towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: Saber (Alter) and You! (One prompt will have both Saber (Alter) and Irisviel von Einzbern, still open to anyone who wishes to talk to them both.)
Setting: various floors over Dec 14th - 17th (4th, Cafeteria, 47th, 8th and 25th)
Format: Starting Action, but I'll match.
Summary: Saber is sick and takes a moment of indulgence, which leads to problems for the ~~king~~ knight.
Warnings: Stage 2 symptoms involving hallucinations which may lead to violence for the prompts after the first. Also, Fate/Zero spoilers in the 3rd prompt.

[Dec 14th - Floor 4 - with Irisviel (OPEN)]

[With the heat out in the Tower and her lady sick, Saber felt the need to see to Irisviel as best as she could. Never mind that the knight was sick herself - at least she didn't have a fever - her prana still made her the equivalent of a space heater. So it was with the desire to keep the Einzbern magus warm that one could find Saber and Irisviel sitting quite close together on a couch. Draped over them both was Saber's royal blue and fur trimmed greatcloak. The cloak mostly hid the way Saber had her arm about the woman, holding her tenderly against her.

She needed to keep Irisviel warm, after all, and this was quite... relaxing. Even so, the knight watched the passage of the others, coughing a little now and then.]

[ooc: Responses in this prompt will come from both Saber and Irisviel.]

[Dec 15th - Cafeteria]

[Saber was crossing the cafeteria when she suddenly stopped upon the sight of someone. Eyes going wide as if she had seen a ghost, Saber half-reached a hand out before closing it into a fist at her side. She then strode purposefully toward an occupied table with a few empty seats still. Once there, she put both hands on the table.]

My knig--

[She then cut herself off, eyes blinking rapidly as she looked over the empty seats with confusion, paying little attention to those actually sitting there... for the moment.]

[Dec 15th - Floor 47]

[In full armor, Saber moved through the hanging curtains as if searching for something.]

Wait! You and I must speak! I must know if I was the one responsible!

[She suddenly spins around, a look of caution and... paranoia on her face before pulling a sheet aside. Instantly, a monster descends upon her, but the King of Knights was a powerful Servant and the monster was cut down almost as quickly as it appeared by a sword obscured by swirling black and red prana, making it neigh impossible to determine it's exact shape or size.

Once dead, the sword disappears and Saber suddenly looks to the side. Heading that way, she calls out again.]

I am your king! You must heed me. Halt, Lancelot!

[A moment later, Saber stops with a disgruntled sound in the back of her throat, hand coming up to massage her temple. Was she seeing things? Lancelot wasn't there. He couldn't be. She would've felt his presence. Right? So why was she seeing him?]

[Dec 16th - Floor 8]

[She'd seen him go into this maze. The mental puzzle was something that certainly would've appealed to him. She would find him. He would have answers for her.

...and she sorely wished to see her old teacher again, the wise man of great magics that guided her when she was young. If only she could FIND him. Saber wandered through the maze, in search of him, sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing down. Perhaps someone would come upon her when she stopped, hand on the wall, brow furrowed in thought as she caught her breath.]

[Dec 17th - Floor 25]

[Saber sought out the refuge of the meadow. She sat looking very much unlike the strong, stoic knight she normally was. Arms propped on her knees, she held her head in her hands, bowed with her eyes closed. Her greatcloak spread out across the grass as it hung from her shoulders, and her pale hair was fully down, loose about her shoulders.

...she was going insane. She had to be. Why else would she be seeing them?

Feeling a presence nearby, she glanced up at something in front of her. Oh. Him. She felt the phantom pain in her side where his blade had pierced her, striking a fatal wound in another life.]

Go away, son. I have nothing left to say to you that I can put into words. Please... leave me be.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Perhaps she will return as I apparently have.

[She rubbed her temples.] I cannot even begin to think on what pattern they may have for choosing us. I cannot even keep from seeing my knights or even my wife.

[Or son.]

Yes, they do seem to lack any real common pattern. Even when permanently, or temporarily taking someone... There just isn't any graspable, logical formula that I can think of.

We are not seeing the whole battlefield. That is the issue.

[Veigar thought for a few moments before rubbing his head and nodding.]

Yes, I believe you are right in that sense... But in this place it's almost impossible to have a full assessment of the battlefield with how much it changes at times.

Agreed. That is why it will take time. Eventually something important will show itself.

Yes, let's hope so. The thought of staying here in this place forever makes my blood boil. [Except that right now he didn't feel all too like blowing up space.]

There are worse places to be.

Really? Like where?

Waiting for your next dream to begin while dying alone at the edge of a fabled island.

I'm sure that can happen here, all things considered...

Is that how you went? [Lacking tact, oh yeah.]

You could say that. It was more complicated.

So wait, have you experienced more than one death?

[He certainly has... more like thousands of death but really, who's counting! H-haha...]

In reality, I have not experienced even one death. Just the reality of dying twice now. And I will continue to experience that over and over until it is finally time to end the cycle.

A cycle? [Veigar looked up thoughtfully for a few,]

The other, the one from before mentioned something similar before. What exactly is this cycle from your world?

Self-imposed. A deal with the World to serve until my wish was granted. An eternity of fighting until I either give up or obtain it.

It is... complicated and not something those not involved should know about.

Ah, one of those deals.

Fair enough, not that there's much to do about while here, but alas, old habits die hard.

That they do... [She lets out a heavy sigh.]

Mayhaps after all this comes to pass there can be more to do as allies. While the sickness is going around however, it's not safe to galavant through the tower.

And what would you have us do? Killing monsters is too easy of a task for me. Should you need protection through an area, I can provide that.

If you're as strong as you claim to be, you might be just near or at my level. In which case any time that we could be doing something should be used more productively in research and discovery as to the secrets of this place.

[Saber casts a sidelong glance at Veigar at that level comment. She was the strongest Servant was tempted to prove it then, but she realized that Modred's continued presence was putting her on edge.]

Bring this up again when things return to normal.

[Veigar would have been happy to see a show of force. It was what he thrived in, it was what he sought. Powerful allies that could back it up and weren't simply all talk. It was specially satisfying to see the looks on faces when he himself showed even a glimpse of his power considering it was limitless. He was now very much curious about this person and it had been some time since he had that.]

Very well.