☠ 002 | great clouds roll over the hills

[destructiveprinciple]

Characters: Avenger, and the towerofanimus
Setting: Room 03-12, and then floor twelve, floor twenty-five, and floor fourteen and floor fifteen.
Format: Beginning with action spam.
Summary: Avenger explores, ponders his next course of action, and probably gets himself into trouble along the way. 'Shirou' tries to get the gears in his head and all the new information in there as well, sorted out and organized so he can come to a rational understanding of his situation.
Warnings: The typical fare for the Tower of Animus. (Violence, mentions of death and the destruction of worlds, people being assholes, etc.)

[ SCENARIO A || FLOOR 12: PROJECTION ROOM ]

[ It's with mild curiosity Avenger observes the latest of the projections that constantly ran in this room that he's standing in front of, the repetitions of universes being destroyed, the shine of that bright light glowing steadily being tarnished and lost, creatures falling over on their sides, vehicles coming to a stop, flowers and forests becoming a sickly grey and wilting as that destruction sweeps across the planet's surface, leaving it a stark plant. A dead plant, a lifeless hunk of bleak rock floating in the void of space. The replication of the nearby sun dims, flickers drastically and painfully slow as it does, burns out. The shimmering white dots of the stars follow suit, winking out like some giant is pinching them between thick fingers.

The surroundings before him go utterly dark.

And then as before, a new projection is switched on and the entire process repeats endlessly. Again, the complexity of another galaxy is displayed, again it crumbled like brittle paste. Again and again and again. The bright light shines and is promptly eclipsed by the disaster it seemed to summon which ripples outward to the rest of the world to annihilate it.

At this point, he supposes, he should be entertained or crassly satisfied by the show. The projection is convincing though it's quite false. As it stands, the Servant is only stands and watches without much of an expression on his face beyond a small smirk.]


[ SCENARIO B || FLOOR 25: MEADOW ]

[ Seated cross-legged on the soft grass warmed by the clear springtime weather, the Servant doesn't move. With his head down, his arms casually folded and legs crossed, he does indeed look like he had drifted off into a swallow slumber. It's unintentionally deceptive (of course) since he was only taking a break from looking around the Tower to be lazy and soak up some sunlight. And avoid all the new arrivals that came in this month.

His eyes are closed, shut but not squinted. His thin shoulders rise and fall in sync with his even, slow breathing. The expression on his face as he rested was neutral. Even barring the extreme levels of corruption and tainted darkness that roiled within him like usual, Avenger really does seem comfortable for a guy stuck in a helltower with the threat of monthly experimentation looming over his head.

He's thinking, you see. For once.

While endless time to brood over his unnatural and unfathomable hatred was nice and all, once the initial excitement of arrival had faded away, Angra had faced with a dilemma. Namely, what was he supposed to do by himself? Every other time he had been summoned into existence, there had always been a wish of some kind to be granted or a Master ordering him around like a dog or just... something would force him to do what was commanded of him, regardless of consent or resistance or understanding. He'd gotten used to it in a twisted sense.

There was no such compulsion here.

It's a bit troublesome.

Hating everything and everyone mindlessly was much less annoying than this whole 'having a conscious intellect' business. ]


[ SCENARIO C || FLOOR 14: MEDIA ROOM ]

[ Shirou's picking through the media room's shelves, and making two small stacks of videos games he plans on setting aside and playing later. (He checks to make sure there are at least two or more copies of whichever game he selects, so he wouldn't inconvenience other people who might want to play the game.) In-between patrolling, getting the crap beaten out of him by Saber while she 'assesses his skill level' or more accurately, regularly trounces his ass during their sparring sessions, or dropping by Saber or his little sister's rooms to check up on their wellbeing, that is.

And training.

And helping out in the kitchen.

Plus that job the administrators assigned him to.

Maybe he could ask Illya if she would enjoy playing video games with him. Or if she knew how to play games that involved television screens at all. She had been isolated with that wintery family of wacko magi for so long, the teenager wasn't sure she would know how, not that he was willing to underestimate her in such things. And ask her about what food she would want to eat. He wanted to make her life easier in small ways. Doing that, that would cause him happiness. It was natural for him to help others after all.

With nutrition bars that disgustingly bland excuse for cardboard they were expected to eat this month, he had to find different ingredients for making a decent meal anyway.

So yeah. There's a teenager with burnt orange hair, standing over by the shelves, lost in an internal monologue. Go say hello, bug him, throw things at him?]


[ SCENARIO D || FLOOR 15: WORKSHOP ]

[ Lately, the portion of the dormitory room that housed the teenager's bed and chest, has slowly become littered with mechanical junk. It started out with small things: a badly dented toaster mysteriously appeared on his bedside table, a useless reading lamp left under the bed, or a broken coffee-maker found its way onto the chest and advanced from there. It was odd. When normally you could explain the tendency to pick up useless crap like this as the possibility of finding a kind of value from them after properly repairing the objects, there really isn't anything valuable about a toaster or a reading lamp to exploit. You could go and find a new one in the kitchens anytime.

So the collection of damaged appliances could only be put down to an idle hobby at the best.

There was still the issue of cluttering up the room.

Shirou decided it would be rude to continue like this when he had his roommates to consider, and so cleaned out most of the junk he'd gathered on a whim and moved it to the workshop he had discovered on a different floor, already outfitted with the tools he needed. The quality of the equipment was shoddy, but it was enough to work with. However this workshop lacked the atmosphere of the shed.

Sitting at one of the table with a damaged kitchen appliance, he took a deep breath and emptied his mind. Analyzing the structure took only a few seconds.

That accomplished, Shirou set about the task of disassembling it meticulously. As he works, he tries to think over everything that had occurred since coming to the Tower and what he has learned. Fact: the cooking here is terrible. That must be remedied. Fact: there were several different versions of people he knew, with different memories, and people he didn't know who all came from different timelines. Like Saber. Like Rin. Like that jerk Archer (?) and tiny Shinji. Like Lancer. Fact: an impossibly powerful variation of the Second Magic was involved. Fact: the administration were unjust jerks who needed a righteous punch in the gut from any ally of justice. Everyone who were trapped here were here because their worlds had been destroyed, including himself.

He tinkers with the metal device, brow furrowed. Their worlds had been destroyed, and there was a whole series of debates raging over that that flew right over his head, but Saber had mentioned there was the chance of restoring them. Therefore if the universe had actually ended like the letters had claimed, he would restore it and everyone else's universes too. And if the worlds hadn't ended and they were being collectively lied to by the people in charge, he would bring them all home.

And if neither of those options were possible... ?

He shook his head. No, they were possible. They had to be. ]


[ SCENARIO E || ANYWHERE IN THE TOWER: YOUR PICK]

[ Generally, Angra remained within the invisibility of spirit form while he travels between the floors out of an old habit born from the need to conserve prana. The Grail was gone and with it, the limitless supplies of energy so he naturally preferred to be stringy with using what he had in this hostile environment, even without the constant drain behind maintaining the closed garden from before. Being on the verge of expiring did that to you. Luckily, he was not one of those Heroic Spirits who needed a large amount of prana to fight effectively. Not that would save him in a confrontation with another Servant, hey. Details.


But of course, the embodiment of all the evils in the world doesn't feel like staying intangible all the time while he explored the floors of Tower. Or if he is in spiritual mode, he doesn't conceal his own magical presence so it could be sensed.

And Shirou... Well, it's not like he ever attempts to make himself unnoticeable. ]

Comments

14; Leading into the kitchens

[no_longer_a_king]

Saber had complained loudly and at length when she realized they would be getting those insults that dared to call themselves food all month. There was not much she would complain about, if at all, but after being spoiled by Shirou's cooking for so long by now she had no problem voicing her opinion on the matter. Even the awkwardness of her conflicting feelings for him faded by the desire for food.

She was proud of herself for managing to keep her emotions in check when the pair of them sparred. He was steadily improving and the moments she saw his corpse before her instead of the person were getting farther and farther apart. Soon, she thought, he would be able to join her in hunting monsters if he wished. She simply had to get better at controlling the other memories that would surface on occasion and distracted her.

But for now, she spots him in the media room, and held up her kill for the day: a string of four rabbits. She had grown tired of the nutrition bars and it was only right to hunt for an alternative. Arturia knew she could not help much with the cooking, but it was only right to aid him in this way.]

Shirou! I've found game for us.

[That was not her main prize, no. Her main prize was the giant bird she had left in the kitchens waiting for him. Anyone worth their salt in her time knew how to hunt, especially a knight who would potentially spend time in the wilderness for years on end on a quest. It was only natural Arturia would as well, even if the sword was her strong suit. Survival was a skill everyone needed to know back then.

And if she found another one of those stupid 'Mr. Saturns' had stolen her bird along with the herbs and vegetables she'd meticulously gathered, she will hunt them down and flay them alive.]

Re: 14; Leading into the kitchens

[heroicprinciple]

[ When Saber approaches, he puts the stack of video games away to the side for later. If they aren't disturbed while he's gone, it will save him the trouble of having to sort through the shelves whenever he wanted to select a game to play. He turned to look at her, noticed the four rabbits she had strung and held up and smiled.

It figured she was as fed up with the nutrition bars as he was. His ears still rang with her complaints regarding the patheticness and blandness of said cardbrown-tasting bars. It must lie in Saber's fine taste for delicacies. Even if she from another timeline, she still had a deep preoccupation with consuming food. not that Shirou had any problems with catering to that. ]

Rabbits? Good job, Saber.

[ Shirou considers the bounty she had killed, and knows that while he wouldn't need a cookbook to make an edible meal out of the rabbits, he wasn't that familiar with cooking entirely from scratch. They would need skinning, removal of the bones and all that. He walked over and held out a hand, offering to take a dead rabbit or two from her. ]

[no_longer_a_king]

[She hands him over two of the rabbits, cutting the string between them with the knife she'd procured from the kitchens.]

Thank you. This is nothing, but it has been a long time since I have had to hunt for a meal. Would you like me to teach you how to prepare them?

[Skinning, boning, cutting the meat off. Arturia had been no butcher as a child, but these were basic skills for a knight who could potentially be in the wilderness on a quest for quite a long time.

It should be a given she means to show him in the kitchens. Not in the media center.]

[heroicprinciple]

[He takes the two dead rabbits handed to him and holds them briskly while Saber cuts them free from the other two rabbits, luckily not squeamish at all.]

'elcome. Maybe it's a trivial accomplishment to you, but I appreciate it.

[Shirou could make a decent dish out of these, he was certain and once he learned more, he could do it even after the month under Jason's personal administration was over. And of course it's a given. And once she's ready, he'll start for the staircase, some of the spoils of her hunt in hand, obviously expecting her to walk there with him to the kitchens.] Sure, thanks. You're the one with experience here with this sort of thing between the two of us, after all.

[He never opposed to learning more about the art of culinary and they can't cook in the media center.]

14

[eighteen_winters]

[The media room was a place Illya often frequented when she was in a good mood and not worrying about the dangers the tower normally seemed so fond of forcing upon it's inhabitants.

Seeing Shirou standing there in a haze of thought was a pleasant, if unexpected, break from her usual afternoon routine.

Sneaking up on her beloved brother, she makes sure to speak only once she was directly behind the orange-haired magus.]

Whatcha doing, Shirou?

Re: 14

[heroicprinciple]

Ah!

[ He blinks and turns around, away from the shelf when he hears the voice of the winter fairy, a video game case still in one of his hands.

... Geez. Shirou felt like lodging a serious complaint with someone high up the chain. It's just Illya, but she could still sneak up on him easily and take him by surprise. That was unfair, but it was to be expected, he commented to himself. ]

Hi, Illya. I'm checking out the selection of video games they have in this place? What are you doing here?

Re: 14

[eighteen_winters]

[Illya smiled at her brother, she had only come to relax for awhile, but seeing him trumped anything else she had planned for the day.]

I just came to lay around for awhile, it's really nice to see you here to though!

Re: 14

[heroicprinciple]

[ It was good this was one of what Shirou had determined to be the safer floors. That evoked a mental sigh of relief from him. ]

Same here. [ There's a pause before he decided the timing of this meeting was awfully convenient for extending the offer he had been pondering moments before. Why not ask right now? ] Hey, are you any good at playing video games?

D

[spearsurfing]

[The workshop had quickly become a favourite floor of Eve's. The tools and materials were always in abundant supply, just as she was always eager to create. It was only a matter of time before the tower became overrun with her Nasod Scouts—well, if they were a little more tough, maybe. For now, she was busy enough keeping up with the monster-induced fatality rate to plan for anything more than limited exploration.

But before she could begin setting up for the day at her usual workstation, she noticed the boy working nearby. That machine was... a primitive device. Still, he seemed very immersed in its deconstruction.

She hovered nearby, for the moment, merely curious as to what he would do with the device. Moby and Reby could deal with her preparations.]

Re: D

[heroicprinciple]

[ Shirou is absorbed in his own tangled thoughts, and doesn't turn to look at her hovering, only concerned with what was in front of him. His hazel eyes are intent on the task. Having understood the structure, it wasn't hard to continue from there.

He dissembled the appliance carefully with old practiced ease, locating the problems are that had caused it to stop working and then fixing them with his assorted tools, occasionally Strengthening what simply had been worn down by careless usage. If a part was too damaged to be repaired, he removed it and laid it on the table beside the device to be replaced.

Soon enough, he would start reassembling it.

It was soothing in manner of speaking. There wasn't much point to doing this: once he finished the repairs, he would return the machine to the cafeteria kitchens without any form of repayment. But while it didn't benefit him, it was a habit he couldn't leave alone. ]

B

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer looms over the napping Servant.. Well, this was a new face.]

Which class are you?

[destructiveprinciples]

[Shifting a little, Avenger cracks one eye open and looks up at the black silhouette of Lancer standing over him. Oh yes. Shirou already crossed paths with you, didn't he.]

Class 'I want you to move out of the way of my sunlight right now, thanks.'

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer sits down right next to Avenger. Though he's blocking less for the sunlight, he's also closer to the other Servant.]

That's a really long class name. Mind if I just call you "Sunny"?

D: floor 15

[swordedpast]

[He's passing by on the stairs in spirit form when he catches a glimpse of the too-familiar face in the room below. That's all--

Now, were he a reasonable man, Archer would leave the boy with the orange hair alone. They can't ever get along, and he knows it. What good could come of the two of them meeting again and again?

He's not a reasonable man. So instead, he approaches the table at which Shirou sits.]

Why?

[His voice is impassive.]

Tinkering with random things...do you think it will fix the worlds?

[heroicprinciple]

[When Archer approaches, he stops in the midst of his task, concentration broken, and twists around to face him. It was as difficult to deal with this guy as before.]

I would ask if you really think I'm that stupid, but I already know you do. Worlds aren't this easy to repair.

[He knows this isn't going to fix the worlds. And, so he needed to set his mind to thinking up something that will fix them and had figured engaging in a pointless habit would free up his brain to think. He couldn't patrol all the time nor could he work constantly without worrying Saber.

Of course, saying something along those lines to the white-haired Servant wasn't in the cards.]

In the kitchens, they have some appliances in the back they didn't bother to repair. [And some old devices from the library too. And, well. There wasn't anything he felt was beneath him to take upon him to do.]

[swordedpast]

Worlds are impossible to repair, at least for you. But you'll realize that in time.

[He should walk away. He should walk away, for sure. But it's like picking at a scab.]

They didn't bother to repair those appliances because they are useless now. Why are you going to the trouble, then?

B

[cherrygrail]

[ Ever since Sakura found this floor she made a point to take a trip to it when she was feeling a bit stir crazy. The calm, peaceful feeling of the meadow was enough to give her a bit of a break from the rest of the tower even if it was only temporarily.

But today, a sense of dread fills her as soon as she enters the floor. Her chest feels like a heavy rock has been laid across it, trying to crush her under it's weight. Her knees feel weak, and Sakura feels her head getting hot. She'd run away, but instead she finds herself looking for the source despite her brain wanting to run away from the familiar feeling.

It doesn't take her long to find Avenger. She keeps her distance, but still feels compelled to speak to him. ]

Do you know who I am?

B so let's see how badly this ends

[destructiveprinciples]

[He shifted from his swallow, sunlight-induced doze and opened his eyes when he hears her approach, at the same time as he sense a familiar mass of prana coming closer. It's recognizable enough that something in him tugs at him, the receding sensation of a memory, so slow and heavy but meaningless in the long term too. She's so quiet as she walks through the meadow, that it seems indiscernible. No contract, no snow-white hair, no need to listen to the artificial Grail vessel.

His lips quirk up into a small, warped smile as he looks over at the girl who kept her distance from him and made no attempt to close the distance between them. He remained seated on the greenery, at ease.]

Yes. [Angra usually found it in himself to be honest when people asked directly asked the correct questions of him. He held up a hand and waved.] Hey, Sakura.

indeed

[cherrygrail]

Hello.

[ Sakura stays put. She doesn't sit, back away, or get closer to Avenger. There's no need to be over familiar, in her mind. ]

While I know who you are, I'm honestly not sure what you want to be called.

B hey roomie heyyyy

[lookmanostrings]

[He recognized the man, only vaguely-- someone who had showed up in the room he himself took residence in, though the other man had left before Fado could really speak to him (and Fado preferred spending his time "outside" most of the time regardless.)

Still, it would be good to at least introduce himself and get acquainted. He appeared to be sleeping, though as Fado quietly stepped across the meadow that didn't seem to be entirely it. Just resting? Thinking? It was hard to tell.

Nevertheless, for a while he simply waited patiently, not wanting to be rude and interrupt if he was indeed in the middle of something. When the coast (appeared) to be clear, he lightly set a hand on the other's shoulder to get his attention.]

Excuse me? Are you well?

B oh heeeeey it's great to see you roomie |D

[destructiveprinciple]

[Angra stirred when someone approached across the quiet meadow, but his sense of danger sensed no threat so he didn't move. It's when the hand lands on his bare skin, he jolts and his dark eyes abruptly snap open. He looks up at the man and his recollections of his roommates put recognition to the face. Closed eyes, green clothes and small smile.

He regards the hand on his shoulder with an air of irrational discomfort, a ripple of distrust back the hell off get away and immediately leans away from it, moving and putting distance between them.

The coast is clear, it's just not welcoming. At all.]

M'fine. [Left unsaid: Why are you asking.]

how you doin mannnnn

[lookmanostrings]

[The sudden react was surprising, though Fado didn't seem to react to it much at all. He easily pulled his hand away when it was clear that it was unwanted, but other than that didn't even job at Angra's jumpiness. He found it rather curious, actually.]

I simply wanted to check-- in a place like this you can never be too careful that someone is simply resting or in trouble. [Hey, when you were a servant to medieval politicians and thousands of years old, you learned to pick up on the subtleties.]

Please, I did not mean to startle you, but there is no need to worry. I mean you no harm.

A

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth finds this floor interesting. He likes the sense of walking through the stars. It's one of the few things that has any aesthetic appeal to him. That's why he likes the stargazing floor as well. Something about the stars and the void between them pulls at him, though he can't say why. The glow in his eyes is exceptionally bright here in the darkness of seeming space.

He's watched the projections many times. Convincing as they are in appearance, they don't present actual proof of anything. He hasn't found any proof of their worlds' destruction, only circumstantial evidence. On the fifth floor, he can see Gaia itself as a dead world, but that isn't hard evidence, either.

He recognizes the man who is here with him, and he feels no fear of him. He doesn't hesitate to approach and speak to him.]

Do you believe they really happened?

[It's not scientific, he knows, but he's curious about what other people think.]

Re: A

[destructiveprinciple]

[Sephiroth approaches and he turns briefly to look at the child, the twin dots of poison-bright vivd green bobbing through the dim lighting followed by a stream of silver before blinking bemusedly and returning his gaze back to the projections. The carpet of uncountable stars spiral outward on this floor, false and animated solely through the efforts of the machines and mechanical trickery. It's black, this replication of space. Black like the inside of a womb.

Avenegr's response is mild.]

Would it matter if I didn't? It's not going to change anything 'bout what happened.

[The smirk on his face flattened and stretched minutely.]

[pinnaculum]

[Sephiroth takes in this response thoughtfully. It's true, belief doesn't make a difference. He watches the projection move beneath his feet.]

It wouldn't matter. But I am researching the subject. I would like to determine if our worlds have been destroyed.

[Gathering information and ideas from others isn't completely irrelevant.]

I don't understand the purpose of this floor if it is not to convince us.