- Location
- Actually pretty lost
That title, that intro, those hinted-at abilities... I suspect you'll need to add another tag to this story at some point.
The Sinner's Garden (Worm / FSN)
- Thread starter JackSl
- Start date
- Crossover
BrokenAscendent
Unum prae omnibus aliis
- Location
- Auld Lang Syne
If you mean shirou kotomine with the white hair and black keys, that actually isn't shirou
- Location
- Finland
I'm aware. I was specifically talking about that universe's Emiya Shirou, though he obviously goes by a different name in that timeline and is back in Fuyuki with Rin, Sakura and Luvia. Also, completely oblivious to magic, at least initially.
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- Location
- Vietnam
No deal, the whole Yakuza training and build up, knife, house mistress is like a frigging Neon sight, also old man Raiga will have a field day when Taylor is just at home being mob boss.
Chapter 5
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 5 – A failed Link to the past
June nineteenth, 1998 – Massachusetts, Shores of Cape Cod Bay
"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.
What did I come here for? What was there that drove me to visit? He didn't care about a lot of things these days, and when I said I wanted to fly out here he went out and got us tickets. But as I stood on top of the hill that overlooked a small village and the beautiful bay ahead, I couldn't help but feel as if there was a piece of me missing. I shook my head and said, "No."
"What is it that you wanted to see?" His eyes were closed and he enjoyed the rush of the salty air on his skin. Come to think of it, he told me he'd been here before. Another mission? How many people died because of him? Even though I knew about the atrocities he'd committed, I still couldn't find it in myself to be angry at him. He had rationalized it all in his head, but that's just what humans do.
I turned back to look at the bay. Wrong. It was all so wrong! "I don't know. It feels wrong, as if there should be something here, beyond a small village and forests."
"Brockton Ville was an old settlement. Maybe your parents used to live here?"
"Parents?"
"I doubt you appeared out of thin air, Taylor."
Could it be so simple? Maybe my family had taken a vacation to Fuyuki when the fire started? Were they mages, maybe they took part in the Holy Grail war. Did that mean that he killed them? If he did, I couldn't bring myself to ask or even imply it. Did I have the right to get angry if he did? I'd accepted a while ago that he was a killer. A blight on humanity; someone who ruined countless lives. If I could accept that, what right did I have to condemn him if my parents where amongst them? No, I couldn't think that. Whether alive or dead, they weren't around anymore. "You're my parent. That's enough, is it not?"
"Don't you want to find them though?"
"I think… I think that sometimes ignorance is bliss."
"That's a cynical way of looking at things." He frowned.
"Kiritsugu… We are cynical people, you and I."
◙
December 24th, 2003 – Mifune City
Mifune was bigger than Fuyuki. Even though I've never been here, it was as familiar as any other place in Japan. The smell of rain and dirt and the hum of cars and pedestrians were almost lulling as we passed the crowded streets. It was cold, but nowhere near Germany's sharpness. I had shrugged off the Einzbern's clothes in favor of my original getup, but still kept the silk shirt underneath my comfy jacket. It felt good on my skin, as if it was always supposed to be there and I just hadn't known it. Maybe I should pester Raiga for shopping money again. The man was almost a miser and would debate for hours.
'Why not buy something cheaper? Those brand clothes are just a rip-off!'
I smiled. Raiga had been on a trip for the last few weeks and I hadn't seen him at all. It was only the fact that most of the men in the group were fond of me that they didn't inform him of my trip before I left. Chances were good though that he'd blow a gasket, so the trip to Mifune would have to take place now before the Grail war started in earnest.
Our flight from Germany was taxing. Between running around with Illya as she marveled at everything mundane in the airport, and trying to explain to her that just because she was rich it didn't mean that paying twenty-thousand Euros per seat was worth it. In the end she pulled out her 'money' which was just a credit card with no apparent limit. Sticking it to that old geezer sounded like fun anyway, so I ended up brainwashing a bunch of employees so that they didn't ask too many questions about two girls spending an average worker's yearly salary for plain tickets. The thirteen hour flight didn't help either, since I couldn't bring myself to sleep. At least we got to eat steaks and drink wine – juice in Illya's case. Plus they had a New York style cheesecake.
Having grown up with Kiritsugu's and Taiga's cooking, I could appreciate the fine things in life. These things being anything edible that wasn't burned black and alchemically turned to charcoal. So I was not a picky eater, but a girl could splurge sometimes. I even toasted to Jubstacheit with a ten-year-old Sauvignon Blanc. It tasted like any other red wine, but cost a hundred times that of a normal store wine. Prost you old bastard you!
I paused my bittersweet memories to look around. We were finally passing the market district and the roads narrower with more twists and turns. This part of the city hadn't suffered from the bombings and so they had the old rustic feeling one would see if they lived here fifty or so years ago. The woman we were about to visit was not easy to find. She had gotten a sealing designation a while ago, so finding her was like searching for a needle in a hay stack. Lucky for me, she had refused to stop doing what she did best, and that was creating puppets. The woman had a hobby, and she liked to play that part of a private investigator. She was rumored to be a specialist in paranormal incidents. If only the flops at the clockwork tower could use the Internet…
"Why are we here?" Illya asked. She had been content to just marvel at the sights for most of our trip. But something was making her uneasy. Touko Aozaki was my one lead into saving Illya. Initially I had been planning to offer her a chance to change bodies and appearances so that she could escape the Einzberns. Now that I knew that her body had a time limit, I could maybe extend her life. Rin had told me rumors of that woman's skill with puppetry, and that she had made herself functionally immortal. Which is why she got a Sealing Designation in the first place. Details were scarce, but the gist of them pointed to an extremely talented practitioner. Even so, I was leery of telling this to Illya. If the process was impossible, or Aozaki refused or couldn't be found, it would only make things worse.
So I smiled, "you'll see."
As we walked further away from the crowded streets and into the maze-like alleys, I felt a sensation of dread. It was almost like a gut punch that just kept repeating the further I walked. Illya didn't seem to catch on, but she was looking around as if searching for something. Did she feel it? I felt the tingling on my skin, a telltale sign that mana was being used nearby. Illya was getting ready for something.
"Someone is following us." She whispered.
I gave her a nod and tried not to act on the information. Whoever was following us was either doing so because they worked for the woman I was after, or they were independent. I would prefer the former. With Heracles here, there was no real danger to us, but I'd have to stop Illya from decimating a city block. Once I made sure that no one else was around I spoke up.
"We know you are there, come out. We are only looking to meet with Aozaki-san."
Nothing happened for some few tense moments, but then I heard soft footsteps behind me and whirled around. When I saw her for the first time, my breath was caught in my throat and I felt myself die a thousand and one times. There was nothing overtly dangerous about her, just a willowy woman with a bad haircut. She wore a blue kimono and a red leather biker's jacket, but every move I could make, every step I tried to plan ahead I just saw visions of getting cut up in pieces and my blood spurting everywhere like some bad gore scene in a B rated movie.
She was an abomination. She didn't belong. And as she neared me I found myself taking a step back on reflex. I had to get Illya out of here, but it was too late because she was as frozen as I was and Berserker was materializing in response to his master's fright. This wasn't good. The woman's eyes widened a little at the sight of the Servant but she was already moving the moment he appeared.
I needed to use my prana, to make a plan, something! But every time I decided on what to do, my mind conjured images of a brutal death and that cold empty place where I kept falling. "No!" My scream fell on deaf ears and everyone was in motion, except for myself as I looked on at the imminent train wreck. My heart was pounding in my ears, and the woman was jumping on walls and flying at Illya, a knife in her hand and her glowing blue and red eyes focused on something that did not exist in our world. She was looking at something else, beyond anyone's comprehension.
Move! I screamed to myself. Somewhere between the woman's charge and the million things that happened all at once, I felt a sharp pain on my fingers and realized that I'd broken my left index finger. The visions of death stopped and I could finally think straight. Only a few seconds had passed but it was all playing in slow motion in my head. I could see where everyone would be in a few moments, and so I moved. The woman's eyes didn't even look at me as I landed in front of Illya, my arms spread out as if I was waiting for the woman to fall in my embrace. In the narrow alley, Berserker spun on a dime and landed behind Illya. He covered her with his thick arms and the woman's knife sliced right through my left arm and into his body. I barely caught the sight of his ashen blood escaping the wound. And then I looked down and saw my own arm fallen on the ground and the blood spurting out of the stump.
Heracles jumped away with Illya. I was feeling weak and my eyes couldn't see all that well, there were dark splotches in my vision. Then the woman as she crouched over me, blue eyes and a scream somewhere far away. "You are unlucky, ugly girl."
◙
[HOST UNIT – LINK IN PROGRESS]
I've been waiting for you. A long time now, or rather that is wrong. There is no time here. There isn't even a here.
Where am I?
I just told you. You are nowhere.
[HOST UNIT – LINKING IMPOSSIBLE]
Ah, it is too early.
Early for what?
Beware of the Golden Man. Trust in your kin.
I don't know what that means! Who are you?
[HOST UNIT – PARTIAL LINK ESTABLISHED]
◙
I saw the dream of my birth again. The one where I am falling. Familiar strange faces and voices and this time I'm flying over a city, a world, a thousand of them. A million billion faces and emotions, and fear only curbed by death.
'Oh I know! Let's share our origin stories!'
'What a dork.'
'Did I say something wrong?'
'Everything you say is always wrong, ugly girl.'
There are beautiful golden lights dancing in the sky, two shots, and all is dark again. There are things on me. Crawling, biting, and chittering. 'Please someone! Anyone! Get me out of here, please! I beg you! Lisa! Brian save me!
Brian's married now, boss. Didn't you know?
'Please…'
'I'm not… Darwinist, none of that… bullshit. Augh! I'm… I think it is simple- simpler. Us monsters and… psychopaths, we gravitate towards… predation, because we were originally… predators. Originally had to hunt… Had to be brutal, cruel… Order to survive. Violence was what made us… or broke us back… in the beginning.'
'I'm not weak anymore Taylor. I don't need a weakling like you to drag me down. We're done.'
'Please!'
June nineteenth, 1998 – Massachusetts, Shores of Cape Cod Bay
"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.
What did I come here for? What was there that drove me to visit? He didn't care about a lot of things these days, and when I said I wanted to fly out here he went out and got us tickets. But as I stood on top of the hill that overlooked a small village and the beautiful bay ahead, I couldn't help but feel as if there was a piece of me missing. I shook my head and said, "No."
"What is it that you wanted to see?" His eyes were closed and he enjoyed the rush of the salty air on his skin. Come to think of it, he told me he'd been here before. Another mission? How many people died because of him? Even though I knew about the atrocities he'd committed, I still couldn't find it in myself to be angry at him. He had rationalized it all in his head, but that's just what humans do.
I turned back to look at the bay. Wrong. It was all so wrong! "I don't know. It feels wrong, as if there should be something here, beyond a small village and forests."
"Brockton Ville was an old settlement. Maybe your parents used to live here?"
"Parents?"
"I doubt you appeared out of thin air, Taylor."
Could it be so simple? Maybe my family had taken a vacation to Fuyuki when the fire started? Were they mages, maybe they took part in the Holy Grail war. Did that mean that he killed them? If he did, I couldn't bring myself to ask or even imply it. Did I have the right to get angry if he did? I'd accepted a while ago that he was a killer. A blight on humanity; someone who ruined countless lives. If I could accept that, what right did I have to condemn him if my parents where amongst them? No, I couldn't think that. Whether alive or dead, they weren't around anymore. "You're my parent. That's enough, is it not?"
"Don't you want to find them though?"
"I think… I think that sometimes ignorance is bliss."
"That's a cynical way of looking at things." He frowned.
"Kiritsugu… We are cynical people, you and I."
◙
December 24th, 2003 – Mifune City
Mifune was bigger than Fuyuki. Even though I've never been here, it was as familiar as any other place in Japan. The smell of rain and dirt and the hum of cars and pedestrians were almost lulling as we passed the crowded streets. It was cold, but nowhere near Germany's sharpness. I had shrugged off the Einzbern's clothes in favor of my original getup, but still kept the silk shirt underneath my comfy jacket. It felt good on my skin, as if it was always supposed to be there and I just hadn't known it. Maybe I should pester Raiga for shopping money again. The man was almost a miser and would debate for hours.
'Why not buy something cheaper? Those brand clothes are just a rip-off!'
I smiled. Raiga had been on a trip for the last few weeks and I hadn't seen him at all. It was only the fact that most of the men in the group were fond of me that they didn't inform him of my trip before I left. Chances were good though that he'd blow a gasket, so the trip to Mifune would have to take place now before the Grail war started in earnest.
Our flight from Germany was taxing. Between running around with Illya as she marveled at everything mundane in the airport, and trying to explain to her that just because she was rich it didn't mean that paying twenty-thousand Euros per seat was worth it. In the end she pulled out her 'money' which was just a credit card with no apparent limit. Sticking it to that old geezer sounded like fun anyway, so I ended up brainwashing a bunch of employees so that they didn't ask too many questions about two girls spending an average worker's yearly salary for plain tickets. The thirteen hour flight didn't help either, since I couldn't bring myself to sleep. At least we got to eat steaks and drink wine – juice in Illya's case. Plus they had a New York style cheesecake.
Having grown up with Kiritsugu's and Taiga's cooking, I could appreciate the fine things in life. These things being anything edible that wasn't burned black and alchemically turned to charcoal. So I was not a picky eater, but a girl could splurge sometimes. I even toasted to Jubstacheit with a ten-year-old Sauvignon Blanc. It tasted like any other red wine, but cost a hundred times that of a normal store wine. Prost you old bastard you!
I paused my bittersweet memories to look around. We were finally passing the market district and the roads narrower with more twists and turns. This part of the city hadn't suffered from the bombings and so they had the old rustic feeling one would see if they lived here fifty or so years ago. The woman we were about to visit was not easy to find. She had gotten a sealing designation a while ago, so finding her was like searching for a needle in a hay stack. Lucky for me, she had refused to stop doing what she did best, and that was creating puppets. The woman had a hobby, and she liked to play that part of a private investigator. She was rumored to be a specialist in paranormal incidents. If only the flops at the clockwork tower could use the Internet…
"Why are we here?" Illya asked. She had been content to just marvel at the sights for most of our trip. But something was making her uneasy. Touko Aozaki was my one lead into saving Illya. Initially I had been planning to offer her a chance to change bodies and appearances so that she could escape the Einzberns. Now that I knew that her body had a time limit, I could maybe extend her life. Rin had told me rumors of that woman's skill with puppetry, and that she had made herself functionally immortal. Which is why she got a Sealing Designation in the first place. Details were scarce, but the gist of them pointed to an extremely talented practitioner. Even so, I was leery of telling this to Illya. If the process was impossible, or Aozaki refused or couldn't be found, it would only make things worse.
So I smiled, "you'll see."
As we walked further away from the crowded streets and into the maze-like alleys, I felt a sensation of dread. It was almost like a gut punch that just kept repeating the further I walked. Illya didn't seem to catch on, but she was looking around as if searching for something. Did she feel it? I felt the tingling on my skin, a telltale sign that mana was being used nearby. Illya was getting ready for something.
"Someone is following us." She whispered.
I gave her a nod and tried not to act on the information. Whoever was following us was either doing so because they worked for the woman I was after, or they were independent. I would prefer the former. With Heracles here, there was no real danger to us, but I'd have to stop Illya from decimating a city block. Once I made sure that no one else was around I spoke up.
"We know you are there, come out. We are only looking to meet with Aozaki-san."
Nothing happened for some few tense moments, but then I heard soft footsteps behind me and whirled around. When I saw her for the first time, my breath was caught in my throat and I felt myself die a thousand and one times. There was nothing overtly dangerous about her, just a willowy woman with a bad haircut. She wore a blue kimono and a red leather biker's jacket, but every move I could make, every step I tried to plan ahead I just saw visions of getting cut up in pieces and my blood spurting everywhere like some bad gore scene in a B rated movie.
She was an abomination. She didn't belong. And as she neared me I found myself taking a step back on reflex. I had to get Illya out of here, but it was too late because she was as frozen as I was and Berserker was materializing in response to his master's fright. This wasn't good. The woman's eyes widened a little at the sight of the Servant but she was already moving the moment he appeared.
I needed to use my prana, to make a plan, something! But every time I decided on what to do, my mind conjured images of a brutal death and that cold empty place where I kept falling. "No!" My scream fell on deaf ears and everyone was in motion, except for myself as I looked on at the imminent train wreck. My heart was pounding in my ears, and the woman was jumping on walls and flying at Illya, a knife in her hand and her glowing blue and red eyes focused on something that did not exist in our world. She was looking at something else, beyond anyone's comprehension.
Move! I screamed to myself. Somewhere between the woman's charge and the million things that happened all at once, I felt a sharp pain on my fingers and realized that I'd broken my left index finger. The visions of death stopped and I could finally think straight. Only a few seconds had passed but it was all playing in slow motion in my head. I could see where everyone would be in a few moments, and so I moved. The woman's eyes didn't even look at me as I landed in front of Illya, my arms spread out as if I was waiting for the woman to fall in my embrace. In the narrow alley, Berserker spun on a dime and landed behind Illya. He covered her with his thick arms and the woman's knife sliced right through my left arm and into his body. I barely caught the sight of his ashen blood escaping the wound. And then I looked down and saw my own arm fallen on the ground and the blood spurting out of the stump.
Heracles jumped away with Illya. I was feeling weak and my eyes couldn't see all that well, there were dark splotches in my vision. Then the woman as she crouched over me, blue eyes and a scream somewhere far away. "You are unlucky, ugly girl."
◙
[HOST UNIT – LINK IN PROGRESS]
I've been waiting for you. A long time now, or rather that is wrong. There is no time here. There isn't even a here.
Where am I?
I just told you. You are nowhere.
[HOST UNIT – LINKING IMPOSSIBLE]
Ah, it is too early.
Early for what?
Beware of the Golden Man. Trust in your kin.
I don't know what that means! Who are you?
[HOST UNIT – PARTIAL LINK ESTABLISHED]
◙
I saw the dream of my birth again. The one where I am falling. Familiar strange faces and voices and this time I'm flying over a city, a world, a thousand of them. A million billion faces and emotions, and fear only curbed by death.
'Oh I know! Let's share our origin stories!'
'What a dork.'
'Did I say something wrong?'
'Everything you say is always wrong, ugly girl.'
There are beautiful golden lights dancing in the sky, two shots, and all is dark again. There are things on me. Crawling, biting, and chittering. 'Please someone! Anyone! Get me out of here, please! I beg you! Lisa! Brian save me!
Brian's married now, boss. Didn't you know?
'Please…'
'I'm not… Darwinist, none of that… bullshit. Augh! I'm… I think it is simple- simpler. Us monsters and… psychopaths, we gravitate towards… predation, because we were originally… predators. Originally had to hunt… Had to be brutal, cruel… Order to survive. Violence was what made us… or broke us back… in the beginning.'
'I'm not weak anymore Taylor. I don't need a weakling like you to drag me down. We're done.'
'Please!'
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Well, I called the fairly heavily hinted-at crossover. You should probably add a Kara no Kyoukai tag.
Chapter 6
- Location
- Germany
Chapter 6 – Impromptu Soul Surgery
I woke up with something heavy pushing my chest down. It was dark and everything hurt. My body didn't respond as I wanted it to and my left arm felt unresponsive. Left arm? It touched my face and the feeling of porcelain touching my skin jolted the dredges of sleep away. I screamed.
A lot of things happened at once. Someone opened a door, the weight on my chest shifted, and I heard Heracles' familiar growl. Whoever came into the room must have turned on the lights, because I was instantly blinded and had to wince.
"Taylor!" Illya's voice rung out from somewhere above.
I slowly opened my eyes and finally saw my surroundings. Illya was the weight I was feeling. She was perched on top of me, and I almost had to close my eyes again, because there were at least fifteen Illyas – most of them ghostly and ephemeral – that moved alongside her. A few blinks later they all merged into one and I could finally look at her without getting dizzy. "What's going on?" I asked.
Illya sobbed a little and fell on me eliciting another wince. "You jumped in front of me, and Berserker wouldn't listen when I told him to save you and he took me away! And when I finally managed to force him back that… that thing was standing over you and she was just watching you bleed to death and, and… waaaah!"
"Sh… It's all okay now."
She couldn't speak without gulping every few seconds, "No it's not! Berserker broke her, and then she- she just stabbed herself! And she was jumping again, so I told him to tear her apart and then buildings were falling and I had to take you away to a hospital, but she was following us!"
My porcelain arm was massaging her scalp as I tried to make her start making sense. That thing survived Berserker? And even worse buildings were destroyed? This was such a cluster fuck… "What happened after? Where are we? What is this?" I shook my fake arm.
"Ehem. I should probably take over." The voice startled me.
A tall woman with long straight red hair stood at the entrance with a rather unassuming man who looked like he hadn't slept for a few months straight. "I am Touko Aozaki, and this here is my assistant Kokuto. Welcome to Garan no Dou." She swept her arms dramatically.
This was Aozaki? She didn't seem all that impressive, but between Heroic spirits and freaks who healed by stabbing themselves, it was obvious that appearances had little meaning. "So you did this?" I shook the prosthetic again. If I wasn't a little miffed I would have appreciated the arm a bit more. It responded like a normal arm, and I didn't even need to think about it. All of its movements were natural to me.
She nodded. "Yes. My employee caused a great deal of issues today, so I took it upon myself to set you up. Give me a week and it will be better than your old one!" She walked inside the room and passed my couch. I couldn't see it from where I was, but behind the other couch in front of me, there must have been a desk or something because she sat and disappeared from my field of vision. I sat up, and marveled at the fact that I was feeling pretty good, all things considered. The man, Kokuto, moved into the room too, I startled a little when he split in two, one of the phantoms came up to me and smiled a friendly smile. When he saw my reaction, the phantom disappeared and he moved to the couch across from us. He sat down and turned on his laptop. Weird guy.
"Shiki, the woman who attacked you, did so in self-defense." Touko said as she lit a cigarette.
"Right."
She caught the sarcasm in my voice and snorted, "She is much like you."
"She's nothing like Taylor. That woman's a monster." Illya said.
It was a bit disconcerting seeing Illya shaken up like that. She had tear streaks on her cheeks and her eyes were red.
"What do you mean?" I ended up asking.
"The place where nothing exists. You have seen it, haven't you?"
Falling, turning into pieces as existence unraveled around me. The realization that death was not a thing but just the absence of everything else. And that woman, rushing, running, flying, her existence just mere evidence that emptiness had substance in a way that-
A cup of tea was placed in front of me. I picked it up with shaky arms. "You don't have to tell me." She said, "There are no words to define that place. It's funny. So many magi want to reach it, but they rarely realize the implications."
We sat in silence for a while. Kokuto was typing away at his laptop and Touko was already on her second cigarette. Illya had nodded off. "She didn't sleep all day. Can't blame her really, since she was worried that we would hurt you. Attaching a limb with a Berserker breathing down my throat isn't a fun experience, let me tell you." She snorted.
"I've been looking for you, for a while now."
"I'm aware. You have a lot of connections. The only reason we even managed to hide for so long was because Shiki maintains a modicum of loyalty in the Mifune Yakuza community. When we heard that the Fujimura heiress was looking for us, I assumed one of the magi in Fuyuki wanted a boost of cash."
"I doubt that. The only one who is actually interested in you is the Tohsaka heir, and she'd probably try to bully you into taking her as an apprentice."
"I see. Be that as it may, I like staying here. Never mind the fact that I wouldn't afford moving to another city."
"Maybe you should avoid buying useless shit from the internet." The voice made my breath hitch again. I turned to look at the door and sure enough! "Hey ugly girl." She greeted. I tried to shuffle back, but the phantoms came again, countless of them were looking at me from the same position.
Kokuto stood up and there were phantoms of him moving and intercepting the woman. Until everyone merged and I managed to breathe again. The woman, Shiki, gave me a scoff as if she was disgusted at me. The feeling was mutual. Just looking at her made me nauseous.
"Still shifting and crawling. You are like a worm made of a hundred different things. Disgusting."
This fucking bitch! I saw flashes of memories I had never seen before. And the words came unbidden, "how does it feel to know that no matter how much you try, that you will always be incomplete?"
Shiki didn't move. Her blue and red eyes were glaring at me, "That's funny coming from you."
What? "What is that supposed to mean?"
She turned her head sideways like a curious cat and gave me a pathetic smirk. "You'll find out soon enough, ugly girl."
"Fuck you!"
"I'm going back to sleep. You coming?" She looked at Kokuto.
He seemed hesitant for a few moments. Touko nodded when he looked at her and then turned to me and bowed politely. "Good night then."
"Well… That answers some of my questions." Touko said after they left. "You saw part of her life, didn't you? Is that a response to danger, or does it respond to your will? So interesting!" She started jotting down on some piece of paper.
"I don't know what's going on, but I'd like some answers." I ground out.
"You have mystic eyes, just like her. It seems to be a new feature for you, but fret not. For I am an expert on such things!"
"I don't have mystic eyes."
"Oh yeah?" She tossed me a small makeup mirror. I opened it and looked at my eyes. They were as brown and dull as ever. I looked up at her, but all I saw was a book flying at my face. It split in a dozen of books and I ducked. It aggregated back into one book again and flew harmlessly over my head.
"What the hell?!"
She had a triumphant grin on her face and when I looked at the mirror again my eyes were red much like Illya's. The only difference was that irises were slits. They didn't fit me at all. The mirror fell from my hands and fell on the floor. "W-What is this?"
"Like I said, you have special eyes. And if you agree, I'd love to help you learn how to use them."
"I don't have time for this! I came to you for something specific, and the Holy Grail war will be starting again in a few weeks."
"Then all the more reason to take me up on my offer."
Could she really help? Or was it all an excuse to do more research. Maybe I could do what I did with Shiki? I focused on her, but no matter how much I strained nothing happened. Did that mean that she wasn't dangerous? No, she was definitely dangerous, but that wasn't a reason to decline. Besides she might have answers about that place…
"I have some conditions." I said.
Touko raised a delicate eyebrow and lit another cigarette. "Let's hear them then."
"You fix my arm." She nodded. I hesitated for the second demand and looked at Illya who was peacefully snoozing on my lap. "Illya is a homunculus. After the last Holy Grail war she was turned into a lesser grail. That's sort of a container that-"
"Holds the souls of Servants until all of them are dead and then summons the Greater Grail. I know. Wrote my thesis on it actually." She finished for me.
"Yes, well. You understand that she will die once the last Servant dies? I was hoping you could make a puppet body for her, and transfer her soul or whatever into it. She only has a year left to live, even if the lesser grail doesn't get summoned."
Touko looked at Illya for a few moments. "I can try, but that might be impossible."
Damn it… It couldn't be easy, could it? I licked my dry lips, "Why is that?"
"My puppets, they need a soul to function. Homunculi, generally lack a soul. The Einzbern are an exception to that rule because they used the Third to create the processes for the production of artificial life. That being said, normal souls are structures that were created randomly. Or maybe God created them, whatever you like to believe. The Einzberns couldn't account for such details, and therefore the souls their Homunculi have are imperfect. With the strain of the lesser grail on her soul, a transfer wouldn't necessarily remove the issues and might even exacerbate them."
"So there's no hope?" I asked, crestfallen. At least she wasn't awake to hear this. I stroked her hair and noted how soft it was.
"There actually is an easier solution. But that would only solve the lesser grail issue, and it might raise her life expectancy for a few more years. But a normal human lifespan? I'd advise you to enjoy whatever time you have left together. Now, it's been a long day and night. You are welcome to sleep here for the rest of the night, and you can give me your answer in the morning."
She was about to exit before I spoke again, "If the Einzberns reclaimed the Third, would it be possible?"
"I am not sure how True magic works," She begun and I noticed some bitterness in her voice, "but it's certainly possible in theory. In practice though… Let's just say that the ability to manipulate the insides of a machine, does not actually equate to the ability to understand how that machine works. That golem can live for another few centuries, so eventually… maybe."
She turned off the lights and when her footsteps were far enough away, I allowed myself to cry.
◙
I couldn't bring myself to sleep. Eventually the light of the morning's sunlight filled the room. The smell of tobacco permeated everything but it was almost comfortable. Touko walked in, and shuffled over to the couch across ours. She plopped herself and nursed a warm cup of coffee. "How was casa Aozaki?" She mumbled.
"Cold." I said. "Do you not have a heater or something?"
"Too expensive, Kokuto is already on his second month without a salary."
I snorted. "The medical must be a killer around here."
"Like you wouldn't believe." She took a big gulp and sighed. "Listen. About the thing."
I was about to respond when Illya spoke up, "I'll do it."
Damn it… "You heard?" I asked, but it was a forgone conclusion. Did she listen to me crying? My cheeks must have been burning because that was just fucking mortifying. She nodded and I wanted to hit something. Where was Shinji when I needed him?
"That's that then." Touko interrupted. "It's a rather simple operation. It involves Shiki stabbing Illya." Her voice took a cheerful and rushed lilt near the end.
It did sound simple. Only a simple sta- wait. "Could you repeat that?" I said sweetly.
She gave us an uncomfortable chuckle. "You want the long explanation, huh?" She gulped the rest of her coffee down. "Shiki possesses the Mystical Eyes of Death Perception. The short of it is that she sees the faults of everything in existence. It manifests as lines in everything that she looks at. She can follow those lines and kill anything."
Illya and I stared at her with a dumbstruck expression on our faces. "Anything." Illya said and I nodded at the disbelieve tone.
"Anything." Touko nodded. "Like wounds caused by Berserker swinging her around like a makeshift club. Or say, the lesser grail in Illya."
"Bullshit."
"You can see the future and past of people and things, is it really so hard to imagine?"
"There are plenty of ways to see the future, hell even mundane technology can achieve such things."
She shook her head, "That's not what your power does. Much like Shiki, you access Akasha when you look at things, you probably have direct access to the so called 'Records', the past and future of everything. Most Clairvoyants function like that, or that's my theory at least."
"Akasha… You are out of your mind."
"A synonym for genius!"
"No matter, when can we do this? And how long will it take?"
"I called Shiki and Kokuto when I woke up. They should be here any moment now."
Any moment now, ended up being half an hour. Kokuto came in first with a bunch of cinnamon, rolls and tea. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until I devoured mine in two bites. Kokuto was a weird guy. He seemed to be meek and soft spoken, but the night before he managed to stop Shiki from attacking us by just standing up. Did he have some sort of power over her? They seemed to be a couple, but I doubted that she could actually love anything, or exhibit strong emotions of any kind. And yet she obviously cared for him, if her entrance in the room was anything to go by. He was the first thing she looked at, it was as if she was checking to make sure nobody harmed him. Her face was passive again, but she was definitely avoiding looking at me. Touko had taken her aside and whispered something.
Shiki walked up to Illya and I had to refrain from reacting. Kept reminding myself that she wasn't an enemy. She picked one of the plastic knives that came with our breakfast and crouched. Illya didn't move and refrained from looking at her.
"This might hurt." Shiki said and plunged the plastic knife into Illya's stomach.
◙
"I don't think I'll ever visit this city again." I told Illya firmly.
She was paler than usual and looked uncomfortable on the train seat, but Touko assured us that it was a normal side effect of getting impromptu soul surgery. The fact that said surgery took place on a couch and with a plastic knife of dubious heritage did not make me feel better.
"I thought we'd get a few days to see the sights first." Illya pouted.
"Once you feel a bit better I'll show you around. School doesn't start for another week."
The sun had already set by the time we arrived in Fuyuki. I'd been away for the most part of a week, but it still felt like years. Before fighting Heracles, the most experience I had in a fight had been in spars with Rin, and that one serial killer she and I had stopped. The tutors Raiga had gotten me had nothing on me now. The house was the same as I left it. Illya was already asleep the moment she hit the mattress and I didn't want to wake her up for the next part. I was pretty tired myself but it had to be done tonight.
In the old shed where all the tools and unused boxes of crap that Kiritsugu had accumulated over the years was a ritual circle. I never asked why it was there, or what it did. But now it was pretty clear that it was a summoning circle.
It was a bit faded but the intricate designs looked exactly like those in the notes Acht had given me. He said to do it at midnight, but a few minutes wouldn't make all that great a difference. Besides my prana levels had stayed at their maximum during the last few days.
I looked at the notes for the umpteenth time. Acht had refused to give me a catalyst, saying that after Kiritsugu he was leery of parting with something so priceless. According to him, the Grail would choose someone who was similar to me for a Servant, but that sounded too good to be true. With my luck being what it was, I'd get someone problematic… "Has to be done, has to be done!" I said out loud.
With a final moment of preparation I focused my mana.
"Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation
Let my great Master Schweinorg be the ancestor
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.
I hereby declare.
Your body shall serve under me.
My fate shall be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail
If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer!
An oath shall be sworn here!
I shall be all the good in this world.
I shall erase all the evil in this world!
From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraints,
Protector of the Holy Balance!"
The air around me picked up and after I finished the aria everything exploded. I found myself standing in the middle of debris and in front of me was a short red haired woman who wore a pretty lightweight silver armor with a sword and a round shield strapped on her back. She gave me a gentle smile and bowed in front of me, "I ask of you," she said, "art thou mine master?"
I woke up with something heavy pushing my chest down. It was dark and everything hurt. My body didn't respond as I wanted it to and my left arm felt unresponsive. Left arm? It touched my face and the feeling of porcelain touching my skin jolted the dredges of sleep away. I screamed.
A lot of things happened at once. Someone opened a door, the weight on my chest shifted, and I heard Heracles' familiar growl. Whoever came into the room must have turned on the lights, because I was instantly blinded and had to wince.
"Taylor!" Illya's voice rung out from somewhere above.
I slowly opened my eyes and finally saw my surroundings. Illya was the weight I was feeling. She was perched on top of me, and I almost had to close my eyes again, because there were at least fifteen Illyas – most of them ghostly and ephemeral – that moved alongside her. A few blinks later they all merged into one and I could finally look at her without getting dizzy. "What's going on?" I asked.
Illya sobbed a little and fell on me eliciting another wince. "You jumped in front of me, and Berserker wouldn't listen when I told him to save you and he took me away! And when I finally managed to force him back that… that thing was standing over you and she was just watching you bleed to death and, and… waaaah!"
"Sh… It's all okay now."
She couldn't speak without gulping every few seconds, "No it's not! Berserker broke her, and then she- she just stabbed herself! And she was jumping again, so I told him to tear her apart and then buildings were falling and I had to take you away to a hospital, but she was following us!"
My porcelain arm was massaging her scalp as I tried to make her start making sense. That thing survived Berserker? And even worse buildings were destroyed? This was such a cluster fuck… "What happened after? Where are we? What is this?" I shook my fake arm.
"Ehem. I should probably take over." The voice startled me.
A tall woman with long straight red hair stood at the entrance with a rather unassuming man who looked like he hadn't slept for a few months straight. "I am Touko Aozaki, and this here is my assistant Kokuto. Welcome to Garan no Dou." She swept her arms dramatically.
This was Aozaki? She didn't seem all that impressive, but between Heroic spirits and freaks who healed by stabbing themselves, it was obvious that appearances had little meaning. "So you did this?" I shook the prosthetic again. If I wasn't a little miffed I would have appreciated the arm a bit more. It responded like a normal arm, and I didn't even need to think about it. All of its movements were natural to me.
She nodded. "Yes. My employee caused a great deal of issues today, so I took it upon myself to set you up. Give me a week and it will be better than your old one!" She walked inside the room and passed my couch. I couldn't see it from where I was, but behind the other couch in front of me, there must have been a desk or something because she sat and disappeared from my field of vision. I sat up, and marveled at the fact that I was feeling pretty good, all things considered. The man, Kokuto, moved into the room too, I startled a little when he split in two, one of the phantoms came up to me and smiled a friendly smile. When he saw my reaction, the phantom disappeared and he moved to the couch across from us. He sat down and turned on his laptop. Weird guy.
"Shiki, the woman who attacked you, did so in self-defense." Touko said as she lit a cigarette.
"Right."
She caught the sarcasm in my voice and snorted, "She is much like you."
"She's nothing like Taylor. That woman's a monster." Illya said.
It was a bit disconcerting seeing Illya shaken up like that. She had tear streaks on her cheeks and her eyes were red.
"What do you mean?" I ended up asking.
"The place where nothing exists. You have seen it, haven't you?"
Falling, turning into pieces as existence unraveled around me. The realization that death was not a thing but just the absence of everything else. And that woman, rushing, running, flying, her existence just mere evidence that emptiness had substance in a way that-
A cup of tea was placed in front of me. I picked it up with shaky arms. "You don't have to tell me." She said, "There are no words to define that place. It's funny. So many magi want to reach it, but they rarely realize the implications."
We sat in silence for a while. Kokuto was typing away at his laptop and Touko was already on her second cigarette. Illya had nodded off. "She didn't sleep all day. Can't blame her really, since she was worried that we would hurt you. Attaching a limb with a Berserker breathing down my throat isn't a fun experience, let me tell you." She snorted.
"I've been looking for you, for a while now."
"I'm aware. You have a lot of connections. The only reason we even managed to hide for so long was because Shiki maintains a modicum of loyalty in the Mifune Yakuza community. When we heard that the Fujimura heiress was looking for us, I assumed one of the magi in Fuyuki wanted a boost of cash."
"I doubt that. The only one who is actually interested in you is the Tohsaka heir, and she'd probably try to bully you into taking her as an apprentice."
"I see. Be that as it may, I like staying here. Never mind the fact that I wouldn't afford moving to another city."
"Maybe you should avoid buying useless shit from the internet." The voice made my breath hitch again. I turned to look at the door and sure enough! "Hey ugly girl." She greeted. I tried to shuffle back, but the phantoms came again, countless of them were looking at me from the same position.
Kokuto stood up and there were phantoms of him moving and intercepting the woman. Until everyone merged and I managed to breathe again. The woman, Shiki, gave me a scoff as if she was disgusted at me. The feeling was mutual. Just looking at her made me nauseous.
"Still shifting and crawling. You are like a worm made of a hundred different things. Disgusting."
This fucking bitch! I saw flashes of memories I had never seen before. And the words came unbidden, "how does it feel to know that no matter how much you try, that you will always be incomplete?"
Shiki didn't move. Her blue and red eyes were glaring at me, "That's funny coming from you."
What? "What is that supposed to mean?"
She turned her head sideways like a curious cat and gave me a pathetic smirk. "You'll find out soon enough, ugly girl."
"Fuck you!"
"I'm going back to sleep. You coming?" She looked at Kokuto.
He seemed hesitant for a few moments. Touko nodded when he looked at her and then turned to me and bowed politely. "Good night then."
"Well… That answers some of my questions." Touko said after they left. "You saw part of her life, didn't you? Is that a response to danger, or does it respond to your will? So interesting!" She started jotting down on some piece of paper.
"I don't know what's going on, but I'd like some answers." I ground out.
"You have mystic eyes, just like her. It seems to be a new feature for you, but fret not. For I am an expert on such things!"
"I don't have mystic eyes."
"Oh yeah?" She tossed me a small makeup mirror. I opened it and looked at my eyes. They were as brown and dull as ever. I looked up at her, but all I saw was a book flying at my face. It split in a dozen of books and I ducked. It aggregated back into one book again and flew harmlessly over my head.
"What the hell?!"
She had a triumphant grin on her face and when I looked at the mirror again my eyes were red much like Illya's. The only difference was that irises were slits. They didn't fit me at all. The mirror fell from my hands and fell on the floor. "W-What is this?"
"Like I said, you have special eyes. And if you agree, I'd love to help you learn how to use them."
"I don't have time for this! I came to you for something specific, and the Holy Grail war will be starting again in a few weeks."
"Then all the more reason to take me up on my offer."
Could she really help? Or was it all an excuse to do more research. Maybe I could do what I did with Shiki? I focused on her, but no matter how much I strained nothing happened. Did that mean that she wasn't dangerous? No, she was definitely dangerous, but that wasn't a reason to decline. Besides she might have answers about that place…
"I have some conditions." I said.
Touko raised a delicate eyebrow and lit another cigarette. "Let's hear them then."
"You fix my arm." She nodded. I hesitated for the second demand and looked at Illya who was peacefully snoozing on my lap. "Illya is a homunculus. After the last Holy Grail war she was turned into a lesser grail. That's sort of a container that-"
"Holds the souls of Servants until all of them are dead and then summons the Greater Grail. I know. Wrote my thesis on it actually." She finished for me.
"Yes, well. You understand that she will die once the last Servant dies? I was hoping you could make a puppet body for her, and transfer her soul or whatever into it. She only has a year left to live, even if the lesser grail doesn't get summoned."
Touko looked at Illya for a few moments. "I can try, but that might be impossible."
Damn it… It couldn't be easy, could it? I licked my dry lips, "Why is that?"
"My puppets, they need a soul to function. Homunculi, generally lack a soul. The Einzbern are an exception to that rule because they used the Third to create the processes for the production of artificial life. That being said, normal souls are structures that were created randomly. Or maybe God created them, whatever you like to believe. The Einzberns couldn't account for such details, and therefore the souls their Homunculi have are imperfect. With the strain of the lesser grail on her soul, a transfer wouldn't necessarily remove the issues and might even exacerbate them."
"So there's no hope?" I asked, crestfallen. At least she wasn't awake to hear this. I stroked her hair and noted how soft it was.
"There actually is an easier solution. But that would only solve the lesser grail issue, and it might raise her life expectancy for a few more years. But a normal human lifespan? I'd advise you to enjoy whatever time you have left together. Now, it's been a long day and night. You are welcome to sleep here for the rest of the night, and you can give me your answer in the morning."
She was about to exit before I spoke again, "If the Einzberns reclaimed the Third, would it be possible?"
"I am not sure how True magic works," She begun and I noticed some bitterness in her voice, "but it's certainly possible in theory. In practice though… Let's just say that the ability to manipulate the insides of a machine, does not actually equate to the ability to understand how that machine works. That golem can live for another few centuries, so eventually… maybe."
She turned off the lights and when her footsteps were far enough away, I allowed myself to cry.
◙
I couldn't bring myself to sleep. Eventually the light of the morning's sunlight filled the room. The smell of tobacco permeated everything but it was almost comfortable. Touko walked in, and shuffled over to the couch across ours. She plopped herself and nursed a warm cup of coffee. "How was casa Aozaki?" She mumbled.
"Cold." I said. "Do you not have a heater or something?"
"Too expensive, Kokuto is already on his second month without a salary."
I snorted. "The medical must be a killer around here."
"Like you wouldn't believe." She took a big gulp and sighed. "Listen. About the thing."
I was about to respond when Illya spoke up, "I'll do it."
Damn it… "You heard?" I asked, but it was a forgone conclusion. Did she listen to me crying? My cheeks must have been burning because that was just fucking mortifying. She nodded and I wanted to hit something. Where was Shinji when I needed him?
"That's that then." Touko interrupted. "It's a rather simple operation. It involves Shiki stabbing Illya." Her voice took a cheerful and rushed lilt near the end.
It did sound simple. Only a simple sta- wait. "Could you repeat that?" I said sweetly.
She gave us an uncomfortable chuckle. "You want the long explanation, huh?" She gulped the rest of her coffee down. "Shiki possesses the Mystical Eyes of Death Perception. The short of it is that she sees the faults of everything in existence. It manifests as lines in everything that she looks at. She can follow those lines and kill anything."
Illya and I stared at her with a dumbstruck expression on our faces. "Anything." Illya said and I nodded at the disbelieve tone.
"Anything." Touko nodded. "Like wounds caused by Berserker swinging her around like a makeshift club. Or say, the lesser grail in Illya."
"Bullshit."
"You can see the future and past of people and things, is it really so hard to imagine?"
"There are plenty of ways to see the future, hell even mundane technology can achieve such things."
She shook her head, "That's not what your power does. Much like Shiki, you access Akasha when you look at things, you probably have direct access to the so called 'Records', the past and future of everything. Most Clairvoyants function like that, or that's my theory at least."
"Akasha… You are out of your mind."
"A synonym for genius!"
"No matter, when can we do this? And how long will it take?"
"I called Shiki and Kokuto when I woke up. They should be here any moment now."
Any moment now, ended up being half an hour. Kokuto came in first with a bunch of cinnamon, rolls and tea. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until I devoured mine in two bites. Kokuto was a weird guy. He seemed to be meek and soft spoken, but the night before he managed to stop Shiki from attacking us by just standing up. Did he have some sort of power over her? They seemed to be a couple, but I doubted that she could actually love anything, or exhibit strong emotions of any kind. And yet she obviously cared for him, if her entrance in the room was anything to go by. He was the first thing she looked at, it was as if she was checking to make sure nobody harmed him. Her face was passive again, but she was definitely avoiding looking at me. Touko had taken her aside and whispered something.
Shiki walked up to Illya and I had to refrain from reacting. Kept reminding myself that she wasn't an enemy. She picked one of the plastic knives that came with our breakfast and crouched. Illya didn't move and refrained from looking at her.
"This might hurt." Shiki said and plunged the plastic knife into Illya's stomach.
◙
"I don't think I'll ever visit this city again." I told Illya firmly.
She was paler than usual and looked uncomfortable on the train seat, but Touko assured us that it was a normal side effect of getting impromptu soul surgery. The fact that said surgery took place on a couch and with a plastic knife of dubious heritage did not make me feel better.
"I thought we'd get a few days to see the sights first." Illya pouted.
"Once you feel a bit better I'll show you around. School doesn't start for another week."
The sun had already set by the time we arrived in Fuyuki. I'd been away for the most part of a week, but it still felt like years. Before fighting Heracles, the most experience I had in a fight had been in spars with Rin, and that one serial killer she and I had stopped. The tutors Raiga had gotten me had nothing on me now. The house was the same as I left it. Illya was already asleep the moment she hit the mattress and I didn't want to wake her up for the next part. I was pretty tired myself but it had to be done tonight.
In the old shed where all the tools and unused boxes of crap that Kiritsugu had accumulated over the years was a ritual circle. I never asked why it was there, or what it did. But now it was pretty clear that it was a summoning circle.
It was a bit faded but the intricate designs looked exactly like those in the notes Acht had given me. He said to do it at midnight, but a few minutes wouldn't make all that great a difference. Besides my prana levels had stayed at their maximum during the last few days.
I looked at the notes for the umpteenth time. Acht had refused to give me a catalyst, saying that after Kiritsugu he was leery of parting with something so priceless. According to him, the Grail would choose someone who was similar to me for a Servant, but that sounded too good to be true. With my luck being what it was, I'd get someone problematic… "Has to be done, has to be done!" I said out loud.
With a final moment of preparation I focused my mana.
"Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation
Let my great Master Schweinorg be the ancestor
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.
I hereby declare.
Your body shall serve under me.
My fate shall be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail
If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer!
An oath shall be sworn here!
I shall be all the good in this world.
I shall erase all the evil in this world!
From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraints,
Protector of the Holy Balance!"
The air around me picked up and after I finished the aria everything exploded. I found myself standing in the middle of debris and in front of me was a short red haired woman who wore a pretty lightweight silver armor with a sword and a round shield strapped on her back. She gave me a gentle smile and bowed in front of me, "I ask of you," she said, "art thou mine master?"
- Location
- Planet Earth
well, I was wondering if we'd get Warlord Skitter or Khepri, apparently not. That said, does anyone have an idea who this is? My knowledge of nasuverse isn't broad enough to recognize this, even if it isn't Jack making up a new servant.
- Location
- Finland
Since when can Shiki heal wounds of any kind? Sure, she can kill illnesses and things like that. But she can't make physical wounds go away. Otherwise she wouldn't have had so much problems with Asagami. In that fight, her arm got mangled and the best she could do was kill off the arm to stop the bleeding and pain. It didn't bring the arm back or restore it in any way, shape or form.
StatelessGem
Bane of the Iron Lords
Considering how MEoDP is capable of killing non-physical phenomena with the ease of cutting paper, I'll straight believe she could kill someone's DEATH and pull off some resurrection BS.
- Location
- West Michigan
There are only two red-haired female Servants in canon that carry round shields: Boudica and Brave Liz. Neither of them wears "lightweight silver armor." Boudica, once she reaches stage 2 and puts some actual clothes on, wears white, while Brave Liz has her crimson bikini. Taylor would have noticed that.
A Sensible Armor variant of either is still possible, though, as is just about anyone from Bet. Unfortunately, the description does rule out the current comedy option: Saber Shiki. ("YOU!")
Rogue Gemini
Wanderer without a Twin
- Location
- Here
Sweet! Boudica is here! This proves to be much more fun.
Edit: hmmm. I just realized that this might be because I'm more familiar with her as a Rider than a Saber. I think for the most part it was the red hair.
Edit: hmmm. I just realized that this might be because I'm more familiar with her as a Rider than a Saber. I think for the most part it was the red hair.
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- Location
- Finland
While the Eyes may be capable of those things, Shiki herself is not. Third Shiki, no problem, but she's not usually in the equation. It's seen many times over the series that Shiki has serious problems with non-physical things, and things she can't easily contextualize in her mind. It took seeing Asagami's ability a shitton of times until she got a good enough grasp on it to kill it, and she's never pulled off weird BS like that instantly without problems. Same with Araya, took her a while to figure out how to get to him, though it was easier with visual clues. Also, her Eyes exploit existing faults in things, I'm fairly certain they can't easily reverse their own function of breaking them. If it's a thing that can be broken or erased, fine, but they don't do so hot on reversing the same. They make things go away fine, but can't really bring back something that is gone.
If she could casually do away with physical injuries, she and Kokutou would have much less trouble during the series. Also, considering I didn't see an eyepatch on Mikiya, I take this is still before series end for KnK, so Shiki isn't even yet completely aware of her own potential. Realistically, the only thing she can do in the Berserker fight is to retreat at best possible speed. She can't win right there, and despite what she occasionally claims, she's not suicidial. She's capable of backing down.
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C4d
Has approximate knowledge of many things.
- Location
- Germany
So i leave for two chapters and Taylor looses and arm Berserker mangles Shiki who then proceeds to kill the lesser grail which makes all the servants go automatically into the black grail if that is still a thing, this grail war is going to be FUN for everyone involved.
And Taylor has a connection to the Root, thank god that it was Toukou who found that out first, that lets her see possible futures and the past or something?
Also she considers Shinji a valuable member of society because punching him is a great way to relive stress.
Concerning her servant, it could be Boudica but then only as a Rider because her other classes are Berserker and Avenger and one is already blocked while the other is unlikely.
As for Shiki in theory she is able to kill anything, which includes killing her own wounds and causing them the disappear, but in practice she is very limited by her own perceptions and views of the world and unless Toukou has been coaching her on how to interpret everything into something that can be killed she should not be able to heal herself.
And Taylor has a connection to the Root, thank god that it was Toukou who found that out first, that lets her see possible futures and the past or something?
Also she considers Shinji a valuable member of society because punching him is a great way to relive stress.
Concerning her servant, it could be Boudica but then only as a Rider because her other classes are Berserker and Avenger and one is already blocked while the other is unlikely.
As for Shiki in theory she is able to kill anything, which includes killing her own wounds and causing them the disappear, but in practice she is very limited by her own perceptions and views of the world and unless Toukou has been coaching her on how to interpret everything into something that can be killed she should not be able to heal herself.
- Location
- West Michigan
Avenger Boudica (Alter) would be amazing, but I don't think this fic has any room for her.
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BrokenAscendent
Unum prae omnibus aliis
- Location
- Auld Lang Syne
ded imageAvenger Boudica (Alter) would be amazing, but I don't think this fic has any room for her.
- Location
- West Michigan
I switched it to a different mirror.
fallacies
Puyo Mage
This is technically incorrect. Homunculi -- at least of the variety that the Einzbern manufacture -- are enfleshed artificial spirits, based upon Nature Spirits / Elementals / Faeries. They were created primarily "as" Thaumaturgical Circuits, which are spiritual structures; and it seems that their flesh is fabricated of Ether.
Certainly, they're supposed to be weaker than humans as lifeforms, and they have numerous flaws, but "homunculi generally lack a soul" isn't accurate per the established canon.
That's also not really how it works. Aside from what Void Shiki does on account of her being the Void itself (or a conduit thereof), none of the processes that the canonical Mystic Eyes are capable of involve direct, constant, or repeated access of the Akasha.
Accessing the Akasha isn't merely "a big deal" in Nasu. It's "the biggest deal" -- and not even capabilities held by the literal gods and / or existences that exceed the gods in fact involve accessing the Akasha, even as they're described to be "closer to the Root."
As an example, Tohno Shiki's Eyes of Death Perception merely observe and interact with "death" as a phenomena manifest within the World; meaning that, acausally, even as the eventuality of a death hasn't yet come to pass, the death of an existence is conceptually integral to its being.
The future and the past as observed by various abilities that grant clairvoyance are likewise phenomena manifest within the World; meaning that future-vision generally observes "possibilities" that already exist. The guarantee of a possibility entails "confirmation" in the context of the quantum observer effect; and so, if indeed a future that Taylor observes comes to pass, it would be on account of her "confirming" it in some capacity. There are other varieties of future-vision that don't entail explicit confirmation; but even something as broken as "predefining the future" (which has in fact been a thing) doesn't entail access of the Akasha.
Something that can pull up information from the Akasha on a regular, repeatable basis would be a lot more broken than any of the established clairvoyance / future-vision related abilities in the current canon.
Void Shiki can access the Akasha because's she a singular existence within the setting -- and she should be left that way, IMO.
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Thanks for reading and taking the time to point all this information out. I won't retcon anything (for now) but I will definitely keep it in mind going forward.
Luckily it's first person with an unreliable narrator so for the most part it shouldn't be a hard task to stir the story closer to canon mechanics.
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- Actually pretty lost
As I recall, Kara No Kyoukai is in a different timeline to the rest of FATE, where True Ancestors (and thus Dead Apostle Ancestors) don't exist. So she's such a singular existence she isn't even in the FATE/Stay Night setting, technically.
Of course, Kaleidoscope shenanigans could just mean Taylor's in a setting where that isn't true, but I'm not nearly enough of a Nasuverse sage to even begin figuring out what effects that would have.
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fallacies
Puyo Mage
This isn't correct. As of FGO, KnK or some similar sequence of events involving the same characters is given to have occurred within the Tree of Time that Grand Order is native to; and Ryougi Shiki thus exists within the same Universe. Incidentally, Dead Apostle Ancestors are not to my knowledge established to exist within the setting of KnK.
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It can't be Gareth because her design was just revealed today and she's blonde, not red:
