[X] Tell Deis about the magic circle.
- [X] Ask her if she can manipulate it.
- [X] Ask her if she'd be willing to let Caster know about it.
[X] Talk to Deis about Headless.
[X] Tell Caster about Headless.
[X] Take a nap and hash things out with Headless.
- [X] Back inside the building.
It's quite an intricate magic circle, but you're no magician. Fortunately, you're friends with one! You dive back down to Ershin and stick your tongue out at Deis as she frowns at you. "Hey, have you been on top of the cliff yet?" Interrupted before she can rebuke you for flying away so quickly, she sighs and shakes her head.
"No, I haven't, Flan. I've been busy enough just making the path through here presentable. I take it you've found something interesting?" You nod and grin.
"Yeah! Let me show you." Barely waiting for her to agree, you pick up Ershin and fly up above the cliff. "See the circle?" Deis reforms her illusion sitting on top of the armor and stares down wide-eyed.
"Oh, my. Someone went through a lot of work to get that done, didn't they?" You let her study it for a few minutes.
"What do you think it's for? Can you use it to do anything?"
"Haha! Oh, Flan - it's an unfamiliar type of magic, with an unfamiliar design, and I've had a couple minutes to look at it! I could make it do something, alright, but I'm not a fan of turning complicated magic circles into large bombs." You scowl as she laughs at you, but she controls herself before it gets too annoying. "Alright, so … whatever this is for, that line of mana is probably supposed to feed it, but someone messed with that. As for what it's supposed to do … well, the obvious is that it's related to the Grail War. It looks like it's 'on' but nothing's happened, so if it is, it's probably something no one knows about." You turn to get a better look at the massive engraving.
"Could it be the 'Holy Grail' that they're fighting over?"
"It's not impossible, but if it is, it falls under 'something forgotten.' Remember, until you told Caster that Illyasviel said she owned the Grail, she thought it was in the hands of the Church. So if she knows that this is here, she doesn't think it's related to the Grail War, or at least doesn't think it's a goal. Unless she's hiding something, again. But it's definitely supposed to be something important, if my dragon's eye pointed me here …." You nod and give her some more time to think.
"Are you going to tell Caster and ask if she can help figure it out?" She gives you a thoughtful look.
"Leaving it up to me, are you? … For now, I don't think so. Either she knows and doesn't care, or she's blind to it - and if she set up shop here without scouring the area for hidden passages, then I don't think she deserves to find out about it until I've studied it more thoroughly. And it's not like the tunnel was that well-hidden; hard to find unless you know roughly where it is or you're deliberately searching the whole area, but not something you can't find by searching." You nod quietly. "Anyway, might as well set me down; I'm not going to touch this right now, but now that I know it's here I have something to look forward to."
"Yeah. You found it, so if you want to keep it hidden for now, I won't say anything." You begin gliding back down to the cavern entrance. Deis looks at you when you set Ershin down.
"Ready to head back? Probably shouldn't make Caster too suspicious about what I'm doing if I'm going to keep this from her, after all." You nod, but hang back when Ershin turns to leave. This is a secret place, after all ….
"Hey, Deis? Can I talk to you about what happened to Caster?" Ershin turns back to you and Deis sits on the ground next to it.
"Have you talked with Headless about it?" You shrug.
"A little. She said she thought it was a good idea so she took the opportunity, but … I was angry, and sad, and … and I have to apologize to Caster, because I told her it would be fine and she got hurt, and …." Deis nods.
"Well, if Headless thought it was a good idea to attack Caster, you might want to talk to her about it - maybe she was right, maybe she was just mistaken. For example, just because Ershin here does something to protect me, it might not be the right action to take - not that I think that's ever happened. The situation's a little different with you, of course." You nod unhappily.
"It's just … she's never done anything like this before. She's given me advice, and she's helped me out, but she hasn't ever just attacked someone I didn't want to hurt." Verossa doesn't count, because she didn't attack him.
"All the more reason to talk with Headless, Flan. You can't make a proper decision without knowing the reason. Whether you talk to Caster first or Headless is up to you, though." Your mouth twists as you consider the choice; if you talk to Headless first, you'll be able to learn why she did it, but you might not feel up to facing Caster about it. Especially if Headless's reason isn't a good one. But Caster might be asleep, so if you talk to her first, you might be waking her up without being able to explain everything.
"… You aren't worried that Headless might do something to you?" Deis's eyebrows rise in surprise.
"A little, but after all this time - and after I nearly got you to fight with a god - if she hasn't picked a fight I don't think she will unless I do something to you directly. I'm also not one for mind-magic, which limits her options. And she seemed to like me when I examined you three, so I'd like to think I won't be the victim of a surprise attack." You try to smile back at her, but it's strained, doesn't feel like a smile, and fades quickly. Deis sends a gust of wind to rustle your hair. "Come on, let's head back, okay?" You nod and make a small sound of affirmation, and Ershin leads the long way back through darkness and light and pitch-black until you're back on the wooded hillside. "Ah, that's right. Flan, I don't mean to add to your troubles, but I do have a bit of a request." Ershin halts, allowing Deis to form without issue, and you tilt your head as she smiles wryly. "So, about that deal you want to make with the Sakura girl. I don't really get why you're fixated on it when simply taking Saber without harming her Master is something we can do, but I would feel kind of bad if we made a deal with her and then turned around and used her to get me a body. And I think that taking someone's body would be better, even if we end up making a homunculus - if their magic isn't compatible with my magic, it'll be a lot easier if we find out by my taking control of a mage's body instead of wasting a bunch of effort on a top-notch body only to find that it isn't much use to me. So~ … with that in mind, if we make a deal with Sakura, then would you mind making an effort to take little Miss Tohsaka alive? It's not like any of us care about what happens to her - Caster's even said she plans on killing her - and she's definitely a mage." A genuine smile spreads across your face at her request, and you nod.
"Of course, Deis. I don't have any problems with it. I can't promise it, but I'll do my best." You finish making your way back up the hill to the lake, but Deis and Ershin stay there while you head back into Caster's house. The magician watches you carefully as you sit at the table across from her. You stare at the table for a while, taking in the atmosphere of the room, before looking up at Caster. She looks a little better than you left her, but it also looks like she was working on something instead of sleeping. You take a deep breath to steady yourself. "I found out what happened to you. It wasn't something the Matou mage did to you. Headless attacked you and threw you out of my head. I apologize, Caster, for I have broken your hospitality twice - as a guest, I broke it when my carelessness caused you to come to harm, and as a host, I broke it when my carelessness caused you to come to harm. I apologize, and I will strive to make amends for what I have done. If amends cannot be made, I will withdraw and cause you no more harm." Caster stares wide-eyed at you, then shakes her head and looks down at the table.
"Why do you allow such a being shelter within your self, Flandre? For it to … to attack with such anger for no cause … would it not be better for you to destroy it, or at least remove it?" You blink several times before closing your eyes and breathing deeply for several seconds. Then you stand up and look at her, your brightly-burning scarlet eyes boring into her. You know how this goes - Remilia had to do it every so often when you overreacted inappropriately.
"Caster. I have done wrong by you, but Headless is my friend, the one who is closest to me above all save only my sister. Centuries have we spent together, and I would no sooner cast her out than you would cast aside your own magic. I shall punish her - chain her and cage her, if I must - and I shall learn the reason behind her action. If destruction is the only remedy then it shall be done by my hand. But you, Caster, I have known for less than a week, and despite the trust I have given you, I have not yet received even the honor of a name, merely the shield of a title accorded by duty." Caster stares at you, shocked at your sudden formality, and your unblinking eyes hold hers hostage until her hand starts to rise, an attempt at forming a connection, and her mouth opens ever so slightly, the prelude to speech. "Now, Caster, I go to punish Headless, and to learn the cause of her transgression." You spin away, perfectly oriented toward the hall leading to the room you have been staying in, and step forward with a perfect gait, an exacting blend of noble lady and stalking predator. There is no call to you, no attempt to restrain you - as it should be. You reach the room without incident and make your way to the corner you sleep in, only bothering to make sure you won't hit anything when you collapse before diving into your mental construct.
You wait for your friend in a large, empty hall. There is nothing in this room - one door, no windows, no furniture or furnishings, no light sources. Headless walks in and waits for you to face her; you turn to see a nearly-identical reflection staring calmly at you. Headless's presence is more ferocious and brutal than yours, although at the height of your frenzy you appear even more bestial than she does. But now she simply watches you without any hint of the bloodlust that helped give rise to her name. "Why did you attack Caster, Headless?" She looks away for a moment before meeting your eyes once again.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." You shake your head.
"Please, Headless. Just tell me." She smirks, the left corner of her mouth rising in a crooked grin.
"Come on, aren't you supposed to punish me before interrogating me?" Your fists clench, but you do nothing - how do you immediately punish an entity whose experiences with the physical are second-hand? You can't isolate or bind her until you learn why she did it, and attacking her won't serve any purpose. She can recover her body, after all. "Here, I'll make it easier for you." She steps up to you and her left hand lashes out, slapping you across the face. Before she can bring it back, you respond.
Long minutes later, when the room is decorated with blood, you collapse to your knees in front of Headless's body, or what remains of it. The right arm and head are the only limbs attached to the torso, which itself ends partway through the rib cage, her heart and lungs showing that she still clings to life even if regeneration has halted. You bow your head, looking down at the pool of blood as tears flow unchecked from your eyes. "Why?" It's barely a whisper.
"… I'm sorry, Flan. I guess that was more punishment for you than for me. That damned honor and nobility you insist on carting around. Did your sister ever do even this much? No, she was only ever disappointed in you, and that was enough." She waits for a response, breathing slowly. You don't say anything and she sighs. "You aren't going to like it, Flan. You're going to hate me, and you're going to hate yourself. If you'd just kept believing it was some trick of the old man's, or a reaction to nearly dying, you'd have been so much happier." Another pause, and her arm reaches forward to try pushing your chin up, but she can't reach you. You look at her anyway, and she smiles. "That's better. I should have told you, let you make the decision, but maybe if you'd known, so would she. … You remember she put you back together after Lancer wrecked you? Caster left … hooks, I guess, is the best way to put it. Maybe they were just some kind of magical suture, maybe they were so she could teleport you back here if you got hurt again, but she didn't say anything about them. And with how she acted right after the old man called her a betrayer, I decided that whatever they were, they weren't good things, so I got rid of them, and attacked her, too." She sighs again, luxuriating in the memory. "I won't lie, Flan, that felt good. Gouging her, ripping her, pulling her under the blood and terrorizing her - it felt right to do that. … But maybe I knew that, somehow, and that's why I attacked her. But right then, when she was distracted and I had a chance that might not ever come again? It seemed like a good idea, so I did it." You close your eyes. Deis didn't say anything about it, either, but if they were beneficial, she wouldn't have thought she'd have to. Or if she thought they were beneficial, either because Caster said they were or because Caster put them in alongside actually beneficial threads. Of course, Headless might have thought things were there that weren't - although you don't think she was lying. And … Caster did betray her Master - he may have left to arrange for her death, but if that had been a trap he intended to spring on whoever answered, then her actions against the workshop were unwarranted. And Deis thinks that there are some problems with her story as well! You clutch your head, nails digging into your scalp just short of drawing blood, palms pressing just a little too lightly to damage your skull. A whimper escapes you throat as you keep it from erupting into an ear-splitting wail.
What do you do?
[ ] Help Headless recover; she may not have done right, but she meant well.
[ ] Leave Headless as she is; she's been punished, but any further punishment - or apology - is going to have to wait.
[ ] Confine Headless as best as you can; it doesn't matter what she meant to accomplish, she still made you violate hospitality.
[ ] Confront Caster about it.
[ ] Don't bring up Headless's reason to Caster.
- [ ] See about making a deal with Sakura.
- [ ] Go after Saber without making a deal with Sakura.
- [ ] Go annoy Tohsaka.
- [ ] Go see Illyasviel and Berserker.
- - [ ] Bring Deis along; you said you would, after all.
[ ] Other?
