Counter Guardian Arturia @ Tower of Animus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
no_longer_a_king) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-02-28 07:18 pm
no_longer_a_king) wrote in towerofanimus2013-02-28 07:18 pm
ITP: Concerning the nature of souls and finding purpose
Characters: Arturia [AU5] and OPEN
Setting: Various, with prompts for floors 82, 12, and 60. After the elevator event, but the timeline is otherwise completely flexible
Format: Prose, please!
Summary: Arturia goes around making sure the people she knows are still alive after seeing what's down stairs, and other sundry things.
Warnings: none as of yet.
[A: Various, possibly combined with other prompts if you like.]
It was still like a blow to the guts.
Their actual status here wasn't what had shaken her so badly. They were souls in an artificial body, made by some form of magic. That didn't phase her because that was essentially what her existence had been from the moment she made that contract on Camlann Hill. It was the true of all Heroic Spirits and familiars like them. It was true of Counter Guardians like herself and Archer.
No, what had shaken her so badly had been seeing the bodies. Arturia had thought she had seen battle so much a mass grave couldn't phase her, but when the bodies are people she knew--multiples of people she knew--she'd wanted to retch. If she hadn't had so much experience, she supposed, she would have thrown up right there. So many people, even if they were just acquaintances, as corpses. She had to make sure that what they saw happen in the great machine was real--that they were truly all right.
That was why she was rushing through the Tower now, trying to find as many familiar faces as she could. Visions of slashing through the Grail-tainted Camelot were playing in the back of her mind, the horror of it, the suffering. She had to be sure those graves were not the reality of now. Had to.
[B: Floor 82; Masquerade of Truth]
Arturia had never gone on this floor before and had mostly observed from the stairs. The party that seemed to go on here at all times never interested her and since she rarely saw someone she recognized, she usually passed it on. Now? After how much she had gone through the last few days? She really did want to be around people. Everyone had moments like those, even people who tried to avoid them as Arturia did.
So she stepped off the stairs, walking to the masked gentleman who acted as a 'bouncer' of sorts to the party. He looked her over for a moment and then wordlessly handed her a mask. He reached out to put it on her, but she waved her hand and took it herself before placing it on.
Then he stepped aside and no sooner had Arturia crossed the threshold than another masked gentleman took her by the hand and began to whisk her across the dance floor. Arturia was graceful and skilled on the battlefield and there had been many a time at court or during some kind of festival or banquet when she had had to dance with Guinevere. It was easy to figure out the steps her partner followed and, while she was certainly no dancer by trade, she did not embarrass herself. it was easy to briefly lose herself and simply forget and by the time her partner released her on the other side of the room after their dance was when Arturia realized something:
She could not recognize anyone here. She had a vague feeling she should, but the thought of who it could be was gone the moment it entered her mind upon looking at the person.
Odd. Must be a trick of the floor.
[C: Floor 60; Industrial Kitchen]
In her more private moments, Arturia tended to find herself lingering in kitchens and thinking. Reminiscing, really. About the Fifth War and Shirou. About how the kitchen had been his domain and, painful as the memories were, it was comforting to think of him at times, of the way he'd insist on how she was a person and not a tool, of how he treated her like a guest in his home. True, his teasing had gotten on her nerves, but it had been a very long time since she'd been Arturia and not King Arthur.
But that was the past. Anything that might have happened with Shirou she could not undo and there was only one part she would ever hope to. Perhaps, if she had made more effort, been less weak, then maybe--maybe--things would be different. Maybe she would not have become the World's Sword. Maybe she would have peacefully gone to her rest if she had stayed her hand that fateful day.
This would probably be her only chance to reminisce for a very long time. Things in the Tower had changed and Arturia had no doubt things were about to get busy. No matter how she failed in the past, there were people here who needed help, who needed saving and she....
Arturia was not sure if she was a knight anymore, but she did know one thing: she could not stand by when people needed help. When people she considered comrades and allies needed help.
And so she went through the kitchen silently saying good-bye to her indulgence of the past and mentally prepared herself for the future.
[D: Floor 12; World Death Projection]
Arturia stood in front of the latest of the projections running, this time the object of focus was a red planet bloated with skyscrapers and vehicles that crossed through the atmosphere like bees in a hive. It stayed like this for a few minutes, the occasional bright flash in the sky as two of the vehicles ran into each other and then, it began to glow.
As with the last projection the glow seemed to fade, the vehicles in the sky making looping zig-zags before crashing to the planets. Buildings fell from the impacts. The nearby sun began to dim and slowly, spreading out from this one world, everything began to go dark until the only source of light in the room was the planet at the center of the show.
"Is this what's happening to the worlds?" she asked allowed as the projection began again--a space station proudly bearing the moniker "UFP: NEW HOPE" the center of it this time. She'd never paid attention to this room before, but after being downstairs and finding out what had happened above, she was getting interested in what, exactly, had destroyed these worlds.
Setting: Various, with prompts for floors 82, 12, and 60. After the elevator event, but the timeline is otherwise completely flexible
Format: Prose, please!
Summary: Arturia goes around making sure the people she knows are still alive after seeing what's down stairs, and other sundry things.
Warnings: none as of yet.
[A: Various, possibly combined with other prompts if you like.]
It was still like a blow to the guts.
Their actual status here wasn't what had shaken her so badly. They were souls in an artificial body, made by some form of magic. That didn't phase her because that was essentially what her existence had been from the moment she made that contract on Camlann Hill. It was the true of all Heroic Spirits and familiars like them. It was true of Counter Guardians like herself and Archer.
No, what had shaken her so badly had been seeing the bodies. Arturia had thought she had seen battle so much a mass grave couldn't phase her, but when the bodies are people she knew--multiples of people she knew--she'd wanted to retch. If she hadn't had so much experience, she supposed, she would have thrown up right there. So many people, even if they were just acquaintances, as corpses. She had to make sure that what they saw happen in the great machine was real--that they were truly all right.
That was why she was rushing through the Tower now, trying to find as many familiar faces as she could. Visions of slashing through the Grail-tainted Camelot were playing in the back of her mind, the horror of it, the suffering. She had to be sure those graves were not the reality of now. Had to.
[B: Floor 82; Masquerade of Truth]
Arturia had never gone on this floor before and had mostly observed from the stairs. The party that seemed to go on here at all times never interested her and since she rarely saw someone she recognized, she usually passed it on. Now? After how much she had gone through the last few days? She really did want to be around people. Everyone had moments like those, even people who tried to avoid them as Arturia did.
So she stepped off the stairs, walking to the masked gentleman who acted as a 'bouncer' of sorts to the party. He looked her over for a moment and then wordlessly handed her a mask. He reached out to put it on her, but she waved her hand and took it herself before placing it on.
Then he stepped aside and no sooner had Arturia crossed the threshold than another masked gentleman took her by the hand and began to whisk her across the dance floor. Arturia was graceful and skilled on the battlefield and there had been many a time at court or during some kind of festival or banquet when she had had to dance with Guinevere. It was easy to figure out the steps her partner followed and, while she was certainly no dancer by trade, she did not embarrass herself. it was easy to briefly lose herself and simply forget and by the time her partner released her on the other side of the room after their dance was when Arturia realized something:
She could not recognize anyone here. She had a vague feeling she should, but the thought of who it could be was gone the moment it entered her mind upon looking at the person.
Odd. Must be a trick of the floor.
[C: Floor 60; Industrial Kitchen]
In her more private moments, Arturia tended to find herself lingering in kitchens and thinking. Reminiscing, really. About the Fifth War and Shirou. About how the kitchen had been his domain and, painful as the memories were, it was comforting to think of him at times, of the way he'd insist on how she was a person and not a tool, of how he treated her like a guest in his home. True, his teasing had gotten on her nerves, but it had been a very long time since she'd been Arturia and not King Arthur.
But that was the past. Anything that might have happened with Shirou she could not undo and there was only one part she would ever hope to. Perhaps, if she had made more effort, been less weak, then maybe--maybe--things would be different. Maybe she would not have become the World's Sword. Maybe she would have peacefully gone to her rest if she had stayed her hand that fateful day.
This would probably be her only chance to reminisce for a very long time. Things in the Tower had changed and Arturia had no doubt things were about to get busy. No matter how she failed in the past, there were people here who needed help, who needed saving and she....
Arturia was not sure if she was a knight anymore, but she did know one thing: she could not stand by when people needed help. When people she considered comrades and allies needed help.
And so she went through the kitchen silently saying good-bye to her indulgence of the past and mentally prepared herself for the future.
[D: Floor 12; World Death Projection]
Arturia stood in front of the latest of the projections running, this time the object of focus was a red planet bloated with skyscrapers and vehicles that crossed through the atmosphere like bees in a hive. It stayed like this for a few minutes, the occasional bright flash in the sky as two of the vehicles ran into each other and then, it began to glow.
As with the last projection the glow seemed to fade, the vehicles in the sky making looping zig-zags before crashing to the planets. Buildings fell from the impacts. The nearby sun began to dim and slowly, spreading out from this one world, everything began to go dark until the only source of light in the room was the planet at the center of the show.
"Is this what's happening to the worlds?" she asked allowed as the projection began again--a space station proudly bearing the moniker "UFP: NEW HOPE" the center of it this time. She'd never paid attention to this room before, but after being downstairs and finding out what had happened above, she was getting interested in what, exactly, had destroyed these worlds.
A, forward dated to Friday "evening"
So there's an unhealthy amount of animosity rising once she sees Saber. It wasn't that she felt anything ill towards her, but she had heard stories of the knightly girl that amounted to her fighting against people such as herself. It was only natural that Rin's finger flex defensively before she shuts down her paranoia for arrogance.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." The irony isn't lost on her, in fact she smiles at the joke of telling a ghost she's seen one when the person she's staring down is more alive than herself. "Has a monster made it's way onto this floor? I'll dispose of it."
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Rin.
Not the Rin who had reassured her and teased her as Shirou circled one another like a pair of roosters fighting over a third, yet still Rin at her core in some way. The one who had confused her in the maze and gave off an aura that reminded her of a strange cross of Irisviel and the Grail itself. She knew, on some level, that Rin was connected to the Grail in a manner similar to Irisviel and Ilyasviel. (and, oh, she still did not know of those two's connection to one another.)
Arturia wanted to hug her, the image of that body down there still burned in her memory just as much as sitting atop Camlann waiting for her end was. Yet she restrained herself. Rin was breathing, alive, here. The process she saw down there worked, somehow.
"I can slay any monster that follows me. No, I was looking for you. I wanted to know that you were well."
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Well, it would always be strange whenever someone comes seeking her out with the intent to make sure she was well. A monster deserved no allies, no peace, and here they were forcing themselves upon her to ensure she had just that.
It pissed her off. Not enough to get her to outright scream at Saber, but her teeth grit just a bit as she bared them.
"Why wouldn't I be well?"
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"Because I saw your body down below and had to be sure."
The truth, for one. Just tell the truth. It would be better if she found out from someone who saw it firsthand and she was at least vaguely familiar with than a complete stranger.
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Rin held up a hand to look over it entirely. It seemed to be the same length of fingernails, among other things. She never knew Saber to tell an untruth though, so reluctantly she lowers it while watching it.
"Where's down below?"
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She thought for a moment on how to explain then remembered this was Rin. If there was nothing else she had to be sure to ensure Rin's pride. Would Rin want people to know, publicly, that she had died recently? And possibly how?
No. The Rin she knew wouldn't. She also would not rest until she knew the entire story.
"May we please go somewhere to talk in private?"
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Simple enough of a request for her to accept. If Saber were to attack her while they were in private, she's certain she can stand her ground against a Servant. At least long enough for Archer to show up and then it would be two verses one.
"Let's talk while we're walking." Where is there a private spot in the dormitories anyway? Rin's not sure herself as she looks around in hopes of an answer suddenly appearing before her.
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As for privacy, well, Arturia was thinking one of their personal dorms, but did not voice this.
"There was an elevator that opened recently, during the confusion of the last few days. Myself and some others went into it to see what was down below."
That was easy. Now how to explain further?
"It went down into the administrative levels. We explored a bit and came across a...." Mass grave was too coarse for her to say for some reason, and yet what else she could call it. "A disposal area. For our bodies. Shortly after that, we found a machine that--"
Just say it.
"--it extracts our souls. Then Jason places them in a 'backup' he keeps stored down below."
Rin she remembered as being very intelligent, a magus who could potentially match Merlin's skills. Surely it was the same with this Rin and she would guess all that such a machine would imply.
no subject
"A backup." Taking in a deep breath. "You were looking for me for a specific reason, weren't you?"
no subject
"I saw your body down there, still and lifeless as if you had passed in your sleep. I wanted to see for myself that you were well, that what I saw down there was not the reality."
Even if this is not the Rin she'd known, she did care for her on some level. Rin Tohsaka had been an ally and friend and, tainted though this one feels, she has done nothing wrong Arturia is aware of. In her mind that meant she deserves the respect of the Tohsaka she had once known.
no subject
A backup.
This body wasn't necessarily her's then? Holding up a hand to look it over, every little crease in her flesh was familiar, but did she ever truly study every detail? If she were to have a scar, was it possible to remember it?
There are so many scars hidden deep inside that she's lost count.
"What, does he keep a backup of the crest worms too?" Bitterly spoken out loud, it was a question not meant for Saber, but for herself.
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But hearing of those vile worms made some of this Rin's situation make sense. She could see Rin insisting upon being sent to the Matou residence in Kariya's place or her father deciding to send her instead of Sakura.
She kept her back to her only turning her head a bit to look at her.
"Thank you for understanding. Unfortunately, I do not know the full process for creating these bodies, nor what else is in them."
She could feel the anger toward the Matou family beginning to burn for allowing Rin to be violated in such a way as well. However, Rin had her pride and Arturia knew that trying to force anything upon her when the only information she had was the bare basics would not help either of them at all. Arturia also knew this Rin had little reason to trust her at this point. Perhaps she would ask further if Rin ever came to see her as an ally in much the way Arturia saw the Rin Tohsaka she had known.
For now, though, she would keep a lookout for the girl who wore an ally's face from a distance and aid her if Arturia absolutely knew she needed it.
no subject
That was Rin giving her permission to leave her now. Not that she wants to be alone, but why would Saber want to remain with her now that she's seen that she's not hurt?
"I'm going to go find these administrators and get the answers I need."
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Here, she turned back to face Rin now that it seemed her moment of brooding was done. Yet she still kept a respectful distance. This was not the girl she had once known, after all.
"And I can see that you're alive, but I wanted to be sure that you are well." Two very different things in Arturia's mind.
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Congratulations Saber on giving Rin a goal besides monsters. If these administrators were committing cruel acts to people like her (like her uncle), then they were the true enemies who must be dealt with.
Unfortunately, she's just not as clever as she can be when she's this upset.
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"One of them is a child, Rin."
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Did she forget about that? She pauses to consider why she's forgotten about it. "I can... come up with something alternative for the child."
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Anything to calm her down from doing something stupid right off the bat.
"We need to be wary Rin. There's magic used here I thought no one was capable of--" Except she had a sneaking suspicious Merlin could do it and enough faith in Rin's skills to believe she could do something on this level if she was so inclined after enough study. "--magic that should be possible on this level. It's foolish to recklessly go against them without any sort of plan."
Odd words to echo considering she more or less did the same thing to face Caster against Rin's advice to near-dire consequences.
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A bold statement without an ounce of egotism behind it. For Rin there is no monster greater than herself and until they proved otherwise, her opinion won't sway.
"When it comes to plans... do you think I'd attack without one? I'll just have to readjust to not harm the child. His caretakers though... well, I'll decide on that for myself when I see them face to face."
HOLY FRAK I LOVE THAT ICON!
"Forgive me, I worry about your well-being, Rin. The Administrators watch almost the entire tower so please, be careful of what you say and should you find a way to face them do not do it alone."
HAHAHA i keep spamming it everywhere... full pic is in her profile if you didn't see :O
While many others may appear manic in this manner, Rin herself was settling down into a more focused state of mind. Almost as though she were at peace with the thought of eliminating the administrators.
"They will watch and they will plan accordingly. When I arrive, they will see just how futile their efforts were, Saber. Then again, it's their fault for putting me in this body."
For bringing a monster like herself. They have no one to blame other than themselves.
It's just so "BITCH PLEASE!" I love it! /saves profile pic
Then again, the Rin she'd known would put on the airs of a proper magus of her era for the sake of her own pride. Just how well had she known her in her own world?
"And I do not wish to see them rip your soul from your body while alive. Please, if you go down there, do not go alone. I will even accompany you if you wish to, Rin." After all, she didn't care all that much what happened to her own soul and her own body. After what she heard of the worms and now understood about Rin Matou, she did not want her to go through whatever punishment the Administrators would inevitably give her alone.
yeeees it's awesome +_+
"They would just do the same to you. Please Saber, I rather not trouble others with my battles."
At least she can still stand tall. Matou or Tohsaka, Rin took that part of her very seriously.
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That much was true no matter how she looked at it. The Administrators were powerful. Going up against them in small groups would be suicide, much less one person. Even a Servant would not be able to match them. Not with the scale of power they had.
"It's everyone in this tower's battle. Yours, mine, Zelda's, Feferi's, John's. Every person who is brought here, trapped here, tortured here has a stake in this."
What could she say to get to the heart of this? To convince her to at least try and not face the Administrators alone? That she didn't want Rin, no matter the version, to go through any of that sort of pain by herself?
"It's Archer's battle, too."
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Scowling, she continues. "Just as you would have no choice if you chose to pick up a Master in this place."
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