(no subject)

[wirefu]

Characters: Irisviel von Einzbern & YOU!
Setting: Room 01-01 -> Meadow -> Library
Format: Action, but I'll match!
Summary: Another awakening in the tower. Confusion and many tearful and angsty reunions and meetings are had.
Warnings: Spoilers for the end of Fate/Zero. Also angst. Lots of angst.

[Room 01-01]

[It was a strange thing, feeling your consciousness returning to you after you accepted your death. The last thing Irisviel remembered was the feeling of drowning, of suffocating, of being dragged by cold, clammy hands into an inky, muddy blackness that she knew she could not escape. This was her fate. There was something so wrong about this dark, evil feeling surrounding her, but she could do nothing to fight against it. She could only accept it.

But then the strangest thing happened: she opened her eyes. She took in the sight of surroundings she had most certainly never seen before. She couldn't move, but that didn't faze her one bit - she had been completely immobile since she had given Avalon to Kiritsugu.

... And then another strange thing happened. There was a slight tingling sensation, and then all of a sudden... she could feel the soft surface of the bed under her. She could feel the material of her clothes clinging to her. Slowly, with an expression that certainly appears to be disbelief, she raises a hand, and slowly curls it into a tight fist. There was strength in this movement. But how...?

Any roommates already in the room are free to call her out on her behavior. Any roommates that walk in at a later time will see her up and out of bed, slowly stretching and looking extremely surprised at being able to do so.]

[Floor 25]

[Irisviel isn't really doing anything on this floor. She's simply wandering about, sleeves of her shirt rolled up and thigh-high boots abandoned back near the stairs, humming softly to herself. There's still a bit of tension in the way she carries herself, but the more time she spends here, the more relaxed she seems.]

[Floor 4]

[There is a lady sitting at one of the computer terminals! A very pretty lady. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Nah, not really, except the look of absolute confusion on her face. It's likely that she knows what the device in front of her is, judging by the way she taps away at a few of the keys, but when nothing happens, she looks almost amusingly panicked.]

Comments

[swordedpast]

[He meets her stare without flinching. He's not in doubt; he's certain that it's wrong for her to be this at peace with herself. She is a tool created by the most ruthless of ancient families, slated for use and disposal. That's her destiny, even if this tower has distorted it.

A person who cannot be saved should not be content. He can't put up with one who is.]

I see. You must be used to that. Are you expecting anyone to defend you, though?

[wirefu]

Certainly not. I may not seem it, but I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. [Her voice is firm, showing off just a hint of her inner strength.] I refuse to let anyone - especially the ones that brought us here - see me as weak.

[swordedpast]

Oh?

I wonder if you could defend yourself, if a Servant attacked you.

[Apparently, her inner strength only makes him mad.]

[wirefu]

No normal magus's strength is enough to defeat a Servant, but I will still defend myself if I must.

[swordedpast]

How fortunate that I have no intention of attacking you.

--for me, at least.

[He doesn't know the half of it, judging by his continued smirk.]

It would be a pain to clean up the blood. For you it might be a mercy.

[wirefu]

[It's amazing how neutral the woman's expression remains even as he blatantly talks about killing her, but... there you go.]

A mercy? What makes you say that? If you know of the Einzbern homunculi, then you know our purpose. And if you know that, then you must know that my current status means I haven't fully reached the end of my purpose.

[swordedpast]

[He pauses at that. The truth is, he doesn't really know all that much about the Einzbern homunculi--only that they were created as disposable tools to help that family in its quest for the Grail, and that somehow their bodies had something to do with that Grail. Ilya was never forthcoming with details, so he had to pick them up elsewhere, and if greater hints were dropped, he's forgotten them, as he's forgotten so much. But naturally, he can't let on that he doesn't really have the knowledge to back up his cruel confidence.]

You wish to fulfill your purpose for those who would only use you? Wouldn't it be better to deny it to them...?

I see, you're even more pathetic than I thought.

[wirefu]

Call me what you wish, but... many people see the same things in different ways, yes? What I must do is a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. If it means that I can ensure the safety of my family... there's nothing I wouldn't do.

[She said she fought for Kiritsugu's ideals, but that's really not true. She honestly couldn't understand the way her dear husband worked sometimes... but the methods weren't the most important thing. It was the outcome.]

[swordedpast]

[The way she words it makes him frown for a moment. To embrace without hesitation "a necessary sacrifice for the greater good"--he knows that attitude, certainly. It's the one he carried for most of his life. But more than that--]

"Your family."

A strange thing to call the people who use you.

[Because she means the Einzberns, obviously. Who else could it be?]

[wirefu]

[She shakes her head.]

Not the Einzberns. They are my family, but not the ones I fight for. I mean my husband and daughter.

[swordedpast]

[A clear hesitation, now, on his part. She means a true family, and suddenly he's not sure he can dismiss her so cavalierly. Because isn't that--not such a bad thing to fight for?

(Isn't that what he would have liked to have been fighting for? No, he can't go there. He can't admit that. Not yet. Maybe not ever.)

Then he closes off his face again like her husband always used to. One thing's obvious already, though: he's not as good at it as Kiritsugu.]

Those seem like strange things for someone like you to have.

[wirefu]

[And she... just laughs softly. It's not harsh, and has no hints of anything negative, really.]

It is strange, isn't it? Even I think so. But even if you call it that... it doesn't really change anything. Even if I call it strange, it still doesn't change the fact that I love those two with all my heart, and I will do anything to ensure that they're happy.

[Even if Kiritsugu's happiness hurts him... it won't stop her from thinking that he deserves it.]

[swordedpast]

[For a moment, he looks surprised.

Then he just looks annoyed. Well, mostly annoyed--and something kind of darker.]

You said anything.

[There's something altogether too broken in his eyes as he continues to speak. As if he knows perfectly well that what he's asking is something beyond his own power--]

Then would you fight your purpose and live, for their sake? Here, or anywhere else. It shouldn't matter, if you love them that much, right?

[wirefu]

[... It's a difficult thing to ask. For her, for Kiritsugu... everything depended on obtaining the Holy Grail. And for that to happen, she needed to die. So... she never really let herself think of any alternatives.

But this was all hypothetical, right? There's no harm in indulging in that.]

If it was possible... I would. There's nothing I'd love more than to spend time with my loved ones without knowing I'll one day be parted with them.

But I couldn't do that. I couldn't let my husband suffer knowing I - we - chose personal happiness over the happiness and safety of the entire world.

[swordedpast]

You and your husband thought the Grail would save the world, huh?

[Her serenity goads him on. He's still calm, still casually dismissive, but that something darker hovers underneath his words...]

Man. He must've been some idiot.

[wirefu]

[Having to explain her husband's motives like this, the way he worked... it almost seemed familiar, didn't it?]

He was a man who fought for most of his life trying protect others. But it was too much, even for one who would sacrifice anything to achieve that goal... the only way he could protect everyone would be to prevent fighting and bloodshed in the first place. Doing such a thing would normally be impossible... but that was where the Holy Grail came in.

Kiritsugu Emiya's wish was for peace. For a world where conflict will never break out again. Is that truly something to look down on?

1/3

[swordedpast]

What a stupid wish.

[She said a name.]

In the first place, it's not one that could ever be granted.

[She said a name. It's funny, but he didn't hear the name.]

To create a world without conflict, one would have to...

[swordedpast]

[She said a name, and he's just not as good at denial as he once was. He slowly trails off.]

[swordedpast]

Kiritsugu Emiya's wish...?

[wirefu]

["To eliminate humanity", is what he was going to say, wasn't it? She heard that same like from Kotomine, when he questioned her on Kiritsugu's wish. She was about to ask him that, but... there was something off about this. About his reaction.]

You.... do you know him...?

[A look of confusion crosses her face at that. Maiya was her husband's only accomplice before the War, right? So who could he be...?]

[swordedpast]

...I didn't know he had a wife.

[Or a daughter, for that matter. In fact, he'd never heard Kiritsugu's ideals described this way before. "Saving everyone you can see," that's different than removing all conflict from the world, isn't it? Isn't it?

But he knows it isn't. Because he's come to the same conclusion himself, even if he's well aware that it's a foolish one.]

Well, it might sound strange. But I am...

[The look Archer is giving Irisviel is utterly unlike the disdainful gazes and strangely familiar expressions of cold calculation he's fixed on her so far. It's openly pained, almost grief-stricken.]

...a follower of Kiritsugu's ideals.

[If he ever intended to name himself as anything else, he swallows the words before they can emerge.]

[wirefu]

[Some people might be more than a little upset upon finding out their spouse never talked about them after they died. Like they're trying to forget. But... Irisviel understands. If happiness brings Kiritsugu pain, then she can't imagine how he would feel reminiscing on happiness he's lost.

She frowns, yes, but not because of that. It's just... heartbreaking. Both the thought of her husband, and the tortured look on this man's face. It's almost a little unsettling, how similar he looks to Kiritsugu right now.]

A follower... [It's then that she takes a few steps closer. Still not too close, but there's less distance between them now. That's something, right?] I suppose I should thank you, then. For supporting him.

[Even if she didn't understand his ideals... it was still important to express gratitude to anyone who did.]

[swordedpast]

[His expressions really are remarkably like Kiritsugu's--even if he's not quite as good at the cold ones. Even if the warmth bleeds through more easily, and with just as much distress.

For instance, right now, as she steps close to him. As she says that she thanks him. He looks like a child starved for affection who's just been given his first hug in eternity.

And then he shuts it away. Then he goes cold again, and he draws back.]

No. I said that wrong.

Should I apologize...? I was a follower of Kiritsugu's ideals. But then, I was also a fool.

[wirefu]

A fool?

[She can't really play dumb - she admitted it herself, didn't she? She couldn't really understand Kiritsugu's ideals. She saw clearly how much following the path he chose made him suffer. She horrifically witnessed first-hand the things he does in order to accomplish the goals that will keep him on that path. If this man did as Kiritsugu did, then perhaps.... something had gone wrong?]

I'm sorry if I'm prying. You... don't have to tell me, if you don't want to.

[She's terribly curious, yes, but doesn't really want to make him uncomfortable.]

[swordedpast]

[The strange part is...he wants to tell her everything. Kiritsugu loved her, so she must understand. There's no one else here who could possibly understand--Saber might have, once, but this dark creature who's what Saber became can't possibly.

He'll never see the man who became his father again, even if he'll always remember his dying words. But he's looking at this woman now, and she's someone Kiritsugu loved. She's a piece of his life.

Why does that make his heart ache? How does he have enough of a heart left to have any feelings about that at all?]

It's an impossible goal. Kiritsugu Emiya wished to be a superhero...someone who saves everyone. But that's not allowed by the world. For someone to be saved, someone else must be left without salvation.

And one who follows such a path will have no salvation for himself...isn't that right? Your husband knew it, as anyone who follows his path must.

But I--

[He looks away.

I tried to find salvation for him.

He could almost say it to this woman with her kind sad eyes. But it vanishes in his throat.]

Well, I'm alone. It's a natural consequence of following this path. But it seems Kiritsugu had those who cared for him. Perhaps they brought him some peace in the end.