just this once, everybody lives!

[sageprincess]

Characters: Everyone.
Setting: Anywhere.
Format: Party style.
Summary: Post-Ex Machina catch-all mingle.
Warnings: See individual threads.

[After a long, drawn out battle, the infiltration team returns to the residential portion of the Tower, weary, battered... but victorious. Some catching up is in order.]

Comments

[sageprincess]

[Huh, she's never gotten a reaction like that before.]

I fear I am not well versed in the whole affair - my interactions have mostly been limited to Ruler and Arturia, which I understand to not be what one would call 'standard' in this context.

[Ruler was supposed to be neutral - a mediator - and Arturia was no longer a part of the war, as she understood it.]

[fionnuisce]

...I could explain if you'd like, though I warn you it's an unpleasant and complicated mess of a thing.

[Sighing, Waver crossed his arms with a small frown.]

I was part of the entire thing as a teenager--actually I might argue I'm still very much involved with the matter of the Holy Grail itself.

[sageprincess]

I am no stranger to unpleasantness.

[But her voice softens somewhat after that, sympathetically.]

But I will not pry if it is something you would rather not speak of.

[fionnuisce]

It's fine--the entire thing is hardly a secret around here. I think another version of myself detailed the whole matter on the network shortly before I arrived. Besides, as a teacher, far be it from me to leave anyone curious in the dark.

[sageprincess]

[Her lips twist a bit, uncertain, but--]

If you are willing to speak, I am willing to listen to whatever you feel comfortable saying.

[fionnuisce]

To make this as simple as possible: seven Masters like myself summon seven Servants--heroes from our world's past--to fight for a wish-granting artifact called the Holy Grail. Seven mythical heroes answer to arrogant mages with their heads firmly placed nowhere fit for polite conversation, and they all try to murder each other just to have some wish granted through a miracle.

And that's only the basic concept on paper. It gets far, far more idiotic and cruel, I can promise you that.

[Waver held up his right hand, showing Zelda the bright red sigil branded there.] For one thing, Servants can't exist without being connected to a Master, and these fucking awful things are proof of that contract. These Command Spells represent three absolute orders a master can give, and their Servant will be forced to follow them no matter what they might be.

[sageprincess]

[She stares a bit longer at Waver's seals than simple curiosity would typically permit, remembering when her her own hand had been branded so. But given the way he speaks about it, she thinks better than to voice those particular thoughts.]

Arturia told me a bit about them. If the command is powerful enough, even reality itself must bend to its will, or something akin to it.

[Her eyes finally slide down and away, then.]

... I did not know the Holy Grail offered a wish as its prize, but... I am familiar enough with the concept of wars over such things.

[fionnuisce]

That's correct. For a more harmless example, if I were to use one right now to call Diarmuid, he would be here in under a second without difficulty. Which, though I hate to admit it, is a very useful ability to have.

[Shrugging, Waver put his right hand in his pocket.]

That's the bit which aggravates me, in hindsight. It's...just sick. Master and Servant both get a wish out of the ordeal, in theory--but nothing is worth that kind of shit. And that's not even touching upon what the Grail actually is.

[sageprincess]

[Zelda has quite a few thoughts on the usefulness of the Command Spells - the reason she agreed to the contract with Ruler in the first place - and wars over wishes. She does not give voice to many of them.]

Seeking such power rarely ends well, I have found, regardless of intent.

[Or maybe that's just her unfortunate life. Either way.]

What is the Grail in reality, then?

[fionnuisce]

That's another problem; I was never sure, until I got here. The night the war ended, ten years ago, a considerable part of Fuyuki burned to the ground. From where I was standing, I saw...this godawful dark thing I can't really describe. At the time I wasn't able to even guess what it was, but it felt wrong on every level I could think of. Whatever it was, I knew even then that it was something terrible and evil.

After I came here, I met a Servant that shouldn't exist; an unknown eighth class called Avenger. Just being around him reminded me of that feeling of dread I had when the Grail should have appeared. Whatever force or figure he was in life, Avenger was what damaged the original wish-granting Grail. Looking at that as well as my own experience, there is no longer any doubt in my mind the Holy Grail was corrupted at some point in time.

[Waver stopped speaking for a moment or two, hoping he'd covered the general idea well enough. He still had scars from his last encounter with Avenger, one he would much sooner rather have forgotten. Speaking again, his voice took on a quieter, determined tone.]

For years, I've hoped for another chance at reaching the Grail--something like that can't exist. And even if it wasn't corrupted...it isn't right, any of it. I hate the system that forces good and honest heroes to serve arrogant mages, and the same system which calls forth fucking monsters that don't care about sacrificing civilians for no reason. All of that, just for one person's wish...I just can't stand for it.

Whatever the Grail was and whatever it is now, it has to be dismantled and a stop put to the whole matter.

this is super late I'm sorry my brain just didn't want to work, damn you nasubabble

[sageprincess]

[Zelda remains quiet as Waver explains, brow furrowing as he goes on. This was the thing Ruler was meant to mediate over? That just... doesn't sound right. Yet it doesn't sound like Waver is lying or stretching the truth at all - perhaps Ruler's Grail was different, somehow. Those few moments he allows for the story to sink in are spent doing just that.

... And then he speaks of destroying the thing - something she could never even comprehend doing to her world's Triforce - and she cannot help being struck by the conviction in his voice. She is silent for another moment, her voice still tired, but softer in a way when she speaks again.]

... You are a noble man, Waver. I imagine most would simply try to put such things behind them, not dedicate their lives to destroying such a cruel and destructive system.

[She imagines Link being forced to fight in such a war, and is quickly convinced that Waver is right.]

shhhh it happens

[fionnuisce]

I wanted to, sure. I could easily have just stayed out of England and made myself a normal, ordinary life. But that wouldn't have felt right.

[He sounded worn down himself, as if the whole idea was simply an extremely tiresome matter and little else.]

...I owed Diarmuid more than that. If you went looking for him right now and asked, he'd probably call it noble too. With all due respect, I have to disagree; I'm paying back my Lancer what I owe him, and sparing some bloodshed in the process. As much as I want to save anyone else that might be a casualty of some future war, I have to make sure I repaid the hard work he did in my name as his Master. He and every other Servant shouldn't need to be anyone's pawns again.