(no subject)

[scorchedchivalry]

Characters: Saber (Alter) and You!
Setting: Dorms (Room 1-09), Graveyard (floor 48) and Forest (Floor 32)
Format: Starting Action, but I'll match.
Summary: A 'gift' from home makes Saber think on the past maybe a bit too much.
Warnings: none expected, but remember no superpowers on 32nd floor

[Dorm]

[When Saber had seen the basket of food, she was quite happy. After having been ill and with the limited food, she'd barely eaten anything all month. Of course, being a Servant, she didn't require food, but she so did love to eat. And then she saw what kind of food it was in the basket - things she hadn't had since she walked the hills of her homeland.

It made her go to hide it in her trunk and that's when she saw it. Wrought of the finest gold, sparkling sapphires inlaid into the band... it was her crown. The royal crown of King Arthur. She picked it up and held it before her, pale eyes drinking in the treasure. She could tell it was hers and not a reproduction; a king knows his crown.

Walking away from the trunk, she hesitantly put it on her head. It fit as she remembered, the weight as it should be and it rest perfectly. And then her eyes widened and she snatched the crown off her head. No, no, no, she didn't want to be king anymore. She wanted to reset things, change her destiny... redo the selection. Save Britain from herself.

So it was laying on her back holding the crown above her, turning it slowly in her hands with a distant look in her eyes, Saber would be found in Room 1-09. The door was half-open, unnoticed by Saber, as she thought about the past.]


[Graveyard]

[Saber walked through the graveyard, past stones, until she came to one that was broken. In rubble at her feet - the letters S BE visible in a few pieces - she stared down at the stone. She now knew who this grave belonged to. It was her own, but not her own. And so, thinking she was alone, she spoke to it in a quiet voice.]

A battle has been fought and is now over. Place your sword upon the ground and rest in the temporal peace. After dozing in the warmth of a dream, a new day will begin. The days keep passing by...

And we still chase the same star we once saw.

[Saber folded her hands into her greatcloak and bowed her head.]


Forest Floor 32]

[To clear her mind, Saber chose the forest where she felt the most human. Here her prana was quiet and she had to rely on skills and knowledge learned from her childhood, her time as a squire, and not the might of a Heroic Spirit. It was calming.

Quietly, she moved through the forest, downwind, as she tried to sneak up on a grazing deer. She was close, waiting patiently behind cover, when something made the deer raise his head, antlers brushing the branches above. And then it took off, having noticed whoever came upon Saber in her game of skill.

Sighing, she stood up, revealing her concealed presence.]

...great.

Comments

[puppy_lancer]

Then what for, Saber? Just the New Year?

[scorchedchivalry]

That is none of your business, Hound. What brings you here?

[puppy_lancer]

Just some thoughts on the New Year.

[In other words, some more angry glaring at the one grave that he did know about.]

You know, who's here and who...left.

[scorchedchivalry]

Why do you care about that tainted Servant? He is not here and, unlike me, he could not withstand the mud. She ruined him, so it is better to not even think of him as what you could have been.

[puppy_lancer]

I don't care about him.

[Even though he knows it wasn't the other Lancer's choice to leave, he's still bitter about how the other Lancer left his Maser alone and defenseless. A Master who had reminded him all too much of Misaya and Scathach.]

I'd smash up that grave if not for the Master he left behind.

[The mentions of tainting, of the mud, makes him sick to his stomach. He doesn't even want to think about it. After all, Saber wasn't that bad, even when she was supposedly tainted.]

Why would I think of him as who I could've been?

[Any number of Heroic Spirits could be summoned as a Lancer. According to Rin, her Lancer had resembled Cu Chulainn somewhat, but they probably should have been two different Heroic Spirits. Especially since Rin's Lancer was supposed to be older.]

[scorchedchivalry]

Because you are both Cu Chulainn. And he is what happened when Ireland's Son of Light was broken and buried under All the Evils of the World.

[puppy_lancer]

You're joking, right?

[He desperately wants the answer to be 'yes'.]

[scorchedchivalry]

Do you honestly believe I would joke here of all places?

[puppy_lancer]

[He is taking deep breaths and barely holding himself back from trembling. For what reason, he does not know. He is confused--though this Tower could call people in from different universes, he never expected another version of himself. And he is angry--angry that his other self could not even realize his good fortune. That even before the Tower sent him away, he had left his Master alone at several points in time. And maybe, just maybe, he is scared. He has seen what the mud could do to the Saber of his world. What had it done to a version of him?]

[It takes a while for him to calm down enough to give a reply.]

Then...what was he like? I mean, you're not half bad, so...how bad was he?

[All he knew about this other Lancer was that he was an irresponsible ass. Perhaps Lancer's experiences with Misaya had jaded him and made him overprotective of his Masters, but he didn't like how the other Lancer could leave Rin to fend for herself. Was this an effect of the Grail's corruption, or was Lancer himself really that irresponsible when left to his own devices?]

[scorchedchivalry]

I did not break under the pressure of those evils, Hound. I am not a good comparison to any other Servant that may have come into contact with it. Instead of buckling, I accepted it and took it into myself. I could withstand it, but not without coming to see things in a very different way.

Lancer was a rabid dog without a territory that would only come to the call of his Master in the few moments she needed him.

[puppy_lancer]

[He closes his eyes and contemplates this for a second. When he speaks again, he sounds disappointed.]

So in the end, I--he wasn't that strong.

[Perhaps he would have balked if this happened earlier or if someone other than Saber was telling him. But as his experiences with Misaya and Jeanne had shown him, he really did have a tendency to act like lost animal, running headfirst into matters that interested him and not knowing what else to do with himself. At least right now, he could still know when he was at fault. And at least right now, he knew when to watch over his Master.]

Guess I really need to be careful.

[scorchedchivalry]

And Rin was not skilled with Angra Mainyu. Not like my Master. There is a fundamental difference between the two of them. My Master is perfect with the corruption; Rin is not. Oh, powerful she is - make no mistake - but she wields it like an axe, not like a sword.

[puppy_lancer]

Angra...Mainyu? You mean some God of evil? How the fuck did that get into Rin?

[He's so caught up in this news about Angra Mainyu that he offers no comment on the axe and sword comparison.]

[scorchedchivalry]

For that I do not have a clear answer. I do know that Angra Mainyu was summoned by the Einzbern Master in the Third War as the Servant Avenger. Most likely, Avenger remained in the heart of the Holy Grail until whatever the Matou were up to came to fruition.

Here, Rin is of the Matou.

[puppy_lancer]

So he's the reason the Grail spews black shit. But if he's a Servant, shouldn't his form have been consumed?

[Defeated Servants became fuel for the Grail's activation. Even Angra Mainyu should not have been able to avoid such a fate.]

Yeah, I know she's a Matou. Would she be anything else?

[scorchedchivalry]

His form was consumed, yes, but as a Servant, I am under the impression he was weak. But once his form is gone and the essence of what he contained - all the evils of the world - were released into the Grail itself.

It corrupted the Holy Grail. This was discovered in the Forth War.

[And Saber's eyebrow twitches as she says that.]

Also, Rin was not born of the Matou, but another magi family.

[puppy_lancer]

Shit, that sounds like a real pain. At least it didn't get filled back in my place.

[He knew the Grail was corrupted, but he never knew that it was that corrupted. No wonder Saber and Misaya had changed.]

So she's adopted. So what?

you didn't see that

[scorchedchivalry]

That means the magecraft of the Matou was forced upon her. She has the tremendous talent and origin of a different magi family. As did her sister. But their magecraft took different paths as they were talented in different elements.

Had she remained of the Tohsaka, she would not be as she is now. [a pause] You would probably like her then.

Nope, nobody but Saber in this thread

[puppy_lancer]

Tohsaka...

[He could remember hearing that name thrown around somewhere.]

I like her just fine now.

[The Corruption would always make him uneasy, but Rin wasn't pure evil. She cared enough for her Lancer to grant him a grave, even if the rabid dog didn't deserve it.]

But she could do without the foreign magic, huh? Would she have been happier and cuter as a Tohsaka? If so, maybe I would like her more...

[scorchedchivalry]

She would indeed be like that.

[There may have been a hint of a smile there for a second. And then she hardened her eyes.]

So you have given up your vendetta against her? I need to stop you from killing her?

[puppy_lancer]

[He catches the smile right before it disappears. Seems she cares a bit for Rin then. Good. He didn't want to see them ever getting into a fight with each other.]

I think we've worked something out with each other.

[He's not going to attack her on sight now, at least.]

And what about you and that uncle of hers? He's not a bad guy either, and last I checked, he didn't have any connection to the Grail.

[scorchedchivalry]

[Oh the sudden hatred flaring in Saber's eyes.]

That Matou magus is the Master of Berseker from the Forth War, during which he did something to earn my wrath. He lives only because he is under Ruler's protection.

[puppy_lancer]

[He almost jumps back at that.]

He...really doesn't seem the type. You sure you have the right guy? Given all the parallel worlds going on and all.

[scorchedchivalry]

He claims ignorance, but he is the same master and he knows me.

[puppy_lancer]

Is there some point where he met you, but didn't do whatever it was that pissed you off? Because I know me and my Master have some differences with our memories?