Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
She considers for a few seconds, then nods. Then, she draws in the sand 'Just Berserker'.
As you look up, you hear wings flapping. It appears that a crow, or a raven maybe, is flying off.
To The Beginning IC:ג
- Thread starter Grue
- Start date
- IC
I stare at the bird that's flying away for a couple seconds, wondering why it looking at me made me so damn jittery. I mean it's just... a bird... right?
...A dawning realization. I go absolutely still, and then start spluttering in incoherent rage at my luck.
"You cannot be serious! That- that's not- It hasn't even been five minutes yet! You can't do this to me already!"
Because if my train of thought is correct, I just got spotted by one of Gransurg Blackmore's familiars. One of the Dead Apostle Ancestors knows I'm here. For Gaia's sake, give me some sort of a break!
Last edited:
SlugSLinger
Seeker of Originality
- Location
- Somewhere in the Jungles of S.E.A
I nod and turn back to the view of the forest.
She's on a time limit, huh? Well, that's sad. Now I won't able to get her back for the snowman thing. Though, I suppose that's also a moot point if she disappears anyway.
"I'm guessing your other half doesn't know?" I say. Then I shake my head. "No, a better question would be; how long until..." I summon my Keyblade, then dismiss it in a shower of glittering dust.
A flock of birds take to sky, and I had to squash the urge to roast them with a Fira bolt.
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
"...I'm a servant, dumbass," snorts Kuro. "I don't have Independent Action or Divinity."
Then, suddenly, the flock of birds converge with another flock. And another. And another.
And they begin to fly towards the mansion.
SlugSLinger
Seeker of Originality
- Location
- Somewhere in the Jungles of S.E.A
...If I had eyes, I'd be rubbing them right now.
I turn to Kuro. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
"If you're seeing ravens flying towards the house... then yes. Yes I am," Kuro says.
As the ravens approach, her eyes widen, and she goes into a stance. Then, the birds hit the mansion... and break through the glass.
Last edited:
SlugSLinger
Seeker of Originality
- Location
- Somewhere in the Jungles of S.E.A
Without thinking, I summon my Keyblade nd will it into a shield, one taller and wider than my body. At the same time, I also cast Barrier, the protective translucent shield materializing around myself and Kuro.
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
For a few seconds, birds and glass slam into it, before they stop. The ravens around you simply flap, staring at you. Waiting.
You two hear the shattering of windows, and flaps.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
At the sound a single thought worms it's way into my mind 'we're under attack' and since Alter is here with me the only other targets are...
"Kuro!" I said as I raced towards the source of the noise Ruby in my hand.
- Pronouns
- She / Her
Oh goddamn it! I take my armor off for one second and everything starts going downhill. I chase after Illya, periodically making sure to watch for attacks from behind. My armor reforms in black candescence as I take hold of Excalibur.
Borrowing
Fantasy Seal
- Location
- Gensokyo
As you run through the hallway, a wall of black ravens flies into the hallway in front of you, and fly towards you.
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
Damn birds I don't have time for this!! "Wide area Barrage!" I scream swing ruby and sending the barrage of pink prana bolts at the birds.
- Pronouns
- She / Her
You know what, I'm not even going to bother. Illya has got the front covered. I'll continue watching the sides and the back. Excalibur is ready to protect myself and Illya from any avian fiend that comes our way.
Last edited:
SlugSLinger
Seeker of Originality
- Location
- Somewhere in the Jungles of S.E.A
I let my gaze scan across the avian scum. Look at them. Flapping their wings around, looking at mr lime I'm some sort of toilet. Well, not today!
I channel more prana into the my and Kuro's barriers place oe hand on the top of my Keyshield.
"Barrier..." Countless cracks appeared instantaneously on the surface of my Barrier. "BREAK!"
With those words, barrier exploded and with my otherhand, fired a salvo of Fira bolts.
And the bird is gone. With it vanishing to... somewhere, I retract my claws, getting normal hands back. Well, that certainly won't come back to bite me, no siree. Everything is fine. Everything is fine. No problems here in Egypt. Now that the Totally Friendly Bird has left the area, the feeling of nervousness has gone away with it. So, what to do? There's always the option of heading towards the Matou mansion and shoving myself into the, which was my plan, but there's one teensy little problem with that.
'I have no idea where it is.'
Fan of Fate I may be, but I don't exactly have an encyclopedic knowledge of every location in Fuyuki city, particularly not from a ground view. I think it's to the South, mostly because the Docks are the northernmost part of the city... it's probably in the older part of town, so that's... somewhere in Miyama? Yes, that makes sense. But was Miyama on the side with the docks or were the docks on Shinto's side? I'll have to cross the bridge in the case of the former.
'My kingdom for an internet connection.'
I may as well just head South for now. I think Fate Zero took place in a time period after the invention of the internet. Maybe I can ask for directions when I find a house with somebody home? With Mystic Eyes, they're going to say yes no matter what, so even if they don't have internet I can borrow a city map or something.
I guess I have a plan. Go south. Find house. Get directions/map. Go to Matou. Hope Berserker is their Servant. Ignore all the ways this could go wrong.
Whistling, I resume walking south, away from the waterfront.
'I have no idea where it is.'
Fan of Fate I may be, but I don't exactly have an encyclopedic knowledge of every location in Fuyuki city, particularly not from a ground view. I think it's to the South, mostly because the Docks are the northernmost part of the city... it's probably in the older part of town, so that's... somewhere in Miyama? Yes, that makes sense. But was Miyama on the side with the docks or were the docks on Shinto's side? I'll have to cross the bridge in the case of the former.
'My kingdom for an internet connection.'
I may as well just head South for now. I think Fate Zero took place in a time period after the invention of the internet. Maybe I can ask for directions when I find a house with somebody home? With Mystic Eyes, they're going to say yes no matter what, so even if they don't have internet I can borrow a city map or something.
I guess I have a plan. Go south. Find house. Get directions/map. Go to Matou. Hope Berserker is their Servant. Ignore all the ways this could go wrong.
Whistling, I resume walking south, away from the waterfront.
Last edited:
You get a distinct feeling what somewhere under the pile of moonrabble in another dimension, somebody is turning in his grave and glares you in disapproval. At the same time, somebody else is sulking in proverbial corner, feeling abandoned.
You also get a feeling what this is not the first time this happens, and probably not the last. You feel like you will get used to that.
You knock into the first house with windows still lit you manage to find.
A few seconds later, your unusually sharp hearing pick up some grumbling - seems to be a young male voice, whining about unruly servants - from behind the door, and then a few seconds later the door opens.
Before you, in all his pijama-clad glory stands a disheveled, sleepy-looking and vaguely familiar dark haired british-looking young man - who currently is blindly stares rather noticibly below your face.
Mostly because he is that much lower than you. A moment later, in an incredibly sleepy monotone voice he speaks.
"What do you want."
It's looks like he might be not fully awake.
Last edited:
Unruly Servants..? No way. Absolutely no way. This is not happening. I did not knock on that exact house my very first try. My Luck is not this... extreme. What am I, a Knight of The Cross? Coincidence should not be servicing the plot this joyfully. First the Totally Friendly Bird and now-
Yep. That's definitely Waver. Looking adorable and tired in pajama's. I kind of want to pick him up and hug him. He's too moe for his own good. He could get kidnapped by airheaded vampires in the dead of night, and then how would he win the Holy Grail War? He couldn't, that's what. Okay, I could ask for directions to the Matou house and get on with my objective, or...
...Or I could meet Alexander! Tough call.
...
...Eh, Berserker can handle himself for a night.
"I was wondering, can I stay here for the night? I just arrived in this country, and I have nowhere to go." I ask, smiling pleasantly. I wonder if his magical senses are good enough to realize that I'm powerful? I mean, Waver's kind of a wimpy mage, but he's not dumb or anything.
Last edited:
For a second, there was a sign of intellegence in those eyes; a bright spark of the mind working in order to solve a problem standing - towering before him. Finally, he finds a solution.
"No. The house is full. No place for stray homeles people. Shoo."
Then he closes the door, and you can hear him slowly turn around, yawn, rise his left leg and freeze completely and utterly still.
Next second, he turns around very carefully and deliberatory, opens the door in mechanical motion sort of way, looks at you again...
And then his face shifts into most peticular expression - something between gaping, dying fish, a man dying from being unable to breath and experession of Zelretch after being caugh by Lorelei Barthomeloi in the process of raiding her secret stash of icecream and magazines unbecoming of a prim and proper Queen of the Clocktower.
"Ah... Err... As.."
It seems, he bluescreened. You almost can see the gear in his head crashing down in panic, refusing to deal with this bullshit.
Then you hear another voice; female and old, despite what it sounded as tired as Waver looked a few seconds ago, it also sounded strangely kind; like the prototypical voice of a classical kind grandma.
"Waver-chan? Why you are not asleep?"
And as she walks into your view, the voice acquires a somewhat steely note.
"Waver? Who is that? You forgot to tell us about your friends coming over again?"
Last edited:
...Did he just tell me to shoo? I mean, yeah, I can acknowledge him being correct on the 'stray homeless person' barb, because that is technically what I am, but 'shoo'? What am I, a cat scratching at the door and meowing? Is that what you think of me, Mr. Velvet?! Ah well. I wonder how long it's gonna take him to realize exactly what he just did.
Ah. There it is.
I give him a small wave and another smile. Still, my eyes are open for this one; not particularly obvious at first glance, but the iris's are red. And the pupils just a bit slitted.
And then his face shifts into most peculiar expression - something between gaping, dying fish, a man dying from being unable to breath and Zelretch's expression after being caught by Lorelei Barthomeloi in the process of raiding her secret stash of icecream and magazines unbecoming of a prim and proper Queen of the Clocktower.
"Ah... Err... As.."
It seems, he bluescreened. You almost can see the gear in his head crashing down in panic, refusing to deal with this bullshit.
Deliberately looking confused at his reaction, I ask "Is something wrong? Did you realize there's space after all?" Quietly, so that only us two could hear.
Then you hear another voice; female and old, despite sounding as tired as Waver looked a few seconds ago, it sounded strangely kind; like the prototypical voice of a classical kind grandma.
"Waver-chan? Why you are not asleep?"
And as she walks into your view, the voice acquires a somewhat steely note.
"Waver? Who is that? You forgot to tell us about your friends coming over again?"
'Lightbulb.'
"Ah, Waver..." I say, sounding clearly disappointed in him. "You mean you didn't tell them I was coming?" I continue. Acting classes, don't fail me now! If I'm lucky, I can piggyback on the story Waver's already fed to them and his hypnosis of them. I remember they had so much fun with Alex and Waver over that they accepted it when they knew he wasn't actually their grandson. So, they're pretty much primed to let anything interesting come in, so long as it doesn't put anyone in danger.
Which I won't. I wholeheartedly refuse to hurt either of them. Waver too, for that matter.
Anyway, if I do this right, I won't even need to hypnotize anyone. Waver's done it for me.
"Sorry for the surprise. My flight got delayed a bit. My name's Arcueid, nice to meet you!" I chirp, Arcueid's bubbly and naturally cheerful voice helping me out here. If they accepted Alex, they'll probably accept me.
Martha smiles; it's somewhat strained, but still honest-looking smile.
"Young man, we are going to talk about this, later. Come, don't just stand there; it's cold outside during this time of the year. It's nice to see Waver making..." She looks at you.
Waver squeak.
"...Friends; he spents way too much time buried in his books! Ah, when we were young... I think you would like something warm. Tea, Coffe? Waver, why don't you go and call Alex? I am sure he would like to..."
She didn't managed to finish the sentance, as Waver basically vanished in a blur of panicking movement somewhere upstairs.
"...Youth these days... " she grumbles lightly, but not really meaning it. "So, Arcuied? That is an unusual name... Tell me about yourself, maybe? How did you two met? Waver never tells us about his friends... And not much about his own studies, come to think about it."
She looks at the stairs which carried a weight of bravely retreating magi not so long ago.
"Knowing him he is going to be being embarrased about little things and going to annoy Alex for a few minutes; we have time to talk, if you don't mind. "
From the inflection used there, I'm fairly certain that Martha is under the impression me and Waver may be special friends. Sorry, but no. I'm not into boys, no matter how adorable they are.
"Coffee's fine." I respond to her asking me about which particular beverage, and she starts making that while continuing to talk. Then she tells Waver
Ah, Brave Sir Waver, bravely ran away away, gallantly he chickened out, and beat a very brave retreat. Not terribly surprising. Fairly certain he knows exactly who I am from that reaction. The White Princess of the True Ancestors randomly showing up at your safe house and somehow managing to claim it herself without a drop of hypnotism is kind of a 'oh shit!' moment, Heroic Spirit inside it be damned.
I smile at her saying 'my' name is a little unusual. "Yeah, my parents had strange taste in names. I get that comment a lot." I respond, and indeed I do. My name before this got similar 'how strange' comments, though mainly about the spelling. Arcueid is just a bit weirder, though. Okay, here we go. Time to lie, lie like your life depends on it! Because it does. Well, not really, but your cover story without resorting to Mystic Eyes does.
"How we met? Well, we study similar subjects, you see. He's studying Chemistry, while I'm going to be working in Biology." I say, choosing subjects similar to Waver's magecraft talents and one I know well from before this. "So, in class basically. There's a lot of overlap between the subjects."
It seems that the woman is happy to be hearing something about her 'grandson'. Waver's kept to the KISS rule of cover stories, and resolutely not said anything, even a lie, about his real life and has simply relied on hypnosis to keep his affairs in order. And I'm going to punt a great big hole in that. Sorry, Waver.
"Chemistry, you say? So that's why his nose is always stuck in a book." Martha replied, looking interested. This was the first information she was really getting about her grandson, after all. "So, why and when did you two become friends?"
I wave off the question. "Oh, you know. Study groups. We got paired together on various projects. It just sort of happened, I guess. What's really strange is how he and Alex became close... Though I think I'll let him tell that story. It's quite the tale." I say, essentially throwing out a hook for Martha to start questioning Waver on stuff and forcing him to come up with a story instead. That way, he's going to be the one forced to answer a deluge of questions.
Speaking of Waver I can hear him faintly saying stuff to Rider. I can't make at the exact words, but he sounds rather frantic. Probably talking about me. Warning Rider, maybe.
"I've tried to get him to answer that before, but he always finds some way to dodge the question." she replies, the coffee now ready. When I get it, i take a small sip. It's not bad, but it's... unfamiliar, to Arceuid's tongue. Mine too, to be honest. I haven't actually had straight coffee before, so this is a new experience. Martha continues, "He's a very secretive young man. Sometimes I think he's almost embarrassed of having friends at all." She waits for me to reply, but I take a longer sip of the coffee. It's easier, the less I have to speak. Before I finish, she asks something else, evidently not content to simply wait in silence. "So, what sort of things does he do for fun? Other than read?"
Hm. What to say to that..? Oh, I know. I smile conspiratorially, leaning towards the kindly old lady. "Don't tell him I said this, but he's got a fondness for magic tricks and toys. Things a magician would use. He probably left his props back at school though. He doesn't bring them out often." I finish. It's a lie, but one with grounding in what Waver actually does.
The old woman's smile gets even wider. "It's nice to know he has some hobbies. I was afraid he did nothing but study all day."
There are two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs that Waver ran up earlier. Looks like Rider and Waver are returning.
"Oh, he does a lot of that, but he has a life outside it." I finish, just as the two come in. I smile and wave. Nothing threatening at all... other than the fact that I am me and I'm here.
Last edited:
AMCS
Thinking of something to do.
Combat Unit JSN-117 "Jason"
Mark XXX Bolo
With that, I find the nearest sewer entrance, pry open the lid with my arm tool, and descend into the darkness where monsters now dwell.
(Taking this safe, now. If I spot any sign of trouble, the drone backs out. What the drone sees can be shown to the others via video feed on the ground combat drone.)
The reconnaissance drone continues its sweep of the sewers, moving ever so slowly, and ready to back out of the sewers at the first sign of trouble. I am quite anxious for any odd noise that I cannot determine, even though the sewers are effectively completely lit due to my extra-range vision of the Electro-magnetic spectrum extending my vision out of visible light that humans are limited to.
Now it remains how much of the sewers I will cover before I come to find where this 'Caster' opposition lies...
Mark XXX Bolo
"I would advise Berserker name the hiding spot. In the meantime, I will enter the nearest sewer drain and investigate the sewers from here."
With that, I find the nearest sewer entrance, pry open the lid with my arm tool, and descend into the darkness where monsters now dwell.
(Taking this safe, now. If I spot any sign of trouble, the drone backs out. What the drone sees can be shown to the others via video feed on the ground combat drone.)
"I currently have no objections. However, my combat drones will accompany you two while the reconnaissance drone investigates, to ensure group coherence. As to my name, you can simply call me Jason."
The reconnaissance drone continues its sweep of the sewers, moving ever so slowly, and ready to back out of the sewers at the first sign of trouble. I am quite anxious for any odd noise that I cannot determine, even though the sewers are effectively completely lit due to my extra-range vision of the Electro-magnetic spectrum extending my vision out of visible light that humans are limited to.
Now it remains how much of the sewers I will cover before I come to find where this 'Caster' opposition lies...
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
I clear my throat. "Er... About that..."
I point to Berserkers dialogue.
"Berserker seems reluctant to let any of your Drones come and meet her Master." I say. "Let alone a combat-ready one. Could I suggest just giving us a radio, so you can contact us?"
The feathery menace burned.
With a horrible screech, the continued the suicidal attack from all direction; the empty place where you put a breach in a black cloud of bloody avian hate was quickly recovered by more ravens, and even more attacked your group from... everywhere.
Surprisingly - or not - the ravens actually attack you with enough strengh to scrape your armor; even if these are barely noticible scratches.
Even more enemies stream from the windows. It seems, there are no end of them.
Your prana bolt evaporates the opposition before you; and then continues down to the corridor, barely passing the Kuro and Ling.
Then something explodes. There is one less wall in the Castle, now.
"Hey, watch it!" You barely hear Kuro's surprised scream past all the avian screeching.
The damage dealt to the enemy by your beam... Hard to gauge, the black cloud of endless ravens is still as black and endless as ever.
Holding a sword in a familiar-yet-unfamiliar way, you start chopping whatever tries to attack Illya or youself in very fine pieces.
The sword hums as it cuts air with incredible speed; the the birds do not seems to posesess any particular threat to you or your charge.
Last edited:
SlugSLinger
Seeker of Originality
- Location
- Somewhere in the Jungles of S.E.A
I feel Ilya's attack zip past, but pay no heed to it. It didn't hit me, and I couldn't care less at the moment.
But what I do care is how the avian scum died.
I heft my Keyshield in front of me, preventing the ravens from damaging my from and face, and raise my free hand upwards, clenching it into a fist.
I pour more prana into my free hand, and bring forth the essence of the Keyblade into it. From the gaps in between my fingers, small beams of purifying light shined through. Bright, pure and deadly to the dark and tainted. I knew, somehow, that these birds were not of this world. They were unnatural, and their intent to harm was immense.
"Kuro! Ilyasviel!" I yell through the flutter of wings and feathers. "If you do not wish to lose your vision, cover your eyes! Saber! Find cover!"
The light within my fist grew brighter, stronger, as I pour more prana into it.
"Let there be LIGHT!"
I open my fist, and a searing white flash filled my vision.