Hibiki Ganaha (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brandnewday) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2012-05-03 02:07 am
brandnewday) wrote in bakerstreet2012-05-03 02:07 am
By request! Holy Grail War repost!
The HOLY GRAIL WAR Meme
Seven Masters, magi of the present day. Seven Servants, heroes of days past. One Holy Grail, granting whomever claims it a wish. Only one team of Master and Servant may claim it. Who will it be?
For those unfamiliar with Fate/stay night or Fate/Zero, you can find a better explanation of the Holy Grail War here. (Note: The Holy Grail War in Fate/EXTRA functions in a dramatically different way, and one not followed for purposes of this meme.)
Instructions
1. Comment with your character. In the subject line, put that character's name, canon, and which role (Master, Servant, or either) you would like them to fulfill. Add other preferences if you would like. (NOTE: If your character can fill the role of Servant, I suggest you state which class(es) -- Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, or Berserker -- they fall into.)
2. Reply to others' comments. Pick your character's role (and the other character's if they list "Either" as their preference), then use the RNG to pick a scenario that fits the two characters' roles.
3. Enjoy! Though there might be triggers, depending on how the prompts are interpreted.
1. Battle. Who says that Servants get to have all the fun? After all, most Masters try to kill each other, too. Whatever the circumstances, the two of you are locked in a fight. Neither of you are willing to use your Command Spells just yet, so no Servants here. Just two magi duking it out.
2. Alliance. There's a bigger threat out there. Either one Servant is exceptionally powerful, or the situation has changed and the participants need to take action aginst it. One way or another, you're teamed up with one of your rivals for the Holy Grail. How long will this last before you try to stab each other in the back? Or, will something more develop?
3. Protection. Uh-oh! One of you has lost your Servant! Unfortunately, there's no way you'd get to the church safely on your own, so the other one will help you get there! Or maybe you don't trust the priest presiding over the Holy Grail War and are giving shelter to them yourself? Given their track record, no one would blame you.
4. Death. One or both of you lay dying. It might have been by the other's hand, or by someone else's entirely. How will you spend your last moments in the presence of one of your rivals?
5. You, Too? Surprise! You may have been friends before, but you've just discovered that you're both Masters! How will you handle this revelation?
6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!
1. Are You My Master? The summoning is complete. Whether intentional or not, catalyst or not, a magus has summoned a Servant. What kind of meeting was it? Was everything totally under control, or did a hitch occur? Or maybe it happened in the middle of a life-or-death situation!
2. Identity. Either the Servant has flat out told the Master their identity, or they unleashed their Noble Phantasm. Either way, the cat is out of the bag. How will the Master react, now that they know their Servant's name and legend? Will anything change between the two?
3. Battle Aftermath. A battle has just ended. Who participated? Are either of you hurt? Did the Master have to use a Command Spell? Any number of things could have happened here.
4. Discord. Uh-oh. It looks like the Master and the Servant don't get along. Here come the arguments! Don't do something stupid, like waste a Command Spell over a triviality...
5. Love. And then, there's the opposite. Sometimes Masters and Servants fall in love with each other. How will this affect things?
6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!
1. Battle. This is what usually happens when two Servants meet -- they duke it out. This probably says enough as it is.
2. Alliance. There's a bigger threat out there. Either one Servant is exceptionally powerful, or the situation has changed and the participants need to take action aginst it. One way or another, you're teamed up with one of your rivals for the Holy Grail. How long will this last before you try to stab each other in the back? Or, will something more develop?
3. The Grail Dialogues. Maybe you're not interested in fighting just yet. Maybe you just want to sit down and talk with the other Servant. Find out what they want, what makes them tick. Get some wine while you're at it -- nothing like good wine to go with good talk!
4. Death. One or both of you lay dying...again. It might have been by the other's hand, or by someone else's entirely. How will you spend your last moments in this War in the presence of one of your rivals?
5. Identity. Congratulations, you've just learned each other's identities! Will this change the situation, or will you press onward?
6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!
okok for real now: m/s 2
That person....that person was now a Legendary Soul; her Servant in this fight. Her mouth has gone dry as she stares at him - she dimly wonders if she's going to faint.]
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But in this battle using his Noble Phantasm couldn't be avoided. It was either that or lose, and like hell he was going to let it end here. But.. he knows that it gives away his identity easily, and.. she probably found out too now, right? Ah, shit, shit--.. ]
.. You know, right? Master. [ His tone is low and almost mocking with the last word, and he doesn't turn around to her just yet - so his expression can't be read either as he makes the bat in his hand vanish into nothing. ]
oh this got long oops ALSO YOU'RE TERRIBLE
It had been beyond strange to wake up after dying. Disorientated, head swimming with both anger and regret, utterly confused as to how she could still be breathing when her last memories had consisted of blood, her blood spreading in an awful pool and a coldness to swallow the pain of the knife and her broken wrist....to return to consciousness not in Makoto Naegi's shower, or even within the grounds of Hope Academy at all, but a new place. And from there she had come to understand that a war for something precious beyond words was about to break out; a fight for the Holy Grail, an artifact capable of granting any wish to the victor. That fact had managed to reach her through the despair, the shame and self-hatred that had settled over her like a heavy cloud - the twisted and painful feelings that had come from remembering what she had tried to do to Leon, to Naegi, to all those other students she hadn't known well but was prepared to sacrifice anyway.
Or thought she had been. Desperation had set her plan into motion but thinned and died near the end; Sayaka didn't have the sort of calloused resolve needed to see things through. There's no denying she was selfish - even Sayaka can admit that, now. But it hadn't been enough. Her guilt, her feelings for the boy who had freed the crane....the boy she had tried to frame....they had hampered her, and so she had failed. It had been a small mercy, at least, to also remember her final act before succumbing to her wounds; a small and not exactly heroic attempt at redemption, maybe, her writing of Leon's name on the wall in her blood, but Sayaka could perhaps hope that she had freed Naegi from the bind her actions had originally placed him in. She could hope that she hadn't doomed him after all.
Yet that was in the past - what of today's Sayaka? Had she changed? Yes, in some ways. Death....had a way of forcing one to realize some things, the certain harsh realities that spoke to her deepest fears. It meant the inescapable realization that everything is ultimately ephemeral. Flowers wilt, oceans wither to dry earth, life comes to an end. Nothing is truly permanent; everything is forgotten eventually. Her career as an idol and the family she had built around herself while in the business was certainly no exception. Yet with nothing else to cling to, Sayaka had turned to the Holy Grail to change that - she would wish for a world that never changed, where nothing was lost forever to the dim haze of fading memory. Even if this desire proved to be impossible, it was for the moment something to live and fight for.
It's with an enormous amount of effort that Sayaka regains the needed semblance of control; her expression smooths out, the mask fitting back into place. Hearing that tone of voice from him makes her nervous...but she can't afford for it to show.]
Know what, Archer?
[There's a hollow cheer in her voice, masterfully faked. Her expression has smoothed out, the shock and fear sinking beneath the surface; the facade is only betrayed by the instinctive curling of one hand - the one marked by the Command Seals that symbolize her authority and role as a a Master - into a fist, which she hides behind her back. There's an uneasy relief to be found in remembering that she's yet to use a single seal. Strange now, in hindsight......but she and Archer had been a cooperative (and thus formidable) duo up to now, with little need for her to force his hand using such costly measures.
...Perhaps she had underestimated his own resolve in reaching the Holy Grail and having his wish granted. Whether they won or lost, he would still fade in the end; if killing her again had been the most important thing to him, he could have done so moments after his summoning. Sayaka is banking on such motivations now - if just for the sake of her own wish, for she stood no chance without a Servant.]
You mean your wish? I don't think you've told me yet....
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So he turns around to her, although with the speed he uses it's more like he's snapping back to her, a frown on his face now. He takes a step towards her almost threatening, although he won't do anything to her - not while he's still somewhat in his right mind. She's his Master, he needs her, not to mention she could even downright force him to kill himself with her Command Spells. So he tries to swallow his anger, he really does, but there's no way he can fully command it, not in this situation. ]
Don't fucking pretend you don't know..! [ He shouts it, knowing that it's better to get out the anger verbally than actually to be driven to the edge - he won't make the same mistake twice, not after having to pay it already. ]
Why the hell would you care about my wish? We both had a wish and would reach the Grail that way to get our wishes granted, and that shit was just fine with me..! But now this happened and.. shit!
[ He runs a hand through his hair - tense, on edge - and then stares at her quietly for a few moments. Don't just stand there! ]
Say something..!
[ Acknowledge me! ]
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Pretending....of course Sayaka's pretending. She's had to pretend for a long time; in the idol business, a fall from glory could come from showing weakness just as easily as it could from being forgotten. She meets his gaze, and her voice is quiet - no longer even remotely cheerful, but not cowed.]
...Sorry. I just thought it might make things easier if I did, [a pause, one that stretches a bit too long, before Sayaka decides to give him the recognition he demands.] Leon Kuwata.
[The way she says his name - it's calm, without hate. Sayaka resents him, in her selfish and childish way, for killing her. For not just leaving her alone with her broken wrist in that locked shower room all that time ago. For ruining her plans, her desperate gamble for freedom. She can feel a certain gnawing anger at the thought....and tiredly shoves it away. She can't begrudge him his rage; Sayaka is all too aware of her own guilt, the part she had played in making things come to this. And fighting with him about this.....resentment or not, it wouldn't help anything. A Servant and Master at odds with each other was a pair who would surely never even glimpse the Holy Grail.
She tells herself, too, that they weren't close enough for it to be okay to fight. But was that really true? Until now, regardless of Leon's real feelings....Sayaka had almost been happy. She had something to strive for, a goal she could doggedly pursue just like she had before her death. Things had been going smoothly, even, despite the violence and strife inherent to this kind of conflict.]
Of course I care about your wish. That's what we're fighting for, isn't it? Wishes....our dreams.
[But her voice is not thoughtful in a girlish, pleased way when she says that last word, not like it had during one of their few interactions at the academy. Nor is there any overture of friendliness, or kindness. Something like that would only be inappropriate here. It'd be insulting, surely, to the both of them.]
Achieving our goals....that's still the most important thing.
no subject
'Her fault.' An idea that constantly lingers in his mind, but one that he tried to let go of for a while just so they could work together properly. It was just something he would have to put up with to reach the Grail, and in that sense.. nothing changed, right?
... No, nothing changed.
It's all he has to tell himself as he tries to control his temper for once in this crucial moment. ]
Then don't even think of trying to pull some shit on me again. [ It's calmer by now, but from the muttered tone it's easy to notice he's just trying to hold himself back - the words still laced with anger, hatred, regret. ]
I helped you out all this time. Or rather.. no, like hell I was helping you out. I was just trying to reach my own dreams, my own wish. So let's just go on like that already and get this fucking war over with so neither of us will have to deal with this shit, right?!
no subject
Right.
[That's all that matters, isn't it? Winning the Grail, that trumps resentment on her part or revenge on his. Forcing herself to relax the tight curl of her fists, Sayaka takes a hesitant step toward Leon.]
We're getting pretty close, I think. [She glances away, off to where Leon's Noble Phantasm had obliterated the enemy. There's nothing there now; the losing Servant has faded away, the Master having fled for his life - likely to the church.] Assassin, Rider, and now Lancer are gone. Saber will probably take care of Caster, if we keep out of their way. So that just leaves Berserker, right?
[Her voice has grown thoughtful in a cold, calculating way. This isn't the place for kindness or mercy, and in that respect Sayaka is a good Master - she is able to make herself forget, if just for awhile, that her wish will come at the expense of six others. She can bury her guilt and order Leon, order Archer, to do what must be done; she is selfish enough to have a fighting chance in this war.]
LMFAO SHIT this thread is such a mood whiplash compared to the other one
That doesn't mean he isn't wary though. He wasn't before, really - she would have no reason to attack her Servant without knowing who said Servant really was, but now he's not entirely sure anymore. And she, in the end, has the upper hand thanks to the Command Spells. But even in the middle of the wariness and observing her, Leon speaks. His voice is still a little strained, but the complete rage has ebbed from it for now. ]
Berserker is a complete monster though. [ Distracting himself, averting his thoughts to something else rather than her - something that makes even brings some feelings of fear to him, it's even easier to not rage in that case. ] There's no way in hell I can win in a straight up fight against that thing!
archer I command you to bake a cake without burning it
I think you could. [She doesn't say this to comfort him, or praise him. It's just an opinion, probably even a faulty one, and Sayaka isn't quite sure just why she said it.] But we won't try for that. If Saber could weaken him for us, that'd be great....and you're better at long-distance fighting anyway.
and then he self destructs since it's impossible
If I waste another use of my Noble Phantasm on Berserker, there's no way left for us to win against Saber. I'll definitely have to use it in that battle, after all, and after using it now I don't think I could still pull it off twice. [
except for mana transfer okay we're not going there now] But if he's weakened enough by Saber, I guess I could get him with a long distance shot.You'll just have to make sure to stick with me [ - those words feel so bitter now, so awkward - ] so Berserker won't crush you before I even have the chance to do anything.
E rank kitchen skills
Yeah. [The word is full of careful neutrality. Once she would have felt relief, if not some dim happiness, to hear her Servant say something like that. There was some human comfort in being told she'd be protected - a ghost of how Naegi had made her feel all that time ago, now departed (perhaps forever) in the face of this painful revelation.] Well, in any case, I'd say we've done enough for tonight. Let's go-
[-Archer. is what she almost says before her nerve fails her for a strange, uncomfortable reason that Sayaka resists examining too closely; it no longer feels right to call him that anymore, not when she knows his real name. Like trying to scrub out a stained spot on the carpet, knowing all the while that it can't erase the accident itself, that traces will always remain. But even so....she could, had to trust her Servant in this quest for their shared goal - she couldn't do the same for the person who was both her murderer and a victim of her selfishness. That's how she has to think, Sayaka tells herself, that's the only choice she can make. Leon Kuwata is just a corpse to her, one she will resurrect and acknowledge only when necessary, and then she will bury him again. Ignore him, reject his existence, pretend it's someone else's face she's looking into when she makes eye contact with Archer.]
...let's go home.
along with E rank wooing skills and E rank luck...
[ It's not difficult to notice what's missing in that pause, or what should be there. If it wouldn't be that pause, it would be the way she looks at him, either way. It's so obvious from that, the very fact that even when she looks at him, she doesn't see him. Or pretends she doesn't, at least.
It's enough to make part of him feel sick to the stomach. Even if he tried to tell himself this girl is someone he left behind him, something he doesn't care for anymore, just someone he has to work with to win this war and get his wish and regain his life, he can't stand it when it's like this. His ego dislikes not being acknowledged, after all, especially not since he feels like he's doing the work for her here.
It's simple, really - he knows he can't bring himself to see her as just 'his Master', just some faceless entity. He's way too bad at lying to himself to pretend he can even do that. He knew all along who she was, of course, and he already couldn't do it even back then. He could only completely ignore her and only think of his dreams while fighting, but he can't seperate 'his Master' and 'Sayaka Maizono' in his mind. It's either or neither, unlike how it works for her. And Leon Kuwata is selfish enough to think that if he can't flee away mentally from this confrontation, she isn't allowed to do so either. ]
What..? [ He's a hypocrite and selfish - and he knows it, really. But since he does realise it he can at least swallow down most of the rage bubbling up in his stomach for now. ] So is this how you decided the two of us can make it to the end of this war? Are you just going to ignore me? [ there's a definite emphasis on the word - ignore him, Leon Kuwata, everything he was before he had to become a Heroic Spirit. ]
E rank life pretty much
[Her eyes, such a deep and startling shade of blue, have gone as flat and cold as the surface of still water. Yet for just a moment, almost helplessly so, she sounds almost lost - as if she's asking herself that question rather than Leon. How? How could she ignore him? But then the moment passes and the steadiness returns to her voice.]
If you don't want me to call you Archer, that's fine.
[Unlike before, this is not avoiding the true nature of his question. Rather, it's Sayaka's way of saying that this is all she can do. She can't function as a Master if she must face all the memories that Leon represents; she can't place her faith in her Servant if those thoughts are allowed to prey on her mind. Because Sayaka's selfish too - she's selfish and afraid.]
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Shit..! Who the fuck gave you the right to decide everything like this?! I'm sick of this, so fucking sick..!
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If you really want an answer to that question....my Command Seals did. Just obey me as your Master, and it'll all be over soon enough. We're already pretty close, aren't we? [And while she knows in her heart of hearts that it's pointless, that Leon isn't like her and thus can't bend himself to the same sort of deceptions, Sayaka tries anyway:] Until then, don't think of me as a person; I'm just the one holding your leash.
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Why would that make it better?! Stop looking down on me like that..! [ He takes a step towards her, another step. But even though they're quick and angry, there's something different from it compared to that time - there's no violence in it now, no urge to hurt. If anything, it's more frustrated, as if there's something he just can't get out no matter what. ] You probably think you're all that just because you managed to get the position of Master out of us two, don't you?!
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No, you've got that wrong. [An echo of Naegi, although Sayaka couldn't hope to realize it. The words just seem to come of their own will, crawling up her throat, hurling themselves out of her mouth to choke up the air between them like something rotting and awful.] I'm not all that, Kuwata-kun. I'm....I'm nothing. I've always been nothing.
[Leon can get angry, he can scream, he can even threaten if he wants, but for some reason Sayaka absolutely cannot stand what he's saying now. It's too far from the truth for even her to swallow.]
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... The fuck..
[ So instead of continuing his rage or his pace towards her, he instead stands there with a genuinely surprised and maybe even half-speechless expression. As if his brain gave up on trying to make sense out of this. ]
What.. are you saying?
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But it's too late to take any of it back....just like it was too late to take back the deceptions that had ended in Leon's execution and a knife plunged into her chest.]
Since the moment I summoned you, I never - I didn't... [The corners of her eyes prick with heat; she looks away, trembling fingers curling into strengthless fists.] ...maybe you should have been a Master, Kuwata-kun, instead of me.
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But for her to be just as human and flawed at him, especially right in front of him like this.. ah, what a joke, what a fucking joke..! He tries to swallow, tries to find some form of coherence in all his thought and feelings but it feels impossible. It feels so impossible to breathe and his legs are at the verge of shaking - but with an emotion different than the sheer rage from before. ]
.. Maizono..
[ Forcing the name out right now feels more difficult than ever.
Since, for the first time since all of it happened, it's as if some sort of mental haze in front of her image is pulling away. The creature in front of him is no longer something he can disregard as not normal, inhuman, crazy, nothing like him--
Sayaka Maizono is human. A regular teenager. Just like him. Just like he is. ]
... You're not nothing.
[ Because if there's any truth left after everything that's happened, it's that. Even if the nature of the feeling has been much different after the murder compared to before it, it's never been 'nothing'. Not a single moment. ]
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Being "nothing" means you're less than trash, less than dirt, less than the most lowly thing.....and Leon had rejected Maizono's claim that she deserved that title.]
....Kuwata-kun?
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.. You're not nothing. [ At least repeating that much is easy, what follows after it is what's more difficult. ]
If you were nothing.. I wouldn't have come over to your room. I would've just ignored the letter and gone back to sleep or some shit like that. The reason I came in the first place is since I thought.. you were amazing.
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Maizono doesn't know what to say. If she was honest with herself - and that hasn't been an easy thing since she was a lonely child with only the faces on TV for company - she had picked Leon as her target because he seemed like the easiest choice. A guy she could manipulate, someone she could lure in and then brutally overwhelm. A fool that would take the bait without really thinking twice. To hear that very same person once found her amazing is like a physical blow; the strength drains from her legs and she almost crumples under the weight of her own self-disgust.]
I...
[But she can't bear to admit any of that to Leon now. It's taking everything Maizono has to simply meet his gaze rather than hang her head and give in to the unrelenting pressure behind her eyes that compels her to sob until her throat aches. But nothing else comes, not even the most pitiful of excuses.....and when Maizono's words finally return to her, the shape they take as they force themselves out of her mouth is one she couldn't have predicted.]
I'm sorry, Kuwata-kun.
[For the moment, it's all that her anguished mind can think to offer. His life, his dream - those were things she took away and can never, ever return. An apology seems like nothing by comparison. But it's sincere, and it's something he's been denied.]
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-- They remind him at the same time of the very fact that he was executed for a good reason. Because he did kill someone. Not just something in self defense, not killing a psycho for his and everyone's good.. no, he chased a helpless girl into the bathroom, even went to great length to unlock it and then just stabbed her to death and even tried to hide the evidence.
Now, more than any earlier time, it's becoming more and more clear to him that he's a murderer. Leon Kuwata is guilty.
He choked on thin air and his stomach twists, just like it had when he saw the blood all over his hands and clothes, that fresh blood still coming from her. The way it did when he realised, back there, just what he had done. He had taken someone else's life. Not out of self defense, but because of his own helplessness, despair and selfishness.
The boy nearly loses his balance at the words, but somehow manages to remain standing - he's not entirely sure why or how either, just that it happens.
And for a few moments he can't even say anything, just stand there as if he's lost his mind completely at the realisation. It shows in the way he's doing the exact same opposite of what he'd normally would do. There's none of the usual anger attacks, no, instead he's eerily quiet and blank. Like he's lost his soul.
But then, slowly, he moves a little. His fingers curl up to form fists with his hands and he grits his teeth so hard that it almost hurts. ]
Maizono, I.. killed you..
[ It seems like a simple statement of fact, but it's more an admittance from his side. He killed her. A conscious act. Nothing like self defense or just sheer an emotional fit, no, he did think about it, however brief the thought was.
The pit of guilt that opens below his mind - and almost below his feet too, it feels like - that has been surpressed all this time practically threatens to devour him. ]
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She swallows hard, but all the constricting pressure in this world can't choke off the words that are determined to come.]
...I didn't give you a choice, Kuwata-kun. [She looks down at her hands, but can't spare the brainpower needed to wonder why they've stopped shaking. It doesn't matter, anyway - only this does. This conversation they never had, this exchange that might just hold the tiniest chance for both of them to heal.] You....you could have left me alone in the shower, back then....but I started it. It's not- it's not all your fault.
(no subject)