re·venge; the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for a wrong suffered at their hands

[crouching_sin]

Characters: Naoya and Avenger
Setting: Floor 50, Tuesday at 6 P.M.
Format: Whichever works for you!
Summary: Naoya has a proposal for Avenger that will benefit them both.
Warnings: Both of them being their creepy selves?


[He'd set the gears in motion. With everything that had happened, with the trip to the administrative levels, with people being altered, with Asako breaking down, with him breaking down...]

[He needed help. Not in the traditional way. He didn't need anything like a listening ear, or a hand on his shoulder - he needed allies. Ones he could trust. And there was one free agent he could bind in such a way... at least, according to what that agent told him.]

[So he'd sent a letter to Avenger, and now leaned against the stone of the arena, waiting for the Servant to arrive.]

Comments

[destructiveprinciple]

[The letter he had received, and the invitation for an alliance between them, a mutual meeting of interests, it had contained—were intriguing, Angra had finally decided. It held enough potential that he was fine with discussing it as suggested. Barring that mess with Archer, he had avoided any damage from the current events and so, nothing hampered him from attending the meeting Naoya had requested he come to.

His approach was once again in spiritual mode, mainly assumed out of a habitual wariness of an ambush, shoeless feet silent as they brushed over cold, barren stone. This is a floor of all hard, polished edges and annoyingly bright lights. A good place for games, was his idle thought, fountains of gore and death.

Angra slips into visibility a length of a couple feet away from Naoya, calling out a greeting into the otherwise silent, empty room.] Hey, didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya senses him as he enters, but doesn't say anything until he materializes. At the question though, he grins a bit.]

As far as I can tell, no. And I can be patient.

[He walks towards Avenger, stopping about five feet away. They might as well get down to business.]

I'll cut to the chase. You need energy - prana, mana, magic, whatever you'd like to call it. I need a set of eyes that I can trust.

[He looks over at the worker unit cleaning the far side of the arena. It seems innocent enough, but he knows better.]

It's up to you. I thought that I'd propose it, though.

[destructiveprinciples]

Straightforward, aren't you? That's preferable to playing word games.

[The Servant had, before coming, given this matter a great deal more premeditated thought than he gave most things in his existence, weighing out the advantages and disadvantages of placing himself under a Master again. (The letter he'd received had left little doubt towards the man's intentions behind this meeting, honestly. Angra recalled explaining in detail about Servants and Masters and tools for killing. At least the man knew of the costs behind maintaining a Servant.) He folds his arms across his bare chest.]

Eh, this deal you offer... Isn't a bad idea.

[First, there was his personal situation to consider: he was stranded in hostile territory, devoid of allies, weaker than his possible enemies and possessed no method of escape. Secondly, by forming a pact with somebody, he gained a steady supply of prana and an assured ally, along with the usual benefits. Thirdly, it was an advantage and Angra liked having those on his side. This man was tolerable, understandable and as far as Masters went, he could think of worse candidates.

As a failsafe if this backfires on them, he knew in this Tower, revival from death was possible. If he grew to disagree with Naoya on such a level he could not tolerate him, the Servant would simply kill him which would completely sever the pact and remove the Command Spells from him, before finding a replacement. In the unlikely event he rebelled and was killed himself as a result, he would still be revived and freed anyway. Win-win.

He watches Naoya's eyes look in the far direction of the worker unit and smiles, catching his meaning.]

Sure. Your views and mine seem to align well. You're already aware of the costs to this, right?

[crouching_sin]

I am. Though I'm afraid you'll have to lead me through this one - I'm not familiar with the rituals specific to your world.

[There wasn't exactly any ritual for summoning the famous dead back to life in such a way. There had to be something different that he didn't know. ... And it was strange, not knowing something again.]

[destructiveprinciples]

Will do! [A cheery hum; Avenger moved a few feet closer, closing the distance between them.]

The hard part—the act of summoning me has already been done for you, luckily! So we can skip a lot of the more complicated stuff normally involved with this ritual. [And good for him, since it would be a pain in the ass and stupidly time-consuming to scratch out a proper elaborate summoning circle, symbols and runes into the smooth floor of this stone arena. The man didn't look like he had much blood to spare as a substitute either.] Y'know, there's a formal way to do this, but it's not exactly necessary.

Simply agree, and the deal is sealed. [Grin!]

[So. Let's get this done. For the first time in their conversations so far, Angra's voice held a tone that could be called solemn.] Will you take me as your sword—?

Are you my master?

[crouching_sin]

[Well, there was always the option of killing monsters, but yes. Naoya listened carefully, A simple agreement? It almost seemed to easy. He wasn't exactly complaining, but he expected more.]

[He straightened slightly as Avenger's tone changed. Formality it was. Not too flowery, but the joking could wait until later.]

I will. And I am.

[destructiveprinciples]

[Do you have a shitton of fancy gems to melt down or chickens to slaughter, the backing of the Holy Grail, a detailed summoning circle to channel thaumaturgical energy, a long pretentious incantation to chant, and a relic to act as a catalyst to summon a Servant, Naoya. Do you really want to go to that trouble? This way is better.]

Then under the name of Avenger, I accept you as my Master.

[Oh, that was a nice surge of prana right there. Avenger's grin widened, and he dipped down into a shallow bow to the man, his motions proclaiming that wasn't so much as mockery as it was a mischievous salute to the confirmation of their pact. Naoya will feel an unexpected sting and the brief, sharp pain of the patterns of the Command Seals, vibrant and red that had burned themselves onto the back of his hand.]

[crouching_sin]

[Nope. He just liked knowing the formal way so he could make it easier.]

[But ah. He raised his hand and looked at it, chuckling a bit. Vines? Heh. Fitting. Naoya reached down to clasp Avenger on the shoulder. It wasn't so much a commanding gesture as one that someone might do to a friend.]

Heh. You can tell me of your abilities later, when we're... not so exposed.

[The worker unit was still there, after all, and there was no doubt that information like this was going to go back to the administrators.]

[destructiveprinciples]

[Avenger straightens back upright and while he doesn't turn his head at all to indicate the worker unit, he figured that was what Naoya was referring to. That, and the fact that the administrators were constantly watching everybody in this Tower of theirs.]

Sure, sure... You'd best return the favor though.

[he wouldn't mind leaving the floor. It was empty of any eavesdroppers or busybodies, but it was also bothersome in how bright and well-lit the arena was, with no place to hide.]

[crouching_sin]

Maybe we should head to a different floor.

[There's nothing to really target here, anyway.]

[destructiveprinciples]

Let's get going then. Got any problems with, hmm... The graveyard, two floors down? Ain't much for the worker units to watch there.

[And with that, he makes for the staircase, feet bare save for their black wrappings and silent on the smooth stone.]

[crouching_sin]

Sounds good to me.

[He follows along, listening for the units. Hopefully they'd at least get a short break on the stairs from this stupidity.]

[destructiveprinciple]

...

Let's avoid those bothersome drones on the way, too.

[He smiled humorously.

And for the time being, they do. It seems they aren't very noticeable on the worker units' radars since there are none in sight. Up the the sterile, metal staircase they go.]

[crouching_sin]

[Hooray. :| No, seriously, he's glad to be rid of them, though he has no doubt that he's still being watched.]

Tch. Stupid things... they don't even really know what they're doing.

[destructiveprinciple]

What did ya' expect of cannon fodder? [He made a 'tch'ing sound, agreeing with him.] They're a pain. Good thing they are awfully stupid.

[They're as much as an obstacle as the rest of the Tower and its administrators. :I Yep, same here, Naoya. He doesn't like them following them around. Even though the admins were watching them anyway.]

[crouching_sin]

I wonder how long you could dangle one off an open floor before you got in trouble?

[An experiment for another day, maybe.]

[destructiveprinciples]

[It looks like Naoya is going to turn out to be a pretty fun Master to hang around with. Musingly;]

Depends on how long it takes you to let go.

[Alright, that's one floor down. One more to go.]

[crouching_sin]

Heh. I'm just wondering if a retrieval unit would try to attack you... I guess not. They don't seem to mind us killing each other.

[He shrugs. It could be fun to find out, though.]

[destructiveprinciples]

[Horrortower, that's why.]

We don't need their help to kill other other. [An airy huff] And it's not like it has any reason to matter to 'em, they've got a supply of new flesh bodies to hook our souls back up with afterwards anyway. It's the soul part, that's the only bit they care about keeping intact.

[crouching_sin]

It makes you wonder if there's a purpose behind having our souls here. Aside from the stated goal of 'saving' us. Maybe it's just for experimentation... but I think not.

[destructiveprinciple]

[Casually;]

'course there is, Master. Haven't got a clue what it is myself, but 'saving' us ain't the main goal here. There's no way it can be.

[ And on that cheery note, the pair has arrived at the desolate graveyard, barren, filled with the rows of tombstones and the line of a fabricated horizon that stretched into the distance. There's nobody beside themselves in sight.]