(no subject)

[athousandcurses]

Characters: Grainne, and you
Setting: Dorm 1, Floor 100, Floor 25, Cafeteria (and if there's a floor mentioned you want to encounter her on just toss up a new prompt!)
Format: Either or
Summary: Getting acquainted with the Tower!
Warnings: TBA


Dorm Floor 1, outside the elevator

Grainne couldn't shake off the unsettled feeling she had since waking up here. There was a constant undercurrent of fear that she wasn't used to, and it kept her on guard and ready for anything. It hadn't taken her long to find the outfit she'd worn wandering around Fuyuki in the trunk at the end of the bed she woke up in, along with... several other more nostalgic items. That didn't stop her from shifting to her robes almost immediately upon stepping out into the hallway. White dress covered by a green cloak, and a veil over her face that she pulled down to see better. Her identity isn't nearly as important now that she's... lost.

Looking up and down, she saw rows of doors, each with nameplates next to them, and the one by hers had her name on it. Frowning, she looked at the letter in her hands again, before slipping it into her pouch. This is some sort of dorm, but where, and how did she end up here? What sort of joke is this?

Maybe it's where defeated Servants go when they died...

Well, it may be and it may be not, but she took a deep breath and started walking, looking at the names along one side but not really reading them; they were unfamiliar to her, except for one. She hesitated when she caught sight of "Assassin" clearly labeled on one. Was that a coincidence, or could it actually be? Up ahead she saw what looked like an elevator, and the beginning of a staircase. She stopped there, trying to decide which way to take.

---

Floor 100: Holodeck

More floors, more dorms, but these ones all seemed to be empty. Grainne kept on, wondering if there was an end, but after the fifth floor of dorms that she counted, she came into... well, simply one of the most bizarre rooms she'd ever been in. Some sort of hanging garden in the middle of space. The unease she'd been feeling started to grow, and she walked on, looking for the next set of staircase which she found by literally walking into without realizing.

When she made it to the next floor and stepped into it, her heart stopped. It was home. Not Fuyuki, or the place she stayed at while fighting in the war, or even the house where she lived at the end of her life. The place she had raised her children and lived happily with her family before events worked to ruin everything they had. Intact and as if she had never left...

Moving farther into the scene, she placed a hand against a tree only to go right through it, and bitter disappointment met the realization it wasn't really real. It's just some illusion made up to look like a memory. Grainne turned then to leave, heading for the staircase.
 

---

Floor 1: Cafeteria

After that one floor, Grainne headed up again to where she saw the elevator, and this time got on. If she had more of that to expect from going down the staircase, she'd try the elevator and hope there were answers somewhere, but she paused when she saw only certain floors were marked. Every twenty floors... and she could expect walking into random orbital hanging gardens and illusion based scenery. What kind of building was this?!

Fighting down her rising irritation, fear and helplessness, she pushed the button for Floor One. After a ride that seemed entirely too long, even for a place with over a hundred floors, she stepped out into a Cafeteria. Now this, at least, made sense...

At least until she was handed a bowl of what looked like oat porridge left a little too long in the pot by a very odd person with a blank expression and a collar.

Actually, now that she thought about it, everyone had a collar...

Squeaking, her hand flew up to her own neck and felt the collar there, unnoticed until now. She made a face and rubbed her hands over her face, shaking her head.

---

Floor 25: Meadow

After gathering herself, she set out once again, this time going up since there seemed to be no other way but that. Everything she saw and heard and felt only made her more determined to keep on. Floors passed by; a library, then another, what looked like a clinic, a place filled with televisions and video game consoles, a workshop, a maze, a forest, and then finally a meadow...

The magus that created this place definitely had a weird sense of humor. Still, she stepped off on this one, curious if it really was just a meadow. She would have investigated the forest, except she saw animals in there that looked uncanny and she didn't particularly feel it necessary to find out if it was real. The meadow seemed real, though...

Sitting down in the grass, she plucked a few flowers and held them. she had to admit that having a meadow in the middle of such strangeness was calming, and probably the break she needed.

Comments

[glassceiling]

They claim to be human, and yet have powers and appearances unlike that of any human.

[athousandcurses]

Beings able to wield Second Magic as easily as they seem to sound more like gods from ages past.

[glassceiling]

Their power is a heresy.

[Her voice is a little harsher than it was before.]

But even with that power, they are not invincible.]

[athousandcurses]

Why do you say that? How are we able to fight them?

[glassceiling]

We have an ally who is privy to some secrets of the Tower. She helps us know where to attack. Apparently, one of the earlier attacks deprived the Tower of its energy. We now have only months left.

[athousandcurses]

Ah... That's what he meant by the tower was dying. What happens when it runs out of energy?

[glassceiling]

I do not know? At worst, we might all die.

[athousandcurses]

I'm not afraid of death.

[glassceiling]

I see.

[She mutters.]

Neither am I, but I do not wish to see innocent people die.

[athousandcurses]

No... I do not either. Do you think that's why we're here? To help them?

[It may explain why she ended up here, instead of where she was supposed to go.]

[glassceiling]

[She closes her eyes and thinks.]

Perhaps.

[It's an uplifting thought, at least.]

Though, they could have picked a better hero than I.

[athousandcurses]

But you are an Assassin, you have skills that could be useful here.

[glassceiling]

All I can do is fight, and perhaps infiltrate places that others cannot. And even as an Assassin, I am far from the best.

[She sighs.]

I cannot cook. Nor sew. Nor heal. Nor do anything that would help others on an everyday basis. Not like the others around here.

[She chose this path--to become a Defender of the Faith--so she should have no regrets. But there's still the tiniest bit of bitterness in her voice. In this place, where powers could be removed all too easily, she is all but useless at times.]

[athousandcurses]

[Oh... that's far too familiar.]

I am not the best of Casters either... and I can't cook much. But... why are those skills in demand here?

[glassceiling]

Last winter, the Tower lost its heating. People were in danger of starving or freezing. And in December, there came a group of nearly invincible bird monsters. It was more productive to heal those injured than to risk one's life fighting against the monsters. I cannot say if such things will happen again, but I want to be prepared.

[athousandcurses]

So they need people to sew here? I wonder if I could be useful that way... sewing has changed since my first life but I'm sure I can do something with the knowledge from the Grail.

[glassceiling]

They might. Just in case someone needs extra clothing, or need their current clothing repaired.

[athousandcurses]

What of armor?

[glassceiling]

I have not seen anyone who could craft armor, but I suppose it is worth it to ask around.

[athousandcurses]

I can do that. Though I wonder if anyone would need it...

crap wrong account

[glassceiling]

A good number of people, in fact. Not all of us are provided with armor from our homes.

[athousandcurses]

You think so? I'd need materials.

[glassceiling]

There is a floor that supplies cloth. Perhaps there is one for making weapons as well.

[athousandcurses]

It will be something to look into if I am to stay here...

[glassceiling]

[She nods.]

Perhaps you can speak to Enoch. He has been here for a long time. He knows where everything is.