☠ 001 | demons in my deepest eyes play on that tree

[destructiveprinciple]

Characters: Avenger, 03-02 roomies, and YOU
Setting: Room 03-12, and then various tower floors.
Format: Beginning with action spam, but shifting to prose is fine as well. I'll respond in whichever one you choose.
Summary: Avenger wakes up in the middle of the night to fine the apocalypse had apparently occurred while he was napping. He is not very impressed and boycotts the oatmeal. 'Shirou' unknowingly suffers for it. And well. On pretending to be Shirou... If a routine worked before coming here, why fix it?
Warnings: AVENGER IS HIS OWN WARNING. So is Saber. Shirou vomiting up his breakfast. Also casual mentions of death, violence, typical fare for the Tower of Animus. Probably rampant self-loathing if Archer decides to pop in here.


[ SCENARIO A || FLOOR 13: CATHEDRAL ]

[Upon awakening in the gloom of night in his dorm and discovering his arms were fashioned from lead, his legs were rigid and wouldn't move according to his will, Avenger felt very little beyond mild irritation. Staring blankly up at the dark ceiling, he opened his mouth to curse. Nothing came out, not a word nor grunt. His tanned limbs don't respond to him, and it's only through old practice that he pushes back the trickle of raising panic seeping into him and instead tries to remember what he could last recall happening. Bazett. The declaration of boredom. Her anger. His laughter, and offered hand. Then his only recollection was that of darkness.

Okay. That was troubling.

Particularly troubling because the Servant couldn't sense the flow of prana between them anymore, and generally, that never meant good things for a Servant separated from his Master. If the contract had been properly severed, surely he would have felt it break and he would have returned to the void from which he came. Yet he had sensed nothing along those lines and he obviously still existed somehow. The constant slight ebbing of his prana reserves, dropping as it became more and more of a struggle to maintain the closed garden and its loops, had creased as well. It was refreshing.

Still troublesome.

His conclusion was this wasn't the time loops. Something had happened to disrupt that. It only made sense. Largely because he had noticed, even if Bazett had unexpectedly knocked him out without him noticing, this wasn't the mansion. Nor anywhere else in Fuyuki City. He knew that town down to a square foot. Once the sleep paralysis faded from his form, he sat up in bed and stared in bewildered repulsion in the weird attire he was currently dressed in. Yep, definitively not Bazett's handiwork. She couldn't be that mad at him. Thankfully, after getting up off the bed and being oh-so careful to not disturb whoever were the sleeping lumps in the other beds, he locates his trunk and the clothes inside it.

Once dressed and the stupid uniform dutifully ripped to shreds, he snatches up the two papers on the bedstand and reads through them, slowly and occasionally stopping to re-read one section or another. After reaching the end of the letters, he was torn between rage and disinterested apathy. Rage that he had been in the middle of fulfilling a wish (never mind the one whose wish it was was being so damn needlessly difficult) and the end of the world had caused her to perish before he could get her out. Apathy because he... flat-out didn't care if the universe was destroyed. The world had gone boom, yaaay. Mankind had finally up and died, yaaay.

Anyway. On to more important matters. Ah, so this was it? That's how things were going to be from now on. Life at the whims of so-called 'saviours.'

Let's all be happy here.

Avenger's thin-lipped smile was vicious. For a new home, it was sure sucked balls but hey. Beggars couldn't be choosers, could they?]

Well—isn't this surprising, but we'll see about that... What a vexing situation.

[Annoyed, he scratched at the collar around his neck. Stupid thing. He wanted it off him. There's a moment of silence before the door of the room opens, spilling the dim light of the hallway into the room and then clicks shut behind him as Avenger departs from the dormitory.

His footsteps pad down the hallway and were gone.



In the cathedral, there's the usual silence, solitary and deepened by the evening's dimness, dust particles drifting in dim shafts of light. There's a boy absolutely covered in tattoos seated in one of the back pews, head tilted back to gaze up at the vaulted, airy ceiling and the faint murmuring of some invisible mass, and chin resting on the palm of his hand. His torso is bare, modesty preserved by his red mantle and to some, his face is unnervingly familiar. Avenger is quiet, discontented and his yellow eyes are distant, clearly lost in thought.

The Servant had arrived on his floor after a period of wandering and stopped to take a break for awhile. It was silent here and at least they weren't playing that disgusting organ music.

... He smells like he's been killing monsters too.

But hey. What are you doing up so late tonight? It's close to midnight. Why are you in the church? ]


[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 48: GRAVEYARD ]

[Perched atop a pale white tombstone like an errant bird of prey, Avenger surveys the rows of graves stretching out into the distance, his dull red cloak fluttering around his legs as he moved. The chipped, worn stone under his feet is cold. The Servant clung with one hand to the stone cross that made up the top of the tombstone balance himself.

The wide variety of the range of environments contained within this Tower was impressive, he'd give it that much. Overhead, the sun determinedly tried to burn through a thick gray cloud cover.

So far, he's walked through a demented carnival, a floating island barren of life, a colorful pit full of balls and the scent of something rotting, a dusty doll shop he'd been very creeped out by, a empty room full of bloody handprints and screaming, and a innocent little grassy meadow. And now a graveyard seemingly with a sky all its own. Really, it was a new experience.]


[ SCENARIO C || DORMITORY LEVELS: ROOM 03-12 ]

[In the morning:

This can't be right. No, this really couldn't be right. No, even if there was some mistake, this really, really, couldn't be right.

Seated on the bed, and re-reading the two letters given to all residents upon arrival, 'Shirou' shakes his head in angry denial, eyebrows furrowed. It had to be incorrect; the Holy Grail War had ended months ago, everyone was alive and maybe-happy and he had been certain he'd figured out the trick to ending the strange War currently ongoing, so things would go back to normal soon but now he's expected to wake up in a strange, unfamiliar place and simply swallow an explanation as improbable as this?

He could barely process this information at all.

Tohsaka, Sakura, Fuji-nee, Rider, llya, Saber, Issei, the ones he cared for and even the other Servants and their groups... All dead? Everything and every human being on the planet dead? Even one of his friend's deaths would be unforgivable. And he was supposed to willingly accept a version of reality where they were all dead and he survived instead? No. That wasn't something he could accept; he was a hero of justice. If anything like that had occurred, he would set it to rights. No matter what the cost or how impossible it was in practice. He had planned on ending the Holy Grail War in his world. He would stop whatever 'powerful force' could destroy worlds in this one, and make it give his world back if it truly had been destroyed. (Which it hadn't been. It hadn't.)

He needed answers. And not ones provided by whomever was the bunch of crazies who had kidnapped him to this Tower place, real answers. Yeah, it's decided. Shirou was going to look for answers.

After checking the trunk, and finding little of practical use in it since he was already dressed in his normal fare, the teenager walks out the door and pauses halfway down the hall, standing in front of it, belatedly realizing an error in his plan. He had no idea of where to go or what to do next. Where was he supposed to start?

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. His eyes squeezed shut.]

... Man, this sucks... How am I going to do this, I wonder?

[Let's try applying his fist to his forehead for starters. Sadly, the external application of force to his skull in an attempt to jog his brain, brings no flashes of insight with it and left nothing but pain behind as a result. Shirou rubbed his forehead slowly, wincing. Alright, not trying that again.]


[ SCENARIO D || FLOOR 1: CAFETERIA ]

[Eating the oatmeal before trying to eat anything was a general rule of thumb for the Tower, and usually veterans were thoughtful enough to inform newcomers of this rule but in this case, Shirou wasn't quite so lucky. Maybe it was due to the fact that he decided to cook his own breakfast when he realized they had a kitchen he could use, instead of eating at the food line. Maybe Avenger's a childish brat who didn't eat the oatmeal before having a midnight snack.

So guess anyone in the cafeteria will be treated to the pleasant sight of some boy with burnt orange hair leaning over one of the trash cans set next to the wall, and his back heaving miserably as he pukes up his breakfast of fried eggs and rice.]

... U-ugh.


[[ooc: all replies from Shirou will come from heroicprinciple

Comments

dormitories

[puppy_lancer]

Ugh...

[Lancer rubs at his head as he walks down the all of the dorms. He was really, really tempted to just stay in bed today, but it was lonely in his room since Diarmuid wasn't there. They had been keeping close to each other for the last few days, comforting and reassuring each other. He feels antsy without his friend's presence, especially after the ordeal with the dragon thing (which included a warp spasm of all things). And he has to wonder if his friend is alright as well or if he got pulled into some other sort of chaos.]

[Besides, today was a workday. Five floors worth of toilets for him to clean. At least he got the one on his floor done rather quickly.]

[He's walking past a room with an open door when he notices, out of the corner of his eye, one of the inhabitants punching himself in the head. He has to stop and stare and wonder what the hell that kid was doing.]

dormitories

[heroicprinciple]

[And while the Servant stops to stare in confusion, Shirou opens his eyes and notices him. There's an intense look of relief on his face when he places that familiar face; Lancer was one of the really belligerent heroes, but he was still someone he assumed to be from his world... even if the wardrobe and hairstyle was new. But not different enough to put him off.

And if someone from his world was still up and walking around despite claims to the country, then that probably meant those letters were actually a large package of low-price lies.

He takes a step closer, out of the open door and lifts up his hand in greeting.]

Hey! Lancer, that's you, right?

Re: dormitories

[puppy_lancer]

Huh? Yeah, that's me.

[He remembers seeing this kid somewhere, but he can't quite remember where. And he can't remember if he told the boy his name or not.]

d

[fionnuisce]

Apparently you'll be doing that until you eat the oatmeal.

[Mostly indifferent, of course.]

You alright?

d

[heroicprinciple]

Uck... I'm fine.

[Just upchucking my stomach for no apparent reason nbd. Straightening up a bit, throat burning, and wipes vomit off his mouth before looking over his shoulder at the older man, puzzled.]

Huh? Oh, come on. Why do we need to?

[fionnuisce]

Sorry, but I can't answer that. I couldn't tell you much of the finer details on 'how' or 'why' on a lot of things, unfortunately.

cafeteria;

[swordedpast]

[He knows that voice, even if it's only groaning.

He knows that face, even if it's bent over a trashcan.

Archer stops in the doorway of the cafeteria and stares hard at the kid clinging so pitifully to the garbage can. What now?

He knows: it will do him no good to hurt this boy here. He's known that from the start, and he's all the more sure of it now. Their souls are fully separate; no matter what he does to Shirou Emiya, Archer's own soul will keep endlessly flowing through--whatever it is, the liquid in his collar, a mysterious light, whatever, he'll despise it no matter what.

But that doesn't make the bitterness that rises in him at the sight of the boy any less intense. It doesn't make the combination of satisfaction and regretful disgust he gets from seeing that kid shaking pathetically like that any less dramatic.

He submerges all that feeling behind the usual mask and strides forward to stand a little ways behind the boy who looks so much like his old self. ]

Wow, I have to say that really suits you. Puking your guts out into the trash is a fitting activity for you.

[ All right, so he doesn't submerge the feeling that far down. ]

cafeteria;

[heroicprinciple]

[... !!

He's not so occupied with emptying the contents of his stomach into the garbage can that he can't recognize that presence that approaches him from behind and utters snide words with that mocking, familiar tone of voice that still pisses him off a touch. It would be impossible not to. Cleaning away the spittle that had escaped his mouth while coughing, he glanced behind himself at the man.

Bitter feeling roiled behind a strong mask of disdain. Archer looked at him like he was scum on the heel of his boot. Yep, that's the Servant of Tohsaka all right.

He was wearing that red shroud of his. So that means he's in serious mode. His response was prompt;]

Guh. [Swallows the acidic taste of puke back down his throat.] Shut up.

[Though not the most witty reply.

He straightens up and turns around fully to face Archer. Their relationship could never be called anything near cordial even months after the end of the Fifth Grail War, given that neither could even come close to approving of the other, but more along the lines of a mutual tolerance that could allow them to stand co-existing in the same town for more than a few weeks. But somehow, Shirou can tell that this meeting probably not even going to come close to that level of... tolerance as before. Couldn't exactly put his finger on why though.] You're here too, are you?

cafeteria;

[swordedpast]

[ His neutral expression breaks into a smirk at those sullen words, and almost a grin when the boy speaks again. ]

I'd wonder if you're going to keep asking stupid questions, but I shouldn't expect anything more from a known idiot.

[ Archer's vaguely aware that he's being more overt in his hostility than he strictly needs to be. His memories still float around in a jumble in his head, and he doesn't remember how far his rampage against his younger self had progressed before his world was destroyed. But he doesn't care, at this point.

It's been a rough few months. He needs to relieve some stress. ]

Yes, I'm here too. You don't remember the last time you were here?

Cafeteria

[eighteen_winters]

[If there was person in all the universe who Illya would recognize even if they were hunched over a garbage can, it was Shirou.

Not long ago she had spent many a hour hunched over her precious brother's grave, wasting tears on a boy she may never see again. A small part of her had hoped that they could meet again as she had her mother in this strange place. Tucking such thoughts into the back of her small head, Illya had devoted herself to trying to live a normal life in an abnormal place, never dwelling on what she had lost or the words she was never able to speak. To see him again brought a familiar warmth to the young Einzbern maiden's heart.

Even if he was making a fool of himself, she couldn't help but smile at the ridicules scene.]

That wasn't very smart of you, big brother.

Cafeteria

[heroicprinciple]

[H-How is throwing up in a trash can due to a roiling upset stomach making a fool of himself, it keeps things tidier than if he just keeled over and barfed onto the floor. At the girl's voice, he looks up from the trash can he was bent over and stares, both confused, relieved at her survival and delighted.]

—l-llya?

[Yeah, forget we were just retching into a trash can, we've got a little sister to reassure ourselves still exists. He gets up, ignores stomach pains and hurries over to where she is standing before going down on one knee to be on eyelevel with her. Forgive him for acting worried; the letters had informed of his world being 'supposedly' destroyed ergo everyone he loved being deader than a doorknob (not that Shirou believes a single word of that crap) and thus jacked up his dumb protectiveness a level or two.]

You're alright? Not hurt or anything?

[He sounds concerned. llya didn't get harmed in the supposed end of the world, did she? :o]

Re: Cafeteria

[eighteen_winters]

I'm fine, a bit bored, but fine otherwise. I've actually been here for five months.

[That was a sad thought. Despite having her mother and Saber here, the tower was still an awful place, even without the fact that losing Shirou had done awful things to her psyche.]

That aside, it's really good to see you again, Shirou.

[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 48: GRAVEYARD ]

[oathshackledbird]

[He's been putting it off for far too long now--letting other things distract him from it--but after having spent the afternoon with a man who had been his friend and master on another world, Diarmuid can't put off visiting Ayaka's grave any longer. He knows why he's put it off for so long. He just doesn't like to admit it.

As much as he's told his roommate that she is gone and nothing will bring her back, Diarmuid has held onto this small bit of hope that if he doesn't go look at her grave, maybe she will come back. Come back and make everything all right for his friend who is suffering so much right now.

He kneels by the grave when he finds it, taking a deep breath when he sees her name carved into the stone. That makes it real. That kills all hope he'd had left. Diarmuid closes his eyes and lets a pair of folded paper flowers fall out of his hand to lay on the grave. One for her and one for the servant she'd left behind.

At least they can be together in this way. Not that it really is any help...

Diarmuid's eyes shoot open when he hears a faint noise, his sense picking up an odd presence he'd not noticed before. Something servant, but different from that as well.]

Who's there?

[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 48: GRAVEYARD ]

[destructiveprinciple]

[He observed silently as a Servant appears and makes his way towards one of the graves, kneeling before it though he wasn't close enough to make out the name etched onto the stone. The unknown Servant set two folded paper figures onto it and closed his eyes. Mourning for someone, eh?

And then his presence is noticed, the Servant calling out a question and Avenger decides to not bother fleeing, after a short moment of internal debate. After all, he was in hostile terrority and he could at least hope to gain some kind of information from fellow Heroic Spirits and know they were working off the same page. There's a flicker-quick movement at the corner of the knight's line of vision:

There's a young boy seated atop one of the larger pale white-stone tombstones in the direction from which the faint noise came, both feet and the lower portion of his arms bound with black bandages, and clothed with only a crimson bandanna and a raggedly red mantle knotted with a bow around his waist. His dark eyes regard the other Servant with wry amusement, and when he speaks, his voice has a mocking lilt to it;]

Nobody~ [Or maybe that was a touch of singsong laughter to it however much of the truth he was speaking. He wasn't anybody. He waves at him before gesturing at the grave marker.] Hey, there. Who's the corpse?

[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 48: GRAVEYARD ]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid raises an eyebrow at the servant once he has located him and walked closer to where he is perching.]

You must be a new arrival then, Nobody. Most everyone who has been here even a short time knows there are no corpses here. The stones are just here as a way for us to remember those who have left.

[His voice is stern and steady. A hint of annoyance is in his eyes, though. He really wants to snap at the servant to have some respect, but he can tell that it would be a waste of breath.]

Is there a reason you're hanging out here when you have just so recently arrived? Surely a servant such as yourself isn't afraid of the floors and the monsters on them, are you?

cafeteria

[looselips]

[Hello, complete stranger Shinji has never seen before in his life. You now have a small child glaring at you like you're something unsightly—though, considering that you're currently throwing your guts up into a trashcan...]

Oh, real nice. That's exactly what I wanted to see first thing in the morning. Can't you go upchuck somewhere where the rest of us don't have to see it?

cafeteria

[heroicprinciple]

[It's not like he expected innocently eating breakfast like normal would result in his stomach utterly rebelling against him. :| And the bathrooms were in up on the dormitory floors and the elevator would have taken too long to get him up there.

Don't want to get the elevator dirty or anything. Shirou looks up, really just spitting out a last few gobs of rejected breakfast and he stares

Because he recognizes this small child pretty quickly.]

—Shinji?! [Incredulously, totally ignoring the bratty remarks;] Wha... Did you get hold of a youth potion somehow?

[Is this a repeat of tiny Gil.]

[looselips]

[Gross. That response doesn't help to improve his mood, either, Shinji's expression staying just the same at the incredulous question he receives.]

Ugh, are you kidding me? Again? [After Kariya and Rin, this is just starting to get irritating.] Look, as much as I'd like to enjoy people I don't even know recognizing me, you're thinking of a different "Shinji Matou." Hate to break it to you, but I have no idea who you are.

A

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth can't sleep. He tries to avoid it as much as possible, here, even though one has to go back to the beds to sleep eventually. He has nightmares whenever he sleeps, though he hasn't told anyone about them.

So instead of being in bed, like a child his age should be, he's out hunting monsters. He has a large sword (large for a child, that is), and he, too, smells like blood.

He's not expecting to see another person here, and when he sees a shape in one of the pews, he holds his sword at the ready, expecting an enemy. But he moves closer, green eyes shining, and he sees it's a person, if not one he's met before. He relaxes somewhat, although he doesn't let his guard down.]

Hello. Who are you?

A

[destructiveprinciple]

[Shadowed in the dimness of the evening, Avenger regards the child with slitted green eyes from the pew where he is seated with little emotion. A child with a sharp sword in his hands, too long and unwieldily for someone of his small statue to use. It smells of blood, unfittingly for a supposed holy ground.

Bit late out for a kid that young to be wandering around without adult supervision, wasn't it?]

Yo. [His voice echoes slightly in the solitary airiness of the church. He grins.] Mn, who's asking, kiddo?

[pinnaculum]

[He sheathes his sword. This person doesn't seem dangerous yet, although he keeps his gaze fixed on him, curious.

There's no one to supervise him, here.]

I am Sephiroth.

A

[blackwitch]

[ Evatrice isn't scared to be out at night. Heck, killing monsters is fun. So of course she's out right now too, no matter that it's this late-- except she actually spots someone else out too when she enters the cathedral floor. It makes her change back from her witch outfit into her more normal-looking schoolgirl outfit before she walks over.

.. She recognizes that smell though. She's had it on herself plenty of times by now. A giggle escapes her. ]

Out all alone this late..?

A

[destructiveprinciple]

[Angra looks away from the stained-glass windows at the giggle, and stares lazily at the new person. Schoolgirl. Whoever.

He shrugs. He obviously doesn't consider being all alone to be an a issue.]

... Eh. I prefer this time of night for being energetic.

cafeteria because she needs some "happiness" lol

[angramaintsu]

... Are you sick?

[ A dumb question all things considering, but for Rin it's an alright question. Because the past couple months have been so muddled in her mind that she has no idea that Shirou Emiya is dead and has left the tower weeks ago. So the concept of not eating oatmeal doesn't come to mind because he's already done that. ]

Come on, I'll escort you to your room.

[ Even though it's a kind gesture, there's more annoyance in her voice than anything as she holds out an arm to him. She dresses much like Rin Tohsaka would, but there's something deeper twisting it's way through her body as visible by the eerie shade of her eyes and hair. ]

cafeteria lol "happiness"?

[heroicprinciple]

Hunh, what?

[The response is less than clever, mumbled as he's still bent over the garbage can and spitting out the last of his half-digested food. But Shirou easily recognizes the voice of the girl who had been tutoring him for the last few weeks and thus thinking nothing of the sharp note of annoyance in her words, turns around to hurriedly decline her offer, stumbling over himself clumsily so she doesn't get impatient or worried.]

No, it's probably a stomach bug or moldy rice, so I'm fine, rea—...lly?

[He trails off towards the end of his sentence when he sees Rin fully; the dress style is accurate but the colors are all wrong. He blinks. Maybe he's still feeling a little too lightheaded from puking up his breakfast.]