For anyone who guessed anything phoenix-y, Cthuga related or anything with the Fujiwara, congratulations. Though I will admit that Ruler's nature was a bit of a hodgepodge so it was intentionally hard to guess how all the little bits of everything tied together, and the actual truth is rather simple in the end. Though despite that, I will say that the actual 'named' identity is less important than the implications of it and what it means for what she's seen and wants, as far as the ideas I have to work with Ruler here go.
General notes
Class: Ruler
True name: N/A
True nature: The first phoenix.
Host name: Fujiwara no Hiroko
Alignment: Chaotic Good.
Parameters
STR: C+
AGI: A+
END: C-> EX
MANA: B
LUCK: A
NP: A
Information
Across the world, countless stories tell of an immortal bird, a being of flame incarnate that lives and dies and is reborn once more. And while these stories may differ in the details of the bird in question, they all have a single source. Ruler is the first of these immortal birds, born when the world was molten and from whom all others descend from. She is a divine beast linked to the sun and fire and above all, immortality, with ties to many different gods.
In this incarnation, Ruler has been summoned as a pseudoservant, with the body of Fujiwara no Hiroko as her host, with the time Hiroko spent in Byōdō-in as a nun their tie. As such, Ruler's usual appearance is her having used her limited shapeshifting abilities to assume a form closer to that she would want if she was human.
The defining truth of Rulers nature is love. She has watched humanity struggle and strive and prosper and thrive. She loves humans, and the sight of people growing to their full potential and living in happiness is one of the things that makes her the happiest. Similarly, those who hurt and oppress others and prevent them from doing such are the people she hates more than any other.
However, Ruler is not human. She cannot be a part of the mortal world. The closest she has ever come is to watch from afar, and to grant the briefest of showings of her body to only the most worthy of those who seek her. Furthermore, as a divine beast linked to immortality, on a personal level she is immortality. And she has seen so much pain and death come from the hunt for her: From the people who would seek out her self and never return home, to those who would turn the wheels of empire towards the creation of something that would make their name and life eternal, caring not for all those ground underfoot in the process.
So many lives snuffed out in the struggle to reach her, their potential so much smoke in the wind. And she has had to watch it over and over and over again.
Only pain has come from her nature. All that comes from people trying to reach her is suffering. So she chose to remain apart from humanity, so that what she is would not hurt the ones she loves.
And because of all the pain that what she is has brought, in this incarnation, when she was brought into this world with a borrowed body for the sake of an unknowing broken grail, she chose to seal her truth away. She chose to smother her own nature, so that she could experience the human world for the first time in eternity, to be with this girl and help her without bringing ruin to her.
But now the truth is revealed, and Ruler can hide no longer.
Skills and NP
Divinity C->E
Ruler is a divine beast at heart, however, due to her nature as a pseusodervant and her internal conflict, this rank is lowered from its true state.
Existence outside the domain D->E
As a creature of living fire, one of the gods that Ruler is a divine beast linked to is Cthuga, the living flame. As she is linked to a being fundamentally outside the human order, Ruler possesses a limited detachment from it. However, due to her internal conflict, this skill is currently at a lower rank than normal.
Discernment of worth B
Due to not being summoned as part of a Great Grail War, Ruler is incapable of determining the true names of other servants. However, as a being who has watched humans for ages Ruler is capable of determining the morality of servants, and to get a vague idea of what they deserve. Naturally, she has no issues being a judge of character for humans as well.
Magic resist D
Mana Burst (Flame) B
Ruler is a creature of fire, and as such is capable of burning raw mana as fuel into flame, which she may use to enhance her movement and attacks.
Brilliant Disengage A+
Ruler is capable of seemingly-impossible retreats in the midst of battle, being able to restore herself to peak condition with mere moments of respite. Furthermore, when fleeing from an enemy, Ruler is nigh uncatchable, with her native ability to fly being greatly enhanced.
This skill has a flaw; due to the light of Rulers flames, an enemy will always be aware of where she is while using it.
Shapeshift D
Ruler has some, very limited ability to change forms, that has arisen as a result of the metamorphosis that was the heart of her life cycle. In this incarnation, she mainly uses it to shift the appearance of her host body to one closer to one that she had wished for.
Star of calamity EX
Ruler is the first phoenix. Ruler is immortality. And the search for immortality has blinded, maddened and destroyed people and empires alike. To seek immortality is to bring disaster upon yourself, and it is this truth that makes The Living Flame one of the gods she is a Divine Beast of, far more than her mere physical form does. While she usually wishes to keep this ability sealed, she is capable of unleashing this despicable power. Channeling the power of a flame far older than the sun, her fires burn a baleful witchlight-blue and her form shifts. With this power, Ruler's offensive and regenerative abilities are enhanced.
Furthermore, Ruler is capable of filling the minds of her enemies with that all-consuming mad desire that the prospect of immortality fills men with. This forces them to chase after her, to focus all their efforts upon her.
And in doing so, they will be punished for their hubris, taking a severe penalty to their luck, as their pursuit of Ruler leads them to their doom.
Noble Phantasm: Phoenix Resurrection
Rank A, Personal / Anti Unit
The nature of the phoenix is to rise in flame after death. This Noble Phantasm is a simple recreation of this act: Upon receiving a fatal wound, Ruler will encase herself within a burning shell, scorching the world around her as she regenerates herself. Then, with one final blast of flame, she will rise from the ashes, burning her foes even as she restores herself.
[X] Go to Ruler. She said she had wanted to keep all you have seen a secret, and this silence is completely uncharacteristic for her. With what you can recall of that dream you had the night before last, this might be weighing on her more than she shows. You should check on her
[X] Go to Gray. Vortigern looked like her, and you know her face is something she is sensitive about. She's linked to this, no matter how much she might wish she wasn't. You should check on her, see how well she's holding up.
Ruler is important but so is our good, platonic friend Gray, who is nice to us and an ally.
