[X] Wait for Satsuki to calm down and head back to Ilya's castle.

Let's just hope nothing bad happens. *Gets back just in time to see Berserker throw Rin to the shadow.* Welp...
 
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[X] Let Headless run amok.
2

[X] Wait for Satsuki to calm down and head back to Ilya's castle.
9


EDIT: Votes are locked.
 
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End of Fun
[X] Wait for Satsuki to calm down and head back to Ilya's castle.


You sigh. "Headless, it's okay if we head back, right? I don't want to keep you from having fun, but I'm worried about Ilya." There's a long period silence before Headless responds - long enough that Satsuki finishes with the mage and the third human and gives you a predatory look. You give her a look and flare your power and she hesitates, at least until panicked voices catch her attention … and she dashes away from them. You sigh and drift along after her. "Headless?"

"Oh, you wanted a reply. Sorry, I was just thinking. Yeah, it's fine." You frown and focus your attention on your friend - this sort of attitude isn't like her. "Heh. I'm fine, Flan, just a bit tired. How about you and Remilia make it up to me sometime later, just give me a nice big city to go through and the whole night to do it. That's fair, right?" You smile, relieved, and keep following Satsuki.

"Yeah, that's fair. Get some rest, Headless." Although … why is she tired? If the shadow-thing did something to her, you're going to be very upset with it. Satsuki turns and bounds out of your sight, and when you reach the intersection you see her leaning against a wall, panting raggedly. She falls to her knees and starts sobbing.

"Why?" You shrug as she stares at you.

"There are so many different 'whys' you could be asking me that I can't really answer that, you know." She shakes her head and curls up, burying her face in her knees.

"Why did you make me kill them?" You laugh.

"I didn't make you kill them! They tried to kill you, and you responded appropriately. And how do you feel about that?" She shudders and tries to grind her face into her knees before relaxing a little.

"I feel … I'm warm, and comfortable, and I don't hurt. But … but …." You shake your head.

"You mean you feel like you've had a really good meal and you're satisfied?" She stiffens and you sigh. "I mean, that's what you just did, so it's normal for you to feel that way. Especially that mage - their blood is better, after all. Anyway, we're going back to Ilya's now. If everything's fine, we can talk more when we get back." She stays still for a moment before starting to stand up, but when she sees her arms she flinches away from you.

"Can - can I get cleaned up, before we go? I …." She shivers and hides her hands and you sigh. Around here … no.

"We can stop somewhere before we leave the city, sure." She rises to her feet and you dart forward to pick her up. You fly up above the buildings and head back toward Fuyuki and Ilya's castle, looking for a suitable place for Satsuki to get cleaned up. There! Satsuki cries out and stiffens as you suddenly dive toward a house. It's a normal house for this area, only a single story like its neighbors, but this one has a light on, and if a light's on that means someone lives here and is home! Satsuki stumbles as you set her on the walkway and continue forward to slam through the door. She stares at you, shocked, as you turn and gesture for her to enter. "Well? There's going to be someplace you can use here, right? Quickly, or we'll just head back!" She shakes herself and rushes in as you examine the interior. It's closer to the Emiya residence than the Tohsaka or Matou homes, although not quite so old or refined. You float toward the kitchen and run into the residents - two young women. One has a large kitchen knife in her hands and stares at you in shock, but the other's face lights up. You shove the excited girl aside and tear out the throat of the knife-wielder - why pass up such an opportunity?

Satsuki doesn't take that long to clean up, although there are of course red spots on her sleeve, and when she reaches the front hall you toss her a long coat. "What's this for?" You shrug.

"I'm going to go a bit faster than I did coming here, so you might want to cover up." She seems a bit nervous about that, and starts to look around for something, but she seems to figure out what happened pretty quickly. Still, she puts the coat on and walks with you outside. You pick her up and tear through the sky, enjoying the terrific speed far more than Satsuki, who simply holds herself as stiffly as she can. You slow down once you see the castle and Satsuki relaxes. It doesn't look like anything's happened, as you glide toward the entrance - control your fall, really - you see a figure in red patrolling along the roof. He looks unarmed, but with how he can make his weapons appear in his hands that doesn't really mean anything, any more than it does with you. But his presence almost proves that nothing bad has happened, and you relax a little. You drop Satsuki in front of the stairs and land softly on the landing itself. "You should get changed into something more presentable," you say, and she swallows and nods, hurrying past you to open the door and closing it behind you before rushing away to get dressed. Leysritt passes her on the stairs and nods to you.

"Ilya is working," she says. "Busy." You pout at her.

"Where? Maybe I can help!" The servant gives you a look with no more - or less - meaning than her usual ones and turns to head back up the stairs. You follow her and she leads you to a corner room one floor up. You hold her back from entering when you hear voices - Deis and Tohsaka are in there as well - and listen in on their conversation. Something about making a sword? … But it sounds like some kind of magician's project, so you probably can't do anything.


What do you do?

[ ] Go talk to Archer.
- Any particular topics?

[ ] Talk to Satsuki.

[ ] See if you can help.

[ ] Go to sleep.

[ ] Other?
 
Sacchin Pep Talk
[X] Talk to Satsuki.


You lean against the wall for a few moments, but your immediate suspicion doesn't change - you don't know enough about magic, and you don't have anything that could help except the rods Remilia gave you, and you're not about to turn them over for experimentation. Not to Tohsaka, especially … if she knew how valuable they are to you, she'd probably destroy one out of spite. Besides, you told Satsuki you'd talk to her if she needed it. You sigh silently and stand straight; catching Leysritt's eye, you smile and shake your head. She tilts her head in confusion but you just shake your head again and slip past her. Like she said, Ilya's busy, and you don't really have anything to say except that you're back, so it can wait until they're finished with their project. You float down the hallway, looking for your servant.

"Ah, Flandre-sama!" You turn around, having just passed your room, and Satsuki hurries to catch up to you. You give her a critical look and circle around her as she stands stiffly. You sigh and undo her apron before tugging her outfit into a more proper fit and retying the apron. She blushes nervously as you finish. "Um, I'm sorry. I didn't want to take too long, so …." You wave dismissively and she trails off.

"I'd prefer that you look presentable over haste. I don't want you to take your time, of course, and I expect you to be prompt and on-time, but learning to dress properly will help you dress more quickly more than learning how to move quickly will." You drift down the hallway, moving purposefully but not so quickly that Satsuki has to work to keep up. A brisk, proper pace that covers ground easily but doesn't hurry … and is much easier to maintain when you can fly. You glide along the corridors, leading Satsuki to the sitting room. You sit at a table and gesture for her to sit across from you. "So … you have a problem with what happened earlier?" She looks down at her lap.

"It's … I shouldn't kill people. They haven't done anything to me, it's not their fault I'm … the way I am. I don't want to be a monster. I just want to be me, the way I've always been. And …." You shake your head as she trails off.

"Well. When you were human, did you live in the streets, eating and drinking only what was necessary for you to survive?" She shakes her head. "Of course not. You had a home, were comfortable, ate good food and drink. Just because you're a vampire, should you just … not be comfortable anymore? Should you have to suffer because you're something else? I get the feeling that you didn't exactly look for this outcome, that you didn't become a vampire of your own desire. It's true that it's not any particular human's fault, but you need blood to survive, right?" She shudders and shakes her head before looking unhappily at you.

"That's not what you do, though." You laugh.

"Oh, of course not. I was never human to begin with, and I'm comfortable with being a monster. But you need to accept what you are, and you aren't the same as me. I could tell you that humans are beneath you, that they're just food and you should stop caring about them as anything but that. But that's something for you to decide, really. What I was trying to do earlier was to get you to accept yourself - killing and feeding on humans in self-defense is well and good, but if you can't make yourself choose to kill someone who hasn't done anything to you, are you doing anything besides dooming yourself to self-destruction? I wanted you to choose to kill that man to prove that you can control yourself." She glares and you shrug. "You did pretty well, keeping from attacking until someone attacked you, and then running from the refugees. Of course, that was after you looked at me like you might want to eat me, so there was a break. Still, it's a good start." She shakes her head violently and presses her hands to the sides of her head.

"But … no, I mean … why? Why are you making me do that? Why does it matter? Why can't I just keep using blood packs? They work, and they don't make me a monster!" You close your eyes and sigh. "I don't want to be a monster, I don't want to hurt people! I know that I need blood to live, just like humans eat animals, but … but … there's another way, so why? I don't want to change from the way I was …." She starts sobbing and clutches her shoulders. "I understand what you're saying, but I was fine. I didn't kill people, and Ciel-senpai made sure that no one was hurt. Why couldn't I keep doing that?" You sigh and wait for her to calm down. Maybe this is why there are so few magicians … even the ones that think they know what they're getting into might not be capable of actually coping with the change to something that knows what it should be. If Ilya does go that route, you hope she doesn't have a similar problem.

"… Well, Ciel's dead, isn't she? So you don't have anyone who's going to make you play by the rules. That's why you need to learn to control yourself. Also, Arcueid was aware of your condition, right? She said something about needing to keep you in line and that you would eventually succumb to your thirst for blood. All Ciel was doing was delaying the inevitable and making sure that when you finally did 'lose control' you would be weak enough that she could kill you." She stares at you, stunned, and shakes her head vehemently.

"No! No, Ciel-senpai wouldn't … she wouldn't do something like that! She wasn't that kind of person!" You watch her as she stares at you. She seems to really believe that.

"Well, I didn't know her, so I could be wrong. But from what you said, your body is constantly breaking down, and that's why you need blood. Exerting yourself would increase the rate of breakdown, as does venturing into sunlight. So regardless of what Ciel's motivation in the past was, I need you to be capable of acting at your best. Blood packs won't do - neither you nor I get as much benefit from it, the same way a human doesn't get as much nutrition from stale bread - so in addition to getting you to accept yourself as what you are, I need you to feed properly." Your eyes narrow and she leans back. "You do remember that I gave you a choice, right? I told you what you would be getting into - you would be my servant, and I would make sure you received blood, that you remained as healthy as I could ensure, and that I would see about this 'bloodlust.' Feeding on those who haven't wronged you may seem harsh, but I need to see to it that you come to terms with yourself as soon as possible. If you can't - if you won't - feed in the manner I am capable of supplying you with, then I need to know so I can determine how to deal with you." She looks down again.

"But … I-"

"You need to think this through for yourself. You have, essentially, four options." You hold up your fingers and lower them one by one. "You can accept what you are and that you will need to kill 'innocent' humans. You can not accept what you are, and walk into the sun. You can try to run away and either get yourself killed or come to one of the other three options. And you can try to stay 'good' and not deal with what you are." She slumps.

"… I've fed on humans before tonight. I just never killed anyone. I don't want to kill anyone -"

"But you had Ciel watching over you to make sure you didn't kill anyone. I won't do that for you, so either you need to control yourself well enough to make sure you don't kill anyone you don't intend to. Which is a viable fifth option - but not for you while you're working for me. I'm going to teach you and I'm going to use you, so you're going to need to make sure you're at your best, and I won't accept you feeding below your needs just because you don't want to hurt people." She nods mutely and you stretch. "Well, I won't press you for an answer immediately. But you know you killed and fed on people, even if they attacked you, and also that when people who had nothing to do with you moved near, you fled rather than risk attacking them. Go. Think on that, on what I said, and what you can live with and deal with." She stares at you.

"You're … letting me go?" You sigh and laugh.

"Satsuki, I can't control your mind. I can explain my point of view and tell you what I think is best for you, and if you keep working for me I can tell you what to do, but I can't force true obedience. So, yes - take the night off, unless something important happens, and figure things out." She starts to smile. "Oh, I'll be irritated if you decide to run or kill yourself, because I've been looking forward to something like this and because Ilya went and got you that nice outfit, but I don't think I'll bother trying to track you down and attack you. Likewise, I'll be very upset if you don't deal with your issue, because that's making a problem for me. But … yes, I'm letting you decide on your own." She looks at you and smiles.

"Thank you, Flandre-sama." She stands up and curtsies - imperfectly, of course - and withdraws, giving you one last smile as she leaves the room. You sigh and shake your head. You're also not telling her what to think because it's complicated - humans are the source of your food, but you don't regard them as food themselves. Humans are scary and pitiable. Humans are weak, and humanity is powerful. Humans want to change themselves … except when they don't, or when that change has unforeseen side effects. She isn't a proper vampire, because she doesn't know where she belongs; you can tell her, but until she knows it for herself, it won't matter. You sigh again and stretch. What now?


What do you do?

[ ] Go to sleep.

[ ] Go talk to Archer.
- Any particular subject?

[ ] Other?
 
[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] What his goal or wish for the Holy Grail?
 
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[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] Does he have any thoughts on how to beat the shadow and its host? Maybe a way to undo whatever Zouken did to her.

I don't think he'd tell us about his wish. That's a pretty personal topic for a servant.
 
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[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] How was he able to drive the Shadow back?
 
[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] Does he have any thoughts on how to beat the shadow and its host? Maybe a way to undo whatever Zouken did to her.
 
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[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Does he have any thoughts on how to beat the shadow and its host? Maybe a way to undo whatever Zouken did to her.
 
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Didn't Flandre already ask about that previous fight or did I miss something?

He did, he mention fighting something similiar to the Shadow. This was after waking up from defending Illya Castle.

"So you know what this is?" Archer falls silent after you interrupt him.

"… I have encountered something similar to it in the past. Not this Shadow, but similar enough to recognize its threat. Fortunately, this one isn't mature; we can stop it before cleaners need to be sent." There's a lot he's not saying, and you're a bit curious about these 'cleaners,' but it's not really relevant to your main question.

"So, why did you decide to launch an attack when I would not merely be affected by it, but directly harmed by it?" His legs stretch forward, and he's probably relaxing, thinking he's escaped some sort of difficult question he'd feared.

"In the first place, because the Shadow was vulnerable when it attacked you. As I'm sure you noticed, it is normally … only somewhat there. It's basically raw magic, rather than a physical entity, so only magic really works against it - but since this Shadow has far more power than almost anything else, even that only slows it down. When it engages a physical entity, however, it … congeals around that target. It doesn't recover as quickly, isn't as resistant to physical attacks. Of course, this isn't exactly a 'weakness' that can be easily taken advantage of, even if you plan for it …. But secondly, I wanted to neutralize you." Your eyes narrow at his tone of voice, but his apparently-relaxed posture doesn't change. "From what I could see, and from my experience regarding similar entities, it had started draining your energy and might have been able to influence your actions in some way. Because of your power, I thought it necessary to inflict sufficient damage to make you more controllable. Besides, there isn't much I could do that would affect it but not you."
 
Votes are not locked.
[X] Go to sleep.
1

[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] What his goal or wish for the Holy Grail?
1

[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] How was he able to drive the Shadow back?
2

[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Why do you have grudge against Emiya?
---[x] Does he have any thoughts on how to beat the shadow and its host? Maybe a way to undo whatever Zouken did to her.
1

[X] Go talk to Archer.
-[x] 'Cleaners' that he mention in the past.
--[x] Does he have any thoughts on how to beat the shadow and its host? Maybe a way to undo whatever Zouken did to
1
Hmm ...
@eager slacker your vote seems to break at the end.
@veekie @Thaliwilya do you wish to alter or clarify your votes?
 
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