i just wanted to protect you, but now i'll never get to... ( holy grail war )

[notoneounce]

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.

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.


TWO MASTERS

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!


MASTER AND SERVANT

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!


TWO SERVANTS

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!

Comments

[noholdsbard]

[ His heart breaks at the sight of her—at all of this. But a scene of immense tragedy is just about par for the course for him, it seems. Yet this is no time to mope—there’ll be plenty of opportunity for that later.

Right now he nods in understanding, accepting her words for the pact that it must be. ]

Close your eyes, Master.

[ He’ll draw her gently to him then, shielding her from the sight of everything falling apart or burning away around them with his voluminous cape. He then lifts his gaze up toward a tall window. Just how many levels aboveground are they?

He supposes it doesn’t matter. ]

It will be over soon.

[ That’s all the warning she’ll get as he picks her up and leaps over the carnage in a single bound, his other hand upraised until a harp materializes. With weapon in hand, Tristan smashes them through the window, whereupon they gently glide to the ground as the roof finally caves in behind them. ]

[foundfamilies]

[ There's a distant part of Leslie that is observing this and thinking that she should be more cautious in this situation. Make sure that she establishes a proper contract with the Servant. Find out his identity -- sure, the catalyst suggests it will be someone associated with Camelot, but no matter how high the stories place it, there are people who shouldn't be trusted in there, too. For all she knows, this could be Mordred, the traitorous knight to bring the downfall of Camelot, and who knows if just telling him to help her will allow her to gain the command seals that might be needed for a knight as dangerous as that.

But at the moment, she will reach out her hand to anyone who will get her out of the fire, so she clings to his clothing as he draws her to him. Leaving it entirely to him, she closes her eyes and even holds her breath until she feels them break out into the far cooler air outside the mansion.

No longer feeling the heat of the fire directly on her, she gasps in a huge breath and shivers. She made it, she made it, she's okay. If she opens her eyes...but it still takes her until they land on the ground to force herself to look. At this point, she is facing away from the caving in mansion and she's not inclined to change that. ]

Tha... [ She coughs. ] Thank you.

[ She is going to at least try to pull away and stand on her own, despite being very unsteady on her feet. After all, she shouldn't make him have to carry her for longer than he had to. She already owes him a lot for getting her out of there. ]

[noholdsbard]

[ He does his best to stay between her and her view of the collapsing mansion, his hand outstretched to help steady her once she pulls away. With the danger’s passing, Tristan finally has the time to assess the situation for himself. The fact that his master is a girl isn’t all that surprising—though troubling still, considering the circumstances of her meeting and his general inability to leave women to dangerous situations.

And a Holy Grail War is most certainly just that. ]

I only do my duty, Master.

[ He kneels before her, peering worriedly into her face as he tries to consider their options. She seemed unharmed when they escaped the flames, but now…now what? A mage’s atelier is one of her greatest defenses. They’ll draw undue attention here, and despite all the knowledge he’d gained from the Throne, it will still take him some time to get used to this new era.

But first things first: ]

But are you all right? I fear I must trouble you for a little longer, for I need to find somewhere for you to hide.

[foundfamilies]

[ “Master,” huh? She looks down at her hand to see that, indeed, she has the Command Seals that mark her as a Master on the back of her hand, where previously there had been only a fading bruise. She knows enough to recognize what the tattoo-like markings mean, but she can only think of her dead...family, technically, as the reason she became the Master of the freshly summoned Servant.

She puts aside those theoretical questions at his own more present questions.]

I will be fine.

[ She says as her body continues to shiver occasionally as her body attempts to release the stress from the shock and fear it was under. She counts “can continue to live” as “fine.” ]

I, um. I haven’t been outside of the mansion in years, but I was able to find out that the Sperado family has a lakeside cottage that they rarely use anymore. And...won’t be now. I’d marked where I thought it was on a map, but....

[ With Tristan standing between her and the house, she instead looks up to see the plumes of smoke in the sky. There are exceedingly few objects inside of that mansion that don’t carry negative emotions with them, but she idly wishes she could have saved her favourite book from their private library. She hadn’t had much time to prepare before her previous unsuccessful attempt, though. ]

I remember it was to the north, northeast. And no one else will be using it now.

[ A pause, and then: ]

You aren’t troubling me. You’re helping me to deal with things I thought I would have to do on my own, and that makes the job easier.

[noholdsbard]

[ There’s a lot to unpack here. The fact that it’s a scared little girl who’s contracted with him after everyone else in that manor had gone and died…this had been a most inauspicious summoning for certain.

But her being the only survivor of her family is something he can sympathize with, at least. Still, he glances for a moment toward the purported direction of that lakeside cottage, before turning back to her with a frown. There are so many things he still wants to ask about, and too little time to consider them. ]

Then I will take you there at once. But first…

[ He cracks open his eyes at last, giving her a long and thoughtful stare, before continuing: ]

What is your wish, Master?

[foundfamilies]

[ Her mouth opens in surprise -- a little because he opened his eyes, but mostly at the question -- before she closes her mouth and turns away, looking lost in thought. She never planned to end up as a Master in the war, so she's never needed to think about such a grand wish as one on the Grail. She focused her time recently on how to escape the Sperado mansion and, well. That one's checked off the list, as their bodies burn in the ruin of the building.

Even though she never put a lot of time into considering a wish for the Grail, it doesn't actually take her very long for her face to smooth out from thoughtful to calm. Really, she knows what she wants. She has one wish that has stayed with her for a very long time. She looks back up at Archer. ]

I want to be able to live a life for myself. A life where I can make my own decisions, read the books that interest me, and eat proper food. I want to survive to be an adult, fall in love, and make a family of my own.

[ Her hands have balled up into fists and her eyes are wet with more than the tears from hear fear earlier when she was caught in the fire, but her gaze is firm even as she momentarily bites her lip. ]

That is my wish. I want to have a normal, average life. I don't need anything more than that.

[noholdsbard]

[ At that reply he closes his eyes and straightens up. After all that’s happened recently, he still finds it in himself to be surprised by such a pedestrian wish as that. ]

…It seems to me odd that you would participate in the Holy Grail War for such a wish.

[ After all, such things are best achieved without becoming embroiled in a fight to the death for a magical artifact. Then again, from what he’d seen so far, he considers that she might not have a choice. ]

Regardless, I have no complaints.

[ He presses a hand to his heart. ]

I will give my all to fulfill your wish, even at the cost of my life. This I swear.

[foundfamilies]

[ Leslie's smile is a little bitter. ]

Maybe it is a little odd, but for me, this wish has always been impossible with only my own power.

[ Even with the family who abused her dead and unceremoniously buried, she knows too well from history what happens to children with strong magical power and no protection before they can grow into their own strength. The start of a Holy Grail War means that there are several other mage families who either live in the city or have a representative moving in. Do any of them know about her? Secluded by the Sperados, she has no way of knowing.

The bitterness can't remain in the face of what seems to be a very sincere, chivalrous Servant, though. Leslie's expression clearly indicates that she is completely unused to being treated like this and has no idea how she's supposed to react, but the smile is shifting into a more honest one. ]

Thank you, um.

[ Her eyes flicker to his harp and the uncertainty in her expression only goes up. At first glance, she thought it was a bow, but now that she looks more closely, that is far too many strings. Maybe some kind of oddly shaped harp? Rather than an Archer, is he perhaps a Caster? Though, he looks like a knight, which makes her think of the Saber class.... ]

How should I address you?

[ She knows that Masters can see information on their own Servant, but she would much rather ask this man who has been nothing but polite and helpful. She's also wondering if he has his own wish, but first things first. ]

[noholdsbard]

[ She’s certainly an unusual mage, isn’t she? And perhaps far too innocent for the difficulties she must face. And even should she emerge the victor, well…he has his concerns. But he can only tackle this one step at a time.

…

They can spare a little moment just for this, he decides, as he drops to his knees to take her hand in his. ]

Of course. I am Tristan, a knight of the Round Table. To you I pledge my bow as an Archer.

[foundfamilies]

[ The sign of respect flusters Leslie. She’s barely even aware of this sort of gesture, having only a couple of times seen it being done to someone else, and she has never experienced it herself. He’d kneeled before her when she was too panicked to register it, and he’d kneeled when he checked that she was all right after rescuing her, but now her mind is clear and there is no reason for him to do it besides showing respect. That’s very overwhelming for a girl at the bottom of every pecking order for most of her life and a blush is beginning to spread across her cheeks.

After a moment, she stiffly, mechanically bows in return. Since she was only taught to treat others as being higher status than her, the only thing that really limits how low she bows is not hitting Tristan with her head. ]

Thank you, Sir Tristan.

[ She straightens up. Her face is still a bit pink and her expression is still awkward, but she is attempting to look a bit more serious. ]

My name is Leslie, a...a nobody. But, um.

[ Nobody taught her how she is supposed to behave as a Master. Maybe there isn’t a set script. But when Tristan speaks in such a poetic way, she feels like she should try to respond in kind. ]

To you I pledge my mana as a mage. As long as you support my wish, I will also support yours.

[ She looks away, the blush increasing in intensity. ]

Or...something like that.

[noholdsbard]

[ A nobody, is it? He keeps his gaze to the horizon as he does the requisite leaps atop tall trees and buildings toward that lakeside cottage she’d indicated, with her small body cradled in his arms. He hadn’t much to say after they’d introduced themselves, and he couldn’t afford to linger any longer at the scene. Their rivals for the Grail might even now be mobilizing themselves to seek her out.

Well, investigating the remains of that blaze will take them some time. No doubt they’ll need to confirm her death as well. And he needs to gather his thoughts and consider the oddity of their situation a bit more. The way she’d spoken and behaved to him so far had troubled him greatly. He isn’t sure if he has any right to inquire into that. ]

Master, is that it?

[ There’s a lake, at any rate. And what appears to be a nearby structure. ]

[foundfamilies]

[ After the initial shock of jumping over housetops and treetops (it’s one thing to know of Servants’ supernatural strength and it’s another to experience it), Leslie’s reaction soon turns to first curiosity, then wonder. Still, she grips his clothes in one of her hands anyway. It makes her feel more secure even though Tristan’s arms hold her securely and her own lacking physical strength means her own grip would make no difference.

She peers down at the lake and the cottage — well, it’s hard to think of it as a cottage when it is about twice as large as most people’s houses and built extremely professionally. ]

It...does look like it could be. I’ve never been there before, but I did manage to take a keyring from the household.

[ She places her free hand just below her neck, where a small pouch is hidden in her clothes, hanging from a string around her neck. ]

Even if...things hadn’t turned out the way they did, I was planning to escape. I couldn’t bring much, since I couldn’t hide very much no matter how little attention they paid to me. But this should get us inside, if this is the right place.

[ She falls silent as she waits for Tristan to find a place to set down, looking just a little melancholy. She didn’t have a lot of things she would have wanted from the Sperado mansion, but she wishes she could have brought her favourite book from the house library, at least. It must be ash by now. But, well, a hardcover book was not going to conceal well.. ]

[noholdsbard]

[ The fact that it doesn’t fit the usual description of a cottage is concerning enough as he sets her down. So far he hasn’t sensed anything out of the ordinary, but until they can secure her position, he has to be wary. ]

Give me the key.

[ He could break in if need be, or find them someplace else to stay, but for the time being, he’ll bow to her preferences. She’s the mage between them, however inexperienced she might seem.

But she is so terribly fragile, having weighed far less than a little girl should as he’d carried her off to here. What else might be wrong with her, he wonders. What new surprises might he find if he enters that building? ]

I must make certain that there are no traps inside.

I hadn't even thought about traps until Tristan brought them up but here we go

[foundfamilies]

[ Leslie hesitates for a moment. It doesn't feel right to ask someone to take risks for her, no matter how much sense it makes when comparing their abilities. She may have a great deal of magical potential, but her experience is extremely low, and even if she were at the peak of her potential, she wouldn't compare to a Servant. She has to admit the practicality, though, handing over the keyring. ]

Please be careful.

[ Leslie will be watching him from a decently safe distance, though she is wanting to be ready to try to help him if something goes wrong.

There are six keys on the ring (Leslie was unfortunately unable to identify which of them is for the actual "cottage"), as well as what Leslie assumes to be a very fancy keychain. There is a smooth green gem (an emerald, perhaps) embedded into a black ring. There is a very faint magic contained in it, but Leslie doesn't know how to sense such things yet.

As for the cottage, the windows are all trapped, with runes carved below the windowsill. The door and deck leading up to it are conspicuously entirely non-magical. One of the ordinary-looking keys fits in the unmagical door.

There's a relatively small entry hall for the size of the house, and the entire room is absolutely filled with traps of various degrees of obviousness under the theory that a cautious person might see the most obvious ones and not notice the less obvious ones lurking behind them.

Just on the inside of the door, where it's not easily seen from outside, there is a small circular, flat nub on the wall, a dark grey stone ring around a black stone circle. It looks a little like an electronic fob reader, but stone instead. It turns out that the keyring is actually basically a magical door fob. Pressing it against the stone circle on the wall for a couple of seconds will disable the interior traps so that they can send a servant ahead of them to prepare the cottage when they decide to head out to the lake. There are similar such stone fob readers on the inside of the windows to control the individual window traps before windows get opened.

If Tristan does not figure out this version, there's a series of about thirteen traps around the room that will need to be disabled in some way if they want to use this as their base, along with two on the door leading from the entryway into the rest of the house. Or he can deal with one of the window traps and just break in that way. ]

lmao can't help being paranoid when you came into the world with everything on fire

[noholdsbard]

I will.

[ He closes both hands over hers for a moment before taking the keys away, offering her a smile that he hopes is reassuring. Then it’s off to the house itself. While he has a fair amount of Magic Resistance, there’s no telling what strange and terrible forces he might encounter within—let alone how to counteract them.

He resummons his weapon the moment he steps past the non-magical threshold. Already, he’s picked up on a few just past the door—not a good start. Is the rest of the house similarly dangerous? It would make a decent stronghold for an experienced mage—as no doubt whoever perished in those flames must have been—but for her…it might be for the best to simply seek out some other place entirely.

Still, now that he’s here, he decides to continue on with his investigations. He plucks at a few strings as he steps carefully into the entry hall, willing his music to trip up some of those traps he can see and to seek out the ones that he can’t.

And there are…an alarming number of those. Trapdoors yawn open where there once had been floors, poisoned darts whizz past his line of vision, flashing lights and whirrs and buzzes and clicks further into the house indicate that Failnaught must have caught more than a few. There might have even been a few growls from a stray familiar or two. But Tristan only turns around and takes a step back when he hears the door creak behind him, alarmed lest Leslie might have decided to follow him inside after all.

What comes into view is not a little girl, however, but a stone ring cunningly hidden on the inside of the door. ]

…

[ Moments later he emerges from the house to seek her out. Not all of the traps had been triggered or disarmed just yet, but he doesn’t want to spend too much time here and leave his master out and undefended. ]

Most of the house is secured, Master. I believe it will suffice as a stronghold for the time being.

FAIR POINT

[foundfamilies]

Most of the house?

[ But even as she asks the question, she is already walking towards him. Leslie is a practical sort, after a lifetime of learning the evils of the world...in her head. Her heart, however, is much less cautious. Whatever she might tell herself of the dangers that face a child with strong powers, it doesn’t take long for her to come to trust those who show her kindness.

Still, she tells herself, it’s not like she’s working on no information. This is Sir Tristan, Knight of the Round Table. Accounts vary on the details of his legends, including even name, and some versions demonstrate what she would consider poor judgment (especially as someone with no experience in love of any kind, and somehow even less so with romantic love). But nothing she has read indicates he will do anything to harm her. It’s not like she’s got a wife for him to steal. ]

[noholdsbard]

[ She will in time ]

I found it best to leave some of them untouched, in case of intruders.

[ That aren’t them, anyway. But that mysterious gem seems to have done its work for the most part, though he avoids touching the traps on the outer walls of the building.

One can only hope that there aren’t any flame traps here.

He holds his hand out to her, offering her the key ring. ]

Shall we go inside, Master?

[foundfamilies]

[ How long do you expect this holy grail war to last

She nods and takes the keys from him. ]

Yes, we shall. ...But please let me know where the ones you left untouched are.

[ Past the actually reasonably sized entryway (Leslie wipes her short boots carefully on the entry mat), the rest of the "cottage" is basically only distinguished from a mansion because the windows are larger. It's a little smaller than the old Sperado mansion, but it's still significantly bigger than most houses. Leslie looks around the much more enormous foyer, with stairways going up and down. To the left, there's a door to an expansive dining room, with fine china that is apparently considered so below the now deceased owners' notice as to be able to just be left here when they aren't visiting. To the right, a door leads to a library with bookshelves towering twice Tristan's height, even though it looks like none of the books have been touched in years. Past the stairs, there's the sight of a living room with nearly floor to ceiling windows.

Leslie stops about three steps into the foyer, staring. Sure, she'd grown up in a mansion (she'd never left it), but she wasn't allowed in most of it. Right now, it will only be the two of them and no restrictions on movement. ]

...I didn't think it was going to be this big when I heard about it.

[noholdsbard]

[ It’s a little sad, to think of her hidden away in someplace this huge, as if it might swallow her up. Is it truly safer than the mansion? Tristan had indeed pointed out all the traps and suspected traps on their way in, but even this act did little to temper his unease. Then again, everything about this Holy Grail War had gone so wrong from the very beginning.

And things are only bound to get worse.

He waits beside her as she takes in the enormity of her new home, casting worried glances here and there even though he’s certain he’s dealt with all the immediate dangers. But after all, that might be the only thing he’s good at here. ]

It seems that this Sperado family was quite distinguished.

[ So where does that leave her? She’d never given him her surname. And she’d called herself a nobody besides. What was her relation to this family? Does it matter?

He sighs. ]

Assuming that they have no further allies, I see no reason why you cannot use this as your new home. So, Master… [ he frowns ] Why not relinquish your seals now? Command me to disarm all the traps within this house and leave the war behind. That would be the quickest way to your wish.

[foundfamilies]

[ It's probably no safer than the mansion if the mansion hadn't been set on fire, but at least this place didn't light up like a torch to show where she is. ]

They had a lot of money.

[ Granted, it's true that they were distinguished in other ways. The Sperados were once an immensely powerful and influential family. Despite a few disappointing generations, Leslie's older sister was hailed as the one who would bring back their past glories...had she survived. But Leslie isn't going to call them distinguished if she can help it.

Still, her (extremely justified) grudge against the Sperado family aside, Tristan's suggestion is a much more important point to think about. And she frankly doesn't know which would be safer, between being a participant of the Holy Grail War, or being an untrained mage not yet in adulthood who has been raised to be used as a tool to strengthen mages during a Holy Grail War. She doesn't know how well the latter is known or if her family kept it enough of a secret to take it to the grave with them.

It's a debate she will have to have with herself, and with Tristan, but there is one question that she can ask while she still doesn't know how to feel about the other reasons: ]

I heard that Heroic Spirits work with the Masters of the Holy Grail War because they have a wish of their own. Are you really so ready to abandon yours?

[ If he has one. She realizes there could be exceptions. ]

[noholdsbard]

[ …Ah. He’d been hoping to avoid this topic entirely, but it’s clear enough that his master might be a lot shrewder than he gives her credit for.

Which is admirable, if a bit inconvenient under the circumstances. He sighs, peering at her for a good long moment before replying: ]

I have no wish.

[ At least, none that would ordinarily be possible. Who knows who the enemy Saber might end up being, after all. But given his own limited knowledge, Tristan can only assume the worst. And that may or may not bode ill for his own master. ]

The summons earlier…I merely responded to a call for aid, as a knight should. My own desires are irrelevant.

[foundfamilies]

[ Leslie’s eyes widen in surprise. ]

Oh. Is that why....

[ She trails off. Things were so — busy at the time of Tristan’s summoning. She wondered why she had the command seals, but she came to the conclusion that it was because the original Master died before the summoning was complete. But if he came to respond to a call for aid...had she accidentally summoned him with her panicked wishes to be saved from the fire?

She takes a deep breath and her expression moves from surprised to serious. ]

I don’t believe that your desires are irrelevant. If you hadn’t come, I — [ She swallows hard. ] I would have died, in — in the worst way possible.

[ She shudders. Don’t think about the fire. Don’t think about the fire. Don’t think about — She places her hand on her chest. ]

Sir Tristan. You saved my life. I wasn’t even intended to be a Master in this war. The circle, the catalyst — it was all for the Sperado’s eldest daughter, Eli. I was only there to be a...a tool, for my sister’s use.

[ She grimaces a little. She’s tried to stop referring to the Sperados as her family, not wanting anything tying her to them (and yet here she is, using their property, a thought she is trying to ignore says). But until a matter of weeks ago, she still called them all her sister, her mother, and her father. It’s a slip she’s going to still make sometimes. ]

But you came to save me when I called for help. You were the first person — [ oh right, there’s also those vengeful dead kid ghosts, but she’s pretty sure they helped her to fulfill their desire for revenge ] You were the first person who saw that I needed help and extended your hand to me for no reason but to save me. I can’t accept that you, or your desires, don’t matter. You saved my life.

[ She looks down at the hand on her chest, where her command seals sit, clear as day. She doesn’t want to let him go yet. Even if she knows she will have to one day to have a chance of surviving the war without the seemingly impossible task of winning it, she doesn’t want to let go of this person who protected her yet. But.... ]

If...if you want to leave, I will use up the seals. I...don’t have anything else I can give you in return.

[noholdsbard]

No.

[ He says after much contemplation, frowning as the unusual circumstances of his summoning finally tumble out. It’s difficult to ascertain how a Servant is summoned when one is within the Throne and very little of the other side presents itself to him until the crucial moment of his arrival.

What would have happened if he had been summoned by her sister instead? He shudders at the thought, even as he still feels a pang of sadness for those that have died in that mansion.

But that’s all in the past, now, however immediate that past was. He has her future to think of, now. A Heroic Spirit must, after all, attend to the living above all else.

Again, he opens his eyes, peering at her keenly in the dark. ]

How sad...how very sad to have heard all of this. These are tragic circumstances indeed. I would be remiss to leave a young maiden so alone and defenseless in her time of need. So you need not worry, Master. I will remain for as long as you wish it, and protect you as my powers allow.

[ As to his own wishes…still he tries to shove that topic aside. Anything he comes up with won’t be half as pertinent as a young girl’s needs of the moment, after all. ]

[foundfamilies]

[ The silence in the contemplation was rough on the anxious young girl, but few things aren't rough on her anxiety.

The answer is absolutely worth the wait, though, tears of relief welling up in her eyes. She knows that what happened to her is wrong, if only for the last several weeks, but it means so much to hear it in a voice that isn't her own. It meant even more since she has begun to suspect from now and the previous time that Tristan opening his eyes is something he only does when he is most taking things most seriously.

A blush follows not long after the a few tears overflow, embarrassed by the way her emotions are running over, but she doesn't try to cover it, maintaining eye contact, trying to meet sincerity with sincerity. ]

I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable.

[ Or sad. She doesn't know how much she's going to hear that word over this war. ]

But I have to thank you for staying. You're a good person, Sir Tristan. I'm glad that I met you.

[ She gives a watery smile. ]

So...I guess this will be your home, too, for now.

[ She blinks and looks slightly distracted. ]

Welcome home? I think that's what I've heard people say, but then again...you entered here first.

[noholdsbard]

You have made me feel no such thing. I will take that welcome gladly, Master.

[ He shuts his eyes once more, but there’s a hint of a smile to him now as he kneels down to her height and draws her into an embrace, taking care to give her head a good petting while he’s at it. ]

So dry your tears, my little Master. While it is true that a budding flower shines with the evening dew, it is better still if she blooms in the light of the sun.

[ Not that there’s any such light to be found in here at the moment, but look, poetry waits for no one. And again, he’s struck by how fragile she is, and how much she’s pent up in that tiny body of hers. It seems a terrible turn of history that, years after King Arthur’s death, people must still suffer in this way.

How sad… ]