Save Scumming? It's on my Character sheet. (Re: Zero/Fate Grand Order)
- Thread starter Xorn
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- Tampere
Eh, the "whale" in re-zero has so many not-whale parts that it only looks like one superficially, so probably no helpful boost from there.
Garreon
Paldean Top Champion
- Location
- Mesagoza, Paldea
Well hello there Watcher/Gatekeeper, fancy seeing you here......waaaaait Ahab is an Avenger in this one? Really? Well what do you know....ok calling it now he is the mastermind behind this clusterfuck.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Huh, don't think I've ever seen Prelati in a Fate/ fanfic where he isn't a baddie of some sort. Should be interesting seeing him team up - the guy's skilled with illusions, ya?
So the historical Prelati and Gilles were innocent of child murder, and no material evidence was discovered to indicate they'd ever done so? I'm kinda impressed we could
Dolly Fail Fail
Boss Leader
- Location
- Within dreams and memories
I feel like the big mistake you guys are making is taking literally anything in this chapter, let alone Prelati's own words, at face value.
Especially when the chapter before it literally ended with Prelati throwing the gang, or at least Subaru, into his Grand Illusion.
Especially when the chapter before it literally ended with Prelati throwing the gang, or at least Subaru, into his Grand Illusion.
Xorn
Master Procrastinator
- Location
- Somewhere I won't be able to rest in peace
Prelati is a self-proclaimed ally of humanity, so there's no way he could be the baddie here! And his Noble Phantasm that lets him create illusions that can imitate reality marbles is clearly unrelated to this whole spooky ocean business. How dare you make such accusations.
Well, this is post hoc through reference to court documents, so it's not like we can be certain one way or another - but by most accounts it seems to have been an extremely sketchy trial, where the prosecution and judge had a lot to gain from Gilles losing the case.
(Completely monotone): Prelati? Lying? No way, that's impossible.
But yeah, who in their right mind would trust Prelati?
Prelati: "Trust Prelati!"
I trust Prelati.
Dolly Fail Fail
Boss Leader
- Location
- Within dreams and memories
Thankfully, I have a far easier time mistrusting him through text. Not sure how well I'd hold up in comic/manga format, let alone in person.
Why the hell did they have to make the supposedly child murdering sadistic occultist so fucking cute...
32: The Sunken Spiral Castle
Xorn
Master Procrastinator
- Location
- Somewhere I won't be able to rest in peace
32: The Sunken Spiral Castle
'White Whale.' He just said 'White Whale', didn't he?
"Are you freaking kidding me…?" I mumble, massaging my temples with a feeling of total exasperation. Dammit, didn't I already clear this boss!? Hey, Daphne, aren't you embarrassed, causing me this much trouble!? Hey, Gluttony Witch Factor, aren't you showing up a bit too much compared to the supposed big bad that is Envy!? Hey, mabeasts, are you guys seriously upset enough about Flauros's gang beating your collective kill record that you decided to come all the way to Earth and cause problems for me? Hey, White Whale, was getting crushed to death, decapitated, and blown up not enough for you!? You want some more, huh!?
"Ho…? The look on thy face, boy… Thou hast seen her, then?" The Captain says, grinning like his birthday came early.
"I sure hope not." I groan. "If it's the same flying, fog-spewing bastard that I had to deal with a couple years ago, I think I might cry..."
"Flying?" He gives a dry chuckle. "Nay, lad, Moby Dick is a beast of the sea, through and through."
"Um, Senpai, when you say two years ago…?" Mash says.
"Yeah, that was one of the enemies I had to deal with back home. Crap, I feel exhausted just thinking about that thing. I almost died so many times…!" I reply with a shudder. "Whatever this one's like, there's… woah, I almost raised a flag there, so I'm gonna stop!"
"Hmmm~? Are you the superstitious type, Subaru?" Asks Prelati with a dangerous-looking smile.
"Every time I tempt Fate, she rolls her sleeves up and punches my teeth out! So yes, I'm superstitious!" I yell. "Also, did I ever actually tell you my name…?"
"Mash told me while you were unconscious." He says, chuckling smugly to himself. "In any case, what you were going to say… was it, 'there's no possible way this Whale could be worse,' by any chance?"
...
"By the way, Medieval France didn't have laws about beating up kids, right?" I say to Mash as I roll up my sleeves.
"No, they- Senpai, wait!" She yells, hastily grabbing my shoulders and holding me back. "I understand how you feel, but please stop!"
"Wow! What a dangerous Master I've found~!" Prelati laughs.
"Come a little bit closer, you brat, and I'll show you just how dangerous I am!"
***
By the time Prelati and I finish playing around, the Captain has long since gotten sick of our antics and returned to the wheelhouse.
"Well, that's to be expected. [Avengers] can be pretty single-minded after all; if it's not about whales, it's basically impossible to get the Captain interested." Prelati says, sighing and shaking his head. He gives a small shrug. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he's pretty fun when sea monsters get involved, but otherwise it's like trying to herd a particularly grumpy cat."
"Ugh, he's an Avenger?" Mordred grumbles. "And here I had him pinned as a Rider… freakin' extra classes. Uh, no offense, Mash."
"Eh? Oh, no, it's fine…" She mutters.
"Another Extra Class, huh…?" I mutter. "What's the deal with that, huh? Aren't those supposed to be rare? And yet, we've met two of them, and we haven't met a Rider class Servant yet. I feel like someone's playing some kind of weird joke on me..."
Prelati giggles. "Don't worry! Illusions aside, I'm not really going out of my way to deceive you at the moment."
"Oi, the way you said that is totally suspect! Why the emphasis on me in particular!? What do you mean, 'at the moment'!?" I yell, shaking him by his shoulders.
"Ahahaha!~ Don't worry, don't worry!~" He laughs. "Cross my heart and hope to die, I'm definitely your ally! I am an ally of humanity, and an enemy of the Demon Gods, one hundred percent! After all, at the moment, the prime victim of my deceptions is… this guy!"
He reaches into his left sleeve, and with a squelching pop, he pulls out a squirming thing. It looks sort of like a worm, golden-yellow in color, with a gem-like translucent red octahedron set into its surface. Within, a black diamond flicks about - its pupil. It's an eye. The red thing attached to this worm is definitely an eye.
I've seen a similar being - but it was much larger, with round eyes and cross-shaped pupils. And yet, I'm certain that they are the same kind of being. I can feel it. This little worm, is without a doubt-!
"Ta-da! Meet my good friend, Demon God Baal! Go on, introduce yourselves! " Prelati exclaims. Mordred reaches for her weapon, and I back up, pulling at the magic in my mystic code. And then Prelati continues, voice lowered, as his smile takes on a sadistic quality. "Well, he won't be able to respond, though. After all… he's trapped in an illusion right now!~"
"Oh thank god…" I breathe a sigh of relief as weapons are lowered - and then I realize what this means. "...Wait, seriously!? You can do that?"
"Yes, seriously!" He chuckles. "The Demon Gods have no innate magic resistance. Of course, they have the authority to unravel any spell cast by human hands, but that would require him to realize he's under the effect of a spell in the first place, you know? And well… if you fail to remember anything else about the Demon God Pillars, at least remember this: they are incredibly prideful. In fact, they'd probably never even consider the possibility that a human could deceive them."
"...And yet, you say you don't have the grail." Mordred points out, eyes narrowed. "Does that mean Baal handed it off to a Servant, like Flauros did in Fuyuki?"
"Mm… Well, it's a bit more complicated than that." The Alchemist says, stroking his chin. "So, to start with, there's meant to be a Demon God overseeing each Singularity, but that doesn't mean that the Demon God has to get directly involved at any point. As long as the Grail isn't removed, the era will continue to be destabilized; fundamentally speaking, it doesn't matter who has the thing. But since you guys managed to knock out Flauros in Fuyuki, the King of the Demon Gods got a bit spooked, and started ordering his minions to keep a closer eye on their singularities."
He laughs. "Of course, that was about when he figured out that Amdusias had somehow completely lost control of his host. So Baal was dispatched in order to get Orleans back on course. Buuuuut…!"
"You intercepted him?" I ask, grinning.
"Hah! Even better! See, after I got executed, people made up a bunch of weird legends that I was an avatar of Beelzebub - a name derived from Baal. So Baal decided to jump into me since I should have been the most suitable host in Medieval France. Unfortunately for him…~"
"Those legends were made up, just like your crimes!" Mash says excitedly.
"Those legends were made up, just like my crimes!~" Prelati affirms with a giggle. "So I was able to shake his control long enough to stick him in an illusion."
I sigh with relief. "So we don't have to take on a Demon Pillar this singularity? That's a bit of a relief. Flauros didn't cause us that much trouble in the end, but I think a lot of that came down to him underestimating us. The others probably won't-"
"Nah, they'll probably continue to underestimate us all the way to the finish line! The King of Demon Gods pities Humanity, you see. He views the suffering of humans, their inevitable death, as something completely inexcusable. A flaw in the structure of the world. And so, he wants to painlessly incinerate every human. Because he pities us. It's one big mercy killing, as far as he's concerned." He says. "And so, he'll underestimate us. Because it's quite difficult to feel threatened by something you pity."
"...Is that how that works…?" Mash mutters.
"Yeah." Mordred replies, leaning against the rail and gazing at the waves. "Pity is the most dangerous emotion to have on the battlefield. After all…" She trails off. For a second I think about asking what she's talking about, but looking at her face-
"After all?~" Prelati says.
Mordred says nothing.
"After aaaaalll?~" The boy says, poking Mordred's cheek.
"...After all, pity is what killed King Arthur." She concludes, cringing.
"Oh! I see, I see!" Says the alchemist. He pats Mordred on the back, a big smile on his face, as her shoulders shake. "Well, it's like that, everyone!"
He gives a big thumbs up, and I feel a bit of worry building up in my chest.
"Just think of saving the world from the Demon Gods like you would think of murdering King Arthur!" He concludes, and I can see Mordred's jaw shift as she grinds her teeth. He doesn't notice. I'll need to scold him later.
My eyes widen as he opens his mouth again. He's not done. He's got one knife left to drive into Mordred's heart.
"Oh, but you guys already managed that once, so we're on a pretty good track, wouldn't-?"
"Prelati, stop helping." I hiss, grabbing him by the ear. He just grins in response.
"Understood! I will now cease helping!" He says - and suddenly, everything is still. The sound of crashing waves, the salty dampness of the sea breeze, disappears. And then, the world starts to grow darker. What-?
"S-senpai, look at the sky!" Mash yells, and I gaze up to see the thousands of stars painted across the sky rapidly wink out of existence, one after another.
"Oi, Prelati." I mutter, glaring at the Caster. "Quit that."
"Oh, this isn't me." He replies. "Seems like the 'whale' is coming for us! Man, what a coincidence!~"
The boat shudders, creaking, as the smooth obsidian sheet beneath us ripples. Once, twice, three times, the ship rocks.
"She comes! She comes! Ye guests of mine, behold! See, the whale comes!" Shouts the Captain as he races onto the deck as fast as his prosthetic will allow him to move. "Aye, I see thee, thou damned Whale! I'll not use half-measures, this time! Lower the sails! Full speed ahead! I'll dash my ship against thee, thou marble mountain! Aye, let my Pequod be run aground, against thy flesh! Look and see, all ye men and spirits of Earth! Behold, all ye demons of hell! Gaze upon me, oh God in heaven! Observe, the hate and spite boiling my very soul!"
As he speaks, the last of the stars disappears, and only the lanterns hanging on the ship's rail give us any light. And then, a white disk, with a black spot at its center, appears, shedding light on us once more. And another. And another, and another, until the sky is flooded with unblinking eyes.
"Aye, that's right." Avenger mutters. "Witness this, all ye onlookers - as Ahab hunts his whale!"
And finally, in a storm of oily black water and bubbling flesh, the 'whale' breaches the water's surface.
"▬██▁▆█▆▀▬██▆!"
The monster roars, its thousand mouths screeching with the voices of all the animal kingdom, plus a few extra sounds for good measure. Its eyes spasm every which way, with only a few actually locking onto the boat, as dozens of wings - bat, bird, and insect alike - flap uselessly in a vague attempt to get itself aloft. And at the center of its body, a strange green emblem glows ominously.
"That marking…" Mordred mutters in vague recognition, even as the sea monster's cry and visage send my brain twisting and churning with images of a Sunken Spiral Castle.
"Aye, I come for thee, whale!" Cries Ahab as the boat speeds forward, even as blood starts to ooze from his eyes.
"Hey, in what way is that damn thing a whale!?" I protest, looking away from it, and training my eyes on Prelati.
The Caster shrugs. "Well, it's got a few whale bits… Of course, I'm pretty sure that Ahab would identify any sea monster he saw as his so-called 'White Whale'. He's a bit…" He concludes, making a 'this guy's crazy' motion with his finger as I sigh.
I make the mistake of glancing back at the monster, and my brain trembles as searing pain digs into my eyes once more. Far away, I hear myself scream.
"S-senpai!? What happened? Ah, your eyes-!" Mash grabs me, and I blink a few times at her strangely blurry face. What's happening?
Oh. I can't see out of my left eye. Dimly, I reach up to touch it.
Crunch. There's a noise like someone biting into a carrot.
I scream as a sharp pain appears at the final joint of my left index finger. What happened? What just happened? I stare at the finger with my good eye - it's missing. My fingertip is gone, with tooth marks left where it had been. From my blind left eye, I hear a crunching, slurping, chewing noise.
What is this. What is this. What is this what is this what is this-!?
From far away, I hear screaming. Mash's [Lord Chaldeas] manifests, but the storm in my brain churns onwards. The stump of my fingertip bubbles, and spiders crawl out. My left eye continues to bore its way into my skull, chewing at the flesh around its socket.
To my side, I see Prelati fall to the ground, body twisting and bending unnaturally. Him too!? At the prow, Ahab is still yelling something, even as his skin bubbles and sloughs off in sync with the monster's cries.
Mordred, seemingly unaffected, yells something as red lighting explodes from the [Azoth Longsword], a beam of light lancing out at the monster - but I can't afford to check how much it was damaged.
Think. I need to think! Why!? Why are Mash and Mordred not being affected by this!? What do they have that the rest of us don't!? How are they resisting-?
Wait. Is it seriously that simple!? Is it just their Magic Resistance skills!?
"T-then… let's try this!" I hiss, command spell flaring to life. "[EMT]!"
A ten meter spherical field, centered on me, erupts, and the squirming feeling slowly recedes from within my brain. My left eye smears back into focus, and my hearing returns to normal. Unfortunately, it also disrupts the illusion Prelati placed on me earlier, so my seasickness returns full force.
...The illusion is broken. Shit. Hastily, I grab Prelati, and throw him out of EMT's field of effect. "Prelati! By my command spell, trap Baal in an illusion again!"
He gives me a thumbs up, and gurgles a vague response through the rainbow colored sludge flowing out of his every orifice.
I glance at the monster, and my brain does not tremble in response. So that's nice. On the less nice side of things, the squirming beast seems to have been undamaged by Mordred's assault - and Ahab is looking considerably worse off. He clings to the Prow, even as his body shudders, fire pouring out of the splintering cracks running across his skin.
"...to the last, I grapple with thee!" He roars, as we glide across the waves, closer and closer to the shapeless monster. "For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"
The boat shudders as we hit something, grinding and scraping against something beneath the ship's hull - but Ahab retains his grip on the flaming harpoon clasped in his right hand.
"[From Hell's Heart-!"
***
And then, without warning, the world shatters into pieces. The sky filled with eyes disappears, replaced by a clear blue sky. The tumultuous black ocean vanishes, replaced by rolling fields of green grass.
And the Alien Sea Monster disappears, replaced by a dragon of approximately the same size.
The Pequod tips to one side, grinding against the ground as it loses momentum, kicking up clods of dirt and grass. And finally, we all tumble out of the ship, with Mordred barely managing to catch me and prevent a rough landing.
"What the devil is this trickery!?" yells Ahab, who suddenly looks a lot less melted, as he lands ahead of us and glares at Prelati. "Alchemist, is this thy work, thou damned squid!?"
"Oof, seems you gave the planet an opening to figure things out, Subaru." Prelati says with a sigh as he lands next to me. "This is gonna get awkward…"
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅--!" The dragon roars, the green emblem engraved upon its chest burning brightly. And from its jaws, fire without end pours forth.
"Once more, then! [The Sunken Spiral Castle Does Not Exist, Therefore, There is No End to This World's Madness ]!"
'White Whale.' He just said 'White Whale', didn't he?
"Are you freaking kidding me…?" I mumble, massaging my temples with a feeling of total exasperation. Dammit, didn't I already clear this boss!? Hey, Daphne, aren't you embarrassed, causing me this much trouble!? Hey, Gluttony Witch Factor, aren't you showing up a bit too much compared to the supposed big bad that is Envy!? Hey, mabeasts, are you guys seriously upset enough about Flauros's gang beating your collective kill record that you decided to come all the way to Earth and cause problems for me? Hey, White Whale, was getting crushed to death, decapitated, and blown up not enough for you!? You want some more, huh!?
"Ho…? The look on thy face, boy… Thou hast seen her, then?" The Captain says, grinning like his birthday came early.
"I sure hope not." I groan. "If it's the same flying, fog-spewing bastard that I had to deal with a couple years ago, I think I might cry..."
"Flying?" He gives a dry chuckle. "Nay, lad, Moby Dick is a beast of the sea, through and through."
"Um, Senpai, when you say two years ago…?" Mash says.
"Yeah, that was one of the enemies I had to deal with back home. Crap, I feel exhausted just thinking about that thing. I almost died so many times…!" I reply with a shudder. "Whatever this one's like, there's… woah, I almost raised a flag there, so I'm gonna stop!"
"Hmmm~? Are you the superstitious type, Subaru?" Asks Prelati with a dangerous-looking smile.
"Every time I tempt Fate, she rolls her sleeves up and punches my teeth out! So yes, I'm superstitious!" I yell. "Also, did I ever actually tell you my name…?"
"Mash told me while you were unconscious." He says, chuckling smugly to himself. "In any case, what you were going to say… was it, 'there's no possible way this Whale could be worse,' by any chance?"
...
"By the way, Medieval France didn't have laws about beating up kids, right?" I say to Mash as I roll up my sleeves.
"No, they- Senpai, wait!" She yells, hastily grabbing my shoulders and holding me back. "I understand how you feel, but please stop!"
"Wow! What a dangerous Master I've found~!" Prelati laughs.
"Come a little bit closer, you brat, and I'll show you just how dangerous I am!"
***
By the time Prelati and I finish playing around, the Captain has long since gotten sick of our antics and returned to the wheelhouse.
"Well, that's to be expected. [Avengers] can be pretty single-minded after all; if it's not about whales, it's basically impossible to get the Captain interested." Prelati says, sighing and shaking his head. He gives a small shrug. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he's pretty fun when sea monsters get involved, but otherwise it's like trying to herd a particularly grumpy cat."
"Ugh, he's an Avenger?" Mordred grumbles. "And here I had him pinned as a Rider… freakin' extra classes. Uh, no offense, Mash."
"Eh? Oh, no, it's fine…" She mutters.
"Another Extra Class, huh…?" I mutter. "What's the deal with that, huh? Aren't those supposed to be rare? And yet, we've met two of them, and we haven't met a Rider class Servant yet. I feel like someone's playing some kind of weird joke on me..."
Prelati giggles. "Don't worry! Illusions aside, I'm not really going out of my way to deceive you at the moment."
"Oi, the way you said that is totally suspect! Why the emphasis on me in particular!? What do you mean, 'at the moment'!?" I yell, shaking him by his shoulders.
"Ahahaha!~ Don't worry, don't worry!~" He laughs. "Cross my heart and hope to die, I'm definitely your ally! I am an ally of humanity, and an enemy of the Demon Gods, one hundred percent! After all, at the moment, the prime victim of my deceptions is… this guy!"
He reaches into his left sleeve, and with a squelching pop, he pulls out a squirming thing. It looks sort of like a worm, golden-yellow in color, with a gem-like translucent red octahedron set into its surface. Within, a black diamond flicks about - its pupil. It's an eye. The red thing attached to this worm is definitely an eye.
I've seen a similar being - but it was much larger, with round eyes and cross-shaped pupils. And yet, I'm certain that they are the same kind of being. I can feel it. This little worm, is without a doubt-!
"Ta-da! Meet my good friend, Demon God Baal! Go on, introduce yourselves! " Prelati exclaims. Mordred reaches for her weapon, and I back up, pulling at the magic in my mystic code. And then Prelati continues, voice lowered, as his smile takes on a sadistic quality. "Well, he won't be able to respond, though. After all… he's trapped in an illusion right now!~"
"Oh thank god…" I breathe a sigh of relief as weapons are lowered - and then I realize what this means. "...Wait, seriously!? You can do that?"
"Yes, seriously!" He chuckles. "The Demon Gods have no innate magic resistance. Of course, they have the authority to unravel any spell cast by human hands, but that would require him to realize he's under the effect of a spell in the first place, you know? And well… if you fail to remember anything else about the Demon God Pillars, at least remember this: they are incredibly prideful. In fact, they'd probably never even consider the possibility that a human could deceive them."
"...And yet, you say you don't have the grail." Mordred points out, eyes narrowed. "Does that mean Baal handed it off to a Servant, like Flauros did in Fuyuki?"
"Mm… Well, it's a bit more complicated than that." The Alchemist says, stroking his chin. "So, to start with, there's meant to be a Demon God overseeing each Singularity, but that doesn't mean that the Demon God has to get directly involved at any point. As long as the Grail isn't removed, the era will continue to be destabilized; fundamentally speaking, it doesn't matter who has the thing. But since you guys managed to knock out Flauros in Fuyuki, the King of the Demon Gods got a bit spooked, and started ordering his minions to keep a closer eye on their singularities."
He laughs. "Of course, that was about when he figured out that Amdusias had somehow completely lost control of his host. So Baal was dispatched in order to get Orleans back on course. Buuuuut…!"
"You intercepted him?" I ask, grinning.
"Hah! Even better! See, after I got executed, people made up a bunch of weird legends that I was an avatar of Beelzebub - a name derived from Baal. So Baal decided to jump into me since I should have been the most suitable host in Medieval France. Unfortunately for him…~"
"Those legends were made up, just like your crimes!" Mash says excitedly.
"Those legends were made up, just like my crimes!~" Prelati affirms with a giggle. "So I was able to shake his control long enough to stick him in an illusion."
I sigh with relief. "So we don't have to take on a Demon Pillar this singularity? That's a bit of a relief. Flauros didn't cause us that much trouble in the end, but I think a lot of that came down to him underestimating us. The others probably won't-"
"Nah, they'll probably continue to underestimate us all the way to the finish line! The King of Demon Gods pities Humanity, you see. He views the suffering of humans, their inevitable death, as something completely inexcusable. A flaw in the structure of the world. And so, he wants to painlessly incinerate every human. Because he pities us. It's one big mercy killing, as far as he's concerned." He says. "And so, he'll underestimate us. Because it's quite difficult to feel threatened by something you pity."
"...Is that how that works…?" Mash mutters.
"Yeah." Mordred replies, leaning against the rail and gazing at the waves. "Pity is the most dangerous emotion to have on the battlefield. After all…" She trails off. For a second I think about asking what she's talking about, but looking at her face-
"After all?~" Prelati says.
Mordred says nothing.
"After aaaaalll?~" The boy says, poking Mordred's cheek.
"...After all, pity is what killed King Arthur." She concludes, cringing.
"Oh! I see, I see!" Says the alchemist. He pats Mordred on the back, a big smile on his face, as her shoulders shake. "Well, it's like that, everyone!"
He gives a big thumbs up, and I feel a bit of worry building up in my chest.
"Just think of saving the world from the Demon Gods like you would think of murdering King Arthur!" He concludes, and I can see Mordred's jaw shift as she grinds her teeth. He doesn't notice. I'll need to scold him later.
My eyes widen as he opens his mouth again. He's not done. He's got one knife left to drive into Mordred's heart.
"Oh, but you guys already managed that once, so we're on a pretty good track, wouldn't-?"
"Prelati, stop helping." I hiss, grabbing him by the ear. He just grins in response.
"Understood! I will now cease helping!" He says - and suddenly, everything is still. The sound of crashing waves, the salty dampness of the sea breeze, disappears. And then, the world starts to grow darker. What-?
"S-senpai, look at the sky!" Mash yells, and I gaze up to see the thousands of stars painted across the sky rapidly wink out of existence, one after another.
"Oi, Prelati." I mutter, glaring at the Caster. "Quit that."
"Oh, this isn't me." He replies. "Seems like the 'whale' is coming for us! Man, what a coincidence!~"
The boat shudders, creaking, as the smooth obsidian sheet beneath us ripples. Once, twice, three times, the ship rocks.
"She comes! She comes! Ye guests of mine, behold! See, the whale comes!" Shouts the Captain as he races onto the deck as fast as his prosthetic will allow him to move. "Aye, I see thee, thou damned Whale! I'll not use half-measures, this time! Lower the sails! Full speed ahead! I'll dash my ship against thee, thou marble mountain! Aye, let my Pequod be run aground, against thy flesh! Look and see, all ye men and spirits of Earth! Behold, all ye demons of hell! Gaze upon me, oh God in heaven! Observe, the hate and spite boiling my very soul!"
As he speaks, the last of the stars disappears, and only the lanterns hanging on the ship's rail give us any light. And then, a white disk, with a black spot at its center, appears, shedding light on us once more. And another. And another, and another, until the sky is flooded with unblinking eyes.
"Aye, that's right." Avenger mutters. "Witness this, all ye onlookers - as Ahab hunts his whale!"
And finally, in a storm of oily black water and bubbling flesh, the 'whale' breaches the water's surface.
"▬██▁▆█▆▀▬██▆!"
The monster roars, its thousand mouths screeching with the voices of all the animal kingdom, plus a few extra sounds for good measure. Its eyes spasm every which way, with only a few actually locking onto the boat, as dozens of wings - bat, bird, and insect alike - flap uselessly in a vague attempt to get itself aloft. And at the center of its body, a strange green emblem glows ominously.
"That marking…" Mordred mutters in vague recognition, even as the sea monster's cry and visage send my brain twisting and churning with images of a Sunken Spiral Castle.
"Aye, I come for thee, whale!" Cries Ahab as the boat speeds forward, even as blood starts to ooze from his eyes.
"Hey, in what way is that damn thing a whale!?" I protest, looking away from it, and training my eyes on Prelati.
The Caster shrugs. "Well, it's got a few whale bits… Of course, I'm pretty sure that Ahab would identify any sea monster he saw as his so-called 'White Whale'. He's a bit…" He concludes, making a 'this guy's crazy' motion with his finger as I sigh.
I make the mistake of glancing back at the monster, and my brain trembles as searing pain digs into my eyes once more. Far away, I hear myself scream.
"S-senpai!? What happened? Ah, your eyes-!" Mash grabs me, and I blink a few times at her strangely blurry face. What's happening?
Oh. I can't see out of my left eye. Dimly, I reach up to touch it.
Crunch. There's a noise like someone biting into a carrot.
I scream as a sharp pain appears at the final joint of my left index finger. What happened? What just happened? I stare at the finger with my good eye - it's missing. My fingertip is gone, with tooth marks left where it had been. From my blind left eye, I hear a crunching, slurping, chewing noise.
What is this. What is this. What is this what is this what is this-!?
From far away, I hear screaming. Mash's [Lord Chaldeas] manifests, but the storm in my brain churns onwards. The stump of my fingertip bubbles, and spiders crawl out. My left eye continues to bore its way into my skull, chewing at the flesh around its socket.
To my side, I see Prelati fall to the ground, body twisting and bending unnaturally. Him too!? At the prow, Ahab is still yelling something, even as his skin bubbles and sloughs off in sync with the monster's cries.
Mordred, seemingly unaffected, yells something as red lighting explodes from the [Azoth Longsword], a beam of light lancing out at the monster - but I can't afford to check how much it was damaged.
Think. I need to think! Why!? Why are Mash and Mordred not being affected by this!? What do they have that the rest of us don't!? How are they resisting-?
Wait. Is it seriously that simple!? Is it just their Magic Resistance skills!?
"T-then… let's try this!" I hiss, command spell flaring to life. "[EMT]!"
A ten meter spherical field, centered on me, erupts, and the squirming feeling slowly recedes from within my brain. My left eye smears back into focus, and my hearing returns to normal. Unfortunately, it also disrupts the illusion Prelati placed on me earlier, so my seasickness returns full force.
...The illusion is broken. Shit. Hastily, I grab Prelati, and throw him out of EMT's field of effect. "Prelati! By my command spell, trap Baal in an illusion again!"
He gives me a thumbs up, and gurgles a vague response through the rainbow colored sludge flowing out of his every orifice.
I glance at the monster, and my brain does not tremble in response. So that's nice. On the less nice side of things, the squirming beast seems to have been undamaged by Mordred's assault - and Ahab is looking considerably worse off. He clings to the Prow, even as his body shudders, fire pouring out of the splintering cracks running across his skin.
"...to the last, I grapple with thee!" He roars, as we glide across the waves, closer and closer to the shapeless monster. "For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"
The boat shudders as we hit something, grinding and scraping against something beneath the ship's hull - but Ahab retains his grip on the flaming harpoon clasped in his right hand.
"[From Hell's Heart-!"
***
And then, without warning, the world shatters into pieces. The sky filled with eyes disappears, replaced by a clear blue sky. The tumultuous black ocean vanishes, replaced by rolling fields of green grass.
And the Alien Sea Monster disappears, replaced by a dragon of approximately the same size.
The Pequod tips to one side, grinding against the ground as it loses momentum, kicking up clods of dirt and grass. And finally, we all tumble out of the ship, with Mordred barely managing to catch me and prevent a rough landing.
"What the devil is this trickery!?" yells Ahab, who suddenly looks a lot less melted, as he lands ahead of us and glares at Prelati. "Alchemist, is this thy work, thou damned squid!?"
"Oof, seems you gave the planet an opening to figure things out, Subaru." Prelati says with a sigh as he lands next to me. "This is gonna get awkward…"
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅--!" The dragon roars, the green emblem engraved upon its chest burning brightly. And from its jaws, fire without end pours forth.
"Once more, then! [
This one went a bit long, huh?
Prelati doin' Prelati things. What a reliable and trustworthy ally with no sketchy qualities whatsoever.
Prelati doin' Prelati things. What a reliable and trustworthy ally with no sketchy qualities whatsoever.
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Xorn
Master Procrastinator
- Location
- Somewhere I won't be able to rest in peace
I just had to include this line in the chapter, so credit where it's due. Thanks for that.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Ouch, the body horror. Quite hard to defend against something which causes both madness and your body to begin eating itself just from looking at the enemy.
So, seems that Prelati is using his grand illusion to trap the dragon in a fish-like form within the ocean for some reason? I can't tell if he's doing this due to Baal or self-interest, honestly, nor if Baal is even controlling him.
Well, I'm not an expert on Grand Order, but I watched Zero and Apocrypha, and at least one of the dudes who he's claiming is innocent of satanic rituals and gratuitous child murder was guilty in Nasu-land, so I've kinda been assuming that literally every statement Prelati has made up until this point is a falsehood, so the way I see it this is probably an elaborate plan to get Subaru killed. I assume it will work, until it unworks, as such things are wont to when Subaru is involved.
Tl:dr the safe bet is that Baal is in control of him - or that he doesn't need to be to get Prelanti to cooperate.
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I'm going to say that Subaru should be careful
Pretali have a personality that make me think of a witch
And we know how his relationship with them go
Pretali have a personality that make me think of a witch
And we know how his relationship with them go
Well, he did say Ahab doesn't really care unless some sort of Sea Monster is involved.
I kept getting distracted (or didn't want to phonepost when I remembered) and meant to post this when the latter update actually came out, but that's definitely some kind of corrupted Siegfried. I don't know why he has the weird-ass glowy thing on his chest, but he sure does and that sure is it.
The question then I guess is if this is a sort of Siegfried Alter, that was corrupted into a dragon like one of his dialogue lines suggest could have been, or if Prelati or Jeanne Alter herself have been doing some sort of shenanigans.
Good job for making Prelati's role still ambiguous, though - the effects of his Grand Illusion are... not benign, but clearly avoidable to any Servant and survivable to a Master, and could certainly used to make a nigh-insurmountable foe surmountable. It's possible that Subaru's initial death was the 'worst-case scenario considered worth it' that he had foreseen in bringing the incoming Chaldeans into the illusion to plan... but on the other hand, it could definitely be the obvious slow and insidious murder. Looking forward to see where this goes, really.
Xorn
Master Procrastinator
- Location
- Somewhere I won't be able to rest in peace
Well, a needlessly complicated assassination scheme wouldn't be entirely out of character for Baal - the entire Shinjuku Pseudo-singularity was a multiple hundred year scheme of his to kill the protagonist, involving a meteor, a tower shaped like a gun, two characters purposefully giving themselves amnesia, two people shapeshifting into other people, and a whole arsenal of fictional almost-servants and Altered evil servants.
On the other hand, it's bold of you to assume that murdering Subaru is the worst possible result here. Please recall that Prelati is supposedly the one who drove Gilles, a companion of a literal Saint, to become a crazy serial killer.
On the other other hand, It's always possible that Prelati is telling the truth as far as he knows it - Servant summons can get kinda weird. See Phantom of the Opera's bond CE:
Phantom said:
I will neither confirm nor deny this. I will, however, point out that Fafnir has the same symbol on his chest, Sieg has it when he goes full dragon, and Sigurd has a much smaller blue mark over his heart. Seems to be a phenomenon shared by everyone infected by Fafnir's curse.
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Lagoon12002
How far have I fell down into this deep deep sea
Then again... It's Prelati. And as proven by last chapter, Subaru isn't immune to eldritch shenanigans.
It's telling that the witch needed to resort to erasing Subaru's memories to protect him from the influence.
33: ...Does Not Exist.
Xorn
Master Procrastinator
- Location
- Somewhere I won't be able to rest in peace
33: ...Does Not Exist.
The world smears and twists, the ground rolling under my feet as it folds together as though this grassy field has become an Escher painting. My stomach churns a bit, but finally everything comes back into focus and I find myself surrounded by trees, in the center of a sun-dappled clearing. Nearby, I see my two fellow Chaldeans stumble across the carpet of fallen leaves. Ahab and the Dragon are both nowhere to be seen.
Just ahead of me, Prelati spins around, laughing as he plops down on a rock in the clearing's center. "Man, that was pretty close! It was looking like those two were about to gang up on me, so I'm glad we made it out in time!~"
"So we aren't in danger anymore… in that case, how about you explain what the hell just happened!?" I yell in absolute befuddlement.
"Hahaha! Well, you've got to have at least a bit of an idea, right?~ I used-" The Caster starts, only to be cut off when a blue hologram sprouts from my wrist-mounted communicator.
"...Alright, we got through!" Cries Romani Archaman in audible relief. "Thank goodness… Subaru-kun, Mash, are you both alright?"
"Oh, Doctor! I'm not injured, but Senpai-" Mash says.
"I'll be fine." I interject, popping the healing spell embedded in my Mystic Code to seal the skin over my severed fingertip. "Most of that stuff from earlier went away once we exited the Reality Marble. Mordred, you're fine too, right?"
She just nods in response, eyes pointed at the ground as she strokes her chin in thought.
Roman chuckles nervously. "Haha… I didn't ask about her, because I figured she might yell at me if I did. Also, what was that about a Reality Marble?"
"Well, it wasn't a real Reality Marble." Prelati explains with a shrug. "Just an imitation that I made with my Noble Phantasm."
"What do you mean, an imitation? Also, who exactly are you?" Roman asks.
"Caster, Francois Prelati." He says with a small bow. "To explain, my [Grand Illusion] allows me to deceive the very texture of the world - so something like folding space to transport us a few miles away is well within my ability. And of course, when it comes to the ocean earlier, I may not have a Reality Marble of my own, but I sure can fool the planet into thinking I've cast one!~"
"And for the purposes of the World Egg theory, that might as well be the same thing… that's pretty clever, actually!" The doctor says.
"Okay, but why!? What reason could you possibly have for creating that hellish ocean!?" I yell. "Or is this when you reveal that you were lying earlier, and that you're working with the Demon Pillars to destroy humanity?"
"No, no, no! I'm your ally, I'm definitely your ally!" He says, voice filled with amusement. "No, I made that fake Reality Marble to help defeat one of the big baddies of this singularity. That Dragon you saw back there-"
"The Evil Dragon, Fafnir… right?" Mordred says. "I met Siegfried in a previous grail war, and he had a similar emblem on his chest."
"That's the one!" Prelati replies with a nod. "Anyway, Captain Ahab has a Noble Phantasm capable of bypassing Fafnir's ridiculous passive defenses and killing him, but I couldn't convince him to use it on anything other than Moby Dick. So I decided to use [Grand Illusion] to turn Fafnir into a sea monster, and let Ahab's insanity take care of the rest… but Subaru went and ruined that. Turns out, even a tiny hole in the illusion is enough for the World to figure out it's being fooled."
"Don't you dare try to blame this on me!" I yell. "Next time, try turning him into something that doesn't melt my brain to look at!"
"Unfortunately, turning him into a whale is no good. In legend, Fafnir was a Dwarf who transformed into a Dragon because of his greed - so no matter what I turn him into, that same transformation will just happen again and he'll become a Dragon." He says, shaking his head. "Basically my only option was to make him into something that would innately foil any attempt to cast it into a proper 'shape' - so I turned him into a Shoggoth."
"S-shoggoth!? But those things… don't exist, right!?" Roman yells.
"Psh. Questions of 'existence' and 'nonexistence' really aren't relevant where things like Heroic Spirits are concerned, you know?" The Caster says, waving off his concern. "I mentioned Captain Ahab earlier, and you didn't question it, but isn't that guy also a fictional character?"
"No, there's some basis for Ahab's existence - or at least, it's likely that there's someone who matches the role he plays in Melville's novel enough to play the part of 'Captain Ahab'." The Doctor replies. "But something like a Shoggoth…!"
"Well at the end of the day, it was just an illusion, so don't worry too much about it!~" Prelati laughs.
"I guess that makes sense…" Roman mutters. "By the way, you introduced yourself as 'Prelati', right? As in the serial killer who drove Gilles de Rais to insanity? That Prelati?"
"Ahaha… Well, that trial was a total sham." The boy says. "They just wrote up confessions for us and tortured us until we signed them. Pretty much the same as what happened to Jeanne, right?"
"...That's right. Just a few days before we arrived in this singularity, Jeanne d'Arc was executed for heresy. But, she was later canonized as a saint, while Gilles de Rais and Francoi Prelati went down in history as monsters." Mash says.
"Well, that's to be expected. She was falsely accused by an enemy nation. Gilles and I were accused by the state we belonged to. The king could afford to let people show support for someone martyred by allies of the English, but because of the hand his government had in our deaths, any suspicion about our trial was clamped down on pretty hard."
"Mm… I can't say you're wrong." Roman mutters. "But the name Prelati is still pretty infamous in the magical world. I don't know much about her, but apparently she's one of the big players in the American branch of the Mages' Association."
"America, huh…?" I mumble. I investigated America back when I was trying to figure out the cause of [Apocalypse Conflagration], but that was before I learned magic was a thing on Earth. I was going to look into their magic side if the Clock Tower didn't pan out, but… "I never really learned much about their situation."
"I'd love to tell you about it, but it's not really relevant at the moment." The orange-haired man says with a smile. "We'll put a pin in that and come back to it when we start dealing with the American Singularity. For now, we should really focus on the situation in France."
"Good point. I'll try to stay focused for now." I say, nodding. "Prelati, you told us some of what was going on earlier, but considering the whole [Grand Illusion] thing, I'm thinking most of that was a lie, right?"
"Well, a lot of it was true enough at the time. I don't think I lied all that much to you, other than my lies about the origin and size of the Reality Marble." He says coyly. "But I'll go ahead and explain the situation here in Orleans."
"Before that, shouldn't we get the Director involved? Where is she, by the way?" Mash says.
"She… kind of passed out after we lost communication with you guys." Roman says, scratching his head. "I figured it was best to let her get what rest she can, since she hasn't been getting much sleep otherwise - so I went ahead and asked some staff members to bring her to her room. I'll be sure to fill her in after she wakes up, so for now just go ahead and fill us in."
I nod, and Prelati begins his explanation.
***
"Firstly, as you're all aware, Jeanne d'Arc was executed six days ago.However, in this singularity, it seems she returned from the dead to wreak her vengeance upon France - coming back to life and summoning an army of dragons not even three hours after her ashes were scattered on the Seine River." Prelati says. "They've been butchering everyone, man, woman, and child, throughout all of France."
"...That can't be right." Mordred interrupts. "There's no way that woman would do something like that. I met her in the same war that I ran into Siegfried in - I doubt she's even capable of feeling a desire for vengeance. She was that kind of 'saintly' person, after all."
"...Could it be another case like Fuyuki, then?" Roman asks. "A servant being twisted to show their worst side? A desire for vengeance would be understandable…"
"Heh. No, this isn't a case of [Blackening]. Mordred has the right of it. Jeanne was far too insane to have desired vengeance." Prelati replies. "In short, this version of her… well, it's far too tasteful to be a true [Alter]."
"...Tasteful?" I ask. What exactly does he mean by that? What the hell's 'tasteful' about mass murder on this scale?
"Well, you met the corrupted King Arthur in Fuyuki, right? From what I've heard from Baal, she seemed like she had spontaneously become a 'tyrant' at first glance - but knowing Arty, her real motivation had to be along the lines of 'a king doesn't have the luxury to be righteous', or something!~" Prelati says with a grin as Mordred cringes and clenches her fists. "That's how it is for all [Blackened] Servants. If it doesn't break the heart of anyone who loved the original, then it's probably not a real [Alter]."
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" I say with a scowl, glancing at Mordred's shaking shoulders. "I'll sever our contract if you keep this up, so cut it out."
"Sure, sure~." The boy says with an unrepentant smile. "Anyway, the so-called [Dragon Witch] Jeanne d'Arc is probably a fake of some kind - either an artificial spirit origin created with the grail, or some Servant trying to disguise themselves as her."
I flinch at the mention of a [Witch], but the context on Earth is different than back home, so I can ignore it for now.
"Is that possible? Are there actually Servants like that?" I ask.
"Sure! Just among Heroic Spirits from France, Lancelot du Lac, Arsene Lupin, and Fantomas would all be capable of it! ...Although, I don't actually know if that last one is on the Throne or not." He replies.
"...So it's actually pretty common, huh?" I say.
"I wouldn't call it common, but there are enough Servants capable of pulling it off that speculation is kinda pointless for now." He shrugs. "But, getting us back on track, the Dragon Witch summoned up a bunch of wyverns and the Evil Dragon Fafnir, and they've been running around butchering the populace ever since. I'm pretty sure she's also got some other Servants working for her, though I don't know how much control she actually has over their actions…"
"More Servants? Well, that's to be expected if they're using a Grail, I guess." Romani says. "Do you know who they are?"
"Hm… Well, the Lancer has been telling anyone who will listen that he's Dracula-"
"...The hell's with all these familiar faces from Trifas turning up…?" Mordred mutters.
"...And one of the other Servants on humanity's side spotted the Tarrasque running around with a woman on its back, so-" He concludes.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅--!" Something snarls from deeper into the woods. In the distance, the sounds of trees smashing apart and collapsing grow closer.
"Oh, there he is now." Prelati says as-
"[Lord Chaldeas]!"
-a wildly spinning spiked shell rockets into the chalk wall with the force of a supersonic missile, grinding against it like a ridiculous reptilian buzzsaw.
The world smears and twists, the ground rolling under my feet as it folds together as though this grassy field has become an Escher painting. My stomach churns a bit, but finally everything comes back into focus and I find myself surrounded by trees, in the center of a sun-dappled clearing. Nearby, I see my two fellow Chaldeans stumble across the carpet of fallen leaves. Ahab and the Dragon are both nowhere to be seen.
Just ahead of me, Prelati spins around, laughing as he plops down on a rock in the clearing's center. "Man, that was pretty close! It was looking like those two were about to gang up on me, so I'm glad we made it out in time!~"
"So we aren't in danger anymore… in that case, how about you explain what the hell just happened!?" I yell in absolute befuddlement.
"Hahaha! Well, you've got to have at least a bit of an idea, right?~ I used-" The Caster starts, only to be cut off when a blue hologram sprouts from my wrist-mounted communicator.
"...Alright, we got through!" Cries Romani Archaman in audible relief. "Thank goodness… Subaru-kun, Mash, are you both alright?"
"Oh, Doctor! I'm not injured, but Senpai-" Mash says.
"I'll be fine." I interject, popping the healing spell embedded in my Mystic Code to seal the skin over my severed fingertip. "Most of that stuff from earlier went away once we exited the Reality Marble. Mordred, you're fine too, right?"
She just nods in response, eyes pointed at the ground as she strokes her chin in thought.
Roman chuckles nervously. "Haha… I didn't ask about her, because I figured she might yell at me if I did. Also, what was that about a Reality Marble?"
"Well, it wasn't a real Reality Marble." Prelati explains with a shrug. "Just an imitation that I made with my Noble Phantasm."
"What do you mean, an imitation? Also, who exactly are you?" Roman asks.
"Caster, Francois Prelati." He says with a small bow. "To explain, my [Grand Illusion] allows me to deceive the very texture of the world - so something like folding space to transport us a few miles away is well within my ability. And of course, when it comes to the ocean earlier, I may not have a Reality Marble of my own, but I sure can fool the planet into thinking I've cast one!~"
"And for the purposes of the World Egg theory, that might as well be the same thing… that's pretty clever, actually!" The doctor says.
"Okay, but why!? What reason could you possibly have for creating that hellish ocean!?" I yell. "Or is this when you reveal that you were lying earlier, and that you're working with the Demon Pillars to destroy humanity?"
"No, no, no! I'm your ally, I'm definitely your ally!" He says, voice filled with amusement. "No, I made that fake Reality Marble to help defeat one of the big baddies of this singularity. That Dragon you saw back there-"
"The Evil Dragon, Fafnir… right?" Mordred says. "I met Siegfried in a previous grail war, and he had a similar emblem on his chest."
"That's the one!" Prelati replies with a nod. "Anyway, Captain Ahab has a Noble Phantasm capable of bypassing Fafnir's ridiculous passive defenses and killing him, but I couldn't convince him to use it on anything other than Moby Dick. So I decided to use [Grand Illusion] to turn Fafnir into a sea monster, and let Ahab's insanity take care of the rest… but Subaru went and ruined that. Turns out, even a tiny hole in the illusion is enough for the World to figure out it's being fooled."
"Don't you dare try to blame this on me!" I yell. "Next time, try turning him into something that doesn't melt my brain to look at!"
"Unfortunately, turning him into a whale is no good. In legend, Fafnir was a Dwarf who transformed into a Dragon because of his greed - so no matter what I turn him into, that same transformation will just happen again and he'll become a Dragon." He says, shaking his head. "Basically my only option was to make him into something that would innately foil any attempt to cast it into a proper 'shape' - so I turned him into a Shoggoth."
"S-shoggoth!? But those things… don't exist, right!?" Roman yells.
"Psh. Questions of 'existence' and 'nonexistence' really aren't relevant where things like Heroic Spirits are concerned, you know?" The Caster says, waving off his concern. "I mentioned Captain Ahab earlier, and you didn't question it, but isn't that guy also a fictional character?"
"No, there's some basis for Ahab's existence - or at least, it's likely that there's someone who matches the role he plays in Melville's novel enough to play the part of 'Captain Ahab'." The Doctor replies. "But something like a Shoggoth…!"
"Well at the end of the day, it was just an illusion, so don't worry too much about it!~" Prelati laughs.
"I guess that makes sense…" Roman mutters. "By the way, you introduced yourself as 'Prelati', right? As in the serial killer who drove Gilles de Rais to insanity? That Prelati?"
"Ahaha… Well, that trial was a total sham." The boy says. "They just wrote up confessions for us and tortured us until we signed them. Pretty much the same as what happened to Jeanne, right?"
"...That's right. Just a few days before we arrived in this singularity, Jeanne d'Arc was executed for heresy. But, she was later canonized as a saint, while Gilles de Rais and Francoi Prelati went down in history as monsters." Mash says.
"Well, that's to be expected. She was falsely accused by an enemy nation. Gilles and I were accused by the state we belonged to. The king could afford to let people show support for someone martyred by allies of the English, but because of the hand his government had in our deaths, any suspicion about our trial was clamped down on pretty hard."
"Mm… I can't say you're wrong." Roman mutters. "But the name Prelati is still pretty infamous in the magical world. I don't know much about her, but apparently she's one of the big players in the American branch of the Mages' Association."
"America, huh…?" I mumble. I investigated America back when I was trying to figure out the cause of [Apocalypse Conflagration], but that was before I learned magic was a thing on Earth. I was going to look into their magic side if the Clock Tower didn't pan out, but… "I never really learned much about their situation."
"I'd love to tell you about it, but it's not really relevant at the moment." The orange-haired man says with a smile. "We'll put a pin in that and come back to it when we start dealing with the American Singularity. For now, we should really focus on the situation in France."
"Good point. I'll try to stay focused for now." I say, nodding. "Prelati, you told us some of what was going on earlier, but considering the whole [Grand Illusion] thing, I'm thinking most of that was a lie, right?"
"Well, a lot of it was true enough at the time. I don't think I lied all that much to you, other than my lies about the origin and size of the Reality Marble." He says coyly. "But I'll go ahead and explain the situation here in Orleans."
"Before that, shouldn't we get the Director involved? Where is she, by the way?" Mash says.
"She… kind of passed out after we lost communication with you guys." Roman says, scratching his head. "I figured it was best to let her get what rest she can, since she hasn't been getting much sleep otherwise - so I went ahead and asked some staff members to bring her to her room. I'll be sure to fill her in after she wakes up, so for now just go ahead and fill us in."
I nod, and Prelati begins his explanation.
***
"Firstly, as you're all aware, Jeanne d'Arc was executed six days ago.However, in this singularity, it seems she returned from the dead to wreak her vengeance upon France - coming back to life and summoning an army of dragons not even three hours after her ashes were scattered on the Seine River." Prelati says. "They've been butchering everyone, man, woman, and child, throughout all of France."
"...That can't be right." Mordred interrupts. "There's no way that woman would do something like that. I met her in the same war that I ran into Siegfried in - I doubt she's even capable of feeling a desire for vengeance. She was that kind of 'saintly' person, after all."
"...Could it be another case like Fuyuki, then?" Roman asks. "A servant being twisted to show their worst side? A desire for vengeance would be understandable…"
"Heh. No, this isn't a case of [Blackening]. Mordred has the right of it. Jeanne was far too insane to have desired vengeance." Prelati replies. "In short, this version of her… well, it's far too tasteful to be a true [Alter]."
"...Tasteful?" I ask. What exactly does he mean by that? What the hell's 'tasteful' about mass murder on this scale?
"Well, you met the corrupted King Arthur in Fuyuki, right? From what I've heard from Baal, she seemed like she had spontaneously become a 'tyrant' at first glance - but knowing Arty, her real motivation had to be along the lines of 'a king doesn't have the luxury to be righteous', or something!~" Prelati says with a grin as Mordred cringes and clenches her fists. "That's how it is for all [Blackened] Servants. If it doesn't break the heart of anyone who loved the original, then it's probably not a real [Alter]."
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" I say with a scowl, glancing at Mordred's shaking shoulders. "I'll sever our contract if you keep this up, so cut it out."
"Sure, sure~." The boy says with an unrepentant smile. "Anyway, the so-called [Dragon Witch] Jeanne d'Arc is probably a fake of some kind - either an artificial spirit origin created with the grail, or some Servant trying to disguise themselves as her."
I flinch at the mention of a [Witch], but the context on Earth is different than back home, so I can ignore it for now.
"Is that possible? Are there actually Servants like that?" I ask.
"Sure! Just among Heroic Spirits from France, Lancelot du Lac, Arsene Lupin, and Fantomas would all be capable of it! ...Although, I don't actually know if that last one is on the Throne or not." He replies.
"...So it's actually pretty common, huh?" I say.
"I wouldn't call it common, but there are enough Servants capable of pulling it off that speculation is kinda pointless for now." He shrugs. "But, getting us back on track, the Dragon Witch summoned up a bunch of wyverns and the Evil Dragon Fafnir, and they've been running around butchering the populace ever since. I'm pretty sure she's also got some other Servants working for her, though I don't know how much control she actually has over their actions…"
"More Servants? Well, that's to be expected if they're using a Grail, I guess." Romani says. "Do you know who they are?"
"Hm… Well, the Lancer has been telling anyone who will listen that he's Dracula-"
"...The hell's with all these familiar faces from Trifas turning up…?" Mordred mutters.
"...And one of the other Servants on humanity's side spotted the Tarrasque running around with a woman on its back, so-" He concludes.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅--!" Something snarls from deeper into the woods. In the distance, the sounds of trees smashing apart and collapsing grow closer.
"Oh, there he is now." Prelati says as-
"[Lord Chaldeas]!"
-a wildly spinning spiked shell rockets into the chalk wall with the force of a supersonic missile, grinding against it like a ridiculous reptilian buzzsaw.
Not super satisfied with this chapter, but it's been over a week. Fuck it, let's do it.
Making infodumps entertaining is hard work. Hopefully this'll take care of that part for at least a little bit...
Making infodumps entertaining is hard work. Hopefully this'll take care of that part for at least a little bit...
Called it.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That which we call substance and reality is shadow and illusion, and that which we call shadow and illusion is substance and reality.
-H.P Lovecraft
Also Yoggy exists in fate
So watch out for that Subaru.
Shinji117
Endless Troller
- Location
- Rokkenjima (Sydney)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That might've been Prelati's plan, but pretty sure EMT would cut through all the layers until it hit reality, not just stop after one.