002. ♔ There's bullet-holes where my compassion used to be

[holyswordwielder]

Characters: ProtoSaber; open
Setting: Graveyard and the 58th floor.
Format: Prose to start with, but I'll match you.
Summary: Saber's Master is gone from the Tower and the King of Knights has to consider the options before him regarding how he'll spend the rest of his time.
Warnings: Gorey floor. Also, Pandora members should approach at their own risk. If he figures out you're part of that organization, he'll be less than friendly.

♔ Floor 48: Graveyard
It's been two weeks since Ayaka disappeared from the Tower and Saber finds himself habitually visiting her tombstone at the end of each day. Most could presume this is rote for him because he is grieving and perhaps, in a sense, they are right. After all, there's no way to discover whether Ruana has sent her back to their dead world to wander or not— if she's killed her soul somehow instead. After the incident with the microchips, there's just no real way to know.

So, too jaded to put much stock in hoping for the life of Ayaka's spirit when Ruana is the one holding fate's reins, yet unwilling to accept the finality of her death, Saber comes here regularly to see if the tombstone remains. He's managed to avoid Lancer by sheer virtue of apathy; while the other Servant is away from the marker fighting monsters, he lets him fend for himself, standing at the grave site alone. Every time, Saber looks it over for any changes in the elaborate illusion that makes him think he's seeing real stone, touching real marble, but it never differs from day to day and always, Saber is left to his own devices to consider what he will do in the remaining months they possibly have left to live. This was his last direction, his sole purpose, and without it, he's trapped in a sort of self-imposed limbo.

Saber slams a fist against the top of the tomebstone, shutting his eyes. If he asked Ruana to return him to his dead world, would she even grant him that? The King of Britain, he can't just wait around for someone to give what remains of his life a meaning, but as a Servant, nor can he abandon his Master's memory entirely when there is still a slight chance he could find her.

♔ Floor 58
When Saber has finished checking Ayaka's tombstone, he usually visits the fifty-eighth floor for a lack of better things to do. The floor is high enough and provides enough targets of his own that he can practice various battle techniques, especially midair ones. It -- like fighting off the regular foray of monsters that roam the tower at night -- is a strangely calming manner of passing the time, though Saber supposes he wouldn't find it so if he didn't already know that the... targets hanging from the rafters of this high-ceiling floor aren't real corpses. No matter how cadavers in various states of decay Saber cuts down from the rafters, the next day, they're always replaced, the bottom floor cleared of hacked limbs, severed heads, dead maggots, and split torsos.

Occasionally, he wonders what they're really made of. Most of the time, he doesn't bother.

The knight runs up a wall and swings Excalibur covered in its sheath of wind out to his side, gripping the handle of the sword tightly with both hands. Once he reaches a satisfactory height, he unleashes a burst of prana to send himself rushing across the ceiling as he slices the blade of Excalibur through over a dozen bloated bodies. They hit the floor far down below with loud thuds that echo, the sounds bouncing off the false wood as if it was real. Well, steel provides fair enough acoustics to fool.

Comments

[vermicompost]

[Even though the gravestones don't mean anything, and he knows that, Kariya has come here bearing flowers from the meadow to place on Sakura's grave. When he catches sight of Saber, he pauses. He would wave, but he doesn't have a free arm to wave with, since one of his arms is gone at the elbow and the other is clutching his flowers. Instead, he nods in the Servant's direction.]

Hello, Saber. [He smiles, but he looks a little melancholy. This is a melancholy place. It seems intrusive to inquire about why Saber is here, when probably there's only one reason people would come here, and it's a personal one. He doesn't ask if Saber's all right, but instead, holds out his flowers.] Would you like some? [It might be a meaningless gesture, ultimately, but putting flowers on Sakura's grave does help him to feel a little better, and it's nice to sit and talk to her.]

[holyswordwielder]

[ Saber looks up and turns towards the voice addressing him. When he sees Kariya approaching, he almost smiles-- and then he sees the Master's arm. ]

Kariya! What's happened to you?

[vermicompost]

[Oh. Right. That. He glances down at his arm.] I'm fine. Please, don't worry about me. It's nothing to be concerned about. [Kariya is downplaying the problem, more than a little. He lost an arm, after all, but he doesn't like to worry people unnecessarily.] We were attacked by a monster, and I was injured. Lancelot had to take my arm off--I probably would have died, otherwise, so he saved me.

[He forgets that he hasn't discussed Lancelot with Saber before, but his memory isn't always that reliable, and he's used to talking about his Servant casually.]

Floor 48

[heavenscorpse]

[V/V approaches him slowly in the graveyard, looking at the tombstone's name before looking back at Saber.]

I'm very sorry.

[She would say the same to anyone, but especially to someone who had looked for someone important and then lost them.]

Re: Floor 48

[holyswordwielder]

[ The knight takes a breath at the girl's comment and he lifts his head, his eyes moving across the illusory sky above them. ]

Thank you. Do you think Ruana sent her back to our world?

[heavenscorpse]

I think so. I've heard that they don't choose to send people back, though - it's an accident of the process of taking people here that they can't keep hold of them.

So, I don't think it's her fault.

floor 48

[puppy_lancer]

Hey.

[It's the first time that Lancer had been back here since Diarmuid dragged him back to his room and sorted him out. He walks up so he can stand next to Saber and stare wordlessly at the gravestone alongside the other Servant.]

[holyswordwielder]

[ Saber scoffs lightly, still looking down at the marker. ]

'Come to punish me for this finally?

[puppy_lancer]

Not really.

[He stares at the gravestone.]

I think we're equally guilty for this one.

Graveyard

[lightofhumanity]

chaos came to the graveyard on a regular basis to mourn over friends and loved ones, both old and new. He also tried to console anyone he saw grieving, since he didn't like the fact that others were in pain as well. As he walked into the room, he watched the person in front of a grave marked for an Ayaka Sajyou slamming his fist on top of it. While chaos wasn't looking into this persons mind right now, he understood how he felt. After all..he had felt similar in the past.

"Do not injure yourself. It would only make the person you are hoping to see again feel sad, and prevent you from doing your very best. You may not be able to see her right now, but if you have any hope of doing so, smashing your hand will not help you."

[holyswordwielder]

As much as Saber knows the other visitor to the graveyard means well, he has to laugh, the sound more sad and bitter than anything else. "I promise you-- I'm in no danger of that from merely this," he answers. "It would hardly matter even if I was. If I die here, my soul will just be placed in another vessel and I will be made to imagine my true form, even though we all know we look really nothing like we should."

[lightofhumanity]

While chaos knew that this person was rather strong, he also knew that minor injuries weren't to be scoffed at sometimes. That second line though..that struck a cord with him.

"I know you are not, but it is best to keep yourself free from damage regardless. However..if you were to die needlessly, do you imagine that the person who left you would be happy about it?"

floor 58

[chainsawn]

[ Despite the gore around this floor, Urotsuki never really has a problem with grossing it. She's never had any problem with any gore or anything disturbing, after all. Except today when she arrives on the floor there's such loud sounds coming from it that she can't help but look..

And that's when she spots the guy going around slicing the corpses off. She slowly stares from the bodies on the floor to him. ]

.. Are you collecting them? [ Even if he's in the middle of it, she'll start asking, just standing there and waiting for the answer no matter how long it takes. ]

[holyswordwielder]

[ Saber reaches the other side of the floor rather quickly and it's not hard to see the girl amongst the body parts scattering the ground far below. She looks familiar, but from his position up above, it's hard to see the details of her face. ]

No. Unless you are volunteering to stand-in for them for cutting practice, I think this is the best choice until nightfall.

[ And then he continues, propelling himself into the fray and using several various strikes to attack the corpses this time rather than simply one. ]

[chainsawn]

[ Volunteer, huh.. .. hmm, it doesn't sound like the best decision.. she thinks, at least, she isn't even entirely sure as she squints, staring up at him even now. But instead of volunteering she instead moves to sit down near the stairs, all neat and proper, to watch him from there. ]

Then it's just something you have to do..?

[ Sorry, she's still asking.. at least she's patient enough that her next line doesn't come after quite a pause. ]

floor 48

[fionnuisce]

[It was difficult to describe the feeling of seeing one's own name inscribed on a tombstone. Even more difficult to comprehend the particular emotion or emotions it brought forth.]

[Visibly, it didn't seem to bother him at all. The ponytailed lecturer stood with his hands in the pockets of his green suit jacket, staring impassively at the engraved stone before him. There were very few people to which he would have willingly shown any emotional instability; years among magi and aristocrats had hardened his once constantly over-emotional state to a calm and even cold stare. The armor of 'Lord El-Melloi II' was what guarded 'Waver Velvet' from those who saw compassion and emotion as weakness, and he was grateful for it.]

[So instead of being revolted or frightened as he once might have--when he was the age of the Waver this stone was meant for--his reaction was a simple irritated sigh and the lighting of a cigarette.]

[Of course he'd known Saber was there the entire time. If he missed sensing a Servant, Waver would have been thoroughly ashamed of his oversight. Certainly he had no intention of interrupting right off the bat; for a long few minutes he left the Servant alone before finally speaking up from his position a distance away.]

I take it 'are you alright' would be a stupid question.

[Finally looking up, Waver's expression remained controlled and seemingly unfazed--the only indication this had shaken the magus at all was how pale he'd gone.]

[holyswordwielder]

[ And the cigarette, one might think, but Waver's mannerisms speak of learned practice, so Saber is less certain how to interpret the magus partaking of that particular vice. He withdraws his hand from Ayaka's gravestone and slips his hands into the pockets of the long black coat he commonly wears when not sporting his armor. It's a waste of effort to maintain here, he figures-- at least until the administrators make their next move. ]

That's a stupid question to ask anyone here, isn't it?

[fionnuisce]

...Fair point.

[The only reason he hadn't been smoking in the tower before was a lack of resources--now that he had to use them sparingly, perhaps it was as good an indicator as any.]

She must have been a good Master, for you and Lancer to care about her so much.

graveyard party

[angramaintsu]

[ Rin's moved from one tombstone to the next. When she used to guard Lancer's so feverishly, refusing to allow anyone near it, now she watches over Sakura's. It may be silly, but she always leaves whenever an uncle or two comes by; here is the rare time she's perched on it. There's a rock in her hand, a sharper more pointed one, while she muses with the idea of scratching out the "Matou" part.

Sakura wasn't meant to be a part of the Matou family clan.

Before she can get around to defacing another tombstone (Her Lancer's is crossed out and instead covered with moss and vine), she looks up at the sight of a man punching rock. ]

Are you stupid or something? You can't break it with your fist alone.

[holyswordwielder]

[ Saber arches a brow at the girl from his place at Ayaka's grave still. ]

Would breaking it make her disappearance any less of a fact?

[ All right, angrily hitting things wouldn't make a difference either, but it's too late to take it back now. The girl obviously saw him do it. ]

Floor 58

[bowandblade]

[The day had been a bust since he had woken up to find the word Monster written above his bed, his head full of memories that should not have existed. Archer is bitter in a way he has not felt in years, and hunting for monsters is simply not doing the trick when he's this restless.

Killed in the form of a beast, killing in the form of a beast. A laughing monster, hunting almost mindlessly, but not mindlessly enough to realize the frustration and wrongness with each death faced. Blows to his ego, each one of them. Choking on blood, face and warped body torn only to rise again without fail.

His eyes narrow as he watches a broken corpse break apart as it hits the floor several feet away. He doesn't have to look up to know there is another Servant on this floor, but he does anyway.]

...Saber.

[Just his luck. Desire something to hit, and one is presented.]

[holyswordwielder]

[ Saber stops at the wall across from his starting point when he senses the other Servant. Feeling the buzz of them in his mind is never a very specific sensation, but he's noticed that the ones from his world are different from the others. There's color and melodic sound to their presence in his consciousness; they are bright streaks against a muddy, monochromatic backdrop, as though his soul knows they and they alone here belong in the same reality. Saber has come to recognize this uniqueness with a clarity he never quite possessed while Ayaka was here. He knows it's one of two people quickly and that catches his attention immediately.

Archer.

So it seems Saber's luck is also proving its worth.

He drops to the floor, but stays his ground, neither retreating from nor advancing towards the other Servant. Archer's upset is so palpable that Arthur can practically taste it in the back of his mouth, coppery and harsh like blood.

He figures Lancer is to blame. He figures Cu Chulainn told the other Servant about Ayaka. Damn dog just couldn't keep his mouth shut... ]

[Floor 48]

[faithstaynight]

[It isn't long until Saber might notice the presence of another Servant. Said Servant, soon revealed to be a plainly-dressed teenage girl, doesn't immediately approach him, though. Instead, she heads with purpose to a gravestone several rows away from the one Saber is currently standing by. She kneels, placing the small bouquet of flowers - lilies - in front of the stone, and folds her hands together in prayer.

It isn't until Saber brings his fist down on Ayaka's grave that she finally turns her head towards him, a blank expression on her face.]

Attempting to deface the gravestones here will do you no good. They will all be fixed the following day.

[holyswordwielder]

My intention was not to break it.

[ Fortunately, Saber has become well accustomed to the presence of other Servants. Their nearness no longer alarms him as much as it did in the first days he arrived in the Tower, but he still doesn't trust them all. He looks up from the Tombstone when the woman Servant speaks to him. ]

I'm not surprised to hear that.

58! Rhymes with Late!

[chevalier_mal_fet]

[As he has judged the Floor bare of challenge, Lancelot comes here rarely.
But today he seeks quiet, which is in abundance among the dead-- and he does sense Arthur's presence here. A particular Arthur, who is both least and most familiar to him.

He watches the Servant, the Man, for a brief while, content to linger knowing his presence is felt.
Arthur will recognize him when he chooses.
Until then, he will take in the display of Prowess. This is familiar, too-- even if the figure behind the forms and blows is an different one than lives in his memory.

Arthur and Excalibur are both beautiful in motion, as ever they were.]